#man i can't believe the game is already a year old again... and last year around this time we actually had nice weather lmfao

[josiesullysblog]

Stuck Like Glue

~AGED UP Neteyam x Na’vi Reader

~Fluff

~Proofread?-no

~Summary-You and Neteyam are sworn mates.

***

“Remember [Y/n], you must be nice,” your mother patted your neat braids. You were only seven so you hadn't understood why your family had to go meet with another tribe. You didn't understand that you were off to meet you eventually mate. You smiled at your mom as your dad picked you up, “our little [Y/n] isn't gonna let us down!” you giggled as he tickled you. Your mother laughed and grabbed you before getting on her Ikran.

You held your mother's hand as you and your family made your way through the crowd. Your father greets a man who you notice a family behind him. You hide behind your mother, not wanting them to see you. “This is Jake and Neytiri,” she gently pushed you to see. You made eye contact with her, “hello [Y/n], this is my son Neteyam,” she grabbed a boy who smiled big at you. You gave a small smile, “honey why don't you go play with them,” your mother said as a younger girl grabbed your hand.

“I’m Kiri and this is Lo’ak!” as she brought you toward a small lake. You nodded as the boy you met earlier looked at you, “is there something wrong?” you questioned as he came closer, “you're short,” he laughed as your eyed him up and down. “Like your any bigger,” without your parents present your personality changed shocking the three children.

“Let's go this way,” you said causing Lo’ak to cheer, “yea!” you smiled as you started walking off, “Lo’ak you know we can't go that way! Dad and mom will get mad,” you sighed loudly looking at the boy, “you always do what daddy says?” your teasing getting to the boy, “no!” he attempted to save himself but Kiri and Lo’ak laughed, “that's all you do!” Your smile became bigger, “I bet he’s daddy’s little boy,” you stuck your tongue out at him. Neteyam crossed his arms as your laugh rang through the forest, “fine let's go,” he said pushing past you.

You all found a flower meadow and you decided to play a game of tag, “tag your it!” you tapped Neteyam and started running. You turned to look back to notice the boy hadn't moved a bit, “hello, I tagged you now you have to chase me,” you said but the boy only tilted his head, “I don’t get your game.” You then proceeded to explain tag to the three children. “Tag your it!” you hit Neteyam again before running off. This time he chases you causing giggles to fall out of your mouth. Kiri and Lo’ak ran around themselves, Kiri gathering flowers to give to her mother later.

It became dark and eventually, you all sat down looking at the stars. “Our dad came from a star,” Neteyam said causing your eyes to widen, “that's cool!” you rubbed your eyes. Kiri had already fallen asleep and tiredness was hitting you. “[Y/n]!” you heard your name being called. Your mother came out and you immediately walked over to her, begging to be picked up. “Looks like someone is tired,” your father said as you fought to keep your eyes open.

Neytiri picked up Kiri as Jake looked at Neteyam, “why’d you guys go so out? What I’ve told you?” he scolded the older boy. Neteyam's eyes were on you though, even though he was 7, he saw the small smile you held when your family left as he was getting yelled at. He couldn't believe you had the audacity, to smile at him as he was being scolded.

“Looks like someone has a crush,” Neytiri said catching Neteyam’s stare. Jake stopped talking and let out a laugh, causing Neteyam to cover his face, “I don't like her!” the family walked back together but Neteyam held a mad face. You were nothing but bossy to him and got him in trouble. He’d never like you.

It has been years since you last saw the boy. From time to time, you’d see Jake or Neytiri since they’d have business with your parents, but besides that, it was almost like you never met him. You were twenty years old now, completely different from your younger self.

So, it was not a surprise when you were nervous to meet him again. I mean what if he hated you? You couldn't remember how your last interaction went, causing you to overthink. “It will all be alright,” your mother said patting your head to calm you.

Her words did not calm you at all. But you remembered there was a nearby place that you visited all those years ago. “I think I’m gonna take a quick walk,” you said smiling and walking away.

You sat down looking at the pretty flowers. You missed when life wasn't so complicated, and you could run around. Now, you had a whole tribe to think of. You had to mate, have children, and be amazing or everything your family has worked so hard on was for nothing. Your mind got lost in your thoughts you hadn't noticed someone staring at you.

Neteyam had dreaded this day. It's kind of silly, but he still remembers how you got him in trouble. He still holds it over your head as well. He rolled his eyes for what felt like the millionth time, “why are we doing this again?” he questioned. Neytiri sighed, “son, this unity between you and [Y/n] is connecting two different tribes. This will be an amazing asset, plus I remember how you looked at her,” she laughed as she was joined by Kiri. “I don’t like her!” Neteyam said standing up quickly. “I understand it's good for the tribe, but what about what I want? I want to be able to pick someone I love as my mate, not some girl I’ve met one time!”

Neytiri’s eyes softened, “teyem,” the boy sighed before heading to walk out of the tent, “it’s whatever.” He walked past everyone before he noticed the new Ikrans. He sighed, “Great they are already here,” he picked his feet off, heading somewhere to rest. His eyes fell on the flower meadow he and his mother visited often. Memories of you flooded his mind, making him rub his face. He kept walking till he noticed a body in the flowers.

You started picking up flowers and making a flower crown. Your hands worked hard on it when you noticed a shadow behind you. You turned quickly before being hit with a boy's face. He smiled and waved awkwardly at you, “is there something I can help you with?” you said looking him up and down. Although your words came out with attitude, he felt his palms start to get sweaty. His heart beat faster, as your gaze caused a small blush to appear. “I didn't mean to disturb you, I just wanted to get away for a bit,” your gaze softened a little before nodding, “I understand, you can sit if you want.” You picked the flower crown back up and continued working on it.

“What's that?” he said sitting by you, but not too close in fear of you walking away. “It's called a flower crown,” you said but never looked at him, “I only make them in my free time, but I never have free time.” you smiled to yourself. “Same, I’m training to become a hunter,” your head immediately picked up, “a hunter? How far along are you?” you said unconsciously scooting closer, Neteyam’s breath hitching, “in the next few weeks, I’ll be able to get my own bow from the home tree,” your smile grew bigger and Neteyam forced himself to look away in fear of his attraction being caught. “So, you're far enough to teach me?” you searched for his eyes, becoming a hunter has been a dream of yours for years. With all your other duties becoming a hunter was just a dream you’d never reached, till now.

“Why don’t you have an elder teach you?” you shook your head immediately, “their ways of teaching are old, you would be able to teach me quickly.” Neteyam thought about it, technically he was not supposed to be even talking with you. He was sworn to someone else, but if he helped you he’d be making his own decisions. Such a small way to say, “I’m my own person,” he looked back up at you smiling and nodding.

You let out a small squeal, “thank you so much! We’d have to do it at night, so my parents can't stop us!” at the mention of your parents you shot up, “I’ve been out for too long, but let's meet here ten minutes after eclipse every night.” Neteyam stood up laughing at you, “that's alright with me!”

The flower crown you held in your hand, found its way to his head. Neteyam smiled at you causing you to smile back. “See you,” you started walking off before Neteyam yelled, “wait I didn't catch your name,” you stopped walking facing him, and said, “It’s [Y/n]!” You ran off before he could say his.

The blush on his face intensified, and he felt like his heart was in his stomach. No. Freaking. Way.

***

Hey guys! Miss you all, I’ve been so busy lately I only have time to write at the end of the day. Currently sleepy but hopefully you all enjoy this story.

[randomshyperson]

Spring Break - Cheerleader!Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Summary: Every year during Spring Break, you travel to a camp filled with outdoor competitions. It comes with a bonus of facing your rival from back when the whole thing started, and there's nothing more attractive than Wanda Maximoff kicking your ass in every game. Some might say you let her win just to see her smile, but maybe that's loser talk.

Warnings: (+18), enemies to lovers, so much teasing and bickering, a lot of making out and kissing, bottom!Cheerleader Wanda being a tease, soft first-time smut, semi-public, gays who can't keep their hands off each other, fluff, mild angst when they’re being stubborn, friends being done, high school but summer camp vibes, happy ending i promise. Words: 11.176k

A/N-> I’m back with enemies to lovers (and some smut finally). This fic is quite old, but it was abandoned; after seeing Wednesday and Bianca dueling I regained inspiration for what I was doing in the 5k that was already done. You can thank Netflix for this one.  I wasn't sure whether to split it into two parts or not, but I think I have longer fics than this one so I decided to post them all together. If you notice there's a pause, because I wrote it as two different parts, you didn't.

General Masterlist | AO3 | Wattpad

--//--

There was something about pissing you off that made Wanda twitch.

It started so long ago, when you first bumped into each other at Avengers Camp three years ago, and Wanda had the best and most stressful Spring Break since high school began; all because you were there and she was winning.

Now, senior year had arrived, and the annual tradition of joining the spring games for an entire week in the middle of nature at one of the most renowned vacation camps in the United States was going to happen again.

Wanda likes to believe that she was not expecting this. It would actually be absurd to admit that she waited, every year, for the familiar image of your old Danvers cap and your bored expression leaving the bus that brought your schoolmates, but if Wanda would be honest, now sitting in the driveway waiting for their driver to finish unloading the car while she lets her gaze run across the entrance courtyard of the Camp, pretending not to look for someone and yet feeling her whole body warm-up when she recognizes the female figure in the crowd of students from the rival school, Wanda has to admit a few things. First, you grew annoyingly attractive every year. The second, she couldn't wait to beat your ass at every game.

"Man, I can't believe we're competing with the Skrulls again, it's the third year in a row." Her twin's complaint made Wanda blink away, her face half-reddened with fear that she had been caught staring. But Pietro seemed busy enough with his own complaints. 

"Well, at least we're winning." Wanda retorted making him laugh. 

"Fair point." He said and looked at her. "Speaking of which, do you know what games you'll be competing in this year yet?"

"Um, I think I'll check with the girls first. I don't want to end up alone in swimming like last year." Wanda mutters and Pietro nods in understanding. 

Soon the monitors are addressing those who have already arrived, and Wanda loses sight of you - not that she was looking - and busies herself with going to the cabin that would be hers for the next week.

You, on the other hand, lose your bag in a pile.

"God, why does this always happen." You grumble in irritation as you manage to see the handle of your blue suitcase, below a few hundred others. 

"Every year, Y/N. And I keep saying, carry your bag on your lap, and you keep ignoring me." Your sister, Carol, comments beside you, throwing an arm around your shoulders. You roll your eyes, gently pushing her away. Carol is happy, with her dark, safe suitcase under her arm. 

"Stop bugging me and help me." You grumble and she laughs before trying to find a better position for you two to pull your bag together.

With a little effort, you manage to pull your backpack out, and you stumble backward with a grunt - bumping into someone who keeps you from falling to the ground - as Carol pulls your bag out of the pile.

"Yay, teamwork!" She celebrates on the other side, but you are busy turning to thank her who held you up, only to face your best friend with a small smile.

"Bucky!" you greet him excitedly, turning your body to hug him tightly by the neck, and laughing when he spins you in the air. 

You met Bucky at camp, and despite going to a rival school, you had enough things in common for the friendship to grow strong even though he was studying and living almost on the other side of the country. Fortunately, Skype and Whatsapp existed, and even as spring ended, you were still friends. 

"Hello, my favorite Danvers. " He greets like that only to annoy your sister behind you, who rolls her eyes and chuckles, moving closer to hug him as well as soon as you let go. "How was your trip, girls?"

"Y/N slept the whole way." Carol replies.

"And Carol ate the whole way." You accuse taking your bag from her hand and ignoring the grimace to add, "Oh, no, wait, I made a mistake. She was actually daydreaming about Natasha Romanoff."

"Shut up!" Carol grunted quickly, trying to hit you, a soft pink appearing on her cheeks. You fled from her hands, laughing and running toward the check-in booth where the monitors were calling out names, and Bucky shook his head for interaction watching your sister run after you.

Avengers Camp was huge, and besides the cabins divided up among all the students who stayed there during the vacation seasons, there was a lake, volleyball and tennis courts, an auditorium, and even an arcade. 

You were lucky to end up in a cabin with your sister and the other girls in your class - the brilliant Gwen Stacy and Darcy Lewis - who didn't seem too interested in the sports competitions but would surely win any of the scientific tests.

After packing up, all the campers were called to the main cabin, where there were tables scattered throughout the area, where the teenagers were seated ready to enjoy the delicious lunch and listen to the welcome speech.

Nick Fury was the Camp Director and no one could ever tell the real story behind his eye patch, each year new campers came up with new legends that made you laugh - like the story that an alien cat had been responsible for cutting the limb off.

"[...] It gives me great pleasure to welcome the honorary Skrulls from California!" Announced Fury and all the students of your school made a chorus of claps and shouts of celebration, banging on their desks. Fury laughed from his seat in the center of the room, waiting for the commotion to pass before announcing the other school. "And equally welcome, the so-far undefeated champions of the Spring Competitions, the Avengers!"

The rival school made an even better commotion, almost starting a food war. But you were having fun, even though your school had never beaten the Avengers in their home, it was to be expected that they would want to keep their camp as an undefeated venue. Even though last winter during the interclass event, the soccer team lost badly to another school. There was a taunt among the students that if the Avengers played away from home, they would lose. But you and the rest of your school were more interested in proving that you could beat them anywhere, and this was your last chance to be part of it.

As Fury continued with the general announcements - about the rules, and the competitions, concepts that were already very familiar to you after three years - you felt Bucky pull your cap off your head, muttering something about manners that made you laugh.

You were adjusting the tousled strands of hair when Carol gave you a gentle nudge.

"Your majesty will speak now." She sneers and you aren't even confused, knowing full well what this is about before you even raise your eyes to the center of the room again, and feel your stomach do a full turn at seeing Wanda Maximoff step up to the podium with the confidence and posture worthy of a queen.

You met Wanda in first grade, and from the first conflicting interactions, you have an obligation to call her a princess. Because the perfect little girl's posture is too annoying for you not to do so. This, and the fact that her father is a famous politician, and the family is deep in the money, kind of lives up to the nickname. Also, it gives you real amusement to see the pink in her cheeks when you call her that.

And Wanda, of course, is the representative speaker at the games. So every year until she graduates, she announces the competitions and collects the names, as well as basically running the whole thing with the other monitors. It's like Queen Bee and her subjects, and neither you nor any of your friends stop making fun of it.

"I didn't think the Maximoffs were going to come this year." Bucky comments low beside you, as Wanda announces that year's games. And you frown in confusion.

"What, but Wanda has basically been representing this competition forever." You reason, but Bucky shrugs his shoulders.

"I know, but I heard they were going back to their country for college." Bucky retorts. "And you have to admit, while Avengers Camp is fun, it's not worth much here for us to get admission points."

Carol murmurs in agreement. "Man, now I'm pissed they didn’t leave. Imagine a year without having to put up with Little Miss Perfect, a stolen dream." She mocks and you force a laugh, a strange feeling in your stomach. You should be happy at the possibility of not having to put up with Wanda. But it occurs to you that the games wouldn't be as much fun without her.

Clearing your throat, you poke at your food with your fork. 

"I think I'll sign up just for racing this year." Bucky comments beside you. "We have Football season, and I don't want to end up accidentally hurting myself before the games."

"But you love wrestling." You say but he shrugs his shoulders, offering you a small smile.

It occurs to you as the announcements end, and students have to move to leave their names for the competitions, that the seniors are not very excited. Probably the stress of college admissions, you can relate to that yourself, still, it's a little sad to see how little participation from classmates your age.

"Danvers sisters, good to have you back for another year." Fury greets you excitedly as soon as you and Carol approach the registration stand - where there is a small crowd of students trying to choose which games they will compete in, and put their names on the prepared murals. 

"Hey, Nick!" Carol greets back, doing a handshake that she never taught you with the principal. You merely offer him a smile. "How's the family?"

You took the attention away from your sister as you approached the mural that read Wildness Competitions, adjusting your cap slightly as you did so. There were many options for activities at Avengers Camp, and you usually chose mostly the ones that the public school wouldn't give you access to for the rest of the school year, like Hispism or Fencing, the latter being a secret talent.

"Well, if it isn't the Skrulls’ Golden Armor Knight." A female voice mocked behind you, and you were smiling before you even turned around. 

"Maximoff, it's always a displeasure." You retorted sarcastically, your hands in your pockets. Wanda doesn't flinch at your rudeness, tossing her hair to the side as she approaches with some buttons which she as a representative, needs to put on the murals to signal about the teams.

"Having trouble picking your sport this year, Danvers? A suggestion, try to remember that you are going to lose no matter what."

"Really? 'Cause as far as I remember, that shiny trophy up there has my name on it." You retort nodding to where the fencing awards are set in the corner of the main hall. Wanda rolls her eyes. "But don't worry, princess, I'll go easy on you this year."

Wanda lets out a wry laugh, her eyes glittering in defiance.

"I guess it's more the other way around, huh?" She retorts. "Or in case you've forgotten, the highest number of wins is still mine."

Wanda had a point. You could win at Fencing all you wanted - and get the ridiculous nickname of Skrulls’ Golden Armor Knight from the girl just to annoy you - but Wanda still won everything. From archery to fighting to spelling. Never in a million years would you admit that maybe you were losing because you were busier trying not to be distracted by her annoyingly pretty face.

"Let's see how this year turns out." You tell her with clear defiance in your voice, and Wanda smiles, moving closer, and you swallow dryly, your body tensing up. But she is just reaching for something behind you - a jar with other buttons - and offers you an innocent smile.

"Game on, Danvers." She says, grabbing one of the items and placing it in your hands before turning around, hips swaying more than necessary as if she knew exactly where you were going to look, and you choke softly, your face heating up before you shake your head and focus on the badge in your hands. The symbol of your school pinned on it.

–//–

The first day of competitions was a complete success for the Avengers, which means it was complete hell for you.

Unlike basically all the rest of your colleagues who were taking it easy, you almost destroyed a snack machine that refused to deliver your energy drink after you finished in second place for the fourth consecutive activity. If anyone asked, you were annoyed because of the little victorious smile Wanda had on her face all morning, but no one asked, because Carol had to drag you away from the brunette to avoid you jumping on her neck and pulling that little smile off yourself.

"It's so strange to see you like this." Your sister comments as soon as you guys are so back at the cabin, and you flopped down on the bed, grunting irritably against the pillow.

Gwen - who participated in the short race and was still wearing the same uniform as you - handed Carol the small bottle of energy drink that the machine released after you and Wanda got into a heated argument. 

"Like what?" you asked confused with your voice muffled by the pillowcase. Your sister laughed.

"So angry." She clarified by sitting down in one of the armchairs to take off her shoes. "I'm the hothead Danvers, you know? You're like, so good vibes all the time."

"I agree, and I don't even hang out with you guys that much." Gwen remarks before moving to grab her shower stuff. You prop yourself up on the bed with a chair.

"What are you trying to tell me?" You ask your sister, and she gives a short chuckle, shrugging.

"Nothing, I just think it's weird." She mumbles. "You're so calm usually, but just walk into the same room as Wanda and you turn into a ticking time bomb. It feels like she has some sort of switch, or as that other saying goes, of the matchstick and the spark-"

"This conversation doesn't make any sense." You interrupt by frowning and standing up. "I am as I have always been, and it's not my fault if Wanda is the most annoying creature on the planet who keeps wanting to beat me at everything. I'll be taking a shower before you come up with any other weird sayings."

The locker room was a complete mess, but at least you were distracted by Gwen's comments about the competition and about the Avengers planning a sleepover to care about.

Since the next competitions were not until the afternoon, you finished your shower and decided to put on a comfortable sweater to spend the next few hours with Bucky at the lake, and were just finishing putting on your socks when giggles attracted your attention.

Well, you recognized the sound, and you had a hundred insults ready to use, but when you turned your face and had the image of Wanda in a towel, they all disappeared with any other coherent thought.

She was laughing at some comment her colleague made, but when her gaze met with yours, her smile faltered.

"Hey, Danvers, nice running today." She complimented, the sentence loaded with sarcasm. 

"Yeah, Y/N, congratulations on the silver medal." Wanda's friend, you think her name is Monica, said and unlike the brunette, she seemed completely sincere. 

You didn't respond with more than a hum of understanding, suddenly hyperaware that Wanda was without clothes just a few feet away from you. Turning your attention back to your socks, you cleared your throat softly, trying to keep your gaze in front of you.

Wanda took up a locker three feet away from yours. You could see her figure out of the corner of your eye. Long legs exposed and-"

You cleared your throat again, shaking your head quietly. 

"Are you going to watch the boys' race, Y/N?" It was Monica who asked - from the locker behind yours - and you frowned slightly.

"Hmm, I'm not sure." You muttered, feeling your face heat up when you saw Wanda take her underwear out of the cabinet. " I don't really have anyone to watch there."

"Really? But I thought you and that long-haired cutie were going out." Monica comments excitedly, and you turn your head to her with confusion. "What's his name again? Ben?"

"Bucky." You correct and don't notice the way Wanda is glancing at you out of the corner of her eye, pretending to be busy with her own clothes. "And we're not dating, he's just my friend. Besides, he decided not to run."

Monica makes a noise of agreement, and you look away because she is suddenly changing and you don't want to be disrespectful.

"We'll watch Pietro race, but I'd honestly rather hang out at the arcade." Monica continues. "We can play something after the race, can you call your sister to join us?"

"Sure, Monica." You mutter finishing your shoes. You stand, and turn around, ready to say goodbye, but you face Wanda without a towel and simply freeze.

She, despite the soft pink appearing on her cheeks, holds your gaze, a small smile threatening to leave her lips as she works to put on her bra. You let your gaze lower, your heart racing in your ears as the image of full breasts and down to her belly and-"

"O-kay, I'll see you later." You gasp with a very hot face, stumbling off the bench and running so fast from the locker room that you leave Monica with a confused expression.

"What was that?" She asks, and Gwen, who you didn't even remember to say goodbye to, shrugs her shoulders.

"I think she may be trying to avoid arguments." She suggests, and the comment makes Wanda sigh softly as she finishes dressing. "Speaking of which, Maximoff, any chance you'll go easy on Y/N? She gets stressed when she loses to you."

Wanda chuckles. " Not a chance."

–//–

One of the afternoon competitions, besides the boys' race, was archery. Which meant watching Kate Bishop, a girl from the year before yours, destroy all the older students. Her coach, Clint Barton, kept smiling proudly with each completed trial, and you overheard some students from the Avengers saying how he was sure to write a letter of recommendation there when the time came for Kate to enter the university.

However, this year you were distracted. Bucky and Carol were sitting next to you, clapping and whistling for Kate along with her friends - Yelena Belova, who was coincidentally the sister of your sister's long-time crush, Natasha Romanoff, and Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson, the latter two being on the soccer team with Bucky.

While everyone was impressed by the long-range targets, you were trying to keep the image of Wanda out of your head. The problem was that ever since you saw her without a towel in the locker room, the curve of her waist, and of her breasts seemed to have stuck.

"Are you okay?" Bucky's voice snapped you out of your fantasy. "Your face is red."

"I'm fine." You mumble grudgingly, stretching out your legs and letting your cap cover your eyes. "I'm just resting my eyes."

"Kate just hit a target in the sky." He comments. " It was pretty incredible."

"I bet it was." You merely reply, the image of something far more interesting in your head. Bucky makes a confused face but doesn't insist. 

When the next contestant was announced, you grunted softly and started to get up, muttering that you were feeling queasy and were going to get some air. The ironic comment about you being outside already made by Carol was ignored.

You ended up in the back of one of the huts, and as you leaned your back against the wood, you took a deep breath.

Stop thinking about her. Stop thinking-

"Victory is already ours but you didn't have to skip the game." The teasing made you flinch. On any other day, before what happened in the locker room at least, any comment from Wanda would have been rebutted with an equally sarcastic one. But the image of her naked torso was still fresh in your mind, insistent, and you just wanted to be left alone.

"Fuck off, Maximoff." Aggressiveness failed in your tone, as your voice faltered hoarsely over your thoughts. You didn't have time to fix your mistake - Wanda was already mockingly chuckling, slow steps toward you.

"You know, I've been practically fencing back home. I even have a private tutor now." She informs you, to which you just roll your eyes without patience, trying to look at everything but the girl in front of you. "Maybe it's time for that trophy to stamp another name."

You chuckled dryly, stealing a glance at her.  "In your dreams."

"No, I'll just kick your ass in reality." She assures you finally close enough. "It'll be too easy, you're all distracted this year..."

Your breath hitched in your throat as Wanda simply began to move closer, eyes intense and provocative as her tone of voice. You stared at her in shock at the magnetic tension between you, wondering if she would have the courage to break the distance as you wished to do. Wait, since when did you-

"Maximoff, Danvers." The voice of one of the monitors broke the momentum completely and made you both jump in fright, away from each other as if you had been burned. "The game is still going on. What are you two doing alone here? I hope it's not another fight-"

"No, sir-"

"Go mind your own business, Logan." You cut off the apologies of the good girl next to you, practically pushing her out of your way as you moved away from the cabin wall. The monitor grimaced at the hostility, but you knew him long enough to know you wouldn't have a problem. Logan was like an older sibling, and you didn't need another in this position. "We were just talking, or rather, Maximoff was bugging me, as usual."

Wanda snorted angrily, but Logan rolled his eyes impatiently at the whole thing. "Back to the game, girls." He ordered, ignoring your grumbling that you were already walking anyway and waiting for Wanda to do the same.

She followed you back to the bow field - Surprisingly quiet. You were too busy trying not to think about her to notice, and at some point, you both took completely opposite directions, drifting apart in the crowd of students.

Carol, however, noticed you coming, and as soon as you were seated again, she looked at you with a frown.

"What were you and Wanda doing?"

The question startled you as if your sister had been able to read your last thoughts. You grimaced immediately, knowing that your face was blushing.

"What? Nothing." You assured quickly, irritation in your voice. "We just bumped into each other in the entryway."

Carol didn't buy the lie judging by the look on her face, but she didn't have time to question - Kate won the event undefeated, and a crowd of clapping and celebrations erupted in the open field.

With the last match of the day, and having won the vast majority of the challenges, the Avengers were happy enough for a Victory party - Which was nonetheless a direct tease to the Skrulls, who by some miraculous luck, if manage to win all the next day's matches, could win the tournament. In this way, the crowd took the celebration back to the camp's main campfire, where the staff arranged dining tables and benches for the first outdoor meal of the holidays.

Alcohol was obviously not allowed, and that never stopped campers from smuggling it between disguised water bottles. 

As one of the athletes for tomorrow's competitions, you decided to stay away from alcohol - quite unlike your sister, who took advantage of vodka shots to build up the courage to talk to Natasha Romanoff.

You were watching her awkward attempts from a safe distance with Bucky beside you, laughing softly when the boy announced that he was also going to try his luck with the one he liked tonight.

The thing was, Bucky didn't like anyone - As far as you knew. So the information caught you by surprise.

"Wait. What?" 

But he chuckled, waving to a front with his glass, and you frowned trying to find the person. It took you a moment to realize that it was Sam Wilson, Co-Captain of the American Football Team. Avenger.

"Wow, he's..."

"An avenger, I know."

You chuckle, hiding your smile as you look down at your soda glass. "I was going to say handsome."

Bucky was blushing. You gave him the privacy to keep your gaze on Sam, knowing it would get worse if you stared at your friend. 

"Fuck, yeah, I know." He gasped softly making you laugh. 

"When did this happen?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, back at school?" He starts half uncertain. "We played together and he started to follow me on Instagram. One day, just playing conversation and even insults until it turned into a habit..." He jokes with a short laugh. "We came back here and it made sense. You know?"

You giggle at your friend's nervousness and clumsiness, finding the whole thing kind of adorable. "Yeah, I guess so." You say. "Go ahead, talk to him."

He sighs, deciding to turn his glass all at once before waving at you and heading off to talk to Sam Wilson.

Alone, you think about joining some colleagues closer to the fire, but nearby laughter catches your attention.

There is something about Wanda Maximoff's beauty that takes your breath away. And it's not fair that it seems to grow in the dim light of the moon and the stars. And Wanda, surrounded by her friends, laughing at something she has been told, with soft dimples in her cheeks, it is even more unfair the way the image makes your stomach turn nervously.

Has she always been beautiful like this, since her first win, and you were too busy with the game to notice? Or somehow, the school has changed you enough in the last year to notice that although Wanda was the most insufferable person you knew, she needs to be recognized as the most beautiful girl you have ever seen.

And then, if you think about it as you notice her not minding having her moment with her friends interrupted to help a freshman camper who seems lost as to where their cabin is, you'll realize that Wanda, when she's not competing with you and testing all your buttons, is not so insufferable. You will notice that she has always been kind and thoughtful and that people don't make her the leader of everything because she is rich or beautiful, but because she is the best at organizing games, and guiding people. And if you think about it, you will recognize that Wanda is just as tired as you are at the races, sweaty and breathless, and just as bright and hard-working at everything. 

You suddenly think that Wanda deserved to win for the first time, as you have never acknowledged before. She must really be much brighter than you, because she surely wouldn't have taken all this time to realize what she was feeling.

Did it occur to you, so many years after you first laid eyes on her, that now you were really seeing her. There, near the campfire, accepting some more soda, so, so gorgeous.

'Fuck." You gasped in realization under your breath into the night, feeling something burn behind your eyes. 

Wanda, as if she could guess, even sense the moment you pined for her attention, looked away for her friends until she met your gaze. She hesitated before assuming the same expression as always - Ready to torment you - but this time, you looked on the verge of tears when you stared back.

The second she noticed, she frowned in concern, all the masked arrogance falling from her face. But you didn't give her any time to react, you left your glass on the first table you could find and practically ran away from there. From her.

And of course, Wanda would be stubborn and insistent enough to follow you. Not daring to call your name on the way as if she guessed that you were going to run until you disappeared, or worse, turn to her and tell her to mind her own business.

When you walked inside the fencing hall, empty of course, she let her head work without thinking straight about what she was accusing you of.

You barely reached the sword cabinet when she walked in through the ajar door.

"I should have known you would try to cheat." She sneered convinced that she had caught you in the act. You froze, not for the reasons she imagines, your hands still on the closet lock. "That's sad, even for you, Danvers."

"Shut up." 

She chuckled wickedly, crossing her arms as she stopped a little behind you. "Come on, if you admit it, I might consider not reporting you to the juries."

It was your turn to chuckle - Unlike her, almost tearfully. Wanda hesitated, confused, even more so when you turned to her, and your face had tears dried on the way there on your cheeks.

"Get out of here before I do something stupid." 

But Wanda uncrossed her arms, concern on her face. "I've never seen you cry before."

"Wanda, I swear to god-"

"Not even when you broke your arm back in the first year." She recalls as she takes a step forward, and another, raising one of her hands toward your face slowly. You know you should move away, push her before she could realize how much you were trembling, how hot your skin was, but you couldn't move a muscle it. Wanda touched your cheek and you gasped, unable to keep your eyes open. "Sweetheart, what happened?"

It was so tender, so loving that your heart jumped in your chest. You almost sobbed, but instead, your emotions mixed and you raised your hand to her wrist, gripping hard but not pushing away, your angry eyes hiding insecurity that Wanda could only see because she knew you well enough, perhaps better than anyone else, even if neither of you had ever admitted this.

"Why do you care?" That's what you retorted, and it took her by surprise because Wanda didn't expect to have to answer that question. Not to her father, when she insisted that she was going back to Camp this year and he demanded a reason, nor to Pietro who questioned her why she still kept the brooch with the Danvers name on it that you lost to her in a card game in sophomore year. And even less to you, with tears in your eyes inside the hall of the only game she could never win.  Her hesitation made you let go of her wrist, a tired sigh leaving your lips. "You don't. I...please, Wanda, just leave me alone."

You scared her. You looked so small, so insecure and uncertain, vulnerable. You? Never in a million years had you allowed Wanda to see you like this. She didn't know how to cope with it.

Your footsteps moved away, and by your breath, you were crying. She came closer but lost the courage to break your privacy. Her mind filled with anxiety - It didn't matter how long you had known each other. You were rivals, nothing more than that. Wanda had no right to invade your space.

"Go away." You insisted seriously with a voice hoarse with emotion and Wanda shuddered. It was different from the anger of losing - It was almost as if she had stabbed you in the back. Or had hurt you.

She swallowed dryly, and before you could repeat the order, she spoke:

"If I win tomorrow, you will tell me what happened."

The deal hangs in the air for a few moments, carrying the tension between the two of you. Wanda almost decides to leave without an answer when you sigh.

"What if I win?"

She smiles even though you can't see it. "You can pick your prize." She says and doesn't wait for you to think about it, clearing her throat before murmuring goodnight and leaving the hall.

You walk away to the trophy cabinet again and stare at one of the photographs of last year's Fencing team. You and Wanda are in it, in opposite positions. And for the first time in three years, you wish she were standing right next to you.

–//–

Sleep puts some sense into your head. 

You were practically mortified with shame after thinking about the whole interaction with Wanda the night before, imagining that it now gave her enough power to somehow humiliate you and then hating that you thought that way of Wanda, who despite the rivalries, didn't seem the sort of person who would use a moment like that to mock you in the least.

So you had a foolproof plan the next morning: You would win fencing, and ask Wanda to stay away from you for the rest of the summer as your prize, succinctly hiding any unwanted feelings until it was time to leave Camp so that you would never have to see Wanda Maximoff again.

You think you were lucky this whole thing was happening in the last year.

The next day of competitions seemed to have been more aggressive than the previous one. To your complete happiness, the Avengers were irresponsible enough about the previous day's party to get careless.

The Skrull won the day's activities - Tight, you have to admit - but still champions. It wasn't all of them, unfortunately, but it would put both teams through to the final day of matches the next afternoon.

Fencing was one of the last competitions. 

You managed to avoid Wanda and her worried glances all morning, and consequently, your friends and sister, who noticed the lack of fighting between you. 

The fencing hall was considerably full when you arrived. Although most people didn't share much interest in the sport, everyone enjoyed watching you and Wanda compete. 

She was already in uniform when you arrived, and you ignored with a tightness in your chest her attempt to search in your face for any discomfort from the previous night. 

"You're late, Danvers." Professor Jacques Duquesne warned, also in uniform and with a sword at his waist. You sighed wearily, taking off your jacket to put on your uniform.

"Sorry, I... I didn't want to come." You muttered quietly, and the man frowned in confusion.

"What was that?" he asked without having heard, but you forced a smile.

"Nothing. Shall we get started?"

The spectators arranged themselves around you just as the teams were getting into position to compete. As Captains, you and Wanda were the last.

Your team won most of the duels, which on any other occasion would have cheered you up infinitely. But not today, because you spent most of the competition stealing glances at Wanda, who did the same, unsure of whether or not to approach you.

You had to face the champions of her team, as did Wanda with yours, and so when you finally went to face each other, you shared the slightly breathless but undefeated posture.

Wanda removed her protective helmet to drink water, and her slightly ruffled hair and rosy cheeks made your heart soar. 

Somehow, you decided that teasing her was a better idea than complimenting her on how pretty she looked.

"Hey Maximoff, did Daddy pay for private lessons for the rest of your team as well?"

Your team laughed at the joke, but Wanda finished a long sip of the water leisurely, staring at you long enough to make you feel completely clumsy.

As soon as she returned the bottle to the table, she stared at you again.

"Are you really going to pretend nothing happened yesterday, Danvers?" 

Everyone who was paying attention to the conversation whispered in curiosity, and your body froze. Wanda didn't seem to mind the audience one bit, but you huffed impatiently when Carol asked what she was talking about.

Without answering either of them, you turned your back and walked to the mat, waiting for the competition to begin.

As it turns out, teasing and ignoring Wanda seemed to have infuriated her. The hall filled with tension once the last duel began, and you, and all your confidence as an undefeated champion faltered when Wanda became a beast in the sport overnight.

She scored two points in a row, moving so quickly and masterfully that if you didn't have a reputation to uphold you would have congratulated her.

"It looks like we're going to have a new champion this year." Mr.Duquesne commented proudly and teasingly, receiving a chorus of soft celebration from the Avengers present.

You've had enough.

She tried hard to maintain a defensive position, but you scored within seconds of the announcement that the round had begun.

With the tip of the sword still on her chest, you teased:

"I guess we can't buy talent after all." 

Wanda grunted angrily, without waiting for the next round to be announced, spun the sword striking yours, and resumed the duel. You fought back every blow with the mastery of a champion, but Wanda didn't back down once.

"What's the matter, Maximoff, can't get me?" You sneered between one defense and another, irritating her even more. When it looked like she was going to hit you, you spun your body around and hit her in the arm.

The audience, completely tense, split between boos and cheers of celebration. The teacher laughed impressed.

"It's a draw." He said. "Girls, get back to-"

But Wanda attacked you - For a microsecond, you managed to react in time and prevent her from scoring.

She seemed a lot angrier all of a sudden, and you kept up the defense, waiting for a gap that apparently she wasn't going to provide.

Long steps backward to avoid the sword in your direction, in an albeit hurried, fully coordinated dance, Wanda managed to take the fight to the outside. 

The crowd got excited and drowned out Mr.Duquesne's protests about rules, the whole group following you and Wanda outside. Any campers who had previously been uninterested in watching the match took an immediate interest in the fight taking place, and it wasn't long before there was a large number of people in an open circle around the huts, trying to watch.

In one of the deflections, you had to do a somersault between two haystacks to dodge a blow that was impossible to block, stealing certain victory from the girl behind you, who grunted in annoyance.

In the motion, you knocked the helmet off your head.

"Going to play dirty then, Maximoff? Fine." You gasped equally affected at the girl who had paused her attacks. "It's our last year, let's make it count."

Wanda removed her helmet as well, her sword still raised for any attempted attacks. "I'm listening, Danvers." She returns between teeth, and you have to smile.

"I invoke a military challenge." You announce then, surprising her for only half a second. "No masks, no tips." You continue, the audience getting excited. "First one to draw blood wins. I might give you a nice scar to remind you who defeated you."

Some Skrulls laugh, but Wanda is not intimidated. She throws her helmet away and raises her chin in your direction. 

"What about our deal?"

You swallow dryly, but try to disguise it. "Still standing."

A glimmer of a smile forms on Wanda's lips, and she has the nobility to wait for you to nod before attacking next time.

It's suddenly much harder to fight Wanda. You blame these stupid feelings on your chest because once you realize that if you hit her, you're going to hurt her, you just can't do it.

Wanda doesn't seem to have much of a problem with that, because she attacks you with fervor. You think you might lose, because of the way she starts cornering you, and no chance for you to do another flip, so you despair. If you lose, you'll have to confess why you were crying, and that's unacceptable.

She throws a low, clean hit, but you jump. Before Wanda can get ready for the next one, you grab her waist and pull her to you.

The protest about the rules is muffled in your ears as your lips crash against hers. Wanda gasps, closing her eyes and dropping her sword to the ground at the same second the entire audience goes completely silent, shocked.

It's good, no, it's incredible. As breathtakingly overwhelming as you imagined kissing Wanda Maximoff would feel. She gasps against your lips, pressing back, and your chest screams. 

The audience vibrates and you wake up, realizing what you had just done.

You let go of Wanda with a long step away from her, who opens her eyes at the same moment, her breathing now affected for a completely different reason. She looks at you dumbfounded.

"W-what are you-" She tries as she steps forward, her hand raised towards your wrist, but you flinch. You raise your sword, and with one clean strike, hit her palm. 

The cut is small, but it makes her grunt in pain and surprise. You feel like you might start crying again, but you declare in a hoarse voice:

"I won."

Wanda's eyes fill with tears, but you assume they are tears of rage by the way she begins to shout angrily in the teacher's direction, saying that you had cheated while trying to be heard as the audience begins to shout your name and spread out in celebration.

Duquesne is equally in shock and mutters that technically there isn't a rule about kissing your opponent.

They lift you into the air, with the trophy, but when you capture Wanda's head-down posture and the completely hurt look she gives you before turning away, you don't feel like you've won anything.

–//–

With an injury, Wanda was out of all the upcoming competitions, which were sure to count in the Skrulls' favor.

Your school couldn't be happier, and you couldn't be more miserable.

Wanda was walking around the camp with her hand bandaged and you just wanted to get away from the people who kept congratulating you on the duel. 

There was also the matter of the angry stares from the other Avengers, especially your opponent's twin, which only made you feel like the worst person in the world.

When night came, and a few groups decided to set up card tables from poker to blackjack, you slipped outside to breathe properly.

The universe was surely testing you when you met Wanda across the door, and to add to your misfortune, she wasn't alone.

Some stupid guy was cornering her against the wall of one of the booths - clearly flirting by whispering things in her ear that made her giggle shyly.

With your jaw locked, you approached them in hard steps.

"Hey, Maximoff, I want to talk to you." You announced impatiently, feeling your chest burn with the scene in front of you.

She flinched at your sudden arrival, but the boy let out a short laugh.

"We're already in a conversation, cheater." He sneered, his hand on the wall coming down to Wanda's shoulders. "Why don't you go back to your cabin?"

"Listen here asshole-"

But Wanda sighed impatiently, pulling the boy's arm off her with a shove. "Fuck off you two, my day was bad enough to deal with this now."

She stormed off annoyed without caring, and you huffed impatiently. When the boy made mention of following her, you stepped in front of him, receiving a wry laugh.

"Back off, Danvers." He warned. "You may be a girl, but if you piss me off I'll break your face."

The kick to the ball made him bend his knees, grunting in pain. You didn't let him fall, holding him by the shoulders to mock against his ear:

"It's more the other way, don't you think?" He couldn't answer, still shaking from the blow. You pushed him away, and he fell to the ground, holding his front. "Stay away from her, she's mine."

Despite the pain, he gasped in confusion, "I thought you two hated each other, you maniac!"

Without bothering to respond, you headed off in the direction the girl had left.

Wanda was clearly not in the mood for conversation, but you had to chuckle as you realized where she was going - or practically running at hard paces. 

The fencing hall was empty of course. Even the Professor had joined the rest of the staff for the day's celebrations, and so you followed Wanda without any concern.

"I don't want to talk to you, Danvers." She warned between teeth still on her back, hearing your breaths panting from the rush of having to catch up with her. You chuckle humourlessly, closing the door behind you.

"But you got time for some idiot to flirt with you?" your retort came out so bitter - so jealous - that Wanda turned her face to you with a frown in complete confusion.

"How is that your problem?" She demanded but you shrugged relaxedly. The lack of an answer only irritated her more. "I've had enough of you for today don't you think? Leave me alone."

You snickered taking a step forward that made her lock her jaw.

"Come on, what's this?" You teased. "One defeat and you get tired of all? Don't you even want to try a rematch?"

It was Wanda's turn to chuckle, the tension growing between the two of you with every second. 

"So you can cheat again? Hard pass."

You smiled, raising your hands in the air as a sign of surrender. 

"I don't need to cheat, Maximoff." You retorted. "Everyone, including you and I, knows I'm the best." You declare receiving a snort and a roll of the eyes. But you continue to smile, not losing your confidence. "In fact, I bet I can beat you even without a sword."

Wanda shook her head. "You know what, Danvers? You must have had a few beers, huh?" She deduced, motioning to the sword cabinet and continuing to speak without giving you a chance to deny it. "Any other day, I'd tell you to fuck off and leave me alone. But you were a brat today, that whole scene and whatever manipulation you were trying to pull off with the crying and then the kissing..."

You hesitate, losing your posture completely. "Wanda, I wasn't-"

But she chuckles, interrupting you. "Whatever it is, let's put an end to it." She says seriously, arming herself with one of the swords. "You got what you wanted. Me, out of all competitions because of this stupid injury and your team winning tomorrow. Yep, I admit it. Everyone knows you guys are going to win baseball, it's your school's specialty, and there's no reason to deny it. But let's be honest about today: you cheated. And I want you to acknowledge that I would have won."

You sigh, deciding to put an end to those games with each other, as Wanda wanted. But not in the way she expects.

Shrugging, you gesture with open arms. "I'm really sorry, Wanda." You say in a false tone of regret. "I'm sorry you're such a bad loser."

Wanda grunted in irritation, and in the blink of an eye, spun the sword around - Hitting your open hand and mirroring your bruises. You gasped in pain, taking a step backward.

"What the hell-"

But your shock was short-lived, Wanda moved and you reacted. Without a sword, your only option was to dodge and that was the hardest task. 

"Just admit it, Danvers!" Wanda demanded between one blow and another, growing breathless as the movements went on. "I am. Better.Than. You." Each word was punctuated with an attempt to hit you - Not really to hurt but to lean in and mark. 

She finally hit you for the second time when she trapped you between one cupboard and another. You protested in irritation at the gentle burning on your thigh.

"You little shit." You cursed low as you dodged her last. Wanda smiled in satisfaction. 

Somehow, you managed to get around her after a miscalculated blow that pinned her sword to a cushion. Wanda got busy trying to pull the item out and gave you enough time to jump on her.

Her healthy hand tried to pull the sword out to hit you but you kicked the handle, and the item flew to the ground. Wanda protested breathlessly, trying to struggle away, but you pressed her against the wall of the room by the waist.

Faces flushed from the exertion and proximity, she looked at you with a fury in her eyes that didn't just look like anger.

"Fuck off, Danvers, let me go!" She demanded clearly affected, her fists closed against your shoulders. You weren't thinking straight - Since when did Wanda look so beautiful when she was pissed off? - She tried to throw punches but you grabbed her fists, holding them tightly against you. "You just can't help it, can you? You know you can't beat me and you just keep cheating!"

"Yeah, I can't help it." You pant, letting your gaze fall to her mouth. Her breathing hitches and when you start to lean in, Wanda gasps, stopping struggling.

"Don't." She asks in a whisper, and you stop leaning in the same instant, worried eyes scanning her face. Wanda's fill with tears. "I can't take it... if it's just a game... if you don't mean it."

Your heart races in your chest, threads of hope burning outwards.

You stare into her eyes, trying to read everything she hasn't explained. "You... You want me to mean it?"

Wanda sighs incredulously, tired. 

"I've been waiting for you to notice me for three years, Danvers." 

"W-what?"

Wanda looks away, despite her rosy cheeks like your own, she looks sad.

"I'm just tired of all this cat and mouse between us." She continues. "Trying to capture your attention for the few days we have together each year. You've never seen me that way, and I just don't have it in me to keep trying to get you to notice me." She declares with a sigh. "Let me go, okay? It's our last year, you'll never see me again after this spring, it doesn't have to be weird on our last days. We can do a truce, and be mature about-"

Instead of letting her finish her completely meaningless monologue for feelings that Wanda has no idea are much reciprocated, you just kiss her. Though abrupt, your lips are soft on hers. She shudders, first surprised and then affected, ready to reciprocate when you loosen her.

"I notice you, Wanda." You confess in a husky voice and short breath. "Every damn day of this camp, from the first moment I saw you. I noticed you, and I liked you. So much, it infuriated me. All I could think about was you and your face and your jokes and every little smile of victory. I never hated you, Wanda, I just hated how much I cared about you."

She gasps softly, trying to believe the confessions. "B-but you never said anything..."

"Neither did you." You retort with a small smile. "We just competed. Yelling at each other, trying to... just put it out, never saying the right words. Well, I'll do the honors, I guess. Wanda, I like you. I'm in love with you. The whole puppy love, to the moon and back, lovey-dovey, carry a torch for-"

Wanda interrupts your sweet teasing with a soft, emotional giggle. "Shut up, you idiot." She says, pulling you by the collar of the blouse to kiss you again. Slower than the other time, bringing delicious shivers to your entire body. She breaks away only to say she feels the same way.

Then you just kiss her again, just to make sure. It's easy to get addicted to the feeling of her lips on yours until her tongue slides over and starts to get too hot all around. The sound of lips slapping together mingles with affected gasps until the pace picks up and all the accumulated lust from so long of rivalry burns between you.

Wanda grows impatient - Her mouth firmly pressed to yours distracts you from where her hands are moving. You grunt affected as she scratches under your shirt, your back, and your torso, trying to pull you over her. 

You press your hips together to keep her against the wall pulling out an affected whimper that makes you shiver - But surrendered to the urge, you forget about recent events and press your open palm to the wall for support. The pain is immediate and makes you break the kiss with a yelp.

Wanda opens her eyes worriedly, trying to push all the arousal away. "What's wrong?" She asks, but you're already bringing your bruised hand to chest height.

"I forgot about it." You mumble, trying to squeeze your hand to make the pain go away. Wanda bites back a smile.

"Karma's a bitch, huh?" she teases, getting a short laugh out of you. Your instinct is to kiss her again at the same intensity as before, but Wanda doesn't let you, breaking the session the next moment. "Easy tiger." 

A little breathless and definitely missing kissing her, you ask, "Don't you want it anymore?"

She licks her lips, looking away to try and gain some rationality again. "I don't think you'll be able to do much with a bruised hand, huh?" It's clearly a joke, but you're too turned on to catch it.

"Well, I have another one, and my mouth..." Wanda stares at you in stunned shock, her face burning and her eyes darkening a little. You grunt in shame, hiding your face in her collarbone. "Shit, you didn't mean it."

She giggles awkwardly, wrapping her arms around your waist. "You need a bandage, baby. We'll have time for this later."

You raise your gaze to her again, and Wanda stares at you doubtfully from your expression. "I like it when you call me that."

She smiles, teasing and loving at the same time. "Better than shithead, I suppose."

"They both have their charm, I guess." You joke back managing to make her laugh before stealing a few more kisses.

All the way to the infirmary, all you can think about is how happy you are - And how your friends are going to adjust to the new dynamic.

–//–

Falling into a routine with Wanda was as easy as falling for her.

The familiar teasing didn't end - In a way, it got infinitely better, because, after each little bickering, you and Wanda made up with lots of kisses.

The most absurd thing was your sister's reaction. No surprise at all.

"I mean, everyone saw you two kissing." She retorted unimpressed, continuing to eat her breakfast as if you hadn't spent the previous day preparing the best way to tell. You huffed indignantly, but Wanda sighed, giving you a pat on the back before going to sit down. The same reaction for your friends, who seemed even somewhat reassured that now they wouldn't have to endure the arguing.

As for the rest of the people, well, everyone else had their own lives to take care of to give a damn about what Wanda and you have been up to.

With the baseball game approaching and the end of Spring Break, there was an understanding between you and Wanda that your time together was coming to an end. You didn't want to talk about it - to avoid creating impossible expectations if you considered the distance between California and New York and the hurt of an inevitable goodbye. 

For now, you and Wanda were enjoying as much time together as possible, and that included escaping the game to make out before and between breaks.

Wanda giggled affectedly at the tickling your fingers did next to her hips, an attempt to make her relax to what was about to happen between you since the first kisses began. The question hung in the air and the way your breaths were uncompressed and your clothes crumpled.

"They'll start looking for us at some point..." Wanda recalled, the noise of the game resuming in the background, muffled by the closed doors of the empty locker room where you two were hiding. Despite the warning, her hands were entwined behind your neck, and her legs tight around your waist. The cheer skirt pulled up by your hands on her thighs.

You hum in understanding, distracted by the soft skin of her collarbone. You traced a path down to the valley of her covered breasts and Wanda shuddered, moaning in anticipation.

But as soon as your hands reached under her skirt, fingers playing with the fabric of her panties, Wanda tensed anxiously, biting her lips as she sought your gaze. 

"Is everything okay?" You asked immediately, stopping your movements and staring back at her. "Do you want me to continue...?"

Wanda let out a broken breath, the look full of anxiety made you frown. You were ready to assure her it was okay if she refused when she replied:

"I want to but... I've never done it before." She confesses in a small whisper, and your heart skips a beat. "And also, I had to talk to my friends about this, and they told me it would be special because we like each other but I just kept thinking that it's going to happen and it will be amazing and when you leave, I'll never be able to do it again without remembering you and I'll be missing you back home..."

"Hey, breathe." You interrupted her anxious babbling with a small chuckle, moving your hands to her face, and squeezing her cheeks for a moment. "God, you're so beautiful." You murmured staring at her adoringly. Wanda blushed, looking away, "Hey, look at me, sweetheart. You want to talk about leaving?"

She swallowed dryly, nodding. "I'm sorry." She mumbles immediately. "I know we kind of agreed not to talk about it, but... fuck, I really like you. If I, you know... have sex with you, I'm just sure I'll fall harder. And I don't know if I want to go through the pain of losing you in a few days."

You swallowed dryly, caressing her cheeks as you absorbed her words. Wanda was even more nervous at your silence.

"Say something, please."

You smiled, staring at her. "I'm sorry, I just... I really am in love with you, Wanda." You confessed tenderly, making her blush. "Sex or no sex, I really am. And saying goodbye to you will hurt." 

Wanda nods sadly before hugging you. "Yeah, I know." When she sniffles softly, you kiss her neck to calm her, until her breathing stabilizes again and Wanda releases you to kiss you gently, once and twice, until it starts to get hot again and she sighs against your lips, her trembling fingers groping your body unhurriedly as if she wants to memorize.

"Baby..." She called softly against your lips, her hands moving up into your blouse and making you shudder. "I want to make love to you." She whispered taking all the air out of your lungs. "Give me something to remember you by."

Despite the nervousness and excitement, you managed to tease as your hands retraced their way under her skirt. "What, the matching scars aren't enough for you, darling?" 

Wanda lets out an affected giggle at the proximity to your joke about the healed bruises on your hands, but the sound turns to a deep sigh when her panties slip down her legs. You maintain eye contact with her, pulling the item down until you take it off by her ankles. Wanda bites her lip hard as she sees you on your knees, moving up your way again with kisses on her legs.

Her muscles quiver as you kiss the inside of her thighs, and Wanda inhales a shaky breath, her hands gripping the table she's sitting on tightly.

"Be gentle." She asks as she feels the kisses coming closer to where she is burning. You let out a soft laugh, rising again to kiss her on the mouth. Wanda has no time to be eager for the delay of her relief, because you grab her waist and pull her closer, the friction between your hips making her whimper. 

Your tongue slides over hers hungrily, kissing her until she's dizzy with arousal, and instinctively starts forcing her hips against yours - The uncovered intimacy smearing the wetness on the fabric of your leg and making you moan against her.

One of your hands spreads her legs open by her thigh, fingers coming up fast to tease her entrance and make Wanda break the kiss with an affected whimper.

"Y-yes, baby, please, no more teasing." Wanda moans, throwing her hips against your hand. "I'm ready."

You grunt softly, tentatively cupping the folds between your fingers, spreading the wetness over the entire length. "Hmm, I can feel that." You teased softly, pulling your hand away to get a taste. Wanda choked, blushing heavily as she watched you suck your fingers one by one, rolling her eyes in pleasure as you tasted her. The next second, you moved your hand back between her legs, staring her in the eye before sliding a finger inside. She moaned at the intrusion, and you let her get used to it, encouraging her with your free hand on her back, relaxing her with a gentle massage.

"There you go... all the way in." You narrated softly, having to maintain all mental control not to fuck her roughly, feeling your body vibrate with the sensation of Wanda's soft wet walls on your fingerprints. She pulsed against you, her hands gripping your blouse tightly as the repetitive motion made her legs twitch. "God, you're so tight." You grunted, hiding your face in her collarbone and angling your palm to press against her clit as well. Wanda let out a loud yelp, wrapping one of her legs around your waist and increasing your reach.

"M-more, please-I just need-" She tried to formulate, starting to follow your movements with her hips. You shushed her against her neck, kissing your way to her ear. 

"Relax, I'll give you what you need, baby." Was your only warning before removing yourself from her, only to sink two fingers inside next time. Wanda gasped at the intrusion, but you swallowed her moan with your own mouth, not moving inside her until she was ready.

Soon, your movements had resumed, and with your mouth glued to hers, you swallowed each breathless moan as Wanda began to tremble in your fingers, squeezing as her orgasm built. 

Just as she was panting and restless, the locker room door opened. She raised desperate eyes to you, but you covered her mouth with your free hand and sped up your movements.

Your skin muffled her whimpers, and you bit your lips at the sinful image in front of you.

"Danvers? Maximoff? Are you guys here? The coach is looking for two." it was some of the monitors, probably checking the camp behind whoever was running away from the game. You reached a deep sweet spot inside Wanda and she threw her head back.

The monitor grumbled in frustration and the door closed again - You barely noticed, bringing the girl beneath you to her climax. Wanda spread herself in your hand, her body spasming against you and a long muffled moan against your hand.

Her pupils were so dark they nearly hold any green.

"Fucking gorgeous." You praised as you removed your hand to kiss her, and Wanda corresponded with difficulty, smiling breathlessly as she tried to recover from the intensity of her first orgasm.

As soon as she could properly match it, Wanda dominated the kiss - One hand moving up to the back of your neck, to tug at your hair as she bit your bottom lip, drawing a soft moan from you.

"Please, can we go back to the cabin?" It sounded like a request but felt like an order by the way Wanda dug her nails into your waist. A warning. "I want you to be comfortable when you go down on me."

"God, Wanda, you're such a tease." You grumbled in a mixture of arousal and embarrassment, moving like an obedient puppy as she stood up on shaky legs and guided you by the hand back to the cabins. 

Her panties are tucked tightly in your pocket.

–//–

Disgustingly adorable, is how your friends would describe the last few days in the company of you and Wanda, who have apparently unlearned how to function away from each other.

Especially the last day - Without any concern for the rest of the world while in an intense make-out session against the bus that was supposed to take you and Carol back to California.

"Jesus, I'm going to have nightmares." Your sister complained with a grimace to her now official girlfriend - Natasha Romanoff - who was putting away the last bag in the family car that was going to take her home. The redhead laughed, looking at where Carol was staring and knowing she was referring to your hand firmly squeezing Wanda's ass as she giggled between the kisses you two shared. 

"Why are they behaving like they're never going to see each other again? It's traumatizing." It wasn't Nat, but Bucky who spoke as he arrived with Sam beside him, who laughed in agreement. Carol made a mischievous face.

"Well, maybe that's my fault? I may have forgotten to mention to my lovely sister that Nat told me that Wanda was going to the same college as her next year."

"Pretty mean, Danvers." Nat commented with a certain pride in her voice. Carol laughed.

"When you share a room with a couple in love, you'll understand." She retorted. The group continued to watch you and Wanda, until you kissed deeply in farewell until she let you on the bus. Carol sighed. "Maybe if she starts whining on the way, I'll consider saying that she and Wanda chose the same college without even knowing it."

The group chuckled, saying goodbye one last time.

[mi-rae07]

Song Mingi : Blood And Bones

Pairing : Song Mingi (Ateez) and named character (Jung Miyeon)

__________________

Synopsis : Miyeon is an underground boxer, her life revolves around blood and violence while Mingi is the CEO of a tech company, his life revolves around diploma and professionalism.

They're in a relationship, and has been for a year but mingi still cannot get used to seeing miyeon beat people up to the point where they have to be taken to the hospital and miyeon seems to give more importance to WWE matches than their dates. Will Mingi finally have enough?

____________________

A/n : Just a small light-hearted fic after the last one because I supposed I needed it.

_____________________

Miyeon : you think you're any better than me you wench?

That was the last thing miyeon said before punching her opponent right in the face, making her fall to the arena floor as she coughed up blood. The crowd around screamed, making miyeon smirk in victory as the referee counted

??? : ONE! TWO! THREE AND WE HAVE A WINNER!

The referee raised miyeon's arm as the crowd clapped and screamed for her, making her feel good all over again. This was all she wanted, the feeling of winning the screams of her crowd. This, made the pain all worth it.

Miyeon smirked and looked towards the front row as she noticed her boyfriend just staring at her, his eyes unreadable. He got up as he noticed her stare and just walked out, making miyeon sigh. She was going to have to go out after him.

Soon the congratulations and pats in the back were all over as miyeon rushed out of the hall without bothering to even grab her trophy, finding her boyfriend more important.

Miyeon : mingi!

Miyeon rushed up to mingi who was leaning against the stone wall right outside the hall, his breathing heavy as miyeon said excitedly

Miyeon : did you see my win! Wasn't it-

Mingi : I did see your win, miyeon, and I also saw your opponent being taken to the hospital in a stretcher, bruised and bloodied. Something you caused.

Miyeon rolled her eyes at his words as she said

Miyeon : this is underground boxing, mingi. I have to cause that to her to win, and I have to win to earn money.

Mingi : don't I already make enough money for us?

Miyeon stared at mingi's Aston Martin that was parked a few feet away from them, her rusty old Swift next to it a complete contrast.

Miyeon : money for you, yes. For us, well we don’t know how long that will last. You can leave the next second and I'll be left with nothing. I've told you before, mingi, that I will not make the mistake of sacrificing my career for a man, even you.

Mingi : career? You're a business graduate, miyeon, you had so many other job options and you chose this. This…pathetic game of violence that always ends in blood.

Miyeon : are you questioning my career choices right now, song mingi?

Mingi paused as miyeon scoffed in anger and said

Miyeon : my life is mine to choose, mingi, you are just a part of it and not the whole life. I can live without you as well so do not overstep your boundaries.

Mingi : miyeon I just-

Miyeon : no you keep doing this, don't you? Do I come into your company and ask you to quit it to go work as a boxer? Disrespect the work that you do for a living? No. So you don't get to do that with me either.

Mingi : I just don't want you hurt-

Miyeon : aww, how cute of you. Mingi you met me when I was a boxer, you fell in love with me despite all the blood and broken bones. And now you're trying to change me?

Mingi : I was just…I was just scared. It won't happen again.

Miyeon chuckled, rolling her eyes as she said

Miyeon : that's the 5th time you're saying that mingi. If you can't handle me, then leave and find some girl that runs a fucking florist shop.

Miyeon turned and was about to walk towards the hall again when mingi held her arm, turning her around before saying

Mingi : I'm sorry, I promise it won't happen again.

Miyeon stared at mingi, not really believing him. He let out a breath as he leaned forward, holding her blood smeared cheek before kissing it. He could taste the blood on his lips, but the love he had for her measured far more than his dislike for blood.

Mingi : I love you, I just didn't want to see you hurt that's all. I won't try and change you, miyeon, your life is yours.

Miyeon leaned forward and kissed mingi, pushing him into a secluded corner wall before kissing him harder. Mingi groaned as he tangled his hand in miyeon's hair, tugging it as she pulled back and stared at him with hazy eyes before saying

Miyeon : be glad you have a pretty face too good to be ruined.

Mingi smiled as miyeon ran her thumb along his lips with a smirk before whispering

Miyeon : or I would've let you go a long time ago for so much as talking against me.

_______________________________

A week later :

Mingi : um miyeon?

Miyeon hummed, leaning back against the sofa as her eyes were still trained on the WWE boxing match playing on TV. She had been at this for hours now and mingi now wondered whether she'd forgotten about the date they had in the evening. Mingi had kept himself from reminding her thinking it would anger her if he interfered in between. But there was only 15 minutes left to leave and miyeon was still eating chips on the couch.

Mingi : we…we have a date.

Miyeon : mm, when?

Mingi blinked his eyes as miyeon still kept her focus on the match

Mingi : within 15 minutes?

Miyeon paused, now turning to face mingi as she asked

Miyeon : wait, 15…oh shit!

Mingi's heart dropped at the genuine surprise on miyeon's face as he said in a low voice

Mingi : you forgot about it.

Miyeon : oh, min I'm so sorry I just-

Mingi : no it's fine, forget about it.

Mingi took off his suit jacket before throwing it into the laundry, walking towards their room without a word. Miyeon sighed as she got up from the sofa, picking up the suit jacket before rushing behind mingi

Miyeon : mingi-ah, I'll get ready right now.

Mingi : don't bother, I'm cancelling.

Miyeon let out a breath as she followed behind mingi into their room before saying in a hurried voice

Miyeon : I was just too focused on the match it slipped my mind-

Mingi : oh yeah, just like how everything about me just 'slips your mind'.

Miyeon let out an exasperated breath as mingi sat back on their bed, untying his shoelaces as he said

Mingi : have you ever had me forget a date, miyeon? A birthday? An anniversary?

Miyeon sighed as she kneeled on the floor next to mingi before trying to hold mingi's hand. He shook his head, taking his hand away. Miyeon held it again, shaking her head as she said

Miyeon : look at me.

Mingi : I don't want to.

Miyeon knew how mingi was when he was about to cry, and this was it. She held his cheek before turning him to face her as she said

Miyeon : min, I'm so sorry. I'll get ready real quick and we can go out okay? I'll even pay for the entire date to make up for it, hmm?

Miyeon knew mingi would've picked a high end restaurant for dinner and her budget definitely wouldn't cover it. But even if she had to take a loan out she was going to pay for it.

Mingi : no it's okay, you can go back to your match.

Mingi's voice wavered in the end as he pressed his lips together, looking away. Miyeon's eyes softened as she leaned forward and kissed mingi before pulling back and said

Miyeon : baby, please. I know I made a mistake and I'm sorry for it, aren't I? I'll make up for it and it won't happen again, I promise.

A tear fell down mingi's eyes as he said

Mingi : but I feel so small in your life, miyeon.

Miyeon stared at mingi as his face contorted into that of pain as he said shakily

Mingi : I know I'm only a part of your life but am I really such a small part? You give more importance to a match than me, miyeon. I just…I just want some attention-

Mingi cut himself off with a sob as miyeon hugged him, nuzzling her face into his neck before saying

Miyeon : you are a big part of my life mingi, I promise. I make as much money as I can for you, so I can buy you the things you buy for me. I want a future with you, a family some day even. I swear it's not like I don't love you, I do. I know I'm not doing a good job showing it but I'll get better, hmm?

Mingi stared at miyeon as she pulled back and wiped his tears away with the pad of her thumbs, kissing both his eyes as she whispered

Miyeon : I'll get better. Won't you forgive me, baby?

Mingi sniffled, nodding as he said

Mingi : okay, but only if you promise me ice-cream for the next week.

Miyeon chuckled with teary eyes, kissing mingi's cheek as she said

Miyeon : anything for my baby boy. Now, I'll go get ready!

Miyeon rushed towards her closet as she said loudly

Miyeon : and wear that suit, you look very sexy in it.

Mingi chuckled as miyeon skipped into the closet to change excitedly. He put the suit on as he sighed and whispered

Mingi : still won't match up to your muscles.

_________________________________

[jasontoddsdarling]

barbecue day (feat damian)

— aurora todd verse

"Well it's not."

"It is, Todd. I know it's kind of hard for you to understand, but it is."

"It's not—"

She is in the kitchen, cutting some condiments for some sambal to go along with chicken thighs and tomahawk steaks that Jason is currently roasted over portable grills in backyard.

But he's apparently bickering with Damian—who is visiting from his university's summer break, who's helping here and there but mostly supervising Aurora, which she has provided with entertainment in the form of her inflatable pool and her baby toys.

The thing is, they've been bickering for like ten minutes straight. She's pretty sure their closest neighbor know what they are arguing about already—meanwhile she only caught something about latest episode of some sci-fi show and latest video game update because she was chopping garlic with her new chopper and it drown their voices for her.

She needs to make sure that they get along.

And oh, how she has an idea.

As she wash her hands, she can hear them becoming more louder.

When she is finally opened the kitchen door towards the backyard, she finds out Jason's making gesture with his free hand and his other gripping kitchen tongs and Damian, which is inside Rora's inflatable balloon, making gestures with his hands holding some of her baby girl's toys.

If this isn't comical.

She clears her throat.

"Jay."

Jason instantly stops talking and Damian too—but not without drawing out his last syllables.

Damian immediately sits down on inside the pool.

"Yeah, sweetheart?"

Jason is back facing the grill, flipping some of the chicken thighs. You want to roll your eyes in affection.

"I need you and Damian to buy me some Thai chili and lemongrass."

"I thought we already have all the ingredients."

"Well, we actually were underestimating the need of several sambals."

Jason basically can't say no to her request, so he just drops the kitchen tongs and cleans his hands on the nearby outdoor faucet. Then, he picks up Rora from inside the pool.

Damian gets up, eyeing the grill—probably about to take over Jason's work. But she claps her hand seemingly to surprise her brother-in-law.

"Damian, why don't you go with Jay and Rora? I can handle the grill."

"How much she said she needs the lemongrass again?"

Damian asks when they're at the last traffic light before the grocery store. He's the one driving. Jason's shotgunning and Rora is on her baby chair on the backseat.

"Five stalks, but she also said just pick one plastic wrap building."

"And—"

"Ten ounces."

"Ons!"

Rora mimics, which surprised Damian.

"Thank you, Rora."

When it's green, he starts talking again—while Jason is currently turning to face Rora, giving her grubby little hands her a baby biscuit.

"I cannot believe she's your spawn, Todd."

"Me neither."

Jason looks ahead—back to the street in front of them afterwards, but Damian can see from the corner of his eye that he sports a fondly smile because they're talking about his niece.

"I actually think she acts more like her mom and the biggest evidence that she's yours is because she literally have your eye color, which is improbable for it to come from her mom's genetics because her eyes are dark and her heritage; but now I can see that she behaves like you, too."

Jason definitely isn't prepared to hear his little brother saying all of that, but he turns his head to the

"Really?"

"Yup. Believe me or not, before we were bickering—which I am sure why your wife sent us away, if you haven't noticed yet—I was inspecting how you and Rora interacts."

"Of course you did."

Damian dismisses his older brother.

"And from that, I can see that she's your mini you. I mean, she's obviously her mom's mini me, but it's not without you."

"That's genuinely the nicest thing you said to me today, little brother, and I appreciate that."

The twenty-one years old man shrugs.

"Don't thank me. I was just saying facts. Anyway, we're here."

Damian stops the engine and opens his car door. He goes to the backseat door to release and hoist Rora from her seat.

Jason definitely can see his smile before opening his own door, though.

"What's this sambal called again?"

Damian points his fork at the chopped herbs and Thai chili bowl of sambal.

They already finished cooking and are sitting together in a round backyard dinner table.

"Matah. M-a-t-a-h."

"Matah," Damian nods, "it's so fresh and fragrant from the kaffir lime leaves and the lemongrass. I like it. It's unlike anything I have ever tried."

"We can put it in a jar if you want to have some when you're going back to to uni, right, Jay?"

"Of course. You should send him your recipe too, so if he runs out he can make it himself. It's quite easy to make."

"Thank you."

Damian smiles gratefully at her and Jason. She almost cannot believe these two were bickering like teenage boys awhile ago. That's just what being siblings like, she guesses.

"Easy! Uncy!" Rora giggles. She's perches on her baby high chair beside her mom and face to face with Damian. Her little fingers holding a piece of cucumber that she's chewing.

(She is pleased she picks up "uncle" when she's talking to Damian)

"Thank you, little Rora."

mariea's notes: another writing out of aurora todd universe. randomly, "cannot believe she's your spawn" line came into my mind and then the rest is history. i know this series(?) don't have much readers compared to my regular fluff or especially regular smut (lol) but i really love exploring the dynamics of this family throughout my writings. also, trying the third person now. probably going to stick to this. as always you can drop a request (any) or a question and thanks for reading <3

[moonah-rose]

"What are you doing here, Dutch?"

"Same as you, I suppose." (RDR2)

"You're just like me, John. You can't change who you are." (RDR1)

Okay I'm currently hyperfixated on these boys and I gotta talk about how fascinating this relationship is.

Because while Dutch and Arthur's relationship is heartbreaking, there's something even more crushing about Dutch and John over the course of both games.

To start we're told by both Arthur and Bill that John is the "favorite", that he's "Dutch's pet", "the golden boy", even Micah brings it up in chapter six. Part of Arthur's bitterness over John's return is how cool Dutch seemed to be about it, how he was welcomed back with open arms. However nearly all the interactions we see (or rather Arthur sees) between Dutch and John are very tense and grow more heated over the game until they're outright screaming at each other - and of course things get as bad as they can be in rdr1. But how I imagine things used to be, pre-Blackwater or pre-John's gap year, was Dutch did dote on John and John worshipped him in return. John seems to have been found the youngest that we know of, twelve years old, so he was as much of a child as can be, which allowed Dutch to mold him into a younger version of himself, whereas Arthur was clearly more Hosea's son. Dutch taught John to sound smart without really saying anything, while Arthur learned from Hosea to be smarter than he appeared. To compare the two, I think Arthur was Dutch's joy (the mirror of his best friend, his first son) but John was his pride (his own reflection). It's very typical narcissist parent behavior to latch onto the youngest or one that most resembles you most as they're the most obvious extension of yourself. And for as long as John obeyed and adored Dutch, that fuelled his own ego - fitting then how Dutch's mental decline runs in parallel to John drifting away and learning to be his own person, a father in his own right, and seeing who Dutch is without rose tinted glasses. And the stronger John gets, the more Dutch feels threatened, like when he accuses John of "wanting to be the General". Dutch is a loving granddad to Jack and caring to Abigail, encouraging John to be a good father, but not if it means they become more important than the gang (ie Him). I also think a lot of the insults Dutch hurls at John later on are things he could be partly saying about himself, how he doesn't have the grit, how he's always been weak or blind. The more Dutch fails, the more he targets John as a punching bag for his own failures, to the point of wanting to leave him to rot as he admits in one hidden BH scene.

Side note, this also feeds into his resentment of Arthur, firstly of also no longer being a yes man, but Dutch also notes how much Arthur sounds like Hosea - except Dutch was ignoring Hosea right from the start of the game, even if he did help keep Dutch grounded to some sense of reality, Arthur is a reminder of Dutch's recent loss and also insulted at the idea of Arthur replacing Hosea - that's not Arthur's job, in his mind, it's just to be his big scary grunt. Once he's becoming weaker, he doesn't see the purpose in having Arthur around if he's just going to question and possibly (if he believes Micah) betray him. And he writes Arthur off as dead anyway once he starts getting sick, he already lost Hosea, he's not putting himself through that again so it's easy to just leave him for dead. But despite all that, Arthur still loves Dutch enough to ride back and try one last time to convince his "father" that Micah is out to get him, he even spends his last breaths begging him to see sense - not for his own sake, but the man who raised him.

But with John it's a different, more raw tragedy that Dutch's self-loathing and insanity grow in their time apart, despite both clearly having had Arthur's shadow hanging over them, eventually pushing them to the exact same destination on the exact same day with the exact same purpose - to kill Micah. John has been haunted by guilt that Arthur had to sacrifice himself for him, while Dutch has been haunted by (imo) the guilt of leaving Arthur to die as well as allowing Micah to manipulate him. But both men are also not killing "for Arthur's sake" here, more their own, as they both know Arthur didn't agree with revenge. But they do it to try to ease their own consciences. For John it works, for Dutch it just sends him off into isolation and his eventual fate.

And the saddest thing is, John thanks him. Even after everything Dutch did to him and Abigail, he makes an attempt to reach out. There was a brief glimpse from John of the boy who loved his adoptive father, but Dutch's ice cold stare and silence remind them they can never go back to what was. And John let's him go. But this moment seems to change something in John's perspective, as earlier he had always said he believed Dutch had been hiding who he was the whole time, but by the time of RDR1 he's saying similar things as Sadie that Dutch was a good man who "went insane". He now wants to believe that there was a part of Dutch that cared, long ago, but it's now gone.

The Dutch that John eventually has to hunt down is different than the one he last saw on Mount Hagen, the one who admitted that he didn't have much to say anymore, the man who still cared enough to spare John and leave him the Blackwater money. Dutch is now a complete bloodthirsty monster who kills for sport, who openly calls Abigail a whore and Jack a whore's son - the same boy he once doted on, found a puppy with, that he rode into hell for. His disgust for John, his boy, working for the government, being the "rat" he feared him to be, is enough to get him to not hold back on shooting him anymore, but I also can't help but think most of his words are egging John on to get him. "You'll have to kill me, John!" he yells. But when it comes to just the two of them, both on a mountain yet again, they both put away their guns. It's the closest thing we get in the first game to a hint of their past relationship, of father and son, rather than adversaries. John's name, his "golden boy's" name, is the last thing to leave Dutch's lips before he falls. The speech the same one he said with Arthur at his side. As insane as he was, he spent those last moments thinking of his sons, and possibly Hosea too, before he fell, how he wasn't able to fight his own cowardly nature to do right by them, you can't change my mind.

And while John would never talk about it openly, its just awful to think how this man had to watch the father he loved and who doted on him back, to slowly become a monster, to hating each other, trying to kill each other, then to see a glimpse of what was but being unable to save him. It also adds context to his own behavior to Jack, how he tries to be a doting father but doesn't discourage him too much from having his own interests, as much as they confuse him.

And then, the final nail in this angst coffin, walking out to face his own death knowing Dutch was right, that they did just find another monster to come for.

[respectthepetty]

I’m late. But obsessed with EarthMix and ONLY just finished Moonlight chicken and look, I will believe anything from these shows. Anything! A body swap, yea I’m game, time travel? Sure thing I’ll buy that.

But at no point. At any point, can they try and convince me that Earth is a 40 year old man. Like. Hunny no.

BUT they can convince me that if you show Mix’s Forehead. His Duality reaches another level.

Thank you for allowing me to ramble on your ask, with not an ask but more of a statement of feelings.

🙃

Anon, fair warning this is going to turn into a

Mama Gogo & Jojo Appreciation Post

I've written it plenty of times, but as a person who is always late, it doesn't matter that you're late as long as you show up. And obviously, you show up for the good stuff!

(I'm unsure about the comment about Mix's forehead. I don't understand it. It is very much my reading comprehension, not you, so I'm gonna moonwalk around it. Sorry.)

EarthMix did give us body swapping in Cupid's Last Wish and Magic of Zero: Zero Supporter, which I think is funny that their Cupid's Last Wish characters basically got a sponsored Our Skyy episode before A Tale of Thousand Stars did.

And I believed them as heartbroken best friends, Batman & Robin, in the New Jiew video.

So if their A Tale of Thousand Stars installment has time travel where the chief isn't playing someone already in his 30s, I would be delighted, but I know we can't get that on top of them looking adorable. We can only be so lucky!

But, like you stated, GMMTV trying to convince me that Earth is 40 when he JUST turned 29?! The audacity!

Especially when these children are older than him!

Off (32), Gun (turning 30 this year), Tul (30), and Max (turning 29 in a month).

That's the magic of film, but @dribs-and-drabbles had an entire post about how we want stories about older queers with older people acting in them! And you know what's shocking?!

THIS IS 40!!!!!!

Nat aka Chopper's dad from Never Let Me Go is 40. If he was good enough to play Chopper's daddy, then he is good enough to play a daddy, you feel me?!

First, I need everyone to watch Mama Gogo where that scene came from because it served nothing but looks every single episode, and it was written AND directed by the Jojo, who also put Nat in Never Let Me Go which he also directed.

If you like Earth, Jojo gave us treats. If you like Mike and Drake, Jojo had you. If you like 40-year-old daddies, Jojo fed you! GO LOOK AT THE POSTER!

And for the ladies who like ladies, THIS IS 42!

Once again, we have Jojo to thank for Sine looking fine in 3 Will Be Free.

So what I'm trying to say is as much as I love director Aof, who is beautiful and amazing, he stays aging up these boys, while Jojo appreciates the variety of actors' ages. Aof had First looking like a divorced dad of two with a mortgage and alimony due, when we all know that 24-year old is a precious baby boy who needs to stay hydrated because he cries so much.

Jojo would never do that! He is giving First a baseball bat and the rest of these 20-year old boys their slut era in Only Friends!

So if you want to see Earth be a 20-year old himbo, Jojo is the answer.

Jojo is always the answer.

[sazzujazzu]

Hello, as the days count down and the Bad Batch finale draws closer, may I show to the fine folks of tumblr my first Star Wars OC in 20 years, created thanks to this show? 😃

Too bad, I'm showing them anyway 😊 somberly chilling while listening to their bestie talk.

Please excuse the poor background (I got lazy) and half-finished Tech (I got sad)

there's, uh, a big mess of words under the image because I wanted to put into words the importance this show has for me, and I am bad at doing so.

I want to get some thoughts off my chest, because I have no one in my day-to-day life who cares about the animated Star Wars shows, and especially the Bad Batch. (well, other than my mom, but I don't want to bore her with my rambling too much. she already banned star wars from me once, i won't let that happen again lol)

I can't stop thinking how much I don't want Bad Batch to end.

This show has been so dear to me. I can't remember the last time I've loved something this much.

Before the second season started, I had an artistic block that had lasted way too long. Anything I drew or wrote, mostly turned out a horrible mess after staring at a blank page for hours and hours, if I ever managed to create anything at all. For someone who tends to draw whenever their hands aren't otherwise busy (aka all the damn time), such a block weighed down on my mental health.

Well, then season two happened, and full-on gave me back my love for Star Wars, a love that had somewhat gone out over the last few years. Then, Plan 99 happened, and broke me because again my favorite character "died" (I'm in team Tech lives until I draw my last breath or until proven correct. That chocolate-eyed cutie-pie is alive nothing will convince me otherwise). Pretty much after finishing the episode and staring at a wall for another 30 minutes, I said "nope" and began writing.

I wrote for hours. I believe it's been well over a decade since I last wrote fanfiction, but here I was, creating a Star Wars oc, something I'd last done as a ten-year-old. And now, roughly a year later, I think I've written over a hundred pages of (very self-indulgent) fanfiction with the Batch, and with my oc that I've come to love.

And drawing, oh boy, have I been drawing!

(... Sure, I've mostly been drawing Tech, over and over again, to a point I once actually considered lying and saying "yeah that's my boyfriend haha!" to a man at my job last summer, when asked who it was that I was drawing for maybe fifth day in a row 😂 likely would've been a more acceptable excuse for someone my age. But, I mean... I just really love drawing him, not only because he is my favorite character of maybe all time, but because he is just so fun to draw! And most of all, at least I draw again!)

And it is all thanks to this wonderful show about a bunch of defective and effective copy-paste boys and their sister.

It's probably something many say, but I've always felt like a bit of an outsider. I've felt like I have no place; when I was a kid, my interests were very different from the other kids of [gender assigned at birth], and trying to play with them while inserting my own interests into the games, often didn't go so well. I was... kind of an odd child (although now, older and questionably wiser, knowing that I might actually be autistic, many things make more sense now. me kind of discovering this about myself is also partially thanks to Bad Batch)

Also, growing up trans/non-binary, while not even knowing what that is or having a word for it, didn't really do much to help with the feeling of "I'm different and an outsider because of it". Perhaps it was one more reason I fell in love with Clone Force 99, because I could see some of myself in them. Being different from the "regs".

I love this show, and these fictional people have become my family, and I am not ready to say goodbye to them.

Alright, weird pile of thoughts over. In case someone read all this, uh... thanks 😊

[sapphire-weapon]

A little outsider's rant to the EagleOne fandom... particularly you younger fans.

Y'all are really getting upset about your ship because Leon and Ashley possibly never being shown together again? After all that wonderful material you got in re4 remake? Guys, most ship survive on crumbs... and y'all had a pretty decent meal there!

Like!! At least she's fucking alive! Look at how strong Serrenedy is... and Luis is fucking dead! Doesn't stop them from writing a ton of fix it fics and AUs and what if scenarios.

You guys aren't Aeon! You don't need the fucking "kiss make canon and valid" mentality. YOUR SHIP IS FUCKING VALID AND GOOD!

"But... I wanna see them together..."

WRITE THE FIC THEN! DRAW THE FANART! MAKE THE EDITS!

"Oh, but I'm not very creative."

SHUT UP AND DO IT ANYWAY!

Flood the world with it! Show everyone what the ship means to you! You'll get better at it the more you practice!

And you know what? Maybe Leon and Ashley don't ever see each other again in canon... but maybe some of you get real good at writing and maybe someday, more original stories starring characters with their archetypes start showing up... and being together. All because y'all knew a good thing when you saw it.

So don't roll over and die so damn soon. Yes it fucking sucks possibly not seeing Ashley in the games again.

So keep her alive and present outside of them.

you know @godtier and i were actually talking about this earlier today, and it's this whole thing that's like

kind of like what leon is going through in my fic, where he thinks that it's worse to have had it and lost it, because he now knows how good it was for him and how good it made him feel and that he can't have it anymore -- so now, he wishes he'd never had it at all, because then he wouldn't have to mourn it.

like, serennedy fandom operates under no illusions. they know exactly how that connection started, progressed, and ended. same thing with metaltango fandom. and, being slash ships, they never expect to become canon anyway, because that's unfortunately not the world that we currently live in.

and then you have something like jilleon fandom, who never anticipates their ship becoming canon, so there's no reason for them to get super invested in how the canon portrays them, because the heart of that fandom has always been fanfiction to begin with.

but with eagleone fandom, it's like...

people feel like something is being taken away from them. especially the eagleone people who came into RE through RE4make. because they did have it. for that one game, they had this ship that meant so much to them and was clearly written to be taken as romantic...

... and then to learn, no actually, you don't get to have that?

that sucks. it feels like a breakup.

like, there's a big difference between old guard like me, who looks at it as: "holy fuck i can't believe we actually got this, are you kidding me????" because i understand just how shocking and unexpected it is, considering how the rest of the series goes -- and new fans who are going "wait, what do you mean she gets written out of the series?"

i went into RE4make already knowing that leon's character progresses into the future without ashley. and so i'm just delighted that they got to have what they had for the time that they had it.

new fans are coming in and seeing a canon romance and not understanding why someone would say that it won't be followed through with, because that runs antithetical to their personal experiences with the game.

and that's why i don't fucking feud with aeon fandom, man. i mean, other than the fact that i'm a 34 year old adult who has better things to do with my time than argue with teenagers about fictional relationships.

they're dicks, but i feel bad for them, because they're going through a breakup, too. and theirs is way harder than eagleone's is because the relationship lasted a lot longer. they've had this for so long, but now it's like "fuck you, pack your shit, we're over."

now, with that all being said

there's no excuse for either side of this to be fucking toxic the way that they've been, either. i get that you're disappointed and you need some time to mourn and it feels even shittier to have someone from the other team go "YOU NEVER ACTUALLY HAD THAT THING YOU'RE MOURNING IN THE FIRST PLACE" but like

basically just this

[marvelstarker-mha98]

The Invention Left By A Little Stark-book 2 Chap 4:  A Wicked Game

Pairing: Tony Stark & daughter!Reader, Tony stark & J Jameson (kind of), Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Karen, Tony stark & one of ned leed's mom, Tony stark & random neighbour, Tony stark x Pepper potts. Mentioning: J.Jonah Jameson appearance and him bashing, missing a love one, flashback mentioning of a birthday, sad peter

Co author with: callikc Tag:  @venomsvl  @geeksareunique @huntective-kyeo, @klc13, @natsbiggestfan1, @carellmcu, @laura-naruto-fan1998, @fansformentalydistroyedmen

The Midtown Expressway was a nightmare as per usual.

Traffic was piling, drivers were raging, and there was a general sense of negativity in the air.

Tony was on his way to Woodside to pick up Peter from the Leeds residence. Normally he would have sent a driver or gotten Happy to take him, but he had a fondness for Peter which motivated him to go himself for a change.

His fingers drummed along the steering wheel of his very expensive car as Black Sabbath's 'Iron Man' played through the also very expensive speakers. He hummed along to the lyrics and mumbled a few words before slouching in his seat and gazing through the window.

Once the song ended the news program that was on beforehand resumed. The most infamous editor-in-chief in the state showed up on the radio as a result.

J. Jonah Jameson.

Tony didn't think much of the Daily Bugle's publisher and his crusade against heroes, commonly referring to him as a grumpy and bitter old man. Still, he couldn't be bothered to switch the station over.

"That's for all you satanists out there." Jameson was saying. "Seriously, who listens to that stuff nowadays?"

Tony scoffed, assuming that Jameson was most definitely a jazz man.

"Now, discussing something that's actually relevant, today marks the anniversary of the Battle of New York. A purely devastating tragedy that left many scarred, many injured, and many more... Dead. It was a brutal introduction into the world of so called 'superheroes' and 'good guys' and I personally think that if these people - most notoriously the Avengers - even cared, then they'd be doing a lot more today than vacationing and sipping margaritas on a beach, wouldn't you agree?"

Tony's jaw clenched. He refused to look at the radio and kept his gaze solely on the views outside the car window.

"It seems this country is courting bad luck." Jameson continued. "On top of the New York City battle, just last year we were exposed to the truth of secret organizations and schemes. The collapse of what can't be more aptly named than a 'spy agency' - SHIELD - triggered further destruction on our already corrupt world. The Triskelion building collapsed, weapons of the most advanced tech were destroyed, and many lost their lives yet again. One of the most notorious deaths was (Y/n) Stark - the prodigal daughter of one of our leading vagrants, Iron Man. So, who's to blame for this? The heroes of course!"

That was enough. Tony leaned forward again and switched the radio off.

He couldn't believe the crap he'd just heard. Not only about you, but about the Avengers apparently not giving a damn. It was all bullshit. He himself had suffered severe PTSD from the events that transpired and in the months following the disaster the entire team had set up fundraisers and often visited the memorials to share in grieving.

As for the SHIELD collapse? They admittedly couldn't do much about what happened in the capital, but that leak happened to expose HYDRA, to try and ensure that they couldn't hide again. By dumping their information on the web, the Avengers found it easier to locate the bases and get a few steps closer to destroying the organization for good. He and Steve had also visited the funerals for fallen SHIELD members to pay their respects.

Jameson was as ignorant as he was bitter and glub.

As Tony stopped at a red light and fought the urge to run it, he realized where he was now waiting. Calvary Cemetery was visible in the distance.

He could see the many white marks that were actually headstones dotted around the grassy plains but only one caught his eye. On the hill, under the shade of a tree, stood one lone marker. Scattered beside this was an array of purple flowers that he was certain he hadn't planted or or left himself. Still, he was glad people hadn't forgotten you.

"Hey, sweetheart." He said quietly. "I know I haven't visited this week but hang in there, alright? I thought running a billion dollar company was time consuming but apparently heading the Avengers alongside Captain Obvious is worse. I had a few meetings and excursions to deal with but I'll stop by soon, I promise. We've got that Parker dinner tonight, too."

He watched the breeze ruffle the tree leaves for a moment as he thought about what else he could tell you.

He always visited a few times a month if he could, refusing to stay away long enough to see the flowers wilt. Perhaps it was a way of punishing himself for what happened, making sure he saw you as often as he could to replace the years of ignorance and narcissism on his part. He made sure to tell you everything that happened so you wouldn't miss a single thing.

Before he could say much more, the light turned green.

"Sorry, baby girl. I'll come back soon. Love you."

He was quick to drive on so as not to anger the already raging drivers on the road and glanced at the time.

"J, tell Karen I'll be there in a few minutes or something. Make sure the kid knows."

"Yes, sir."

-

The Leeds apartment was a very homely place.

It had a floral scent accompanied by a beautiful waft of whatever was cooking on the stove. The furniture was mostly pastel shades which made the place seem lit up with happiness and guaranteed that it never looked dark or empty.

Inside Ned's room, Peter was folding his pajamas and trying his best to place them neatly back into his overnight bag. On the other side of the room, Ned was sitting on his bed with a pile of flashcards balanced on one knee.

"When alpha particles go through gold foil they become-"

"Unoccupied space." Peter answered.

"Correct." Ned confirmed. "How can an electron leap between atomic levels without passing through all the space in between?"

"It can't, because that would be classed as a quantum leap which is very misleading."

"Yep. Okay, last question. Atomic mass and proton/atomic number of sodium."

"Mass number is twenty-three, proton/atomic number is eleven."

"Aced it. Do you even need to study?"

Peter finished putting in his clothes from the day before with a light shrug. "Can't hurt."

Ned also shrugged his shoulders in agreement. "This is easy stuff, anyway."

The pair were on their way to finishing 8th grade so the revision was for their end-of-year exams. The more urgent topics they needed to pass were science and math but it seemed as if neither would be struggling with that. Once they passed, they would be moving on to high school.

"Peter, Mr. Stark has arrived." Karen's voice spoke up, coming from the watch on the boy's wrist. "He's waiting for you."

Peter began to smile as he hastily threw the rest of his stuff in the bag and zipped it up. "Thanks, Karen!"

Ned couldn't help but stare in awe at the watch. He still couldn't get used to the fact that his best friend had an AI at his beck and call. It was wild to him.

Right as Peter slung his bag over his shoulders, a buzzer sounded throughout the entire apartment. In the living room, Nina Leeds went to answer the door, a sweet and welcoming smile on her face as she opened it.

"Hi, there." She greeted.

"Hey." Tony replied, returning the smile. "Not late, am I?"

"No, of course not. The boys are just studying. Oh, and I'm making some dessert if you want to take some for tonight? There's plenty."

"That would actually save me a lot of trouble. I'll take it."

"Great! Come on in."

Peter heard the two talking from the bedroom and seemed even more excitable than before.

"We'll finish the lego falcon next time." He told his friend. "I'll see you at school?"

"Yep." Ned nodded. "Good luck."

"You too."

But before he could leave, Ned called him back. "Hey, are we celebrating this month?"

Peter turned again. "Huh?"

"Are we having a party?"

"Why? For the exams?"

Ned looked sadder now. "The 30th. That's (Y/n)'s birthday."

The other boy's expression also dampened considerably. "Oh."

"You know, it's been a year and stuff, so I just thought it'd be nice if we could do something for her."

"I, uh... I don't know." He looked at the ground. "Let's not talk about it now. We've still got a few weeks."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. We should concentrate on the exams, and then we'll talk to Mr. Stark about it."

Back in the other room, Tony and Nina were talking about plans for the dinner that night. When that was done, Tony noticed they were missing someone.

"So, where's the wife?" He asked.

"Oh, Dulce is getting us some last minute groceries." Nina said. "We ran out of milk this morning when Ned used all the cereal trying to find those little toy things."

Just then, the door to the bedroom opened and out walked Peter. He no longer looked like the embodiment of joy but rather the embodiment of brooding.

"Look who it is." Tony announced.

Peter did his best to smile. "Hello, Mr. Stark."

"Ah, come on. How many times have I told you to drop formalities? We're practically besties now."

"Yeah... Sorry."

The man frowned and then looked at Nina again as he tried another joke instead. "Has he been a helpful guest? You know, May and Ben always say they don't want him to be bratty."

Any other day, Peter would have laughed at that and retorted with his own joke. However, he barely flinched.

"I'm not a brat, Mr. Stark." He mumbled. "I've helped."

Noticing the change in mood, Tony ruffled the boy's curly hair in an attempt to get a smile. "I'm sure you have, kiddo. Don't worry about it."

It was hard to believe they had known each other for a year now. Tony usually tried to act indifferent towards Peter because it was simply just part of his personality, but he did truly care for the Parker kid, especially since he'd meant so much to you. If Ben and May were busy, he dropped everything to stand in for them and give Peter a hand.

Pepper frequently teased Tony over this and admired how protective he was becoming. Ben was the same, grateful that Peter could have a second paternal figure to look up to. Tony didn't brag about it for once and just called Peter his young protégé, allowing him visits to the lab as often as he liked.

"He's been an angel." Nina assured them. "Even if he's tucked away in the room being a little genius, he helps with washing the dishes or hanging the clothes. Karen's a darling too, reminding us when we've forgotten something and such."

"I'd expect no less." Tony replied as he moved his hand to Peter's shoulder. "I think he'll make a fine housewife one day."

"He will be with the way you tease him."

"It's my way of showing affection."

"I'm used to it, Mrs. Leeds." Peter said, attempting another smile. "Mr. Stark is teaching me 'the art of sarcasm.'"

"See? Kiddo gets it."

The woman shook her head with a smile. "You two..."

As the two exchanged more teasing she turned away to grab a large tupperware container filled with desserts. After securing the lid she held it out.

"Kutsinta." She explained.

(kutsinta is a filipino dessert so its looks like this!) She placed it on the table and Tony - who was grateful she didn't try to hand it to him - picked the box up from there.

"Thanks." He said.

"No problem at all. There's also coconut flakes on the side in case anyone's allergic."

"No problems with that, Ninny. And while I'm here, Pep would love it if you could send her that kare kare recipe. I wouldn't mind either. It's delicious."

"Of course I can. I'm glad you like it."

"Great. Keep it up and I'll hire you as our own personal chef."

She laughed. "Well, if the nursing job ever fails I'll take you up on that offer."

"I'll hold you to that." Tony looked at Peter again. "Ready to go?"

Peter gave a single nod. "Hmm-mm."

"Then we'd better head out before we're late."

As they went for the door, Peter stopped and waved at Nina. "Bye, tita."

The woman returned the gesture. "See you later, Peter."

-

Twenty minutes later, and the car ride to the apartment was filled with silence.

Peter was still thinking about Ned's words and it had ruined his mood entirely. He didn't blame Ned at all, but the thought of celebrating your birthday without you actually being there was just horrible to him. He wanted you back. He wanted to mess around with his big sister, he wanted to binge Star Wars for the hundredth time, and he really just wanted to hug you one more time.

SHIELD's family safety apartment - or just SFS apartment - was located beside a small park. As they drove by the side of this park, Peter couldn't help but sigh.

It was beautiful. The leaves were in their prime shades, the flora was vibrant and dancing in the breeze, children ran while their parents watched, and he could hear the laughter even from inside the vehicle.

Tony side-eyed Peter as he drove, his face of concern subtle. Normally the two had a lot to talk about. Well, Peter would do the talking and Tony would occasionally comment with some kind of witty remark. He missed the yapping.

To fill the silence, he decided to check on the dinner plans.

"Hey, JARVIS." He spoke up. "What's the progress on the Italian tonight?"

"Very good, sir." The AI replied. "An intern has collected an array of vegetables to combine with garlic bread and left it all in a package outside the apartment. Due to time constraints, however, they were unable to collect the pasta and sauce."

"Great. Shi-" He quickly cut himself off, remembering who was also in the car at that moment. "Shizzle. Shizzle and funker."

Peter raised an eyebrow, knowing exactly what the man intended to say.

"You're not very subtle." He commented.

Tony stuck out his tongue like a scolded child. "Looks like we're stopping at the store. Maybe that Delmar place you like."

"You can use our stuff if you want." He offered.

"Don't worry about it."

It wasn't because he was being polite, it was because Tony didn't think he was the kind of man who should borrow off others. He was a billionaire after all, and that meant he could pay for his own stuff.

"Seriously, Aunt May and Uncle Ben won't mind." Peter insisted, although more shyly. "They're really proud of the Italian side of the family so we've always got loads after pasta night. I can help too."

As he spoke, Peter remembered a fun memory of when you had been invited to your first pasta night with them some years ago. Just to see who would react, you had snapped the pasta in half before placing it in the pot. Long story short, May had spent a good hour afterwards chasing you with a towel and lecturing you on how to properly do pasta. Peter and Ben had been laughing the entire time.

"Fine. You've twisted my arm." Tony said upon seeing the look in Peter's eyes. "I'm making my mom's special. Ratatouille pasta with mushroom soup and garlic bread."

The Parker boy was pleasantly surprised. "So you can actually cook? Iron Man can cook?"

"I'll try not to be offended. But yes, I can. Mom insisted."

"Are you sure you didn't just watch lots of Ratatouille?"

"No!" He scoffed. "Do people seriously not think I'm capable of serving Michelin standards? I've never even seen Ratatouille!"

"But-"

"Take a nap, kid."

"Mr. Stark-"

"Nap."

Peter pouted. "Why?"

"Because your bigger than average brain must be exhausted from all that studying." He replied sarcastically. "I want you to have energy tonight if you're helping."

"I'm fine."

"Nope."

"I am."

"Uh-uh. I'm smart, you're not. I'm big, you're little. I'm right, you're wrong."

"Isn't that from Matilda?"

"Just listen to the adult."

-

As Tony and Peter walked through the apartment building, they picked up the package left by the intern on the way.

Peter watched as his hero checked the contents of the bag. "It must be cool having JARVIS arrange things like this."

"Yep." Tony confirmed, satisfied that most of what he needed was there. "I like being lazy."

"Me too. I think everyone does."

As they made their way to the right floor, they passed a few other residents who all said hi to the pair. It used to be that they would all be starstruck at seeing a celebrity and a CEO in their simple complex and gossip constantly, but now they were just used to Tony and Pepper's presence. They greeted them just as friends would.

"Oh, hey, Tony." One such resident grinned. "Peter."

"Hey." Tony replied. "How's the car?"

"All good thanks to you. I appreciate it."

"No worries."

"Hey, seriously. I don't know how you did it, but she's better than ever."

"Just some TLC and a lot of patience."

It was definitely out of character for Tony Stark to spend time helping out others and being so humble about it, but again he owed the change in personality to you. Knowing how much these people meant to you and seeing how much they cared when you died, he wanted to try and repay that, especially for those who couldn't afford professionals. He fixed cars, tended to the plumbing, and sorted out electrical problems to name a few.

Paparazzi was of course an issue with such a big name visiting such a small place, but the reporters had learned the hard way not to bother anyone when Pepper and Tony showed up, or when any of the other Avengers stopped by.

"I got it." Peter said when they reached his apartment. "I get a key now."

Tony smirked. "Good for you. Now don't go napping in there. I told you to get it out earlier."

The boy playfully rolled his eyes and pushed open the door, leaving it ajar in case Tony wanted to go in as well. However, his eyes landed on the door just next to that one.

Your place.

Even though he owned it now he could never refer to it as his own, not when you had so many memories there. It didn't feel right.

He took the key from his pocket and opened the door. As the usual scent of lavender and pine greeted him, he allowed himself to close his eyes and smile and just relish the moment. Once it passed, only then did he enter the premises.

"Hey, (Y/n)." He said. "I'm home."

Sometimes he imagined seeing you come around the corner with bright eyes and a wide grin waiting with some fantastic story from work, or even coming to complain because someone broke your favorite vending machine. That's how he imagined you might be from the stories he heard anyway. He always hoped it might happen and every single time he was left hopelessly waiting.

"The renovations are almost done, huh?"

He looked at where the kitchen and living room were now joined. The wall that separated the two was completely gone now, giving the two spaces a more spacious and brighter feel. There were more things of course, including your record collection on display and the framed picture of you doing the Iron Man pose.

He reached out to the closest item of clothing and held it up. It was a red leather jacket with gold studs. It looked custom made and reminded him of his suit.

The seconds were beginning to hurt more and more.

He couldn't look away from the jacket, even as Pepper entered the room to see if he was okay. Upon seeing him in the corner with that particular jacket she knew what must have been going through his head and a heartbroken expression appeared on her features.

She watched as his bottom lip trembled and his hands began to shake, and she came forward the second he let out his first sob.

Tony held your jacket close and let the scent that lingered overwhelm him. Life was a wicked game. It had taken the most important thing in his world and he hadn't even realized that fact until it was too late.

(imagine tony not will!) Pepper wrapped her arms around him and immediately he fell to his knees. She held him tightly and whispered words of comfort as he leaned into her loving embrace.

-

"Mr. Stark?"

Tony was thrown from the memory and blinked several times until he remembered where he was. He was standing in your bedroom, the bag of ingredients at his feet.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter tried again.

Tony cleared his throat and quickly stooped down to retrieve the bag again before he turned around. Peter had what they needed cradled in his arms but his expression was concerned.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Tony merely nodded and forced down any emotions to keep up his usual pretense. "Never better."

"I, um... I got the stuff."

"Great job, kid. Time to cook up a feast."

Peter watched as Tony walked past him and straight to the kitchen, immediately busying himself with whatever needed doing first.

[oodlyenough]

alright I'm finally playing turnabout succession and despite how many big reveals i'd already been spoiled for the case is still surprising me in parts and clearly going to be quite long so i thought i'd put some thoughts together now

I'm not-quite-finished the MASON system chapter so no spoilers plz

some general notes:

I knew Vera Misham existed but not really anything about her or her father so that whole first trial was fun

I can't believe the glass hand statue I've seen in fanart a million times is the world's least ergonomic nail polish bottle ?!?!? lmfaoo ... nothing like the feeling of sharp crystal fingertips digging into your palms while you apply a... clear topcoat ... okay

Ema popping up in court with a Kristoph impression just to fuck with Klavier is the funniest thing in the world I love her so much. #1 hater

extremely generous of the judicial system to let disbarred lawyer phoenix wright design and run the new thing lmfaoooo

god willing they'll give me a chance to say 'i've spent the last seven years building up an immunity to atroquinine'

troupe gramarye is fucked up man LMAO i mean i kind-of guessed but i didn't anticipate the levels of it and i think we've only scratched the surface so far

i knew the names 'zak gramarye' and 'shadi enigmar' from fandom and never in a million years would i have guessed which was the magician stage name and which was his birth certificate name

i'm not sure what i'm meant to be thinking of zak so far. they alternate a bit between him seeming to be at least something of a concerned father, popping back up to will stuff to trucy and wearing her locket etc ...and him being physically violent, abandoning her in the first place and scheming to ruin phoenix's life a second time for no reason. I was pretty sure the victim from 4-1 was trucy's dad, and at the time I wondered if his plan was to undermine Phoenix in order to take custody of Trucy again, but so far it seems like he was just ... being a dick? lmao. I dunno; case isn't over so presumably more of that will come to light

still a big fan of valant, he cracks me up idc if he shot that old man. the game is telling me there was friction bc he was in love with thalassa but it's too little too late when i've already decided he has a weird gay thing with zak and also canonically he is capable of impeccable thalassa drag, so

drew misham being like "i left my reclusive 12 year old alone with a strange adult to discuss crime. it's ok though bc she felt an immediate affinity for a man she describes as the devil and agrees to keep secrets for" sir what the fuck do you mean !!!!! rest in pieces honestly

actually when we hit the bit about 'well vera doesn't like many people but she liked him', i was like "she liked KRISTOPH???" and @nowwheresmynut was like "maybe it was one of the gramaryes since she's a stan" and i was like "oh that makes sense". but it doesn't. it was kristoph. Lmfao. child whisperer

the MASON system is so ??? lmao... why does my inventory carry over from past to present lmaooo. phoenix invented time travel (real) (not clickbait)

I was going to write a whole thing about the disbarment trial and the investigation portion but this post is already enormous so it might be its own thing. I have deeper thoughts about that stuff from like a... broader game/storytelling pov. I will say I knew there was a flashback trial but I did NOT know you got so many investigation portions as Phoenix what a nice surprise 😭😭😭 I miss him

[neoyi]

hi my opinion on the game awards event were...

-every space game looks the same and i can't tell which one is which anymore.

-40% of all sci-fi game are contractually obligated to put "EXO" in their title in some way, shape, or form.

-i'd be more surprised by fortnite having a lego game if i didn't know lego has made games (and actual lego) of every licenses under the sun.

-HELL YEAH DAVE THE DIVE+DREDGE CROSSOVER. I'M DOWN FOR THIS. LET ME FISH AND EAT THE ELDRITCH. GIVE IT TO ME.

(also i am glad dave the diver did not win best indie game because, well, it isn't an indie game. it just looks and feels like one.)

-ugggggggggggh of course the last of us won best adaptation. my hot take is always that abby was as much justified to kill joel as anyone else in that damnable game and i will die on team abby if not out of pure pettiness.

-once again fuck the brotherhood of steel. but casually looking forward to the fallout show.

-wait no man sky's over a decade already? damn.

-sir anthony mackie sir are you okay sir?

-YASSSSSSSSS OLD GODS OF ASGARD. they all danced and moved like it was a broadway musical and it was cheesy and wonderful and they are valid for it.

FUCK 'EM UP OLD GODS OF ASGARD!

-dear jesus i need to play alan wake ii i can't keep avoiding spoilers it's driving me nuts!

-i want the voice actor of kratos to hold me with his big muscular arms.

-ikumi nakamura is a treasure and we do not deserve her.

-i do not care for the kojima game but jordan peele is involved in it so i expect it will have some semblance of Good.

-skull and bones has an actual release date???? bull. i'll believe it when i see the game in actual physical brick and mortar stores.

*sigh* i'm never gonna get a skies of arcadia remaster or at least a release on steam or anything, am i? "and more" is a tease, but my heart is ready to be broken again.

-why the fuck is cyberpunk the winner for best ongoing game when EVERY other game on that list were actual ongoing games?

-i have been informed the youtuber announcing the game of the year is motherfucking timothy chalamet.

OH HELL YEAH FLUTE GUY'S BACK.

FUCK 'EM UP FLUTE GUY.

[usedpidemo]

honestly, after the last episode ended, this emotionally affected me more than I thought :(

I was born four years after his journey began, and by the time I was introduced to the magic of television, I had already grown attached to the Pokémon franchise with the games and trading cards. I was a little kid entering elementary when I began watching this 10 year old's journey. Growing up, I had a bootleg Johto DVD and a bootleg Kanto DVD, so I always rewatched the Indigo League and Master Quest to the point of scratching my discs. I never really kept up with him constantly after Diamond and Pearl, but I've kept track during the League tournaments, hoping, praying, that this is the one where he finally wins it.

Only to be disappointed again and again.

I was there for all of them—when his Charizard was a complete dick to Tobias to Kalos and everything else in between.

I always hated his loss to Richie and Harrison to the point where I deliberately refused to rewatch them cause it irked me to no end to watch the main character lose in his own show. Young me believed that the hero always ended up winning, but it also taught me that you can't always win, and that there's always going to be someone better than you.

But even so, I should continue pursuing and fighting for my goals, as he did.

Years passed, and I'm an adult now, getting ready to take on the next chapter of life. I've already watched many of my childhood heroes come and go, take their bows, and ride off into the sunset, but it always felt like Ash Ketchum was gonna be a constant as the franchise that birthed him to this day.

He was always there—until he wasn't.

And only now do I realize I relate more to him than I thought.

It's probably a bit silly for me to have this much sentimental attachment to an ageless protagonist for an average slice-of-life anime with the occasional shonen elements, but man, was Ash one of the most consistent figures in my life growing up. It was often a lonely one, my childhood, and when you're feeling like no one outside of family embraces you, you find comfort in the things you love, even if they aren't truly real.

I'm really happy he got the triumphant ending my childhood always wanted, but I also feel sad that it too, had to pass on eventually. That's growing up for you.

The story may be over, but the journey never ends.

So thank you, Ash Ketchum and Pikachu, for all the laughs, all the thrills, all the losses—everything. I was never there every step of the way, but you always were—and will always be—in my heart. You taught me the importance of hard work, ambition, perseverance, friendship, and to think outside the box, but mostly importantly, to keep fighting for your goals until you achieve them.

Thank you for the memories.

[yanderemeganekko]

Tag game thing because why not

Oh man, I think this is like, my whopping third or fourth original post made this year. I sometimes forget my presence here is noted by anyone because of how little I post haha- so thanks for @houkagokappa for tagging me :)

Tag 9 an amount of people you'd like to get to know better

3 ships: Gosh, the only thing I've properly shipped in the last good while has been OCs I've been making in a friend group with my boyfriend, so I have to dig pretty hard for this one. The latest one that pops to mind would probably be KazuScara. Maybe also Neuvillette/Wriothesley? I don't even know their ship names yet but it's been growing on me. And for good measure I gotta throw in KilluGon as a good oldie, that one is always gonna own my heart.

First ship ever: Sora/Riku, no joke. If I had any ships from before then I have no idea, since KH was one of the first things I got into when I got online as a wee 9(?)-year-old... would you believe me if I told you I never finished the game LOL (I promise I will someday).

Last song: Animal by Deco*27. I was working on a project earlier and wanted something lighthearted to listen to.

Last movie: I'm so terrible about watching movies, this one might actually be the first Spiderverse movie from last year. I meant to go watch a bunch of movies this summer, but then life happened, so...

Currently reading: Manga-wise, Hikaru ga shinda natsu, which I've been enjoying a ton. I've also tried to get into reading books again (with pretty middling results), so I got myself a collection of Holmes stories, and a Lovecraft collection, both which I've started.

Currently watching: Finally watching Ancient Magus Bride with some friends! I just haven't felt an itch for seasonal anime, or anime in general lately, although we did recently finish Psycho Pass with my boyfriend (I've already seen it, I just needed to show him because I knew he would enjoy it).

Currently consuming: Media, or food? If it's food, currently nothing, although I did make a (pretty wet) blueberry pie and gingerbread cookies for independence day.

Currently craving: Time with family, and a home-cooked meal made by someone else. Due to some pretty grim circumstance I'm not spending today with my family, and it's unlikely that will be the case for end-of-the-year holidays either. I've been really jealous of seeing everyone my age and even older get to be with their parents, especially since mine are all I have, family-wise... but I can't blame my misfortune on others, so I just try to make do and enjoy my time with friends.

I can't think of terribly many mutuals of mine (sorry if I forgot about you, I promise it's not you it's me) but off the top of my head, I'll just tag @spoofenshmirtz, @komaeeda and @lonery-w.

[ticiie]

week 30: betting on the new season

prompt from the off-season winter sport challenge

characters: Gino Caviezel, Marc Berthod, Lukas Studer, Marco Odermatt, Justin Murisier (mentioned)

length: 1182 words

author's note: wow, i actually can't believe this is the last week already??? it feels like the last season has ended a minute ago and now season22/23 is only a few days away. i went down the memory lane (aka @niemernuet 's and my chat history) and i figured warming up an old idea for the last OSWS-entry would be something nice (i hope it also turned out nice). rewatch the actual footage of gino winning the game here and check out the cheese suit here.

also, it has to be said: THANK YOU SO MUCH @wunderlichkind for not just coming up with this challenge but also for your contributions, they are all amazing, i love them all, thank you for everything!!! Biggest and most gigantic shoutouts to @wunderlichkind and @niemernuet, you guys are both incredibly talented, i love you guys, you're the very bestest!!! ❤️❤️❤️

alright, that's all, please enjoy my last entry of this year's OSWS challenge!

Reconnecting...reconnecting....reconnecting...

Gino groaned in frustration. The screen of his tablet still only showed the loading-symbol while his WiFi lost the connection for the third time in a row again. Meanwhile, his phone was running wild with new messages from both Marc and Lukas. Of course, only one of them really tried to help Gino. Marc would get his ass kicked in tonight’s game for calling Gino an old sap. Right before he could throw the device against the nearest wall like his nerves wanted him to, the picture changed and both commentators appeared on it.

“Hallelujah, miracles do happen!”, Lukas praised and the others laughed. The live stream was already running so Gino quickly adjusted the angle of the camera so the viewers wouldn’t get to see too much of his (admittedly) messy kitchen.

“With a tiny delay, we welcome Gino Caviezel on this year’s first edition of our popular silent-painter-competition! Gino, you’re here for the second time, last year you won the desired point for Marc’s team-”

“Thanks again, bro”, Marc interrupted Lukas’ summary. Gino winked at him through the camera.

“This year, we decided to spice things up a little. If you don’t succeed and none of the viewers can guess what you were attempting to draw, you’ll have to complete a dare chosen by the opponent team. Alright?”

“So that means if I fuck up, Marc gets the chance to send me into embarrassment?”

“Well, that's up to you and your drawing skills. And who knows, maybe he prepared a dare that’s not going to humiliate you”, Lukas said. One look at Marc's smug grin was enough to let Gino know for certain that wouldn’t be the case.

“But before we get started, let’s talk about what’s coming next in your life Gino; The season is about to start, how is your training going? Did you get to use the summer break the way you wanted to?”

“Absolutely. Conditions in both Zermatt and Chile were amazing, we were all very lucky and glad to get to spend that many days on the snow. It’s just a pity that we’re one man down on the team.”

“Oh yeah, I heard”, Marc chimed in. “How’s Justin keeping up? I bet he’s annoyed about missing the season opening party?”

“He’s fine, as long as he doesn’t miss the season end as well. No, really, we talked to him a couple of days ago and according to him, therapy is going the right direction and he’s confident he’ll be back on track with us by the time the Italian week starts.”

Lukas nodded. He knew about Justin’s high ambitions and his thrive was very impressive, considering how many injuries he had already fought his way back from. The viewers seemed to share all their thoughts, a float of get-well wishes rushed through the stream and Gino took a second to read some of them. To witness so much support and love for his team mate made Gino feel even better than he already was.

“Alright guys, I suggest we get started or we’ll still be sitting here by this time tomorrow. Gino, are you ready?”

“Born ready, Lukas.” He got up from the table and walked over to the whiteboard that was fixed to the kitchen cabinet. Only now Gino remembered what had been written on it when he had last looked at it in the afternoon and he was more than glad about finding it completely spotless and to be able to switch the camera away from his face. Marc would’ve not missed him blushing and he was someone to take the right assumptions most of the time.

Marc continued: “45 seconds for you to draw and for the viewers to guess what it is. Three, two, one, go!”

It wasn’t that easy to both draw and hold the camera at the same time but Gino figured asking for help now would be too obvious. He also had never been that much of a visual or let alone creative person which made those 45 seconds pass even quicker and while Marc was calling out the wrong guesses of the viewers, Gino felt his nerves starting to flutter the more time passed by. He really didn’t want to give Marc a chance to humiliate him on the public eye. Turns out his former art teacher in school had every reason to call Gino out on his lack of visual talent. Time ran out and none of the people watching came up with the correct answer. Lukas sighed overly disappointed.

“Sorry man, tried my best.” Gino turned the camera back so that his face was visible again. Meanwhile, Marc was obviously enjoying not just the fact that Lukas would not take the lead in their competition, but also getting to have Gino to fulfil a dare of his choice. He cleared his throat. Gino hated to admit that he was pretty tense in expectation. And fear. “I think you remember this one”, Marc said and grabbed something that was placed outside of the cameras angle. Gino immediately knew what it was, the ugly yellow colour gave it away even in the dim light of Marc’s office where he was sitting.

“Please don’t.”

Gino covered his face with both hands while Marc unfolded the fabric, the smug grin still glued to his face. “I know your ambitions to this year’s season premier are high, Gino, and we all know what you are capable of on this slope, so if you finish your race on the podium, I dare you to wear this beauty to the official winner’s ceremony in Sölden.”

Now even Lukas was unable to contain his laughter. “Oh, please do finish on the podium, Gino, I need to see you in the cheese-suit!”

“Alright guys, if you excuse me, I’m going to throw myself off the balcony now.”, Gino said and pretended to stand up from the table. Messages of both empathy and glee reached through the live stream, with most of them agreeing with Lukas’ words, stating how much they wanted to see the more than legendary racing suit reactivated again. Marc and Lukas then wished Gino and his team mates all the best for the upcoming races before disconnecting the broadcast. Gino sat there with his head still rested in his palms. He stared into space, reconsidering his life decisions and how to get the best revenge on Marc. Not even when two strong arms hugged him from behind and Gino was surrounded by the comforting smell of pine and laundry detergent did he move from his stupor.

“I bet you helped him, didn’t you?”, Gino asked. Marco just giggled and placed a tender kiss on his cheek.

“I might have told him your size. You’ll look amazing. You’ll go down in history, claiming your first win while wearing that ugly thing is going to make you immortal.”

Gino didn’t add anything to that. The fact that Marco had enough faith in him to assume he was actually going to win this year made the whole situation a little more bearable.

[thevindicativevordan]

What do you make of recent developments in Ridley's Black Panther?

Sometimes even someone as wise and intelligent as I can be wrong, and being excited for Ridley taking on Black Panther has been one of those times. After 5 years of Coates' boring writing, a new writer was a welcome change. Having enjoyed Ridley's The Other History of the DCU and Jace Fox Batman I was optimistic about him taking over the books. Others were more cautious, wary that another black "literary" writer was once again being handed the Black Panther book. I defended Ridley, pointing out that unlike Coates he had already cut his teeth in the comics sphere and written books that were well-received, without the shilling that someone like Coates gets because of their prestige. I urged people to check out the Jace Fox Batman run for a possible preview of what we might get in Black Panther.

Instead it's been a case of "meet the new writer, same as the old writer". Ridley has been no different from Coates, although it took me until this week's issue to finally admit that. Couldn't deny it any longer after the entire issue was full of all of Coates worst tropes: T'Challa sitting around feeling sorry for himself and being useless, everyone blaming him for everything and implying he's an evil dictator, Storm bitching at him and breaking up with him yet again (can this be the last break up already for Bast's sake? I'm sick of this toxic relationship, it's the poster child for why "power couples" are a bad idea), Shuri and an OC being the only ones to do anything in a book supposedly about the Black Panther, we even get the annoying as hell Midnight Angels showing up and going all "No One Man™" yet again! The plot is boring, there's no compelling antagonist, and the artist isn't delivering entertaining fight scenes. Blame probably doesn't fall entirely on Ridley, I suspect this is a result of him struggling to mesh his original story with editorial mandates, which would explain why his run suffered major delays right off the bat. Doesn't bring me comfort however because that means it's a problem a change of writers can't fix, BP needs new editorial.

Honestly we're fucked. They're going to kill T'Challa off in the MCU and then Marvel will synergize the comics, meaning 616 T'Challa will either die or they'll keep him in exile from Wakanda as revealed in the solicit for the upcoming Wakanda book. Wouldn't even be bothered about T'Challa being kept out of Wakanda if I thought he would be better treated, but I doubt that will be the case. Once the Wakanda book flops - just like all of Coates spinoff books and the Shuri books have - then Marvel might just put the entire franchise back on ice and ignore it, especially if Coogler bails after Wakanda Forever. Just can't believe Marvel is this determined to smother a franchise like they have BP. First you build T'Challa up, then you do your damn spinoffs. Alienating all of the T'Challa fans by making these Wakanda books come at his expense serves no benefit.

Nothing BP fans can do but hope there's a light at the end of this tunnel. Give us a video game or something, a solo one like Spidey and Wolverine have, and we'll endure the terrible handling of the franchise in the comics. Or a cartoon or ANYTHING. Maybe Ridley will turn things around but I don't feel too optimistic at this point. Mentally preparing myself for the idea that 2018 was BP's peak and it's all downhill from here which sucks.

[mossible]

Hellooo I have come from AO3 to say Many Things!!! About Cracked Snowglobes!!

But now i'm unsure where to even begin with the gushing because chapter 4 has left me CLIMBING the walls, hanging upside down from my ceiling, HOWLING because good cod !!!!! Intense argument after intense emotional moment after brief humorous, hopeful breath of air, thEN MORE INTENSE CONFLICT--

I was positively SHAKING in bed when i read it last night, it left me IN SHAMBLES (⁠╯⁠��⁠□⁠°⁠）⁠╯⁠︵⁠ ⁠┻⁠━⁠┻

I've been meaning to comment in more detail on every chapter, and just list up everything little detail and exchange i love, but after the current chapter i had TO COME HERE FIRST to send an Ask!!

I am SO HAPPY to see Off the Hook and the Squid sister and Splatoon hanging out, and knowing that sweet, brave Eight is in good, caring hands now 🥺 they deserve the world, and their genuine admiration and trust in Octavio had me 🥹 it was so cathartic to see Marina have the heart to heart she needed with her former leader as well, even if they don't agree with everything, Octavio's growth already showed a teeeny tiny bit in him, reluctantly, agonizingly, agreeing with Marina and making that promise to her (and by extension, to Eight and all of his people)

I don't know what you have planned for the next chapter, i know this one's gonna be tricky since it has to essentially fill in the void between game 2 and 3, but man!!! I really really really hope that, despite all of the baggage and anger and yelling, Octavio can find some solace, something to hold onto, in the genuine hope and trust that Eight, Callie, and Marina put in him, in spite (or because?) of everything 🙏 he's gonna have another tough road ahead of him, but i believe in this stubborn, clever, spiteful old man 🐙 he has fucked up many times before, but i believe he will try his best to keep his word, if only to not let the people down that put their trust in him (maybe that's hust me being delulu and naive tho agsjshdjfhgfd)

My god that ENDING tho!!! The leaky roof has CRASHED DOWN metaphorically, and it's really lucky that Octavio jumped the heck outta there because i would NOT want to be at the camp after all that!

There's poor Callie, probably having a small breakdown rn, and Cuttlefish, who let some /real nasty/ things slip out there (granted, that was mostly the result of being spurred on and goaded by Octavio to be his worst self, i think) that i can't rly see Marina and Eight just... overlook, tbh (especially after he also pulled that whole past identify reveal on Marina in the Metro, which could have potentially ended very, very poorly)... The mood there is probably. 😬😬😬 Rip to the planned party 🎉

There's soooo much more i would like to say, but yeah that's gonna be probably better said in individual chapter comments, but i just HAD to get this all out!

Thank you so much for your incredible work!! The long chapters are a delight to read personally, even if they seem a bit daunting at first; since the writing and pacing is so good, it's very easy to breeze through them :D

I wish you a belated Happy New Year and lots of inspiration, motivation, and free writing time for the chapter 5, I'm super looking forward to whatever you've planned next! 🙌🐙✨

WAUUAUGHH TYSM OMGGG!! i absolutely relate on the commenting thing LOL sometimes ill spend months keeping up with a fic, only to realize later on that oh. oops i havent commented at all. i really shouldve done that! very much a regular ao3 reader thing to overlook it, so i absolutely dont blame u at all LMAO (i do look forward to the comments though, ive said this like hundreds of times it feels like already but feedback rlly is such a strong motivator when it comes to writing! very funny how reading words makes you want to make more words)

but. again. WAHHH thank you !! im glad youve been enjoying so far, and ur kind words mean so so sososo much ;_; omg

i'm very excited to get chapter 5 out to yall, but im also super excited to just like. write it in general LOL it has a LOTTTTT of stuff that i cant exactly talk about just yet, considering that it would all be spoilers for what exactly goes down, but im super hyped for it. and im the one writing it!

the only thing i can say is that, yeah youre spot on about it being tricky and having to bridge that gap! i don't have any plans to change the actual plot points that happen in the games themselves, excluding whatevers gonna happen for the s3 dlc which we essentially know uh. nothing about! we're currently still on track to be following the story modes' outlines. (but as soon as we get off of that track? hooh boy ive got some silly ideas >:))

again tho, thank you so much ik i keep saying it but. it means so much to hear how yall are liking the fic !! <3