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sergeantbarnessdoll · 3 months ago

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Ooo can I please request a platonic!Dad!Steve Rogers fic where he adopts a 4 year old little girl whose parents died during the attack on NY? Maybe the little girl’s parents were shield agents and had her with them at work the day Loki attacked the SHEILD compound to get the scepter because they couldn’t find a babysitter, and her parents died during that attack. Loki takes Y/n with him maybe intending to raise her as his own, as a princess (he wanted to be King of Earth, what better way to continue controlling earth than having a Princess to take over in the future?) and he gives her powers with the scepter. But when the Avengers stop him (at the end of the Avengers movie) they find the little girl that he had taken, and they save her too when they find her hiding somewhere in the room where they stopped Loki (in Stark Tower). Clint was there when her SHIELD agent parents died so he knows who she is and that she’s all alone now. She gets reallyyy attached to Steve (he’s the only one who could get her to come out of her hiding place). Steve ends up adopting her and being the best, most sweetest and loving Dad in the world 🥹 And Y/n would so help her Dad with modern technology (like imagine he gets her and iPad and he has NO CLUE how to use it lol) as Steve at that point had only been out of the ice for about a year I believe so he’s all new to the times (Steve was so adorable in this movie!!)

Imagine when she calls him “Daddy” for the first time!! Steve would absolutely MELT!! And he’d help her control her powers and teach her when she can and cannot use them!

Not Alone » Steve Rogers/Captain America

Pairings: (Platonic) Dad!Steve Rogers x (Platonic) Adopted Daughter!Reader with the Avengers and Loki

Summary: Steve adopts you after your parents die in the hands of Loki.

Warnings: Fluff, Angst (not you, Steve, and the Avengers), language, enhanced!reader, death, blood, crying, nicknames

Age of reader: 4 years old

A/N: Thank you for the beautifully detailed request @kpopgirlbtssvt 🩵

Written on my phone. My apologies for any mistakes.

Header made by @buck-star

GIF IS NOT MINE! Gif credit goes to the creator.

It’s not everyday that you get to go to work with your SHIELD Agent parents. They only brought you to work with them, because they didn’t have anyone to babysit you. You promised them that you would be on your best behavior and not get in anyone’s way.

You’ve always loved your parent’s job. You think they have the coolest job ever, especially today. They told you that they get to work with superheroes. You already knew Clint is Hawkeye and Natasha is Black Widow. The other superheroes your parents are working with today are Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Hulk. You’re excited to meet Captain America. He’s your favorite superhero.

“Can I meet Captain America please?” You asked your parents politely.

“You can when he’s done talking to Director Fury, sweetie.” Your mom says.

“Ok, mommy.” You replied.

You went back to coloring in your coloring book. You were practically jumping up and down in your seat with excitement. You wanted to meet Captain America now. You looked up from your coloring book to see that Steve was done talking to Fury.

“Mommy! Daddy! He’s done talking to Director Fury!” You say.

You couldn’t contain your excitement anymore. You jumped down from your chair and ran over to Steve. Your parents chased after you. When you got to Steve, you tapped on his leg to get his attention. Steve looks down at you and smiles.

“Hi!” You smiled widely, waving at him. “I’m Y/N!” You excitedly introduced yourself to him.

“Hi!” Steve smiles back, crouching down to your height. “Can I help you with something?” He asks.

“You’re Captain America!” You said excitedly.

“Yes I am.” He replies. “You can call me Steve though.” He tells you.

“My mommy and daddy said they get to work with you today.” You tell him.

“Oh really? That’s cool!” He says.

You were maintaining a conversation with Steve by the time your parents got to you.

“Honey, you should’ve waited for us.” Your dad says.

“I’m sorry, daddy. I’m sorry, mommy.” You apologized, feeling bad that you didn’t wait for your parents.

“It’s ok, sweetie.” Your mom says softly.

Your dad picked you up and Steve stood upright.

“She doesn’t normally run away from us like that.” Your mom says to Steve.

“She gets excited over superheroes.” Your dad tells him.

“It’s ok. Your daughter is adorable.” Steve smiles at you.

“Can I take a picture with you?” You asked Steve.

“Of course you can!” He smiles.

Your mom grabbed your Polaroid camera she got you for Christmas and your dad carefully put you in Steve’s arms. You and Steve smiled for the picture and your mom took the picture.

“Thank you, Steve!” You say with a smile and hugged him.

“You’re welcome, kiddo!” Steve smiles and hugs you back.

Steve put you back in your dad’s arms.

“Listen to your parents, ok?” Steve says.

“Yes, Captain!” You say, saluting him.

Steve smiles at you when you saluted him. Your parents went back to work while Steve went to work as well. Your parents put you back at the table you were sitting at before you ran over to Steve.

As your parents were working, you drew pictures for Steve. It was a bunch of random little colorful doodles. You asked your parents if you can take the pictures to him and they said yes. You excitedly made your way over to Steve, making sure to not to get in anyone’s way. You climbed up onto the chair next to Steve and put the pictures in front of him.

“These are for you!” You smiled.

“Thank you, kiddo! They’re amazing!” Steve smiles back.

You explained what you drew for him. You told him that you tried to draw his shield, but then you turned it into a flower. Steve smiles at the creativity. You stayed with Steve for as long as you could before he had to get to work on the mission and you went back over to your parents.

———

When Loki somehow escaped the cell he was locked in, all hell broke loose. Steve, Tony, Bruce, Thor, Clint, and Natasha were working together and doing what they could to stop Loki, along with your parents. Your parents hid you somewhere safe before doing their part of the mission. You got scared every time you heard a loud noise, but you knew that your parents and the Avengers had it under control.

Clint was paired up with your parents when they somehow got caught in the crosshairs of Loki. Your parents were shooting at Loki when he aimed his scepter at them and blasted them with it. They got blasted backwards and rubble fell on top of them, killing them instantly. Clint’s eyes went wide and his heart dropped. He ran over to them, moving most of the rubble to get to them. He checked for their pulses, but they didn’t have one.

“Cap, we have a huge problem.” Clint says to Steve in his ear piece.

“What is it, Clint?” Steve asks.

“Y/N’s parents got blasted by Loki and crushed by a pile of rubble.” Clint tells him.

“Are they alive?” Steve asks.

“No. I checked for their pulses, but they didn’t have one.” Clint says.

Steve’s heart dropped. When all of this is over, he has to tell you what happened to your parents.

Meanwhile, you were safely hiding in a building somewhere nearby. Or so you thought. You screamed when you seen what it looks like a metal dragon to you. It hit the building you were in, creating a huge hole in the wall. You didn’t dare to move. You were too scared to move. That’s when Loki entered the building through the hole in the wall. Loki grinned wickedly when he saw you. You screamed and scrambled to stand up, running as fast as you could away from Loki. You didn’t get far. Loki grabbed you and exited the building. You squirmed in his hold on you, trying everything you could to get away from him.

“Stop squirming!” Loki yells.

You froze in his arms. At this point, tears of fear were streaming down your cheeks. Loki stared at you with the same wick grin on his face.

“You would make a perfect princess when I rule Earth.” He says.

Your eyes went wide. You shook your head no frantically. You tried to get out of his hold again.

“Too bad you don’t have a choice, child.” He says.

You seen the tesseract glowing blue in Loki’s scepter. Loki pointed it at you.

“No!” You shouted.

Squirming in Loki’s hold and screaming was no use for you. Loki put his scepter against your forehead, sending a shock throughout your body. He smiles wickedly when he watched your eyes glow green.

“Perfect.” Loki grins wickedly.

You pounded your small fists against Loki’s chest to try to get out of his grasp. What looked like green lightening came out of your hands, making you cry in fear. You were scared to know what it means.

Clint seen Loki flying by. He aimed an arrow at him and shot it at him. Loki caught it with ease, smirking to himself. Then the arrow exploded, sending you and Loki through the window of Stark Tower. You were finally free of Loki’s hold. You ran away from him and hit somewhere in the tower. Hulk came through the same window that you and Loki went through, roaring at him.

“Enough!” Loki shouts as he stood up. “I am a God, you dull creature. I will not be bullied by-” Hulk grabbed Loki, slamming him into the floor repeatedly.

“Puny God.” Hulk says, walking away.

Loki laid on the floor, groaning in pain. After a moment, he sat up and was met by the Avengers who were standing in front of him and staring at him. That’s when they heard whimpers coming from a nearby room.

“Do you guys hear that?” Steve asks, looking at the Avengers.

The Avengers nodded. Steve followed the sound of your whimpers with Clint following next to him. The sound of your whimpers led them to a closed closet door. Steve opened it to see you holding your knees to your chest and crying.

“Y/N?” Steve says softly.

You looked up seeing Steve and Clint. You immediately ran over to Steve, hugging his legs. He bent down to pick you up, holding you close to him.

“You’re ok. You’re safe now.” Steve whispers, rubbing your back to get you to calm down.

Steve and Clint went back to the room the Avengers and Loki was in.

“Is that Y/M/N’s and Y/D/N’s daughter?” Natasha asks.

Steve and Clint nodded.

“I thought they were with you. Where are they?” She asks.

Clint points his head towards Loki. That was enough to tell everyone in the room that your parents died in the hands of Loki. You started freaking out when you seen Loki. Steve tightened his hold on you so you didn’t fall out of his arms, making sure to not hurt you. He sat you on the bar counter and checked you for injuries. You had scratches on your arms and legs, along with a cut on your forehead and cheek.

“Did Loki hurt you?” Steve asks softly.

You nodded your head yes and sniffled.

“What did he do to you?” He asks.

“His sword thing made green lightening come out of my fingers.” You tell him.

“You’re going to be ok. I promise.” He says.

You nodded. Now, here comes the bad news Steve has been dreading on telling you during the whole attack.

“You can handle big girl news, right?” Steve asks.

You nodded your head yes.

“We’re really sorry that we have to tell you this, Y/N.” Clint begins softly. “Mommy and daddy got hurt really bad in the attack.” He tells you.

For a 4 year old, you had a pretty good sense of what Clint meant by that. Tears filled your eyes again and your bottom lip quivered.

“No! Mommy and daddy promised me they would be ok!” You cried.

You full on broke down in tears. Everyone’s hearts broke for you. Steve picked you up and held you as you cried.

“I’m lonely now. I don’t have a mommy and daddy anymore.” You cried against Steve’s shoulder.

“You’re not alone, sweetheart. You have me.” Steve says softly.

You lifted your head and stared at Steve with teary eyes.

“I do?” You sniffled.

“Yes.” He confirms.

You smiled and hugged him. Steve felt a new warmth in his heart. In that moment, he knows what he has to do. He’s going to adopt you and raise you.

The next day, everyone met up where Thor was going to take Loki back to Asgard so they could figure out what to do with him. You ran to Thor and gave him a hug before he left. You ran back over to Steve. He picked you up, holding you. Everyone watched as Thor rose his hammer in the air, sending him and Loki to Asgard. Afterwards, everyone parted ways.

“Are you adopting Y/N?” Clint asks Steve.

“Yes. It’s the right thing to do.” Steve says.

Clint nods in agreement.

———

After that day, Steve got the papers to adopt you and signed them. You were beyond excited when he told you that he’s going to adopt you. He also made it clear to you that he’s never going to replace your parents. He just wants to be an adult you love and trust, in which he is.

He also got you moved into his apartment. He bought you toys, coloring books, stuffed animals, and other things a kid your age might need. Steve stocked the kitchen with your favorite foods and juices. He helps you control your powers when you can’t. He also discussed when and when not to use your powers.

As of right now, you’re watching cartoons and playing with toys in the living room. Steve went out to buy you a present while you’re at home with Clint and Natasha. They always babysit you. You don’t mind it when they babysit you. You just prefer to run errands with Steve. You were so focused on the TV that you didn’t hear the door open when Steve came home.

“Y/N, Steve is home.” Natasha says.

You immediately ditch the cartoon you’re watching and run to the door. You hugged Steve’s legs, smiling up at him.

“Hi, sweetheart.” Steve smiles, crouching down to hug you properly. “Did you have fun with uncle Clint and aunt Nat?” He asks.

“Yes, but I missed you.” You say with a pout.

Steve smiles and kisses the top of your head. He stood upright, walking to the living room where Clint and Natasha are. He thanked them for babysitting you before they left.

“I got you a present.” Steve tells you.

You squealed in excitement and climbed onto the couch, reaching out to grab the bag. Steve chuckles, loving how easily excited you get. He gives you the bag. You reached your hand in the bag and pulled out a skinny white box. You gasped excitedly when you seen the picture on the lid of the box. Steve bought you an iPad. He doesn’t know how to use it, but he’s seen it in commercials on TV and thought you would want one.

“Do you like it?” He asks.

“It’s so cool! I love it, daddy! Thank you!” You say happily.

You put the iPad on the couch and crawled onto his lap, hugging him tightly. Steve felt a warmth in his heart when you called him daddy for the first time.

“Did you call me daddy?” Steve asks, making sure he heard you right.

“Yes.” You looked up at him. “You’re my daddy now, right?” You asked.

“Of course I am, honey.” He smiles, kissing your forehead. “I want you to know I will never replace your real parents, ok?” He says softly.

“Ok.” You replied.

You grabbed the box the iPad is in and opened it. You carefully took the iPad out of the box. You found the on and off button and turning it on. Steve was confused the whole time he was setting it up for you, but he eventually figured it out.

“Can I play games and watch cartoons on it please?” You asked politely.

“Yes you can.” He smiles.

Steve allowed you to download kid friendly games to play and Netflix to watch your favorite movies and shows. He made sure that the movies and shows were kid friendly too. He allowed you to play on it on and off for the rest of the day to get used to it. Steve thought he was going to have a hard time getting you off of it when it was time for bed, but you didn’t give him a hard time. You listened to him and put it down when he told you it was bedtime.

“Daddy?” You say softly and tiredly.

“Yes, sweetheart?” Steve asks as he finishes tucking you into bed.

“I love you.” You say before falling asleep.

“I love you too, kiddo.” He whispers, kissing the top of your head.

Steve made sure you had a stuffed animal and turned on your night light before leaving your bedroom. He left it open a crack just in case you needed him sometime throughout the night.

Steve wasn’t sure how he was going to fit in the 21st century, but he figured it out when he adopted you. Even though, you’re not his biological daughter, he loves you like his own. He wouldn’t change that for the world.

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

-Bucky’s Doll

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millieposes · 10 months ago

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[MP] Historical Poses - Royal Men

PATREON (free)

A pose pack fit for a king!

Honestly these kings of old could have been a bit more unique with their poses (there was a lot of Hand-On-Hip-Leaning-On-Something variations...) but these were still very fun to make and research.

Includes:

Pose 1: Leaning on sword (REQUIRES sword and pole listed below)

Pose 2: Leaning on sword 2.0 (REQUIRES sword listed below)

Pose 3: Leaning on table (REQUIRES any surface the hight of Guilded Dreams sidetable, place teleporter in center of table)

Pose 4: Holding orb and scepter (REQUIRES orb and scepter listed below)

Pose 5: Sitting, holding orb and scepter (REQUIRES orb and scepter listed below)

please tag if you use! and leave suggestions/requests in my inbox!

Requires: Andrews Pose Player Teleport Any Sim Searchable Pose Player (recommended, highly!) Natalia-Auditore's Alucard Sword Normalsiim's Scepter and Orb or BatsFromWesteros' Scepter and Orb

T.O.U: the basics - Do not claim as your own - Do not reupload - Do not put behind a paywall Feel free to edit for personal use (i.e. to avoid clipping) but do not do any of the above with the edited poses

Tags, thank you for any and all support!

@ts4-poses

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positivelyamazonian · 2 months ago

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My Tomb Raider Fanfics Masterpost

So, now that I'm back to writing, I though I would make a post to gather and share all my Tomb Raider fanfics both in Spanish and English versions, in case anyone asks. :)

All my fanfics are TRAOD sequels - just one timeline and universe, focused on Lara and Kurtis' (Lartis) relationship throughout the years - and you can read them in this order. I'll put the main ones that can't be missed in capitals:

1. The Good In Him: One-shot focused on Lara and Werner’s feud after Egypt and right before the events of TRAOD. Old, basic, but still cute at some point.

2. The Louvre Affair: First one-shot I ever wrote, only vestige of a TRAOD novelization I never got to write. Describes the Louvre sequence from Lara’s POV. Very basic, still fond of it.

3. THE GOLDEN SEAL: My first TRAOD sequel. The story about the immediate events after the Strahov. 29 chapters. Slow-burn, sexual tension.

4. LILITH'S SCEPTER: Post-The Golden Seal events. Rated Mature (triggers: sex, violence, strong language, rape/non-con, gore, death of major characters). 51 chapters. The longest so far, a wild ride.

5. Daughter: Christmas one-shot after the events of Lilith's Scepter. Focused also on Lara and Werner's feud, but providing closure.

6. Mr Vance Renner: NSFW one-shot. Smut. Mature. Consensual sex.

7. Airlock: NSFW one-shot. Smut. Mature. Consensual sex. Trigger: choking.

8. A Stack Of Photos: One-shot post-Lilith’s Scepter events. Rated Mature. Violence.

9. THE AWAKENING: Mini fanfic (6 chapters). Introducing an important semi-OC who exists since Lilith’s Scepter and was part of Core Design’s headcanon to the sequels of TRAOD.

10. THE LEGACY: Ongoing fanfic (29 chapters by now). Post-The Awakening events. Rated mature. Graphic violence. Death of a Major Character. Soon to be updated.

I hope you enjoy my universe, and I’d like very much to hear from your feedback. Don’t be shy to post a review and thank you in advance!! :))

You can find me in FF.net, AO3 and Wattpad.

(Spanish versions under the cut)

MASTERPOST PARA MIS FANFICS DE TOMB RAIDER

Ahora que he vuelto a escribir, he pensado en hacer este masterpost para compartir mis fanfics de Tomb Raider, tanto en español como en inglés. Todos mis fanfics son continuaciones de TRAOD: una sola línea temporal y un universo, centrados en la relación de Lara y Kurtis (Lartis) a lo largo de los años, y podéis leerlos en este orden. Pondré los principales que no te puedes perder en mayúscula:

1. Lo Bueno Que Hay en Él: One-shot centrado en la disputa entre Lara y Werner después de Egipto y justo antes de los eventos de TRAOD.

2. El Affair del Louvre: Primer one-shot que escribí, muy antiguo, único vestigio de una novelización de TRAOD que nunca llegué a escribir. Describe la secuencia del Louvre desde el punto de vista de Lara.

3. EL SELLO ÁUREO: Mi primera continuación de TRAOD. La historia sobre los eventos inmediatamente posteriores al Strahov. 29 capítulos. Slow-burn, tensión sexual.

4. EL CETRO DE LILITH: Eventos posteriores al Sello Áureo. Clasificación para adultos (avisos: sexo, violencia, lenguaje fuerte, violación/no consentido, sangre, muerte de personajes principales). 51 capítulos. El más largo, muy intenso.

5. Hija: One-shot navideño tras los sucesos del Cetro de Lilith. Centrado en la disputa entre Lara y Werner (de nuevo). Cierre.

6. Sr. Vance Renner: One-shot NSFW. Erótico. Para adultos. Sexo consentido.

7. Airlock: One-shot NSFW. Erótico. Para adultos. Sexo consentido. Aviso: asfixia.

8. Un Puñado de Fotos: One-shot posterior a los eventos del Cetro de Lilith. Clasificación para adultos.

9. EL DESPERTAR: Mini fanfic (6 capítulos). Presenta a un personaje semi-OC importante que existe desde El Cetro de Lilith y formó parte del canon principal de Core Design hasta las secuelas de TRAOD.

10. EL LEGADO: Fanfic en curso (29 capítulos por ahora). Eventos posteriores a El Despertar. Clasificación para adultos. Violencia. Muerte de un personaje principal. Próximamente se actualizará.

Espero que disfrutéis de mi universo y me encantaría conocer vuestros comentarios. No dudes en publicar una reseña y gracias de antemano!! :))

Puedes encontrarme en FF.net y Wattpad. En AO3 sólo he subido versiones en inglés.

#fanfiction #traod sequel #lartis #meldelen #positivelyamazonian #tomb raider #lara croft #traod #kurtis trent #traod lara #demon hunter #lux veritatis #tomb raider: the angel of darkness #my fanfics #masterpost

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lexosaurus · 2 years ago

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By popular demand, the Danny Phantom event Angstfest (formerly Going Angst Week) has made its triumphant return!

That's right party people and dissecc lovers alike! Angstfest is a 10 day event celebrating all the types of angst that we know and love!

The overarching theme this year is No One Knows AU vs Everyone Knows AU

Each side of the theme provides 3 days where you can work on one piece under that theme, or if you want to push yourself, you can try to complete the daily prompts (one for each day)! Between each of the two main themes is a break day to rest up and recover, or get ahead on your piece(s) if you wish. The final two "bonus" days are themed Ghosts of the Past and features two prompts that you can choose between, or you can do both!

All manner of creativity is accepted: art, fics, music, AMVs, memes, OCs, crossovers, etc, so long as it features DP. Just make sure to tag for gore if you're going down that route, and also tag #angstfest2023 so everyone can see your creation!

We also have a collection on AO3 this year under "Danny Phantom Angsfest." It's open, all fic writers are free to add their fics to it!

All themes/prompts and their descriptions are listed below the cut. Have fun!

August 1–3: No One Knows AU

What if Sam and Tucker weren't there for the accident? What if Vlad never revealed himself? What if your favorite character had to deal with their trials alone? These three days are all about loneliness and isolation! While traditionally the AU has been about Danny, any character of your choosing along with any HCs you may have surrounding them are acceptable here so long as they fit the vibe of "no one knows."

Optional Day Prompts: 👻 Aug 1: Demon 👻 Aug 2: Control 👻 Aug 3: Mask 👻 Aug 4: Break day! Have fun and relax!

August 5–7: Everyone Knows AU

What if Danny's reveal didn't go so well? What if everyone knew from the start? What if Vlad's ectoacne turned him into a social outcast? What if Dan's story went a little differently? These three days are all about social reaction and community reaction! While traditionally this AU has been about Amity Park knowing that Danny is Phantom, like with the previous prompt, you are allowed to use any character and HCs you have about them so long as they fit the vibe of "everyone knows."

Optional Day Prompts: 👻 Aug 5: Shame 👻 Aug 6: Scepter 👻 Aug 7: Future

👻 Aug 8: Break day! Have fun and relax!

August 8–9: Ghosts of the Past

The final two days are about looking at the past—at what you made and/or other people have made—and celebration our angsty creations! Whether you want to take another crack at an old WIP, maybe you have an art piece you think you can outdo now, or if you really really loved this old angst fic from 2013 and you think it's a real shame no one remembers it, this is the time to share all of these creations!

Choose one or both: 👻 Aug 9: Revamp one of your old works (WIPs count!) 👻 Aug 10: Share/reblog an old, angsty piece of yours or someone else's that you love!

****

And that's all! Huge thanks to @q-gorgeous for the STUNNING gif, and to @wastefulreverie for assisting with throwing this fun event! We can't wait to see what everyone makes!

#danny phantom #angstfest2023 #dp event #fic event #art event

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redroomreflections · 11 months ago

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Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story Chapter 4

Natasha Romanoff x Black!Fem! Reader

Note: This is a repost from my since deactivated account Natsxaddiction. I will be adding the shorter stories to here; 20 chapters or less - sorry TLH fans =(

Masterlist | General Masterlist

Chapter 4/20 (A completed story)

Summary: Natasha and Reader are married. They get into an accident where Natasha suffers serious injuries including amnesia. Natasha no longer remembers her life with reader and their children. All she remembers are her days loving Bruce.

W/c: 3.2k

“Is Olivia still sleeping?” You ask as you look to the open doorway.

“She is,” Natasha answers simply. She stands with her arms folded and her legs shoulder-width apart. Nothing about her body language is welcoming or loving. She’s uncomfortable with you. You know Natasha so well and she’s prepared herself for a fight. As if you’d take it that far. Not after all this time.

“Do you want to sit?” You know you’re stalling. It’s stupid. You’re nervous to tell your wife about how you met. You’ve both gone over that day plenty of times. It’s nothing new. Natasha doesn’t respond. “We, um, our meeting wasn’t exactly the best. I guess you can gather that. Who told you? Tony? Steve?”

“Bruce,” Natasha supplies simply and she can see the slight confusion on your face. “I called him earlier. I figured he wouldn’t lie to me. Would get straight to the truth.”

“And he told you to ask me, right?” You conclude and she tilts her chin slightly. “I was raised by Hydra.” You begin slowly. You don’t even look to see Natasha’s face. Reliving all of the painful memories of your childhood is never easy. “I wasn’t. I don’t know much about the entire process. My father was a scientist working for Strucker. They had been planning and doing experiments for years. I grew up in the lab. My mother, god knows where she is, but I didn’t really mind. I was always excited to go to work with my dad. The experiments were innocent at first. Started with me standing in the same room as the scepter. Then things progressed.” You shake your head. “My father died and by then I was old enough to make my own decisions. Wanda and Pietro, the twins, were fifteen when they decided to join. I stayed to keep them safe.” You look over to Natasha to make sure she’s still listening. “I’m not telling you this to pity me but I just think you need to understand the magnitude of what we were dealing with. What we all went through at the hands of that man. Things should have been different.” You whisper to yourself.

“Anyway, I was loyal to my brother and sister,” You speak with a bit of defiance. “I couldn’t just leave them. After so many years of brainwashing and…” You don’t finish. You think she of all people would understand. “We were doing what we thought was right. I remained in the shadows. Up until a few years ago, I didn’t exist in the world. I was just another lost kid. So, we had the twins approach the Avengers first. Anything to get to Tony Stark. Wanda can slip into people’s minds and make them see their worst fear. We just needed to figure out what those were. Now she doesn’t need to do that but then,” You realize you may be rambling and that none of this may make sense to her. You lick your lips, finding your mouth to be dry, as you continue telling the story. Your story. “Do you, um, do you remember Morocco? Just a year before Ultron.”

Natasha’s eyes widen in horror. She remembers that night like the back of her hand. She’s always remembered it and played it over and over again in her head. The night she fell in love with a stranger. A woman she danced with well into the night. A woman that she stupidly let her guard down with only to wake up in the morning to an empty bed. The only thing she kept was the memory of that woman and how she made her feel. That and a tiny scar just below her…

Natasha doesn’t even give you time to react before she grabs your chin to turn your head. Sure enough there it is. The scar she remembers oh so well. It’s placed low on your right cheek. Something she thought was a birthmark up until now.

“That was you?” Natasha’s grip tightens for only a second. She can’t believe what she’s seeing. After all this time. All these years making up different reasons you left in her head. Sometimes she thought she imagined it. Other times she couldn’t stop thinking about that woman. About you. Now you’re standing here before her telling her it was all a scheme to get close to her. You can’t read the expression on her face and that terrifies you. She drops her hand, searching your eyes for something you’re not sure of before she backs away. “H-how does any of that make sense? I don’t understand. Was that in your plan? To fuck me and get information out of me? Are you really that deluded?” Natasha can’t wrap her head around what she’s being told.

“It worked. It was the only way to learn your fears,” You respond with a shaky voice. “I, we, I didn’t plan to sleep with you. I was supposed to befriend you and that was it. You were the one to invite me back to your hotel.”

“That makes it so much better,” She says sarcastically.

“I was supposed to dance with you and drug you and Wanda was supposed to come in and slip into your mind,” You confess. “When I met you it was different. You were different. It was nothing like I imagined. For that one night, I felt something and I went against my orders to be with you, and I- just…”

The stakes were high. You had Natasha, the infamous Black Widow right where you wanted her. You had to think quickly on your feet. You had to do something. Anything to get her to trust you.

“You what? Fell in love?”

“It was the first time I’d ever been with anyone. It was completely my choice,” You confirm. “I had you right where I wanted you and I took what I could. I used that information so Wanda could get into your head. Same with Thor and same with Tony, and Bruce, and Steve.”

“And you slept with them too?” Natasha’s hand twitches.

“No,” You shake your head. “Only you. It’s always been only you.”

“And after Ultron? You saw me and thought what? That it would be a happy reunion. Did you not feel anything?” Natasha doesn’t know whether she wants to puke or cry or fight. Everything she’s known has been a lie and she allowed it. She let herself slip for one night only to realize it all was a farce. She was a pawn in some game she wasn’t even playing. How could she trust you after this?

“Did you feel anything when you were a Widow?” You ask rhetorically. You already know the answer to that. Natasha’s been on missions much like the one you did plenty of times.

“Don’t spin this on me,” Natasha raises a finger, poking you in your chest, her eyes showing no sign of recognition. “I was…” She can’t find the words she wants to use. She doesn’t have any excuses for her life either. Not that she owes one to you.

“When we met for a second time, during Ultron, we almost killed each other.” You keep going. “You recognized me immediately. I didn’t want to fight but it’s what I had to do. We almost killed each other.”

“What stopped me?” Natasha questions.

“Love,” You answer quietly. “I know it sounds horrible but I couldn’t hurt you. When we realized what Ultron was doing we changed our minds and we fought with you. We lost Pietro and it all seemed like the world was ending at once. We became Avengers and moved into the compound.”

“Unbelievable,” Natasha scoffs. “So, you’ve been painting our marriage as this perfect thing this entire time when it’s been based on nothing but lies? I married a liar. How do you live with yourself? Are you lying about the girls too? Did you take them from their mother? How do I know you’re not lying to them? How can I trust you with them.”

“Natasha, that’s not fair,” You become emotional. You would never do anything to hurt any of your family. As messy as your past is you have always worked towards righting your wrongs.

“What’s not fair is I have no memories after an accident that could have been caused by my lying, manipulative wife,” Natasha snaps. “And I’m here with you. Not understanding any of this and you tell me we’re happy and I don’t know how to believe you.”

“Natasha,” You take a step towards her but she’s fast and before you even know what she’s doing she has a knife pointed towards your throat. Your shield, a light purple, is the only thing keeping it from touching you. You don’t care when she’s looking at you that way. As if you killed her puppy. Natasha backs away, not giving you another glance, as she leaves to lock herself in the guest bedroom. Truth be told, you assumed she would have left the house entirely. You think the only reason she’s staying is for the girls and even then you feel that’s a bit shaky.

You don’t give yourself room to breathe, letting your shield down, as you reach for the bed blindly. The tears in your eyes blur your vision as you plop onto the mattress.

That went well.

**********************

Inside the guest room, Natasha is going through a myriad of emotions. She doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the absurdity of this situation. Out of the scenarios she played in her head she didn’t think this would be one of them. With the pocket knife still in her hand, she flips it over many times. Realizing the severity of what she almost did, she drops it onto the mattress beside her. How could any of this be true?

You’ve been in her life for even longer than she thought and she’s not sure she likes the idea of that. This is all too much for her to handle. She wants to run. She could do it. You probably wouldn’t stop her she thinks. Another part of her is curiosity. If the old her could get past it and forgive you what makes this different? In all of your interactions for the past few days, you’ve been nothing but genuine and gentle with her. How was she supposed to compartmentalize all of that? Your love was built on lies, pain, and everything Natasha told herself she wouldn’t do. When she was younger and allowed herself to think about having a family, which wasn’t often, she imagined healthy love. Someone who understands her and doesn’t care about her past. A person she could be completely herself with.

Was that you?

For now, she doesn’t know the answer to that question and she’s not ready to question anymore. She’s had enough of her past today. She lies on the bed, parallel to your position in the other room, as she replays what just happened in her head.

Natasha doesn’t come out of the bedroom for the rest of the night. When you find Olivia curled into her you don’t disturb them. You close the door behind them and go back down into your bedroom to make a call.

You hold the phone to your ear, breathing harshly, as you wait for an answer. Wanda picks up after the second ring. She speaks a bright Sokovian greeting but quickly changes her tune when she realizes it’s you.

“Y/n, is everything okay?” Wanda asks. She’s patient as she waits for you to gather yourself. You feel like your heart has been ripped out of your chest and haphazardly thrown back into your body.

“No,” You finally speak. “I told Natasha.”

Wanda asks knowingly. “I take it she didn’t receive things too well.”

“Not at all,” You wipe your face free of the tears running down your face. “Wanda, how am I supposed to do this? Maybe I’m way in over my head. It’s only been a few days but I’ve already managed to make her hate me.”

“I don’t think Natasha has it in her to hate you,” Wanda replies.

“This isn’t our Natasha, Wands.” You sigh. “She’s different. Combative.”

“I remember a time when you were the same way.” Wanda reminds you. “When we first joined Hydra you weren’t exactly the nicest to us.”

“I had to make sure you weren’t trying to kill me in my sleep,” You say. “You were strangers.”

“My point,” Wanda shakes her head. “I’m not saying it will be easy but stick around for her a little longer. She’s going through a rough time too. Would you take it well if everything you’ve known is different or changed?”

“No,” You grumble.

“Then have patience,” Wanda encourages. “Don’t let her walk all over you. You’re supposed to be the top.”

“Not funny,” You roll your eyes.

“I’m sorry, sestra.” Wanda giggles to herself. “I do think you should give her a chance.”

“Who made you the big sister?” You ask in annoyance.

“Sometimes it’s okay for the little sister to take over,” Wanda reminds you. “Come here tomorrow. Have lunch with us. I will make you something special. The girls can come to play and I can see you.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice,” You agree. “I can’t promise there won’t be tears.”

“From you or the girls?” Wanda jokes.

“Both,” You shoot back. “Do you have to hang up?” You ask as you look at the time. It’s getting pretty late.

“I can stay on the phone,” Wanda promises. “I was going to play a little guitar out on the balcony. Will that bother you?” She’s such a good sister. You don’t know what you’d do without her.

“No, go ahead.” You climb under the covers, propping the phone up next to you, as you drift off to sleep. Wanda’s soft playing and your exhaustion from the day allow you to fall asleep fairly quickly. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better.

***************************

It’s the next morning and Natasha is awakened by the sound of crying. She sits up, resting on her elbows, to see Olivia is still sound asleep beside her. There’s a sliver of light peeking from her curtains so she can deduce that it’s early morning. How long was she asleep? She pushes the covers back to go and investigate. She follows the sound of noise down to the girl’s bedroom. She finds Lily standing up in her crib, rubbing her eyes, as she calls out for both of you.

“Hi, sweet girl,” Natasha coos, signing hello, as she comes to stand closer to the crib. She looks over the bonnet on Lily’s head, finding it to be interesting before she looks down at Lily’s wide eyes.

“Up,” Lily begs and Natasha obliges. She scoops the little girl into her arms, feeling her bottom for a wet diaper before she walks over to the changing table.

“I know that was pretty uncomfortable huh,” Natasha speaks to her as she changes her diaper quickly. She has a bit of difficulty changing out of her onesie though this doesn’t deter her. She changes Lily’s diaper, deciding to dress her in a different outfit before she looks around the nursery. She hasn’t been in this room yet. It’s well done. The walls are muted pink with a rose gold decal. The dresser in the far corner of the room is white with rose-gold handles. There’s a rocking chair in another corner. Olivia’s bed, shaped like a proper princess’s bed is on the other side while Lily’s crib takes over the other side of the room. There’s a bookshelf full of children’s books. A baby monitor with a camera attached to Lily’s crib. Everything looked so well done and normal. Did you choose the decorations together?

“Ears?” Lily questions and Natasha is reminded of her cochlear implants.

“You don’t wear these at night? I guess that makes sense,” Natasha says as she attempts to put them on. It takes a few tries but eventually, she gets it right. Lily signs “on” giving Natasha a proud smile as they stand together in her bedroom. “Would you like breakfast?” Natasha asks.

“Food?” Lily tilts her head while rubbing her tummy. She sure could eat right now. “Mommy?” Lily asks. She’s looking for you.

“She’s probably still asleep. For now, you have me kid,” Natasha carries Lily down to the first floor. Despite the slight pain in her ribs, she feels a bit better. She’s not supposed to be carrying Lily but she’d be damned if she misses out on this very important thing. She would carry her baby forever if need be. She places Lily in her high chair, before walking over to the fridge to get breakfast.

“Go!Go!” Lily points excitedly. Natasha follows her line of sight to see a box of Yoplait Gogurt sitting on one of the shelves. She takes her time opening it before giving it to Lily. The toddler gulps it down as she watches Natasha. Natasha makes quick work of fixing a bowl of oatmeal. She helps to feed the toddler, finding that Lily is truly a happy baby, as she smiles through the entire meal.

Natasha is enjoying her morning breakfast when she hears footsteps coming down onto the first floor. She spots curls first before Olivia catapults herself into her lap.

“Olivia Jane, be careful,” You warn her as she jumps into Natasha’s arms.

“She’s fine,” Natasha rolls her eyes and you’re not sure exactly how to respond to that. So you ignore it. You walk over to the Keurig, finding your desired flavor, before turning the machine on. You greet Lily with a bunch of kisses to her face, almost turning to kiss Natasha too before you stop yourself. For a second you forgot.

“Mama, I slept in the bed with you,” Olivia reminds Natasha. “I didn’t kick you this time right?” Olivia questions as a bowl of warm oatmeal are placed in front of her. For her bowl, you cut up fruit to place inside.

“No you were a perfect angel,” Natasha assures her.

‘Why you didn’t sleep with Mommy again?” Olivia asks and neither of you knows how to answer that.

“Since Mama is still hurt we decided she needed a bed to herself,” You answer. Hopefully, that would make sense to a three-year-old.

“Oh,” Oliva nods in understanding.

“It’s too easy for you,” Natasha mumbles and you don’t bother to ask her what she means.

“What do you guys think about going to see Aunt Wanda today?” You ask instead.

“I go!” Lily grins. She loves Aunt Wanda and so does Olivia.

“Me too,” Olivia eats from her spoon. She manages to keep all of the oatmeal in her mouth and off the table this time around.

“Your sister?” Natasha questions. “Do you think that’s best?”

“Natasha, the girls have been around my sister from the day we brought them home,” You sigh. You pour yourself a cup of coffee, fixing it to your liking, before taking a small sip. Despite you feeling slightly threatened by her yesterday, you’re a tiny bit more optimistic today. She stepped foot outside of her room so you’re choosing to take that as a good sign. “If you don’t think it’s safe you’re more than welcome to come. Everyone lives about an hour away at the compound.”

“I think I will,” Natasha nods.

This should be fun.

----> next part

#natasha romanoff #black reader #natasha x reader #black widow x reader #black widow x female reader #natasha romanov #natasha x you

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gunsandspaceships · 26 days ago

Text

MCU Timeline. Avengers: Endgame. Part 2 (Operation "Time Heist")

In this part I have collected all the alternative timelines created by the Avengers during Operation "Time Heist", as well as the one created by Steve Rogers at the end of the film.

Bartons' Timeline

~October 2017:

Clint appears on his family's farm, takes his sons' baseball mitten, calls out to Lila, and disappears with the mitten into the future.

Lila hears her father calling her, runs downstairs, but sees no one.

Loki's Timeline

May 4, 2012, afternoon:

Tony, Bruce, Steve, and Scott arrive in the midst of the Battle of New York and go their separate ways in search of the three Infinity Stones.

The Ancient One helps fight the Chitauri from the roof of the Sanctum. Bruce arrives to retrieve the Time Stone. At first, she is reluctant to give it up, but when Bruce tells her that Strange gave it himself, she agrees to lend it to him, on the condition that the Stone is returned.

At the same time, Dr. Stephen Strange performs surgery at Metro General Hospital.

Immediately after the battle - Tony and Scott watch as the local Avengers arrest Loki.

S.T.R.I.K.E. and Agent Sitwell arrive to take the Scepter and deliver it to Dr. List of Hydra.

Local Cap goes to coordinate search and rescue. Tony guards the Tesseract, Thor and Hulk guard Loki. Local Nat and Clint raid Tony's bar.

Scott climbs onto the local Tony, who takes the Tesseract and goes with Thor and Loki to the exit. Local Hulk takes the stairs.

"Hail Hydra" trick. Rogers-from-the-future takes the Scepter, but meets the local Rogers. They fight, the local Rogers is knocked out.

Alexander Pierce attempts to take the Tesseract and Loki from Tony and Thor. Scott and Tony-from-the-future give local Tony a cardiac arrhythmia episode to steal the Stone. The plan fails due to Hulk. Loki escapes with the Tesseract. Tony and Scott flee to the alley they arrived in.

That's a lie, Mr. Secretary. 2012 minus 70 equals 1942. 1) S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded in 1946; 2) The Tesseract was not in S.H.I.E.L.D. or the SSR's possession until Howard Stark recovered it from the ocean floor in late 1945 or early 1946.

Cap reunites with Tony and Scott in an alley. Scott returns to the future with the Scepter, and Tony and Steve travel further in time to retrieve the Tesseract, creating another timeline.

At the same moment, Steve-from-the-future appears again somewhere nearby and returns the Mind Stone to his past self, and the Time Stone to the Ancient One.

Steve then heads to the next coordinates.

Howard's Timeline

April 7, 1970:

4:25 pm - Tony and Steve infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters at Camp Lehigh. They split up, with Tony going after the Tesseract and Steve going after the Pym Particles.

When Tony gets the Stone, Howard Stark appears in the laboratory. Father and son return to the surface together while Rogers tricks Hank Pym and collects four tubes of Pym Particles.

~4:50 pm - Steve then finds himself in Peggy's office, hiding from the MPs who begin searching for them.

Note: the minute hand on this clock makes no sense, but the hour hand still gives us accurate time.

~5 pm - Tony hugs his father and says goodbye as the old man leaves the camp with Edwin Jarvis, heading home to his pregnant wife.

Tony and Steve return to their timeline.

Steve-from-the-future returns to put the Space Stone back in its place. This was likely his last timeline before he decided to stay in the past and create a new branch from 1949.

Frigga's Timeline

November 14, 2013, afternoon:

Thor and Rocket land in the Asgardian dungeons. Thor is already drunk and too emotional to be of any use.

A maid brings Jane Asgardian clothes. Frigga sends her servants to bring Loki soup and some books.

Frigga catches her son-from-the-future in the hallway and they talk while Rocket successfully extracts the Aether from Jane's body.

Thor-from-the-future takes Mjolnir from the local Thor, and he and Rocket leave.

Steve-from-the-future arrives to return Mjolnir to the local Thor and somehow return the Reality Stone to Jane.

He departs for the next timeline.

GotG' Timeline

Summer 2014:

Note: we are in space, so it is impossible to say whether all this happened in one day or several.

Rhodey, Nebula, Clint, and Natasha land on Morag. They enlarge Benatar, Nebula sets the coordinates, and Natasha and Clint travel to Vormir.

Same time - the local versions of Gamora and Nebula finish slaughtering another cosmic race and are about to head to Ronan to help him get the Power Stone.

Before they leave, the local Nebula becomes entangled with the Nebula-from-the-future, and Thanos orders her to be taken to his ship.

He sets course for Morag and looks through Nebula's memory files. He learns about what happened to him in the Sacred Timeline, the Avengers, the Time-Space GPS and Pym Particles.

Rhodey and Nebula knock out the arriving Quill and take the Power Stone.

Rhodes activates his Time-Space GPS and returns to the future, but Nebula syncs with the local one and learns that Thanos now knows everything.

She rushes to warn Clint and Nat, but Thanos appears and captures her.

The local Nebula beats her up and takes the Time-Space GPS with the tube of Pym Particles, as well as the orange plates that distinguish her appearance.

The local Nebula attaches the plates to herself and brings the tube to Thanos.

Nat and Clint arrive on Vormir and shrink the Benatar, which goes to Clint's pocket.

As they climb a mountain on the planet, they are met by the Red Skull, who tells them how to obtain the Stone.

After some deliberation, they fight each other over who will be the sacrifice. Nat wins, jumps off the cliff and falls to her death.

Clint wakes up with the Soul Stone in hand and is soon returned to his own timeline.

The local Nebula uses the Time-Space GPS to travel to the Sacred Timeline instead of the Nebula-from-the-future.

Ex-local Nebula brings Thanos' ship, the Sanctuary-2, into the Sacred Timeline, permanently removing him, his army, and Gamora from this timeline.

Steve Rogers arrives in this timeline to return the Power Stone to the Vault and give the Soul Stone to the Red Skull.

He leaves.

Steve's Timeline

October 1949 - Steve Rogers comes to Peggy's house. They dance.

October 1949 - October 2023 - Steve and Peggy eventually marry, and he lives there for the next 74 years.

October 2023 - 112 year old Rogers takes the shield from this timeline and travels back to the Sacred Timeline to give it to Sam Wilson. He then presumably returns to his timeline.

MCU Timeline: The Infinity Saga

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animegirl1363 · 8 months ago

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The Haunted Dorm of Scepter 4

Fandom: K Project

Summary: A test of courage turns into a night of survival when Hidaka, Domyoji, Goto, and Enomoto have to solve a mystery before it's too late.

External: AO3 / SquidgeWorld

@kresurrectionfest

Scepter 4 dorms are cheap for a government job. But Dorm 4 was special. It hosted a lot more amenities that the usual dormitories did not have; including a basement level.

Huddled in the commons room of the dorms, Hidaka, Domyoji, and Enomoto were listening to one of Goto’s horror stories.

“There is a haunted dorm on the grounds of Scepter 4. Once upon a time, long ago, it is said that former members brought in video tapes that a captured strain had. Those members watched the tapes and eventually they were all found dead. All of this happened to everyone that lived in the dorm. Now it rests abandoned, haunted by the owner of those VHS tapes. Whomever watches those tapes will die within 24 hours.”

Thunder boomed making Hidaka jump out of his skin.

Domyoji and Enomoto were both tuned in.

“The six VHS tapes are scattered around the dorm. Before the tapes were recovered by Scepter 4 there were reports of missing children. Parents reported that the kids were watching this children show before disappearing. The tapes tell a story, an unsolved mystery. Those who figure it out are said to have everlasting good luck.”

Goto finished his story with a smile.

“Do another one!” Domyoji yells. Which made Enomoto flinch.

“No! Gotti, why would you tell a spooky story like that!” Hidaka cried.

“Huh? Because we are here on a test of courage. Of course I would tell a scary story.” He smiles.

“I wonder if the story it true.” Domyoji wonders.

“Of course its not true.” Enomoto says trying to convince himself.

“Let’s go find those tapes!” Domyoji says.

“They don’t exist!” Hidaka shakes his head.

“Oh, I already went and found the tapes.” Goto nonchalantly pulls out all six tapes from his travel bag. “I was excited for this, so I came here ahead of time.”

All the color drained from both Hidaka and Enomoto’s faces. Domyoji was excited much to the dismay of his older co-workers. Domyoji and Goto quickly set up the television to play the video tapes.

There were six tapes in total but none of them lasted over thirty minutes long. Some tapes were videos of an old cartoon show. Some were videos of interviews with the creator. There were some that showed news reports of the disappearance.

“That was underwhelming.” Domyoji grumbled.

“The real challenge starts now.” Chuckled Goto. “Now we just have to survive the curse.”

“There is no curse.” Hidaka said. Enomoto nodded in agreement.

“It really did not tell a mystery at all….” Enomoto pointed out.

“Yeah, that just means this whole thing is a rumor after all.” Hidaka says.

The group all went to sleep. Since it was a test of courage, they all slept in separate rooms in the dorm. The group all did their nighttime routine. Hidaka looked out the window. Tonight was the night of a blood moon. While beautiful, it sent shivers through his body. Any other time he would admire a sight like this. But not tonight. He wanted this night to be over already. Hidaka closed the curtains and hide himself underneath the blankets on the bed.

Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.

Hidaka woke up.

Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.

He stared at his cell with fear in his eyes and his sword in hand. Beads of sweat trailed down his horror-stricken face. He did not move an inch closer to the phone. Why? Because it was turned off. Hidaka turned off his phone before sleeping. The screen was blank, yet it was ringing like it was turned on.

“Who is calling?”

Hidaka jumped as he heard the voice. It was the same voice from the video tapes he watched earlier. He swallowed air and slowly reached out for the device.

“H-hello.”

“Let’s bake a pie. Do you know where we can bake a pie?”

Hidaka’s trembling hand dropped the phone to the floor.

“LeT’s BAKE a PiE!”

Hidaka ran over to the window to escape through there. What lied behind the curtains completely froze him. A void of darkness greeted him. Nothingness in every direction. He was sure that they were still on Scepter 4 premises. Was this a dream. The only semblance of light was the red dot in the sky, the blood moon. Hidaka shot blue aura at the window to break it. Not a single crack formed on the glass.

“LeT’s BAKE a PiE!”

Hidaka dived for the phone. “Okay! I’ll bake a pie.”

“Great!” Was all the voice said.

Hidaka turned on his phone and tried to call Munakata, but he only got the dial tone. Then he opted to call Goto, who picked up.

“Hidaka.”

“Gotti, where are you? What is going on?”

“I am making my way to the kitchen.” He replies.

“The- kitchen….” Hidaka had hoped this was all a dream, but if Goto got the same call then it is impossible for this to be a dream.

“Hidaka are you still there? Meet me in the kitchen.”

Hidaka was going to say something else, but the call disconnected. He took a deep breath. He opened the door happy to see nothing was in the hallway. The electricity was not working making the atmosphere feel really heavy. His footsteps echoed every step on the floor. Slowly but surely he got closer to the kitchen. There was a junction, one going towards the kitchen, the other going towards the commons room and the main entrance. His body turned towards the direction of the main entrance, however that was a bad idea.

Gray wool began to ooze from the pictures hanging from the wall. All forming together on the floor into a disordered monster. Hidaka recognized it to be the sheep companion from the cartoon on the VHS tapes.

The brunet turned tail down the hallway towards the kitchen witch his new friend right behind him. He burst through the double door to the cafeteria and the monster close behind. The monster flew right past him shooting out strings of wool at Hidaka. The brunet flipped over a nearby table and used as a shield and lined up a perfect shot of blue aura at the monster. It cried out in pain. From behind the monster Goto came out of the kitchen and threw a paper talisman onto the monster. The amulet caused the sheep monster to lose form and turn into a grey puddle on the floor.

“Gotti!” Hidaka jumped into his arms.

“Hidaka, I’m glad you’re safe.” Goto was calm and collected. He was the same as usual. In a way it was comforting to Hidaka.

“What is going on?” Hidaka asks.

“I don’t know.” Goto shrugs. This was not the answer Hidaka was hoping for. “I did find this tape in the kitchen. Whatever is going on, I think this will help us.”

“I thought you found all of the tape earlier?”

“I did.” Goto opens up his bag to reveal all six tapes from earlier. This confused Hidaka. “We might be in some sort of alternate dimension. Or a dream.”

“This is no dream because how are we having the same one!?” Hidaka said. Goto nods in agreement.

“True. We should get back to the commons room so we can watch this.” Goto began walking in the direction of the double doors.

“What about Enomoto and Domyoji?”

“They are waiting for us.”

Hidaka was happy to regroup with everyone else. On the way to the commons room there was no issues thankfully. The group was happy to be together.

“I tried hitting the door, but nothing happened.” Domyoji grumbles.

“We are effectively locked in.” Says Enomoto.

“Then our only way out is to solve this mystery.” Goto said waving the tape. He goes to set up the television set.

“What happened with you two?” Hidaka looks at Domyoji and Enomoto.

“I had to go to the bathroom and ran into one of those sheep monsters.” Enomoto explained.

“He ran into my room. So we’ve been together since then.” Finished Domyoji.

“Guys it’s set up.” Goto called them over. Even with no electricity the television set still worked properly.

In a sealed off room, there was a girl sitting in a chair, well chained down is more accurate. She looked to be a kid. She was doing nothing while there was a voice over talking over the footage.

“According to the records, her parents went missing. Her powers are incomprehensible. She has no other family to speak of. Her name is….”

“Isn’t she the voice actor for that cartoon show?” Another voice chimed in. “That was the show that was involved with the kids getting spirited away. You think her powers have something to do with it?”

The video suddenly went static. The group staired on in confusion.

“Is this the mystery we are supposed to solve?” Hidaka wonders.

“Goto do you know more about this rumor?” Enomoto asks.

“Only what I told you.” Goto says.

“It seems there is more to this rumor that meets the eye….” Enomoto starts trying to piece together the events. “We need more information on this case. If she was taken in by Scepter 4 then there has to be information on her in the database.”

“Is there a basement here? A VHS tape could have appeared there like in the kitchen where I found this tape.” Goto said.

“Yeah. There should be a staircase around here that leads to the basement. I will need to go to the computer lab to access the database.” Enomoto said.

“We don’t even know if the computers will work.” Hidaka pointed out.

“The television worked, so it’s worth a try.” Domyoji points out.

The group splits up into two. Hidaka is paired with Enomoto. Goto and Domyoji are going to the basement.

Hidaka and Enomoto split apart from Goto and Domyoji. Taking a look at his phone, Hidaka noted that the time had not moved forward. In fact it was it was 25 o clock a time that did not exist. The brunet felt like he was going crazy. “What is this place…?”

“If I had to guess it might be the manifestation of that girl’s strain power.” Enomoto said. “From those videos she did have the ability to manipulate reality.”

“I still hope this is a dream.”

“It isn’t. I get the feeling if we die here, we die for real. It feels like we’ve been isakai into a video game that turned real.” Enomoto concludes.

Enomoto’s sentence send a cold wave through Hidaka.

The duo arrived at the computer lab. To their surprise there was only one working computer in the lab. They slowly moved up to it, weapons ready to be drawn. On the screen was a game based on the cartoon they watched earlier.

"You are good with games Enomoto.” Hidaka playfully pats Enomoto on the shoulder.

It was a point-and-click adventure game. The title character was going to the store to get ingredients for a pie. There was the grocery store, the candy shop, and the animation studio. Enomoto had to click the correct building. He clicked the grocery store building but that was the wrong answer.

Two of the computers in the lab had the screens crack with wool oozing from them.

'I don’t WaNt tO go to the animAtioN stUdiO.'

"Enomoto!" Hidaka shouts.

The picture on the screen changed. All of the buildings changed to be the animation studio. Enomoto gulps as he clicked the animation studio. Suddenly static appeared on the screen.

'Investigators are looking into this strange phenomenon. As of right now, there were six confirmed deaths and one survivor has been taken in by Scepter 4.'The reporter says. 'The Pied Piper animation building seemed to just spontaneously caught fire. Fire fighters are still trying to find the cause of it.'

'Pied Piper studios have been the center of attention lately because one of the shows made there have been under scrutiny. Many people have reported their children going missing after watching one of the cartoons made by them.’

Due to the fire, the company went bankrupt and closed down.

Hidaka and Enomoto both listened to the message.

"Do you know that studio?” Hidaka asks.

"I have read about them on forums. Whenever I looked up information on them, it all seemed like an internet creepypasta.” Enomoto says furrowing his eyebrows. "We need a timeline of events. Clearly something is up with this studio and that is why this spirit seems upset.”

“How did the story go?”

"It went that the company was in so much debt that higher ups overworked the employees on this one show that many of them died.” Enomoto explained.

One by one the computers ejected gray wool from the screens. The room began to shake violently.

"I don’t think the spirit liked your story!” Hidaka screams. The two bolted towards the door slamming it behind them.

"I can see that the story does not line up with the truth now! It doesn’t have to be so mad!” Enomoto was not the most athletic of the bunch, so he was struggling to keep up with Hidaka. Luckily, the grey wool blob did not follow them. It gave them a chance to catch their breath and make a slower trek through the halls.

“I don’t understand, if it wants us to solve the mystery why is it trying to kill us?” Hidaka wonders.

"Vengeful spirits are often unreasonable.” Enomoto said. Then the look of an idea crossed his face. “The nurses office would have information. Hidaka let’s head there. The nurse office should have a computer there too.”

The duo made the trek to the nurse station. It was a clean and sterile as you would expect of a doctor’s office. The air was chilly as the two went to the file cabinet. Of course it required a passcode, but all they had to do was carefully cut out the lock to open the drawers. In one of the drawers there was a tape. Enomoto quickly took it out. They made a mental note to keep it close by. Both of them went through all the files, reading over the information to find a match of who they were looking for.

"Huh?” Hidaka ran into a file with a picture of a young child on it. “Reality augmentation. Deceased parents. Found at Pied Piper studios. Enomoto! I think I found something!”

Name: Kanzaki Hattori.

Age: 7.

Abilities: Reality Augmentation. Strain has many abilities that affect the mind and vision. Can shift through screens and walls. Handle with care.

Notes: Captured at Pied Piper Studios. Parents are dead. Kanzaki can have emotional outbursts, give medication daily.

Cause of Death: Found in the Sceptor 4 well by dorm 4. Security footage show it was done by two Sceptor 4 members.

Hidaka felt like throwing up. He wondered why Sceptor 4 officers would do that to a kid. “Why would they do that?”

"Sceptor 4 was a very different place before the captain took over." Enomoto was trying to piece together everything. Something was not adding up. “If her parents went missing why was she taken by the animation studio…? This is confusing.”

Just then the sound of breaking glass could be heard. Over on the desk, the computer was broken. there was an arm sticking out from where the screen was shattered. In its hand was a tape. The duo looked at each other with horrified expressions.

"So are you going to take it?” Hidaka’s voice was shaking.

"Huh! Me!” Enomoto shakes his head.

The tape needed to go back with them. They both grabbed the tape together and pulled it out of the ghost hand. They hurried back to the commons room to wait for Goto and Domyoji.

Domyoji And Goto stood atop the staircase that lead down to the basement.

"Why did we not take the elevator?” Domyoji whines.

"And risk getting stuck in there.” Goto points out.

when they reached the bottom, Domyoji felt his foot land in liquid. “B-blood!”

Domyoji’s face paled at the sight.

"The blood of those who died.” Goto says walking ahead. Domyoji shivers. Now he understands why Hidaka gets creeped out by Goto.

"Hey, can’t you talk to the dead or something?” Domyoji catches up with Goto.

"Huh? That’s ridiculous.” Goto chuckles. Domyoji stares at him.

There were no dorms in the basement floor. It was set up to have interrogation rooms. They walk up to one of the rooms but all of the glass windows are blank. They could not see through into the rooms. It would be weird if they were in reality. Since the glass is made for those outside to look in.

Goto could hear voices.

'I thought we could get some fast cash if we let her do this voice acting gig.’ A male voice says.

'We don’t have the money to buy ourselves out of this contract.’ A female voice says. ‘Or get a lawyer.’

“Do you hear that?” Goto asks Domyoji.

"I thought you couldn’t talk to the dead.” He was clearly fearful of Goto right now. His nervousness was clear as he backed away from Goto.

Goto continues to listen.

'And this rumor about how they are kidnapping kids! I want out!‘ She continues. 'Are they using her powers to take the children? How?'

"Hmm…."

"Gotti?” Domyoji waves his hand in front of Goto.

"Huh?”

"You kind of spaced out.” Domyoji said.

"Yeah… I was listening to the people talking.”

"Who was talking?” Domyoji questions.

“You didn’t hear it?” Goto asks. He shakes it off and continues to walk ahead. Goto stopped at another interrogation station when he heard screams. "Did you hear that at least?”

Domyoji shook his head.

"Hmm. Now that I think about it. The people here died in very specific ways.”

"You are just now remembering this part of the story!”

"While in the room with her, the light fixture fell on top of a workers head. And another had a computer blow up in their face.” Goto recalled. Goto slowly opened one of the doors to the interrogation room. It was empty room save for a table and two chairs. The door slammed shut locking Goto inside. He could hear Domyoji tugging on the door from the other side.

Goto let out a breath to calm himself. He reached into his bag and pulled out a paper talisman. He placed one in the bottom left quadrant of the window.

From above the vents began to spill out red liquid into the room. Goto quickly put a paper talisman in the upper left quadrant of the window. Gray wool crawled into the room from the vents. Goto pulled out his sword and cut a line connecting both walls and made a barrier separating him from the monster. His aura powers will keep the monster at bay the red liquid is still raising. He placed a talisman in the bottom and top right quadrants. The gray wool monster let out a terrifying high pitched screech. It hurt Goto so much that he had to cover his ear. Although that did not help him at all. His wall was breaking due to his discombobulated focus because of the sound.

On the outside, Domyoji was punching, kicking, and blasting the door with everything he got. Not a single scratch. He turned his attention the window. Domyoji had no time to think, Goto was in trouble. He took out his sword and began slashing at the glass.

The monster stopped screeching and began thrashing at the barrier. At this point Goto feet were not touching the ground. He could feel and hear Domyoji hitting the glass. Goto channels his aura into the talismans to make a portal through the window. One of Domyoji’s attacks flew through the portal hitting his barrier. Goto, along with the red liquid, poured out the portal into the hall.

"Goto!”

"Run!” Goto quickly grabs Domyoji and runs towards the stairs with the mass of grey wool behind them. The duo makes it to the exit slamming the door closed on the monster. Goto put a ward on the staircase door to keep the monster locked inside. The duo returned to the commons room to wait for Enomoto and Hidaka.

The four found themselves together again.

Enomoto was setting up the television set. Hidaka and Enomoto looked at Goto in horror. To them Goto looked like he was covered in blood.

"G-Gotti.” Hidaka stutters.

"I’m fine Hidaka. Just a little mysterious red liquid on me.” Goto says nonchalantly. Even in times like these, Goto still finds a way to mess with his friend. Hidaka wanted ask what happened but decided against it for his own sanity. Knowing They were alive was enough.

Everyone relayed their new found information.

"Weird that you could hear it and not Domyoji.” Hidaka says.

"We found two more videotapes.” Enomoto said. He pressed play and everyone tuned in.

The screen showed the inside of a building. There was door and voices could be heard from outside of it.

'You haven’t given us our dues and now this company is in the middle of a Kidnapping scandals!' A male voice said. 'We are leaving!'

There was static and sounds of a struggle.

'The authorities are still trying to find the missing parents. Pied Piper Studios has reported that they will be doing whatever they to help support the child until further notice. As of right now the show has been put on a hiatus.'

'This is our most popular show. A money maker. With this cartoon we will be able to pay all of our debts.'

Then the tape ends.

“So her parents were killed by the higher ups at the Pied Piper Studios.” Enomoto said.

"Then what happened to her? Or the missing kids?” Hidaka asks.

They popped in the other tape. To their dismay it was just another episode of the cartoon show.

"Hey, guys, how many different voice actors were hired for this show?” Domyoji asked. The group look at him in confusion. “Every tape had different voice actors for several characters.”

No one had bothered to pay attention to the end credits.

"I watched the end credits while you all talked at the end of the tapes. Most of the characters are kids, so maybe they hired kids to do the voices.” Domyoji says.

"They could have been using Kanzaki’s powers to steal the kids through the television.” Goto says.

"That would mean they were kidnapping kids for this cartoon show to use them!” Enomoto gasped. “That is horrible!”

"At some point she must have used her powers to burn down the studio.” Hidaka adds.

"This kid's life was not kind to her. Everyone just used her." Domyoji says.

The group sat in silence taking in all of the events. Slowly but surely sunlight began to filter into the building indicating morning has arrived. Hidaka looked at his phone and it showed a normal time. He breathed a sigh of relief, thankful it didn't something like 28 o' clock. The boys all felt a wave of exhaustion wash over them. It wasn't like they got a peaceful sleep. They grabbed their stuff from the dorm rooms and left the building. They had a little time to rest before their shift so they had to hustle to their normal dorm rooms.

On the way, Hidaka remembered the well. "Wait! Is there a well here. Where is it?"

Enomoto lead the group to the well. Goto looked down in it. "There is a sheep plushy at the bottom."

"What about a dead body?" Hidaka shakily asks.

"No." Goto answers as he turns his back to the well.

Just then, a hand grabs the edge of the well. Slowly a little girl climes out of it. Her head pokes over the edge. She was holding the sheep plushy.

Hidaka, Enomoto, and Domyoji all went pale. Goto turns around and sees the little girl staring back at them. She hands Goto the doll and he takes it with a smile. He then reaches in his bag pack for a talisman to give her.

"It's a charm for good luck and good fortune. I hope the afterlife is treating you better." He says.

She take the charm and puts it on her wrist. She says, "I didn't want any of that to happen...."

"We know." Goto nods.

She goes back into the well and they all wave goodbye.

"What are you going to do with that?" Domyoji asks.

"Well...."

Hidaka, Enomoto, Goto, and Domyoji were standing in front of a Scepter 4 showcase cabinet. They had it dressed up as like a guide and put it in next to a map of the place.

"Thank you uEnomoto for getting it clean. It looks good as new." Goto said.

"Ugh. It took so much time and cleaning supplies to wash out everything." Enomoto cringed at the 3 days spent washing that doll. There was years of build up dirt on it. Surprisingly he got out most of the gunk with the help of internet tutorials. He could still smell cleaning chemicals on himself.

"It looks cute." Hidaka said.

"It still seems creepy." Domyoji says.

Everyone had to get to work. They did solve they mystery and survived. It seemed the four had an aura of good fortune ahead.

#k project #kfest2k24 #hidaka akira #enomoto tatsuya #domyoji andy #goto ren #ixia writes #cozytober2024 #it's great to see this fandom alive again

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itsuki-minamy · 5 months ago

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"GROUND ZERO - FRAGMENTS" // VERSION PDF: HERE // MEGA

Please buy the Original novel to support the author, when it is available at your place.

Thank you so much!^^

#ground zero #k ground zero #k fragments #habari jin #shiotsu gen #k project #k #old scepter 4 #zenjo gouki #kagutsu genji #purgatory #red clan purgatory

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ridiasfangirlings · 3 days ago

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Saruhiko's daughter bringing stuff she likes to scepter 4 to decorate his desk with.

This would be cute though because you know Fushimi’s desk is just totally bare, there’s paperwork and discarded cans of coffee and that’s it. Imagine the rest of the squad all having some small personal mementos on their desks, like Akiyama and Benzai have pictures of themselves together in the Defense Force, Kamo has at least one picture of his daughter, Doumyouji probably has like some cool action figures or something because he thinks it makes the desk look more exciting. Fushimi sees no point in this because work is work, who needs to bring personal things into it, and whenever he has to use someone else’s desk I just imagine him glaring at their personal items like it’s an affront to his sensibilities.

Then his kid gets old enough to wander around S4 and imagine her putting a cute little stuffed toy on the edge of his desk. Fushimi hands it back to her, telling her not to leave it in the office, and she shakes her head and says it’s for Daddy’s desk. Fushimi lets that sink in and then nods, going back to his work. He assumes she’ll want to take it along when they leave work but no, she insists it has to stay there and that’s how Fushimi ends up with a stuffed caterpillar on his desk. Slowly his desk starts to accumulate things as his kid gets older, she likes to bring him cute trinkets to decorate with or she’ll make like a clay paperweight at school and of course this has to go on Fushimi’s desk, he can’t just display it at home. The rest of the squad all think it’s cute and imagine Munakata especially just smiling and noting that Fushimi’s desk has certainly gotten brighter since the time he first joined S4. Fushimi grumbles that he doesn’t know what Munakata is talking about but really there’s this small warm feeling in his chest that he can’t explain looking at all the assorted decorations, how many empty things around him have unexpectedly become bright and full with his kid around.

#Fushimi Saruhiko #Talking K #good dad Fushimi #do they have their own desks come to think of it #imagine everyone has personal things but Fushimi #and then slowly his desk gets cute gifts from his kid #it's all sweet and inspiring

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medusapelagia · 1 year ago

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Seeds of Dreams, Seeds of Truth 1\11

This is my fic, written for @steddiesummerexchange based on @penny00dreadful's prompt!.

I was super excited when I got the confirmation email and I hope they'll like my story!

Rating: Mature Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson Tags: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Magic, Regent Prince/King Steve Harrington, Knight Eddie Munson, Prison, Sick Steve Harrington, Vomiting, Attempted Murder, Poisoning, Double povs, Panic Attacks, Magic,

Read it here or on AO3

Part 1, Part 2, (soon Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11)

WC: 939

Steve is standing in front of the Sacred House.

Just a few steps and he will not be the Prince Regent but the King.

It doesn't matter if, in the last three years, he acted as the King, after his father was declared officially dead, and now, just a few days ago, his death was celebrated with a big funeral putting an end to King Richard’s reign and getting the entire kingdom ready for his new ruler: King Steve.

All he has to do is cross the threshold, head bowed in submission to the old gods and the new, and accept the regalia, the scepter, and the sword, from the cleric. A warm hand gently stops on his back, pushing him forward without a word. For a moment Steve turns toward the guard at his right; even under the helm, he can feel that he is smiling at him, encouraging.

Steve gives a little nod that goes unnoticed by anyone apart from the man at his side and steps inside the Sacred House.

The air is so full of incense that he walks blindly through the mist, one step in front of the other. He has been inside the Sacred House so many times that he knows the path by heart.

The cleric is waiting for him at the altar, and at the man's side there are two young boys holding crimson pillows with his regalia: on his left the sword engraved with wildflowers, on his right the scepter.

The Sacred House’s wooden door closes with a loud grinding sound and for a moment no one moves.

The cleric stares at Steve from the altar, while the nobility shares a worried look: isn't the cleric going to proclaim the new king? After all, King Richard's body was never found, and being crowned after a King that nobody knows if he is really dead or not is certainly a bad omen. Steve himself tried very hard to postpone the coronation, but three years had passed since the last letter was received from the King and even the Prince Regent had no more excuses to leave the kingdom to live with uncertainty.

Every instinct in Steve's body is screaming at him to lift his head and glare at the man who is mocking him in front of everyone, but deep inside he knows that this is just a test: will the child king be able to respect authority or will he lash out? Steve takes a deep breath and he keeps his eyes glued to the floor, counting the stones on the ground to occupy his mind until finally the cleric starts to sing.

That is his cue.

Steve finally lifts his eyes and the cleric is staring at him with his deep eyes, pupils blown due to the ritual he undergoes the night before to purify himself. Still singing, the cleric asks him if Steve's soul is pure, if he undergoes the ritual with a pure spirit and is ready to devote himself to his kingdom, and Steve confirms every sentence: he has fasted for three days, given alms, and made confession. He also undertook a pilgrimage on foot from the castle to the rock where his ancestors poured their blood and declared the land theirs, freeing it from the malevolent influence of dark magic ages ago. Eddie, Steve’s faithful guard, was at his side at every moment, preventing him from falling when he felt too weak, making sure that not once in three days Steve spoke a single word, always ready to offer him water and quiet comfort.

The cleric hums and then starts to pronounce the oath that Steve must take in front of their gods and their people.

The words feel like ashes in Steve's mouth, while he tries to remind himself that nothing will change, that he already acted as a king for the last three years, and that the entire ceremony is just to give him formally the power to rule. It's just a ceremony, nothing more.

The cleric nods to the boy at his left. Steve immediately recognizes little Will Byers, the cook’s son. Despite his young age, he seems to have some deep connection with the spiritual world already, and Steve’s not surprised to see that the cleric asked him to be part of the ritual. The future king gives him a little encouraging smile and the kid smiles back, getting closer to Steve, and offering him a long sword whose blade is engraved and gilded, far too delicate to be a real weapon. Steve grabs it, tilting his head as a thank you, and for the first time in three days, he speaks. He swears to protect his people from every danger, tracing a cross in the air pointing to the four cardinal directions: the North, where the winds will blow to bring them clouds and rain and good harvests, the Est, where the sun will rise bringing its shiny light blessing the new king and protect him and the kingdom from the darkness, the South, where their ancestors came from all those years ago, and the West, where the king’s soul will walk to rest peacefully when his time will come, but when he turns toward the wooden doors on the west side of the building the doors slam open and a colorless face, so similar to Steve’s own, glares at him.

"Father..." Steve whispers, so surprised that he lets his arm fall and the blade screeches on the ground.

"Usurper."

This is the first word his father tells him after three years of silence.

And then the chaos explodes.

#medusapelagia fanfic #medusapelagia #my fanfic #Steve Harrington #Eddie Munson #Steddie #Steve x Eddie #Stranger Things Fanfiction #Steddie Fic #Steddie Summer Exchange #Seeds of Dreams Seed of Truth

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cuttyclowngirl · 3 months ago

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DAIMA EP.20 (Spoiler)Review/theories(yes, still)

• So, I've been watching every episode 3 times each since this show started streaming, & I gotta say, aside from the fact I'll definitely be rewatching the whole show from time to time, I can't help but think about how this is probably the last dragon ball related project Akira Toriyama was in any way involved in. That unmistakable charm has clearly been very hard to replicate for Toei post Z. Plus, there's the odd coincidence of Daima ending a day before the anniversary of his passing. I think I'll cherish this show deeply.

• Good golly, there's so much to talk about! Man, the animators were going all out to top what we got in the Super Broly movie! (There was surprisingly less Naotoshi Shida than I expected)

• Goku was pulling out every combo he could think of. & flexing his booba. AND BLOWING A HOLE THROUGH A MAIN VILLAIN! This Super Saiyan 4 form was on that early Z movie Goku time. Ruthless. Also, no opening this time. But the song did play for the ED.

• I was wondering where King Gohma's scepter went...

• That brief underground fight between Goku & King Gohma looked like an even more colorful version of that trippy in-between dimensions place Gogeta & Broly fought in for a bit. Hope the put it in a game.

• Give it up to Masako Nozawa, she was probably either 86 or 87 while recording these episodes & still screaming like a BEAST.

• Cool that we saw a 2D version of the ring everyone was fighting in as Goku powered up before winding up his Kamehameha. So cool that it shot straight through the Demon Realm layers. The water pouring in was a nice touch. The afterglow on Goku's fingers was sick.

• While it's kind of a shame Piccolo did less than Glorio in this show, CLUTCH KING KUU, BABY!!! I was accidentally right to call him that before. Yay me.

• The way the Third Eye was destroyed was so ridiculous. (Affectionate) Classic Toriyama.

• Kitty mouth Piccolo!?

• I somehow feel worse for Degesu, if only for the fact that he has to live with a lout like Gohma. Being non-infanticidal & easy to laugh at aside, Gohma's scummy, petty & bratty.

• Almost had me with that Goku raising his hand bit. Hail King Kuu!! Wise beyond his years. (Bro's like, 2 days old)

• The return of the "Super Saiyan bargain sale" joke! Aaaand, no explanation as to why Goku doesn't use SSJ4 post Daima. Plus no name-drops for currently unnamed characters, but I'm sure the Kakarot dlc will fill in plenty of gaps. (That game loves it's flavor text & whatnot)

• Ultra Vegeta?! (Do they know...?)

• I loved the moment between Neva, Dende & Piccolo. Sounds like Neva won't be lonely anymore.

• Lmao, Panzy making Vegeta wave.

• I knew they were gonna do that "checking in on characters via special illustrations in the credits" thing. Chi-Chi's outfit is so cute! +How'd I not notice that before?) Plus Trunks & Goten got new rad outfits I'd love to see on their adult forms. Also, I guess the Tamagamis gotta go find their D balls themselves.

• Well, we never got to see the bug-fusion, but we got to see that pleasant medi-bug shopkeeper lady again. That Bulma but clashes with the bits from the Super Hero & Super Broly movies, but whatever. Also, holy extra frames, Batman! So smooth.

• Classic Toriyama joke. An all powerful, legendary item that had a massive impact on the very history of an entire realm, can be bought in a shop in the middle of NOWHERE. I love it.

• In conclusion, I love Daima with all my heart. I might delete these reviews a few months from now. No point in them taking up space on this blog, dead in the water.

• Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to reading the OG Dragon ball manga.

"Tackle life with as much energy as Goku! I'll try to do the same."

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molly-ghuleh · 2 years ago

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Camellia: Copia x f!reader - Chapter 6

Camellia: n. - A flower which symbolizes a deep desire or longing.

Summary: Even though you have finally begun to translate Elizabeth's diary, you still need context. A visit from the archivist answers some questions but raises even more.

Word count: 4.6k

A/N: Helloooooo! Thank you all again for your extraordinary patience in the long wait for this chapter. It isn't the most eventful (nor am I the proudest of it) but things are definitely happening, and I think you all will enjoy where it's going!

P.s., the identity of the archivist was inspired by the lovely @writingjourney <3

Warnings: Nihil being a bad dad (again), descriptions of anxiety/panic, descriptions of afab people being seen as objects

AO3 / Chapter 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Secondo thinks that abdicating the position of Papa might be the best thing to ever happen to him.

That’s not to say he disliked being Papa. Quite the opposite, really—holding the scepter, wearing the crown, and hearing the title were all a generous ego boost. But the aspect he loved the most was that he could promote the tenets of the Lord Below how he wanted, how he felt was most effective. He was the mouthpiece of Satan, the proprietor of His word and the bridge between his unholy flock and the fires of Hell.

But that’s about it. He loved the glory, sure. He did not like the man that the Ministry molded him into. Once he stepped down, it was hard to look himself in the eye without cringing. He was supposed to hold the power for Satan, not the Clergy, and certainly not for Sister Imperator.

Just about the only thing he has to thank that woman for is the time he’s gotten back after “stepping down.”

Secondo has always been interested in the archives, ever since he was a boy. He would sneak around the Abbey in Rome into places he shouldn’t have been and see things he probably shouldn’t have seen, and keep everything he saw to himself. Having the knowledge of secrets he wasn’t supposed to know made him feel important, like he held some power over the Clergy if he decided to open his mouth.

So when he'd stumbled upon a dim room towards the back of the library at the tender age of eight, he thought he’d found the Library of Alexandria. Wall-to-wall shelves of thick leather bound books, stacks of tightly-rolled parchment and linens depicting unholy scenes. An old wooden table holding a desk lamp and a magnifying glass. A single lone lamp that, when he’d pulled the chain to illuminate it, had emanated a click so loud that he thought he’d be caught for sure.

He’d been so disappointed when he realized he couldn’t understand any of the books or scrolls or linens. They were all written in a language unfamiliar, which he knows now to be Latin. But at eight years old, his primary focus was to learn the unholy scripture, to serve Satan in his duties as an altar boy, and to make his father proud.

That last point… he never did accomplish.

But he did eventually learn Latin, so that he could read what was in that dim room. He’d learned to shimmy the lock open (the Roman Abbey is ancient, it wasn’t a difficult task) and sneak in, absorbing as much information as he could.

Secondo learned about rituals that haven’t been done in centuries. He read prayers and psalms that had been forgotten with time. He found drawings of long lost artifacts and relics shrouded in mystery. Each new bit of knowledge gave him that rush of adrenaline that could only come from forbidden things.

When he was old enough, he was allowed into the archive room. Of course, no one had known he’d already spent countless hours there. His father wanted him to know his family history if he were to take up the helm of Papa one day. You need to know what is in your blood, his father had said. Just as Primo does, and just as Terzo will.

Secondo had wanted to ask, what about Copia? But he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want his archive privileges revoked as soon as he’d gotten them.

The first thing he’d done was find his family tree. Who came before him? Who was Papa before his father, and before his father’s father? How far back did the Emeritus bloodline really go?

It was in the family tome that he first discovered the words Primus Motor. Up until a specific time, every Emeritus heir had been conceived by a woman with the title Prime Mover. Then the women proceeding them had lost that title, with seemingly no pomp or circumstance. Nearly a thousand years ago, the title had been dropped and forgotten. The final Prime Mover, it seems, had been a woman named Elizabeth.

When her diary had been found in some random basement room of the Abbey, Secondo immediately requested to be the archivist in charge. She was his ancestor, and the last Prime Mover on record. Her diary must have an explanation, or some insight as to what exactly a Prime Mover is. There were Prime Mover rituals outlined in those books he’d found as a boy, sure. But none ever explained what the significance was beyond “the chosen maternal body.” It all sounded rather dehumanizing.

But Sister Imperator had told him to keep that fact a secret. She’d brought in a translator to decipher the diary without telling her the whole story. So, he wasn’t terribly surprised to learn that you’d requested to speak to him, or that when he finds you in the restricted room, you look like a deer caught in headlights.

“Papa,” you say, standing to greet him formally. You bow your head out of respect and give him your name. “I can be out of your way, if you need—”

Secondo simply puts a hand up to stop you. “No, sorella. I am here to speak to you about the diary, as you requested.”

Your eyes go so wide that he almost laughs. “Wh-what?” You swallow. “Forgive me, Papa, I didn’t know that you are the archivist who evaluated Elizabeth’s diary…”

“Is that going to be a problem?” Secondo asks.

“No! No,” you scramble, shaking your head slightly to align your own thoughts. His intense gaze pins you to the spot, and not in a good way. Not a bad way, either, but… not in the way Copia’s gaze does.

Determined not to make a fool of yourself, you steel your nerves. “It’s not a problem, Papa. I apologize. I have only… the highest member of the Clergy I have ever met until I arrived here was Bishop Beaumont. I still find myself a bit overwhelmed, sometimes.”

The corners of Secondo’s painted lips tick up at your admission, but he makes no mention of it. “No matter. What is it you wished to discuss?”

You sit and turn your notebook around so Secondo can read the translation of the first line. Today I was chosen to be Papa’s Prime Mover.

“I was wondering,” you begin, “if you might be able to tell me what a Prime Mover is.”

After reading the translated line, Secondo leans back. “I do not know much,” he answers gruffly. “But I do know that it was an esteemed position. Something to do with continuing the bloodline. However the title of Prime Mover is no longer used.”

“How come?” You ask.

“I do not know.”

You hum and look down at Elizabeth’s diary, like it might speak the answer to you itself. Something to do with continuing the bloodline? “Sister Imperator told me that you estimated this diary to be about five hundred years old,” you say. “Is there a reason you chose that number?”

At Secondo’s silence, you meet his eyes again to find that his brows are furrowed and his jaw is set. His lips form a tight line, deepening the clefts beside his mouth. “I only ask because it may help with context,” you offer, defending your question. Your chest flutters with nerves again. You hope you haven’t somehow angered him… he’s quite intimidating.

Secondo’s mind turns. Sister Imperator hadn’t told you that he was the archivist, and she’d told you a different number than the one he’d estimated. She asked him to keep Elizabeth’s status as the last Prime Mover a secret. It seems odd, like she knows something that she wants neither you nor Secondo to. He finds himself annoyed that Sister wants to keep something shrouded in such unnecessary mystery.

“Sister Imperator has given you the wrong number,” he says after a moment of tense silence. “I believe it is nearly a thousand years old.”

“A thousand?” You gape. For a volume that’s a millennium old, it’s in remarkably good shape. You’d thought the same when you believed it was just five hundred years old.

Secondo nods. Whatever reasons that Sister Imperator has for wanting to keep the diary a secret, he doesn’t know. But if he can do anything to learn about his family and its history, or if he can spite Sister… he’ll take that chance. “Elizabeth is the last Prime Mover on record. I do not know why the title was dropped, and I do not know why it is supposed to be such a secret.”

Oh. Yes, you understand. Papa must have his reasons for disliking Sister, and you have your own. If you can contravene her in this small way, a secret kept between an archivist and a translator, you will. You’re slightly ashamed that the thought makes you a little giddy, but not ashamed enough to not do it.

“So,” you guess, “you’re hoping that this diary answers that?”

“Correct,” Papa nods again, and stands. “I ask that you keep me informed, sorella.”

“Of course, Papa,” you say with a polite smile.

He leaves the restricted room and you’re left alone with Elizabeth again. Only this time, there is a new clarity between you and your subject. Your gaze drops down to the pages of jumbled letters, wondering.

Papa Secondo had said that the position of Prime Mover was esteemed. If it had been, why was it dissolved? Perhaps it wasn’t dissolved at all, and it was only forgotten? And… the position is related to the Papal bloodline, so surely these Prime Movers would have been the mothers, right?

The answers lie in front of you, waiting to be translated. Elizabeth herself beckons you with her slanted script, saying, read me. Hear what I have to say.

And how you want to focus. How you want to spend the next weeks painstakingly deciphering letter by letter, word by word until you find these answers which will sate your curiosity. But, damn it to Hell, all you want to do is find Copia and tell him what you’ve found out. You want to tell him that you’re still here, that Sister Imperator had agreed to let you stay after your dramatic, last-minute discovery. You want to ask him all sorts of questions about what he might know of Prime Movers or his ancestors. You want to watch the excitement bloom in his eyes as it always does when you speak about the diary.

You have your reservations, though. Going to Copia on anything other than Ministry business feels like you’re overstepping your position. Who are you to assume that you’re important enough to him to just pop in?

In those moments in the gardens, and in the chapel, though… it sure felt like you were. He had looked at you like you were. In the gardens he was Copia, and you find within yourself that you’d rather be sent back to Liège than see Copia as only Papa again.

~~~

It’s been two days since Copia has seen you. Two full days since he’d watched you half-waddle down the Sibling corridor, soaking wet and shivering and covered in mud from the knees down, and he can’t focus on anything whatsoever.

There’s some official bulletin or another on his desk, awaiting his signature to distribute it out to the rest of the Ministry, but he can’t bring himself to pick up his pen and sign it. Not for a lack of caring—the bulletin is actually quite important—but because he’s conjured up this beautiful picture of you in his head, and he’s afraid that if he moves he’ll lose it.

You must be busy. You’d told him you had an idea about the cipher on your way up the hill out of the gardens, and if he hasn’t so much as gotten a glimpse of you around the Abbey, it must have been a breakthrough. He knows how frustrated you’d been, how determined you were to figure it out, as you’d said. I want to stay and figure it out.

Another part of Copia’s mind, the part he doesn’t want to listen to but that is so very loud, tells him that perhaps your idea had been wrong, and Sister Imperator had sent you home. Maybe the reason he hasn’t seen you is because you’re not even here anymore.

So, he keeps still, his eyes unseeing as he stares into nothing but his own mental image of you. If you’re really gone, at least he has this. You might not be gone, but he’s almost scared to go looking for you because he might find that you are. As it stands, you are Schrödinger's Sister of Sin. Here, and not.

His, and not.

“Al diavolo questo,” Copia grumbles to himself, pushing himself up from his chair. He rounds his desk, sending a few loose papers (including the bulletin he’s supposed to sign by the end of the day) to the floor, and swings open the door to his office. He turns left, towards the library. If there’s a chance he can see you, rather than his limited mental image of you, he’d be foolish not to take it.

His footsteps are determined, bringing him quickly down the stairs to the main artery of the Abbey, and across the wide hall towards the entrance to the library. His breath picks up and his heart pounds in his ears like he’s sprinting. By the end of this agonizing trek to the restricted room, he just might be.

He takes the stairs to the right of the library entrance two at a time. Usually he would smile and wave to whichever Sibling is working the front desk, but not today. The guilt he feels is quickly squashed by the pressing need to either see you or not see you. It feels like it’s eating him up, not knowing.

Copia has tried to be patient and give you time, if you are still here. He knows that what happened between the two of you in the chapel was a lot, all at once, and even if nothing had been said explicitly, you must know. You must.

For a moment, when he reaches the top of the stairs, he wonders why it is that he feels so strongly for you, so quickly. It’s as if Satan himself deposited you on his doorstep, just for him. As if Satan had kept him from sleeping that night, so that you could run right into him outside the restricted room door.

He rounds the corner to walk further into the library, into the shelves of romance books (which, he admits, is rather serendipitous placement). His heart thuds against his sternum when he sees the little square window in the door illuminated. Who else would be in that room with the door closed but you? Who else would have any reason to spend more than five minutes in there, aside from you, or Secondo?

Copia loves his brother. He really does. But he hopes to Lucifer that it isn’t Secondo behind that door, or he might punch him simply for the fact that he’s not you.

He reaches the door, and pauses. His hand rests on the brass doorknob, but doesn’t turn, because what if you are gone?

No, no. You aren’t gone. You can’t be gone.

He turns the handle and pushes the door open on squeaky hinges. There you are, sitting at the desk you always do, head tilted up to see who is at the door. Your brows are slightly raised, your shoulders are hunched—you must be tense from sitting over your work all day—and your finger is placed against that grid of letters as if you had been in the middle of decoding a word when he walked in. The light of the desk lamp attached to your station casts your skin in a warm glow.

If he thought his heart would calm when he saw that you’re still at the Abbey, he was mistaken. Just the sight of you here, that slight hint of heat in your face illuminated so plainly by the desk lamp has his chest vibrating with relief. At least his mind quiets, the tempest of thoughts and questions finally calming after a long, sleepless two days.

“Papa?” You ask, after a long moment. You sit up a bit straighter and tilt your head. The slight crease between your brows returns, and Copia wishes he could kiss it smooth again. “Are you alright?”

Your voice seems to break Copia out of whatever reverie he’s stuck in, because he finally blinks and his jaw closes. “I— eh, yes, I’m alright.”

You slowly stand from your desk and round it, but keep a respectable distance between you and Copia. “You don’t seem alright,” you say. “Copia… what’s wrong?”

It feels like a weight off his shoulders to hear you call him by his name. With you, he’s not Papa. He doesn’t want to be Papa, not to you, not when you’re looking at him like that. “I thought you might have been gone,” Copia breathes, his voice just above a whisper. “I thought she might have sent you back.”

“She didn’t.”

“Good, that’s… good.”

You and Copia stare at one another for another moment. The air is thick with something unspoken.

“I figured it out,” you say. Then you add, “the diary,” because you both know that there are two things you had to figure out. The diary, and… this.

You’re still working on whatever this is, and Copia is still staring at you.

“Copia,” you say with an awkward little smile, “why are you staring at me?”

His own lips curve into a smile. “Sorry, cara mia. I’m just happy you’re not gone.”

“Me, too.”

“So, eh… what is it that you figured out?” Copia asks, blinking a few times in rapid succession. His heart still hammers in his ears.

You round your desk again to turn your notebook over and show him. “She’s clever. Every word requires a new key, which is why we could only decipher one word using her name,” you explain. “Every decoded word is the key to the next one.”

Copia leans over to read the notebook. You have it flipped open to the complete translation of the first line, and his eyes scan the sentence a few times. “Prime Mover?” he asks, looking back up at you.

“I don’t know, either,” you tell him.

He hums in response, his gaze falling back towards the diary and your notebook.

“When were you going to tell me that your brother is the archivist, you ass?”

Copia’s head whips back up, afraid that you’d be actually angry at him. His mouth opens, prepared to defend himself because how would he know that you were planning on speaking to his brother? But he sees your wry grin, and the protest dies on his lips. Instead, he releases an airy laugh and his shoulders drop. “Ah, yes… I suppose I should have mentioned that.”

“Sweet Satan, I made myself look like a fool,” you laugh. “I’m not used to Papas and Cardinals walking around yet. Every time I see one I nearly fall over.”

“You don’t seem so intimidated by me,” Copia says, half relieved and half worried. “What, am I not as scary as Secondo?”

“Not nearly as scary, no! He could stare someone to death,” you say through a chuckle. “That, and when you and I first met, you were wearing sweatpants and rat slippers.”

Copia smiles fondly, though you don’t catch it. “So you’re not starstruck by me, tesoro? I’m hurt.”

“At first I was!” you defend yourself. “But somewhere after that I guess I just… forgot.”

“Forgot to be starstruck?”

“Forgot that you are Papa.”

Oh. Oh, Copia could kiss you, you sweet thing. He doesn’t ever want to go this long without seeing you again. It’s all he can do to stop himself from walking over to you and sweeping you up in his arms and kissing you silly. His hands itch to hold you but you aren’t ready for that yet. So he says instead, “I don’t want to be Papa with you.”

Your heart rises to your throat. “You don’t?”

“No,” Copia says softly. “I don’t.”

You have to fight off the smile threatening to stretch your lips. You don’t want him to be Papa with you either, but you don’t know what you do want him to be to you.

You do know that you want him to kiss you. You do know that the thought of leaving the Abbey without resolving whatever this is made your heart ache, but that talking about whatever this is would make it real and that terrifies you. You do know that falling in love with him means you have something to lose. It’s not quite that, not yet, but… it could be.

Copia can see your mind working itself in circles. He knows that you’ll talk yourself out of it—whatever it is—if he doesn’t intervene. “Tesoro,” he calls to you, pulling your focus back out from inside your head. When he’s certain you can see him and not just through him, he takes a slow step forward and gently reaches for your hand. The white linen of your gloves, worn while you handle the diary, is a stark contrast to the black leather of his. It slips against his glove and settles into his palm like your hands were crafted for him to hold. Sathanas, your hands are perfect. You are perfect. “Please… tell me you know. Tell me you feel it.”

Your eyes are wide when they meet his own. “I know,” you whisper. Your voice is shaky with the weight of speaking your feelings, making them real. “And I don’t.”

His thumb rubs circles on your knuckles. “Cara… you know. You must.”

“I…” you swallow dryly. “I do, but it’s… it’s scary, Copia. It’s happening and I have no control over it and…”

“And?” Copia whispers. He takes your other hand, stepping just close enough that you can feel his breath ghost across your cheeks.

“And I will have to leave,” you respond. Your eyes burn with unshed tears that you desperately try to blink away. “As soon as the diary is done, I will have to go back.”

Copia looks at you for a silent moment. His eyes search your face, noticing all the details he hadn’t noticed before. This is the closest he’s ever been to you. A tear rolls down your cheek and he reaches up to swipe it away with his thumb, but doesn’t return his hand to his side. It cradles your face like you’re something precious, and to him, you are.

He gently tugs you closer and wraps his arms around you, holding you against him. You tuck your head under his chin, savoring the smell of him, the comfort of his embrace and the warmth of his body through his suit. “It will be alright, carissima mia.”

You shut your eyes and two fat tears escape as you do. Your body shudders with a repressed sob.

Copia simply holds you closer, fighting back tears of his own.

He’d nearly forgotten. Of course you would have to leave again, once your project was done. Just because you’re here now, doesn’t mean you will always be here.

Maybe there are ways to have you stay. Maybe if he asked Sister Imperator, she would find a place for you here, doing translation as your sole duty. But can he keep you away from your home, when it’s so obvious how fond you are of it? How could he ask you to stay, knowing you would miss Marseille the whole time?

Copia squeezes you tighter. “Will you do something for me?” He asks so, so softly. One of his hands strokes the back of your head, drawing you closer into his embrace. “Come and work in my office with me, yes? Just for a little while. Or a day or two, maybe. I hate that you’re all alone up here.”

“I can do that,” you say, and draw away from him slightly so you can look at him. You’re sure you must look a mess with your eyes puffy and nose running. But standing this close to him, clutching the fabric of his shirt like it grounds you to the world, you can’t bring yourself to care. “But I need permission from Papa or Sister Imperator to remove the diary from this room.”

Copia smiles. “Well, I have good news, then,” he says with a quirk of his brow. “There’s a Papa right here. Perhaps you should ask him?”

“Right, yes, I forgot,” you laugh. “Papa, do I have your permission to take Elizabeth’s diary out of the restricted room?”

Copia laughs back and his breath is warm on your cheek. “Yes, tesoro, you have my permission. Only if you bring it straight to my office.”

“Of course, Papa,” you nod, smiling.

“Bene! Let me help you with your things.”

Copia steps away and releases you from his grasp to help you gather your materials. For a brief moment you’re disappointed, but your cheeks warm at the thought that maybe he might hold you again in the safety and comfort of his office. Maybe you might gather the courage to allow yourself to feel the feelings you’re desperately trying to suppress, and maybe he might feel them back.

But, you chuckle at his charming urgency to help you. You work on wrapping Elizabeth’s diary in its linens, and placing it in a wooden box you retrieve from a small shelf in the corner of the room. You still wear your white gloves.

“Shall we?” Copia gestures to the open door once you’re both done preparing to leave. His eyes shine with mirth and something you might think was affection if you weren’t doubtful to a fault.

“We shall,” you reply. He lets you slip past him and out the door, then falls into step beside you as you make your way down the curved staircase.

~~~

March 27

Today I was chosen to be Papa’s Prime Mover.

Mother said it is a gift from Satan to be chosen. I am to conceive the next Papa, and continue the bloodline with the blessing of the Olde One.

Truthfully, I am frightened. Mother said that it is now my only duty. She said it is an extreme privilege to be a Prime Mover and to carry the blood of Emeritus inside me. But I did not get a say. I was chosen, and that was the end. Papa did not even tell me himself, it was Mother. She said it is better to hear the good news from the mouth of the fairer sex, from the woman who did her duty as I must.

Fairer sex. I must laugh at that. Fairer sex, and yet I must be a vessel for Emeritus blood at the whim of Satan. Fairer sex because I am beautiful but better to be seen and not heard. And yet I am expected to carry and birth the most powerful man in the Ministry, a power that no one else has. To ‘fairer sex’ I bite my thumb.

There is to be a ritual tomorrow night, to solidify my role as Papa’s Prime Mover. I am horrified. Mother said that a woman can only hope to be so lucky as to be Prime Mover. Must I pray to be a bred heifer? What of me? What of my own wishes?

I believed the Dark Lord to be wiser than this. I believed he would not ordain any sex to be lesser than the other. I believed in his doctrine of free choice, of fairness and civility, after having been cast down for disobeying. My faith wavers.

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

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oaktaro · 4 days ago

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Horror Game Subgenres

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Monster Mansion – 1982 – Cassette Vision During the second console generation, many went back to the format of having swappable games to be sold separately, like the early days of the first generation. Epoch followed suit, allowing for a greater variety of games to be made for the same platform, being their second-gen console, the Cassette Vision. They’d release Monster Mansion in 1982, where young Taro attempts to rescue one being held… in a monster-filled mansion! You’ll need a crucifix to take out grunt monsters, who will run when they realize you’re armed, like ghosts in Pac-Man. That being said, this game is overall an example of the Donkey Kong-like genre sweeping through. 2 years later, Elevator Panic would essentially be a sequel to Monster Mansion, but with elevators. You might think, their visuals, less detailed than what was achieved with Monster Panic, but to go the opposite direction, at the same time, Sega was approaching this kind of fast-paced side-scrolling monster game in an arcade cabinet.

Monster Bash – 1982 – cabinet Monster Bash has its hero’s focus being not on the rescuing part of Donkey Kong but the defeating the antagonist part, as in this game there are 3 iconic monsters to challenge: Count Dracula’s bat-infested house, Frankenstein’s castle that you’ll find, not only has his monster freely lurking about for you to hunt, but the place is infested with wolfmen, and of course, there’s the Chameleon Man’s bug-rich, that's top-down to shake things up! Imagine Donkey Kong being able to freely move about. That’s what this game does, giving you more to keep track of like a true duel in these environments.

“Beware… playing Atari can be pretty hair-raising!”

Haunted House – (seemingly copyrighted in 1981 and released in 1982) - VCS If you’re up for a slower-paced horror game, though, this is also when Atari released quite the impactful horror game for their console. I’d preface this with a flashing light warning because 1982’s Haunted House is about exploring in the darkness with only the sound and flashes of lightning through the window, briefly illuminating the environment as well as the small illumination of a match. The idea of exploring a pitch-black house at night, infested with tarantulas!? Now that’s scary… and, when thinking of ways to only draw what’s necessary in a game, having only the player’s expressive animating eyes is an impressive idea to me. The game is about a magic urn that was the heirloom of the first family of Spirit Bay. During an earthquake in 1890, it shattered into pieces that the townsfolk believe were kept by Zachary Graves, who wasn’t very liked in the town. He was an introvert who would spend most of his life in his decaying 4-story house before passing with his residence being condemned. Urban legends that it’s haunted would emerge, but so would the tale that the scepter old man Graves carried was so he could ward off spirits, which is where you come in. You are to enter the condemned tarantula-infested house in complete darkness (some of whose rooms haven’t been entered in 50 years) and perhaps find this scepter, hoping it protects you so you can finally try to find this urn of legend.

With one hand being used to hold matches, you could only hold one thing at a time in the other. For example, having to drop the scepter to pick up a key to unlock a door. Shoulda come wearin’ pockets, or perhaps they’re full of matchbooks that are also under your arms and filling your shoes as you can light matches to your heart’s content. For a task so daring, you can be easily startled, as encountering anything can blow out your match, and anything from bats to spiders touching you can fatally scare you. Interestingly, the scepter is better than the legends say, as it will ward off anything from the one ghost to bats and spiders on the easier difficulties. There’s 9 difficulties in total, including a training mode that illuminates the entire mansion, removes the doors/keys, and only has 1 of each enemy type in the mansion. The game, in general, felt fairer than I’d expect, like the music playing notes going up in pitch when ascending stairs and notes going down in pitch when descending them. It’s also nice that the camera scrolls with you, with each floor being its own screen instead of each room being a screen to load into. After finding all the pieces of the urn, you can make a mad dash out of there to see how you scored, which takes into consideration how many matches you’ve used as well as how many of your 9 lives. Even without the advantage of the most popular home console of the second generation’s install base, I can see why this has stood the test of time as a popular horror game that I’ve seen brought up so often!

Horror vs. Scary I think the idea of Haunted House for the VCS being considered more horror than Monster Bash is an example of “horror” being used interchangeably with the word “scary,” which is something I’ve noticed more in recent years. As I’ve always known it, horror refers to the intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust, and when used as a genre, also categorizes the use of horror iconography, like using Universal Monster designs for something like Monster Bash that isn’t necessarily trying to evoke the feelings of horror but celebrate how cool its designs and settings are. A good example being that to most people, House of the Dead is not scary, but it is a horror game. I say good example because it’s one commonly agreed upon, but there’s games with much less consensus.

Lucifer’s Realm – 1981 – Atari 8-bit Lucifer’s Realm is a game where you find out your paperwork has gotten mixed up and, instead of going to heaven, you go the opposite, where you find out a former leader whose silver tongue is matched only by the devil raised the question of if the devil’s ability to get people behind him could be surpassed over the millennia of people coming in, with you entering an underworld where you might be shocked to find Satan is no longer the ruler, as he had once lost the war to a new empire. Not letting that undermine his own silver tongue, he asks you to join his rebellion in exchange for promising to fix your mistaken sentence, but how much do you trust this? Now this game seems like a dark comedy, but with the imagery you encounter, I can see why people also call it a horror game, and it is quite the horrifying situation to find yourself in, but so is Lunar Lander, and I wouldn’t consider that a horror game.

Here’s the thing. Anything can be horror to someone, which is why I never scoff at something being referred to as a horror game, though genres that refer to gameplay, I have stricter definitions for.

Action Horror Perspectives like first person are as strict as genres get. On the opposite end, the term action horror is almost meaningless, as everyone has their own arbitrary line for when a game has too much combat. Action really only means real-time when it comes to video games, and anything from Dead Ops Arcade to the original Alone in the Dark fits this.

"I got a shotgun"

Survival Horror Now survival horror is a subgenre of horror that almost lost having any definition in the 2010s after being used interchangeably by so many to just mean horror games overall. Slender: The Arrival called itself a survival horror game, and I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t call it the same subgenre of horror as Dino Crisis, and it wasn’t uncommon at the time to interpret the term survival horror to simply mean a horror game where the goal is to survive dying, labeling every horror game where you can die a survival horror game. Originally, survival horror was a genre that gained traction because they were horror games where you could fight back with satisfying combat that refreshingly distinguished survival horror from both horror games where you’re powerless and ones where you’re too powerful to worry. To make it simple, survival horror meant Resident Evil-like, and I still think that’s the best use of the term because any broadening beyond that will make it a meaningless distinction from any other type of horror game. The point of a subgenre is to specify what kind of horror you’re talking about, so do you consider a game to be a Resident Evil 1-8-like? If no, then it wouldn’t be a survival horror, and I’m glad that use of the term came back around after the 2010s… is coming back around anyway. Again, the definition of genres is subjective. The reason I’m doing this is to let you know which definition I go with so you can better understand what I mean when I use the term. Within the context of the original marketing term, “the world of survival horror” was a challenge to survive this specific gameplay style of limited ammo, healing, and even saves. As opposed to any game where you can die, it was the survival genre, as in a resource management game. The core of survival horror is how limited supplies affect the thrill of combat. Without the limited supplies, it wouldn’t be a survival horror, and without the combat, it also wouldn’t be survival horror.

AX-2: 宇宙輸送船ノストロモ (AX-2: Space Transport Nostromo) – 1981 – PC-6001 ASCII Publishing’s AX series are collections of games, with 1981’s AX-2 being alien-themed. You have Steal Alien, which is like Space Panic, but instead of the goal being to get every alien into a hole, that’s just to defend yourself as you find all the money. Dual Alien, the twist is that you’re controlling 2 people on the left and right boards simultaneously with the aliens moving independently, forcing you to strategize how every movement affects the other you. In The Woods has you exploring poisonous woods to collect diamonds, but without the ability to stop moving, it’s like navigating a car through a multi-story parking lot with no brakes. The Dante’s Inferno of AX-2’s Divine Comedy is Nostromo, where you break through walls to get material out of rooms without being touched by a seemingly invincible pursuer. This game is looked back upon more than the other games in this collection because it was sometimes called “the first survival horror game,” like Hunt the Wumpus is, though I’d lean more toward a Wumpus game holding the title because I’d consider Pac-Man a survival horror before this game. Nostromo is more of a Clocktower/Outlast-style game. Back in the 2010s, I never really heard of an accepted name for this subgenre of horror games, but nowadays, I hear them referred to as chase games the most, which makes me happy. The convenience of having more defined subgenres is to sum up what you’re looking for within a genre to sort if it’s a horror game like Ju-On, Evil Within, or White Day because if you’re in the mood for one, they’re probably not gonna scratch each other’s itch, so I find it beneficial to categorize them in different subgenres. If you want a top-down Dino Crisis, Nostromo is not it, but if you want a top-down White Day, it is.

Action Adventure Games In the tape for this article, I showed footage of the survival horror Wikipedia page to show how bloated consensus on the definition got in the 2010s, but one thing I consider to be an improvement is survival horror less being called a subgenre of action-adventure, as that might be the most unproductive label in all of video games. While action can communicate real-time, which would bar games like Hunt the Wumpus, Sweet Home, and probably the 1980 House of Usher, which technically had a form of active-time battle? To be frank, the adventure part is becoming word salad. It’s not like this is its own thing from the adventure genre either; every big place from GOG to IMDb will communicate action-adventure as something being both the action tag and adventure tag. I doubt most people see Nostromo and think ADVENT. I think when games like The Curse of Crowley Manor were referred to as adventure games, it was to communicate their main meat was their unfolding plot instead of communicating anything about gameplay. You’re a Scotland Yard detective trying to solve a case with supernatural twists happening. What the gameplay of that looks like is not described in that. Not even if the adventure ever ends, which some adventure games generate their unfolding plot indefinitely, so does adventure communicate narrative progression? Nostromo doesn’t fit that unless the unacknowledged story we make in gameplay or the existence of a premise makes every game an adventure game. Some people consider adventure to focus on exploration, which is not how I’d describe a single-screen game like Nostromo or the Uncharted trilogy’s keep-going-forward-into-the-corridor-shaped-level design. To others, the vibe of an adventure game is their MacGyver-esque puzzles, but is that how you’d describe Nostromo or Uncharted? Am I thinking too hard about this? Yes, but how useful is a label that incorporates every game from Crowley to Uncharted to Nostromo? The point of this article is to explore more productive use of subgenres, and in the case of “adventure,” I’m not sure I see a use in the label anymore. You know what I mean when I say “point-and-click game” without the word salad of “adventure” added to it. Even in the case of Crowley Manor, my whole life, I’ve seen people call “graphic adventures,” “text adventures,” and both simply “text games,” referring not to their display but their input, and I’m leaning more toward that being a far more useful description.

Dread Horror Speaking of Crowley, I’ll never forget someone saying they didn’t want to watch Nick Crowley’s videos because they were depressing-scary, which is why they like Nuke’s Top 5, which the find more their preference of light-hearted scary. Even within the subjective question of “Is a game scary?” lies the further question of “What kind of scary?” Take something like 1981’s NORAD for the Apple II, where you fend off nukes in a time of fearing WW3 would break out. I can easily see why people consider this sort of nuclear fiction to be horror. Part of horror is dread; however, The Alien for Apple II is also a management strategy game. You’re managing a research vessel where a professor tells you the alien she was working on escaped, causing a lab animal break-out! Both this and NORAD are immediate danger, whose consequences I imagine the visceralness of. Both cause tension and fear of failure to equal degrees to me, but I imagine most people see where I’m coming from in drawing a distinction between the feeling of dread in a WW3 horror and the fear of a monster movie like The Alien goes for. Both are the fear type of horror but different subgenres of fear. You might say it’s the distinction between the dread in 2024’s Mouthwashing and the dread in 2014’s Alien: Isolation.

Role-Playing Games I don’t find it useful information to ever specify if a game is an RPG because of the lack of consensus on what it means. Some people don’t consider Witcher 3 an RPG. Capcom and outlets like V-Jump called Resident Evil an RPG, like previous games retroactively called Survival Horror like Sweet Home. To different people, RPG means anything from it has experience points and leveling up like Call of Duty; the player needs to play a role in how the story unfolds like RPG of the Year award winner Detroit: Become Human; it must have stat progression, party building, and strategy like NCAA Football, which Todd Howard cited as one of his favorite RPGs. The games he’s directed put a focus on providing tools to aid players' larp in the world, like home decorating, character creation, and relationship mechanics. Maybe you’re so strict that a game needs all of the above to count as an RPG, like the long-run JRPG series Smackdown vs. Raw. I've even seen WWE2K called the most customizable RPG once. I’ve also seen a surprising many use the term “RPG” to simply mean having turn-based combat. I guess that means Pure Chess is an RPG to them while Morrowind is not, and yes, I’ve seen people not consider Morrowind an RPG. My takeaway is that while genres may be subjective, some genres have enough consensus to mean the same thing to most people, and that consensus can be regained if, at points, it may have begun to fade. Even when there is a lack of consensus, part of conversation is asking somewhat what they mean.

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