#and then compounds it with other mistakes because that's very on brand for him

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here bestie and I'm sick of attempting to organize my life in boxes so I'm taking a salt break, because while I wholeheartedly agree that the S4 premiere was infinitely better than any other season premiere (excluding S1 of course) I have some issues, especially regarding the Malex storyline. I mean the scenes were fantastic and Tyler and Vlamis always take any trash their given and take it to the next level (Michael's face when he heard the gazebo break was pure 😭😭😭😭😭) but a lot

of things about it pissed me off. The fact that the other couples got soft/cutsie storylines buy Malex got the angsty/almost breakup storyline (let Malex be happy writers, we are TIRED), the fact that they regressed Michael to his S1 mindset (also writers stop ignoring entire seasons of development for characters to push dumb plots), the fact that the amazing interaction between Michael and Dallas was undercut by the fact Michael did NOT take his advice (writers I know you don't  remember events between episodes but that conversation happened 10 minutes before Michael saw Alex ffs). However I want to talk about most egregious offense, which is basically there is NO WAY Michael Guerin would have broken the gazebo using the scenario they gave us. First of all, you cannot tell me that when Michael learned Alex had a precious childhood relic he built with his Mom (you know that would hit him hard) the first thing he did wasn't immediately go to his workshop  build an indestructible alien glass case for it, go back to Alex's, put the gazebo in the case, and then install earthquake proof/tornado proof/ everything proof shelving to put the case on. And then he would fix, the garbage disposal. Any other scenario is bullshit. Next, even if we buy that he addressed the disposal first, there's no way Michael, professional mechanic for half his life, sat at a rickety table where his soulmate's precious relic was, equipment spread out  everywhere like a college student with their first tool set they bought from CVS, fighting a screwdriver when he could use his TK, and with a wrench placed precariously (like comically so) above said childhood relic. I mean, we got that sad little Michael face (again 😭😭😭😭😭) which was soo much, but I still call bullshit.

This is late because of vacation reasons but I’m always down to be a salty bench! So, watching the episode the first time the scenario was more believable because Vlamis fucking sells it. NO ONE is our here doing the glassy eyes/kicked puppy look like him (except for Oliver Stark). But mostly I think, as always, RNM is still suffering from the way they dragged things out with Malex originally. Using stupid side relationships for drama instead of addressing the ACTUAL reasons these two were kept apart, and the trauma responses they have much earlier on ends up with now having to revert one of them (usually Michael) back to The Before Times. And yeah, healing isn’t linear and of course something like moving and getting everything he ever wanted is going to be triggering for Michael! But since we didn’t ever get to see him and Alex really digging in and addressing this stuff before now, it feels almost like an endless cycle of Michael spiraling and Alex brushing it off. Season 3 really did them dirty by refusing to address the elephant in the room (season 2 and m*ria) and having them at each other’s throats until they were magically back together without really hashing things out. And that *might* have worked if they decided they wanted to be together and then hashed things out later, but they didn’t. It was just sort of brushed off as “they’re together now, aren’t you fans happy?” And yeah, I’m happy they’re together but the compelling part of their story, the healing and catharsis got skipped over so it’s never going to be as satisfying as it should have been.  

Also, again as always, they forget their own mythology! We saw Michael take apart and put together an incredibly intricate handmade clock full of tiny cogs and springs and alien parts! You’re telling me he couldn’t fix that gazebo good as new? Or, like you said, that he wouldn’t have made an indestructible case for something so precious to Alex? Or moved it out of the way? Or used his powers to help fix the disposal? And I will absolutely buy him being too flustered and upset to think straight for this whole thing! It does make sense that at least SOME of those things could have happened. The argument can be made on how this all makes sense, and what Michael’s state of mind was, and how his trauma responses make what happened perfectly logical, however at this point after ALL the crap they have thrown at Malex and how they keep undercutting their own narrative, and keep regressing the characters (LITERALLY Echo’s every conversation is a flavor of the same argument), it’s a lot harder to want to give any leeway. 

It was also definitely frustrating that Echo got a “when is the best time to propose” plot, while Malex got an “I immediately fucked up and Alex is probably going to kick me out and hate me” plot, but again, Echo are also still having the same basic conversation they always have so it’s not like it’s that much better for them? *deep sigh* the wasted potential for this show will never fail to frustrate me. 

[f1]

'We made mistakes in our judgement' says Binotto after Ferrari lose out on Monaco victory

Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto has admitted that the team made a mistake with Charles Leclerc's strategy in Monaco, after he lost the lead and finished fourth. Leclerc swapped from wets to intermediate tyres on Lap 18 and then again for hard compounds on Lap 21 in a double-stack pit stop, which saw the Monegasque fall to P4, and Sergio Perez lead the race. Red Bull then overcut Ferrari with their own double-stack on Lap 22 for Perez to continue to lead and eventually take victory – Carlos Sainz finishing second despite briefly being in the lead. READ MORE: The Red Bull strategy calls that wrong-footed Ferrari after Perez's crucial qualifying crash in Monaco “First, we need to admit, if you are leading the race and then you’re finding yourself on fourth position, we may have done something wrong,” said Binotto. “So we certainly made mistakes in our judgement and we made mistakes in our calls. What is the process which brought us to made mistakes? “I think the first mistake was underestimating the pace of the intermediates, and the gap we had to the other cars in terms of track position. The process, I think it’s still something on which we need to look at, and we just had our briefing with drivers, we went through it, we had discussions, we tried to understand but believe me it was quite a complicated one, so it was not an obvious one, but certainly we made a mistake,” explained the Ferrari Team Principal. “And I think we made a mistake as well because we should have called him [Leclerc] earlier, at least a lap early, or if not as we did we should have stayed out and simply stayed on the extreme wet, taking I think the [lead] position, and then maybe switching directly onto the dries.” READ MORE: Leclerc brands Monaco race ‘a freaking disaster’ after dropping from pole to P4 in first finish at home “What happened in Spain [where Leclerc retired from the lead] was a completely different story – obviously we had reliability issues while we were completely leading the race. Here there were circumstances in which we make life more difficult, but we have not been great at judging and deciding. “I’m pretty sure it’s a situation that will make us stronger. We are pretty aware: being competitive is a fact; winning is another task and it’s another level of difficulty. And I think as a team we are still progressing, learning, and maybe it will take some more time.” READ MORE: 6 Winners and 5 Losers from the Monaco Grand Prix – who excelled on the streets of Monte Carlo? 2022 Monaco Grand Prix: ’No words, no words’ – Distraught Leclerc left speechless after losing out on victory in home race As for Leclerc, he seemed to have come to terms with another home race that didn’t quite go to plan – having failed to start the 2021 Monaco GP from pole position. READ MORE: ‘The race win was there’ says Sainz after bittersweet Monaco P2 “Obviously it’s disappointing and it hurts especially as it’s at home, but it’s the way it is,” said the championship contender. "Now I’ll work together with the team, we’ll work all together to try and understand. “Today we had everything to win, pace was very strong – in the first stint I was managing and it was going extremely well in the wet – but then unfortunately, everything went against us. It hurts at home, but it’s life, and we’ll come back stronger.” via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[mercurysstars]

All That Glitters Is Not Gold (part 6)

Summary: Y/n gets hired to be the avengers chief physician and also happens to be an ex assassin.

Word count: 2.1k

Warnings: swearing, the reader getting angry, violence. 

A/N: hope you’re having a better day than Y/n ;)

𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦

𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥

𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨?

_

Y/n's stomach grumbled as she made her way toward the kitchen. Between getting her room organized and training with Peter for 2 hours she didn't get a chance to eat and it was really catching up with her now. She groaned rubbing her face while she yanked the refrigerator door opened. After searching for several minutes she decided to give up and make a sandwich.

Y/n grabbed the bread and a plate out of a cupboard, she returned to the fridge and pulled out meat, cheese, lettuce, and just as she was about to grab a tomato her phone rang. Without checking the caller ID, Y/n answered, balancing the phone between her ear and shoulder. "Y/n Y/l/n speaking."

"Hey, doc it's Matt we've got kinda a situation here." Matt hesitated, Y/n could hear muffled yelling in the background.

"Okay? What's up?" She was confused it wasn't like him to call out of the blue and it was especially weird for him to not sound sure of himself, he was a lawyer, and lawyers always put on a confident front even if they weren't. Y/n began to cut the tomato into thin slices.

"So I kinda have one of his men tied to a chair in my living room." He blurted out quickly.

Well, that was unexpected "Are you sure it's one of his?" She asked cautiously.

"Yeah I checked, he has the branding. I normally would have just questioned him and texted you but the thing is he only speaks Latin."

She sighed, all Y/n wanted to do was eat 5 sandwiches, snuggle up in her comfortable bed and binge-watch the umbrella academy "Alright put him on the phone."

Y/n heard what sounded like the phone getting set down and the floorboard squeaking under Matt's weight. She heard a bit of wrestling and the sound of tape getting ripped off of something. She heard a quick shuffling and Matt picked the phone back up "Here he is."

"Sumus iens ut satus off facile. cur in New York." She questioned. Y/n started to make her sandwich again. We are going to start off easy. Why are you in New York?

"Im 'non adnuntiant vobis cacas." He hissed. This man was definitely one of his. Y/n rolled her eyes not in the mood for this. I'm not telling you shit.

"Iniuriam. Te volo experior quod iterum?" She purred. Wrong. You want to try that again?

At that moment Bucky decided to wander into the kitchen he heard someone speaking Latin and his curiosity got the better of him. He saw Y/n leaning against the counter talking to someone on the phone. Her eyes snapped up to meet his 'You want one' she mouthed to him nodding toward her sandwich. He shook his head and she shrugged.

The muffled talking through the phone caused an angry tick to Y/n's jaw "Pone super daredevil." She gritted out through clenched teeth. Put daredevil back on.

Y/n had to take a moment to collect herself before she threw something at the wall "Hey I'll be there in a bit." She hung up and when she turned back to Bucky her face softened.

He didn't know what to say, he's never seen someone 180 that quickly in his long life "Quite the conversation you had going on there." He tried to break the silence.

She chuckled nonchalantly "Oh yeah just some idiot that won't do what he was told."

"I didn't know you knew how to speak other languages." He quipped.

Oh Bucky you only know a part of me, I am a universe full of secrets she thinks. "I don't kiss and tell Sarge." She instead said.

Right after the words left her mouth Tony walked into the kitchen. "Hey, Sunshine I've got a meeting so I'm going to have to cancel for tonight."

Y/n's eyes lingered on Bucky for a few seconds then she turned to Tony "Convenient because I have some business in Hell's Kitchen to take care of."

Tony opened his mouth to press further until she added "Don't ask because you don't want to know."

Bucky ever the curious couldn't help himself or keep his mouth shut and blurted "What if I want to know."

Y/n raised an eyebrow at the super-soldier, amused "Would torturing a man until he confesses answer your question?"

She turned and walked out of the kitchen. Bucky's eyes went comically wide "She's joking right?"

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose at her recklessness and shook his head "Stay safe." He yelled back to Y/n.

_

Y/n let herself into Matt's apartment he have given her a key when he moved in. When Y/n was younger her father decided that she needed further training so he hired a blind war vet that specialized in martial arts. There she met Matt they clicked instantly him being only 2 years old, he taught them how to hear things others couldn't smell more things that you wouldn't believe was possible, how to heal faster, and even how to fight without seeing.

Y/n walked down the poorly lit hallway leading to his living room just wanting to get think over with. In the living room, the man had a cloth covering his eyes, hands were tied behind the chair behind his back and each leg was tied to the bottom of the chair. Matt was leaning against the counter already waiting for her arrival, he nodded toward her, acknowledging her presence.

Y/n sauntered over to the man, she lifted up the corner of his shirt and tisked "Mark of Cain, definitely one of his men."

The man began to thrash around hearing her voice, she pulled the eye cover off and smirked "Heu est dere." Hey there hun.

"Pedicabo ego vos bitch." He spat furiously.  fuck you bitch.

Y/n frowned at him "Bene quod suus 'non ut salutaret domina." That's no way to greet a lady.

She stood up and patted his cheek giving him a sickening smile that gave him the chill "Sit scriptor committitur. Cur ipse mittet vobis?" Let's start. Why did he send you?

"Irrumabo." He growled, the man jumped at her but the restraints didn't allow him to get far. Suck my dick.

Annoyance began to trickle down her spine and anger rushed through her body. "ego suadeant vos satus loquentes." She snapped in an angry tone. I suggest you start talking.

"Terrebis me non ex vobis, qui non vis tua boyfriend est vulputate." I'm not scared of you or that want to be superhero boyfriend of yours.

No longer being able to control her anger Y/n grabbed him by his hair and tilted his face up "Take a vultus, vultus diu, et bonum dicitur lets videre tua si adhuc durat." She fumed. Take a look, a good long look, and let's see if your statement still stands.

The man studied her face for several moments before recognition flickered through his eyes "Lamia." He breathed. Lilith.

"Nunc autem dic mihi, quid invenerunt in me pater meus!" She shouted her patience ran out long ago and she didn't hesitate to show it. Now tell me how he found me!

"Cur te et ipsum interrogate." The man taunted. Why don't you go and ask him.

The grip on his hair tightened and she lowered down eye level to him "Ego suadeant tu dicas, quod primus est I. cut off vos erant 'iens ut ne nimis" she pulled out her knife and nodded downward. I suggest you tell me because the first thing I cut off you're not going to like very much.

The man's eyes went wide and he attempted to squeeze his legs together. Fear settled into his stomach, he didn't know if she would keep her promise but he also didn't want to find out.

"Hoc tantum scio, aliquem cum Vindices compositis ei" He squeaked out. All I know is someone at the Avengers compound told him.

She didn't let her shook show, she kept her face cold and calculated even though her heart was beating a million miles per minute. "Si igitur deus, auxilium tu mihi mendacem." So help me God if you're lying.

"Im 'non ego promissionem." He exclaimed and Y/n believed him, she tended to have that effect on people. I'm not I promise.

"O Deus, hes 'iens ut interficias me." He muttered shaking his head. Oh god, he's going to kill me.

The man kept whispering to himself and Y/n grew tired and shoved a sock in his mouth. She stood back up and turned to Matt. "Dump him on 23rd street, my father will take care of him soon enough."

_

Y/n blew on her hot cocoa watching the mini marshmallows swirling around, sure it the middle of September but it was her comfort drink. She tried to go over everyone she knew in the compound. How could she be so dumb? How could she let her guard down? She was trained better than this. It didn't matter now what she did or didn't do, but Y/n knew she wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Y/n could hear the elevator ding from her office and she was confused. All the Avengers were either busy with training or on a mission. She set down her mug on her desk.  A blonde head of hair peaked its head in. "Dr. Y/l/n?"

"Teresa how can I help you?" She questioned. Y/n was confused as to why she was up here Teresa shouldn't even be able to get past the 5th floor.

Teresa stepped closer with her hands behind her back "I got a paper cut stapling some papers together and I came up here for a bandaid."

Teresa was looking everywhere but at her. Y/n could tell she was lying but about what? Then it clicked, how he found out where she was, the weird look she gave her, what Sam said about her sudden move down to the front desk, but then the question struck again. Why was she up- she was up here to kill her.

Teresa lunged at Y/n with the knife she had hidden in her hands behind her back. Y/n went to block but she wasn't quick enough and Teresa cut a long strip down her arm and she hissed, it hurt more than she remembered. Teresa went to slash her again but Y/n grabbed her wrist and twisted causing her to drop the knife.

Y/ n grabbed her mug and smashed it over her head, Teresa staggered backward falling into a bookshelf. Teresa cocked her gun and began to fire, Y/n leaped over the table to take cover behind her desk. Her gun was on the other side of the office strapped underneath a chair. Bullets blew past her body, she shielded her head with her arms, the gun clicked signaling it was out of bullets.

She rolled from under her desk onto her feet. This time Y/n rushed toward Teresa, she threw 2 punches which Teresa both blocked, but the 3rd one Y/n got a hit to her cheek. Teresa attempted to throw a kick but failed, she went down and swept her legs. Y/n fell backward, she rolled onto her hands and shoulder, she pushed up causing her to land right side up, Y/n's movements were a bit slower and staggered due to the blood loss.

Teresa went to hit her but then Y/n grabbed her arm and the back of her neck and smashed Teresa's face into a mirror. With a bloody face, Teresa peeled herself off the wall Y/n collapsed feeling lightheaded. Teresa stood over with her knife ready in hand, she brought her hand up into the air, but Y/n grabbed the from under her chair and shot her right between the eyes. Teresa collapsed backward and the knife slide across the floor.

"FRIDAY Initiate the red button protocol." She coughed out.

"Alerting Avengers now."

Y/n grabbed her arm and hissed, she shouldn't have collapsed this soon, even if it was a cut this big, and the sting was worst too, but then she put it together Teresa would have had a better chance to kill her if she laced the knife with something.

She heard Bucky calling out her name "In here." She chocked out. Bucky rounded the corner to her office and ran in, there were papers scattered everywhere, the desks and chairs knocked over, glass broken. He crouched beside Y/n she was fighting consciousness.

"No Y/n don't you fall asleep on me." He demanded putting her head in his lap.

"It'll be okay Buck." She patted his cheek in a comforting manner.

"No, no, no, hold on they will be here in 30 seconds" He pleaded. That was the last thing Y/n heard before everything went dark.

Part 7

[bigskydreaming]

ANYWAY.

Current mood is contemplating an AU wherein Boone (yes that Boone, its been too long since a Dick and Boone shitpost so off we goooooooo) anyway, so AU wherein he graduates from his League of Shadows training around the same time Dick becomes Nightwing, and since I headcanon Boone having known who Dick really is for years because he’s not a complete dumbass and Dick Grayson is a fairly high profile figure and it doesn’t take a genius to look at a picture of him and recognize him as “aka Freddy Lloyd,” I mean, they did live together for weeks or even months.....

POINT IS, so Boone is all done with his training and sees Nightwing bigwigging it up with the Titans and then sees there’s a new Robin in Gotham, and all these thoughts come together in a perfect storm for Boone to be like LETS PLAY “WHAT IF I GO FUCK WITH FREDDY!”

SO. In this AU Nightwing and Shrike’s confrontation slash reunion happens before he ever moves to Bludhaven to be a solo act and when he’s still based out of New York, and actually takes place in Gotham during a period when Bruce is out of town on an extended mission or something, as this Shrike figure starts stalking Robin and Jason is like UMM HELP GIRL, I mean not that I need it CUZ I DON’T, but like if you want to come help with this weirdo I guess that’d be alright, we could hang, its cool.

So Dick trainsurfs down to Gotham all quick like a bunny and is like waaaaaait a minute, this guy calls himself Shrike? That’s weirdly specific, I knew another Shrike once......and Jason’s like maybe this is the same guy? And Dick’s just all umm no, he’s dead. He like, died and stuff. He made like a corpsicle. Definitely not him, its gotta be someone else....oh fucking hell, its Boone. Of course its Boone. Why did it have to be Boone?

And Jason’s like who the fuck is Boone?

Dick shushes him distractedly. Nobody. There is no Boone, only Zuul. Eat your vegetables.

Jason: You are the weirdest person alive, and that’s saying a lot, I live with Bruce. What is going on right now?

Dick: Nothing? *examines himself in a mirror that is actually just a broken piece of window glass procured from yon surrounding rooftops* Hey how does my hair look? Is it wavy enough? I feel like it could be more wavy.

Jason: Is your hair - what? Dude, is this Boone guy like your ex-boyfriend or something?

Dick: Please. As if. He wishes. Also I knew him when we were like twelve. Or eleven. Maybe ten. I forget. It was definitely pre-pubescent though.

Jason: That’s not a denial.

Dick: Its also not an admission and also stop being smart and insightful, its rude and I did not ask. Besides, its not like I’m trying to look good for Boone, eww, he’s a loser, I would never. I’m just trying to look BETTER than him.

Jason: Ahh. Well. That’s different then.

Dick: See? You get it.

Jason: Not even a little bit. If this is what puberty does to you I want no part in it.

Dick: Too late. Its already begun. I spy hairs on your chinny-chin-chin.

Jason: What kind of bizarre Three Little Pigs segue is.....who ARE you right now?

Dick: Stop victim-blaming me for my discombobulation! I haven’t seen Boone in years and he could be here any second now and he already has the lead, I can not let him confront me in a state less than poised, suave and sophisticated, its just the RULES.

Jason: Well you’re off to a stellar start. Why is it so important you win this whatever this is with whomever Boone is and also are you still going to therapy? I feel like maybe not and maybe that was a mistake.

Dick: You’re a terrible little brother, just the worst. And okay, look. Its complicated, see. I met Boone at a very specific time in my life when both of us were kinda floundering in that verb kinda way, not like the Little Mermaid kinda way.

Jason: Stop using similes. I’m begging you. It hurts.

Dick: THE POINT IS......we were both.....kinda lost, at the time. Aimless. Looking for purpose. And one of the things we both ended up kinda turning to in search of that purpose was like.....our natural competitiveness.

Jason: Wait. You’re competitive? You? OMG THIS IS BRAND NEW INFORMATION.

Dick: I hate you. You are a blight upon the wheatfields of my soul. NOW IF YOU’LL EXCUSE ME, I WAS MONOLOGUING. Okay. So. Boone and I, we kinda fell into this cycle of eternal competition, that was intensified by us not really having anything else that was OURS at the time, so it became sorta like....the only thing that mattered? If that makes sense?

Jason: Weirdly, that’s the first thing you’ve said all night that DOES make any sense. Okay. I’m keeping up. Continue.

Dick: So it was like constant one-upmanship. If I snuck in somewhere without a trace, he had to sneak in better. If he was unmoved by being surrounded by dead bodies and gore, I had to be more unmoved. If I escaped from a deathtrap in half the time expected, he had to halve that when it was his turn, and if he made it through an obstacle course while bleeding from a leg I had to beat him while bleeding from both legs, look it was this whole thing.

Jason: Wait, and you knew this guy when you were ten? Where the fuck did you two even MEET? Jason Voorhees’ Little Daycamp of Horrors?

Dick: ANYWAY. The point is everything is about competition with us, it always has been, and like, he’s the only person who was ever able to keep up with me at least at the time and just like I was the same for him, and so we hated each other because we were both mad at the world back then and hated everybody and everything, especially the one and only other guy who kept showing us up, but at the same time, we were closer to each other than anyone else in the world at the time because we were the only ones on each other’s same page and able to stay on that same page so there was like.....weird solidarity in that? Idk. I TOLD YOU IT WAS COMPLICATED.

Jason: No, its okay, I get it. So what happened?

Dick: Oh, our mentor died and Boone thought it was all my fault. His name was Shrike too and given that Boone’s here now and calling himself Shrike, I’m guessing he still does.

Jason: .....uh huh. Was it your fault?

Dick: Only a little bit! It was mostly gravity. That bitch.

Jason: Ooookay, not touching that one. So. In conclusion: he’s.....here to kill you then? Or he’s not here to kill you then.....?

Dick: Oh he’s here to kill me, but ONLY if he can beat me first. If he can’t beat me, then no, he’s not here to kill me, just whine, wangst and moan at me.

Jason: And by beat you, you mean at.....having wavy hair?

Dick: At EVERYTHING. Ugh, were you even paying attention?

Jason: Oh yeah. I’m SO glad we cleared all this up. Next time, just simplify and explain he’s your childhood frenemy turned actual nemesis.

Dick: Huh. Yeah, y’know what, that does pretty much cover it....

Jason: Who you totally want to bone due to unresolved and conflicting feelings stemming from your brief but intense time together in your formative years as well as and compounded by your neurotic obsessive attraction to hyper-competent individuals who challenge you on physical, mental and emotional and even moral levels.

Dick: What the....a) you’re wrong, b) STOP STEALING MY PSYCH TEXTBOOKS and c) you could not BE more wrong.

Jason: Your hair looks flat and lackluster. He’s totally gonna beat you there.

Dick: You’re the actual worst. 

[rumtipsyrogers]

Chapter One: The First Meeting

Steve Rogers x shy!Reader

Summary: It’s your first day at your new job. Who knew you had to grab coffee for Captain Rogers?

Warnings: Shy!reader, new job nerves, soft!steve, fluff 💙

Authors Notes: Part one of Candy Hearts for @the-ce-horniest-book-club and in celebration of The Week of Love theme 💙 not proofread, mistakes are my own fault

Your brand new shoes squeaked along the polished shiny tiled floors, it drowned out the sounds of your heart drumming dangerously fast in your chest. It was your first day, and to say you were nervous would be a huge understatement.

Ignoring the looks of who you presumed were agents, you walked towards the glass elevator when someone called out your name behind you, spinning on your heels you offer a smile and walk back towards them.

“Hi ma’am, glad I caught you in time!” The young man chuckles, looking flustered and out of breath, “you’ve been asked by agent Hill to do a coffee run before the meeting starts in 20 minutes.” He informs you and your eyes widen, that’s not going to be enough time. But still, you muster up the biggest smile you can and nod your head.

“Okay.” You agree anyway, not wanting to disappoint anyone and make enemies on your first day. The young agent hands you a list of wanted coffees, your eyes skim over the messy writing, and you’re already worried you’re going to mess this up. But regardless, you accept it anyway. It’s on your mind that Director Fury had told you the last person was fired for the same reason, you didn’t want to be fired on the first day of working here.

“20 minutes. And take them up to floor 103, that’s where the meeting is.” He reminds you, walking backwards haphazardly and bumping into another worker, his actions caused the person to send papers flying everywhere and you took that as your cue to leave.

Thankfully, the coffee shop you had entered wasn’t busy and you were served right away. You started reading out the long list of orders, struggling to figure out what some of the words said because of the awful handwriting. The barista was nice enough to help out with some of the unknown coffee names and before long, the order was complete and you were making your way back to the compound and up to floor 103 where the meeting would be starting in the next couple of minutes.

You arrived just on time, as the elevator dinged the doors open, the wooden door leading into the board room had just closed. You cursed under your breath, your shy nature meant you weren’t very confident and just knocking the door was a hard task.

And if you had knocked the door, you would have spilled the coffee, and if you put the coffee down on the ground, you would most likely trip over it by knocking on the door.

It was a situation where you wouldn’t win. So you stood outside the door, staring at it in hopes it would just open by itself and with a bit more magic, the coffees would take themselves in the room.

Now you’re self doubting your abilities to do this job. A job where you would be some kind of assistant, coffee grabber, photocopier person, the one who sends the mail, and you couldn’t even bring yourself to knock the door and tell the people waiting inside that their coffee has arrived.

Swallowing the nervous hard lump and blinking back the tears, you’re about to turn around and go home when the door in front of you suddenly opens, an older guy with a goatee and tinted glasses stands opposite you. You know who he is of course, he’s the most notorious man in New York.

“Is that our coffee? We were just about to send out a search party for you.” He smirks, glancing at you over the top of his glasses.

“Oh yes! I’m- I’m sorry I just- I wasn’t sure if this was the right room.” You stuttered and felt the heat crawl up your neck to your cheeks. The man steps asides and opens the door wider, there’s so many pairs of eyes looking over at you and your hands visibly tremble stepping in and feeling like a fish surrounded by great white sharks.

“You’re a little late.” The man - who you instantly recognised as Captain America - stands near the front of the table with one hand on his hip and the other flicking through some pages. He doesn’t spare you much of a glance, and the silence in the room sets your nerves on fire. You’re sure everyone here, especially the enhanced super soldiers, can hear the pounding of your heartbeat.

Steve looks up from the desk and his expression softens when he sees how nervous you must be.

“You’re new right?” He asks you, walking around the table until he’s standing in front of you.

You nod your head, averting your gaze on anything but him. “Yes sir.”

Steve smiles a little wider than he intended, he hears your heart pounding, the way your throat muscles from swallowing excessively.

“Call me Steve please, ‘sir’ feels too business-y.” Sam snorts from across the table and you grin.

“I’m sorry, Steve. I promise it won’t happen again.” You relax when he takes the coffee cup holders from your hands and sets them down on the desk next to someone with a metal arm.

“Don’t stress, although I’ll give you a tour later to help get you used to the layout of this maze.” He offers.

“I built this place!” Tony intervenes, pulling one screen into the other.

“That’s why.” Steve mumbles under his breath that you hear clearly and giggle.

“I’m looking forward to it.” You smile, your fingers fiddling with the hem of your shirt.

“I’ll come find you at 12pm.” He promises with a dazzling smile that almost sweeps you off your feet.

Maybe it wasn’t the best first impression, but you hope you could make it up to them and prove you are the right person for this job.

[mcbride]

TWD S11 Predictions - Carol/Daryl focused

disclaimer: i don't know anything. i have no sources. just my predictions, thoughts and wishful thinking based on filming tracking, intuition, some theories, images from the teaser/promo trailers and more wishful thinking!

solely focused on Carol and Daryl's storylines, cause apparently that's all my heart cares about anymore! as a wise person once said (Espy, my positive fairy! if you're reading this, ilysm), our baes need to be dealing with their own issues and demons, separately, while getting some closure with other people, so they can finally move forward together.

so i don't expect many actual caryl scenes in part 1 of s11, but i fully expect them to keep each other in mind, and even make some decisions based on a future they wanna have together even before they resolve the awkward tension between them atm.

imo the perfect caryl arc in 11a would include a lot of emotional encounters, drama, disappearances, fake deaths, torture, tragedy, dog, closure and make up and make out... after the jump....

it appears that Carol and Daryl will be involved in different missions at the start of the season - he will head out with Maggie's group to search for food when they are caught up in a storm and have to hide out in the subway tunnels; while i presume she stays back to defend and help clean up ASZ or goes on her own mission with Kelly and Magna.

Carol, Kelly and Magna end up stumbling upon Connie's journal, a symbol of hope for all of them. they might even decide to search the area for any more signs of Connie. i really want Carol herself to find Connie and bring her back to Kelly. and not cause Carol is a hero who saved Connie, nooooooo cause Connie can save her own self. she is strong, not a damsel in distress. she went through hell but she made it back. i think we will see Connie and what she has been through, however, i don't believe she will reunite with anyone from team family before the MSF (11x08) or even MSP (11x09). no idea who she and Virgil are running from in the trailer - it could either be a whisperer, a stray reaper or just some crazy random motherf*cker they run into.

while Maggie's group are in the tunnels, dog runs off and Daryl goes to search for him, never making it back to the group for some reason. after the storm is over, Maggie and the group search for Daryl but not having been able to find him (?) they just assume he is gone, possibly dead? i don't know why Maggie would give up so easily searching for family, but it seems like her current MO to just leave people behind.

along the way, Carol and Magna will find common ground and actually become besties cause she desperately needs some female friends. please and thank you. they can bond over the hope to find Connie alive and well, or the fact, both of them are currently in a very awkward position with their boos while having no idea where the heck they are.

Daryl probably got separated from the group while escaping a small herd in the tunnels (cue to Daryl's face covered in blood in the woods) and when he finally finds dog, he comes face to face with a masked reaper formerly known to him as Leah. he is shocked to learn she's part of the group that targeted Maggie. Leah is probably bitter Daryl chose his family instead of her a few years ago cause she has no idea he came back for her... so she and her friends take (willingly or not!) Daryl prisoner... possibly torture him and play mind games to gather information on team family.

in the sdcc trailer, there are some very heartbreaking scenes with Carol (and Aaron?), i cannot wait for it. i know it's gonna make me cry so hard and i've been needing Carol/Aaron friendship for years. at the same time, i expect Carol to also have some badass fighting scenes with her daughter-in-law and new bestie, Lydia, and tia Rosita! YES girl power!! people need Carol and she's totally there for them.

Aaron seems to be in a bad place emotionally (possibly something happened to Gracie, or just the fact they lost a lot of people in the whisperers war!) and Carol will be there to urge him not to make the same mistakes she did. hopefully, these 2 can join forces and come up with a masterplan to defeat the reapers.

Daryl being Daryl who always wants to save people even from themselves, tries to convince Leah to change sides, join team family, or convince her own family to leave his family alone. he's unsuccessful and when Daryl tries to escape, setting the whole place on fire and killing a few men on his way out of the reapers compound, Leah threatens to harm dog. cause why not? she obvi loves nothing or no one! they take Daryl back to another cell, and dog manages to escape.

meanwhile, Maggie's group returns to ASZ, where they tell Carol they believe Daryl is lost or dead. please give me all the angst that comes with Carol thinking she may have lost Daryl forever! she has been pretty committed to the group and rebuilding their home, but i believe her first instinct will be to run, to leave... TO FIND DARYL!!! cause no way in hell would Carol just accept he's gone unless she sees it with her own eyes.

WELL in true 'if you can't beat them, then join them' fashion, after a few brainwashing sessions with Leah, Daryl tells her all about the note (FIND ME) he left for her at the cabin, how he knows he made the wrong decision then, declares his loyalty to her and joins the reapers...

dog arrives at ASZ just as Carol is about to leave to search for Daryl. good boy always comes back home to mama and together they will find and save dada. (bear with me! from now on i'll be totally running wild with my wishful thinking... it will pretty much read like some fanfic plot!)

Daryl keeps trying to fit in with the reapers group, but he's only taking a page from Carol's undercover book - fake it till you make it + destroy them from the inside. what he doesn't know is that Leah and her new/old bf (Pope!?) have been planning an attack on ASZ behind his back. they simply let him know, this is his chance to prove himself to the reapers. he has to go along with the plan (or DIE!), but he hopes to be Alexandrians' inside man, helping them protect their family at all costs (ironically, exactly what Negan did when he joined the whisperers and they attacked Hilltop... just not the same motivation! i guess Carol wasn't so wrong about Negan after all!)

at night, Daryl puts on his reaper costume and they head to ASZ. reapers learned the location of the place by tracking dog. the plan was much bigger and more explosive than Daryl expected, the reapers destroy a big part of ASZ brand new rebuilt wall and set fire to a bunch of houses and the mill before Daryl can even react.

Alexandrians and reapers fight as Daryl sneaks out to lead the kids to safety. he finds Maggie, asks for Carol, and is glad she is out there looking for him, relatively safe, rather than around to fight and watch ASZ fall.

while out looking for Daryl, Carol hears the explosions, sees the fire and she and dog return to ASZ as fast as they can. they are greeted by Leah at what used to be front gate...

i realize this is getting extremely long, so i'll just say that i absolutely don't want Carol to have anything to do with Leah's possible imminent death. i don't want that guilt on her conscience, and i don't want her to feel like Leah is just another person she took from Daryl (like Connie!). i don't even want Leah to die! unless she's trying to hurt or kill Daryl.

somehow i think it would be a good twist, if for a quick second Carol thought Daryl had betrayed them and joined the reapers for Leah. of course, Carol knows better. SHE KNOWS DARYL. he would never, but for a brief panicked moment, it would be good to see her react to that. i can only imagine the pain in her eyes. but she also trusts Daryl with her life.

we have no idea what Leah knows about Carol, but i'd like the pocketknife Daryl regifted to come back. how would Leah react? likely angry to see another woman with something that was hers. i want to believe Daryl would never tell Leah anything about Carol because she is just too important and too personal to share. but maybe Leah can tell there was someone else !? who knows.

i just want it to be completely clear Daryl is done with that part of his past. Daryl is not alone and lost in the woods anymore without his brother Rick and his bestie Carol. ever since Carol brought him back, Daryl has acted like he knows exactly what he wants and he's done playing games. and what he wants is not Leah or Connie. he wants for ALL his family to be safe and happy, and he wants to run away with Carol and see the world. AND i want both Carol and Daryl to feel free to be free and live freely.

as for the make up and make out part... (that's saved for 11b, hopefully!)

team family won, most of the reapers are dead, except for Leah. Daryl (with Carol's nod of approval!) decides to spare her, gives her some supplies and tells her to get lost. at the same time, Eugene arrives with the troopers from CommonWealth to help with the whisperer war. WHOOPS. 2 wars, 2 late, bruh! but the group leaves to join the good people at CW.

Carol and Daryl have a very long conversation about everything that happened and what they have been feeling. Daryl telling her exactly why he was so mad at her (she kept leaving, can't commit!), her actions (almost getting herself killed!) since Henry's death and how he needs her in his life. no matter how she sees herself or whether she thinks she's worthy or not, he just wants her to be there next to him for whatever is to come.

plus Carol realizing she needed to get closer and let people in without fear, not give up hope and actually fight for a better future for herself. and finally, admitting to Daryl that it was horrible to think he might've been gone forever, promising to never make him feel the way she felt. basically, a promise to never ever leave him again (cue to making out!)

[amedetoiles]

In another installment of things I should absolutely not be adding to my already large collection of unfinished google docs, I once more have absolutely no self control, so about that post on wedding planner!WWX.....

Set in the same verse as this. Very on brand of me to start writing a sequel for a fic I have yet to finish. Post-canon, post-reconciliation, and WQ is alive because I say so.

---

In retrospect, Jiang Cheng probably should have predicted this.

Jiang Cheng has grown up with Wei Wuxian. He knows exactly the level of ridiculousness his brother can reach. Nearly all of his childhood was dedicated to learning this exact fact. Compounded with that is how fully Wei Wuxian always throws himself into any project that catches his brother’s attention. For a long time, that had been a-jie’s wedding.

All those late nights he and Wei Wuxian had spent planning together, mapping out detailed seating charts, and designing elaborate challenges for the groom. Wei Wuxian, practically delirious with childish excitement, had proposed and demanded in equal measure extravagance after extravagance because their sister only deserved the very best in the world.

Even still, Jiang Cheng can’t say that he had expected exactly... this.

Three days after Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing tell their family about their betrothal, Wei Wuxian bursts into Jiang Cheng’s office mid-morning, his hair still uncombed and sticking out in multiple directions. His arms are full of scrolls, which he proceeds to unceremoniously dump across Jiang Cheng’s desk.

Wei Wuxian ignores Jiang Cheng’s indignant squawking and speaks rapidly, all of his words running together, and practically vibrating on his feet with a frenzy that brings Jiang Cheng abruptly back to their childhood, laying on the floor of their shared room with scrolls strewn all around them and listening while Wei Wuxian raves enthusiastically about his latest idea for a challenge.

Lan Wangji stands at the doorway, alternating between looking worried that Wei Wuxian might asphyxiate with how fast he is speaking and giving Jiang Cheng a look that says this is under no uncertain terms completely Jiang Cheng’s fault as usual.

(In the three years since his brother married Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji have formed an extremely respectful and productive relationship of tolerating each other’s presence for the exact minimum duration it takes to make Wei Wuxian happy. It is still too long for either of them.)

“The Mao and Guo sects are still feuding so they need to be seated as far apart as possible,” Wei Wuxian is saying, barely pausing for breath as he flits from topic to topic with a speed that leaves Jiang Cheng feeling faintly dizzy. “Fan shushu says he will share his recipe for Qing-jie’s xi bing. The head of the lotus harvesters will arrange to have water lilies transported from the southern borders. I have some designs for the invitations that you and Qing-jie can take a look at. And – Oh!”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes light up suddenly with an unholy fervor that has never, ever boded well for Jiang Cheng, and then Wei Wuxian turns, calls I have to go! over his shoulder, and leaves as quickly as he came. Lan Wangji makes sure to shoot Jiang Cheng one final accusatory glare before following after his husband because Wei Wuxian couldn’t have married someone that wasn’t a huge petty bitch.

Jiang Cheng sits, shocked still, his desk looking like a storm had blown by, and stares at the empty space where his brother was just standing.

He may have slightly miscalculated.

---

A month later, Jiang Cheng contemplates taking Wen Qing and running away to a deserted mountain. (Who says Wei Wuxian is the only one allowed to do that anyway? At least his mountain won’t be prone to murder.)

He won’t of course. He is the Jiang sect leader, and since his birth, his wedding has always been expected to have the pomp and circumstance befitting that of a leader of a great sect. He would never run out on that responsibility no matter how fucking crazy Wei Wuxian is driving him.

But Jiang Cheng does think about it, very wistfully.

He even brings it up half-seriously with Wen Qing one morning after a disciple comes to inform him that Wei Wuxian had had his schedule completely cleared without Jiang Cheng’s knowledge or permission. Jiang Cheng is now expected to meet his brother at the gate in a quarter shichen’s time for who knows what because his brother is as obnoxiously forthcoming as he has always been.

Wen Qing laughs at him because she is terrible, and he has clearly made a huge mistake.

She also presses a light kiss to his cheek and promises to threaten Wei Wuxian with needles later if he doesn’t sit the fuck down and rest before leaving to have tea with Luo Qingyang because she’s also pretty fantastic, and Jiang Cheng has made the best decision of his life.

Even if it means standing in the middle of the tailor shop while Wei Wuxian darts around him like a deranged bird, dangling various fabric samples in front of Jiang Cheng, frowning for some obscure reason he doesn’t deign to tell Jiang Cheng because who cares what Jiang Cheng thinks about his own wedding, tossing the piece of fabric onto the growing no pile, and then picking up yet another.

On the eleventh turn of this, Jiang Cheng feels a sharp throb against his temple and takes a deep slow breath, then another, and another, so he doesn’t scream, or strangle his brother with the fabrics.

“You do realize that this is my fucking wedding?” Jiang Cheng growls with frustration.

“Of course,” Wei Wuxian says immediately, nodding in a way that feels like he’s actually taking Jiang Cheng seriously even as he picks up yet another fabric sample. Jiang Cheng bites his tongue to keep himself from shouting and glares.

Wei Wuxian continues before Jiang Cheng can speak (yell), moving to hold the fabric against Jiang Cheng’s face, “But you’re my little brother.”

Jiang Cheng blinks, opens his mouth and then closes it. His throat feels suddenly inexplicably tight. An embarrassing warmth expands rapidly beneath his rib cage, and he thinks he might actually choke on it.

He looks at the fabric instead of his brother’s face because he will not cry. The red silk is a shade lighter than Wei Wuxian’s customary color and of exceptionally high quality. (That Wei Wuxian has been choosing from the most expensive of silks has not escaped Jiang Cheng’s attention. He has been trying and failing to not have feelings about this.) The patterning is beautiful, the soft, gentle swirls reminiscent of the lakes surrounding Yunmeng.

It isn’t something Jiang Cheng would have chosen on his first glance through. It is, he realizes with a swoop in his stomach, something a-jie might have picked out.

Jiang Cheng has, until now, avoided thinking too hard about all the empty spaces at his wedding, still riding the steady wonder that fills him every time he looks at the comb tucked neatly against Wen Qing’s hair. And after these last few years of having his brother beside him again, of their misshapen family relearning to fit together with all its new pieces, it is almost, almost, unfamiliar to feel that old aching loss rise within him.

He wonders how much of Wei Wuxian’s frenzied insanity is because he is feeling it too.

After all, Jiang Cheng remembers the months of spreading himself thin between sect obligations and wedding preparations, of tracking down the finest fabrics and jewelry that Jiang and Jin gold could buy in between meetings and conferences, of trying and trying and trying to make up for an absence that creased the edges of a-jie’s eyes in sorrow, even when she stood, radiant in red and gold on her wedding day.

“Jiang Cheng?” Wei Wuxian asks, his voice and gaze softening with concern.

Jiang Cheng swallows several times, his eyes prickling along with his nose, and he stares at the spot above Wei Wuxian’s head. You don’t have to do this, he wants to say. You don’t need to do this. “It isn’t atrocious I guess,” is what comes out.

Even in his periphery, he can see Wei Wuxian’s eyes crinkle with a familiar fondness. His brother nods and lays the fabric gently down on what Jiang Cheng supposes is now the yes pile.

“As expected of Jiang zongzhu,” Wei Wuxian says in a teasing tone that he only uses when he wants to piss off Jiang Cheng.

“Shut up,” Jiang Cheng says swiftly, without any heat. Then, adds, “Yiling Laozu.”

Wei Wuxian laughs and shoves him. “Fuck off,” he says, but he’s smiling as he turns and picks up the next sample, and Jiang Cheng feels his own lips curve in an answering smile.

Okay, he thinks. Okay. He can do this.

He can let his brother have this. Maybe they can both have this.

[avversiera-writes]

try again; in every day we breathe life [tobirama senju/you] - chapter 7

Chapter 7 - Then

Summary: Tobirama frets as the pregnancy is well on its way. Just lots of sweet things.

Word Count: ~ 3.5k

available on AO3. 

Chapter 1 - Now | Chapter 2 - Then, part 1 | Chapter 2 - Then, part 2 | Chapter 3 - Now | Chapter 4 - Then | Chapter 5 - Then | Chapter 6 - Now |

Tobirama sighs, as he is very displeased at the news that the Hyuuga and Uchiha clans are becoming more and more exclusive. It is always the clans that have pride in their power that want more and only seek to better their own. That is always a threat to the village, and Tobirama cannot let this grow and take root. 

 He reviews the complaints of the two clans in his home office, becoming very disturbed that there are possible dissenters inside the village. This is a fragile time, especially with the coming peace ceremony later in the year. 

 He supposes that this is the result of Madara’s defection. He knows that there are some power grabs inside the Uchiha clan, even if they have chosen to stay in the village. They have been without a clan leader for a while, and tensions of picking the candidates are making the rest of the village uneasy. Meanwhile, the Hyuuga clan are becoming notorious for their branding of their own members if they are not part of the main family. While Tobirama thinks that he ought to leave them to their own business, this cannot be a reason why the Hyuuga cannot participate within Konoha. Prides must be set aside in order for this place to thrive. 

And this place must be made safer, especially when he has a child on the way. Especially when he and his wife are planning to bring more children into this world. 

The acceptance of this shakes him to the very core, and he is scrambling to prepare everything before they are even a thought in their minds. He cannot just have quiet , he wants peace . 

 Does he not, especially his elder brother and the rest of their family, deserve peace? 

It feels like he has been fighting forever. 

//

“Are you certain you want to accompany me today?” Tobirama crosses his arms and raises his eyebrows in that haughty way he does when he is confident he knows better. 

 You make a face at him as you try on the next dress in your closet, as nothing seems to fit you today. You note the changes your body is going through, and some of it, are not fun. Especially when you feel all bloated and soft in places you used to be toned in. Your lower belly is beginning to feel firm, and you notice that walking up the stairs leaves you a little winded. 

“Yes, husband, I am certain,” you say as you struggle to tie your clothing close. “I have been cooped up in this fortress we call home.”

 Tobirama sighs and he comes closer to help you. “I don’t think it’s wise.”

 “Tobirama, you’re going to be with me all the time,” you reply and you turn to him so that he can tie your dress in front. “Besides, Kimiko says exercise is good for me and the baby.” 

Tobirama’s eyes narrow, seemingly sold on the argument of what is good for you and his child so he does not say anything else to further his statement. 

You peek at yourself in the mirror. “I don’t think this is what I should wear.”

 Tobirama stares at you incredulously. “This is the fifth time you have changed clothes. We have no time for this.” 

 “But it’s tight!” You whine as you grab another robe from the closet. 

 “Every clothing you try on is tight!”

 “Are you saying I’m fat?” You turn to him fiercely, and you put a hand on your hip. 

Tobirama seems to groan internally. “Do you want me to insinuate that you are?” 

 You wag your finger at him to warn him. “Try again.” 

 Tobirama crosses his arm, unimpressed. “I will ask someone to replace your clothes. It will be done before we even come back home.” 

 You sigh, a little annoyed, but for now, his answer calms you. “Fine. Let’s go.” 

Tobirama puts a hand behind your back as he walks beside you. “You are becoming more impossible to reason with, day by day.”

 “I am just trying to act like you,” you tell him, trying to joke, but your annoyance is also building up minute by minute. 

 “Do better,” Tobirama eggs on. 

 “You are not helping,” you snap and you give him a glare. 

Tobirama raises an eyebrow, preemptively amused. “Is this the kind of attitude you intend to bring in our meeting with the clan leader of Hyuuga and his wife?” 

 “I am very amicable,” you huff.

 “Yes, your amicable state will certainly help foster a good conversation with them.” 

You roll your eyes, and at this point, you’re surprised your eyes have not permanently stayed rolled back. 

 “You roll your eyes, but you know that I am right.” 

 “Shut the hell up,” you mutter. 

Tobirama looks like he is about to laugh. “Is that how you talk to the Hokage?” 

 “I can talk to the Hokage any way I want,” you bite back. 

“See, I think you really do have authority problems,” Tobirama says dryly.

 As the two of you take to the streets, you walk together in silence, observing and greeting the people you pass by. Being outside finally settles your annoyance, and you feel proud of your husband for having a huge hand in creating the environment around you. There are people, children and women, smiling. They have homes, and they can go about their business without worrying too much about the outside dangers. They do not have to raise their children in a war zone. 

 You spot a few shops that sell clothing for babies and your heart softens. Soon, you will be buying those for your child. You also spot a furniture store that has several wooden cribs, and your gaze linger on each one. 

Then, the two of you pass by some restaurants, and the smell that wafts through the air, while usually appealing, makes you nauseous. You hurry your steps so that you can avoid breathing in these scents, but that is your mistake, as you tend to have a faster rate of breathing these days. 

 You pause, as your head suddenly becomes light and the feeling on your hands and feet becomes lost. 

 “Oh,” you close your eyes and shudder, and immediately, Tobirama is right beside you to steady you. 

Tobirama’s hand is tight around your arm, and you lean on him for support. 

“We are going back home.” Tobirama begins to lean down to take your legs so that he can carry you. 

 “I am fine,” you stop him. “Kimiko says that getting light-headed is normal.” 

 “Do not depend on her too much.” 

You roll your eyes. “Her family is well-versed with these things.” 

 “You are naive sometimes.” 

 “What is that supposed to mean?” You frown at him. 

 “I am just giving you advice. Just because these servants work for us, does not mean we should trust them completely.” Tobirama straightens up and runs a hand through his hair. “Besides, she is too close to us, in a way that you were her child’s sensei and I am still the Hokage responsible for everyone .” 

Your Senju husband is right. How it irks you, but you know that he is. 

“Yes, fine. I know,” you say, and Tobirama seems satisfied with your answer. 

 “Stick close,” Tobirama murmurs, and he pulls you closer to him. You sense that he is more wary than before, but you take comfort that he will not let anything happen to you. 

//

The whole ordeal with the Hyuuga takes the whole afternoon, but you make yourself by gossiping with the clan leader’s wife and finding out information from her by interjecting your conversations with vague questions after establishing some rapport. You also eat all the snacks that were served, mostly the sweeter rice cakes as you cannot get enough of them. 

 You find out that the next heir of the clan is chosen and that she is making the arrangements to choose who they will be wedded to when they turn of age. 

Learning about the clans makes you open your mind a little bit more. The Senju run things differently, since they allow marriage with those who are not part of the clan or whoever they choose to marry. You would think that they are strict about this, but because they are also the village in a way, they must allow other allowances. This makes the whole village their family now. 

The sliding doors of the room you are in open, and a maid on her knees bows. 

 “My lady, Lord Nidaime is waiting for you,” she says. 

“I will be there, thank you,” you tell her. 

You say your goodbyes and well-wishes to the clan leader’s wife, and then, you follow the maid to the gates, where your husband is standing with a hand behind his back. He looks rather inquisitive, but his eyes snap in attention when his gaze lands on you. 

You follow him out, and when you are a little far from the Hyuuga compound, you match your steps with your husband.

 “So?” You inquire. 

 Tobirama shrugs. “I just wanted to make sure that they will abide by the village’s laws. They can have their clan practices, but the duty to the village is absolute.”

 “Tobirama, their clan’s practice is not exactly–”

 “I know,” Tobirama says. “But as long as it does not interfere with the running of the village, and they do not cause any more divides, I cannot really interfere.” 

You frown, but you know that this is the way things are. “What are you going to do about the Uchiha clan?” 

 You can see the gears turning in Tobirama’s head. “Nothing solid, yet.” 

 “But you do have a plan.” 

 “Something like that.” 

You reach for his elbow. “Tobirama.” 

 Your husband turns to you and he sighs. “I do not intend to put them in the back burner, if that is what you are thinking. They are part of the village, and therefore, they are important people. You know that I am fair, and that I only serve to make sure Konoha prospers."

The two of you pause, and a soft breeze caresses the strands of your hair back. 

 “They must champion the village. That is all I ask. These clans in this village, they have their pride and individuality. We cannot be Konohagakure if we are already divided within. I am not a fool to not realize that we always have differences."  

Tobirama places his hands on your arms, and he meets your eyes. “But we all have to live in harmony if we are to model peace. We are an example to the people outside of this country and the reason why I make allies with other villages. If they see how we work, maybe they will follow in our lead.” 

You hear the trees rustle their leaves, and the birds chirping nearby. Somewhere near, a river runs peacefully, rushing and following their current. The sun feels cooler on your back, as compared to earlier.

“You do too much, Lord Nidaime,” you cannot help a wry smile from coming out. “You dream of world peace?”

 Tobirama shakes his head. “Not dreams. Dreams are futile and without basis. This is a plan for the long-term.” 

 “People are different, you know, not everyone will fall in line,” you say. 

 “I know,” Tobirama says. “But I am counting on their dreams of a better place to make my plans happen.” 

 “You have too many plans, my love.”

The term of endearment colors Tobirama’s ears. “Yes, but they do work amazingly.”

 You chuckle. “Now, that is your ego talking. I should insult you some more to put you in your place.”

Tobirama softens, and he tugs you along so that the two of you are walking again. “I think you have done enough insulting me for a lifetime.”

 “Ah, but that is what you signed up for, Lord Nidaime.” You bump your shoulder on his arm. “‘Til death do us part, remember?” 

 “Yes, yes, I remember, unfortunately,” Tobirama dryly says. “Though I have a feeling you will still be as biting in our afterlife.” 

 “True, enough.” You giggle and you slip your arm into his. 

Tobirama does not pull away, and it makes you grin secretly. 

//

The morning sickness comes, and maybe, you think that morning sickness is an understatement. It is more like, an all-day sickness. An all-day sickness that does not abate no matter how much vomiting you do. 

 You have made a friend with your toilet, and you are awfully running on empty. Tears and sweat run down your skin, and your throat burns. 

You try not to ask too much from your husband or Kimiko, so you try to force yourself to stop being sick. You press your forehead on the floor to cool yourself, and when you come to, you find your husband placing a cup of ginger tea in your line of sight. 

 “Shadow clone?” You ask him. 

 Tobirama smiles amusedly. “This is why I never do this. I know you prefer him and his full attention.” 

You roll your eyes. “Sometimes shadow clones are better.” 

 “I am insulted.”

 “Why? I just said I prefer you at times.” 

 “On behalf of my original, I am insulted. Apart from him, I am rather flattered.”

“You are also quite the talker. Do shadow clones adapt their own personalities when they are far from their original?” 

 Tobirama inches the cup forward so that you are prompted to pick it up. “That is an interesting hypothesis. One that we will put to test later.” 

 You take a sip from the tea. “Tell me more, my shadow clone of a husband.” 

“Or maybe we take slivers of his personality and become heightened.” 

 “Hm,” you say. You narrow your eyes at him. “How come you never use shadow clones in the bedroom? We could surely use another one of you.” 

 The Tobirama in front of you becomes red in the neck. You see his jaw tense. 

“What?” You prompt. 

 “This is a conversation between you and him .” Tobirama’s shadow clone disperses itself and you laugh to yourself, knowing that this conversation will become part of Tobirama’s memory. 

The ginger tea helps relieve your sickness, and after finishing it, you finally make it out of your bathroom, as you are starving, and you know you need some sustenance, no matter how much you may dislike the foods presented for you. 

You decrease your interactions with Kimiko, but you express your gratitude towards her whenever she is there to assist you. When you are not keen to eat the foods that are cooked, she is the one planning and preparing the meal, filled with the nutrition that you need to keep a healthy body. You do not want to seem like you are high up in your horse, so you always make it a point to thank her. 

 You do keep in mind what your husband has told you, and because this is your first child, you want to be extra careful because you are new to this. You do not really know what to expect. 

//

Your husband is as usual, busy with work, as the time for the peace ceremony closes. You can tell that he is a little frantic, but he is good at compartmentalizing and it comes out in his organized chaotic ways. You try to help him out when he is at home, but you tire very easily now, and you spend most of your days sleeping. 

 From time to time, Tobirama puts a hand on your growing womb, probably checking you and the child you are carrying. You find it sweet, and you know without a doubt that he will do his best as a father. Besides, Tobirama always gives his all. You wish to know about what is running in his mind, but he has a tendency to ruminate within. 

In one of your better days, where you are not throwing up or being moody for no reason, you pry a few words from your husband. The two of you are lying on your bed, where most of your important conversations happen. Beside you, he is relaxed, and the tension on his shoulders and his forehead are relieved at the moment. 

“Are you alright?” You ask him. 

 Tobirama watches your face, his eyes flitting to your forehead, your nose, your lips. “Why do you ask?” 

 “I can tell that there is a lot on your mind.” 

 “As always, right?” Tobirama says in a lighter tone. 

 “But I can tell that it’s not just about your peace negotiations and your other political ambitions.”

Tobirama blinks, probably surprised that you are watching him too closely. He is not used to that. No one really tries to make sure that he is okay, except for you, because it is expected that he has got it all together. 

 He does not. 

“You are right,” Tobirama finally replies after a long minute. “I fret about being a father.” 

 “Why?” 

 “Children are fragile things,” Tobirama begins. “Of course, I have many experiences with them, as I did have a role in raising my nephews and my students, but they are not my own. I am afraid that I will be like my father, that one day, I will realize and understand his point of view. That what he did will be justified and therefore, I have to resort to his ways.” 

You bring a hand to his face. “Tobirama, you are not your father. You have made your own way thus far, you do not need to follow his suit. You told me that he never hesitated to raise a hand to his children, and while I know that you are strict, you have reasons and your own logic that never fails you. I know that you will never hurt your own children, and that whatever decision you do will be to ensure their safety.” 

 Tobirama falls silent and his eyes focus on you. 

“Besides, I will be the one you will have to contend with if you do go too far,” you smile, and caress his cheek with your thumb. “Oh, my love. The fact that you worry about what you might do shows that you have given much thought and reflection on being a father.” 

 “What if I cannot be there to support them in a way that they need? You know how we are. They may hate me.” 

 “Well, maybe when they’re teenagers, they will hate you, but that is normal, on the grand scale of things.” 

Tobirama’s forehead crinkles. 

“You know, I am also scared about being a mother,” you confess to him so that you can alleviate his feelings. 

 Tobirama’s eyes widened for a fraction. “You? Someone as fearless and bold as you is afraid?”

 “Very funny, Lord Nidaime,” you comment sarcastically. “Well for one, I will be the one to push out this child.” 

 Tobirama raises an eyebrow. 

 “And,” you continue. “Most problems that daughters have are with their mother.”

You pause, and you look at his expression and you let out a sigh. “You know, my parents never told me that they loved me. Never let me know in any way. For a long time, I thought something was wrong with me. They never let me know they cared, and I felt like I was only born to be expendable.” 

 Tobirama takes your hand from his face and kisses your knuckles. Of course, he would know how that felt like.

“I could never do that to my own child,” you tell him. “If I have to, I will let them know that I love them every day. I will never make them feel like they have been abandoned.” 

 Tobirama blinks, and a soft expression spreads across his face. “I have no doubt that our children will be okay under your care.” 

 You narrow your eyes at him. “You better pick up some slack on fathering.” 

 “Of course,” Tobirama murmurs and he seems taken aback that you even think to say this. “I promise to you that they will be safe, and that they will know the tender side of childhood. They will be happy.” 

“That’s a big promise, Lord Nidaime,” you lean towards him. “You know well the dangers of big promises.” 

 “ I know ,” Tobirama whispers. “But I must try.” 

Tobirama offers his arm, and you come to him and press your body against his. Your head rests between his neck and shoulder, and his arms come around your head and waist. You feel sleep coming on to you like a heavy blanket, and as you give in, you hear him say those three words that you have always waited and yearned to hear. 

To be continued...

Chapter 8 - Then >>

[simsadventures]

Joke’s on You

Summary: You’re still a little pissed at Steve for never pestering Bucky and Sam for their pranks and always joining them. You plot your sweet revenge.

Warnings: a/b/o dynamics, pranks, fluff

Pairing: Alpha Bucky x Omega Reader, Alpha Steve x Omega Reader (platonic, friendship)

Word Count: 1798

A/N: This is a sequel to Little Children, and it has been requested by my sweet @voltage-my2dlove​. Hope you all will enjoy this little piece.

Bucky Barnes Masterlist __ Masterlist

It’s been almost two weeks ever since the boys pulled their last prank on you. They’ve been terrorising the rest of the team ever since, but never you again. And while you were extremely thankful for that, because you didn’t know what you’d do if they try and get you once again, so soon after they almost cause you a heart attack. No, scratch that. You knew exactly what you’d do, and it involved their dicks and your knife. And no, you didn’t mean some sexy knife play.

What you didn’t understand was how they could switch from being the Avengers, the mighty heroes of the Earth, it’s defenders who wouldn’t be caught smiling on a mission, to these bunch of shits they were in the compound. You loved seeing them happy, that wasn’t the problem, but sometimes they seemed to forget that not every prank is funny for both sides. Like last time, for example. For some reason (and you still couldn’t figure out why) Steve dared Peter to start an open fire by the pool, on the roof of the compound. What Steve didn’t predict, was that there weren’t any fire extinguishers, and if it wasn’t for Natasha and her quick reflexes, the damaged might have been much more extensive than one fake plant and Clint’s brand new towel.

You pestered Steve for this little “prank” so much, he actually had to go around the compound and personally apologise to everyone involved. It was a punishment of sorts, for you big bad Alpha. Admitting his mistakes and owning up to them wasn’t one of his most considerable talents.

After what happened to your necklace, Steve would try and win you over again. It was not that you were pissed, or that you didn’t want to talk to him, it was more of a punishment for him as well. Because if there was one thing that Steve hated, it was to not be liked by everyone around him.

It was at that very moment that you had a marvellous idea. You knew exactly how to get Steve back for all the times he either encouraged the boys to do something or he did some pranks himself. It was a little cruel, even you had to admit it, but their jokes were all getting a little too much, and you just wanted them to stop.

But you knew you couldn’t pull it off all by yourself. You needed the whole compound to be on in your prank and give to Steve good. You prepared a game plan in your head, getting yourself ready, and when you thought it was all, you asked the AI to let everyone except Steve know that you wanted to speak with them, urgently and very privately.

You knew people would be more than confused why you called them in the middle of free Saturday to your room, but they would find out soon enough.

The first one to come in was Bucky and Sam. They have been training outside, trying to stay in shape, so they were both sweaty and exhausted. Your eyes roamed Bucky’s body, seeing all the places where his clothes were stuck to his body thanks to the sweat, and you let yourself admire your Alpha’s posture for a bit. He really was a sight for a sore eye.

“You called us here for a reason, Y/N, or just to see your precious Bucky? ‘Cause if so, I could really use the spare time to have a hot, hot shower,” Sam said with a smirk. You scoffed, and if he stood closer, you would’ve slapped his shoulder. Idiot.

Bucky has his eyebrows raised, waiting for you to tell them what you wanted because he was damn sure that if it was just to satisfy your needs, you wouldn’t have called Sam as well. And if you did… Well, you needed to have a conversation it seemed. But before he could overthink, even more, Clint and Natasha came in, with the rest of the team close behind.

“What’s up, Y/N? Why are we all here? Missed us already, or what?” Tony hollered as he sat on your vanity.

“Sure, missed you very much, Tony, but that’s beside the point. As you can see, not everyone’s here.”

It was only then that people realised that Captain America himself was missing.

“Right, so, we all know that Steve is mister prankster here, for some goddamn reason. And it’s getting old and tiring. So, I thought we could pull a prank on him, and maybe he’ll realise that not everyone thinks pranks are funny and that maybe, just maybe, not all of us want to be involved in his shenanigans. What do you think?”

From the corner of your eyes, you could see Sam and Bucky smirking at each other, obviously excited that they could do something to Steve. Peter was also all in front, he excited nodding. The rest of the team took a little longer, but after a few minutes, everyone was in.

“And do you have something specific on your mind, Y/N?” Clint asked, still not 100% sure he wanted to participate only for Steve to get him back again. He still missed his perfect purple towel.

“I do, actually. You know how Steve wants to be the most likeable person? Like, how he hates if someone’s pissed at him? Well, I think the best way to prank him is if we all stop talking to him for the rest of the weekend. He’s gonna go completely nuts!”

You could see the devilish smirks appearing on faces that were previously little undecided. They all thought it would take some trying, something they would actually have to do, but it was more about what they didn’t have to do. It would hurt Steve’s ego a bit, but nothing else. Neither you nor anyone else on the team wanted to hurt Steve, it was just a little something that would (at least you hoped) make him realise a few things.

“Ok, and the end of this pranks is when? Tomorrow night, then?” Peter asked, still smiling.

“I would say we all gather around 8 PM in the common room, bring Steve in and explain things to him.”

Everyone nodded, and after a few more friendly exchanges, everyone was on their ways. And as for you, you couldn’t wait to meet Steve.

And you met him not even an hour later. You were walking down the corridor to the kitchen, afternoon snacks calling for you when you saw him walking towards you. He gave you a smile, but you stared right ahead, completely ignoring his presence. He called your name, but still, you didn’t turn, didn’t even acknowledge you knew he was there.

Steve shook his head and began walking again, thinking that you were still pissed at him for both the necklace and the little stunt he made Peter do a few days ago. He didn’t think much of it.

It was only after he met Natasha, Bucky, Peter, and then Tony, respectively, and none of them even smiled at him, didn’t answer his questions, nothing. They all acted as if he didn’t exist. As if he became invisible during the lunch-break or something.

Steve went to sleep that night, thinking about he’s done wrong in the past few hours that people would be so pissed about that they didn’t speak with him. But he couldn’t think of anything.

The next day, the exact thing happened. Steve bumped into you and Bucky when you were walking outside the compound, going on a supply run, because the stack of sweets and chips were running thin.

“Hey, guys, want me to tag along to help you?”

Nothing

Damn, Steve thought. Not even Bucky was answering his damn questions, and that spoke volumes. Even after Steve pissed, his best friend’s Omega was Bucky ignoring him. Sure, he yelled and cursed at him, but that was about it.

Steve was slowly losing his mind. All he wanted was someone to talk to, or at least someone to smile at him. But help was obviously not coming and Steve was in despair.

It was only around 8 PM when FRIDAY told him the team was waiting on him in the common room, that a glimpse of hope simmered in his eyes. He sprinted towards the room, and sure enough, when he got there, the rest of his friends were there.

You were in the forefront, your hands casually in your pockets.

“What’s going on? Have you decided to have mercy on me and finally speak with me?” Steve asked desperately.

“It was really uncomfortable, wasn’t it, Stevie? When people were doing something, you didn’t want them to. Seems familiar?”

Steve thought for a second, and when he looked at everyone in the room, they had their eyebrows cocked and smirks playing on their lips.

“You pranked me, Y/N? You made everyone not talk to me, on purpose? I thought I did something, you little-“

Steve made a step towards you, and while you were calm and collected, knowing that Steve, despite being an Alpha would never hurt you, Bucky and his protective nature obviously weren’t convinced. Bucky stepped next to you, his arm finding its way around your waist to keep you close to him.

Steve stopped in his tracks, realising that if he made one more step, Bucky would be in front of you, protecting what was his.

“It’s not a nice feeling, is it, Stevie? Imagine the rest of us, being dragged into something we don’t want to have any part in, almost all the time. You’re like a dad of this group, and I always thought you were the responsible one. You wanna pull pranks? Cool, but do it with the three idiots that actually want to act like 5-year-olds. Or at least give us all a little break. You’ve been doing this for how long, 2 years now? And we’re all kinda tired,” you smiled at him and patted his shoulder.

Steve looked around and smiled, as well.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you all were feeling this way about it all. I just felt like we were growing apart, and I wanted to push us together.”

You kissed Bucky’s cheek, letting your still alert Alpha know that you were alright and that he could let you go before you walked to Steve and hugged him.

“We’re family, Steve. No-one’s going anywhere, but we all need some space and time for ourselves. When you find your Omega, you’ll understand what most of us are about,” you smirked at him, and he gave you a snorted laugh.

“So, we’re all good? I’m not in probation anymore?”

“We’re all good, Steve, but no more jokes, please.”

Bucky Taglist

@this-kitten-is-smitten​ @sebbbystaaan​ @paradisiacalsparks​ @crazybutconfidentaf​ @owlyannah​ @lassini​ @s-trawberryv-eins​

Marvel Taglist

@voltage-my2dlove​ @kneel-begyourpardon​ @lumar014​ @ptrs-prkrs​

Forever Tag:

@eileenalone​ @sasbb23​ @p8tn0lish​ @coffeebooksandfandom​ @waiting4inspiration​ @caswinchester2000​ @mogaruke​ @justthatfangirloverthere​

[cake-writes]

Compromise (Interlude #2)

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Story Warnings: Mom!Reader, Dad!Bucky, Ex-Relationship, Co-Parenting Drama, Slow Burn, Angst, Fluff, Separation Anxiety

Summary: You didn’t want to trust him again, because every time you did, Bucky broke your heart just a little more. Deep down, though, you wanted to get along with him. You wanted to be amicable. You wanted your daughter to know her father. You’d always wanted that. It just required a compromise.

Part Seven / Master List / Spotify Playlist

Bucky woke to a sudden crack of thunder and the sound of rain pelting a rapid cadence against the windows. A summer storm – a stark contrast to such a beautiful Sunday, but the house was eerily silent.

He quickly discovered why.

Winnie’s bed was too warm, too welcoming, because she was curled up on one side of him and you were fast asleep on the other – pinned against him with his arm around your waist.

Oh.

The breath caught in his throat at the realization that he’d dragged you into bed with him. He must have; you wouldn’t have been lying here otherwise. You wouldn’t have chosen to, not in a million years.

You had boundaries.

Boundaries he hadn’t respected.

While his were more for show, he always tried to respect yours. This time, he hadn’t, and it bothered him – horrified him, if he was being honest, so much that his grip immediately went slack.

The bedside lamp was still on, warm yellow light illuminating your features so beautifully that he just couldn’t look away. His eyes traced every single one: the perpetual dark circles under your eyes, the slight part of your lips as you slept so soundly despite the fact that he’d trapped you here. Flaws, but he didn’t consider them to be. The delicate rise and fall of your chest with each breath. The softness of your body against his. The way your leg was thrown over his so casually, reminiscent of the past.

God, you were gorgeous.

What caught him off guard was that your brows furrowed at the sudden lack of contact, and you pressed closer to him, cheek to his chest, fingers curling in the fabric of his shirt.

It made his heart ache. He missed this – missed you. Over two years later, and he still needed you. He still wanted you. He still loved you.

A pipe dream.

Flesh fingertips brushed a few stray hairs from your forehead, skin softening under his touch, crease between your brows dissipating almost instantly. 

He tried not to read too much into it. An easy task to be sure, because he was too caught up in his own thoughts.

Why did he still feel this way?

Bucky found himself wishing that things could go back to the way they used to be. He’d make more of an effort this time. Lord knows he tried back then, but his insecurities got the best of him. He wasn’t worthy of your love, or of Winnie’s, and he sure as hell didn’t deserve to be happy. 

Somehow, he found happiness anyway. And then he ruined it.

He ruined it because he was afraid – afraid that you’d wake up one day and realize what a mistake you’d made, afraid that he’d finally let you in and you’d realize what a terrible person he really was. A murderer. An assassin. Blood stained his hands – serum-enhanced and vibranium weapons – but the only thing on yours was the faint scent of coffee.

His very fears became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Ironic.

And then there was Winnie. His daughter. His little girl. Innocent and incorruptible, but with him as a father that wouldn’t last long. It couldn’t.

So he ran.

He went on too many missions to count, to prevent that from happening. He kept his distance – kept his heart locked in a box, even though you’d given him yours on a silver platter. He kept you at arm’s length. Never let you get too close. Never gave himself the chance to ruin you, let alone his innocent baby girl. Never let either of you see that he was already broken beyond repair.

When you finally ended it, it came as a relief – at least until he realized how alone that made him feel. He hadn’t expected the agony of coming home to an empty apartment, an empty life, an empty nest. Crib and cradle gone – moved three hours upstate, as far away from him as you could possibly go without crossing state lines, but that wasn’t the worst of it.

No, the custody battle was a special brand of hell. You went for the jugular. He saw a side of you he’d never seen before – pure, unbridled spite and a viciousness that rivalled that of The Soldier. He would have rather faced the European Theater again, rather faced Hydra again than fight with you.

Trials and tribulations through and through. In between his court proceedings on Capitol Hill, he stood in another courtroom, too – one with you less than six feet away, where tried to defend himself and his actions for the umpteenth time in hopes that you’d give him a shred of something he had no right to have.

One visit per month with his daughter.

That was all he got, and at first he thought it was enough. More than enough, because he didn’t deserve it to begin with. Even though the visits were supervised, he was grateful. Even though you didn’t trust him, he was content.

For a while.

Then it wasn’t, and it hurt. It was all his fault to begin with, but it hurt. He’d been too afraid to see what was right in front of him until it was gone – until it was too late to make amends, and you and Winnie were living your best lives without him.

The visits were an uphill battle, too, with him fighting against the deepest recesses of his mind but he tried. God, he tried, but he missed so many of them. By immersing himself in his work, by trying to make amends for all of his misdeeds, he was able to forget his misery for a little while.

And then you’d text him, and he’d remember.

Don’t bother coming, you’re three hours late.

We have shit to do, Bucky. Thanks for making us wait around for you, like always.

Your daughter really loves it when you don’t show. She’s crying, Bucky. Well done.

Nasty, terrible digs at him, but he deserved them. He internalized them, and he didn’t put up a fight. He made the two of you suffer over and over again until something finally changed in him. 

He still didn’t think he deserved to be happy, but he didn’t want either of you to suffer anymore.

So he tried harder. He pushed for recruitment, for new Avengers, and with that came a change of hours. He’d be stateside more often than not. He’d be around, especially after the move to the compound.

Natasha helped him pick out the décor.

Steve helped him adjust to a smaller workload.

It wasn’t until then that Bucky finally had the nerve to talk to you about it. He didn’t want to show up unannounced at your home, especially because Winnie would be there and he didn’t want to put you on the spot in front of her. So, instead, he went to your workplace. The conversation didn’t go as planned; his words came out more as a demand than a request, and he could tell by the hard look in your eyes that you weren’t pleased.

But you acquiesced for him. Always for him, and he loathed how much he loved that you did.

Looking at you now, he still didn’t know why you were so kind to him. A spitfire, absolutely, especially when it came to Winnie, but he loved that about you. He loved that you were so sweet and giving, even when he didn’t deserve it. He loved that you were willing to compromise, even though he’d forced your hand about visitation, about custody.

And you gave in about other things, too. The car. An olive branch, perhaps.

He wasn’t sure whose.

Slowly, gently, Bucky pulled himself out of bed and lifted you into his arms – did his best not to disturb you or Winnie. He knew you’d have to work in the morning, and she’d have preschool. He wanted you to get enough rest, and sharing a bed with your daughter wasn’t the best thing for that, even if she was so small.

You deserved the world. You deserved everything, and so did she.

Bucky’s heart pounded in his chest at the familiar feeling of you in his arms – so soft and sweet and absolutely perfect. Unfortunately, he only managed to reach the hallway when you stirred with a groggy whisper, “What’s going on?”

“Just taking you to bed, sweetheart,” he answered, keeping his voice low to suit the late hour. “Go back to sleep.”

You let out soft sound of acknowledgement, then, and the sleepy smile you gave him caught him off-guard, but not as much as when you snuggled closer to him – rest your forehead against his shoulder as he opened the door to your bedroom. 

Your breathing went steady and even before he even lay you down on your bed, but when he did, you didn’t let him go. Your delicate arms were wrapped snugly around his neck, which he was able to pry away easily enough, but you let out some incomprehensible grumble at the action just like you used to do.

Bucky couldn’t help but smile.

He pulled the sheets over you and pressed a kiss to your forehead – too familiar, he realized after the fact, but he didn’t freeze up until you mumbled sleepily, “Love you.”

Sweet words followed by a soft snore.

With his heart hammering inside of his chest, Bucky switched off the light.

When you woke up the next morning, everything was in its place – doors locked, lights off, two lunches packed. The third was gone, and so was he.

For an entire week, your calls and texts went unanswered. Things were the same as before. Nothing had changed – except everything had.

You just didn’t know it yet.

Part Eight

[thefools-journey]

The Tarot in Love

AKA QUICK TAROT META

So. Apparently a lot of Arcana fans don’t understand or know the connection between the LIs and their tarot cards. This will be a quick primer on said tarot cards and how they influence the LI routes. It’s important to note that most cards have multiple domains and influences. The type of reading, the question posed, and the other cards within the reading will determine which domain or influence is being accessed.

Before we start, note that every single LI begins their route on the Reversed Path. A Reversed Card in this game means that the card’s energy is stuck and something is preventing its full expression.

ASRA THE MAGICIAN

The Magician’s main domains circle Action. The Magician knows what he wants and goes after it, damn the consequences. If he is committed and willing, he makes miracles happen. He is the kinetic energy to the High Priestess’ potential energy. As the MC says in the prologue when they pull this card (for Nadia), this card signals that the time to act is now. 

Asra begins his route full of inaction. Sure, he seems like he is on the go and doing things but in reality, he is paralyzed. He has allowed his ties to Muriel and Nadia decay in favor of the MC. He hasn’t acted on vital information only he knows. He has lost his purpose, his drive, for knowledge, for love, etc. Some of this is down to his caregiver role with the MC - Asra cannot act or do much of anything in that quarter without risking the MC's health. Most of it is down to the year from hell ™ where Asra learned just how far he will go and just how powerful and ruthless he can be for those he loves. The year from hell ™ demonstrates exactly what the Magician is made to do. Asra scared himself really badly here. So he starts the route in a sort of limbo. Key to his Upright ending is widening his world, making the Magician understand that what he fights for is not just himself, his narrow goals, and loves but something much bigger.

NADIA THE HIGH PRIESTESS

The High Priestess deals in a few interlocking domains. She guards the boundaries between the mundane and the mysterious. She is the great potential waiting to be unlocked. Arguably, she is magic itself. She is the inner voice, that gut feeling, that intuition you cannot explain but know is right. She asks you to trust that part of yourself.

Nadia's route is arguably the best balanced in terms of the magical and mundane storylines. This is no accident. This balance is fundamental to the High Priestess' domain. When her route begins, Nadia trusts no one, not even herself. Thanks to missing nine years’ worth of memories, she understandably feels adrift. She has no idea what is going on and who to trust. Nadia’s only real tethers, and they are tenuous ones, are to Portia and the MC, the latter of whom she hopes can somehow help her. The year from hell ™ even if she no longer remembers it, also played a large role in starting her down the Reversed path. More than once, Nadia admits to withdrawing, emotionally, physically, and mentally, from the outside world as a way to cope. This was not a strategic or necessary withdrawal as her Birthday memory makes clear: together with Asra and Julian, the three of them could have held together and figured out a path forward. It wouldn’t have been easy, of course. But the very real danger in Nadia’s route is her belief that she and she alone must make things right, which goes against the High Priestess’ ways. The High Priestess sees potential in all around her. If Nadia turns away from that part of her which begs her listen and reach out, she is truly lost. Nadia’s Upright Ending requires her to find balance between what she can know and what she must simply have faith in, to be the boundary between the known and unknown. It requires her to learn how to trust not only others but herself again.

MURIEL THE HERMIT

The Hermit is searching for something. Not something from the outer world but something from within. Some mystery needs solving, some understanding needs creating, a higher call needs answering. He turns inward for answers, though he will seek or receive guidance from trusted sources. Through his search, he will create a still center, a solid, unbreakable foundation to call upon in times of high action and stress. Through this struggle, the Hermit can become that guide for others, focusing and directing their own journeys.

Muriel's route is the most fascinating and difficult of the routes because the Hermit's journey is by definition an internal one. Want to know why his route is so wrapped up in taking him out of his every day world and forcing him to discover his past? That’s why; it is a way of externalizing the very internal struggle for validation and focus the Hermit embodies. When his route begins, Muriel very literally has withdrawn from the world. And not just any world, but a world craving his experience and expertise. Of all the characters, Muriel has the most information on what is happening and why, above and beyond even Asra. Muriel holds the keys to so many happy endings and yet, he has chosen to be forgotten and isolated. As with Nadia, this retreat was not a strategic one but one borne of fear. Muriel has the knowledge and allies to handle the challenges which he faces. What he lacks and what he is building in his route is the internal fortitude, the stable foundation necessary to not only survive the challenges which come for him but to thrive and defeat them. The genius of this route’s Upright Ending is that the MC is building this fortitude right alongside Muriel, guiding him and being guided in turn. The MC protects Muriel, guiding him back into the larger world with a caring hand and back to rely on. In turn, Muriel answers the higher calling within himself to face the Devil. He solidifies his foundational revelations and becomes a guide in turn towards the Devil’s defeat. Make no mistake, when the foundation is as rock hard as that pair will be, the fiercest storm is no match.

JULIAN THE HANGED MAN

The Hanged Man is a card of waiting, potentiality, and knowing surrender. Some say it is a card of martyrdom but really it’s a card about sacrificing and letting go, winning through stepping back and allowing things to happen to you. The Hanged Man suspends action, waiting for some unknown or a revelation. Through the paradox of stepping back or surrendering, the Hanged Man finds what he needs to achieve victory. When you see the Hanged Man in a general reading, it’s asking you whether the actions you’re taking are having the opposite effect that you intended. It asks you to let go and step back. 

Julian begins his route like he begins most things: with a dramatic flair just before he faceplants. Julian is flailing every which way with no rhyme or reason. Because he has lost so much control over his life, he tightens his grip on what little he can control. He leads the MC on, then unceremoniously drops them before they can drop him or be hurt. He has taken the entire world and all its consequences on his shoulders. Julian feels out of control and unable to slow down, process, and wait. Most of his restless catastrophizing stems from the year from hell ™- he watched countless thousands die, failed to stop it, and woke up with no memory and a murderer’s brand on his hand. It’s only when he begins to let go, to allow people to make their own decisions and minds towards him that things start to turn around for him. His Upright Ending rewards players who reinforce the Hanged Man’ lessons: you cannot control everything, nor should you try, and sometimes it’s doing what feels wrong (in his case, letting others help him shoulder his burdens, just try to count how many times he says something along the line of ‘it’s wrong for others to want to help me’) that leads to victory.

LUCIO THE DEVIL

The Devil is a card about power and control, who and what has it in your life. This can manifest in a myriad of ways, from feeling out of control to obsessing over things and people to actively controlling others. The Devil is usually a warning card, a sign that something or someone has an unhealthy hold over you (or that you have an unhealthy hold over someone). The Devil also deals in materialism and the obsession with status. Again, this goes back to the power and control domains. Some interpretations also add ignorance to the Devil’s domain, which can also be traced back to his control domain. If you are unaware of something, you cannot take control of it. The Devil asks you to reevaluate and reassess what and who you allow to have power in your life. It asks you to retake responsibility for your own destiny.

Lucio begins his route as a literal shade of a man, a shell of his former self, unable to interact with the world he so slavishly desires. This is the debt he has accumulated through a lifetime of irresponsibility, an obsession with instant gratification, and a desperate need to be seen by others as powerful, desirable, and control. In his quest to become the most powerful man on the planet, he has instead wound up with nothing, completely ignorant as to the cause of his circumstances. This is why he is stuck as the Devil's least favorite whipping boy. If Lucio had taken responsibility and come clean, even back when he was dying, he could have avoided the worst of his problems. As it stands, he is still dodging responsibility, allowing his obsessions to dominate his life, and ensuring his mistakes continue to compound against him. That is why getting him to own up and regain control of himself is key to his Upright Ending. It sounds cruel but that hard, grinding self reflection is the only way he stands a chance of fully, utterly breaking his chains.

PORTIA THE STAR

The Star is a card of peace, hope, clarity, and truth. It is that small light in the dark, asking you to endure the night. It tells you that you have the tools to do so. Keep your hope, find your peace, and hold to your truth. The end of your journey is in sight. It is a card of seeing and knowing, not action.

I already wrote a huge meta on Portia's route and how her status as the Star impacts it. Portia begins her route hurting from and hoarding secrets. She wants to find the truth but has given up almost all hope of uncovering it. Despite knowing the costs of keeping people in the dark, Portia continues doing so, a silent observer too paralyzed and overwhelmed to act on the truths she knows. The most obvious demonstration of this is her dealings with Nadia. Portia has worked with her for months but hasn't told her about Julian, her literacy, and her invitation. Telling Nadia these truths would solve several of Portia's problems but she can't bring herself to do it due to fear. Her route is all about truths, exposing them or hiding them. Key to her Upright ending is getting her to act on her truths and bring them to light. Knowing the truth isn’t enough if you aren’t willing to act on it.

-Telos

[littlenerdgirl16]

Confusing Times (Part 3)

A/N: ALRIGHT! Y’all are the best :) I hope you liked the previous posts! 

Summary:  I fell in love with my best friend. I knew I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t stop myself. He was everything I wanted and he became everything I needed. To me, he was perfectly imperfect. To him, I was a friend, nothing more.

Word Count: 1638

CT: part 1 part 2 

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 I sat down, pulled open the cover, and pressed the ivory keys to create a new melody. The chords that I played sounded full but inside,  it was an empty melody. There was never enough sound to fill in the room and get rid of the emotions I was feeling.

---Bucky’ POV---

Dear journal, 

When Y/N  first told me that she loved me, I didn’t say anything back because I wasn’t sure how I felt about her. She is a beautiful girl and very talented in many things. I just don’t feel like I am in her league. 

When we were in my room, snuggling so close to each other, I thought maybe I could say it to her, but I didn’t want to give her false hope. The more I thought about it, the less sure I was that I loved HER. Then it dawned on me. I’m not in love with Y/N , I’m still in love with my ex. If I say those three words to Y/N , I would lead her on...even though it looks like I already did. 

I saw her reaction when I hesitated about her question in the main room. I knew I was in too deep and it would take a long time before I crawled out of the hole I dug myself in. I knew that kissing her was wrong but the way she looked was just... picture perfect. Her laying on my chest, in the darkness of my room with the moonlight shining on her beautiful features, I just wanted a single kiss from her perfect lips. It was an amazing kiss but when we pulled away, it meant nothing to me. 

I hurt myself when I hoped that it would mean something to me. I wanted to feel something and she was so willing to give it to me, I didn’t think about the consequences. I should have thought it through. I should have known that I would hurt her. I never want to do that again, but now that I have a taste of her I don’t want to stop. I’m not in love with her. I just love being around her and touching her. Seeing her avoid me because of what I have done, hurts so much.

I haven’t told her that I got back with my ex a few days ago. I don’t know how. I fear she will lock me out of her life. I need her, but I don’t want to force myself to be there. Maybe, one day she’ll find me and we can talk it through. 

I don’t know how to fix my mistake. Someone help me. Please. 

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

Bucky glanced at his watch realizing what time it was. He got up from the couch and started making his way towards the bedroom floor of the compound when he stopped in his tracks. Hauntingly beautiful music filled his ears. He stopped just outside the music room door and knew exactly who was playing without seeing them. It was Y/N . The enchanting music melted his heart. 

Without making a noise, he sat down on the ground to listen to her play. He could listen all day and all night and still not get enough of her music. It was so full of feeling and, if one would listen closely, the music told stories of her inner self. The person she wants to be or how she feels at that moment in time. 

Bucky got lost trying to figure out the story when Steve came up next to him. “Hey Bucky.” Steve whispered. “Are you doing ok?” Bucky looked up at Steve. Steve sat down next to him patting his knee. Steve whispered again. “I love listening to her play.” A moment passed. “I hope you know she misses you.” 

Bucky looked down, guilt written all over his face. “Steve, I am a horrible person. I got back with my ex and haven’t told her yet. I don’t know how.” Steve understood Bucky’s thought process but he didn’t like that he was with his ex. “Bucky, you have to tell her or she will hold on to you for as long as she can. She wants to talk to you so badly, but whatever is happening between you two, is making her want to run from you.” Bucky heard Steve but didn’t understand what needed to happen. 

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

Y/N  POV 

Several weeks had past when l figured out that Bucky had gotten back together with his ex. I found out when I was sitting on the roof of the compound and overhearing Bucky talk to his ex. It clicked when I saw them kiss; my heart break shattered. 

My vision blurred and I wanted to sink into the roof, to never exist. I couldn’t stand the sight of his “brand new”, shiny girlfriend who came between us and smashed my hope of more than friendship. Whatever was left of my heart, cracked with every step they took closer to my position. Not moving a muscle, I felt cold tears fill my eyes and run down my cheeks. As he passed underneath the roof into the compound, I let out a sob I had been holding back for weeks. Burying my face into my hands, I tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle my tears.

After a long, hard cry, I wiped my face with the sleeve of my jacket and headed down to my room. Unfortunately, Bucky was in the room next to me still so it was inevitable that I’d see him again. I climbed over the wall, back to the stairs and down to my room. At the bottom of the stairs, Wanda said hi to me. As I choked out a response, I didn’t make eye contact with her in an attempt to conceal my swollen, red eyes. She asked if I was ok. I tried to be polite without revealing my anguish. 

Then my former best friend and his glittery girlfriend came into the compound. Bucky and I made eye contact and my heart felt like it was going to stop working altogether. My vision blurred as a new wave of tears threatened. I managed to keep it together for Wanda’s sake. She noticed I had stopped talking and turned around to see my best friend and his girlfriend saying the cheesy, classic, “I love you. No, I love you more” goodnight routine outside as they parted ways. 

Everything went silent. My heart raced, my vision tunneled in on him as he walked towards me, smiling. My hands shook and my muscles strained to run. I stumbled into Clint’s room, slamming the door in my so-called best friend's face, also leaving my new friend in the main room. I sat on Clint's bed and tried to make small talk with him. Clint knew right away that I didn’t want to talk about what happened just then, so he went along with the small talk.  As my so-called best friend came in, coincidentally, to talk to Clint. He said hi to me, rubbed my shoulder, and sat down next to me on the edge of the bed. My shoulders tensed up as his hand tried to massage out the knots. Shrugging him off, I got up “Excuse me Clint but I’m going to go on a walk.”

Bucky saw that I was leaving and got up. He told Clint that he was going to bed. Poor Clint. He has no idea what’s going on. I swallowed a snarky remark as I headed for the doorway. I was almost to the door when Bucky grabbed my hand to try to give me our usual goodnight hug. But everything was different. I stood like a statue. He let go of me. The longing in his eyes as he silently pleaded for his hug haunted me as I left. 

Anger fueled the next round of tears. How could he be so insensitive? How could he love her when we were so perfect? While I walked and cried, my anger dissipated into longing and wanting. Though I wanted to be with him, being with him would hurt me more. 

As I returned, I found Steve, waiting for me. He gave me a bear hug as I cried into his chest. A few minutes later, I pulled myself together and said goodnight to everyone I ran into, except my former best friend. Over the next month, I avoided him. I knew it hurt him, but I needed time to heal my broken heart and to fill the void left vacant by my once-best friend. Looking at him, talking to him, would have made that harder. 

---Bucky ’s POV---

Dear Journal, 

WHY?? I AM THE BIGGEST JERK IN THE WORLD. I didn’t tell her that I was with my ex and she found out via the roof?? I should have known she’d be up there. I am in a bigger, deeper hole that I have ever been in. Why didn’t I just tell her that I wasn’t interested? Why did I kiss her?? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?? She deserves better. She needs someone who will start conversations, someone who will dance with her, someone who will tell her everything. Earn her trust. I no longer have that trust. I acted like everything was fine, when in reality it wasn’t. I thought maybe we could fix it, but when she ran from me...I knew that it would take a lot more to get her back. I ruined a friendship I could always count on. 

When she didn’t hug me back that night, I finally felt something. I felt broken, lost. She was someone I could feel grounded with. I knew she would bring me back down to earth when I felt like I was drifting away. 

I ruined our friendship.

How am I ever going to make it up to her?

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

So this has been something I don’t always see the logic to with superheroes in general and Spidey’s no exception. Why keep his spider-man secret from people he knows he can trust? Like Robbie or Randy Robertson, or Flash? I get Aunt May because her heart might not be able to take it, but the reason I always hear is that it puts them in danger. But how? I mean how could a villain know that someone like MJ knows who Spiderman really is?

For the sake of argument I’m going to respond to this in terms of pre-Civil War 2006 Spider-Man.

The answer ultimately boils down to...he didn’t know if he could trust them.

He loved Gwen and Harry was his friend, but in ASM #87 he revealed his identity and they did not take it well at all.

Joe is a journalist and an honest one at that. Even if Peter felt he was trustworthy confiding in him would place him in a difficult position in terms of his journalistic ethics. He is supposed to put forward the truth but he would have to lie on behalf of Peter. He would be accountable for news stories about Spidey going out with a bias in place due to their very personal relationship.

Of course Robbie DID know the truth and Peter KNEW he knew and Robbie KNEW Peter knew. Hell Mary Jane was aware Robbie knew the truth too, see KLH and Spidey the Final Adventure. But so long as it wasn’t spoken outright they could sort of pretend to not know and have plausible deniability.

By extension confiding in Randy would put him in a difficult position because it by extension means telling Robbie (see above for the problems with that) or it means asking him to lie to his parents which is unfair. Martha Robertson meanwhile is not someone Peter knows well enough to confide such a dangerous secret to.

Not to mention Randy and Flash were not necessarily trustworthy. Peter just didn’t know Randy well enough to be sure and he and Flash have had a rocky relationship. Flash has always loved Spidey but Peter couldn’t be sure how shattering Flash’s image of Spidey would affect him. 

Compounding this we must remember that Peter has kept his secret since he was 15 so there is a certain ingrained habitual element to it and very shortly into his career he was branded an outlaw, hated and feared by the public. When we consider he was also ostracised in high school and bullied it isn’t hard to imagine that Peter naturally felt that the people would believe the worst of him if he revealed the truth to them. The people who loved Peter Parker would believe he was really the outlaw Spider-Man rather than understanding the outlaw Spidey was in fact the good person Peter Parker.

Even if he grew old enough to know better, when you believe and practice something consistently enough in your youth it becomes second nature and you often do not question it. Peter for instance reacted to MJ revealing she knew his secret with anxiety and considered how he could fool her into believing otherwise. His go-to thoughts were not ‘Oh obviously this is fine as she’s kept the secret this whole time and been cool with me’. 

Compounding the problem from the other end fellew costumed folks learning the truth hasn’t really worked out for the better for him. Obviously you have the Goblin and Venom but even Black Cat rejected him upon learning his true identity.

Paramount though is the simply matter of safety. The fewer people who know the truth about who he is the safer his loved ones are. And the more people he entrusts with that secret the more likely it is to leak. It’s not even a matter of him believing they will accept him. it is a matter of ‘can they keep this MASSIVE secret’. It’s a huge thing to burden someone with, it’s a huge ask of them. It might be unfair as they could prefer to not live with that pressure. And that pressure could cause them to crack or make a mistake. Jonah certainly did in the lead up to ASM #800

As for the idea knowing the truth could endanger them, in theory if they let something slip to imply they know they truth they could be targeted. 

[tora-the-cat]

Baby Rin & Obito thoughts

-I don’t think people understand what it means that Obito and Rin were best friends since they were 5. Like. I just get the vibe that half the fandom can’t conceptualize that accurately.

-(I can though)

-5. 5! They were actual babies!

-When they’re super young and obviously pre-transitioned they still would steal each others clothes and try to confuse people over who’s who, like identical twins.

-They were child soldiers growing up during the war! By all likelihoods, they were drafted into the academy at all of 5 years old. They graduated at 10! Obito wasn’t seen as a ‘genius’ by any stretch of imagination, so we can only assume this was the common graduating age during the 3rd war. How much more harsh is the curriculum? How much more traumatizing? Paranoia inducing? propagandist?

-Me and my best friend since 5 both had relatively healthy home lives, none of the ninja brand trauma, and we STILL ended up basically codependent. These poor kids had no chance.

-There’s no way these two aren’t in each others pocket. Was there a single secret between the two of them? One topic that was forbidden? Probably not! To Both!

-the two of them could hold entire conversations, arguments, lectures, in a matter of moments with just micro-expressions. It often seemed that the only time Obito would shut up was when he and Rin were staring at each other and their faces would twitch, sometimes for minutes on end, as if that was as natural a way of communicating as speaking.

-It was very useful on covert operations! It was very frustrating during team building exersises, because neither of them were really used to trying to actaully get closer to people besides eachother.

-they had so many in-jokes that Minato and Kakashi sometimes thought they were speaking another language entirely. 

-Every time there was a foldable chair in Rin’s sight, she would obnoxiously clear her throat and shoot it meaningful looks, and Obito would seethe, looking seconds away from blowing up, but never would and never explained why.  

-Obito would dramatically throw himself in front of Rin and shout about protecting her whenever he spotted a squirrel, and act completely confused and annoyed when Minato and Kakashi didn’t acknowledge the threat and take it seriously. 

-Obito would collect four leaf clovers whenever he saw them and then when he braided Rin’s hair for her he’d weave them into it without her even noticing until hours or, on particularly hard missions, days later. Still, everytime she found one, no matter how bad the mission or the horrors she had just seen or was on her way to see, she would pick it out with more care then Kakashi knew anything could be done and gave it a look so soft it made Kakashi inexplicably angry and she'd smile, like it was the easiest thing to do, and her haunted eyes would clear just a little as she snuck them into Obito’s Kunai pouch.

-It was impossible to get one alone without the other. They orbited around each other, never further then a shout away, Joined at the hip. 

-They were always touching, be it the common hand holding, or Obito whining and hanging off of Rin, or Rin reprimanding him and squeezing his shoulders, or them dragging each other around the village, or Rin poking Obito in the nose to make him scrunch it up, or Obito squshing Rin’s cheeks until she stops pretending to ignore him or touching foreheads and promising everything will be alright or playing intricate handgames at recess because no one else will play with them or tapping out messages in their own mortified morse code or- it could go on forever. It should have.

-Do Not Mistake Their Undying Dependency On Each Other As A Lack Of The Ablity To Throw Hands, however. They would roughhouse, and they were visious. They would bite and pull hair and pinch and get close to each others ears to make high pitched noises and tickle and tumble on the dirt. They didn’t even need a real reason- or at least not one Minato could see. There would be a glint in one of their eyes, and then a flash of fear in the other’s, and it would start with no further warning.

-It didn’t matter where, it didn’t matter when. In public. At dinner. While Minato is in the middle of talking. Rain, snow, hail. Usually not on missions, thankfully, but worryingly often on the way back from missions. Kakashi still breaks into an anxious cold sweat everytime he goes to Suna, a ghost of the memory of the first time Obito and Rin saw the dessert remembered with surprising clarity. He doesn’t want to talk about it.

-Like wolf pups, Minato once said, and Kakashi didn’t talk to him for a week- wolves would never be so undignified. Rin would lick Obito to throw him off and Obito would use his inhumanely boney elbows to stab her (weapons were always discarded for these scruff- they weren’t spars, they were personal) and she would fling dirt into his mouth and he would spit it back into her eyes. They were disgusting. 

-If they worked together and fought half as dirty with Kakashi as they did with eachother, he would have had a bad time. But, somehow, there was just. Something that made them go rabid on each other in a way Minato was never able to fully provoke in them, even mid-war.

-(it’s the Cain Instinct.)

-They were of the naive but firm belief that they would never be without the other, and, horrifically, most could see it was true. Not because they were strong or because the world was too kind to kill one and leave the other- it was just so blatantly obvious that, should one of them leave, the other would follow without hesitation.

-Even Minato was resigned to the fact that if one of them died the other was just a ticking time bomb, despite all his efforts.

-(and he did make an effort. He knew there was a slim chance their story would end well, the way it was. Knew that codependent shinobi were liabilities. He tried to get them to spend time alone and practice more bounderies and make connections outside of each other, but it rarely worked and never for long. They got anxious and twitchy alone, constantly worried about the other. Obito reapplied Rin’s seals when she couldn’t and Rin taught him to get away with petty revenges, and they were all each other had.)

-But, because of this, they were convinced that if one of them was good at something the other didn’t really need to bother with it- expended effort, when they’re both right there anyway. Unless it was fun to practice together, of course, mostly encompassing Taijutsu. 

-Rin did Fuinjutsu, Obito did Genjutsu. Rin started Iryouninjutsu, Obito started Kenjutsu. Rin practiced Suiton and Raiton, Obito practiced Katon and Doton. they balanced each other out, kept each other grounded- they completed each other. It felt like they only had each other, more often then not, and sometimes it was true.

-When they were younger, it was always true. They were both orphans by 7. Rin’s mom died in childbirth, her dad stayed around long enough to teach her how to stay alive and how her Kekkei Genkai worked as far as he could remember, but She was a born citizen of Konoha and the village wouldn’t let go of a potential asset, and he couldn’t stay in the village that let his village get destroyed and his wife die. He left her. Obito’s parents were both Shinobi that disappeared mysteriously and were never seen again.

-Gran tried, but she was old and blind and could barely remember Obito half the time. In the end, it was the two of them against the world.

-The Uchiha didn’t care, besides the minor annoyance at Rin entering their compound so often, but. She was Uzushio, and the clan heads were close to the Uzumaki, which basically meant they weren’t allowed to bully an Uzushio clan kid. Obito’s Gran was just happy he had a friend. 

-Rin remembered something her Dad told her, and gives Obito a Nohara Seal-Tattoo on the inside of his right wrist, making him an honorary member by the laws of her clan that doesn’t really exist anymore and has literally no significance or benefit in the village. He cries anyway.

-They pretty much always sleep together. Sleepovers are nightly by the time they turn 8. by the time they’re 9, they make a paranoid habit of taking turns on watch. By the time they’re 10, they are outright offended when Minato tries to insist Rin gets her own tent because she’s a ‘growing young lady’ and ‘please Kushina will kill me’. 

-They have a secret code. and by ‘a secret code’ I mean several secret codes. Minato figured most of them out. Kakashi did not. It’s a point of pride.

-Despite everyone’s constant objections, Rin somehow always ended up in the middle of a fight, slipping behind Obitio’s back and making up for his defects as easily as breathing. Kakashi always berated her- she was the Med NIn! If she got hurt or killed, they didn’t have anyone to heal her!

-She did not care. She understood, and sometimes felt a little bad about it, but did not care. ‘you join combat for emergencies only’ they insisted, and her automatic response was simple: If Obito is in danger, then it’s an emergency.

-Minato dropped it pretty quickly and instead just focused on training her to be as murder-resistant as possible- sometimes he knew a losing battle when he saw it. 

-Kakashi never dropped it until one day he activates her Cain Instinct and she paralyzes him for 8 hours with the med-nin fighting style she was inventing because she was terrifying.

-And I haven’t even touched on them both being trans and supporting eachother through that, and I omitted 600 words about their first kills and biggest fight ever! I could talk about team minato forever god bless

-Sure, Obito got a crush on Rin at somepoint, but that wasn’t the defining part of their relationship. He didn’t go crazy because Rin didn’t like him back, or because she liked Kakashi. He went crazy because she died. She was the most important person in the world to him, his soulmate, platonic or not.

-Obito ‘died’, and Rin self destructed. She was ashamed of it but, really, she only lived on as long as she did after kanabi because she knew Obito would want her too. She couldn’t look kakashi in the eyes. She had several heart attacks because her seals would fade, and she would refuse to tell anyone else how to do them. 

-She wrote entire notebooks of things she would tell him when she died so she didn’t forget a thing, stepped around shamrocks like they were posion ivy. Her hair was uncut. She never joined a fight. She killed squirrels on sight with a flash of morbid humor and greif, and still wouldn’t explain why, and she’d rather sit on the floor then in a folding chair. 

-Kakashi didn’t want to admit it, couldn’t admit it, even to himself, for years, maybe decades, but in the last few months of her life Rin wasn’t alive. She tried, so hard, for Kakashi’s sake, but she wasn’t. She was a shell of her former self, more impulsive, less quick to smile, more cynical then he thought she would ever be.

-Rin died, and Obito stopped existing. It only made sense- who was he without Rin? 

-No one. He was a blank slate, melted down so Madara could form him anew. He became Madara and  Tobi and The Masked Man and a Clan Killer, but he would never be Obito again, because there was no Obito without Rin.

-Losing one another wasn’t like losing a limb. It wasn’t like having a part of their soul ripped out. It was nothing so mild. It was losing themself. It was having their soul souls beaten bloodily, shredded, and then disappear without a trace.

-everyone was right, in the end, about them. A tragedy waiting to happen. Terminally codependant. Minato said that once one died, the other was a ticking time bomb, and he was right. He just wished he wasn’t.

....Anyway yeah next time I see someone whine about how its pathetic that Obito tried to destroy the world because his school girl crush died like hes some Incel throwing a fit, I'll go feral.

[psyga315]

Prelude

With Volume 7 just beyond the horizon, I figured to look back at my thoughts for Volume 5 and, through more cooled down eyes, boil down why I consider it to be the worst volume of RWBY. When I wrote my review of Volume 5, it was literally the night the episode premiered, so I was boiling. But now? I’m going to look through the review with fresher eyes and clarify what sort of problems I had with RWBY.

First, a bit of backstory. There was an interview made during the summer in between Volumes 4 & 5 that had the cast say what sort of themes one could expect for Volume 5. Among these were stuff like “building yourself back up again”, “shouting ‘we’re not done here!’”, “solving problems on your own”, and lastly, from Barbara herself, “Strength” and “Growth”. For someone who was just starting to realize why people were turned off by the darkness of Volume 3, this was uplifting to say the least…

Shorts

The Character Shorts kinda hyped the Volume, though they sunk in their own way. Weiss’s Character Short effectively foreshadowed her loss to Vernal. This tough and talented girl gets her ass stomped rather quickly and needed to be bailed out. Winter’s line about how she “won’t be around to save her” was foreshadowing to her not actually being in the season, but when I first heard it, I thought she meant “Hey, I’m going to die this volume, lol!” and that’s without bringing up how the trailer fails to hype Weiss up like the other trailers did.

Blake’s Trailer was alright, especially in taking steps to address a problem regarding Menagerie, but it felt more like Ilia given the backstory dump we got that feels all the more like mandatory reading. The problem is that, and it’s perhaps the very first problem I’ve heard about RWBY, is that the trailers (and by extension, anything that’s a spin off of RWBY like World of Remnant) feel more like you need to watch this rather than you can watch this. It’s confusing, but let’s use Blake’s Short as an example.

Ilia talks about her backstory as it is contrasted with a chase between Blake and a random dude we never see again. Assuming you’ve never watched the trailer, you’d just get the truncated version of “MUH PARENTS ARE DEEEAAAD!” and not the bits where she was forced to resent her own race because it was easier to blend in to her surroundings, like a chameleon. It’s ironic, since RWBY would do the reverse problem with Adam, where his trailer isn’t mandatory but we barely get a backstory for him beyond “I got branded, but everyone will speculate that it’s because I did something bad and not that it drove me to do bad things”.

Lastly, there’s Yang’s short, which had the minor hiccup of contrasting what an interview said about running out of Aura means you can’t use your Semblance. The Aura thing is something that can be discussed for another day, but the basics you should take away from this is that, for some time, people didn’t know how running out of Aura is symbolized. Most people take the flickering as the signal as the next hit on those guys are usually the one that does them in. As such, you had this huge debate on what kind of flickering means Aura broken and what just meant Aura is low, which, personally, could have been avoided if the writers and/or animators just utilized that Aura dust thing (seen prominently in the Bumblebee vs Adam fight) as their definitive “aura broken” animation instead of just using it some of the time.

First Episode

The first episode proper promised a lot. In fact, a good chunk of the first half promised a lot. However, it became much clear in a second viewing that a lot of it was just padding at worst and showing us where the characters are at best. But what I think was done dirty the most in this episode was introducing Mistral. We were hyped in Volume 4 (thanks to World of Remnant) that Mistral was this dichotomy of rich, cultural people and the seedy underbelly of criminals and that, at least one of the elements would be utilized in Volume 5. Unfortunately, all we got were a few mat paintings that contrast what Lionheart was saying in regards to Mistral being in chaos.

And so, the most we get out of Mistral are those mat paintings and a perpetually raining downtown that we don’t see much of, even when it gets briefly revisited in Volume 6. We’re supposed to be invested in the city and yet all we get are empty rooms and 2D art. They took great steps to improve this in Volume 6 with Argus, though, so if there’s any consolation, it’s that they learned from their mistakes here.

But we now get into the biggest problem of why Volume 5 is disliked. Because of the situation, the group are left to basically wait until Lionheart convinces the council to get them some Huntsmen. The heroes. Wait. In a volume where the writers were talking about the themes of improving yourself and pulling through with your own strength.

Do you guys see the problem here? I know people have bitched about Volume 5 to hell and back and you’ve probably heard the complaints to high noon, but this entire issue is what rots Volume 5 to the core the most. Not the piss poor fight scenes, not the inconsistent characterizations, it’s that the plotting decides to take a back seat when the volume was meant to be about taking action.

As the episode goes on, you see the problem unfold. Ruby and friends hit a dead end until Oscar appears and has Ozpin exposit things to them, Weiss is denied a chance to save people and fight the Grimm until the Grimm come to her, Blake is hit with the dead end of the Albains deflecting blame, and Yang had the chance encounter with Bakugou where he knows the hideout of her mom.

The closest person who is taking action here is Yang, who established that she is actively looking for Ruby (technically Raven, but as we see later on, moot point). Blake’s situation is being handled by her dad, Weiss is sitting in the plane until the Grimm come for her, and Ruby is sitting on the couch that I’m pretty sure has her grooves molded into the cushion with how many times she’s sat there.

Episode 2

A minor complaint before we go to Episode 2, we had the Stinger repeat itself because the crew thought that people wouldn’t see the stingers. This is the show, mind you, that makes a point to include scenes at the end of every volume, regardless of how long they are or what point they serve in hyping the next Volume. Hell, one of the major complaints about Volume 2 was about the stinger not mattering. So why did they suddenly decide that the viewers might not see the stinger in a culture where the MCU exists?

Alright, cooling things down, we have three major scenes in Episode 2. Salem’s chat with Lionheart was meh at best and wtf at worst. I get the idea of Salem using different approaches to get people to do what she wants, but the cool aspect of Salem was that her approach was not what a villain would normally be. Instead of berating or choking her minions should they fail or talk back, Salem instead talks people down like she’s a mother to them. Even when Tyrian fails, she doesn’t hurt him, but rather tell him that he disappointed her. So, having her choke Lionheart, even when in hindsight it made some sense, is kinda an odd thing to do.

But not as odd as Salem’s whole “Not you, Arthur” bit. A lot of people drew points to that and the best I can explain is that it’s either a typo (she’s meant to say not yet or not now) or Arthur and Watts are some sort of Jekyll & Hyde thing. Unfortunately, it seems Watts is more a parallel to Watson rather than Jekyll, so that brings me to believe that it’s a typo and so, rather than have an easy explanation for a problem, we just have a compounded problem. One of many.

And there’s something funny to be said about Salem warning Cinder about Silver Eyes when Ruby barely learns about it this Volume. And also that she wants to speak with Tyrian but we never see what comes of it. At all.

I only have one new thing about Weiss vs. the Bees. Originally, the pilot was supposed to be gay, but held off on it because they’d be killing off their first revealed gay character, something that wouldn’t look good to the fanbase. Now, while I understand the reason behind it, I have to question the logic behind why they think it isn’t okay for their first LGBT character to be offed, but instead be someone who seemed okay with murdering her crush’s parents while sending said crush to her abuser.

But more on that later, we have Sienna to discuss. Now, there’s a lot to dissect. For one, RT has obviously realized that they’ve messed up and brought Sienna back for a bit (while taking the heat for “if she’s so badass, why did she go out like a chump”). However, in hindsight, what purpose did she actually serve outside of some cute nod to Shere Khan?

All she did was tell Adam that he’s going too far and that’s it. And really, it just seems hypocritical for the leader of the White Fang to effectively restructure the organization into a terrorist group, murder tons of people, and then suddenly back away and say “woah, too much” when Adam proceeded to help torch Beacon. It’s to the point where one question most people want to ask at cons is “did Sienna order the hit out on the SDC”, since we don’t actually know and that it could be a radical leader of that quadrant like Adam.

It felt more like Sienna should have been just the leader of Mistral’s White Fang faction instead of ruling over all the White Fang, which would make more sense as Adam would need permission to attack a kingdom that isn’t his stomping ground. Then there’s the introduction of Hazel, who at first is presented to be a pretty decent character, not wanting to kill people if he had no choice, but as time goes on, is basically your stock “big soft guy with a secret hulk side” character.

Unfortunately, this episode didn’t help enforce the theme of taking action when it’s the villains who are doing it and seeming to be two if not twenty steps ahead of the heroes.

Episode 3

Episode 3 has that whole speech thing I overlooked. Barring Ghira’s speech that the crew said is based off Obama’s “we killed Osama” speech (which, if it is, paints the whole situation of Sienna’s death in a rather dark light) before Ilia interferes. Now, I actually liked that Menagerie is hesitant to stand up for Haven. After all, humans hated their guts so much that the island was originally planned to be a place where people could dump Faunus on. There were lynchings and enslavements that are still going on to this day, just in subtler forms, Of course the Faunus wouldn’t want to fight.

Then Ilia swoops in and robs Blake of any agency she has with the scene. If RT wanted to not let Blake convince the people until three quarters to the end, they should have cut the subtlety and have some annoying kid go “IT’S TOO EARLY IN THE PLOT TO DO YOUR SPEECH!”. Hell, let Blake tell her story about her team, but the audience balks at the fact that she’s not only friends with a Schnee, but also a human who crippled a guy on live television. Remember that plot point?

We then cut to Oscar and this is perhaps the reason I decided to do this revisit of Volume 5. The way Ozpin talks of action and resolve, it felt like we’re going to the root of the themes of taking action. No more being subject to the events of the plot like in previous Volumes. Now? Now is the time to fight back! And that built up to… what? One training scene and Ruby learning headbutt?

Granted, we see later on that there was a bit more to the plan, but for the most part, it seemed like an excuse for “character growth” as opposed to actual character growth. A training arc isn’t just some short scenes of a person lifting weights and jogging up stairs. Its meant to be a sort of means of growth for the character. There’s a reason most training montages have the character suck at first, but then get better by the time the montage ends. It’s because it’s the quickest way to show growth. But even without that, you could get some serious mileage for a pulled off training arc.

Rocky IV and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back have some good examples of it. Rocky IV had the titular hero train and work out in the middle of a cold, mountainous range, while his opponent is simply given steroids. It shows the dichotomy between the two and how they view their eventual fight. Empire, on the other hand, had that masterful scene with Luke in the cave, where he has a huge moment of both foreshadowing and character growth.

Here? We just have Ruby learn headbutt like she’s nothing more than a Pokemon. There could have been a lot more done with it, like having Ruby put a lot more force in her punches, causing others to realize she’s extremely angry about what happened to Pyrrha and Penny, or, if the need to exposit about Semblances is needed, bring something new to the table that isn’t going to confuse the fuck out of people… Something like:

“Your Semblance might not reveal itself until you need it most” or something like that. Not “A semblance is someone’s personality, but not. Wow! Exposition!” or “Hey, remember how we said Aura was passive? Welp, not anymore!”

Not to mention that Jaune is seemingly cool with Ozpin suddenly coming back from the dead. Here’s the thing, last Volume had him upset with Ozpin about what happened to Pyrrha, something that didn’t seemed to resolve itself. Keep in mind that, for all rights and merits, Jaune believed Ozpin to have died. In fact, it was that confirmation that Ozpin had lost against Cinder that convinced Pyrrha to kill herself. Now here he is, seemingly stuck in the body of another kid and he just outright said this is a normal thing for him.

You’d expect him to have something more than “golly!”. The fact that he didn’t seem to have any aggression towards Ozpin until after he ran to his hidey hole in Volume 6 seems rather odd given that his entire character is that he’s angsting about Pyrrha and angry at Cinder for what she did. The group seem rather content to just sit back and let the plot happen, which is the opposite of what the crew was trying to convey with their themes.

Episode 4 and Episode 5

I still stand by what I said regarding how Episode 4 was a good episode, finally having a reunion between two members of Team RWBY, but it’s perhaps one of the last good things about RWBY we’ll ever see in Volume 5. Because Raven’s promise to tell Yang “the whole truth” turns out to just be regurgitated exposition at worst.

But first, we need to have Blake, the woman who doesn’t want her race to be labeled, turn out to have labels for her friends. Okay, granted, it’s not that dumb but it is kinda patronizing that we need to have a character tell us what another character is. While the rest of her speech is pretty effective in defining Blake’s character, making her perhaps the only character these themes of growth and strength actually apply to, it still is annoying that the most we take away out of this is her boiling down every character to a single word, then bringing up how Adam is going to ruin everything for the Faunus. You’ll see why this is a problem later. I liked the setting of Menagerie’s Shallow Sea marketplace thing and felt like Menagerie is wasted potential.

Ruby’s whole speech still feels like damage control, but with the added complaint of Ruby deciding to blame Salem for something Cinder did. Now, I heard the common excuse a lot: “Salem told Cinder to do it so it’s all her fault”, but that problem with that? Cinder told Emerald to kill Penny. So… Yeah. It is her fault. Hell, I wouldn’t have minded this if Ruby didn’t word it like Salem personally killed Penny and Pyrrha. Like as in, she just up and appeared out of nowhere and shot both Penny and Pyrrha in the head.

It still doesn’t fix the fact that Ruby is basically “hey, remember how I’m supposed to be upset?”

Lastly for Episode 5, we have the White Fang do the brilliant plant of murdering the chieftain who just spoke out against them. It’s dumb. Extremely dumb. What the hell do they think will happen after they murder the chieftain in cold blood? Menagerie is just gonna magically bend over and obey the White Fang? But perhaps the biggest waste is the White Fang in general.

You have these two sneaky fox brothers who seemingly oversee everything and even state that they’re only letting Adam do what he wants until he’s no longer of use to them, a buff bat dude, and a spider-lady… And they’re never seen again after this Volume. I get the idea, because RT is trying to wrap up the Faunus subplot as quickly as possible, but the problem that you can’t exactly introduce new characters or hidden depths if you’re just gonna throw them out with the bath water.

If they wanted to end the subplot, why did they put all the effort in some random characters that are just gonna be defeated off screen with a tea tray? Then again, this is a problem endemic to RWBY. Introduce this character, then quickly shoo them away before you’re committed to writing a plot for them. If you know you were going to half-ass the White Fang conclusion, why bother with stuff like more White Fang members or the SDC brand? In fact, why bother with the White Fang to begin with if you’re going to do so little with them?

Episode 6

Moving on before I lose my cool, we have Qrow aimlessly walking around downtown Mistral. Now, the crew said that Maria was supposed to be here… But… Why? What purpose would she serve? If she’s just gonna be a “hey, look, cameo to foreshadow Volume 6”, then that’s a horrible purpose. You know how most Cinematic Universes tanked because they spent more time hyping the next twenty movies when they should focus on their pilot? That’s what she would have been like.

Not to mention that she would have been caught in the crossfire of why Volume 5 was bad. “So here we have this random old lady who doesn’t matter at all to the plot so why is she even there” and then “Oh wow, she’s a SEW. They’re doing damage control to justify her unneeded presence in Volume 5”. And, don’t get me wrong, Maria is a fun lady and all that, but there needs to be a reason she was there beyond “hype for next Volume”.

What makes the problem worse was that they’re planning to include Maria so as to have a sort of Yoda to teach Ruby. This makes the complaint of “why didn’t Ruby ask about the Silver Eyes” even more of a complaint because now it seems like they decided “hey, we’re going to address it next volume, so let’s not bother bringing it up here”. Which is even worse than “hey, people noticed we didn’t address this so let’s completely invent this character for the sole purpose of addressing it!”

And then there’s Raven who is all “lol, I know more than you realize but I’m not actually gonna answer anything trolololololol” AARHG!

Okay. Okay. Before I completely lose my marbles, there’s one thing about the scene with Raven that’s stupid.

It’s the “there’s no such thing as magic” thing.

Okay. I get it. Turning into a bird is something that, in the world of RWBY, seems impossible. But there’s a ton of problems with this:

What makes summoning dead Grimm to fight for you so much more different than magic?

You’re willing to believe in magic rocks that augment your fighting style and are in fact part of a company that profits off magic rocks, yet turning into a bird is the messed up thing?

The guy who gave her this ability is currently inhabiting the body of a young boy and has said to basically devour his soul in due time, as well as create the magic that’s responsible for torching your school and your friend… And the BIRD is the most messed up thing!?

“But Raven made it sound like she was forced into it”. She didn’t seem to have any fucking problem with it though. Not only that, but it didn’t seem like a big dark secret that Ozpin wouldn’t want uncovered. In fact, he even said he gave Qrow and Raven the ability to turn into birds in an amused way.

Even more so when everyone but Yang seemed to respond to it with disbelief rather than outright anger. There’s a reason this whole bird issue was made fun of in Jello’s “So This is Basically RWBY” video.

Also, before we move onto Episode 7, I wanna bring up that the scene where Qrow visits the Shields is perhaps the reason why I hold Ozpin’s censorship of Lionheart’s role in the Battle of Haven to be one of the most scumbag moves he could have made. “Your mom’s dead, but don’t worry, the guy who sold her out is a hero!”

Episodes 7-10

Right, back to Episode 7. Okay, I’ll admit, it was a nice reunion scene all things considered, albeit with some rather unnerving things like Yang asking Weiss if she let the Boarbatusk skewer the trophy wife or even the dumb, patronizing “we haven’t made character arcs for us to go through so I’ll just say we had some”, since they had the great idea to use Ren, who is voiced by Monty’s brother, as the mouthpiece for that.

Unfortunately, this is the episode I always think back to when I think of Volume 5. The perfect epitome of a slow, monotonous Volume. The problem I have is that, yeah, it’s meant to be this breather episode, a calm before the storm, but this just feels like a long lull that’s made even more insulting with the cliffhanger. All it has is people dumping exposition that viewers have either figured out or weren’t even burning questions and I think the awkward silence that followed Ozpin saying how he was the wizard that gave the Maidens his power is the perfect epitome for just how boring the volume is. The dude just revealed a massive plot twist and it’s treated as nothing more than a “did you know” factoid.

While I liked how they addressed that Blake leaving Yang would have had some serious negative emotions in Yang, it felt rather half-assed that they basically resolved it with “hey, my mom’s drunk, so shut up and accept Blake the moment she comes back”, especially since it comes from Weiss, who told Blake at the end of Volume 1 that if she ever runs away again, she best let RWBY know. If they wanted to ship Bumblebee so badly, this would have been a great hurdle for them to come across instead of just “hey, let me resolve this plot for you”.

Now, the whole thing with Ilia… Let’s get the elephant out of the way. The way they revealed her sexuality, I feel, could have been done better. “You wanna know why I’m gonna kill your parents and bring you to your abuser? Because I wanted you to look at me like a lover!” There’s a reason why some fans label her as a “psycho lesbian”.

However, I want to bring up that Rooster Teeth did an excellent job at building tension during the climax of the Menagerie Arc. Sure, the cliffhangers were tiresome, but you couldn’t help but admit you were at the edge of your seat and it even did a good job at subversion. Even if they allegedly didn’t even intend for it to happen.

The constant dryness of exposition and dialogue exchanges is what made Episode 10 so much better than the other episodes. Not just because it’s action-orientated, but because it finally tries to get back to the themes that it was originally supposed to tell. Throughout the entirety of the middle portion of Volume 5, the group basically took a backseat and allowed characters and plots to happen to them rather than advocate for themselves. The closest thing we got to the theme of “building yourself back up” is Weiss talking to Yang about Blake.

In fact, the only actual characters taking action are the villains. Constantly roadblocking the cast, setting them in for a trap, and even aiming to screw each other over. These guys have more advocacy and agency than the main characters. The most any of them did was…

Burn down their own house and blamed everyone else for it, all while saying that the house is the message Adam wants to send.

Use a girl’s unrequited feelings towards them to their advantage, straddle them, and guilt tripped her enough for her to consider switching sides.

Cry about how things are not going their way until their hands start magically glowing.

Yelling at someone until they cry bitch tears and then have them run away without even bothering to close the door leading to the dangerous artifact everyone had been working so hard to keep out of enemy hands.

In the volume where the theme is “solving problems on our own”. Just because Yang drops the word strength a few times when bitching out at Raven doesn’t mean that the theme had been accomplished. In fact, they do nothing of their own accord and just follow a script. Even Ozpin, the supposed smartest guy in all of Remnant, doesn’t even bother to figure out a way to counter the trap. Just instead walk in. Hell, if Yang didn’t spot Raven, they’d be mulched.

But, back on track. Episode 9 was an entire waste that failed to pay off the expectations of what we had with the cliffhanger set up in Episode 7. “But it subverted your ex-” NO. There’s a good way to subvert expectations and being promised a fight after episodes of bland exposition only to have it be “lol, no, it’s just gonna be more talking” is not a good subversion.

No. Here’s a better way. Set up the cliffhanger like normal, but don’t show Cinder’s dragged out negotiation with Raven. Instead, have her “allying” with Cinder be a twist. That way, people’s expectations for what happened are actually, you know, subverted?

The Battle of Haven

But, you know where this is leading to… The Battle of Haven. Really, I don’t think I can say anything that hasn’t been covered by someone else. We all know it makes all the Vytal fights look like masterpieces by comparison, we all know the jokes about useless Weiss or Lionheart hogging the staircase, or even the plot holes of Raven knowing Cinder’s arm being Grimm but doing nothing about it or Blake, despite spending the past volume saying how Adam must be stopped, suddenly doesn’t care about him…

So let me cut it simply:

The reason this battle sucks might have to do with the crunch.

We don’t know how long this issue with Rooster Teeth had been going on for, but if it is indeed what people say it is and that animators don’t get paid for the last quarter or third of their work, then that might explain all the cut corners animators and writers made. Why the fights are broken up into one on ones or why fights are cut out entirely. Maybe they weren’t getting paid enough and thus, the quality of RWBY suffered as a result of it.

And that’s perhaps the shittiest thing about the Battle of Haven. It could have been this epic fight that would have made up for all the boring, drawn out scenes of exposition and chatting, but because Rooster Teeth got too greedy or even because of our own impatience (which, again, isn’t helped by the aforementioned long, drawn out scenes), we are treated to a final battle so broken and tiresome that the Battle of Winterfell manages to be a better final battle, with the only thing holding it back being that Haven had a better identity twist.

And if, for whatever reason, it isn’t due to crunch issues, then we have another problem. This was meant to be this hyped up rematch between the heroes and villains, who haven’t seen each other since the latter ruined the lives of the former. This would have been excellent to see how the killers of Jaune and Ruby’s friends would interact with them, how Yang would react to the person who framed her, even how the group had grown since their last battle…

But… if crunch wasn’t to blame for the quality dip and the writers intended for the fight to go the way it went… I have to say… What the fuck were they thinking!? So many moments could have been brought up here and yet they decided that they weren’t important enough to focus on! And now, with this battle over and done with, those moments lost their luster. If they decide to bring them up, it’d be too little, too late at best and “why the fuck are you bringing this up now” at worst.

I’ll deal with one commonly used example to get what I mean. Adam was established in Volume 3 to be a threat only made strong because he uses Blake’s emotions against her and has a Semblance that lets him dish out aura-breaking damage. Blake easily defeats Adam and has him on the ropes, only to let him run with a few excuses that some people have debated to death and back, when it would have been much easier for Blake to have to choose between apprehending Adam and helping Yang. Then, when he inevitably returns to haunt Blake next volume, suddenly he’s a threat that Blake is afraid of again despite Blake having “grown” to oppose him.

They wanted that “triumph” over him, but realize that by doing so, they’ve burned that opportunity to have the triumph be meaningful. Same goes with Emerald and Mercury. They had a good opportunity for Ruby to effectively call them out for their crimes like how Jaune did to Cinder, but instead she just headbutts Mercury. Yang had at least some closure on her arc with Mercury, but it was meh.

The Point in All of This

Hell, speaking of wasted opportunities, the reunion of Team RWBY, something that the opening had hyped and one that the fans had been waiting for since Volume 3 ended, is nothing more than an afterthought. They couldn’t even be assed to show Blake’s first fight back with Ruby and Weiss. That’s how little they cared. It’s like everyone was just wanting to get that paycheck but they needed to rush that final episode out the door and also need to make room for Gen:Lock and Nomad trailers. They didn’t even care about the stinger, as they basically ignored any sort of information relating to the stinger.

Perhaps the biggest reason why Volume 5 sucked so hard was that it was running off the heels of Volume 3. Everyone basically accepted that Volume 4 was meant to be a breather Volume, with lower stakes and lower drama (with the exception of possible death flags for Ren and Nora), but the moment they made Volume 5 the grudge match everyone wanted, then the stakes got raised back to the heights of the third Volume, only for it to fail to live up to the expectations. Sorry, I think I mean to say “subvert the expectations” in this day and age.

Though, I think the huge problem with all of this, and perhaps the biggest bottom line I can say, is that it might be due to Volume 3 going too over the edge. By killing important characters and even dividing the team, the villains had raised stakes up so high, that people began to take the show more seriously. When characters were vaguely hinted to die, be it through threats from the villains or even flashbacks, people fretted that they would die. When the villains go back to striking distance with the heroes, people desired a grand battle. When the show tried to deal with the ramifications that happened with RWBY separating, people wanted to know what was going through the characters’ heads.

And when Volume 5 failed to deliver/“subverted their expectations”, people considered it a bad volume.

But worst of all, it failed to live up to its own themes. Jaune was the only person to build himself back up again through deus ex hands, and we saw next Volume that it needed a statue for him to feel better. No one was in a position of giving up only to be defiant and shout “we’re not done here”, but instead cry “it wasn’t supposed to be like this!”. The big problem of Volume 5, make sure the relic is secure, is only solved because two characters had a catfight in the basement and the survivor didn’t bother to lock up because their daughter was too busy bitching at her. No one really grew or strengthened their resolve. The triumph… wasn’t theirs to have.

Although, it seems Rooster Teeth had learned from their mistakes, with Volume 6 being leaps and bounds better than Volume 5, regardless of what you thought of the latter half. Best of all, the themes promised in Volume 5 were shown prominently in Volume 6, albeit some of the scenes capitalizing on those themes feeling more like a child is having a tantrum because they couldn’t have the airplane.

To close out this rather long winded discussion, and to give people a tl;dr on the whole matter, Volume 5 failed to address the themes it had presented and instead just padded itself out, expecting people to accept it because it’s RWBY.

[evien-stark]

✧I Need You✧ Chapter 152 [Begin: Age of Ultron]

The “secret” Hydra base was located on the tippy top of one of the mountains. It was also huge. And obvious. A wonder that none of you had ever thought to look at it before. Then again, Sokovia was such a small place. So small, in fact, that that giant research castle butted up against a town on the other side. That was extremely bad news. Casualties were a real possibility. Also. Getting caught doing this. Which … wasn’t worse than loss of life but it was pretty bad. 

It was enough to tick your anxiety on the ride over on the jet. There were so many ways this could go wrong. So many ways that it would. You just had to hold it together. For the team. This could be one less thing to worry about if everything went right. You had to put your focus on the positives. Even as hard as that was. 

This mountaintop fortress of theirs was on top of a dense forest. Too much coverage to see through on satellite- except for the watchtowers in very strategic placement. If the incident in Sudan had a little over three hundred soldiers, you imagined these guys had maybe a thousand. And lots of heavy ammunition and firepower. All things the team was going over one more time as the jet stayed in a hover just outside the starting radius. 

Oh and… “We don’t know how many enhanced there are, or what they can do. We have to keep sharp.” Steve was leaned over one of the holograph tables projecting the tippy-top base. Funny. Coulson had said the same thing. 

Human experimentation. The thought was repulsive. And to do it with the scepter? Something so alien? Hydra must have been extremely desperate. Yet… Jessica had come across something like this, too. Killian had been working on this as well. Was this just the way the world was trending now? Why? Because of the Avengers?? It was a tough thing to think about. Not something you wanted to think about. ...yet you couldn’t stop. 

The only thing that took your mind off of it was being thrust into the heat of battle. 

Tony had landed the jet outside the perimeter in an established safe zone. The idea was to take them by surprise. To canvas the entire sector inch by inch if you had to and take everyone out and then storm the base. 

...but that’s not what ended up happening. 

The team wasn’t even a mile in before a battalion patrolling spotted everyone. Bunkers had turrets with that charged Chitauri weaponry, no doubt courtesy of Dr. Jensen, all aimed in your direction. You weren’t sure when someone had shouted for a Code Green, but Hulk had appeared nonetheless. 

You and Tony took off together to try and flank the oncoming forces while the rest of the team charged up into battle. That plan had worked before. Why not replay it not even forty-eight hours later? Except the scale of this was much larger, they had much more firepower- and it was turning into a little bit of a shitshow. 

“I think we should storm the castle and make a point.” You could beat soldiers on the ground all day long, but if you took their prized possession and handcuffed their leaders, they might lay down their weapons. Wouldn’t that be nice. 

Tony arched a brow from his box on your HUD and then nodded. “Alright. Let’s see if Rapunzel will let her hair down for us.” There was a little sting of sass here that said I highly doubt it.

He bolted up and over the treeline and you were quick to follow. The two of you circled the massive property, up and up, to the top most compound. A little too easy to break into. It was just right there. And if anyone could walk in, it wasn’t much of a base. Which was why it only marginally surprised you when Tony closed in on the eastern-most wall and then promptly bounced off it, revealing a forcefield. 

“Shit!” More a grunt of surprise from him than anything, with a look to match. Maybe he’d been more startled than actually hurt. 

Steve’s voice was quick to chastise over the comms. “Language!” 

You couldn’t help the face you made. “Have you been doing more PSAs for schools or something?” Hanging around kids? What had prompted that? Though Tony was grinning. 

“I don’t want to talk about it right now.” Clearly Steve was very aware he’d made a mistake. “JARVIS, what’s the view from upstairs?” 

As the satellite in orbit zeroed in closer on the building, all the data got thrown up on your screen, including the live feed of JARVIS looking at the compound. “The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken.” 

Thor responded to that first. “Loki’s scepter must be here. Strucker couldn’t mount his defense without it.” 

You couldn’t help your look of confusion. “We just got out of a battle with Jensen who had brand new tech. We’re thinking this is scepter grown and not Chitauri?” It could have gone both ways, and maybe it didn’t matter in either case. But you had to wonder. 

“We took her down with ease, did we not?” He made a good counterpoint to that. So you let him have this, because he seemed pretty pleased. “At long last.” 

You rolled out from your position, a little too clear in the air as a few of the watchtowers had started firing on you from inside the base. Natasha’s voice got a little garbled as you took a hit from the side. “At long last is lasting a little long, people.” 

Clint sounded annoyed. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure we lost the element of surprise.” 

Following Tony’s lead on the opposite side alongside one of the lower-rung bases, not protected by that alien shield, the both of you fired on soldiers heading out of their barracks. Your eyes strayed to him as he spoke, “Wait a second, no one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said language?” 

Despite the dire straits you found yourselves in, you couldn’t help the smile. “He’s been spending too much time with kids. Go easy on him.” 

Steve made a sound of resignation. “Look. It just slipped out.” 

You couldn’t help yourself. “We’re all about good, clean, family friendly fun here at the Avengers.” 

JARVIS cut into your good clean fun. “Sir, ma’am, the city is taking fire.” 

No. Your heart dropped right into your stomach. That was one of your worst fears. Immediately you broke dual formation with Tony, leaving him to circle the castle alone. “I’ll go deal with it.” 

“Honey, I need you here.” The both of you looked at each other from video screens. He wasn’t seriously telling you to let civilians take heat, was he? “Let’s send in the Iron Legion.” 

“I don’t know now is the right time for a trial run.” 

“Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk.” 

But he was waiting. Waiting for your permission. And waiting to see if you trusted him. He’d been working so hard on this one thing. It wasn’t Ultron- but it was what he had now. But to test proof of concept with real lives felt too dangerous. And careless. ...but you did trust him… 

JARVIS seemed to be waiting just as much as Tony was. “Ma’am?” 

You sighed, and doubled back midair. “Alright. Send them.” 

A new window popped open on your HUD and you moved it to the lower right hand corner. Iron Legion details. How many were flying out- five deployed, to be exact. Their status. They were moving, fast. Pre-loaded from the quinjet. At least Tony had come prepared. 

Just as you and Tony were taking out another lower bunker with a series of repulsor blasts, Natasha’s sudden cry startled you. “Clint!” 

Only seconds after, Steve spoke darkly. “Enhanced spotted in the field. I repeat, an enhanced is on the field.” 

Your heart was thundering in your ears. “What kind?” 

He sounded annoyed as he answered. “If I could see, I’d tell you.” 

You weren’t really sure what that meant. It really could have meant anything, but what it meant that was most important was that this enhanced was extremely dangerous. Natasha spoke again, “Clint’s hit! I need somebody to deal with that bunker!” 

This was going sideways. It felt hard to think. Tony had asked you to stay in the air with him, but everything was telling you you needed to get back to ground to help the rest of the team. It seemed Steve agreed, because he called your name next to Tony’s. “We really need to get inside!” 

Tony got to the punch first. “We’re closing in.” And then, a little less sure over the private channel, “JARVIS are we closing in?” 

Several schematics popped up in your immediate view. It was too much of a task to sift through them. Instead you asked, “Where’s the battery on this thing?” 

One of the blueprints came to the forefront and something locked as JARVIS answered. “There’s a pathway below the north tower.” 

“Great. Honey, let’s give it a poke.” As he barreled up and left, you took the right. Once up high enough you held your wrist out to match a targeted missile detonation on his mark. As the blast detonated, the blue wall crackled and then fell. “Drawbridge is down, people.” About as much signal as you got, following his lead as he plowed forward, headed right for the top tower. 

Steve and Thor were talking about the enhanced- nothing important. Which was why you didn’t feel bad going on private channel to Tony. “They’re probably dumping data right now, we have to hurry. ...and as much as they don’t deserve it, as little casualties as possible, please.” 

“Being the bigger people has not once yet felt rewarding. But, since you asked so nicely.” 

“Thank you.” 

Natasha broke up your conversation with something a little more relevant. “Clint’s hurt pretty bad, guys.” 

Thor replied, “I can get Barton to the jet. The sooner we're gone the better. You, Lady, and Stark secure the scepter.” 

Steve answered him. “Copy that.” 

It sounded like they got a little busy on the field, although not particularly in a very serious way. In the end Thor issued one command, “Find the scepter.” 

Tony couldn’t seem to help himself. “And for gosh sake, watch your language!” 

Steve’s defeated sigh had you holding back a little laughter. “That’s not going away any time soon, is it?” 

You tried to make him feel better. “Nothing wrong with being wholesome. Don’t let them bully you.” 

You spied Tony’s grin on his display window. “That part of your afterschool Cap-Hour PSA, too?” Him breaking through one of the windows of what appeared to be a lab cut the ribbing short. You were just behind him. Soldiers were aiming guns your way and the both of you were already taking fire. “Guys. Stop.” His tone was so very dry. “We gotta talk this through.” 

Your display converged with his as the targets locked, the mini-gun on his shoulder loaded up. Very pointedly all marks went to non-lethal places, mostly legs. Which had them all falling once the shots went off. 

He spoke again, “That was a good talk.” 

You couldn’t help yourself. “Very concise. Right to the point.” 

To your surprise, one of the soldiers actually answered in a groan of pain. “No it wasn’t…” 

In a quick jet as one remaining heat signature lit up in the room just beyond, the both of you came to a land just in the doorway. A man was at the console- LUNA ID’ed him as Dr. List- the one who had gotten away. He was standing in front of several large computer consoles. Presumably deleting everything. Tony was quicker than you, holding his hand up to fire off a repulsor blast that knocked him away and to the floor. 

Then, quicker still with a strange harried urgency, he released the suit, stepping out and hurrying over to the computers. Holding up one finger to the suit, while his other started typing, “Sentry mode.” His suit closed back up and started a low sweep of the room. Just keeping an eye on things. 

This felt dangerous. He really shouldn’t have given up the armor just yet. It was why you didn’t, though you did release your helmet. As you got closer to him, you saw what awaited the both of you on the screens. A big flashing deleting marquee. Tony unfolded a mini-tablet and stuck it on the side of the console. 

“Okay JARVIS. You know. I want it all.” Immediately switching that deleting to downloading after asking. 

You peered over his shoulder. “Did we lose a lot?” This data was important to somebody. ...Tony, it seemed like. For what reason you really couldn’t say. Then again, anything having to do with this alien tech probably pinged a lot of his interests. And maybe not necessarily in a good way. 

“Hard to say. JARVIS make sure to copy Hill at HQ.” It made sense for him to make that request. She was technically the head of Damage Control. But… the wiser part of you knew this was underground SHIELD business. It really didn’t matter one way or the other. 

Natasha broke the silence. “We’re locked down out here.” 

What a quick turn around. Only moments ago this felt pretty hopeless. Now all of a sudden your team had won? It was probably better not to question fate. You wanted to feel good about this… but your heart was still slamming in your chest. Something was off here. Your better sense was telling you… 

Tony turned from the computers to look at you. “You got something on your mind?” 

You’d probably pinged him accidentally. Your gaze, however, was sweeping around the room. There were shadows in the corners. It was cold. Impossibly cold. A shiver crept over your skin and you had to force yourself to stop. “Files are great but that’s not what we came here for. There’s something else here.” 

He nodded. “I agree. Hey, J, give me an IR scan of the room real quick.” 

A burst of red touched out across the room from the Iron Man suit. JARVIS spoke once it was finished. “The wall to your left. I'm reading steel reinforcement... and an air current.” 

The both of you looked at each other just once before moving over to said wall. He brushed up against it, pressing his palms flat over the brick. “Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door…” Just a little giddy at the prospect of such an overly cliched thing. 

Secret door in a villain hideout. Very fun stuff. 

Still… as he pushed his hands against the wall and it gave way, sliding to the side, you couldn’t help your little bubble of overt adoration while he leaned up a little on the balls of his feet with a tiny little, “Yay!” 

“Someone’s in a good mood.” And that one single shift in thinking had calmed you. 

“It’s not everyday you find yourself in a Scooby-Doo episode.” His grin was quick as he looked over his shoulder before going into the pathway. 

You were right behind him. “Shall we go find old man Jenkins?” 

“We shall.” 

The stairway you found yourselves descending was a little bit more than daunting. Dimly lit, a long way down. Really one long encased metal tube more than anything. And the further down you stepped the higher your alert was ringing. 

So much so that when Steve spoke just as you and Tony got closer to the bottom you actually jumped. “We have a second enhanced. Female. Do not engage.” 

That sent your heartbeat right back to painfully fast. You hadn’t even realized you were panting until Tony stopped just short of the bottom of the stairs, and reached a hand out to you. “We’re alright.” 

You clasped it with a small squeeze and gave him a nod. “I’ve got your back.” That second enhanced was clearly dangerous and clearly in the compound. You had to watch out for him. Protect him. Now was no time to get lost in panic. 

His smile settled you just enough to back off the edge. ...but as you both got to the bottom and entered a large warehouse, your terror came back tenfold. Steve signaled one of the last pieces of your mission, “Guys, I’ve got Strucker.” 

Tony one-upped him. “Yeah… I’ve got something bigger.” Hanging from the ceiling was one of those armored whales. And seeing it like this- 

Sounds of gunfire and guttural screaming lit up around you. Buildings were collapsing. 

Tony moving drew you out of it, but only a little. In an effort to keep up, you followed him closer into the room. And there, hooked up to machinery, finally, you saw the scepter. What they were doing with it, you had no idea. At least not yet. Tony would figure it out. But a familiar high pitched whine was the next sound to clog your consciousness. 

You remembered that noise. You remembered it very well. It was drawing you in. 

A yellow static emanated up and out and all too quickly you forced yourself to turn away. None of this was real. You were imagining it- but looking towards the left side of the room, you saw several tables. With very familiar looking robotic builds on top of them. They’d been using the scepter to try and replicate the Iron armors? Did that make sense? -...or were these Tony’s?? 

Coming closer to the table you leaned in, looking closer at one- 

And then very suddenly it was like someone had struck a match up your spine. A flurry of unhinged panic attacked you so strongly your knees went weak and you had to clutch the table for support. As soon as you had it in you, you whirled on your heel-

To see Tony standing there. Eyes open wide- and empty- yet terrified. Staring up at that whale. Sweat had started pouring from his brow. His breathing was erratic. And no matter how fast you wanted to rush to him, it felt like you were stuck in quicksand. 

But then your better consciousness broke free as a presence lurked up beside you. Behind you. And your own dark, angry fears took hold. Someone was whispering to you. And you would not let that happen. Not ever again. 

With a quick strike of your hand, blind and completely instinctual, you reached up and locked on to a wrist close to your face. And when you turned your head you saw her. Staring at you. A young woman- no- a kid really- long red hair and scared green eyes. She was there one moment- 

And gone the next. In a blur and a flash of wind. Not only that but it came back to knock you into the table. Nerves frayed as they were, you were quick to rebound onto your feet and fire a useless shot in any direction that made sense. But Tony’s fright was amping up- and it hit you like a tsunami. 

Vaulting over the other tables you let your jets carry you to the ground at his side. “Tony-” Trying to call to him. And when absolutely no cognizance showed- you put a hand on his shoulder. And that’s when you felt it. How off balance he was. And just how much he was drowning.

In the very next blink you were no longer there. You saw him with that second set of eyes. And he was awash in a blood-red glow. Struggling.

Laying both your hands against his chest over his heart, you settled the waves beneath the both of you, and focused. When that wasn’t enough, you gripped him harder. The edges started cracking. It hurt. You felt like you were taking it all in, watching as it seeped in through your skin and bubbled underneath your veins, working its way up- every inch like a knife cutting deeper and deeper until your entire being lit up in that crimson light. Everything went dark around you. 

Just the both of you. 

But with one last concentrated push- one wail of pain you broke him free. Lifting your hands as you felt that power travel back down in a quick bolt, all aimed at your heart- but when you extended your hands and sent one last burst into the air, you expelled it all. Something had happened, and as you went down on your knees you cast your gaze skyward, watching the shift of a takeover as brand new pinks raced across the sky-

His gasp for air drew your attention forward and present, and you swayed, feeling consciousness wane. The both of you reached for the lab table at the same time, steadying yourselves in mirror-moves. Almost like you were briefly one being just struggling to stay upright. He was quicker to regain himself, though not necessarily his composure, and as he looked at you, you felt- 

You felt- 

Some deep unsettled despair from him. And when he paired it with a touch of his hand at your cheek- and the look in his eyes- unhinged and- -...it was like the look he got- that he used to get- when he thought about- ...when he’d gone through the wormhole- and- and-

In the next shallow breath you barely were able to draw, you felt a million miles away as your vision circled the drain. It surprised you, to hear yourself crying as you barely voiced the only immediate thought that mattered. “I’m gonna pass out-” About as honest as you could be before everything went dark a second time. 

                                                               ---

They were so close to the end-goal. Secret passages meant big, hidden secrets behind them. And Tony had been pretty sure they were about to hit paydirt and make all of this worth it. Even more so than it already was. But the further they got down those steps, the harder she hit him. Unintentionally, he knew. Sometimes he wondered if she even was aware of just how bad she got sometimes- 

But she was all over the place, and he needed her to steady out. So he turned, offering her a lifeline, reaching his hand up to her, making sure his eyes were steady on hers, and that his voice gave nothing away. “We’re alright.” 

It seemed to soothe her over quick enough, something that always made him feel better. She clasped his hand, “I’ve got your back.” Always genuinely reassuring. And with that goal in mind, she became a little more focused. 

At least until they actually hit the bottom of the stairs and entered a room he almost wished they hadn’t. He hadn’t been prepared enough to see that Chitauri whale hanging from the ceiling in a vice, mouth half open. In tact. How in the hell had they stolen this? Steve said something- he answered- but he wasn’t really paying attention. 

She was moving around the room. And he wasn’t watching her, either. The scepter was right in front of them. They could take it and go. That’s what he wanted to do. But he found himself staring at it… 

And in the very next moment the sound of the chains above him rattling and then snapping urged his attention up. Too slow, as that armored whale dropped down with a monstrous roar. He put his hands up to try and shield himself and rammed into the table as it flew by. Breaking through the building- 

Drawing him deep down into a black void. He followed it- about as far as a hill littered with bodies. 

Their bodies. Hulk was lying face down, twitching, impaled several times through the back. Natasha- Clint- Thor- Steve- all down. Dying or… dead. 

 Cap’s shield was split in two.

He felt himself shivering, breathing hard as he approached. And seeing her made his knees give out completely. He dropped aside her, turning her head, fingers heavy on her neck as he put his other arm around her and hoisted her half onto his lap. Trying to find a pulse while clinging to her. Blood was leaking from her eyes- her nose- her mouth- she was battered and bruised and- there was a hole in her chest-

No pulse. This was a unique devastation unlike anything he’d ever felt- 

That was until she reached up suddenly, startling him, hand tight around his wrist. Her voice was a choke of tears. “Tony- you… you promised… you promised we’d… be okay...” 

He swallowed hard as the rest of her light died right in front of him, her hand slipping away, eyes just… empty. It felt like she’d taken him with her. 

Why didn’t you do more?

A murmur in the shape of too many voices. Floating above him, another whale captured his attention, and his head fell back, feeling the energy bleeding out of him in long draws. He wasn’t going to last here much longer. He didn’t deserve to. 

Up above him- beyond this hill spattered with bodies he’d failed to protect- the wormhole stared back at him. New York City- no the world- was under siege again- and he- 

Tony. 

Her voice jolted him just a little and his eyes fell to her lifeless body again. He cradled her face in his hands, sure that he would die here with her. 

At least he thought so- but it felt like someone was pounding on his chest- and the next slam into reality was a hard one. He barely caught himself on the lab table, breathing so hard it felt like his heart would give out- it might have- 

Wait. Lab table. Lab. He was in Sokovia. Of course he was in Sokovia- 

He’d had some sort of traumatic episode and she- Whipping his head up he caught sight of her also struggling to keep herself upright. Alive. Apparently she’d shared the burden with him. With a shaking hand he reached out to her, begged for verification- her skin was clammy but blazing hot as he made contact, fingers brushing at her temple and then down, holding her face in his hand as they stared at each other.

There was a strange glow in her eyes. Not the usual one-

He almost found his body again. But a hitch of a sob broke from her throat. A drop of blood trickled from her nose. Her pupils were wildly dilated. She looked crazed and unsure of herself. Unsure of anything. That made two of them.

“I’m gonna pass out-” 

Down she went not a single second after saying so, and he impressed himself, having enough strength to catch her before she cracked her head open on the corner of the table. Moving down into a kneel, he held her close, still panting. Sweat leaking from his forehead. 

“Cap I need-” He was aware how terrible he sounded, and he pulled every last energy resource he owned to even out. “Cap, JARVIS will guide you. I need you on my location. As soon as possible.” 

“Copy that. I’m headed your way.” 

Tony was glad he didn’t ask why. And when he looked at her again, that vision of her cut in between each blink of his eyes. 

You promised… 

He was still struggling to breathe.