#it's supposed to be fun turning 21 feeling 22 23 inside her fantasy ... 25 years old how were you to know etc etc

[hbogirls]

i hope one of the vault tracks has a lyric specifically referencing being 24. i need her to touch on every age at least once and that one happens to be mine currently and hers at the time of the original

[mytearsrricochet]

what are all the taylor ages actually is there anything after 25

I’ll probably forget some as I’m going off the top of my head:

there is a video I found from back when I was 3

I was 7 and you were 9

I hit my peak at seven

I’m 13 now and don’t know how my friends could be so mean

at 14 there’s just so much you can’t do

when you’re fifteen and somebody tells you they love you you’re gonna believe them

I’m crazier for you than I was at 16

I was 16 when suddenly I wasn’t that little girl you used to see

you were 16 at the yogurt shop

I’m only 17 I don’t know anything

it’s like I’m 17 nobody understands

we were 17 and crazy running wild

don’t you think 19’s too young

I damn sure never would’ve danced with the devil at 19

it’s supposed to be fun turning 21

I don’t know about you but I’m feeling 22

she’s still 23 inside her fantasy

oh 25 years old oh how were you to know

32 and still growing up now

I’ll be 87, you’ll be 89

so I’m gonna need her to drop some 33-86 year old lyrics

[evilishei]

Saw this from @itsthemoofacewriting​. It honestly looks fun and what better way to start 2021 here in Tumblr? 😊

3... 2... 1... START!!!

1. ZoNa. Romance... with a hint of suggestiveness and a dash of nsfw.

2. The first one-shot in the Treading Uncharted Waters collection. It was NSFW, smut. Something I haven't tried to write ever since I started fanfiction writing. It was then I realized that: "Boy this stuff is HARD!" My respect for the authors who are able to write it flawlessly tripled, even quadrupled!

3. The Whimsical Kisses scribbles. It's like chose one prompt and there all done!

4.  The Importance of Not Being Nosy and Behind Closed Doors from the Little Bits and Pieces of Heaven collection. I've enjoyed everything from it. Thinking of scenes, writing the scenes, the way the story just flowed out. It turned out to be really a fun piece.

5. Hop around. Most of the times, the scenes will just come to me at random. From that one scene, I work around to complete the whole story framework. Very rare it happens that the scene would be the actual start... if it does, I still hop around.

6. Yeah. For another fandom. It was the first story I've ever written and I honestly didn't like the way it turned out, planned to fix it and forgot all about it.

7. To just keep writing, regardless.

8. So far... none that I can remember?

9. No. I haven't done that yet.

10. So far the official count is 34. Not including those that are in my phone notes or wasn't officially titled "draft #".

11. Every single one of them. I can't choose really. I wrote them with everything I've got. Be it a scribble, drabble, a vignette or a one-shot.

12. I Don't Dance & Sweet Dreams by Anonymous Being and Mystery Pants by AshaRose. Everything I want in ZoNa is there. I can read them over and over again and still feel what I felt when I first read them.

13. There's this one review I've received this year that was really thoughtfully written. And I appreciate it so much. It made me feel really good that I still kept writing for my ship. I didn't know how much my stories can affect other shippers especially since my OTP is not one of the popular ones in the fandom. It gave me the drive to continue writing.

14. I wouldn't call it worst... though I'd give points for that reviewer for speaking his/her mind. To be honest, I don't really care what he/she thinks, I have writing style preferences and if it the style proves to be a bit uncomfortable for you... you're welcome not to read it.

Funny thing, the reviewer does not even ship my OTP.

15. Uhm... I don't think I want to touch that. I sincerely believe that each writer have their own take on their stories and I'm afraid if I try to write a a prequel or sequel, I might end up sullying their story. Hahaha!

16. Yes. That's what happens when fics for you OTP is scant.

17. Not the stories for my ship. Hahaha! Probably for a more novel-like story I would?

18. Nami.She's an easy character to write. And Usopp. They're both upfront with their thoughts and emotions.

19. I struggle with Zoro. And Luffy to be honest. Both are simple-minded. And the simplicity is what honestly gets me most of the times.

20. Yes. And miserably fail at them. That's how the WIPs reached 34.

21. Any Zona writer is automatically my favorite writer. I'm that biased.

22. Yeah. A lot. But I want a babyfic or a time travel trope.

23. Hmm... same sex relationship tropes probably, for now.

24. Let's see... 18 years if we count my writing hiatus in between 2003 up to now.  Dear god I'm old.

25. A lot actually. Writers who wrote really superb stories, my favorite book authors... in the end everything is mixed up that I cannot pinpoint whose influence is in what.

26. Writer's block. And drained enthusiasm. Both gets you stuck in a place that's really hard to get out. And eventually leads to procrastination and forgotten WIPs that just keeps piling up.  

27. The sudden, random idea that pops inside your head, making you jot it down the nearest available, writable surface.

28. When it's done and up in your blog or page. You get to stare at its entirety while thinking: "Damn I can't believe I finished this! I can't believe I wrote this!".

29. It's a fantasy fic. My OTP is a witch and a man cursed to become a familiar who met accidentally and ventured on a random adventure together, helping people and unwitttingly causing mayhem every where they go until they eventually end up in a kingdom where the familiar came from. The kingdom was in an uproar because one of their nobles who was supposed to marry another from a neighboring country, had disappeared three nights before his wedding day.

That's all I'm willing to share. Hahaha!

30. I honestly don't know. Hahaha! The OTP? Hahahaha!

[creideamhgradochas]

Thanks to the lovely @green-eyeddragonfanfiction for taking the time to answer these! Get to know more about her, go give her a follow and then show her some love!

These questions are from this list. You should check it out, there’s 50 questions all together and they’d be great to ask your favorite fic writer!

1) How old were you when you first starting writing fan-fiction?

Around 20, I think.

2) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.

Reader inserts, definitely. I don’t mind throwing OC’s in there if I need to, though. I really like reading reader inserts. I think it’s really fun and engaging to imagine yourself in a story.

3) What is your favorite genre to write for?

Super Heroes! Although I really adore fantasy. If I were to write a book, it would be fantasy.

4) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why?

I’m… not sure. I s'pose it’d have to be One Mistake, simply because I think it’s worst piece.

5) When is your preferred time to write?

Whenever I actually find the motivation to write, which usually ends up being around 1-4 am. Aka I’m a Mess: Part 1

6) Where do you take your inspiration from?

Have you seen this man?

I suppose I also draw inspiration from comics, movies, TV shows, and video games where applicable.

7) In your Winter’s War Series, what’s your favorite scene that you wrote?

Out of the entire trilogy? Dang, that’s tough. Maybe in Ghosts of War when Bucky, Reader, and Nat are sitting together, sort of like some messed up little family? If not that, then it’s probably in Winter’s War when Reader, Steve, and Bucky reunite after the Azzano goes up in flames.

8) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?

I don’t think I’ve ever received “criticism.” I’ve received very polite corrections of some of the German in WW from some native speakers, but that’s about it (I haven’t corrected any of it yet because I’m a lazy pos).

9) Who is your favorite character to write for? Why?

Bucky Barnes. Because he’s Bucky Barnes.

10) Who is your least favorite character to write for? Why?

I don’t really write characters that I don’t like. Even villains are fun to write, even if I hate them. If I had to choose, I guess it’d be Ashley Williams, from the Mass Effect series. I’ve only written her once, but she’s a damned space racist and I hate her, even if I didn’t hate writing her.

11) How did you come up with the title for the Winter’s War Series?

Winter’s War was named with the final scene of the first book in mind, as well as what reader and Bucky would be turned into for the second book; Winter Soldier(s), and the war that led them to being created. And because they “die” in the snow and ice. Ghosts of War because that’s what Reader and Bucky are in the second book. Ghosts. Shells of themselves. War torn and weary. Weapons. War of Attrition because, in the third book, they fight tooth and nail for every scrap of memory, personality, humanity, and they don’t always win. They’re going to hit a lot of roadblocks, mostly in the form of other humans, their past and their guilt, and sometimes each other.

12) How did you come up with the idea for Winter’s War Series?

I always liked the thought of a Bucky x Reader series where they both ended up as Winter Soldiers. Everything kind of grew from that. It follows very closely to the canon, so everything was trying to figure out the most believable way to weave a reader character into the existing story.

13) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?

“Abandoned” is a strong word…. *stares guiltily at The Way I Do and Two of a Kind.* I just haven’t found the inspiration to write them recently, but I do plan on finishing them… eventually.

14) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to?

I plan on doing a second part for A Night to Remember when October rolls around. I also plan on adding more monster!Bucky’s to The Monster Series. My other series are complete or in progress and I don’t plan to add more to them (except to finish them in the case of the WIPs).

15) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?

I don’t think so, no.

16) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

@angryschnauzer​ writes absolutely divine smut. I absolutely hate writing smut, so I wish I had her skills. There are others, but she’s the first one that came to mind. If I listed out every single author on here that I admire and why I admire them, we’d be here for another ten paragraphs!

17) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it?

I only started writing back in August. Anything written before that’s been lost to the Great Laptop Death of 2017. So, luckily, most of my writing is relatively recent and cringe-free.

18) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence?

I prefer listening to music (I love loud music and hate silence), but it’s distracting. My brain sometimes can’t process correctly so it tries to write the words I’m hearing instead of what I actually want to write. RIP me and my stupid brain. Aka I’m a Hot Mess: Part 2.

19) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?

Haha. No. I’m dead inside. I very rarely (if ever) cry when reading, too.

20) Which part of your Winter’s War Series was the hardest to write?

Oh god the entire Agents of SHIELD part of War of Attrition. That show is so dense and woven so intricately into the MCU that it was difficult as hell to figure out where to put the reader so that it’d be relevant and set up for the next parts of the story. I love that show, but it was so hard *sobbing*.

21) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow?

I almost never make outlines. WoA has been the exception because, as stated above, the content was way denser and I needed a clear path to be able to write them from point A to point B. That being said, I’ve only gotten as far as just after AoU. I haven’t decided what to do with Civil War or Infinity War yet.

22) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fan-fiction?

A) How Tumblr worked and B) that it’s a terrible, terrible site with horrible coding that, if it were a person, I would shoot as a mercy. Other than that, I read a lot of fics on here before I started posting some myself, which meant I had a pretty good idea of how to format it to be reader-friendly. Still had to google a lot of stuff, though.

23) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

Hmmm. I’m lucky in that I think I have a lot of readers/followers who leave lots of likes/comments/reblogs, but if I had to choose one? I think it’d be my recent Steve x Reader fic, Promise.

24) In contrast to 23 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at?

Oh god. Again, I’m grateful for every like, comment, and reblog I get, but By Chance. It’s by far my most popular one shot at a staggering 1,925 notes. I like the a/b/o verse, but I posted it pretty early on in my writing career and it skyrocketed which completely blindsided me. The same thing kinda happened with Dumped, Drunk, and Angry. I wrote a one shot in a day or two because inspiration hit me like a freight train, and somehow they’re both over a thousand notes now.

25) Are any of your characters based on real people?

I s'pose Reader is always based off of me, just a little bit? Every other character (except the rare OC) has an established personality, but if I made reader a completely faceless, bland being it wouldn’t be that fun to read, would it? So even though I’m always careful to never describe reader too much physically, s/he always ends up with at least some of my personality.

26) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?

Oh goodness, I don’t know. My readers are amazingly kind people. I get a lot of asks and comments saying very, very nice things all the time. I don’t think I could choose just one if I tried..

27) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?

I was told very politely I spelled some German words wrong/used the wrong German words.

28) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest?

I word vomit on my real life friend sometimes if I’m really stuck. It’s not always super useful because she doesn’t follow/watch any MCU stuff. Mostly, ideas just bounce around in my head until one sticks.

29) Do people know you write fan-fiction?

Yeah, most of my real life friends know. The friend I mentioned above writes fanfic, just not for the MCU. The rest are big nerds, too, so they don’t judge me.

30) What’s your favorite minor character you’ve written?

I loved writing Ran Shen and Mila Hitzvig for The Bitter March arc in Ghosts of War. As far as OC’s go, Dean from my series Time is probably my favorite.

31) What spurs you on during the writing process?

Interest in the source material has a lot to do with it. For example, I was writing easily 4k+ words a day when I was writing about the events of Captain America: the Winter Soldier. Other than that, I wait for the urge to hit me… which sometimes means I don’t write for a few days and sometimes a week depending on what’s happening in real life.

32) What’s your favorite trope to write?

So far? Soulmate. A/B/O was also fun and I’ll probably write it again at some point.

33) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?

Oh jesus, no. I have the worst memory ever. I’m lucky if I can remember things a week ago, much less years ago.

34) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

Uhh… Not smut, I know that much. But I have this bad habit where I can’t write fluff without some angst and vice versa? I don’t think I could deal with writing cotton candy fluff for the rest of my life, though. So…. angst, I guess? But I wouldn’t be happy about it.

[imjustthemechanic]

The Stone Knight

Part 1/? - Two Statues Part 2/? - A Curious Interview Part 3/? - John Doe Part 4/? - Escape Attempt Part 5/? - Making the News Part 6/? - Fallout Part 7/? - More Impossible Part 8/? - The Shield Thieves Part 9/? - Reality Sinks In Part 10/? - Preparing a Quest Part 11/? - The Marvelous History of Sir Stephen Part 12/? - Uninvited Guests Part 13/? - So That’s What It Does Part 14/? - The What and the Where Part 15/? - Gearing Up Part 16/? - Just Passing Through Part 17/? - Dinner with Druids Part 18/? - Kracness Henge Part 19/? - A Task Interrupted Part 20/? - The Red Death Part 21/? - Aphelion Part 22/? - The Stone Giants Part 23/? - Nat the Giant Killer Part 24/? - An Interrogation Part 25/? - Guilt Part 26/? - Rushman’s Brilliant Idea Part 27/? - Hunter in Hiding Part 28/? - Ridiculous Part 29/? - The Guy from Barton Part 30/? - Sherwood Forest Part 31/? - Buckeye’s Fall Part 32/? - Robin Hood Part 33/? - Fantasies and Consequences Part 34/? - Swords of Damocles Part 35/? - The Road to London Part 36/? - View from the Top

Some conclusions at last, and the beginnings of a plan.

           The observation platform at the top of the skyscraper was creatively called the View from the Shard, and was a nice airy little place with a hardwood floor and potted plants, and a little bar that served snacks and alcohol while people looked out over the city.  The view itself was certainly very impressive, with London spread out below them to the horizon on every side.  Cities like this were Natasha’s natural habitat.  She’d been taught to blend into the urban jungle, to know its predators and prey, anywhere on the planet.  Seeing it from up here made her feel, as Robin had already noted, like a hawk on a perch, ready to swoop down on anything she liked.

           Sam took up a role as unofficial tour guide for the group, pointing out landmarks like Big Ben, the London Eye, and the replica of the Globe Theatre.  Nat pretended to be interested in what he was saying, just in case of watching eyes or listening ears, but her eyes stayed on the Tower.  As she’d expected, from here she could see right inside the walls.  The Tower grounds were full of tourists roaming around looking at the various sights and historical locations.  When Nat took out a pair of binoculars, she could pick out the Yeomen in their Tudor costumes with the Queen’s initials on the front, and the black specks of the Tower ravens.

           Her eye was unavoidably drawn, however, to the tallest and oldest part of the castle – the White Tower.  It was currently closed to the public and surrounded by scaffolding while some sort of work was done on it.  The White Tower was William the Conqueror’s original keep, although it hadn’t gained its famous name until his successor Henry the Third had it whitewashed. It was the strongest and most defensible place in the Tower of London, perfect for hiding something you didn’t want anybody else to get to.  The question was, where in the White Tower would the Grail be?

           Natasha had never been inside the White Tower, but she’d looked it up online the previous evening, after telling Allen to go to bed.  There were four floors, each divided into three rooms.  What had once been the great hall was now the Royal Armory, a museum displaying historical armor and weapons.  Other rooms were now used to store the rest of the armory collection, for employees, and for equipment that maintained the air quality and helped preserve the building.  The third room, in the south-east corner of the building, was St. John’s Chapel.

           According to the papers Nat had read, the Chapel had not been part of the original building plan – the design had been changed to include it and its semi-circular apse only after the foundations had already been laid.  That had caught her attention, and now as she stood musing on it from a thousand feet in the air, she was sure she had it right.  William the Conqueror had re-hidden the Holy Grail under the floor of the chapel in his new castle.

           It made sense on multiple levels.  In the Christian worldview of Sir Stephen, or of William himself, the Grail was something evil and demonic.  Placing a consecrated room overtop it and having regular prayers and masses there would provide spiritual energy to keep it under control, almost as if God were literally sitting on it.  It was also a place nobody would dig up in the Middle Ages, because they would assume there were tombs under the floor that should not be disturbed.

           In modern times, of course, things were different. People had a far more secular outlook and old bones had become something to dig up deliberately, to study and DNA test and do reconstructive portraits of.  The Chapel of St. John had survived that, too, however.  The Tower of London was a Grade I Listed Building as well as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Digging it up was a Federal and International crime, and the Chapel was particularly valuable because it preserved its original Norman interior.  It was even still in use, with services said in it on a semi-regular basis.  If there were anywhere in England where the Grail could have sat quietly for a thousand years undetected, the basement of St. John’s Chapel was the place.

           “Figuring out how to get in?” asked Sharon, coming to look over Nat’s shoulder.  Allen had come up on her other side, and was also looking down into the Tower.

           “Getting in will be easy,” said Nat.  “Figuring out where we’re going once we’re in is the hard part, but I think I’ve got it.”

           Sharon nodded.  “Where is it, exactly?”

           Nat shook her head.  “Not here,” she reminded her.  There were people all around them.  The bartender was serving drinks, tourists were chatting to each other or on their phones, and a teenage girl was taking selfies right next to them.  Any one of these people might be Zola in disguise.  “We’ll get a hotel room, put up some ivy, and then I’ll explain.”

           “Sounds good,” said Sharon.  “Are we doing this tonight?”

           “I hope so,” Nat said.  “Faster is better.  Get it out, and get out of the country.”  She’d been thinking about that, too.  They could stow away in the cargo section of the Chunnel train, and reach France without having to go through customs.  From there they’d just have to get to Kazakhstan without being noticed.  Nat had done that before in the opposite direction, so she was confident she could do it again.  The trip itself would hopefully give them time to figure out how to use the Grail, and fix the problems it had caused. It wasn’t time to think about that yet, though.  Sir Stephen had the right idea for now – one step at a time.

           She stepped back from the window and looked around. “Where are the guys?” she asked. Sam, Sir Stephen, and Robin were no longer with them.

           “I’ll bet Robin dragged them off to go on the Ferris Wheel,” said Allen.  “That seems like it would catch his eye.”

           Nat wouldn’t have been surprised if it were true, but as it turned out they found the others around the other side of the observation deck where the café and gift shop were.  Sir Stephen was, unsurprisingly, eating – he had a slice of carrot cake, and in between mouthfuls he was telling a group of schoolchildren about the time his friend Buckeye had tried to woo a girl by shooting an apple down from a tree with an arrow.

           “The apple was not properly ripe,” he explained, “so the arrow went in, but the apple did not fall.  Buckeye was therefore obliged to climb up and retrieve it while the girl and her friends made fun, and worse, on his way up he broke a branch, leaving him unable to climb down again.”

           “Your friend had a weak arm or a lousy bow,” said Robin Hood, who also had a slice of cake – his was chocolate.  Sir Stephen was eating with a fork, but Robin was just pulling pieces off with his fingers and getting them covered with icing that was then smeared all over his coffee cup.  “I don’t care if the apple was ripe or not – I could put an arrow through the stem to cut it down, and another through the apple before it hit the ground!”

           “Buckeye was a knight,” sniffed Sir Stephen, “not a common archer.”

           “I’m not a common archer, either,” said Robin. “I’m the best there is.”

           “A knight on horseback would run you down where you stood,” said Sir Stephen.

           “His horse would be dead under him before he got anywhere near me,” Robin countered.

           “He’s right, you know,” said Natasha.  “At the Battle of Crecy in 1346, English archers completely obliterated the French cavalry.”

           Sir Stephen pretended to be shocked, as if Natasha had betrayed him.  “You’d take his side?”

           “It’s not a side,” said Natasha, recognizing the argument as a joke.  “It’s history.  Come on, guys, we have to do some shopping.”

           The kids who’d been listening waved goodbye, and their teacher smiled at the two men he assumed had been telling made-up stories.  Robin was chuckling as they walked out.

           “Don’t mind him,” he said, pointing a thumb at Sir Stephen.  “He’s just sore that they’d all heard of me but not of him.”

           “I am not ‘sore’,” Sir Stephen protested.  “I’m only confused why so much attention is paid to a poacher and highwayman.”

           “I’m kind of confused about that myself,” Robin admitted cheerfully, “but they don’t seem to be demanding my head on a pike, so I’ll take it.”

           “It’s all in your point of view,” said Nat, attempting to herd them towards the lifts.  “We’re not really into quest stories nowadays – they’re seen as old-fashioned.  Robin Hood was supposed to have lived during the time of King John, who is remembered as incompetent if not outright evil, and the popular legend is that he stole from the rich to give to the poor, but even if he didn’t, he’s remembered more as a rebel than a criminal, and everybody likes rebels.”

           “Do they?” asked Sir Stephen.  This was completely alien to his worldview, in which the King ruled by divine right and any who opposed him were opposing God.

           “We’ve got to make you watch Star Wars,” said Sharon, patting Sir Stephen’s back.

           Their next stop was at the Millennium Park B&Q, where they bought shovels, picks, crowbars, and tarpaulins, along with a couple more potted ivy plants.  The clerk who packed it up for them cheerfully asked what kind of gardening they were going to be doing.

           “No gardening,” said Nat.  “Archaeology.”

           “Yeah?” the clerk smiled.  “What kind?”

           “We’re going to dig up a Norman chapel,” said Nat. “It’s gonna be one for the history books.”

           “I’ll look forward to seeing you on Time Team, then,” said the clerk.

           Nat thought he was more likely to see them on Crimes that Shook Britain, but she just paid the bill, and they moved on to a room in a Safestay hostel.  There, they put up ivy and horseshoes to keep unwanted visitors out, and Natasha pulled up the Google satellite map of the Tower grounds.

           “You can’t see it from the bird’s eye view, of course,” she said, “but while we were driving past I noticed that the walkway beside the A400 is at almost the same height as the outer curtain wall.”  She poked the place.  “That’s also one of the narrowest points in the moat besides the ones that border on the Thames.  That means nobody will have a good angle on what we’re doing, so we can climb up to the Develin Tower, then along the top of the wall to the workshops, where the inner wall is only a few yards away.  Drop to the ground between the workshops and the hospital block, and the chapel is just around the corner.”

           “How do we get in to the actual building?” asked Sharon.

           “Through the doors, I’m assuming,” said Nat.  “I mean, it’s a medieval castle, there’s not gonna be ducts we can climb through.  The good news is that the keep is closed to the public for restoration work. The contractors are gonna need to be able to get in and out, probably during hours when the area isn’t open to the public, so they’ll have one of those keypads on the door.  I can figure that out, no problem.”  It was a little funny, honestly, how high tech modern security was so easy for her to break, while the walls of a castle remained as they had always been, impenetrable.

“The problem there,” she went on, “is that there’ll be guards around, and I’m sure the night guards will be much more practically dressed and lethally armed than the daytime ones.  Somebody will have to stay outside the walls at a vantage point while the rest of us go in, so they can warn us if anyone’s coming.”  She looked up at Allen, standing behind her to see the map over her shoulder.  “That’s gonna be your job?”

“Me?” he asked in surprise.

“Yeah,” said Nat.  “We’re gonna put you up on one of the bridge towers with my binoculars, where you’ll have a view of everything going on down in the grounds.  If anything happens, you text me.  We’ll need to know if somebody’s seen us.”

           “How will I know?” asked Allen.  “It could be just the contractors, or the guard changing or something.”

           “Then you have to inform us of any of those things,” said Nat.  “We’re gonna be in the basement, don’t forget.  We’ll need to have eyes outside.”

           Allen’s jaw set.  “All right,” he said.  He was determined not to let them down this time, and Nat felt rather pleased with herself for having found him a job he could do that would be actually helpful but still within his comfort zone.

           “For the rest of us,” Nat added, “the most important thing has to be getting the job done.  Everything else is secondary.  No matter what happens, we have to walk out of there with the Grail so that we can get rid of it.”

           “After I get my memories back,” Robin said.

           “Right,” Nat agreed, although she was still having doubts about that.  “Of course. What that means is that if somebody gets hurt, the rest of us have to carry on.  If somebody gets arrested, or even killed, the rest of us have to carry on. We aren’t going to get a chance to come back and try again tomorrow night – I’m sure they inspect this place, basement and all, very thoroughly, and if they find we were in there they’ll step up the guard.  Or worse, they’ll dig deeper to figure out what we were looking for.  Do you understand?”

           They nodded, but she wasn’t sure they really did understand.  Except for Allen, all of Nat’s companions in this had some kind of combat training, but it wasn’t like hers.  They lived in a world where lives could still be more important than missions.  This was a place where it couldn’t be.  Not if the alternative was the Red Death and his Nazi followers getting the Grail. This was a mission almost meant for somebody like a black widow.  Maybe, in the fantasy-tinged world they found themselves in, it was Nat’s destiny as much as it was Sir Stephen’s.