#i need ANSWERS what is this superpower inheritance!!????

[xinyuehui]

S2EP12 x S3EP01

Take my power and live on...

[satyricplotter]

Hi! I've recently ended up writing more vigilante characters, and I ran into the issue of what their identity would be on the field, if they indeed need one, so I'm running a poll to see what the consensus is in the community. Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the replies, I'd love the input.

Some relevant points to my own writing before you answer:

None of the mantle names would be gendered (eg. Batman, Batwoman), unless I'm specifically writing a reader with that gender identity.

They would be completely new superhero/vigilante/villain names and identities that do not exist in the DC universe already.

I would assign some superpowers/abilities/motifs related to their identity (eg. a vulture themed vigilante called Carrion, can fly, surrounded by death, soil, rebirth etc as motifs)

*meaning, for example, that you are the original Batgirl, and have always been Batgirl, in place of Barbara Gordon, who either doesn't exist or has never had that mantle. With a few characters, this would mean inheriting their backstory, if not their personality (eg. Starfire, Superman)

Bonus points to you if you can tell me how you feel about mythological figures and hero names derived of those (say, Zephyrus for a wind-themed hero, or The Morrígan for a crow-themed vigilante, etc). Are they too identifying for a reader fic?

[kazoosandfannypacks]

chapter summary: when hope swan-jones learns she's going to develop superpowers, the first person she tells is her best friend, gideon gold. chapter word count: 1478 a/n: behold the highly anticipated CYGNET SCHOLAR SUPERHERO AU! I'm SO pumped to start sharing this with you guys! shoutout to the ever encouraging @accidental-spice for betaing this chapter! taglist: @accidental-spice @kanerallels @ouatnextgen @booksteaandtoomuchtv (if you'd like to be added to my cygnet scholar taglist, let me know!) also on ao3!

#1: Origin Story

 Five Years Ago…

 It's funny how quickly a day can change. All it takes to turn an ordinary Tuesday afternoon into the first day of an entirely different life, apparently, is your mom knocking on your bedroom door and saying "can I talk to you about something?"

 Little did Hope know as Emma came in and sat down on the bed next to her that this was one of those conversations.

 "What is it?" Hope asked, her mom looking at her with a bittersweet intensity she didn't understand. "Is something wrong?"

 "No." Emma smiled, shaking her head as she tucked a strand of hair behind her daughter's ear. "You're just growing up so fast."

 "Yeah." Hope shrugged.

 "And now," Emma shook her head, "you're gonna be a teenager soon, and things are gonna start changing. Your…."

 "Oh my gosh, mom." Hope interrupted. "I don't even know what 'the talk' is, but I know I'm not ready for it now."

 "Good," Emma said, "but this is a different talk. Over the course of these next few months, you're going to be developing some… powers."

 "Powers?" Hope's nose scrunched up.

 "Yeah." Her mom nodded.

 "You mean like flying and invisibility and laser eyes?" Hope asked. "Like the heroes on the news?"

 Emma laughed a little and nodded. "Exactly, like them."

 Hope had always looked up to superheroes, wanted to be like them— what kid hadn't? Now that she found out she was like them, it all sounded so great— a little too great to be true.

 "How do you know?" Hope asked.

 In lieu of an answer, Emma pointed at Hope's nightlight on the other side of the room. The nightlight turned on as if in response, casting projections of dozens of multicolored stars onto the ceiling.

 "Woah." Hope looked up, awestruck. "How did you do that?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

 She turned back to look at her mom and saw a beam of light shooting from her hand, something she'd seen before, not from her mom, but from a superhero she often saw on the news.

 "Saving Grace?" Hope asked. "Mom, you're a superhero?"

 Emma nodded.

 "Why didn't you tell me?" Hope asked.

 "Being a superhero isn't as glamorous as it sounds." Emma said. "There's a lot of responsibilities, some that you can share, and some you have to bear by yourself. Hope, no one can know about my powers, or yours. If you tell anyone…."

 "I'll put them and myself in danger, I know." Hope nodded. "I've watched enough movies to know that much."

 "Good." Emma said. "And you need to make sure to make the right choices with how you use your powers. It took me a while to realize mine were a gift instead of a burden."

 "I understand." Hope said. "What powers will I have?"

 "I can't be sure," Emma shook her head, "but supers often inherit traits from their parents."

 "Parents?" Hope asked. "Is dad a super too?"

 "Super, no." Emma said. "Hero, yes."

 Hope then remembered Saving Grace's partner in crime-fighting, Captain Guyliner, a powerless superhero with a high-tech gizmo for a hand and a clever one liner always at the ready.

 "My dad is Captain Guyliner?" Hope asked.

 "You catch on quick." Emma patted her on the back.

 Hope suddenly wished she could forget all the comments the older girls at school had made about their "heartthrob hero," Captain Guyliner, suddenly disgusted at the mere thought of their catty giggles.

🩷•⚡•💛

 The fort in the backyard had been Hope's space to think since the day her dad built it for her. From there, she'd launched all of her childhood adventures, from huge ideas like lemonade stands and sleepovers to little things like playing pirates or princesses or, ironically enough, superheroes.

 "Pink leader to Gold leader," Hope said into her walkie talkie, sitting on the fort's worn out carpet. This had always been her place to run to, and there was one friend she'd always run to it with.

 "This is Gold leader, clear."

 "We need to regroup." Hope responded. "This is a code… orange."

 There was a moment of silence before he sent back a reply.

 "Code orange? We don't have a code orange."

 Hope rolled her eyes. "That's how you know how important this is! It's something we never could've possibly planned for, at least not enough to make a code for it."

 "Wouldn't that make it code perriwinkle?"

 "Just get over here."

 "Over and out."

 Hope closed her eyes and hung her head against the wall, wondering if she'd open her eyes and find that it'd all been a dream. If it was a dream, then dream-Gideon would need to hear all about it, and if she remembered it and it didn't get too weird, she'd tell real-Gideon about it too.

 Either way, real-Gideon was gonna hear about it. She'd never kept a secret from her best friend in her life, and that wasn't gonna start now.

 It was only a few minutes before the door to the fort opened, and the boy with shaggy gold hair and a wrinkled brown flannel over his t-shirt joined Hope on the floor— their fort had more than enough chairs for the both of them, so it must be really important if they both understood that this was a conversation to be had on the floor.

 "What's so important you had to make up a whole new color?" Gideon asked.

 "I didn't make up a color." Hope said. "Orange has been a color since we were in kindergarten, but probably longer."

 "Okay," Gideon said, "but what's up?"

 Mom had told Hope not to tell anyone, but Hope had been told that lots of times before, and it never stopped her from sharing with Gideon.

 Besides, this was life changing, and Gid would notice if something this big in her life changed. It was better to tell him about it up front then have to explain it all later when he found out anyway.

 "Can you keep a secret?" Hope asked.

 "Of course." Gideon said. "And not just because you're the only friend I have to share it with."

 "And what about if we stop being friends someday?"

 "That's never gonna happen." Gideon said. "And even if it did, your secrets are still safe with me."

 "Okay." Hope said, "I… I'm developing super powers."

 "What?" Gideon asked.

 "Super powers." Hope said. "You know, like Saving Grace, or Red Wolf."

 "Really?" Gideon smiled. "Code orange isn't code for 'april fools!' right?"

 "I'm serious, Gid." Hope said.

 "Okay." He said. "What powers do you have?" 

 "I don't know yet." Hope said. "My mom said I'll start seeing them within the next few months."

 "That's awesome." He shook his head in disbelief. "My best friend, Hope Swan-Jones, a superhero! How'd your mom figure that out?"

 It was one thing to spill secrets about herself with Gideon, but it was another thing entirely to share secrets about her parents. Right now, her powers were still developing. They might not amount to much anyways, and she hadn't made any enemies yet. This was a secret she could share.

 But her parents were practically celebrities, as far as heroes go, and that comes with a lot of enemies. If any of them found out Gideon knew their identity, they could use that to hurt them, or to hurt him, and he didn't have powers to protect himself.

 "I don't know." Hope shrugged. "Moms just have a way of knowing these things, you know?"

 "I guess I'll take your word for that." Gideon looked away, scratching the back of his neck.

 "Oh, Gid," Hope said, remembering no sooner than the words were out of her mouth that her friend didn't know about that first-hand, "I'm sorry, I…."

 "Nah, I'm sorry." Gideon shook his head. "This isn't meant to be a pity party. This is exciting— you have superpowers, Hope. We could save the world, be heroes…."

 He turned to her and suddenly stopped, his words caught off track as he squinted at her.

 "Why don't you seem very excited?" 

 Hope shook her head. "All this 'great power; great responsibility' stuff. Being twelve years old is hard enough as is."

 "Yeah." Gideon said. "We're too young to drive, and too old for the McDonald's playplace."

 "And now I have this added responsibility, and…."

 "And you don't have to bear it alone." Gideon said. "I'm here to help you, and so are your parents."

 "You can't let my parents know you know." Hope said, quickly remembering her mom's warning. They said I can't tell anyone."

 "We've all heard that before." Gideon said. "And as always, your secret is safe with me." He held his hand out to her, pinky finger extended. "I promise."

 She wrapped her pinky around it as well, sealing a promise of friendship neither of them would ever dare break.

🩷•⚡•💛

[adamantineheart]

Sorry for the fumble, I only meant that's it's not Edelgard plan or worldview ^^" I should have been clearer the first time and not make it into 3 ask.

It's not holes in her plan because it's not her plan ( nor her worldview ) it's only wishful thinking. But even if it's wishful thinking, like you say Sylvain and Hannemann come and propose a solution to make what seemed unrealistic into a possibility in some way. I didn't mean to be negative!

I think you missed the context the original anon was replying to which is that I wrote about crests being appealing and desirable to humans because they're superpowers and that this is something you can't legislate away.

years and centuries later, people will still want crests for things like sports. society will still have to answer questions like "is a Blaiddyd allowed to compete in the Olympics?" unlike technology, Crests can't be turned off. they are genetic. they will continue to be an issue that needs to be addressed.

and while technology IS cool this is a planet that already destroyed itself with a nuclear apocalypse. technology doesn't make people safer and more peaceful because humanity sucks! (this is what my original post was about: that humans abuse everything given to them.)

this is a somewhat bleak look at fe3h but I think it's important because despite the fantastical elements of the story, it's still a story about war which we have here in our world even without Crests. remove rhea, remove the "crest system" and you still have plenty of ways to be awful.

so:

1) is a war to remove those things worth it?

2) are there solutions we can look for that improve society without warfare?

3) how do we address inequality when certain people have serious genetic advantages?

4) how do we level the playing field for the commoner class?

5) is a strong central leader (whether elected, appointed, or inherited) even necessary for society?

6) how do we handle governing a religious society?

7) how do we continue progress and avoid war in a world where we are not alone but surrounded by multiple hostile neighbors?

8) who is responsible for making amends to the people who were harmed by the previous systems? do we even make amends?

9) how do we make sure our reforms aren't undone by the next generation?

[randomnameless]

I am gonna be honest I really don't get how people don't understand Crest have nothing to do with being nobles, it's literaly the whole reason behind Mercedes's and Emile's tragic story, that their father who didn't had a crest wanted to marry Mercedes because she had one like her Mother so his children can inherit the Crest of Lamine.

On a side note, I do think that even if Rhea didn't created the Crest system it would have happened with or without her, Crest are superpowers that are rare and humans either worship like a god or treat as a witch people who have special power, I wouldn't believe for a second that left out as is in nature people who have Crest wouldn't try to rule over the other anyway or wouldn't be treated like aberrations.

Hm...

Mercie's mom had a crest and was a nobody, which could be married off to a bastard : aka, despite her crest, Mercie's mom wasn't a noble who was able to say big F to potential "suitors" who were supposed to be beneath her in status since they had no crest themselves.

Constance (and what's left of her fam?) were demoted to nothing and sent to the sewers in Garreg Mach, even if Constance comes from a prestigious family that got a crest from a Saint.

As you said, regardless of nobility wanting to pretend to have "better blood" than the pleb, Crests are superpowers, which would always be sought afer.

The games does it best to avoid talking about the tangible and objective benefits of having a crest - when we see Dimitri crush a man as easily as a snowball in a cutscene - but imo, it's part of Fodlan's DNA, try to spin a very objective and no-solution conflicts (you have a world with two races, and one has superpowers compared to the other, how does it work?) to artificial lip-service and copious amounts of smokescreens.

For something that was only alluded to but completely ignored because otherwise both Nopes and Houses fall apart - Seteth tells Yuri in their Nopes support how it is rumoured that an Elite was cured from an "incurable" disease after getting a crest...

Admitting this is remotely true to what happened in Zanado, does it justifiy the subsequent massacre and genocide? Dominic might die in 2 days if he doesn't kill a Nabatean, was he "right" or justified in killing the Nabatean who became Crusher and drinking their blood?

If humans are envious for good or bad reasons of the Nabateans' powers, what is going to happen when a Nabatean would refuse to share said power ? Are the humans justified in trying to steal it? Are Nabateans asses when they refuse to "lend it" to humans?

This game tries its hardest to avoid blaming the usual trifecta of human greed/assholishness/lust (for power!) as the reason why the world doesn't go round, and blame everything on... blue eyes, that can somehow shoot lasers too.

Of course someone with in-built lasers would be better seen/more valued than someone who hasn't the same lasers, but bar the milquetoast "we should try to accept everyone!", what is the specific answer to the Gautier border issue - crest means the border is defended, no crest and no plot hax means it isn't - should the defender of the border be the crested kid or the non crested-kid?

Nopes!Sylvains finds a loophole and replies with "we won't need to defend the border if we're not at war with Sreng anymore", and it's a nice solution, honestly. I like it. It makes for a bright perspective, of a future where, if everyone play their part, Crests won't be "needed" anymore.

But when it comes to using the power of a crest to heal, will you go to Manu, who cannot heal someone who has a cancer, or to Flayn, who can, if you suddenly learn you have one?

"Just develop chemiotherapy!"

Yes but I'm dying - who should I go to?

Imo, Crust System is used both in fandom and in-game to avoid mentionning the existence of super humans (or non humans if we want to stay close to Supreme Leader's words) and the inevitable jealousy/envy their existence creates/causes in humans, who cannot help but seek after the power they have.

[luvdisease]

The Slims, Monster Prom, & Spider-Man

im answering for richard who is more of an oc x canon than my other self ships so im talking as my oc cecil since i cant quite answer as myself if that makes sense . be cringe be free

The Sims - Describe you and your f/o(s)' dream home!

A castle would be perfect for a knight of course. Mister Richard has always wanted to inherit the Sterling estate too, which I guess is close enough.

Monster Prom - If you and your f/o(s) were monsters/mythical creatures/not human, what would you be?

Richard would be an angel of course, I do not care much for what I'd be. Not sure if there's any creatures that can follow angels.

(Richard would be a FUCKING DEMON. from my random look at dnd creatures i feel like Cecil fits almiraj :) so cute !!!)

Spider-Man- If you and your f/o(s) had superpowers, what would they be? Would you be heroes? Villains? Rivals?

Mister Richard could have some kind of shield or mind control maybe? I'm not too familiar with stories of heroes, Ive always preferred fairytales. I'm not sure he'd even need any special powers, Ive seen him practice fencing, it's quite incredible.

I'd like shapeshifting personally, would make life far better.

Perhaps we'd be villains to twist heroes, Mister Richard may seem malicious but i'm sure he has good intentions. Even if it's an act his sweetness is quite nice too! Id rather be his henchman or something of the sort, The publics eye is not for me but i'd love to support him.

[avatarskywalker78]

🤔🦖🍄✨🦷???

🤔 Are there any new characters you want to write about?

Answered here!

🦖 Are there any fandoms you wrote for in the past that you'd like to return to?

Answered here!

🍄 Are there any fandoms you've never written for but want to try?

Quite a few! These include Uncharted, ATLA, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Stargate, Thunderbirds, The Inheritance Cycle, Indiana Jones, Good Omens, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), and Drop the Dead Donkey!

✨What's one area of your writing that you think needs the least amount of improvement?

I'm pretty good at writing character interactions, especially between friends and family!

🦷 Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're dreading to write (but is necessary to your plot)? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

The Elaine-Tory fight scene in my upcoming Cobra Kai 'Tory is a Barnes' AU, where my OC Elaine finds out Tory's her cousin but doesn't get to tell her this before the school brawl kicks off, and unlike the last time I had them meet in fic, Elaine doesn't get to the fight in time to stop it escalating and so she has to go head-to-head with Tory to stop her maiming Sam.

Problem is...I really struggle with fight scenes. Like I find them difficult enough when I have them in superhero fics, but when there's no superpowers it's even more difficult, and having no experience of martial arts means that I'm going to have to do a lot of research - rewatching the canon fight scenes are all well and good, but I don't have any idea what the majority of moves used are even called, so I'm not looking forward to that part.

Fic writer ask game!

[breelandwalker]

Dear Budding Psychics, Mediums, Divinators, and Everyone Else Going Around Telling Non-Witches That They're Secretly Witches During Readings,

STOP.

Being a witch is not a secret superpower that has to be unearthed. It is not an inherited genetic marker that magically manifests at a certain point in a person's life.

Being a witch is a choice that a person must make for themselves. They cannot be INFORMED that they are a witch if they have not previously made this choice of their own volition. You don't get to TELL people that they're witches. That is their decision to make.

It's not something you can read in a palm. It's not something you can see in cards or tea leaves or a psychic vision. It's not something you can TEST for arbitrarily.

You don't get to tell someone they're a car mechanic if they aren't. You don't get to tell someone they're in a coven if they haven't taken vows. You don't get to decide for someone whether or not they're a witch.

(Apparently, this is a new "thing" among novices, particularly those of school age, this idea of doing a reading for someone and "determining" that the client is a witch, without the person having ever made that choice for themselves. Sure, it might spark interest and bring them to the community looking for more information, but the idea of being able to designate or "tell" other people that they're witches, independent of their own choices, needs to be squashed.)

Even if you have reason to believe that someone is secretly a witch, it is Very Poor Form to inquire directly, if they haven't chosen to share. Plenty of practitioners have Very Good Reasons for keeping their practice under wraps. If you want to make a private inquiry, that's fine. Just be prepared that you might receive a denial, no matter how sure you are. If the answer is no, that's it. Don't invade people's privacy, especially if you live in an area where being publicly labeled as a witch might be unsafe.

I know we like to say that witchcraft doesn't have universal rules, but there ARE overarching codes of conduct. And one of them is that you do NOT out someone as a witch without their permission. Ever. Because you do not know what the repercussions might be for that person and you may be placing them in danger without knowing it.

If someone decides to be a witch or to live openly as such, that is their decision to make and theirs alone. And if they choose not to be, this must likewise be respected. You don't get to make that decision for them, just as you wouldn't want anyone else making that decision for you.

Sincerely,

Someone Who Lived Through The Satanic Panic And Has Done A LOT Of Research About Witch Hunts

[watchmegetobsessed]

IN YOUR MEMORIES

a/n: alright so this was inspired by an amazing fic called Graveyard by @wkemeup​ if you haven’t read it... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? honestly, i was amazed by the whole idea of having to “pay a price” for a super power and i’ve been really itching to try myself out in this concept, so that’s what this story is. im really excited to share this with you guys so i hope you’ll like it!

pairing: Bucky X Reader

warnings: a hell lot of Bucky’s past pain, a little bit of angst aaand idk im really bad with these warnings

word count: 7.6k

masterlist

“I’ve been trying to figure out an effective way to help him, but it’s been more complicated than I expected. None of my ideas were good enough to even attempt them.” Shuri lets out a frustrated sigh as you stare at the peaceful face of the sleeping man in front of you in the cryo pod. The glass in front of his face is frosty, but you can still make his sharp features out, his chiseled jawline under the stubble, the elegant line of his nose and the thick lashes fanning over his cheeks as his eyes are shut closed.

“His whole mind needs to be rewired, his corrupted memories should be replaced or wiped out so the trigger words wouldn’t work any longer, but I can’t do that on my own.”

Tearing your gaze away from the man you look at her, an apologetic expression adorning her features, because she swore you’d find shelter in Wakanda, a place where you can be just like anyone else and yet, she is now asking you to use your power.

“Do you think he would let me help him?” you ask, glancing back at the man. Bucky, as Shuri called him, doesn’t look as old as he was said to be. A hundred and six years is a lot for a human like him, though he is not as mortal as others on the planet. Shuri told you about the experiments he had to endure through his life and even though you haven’t even touched his mind, you could feel the pain inside you.

“He is desperate to get rid of his dark side, I think he would do anything.”

Reaching up your fingers graze the glass over his face before you plant your whole palm onto it, trying to feel him even under the surface and ice. Eyes shutting close, you take a deep breath as you let your senses open up and find your way to the man.

Because of the cryo pod, you don’t feel him the way you usually do. It’s like he is just an echo in a huge empty room, you can’t make out his whole mind, but he is there. And even with him sleeping under the ice, you still can feel the despair and pain he had to go through as an innocent man. You know he deserves to be saved, he deserves to be freed from his own past and you are his only chance as of right now.

“Wake him up,” you simply tell Shuri before turning around to go back to your room that was assigned to you upon your arrival in the palace.

Bucky doesn’t feel like he has been asleep under the ice for more than just a few hours. It felt like a nap, but in reality he woke up months after the day he closed his eyes.

Shuri welcomed him with the news that the cure has been found and it’s time for him to get rid of the Winter Soldier for once and for all. She didn’t say much about the method, just told him to get ready by the afternoon.  He was never one to question the genius young girl so he just obeyed.

After a hot shower he shaved and took the time to get accustomed to the prototype of the vibranium arm Shuri left for him. It’s not the final version, a lot of details need work, but it’s good enough for his everyday life for a while.

The world hasn’t seemed to change since he last saw it. Wakanda is just as flourishing and vibrant as he remembered, a truly spectacular place in his opinion. He wonders how his friends have been, what Steve is doing, if Natasha is alright… Is Tony still fuming after their last encounter? He probably is.

When it’s time, he leaves his room and heads to Shuri’s lab for their meeting. The guards let him in with just a nod, like he is an old friend and he finds Shuri at her computer as always. The girl beams upon seeing him again, complimenting on his freshly shaved look.

“So what did you invent for me, smartpants?” he smiles at her gently. Bucky owes a lot to Shuri and her brother, they took him in when he wasn’t welcomed anywhere else and now she is about to give him his life back. After this, he’ll forever owe her and her family.

“Well, it’s not my invention this time,” she chuckles shaking her head. Bucky is about to question her when the doors open again, both of them turning in the direction just to see you walk in. His eyebrows knit together at the sight of you, not entirely sure what it’s supposed to be. “Mr. Barnes, let me introduce you to Y/N. Y/N, this is Sergeant Barnes.”

You walk closer, Bucky’s icy blue eyes are glued to your form as you stop a few feet away from him, holding out a hand shyly.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sergeant James Barnes,” you smile softly as his flesh hand takes yours and shakes it gently.

Bucky is enamored with you instantly. He has never seen someone as delicate, soft and charming as you are, your whole aura just demands his attention and he wants to know everything about you. But he also notices that though you look a lot like any other human on the planet, he is convinced you are not from Earth.

What he doesn’t know is that the moment your hands touch, you can hear his thoughts and you can’t push down your smile at how well he is at inspecting his surroundings.

“Just call me Bucky, please,” he nods before your hands let go of each other and his thoughts quiet down again in your head.

“To answer your suspicion, I’m rorm a planet called Lortena. Life on my planet looks a lot like humans here on Earth, but our lifespan is a little longer and some of us have gifts, as my mother always liked to call them.”

“How did you—“ “How did I know what you thought?” you ask with a small smile, finishing his sentence as he nods in complete awe. “I’m what you might call… a mind reader. But my abilities go a little farther than just reading minds,” you admit and his lips part at the revelation.

Bucky glances over at Shuri, part of him thinking it’s some kind of joke or witchcraft, but the girl smiles back at him with an assuring nod.

“Why don’t we sit down and have a chat? I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” Shuri suggests patting Bucky’s shoulder before the three of you head into her conference room.

Though you’re not touching Bucky, you can sense his confusion and hunger to learn more about you. He is curious about what else you are capable of and though the news about your abilities are still quite odd to him, you can tell that he isn’t trying to shut you out entirely. He just has some reservations for now.

Bucky knows it’s rude to stare, but he can’t stop himself from inspecting you. Knowing that you are not from this planet is already enough for him to get his mind racing, especially because you look just like any other humans on Earth. But the little trick you did on him was enough of a convincing for him to believe that you are from somewhere else.

The three of you sit to the table and Shuri takes the lead to start the conversation.

“While you were asleep, Sergeant, life went on and we had a lot going on,” she smiles, her eyes falling on you. “Y/N is a refugee from her planet, Lortena. There’s a war going on there and she was sent away because she was a primary target. She wasn’t supposed to end up here, but there was a little mishap during her journey and landed in Wakanda.”

“Are you targeted because of your… powers?” Bucky asks, hoping he is not asking anything offensive.

“No,” you shake your head. “It’s because I’m the king’s daughter.”

“Oh!” he breathes out.

Great, so she is not only a breathtakingly beautiful creature with superpowers, but she is royal as well, he thinks to himself.

“And how… where do your… powers come from? Is that a usual thing on your planet?”

“Not quite,” you chuckle softly.

You give a glance at Shuri who nods and brings up a hologram of Loki’s scepter with the mind stone in it. Bucky is already familiar with them, but he is curiously listening to find out what it has to do with you.

“Long before the mind stone was trapped into the scepter, it was in our possession. We used it as out main power source, kept locked away from preying eyes and hands. We all knew it’s capable of more than what we use it for, but we didn’t want to risk it and use it for the wrong purposes.”

The hologram changes and now the mind stone is on display on its own.

“But not everyone agreed with that. A couple hundred years ago there was a war for the stone. Though our people sacrificed everything to protect it, they didn’t succeed entirely. Unfortunately, the attackers didn’t know how great the stone’s power is. In the midst of the chaos, there was an explosion caused by the stone. Almost everyone present was killed, only seven survived and they were blessed with different powers coming from the stone.”

Bucky’s lips part as his eyes flicker over to you from the stone in the middle of the table, while you are staring at the hologram remembering back the stories your parents told you growing up. He feels like he is being shared with an ancient legend, a piece of history that is a privilege to know.

“The powers they were gifted with were held at great heights after the war was over. And while some of them could pass it on to their children, some couldn’t. The seven became four, then just two and there was one left. My grandmother. When my father didn’t show any signs of the stone’s power it was believed the magic was gone forever, but then I was born and…”

“And you had the powers,” Bucky chimes in, completely in awe of your origin story. You nod with a shy smile as the hologram of the stone disappears in the middle of the table.

“Yes.”

“And why is there a war on your planet right now?”

“Because though it’s been a miracle that I inherited my grandmother’s powers, the people want to get the stone back and have more of its powers. Unfortunately, the stone was lost through the years and I was informed that Thanos got a hold of it some time ago,” you explain, turning to Shuri for assurance about the accuracy of your words and she nods. “Who then gave it to Loki and now it’s in the scepter. People were demanding my father to start a war for the stone to get it back to Lortena, but he refused to sacrifice his army to get the stone back from a titan.” Sighing you lean back in your seat as you think about your home, your family that was left behind when your father sent you away because he was afraid the rebels would use you to get to him.

“The stone is not at Thanos’ any longer,” Bucky speaks up and your eyes find him as you snap out of your thoughts.

“I was informed of that as well. It’s um… it’s Vision’s now, right?” They both nod. “Well, the rebels think it’s Thanos’ and you better hope it stays that way. Because if they figure out that the titan doesn’t have it any longer, they won’t hesitate to attack you for the stone.”

Bucky’s jaw clenches at the thought of another war to take part in, but also because you had to go through such terrible events because of other’s greediness.

“I’ve been trying to find a solution to help you since you’ve gone to sleep, but I wasn’t able to come up with any,” Shuri speaks up. “But then Y/N arrived and I think she could be the one to do the job.”

“You think you can do that?” Bucky asks, eyebrows pulled together. “What else can you do, other than reading minds?”

You feel hesitant revealing the depths you’re able to reach with your abilities and you’re afraid he would find it too invading after everything he has been through. You want to help him but he has to let you. Though you’re powerful, if someone resists your attempts, the outcome won’t be the same as if they cooperated.

“If you let me… I can change your memories. I can make them appear differently in your head so what they did to you won’t have an effect on you any longer.”

Bucky’s jaw twitches. He has no idea what he was expecting, but not this for sure. Letting another person get into his head, play with his mind like it’s just a toy, it’s something he vowed not to let anyone do it again. But as he stares back at you, he can tell the difference between you and the monsters who ruined his head before. He is at a safe place and everyone here wants what’s good for him.

“It only works if you let me do it,” you add and notice how he presses his lips together into a thin line.

“I would do anything to get rid of him. So… I’m in,” he nods at last and you let out a relieved sigh.

You’ve never tried to corrupt so much of someone’s memories before and you’re not sure how long it will take to complete the task so you requested to start the next day, giving you some time to get ready physically and mentally and of course, for Bucky to get himself ready for his mind to yet again get taken apart by someone else.

Not having much to really do since your arrival other than helping Shuri out occasionally at the lab or giving assistance for T’Challa around the palace, you’ve been able to explore your temporary home in the heart of Wakanda.

There is a hidden terrace near your room, one that’s not well-known even by the people living in the palace and you like the peace and calm whenever you are out there, surrounded by flowers and plants in hand-painted pots, some of them were made by yourself, watching over the breathtaking view of Wakanda in front of you, the sky turning from bright blue to shades of orange, pink, purple and eventually black as the Sun goes down behind the hills.

Tonight, this is where you are seeking peace again, sorting your thoughts out about what you’ll have to face tomorrow. Your power has a lot of benefits but it has its curses as well. You’ve only attempted to do something similar before and you had to learn the hard way what price you have to pay for having control over someone else’s mind, thoughts and memories.

Your brother was tragically killed in an uprising when he was only seventeen and you were ten. It was the result of a series of unfortunate event, he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, no one could help him. Your mother broke under the pain of losing her own child and you listened to her cries every and each night for months before you decided that you needed to help her. She didn’t want to let you even try, afraid it might take too much of you to help her, but you insisted and she eventually gave in. You altered her memories and feelings about your brother’s death, only left her with the ones that bring her joy and happiness, but your gesture demanded a price you weren’t ready to pay.

Upon your own grief for your brother, you had to bear your mother’s as well, the pain of two people clutching your heart and mind in return for your mother’s happiness. You never told her how you cried yourself to sleep every night for an entire year, how you could barely control your dark flashbacks and the constant darkness that was pulling you down. No one knew what you had to go through just to see your mother smile again and you made sure it stayed that way. However, you didn’t dare to do it again, not entirely sure if you could handle the pain one more time.

You surprised yourself when you offered your help to Bucky. You don’t even know him, yet you are willing to take his pain and make it yours just so he can live a somewhat normal life. Though his memories and nightmares won’t torture you as long as they would have did with him, you’ll still have to fight his demons and he won’t even know it. Then why are you doing this?

You have no answer to that. Seeing him for the first time you just had a feeling that you have to do it, that he is worthy of it all and that you want to be the person to free him.

The glass door opens behind you as you’re watching the Sun disappear on the horizon and you’re surprised to see Bucky walk out to the terrace, stopping in his tracks once he notices you sitting on one of the wooden chairs.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t think anyone would be here,” he mumbles, his gaze snapping down at the floor.

“That’s what I thought too,” you chuckle.

“I’ll leave you—“ he starts, ready to leave, but you stop him.

“You don’t have to. Feel free to join,” you tell him, gesturing towards the other chair. His hesitation is clear at first, but then he closes the door behind him and sits beside you.

Bucky watches the sunset in awe, but he can’t shake his curiosity towards you, having to control himself not to stare at you as he tries to figure you out. You’re not the only one who doesn’t understand why you’re doing this major gesture for him, he’s spent the afternoon trying to find any alternative motives that might explain your willingness to help him. He couldn’t find any and it left him with even more puzzles in his tortured head.

“What is it like on your planet?” he finds himself asking, breaking the long silence between the two of you.

“It’s not too different than here,” you admit truthfully. “Though our technology is a little more advanced,” you add with a soft chuckle. “In a way I’m happy I ended up here, because Wakanda reminds me of my home.”

“You miss it, don’t you? Your home?”

“Who doesn’t?” you ask with a soft smile and Bucky nods. He misses his home too, but in his case, it’s not a place but a time, decades ago, when he was his true self instead of the monster Hydra forced him to become.

“I’m sure it’ll be nice to return once the war is over,” he hums to himself and he expects a warm and positive reaction from you, however all he sees is pain and sadness in your eyes. “What is it?”

You hesitate to share it with him, staring back at him you think about keeping your thoughts to yourself, but how could you expect him to let you get into his head if you don’t share your thoughts with him willingly?

“Bucky, I don’t think I’ll ever return to my planet,” you breathe out as your gaze moves back to the scenery in front of you, the burning disk of the sun already hidden behind the hills.

“What do you mean?”

“The ship I came with can’t be fixed and they don’t know that I ended up here. It would take them too long to find me here and that’s if… If my family will be alive by then. I have no idea what’s happening there right now, if the rebels are winning or my father is able to keep things under control. I see very little likelihood of my return.”

Bucky’s heart aches for you, knowing well the pain you feel, he finds it ironic how the both of you are stuck so far away from your homes, seeking shelter at the same place at the same time.

He thinks it’s fate.

“What’s your favorite memory from your home?” he asks and you turn to him with soft and shining eyes. He is expecting you to tell him about it, but instead you decide to show it.

Grabbing his hand that’s closer to you, you bring it up to your face and make him cup the side of your head, his thumb brushing against your cheekbone as you close your eyes and recall the memory, planting into his head as well, taking him back, like the two of you could travel time and space just that easily.

Bucky can barely believe what he is experiencing but he finds himself inside your memory and it all seems so real, as if it was happening in the moment. He is standing in the middle of a meadow filled with luscious, green grass and some kind of flowers, whites and purples and yellows dancing in the soft breeze. At first he thinks he is alone, he doesn’t see you anywhere around him and then he spots a woman in a long, light pink dress, her hair waving behind her in the gentle summer breeze and then he spots a little girl running behind her.

Bucky walks closer to the woman, but she doesn’t acknowledge his presence, she doesn’t even look his way and when he reaches out to touch her arm, his hand goes right through her figure, as if she was just a ghost.

The little girl finally catches up with the woman, a handful of flowers in her hands and when looks up Bucky realizes that it’s you as a child. Your main features can still be found behind the round cheeks and pouty lips.

“Mom! I picked these for you!” your younger self beams, holding the little bouquet of flowers up to your mother, who takes it with a bright smile.

“So beautiful, my love!” she hums, sniffing the flowers as you giggle at her. “But why don’t we use them for something?”

“For what?” you ask with a curious look and Bucky can’t help the smile on his face. It’s such a pure and joyful memory, he almost wishes it was his.

Your mother sits down in the grass, her skirt fanning over her in a circle as she pulls you down to her lap with your back facing her before she combs her fingers gently through your hair and starts braiding it, sticking the little flowers into the braid as she moves down. You start singing some kind of song, one Bucky doesn’t know, and your mother smiles brightly at your chiming voice. She braids with so much care and precision, at the end it looks perfect and very much princess-like with the flowers littering around.

“There. Now you are a bouquet of flowers yourself, my love” she smiles at you, kissing your cheek before letting you out of her arms, watching you dance around in your dress, singing to yourself without a care in the world.

Bucky wants to stay there, more than anything and see more of your younger version and your mother, but he is abruptly pulled back into reality when you pull his hand back from your face and the connection stops. His eyes snap open and they find yours, so enamored and in awe of what he just experienced, he feels like he was let in on a secret no one else knows in the world.

“Wow. That was… amazing,” he breathes out as his hand drops back to his lap while you just smile back at him shyly. “Is that… Is that what it’s gonna be like when you…?”

“Not quite,” you shake your head. “You won’t feel anything, you’ll just have to think back to all the memories you want to be changed or wiped. I’ll be the one stuck in your memories like you were in mine. And from inside, I’ll be able to change them.”

“Will I know later which ones were altered or they won’t be different at all?”

“There’ll be… a kind of shine to them when you’ll think of them after that. It’s gonna be the only tell that they were touched by me. But I won’t change anything you don’t give your consent to.”

Bucky nods, having answered his biggest concerns about tomorrow. Now he feels like he trusts you completely and you’ll be the first person he can open his mind up to without a worry.

No matter how much you tried to get yourself ready for what you’d see in Bucky’s head, nothing could have prepared to the pain and darkness he had to endure during his oddly long human life. All the torture, the blood, the hurt and fear of death, it all comes down crashing on you even after the first session you have with him.

It breaks your heart that such a sweet soul had to go through Hell innocently and now he has to live with everything he was forced to do against his will. You can only hope that the people who did this to him have gotten their rightful punishment.

The first time the two of you sit down to start his treatment you get stuck in his head for hours, going through memories and altering them to take away anything that is connected to the trigger words. You witness the time he was captured and the first time he was sat into the chair that broke him. You can’t help the tears rolling down your face as you use all your power to change the memory and leave him with just a faded picture of his cell and held captive. Bucky asked you not to wipe them entirely, leave him with reminders of what made you be the way he is today and that’s exactly what you do.

When you finally come back you almost faint from exhaustion, Shuri catches you right in time before you could fall off the chair in front of Bucky’s who is equally dizzy, but he still manages to reach out and grab your hand to help you steady yourself. You feel drained and almost tortured, Bucky’s memories imprinting into your own head and you already know they will haunt you for quite some time. Not as long as your mother’s grief did, you were just a child back then and you couldn’t control your power that well, but even though you’ve learned to use your abilities, it will still take a couple of months for you to get rid of the horrors you saw in Bucky’s head.

Bucky sees how broken you look after just the first session and he doesn’t want to believe you’ll be strong enough to finish what you started.

“It’s fine,” you assure him when he asks you again in the evening if you surely want to continue. “I just have to rest and we can go on,” you tell him, giving his arm a squeeze before returning to your room.

That night, you wake from a burning nightmare with a scream, gripping onto the sheets with terror running through your veins. In your dream, you were the one strapped to that chair, going through all the pain Bucky had to bear decades ago. It was vivid and torturous and you know it’s going to return.

But you’re determined to finish the work and you do it over and over again, every day for the next couple of weeks. You go through all of Bucky’s darkest memories, altering and changing them until there’s nothing left from the Winter Soldier in him, just some faint and blurry pictures of him being held by his captors. You take all the pain and let it sink its claws into your own head, clouding your mind with darkness.

Bucky can feel the change in himself instantly after the first time you get into his head and a few days later he sleeps through the night for the first time in forever, oblivious to the fact that not far away from his room, you are fighting his demons every night so he can have his peace.

He is always the one to help you back into your room after an exhausting session and he wakes you up with breakfast in the mornings, always making your favorite. You tell him it’s not necessary, but he insists that this is the least he can do for everything you are doing for him, and he doesn’t even know the worst things you endure for his happiness.

He is always the one to request days off from the treatment, not for himself, but for you. He sees how trying it is and though you would never ask for time off, you don’t have to, because Bucky does it for you. Every third or fourth day he tells you he needs some time to heal and get used to his new mindset, but he just wants you to rest and recharge and though you know it too, you appreciate the gesture.

Some days he asks you to join him for walks just to get you out of the palace and you gladly say yes, desperately needing something to bring the light back into your life and it doesn’t take long to realize that Bucky is that light that can ease the heaviness of the pain you are fighting.

You love seeing his smile as the first thing in the morning, you love how he squeezes your hands every time before you dive into his head and how insists to carrying you to your room even when you’re perfectly capable of walking on your own. You love how chivalrous he is always, something Shuri told you was more common in the times he was born and you adore it that it’s a piece of his past self still present after everything he’s been through.

Bucky is the only one who can pull you out of the dark hole you’ve been stuck in and you promised yourself that you’ll never tell him the price you had to pay for his happiness, because he deserves every ounce of it and you wouldn’t want anything to cloud over it, not even your misery.

It takes five entire weeks to go through everything that turned him into the Winter Soldier and then the day to test if it has worked finally comes. Shuri has made sure to have a capsule ready for the test, one that would keep him under control in case you didn’t succeed and he would be triggered by the words he already knows too well.

“Are you sure I won’t hurt anyone?” Bucky asked cautiously as he was strapped into the capsule, a good majority of the Dora Milaje guarding the lab as well in case the test goes wrong, but both you and Shuri are optimistic about it.

“Calm down, Sergeant. We can handle you,” Shuri jokes before finishing up. “Alright, I’m gonna close this now, but you’ll be able to hear us and we’ll hear you as well,” she informs him and he just nods as she closes the capsule, securing him inside.

You sit on the side, but still close enough to see his face in the capsule. His icy blue stare finds yours and you give him a soft, encouraging smile. You do believe he won’t be triggered and not just because of what you did, but because he has a strong will and if there’s still any part of the Winter Soldier in him, he’ll be able to come over it.

“Okay, ready for the words?” Shuri asks him and breathing out he nods, closing his eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

“Желание,” comes the first word through a speaker and you hold your breath as you stare at his face through the capsule.

“Ржавый. Семнадцать,” the words carry on and you see him squeeze his eyes a little, fear taking over you that he might break, but it never happens. “Рассвет. Печь. Девять. Добросердечный…”

The trigger words ends and your lips part when his eyes open, noticing the tears in them as he finally realizes that he didn’t turn. The Winter Soldier is finally gone.

“Congratulations, Sergeant. You’re free,” Shuri announces as she opens the capsule and lets him out, sobs shaking from his chest before he is freed from the straps and able to step out of the capsule.

He is quick to rush over to you and wrap you in his embrace, both of you sobbing and crying and you hold onto him tight, as if he was just a memory that could vanish any moment, but he is there, flesh and metal, the Bucky you know and adore so much.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he keeps repeating as his vibranium fingers tangle into your hair at the back of your head.

It’s been over a week of freedom for Bucky and he hasn’t felt better in his life, well, not in this decade. Without the sessions, he now has quite some free time on his hands that he prefers to spend with you, actually.

The two of you have been joined at the hips since his recovery and not just because Bucky feels like he owes his life to you, but because you both can’t help falling for the other in the light of your newly found friendship that’s starting to slowly turn into more.

Bucky hasn’t been shy about showing his adoration and gratitude towards you, not after you’ve seen the darkest side of him and could still look at him the same way. He feels like he has bared his entire soul to you and you accepted it gladly, so there’s no need to beat around the bushes.

However you’ve been still trying to keep him away from the secret you’re hiding. He can’t find out about the nightmares, the screams and the tears you shed every night when his demons come for you. You can’t let him get close enough to see the price you paid for his own happiness. But even with all the cautions you’ve been keeping, you still can’t stop fate from finding its way.

One night Bucky is staying up late, binge watching a series Shuri has recommended for him. He didn’t intend to stay up so late, but before he could realize how fast the time has passed, it was already past two in the morning.

Shutting the laptop down he decides to get himself some water before finally going to sleep. Padding his way down the dark and quiet hallways in only a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, he unintentionally takes the route that goes past your room. He didn’t plan on dropping by, knowing you’re probably asleep by now, just wanted to feel that sense of closeness even in the middle of the night, but his original plans immediately change when he hears your deafening scream coming from the other side of the door.

His blood freezes in his veins and he is quick to turn into combat mode, ready to fight whatever is threatening your life, but as he pushes his way into your room he doesn’t find any intruder, it’s just you, curled up on your bed and even under the thick layer of covers, he can see how badly you’re shaking, your beautiful face churned into a painful frown as you keep your eyes shut.

He immediately realizes that you’re having a nightmare.

He rushes over to the bed and sits to the edge, the mattress dipping underneath his weight as he carefully places a hand to your trembling shoulder.

“Y/N! Y/N, wake up!” he softly shakes you, trying to get you back to consciousness, but you keep tossing and whimpering, a thin layer of sweat covering your skin.

“No, no, please! I’m not the Winter Soldier!” you cry out and Bucky freezes, his jaw clenching at your words, an eerie feeling running down his spine.

“Y/N, it’s just a dream, wake up!” he tries again and your eyes finally shoot open.

Though you’ve woken up, you don’t instantly see what’s really happening around you and you are quick to flinch away from Bucky, pushing yourself to the far end of the bed as you stare back at him with fearful, wide eyes.

“It’s just me. It’s alright, it’s me, Bucky,” he softly reminds you holding his hands up so you can see them. Your chest is heaving and your hands are gripping the sheets so tight, your knuckles are turning white.

“Bucky,” you breathe out and he nods.

“Yeah, it’s me. You had a bad dream, I heard you scream.”

Letting out a shaky breath you close your eyes and try to shake the vivid images that haunted you tonight out of your head, with not much success. Tonight you were beaten up in a cold and dark cell, the man kept telling you that you’re just a monster, a soulless nobody as he kept hitting you before he reached for a weapon that sent electricity through your body until it was too numb to move at your will.

You know it was one of his memories, because you’ve seen this scene before in his head and you remembered it clearly. Only that last time you saw it happen to him and now you were the victim.

“Fuck,” you breathe out, loosening your muscles as you gain your contact back with reality.

“What was the nightmare about?” he quietly asks and your gaze snaps up to meet his. You can’t read his icy blue eyes and for a moment you think about touching him so you could hear his thoughts, but you promised yourself you would never use your powers on him.

“Just… some nonsense stuff,” you lie shaking your head.

“Didn’t sound like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I heard you beg to someone, telling them that you’re not the Winter Soldier.”

His face hardens as he inspects you while you try your best to hide anything that would tell him more about what you’ve been keeping from him.

“I don’t… I don’t remember it,” you shrug, scooting closer to him as you fix your pillows.

“Y/N, I don’t need superpowers to know that you’re lying,” he retorts and you almost flinch at his words. “Are you having nightmares because of what you saw… in my head?”

For a split second you think about lying. You think about telling him that it’s just because of what you saw and not tell him the real reason of your nightmares, but guilt has been already eating you away for not telling him and you wouldn’t be able to lie straight into his face. So you shake your head and your eyes meet his icy gaze again.

“I’m having… your nightmares.”

He looks confused, eyebrows knitted together as he is tasting your words, not entirely sure about what you meant by them, so you go into the details you’ve been keeping hidden from him.

“I can’t just take memories away and turn them into nothing, Bucky. Memories can only vanish if they get forgotten with time,” you start explaining, hoping you can paint the picture as realistic as possible. “When I changed your memories, I took parts away and… made them mine. And now I have to be the one to fight and forget them, but it happens faster for me than it would have happened to you,” you quickly add, as if it could make it any better.

“Why didn’t you tell me this is the cost of my recovery?” he snaps, clearly mad at you and he has every right, but you just wanted to save him. “I would have never let you do it if it meant you’d be the one to suffer for me, Y/N!”

“I had the chance to help you, I wanted to give you the freedom you deserve!” Tears are stinging your eyes as you stare at his harsh expression, the soft and joyful Bucky you’ve seen these past weeks is now gone.

“But it’s not worth it if you are being tortured by my memories now!”

“It was worth to me!” you snap back, a tear rolling down you cheek. “I might have been selfish for keeping you the details of what it would take to free you, but now you are the one who is being selfish, because you wouldn’t have let me help you if you knew and that’s exactly why I didn’t tell you! I chose to do it and I knew what I was getting myself into and I knew what it’s gonna cost.” More and more tears run down your heated cheeks, soaking your skin before they drop to your shirt or the sheets covering your lower half. Bucky stares back at you in disbelief as you reason about why you did it exactly. “You deserved this second chance and I was your only chance. If I didn’t do it for you, I would have had to live with the guilt forever that I let an innocent man suffer. It’s a small price for the happiness I was able to give you.”

Bucky is in total shock. He has had Steve do selfless shit for him plenty of times, hell, he wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for him, but what you did is just above everything that’s been ever done for him and he is having a hard time accepting that anyone would put up with so much pain and suffering for him willingly. He can’t decide if he wants to scream and shout at you for being so stupid or if he wants to fall to his knees and glorify your name till the end of times.

When you realize that he won’t snap at you again, you carefully scoot closer until you can reach out and touch his face, but you don’t even try to read his thoughts. Not this time. You let his thoughts wrapped in the darkness of the unknown. Bucky melts against your touch, his eyes fluttering closed for a few moments.

“You shouldn’t have done this, Y/N.”

“But I did,” you breathe out with a bitter chuckle. “And it can’t be undone, so you better accept it.”

He cracks a tiny smile, but it quickly vanishes as a thought pops into his head.

“If you have the memories that made me into the Winter Soldier, how come you don’t get triggered by the words?”

“I might own your memories now, but there’s a natural bond with the original owner that can’t be taken. It’s what makes them so vivid and real for you, but it will never be as real to me. The trigger words have no power over me, because the memories are not mine, I don’t have the bond with them.”

“But you still have the nightmares. My nightmares,” he breathes out, a hint of disappointment ringing through his tone, though you’re not sure if it’s because of what you did or because he couldn’t stop you from it.

“They will go away,” you assure him, but you can tell that his guilt is eating him away. “Bucky, I’ll be fine. A few weeks, at max a month and they will be gone. I promise you.”

“You don’t deserve this,” he mumbles under his breath as his hand reaches for yours, squeezing it gently before he brings it to his lips and kisses your knuckles softly. “You don’t deserve any of it.”

“But you deserve happiness,” you reply with a chaste smile that makes his heart flutter in his chest. “Let me give it to you. You’ve had enough pain, Bucky. I’ll take the rest now.”

Bucky stares back at you for a long second before he decides to do whatever he can to make sure you get through it as easily as possible. Pulling the covers back he slides under them, lying down next to you as he pulls you into his embrace.

“Go back to sleep and if you’ll have another nightmare, I’ll be here to wake you up from it and get your mind off of it. You’re safe with me,” he murmurs, as you lay your head to his hard chest, his flesh arm curling around your frame while his vibranium fingers lace together with yours on his stomach. You don’t try to protest against him, you know he won’t leave and quite frankly, you don’t want him to. Knowing that if you go back to the darkness again he’ll be here to pull you out relaxes you, doesn’t let you worry about what kind of horrific scene you are going to be forced to see when you close your eyes next. You melt against him, inhaling his scent, listening to his steady heartbeat under your head as you let yourself go back to sleep, for the first time, ready to face whatever is waiting for you on the other side.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

[fatelesschild]

If Ten and Pompadour had kids in EoR does that mean it's really canon that time lord sperm works on other species? or something else– (also, thoughts on the sob story?)

Short answer

From my point of view - yes! I think we've got enough validation at this point to justify saying that gallifreyan sperm and eggs work (at the very least with humans).

We've got quite a lot of reasons to back it up now:

In the Doctor's Daughter, the Doctor referenced diploids and haploids, meaning gallifreyan chromosome carriers are recognisable to humans. And if there's any argument the Doctor was paraphrasing or being 'translated', remember all this tech to manipulate them was made by human/hath scientists.

Tentoo is half-gallifreyan, and now he and Rose have a child.

Also, Tentoo himself is a hybrid who has now reproduced, which is hugely significant in terms of hybrid biology, and in antiquated definition nearly makes him a new species.

Susan (gallifreyan) and David (human) had a child in Big Finish.

Leela (human) and Andred (Time Lord) had a son in Lungbarrow.

Now we've got EoR.

So there is even evidence from the TV show that gallifreyans can reproduce with humans and it's gotten very hard to ignore.

In summary, yep, they can reproduce.

Long answer (you knew it was coming)

Right.

That's all a bit cosy and simple, right?

Gallifreyan reproduction is a super mysterious thing. It's still a bit of personal choice as to how it works, and it's also a question of just how many trades you're willing to do with the Lore Devil.

In a 70 year old definition that for some reason many biologists aren't willing to shirk, organisms are 'of the same species if they can interbreed and produce healthy/fertile offspring'. By this definition gallifreyans and humans must be the same species. This is over simplification.

Interbreeding and producing hybrids has been going on forever in the real world, and the viability of the hybrid offspring all comes down to chromosomes. For examples, a mule is the sterile offspring of a male horse and a female donkey, and the reason a mule is sterile is because its parents each have a different number of chromosomes, so a mule has an odd number of chromosomes that cannot split evenly, and therefore a mule cannot reproduce.

So with this is mind, Gallifreyans have 69 chromosomes split into three sets of 23, because they have triple-helix DNA with a third strand added for gallifreyan superpowers. Humans have 46 chromosomes split into two sets of 23, because we have double-helix DNA.

Therefore, a gallifreyan/human hybrid child would need to inherit its gallifreyan parent's triple helix DNA structure in order to get everything it's due. That's one strand from the human parent, another strand from the gallifreyan parent, and the other strand the gallifreyan party piece. If that child is created with a double-helix, it will die as an embryo, or be born unhealthy, or it will be sterile, or it will not possess any special Time Lord powers such as regeneration. If it's triple helix, it'll be a bouncing healthy fertile baby with basic gallifreyan enhancements.

Then of course, the mitigating factor is science fiction being science fiction. Maybe gallifreyan sperm is just super potent, or gallifreyan eggs super receptive. If true, then where do you stop, and why? What's stopping a romantic evening over some wine and spag bol producing a brand new bouncing baby gallifreyan/Dalek hybrid? After all, the Tenth Doctor successfully spliced his DNA into healthy Dalek/human hybrids, which although isn't the same thing does indicate all three of them are compatible in some way. Can't be of the same genus ... surely? :D

In short, there is no legitimate biological reason gallifreyans and humans cannot mate, and there never has been. Other species? Not really evidenced as far as I know.

Wait ... what sob story? xD

[im-a-mandola]

quotes from my day at highschool but its rangers apprentice (algebra)

Horace: [slams fist on desk] I DONT KNOW WHERE X IS. [starts crying]

Will: who has the homework completed and what do they want for it? i can only afford free hugs.

Evanlyn: i stubbed my toe on the way here and now i think i need to go to the ER.

Alyss: i think i inherited some superpower because I know all these answers, and did i study? no.

[miraculouspenta]

I have a request.if marinette is Jon's twin sister and has no power. Marinette contact justice league for help but she end up being reveal her identity to justice league because jon and Clark knows her and can you make it daminette story

Tale of the Girl Kent

One evening years ago, twin cries could be heard in Metropolis. These cries belong to Jonathan Samuel Kent and Marinette Martha Ella Kent, newborn children of Lois Lane and Clark Kent. They grew up together for quite some time, and people around them could swear they never saw one without the other.

Ever since a young age, Jonathan, or Jon as people call him, discovered that he had inherited his father's superpowers. Flight, super hearing, super speed, heat vision, x-ray vision, and etc. Marinette on the other hand doesn't have these superhuman abilities. She does, however, have an incredibly sharp eye for detail, astonishing creativity, unimaginable problem-solving skills, and an IQ that is already considered a genius, 184. Even though she was born without mystical abilities, Marinette never felt jealous of her twin. Howbeit because of this, her father decided not to tell the rest of the league, short of Batman and Wonder Woman.

When the twins turned nine, Lois and Clark felt like they were neglecting their little girl, focusing more on teaching Jon how to handle his powers. Marinette didn't mind and she had told them this repeatedly.  But then again, they're parents, they're supposed to worry. As a result, they decided to reach out to Lois' old college friend and roommate, Nadja Chamack. They told her of their dilemma and asked if she knew anyone who could and would take care of their daughter. Nadja mentioned a married couple whom she has known since high school. She said that they had wanted a child but the doctor said they couldn't have one. Of course, Nadja also mentioned that the couple were really kind people, they would never take their place as parents. They would, however, be pleased to be their daughter's guardian.

And that's what happened. Marinette flew to Paris the next week to live with her new guardians, leaving a teary eyed father and brother behind, not like they would admit it. She soon found her guardians' names are Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng. She could've sworn she stared at the sun when they picked her up.

As time went by, Marinette got very comfortable with the Dupain-Chengs to the point she slipped and called them maman and papa. She told her biological parents about this and they were glad she felt safe enough to call them that. Both didn't have anything against Tom and Sabine because of that and Marinette was really glad.

Let's jump to when she turns 13. She finds a mysterious box on her desk and opens it. When a flying creature flew out of it, Marinette wasn't really surprised. She had seen weirder things. Then the creature, who she found out was named Tikki, started explaining that she was chosen to be a hero to save Paris. "Figures that I'm made to join the family business," she said. Tikki just blinked, "What do you me-" she was cut off by a shout. "Kim!" a voice roared. "You can explain this to me later, right now just say spots on," Tikki said.

Once the 'akuma' was handled, Marinette told Tikki of her biological family. "Hey Tikki?" "Yeah?" "Do you think I should call the Justice League? Not to ask them for help, more like... Tell them of they are going to Paris to keep their emotions in control? I don't think I can defeat my dad or my brother." "That's a great idea Marinette! Although I suggest that you ask Chat Noir for his opinion first." And here she is now on the Eiffel Tower with Chat, trying to call the League.

Ironically, Superman answered. "Hello, this is the Justice League. How may we help you." "Hello, my name is Ladybug and this is Chat Noir," it felt so weird using formal talk with her dad, "We wanted to inform you of Paris' new situation as of yesterday." At the word Paris, Superman's froze, Mari lives there. "A supervillain has appeared and it turns people into villains to do the dirty work. It appears that the supervillain transforms them if someone has a negative emotion. Hawkmoth, the supervillain, and us get our powers from the miraculi," Ladybug continued knowing that her dad knows about the miraculi. "We came to ask if any of you were to come to Paris make sure that your emotions are under control," Chat said, "We don't need to fight any of you."

"I can accept that, I have heard of the miraculi and it seems reasonable," Superman said, "If I'm correct, any damage should be reversed. No civilians should be hurt, am I right?" "Figures he'd be worried about me," Ladybug mumbled forgetting that her dad had super hearing and pieced everything together. "My cupcake?" he asked. Ladybug's eyes widened before she started laughing, "Damn it, forgot you had super hearing." Superman grinned, "Looks like you're in the family business anyway huh?" "Seems like it."

Chat stood on the side wondering why are the two so comfortable with each other. "Guess I owe you an explanation huh Chat?" Ladybug said, "Superman here, is my biological father and the current Superboy is my twin brother. Unlike him, I didn't inherit dad's powers." Meanwhile, on the other side of the line, Clark called for his son and told him the news. "Hiya sis!" "Hiya little brother!" "You're only older by 5 minutes!" "I'm still older!" Chat laughed at their banter, "I can see that now."

"Just hold on a minute, I can register your partner and change your name and you can zeta on over to discuss this more," Superman said, "Also, I missed you." "I miss you too." Once Superman gave them the okay, Ladybug disconnected the phone and dragged Chat over to the zeta platform (I have little knowledge of this so feel free to correct me) They ended up at the Watchtower and Ladybug hurriedly ran to her father and brother giving them a big hug. "Superman have you seen-" Wonder Woman stopped when she saw Ladybug hugging her colleague. She ran out of the room to grab someone to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, that person happened to be Batman, and wherever Batman goes, 16 year old Robin follows.

"You are seeing this too right? That's his daughter right?" Wonder Woman asked. "Yes I am, and most likely." Meanwhile, Robin was just confused, who was this girl and... Is that a knockoff Catwoman? But since Batman appeared not to think of her as a threat he let it slide, that is until their eyes met. His heart skipped a beat. Her eyes are so beautiful. Superboy heard Robin's heartbeat picking up and smirked because it wasn't only Robin's heart, but also his sisters. Both speeding up but still somehow in sync. They are going to date each other if it's the last thing I do.

1143 words

Longest one shot apart from my secret Santa. Tell me if you want part two.

XOXO ~𝓔𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓷

[rwby-redux]

I was kinda under the impression that Semblances are at least partially opportunistic in nature. Ren gains a Semblance to hide himself and others from Grimm in a situation where he needs to hide himself and Nora from the Grimm. Nora gets a Semblance to absorb electricity when she's struck by lightning. Jaune gets a Semblance that heals when he really needs to save Weiss from bleeding to death.

See, that's what I initially thought, too. And for years now, that's the headcanon I've rolled with—that some characters have Semblances which have nothing to do with their personality, but are instead adaptive reactions to immediate danger. It makes sense, right? Ren's concealed him from Grimm when he had no other recourse than to hide. Nora's allowed her to withstand electrocution from a lightning strike that could have ranged anywhere from 10 million to 120 million volts.

There's just one problem with this assumption: it's only that, an assumption. Nowhere in the canon—not the show, the comics, the manga, the books, the DVD commentaries—literally nowhere does RWBY clearly state that this is a plausible theory. Instead, the audience has to extrapolate that assumption from subtext, and even then, that assumption directly contradicts one of the series’ core tenets—that Semblances are tied to personality.

And as infuriatingly vague as the canon is, it does in fact stand by this:

In World of Remnant, Volume 2, Episode 4: “Aura,” we’re told the following:

“‘Semblance’ is a term used to describe the projection of Aura into a more tangible form. For some this could be the ability to control objects with telekinesis. For others it could mean superhuman strength. The power associated with a wielder's Semblance is completely unique.”

It’s not explicitly stated, but the conclusion we can draw here is that Semblances’ uniqueness is a reflection of their wielders’ uniqueness (or personality, as it were).

For a more definitive answer, though, we need only consult The World of RWBY: The Official Companion (page 39):

A Semblance is a personalized Aura manifestation, akin to a superpower. […] Semblances vary wildly from person to person, but generally reflect the wielder’s personality. An energetic Huntress might unlock superspeed, while an emotionless logician might be able to excel as a human lie detector.

The caveat here is that some people (like the Schnee lineage) can have hereditary Semblances instead. Thus, Semblances (according to the canon) can be lumped into two categories: personality-based and inherited.

But like you said, we have no reason to assume that there isn’t some third factor at play, because we have pretty compelling subtextual evidence via Ren’s and Nora’s circumstances.

In my initial deconstruction of Semblances, I talked about this problem quite extensively. Ren’s explanation to Oscar in V5.E4 only exacerbates the inconsistency because even the characters in-universe can’t seem to agree on an answer. Is it personality? Is it a coincidence? Who the hell knows. Certainly not us.

The canon’s lack of clarity is actually how I developed two of my concepts for the Redux: Auratic plasticity and hierarchical prioritization. In the Redux, there are three categories that Semblances fall under—innate, adaptive, and inherited. Auratic plasticity is the ability of the soul to generate a Semblance based on either an immutable personality trait (innate), a scenario-specific survival method (adaptive), or a “genetic” trait that’s repeatedly selected for due to its inherent fitness (inherited). These three categories are determined by a value called hierarchical prioritization—the soul’s ability to decide what Semblance-trigger takes precedence.

I go into greater depth here, but the short version is that the soul has a preferred or default order for generating Semblances: inherited > innate > adaptive. However, if a person without a Semblance is confronted by an immediate, life-or-death circumstance, then their soul can “override” the order and generate a Semblance tailored to their needs.

A person whose ship capsized out at sea, for example, might generate a hydrokinetic Semblance. Or, if someone is being mugged, and their attacker has a knife, then the victim might spontaneously generate a Semblance that renders their skin hard as steel.

Under this model, Ren’s and Nora’s Semblance now have plausible explanations.

As does another character’s—Qrow.

Consider the circumstances of Qrow’s youth: he not only grew up in the deadly wilds outside the protection of the main cities, [1] [2] but he was also born into a bandit tribe that raided towns and villages.

By the time he was the “perfect age” [3] to enroll at Beacon (presumably his late teens, 17 or so), he was already an extremely competent fighter as the result of his upbringing. He spent the entirety of his childhood and adolescence learning how to fight, and developing the necessary skills to do so.

It makes sense, then, that the constant threat of danger would be enough to cause a small child to develop a Semblance that would tip the odds of survival in their favor. A way to disadvantage an older or more skilled opponent in a fight, and give that child an increased chance of living to see another day.

That, to me, is a much better explanation for Qrow’s Semblance than simply saying that his personality brings misfortune.

-

[1] World of Remnant, Volume 4, Episode 5: “Between Kingdoms.” Qrow: “You might ask: With the wilderness being so dangerous, why not just live in the big cities?”

[2] Volume 2, Episode 2: “Welcome to Beacon.” Blake: “I was raised outside the kingdoms. If you can't fight, you can't survive.”

[3] Volume 5, Episode 6: “Known by Its Song.” Raven: “The entrance exams were child's play compared to what we'd already been through.”

-

On a side note, I went on the RWBY Wiki to fact-check something, and ran into this passage:

Some Semblances can also be unlocked by certain external phenomenon, such as Nora who unlocked hers when she was struck by a lightning bolt. Neptune's Semblance could also be another possible example of this unlocking method as he was thrown into the ocean by his brother Jupiter, though this remains unclear if it was either direct contact with the water or simply being shocked from suddenly being thrown into it is what resulted his Semblance to be unlocked.

Rather tellingly, the wiki uses these as examples of Semblances being tailored to life-or-death scenarios, but doesn’t provide any sources which explicitly state that those were the underlying causes. Without a definitive, authoritative source, these are correlation, not causation.

[cocobear137]

⇠ Inherit ⇢

All for One Reader one-shot (Y/N POV)

Powers. Screw powers. Living In a world that mostly consists of people who have superpowers, or rather, quirks makes me somewhat lucky. Well, not being born without a quirk is the worst thing nowadays. It is even worse if your parents abandoned you when you were a baby. Well, that's me. I don’t know who they are, but I don’t care enough to find them since they didn’t care enough to take care of me. Until one day, I was found.

A man in a black suit took me in. Before he appeared in my life, I wandered the streets with the older adults who were homeless. I was only 3. Who does that to a child? My life miraculously became better when he showed up. He took me in along with a boy a few years older. His new name was Tomura. The boy had blue-ish white hair, dry skin, and dark circles around his eyes. The man that took us in was called, Master. It was home where we stayed. The helpless has been helped.

Years have passed since I was taken off the streets. I have come of age to be the successor of All for One. Tomura was sent to create a league to do Master’s work while I stayed with Master. He trained me ever since he saw me. I trained for hours to one day have his power. Now the time has come for me to inherit the power.

The months I was asleep were all necessary for me to safely hold such great power. While I was asleep, the battle between Master and All Might happened. Master lost and was in Tartarus under heavy surveillance. It was a shame. Who is going to teach me how to use the quirk I just got? But the doctor behind this helped me wake up into a new me.

Mission: Find the successor of One for All. I managed to get into U.A. The clues the league has gotten were that the quirk is within a boy with green hair and green eyes. His name is Izuku Midoriya from class 2-A.

Being in the general studies didn’t help much. And since I’m in my first year both made it difficult to find the boy. I sat through a whole day of boring classes. The whole thing was stupid it was just introductory stuff. The school knows me to be quirkless, that is what my registration said. It was simple.

Once the class had ended, I went to the second year’s classrooms, where I would find Class 2-A. There it is. Now I just had to wait until Midoriya came out. It took a while. I saw Bakugo, that kid the league kidnapped. I saw most of his class come out of the classroom. Finally, Midoriya came out. He was alone. I walked up to him acting shy.

“H-H-hey…. Are you Midoriya-kun?”

“Yes. Do you need something?” he said lowering his head to look at me.

“H-How can I become a hero like you? I’m in general studies and I want to get into the hero course.”

“O-oh?!? Just work hard and you will achieve your goal!” Pathetic answer. “What’s your quirk? Maybe I can give you some advice.” We went outside into the small cluster of trees just beside the school. I walked up to him and my eyes turned white. I gently touch his forehead was all it took. Then he started to scream in pain as his whole body shook. He fell onto his knees still having my hand on his head. “What is happening!!”

“I’m showing you my quirk… by taking yours” I smirked while he screamed in more pain than before. His quirk, One for All was successfully in my hands now.

➜✉ Hope you enjoyed this one shot of AFO reader. Thank you so much for reading!

[soutterlytaron]

TWIO HEADCANONS

HEADCANONS, WE ALL HAVE THEM. NOW, WE CAN SHARE THEM WITH EACH OTHER, TOO!

You can either work on all the questions at once, or work on a few of them at a time and post them in blocks, until you’ve answered them all. We’ll use them to fill the biographies on main, which were posted, when you were accepted in town. Have fun! We’ll definitely enjoy discovering new things about your darlings! Don’t forget to @ us! @theworldisoursforthetaking

Where do you live in town? How did you find it? I left the UK in June 2016 to get away from all the hoopla about Brexit, and also to have a bit of a break after filming back-to-back projects. I travelled around the East Coast, and out of a whim, I ended up staying just outside of Boston... I stumbled across people I had met before - some of them work-wise, at least - and was easily persuaded to stay for a little while. Five years later, and I built a completely new life here, which I’m utterly happy with.

Which is your go-to karaoke song? It’s “Faith” by George Michael, it’s never let me down in all the years, and I love going back to it. It’s a great song!

Are you and introvert or extrovert? I’m probably more of an outgoing introvert, since it takes me a little bit to warm up to people and situations, especially, when I’m thrown into them unpreparedly. Once I do, however, I’m as open and outgoing as I can be.

Are you good at sports? Which? I’m all right-ish at sports - I run, I swim, I can play a little footie or rugby - but I don’t have a particular affinity for any sport. That being said, I actually love watching sports once in a while.

Do you have a favourite film? Put on anything Disney or Pixar-made, and I’ll be a happy Taron. I might have a slight preference towards those films I can sing along with, and it’s only become more prominent since our twins have discovered the wonders of animated films. 

What are 3 things in you fridge? The three things that have never missed in our fridge are cheese - probably brie or camembert -, wine, and yoghurt. 

What are 3 recently watched things on streaming apps? I’ve been going back, watching and catching up on things I had abandoned earlier. I finally finished the fifth season of Lucifer, and then I caught up with Line of Duty, too. And now, I’m watching The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and it’s so good?

Who is you ultimate celebrity crush? Charlize Theron.

Are you close to your family? I’m very close to my mother and step-dad, and my little sisters. We have forged a very tight bond over the years, and especially my mother is one of the first people I call, when I have news, or need advice. My relationship with my father had its ups and downs, but it’s improved a lot over the years. And then I have my own family, Phoebe, Julian and Sadie, who are everything to me. I couldn’t imagine my life without them in it.

What is the best thing in you life? My family, as you can see above. There’s nothing I love more than being home, waking up, because I can feel our twins clambering up on the bed to get comfortable between us, or coming home and being greeted with pattering feet and lots of hugs. 

Which is your greatest guilty pleasure? That would definitely be anything chocolate, but specifically eating Nutella straight out of the jar.

Which is one white lie you told? “Sorry I didn’t get back to you yesterday, my phone died” - it totally didn’t, I simply forgot to call back. 

Which is your biggest flaw? I tend to stress-eat - some people lose their appetite, when stressed, but not me, I gain it - and while I usually can curb it, sometimes it’s simply not possible. But with regular exercise and workouts with a coach it’s manageable.

Which is your greatest accomplishment? It might be such a cliché, but definitely my children - Julian and Sadie are amazing, they’re kind and caring, they have loads of sass, and they learn so much in the blink of an eye. One moment they were crawling, the next they were talking in semi-full sentences and walking. Running, rather. 

What are your biggest fear(s)? There are quite a few, but I think one of my main fears is that I fail as a father. My own did walk away, and while I had a great step-dad, the feeling kinda stuck. It is on the top, with flunking out while acting coming in as a low second.

What would your Hogwarts House be and why? I’d probably be a total muggle with no magic powers whatsoever, but if I had to choose? Hufflepuff. 

Did you graduate school? If so, did you attend college or did you start working right away? I graduated from  the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 2012 with a BA in Acting, and then slowly built my profile. But I started “working” in theatre productions, when I was 15.

How was your first kiss? When was it? It was a drunken one, very messy - I probably had no clue what I was doing, and even if I did, I wouldn’t have remembered, because we were flat-out drunk.

Have you ever broken someone’s heart? Has someone broken yours? I hope I haven’t, but I’m sure I must have some time. And yes, someone has. It’s all I’ll say about that.

Have you ever been married? Are you married? I’m married to the lovely @phoebejtonkinegerton​. We have been married since July 2017, and we celebrated by building a playground for a school in Haiti, and having our friends and families join in. I’ll never forget seeing Phoebe walk down that sandy aisle for the first time... she looked absolutely ethereal. 

Do you have children? If not, do you want children? Phoebe and I have twins, Sadie and Julian, born in April 2018, who are incredible. I love them dearly, and I can’t imagine my life without them. And yes, we still consider adding some children to our pack... 

What is your favourite animal? Generally? A sloth. I met one the first time I went to Australia with Phoebe, and I was so fascinated with these gentle creatures, who are so slow, you can probably watch them think. Amazing, really. 

What is your favourite season? Why? Anything warm is probably my thing - although I don’t mind the cold, my wife does, so I’m far happier, when it’s warm outside. Out of the other seasons, Spring is probably my favourite, everything is decked out in flowers and lush greens. What’s not to like?

Do you have any allergies? No, not that I know of. 

What is your favourite clothing item? I have a soft grey cashmere sweater I really like to wear, especially, when I want to get comfortable or into a comfy mindset.

Do you have tattoos or piercings? If so, where? No, I don’t. 

Do you have any distinctive features or marks on your body? I have a small mole on the right side of my Adam’s apple. It’s been there since birth, so I don’t even notice it. I also have a small gap between my upper premolar and molar on the left side. 

Do you enjoy coffee or tea? Hot or iced? I’m a coffee person all the way - hot, a splash of milk. Tea is for those times I want to get comfortable, just like the sweater, or when I’m sick, and have to keep warm and up with the fluids. 

Are you a morning person or a night person? I’m a bit of both, but more of a morning person, something my wife definitely isn’t. Luckily for us, our twins inherited that trait from her.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be? There is no superpower without a downside, right? Hmm. I think I’d like to be like Domino from the second Deadpool and add a bit of luck to my life. 

Who is your “ride or die” friend? I have several childhood friends - Bleddyn, Jack, Blyn, to name a few - who really know me inside out, and I know they’d have my back no matter what. Then there’s my wife, of course. And as a close third come @itsrichmadden​ and @moonlightriana​ who are such wonderful people. ​​

What is your go-to flirt approach/routine? Can I be honest with you? I probably never had a proper approach. I’m a bit mouthy, I’m loud and joking around, especially, when there are a few drinks involved.

Have you ever written a love letter? Who was the last recipient? Do little notes on post-its count as love letters? Because I do write those regularly and slide them between the pages of the scripts Phoebe is reading. 

Who is your childhood hero? Do you have a hero in adulthood, too? One of my biggest childhood heroes is David Bowie. He had it all, he did it all, his music was perfect. He influenced many people’s lives, and he remained this humble, lovely fella. Nowadays? I’ve definitely added Sir Elton John to that list. He’s simply incredible. 

Lastly, what is your favourite gif of them?

[jancynco]

Layers

The undoing of an idea, the becoming of a new form of woman and the evolution that connects two happenings. Over the course of this forceful time of reflection and reconciliation I have developed a healthy appreciation of design. Let me explain. We all get to a point of life where we ask ourselves about purpose, how do we fulfill it, and ultimately how does that purpose connect to who we are. I realized that a great portion of my life was used to conform who I was in order to maintain my sanity. To blend or assimilate because my uniqueness was created by manufactured, generational curses and the awakening of quenched curiosity. I clothed myself with layers… suitable, self-satisfying defense mechanisms to protect the future I thought I wanted to build. It was exhausting upholding this idea I knew wasn’t organic. I remember praying to God to devastate me. It was a very distinct and intentional prayer because it came at the cusp of my undoing. A quiet plea to save me from my ideas and set me anew. I desired devastation because I did not want to return to my former self. I wanted to be a phoenix unfamiliar to the common and received by the unknown. Something happened after my baptism by fire or in my case the isolation and the pain of an illness physically, mentally and spiritually. The idea of what a Christian… a woman… a Black human was, chiseled away like I was being reborn out of a shapeless marble stone and crafted into who you know today by the perseverance and struggle of one. I am so liberated in my becoming. It is a metamorphosis realized in the middle of transformation which makes the journey validating in being present. 

 As a woman, discovering the power of femininity left me adverse to new traditionalism. There is a beautiful art within the vulnerability of submission. I felt empowered submitting to something outside of myself knowing I have the strength to undergird the weight of a thing that is also designed to protect me. I am in essence fortifying my protection and, in that submission, therein lies my greatest superpower. Because I was designed whole, I as a woman, encompass everything I will ever need to survive. There just needed to be a mind-blowing encounter. Loving my husband in this manner is honoring the Spirit of God in both of us. I chose to acknowledge my womanhood through the lens of contrast of gender because I believe appreciation is birthed out of opposition in a sense. The tango of becoming one, yet maintaining your identity leaves me baffled. The discovery of an answer beckons the reinvention of oneself to accommodate the time needed for an unbreakable union. Wife in today’s view is looked upon as a role, an interchangeable one, but if we are characterized as such before we become a wife by Biblical standards is that not a calling? To be called to marriage is to have your nature tested and celebrated in its necessity of a particular purpose within connection. I truly feel the brevity and distinction of myself by the awareness of those around me and their differences. I am empowered because I am a woman. Differences only need the explanation of what it is… not why it is. What am I to you determines the functionality and purpose in relationship. Why my differences exist are to be revealed. Black. It is way more than an identifying marker. My race was determined before my sex or the acceptance of my beliefs. It is my belonging personified, my inherited brand, my power tethered to ancestral dreams. I am so enamored by my own skin. It refuses to be tamed by oppression and conformity. It is a bell curve that highlights the trials and triumphs of a people through the linear progression of time. In our current state we are just awaiting the ascension out of a valley. It seeps out through texture both in voice and curls. Through the curvature of body and smile. In style through decorum, the swaying of my hips or the creative expression cultivated by broken limitations. 

Black. I am God’s appreciation of Himself conceptualized in all of my genetic make-up… “…and it was good.” I am the summation of the intended good of countless generations before me originated from one design. The undoing of an idea or what it means to be “Black” as well as the growth into womanhood are all cataclysmic phenoms. The evolution that bridges these two moments of time and keeps them at bay respectively is faith. The audacity of intersectionality within a Black woman is deliberate…intentional… purposeful. The full circle experience in having faith in the Creator of your distinction is a practice of adoration for the careful customization the world gets the privilege of witnessing but only for a vapor. It is such a beautiful thing to witness when a Black woman is refined within the safety of love. The currency of her faith flows as abundantly and melodic as her presence in the desolation of uninspired spaces. 

 The makings of me, many layers when peeled away is meant to be pondered singularly and consumed whole, however to garner an understanding she must be felt as a force in its full capacity. To not have the intimacy of knowing her in her full extent is a disservice. Life will uncover who you were already designed to be. You in all of your glory should be revered as an experience and not hushed into objectivity. What will it take to discover who you have always been meant to be and meet the arrival the world so desperately needs in identifying your layers and embracing transformation.