#or even the point of that paper entirely but. we're throwing both out of the window in favour of what we Know follows

[allegedallegory]

ohhhhkay then!

[samazing0831]

Prom Night Panic - Steve Harrington x Reader

Hawkins High, 1986 Friends to lovers, slow-burn, prom night confession Vibe: soft lighting, soft hearts, soft hair (Steve's, obviously)

1.1k words

The Hawkins High gym looked like a half-hearted attempt at magic.

Paper stars dangled from the ceiling by curling ribbon. The disco ball spun a little too slowly to really dazzle, and the balloons - some barely clinging to helium - bobbed halfheartedly along the walls. "Crazy for You" by Madonna crackled through the school's aging sound system, doing its best to sell the illusion of romance.

You were dressed to the nines - hair curled, makeup perfect, dress hugging every curve - and still, you felt empty.

Your date had flaked hours ago. Claimed his car wouldn't start. That would've been believable... if you hadn't seen him at the arcade twenty minutes later. You almost didn't come. But Robin had begged. And deep down, you knew you'd regret staying home more than showing up solo.

You walked in with your friends, fake smiles plastered on, your heart still bruised.

Across the gym, Steve stood with Robin, laughing a little too loudly. His maroon suit shouldn't have worked, but of course it did. Hair perfectly Farrah Fawcett'd, smile charming as ever - even if it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Robin elbowed him, subtly nodding in your direction. He followed her gaze, and for a moment, your eyes met.

The world didn't stop. But maybe your heart did.

He smiled first - awkward and warm. You smiled back.

Robin melted into the crowd, and Steve started walking toward you, hands shoved in his pockets like he wasn't entirely sure if he should be doing this.

"Hey," he said, pausing in front of you. "So... prom kinda sucks without a date, huh?"

He let out a nervous laugh. "Thought I'd be here making some girl swoon by now. Guess I peaked in '84."

You rolled your eyes playfully. "Steve, tell me something I don't know."

You were teasing, sure - but your voice carried something heavier beneath the sarcasm. A tremble of insecurity you didn't want him to hear. You'd come here trying to pretend your heart wasn't hurting. But standing in front of Steve? That was harder to fake.

He looked you up and down - quick, but not sleazy. His gaze softened. "You look..." He trailed off, then shrugged with a laugh. "I was gonna say 'nice,' but that feels like a crime. You look insane. In, like, a good way."

The song changed. Another slow one. Couples moved to the dance floor, laughter dissolving into soft whispers and slow steps.

Steve shifted on his feet, fidgeting. "I mean... we're already here. We're both alone. Wanna... dance? Just one? No pressure."

You hesitated. Just for a second.

"One dance," you said, slipping your hand into his. "Then someday I can tell my grandkids I danced with the Steve Harrington. Maybe that'll still mean something."

Steve chuckled, leading you onto the floor. "Oh, it'll mean something. I'll make sure of it. Gonna be a household name by then - Harrington Industries or something."

You both laughed as his hand found your waist and the other laced with yours. You swayed in time with the music, the disco ball throwing specks of light across the floor like fireflies.

Silence settled over you. Not awkward - comfortable. Familiar.

"I almost didn't come tonight either," Steve said quietly. "I figured, what's the point without a date, right?" His thumb brushed gently across your hand. "But then I thought... if I stayed home, I'd miss dancing with you. And I guess... I just didn't wanna miss that."

You looked up at him, startled by the softness in his voice.

"Look at you, Harrington. That was almost romantic."

He smirked. "Almost?"

"You're not so bad, Steve, y'know."

His grin softened. "You really think that? That I'm not so bad?"

He leaned in slightly, like he needed the answer more than he wanted to admit.

The music shifted again - another dreamy, lovesick ballad from the Top 40. But neither of you moved.

"I think about you a lot," he said, like he was saying something casual - but his eyes betrayed him. They were wide, searching. "More than I probably should, considering we're just friends."

You froze.

Surely, he didn't mean -

"I - uh, thank you? I guess?"

Steve winced. "Wow, yeah. That sounded way smoother in my head."

He didn't let go of your hand. "I just meant... I think I might've been waiting for a night like this. No pressure, no dates, just us. And suddenly I couldn't stop wondering why I was trying so hard with everyone but you."

His gaze dropped to the floor, then back to yours.

"But maybe I'm reading this all wrong," he added, voice quiet. "I just... couldn't not say it anymore."

You swallowed hard. "Couldn't not say what, Steve?"

He looked at you like he already knew the fallout of his answer - good or bad - but had no choice but to say it anyway.

"That I like you," he said. "Not just tonight. Not just because your date didn't show. I think I've liked you for a while."

His thumb traced your knuckles absentmindedly.

"I was just too chicken to say it, because if you didn't feel the same... I didn't wanna screw up what we have. But standing here? Holding your hand, dancing in this stupid tux with my dumb hair? It feels like I'd regret it more if I kept pretending."

You didn't speak.

You didn't think.

You moved.

Your hand moved up to his cheek, fingers curling against his skin, and you leaned in - pressing your lips to his in a kiss that felt like electricity and warmth and every mixtape-worthy moment all rolled into one.

He didn't hesitate. His arms pulled you in, like he'd been waiting forever. The music became nothing but a background hum, the dance floor melting away around you.

When you pulled back, Steve's forehead rested gently against yours, his breath warm and quick.

"Okay," he whispered. "That definitely means you feel the same... right?"

You laughed, breathless. "Yeah. I feel the same."

Steve grinned - boyish and bright and completely disarming. "Good. That's - good. I was scared I'd totally misread things, and you'd slap me or something."

He glanced around, then back at you. "So... you think we could skip the rest of prom? Get milkshakes or something? Just... you and me?"

You smiled. "A milkshake sounds good."

He exhaled, relieved. "Cool. Let's ditch this joint."

Fingers still tangled in yours, he led you out of the gym and into the night. The air was cool, the sky clear, and for the first time all evening, everything felt right.

Steve opened the car door with a dramatic bow. "Your chariot awaits, m'lady."

And when he started the engine, headlights cutting through the Hawkins dark, you felt it in your chest - like maybe, just maybe, this night would be one you'd remember forever.

I'm thinking of adding a smut part 2 to this... thoughts?

[lowkeyerror]

Teamwork

Kate Bishop x Reader

Word Count: 3.3k

Notes: Honestly its been so long I dont even know what goes here... probably violence

Summary: The leader of the Avengers thinks that Kate and Y/n need to work on their teamwork so he sends them on a mission together.

An: I won't say that I'm back prematurely (like I did my last post like 4 months ago) but I will say I feel the need to post so perhaps I will

Masterlist

Kate was sweet like gumdrops. She was the kindest soul you had ever crossed paths with. Her doe eyes were always filled to the brim with emotion. Her skin was soft like clouds in the sky.

These were indisputable facts in your eyes, yet no one would know that by the way you treated her.

You and Kate were colleagues. Both young and upcoming heroes with a lot to prove. Technically you were on the same team, but you treated Kate as your rival.

You and Kate were not cute friendly rivals, but bitter ones. Mostly due to your nasty attitude towards her.

Though you actually quite admired how good Kate was at her job, you acted as though it irked you. Every time she was in the field, she came back a better hero.

She was good at adapting to others' mistakes. She might panic under pressure, but she never failed a mission. The most irritating thing is that she did it all with that award-winning smile plastered on her face.

You were also very good at your job, just a lot less enthusiastic than Kate. If Kate was a gumdrop, you were black licorice.

You worked endlessly on becoming a better hero. Your precision was perfect, it was your gift. There wasn't any chance you'd miss a target. Whether you were throwing a knife, shooting a gun, or trying to make a paper ball in the trash can.

As the youngest members of your team, the two of you often found yourself paired together.

Being paired with Kate was such a double-edged sword for you. On one hand, you got to be extremely close with the most beautiful woman you'd ever seen. On the other hand, you always acted as though you hated her.

" Earth to Y/n, are you listening to me?"

You slowly nod at your captain's words, not at all hearing what he said.

He tilts his head to the side," Ok then what did I say?"

You remain silent, not having the slightest clue of what he said. Kate couldn't hold in her laughter about your blunder. You glare at the brunette.

" I said the main point of focus in this team is our teamwork. If we're going to be working together, we have to respect each other at least. You are lacking in that department."

Kate laughs even louder, causing you to speak up.

" Why is she here for this?"

Sam speaks up," Because she's also lacking in that department."

Kate's laughter stops abruptly," What do you mean, I'm great at working with others?"

Sam looks between the two of and shakes his head," Every time you two are sent on a mission together, you bicker at each other the entire time. You lose focus, and you almost cost us the mission."

" Key word, almost. We've never failed a mission as partners. Our success rate is 100%"

" I don't like having to agree with Y/n, but she's right. Even without being buddy-buddy, we always find a way to complete the job."

Sam sighs," I've seen the tapes, I know the missions get completed, but there's a lack of teamwork. For example, you're hardly watching each other's backs."

" Kate's a big girl, she doesn't need me to look over her shoulder," you argued with him.

" This is what I'm talking about. Everyone on this team is capable of getting the job done on their own. Which means if we send more than 1 person, it is absolutely necessary for you to be looking out for your partner. If I don't see some proper teamwork on your next assignment, you both will be suspended from field work until you can sort it out."

" Are you serious?"

" You can't do that."

Sam slides a folder over to the both of you before standing up," Figure it out, because I'm not playing."

You were fuming when he left. This wasn't fair to either of you. Why were you being punished for being successful on your partnered missions? Just because you weren’t besties doesn't mean you deserve this treatment.

" If you scowl any harder, your face will be like that permanently," Kate spoke to you.

You glare at her again, and she puts her hands up in surrender," That's not very teamwork of you, Y/n."

You sigh and put your head in your hands," This is fucking stupid."

Kate rubs a hand through her hair," I agree. So let's get it over with."

After briefly scanning through the files, you both got prepared for the mission. You were going to check out a minor anomaly in some small country you'd never heard of. The locals had been recently reporting the same suspicious figure, seemingly scoping out the place and buying normal household things that could be used to enhance chemical weapons.

" So, how exactly are we going to demonstrate teamwork?" Kate interrupted the silence on your ride.

You shrug," Fuck if I know."

Kate rolls her eyes," Guess I'll be doing all the heavy lifting as always."

" What did you just say?"

She crosses her arms," You heard me."

You get up from your seat and walk over to her. You squat down so that your face is level with hers. From there you can smell that intoxicating perfume she wears. Her doe eyes are sharp as they look into yours. You almost compliment her, but then reality kicks in.

" Listen here, princess, there was some truth to what Sam said back there. We don't have to like each other, but respect is necessary. And I don't appreciate the disrespect from you."

Kate scoffs," You disrespect me all the time."

" Name one time."

Kate begins to open her mouth, then promptly shuts it.

" I make snide remarks, sure, but I've never said anything negative about your skill level or ability to get the job done because you've given me no reason to."

Kate tilts her head," Was that a- did you just compliment me?"

You break eye contact as you feel the tip of your ears heat up," Look, all I'm saying is don't act like I'm not good at my job."

Kate keeps a small smile on her face," I never said you weren't good, I just think I'm better."

" I'm not having this argument with you."

The rest of the ride was fairly silent after that. The silence was different from the usual bickering, but maybe the captain would see that as a step in the right direction.

When you arrived in the country, you could already sense that something was off. It was a mixture of a gut feeling and observation. It seemed like most of the townspeople had barricaded themselves inside.

" Something isn't right with this place," Kate speaks softly as you both walk further into town.

When comparing what you saw in front of you to what was in the file, it was easy to see large differences in the town. Though the town was small, it wasn't supposed to be vacant by any means. The robust amount of locals was the ones who reported an issue in the first place.

" I don't like it at all. Keep your guard up, Bishop."

The few people you saw wouldn't make any eye contact with you. They were quick to identify you both as outsiders. It was inevitable, as you couldn't blend in to a crowd if the crowd was non-existent in the first place.

The next local that past you was an elderly man, he stopped at the sight of you and spoke," You lot aren't from around here, are you."

" No sir, just visiting. Actually, we're looking for a certain hotel in town," you show him a picture of the place on your phone and his eyes go wide.

" You're looking for trouble."

There's a small pocket of silence which Kate fills," Why would you say that?"

" Cause you're looking for him. He's the only one that stays at that inn. And we all know to steer clear of it."

The man tries to leave, but you stop him," What happened to this place?"

" He happened… started getting rid of people he had problems with. People who gave him trouble."

" What did he do to them?" Kate presses further.

The man looks between the two of you," He blew them up. One minute they were standing on their feet, the next their head would pop like a zit."

The imagery he created freaked you out more than you'd like to admit, "Thank you for letting us know."

He shook his head," If I were you ladies, I wouldn't go looking for trouble. Too pretty to be headless."

Those were his last words as he continued walking after that. Neither of you moved from that spot. Trying to process what he had told you.

Things had gotten extremely serious in your head. You had considered going back to the quinjet and telling Sam that you'd need back up for this mission.

However, you needed this mission to go better than any of the other missions you had been on with Kate. That was literally the reason why you were both here.

" Put these on," you passed Kate 2 ear plugs.

" Why?"

You sigh," If this guy doesn't have powers, then it's likely that he's using nanotech to get into people's heads. So we need to cover possible points of entry."

When you finally get to the building, it's a little ways from the actual town. You're on edge. Kate walks a little bit in front of you while you watch her back.

By the time you see the trip wire, it's too late. It's not the entire building that explodes, just a corner of it. A corner that was going to fall on Kate if you did not take action.

It felt like slow motion to you. You saw the building about to crumble on top of her, and you were quick to lock your arms around her and force her out of the way along with yourself.

Your breathing was heavy as you realized the girl in your arms could've died. Your front was pressed against her back, and you could feel her ragged breathing as well.

You didn't let go of her until a voice interrupted the tense moment.

" Hasn't anyone ever told you that trespassing is illegal," a man emerged from the intact part of the building, smiling sadistically at you two.

" Who are you and what do you want with this town?"

The man cackles," This town is insignificant to me. It's simply my playground where I can test my masterpieces."

" Then what is it that you want?"

" I'm going to blow up the world, literally. It almost feels trivial to call it a bomb, but my masterpiece will destroy everything. There will be nothing left of this world when I'm done with it."

You're scared, but you can't let him know that," What makes you think we'll let you do that?"

" You two? You won't be around to stop me."

You realize it a half a second too late as another explosion happens under your feet. You brace yourself as best you can to prepare for impact, but you feel a hand latch on to your arm.

With the strength you have left, you help her carry your weight and stop you from falling to your death.

" I just need 1 shot," you growl as you stand up.

Kate sees the look in your eyes. She has seen it before, and it never leads any more good for the person you're looking at.

" He has explosives, it could be dangerous," Kate stood with you.

" Kate, go call for backup and a bomb squad."

" I'm not le-"

" KATE GO," You yell at her with your eyes focused on the enemy.

Kate wanted to fight more, to argue with you again, to postpone this situation. Yet she knew you were making the right call, she had to trust you at this moment and she did.

She took off running. You saw the man reach for what you assumed to be an explosive detonator. It took less than a second for you to whip out your gun and shoot the device in his hand.

He screamed as the bullet grazed his hand, the debris from the device burning into the skin of his palm.

" The next shot will be through your head, if you don't call it quits now."

" I didn't want to get my hands dirty, but if I must," he approached you at his own speed.

It took everything in you not to charge at him. You knew he was baiting you. So you took a shot at the ground right by his feet.

" Well, you're smarter than you look, but not smart enough."

You felt yourself being restrained and forced to the ground. Whatever held you down had a tight grip on your skull. Its cold metal prongs were cold and sharp against your skull.

" Don't bother struggling against my invention. You'll never get up. I'll blow your mind, and then the brunette's."

The mention of Kate made you fight against the bot. It also made the mad scientist laugh.

" Aw, how pathetic. I'll tell her about this after you're gone. Now open" he violently grabbed your chin and shoved something in your mouth.

He slapped you across the face one last time before walking away from you," Any last words?"

You were shaking, sweating, and scared. For the first time in this interaction, you let your eyes water. This felt like the end.

You'd failed and it had cost you. The part that made the tears stream freely was the thought that you wouldn't be able to save Kate. She didn't deserve to die like this. You'd hope she stayed by the jet and waited for backup.

" Oh right, there's a bomb in your mouth. Silly me," you watched as he reached for the detonator. Time seemed like it had slowed down.

He flipped a few switches on the remote before getting ready to hit the button. You closed your eyes, waiting for it to be over. Yet your eyes shot open when you heard the man scream in agony.

There was an arrow through his hand. Then another came down and through his foot.

" I will shoot this shit through your head if you even think about grabbing that remote."

Your face was still against the gravel, but you knew who had just saved your life.

She walked toward him with her bow at the ready. She picked up the remote, and before she did anything else, she shot the robot that was pinning you to the ground.

The tight grip on your head was now loose and limp. You slowly began getting to your feet.

Kate handed you the detonator. You did the opposite of what you saw the man do and saw the green light on the device turn red. There was still some fear in your heart about removing the explosive from your mouth.

The man had a smug look on his face when he saw you struggle," Well I suppose if it's disarmed its harmless right? Maybe it's heat sensitive, maybe it's touch sensitive, who knows. The only way to find out is by removing it from your mouth."

" Shut the fuck up," Kate shot an arrow directly past his head, grazing his ear slightly.

" You're going to be ok. Just take it out and throw it as far as you can."

You looked at her and for the first time ever she saw genuine fear in your eyes.

" You have to trust me," the look in her eyes was something you could not debate.

You didn't hesitate, you dug into your mouth, removed the device and chucked it as far as you could. It didn't land anywhere, instead it exploded in the air. It wasn't significantly sized on the outside. However, you knew if had gone off in your mouth you would've died.

You walked up to the man and pressed the butt of the gun into his temple. There was nothing more you wanted to do than blow his head off. Your chest heaved up and down.

The man laughed," Kill me then. I dare you."

You cocked the gun and your finger rested on the trigger.

" Y/n don't," Kate tried to reason with you.

You couldn't look at her, you'd fold if you did," He deserves it, Kate. You should've heard the shit he was saying."

" That's not for us to decide, Y/n."

You began to shake," Why not?"

Then the scientist laughed again, and that sent you over the edge. You took a small step back and fired the gun.

The scream you let out was primal. It ripped through your throat. It hurt more than you could ever imagine.

The bullet had taken the man's ear. His screams were nothing compared to yours.

Kate hugged you from behind as your legs began to fail you. With her arms around you, she kept her bow and arrow raised at the man.

Sam was confused at the sight when the backup finally arrived. The scientist was cuffed and taken in as other special forces handled the damaged building.

When the scientist was gone, Kate dropped her bow, but her arms stayed around you. Sam began to approach the two of you, but Kate signaled him to stay back.

" Y/n, talk to me," her breath was a whisper against your ear.

" I'm sorry," you said, trying hurriedly to get to your feet.

You didn't get too far before Kate yanked you back into her embrace.

" You saved my life, there's nothing to be sorry about," she gave you a small smile.

" But I-"

Kate shook you a bit," You didn't kill him so, it doesn't matter. He was trying to blow your head off."

" You saved my life too."

Kate nodded slowly," I did, you saved me first though."

" I was terrified, Kate. When he said he was going to kill you, I- I never felt that helpless," you were causing yourself anxiety just speaking about the moment.

Kate didn't hesitate to rest her hand on the side of your face, forcing you to look at her," I'm right here, Y/n. A few scratches and a few bruises, but I'm ok. Without your reflexes or your decision-making skills, I don't know if I would be standing here right now."

" Kate," your eyes accidentally drop to her lips.

" Fuck it," Kate muttered before surging forward and placing her lips on yours.

You kissed her back and it felt right. It felt like Kate was your other half. There was no competition anymore; just you and Kate.

" Well, I see you got the teamwork all handled," Sam spoke, causing the two of you to separate.

" We almost died on this mission. Our teamwork was fine before. The trauma we have is-"

Kate had more to say, but Y/n grabbed her hand," We're good."

" But-"

" Everyone is safe, the bad guy is behind bars, and now we get to go home; together."

Kate huffed and dropped her shoulders," Fine, but we're dealing with this together then."

" There's no one I'd rather tackle my demons with," you couldn't help but sound cheesy.

" Good, because you're stuck with me now in more ways than just coworkers."

You smirked," I'd gladly be stuck with you any way you'd have me."

Sam cleared his throat with a smile on his face," Ok, you guys are free to go. I'll wrap it up here."

Your hand never left Kate's as you walked back to the jet. Nor did it leave when you both strapped in for the ride. It was at that moment that you decided that you'd do whatever was necessary to hold on to Kate.

[ckret2]

What would be Bill's hobbies in the nightmare realm? Like ok he's been there for a million years, what would he do? Aside from partying, ruling and planning world domination?

Hate to nitpick—but one trillion years. To me the difference isn't a trivial "okay they're both impossibly big numbers" if we're considering what Bill's life must have been like; because one million years ago, humans had already evolved. One TRILLION years is 72 times longer than our entire universe has existed. We're talking about a life where for most of his existence, the universe he would ultimately try to conquer—much less the species that would help him do it—didn't even exist yet.

But to the actual question:

Genuinely I think partying took up most of his free time lmao. Maybe not at the start; but over time, getting absolutely smashed and "having fun" would have become an essential strategy to hold on to what was left of his fraying mental health, so it probably became more and more of his schedule while he waited for an in to a universe. And it combines several of his top hobbies: socializing, meeting people, dancing, substance abuse... But even something that takes "most of his free time" could leave billions of years unaccounted for, SO:

I mentioned yesterday that meditation is one of his unexpected hobbies. It's useful for refining his dream demon skills & various other psychic tricks; but mostly it's just, if you can drop into a trance for a thousand, a million, a billion years, then that's a lot of waiting & boredom you can just skip.

He's got a lot of eyes in other dimensions. It's like television to him.

He's unable to visit other dimensions before his portal is built, but he is able to visit other dimensions' mindscapes. He can't interact with things, but he can look around like an invisible tourist, and he can invade people's dreams.

We see what looks like weirdness bubbles scattered all around the Nightmare Realm in Don't Dimension It. I headcanon that Bill didn't just invent them on the spot in Weirdmageddon, he made them ahead of time in the Nightmare Realm; and thus that they probably take some time and skill to create. He doesn't control the end result but he can influence it based on what materials he puts in and how he creates it, kind of like an acrylic dirty pour painting. It's like art to him. He's proud of it.

He's never had higher education but he's book-read and self-taught on a wide variety of subjects. At bare minimum, every time he sees a new universe and goes "maybe I can conquer this," he has to teach himself that universe's rules of physics (often before a species in that universe has evolved enough to study it themselves), and one of the intelligent species's available engineering capabilities and native languages, all so that he can translate his portal blueprints into a form someone in that universe can build. That adds up to learning a LOT of languages, engineering, and physics. Ours is far from the first dimension he tried to conquer. Plus throw in all the other stuff he's probably learning on the side while trying to get something going with a new species: local politics, religion, chemistry, biology, pop culture...

He DID pick up piano at some point. Probably not the only instrument he's learned. I headcanon piano is conceptually similar to an instrument in his home dimension.

He likes playing games. Sometimes games of skill, because dice rolls and card draws would be easy to manipulate & cheat in a dreamscape; but sometimes games of chance, because he wants to cheat lol. He's not athletically inclined, so his preference is board games, card games, word games, pen-and-paper games, video games, etc.

Any time something falls into the Nightmare Realm, he can sense it; sometimes he goes and checks out the new arrival. It can be anything from objects (new stuff to scavenge through) to people (new friends and/or torture toys and/or networking opportunities) to whole worlds (there's a LOT of fun you can have with a planet—especially a populated one).

He spends a lot of time cultivating mini-cults and pockets of worship toward him amongst alien species. He claims this is all in service to his ultimate conquest plans, but honestly, he just really likes being worshiped.

There were a few survivors of Bill's home dimension. Not many, with a starting population of billions (and that's not even counting alien life); but a few thousand. Most of them ultimately moved to other dimensions and tried to start new societies. Early on, Bill tried to keep in contact with them, and that took up a fair amount of his time; but as they rejected him or he rejected them, he cut them off. Now the only people from or descended from his universe that he still talks to are the shapes in the Henchmaniacs.

Imagine if all the oceans on Earth were ruled over by a single pirate king, and also he knows any time something—from a cargo ship to a surfer—enters his domain, and he COULD just teleport to where they are and wreck their day if he wants to; so any nation that wants to safely ship goods or maintain a navy has to bargain with the pirate king; but also the pirate king is an immature clown who's easily flattered and distracted by shiny toys. That's the relationship Bill has to other dimensions. For cultures that have discovered interdimensional travel, transit through the Nightmare Realm COULD be very useful... if it weren't for this one guy who's somehow borderline omnipotent within the NR but can't leave it. So Bill spends a lot of time politicking and bartering with neighboring dimensions that don't trust him, know he'll violate treaties on a whim, but nevertheless need access to his realm.

There's also some uneasy politicking and socializing with the few powerful entities that Bill thinks might be able to wreck his day but isn't quite foolhardy enough to test, like the Axolotl.

Sometimes he just makes stuff that sounds cool. He made the Quadrangle of Qonfusion. (Amorphous Shape helped, they're better at the architecture side of things.) He also sometimes just goes and gets stuff that strikes his fancy, like his throne made of optical illusions. The Nightmare Realm is riddled with unfinished projects and impulse purchases.

[crochetnerdsworld]

Soft For You (Teen Natalie Scatorccio/Reader)

The gang teases Natalie about how soft she is for Y/N. 

The gang is having a sleepover at Y/N's house. Y/N's mom is often away for business and her dad isn't in her life, so Y/N's place is the main hangout spot. Natalie arrives an hour early to spend some alone time with her girlfriend. The pair have been dating for about a year, but have known each other since they both joined the team freshman year.

"Hey babe. Where's the popcorn bowl?" Nat calls as she digs through the cabinets.

"Top shelf," Y/N replies, coming out with a huge pile of blankets that she dumps in the living room.

"That's a crap ton of blankets," Natalie comments.

"Yeah well, there are a lot of us," Y/N shrugs.

There's the sound of several car doors slamming and then the sound of the doorbell. Y/N opens it to reveal Taissa, Van, Lottie, Shauna, and Jackie.

"Hey. Come on in. Pizza's on the way," Y/N greets.

The living room transforms into organized chaos as sleeping bags are rolled out and pillows are strategically placed. Jackie immediately claims the spot closest to the TV, while Shauna rolls her eyes and settles beside her anyway. Van and Taissa huddle together, whispering about something that makes them both laugh. Lottie sits cross-legged, braiding friendship bracelets with an almost meditative focus.

"Okay, what movie are we starting with?" Y/N asks, remote in hand as she settles back against Natalie.

"Nothing scary," Jackie says quickly. "I'm not dealing with Van's commentary through the whole thing."

"My commentary is insightful!" Van protests, throwing a piece of popcorn at Jackie.

"You literally narrated the entire plot of Scream before the killer was even revealed," Taissa points out.

"That's called being observant!"

The pizza arrives just as they're debating between rom-coms and action movies. Y/N pays the delivery guy while Natalie distributes paper plates, unconsciously taking charge in the way she always does. It's a small gesture, but Y/N notices how Nat automatically makes sure everyone gets what they want - extra cheese for Lottie, no pepperoni for Shauna.

After pizza and a movie, Natalie is only half listening to her friends talking. Y/N has her head lying in Natalie's lap as the bleach blonde-haired girl strokes her hair lovingly. Her eyes are full of love for her girlfriend. She glances up and notices Van smirking.

"What?" Nat asks.

"You are so soft for Y/N. It's hilarious," Van grins.

"I'm a badass!" Nat scoffs.

"Yeah, but you're also a softy," Lottie comments.

"I have video evidence!" Shauna adds, waving her phone.

"Sorry, Nat. You're a huge softy," Jackie states.

"I second that," Taissa states.

"Y/N/N, wake up! They are all teasing me," Natalie pouts.

"Mm. Wasn't asleep," Y/N replies, sitting up, "And they are right. You are a huge softy."

Natalie continues to pout until Y/N kisses her softly. This causes Natalie to grin.

"Told you so, you big softy," Van shrugs.

This earns her a pillow to the face. Everyone soon joins in and a group pillow fight takes place. As it dies down, they decide to call it a night.

But sleep doesn't come immediately. In the darkness, conversations drift between sleeping bags - whispered confessions, shared anxieties about upcoming games, college applications, and the general uncertainty of senior year looming ahead.

"Remember when we thought high school would last forever?" Shauna's voice carries softly across the room.

"Speak for yourself. I've been counting down since freshman year," Van replies, earning quiet chuckles.

"I'm scared," Jackie admits suddenly. The honesty in her voice makes everyone go still. "What if we all drift apart? What if college changes everything?"

"Hey," Taissa's voice is gentle. "We're not going anywhere. This team, this group - it's bigger than high school."

"Besides," Lottie adds, "some bonds are meant to last forever. I can feel it."

There's something in Lottie's tone that makes everyone pause, the way there always is when she gets that distant, knowing look. But in the darkness, surrounded by her closest friends, it feels more like comfort than mystery.

Y/N shifts closer to Natalie, who wraps her arms tighter around her girlfriend. "You guys are stuck with me," Y/N murmurs. "This house will always be here for sleepovers."

"Even when we're thirty and have kids?" Van asks.

"Especially then," Y/N laughs quietly. "I'll have a bigger couch by then."

Natalie presses a kiss to the top of Y/N's head, breathing in the familiar scent of her shampoo. Around them, their friends are settling into sleep, the soft sounds of breathing and the occasional rustle of blankets filling the room.

"Nat?" Y/N whispers.

"Yeah?"

"I love that you're soft with me."

Natalie smiles in the darkness. "I love you too, babe."

As Nat watches her girlfriend fall asleep in her arms, she admits to herself that yeah, she is soft for Y/N, but she doesn't care. These moments - surrounded by their chosen family, holding the person who makes her feel most like herself - are worth every bit of teasing she'll get tomorrow morning.

The last thing she hears before drifting off is Van's quiet snoring and Taissa's gentle "shut up, Van" followed by the sound of a pillow making contact. Even in sleep, some things never change.

Morning comes with the smell of Y/N's famous pancakes and the sound of Jackie complaining about her hair. Natalie wakes to find Y/N already gone from her arms, and she can hear laughter drifting from the kitchen.

When she finally makes it downstairs, hair sticking up at odd angles, she finds her girlfriend flipping pancakes while the others sit around the kitchen island, still in their pajamas, looking like the family they've chosen to become.

"There's sleeping beauty," Van grins, already armed with her phone camera.

"Don't you dare," Nat warns, but she's smiling as Y/N slides a plate of pancakes in front of her, cut into a perfect heart shape.

The teasing starts all over again, but this time Natalie just rolls her eyes and steals a bite of Y/N's pancakes. She's learned that some things are worth being soft for.

[the-larxist-manifesto]

GameGirl40 ~ Donkey Kong (1994)

No, it's not that arcade game your grandpa swears he holds the world record in. And no, it's not a marketable toy Mario army swarming the world like a wave of nanobots. Donkey Kong '94, as it's colloquially nicknamed, is an entirely unique game—a beast as complex in strategy and surprisingly rich in heart as the monkey whose name it bears.

Seriously, Nintendo loves to make AMAZING games SPECIFICALLY about Donkey Kong. From DK Country on the Super Nintendo to Tropical Freeze on the Wii U... does this tiny Game Boy revival stand up to its relatives?

~Mario vs. Donkey Kong~

Let me first elucidate its relationship to the games I mentioned at the top. Interestingly, DK '94 exists as a bridge between two legacies of franchises. It's not just a revival of the original Donkey Kong games back in the arcade, in which big ape terrorizes construction worker with OSHA workplace violations. This game also acts as a spiritual prequel to the now-long-running Mario vs. Donkey Kong series of games, sharing a similar visual aesthetic, powerups, environments, move set, and focus on puzzle-solving. We also have this game to thank for the return of the Mushroom Kingdom's favorite red dress in showbiz, Pauline, who we see for the first time in her modern redesign!

Mario's adventure begins exactly where he left off back in the day; the construction site! The first four levels cutely reference their first outing, but this world expands far beyond the white void...

And yes, this game does have color, but only when enhanced through the Super Game Boy attachment for the SNES (which is unfortunately not replicated in the 3DS Virtual console release...)

The plot of this game is like watching Tom and Jerry go at each other's throats. Every world begins with Donkey Kong taunting Mario with his screaming Pauline prize, Mario lunging for DK, DK sabotaging Mario with a boulder or other comically heavy object, and Mario acrobatically evading the ogre's every attack and then chasing him off the screen. Constant fighting and bickering and poking fun at one another. It's like a little schoolyard rivalry, and as such, each level is a jungle gym on which they play their eternal game of tag.

As a matter of fact, the cartoonish plot slides seamlessly into the gameplay; not quite like the Mario or Donkey Kong games that we're used to, but a hybrid of both fused into one action-puzzle gauntlet.

~Mario is flipping out~

To save Pauline, Mario has tuned his tubby body into an agility MACHINE—boasting the most moves in his entire history as a 2D side scroller, up to this point. Look to this game for the origin of Mario's most famous later moves, like the skidding backflip (adapted into the sideflip in SM64) and the triple handstand jump (adapted into the triple jump in New SMB). He can handstand to gain height on jumps and kick away falling objects—he spins on wires to fling himself upward—he climbs up, down, to, and from ropes with both of his arms (DK Jr.-style)—he regains his ability to pick up and throw large objects over his head (SMB2 USA-style)—this Mario does it all.

In addition, the levels themselves contain new kinds of powerups and interactable items that extend Mario's advantage over his hairy rival. When he finds them, Mario can place blocks, long platforms, ladders, and springs. His famous barrel-smashing hammer returns too, which he can toss into the air and catch; try it and you can smuggle a hammer up ladders and out-of-reach platforms.

Despite feeling Mario's weight as he jogs and skids to a stop, I never felt as incumbered as I did in the original Donkey Kong. Mario's moves are complemented perfectly with the levels in this game.

Hey, that kinda looks like the hammer from Paper Mario, doesn't it..?

~Pick-up-and-play puzzles~

Mario is SO agile and SO well-equipped in this game, in fact, that he traverses the levels from top to bottom in no time flat; the game even promotes speedrunning by keeping track of your best times for each level beaten. Don't get me wrong; it's not that the stages aren't perfectly scaled for the small screen and moderately sized sprites. Rather, DK '94 was cleverly designed to contain a lot of small puzzles in quick succession. Play four of them in 15 minutes or so, save your game after the boss battle, and then put the Game Boy down and get back to work. It's the perfect little game to take on a quick lunch break!

In order from top-left to bottom-right: 3-6 took me a bit to get the extremely tight timing, 4-11 contained a frendlie frogie that would bounce you to the upper right area, 8-11 featured another lightning quick timing puzzle, 9-4 results in Mario imprisoning DK Jr. which is just :c

Most levels require Mario to locate a key and carry it to a door, limiting his movement and increasing his risk of being beaten senselessly by Kong's friends. In this way, the levels are often played in two halves—the first half, in which you maneuver at full capacity to clear a path for the key, and the second half, in which you RUN FOR YOUR LIFE TO THE EXIT CLUTCHING THAT KEY LIKE ITS YOUR FIRST BORN. That may sound formulaic, but each stage contains so many different kinds of unique enemies, interactable objects, moving platforms, and fatal falls that no one screen is similar to another. This adventure challenges you to think outside of the box and use every resource at your disposal, a very strong point for a puzzler.

My only criticism would be the airplane world, where most of the levels take place under heavy wind conditions. If you've played Lost levels, you know by now that wind and Mario do not mix. Even the iceberg world was easily more tolerable. At least you can jump over all the slippery ice.

Kong's friends, according to the manual. He's friends with oil. Oil which is polite enough to wear a name tag identifying itself. As oil.

~Conclusion~

I hope I've sang its praises enough to convince you that DK '94 fully delivers—more than that, it excels as a puzzle platformer and a worthy relative of the Donkey Kong name.

Genuinely my biggest criticism of the game has to be the overall composition... the graphics are quite legible and cute, but the sound design is just... embarrassing. It's not that the music is BAD... it's just... so bleepy and bloopy. I know, I know, it's a Game Boy game. Game Boys bleep and bloop. But this by far the most egregious example of obnoxious video game noises, and you will look like the nerdy background character in a sitcom if you're playing in a public space. Or Dr. House. Look, just trust me, I brought it along to a crowded airport. I'd never been so ashamed to be holding a 3DS.

That tiny point aside, I had a great time finally completing this one. I've owned it forever, but my child self held no patience for puzzles. I've grown to appreciate it a lot more. And yeah, despite the fact that there are bonus collectible items hidden here and there, the game offers no extra achievements for 100% completion. Beat the game and you're done. Took me a collective 6 hours to accomplish that. It's a simple one, but I would argue that the best puzzles thrive on clever simplicity.

Do I recommend it? Yes! It's a Game Boy essential!!

Hello, Mario.

*snifffffff*

Mmm... do I smell a row 2 wrap-up ahead?

~Lark Lyke

[saucymincks]

GIFT-GIVING TIPS AND REMINDERS NO ONE ASKED FOR

Hello, my name is Caro and I fuckin' love giving people gifts. This year, we're all doing the "shit shit money is tight oh no" thing, a lot of us have to buy things for people we don't know super well, etc. so here are a few ways to make cheap/generic/last-minute gifts a little more special!

WRAP THE GIFT I know this might seem obvious, but you'd be surprised. Get some cheap wrapping paper and scotch tape and wrap it up! Or, if you're like me and hate wrapping gifts, grab a gift bag AND TISSUE PAPER. Don't just throw the thing in the bag and call it a day, a little puff of tissue paper makes it look like you gave a shit. Plus, the gift wrap is a great way to add a personal touch - you can use someone's favorite color, it can be cute or pretty or funny, whatever you want it to be. There are all sorts of creative ways to wrap gifts, too - I've seen part of the gift itself used as the wrapper, like when I received a book wrapped in a scarf and tied with a hair wrap!

REMOVE THE PRICE TAG Either cut the price tag off or, if it's printed directly onto the gift in any way, scratch it out with a pen or sharpie. It's not entirely about hiding what something costs (though there are reasons to do that) so much as it's about making it seem like you put any effort whatsoever into this. I've received $5 bargain bin gifts that were thoughtful and wonderful! But when you receive a $5 bargain bin gift that has the big red sticker on it and is unwrapped, it kinda feels like a "fuck you". I've also received expensive gifts and felt guilty/inadequate when I saw the price tag. That's not the energy you want when you're giving a gift. PERSONALIZE IT Even if you're giving something generic, you can personalize it at least a little most of the time. I'll use bath stuff as an example - we often think of that as a general "buy this for whoever" kind of thing, and it totally can be, but it's also easy to make bath stuff thoughtful! If I'm buying for my mom vs. my best friend, the vibes will be very different. My mom is more of a sunshiney organicy type, so she'd get light floral/herbal/citrus scents in colors like pink, light green, cream, etc. My best friend is basically if Morticia Addams and Tia Dalma had a baby, so she's getting things in purple, black, gold, forest green, with heavier scents like you'd associate with incense and the woods. They're both getting a candle, a bar of soap, and a sheet mask, but those items are personalized to their tastes and vibes.

IT'S OKAY TO ASK If you honestly don't know what to get someone, you can ask! And you don't have to phrase it like "what do you want me to buy for you" because that might make them feel weird! A more tactful way to ask what someone might want as a gift that doesn't make them feel as pressured to have the "right" answer is to ask them "is there anything you've had your eye on that you haven't been able to justify getting for yourself", or "is there anything I can help you replenish that you might need", or "what sort of things are you trying to keep on hand these days", or something along those lines. Ask them what they're watching or listening to these days, ask them what they're enjoying as hobbies, ask them where they like eating, etc. All of these questions can spark a ton of ideas!

IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU Some people really struggle when the person they're shopping for just wants practical or "boring" stuff, but remember: giving a gift is about giving a gift, not about receiving points. If someone says all they want is socks and a grocery store gift card, give them those things. If someone is overloaded with stuff, consider gifting them an experience or a subscription (I'm giving both my parents the gift of "pick a night, pick a theme, I'm your personal chef, you get to hang out and watch movies while I continue to hand you food until you say stop" this year). Don't buy loud stuff for little kids unless the parents are okay with it. Consider the person you're shopping for rather than how the gift will make you appear. If you're really hung up on the whole "paying your electricity bill for a month isn't a gift", "cleaning supplies aren't a gift", "underwear isn't a gift" thing, get them something indulgent in addition to the thing they're asking for.

GO ONE STEP FURTHER I have a friend who is BIG into Pokemon. I don't know a dingdang thing about Pokemon. I could very easily give him a Pikachu plushie and call it a day, and he'd be delighted by it, but you know what's a little more creative and fun? Doing some research and finding something a little more out of the box and unexpected. Which is how I stumbled across a bunch of Pokemon-themed cocktail recipes, and how I stumbled across the idea of making little cocktail kits in small mason jars with dried fruit and sugar cubes and stuff like that and pairing them with airplane bottles of liquor, which is how I gave that friend a gift that made him go "BITCH THIS IS SO CUTE, I'M GONNA MAKE THESE JIGGLYPUFF JELLO SHOTS TONIGHT" at the top of his lungs one year. Plus, he still has and still uses those jars after about a decade! It didn't cost me a ton of money, I was able to DIY most of it, and it was cute and personal. There are a lot of ways to do something a little unexpected and create a gift that's not going to set you back a ton but that has a ton of heart and love put into it.

CONSIDER A BUNCH OF TINY THINGS I...love tiny things. I love knickknacks. I love stuff and tchotchkes. I love opening a box or a bag and finding SO MANY LITTLE THINGS IN THERE. If you know someone like that, oh my god, shop for them like that, trust me, it's so much fun. Sometimes it's hard to come up with one big concrete item to give someone, so maybe...don't! One of the nicest gifts I ever got was literally a box of a bunch of little things that reflected me as a person. There was a mini bottle of a bourbon, a couple of jars of spices, a pair of fingerless gloves, some stickers, a box of shabbos candles (I am forever forgetting to replenish my supply and having to light random candles on Fridays), all sorts of random but personal stuff. Each item on its own was inexpensive and simple, but when it was all put together, it added up to an incredibly thoughtful mixture of practical, indulgent, and just plain fun!

YOU CAN REGIFT BUT YOU GOTTA BE CAREFUL ABOUT IT, BUDDY Look...it happens. We receive a thing we can't use/don't like/already own. Someone else might like it. We give it away. But please, please, please be strategic about regifting. I've regifted things plenty of times, but the trick is to keep it outside the circle so the person who originally gave it to you doesn't see you blatantly passing it along. There's honestly nothing inherently bad or wrong about regifting, in my opinion, but there can be hurt feelings attached to it for many people, so it's a good idea to try and avoid that. Also, if the item is personalized in any way...most of the time, regifting is not gonna work. Use your head here!

This is all I can think of at the moment but if y'all have other advice please feel free to add. Gifts don't have to be a "feed the capitalist machine" thing - they can be (and should be) an opportunity to give a loved one a tangible reminder that they are cared for, a chance to give someone a little treat to make their day and by extension their life better and happier. Gifts also should not be something that causes you stress and shame and frustration! Gifts should be JOYFUL for everyone involved. Now go out there and don't forget to buy tissue paper.

[chlosmovingcastle]

for the @thehauntedair starless sea sweaterverse event!

✄┈┈┈┈

“Hello! Welcome, nice to… see you again” I say as Kat and her girlfriend enter Zachary and I’s shared apartment, “What are you wearing?” Kat is dressed as Santa, while her girlfriend has a Grinch onesie on. "It's fashion, Dorian. Thats what we're wearing. Fashion." Kat says, posing with a smile.

Every year since Zachary and I met, we've hosted some kind of ‘Friendsmas’, which he later explained to me is a ‘friend Christmas’. It started as a way for us to celebrate Christmas while in the Harbor, surrounded by Mirabel, The Keeper, and whichever cats felt like joining us, but over the years things have changed, so now it is just us, Kat, and her girlfriend, Van. “It's called Holiday cheer, dumbass” Kat replies with a smile. “Well, shall we get this party started?” 

We gather in the living room and start dividing up everyone’s gifts. Some for Kat, some for Van, some for both of them and vice versa. Every year Kat buys Zachary and me something matching as a gift for both of us. It kind of became a tradition for her, to see our reactions to some ridiculous thing that definitely should not have a matching counterpart. Every year, I dread that gift. “This year,” Kat says, sorting the gifts for Zachary and me into 2 different piles “I did something different! I didn't get you guys anything matching!”  

Thank. God.

Hours have passed, and we are finally down to the last few gifts. “Dorian, this” Kat says, pushing a poorly wrapped ball of paper towards me, “Is your last gift. From me at least. Well, Open it!” Kat says cheerily. There are only a few things Dorian thinks it could be, but over the years he has learned to expect the unexpected, especially when it comes to Kat. Slowly, I peel the Baby Yoda-covered wrapping paper mess away from the gift and... Oh god. What. The. Fuck

“Katrina Hawkins, what the fuck is this?” I ask Kat, holding up the sweater and turning it around for Zachary and Van to see.

“That's amazing!” Zachary cackles loudly, while Van and Kat stifle their giggles. 

“It's a sweater, silly! I saw it and thought it looked exactly like you two so I had to get it, and Zachary hates knitted sweaters but they fit your whole” Kat points at me, up and down “Vibe you've got going on so I got it for you!” 

“You're so right that's definitely us!” Zachary says, tears of laughter brimming in his eyes. “Im the Dragon and Dors the… Bear?” 

“If you like it so much you can have it” I throw the sweater at Zachary, “It's the worst thing I’ve ever seen. And I once walked in on The Keeper post-shower. Ugh,” I shiver. “It's actually dreadful! Horrendous! Unacceptable!” I say, adding a shitty Lemongraab impression to the end of the sentence, something I've unintentionally done ever since meeting Kat. “Where did you even find this? The 6th circle of hell?” 

“That doesn't matter! Stop being a sourpuss and try it on!” She says, taking the sweater from Zachary's lap and tossing it back to me.

“Absolutely not.” 

“Yes, you absolutely will. That sweater was 45 dollars!”

“You spent 45 dollars on this? It's horrific! I can't even tell what the white animal is supposed to be! And in what world would a Dragon and a Bear-Cat thing even be friends? And hold hands!” 

I realize while speaking, that I'm fighting a losing battle.

“Ugh. Fine. I’ll put it on. But I want the receipt.”

I look at myself in the bathroom mirror and can't help but let out a laugh. I will admit, I don't hate the sweater entirely. I mean it's awful, but it is a pretty color. Maybe if I wear it backwards it'll be better for everyday wear?

“Ready yourselves!” I call from behind the bathroom door. When I come out of the bathroom, Zachary, Van, and Kat are sitting in a semi-circle like a group of kindergarteners with their hands over their eyes. “Open your eyes in 3, 2, 1”

“That's absolutely incredible” Zachary laughs. 

“Oh my god” Van giggles

“What a strapping young lad! It fits you great!” Kat says with a smile. “Maybe since you clearly love it so much this is a good time to tell you I donthavethereceiptanymore” she says the last part quickly, hiding her face between her hands. 

Oh my god. I'm stuck with this sweater.

“I need another drink”

[sayakxmi]

[Magi rewatch] Episode 6: Warrior Tribe Fanalis [Part 1]

I feel like part of the reason I'm just UGH about having to do this, besides the obvious stuff I've mentioned 300x times, is the fact that I really want to get to the later arcs, which includes the upcoming Balbadd Arc. So I'm just sitting here. Impatiently. Bc I want to be there already, y'know? Oh well.

Also, I'm considering something a little different, partially bc reading the entire arc, and then watching the entire arc is kind of... Hmmm. It is a bit tedious, I won't lie. Plus it feels kinda weird to just do it twice one after another. The idea is, then, to so it more or less at the same time: x number of chapters, then the episode that covers them. It's both because I think it'd be a better experience for me, AND because the upcoming arcs can get pretty long. Like, we're talking 45 chapters/11 episodes for the Balbadd Arc, it just makes sense not to go through it twice. No matter how much I like these arcs, it's just too fucking long to do it that way.

Anyway, PSA over, time for the actual episode.

Hello there, character who's never appeared in this anime.

I usually don't comment on this stuff, but damn, I wish more characters were allowed to have dark skin in this series. Like, it'd make more sense, like, for geography-biology reasons. But lemme tell you, Ohtaka and geography... Let's just say it's not her strong suit. Have you ever seen how she draws the world maps and the Dark Continent specifically? It makes no fucking sense. The best explanation I can provide is that it's just people imagining how the DC looks, since no one was there, as in, beyond the Rift. They're just guessing.

Anyway. Geography rant over.

In the manga their clothes look more SIndria-like bc of the lack of colors, but here you're kinda wondering. But still, my money's on Sindria bc they specifically mention that their country has no slaves, and the two notable no-slavery countries are Balbadd and Sindria. And their clothes don't look very Balbadd. Seriously, sans the colors, it looks very Sindria, actually. Then again, do all Sindria people have to wear white? So it still makes sense, I guess.

Also, seeing Leila again makes me miss Thousand Miles a bit. But that story frustrated me too much at some point. Mostly bc I've lost motivation for it, but, like, aggressively, and just kept on getting notifications for it, even though I've had some stories I was actually proud of, but nope, only that one got the attention. It became annoying over time & I ended up deleting the story completely. In case somebody recalls that story & always wondered wtf happened to it.

Mor.

Also, really, Mor, bc when Aladdin says it, it's Moru-san, but if you go with Morg it's some sort of Morugi-san. Pretty different.

Also, man, Leila's voice just dosen't fit her in my head.

Walkin.

Now I kinda realize that Alibaba's probably the only one who never met these two. Gdi, he seriously always misses out on everything.

Honestly, I really love the lightning in this anime. They make choices I disapprove of, and the animation can get damn sloppy (and art, too), but the colors are always awesome.

Also, wonder how things would've gone if Morgiana stayed with these two.

"I have to come back to my homeland. I promised that to my benefactor." NOW, MY DREAMS ARE WITHIN MY REACH-

Good moment to put the op with these words.

Honestly, I like the scenery in the anime, too.

Gdi, I seriously miss Leila. Also, in the anime she is the one to bump into Fatima.

Lonely.

Tbh, it does look pretty.

Any time Jamil appears I'm thinking abt Ohtaka writing in these extra papers stuff like "I should've talked with Master more" or that she should've tried to talk with him in general, like, god fucking dammit Ohtaka and her dumb Forgive Everything agenda.

No Goltas? -throws down the phone-

Ok, but we have Leila looking out for her, that's actually sweet.

She's offering her some herbs for nightmares, and even calls her a friend. Gdi.

Like, I get that they're probably making up for the characterization they don't have in the anime, but I'm sending it percisely bc she talks about being saved by Sahsa and a mysterious boy. Which never happened in the anime, lmao.

Still, overall, it was a very sweet moment.

MOON

But also. What is wrong with you, why are you (always) blue.

Also, cool music.

I swear, whenever I see a male character with painted lips, who happens to be a despicable person (I'd have two nickles- finish the line), I'm just like... is it lowkey transphobic or am I overthinking it... But also, I wouldn't put it past Ohtaka. I mean, with the joke about the best courtesans looking so manly etc.

Hello.

He's about to be surprised.

And he was.

Mob vs one Fanalis is a very unfair fight. They're about to be murdered.

Whoosh.

Also, I'm starting to think that maybe Ohtaka just really likes the moon aesthetic.

Listen, it's pretty damn close to the manga, I have nothing new to say, so I'm offering you some low quality Morgiana.

Ohtaka let Morgiana wreck shit she loves it 2k23. Nearly 2k24, Jesus.

Understandable reaction.

Evil birb.

He. He has the high ground.

RIP

WASTED

[untilthcyrot]

❝ You'll sue me?? ❞ Winnie busted out laughing and nudged him as best as she could, given she was cradled against his side. ❝ Maybe I should rethink this whole thing then and look into annulment. ❞ Realistically, they could think about annulling their entire marriage, given the way it was played out. The two of them had more than enough to drink before finding a chapel to tie the knot in, eloping far away from their friends and families. They could have easily resorted to panic and figured a way out of this whole thing.

But...realistically, she loved the hell out of Eddie, and this was the best "mistake" she could have made out here. As far as she was concerned, she didn't want to annul it. She wanted to stay married to him.

❝ I'm sure they'll do both, but hopefully, they won't be mad at us. ❞ She could only speak for Jude, and she saw him being disappointed he couldn't be there with her, but he was so easygoing that he'd probably get over it and be happy for his cousin, happy for them both. She smirked at Eddie's impression of his uncle. ❝ If anything, our future is going to be better because we're together. ❞ She chose to be sickly optimistic about it.

❝ People elope every day, and I'm sure most of them are fine. Some people don't even have weddings at all. They just sign papers, and they're done with the whole thing. So, you know, we can make those points, too. ❞ Maybe Winnie was a tad nervous about her family's initial reaction, too, but she had to believe they'd end up being happy for them. Eddie had a good idea, too, throwing a party for everyone to come together. She smiled and nodded her head. ❝ Oh, I like that idea. Like a reception, kind of. ❞

" good, 'cause i'll totally sue if you don't. " it feels like they never really left their honeymoon phase. a constant adoration for one && other, looking forward to seeing winnie everyday as if it was their first date all over again, mood lighting up at the sight of her like it's the first time he's laid eyes on her. && now they're actually in their honeymoon period.

a real honeymoon can wait a while after the small fortune they spent the night before. && he'll put off rummaging through his wallet for as long as possible, no need for a mood dampener yet.

" um, i wouldn't entirely bet on them for moral support. " eddie says more so jokingly than serious; if anyone would back them up, it'd be those two. though there's little to be said in defence, because the adults will have to just deal with it. " yeah, that's a good idea i guess. assuming they don't call us idiots or laugh the whole way through. "

eddie may believe they can all 'just get over it', but he can't deny it is a little nerve wracking thinking of the initial reactions. " i'm disappointed, damn stupid to fall for that vegas trap. throwin' your futures away like that. " an attempted impression of his uncle, who to his credit did warn them. && possibly won't be so harsh. better to anticipate the worst. " see, that part's over with already. we'll be fine. " but there's a slight crack in his voice, because they won't truly know until they get home. what a fun journey that'll be.

there's two more people they haven't mentioned aloud. one isn't relevant. the other is a different story. maybe winnie's mom will be delighted. maybe ... not. but there's no point overthinking how any of them will react. it won't change anything, && not worth ruining the mood.

eddie smiles as she traces circles along his skin, the sensation soothing enough to almost forget about the raging headache for a moment. " we could throw a party, if they don't try to disown us first. " a 'wedding' party would be an overstatement if it's something small. but it'd give their families the chance to celebrate if they wanted to.

[writer-in-theory]

☁️👀🛏️ Steddie

ooh thank you for the prompt nonnie!! ✨delicious✨

prompt: ☁️ enemies to lovers , 👀 forced proximity , 🛏 only one bed

build-a-blurb prompts || send me a prompt

--

When Dustin asked Steve to chaperone their Hellfire Club field trip, he should've said no.

"C'mon, man, you don't need a chaperone," Steve huffed while he rewound tapes behind the Family Video counter. "You're high schoolers, what's kind of trouble could you get into?"

"It's because of you and your stupid ex-friends we need an adult anyway," Dustin snapped back. Sometimes Steve wondered if his own attitude had been transferred to the kid. "Something about 'the Chicago incident'?"

Oh. Oh yeah, that was absolutely his fault. Steve shook his head, and despite all the bad that had turned up between them Steve still smiled fondly at the memory of his shenanigans with Tommy and Carol.

"Fine, whatever," Steve said, conceding to the blame. "If you need an adult, why can't Munson be the chaperone?"

Steve hated the fact that the kids hung out with Eddie Munson. They were familiar with each other, considering Steve had once been one of the more popular athletes in the school. Even after he'd graduated, Munson had made a point to show up to Scoops Ahoy to see the fall of Steve Harrington with his own eyes. It was safe to say they didn't get along once Steve stopped throwing parties that Eddie could sell at. And now Steve's group of monster-fighting kids had chosen to latch onto said dealer, the same guy who'd relentlessly ridiculed Steve at every opportunity (not that Steve hadn't done the same).

"Because, Steve," Dustin said with the same know-it-all tone of voice Steve hated, "Eddie's a student. We need an adult who's not a student to sit in the hotel. You don't even have to do anything."

That was how Steve got roped into driving half of the little shits to Chicago. At least Eddie was driving with the Corroded Coffin crew, so Steve didn't have to make small talk with a bunch of guys he'd never been friends with in school. Steve really didn't know how the guys got ComicCon cleared as a club field day, but the one time he questioned it Dustin had ranted for so long about sports tournaments that Steve resigned himself to never asking again.

It was fine, he told himself, and he believed it all the way up until they were pulling up to the hotel. Eddie was talking emphatically to the lady at the desk.

"What's going on?" Steve had asked.

"We're one room short," Eddie said, sighing. "It's fine, I'll stay with Gareth."

"Actually," Steve piped up. He hated being the babysitter, the rule-follower, but when he'd signed all those forms accepting responsibility for the entire group he took that responsibility. "You're 20. He's still 17. We could get in trouble for that."

"What? Dude, we've crashed on each others' couches all the time."

"Maybe, but this is a school-sanctioned event."

"Yeah? Well tell me, Harrington, where the hell am I sleeping tonight?"

Eddie had a point. Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose when the answer became obvious. "With me, man, you're sleeping in my room."

They both fought it, but ultimately, this was the only answer that would fly with the school. So Steve and Eddie packed up their bags and headed up to the hotel room—where only one bed awaited them.

"I'm not sleeping with you," Eddie says automatically, flipping his bag up onto the bed.

"Then have fun on the couch," Steve snaps back, shoving the bag back off of the bed.

"I'm older than you."

"I'm the one in charge."

"You sign one piece of paper and you get a God complex? Leave it to Harrington to be that desperate to feel important," Eddie says, every ounce of vitriol he can muster up slipping through with his words.

"Just go the fuck to sleep, I don't care where. It's been a long day, man," Steve sighs finally, shucking off his shirt and tossing it somewhere in the general direction of where he'd dropped his bag.

It would be a long weekend.

[randomshyperson]

Palm Springs - Leigh Shaw

All Works Masterlist

Summary: In Palm Springs, Leigh meets you. The season one finale re-imagined.

Warnings: (+18), smut, cursing, dom!reader, bottom!leigh, explicit language, explicit consent, brief mentions of harassment, fluff, brief rivalry dynamics, hopeful ending.

Words: 5.378K

Notes: My love, @abimess, this is my apologies for you. I kept mistaken "Wanda" instead of "Leigh" at some points in the writing, but it all worked out in the end. I hope you all enjoy the read, this is my first time writing for this character.

//-//

You threw the signed divorce papers against the passenger seat, ignoring the thick tears that welled up in your eyes.

Raising your hand, you turned up the radio and kept driving. Your cell phone started ringing the next moment, but you ignored it. It was probably Bucky or Steve calling to find out where you were after your little outburst at the company fundraiser.

Honestly, it wasn't your fault. You were handling it all very well, but Carol decided it would be a good idea to give you the divorce papers while you were surrounded by your closest friends, and that was the trigger. But now you were driving to Palm Springs, finally taking the damn vacation your ex-wife had put you through so much hell to get, but now, the seat next to you was empty.

It took a few hours to get there, since the complex is in New York, but you didn't care, having spent most of the way trying to understand how you managed to lose a woman like Carol Danvers.

No bags, you ignored the curious look one of the hotel staff gave you as soon as you pulled into the parking lot, smiling slightly as you took off your sunglasses and asked for directions to the front desk.

You frowned slightly as you were almost run over.

"Watch where you're going!" You shouted angrily at the driver, and the woman returned you the same angry look. Great, you've barely arrived and you almost died. This weekend was promising.

Stepping back, you waited for the woman to drive, not failing to give her a wry smile as she passed you. After this, you walked to the reception desk, and the area was quite full, which was normal for a weekend.

"Reservation in the name Danvers." You said to the receptionist after the greetings. He smiled as he checked the information.

"Valentine's suite, I see." He commented cheerfully. "Shall I prepare a second key for your partner?"

"It's just going to be me, buddy." You grumble, ignoring the uneasy feeling in your stomach. The man smiles awkwardly, but doesn't apologize.

After checking in, you go up to the third floor.

The room makes you sigh with disgust, the flowers and chocolates give you a headache. It takes ten minutes to find a chambermaid and ask her to remove all the decorations.

While your room is being cleaned, you decide to buy something to wear, since you didn't bring anything to spend the weekend at the hotel.

"Good morning." You mumble the greeting as you enter the gift store, your gaze wandering around.

"How can I help you, dear?" The saleswoman asks politely, smiling at you.

"I need something to wear for the two days I'm staying. It was a last-minute trip." You tell her, and the saleswoman looks surprised, but doesn't comment.

The woman eventually showed you the summer shirt section, and you sighed softly as you looked through the options. She walked away to attend to another customer, and you left your attention to the clothes.

A moment later, you picked out a few pieces and turned to talk to the saleswoman, only to run into the woman who had almost run you over earlier looking at the book section.

"You again." You let it slip not so low, attracting the woman's attention. She frowns for a second, and then she recognizes you. But before she can say anything, the saleswoman is speaking.

"Oh, you two know each other already?" She asks excitedly. "It's amazing how we can find friends here in Palm Springs isn't it?"

"We're not friends." You both inform at the same moment, and you squeeze your eyes shut slightly. The woman straightens her posture, pressing the book lightly against her chest as you switch the shirts on your arm. The saleswoman's curious expression prompts you to speak.

"Actually, she almost killed me." You say. "It was going to be quite a headline for this hotel. I'd be careful about the people you guys host around here."

The saleswoman looks at you with confusion, while the other woman lets out a dry laugh.

"You're the one who walked across in the middle of the street!" she defends herself. "It's not my fault if you weren't taught how to cross the street in school."

"Oh, so it's the victim's fault now?" You retort and the woman looks at you incredulously. A third customer enters the store and stares curiously at the argument, but the saleswoman is quick to gesture between you, smiling wryly.

"Oh come on, I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding" The saleswoman remarks and you sustain the annoyed look the other woman is casting at you. "There's no need for an argument."

"Of course not." The woman says forcing a smile, but her posture remains aggressive. "We are both civilized adults."

You bite your tongue to avoid another provocation, looking away from the green irises in front of you.

"Of course you are." The saleswoman says smiling, and then her gaze catches the shirts hanging from your forearm and she lets out a light exclamation. "Come on, I can finalize your purchase if that's all, dear."

You turn toward the cashier next, and it is only after you have paid for the clothes and are leaving that you see the other woman again on your way back, but she does not look away from the books to you. You couldn't care less.

//-//

In your room, you can't resist the urge to look at your phone.

Bucky has called five times. And Steve even sent you an email. You sigh weakly, feeling guilty as you catch a glimpse of Tony and Natasha's message notifications.

Your friends didn't care that you started crying in the middle of the meeting you were at because your ex-wife decided to bring a sensitive topic like the end of your five-year marriage to the table, but you were hating yourself for it.

At this point, you didn't even know what you had been crying about anymore. You and Carol had always had a difficult relationship, and since you got married, you began to wonder why you had done it in the first place.

You loved her so much when you first met her, and then everything gradually broke down. The lack of compatibility, the jealousy and possessiveness, and the lack of time. Carol was a soldier in the army, and you were a Shield special agent, and your jobs took up a lot of your schedules. But you knew that this was just another empty excuse. After all, your best friend, Natasha, was also an agent, as was her wife, and they made everything work properly.

Maybe things were meant to happen that way. That didn't mean it didn't hurt.

After taking a shower, you grumble lightly as you realize that you forgot to buy a bathing suit. And well, everything special about Palm Springs was the magnificent pools.

You figured the shorts and top you had would have to fit.

The pools were considerably more crowded than the rest of the hotel, and this was probably due to the current temperature.

You decided to buy a drink before sunbathing, realizing that most of the chairs were occupied.

The bartender was a pretty girl and smiled mischievously at you when her gaze fell on your collarbone exposed by the cut of your shirt, but you just gave her a half-hearted smile. Being newly divorced wasn't exactly the best scenario for flirting.

"What can I get you?" The woman asked as she rested her hands on the counter in front of her. You bit your lip thoughtfully, running your eyes down one of the menus left on the wood.

"Honestly, I don't know anything here." You say. "But I would like something sweet."

It takes a few minutes for her to prepare a drink for you, and you thank her as you accept.

As you sip a drink that tastes like strawberries and condensed milk, you look around the surroundings.

You frown slightly as you recognize the woman from the store, watching her sit in one of the chairs that has just been emptied in front of the bar. She doesn't notice you, but you notice her exposed legs, mentally scolding yourself for doing so.

As you take another sip of your drink, your tongue getting used to the sugary sweetness, a man approaches the stranger in front of you. From this proximity, you can hear the conversation, or rather the small harassment that he was doing.

Rolling your eyes at the stranger's clearly offensive attempt to approach the other woman, you force yourself to get up and walk over to them.

Well, Nat always said that you were a person with a natural talent for theater and you wish she were here now to see the little scene you caused.

Pretending to trip over the sunshade support, you made a sudden movement and knocked your entire drink against the man's collarbone, who let out an exclamation of anger and surprise as he stood up.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" You asked in a falsely guilty tone, forcing an expression of shock. Before he could say anything, you were already grabbing one of the towels left on the little tables beside the chairs and throwing it harder than necessary against the man's face. "Here, honey, clean yourself up."

The man blinked in surprise, and glared angrily at you for a second before muttering "whatever" and turning to leave. When he was already a safe distance away, you turned your face to look at the seated woman.

"Sorry about your book." You speak as you notice that the spilled drink has dripped a little on the pages. "But if you ask me, the ending sucks."

"Thanks, I guess." The woman mumbles not keeping her gaze on you. "I didn't need you to help me, by the way." She adds and you roll your eyes, realizing that the chair next to her got empty after your little commotion. When you sit down, she raises her gaze to you in disbelief.

"Who said I was helping you?" You retort. "I love throwing expensive drinks at strangers."

Your joke elicits a nasal chuckle from the woman, who softens her posture.

"If you want to lose money, I suggest donating rather than wasting it." She teases back and you bite back a smile, shaking your head slightly. When she opens the book again and leans her back against the chair, clearly deciding to ignore your presence, you copy the position, but stand with your arms folded across your chest and close your eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun against your skin.

You are tired from the trip, and eventually fall asleep. When you open your eyes again, the woman is no longer there.

//-//

Since you have napped until the afternoon, there is no chance you will sleep early. You try to distract yourself with television, but most of the programs are pay-per-view and you have probably already exceeded all the limits that a Shield salary can afford, so you decide to spend some time on the activities included in your weekend bundle.

After putting on a shirt to join the lobby, you take the elevator down and step out into the outdoor area, not surprised to find the place as busy as before. The difference is perhaps the lack of children because of the time of day.

You walk toward the bar and roll your eyes slightly when you notice the same man as before being loud and boisterous along with a small group partying near the place. But you ignore them as you sit down on the first stool you find.

"Well, if it isn't my knight in white armor." A female voice comments wryly beside you, surprising you mildly. You look at the woman with a raised eyebrow, but she is looking straight ahead.

"So you expect me to call you a princess? We don't even know each other." You retort in the same tone, and watch the woman bite back a smile, rolling her eyes slightly.

You stand in silence while you order a drink, this time smiling in the same way that the bartender smiles at you. While you wait, you can' t help but look over to the side.

"You know, I think I might need to get your name." You begin in a tone of false seriousness, not knowing why you want to pull conversation with the stranger, but doing it anyway. "Since I need to know who to sue for attempted hit-and-run."

The woman laughs lightly, and as she sets her drinking glass back down on the counter, she turns her body toward you, without getting up.

"The smart thing then wouldn't be to say my name, don't you think?" She retorts with amusement in her voice. "That way I avoid a lawsuit."

You smile in a corner, shaking your head slightly. You lean your arm on the counter, and it takes a moment for her to speak again.

"I'm Leigh."

"No last name so I can't find your ID, right?" You tease and she smiles, licking her lips for a moment. "Well, I won't tell you mine either then." You comment before telling her only your first name, and she laughs lightly. "May I at least know your profession? Or, I don't know, where you're from? I need that information to track you down."

You joke, and Leigh makes a thoughtful expression for a moment.

"I'm from everywhere actually." She says mysteriously. "Because I'm an international jewel thief."

You smile at the mixed tone of seriousness and playfulness in her speech, respecting her right not to want to tell you the truth, and acknowledging the identity she chooses to assume.

"Oh, really?" You ask joining in the joke. "And let me guess, your disguise happens to be as a fashion stylist, right? And you have a red motorcycle and deadly poison hidden in your lipstick?"

Leigh holds back her laughter, nodding.

"I can't confirm any of that information, actually." She says. "After all, a little incident happened and I wasn't able to finish the story."

You laugh at the teasing, taking a sip of your drink. Before the moment of silence lasts any longer, you ask if you can approach. When Leigh consents, you take the seat next to her.

"And what do you do?" she asks as soon as you sit down. You clear your throat lightly.

"I'm a secret agent, actually." You tell her and from the woman's expression, she still believes you are joking. You do not correct yourself however. "Lasers and villains, the whole story."

Leigh smiles, murmuring in understanding.

"And what is a secret agent doing in Palm Springs?" She asks next and you assume a dramatically thoughtful expression.

"I got a hint actually." You reply. "A jewel thief, fugitive from the government. I'm trying to gather information to effect her arrest."

Leigh fakes an expression of horror making you laugh.

"If I see anything suspicious, I'll give you a heads up." She jokes and you smile, enjoying the whole thing. Before you can add anything else, the small group next to the bar let out loud laughter and they attract your and Leigh's attention.

You frown slightly when you witness the guy from earlier whistling at one of the hotel staff, the people with him finding his little scene of harassment funny.

"I guess a drink in the face isn't enough for some idiots." You comment and Leigh sighs mildly. She looks at you at the same moment you look at her.

"Maybe more drinks will be enough."

That's how you end up doing a little mischief that involves distracting the stranger with comments about his muscles while Leigh approaches and manages to get the man's card. When you walk away, after she hands the bartender the hotel ID after ordering a round for everyone at the bar on the stranger's behalf, you were laughing.

"I'm beginning to believe your thief story." You amused comment as soon as you and Leigh reach the trail out of the bar area. She just smiles at your words. You clear your throat next. "I guess I need to show off my secret agent skills then."

Leigh looks at you curiously, but you just smile as you nod in the direction of the gardens.

You walk for a few minutes in silence, and you remember everything you have observed since you arrived at the hotel, and are able to find the small opening in the fence that you saw some staff members pass through in the afternoon.

"Please, milady." You joke as you make room for Leigh to cross the path first, and she rolls her eyes with amusement before doing so.

You end up in some kind of unfinished private garden, but one that is still very pretty.

Perhaps it is an area under construction for some kind of party, as it has a stage set up in the center and some folded chairs scattered about.

Your attention falls immediately to the piano that has also been set up high on the dark stage.

"How did you find this place?" Leigh asks as she looks around, and you walk past her to get on the stage, eliciting a giggle.

"Field study, of course." You reply with false seriousness. " A secret agent never goes anywhere without studying the whole place first."

Leigh murmurs in agreement, deciding to follow you to the stage. You take a seat on the piano bench while she remains standing in front of the organ.

"Do you have any requests?" You ask looking down at your fingers as she studies your face.

"Old Mac Donald had a Farm." She replies and you choke on a laugh.

"And I thought your taste in music was as good as your fashion sense." You tease causing her to raise an eyebrow.

"Is that your way of complimenting what I'm wearing?" She retorts but you just bite back a smile, moving your fingers across the keys.

You decide to play a melody that she may not recognize, but is exactly what you feel you should play.

When the first notes of " Spring - Ludovico Einaudi" echo in the room, Leigh looks at you in surprise, but you just smile.

It takes a moment for her to surround the piano, and to sit down next to you. You continue to play, enjoying the sound and concentrating not to misplay the notes.

When you make a particularly fast movement on the piano, Leigh looks at you impressed, but you just push your shoulder lightly against hers, smiling. Neither of you regains the distance from before, and you continue to play.

When you finish, you are silent for a moment.

"Where did you learn to do that?" She asks in her low, impressed tone as you both look down at your hands on the keys. You sigh slightly, moving your fingers away and placing your hands in your lap.

"I used to play when I was a kid." You reply. "Before I was a secret agent, of course."

Leigh smiles, biting her lips lightly. You look away from the movement, to her hands quickly.

"Let me show you." You whisper as you reach out your hand to hers. When she accepts, you position her fingers on the keys, and then fit your hand on top of hers. "You start like this."

The sound is far from perfect, and Leigh laughs every time she misses a note, so you don't really care.

You stay like this for a few minutes, until you can get her to complete five notes without making a mistake.

"See? You' re almost a pianist already." You comment with a smile, looking at her face. She mimics your movement, and you feel your heart skip a beat from the closeness.

You feel the tension build in the room, but before you can think of doing anything, a male voice is breaking the spell.

"Sorry, but this area is for employees only." Informs the young man from the hotel, seeming slightly embarrassed to interrupt. You and Leigh quickly walk away, standing up and muttering an apology in unison to the guy, who waits until you leave by the trail he guides.

When you reach the entrance to the social area again, the employee closes the gate, waving slightly. You and Leigh exchange amused smiles.

"So... what do you want to do now?" You ask the next moment, wanting to prolong the evening.

"I want to swim." She declares and you frown slightly, then shrug. You nod in the direction of the pools and you exchange a glance before starting to walk.

//-//

At the edge of the pool, you sigh slightly.

You exchange a look with Leigh, standing next to you, and then you laugh softly as you both begin to undress.

You can't resist the urge to look at her, especially since she jumps in first and you catch a glimpse of her body covered only by a bikini. Ignoring your uncompensated heartbeat, you jump into the water next.

It's a good thing the water was cold, because you are feeling your face and body heat up at the way Leigh looks at you.

Trying to lighten the mood, you swim around her, casually meeting her gaze again as she mimics the movement.

You laugh lightly when you realize that you are swimming in circles around each other, and decide to stop. Leigh swims in front of you a moment later.

"Hello, superspy." She greets you almost in a whisper waving her arms to continue on the surface in front of you.

"Hello, international thief." You speak back in the same tone, your gazes locked on each other.

You wonder if she would like you to break the distance, as her gaze has lowered to your lips for a few seconds. But before you can surrender to this urge, she takes a step back.

"I'm cold."

And then she swims away, and you wonder if you have taken the whole thing the wrong way.

Following her a little way back, you look for towels.

//-//

"Which floor are you on?" You ask as you reach the elevators, each with a towel around your body. You watch Leigh tighten her arms against herself slightly.

"Second." She replies half-heartedly, and you nod.

"Let's go together then."

She gets into the elevator first, and after she presses the button, you stand next to her, your back against the wall.

The tension is back the moment the doors close, but after the pool, you find it best not to take any action, not wishing to make Leigh uncomfortable.

You reach her floor a moment later, and when she doesn't leave, you hold your breath.

You risk a corner-of-your-eye glance at her, but she continues to stare straight ahead, sighing slightly.

Trying not to look like a complete mess, you wait for your floor to arrive.

//-//

The way down the hallway is silent, and despite your nervousness, you don't fumble to open your room.

Leigh enters first, and strides into the room as you close the door.

She stops in the center, her gaze scanning around for a moment before returning to you. You hold your breath, and then she lets the set of clothes in her hands fall to the floor.

You bite back a smile, mimicking the movement. Taking a deep breath, you do the same with your towel, and ignore the heat in your cheeks as Leigh's gaze descends to your body covered only by your underwear.

She removes the towel at your waist next, and you stare at her exposed legs for a moment before moving slowly toward her.

You smile shyly as you stop in front of her, and it takes a second for you to slowly lift your fingers to touch her, tracing the outline of her arm and watching her skin shiver.

"Everything okay?" You ask softly raising your gaze from where your fingers were touching to her eyes. Leigh sighs, shaking her head in agreement. You give her a short smile, placing your hand on her cheek, and watching her lean into the touch slightly. "Use your words." You ask in a whisper, your other hand repeating the motion of your fingers from before, even more slowly.

"Y-yes." She confirms half breathlessly. "And you?"

"Yes." You say, your hand reaching for the strap of her bikini. "I'm going to kiss you now, Leigh."

She nods in understanding, sighing heavily. You didn't correctly calculate how attracted you were to her, because the moment your lips touched, you felt your head spin and it was hard not to push her against the bed immediately.

You both sigh against the kiss, and you slide your tongue into her mouth next, your hand on her face running down to her neck, deepening the kiss even more.

Leigh seems hesitant to touch you for the first second, but then she gasps against your tongue, and brings her hands to your shoulders, bringing one of them up to the back of your neck and scratching the skin, making you sigh.

With the hand that was on the bikini strap, you use your fingers to pull the strap down, and with the other hand you repeat the movement on the other side. When the bikini falls to the floor, your hands go down to her waist, and you pull her toward you.

Leigh gasps at the contact of your breasts bumping together, breaking the kiss with a wet sigh, and you take the opportunity to move your mouth down her collarbone, enjoying the sounds you manage to get out of her whenever you bite her sensitive skin softly.

You lean against her to lower your kisses to her breasts, and when your mouth finds the hardened nipple, she arches her back, closing her eyes as her fingers force your head forward against her breast.

"Oh." She moans as she feels you suck on her nipple, your other hand moving up to give her other breast due attention, your fingers playing with the tip. " Oh, fuck, that feels good."

You smile against her skin, feeling your core tighten with the sounds you are tearing out of her.

When your hand on her waist moves down to her ass, squeezing the flesh and pressing Leigh's hips against yours as your mouth continues on her breast, she moans loudly as she throws her head back, shuddering against you.

It's enough to make you lose control. You need to know how she tastes.

Gasping, you move your kisses down again, and Leigh holds her breath as you get down on your knees.

You kiss her thighs first, while your hands pull down the fabric of her panties.

When the fabric falls away completely, you swallow dry, your gaze glazed on the exposed intimacy of the woman in front of you, your mouth salivating to taste her.

"I-I'm gonna fall." She comments shyly, and you notice how her knees are already shaky. You take a deep breath, forcing yourself to stand up.

You take Leigh by the hand to your bed, and she stands there, making you smile. You move forward against her mouth again, and she sighs, almost losing her balance from the intensity.

"Lie down." You ask between one kiss and another, making her moan softly. "Spread your legs for me."

Leigh gasps against your lips as you slip your fingers through her folds for a moment, before pulling away until she obeys. You bite your lips as you watch her lie down.

Before you join her, you remove the rest of your clothes. Leigh's cheeks redden, but you give her no time to register this, climbing onto the bed with your knee between her legs and kissing her again.

As she begins to squirm beneath you for more friction, you move your kisses down her body.

She closes her eyes when your mouth is at the level of her belly, breathing hard.

When your tongue touches her pussy, you both moan loudly. You are amazed at how wet and hot she feels, the taste filling all your senses. And Leigh bites her lips to stop herself from moaning out in pleasure when your tongue begins to move against her clit, sucking and licking her devotedly and making her whimper.

"F-fuck." She moans breathlessly, her hips thrusting into your mouth. "Yeah...right there... don't stop..."

You lift your hands to her thighs, holding her open. Your own intimacy pulsing from the way Leigh is surrendered to you and the sounds she gives you.

Keeping the strokes of your tongue as deep as you can and being sure to press your clitoris in return, you feel her pussy tighten and Leigh's body begins to quiver in spasms.

"I-I'm... close... fuck..." she begins to whimper disconnected words, long moans escaping her throat. It takes only two more strokes for her to come on your tongue, her moan loud enough to be heard in the next room, but neither of you care.

You drink all of her cum, enjoying the taste and feeling on edge, without even having been touched yet.

Moving up your kisses again, you deposit slow kisses against Leigh's skin, waiting for her to recover from her own orgasm.

When you reach her mouth, she kisses you back with the same intensity.

You just know you're not going to sleep early tonight.

//-//

When you wake up, your bed is empty. You are surprised by this, really.

The night was very good. Much better than any one-night stand you have ever had.

After getting dressed by finding your articles of clothing, you walk to the front desk.

It takes a few minutes to find Leigh, and you frown when you realize from the bag in her hands, the documents, and the car key that she is leaving.

"Wow, you weren't even going to leave a note." You tease as you catch up with her. She is startled by your sudden presence, but forces a smile.

"Look, I'm sorry..." she starts but you shake your head.

"No need." You interrupt by putting your hands in your pockets and shrugging. "It was just one night after all."

"Yes." She reaffirms what you say, staring at you. You hold her gaze, and a long minute later she sighs. "No, it wasn't."

You swallow dryly, watching her. She seems conflicted about something, her expression going from worried to guilty in a few seconds, and then she takes a deep breath and shakes her head before looking at you again.

"I can't." She says, and you sigh lightly. "I just... can't."

"It's okay." You decide to say, ignoring the way your stomach is flipping with nervousness or your heart is racing. "We are civilized adults, aren't we?"

Leigh smiles, and you watch her eyes water for a moment before she quickly hides her emotion. You feel the same way.

" This is a goodbye." Leigh says next, and you look away to the floor, nodding in understanding.

"Goodbye, Leigh. It was nice meeting you." You say as you look at her again, forcing a smile even though your eyes are watering.

She smiles, approaching to kiss your cheek close enough to your lips to make you shiver. She doesn't pull away immediately, raising her mouth to the height of your ear, she whispers "I left a note." and before you can understand what has been said to you, she is gone.

It is only at the end of the day, many hours after she has left, and you are already inside your car that you rummage in your pants pocket looking for the car key that you find the note.

It is a piece torn from the page of the book "Unmoored in milan", the paper stained with drink. In the corner, in cursive letters it is written. "to my favorite secret agent. Leigh Shaw, Los Angeles."

You smiled at the words, and as you were driving back to New York, you wondered how long it would take Natasha to find out Leigh's phone number.

//-//

Tag list> @imapotatao / @aimezvousbrahms/ @ensorcellme/ @helloalycia

@mionemymind / @abimess / @stephanieromanoff / @yourtaletotell / @tomy5girls / @justagaypanicking / @thegayw1tch / @idek-5 // @myperfectlovepoem // @HELLOALYCIA // @ENSORCELLME // @AIMEZVOUSBRAHMS // @drpepperobsessed // @sighsam // @olsensnpm

// @sxfwap // @table57

[snowshowerwriting]

Hello Snow,

I have a Hero x Villain request if want, hopefully it isn't too confusing

Villain is Hero's boss in their civilian jobs

When they both found this out, Villain was very happy about it because they used their position to annoy the hell out of Hero and Hero can't do anything about it

hehe

Annie :)

Hero hated every second of this. Villain could tell. Villain could also tell that Hero had no idea that their greatest nemesis stood right in front of their desk, holding a new stack of paperwork with the most shit-eating grin ever.

"These papers just came in from Co-worker," Villain said, placing the stack with a satisfying smack. Almost immediately, they could see Hero hold back a groan of frustration. "Co-worker requested for these to be done in..." Villain paused, glancing down at the watch ticking on their wrist. "Ah, tomorrow by lunch. It was for some report," Villain looked up, tucking their hands into the neat slacks. They watched with patient eyes as Hero only got more riled up over the time limit.

"What, you can't be serious?!" Hero huffed miserably, running a hand through their hair. They looked at the packets of papers, before looking at Villain with a desperation that the criminal absolutely ate up. No way Hero would look that upset at them in a battle. Hero had this tendency to be much too patient and focused on their tasks, which only annoyed Villain. Their existence as a villain was to bother and pester Hero till they exploded, though their attempts at their battles had only failed to do that.

That is until Villain had discovered that Hero had been one of their recently employed Civilian. Ever since then, Villain had made it their personal job to push around Hero and see how much the beloved hero could take before some sort of reaction happened. It was surprisingly, honestly, that Hero hadn't already caught Villain. They had been dropping hints both in work at the office and during their fights. Hero wouldn't even have realized that they were Villain unless Villain explicitly told them at this point.

"I've worked the entire day on these two projects already! Co-worker can't give me these reports," Hero almost yelled these words, rubbing their temple. They glanced briefly at the clock on their desk and groaned. "My shift ends in literally one hour, Boss. I cannot work overtime again," they plead, looking up at Villain.

Villain hummed, crossing their arms over their chest and leaning back on their heels. "Work is work. I believe you said it yourself. Work is important. You cannot push away the duties given to you, then you'd let your efforts die in vain." A signature smirk of Villain's curled up their lips.

They could tell Hero recognized that- the stupid smirk of theirs. And even more so, that quote. The one Hero had said, specifically in front of Villain three days ago. Villain watched as Hero fumbled around for words, scrambling to stand up.

"You- what- no way-" they gasped, raking a hand through their hair. Their eyes glanced around their environment. Their colleagues were all away from their office for the moment. "No, no, no, no."

"Aw, Hero, don't be that sad. I may be all terrifying after work, but seeing as we're not on the rooftops, I'd rather not have you throwing fists my way." Hero looked like a kicked puppy as they sank into their seat, looking at their work, and then at Villain with wide eyes. Villain hummed, more than amused at Hero's response. "I hope to see you at the get-together tomorrow, though. Perhaps then I may spare you the paperwork," they chuckled, tapping the papers stacked upon the desk before leaving with a satisfied smirk.

This was in my drafts for so long but OH BOY once I started writing, it was fun

[rendevousz]

mum?

mother figure!nat x fem!teen!reader

avengers x reader

req by @teenwonder ; i absolutely love the entire teams adoration for reader skfksngnsf its so cute! could i please request one a little more nat based? maybe r treats and loves nat like a mom but nat hadn’t noticed that before, and the whole team is like listing examples of how and why 🥺🥺🥺

summary: the four times you needed nat and the one time she admits that she needed you too.

warnings: blood, a random attack out of nowhere because i'm not creative, inaccurate writing of medical situations because i have no idea how those things work, also let's just pretend bruce was around during iron man 2 when tony still had palladium in his arc reactor, also inaccurate descriptions of palladium effects bcs i just...don't know much about palladium pls forgive me thanks, and idk any hospitals in new york/manhattan or even the states LMAO so uh bear with this, and last but not least, my inability to write good endings

word count: 5426

notes: that's a long ass warning nevertheless pls do enjoy this fic <3

"i'm going now, bye!" you bid the team who were having breakfast together, walking out of the common area.

"bye, cupcake! don't get into trouble, don't do what i'd do and definitely don't do what i wouldn't do." tony advised and you rolled your eyes because tony says that to you every morning before you leave for school.

"wait, don't forget your lunch!" nat stands up from her seat and grabs your lunch that she had packed, from the kitchen island, bringing it over to you. "thanks, nat!" you grabbed it, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before leaving.

nat smiles at the action, turning around to walk back to her spot on the table, only to find the team staring back at her with knowing looks.

"what?"

"you know, you only need to sign a couple papers and the kid's all yours." tony states matter-of-factly. nat snaps her head towards the man, an incredulous look on her face. "what are you talking about?"

"we all see the longing looks on both your faces. she's dying for you to call her your daughter and you, her mother." clint explains and the others nodded in agreement.

"that's nonsense. she has wanda too," nat reasons, sitting back down. "i'm pretty sure she sees wanda as a sister considering how much she drags wanda with her whenever she's causing trouble around the tower." steve raises his brows at the redhead who was in denial.

"she sees you as her mother, nat. just accept it," wanda tells her, taking a sip from her glass. "really? name me one time she showed it." nat challenges them, not knowing that they've been watching your interactions with her for the longest time.

"you have no idea what you just got yourself into, romanoff," clint chuckles, cracking his neck and knuckles as if preparing for a fight.

"remember new mexico?" he smirks and nat only frowns, trying to remember.

i.

"no!" you screamed, dropping down to the ground. you didn't care that you scraped your knees doing that, the only thing that mattered was the overwhelming feeling of grief engulfing your whole being. tears streamed down your face as you looked at the debris on the ground, the remainder of what used to be standing in front of you; a building. blown up, now in ruins.

clint, bucky and steve watched you break down in front of them, their hearts breaking at the sight in front of them as well as the fact that their teammate had been caught up in the middle of the explosion.

"y/n/n? come on, tony's team called for back up. we gotta go," steve tried to get you to stand up, failing when you kept your ground. you screamed when he tried again and their hearts clenched at the heartbreaking sound.

"we can't just leave her! please, we have to find her," you cried, clinging onto steve's body as he ran his hand up and down your suit-cladded back to soothe you. "y/n/n, we can't. the whole place is in ruins now," he didn't want to say it but he had to. he had to in order to get you to leave. "she's gone."

"she can't be gone! she can't just leave us! we need her! i need her, stevie.." you cried into his chest and he had to control himself so he didn't cry right then and there too.

he looked up to see bucky looking at the two of you guiltily, tapping his wrist to indicate that they were running out of time. steve had no choice but to carry you in his arms, getting you to leave the site against your will. but you were too weak to fight back now. "what am i gonna do without her now, stevie?" you asked quietly.

"we're gonna be okay, y/n/n," he tells you, sitting you down on a chair and settling down next to you as clint flew the jet to your next location. the atmosphere was tense and you could tell everyone, too, was sad about this.

"what if we're not? what if we're not gonna be okay, stevie? i know i won't be." you wiped the tears streaming down your face despite the fact that your face still wasn't drying up any time soon.

"because nat wouldn't want to see us like this. she'll be angry if she sees that we're risking people's lives just because of her." he says truthfully.

"we're landing, guys." clint announces and the team prepared for another round of fighting. steve turns to you, wiping the tears on your face as he made you look up at him. "now let's save some people and make nat proud, yeah?"

you nod at him sadly, preparing your weapons. all of you got out the jet and the second battle of the day begun. boy, were these people unlucky because they were on the receiving end of your fury.

you were busy taking down a group of guards alone when you heard a familiar voice. "y/n, behind you!" and you turned just in time to take down a guard who was aiming at you.

you didn't even have time to register your shock of seeing the redhead because more guards came at you two. you guys fought alongside each other until all the men were taken down.

"nat?" you breathed out. "yes, bub?" she answers as you both carefully walked over the knocked out men. she was taken aback when you slammed into her, hugging her the tightest you ever did since you met her.

"please don't ever do that again." you mumbled into her chest. she was about to ask you what you meant when she heard you sniffling. figuring out it wasn't the appropriate moment to ask, she continued to just hug and comfort you in silence.

"wait, that was why she cried that day? because she thought i was in that building when it blew up?" nat asks after steve finished the story. "i never found out why because she never told me."

"yeah, you should've seen her when the building exploded. completely shattered my heart, dude." clint states, remembering the broken down state you were in that day.

"wait, did you guys not grief over my supposed death then?" nat glares at clint, bucky and steve. "in our defense, they were about to blow up about a hundred people, we didn't have much time to process the whole situation." clint tries to convince his best friend, only to receive a glare again from her.

"alright but just because she cried when she thought i was dead, doesn't mean she sees me as her mum. i'd cry too if any one of you guys died," she states, still in denial.

she did love you like how a mother would love her child. but she didn't want you to feel that she was forcing the title onto you. after all, you had so many other adults around you, who's to say that you saw someone else as a parent figure instead of her? she didn't want to make you uncomfortable.

"woman, are you serious?" sam exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air dramatically. "need i remind you that the girl sacrificed her life for you?"

ii.

"nat, watch out!" you stood right behind her where the man was about to attack her. you gave him a harsh kick to the head and that was all it took for the man to go unconscious.

the redhead turned around, not having enough time to comprehend what had happened before you dropped into her arms. you two were lucky the last of the men had already been taken out.

"bub? what's wrong?"

at this point, you were fully leaning against her. she was holding up your whole weight, hands wrapped around your middle to support you. that was when she felt it. the familiar thick substance on her fingers, leaking from the back of your suit.

her eyes widened, pulling one hand away from you to look at it. red. her breathing picked up as one of her hands felt around your back, finally feeling the handle of a knife sticking out from your back.

your eyes were already drooping by now and she lightly shook you awake, careful to not hurt you. she lowered you down and you were both sat on the floor now.

she presses a finger to her ear and you could hear her voice echo in your ear from your own comms. "can someone come please," she paused, exhaling shakily. "y/n's down."

if it had been any other person, she probably would be bringing them to the jet by now but it was you. she didn't know what came over her but when she saw that you were injured, it was like her whole body shut down. her knees felt weak and she couldn't bring herself to move.

"hey, hey, keep your eyes open. can you do that?" she asked gently and you nodded weakly. "bub, why did you do that?" she cried softly, moving your hair away from your face as you leaned sideways against her. the action caused your face to be smudged by your own blood from her hands but she didn't care as she caressed your cheek.

"he–he was gonna hurt you. i–i couldn't..." you paused a while, the pain getting too much for you to bear. "y/n, don't strain yourself. you need to stay awake," she tells you as tears streamed down her face.

"rather me than you," you whispered. nat's eyes widened at this. "don't say that, bub." she scolds gently.

you smiled weakly at her. "i've grown too dependent on you, nat. it's to the point that i," you coughed and nat worried that you were straining yourself but you continued. "that i'd rather die than live without you. you probably can go on with life without me but i can't without you. i need you, nat." your eyes closed and nat panics, shaking your body.

"y/n?! bub?! stay awake, please, they're coming!" nat cries out loud, holding onto your limp body.

"did we not agree to not mention that to me anymore?" nat glares at sam for bringing that up.

the night of that incident had been one of the worst nights for nat. she sat by your bed all night after you had been treated. she had been the first one you saw after you woke up. she had been the one you broke down in front of after you admitted the full reasoning behind your actions. she had been the one who opened her arms for you to make yourself at home in.

"i'm sorry but you must be blind if you can't see how really she sees you for the past years," bucky states. nat turns to him with a glare. "you don't know what you're talking about."

"oh really? who does she call whenever she has a really bad nightmare?" bucky questions rhetorically with his eyebrows raised.

iii.

"no, please, don't!" you begged, asleep and thrashing around in your bed. quiet whimpers turned into heavy breathing as you plead for your life in your nightmare. "please," you whispered, inhaling and exhaling harshly.

FRIDAY, noticing the amount of distress you were in, alerted the closest person to your room, that being bucky who was returning from a late night trip to the kitchen for some water.

he quickly went into your room, only to see you shivering and thrashing around in your bed. "doll?" he approaches slowly, finding you still asleep, though sweating a lot. nightmare, he realised.

"doll? wake up," he gently shakes you and you immediately jolt awake, breathing heavily as you register what was going on. "it's okay, it was just a nightmare," he soothes you, holding you close as one hand rubbed up and down your back while the other held your head to his chest.

none of that helped as you were still in the same state as you were when you woke up. "are you okay?" he asks, worried. "nat... i need nat.. please i need her," you whimpered, shaking in his hold. you were having trouble breathing.

"FRIDAY, get romanoff."

within minutes, nat arrived, looking panicked and disheveled like she had just woken up, which she just did. "what's wrong?" she asks bucky, approaching you two.

"she was having a nightmare and woke up and i think she's having a panic attack. she asked for you," he informs her and immediately moves away when she approaches, so that she could take his place.

"bub? it's me," you look up to meet natasha's pretty green eyes. "you're okay, bub. can you tell me five thing you can see?"

you looked away from her eyes, looking around your room. "i–i see my book on my nightstand, my lamp, my jacket on the chair, my laptop and the painting on the wall." you told her after some difficulties.

"good, that's good. four things you can feel?"

"i feel the socks on my feet, my fluffy blanket, the pillow i'm leaning on and your hands around me."

she smiles softly at you. "three things you can hear?"

"i hear your voice. a–and the faint noise from the ac and i can also hear bucky's breathing." you look up at the man and he smiles sheepishly at you, standing around awkwardly. you gave him a small smile back.

"two things you can smell?"

"i can smell my own shampoo..and my room's air freshener." you told her more calmly now, feeling the panic attack already going away.

"one thing you want to taste?"

"i wanna taste wanda's blueberry pancakes." you pout and the two adults couldn't help but chuckle. "you can have them in the morning. right now you need to sleep so you can have the energy to devour them tomorrow, okay?" you nod at the woman as she tucks you in.

not long after, you fell asleep. she then presses a kiss to your forehead before leaving with a less worried bucky now. and sure enough, the next morning, wanda made you blueberry pancakes.

"okay, so what? we all need someone to help us through panic attacks?" nat rolls her eyes. "did you miss the part where i came in and tried to help but she specifically asked for you? she needed you, nat."

"guys, i... i love her with my whole heart but she has all of us. i don't wanna make her feel like she's restricted to only one of us. you all love her too," nat reasons.

"yes but she doesn't have anyone to call her mum and frankly, i think you'd be perfect for it." wanda encourages the older woman.

"i—" before she could continue, her phone rang loudly and she thanked whoever it was that called her because now she didn't have to make up excuses about her doubt of becoming your official mother.

iv.

she looks down at the caller id, sighing when it was you, meaning the team had more against her now. of course she didn't mind you calling her, you could call her when she'd be asleep after a mission and she'd still pick up with a smile on her face. but it was the fact that the whole team could see how she softened when she realised it was you who called that bothered her. she really didn't want them to let her have hopes that you'd accept her as your mother.

"bub?" she said into the phone and half the team smirked at her while the other half gave her knowing smiles. "aren't you supposed to be on your way to school?"

"yeah but uh are you busy right now? i um, i need you."

nat immediately stands up, worry etched onto her face and the team frowned at this. "what happened? are you okay?"

"you know how i told happy i wanted to walk to school today? yeah, i just remembered why i don't walk to school anymore."

"what do you mean? what happened? are you hurt? did someone hurt you?" she bombards you with questions out of worry. at this point, the team had also stopped their chatter and teasing looks, equally worried for your well-being.

"yeah, i am. wait, maybe not. i mean, i was just being dramatic but uh, i tripped on who-knows-what and now i have a sprained ankle. i can't walk now so i'm standing in an alley right now so i'm not in the way of people. can you come get me?"

nat sighs in relief, thankful that it wasn't anything that she was thinking of. "you are unbelievable, y/n." she chuckles in disbelief at your clumsiness. "can you tell me where you are? i'll come get you now. i'll have the school know you're not coming today." you told her your location and she immediately leaves after telling the team what happened to you.

you were expecting nat to call again, to tell you she was around the corner but instead you heard a whoosh of air beside your head, followed by a crack sound. your head followed the sound, eyes widening when you saw that a dart had struck the wall beside your head. you looked ahead, trying to see where that came from.

if it hadn't been for your fast reflexes being an avenger for the past few years, you probably wouldn't have ducked in time when another dart came flying right for your head. "what the hell?" you grunted, staying low but still looking around for the source. you squinted when you looked up, the sun blazing but you managed to catch a glimpse of a man on a rooftop nearby. he had blonde hair and was dressed in all black, donning a same coloured mask that covered the bottom half of his face.

"you had one job! how could you miss her twice?!" the blonde hears his colleague hiss in his ear through the earpiece. "i'm sorry! i'm no hawkeye, how was i supposed to get her in one try?!" he scolds back.

"you didn't even get her in two!"

"shut up and just let me work! you're distracting me!"

"hurry because i see the redheaded one nearing the alley. boss'll kill us if he finds out we didn't get her in her vulnerable state."

"i'm trying, i'm trying!" the blonde closes one eye, his sight now locked on your crouched state. he saw you move once you saw him and he cursed under his breath, his weapon following your movements. "she's moving!"

"just take the shot and be done with it! you have to go now!"

and shoot he did. after he shot the dart gun, he immediately fled but it wasn't like you were going to be able to chase him down or anything. a scream left your lips as a dart pierced through your skin, right under your shoulder.

you dropped down to the ground, right in the middle of the alleyway. you cried when you felt the burn in your flesh. you had been stabbed multiple times before with much bigger objects so why did this feel different?

"y/n?! is that you?!" you heard nat's voice yell from a small distance away. "i'm here," you croaked out, feeling your body grow weaker at an alarming rate.

"oh my god, bub, why are you on the ground? it's dirty, c'mon let's get you up. which foot did you sprain?" she places both her hands under your arms, pulling you up on your feet before accidentally dropping you back when you let out a shriek, crying out in pain.

"oh my god, did i hit your ankle? are you okay?" nat assumed that your tear-stained face was because of your sprained ankle but then you wheezed, your eyes drooping the longer she stood there.

your right hand slowly reached across your left shoulder, the butt of the dart sticking out of your skin now in between your shaking fingers. nat's eyes followed your hand movement's, a gasp leaving her lips.

"y/n, what happened?!" she panicked but before she could even get an answer from you, you had already blacked out. her eyes widened, knowing it was the dart because why else would you pass out that quick from a simple penetration in the shoulder. you had dealt with much worse than that and she knew your tolerance level.

she took off your bag, careful to not move the dart. she then placed her hands under your knees and behind your back, easily picking your unconscious body up and rushing back to the tower.

when she arrived, she was met with many confused yet concerned looks from the tower staff, seeing the black widow, rushing in with the youngest avenger unconscious in her arms. they had seen you leave the tower for school about half an hour ago so they knew something must've happened on the way.

"get bruce in the hospital wing. tell him it's urgent." she tells the woman working the front desk, hurrying into the elevator and telling FRIDAY to get her to the floor she so desperately wanted to arrive at quicker. black lines appeared on the left side of your neck, slowly spreading to the right side and she assumed it was from that damned dart in your left shoulder.

"natasha! what's wrong? they said it was an emergency," the doctor spoke in a panicked voice when nat entered, immediately going quiet when he saw you in her arms, neck lined with seemingly black veins.

nat laid you down on the surgery table, frown growing when black lines steadily spread to your arms now. though she was too worried to think, she managed to at least tell bruce what was outwardly wrong with you.

"dart. left shoulder." she blurted, incapable of forming proper sentences now that she had seen more of you. the black lining your skin got her speechless and anxious. bruce got ready with medical gloves, removing the dart from your flesh before analysing the pattern of your skin. it looked familiar.

"FRIDAY, get tony down here. it's urgent."

"bruce, please, what's wrong with her?" she cried, tears now freely streaming down her face. she didn't cry much in front of anyone but when it came to you, you always managed to get her to do just that.

"hey, what's going on? FRIDAY said there was an emergency here, who's hurt?" nat heard tony's panicked voice but she didn't make an effort to reply. her gaze was fixed on only you.

tony's jaw dropped, frowning when he saw you on the bed, upper body covered in black lines. "what the hell happened?!"

tony stepped beside bruce, taking a closer look at your skin. his frown deepened. "wait, it looks like.."

"yeah, looks exactly like when you had palladium instead of vibranium in your arc reactor."

"does that mean—"

"palladium's been running through her veins for about twenty minutes now. FRIDAY, how high is her blood toxicity level?" bruce asks, sampling a drop of your blood from when he took out the dart.

"53% and it is still steadily increasing."

"tony, at the rate it's going, if she's not treated in the next fifteen minutes or so, she'll.." bruce pauses, not wanting to say it out loud.

"no, she just needs lithium dioxide. that's how fury and i cured your palladium poisoning, tony." nat finally speaks.

"SHIELD probably has them but they're all the way in dc. they're not gonna reach here in time," tony states solemnly, reaching over to move your hair out of your face, looking down at you sadly.

but he was immediately pulled aside, nat grabbing his collar and looking him straight in the eyes. "you have your stupid iron suits that can probably travel faster than the speed of sound if you try. you can go down there yourself and get the damn thing. i swear to god, tony, i'm literally going to destroy those stupid suits myself if you don't put them to good use." nat threatens, glaring at the billionaire.

tony's eyes widened, the genius having not thought about nat's idea yet. "yeah, yeah, you're right, i'll go now."

he left immediately and nat approached your bed hesitantly, not wanting to see the black lines making home on the skin on your upper body. "do you think tony'll make it back in time?" she sniffles and bruce's worried frown on his face softened. "of course he will. he won't let anything happen to y/n. we won't let anything happen to y/n." he assured her.

there was nothing they could do now but wait for tony to come back with the lithium dioxide. nat sat beside your bed, hands gingerly grasping one of your own. despite the black staining it, nat held it to her face and her tears rolled past the back of your hand.

bruce decided to give her some privacy, opting to inform the whole team of the situation instead of standing around idly.

nat pulled your hand away from her face, rubbing her thumb over the back of it, crying even more at the sight in front of her. "y/n, please. i've never told you this but i need you." she pauses, breathing in shakily. "i've always needed you and i'll always need you. you can't leave me, please. you said i could go on with life without you but you're so wrong, y/n. you're the reason i'm still here and you're the reason i still want to be here. if you're not here then it's as if i have no reason, no purpose. i need you, y/n. so much more than i'd like to admit. heck, probably much more than you need me. so please, don't leave me. i can't do this without you." nat sobs out, watching the patterns on your skin spreading and growing bolder.

at this point, the whole team had now gathered outside of the room, watching nat cry over you. they wanted so bad to get a closer look at their beloved baby avenger but they respected nat and instead, waited for her to finish talking to you. once she stood up and looked around, bruce knew she was done so he entered, followed by the team.

"status, FRIDAY?" bruce asks, sampling a bit of your blood again. "blood toxicity at 96% now."

the team looked your unconscious body in apprehension, some crying and some worried out of their minds.

"goddamnit! where the hell is stark?!" nat growled. her eyes were now puffy after having spent the last half an hour crying. the team had never seen her lose her cool like this but they figured why.

as if on cue, tony's iron man suit crashed through the windows of the room but he couldn't care less. his main priority was to get to you quickly. in his hand was a silver briefcase that he passed to bruce.

bruce opened the case before wasting no time in plunging the syringe containing lithium dioxide, your supposed cure, into you. immediately, the black patterns on your skin started disappearing. it was slow but noticeable. it started from the tips of your fingers, going up towards your neck.

everyone sighed in relief, and to tony's surprise, nat hugged him tightly. "thank you. you have no idea how much this means to me." she whispers. tony pats her back gently. "hey, i care about her too, okay? of course i'd do this for her. any one of us would."

nat smiles at him when she let him go, turning back to you and almost crying out in joy when your skin had finally turned back to normal. she let the medical assistants set your bed up and handle your sprained ankle before going back to sit by you. the team left her alone with you once again.

it was only about an hour later did you wake up, squinting when bright lights shone down on you. you moved around but you felt hands around your left and you heard a familiar voice.

"and remember when you dragged wanda to pull that prank on me with you and after you did, i grounded you like i was your mum or something?" you hear her chuckle, still not noticing that you've woken up.

"i didn't mind, though. frankly, i don't think i would ever mind if you continued acting like my mother or something," you spoke and she immediately tore her gaze from your hands, looking at you, now wide awake.

"bub!" she hugs you so tightly you didn't think you could breathe. you still returned the hug though, laughing. "i was worried you might still have some palladium in your bloodstream."

"wait, palladium?" you asked her in shock. "yeah, the dart that got you in that alley, it contained palladium. it's highly toxic so we used lithium dioxide to counter it. speaking of the dart, i'm going to find out who did this to you and they're never going to see the light of day for putting us through all of this." nat says, disturbingly calm.

"yeah...you do that," you tell her, slightly scared. "but palladium? in my blood? how cool is that? i had literal metal in my blood! i could've become like tony but like...palladium woman or something." you said excitedly.

"you do know we already have metal in our blood, right bub?" nat questions in amusement. "oh." you say dumbly. "and palladium don't belong in our body and you literally almost died because of it." your mouth opened but no words came out.

"speaking of, can you please not do that again? i really thought i was gonna lose you." she whispers, stroking your hair. "oh yeah, of course. i'll just announce to the whole world to not target the youngest avenger," you joke, smile dropping when nat gave you a stern look.

"nat, being part of the avengers at my age undoubtedly means i'll be a target for the bad people out there, but i don't care because while i get to kick ass, i know all of you have my back when it's my ass that's kicked. and i think that's the best part of being an avenger; the sense of security i get having you amazing people as my teammates." you tell her honestly and she smiles softly.

"oh come here you," she pulls you in for another hug but this time it's better because you could still breathe. you make yourself comfortable, snuggling into her.

"did you mean it?" she asked and you look up at her in confusion. "mean what?"

"when you said you wouldn't mind me acting like your mother."

"of course i do, you're like the mother i never had. i wouldn't even mind you being my actual mother." you say without a second thought, eyes widening when you realised what you had said. you swore under your breath, knowing you've just made it awkward between you two.

"i– really?" despite the teams efforts to make her see the truth, it was much more meaningful when she heard you say it yourself. "y–yeah.." you admit sheepishly.

"then you wouldn't mind if i actually adopted you?" she asks carefully, gauging your reaction. your jaw dropped, eyes going wide once again. "are you serious?!"

"yeah." she smiles at you fondly. "no! of course i won't mind!" you hug her tightly, tears forming in your eyes. you had gone all your life without parents so this was a huge thing for you. not only were you going to finally have a mother, but the most amazing woman you knew was going to be your mother.

"mum?" you tested the title, smiling when she acknowledged it. you were now crying in joy.

"hey, don't cry." she soothes you, running a hand up and down your back. "no, no, i'm just so happy. this is the best day of my life." you tell her. "me too, bub."

you stayed in her arms until you fell back asleep, nat tucking you in before going back to sit down on the chair. she looked down at you fondly.

sure, she was scared of the big step she was about to take with you but she had you with her and she knew that was enough. "i love you, y/n." she whispers, planting a kiss on the side of your head.

taglist <3

@amourtentiaa @rqmanoff @abitofeverythinggg @andreasworlsboring101 @cay-writes-fan-fiction514 @teenwonder @sevenmorningstars @fleurlovesbucky

[chocolatecakecas]

To Infinity and Beyond: baby!Jack truthing Birthday Ficlet

Today already looked like the perfect day. Warm weather, the sun shining, the birds singing, all the usual qualifications for "perfection". And if Dean had anything to say about it, it is also going to be, the perfect day.

Because Dean had planned out everything. Tents and tables spread out in the backyard of their new house, enough hamburgers and hotdogs to feed an army, a giant sheet cake in the freezer, and it looked like a Party City catalogue threw up all over their house, both inside and out. Hell, he and Cas even got a bounce house.

Yup, today was going to be perfect, Dean thought as he surveyed the backyard. He was going to make sure of it, nothing was going to go wro-

"To infinity and beyond!"

And the next thing he knew, he had a recently turned four year old, barreling into his legs almost knocking him off the porch.

(read the rest under the cut)

He looked down to see Jack already dressed in his outfit for the day. A shirt with Buzz Lightyear's costume printed on it, complete with little cardboard Buzz wings (Cas made them), purple shorts with a purple tutu, and of course, his favorite Buzz light-up sneakers.

"I'd say that was a bit of a crash landing there, Mr.Lightyear" Dean laughed, as he bent down to right Jack's scribbled cardboard wings. Jack just ignored his reference, instead letting out an excited shriek as he took in the backyard.

Every tablecloth, plate, napkin, cup, balloon, and cardboard decoration was covered in Toy Story characters.

Toy Story, was the end all be all in their house, because they were Jack's favorite movies. So everything, was 100% Toy Story, 100% of the time, hence the party theme. And his favorite character was Buzz Lightyear, hence the costume.

"Dee where's your costume?" Jack questioned, after he finally recovered from the shock of seeing the, probably, overdecorated backyard.

"Yeah Sheriff Woody, where's your costume? It's almost one thirty" Cas called as he stepped out the backdoor. Cas was already dressed in t-shirt with Jessie's outfit printed on the front, her matching red hat, jeans and of course, cowboy boots which Dea-wait shit they only had a half an hour left.

And he hadn't even double checked th-

"The backyard and inside of the house already look incredible. Go on and get ready before everyone starts arriving" Cas smiled sweetly, knowing how worried Dean was about today.

"I will, after I chec-"

"Dean, I promise, I'll double check all the decorations, and the food. Me and the little space ranger have got it covered, right baby?" Cas supplied, looking fondly over at Jack.

"Yeah me and Da got it! Get dressed Dee" Jack cheered, as hopped down the steps and raced "flew" across the grass cardboard wings flapping behind him.

"Go get changed, cowboy. Everything already looks perfect" Cas teased, pressing a quick peck to Dean's lips. And then he was bounding down the steps towards Jack, warning him not to go near the bounce house.

So Dean reluctantly walked inside, forcing himself to ignore all of the things he wanted to check on, and instead making a beeline for their bedroom. He quickly pulled on his costume, but unlike Jack and Cas it was the real deal, not just a graphic t-shirt, Dean had the actual shirt, the vest, whole nine yards. Jack had asked if Dean would wear a real Woody costume and, hey who was he to deny his kid on his birthday?

So with a sigh, Dean made his way back to the living room so he could reorganize the snack table.

He wanted everything to be perfect today. Perfect for Jack because, this was his first real birthday party after all. And because Dean's oldest memory was of his fourth birthday, his last birthday party actually since it wasn't like they were throwing big family bashes on the road. No, birthdays were a box of cigarettes from his Dad (if he even remembered), or Dean sometimes scraping together enough money to get a cake for Sam's birthday.

Which is why today had to go smoothly. Because Jack deserved the world, he deserved to have a good life filled with memories of big family parties with fun decorations and food and laughter. And Dean could give it to him now, give him what he and Sam never had. So today had to be special, it had-needed to be perfect.

"Dean, I don't think Jack is going to care if the clouds are a little crooked" Cas pointed out, amusement dancing in his voice as he walked into the living room.

Dean huffed a laugh, but didn't stop his mission to straighten out the paper "Andy's Room" clouds taped to the wall above the table. Cas just sighed as he gently pulled his hand away from the wall, turning Dean towards him.

"Dean I know how much you want to make this day absolutely perfect for Jack, believe me I do too. But he's going to love every single second of it. He's practically bouncing off the walls already, and the party hasn't even started yet" Cas assured as he squeezed Dean's hands.

"I know, I know. But he deserves to have the best damn birthday. Especially after everything and he's just- Jack shoul-" Dean started, only to be cut off by the sound of the doorbell.

"It's Uncle Sammy and Aunt Eileen! Can I open the door, please?" Jack called from down the hall, asking for permission.

"Yeah buddy, you're allowed to open the door. Let them in" Dean shouted back, unable to help the smile pulling at his lips when he heard Jack enthusiastically telling them about "all the cool decorations".

"See? Jack is already loving it! Now relax, and enjoy the party, cowboy. Everything is going to be perfect" Cas smiled as he made his way down the hall to greet Sam and Eileen. But not before giving Dean's ass a little smack.

A few hours into the party everything was smooth sailing, and Dean had only been scolded for readjusting some decorations four times. The kids Jack invited from his class were having a great time, as where their parents, which was especially great because not a single one of them managed to see a member of Dean and Cas’ family discreetly place their weapons in the spare bedroom (Dean wasn’t a fool, it was a party full of hunters, he wasn’t just gonna make a no weapons rule because what if something happened?). So then Dean and Eileen manned the grill like champs, Cas and Garth kept an eye on the kiddos in the bounce house, Sam had handled the Buzz Lightyear shaped piñata perfectly, while Dean organized the kids, making sure Jack was the one to break it. The sun stayed shining, the birds kept singing. Everything was perfect.

Until it wasn't.

And it was all Dean’s fault.

Dean's stomach dropped as he stared down at the now smudged faces of Woody, Buzz and half of the green aliens. Because Dean just smooshed the entire left side of the cake while trying to take lid off.

He just destroyed the most important part of the party, the part Jack was most excited about. Now Dean just ruined everythi-

"-come in star command, do you read me?" Cas joked, completely startling Dean, because how long had Cas been standing there?

"Dean, what's wro-oh" Cas sighed as soon as he caught sight of the cake. 

"I friggin smooshed the whole thing with the lid. It's destroyed we can't-the party and Jack and-" Dean rambled, heart pounding against his chest, while Cas took the life from his hands and gently set it on the other side of the counter.

"Dean, stop it's okay breathe for me. It's just the cake. It's not your fault. It's still edible, we can fix this" Cas soothed as softly cupped Dean's cheeks in an attempt to ground him.

"Hey are you guys alri-oh shit" Eileen gasped as she and Sam walked through the kitchen door, which caused Dean’s heart rate to pick up again.

"It's okay, it'll be fine. We can try to scrape some of it back together with a knife" Sam offered, quickly moving Dean and Cas to the side so he could get at the cake.

But it only made the faces look completely unrecognizable.

"Damnit, what are we gonna-"

"Dee! Can we have cake now?" Jack asked as he came racing into the kitchen, and Dean, Cas, Sam and Eileen quickly huddled in front of the counter to hide the cake from sight.

"In a few minutes squish, we're still uh-getting it ready" Dean managed plastering a wide, hopefully convincing smile on his face.

"Why don't you go jump around the bounce house again, buddy?" Sam suggested, which had Jack nearly bolting out of the kitchen again with a nod

"Make sure one of your aunts or uncles, or your friends' parents are watching you!" Cas called after him, which only got a tiny "okay Da" in response.

They all let out a breath when they heard the backdoor slam, and quickly turned to look at the offending cake again.

"It's not that late, what if one of us runs to store and see if they have ano-"

"They won't, we ordered this specia-"

"And there seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere" Claire joked as she entered the kitchen and quickly surveyed the mess before her, eyes widening when she spotted the cake. And Dean normally would have teased her the reference but he was too busy, freaking the fuck out, so he chose to ignore it.

"What do we do? We can't fix this, there's no time it's completely rui-"

"Wait, dude calm down. I have an idea, hold on a minute" Claire proclaimed, and swiftly exited the kitchen, which did pretty much nothing to calm Dean's panic. In fact he was getting desperate.

"Do you think Rowena might have a spell-"

"That's not how magic works. But honestly Dean, I'm sure Jack won't even notice-"

"The kid can recite the entirety of Toy Story 2 from memory and you don't think he's gonna notice Woody is missing his entire head?"

"Alright, start grabbing the Toy Story figures and wash them off. Then we can put them all over the cake instead, and cover up the horrifyingly smeared faces" Claire ordered as she came back into the kitchen with Kaia in tow, and box of Jack's toys in hand.

And Dean could have cried from relief (he did).

"Holy shit Claire you're a genius" Dean praised, as he quickly began sifting through the box.

"I know, I know. Now c'mon, I want cake"

And a few minutes later everyone was gathered around the dining room table, singing a completely off key rendition of Happy Birthday. Jack was seated in the center of it all, with a half smooshed, slightly lopsided, plastic figure covered cake, with Dean and Cas crouching on either side of him. Jack hadn't even commented on the completely smeared face of Woody or Ham, he was just clapping along, bouncing in his seat. In fact, he the biggest smile Dean had ever seen on his face, and he teared up at the sight.

"Blow out the candles and make a wish, baby" Cas encouraged, and Jack attempted to do just that. Only succeeding when Dean secretly helped blow out the candles for him.

"Yay! To infinity and beyond!" Jack shouted again, as he stood up and jumped on his chair. The room easily erupted into laughter, while Charlie and Jody each snapped pictures from across the table.

"Alright Lightyear, let's not fall with style into the already smooshed cake" Dean joked, as he quickly stabilized Jack, which only caused everyone to burst into more laughter.

So, Dean scooped up Jack, sitting in his chair and placing him on his lap, while Sam offered to cut up the cake. And Cas took plopped down in the chair next to them, sliding him and Jack a plate.

"Are you having fun at your birthday party, baby?" Cas questioned as he handed Jack a plastic fork.

"Yeah! Claire jumped in the house with me! And Danny and Sarah and me played in the sandbox! An-and we played tag, and Aunt Donna played too! And the cake has all my friends on it, see!" Jack rushed out all in one breath, stopping to point at the now sliced cake. By "friends" he of course meant his actual Toy Story figures of course. But before Dean could even react to any of that, Cas was whispering in Jack's ear, and pulling away.

"Thank you for all the party things, Dee!" Jack beamed as he turned and threw his arms around Dean's neck.

And Dean's heart clenched as he tightly wrapped his arms around his kid, feeling a tear roll down his cheek. He looked back up to see Cas smiling widely at them, so Dean whispered something in Jack's ear too. And then Jack was off flinging himself around Cas' neck.

"Why doesn't all the family get together, I can take the photos" Marissa, the mom of one of Jack's friends offered.

And soon the three of them were surrounded by their family on all sides. Everyone laughing when Marissa suggested they all say "yeehaw" instead of cheese. Jack giggling when Claire zoomed over, and bent down so she could smoosh their faces together for the obligatory "silly face" picture. Dean quickly swiping icing on both Cas and Jack's noses, causing Cas to tip Dean's cowboy hat and Jack to shove a handful of frosting on Dean's cheek.

So maybe it wasn't the flawless, smooth sailing birthday party Dean had planned. But the weather stayed warm, the sun still shone, the birds still sang. His family laughed, and ate and had a blast.

And Jack looked about as happy as they had ever seen him, as he ran around the yard with his friends and played games with his family. Dean would even go as far to count it as a complete success. Especially since Jack asked Cas, "when can we have a big party again?", as they tucked him into bed later that night.

So as far as Dean is concerned, it was the perfect day.

Tag list:

(please let me know if you'd like to be added or removed!!💛)

@wormstacheangel @smiledean @shelikestv @chaoticdean @midnightwings-deancas @jellydeans @sunshine-jack @archervale @wikiangela @organicpurplepants @you-cant-spell-subtext-without @writtendevastation @tkdwolf2012 @doemons-blog @sinnabonka @rolling-stoned-girl @skylerkernaghan @icefire149

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[eightyonekilograms]

Below the cut. Others have probably made this point better than I have, but I figured I'd get this opinion out there for posterity. Needless to say you should avoid this post if this talk gets under your skin.

I don't really believe in "hard takeoff"— i.e. that AI could go from obviously harmless to very dangerous in a matter of months or weeks (or less)— but I am still a bit unsettled at how much the safety discussion consists of specifics— e.g. asking about specific threat models or noting the limitations of specific current techniques— when most of my worries about AI stem from the rate and opacity of capability improvement, with the specifics unknown and potentially unknowable. Which was easy to dismiss as implausible alarmism— I did!— during, say, the Yudkowsky-Hanson foom business in the 2000s, but seems to me to now be empirically shown to be a very reasonable concern.

If you had to summarize the last decade of AI research in one sentence, you might say that the entire current landscape all dates back to the "Attention Is All You Need" paper, and everything which has happened since then— including the large capability jump to GPT which woke everyone up— consists of incremental improvements on that paper combined with throwing way more compute and data at it. This is an exaggeration, and obviously I don't mean to denigrate the great deal of hard work that has gone into the field since then, but it's not much of an exaggeration.

What can we conclude from the fact that a single paper was almost solely responsible for the entire AI landscape today? First, that AI capability can and does have large discontinuous jumps stemming from mere architectural improvements, rather than total paradigm shifts. You could (and again, I did) dispute the plausibility of this in 2007; in 2024 you empirically can not. I know it's trendy now to point out all the things GPT-4 gets wrong, but do your best to try and remember what it was like in the first few days when it blew our fucking minds. And also consider the similarly blinding pace of image generation improvements: in late 2021, the SOTA was using Wombo to make goofy but weightless psychedelic stuff like this:

while in 2023 AI art was good enough that it was prompting large amounts of unrest and anger from artists afraid of it taking their jobs, to the point where it become a critical point in a Hollywood labor strike.

But I think the even more important conclusion is that the jumps can be completely unforeseen even by the creators of new training and inference techniques. None of the authors of the transformer paper understood what capabilities were being unlocked by it: they thought they were making significant but not world-changing improvements to Google Translate. My guess is that they were all among the people left gobsmacked by GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, except the ones who were working at OpenAI when it happened. Their employer didn't see it either, or else it probably would've worked harder to keep every one of those authors from leaving the company! And even the people who specifically made it their life's work to predict the dangers of AI didn't notice. A common, and totally fair, criticism of MIRI/CFAR is that they missed the boat completely on transformers, and were still building their Maginot Line against GOFAI long after it was obvious to everyone in the know that transformers were the way forward. Contra the claims that MIRI getting caught with its pants down should've decreased your concern about AI risk, it made me more concerned, if the people whose job it is to see the upcoming dangers got totally blindsided.

This is why I find it baffling and a bit worrying when people say things like "can you explain how a chatbot is supposed to be dangerous?" or "well, such-and-such shows that GPT is reaching scaling limitations because we're out of new training data". Both of those are completely beside the point. I don't know how AI might be dangerous, just like the Attention authors had no idea that LLMs would be passing undergrad econ exams five years later. I can make guesses, and then people can sneer at my guesses for being implausible, but I don't think that would prove anything. And if there's another paper or two in the coming years which make a similarly discontinuous jump in capabilities, the scaling limitations of GPT don't matter either. For all we know, that paper has already been published.

Sadly, I may do a small post about AI risk