#devnet casey

[karimac]

After seeing the new Deadpool & Wolverine trailer...

Yes, my OC is going to be busy once Deadpool and Wolverine hits. Until then, a bit of a tale that may or may not work into what is to come!

No explicit warnings on this one except for language. I still say 18+ because this is Wolverine and Deadpool and it could lead into who knows what down the road.

Word count: Approx. 1,500

"Kari, what the hell is that?" Dev asked as she looked up overhead at the glowing portal that hovered about one thousand feet above the entrance to your bakery, Cutie Pie Tutti. "Is Wong taking a weird way back to the Sanctum? Or is this some a-hole trying to invade New York again?"

"That would be a hard no on Wong," you replied as you felt a flood of emotions and pain hit you as you watched two men plummet from the opening in the sky above. "And this next part isn't going to be pretty. For them or for me."

((Why the fuck am I doing this? Kari, if you're here, I can't stop)) a voice said in your mind as the feelings started to get stronger and much more melancholy. His voice was washed in whiskey and regret, and you saw your face bathed in fire in flashbacks, so you knew this would not be good.

You unfurled your raven-like wings and started to make a beeline for the portal before the two souls that leaped out of it hit the ground or, worse yet, some bystander down below. "Merlin, I guess you were right, but maybe for the wrong reasons," you sighed as you moved faster to get to that damned portal. An idiot must have cast it, and these two likely had no idea if they were jumping into a pool party or a war zone. "Hey! You two need an assist? Don't struggle, and I'll guide you to the ground," you shouted as you mentally reached out to see if they were actually in trouble or just trying a new tactic to invade this dimension. Just because one of them knew you doesn't mean they were on the side of the angels.

A bit of judiciously applied TK helped bring the two men to the ground without incident. A few people gave you funny looks until a kid started yelling about The Avengers, and everyone just sort of dispersed after that.

Sometimes what you called "muscle memory" kicked in as the life of one of your shards came crashing into yours. More than one of your parts had called James Howlett your husband, lover or friend. You weren't sure which this one was just yet. But here he was. Wolverine. And...Deadpool? You knew him, too, in another world where he was the begrudgingly-named bestie of Nathan Summers. This was going to be an experience like no other. How many times had you actually thought that recently? Too many to count.

"Let's fucking...hot smoking chimichangas! No fucking way!" the guy in the red and black uniform said as his companion just stopped and stared. Yes, this loon was indeed Wade Wilson. "I know that isn't the usual redhead you have wet dreams about, Peanut. She is decidedly down one husband in a blue body condom with a visor glued to his head."

"Shut up, Wade," the yellow and blue clad warrior mumbled as he stepped forward. "She told me every world had a Kari in it. Damned near close anyway. You heard me? The buzz kicked in. Feels...good."

"That I did," you said under your breath as you quickly scanned both men to see if they needed healing beyond their own unique abilities. "Even if the echo is through time and space, if you were a part of my life anywhere, then I can hear you. You're going to need about a million beers and barrels of whiskey before it will make any sense."

"Red, I don't give a shit," Logan said as he walked over, keeping his gaze on you the whole time. "And you saw...the end? Her end. I mean."

"You and I can talk about that over a bottle of whiskey when you are good and ready. And if you never are? We still have the whiskey."

"And this is where she says she has a boyfriend," Deadpool said as he seemed to be talking to someone neither you nor Logan could see.

"Me and Red...had an understanding. Friends. We were both too hung up to get past that. Most of the time it was OK, but at the end..."

"It wasn't. I get it, James," you whispered as you put your hand on Wolverine's shoulder. "Now, I need to get you off the streets before some bureaucratic knucklehead rolls up and tries to figure out what's going on for themselves. Always a bad idea. When did you guys last eat? We can go to my place. And before you get all weird, Wade, I own a bakery-cafe. It's what keeps me sane. Sometimes. If I'm lucky."

"Hey, who's Tinkerbell?" Logan asked as Dev came roaring down the street on a motorcycle she had borrowed from one of your employees.

"Cute, but introductions later. Press was covering the portal pop up," Dev said as she flashed her phone to show NY1's anchors delivering the play-by-play of the portal rescue. "I called Wong. And Bruce. And Sam. I am not telling Bucky one of your other significant others popped in to say hello."

"Bucky? The Wisconsin Mascot Fuck'em Bucky? Big. Burly. Furry head. Wears a red shirt," Wade chirped as Dev shot him a look. "Well, it begs asking, Gabrielle. Bucky. Of course it’s a guy named Bucky. Bet it really does rhyme with Fu...”

"Do you want to end up in a floating prison in the middle of the Atlantic? No? Good," you grumbled as Dev shook her head and groaned under her breath. "And I know, Dev. Everybody needs to know, but not like this..."

You gave a half smile to Logan as you blinked for a moment. It felt nice to share a psionic rapport again with someone. You would not go digging in his mind, and you put barriers around most of what you needed to keep private before you got them to the ground. You opened a green portal to your bakery-cafe, but it led to the apartment upstairs. "Here, you two make yourselves at home...shit."

"I never got to tell you Bruce and Sam were visiting Wong at the Sanctum," Dev said as an orange portal closed on the other side of the room. "Oops."

"Oops my fine Irish arse, Devnet!" you growled as you now had to explain who these two spandex-clad gentlemen were and why they were here. "No, this is not happening today. Period."

"A little late for that," Bruce said as he looked at the two men standing just behind you.

"Wait, I know you. Wolverine," Sam said as he extended his hand. "I met you before. In that mystical bar Kari's brother had pop up near Grand Central."

"Not me, bub. Must have been my clone," Logan said as he gave you a look of utter bewilderment. "Any beer here, Red?"

"Second shelf of the fridge, all Irish labels, but please avoid that large purple bottle. That's a gift for someone," you said as you motioned for everyone to take a seat. "Wong, that portal. It was different. Inter-dimensional. And one question, Logan, did you come looking for me?"

"We were escaping a hellscape with a loony bald telepath in a trenchcoat. Logan's visions of you were not part of it until we almost went splat on landing. Howdy doo, Wade Wilson, the famous..."

"In his own mind," Logan grunted.

"The famous Deadpool! And you three are? I know Gabrielle over there. Where the hell is Xena anyway?"

"Sam Wilson, Captain America," you said as you pointed to your friends. "Wong, Sorceror Supreme, and Dr. Bruce Banner..."

"I get big and green. They call me The Hulk," Bruce said as Devnet sat down near him. "Good to see you again, Dev."

"We need to go to another fun restaurant soon, Bruce. I may need a good stiff drink after this mess. Devnet Casey. Not Gabrielle. Not Tinkerbell."

"So, you know Kari? Like know know Kari? The other one was married to her in another dimension," Sam asked as you looked at Logan and shook your head.

"Guys, can we let these fellas get a rest? Please? I promise we will get this all sorted out...when I'm ready to explain everything. I mean everything. I'll make sure they don't break the timeline or end up in The Raft."

"And what about Bucky? How do you plan to explain this to him?" Sam asked as you grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. OK, it was more like the wail of a banshee, but it was still technically a scream. Even Deadpool jumped as some of the photos on the wall fell. "OK," Sam added, "forget I asked."

"No, just make sure you are free this weekend, barring any world- ending events," you replied as you waved your hand and the photos moved back to their spots on the wall. "Friday to Sunday you will all be my guests in Ireland. Heaven help me, I'm bringing the lot of you home."

Tags: @historygeekfics, @chickensarentcheap, @arrthurpendragon, @darsynia (if anyone wants to be removed, just let me know)

[arrthurpendragon]

If you think the Multiverse is mad already...

Thank you, @arrthurpendragon, for sharing this promo for my growing community of MCU OCs.

How does the redheaded avatar for the most famous Irish battle goddess and her cavalcade of immortal, mutant and magical friends fit into the world of the MCU multiverse?

Follow the adventures of Kari MacOrish as she tries to find a life for herself that won't upend the lives of Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson or those closest to them.

Watch as her oldest friends--Devnet Casey, Enya Sun and Minerva O'Malley Harkness--try to keep Kari and the greater MCU 616 (or 199999) universe from imploding with the help of The Avengers and any other heroes they can find.

And what will happen when those heroes figure out all those Karis out there are not variants after all?

Madness indeed!

Masterlist

[karimac]

Yup, sharing this...but I may be a tad slow to reply due to work

Open for OCs:

Kari MacOrish

Enya Sun

Devnet Casey

𝐎𝐂 𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐉𝐈 𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐒!

feel free to tweak questions + all emojis r listed in text form bc i can't see some of them aAAaaAA! sorry if any of these questions are too similar i tried to avoid that but .. there's a lot lol! categorized by emoji type.

i wanted to make one because i could not find one on tumblr already that had a ton of questions. this was created by combining ones under the #oc ask game tag + my own contributions. hi charmymemes nation i'm back.

people

👁️ EYE - what colour are their eyes? do people notice their eyes? is there anything special about them (shows emotion easily, literally magical...)?

🤥 LYING - are they good liars? do they have tells to show they're lying?

👻 GHOST - do they believe in ghosts? what are their "ghostly experiences", if any?

💥 COLLISON - what emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

😭 CRYING - what makes them cry? do they cry easily?

👊 PUNCH - are they quick to violence?

💢 ANGER - what are some habits they have that will take some getting used to?

👪 FAMILY - what is their family like? what is your ocs relationship to them? does your oc have any siblings?

😨 FEARFUL - when scared, do they go into "flight" or "fight"?

💤 SLEEPING - do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep?

food & drinks

🥞 PANCAKE - what is their comfort breakfast?

🎂 BIRTHDAY CAKE - when is their birthday? do they like celebrating it?

🍩 DONUT - favourite sweet treat?

🍟 FRIES - do they order food often? or they prefer to cook their own food?

☕️ HOT BEVERAGE - do they prefer hot or cold drinks? what is their favourite drink?

🍓 STRAWBERRY - do they eat their fruit & veg? what is their favourite fruit or vegetable?

🍰 CAKE SLICE - favourite cake flavour? are they specific about types of cakes?

🍧 SHAVED ICE - do they still have any objects from their childhood? what significance does it have to them? what would their reaction be if they lost it?

plants & nature

💐 BOUQUET - create a bouqet for them! what do those flowers mean? are any of the flowers their particular favourite?

🌙 MOON - what is your oc's greatest wish? how far are they willing to go for it?

🌋 VOLCANO - how bad is their temper? is it a slow boil, or a instant explosion?

🌺 HIBISCUS - do they have any allergies?

🍁 MAPLE LEAF - what is their favourite season? why?

🍃 FALLING LEAF - do they enjoy being in nature? what is their favourite outdoor activity?

☀️ SUN - are they a morning person? what is the first thing they do in the morning?

🕷️ SPIDER - what is their biggest fear? do they have any irrational / mundane fears?

🌹 ROSE - do they like valentines day? have they been confessed to before? have they confessed to anyone before?

🙈 SEE-NO-EVIL - whats a side of your oc that they don't want to show other people?

🙊 SPEAK-NO-EVIL - what is something your oc will refuse to stay quiet about?

🙉 HEAR-NO-EVIL - what is the worse thing your oc could hear from someone?

🌱 SEEDLING - what is their most vivid memory from childhood?

🍀 CLOVER - do they believe in luck? are they lucky?

🌏 EARTH - will they give up the world for someone they love? is this decision easy for them?

🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

activity

⚾ BASEBALL - can they play sports? what is their best position if they play a team sport? what's their strong suit (speed, power etc.)?

🏊 SWIMMING - can they swim? or are they afraid of water? how well do they swim? how do they feel about swimming in the ocean?

objects

📣 MEGAPHONE - how loud are they? what do they speak like? got a voice claim?

📖 OPEN BOOK - do they like reading? what's their favourite genre?

🪤 MOUSE TRAP - what will always lure them into certain danger? a loved one in danger? a promise of something they are always searching for?

📸 CAMERA - do they enjoy having their picture taken? what's their go-to pose? do they like taking photos? what do they take photos of?

🎭 MASKS - do they act differently around certain people? what's different between the way they act around friends, family, strangers, etc.?

✂️ SCISSORS - what is the "last straw" for them to cut someone out of their life? how easily do they let go of people?

💡 LIGHTBULB - is your oc a planner? do they write down every small detail or just wing it?

💎 DIAMOND - how rich are they? can they live the lifestyle they want to?

🎁 PRESENT - what types of presents would they be most happy to receive? are they good at gift giving?

🍼 BABY BOTTLE - what are their thoughts on children?

🔪 KNIFE - how do they react to injury / misfortune befalling their loved ones (significant other, family, friends)? do they put themselves at blame?

👑 CROWN - what does your oc want to be remembered as? why?

✏️ PENCIL - is there a particular quote / lyric that you associate with them?

🎵 MUSIC NOTE - what is their playlist like? their favourite artists? do you associate a particular song with them?

🎤 MICROPHONE - are they good at singing? what is their go-to karaoke song?

🎷 SAXOPHONE - do they play any instruments? are they any good at it?

📚 BOOKS - how were they at school? what is their best subject? what is their worst subject? do they have a favourite subject?

👖 JEANS - what is their go-to outfit?

🎨 PALETTE - can they draw? what do they like to draw?

🎡 FERRIS WHEEL - are they someone who wants to kiss at the top of the ferris wheel?

⏳ HOURGLASS - are they usually late or on-time?

🔫 PISTOL - do they trust people easily? how easily will they turn their back to someone? have they been backstabbed before? will they betray someone if given an ultimatum?

🎀 RIBBON - how would they fit into other worlds / aus? what aus would you like to try out? what fictional world would they fit / not fit into?

📎 PAPERCLIP - a random fact.

📦 PACKAGE - what are some "most likely to..." that can apply to them?

🖍️ CRAYON - what advice would you give to them?

⚙️ GEAR - what are your ocs thoughts on science & art? which do they give more importance to? how much value do they place on each?

🔧 WRENCH - are they good at fixing relationships? or do they tend to avoid doing so?

❇️ SPARKLE - what is their most prized possession? what do they value?

📏 RULER - is your oc well educated? where did they get their learning from?

transport

🚆 TRAIN - what is their answer to the trolley problem?

🚲 BICYCLE - can they ride a bike? what do they remember from learning to ride a bicycle?

weather

🌩️ LIGHTNING - are they scared of lightning?

💧 DROPLET - random angst headcanon

❄️ SNOWFLAKE - do people consider them cold? if so, what made them this way?

🌪️ TORNADO - what is the biggest change you've ever made to them? how have they changed from their original version?

🌈 RAINBOW - what advice would they give to their younger self?

🔥 FIRE - do they have any self destructive tendencies? what habits do they have that hinder them from becoming their best self?

☁️ CLOUD - a soft headcanon

🌟 GLOWING STAR - what do they think about when they look at the night sky? is there someone they want to star gaze with?

🌠 SHOOTING STAR - if they could make any wish with no repercussions, what wish would they make?

☄️ COMET - what do people assume about them? are they right?

hearts

💓 BEATING HEART - what gets their heart racing?

💘 HEART W/ ARROW - what traits do they look for in a relationship? do they believe in love at first sight?

💗 GROWING HEART - if they have a crush, is it noticable? what changes when they're in love?

❤️ RED HEART - their love language(s)?

💙 BLUE HEART - do they miss their s/o easily? how do they act when their s/o isn't around?

💚 GREEN HEART - what things make your oc feel comforted? hugs, kisses, food?

💖 SPARKLING HEART - are they a subtle or a showy lover?

💌 LOVE LETTER - do they like love letters? what kind of messages do they leave for their partner?

💔 BROKEN HEART - what could their partner do that would absolutely break their heart?

[keygenix]

Cisco Champions Share their Deepest Thoughts, a Cisco Champion Radio Podcast (S5|Ep.26)

This episode of Cisco Champion Radio season five, episode 25, focuses on DevNet Code Exchange. Our guest on the show is Casey Bleeker from DevNet. Jeff Levensailor and... Cisco Champions Share their Deepest Thoughts, a Cisco Champion Radio Podcast (S5|Ep.26) published first on https://medium.com/@JioHowpage

[karimac]

By some miracle, I have fixed the links in my Masterlist. I still need to go back and edit story links and chapter previews at the end of stories, but that will be another night!

Masterlist

And that reminds me, I'm overdue to be writing about the gent below...

[karimac]

...in the details, Part 12

A/N: Warning for this series: 18+ audience (minors DNI), some cinematic level violence, some fluff and angst. Doubt that smut will be involved, but it may be implied. I’ll make sure that is noted clearly if it pops up.

All relationships, at this point in the story, are platonic, but there is romance in the cards for Kari and Bucky.

Please do not repost or translate my work. Likes, comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

Taglist is open! Please send an ask, and I will gladly add you to the list. If I have added you and you do not wish to be on the list, please let me know, and I’ll take you off the list.

Word count: 3.5k, give or take a word. Not beta read. All mistakes are my own.

Masterlist

Weeks had seemingly passed since the “Save Kari from herself” club was formed, but in reality it was only a few days. Despite the truncated length of the encounter, Devnet Casey was regretting getting involved at all with the Avengers and their hangers-on at this point.

Dev liked them all well enough. Darcy Lewis was gas, or funny beyond words as the non-Irish might say, and Wong was as wise as Kari had made him out to be. And Bruce Banner? He was all sorts of trouble Dev likely should have avoided like the plague, but she had a weak spot for science types.

She just didn’t like spilling the tea about one of her oldest friends to some new crop of “friends in training” yet again. How many times had it been now? After nearly 1,500 years? Who would want to keep track!

“I’m mental. That has to be it, Ty,” Dev said as she sat in her leather chair and patted the head of her Irish wolfhound Tyrone, his salt and pepper fur soft to her touch. “I’ve lost the plot, and here I am, about to make this all a million times worse.”

As Dev looked up at her clock, she shook her head and realized she’d need to leave soon. She’d asked Bruce to meet her at a small restaurant in Galway to sit and chat. He was going to be in town for yet another scientific conference. Biomedical and Clinical Engineering Association of Ireland if she remembered correctly. She did not want him coming out to her home just yet. A bit of distance never hurt as far as the immortal was concerned.

“I wish I could take you, but I will bring you a treat bag, Ty,” she said as she leaned over and hugged her furry companion before grabbing her keys and heading out the door. Kari might have used a portal to get there, but Dev needed to drive to center herself a bit.

For some crazy reason, Dev had suggested the Ard Bia at Nimmo’s. It was on the Spanish Parade Long Walk, and it tended to be a place for the more loved-up of the local crowd, but the seafood was to die for, and she did not want to be in some dark hole of a place for this talk. Light to clear the omissions and misgivings away and to help the new crowd understand what was ahead.

Heaven help them all.

If this lot were truly Kari’s friends, they could withstand the tumult.

“Of course he had to beat me here,” Dev said under her breath as she parked her car and walked past a few tourists who were dotting the street. “I see you found the place well enough,” Dev said as she waved to Bruce as she got to the entrance. “I do not have the lead foot Kari does, and I was not keen on using her other favorite mode of transportation. It can spook the tourists a bit too much.”

“Ah, yeah, Sam hates her driving, and I get why the other isn’t a great choice,” Bruce chuckled as he held the door open for Dev to go inside. “And your directions were perfect. I enjoyed the walk from the hotel.”

“Reservation for two. Casey,” Dev said to the hostess, and soon she and Bruce were seated at a table inside. “I know it’s a tad cozy. The design concept is more or less eclectic farmhouse, but the food is fantastic.”

“If you can’t trust a local…” Bruce said as he looked at the menu. “Wow. Beetroot gnocchi. You don’t see that often.”

“Alright, I figured it might be good for the local businesses to have more visitors trying out the fancier spots in town. You could tell your test tube society friends about this place,” Dev giggled as Bruce gave her a bewildered look. “They can’t eat protein bars and energy drinks all day.”

“That was Tony,” Bruce replied as he set down his menu for a minute. “Wait. You told Pepper you knew Howard.”

“In the Biblical sense, ah, yes,” Dev said as she looked Bruce straight in the eye. “But we ended it long before he met Maria, and I made myself very invisible after that. She did not need an old, I mean really old, girlfriend hovering around.”

“Not judging,” Bruce said as he held up his hands in a slight protest. “I just wanted to make sure I had the details straight. Dillisk mash?”

“What? Oh, the menu,” Dev asked as Bruce pointed to a particular item. “Mashed potatoes with greens, in this case a reddish seaweed.”

“Oh, Kari makes that colcannon thing. Like that. I get it.”

“Kari does a lot of things. That’s why I invited you to have dinner. I know you and Darcy and Wong have been pouring over my books. You probably need to have some things decoded by now. Right? Her very large family tree. All the battles she fought. Some odd historical point, maybe?”

“Only one thing actually,” Bruce said as he took a look at the drink menu. “Why are you so nervous about talking about all this? That Cailleach thing scared you, but that wasn’t the only thing that made you antsy.”

“Would you want to spill all of your friend’s secrets to people you didn’t know very well? Secrets you’ve held since the 500s in some cases? The fact she killed herself with a huge sword but was resurrected because of some jiggery pokery deal her Mhamó made with a goddess? Sorry. Her grandmother. The story of how a wizard—who was played by Colin Morgan or Sam Neill in one drama or another—used a blade to cut her body and soul into tiny shards and send them out into the ether, and how she is connected to nearly ever damned part of what Wong calls the multiverse? Maybe you want to hear the tale of how she was found, babbling like a lunatic in Irish, by a now famous British spy and tossed into the story of the Star Spangled Man and his poor friend who became the assassin for the ages? Where do you want me to start, Bruce? Because no matter where I start, this will all end in heartache and tragedy. It always does. And don’t get me started on why she has no kids. That one I can’t…I just…it hurts too much…”

“Slow down,” Bruce said as he gestured with his hands again, the immortal across from him levitating slightly in her chair. “And please sit down. This was never going to get settled in a day or even a hundred days. I think we all know that.”

“Sorry. I just don’t want to see anyone hurt. Not Kari. Not Barnes. Not any of us,” Dev added as she looked at her own drinks menu and waved over the server. “Chardonnay, please. And a Barry’s tea pot for two. Two glasses of sparkling water as well. I think you are not a drinker, right?”

“I’ll try the Silk Tree and Poacher’s Tonic. It seems to be a really nice non-alcoholic G&T,” Bruce said as he shook his head at Dev. “Good memory.”

“I try,” she said as she flexed her fingers a bit. “Kari’s afraid something will happen with Barnes. They…they have had a lot of run-ins over the years. That mess in Poland. A couple of bad dances in Russia. A train tunnel in the middle of Hungary. There are times I’m sure the Goddess blocks from her memory. He damned near killed her a few times, and either she is not bringing them up, or she doesn’t remember. I don’t want to think of them, you know, and him doing something that makes her snap. Or vice versa.”

Bruce by now was playing with his silverware as the server came over to take their orders of the chef’s favorite fishes with lots of local side dishes. Dev was not sure what Bruce would make of the samphire with his order. It was a local succulent that was used in a mixture with asparagus. She’d just have to wait and see.

“Look, I do not want to know about their private moments…” Bruce said as Dev turned bright red. “Oh. Sorry. What did you mean, then?”

“OK, if I reach for something near your arm, no issues. If he does and it reminds her of when he choked her, well, that is another story. And he choked her when he tossed her out the window in Katowice. Loki told me that story one night over Asgardian ale and some dreadful Viking dish I do not want to describe right now. Loki, well, he...it wasn’t that he loved Kari like that. That’s not my understanding anyway. They were friends on some weird level no one else could fathom. But they never…you know…”

“That is one picture I do not need to dwell on,” Bruce replied as his appetizer of aubergine fritters was brought over. “I know she felt horrible when he died. She always says she let him down because no one believed that he was brainwashed by Thanos.”

“I would not have either,” Dev noted as she took her tiny seafood fork and went to work on her Killary mussels. “But back to Herself. I think she is afraid that any problems she has with Barnes will send her down the road to ruin. To become The Destroyer. To become Cailleach.”

“Wait. That’s not another person?”

“As far as we can tell, no. Kari has two living sisters-in-law. Enya Sun and Minerva O’Malley Harkness. We call her Mina. They are part of the we in all this. And we have never once feared this Cailleach nonsense. Not until now anyway. Wong made her antsy about things. And the fact she did that stupid spell didn’t help. And that succubus in New Jersey fighting The Scarlet Witch. Add to that the fact Kari’s self-esteem sometimes is just shit. Thank her mother and grandmother fighting over her for that. Losing her siblings in the ways she did, especially her twin Branan. I’m afraid, Bruce. And I can’t just blurt it all out yet. Your friends will think I’m a basket case. I’m really not.”

“Then why did you decide to tell me?” Bruce asked as he dipped his fritters in the miso aioli that they were served with. “Why not Wong? Since he is the Sorcerer Supreme, wouldn’t it make more sense?”

“You can thank Howard for this chat,” Dev said as she put down her fork and picked up her Chardonnay. “I know a lot of people thought he was crazy and reckless, but he always listened. You always listen, too. So here I am, spilling my guts about one of my best friends because I can’t carry this by myself anymore. Enya will get snarky, and Mina, well, she’s a vampire, so not too many people invite her into any of their homes for very obvious reasons. So by default it’s always been me doing the heavy lifting on this stuff. I love them all, but I can’t fix this. I can’t undo Kari’s stupid spell. I can’t rewind time so she never met that succubus. And I can’t have a million people asking me a million questions at once. So for tonight, well, I’ll answer yours, Bruce. Maybe we can get a better footing to figure out what to do next? Or at least maybe I can give you a reason to trust that I’m not barmy or a bitch.”

By now the wait staff started bringing over the main dishes, and Bruce seemed pleased with the black sole he had ordered. “Thank you,” Dev said as her plate of pan roasted cod was set in front of her. “Bruce, I hope you like it. And don’t worry. I never say no to dessert.”

“How did you end up meeting Kari anyway?” Bruce asked as he looked at the servers clearing a nearby table. “Back in Camelot, right?”

“That is a very long story. The short take is this. I was sent to Avalon to study with a group of bards. Kari’s grandmother sent her there hoping she’d marry Arthur. Frankly, Kari scared the man. She did not scare Enya’s brother Galen. We just moved in the same circles in court, and being the Irish girls, well, we sort of stuck together. Then Galen was killed in battle, and things went boots up pretty damned fast. I’m sure you read that part in one of my books.”

“Then enter Merlin and his spell, and all hell broke loose?” Bruce asked as he tried the samphire and asparagus that came with his black sole. He stopped to look at it for a moment before taking a good sized bite. “This is pretty good. But what happened in Camelot sounds like a nightmare.”

“It got to be one once we realized Kari was still connected to all those parts floating in space. She felt them, and then she started seeing what they were doing while she slept. Most of the time it’s nothing, but sometimes it’s really bad. Those parts of her all have their own lives. Some of those shards have husbands and children. And that’s what hurts so damned much. Kari has always wanted children, and she technically does have them because of all those parts of her that have kids, but it isn’t the same. It’s enough to make your head explode at times. That’s why I stayed in Galway teaching. It keeps me sane. That and my dog Tyrone.”

“I can only imagine,” Bruce said as he sipped his virgin G&T. “Do you think she’s told Bucky about any of this?”

“I’d say that’s a hard no. But he’s not stupid. He reads. A lot from what she’s told me. He’s likely to start looking up stuff. Especially if that nut Helmut Zemo is involved. He gets under people’s skin pretty easily, and I know Kari got upset when he started talking to Bucky during that Flag Smasher business. We tapped into our mental link to her briefly when they were in Madripoor. I don’t think she told any of them. To be brutally honest, she’d have left Zemo to die in Siberia if Black Panther had let her. As she’d say, that was not her call. When it comes to Barnes, Kari never thinks straight. My opinion, and I’ll die on that hill.”

“Pretty forceful words, Dev,” Bruce noted as he finished his rosti, a Swiss-style potato pancake and set down his fork. “Why does that scare you so much? From what Sam has said, Bucky doesn’t seem to think all that straight where Kari is concerned. They dance around each other a lot.”

“And that can’t be good,” Dev said as she looked over the dessert menu that one of the server’s had left on their table. “They just, they…oh shite.”

Dev turned slightly in her chair and then started to hunch down like a scared school girl. “Not now. Not here,” she mumbled as Bruce looked over at another table and saw a couple sit down. The only thing that seemed slightly unusual was the fact the man, tall and muscular and seemingly in his 30s, sported a very healthy head of pure white long hair.

“You know them?” Bruce asked as Dev squeezed her eyes shut and seemed to be praying or casting a spell.

“Dev? Devnet!” the slender woman with dark brown hair and stunning green eyes shouted as she got up and hurried over. “Is this your new gentleman friend? How delicious!”

“Aerfen, no,” Dev said as she rolled her eyes. “Dr. Bruce Banner, may I introduce Aerfen and Ardan Dalcais. Kari’s twin cousins. I never thought I’d see them here tonight. I swear. They usually stay in Dublin where they live.”

“Oh, what has cousin done now? Or should I saw who has she done now?” Aerfen giggled as Ardan walked over. “So, Dr. Banner? Ah yes. Devnet has always enjoyed having her…”

“Don’t you dare!” Dev snapped. “I don’t accuse you of seducing every person you see, Aerfen.”

“Moi? I am not accusing you of anything. Just a bit of camaraderie and you go girl spirit! I wish I were in your shoes,” Aerfen said as she batted her eyes at Bruce.

“Pay no attention to my sister,” Ardan said as he stood and looked at the Avenger. “Devnet, if you need us, we’ll be over here. Not bothering anyone,” he said as he guided his sister back to their table.

“It could have been worse, I suppose,” Dev said as the twins walked away. “It could have been Conri and Saorla O’Cathain. Kari’s cousins on her father’s side. Aerfen and Ardan are on her mother’s side. They mean well, but…no. Back to the topic at hand. Barnes and Kari. Dancing.”

Bruce looked a bit confused after the cousins went back to their table. “Kari never mentioned…”

“Any of her family? I’m not shocked. When her siblings died, she shut down. She never gives straight dates on when they passed. She never talks about surviving family. She rarely tells anyone about me, Enya or Mina. I think she’s afraid we’ll all be in line for some sort of trouble. Those stupid accords. People coming after her. As I said, it can make your head explode. Now, how about dessert?”

Dev finally looked at the menu and decided on the strawberry parfait, and Bruce opted for the chocolate and hazelnut cake.

“She’s staring again, isn’t she?” Dev whispered as she leaned closer to Bruce. “And I just gave her more ammunition. I am an eejit. Don’t worry. I am not…I have read your story…Natasha…and I am so sorry about your loss…I just need a friend.”

Bruce was processing everything Dev was saying when several of the patrons got to their feet and looked out the window onto the street in front of the restaurant. There were purple lights dancing in the air, and suddenly they vanished. Dev looked at Aerfen, but the woman simply shrugged and went back to drinking her own glass of wine. “And just like that, another evening in tatters. Níl ann ach figiúirí. Sorry. It just figures,” Dev said as she looked at her dessert and finally remembered her promise to Tyrone. “Waiter, could I please get a Morgan’s ribeye to take home? Thank you.”

“Midnight noshing later?” Bruce asked as Dev laughed. “No, I promised Tyrone a treat bag. Maybe I should call Wong? That seemed a bit too supernatural for my liking, and if the Trouble Twins did not cause it, and I know I didn’t do it, then who did? I know you don’t know, and you have that talk tomorrow. I’ll find out on my own for now, but I’ll keep you posted.”

When the bill came over, Dev slapped Bruce’s hand after he started to put down a credit card. “I asked you here. My treat,” she said before she turned to hand the server her card. The purple lights came flashing back, and this time the patrons started to shout as something appeared in the lights. “Bruce, maybe you want to get out of here before…too late.”

Ardan was running out of the restaurant, sword in hand, scaring whatever people were still outside as he tried to see what was coming through the lights. “Oh joy! He thinks he’s the Witcher or something,” Dev grumbled as she got up and ran outside just to watch the lights fade again. “Well, did you see anything?”

Ardan walked over to his fellow immortal and Banner and shook his head. “The Rift might be pushing the boundaries again. I’m not sure. Where is Herself?”

“Herself, if she finds out about any of this, will kill me,” Dev replied as she looked to see Aerfen had followed behind Bruce. “And now I think I have to tell you two as well. Bruce, I can take it from here. I’ll ring you tomorrow after your talk. Night.”

“Night,” Bruce said as he walked back to his accommodations. The Eyre Square Hotel was not that far off, and Dev was glad for that in case she needed his help later.

“Now, Trouble Twins,” she started to say as Aerfen poked her in the side with her elbow. “Ow. What?”

“You like him. I can tell,” Aerfen said as Dev groaned in reply. “Fine, but you are no fun! What is wrong with Kari this time?”

“Remember back when Merlin was stupid? Kari upped that with a dodgy spell, and I have a funny feeling those purple lights mean we are all in the shite because of it.”

Dev turned back to make sure Bruce was actually on his way back down the Spanish Parade Long Walk. “May this be nothing I can’t handle on my own,” she said quietly as Ardan gave her a funny look. “Trust me. The Avengers are not ready for The Rift or any of the nonsense your family brings with it at times. You are all like family to me, but gods, they can’t deal with the lot of us on a good day.”

Tag list: @arrthurpendragon, @historygeekfics, @starryeyes2000, @chickensarentcheap

[karimac]

Much to my horror I seem to have “lost”a chapter of “…in the details” and may need to repost (and likely renumber) stories starting with Part 9.

I have no idea how I managed this one! Go me!

[karimac]

Turn of the Wheel: Ghosts of Christmas Past

Warnings: Pretty much none on this one. This is the Christmas just before Kari and Bucky decide to give it a go, otherwise known as the Christmas the Hawkeyes went to town at Rockefeller Center.

Although none of the stories so far have ventured into smut, I do consider these 18+ because of violence in other stories.

A/N: This is a submission for @arrthurpendragon's OC Ficmas 2022 event. Please check out her blog to see all the authors participating this year.

Not beta read. All mistake are my own.

Word count: Approx. 4.8K

Banner artwork credit: Image by Robert Jones from Pixabay

The photo is of the Christmas display at the McGraw Hill Building near Radio City Music Hall. It is one of my personal favorites!

If anyone wishes to be added to my taglist, please let me know.

Thanks for reading! Comments and reblogs are most welcome and appreciated!

Happy Holidays!

And here it was, another Christmas Eve, and you were so lacking in holiday spirit that most people would have stuck you with the Grinch or Scrooge nicknames used so often for those who, more likely than not, felt lost or alone this time of year.

You had done your very best to put on your “holiday face” at your bakery, and everyone except for your closest staff members probably bought your acting job this festive season.

You still didn’t feel connected to anyone, especially Bucky, Sam and his family. You felt like a fraud, but you also didn’t want to drop your massive amount of home truths on them until it was well into the New Year. Like maybe next July? Yeah, that could work, right?

Once the doors on Cutie-Pie-Tutti were locked for the night, you put in your AirPods and found the one holiday tune guaranteed to lift your spirits as you wandered around Manhattan.

“On the High Line I see the skyline Snow falls down on me As I hail the taxi, roll through the city To see the Rockefeller tree”

 “The tree? Sounds like a good idea, Liz,” you said as you looked at your iPhone and saw the smiling face of Elizabeth Chan, singer and composer of “Christmas in the City,” staring back at you.

Once you got there by foot, you didn’t expect to find the tree suddenly falling down onto the ice skating rink below and several crazed Russian men in track suits descending on the fallen evergreen.

A group of cosplayers or LARPers seemed to have joined the fray, as did a man with a sword and a female archer dressed in black and purple. The trick arrows she was using were all too familiar.

“Clint’s arrow? What in the world is going on now?” you muttered as some maniac in a track suit came running toward you, hell bent on making your evening even worse with the baseball bat he was swinging wildly as he ran. “Not so fast, tovarisch,” you said as you threw up your hands and pushed him backward into the side of a car with a magic blast. “Not going to ruin my night, or anyone else’s either.”

“Yo! Avenger! We’ve got another Avenger in the house!” one of the LARPers yelled as you turned to see where the young archer had gone or, better yet, where Clint might be.

You looked down onto the rink, and you noticed a petite blonde, dressed in what looked like the uniform of a Black Widow, talking to Clint, but she ran off just as quickly as you saw her. Then you saw the purple-clad archer running toward Clint, and you decided you had better get down to the ice before any more idiots decided to join this party.

As you ran down the stairs, more of the track suit interlopers were making their way onto the ice in a delivery truck, but one Pym particle arrow took care of them. Or maybe it was the owl that hauled the tiny truck away that did the trick?

Oh, how you wished Steve, Tony and Nat were here to see this. Christmas still wasn't the same without them.

“So, Clint, care to introduce me to your protégé? And how in the name of Heaven did you knock over this tree of all trees? Who were the goon squad in the track suits?”

“You didn’t tell me you were calling in the rest of the team! I’m Kate Bishop. People say I’m one of the greatest archers in the world. And I’m lucky Clint is letting me partner with him.”

“Partner? And here I thought you were retiring, Clint. What does Laura have to say about all this?”

“Very funny. Why did you show up now anyway? Not that I’m not happy for the assist, Kari. Kate, this is Kari MacOrish.”

“Nice to meet you, Kate,” you said as you extended your hand. “Now, maybe I can fix your tree trouble. Can you guys step back a bit? And let me know if Damage Control rolls up. I do not like those jokers, and I do not want to spend my Christmas Eve in one of their detention centers.”

“How are you going to fix this tree? Do you need to call Strange or Wong? I know no one knows where Wanda is,” Clint said as your hands were bathed in green light. You winked at Barton and smiled as you unfurled your wings and took to the sky.

“Unraveling time would probably work best, but I really don’t want to deal with that much hassle. It would undo all the battles you just won and make those bozos come back, and once tonight is enough, even for me,” you replied as you sent a wave of light toward the tree and its broken trunk, slowly lifting it back into place. It hurt like hell, but you were not about to let all these locals and tourists lose the chance to have this tree as the center of their celebrations this night.

Many of the lights were shattered, and some branches seemed broken beyond repair, but the star miraculously survived the fall when it landed on a bale of hay near one of the entrances, a sign to you that this might work out after all.

This was not the first time you had rescued a fallen tree, but this was likely the largest one you ever hoped to put to rights with magic.

“Is it straight?” you asked Clint and Kate as you hovered in the air, the sound of sirens in the distance making your timely completion of your task a necessity.

“I think so, but Laura says I’m not very good with stuff like this,” Clint said as you landed and ran to the base, a final touch of the splintered trunk the deal maker to keep the Norway spruce in place until it would be removed in January. You dug in your pocket and found a ribbon you had taken off a present you got from Cristiano, your head baker, and as you placed it on the trunk, it grew in size and wrapped around the damaged base. It was red and gold and glittered as you magically tugged at the ends to make sure it was snug.

“Clint, ambulances are on the way, so here,” you said as you grabbed both Bishop’s and Barton’s shoulders and started a very rudimentary healing of them both. “Just gave you a head start so you aren’t in a hospital bed for the holiday. Kate, it’s been a pleasure,” you said as you gave the young woman a hug, “and Clint, Merry Christmas to you, Laura and the kids,” you added as you hugged him as well. “Tell Ms. Bishop about the café. Card’s in your pocket, Kate,” you yelled back to them as you ran off the ice and back toward Fifth Avenue, the choir of Saint Patrick’s filling the night with song as you went to the subway to head back to Brooklyn.

It was just too bad your holiday blahs returned as soon as you got back to your apartment. Sure, you had a tree there, and Hickory was still wearing his festive red and green holiday bow tie on his collar, but things just felt off.

Maybe it was because you and Bucky were seemingly on the outs for what must have been the fifth time this month.

Or it could have been the disappointment expressed by Sarah, Cass and AJ when you declined an invitation to Christmas dinner.

This year just did not seem like the best time to be mingling with anyone.

As you looked at the packages under your tree, you noticed the one for Bucky right away. It was metallic royal blue with big white snowflakes all over the paper, and the silver and white bow gleamed in the light of your tree. You’d gotten him a new leather jacket because his had been trashed during a fight with some Flag Smasher sympathizers, and he wouldn’t let you magic up a fix for it. So finding him one as a gift was the only way to go.

You’d also gotten Alpine a gift or two while you were at it. You were thrilled when Bucky had gone to the local no kill shelter’s cat café to see the felines up for adoption there, and the white Angora he brought home was too cute for words. So you got her a new bed and some treats you knew she liked. Hickory was a tuna fancier, but Alpine seemed to enjoy salmon more.

And a pile of gifts for the Wilsons sat directly behind Bucky’s box. You found some great, tenderly-loved old Motown records in a store in Detroit. You also found some wonderful souvenirs to give to Sam from one of the old recording studios used by the soulful songsters back in the 60s.

The boys wanted nothing more than video games, but you knew Sarah was not the biggest fan, so, along with some new headphones and controllers for each of them, you registered the boys with an “experiences” camp out of New Orleans. They’d have two weeks away this summer at a camp of their choosing, be it space academy, inventors’ workshop or outdoor adventure base.

And Sarah? A week or two away from the boat while the boys were gone was what you thought she could use, but you knew she would likely not accept the present. So you opted for some very thoughtful jewelry made by local craftsmen in Baton Rouge. The pieces were African inspired and screamed “strong, powerful, caring, friend” when you saw the necklace and earrings.

Now you just hoped you’d get to give them their gifts sometime in the near future. Just not tonight.

“Well, Hick, looks like it’s you and me tonight,” you said as you sat down on your floral sofa and invited your orange tabby to join you there. “Merry Christmas, fuzz meister. I just wish I knew what was wrong with me.”

As Christmas morning dawned, you went into your living room and noticed Hickory had been snooping in a bunch of boxes that were at the back of the tree. You had bought them ages ago and tucked them away. Frankly, you’d shoved them back there because they were too painful to look at.

One was addressed to someone named MJ, and another to a person named Ned. There was another to a woman named May, and the final one was ready to give to someone named Peter, but for the life of you, you could not remember who in the name of the Goddess any of them were.

“I guess I’ll donate these, Hick, because I have no idea why I bought them,” you said as you sat down on the stool in your kitchen, trying to recall any of these people as you made a cup of coffee. But every time you tried, you saw purple lights and felt like hell. You’d been feeling that way since the start of December, but you didn’t want to tell anyone about it. You should have talked to Wong or Strange, but the new Sorcerer Supreme was in Kamar-Taj, and the disgruntled former Sorcerer Supreme was likely holed up in the New York Sanctum and being a bit of an arse about it all.

Nope, those two were a no-go this holiday season.

And Wanda, the one person you likely would have chosen to talk to in the first place, was still off the radar. That didn’t make a damned bit of sense either.

You started to zone out a bit as you drank your coffee, wincing as more weird images popped into your mind. The splintered parts of you in other realms were likely pushing back at you for a reason, but you were not about to deal with them today.

Meanwhile, down in Delacroix, Sarah was probably ready to toss rolls at her brother and his new “bestie,” but that would have been a waste of perfectly good food. She could hear them getting into it in the living room as she put the finishing touches on Christmas breakfast.

“What do you mean Kari isn’t talking to you? Or are you just mad at her for some stupid reason? What did you do this time, Krampus Claus?”

Poor Sam didn’t know what he was getting into when he decided to find out what exactly was going on between you and Bucky at the moment.

“What does that even mean?” Bucky sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs in the Wilsons’ living room. “Krampus Claus isn’t a thing. Even I know that!”

“Cass and AJ wanted to watch that Christmas horror movie with that German monster guy last week, but Sarah yelled at me because she thought I was encouraging them to watch it. First damned thing that popped into my head, Buck.”

“Of course it was. And I have no idea why Kari isn’t talking to me. And before you ask, I talked to Sharon. She has no clue either. And Sarah doesn’t know, so who next?”

“What about Bruce?” Sarah yelled from the kitchen.

“He’s visiting his cousin in California,” Sam yelled back. “Jennifer. The lawyer. As far as I know, Bruce and Kari haven’t spoken in weeks.”

“Great,” Sarah said as she walked in and looked at Bucky. “You two get this close to each other, and then you repel like a couple of magnets. You are both making me and Sam crazy. Now, which one of you two wants to help pour the coffee while we try to figure out how to fix this mess? On top of the mess about Kari and her crazy past, I mean. Or do you think they’re related?”

“Sarah, if I knew, I’d tell you. Kind of makes me wish Loki were still around,” Bucky said as Sam almost dropped the coffee pot. “They actually got along, and he might have been able to help. I know. I sound crazier than usual.”

“What do you mean she won’t open the door? Just cast a spell to open the lock!”

Devnet Casey and Enya Sun had been alerted by Darcy Lewis that you had been less than peppy this holiday season, and because she could not be there herself to see what was up, she asked your two oldest friends to check in on you. So now they were more or less bickering at your Brooklyn apartment door.

“Enya, do I look like I haven’t tried that? Herself warded it pretty well. I even called Mina to get her fanged face over here, but she said to leave Kari alone. She said we all know why Kari gets weird at Christmas. Unless you think she finally got pissed about what we are all doing that is technically behind her back? I’ve tried to stall everyone until Kari gets the nerve to explain it all, and it is driving me mad. I thought telling her would help, but no…”

Devnet was referring to the group trying to figure out what was wrong with you and your magic, but she had made sure not to introduce herself to Sam or Bucky just yet. The same went for any mention of Enya, your first husband Galen’s sister.

“Mina said. Mina thought. Blah blah blah. I don’t care if Mina is Thom’s sister. She has no idea what is going on because she was not one of us way back in the morning dew of it all,” Enya said as she tugged on your door handle yet again. “Wait. Is this about that stupid tree?”

“I’d hardly call the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree a stupid tree. And no, it isn’t about the tree as far as I know. At least that’s what that pixie working at her bakery told me. Then again, Kari is probably not telling anyone anything of great value. There is something weird, though.”

“Weirder than the two of you?” a third female voice said as her footsteps came to a halt. “I thought I asked you to leave the lady alone?”

“And are you ignoring your own advice, Mina?” Enya growled as Kari’s other sister-in-law, Mina O’Malley Harkness, stood before them, red scarf tossed casually around the collar of her black coat, black hat and dark hair framing her face, and a tiny drop of blood near her bottom lip.

“You didn’t snack on a taxi driver, did you?” Devnet asked as she crossed her arms and looked up at Mina.

“No, of course not. Dorian and I made a stop at a local blood bank a few days ago. The one near the Village where all the vampires go. I am not going to ruin your holiday. I promise. Now, did you see the lights in the harbor earlier this month? The purple ones? When I called Kari, she told me about them. She…something about them bothered her.”

“And she told you and not us? And not the assassin? Seriously?” Enya asked just as a neighboring door opened, and the trio stepped back into a piece of shadow so they would not be noticed. “Do you have a key, Mina? We can’t stay out here all day.”

“Can’t you just spell it?” Mina asked as the ladies turned in unison at the sound of a click, and the door opened enough for Hickory to pop out. He pawed Devnet’s leg and asked to be picked up. As she scooped up the orange tabby, the trio stepped inside the apartment and saw you just sitting there in your red and green pajamas, coffee cup in hand.

“Sorry I didn’t open up sooner, but things are just…not right,” you said as you set your mug down. “And doing the ‘three spirits visiting you this night’ part is a bit old hat, isn’t it? Do you really not see the ghosts from Dickens’ story when you see the other three of us gathered round this night? Or the ghosts of those we have lost? I do. And to top it off, I know you’ve been hiding things from me, ladies. I’ve been hiding them from you, too. You’d think we’d all learn by now, but we never do, do we?”

“What do you mean you keep getting into more fugue states?” Mina asked as she sat down in your sage green chair and fiddled with one of the decorations on your side table. It was a small snowman with a cardinal perched on its arm, and it seemed to amuse the vampire a bit. “Your other parts start intruding more? Is that normal?”

“No, it isn’t,” you replied as you looked at Mina. “And it makes things complicated. A stray thought can trigger it, and so can a smell or some particular setting. It’s getting to the point that I don’t want to leave this apartment, and I really can’t live like that.”

“And you haven’t told anyone except us right now?” Dev asked as she finally set Hickory down. “I mean, not Sam or Bruce or Bucky?”

“Not a soul, but I have a funny feeling the Masters of the Mystic Arts might be watching me from a distance. They mean well, but at times, well, it gets annoying.”

“And so do your ‘out to lunch’ moments, Kar,” Enya noted as she walked around your tree. “No offense, but they do get scary.”

“None taken,” you replied to her comments. “I just wish I could stop them.”

“And why the hiding nonsense?” Mina asked as Hickory finally made his way over to her. He had never been too fond of vampires, and you chalked that up to the fact he had never met your brother Ewan. “Go. Have fun. Please, for all our sakes, go down to Louisiana and have a good time. Whatever the purple lights are can wait for a day or two.”

“Mina is right, and you know how infrequently I admit to agreeing with her,” Enya said with a smirk as Mina laughed. “You don’t hate Christmas. You never have. You are just being you again. Taking all this on your back.”

“But,” you started to say before Dev shot you one of her usual withering glares. “What, Dev?”

“Did you get spooked again? About Bucky and that damned dagger you hid in your vault? You said ages ago that Loki looked at the stupid thing and had no idea what it was. Please, for your sake even more than ours, even on your worst day, you would not kill Bucky Barnes. If you were meant to do it with that dagger, you would not have missed the first time. He was brainwashed when he stabbed you, so I am trying to be a bit less judgmental about the man. I truly am glad he got help.”

“Ladies, I am not just showing up on their doorstep. I told Sarah no, and I am not going to mess up her plans. She has enough to handle with her boys, and Sam and Bucky, bless them, are not always jumping in to help her in the ways she might need most. She told me Sam was encouraging the boys to watch Christmas horror films. I’m hoping it was just a misunderstanding. They do not need to see “Violent Night” or “Silent Claus, Deadly Claus” or any other film like that. At least not yet.”

“I am sure Sarah would be more than welcoming,” Dev continued as she grabbed your now empty coffee mug and took it into your kitchen. “Now, out of the chair and into the shower. And what are those things you are wearing anyway? Ugly Christmas pajamas? Seriously? With cats all over them?”

“A gift from my staff at the bakery here. Fine. I’ll shower and get dressed, but I’m still not…going…”

After you showered and changed, you still resisted Dev’s urging you all to go to Delacroix and forget about the drama for one day. Right now she was acting more like her dog Tyrone with a huge bone. She would not take no for an answer, so down you all went via portal, with Hickory in tow. Mina had bagged up the gifts you needed for the Wilsons and Bucky and handed them to you before Enya literally pushed you from Brooklyn to the Wilsons’ front porch, hitting the buzzer for the doorbell for good measure.

“Kari?” Sam said as he got to the front door, opening it a split second after your friends vanished. No trio from the past. Just you, Hickory and a ton of gifts.

“A few old friends kicked my arse for not being more social this year. They were right. Merry Christmas, Sam.”

Cass and AJ came running up behind their uncle and took the bag of gifts inside. Hickory sniffed around and was happy to see Alpine was there as well, and the two scampered off to make mischief as you turned to see Bucky standing there with a big grin on his face. “So, Cris finally get you to leave?”

“It was another group of old friends. You don’t know them. Not yet anyway. I’ll explain another time,” you said as Sarah came in for a holiday hug.

“I think I know why you’re off,” Sarah said as she looked at the gifts Cass and AJ were digging into. “Darcy told me about her friend Jane. She mentioned you couldn’t help with Jane’s cancer, and that got you pretty bummed. No wonder you weren’t in a party mood. You could have told us.”

With the purple light nonsense you had pushed the Jane Foster fiasco to the back of your mind. Her cancer was too advanced for you to be able to help kick start her own healing abilities. Jane was a wonderful woman and a truly talented astrophysicist, but most of all she was Darcy’s best friend. That was why the whole “Jane story” stirred up so many emotions for you.

“Even people like me have trouble when we hear we can’t do something to help others,” you said as Sarah handed you a cup of coffee. “Thank you.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about Jane?” Bucky asked as he nursed his own mug of coffee. “Is it a big secret? Maybe Doctor Cho could help?”

“I was just trying to respect Jane’s wishes about not making a big deal out of her illness. I’m not even sure Thor knows, and they were a couple. I did not want him hearing from anyone but her. And there is some other magical woo-woo stuff going on, but I don’t think I want to get into that until I've done some more recon. I’ll talk to Stephen and Wong after the holidays. I promise.”

“You better,” Sam said with a slight scowl. “Or your presents go back to the North Pole. I’ll call Santa personally.”

“Oh, Nick? He’d never do that. He’s a sweetie. And the reindeer love me. I make them snacks with carrots and other veggies baked in. Cranberries, too. ”

“Of course you know Santa Claus!” Sam replied as Cass and AJ laughed loudly. “What did I say this time?”

“I was kidding, Sam. Are my jokes falling flat already? That goes for any regional or national version that is not called Santa Claus. Like Pere Noel.”

You kept smiling as you thought back to your actual friend Kristopher Nicklaus Kringle, the sole proprietor of a now massive toy workshop in the northern reaches of the world just past the Canadian wilderness. His space was close to The Rift but not physically in it. It was in a pocket dimension all its own. He was indeed an immortal like you, and he and his family had made Christmas their business for centuries. But you were not about to tell that tale today. Nick needed his day off, too.

“So, can I be of any help?” you asked before you turned to see Cass and AJ checking out their new gaming gear. “There’s more to it than the tech, Sarah. That part comes later. Boys, maybe we should eat first since your mom went to all this trouble?”

As the boys begrudgingly left their pile of gifts and went to the table, Bucky pulled you aside for a minute. “You sure you’re OK? Need to talk?”

“This nonsense can wait. And before you ask, I’ll tell you the Santa story another time. Now, did you eat Sarah out of all her beignets today? Did you try that turducken recipe this year, Sarah?”

“Do not mention that word,” Sarah grumbled as she looked back toward the kitchen. “Regular old turkey for us. That other thing was a nightmare.”

“Marvelous, delicious turkey you mean,” you replied as Sarah just smiled and shook her head. As you looked at her, you started to see the damned purple lights again, and now they seemed to touch everyone in the room. You blinked and pinched the bridge of your nose for a minute to get the visuals and the sick feeling they caused you to pass. “Sorry. We had a few celebratory drinks last night before we closed the bakery. Whatever that was at the end had a kick to it. It was the fairy equivalent of a bar mat shot.”

As you took a deep breath and concentrated on the eggs, bacon and beignets before you, you hoped that the rest of the gifts would be as much of a hit as the gaming gear was for Cass and AJ.

You also couldn’t shake the feeling things were going to keep getting less settling as the purple lights became more and more frequent.

“How do you say Merry Christmas in Irish, Kari?” Sam asked as he grabbed more bacon from the platter. “Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise Duit. That’s Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I pray that the next one is a good one for us all.”

Back in Brooklyn, Enya, Dev and Mina had long since left your apartment and locked things up behind them as they did. They had flicked off the lights on your tree, so the only lights visible were the ones in and around the apartment building across the way and in the street below. The streets were fairly empty for a Christmas night, so no one likely saw the lingering purple light dancing near your balcony window. A figure appeared there briefly and just as quickly vanished. A wisp of shadow form hovered in the air for the briefest of moments before the purple lights blinked out.

Taglist: @arrthurpendragon, @historygeekfics, @starryeyes2000

[karimac]

...in the details, Part 9

A/N: Warning for this series: 18+ audience (minors DNI), some cinematic level violence, some fluff and angst. Doubt that smut will be involved, but it may be implied. I’ll make sure that is noted clearly if it pops up.

All relationships, at this point in the story, are platonic, but there is romance in the cards for Kari and Bucky.

Please do not repost or translate my work. Likes, comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

Taglist is now open! Please send an ask, and I will gladly add you to the list.

Word count: 3.3K

Masterlist

Where we last left this motley crew: Kari was now on her way to Delacroix, LA, but things were still bubbling along at the Stark Lab where Bruce, Wong, Darcy, Shang-Chi, Katy, Peter and Ned were all trying to find the answer to one question:

“I have no idea who or what a Cailleach is, do you?” Darcy said as she gazed up at the holographic figure hovering in the air before the group. “Bruce, any clue?”

“You’re asking me? Mythology and fantasy novels are not my go-to subjects, Darcy,” Bruce replied as he turned to Wong. Wong looked more like he wanted to run to the nearest mountaintop than answer that question. “Wong, I’m guessing from the look on your face that you know and just don’t want to go there at the moment.”

Wong stood with his arms crossed, staring at Bruce. “No, I have no idea who that woman is. Not exactly anyway. Her name is in some ancient texts in Kamar-Taj. But there has never been any clear context about who she is or what she can do.”

“Guys, I’m sure the database has the answers,” Ned said as he tapped on his keyboard. “What’s the AI called here? Peter’s is called Karen.”

“Friday, what can you tell us about Cailleach?” Bruce asked, but the AI stayed quiet for a good few seconds.

“I’m sorry, Doctor Banner,” the AI said with a lovely Irish lilt, “but Mr. Stark has put that information off limits for now. You’ll need the OK from Ms. Potts to access it.”

“Seriously?” Darcy yelped as she looked at the hologram. “He didn’t set things up in case something went bad? Great.”

“Let me get Pepper on the phone,” Bruce said as he started calling up a view screen so she could see everyone when they got through to her. “Pepper, Hi. Uhm, what’s going on there?”

“Oh, Hi Bruce! Morgan is building something…” Pepper turned to face where Morgan was sitting.

“Hi Uncle Bruce!” Morgan shouted as she showed off the castle she was building from LEGO. At least it looked like a castle. “Where’s Auntie Kari? I need her to tell me if this horse has the right stuff for battle. My troops are gonna fight a dinosaur.”

“Hi, Morgan. I was calling your mom to talk about Auntie Kari. Can we borrow your mom for a minute?”

"Sure, but not too long! She promised to help me make a tower for Rapunzel!"

“What’s wrong?” Pepper asked as she walked away from Morgan and finally looked at what was going on at the lab. “Oh, Friday blocked access? I can see the hologram is red.”

“Yeah, Tony set up a failsafe on this file, and we need to access it. I can explain the details to you later, but we could use an access code.”

“Sending clearance over the line now,” Pepper said as she tapped keys on her own computer console. “Could you use my help? You look like you’ve got a full house. New faces, too.”

Bruce chuckled as he opened up the view a bit so Pepper could see more of what was going on in the lab. “Wanda got in trouble, and Kari went to help her. Some bad magic stuff happened, and we’re trying to help Kari fix it. That’s about as simple an explanation as I can give you right now.”

Pepper sighed as she nodded to Bruce, and the look on her face said a lot more than Banner expected. “Pepper, yeah. If you want to head down here to Jersey, great. I’ll keep the coffee pot on.”

About an hour later, Pepper came into the lab, with Morgan and Happy Hogan trailing behind her. “Bruce, we’re here. We brought along some food,” she said as Happy set down bags from a local diner.

“Pepper Potts, Xu Shang-Chi and Katy Chen, and I think you know Dr. Darcy Lewis,” Bruce said as he gave Pepper a hug. “And Peter’s friend Ned Leeds.”

“Hey, Pepper. Hey, Happy,” Peter said before Morgan ran over and almost tackled him. “And who is this linebacker for the Giants?”

“Petey! We brought dinner! And I wanna help Aunt Kari!” Morgan shouted before she ran back to Happy to help set out the food.

“So, the file’s working now?” Pepper asked as she looked at the hologram. “We can’t see a face? Why?”

“According to Tony’s records, he and Steve talked to Thor about this at some point, but even he had no idea who this is. She is bad. That’s all I know. And Cailleach is not so much a name as a code name or an honorific. It’s apparently a reference to a crone in Celtic mythology. I’m guessing she is one of the rogues’ gallery of people Kari talks about when she insists we do not want to fight the people who want her dead.”

“Maybe this person is part of the bad guys in The Rift?” Peter said as he went to help Morgan so she didn’t drop a big bag of food on the floor. “Kari told us about them one day at lunch, right, Ned?”

“Right! At that pizza place when we all got back from the blip,” Ned said before Wong spun around, his tuna melt almost dropping from his hands. He had literally grabbed one from the New York Sanctum just before Pepper arrived. He was going to ask Ned to go get food, but Pepper saved the day, as usual.

“Bruce, Kari never mentioned that, did she?” Wong asked as Banner shook his head. “Darcy, you said she was missing about six months’ worth of time when you two sat in Westview? You mentioned that when we first started trying to unravel this mess.”

“Bingo on the time frame. She went back to Ireland for a bit, then off to Westview, and then she did the Sam and Bucky stuff, but a hole about the size of Hoboken is sitting in the middle of everything,” Darcy noted as she grabbed some fries. “Trying to break up Wanda and Agatha Harkness’ fight really knocked Kari for a loop.”

“Agatha Harkness?” Pepper asked as Wong rolled his eyes. “Oh. Bad magical person?”

“You could say that, and you would not be wrong. Kari was trying to make everyone forget her for some very weird reason,” Wong said as Katy and Darcy both chimed in with the one reply that made any sense—“Bucky Barnes”—and then Wong continued his story.

“Kari cast her spell, and whatever happened in Westview with Wanda made it go off the rails. She’s tied to Barnes on some psionic level, and we can’t undo it yet. Wanda may have wanted to...”

"Get the old Buckster to Westview for Kari. As Husband Material. Wanda created cats for them for crying out loud. I was there. Darcy Lewis, circus entertainer extraordinaire."

“Would anyone in Asgard be able to help? They have magic wielders. I know what Kari does is different from what you and Stephen do,” Pepper said as she looked to see if Morgan was playing or paying more attention to the grown up chatter going on around her. “Maybe they could help? This is a huge mess.”

“I can see if Valkyrie has anyone who might be able to give us some help,” Bruce said as he looked up at the hologram again. “Friday, where did Tony get the information for this file?”

“From some of Howard Stark’s personal papers,” the AI replied as some files appeared on screens around the lab. “Howard was once in a relationship with a friend of Kari’s named Devnet Casey. Devnet…”

“The magic book lady!” Katy shouted as she grabbed the volume on mystic weapons that was sitting on one of the tables. “This was written by Devnet Casey! Who is probably dead…”

“No,” Friday said as a picture of Devnet appeared where the hologram had been. “She’s very much alive and living in Ireland. She lectures at the National University of Ireland, Galway.”

“Do I sense a road trip?” Darcy asked as she looked at Bruce. “Please? I’ve never been to Ireland, and I’d love to go sing in a pub there and eat those boxty things Kari makes. Potato pancakes. Like latkes but not.”

“Maybe we should see if we can contact her at the university before we just jump on a jet or open a portal?” Pepper replied before hearing Morgan shout “oops!” as Happy almost knocked over a small box of files. “Morgan? Happy? What is that? It looks old, and Tony was not a fan of old.”

“It says it belonged to Uncle Steve!” Morgan said as she pointed to writing on the side of the box. “What’s inside?”

Hogan opened the box and held up what looked like evidence envelopes and confidential file jackets. “These all belonged to Phil Coulson. Why did Steve Rogers have a bunch of stuff that belonged to a SHIELD agent? Didn’t Coulson die on the Helicarrier when Loki was making life difficult?”

“Yes, he did. I’ll ask Maria Hill about this stuff,” Pepper said with a small sigh as she walked over to look at the box. “Wait,” she said as she took one envelope from Happy. “Oh, Tony. What were you digging up this time?”

Bruce walked over toward Pepper, Happy and the box before glancing back at Wong. “What is it, Pepper?”

Before Pepper could answer, a FaceTime call request came in from Ireland. The screen lit up, and on the other side of the Atlantic, Devnet Casey sat on a brown leather sofa with a cup of tea in her hand and her Irish wolfhound Tyrone’s head resting on her knee. If she were compared to an actor or movie character, she was the real life version of Xena’s Gabrielle, a petite, short-haired blonde who now chose tweed and denim over leather.

“Hello. I’m not exactly used to getting call requests from the States. Especially at this hour. So, is this about a redhead? I’m betting it is. I haven’t heard from Kari in ages. Is it a man this time, or did the government lock her up because of those damnable Accords? She never listens. About men or mayhem!”

“Oh hey there! Dr. Darcy Lewis here, and Wong, Sorcerer Supreme, and a seeming cast of thousands. And yes, it’s about Kari. Can we come visit you? We thought you might be able to help.”

“I’ll do you one better,” Dev said as everyone saw her get up, and in an instant she was in the middle of the lab via her own portal. “Ty, sweetie, you need to stay home while Mama talks to these nice people. You can go snuggle in the bed, and I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said to her dog as the portal closed. “Now, has Kari gone off the radar entirely? Or is she just acting weird again? And…who told you about her?” she asked as she pointed to the hologram.

“Howard Stark did, more or less,” Bruce said as he walked over. “Bruce Banner. We can do all the introductions later.”

“You spoke at NUIG a few years ago. Before I got dusty, I mean. I went to your talk. You and Tony Stark...” Dev started to say as she looked over and saw Pepper. “I’m so sorry for your loss. I was one of Howard’s, uhm, lady friends, shall we say, before he met Maria. Kari told me all about Tony when he was younger. She babysat for Howard and Maria once. Tony was a very spirited child.”

“You mean my dad!” Morgan shouted as she ran up next to her mother. “He was the best!”

“Indeed he was,” Dev said as she stopped and looked at the Stark mini-me standing there. “You remind me of your grandpa. Now, back to Kari. What do you know about Cailleach?”

Darcy had maneuvered herself so she was standing next to a box of cookies the Stark crew had brought in with them. She finally found a chocolate chip cookie and started to nibble on it. “Next to nothing? Can’t see a face. No data in the database beyond that goofy image.”

Dev looked around the room and seemed to be debating what to do next as she moved to face the hologram. “I wish Kari were here. It’s her life, and none of us should be digging into it without her here. It’s not as simple as fighting off aliens or robots. I know this is cliché, but it is complicated.”

“Especially because she got magically whammied,” Ned said as he waved at Devnet from his chair. “She was trying to help Wanda Maximoff, and some other weird witch hit her with an energy blast.”

“That would have been helpful at the top,” Dev grumbled as she looked at the hologram again. “What kind of magic?”

“Wanda is a user of chaos magic,” Wong said very bluntly, “and Agatha Harkness…”

“A succubus. She’s a succubus. I’ve heard about her but never had the pleasure of fighting her. Creepy is the best word to describe her. And cracked like an old pot. She likely hasn’t had a good thought since 1692 from what I’ve been told. So chaos magic and succubus powers, and you had the Goddess in the middle. Or was she trying to help either side? Was Kari light or dark in this?”

“She was trying to help Wanda, but we had no idea about her full powers until this all happened,” Wong replied, “so light. And I know that makes a difference.”

“Thank you. You do not want to fight against Kari when she is on a magic bender. Enya and I have…oh shite! I’ll need to get Enya here. If I can find her. She went time hopping. Or was that universe hopping? I’ll check my last note from her later. Enya is Kari’s sister-in-law. Sister of Galen Sun, Kari’s first husband. Oh, this could get to be all sorts of bad. But I am not calling Minerva or Dorian just yet. Thomas O‘Malley’s sister and her husband. And you have no idea about anyone I just talked about. Great. Shut up, Devnet. You are only making this worse.”

“And you are who in her life, exactly?” Darcy asked as she grabbed another cookie. “You write books. That’s all we know.”

“I grew up near Galway, and I met Kari and Enya at Camelot when Arthur was king. And for the record, Merlin was not a hottie like on the BBC show. Arthur was a snack, and Lancelot. Oh my gods. Yes. Wait. Why isn’t Kari here anyway? Don’t tell me she’s off in The Rift again?”

“She went to Louisiana to help one of our teammates,” Bruce started to explain as Dev shook her head and started to mutter under her breath. “Delacroix to be exact. Is that a problem?”

“As long as she doesn’t run afoul of the preternatural community there, things should be just peachy. Her brother Ewan got into a fuss once with some fellow vampires there, so who knows who is holding a grudge? But I keep getting this vibe that there is more to all of this than anyone is letting on. You had better spill the tea now. I can’t work with spotty intel.”

Dev grabbed a bottle of water before staring up at Cailleach again. “Can’t you just get Kari back here?”

“Does the name Bucky Barnes mean anything to you?” Darcy finally asked, “Or was he not a topic of conversation when you and Howard were friends, Devnet?”

“Barnes? She found him again? No. No. No. That is all sorts of bad. He damned near killed her the last time, and I am not going to try to patch her up again. And I don’t mean broken bones or a bruised shoulder. I mean mentally.”

“The files say they fought in Katowice, Poland,” Peter noted as Dev stomped over to where he and Ned were stationed. “Is that right? Is that the last place they fought? Because Bucky spent time in Wakanda with a bunch of doctors and scientists. He’s better now. They undid what HYDRA did. The brain washing, I mean.”

“Yes, Poland in 1991, and on the steps of the Winter Palace in the 1960s, and some other Cold War era hot spot. Havana. That was before the Winter Palace. Mid or late 1950s, I think. They nearly did each other in at least a half dozen times. Poland was the worst because she finally realized who he was. Star-crossed is not even the right word for those two. Cursed. Tortured. A disaster waiting to happen. I’m glad he got help. I didn’t know that. Peace to him, but they are still not a great match.”

Dev paced behind Peter and Ned and then stopped as she reached down to pick up a screwdriver on a desk next to them, flipping it in her hands as she tried to get her next thoughts in order.

“Did Loki give her back that stupid dagger? Please tell me that hasn’t popped up again. I hate that damned blade.”

“Dagger?” Wong asked as he looked over at Bruce. “What dagger?”

“It’s this ornate blade with emeralds on the hilt. The blade has gold filigree work on it. She and Barnes each got stabbed with it in that fight in Katowice. We never knew where it came from, but it brought her nothing but pain,” Dev explained as she stayed near Peter and Ned. “I wish I knew more. It isn’t from any group we know about. Not elven. Not demonic. Not a weapon of the Heavenly Warhost. Kari got very weird after that fight. Weird for Kari, I mean, and I’ve known her for over a thousand years. It was like part of her soul was sucked out. That isn’t even a decent explanation. I just wish we’d been able to see how it affected Barnes back then, but you couldn’t exactly roll up to a HYDRA base and ask how their top assassin was feeling.”

“Uh, no on the dagger,” Darcy said as she walked over toward Katy again, motioning for the book next to Chen. “Is it in this book you wrote?”

“No, that’s weapons before 1990,” Dev explained as she looked at the tome. “I never wrote a thing about weapons after that. I should have, but, as I said, Kari got weird, and Enya walked away, so I’ve been teaching and doing children’s books and romance novels ever since. I’ve been muttering for years that Kari let us down. Guess I need to order that ugly sweater in my size, too. I fucked up. She needed me, and I fucked it up royally. Do you guys have room for a slightly weepy professor of writing and antiquities on your squad? At least until this is over? Oh, and my dog Tyrone. I can’t leave him alone too long.”

“Mommy! A puppy!” Morgan squealed as she ran around Pepper.

“Tyrone is hardly a puppy,” Dev replied as she looked at Morgan. “I’d keep him leashed or in another room if needed. He’s sweet. He just looks and eats like a small horse.”

“Bruce, this is getting too complicated,” Wong noted as he started to do a head count of everyone there.

Darcy stopped noshing on food and gave Bruce one of her typical glares as she, too, started a head count. “Not if we break up into teams, guys. We may not get answers for weeks. Months even. But come on! We are The Avengers and Their Super Brainy Friends! What? Bad team name? I think it rocks.”

“You’ve been pretty quiet,” Katy said to Shang-Chi as he sat doing his own research on his father in the database. “Oh, dad stuff?”

“I figured I might as well since I have no idea about this Celtic stuff. But my dad may have known things since he was immortal. Can't hurt to look, right?”

Dev looked at the pair but didn’t engage them just yet. She had noticed the rings sticking out of the backpack earlier but had kept quiet about them. One problem at a time was all she needed at the moment.

“So, we make a pact to keep this quiet for now?” Pepper asked as she walked over to Bruce. “This feels wrong.”

“When Kari comes back from Delacroix, I’ll call you, Darcy and Wong. Then we can talk to her. I agree that this seems off, and our new friend seems to know more than she is letting on. I’m not shocked.”

“I just do not want to say things before Kari can say them herself. She really has told me precious little about The Destroyer there.”

Darcy spun on her heel and glared at Devnet.

“Wait. What now? The what?”

“Cailleach roughly translates to the crone creator and destroyer, and, depending on which aspect you reference, that is what you see. This one is The Destroyer. I thought that was pretty clear from the huge sword.”

In Part 10: The scene shifts to Delacroix with Kari, Bucky and the Wilson Family, but will romance flourish, friendships be made or hearts end up broken?

Tag list: @arrthurpendragon, @historygeekfics, @starryeyes2000

[karimac]

Coming tomorrow...in the details, Part 9

Here's an excerpt of what I had hoped to post tonight, but alas, tis not to be. Hope this teaser can tide you all over...

“Especially because she got magically whammied,” Ned said as he waved from his chair at Devnet. “She was trying to help Wanda Maximoff, and some other weird witch hit her with an energy blast.”

“That would have been helpful at the top,” Dev grumbled as she looked at the hologram again. “What kind of magic?”

“Wanda is a user of chaos magic,” Wong said very bluntly, “and Agatha Harkness…”

“A succubus. She’s a succubus. I’ve heard about her but never had the pleasure of fighting her. Creepy is the best word to describe her. And cracked like an old pot. She likely hasn’t had a good thought since 1692 from what I’ve been told. So chaos magic and succubus powers, and you had the Goddess in the middle. Or was she trying to help either side? Was Kari light or dark in this?”

Tag list: @arrthurpendragon, @historygeekfics, @starryeyes2000

[arrthurpendragon]

Thanks for doing this for the community, @arrthurpendragon! You are an angel, Kass!

Fandom I write for: Marvel Cinematic Universe

Looking For In The OC Community: I guess the reason I came here was to share stories that had been stuck in my head while I did my dishes. I’m just looking to see where they all go and hoping others like and reblog them.

I am more than happy to answer asks about my OCs, but I am slow to reply at the moment. I’d also be glad to help if people need to bounce ideas about OCs or plots across just about any fandom.

I have 20 years of experience in play-by-post role playing in the Marvel Comics 616 community, and my favorite parts are character and world building with others.

OC Blog: @karimac

Main OCs:

Kari MacOrish/Karenza (current--face claim Julianne Moore)

Enya Sun, Devnet Casey (to come--face claims Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor)

There will be a few more, but they need a bit more work before I even mention them in a post.

Thanks again!

[karimac]

Share 10 facts about one of your OCs! :)

Thanks for this ask, @arrthurpendragon! This list of facts is for Devnet Casey, the third member of the trio that includes Kari MacOrish and Enya Sun. Dev's face claim is Renee O'Connor/Gabrielle of Xena fame.

Dev is slightly younger than Kari and Enya at around 1497, but do three years really count for immortals?

If Dev were asked what her favorite era is in her long life, it would have to be the the Lost Generation period of the 1920s. She moved to Paris after World War I and lived there peacefully and happily amongst fellow writers and artists until the dawn of World War II.

During World War II, Dev rejoined Enya in London with the two none the wiser that Kari was in England as well. They only reconnected after Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers' apparent deaths.

Dev had a thing for Howard Stark, and the two had a "spring fling" for a couple of years before Dev finally got a tad tired of Howard's wandering eye. They did stay friends and in touch until he met and married Maria. Dev always felt it would be hard for Howard to explain her presence to Maria, so she backed away gracefully.

While Kari has always had cats and dogs around her, Dev is more partial to dogs. Her favorite breed is the majestic Irish Wolfhound. She has had many over the centuries, and her current one is named Tyrone.

While Kari is from County Kildare, Dev is from County Galway in Ireland. She has a home in the city of Galway and has been known to give lectures on writing and history at National University of Ireland, Galway.

Being from Galway, Dev is also a lover of the sea. Over the centuries, when she is back home, Dev loves to go to the docks and local pubs to talk with the seamen about their travels.

While Dev is known for her romance novels and the tomes she has written about the adventures she has had with Kari and Enya, she is most proud of the Irish history books she has written for children. She is currently working on a series for children that encompasses facts about the people of other nations who now make Ireland their home.

During the 1960s, Dev jumped feet first into the music scene in London. While Kari and Enya both love to sing, Dev loves dancing, and she found herself many nights in discotheques dancing The Frug and The Freddie with all the Mods in the clubs.

Does Dev consider herself a domestic goddess? That would be a no. Yes, Dev can cook, and she does not have daily hired help to take care of her place, but she does not consider herself a pro at any of it. She thinks one of the greatest inventions in history is the microwave!

[karimac]

Heya! My name is Anna and I got your name on my BINGO card. I have some questions for Kari:

If there is anything you could always make her happy with, what would that be?

What is her favourite color?

Does she have a memory that she looks back on fondly?

If she could travel anywhere right now, where would she go?

What is her favourite food?

Does she like to read? If so, what kind of books does she like?

Does she have any nervous habits? If so, what are they?

What is/was her family like?

Favourite way to spend any downtime she might have?

When did she get her cat and what spurred the decision?

Have a nice day/night! ☺

Thank you for the great questions, Anna!

1. The one thing that makes Kari happy is time back home in Ireland to recharge her batteries. She can be alone or with friends, but she can disconnect there in ways she can’t in other places.

2. Her favorite color is purple. Doesn’t matter the shade. She was born in February, so it reflects her birth flower (violets) and birthstone (amethyst). Second favorite color is green.

3. Her fondest memories usually revolve around her family, but the ones she thinks about most are the ones riding horseback with her brothers. Her sisters were not as fond of riding, so Kari would be up early and out at the stables with her twin Branan or her younger brothers Caedmon, Ruadhri and Malachi.

4. Kari does love to travel, and the one place she has never been to is space. To be able to see all of creation from that distance would be a truly humbling and beautiful experience for her.

5. Her favorite food? She probably never saw anything made from chocolate that she would pass up, so that would be high on the list. More substantial fare? A cold Guinness stout and a helping of Irish stew or Shepherd’s Pie.

6. Yes, Kari likes to read, and she would usually go for selected biographies or sci-fi/fantasy books. She also has a big collection of cookbooks. The only "trashy" things she admits to reading are a series of romance novels by an old friend named Devnet Casey.

7. She likes to bite her lower lip or twirl her hair a bit if she is anxious, and she also drums her fingers on counters and tabletops.

8. Kari’s family was loud and a tad crazy. She had eight brothers and four sisters as well as various cousins who would visit from time to time. Her parents always welcomed the lot into their home, even if it meant breaking up the occasional fight. Kari and her siblings were always very tight knit, despite the fact Kari lived away from them for long stretches of time.

9. Kari usually opts to head back to Ireland to be at home with her horses, but she has also spent a lot of time in New York just hanging out in her apartment. Since the current roster of Avengers is still a bit in flux, she might hang out with some of them in social settings as time permits.

10. Kari has always had animals around, and one day she just decided it was a good time to find a new companion. She had seen a story about a new cat cafe in New York City, and she decided to check it out. She was probably lonelier than she likely would admit to anyone, even herself, and that little orange ray of sunshine was just what she needed to make things a bit better.

Hope you have a great day/night, too!

[karimac]

what "bad" habits does Kari have ? any guilty pleasures?

Kari's "bad" habit is kicking back with a bit too much beer or wine every now and then to help her unwind and try to be, as she sees it, a bit more like everyone else. Unlike the super soldier folks, she can get drunk.

Her guilty pleasure is actually reading historical romance novels. In her lore, Kari has a friend named Devnet Casey (face claim Renee O'Connor/Gabrielle from Xena), one of her friends from her days in Avalon/Camelot, who is a novelist in the MCU. Yes. Dev is very much alive. I am just not sure when/if I will be bringing in any of Kari's old friends into my story.

[karimac]

Everything old is new again--for the OC writers and artists!

Hey everyone! I hope your weekend is drawing to a comforting close and that the week ahead is not going to be a taxing one for you. We've all had enough drama in RL. Better it stick to the words we tap out on our keyboards or the pictures we put in our art.

As always, I am still playing catch up. One of these years I might get called up to the Major League Procrastination Squad! *insert cheesy rim shot here*

You have all seen me yammer on about the 20 years under Kari's very worn belt. I started thinking about the next two OCs I am going to drop into this mess of a blog, and while old to me (almost as long on my screen as Kari at maybe 15 years each) , I realized something today:

I never gave Enya Sun and Devnet Casey very developed backstories in the gaming world.

How is that even possible? At this point in time, I have no idea.

They were created around the time I helmed my first gaming story, a time traveling nightmare where the X-Men went back to Arthurian times (think Mists of Avalon miniseries and not the Merlin series on BBC). The story ended up being, in my estimation anyway, a disaster, but Enya and Dev stuck around.

Enya is a priestess of the Holy Isle of Avalon, Kari's sister-in-law and one of the few people Kari will listen to when all hope is truly lost.

Devnet, a fellow daughter of Eire, is a writer who would live forever in 1920s Paris if given the choice.

Beyond that? Much of what I know about them was created to bounce off other gamers. Some of it is good, and some has got to be wiped out because it is not what I had hoped for for them but created to fit a story. That happens sometimes in the gaming realm. That's why retcons are sometimes a gift. So is writing fanfic on Tumblr.

Maybe you have your own Enya or Devnet sitting in your WIP folder or in your photo shelf of your editing program? Maybe this week is the time you find the right place and time for that character? Maybe this is the week the spark ignites and your fingers fly? Give the gem of a character a bit of spit and polish and put them out for the world to see?

I hope so. It will be great to meet them.

So from me and my own Trinity, have a fabulous week! And may The Muses bless you!

[karimac]

A thought came to mind...

Maybe it is time to bring in at least two more OCs soon-ish...

and @ocfairygodmother, I am not counting these toward my plot bunny question! They have been around in my gaming communities as long as Kari has been.

The brunette is Kari's sister-in-law, Enya Sun, priestess of Avalon. The blonde is Devnet Casey, bard, novelist and friend to Kari and Enya. @historygeekfics, another piece of the puzzle will be dropping soon!