#i think their parents died probably in an accident so like together and suddenly- and they had no living relatives to take them

[ollyollyaxe]

ooof fuckin Thinking about hoffman and angelina being orphans, maybe not from birth- but pretty young, 5 & 15 ish, spending a few months in an orphanage/foster care before angelina gets adopted, but mark never does, he stays in the system until he ages out, his only real human connection being his baby sister - anyway im cool im fime

[omentranslates]

Owari no Seraph chapter 134 english fan translation

Howdy hi howdy hey vampy fans I am back and this is 80 years late but I'm doing it anyways. You've probably all read the official, but please check it out anyways if you haven't and thanks for reading!

Shinoa's all-out assault extends to the First...

Shinoa: AHAHAHAHHAHA!!

Shikama: O, Darkness! Put some distance between-...

Shinoa: Gekkouin.

Shinoa: Shooting Star.

Shikama: You're a monster.

Shinoa: One that you created.

Shikama: Yuu, Yuu! Hurry, you need to get to where I am.

Shinoa: I'll look over your memories for you now.

Shinoa: I'm going to see every piece of your plan, and I'm going to take all of your power for my own.

Chapter 134: Merry-Go-Round of Life＊

Ferid Narration: I wish I could stop existing. I want to kill myself. I wish I was never born in the first place. I can't keep it contained. This desire to just destroy everything, it's going to overflow. I'm going to go crazy with it.

Ferid Bathory, age 16

Ferid: Ahhh....maybe I'll seriously just explode about it.

Ferid Brother: So, you ran off here again. Do you ever do anything but read?

Ferid: Oh, Nii-sama! Or should I have started calling you 'Your Majesty' by now?

FBro: YOU can call me whatever you want.

Ferid: Alright then, Onii-sama

FBro: Get off

Ferid: Whatttt

FBro: Listen, Ferid, the situation our territory is in has changed so drastically since our Father the King and our mother died suddenly in that accident. The country's fate rests entirely on our still young shoulders.

FBro: So it'd just be really nice if you could pick yourself up and take some of the responsibillity-...

Ferid: No wayyy...you're the great hero I'm good where I am

FBro: Not so fast, you're the smart one out of us. You're also in the good favor of many, if you hadn't come to my rescue a separate faction would've split off. It would've been the end of this country.

Ferid: ...that's not true at all. Nii-sama is the more well-liked one.

FBro: But this is our moment, our golden era. If you'd stand at my side, we could have this entire continent that even Father could never conquer.

Ferid: Wowwww!

Fbro: Would you stop playing the peanut gallery? If you'd, no-we have to do it together.

Ferid: I don't really care to, though.

FBro: Seriously?

Ferid: Wealth and power and the crown, these things have no allure to me. Maybe I'll understand when I'm older, but I don't really get what there is to even be alive for.

Ferid: So, y'know. I mean, if you order me around I'll be right at your service, but.

FBro: Geez, you still haven't changed. But it's exactly your lack of greed that makes you easy to trust.

Fbro: Pledge your support to me as my younger brother. We'll make this world in our image.

Ferid: Whatever you say, let's do it.

Fbro: What the hell are you reading, by the way?

Ferid: Ohhh, this?

Ferid: It's about the concept of reincarnation, I guess.

Fbro: Is about what??

Ferid: Yeah, being reborn. It's about like, what humans are born for and what there is for us after we die. This book's answer is a cycle of death and rebirth.

Fbro: I don't get it

Ferid: Well, according to this text, everything in the world just goes round and round, and that includes our souls. We just endlessly repeat life and death.

Ferid Narration: To come right back to life in the exact same monotonous fucking world.

Fbro: I didn't think there was anything after death. That's why people are always interrogating how you live and how you die.

Ferid: I'll be glad if you're right

Fbro: You will???

Fbro: Oh, I get it now...you're trying to figure out where our parents went after they died, that's what you want to know?

Ferid Narration: Said as if it wasn't me who killed them～

Fbro: You're a good kid, you've got our mother's kindness.

Fbro: Why....

Ferid: Why what?

Fbro: You....betrayed me....

Ferid: I don't even know you

Ferid: So? How is it? You get reincarnated yet?

Ferid: See it'd really be a problem for me if I were reborn. Ending up in the same tedium again even if I manage to die, I really can't have that happening. It's so fearsome, I've gotta think my own death out real well.

Servant: Your Majesty! Your Majesty.....

Servant: WH...Ferid-sama!? HOW COULD YOU???

Ferid: Oh, hey! My brother's personal cabinet, I've got something to ask you actually.

Servant: DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THIS COUNTRY NOW!?

Ferid: Just listen.

Ferid: The author of this text on reincarnation, I wanna invade the far off country where they live.

Servant: What are you-

Ferid: I said shut up already, you don't have anything to worry about anyways

Ferid: The political trouble we've been having just ended, you'll all join up with the entourage around. If anyone causes you problems, you can just kill them. Be as unreasonable as you want

Servant: I....wait-...

Ferid: The most important thing is that I nip this reincarnation deal in the bud. I don't ever wanna see this stupid fucking world or anywhere like it ever again, I'll make sure that everything is....

Crowley: So, what are you looking at this time? Ferid-kun?

Ferid: Hmm....

Ferid: I'm figuring out next in line

Crowley: Next in line for what?

Ferid: Next in line for the end.

Ferid: Hey so Crowley-kun, how many years has it been since we met again?

Crowley: That's rather sudden, I'd have to think. If I even remember. It's been a long, LONG while.

Ferid: Oh yeah? We've lived quite a long time. You too stupid to keep track of it all?

Crowley: What the fuck, man? It's your fault I'm even a vampire in case you forgot.

Ferid: Was that me?

Crowley: Yeah, it was.

Ferid: Wow, I see! Well, you said you wanted to live longer no matter what so I...

Crowley: I did not ask for this.

Ferid: Why'd you end up as a vampire then?

Crowley: That's what I've been asking YOU, you literally forced me.

Ferid: I don't remember doing that

Crowley: Sure you don't.

Ferid: Really, I really don't!

Crowley: Are you kidding me? We've probably been together for a thousand years by now and I haven't gotten a single answer out of you.

Ferid: That's really sucky of me, I feel like a lot's happened between us in that millennia.

Crowley: Are you really implying you don't remember any of it?

Ferid: Do you?

Crowley: I mean, some of it at least.

Ferid: Are they good memories?

Crowley: ....you really don't know?

Ferid: Well, to tell you the honest truth...my special ability is that I've got an eidetic memory for every single thing, no matter how taxing to recall.

Crowley: Huh, first I'm hearing of it. Is that a lie too?

Ferid: Well, who can say for sure

Ferid: By the way...those two servants of yours, Chess and Horn. Do you remember when you last saw them?

Crowley: Would you have happened to kill them?

Ferid: ....

Crowley: And it's finally the day you'll kill me as well?

Ferid: ...

Crowley: Hold up, if this is seriously it then you spent the entire time from beginning to end without explaining a single thing.

Ferid: Well

Ferid: The time we spent together was unexpectedly fun, Crowley-kun.

Crowley: ...Ha haha. What the hell, that's all I get?

Ferid: You can fight back, I am stronger though.

Crowley: Ferid-kun

Ferid: Hm?

Crowley: This long journey with you

Ferid: Yeah?

Crowley: It wasn't that bad at all.

Ferid: That so, glad to hear it

Ferid: My 440th kill.

Ferid: Well then, let's make our way to the front, Crowley-kun. Right to the end oft he world.

Ferid, the prince shrouded in mystery, has finally entered the battlefield.

*Refer to the official for the chapter title I have no idea what they decided to make it but rondo isn't really a common word so I took some Artistic LiberitesTM and interpreted it as 輪舞 (dancing in a circle), bc it shares kanji with 輪廻 (samsara/reincarnation) which the chapter is about. Although I believe both these and the more basic definition you get just searching ロンド refer to the same thing, a type of music. I guess you dance 輪舞 to ロンド idk I'm not gonna pretend to have any formal knowledge abt that kind of thing skjsdk to that end, though, you may have noticed that my interpreted title is in reference to a certain song

[deldeldel90]

warning for grief, death, seclusion, angst, and derealization/dislocation (not sure if it fits, but I think it does, better be safe than sorry)

I need to stop coming up with aus that I'm probably never gonna get the chance to write but

- modern/non-royalty au where maria is the daughter of famous (really famous) film "director" (he usually just stands around and everybody else ends up doing the work) Jack. she's been hidden away from the public eye since she was born, homeschooled and , until she was twenty, lived with her siblings.

- everybody else seems to be going about their daily life, yknow, until... gwen dies.

- and it shatters everyone.

- their father is sobbing. Jamie's lost, staring blankly at the casket of his twin, crying quietly, his other half. Lorena's screaming, throwing up, babbling. Maria is.... silent.

- she stays silent, quiet. As if she's in a trance, as if she's seeing nothing, hearing nothing. In another world.

- (she wants to be in another world, a world where her sister is alive, where she's six and her sister is afraid of the thunderstorms and they're together, hugging, telling stories. she wants to be in that world.)

- at age twenty-one, the media slams her, the blonde ice queen, the heartless sister, the terrible, no good daughter who couldn't force a tear out her eye on her littlest sister's funeral.

- articles are written. Maria impulsively reads every one, not skimming for a moment. She hangs on every word, every rumor.

- she needs to know, if this is real or not. It doesn't feel so.

- over the course of five years, five years of what feels like everyone moving on, flourishing, Maria falls apart. She decomposes.

- she's a reculse who stays in all day, not going outside for even groceries. She lives in an apartment away from her family. She doesn't talk to them. At all.

- she's not completely alone, however, she's got her childhood pet cat Colonel Snuggles and her birds that wish her good morning everyday.

- and, you know, maybe if she pretends Gwen's alive enough, then it'll make everything ok. Maybe if she beings breakfast to an empty seat everymorning it'll be ok. Maybe if she talks to gwen a little more, it'll make her alive again.

- she hasn't visited her grave since the funeral. Hasn't seen the body, ever.

- is she really dead?

- (she is)

- Maria is perfectly content on living like this, sees no point in doing anything, being anything. she's fine with this.

- sometimes, she writes songs. About birds and dreams and faraway places. Places Gwen would go onto when she's gone (well. she's already gone but-)

- one day, however, Colonel Snuggles yowls with on his might, and suddenly, when Maria opens her door, shaking, trembling, she's met with her new neighbor.

- his name is Beckett. A single father who's the member of every parent group there is. Hes reliable and honest and a tad brutal when she catches him off-guard.

- after a few weeks of knowing him, of accidently sharing things, he frowns. Saddens. And, pulls her into a hug.

- Beckett, gentle as ever, he invites her to.. therapy. Group therapy.

- Maria goes.... because... um... well.

- (gwen would want this, wouldn't she? And, Maria... Shes missed the sunshine on her skin. She missed talking to people. She missed-)

- she goes.

- its an odd group of people: the mother of one of the sons she was supposed to marry, Mrs Isolde, a nurse named Asa, a girl named Renée, a loudmouthed gardener who seemed to only be here for the free gluten-free muffins than anything else (Saffron, his dumb name, and Maria found him quite annoying...), and a twitchy nineteen year old named Monika (who Saffron supported at every opportunity). Between both Maria and Beckett's entrance, it was seven people in a circle.

- and they were all looking at her.

- oh, no.

- Maria used to love her siblings' attention on her as she sang her heart out, childish concerts where gazes were glued to her perfermance... now, as a freshly twenty-six with no prospects over than living the rest of her days on a hefty trust fund, it doesn't feel so good.

- Maria stammered,

- cursed under her breath,

- and she shook her head wildly. "Um.. can I get a moment?" She asked timidly.

- "no," the supposed leader, Saffron, says, deadpan. "If you don't answer now, I'm afraid to say you're kick-"

- "Saffron!" A woman cuts in. The real leader. "Sorry 'bout him. You give him five minutes of being in charge and suddenly..."

- saffron pouts, sitting back in his seat, crossing his arms.

- She shakes her head, laughing, before offering a kind smile to Maria. "You don't have to introduce yourself right now, if you're not ready."

- Maria looks at her, a warm feeling bubbling in her stomach uncomfortably. It sorta feels like just before she's about to throw up. "Thank you."

- a couple of minutes of chatter passes by before the woman (Prez, her nametag says) gets to the point.

- "I think the first exercise of today is saying the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about guilt."

- Mrs Isolde closes off even more. Monika shifts in her seat. Asa's eyebrows furrow in thought.

- "I murdered my fiance." is not what she expected to hear, especially not from Prez.

- that gets a startled laugh out of Maria. Then, suddenly, everyone's eyes are on her.

- (it reminds her of the media. It reminds her of Gwen's last stare as she asks which colleges Maria will go to. It reminds her of Mrs Isolde from so long ago. It reminds her of people watching and looking and judging. Maria can't stand it.)

- (she wants to hide again.)

- "Oh, um."

- her turn, it's her turn. She can think of a million things when she thinks about guilt. She didn't (doesn't) talk to Gwen enough. She hasn't kept in contact with her family. She doesn't deserve to. She can't finish her songs. She forgot to buy bird food when getting her groceries delivered. She accidently stepped on Colonel Snuggles' tail two days back.

- she can't say anything of that because its too pathetic and too personal and she can't get any of it off her tongue but everybody keeps looking at her and-

- "I haven't washed my hair in two weeks."

- silence.

- utter. Silence.

- "really?" A murmur from Saffron, his long dyed-green hair swishing as he shakes his head. "How the hell does it look so shiny then..."

- "good conditioner," Maria answers instantly, forgetting her worries for the moment. "Its from Switzerland."

<3

[jouta-eggboybeloved]

Noelle

Noelle and her stand

More info under the cut.

Noelle Saylor born in Spain, but at around 2 years old her family moved to Japan. Which they moved to the edge of Morioh.

Her life was normal growing up. She often had a lot of friends growing up. And during her childhood she was often out playing. Sure she'd often play with other kids. But a lot of the time she would spend in the woods around her house, running around building forts. Or helping her dad out in the garden whenever he decided to build something. Leading to her being very hands on with things at a young age.

Noelle would often play with boys due to her being a 'tomboy'. She just liked how rough she could play with boys, rather than the girls having tea parties and such. She's stronger than most of the boys at her age. That's something that would continue to her current age.

❣️❣️❣️

Growing up she continued to help her dad around the house, and would even stop by his work to help out too, enjoying the hands on tasks that would be given to her, a lot of the people at her dads work enjoyed having her around jokingly calling her "works daughter" in reference to the fact the adults working there treated her as their own too.

She also continued to play with boys her age, but started to drift into liking more 'feminine' things, e.g. makeup (term feminine used very loosely here lol). Though she still continued to love the rough and tumble play style of her friends.

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Around when she was 11 she had nearly gotten into an accident when she ran across a road without looking. In which her stand had suddenly awoken just in time to save her by grabbing the back of her shirt and pulling her back.

Noelle didn't take to her stand right away, finding it spooky, not liking it's face. Calling it a creepy doll. Despite the fact it had saved her she thought it was a evil spirit coming to haunt her for the fact she nearly died.

Which she started to talk about it to her parents, worrying them to no end about it, suddenly their happy go lucky daughter was talking about an evil spirit.

The parents tried getting blessings and spirit mediums to try to see what the spirit was about. Which when they were about to give up, they encountered a medium who could sense Noelle's stand. Letting the family know that it actually wasn't evil. That it was an extention of their daughter.

Which was met with scepticism. But over time of Noelle figuring out how to use her stand it was quickly taken as fact.

Noelle's parents knowing about her stand (thinking its a ghost), but didn't know it had abilities. They would tell Noelle to keep quiet about her ghost, that people would find her crazy, even if she proved to them that it exists. They were just worried that something may happen to their daughter if people found out about the 'ghost'.

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Around the time of her getting her stand and figuring out it wasn't evil Noelle started to go to Budou-go Oka Middle/High School (I think thats the name of the school, the school Jouske and Jouta go too). This is where she met Yua, and the two having 'ghosts' quickly got along.

Noelle came home that day excited to tell her parents that someone else had a 'ghost' one that was a giant angel.

Her and Yua pretty much did everything together after that, Noelle knew about Yua's situation so tried not to bother Yua too much when it was after school, since she knew Yua probably wouldn't have time to hang out. So a lot of stuff Noelle wanted to do with Yua had to be done in school often Noelle having a big bag of items she carried around for her and Yua to mess with at break, either that be doing each others makeup, or sharing food.

Another pass time of theirs was to use Noelle's stand ability to mess with people. As Yua's stand abilitiy seemed to be for combat. Using Messages from the Stars to often cause drama amongst their peers, and even the staff of the school. Finding it way too funny.

❣️❣️❣️

Her life continued like this until she got to her last year of high school, in which her and Yua decided they would mess with a few of the new students joining for the final year.

Those two students being Jouta Kujo and Rae Walker.

They thought it would be funny, but they didn't realize that they were also stand users.

After a 2 days, Jouta had quickly caught on to the fact it was someone messing with him and tracked Noelle and Yua down.

Jouta ready for a fight, and since Yua had the 'fighting stand' she took to defend Noelle. Which Jouta was quickly winning, due to the fact he had been trained in stand fights, where as Yua had not fought anyone with her stand yet. So Jouta quickly won, and called a pact with the two, asking them not to mess with him and Rae again, and he wouldn't fight them again.

Which both Noelle and Yua agreed to that.

Over time though, they started to get to know Jouta and Rae, due to the fact both her and Yua were curious about their 'ghosts'. In which from Jouta they came to know that they were called stands, and what stands actually are.

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After a while Yua would interact with Jouta and Rae more, Yua still interacted with Noelle though and they stay very close. Noelle is very glad to see Yua getting along with other people, since she knows thats something that Yua struggled with. She'd often join the main group on their days out.

Getting along with Rae very well, due to how goofy they both are its easy for her to joke around with him, making the others laugh if not join in with their antics.

During this time Noelle would also gain a presence online. Mostly her showing off makeup or outfits, or her styling her hair. Often enjoying replying to random comments online finding it funny to make people mad.

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Noelle is 6ft and 17 years old (on the younger side of 17).

She spends most of her time with either her family or friends. Not spending too much time on her own. Since she loves to be around people, even if she isn't interacting with them, just in the same room as them.

Shes a sort of goof, loving pranks and jokes, and loves high energy activities. She also goes to the gym, loving to work out and lift, as it also helps her let out some of her energy.

Noelle is willing to be their for all her friends, a 'say the word and I will be there' sort of friend. She knows when she needs to relax a bit more, for the people around her. But sometimes she may get the vibe of a situation wrong, as she struggles slightly to gauge the emotions of a situation.

Often she will hang out with Yua, or the rest of the main group, mainly interacting with Rae, but will interact with Jouta and King sometimes too, normally asking Jouta for help as she wants to learn how to make her own clothes like he does.

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Stand's music reference "Messages from the Stars - The Rah Band"

The stand can make people get an obsession/infatuation with someone/something. E.g. when she decided to mess with Jouta and Rae, she noticed Jouta avoiding people, so made a bunch of girls become infatuated with him.

This can lead people to ignore Noelle when using her stand, to draw their attention else where. And in a battle situation can lead people to run after something she's made them obsessed with, even if they're running into danger.

Can also pacify people with eye contact. Either eye contact with her or her stand. Her/her stands eyes become hypnotic swirls when shes using this ability. Though this may not work sometimes. E.g. is someone is far too gone/too mad to see straight.

[matan4il]

Hello Alice,

it’s miya again :) I hope all has been well with you. I really loved your meta this week & it made me realize the reason I appreciate your analysis so much. You write about buddie but you write about them as buck AND eddie and not like they are one combined single unit. buck and eddie are their own people with different personalities and i think people forget that sometimes when it comes to talking about them together.

I love how the focus of your analysis was eddie and his clear childhood/adolescent trauma dealing with traditional parents who believe in only one way of doing things. I feel like people kinda missed that when talking about eddie & his performing. i know people interpreted the performing line as literal but it’s much deeper than that and you pointed that out very well. it all goes to show you we look at things through so many different lens but i love your focus point so much. you honestly make me want to get better at my own writing and analysis for this two lovers.

I wanted to ask you though on your thoughts about buck downplaying his brush with death. He never has explicitly said out loud “i died” & I do think that moments coming soon. I just found it interesting that everyone keeps reiterating that to him & i wonder if he’ll snap the next time someone says it. Buck has not processed or accepted that his trauma happened. him referring to him literally dying as “an accident on the job” breaks my heart cause you can tell he wants people to stop making a big deal of it, despite it being very serious. he is suppressing his trauma which i understand as someone with ptsd. anyways sorry for my rambling. buck is my favorite & character i connect to the most so i tend to babble a lot lol. hope you have a lovely rest of your day/evening/night whenever you see this ❤️

Miya, you darling! :D I'm always so happy to hear from you! I've had a very challenging week (which is not yet over... when you read this, I'll probably be recovering from another double shift), but the feedback on everything that I was most stressing out about has been amazing, so I'm exhausted, but very satisfied! How are you? Well, I hope!

Awww! Yes, that's exactly it! I think I even explained it in one of my earlier weekly meta posts, that I'll be writing about Buck, Eddie AND BuckandEddie. So I'm glad that's something you not only noticed, but also enjoy! ^u^ Thank you SO MUCH for the kind words! And I'm particularly please to learned you liked my POV on Eddie in my 614 meta. I know I've spoken to a very perceptive friend of mine back when... I think it was still s3 airing? Or possibly start of season 4, and despite how smart and insightful she is, she had missed the bit about Eddie's conversation with Bobby back in 217. So yeah, I think a lot of people might have? We all miss something, since 911 serves us with so much goodness. And I'm glad if in this case, this is something I can add to the table.

I fully agree with you, Buck is not really coping with what happened, given the fact that he's not yet said it out loud, and other characters have to remind him of it repeatedly. I also wondered this week if his PT scores being low is also a reflection of him still struggling with the lightning strike and how to recover from it. Because remember in 301, when he was coming back from the fire truck crushing his leg? He still aced his re-qualification exam. Even after he also suffered a pulmonary embolism during that very same period of time AND survived (and rescued others during) a tsunami, we never got any indication that his physical ability to bounce back had been diminished. So that suddenly changing? It could be a sign of the gravity of the matter, and how this is different, and Buck has to wrap his head around it, but because he hasn't yet, his full recovery is also stalling. I don't wanna get too much into spoilers, but based on the little that we do know about the finale, I feel like if this isn't addressed before the end of the season, then it should be in its very last ep. The themes seem like they would easily lend themselves to it, in any case. I hope that's what happens! If it also leads to some breakthrough with Eddie, one of them finally, finally ADMITTING what the other one means to them, I would be ecstatic, but I would absolutely take the win if we simply see Buck starting to actually face the trauma he had just been through.

Thank you again for your wonderful ask! I hope you're having a great day. As always, my ask tag. xoxox

[down-the-yaoi-hole]

Vacation boys love reads! Split personalities, magical virgins, and the crème de la crème: DICK FIGHT ISLAND.

I spent a week in the woods with my cousin / best friend / platonic life partner for my summer vacation this year. We would go hiking in the morning, and then came back to our AirBNB to read all afternoon--it was heaven on earth. Naturally, I brought along a couple of books I wanted to finished and didn't read ANY of that shit. No, instead I read some very good, and some very bad boys love. Here's the best of the best and the best of the worst!

My favorite read of the week was by far "Double Trap" by Goodmen, available on Lehzin Comics. It was like watching a soap opera... I just kept reading the most absurd plot points aloud to my cousin so she could laugh along, but truthfully, I LOVED every second of over-the-top melodrama. This comic is like if "Killing Stalking" and "Banana Scandal" had a baby... an edgy affair with some great humor.

Jinsung (our twink MC) has always had a crush on big brother figure / boy next door, Yura, who's 6 years older than him, 6 inches taller than him, and took Jinsung in after his parents died in a car accident. Jinsung has accepted that Yura won't return his feelings, until ONE NIGHT when Yura suddenly comes onto him! They f*ck, and Jinsung is left dripping c*m the next day while his 'big bro' gets ready for work, seemingly unable to remember anything that transpired between them! Was it another man entirely who came onto Jinsung? Or was it.... A SPLIT PERSONALITY??

10/10 so far, since this is an ongoing comic, but it has everything I look for in a boys love manhwa: good art, drama, humor, a terrifying man with bags under his eyes, and lots and lots of kinky, borderline CNC sex!

My next favorite read of the week was "Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!" by Yuu Toyota. If the title alone doesn't sell you, you're making a big mistake. Huge.

Adachi (another twink MC) turns 30 while retaining his virginity and discovers a special power: he can now read minds! Much to his surprise, his coworker, Kurosawa, apparently has a THING for him. Every time they get close, Adachi can hear Kurosawa thinking about how cute he is, how sexy he must be under his baggy clothes, how much he just wants to F*CK him, and slowly but surely he warms up to the attention and starts dating Kurosawa.

8/10, and I will definitely continue reading as it publishes! The art is solid, the writing is HILARIOUS, and I'm always a sucker for a cute lil office romance.

Apparently, "Dick Fight Island" by Reibun Ike has been making its way around TikTok, so when my cousin and I stumbled across it in a Japanese bookstore, she MADE me buy it--and I will thank her with my dying breath that she did. This is hands down (dicks down?) the FUNNIEST SHIT I have read in AGES.

The story is set on a remote island populated by a dozen or so different clans. Every year, the clans get together and have one representative battle it out for the title of king. How do they fight, you ask? Well the rules are pretty simple: whoever c*ms first, loses.

When our MC, Harto, returns from studying abroad, he brings a new, surprise technique into the competition: prostate stimulation.

Full of excellent in-jokes for longtime boys love readers, "Dick Fight Island" is a humorous romp with some great, uncensored peen front & center. 10/10 for absurdist comedy.

Probably should have sorted these according to genre, rather than my personal timeline, but there you go! Some great reads from summer vacation 2023.

[jaskiersvalley]

Witchers didn't have daemons, that was a known fact. They were terrifying in their solitude, unfeeling and unaffected. Monsters made to fight monsters, they didn't need part of their soul for that. What the general public didn't know though was that the daemons weren't imprisoned somewhere, nor were they dead. The mages had figured out a way to separate daemon from child and force it into the most unnatural of shapes, another human. It meant two Witchers from a single child and the best part was, neither child nor daemon felt any connection to their counterpart once the process of the trials was complete.

In an effort to make sure full separation was certain and not even a sentimental link remained, daemons and children were separated and trained in different schools. Lambert had arrived at Kaer Morhen, still tripping over unfamiliar human feet and seething at being separated from his human. Over the years he tried to remember his human but, like all Witchers, they were given new names when they got their medallions and Lambert didn't think Luca still went by that name, nor would he be the scrawny kid Lambert remembered him as.

Whenever Lambert met another Witcher, he couldn't help but wonder whether it was his Luca that he was meeting. Though he wanted to believe that there would be a spark some kind of recognition there. He had been a little relieved when he met Letho and there was nothing there between them.

Of course Geralt had to be the first one to find his daemon. The smug bastard had found a bard who told people his daemon was a flea which was just like him; unnoticeable until he causes a nuisance. Most pitied him but Geralt had seen through the charade. He watched the bard without a daemon, curiosity and caution allowed him to permit Jaskier to tag along. The story tumbled out eventually.

"My great grandparents bought me. I was some kind of freak novelty some merchants were selling."

That was all Geralt had needed to hear and he was all but dragging Jaskier back to Kaer Morhen in the winter. Nobody had expected Vesemir's face to close off completely.

"I remember you!" Jaskier said in way of greeting. "You were a dick."

"Julian." The reply was terse and tight.

Lambert got a front view seat to seeing Geralt's face flit through more emotions in one second than he usually did in a whole year. The embrace was tight, Geralt's nose buried in Jaskier's hair.

Jealousy trickled through Lambert's veins. For all he knew, his human was already a dead Witcher. There was no link between Witcher and daemon, the trials severed it all completely so when one died, the other didn't even notice, let alone die from it.

"Why isn't he a Witcher?" Eskel asked, eyes glued to the happy reunion.

"Kaer Morhen needed money. Your cohort, the daemons didn't become Witchers. We sold them to the highest bigger."

Lambert didn't expect Eskel to punch Vesemir across the jaw but he was sure as shit glad he saw it. It meant he didn't need to do it on behalf of Geralt and Eskel. For the first time though, Lambert had an optimistic thought.

"It might mean he's living a happy life somewhere. I mean, look at Jaskier. He's had it better than us."

That was a topic that came up repeatedly over the next few weeks. They dreamed up all sorts of fancy lives Eskel's daemon could have lived, the wonders he would have seen. Through it all, Lambert bitterly wished his daemon could have been anything but a Witcher. Alas, Vesemir rapidly disillusioned him from that idea.

"He's become a Witcher, probably dead by now. And if you met him, you'd probably wish he was."

"Is that so?" Lambert drawled, emptying his tankard with a disappointed sigh. He couldn't believe it was empty again.

"You suffered the same shit fate I did. Your human was trained by Cats. Guxart turned into an utter dick."

The words were muttered darkly and Lambert tried not to take it to heart how much hatred Vesemir oozed. It made him all that much more determined to not go the same way as the bitter old man. Instead, he turned to Geralt with a leer. "So, is it gay or is it masturbation to want to get off with your own daemon?"

To say the table erupted in uproar was an understatement. Geralt was scowling somewhat fierce, arms crossed over his chest in protest. It only egged Lambert on further.

"I think it's incest," he declared with a shit eating grin. "Technically it's part of your family because you have the same parents."

"It's masturbation at most." Geralt was growling and glowering. "Because the daemon was still part of you."

Through it all, Eskel stayed rather quiet. It was only when the other two looked to him for opinion that he leaned forward, propping himself up on the table with a serious crease to his brows.

"I think-" the words were low and measured, "-that as long as everyone involved consents, it's fucking hot is what it is."

"The only thing it is," Vesemir finally butted in, "is a disaster waiting to happen. You don't want to meet your counterparts. Trust me."

Except that only made Lambert all the more keen. He wanted to both prove Vesemir wrong and also have what Geralt and Jaskier seemed to be hurtling towards. So, come spring, he set out with the intent of fulfilling one contract only. It was one that he would pay himself for in emotional fulfilment. He was going to find every Cat he could until he found Luca.

He met Gaetan along his travels who laughed in his face and said he was much more into snakes than wolves. That was an encounter Lambert was more than eager to cut short because he did not want to think about how Letho and Gaetan were oddly complementary. It was also another jolt of bitter jealousy, another Witcher and daemon had been reunited while he was still out there looking for his own. Assuming Luca had survived.

Meeting Guxart was a bit of an accident and Lambert wished he'd not encountered the old Cat. He growled and hissed about his stupid daemon who would probably have turned into a useless pigeon if left alone. There was obviously no love lost between them and Lambert desperately hoped he wasn't going to have the same fate.

Third time lucky, as the saying went. Lambert had trailed the new Cat for a few days, learning his habits and watching him work. There was no ounce of recognition or familiarity. But then again, the last time Lambert saw Luca, they were being dragged away from each other, foreign hands on his rapidly shifting body so his eyes could barely adjust enough to see the screaming, tear filled face of his human. It was quite possibly the worst last image he could have had of Luca.

Satisfied that the Cat wasn't someone Lambert wouldn't want to associate with, he approached in the evening when the campfire was still bright but slowly settling.

"I was wondering when my shadow would make himself known," the Cat said easily enough, barely glancing up from where he was whittling something.

The last two times Lambert had tried to be careful with exploring the idea of the Cat Witcher being his human. He was tired and cut straight to the point.

"Luca?"

By the fire the man froze. It was only luck that meant Lambert could hear the shuddering exhales of someone trying to keep up the façade of calm and collected. Finally, the man set his carving aside and stood with an easy smile that felt like a thousand lies.

"I go by Aiden." It wasn't a reply and Lambert knew it.

"I don't remember my name," he admitted softly, desperately hoping he wasn't about to make an utter tit of himself. "People call me Lambert. But I'm looking for my Luca."

He didn't expect to suddenly have an armful of Witcher clinging to him like their very lives depended on it.

"It's really you!" Aiden sounded close to tears. "You never did have a single name, usually going by Idiot, Pain In The Butt, Menace and so many other equally flattering names."

"Guess that never changed," Lambert laughed wetly. He held Aiden close, wishing he could feel as he used to when they were connected. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

It was just that start of something Lambert never thought he'd have. Easy companionship, shared disdain for the whole Witcher thing, stories upon stories of contracts gone well, gone wrong, or just plain gone. By the time winter rolled round, Lambert was firmly of the opinion that he and Aiden would travel together, fuck the Path and all the teachings about it being lonely. If Geralt could have his bard then they sure as hell could have each other.

Getting to Kaer Morhen, Lambert gleefully had an arm slung around Aiden's shoulder, introducing him to the rest of his family. He especially delighted in the flaring of Vesemir's nostrils as he took in the situation.

"Cats and Wolves don't mix. You of all people should know that."

"And you should know it's my life's mission to prove you wrong, old man," Lambert shot back.

Perhaps the most curious part of the whole winter was that Geralt was already back with not one, but two guests. Jaskier was a known quantity and Lambert greeted him warmly. The other though was a near silent man who watched them through eyes that looked way too old for his body.

"This is Cahir," Geralt said when the man didn't even introduce himself. "We'd heard rumours of a Nilfgaardian without a daemon and went to investigate."

"Not a Nilfgaardian," Cahir grumbled with a half-hearted glare.

It took Lambert a moment to figure out just why Geralt would bring such a man back before his eyes widened in delighted realisation.

"You think that-"

"Mhm."

That was the extent of their conversation because Lambert was cackling in delight. He looked Cahir over with a newfound interest. Young, like Jaskier but so very different in behaviour. As much as they'd wondered about Eskel's daemon's fate, this wasn't one they'd predicted.

Three days later Eskel was leading Scorpion into Kaer Morhen's courtyard. Lambert and Aiden were all but bouncing with excitement, not wanting to miss the moment Eskel met his daemon. In their opinion Geralt was drawing things out and making it less fun by not having them all meet in the stables. Instead, Eskel was allowed to venture into the kitchen in the company of Lambert and Aiden who were vibrating in anticipation.

"Eskel," Geralt greeted him with a warm hug. Jaskier and Cahir were behind him, even Vesemir had ventured out to see what the outcome would be. "It's good to have you home. Allow me to introduce you to Cahir."

The two looked at each other with guarded gazes and Eskel gave a terse nod. It was as anticlimactic as fuck. No recognition, not interest, nothing. Just a slow once over which, if Lambert had thought about it, was pretty much a mirror image of each other, equally considering and closed off.

Despondent, he dragged Aiden off, helping lay the table for a shared meal. Vesemir was quick to follow, there was no way to tell whether he was disappointed or relieved by the lack of drama. Geralt and Jaskier wandered out, oddly deflated. Not two seconds later there was an almighty crash from the kitchen and they were all racing back. Only to turn right around and flee after a glimpse of Cahir pinning Eskel to a wall and kissing him like Eskel was the last gasp of air for a drowning man.

"So, are they?" Jaskier asked, glancing towards the kitchen. Something else crashed and thumped but it was best not to investigate.

After a moment it was Vesemir who tiredly said, "Does it matter? It doesn't seem like they much care."

All in all, Lambert didn't think he cared either. Cahir and Eskel seemed happy enough in their new acquaintanceship, trying to figure out their past could wait, if they even wanted to explore it. Though Lambert had a hard time imagining Cahir as a goat. Over the years he'd heard Eskel lament enough about how his daemon preferred to take the form of a goat.

Regret came the next morning at breakfast when Eskel and Cahir appeared at the table, seemingly indifferent. If the rest of them hadn't see the two almost violently making out in the kitchen before disappearing to a bedroom, they wouldn't have guessed anything had gone on between them.

"Hey Geralt," Eskel called, face passive. "You know the difference between a goldfish and a mountain goat?"

"A mountain goat could live in Kaer Morhen but a goldfish couldn't?"

Eskel rolled his eyes. "No, a goldfish mucks around a fountain."

"And a mountain goat fucks around a mountain," Cahir finished the joke. He and Eskel high fived without looking at each other. Lambert only smacked his head on the table when Cahir continued, "And I am no goldfish."

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Unofficial Fathers

MAIN MASTERLIST

Avengers x Teen!Fem!Reader

Word Count: 5,450ish

Requests: I put two requests together for this one. I hope that it’s okay.

1-What about one with the Avengers and reader (maybe they have super speed???) where the reader is a teenager and super stressed out for whatever reason so the Avengers decide to get them moving by doing something with water (like water guns, balloons, slide, etc) with them. Just like fluff, I think it’d be kinda cute 

2-Can you write an avengers x teen!reader, where she lost function in both of her legs, which makes her really sad and depressed? The others have to help her with everything and she feels bad, so she ends up trying to do things herself, but gets hurt. Maybe steve and tony play a more significant role. Thanks!

Warnings: angst / fluff / paralysis / wishing to have died 

“Hey Speedy!” Tony called over the comms. “You’re up!”

“Finally!” You exclaimed.

The mission had started almost an hour ago, and the plan had been for you to hang out in the quinjet until you were deemed needed. Which annoyed you. Even though you were barely 17, you had been a part of the Avengers for almost 3 years. Longer than even Peter Parker.

Due to some freak accident during the Battle of New York, you somehow ended up with super speed abilities. That’s how Steve and Tony found you almost 3 years old. The two were in the city for meetings and you were zooming around helping people and playing pranks. You thought it would be fun to do something to those two. But before you could do something, Tony and Steve had you pinned to the wall with part of the Iron Man suit. Apparently, their ‘meeting’ was to actually find you and bring you in.

The whole Team was interested in getting to know you very quickly and get you properly trained. Natasha, Clint, Bucky, and Steve handled your combat training personally, while Tony and Bruce tested your abilities and created gear that would help you.

Steve and Tony, though definitely not a couple, took on the role of your parents. You even had begun calling them as such. Steve was Pa and Tony was Dad. They didn’t always agree on exactly how to handle you. But they loved you and that was a step above your real parents, who you didn’t even know.

“Y/N! I need you to get in the building and get anyone and everyone out!” Steve instructed. “As fast as you can! I think the building is going down!”

“You got it Cap!” You responded.

Using your super speed you rushed out of the quinjet and into the building. You zig-zagged through each floor. The first few were empty, but eventually you ran into some people. You quickly helped them out of the building to continue your search. You were almost done with you sweep when you felt the building tremble. You paused, glancing around.

“Kid!” Tony shouted in the comms. “The building is going down. Where are you?”

“Uh… I don’t think you want to know,” you responded.

“Please tell me you’re not still in the building, Y/N,” Steve said.

“I’m sorry, Pa. I’m almost done with my sweep. Just one last floor.”

“No, Y/N! Get out of there now!”

“Just one more floor!” You sped away to get to the last floor.

“I’m on my way to you, Y/N,” Tony said. “Meet me at the Northwest window.”

“Alright. I’m almost—“ 

You suddenly heard a loud cry. You turned to see a little girl huddled up in the corner as the building’s tremor’s worsened. Rushing to the little girl, you barely missed the ceiling caving down and breaking the floor.

“I’m outside the window, kid!” Tony exclaimed. “You need to get here, now!”

“There’s a kid in here!” You retorted, grabbing the little girl. You sped to the window. “You need to take her.” You held her out to Tony. 

“Not without you!”

“Just take her, Dad! Please!”

He quickly took her from your arms. “Don’t do anything! I’ll be right back!”

He flew off and the floor began to crack worse beneath your feet. You knew, even with your super speed, that you wouldn’t be able to make it out of the building without Tony coming for you. When another section of floor collapsed, you knew you needed to get out of there.

“Dad!” You shouted.

“I’m almost there, honey!” He responded. “Just hang on!”

The floor cracked beneath you, sending you falling. You grasped onto the ledge.

“Dad!” You screamed.

“Almost, there—“

“AHHH!”

The building’s roof collapsed, with the rest of the building following. You were pushed down with the debris, screaming.

“Y/N!!!” A multitude of voices screamed over the comms.

But you didn’t hear anything else, because you landed with a thud, hitting your head and blacking out before the rest of the building landed on you.

~~~

“Tony, come take a rest,” Clint urged. “At least drink something.”

You had been stuck under the building for hours at this point, with Tony working non-stop to try and get to you. 

“I can’t,” Tony responded. “My kid’s down there.”

“Scott’s almost here, he’ll shrink down and see what’s going on.”

“I can’t afford to waste a second.”

“Stark, we don’t know if moving any of this will make it worse for her,” Bucky said. “We could just be killing her faster.”

“You don’t think I know that!” Tony spun around. “But she’s the closest thing I have to a daughter! And I’ve already let her down once today.”

“You didn’t let her down.”

“I’m the one who told her to go into the building,” Steve said, everyone able to feel the self blame in his words. “I did this to her.”

“Stop with the blame game here, guys,” Clint interrupted. “Y/N wouldn’t want that. Now, we need—"

“I’m here! I’m here!” Scott yelled, running up with Hope. “Romanoff and Banner got us hooked up to cameras and we brought extra Pym particles so that we can get her out of there.” He briefly made eye contact with Tony and Steve. “We’re going to get her out of there.”

“We’ve got this,” Hope confirmed.

Shrinking, the two quickly got into the rubble. The others rushed over to the screens so that they could hear and see what was going on. It was dusty, that much was clear. But the couple were quick to follow FRIDAY’s leads on where to go. The AI was trying to to its best to sense were you were by heat signatures.

“Miss Y/N should be just below,” the AI informed the two in the debris.

“There she is,” Steve breathed out, seeing your head on the screen. It was clear that blood had been, or still was, coming from somewhere on your head. “Tell us what’s going on guys. What’s her status?”

“She’s breathing,” Hope confirmed. “She’s scratched up, but it looks like the bleeding as stopped.”

“She’s lost quite a bit of blood,” Scott added. He turned, revealing her bottom half, squished under a large piece of cement. “That’s not good.”

“Shit,” Tony whispered. “No.”

“We need to shrink her before the damage gets worse,” Hope said. “Get on the other side of her, Scott.”

“On it,” Scott replied.

“You ready?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Shrink her in 3, 2, 1.” 

Your body was quickly shrunk. Hope and Scott quickly worked together to secure you to Hope.

“Okay, she’s secure,” Scott said. “We’re on our way up.”

“You’re going to want to get everything ready,” Hope warned. “We aren’t going to want to bring her back to normal size without being ready to work.”

“Helen Cho is waiting back at the compound with her team,” Bruce informed. “Natasha and I have the quinjet ready to stabilize her as much as we can on the way.”

“Steve, Tony, you may want to stay away. It’s worse than the camera’s probably caught.”

“Not a chance.” / “Like hell!”

“Hope is right,” Clint said. “Bruce needs to be able to check her out with out you two hovering.” He looked at Bucky, the two seemingly having a silent conversation. They both took a step towards the two other men. “When they bring her out, we can’t have you two going all papa bears.”

“We’re in the quinjet,” Scott informed.

Clint and Bucky were quick. Bucky went for Steve, fighting with him to slow him down. Clint quickly shot an arrow at Tony’s arc reactor, shutting down the suit and effectively locking Tony in it. While that was happening, the others raced to the quinjet, getting it off the ground before the four men could get there.

Scott normalized himself first before helping Hope with herself and Y/N. Natasha and Bruce were waiting, ready to grab you as soon as they could. You were limp in Bruce’s arms, so incredibly so that it scared even the Hulk to his core. He and Natasha worked quickly and efficiently together to do everything they could before getting to the compound.

Back at the site, the four men had slowed down their fighting.

“How could you do that Clint?” Tony asked, clearly hurt as he was able to get his helmet off. “You have kids. You should understand the need to be with them when they’re injured.”

“I do,” Clint replied. “That’s why we knew we needed to stop  the two of you.”

“Whatever happens, it’s going to be hard,” Bucky said. “And they need to be able to fully evaluate her. It was either this or sedation… We’re sorry. We want to be there for her too."

~~~

It was two hours before Cho had finished running all the tests and an hour after that before Tony and Steve could wait at your bedside. You were all bandaged, bruised, and scrapped, but you were alive. That’s all that really matter. The test results had yet to come back, so the men had to try and be patient. You sucked in a breath, alerting the men to the possibility of you waking up.

“Y/N?” Steve softly called. “You there, doll?”

“Pa?” You rasped, head turning towards the sound of his voice while your eyes crept open.

“Hey.” He smiled.

“Hi, kid,” Tony said. 

You turned to look at him. “Dad.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I feel a hundred feet and then a building landed on me.”

“We’re not surprised there,” Steve commented.

“Hey, Y/N,” Helen Cho greeted as she walked into the room with her tablet. “How are you doing? Any unusual pain?”

“Well the drugs you’ve given me are trippy,” you replied.

“Drugs?” She repeated concerned, glancing at Tony and Steve.

“Yeah. I can feel my upper half, but my waist and below are completely numb. What did you give me, doc?”

Helen immediately went to work. She tore off the blankets covering your feet and immediately began running her pen up and down them.

“What’s going on?” You asked, trying to sit up.

“Steve, go get Bruce,” Helen ordered. Steve nodded and rushed out.

You looked at Tony. “Dad? What’s going on?”

“I-I— oh my gosh,” Tony stammered, hand covering his mouth. 

“Dad!”

“We didn’t give you any pain meds, Y/N,” Helen stated.

“What?”

“We wanted to see if there was any damage done, so we didn’t want the pain meds getting in the way.”

“So… I—I… I can’t…” You began hyperventilating. “I…”

“Honey, lay down,” Tony urged, gently pushing you onto the bed. “Breathe.”

“I’m here!” Bruce said, hurrying in with Steve. “We need to get her into the scanner and compare it to the other tests we’ve taken.” 

Helen quickly went to the head of your bed, unlocking the wheels. All of this was scaring you.

“Dad?” You looked at Tony, teary eyed, before looking at Steve. “Pa?” They both grasped one of your hands.

“We’re right here,” Steve said, bringing your hand up for a kiss as Helen and Bruce began to wheel you away.

“You both need to stay here, while we run the scans,” Bruce said.

“No! Please!” You pled, crying.

“I’ll be with you, Y/N. Tony and Steve just need to stay here.”

Bruce and Helen pushed you away as you begged and cried out for Steve and Tony. The rest of the Team rushed into the hallway to see what was happening. They witnessed you being pushed down the hall.

“What the hell is going on?” Sam asked, looking into the room where Tony and Steve had been left. Both men looked distraught, and absolutely heartbroken.

“Steve?” Bucky questioned.

“She… She… I…” Steve couldn’t pull his thoughts together.

“Tony?” Natasha questioned. 

The man fell back into a chair, burying his head in his hands. “She couldn’t feel her legs,” Tony whispered. “She couldn’t feel her legs.”

“She thought they had given her pain killers,” Steve continued, whispering as well.

“Steve, sit down,” Bucky said, moving to help his friend. “You look like you could pass out.”

“I might… she couldn’t feel her legs…”

“She’s going to be alright,” Sam said. “Y/N’s a fighter.”

“Yeah, but… she couldn’t feel her legs…”

~~~

After getting you into the scanner, Bruce and Helen actually gave you drugs to help you calm down. You were asleep almost as soon as they were injected. The two doctors worked together to look over each scan and previously done test. Only to reach the same conclusion each time. You were paralyzed. This brought on a multitude of worries, but the biggest one had to do with your abilities. Would you ever be able to use them again? 

After finding out about the diagnosis, it was the first question to leave Tony’s lips. Tony and Steve were standing outside your med-bay room, Helen and Bruce in front of them. The two doctors sighed, glancing at one another.

“No,” Bruce answered. “She wouldn’t be able to use her abilities again.”

What they didn’t know was that you had woken up just in time to hear Tony ask the question and Bruce answer it. Covering your mouth, you squeezed your eyes shut and tried to stop from sobbing.

“She’s going to need help with everything, especially right now,” Helen continued for Bruce. “She’s going to need to be looked after. And I—“

“We’ll do it,” Steve replied, firmly. “We’re her family, we’ll take care of her.”

“I know that you two—this whole team, sees her as family. But this is going to be a long, hard road.”

“What are you saying?” Tony asked. “That we send her away? She’s almost 17! Who would be willing to adopt her at that age? Especially when we are her family!” He motioned between himself and Steve. “We are her fathers!”

“I understand, Tony. But you need to be prepared. She’s going to need help with the little everyday things. Bathing, getting changed, going to the bathroom. Somebody’s going to need to help her with it.”

“We will,” Steve repeated, still as firm as before. “Whatever she needs, for as long as she needs it. Whether it’s officially legal or not, she is our daughter and we will help her through it all.”

“I can make her braces,” Tony said. “Just like I did with Rhodes.”

“We actually believe that it would be more valuable if she learns to live with a wheelchair first,” Bruce responded. “Just in case anything were to happen with the braces, that she wouldn’t be completely helpless.”

“I agree with Bruce on this one,” Steve said. “She needs to be able to live in a wheelchair before she tries braces.” 

“We will have her in physical and occupational therapy such, so she doesn’t lose all the muscles in her legs.”

Just then, Wanda rushed passed them, heading for your door. “Wanda?” Steve questioned. “What’s going on?”

“The pain,” Wanda replied. “She’s in so much pain.”

Following Wanda into the room, they witnessed you trying to control your emotions. Though it was clear you were upset. Tony and Steve rushed to either side of you.

“It’s okay, honey,” Tony whispered, wiping tears off your cheeks. “It’s okay.”

“N-no…” you rasped, shaking your head. “It’s… n-not…”

“Did you hear what we were talking about?” Steve asked. You nodded. “I’m so sorry, doll. You shouldn’t have had to find out that way.”

You couldn’t stop the sobs at this point. You had just gotten the worse news you could have imagined. You were paralyzed and know unable to use your abilities. In your mind, you were basically useless. 

Steve quickly got into bed with you, pulling you into his arms. As he cradled you, he tried to get you to calm down. He glanced around worriedly at everyone else in the room, who didn’t know how to help.

~~~

“You need to eat, Y/N,” Tony pressed, trying to hand you a plate again. 

“I’m not hungry,” you replied, voice void of all emotion.

You had fallen asleep in Steve’s arms, where the two of you stayed until morning. Tony brought in breakfast while Steve went to get ready for the day.

“You need to eat,” he said again.

“I said, I’m not hungry,” you repeated.

Tony sighed, seating the plate down. “Do you not like waffles? I can have Happy go get something else. A burger? Fries? Ice cream?”

“I want my legs back.”

“Kid—“

“Don’t try to make me feel better about this. You have no understanding about how I am feeling.”

“I wasn’t trying to. I just—“

“Can you leave me alone? I want to be alone.”

Tony knew that you just needed a moment. So without responding, he got up and left, closing the door behind him. He leaned against the wall next to it, running a hand down his face. The guilt he was feeling was real. If only he had grabbed you and the kid, or if he had just flown faster.

“You’re going there too?” Steve asked, coming up to lean on the wall across from Tony. 

“The guilt is real,” Tony responded.

“Yeah… I shouldn’t have had her go into the building. What was I thinking?”

“I shouldn’t have let her convince me to take the kid… but, I guess, feeling this way won’t do her any good now, will it?”

“No, unfortunately, it won’t.” Steve looked at the closed door. “How is she?”

“She refused to eat… I’m thinking about having Happy get all her favorite foods for lunch.”

“Good idea. Maybe we could even try the wheelchair out and bring her to the common area.”

“I like it.”

“I’ll let everyone know about it.”

“Yeah, I—“

“Excuse me, Boss, Captain,” FRIDAY interrupted. “But Y/N is in need of immediate assistance.”

~~~

After Tony left, you huffed. This was miserable. You didn’t want to be stuck in this bed. And, honestly, the longer you sat there, the more you needed to go to the bathroom. You just didn’t want to ask for help, you didn’t want that to be your life. Studying the distance between your bed and the toilet for a few moments, you decided to get there yourself. Besides, they hadn’t tried to stand you up and get you to walk, maybe this was all one big cruel joke.

Taking a deep breath, you flung your covers off. You pushed yourself towards the edge of the bed, helping your legs to rest over it. Other deep breath in and you pushed yourself off the bed, trying to stand. You immediately fell. Trying to brace yourself, you landed on your hands. One of your wrists cracked, failing to break your fall. In the midst of the struggle, your bladder decided to let loose, causing you to lay in a pool of your own pee. You clutched your wrist close to your chest as your door burst open, revealing two extremely worried men. You looked at them, with tears cascading down your cheeks.

“I’m so sorry,” you said. “I just wanted to do something by myself.” They looked at you with complete pity, which you absolutely hated.

“It’s okay,” Steve said, getting on the floor beside you, minding the puddle. He noticed your wrist. “Did you hurt yourself?”

You nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll go run and get you clothes, sweetheart,” Tony said. “Steve will help you into the shower. It’s all going to be okay.” He rushed out.

“No it won’t,” you whispered as Steve scooped you up into his arms. “It will never be again.”

And Steve thought his heart couldn’t shatter more than it already had. As he lifted you, he could practically feel the weight that this was having on you. You wouldn’t look at him as he took you into the bathroom and set you on the shower floor.

“Can I help you undress?” Steve asked.

You inhaled sharply, closing your eyes. This was your life now. Though you could undress yourself, you would always need help, basically be waited on all the time.

“If you want, I can go grab Natasha,” Steve suggested. “Or Wanda. Or, Pepper might even be in today. You love Pepper.”

“I want to be alone,” you mumbled.

“Y/N, I just want to help. Just let me help.”

“And I just want to be alone.” Tears were still falling, though you couldn’t understand how.

“Y/N—“

“Just leave me alone!” You shouted, pushing yourself into the corner.

“What’s going on in here?” Tony asked, bringing in the clothes with Pepper following.

“Leave me alone!”

“Why don’t you guys wait outside?” Pepper suggested. “I’ll help Y/N.”

Steve sighed, straightened up from his kneeled position and hurrying out of there. Tony looked at you sadly before taking his leave. Pepper shut the door and came to your side.

“What do you want me to do?” She asked softly.

“I want to be left alone,” you responded, frustrated and not willing to look her way.

“That’s not going to happen and you know it, Tony and Steve won’t allow it. Those men out there care about you and are so extremely worried. All they want to do is help.”

“I don’t care.”

She let out a small sigh. “Will you at least let me help? We need to get you out of those clothes and washed up. Especially since that wrist needs to get checked out.”

After a moment, you gave in and looked at her. “Okay.”

Pepper smiled at you briefly. “Okay.”

~~~

Apparently, there was already a hairline fracture in your wrist because of the accident. Your fall off the bed didn’t do anything to help it. You had willingly let Pepper help you clean up, but other than that you were still fighting asking for help.

The Team had tried to lift your spirits at lunch out in the common area, but to no avail. After that, you were taken to your regular room, where a twin bed had been added.

“What’s that?” You asked, you hadn’t spoken since the bathroom. 

“Someone is going to stay in here with you until things start becoming normal again,” Steve replied, pushing the wheelchair further into the room. 

“Normal,” you scoffed.

“Buck and I were thinking we could have a movie night today. Maybe try and watch all of the—“

“I just want to sleep.”

“That’s okay too.”

“I would be here too kid,” Tony added, “but Pep and I are working out somethings with the physical therapist.”

“What’s the point of physical therapy? My legs don’t work.”

“It’s to keep your muscles, so that one day you can get braces.”

You nodded, glancing around until you were staring at your tennis shoes on the floor. They were brand new, Stark designed shoes. They were meant to not wear as fast because of your speeding abilities. Your speeding abilities that you could no longer access.

“Can you do something with those?” You asked, pointing at them. 

Both Tony and Steve looked over. They got a tad deflated after remembering how excited you had been about those shoes.

“Yeah, sure, kid,” Tony responded, grabbing them. “I’ll just put them up in your closet. We can—“

“No,” you interrupted. “I want them gone.”

“Y/N—“

“I don’t need any reminders of what I’m now unable to do.”

“Sweetheart,” Tony got down in front of you, “you can still, or will be able to, do a lot. You got lucky.” He immediately regretted his last sentence, even Steve flinch.

“I got lucky? I. Got. Lucky?”

“Y/N, that’s not what—“

“Get the hell out!”

“Hey, that’s not how you talk to your—“

“My what? Father?! Cause you aren’t, remember? Maybe you should take Helen’s advice and give me away! Might make it easier on everyone!”

“You are my daughter, damn it! Whether it’s official or not, or by blood!”

“Y/N, Tony—“ Steve tried to interrupt. 

“No! I actually will say that you got lucky. You did because you have people willing to help you, willing to support you.”

“Well stop!” You shouted back. “Have you ever thought that I don’t want any of your help?! Maybe I think that you should have just left me down there to die! It would have been better that way! I’m basically useless like this!”

“Enough!” Bucky yelled, barging in with Nat. “Steve, Tony, out.”

With a glare sent their way from Nat, the two men didn’t even argue. You were refusing to look at Bucky and Nat. Half embarrassed that you said those things to the men you considered your dads, and half embarrassed that you were believing the terrible thoughts your mind was taunting you with.

Bucky and Natasha looked at each other, unsure of what exactly to do. You let them help you into bed before they left you alone, leaving with a promise to bring food later. 

In the loneliness of your bedroom, you let your thoughts consume you. How you were now useless as an Avenger without being able to have super speed. How you wished they would have just let you die. How you wish they wouldn’t be so helpful, it was driving you crazy. How you really didn’t have any family, you were all alone.

~~~

To respect your boundaries, Tony and Steve decided to let the others help them. No matter how hard it was. It hurt them to see you struggling through everything and not rush to your side. Not that you would let them help, you weren’t letting anyone without putting up a fight.

Steve and Tony had had many talks since they realized you were wishing that you had just died. Tony had made sure that FRIDAY had surveillance on you 24/7 and the Team, besides Tony and Steve, were switching sleeping in your room every night. 

It wasn’t easy on anyone, especially since you were having nightmares about being stuck down in the debris. Someone would wake you from the dream, only to be quickly shut out. The terrors would leave you trembling, sweating, and in a state of panic. But, with you not willing to let people help, the others were forced to watch you struggle with this.

Physical and occupational therapy was a whole other issue. You were rude to the therapists and unwilling to do anything. As the weeks went by, the Team could see the affect it was happening on your legs and they were concerned. Steve and Tony would watch each session from above, angry at the whole situation.

It had been two months since the whole incident, and you still weren’t showing any signs of changing your attitude any time soon.

“Come on, Y/N,” your therapist sighed. “What I’m asking you to do isn’t all that hard. I’m going to do all the work.”

“No,” you stated, determined.

“Y/N—“

“Why don’t you go help someone who’s more able to do things? Maybe someone who will actually get better. I’m sure they’d love your help."

“I can’t watch this anymore,” Tony said to Steve, watching from above. “She’s hurting herself.”

“You know we can’t force her to do anything, Tony,” Steve replied. “We have to let her do this on her own.”

“No, we don’t.” Tony turned around and headed for the room you were currently in.

“Tony! What are you going to do?”

“Use the hate she is harboring towards what happened, towards us, for her benefit.”

Tony burst into the room, causing you and the therapist to jump. You furrowed your brows, confused at what Tony and Steve could possibly be doing here.

“Hand me your leg, Y/N,” Tony demanded.

“What? No,” you responded.

“Hand me your damn leg!”

“No!”

“Fine!” Tony marched over and picked you up from your wheelchair.

“Put me down!” You tried to push off Tony. “Let me go!”

“Tony!” Steve called. “What are you doing?”

“It’s time for some tough love,” Tony responded. He set you down, not gently, on a therapy table. He grabbed your leg and began doing the exercises.

“Let go of me!” You demanded, trying to reach and pry him away, but failing. 

“No! Don’t you see what you are doing to yourself? What you’re doing to those around you?! You are miserable and you are making others miserable! Yes, what happened to you was absolute shit. Trust me, Steve and I will have that guilt with us for the rest of our lives. But it’s up to you to decide how to come out of this. You ever fight to live, fight to find the new normal, or you let yourself whither away. And I’m not about to let that last one happen.”

“You may think you’re alone in this, but you aren’t,” Tony continued. “Steve and I, the Team, we all want to help you through this. Even if that means sticking with you for life.”

During Tony’s whole thing, you had began crying. He was right, you were making yourself and everyone around you miserable.

“I’m sorry,” you cried out. “I’m so sorry… I just… I just wish…”

“I know, honey, I know,” Tony said, moving to pull you into his chest. You melted into him, crying. He placed a kiss on your head. “I’ve got you… I’ve got you.”

“Don’t leave me, Dad.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Steve came over and grabbed one of your hands, gently kissing it. You gave his hand a squeeze.

“I’m sorry, Pa,” you croaked.

“It’s okay,” Steve replied with a tiny smile. “No need to apologize. Just please don’t say that you would have rather died again. I don’t think I could take it if you did.”

“If I died or said it again?”

“Both.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“Will you guys… uh, will you guys help me with my exercises?”

“Of course, honey,” Tony replied. “But maybe Steve should do the other leg, because I think I wore myself out.”

Steve stood. “I’ll exercise that leg better than you could, Stark,” he commented.

“Oh, you’re on, Rogers.” Tony swiftly stood up.

“Great,” you muttered. “Now this is going to be a thing.”

~~~

Now that you were accepting help, things were beginning to look up again. Not that things weren’t hard, but they were better and you could handle it all better. The Team had decided to celebrate, but wouldn’t tell you how. Wheeling your wheelchair into the common area, you found it pitch black.

“FRIDAY,” you called out to the AI, “can I get some lights?”

“Of course,” the AI responded.

The lights came on and suddenly you were being pelted with water from squirt guns. The Team came out of their hiding spots, laughing, as they continued to fire at you.

“Guys!” You squealed, trying to shield yourself. “Guys! St-stop!”

“Never!” Sam exclaimed as he made his way closer to you.

“Here,” Peter said, lowering himself from the ceiling. “Take this.” He offered you a large gun. “Save yourself.”

You laughed as you began to fight back. Suddenly, you were pulled backwards by both Steve and Tony, who were trying to use you and the chair as protection.

“They’ve turned against us!” Tony exclaimed.

“Help us, Y/N!” Steve added.

You couldn’t stop laughing as you, Tony and Steve worked together to try and defeat the others. The Team couldn’t stop smiling as they watched you act so happy. It was so refreshing. After the common room was all but turned into a pool, the Team decided to change and then meet down in the movie room to relax for the night. When Y/N had arrived down there, Tony and Steve had saved a place between them.

“Can I help you onto the couch?” Steve asked.

You responded with a nod and let Steve pick you up, wrapping your arms around his neck. He carefully guided you through the maze of lodging teammates to the spot him and Tony had chosen on the couch.

“Thanks Pa,” you said as he set you down. You pulled your legs up close to you.

“Not a problem,” he smiled, sitting down beside you.

Tony spread a blanket over you guys. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Of course,” Tony responded, leaving a little kiss on your forehead.

You curled up against Tony as Steve moved your legs to rest over his lap, allowing him to massage them. FRIDAY quickly turned on your favorite movie. You glanced around, taking in everyone around you, and you couldn’t be more grateful. Though your life was going to continue to have its challenges, you were glad you had found this family.

Part 2

[doctorofmagic]

My thoughts on What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

The very title of the episode sends a shiver down my spine. And this is where we’re going to start.

~ long post under the cut ~

A year ago, I wrote this post as an attemp to dive into one of the most important traits in Doctor Strange’s personality: love. Stephen is a being made of love, made to love, no matter which interpretation you have when you watch Infinity War. If you don’t read comic books, you’ll understand the moment you meet Donna. You’ll begin to understand how her death reshaped his entire subjectivity out of fear of failing, being powerless and unable to control everything around him (especially death), thus the arrogant and yet a disaster of a man we all know.

Where do I even start? Stephen loved her sister deeply and felt responsible for her death. And then, slowly, he also lost his parents and his brother. He fell in love with Clea but he also pushed her away. He loved Zelma platonically and lied to her, which was enough for them to break their bond. He felt attracted to Kanna but screwed things up, even though they remain friends. He was forced to kill the Ancient One, the only father figure he had ever since his father died. And lastly, the only person who would never leave his side... also left. Yes, even Wong. Stephen has SO much love to give but he’s also afraid because he’s cursed. He truly believes his love in poison. And would you look at that? What If really delivered a story where this is actually true.

What If Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

The level of understanding when it comes to the character is... inconceivable. What could possibly reshape Stephen into following a dark path but love? The very premise of the whole episode. This is so much more than a love letter. This is literally too much, in all senses.

Fine, let’s begin.

What if the best of intentions has very strange consequences?

No. You used the word “strange” for the pun but this is not the word. Nah-ah. I’d go with ATROCIOUS, for starters. Things are gonna escalate so quickly, my friends.

Seriously, tho? Christine is SO SO SO SO beautiful, they’re so cute together. I have this feeling that MCU!Stephen was quite toxic because of his arrogance and this is why they didn’t work out. But WhatIf!Stephen???????? He’s always praising her, teasing her in a healthy way, respecting her and listening to her. HE TRULY LOVES HER, I’M GONNA CRY ALL OVER AGAIN, PLEASE, NOT THE CRÈME BRÛLÉE, PLEASE

I’m going to leave this shot here because we need to go back to it later. Hold that thought.

And bonus points to “Yeah, well, I would call that quite remarkable.” / “Well, I would say the same about you.”

GODS. THE PAIN. STOP THE PAIN.

So in this reality, Stephen didn’t caused the car accident because he was checking his phone while driving. Also it was not the reckless attempt to pass the truck. Well, maybe it was the consequence of this act? The fact is, the car behind them loses control, which makes them crash. Does it matter? We’ll learn later that no, it doesn’t.

And yep... Christine dies. Have you noticed the shattered heart? Ah, the pain only gets better and better.

Again, Stephen blames himself. More than anything, this is so important because Stephen is all about guilt. We still need to meet Donna so we can add yet another layer of guilt. But the feeling exists. This is what corrupts Stephen’s heart and soul in all his iterations. This is what makes him the character I love so much. I love this SO. MUCH. In addition, his stubbornness to accept his condition. Man won’t take a no. This, this is Doctor Strange in character. Stop complaining about NWH Stephen, it’s pathetic.

Okay, “grief-stricken”, Stephen found the Mystic Arts and became a sorcerer. That’s when he learned about the Time Stone, the Eye of Agamotto and Dormammu. Nothing changes, he saves the universe. But time does not heal his deepest wound.

I love Wong so much. Every time Wong does something, the world is healed. Really. We’re going back to him as well but for now I’ll just leave this shot.

BUT STEPHEN, DOING SOMETHING RECKLESS? HE’D NEVAH

Aaaaaaaannnnnnd then he did.

He goes back in time. It’s been two years since he lost Christine. I think he reacted pretty nicely, despite the circumstances. Now let’s go back to that shot I said I was saving for later.

Stephen is so light-hearted here. Also, during the first time he lost Christine, he had no idea what “The Price is Right” was. He knows now, which means he probably tried to learn more about the show because of her, because of grief. HAHAHA MORE PAIN

AND THEN HE

AND THEN SHE DIES AGAIN

AND THEN HE KEEPS GOING BACK IN TIME

AND SHE KEEPS DYING

AND THE MUSIC

AND HIS VOICE

AND HE TRIES TO CHANGE FATE BUT IT CAN’T BE AVERTED

HE EVEN TRIES TO STAY AWAY FROM HER LIFE BUT SHE DIES ALL THE SAME, WHY

AND EVERY TIME THEY CRASH, HE FEELS THE PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL PAIN AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN, WHY

I’M-- *ugly sobbing noises*

Apparently, not.

And this scene when he simply... closes his eyes before she dies again...?

This is where this episode had me in endless tears. It got me the four times I watched it. I’m dead serious.

Okay, so, next the Ancient One appears to Stephen, explaining that Christine’s death is an Absolute Point in time. It cannot be changed. Stephen needs the accident to become the Sorcerer Supreme and defeat Dormammu.

And this is where Stephen starts his journey into darkness. “Nothing is impossible, you taught me that. I only require more power.” Disobeying the Ancient One, Stephen then travels in time, seeking the Library of Cagliostro. Now, if you’re not aware of that, Cagliostro was a sorcerer who studied time in comics, and later became Sise-Neg (there’s a recent post on this because of the new Defenders run). It’s funny to think that Sise-Neg also destroyed the world when he became a god, however he grew past his pettiness and remade reality. Stephen did not possess such power, as we’re about to see.

PS: “Stop torturing yourself, Stephen.” Naur but he should use this line like a mantra. Especially comics!Stephen.

Not gonna lie, tho. This place reminds me of the Temple of the Vishanti from T&T (of course I was going to insert T&T somewhere, it’s me).

And of course they’d go for a pun with his name haha. I don’t know how to feel about this, tho. I feel like the episode is too heavy and dark for comedy. But it is what it is.

Okay but why some books are in cages??????????? And wow, it seems Cagliostro also gathered knowledge about several fields of magic.

And then Stephen learns that, in order to break an Absolute Point, he needs to absorb more power. This is when I went “oh-oh, here we go”.

And for real, is this Shuma-Gorath? Why are they keeping his name a secret? Is this the same creature from the first episode with Captain Carter, right? RIGHT? It has to be Shuma-Gorath.

Of course he tries to be polite and ends up all hurt haha. O’Bengh warns him about love but he will not listen. “Love can break more than your heart. It can shatter your mind.”/ “Is she worth the pain?”. Please, this is Stephen. He eats pain for breakfast.

Also, also, let’s take a break. We’re finally going to get monsterf0cker tentacle-lover Stephen Strange. It will cost us everything but here we goooooooooooo (yes, I went frame by frame for your more obscure fanservice needs)

Gods, I love this sequence so much it hurts. Okay, here we go.

Shmebulock???????????

AND HE STOLE THE CAPE??????????? AND DREW THE LINE ON BUGS??????

The grasp this man is holding on me right now...

Some of you will understand. I’m with you.

And here are the grostesque ones. These are hard to take SS but I had to.

Animation, sound effects, OST? CHEF’S KISS TO ALL

And lastly... the tentacles. Yeah, if you’re new... this is a thing.

Fanservice. Fanservice everywhere. (low-key the reason I also waited to write this review, I wanted to enjoy this part so badly but I was too sad for that lmao)

Okay so. O’Bengh is suddenly OLD and DYING, until we realize that Stephen spent CENTURIES absorbing mystic beings. CENTURIES. WTF STEPHEN. He had nothing in mind but the goal to save Christine. And people wonder why he went insane???? I’m sorry, O’Bengh, but I can’t take you serious when you still call Stephen Sorcerer Armani. Oh, and also because you watched him absorb beings for centuries in silence lmao. But I guess I have to because you said that Stephen is split in two since the Ancient One cast a spell on him, splitting the timelines and making them exist in the same reality before he could travel back in time. I know, it’s complex. Anything for the plot.

And now good!Stephen has an evil!twin who wants to absorb him back in order to become whole and break the Absolute Point. Cool.

I said I wanted to talk more about Wong because I think people are not talking about him enough. Wong is so important in this episode. He’s the one who’s trying to heal Stephen after Christine. He’s Stephen’s anchor.

Also, THEY FINALLY USED A SPELL WITH THE NAME OF THE VISHANTI. HOORAAAAY

So, for the sake of our understanding, I’m addressing the characters as evil and good!Stephen. Let’s go. Evil!Stephen summons good!Stephen and gods, he still holds such a strong grasp on me... unbelievable. THE DEEPER VOICE BENEDICT USES???? PLEASE, DIDN’T WE HAVE ENOUGH?

Imagine his strength to hold so many beings inside him, fighting to control him. BRO, THIS IS TOO TOO MUCH

Fine, I’ll not post SS about the fight because I’d be here all night long but I WILL say this: NOT CLOAKIE!!!!! NAAAAAAAAAAUR

Also if you ask me if I recognize any of the spells? Maaaaybe the Flames of Faltine, the not-so-crimson Bands of Cyttorak and a little trick Magik does with her portals. That’s how far I go.

I’ll not comment on the “seducing yourself to stay in the trap”. I will not. I’ll just say that the first person Stephen thought of when “Christine” was talking about the crème brûlée was Wong. That’s it.

And finally evil!Stephen absorbs good!Stephen and releases... UNLIMITED POWER (I love when the stone goes red as if it was bleeding aaaaaaa)

I can fix him...

This scene here? Poetic cinema. (I love his wings so much)

And when Stephen says her name and the other monsters’ voices echo “Christine”, AAAAAACKKKK

AND OF COURSE CHRISTINE WOULD FREAK OUT, BRO. LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE BECOME BECAUSE OF YOUR TWISTED LOVE. I’M NOT DOING FINE.

Oh, but it’s too late anyways because Stephen broke reality haha. This scene is interesting because Stephen is the only one who sensed and/or talked to the Watcher until now. I read an interview that the Watcher kinda showed up but it’s also about Stephen’s keen senses. Bit of both, let’s say. Still, man, 616-Watcher is not that cold. 616-Watcher would watch this and say “how about I intervene anyway?”. WhatIf!Watcher is brutal.

The way Christine looks at Stephen one last time also KILLS ME, DESTROYS ME, BREAK ME INTO A MILLION PIECES.

And this is where my soul left my body.

This is how they end the episode. This is how you leave me speechless and with teary eyes. This is how you give me a whole existential crisis.

This... this was brutal to watch. Really.

What can I say after this? I’m used to reading painful things when it comes to Stephen. Aaron’s and Cates’ runs are heartbreaking on so many levels. Hickman’s New Avengers is not easier. Coincidentally, What If? Magik Became Sorcerer Supreme and The End. And now Death of Doctor Strange. And yet, after everything I’ve been through, I’d never expect to watch something so brilliant, so tragic, so heartbreaking and unexpected in the MCU. Never. This is top tier content and this is my favorite character with SO MANY LAYERS and SO MUCH UNDERSTANDING. I can’t put into words how meaningful this whole episode is to me, or how deep it touched my heart and soul.

I’ve been struggling to find the proper words since then, I still can’t. All I can add is, I cried for the 4th time now. This is too, too much, even for Stephen stans. Even for the ones who are used to pain, regardless of which media you’re into: comic books, live actions or animated movies. This is literally more than I can take and yet I’m so, so grateful. The voice acting, gods, how did Benedict manage to create a better Stephen than the one he’s literally playing in real life???????????? HOW

This episode really took the max potential Stephen had to offer as a character, added tons and tons of layers based on his grief, depression, arrogance and need to control everything and created a tragic masterpiece. In 7 years of being a Doctor Strange fan, I've never read or watch something that could go this deep into the character. The closest I can think of is Mr. Misery and the metaphor of Stephen's depression. This is a whole new level of respect and understanding. This is more than a love letter. This is peak maestry. It’s perfect, it’s heartbreaking, it’s... gods, I can’t.

Sorry for dragging you until this far. Before I wrap up this review, I just wanted to remind you all that Stephen will appear again, he will smile again, he will be surrounded by people again. So this is not the end. It was painful but be brave. We still have a few more steps to take.

[multifandhoem]

server collab || ii

Server Collab from the Haikyuu HQ server with the prompt: “Guess I‘ll just have to cum inside you.“

The masterlist for the whole collab is here!

Genre: fluff, smut

Warnings: slight SPOILER (it‘s really really small), smut obviously, little bit of public stuff if you count it as such, slight breeding kink, wedding sex, lot‘s of fluff

Word count: 3292

“I still remember when Iwa-chan told me, how he embarrassed himself in front of a cute girl and hoped he would never see her again to not relive the existential dread he felt at that moment. And then he told me he met her again and she laughed over the mishap and they were going to get coffee next week.”

-*-*-*-*-*-*

“I am so sorry.” His face was red, head bowed down in embarrassment, but you could still see it at the tip of his ears.

“It’s okay, it wasn’t like you were a stalker or something.” You were giggling a bit at the state he was in. “On top of that it is kinda my fault, I should’ve closed the curtains or something.” He slowly raised himself again, face still scrunched up in discomfort. He really looked like he was in horrendous pain and it was kinda your fault. “Please don’t beat yourself up over it. I’ll treat you to coffee, to make you feel better, when are you free?”

Maybe the fact that he was a looker made you act a bit more open towards him than usual, but you genuinely felt bad for him. He was obviously beating himself up over that accident a couple of days ago.

You had realised fast that you could look from your window right into the room on the other side of the street, which was why you invested in curtains pretty early. But apparently, you had forgotten to close them this time, so when you turned around shirtless and made eye contact with a man, you were both equally surprised. He looked mortified and you couldn’t even blink when he suddenly dropped to the floor, now hidden from your wide eyes.

Your body reacted, even though he probably couldn’t see you anymore, shielding your breasts with one arm, the other hastily closing the curtains. After the initial shock wore off you couldn’t help but giggle a bit. Why did he just drop to the floor? He could’ve turned around or something.

-*-*-*-*-*-*

Next to you, Hajime buried his face in his hands, but the large grin that had adorned his face for the whole evening was still there. Tooru waited a bit until the laughter calmed down until he continued.

“When I came back from Argentina for a visit she was already his girlfriend of five months. And when I saw Iwa-chan I knew that she would probably stick around for longer. You know, Iwa-chan is a very violent person-“ “Only towards shitty people!” You knew he couldn’t have let that jab just go by, but Tooru professionally ignored him.

“but with her, he was very soft, always touching her in some way. Sometimes touching too much. Don’t think we forgot the trip to the cabin!” He scoldingly wiggled his finger towards you, accompanied by Makki’s and Mattsun’s affirming but still scandalised shouts.

-*-*-*-*-*-*

“We gotta be quick, Haji.” His lips were hot on your collarbones, fingers already dipping under your shirt, quickly pulling it over your head. “I know, they will wonder where we are.”

You had excused yourself for a second from the movie the others had put on. It was the first time this day where there weren’t two other people in the room with you, everybody being huddled in the living room of the small cabin where you resided for the weekend. With two bedrooms shared between the six of you and one big room that functioned as kitchen, living and dining room, there was never space for some alone time, which you were desperate to have after your boyfriend strutted around you shirtless the whole day. It should be illegal for someone as fine as he was to do such things.

Foreplay had to be postponed for the next time, you had little time until the others would grow suspicious. “No need, I can take you.”

You pulled his fingers out of your entrance, desperate to just feel his cock in you. He chuckled at your eagerness, pushing his sweatpants down until his cock sprung free, already hard and leaking. Apparently, you weren’t the only sexually frustrated one.

“Fuck,” you breathed out when he buried himself in you with one stroke.

“Quiet, baby.” His lips found yours stifling your small moans as he began moving his hips.

Breathless gasped and small moans soon filled the room, occasionally accompanied by the sound of skin slapping, when Hajime couldn’t stop his hips before they met yours. “I’m close,” you whimpered as he began rubbing your clit and he shot you a breathless smile and pressed a small kiss to your lips. “Bite something when you come,” he said quietly, thrusts becoming a bit more erratic.

“Disgusting!” Loud banging on the door interrupted you and Hajime let out a string of curses. “If you already know then don’t go interrupting, Shittykawa!” Not having to hide anymore his hips finally snapped into yours, using the full capacity of his strength to make you moan against his shoulder.

Unfortunately, the orgasm you experienced didn’t lessen the embarrassment when you faced the others again.

-*-*-*-*-*-*

It was your turn to hang your head in shame, trying not to meet your parents’ eyes, who were seated next to you. Or worse, Hajime’s parents.

Tooru chuckled at your misery, before continuing.

“To be honest, I wasn’t that surprised when Iwa-chan called me and told me he would send me pictures of rings and I should help him decide. He obviously forgot timezones since it was 2am for me and I first thought somebody had died, but after promising to make me best man I obviously forgave him.” The guests laughed again and Tooru took a well-rehearsed break.

“I don’t think I have seen Iwa-chan as nervous as when he was rehearsing his proposal through me via Skype. I told him it was good, even though he was a stammering mess. But the thing about those two over there is that they calm each other down. So I knew, when the moment would come, everything would go swimmingly. I saw the way they looked at each other, there was no way she would say no.”

-*-*-*-*-*-*

“What are you planning?” You were chuckling, when Hajime lead you through the small house on the outskirts of Tokyo you two had purchased together when it was safe that he was staying in Japan with his work. “Let me surprise you, woman, and stop asking.” You could hear the amusement in his voice and it made your heart bloom. After all these years together he still made you feel like you were going on your first date. And he probably always would.

“Small step, be careful.”

You felt the ground changing from the hardwood floor to a rougher and colder one, showing you that you were now outside on the small terrace. You didn’t have to wonder for long, what he was planning when he carefully pulled the blindfold off your face. The first thing you saw was him.

But it was enough. He was smiling at you, his eyes radiating love. You couldn’t help but snaking your arms around his neck, to press a kiss to his lips. “You look so handsome. I love you.”

Hajime in a suit was something you had the pleasure of seeing a couple of times, but it still caught you off guard how someone could look this good.

“You haven’t even looked around, idiot,” He chuckled but still laid his arms around you to tug you towards him to kiss you again. After that he still forced you to turn around, to take a look at what he conjured in the last couple of hours.

The small garden you had behind your house was completely transformed, fairy lights making the faint evening glow even more magical.

“It’s beautiful.” The words were soft, Hajime wouldn’t have heard them if he wasn’t standing this close to you. “All for you, baby. I love you. I just thought, maybe we could sit on the blanket, maybe drink a bit of wine and just talk, you know?” His voice was laced with nervousness, even if he wasn’t even sure why. He knew you would like what he did. He went through your Pinterest boards and they were loaded with fairy lights, clinking classes, kisses shared under the faint glow. “That sounds perfect. What’s the occasion? I haven’t forgotten anything, right?” He laughed out loud at your nervousness. “No, babe, you haven’t. I just wanted to do something for you.”

His smile was so pure, filled with raw emotion, you had to kiss him again, putting as much passion as possible into the kiss. “Thank you, Hajime. I love you so much. I can’t believe I got so lucky.”

Your eyes were a bit wetter than usual and you hastily blinked the tears away, smiling at your boyfriend, ready to have a magical evening.

He really had everything prepared. Next to the blanket, a small cooler with a bottle of rosé laid, together with two glasses for you. His phone played soft instrumental music in the background, as you settled yourself against his chest, occasionally sipping at your wine, reminiscing about the past years, wishing for the future ones.

“Hey, move for a second, my leg’s fallen asleep.” A small tug of his leg under you made you sit up, while he fixed his posture, both of you now sitting upright in front of each other.

“Sorry, about that. Do you want to stand up for a bit to move it?” His eyes twinkled with amusement as he tugged you back down when you already wanted to stand up.

A shaky breath escaped him. So this was it. “Y/N, baby, I love you. So much, you can’t even imagine. You’ve been with me for the past couple of years and I honestly can’t wait for the future, if you’re by my side.” He paused for a second, hand slipping into his pocket. “Hajime.” Tears were already welling up in your eyes before he even managed to pull the ring out of his pocket, that he and Tooru had chosen so diligently a couple months prior.

“Will you marry me?”

-*-*-*-*-*-*

“Those two, right there, are a great couple if I’ve ever seen one. I actually can’t imagine a better partner for my Iwa-chan. Hajime. I’ve seen you grow up. I’ve been growing up alongside you and, dare I say, we’ve both become pretty great.” Tooru chuckled a bit, but everyone could hear his voice wavering, as his eyes were fixated on his best friend.

“I can’t express how happy I am, to still have you in my life, to now seeing you maturing into this great man who is inspiring others in everything he does. Seeing you enter this new part of your life, with this great woman in my life warms my heart. And you deserve nothing less. A toast to you. A toast to your future, Mr. and Mrs. Iwaizumi.” He raised his glass to you, a big smile on his face.

If he weren’t sitting right across from you, you would’ve missed the small tears rolling down his face. The guests around you all raised their glasses to towards you, everyone touched by Tooru’s speech.

But nobody came close to Hajime, who was clenching your hand in his’ tightly, tears welling up in his eyes, before he strode over to his friend, tightly embracing him.

You couldn’t hear what words were exchanged as tears fell and people smiled at the pair. Every guest at your wedding knew about Hajime and Tooru. The best friends, the best partners, who have been with each other since they were about five years old. Who only see each other every couple of months, partners technically becoming rivals.

When your husband came back to you his eyes were puffy, some tears still escaping, but the happiest smile on his face. Tooru hugged you too, wishing you good luck for your future, making a small joke about becoming an uncle again and telling you, once again, to take care of his best friend, his brother.

“I’m so happy to be your wife.” Hajime kissed you at your words but you still knew that he was equally as happy as you were. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily now,” you joked, relishing in the laughter that escaped him.

“As if I would ever want that. I’m going to put some kids in you as soon as possible. And then we have a little family. Maybe even a big family. Whatever you want.” He kissed you again and you couldn’t help but smile at the picture of him with kids in your head. More importantly, your kids. “About that.” You leaned into his side, grateful for the minutes you had at the edge of the room. “I’ve been thinking, maybe stopping my birth control? I mean we don’t have to start trying and stuff, but we’re married now and we’ve been together for a while, and we talked about it already, and-“ You were cut off with a passionate kiss, Hajime even dipping you slightly as he practically devoured you.

“Do you mean that? Do you really mean that?” You could only nod, a wide grin on your lips as you cupped his face in your hands to bring his mouth to yours again. “Fuck, I love you. I can’t wait to fuck you today.” Heat shot through your stomach at his words and his kisses did nothing to soothe it.

“Hajime.” You really didn’t intend for his name to sound like such a whimper. But when he growled against your lips you knew you were done for. “The bridal room. Where I got ready. Let’s go.”

You felt like a schoolgirl sneaking around again, when you were rushing through the halls of the venue, hand in hand with your new husband, giggling around, until you finally closed the door behind you, being pressed against the same one in an instant, a breathless Hajime resting his forehead against yours.

You were whispering ’I love you’s to each other for the probably thousandths time this day, but it wasn’t like you were growing tired of it anytime soon. “You gotta be careful about the dress, I don’t wanna have cum stains somewhere,” you reminded him as he was flicking up your skirt, already sinking to his knees.

“Guess I’ll just have to cum inside you.” You giggled in excitement at his statement, soon leading into a moan, when he buried his face between your lower lips, thong pulled to the side, his tongue expertly doing all the things he found out about you the years before.

“Fuck, Hajime.” Your fingers thread themselves in his hair, tugging him closer.

He took one of your legs in his hand, tugging it over his shoulder and digging even deeper between your legs, using the fingers of his other hand as well, to insert two of them into your dripping cunt. “Haji, I’m coming,” you whimpered, clamping onto him.

“Wait for my cock.” The years of never neglected training came in handy, when he stood up, with you in his arms, to seat you on the small table, that was probably just in the room for decorating purposes. You shrieked a bit at how fast everything was happening, but you kind of agreed with him.

The first time you should come as husband and wife should be with him deep inside you.

He dropped his suit pants to his ankles and you could feel yourself clench with excitement. “Ready, baby?”

“Yes, please, Haji.” You pulled him towards you again to connect your lips, moaning into his mouth when he rubbed his dick up and down your folds, coating himself in your arousal.

It’s weird to explain what you felt the moment he pushed himself inside you. You had sex lots of times. But in that moment you felt more complete than you ever did.

You stayed like that for a couple of seconds, connected in the most intimate way possible, before his hips snapped back and into you again, eliciting a moan of both of you.

“Honestly, fucking you in your wedding dress is hot as fuck.” He laughed breathlessly, kissing you again, all while not halting his thrusts.

“Think about me pregnant with your kids,” you purred in his ear and squeaked in delight when his next thrust was harder than before.

“Don’t get me started. You’re going to look so good pregnant. All round and cozy.” His speed grew more erratic and you knew he would come soon.

“Fuck, we gonna start soon, right?” Your fingers clenched in his shirt, pushing him closer to you, chasing your own high.

“We’re starting right now, baby.” He kissed you again, hand moving down to rub your clit again, chuckling at the little whimpers you let out.

“Haji-“ You didn’t need to say more, he already knew, what you wanted to tell him.

“Go on, baby.” You kissed again, moans mixing in your mouths, as his tongue caressed yours, the slight taste of your juices still left on them. Every time his cock hit that one part you had to suppress a small scream, only slightly moaning in your husband's mouth.

“Can’t wait for tonight. Gonna fill you- ah- up again and again. And then you can be as loud as you want. Fuck. Gonna take my time with you.”

The filth he muttered against your lips only made you clench down harder onto his cock, feeling your high approaching rapidly. It was him coming, his cum spurting into you, which finally sent you over the edge, legs wrapping around him, bringing him even closer to your body, completely engulfing him, dead set on never letting him go.

Heavy breathing filled the room, as you both came down from your high. Small kisses were being exchanged, I love you’s were mumbled. But it was still perfect.

“I’m already anticipating tonight,” you mumbled, slightly exhausted due to moaning so much, making him chuckle, while his hands calmingly rubbed up and down your sides.

When he pulled out of you, you moaned again at the feeling of his cum slowly dribbling out of you.

“This looks so good. You look so good.” Hajime’s eyes were focused on the spot between your legs, fingers twitching to push it back inside.

“Don’t let it go on the dress!” You shrieked, chuckling at the way he darted to get a paper towel, carefully wiping you down.

“You alright, baby?” He helped you down from the table after pushing your thong back in place and fixing up his suit pants.

“Yeah. I love you. You made me the happiest woman alive, today, you know that?” The smile he threw your way at your words made your heart bloom. You were so in love with this man.

“Now, brace yourself for the comments.” You intertwined your fingers again, going back down the hallways to rejoin your guests at your reception. “You think somebody noticed something?” Your hands grew sweaty at the thought. Hopefully, nobody suspected a thing. Especially not his parents. Or worse, the grandparents!

“Tooru will have noticed for sure. You know how he is. If we’re lucky he hasn’t told Makki or Mattsun.” Hajime seemed way to relaxed at the thought, only shrugging his shoulders, ditching your hand to throw his arm around your shoulder and pull you into his side.

“I love you.” He pressed a kiss to your temple and you could feel he was smiling.

“I love you, too.”

No matter what was going to happen once you got back, this was still the best day of your life.

[winterdrag0n]

Treasure - Part 14

Pairing: Bucky x Fem!Reader; Steve x Fem!Reader

Chapter Summary: Steve lost his parents but not their legacy and kindness, he's learning to be happy again. And his happiness includes your existence in his life.

Chapter Warning: None (some fluff and angst)

18+ Only! The series contains other trigger warnings such as mention of rape and unhealthy coping mecanism. Please DO NOT consume this content if you’re uncomfortable!

Word Count: 4.5K

[Treasure Masterlist]

XIV. Steve: Everything in my power

When Steve lost his Dad six month ago suddenly from an accident, he had a hard time accepting it. He was too angry, too tired, too overwhelmed to properly grieve. (How does someone grieve properly anyway?) Losing his Dad was his first experience of grievance. Sure, he lost his grandfather when he was nine years old, but his grandpa lived a long and wonderful life and his parents were there to go through it with him.

When Steve lost his Mom (she left peacefully in her sleep, people said she died of a broken heart and loneliness), somehow it was easier to accept. Being an only child, Steve had always doted on his Mom from the moment he was born, but the past three months were probably the closest he’d ever been with her, they had a lot of open and meaningful conversation.

Sarah Rogers told her son that life is a collection of moments, glued into one. And when the love of her life, Joseph died, the moments were frozen and they became memories. Her relationship with her husband didn’t end on the fateful day of the accident, her soul was still feeding from those memories, sometimes it was good memories, sometimes it was bad memories but all of them were part of the life they’d shared together.

It was the same funeral home, the same guests who came to express their condolences, the same pastor who did the service, the same black suit that Steve wore, the same cemetery. Sarah Rogers was buried beside the love of her life. But it was late spring, the sun was out and the flowers were blooming, it wasn’t snowing like when Steve buried his Dad. Steve was warm, not only from the weather, but from the feeling because he knew that his mother would no longer be cold alone at night, that six months was the longest she could tolerate sleeping without her husband by her side.

“Mom, how do you know Dad was the one?” Steve was sipping coffee one afternoon. His Mom sat beside him in the backyard.

“Hmm… That’s a deep one, Stevie.” Her mom smiled at him. “I need more than one cup of coffee for this kind of conversation.”

Steve chuckled, Sarah’s hand reached out to stroke her son’s messy blonde hair. “Is this about your break up?” As usual, Sarah Rogers read between the lines, especially when the lines came from her son.

“Well… I think I screwed up with her. And what if she’s the one. How do I know if she’s the one?”

“I think everyone deals with love and partnership differently, Stevie. What worked for me and your Dad may not work for you, so there is no really one secret recipe. But…”

“But…?”

“You can always try, right? You try and you fail and then you try again. Sometimes you stop trying and sometimes you don’t. With Joe, I just never stopped trying. We didn’t give up on each other, no matter how hard it was.” Sarah picked her cup from the table and sipped it slowly, she put it back and smiled fondly at Steve.

“I did everything in my power to make sure it worked. I think that was the line I crossed to know that he was the one,” Sarah said earnestly.

Steve stared admiringly at her, there was always softness in her eyes everytime she talked about his Dad. And Steve could only hope that he would have even just half of what their parents had.

“Y/N… if you think she’s the one, do everything in your power, Steve. If you still have this… longing, this wonder about what could’ve been, then it’s not over for you yet, you haven’t done everything.”

“I think she’s the one,” Steve said softly. “She has this freckle on her left cheek, and you see this, Mom?” He pointed to a tiny dot on his right cheek. “When we kissed, these two were perfectly aligned.” And he grinned childishly at his Mom.

“Steve… Steve?” Sam’s voice wakes him up from his daydreaming. “You okay, man?”

“Yeah, yeah, I was just— where were we?” Steve stammers.

“The house… I was telling you to speak to Nat’s mother about the house.” Sam looks worried. “You sure you’re okay, man? We can drive back home.”

Steve is inside Sam’s car, they’re driving from his parents’ house to the all-day-waffle place for lunch, they were picking up some documents earlier.

“No, no, Bucky’s already there, I texted him my order.” Steve smiles faintly.

“Did you order for me too?” Sam asks.

“Yeah, of course. Chicken waffle with extra butter and extra maple syrup.” Steve knows it by heart.

“Thanks, man. So anyway, Nat’s mother knows you and she was friends with your parents, she will be the perfect person to take care of the house. I mean, you don’t have to rent it out right away, you can just hire someone to keep it at check you know, maintenance and stuff. I bet she knows people who do that,” Sam continues, he takes a right turn to 18th street and swears at kids who jay-walked and he almost hit.

“Yeah, good idea. I’ll contact her later.” Steve takes mental notes.

Their orders are already spread on the table when Sam and Steve arrive. Bucky is already eating his waffles to the point his plate is almost empty. “I didn’t have breakfast, and I will order my second one,” He explains before anyone asks.

“Why didn’t you? I left you a peanut butter sandwich on the kitchen counter before I left this morning!” Steve flicks Bucky’s hand when he’s trying to steal his fries.

“No you didn’t. I saw no sandwich, nothing,” Bucky protests.

“Yeah, I did! It was on the counter.”

“No it wasn’t, there was no sandwich.”

“You are so goddamn blind, Bucky! You wasted my effort and time! I even toasted it with a panini press!” Steve continues to bicker with Bucky.

“God, Steve, I would eat it if there was actually a sandwich on that goddamn counter!”

“OH MY GOD, If I hear a word about fucking sandwhich one more time—“ Sam groans out of frustration. “When you told me Bucky is your childhood friend, I didn’t know you meant a goddamn literal child, who also turns you into a child too!” Sam throws off an I’m-too-old-for-this look.

“I’ll shove that sandwich to your mouth when we get home later,” Steve murmurs

“If there is a sandwich” Bucky says lowkey.

“Kill me.” Sam rolls his eyes.

❀☀☂☃

Steve is alone on Friday night, opening his fridge looking for the leftover guacamole while talking to Sam on the phone.

Bucky hasn’t been in New York for quite some time. He was taking leave and helping Steve with Sarah’s funeral service but then he only stayed for a couple of days afterwards. He went back to New Jersey again and hadn’t been home even for weekends.

Steve goes for a morning run with Sam most of the days and hangs out with him on weekends, but now that Sam has a new boyfriend (yes he broke up with his last girlfriend and started dating this guy from his gym), he cancels on Steve quite a number of times.

“What happened to bros before hoes, Wilson?” Steve says sarcastically over the phone when he bails on him again.

“First of all, you said that the term is sexist. Second of all, he’s also a bro, so he comes first.” Sam laughs at his own joke.

“Geez, good one, Wilson,” he snickers. “Have fun, man!”

Steve scrolls his contacts mindlessly, looking for someone to hang out with him and he decides to call Tony Stark.

“Hey there, Doctor Dolittle! To what do I owe this booty call?” Steve doesn’t expect less when he picks up the call. He regrets it already.

“Hey Tony, I assume you’re alive and well. You wanna hang out?” Steve goes straight to the point.

“Oooh I wish I could, Doc! But I made an unforgivable sin last week, almost borderline criminal actually, not that I’m admitting it, don’t quote me on this, anyway— so I’m making it up to Pepper now, attending a boring Gala dinner, talking to boring people about boring life events.” His background noise sounds interesting though, with jazz music and people cheering.

“Sure, no problem, Tony. I’ll see you around then.” Steve hangs up the phone. He’s about to call the next contact but then he decides to just stay home and call pizza delivery instead.

His phone rings, it’s a forwarded call from the Vet’s office. Steve picks it up and a familiar sound speaks to him from the other side. “Hey there, Dr. Rogers. This is Greta. Greta from downstairs. Y/N’s downstairs.”

“Oh, hi, Greta! How are you? How’s Jack?”

“Jack and I are good, Doc—“

“Oh please, Greta, I thought we’re way past that. You’ve fed me, so it’s only right to call me Steve.”

“Steve.” He can hear her smiling from one word only.

“Is there anything wrong? Can I help you?” Steve inquires.

“It’s Y/N. Is she okay? Are you with her?” Greta sounds worried.

“Huh?” Steve is puzzled.

“Jack called me just now, he said there had been a lot of crashing sounds from upstairs. I’m out of town right now, staying at my Niece’s. I’ve tried to call Y/N, but she never picked up. Jack has that hip problem so he can’t climb stairs, can you—“

“Yes, I can. Greta, thanks for calling me! I’ll go there and check on her right away.” Steve hangs up the phone after Greta thanks him.

The pizza guy is standing in front of the door when Steve opens it, he must’ve thought Steve is desperately waiting for the pizza from the peephole. Steve tips him, grabs the pizza and takes the lift to the basement carpark. He drives to her place with two boxes of pizza on the passenger’s seat.

He parks right in front of the duplex, leaves the pizza in his car and bolts upstairs. He bangs the door and calls her, “Y/N? Are you okay? Y/N?!”

A muffled sound comes from the house. “Steve?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Are you okay?”

“Geez!” A thud sound followed by “Ow!” and then the door opened. She shows up with an eyepatch. “Steve? What are you doing here?”

“What happened to your eye?” Steve points at her right eye.

“Some disease I can’t really spell. Uveee… Uviaa…”

“Uveitis?” Steve guesses.

“Yep, that one.”

“It’s not a disease, actually. That’s a condition and you need to get that checked thoroughly, it could relate to your immune system.” Steve nerds up.

“Aw, thanks for the free consultation, Doctor Rogers,” she says wryly.

“Did you get it checked?”

“Yes, where do you think I got my eyepatch from?” She sounds annoyed. “And they got my left eye checked too and now it’s dilated and I can’t see things.”

“It’s blurry, isn’t it? It should get better after 6 hours,” Steve explains again.

“Yeah, perfect timing, I’m so behind my deadline and Darcy will kill me,” she complains.

“Have you had your dinner?” Steve asks.

“I was warming up some soup but then it dropped because I thought I put it on the counter, but then apparently the counter moved! It’s a mess now,” she blames it on the counter.

“I have pizza. Can I come in?” Steve offers.

“My sight might be blurry Steve, but I’m not blind yet, where’s the pizza?” She squints her one good eye.

Steve chuckles. “It’s in the car. I’ll be back.” Then he runs downstairs to his car and grabs the pizza boxes. When he’s back upstairs, she has left the door open so Steve can come in. She’s right, the house is a mess. The soup splattered all over the kitchen and pieces of ceramic from the broken bowl scattered on the kitchen tiles. Steve sees some traces of blood so he approaches her, she’s perching on the chair’s armrest.

“You cut your left foot,” he says, crouching to check her feet.

“It’s just a small cut, it’s not a big deal.” She brushes it off.

“It will be if you don’t clean it up.” Steve looks up and frowns.

“Steve, I can’t see clearly, so your puppy eyes don’t work on me now.” She smiles. “But yeah, I’ll clean it up.” Then she’s limping to the bathroom.

“Do you need me to—“

“No, I’m good. I can do it.” She closes the bathroom door.

Steve cleans up the mess in the kitchen and washes some dirty dishes too. He opens the pizza boxes and thankfully the pizzas are still intact and warm. He takes a look around the kitchen, so familiar and cozy. He used to make a lot of coffee here in the morning and he would press his peanut butter sandwich with that panini press. His jaw stiffens when he sees the panini press, it’s still there, she never removes it. His stomach feels funny and a smile creeps onto his face, without him realizing it.

“Is it from 15th street?” She comes back with a plaster on her foot, pointing to the pizza.

“Yeah, I got it delivered to my house but then Greta called me about you.” Steve grabs a slice and hands it over to her. “Did you clean it with alcohol?”

“Yes, Doctor. I did. You taught me well.” She teases him, she sits on the stool, leaving the injured foot hanging. That’s when Steve sees the plaster open and blood drips.

“Geez, Y/n. It’s bleeding,” he says warily. “Here, let me—”

He grabs the kitchen towel and crouches by her foot, wrapping the towel to stop the bleeding. “Can you press your heel against the stool? Yes, like that. Ok, now wait here, let me get some bandages.”

Steve still remembers his way around her home. He opens the bathroom cabinet and the first aid kit that he left is still there. It was around the second month of dating when Steve realized she didn’t have a first aid kit and he brought one for her, thinking it would come handy.

“You were right. It’s important,” she comments when Steve is back with a bandage.

“Huh?” He looks up to her while crouching by her leg again, starting to remove the towel and wrap her foot with bandage.

“The first aid kit. Thanks, Steve. And for this too, for taking care of me.”

Steve stands up after the bandage is secured. One of his hands brushed her thigh and suddenly they’re so close to each other. Steve stares at her face for a while, oh how much he missed this face, and how much he wanted to touch it and kiss it.

She clears her throat and Steve steps back, asking, “Do you want a glass of water?”

“Yeah, that’d be great.” She smiles at him.

He opens the cabinet and takes out a glass, fills in with water from the jug and puts the glass on the island counter in front of her. It’s comforting for Steve to know that he still moves effortlessly in this kitchen, that things don’t change in this kitchen.

“Thanks,��� she murmurs. “I’m sorry Greta made you come here.”

“No, no. I don’t mind. I was worried when she said about the noise,” Steve says sympathetically.

“I’m fine, Steve, just will be a little blurry for a while…” She chews the pizza. “And I’m sorry, Greta doesn’t know we’re, um, over.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Steve says. “When’s your next appointment?”

“Tomorrow, noon. I gotta do some blood tests, they didn’t have enough time today. They said this probably relates to autoimmune. And the eyedrop they gave me would make my eyes blurry for a while,” she explains.

“I’ll drive you,” Steve says firmly.

“Huh? What? No! Really, you don’t have to,” she says in a somewhat defensive manner.

“You need someone to go with you, you don’t have a clear view,” Steve argues.

“I’ll ask somebody.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know, Darcy…”

“Sure, call her.”

“I’ll call her tomorrow, she’s… partying now. It’s Friday night, Steve.” She makes excuses.

“And you think she’ll wake up before noon tomorrow?” Steve asks wryly.

“I have other friends,” she says sassily.

Steve snickers, “Come on, Y/n, I don’t mind, really. You’ve always been there for me, this is the least I can do, ok?” Steve smiles at her. “And I’m staying here tonight.”

“What?” She objects again.

“I’ll wait until you fall asleep and then I’ll leave. I’m not sleeping over.” He reiterates.

“I’m fine, Steve—“

“Yes, you’re fine. I trust you. I’m doing it for me, ok? Because I care about you and I’m worried. End of story.” Steve ends the argument.

She finally nods and stops arguing, then asks for another slice of pizza and eats quietly. Steve walks to the fridge to get some cold drinks and he sees a polaroid photo stuck on it with a magnet. It’s her and Bucky, they’re smiling. Bucky’s face is close to the camera, his hand is reaching out the camera, probably clicking the shutter. She was standing behind him, her hands up in the air and showing a wide grin, a beautiful mountain in the background.

“Great Smoky Mountain,” she says flatly.

Steve turns around, she must be noticing him staring at the photo. “Oh, you guys went camping?”

“Yeah.” There’s an apprehension in her voice. “It was his birthday, he said he loved camping.”

“He sure does. His Dad used to bring him camping.” Steve comments and then he smiles faintly. “Anyway… he’s been away for too long, his room gets dusty. This guy…” Steve shakes his head. “Tell him to come home more often.”

She smiles sarcastically. “We’re not really… talking.” Her voice is bitter. “I haven’t seen him since the funeral.”

Then it’s a pure silence, uneasy and uncomfortable stillness of air. Steve shifts his body awkwardly, his eyebrow furrows. She is just staring at her hands.

Steve really wants to ask why. He wants to know what happened in Great Smoky Mountain and why they are not speaking anymore. But he knows it's not his place anymore and it was the exact reason why they broke up. Steve didn’t respect her privacy.

“I’m sorry. I was childish back then, clouded with jealousy.” Instead he says something that he thinks will soothe her.

“I’ve already forgiven you, Steve. It wasn’t easy to stay mad at you,” she says earnestly.

Steve loves that moment. They’re just staring at each other, emotions open, conveying feelings that words can’t say, knowing for sure that they’re past any grudge or resentment. Their love and care towards each other are much bigger than those ugly feelings.

“What do you want to eat tomorrow?” Steve breaks the silence.

“I don’t have any cravings… and you don’t have to bring food for me.”

“What are you gonna do, Y/n? You’re gonna cook and burn this house?” Steve says wryly.

She scoffs, “I can order food, Steve. I’m still fully functional.”

“God, can’t you just let me help?”

“I don’t want to trouble you—“

“You don’t. It’s not a chore for me, ok? Come on. We’re way past this. You were taking care of my shits when I was a mess, when I lost my Dad… Why can’t I do the same when you need help?” Steve’s voice raises up.

She doesn’t respond to that. Steve’s voice softens. “It’s okay to be on the receiving end of help, Y/n. That’s when you say the word thank you.” She smiles, her brow raises, voice soft. “Okay, Steve… Thank you.”

“Now, please tell me you have ice,” he complains when he opens the freezer. She sounds apologetic because she doesn’t have any. They banter about the ice and how hot this summer starts to feel and Steve reminds her at some point of their conversation that it’s exactly a year ago, in the same heat of summer, they met and eventually fell in love. And he said that he’s been missing her. Steve and his honesty, too good for his own good.

❀☀☂☃

It’s eight thirty in the morning and Steve is already back at her house. He unlocks the mahogany door and loads some of the cooked food into her fridge. He left after she fell asleep in her room around eleven last night, and after he made sure there was no hazard on the way between her bed and bathroom. The spare key was still stored in the same drawer so Steve took that with him. He baked a big batch of lasagna until two in the morning and passed out on the bed right after.

There’s a thud in the bathroom. “Goddamnit!” she swears.

“Y/n? Are you okay?” Steve calls her.

“Yeah. I dropped my conditioner and it hit my toes!” she shouts back from the bathroom. Steve chuckles on the thought of that.

They have breakfast together (Steve made his famous peanut butter sandwich) and she makes a comment about how much he misses it. She also repeatedly thanks Steve for the lasagna, she can store that for a week, given if she’s not sick of eating the same thing again and again. “You know what, I’ll share some with Jack!” she says on second thought.

Steve drives them to the hospital and because they only need to take her blood, they send her to the nurse’s treatment room directly. “Please wait here for a while, somebody will call you by name,” one of the nurses explains to her. She thanks her and sits on the bench with Steve.

“Hey, thanks again for driving me here… and keeping me company,” she says with a controlled smile.

“You’ve said it like a thousand times already. You’re welcome.” Steve smiles back at her.

“I know, but still…”

“If the situation is reversed… If I’m the one that needs someone to drive me to hospital, would you volunteer?”

“Yeah, no doubt,” she says without hesitation.

“Now you understand?” Steve asks smugly.

“Okay, I get it, no need to be a smug,” she murmurs.

“Hey…” Steve calls her with a soothing tone.

“Yeah?”

“I haven’t really thanked you… for helping out on the funeral.” Steve smiles faintly.

“Come on, Steve. Don’t mention it. Anything for Sarah, really…” She strokes Steve’s hand gently.

“You know, my mom and I, we had a talk a couple of weeks before she passed… She told me that life is a collection of moments. And moments become memories and at the end of the day, memories are what we have to hold on to. Some memories, we hold on to dearly.”

“That’s wonderful.” Her voice is soft with affection.

“And I’m sorry… for being such an idiot. I should never force you to share any of your memories if you didn’t want to,” Steve says with a fond look.

“Steve, it’s okay. Water under the bridge, all right? We’re fine… we’re fine.” She smiles at him.

“I was such a child.” Steve refers to the day they broke up.

“Yeah, you were an ass,” she says. “But I understand where you were coming from. I really do. And Steve… I love that you’re child-like. You always see the good in people. That’s what I love about you.” She smiles at him. Steve can’t stop replaying the words love, it’s not in the past tense.

“And some memories… they’re so wonderful it’s better to share. Like the moments you had with your mom.” She tilts her head to him, his blue eyes catching her admiring gaze. “And Steve…”

“Yeah?”

“I found out about my birth parents. I see their photos. My memories were not illusions. They’re real.” Her voice is breaking, as if holding in the emotions.

“After they died in an accident, I was taken by the social services, somehow I fell into a private adoption service,” she continues. “There was this one photo of the four of us with a Christmas tree at the back and I looked so happy opening presents.”

“Four?”

“Oh, apparently I have an aunt. She’s my Dad’s sister. She lives in Indiana.”

“You met her?” Steve asks excitedly.

“No. Nick has the information. I haven’t contacted her. I don’t know if I’m ready.” She plays with the hem of her shirt.

“Hey… Take your time, ok? Just let me know if you need anything from me, or if I can help…”

She smiles at him gratefully. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“Well, I’m not always like this. I was an ass once, remember?” He snickers.

“Yeah, you grew up. And everyone grows up at a different pace. Some grow up very slowly,” she says sassily nodding to him.

“Oh, that's smug!” Steve comments. “I hope you don’t mind calling uber home.” Steve stands up, pretends to leave.

“No…” She pretends to wail, tugging Steve’s left arm. “I’m practically blind, you’re mean!”

Steve walks away. “Steve, are you kidding me?” she whines.

“‘I’m going to the restroom, Y/n. Geez, so clingy, aren’t you!” Steve taunts her and she bursts out laughing.

❀☀☂☃

The vet’s office is always busy in summer, but Steve made time to accompany her one more time for a check up in the hospital the following week, he insisted on coming with her, making excuses about dropping something for Dr. Cho.

The eye was better and the blood test came out normal, nothing critical at the moment but the Opthamologist warned her that episodes might recur, so he booked her an appointment for a check up in three months time. She was happy with it and she had a late lunch with Steve afterwards.

They over-ordered and shared all the food together, just like they used to do when they were a couple. She told Steve about some of the funny stories that Peter shared with her and Steve passionately shared about the cat he saved in last month’s surgery. At one point, Steve accidently called her by pet name, “Can you pass me ketchup, babe?” And for a second she didn’t even realize that, until both of them did and the air went still for a while but then they decided to act like nothing happened.

Steve wanted to tell her right there, right then, that he still loved her, that he had been feeling miserable being away from her, that he was thinking about her all the time, that any little things reminded him of her he thought he went nuts. And that he forgot how happy he could be just by sharing a meal and having conversation with her, just being with her.

But Steve didn’t. There’s something he needs to clear with his best friend first. So he texts Bucky something that he won’t say no to, “It’s my birthday next week. I want a present from you.” The reply comes in minutes.

Bucky: Anything for my best guy. Name it.

Steve: You.

Bucky: Ok, Steve, weird!

Steve: LOL. I want you to come home, buddy. Let’s just hang out, ok?

Bucky: Of course, pal.

[Previous Chapter] | [Next Chapter]

A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS!!! <3 Hope all of you had amazing Christmas!

Just two more chapters to the multiple endings. I'm brewing the ending with the amazing @supercalifragilistic-elley Writing this series has been soooo fun! Please reblog and comment, and tell me who you're gonna choose? Bucky or Steve?

Taglist in the comment. :)

[murphy-kitt]

I have an au idea where Danny loses his memory everytime he goes ghost and turns human again, so he doesn’t know he’s part ghost.

After the accident, Danny doesn’t have any control of his powers, so his ghost half runs off of every instinct it has instead. If he feels threatened by the ghosts, or someone is in danger, or they’re in his “territory” his ghost half takes over and he runs purely off that. No one ever catches Danny transforming because his ghost instincts make him feel really overwhelmed, so he’ll go some place alone that he’ll feel safer. Which is why it’s so confusing to Danny when he comes back into “consciousness” (detransforms) that he’s injured, and in a place that he definitely wasn’t beforehand.

Danny still gets his powers acting up in his human form, but he doesn’t know they’re ghost powers, and just thinks they’re either a figment of his imagination or a temporary side effect of the portal accident. Danny’s parents, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, his teachers, probably more people begin to get concerned as to why his grades are slipping so quickly, as to why he’s always injured, always running away somewhere, always really tired and drained, and even Danny doesn’t know himself. He’s studying just the same he did before the accident, yet his grades are falling even though nothing has changed. He’s randomly injured all the time, and some of the injuries he’s ended up with should’ve been fatal enough to kill him. The only one he could answer for is the running away part that he gets overwhelmed easily so he goes to a safe place, but even then he ends up somewhere completely different.

Meanwhile, the Amity Park citizens have been beginning to pick up on a ghost who is actually good and fighting on their side and is in plenty of newspaper articles. Someone manages to get a tv interview but the ghost seems pretty out of it the whole time. Danny thinks that ghost looks familiar.

Overtime, the “flukes” have also been pretty annoying to Danny, suddenly falling through floors, his friends suddenly not able to see him, dropping random objects, they can’t be figments of his imagination because they’ve happened too much. Danny overhears his parents speaking about the new ghost (not knowing it’s actually himself), and hears something about invisibility and intangibility. He realises that he has ghost powers, probably from the accident. He doesn’t look like a ghost though, and he still has a heartbeat.

On the flipside, Phantom, believes he died in the portal accident and is now a ghost. He knows he randomly appears at times to fight the ghosts, and presumed he just goes back to the ghost zone (he transforms back to human). He knows his parents are the Fenton’s, but also thinks he can’t be, because the Fenton’s already have a son who is very much not dead. True, Phantom has never seen him before, but there’s been enough discussion of the Fenton’s “delinquent son” to get the drift that he’s probably never around. Phantom starts to put the pieces together when he overhears Jazz talking to Sam and Tucker about Danny Fenton, and that she thinks the reason he is absent is because of the portal accident. Phantom realises that this is the accident he died in and works out he’s Fenton’s ghost, but this doesn’t explain why no one has brought up his death or why everyone still refer to him as dead.

To sort things out, Phantom decides to try to talk to Danny Fenton to make sense of this. If he’s referred to as alive, he must be out there somewhere, right? Cue many hours of Phantom trying to find himself.

Meanwhile, Danny decides to try and control his powers, and when he does, he finds that he begins having strange memories of his parents pointing guns at him, being really high in the sky and being surrounded by news reporters. He’s pretty confused.

Phantom has been getting lots of publicity, and Danny doesn’t know what to think about the “good ghost capturing ghosts” because from what Danny sees the town is always infested with ghosts so Phantom mustn’t be a very good hero.

Not able to find (himself) Danny Fenton, Phantom decides to put a note on Danny’s locker so they can talk. Enter one Wes Weston. He’s been suspicious about Danny and his resemblance to Phantom, but this pretty much confirms they have a connection. He steals the note (so Danny never receives it), and begins to confront Danny about how he’s connected to Phantom. Danny denies everything, and in fact is even doubting the existence of Phantom — he’s never seen the ghost before, plus there’s no such thing as a “good ghost”. Danny tells Wes that Phantom doesn’t even exist, and storms off.

Everyone is concerned at the revelation that Danny doesn’t believe Phantom exists. Jazz / his parents ask why, and Danny says he’s never seen Phantom so there’s no proof he exists. Danny leaves and decides to get more control over his powers. For some reason, he has a memory of putting a note on his own locker, despite the fact there was no note on it when he got there, only Wes. He feels gets freaked out at these weird memories, and turns into his ghost half (not knowing).

Phantom is confused as to why he’s in Danny Fenton’s bedroom, and doesn’t find him anywhere. He goes to Jazz to ask where her brother is, because he doesn’t want to Fenton parents to shoot at him. Phantom tells her he’s Fenton’s ghost and needs to talk to her brother, except he has never seen him before. Jazz is shocked / confused, but is almost instantly aware that her brother is Phantom, not just his ghost, but as human too. Jazz manages to calm him down and since he’s not freaked out anymore, Danny detransforms into Phantom. He doesn’t know why he’s suddenly in Jazz’s bedroom. Now Jazz is aware her brother is a ghost and a human.

Danny begins having strange memories of talking to Jazz again and even remembers walking through the wall (which he’d never do, because he doesn’t want anyone to find out about his powers), but this time he can actually hear what is being said. He’s asking Jazz where himself is, which is really odd and weirds him out.

The next day, Wes confronts him, having figured out that Danny and Phantom are one and the same. Cue Wes spreading rumours. Danny says that’s stupid, he can’t be someone who doesn’t exist. When Wes turns away in a huff as no one believes him, Phantom’s note for Danny slips out of his folder. Danny picks it up and realises that Phantom does exist.

That’s all I’ve really gotten up to so far, but overtime, Danny’s ghost half won’t rely purely on instinct because Danny has grasp of his powers so he over time gets more memories from his ghost half. He’ll begin to connect these memories from the things said in them and where they take place as belonging to Phantom, and wonder if the things that Wes says are true. At the end he realises he is Phantom, and knows there must be a way that he transforms into Phantom, and for the first time transforms into Phantom out of his own free will, not ghostly instinct, and because he knows he is Phantom, his memories remain intact. However, it’ll take a lot to adjust to realise he’s been the one who’s protected the town, fought ghosts and the entire time he didn’t even know himself.

[raineydays411]

You will remember my name

      Part 2 of Ember

A/N: Hello everyone! I’m so stoked y’all liked my first fic! I really appreciate all the love and support you guys have no idea. (This might have to stretch to three chapters lol)

Tony Stark X daughter!reader

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

Tonys pov

A tense silence filled the halls of the Avengers tower. It’s been a week since Y/N left the tower in tears. It’s been two days since anyone has seen the girl to think of it.  The first few days it was thought the girl was just staying with a friend while she cooled off. But after the third day, a bad feeling settled in the stomachs of the heros. By the fourth day, they asked some of Y/Ns closest friends. 

No one has seen her.

Pepper called her aunt, Pamela Isely, but the women said that the last time she spoke to her god daughter was a week before this whole mess happened. 

By the time the week was over, it was concluded that Y/N Stark was missing. 

Tony Stark was not a perfect father. He knew that, of course he knew. I mean, he didn’t exactly have the positive male role models growing up other than Jarvis. He knew he wasn’t going to be a perfect father. He just never thought he’d screw up this badly.

He found out he had a daughter four months after the Battle of New York. He had gotten the news that an old fling of his had died during the attack. leaving behind a daughter. Feeling bad for the kid, he began to set up a college fund for her, as he knew what it was like to lose someone in a tragic way. At first he thought nothing of it, just simply seeing it as a good deed. But then one night, during one of his restless nights, he began doing the math and figured out that the age of the girl was just about nine months off from when he had...met her mother. Needless to say Pepper was shocked when she woke up to Tony passing out.

After a few minutes of being yelled at by Pepper and another hour of coming to terms with this discovery, Tony made plans to find the girl.

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Y/n pov

After explaining your situation with your father to the boy, you realize that you still didn’t know his name. Turning to him you ask for it. 

“Oh, my name is Daniel, Daniel Winston.”  You snort as you realize the irony of this ghost boys name. 

“You mean to tell me that your name is Daniel, and you’re a ghost with white hair??” He glares at you for a second then a small smile creeps on his face, “Well, despite the circumstances, it is kinda funny.”  You hum in agreement and let a comfortable silence take over as you try and figure out where you are and if you’re even in New York.

“Hey Danny?” You ask, “Where are you from?”  

“Bludhaven, I was walking home from school when I was taken. Why do you ask?” 

“Because” You reply,” I was taken from New York.” A heavy silence falls over you both as you realize that you’re both unfamiliar with your surroundings. There weren’t any markings to indicate where you were. The base was nestled in a corner of abandoned buildings that looked like factories. The sky was dark and you couldn’t see any stars. There was a strange scent in the air that you chalked up to air pollution. You both continue walking when you see a building with its lights on. 

“Danny, that’s the only building so far that has any lights, we should go check it out.” He looked hesitant, and he wasn’t wrong to be. The building was an old shoe factory, it was dark and looked as if a sneeze could take the whole thing down. Whoever was in there probably wasn’t good company.

“ Are you sure you want to go in there?’ Danny's voice full of doubt, “Maybe we should keep going till we actually get into town.” While his idea was the more logical one, you were starting to get tired, blowing up a building with freaky ghost powers takes a lot out a a young girl.

“I think we should go, I need to rest up and we don’t know how far the town will be. We don’t even know what town this is.” And with that, you start to make your way to the building, a hesitant ghost trailing behind you.

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Tony's POV

Tony realizes locking himself up in his lab really isn’t going to help find his missing daughter. He just can’t believe he screwed up this badly. His own child, thought she wasn’t loved. He did that to her. A rage filled his body as he angrily swept everything off his work table. The clatter of wrenches and pens filled his ears as he stared at the wall.

The sound of the door opening caught his attention. He turned to see Steve Rogers walking in with a box of chinese food and a stern face. Quietly, the blond man took a look at the state of the lab, shook his head and placed the food on the table.

“We picked straws to decide which one of us had to come convince you to come out.” Steve said breaking the silence between the two men. Tony said nothing as he continued to look at the wall.

“You know, you have some nerve to lock yourself away.” Tony jerked his head over and stared at the man . “ What did you just say?” 

“You damn well heard what I said.’ Steve shot back. “ Your daughter is missing. She disappeared into thin air. And you’re in here doing what? Throwing your tools around?” 

“Are you going to lecture me?” Tony said in a bored voice.” Because of you are, i want to take notes” 

“You know this is your problem. You don’t care.” Steve said angrily. “ You don’t care that your daughter is missing. You don’t care that for eight years, the longest conversation you’ve had with her was when you were introducing her to this team.” Steve stood up from the table and walked back to the door before Tony could say anything. “It’s been a week Tony. She’s been missing for a week.  We need to find her.” He walked out without another word.

And again, Tony was alone. Alone with his thoughts, and alone with his regrets. Then he realizes, if he wants a chance to make up all those years, he’s going to need to find you first.  

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Y/n POV:

Getting into the factory wasn’t too hard, considering you can just walk through walls now. The real hard part finding someone to help, as there was no one in the building. In fact, the only living thing in the factory was the surprising amount of vines and greenery over taking the space. 

“hey, Y/n.. maybe we shouldn’t be here...” Danny whispered, ‘” this place is creeping me out.” 

“D, you don’t have to whisper, I’m the only one who can hear you.”

 You answer as you look around, the room you were in seemed like an office of some sort. Then you noticed something.

“Danny, those vines...they lead out of the room” 

And with that you start walking towards the door, but before you can make it you hear loud voices, two women from what you can tell. 

“....mmy you can’t keep doing this to yourself....”

“i....never let her go with him....”

You can’t hear what they’re saying, you take a step forward and accidently step on a vine. 

“wait...there's someone here.” 

Oh shit. You look at Danny in surprise as there was no way these people would have known you were here.

Then suddenly, the room of plants came to life. Vines started thrashing around, searching for the intruder. 

“WHAT THE FUCK” Danny yelled as a vine goes through is body. “Y/N lets get out of here!” In your panic, you forget you can literally turn into a ghost, so you look for a window to get out of. Before you can climb, a vine suddenly wraps around your leg and pulls you out of the room.

“Y/N!!” 

You thrash as you are pulled down the hallway, around corners, and painfully down stairs. You scratch at the floor, desperate to find something to cut the vines.  Then your eyes start glowing. Your skin melting to a pale blue. You blast through the plant as you start floating upwards. You shoot the plants around you with a blue mist like energy.

“What is that?” “Aye whatta you doing here?”  Wait. You know that voice.

Looking up, you get distracted and a vine wraps around your body, restricting your movement. You struggle for a while till you hear it. 

“Y/N?” You stop and look up. You change back to your normal appearance, shocked.

“Aunt Pam?!”

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TONY’S POV

After Steves not lecture, Tony got to work. He had FRIDAY look for anything suspicious in and near New York. By doing that, he found out that there has been an influx of missing people ranging from ages twenty to fifteen. They were going missing from three specific cities: Bludhaven, Gotham, and...New York. Seeing this had Tony's heart sink. He ran into the conference room where the rest of the team was conducting their own investigation. But before he entered, he stopped to listen to the teams conversation.

“How can she just...disappear into thin air..” Sam said in a sad voice. The rest of the team sat in silence. 

“Maybe we missed something. There has to be something there.” Natasha said with a desperation no on has heard from her. “It’s been a week Steve, she wouldn’t just leave like that.” And that when Tony decided to make his presence known.

“Maybe she didn’t” He said making everyone jump, “There has been an increase in missing person cases in the cities of Gotham, Bludhaven, and New York. All around the same age as Y/N.”

“So,you’ve decided to step up” Clint said sarcastically. “Where have you been this past week Stark?”

“ Look I know I haven’t been the best parent” Tony said.

“that’s an understatement”, grumbled Clint.

“I love my daughter. I hate the thought of her not knowing that.” Tony finished looking around the room to see the disapproval of the team.

“Fighting isn’t going to find her.” Wanda said quietly. “We need to work together.”

“Wandas right.” Steve said, “FRIDAY ,can you find any abnormal activity in any of the cities?”

“I did a widespread search specifically in the Gotham bludhaven and New York areas. A building in the indrustrial area in Gotham spontaneously collapsed. When authorities searched through the rubble, they found bodies of thirty out of the ninety reported missing people.”

“Was there anyone matching Y/N description,” asked Natasha anxiously.

“FRIDAY bring up the missing kids files”

A long minute went by, and all the files uploaded. The Avengers were all on edge as they flipped through the thirty files. They were relieved when they realized that Y/n was not part of those thirty kids.

Tag list: @big-galaxy-chaos

[animeyanderelover]

Whoo, requests are open! Can I get Azusa Mukami, Ash Launders, Lau, and Grell Sutcliff with a darling who's a ghost, or something akin to one? Thank you, please take your time with this and remember to take breaks when you need to!

I recently talked about this with my friend, but both of us are amazed with how popular Ash actually is. He suddenly became so beloved in here. Not that I complain😏.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, obsessiveness, delusions, paranoia, self-harming behavior, kidnapping, killing

Ghost s/o

Grell Sutcliff

🟥Grell is a grim reaper and for that probably met ghosts quite a few times ago. Ghosts are souls from people who didn’t find peace yet and whilst humans can’t see ghosts most of the time, other supernatural creatures can. Grell feels sometimes a bit sorry for ghosts whose souls are tight to this world until whatever doesn’t allow them to Rest In Peace is solved. There are exceptions though, it isn’t unheard that even after the issue was solved, ghosts decided to stay, mainly because they started enjoying life as an undead once again. So at one point such examples were counted in the supernatural community as well.

🟥If her darling should be a pure ghost, it depends on whether they still try to find a way out of this world or are one of those who decided to live forever as a ghost. If it’s the first one, she would definitely try to make her darling enjoy life once again since she doesn’t want them to leave. She wants to give them happiness once again and would try about everything to make them feel joy again. If it’s the latter case, she would switch from a worried mother mode in a totally fascinated one. She did meet ghosts before, but normally they are more of loners since they grief over whatever they couldn’t finish during life. So having a darling as ghost makes her more interested since ghosts aren’t that known to other magical beings.

🟥Hopefully you know how to manifest yourself or else Grell will get really pouty since she’s clingy. A ghost can learn to materialize their body so others can touch them even though that takes practice. Girl loves you just very much to the extent where she often wants to jump on you and tackle you in a hug after a boring day of work...which ends with her being met with the ground of you don’t know how to control it or did it on purpose. It also tends to scare her a bit if you suddenly pop somewhere up without her knowing since you can just walk through objects. There was this one time where you were looking for her, ending with your head popping up through the ground right in front of her. And Grell might be able to handle, blood, zombies and other gore stuff, but not this. It ended with her screaming startled.

🟥If you’re not dead, but just possess the possibilities of a ghost, the whole walking through walls and turning invisible stuff, you’re most likely a hybrid because believe it or not, in materialized form ghosts can create or bear children too. And half breeds have been since the earliest days always been a more risky topic. Many creatures are still lacking the openness to accept persons from two different kinds since many are still in the classic belief that only the same species should have children together. It leads her to being more overprotective over you since she doesn’t want you to endure hatred and racism from others. She’s fiercely overprotective in that regard.

Lau

🚢He has a weird fascination with such things, at least in my opinion. He might only be human, but he has awareness of the more otherworldly creatures on this planet and his assistant, Ran Mao, herself appears to be some sort of superhuman as well. He has probably heard a lot of ghost stories before, either from his own country or here, in England. And he is somewhat good in telling when a story was just made up so the person could suddenly gain attention or if there is a spark of truth in it. He has a nose for stuff like this and actually likes listening to such stories.

🚢So expect his obsession to very quickly grow if his darling should be a ghost even though he would hold himself back if they are unhappy due to their unfinished business. He is manipulative and is also, despite being good in hiding it from his darling, very greedy and mercenary. He might not show it, but he has every intention to make his darling stay with him, even if that means ensuring that whatever they need to do in this world will never be finished. If you are that kind of ghost who’s happy with their new life, he would be much more open with his curiosity, expressing his interest in your abilities and also backstory. Especially if you should be a lot more older than your appearance gives away, he would be keen on your story. If it should happen that you were murdered and the killer is still alive, that guy will join your kind maybe very soon if they have regrets in their life.

🚢He’s also interested in how your anatomy works since he’s an expert in it. He of course wouldn’t use you like some test subject, but he is just kind of interested how you are able to turn your whole body in one moment in something thinner than air and in the next moment into something that appears to be flesh and blood again. He also kind of likes it to touch through you since your transparent body has a certain coldness around it which gives him goosebumps. It’s a great contrast to when you have materialized and are in possession of a warm body which leads him to being even more touchy than usual. Lau finds it also always very amusing whenever you suddenly appear out of thin air, your abilities are such a breath of fresh air for him. He tends to be a bit surprised, but is good in hiding it with his usual mysterious smile.

🚢He can only guess that a half-ghost like you are one isn’t very beloved in this world. Lau of course doesn’t think you, he finds it highly interesting that you are a mix from two different species, he never thought ghosts could actually create babies. If there’s the possibility, he would like to meet your parents and talk with them, especially the parent who’s the ghost. It kind of leads him to wanting to isolate you a bit since he doesn’t want some other creature trying to kill you since different from a normal ghost you can get hurt by weapons and die like a normal human even though it’s harder to do.

Ash Landers

▫️Whilst he definitely is informed about all the other magical beings existing in this world, he stays away from pretty much everyone, even his own kind. Ash is just embossed from his obsession with purity and doesn’t think of anyone as really worth living since everyone is tainted by greed, lust, sloth and other unspeakable sins. He even hates his own kind since many angels protect the exact lowlife he wants to get rid off, believing that every life deserves living and given a chance. He is somewhat alone with his crazy goals, but he doesn’t mind.

▫️I think Ash with a ghost darling isn’t a very good mix, a horrible if I’m being honest. For the simple reason that you already died and merely your soul remains on this planet, either because of your own free will or because you carry a burden with you. You’re dead. That should say everything to why Ash is experiencing the true deepness of madness and terror someone could never possibly begin to imagine. He failed, he pathetically and utterly failed to protect the only person who actually deserved a happy and good life. It makes his whole life shatter, next to his already screwed up sanity. It does not matter if you were killed, died in an accident or because of a deadly sickness. The village you lived in will be blamed and slaughtered by him.

▫️He’s horrible to act with this because I have this terrible thought that he will not only not allow you to leave, but also desperately try to search for ways to somehow get your soul back into your body or will find a vessel in which you can live. He does not care if you want it or not, he doesn’t even really care if you’re happy or not. Dead is dead and he wants you alive. He would get incredibly prone and torn apart if you yell and cry at him that you don’t want it, that you want to die finally in peace or like being a ghost. You just don’t understand!! HE HAS TO MAKE SURE YOU’RE ALIVE AGAIN!!!

▫️With you being only something akin to a ghost, a hybrid in here, the situation would still be very tangled, but a bit less than with you being an actual ghost. I see Ash as someone who usually despises hybrids, but you are made the only exception from this. It isn’t worth saying that he isolates you since he would do this in all scenarios, even though he also does it in here due to fearing that someone might talk down to you because of your unidentified species. He kind of thinks he’s the only one who can truly cherish you for your whole beauty. You might have an advantage since you can just sneak past him whilst invisible, question is if you’re heartless enough to let innocents suffer under this because Ash can and will burn whole cities down if it leads him to getting you back.

Azusa Mukami

🔪I don’t think he ever met ghosts or other otherworldly creatures before even though he lived a pretty long life. It stands even open to question if he is aware of the existence such other creatures. Whilst he does know that vampires exist, he himself is a half-blooded one, he is not really too informed about other creatures and might even not really cared about it anyways before meeting his s/o. His brothers on the other hand considered the fact of other magical beings on this planet.

🔪He is saddened that you are already dead, it doesn’t matter since how long you’ve already been. It’s still very upsetting for him, especially if you should be mourning over something you couldn’t do in your life as well. I do see him as someone who might actually possess the selflessness to let you go if you’re really desperate despite knowing he’ll die without you. So it’s up to his brothers to find ways to bind you to this earth because they’re scared what Azusa will do if you should ever disappear and leave him alone for eternity. With a darling who likes their current body and is satisfied with themselves, Azusa will be happy as well and be in love with you and your fascinating powers.

🔪But please let him touch you. He is clingy and likes having physical contact with you and if you aren’t able to manifest yourself and hurt him, he will become overtime more desperate. His brother also realize the problem with you being able to escape anytime you want from them except if you make this place your new place to haunt for eternity which all of them hope. Whilst he does like feeling your actual warmth and body, he still finds your ghostly form appearing, the feeling of cold and lingering touches everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time. I do not know if ghosts possess blood or anything like this, I doubt it. So that means at least you don’t have to worry about him eventually giving in to temptation.

🔪He will never be able to understand if someone should dislike his s/o if they should be somewhat of a half breed. As I mentioned, I don’t think he really cared much about the possibility of other beings existing and certainly not a mix made from more than one species. It does add up to his worshipper tendencies since apparently people like you are not very common. He thinks you’re wonderful. As a half-ghost you might have blood inside of you, if it’s from a human is another thing to discuss. But Azusa is from all vampires the one who wouldn’t want to suck your blood, even if it drives him crazy. And even if his brothers try to force him, you can abandon your materialized form anytime for your ghost body. You give Azusa’s brothers honestly a bit of a hard time with your abilities, it’s mocking for them in a way.

[hjajshshsi]

Little Bucky or Little y/n PT.1

part 2 here,                        part 3 here,                       taglist

Bucky Barnes x Pregnant!Polish!Reader PT.1 

Warning : pregnancy, Christian family, bad english general fluff

Summary: You get pregnant and your boyfriend dies you fall into depression, but not long afterwards you yourself die in an unfortunate accident together with your friend. However, you suddenly wake up in a hospital in the 21st century.

Note from the author: Let me know what you think about this. English is not my first langue so be nice       Tag list open.

Word count: 710

THIS IS NOT MY GIF

Ten minutes seems like a short time, but for you it seemed like hours. You stood over the sink with the pregnancy test in your trembling hand. You were afraid of pregnancy, not just because you were not married, but because you were deliberately hurting your child. There was no telling how much longer this drawn-out war was going to last, but it certainly wasn't going to go away anytime soon, so you didn't want the baby to be born with the possibility of being shot at a wall if you had to return to your home country, because you weren't from America, you were actually a Polish immigrant who moved with her family secretly to Brooklyn when she was 14. But that was not the only reason, because of your genes and your boyfriend's genes most newborns is girls, and this world is not made for women. You know very well how difficult it would be for your daughter in life, even more so when her parents are from two different countries and not married.

Then you noticed that a plus appeared on a piece of paper (pregnancy test), which meant the worst. You didn't even know if your boyfriend wanted to have baby, you had never talked about it. But it wasn't his reaction that you feared the most, it was your parents who put a lot of pressure on you. They were very religious, they weren't proud that you were cohabiting with a men you still weren't married to. And a pregnancy would probably give them a heart attack.

At this point tears were coming to your eyes so you decided to call the other person closest to you, Steve. You were the same age, so you went to the same class when you arrived at school. But you were not taught English in Poland, so your English was minimal, cut as much as possible from books, which you sometimes managed to steal for lack of money. Because of your lack of language skills, your peers didn't want to get to know you and saw you as a "Little Polack (THIS IS LIKE N-WORD BUT FOR POLISH PPL) who had a tendency to sleep around." However, Steve gave you a chance, he even bought a Polish-English translator, which he taught himself first and then helped you with your English. It was only after a year of knowing each other that Steve introduced you to his best friend Bucky, a year older than the two of us, and introduced us to each other on a trip to the river.

That's why you decided to call him. You dialed the number and put the receiver to your ear. - Steve? - you pulled your nose in -y/n what's going on? Are you crying? - Steve could you come to me? - y/n everything for you.

As soon as you saw Steve outside the door you burst into his arms all weepy. Steve gave you a hug and closed the door, then followed you into the living room. -Y/n why are you crying.-he pulled out a handkerchief -S-steve- you pull your nose* -I'm pregnant. -Wait wha-.- Steve stopped in handing you a handkerchief. You took the handkerchief and peered out*. - Does Buck know? -N- No, and I'm afraid of his reaction. - your words are interrupted every now and then by snorting your nose. -Y/n I think you'll have to tell him. -What if he doesn't want to have a ch-c-that word couldn't pass your lips. - What if he leaves me? Steve hugged you and started stroking your forehead. - Nonsense. I don't think that's his style, I'm sure he'd love to have a little buck or a little y/n running around his house. -You think? -

-Yeah. I'm convinced.

It wasn't long after you fell asleep with Steve, finally Bucky came back. It was already late. Bucky decided to carry you to your shared bedroom. He picked you up and carried you off bridal style. When he returned to the living room wanting to go to the kitchen he noticed that he had woken Steve. - Oh, I'm sorry if I woke you up, I wanted to bring y/n. -So, sorry I fell asleep on your couch. And if it's not a problem can I stay here for this night because I don't have much of a way to get home. - No problem, actually what happened to y/n? I saw that y/n was all blurry like she was crying. -Oh, yes y/n is having a weaker moment right now. Be there for her now. -Sure well, good night big guy (This is Stevie after the serum so you know)

[redrobin-detective]

Delayed Mourning

Going Angst Day 5: Death

_________________________________________

It was 3pm when there was a knock on Maddie Fenton’s door. She huffed and set down the meal she’d been working on. Of course the one day she had time to pre-plan a nice meal from her family was the day she’d get interrupted. 

“Yes? May I help you?” Maddie asked, opening the door. She had expected a salesman. Possibly even a neighbor coming to complain, again, about the noise or the smells that came from Fentonworks. Instead she found a small woman who couldn’t have been much taller than 5 ft with dark brown hair tied up in a tight bun. She was wearing a sharp white shirt and suit jacket with a matching white skirt.

“Mrs. Fenton, hello,” the woman gave a polite little head nod. “I’m from the the Government Institute of Interdimensional Warfare though I hear the locals like to call us the Guys in White.” She said with a knowing smiling, “of course, as you know, it’s not only the guys who are interested in ghosts. May I come in?”

“Oh yes, hello,” Maddie blinked, opening the door to let the agent in. The petite woman stepped inside, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. Her small frame, her oversized glasses and soft nature seemed so at odds with the meatheads Maddie usually found in the GIW. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Perhaps,” the agent demurred. “It’s more there was something I wanted to inform you of. If you’re not too busy, may we sit down and talk? Your husband and children are not home.” Maddie thought that last statement was a bit odd, framed as a statement of fact rather than an inquiry but moved on. 

“Yes, Jack’s out of town visiting a relative and my kids won’t be back for a little while,” Maddie said. “Let me just finish putting this roast together, I’m almost done. Can I get you anything? Water? Tea?”

“No, thank you,” The woman said quietly. “And please, continue while you’re doing. Let me give you a little bit of background.” The agent adjusted her large glasses with her tiny hands. “Let me introduce myself, you may call me Agent S. I work primarily out of Washington for the Institute but sometimes I am deployed on site for... special cases. And, as I’m sure you’re aware, your town is very special.”

“Now, as you may have noticed, I am not particularly built like the normal Institute agents you have probably come across. That is because I do not work in the field but behind the scene in Investigations. My job is study the history and happenings of hauntings and spectral entities.”

“Oh that sounds fascinating,” Maddie beamed as she finished with her final preps and put the roast in the over. She looked over her shoulder at Agent S while she washed her hands. “Jack and I dabble a bit in history and folklore but we’re more versed in the hard sciences of ghosts.”

“Yes, I’ve read some of your papers, you and your husband truly are the frontrunners in the field,” Agent S nodded. Maddie preened at the praise and sat down, delighted to have a sophisticated conversation with someone in her field who she wasn’t married to. If more of those GIW agents were like Agent S then Maddie would get along a lot better with them. “So, Maddie, may I call you Maddie? What date and time did your portal start working?”

“It was August 28th,” Maddie said proudly. “It didn’t work at first when we first plugged it in. I’m afraid I don’t have an exact time it started up as we weren’t here. Jack was convinced one of the electrical conduction pieces wasn’t fully connected and was preventing ectoplasmic distribution. We ended up driving 4 hours to Springfield and back for some specialty parts only to find the portal working when we returned.”

“I can help you there,” Agent S said with a soft smile reaching into her white briefcase and pulling out several thick folders. She laid them out gently on the table and Maddie was unnerved by some of the information: schematics of Fentonworks, past and present financial records, transcripts of public statements. Her shoulders tensed when she saw Jazz and Danny’s names on some of the files. “Toll camera captured your vehicle on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway at exactly 1:26pm on August 28th. We can confirm you and your husband’s vehicle traveled to Springfield and back via video feeds and credit card statements at 10:45pm that same day and were therefore out of the city all day.”

Maddie suddenly felt very trapped by the woman’s sharp grey eyes as she plucked a piece of paper and pressed it towards Maddie. 

“At 3:18pm, the majority of the residential power in town went out for a period of 2 and a half hours. The cause was determined to be from a massive power surge that blew out the transformer. You may recall being blamed for this outage given your history with previous outages but the news that you were out of town settled that argument. However, I was not convinced.” She pulled out another piece of paper and Maddie bristled to see it was a Casper High attendance sheet.

“Your daughter, Jasmine was at her final summer cram session which ran from 2pm until 5pm. I spoke to her tutors and she never left the whole time and, in fact, stayed late to help a fellow student work through her study materials. But what about your son?” Agent S asked with with a curious smile but her eyes belied the fact that she had her own answers. 

“How dare you spy on my family, on my children,” Maddie hissed, crumpling one of the papers in her fist. “Get out of my house, I will sue the pants off of your organization for this invasion of privacy! Get out!”

“Now Maddie, don’t you want to know how your son started up your Portal?” Agent S asked coyly, that drew Maddie up short. Danny? No, he couldn’t have possibly. He had no interest in their work, in fact, now that she thought about it, Danny had been sick that day. Agent S pulled out a set of blueprints for the Fenton Portal. Some small component inside the Portal was circled.

“You left at approximately 1pm and your daughter presumably left not long after. Phone records indicate Daniel called both Tucker Foley and Samantha Manson. Your neighbor, Mrs. Benson, saw them coming into your house not long after but before the 3pm power outage which I was able to triangulate did in fact originate from your home.” Agent S tapped the circled part of the inner portal mechanisms. “Now did you happen to push the on button in the Portal before plugging it in?”

“On button?” Maddie asked with a dry mouth, overwhelmed by the amount of information being thrown her way. All she could think about was how Danny hadn’t seemed sick when they’d left that afternoon but had looked awful when they returned. Would he have really gone downstairs and messed with the Portal? Had he gotten hurt? Been contaminated down there? Images of Vlad’s sickly visage after his accident flowed through her head. She should have paid more attention but she’d been so excited about the Portal working...

“It’s right here in the blueprints you submitted to the patent office, buried under dozens of other hardware bits. Its small, such a little thing compared to all the moving parts required to open up a dimensional portal. Daniel was a bright boy, his middle school records prove it. A bright mind, friends to impress, no parents around to chastise him... I think you can see where I’m going with this.”

“No, no,” Maddie said, burying her hands in her hair. “No, I’m not. You’re saying -what? - that my teenage son turned on the Portal when we were gone? No, my Danny wouldn’t lie to me about that... Why wouldn’t he say anything?”

“I don’t blame him for not mentioned in because, if my hunch is correct, he was inside the Portal when it turned on, killing him instantly,” Agent S said with a carefully neutral face. “I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I’m afraid this haunting has gone on long enough.”

“My child is alive!” Maddie screeched, standing up in her chair. “Danny is alive and healthy and he is not a ghost!”

“I will admit the evidence of how he died is circumstantial but the fact that Danny Fenton is deceased is not.” Maddie fell back into her chair as he legs gave out underneath her. 

She watched the agent put paper after paper in front of her and detailed all sorts of data about her son that Maddie, who lived in the same house as him, had missed. Unusually high ectosignatures picked up by GIW (and their own) detectors, Danny being spotted in some form before most ghost attacks, faked signatures of hers getting him out of nurses’ visits. Maddie barely felt alive herself as she stared at a red light camera photo of her baby sitting atop a light post late, late at night. His eyes were a toxic green color.

“I know this must be distressing as a mother but your child never left that basement, never attended high school and will never achieve his dream of working for NASA.” Agent S said with carefully measured sympathy as she gathered up her papers and put them back in her case. “But you are a brilliant scientist, unlike your husband, you should be able to look past your emotions and see that your child is gone and the ghost he left behind is dangerous.”

“My husband?” Maddie asked blankly, running a finger down Danny’s unnatural photograph.

“I approached Jack two days ago, mistakenly believing he would be the most understanding of you both. He refused to believe the evidence and was, in fact, going to warn your son’s ghost that we planned on taking him. He is safe but he presently being held at one of our facilities until the capture is complete.” Maddie should feel outraged at her husband’s kidnapping but all she could think about was the fact that her son was dead, dead, dead, killed by her own invention over a year ago and she never noticed. How could she not have noticed?

“Daniel’s ghost is extraordinary, not only able to pass as human so accurately for so long but immensely powerful. We need to make sure he doesn’t harm anyone else. Think of his friends who are probably being forced to aid him and keep his death quiet. Think of your husband, your daughter, living in the same house as a dangerous ghost.” Agent S dropped some of her professionalism and plucked the photo of Danny out of Maddie’s hands and replaced it with her own tiny hand. 

“I know this is impossible thing to ask but I must do it anyway, will you help me capture what remains of Danny? There is a chance with his charade exposed, he will be able to move on and so will you. You have been wronged, Maddie. You have been denied the right to process and grieve your child by his own ghost. But a delayed mourning is better than none. Danny’s death is a tragedy but please don’t let it become someone else’s.”

“Maybe he’s not-” Maddie’s breath hitched, “he’s never shown any signs of aggression. Jasmine spoke of benevolent spirits... maybe-” Agent S sighed roughly and retracted her hand to grab another photo from her case. Maddie was surprised when she held up a picture of Phantom. 

“Ignore the glow,” Agent S instructed. “Change his white hair to black, his green eyes to blue. Think of how often Phantom is spotted in your neighborhood, around Casper High. Remember how he always has his hands on your technology,” the agent frowned. “Think of how he grins when he sees you, like he knows something you don’t. Like it all just a big joke you’re not a part of.” Maddie felt like she’d been slapped.

“Your son is dead,” Agent S said more forcefully, throwing the picture of Phantom next to the spooky one of Danny. “And his ghost has taken his place, taunting you, stealing energy from your family, from the portal that killed him. Phantom’s power is increasing too rapidly and soon we won’t be able to contain him. It’s why I was brought in to identify his haunt so that he could be stopped before anyone else died.”

“I will state this plainly, I am giving you the chance to participate in putting your child to rest but you are not required for this operation. If you refuse, you will be confined with your husband until Phantom is taken down. Do not let this monster with your son’s face trick you any more. So I ask again, Maddie Fenton, will you help us stop Phantom from making a mockery of your son’s memory?”

XxX

“Mom! Jazz! I’m home!” Danny announced, kicking off his shoes and grabbing a paper out of his backpack as he walked into the kitchen with a grin. “And I have a present! Jazz’s tutoring paid off, look at this A I got on my history test! Well A- but a solid A-!” 

“Oh... that’s great,” Mom muttered quietly. She was sitting at the kitchen table, not cooking or tinkering with some gadget. Just sitting there quietly, twiddling her thumbs and not looking at him.

“Is everyone okay?” Danny asked, dropping his bag on the floor and walking over to his mother. “I saw Jazz at school but is Dad okay?”

“No, everything is not okay,” she said turning and looking at him with tear-filled eyes. “Someone died, someone I love dearly and I’m not ready to let them go,” she sniffed and wiped at her eyes. “But they've been gone for a long time, even if I’m just hearing about it now. I’m upset but it’s better to know and be grieve than to go on in ignorance, living a lie.”

Danny was about to ask who had died when something was jammed into his neck and he was shocked within an inch of his half life. His body spasmed to escape but his mother was gripping his arm to hold him in place. He transformed unconsciously but that only made it worse. He fell to the floor, ectoplasm leaking off his form as he could barely hold himself together.

“Mom,” he croaked, reaching for her despite everything. She stomped on his hand which was practically goo from such a vicious, destabilizing ectoplasmic shock.

“Don’t you ever call me that,” she hissed through angry tears. “I didn’t want to believe it but the proof is right in front of me you horrible, selfish ghost.” She kicked him in the side and half of him ended up on her boot. “How dare you, how dare you impersonate my son! How dare you string me along all this time, make me look like a fool who had to told that her own child was dead! I bet you just laughed and laughed at our stupid, human ignorance of what your were!”

“‘lease,” he begged through the ectoplasm in his mouth. “I’m still your....”

“My son is dead and he has been for a while,” Mom said, throwing the ecto-taser away from her. Danny vaguely heard the door being kicked in and in his rapidly diminishing vision, he saw black boots and white suits. “With you gone, I can finally come to terms with it and not be tormented by an inadequate replacement.” She turned her back to him. “Get that filth out of my house, I never want to see it again.”

“Of course,” a quiet feminine voice said as his goopy arms were restrained with ghost proof cuffs. “I know this is hard, Maddie but you made the right choice for your family and Danny’s memory. Jack will returned to you within the hour. I spoke to my superiors, for your cooperation, the Institute will take care of declaring Danny dead as well as covering costs for your boy to be laid to rest, the first step in moving on.”

“No, the first step will be removing that duplicitous monster from my home. It’s stolen enough of my baby’s life. Now please leave, I have - I have a funeral to plan.”