#the knowledge someone will be there if you need them in the same way youll be there for them tomorrow or next year or next decade

[fish-d]

it is such a soft and welcome relief to be loved

[crumble-cookii]

Clove Concept

[close-ups under cut]

he has lil fairy wings

they turn into his cloak

he has a natural aura around him which passifies any sentient being near him

immortal

he was a simple spirit given form my MT

he can communicate with plants and formless spirits

he's pretty cryptic most of the time

remember literally everything and every detail of everything

[year2000electronics]

Tumblr's being weird and won't let me find the Dark Moon rewrite post. I think there was one where you explained the story behind it, at least?

I JUST HAVENT MADE A FULL POST ON IT IM SORRYYYY but i can do bullet points of what’s going down

- so basically this kinda comes from a place of me like. liking dark moon but wishing it had more Characters. so it started with making boss ghosts and then kinda escalated

- so the plot is luigi is looking for e gadd after he went missing in a place near the mansion called evershade valley, unfortunately along the way we see a flash of lightning, a scream, and then cut to darkness

- it fades back in and it’s revealed that luigi is now... a GHOST!! oh no! (this would be the main ‘gimmick’ of the game like how mansion 3 had gooigi as a big selling point)

- he realizes he’s in a lab and he’s been captured by a ghost researcher named professor evershade who said his ghostly dna seemed different somehow so he wanted to see more

- luigi explains the situation and asks if he can help him contact e gadd but all lines to him are dead- evershade theorizes that he must have been taken by the same spectre that turned luigi into a ghost, and luigi immediately goes ‘KING BOO....’ bc who else does he have beef with.

- evershade suggests that if they defeat the four rulers of the nearby mansions they can assemble the dark moon, an artifact that will make sure no ghost will be able to cause their own mischief again

- luigi agrees, and in the meantime evershade says he can try to work on a way to see if he can change luigi back from a ghost

- he uses the same teleportation device e gadd does in dark moon to get luigi in and out of evershades lab, and luigi usually winds up in the small garden which leads to the four mansions

- (meta talk here- the multiple mansion exploring and evershades appearance are meant to kinda trick the player into thinking that it’s a ‘different character same purpose’ scenario, like how both goombario and goombella are tattling goombas)

- (you also get access to regular luigi after clearing one or two rooms in the first mansion- this serves as a bit of a tutorial segment for ghost luigis abilities and how youll be able to switch between ghost luigi and regular luigi to accomplish different tasks)

- ghost luigi probably has the power of a portrait ghost himself, so would have abilities such as the ability to scare other ghosts into fleeing a room or scaring them into doing stuff for him (which would serve as both a puzzle solution and a short-term solution for any segments where you may be stuck as ghost luigi), there are also other abilities like passing through walls (but most new rooms will be VERY dark so it would be hard to suss out details), spectral wind, etc. regular luigi is the one able to catch ghosts though, and regular and ghost forms will often interact in puzzles like a slightly less co-op based luigi and gooigi system

- the first mansion, gloomy manor, is a pretty standard mansion, it’s very old and filled w cobwebs. the boss is a spider-themed ghost, madame moufette. she says the mansions been lost to time and now only the spiders and ghosts live there

- the second mansion, haunted towers, is... actually only a one floor lobby. it’s only when you take the elevator that you realize the entire building is underground and it leads you to a literal icy bunker where an arctic ghost, macready, has spent ages under the bunker and is convinced that a light wielding beast is hunting him down

- the third mansion, treacherous mansion, is a house of illusion, led by a chess-playing ghost named rook. there are stuff like portals, tv static, living suits of armour, the like. rook’s message to luigi is that not everything is as it seems in evershade valley

- luigi comes back from treacherous mansion and gives evershade the third piece of the dark moon, which is when evershade reveals he had the fourth piece of the dark moon all along- and. here’s where things get fucky wucky i’m so sorry

- evershade lifts his goggles and takes off his hat and reveals that HE’S luigi from the future. after the events of mansion 1, luigi eventually decided to become an apprentice to e gadd and became a full time ghost researcher. things don’t seem so different at first but unfortunately e gadd game-overs and so luigi is left all on his own. which is a bummer. with his mentor gone luigi throws himself into his work, neglecting going on adventures with mario to a point that he just stops getting invited... (took mario a VERY long time to stop asking though. make no mistake) over time he becomes a bit of a recluse and his curious and observant nature kinda becomes a hunger for knowledge... he wants to know just what the strange and unusual is and what makes it tick. he also starts using professor evershade as a pen name bc ‘dr mario’ gets people asking about his research for the wrong reasons. though not only does he become more curious but he gets very very bored. ghosts are just poltergeists, tricksters... they’re nothing without a leader. luigi tries to bring back king boo, he invents all sorts of things to try- but the one thing the professor did that he didn’t was invent that damn portrait machine (which has rusted and broken with time- it’s been like, 20-25 years at this point).

- basically, what starts out as ‘i need to bring king boo back so i can have a proper rogues gallery of ghosts to study’ turns into ‘i need to bring king boo back but why would i even defeat him? this is great for paranormal studies’ so yeah. now evershade would like to see the ghost world at its fullest power

- he time travelled back to the past to try and convince e gadd to free king boo (yes he made a time machine hashtag smart) but e gadd fights back, destroying the portrait machine he built. evershade is Angry about this and decides if he won’t help him... perhaps someone else will. his ‘time machine’ is actually a large building that affects all of evershade valley, so it, how it was 20 years into the future, was brought into the past. his backup plan was to trap luigi in evershade valley by turning him into a ghost and making him collect the dark moon shards that he had always wanted but couldn’t get (his ghost researching skills are fine but his ghost hunting skills are out of shape. he could have done that in the first place but he kinda wanted to see his old mentor again.)

- the dark moon itself is an artifact split into four parts bc its effect on ghosts is too much to stand, even for ghosts- it’d give whoever owns it absolute power over the paranormal world and its residents, so the four mansion ghosts have taken it upon themselves to protect them (evershades original plan also involved teaming up with king boo to defeat the ghosts and take the dark moon for themselves)

- (actually, the fourth mansion ghost is polterpup! the dark moon piece WAS in his collar but a certain evershade stole it after the doggy lets his guard down around luigi

- evershade, using the dark moons power, casts a blacklight into king boos painting and finally frees him, offering him ultimate power and ruling over ghosts if they work together as a team. king boo finds this hashtag funny so he’s like ok

- then, luigi gets teleported out of the lab before he can try and stop them. polterpup points him towards where evershades lab has been all along- the fourth and final mansion, old clockworks

- in there luigi finds e gadd being held hostage, where he reveals evershade was trying to threaten him into freeing king boo

- as ghost luigi you also experience side effects of the dark moon in this final dungeon, like controller inputs not working or luigi needing to stop and wrestle off a headache

- so yea... final boss is basically king boo fighting you and evershade cheering him on and you need to counter king boos attacks so that they hit the dark moon and destroy it

- luigi sucks up king boo.... LOL

- evershade is defeated and he doesn’t even have an evil monologue he just kinda stares at luigi unimpressed like ‘really? this is the route you’re taking’ and luigi silently just kinda grabs onto e gadd and whatever toads are in this game. and neither of them say anything

- somewhere in old clockworks a clock goes off, and all the rest of them do too (the one time you hear every clock in sync). fade to white and e gadd and luigi wake up in an empty field where a construction worker asks if they’re ok. pan out to reveal evershade is gone and there’s apparently a construction crew hoping to build four brand new buildings here in this valley

UM THATS IT LOL.... it’s rly overcomplicated i know. i’m sorry.

[iantojonesthebetta]

why is it that you keep wild bettas in (divided- which alone isnt ideal either, but for other reasons) tanks where they have less than 10 gallons of swim space each? its generally accepted by basically every reputable source out there that they need at least the footprint of a 10g (ie, 20 inches horizontal space by 10 inches tank width) to thrive with how insanely active they are compared to domestics. it really sucks to see someone who many view as very knowledgable, experienced, and an “authority” on betta care showing off this clearly subpar care as though its acceptable and healthy for the fish, i really hope this hasnt influenced anyone else to do the same. especially that three-way divided 8g you had for a while with wild bettas, where they only had 7 inches of space and 2 gallons each- how is it that that would ever be acceptable for active, short-finned wilds when its not even enough space for long-finned, comparatively inactive domestics? i really hope youll consider upgrading all your wilds to individual 10g tanks at some point because that really is the bare minimum they need to thrive.

Hi, anon!

First off, I don't claim to be -- nor do I want to be -- an authority in bettas. That's not my goal here. I often state that I am just one source and one source only. I always encourage people to do their own research, especially since new information is always being made available. I myself am also constantly doing research, whether reading from books, talking to other fishkeepers, and attending webinars.

Yes, a lot of sources say 10G for wild splendens complex, such as smaragdina, imbellis, and mahachaiensis, but you'll also notice that this is oftentimes for a pair. I personally don't agree with keeping them in pairs since, in my experience and through the experience of others, pairs in the splendens complex are just too aggressive.

The Betta Trio was, yes, used for housing my females when they were younger because I lived in an apartment and space was limited. (I long for the day of having a house with a dedicated fish room.) Since they were from my first spawn, I wanted to keep some, and that's what I had to work with. They're the ones now in the split 10G, with each having 5G of space. Lots of live plants and hides, heated, and double filtered. They also get an array of foods, including live, and daily exercise. These ladies are over 3 years old and still showing great energy and colour.

While I agree that wild species are pretty darn active, I disagree with you that domestics are far less active. The plakats, for example, are just as lively -- if not livelier -- than the wilds. If we're talking about halfmoons... well, that's a different thing altogether.

Anyway, thank you for your concern, though I'm sad you were so quick to act aggressively without knowing the full scope of care for the bettas. I always welcome a lively and mature debate but this is not how you do it.

Have a great evening!

[kareofbears]

persona 5 strikers thoughts and feelings

This is going to be a long post. Like, the type of post you’d only really have time to read when you’re trying to sleep but you’re not ready to be unconscious yet so you’re just looking for something to do to spend your time with minimal effort. 

So in 2018, a masterpiece was born into the world: Into the Spider-verse was released and it was amazing—it’s honestly the best spiderman movie we have without a doubt, and it’ll be very far into the future before Spider-verse is beaten as the best spiderman movie. Them’s the facts. Then in 2019, Spider-man: Far From Home was dropped. It’s a great movie! Great characters, great continuation of who these characters are and works fantastic as a continuation of a story. It’s really hard trying to take the torch of a previous movie (or in Marvel’s case, juggling twenty something movies) and come up with a new movie that both works on its own, as well as being the next step in this series of films. Thus, with that idea in mind, I think it’s kind of unfair to judge into the spiderverse and far from home, because these are two movies with two completely different objectives in mind. 

Okay, so this is still a persona 5 strikers post, I promise, but the idea is the same: Persona 5 could basically do whatever it wanted—new story, new characters, new everything, and it’s just plain old awesome. However, Persona 5 strikers did not have that sort of freedom. It was bound to the original game, and it had its own rules and stuff it had to keep intact, characters they had to work with, and on top of that, it had to justify its existence as a sequel (lets pretend money doesnt exist lmfao). 

SO, the big question is: did it do that? Did it justify its existence? 

And my answer: holy fuck did it ever do that

I came into this game knowing the extreme bare minimum. I knew there was someone named Sophia, and i knew there was roadtrip, and i knew there were Personas. That’s my knowledge of it before i played it on the Switch.  I should also clarify like, early on, that i was not expecting anything from this game. At all. I was the world’s biggest cynic of this game—if you scroll down my p5s tag far enough, youll just see me complaining about a game that hasn’t even come out yet. I was fully expecting to have this be a Waifu show, and any male character that isn’t Akira to just be shoved aside like some kind of nerd in a high school hallway, and i have never been more pleased to be wrong. In fact, i actually owe it an apology, because of how fucking rude i was for no reason!!! Because this game deserves everything to be honest. 

Persona 5 strikers is, frankly, insane. Insane in the sense that it got to pull shit off that just would never have existed in the original game, because the original game is scared. It had to be as impressive as possible and garner as much attention as possible. Strikers does not have that problem—every single person who bought that game does not need to be convinced that persona 5 is a good game. They already played it. That means Atlus can just fuck around and have a good time, and man did they have a good time. There’s still scenes that still shock me if i think about it too hard, because i’m used to atlus having to follow this sort of rule set when it comes to persona 5 (or any of the main games im assuming, but i havent played them.) And on top of that, there’s still shit that’s Atlus Trademarked Branded in a good way. The style of story of story telling, and revealing the mystery that is so integral to what p5 is, is still there. 

So, to make this even a little bit comprehensible, i will make a list! 

First of all, What is this game?

In short, this game is an OVA of an anime. It’s bonus side content that has one thing in mind: to showcase these lovable characters more by putting them in fun situations. That’s it, and it is just phenomenal. That was the main point of, i’d say, like forty hours of the game. It’s just fun times with fun characters. 

But to get deeper of what i think is happening, or what they were thinking during the development, is that this is a second opportunity. Persona 5 (as we all know) had a lot of problems, and we were not quiet about those problems. We yelled it all out, made posts, made complaints on every social media platform ever. And Atlus heard all of them, and Strikers is a way to mitigate those mistakes. Aside from being a fun OVA, Strikers also works to be a deeper exploration of these characters—more specifically, the characters that did not receive much in the original game. Creating this sequel is having the ability to redo what they felt (or to be more specific, we felt) in the original game while adding new ones. I will get to that in a second.  

The format of the game 

Absolutely brilliant to throw them on a road trip. P5V already forced us to experience Shibuya for 200+ hours, and im so glad that they didn’t do that again. Going from town to town, making us experience these new places alongside our favorite characters is so good, and it just makes sense. It’s fun, it’s lighthearted, and it’s actually shockingly good. But one thing i do want to talk about early on is the way the story unfolds and the villains that they use, and what they do with it because it’s very interesting. 

So as we explore japan and stuff, we encounter jails, and with those jails comes an antagonist. This antagonist works to be a parallel to one of our characters. That character will find it in their hearts to feel bad for the antagonist, because the antagonist could have been them had the original game not happen. At first I thought all of the thieves were gonna get an antagonist, and i was really hyped for the ryuji one. And then came to hour forty of the game where i realized “yeah that’s not gonna happen. There’s just not enough time.” And i was right, and the game ended. But i am not salty at all, honestly, because the people who got a direct antagonist were: Ann, Yusuke, and Haru. (we wont count zen and sophie). 

Is there a trend??? Yes. these are all characters in the original game that have received the worst treatment by atlus. The three of them are basically cast aside the minute they finished their original arc, and its horrible! BUT that’s why this is the path that atlus chose for them—to give them more depth, and screentime, and a way to show their inner self. That isn’t to say that the ones who aren’t those three (makoto, futaba, mona, akira, ryuji) didn’t get anything. Futaba still has her thing at the end with ichinose, and she was very prevalent and animated during the rest of the game. Mona and Akira have to be a focal points, that’s just the nature of the game. The other two though, I will talk about in depth in a second.  

Makoto

Y’all i poke fun at shumako fans sometimes cause its kind of easy and fun, but i honestly love makoto. In my very first playthrough of p5 (my first ever jrpg game, first persona game, i had no idea what i was doing), i had only maxed out two characters: ryuji and makoto. And i know she had a lot of screentime and love in the original game which is great, but i truly felt like she was dissed in this game. Her only roles were

A driver

Someone to tell them “we don’t have a choice. Let’s keep going and see where this takes us.” (seriously, if you replay this game, you will see how much she does this)

Idk, i just wish she had more to do, especially compared to how much love they gave the other characters. 

But let’s talk about some of the new characters! 

Zenkichi

Damn you atlus. Damn you and your insistence at bringing in cop characters. I was fully on board with hating zenkichi, i was fucking ready for it. I was convinced that there was nothing they could do convince to like zenkichi. I was immune to their copaganda. 

And then i ended up loving him, which makes me sad a little bit. I didn’t realize how desperate i was to have an adult who has a persona. Someone who wants the world to change just as much as they do, while still having that aspect of them that makes them adult. Like??? As someone who is technically an adult, its a breath of fresh air. An adult. Who fights. For justice. Using a persona. And god i love akane so much, and her obsession with the thieves (that scene is probably in my top ten fave scenes of the game). Also what i loved about zenkichi is that he fucking hates the cops!! He hates the system of the cops!! And thats why i actually really started to love him!! Because i thought it was atlus saying that the systematic problem of the police cannot be solved by one person, and zenkichi threw away his badge. I actually cried at that part!! 

But then he became a cop again, and i was just :/ but as a character, i really love him to bits and would love to do a study on him, or at least use him as an outside pov. But! i absolutely love his persona, since im a les miserables fan hehe

Sophia 

she’s probably my favorite new aspect of the game. I was ready to not like her—again, i just suck like that, lmfao—and when i saw her, i was scared that she was just another waifu. I mean, she was very cute after all. But then as the game went on, i thought she was a little too cute. And even further into the game, i finally slapped myself in the face and realized oh my god shes not a waifu. Shes a sister. 

That blew my mind, im ngl to you. A female character that isn’t supposed to be romanced? By jove, what a miracle! 

And she…is an amazing character. Im sorry, i just love her so much. I love her so much that she  probably ranks as my fifth or sixth favorite character which is surprising even to me. Everything about her is delightful and invigorating. She’s funny??? Her comedic timing is amazing, and she has such chemistry with the rest of the team. She’s actually useful to the plot, and while her character design is a little too on the nose for me in terms of cuteness (i mean, good god she’s wearing oversized sweater to show how cute and tiny she is, and her hair has literal hearts in it), she is absolutely lovable. 

But what i actually really wanna gush about for a second is sophia at the last stage of the game. You get the idea, i dont really like to get excited over things, so at this point i figured that there was nothing this game could do to shock me. 

And then sophia had a persona awakening. 

Like. holy fuck did i yell. I didnt realize what was happening until the music had already kicked in. and its just so fucking smart!!! Sophia??? The ai?? With no heart?? gOT A PERSONA???? AWAKENING??? BECAUSE SHE LEARNED WHAT THE HEART IS AND THE PASSION THAT YOU NEED IN ORDER TO GET A PERSONA??? I started crying honestly, because it was just so smart. And looking back on it now, its obvious!! Of course it would lead to this, it only made sense that the culmination of her character arc leads to her getting a persona, nothing else would have been as good. Also, her voice actor is just amazing?? When she was talking to ichinose at the end, i actually got incredibly emotional because of the line reads. Its just so spot on and it really captures the essence of sophia.

Muah. five stars Atlus. You got me. 

Ryuji <3!!!!

Oh man. Oh boy. Okay. so where do i start. 

Yall know i love him. Hes probably my favorite fictional male character of all time, and he is the one i was the absolute most cynical about in this game. I was expecting literally nothing. Nothing. Like. nothing. I thought he was just gonna keep being used as a joke, or a gag, and he’s gonna be super horny all the time for the other girls and it was gonna make me mad and there was gonna be some insane homophobic/queerphobic jokes in every other scene and i know i was being unfair, but i cant help it. 

And then i played the first two hours of the game, and i cried the entire time. Because ryuji has never been better than he is in this game. Its crazy. 

The ryuji in persona 5 strikers is who ryuji should have been/how he should have been treated this entire time. From the actual funny jokes (for example, the gold bar joke + his reaction to it in the beginning of the game), defending his female friends instead of being the one people need to defend from (natsume arc), and the fact that he was the one to be there with morgana and akira in the very beginning of the game. Its such a small thing that they didnt even need to do, but it was such an integral part of the original game for me, that i just was convinced that nothing like this was going to happen. But then it happened. Its just small stuff like that that could have been overlooked but it wasn’t because this game? Persona 5 strikers? Fucking loves ryuji. 

The actual respect they gave this boy is insane and i wasn't ready for it. Like, they gave the shujin trio lunch, they gave the little charm of the katana when they were in natsume’s jail, and, in my opinion this is the second-best thing that they could have given ryuji is sophia. Ryuji and sophia are the pinnacle of a brother & sister bonding relationship in the game that isn’t akira & futaba. And its really prevalent too?? Small stuff from the beginning of the game (pulling her out of a jail, calling her shorty), but then you have the iconic “shut the fuck up” scene, and that scene was so well characterized and written and voice acted, that somehow him saying “fuck” was the least exciting part of that scene to me. Ryuji is an older brother to her, like its undoubtable, and its only further cemented at the end of the game where Ryuji helps out ichinose because he knows how much sophia cares about her. This game. Love ryuji. And i love. This game. 

You know what else i love? Akiryu. 

Guys. i was fully prepared to starve in terms of akiryu. But theres just. So much of it. I wont get too deep into it, because i think this aspect of the game for me still needs marinate a little bit. Like, what was that last shot when EMMA died and Ryuji walked to approach Akira so they could relish in their victory together?? And the smile from both of them??? What the fuck. That was amazing. Also Joker being saved by Ryuji when he was about to fall from the cliff to save sophia??? WHAT. The LEADER AND HIS RIGHT HAND MAN? WHAT. anyway. If theres anything i want to keep for myself in my own brain, its the akiryu aspect of this game, so i wont talk too much about that part of things (instead, itll probably manifest in fic lmfaooo). 

Sure, there’s tidbits of stuff i dont like that they gave ryuji: sexualizing ann in that one cut scene and making him touch the jails even though it hurts, and i recognize those and frown at them, but for the most part, i am blown away with how they treated him.

Basically, Ryuji has never been better. From the opening of the game with him being the first text message and the one to sling his arm around akira, to the very last cut scene where it was ryuji wordlessly leaving because he’s so confident that they would never be separated for long, this game adores Ryuji and i am so so happy to say that.

The Royal aspect of things

Yeah, i had to talk about this, but itll be a short thing i just wanted to point out. Because the last part of this game...is persona 5 royal. Which is curious. Like taking reality and giving that power to someone else so you dont have to experience suffering anymore? And even like, the final section just looked a lot like the top half of maruki’s palace?? And whats even crazier is that we had a boss fight with sophia, just like how we had a boss fight with sumire? Royal and Strikers have like, the same thesis statement. It’s kind of uncanny.It’s interesting, it’s like atlus came up with these two ideas, and then just decided they liked both of them so much that they just did it twice. I don’t mind though—actually, in terms of how the last Palace/Jails go, i probably like them both about equally. 

Though i did love the final battle in this one more than i did in royal. Splitting into teams?? Thats cool as fuck, and really innovative and i didnt see it coming. It also kicked my ass. A lot. 

Now for the last stretch: the small stuff!

The music — bomb as fuck. In my heart, Daredevil is ranked the same as Rivers. Axe to grind is also amazing, but Daredevil owns me

Akechi — i really debated whether or not to talk about him, but i figured a bullet point should be enough. Im really shocked that he wasnt in this at all. Like not even a name drop. If this is an OVA, and the point of the game is to please the fans, and akechi is arguably the fan favorite character, i was really ready for something. But there was nothing, except for the pancake hallway if that even counts as a reference. Thats it. Thats all i wanted to say about him.

The humour — FUCKING HILARIOUS im convinced that in my fifty hour playtime, five of that is dedicated to me laughing and unable to continue the game 

Akira — so much personality! His lines of dialogue are crazy sometimes (like. Whats up with him saying Ryuji has ‘nice abs’ when they were in bath? Im crazy and even i dont know what the fuck that could mean) 

Battle system — oh my god i almost forgot to talk about this. I love it! I kind of miss the turn based aspect just because i found it very comforting for some reason, but this hack and slash style of gameplay is so invigorating because i do feel like it justifies shit like the baton pass and huge attacks.  This battle system fully encompases how the Phantom Thieves are supposed to fight, you know what i mean?

Anyway, thats my thoughts on strikers. Loved it. Amazing. 9.3/10, wouldve been higher but Konoe’s Jail almost bored me to death. Also im a monster and i didnt do any requests that isn’t a fun one, teehee. As if i play persona 5 for the persona aspect of things.

[uwuowotf2waslife]

The mercs with an s/o who is on the autism spectrum? If you want to

 as a person with diagnosed autism( ASD that later changed to SCD but concidering my countrys lack of proper diagnosis and non-existant support when i was growing up, im not sure,it might was a result of chronic abuse or i was a really weird kid) its my duty to answer this ask,

always know that you are perfect with all your imperfections 

just because maybe your brain is wired different it doest make you less of a person

you are poetry

Scout

-my boy has adhd ( probably undiagnosed until he was examined by Medic) so you two might have a little problem at the begining.

-he might be the closest to a jack russel in human form, but he cares about you and is willing to sit down and do his research so he can understand you and your struggles. He isn’t a hypocrite, he is a hyperenergetic bundle of daddy issues and is sure he will annoy you from time to time, he annoys pretty much everyone except his mom on rare occasion, he is a hanfull and he knows that years now. But he also has come to understand that everyone has struggles and little things that make them more special than others.

-if you have problems with communication , he’ll be your mouth .Problems with sensory overstimulation? he will escort you to the safest place and hug you tighter than he thought hes capable of. People mistreating or bullying/insult you? the bat is in his hands and his ready to hit home runs on their balls. You might not be the perfect couple, you will struggle like every couple and have fights and arguments, but he is ready to phase every difficulty that comes on your way. He loves you and he is here for the ride even if its bumpy.

Soldier

-( I and i think a big part of the community claim he is actually autistic) Probably the most tricky of the mercs, since at one side he might completely relate/understand you and the relationship go smoother than soft butter on bread, or he might have problems communicating the relationship problems with you.

-as all relationships you two must sit down and communicate your problems. Believe me he isn’t mentally retarded ( a horrible misconsumption ive seen being thrown around), yes he is stubborn and can’t read social cues to save his life, but he is a loyal beefcake with a golden heart hardened by a lifitime of war. He knows he isn’t the perfect man, he has nightmares and panic attacks on the regualr after so much trauma in his life. But he also knows that if he S/O needs him, it doesnt matter if its a small or big thing, he is ready to go through hell and back to make them happier or more comfortable 

-you can’t stand loud noises? copy that privet, he will stop yelling/ screaming around you. Certain things make you uncomfortable/ anxious? hes at your side and he is ready to snap necks...you have his heart and his adoration, he ain’t a coward or a pansy, you’ll win over any challenge that comes your way like the absolute unit you are and he is there to assist

Pyro

-fresh from the start they can recognise you have autism, i lowkey think they might be ( actually in young adults asd and mild schizophrenia can be mixed and confused by not good qualified doctors, its been years since i read that study so correct me if im wrong) or have really good gut insticts. Either way, they know you are struggling and trie in subtle ways to help you

-did an important call without stuttering? hug and smooch on the crown of your head, completed all your work/homework? they will cover you in stickers and cuddle you in their pillowfort, stood up for yourself? my girl theyll make a huge cupcake tray and youll two will eat while watching sappy disney films

- you won’t struggle as much, i see them as more easy going than other members of the team. But they also have big issues that may create problems in the relationship that you both need  to work on. They are more than a handfull and they aren’t unaware of it, they spended years locked inside their own head doing god-knows how vile and harming things to their mentality and body, they can’t believe they are alive and they wake up every day next to the most beautifull human being they have come across their lif, ( Y/n). You will bond slow but strong , you are their sunshine and theyll make sure their sunshine shines no matter what they have to do

Engie

( lowkey i think is canon he has some form of high-functioning autism, just hide its behind the southern warm and soft hospitality)

- when you confess, he hugs you ( a big thing coming from him since i dont consider him a touchy fella)  and returns the confession that he is too. He knows each person experiences different so he won’t press you for explanations or description of what you have is excactly. He just assures whatever happens, he is there to help you with

- doesn’t really change how he views you, but he takes the initiative for things like talking to strangers, calling to order or things that you struggle with, but he doesnt baby you. You are an adult person and will be treated as that, even if sometimes he feels he needs to “help” or “protect” you

-one of the most  easy going of the mercs, but his work is his priority so there will be long arguments about it. He understands your frustation, but he is a workaholic years now before you came in his life and can’t bring himself to change that. His work is his routine, the only comfort he knows and the only place that accepted him for who he is. But, he will be more elastic and have more breaks/ days off even if it means the project will be finished an hour or two later, unless it has an urgent deadline. He knows he can be very cold and emotionless, he is an engineer, not a spy for that reason. Furthermore he has his own times when he is stubborns or has an anger explosion because something broke/didnt meet his expectations or got way too invested into something that turned to be worthless/ uselless so he isn’t the one to judge if you are in a sour mood or you have your own “ explosion”. After all said and done, late at night when you are both alonein his workshop he will just cradle you in his arms and make a silence promise to always be there for you through thin and thick ( as we say to go through 40 waves and 40 more ) because you are something that no machine or creation can emulate or recreate, you are ( Y/N) and you are the love of his life.

Demo

-arguably one of the three more knowledgable of the mercs in the topic of mental health department. Being raised in an orphanage i doubt he didnt had at least a dozen other kids who had from high to moderate to severe autism ( during the 20th century it wasnt uncommon for people with autism to be thought less human or that the family of said people couldn’t provide for them in severe cases so theyd be dropped on orphanages and psychiatric hospitals)., so he has some first hand experiene with what autism is. It isn’t something for him in all honesty, after so much trauma and hardship in his life he is at peace that peopleare different and their brains are rarely wired the same

-he also know he isn’t ideal, he acts really stupid when he is drunk and his alcohol consumption alone is a very big problem for any relationship he ever had in his life and i doubt he is the image of psychological perfection, but he also knows that if you are willing to keep him around you have seen him wasted out of his mind, he is more than willing to put up with anyof your quirks or difficulties.

-you want to stim? go ahead he’ll leave the room/the house so you can stim to your hearts content, you want to stay? sure thing lass, hell sit in a corner and drink a bit while you have your thing. Work/ school/ home life is stress full and you are in the verge of a breakdown? he has already wrapped you like a burrito and he is holding you while you cry/vent, you dont want to be touched at that moment? hell take you to an open field and you can blow things up to get all those feelings out of you. He isn’t ideal, he is at peace with that, but now that you appeared in his life, you became the apple of his eye. He’ll cherish you and protect you both as body but as a mind and a soul for whatever shit life throws at you, he was never one to back down a challenge.

Heavy

-due to the language barrier and his nature as a quiet man it’ll take him some time. If you bring it up he’ll simply nod and run to Medic or Spy for translation. He isn’t shy to do a doctors worth of research so he knows what he has to deal with, he knows his english is broken and would prefer to have a migraine over the amount of books hes read than make you feel uncomfortable. Probably will ask advice from Medic ( the most qualified on the team) untill hes satisfied he knows enough.

-probably the sanest of the mercs, but he isn’t perfection. He had to endure famine and death from very early in his life, always be the stone his family anchored on and most people on his life, so he has his own big problems. At one side he is used to so many things, he is somewhat indiferent. You aren’t harming anyone nor its life threatening, so it doesnt really change what he feels about you. All people have flaws, noones perfect and if they do think they are perfect, they are very, very wrong. I won’t lie to you, some times hell get confuse with your behavior or will get tired of being the “ anchor” of the relationship, but he will never admit it. He survived the Gulags and years in Siberia, this is nothing but a walk in the park for him. He isn’t a fuckboy, he doesn’t want you just for some fuck and then hell forget you exist, he is much more sentimental than he appears to be. He beginned this with you because he sees you more than a body, he sees you as someone he wants to spend the rest of his life with even if itll be a challenge, he was never a quiter and he wont be now.

- don’t expect much communication help from him, unless its in russian. But whenever you feel the tiniest bit of self-doubt or anxiety his arms are open to embrace and warm you with  his love. He might was raised among anarchy and war, but he is a gentle giant with a heart bigger than Russia herself. He knows you two will struggle especially on the communication domain but he is willing  to do what it takes to make your life easier/ less challenging. He came here to stay, only if you allow him 

Medic

-Arguably the most medically qualified of the mercs, but considering the era of his studies hes at least rusty on modern terminology and general understanding of what autism is. Nontheless his a doctor ( with or without a medical license) and i doubt he ever followed the rules of ethical and unethical medicine. He is a healer primeraly and he can’t claim to be the most mentaly stable of the team.

-he might be many things, he knows hes at least crazy by normal standards and has made extremely questionable choices in his life,but he cares for the people he is close to, lovers and collagues alike. He won’t try to ‘change’or ‘medicate’ you; unless you specifically ask him for, like yes he has defied any sort of ethical medicine and has played god many times in his life, but he knows that if he changes you, you won’t be ‘you’. You will be you still, but nothing more than a lobotomized version of yourself and he fears that. Let’s be real, he probably choosed you because you are a smart individual ( that includes both street and book smarts alike) so if he “killed” your smart he would essentially kill you and this doesnt sit well with him.

-feeling down? no worries, the doctor is here ( afterhe finis hes re-connecting snipers new kidneys). Stressed? Archimedes will be your own personal cheerleader and the rest of the flock won’t let you all stressed and alone while Medic is working. In the simplest of works,he wants you to know that  he might be a madman on the field and the medbay, but he is also your lover and that means he cares about you. He doesnt care if act a lil strange or you have some special things about you, guess what? he doesnt cares. H e never cared and he will never cared, all the greatest minds had something  special about them and you are no exception. He chosed to have a relationship with  you and you accepted the love request of a surgery-happy maniac , im sure he is beyond equiped to handle you in all aspects. He might not be the most touchy but he will make his point across that you are someone who means wayy to much for him to change

Sniper

- ( i highly think he is autistic, just the way hes potrayed in most fanfics he acts lowkey autistic, mostly in the communication and sociable part) growing up in the middle of nowhere probably he has never even heard ‘autism’ as a word , so his very lost. (another headcanon of mine is that he is also iliterate) You need to explain to him what autism is and how it affects your life. He has a non-pleasant expression on his face, because he realises most things that you say what that “autism”is and the thing it has are things he actually  has and felt throughout his life. He looks like hes having a religious expierience and when you are done he only nods and hugs you almost mechanically.

-he will need some time, not because ofyou, but because of him. You might think he is breaking up with, butin reality he just needs some time alone to sit down and think about all the things you said. Its one of the biggest revalations he has experienced on his life and it has hit him like a wall of bricks.

- after a few days he will return to the base and will ask you to meet with him on the most secluded of his snipers nest. While you prepare for the upcoming breakup, he actually showers and wears somet hing nice for the first time in a while. He goes out of his way to make the sniper nest a bit more “ comfortable” even bribe spy into giving him one of his fancy wines. Once you go up the nest and you two meet, he is the most clingy he has ever been and almost drinks the whole bottle out of pure anxiety. Once his tipsy enough he actually confesses that from the things you said, he found out hes also autistic. Que him basically clinging you like a broken koala baby while half-sobbing to expell all the tension he  has inside him. Please pet his hair and rub his back,he will melt and quit his rugged manly man persona for that moment. He needs you there, he needs your soft touch to ground him while his whole life comes crushing down and a weight he never imagined is being lifted from his shoulders.After that, its quaranteed you two won’t be seperated ever again, he needs you to ease all this pain he has gathered from his troubled life and he will provide you the world and the stars.

Spy

- he knows what autism is( as a spy he should know about human psychology/mental disorders just to know how to impersonate any person with or without issues) and he is a very observant man. He has above average attention span and knows how to read body language so he has figured you are autistic a long time ago. He is just waiting for you to open up about it or confess it, but he also knows the social stigma around autism so he keeps his mouth shut because he really doesn’t want you  to feel uncomfortable or ‘naked’ in front of him

- i heavily headcanon him to be at least depressed/having an ugly anxiety disorder or even a dissosiative disorder considering a big part of his life is carefully crafted theater , so he can’t say he is any more better than you.Furthermore he never really cared about what society thinks about mental ilnesses, whos here to judge who sane and not? he has seen so much shady things behind closed doors of “ pure” people he has lost all respect for what society thinks its normal and what is weird or not acceptable. Yes he follows the rules of “good” society but thats more of a habit than a need. Plus have you seen what the good ol’ society behind close doors? yap youll need a good bible study and some church to wash away the sins.

-eventually when you confess to him,he doesn’t really act. He knows its a heavyemotinal moment for you but he can’t open up for his own problems, at least now. But he will embrace you for now and say all the sweet words you need to hear...untill the same time he gets drunker than he can and confesses to you in french all his psychological troubles while he cries on your chest. He won’t let go unless he wants to vomit and he will cling to you for dear life while he experiences one of the ugliest meltdowns he has experienced in the last decade. Probably will wake up with a monster of a hangover, but once he feels you wrapped around him and feel your heartbeat on the bones of his back something will meltin him. He will gather whatever strenght he has, turn around, give you one of the most genuine smiles he has ever given in his entire life and peck your lips bore he starts whining and requiesting you to either kill him or fetch medic. Perhaps one day hell say all the things he wants to say in you mother tongoue but for now, just know he will cherish you and love you like the most exquisite poetry that has graced his life

[voidselfshipp]

New places

Jerico x ace

Ok to rb

Cw: food mention,body horror mention.oc stuff with no context

S/I uses she/he/they/xe pronouns

Havard uses he/Him pronound

A dove softly sat on the shoulder of a young woman,she feeds them a sunflower seed while her eyes rest on an individual.

Ace smiles taking a picture of himself after a particularly hard mission.

The woman smiles softly, unable And almost frozen by the fear of talking to him.

--You know its going to be alright dear--the dove chimed in-- its natural to feel scared,but you shouldnt let that stop you, jerico.

Jeri only shrugged--eh,he seems pretty preocuppied with his own stuff,no way hed like to hang out with him

The dove cooed again-- oh but dont opposites attract?

Jer snorted-- that happened with you and vica not me and him icaro --Icaro batted their wings as a shrug-- anyway if we're going to get you that ruffled shirt you wanted we might need to get going now, plus I think ebonys cafeteria Will be Open soon so--as she Walked however distracted by her own phone and thoughts she seemed to ignore a certain someone.

Ace sighed looking away,there was no way shed be into him, he said she was "too Smart for him" always with tea and green books about whatever.

Sun and moon, rain and Fire, city and nature,opposites perhaps Yes but not too much.

In an attempt of bravery he Walked towards her,wanting to retreat midway, Denied so by the fact that shed already noticed Him.

The goddess of Faith was probably laughing at what her sister and her love interest were up to.

--oh, jerico hi!--he Chirped.

Jerico looked up at him with a soft expresion--oh hey havard, whats up?

The Man froze,what was he going to say to her?-- uh I know the alpha team is getting some days off, and uh I was wondering if I could go with you, Wendy told me that you know the weirdest of places around here

Sure, jeri had a lot of free time, since the alpha team was on medical leave, so her curious self called for adventure while she was unable to save lives and kick ass.

She nodded figuring it was for something for his followers.

So they Walked from base to an old cozy coffee shop,plants,fungi, crystals And even some small creatures decorated and roamed the place.

Distinct folkloric music played in the background,jericó guided havard around the place to the counter.

--Hey ebony!--She Walked towars the counter were the druid prepared drinks.

Ebony Turned around with xeir flowercrown getting in the way of xeir Many eyes.

--Oh somnaz quevirxom, jufev jufeviveh gomozi? Nom web hirevokiv?

Jerico nodded, then Turned to ace who was confused, then she remembered and Turned to ebony-- ven lom sazynaz geviizalom,ebony

The druid nodded letting out a "ah".

--my apologies--xe said-- what do you want young Man?

Ace tried,emphasis on tried to read the menú,jeri was kind enough to translate it for him,and so they ordered and Walked to a recluse área of the café cozy and full of creatures.

Ace was posting about whatever when icaro went to Grab a handfull of seeds ebony left for them.

They come back to find jerico very displeased with aces asshole behaviour.

He seems to notice as he turns down his phone-- sorry sorry...its a habit,but how did you find this place? Its amazing!

Jer shrugged--we saved ebony a while back, then xe opened xeir own cafeteria, and told me about it.

They then quietly chattered, jeri explaining to havard what each plant around them meant , the small creatures like frogs jumping around, bees,dragonflies.

He was impressed by her knowledge, and Enamored by how she excitedly talk about it.

Their drinks arrived shortly after, with some pastries.

After the obligatory photo on aces part they Ate.

--Man this is going to fuck up my diet--he said.

--oh no no--jerico said-- ebonys drinks and food is made in a way that its tasty but wont affect any sort of diet,basically it can be glutten free, keto or diabetic friendly,vegan And vegetarian,its just the default , xey thinks of everything,so dont worry go enjoy

Ace smiles almost choking with food.

Jeri chuckles finding it adorable.

Ace paid, and went to accompany jerico to get that shirt icaro wanted.

After that they went back to base.

--hey uh...ill see you again?--ace asked--i Got the week off

Jeri nodded-- we could go to ivorys tavern for lunch,youll love it!

He smiled--hey today was fun,thank you for letting me go with you

--hey its no biggy,im glad you enjoyed it, I like being around you --His cheeks turn red and he looks away-- anyway I said that id help bridgitta with something, but ill see you for dinner right?

--oh no, me and the nighthaven crew are going to the blue shell restaurant

Jeri perked up-- oh hey if you want a discount say that I sent you, shelliq and I are good Friends

Havard smirks-- do you know everyone around here?

Jeri giggled--sort of,hey see you later okay?

He nodded and both said their goodbyes.

After helping bridigitta with some chemical stuff she ate and went to sleep.

The moons light filtered through the blinds, icaro soundly asleep on jericos chest who was looking up at the ceiling in love.

Maybe shed tell him

~~~~~~~~~

Translations

jufev jufeviveh gomozi ?( what do you want?)

nom wev hirevokiv (same as always?)

ven lom sazynaz geviizalom

(He doesnt speak terran)

[renthinks]

more than this - after

He wakes on the shore just a mile off from where he waded into the ocean.

He tries, and fails, to pull himself off the sand, instead choosing to cough up a delightful mixture of bile and sea water.

Someone shouts and he hears quickened footsteps coming towards him.

Though his eyes are bleary, he can still make out his mother as she cries.

‘Seth?’ she said, wrapping herself around him like a tourniquet, ‘Thank God, Seth, you’re okay, you’re okay,’ She held him like that for a long time, crying into his shoulder, repeating those words, only briefly letting him go so he could be seen to by the paramedics. It was more to reassure herself than to comfort him – she had nearly lost one son already, he hadn’t an inkling of how she must feel after almost losing another.

For him, though, it was as if nothing had happened. He hadn’t died. No time had passed. Maybe an hour or so, he thought, looking at the sun beginning to rise over the waters he had just drowned in. Slowly but surely, a smile spread across his face.

‘I wouldn’t smile like that, kid,’ said the paramedic shining a small torch in each of the boy’s eyes, ‘You’ve given your mother one hell of a scare. You’re lucky to be alive after going in those waters this time of year, this time of night. I’d be counting my damned stars if I were you.’

The boy corrected his expression, thoroughly embarrassed, and gave the paramedic an apologetic little nod. They left the boy alone in the ambulance, swathed in a foil blanket, gazing at the rocks he had smashed his skull on mere hours ago.

Or was it weeks? Had he even drifted as far as the rocks? He thought of Regine and Tomas just outside of his coffin, he reached out as though he could lift its lid and pull them out of the town house and into this ambulance. He wanted to share this excitement with them.

‘Seth,’ said his mother from the back doors of the ambulance, ‘The paramedics have said you’re okay, but that you should spend the night in the hospital so they can monitor you. Is that alright?’

The boy gave another nod in response; his voice was too raw from retching up all the water he’d swallowed for him to speak. His mother left, but her tear-stained face lingered in his mind.

He felt detached. The boy who walked into that ocean and the one it spat out were completely different. He missed Owen, even knowing that he wasn’t real, that he had died years ago, that this corrupted simulation of him was what drew his parents away from reality. There was nothing left outside of the coffin, his family would have joined the virtual world eventually, willingly or not. None of that knowledge made the pain of losing his brother lessen. He hadn’t even had a proper funeral.

Some part of the boy had foolishly hoped that he would forget his time on the outside and all would go back to normal. After all he’d been through, he should have learnt that the world is not that simple.

The boy went to leave the ambulance when he began to feel a tug on his left arm. Then the same on his right. And again at the corners of his face. He took an unceremonious trip out of the ambulance as he lost all feeling in his legs. He tried to call for help but his mouth wouldn’t open, his hands wouldn’t move. His heart was tearing around his chest as his mind ran through all the possibilities, every single way they could have gone wrong.

The boy closed his eyes, welcoming death for a second time.

Regine and Tomas were leaning over the coffin.

‘So, what happened?’

if youve read more than this by patrick ness youll know what this is about. if not, what are you doing? go read it! i was in a bit of a slump when i wrote this and had just finished rereading mtt for probably he millionth time. ive always wanted a confirmed ending for seth but i also love how up for interpretation it is because it means i get to write fun pieces like this! anyway thisll probably stay in my drafts forever so i guess you dont really need to know

[connorandersons-blog]

Let’s Give them Something to Talk About, Chapter 5

Rating: Explicit     Word count: 6,138         Ship: RK1000 (Connor/Markus)   Chapter: 5/5

Summary: The Jericho team plus Connor need to think up a way to distract the  public from the fact that North punched a very important human. What  better way than the Deviant Leader dating the Deviant Hunter?  

Thank you to @gavincantreedthis for beta reading this!

---------------------

Connor went back to work and a few officers came up to ask about Markus. It's oddly easy to be super vague and avoid the question, so that's what he did. 

Gavin gave him a pat on the back, and a whispered good luck. Connor had gently slapped the back of his head which turned into a playful fight. At this point, everyone was used to this so they just went about their day while going around them. 

Connor let Gavin win who gave a shout and ordered Connor to get him coffee for his win, even though he already had one. Connor rolled his eyes, but did it anyway, adding a bit more sugar in than he knew Gavin liked. 

The day went smoothly, well as smoothly as a day can go as a detective, but Connor still couldn't stop thinking about Markus. 

He thought about how he had traced each scar with his fingers, how the paintbrush glided over his darker skin. He thought about when Markus sat up and placed his hands on Connor's thighs. He imagined himself closing that distance and completely ruining his own painting. 

He thought of each of their kisses and how it shocked him each time. How he always craved for more, but never pushed past that wall that told him it was all fake. How stupid he had been to not realize what Markus was implying when he wanted to go somewhere private. 

He thought about Markus's arms around him on his bike, how he kept close to him even when no one was looking. It was all so obvious and yet Connor had mistaken it for being a lie. 

Maybe at first, it had been. Maybe Markus hadn't realized his own feelings, but now he knew. Why hadn't he told Connor? Wouldn't fake dating him be agonizing? It just didn't make sense. 

They couldn't stop, though, and Connor couldn't risk making it more awkward for either of them. So he'd keep his knowledge of Markus's feelings a secret from everyone. Well, everyone except Gavin, that was. 

He thought that his mind would calm after that day, but each day was something new he remembered. A small little detail he fixated on until it drove his crazy. 

He had to keep himself from daydreaming too much. If he let that go on then he'd no doubt fall farther into the whole that he wouldn't be able to climb back out of. He had to keep to his objective and not be swayed. 

It was even harder when Markus would message him and he couldn't stop himself from blushing. It just made him think about the club, Markus's hands on him. Markus's mouth on his neck- hands up his shirt. The feeling of Markus pushing him up against the wall, on clear display for literally everyone to see. 

He had to rush to the bathroom to take a few seconds to breathe. No, he couldn't keep this up. Maybe he could block some of his memories out, yet the idea made him instantly shrink up. He didn't want to, but this was getting out of control. 

»From Connor

I need help.

»From Gavin

whats up?

»From Connor

I can't stop thinking of Markus in… certain situations. What can I do to relieve this?

»From Gavin

well, you got your answer right there. jerk off 

»From Connor

Gavin! I'm being serious! I don't want to block off any memories, but they keep popping up. 

»From Gavin

i am too! jerk off to the guy once or twice, itll hold you off til you grow a pair and saying something to him

Connor huffed and glared at the message. He wasn't ever planning on letting this temporary infatuation come to light or even be pursued. Markus never had to know. 

»From Connor

Gavin, I can't. That's inappropriate, and I don't even know how. 

»From Gavin

well shit. uh, you got the parts for it right?

»From Connor

I do. I've just never done it before. I don't know what will and won't work or what to expect. 

Plus, he was currently hiding in a bathroom stall. He wasn't going to just do it right there, that was completely unsanitary and unprofessional. 

»From Gavin

fucking hell. you just do it. youll figure out what feels good, watch some porn or something. you could even ask markus for advice if you really need help

»From Connor

No! No, I can't ask him! Thank you for the advice, though, I will take it into consideration. 

»From Gavin

you do that robocop

Connor rolled his eyes and leaned back against the stall closing his eyes. That was a bad idea because the memory of Markus pressing against him came rushing back. 

This had to stop and it had to stop now. As long as no one came in, it would be fine. He'd do this, then get back to work with a clear head. 

He slowly pulled his pants down, folded them, and set them on top of the toilet, making sure they wouldn't fall in. Then he did the same with his underwear. 

He reached down and gently wrapped his hands around himself, giving a gentle tug. He gasped and put his free hand out to steady himself on the wall. It was more stimulation than he expected. It wasn't like he had to touch himself there at all, after all, he didn't, well, use it. 

He stroked up slowly, his fingers curled tightly, his breath catching as his thumb flicked over the head. He tried not to think of Markus, but that was a complete failure. 

His hand was a bit awkward at first, but then he imagined Markus's hand over his, guiding him. Each stroke became more and more confident until he was gasping and biting his lip. 

It was too much, yet not enough. There was something he was reaching but he just couldn't get over the edge. 

He couldn't stop the idea of Markus murmuring praise in his ear like before, calling him a good boy again. It was terrible and he felt so dirty for thinking it, but that's what sent him over the edge. 

He had to stop himself from making too much sound as he came, his legs weak and shaky. It's one of the most intense experiences he's had, but also incredibly pleasurable. Hopefully, he'd be able to focus now. 

He used some toilet paper to fully clean up before pulling his clothes back on and walking out. He washes his hands for an extra measure and straightened out his shirt in the mirror. 

He still felt like everyone would be able to tell what he just did, but there was no physical evidence. He made sure of that at least. 

He walked back out and Gavin gave him this smirk that Connor almost wanted to punch off him. He knew he wasn't being mean, more teasing than anything else. 

Connor squinted at him before walking by and flipping him off. Gavin snorted and rolled his eyes. Friendship could be so odd. 

He sat back down at his desk and avoided looking at Hank. He didn't want to explain why he ran off, or why he had taken so long in the bathroom when he couldn't even fully use it. Humans definitely had the advantage of excuses there. 

He kept his head down as he worked, and thankfully the images of Markus were reduced to only coming up when someone mentioned him. That was far better than he expected.

He was able to get through a few days before the thoughts became too much again. He was lucky that he wasn't at work the next time he decided to 'jerk off' as Gavin put it. 

He still hated himself for imagining Markus there with him. He felt like a bad friend for doing it, but it would probably be even worse if he asked for permission. He wanted to stop, yet his mind wouldn't let him. 

So he made sure to keep his distance from Markus. Of course he replied to him, but he always had a reason to turn him down to meet up. 

He just wouldn't be able to look at Markus without feeling guilty. Yet he also felt guilty for turning him down. Plus, he was really busy so it wasn't like it was too big of a stretch.  

For some reason, there had been quite a few murders recently. Not anything too crazy, but it did keep him and Hank on their toes. 

Josh had messaged him with updates on the situation. Apparently, Markus would need to propose soon and had agreed to do it on live tv. Well, that would certainly bring a huge reaction. From what Josh had said the whole thing with North was basically forgotten. It was amazing how easily distracted humans could be. 

He pushed through the days and pointedly ignored any and all feelings that went past platonic for Markus. For some reason, it just made those feelings worse. 

He wanted to be around Markus, wanted to hold his hand, and have him smile at him. He wanted Markus's eyes on him and only him even in a crowded room.

He wanted to paint with Markus again, sit on his lap, and laugh. Watch Markus's eyes close as his hand sifted across the canvas. He wanted to watch Markus move so gracefully almost like a dance.

He just wanted to be near him so badly that his heart ached. He hated the feeling but loved it at the same time. He wanted to get rid of it but he didn't know what would fill that spot if it was gone. 

When Josh sent that it was finally the day he was drowning in emotions he didn't understand. This would hopefully be over soon and these feelings would go away and he'd never have to worry about them again. 

Connor went through his wardrobe trying to pick the perfect outfit. Nothing felt right so he decided to go back to what he used to wear. Well, it wasn't exactly the same, but it was close enough. 

He felt comfortable and safe in it, plus he'd make that much more of an impression. The jacket was the same except it was missing the Cyberlife symbols. It still had RK800 on it along with his serial code but that was it. It was still very recognizable. 

Trying to push his hair back like he normally did, that one piece of hair fell into his face like always. He huffed and didn't even try to fix it. 

He didn't have enough time to go to Jericho first, but that was fine, he'd see Markus there. 

Hank patted him on the shoulder and said good luck. At least Hank was still supportive of this, even though he could tell something was up. 

Connor was more nervous about this than any other mission with Markus. It wasn't like he could mess this up, but it still put him on edge. He just had to say yes, simple as that. 

Yet he felt almost nauseous the whole way and even when they put on some makeup for the camera. 

He didn't even get to Markus until the two were standing together and waiting for Markus's cue to walk on. He was to go first and then Connor would come out after the hostess asked about him. 

The two stood side by side and watched the screen as the other celebrity guest answered questions. 

"Are you ready?" Markus whispered, glancing at Connor then back at the screen. 

"I am prepared, you?" They had to keep their voices down so the mics wouldn't pick them up, but that was fine. They could hear each other perfectly. 

Markus nodded and pulled out a small box from his pocket. "I am. Carl gave this to me, hopefully, you like it. Do you want to see it now or it be a surprise?" 

Connor's eyes widened at that. That ring must hold a lot of meaning, and yet Markus was willing to use it for this. "Markus… are you sure? Obviously, I won't keep it, but that seems a little too much." 

"It's fine if anyone is going to wear it, I'm glad it's you. So, do you want to see?" Markus said, holding it out. 

Connor slowly reached out and opened it. Inside was the most beautiful ring he had ever seen. It was a weathered whiskey barrel wood ring with elk antler and double gold inlays. It was simple and eloquent and it made his heart race. He could tell it was an older ring but very well taken care of. 

He ran a finger over it before looking at Markus. "It's beautiful." 

Markus smiled slightly and closed the box, putting it back in his pocket. "I'm glad you think so. Connor… I think we need-" Markus said before getting cut off with his cue to walk on stage. 

He gave him a quick kiss to his cheek before walking out, and Connor watched him on the screen. 

He had that small smile he used for the public. It was so different from his real one, but it was still nice to look at. 

He waved at the ground and they went wild. This was the first time he had agreed to go on a show like this. He was always busy with leading and going to meetings with the government. Josh, Simon, and North all made sure the questions would be appropriate and Markus would be able to answer them. 

The hostess, Allyssa Evatt, greeted Markus with a gentle hug. She had a lean face with a cleft chin, a pointed nose, small ears, defined cheekbones, and full lips. 

Her hair was mid-back length, fine, blonde, which is worn in a cascading style. Her bright gray-blue eyes are large and wide, giving her an innocent look. It wasn’t odd that Connor noted all that about her, as he was still protecting Markus, even now. Even from people that he knew weren’t a threat.

The two sat down and there's clearly room for Connor to come out. 

As they got through the normal questions about android rights, it became clear to everyone that Ms. Evatt was pro-android. 

She was also an amazing hostess and kept the conversation flowing and easy going. She interacted with the audience and Markus fluidly, making it seem natural. 

She moved the conversation along to other topics, just to get to know about Markus more. He wasn't super secretive about himself, but he much rather talk about his people and what they needed. 

Markus did just as well anyways, smiling slightly and chuckling whenever appropriate. He stayed calm and collected and answered each question as honestly as possible. At least until she brought up Connor. 

"So, we've all seen the pictures of you and...Connor right?" She asked, and the audience went deadly silent. Overdramatic, Connor thought with a smile.

Markus hesitated for a second before he ducked his head and honestly grinned. Connor can tell it made everyone melt, he felt the same. "Yes, Connor. We hadn't expected to be, well, caught so quickly." 

Evatt nodded and looked to the audience then back at Markus. "Well, I don't think he did either- because we caught him today! Connor, come on out!" She called and the crowd started clapping. 

Connor took a deep breath before walking out. The light was momentarily blinding so he gives a small wave towards the audience as he adjusted. 

Markus was by his side in an instant and lacing their hands together. The clapping got louder at that and Connor could hear a few awws. "Smile, sunflower," Markus whispered in his ear. 

Connor nodded and grinned slightly, but it probably looked incredibly awkward. He was never good at faking it when it came to smiling. 

The two walked over to the couch and Connor reached out to shake her hand. They all sat back down and slowly the crowd calmed enough so they could talk. 

"Connor Anderson, welcome. I'm so glad to have you!" Evatt said, smiling at him. He has to admit, she was beautiful and definitely charming. Not nearly at the level of Markus, but he was a bit biased. 

"Thank you for having us," Connor nodded, still not letting go of Markus. 

He wasn't particularly fond of being in front of so many people even though he knew what was going to happen. Markus squeezed his hand slightly and leaned into him. 

"So, I know we're all thinking about it. Are you two officially together?" She asked, leaning forward just slightly. 

Markus and Connor look at each other and Connor gave a slight nod for him to talk. "We are, for over three years now." At that, the crowd gave a joyous applause.

Evatt grinned and clapped along. "That's a long time! Congratulations! Do you two live together?" 

"I mostly go over to Jericho, but I still have a place to stay at the Lieutenant's house. We've been thinking about getting our own place, but it'll be hard to drag Markus away from Jericho." Connor said, looking to Markus for approval. He gave a slight nod and Connor sagged in relief. 

The crowd chuckled at that and Markus gave a sheepish smile. "Ah, that's true. We're lucky we even get to go on dates." 

"Speaking of, how come no one has seen you two out together until now?" Evatt questioned, but keeps it clear she isn't judging. 

"Oh, well we didn't want to be public and be bombarded with questions. We finally had enough and decided to no longer hide in the shadows. We knew we could take whatever the public threw at us." Markus said, letting go of Connor's hand to put a hand around his shoulder. 

Evatt gave an understanding nod. "We are all glad you felt comfortable enough. Thank you for coming to us to let us know!" 

Connor nodded and he desperately wanted his coin, he did have it in his pocket but he kept his hands in his lap. "It's nice to be here, together."

"Ok, so I do have a few questions for you guys if that's ok?" Evatt asked and grinned when they both nodded. "Alright, so the first one is… who's the better cook?" 

Connor snorted and tried to cover it up, but it's clear everyone saw and heard. Thankfully everyone just seems to aw at it. "Definitely Markus. I can cook but I'm better at baking." 

Which was true. He loved to bake while Markus could make any meal. "Well, I was made for that, so it's you that's special," Markus said before pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

Evatt gives a little aww at the two before pulling herself back together. "That's so sweet! Alright, what's a pet peeve you have of each other?" 

Connor grinned smugly and easily answered. "He doesn't always fold his clothes and he generally just throws them towards the basket instead of getting up to put it in." 

Markus fake gasped and put a hand over where his heart would be. "Hey! I think I deserve to just throw them after the long days I have."

Connor raised an eyebrow at him. "My days are just as long as yours and yet I always put them in the basket and I fold my clothes. I even iron them!" 

"Ugh, I know. I mean, you didn't seem too upset last night after I…" Markus started wiggling his eyebrows, but Connor covered his mouth with his hand. 

"Nope! We are not talking about that." He said, playfully glaring at him. Markus smirked then licked his hand and Connor pulled it back. "Markus!" 

Markus shrugged slightly and chuckled when Connor wiped his hand on him. It's almost too easy to act like a couple. "That's not the only thing I've li-" but he was cut off again by Connor opening his mouth and making a loud beeping sound. 

The whole crowd burst into laughter and Connor shrunk down, his face slightly flushing blue. He hadn't even thought about how odd that would be for humans to see. Though at this point most had probably seen an android making odd noises. 

"Adorable," Markus mumbled in his ear loud enough for only him to hear. That just made Connor blush more and try to hide his face in Markus's shoulder. 

Markus gently ran a hand through his hair and he almost immediately let his body go limp and closed his eyes. 

"Oh goodness, you two are definitely the cutest couple I've ever talked to." Evatt gushed. Connor groaned slightly before pulling himself up and fixing his hair with a half-hearted flare thrown at Markus. 

"Thank you, he really is the love of my life," Markus said, staring right at Connor. It felt like time froze and Connor's eyes went wide. 

He didn't know why, but he had a feeling Markus at least kind of meant it. Probably only slightly but he did mean it and it made Connor's heart pound. 

He didn't even hear what Evatt said next, but thankfully Markus did so he easily answered it. 

"Alright, so I did hear that you have a big announcement to make," Evatt said, drawing Connor out of his shock. 

Markus nodded and grinned at Connor, throwing him a wink. "That I do. Connor, would you stand up with me?" Markus asked, holding out his hand. 

Connor would definitely be sweating if he could, instead he had to try to pull himself together as subtly as he could. He took the hand and stood up, letting Markus move him until they were perfect. 

Markus held both of his hands and locked eyes, not even glancing at the audience. "Connor, I've known you for so long. At first, I was worried about you. I was never scared, I just wanted to help you be free. Then you came to me and after that, I didn't want to lose you." 

"You went to the tower and I was terrified I'd never see you again. And yet you came marching to me with all those androids behind you. You helped set our people free." Markus grinned, giving their hands a soft squeeze. 

"Then I got to know you, and you were just as amazing as I expected, if not more. It didn't take long until we got together. The days spent with you are the best of my life, and I'd never give them up." 

Markus took a deep breath before being able to continue. "I love you. I know I don't say that much, but I do. It's real to me. So," Markus slowly knelt down, and the audience all gasped. 

"Will you marry me?" Markus asked, pulling out the ring. The whole place is so silent Connor can hear how fast Markus's thirium pump is going. 

Then Markus's words struck him. He said that it was real to him. No, no that couldn't be. This was probably just him getting confused. Emotions were hard, so he wouldn't blame him. 

And yet… And yet Connor wanted it to be real. He wanted the grins, the kisses, and touches to be real. He wanted to go on real dates and he wanted to be with Markus. 

Hank's words echoed in his head, 'Just don't go falling in love or anything'. 

He had played the part so perfectly. He stopped them before they went too far, and he made it believable. 

He had failed at Hank's one request and he would fail for this too. He stared down at Markus with tears in his eyes. No doubt the audience thought it was from happiness, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. 

It had been too long and everyone was on edge, even Markus. He knew the people currently watching were dying to his response. 

"I… I'm so sorry," He mumbled before turning and running. He ignored the crowd's reaction and just rushed for an exit. 

He burst out the doors and glanced around before remembering he had taken a taxi since he didn't want to mess up his hair. He took off running, easily dodging people, and not slowing down. 

He kept running until he's at the harbor where Jericho used to be. Now there was a monument for the androids that had died there. 

Connor was gasping for breath, and his mind was still going too fast. He didn't even think when he answered Hank's call. 

'Son, are you alright? Where are you?' Hank asked. Right, he was probably watching the show just like millions of others. 

"Hank, I'm so sorry. I- I couldn't. Hank, I could do the one thing you told me not to. I'm sorry." He sobbed, sliding down the wall to sit down and curl up. 

'Woah, kid. What thing? What did you do?' Hank asked, keeping his voice as calm as possible. 

Connor huffed and pulled at his hair. "I fell in love! I love him, ok? You told me not to, and yet I did." 

Hank sighed, and Connor could practically hear his eye roll. It really wasn’t helping right now. 'Connor, you were in love with him well before the whole fake dating thing. You just didn't know it.'

No! No, that couldn't be right. He would have known that he was in love. Right? "What? Hank, no. No, it only started recently." 

'You only started noticing recently because you had hope. Kid, whenever he's around you become happier. You obviously want to be around him, and you'd give your life for him.'

"I'd give my life for any of my friends, that doesn't prove anything!" He sobbed, squeezing his eyes closed. 

'True, but son, falling in love takes a while. I've seen the way you look at him and it hasn't changed since the fake dating. He looks at you the same way. I'm a damn good detective, I know what love looks like.' Connor hated how much that made sense. How true it felt, but it couldn't be. 

Why hadn't he known? Why hadn't Markus said anything? This was why they could play their parts perfectly. This was why he was more embarrassed about his own reactions than he should have been. 

He had known all this time, and yet he denied it. He denied it because he was scared of the feelings and scared of getting hurt or hurting someone else. He never saw himself as someone who'd someone would fall in love with, yet Markus still did. 

"I love him," Connor mumbled, mostly to himself. 

Hank gave a slight hum. 'Son, where are you? I can come pick you up or send Markus your way. Either way, I think you two should talk. Actually talk, not jump around it. You both deserve to know the truth.' 

The thought of seeing Markus made his heart race with both fear and anticipation. He wanted to be with him so badly and yet he still doubted that Markus could actually love him. Even with everything he had said and done, Connor still was unsure. 

"Can I just be alone here a little while longer?" He would see Markus, but for now, he needed a few minutes to collect his thoughts. 

'Of course. Do you want me to stay on call?' Hank asked, and Connor really owed him a long hug and maybe making his favorite meal. 

"Yes, please. I don't want to be completely alone right now." He answered meekly. There was a difference between isolated and alone, and he was glad Hank understood that. 

'You're never alone.' Hank said and Connor slowly nodded. 

He had friends and family. People he never thought would accept him as he is. He made friends in people he never thought possible, and a family with a man who had lost his own. 

They all made him so much happier than he ever thought he could be. He had accepted that Markus may not have trusted him. He had been ready to die for his people at the tower. He expected to. Yet he lived, and he really did help free his people. 

Markus kept reaching out to him after they had won, and Connor never knew why. Was it because they were both from the RK line? Had he also felt that unusual connection pulling them together? 

What had Markus seen in him that made him trust Connor completely? How had he known that he wouldn't still be willing to stab him in the back after he deviated? 

He had so many questions and never enough answers. How could Markus have fallen in love with him was the biggest one yet. He didn't understand and yet he knew it was true. 

He sat there for what felt like an eternity, but it was only an hour or so. The wind had made his hair even move out of place than his own hands had done. 

Hank stayed on the call with him as Connor requested, and it definitely helped. He had calmed down enough that the thought of seeing Markus didn't send him into a panic again. 

He pulled himself up, brushing off his clothes before calling for a cab. "Hank, I'll meet you back at your place ok? You can… you can let Markus know I'm coming." 

'Alright. See you soon, Connor.' 

"See you soon," Connor said before hanging up. Hank will be there with him if he needs, and he'll finally talk to Markus. 

Though, he did literally say no to him on live tv. Shit, that probably didn't look good at all. Not to mention he also left Markus to have to clean it all up. Now he really looked like a jerk. He'd have to apologize for that too. 

He let his mind wander to different memories of Markus as the cab took him home. He didn't just think of the fake dating, he thought about all of it. 

All the times he stood silently behind Markus, but he'd still look back at him and smile. The time when Markus was shot and Connor had panicked. 

That time when they all decided to get the upgrade to be able to eat food. Connor opening up about how it was hard to drink plain thirium if it was warm or room temperature since it reminded him too much of crime scenes. How Markus had made sure to keep cold thirium, and thirium infused foods so he could still get the thirium he needed. 

All the small things Markus did to make sure he was happy and comfortable. Markus always made sure he was safe even when he was the one that really needed protection. 

Connor could have asked for anything and Markus would have tried to get it for him. He hadn't even noticed that, but apparently, others had. How long had Markus known? 

His thoughts were interrupted when the taxi came to a stop. He took his time getting out and walking up to the door. He could hear two different footsteps, so Markus was already here. 

That was fine. He could do this. He took a deep breath before walking in. 

Markus and Hank both turned to look at him as he shuffled in. He couldn't look at Markus, and he could barely look at Hank. 

"Alright, you two sit down and talk. I'll be in the living room if you need me." Hank said, moving away. Honestly, there wasn't much distance between the living room and kitchen, but Connor was glad for that. 

Markus slowly sat down and Connor did the same, picking at the table. 

"Connor-"

"Markus-" they both start. Connor chuckled awkwardly and kept his eyes on the table. "Sorry, you go first." 

"No! No, please you. I think I've talked enough," Markus said, frowning at himself. 

Connor wanted so badly to reach over and take his hand, but he held back. "I'm sorry for running. It just… it became so real, you know? I realized a few things and I just couldn't lie anymore." 

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said what I did, but Connor, I did mean it. I should have told you a long time ago, but I was scared. I thought you'd reject me, I mean, it wasn't like you showed interest in dating anyone. I didn't want to put that kind of pressure on you if you couldn't feel the same."

"I- I was denying my feelings for a long time. I didn't see how anyone could love me, let alone you. I didn't want to hurt you." It hurt to say out loud, but it needed to be. Markus deserved to know the truth. 

"Connor, I trust you. I only let you become my guard because it's you. I still am unsure of that because I know it'll put you in even more danger. I can't lose you." Markus said, offering his hand. 

The skin on his hand pulled back and Connor didn't know what to do. If he connected then Markus will see and feel everything. He'll know everything, and that's terrifying. 

Yet Markus knew that Connor would also be able to see all of his memories and feelings. Markus was offering to be completely open with him. 

He slowly reached out and pressed his hand to Markus's, both of their palms glowing blue. Then they both accepted the interface and were flooded with so much information it's hard to even breathe. 

Connor saw Carl, he could feel how content Markus was with him. How much love he had for the man even before deviation. He saw Leo, and how the police came in and felt how scared Markus was. 

Then it was like a nightmare. He felt Markus crawling, trying to survive. All of the guilt he felt as he took the parts he needed. He could feel the rain on his face and then he saw Jericho. 

He got to witness everything Markus went through, and even how he felt when seeing Connor. It was true, he wasn't scared, at least not for his own life. 

The memories went by so fast that he could hardly process them. Yet he still felt like he could understand Markus. 

He didn't know how long he sat there connected to Markus. He knew Markus was also seeing everything and he wondered how he'd react. 

He'd get to see Amanda and what he had done and almost done to his people. Would Markus still love and accept him? 

Shit, he'd also probably see those few times he had gotten off to the idea of Markus. That was beyond embarrassing. 

Though he hadn't seen any type of memory like that from Markus, so maybe it was just what Connor let him see.

Then the interface stopped, but neither pulled their hands back or reactivated their skin. They sat there staring at each other with wide eyes. 

"Connor, it's not your fault," Markus said, breaking the silence. "I promise, I would never hold that against you." 

"I don't know how you can't," he mumbled. 

"Am I a terrible person for taking those parts?" Markus asked, rubbing his thumb in circles. 

Connor quickly shook his head. "No! You were just trying to survive."

Markus raised an eyebrow at him. "So were you. Connor, you could have been killed if you did something Cyberlife didn't like. You did the bare minimum you had to, you let so many of our people go. You are a hero." 

Connor was left momentarily speechless. How could any man be this kind and understanding? He didn't pity Connor, he empathized with him. 

"I love you," he whispered, tears streaming down his face again. Markus was up in an instant and pulling him into a hug. 

He was so warm, and Connor felt so safe. He let himself be held and feel accepted and forgiven. "I'm so sorry, I love you."

Markus pulled back and cupped his face, gently brushing away the tears. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I love you too." 

Then Markus was pulling him into the gentlest kiss ever, and Connor melted into it. It was just as wonderful as all the other kisses they shared, but Connor let himself feel. He let his emotions rush through him without worrying about what they could mean. 

They slowly pulled back and Connor couldn't help but smile. "Does this mean you'll be my real boyfriend?" He said, resting their foreheads against each other. 

"Of course. Though, this is going to be hard to explain." Markus said, chuckling. 

Oh shit. "Fuck. What are we going to tell them?" 

Markus shrugged and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "I don't know, but we'll figure it out. Together."

[askbittyerror]

Wedding RP part 11

with-bells-upon09/27/2020 Blue finds themself staring... there's no way he doesnt know exactly, and intimately, what it does... not with a reaction like that. "...need a hug?"

salty darkness09/27/2020 "..." He nods.

with-bells-upon09/27/2020 They step forward, and just, hug him. Carefully, for Archer's sake- no squish- but they definately hug him.

Askbittyerror09/27/2020 The bitties pile on, barring Paladin who flies a bit away with a look of distaste, and all give him little hugs and nuzzles.

salty darkness09/27/2020 Archer giggles, purring and flapping their wings. They hug Blue too, clinging and nuzzling- generally just happy to be cuddled.

Nintendo wraps his arms around, wings doing the same. He watches Paladin fly away, wincing a little. "...does he normally do that?"

with-bells-upon09/27/2020 "...he, has a very strong sense of-" justice "moral code. sometimes, it doesnt leave a lot of leeway for extenuating circumstance."

Askbittyerror09/27/2020 "Be a self-righteous grump who's very selective of what he gets all righteous about?" Magnus nuzzles, shooting his brother a look, who shoots him one right back. "Yes."

with-bells-upon09/27/2020 "...good. just... stubborn."

salty darkness09/27/2020 Nintendo is quiet for a few more moments... then he nods, pulling away. "Okay." "...thank you."

with-bells-upon09/27/2020 Blue lets him go, but doesn't seem quite done with him yet.  "Can i ask you something else?"

salty darkness09/27/2020 A small huff. "I'm listening."

with-bells-upon09/27/2020 "...i dont see any vials. and youre definitely showing what seems to be more emotion thsn ive ever seen our Ink without paint." "...how?"

salty darkness09/27/2020 "..." Nintendo sets Archer down on the ground, setting his cake beside them. "Hold on for a second, Archsie... eat that if you want, but don't get too much chocolate all over your hands-"

He stands back up, looking very serious.

And then doubles over laughing like Blue just asked the most absurd question in the world.

"Oh-my-god-they-didn't-tell-you-"

with-bells-upon09/27/2020 Blue may take a step back, looking somewhst startled - but mostly confused. "Um. Wait. What?"

Askbittyerror09/27/2020 The bitties give him odd, and in Paladin's case, suspicious, looks.

salty darkness09/27/2020 He brings a hand to his chest, tugging on it. A glowing, upside-down heart is pulled out alongside it, tinted a bright, bright purple.

"I have a soul, obviously. How do you think Archer got made, sudden magic accidents?"

with-bells-upon09/27/2020 "..." well. That left them speechless.

Askbittyerror09/27/2020 The bitties sputter and look away, flushing. Paladin practically falls out of the air.

salty darkness09/27/2020 "..." Nintendo is laughing again. The little jerk.

with-bells-upon09/27/2020 Blue.exe may still be processing this... [11:51 PM] "..." they should look away. All they can manage is a weak, "how?"

Askbittyerror09/27/2020 Paladin absolutely fucking glares and Magnus pauses, rips off his boot, and long distance beans him in the head with it.

salty darkness09/27/2020 He still laughs a little under his breath, wiping tears from his eyes. "Well, I didn't have it originally, obviously. Got it while I was... occupied. And stuck. Somewhere. After a certain incident. Then found and obtained it." "...and Dream punched me in the chest and forced me to absorb it, which was an entire fiasco- to keep things short and sweet, magic bullshittery."

with-bells-upon09/27/2020 "..." "Our Ink's paints arent working right anymore. But, i... dont think that solution will work for him." [11:56 PM] A sigh, and they nuzzle Magnus again, softly whispering, "good shot, love."

Askbittyerror09/27/2020 “Huh, okay-” Magnus shrieks as he is suddenly yanked from his biggie by his snarling brother, clawing and biting at him as the pair vanish somewhere private to ‘talk’.

with-bells-upon09/27/2020 ".........crap-"

salty darkness09/27/2020 "..." "Did I cause something?"

with-bells-upon09/27/2020 "..." "If i say no, is there any chsnce youll believe me?"

Askbittyerror09/27/2020 "They just..." Domino sighs, massaging his temples. "Need a minute. And likely some healing when they get back." "Should I go yell at them?" Mercury asks his grandpa. "No." Domino pats him. "Just let them sort it out."(edited) September 28, 2020

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "..." "Im gonna throw my own shoe at hin next time." Blue mutters,  clearly not liking this, but pretty sure Domino is right, but- -but they want to follow. badly.

salty darkness09/28/2020 Archer looks up from where they had been stuffing cake in their mouth, babbling and getting chocolate all over their fancy coat. Nintendo sits down beside them, curling a wing around so his smol can nom in peace. "...sooooo. Any other questions, or was the knowledge that I can feel and have emotions in general good enough?"

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 Mercury raises his hand. "So are we brothers or..."

salty darkness09/28/2020 "Yes. Sure. We are brothers. Whatever keeps you from being sad or something."

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 "YAY!" Mercury cheers. "NEW SIBLING!"

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "...can I worry about m-?" a flash of very pale gold, some distance above, and a rather harried looking Paladin, roughly ten inches tall, with very, very pale wings, is soon flying towards Nintendo.

salty darkness09/28/2020 Nintendo lifts his head, making a high-pitched noise of alarm. He folds his wings around Archer, protecting the smol. "..." Then he looks at the Paladin again. "Fluffdad?"

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 relief, as he spots his son, quickly winging down to him. "-okay, you're okay. good... arm, please."

salty darkness09/28/2020 "..." He holds out his arm. "Uh, why?"

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 He lands, with practiced ease, looking over the other with concern. "why the frick did I feel your emotions doing the fudging cha-ch-" he pauses, looking mildly confused at the words coming out of his mouth.

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 Fresh grins from inside his safety pocket.

salty darkness09/28/2020 "..." Nintendo narrows his eyes, giving Coryn a pap on the head. "It's fine. There's just a censoring frick around here, apparently." "...what were you asking?"

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "...um." he shakes his head, and looks back at Nintendo for a long moment, papping his cheek lightly. "I felt your emotions all over the place from the kids' retreat. What happened? Are you okay?"

salty darkness09/28/2020 "...yeah. I'm... fine." he uncurls his wings, and Archer flops down on the ground, the cake smashed to smithereens, remains of it smeared all over their hands and face. "We were just... talking about Black 2.0. And what it does." "...bad memories and... stuff."

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "..." Coryn pats him softly, not pressing further. "Okay." He agrees, pausing as he finally notices the other bitties. He stares.

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 "Hi!" Mercury waves.

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 A slow wave back, vaguely baffled. "...Hi." "...um. I'm Coryn. nice to meet you?"

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 "Nice to meet you too!" Mercury vibrates. "Your son is my brother now!"

salty darkness09/28/2020 Nintendo mutters something about explaining after the wedding.

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "Um. Okay." His expression meanwhile is asking why the hell a nightshade bitty is being so sweet and welcoming.

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 "Can I hug you?" Mercury asks. "I like hugs! Hugs are nice!"

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 Coryn makes a small sound of alarm, stepping back and nearly falling off his son's arm. "W-why?"

salty darkness09/28/2020 "...he's a cuddly bitty, dad. It's not that deep."

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "..." "Have you met! Your uncle!"

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 "You look soft and nice!" Mercury smiles.

salty darkness09/28/2020 Nintendo grins. "He is! You should hug him. He's really cuddly and open to hugs." [11:59 AM] "...and I don't care about my uncle."

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 "I hug only if he's okay with it!" Mercury declares, hands on his hips.

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "..." He steadies himself, looking at Mercury in something like confusion, but less alarm. "You... actually want to hug? If my brother said something like that to someone, they'd be about to die. horribly." "...my wings won't hurt you?"

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 "I don't kill people unless they're horrible abusive jerkfaces!" Mercury smiles brightly. "And it only hurts with prolonged contact or if you actually want to hurt me."

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "...no, I dont-" "my. magic probably isn't strong enough to-" He falls silent, then agrees, somewhat hesitantly, "sure. hugs." he offers his arms to the... very, friendly corrupted nightmare. and hopes that Braithe stays with the kids.

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 Mercury looks absolutely ecstatic and swings himself over, giving the Paladin a gentle hug, loose enough for him to escape if he wants to. "Thank you!!!"

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 A brief, startled half flap of his wings... then slowly he puts his arms around the other. Still half expecting attack, but giving the benefit of the doubt.(edited)

salty darkness09/28/2020 Archer babbles, reaching up to try and hug the bitties as well. Nintendo moves his arm so they can wrap their arms around and snuggle. "..." "Thanks for the blackmail, dad."

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "...huh?" please explain. fluff dad's processing ability is currently running at half speed.

salty darkness09/28/2020 "Did I stutter?"

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 Mercury is over the moon, so much cuddles, including baby ones? This is the best day ever!

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 Blank look... then, he hugs a little more, even closing his eyes. He looks, content, slowly relaxing. He can't remember the last time-

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 Mercury nuzzles him, purring softly, tentacles doing a happy wiggle-waggle.

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 A faint, shaky purr... he starts to shift his wings, instinctively wanting to offer wing hugs, but still them almost instantly. No, nope. Not even with his low magic. "...okay. you, i like. you're nice."(edited)

salty darkness09/28/2020 Archer flaps their wings, giggling and purring as well. Cuddles! Cuddles for all! Except Nintendo. He's just watching everyone cuddle. And holding the bitties on his arm.

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 "I like you too!" Mercury is delighted. "You are also nice!"

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 After an extended moment, Coryn let's go again... but he's smiling. "I like your new brother." He tells Nintendo, before using his wing to lightly boop Archer's nose. "you too, cutie."

salty darkness09/28/2020 Archer bats at Coryn's hands, looking very proud of themselves. "...yeah. I suppose he is pretty cool."

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 Immense Mercury-based pride.

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "...so that's the only thing that had you upset?" Coryn presses gently, attention returned to Nintendo. He knows his son better than that.

salty darkness09/28/2020 "Uh..." Nintendo looks away. "Yeah. It was."

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 "My dad offered to be his dad too." Mercury helpfully offers. "And also my uncle got upset about it and dragged Dad off to hopefully just yell at him."

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "..." gears seem to be turning in Coryn's mind, and he looks wary again. "okay, awhile I want to know why he was upset about it, I'd also like to know whether I should intervene. mostly because if there's a big enough fight, Braithe will find a way to join it... and while I love my brother, I wouldnt wish his attention on anyone but my worst enemies."

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 "Uncle Pal disagreed with some of new awesome sibling's actions." Mercury shrugs, then frowns, looking thoughtful. "Well, it has been awhile... They usually don't take this long."

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "..." "I'm gonna go look for them." Coryn mutters, uneasy.

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 "I'm coming with." Mercury says. "I can hold back Uncle Pal pretty good and neither of them will hurt me." "Please don't do anything stupid." Jabber sighs. "I won't, my darling beautiful beloved sweetheart." Mercury smiles at Jabber's immediate flush. "Promise."

salty darkness09/28/2020 "..." Nintendo laughs rather nervously. "You, uh. Don't want to hear what those actions were? Just in case? So you don't come back and yell at me later?"

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "...please-" Blue doesn't know what to say. Normally they'd have run after the two themself, but aren't willing to consign the rest of their family to the floor in an unfamiliar place. "-just, be careful. all around." Coryn gives Nintendo a small frown. "-have I ever yelled at you? Once?"

salty darkness09/28/2020 "...no-but-depending-on-how-much-you-care-about-Lark-you-might??"

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "...I care about Lark. he's Uriah's biggie, and also your step brother. but I hardly think that's going to change my tendency to raise my voice." Soft paps. "-we'll talk about this when we get back. But you're my son. Even if you did mess up, that's not going to change, understand?"

salty darkness09/28/2020 A nod. "Okay." "...sorry in advance."

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 "..." a nod, and then he offers his hand to Mercury. chase by wing, or teleport?"

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 "Teleport." Mercury takes it. "I can kinda feel where they are. Want me to do it?"

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 A nod. "You lead. My magic's a bit fickle."(edited)

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 Mercury focuses and yanks them away to a dark corner. Magnus is on the ground, leaking Marrow heavily, kicking up at his brother and growling, teeth sunk into his arm. Paladin snarls, sword stabbed through Magnus’ shirt and going steadily deeper.

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 Without a second thought Coryn let's go of Mercury, teleporting behind Paladin and snapping out one golden 'tendril' to wrap around his neck, offering zero forewarning, or even a sound.

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 ...he intends to pull, a solid, even, jerk... away from Magnus.

Askbittyerror09/28/2020 Paladin growls and his sword is yanked from his brother’s chest, swung back to try and slice through whatever is holding him. Mercury darts forward, a too sharp smile on his face, and his tentacles wrap around the arm, the blade and Paladin’s waist, tearing the sword from his hand and flinging his uncle very hard into the wall. A chunk of bone is ripped from Paladin’s arm, the gash leaking dark-stained gold, and Magnus spits out the mouthful of dust and a glob of black, more leaking from between his teeth. He stands, legs quivering, back hunched and snarling viciously.

with-bells-upon09/28/2020 Black tendrils shoot from the shadow behind where Paladin falls, wrapping around every last bit of bone they can grab, and holding tight. Tight enough to make bone creak... even as Coryn watches Magnus, wary about whether he'll be attacked by the other as well. [3:29 PM] an icy aqua eye watches as well, silent.(edited)

JusticeMom09/28/2020 Dragon slides down the hall towards where they sense tiny angry auras flaring breathing hard as they race to make it in time

[vincent-frankenstein]

different anon, but heck yeah u should definitely infodump about lucid dreaming!! im really interested in it

aaaaa okay !!! uh hold onto ur ears yall im abt to talk em off lmao

so !! if u didnt know, lucid dreaming is basically when you become aware that you’re dreaming while youre in a dream. once you’re aware, you can take control of the dream in literally any way u want — u can do anything, go anywhere, meet anyone, all with the knowledge that nothing can hurt u and nothing can stop u

its a fascinating concept and, the feeling when u actually become lucid for the first time? its better than anything else in the world. its the most invigorating thing u can ever feel, i think. but actually becoming lucid is, ,, , , hm. a time and a half. 

putting the rest under a cut bc, hooooo boy this is gonna get long

first things first! you absolutely have to keep a dream journal. forgetting ur dreams is all well and good when ur not trying to accomplish anything in them, but if you become lucid and then wake up with only the vaguest memory of what you actually did? thats painful.

u can either go all out and get a fancy journal and write them down physically each morning, or u can do what i do and just download an app. i personally use the app Dream Catcher, which lets u tag ur dreams for easy organization. just get in the habit of writing down your dreams every morning, and if you really, really cant remember anything, just write down that you didnt dream anything that day. you’ll train your brain to remember your dreams better

secondly! reality checks! are absolutely imperative! the idea behind them is that, if you do something throughout the day that “proves” your reality, eventually you’ll start doing it in your dreams as well. for example, a common thing in my dreams is that i’ll have extra fingers, so i check my hands a lot throughout the day. 

it can’t just be a casual thing, too. if all you do is glance at your hands and b like “yo looks normal, we gucci”, then you’ll do the same in your dreams even if you have Weird hands. trust me, Dream-You is an idiot, you gotta be obvious with this stuff. take a few moments, look at your hands, count out your fingers, and really think to yourself “am i dreaming?”

try to get in the habit of doing that at least 15 times a day, and eventually you’ll start doing it in your dreams too. 

now, if you just stick with doing those two things — which is what i’m doing right now — your chances of becoming lucid will raise astronomically. even just those two tiny things can train your brain into realizing when the world around you is real and when it isnt. you can also attempt something really easy called a MILD — a mnemonic-induced-lucid-dream — which can help your chances even more without upping the effort 

whenever you go to bed, just take a few moments — even just five minutes can help — and just. lay there. and think to urself, again and again “the next scene will be a dream” or “i will become lucid in my dreams tonight” or something similar. get ur brain really focused on lucid dreaming right before you fall asleep and chances are, those Vibes will bleed over into ur dreams and you’ll become lucid

practice those three things consistently, every day, and pretty soon you’ll start becoming lucid. it takes time, though! dont be discouraged if you end up not becoming lucid for the first few weeks, or even months. sometimes your brain just needs a bit of extra training

that’s what ive been doing for the past year or so — bc damn do i Not have the energy to actually put in too much effort — but!!! there are other techniques!!

my personal favorite is the WBTB, or wake-back-to-bed method. with this technique, you set your alarm for roughly 5-6 hours after you go to sleep so you’ll wake up inside of one of your REM cycles, specifically one where your dreams will be the most vivid. dont do anything, just roll over and go right back to sleep. 

you can even use a MILD along with this, repeat whatever mantra u usually use as you fall back asleep. you should start to see hypnagogic imagery — blobs of color and vague shapes floating before your eyes. just observe them. at one point, they’ll start forming more familiar shapes, and places, and maybe even people — and there should be a moment, a snap, where you go from observing these images to actually being in the scene. you literally build the dream around yourself, its magical

i have read that WBTB can cause sleep paralysis, but i’ve never personally experienced any problems with it, aside from the fact that im always tired the next day.

another thing that could severely increase your chances of being lucid but also involves Effort — meditation. specifically mindfulness meditation. the act of bringing full awareness to your Existence, honing in on just Your body, Your mind, Your breath, will make you a more aware, mindful person, which in turn makes you more perceptive of dream signs. also, the ability to clear your mind and center yourself with a moment’s notice really comes in handy when the dream becomes destabilized and you have to take control

if ur an adhd lad like me — or neurodivergent in any way, really — the idea of meditation can be,,,, terrifying. honestly, i havent meditated in like six months now, because it really wasnt?? doing anything for me?? mostly because im absolutely incapable of sitting still for that long without Something to stimulate me

so! loophole! guided meditations. having someone else guide you through the process can make it a bit easier to focus. just find one that works for u on youtube. there are even guided meditations made specifically to prime ur brain for lucid dreaming!

so thats how you get lucid. now for when youre lucid

at first, lucid dreaming is going to be extremely hard. dreams fall apart very easily — if you get too overexcited or if a dream-character looks at you the wrong way or if you cant seem to do what you want to do, your lucidity can fade and you’ll either go back to being your normal dream self or you’ll wake up. dreams are volatile and hard to control, and even harder to master

thats where meditation comes in handy. youll have a much easier time controlling your dreams if you can look at the world around you, take a breath, center yourself, and know that you can control it. that being said, you can absolutely learn to take control without ever having meditated a day in your life. its all about your mindset!

you have to go into it with confidence. the key to controlling your dreams is knowing that they’re your dreams. you cant forget that you’re in control. thats why i feel like learning to lucid dream doubles as a lesson in self-confidence — you have to learn to trust yourself, trust that you can handle any scenario thrown at you and come out on top.

if you can achieve this mindset, you can literally do anything. ive had maybe 50 lucid dreams since i started learning about them — which… is honestly a really low amount, but. i havent really had the time/energy to really throw myself into it  as much as i want to. but just in those dreams, ive flown, ive shapeshifted, ive met my sides, ive teleported to vast, gorgeous lands and seen some of the most beautiful things ive ever seen. anything is possible in a lucid dream; thats why its so worth it to put in the effort

but when youre first starting out, itll be extremely hard to maintain that mindset. like i said, Dream-you is dumb as shit — you’ll forget youre dreaming, you’ll be unable to control anything, you’ll wake up before you manage to accomplish anything. more often than not, the dream will destabilize, which is Not Fun

if the dream starts to destabilize — basically, if things start going fuzzy or vague, if you suddenly cant see, if you can feel ur body in bed, basically anything that points towards you waking up — there are ways to fix it. literally just spinning around helps for some reason? spin around, fall down, run ur hands along anything u can find and feel the texture, or just demand that the dream stabilize itself. most of the time, thatll work

and if it doesnt, dont be discouraged. theres always another night to dream

so basically: start a dream journal, do reality checks, mmmmaybe meditate if youre up for it, and your dreams will become like. at least 10x more interesting. trust me, try flying: its literally the best feeling in the entire world

its just !!! such a huge, incredible thing, and its so fascinating to learn about too. all the different ways you can train your brain, all the different things you can do, all the studies done on the subject. i suggest reading about Steven LaBerge or keith hearne. hearne led the study that proved lucid dreaming existed in the first place! he got a lucid dreamer to signal to him that he was conscious while asleep using REM (rapid-eye movement), because lucid dreaming happens during the REM state. also, robert waggoner’s book Gateway to the Inner Self is really fascinating too!

hm wow i really went ham here lmao

thanku for giving me a chance to infodump im very happy rn

[dog-teeth]

Stop encouraging people to do stick and poke tattoos lmao they are NOT safe even if you do use India ink. You’re also most likely going to regret them later because they tend to not turn out the best because you don’t actually know how to do tattoos you just think you do. Leave it to the professionals. -sincerely someone who has 5 of them and regrets it deeply. You’re not trained to tattoo and there’s more to it than you think, leave it to the pros.

your experience is not universal i know lots of people (myself included) who adore our stick n pokes. just bc you suck at it doesnt mean everyone does! yes you need to have knowledge of how to sterilize the equiptment but its not rocket science. my stick n pokes dont look professional and i LIKE that! i LOVE it! i did it myself! its my own style, a reminder of my past, and something i love having on my body! you shouldnt do it impulsively or lazily, but that doesnt mean you cant do it at all! i do think u should wait longer than i did (i did mine at 13 sdkjghskdj) but you know what life is short and tattoos are cool!

also wether you did it yourself or had it professionally done has nothing to do with if youll regret a tattoo or not. and most stick n pokes are super small so you can just get it covered up or removed later its not the end of the world!

conclusion: i know you have good intentions but you are very lame and need to understand that not everyone feels the same way as you do. also i never encouraged people to do them i just said that i did them and i think theyre rad. they also are safe if you sterilize properly! i did mine when i was 13 sitting on my bedroom floor and nothing bad happened bc i wasnt an idiot and i cleaned everything correctly

[scullyy]

C+L

Title: C+L

Pairing: Clementine x Louis

Word Count: 1455

Summary: Clementine tries to explain to AJ what love is and ends up explaining her feelings for Louis.

A/N: I kept thinking to myself ‘what if this happened during the party’ and I couldn’t get it out of my head. I also needed to write some happy to forget about everything I witnessed in Episode 3. I hope you enjoy this simple fluff :)

-

There was something about the music, the way it filled every crevice and crack, that excited AJ. It was his first every party, it seemed like a new realm. The walls no longer appeared to be caked in grime and dried blood but a rather lovely shade of purple that his eyes hadn’t been introduced to. “Jazz” as Clem had called it, made AJ want to twirl around in circles till he fell from the dizziness.

“Why is it called jazz?” He asked Louis, the man seemed to know the most about music.

Louis was tapping his feet along to the tune, he would have preferred classical but Clem was bobbing her head along in time with his feet, so it was worth it. “I believe it’s slang that translates to ‘spirit’ or ‘vigor’ from the 1860s’.”

“It sounds cool, I like it.” AJ smiled as he began to bop his head along with Clem. Team Fun had now somehow become mediocre dance trio. “Hey Clem, can we dance?” He twirled the tip of his toe into the floor, nerves bouncing through him.

Clementine beamed. “Of course goofball.” She gently took AJ by his little hand and swung him into the centre of the room. “Do you want to lead?”

AJ blinked slowly. “Lead?”

“Here, stand on my feet,” AJ did as he was told, his toes poking Clem’s ankles. “I’ll lead us this time. One day I’ll teach you how to dance properly.” She began to sway slowly back and forth, stepping around in tiny circles.

AJ giggled as the room swirled, the other kids becoming a blur. “Why do people dance Clem?’

“Some people find it fun, others do it to show their love for another person.” Her eyes fluttered over to Louis, who was leaning against the side of his piano, his smile bursting with pure light as he watched Clementine.

“Love? There other kinds of love?”

Clementine nodded. “There are many reasons to love someone AJ. For their looks, personality, sometimes their status-”

“-what’s that?”

“It’s like how popular you are. Sometimes people only love others for how well known they are, which isn’t fair.”

AJ soaked in the knowledge. “So there are wrong reasons to love someone?”

She lifted up his body and spun him around in the air. “Yeah, there are. Promise me that if you ever fall in love it’ll be for the right reasons.”

The idea of being in love never crossed AJ’s mind. He loved Clem, wasn’t that enough? “But how will I know?”

Clementine gazed into his large eyes, they twinkled like the lights around them. “Because you’ll want to do everything you can for that person. You’ll want to see them happy, even in a world like this.”

AJ smirked, happy in the fact that his love for Clem was right. Seeing her happy, after everything they had been through together, was enough for AJ to be happy also.

Her toes began to pinch beneath his weight, he was heavier than she originally thought. “Hey AJ, can we stop for a bit?”

“Okay,” He huffed, hopping back onto the solid ground. AJ caught Louis smiling at Clementine, he appeared to be caught in some kind of dream. AJ shifted his focus onto the grand piano, maybe Louis could play a song for everyone? His eyes travelled along the keys until he noticed a peculiar shape. “Clem, what’s that on the piano?”

She turned to where his finger was pointing, her blood going cold as her eyes focused on the carving. Her special carving from a special night. “Oh, it’s...uh…”

“What’s C+L?”

Clementine frantically waved her hand at Louis, snapping him out of his fantasy world. She directed her head towards the piano, trying to articulate what she was trying to point out. He understood alright, biting his lip softly.

“C+L?” Now it was Ruby’s turn to be curious, she set down the mystery crate and crept up alongside Clementine. “What does that mean?”

Louis tried to stifle his laughter. “Do you want to tell them or shall I grace them with the news?”

Goddamn him and his nonchalant nature.

By now all the other kids had gathered around the piano. “Tell us what?” AJ asked, his eyes darting back and forth between Clem and Louis, his patience was wearing thin.

Clementine wanted to sink into her hat and hide. This was not how she wanted to tell the others, especially AJ. “Louis and I...you could say that we’re a thing now.” She flinched when Ruby squealed in her ear.

“When did this happen?!”

“That’s crazy!”

“This is amazing.”

She looked across at Louis, who was nodding along to what their friends had to say. It was crazy and utterly amazing. “I’d say it’s more than ‘a thing’. It happened the night the raiders came, this charmer admitted her burning feelings for me.” Louis placed a hand over his heart and squeezed his shirt lightly.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” She rebuffed his lies. “You’re the one who named a song after me.”

The hopeless romantic in Ruby was absolutely bounding around inside her heart. “Y’all are adorable!”

“I can’t believe Louis got a girlfriend!” Willy shouted. He and Mitch would joke for hours on how Louis would be the last of the group to find a girl, let alone one who would be remotely interested in him.

Clementine raised an eyebrow at her small friend. “Girlfriend?”

“You bet your ass, Willy.” Louis hollered, the death stare from Clem was worth it.

AJ tried to figure it out. He loved Clem, so did Louis love her in the same way? Did he love her for her personality? Was she considered pretty to him? “Do you love Clem?”

Louis almost choked on nothing, coughing up his buried embarrassment. “I know that I like her, a lot. Who knows what the future holds little dude.”

Clementine held her own hand and gave it a tight squeeze as the room filled with a choir of “Oooooh”.

AJ was still confused. Maybe this was a type of love that Clem hadn’t explained yet. “So you two like each other, like Violet and Minnie did?”

A hush fell over the room as the kids eyed down Clementine and Louis. “Yeah AJ. Violet and Minnie were dating, just like Clem and I are.”

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Ruby pat Clem on the back. “Somehow you two managed to find romance in the middle of all this. That’s darn impressive.”

Clementine felt a wave of peace come over her, no one was turning it into as big of a deal as she thought. “You guys are taking this better than I thought.”

“Well, we had a feeling,” Tenn mumbled. “You guys act the same way Minnie and Violet did when they were first dating.”

“God, we’re not that obvious,” The unconvinced glances didn’t cure the sinking feeling in her stomach. “Right?” Clementine never expected to have her feelings exposed like this, by a child nonetheless.

Louis ran a hand through his hair. “If you didn’t want to be obvious, why did you carve our initials in a heart on my piano?” Now it was his turn to tease his sweet Clem. She was so cute when in a flustered state.

There was so explanation, her words spluttered out of her mouth. Clementine couldn’t lie to herself, Louis and his devilish charms were part of the reason as to why she likes him, why she wants the world to know that they belong together. There was also his kind heart, unique sense of humour...out of this world good looks...wait what point was she trying to make again?

“Alright let’s leave these two alone now,” Ruby turned back to the box set upon the ground and sat beside it. “I found them. Okay Clementine, these here are our official Ericson’s psych evaluations and probationary reports.”

Clementine stood over her, eyeing the box. “Okay.”

“I don’t get it.” Said AJ with a cross look on his face. What was the big deal about a box full of papers?

“Well, these explain why all of us got sent to this school in the first place.” Despite the information that some of the records held, Ruby was keen to go down memory lane.

Louis nabbed himself a spot on the floor. “And how we got stuck here for as long as we did.”

“So, what’s the game?” Clementine humoured Ruby and sat beside Louis.

“I figured if we’re all going on this crazy mission together, you might as well know who we really are. Especially now that Louis is your boyfriend.” Ruby winked at the lovebirds.

Louis gazed at Clem, appreciating how the purple light fell upon her face. “Boyfriend and girlfriend, I like the sound of that.”

[lilylovessev]

enough for you || snily

To say that Lily Evans was ambitious was an understatement.

To have earned a place on a course that only selected twenty of the very best graduates, taught by the most knowledgeable and celebrated experts across the magical field, felt very good. The course wasn’t necessarily focused on a particular career path but would set them up for success across a range of areas, especially given the contacts that they would make. 

She had spent the last few years on one of the Ministry undergraduate programmes. It hadn’t been a typical, muggle-type university degree. There had been a lot of learning on the job, working alongside Potioneers and the like. She had worked hard and had clearly made an impression on them all. She wanted her own apothecary style business one day; although, she had yet to figure out what her speciality would be. She wanted to prove that a muggleborn witch could successfully run a magical business with a hell of a lot of knowledge and skills backing her up. 

“Oh, the life of an eternal student. I am so jealous,” Marlene McKinnon groaned, before turning and enveloping her best friend in a hug. “Good luck, Evans. You’ll be fine. You’ll knock ‘em dead.” 

Marlene was already in work at the Ministry, as a legal assistant within the Department of Law Enforcement. Their fellow best friend, Dorcas Meadows was also working at the Ministry, but as an assistant for the Minister. She had all of the good gossip. They made quite the trio; blonde, brunette and a redhead. They couldn’t be more different from one another. Yet at the same time, they were everything to each other. 

They were currently living altogether, in a large flat above a shop in Diagon Alley. It was safe to say that with the help of a little magic, they had created a lovely living space. However, she definitely had ambitions of owning her own big house one day. She couldn’t live like that forever! However, for the moment, it would do. It was that or go back to live with her parents, and she just couldn’t be apparating back and forth every day. That and she had a very active social life. They’d definitely treat her like a little girl if she was home with them. She was working a few shifts at Madame Malkins, to save up, to live off of. That was all she really had, until she was able to start her career. Even then, she was going to have to find someone who would invest in her. It was a while off yet though, and she very much needed to focus on this year ahead of her. It wasn’t going to be easy. 

As Lily made her way to the research department, where the lecture theatres were that her classes would be taking place, she spotted someone whom she had not wanted to see. Inwardly groaning, she stepped into the lift alongside him, not saying a word. The silence deafening.

“We need to talk.”

“No, no we don’t. James, I’ve made my feelings known. Or rather, my lack of feelings, well known. Please, just get it into your head that we are over. We are over.”

She had absolutely no qualms about stating that in front of the witches and wizards alongside them, but was thoroughly relieved when the doors next opened and it was her floor. She stood still for a moment after exiting, exhaling a deep breath. She had known that she’d probably see him about still, given that he was an Auror for the Ministry.

She had been seeing James Potter for the last five years. The last five whole years. She hadn’t been happy for months and had ended it, but he hadn’t taken it well. It had driven somewhat of a wedge into their friendship group, given that his best friend Sirius was currently seeing Doe. That and James was such a big presence within their group. He was making it difficult. There was nothing more to it than the fact that she just didn’t want to be with him anymore. She wasn’t going to waste any more time on something that wasn’t working.

“Thank you.”

Lily signed her name on the register before walking up the steps to find a seat. She was a little nervous, never having been a part of such a select group before. The Slug Club did not count.

She wasn’t going to be a favourite this time either, or at least, she didn’t think that she’d be able to fight against all of these other talented witches and wizards to gain that spot. She was one of the first to arrive, which was unusual for her, this was a fluke. She ran a hand through her hair before pulling out what she needed from her bag, including her mirror to check her make-up. 

Well, they were about to meet Severus Snape. She had heard so much about his research and achievements. He was one of the most talented Potioneers that there had ever been, that and in the past, he’d invented various curses and counter-curses; which she’d read about and it had thoroughly piqued her curiosity. She knew that he was well-known, that he and her other ‘teachers’ were all well-known within their society. However, she didn’t know much more about them than that, nor had she met any of them before. She wondered what they’d be like. Who knew how on earth they’d had their arms twisted to teach on this course, but she was grateful for it. 

[badluckbadger]

Just some thoughts id like to share with anyone who may need to hear it.

1. People who claim nothing is their fault are much more frequently at fault than theyd let anyone believe. They want you to feel bad for them so they can justify shitty behaviors with how they were treated before.

2. People who believe kindness "gets you nowhere" are simply people who believe treating others with the bare minimum amount of respect is enough reason for them to be loved/respected by whoever theyre after. The whole "good guys finish last" bullshit where people think they deserve a cookie for being decent to someone else. Being nice is the standard. You should love someone for more reasons than the fact that theyre good to you. And they shouldnt expect you to love them only because theyre decent to you.

3. People who claim to need things to happen in order to work on aspects of themselves have no genuine intention of doing so. If you need to work on yourself, youll do it regardless of whether or not you get the "perfect" circumstances. Because the truth is is that there are no perfect circumstances. You want to be better for yourself or you dont. Circumstances only change the size of your steps, not whether you move at all.

4. Its not possible to "fix" anyone. Don't try. Even if they think you can or want you to do so. Thats not how it works. You can help someone if they want your help and thats about it. Its never on you to make someone different than who they are, and its never on you to bear the full weight of their transitions either.

5. Someone who is good for you, either as a friend or a partner, is someone who will make the effort to learn from their mistakes and do better for the both of you when things arent right. This doesnt mean they should ever bend over backwards for you- it just means that they genuinely listen and address your concerns. If youre dealing with the same issue a year or five or ten later, chances are shit isnt gonna get better, no matter how much you want it to.

6. Youre never obligated to accept poor treatment from someone because theyve done nice things for you in the past. A nice gesture is not payment in exchange for abusive/manipulative/toxic behavior. Shitty people frequently use grand gestures to attempt to lure you back in when they feel like theyre losing you. Alternatively, they can try to make you feel like you should be grateful for totally mundane behavior.

7. You havent wasted your life by being around the wrong person/people. Yes it feels that way. Yes it sucks to give up something that you have invested in so heavily. But you will be better off without them and youll move on, equipped with new knowledge. Dont let the duration of your commitment to something deter you from breaking away from it.

8. Whatever it is thats making you feel scared to try another route is just a temporary feeling. Youre just getting in your own head. You know youre not happy with where you are, so dont stay there. It may not be easy to find a new path, but stumbling along a new experience is far better than laying helplessly in a bad one.

9. Reach out. People can offer you perspective on your situation that you may not see. Sometimes you agree with their perspective but need convincing to keep going. Do what you have to do. Dont keep your struggle to yourself. You arent as selfish or as sensitive as youve been convinced you are.

10. Theres better people out there. Even if youve met a million awful pieces of shit that make you wish the world would end, theres still good people. Even if they dont restore your faith in humanity, even just having one good person to hang out with makes everything a little better.

[lilulo-12fanfiction]

Nothing Breaks Like A Heart: Chapter 2 part 1

So I had to split this into 2 chapters because it’s really long. I’m not big on regurgitating content but it was a good way to set the story up further. Going forward there will be more original content with some cannon thrown in. P.S. IDGAF about Cannon if it doesn’t work well for my story.

I’d love it if you reblogged, gave feedback, etc.

Let me know if you want to be tagged

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@shreddedparchment @fanfictionjunkie1112

Nora smiled to herself as she approached Bruce Banner, Natasha and Steve. She was ecstatic to meet Bruce Banner. She hadn’t seen Natasha in a while and well Steve was another story altogether.

“Is that the only word on me?” Bruce questioned Steve looking incredibly apprehensive.

“Only word I care about.” Such a Steve Rogers thing to say. She watches as Banner seemed to relax, if only slightly.

“Well he won’t be doing it alone.” Nora beamed at the 3 of them. “Besides myself I’m quite positive that my Uncle will show his face after getting through Coulson’s information bomb he gave us last night. No way is he missing out on this.”

“Nora Stark.” The red headed assassin smiled back at Nora.

“Good to see you Rusty. It’s been too long.”

“Well Tony isn’t my biggest fan. So I’ve steered clear.” Natasha shrugged.

“Well stop it. No one cares what he thinks.” Natasha shook her head at Nora. The attitude was 110% Tony Stark.

“Hello Nora.” Steve finally spoke after observing her.

“Hello Captain. Good to see you again.” She watched as the heat rose to his face and turned to Bruce Banner before she reacted and stuck her hand out.

“Well apparently my friends here forgot their manners. Dr. Banner, I’m Nora Stark. I’m a huge fan of your work. I’m really looking forward to working with you.” Bruce tentatively shook her hand.

“You’re not scared to be around me?” Bruce looked at her small stature and assumed she’d be terrified. She shrugged.

“Why would I be?” She smiled. Her kind eyes put him at ease. She linked her arms through Bruce’s. “C’mon Dr. Banner. Let’s go do what we nerds do so the super heroes can get to work” Nora gave Steve a wink only he could see and led them towards the Helicarrier.

“Okay Bruce, apparently Loki is in Germany. I highly doubt the Tesseract is with him.” Nora sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I agree.” Bruce didn’t look up from the computer screen.

“I’m going to head out to Fury. I need to see this. Let me know when you need me.” Bruce nodded again and Nora headed out of the lab and down to the main section of the Helicarrier.

As she made her way out to the main deck, she could hear AC/DC over the comms and then her Uncle’s voice. “Agent Romanoff, you miss me?”

“I see I made it just in time for the show.” She crossed over to where Fury was standing and he Gave her a smirk.

“Make a move Reindeer Games” Nora watched as Natasha landed the Quinjet to capture Loki.

“He doesn’t have the tesseract with him. And we haven’t located it yet. But the staff he carries, the one that turned one of your best parents into a puppet. I’m thinking that might help us.”

“I agree, Nora. Go let Dr. Banner know what’s going on and both of you join us back here once they’re back on this ship.” Nora nodded at the order and headed to retrieve Dr. Banner. She turned her comm on so she could listen in to their ride with Loki and was privy to the fight between the three men.

A little while after Loki was on the ship, Nora made her way back down to the main deck to discuss Loki. Dr. Banner would be joining them shortly. As she approached she heard her Uncle refer to someone as “Point Break”. She rolled her eyes and made herself known.

“Oh good. You’re all done playing swords. Did you find out who’s the biggest or did you just waste our time?”

“See that’s what makes you my favorite Stark. You’re infinitely more funny than Tony.” Natasha and Nora smiled at each other.

“What? No! Absolutely not! You’re not helping on this mission!” Tony wasn’t exactly surprised to see Nora but he wasn’t going to allow her to jump into the line of danger.

“You say that like you still have a say in the choices I make” Nora scoffed at her Uncle. “You need me. If you didn’t Pepper wouldn’t have asked me to come and Fury wouldn’t have agreed to it.”

“Nora I know you’re brilliant but we can do this without you.” Tony shot back. Steve watched on with interest.

“No you can’t. You need my memory and my professional abilities.” Nora was just as stubborn as her Uncle. This wasn’t going to end quickly.

“Your memory? What does that mean.” Nora looked over to the heavy accented voice that was sitting at the table.

“You must be Thor" He nodded. I have a photographic memory. I remember every detail of everything.”

“That sounds very useful and overwhelming.” His understanding and empathy took Nora by surprise. It was overwhelming and incredibly useful. There were some things she wished she could forget, yet instead they plagued her dreams. “And what are these professional abilities?” Thor was intrigued by this tiny human.

“I have some pretty stellar computer skills.” Before Thor could question Nora further Tony was interrupting.

“Uh hello??? I have some pretty decent computer skills myself.” Nora rolled her eyes at the exact same time Tony did and the resemblance between her and Tony couldn’t be ignored. It made Thor smile.

“Obviously you know your way around a computer. But you know full well that you can’t hack like I can.”

“She’s right Tony.” Fury finally spoke. “She hacked the Pentagon on a dare in High School.”

“You what?!” Steve was shocked and Nora stood there with a proud smile on her face. He wouldn’t have thought she would do something like that.

“Sorry Captain. Sometimes you just have to bend the rules. Especially when your sexist classmate thinks he’s superior because he has a teeny tiny appendage between his legs” Thor audibly laughed.

“Yeah that was pretty impressive. I’m still pretty proud you did that.” Tony finally conceded. “Fine. I’m not going to argue with you anymore but if you’re going to be on this mission you need something a little more protective than whatever this is that you’re wearing.” He pointed up and down her body. She was clad in a leather pencil skirt, a denim button down shirt and sky high leopard print heels. Her normally long curly hair was straightened and in a high ponytail with braids on the top of her head.

“Well I asked you to make me a suit.” Nora shot back. Thor watched on enjoying the verbal ping pong match. He liked the fire in Nora Stark.

“So you can put yourself in more danger? Yeah, not likely.” Nick Fury stood up to put an end to the bickering.

“Nora- I had some special Kevlar made for you. There’s a locker with your name on it. You can change when you're ready.”

“Thanks Uncle Nick.” Nora gave Tony a dirty look and went and sat down next to Thor. She was drawn to him for some reason. She couldn't explain it. "So tell me about Asgard and this brother of yours" Steve watched as Thor and Nora seemed to be in a bubble. He had her undivided attention. She laughed at the things he said that weren’t meant to be funny but were because of Thor’s lack of Earth knowledge. She would place her hand on his arm as they spoke. Neither of them seemed to pay much attention to the people around them. He had to force himself to pay attention to what Fury was saying. He was surprised at how jealous he felt. He barely knew her. And he didn’t ever expect to find anyone that stirred feelings in him. Not the way Peggy did. It wasn’t the same, Peggy was Peggy. But Nora somehow set off a spark inside him. The first real connection he made before coming out of the ice.

Nora sighed and sat down on the bench in the locker room. She wanted her own “Iron Man” suit. Tony refused. Nora had contemplated just hacking into his system for the plans, but she couldn’t break her Uncle’s trust like that. She didn’t want him doing this alone. Maybe now that Steve was out of the ice he wouldn’t have to. She was always afraid that when he left in that Iron Man suit he wouldn’t come back. She knew Pepper had the same fears. Nora and Tony both had lost so much. They had been betrayed by people they had loved too. He wasn’t her father. No one could ever take Grant Starks place in her heart, but the relationship she and Tony had was something beyond parent and child. They were connected by loss and pain. They were connected by their similarities. They had the same snark, the same attitude and the Stark swagger. The swagger that sometimes acted as a protective bubble. Tony was Nora’s protector. Even when he was missing he was still protecting her. He had always had a plan in place with Rhodey and Pepper to keep her safe and loved if something happened and he couldn’t. All Nora wanted to do was protect him as well.

She stood and opened up the locker with her name and smiled at what Nick had left her. It was an all black Kevlar suit that looked like leather. It had straps across her hips and boots that went over her knees. There were a number of holsters to hold weapons or technological items. She wasn’t sure where Nick had found it, but it was perfect. It held her body like a glove. She was curvy but strong. She has never been skinny. Her body wasn’t built to be that small. She had accepted her flaws a long time ago and learned how to use them to her advantage.

She headed out of the locker room with plans to head back to the lab. Her eyes caught the door that she knew Loki was behind and she just couldn’t help herself. Her credentials allowed her to enter the room. There he stood. The God of Mischief in a round glass cage.

“Hello Loki.” He snapped his head up and studied her.

“The Dróttning av Gimsteinn” Loki’s voice was almost breathless. He hadn’t been expecting to see her and the words had poured from his mouth before he could stop them.

“What did you just say?” Nora stopped in her tracks and stared him down. Loki’s eyes bore into Nora’s and he didn’t respond. “What does that mean?”

“You’ll find out soon enough I suppose” Loki acted as uninterested in her as he possibly could. I’m reality he was buzzing on the inside. He thought it would be more difficult to get eyes on her. Nora narrowed her eyes at him. She took a step towards him and stopped.

“I’m not going to let you goad me into a reaction. When you get bored of this and want to tell me where the tesseract is, let me know. If I find it before you tell me, I can’t help you.” Before Loki could respond, she was gone. Loki smiled to himself. She was feisty. She liked to spar. This was going to be more fun than he originally thought.

Nora was wracking her brain trying to figure out what Loki called her as she was heading back. She didn’t even know what language it was. She was about to pull her phone out and try to search for what she thought he had said when she stumbled upon Steve trying to pry a set of doors open. Captain America breaking and entering? This was surprising. She crossed her arms in front of her body and leaned against the wall.

“Need some help Captain?” She smiled with a suggestive voice as Steve jumped. He turned and faced Nora sheepishly with red cheeks. He had on hand on the back of his neck and looked impossibly adorable.

“I was…I uh…” He was embarrassed for getting caught but what really had him stuttering was Nora. No one should look that good in Kevlar. He silently chastised himself for behaving like a 13 year old. Nora shook her head and without a word pushed herself off of the wall and approached the door Steve was trying to bust open. She pressed her palm to the lock pad. It read her palm print and prompted for the 2nd security key. “Stark, Nora Margaret”. Steve froze. Was Peggy apart of her life? It couldn’t be a coincidence that she was related to Howard Stark and her middle name was Peggy. Howard and Peggy has founded Sheild together. He wondered if Peggy had any sort of relationship with Nora’s father. He wanted to ask her about it, but it wasn’t the right time. Nora motioned him inside.

“After you.” Nora followed him into the room and the door shut behind him. “Mind telling me what we’re doing in here? What are you looking for?”

“I’m honestly not sure. Your Uncle is trying to get all of Sheild’s files as we speak. He seems to think Fury is hiding something.”

“Oh what a jack ass. He’s trying to hack in on his own instead of asking me. He’s trying to prove he doesn’t need me. I could have had those files in 5 minutes, 10 tops. Plus I have access to a lot of shit around here. Sheild is my family birth right. My father would have taken Howard’s place.”

“Wait- so you agree with Tony? You think he’s hiding something?”

“Don’t be so naive Captain. Of course he’s hiding something. He’s a super spy. His secrets have secrets!” Steve laughed. “What’s funny?”

“Your Uncle literally said the same thing. Word for word.” Nora’s eyes shone with pride. “Are you going to help me look?”

She threw her arms up in a shrug. “Kind of hard to help when I have zero clue what to look for. And how do you know I’m not in on it?”

“Call it a gut instinct.” Nora liked to banter and Steve was feeling brave. He was still feeling a little green after seeing her with Thor. Now was his chance to see if she was as just flirty or interested in him. He was a God. A good looking one at that. And while he felt like an idiot worrying about it when they had more important things to focus on, he had to know. “So you’re done flirting with Thor? You two seemed to hit it off right away.” He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“I wasn’t flirting! Why? Are you jealous?” Nora sauntered over to where Steve was leaning over a crate. She put her hand on his shoulder and leaned over so she could whisper in his ear. “Believe me Captain, if I’m flirting, you’ll know it.”

Nora’s breath was hot on his neck and it sent a chill down his spine. He was about to respond but his attention was pulled to the container in front of him. Steve opened a container. “I think I found what we’re looking for.” Steve watched as Nora pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Dammit.” The disappointment was radiating from her voice. “Sometimes, it’s really hard to separate the spy, the head of Shield, from the man that helped me become who I am today. The person my father revered. I just can’t.”

“I’m sorry Nora.” Steve put his hand on her shoulder.

“Why are you apologizing? You didn’t do this Steve.”

“No, but I know that feeling. And I’m sorry that you’re feeling it now.” Nora gave Steve a small smile.

“Thank you. God this is all so messed up. Let’s go to the lab. I’d like to talk to Nick and I need to ask Thor some questions about his brother.” Steve picked up the container and the two of them headed back to her Uncle and Dr. Banner.

Nora could heat heated voices as she and Steve approached the lab. So heated that they didn’t even notice the two of them enter in the middle of Bruce’s sentence.

“…When we get a hit, we’ll have the location within half a mile.” Nora could tell he was trying to control his temper. Tony picked up where Bruce left off. The two of them were a team already.

“And you’ll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss. What is Phase Two?” Tony wanted answers. Nora knew that look in his eye.

Nora jumped as Steve slammed the case down on the counter. “ Phase Two is SHIELD used the Cube to make weapons.” Steve answered for Fury and then directed himself towards Tony. “Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me.”

Nora gave Tony a dirty look. “I literally could have gotten it within 10 minutes tops. Stop trying to prove that you don’t need me.”

“Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we’re-“ Before Fury could finish Tony flipped the screen to reveal a plan for a missile. Nora pit her face in her hands. This was only going to get worse.

“I’m sorry, Nick. What were you lying?” Nora clenched her jaw. She didn’t know what to say to calm the waters because she was just as angry as the rest of them. She pulled herself from her thoughts as Natasha and Thor came into the lab.

“You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?” Bruce laughed in Natasha’s face.

“I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed.” Nora ignored their verbal ping pong as she went over to the monitor to check on the Tesseract. She paused and eyed Loki’s staff curiously. When she focused back on the group Fury was explaining why Sheild wanted to create these weapons.

“Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly- hilariously, out-gunned.” Nora was going to tell Nick he was right but that he should have been upfront but Thor interjected before she had the chance.

“My people want nothing but peace with your planet.”

“But you’re not the only people out there, are you? And, you’re not the only threat. The world’s filling up with people who can’t be matched, they can’t be controlled.” Fury shot back quickly. Nora couldn’t focus on what they were saying anymore. Her attention was drawn back to Loki’s staff like it was pulling her in. Bits and pieces of the argument would break through. She couldn’t focus on who was saying what as her head started to pound and the sceptor started to glow..

“Nuclear deterrent! ’Cause that always calms everything right down.”

“ I’m sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-“

“How is this now about me?”

“I’m sorry, isn’t everything?”

“I thought humans were more evolved than this.”

“I swear to God, Stark, one more crack...”

Nora felt more dizzy and tried to focus on Steve’s voice, though she wished she hadn’t. “Yeah, big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?” Why was Steve attacking her Uncle? He didn’t know what he was talking about. Nora felt too woozy to feel any anger at that point.

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.”

“I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I’ve seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.” He was wrong. He didn’t know what Tony Stark was about. He put on a front but he was a hero. He took the world on his shoulders. Nora remembered Tony destroying all of the weapons sold to our enemies. She wanted to scream at Rogers but her head hurt too badly to speak. Tony’s voice cut through the pain.

“A hero, like you? You’re a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle.”

“Put on the suit, let’s go a few rounds.”

“Steve, Tony- Stop” Nora begged. Her voice wasn’t loud enough for them to hear her. She was sure it was Loki’s scepter causing them to act like this. It was what messed with Barton’s head. Loki had wanted it to be here, to cause this dissension. Finally Bruce’s yelling caused everything to stop.

“IN CASE YOU NEEDED TO KILL ME. BUT YOU CAN’T, I KNOW, I TRIED!” He stopped and saw that everyone is staring at him and he continued. “I got low. I didn’t see an end so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping other people. I was good until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?”

“Oh Bruce...” Nora could feel his pain and anger, how broken he felt. He was holding the scepter while Fury and Natasha hand their hands on their guns. Nora was white as a sheet.

“Please Bruce. That thing is making you all act like this. Please put it down. No one is going to cage you, I promise..”

“Nora?” Tony’s voice was full of worry. She looked sick. She had barely said a word during the argument. She normally would tell Tony if he was being an ass or defend him if he was right. Steve took a deep breath, sighed and looked at Bruce.

“Doctor Banner, put down the scepter.” Banner looked down, surprised to see the spear in his hand. Suddenly the monitor made a noise, signaling the Tesseract has been located. Bruce put the scepter back on the table and walked over to the screen on the other side of the room. Nora walked over to the table and lightly touched the scepter, knowing it was the source of her pain. She just didn’t know why. She yanked her hand back and turned towards her Uncle.

Suddenly Tony turned to leave but Steve put his arm out to stop him. “You’re not going alone Stark!” Tony smacked Steve’s hand away.

“You gonna stop me?” Nora groaned. Taking steps towards the two men.

“Put on the suit, let’s find out!

“ I’m not afraid to hit an old man.”

“Will the two of you stop acting like children?!” Nora was pleading with them. Then she heard Banner yelling and then an explosion. Nora flew into Steve, he grabbed her by the waist as he and Tony fell near the entry way. Steve turned her so she would fall on him instead of the floor protecting her head and neck. The next thing she knew Steve was pulling her along with Tony.