#I don’t like her ‘canon’ design so. we shall see… | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

oh-shtars · 4 months

Text

RFTS!AU AskBox #4

Me to @signed-sapphire for the legendary number of 50 Questions Galore they sent me:

Heads up though, you might notice there’s certain questions skipped. I’m either not able to answer some of the asks at all OR they’re either some art requests that I haven’t finished and will post in future posts. So I had to skip them for this post unfortunately…. I apologise as such. 😅

Anyways, let’s get speeding through them shall we?

1. How do you plan to show the songs?

It should be question 6 of this post here. :)

……

2. How many songs do you plan to have in RFTS?

4 or more. Depends on what I come up with.

……..

3. What ‘vibe’ would each song have?

Uhhhhhhh, idk tbh. I’m really just going with the flow of what this story brings me. You can’t wait to see what the RFTS!plot has in store? Yeah, me too.

……..

4. Who’s voicing Valentino and the main cast?

For Valentino, I’m not sure. I’m debating whether it should be younger Bambi or Ronno’s VA. But he basically has an actual kid’s voice this time rather than a deep-sounding one. (Because honestly, I found that a bit weird personally). For the the other characters, I don’t really mind the voices they have canonically.

And I think I’ve mentioned this before, but even though Sueño can’t speak, I could hear him singing this in this voice hypothetically.

………..

5. Write or draw any cute interaction between Ashueño!

Mk :3

………

6. I know Asha will have a different outfit by the end, but do you have different designs for anyone else?

Yeah, I do actually. Some characters have a different outfit to better reflect their current context. (Like how Sakina would have work clothes similar to Asha.) But I don’t want to reveal most of them at the moment since I would like to keep them a secret for now.

……

7. Some Gabo doodles, if you don’t mind. I rarely see the short king in any Wish Art.

Fiiiiine.

His design makes a lot more sense if you were me and you knew the context. Take this art with whatever theories you guys can throw at me 😂

……. 10. What made Amaya fall in love with Magnifico? What changed?

Amaya had a family who greatly discouraged her interest in studying magic and potions since it’s against what their family has done for generations. Meanwhile, Magnifico who was adopted as Rosas’ prince, is expected to learn magic but COULDN’T because he struggles to do so since he hasn’t moved on from his trauma.

When these guys were around 16-15 years old, they were mutual best friends. Mag offers Amaya to read from his magic books while he finds comfort in just having a genuine friend who doesn’t remind or push expectations onto him that he hears everyday in the castle. She’s like an escape from the stresses he has in there.

In their future years, Amaya grew to fall in love with someone who promised her the world if she only asked for it. She finds bits of herself in Mag, as both were people with crushed dreams that deserve better. (In their POV anyway.)

Falling in love was not at all what she expected since she used to believe sympathy would only hold her back from exploring the limits of magic. But you know, Amaya’s as much as a tragic character as Magnifico is.

…….

11. Who fell first and who fell harder between those two?

Is it possible to say that RFTS!Magnifico is both?

……..

12. Any fun fact about the Royal Couple? (You can tell who I’m most invested in. lol.)

The only reason Espino, the royal cat, is in the castle is because Amaya wanted him around. Otherwise, if it were up to Mag, that cat is out to the streets. He’s not very fond of animals and he considers them as pests. Though, Espino gets small bonus points from Magnifico just because he keeps the castle clear from mice which he especially hates.

(Good to know you’re enjoying ‘Grand Despair’ while it lasts :)

……

13. This may be weird but…Body Swap! How would Hopes and Dreams react?

Asha would have zero idea how to get star magic under control. Meanwhile, Sueño finds an interesting realisation.

……..

14. What’s your favourite fanart piece of your AU?

I LOVE all of them so much!! They’re all made by very amazing artists!! I’m so happy to see these silly characters I’ve made be brought to life in someone else’s style. 💖💖

Mere words can’t express this joy enough. I hope you all would love the final chapters once they do come out as much as you loved seeing content of them now. X3

……..

15. Are you telling your story via writing or art of word dump?

I’m planning to share it in chapters like how Anny and everyone else has been doing. Plus some more sketches I would keep making of them obviously.

………

17. Draw Ashueño dressed as another Disney couple!

Hehehehehe guess whooo~ 🙃

………

19. Young!Sueño!

Which one? 🙃

Awww, good times back then when the little guy is still figuring out the forms he likes….

…… 20. Young!Royal Couple!

Mini Magnifico would rather drown himself or drink snake venom than call Oliver his dad- ………

22. Give some more lore on Asha’s father. Are you keeping him as close to the source material as possible? Will we see him in flashbacks or something?

You’ll definitely get to see Tomás at certain points in the story. Either in the short prologue, mentions and flashbacks. He’s generally a friendly guy but at the same time, is also assertive to defend what he thinks is wrong. But even though his life was cut short, Tomás ended up inspiring more people than he thinks. Especially his old friend, Sabino, who hasn’t given another wish or attended any more wish ceremonies after his death.

I don’t think we really knew much about Asha’s father at all in the canon movie, but I’ll pretty much be close to what is depicted there already with some more detail on how he made an influence in the lives of those he loves.

………

23. Give Sueño a stuffed toy for him to cuddle with. He deserves it <3

He adores it so much 💖💖

……….

24. More lore about the Astral Realm!

Not all Wishing Stars have the strong desire to venture down into the human realm someday and that’s completely fine. They can still guide their wishmaker from above. But for those who do want to, they need to answer one important question first:

“Why do you grant wishes?”

Since they would be going down to earth by themselves ALONE with none of their elders to guide them this time, their answer to this question serves as their anchor in case they get lost or distracted. Answers do vary and some may be the same among stars, but that’s fine. As long as they’re sincere with all their core on their answer. Some examples may be: “I like to see them reach their very best and reap their deserved rewards.” Or “I like watching them journey and discover themselves.”

……….

25. SNEAK PEAKS!!

This scene is one of my dotpoints I came up with but I’m not so sure anymore if that would still fit in and whether I should scrap it. Regardless, I thought this would be a nice little thing to show you all. Proof that I’m indeed working on it 😅

(Actually, this sounds so cute to draw. Feel welcome to try and do so if you want to, my fellow artists ^^)

…… 26. How does Magnifico’s magic work?

I made a whole post on this :3

………

27. Where did Amaya learn potions?

She’s self-taught mostly. But I also did mention that Mag generously lets her borrow what is meant to be his books of magic soooo, he played a role on that as well.

……

29. What’s Amaya’s opinion on the other Wish AU Mags?

I’m not exactly sure how different her opinions would be on each of them since I think we all decided to have our fun with Magnifico just being a shameless show-off and fun evil villain. I’ll try though.

Amaya would think KOW!Mag reminds her a lot of her own husband, also short-tempered and a disgustingly sweet romantic at times. She’s kind of a play-hard-to-get girl though 😂. One thing she does notice is that what WRTS!, Wish Granted! And KOW!Mag have in common is how loud they are with their ceremonies. Is that a universal Magnifico thing? Eh. There sure is a lot of interesting knowledge to learn from these universes. Hmmm.

TKoRaT!Maggy has that same pained look that falls on RFTS!Mag whenever he’s sulking by himself and needs time alone. Usually it’s because of his old village trauma. It’s an intriguing but ever so familiar cycle she recognises well.

Meanwhile. TFS!Mag is……different, she would say. Not exactly good different. I kinda imagine her eyeing this guy like a cat. This Mag just gives off a very different vibe of non-ruthlessness(?) that she’s not used to.

……..

30. Same for Mag, but vice versa.

RFTS!Mag gets very very very familiar vibes with KOW! And Wish Granted!Amaya. He finds it slightly amusing since it feels like his wife just became a part of some triplets. (He jokingly asked RFTS!Amaya if she had any sisters she never told him. The woman wasn’t amused. She doesn’t really like being reminded of her family.) I’m sorry TKoRaT! And TFS!Amaya, but you’ve made the decision to adopt Asha as your daughter and so he thinks lower of you now. Although…the TKoRaT!couple might just get to redeem themselves for that since they sound interesting enough. They’re going to have the ditch the girl though at some point.

WRTS!Amaya just feels off. He doesn’t know what exactly though? Is he losing his mind or something? Ugh, I think he could use devouring another Wish Bubble just in case…

……..

31. You know what, for Asha and Sueño too!

Oh boy, here we go. 😂

Asha will NOT be able to handle Wish Granted!Star’s energy. It’s so different from the silent but still lively conversations she has with her Starboy. Star just can’t bring himself to stop talking, can he? 😅 Asha thinks WRTS!Aster and TKoRaT!Star are adorable. Cielo may be a bit much at times with his light teasing and flirting, but she’s aware he means well.

I could see Asha’s non-hesitant empathy, patience and genuine concern to Haedus would be a huge comfort for the poor guy. (Trust me, she’s done this plenty before.) She’s a bit surprised to see Naos and Nembus but I think they’d get along just fine. She’s pretty good with playing with kids from her experience with a mischievous Valentino. And lastly, KOW!Aster is a total sweetheart that she jokingly comments could rival Sueño’s. (That comment caught Sueño’s attention quickly lmao.)

MEANWHILE:

Sueño is more hesitant and unwilling at first to approach humans by his own accord. He’ll still keep a short distance buuuut… if they’re just another version of Asha, it can’t be that horrible, right?

KOW!Asha’s drawings are a familiar sight for him and he’s impressed that she could bring her own drawings to life. Same goes for WRTS!Asha with her magic wand. Maybe they’re friendly… Maybe they could both do that together :D He’s neutral with Wish Granted! And Aled’s Asha for now until he gets to know them better.

Sueño recognises that same shyness and timid nature in TKoRaT!Asha. (It’s weird how she does the same thing RFTS!Asha does of turning their head away and hiding behind their hair when he innocently just looks her way.)

And then there’s…….HER. TFS!Asha. Cielo talks about her a lot….😬. But you know, that girl scares him.

Unfortunately, Sueño is staying a relatively farther distance away from the last two Ashas I mentioned. Why? Idk, probably the fact that they’re the daughter of Mag and Amaya-

……….

32. *Gives Sueño an iPad with Duolingo on it* Here my child. Learn Spanish.

I have a feeling you did this so he could finally find out what his name, ‘Sueño’ translates into. Lol, nope. Not yet he’s not.

He still appreciates the gesture though, but the guy got distracted by the other cool features and apps this weird magical mirror-tablet thing(?) had and completely forgot all about the Owl app.

……

33. Will Asha ever attempt to learn Celestial? Maybe with a candle? Like Morse Code? Idk.

Idk. Speaking Celestial is really just stars exchanging screechy sound waves to each other telepathically like words, while their glowing sequences indicates the mood and tone of what they’re saying. Maybe if Asha comes to learn how to harness light magic on her own, she’ll be able to at least convey emotions such as happiness in it by controlling the brightness and duration of each flash.

…….

35. How are you planning out your story?

I usually think of what main message I’m trying to get across first and build the story around it. After some character and world-building stuff (that I keep adding to because procrastination), I put the key scenes I could think of in bullet-point format and then just think up some in-between scenes that could occur between those points.

Usually though, the most usual process is that a random concept/idea pops into my head and then I immediately type it down so I won’t forget it. It’s basically my thing now to organise the giant mess of reminders into comprehensive plot lines.

I’m not writing the story at this point. The story is choosing to expose itself to me XD

Another main thing I do is listen to my Spotify playlist of this AU, read the Wish Artbook, or rewatch a movie that has inspired the RFTS! plot in some way.

……..

36. Are there any kisses in your story?

Hmmmmm….. *glances at Ashueño and Amnifico*

Oh well, since you’ve asked me, I gueeeeess I’m unfortunately now going to have to remove all the kisses I had included since y’all are so desperate to know….. (/jk)

……..

38. Will the Royal Couple have villain transformations?

………..

39. What’s your take on the ‘eating wishes’ thing?

As I’ve mentioned in my last post on how the magic system works in the RFTS!AU, Magnifico eats wish essence to reverse the costly effects of using Curse Magic. To put it simply, he uses them to make him more mentally stable.

.,,,,,,,,

40. What Easter Eggs are you planning to put in your story?

Awwwww, where’s the fun in that? Find them yourselves >:)))

And who knows? Maybe certain fellow creators in the Wish Rewrite Fandom will make a reference in some of the chapters. Keep an eye out 😉

……..

42. What exactly does Asha’s job entail?

Being a king’s apprentice is a way to gain experience and learn how to use magic by the king himself, so you could use the attained knowledge as to however you want. Share the talent with Rosas or Go out into the world.

However, when Magnifico’s reign started, he forbade magic usage other than he and his wife with the claim that it’s for the greater good and safety for Rosas. (He kinda had a point since criminal activity and accidents did decrease in number after that rule.)

Since Mag doesn’t really need an apprentice, Asha is more of an assistant now, following in her dad’s footsteps before her. She’s tasked to do help with whatever Mag might need around his study such as keep the fire going or organise his papers. But Mag doesn’t really like having her around a lot, (since she asks a lot of questions about his wish-keeping system) so he purposefully tells her to go carry out outside tasks such as go into the garden and help the gardeners or something.

……..

43. Did Magnifico make Sueño’s bonds?

If I told you, would that make you more blood-thirsty enough to gather pitchforks and torches for his head? Because if you are, please don’t. I still need this guy to stir up conflict in my story :((

(You can have him all you want though once I’m done with him. Lmao.)

………

44. How was Rosas founded?

Nearly a century ago, the kingdom was first built. I’ve read in the Art book that Rosas was apparently named to reference ‘Beauty and the Beast.’

Like, ok….?

Anyways, I found that roses are meant to represent love, rebirth and beauty. So I decided to add more onto that than just have it as another reference. The kingdom’s founders wanted Rosas to be a place where people who are wary and feel outcasted by their homes can find and start a new beginning. To ‘Rebirth’ and have a second chance to find the ‘beauty and love’ in their lives again,

Blue and white were made the royal colours because the blue was meant to stand for trust and reliability and white for new beginnings. Symbolising the past kings and queens’ responsibility to have their talents in sorcery be used to serve the people who come here. Thus, Rosas’ citizens all are in a variety of different cultures.

……..

45. Over how many days does your story take?

I’m thinking within one month. It’s a race-against-time sort of thing where Asha needs to find out how to confront the Royal Couple before they do something horrible on Rosas’ celebration of its 100th anniversary, which is literally just a month away.

…….

46. What was your favourite part of Wish? Are you translating that to your AU?

I really really loved how Mag’s magic looked and how he went all evil-ish green as a tribute to past Disney villains. If we ignore the awkward transition he had from sympathetic to just plain psychotic, it’s a cool magic display. I kinda wished they went more full out on the final battle because it just felt so underwhelming asf.

I’m keeping the magical final battle but with more magical funsies. :D

…….

47. Least favourite part?

I’m frustrated how bland and empty the character interactions and emotional beats are since those kinds of moments are usually my favourite when it comes to movies.

Magnifico’s tragic loss of his village? “Pfft- What tragedy? We don’t need that in the movie’s 2nd half.”

Asha’s dead father? “Eh. We only needed him for a few mins and he’s non-existent from that point on.”

Valentino claims to be Asha’s helpful animal sidekick. “Did I mention I have a deep voice? Oh, and my butt’s a funny thing too. Did I already mention that my voice is loud and soooo deep??”

Simon’s betrayal? “Oh wow, that was a shock…. Anyways, wanna start a rebellion?”

OMG, Sakina’s wish is back!! “What was the wish about? Idk who cares.”

Asha’s friendship with Star doesn’t even feel that special to me?? GUYS, I felt more chemistry between Rapunzel and Pascal. COME ON, BUILD IT UP. DON’T JUST SAY ‘Awww, you and I are thinking the same thing~’ AND EXPECT ME TO BUY THAT.

……….

48. What’s your favourite aspect of the TFS!AU?

Idk why, but I like how there’s a unique twist in your AU on how Wishing Stars don’t have the best reputation to humans. It’s a nice subversion that makes it stand out a little more. :)) Because usually, the idea of wishing on stars is always seen as a positive thing but that’s not the case in this story. It’s intriguing to watch characters slowly realise that not everything is what it seems.

That, and the hilarious dynamic you’ve got going on between Cielo and Asha and how deep in denial they both are, even though it’s clear as day to the other TFS!cast. 😂

(Wouldn’t it be funny if TFS!Mag and Amaya also noticed? They may be going down a dark path but they’re not blind, girl.)

……..

50. What’s a boring fact about you?

Uhhhhhh…. I like organising stuff by colour for fun...? Like, I used to pour out a box of legos and sort through them as a kind of pastime. I still organise coloured pencils in rainbow order if I could too. 😅 ………

@annymation @uva124 @your-ne1ghbor @ficsinhistory @rascalentertainments @gracebethartacc @spectator-zee

It’s a long read, but I think you guys would enjoy going through it regardless. I hope so anyways.

Btw, thx for all the fun questions Bo! 💖 Might post some more regarding your other doodle requests that I’ve put to the side for now if you don’t mind. :))

#ask #reach for the stars au #rfts au #wish au #wish rewrite #wish starboy #wish asha #wish reimagined #wish magnifico #wish amaya #star x asha #asha x star #ashueño #Spotify #magnifico x amaya #au lore #au dump

24 notes · View notes

withlovewriting · 8 months

Text

All I Ever Knew, Only You 10: Billy Blue Balls

Chapter Ten.

I get so distracted by some people's reactions, That I don't see my own faults, For what they are, for what they are, At times, so self-destructive, With no intent or motive, But beyond this emotion, A sensible heart.

Summary: Hawkins was your typical quaint, mid-western town where nothing ever happened. People were born here, lived their entire lives within the town limits, and eventually died here, peacefully in their sleep. But one cold November evening in 1983 would change everything.

Despite a child with psychokinetic abilities and ravenous monsters that lacked faces, stranger things had definitely happened in the small town in Indiana. One of them being your reluctant and slightly imposed friendship with Hawkins High’s own King Bee, Steve Harrington.

Characters: Steve Harrington x Non-descriptive F!Reader (eventual)

Words: 5,852

Chapter Warnings: strong language, child abuse, drug use, steve isn't in this one much, but he shall be back with a vengeance, Eddie is kinda a dick, but it's all good I promise, Billy is a dick which is just expected at this time, reader is also a bit of a dick you ain't getting away with shit either, buddy. Barb is also queer-coded and I do not care to elaborate.

Series Warnings: Strong language, mentions of underage drinking, mentions of drug use, canon-typical violence, mentions of alcohol abuse, mentions of possible mental health disorders, child abuse, slow burn, kinda enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, I like to call it ‘two idiots who begrudgingly befriend each other only to realize… ‘wait a damn minute…’, eventual sexual content, no use of y/n, canon-typical time-period bullshit. 18+. Minors DNI.

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Chapter Ten: Billy Blue Balls

A content sigh fell from your lips as you snuggled deep down into the comforter's warmth, the smell of laundry detergent mixed with bergamot and amber wood lulling you back into a light sleep despite the sound of far-off water running.

For a few sweet moments, you were blissful. Warm and safe as the sun burned against your eyelids, trying its hardest to pull you from your slumber.

But it wasn’t the sun that finally managed to rouse you. Instead, it was the soft shove of your shoulder, the familiar but displaced voice of Steve Harrington that caused your eyes to shoot open, the sudden intrusion of light forcing them back shut as you tried to wiggle under the duvet.

“C’mon, we gotta leave in like, five minutes.”

And he wasn’t joking. Peeling your eyes open, you could’ve throttled the boy as he watched you with amusement as you tried to get a bearing of your surroundings, confused about the boy's appearance until you noticed that you in fact were the displaced one.

“My Dad’s already left for work and my Mom headed out a few minutes ago. I don’t think we’re gonna have time to swing back to yours, so just throw these on,” Steve placed a pile of folded clothes onto the bed next to you as he grabbed his school bag.

“Jesus Christ, your interior decorating skills could use some work,” you grumbled, face pinched as you looked around the plaid-filled room.

Rolling his eyes, Steve grabbed a shirt from his chest of drawers and threw it into his bag, ready for his physical education class, “My Mom designed it, not me.”

“Okay then, your Mom’s interior decorating skills could use some work. I mean, matching curtains? Really? God, It’s making me nauseous.”

A small huff of laughter fell from his lips as he threw his backpack over one shoulder before placing both hands on his hips, much like you’d expect an annoyed mother to as she tried to peel her child from their bed, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s the gallon of pure fuel you drank last night. Now get up, seriously. We have to leave.”

Practically herding you into his car, you grumbled the entire ride to school. Originally, you’d told him to just drop you home — even if you didn’t have time to change — and you would happily play hooky today if it meant not having to open your eyes for the remainder of the day, but he wasn’t having it, “You can walk from the school if you’re that desperate.”

“Who even has a party on a Wednesday? God, I hate Tina.”

The boy sent you an amused glance from the corner of his eyes as he shut his car door. As you stepped into the cold November air, you were thankful for the sweater Steve had lent you.

“Somehow, I don’t think you can blame this one on-”

“I mean, sheet-faced? In the middle of the week? It’s like she was trying to set us up.”

Walking through the school hallway with Steve at your side, you were all too aware of the peculiar stares you were receiving, giggles and quiet muttering as you passed made your whole body feel too warm, and if you didn’t think you’d upchuck at any moment, you’d of barreled right back out of the door and ran home.

Steve, however, kept his eyes front and center, either unaware or uncaring of the hushed whispers as you passed. And it wasn’t until the second period that you found out why.

Storming toward the gymnasium, your stomach churned with more than just the remnants of whatever the hell was in that punch bowl last night. You were infuriated, certain that steam was coming out of your ears as you pushed the doors open, unperturbed by their bashing against the wall. Like a mad woman, you were on a mission.

“Hargrove,” You called across the gym, the screeching of sneakers against the floor drowning you out, causing you to repeat yourself, only this time much louder, “Hargrove.”

Billy’s head turned toward you, his frown transforming as he sent you a haughty grin. Throwing the ball to his teammate, the boy made his way toward you slowly, strutting like a damned peacock, and you forced yourself to keep your eyes on his face,

“To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Seriously, were you dropped on your head as an infant or something?”

His smirk faltered slightly, eyes glinting with a flash of animosity, “Oh, you’ve got a temper when you’re hungover.”

“I’m not joking, Hargrove. What the hell have you been telling people about last night?”

His tongue darted out, licking the corner of his mouth, “Hey, don’t take it out on me just because you can’t handle your drink. I only said what happened. What people saw.”

You could feel some of the student’s eyes on you, much like you had since the minute you stepped out of Harrington’s car that morning, but you pushed on.

“Nothing happened, Billy. People didn’t see shit, because nothing happened.”

A deep laugh fell from his lips, mocking you even as his cerulean eyes leered over your body, “Exactly, sweetheart. Imagine my surprise when it turns out you’re not the little whore I was told about. You’re just a prude who likes giving guys blue balls.”

“I don’t owe you shit-”

“Maybe. Maybe not,” the boy shrugged, causing you to scoff and walk away from him, knowing this conversation was going nowhere. Still, the boy continued, grasping at any straw he could to inflict the same pain and embarrassment on you that his fragile ego was currently suffering, “Or, maybe, it wasn’t me you put out for, huh? I mean, I heard you were seen crawling into King Steve’s car last night.”

His attention turned toward the boy, who was already watching the altercation, “That right, Harrington? Wheeler doesn’t want you, so you thought ‘Hey, why the hell not’-”

In your sober state, hitting Billy didn’t feel as good as it did the night before. Unable to control it, your fist flew toward his nose, cutting his sentence off as a collection of shocked gasps fell from the other students.

Wiping away the trickle of blood from his nostril, Billy’s expression had lost all humor as he stepped into your space, bumping you backward slightly, “That’s twice you’ve done that. Next time, I won’t be so nice about it.”

“Whoa, hey man-”

The coach’s whistle broke the tension and Billy stepped around you, shoulder-checking Steve as he passed him, the latter much closer than you’d realized. His eyes followed Billy as he returned to the court, knocking the basketball from another student's grip, before eventually returning to you a little softer,

“Hey-”

“Forget it, Harrington.”

The boy’s sneakers squeaked along the linoleum as he followed you, uncaring of the coach’s and his teammates' calls for him.

“Hey, hey… Slow down a minute. What’s going on?”

“Like you don’t know,” you scoffed as your feet pounded the floor. Any faster, and you’d be breaking out into a run.

The boy stuttered for a moment, his eyes as wild as his hair as he tried to piece together what had just happened. Pulling the arm of his sweater and effectively stopping you, he kept his voice calm and low as you panted in anger,

“Look, I just had like, the worst fight with Nancy, so the last thing I need right now is for you to be mad at me too. Whatever Billy did, whatever I did... I’m sorry, alright?”

Squeezing your eyes closed, you tried your best to calm yourself. Deep breaths, counting to ten, imagining you’re in a far-off, safe place where nothing and no one could hurt you… All the things Barb had tried to teach you over the years. But your heart still pounded against your chest, blood coursing through your veins as hot as lava,

“I don’t… I don’t think we should hang out anymore.”

Steve’s brows furrowed, trying his best to catch your eyes, “What are you talking about-”

“People think I left Billy at the party and slept with you instead.”

The silence between you was deafening, Steve’s mouth opening a few times before clamping shut as his brain caught up with itself, “But you didn’t. We didn't.”

“Yeah, no shit, Harrington, I’m aware of that. But it hasn’t stopped people gossiping about it all morning,” you narrowed your eyes before folding your arms over your chest, “So I think it’s best, for Nancy’s sake, that we just… Stay away from each other.”

You didn’t give him a moment longer to reply, marching off into the girls' toilets to go and run your throbbing hand under the cold tap.

Laying on your front, you flicked through the pages of the magazine that was spread in front of you, “Do you really read this shit? I mean, ‘Pretty clothes for right now!’ and ‘When your boyfriend forgets your birthday!’ You can’t tell me you actually enjoy these magazines, B.”

Barbara pulled the magazine from you, closed it, and placed it on top of her desk, “I don’t know. I mean, I know they’re dumb but…”

You watched as she shrugged, her eyes never leaving the cover of the Seventeen magazine you’d been mocking.

“I mean, wouldn’t we all buy this shit if Brooke Shields was on the front of every cover?” Your grin widened as you watched Barb’s face flush.

Quickly turning the magazine over, she sent you a sideward glare, “You’re not funny.”

“I bet Brooke Shields is hilarious-”

“Oh my god, shut up!” Barb grumbled, grabbing a small throw pillow from the bottom of her bed and aiming for your head.

Fumbling to catch it, the pillow bounced off the top of your head as you sat up, lightly hitting her with it, “She’s so pretty and so funny and so smart!”

Barb’s giggles blended with your own as she tried to dodge the pillow, eventually throwing herself down onto the bed when her mother’s voice called up the stairs, telling you in the nicest way possible to settle down.

“I’m never telling you anything ever again.” She smirked, turning her head to watch you, a glint in her eyes reassuring you that her words held no weight.

This time, it was your turn to shrug, “Oh, I’m sure. You know I’m an excellent secret keeper.”

“I know,” Barb released a deep sigh, her eyes remaining on you as they glazed over slightly, “You know I trust you with my life, right?”

Rolling your eyes, you turned to lay on your back next to her, “Is that why you ditched me to go see ‘Grease 2’ with Nancy Wheeler last weekend?”

You didn’t want to sound jealous, but the tang of bitterness dripped off your tongue, causing Barb to sit up on her bed, legs crossed in front of her, “We did invite you. You were the one who didn’t want to go.”

“Go and watch you drool all over Michelle Pfeiffer whilst Nancy delicately sighs any time Maxwell Caulfield is on the screen? Yeah, no thanks. I’ll pass.”

Pinching your side, Barb sent you a playful grin, “How about we go to Family Video and see if we can find someone to rent us ‘Halloween II’?”

Interested piqued, you sat up, legs crisscrossed, “But you hate scary movies.”

“But I like you.”

The loud SMACK against your table made you shoot upright, Mr. Mundy’s yardstick only a few inches from where your hand rested on your plain sheet of paper. As he looked at the paper, tutting when he realized not only had you been sleeping during detention, you also hadn’t written any of the lines down that you were meant to,

“It would do you well to remember that corporal punishment is still legal in the state of Indiana.”

Glaring at the back of Mr. Mundy’s head as he passed by, you scrambled for your unused pencil as soon as the bell rang, signaling the end of your detention. Apparently punching another student in plain sight of a teacher resulted in consequences of the writing lines after school kind.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Hawkins High’s own little miss delinquent. Heard a lot about you today.”

The locker next to your own creaked under the boy's weight, and you couldn’t help but note the slight animosity in the boy’s tone.

“Thought you of all people knew not to believe everything you hear in the school hallways, Munson.”

“Yeah, see… normally I wouldn’t give a shit about the vapid scuttlebutt between the kretens of this school, but this one really piqued my interest.”

Slamming your locker shut, Eddie didn’t even flinch, instead his dark eyes watched you carefully.

“Eddie, it’s been a long day, so please just cut the dramatic shit and get to the point.”

“Wow, does that sparkling personality come with a brand new shiny pair of pom-poms?” Eddie’s smirk didn’t meet his eyes as he shook his hands to each side of his head, imitating a half-assed cheer routine, “Or is it only exclusive to us peasants?”

“Eddie-”

“Heard you and King Steve are pretty close, too. Didn’t take you for a traitor.”

You were at your limit, and Eddie loved to toe the line.

“Steve and I are… Not friends but, we went through some really tough shit last year-”

“Don’t even try me with that sob story shit. Last year I saw him drag you down a hallway and now you’re telling me you’re just cool with him? Like he isn’t a total dick-”

“He isn’t, alright? He… He used to be, sure. And he knows that. But things happened last year, and he’s been trying-”

“Heard things happened last night, too.”

Eddie knew it was a hit below the belt. You knew it, too. But sometimes the boy’s mouth moved before his brain had fully caught up.

“Nothing happened, Munson.”

Shrugging, Eddie’s sardonic smirk tugged at his face in an almost unnatural way that didn’t suit his normally soft features, “Not what I heard-”

“I didn’t think someone like you would pay much attention to small-town gossip. Especially after this year.”

His brows scrunched together, his dark eyes watching you closely as his head cocked to the side. You weren’t exactly friends with Eddie, either. But you’d shared enough shifts at the Hideout the previous year to know what had gone down with his family, with his dad.

“And why’s that?”

This time, you were the one suffering with word vomit, “Because we both know why your house got burned down, don’t we? The fact your father ran and left you to deal with his consequences. The fact everyone else in town believes you did it.”

Eddie’s eyebrows dipped, and you watched his Adam’s apple bob as he struggled to swallow down the lump that had crawled its way up his throat whenever he thought of his father and the shit he left him to deal with earlier that year. It was low-hanging fruit, but it was all you had.

Stepping forward and into your space, Eddie let out a forced huff of laughter, peering down at you with eyes that seemed endlessly dark, “And where’s your Dad, huh? Probably got a whole new family.”

Your chest heaved as you bit down on the insides of your cheeks. You would not cry in front of Eddie.

"Fuck you, Munson."

"Yeah, well... fuck you too, sweetheart."

Turning on your heel you rushed down the hallway, the blood pounding so loudly in your ears that you didn’t hear Eddie’s hushed ‘fuck’ as you left, the back of his head hitting the locker he’d been leaning on.

After heading home, you changed into your work uniform and quickly cycled your way toward the woods. Whether you’d admit it or not, you were seeking some form of comfort, and knowing you wouldn’t receive it from your mother you headed towards Hopper’s cabin. Your day had gone from bad to worse, your hand still aching from a punch that probably caused you more damage than Billy, the intrusive eyes of your peers judging you from every side of the hallway, whispered giggles swarming around you like a cloud of — not killer, but very annoying — wasps, their harsh, hushed words clearly about you. And the fight with Eddie? Well, he had started that, but it had shaken you nonetheless.

You just wanted to sit in the presence for a moment of someone who wasn’t mocking, cruel, or nosy, and catch your breath.

You could hear the ruckus as you approached, remembering to step over the trip-wire just in time and you couldn’t help but think that if Hopper was trying to keep this place secluded, he should probably stop shouting so goddamn loudly.

Wrapping your denim jacket tighter over your chest, you picked up your pace as you jogged up the few stairs of the porch, almost as decayed as your own.

Banging on the door a few times, you watched as your breath puffed out in small clouds around you, making you crave a cigarette. The argument had seemingly stopped, the cabin a little too quiet.

“Hop? Let me in, it’s freezing.”

You could hear the man mumble under his breath as he made his way toward the door, the sound of him unlocking several locks before he pulled it open, a deep line between his eyebrows as his glare burned down on you,

“We have a code. The code is there for a reason. It’s not some silly little game we made up for fun. It’s a goddamn code. For a goddamn reason.”

Your eyebrows shot up as you took a step back, his clipped tone causing your heckles to rise. Pushing the door wider, you sent your own glare back, “I forgot, alright? It’s freezing and my brain doesn’t work too well in extreme temperatures.”

“Kid, I swear to god-”

“Who the hell pissed in your coffee this morning?”

You stopped short as you finally saw El, the girl standing in her bedroom seemingly on the verge of hyperventilating in frustration, “Hey, El-”

“Did you know?”

Turning back to Hopper, the glare returned to your face. You weren’t too keen on his tone, “Did I know what?”

Hopper shook his head, a small huff of laughter that held no amusement falling from his lips, “Did you put this in her head? I mean, it's what you said would happen, right? Some shit about caged dogs, and biting and shit?”

“Hop, I literally have no fucking clue what is going on right now, or why the hell you’re mad at me.”

“You’re grounded,” Jim returned his attention toward the younger girl, “You know what that means? It means no more Eggos and no TV for a week.”

You watched with bemusement as Hopper made his way around the small cabin, throwing the frozen waffle box into the trash before making his way past you to grab the TV. Once El reached your side, you noticed the dark drop of blood from her nostril as Jim struggled to move the television set.

“All right, knock it off. Let go.”

El merely shook her head as the blood dripped down her cupid's bow, but Hopper was not in a joking mood, instead almost putting his back out as he shook the damn thing, “Okay. Two weeks. Let go.”

Another shake of the head.

“A month!”

“El, I’d really-”

“No.”

The girl's cool composure, the sheer confidence in her power alone was unnerving, but her unwavering stare had made even you feel uncomfortable.

“Well congratulations,” Hopper puffed, “You just graduated from no TV for a month, to no TV at all.”

“Hopper, c’mon…”

“No!” El screamed out as the man pulled the cable from the back of the TV.

Rushing toward the set, El frantically tried to move the antenna in a vain attempt to turn it back on.

“You have got to understand that there are consequences to your actions.”

“You are like Papa!”

Your back straightened as you watched Hopper struggle to keep what little composure he had left. Rubbing his forehead, you could see the distress pass over his features as he questioned El.

“Wow, alright. You wanna go back to the lab? One phone call and I can make that happen.”

“Jesus Christ,” you mumbled, watching the ongoing tennis match between the two. But it wasn’t until El started hurtling books and moving sofas into Hopper that you forced your way back into the argument, “Hey, how about you both just cool it for a second and-”

Dodging out of the way of the falling bookcase, you backed into the small end table and jolted when the corner of it dug a little too deep into your back. Almost losing your balance, you threw your hand back to try and steady yourself, a loud shattering noise catching your attention as a photo frame fell to the floor.

Turning, you saw the picture of a young girl with bright blonde hair and even brighter blue eyes smiling up at you, a large crack distorting her face as the shards of glass that surrounded her splintered into thousands of pieces.

The scream that fell from Eleven’s lips shook the whole cabin, every window surrounding both yourself and Jim shattering inward, causing the windows to shatter, flying at you from all directions.

Silence fell between you both — the sound of your heartbeat drowning out the sounds of El’s soft sobbing — and you felt your own chest begin to hyperventilate, vision becoming blurry from the tears that now lined your waterline, but it wasn’t until the man turned around and saw what had caught your attention,

“Hop. I’m so sorry, I didn’t… I didn’t see it, and I didn’t mean to... I can fix it-”

You rubbed your sweaty palms over your trousers, forcefully trying to swallow down the familiar lump, unable to tell whether it was a sob or vomit.

Jim’s silence only made you feel worse. Like a deer that was looking down the barrel of a shotgun, a voice in the back of your head screaming at you to run, but your feet felt glued to the floor and despite your scattered thoughts, your mind still tried to dig around for an excuse.

“You should go.”

Hopper’s voice — a little too cool, and much too calm — unsettled you. You’d expected him to shout, to yell, hell… You’d expect the man to cry before this. His stoic, unnerving calm, despite the tornado that had just ripped his cabin apart, the framed and now cracked photograph of his deceased daughter lying on the floor, staring up at you with such familiar eyes, despite never meeting the girl.

“Jim, I’m-”

“Go. Please.”

Your mother’s backhand hurt less.

Work passed by all too quickly, and for once you were glad not to get a moment of silence, the kids rushing between machines and pestering you to at least try and turn Mrs. Pacman back on, despite it breaking a few days ago — the repair man still not coming out to fix it — and a constant barrage of Slushee orders meaning it would be much less time consuming to clean at the end of your shift.

Before you knew it, the last of the straggling kids had been ushered out of the doors, the machines had been wiped clean from sticky fingers and Keith had handled the toilets. Eventually, the boy had locked up and you were unchaining your bike from the bike rack when you heard the slam of a car door.

Spinning around on the spot, your heart no longer threatened to jump out of your chest when you recognized the mop of hair heading toward you, dark eyes akin to a puppy dog who’d chewed up your favorite sneakers and got caught.

“How long have you been waiting out here?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Eddie assumed that you not storming off yet was a good sign, “Thought you closed at 9.”

“You’ve been here for two hours? God, do you have any other friends, Munson?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he huffed, the leather of his vest cracking slightly as he folded his arms over his chest, “I spent most of that time trying to get into the restricted section in Family Video.”

Unsure whether or not he was joking — hazarding a guess that he, in fact, was not — a small laugh fell from your mouth, “You’re disgusting.”

“I’m also sorry,” he sighed, smirk dropping as he ducked his head, looking at you through his long, dark lashes, “But… I brought a peace offering.”

You watched with a quirked brow as Eddie pulled something out of his pocket, a perfectly rolled joint offered to you in the palm of his hand.

“You think you can buy me off with Reefer Rick’s shit weed?” Walking toward the boy, you all but snatched the joint from him, a wide smirk pulling at your lips, “You’re damn right, Munson.”

The boy helped load your bike into the back of his van before climbing up to join you on the roof, music from his radio playing quietly for what might’ve been the first time since he’d inherited the thing.

“You know, about this whole Billy thing-”

“Eddie, seriously. I don’t want to talk about it. It’s embarrassing enough.”

“No, I… Look, just, if you ever want me to hot wire his Camero and drive that baby off the quarry, you just gotta ask.”

Sighing, you passed him the joint, watching him carefully as he avoided your gaze, “I think I’m good, but thanks. It's nice to know I have someone in my corner.”

“Yeah. I mean, you bus enough tables together and you’re kinda bonded, right? And, about the whole Harrington thing-”

“Eddie-” you warned, taking the joint from his ringed fingers, but the boy continued,

“I just, I wanna know you’re okay, that’s all.”

Sighing, you took another toke of the joint before continuing, “I’m fine, Munson. Really. Like I said, Steve is… he’s not the same person anymore. I know it’s hard to believe, but he’s a pretty decent guy.”

“I heard he left Nancy at that party, drunk as a skunk in the bathroom. Didn’t think the priss had it in her.”

“He left her?” you huffed, annoyance at the boy who wasn’t here to defend himself.

Shrugging, Eddie leaned back on his palms, hair wild as he stared up at the night sky, “That’s what I heard. They had a big fight right before, or something. Apparently, they broke up.”

Squeezing your eyes closed, you couldn’t help but feel like a total bitch. Steve had told you he’d had an awful fight with Nancy, and yet you’d still abandoned him in the school hallway, telling him that you didn’t want anything to do with him. Despite him making sure you got home safely the night before. Despite following you out of the gymnasium when you were upset. Guilt dragged its way up your throat, cutting it raw like sandpaper. But, right now, you had other, more pressing issues to deal with, so, swallowing the ever-growing lump in your throat, you turned to the boy after taking another toke.

“I’m sorry too, you know.” You sighed, exhaling a large cloud of smoke before passing the joint back to him, “What I said… It wasn’t cool.”

“Yeah, well, looks like we’ve both got some daddy issues to work through, right?”

“I mean it, Eddie. You’re nothing like Al. I mean, Wayne’s practically raised you since…You know… And I think you’re way more like him, only…”

“Only what?”

“Only much louder,” you smirked watching as he turned his head toward you, eyes wide with false offense, as he blew a gust of smoke at you.

“You are such a bitch,” he laughed, passing over the last of the joint.

“Whatever, freak.”

A silence passed over you both, and you were certain this was the longest the boy had ever gone without making some kind of noise. Eventually though, through the high haze that engulfed you both, you finally spoke up,

“Do you ever feel like everything is just… Turning to shit?”

“I’m a second-year senior,” Eddie turned to you, straight-faced and flat-voiced, “What do you think?”

You couldn’t help the long sigh that escaped your lips as you threw the roach to the floor of the parking lot, “Do you think we’re like, predestined to experience the shit we go through in life? Like, no matter what we do, or how we try to change ourselves, our lives were set from the get-go?”

“When the hell did you start getting philosophical when you’re high?” Eddie laughed, quickly settling down when he realized you were serious, “I, uh… He is bound up with the fate of the ring.”

“What the hell are you-”

“My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end.”

“Eddie, I don’t get your nerd shit, you know that-”

“It’s not nerd shit,” he glared, “It’s Tolkien. Lord Of The Rings. And it was said by Gandalf who’s like, super fucking wise.”

“I still don’t-”

Eddie held a hand up, stopping you mid-sentence, “It’s about choices, right? All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. Choices.”

Noticing your less-than-impressed stare, he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, “Fate. Destiny. Karma. All that bullshit. Who knows, right? Who knows if things are written in the stars from the moment we’re born or if it's all the just consequences of shitty actions, or if some shitty higher power up there is just being an asshole. We have like, zero ways of knowing, and the only thing we have control over is what we do about it. That’s what matters.”

Watching him for a second, you eventually turned away from his red-rimmed eyes and watched the late night sky, a blanket of stars covering it that seemed to twinkle back at you, “God, you are so high.”

Eddie merely chuckled in agreement.

Eddie drove you home, the music too loud and driving a little erratic, and you were almost shocked that he didn’t get pulled over. But, like you, he had a reputation in this town, and his driving safely and quietly probably would’ve garnered much more suspicion.

You’d thankfully remembered to grab the spare key before you’d left for the cabin considering your set was probably sitting pretty in Jonathan’s car waiting to be spotted, and you were grateful you wouldn’t have to attempt to wake your mother upon arriving home.

Your mother, however, was a woman full of surprises, not all of them good.

Closing the front door and clicking the lock into place, you heard her call your name from the small living room. You could tell from her demeanor that she’d been drinking, but not enough to end up in a state. Sometimes, her being black-out drunk was better. Safer.

“Where the hell have you been?” She asked, releasing the curtain from her grip where she had no doubt been peering out of when she heard the ruckus that was Munson’s van barrelling down the street.

“Work, Mom.”

A scoff fell from her lips eyes trying to remain on you, “Don’t try to bullshit me. It's past 1 am, and I saw that Munson boy’s van pull in outside. He’s trouble-”

“Mom, it’s late. Can the lecture wait until the morning?”

You tried to walk to your room, barely getting to the door when her spindly fingers wrapped around your elbow, long nails digging into the skin, “I can smell the marijuana on you from here. You know what he did, what his father did. I’m not having you bring trouble to this house. Do you want to have to go live in a trailer when they burn our home down, too?”

Glaring at your mother, you didn’t quite have it in you to tell her that despite being a two-bedroom house, it wasn’t much bigger than Munson’s trailer. And it definitely wasn’t a home. Not anymore.

No matter how much you begged and prayed to anyone who would listen for your mother to get well, for her to one day decide she didn’t need the drink anymore and instead become a real parent, your heckles always raised a little when she tried to pull this shit. Because this wasn’t her trying to mother you, it was her trying to take control of the one thing in life that she had left. You.

It began with Barb a few years back. She would question you on your poor decisions whilst swigging from a bottle, asking why you’d entertain someone like Barbara Holland. Who, sure, was smart and nice, but wouldn’t make it further than the head position at the library in life. She wouldn’t find a handsome, rich husband. Instead, she’d settle unhappily, and her life would pass her by boringly. Barbara Holland was not going to be remembered in the town of Hawkins. How wrong your mother was.

But you knew Barb. She might’ve looked like the kind of girl who gets trapped in Hawkins, but she had plans, and she was going places. She wanted to head out to San Francisco, at least that’s what she’d planned as a kid. But anywhere other than Hawkins seemed like a good idea. Barbara Holland was going to get the hell out of Hawkins… And then she was killed. It all seemed too unfair, but your mother was much more concerned with you making better friends.

Friends like Carol Perkins, Vickie Carmichael, or God Forbid, Tammy Thompson who, despite being pretty and popular and relatively kind to mostly everyone, wouldn’t stop singing her own rendition of “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”, and if you had to hear that damn song one more time…

“None of that was Eddie’s fault,” you pulled your arm from her grip.

The anger in her eyes was evident, the line between her brows sharp as she stared at you, “And what if he’d been pulled over? I could hear that god-awful music from halfway down the street. You think people around here wouldn’t call the cops on him? If you were caught with him-”

“Maybe he shouldn’t have driven home like that, sure. But it’s nothing worse than what you’ve done. Do you really think people don’t already talk about us? About how I’m going to end up like you, how you’re already halfway to your mother-”

The back of her hand stopped you, the whooshing sound blocking out whatever pained response she had. Pushing your way into the room, ignoring her calls, you slammed the door in her face and pushed against it, settling on the floor in front.

Despite the tears that welled in your eyes, you were right.

Your mother's backhand hurt a lot less.

#steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington x reader #stranger things fanfiction #steve harrington x you #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fic #steve harrington fic #steve harrington smut

38 notes · View notes

cooking-with-hailstones · 9 months

Text

Forever Bound to the Soul of the Hero

Fi's retelling of the Breath of the Wild Memories

(Rated T: Canon typical violence)

For @linksthoughtbrambles

Awakening

I have been asleep for a very long time.

The woods where I was laid to rest have flourished since their destruction in the last war. The spirits of the forest are chittering with nervous anticipation as I spark back to wakefulness. The Great Deku Tree rumbles his warm welcome, even though my awakening signals a portent of doom.

I feel the evil gathering in the land. Even in my sleep, I have sensed the aura of dark energy seeping into the earth, the trees, the wind, the shifting of stone on stone.

It is hard to tell how long it has been between cycles. Sometimes millennia will pass, sometimes only a hundred years. But every time the evil comes, someone will be chosen to fight back.

I can feel him out there. He sees me in dreaming, and he knows a great destiny awaits him.

It will soon be time. I shall be raised skyward once more.

Ceremony of Innocence:

“ Hero of Hyrule, chosen by the sword that seals the darkness… You have shown unflinching bravery and skill in the face of darkness and adversity. And have proven yourself worthy of the blessings of the Goddess Hylia. Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight… The sacred blade is forever bound to the soul of the Hero. We pray for your protection…and we hope that-- that the two of you will grow stronger together, as one…”

I am afraid.

Much has been lost in the generations since the last champion of the Goddess bore me across his shoulders. I can see remnants of the technology, lingering vestiges that have not decayed over the millennia. But so much knowledge is gone.

There is no mystery here as to why this spirit maiden is unable to awaken her powers. The Sheikah elders from whom she must receive guidance and instruction in every generation have lost their influence over the royal family. They are only now, through their adept understanding of ancient technologies, able to regain some of their former status. But the king and these so-called priests of Hylia take no account of the Sheikah’s wisdom. Instead, they have her bathing in the sacred springs, without any of the other rites of purification. They have her speaking prayers that carry no meaning and no power. And this blessing she speaks over Link, over my new master…

This cannot be all there is. There is so much more to do. The hero’s soul has not been tempered, not been tested. While the sacred realm has long been sealed, the Sheikah of generations passed have devised many trials to strengthen our bond. But they are dormant, so it seems that this, too, is forgotten.

I have been reduced to some mere symbol, a figurehead in this war.

I am very afraid.

Listening

“From here, we’ll make our way to Goron City. Then we’ll need some adjustments on that Divine Beast so Daruk can manage it as easily as possible. He’s figured out how to get it to move! However, it’s apparent that we still have much more to learn. But to think, that Divine Beast was actually built by people… That means we should be able to understand how it works and use it to our advantage.

These Divine Beasts…so much we don’t know… But if we want to turn back the Calamity Ganon, they’re our best hope.”

My master always listens keenly to the spirit maiden Zelda, even though he lacks sufficient technical understanding to truly follow her excited monologues. She has much of Hylia’s wisdom and ingenuity. She is passionate and dedicated to her craft. In some ways, she is the most like Hylia of any of the spirit maidens I have ever encountered. I estimate that, given proper training and access to the correct tools, this spirit maiden would have a 78% likelihood of being able to forge an entity similar to myself.

The lack of technical comprehension in this era continues to trouble me greatly. The slate the spirit maiden is holding is an invaluable tool, designed by the Sheikah to interface with my technology and assist in the transmission of information, transportation, and a myriad of other utilities that they cannot even fathom. All of these have been designed by the Sheikah to aid the fight against Ganon, and it is only being used at a fraction of its capacities.

“Tell me the truth… How proficient are you right now, wielding that sword on your back? Legend says that an ancient voice resonates inside it. Can you hear it yet…hero?”

My master stops in his tracks. He cannot, I think forlornly to myself. I can see his thoughts, I am coming to know him little by little, but still, he cannot hear my voice. No matter how much I scream, my master only perceives me as an echo in his subconscious.

Being the hero is not just a matter of drawing the sword – he isn’t tested. He has not passed through the goddess’ trials and forged the bond with the master sword through the goddess’ flame. His spirit may very well shatter when he confronts the agent of Demise.

He is angry and sad and cannot tell her. He tries to listen for the sword but no one has ever taught him how, and I am too weak to reach him.

And even now, I can feel the stirring in his heart. Every reincarnation of the Goddess draws the soul of the hero to her side. Whether friends or lovers, they cannot bear to hold hatred between them. I can feel the way his heart quickens when he has to grab hold of her. I know the thoughts he does not allow himself to think.

He says nothing. She turns away in a huff, thinking this means he has nothing to say.

Devotion and Resentment

My master has awoken, suddenly aware of Zelda’s absence from Tabantha stable. This is hardly the first time she has tried to evade him, but over the last few months he has become far more adept at finding her.

There is a 75% probability that he has deducted that I am the reason he is able to trace where she has escaped, no matter how clever her trickery. He feels it not like the dowsing I used to perform, but rather as an itch behind his eyes. A compulsion that pulls him forward, towards her, demanding that he be near her. It was designed by the Goddess, that their souls should find each other. And I will always pull them together. He can no more stop following her than he can stop breathing.

After a fierce gallop across Tanagar canyon bridge and nudging his horse up to the ancient columns, he finally starts to relax. I can feel the tension leave his shoulders.

Zelda, however, seems far from pleased.

“I thought I made it clear that I am not in need of an escort,” she says with great indignation. “ It seems I’m the only one with a mind of my own. I, the person in question, am fine, regardless of the king’s orders. Return to the castle. And tell that to my father, please.”

She was in the process of examining one of the shrines left by the Sheikah monks, meant to temper the hero’s spirit and strengthen him for the trials ahead. These are objects of curiosity for Hylians, and for Zelda in particular, but they are meant to play a vital role. It is essential that the hero be able to access these shrines. Without completing a significant portion of the shrines, I predict a 98.2% chance that the hero’s spirit will break.

My master takes this in stride. It is hardly the first time he’s weathered such outbursts. He steps in line, always three paces behind her.

She whirls around. “And stop following me!”

She is so angry with him, all the time. She does not understand that Hylia’s chosen hero will follow her to the ends of the earth and beyond. He will follow her through time, through space, through any hardship, just to see her safe and the land protected.

She does not yet know that she and the land are one. And he is now starting to realize that his duty, his destiny, is to protect them all.

A Champion’s Compassion

“Ah, well…you certainly got here fast. I should have expected as much from the princess’s own appointed knight.” The Gerudo champion looks down at the sleeping Zelda. “She was out on a survey all day today. Still as the sands now…” Turning to look at my master, her eyes sparkle in the desert night. “So…? Spill it, boy. Have the two of you been getting along all right?”

Quite the opposite, I think to myself. He must have heard the thought, because he winces.

The champion laughs. “It’s OK… I know. Your silence speaks volumes.” She sighs, looking down at the sleeping princess on her lap . “She gets frustrated every time she looks up and sees you carrying that sword on your back. It makes her feel like a failure when it comes to her own destiny.”

And hardly fair, given how little progress this hero has made in his own right, I think sullenly. They are both so unprepared, so untested. Training drills and prayer are hardly enough to strengthen their spirits. The champions have been through much more rigorous trials to connect with their divine beasts. I am happy to say that Zelda’s confidence in them is well founded.

“Don’t worry, it’s not like you carry blame in any of this.” She sighs, stroking Zelda’s hair. “It’s unfortunate. She’s put in more than enough time. Ever since she was a young girl, she’s gone through rigorous daily routines to show her dedication. She once passed out in the freezing waters trying to access this sealing power. And she has nothing to show for it… That’s the motivation driving her research. I’d be doing the same thing.”

I appreciate the Gerudo champion. She is a formidable blademaster, a dedicated champion, and a wise and supportive presence in Zelda’s life. Far more than can be said for the useless aristocrat that calls himself the king, without a drop of Hylia’s blood to his name.

“She really is quite…special. You be sure to protect her with your life.” She looks at my master with a piercing maternal gaze. “It’s quite the honour.”

He knows this. I know he dreams of it every night. He knows he will fight and die for her. He meets Urbosa’s gaze, and I sense she knows it too.

The champion reclines on her cushions. She has done much to make her divine beast a more comfortable abode, befitting a Gerudo chief.

“The night brings a chill… It’s probably time we take her in. Or...” She smirks as some mischief crosses her mind, then with a snap of her fingers, the desert sky lights up with electricity.

My master stumbles at the quaking thunder and Zelda wakes up, frightened. Neither of them have ever been particularly fond of storms and lightning, even if they don’t know why.

“Urbosa! What was that?! Did you feel that?!” Zelda gasps, before catching my master’s shadow by the doorway.

“Wait, what--how did you-- what are you doing here?!”

He blushes furiously, and though the darkness might conceal the pinkish glow from some, Urbosa’s gaze is far too sharp to miss it. She leans back with a hearty laugh.

“Wha-what’s so funny?”

“Ah, you, my dear.” Urbosa wipes a tear of mirth from her eye. “One day you’ll laugh about all of this.”

I hope she is right. They deserve to laugh.

Blood on the Sand

MASTER! I am screaming as loudly as I can. MASTER! DANGER! GO!

He feels my desperation, dropping the bundle of arrows he was examining from a merchant in the Kara Kara bazaar, and takes off sprinting towards the pull that he’s grown used to, the itch behind his eyes that’s always there. But now it is more acute, so loud he must be able to hear the ringing of the dowsing call in his ears.

He rounds the corner and sees them. Those cursed agents of evil, seduced by the false promises of Demise, and they are chasing Zelda over the sands. They cackle, their wicked sickles glinting in the hot desert sun. There is a cold rage in my master’s heart, and he puts on another burst of speed, drawing me from my scabbard. I brace myself, ready for the battle, as the Yiga’s blade curves towards Zelda’s fallen body.

My master is quick, and ruthless. I feel myself slip through the Yiga’s neck with a cold efficiency as warm blood soaks the edge of my blade. The body drops to the ground as he wheels around to face the other two. I can sense their fear, and I calculate only a 26% likelihood that they will attempt to continue the fight.

Sure enough, they scatter and vanish into the desert wind. My master does not take his eyes from them until they are truly gone, only then sheathing my bloody blade and turning towards Zelda. He gives her his hand to help her upright. “Are you hurt?” he asks fearfully. I can feel his heart still pounding in his chest.

Her eyes. She has never looked at him with any fondness before, but her eyes are brimming with gratitude and care. “ No, I’m fine, I just…” she pauses, and bursts into tears.

I know Link is thinking nothing of propriety when he wraps his arms around her. I know she is thinking nothing of resentment when she buries her face in his shoulder and sobs, the fear and adrenaline rushing through her body.

Maybe this is the beginning. Maybe this is how their spirits will grow. Maybe this is how evil will lose.

Laughter

I am not supposed to feel emotion. It was not part of my design. Yet after spending millennia borne by Hylians and getting to know their innermost thoughts, I have inevitably adapted to many of their traits.

To that end, I am beginning to feel… frustrated.

“There’s one! Oh! And another! The flowers we have in Hyrule aren’t just beautiful…They’re also quite useful as ingredients for a variety of things.”

Today the spirit maiden and my master are out on a field survey. I am grateful that they are getting along better, and that her resentment seems to have given way to a nascent friendship. My frustration is not with them. It simply irks me to see the Sheikah slate being used like some ordinary pictobox.

She gasps with excitement, and Link quickly settles down beside her.

“This one here is called the silent princess. It’s a rare, endangered species. Despite our efforts, we can’t get them to grow domestically yet. The princess can only thrive out here in the wild. All that we can hope…is that the species will be strong enough to prosper, on its own.”

She smiles, sadly, and my master’s heart flutters. He understands her meaning as clearly as I do. Neither of them can thrive here. They know that their destinies are not waiting for them inside the castle walls.

The prayers, the training, the wasted time, the technology that they’ve only uncovered 18% of the capabilities of… they must feel as frustrated as I do.

The somber moment is dissipated as Zelda gasps with excitement and lunges forward.

“Is that what I think it is?! Look at this, I don’t believe it, but I actually caught one! This delicacy is known to have very, very potent effects under the proper circumstances. Tada!”

She opens her hands to reveal… a frog. My master recoils slightly.

“Research from the castle shows ingesting one of these can actually augment certain abilities. We wouldn’t be in a controlled environment out here, but with your level of physical fitness…you’d be a perfect candidate for the study! Go on! Taste it!”

Link makes a truly disgusted face.

“Oh come now, I’ve seen you eating Goron rock roast. Surely you’re not put off by a little bit of mucus for the sake of scientific inquiry?”

She may have a point there. This particular incarnation of the Hero’s spirit seems to have a stomach made of cast iron.

With a resigned sigh – he truly cannot refuse her anything – he leans down towards her hands… and the frog leaps straight into his face. He startles, falling backwards on his rear as the frog scampers away.

Zelda collapses to the ground in a fit of infectious giggles, and soon enough the pair of them are leaning on each other as their laughter echoes through the hillside.

The Question of Destiny

In truth, I do relish sword drills. It is for my benefit as well; learning how my master moves, what his grip is on the sword, the gestures he favours. My algorithms internalize and optimize every movement. As we practice together, we grow closer. Even if he cannot hear me, he knows that I am with him, helping to guide his actions and see that each strike lands true.

Zelda watches him closely from her shelter beneath the tree.

“I doubt this will let up anytime soon… Your path seems to mirror your father’s. You’ve dedicated yourself to becoming a knight, as well. Your commitment to the training necessary to fulfill your goal is really quite admirable. I see now why you would be the chosen one.”

He stiffens slightly. His father had only died a year ago, and the wound was still fresh. But Zelda seems too lost in her own thoughts to notice.

“What if… One day…You realised that you just weren’t meant to be a fighter. Yet the only thing people ever said…was that you were born into a family of the royal guard, and so no matter what you thought, you had to become a knight. If that was the only thing that you were ever told… I wonder, then…would you have chosen a different path?”

There was no other destiny for my master. He was born to be Hylia’s chosen.

Not for the first time in my long existence, I wonder at the cruelty of the Goddess’ choice of mortal champions in this cosmic war.

Link pauses a moment before returning me to the sheath across his back.

“This… isn’t about me, is it?”

Zelda blushes. “I… well…”

He takes her hand. I can feel both of their heartbeats quicken.

“I think…” he pauses, choosing his words carefully. “I think that no matter who I was, where I was born, whatever was expected of me…”

“Yes?”

“I would find my way to you.”

Prayer and Dedication

It is a unique pain that my master must experience, and thus I experience alongside him. The unique pain that comes from watching someone you love torture themselves for circumstances beyond their control.

These prayers are useless. She is not praying to a Goddess. She is meant to awaken the Goddess within her own spirit. But they still cannot hear me, and nothing I could suggest to my master would have any effect. And so, I sit, sheathed and silent as my master and I ache at the desperation in Zelda’s voice.

“I come seeking help, regarding this power that has been handed down over time. Prayer will awaken my power to seal Ganon away… Or so I’ve been told all my life.

And yet… Grandmother heard them--the voices from the spirit realm. And Mother said her own power would develop within me. But I don’t hear, or feel anything!

Father has told me time and time again… He always says, “Quit wasting your time playing at being a scholar!” Curse you…”

Holy water splashes against clenched fists.

“I’ve spent every day of my life dedicated to praying! I’ve pleaded to the spirits tied to the ancient gods. And still the holy powers have proven deaf to my devotion. Please just tell me, what is it…? What’s wrong with me?!”

Link’s composure finally cracks. I am truthfully relieved when he drops me down on the stones and splashes into the spring, wrapping a sobbing Zelda in his embrace.

“There’s nothing wrong with you. We’ll figure this out, together. I promise, Zelda, I promise…” He strokes her hair, and she weeps all the more.

I cannot weep, it is not in my design. I should not feel emotion, but despite my programming, I have begun to understand something of grief. Oh, children, what have we done to you?

They may not succeed. They may not have the strength and ability to fight off the coming Calamity. But I will fight back. The Goddess created me to protect and guide her chosen. I must do whatever I can.

Calamity and Corruption

The final spring. The last hope they had. And just as I had predicted, nothing happened.

The champions all do their best to conceal their dismay, offering words of encouragement to Zelda, but to little avail. The Zora champion starts to say something, but –

The ground shakes.

The sky darkens.

The Rito champion launches himself skyward to see what’s taking place, but before I even hear his horrified gasp, I know what has happened.

My master leaps forward to support Zelda as she stumbles. He does not need to be told either. Just as with every Hero’s spirit preceding him, he has seen this moment in his dreams since he was an infant. But he is not ready, Zelda is not ready and the Calamity must know this as well. It has chosen this precise moment of despair to strike.

The champions disperse, each of them racing back to their Divine Beasts. Without the spirit maiden’s sealing power, the only hope at holding the Calamity at bay now lies with the strength of the champions.

Link and Zelda, now alone, race down the promenade towards Kakariko village. Bolts of purple and black tar seem to be streaking across the sky overhead, the sunset rapidly disappearing behind the dark clouds.

This is unfamiliar to me. What kind of attack is the Calamity readying? I have never witnessed this before.

They keep running, over the Sahasra slope and towards Hyrule field. The castle is the nexus point. Link must be ready for when the champions reach the divine beasts for their attack. We must try to defeat the Calamity, with or without the Goddess’ power. There is only a 2.6% chance that we succeed, but 2.6% is not 0.

beep

What…?

beep beep beep beepbeepbeepbeep

A guardian! Link and Zelda both heave a sigh of relief. The guardians have been deployed from Castle Town to protect the surrounding villages. At least that will provide some measure of safety.

Wait... Something’s wrong.

POW!

Without a moment to spare, Link tackles Zelda to the ground out of the way of the guardian’s deadly line of fire. Without a second thought, he pulls me from my scabbard, leaps forward and drives me straight into the guardian’s vulnerable eye. It sparks, fizzes, and collapses, purple smoke billowing out of its joints.

“What’s going on?” Zelda screams, as torrents of purple-black tar continue to pour from the sky onto Hyrule field and Castle town. “Why did it fire at us?”

Wasting no time, Link grabs her arm and whirls around, sprinting back the way they came and dragging Zelda behind him.

“Link, no! We need to go to the castle!”

“Zelda, we – ”

A bolt of purple tar slams into me.

“The master sword!” Zelda cries.

CORRUPTION!

This is the Calamity’s plan! Oh, Hylia, no!

He has remembered his defeat from 10,000 years ago. He remembered the technology that was turned against him and his armies, and his hatred and malice are now corrupting every element of Sheikah technology, and everything they interface with.

Including me.

NO! I twist through the dark tendrils reaching through my circuitry. YOU WILL NOT TOUCH ME. I WAS CREATED BY THE GODDESS HYLIA, AND I WILL NOT YIELD TO YOU, FOUL AGENT OF DEMISE.

I push back along these tendrils of malice, burning them away with the divine light of the Goddess. I reach through the telepathic link I share with the Sheikah technology, cutting and blazing through the spreading rot. The Sheikah slate, the towers, the shrines, all the creations designed to interface with the Hero’s soul, I can still connect with them! With every scrap of energy I have left, I burn away the malice creeping through their networks.

The malice fights back, the darkness spreading… but I will not yield.

Exhaustion and Despair

The forest near the bottomless swamp is dark and twisted, the tangled roots and mud are treacherous in the shadow of the storm. It is almost dawn, they haven’t slept, they are still running. I can feel the exhaustion creeping in, their stamina depleting. I too am exhausted - still fighting against the malice, trying to keep it at bay. I cannot help them any more than this.

Zelda stumbles and cries out, falling to her knees on the path made slick by torrential rains.

“How… How did it come to this?”

My master kneels beside her, desperate to move along, but reticent to force her to keep running.

“The Divine Beasts…The Guardians… They’ve all turned against us. It was Calamity Ganon. It turned them all against us!”

She is weeping in earnest now, rivers of tears meeting the raindrops already pouring down her face.

“And everyone--Mipha, Urbosa, Revali and Daruk… They’re all trapped in those things… It’s all my fault! Our only hope for defeating Calamity Ganon is lost, all because I couldn’t harness this cursed power! Everything--everything I’ve done up until now… It was all for nothing. So I really am just a failure! All my friends, the entire kingdom, my father most of all… I tried, and I failed them all… I’ve left them all to die…

“Zelda…” he grips her tighter. “Zelda, we have to go. There may be soldiers who can protect you at Fort Hateno. We need to go.”

She nods miserably, taking his arm and standing up again. They turn to the misty shadows, and keep running.

I truly had hoped their love might be enough.

Hylia Reborn

They are tracking us. Some corruption of their programming has locked them to our signal. Perhaps it is me they are tracking, a beacon of the Goddess’ light flickering amid the swirling chaos of malice.

Wouldn’t that be ironic.

The guardians homing in on us are coming thick and fast. While I am able to target their weak points with a respectable accuracy, I was made to cut through Demise’s creations - beings of corrupted flesh. I was never made to fight these machines.

Link is exhausted. Almost two days with little sleep and hardly any food, he has taken more than his fair share of blows. There are gashes across his legs and arms that are oozing blood, and three of his ribs are broken. I predict that he will lose consciousness in less than four minutes.

But Zelda is unharmed, for now. Nothing else matters to him at this moment.

He stabs me through the eye of yet another guardian, staggering backwards and leaning on me heavily.

“Link, save yourself! Go! I’ll be fine! Don’t worry about me! Run!”

He can hardly hear her through the blood rushing in his ears, and the incessant beeping as they scan for us. I don’t know what to do! The Goddess left no instructions for this. I have never witnessed my master die.

Another guardian has spotted us through the husks of its fellows. My master is so tired, and I have no strength to give him.

And yet Link pulls me up once more, readying himself and covering Zelda with his body, as the laser flares to life.

This is it.

Hylia, forgive me. I have failed you.

“NO!”

Zelda leaps forward, throwing herself in front of Link, hands raised in desperation. What is she -?

The world explodes with golden light.

Link winces, but does not shield his eyes. Nor would I, if I had eyes to behold this sight. The light radiates from her, guardians exploding and collapsing in its wake.

She did it. Hylia has come into her own!

“Was… Was that…? The power?” she whispers in the sudden quiet that follows as the corrupted machines power down.

You did it, Zel. he thinks, and seeing her safe, he finally yields to the pain.

She whirls around as he falls. “ No, no…Link! Get up!” She lifts him into her arms, hardly noticing the blood soaking into her ruined dress. “You’re going to be just fine…”

He looks up to her, eyes full of pride, of sadness, and love, and then he lets the darkness take him.

Our telepathic link snaps. I cannot sense his thoughts anymore. He is... gone.

Hylia help me, I did everything I could, but I could not save him. May the Goddess forgive me.

The Goddess holds his body and weeps.

But, wait.

Against the pommel of the sword, I feel the slightest pressure.

thump thump

A pulse. A pulse! His heart is still beating. He might yet be saved!

With my limited remaining computing power, I desperately run through the calculations. The medical infrastructure needed to treat these wounds is sorely lacking in this era of Hyrule, but... Yes! It is there! Reaching through the Sheikah network, I can feel it, safe from the Calamity’s corruption. I remember the monk Maz Koshia designing this shrine for just this reason. The Shrine of Resurrection.

Above me, Zelda shifts. Slowly, she starts to relinquish him, not noticing the pulse that I can feel, still beating ever so faintly in his chest.

No. NO! She cannot let go!

HYLIA, HEAR ME! I am screaming through broken circuits and fragmented code. I have been damaged beyond anything I was designed to withstand, I am decayed beyond measure, but she is awake! She must listen!

ALIVE

My strength is fading, but she cannot abandon him! Not now!

ALIVE

“The sword…?”

She has heard me! YES.

“So he can… He can still be saved?”

QUICKLY, THERE IS NO TIME! THE SHRINE OF RESURRECTION ON THE GREAT PLATEAU. YOU MUST TAKE HIM THERE, NOW. IT IS THE ONLY WAY.

“I… how..?”

“Princess!” a voice echoes from across the field. The Sheikah, loyal to the last, have tracked the Goddess here. Their timing could not be better.

“Princess! Are you all right?”

She draws herself up with a strength I have never seen in her before.

“Take Link to the Shrine of Resurrection. If you don’t get him there immediately, we are going to lose him forever! Is that clear?! So make haste and go! His life is now in your hands!”

The two men nod, immediately setting to work to stabilize him for the journey. They lift him carefully, wrapping his deepest wounds in bandages, before melting into the shadows as only Sheikah can. Zelda watches them disappear into the rain, then grips me hard, clutching me to her chest.

“You speak? I can hear you? How? How is this possible?”

With the last bit of strength I can muster, I answer. YOU ARE AWAKE.

“The power?”

YES. THROUGH YOUR GRACE AND WISDOM, AND LOVE FOR MY MASTER, YOU HAVE FOUND THE TRUE POWER OF YOUR SPIRIT.

“What do I do?” she cries. “How can I seal the Calamity without Link? Without the champions?”

BREATHE, ZELDA.

I am not meant for this task. I am meant to guide the hero, not the spirit maiden, but I carry enough of the Goddess’ memories to know what must be done while she waits for the hero to return.

YOUR POWERS SHOULD NOW CONNECT YOU TO THE SPIRIT MAIDENS WHO HAVE COME BEFORE YOU. LISTEN TO THEM. THEY WILL GUIDE YOU.

She looks startled, but she does what I say. Sitting in the mud amid the husks of the defeated guardians, she takes a deep, shuddering breath. Her ancestors gather around, and I hear the whispers of Hylia’s past incarnations floating past me, just on the edge of hearing. She glows with a faint golden light in the falling rain. After a few minutes, she opens her eyes.

“Yes.” She says. “Even if he cannot yet be defeated. I can hold the Calamity at bay. I… I have done it before.”

MANY TIMES

She nods. “And what of you? I cannot bring you with me, but I cannot leave you here.”

I am barely capable of speaking anymore. The decay of the malice has been stopped by her light, but I am already close to shattering.

I AM WEARY. I MUST HEAL.

“Of course, what must I do?”

TAKE ME TO THE LOST WOODS. THE CHILDREN OF THE FOREST WILL LEAD YOU THERE.

Laid to Rest

With the spirit of the Goddess awakened within her, Zelda can now see the korok spirits guiding her, from the field of battle all the way through the Lost Woods. Now she stands at the roots of the Great Deku Tree. At last, I can rest. In Hylia’s light, my master and I shall both become whole again.

“Your master will come for you. Until then, you shall rest safely here. Although the Slumber of Restoration will most certainly deprive him of his memories, please trust me when I say that I know he will arrive before you yet again.”

She places me carefully back in the pedestal at the Great Deku Tree’s roots. I feel myself slipping into my deep sleep once again.

As my consciousness fades, I hear the Deku Tree ask “If I may be so bold…what is it that you are planning to do next, Princess?”

Zelda looks resolute. “The Master Sword… I heard it speak to me. It seems that my role is unfinished. There is still something I must do.”

“I sense there is great strength in your dedication.”

She has greater strength than ever. She is not alone anymore. The spirits of her ancestors are guiding her now, all the way back to the first Zelda who sealed Demise for a thousand years, waiting for her hero to return.

“Great Deku Tree, I ask of you, when he returns, can you please relay this message… Tell him I—"

He interrupts her. “ Now, then… Words intended for him would sound much better in the tones of your voice, don’t you think?”

She smiles up at him, nods in understanding.

As my consciousness finally slips away, I think to myself, dearest Zelda. He already knows. He loves you too.

Awakening II

He is awake, and so am I.

The spirits of the forest are chittering with excitement. Even as I rest here, I can hear the Great Deku Tree stirring with anticipation. We all felt the call of the spirit maiden locked away in Hyrule Castle, calling him once again to her side. I have felt her longing for him these hundred years.

This time, he will grow strong in spirit. This time, we shall fight together.

This time, the Calamity will fall.

Thanks so much for reading! You can also find this fic on AO3

#emily writes #my writing #fanfiction #skyward sword #Fi #loz fi #zelink #botw zelink #BOTW link #BOTW Zelda #hateno house gift exchange #hateno house #linksthoughtbrambles #gift exchange #fi lore #sheikah tech #calamity ganon

36 notes · View notes

vdragon-creations · 7 months

Text

Happy Valentine’s Day

Each of the versions of Sashatello would like to wish you a Happy (late) Valentine’s Day! And the only reason it is so late, is that they spent their days with each other. Let’s take a peek at what they were up to, shall we? 👀

First up~ 🐆💜🐢

87 Sashatello: Cat Kisses

Little pecks on the cheek are nothing strange to this couple!

2003 Sashatello: Flowers

This is kinda a spoiler for something in the next part of my Fic, Spring Stars. Regardless, I love drawing these two just being cutesy together. Especially when they both get all blushy and Shy while interacting!

2007 Sashatello: Proposition

07 Sasha is a bit blunt with her way of thinking, and especially when she wants something. So when asking if Donnie would “Be her mate.”, it was quite a lot for the turtle to take in all at once. He was down, of course, but it didn’t erase the intense embarrassment he felt from her wording.

IDW Sashatello: You’re so cute

Get you a lady that looks at you the way Sasha does Donnie. To her, he is the cutest thing she’s ever encountered. and this is coming from a God! Someone who has met many souls, seen countless lovers, and traveled the world many times over! So…who is Donnie to argue with her when she calls him Cute?

2012 Sashatello: Be My Valentine

Ah yes, these two. Honestly, a romance between these two is so hard to write, it’s painful! But, I’ll keep trying damn it! 2012 Sasha is just so smitten with this moron that it’s almost a meme in my head at this point that canonically, I don’t see them becoming an item until the Mutagen Bomb ending where Donnie becomes a robot! (I’ll draw that one day…) For now, I’ll just keep trying till it makes sense to me!

Bayverse Sashatello: Hold Me

You know, if it weren’t for how detailed their designs are, I’d draw them way more than I do now. I mean, LOOK AT THEM! Cute af, and the part of me that has a size kink can’t help but drool at just how TALL Bayverse Donnie is! I really need to do more art of these two, but for now, here we are! And I’m not complaining.

Batman VS TMNT Sashatello: Kiss Me, Sugershell

Not gunna lie to you folks on this one, I was very tame compared to what I originally wanted to draw for them. But I still thought that what I came up with was still pretty hot! The whole Bad girl & Good boy dynamic they have is just….so DAMN good! I love it! (And I adore the Pet Name Sasha calls Donnie in this version so much!) I can’t wait to draw more of them together. I have a rather cute/humorous idea in the works for them in the future.

Mutant Mayhem Sashatello: Young Love

Ah, young love! MM Donnie has got that Rizz going, but I could still see him sweating a bit when talking about having a crush on Sasha. (Especially since he was a fan of her’s to begin with before they met!) And MM Sasha is a shy mess to begin with, but would try her hardest to toughen up, if it meant she could somehow impress Donnie. I could see them making gifts for one another on Valentine’s Day, becoming two blushing messes trying to come up with things to say.

And that’s a wrap! Hope you all had a good Valentine’s Day! 💜

20 notes · View notes

beholdthemem · 2 years

Text

This was supposed to be part of an actual fic but I never got around to writing the rest of it, so have some mutually pining SalAsh discussing one of Ash’s past relationships Like Friends Do.

Ash canonically doesn’t feel comfortable showing her soft squishy emotions to people. Let’s talk about that and what it might mean, shall we?

“It was SO BAD, I was so cringey. I used to do these ridiculously unnecessary things all the time, just, like- embarrassingly over the top, to the point where at like, three weeks in he’s like ‘Okay, you need to calm down.”

“Like what?”

“I-” Ash thinks for a minute, then snorts, remembering something. “Oh, God, I used to write him notes.”

“Notes?” Sal repeats, a little amused at how underwhelming that sounds compared to the build up.

“Just, these-” Ash starts snickering again, staring off into space like she can actually see her past self in the act and can’t get over how corny she’s being. “I’d write him all these sappy little love letters, and leave them where I knew he’d find them. All day, every day, he had to live in fear of ‘Oh, God, another fucking one’ every time he checked his locker, or looked in his backpack, or came some place where we usually hung out, because WITHOUT FAIL, I’d have left one there. I’d do all these fancy designs on the outside, too- I busted out the good markers, I went all fucking out- and then it’s just envelope after envelope of mushy teenage girl bullshit, like ‘I love listening to you talk about the things you care about, it’s so cool how passionate you are’, ‘I knew you’d do great on that test, you’re so smart’, ‘you have the most amazing smile’-”

“What?” Sal blinks, slightly thrown.

“And he just had to sit me down and be like ‘Ash, no, this is weird’ because I somehow could not seem to figure that out on my own-”

“How do you COMPLAIN about that?” Sal demands in comedic disbelief, while Ash cracks up. He’s careful to play up the mock outrage, but beneath it finds himself only half joking. “Getting notes from the person you’re dating every day talking about how much they like you? That sounds amazing!”

“It was not.”

“Did he complain every time something good happened? Was he just like- one of those people?”

“No!”

“Gets a new bike for Christmas as a kid- ‘Oh, it would have been better if it was a different color.’ Band tickets? ‘I guess that’s cool, but the venue they picked sucks.’ Wins the lottery- ‘How come this is in twenties instead of individual one dollar bills so I can swim in them like Scrooge McDuck??”

Ash dissolves into laughter. Sal grins to himself, still shoving down the spike of envy that flared up at the idea of being loved enough to have her write every day and tell you so, and not even being grateful.

“In his defense, he was expecting me to be like- cool, and chill. Like, I got on well with most of the dudes on the baseball team cuz I was the only one who could keep up with them during gym class. He was used to me hanging out with them and being really fun and casual, and then we start dating and suddenly it turns out I’m actually really clingy-”

“Somebody you think is cool writing you notes about how awesome they think you are is even more special!” He argues. He tries to imagine being on the receiving end of something like that, and manages to picture it for about two seconds before the fantasy collapses due to sheer improbability of premise. It still manages to make him feel warm inside.

“Okay, you don’t think that’s weird just cuz you’re a romantic.” Ash dismisses, smiling nonetheless.

‘You were too,’ Sal thinks to himself, and feels a twinge of sadness for the young version of Ash who’d decided to get rid of that part of herself after deciding it didn’t make anyone else happy.

#sally face #ashley campbell #sal fisher #salash

43 notes · View notes

carewyncromwell · 2 years

Photo

“When you're weak, I'll be strong... I'm gonna keep holdin’ on! Now don't you worry: it won't be long... Darling, if you feel like hope is gone, Just run into my arms -- I'm only one call away... I'll be there to save the day... Superman got nothin’ on me -- I'm only one...I'm only one...call away...”

~“One Call Away (cover)” by Karlijn Verhagen & Mike Attinger

x~x~x~x

Carewyn’s dress robes based on this design -- so good to draw the outer sleeves more accurately than my original sketch, after making several mistakes with them I couldn’t fix in post the first time!

x~x~x~x

Oh gosh, some actually canon Carion content!! My dears, it has been a while... 🥰

For those of you who don’t know my personal canon for Orion post-Hogwarts, our favorite Quidditch Papa Bear enters into a couple of short-lived relationships while playing for the Montrose Magpies Quidditch team as their Chaser and later Captain, even though after seeing her Patronus that matches his right before he graduates, he’s left wondering if he and Carewyn could’ve been a thing romantically, if he’d both figured it out sooner and been brave enough to broach the issue with her. The most important of those relationships for Orion resulted in his beloved daughter Eos, who Orion took sole custody of after her mother abandoned both her and him in the midst of the Wizarding War, right before the fall of the Ministry. Since he was an orphan with no knowledge of his magical ancestry, Orion had to then go on the run from the Muggle-Born Registration Commission with baby Eos, only to get cornered and caught when he tried to covertly buy a replacement for his broken wand. While in custody, Orion kept Eos (strapped safely to his chest with a makeshift wrap) under his cloak in a desperate attempt to prevent their separation, pretending that she was his arm and that it was broken to explain why he wouldn’t let anyone touch or examine it too closely. Thankfully, when Orion and Eos arrived at the Department of Mysteries awaiting a trial and sentencing, several resistance members at the Ministry secretly broke in to rescue the most recent prisoners -- and one of those resistance members was Carewyn, still working under the radar in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Once Carewyn managed to smuggle Orion and Eos out, she sent him to stay with another resistance member -- an associate of her brother Jacob, who was also hiding fugitives in his London flat Secret-Annex-style -- where he and Eos could remain safely in hiding. As they parted, Orion couldn’t help but look upon this woman he hadn’t seen in person in six years with a kind of anxiety he hadn’t felt since the Quidditch Cup: one inspired and touched beyond words, but concerned for her well-being, as well.

“...I should think it would be pointless, to encourage you to hide as well.”

Carewyn’s face turned very grim as she shook her head.

“If I do, then I lose the position I have which can help me help others hide,” she said. She looked away, her expression becoming sadder. “...There’s so little I can do, right now. There are so many people I can’t help -- that I’ve failed to help...”

“You’ve helped me,” Orion said gently. “And Eos, as well. And for that...”

His black eyes rippled with emotion despite himself.

“...I lack the words needed, to express how I feel about that. The...gratitude I feel for it.”

Carewyn looked up at him, her almond-shaped blue eyes betraying deep emotion despite the brave smile she put on. She brought her arms around him, one holding the back of his neck in a hug and the other lightly resting beside the wrap holding Eos.

“There’s no way I would’ve let them hurt you, Orion,” she said quietly. “You or Eos.”

There were so many things Orion felt like he wanted to say, but he knew their time was short, and he ultimately lost his nerve. Even with this, though, his parting words to Carewyn were resolute --

“Next time we meet, it shall be because I have come found you -- hopefully in a more peaceful world.”

And Carewyn’s response was said through another resilient, pretty smile --

“I'll try to make that world come soon.”

Sure enough, after the War was over, Orion stopped by Carewyn’s office at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, both to acquire some help on behalf of the newly reformed Quidditch League and to follow up with Carewyn about her letters regarding the solidification of his legal custody over Eos. And it was through this reconnection that both Orion and Carewyn truly realized how destined for each other they truly were.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #my art #carewyn cromwell #orion amari #eos amari #only my second time trying to draw bb!eos!!#god I love single daddy orion so much :')#eos doesn't remember her mum at all so her daddy's legal partner carewyn is the closest thing she has to a mum #and honestly she's more than happy with that! carey's a kick-ass surrogate mum!#and her ward erik is a great surrogate brother even with all of his sailor-worthy swearing XD #orion has an uneven haircut btw #it's kind of hart to tell from this angle but the hair is all pushed up against that one side with an undercut underneath #makes it easy to tie up when orion's playing quidditch :D

12 notes · View notes

coredrill · 11 months

Text

random gridman universe spoiler thoughts that have been marinating in my head

also with the bluray out in a week (!!!) i may switch to actually posting these kinds of things without the readmore and maybe even some gifs (we shall see) so if you don’t wanna see that block #gridman universe spoilers

been thinking alot abt how the more fanservicey camera shots are used in this series and i genuinely think it is SO interesting because. it really just seems to be akane’s perspective controlling it? like. there were plenty of boob and butt and thigh shots in ssssg, where she was controlling the world, from both her and rikka. and then in ssssd there was basically none, even though mujina seems to have been designed for that kind of thing. and then in universe it’s back but ONLY with akane, because the only thing she has control over now is herself. and it’s SO interesting paired with universe’s message abt how different people interpret works of art and i just. AUGH. much to think about

also

jesus fucking christ why’d they give gauma the softest face on the planet here 😭😭😭 he loves yomogi and the rest so so so much he named himself after their combined form 🥺 WAAAAHHHH

also i think the three big farewells that the movie gives us are ALSO so interesting to think about. because we’ve got focus on akane-anti, akane-rikka, and gauma-yomogi. and in both akane-rikka and gauma-yomogi, they actually don’t say anything? which i think is kind of a brilliant choice! bc like. starting with gauma-yomogi, yomo expresses in the scene above that he would’ve felt more closure with a “proper goodbye”. whereas their goodbye in-canon was yomo all snotty and crying and begging gauma not to leave. and then when he gets the chance at the end of the movie, he’s more at peace with it! he doesn’t feel like he HAS to give a “proper goodbye” because - even if they’re not in the same world - he knows that gauma’s still out there thriving, so yomo can fall back on what he learned in ssssd and move forward without it 🥺😭😭 and i think rikka-akane fall into a similar situation - rikka spends all of the movie grappling with akane, with wanting to tell the world she existed and then when they don’t get it, throwing that part of the script in the garbage. then akane, “i want us to be together forever, let’s hope that dream never comes true” akane is BACK and rikka can’t even talk to her because it would all come out. she’s still grappling with the things she didn’t say to akane just like yomo is with gauma - until akane tells her that she doesn’t have to say anything!!! akane understands that rikka loves her, and from that point on it doesn’t matter whether anyone watching the play “got it” because akane does!!! but THEN we get to see anti/knight and he actually DOES give a proper goodbye and it’s SO BEAUTIFUL because he really did lack the ability to both 1) use his voice and 2) be heard by akane in ssssg. and it’s just so fitting and i love how it contrast the other goodbyes and UGH. WHAT A FILM!

#a: gridman universe #t.txt

2 notes · View notes

imnobodyuknow · 2 years

Text

She really puts the “blue” in “blooey,” doesn’t she?

I’ve made you wait for quite a while, so I thought I’d skip the guest hosting, GIFs, Double-GIFs, etc. this time around and finally share the long-awaited “big reveal” number 56! Let’s cut to the chase (no pun intended), shall we?

Politics are a messy business even in the Paper Mushroom Kingdom, apparently. 😄

So, for those not familiar with Paper Mario, it’s a turn-based RPG series (Super Paper Mario being one exception) that, like several other video game series, allows you to do some questionable things, including but not limited to the ones described by Princess Peach in this comic. One game in particular even lets Mario attack the woman herself.

Oddly enough, though, she seems to be the only one who cares about it. 😆

While I know Mario’s not the type to hurt innocent people, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if this sort of thing was canon to the story. If it was, it would make Mario the sort of person who can and will save the day when the situation calls for it, but who also has a habit of getting on people’s nerves (in other words, a bit of an antihero).

While we’re on the subject, those of you who are gamers can probably name a few other examples of this in other game series -- Mario jumping on piantas’ heads in Super Mario Sunshine, Link picking up pots and breaking them in the Legend of Zelda series, Fox shooting/crashing into his allies in the Star Fox series, and so on. There are even some Legend of Zelda games that will punish you for taking it too far (ex. The Wind Waker, Spirit Tracks, etc.). But since the Paper Mario series seems to mostly let Mario’s shenanigans slide, I decided to see how his fellow papery people would react if they took them seriously. Quite a bit different, isn’t it? And hilarious, of course. 😏

So, a couple of things I hope you didn’t notice about the comic -- first, it’s apparently been a while since I used the “flesh” colored pencil, which is why Peach seems a bit paler in the second two panels than in the first two. I attempted to fix that with GIMP, but it became too much of a hassle in the end, so I decided to leave it as is. On the other hand, it kind of makes sense for her to look redder in the second panel, doesn’t it? 😄

I also kind of messed up Peach’s glove on the righthand side of the final panel. I forgot that it’s supposed to get thinner as it moves toward her hand somehow. 🤷‍♂️ But given how many details there were in each panel, I’m actually pretty glad that those are the only noticeable errors! I mean, I guess the shape of the railing could be a little more consistent, but...eh, close enough.

I’ve been learning to say those two words a lot while drawing lately, by the way. It’s a big help for someone as persnickety as me. 😅

Interestingly enough, the Princess was made after a very recent version of her...

...while the room she’s in, the chair she’s sitting in, and the book she’s reading were based on a couple of screenshots from the very first Paper Mario game:

It turns out that even Nintendo 64 games include a lot of details you don’t notice until you try to draw them. Copying the orange and yellow swirls of one column, the vertical stripes of two others, the fancy blue banner, the railing posts, the table and potted plant, and the sky-themed wall design was a challenge, but it made for good practice, as well as making it that much more rewarding to get to the more enjoyable parts -- namely, Peach’s shiny crown and hair, her beautiful outfit, and her hilarious faces and gestures. 😊

I also never realized how hard phone cords are to draw before now, but making a convincing spiral shape was another good challenge. I started out by drawing a line that curved the way I wanted the cord to, then drawing the cord around it, and...it looks like it worked out okay. 🙂

And with that, have a blessed day, everyone! And make sure to keep your nose (and mustache, if applicable) clean!

#the legend of zelda #hyrule warriors: age of calamity #impa #paper mario #princess peach #pencil art #colored pencil art #is it redundant that i drew this on paper?

4 notes · View notes

eri-cheri · 4 years

Text

Now that we have reached the last chapter of the year. It is time to do a 2020 roll call of what I like to call, “State of the Shippers”:

1. IzuOcha. Status: Placated.

-IzuOcha’s could celebrate several cute tidbits throughout the year. Mini moments as they say.

Anime Highlights: The OVA’s came in clutch with moments for shippers all around and IzuOcha is no exception. We got a cute tidbit where Izuku and Ochako bumped into each other and were flustered.

Manga Highlights: Christmas kept on giving to this fandom as the AM doll Izuku gave Ochako made many appearances. A cute fist bump between the two was also exchanged and Mina was right there bouncing with y’all.

Heroes Rising: Izuku super man carried Ochako to safety. And was Angy she was injured. Fans could enjoy the small Lois Lane moment.

Troubling Signs?: Ochako said “I would like to be excluded from this narrative” when it comes to her feelings for Deku. She’s a hero damnit! So if they are in for something, probably won’t be while they are still in school.

II. DabiHawks. Status: Yikes.

- Dabi and Hawk’s very public breakup set this fandom in disarray but also kind of disayay?

Anime Highlights: None yet. This fandom was cruelly cock blocked by Bones. Sorry DabiHawks stans.

Manga Highlights: Where to begin, my goodness. With these fans, I guess the good and the bad is a plus in this homoerotic double agent relationship. We have the notion that Dabi may have known Hawks when they were kids, which may be a positive? Hori sure loves his childhood friends. Other than that. The GIRLS WERE FIGHTIN’. Hawks is now permanently scarred by Dabi and I don’t think it was kinky folks. Tokoyami inserted himself in the middle to White Knight Hawks, Dabi broke up with him via YT expose and overall, shippers could anguish in the absolute MESS that this ship endured this year. But I’m sure that’s part of the appeal. So...yay?

Heroes Rising: They were both in it.

Troubling Signs?: The entire relationship is a troubling sign which again, is part of the appeal. Maybe Hawks will cuddle up with Dabi’s father after the war. That’s troubling! Speaking of...

III. EndHawks. Status: Yearning and Burning.

-If there’s one thing Endeavor couldn’t stop worrying about, it was his hot (in more ways than one) new side piece who probably should have looked at the fine print when signing a contract to be a recurring guest star on “Keeping up with the Todoroki’s”.

Anime Highlights: A fateful meeting finally in high definition for all our eyes to see! Hawks’s unwavering support of his biggest hero was endearing to watch and their shenanigans together spurred the anime onlies to finally jump on the biggest May-December ship in the series.

Manga Highlights: Endeavor’s admiration and concern for Hawks seeped through the pages as we entered our most exciting arc in the manga yet. Fate split these two up yet entwined their downfall together. And that Fate’s name was Dabi...or should I say ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️ or should I just say Touya!

Heroes Rising: “Don’t bite my head off, Endeavor.” Geez, can you flirt a little less loud Hawks?

Troubling Signs?: They say never meet your heroes and Hawks is in for a rude awakening. We shall see just how deep his admiration runs or if Endeavor’s past will split our dynamic duo up for good.

IV: TodoDeku. Status: “Precious”

-Shoto’s “Midoriya is in Danger” radar was highlighted in both manga and anime. 4th User’s quirk, who?

Anime Highlights: “Midoriya hasn’t returned yet.” “Where’s Midoriya?” “Midoriya! Grab my hand!” “Have some of my Soba Midoriya.” Shoto gets it. His emotional support friend is a danger magnet. TodoDeku’s also enjoyed tiny tidbits in the OVA such as a hand grabbing scene. Gotta hold tight to those crumbs.

Manga Highlights: Two Words. “Precious Friend.” Deku comes in w/o arms or legs fighting for Shoto and Shoto’s honor. These two spent the entire year worried sick about each other, and going against all odds to save each other. Precious Friends indeed. TDDK fans ate.

Heroes Rising: Shoto kicks some dog ass and then faints thinking of Deku (and Bakugo but shh. Let the shippers rejoice.) On the bright side, we have a 3rd movie coming featuring “The Three Musketeers” so shippers of TdDk can HOLD TIGHT to what’s to come.

Troubling Signs?: Shoto still doesn’t know about OFA and he’s gonna have LOTS of questions after this arc. Will Deku finally tell him? If not, it could make or break the ship.

V. TodoBaku. Status: “Shining through the city with a little funk and soul.”

-Who knew the greatest comedy duo we needed was Shoto and his hot headed “friend” or not friend? It still remains unclear to Shoto. Regardless, these two had a fun year.

Anime Highlights: “I wanna see your cute face”, disco dancing, and more fun in the provisional license training. Plus the OVA added some cute moments between the two such as Bakugo staying behind to save Todoroki during a dangerous excercise and his adorable plan neatly animated for us. I’d say TodoBaku’s really were resurgent and energized this year!

Manga Highlights: Shoto, that is not how you properly Catch a Kacchan, I’m sorry. But at least you did it you mad lad. As with Deku, Shoto spent the year worried sick about Bakugo. While the anime let us have our fun, these two were suffering in the manga.

Heroes Rising: Again, Shoto put a dog down and then fainted with Bakugo on his mind (and Deku but we ignore that. Shush.) TodoBaku’s have the 3rd movie to look forward to which is bound to have some amazing content!

Troubling Signs?: They have a lot of trauma to deal with. And a lot of Deku to worry about. I also imagine Shoto will be hurt about being left out of the OFA secret. We shall see what 2021 has to offer.

VI. KiriMina. Status: Unbreakable.

-Changing your hairstyle to match the gal who inspired you in middle school? Sorry y’all but if Mina were a guy, I’d say that’s gay af.

Anime Highlights: We got that backstory Bois. Red Riot’s origin might as well make him be called Pink Riot. Again with Hori and the childhood friends though I wouldn’t exactly call them friends. They just went to the same middle school but Kirishima was highly influenced by Mina’s Chivalrous spirit! A ship is born!

Manga Highlights: The influence is mutual! Mina creates a move based on Kirishima’s unbreakable and we all let out a collective “awwww”. Also in the war arc, we got Kirishima making sure Mina’s chivalrous spirit shines through right into Gigantomachia’s mouth! KiriMina may just be the unsung MVP’s of this arc.

Heroes Rising: They were in it.

Troubling Signs?: I can’t think of a single one. KiriMina’s can enjoy a peaceful sailing.

VII: KiriBaku. Status: Crumb Collectors.

-2020 was an uneventful year for KiriBaku but Bones made sure there were crumbs aplenty! Thank God for OVA’s!

Anime Highlights: KiriBaku’s did thrive in one episode! Kirishima reflects on the sludge incident and evolves his quirk based on inspiring words from Bakugo! Hooray! KiriBaku’s can thrive in their blossoming friendship. The OVA also has Kirishima (and Kaminari but shh) once again following Bakugo’s lead when it comes to the training excercise. How can you not? He’s so manly!

Manga Highlights: Not gonna lie. There is nothing much here this year. I did find a teeny tiny flake in Aizawa’s flashback. Kirishima and Bakugo are sitting next to each other. Oh! And at the hot pot gathering, Bakugo sits next to Kirishima! Eat your crumbs KiriBaku’s! There’s always next year!

Heroes Rising: Kirishima hangs with a lazy Bakugo and delivers the most hilarious line in the whole movie. “Silly Bakugo, there won’t be villains here!” Hahah... Silly Bakugo. Oh you~ KiriBaku’s can inhale the fact that those two sure love to hover around each other!

Troubling Signs?: With great crumbs come little responsiblity. No trouble if there’s no content! 🤔

VIII: KamiJirou. Status: Singing their hearts out 🎶

-If there’s any ship that’s coming close to canonization, I think this is it, folks! “Think of the person most important to you!” Can’t argue with Midnight!

Anime Highlights: Kaminari does non stop encouraging of Jirou and her hobbies! He works super hard to learn guitar for her sake! We love a king who can encourage his queen!

Manga Highlights: Kaminari thinks of the most important person to him and surprise! It’s Jirou! All of the feels can commence.

Heroes Rising: They were in it!

Troubling Signs?: Kaminari does love his women. And men. Kaminari overall is a huge flirt. But Jirou appears to have his heart strings. ❤️

IX: BakuDeku. Status: Rising. 👑

-Alternative Statuses include Winning, Thriving, Soaring. It’s just been non stop content this year. 2020 is truly the year for BakuDeku. The shippers can rejoice.

Anime Highlights: Three words. Be. My. Cane. The OVA’s helped fan the flames of the BkDk hearts with a surprise! Deku tops! Not only that, we got a lovely shoulder tap of encouragement in the canon material. While in season 4, Deku’s primary focus was Eri. Bakugo and Deku still had their moments to be hella gay.

Manga Highlights: Where do I even begin? I guess we’ll just cut to the chase with Bakugo Katsuki: Rising. We finally saw Bakugo’s true feelings manifest for Deku and if getting stabbed for him isn’t the ultimate showing of love, then idk what is. BakuDeku’s rounded out the year with the Volume 29 cover AND the volume 29 cover drafts to eat at our heart strings. Overall, their relationship got the spotlight in the manga this year. And we’re bound to start 2021 with a dramatic confrontation. Hand holding seems to be the key with these two and it didn’t stop with Heroes Rising...speaking of.

Heroes Rising: The entire movie. Like....yeah. That’s it. [OP, your bias is showing. You have to be SPECIFIC.] {But random criticizer in my head, if I lay out the entire plot of the movie, my post will be too long} [OP....] UGHHHH Okay okay. The POPSICLE MELTING. THE HAND HOLDING. THE CHARACTER DESIGNS OF WHAT MIGHT AS WELL BE THEIR LOVE CHILDREN. Did I mention? “It’s fine if it’s you?” CAUSE YEAH. Oh and All Might randomly officiating their wedding in their heads like idk. Isn’t it just simpler if I say the whole movie??!

Troubling Signs?: Well these two’s relationship is extremely delicate and while it has non stop soared this year, Deku might not take too kindly to Bakugo almost dying for him. Will they stop pushing each other away? Time will tell.

That’s all for this year folks! Happy Shipping and good luck to everyone next year!

#my hero academia #bnha spoilers #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #bakudeku #izuocha #tododeku #todobaku #DabiHawks #endhawks #KiriBaku #kamijirou #kirimina

2K notes · View notes

noperopesaredope · 2 years

Text

SvtFoE Rhombulus Rewrite (Pt. 1)

So recently I made this post, and I am keeping the promise I made in said post. This is just part one, which is introducing the small, yet important change I have made to his character. Here it is (Warning: LONG):

A Small Character Change:

- First thing that is a small, yet major thing that I might want to change that would recontextualize some things but make a lot of things flow a bit easier; Rhombulus represents childhood and is the youngest of the MHC, so why not show that a little bit more?

- Might do a small redesign for this since I want to and no one can stop me. Plus it would work better with what I’m trying to do. Would definitely keep some of the major elements of his design the same, like his general head and also the two snakes.

- Might base him a bit more off a Chimera though, with some lion paws, goat legs, and two snake tails. IDK, tbh I came up with half the stuff on this at 1 am and am only writing it down now. Sorry if it’s terrible.

- But the most important and central part of this redesign is making him look slightly more like a child. This can add a lot more to his character and also give me more wiggle room to work with. He’s already basically the child of the MHC, why not portray that?

- He wouldn’t look too much younger, but still young/age ambiguous looking enough to portray the idea that he is the baby of the bunch and not very mature. Might even just keep his design the same, and later on reveal that his is not fully mentally developed. Basically like a child/teen trapped inside an adult’s body.

- But probably just gonna go with the mild redesign angle. Might make him seem somewhere around Star’s age in maturity.

- The more I think about it, the more I think about mixing the two ideas together actually. Basically, at first, it seems like Rhombulus is a capable adult and more physically/mentally mature than Star and equal to the rest of the MHC. But the more we see him interact with other characters that are supposed to be his equals or superiors, the more we realize that he is actually viewed as pretty young by those around him, basically a child.

- He is basically seen a lot how like some characters view Star. This can help both strengthen their bond and also draw even more parallels between them. The will probably have a bit of big brother-little sister relationship, as he technically has more experience than her and can give her occasional bits of advice, whether or not they are actually helpful bits of advice.

- Btw, I do have some plot related reasons for the whole “Rhombulus is developmentally a kid/early teen” thing, and it would help fit with some of the themes and ideas presented in the series. I shall explain some of these as we go, though, since will make sense with context.

- Rhombulus would act pretty much the same as he did in Season 2, and his personality wouldn’t be much different from how it initially was in canon. Don’t worry, I’m not changing our favorite crystal snakehanded himbo too much. He’s still impulsive, hot-headed, immature, caring, quick to make assumptions, childish, well meaning, and the quickest to admit wrongdoing when under enough pressure, then actually feel guilty for said wrongdoing.

- He shall also get character growth as time goes on. That is the whole point of this thing I am making.

I decided to split this in half, since the post actually explaining his whole arc and changing some of the events of the show are gonna need their own post, but this was pretty important to establish first. Stay tuned for more.

#my himbo #my sweet summer child #i love him so much #rhombulus rewrite #nr rhombulus rewrite #svtfoe rhombulus #rhombulus #svtfoe #svtfoe rewrite #rewrite #character rewrite #character revamp #star vs the forces of evil #star vs #magic high commission #mhc #svtfoe mhc #they did him so dirty #if you want something done right you gotta do it yourself

20 notes · View notes

kanerallels · 2 years

Text

Holding Hands With Your Heart

For Kanera Week day four: "On a mission." Set in a canon compliant universe, pre-SWR. Dedicated to @accidental-spice, who gave me the idea for this story!!

Rating/Warnings: T (canon typical injury, some description of blood, and someone kinda gets a knife thrown at them but don't worry they're fine)

Taglist: @accidental-spice @laughingphoenixleader @heckin-music-dork @auroramagpie @opalknight @firefoxtessa @day-to-day-thots @kaneraweek

Read on AO3!!

Hera wasn’t much a fan of undercover missions. She understood the need for them, of course. Sometimes meeting a contact in public was too dangerous, for either of them, without changing their looks. Especially this time— their contact had just escaped an Imperial prison near Bakura, and was hiding out while the authorities looked for him. Hera just hoped the information he was promising was accurate.

But more often than not she ended up wearing a dress, and worse yet, heels. Neither of which were very practical for potential escapes or shootouts.

None of this seemed to deter her altogether too enthusiastic companion.

“Looks like that’s our stop,” Kanan observed from the passenger seat of the speeder. Shooting her a grin, he said, “Ready to be married to me for the next twenty minutes?”

Rolling her eyes, Hera dead-panned, “I can hardly wait. Try not to go too over the top, dear.”

“Who, me?” Kanan gave her a look of mock injury as they pulled into a vacant lot, at the back of a large brick building. “I would never.”

“Uh-huh,” Hera said, still not totally convinced. Kanan had joined her crew almost two years ago now, and while the more serious flirting had stopped, he still liked teasing her. And while Hera wouldn’t admit it to his face, she liked matching wits with him.

Now, however, she was not in the mood for it. Switching off the speeder, she glanced at Kanan. “Okay, we’re looking for a human with reddish hair, pale skin, and a scar on his forehead. If he sees us first, he’ll head to the bar to order something, and I’ll make contact. Otherwise, I approach him first, but until then, we just mingle and hope for the best.”

“Sounds good,” Kanan said, hopping out of the speeder. As Hera got to her feet, he hurried around to her side and offered her a hand. “Shall we?”

“I feel like I should protest,” Hera said, “but honestly I’m not totally sure I’m not going to break my neck in these heels. And while that might get me out of this, it’s really not worth it.”

Kanan chuckled as he helped her out of the speeder. “You’re really not looking forward to this, are you?”

“Looking forward to being ogled for the rest of the night by drunk idiots? No, I am not,” Hera said, and Kanan grimaced.

“I can’t argue with that. Tell you what— if it gets too bad, wink at me twice and I’ll punch someone out or shoot them or something.”

Hera snorted with amusement. “I’ll keep that in mind. But that’s another thing— I can’t carry a blaster. I don’t like being unarmed.”

“Are you telling me you don’t have that knife I saw you use last week on you somewhere?” Kanan asked, lifting a skeptical eyebrow at her. “Because I find that hard to believe.”

Hera couldn’t hold back a wry smile at that. “You’ve got a point there, dear. Still, I prefer an outfit that goes better with a blaster than this.”

She wouldn’t exactly say she disliked the dress in question— it was far more tasteful than some of the others she’d found when they’d gone shopping. The simple sleeveless design appealed to her, as did the skirt that hit just below her knees, for both modesty and mobility’s sake. The color scheme was black and white, with the lower half of the skirt a filmy black, studded with sparkling beads, and the upper half a solid white. A swirling pattern, like waves or vines, swirled across the left half of the dress.

It was beautiful. But it was also eye-catching and showed more skin that she liked, strictly speaking, and there wasn’t anywhere practical to hide a blaster. So Hera had to make do with a knife and the hope that there weren’t too many people who’d be staring at her in there.

Thankfully, Kanan’s suit coat covered his blaster perfectly, so they weren’t totally unarmed. His outfit still bordered on casual— a suit jacket over a crisp white shirt, black slacks, and black shoes— but it was still strange to see him in formal wear. Which, Hera was loath to admit, he looked really good in.

If she told him that, he would be insufferable, so she wasn’t saying anything.

“I get it,” Kanan told her, bringing her mind back to the present. “It’s tough to be somewhere without anything to protect yourself— and I know it’s different, but I don’t love people staring at me, either. But we’ll get through this fast, maybe have a few drinks and something to eat, and save the day. Deal?”

“Deal,” Hera relented, looping her arm through his. “Let’s go.”

The night club they were infiltrating, Club Paraxo D’Prata, was invitation only. Despite several bribes, one instance of Kanan getting a Rodian very drunk, and a visit with a forger, they hadn’t been able to get any. So they went with an old standby, which Kanan liked to call “fake it til you make it.”

They headed up to the front, Kanan’s arm around Hera’s waist, the two of them laughing as they half-walked, half-stumbled their way up to the door, where two bouncers were waiting for them.

“Hi, there,” Kanan said, offering the duo— a bored looking human man and a muscular Devaronian, both well armed— a charming grin. “Sorry to bother you, but my companion and I are meeting some other friends inside. Any chance you can let us in?”

“Invitations?” the human droned, looking if possible, more bored.

Giving him a rueful grimace, Kanan said, “About that. I stepped inside earlier for a drink, and left my invitations inside, in my other jacket. If you’d just let me step into the entryway—”

“No entry without an invitation,” the human said, his boredom beginning to give way to irritation.

“We are so sorry,” Hera said quickly, making sure her voice held her natural Ryl accent. She gave the pair a smile. “We did mean to keep them with us, but we forgot. And Kerron did promise to buy me a drink here, didn’t you, love?” Lacing her fingers around his, she gave him an affectionate smile that was less forced than she’d expected it to be.

She felt him stiffen slightly, but his smile didn’t falter. “Surely you can understand, gentlemen,” he said. “I owe the lady a debt.”

The man started to respond, but the Devaronian spoke first, his tone gravelly. “I didn’t see you two come in earlier.”

“Oh,” Kanan said, glancing at Hera. “Um…”

“Plan B,” she muttered under her breath.

“Got it.” Turning to the bouncers, Kanan waved a hand, and Hera could swear she felt something thrum in the air. “You want to let us inside.”

The man’s eyes glazed over, his face going blank. “I… want to let you inside,” he said, the Devaronian echoing him seconds later.

“If you say so, sir,” Kanan said cheerfully. “Come on, Layda.”

Together, he and Hera slipped past the guards and made their way into the club together.

The inside of the club was dimly lit in blue, the walls made of rough bricks. Tables lined the corners of the room, with a bar on the right side and a stage in the very center, where a band was performing. Beings were clustered throughout the room, dancing or talking or sitting at the bar.

Not one of them seemed to take any notice of Kanan and Hera as they slipped inside. “Thanks for the save,” Hera murmured to him.

“Not a problem,” Kanan responded quietly, leading the way to the bar. They both took seats at the less populated end, Hera instinctively scanning for threats as they did so.

“Looks like we’ve got a group carrying blasters,” she said, nodding at a pack of black clad beings, standing around a Togruta wearing a white suit and more jewelry than Hera had ever seen on a person. Even his lekku had gold rings around them. “Some kind of crime lord, maybe?”

“Either way, we don’t want to tangle with him,” Kanan replied wryly, waving to the bartender. As the Rodian headed their way, he added, “Off duty Imperials, over by the stage. Next to that fake plant.”

Hera followed his discreet gesture to where two men were chatting up a duo of Twi’leks. “Military haircuts, and they stand like they’re Imperial,” Kanan said as the bartender arrived. Turning towards him, he said, “I’ll have a glass of Corellian whiskey.”

“And for the lady?” the Rodian asked, turning to her.

“If you could mix me a mocktail with something meiloorun, that would be lovely,” Hera said, offering him a smile.

“Right away, ma’am. Sir.”

As he retreated, Kanan asked, “So what’s the deal with our latest contact?”

“His name’s Atticus Nardeth. Apparently, he was an Imperial— Clone Wars veteran who just didn’t complain when the regime switched,” Hera explained, flicking her gaze across the crowd. “But then, he was sent to fight in the siege of Lasan.”

Understanding flashed through Kanan’s eyes. “I bet that changed his mind pretty quickly.”

“It did,” Hera said, pausing as the Rodian arrived with a tumbler for Kanan and a tall glass full of golden-orange liquid, a straw in it and a slice of meiloorun on the edge. Accepting hers with a smile, Hera waited until he was gone, then continued, “According to my source, the minute he realized what was happening, he put his rifle down and refused to go any farther. He was arrested, and spent the next years in prison.”

“Until now,” Kanan said.

Nodding, Hera sipped from her drink, enjoying the smooth, tangy-sweet taste. “He broke out two months ago, and he’s been on the run ever since. He claims to have some sort of information that the Empire would want, and so Fulcrum wants me to find out what he knows.”

“Sounds easy enough.” Kanan glanced around the room. “Any idea if he’s here yet?”

“The owner is a friend of his, so he probably is,” Hera said. “We just have to wait for him to show himself. I gave him a meeting time, so we just have to find him in the next hour.”

Snagging his cup, Kanan took a quick drink. “Then we’ve got some work to do. Mingling first or dancing?”

Hera sighed. “We’d better dance first. Then if I break my ankle, I can sit while I mingle.”

Kanan chuckled as he left a few credits on the counter, hopped out of his seat, and offered her a hand. “Don’t worry, Captain Hera. I’ve got your back.”

“You’d better,” Hera said, only half-joking as she placed her hand in his.

Together they headed out onto the dance floor as the band started playing an upbeat, fast-paced tune. Hera stumbled a few times at first, but quickly caught on to the rhythm of the dance. It helped that she had a good partner— Kanan was a better dancer than she’d expected, moving skillfully and covering for her mistakes with grace. “You never fail to surprise me, dear,” she told Kanan. “Someday, you’re going to have to tell me where you pick up these skills.”

Shooting her a grin, he said, “Now, where’s the fun in that? Want to try a spin?”

“Fine,” Hera said, unable to hold back a responding smile at his infectious delight. “But be prepared to catch me if I trip.”

“Always,” Kanan assured her. Lifting her arm, he spun her out. As Hera whirled around, she caught sight of a man sitting at a table set back in the shadows, watching them with a furrowed brow. Deliberately, he rose to his feet and started across the room towards the bar, and Hera caught sight of a dark scar curving across his temple, disappearing into his red hair.

He moved out of sight behind a crowd of Gotals, and Kanan pulled Hera back in. “Nice,” he complimented. “You didn’t even trip. I think you’re improving.”

“Undoubtedly,” Hera quipped wryly. Leaning closer, she lowered her voice. “I spotted our contact. He’s making his way to the bar.”

She felt Kanan’s muscles tighten slightly under her hands, and his chin brushed her forehead when he nodded. “Got it. Bad news— more Imperials just showed up, and they’re not out of uniform.”

Flicking a quick glance over her shoulder towards the door, Hera spotted one gray clad-figure making its way forward, followed by four in white. “That could be a problem,” she muttered. “We need a distraction.”

“I can handle that,” Kanan replied, and Hera arched an eyebrow at him.

“We need a distraction that doesn’t involve starting a bar fight. If we can get through this without the Empire spotting us or our contact, that would be ideal.”

“I can do subtle,” Kanan said. “Well, as subtle as distractions get. Don’t worry, it won’t cause a riot. Trust me on this one.”

Hera hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll head for the bar and get our friend. If anything goes sideways, we meet back at the speeder. Deal?”

“Deal,” Kanan said as the song they’d been dancing to came to an end. He started to pull away, his hand brushing her forearm, then paused, catching her eye. “Good luck.”

With that, he slipped away into the crowd, and Hera followed suit, making her way to the bar. She didn’t look after Kanan— although there was a part of her that wanted to, a part of her that wished she could follow him and feel his hand around hers again as they danced.

Don’t be ridiculous, Hera, she scolded herself. Whatever had been in that meiloorun drink was clearly going straight to her head.

Weaving her way through the crowd of dancing beings, she finally found herself at the bar. The red-haired man was sitting at the far end, a drink sitting untouched in front of him as he periodically glanced around the room.

Hera started to move towards him, then froze as a familiar deep voice rolled out from the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the interruption.”

Spinning around, Hera gaped at the sight of Kanan on stage, holding a microphone. Looking completely confident and at ease, he continued, “I’d like to take this time to dedicate this song to someone very special out there, who happens to look stunning tonight.”

And to Hera’s absolute shock, he began to sing as the band played a upbeat, jazzy tune—

“We went down to the water,

So help me, father,

I believe I fell in love.

Since the day we met,

Where you’re all I’m dreaming of.

His voice was better than Hera would have expected— deep and rich, and the skill of the band made up for any mistakes he made. And, more importantly, his theatrics had totally drawn the attention of everyone in the room, Imperials included. Thank the Force for that, Hera thought, and headed over to the far end of the bar.

As she took the seat next to him, the red-haired man looked up, a frown knitting his face. “Atticus Nardeth?” Hera asked quietly.

He nodded, relief filling his eyes. “And you’re Captain Syndulla. Fulcrum made sure I knew what you looked like. I can’t begin to thank you for taking this risk.”

“It’s what I do, Mr. Nardeth,” Hera said. “And you’re the one taking the risk. You said you have information that the Empire doesn’t want out?”

Nardeth nodded, glancing around. “It’s about Lasan, about the massacre. You’ve heard plenty about that, I imagine.”

“I have,” Hera said, feeling a twinge of sorrow. “I heard about the ion disruptors, that after they were brought in… there were no survivors.”

“But that’s just it,” Nardeth said, his voice a harsh whisper. “There are survivors.”

Hera felt a bolt of shock run through her, and she stared at him. “What?”

“Well, at least one survivor,” the man amended. “I don’t know how, but he managed to get off the planet just as the disruptors were being used. I’ve been looking into him, and I may have a potential location.”

Hera sat, unmoving, her mind whirring as Kanan launched into the chorus of the song he was singing. A Lasat survivor, out there somewhere. There was no question of what she was to do next. “Where?” she asked.

Before Nardeth could respond, a formal, accented voice from behind them spoke. “Excuse me, sir. You need to come with us.”

Turning, Hera’s stomach lurched when she saw the Imperial officer standing there, flanked by stormtroopers. Rising from her seat, she offered him a look of confusion. “Is there a problem, officer?’ she asked, stealthily slipping her knife out from the sheath under her dress.

“Not at all, ma’am,” the Imperial said with more politeness than Hera had expected. “We simply need to speak to your companion.”

Hera shot a glance at Nardeth, and saw the fear and resignation in his eyes. “I don’t think so,” she said, starting to lunge towards the officer— and froze at the sound of four blasters humming to life.

“Don’t move,” one of the troopers barked.

“I’m going to have to ask you to drop the weapon,” the officer said, his hand drifting towards the blaster he wore at his side.

Kriff, Hera thought, scrambling for a way out. She shot a glance in Kanan’s direction— but he’d just finished the song, and was looking the other way, distracted.

Misreading her look, the Imperial said, “I wouldn’t try running for it.”

“Fine,” Hera said, letting out a sigh, and lifting her hands as if in surrender. And then she did the only thing she could possibly think of— she threw the knife at Kanan.

For a moment, she thought it wouldn’t work, as she and the very confused Imperials watched it whistle through the air, heading straight for Kanan. And then, in the middle of a conversation with one of the band members, Kanan’s hand snapped up, and he caught the knife inches from his face. Turning, he gave Hera a look that very clearly said, “What the kriff?” And then the confusion melted away as he saw the men surrounding her, and he gave her a tiny nod.

The Imperial officer stared at Kanan for a minute, then turned towards Hera. “I didn’t think he was that bad of a singer.”

“It’s complicated,” Hera said, letting out a sigh as the band started up again— and then blaster fire sounded as Kanan leapt off the stage, shooting one of the stormtroopers in the back.

The Imperials spun around, going for their weapons. Hera grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be Nardeth’s drink, and smashed it over the officer’s head. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious, as Kanan charged towards them, blaster firing repeatedly.

The other troopers hit the ground within seconds, and pandemonium broke loose as the patrons of the club screamed and ran for the exits. Turning to Hera, Kanan held up her knife. “You threw a knife at my face,” he said, sounding wounded.

Plucking it from his hand, Hera replied, “I knew you would catch it.”

“That doesn’t mean you didn’t throw a deadly weapon at my face,” Kanan protested.

“Well, I tried giving you two winks but you were distracted,” Hera said, rolling her eyes.

Kanan opened his mouth to protest, stared at her for a long moment, then closed his mouth. “Right. Let’s figure out a way out of here before more Imperials show up.”

“Good plan,” Hera agreed. “The exits are too crowded. Nardeth, is there a way out that leads to the back lot?”

“There’s a window upstairs,” the man said.

“Show us,” Kanan commanded, grabbing a blaster from one of the dead troopers and tossing it to Hera. Nardeth immediately moved forward through the crowd, and Kanan and Hera followed on his heels.

They’d made it halfway up the staircase in the back of the room when they heard voices shouting orders from downstairs. “Looks like the Empire finally showed up,” Kanan said.

“Then we’d better make this quick,” Hera said. “Nardeth?”

“This way,” he said, leading them into a parlor with ornate furniture and a fairly large window. Hera moved up to it, peering through the dirty glass. Sure enough, it looked out on the vacant lot, their speeder visible at the far end.

“Does this window open?” she asked, and Nardeth shook his head. “Alright— stand back.”

They all backed up, and Hera fired a blaster bolt into the center of the window, shattering the glass. There were urgent shouts from below, and Kanan moved to the door, shutting it and shoving a char in front of it as Hera cleared the last shards of glass from the window.

“It’s quite a drop, but we should be able to handle it,” she said. “Kanan, you go first.”

“You’re the pilot,” Kanan pointed out. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for you to go first?”

Giving him a “don’t you dare argue right now” look, Hera said, “I want someone down there to make sure we don’t bump into any Imperials. Now, please. Nardeth, you go after him. I’ll watch our backs.”

Kanan grumbled something under his breath, but hopped up onto the window sill and vaulted out. Nardeth followed seconds later, and Hera was about to follow when she heard someone banging on the door.

“Open up in the name of the Empire!”

“Oh, great,” Hera muttered. Scrambling onto the sill, she raised her blaster as the door flew open— but was stopped by the chair Kanan had shoved in the way. Still, the crack was large enough for blaster fire to come zipping into the room. Hera returned fire quickly, edging towards the opening. She could hear Kanan shouting her name from below, but steadfastly ignored it. Just another minute, and I can make it out. Just one more—

A stray blaster bolt slashed across her arm, and Hera let out a gasp of pain, jerking backwards instinctively. Her foot slipped, and suddenly she was plummeting over the edge of the windowsill.

She braced herself for a painful landing— but slammed into something decidedly less unyielding than the permacrete ground. “Gotcha,” Kanan grunted, staggering a little and Hera clung to him instinctively as he caught his balance. “You okay?” he asked.

“Fine,” Hera replied breathlessly— which was from the fall, of course. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was so close to his face that she could see the variations of color in his blue green eyes. She could feel him breathing, his arm secure and warm around her waist.

Seeming to realize he was still holding her, Kanan hastily set her down. “Right,” he said, lifting an eyebrow as he nodded at her arm. “Because that’s okay.”

“That’s going to have to wait until later,” Hera said as more crashes sounded from above them. “Let’s go!”

They raced over to the speeder, and Hera had it up and running in seconds. With both Kanan and Nardeth on board, she shot out of the vacant lot, cruising down the street and away from the club as fast as possible.

They ditched the speeder a few blocks from the spaceport, then hurried down the streets, avoiding people as much as possible, Hera wearing Kanan’s jacket to disguise the wound on her arm. Somehow, they made it to the spaceport and reached the Ghost without being caught.

Just being on board her ship made Hera feel better. Bolting into the cockpit, she began the startup sequence, ignoring the throbbing from her arm that grew with every second.

“Whoa— what happened? Is this your idiot’s fault?” Chopper beeped indignantly.

“It’s the Empire’s fault, Chop,” Hera said. “As always. Now let’s get moving, I don’t want to tangle with any TIEs on the way out of here.”

“Eh, a little murder always spices up the evening,” Chopper disagreed, but he rolled forward to help her anyways. Within seconds, the Ghost’s engines had rumbled to life and they were lifting off.

There was no sign of pursuit, but Hera still refused to relax until they’d broken through the atmosphere and the stars blurred into hyperspace around them. Only then did she sit back in her chair, taking a deep breath. She felt herself shaking from the aftermath as the adrenaline drained away.

“Hera.” Kanan’s voice jolted her upright, and she realized with alarm that she’d been drifting off. He was kneeling next to her, his brows knitted together in concern. “We need to get that arm looked at.”

“It’s just a scratch— I can take care of it myself,” Hera said. “Where’s the first aid kit?”

Kanan responded by holding it up, and Hera reached for it. “No,” he said firmly. “You’re the boss, and you know I respect that. But I’m not gonna sit by and watch as you stitch yourself up. Let me help. That’s why I’m here.”

Hera nearly started arguing— but he was right. And she was honestly too tired to fight him on this right now. “Okay,” she said, reluctantly sitting up. “Let’s get this over with.”

Carefully, Kanan helped her pull off the suit coat. The blaster burn had started bleeding, and a dark stain marred the inside of the sleeve, blood sticking it to Hera’s skin. She winced as it pulled painfully against her skin. “Sorry,” Kanan murmured as he tugged the sleeve away.

“I’m sorry,” Hera said, shrugging off the coat and biting her lip hard against the pain. The burn was small enough that it wasn’t a big problem, but it definitely stung. “I bled all over your jacket.”

Kanan gave her a look that she couldn’t quite decipher. “I don’t really care about the jacket.” Flipping open the first aid kit, he started digging through the contents, and Hera took the opportunity to grimace, pressing her eyes shut. Stars, this hurts.

When she opened her eyes, Kanan was watching her again, his frown even deeper. “What’s wrong?” Hera asked. “If you’re mad at me about staying behind longer—”

“Force, no. You’re the boss, remember? I do what you say, and try not to worry too much.” Kanan was quiet for a long moment as he pulled out bacta spray and gauze, and Hera pretended her mind wasn’t fixating on the implication that Kanan worried about her.

Finally, he spoke. “You’re allowed to hurt. You know that, right?”

Hera frowned at him. “What?”

Kanan exhaled hard, rubbing his forehead with a frown. “You’re allowed to hurt. You always just… bottle it up. Keep a strong face so no one sees that it’s affected you— and don’t get me wrong, I admire how strong you are.” Soaking some of the gauze in bacta spray, he began to gently dab at the wound, cleaning away the blood. “But you don’t always have to be the strong one. Sometimes, it’s okay to let things out.”

As he kept working, Hera stared at him, feeling surprise cutting through her. She’d never really thought about what he was saying. For her, for years, it had just… been this way. Just her and Chopper, with no one to really take care of her. So she’d had to grit her teeth, to stitch herself up and not let herself fully feel the pain until she collapsed into her bunk.

But now, things were different. Now she had a crew. Or to be more precise, she had Kanan. Kanan, who was carefully wiping the last of the blood away from her wound, and wrapping it in gauze, his hands gentle.

It was the last thing she would have expected from the gunslinger she’d met on Gorse. But then, Kanan was always surprising her these days.

“You’re right,” she said quietly, and Kanan glanced up at her, surprise flashing through his eyes. “I’m not used to having someone else take care of me. It’s still new, and I don’t want to be a burden—”

“You could never be a burden, Hera,” Kanan said, his voice firm. “You’re the reason we got this far, you’re the one who’s holding this crew together. You’re allowed to let someone take care of you every now and then.”

The look in his eyes was determined, but there was also a warmth in his eyes, one that sent a shiver through Hera. “And… and you’re the one who’s going to be taking care of me, then?” she asked.

Tucking in the last edges of the bandages, Kanan offered her a half-smile. “That’s why I’m here, Captain Hera.”

His words were cavalier, but the care with which he finished bandaging her arm, and the way his hands lingered, just for a second, fingertips brushing her skin— that told a different story. Packing away everything in the first aid kit, he rose to his feet, glancing at her. “You looked nice tonight, by the way. But you always do.”

“Oh,” Hera managed, caught off guard. But something about the compliment. It had been a long time since he’d said something like that— but there was something about this time that made it feel real, and brought a smile to her face. “Thank you,” she said. “You’re a better singer than I would have thought.”

Kanan smiled back, and for a moment it was just the two of them, watching each other and wondering what would happen next, if one would make the first move or if this would be another missed opportunity.

And then the cockpit door hissed open. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Captain,” Nardeth said tentatively, and both Kanan and Hera turned towards him.

“Not at all,” Hera said, rising from her chair. “When I spoke to Fulcrum earlier, they said that they had a place for you to hide— we’re heading to the rendezvous point now.”

“Thank you,” Nardeth said. “I appreciate that— but I’m here about the Lasat survivor right now.”

“Wait,” Kanan said, and Hera glanced over to see his eyes widening. “There’s a Lasat survivor? That’s why we’re here?”

“I was as surprised as you were,” Hera said quietly. Looking back at Nardeth, she said, “Of course. Do you have a location?”

“He’s been moving around a lot,” the man said, “but his last known location was Kijimi.”

Hera turned to look at Kanan, and found him already looking at her, eyes expectant. “I guess we’re going to Kijimi, then,” she said. “As long as you’re in, dear.”

“I’m with you all the way,” Kanan promised. And not for the first time, Hera wondered if there was something else behind that promise, something that had been there when they first met and was steadily growing stronger.

It wasn’t the first time she’d wondered about this. But it might have been the first time she found herself hoping for it.

This wasn’t something she had time to worry about now, though. Right now, she had another mission to run, and a Lasat to find. But she had Kanan by her side— and together, the two of them could handle anything.

#hera syndulla #kanan jarrus #kaneraweek2022 #kanera #star wars rebels #swr #pre swr #undercover mission #tw injury #tw blood #kanera is love kanera is life #21st of september #writing stories is a kind of magic too

13 notes · View notes

fangirlovestuff · 3 years

Text

More Than Meets The Eye - Steve Rogers x reader

a/n - hey lovely people!! this one is for @s1utforfictionalcharacters, who asked for a Steve x reader enemies to lovers a while ago. thank you so much for bearing with me and being patient, and i hope you enjoy!!<3

Summary: Between figuring out what was the Tesseract doing at a Hydra base and if it even is the Tesseract, you need to navigate your relationaship with one annoying, broody Captain. Honestly, you might prefer the Hydra thing.

this isn’t set in the mcu timeline, but takes inspiration from a few mcu movies. it’s not canon compliant and everyone’s alive:)

Word Count: 7k

Warnings: lowkey angst and some tension, maybe a curse word or two? tell me if i missed anything!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Rogers!" you heard Tony's voice over the comms, "Where the hell are you?"

"Babysitting," you heard Steve's irritated voice, not only over the comms but also behind you, right before you saw him dashing past you to punch the Hydra agent you were fighting square in the jaw.

"Well, get America's ass over here, now," Tony grunted, clearly mid-fight himself, "we need backup."

"Go!" you yelled at him, spinning to take out another agent that was coming up behind Steve, "I got this!"

"You sure?" he asked, his tone sarcastically degrading, jumping while kicking two agents simultaneously. Showoff.

"Yes," you resisted the urge to roll your eyes, "I can handle them, go help the others!"

"Alright," he grunted as he pushed off another agent before running back in the direction he came from, towards the rest of the team.

"Cap, you coming or what?" Natasha spoke on the comms, calmer than Tony, but it was obvious she's just as in need of backup as he was.

"Coming!" Steve replied, before it went relatively quiet.

You finished up disarming the rest of the agents in your wing of the building. No one was calling for you on the comms yet, so you decided to make another round in the perimeter, make sure you didn't miss anything.

God knows captain know-it-all is gonna be on your ass about it if that's the case. And honestly, you have more than enough of that as is.

As you were walking down the hallway, you noticed a strange, glowing light coming from under the doors. Upon finding it was unlocked, you opened it to reveal a room that was entirely filled with the same blueish light you had seen, and it was all coming from a desk in the middle of it.

Approaching slowly and letting your eyes time to adjust, you got closer and closer, realizing the shiny object was a peculiar blue cube. A cube you knew well, perhaps even too well.

"Guys, if you're done over there, you might wanna come to my wing. There's something you're gonna want to see."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, we have to keep looking, maybe they left some blueprints or anything that can indicate how they were planning on using it," Steve commanded, "or already have."

"Wait," you said before everyone split up to follow his orders, "as important as the why they got it is, I think the first question we should be asking is how the hell they got it. I thought it was locked away in the Asgard safe?" you looked at Bruce, who out of all of you had the most contact with Thor.

"It was, the last time I checked," he frowned. "I'll see if I can contact Thor, see if he knows anything."

"You do that," Tony interjected, "the rest of you, follow Cap's order while he and I have a little chat. Shall we Rogers?" he pulled a frowning Steve aside, while you all split up to try and find any information you could salvage.

In your search, you ran into Natasha. As you were both scouring the same desk for clues, working together like a well-oiled machine, you asked, "what did Tony want from Cap?"

"Probably to ask him where the hell was he when we needed his backup," she said matter-of-factly. "Or, you know, where the heck he was. We all know Steve's proper like that," she smiled, and you let out a chuckle at her words.

"Well, that’s good," you remarked, "since he really should've been there for you guys. I don't know what was that all about," you scrunched up your nose. "Nothing here," you added, closing the drawer you were looking through.

"Yeah, here too," Natasha closed her own drawer, "let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that day, you were all having dinner together as you went over some papers the others found at the Hydra base. Since you were already in the same place, you split the takeout, taking caution not to spill any of it.

"Cap," you asked, seeing the saltshaker was too far for you to reach, "Can you pass me th-" your words were abruptly cut by him planting it in your hand, going back to whatever it is he was reading.

"Thanks," you muttered, going back to your paperwork as well.

This might be the place to mention that pretty much ever since you joined the team, Steve exhibited a certain… coldness to you. Arrogance, indifference, call it what you want – from day one, Steve Rogers made sure you knew he was better than you.

And considering he was literally Captain America, it's not like you thought you were ever better than him in the first place.

You blended in with the rest of the team seamlessly, fighting and training among them. I mean sure, there were jokes about you being "the new kid", but it was just that – jokes. No one, or at least no one but Steve, seemed to view you as inferior.

You still fought well together, it was your job. Hell, he just passed you the salt before you even finished asking for it. Being attuned to each other's actions and attitude in that way made it all the more obvious how much he seemed to covet his leadership position, his place of dominance.

It got on your nerves. So. Much.

You see, if he were like that to everyone else on the team, so be it. But the absolute majority of it was directed towards you – the new girl. And it was clear that's all he ever saw you as. A girl.

Even that salt thing – he handed it over so impatiently, so suddenly, like one would handle an irritating child.

You had hoped he'd get over it at some point, but so far, that didn't seem to be the case. Well, you're not planning on going anywhere, so you'll both have to get over yourselves at some point.

"Hey!" Steve snapped his fingers in front of your eyes, shaking you from your reverie. "C'mon, listen up. Tony found something."

Oh well, that "some point" is probably not today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, Hydra wanted to use this," Natasha gestured at the Tesseract, "To power up a weapon they've designed?"

"That's the gist of it," Tony confirmed. "But from the looks of it, this thing is a lot more powerful than it seems. They planned on powering up a whole armored aircraft, plus all of their rifles using this cube. If that's possible, and by the looks of it, it very well might be, it's a lot stronger than you'd think."

"Wait, what do you mean their rifles as well?" you asked, your brows furrowing, "like, split this thing into pieces?"

"No, it looks like they were planning to project its power somehow, like…" Tony trailed off, struggling to explain.

"Like… Bluetooth?" you suggested.

"Yeah," tony snickered, "pretty much."

"Okay, but they didn't do that yet, right? We stopped them?" you looked around to the rest of your teammates before looking back at Tony.

"Seems like we did," Steve answered instead. "Bruce, any update on how they managed to get it?"

"Didn't hear anything back yet," the man in question shook his head, "I'll try again."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Bruce ended up getting an answer from Thor, telling him to come to Asgard, you immediately volunteered to go with him. It was partially because you've never actually been there, and you were very curious as to why Thor would ask Bruce to come.

But also, you could use a break from a certain Captain.

You tried to ask Bucky and Sam what his deal with you was, several times, but they just shrugged and gave you vague, unhelpful answers. You even considered trying to convince Wanda to just tell you what he thinks about you, but you didn't want to give him the satisfaction of bothering you so much that you'd stoop that low.

So lately, you've been just trying to avoid him, which usually worked just fine, since it's not like he was that adamant about being around you either. That is, until you said you'd go with Bruce.

"No way," he immediately objected.

"Why?" you asked, "Bruce might need some backup, and I'd like to visit Asgard. Win-win."

"We need you here, going over the papers."

"C'mon Cap, I think we both know I do better out there in the field than I do with all the blueprints. Tony's way better with that, he's the only one who does it anyway."

"So what, you're just gonna go on a field trip?" he sneered.

"No, I'm going to look out for my friend and teammate." It took everything in you to keep your voice level.

"That's nice. Cause it would be a shame if Banner had to watch your back while you went on vacation."

You scoffed. "Where did you even get that idea? I said I was gonna give Banner backup. That's the first thing I said, cause that's the most important thing. End of story."

"Fine." Steve shrugged.

"Fine?"

"Yeah, if Banner's willing to take you with him, go."

"Good," you nodded.

"Great."

Somewhat awkwardly, you shuffled out of the room to tell Bruce to count you in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Natasha was the one to send both you and Bruce off to Asgard, the rest being otherwise occupied.

"Be safe," she told the both of you, holding each of your shoulders with one of her hands, before stepping away.

"We will," Bruce promised and you nodded, and just in time the Bifrost came down, taking the both of you where you needed to get.

Thor was the one to greet you, taking you both in for a warm hug before his face became serious.

"I didn't call you all the way here for nothing," he said, "come with me to the palace."

As you were on your way, he explained. "When you told me you encountered the Tesseract in Midgard, I immediately checked in our vault. Sure enough, there's still a Tesseract there."

"A Tesseract? I thought there was just the one," you frowned.

"We did too," Thor replied, "which is why I wanted you both to come see it for yourselves. Maybe you'd be able to point out some differences."

Getting to the palace, you wasted no time going down to the vault. And there it was – the Tesseract.

"How…" you trailed off. It looked completely identical to the one you had found on earth, the same blue tinted glint lighting up its surroundings.

"That's what I was hoping you might have an answer for," Thor sighed, his brows furrowing. "You said the one you encountered was previously in the possession of a group called… Chimera?"

"Hydra," Bruce corrected him. "And yes, we found it in one of their bases."

"Is it possible that the one we found was a fake?" you asked, lifting your eyes from the Tesseract. "Or maybe this one is the fake? Is there a way to know?"

"The only way to know is to try and use them," Bruce sighed, "but trying to wield the power of an infinity stone can be dangerous and destructive to the one who tries. It's something we should try and avoid."

"Okay," you thought, "can't we try and take this one to earth? See if maybe Tony could run some tests on them both, find us a lead as to which one's the real one?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Bruce agreed, "or at least the best one we've got. Can we take it?"

"Of course. I trust you to guard it," he looked at Bruce fondly.

"Thank you," Bruce's eyes and smile are sincere as he shakes Thor's hand.

You pick up the Tesseract tentatively, putting it in your bag and looking back up at Bruce, whose handshake with Thor was still lingering. You hated to interrupt, but you two needed to go back to earth to fill your friends in if you wanted to solve this mystery.

"Shall we?" you asked, somewhat softly.

"Yeah," Bruce shook his head slightly, "Let's go."

You trailed behind Bruce and Thor as you made your way back to the Bifrost, thinking it over.

If the Tesseract you found on earth was the fake, then why would Hydra have a fake? And if the one that was currently in your bag was the fake, then why would they just leave the real one lying around while the Avengers stormed their base? And at any case, how did they manage to make such an accurate replica?

"Thank you, Thor," you said sincerely once you reached the end of the Bifrost. "We're going to figure this out."

"I know you will," he said, and touched your shoulder affectionately.

You said your goodbyes, and then, you and Bruce started to make the journey home, until suddenly you felt a force push you out of the Bifrost, and before you knew it you landed on dirt, rolling a few times, Bruce landing a few feet away from you.

Hurriedly getting up, you helped Bruce to his feet as well, before the two of you looked around to find yourself in the middle of what seemed to be a desert, but it was like nothing you've seen before.

The sand was orange, red, much darker than it was in deserts you've been to. You and Bruce landed in some sort of valley, surrounded by large dunes of the dark sand, creating a perfect circle around you.

"Have any idea where we are?" you asked, trying to keep your cool, "Or how we got here?"

"I-"

His words were cut off by the sound of a gun cocking behind you. Instinctively, you crouched down and spun around, sending your leg out, taking the man down with a kick to his ankles.

But it wasn't enough. Before you could fully get back up, you and Bruce were already surrounded by agents, and the fight quickly escalated into a hand-to-hand one, having to take on multiple agents at a time. At some point, Bruce hulked out, but even then, you were still fighting them all simultaneously.

You barely managed to take in the glint of a knife from the corner of your eye before the felt the sharp sting of it on your ribs, your hand automatically going to hold the wound. The man started running in the other direction, which was when you realized you weren't the objective of this attack.

Your bag was.

"Bruce!" you yelled, trying to get his attention, as you started trying to run after the agent.

But before Bruce could even notice you, a deep rumble sounded through the air, the prominent crackling of thunder. You turned around just in time to see Thor coming down from the sky, Mjolnir clad tightly in his fist, sending bolts of lightning at your enemies.

You turned back and tried to keep running, but you couldn't do it fast enough, the wound in your ribcage still bleeding, and soon, the agent disappeared from sight.

You were panting when the battle died down, a mere few minutes after Thor's arrival. You didn't turn around, even as you sensed Bruce and Thor approaching you from behind.

"I lost it," you said, still unable to meet their eyes.

"They took it," Bruce said gently. "Now, let me take a look at that wound."

Well, you thought, that's not how Steve's going to see it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You lost it?" Steve asked, his disbelief clear. His eyes were trained on you, a frown on his face.

"She got hurt trying to protect it, Steve," Bruce answered before you could. "We'll get it back."

Steve's eyes didn't waver from yours, even as Bruce spoke.

"I'm sorry," you said, your voice coming out smaller than you wanted to. You cleared your throat, continuing stronger, "I did everything I could."

"I told you, you shouldn't have gone out there," he sighed, frustrated.

"Really, Cap?" you asked, "is this the time for 'I told you so's? for a hundred-year-old that's really fucking childish," you said through your teeth.

"Watch it," he snapped, "next time, maybe if you listen to me you won't get hurt."

"If I'm that bad of a soldier, Captain," you spat out, "am I not dispensable to you? Why do you even care if I get hurt? I bet it would've been just the same to you if I died but you still had the Tesseract."

Your words rendered him speechless, and you turned to walk towards the med bay. Bruce offered you his arm, but the look you sent him made it very obvious you weren't interested in company.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wound healed well. You and Steve were… civil, to say the best.

You'd admit your words that day you were back from Asgard were harsh. You'd even admit that to his face, if he'd change his attitude towards you. Which he didn't, so really, maybe he deserved to hear them.

Anyways, a few days after the Asgard thing, the wound was fine, and you had an idea.

"Hey," you asked Tony, who happened to be next to you at the moment, "what if we go ask Strange?"

"What?" he looked up from the robot he was currently tinkering with.

"What if we went to Strange to ask him about the Tesseract?" you repeated, "he'd probably know more than us about this stuff."

Tony wasted no time in calling a team meeting, in which you told the others your idea about reaching out to Strange.

"That's a really good idea," Steve said.

Taken aback, you opened your mouth to speak, but before you could, he continued, "I'm coming with you."

Yep, it was way too good to be true.

"Why?" you asked, frowning. "I thought Tony would come, since he's already had a run-in with him before."

"Yes, but I think we can agree he's not the most diplomatic person out there," Steve smirked.

"I'm right here," Tony remarked dryly.

Steve paid him no mind and continued, "And besides, he's pretty much the only one except Bruce that knows enough to figure out Hydra's blueprints, and we still need all hands on deck in that front. So, I'm coming with you," he finished in a tone that left no room for argument.

You considered objecting anyways, but knew whatever you'd say would sound childish and tactless, so you simply nodded at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since the Sanctum Dr. Strange usually resided in was in New York, there was no need for Steve and you to take the Quinjet, but you did take a car from Tony's collection, which Steve drove. The car ride was filled with quite the uncomfortable silence, but at least it was better than arguing, right?

Small victories.

When Steve parked the car about a block away from the Sanctum, you both got out swiftly, blending right in with your civilian clothes, and making your way to the doorstep.

There, Steve knocked on the door hesitantly. You both listened, but there was no answer. You held onto the handle and managed to open the unlocked door easily. You exchanged a look with Steve, both of you on high alert, and entered through the door, Steve closing it behind you.

You both silently stood in the threshold, contemplating your next move. Eventually, you took a tentative step forward, and just then a red object whipped right in front of your eyes, making you stumble backwards, right into Steve. You quickly turned around to apologize, but before you noticed it the red fabric was wrapped tightly around your arms, holding them tight against your torso. Steve was in a similar predicament, and since the cape wasn’t that long, you two were left tied face to face and extremely close to each other.

You tried to wiggle out of the fabric's hold, but it was almost like it tightened with your every move, adjusting itself accordingly. You struggled against it, trying to move even the slightest bit, but it wouldn't budge. You sighed, looking up at Steve.

Oh my god, he was way closer than you'd realized. His wide frame towering over you, you swallowed dryly before you whispered, "What now?"

Before he could answer, the sound of footsteps carried through the halls, and soon enough, Dr. Stephen Strange was descending down the stairs of the New York Sanctum to greet you.

"Hello," he said, his face indifferent, "I wasn't expecting you."

"Well, we weren't expected to get so… tied up, so that makes three of us," Steve remarked, prompting you to chuckle.

"Hello, Dr. Strange," you introduced yourself to him, "the Captain and I were wondering if you could help us with some… Tesseract trouble."

"Sounds awful," he smirked slightly. "Follow me," he started going up the stairs again and you exchanged a look with Steve. "Oh right," he gestured with his hand, and the red fabric detangled itself from the two of you, and turned out to be a cloak as it wrapped around Strange's shoulders. "I almost forgot," the man chuckled, "Now come on."

You and Steve exchanged another look as you rubbed your arm where the cloak dug into it a little, before following Strange up the stairs and into the library, where he offered you two chairs to sit in before sitting down in front of you. In the air. He was sitting down while floating.

Still less weird than the cloak, in your opinion.

"So," he started, "what, uh, Tesseract trouble are you having, exactly?"

Steve and you took turns explaining the situation to him, from finding a Tesseract in a Hydra base to losing the one that was previously in Asgard. Steve, to your relief and wonder, said nothing about it being your fault, but just said it wasn't in your possession anymore.

"So," you summed up, "we were wondering if you knew how anyone could manage to replicate the Tesseract this well, and how can we tell which one's the fake one. Without using them, of course."

"Well, those are great questions. I don't know of another way to determine if an infinity stone is indeed real besides taking the risk and trying to use it, so I can't help you with that. But as for the fake, I believe opening the Tesseracts will provide a good enough answer. You see, the Tesseract isn't that hard to fake. Might be a little expensive, sure, but some lights and plastic and you're set, and from what I understand Hydra isn't exactly struggling financially. But," he sighed, "you can’t fake an infinity stone. For most people, once you'll come in direct contact with it, you'll feel its power, and also its destructive properties."

"So the only way to know if an infinity stone is real is to risk touching it?" Steve asked.

"As far as I know of, yes," Strange nodded.

"Thank you," you said, "for your help. We sure get back to the compound, but we'll let you know if there are any big developments."

When Steve and you got back to the compound, everyone was already waiting for you, and you told them what Strange told you. Together, you all went to open the tesseract you had found in the Hydra base.

"Be careful not to touch what's inside," you warned, and Tony put of his Iron Man arm before breaking the side of the glowing cube, opening it to find…

A bunch of wires and lightbulbs. They didn't even try to make it look like an infinity stone.

"Well, the one in Asgard could've also been a fake," Natasha shrugged. "This doesn't really tell us anything. C'mon guys, we'll continue the search tomorrow," she touched your shoulder comfortingly before slipping away.

You were about to do the same when you saw Steve fidgeting with his sleeve, around where the cloak was wrapped around him. You walked up to him.

"You okay?" you asked, expecting him to brush you off.

"Yeah, I just think this cape held on a little too strong," he chuckled, removing his hand to reveal a stain on the fabric of his right suit sleeve, on you knew all too well was blood.

"Oh my god," you frowned. "C'mon, I'll help you clean it up," you gestured towards the med bay.

The walk there was brief and silent, and when you got there, you told Steve to sit down before ripping his sleeve enough to see the shallow wound.

"You don't have to do this," Steve said, as you looked for some gauze pad and wet it with water.

"I know," you said, "but since I'm the reason we needed to go there in the first place, I am doing this."

"You know it's not your fault, right? You couldn’t have known he'd have a magical cape that ties up people."

"That's not what I was talking about," you mumbled, before cleaning the wound gently.

Steve sighed. "I guess I do owe you an apology for the Asgard thing. I acted like a jerk. I'm sorry."

"No, you were right," you chuckled bitterly, "it's my fault we lost what might've been the real space stone to Hydra. You were just the only one willing to admit that."

"Well, I hope you know what you said about me then wasn't true. I care. You know, if you get hurt. And I wouldn't want anyone to die so I can have anything."

"I know," you said dryly, "you're too perfect for that."

You finished cleaning the wound and started bandaging it.

"That's not- god, I really do have a way with words, don't I? you probably hate me by now."

"I don't hate you, Steve," you looked up from his arm to his eyes, and he smiled at you. "Relax, it doesn't mean I like you all that much either," you smirked, prompting him to laugh.

"Yeah, that's fair, I guess. Thank you," he gestured to his now bandaged arm.

"Sure," you sent a small smile his way before walking away.

Maybe Steve Rogers wasn't that bad after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, scratch that, Steve Rogers was the worst.

The conversation actually started out civil. Nice, even.

"Hey, Cap," you started, "do you know if Bruce found anything on the wiring in the fake Tesseract yet?"

"Nope," he turned to face you.

"Oh. Well, thanks," you smiled, "I'll just…" you gestured at the exit, but he stopped you.

"Wait. Actually, I wanted to talk to you. Can you…" he gestured at the empty chair in front of him, and you sat down.

"About the whole Tesseract thing," he started, "I think you should consider sitting this one out."

"What?" you frowned.

"I just…" he sighed, "I think it might be better if you sat this one out."

"Steve, I found the Tesseract in the first place," you said, getting angrier by the second, "I'm not backing down from this."

"You found the fake Tesseract," he corrected, "and lost what might have been the real one."

"I thought you said it wasn't on me."

"It's not, but still."

"I don't get it, a few days ago you were telling me it wasn't my fault and now you're benching me because of it?"

"I just… you're clearly very invested in this-"

"Which is why I deserve to stay on this mission," you cut him off, fighting to keep your voice level.

"Which is why I think you should sit it out," he ignored you, "because you don't need to get yourself hurt for this."

"I'm an Avenger just like you," you snapped, "you might get hurt as well. So might everyone else. I don't get why I'm any different."

"I told you, because you're too emotionally invested," he insisted, his tone rising.

"Oh, you're benching me cause I'm 'emotional'? really? That's your excuse?"

"That's not an excuse, I-"

"No, tell me, Steve, what's your problem with me? Just spit it out, clearly you have one. What have I done to you to make you hate me?" you were yelling now, exasperated at his flawed logic.

"I don't hate you."

"That's all you have to say?" you scoffed. "You know what? If you're letting whatever your problem is with me to get in the way of the mission, maybe you're the emotional one."

The charged atmosphere was interrupted by Natasha's frame showing up in the doorway.

"Hey guys," she started, before looking between the two of you. "Is this a bad time?" she waited a second before shrugging, "Doesn't matter. There are sightings of suspicious activity midtown, we think it can be Hydra. We gotta move, be down in five," she stated, before walking down the hallway, leaving Steve and you alone once more.

"I-" he started.

"Let's go," you said at the same time, before simply turning away to go and suit up. You had a battle to win, no matter what he thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So," Tony started once you were all on the Quinjet, "Here's what we know – Hydra is probably in the possession of the real Tesseract, since we just got word of people seeing a big aircraft over midtown. My guess, they wanted to test the new weapons out before using them on a larger scale," he said, "which is why it would be the best thing to stop them now."

You split up into groups, Tony, Wanda and Sam going after the aircraft, Bucky and Steve go one way on the ground, you and Natasha the other. Thanking every god you knew you weren't paired up with Steve, you and Natasha ran and turned into a large square, starting to point people away from the steady stream of Hydra agents that was coming your way.

You and Natasha were both fighting off the agents together, most of the civilians already cleared from the area, when suddenly, they just… stopped, all in unison.

"Avengers," a voice with a heavy accent boomed through the air, presumably from the aircraft, magnified by speakers, "I know what you're here for," the voice chuckled. "Come and get it."

All at once, the Hydra agents in front of you pulled out something from their bags, or the pockets of their jackets, and it took you a second to realize what it is – exact replicas of the Tesseract. Dozens of them, maybe even hundreds.

You looked over at Natasha, who was just as exasperated as you were. "We gotta break these things," she said, and you nodded in understanding, charging at the men and women with renewed energy.

Because this was your chance to fix what you broke, to make things right. To show Steve you're better than your mistakes.

That was the mantra that was going in your head, as you smashed Tesseract after Tesseract, even as you found nothing but wires, you kept repeating it – fix what you broke.

Slowly but surely, you and Natasha tackled and defeated more and more agents, moving closer towards where they were coming from – the aircraft, that was lowering more and more, sending out more agents, in a wave that seemed never ending.

Expect when you got closer, you noticed that there was a staircase going down from it. A staircase that at the top of stood a small an in old fashioned army clothes, holding, how not, a small, glowing cube in his hand.

Your vision zeroed in on him. You had a target.

Barely stopping to disarm the other agents, you quickly made your way through the crowd of agents surrounding you, until you were right at the bottom of the staircase. You looked up to see the man still standing on top, smiling at the chaos unraveling at his feet.

You decided to take advantage of the fact he hasn't seen you yet, and climbed the staircase from the bottom side, hanging on to creases and bumps, to keep the advantage. When you got to the top, you tried to swing yourself over the rails. You would've fallen down if a hand wouldn't have reached out, catching your arm and throwing you back on the staircase, right side up.

"Ah, the new kid," the man snickered above you, "I've heard about you. Were you really the one they sent here?"

"No one sent me," you hissed as you got up. "Now hand over the stone and it'll be much more pleasant for you."

"So much spite," he laughed, "but alas, I don't think I will, sweetheart."

"Whatever you say," you delivered a poignant kick to his knee, "sweetheart."

You tried to punch him, but this time he was quicker, avoiding your blow and landing one of his own on your shoulder. You shrugged it off and continued to try and pry the stone from his hands. The struggle was drawing attention, and Natasha yelled at you to watch out just in time before a Hydra agent from down there shot at you, only missing narrowly.

You continued to fight the man, who was stronger than he let on, considering he was fending you off with only one hand, but you also had getting shot to worry about, which was in his favor.

At last, you managed to knock the Tesseract out of his hand, and it fell to the ground in a shattering sound. Out of the broken pieces, there were no wires to be seen, only a stone.

Bingo.

You heard Steve shout something at you from far down, but you weren't paying attention, instead diving for the stone, grasping it in your hand, along with some shards of glass that cut you, but you couldn't care less, because this was it.

Fix what you broke.

You concentrated with all your might of the stone, its power almost physically throbbing in your hand, along with the excruciating pain, but you didn't care.

Fix what you broke.

Your breathing became labored, the pain near insufferable when you finally did it – opened a portal. You didn't know where it led, but the important thing is, it wasn't here. You threw the stone away with all the power you had left in you, praying it would reach so far you'd never see it again.

Fix. What. You. Broke.

Just in time, the portal closed, and you sighed gratefully. The pain was starting to take over now, your mind dancing on the edge of consciousness when you heard voices coming towards you. You wanted to tell them you were fine, but you found yourself falling to the ground, registering the pain of the fall before everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you woke up, your first thought was that the light's too bright. It felt almost like a hangover, but way worse, and

"I didn't even drink anything," you said, before breaking into a dry cough.

In a second, Steve was there by your side with a glass of water, holding it to your mouth. You took some small sips until you calmed down enough to remember that while no, you didn't drink anything, you did wield the power of an infinity stone, which means it's a miracle you're even alive.

So really, you should be thankful all you ended up with is an awful hangover. Of sorts. A magical hangover.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, breaking you from your reverie, and making you meet his gaze with yours.

"As much as I can be," you replied, your gaze falling to the blanket that was laid on you. "how long was I out?"

"About 18 hours," he said solemnly, "we didn't… we weren't sure if you'd wake up," he admitted, his voice dropping below a whisper by the end.

"Can't get rid of me that easily," you joked. Despite everything Steve put you through, for some reason you couldn't stand to see him this devastated.

"No, don't-" he sighed, "no one wants to get rid of you. Least of all me. Hell, thinking I'd lost you and it was my fault… hurt more than I could imagine."

"It wouldn't have been your fault, if I, you know," you shrugged, "that was my choice. I had to fix what I broke."

"No, you didn't," he insisted, his eyes snapping up to meet yours once more, "because you didn't break anything. None of this was your fault, and yet you fixed it, alone. You risked wielding the power of an infinity stone to keep earth safe, alone. You shouldn't have been alone."

"It worked out just fine. Besides, what difference would it have made, one more injured person?"

"If I was quick enough… I don't believe the stone could've taken both of us down."

"Us?" you smirked, "I didn't know we were an 'us'. But it's fine, I can deal with that, I guess," you shrugged, and Steve chuckled. You couldn't tell if you were imagining it, but it looked like the slightest of blushes was sprinkled on his cheeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a part of getting you back to normal, you started training again, moderately at first. But as you regained your strength, your training was almost as intense as it was before. Or maybe, even more intense.

You see, before that, you weren't training with Steve.

Since you didn't really get off to a good start, you'd always train with the others – Nat, Wanda, Sam… other non-super-soldier humans with a very human self-discipline, meaning that you could take breaks and chat in between reps.

Alas, those days were far behind you. I mean, not that far, that's just kind of dramatic, but you get it; you trained with Steve way more often and it was a nightmare.

You didn't know what standards Steve held for his other friends, but if he's like that with everyone then maybe it was better off not being his friend.

"What was that?" Steve asked, his eyes not moving from the timer, which looked comically small in his large hands.

"I said," you repeated between labored breaths and fast push-ups, "if you're like this with all your friends maybe I was better off not being one."

"Who said you are?" he shot back with a smirk, "and… time!"

You collapsed on the training room mattress, letting out a deep breath. "how much was that?"

"98 pushups in one minute," he stated, "not bad."

"Okay, Mr. captain super soldier," you breathed. "You know, maybe I should go back to doing these with Sam. A human being with normal people achievements," you sighed, faux-dreamily.

"I thought you wanted to get better?" Steve chuckled, extending his hand out to help you off the mattress.

"I'll tell him you said that," you smirked and took his hand, letting him help you up. Your touch lingered for the briefest of moments before you let go of his hand.

"Be my guest," Steve shot back, before taking a couple of sparring staffs off the wall, handing you one. An unusual technique in battle, but you found that practicing them with Steve provided a decent challenge to you both, since you were better with it than he was.

With both of you getting into a fighting stance, you started the match by dashing forward, trying to land one on his shoulder, but he quickly spun to the side, accompanied by a move of his staff that, fortunately for you, was a bit poorly aimed, thus only hit you in the arm.

You continued this back and forth for the next few minutes, one graceful move answered by a steady block from the other side, almost like a delicate dance. After a while, you felt yourself getting a little tired, and knew if you didn't end it now, he'd win.

And well, you just can't give him that kind of satisfaction.

You quickly planted your staff on the ground, using the momentum to jump up and wrap your legs around his neck, using your weight to push him down onto the mattress. You'll have to thank Natasha for that move.

His staff fell from his hand as he hit the floor, and you used your advantage to pin his arms above his head, making sure to lean enough of your weight on his torso so he couldn't move. You were both panting from the exertion of the fight, and you could feel a bead of sweat traveling down your back.

He smirked up at you. "Did Nat teach you that one?"

"Maybe," you raised your eyebrow in amusement. "But I executed it to perfection."

"You sure?" he asked, and before you could answer he broke free from your grasp, flipping the both of you so your torso was pinned below him, catching your arms the same way you did to him moments ago.

Breathing heavily, your tongue darted out to wet your lips. "Well, maybe not perfection," you murmured, "but I'd say I did pretty well. You're in nice shape for a hundred-year-old," you slowly grinned up at him.

"Just nice?" he mock pouted, not moving from his position above you.

"Yeah," you smirked, "from what I've seen."

"Well, maybe you've seen nothing yet," he suggested with a quirk of his eyebrow, his head lowering even closer to yours.

"Maybe," you said softly, standing your ground. His eyes were boring into yours, you could hear the shallow sound of his breath, feel it even.

Closing the distance between you was almost more impulse than an actual aware decision. Your lips met his soft ones, his momentum pushing you back against the mattress, your head hitting it with a soft thud you paid no mind to. One of his hands left yours, coming to cup your cheek as his tongue hesitantly entered your mouth, continuing eagerly when you let out a hum of approval, one of your hand sneaking around his neck and tangling in the hair on the nape of his neck, pulling slightly.

When you finally parted, your breaths were once again labored, but for an entirely different reason now.

"Okay, maybe you are in good shape," you rasped, shrugging as well as you could.

He chuckled before his eyes met yours. "You don't hate me," he stated incredulously.

"I already told you I didn't. I take it back, maybe old age is getting to you," you giggled.

He groaned lightly, making your laughter grow stronger.

Okay, so Steve Rogers wasn't the worst. Final verdict.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i’d love to hear your thoughts!!<3

Taglist: @horny-nd-bored @shannon124 @perfectlyharolds @wintersoldierslut @iceebabies @sleepingpapermouse @steverogerswasalwaysworthy @holtzkinnon @angelicl-y @stydia-4-ever @thatoneperson5000 @fangirlfree @kaitcordx25 @bequeening @steve-barry-damon-logan @itscrazycherryblossomcollection @hollandxmarvel @stargazingfangirl18 @readsreblogsfics @onetwo3000 @beritmetal @harrystylesholland @jazbot2000 @anobscurename @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @peggycarter-steverogers @evansphnx12 @starlightcrystalline @procrastinatingsapphictrash

Chris & co. taglist: @patzammit

if you wanna join / be removed from a taglist, comment/message me! much love <3

#chris evans x reader #steve rogers x reader #chris evans x female reader #chris evans x y/n #chris evans x you #Steve Rogers x Female Reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers angst

315 notes · View notes

remosdeerica · 3 years

Text

Batshit AU Pt #2: The Grandkids

So I mentioned in the last post Batshit AU Pt. #1 that I cover Dick and Jason's kids but since I've been thinking (read: fantasizing) about the future of the Batfam I figured I'd just do a post with ALL the grandkids!

Just a heads up: this is a LONG post.

First we shall start with the Grayson's:

Mar'i and Jake (Jake is not my original name I've seen it pop up in other media- dunno if it's canon in any timeline but I'm going with it).

Mar'i Grayson: Mar'i is the biologically daughter of Dick Grayson and Koriand'r of Tamaran (aka Starfire). Kori is unknowingly pregnant after one last one-night-stand with Dick before going back to her home planet to take over as queen. Unfortunately, because of Kori's sister Komand'r (aka Blackfire) causing civil unrest to try and usurp the thorn from her, Tamaran becomes unsafe for Mar'i as she is Kori's only heir.

-Kor'i goes back to Earth with an infant Mar'i and begrudgingly hands her over to Dick so she can live with him and be safe from Blackfire.

-Kori of course visits while she can but has a lot of responsibilities on Tamaran. When Mar'i is older she is able to go back to Tamaran to visit her mother.

-A few years later when Dick and Barbra get married, Barbra officially adopts Mar'i. Seeing both Kor'i and Barbra as her mothers Mar'i decides so call Kori "Mama" and Barbra "Mom/Mommy".

Jake Grayson: don't have much of an exciting backstory for him. He was basically just an orphaned infant Dick and Barbra decided to adopt after his bio-parents had been murdered.

Now he have the Todd family:

Because I am a heartless monster I decided that since Roy died in the comics without any sign of Lian and Jason was pretty fucked up about it, I would have Jason adopt Lian because Roy wasn't round to take care of her. So this is basically what happened:

Lain Harper-Todd: 1 year or so after Roy's death, Jason is visited by Jade Nguyen (aka Cheshire) who is carrying an infant Lian. Jade explains that she hadn't realised she was pregnant with Roy's child until after he was already dead and since she is not ready to give up her life as an assassin she states that Lian is better off without her. She then asks Jason if he would be willing to take Lian in as Roy's former partner (read into that how you will).

-Jason agrees, and decides to hyphenate her last name Harper-Todd so that she will always have a piece of Roy with her even if he can't be there for her in person.

it's not that I don't think JayRoy is cute! It's just that I honestly I don't really picture Jason dating anyone in my mind and the thought of him being a single dad is just precious. I'm also allergic to OC's (of my own making) so I usually try to keep to characters that are at least canon in some timeline and Lian was the first to come to mind.

Also I'm a angst-hungry monster so...

Drake-Wayne/Dowd/McGinnis household:

Lol, this family has too many names.

I already went over Terry and Matthew McGinnis' backstory in Batshit AU Pt. #1 but if you are too lazy/ don't feel like reading it I'll try to make sure to cover the important details.

Terry & Matthew McGinnis: A few years down the road, Tim is the current Batman and married to Bernard Dowd (my new fave batship). One night on patrol he finds the boys hunkered down behind an garbage container and approaches them.

-Terry is extremely protective of his younger brother Matt and becomes immediately aggressive, swinging a baseball around and threatening Tim to leave them alone.

-Tim finds it admirable/endearing that Terry is willing to face Batman alone in order to protect his brother and tells him so. He then asks them where there parents and and Matt (trusting Batman) tells Tim that they were killed by the 'Bad Men' who are now looking for he and Tarry.

-Tim is worried for the boys safety and offers to take them to the Police, but Tarry only says that they already tried that and that there are spies in the GCPD who ratted them out to the 'Bad Men'.

-Tim figures out that the boys are in more danger then he first realized and takes them home with him in order to protect them.

-Tim eventually finds out about Project Batman Beyond, an experiment orchestrated by A.R.G.U.S. in order to create the perfect child to usurp the Cowl and give A.R.G.U.S and 'in' with the Justice League and the super-community as a whole. A part of this project is making sure the children are biologically Bruce Wayne's in order for them to also gain influence over Wayne Enterprises.

-Tim realizes that there is no real safe place that he can send the boys and after discussing it with his husband, Bernard, the two decide to adopt the boys.

I think this adoption story is one of my favourites. Especially because I find the idea of Bernard not at all being surprised by his husband brining home black-haired blue-eyes orphans, hilarious.

Bernard: I figured since you are now Batman it was only a matter of time.

Tim: >:(

Wayne-Kent situation:

DamiJon is one of my absolute favourite ships in existence. But since both boys are so young in canon my version of their future relationship truly is creature of my own design, I will explain them a little and then the kids. I'll be quick about it. Promise. (There is also a 2 part series I'm working on that goes into my version of events called "Jon and Damian" if anyone is interested. Jon's chapter is done but Damian's is still in the works).

Jon: he is the one that I really have to explain. I call my version of him "Dark-ish Jon" or 'dark ish jon' for the tags. For those of you who already know the deal (or don't really care) y'all can skip to the *** for the kids.

-basically Jon was kidnapped by Jon-El (Clark's Kryptonian Bio-dad) in order for Jor-El to mold Jon into the perfect weapon for his plan to conquer the universe. They have a machine that Jumps through various timelines so no one can find them, and Jon-El trains/tortures Jon for 2 years.

-Jon eventually discovers new powers that allow him to kill Jor-El and escape but he ends up spending the next several years trying to find his original timeline.

-He eventually meets the Legion of Superheroes that help him get home, but once he arrives home he realizes that for him it has been 7 years since he was kidnaped, but only 2 weeks for his family/friends.

-Because of this he and his family find it hard to adjust to the new situation and Jon ultimately decides to return to the Legion but visit occasionally.

Damian: Honestly I don't think I really have to explain much about Damian for y'all to get the kids but I do want you to know:

He has long hair

He has peirced ears

Possibly tattoos?

He's has more of a slim figure than Bruce's bulky one

He is a fashion icon and kinda has 'bitchy white girl' energy

Bacically he very pretty and looks a LOT like Thalia

And yeah. The two eventually reconcile after Jon is done moping in another timeline and they decide to retire from crime fighting and build a cottage/farm and live in peace.

***

Athanasia: So she is actually Bruce's bio-kid from the Injustice timeline. And for my AU she is still Bruce's biologically and she does recognize him as her father, but because she and Damian are 13/14 years apart and she knows him better she lives and defers to him as her caretaker. I shall explain:

-Athanasia was created by Thalia in a fit of madness after Damian's death. Because of what happened to Damian, and because Athanasia turned out to be a girl (and therefor Ra's would have no use for her), Thalia keeps the little girl locked away and a secret so that no one can harm her.

-Years pass and Athanasia has never seen the outside would. Eventually something happens (will depends on the Fic -because I will get around to writing this shit eventually) and Athanasia is given to Damian (the only other person Thalia ever told her about.)

-At this point Bruce is getting older and most of his current children already have their own kids, so both he and Damian agree that because Athanasia is mostly attached to Damian and doesn't really know who Bruce is outside of being her father, that she will live with he and Jon.

-Athanasia get's older and eventually meets another girl at her school named Carrie Kelley. The girls form a quick bond, Carrie's louder personality complementing Athanasia's more quiet one.

Carrie Kelley: being best friends with Athanasia leads to Carrie spending a lot of time over at her house. This allows Jon and Damian to get to know the girl and become quite fond of her.

-one night after a sleepover at Jon and Damian's house with some of their other friends, Carrie's father comes to the house drunk and carrying a shot gun. He accuses Jon and Damian of being pedophiles because of their sexual orientations and calls them a variety of homophobic slurs.

-It's his attempts at shooting Jon that leads to Carrie calling 911 and having her own father arrested.

-Because her mother had already left and Carrie only had her dad to take care of her, Jon and Damian offer her a place in their home and eventually adopt her along with Athanasia when the girls are teenagers.

So, yeah! That's it for now. I am absolutely obsesses with this AU. I just love the idea of Bruce deciding to take in Dick leading to him having an army of children and grandchildren so large that all family gatherings have to happen at the Manor because nowhere else is big enough.

134 notes · View notes