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loki-hargreeves · 4 years ago

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Loki x Reader - Thanos controls You

Warnings: angst, mentions of torture, mind-control, fighting, choking, blood and gore, more angst (it's a lot ok)

Word Count: 5,8K

Summary: After failing to deliver the Tesseract, Loki has been living in fear that Thanos will one day find him again and seek revenge. You have been missing ever since Loki was imprisoned after what he did in New York. Little did Loki know that you were with Thanos all along. During the events of Infinity War, Thanos makes you battle Loki in order to obtain the Tesseract

Author’s Note: I know Thanos doesn’t have the mind stone at the beginning of Infinity War but it’s fiction and I’m gonna do what Marvel does best, ignore canon. Let’s blame the Other’s powers, okay? Please enjoy this angsty little thing! :)

YOUR POV

“There’s room for more!” Loki yelled over the cries of scared children and their crying families. There was no way he would send a half-empty escape pod on its way to Midgard. That’s when he saw a child all by herself a little further away. She was clinging onto the wall for dear life and the ship trembled due to the impact of getting shot at. Her parents were nowhere to be seen. Dead. Loki felt sick to his stomach when he knew they were most likely dead. Thanos’ children were slaying kids and their parents heartlessly and they had the audacity to say they were being rescued. That their deaths were part of something bigger than life itself.

They viewed Thanos as a god who was being merciful even when he ripped a beating heart out of someone's chest.

Loki’s heart clenched in his chest painfully. Before it would be too late, he made his way to the tiny child and picked her up carefully. She seemed to recognize the prince but she wasn’t afraid of him. Instead, she hugged Loki so she wouldn’t fall out of his grasp.

“Where’s mommy?” The girl sounded absolutely petrified.

Loki didn’t know what to say as he made his way to the pod. Once he reached it, he saw a woman by the entrance.

“You’ll be safe here,” Loki promised the child as he handed her over to the lady. That’s all he had time for as he returned to the corridor. A particularly loud blast made him stumble over his feet and he had to catch his balance by taking support from the metal wall. The lights flickered, which meant the electronics of the ship were injured. There was a strange smokey smell in the air, which lingered with the irony stench of blood.

Loki couldn’t believe this was happening. Had Thanos finally come for him? Or did Thanos somehow know of the tesseract? Either way, if Thanos succeeded, he would kill two birds with one stone. The thought of this being all his fault made Loki nauseous. Guilt was nibbling at his skin and he knew it would eat him alive in the end. He never wished for this to happen!

As he ran down the corridors frantically searching for Asgardians that needed help, he heard different kinds of cries. People were letting out guttural screams. Others were pleading for their lives. Listening to the massacre that was taking place was worse than any nightmare Loki ever recalled having. They were all drained after Ragnarok and now Thanos had found them. It was haunting how ruthless fate could be.

Footsteps began to approach Loki and they were awfully close. Too close for his liking. He was quick to grab his daggers and turn to face whoever dared try to sneak up on him. When he saw a familiar figure, he nearly dropped the blades from his hands. Seeing you there was like shock itself punched him in the face.

You were there, real and clear as day.

How long had it been since the last time he saw you?

Ever since Loki had found out about his true nature, his life had gone downhill. After he ended up with Thanos and went through pure hell with him, he had changed. During his time away from Asgard, he had only missed one person truly - you. You, who had been by his side through everything. You, who hadn’t loved him any less when you saw his deep blue skin and those crimson red eyes that in Loki’s mind resembled blood. You, who had seen him as the rightful king of Asgard when everyone else betrayed him. The light of his life, the angel that had cared for him even when he felt like a monster.

You, who hadn’t been on Asgard when Thor brought him back to face Odin in trial. Loki had spent a lot of time in his cell, alone. He waited for you to appear but you never did and no one ever told him why. They rather left him to drown in his own vicious thoughts. It wasn’t until Loki pretended to be Odin that he began to learn what had happened on Asgard during his exile.

The people at the palace loved to gossip. Some claimed you had stolen a ship and left Asgard behind for good, that living as Loki’s widow had been too hard for you. In Loki’s darkest hours, he wondered if you truly felt ashamed for being associated with him. So ashamed in fact, that you had left it all behind and started anew. Sometimes, he believed that, but it never stopped him from trying to find you. He had searched night and day but it seemed like you had vanished into thin air. It had killed him more every day living in the unknown. His only wish had been that you were okay.

Now there you were, looking like you had never left. In a moment of pure shock, Loki couldn’t even begin to comprehend how you appeared on the ship - seemingly out of nowhere. He was happy to see you, despite how appalling everything else was at that moment.

“Y/N,” Loki spoke your name softly and dared to blink. When you were still there as he opened his eyes, he felt goosebumps all over his skin.

You looked at him so innocently, but then he noticed that something was off. The look in your eyes was cold. You weren’t in your typical Asgardian gear. Instead, you were dressed in dark armour that Loki could’ve sworn he had seen before, but he didn’t know where. Nevertheless, it made him feel uneasy.

“It’s been a while, Loki,” You attempted a smile as you walked closer to him, your husband. It still counted since he had never truly died, right?

Loki didn’t stop you as you walked right up to him. His eyes never left yours. Part of him wanted to kiss you, to hold you and feel you were real, but the shrieks in the background reminded him of how dangerous everything was. The daggers disappeared from his hands and Loki held you by your shoulders. He needed to see that his hands wouldn't go right through you, that he hadn't lost it.

“You need to get off this ship, Y/N!” He told you seriously. There was profound fear in his voice.

Instead of being worried at all, you just smiled back at him.

That was so unlike you.

“Y/N, do you hear me?”

“Oh, I do,” You confirmed nonchalantly, “I’m not going anywhere. Not yet.”

A bloodcurdling cry startled Loki. They were coming closer and closer. The two of you wouldn’t be safe in that passageway for long. By now, his heart was racing with his thoughts. He felt panic settling into his bones.

Before Loki could say another word, you cupped his face rather gently. The fact that you didn’t seem disturbed by what was happening was eerie to Loki. He knew that you had a heart much bigger than anyone else he knew of. The version of you he remembered wouldn’t have been so calm. Something was terribly wrong.

“I need something,” You admitted and batted your eyelashes. Before, Loki would’ve found that quite adorable, but at that moment it was so wrong. He had been so ecstatic to see you and know you were alive, but now he almost wanted to run the other way.

“What?” Loki barely found his voice at that point. He felt sick and heartbroken. This had to be a nightmare, the worst kind.

“The Tesseract, Loki. I really need it,” You blurted it out.

Shivers ran down his spine. How did you know about it? Why did you even care? He was unsure if he could even trust you with the knowledge that he had it in his possession. Usually, he would’ve trusted you with his life without any hesitation, but you had been gone for years and returned like this, with bizarre motives.

You returned at the same time as Thanos and you were looking for the tesseract. Loki wasn’t a fool. He finally put two and two together and the realization was too arduous to believe. The idea of you and Thanos even meeting was something Loki could only see happening in his worst nightmares, but he was afraid it had already occurred. If so, he needed to hear it from you,

“Is Thanos making you do this?”

The tone of his voice seemed to offend you as you sent him a nasty glare. Your softness turned harsh and you pushed Loki against the metal wall with a loud thud. Before he could get out of the way, you grabbed your own dagger and pressed it against his neck so it was ever so slightly pressing against his exposed skin.

“He is not making me do anything. I am glad to serve the all-mighty Thanos. I won’t fail him, unlike you,” You snarled at Loki spitefully.

Never in a million years had Loki imagined this moment to happen. One where you would be fighting against each other. It was supposed to the two of you against the nine realms. Being held like that by the one person he loved more than anything was tearing his heart to shreds, but he tried not to show it.

Deep down, he knew it wasn’t truly you. He knew exactly what Thanos had done to you so you would act like this, and it only made it hurt so much more. It felt like someone was pouring salt into an open wound, and his entire body, heart and soul were wounded.

“Now give me the tesseract and we will be on our merry way,” You tried to obtain it again. This time you seemed more serious. Was it the tone of your voice or your weapon pressed against his pulse? Loki didn’t know.

“I don’t have it,” Loki lied as smoothly as he could because even thinking straight at that moment felt impossible. The world was caving in around him at supersonic speed.

You pressed the sharp edge of the blade closer to him, feeling how just a little bit more pressure would've broken his skin “You’re a great liar, my dear, but I know that’s not the truth.”

Loki didn’t want to fight you, but he didn’t see another way out. And it was good for him that you had learned most of the tricks from him. Your every move would be more easily predictable for Loki. He had to find a way to distract you.

“Why do you need it?” That was a foolish question. He knew damn well what Thanos would do if he got his dirty hands on the infinity stones.

“Why do you care?” You didn’t answer his silly question.

Suddenly, Loki grabbed your wrist tightly and yanked your arm to the side. He tried to be as gentle as he could, but Loki knew you wouldn’t go down without a fight.

At least your weapon fell out of your hand, but you knew how to defend yourself without it. So did Loki.

Loki tried to turn things around so he would have you pinned down against the wall, but you didn’t let him get that far. As he turned you around so your back was pressed firmly against his chest, you kicked your legs against the wall hard, pushing both of you back. Loki took the biggest impact as he fell on the floor, with you on top of him. Quickly, you rolled out of his grasp, turning around in one swift movement so that you were now sat on top of him, with your legs tightly against both his sides.

A powerful orb of magic grew above your fingertips and you brought it closer to Loki’s face - so close that he could feel the heat of your burning powers. The magic created an electric sensation on your skin. It felt like you pushed your fingers deep into warm sand. Toying with it was exhilarating, and seeing the astonished look on Loki’s face made it so much better. The green light of your powers cast light in his eyes, only deepening the look of disbelief that was painted all over him.

“It’s sweet that you’re trying not to hurt me,” You taunted him at that point, “but that doesn’t mean I won’t hurt you.”

“This isn’t you, Y/N,” Loki groaned. He was so sure of himself.

You tilted your head and smirked, looking at him like a cat would at a mouse. “I don’t know, Loki. It’s been a while,” You explained casually and leaned closer and closer to his face, stopping when your noses brushed against one another. By now, Loki was frozen on the spot. He was trying to come up with a plan and he felt hopeless.

“I’ve changed,” You whispered to him and felt tempted to kiss him, to taste him. Would you taste his fear? His heartbreak? You were sure it would taste sweet.

“The torture must’ve been painful,” Loki pushed his feelings aside. Yes, he felt like his heart had been ripped to shreds, but he had to do something. He had to surprise you, even if it would hurt. Words could hurt more than actions, and if Loki wanted to survive and to help you, he needed to reach the real you even if the only way to do so was cruel.

How did he know? You narrowed your eyes and surprisingly, found yourself waiting for him to continue.

"I was trained well."

"Trained?" Loki spat out harshly, "I know you're afraid. He has promised you something worse than the pain he has inflicted on you already. It won't happen. If you let Thanos continue his reign, he will not care about your loyalty!"

"Shut up!" That was too much for you. With tears brimming your eyes from anger, you put your hand over his mouth to silence him. He didn't budge and you didn't know why.

You pushed the memories aside. The painful memories of the time Thanos first found you. It was wrong to think of it as torture. No, he had shown you what you're truly capable of. It was training. Training to become a stronger person after the hell you endured on Asgard.

But now that you found yourself thinking about it, it seemed like the memories were all blurred as if you were looking into the past through a broken lens. Someone had spilt oil all over it and the pictures were warped.

"I know you have it," You needed the tesseract. "Give it to me and then this will all be over," you removed your hand from his mouth because it looked like he wanted to speak.

Loki knew that if he’d push you, your magic could burn him, but at the moment he couldn’t come up with another plan. He couldn’t just stay on the ground as people were being killed on the other side of the wall!

"Okay," Loki blurted out. Okay?

For a moment, he had you surprised which was the perfect distraction.

Loki grabbed your wrists tightly and pushed you to the side, but not quickly enough. You released your magic and it graced the side of his face, making him growl out either in pain or frustration - or both. The two of you rolled over and this time Loki was on top, holding your arms pinned above your head. You were trapped because of one mistake. You couldn't believe Loki had used the element of surprise to turn the situation upside down.

Furiously, you tried to kick your legs free, but he had you pinned down beneath him and Loki was strong. There was no point in squirming, you had to come up with another idea.

The two of you faced each other and Loki revealed his face and the damage you had done. Your magic had burned his skin and left a bloody cut on his eyebrow. It had just barely missed his eye. If he lived, it would surely leave a scar.

You flinched when a drop of his blood hit your cheek and it rolled down the side of your face.

"What are you going to do, kill me?"

Loki could never bring himself to kill you. He wouldn't be able to live with himself with your blood on his hands. No. He had other ideas. Loki remembered what it was like to be under Thanos' control. He remembered how much it hurt to even think about the torture. He had to remind you, he had to make you see that this wasn't the real you.

"This version of you, or I certainly hope so," Loki replied mysteriously. Before you could ask him to elaborate, Loki released your wrist and slammed the palm of his hand against your forehead. In a split second, you were in a different place - in your head. You could've sworn you heard him mutter "I'm sorry," before everything turned black.

It was hot, burning hot. Metal chains were attached to you and they were glowing red. Torching. You could only scream in pain as the metal sunk into your skin, your bones, your nerves. It felt like he had chained your mind and with the tiniest movement of his finger, he could make you do his dirty work.

He, Thanos, was sitting on his throne. He was the puppet master and you the puppet. He didn't look at you fondly. No. He was smiling as he watched you cry your lungs out, letting out animalistic growls as the pain got worse. It was so overwhelming that every once in a while, you would scream until you passed out. But every time, one of his children would be there to wake you up.

It was time for another round. And another. And yet another. Would it ever end?

Each time you tried to resist the chains, the strings that were sewn onto you and connected to his fingertips, it hurt more. Eventually, you learned that allowing the strings to tighten around you made it hurt less. It almost felt good, like a long embrace after a long day.

"I don't want to hurt you, my child."

Lies. You knew that all he said were nasty lies, but sometimes it was easier to believe lies than the truth.

"Make it stop!" You would beg him. How long had you been there?

You could remember Thanos touching your face gently, which was so comforting after everything you had endured. At the same time, it made you sick. You couldn't believe that the one who had caused you distress could have such a gentle touch.

"You're ready," Thanos had realized. The Other had appeared right before you and his fingertips were pressed against one another, making him look like he was deep in thought. You had no idea what they were doing, but the next thing you knew was that you no longer felt pain.

The chains, the strings, they were all invisible. It looked like you were free, but the weight of the metal was still pressed against your skin. Had you imagined it?

No,

Deep down you knew that the strings were still attached to you, but they had only made it seem like you had a choice.

"Excellent," The Other's voice surprised you. You merely blinked and you had returned to the vessel. Loki was above you and the Other was standing right there, "You found him."

The Other used his powers to push Loki off you. Shock had made your entire body numb and you couldn't scramble up to your feet. It felt like your limbs had been turned to stone and you were anchored to the floor.

Loki got up slowly with his arms raised in surrender. He was well aware of the powers the Other had and Loki wasn't going to fight him now. If he followed you for long enough, then maybe just maybe he could come up with a plan. Loki looked at you as you finally got up. As you stood next to the Other, you couldn't believe your legs carried you. Something was so wrong. You felt sick and you couldn't shake it off. It felt like something had snapped within you, but you didn't know what.

"He is waiting for you," The Other explained as he turned to walk away, most likely to wherever Thanos was waiting.

Loki had no choice but to follow, and you walked behind, making sure he didn't try to escape.

Why did Loki make you remember that? What did he think he would obtain with making you relive something so awful? It hadn't worked, right?

There he was. Thanos was standing by a hole that had been ripped into the side of the ship. Magic was keeping it sealed so the vacuum of space wouldn't suck everyone into it. But still, the emptiness of space wasn't frightening at all compared to the titan who was standing right there.

Loki swallowed thickly as he saw him again. It had been years but he remembered everything like it had happened yesterday. Seeing Thanos standing in the middle of the piles of bodies, in the room that smelled like smoke and blood, was sickening. Thanos hadn't just killed a part of Loki. He had just slaughtered these innocent Asgardians with the help of his so-called children. He had taken you.

He will make you long for something as sweet as pain

Loki closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. They had stayed true to their threats.

"I know what it’s like to lose," Thanos turned around now that he knew Loki was there. At long last. Thanos had not forgotten what Loki had failed to do, and Thanos was a man of his words.

"To feel so desperately that you’re right yet to fail, nonetheless," Thanos continued dramatically and slowly made his way closer to Loki. He saw Thor on the ground, bloodied and weak. The brother of Loki. As tempting as the idea was to torture Thor right in front of the god of mischief, Thanos had different plans. If there was only one way Loki would ever give him the tesseract, it was going to be in order to save you. You were Loki's true weakness.

"It’s frightening. Turns the legs to jelly. I ask you, to what end?" Thanos looked Loki right in the eye. He could see that Loki was afraid, yet Loki never looked away from him. He was either too proud or fearless. Thanos had liked that about Loki initially. But he had failed Thanos greatly. It had cost him infinity stones.

"Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now, it’s here. Or should I say I am," Thanos finished his dramatics because it was time for action, to turn the wheels and see the bigger picture. This was the end of an era and a new beginning for a different universe. In Thanos' mind, only he could bring balance and order. He gestured for you to walk up to his side.

Too afraid of the idea of what would happen if you disobeyed, you walked right up to Thanos, feeling like a fly that was willingly flying into cobwebs. When you were close enough, you kneeled and dipped your head so he wouldn't see the worry in your eyes. It wasn't there before.

"I didn't obtain the tesseract from him, but I am sure that he has it, father," You muttered quietly. Why did you say that? There was a pounding headache growing within your skull. You didn't know what was right or wrong anymore and you couldn't fight it either.

Father

Loki clenched his jaw as he followed the situation closely. Hearing that made his blood boil. He wanted to rip Thanos apart after this. Never in a million years had he imagined this, to see you pledge your alliance to Thanos, kneeling before him and respecting him. Thanos didn't deserve that. Hell, Thanos didn't even deserve to look at you. It was wrong.

At that moment, Loki worried that his trick hadn't worked. That the memories hadn't awakened anything within you. That it was all too late now. This was the end, the one thing in life that was inevitable.

"I know, my child," Thanos let out a sigh. Then he grabbed you by your jaw like he had done before, forcing you to face him. "I know he has it," He repeated and suddenly his touch turned violent. He closed his hand around your neck tightly and you gasped for air helplessly. Your hands - tiny compared to his - grabbed his fingers and you tried to pry them apart, but he was tougher than you. Panic shot through your entire body when you realized you couldn't breathe. It turned your blood to ice and your poor heart was beating so hard you were afraid it would explode.

What was he doing?

The moment he pulled you to your feet, so high that you had to stand on the tips of your toes, he spoke, "The tesseract or her life," Thanos smiled devilishly, showing no remorse. He didn't care about you. You were a pawn in his game and if you would die at his feet, he would just walk over you and carry on.

"You choose," Thanos put the weight of the world on Loki's shoulders.

Loki wanted to rescue you from that monster, but he wasn't stupid. With all of Thanos' children surrounding him, he knew that he would be dead before he could reach you. Nonetheless, it didn't mean he wouldn't try. Seeing you clawing at Thanos' hand, fighting for something as simple as air and not getting it was heartbreaking. Loki's body was trembling with hatred and hurt. Tears blurred his vision and he struggled to keep his composure.

How had it all come to this?

The thought of Thanos with the tesseract was haunting. Soon he would have all the stones and he would destroy reality as they knew it. But Loki could live with that. He couldn't live knowing you had died when he had a chance to save you. Perhaps he was selfish for choosing you over the entire galaxy, but Loki didn't care. Nothing mattered if he would lose you again.

"Alright, stop!" Loki made up his mind. "I choose her," Finally, Thanos released his grip on you and let you fall on the cold ground. Your hands wrapped around your throat gently and you coughed painfully. It took you a while to finally breathe again, which was a huge relief for both Loki and you.

And now Loki was holding the tesseract. It was so bright that it painted the space blue. It was almost too bright to look at. The power within the stone was so strong, you could sense it like heat from the sun in spring after a long and cold winter. Loki was tempted to use the tesseract to grab you and escape, but he quickly shut those thoughts away. Thanos would follow him for the end of all days.

"You...you really are the worst, brother," Thor was following the situation to the best of his abilities. He spat out blood as he watched Loki holding the cube. It made him sad. Everything they ever knew was destroyed in the name of power, pure and raw power that the tesseract could offer. Was it worth it?

Loki glanced at Thor who was too weak to even get up. He didn't care too much about what he had to say. Then he looked at you. There you were, on the ground struggling to breathe after Thanos had crushed your windpipe. There was bruising on your skin that would only deepen with time. Time that you possibly wouldn't have after this.

He saw the tears running down your face, but you didn't sob and whimper. It seemed like you were as still as stone. You couldn't bring yourself to face Loki.

"I assure you," Loki found his voice and he addressed both you and Thor with his words, "the sun will shine on us again."

What did he mean by that?

You were ashamed to tilt your gaze to see him, to see the tesseract. The damn infinity stone had ruined it all! It was why Thanos had wrecked Loki, why he had destroyed you too. Why so many people were now dead. If you had one wish that could come true, you would wish for the tesseract to be destroyed forever.

Thanos had his back turned to you. Loki was slowly but surely making his way closer to the titan, almost like he was afraid to move but he forced his body to comply. Why? Why would he trade the tesseract for your life? It seemed like whatever spell you had been under had worn off. You were free, but it was more terrifying than being under Thanos' control under these circumstances. He didn't need you, and soon enough the vessel would be blown to bits. All of you, even Loki.

Would you be able to tell him how sorry you were?

"Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian," Thanos wasn't fond of Loki's strange choice of words.

"Well for one thing I'm not Asgardian," Loki replied quickly. It sounded a little bit witty, which was confusing. Where did the boost of confidence come from? Was he up to something?

"And for another," He continued dramatically. This time it was Thanos' turn to be confused.

"We have a Hulk."

Everything that happened after that happened so fast that you could hardly keep up with it. Loki dropped the tesseract and he leapt toward you. Thanos barely had time to turn around when a huge, green beast appeared out of nowhere and it seemed angry. It was eager to fight the titan.

Loki had you up on your feet in no time and the two of you ran away from the immediate danger. He led you to one of the many corridors on the vessel until no one could possibly see you. They were too distracted by the Hulk to even think about Loki and you. It wasn't until he was right in front of you that you could comprehend what was going on. He was kneeling on the floor and you were sat against the wall for support. Your hands were trembling so hard, it seemed like you were freezing up and you couldn't make it stop.

Loki had tricked Thanos.

He was relieved when you didn't fight him, yet he was unsure if it meant you were no longer under Thanos' control, or if you were simply too tired to fight.

He cupped your face gently and searched for answers in your expression. Back in the day, he had been able to read you like an open book.

You put your hands around his wrists and pulled him closer. You were desperate for the comfort he could bring in the midst of the living hell you were stuck in. How did he not hate you?

"I'm s- I'm sorry," You whimpered, finally cracking like a plate that had fallen on the floor. "I'm sorry."

"Shh, it's okay," Loki couldn't possibly let you apologize for what had happened. He was possibly the one person who understood exactly what you had gone through and what it was like to follow orders from that monster. There was not an ounce of judgement to be found in his heart.

What mattered now was that you were together again. You could come up with a plan, but you had to work fast. As much as Loki wanted to hold you and comfort you, to feel that you were real, he knew there wasn't enough time for that.

"We need to get off this thing," Loki's mind was running a marathon as he tried to come up with an escape plan.

"They're gonna blow it up," You explained, feeling how bad your lips were quivering as you spoke. The moment Thanos had what he came for, they would leave and destroy everything they'd leave behind.

Shivers ran down Loki's spine as he heard that. It only confirmed that you had to act quickly. Loki wasn't sure how long the Hulk could fight Thanos. Would they be able to rescue Thor? How much time did they have?

The blood in the wound you had caused on his face was beginning to dry. It looked gnarly and all you wanted was to make it all better. Knowing that you had hurt him made you sick with guilt.

"I'm sorry, Loki. I didn't w-want to fight you," You sniffled, breaking Loki's train of thought. For the first time, he felt lost. He didn't really know what to do. Were there any escape pods left?

"I know," Loki assured you. "I know that. I was in your shoes when I was on Midgard," He explained briefly, unaware whether or not you knew of it. Had Thanos talked about him to you?

A sense of impending doom weighed you two down. If this was the end, then at least you were together, right? You and Loki against the nine realms, you would face the end together if there wasn't another way out. Whenever you had pictured your final day, you had imagined something entirely different than this. You would be old together, with hundreds of stories of your shared life. You would be surrounded by people you cared about. It would be calm, the exact opposite of this.

"I love you," You needed to tell him that. Any moment could be your last. The world would cave in and you would be gone forever.

Loki hated how much that sounded like a farewell, but at the same time, it had been so long since he had last heard those three words, let alone from you. Perhaps it was sick and twisted, but it made him smile.

"I love you too," Loki was sure of it. He had never stopped loving you and he didn't think he was even capable of that.

It seemed like you acted on instinct. You found enough strength to push yourself right against Loki. There was no hesitation in your actions as you kissed him. Loki closed his eyes when he felt your trembling lips pressed against his. Your scent, still sweet and familiar despite it all, punched its way into his lungs. He held your face gently but the kiss was passionate, almost despairing.

You wanted to scream out in agony because at last, you were reunited with Loki but not in the way you imagined. You felt like the shell of the person you were before, and now you knew for a fact that Thanos had done the exact same things to Loki. That titan had killed your souls beyond repair. But all you could do was kiss Loki and hold him and hope that he could feel how sorry you were. You didn't want to let go, afraid that if you did, it would all end. Just like that.

Loki broke the kiss, and for a moment you rested your foreheads against one another like you had done so many times before. It was comforting. You both wanted to stay close like that, but you recognised that you couldn't. Letting go of each other and getting up on your weary feet was so incredibly difficult, but it had to be done.

The world around you began to glow brighter. You quickly held onto Loki, startled as the mysterious light surrounded the two of you.

Loki held his breath as he studied the warm glimmering magic that had swallowed you. In between the bright rays of light, he saw all the colours of the rainbow. Shimmering. He saw reds and blues, yellows and greens, shining brighter than the other and it changed smoothly.

The Bifrost

He didn't know how or why, but he knew for a fact that you were in the magical portal. He couldn't see beyond it anymore. He couldn't feel the floor beneath his feet. It was like he was levitating mid-air, with you tightly in his arms.

Heimdall must've conjured the forefathers, letting their powers flow through him one last time. Where to? Loki assumed that anywhere would be better than where they had been mere seconds ago.

And it was a miracle.

A/N: I think it would've made more sense for Heimdall to send Thor or Loki to earth rather than the Hulk. So that's why I ended it like that

I'd absolutely love to hear your feedback! <3

TAGS:

Loki: @yuna-belikova @ornella0910 @castiels-majestic-wings @lucywrites02 @myraiswack @prettysbliss @weirdfangirl2416

Forever Taglist: @iraniq @embrycallsgirl @blackroseyaz @badass-psycho @r-alexandra01 @p3aches13 @your-pixels-are-showing @disasterren @iamsuperjenna @yuna-belikova @ornella0910 @optimisticpeacecollector5 @thehumanistsdiary @your-pixels-are-showing @klanceiscannon14 @i-have-arrived-bitch

#Loki #Loki fic #Loki fanfiction #Loki oneshot #Loki x You #Loki x Reader #Loki x Y/N #Loki Odinson #Loki Laufeyson #tw angst #Loki angst #Loki/You

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captainimfangirling · 3 years ago

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Warning: Spoilers

A-Train

Yup I knew that was the reason he betrayed Supersonic and Starlight. If that’s the writer’s way of making him sympathetic it wont work on me. The only reason he’s going to start caring is because Blue Hawk hurt someone he cared about. Still a selfish man and the only way I can see him redeemed is if he not only quits The Seven but admits what he did to innocent people like Robin.

Homelander

Antony Starr acting skill is crazy especially the crazy face Homelander makes. To be honest I don’t think he’s all that interesting anymore. I really wish we’ll get a deeper episode about him besides him going crazy and might explode but this time Vought wont be there to pick up he pieces. Like a flashback of him (as a child) and Soldier Boy in the 80s. I feel like he’s uninteresting this season and just a parody of Donald Trump. I mean they always hinted it in the others seasons but this is a full blown parody.

Annie

Starlight really shocked me. I didn’t think he would ask Hughie about the weapon after Homelander’s threat. She’s actually a very strong person despite the stress eating and drinking.

Hughie

I’m not trying to defend Hughie or anything and he is showing toxic masculinity but the only reason he became that way was because of all the crap he’s going through and the people who basically bullied him for being weak. He couldn’t save Robin and now he’s worried about Annie dying. I really wish the writers say something like I can’t lose you like I lost Robin or something like that. He tried to do things the right way but lost all hope when he realized how much Vought is in control. In a way he’s going crazy like Homelander and Butcher.

Queen Maeve

I saw some people are blaming Butcher for her drinking again but she’s a grown ass woman and can make her own decision. Plus Butcher most likely didn’t know she was sober and he was for a year. I feel like she had sex with Butcher after he basically threatened kill all supes because she hates herself and wants to die. Poor thing.

Butcher

I know many hates Butcher for what he did to M.M. but to be honest I knew that was the plan all along because it makes the most sense. I have a feeling his brother died because he made a decision for him that he regretted. That’s why he let Hughie decide if he wanted to take temp v or not. Butcher betraying M.M. like that was horrible but I get it because it might be the only way to kill Homelander. Plus Buthcer wants to kill all supes so maybe he’ll kill Solider Boy after he kills Homelander?

M.M.

I know M.M. didn’t mean it but it broke my heart when he said he didn’t care about Kimiko. M.M. picking to go after Soldier Boy over his daughter is sad but it’s understanding because if he stayed Soldier Boy would still occupy his mind and that’s not fair to his daughter. he better watch out because she’s being shaped into what her step father wants her to be.

Frenchie

Surprised Frenchie actually killed children. I hate that. I wonder what Kimiko will think of him if she ever finds out. I wonder if he’s happy for Kimiko or if he’s worried about her getting killed. Edit: Think I misunderstood and Frenchie didn’t actually kill children.

Kimiko

I’m happy Kimiko is happy but I really wanted her to keep her powers. Maybe he not being a supe anymore might keep her safe from Butcher if he ever does go crazy and kills all supes.

Soldier Boy

I’m not sure if he actually loved Crimson Countess or if he’s just trying to manipulate her. I can see some parallels of him and Homelander because they think everyone loves them but really people hate them. I really hope we actually see him doing evil horrible things because we’re hearing about it but not really seeing it.

One last thing

Homelander knows how Butcher smells!!!! Why?

Edit: I forgot to mention how the Russians torturing Soldier Boy reminded me of the animated Homelander going through the same thing as a child. I wish they would show this in the show.

#the boys #homelander #billy butcher #hughie campbell #starlight #queen maeve #A-Train

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wizardmanifesto · 3 years ago

Photo

“Why would I think about missing a shot I haven’t taken?”-Michael Jordan

Last night at the NBA All-Star Game, Michael Jordan was the headliner of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.

At this point, what more can be said about MJ? A 5x NBA MVP, 14x All-Star, 10x 1st-Team All-NBA, 9x 1st-Team All-Defensive, 10x Scoring Champ, 1985 Rookie of the Year, 1988 Defensive Player of the Year, and of course a 6x NBA Champion with a 6-0 Finals record and 6 Finals MVPs, not to mention a NCAA Championship, two Olympic Gold Medals (one with the iconic 1992 Dream Team), three retirements from basketball, a stint playing baseball, and a major motion picture with Bugs Bunny, Michal Jordan is probably the greatest basketball player of all time, arguably the greatest athlete of all time, and almost certainly the greatest athlete turned businessman of all time.

With his unmatched on-court success and lucrative endorsement portfolio including McDonalds, Gatorade, and Nike, specifically the Jordan Brand (the Jordan Brand’s revenue was $4.7 billion in FY21, accounting for over 10% of Nike’s overall sales) Jordan is the highest earning athlete of all time as well as the first ever athlete to become a billionaire. This wealth has allowed Jordan to remain active post-retirement in the business of sports with investments in the Charlotte Hornets (where he is the majority owner and chairman of the team), 23XI Racing, a NASCAR racing team featuring driver Bubba Wallace, and the exclusive golf club, The Grove XXIII, whose membership lists includes Wayne Gretzky, Ken Griffey, Jr, and Mark Wahlberg.

I’d imagine most people have a particular Michael Jordan memory that stands out to them. Mine is the “Father’s Day Game” that clinched the 1996 NBA Finals. After Michael’s first full season back from playing baseball and a 1995-1996 campaign that saw Chicago achieve a (at the time record setting) 72-10 regular season record and MJ’s 4th Regular Season MVP the Bulls went 11-1 in the Playoffs to meet the Seattle SuperSonics in the NBA Finals. Thanks in part to MJ’s 27.3 points per game the Bulls won the series 4-2 to earn their 4th NBA Championship and Jordan his 4th Finals MVP. The series culminated on Father’s Day, just under three years after the murder of James Jordan. As someone who lost their father (although not nearly in the same horrific circumstances), the locker-room image of him sobbing into the basketball always gets me.

Watch The Last Dance if you haven’t. If you have, watch it again. If you have watched it again, watch it again. If you’ve watched it multiple times, watch it again.

#michael jordan #nba #nba 75 #chicago bulls

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snowlessknitter · 2 years ago

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The Masked Singer: S8 E6 (‘90s Night)

Since the World Series preempted this week’s episode on Wednesday, we’re watching it instead on Sunday! (The World Series came to an end last night with the Houston Astros winning their second championship…hopefully this time without the cheating scandal baggage. We’ll see.) This is the final round for this group, and whoever is the King or Queen of Masked Singer remaining at the end of tonight’s episode will be joining Harp 🎶 in the Semifinals. Can the Lambs 🐑 🐑 🐑 hold on to their crown?

As always, I post before I see any unmaskings, so don’t take these as spoilers.

Walrus 🦭: Seen walking through a shopping mall filled with screaming fans. Got his big break tap dancing with a talk show legend. Paper heart with joined eighth notes 🎵 in it. Was known for wearing a flannel shirt and a leather jacket, lived in a “killer” ZIP code, and we see a Polaroid pic of Walrus with “Summer to Remember” written on it. We see a plush cat with the name “Jenny” attached to the collar. Did he work with Jenny McCarthy? Now, what about the voice? The clues and his voice are all pointing to Joey Lawrence from Blossom, Brotherly Love, Melissa & Joey, and Dancing with the Stars. The clincher for me is the flannel and leather jacket, because that was his Blossom character Joey Russo’s signature outfit. And they also brought up a “catchphrase”, which Joey’s catchphrase on Blossom was, “Whoa!”

Milkshake 🥛: Possibly a rapper, mentioned a blitz and we saw some peach pits. Dropped a mixtape and mentioned “rocket”, which makes me think of the Houston Rockets, who won an NBA championship in the ‘90s. And he namedropped Houston in his rap. He also mentioned DC, as well as cities in Ohio and Washington state. I’m guessing this person is an NBA player who may have played for the Houston Rockets, Washington Wizards, Cleveland Cavaliers, and potentially the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder. Also apparently knows Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg. Might have also brought up the Utah Jazz? Now, my guess hasn’t played for all these teams, but my gut is telling me that this might be James Harden, but…I’m not 100%.

Lambs 🐑 🐑 🐑: Mentioned “Hocus Pocus”. Jeans that read “famous”, and may have been featured in a movie. I can’t think of any movies that my previous guess, the Richards sisters, were in, but I can think of a movie featuring a famous ‘90s trio…Bridesmaids. In the movie, the bride’s favorite song is a huge ‘90s hit: “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips. They aren’t all sisters (Carnie and Wendy Wilson are), but they’re all daughters of famous singers: Carnie and Wendy Wilson are the daughters of Beach Boys member Brian Wilson, while Chynna Phillips is the daughter of Michelle and John Phillips from The Mamas and The Papas. Famous genes, indeed! And listening to their voices, it does sound like them.

#the masked singer #the masked singer season 8

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over-under-through1 · 3 years ago

Note

Have any more headcanons for Robin, Mike, Robike(Them together), Miblo and Buttercup?

i’ll try to get a few of these down ><

Robin, Mike, and Robike gen headcannons:

Robin is deathly allergic to shell fish. she found this out okay her and mikes 2nd date, where he took her out for sushi, she got a tempura shrimp roll, and 10 minutes later had to be rolled out in an ambulance. never again. (don’t ask how she had never eaten it before)

in solidarity to her shell fish allergy, mike refuses to eat any kind of shell fish as well. call him a romantic.

mike is a HORRID singer. boy sounds like a car’s rev engine. it’s bad.

this fact does not stop him from tearing it up on karaoke night at the Utonium household

he is also a hopeless dancer. white boy dance moves for days. some of his favorites include: the lawmower, the sprinkler (basically any dance that’s named after backyard machinery), the running man, and worst of all, flossing

once again, this does not stop him from trying. “BABE!! BAE!! HUN!! LOVE!! LOOK AT ME GO!! COME OVER HERE LETS DANCE TOGETHER!!” *cue groaning and hiding behind Buttercup on Robins behalf as Buttercup laughs her ass off with Butch and records*

don’t get between Robin and her ice cream sandwiches. my girl turns into a banshee the second she spots one.

Mike cannot swallow pills. he has tried so, so hard, but year after year he ends up gagging and crushes them up to drink down with water. poor guy, don’t even bring advil liquigels into his line of vision

Mitch, Pablo, and Miblo gen headcannons:

when Mitch first saw Pablo walk into his 10th grade homeroom, he gay panicked, blue screened, mumbled at Buttercup “pretty… boy…” then zombie walked past her, the teacher, Pablo himself (who noticed and was immediately enamored with Mitch), out the room, past the vice principal, then trudged 4 miles home in a daze with Buttercup flying behind him shouting. he woke up an hour later with no recollection of any of this

Buttercup still makes fun of him to this day for the incident. she tells the story in her toast as best woman at the Miblo wedding

Pablo is a giant. he is a good 7 inches taller than Mitch (as stated in my height headcannons post). Mitch makes Pablo carry him around practically everywhere and Pablo ALWAYS hits his head when he walks into Mitch’s trailer. always. every single time. it doesn’t matter that he’s come over hundreds of times, or that he tells himself beforehand each time “Pablo, you will not, under any circumstances, hit your head on the door frame this time. Mitch will not make fun of you because it will not happen.” it still happens. it’s not preventable.

it doesn’t even matter that even people TALLER than Pablo (cough Boomer cough) can enter Mitch’s trailer without hitting their head. Pablo keeps a cool head most of the time, but he has broken and threatened the door many times in the past.

Mitch is a mini space heater and Pablo is the coldest man alive. many-a-cuddling sessions happen in winter (and though Pablo won’t admit it, fall too. and spring.)

Mitch is friends with basically everyone at their school, he’s very extroverted and good at making conversation with people, he tries making friends with at least one new person a day

so, so many people ask Pablo if he’s on the volleyball or basketball team. they are very, very wrong, my boy is the editor of the school paper and he could not be prouder of his position. FANTASTIC writer, and when you have an in with the schools very own superheroes, there’s nothing really stopping you from climbing your way to the top

Mitch was highkey terrified of Butch when Buttercup first introduced him, but now there is literally nothing that Butch could do to make Mitch feel intimidated. if Butch even tried, Mitch would be right on his ass making fun of him for it

gen Buttercup headcannons (tw: mentions of panic attacks):

still has a fear of spiders, but instead of screaming over them and flying away, she gets a very dark look in her eyes and will not hesitate to destroy the house in order to kill the vermin. her sisters and all of her friends have to constantly be aware of any 8 legged bugs around them so they can keep it out of BC’s sights, if only to preserve the land within a 5 mile radius around them

has been begging Prof.Utonium to let her get a lizard for the past 4 years. she had one for a week but her dad found it and immediately set it free

her ears are the most sensitive of the groups, they all have supersonic senses, but BC’s are especially heightened, possibly due to her lack of “special powers” (total fucking bullshit btw, fuck you ppg writers for treating BC like shit)

i think?? i’ve mentioned her ability to see in the future before here?? that’s because of the her senses. no one ask me about the science behind it, just go with it, okay? super eye sight= glimpses into the future

this ability has saved many of her teammates from colossal damage before, but (angst warning), because she’s had to see those images in her mind to be able to warn them about it, it’s left lasting trauma on her and has made her very protective of her friends and family. do not fuck with anyone that BC is close with, she will mess you up for it

one particular prediction she got showed Butch in a very… gruesome situation. i don’t want to go into detail, but it fucked her up for a bit, and there was about a week where Buttercup couldn’t/wouldn’t leave Butch’s side in fear of what could happen to him

she still sometimes gets flashes of that memory and it’s caused a couple panic attacks. when she found out, Blossom taught her some breathing exercises to help her through it if one comes on

THAT GOT SAD IM SO SORRY I FULLY INTENDED FOR THAT HEADCANNON TO JUST BE ABOUT BC HAVING A SPECIAL POWER AND IT DIVERGED INTO THAT

okay one SWEET headcannon for the road. Buttercup really values quality time with her loved ones, and though she doesn’t admit it often, everytime the team + the norms have their little hang out sessions, she sees it as a time for her to chill, and it’s those times that she feels her happiest and like she can genuinely be herself without judgement from classmates or the press

thank you for the ask!! i got a random burst of inspiration that i haven’t felt in a bit when this was sent in, i appreciate you for that :))

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renegadewangs · 3 years ago

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Van Zieks - the Examination, part 4

Warnings: SPOILERS for The Great Ace Attorney: Chronicles. Additional warning for racist sentiments uttered by fictional characters (and screencaps to show these sentiments).

Disclaimer: (see Part 1 for the more detailed disclaimer.) - These posts are not meant to be taken as fact. Everything I’m outlining stems from my own views and experiences. If you believe that I’ve missed or misinterpreted something, please let me know so I can edit the post accordingly. -The purpose of these posts is an analysis, nothing more. Please do not come into these posts expecting me to either defend Barok van Zieks from haters, nor expecting me to encourage the hatred. - I’m using the Western release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles for these posts, but may refer to the original Japanese dialogue of Dai Gyakuten Saiban if needed to compare what’s said. This also means I’m using the localized names and localized romanization of the names to stay consistent. -It doesn’t matter one bit to me whether you like Barok van Zieks or dislike him. However, I will ask that everyone who comments refrains from attacking real, actual people.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

It’s time to take a close look at Episode 2 of the second game, The Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro!

Episode 2-2: The Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro

Remember how in the last episode we vaguely got Barok on our side near the end of the trial by proving Mrs. Garrideb was actually involved in the crime? … Yeah. Forget that progress. It's being undone. Case 2-2 is the first case of the second game which features Barok, which unfortunately means he needs to be 'reintroduced' to the audience and it takes him back several steps in his growth. It makes sense, I suppose, it would've been weird starting a new game with him already being lightly on Ryu's side. Even so, it's a bit insulting how this case acts as if the chronologically previous one accomplished nothing.

So anyway, this case flashbacks to something which supposedly happened right after the first game's fourth case. The day after Soseki's acquittal, even. Turns out, Soseki awoke to find one of the other tenants in his building dead and asked Ryu for help, but (S)Holmes tagged along. Gregson is at the crime scene, keeping an eye on the place and on Soseki in particular since he's suspicious. (Sure, Gregson. Sure. Has nothing to do with the Reaper's curse, probably.) After some investigation with (S)Holmes, Gregson has enough evidence to actually arrest Soseki, which definitely feels like a step backwards. A bit later, it turns out the victim is Not Actually Dead Yet. Again! The Great Ace Attorney really enjoys throwing us for a loop by pretending we're in for another murder case.

Anyway, during the course of the investigation, I found two mentions of Van Zieks. The first is when you investigate the broken glasses and bottles in the victim's room. Susato is immediately reminded of Lord van Zieks.

And when examining Garrideb's old army uniform, Susato points out it might suit Lord van Zieks.

Haha, as if his usual outfit isn't ostentatious enough already. So we learn that Susato doesn't have a very high opinion of him at all, and I should hope it's not still related to that time he called detective novels pathetic. It's fun of them to refer to him in an investigation that he's not involved in in any way, especially when they don't know yet that he's the prosecution again.

Speaking to Soseki in the gaol, we're once again told that he's had a dreadful time in England so far. He sees foreigners everywhere and he's sure they're all laughing at him. He's been so on edge the past year that he's moved 'more times than he can remember'. So once again, we're reminded that racial prejudice in 1900s England is a focal point of this game's story. Once the conversation is over, Gregson appears to let the gang know that the victim has regained consciousness and is accusing Soseki of poisoning him. We're going to trial for an attempted murder charge, y'all!

The next day, in the defendant's lobby, Susato comes bursting in with the dreadful news that Barok van Zieks has once again taken on the prosecution. It's definitely safe to assume now that either Ryu or Soseki is the reason he's taking on these not-really-murder trials when he normally wouldn't. As I mentioned before, this is his reintroduction in the second game and so the game feels compelled to remind the player of what went down in case 1-4:

He sure did! The game also once again reminds us what the Reaper's Curse entails, and that perhaps that's the reason why Soseki is on trial yet again. He's doomed, perhaps. Susato also informs us that (S)Holmes is running late, just as he was two days ago, and Ryu thinks that's a good thing because if the Great Detective were there, Ryu might come to rely on his help.

… I suppose? He already relies on Susato for help and I feel like that would warrant far more 'preying' from Van Zieks than relying on a male, adult British detective for help. Though knowing (S)Holmes, he'd end up stealing the show and taking the words from Ryu's mouth, but that doesn't seem to be what Ryu's worried about here. I suppose the main point to take away from this remark is that Ryu wants to do as much as he can by himself. He wants to appear strong in front of Van Zieks to avoid presenting an easy target, and I think this might actually be the first time we see a sentiment like that from him. Is he afraid of Van Zieks? Does he actually care about the man's opinion? Anyway, he swears to show Van Zieks what a Japanese lawyer can do.

Inside the courtroom, Van Zieks does the usual prosecutor spiel about how the defense needs to be ready for defeat. Ryu thinks to himself that Van Zieks has a particular animosity towards Japanese people for some reason.

Good thing we got a second game in the series, eh? So because the defendant was on trial only two days ago, the same jurors were chosen where possible. The only juror not returning is Mrs. Garrideb, who's too busy being in prison. Her spot is now taken by a very fancy lady we later learn to be the wife of the Altamont Gas Company's owner. She may as well be the CEO herself with how she's acting, though. Anyway, Van Zieks addresses the jurors directly.

��However, the innocent verdict afforded to this eccentric Nipponese before... has had dire consequences. Did the accused repent for his wrongdoing in that affair? Far from it. Instead, he used his freedom to perpetrate a most blood-curdling crime!”

Van Zieks makes record time by taking off his cloak immediately after this line. He's gone straight into overdrive. The witnesses summoned this time are Inspector Gregson and... Soseki? It's very irregular for the defendant to be testifying, especially this early in the trial and especially by the prosecution's request. I can't really make much of it. It feels like the only reason Soseki is testifying is for this joke:

Also found when examining the testimony is a remark from Van Zieks that I honestly found shocking in how ferocious and scummy it is.

Unnecessary, that remark. It didn't need to exist at all in my opinion. So after Ryu shatters the testimony and scatters Gregson's fish 'n chips, Van Zieks calmly pours himself a glass of wine. I have to be honest, by now whenever he does this I'm left wondering what he'll do next. Will he crush the chalice? Will he throw it? Will he actually take a sip? The versatility of the action and unpredictable nature of Van Zieks add a bit of suspense. Turns out, his mind wandered during the testimony.

And then he ends up crushing the glass in his hand anyway. Alas, poor chalice. We knew it. So after a bit of debating back and forth about whether Shamspeare drank the supposedly-poisoned-tea after Soseki left the room, Van Zieks suddenly falls silent. We get three different, consecutive frames of him going “......” and when the judge asks what's wrong, he says this:

Supersonic hearing, this one. That is, unless the carriage entered the courthouse and literally pulled up in the hallway outside the room? Haven't we learned our lesson from the last time a carriage was driven into the Old Bailey?! So Shamspeare was apparently subpoenaed by the prosecution and has shown up to testify (with his doctor's permission). Bad news for us, since he's the one accusing Soseki in the first place. There's also a second witness to support Shamspeare's insistence there were no other visitors to the room and therefore only Soseki could have poisoned him. After that testimony is over, Van Zieks gets his wish and all the jurors vote guilty.

Van Zieks really seems to think that Soseki is a terrible person deserving of justice, huh? He was right there during the previous trial, saw Ryu prove without a shadow of a doubt that Soseki was innocent and still insists that justice will be done “this time”. Calm the heck down man, you're the one who sided with us when Mrs. Garrideb needed to testify, remember? And here comes another example of the game pretending the previous trials didn't leave an impact; when the Summation Examination is brought up, it's with disdain and this remark:

Bro, we used the Summation Examination successfully like five times already. Sit your butt down and watch the show. The jurors once again give prejudiced reasons for their decisions:

And unfortunately, instead of changing their minds by proving Soseki is a morally upstanding, innocent citizen, Ryu instead gets through this Summation Examination by basically proving Shamspeare is a worse person than Soseki. That's... not the direction you should be taking here, narrative. After convincing four of the jurors that Shamspeare is a fishy liar, Van Zieks flings another chalice of wine in frustration. The judge still thinks he could technically pass a ruling on the trial, since the new information didn't exactly disprove that Soseki is the culprit, but the jurors have been influenced so thoroughly that they can't let this new info go ignored. Testimony from the Altamont Company is allowed! Van Zieks thinks it's a waste of time, of course, and if this were reality it would be. Since it's an Ace Attorney game, we know Shamspeare's gas thievery is bound to somehow be related to the incident. Van Zieks flings yet another chalice after hearing the testimony (how many has it been already? Five?) and very shortly after, he tosses the entire bottle over his shoulder. Susato points out that he seems to be in a violent mood. I feel like someone must've pissed in his oatmeal that morning, because I've got no real explanation for why his character regressed this badly in the course of what chronologically was only two days.

Van Zieks flings two more chalices as the testimony progresses to prove that Shamspeare made fake coins to fool the gas meter. At the end of it all, he supposedly 'throws his hand up in despair and happened to catch his hallowed bottle along the way', flinging yet another one of those into the gallery. I'm starting to feel very bad for the people seated behind him now. Is the game overdoing these quirky animations to compensate for his regressed attitude? Because I'm not sure it's working... Van Zieks continues to insist that the situation hasn't changed and only Soseki could have poisoned the victim, so he calls for immediate adjucation. The game gives Ryu the option to either object or wait and see, and I have to be honest, this gave me pause. After what happened with the penalties in case 1-4, I was sure Van Zieks might dish out more punishment for waiting and seeing. Turns out, he doesn't. Ryu points out that Shamspeare likely used the tea to make these fake frozen coins of his, meaning there's still tea left at the scene of the crime which can be tested for poison.

Head in my hands right now. Again, I get it, they basically had to reintroduce Van Zieks to newcomers of the game (however few there might've been) so they had to regress him a bit, but I really don't like this. He honestly felt like he'd grown at the end of 1-4 and the game's not only undone it, it feels like they've made him even more of a scumbag. This line and this gesture honestly doesn’t quite correspond with the character established in the previous game. Anyway, court adjourned till the next day so the police can test the tea for poison.

During the investigation segment, we get a conversation that I'd quite honestly forgotten even exists. Turns out, (S)Holmes and Van Zieks are acquainted! ...or are they? (S)Holmes says he 'must pass the time of day with Mr. Reaper again, as it's been too long' and when asked whether they're acquainted, (S)Holmes replies that there isn't a person in the world who doesn't know his name, expertly dodging the question. Naturally, a new conversation topic opens up about it, so we can still attempt to needle more details out of him.

He explains the history of the Reaper's curse a bit more. Previous defendants found not-guilty would 'disappear from the capital' by falling under a passing carriage, drowning in the Thames, succumbing to a sudden fever... Etc. Susato points out that if those rumors are true, then surely the obvious conclusion would be that they were killed by Van Zieks's own hand. (S)Holmes points out that's impossible, since Van Zieks was already investigated on the matter before and for every single incident, he had a solid alibi. (This... doesn't disprove Van Zieks had anything to do with it, but okay (S)Holmes. Sure.) (S)Holmes also rubs it in yet again that Van Zieks retired from the courts five years ago and didn't return until the day Naruhodo arrived. I honestly don't know why they keep bringing that 5 year hiatus up in every single case, because as far as I can recall it was never fully explained or relevant.

I love how “foul smell” is wedged in-between those two topics as if it's also related. Anyway the conversation continues when Ryu brings up that Van Zieks seems to have a particular disdain for Japanese people. Susato demands to know whether (S)Holmes knows a bit more about it and while he's silent at first, he relents and tells us a tale (which will apparently be forgotten by Ryu and Susato in case 1-5). Van Zieks “chose to enter the legal profession ten years ago, but before that time, the man's closest companion hailed from the empire of Japan”. Which is a wording that baffles me, because it implies that Van Zieks chose to enter the legal profession at the same moment that Japanese person betrayed him, which we know is not the case. He was already in training to be a prosecutor before that, otherwise how could he possibly have prosecuted the Professor trial? Ryu is shocked and asks to know more, but (S)Holmes says the veil on the events from the past will be lifted soon enough. I'll get back to the implications of what this means for Van Zieks's backstory when we hit this exact same reveal in case 1-5.

Van Zieks is mentioned very little in the rest of the investigation segments. We only learn that he tasked Gregson with finding new clues, much to Gregson's dismay, as there isn't much to be found. The Inspector does immediately leap at new information when we uncover it, which implies he's eager to either please Van Zieks or avoid being scolded by him. I'm assuming the latter, but it's also possible Gregson feels guilty over the whole Reaper thing and Klint's autopsy, and is now compensating by working his hardest to fulfill Van Zieks's requests.

At the very end of the investigation, when evening falls, (S)Holmes reminds us that “it'll be hard to escape the grip of our friend, Mr. Reaper”. The next day, in the defendant's lobby just before the trial begins, Ryu thinks to himself that he doesn't believe in the legend of the Reaper any more than he believes in the convict's curse Soseki keeps mentioning. What's interesting here is that Ryu isn't dreading the confrontation anymore. After the McGilded trial he seemed genuinely intimidated by the concept of going up against Van Zieks (not because of the racism but because of what happened to his first defendant), but now he's not so hesitant anymore. He's beginning to see that Van Zieks can be defeated, that the Reaper thing is nonsense and that protecting his client is a fight worth fighting.

Into the courtroom we go for day 2 of the trial! When the judge asks about the results of the tea test, Van Zieks is silent for a moment. He pours himself a glass of wine, asking for a moment to “savour a liquid of a more sanguine hue”, then refers to Gregson for the full report. Gregson confirms no poison was found in the tea remains, but the prosecution wouldn't be the prosecution (and the game would be pretty boring) if they didn't have a backup plan. When Ryu proclaims Soseki is innocent, Van Zieks accuses him of jumping to conclusions, “a typical Nipponese reaction”. It's also a typical prosecution reaction to be hypocritical, no surprises here. He throws his chalice (first one of the day) and summons Shamspeare back to the stand to testify about how Soseki's unpoisoned and undrank cup of tea had been used to make the ice coins.

There's some lines here that I thought I might as well include:

“Yet on occasion, tedium distracts me and I pour more times than I intended until the bottle is dry.”

You know, it occurs to me that this drink is pretty much confirmed to be wine. He's very extra when talking about it himself, but he had his silly little wine analogies in the previous case and Susato referred to his glasses as “wine glasses”. And you would think it's obvious that it's wine, but we know Ace Attorney's long history with 'grape juice'. Either way, this dialogue leaves a pretty harsh implication that Van Zieks drinks alcohol simply to distract himself from troublesome moods. Sure, he says “tedium”, but this is a stoic prosecutor in the year 1900. They referred to depression as “melancholia” back then, and since he doesn't appear to have any friends, I expect he experiences “tedium” quite often outside the courtroom. He apparently set a rule for himself not to fill his glass more than seven times during a trial which, in turn, implies he's aware any more would cause problems. All of this is moot, of course, since 80% of the wine he pours for himself ends up on the floor between shards of glass. Still, though... Zieks, are you okay?

I don't think he is, because he pulls a very dirty trick here. Ryu proves Soseki drank all his tea and therefore it couldn't possibly have been used, so Van Zieks insinuates to Shamspeare that perhaps he misremembered using the tea from Soseki's cup and instead used tea still left in the teapot. An excuse Shamspeare happily takes, of course. Not gonna lie, I got angry, not because it's a dirty trick but because it's inconsistent. This is the very same character who all but dragged Mrs. Garrideb down from the juror bench to testify when it became clear she likely threw a knife out the window. And now he's feeding slippery excuses to a man who's very clearly lying about all sorts of things? What??? And remember this incident, because I'm going to be referring back to it later.

He crushes another chalice, removes his cloak and continues to insist that we should believe this thieving liar at the witness stand. The jurors for some reason buy the baloney served to them on a tinfoil platter and even twist Ryu's sentiments around, with some bloke going as far as to interpret the situation as 'the lawyer lad believes anyone who steals gas deserves to be poisoned'. Summation Examination gets very funky this time around, with the outcome being that Shamspeare probably blew the gas pipes (s-snerk) and the poison was laced on the pipe.

Van Zieks pours himself a glass of wine and pretty much immediately flings it, saying these are all empty assertions without a shred of proof. When Ryu presents the picture with the skin prints, Van Zieks once again breaks the rule of the prosecution staying silent during Summation Examination to point out that skin prints cannot be used as evidence, since that method is not recognized by the court (yet). Aaand he crushes yet another chalice in his hand.

Susato claims it was never meant to be used as official evidence, it was only a tool to demonstrate a new possibility to the jury. Jumping through some loopholes here, we are, since the picture is clearly in our Court Record as evidence. But, well, the prosecution cheats too so what's the harm? Some jurors vote not-guilty, but there's still one more that needs convincing on order to keep the trial going. Ryu says he has a witness who's already testified that the pipe-blowing incident did indeed occur that night, as Soseki stated the other day before the court that his stove went out in the dead of night. (Hang on, is this why the narrative made him testify alongside Gregson?) With that the majority of the jury votes not-guilty and the trial has to continue, but Van Zieks is extra rattled now. (Another bottle goes soaring.)

He once again reminds the court that skin prints aren't admissible evidence and therefore, there is no real proof Shamspeare put his mouth to the pipes (ghghhh I'm sorry this is such a silly thing to have to type out). Ryu asks for an investigative team to test the mouth of the gas pipe for poison, but since it would've evaporated by now, that's a no-go. Also, Van Zieks says that “what appears to be simple is my Nipponese friend's mind” and that's a scumbag point. Ryu attempts to turn the trial around by claiming that Shamspeare attempted to kill Soseki, making the defendant the victim, but Van Zieks ain't having it. The aggrieved being the accused is an interesting notion, but doesn't change what actually happened. In fact, if anything, it establishes a motive for Soseki to lay a trap for Shamspeare. Because who else could have known about the gas pipe trickery and put the poison there, right? Why, the true culprit, of course.

Our man Van Zieks really doesn't like (S)Holmes, huh? A tidbit which the games will never bother to explain! Either way, Ryu raises the name of Olive Green, the victim of the previous case. And I gotta say, I do genuinely like the way they integrated these two Clouded Kokoro cases together. The chronology of everything that went down is very fun to decipher, but long story short, Olive Green was at Briar Road the day she was stabbed for a reason and knows more about the 'convict curse' Soseki and Garrideb kept mentioning, so let's drag her into court! Van Zieks agrees to subpoena Miss Green in order to 'see his Nipponese friend's farce through to its conclusion'.

So during intermission some more evidence is handed to Ryu and when trial resumes, Van Zieks continues to be his usual self.

“The prosecution has tried to extend every courtesy to this amateur newcomer from dubious Eastern shores.”

Ryu sweats bullets as he meekly thanks Van Zieks “(for his backhanded consideration)”, but once again the judge is the one to call Van Zieks out on his attitude.

Amazing. It's so refreshing to see a judge who actually disagrees with the prosecution's haughty attitude problems and acknowledges it has no place in a courtroom. Nothing against Udgey, because we all love Udgey (and his Canadian brother), but this man actually grows and learns. So Olive Green takes the stand alongside Shamspeare (maybe not the best idea since Ryu just accused her of trying to murder this man) for dual testimony. When Green brings up what a dreadful ordeal the knife to her back was, Van Zieks says this:

Hang on, empathy? He's giving her advice? This reeks of humanization! Green seems taken aback and thanks him for his words, so the sentiment was genuinely accepted. This in itself is a very nice scene to see in action, similar to Van Zieks allowing Roly Beate to keep his job. Unfortunately, Van Zieks's character is in a wild rollercoaster of moral inconsistency during this particular case which sours the experience somewhat. Case in point:

YOOOU hypocrite! This actively angered me, because at the very start of this same trial day he was personally feeding lies to Shamspeare. Now he's warning Green not to lie? It gets even worse a bit later on when Green gets cornered about stealing the note, she asks him whether it could all be some sort of misunderstanding, and he says:

ACTIVELY FEEDING SHAMSPEARE A LIE. THE VERY SAME DAY. I'm all for prosecutors using dirty tactics. It helps to juxtapose them further to the honest defense attorney we play as. However, it needs to be consistent. Either a prosecutor condones a witness's lies to help their case, or they feel that they're above it. The third, most used option is for them to start off condoning it, only to learn that truth takes priority over victory. This sloppy back-and-forth morality that Van Zieks has going on here is insanely frustrating, so it's no wonder some players end up disliking him. It honestly feels as if they rewrote this case so many times, they screwed up the exact growth trajectory Van Zieks has.

Anyway, it seems Van Zieks is suddenly fully on our side now to help Ryu prove that Green was in Shamspeare's room and laced the gas pipe with poison. And I mean help help. When the judge points out that if Green had laced the pipe the very same day she was stabbed, the attempted murder would have happened six days ago. Van Zieks is the one to say “Perhaps not, My Lord” and explain Briar Road was full of police at that time. At this point, Van Zieks and Ryu (and also Susato) actively start to take turns to explain the proper chronology of events. So the defense and the prosecution are in perfect sync right now, working together to explain the whodunnit. This is the ideal outcome to any trial, usually not seen until the last case of the game, so it's curious that this dynamic abruptly shows itself in a case like this. Van Zieks does still have one moment of gaslighting when he claims Ryu may have inhaled some dubious gas, causing his judgment to be clouded, since there's no motive behind Shamspeare's attempts on his fellow lodgers. A matter that's very easily resolved, of course. Once the name of Selden is brought up, Van Zieks continues our little game of back-and-forth-truth-reveal until (S)Holmes shows his face.

“Your usual haunts are the filthy backstreets of the capital, are they not?”

To which (S)Holmes replies that it's been too long, and Van Zieks's complexion has worsened since last they met. Alright, so Van Zieks and (S)Holmes definitely have met in person before, some undetermined amount of time ago. You'd think that going by (S)Holmes's friendly attitude they might've even been friends once, but our great detective is like that towards everyone. This is evidenced by an earlier encounter with Gregson where (S)Holmes insists they're friends and Gregson says that they're not friends, to which (S)Holmes quietly agrees. So really, this little exchange tells us nothing about the history between the great detective and the Reaper.

Some shenaniganry, a breakdown and admittance to guilt later, the court is finally ready to deem Soseki innocent. Van Zieks once again has some interesting lines here:

“And one I certainly didn't envisage walking... with you.”

Considering he attempted to trip us up for most of this walk up until the very last stretch, I don't like this remark very much. It feels very unearned. This is another one of those things that would've been more suitable in the last case of the game, but instead it's being crammed into a messy mid-game moment with the pretense that Van Zieks learned a lesson about being our ally.

In the defendant's lobby, the game basically gives the exact same dialogue as at the end of the original Clouded Kokoro case; that Soseki is returning to Japan and hopes to pen his own literature there, with the rest of the cast pointing out that the Reaper's Curse must factor into his decision to some degree. So we're still holding onto that question of whether Soseki will escape an untimely death or not. Anyone who's already played the last case of the first game will know the answer, of course.

So to summarize... I genuinely didn't enjoy Van Zieks's portrayal in this case. It really feels as if something went horribly wrong and they got some notes mixed up about where his character was already headed in the previous game. It's a crying shame. There was a lot of potential for a case set between 1-4 and 1-5, but they really dropped the ball when it comes to consistency and I've no doubt that it reflected badly on people's opinions of him. Though I think when we return to the first game for The Unspeakable Story, everything will right itself out again to some degree. Stay tuned!

#dgs #dgs spoilers #tgaa #tgaa spoilers #barok van zieks #MAN I got frustrated with this one #what happened here???

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faulty-writes · 5 years ago

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Warning: Mentions of Big Brother Like Utopia.

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Pairing: ProHero!Inasa Yoarashi x TimeTravel!Reader

[ Okay, so this is a prompt from @bnhabookclub I normally don’t do syfy, time travel like AU’s. But, I actually had an idea for this. Partly inspired by the song Future Girl, Retro Style by I Hate This Place.]

[ What happens when you feel as though you don’t fit in your world? Where quirks are overanalyzed and you’re placed into careers based on what the government thought your quirk was most suited for? Where you can only become a Hero if you were among the lucky selected? Where advances in technology are beyond your imagination and where time travel exists? What happens when you decide you’d rather live in the past? ]

You couldn’t handle this lifestyle anymore. Most would think this perfect parallel dream world was better than anything your imagination could possibly dream up. It was something only novels from the past described. In your world, amongst the already vast wonders such as quirks, daily space travel, robotic limbs, brain enhancement chips, and virtual reality. Teleportation was the most recognized and beneficial device.

You just had to scan your identification bracelet, select where you in the world or solar system you’d like to go before stepping into the teleporter, then off you went. When the teleportation device was first invented, it was hidden from the public for fear that it would be abused. However, as they perfected the rules and regulations for it. They slowly released it for public use and time travel followed shortly after thanks to various quirk users who helped bring the device to life. Essentially time travel and teleportation are similar, in fact, the only difference was one teleported you to a location while the other a destination.

Those who purchased time travel tickets were given strict rules and were fairly warned of the limitations they had to abide by in the past. No changing historical events, no trying to meet your past relatives, no using your future technology during your stay. However, each time travel participant was tracked through their bracelet which had a clock that counted down and when your time was up, it would admit an electrical discharge that would send you back to the future

Sounds wonderful, right? To most, but you never felt as though you belonged in your time. Given most think it’s magical. You had gotten a brain chip when you were small, which both improved your intelligence and acted like the modern-day internet. It could search, offer suggestions, tell you your location and match up an identification when you laid your eyes upon a stranger. When you had first gotten your quirk, however, one that allowed you to project electrical-like holographic images.

It had caused your bracelet to malfunction and as a result, your hand had gotten damaged. Your parents had the option of allowing you to undergo surgery. But, it was unsure if your quirk ability would be affected because of it. There was a chance your quirk wouldn't even work with your damaged hand, in addition, the doctor’s determined your quirk was not applicable enough to be placed into an actual career that would be useful. Perhaps theater and special effects.

So your parents opted out for a robotic hand, somehow you still hated them for that. At least you could still project your quirk out of your other hand. All in all, you were someone who tended to stay away from others, and while all quirk users were required to go to mandatory training. You were a different case and had gotten transferred to special training which was often reserved for those that had a quirk disability. These training sessions were put in place to determine what your occupation would be in the world.

If you had a healing quirk, you'd go into healthcare. If your quirk dealt with water abilities, you would have the option of choosing one of the many ocean-based occupations. If your quirk happened to give you the ability of speed and strength you were either reserved for careers that required physical labor or you had a chance at becoming a Pro Hero. It was silly. Analyzing quirks to such an extreme, but as the world advanced and villains became more cunning, violent, and threatening.

The government decided to start a program that would divide quirk users and from there they would select the strongest and most promising to defend our world. That being said, even if your quirk was strong you never had the desire to become a hero. However, you had read that once long ago. Young quirk users had the choice to go to various schools that would train them to become great heroes. You always imagined how nice that would be, having somewhat of a free will to do with your quirk as you pleased.

Maybe that's why you felt as though you never fit in, and as of late, your thoughts were starting to keep you up at night. Which is what finally led you to make a dangerous decision. You managed to stow away on a supersonic time machine. It was similar to a train though trains of yesteryear had long since ceased to exist. Those on the machine would have assigned seats that were labeled with the year and date they wanted to travel to. When the machine reached a certain speed, it would generate enough power to create a rift and send everyone to their destinations.

You weren't sure what year you wanted to go to, however, you had done some studies and at the last moment, made the choice to travel to the time where hero students still went to a physical classroom and Pros were still ranked. Which was rather silly. Still, given the fact you did not purchase a ticket. Your biometric signature was not registered, which meant you wouldn't appear in any location in particular. It would be randomized, but you didn't think it would result in you falling through the sky.

You screamed out and your body swirled and flipped around, unable to control anything. Your arms and legs flailed, hands reached out and fingers parted as if trying to grab onto gravity itself in order to stop. But alas that wasn’t possible, you could see the tall buildings of what you assumed to be Tokyo, and shouts echoed from the citizens below. Your heart was racing, dread filling you as you quickly realized there was no way you'd make it out of this alive.

Go figure, you finally escaped your time only to end up dying. Life was a bitch. You swallowed, feeling your tears float through the air before you covered your face. Just waiting for the impact of the ground, but instead, you felt the wind current change. It was gentle and seemed to carry you. "Hm?" you slowly lowered your hands, gasping as you found yourself floating. Swirls of wind surrounding you and for a moment you felt safe.

You looked down at the crowd of people, all of them in as much awe as you. But when a laugh pierced through the air, you turned your head. You could tell it was a male and your eyes widened as you saw them come into view. They were tall, your chip analyzed them to be approximately six feet, seven inches. They had dark hair, though it was shaved. They wore an enthusiastic smile and their outfit was rather strange. Clad in colors of red and white. He had a furry collar around his neck and short sleeves.

He looked to have a strange glove on his right hand that hooked into a device strapped to his shoulder and a long cape flowed behind him. "YOU BEST BE CAREFUL." he bellowed and you winced at the volume of his voice. Sheesh, could the guy talk normally? Well, it didn't matter. You were more or less happy when you finally reached the ground, though you pressed a hand to your chest. Taking a deep breath to calm your racing heartbeat. That underline feeling of fear slowly disappearing as the man approached you.

You trembled a bit as he laid his hand on your shoulder, "Are YOU alright?" he asked and honestly, you could only shrug in response. The truth was you weren't sure, your trip to the past had been successful. But you didn't know where you were, you had a rough idea of the year. That is if you had exited the machine at the correct moment. "I'm fine…" you replied before looking around, you could hear the crowd shouting and cheering. The name "Gale Force" was repeated over and over again and you could quickly assume one thing.

Your chip offered to search the name for you, but you refused, the direct approach would be better. "Are you a hero?" you questioned and he seemed to get some amusement from your question. "OF COURSE. Please, call me Gale Force!" he said before bowing and you stumbled back as his head collided with the pavement. Your eyes widened at the action and your chip went through suggesting possible mental disorders Gale Force might have.

But you quickly silenced your chip and cleared your throat, reaching up to tug at your shirt before you noticed something. A gasp left your lips as you saw there was a tear in the artificial skin of your robotic hand. Underneath revealed the gray surface and a few small wires that looked damaged, was that from the electrical discharge of the machine? "Hm?" Gale Force stood back up, tilting his head as he noticed you were staring at your hand with great intensity.

“Is SOMETHING the MATTER!?” he questioned and once more you winced at the volume of his voice. “Uh...nothing.” you insisted, hiding your hand behind your back. However, it didn’t seem like he was buying it and stepped closer. “Are you SURE?” his eyes scanned you as your foot kicked up dirt. “Well…” you were a little hesitant to show him, the rules of your time echoed through your head. But, if you planned to stay in this time. Did it really matter?

He watched as you took a deep breath and slowly showed him your hand, he looked confused until he leaned closer. A gasp sounded from him as he noticed the metal underneath your skin. “W-What is WRONG with your hand!?” he exclaimed, and you looked away. A small amount of fear filling you, how were you going to explain the fact you had artificial skin over your robotic hand? Did they have robotic limbs in this time?

You weren’t sure, though his reaction wasn’t as bad as you expected. A faint blush painted your cheeks, you felt a little embarrassed and scared. But regardless, your chip provided different scenarios for you, what you could possibly say or do if the situation went haywire. But you didn’t want to listen to any of it and instead, put on a brave face. “I...have a robotic hand, the skin you see…” you paused and pulled at it, “is nothing more than silicone refinement fused with epidermal stem cells to give the appearance of real skin but still remain flexible enough to-” you paused when you saw the confused look on his face and rubbed the back of your head.

“Uh, it’s like a sleeve to protect it from damage.” might as well cut to the chase, as soon as you spoke those words, Gale Force’s eyes lit up. “AH!” he began, “I see, that’s INTERESTING! I did not know such a THING existed!” you almost wanted to chuckle, in this time they didn’t...yet. “Yeah well...it’s not too damaged but,” you grabbed at the skin once more, taking a look around. You frowned and slowly pulled the skin off, revealing your small metal fingers.

Gale Force’s jaw dropped as he watched you wiggle them, “Some of the wires got damaged.” you said, pointing to the palm of your hand. “Hm?” Gale Force stepped behind you, hand to his chin as he looked over your shoulder. An easy task when he already towered over you, “Hm, AH YES! HATSUME would know how to fix IT!” he declared with one arm raised and you jumped away from him, he went from quiet to loud in a matter of seconds. It was a little annoying.

But you blinked, “Hatsume?” you repeated, your chip searching the name. “YES! Hatsume, she is a rather well-known hero support agent! She is VERY intelligent and GIFTED. Surely she will FIX your hand in no time. Come!” he insisted before reaching out to take your hand, you tried to protest but it seemed like Gale Force was determined to help and there was very little you could do to stop him. He talked the whole time as he guided you to Hatsume’s workshop, though you drowned most of what he said out.

You were too fascinated with taking in the sights around you. A certain sense of nostalgia hit you and it made you smile. There were heroes depicted everywhere and a sense of freedom was in the air. “HERE WE ARE.” Gale Force declared and you snapped out of your thoughts, turning to see a large workshop. You could hear commotion coming from inside and looked back to Gale Force, “Is it safe to go inside?” Usually, you could repair your robotic hand in an instant, all you had to do was place your hand into a cylinder scanner which would take a 3-D x-ray.

Effectively determining the problem before repairing it, which only took a moment. But, you were going to a repair shop instead? How interesting. Gale Force smiled at you, “YES!” he responded, almost a little too happy for your taste. You frowned before looking at your hand once more, a small spark was coming from the wires and you sigh. “Alright.” you squeezed his hand before actually registering you were still holding it.

A blush came to your cheeks, “Uh …” you said, effectively catching his attention. “Yes?” he questioned with a bright smile and you loosened your grip on his hand. “You’re still, you know …” you said, pointing at your conjoined hands. He glanced down, “Oh!” he exclaimed before laughing, “Your hand must be too precious to let go of! SORRY!” he released his hold, though you could see a faint blush on his cheeks as well before he reached up to adjust his hat.

He cleared his throat and walked to the large metal door, you shivered at the eerie sound of it squeaking as he pushed it open. “HATSUME!” he bellowed and you swallowed before quickly walking behind him. Curiously looking around, there were various tables covered in tools and scraps of metal, even some things that looked to be half-finished inventions. It was like a robot’s worst nightmare, you shivered and turned your attention to the sound of humming.

“Hm?” you blinked and looked past Gale Force to see a woman, she was short and had long pink colored dreadlocks. She was covered in oil and what looked to be soot. She was dressed in a baggy tank top and sweatpants with unusual footgear, the pads of which glowed. You reached up to tap your chin, was it an inferior hover device? That was the only thing you could come up with, however, your thoughts were cut short when you heard Gale Force speak.

“Ah! HATSUME! I have something that could use YOUR AID!” you blinked, did he really have to say it like that? The girl spun around and you jumped as soon as you saw that enthusiastic, almost crazy look on her face. Her eyes were unique though, it was almost hypnotizing how yellow they were. “WHAT IS IT!? A new project!? Do YOU NEED a NEW WEAPON!?” she questioned and you quickly came to the assumption that her and Gale Force were close friends.

He laughed at her words and you gasped as he reached back and pulled you in front of him. “My FRIEND uh,” he paused and looked down at you, his hands firmly on your shoulders. Oh right, you didn’t tell him your name. Even though you should have, “Y/n.” you replied and he smiled, “Y/N! Needs their hand repaired!” he said, taking it upon himself to hold your arm up. The girl known as Hatsume seemed to be overjoyed and in a flash, she was in front of you.

You jumped back, hitting Gale Force’s chest. “It’s alright!” he assured as he dropped his hands from your shoulders. “HATSUME is quite EXCITABLE! But she means no harm! We are friends and we BOTH wish to HELP OTHERS!” he explained and you groaned, they were both so loud. “I see…” you responded before watching Hatsume grin. “Uh…” was it strange to feel uncomfortable with someone’s smile? You didn’t have much time to ponder the question before the girl grabbed your wrist and pulled you forward, her eyes scanning your hand up and down.

“WOW!” she chuckled, “I’ve never seen one crafted like this before!” you wanted to groan but instead, you shrugged. “Uh, yeah...it’s a new model.” you lied, obviously you couldn’t tell her it was from the future. “Hm? What’s THIS?” she questioned as she tugged on the skin that you had decided to remove. It still dangled from your robotic hand, bunched up at your wrist. “Uh, that’s a-” Gale Force interrupted you, “A SKIN COVER! Quite impressive, huh!?” he said as he crossed his arms, a big smile on his face.

“Ohhh, very INTERESTING. But…” for a moment her expression turned dark and before you could register her actions, she had already grabbed the skin and tore it off in one go. You gasped, “HEY!” she didn’t seem to care much for the fact you had screamed at her, “There, now I won’t have anything in my way.” you narrowed your eyes. Were all people from the past like this? Well, perhaps you were overreacting. It was nice to be face to face with someone that was willing to fix your hand.

“Now,” Hatsume pulled her signature goggles over her eyes and rotated your hand, “Ah! I see.” she said as she pointed to the palm, “I can fix those wires in a jiffy!” she said as she leaned away, her head turning back and forth. “Now where did I put that thing…” she muttered to herself before walking off, you frowned and turned to look at Gale Force who just continued to smile. As if telling you everything was going to be okay.

Guess he was right, though you were a little nervous when Hatsume insisted you sit on one of the work tables to properly repair your hand. You were more than certain the abused scraps of metal would jump you at any moment and it had taken a few hours for Hatsume to properly fix the wires, but you were grateful when she was done. The past was very interesting and you smiled as you moved your fingers, Hatsume even placed a metal cover over the wires to ensure no further damage.

You were still upset she had ruined your skin, perhaps you could learn to do without it. “So …” you began, lowering your hand as you turned your attention to Gale Force. “Hm?” he looked at you, the curious expression on his face was almost cute. “What’s your name?” you held your hand up, “I know Gale Force is your hero name,” you said and he smiled, “YES! Do you not HAVE one as well!?” you jumped at his question, your eyes wide and an almost hurt expression formed on your face.

You looked down, your hands curling into loose fists. “I...I-I’m not assigned to be a hero,” you said, before covering your mouth. Damn it! Why did that of all things come out of your mouth? Gale Force looked concerned at your words, his eyebrows lowered in an almost suspicious glance. You shivered and kept walking, of course, he wouldn’t understand. “Assigned?” he repeated before he raised his fist in the air. “But ANYONE can be a hero! You must BELIEVE that!” your eyes widened, “Anyone.” you whispered before squeezing your eyes shut.

“Not me. I never wanted to be a hero.” it was mostly due to your quirk, but even if you had a quirk that was impressive. You doubted you’d want to risk your life for people that didn’t appreciate it, for the world you felt like you didn’t belong in. Yet, despite the fact you had only been in the past for a couple of hours, you could already tell the people were accepting. Something you hadn’t experienced in your own time. Gale Force frowned, he wanted to ask you why. But given your reaction, he thought it best to leave it be.

“Inasa.” he said and you turned your head, “Hm?” you looked confused. “My NAME is Inasa! We didn’t PROPERLY introduce ourselves DID WE?” he extended his hand out to you. “Uh, I suppose not,” you replied, hesitantly taking his hand. You cried out as he enthusiastically shook his arm, making you stumble and your free hand reached out for his chest. “Oh!” he blinked and released your hand, a blush coming to his cheeks.

“FORGIVE ME!” he said and looked like he was about to bow again. But, you stopped him with a quick, “I forgive you, just don’t bow!” and while he looked surprised, he nodded. “OKAY! I just don’t want to be rude to you or lose a valuable new friend!” your eyes widened, “Y-You want to be my friend?” you could feel your face light up and gasped when his hand wrapped around yours, you had almost forgotten it was still pressed against his chest.

He smiled at you, noticing that your face was red. He reached out with his other hand, cupping your cheek. His hand felt soft and warm and it was a gentle touch that you weren’t used to. “Are you BLUSHING!?” you jumped, feeling your face grow hotter as you stepped away. “N-No.” you denied and Inasa chuckled, “Of COURSE, I want to be your friend!” you groaned, willing your cheeks to cool. “O-Oh um, okay,” you said before shyly looking back at him.

His eyes softened as he smiled at you, “Are you hungry!?” he asked and though you found his question somewhat out of the blue, you nodded. “FOLLOW ME! I know a wonderful food cart! I believe it’s around here.” he said and you tilted your head, what was a food cart? Your chip gave you the answer, a mobile kitchen set up on the street to prepare and sell street food to passers-by. You reached up to tap your chin, “Interesting.” Inasa insisted on getting Yakitori, though you didn’t recognize the name.

It was grilled skewered chicken, easy to eat, and a good snack. You could hear Inasa happily eating his portion as you two sat down, the sun was setting and you knew you’d have to find somewhere to stay the night. Perhaps a hotel. “What’s a matter!?” Inasa questioned, yet again making you jump and your heart rate skyrocket for a brief moment. You took your hand off your chest, grateful that you hadn’t dropped your food. But you placed it into the small cardboard tray the food cart had provided and let out a sigh.

“Nothing, I guess I’m not as hungry as I thought,” you replied, your tone flat as you looked at him. He had a small bit of chicken sticking to the corner of his lips and you chuckled lightly at the sight. “Inasa…” you began, “We’ve only known each other for a couple of hours and yet, I’ve really been in your care and…” you trailed off, dropping your hands to your thighs. “You DON’T have to THANK ME!” he declared with another smile. “I was happy to help!” you nodded.

“Yes, I know but…” your hands curled into fists and you looked down, too ashamed to see his reaction when you spoke the next few words. “W-What if I told you, I...I’m not from here…” Inasa frowned at your question and a moment of silence filled the air before he spoke. “OH! Did you just MOVE HERE!?” he questioned before taking another bite of his chicken and you latched onto your lip, hesitant to tell him. But somehow you felt as though he deserved the truth.

“No, I mean I’m not from this time,” you said, wincing softly as you watched his face twist with confusion. “What?” he repeated, blinking as he tried to fully register what you had said. Your stomach twisted and an embarrassed blush came to your face. “Inasa...I…” you squeezed your eyes shut before quickly scrambling to your feet. “N-Nevermind! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have said anything!” you panicked and kicked off the ground, though you weren’t sure where you’d go.

You just needed to leave, it would have been better if you said nothing. Damn it, why did you feel as though you could trust Inasa?! Well, it didn’t matter now. “Wait!” you hadn’t expected Inasa to react as quickly as he did and you felt him grab your wrist, your robotic fingers clenching as he forced you to stop. “Let go!” you demanded, “Please! WHAT did you mean!? I don’t want to hold you back, but I do want to know!” he tried to reason with you, but you shook your head.

“Inasa I shouldn’t have told yo-” before you could finish your sentence you felt your bracelet vibrate. “Huh?” you lifted your free hand, seeing your bracelet surge with electricity. Then a projection came up and your eyes widened as you saw it was the government from your time. “Y/n, identification number 03040715. You have committed the crime of an unauthorized time travel and as such, will receive the proper punishment.” your heart sank in your chest, “What!?” tears began to form in your eyes as your bracelet vibrates violently and that discharge of electricity began to circle your body.

“Y/n! What …” Inasa seemed to be in shock, both because of what he had seen and what was currently happening to you. “Inasa let go!” you demanded, there was no way to stop what was happening. But you needed him to let go and desperately began to beat your fist against his, tears streaming down your face as the electricity grew stronger.

Forming a temporal rift in time behind you, it would only stay open until your biometric signature disappeared. Once it did, that was a clear indication you were well on your way back to the future. “Y/n! What is going on!?” he demanded and you shook your head, your hair flying around like wild as you began to get pulled toward the rift. Inasa’s fingers tightened around your wrist, his knuckles turning white which made you hiss.

You choked out some inaudible words before your feet lifted off the ground, Inasa buckled his own down, his legs bending at the knee. His cape flowing with the wind that the rift was creating. You swallowed and looked at him, a faint smile on your face among the tears. “Goodbye Inasa, thank you for making the past a wonderful place,” you said before your body began to dissolve into the rift, it looked as though you were being pulled apart. But it was a normal process, yet Inasa looked terrified and continued to scream your name.

Desperately trying to pull you back, but a loud snap sounded and he stumbled over his own feet. Hitting the ground as you disappeared along with the rift. “Y/N!” he screamed before gasping, in his hand was your robotic appendage. His eyes widened before he slowly cradled it to his chest, his heart was pounding and it wasn’t often that he felt scared. But what he had just witnessed, what had just occurred. It was unexplainable, a person from another time? Could it be possible? Somehow, he wasn’t sure what to think.

He wasn’t even sure what to do and yet he felt a certain sadness fill his heart. Tears began to stream down his face as he ran his fingers over the robotic hand. “Y/n,” he whispered. “What’s going to happen to you...if you’re...back in your time!?” he wasn’t sure if he wanted to find out, but he found himself with a burning desire to save you, and yet he couldn’t. He wouldn’t even see you again, there was no chance of him figuring out a way to the future, and yet somehow he knew the feeling of guilt would weigh his heart down. “If I live to see you in the future...please...be alright,” he whispered.

#bnhabookclub #inasa x reader #inasa yoarashi x reader #yoarashi x reader #bnha reader insert #bnha fanfiction

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melodious-madrigals · 5 years ago

Text

of communication and cats

Written as part of @wondertrevnet‘s Lock Out Bingo.

Fandom: Wonder Woman Pairing: Diana/Steve Prompt: texting Word Count: 2552 Rating: T Summary: Steve and Diana adopt a cat. Steve is exceptionally bad at texting. The two converge more often than you'd think. (Aka miscommunication, but like. Low stakes.) Mostly fluff. In-universe for lost love (sweeter when it’s finally found) which you can read here.

Find it below the cut or on AO3.

***

Notes: not really a texting fic, just a very loose definition of "fulfilling" the prompt because it includes some texts, lol.

***

Don't be mad, but says the preview on her push notification from Steve's latest message. Not exactly an auspicious start, given his propensity for doing reckless things.

Diana massages the spot between her eyebrows where tension headaches start, and decides she needs to just bite the bullet and look at the text. (It can't be too bad if he's still able to text about it, right?)

Swiping down, she taps on the message.

Don't be mad, it says, but I found this little one abandoned, and I was *going* to ask if we could keep it but then I fell in love. Sorry, no takebacksies, but I will let you help me name it.

Attached is a picture of a fluffy black kitten curled up against Steve's chest. The angle is funny—clearly an attempt at a one-handed selfie while also holding the kitten—but it's one of the most precious things Diana has ever seen. The kitten's tail is wrapped tight enough to be gently touching its own nose. It's so adorable that Diana thinks she might cry.

The message is a little over an hour old, and Diana goes to text back when more messages come through.

Vet says: It's a girl! 🎈

Then, She has a great big personality, with a photo attachment of the kitten—vet office clear in the background—looking extremely indignant at her current circumstances.

I look forward to meeting her, Diana types back.

When Diana gets home, she finds a veritable explosion of cat toys and products across their living room and kitchen. At the epicenter, on the couch, is Steve, asleep, with a tiny little ball of black fur tucked up under his chin. If Diana had previously had any reservations about their new kitten (she hadn't, really), they would have been erased upon seeing them like this.

She snaps a quick picture, and then goes into the kitchen, pulling out vegetables to start dicing for the evening meal.

Twenty minutes later, Steve wanders in, the kitten now cradled against his chest.

"She's about six weeks," says Steve. "Which is a little early, but the vet says that other than needing to be fed, she looks healthy. She didn't appreciate her first round of shots, but she did appreciate the salmon pâté slurry I gave her afterwards."

"Poor thing. She was abandoned?"

"I think so," says Steve. "I actually saw her yesterday, hiding in the same spot, but they say not to move kittens, you know? because sometimes the mother is just off hunting. But she was alone yesterday and crying, and she was doing the same when I passed by today, and I couldn't just leave her there."

"You did the right thing, Steve. So, about her name."

Steve looks away guiltily, and Diana just knows that he's already named the cat.

"The vet needed a name to start her file," Steve mumbles. "I thought Bast would be cute."

Diana purses her lips, trying not to smile. "She already has you worshipping her like a goddess; it fits." Then she breaks, and starts laughing. "I'm not mad, Steve! About the cat or the name."

Steve looks relieved, like he didn't really think this would be a fight, but wasn't sure. They've talked about getting a pet before, but have always decided against it because of how much they travel.

"I already talked to Aisha and Marguerite," he says, referring to the couple who lives across the hall. "They said that they would watch her when we go out of town, as long as they also get to play with her while she's still a kitten."

"That reminds me, we should have them over for dinner this weekend. Or next, if they aren't free."

Steve shakes his head. "Next weekend's bad. I've got a work thing Friday night, and we're going to the concert at the Madeleine on Saturday with the Giraudets."

Diana makes a little humming noise as she pulls several spice jars from the cabinet. "Am I coming to your work function?"

"Only if you want, but I'd love to have you. You can't hit Floyd, though."

Diana wrinkles her nose at the mention of his co-worker. "We can go out for late night kebab afterward," she decides. "As a reward for putting up with him."

"Génial," says Steve, at the same time that Bast wakes up and meows loudly. "Apparently we haven't been paying her enough attention."

"Hello, Bast," Diana says, and the kitten meows again.

"Here, take her; I'll finish supper," offers Steve.

The kitten squeaks as Steve transfers her, then settles into Diana's arms, looks up at her, and slowly closes her eyes and falls asleep again.

They're cat people now, apparently.

Bast, as it turns out, is a very affectionate cat. She wants to be held, constantly, and when she isn't being held, will toddle up to one of her people and scream until they finally do pick her up. She also likes sleeping tucked up under Steve's chin, which Diana finds absolutely hilarious because Steve is not—and has never been—a back sleeper, but now, more often than not, she finds him falling asleep on his back so as not to disturb Bast.

Bast is most definitely Steve's cat, but she likes Diana well enough. Often, she perches on Diana's left shoulder when she's working on her laptop, and peers at the screen like she's reading the artifact dossiers too.

Sometimes, if Diana is very lucky, Bast will curl up in her lap instead, nose still tucked into the curl of her tail, and purr. Most of the time, Bast perks up as soon as Steve gets home, and prances over to greet him with an affectionate headbutt.

"I see how it is," Diana says, one day, when Bast lifts her head at a sound outside the door that turns out not to be Steve, and Diana swears she looks disappointed. "You like him best."

Bast simply looks at Diana with her big round eyes and blinks once, which Diana suspects is cat for 'duh'.

"Oh, all right, I cannot blame you," Diana sighs, "I like him best too."

Bast presents her chin, and Diana obliges her with a scritch.

("That was a cat-kiss," Steve says later, of the blink, laughing. "Bast was basically telling you she loves and trusts you, and you thought it was sass.")

It's a perfectly ordinary day, and perfectly ordinary days are very easily ruined.

For the day in question, it's the We need to talk that shows up from Steve, causing Diana's nerves to go haywire. She really doesn't think they're fighting about anything, but 'we need to talk' is universally a bad thing, right? They're usually pretty good about handling their problems in constructive ways, and they're excellent at talking through things, but there's a certain permanent ominous quality to 'we need to talk' that fills her with dread.

But when Diana unlocks her phone, she finds: We need to talk about how adorable Bast is right now, along with a picture of the cat in question with her paws crossed over her eyes, and the tiniest tip of her tongue visible between her teeth, like she didn't quite pull it all the way in when she closed her mouth.

Diana laughs, shows the picture to her interns, and sends back She looks so angelic. Like she didn't start caterwauling at four a.m. this morning and wake me out of a dead sleep.

She's a cat, replies Steve. They're always perfect little angels, even when they're not.

"That cat has you wrapped around its paw," Diana says that afternoon, when she comes home to find Steve making a special meal for Bast. "That had better not be the hake I bought at the market this morning."

"Of course it isn't. I filleted that and have the rest cooking down in the stock." He tilts his head toward the lidded pot on the stove. "This is just a little treat for being three months old." He says the last bit to Bast in a slightly sing-song voice.

She loves this man, she really does.

Diana is having a very long day and thinking about Bruce Wayne in a rather uncharitable way. (He is, after all, the reason she had to extend her business trip to the States and is not currently home with her husband and their cat.) She's dirty and tired, and trying desperately not to be bitter about it, because she doesn't approve of feeling bitter about things, when her phone buzzes.

The setting it's on means that the text can only be from Steve, while everyone else is filtered out by 'do not disturb'. Checking her surroundings surreptitiously, she pulls out her phone.

Diana help I'm dying reads the preview and Diana's heart drops into her stomach, body immediately prepping for a supersonic flight and going into panic mode because she's too far away, an hour or two at least from whatever Steve has gotten himself into now—

Diana help I'm dying at how fricking cute Bast is and I need you to be too, Steve has written. I can't even. Underneath is a minute long video of Bast, and Diana nearly hurls her phone across the room before the relief takes over. She almost throws up as she comes down from the adrenaline spike, too.

After a couple of deep breaths, Diana hits the dial button, and Steve picks up on the first ring, right as rain.

"Did you watch it? Isn't she just the best?" he exclaims.

"You need to work on how you start your texts, Steve," she says instead of answering. "Do you know how it popped up on my phone? 'Diana help I'm dying.'"

Steve sucks in a breath sharply enough that it's audible even across the tinny connection. "Oh, Gods. I'm so sorry, Diana."

Between his contrition and the fact that he's clearly okay, Diana feels her anger evaporate. She can't count the number of times that Barry—just for example—has used 'I'm dying' or 'DEAD' or 'deceased' to indicate various emotions that are not death-based. It's only normal that Steve would pick it up.

"No, I also overreacted," she admits. "I have not slept properly in two days and was not really thinking."

"I'll still work on it," Steve promises. "Seriously, watch the video; she's such a weirdo. It'll make your day better."

"Okay, I will."

"Hey, are you okay? Do you want to talk?"

"I am just ready to be home," Diana says. "I really shouldn't talk now, but hopefully I will be home before morning."

"Okay, Angel. Love you."

"Love you too."

The call disconnects, and then Diana hits play on the video. It's shot in their kitchen, and it's dark enough out that Steve has the overhead light on. Bast is in the middle of the floor, spinning in circles chasing her tail, or maybe the shadow of her tail, Diana can't quite tell. She suppresses a laugh as Bast starts spinning the other way. Dammit, Steve's right. She really is cute.

Day brightened, Diana taps out. Give her a kiss for me, we both know how much she loves those.

Two minutes later, a photo pops through of a very disgruntled looking Bast with the caption 'post-kiss', and Diana squashes down another laugh.

She's home by one in the morning, their time, and only has to move Bast a little bit to climb into bed next to Steve.

One of the reasons Diana was originally hesitant to get a cat was how much they both travel for work, and this month has been absolutely non-stop for her. In the past three weeks, it feels like she's only been home about three days. Fortunately, this is her last trip for another month (or at least, her last scheduled trip; JL business has a nasty way of popping up at inconvenient times), and Steve's job has been largely quiet on the travel front, lately.

She's got one more day to get through, and then it's just her normal job. She might even take a personal day or two.

She's just about to go into another meeting when her phone buzzes. Urgent! Read me NOW says the preview of Steve's message, and Diana immediately thumbs open her lockscreen, pausing before she enters the room, just in case she needs to dart back out.

We love you! ♥️💕 reads the rest of the message, and underneath is an attached photo of Steve and Bast. He's holding her up so that their faces are pressed together, and Bast has decided to be a perfect angel for Steve, looking directly into the camera. Diana swears she's even smizing next to Steve's own grin.

I know we talked about this, says another message that pops up while she's looking at the picture, but we wanted to make sure you saw that right away.

And then, We miss you.

A smile inches its way across her lips, and she sends back a quick selfie with a cat ears filter and a miss you too scrawled along the bottom before ducking back into the meeting.

It's Bast who hears her first, because when she opens the apartment door, Bast is sitting squarely in front of it. She lets out an indignant yowl, and then puts her front paws up on Diana's legs, asking to be picked up.

Diana shoves her suitcase inside the door, closes it, and obliges, and Bast settles in against her chest.

"She's clearly forsaken me," says Steve, who's just come out of the bedroom. "Hey you," he adds, leaning in over Bast to give her a kiss.

"Give it five minutes," Diana replies, because even though the cat looks comfortable now, her moods are mercurial.

"Mmm," Steve hums, clearly in agreement. "Hey, before I forget: can I see your phone?"

She shifts Bast (who looks up at her reproachfully) so that she can free a hand and pull her phone out of her pocket to give to Steve.

"I've been fiddling with mine, and I figured out how to turn the preview off of the push notification," he says.

Diana lets out a startled laugh. "That's probably a more secure setting anyways," she says. "Go ahead. I look forward to the moment when every third text from you will no longer induce panic."

"The future is now," Steve deadpans, and Diana has to set an affronted Bast down so that she can give Steve a proper hug, because she's glad to be home.

The next morning, Diana sneaks out early to their favorite boulangerie for a couple of pain aux raisins. She's in line when her phone pings.

Swiping it open, she taps on the notification and sees (in full, this time, thankfully): Mayday, mayday, mayday, the cat has taken your spot. There's Bast—stretched out so long across the bed that it almost looks like someone put her on a medieval torture rack—looking very pleased with herself because she's taken up the entire half of the bed that is Diana's.

A small smile creeps over her face as she steps forward to order. She's got a spot to reclaim, a cat to snuggle, and a husband to kiss good morning; she hasn't got any time to waste.

***

#wondertrev #wondertrevbingo2020 #wondertrev fanfic #steve x diana #diana x steve #fluff #lenci writes

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rann109 · 4 years ago

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What the hell happened to Wereworld by Rann?

Hello folks. I know it’s been a long time. The little webcomic I did over on comicgenesis was last updated by me on 1-13-13 and frankly I’m surprised it is still up. I’m surprised comicgenesis is still up.

I don’t know if the folks in charge there are doing anything now, but last I checked there seemed to be only the barest minimum of maintenance going on. A quick perusal of the forum indicates that not much is working and creators are just kind of on their own. The glory days of the site seem to be long over.

I am starting this blog to answer questions a lot of my comic’s long-suffering fans might have been asking for years now.

This is my very first Tumblr post. I chose them because (so far) it’s easy to use, they’re popular, and most importantly, free! I also like the old-school blog feel. I don’t know how many of you will actually FIND it. I’ve planned on doing this for years now and I was going to make the announcement via the Yahoo group but, alas, Yahoo has ended their groups service just as I resolved to do this. Probably because nobody uses them anymore. I can’t really blame them, but as a result I lost contact with all of you.

This is going to take awhile to unpack. It’s been almost nine years, after all. Damn.

Before going into details, I’ll just say Life happened. It has been a chaotic time for me, as well as, I’m sure, for you. But I’ll get to the first and biggest reason I stopped the comic:

#1- BURNOUT

Yes, the artist’s arch-nemesis, burnout. I got to a point where the thought of picking up a pencil to draw was the last thing I wanted to do. It came as a shock, really. As passionate as I was in the early days I thought it would never end. I loved drawing and creating characters and stories as much as anything I ever got into. As my ability improved through dedicated practice I was proud of the work and loved the feedback. But over time I grew less and less interested in updating Wereworld. I guess about ten years of dedicated work on a project that doesn’t seem to have an end anytime soon and receiving no pay for that work can do it to a person. I really got tired of trying to compose a page, draw it, ink it, update my page using html, and post the finished comic all in the same day. Other days of the week were out of the question as I had little enough free time as it was and I had to, and wanted to, do other things during that time.

#2- FAMILY

And everyday life seemed to begrudge me even the little time I ended up spending on Wereworld. Like, everything would be going smoothly, but as soon as I sat down, put on some music to get “in the zone”, that’s when life would come kicking down my door to demand my undivided attention. Every Sunday I could count on my phone ringing, family wanting my attention and loading me with worries and problems before going merrily on their way, leaving me in a bad mood. No comic THIS week. AGAIN! My “Why bother?” kicked in and I began to plan on just waiting around, doing nothing, waiting for crisis #2076 to come banging on my door. Nobody except my wife understood how important that little bit of time was to me and how important it was for me to be in the right STATE OF MIND to work on Wereworld. All it took was a comment or a five minute call to screw me up. They are the kind of people who measure a thing’s worth by how much money you’re making because of it. And since I wasn’t making anything on it, they saw no reason not to bother me during my drawing time. The “emergency only” stipulation I made about calls tended to be loosely interpreted. (My sibs are all married with children now, with all the problems that come with it and it has been pretty damn quiet for me here on my end in the past few years, LOL!)

#3- DEPRESSION

No, not clinical depression. Not the kind that pushes people to the brink and start thinking of ending ending it all, but the combination of little to no time to spend on creating and my growing burnout pretty much marked the end. The situation made me feel depressed. But I have many other activities and a happy life with my wife (who was always very supportive of my various obsessions, including WW) and it was easier to refocus on other things instead of mourning my waning motivation to create new comics.

#4- WORK

Yep, work. Gotta pay the bills and eat. I lost my career job when the place I worked finally shut its doors after a long decline after 9-11. I did a little bit of everything after that and pretty much all of it sucked. But you gotta do what you gotta do.

I’ll end this post for now, as the day is getting on and there’s other things I have to do (yep, still!), but there’s a lot more to this and I’ll be back VERY soon to update this blog. And you CAN believe me this time!

11-24-20, AAnnd I’m back. On to number five.

#5- DISCONNECTION

The longer I went without updating the comic, the less connected to it I felt. I had in mind to finish the thing someday but not on the Comicgenesis platform. And time just sort of slipped away. I’d still think about the story now and then, but it wasn’t an all consuming thing like it was before, not even close. And I started working on other stories which I’ll get into later.

#6- GUILT

I still receive a fan email once in awhile, hard to believe. At first I answered everybody, but over time as it became more apparent I wasn’t going to get back to it anytime soon, I stopped replying. I felt guilty about leaving everyone hanging, and the longer it went, the more guilty I felt until I’d wince whenever I got an email concerning the old comic. I was going to send a letter out via my Yahoo group, but like I mentioned before, they stopped the service just as I was about to do it. That added to my guilt even more!

#7- OTHER INTERESTS

I have always had a variety of hobbies and interests and I was good and ready to get back into some of them or start new things altogether. My first passion is knife making and I have been into that in the past years since. Not full time, I don’t want to burn myself out on that too, but I have made and sold a good little amount in the past few years. I took a leather armor maker’s master class and had a lot of fun at that, I rebuild vintage road and mountain bikes, and scour the countryside for resalable items at yard and estate sales. To name a few. I also wrote and published a book on Amazon, so that’s out there. It’s called “Abagail Reese and the Supersonic Witch” if anyone cares to check it out. I had a lot of fun writing that but it hasn’t made me much change so I kinda redirected my creative focus on my knives, which actually does pay. I have a few other stories kicking around in my mind but I don’t know when I’ll ever get to writing them down. I’m sure as hell not going to try to illustrate them myself. As slow as I work and as rusty as I am, forget it. They’d be novels. Unless I found a great, fast artist who worked for almost free, lol!

#Rann Wereworld webcomic

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raleigh-ocean · 5 years ago

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be mine (with all what’s inside) | bobbi morse x astrid winters

words: 4,782

requested by myself: Bobbi isn’t really good at this but when she start to feel that she wants more, she thinks that she can totally get better at it. And all of that came sprinkled with some of Astrid’s biggest fears on top.

n/a: i want to say I’m not really happy with this one, but I had to finish it and well, it wasn’t that bad...I think? I want to also say a big thanks to @grilledcheeseandguavajelly because she gave me the idea for the end, even when I twisted a bit to fit better in their dynamics.

Bobbi couldn’t help but muffle her chuckle against her fist, giving a quick glance to Astrid in the seat besides her, before making a right.

How many months since they knew each other and she still found herself mesmerized by the other woman that much? The way Astrid showed her nervousness was cute, not gonna lie there, but was getting a bit out of hand as the short trip was coming to an end. Bobbi didn’t know why she was fretting that much, but also kinda had the feeling it would be much worse if they hadn’t Ka-zar with them.

That was a smart move for sure, Morse, good job.

“They’re going to love your pasta salad and the cake,” Bobbi found herself saying, once again, without taking her eyes off the road. “Why are you worrying so much over meeting them? They’re gonna love you too.”

“None ever wanted me to meet their friends,” Astrid scratched Ka-zar’s head to keep herself busy. “Usually when I dated someone, I already knew their friends because they were mutuals as well,” Bobbi glanced again at her, catching the quick hurt expression upon saying that. “So yeah, I think this is the first time for me and you said they are also your coworkers, so…”

“Stop worrying,” Bobbi managed to not let out an exasperated sigh, stopping on a red light, and she leant enough to kiss Astrid, which automatically turned her face to catch the kiss - that was something Bobbi liked about her, she was always ready. “They’re cool, none will ask you weird stuff and you’ll eat to your heart content, but I can’t promise they’ll try to make you drink beer or worse.”

Astrid nodded, seemingly satisfied with that, and gave Bobbi a shy smile back. She was already used to those little smiles, ones that always made her know everything was okay in spite of whatever was going on, and that one affected her the same as all the others: making her chest feel tight, warm and full of unspoken words of love. Who would tell her eight months ago she would find someone that made her feel like Astrid did? It was completely nuts, taking in count how was her last relationship she was trying to take baby steps to not burn themselves like that.

As she was pulling over, Bobbi thought that maybe that’s why she was going slowly but surely with Astrid. Hunter and her were too much alike in the same places, the constant crashing inevitable, but Astrid was different in that sense even when Bobbi recognized some traits in her similar to her own. With Astrid everything was...easy, she loved that for once love was like that, but she still kept herself alert for when it started to get difficult.

But, as slow as she wanted to go, it wasn’t right still not asking Astrid the big question...taking in count they’ve been living together for over three months already.

“Bobbi?” How did Astrid got to her windo-oh yeah, she pulled over at Mack’s house already. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, don’t worry,” she smiled at her girl, unbuckling herself and getting out of the car too, taking from Astrid’s hands the salad and the cake so she could put Ka-zar his leash, licking her hand in the process. “Are you okay?”

“I think so,” Astrid played with the end of the leash in her hands, looking towards the front door. “Were you serious when you said they’ll like me?”

“Of course I was, why wouldn’t they anyway?” Bobbi leant again, this time kissing Astrid’s bare shoulder thanks to the dress she was wearing, and then kissed her cheek and give her a peck on the lips. “You’re really nice, sweet, know a lot about...everything and nothing, which still amazes me; and brought your best dishes, so I only see a win-win situation,” sometimes Bobbi wondered if Astrid’s need of reassurance came from her childhood or her teen days, because it was so engraved in her that it was painful. “That you are the only non-agent here it’s not important, babe.”

“Okay, okay,” Astrid closed her eyes for a second, Bobbi used already to her doing that to calm herself, and then there she went with the soft smile gracing her lips and marking as softly her left dimple. “Are you ready, Ka-zar?”

She couldn’t help but laugh loudly because of how easily Astrid could turn things to the rest, even their dog. Ka-zar barked as loud as Bobbi was laughing, that little perk they learnt soon about him, and sent Astrid into a tiny fit of laughter as well. Yeah, everything was okay for the time being. When did she become such a sap? Bobbi asked herself that while walking towards Mack, who apparently had heard them outside and go check before they got to ring the bell.

The look Mack had when he saw for the very first time Astrid was something Bobbi wouldn’t ever forget. She kept Astrid as hers in that sense for as long as they were together, obviously mentioning her and such, but seeing in the eyes of her friend such surprise was both fun and sweet for a change. Bobbi still remembered his look when she said Hunter and her were going to marry; when way before that she mentioned him that Sharon and her were having a thing; and also when Clint first introduce them, her as his girlfriend at the time and him as agent Mackenzie.

Those looks were ones of ‘are you out of your mind?’.

She wasn’t going to forget either how Izzy looked first at Astrid and then give her a quick glance after her sweet girl greet her with a nervous handshake. It was a look that said everything and at the same time gave her this empty sensation that she wasn’t approving it much but that she will try to play nice. But Isabelle Hartley was like that, so what could she do? Sharon was always all smiles, hard brown eyes judging a bit, but when she commented how Bobbi was getting taller people to date her and Astrid laughed at it, she fell in her special charm.

Natasha and Clint were another story, however, both being polite but still curious about her choice of partner this time. Bobbi didn’t need them to say something, she knew by the way they shared a knowing look and then looked directly at her when Astrid went to see what was Ka-zar doing, since he was barking again as if his bark was supersonic.

“I bought that fancy white wine only for you,” Mack brought her back to Earth, because as the presentations were going she moved to help him in the kitchen, and she hugged him sideways after placing the things they brought over the counter. “Would you want some too, Astrid? Or maybe beer?”

Bobbi saw Astrid’s cheeks flushed a bit and she couldn’t help but bit her own lip. They locked eyes while Astrid walked towards the kitchen and when she replied, it was in the shiest voice Bobbi ever heard coming from her.

“If you have soda or something like that, I rather have it, please,” Mack blinked a bit and nodded, turning around to get whatever he had in the fridge, but Bobbi didn’t think he managed to hear what Astrid said next, her voice merely audible. “As much as I’m getting off my medication, I’m still taking it and I don’t want to mess stuff up.”

She was glad Astrid’s back was facing the living room, because Clint gave her a weird look so when Bobbi put an arm over Astrid’s shoulders, she took advantage to flip him off as hard as she could...giving Astrid a little peck on the lips when she smiled up at her.

…

Astrid felt her head buzzing after hours of socializing, not used to do much talk with more than two people. But her stomach was happy, so her heart was happy, and she got to hear Bobbi’s laugh a lot which made her heart happy as well.

Bobbi’s friends had been nice with her for most of the day, welcoming even, and she felt a bit nostalgic of that sense of having some sort of group around her. Too much time without being in one, she supposed, still she needed a break and that’s why she found herself in the backyard after it got dark.

The swing seat was a good place to rest because she could still see the living room through the open large window, hearing their muffled voices while they were playing some videogame. Astrid closed her eyes for a moment, trying to isolate those sounds to feel the quietness of the night, her mind pulsating softly at her temples like a never ending tentation for using them. Since she was withdrawing more and more from the medication, her powers started to feel too more and more overwhelming as her mental training grew. She already did this when she was younger, but she didn’t remember being so hard find balance.

There were days in which she could hear Bobbi’s thoughts like loud static, mostly because her efforts to not get in her head distorted everything until it was an annoying buzz, and there were days, like today, in which she was able to feel as if she didn’t have to try that at all because the world was in silence for her.

Tricky, right?

That’s why she never really made peace with her mutation. Her telekinesis wasn’t the problem to begin with, that one was always the ‘easiest’ to control but it took a great part of the energy in her. Energy that she needed to keep at bay her telepathy, so it was another never ending battle inside he-

“Hey.”

When Astrid opened her eyes, her train of thoughts interrupted, the view that welcomed her was one she grew fond of as the days and months passed. Bobbi was smiling at her, more a soft smirk than a smile, and this time she had her glass of Chardonnay - Astrid didn’t expect her liking such thing, since they met Astrid always thought she was more of a beer girl - in one hand and a plate with cake on it. Cookie and cream cake, it was the only cake Astrid knew to do but taking in count such simple thing seemed to be the best for Bobbi and her friends...well, she thought she didn’t need to know more.

“Hey yourself,” she replied back, not too loud but not a whisper either, Astrid didn’t want to completely break the peace that she managed to get. “Weren’t you enjoying beating Clint’s ass at the videogame?”

“I always enjoy beating Clint’s ass at everything, that’s for sure,” Bobbi chuckled, taking that as her cue to get closer and sit by Astrid’s side when she scooted over enough. “But I wanted to enjoy the last piece of cake with you, getting some fresh air,” Astrid took the plate from Bobbi’s hand to put it on her lap, letting Bobbi scoot closer and put an arm over the back of the swing seat, right behind Astrid’s shoulders. “I don’t know, have a little time for ourselves in general.”

“I thought our time was breakfast,” Astrid giggled, gaining a tiny pout from Bobbi. “You’re too sweet with me...but I’m glad you came out here with cake, I was getting a bit hungry.”

“Oh wow, now you’re using me as a waitress?” the giggle became a laugh, muffled behind Astrid’s hand and Bobbi used her free hand to tap at her wrist. “Don’t hide your laugh, you know I like it sweetcheeks.”

Astrid felt her cheeks getting warm with the gesture, making her smile a bit shyly before pressing a kiss to Bobbi’s chin before taking a spoonful of cake. Maybe it was too sweet today, but it was still good.

“I’ve been thinking about something today,” Astrid hummed to let her lover know she was being listened, feeding Bobbi some cake at the same time. She waited for her to swallow and lick a bit of cream from her upper lip. “When I first met you, you said what you needed was a time machine, so where would you go if you had one?”

Both remembered how it went they met. Bobbi looking so lost and cold that Astrid had tried to help her as sweet as she could, before Bobbi snapped at her with a bit of ‘really, what do you need that you’re looking at me so much’. Astrid didn’t back at that, rolling her eyes and snapping at her as well...and then everything rolled smoothly once Bobbi was warm and ashamed of how she behaved.

Astrid didn’t think Bobbi would actually keep on chewing such response in the back of her mind, bringing it up after so long.

However she actually found herself thinking about the question, humming again while eating more cake. There were many options in her mind, but one of them stood up as proud as the person that was involved with it. Astrid felt her body sore and her heart hurt, like a ghost pain stabbing her once again, but she was too used to it that she didn’t mind.

Maybe it was a good time to tell Bobbi about it, right?

“Seven years ago,” Bobbi’s fingers played with a loose strand of Astrid’s hair, tucking it behind her ear before she put her hand at her nape, caressing there with her thumb as she grew fond of for some reason. “I think if I had been more clear, more straightforward, even more capable...my brother would be still here with me.”

“You didn’t tell me you had a brother,” Bobbi muttered, leaning in to kiss Astrid’s temple. “It was a dumb question, you don’t have to answer As-”

“No, no, it’s okay Bobbi,” Astrid turned a bit to cup Bobbi’s cheek, smiling at her reassuringly. “I actually wanted to tell you about it, you just helped me to step forward to do it,” she chuckled a bit and then took more cake before keep on talking. “Isaiah always said I needed someone to push me into things, he would had been very surprised knowing I decided to do all of this on my own volition.”

“All of this?”

“Yeah, all of this as in escaping the only safe place for us and then following my guts instead of my head for the last seven years.”

When Astrid said that, Bobbi could see the same pained expression she had in the car hours ago. But there was something more all over her face, like a thin mask of pride...as if she was proud of following her instinct more than whatever her head was telling her. Leaving her glass of wine in the floor along the plate, Bobbi only accommodated her arm over Astrid’s shoulders while her other hand took hers, playing with her fingers slowly so that way she knew she was there for her. And, of course, that everything would go as fast or as slow as she wanted and that Bobbi wasn’t going to rush her into anything.

“What happened then?” Bobbi might be tipsy, but she still held some kind of self-control over both her curiosity and her worry.

“We got into a fight,” since the day Astrid told Bobbi about her, she always wanted to know more of the Astrid before she came like a hurricane into her life, but it was hard to form the questions without feeling she was being too intrusive. “We fought over the silliest things, but a five year gap is enough to take things in perspective, Isaiah and I always found middle ground quickly...but that day we didn’t. He thought I was being childish with what I wanted to do with my life, taking in count...well, this,” when Astrid touched her head with her fingers lightly and then moved them a bit, Bobbi knew that she was talking about her powers. “That I should stop from crying over how hard things were, that I should be out there instead of him,” Bobbi could see how she was getting lost in her memories by the way she was looking at the sky. “He even told me that I was ashaming him, being the way I was.”

Bobbi couldn’t help but put her arms around Astrid better, by instinct, drawing her closer so she could hide in the crook of her neck if she wanted. She couldn’t recall if her own brother ever told her something like that or if he did, she just probably brushed it off; however that Astrid seemed to held that memory so vividly could meant he was really meaning it...or something else.

Her reading skills weren’t of much help with Astrid.

“I was so mad at him, I felt it running through my veins like fire...and then he was crossing the room because I threw him with my powers,” Astrid chuckled darkly but Bobbi felt how she was shivering at this point. “Then all the anger was gone and him too before I could even say sorry…” she sighed deeply and moved so she was sitting again. “The next time I knew about him was the next day, when they notified me that he had an accident while working and he disappeared. They never found his body, but by the way his comrades explained it to me...well he was pretty much dead, falling from a cliff.”

“And what would you had changed there, sweetcheeks? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t your fault.” it was true that there were many things that felt off in the story, but Bobbi couldn’t put her finger in what Astrid could do if she was able to go back then.

“It’s not what would have changed...but more like I would have followed him, told him I was going to join him out there that day,” Astrid tightened her fists the hardest Bobbi had seen her do. “And maybe saved his life like when we were kids.”

…

“She loves her.”

“Hmm?”

Izzy took a deep breath without moving much from her position in the kitchen’s window. She could perfectly see from there the swing seat, where Bobbi and her new girl were. Clint, Natasha and Sharon were completely hammered by that time, so only her and Mack were up to get the house cleaned up a bit.

She had stopped there to spy on Bobbi, just a bit, because she still wasn’t really sure of this new girl she brought over. Mack seemed to like her though, Izzy had to give it to her that she was polite and sweet, but she had something else that she couldn’t put her finger on.

It was a feeling in her gut, and she was sure it wasn’t because what Hunter would say upon learning about this.

“Barbara,” Mack winced at hearing Bobbi’s full name, because only Isabelle could use it without having her head chopped off. “She loves that girl...or at least she’s falling for her really hard.”

“Why do you say that?”

She moved her fingers, indicating Mack to get closer so he could see it himself. From where they were watching, they could see how Bobbi had her hands cupping Astrid’s face, placing too many tiny kisses all over it while Astrid’s hands where settled one in Bobbi’s thigh and the other pressing her knuckles against her abdomen. Then there was a swift move and they were kissing...but Mack didn’t feel the mighty need to look away like when Bobbi and Hunter used to kiss in front of him. The kiss didn’t last long and then Bobbi kissed Astrid’s nose lightly, her laugh muffled by the distance and the window, and they could see how Astrid was telling her something that made Bobbi lean forward. They couldn’t even try to read Astrid’s lips because Bobbi protected her using her hair as a natural curtain, all of that while Astrid seemed to whisper something in her ear.

“Did you ever see her blush like that?”

And Mack could still hear Bobbi’s laugh, but her neck and chest were all flushed, while she tried to hide her embarrassment by being the classic joyful Bobbi. That and how they started to give each other tiny pecks, more needy as the seconds passed by, and then they were leaving the swing seat with their dog - God, they even had a dog together! - following them tiredly.

“You’re right,” Mack muttered, trying to not get caught spying, while Izzy only moved to put the clean dishes away. “Oh damn, you’re right.”

It didn’t take much for the couple to enter the house again, offering to help cleaning what was left in the living room, but once Mack told them to not worry, that he was going to get the other three drunkasses, Bobbi’s smile was widder.

Mack had never seen her smile that wide before, that full of excitement.

Happiness even.

“Then I’ll take milady home,” Bobbi looked at how Astrid took Ka-zar in her arms, giving his sleeping dog a tiny kiss in his head, and her blue eyes shone brighter and not because she was drunk - Mack was pretty sure she wasn’t at this point of the night. “Don’t let the kids choke on their vomit.”

“Barbara, don’t say that!”

Isabelle and Mack had to double check by blinking fast, because Bobbi chuckled in response, kissing her temple and saying ‘sorry, sorry, let’s go’ and then waving them goodbye without an ounce of anger in her. Astrid smiled at them, being a bit more polite than the blonde, and actually shaking their hands before leaving.

Oh yeah, Bobbi was falling so fucking hard for Astrid.

…

Bobbi’s low groan kept Astrid focused, feeling the soft vibration of it in her neck where her lover was marking her.

She knew how to get that reaction out of the blonde, she only had to pull lightly at her hair, strands perfectly fitting in between her fingers, and Bobbi got at it more eager. Fingers going a bit deeper, curling inside of her and drawing moans and words mixed because she wasn’t able to do more aside of trying to keep at bay the buzzing of her brain.

It was her power, trying to push out of its jail because she was starting to let go. Always happening when she was feeling too much, never failing, and today being with Bobbi was proving to be quite different.

Since they had arrived home, everything moved in a beat that neither of them was quite used to. Yeah, they both had felt like that a few times, but tonight it was more intense and when Bobbi had kissed her slow and sweet, pulling her close and then…

God, I love you.

Astrid opened her eyes - when did she close them? - and the first thing she encountered was the bed headboard, then she looked down and Bobbi’s blonde hair seemed to...glow? But Bobbi didn’t seem to have noticed, still pretty much busy with getting her to climax. With each second that passed, Astrid felt herself closer and her mind more clear, the buzzing toning and slowing down at the same time.

“Bee, I’m-”

No, let me, a bit more, there, c’mon.

Astrid wasn’t used to hear Bobbi’s thoughts and it sent her on overdrive, hot white fury dripping down her spine at that point, and not only words but images started to get in her head. She wasn’t in a position right now to stop it, cut the link that was forming between them without Bobbi knowing, and she felt her eyes get full of tears…

...and then the room trembled, as Astrid came all over Bobbi’s hand, and then it all went quiet to her ears.

But that didn’t mean the same for Bobbi.

She got startled by the way everything started to move, drawers getting out from its places, lamps falling to the ground, the window opening and the wardrobe batting its doors. All she could do was to hold Astrid closer to her and moved them fast, so that way she was over her lover in case something fell from the ceiling. Bobbi was pretty sure Astrid was still climbing down her climax, eyes shut tightly and hands clawing at Bobbi’s sides - oh, if she wasn’t spent from earlier, that would for sure put her on the game again -, so the only thing she did was to cover her better and press her lips to her temple.

Her skin was hotter than she expected and...were those tears in Astrid’s eyes? When Astrid’s body seemed to relax and the room stopped from going all bananas, Bobbi pressed her lips again to Astrid’s feverish skin and then her lips, as sweet as she did when their night started.

“Are you okay?” she almost couldn’t feel herself saying that, her voice not wanting to come out for some reason, but she kissed the tiny tears that were rolling down Astrid’s cheeks. “I hope these are happy tears, because if not...well, we have a bit of a problem.”

Astrid shook her head before taking a deep breath, which ended up with her opening her eyes and Bobbi couldn’t help but get lost in those two eyes that were looking at her back.

Golden eyes, almost glowing in the dark, that were looking at her with fear and doubt.

"I love you too Bobbi..." Astrid whispered so tiny and defenceless that Bobbi's heart pressed against her ribcage painfully. "...and I'm sorry I read it before you could say it to me."

Oh.

Bobbi's laughter echoed around the room while she was trying to hug Astrid in the same protecting position they were. Okay, she wanted to say that before the big question but now things were speeding up. She couldn't help but kiss her soon-to-be girlfriend all over her face, feel her relax more and more as she kept pampering her in love.

Was she afraid of what could she say about that?

Bobbi was sure there was something more behind Astrid getting like that.

"Don't worry so much about it, okay?" this time Bobbi pressed her lips to Astrid's forehead, checking that way her temperature at the same time - already regular, her eyes settling slowly to her natural ochre. "It's not like I'm not gonna say it to you anymore, but I'm glad you couldn't get one thing more out of this coconut I have for brain, because this one it's once in a lifetime thing."

"You don't have coconut brain…" Bobbi melted upon hearing Astrid say that with such sweet voice. "But what is it…?"

Neither of them knew what would happen to them months later, a year, two or even thirteen; but right now in that moment, they indulged in the new love blooming between them like a force to be reckoned with.

"I was wondering if well...you would like to make things more, let's say, official," sleep was starting to get into Astrid, but she gave Bobbi a confused look. "As in…I wanted you to meet my friends because I want you to be my girlfriend so...what do you say?"

"Do you realize we have a dog together, we live together and I manage to get blood stains out of your shirts twice every few days?" Bobbi pouted and Astrid kissed it away in that natural way she had, before placing both hands in her cheeks. "How could I even say no?"

"God, I love you…" Bobbi said, kissing her fully on the lips.

"I know, I heard it...along some other remarks about my boobs."

"Only the truth, best tits I've ever seen," she couldn't help but make a cross with her index in her chest, above her heart, to seal that statement. "And also best rocking orgasm I've ever give, didn't expect you to unleash an earthquake on the room."

"Hmm, yeah…" Astrid hummed against Bobbi's lips and then her now not that golden eyes opened again, confused. "Wait, did I do what?"

Oh yeah, Bobbi didn't need to be a telepath to know in that moment that Astrid had no idea of what had happened around them.

And that's why she pulled her in her arms again, saying a soft 'I love you, let's get some sleep and tomorrow we will clean' to ease her girlfriend's anxiety over the reach of her powers when she was overwhelmed.

#bobbi morse #mockingbird #marvel #mcu #agents of shield #astrid winters #bobbi morse x original character #original character

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gallaghercest · 6 years ago

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REPOST: Evidence #1 - Noel’s Sexuality

Hello! So, I’m reposting this 2017 post because Tumblr deleted it.

Enjoy!

— x — x — x —

Good evening, class! It’s been a long time but I’m back. It took so long because I needed plenty of time to arrange everything correctly, because tonight we’ll have a long post. And I’m back with such a polemic subject to talk about. That’s right: Noel Gallagher’s sexuality. Pretty much a taboo in the whole fandom.

I actually realised this should have been my first post here, since it’s focused much more on the 80s, but, well, it’s all said and done now, so just pretend you read this post first, ok?

Before starting I know that there will probably be someone/some people who will go “but jULIA YOU CAN’T TALK ABOUT THIS, IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, IT’S TOO PERSONAL, YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT NOEL AND HIS GAYNESS AA A A A A A A”

And I’ll tell you what, kids: I’d rather walk I HAVE the right to talk about this, I’m his fan, I have the evidences, I’ve done researches, essays, everything you can imagine, and my conclusion is: it’s not my fault if he prefers to stay inside the closet LG x

So, take your seats and here we go!

Disclaimer: this is a bunch of evidences I made by myself, based in conversations I had with my friends and months of analysis, suffering, nights of insomnia and tears. Don’t know if everything is veridical, but at least, it’s a way that I found to “light” up our way and try to find some proper fucking answers to this stuff.

Well, I bet lots of you have already wondered (at least once in your lifetimes) about Noel’s sexuality, because, honestly, it’s something really confusing if you stop to think about it. The guy fucking hooked up with his brother, that’s already a good point to start. But I’ll try to list all the evidences on a chronological order.

1-) This Charming Man

This one is more like a deduction but ok. Yes, the famous Smiths’ song always had an important role on Noel’s life. It was the first song he learned to play on guitar. It was his main inspiration to become a musician as soon he saw The Smiths playing it on Top Of The Pops in 1983.

But, a 16 year old Noel who hated school and all type of book obviously didn’t understand the references and the lyrics meaning of any song as a 21 year old Noel could.

There’s a quote from Noel, which I think it’s from the NGHFB era already – but it might be from the late Oasis years, who knows – which I couldn’t find now, but I promise I’ll try my best to find it. If you know it, you can send it to me, too. The point is that, basically, Noel was asked by the interviewer why would he play the same fucking songs in every single gig.

Noel answered that, when he attended his first Smiths’ gig, which I’m sure it was in late 80s, he wanted them to play This Charming Man SO SO SO SO SO MUCH, and they had played it on their last gig, or on the last week’s gig, something like this, so Noel was really hopeful about it. The point is: they didn’t play it on the gig that Noel attended, and he got pretty much traumatised over that. So, he claims he plays the same songs every single gig because of that happening.

But, now, I ask you: As I said, this song was always important to him. But, as he grew old, he might have understood the lyrics more – This Charming Man’s lyrics clearly talks about homosexuality and an affair between a guy from working class and a guy from an upper class, you can read more about it on Genius, I guess. And now that he was older, maybe he identified more with the song in general.

He said once that as soon as he heard This Charming Man, everything made sense, even though he didn’t know any literature references and stuff like that – so he admitted that he didn’t get the lyrics at first. And this is important because I’m not telling you he had homosexual tendencies since he was born, it came after years and years.

2-) “Effeminate Phase” AKA Manchester Mauler

In the Definitely Maybe DVD, when talking about the “Give me gin and tonic” bit from Supersonic with Mark Coyle (11:30), Noel mentions that he must have been going through one of his – ONE OF, IT MEANS HE HAD LOTS OF – ‘effeminate phases’ to be drinking gin and tonic at that time.

He even joked once in an interview with Zane Lowe that when Peggy asked him why did he kept in his room 24/7 playing guitar, he answered, joking, “because I’m gay” :’))))))))))))

And now, the thing that I guess it’s the most iconic thing about Noel’s sexuality: if you search on Google “Is Noel Gallagher gay?” you will find an anonymous answer (that actually was answered by The WikiAnswers Community™), which goes:

“Definitely! He’s known as the Manchester Mauler. A refrerence to his brutal homosexual appetite durring his youth in Manchester, England.”

And in case you’re wondering “what the fuck does Mauler mean?”, Urban Dictionary will help you:

(I censored it because maybe Tumblr would block it again if I didn’t)

Let me tell you: this is my favourite piece of information of the entire Oasis history. It doesn’t come from any reliable source but the point is: I don’t doubt it. It’s the truth to me.

3-) Clint Boon

This is probably the most important evidence – so important that it’s why I’ve chosen it to illustrate the post. Noel’s years as a roadie were, obviously, wild.

Everything started when he auditioned to be the new singer of Inspiral Carpets. As we all know, he wasn’t accepted, but he was asked to be a roadie, in case he was interested. I don’t want to be pretentious but I have lots of friends who think that the job was only offered to him because Clint was already interested, BUT ANYWAY.

It’s common to see lots of photos of Clint and Noel together, we all know. And very suspicious photos, in fact. Some of them are not even with Clint, for example. The one where Noel is almost kissing a guy with a hand on his **** is actually Graham. And you can tell it because Graham’s hair was shorter than Clint’s (it’s the third photo of the collage above)

Noel was already asked by this photo on an interview and he was BOLD ENOUGH to deny the kiss:

“Interviewer: There’s a quite famous photo of you snogging Clint [Boon] from The lnspiral Carpets.

Noel: Oh no, that was Graham [Lambert, Inspirals guitarist]. Yeah. We weren’t actually kissing, though.

I: It looked like you were.

N: Yeah, yeah, it did look like it. But I can assure you.”

Anyway, the point is, we know Noel can assure they weren’t kissing because the only guy he would kiss was Clint. Ok, seriously now: we know that Noel used to take suspicious photos with his friends, while they drank and did drugs.

You can even see Noel shotgunning – the act of blowing weed or simply cigarette’s smoke on another person’s, usually your partner’s, mouth, and maybe even kissing – on the 4th and 5th photo from the beginning of the post. Notice that both photos were taken at the same night (their clothes are the same) and with the same guy.

Ah, and we have the matching haircuts as well. Thing we saw happening to Liam and Noel too (1997, 1999…)

(please don’t ever let this photo die)

Well. My point here is not the photos, not even the haircuts at all. It’s Clint. The amount of photos/footage we have of Noel with Clint is much more significant than the ones we have with the rest of the band. For example, Noel’s not seen in bed with any other member than Clint.

Actually, I have more things to talk of Clint, but I’ll leave it to another post.

And more: on the book “Carpet Burns: Life with Inspiral Carpets”, by Tom Hingley, the lead singer, contains a quote where Clint claims that Noel taught him another use for the airplane tables (thanks, Mat, for the useful info!). Another use. If you know what I mean.

But the most extraordinary thing is that, coincidence or not, there’s a Inspiral’s song, called Dragging me Down, written by Clint, released on 1992 – when Noel was already gone and in Oasis –, that strangely makes references to planes, travels, sky and flying. Behold:

Now, it’s up to you to patch things together.

AND DON’T YOU GET ME TO TALK ABOUT THIS:

4-) Random Noel’s quotes through the years

This one is probably the more common and easy-to-find evidence. I’ll just give the examples I recall now, but if you have more in mind, feel free to share it so I can add it to this post!

I don’t know what happened to Noel in the ‘Russell Brand 6Music show’ on 2006, because somehow he said a lot of things there.

Noel insisted that if he was gay, he’d be the biggest gay in the world, saying “I would be gayer than Freddie Mercury”, and then, Russell suggested that the 3AM girls might be interested in Noel suddenly getting in touch with his gay side, to which Noel replied:

“In a manner of speaking, I may have done already.”

Bingo!

And there’s that one from 1 Leicester Square, also being interviewed by Russell Brand, where they even talk a little about Noel’s years as a roadie, and Noel later says he was “very in touch” with his “effeminate side” (again!) and that Noel was a girl’s name¿? Russell says Liam has a “sexualised arrogance” and I confess I’m really like ?¿?¿where did you get it, son?¿?¿? because I really do think it’s something Noel thinks at the deep heart, not something Russell Brand could say, actually.

And again, there’s another quote, from another Russell Brand BBC2 show from 29th July 2008: “I like a few women but I like men an awful lot more.” He even continues and say “I call myself straight, but I’m GAY!”. “If I went to call myself bisexual, it would be equally, if not more misleaded (?), I’m not undecided or bi-curious either” Then, Noel asks “Matt, can you come up with a new word for people who are mostly straight but a little gay or mostly gay but a little straight?” and Russell comes up with the brilliant answer: “Oasis.”

It actually surprises and triggers me how nearly every time Noel and Russell meet, they end up talking about that subject… really weird, innit? Does Russell know of something? We might never know… *suspense intensifies*

And, now, going out of the Russell Brand show, we have the beautiful quote of Noel for a German TV interview on February 2009, which I’ll give me the luxury to copy down here:

“Q: So tonight you’re on stage with your brother.

N: Unfortunately, yes.

Q: Unfortunately. You don’t like each other very much.

N: No.

Q: Is there anything you like about your brother? Anything?

N. There’s lots of things I like about his personality, but he doesn’t like me.

Q: Do you know why?

N: Uuuhm…

Q: Have you ever talked to him about it?

N: I don’t know. You’d have to speak to him. But I know he doesn’t like me. He insults me all the time.

Q: But you like him.

N: There’s certain aspects of him that I like.

Q: What kind of aspects?

N: He wears crazy shoes.

Q: Ah. Anything else?

N: He has crazy hair.

Q: And what’s that got to do with his personality?

N: They’re just things I find attractive in men.”

Fine.

6-) This.

Ok, now I have two destinations: either people will kill me or support me. I don’t want to, I don’t know, ruin Noel’s perfect-marriage-husband reputation or whatsoever; actually, I don’t want to ruin Noel’s marriage lolololol but the point is: it’s in the internet, so it’s free, right? And my job here is exposing. So, that’s what I’m gonna do.

Well, one day I was doing my daily research with my friends, seeking for evidences of Noel’s bisexuality, and I bumped up into this:

But then I thought, “c'mon, the guy (who I censored the username for legal reasons) could be tripping”, but then me and my big-stalker-KGB-ass did a research on the lad’s profile, and, in the same weekend he tweeted that, he really was at Glasto, in 2014:

And the point is that, Noel wasn’t playing Glastonbury then, but he ATTENDED Glastonbury; he was at backstage, as you can see here:

Maybe the guy is crazy? Yes! Do I think he is actually crazy? No! Simply because, as I said, I don’t doubt anything, I know Noel and his capacity. The only difference between Noel and Liam is that Noel is a perfect secrefreak.

7-) Oasis fans are noticing it

If you think I made up all this bullshit, think again. It’s more and more common you see, not only the more dedicated fan accounts talking about it, but more grown-up fans talking about it too – I mean: it’s common to see not only the fan girls talking of it, but 30 year old blokes talking too. So, something must be quite right in all of this, right?

That’s it, guys, thank you so much for reading, I really consider this post my ultimate masterpiece, so I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to reblog, it helps me a lot, send a message or whatever, I’ll love to read it, see you on the next post!

#noel gallagher #gallaghercest #gcestlavie #evidence #80s

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wizardmanifesto · 3 years ago

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“Why would I think about missing a shot I haven’t taken?”-Michael Jordan

Last night at the NBA All-Star Game, Michael Jordan was the headliner of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.

Watch The Last Dance if you haven’t. If you have, watch it again. If you have watched it again, watch it again. If you’ve watched it multiple times, watch it again.

#michael jordan #nba #nba 75 #chicago bulls #nike #jordan #jordan brand

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southwindscoffee · 5 years ago

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Deep dives and playlists

Part of my personality is that when I get interested in a topic, I DEVOUR it. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but in case you’re new, when something sparks an interest, I end up buying every book I can find about it, watching every movie, stalking every internet post, and learning as much as I can.

Thoroughly.

I’ve done this on disparate topics like classic Hollywood stars (Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Fred Astaire, and so on), Viking mythology (especially after reading the Magnus Chase books—I need a Magnus tattoo, I think), and Jack London (after visiting the Wolf House in Sonoma). Every Wes Anderson movie? Check. Every Sofia Coppola movie? [almost] Check. All the books on Bansky? Yes. A dozen books-plus on Yosemite National Park? Yes.

I do this with music, too. I’ll fall in love with a performer and buy (or stream) every one of their albums, read their biographies, and buy all their art books. Today, I went on a bit of a trip through time, listening to some music I haven’t listened to since the early 90s. (Love and Rockets, anyone?) But the last ten or twenty songs I’ve listened to are so disparate, it’d be really hard for you to tell my tastes.

In case you were wondering, they were mostly from me looking up songs I heard in movies, plus a few things from the Kid Cudi Spotify list:

Blinding Lights by The Weeknd

Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin

Symphonies by Dan Black

Crazy in Love remix by Beyoncé

Hangover by Psy

Wake Up by Arcade Fire

Get Low by Lil Jon

Loco in Acapulco by the Four Tops

Summertime by DJ Jazzy Jeff

Here You Come Again by Dolly Parton

Yo Perreo Sola by Bad Bunny

Supersonic Rocket Ship by The Kinks

Ooh Ahh by Grits

Thunderstruck by AC/DC (I know) and

Dear Mr. Fantasy by Traffic.

I think that might be about as random as you can get. Just rereading that list makes me laugh (and if you want me to send you the Apple Music link, let me know). No wonder I love Beck, because he’s all of the above.

Can you figure out where the inspiration came from for some of those? Mostly Marvel movies (Thor, Black Panther, Spiderman), Red, White, and Royal Blue (an amazing book), and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

Anywho.

I don’t know what gets me started on one of these rabbit trails, but I know better than to hold back. Because these things often show up in my writing later on in strange ways. That’s one of the big things I’ve learned over the past few years is to trust my instincts and follow my enthusiasm, even if I think it’s fluffy or weird. If I’m passionate about it and want to know everything about it, I let myself do it. I don’t hold back.

My current deep dive is into ballet. I took about 6 years of ballet as a kid, dropping it right before I was going to go en pointe. I don’t think it’s something I’ve ever truly forgotten about or gotten over. With the graceful elegant bodies and the emotion of dance…I can tell I’m gearing up into some sort of inspiration, but I don’t know what for. All I know is I’ve been watching Misty Copeland’s MasterClass and looking at books on technique and history.

But I can’t explain WHY I’m doing this, and why now? Maybe because I saw an ad for the MasterClass (and I’ve watched quite a few of those)? Is it really that easy to get me hooked?

Or is it something deeper? [We know I always love to go deeper into why characters do things. And obvs, myself.] But is it a need for beauty and expression, poise and strength, dignity and fragility all at once? Especially in the rough few weeks we’ve been having? Few months…?

Some of it, I think, is that I need to follow my genuine interests, whatever they are. I think part of my recovery from depression was learning to not suppress positive emotion. I realize that sounds weird, but besides the guilt/anger/grief I was suppressing, I also had not let myself ENJOY things.

I do now.

What is it that you love? Can you let yourself do it? Or learn about it? Or watch it? Or listen to it?

Even if it’s weird?

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ameftowriter · 5 years ago

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5738 A.D. 4,1 (Dr. Stone fanfic)

The first Dr. Stone fanfic I’ve written so far. I gotta say I wrote this so quickly and so fast last night while still giving out candy to kids XD.

Spoiler warning on the cellphone arc though.

Also this is exactly, 3719 words. Cookies to the one who gets it XD

Anyway, I hope you all like it and enjoy!

Gen was still having a hard time taking everything in. Was it really the year 5739? The mentalist just couldn’t wrap his head around it. On top of it all, those statues. So many statues. They were people, turned to stone.

He had realized that something terrible has happened and it affected every human being on earth.

He was affected too, considering the position he woke up from. He remembered that he had just finished his act. Hearing the cheers and applause from a delighted audience, that’s when everything went dark.

And the next thing he knew was a bright light, facing an open ocean.

He wondered if this was a prank, he’s seen a lot of celebrity prank shows, to be a victim of that disgusted him. He was a mentalist, being subjected to a prank like this defies his very image.

That is until he heard a deep commanding voice from the background.

“Welcome to the year 5739 AD”

He felt cold sweat drip off his currently naked body. He turned to recognize the man who broke him out of the dark stone prison. It was Shishio Tsukasa… the strongest primate high schooler.

He was then given some clothes to wear, made by their resident tailor named Yuzuriha. He didn’t know who she was, but was grateful for her.

It was… clothes he supposes. It was a tunic of sorts that reached up to his knees. Made of animal skin. He wanted to ask for a T-Shirt and Jeans. Then again… if it really was year 5739, and everyone was petrified…

He nearly stumbled on a statue lying around. He gained back his footing and turned to see what tripped him. His eyes widened to see that it was his manager.

Memories of the man flooded his head. When he first started, he would try to use him, booking his shows back to back, expecting him to nearly give up his own education and even family life for his acts. He tried to milk so much money from his acts, Gen was sure it was borderline illegal. But eventually he found a weakness to the man and he became an easy target for Gen’s manipulation. Sometimes he used him as a guinea pig for any new acts he had thought of. He nearly had him prance around the streets naked once as a form of revenge.

But if it wasn’t for him, he wouldn’t have become this popular and famous…

He wouldn’t have had the money to…

Tsukasa shattered the manager’s head beneath his feet.

Gen nearly jumped back at the sudden destruction in front of him.

“I apologize for startling you.” Tsukasa spoke up, “I remember this man once, he was your manager yes?”

Gen could only nod.

“He tried to charm me to having you and I do more shows together, he treated us as if were freaks in a carnival. I cannot stand adults like that…”

It didn’t take a mentalist, to know how every word he spoke dripped of hatred and loathing. Gen looked at the remains of the destroyed statue, and felt his stomach churn.

He hated his manager yes, but…

For someone to just mercilessly destroy that…

They had arrived at the Empire of Might as Tsukasa had called it. Gen could only look at it with awe as he saw various forms of treehouses and caves made out of gigantic tree trunks. But most of all, he saw that almost every man and even women around him were muscular and looked like they would be able to carry him like he was a feather.

Then Gen met the said tailor, Yuzuriha, and the big oaf that he was pretty sure that he was her boyfriend, Taiju.

Gen thanked her for the clothes. But wonders if he could ask her for something more… sophisticated. Something that suits his style.

Tsukasa agreed, he saw Gen as a valuable member of the Empire, but he also needed him for a mission.

Yuzuriha agreed to do it without any questions asked.

Gen missed paper and pencil or any kind of writing instruments. But it seemed that the girl understood his directions.

While they waited for his new outfit, Tsukasa began explaining to him about a certain “miracle fluid” that had broken him out of the petrified state.

That peaked his interest, not that he would show it.

As Tsukasa brought him to a cave and along a few other muscular men with him, Gen brushed his fingers against a tree without realizing it.

Thats where he felt it.

He knew tree bark was rough and could hurt depending on the tree, but it felt weird to him. To him it was like… like… Something was engraved into the tree.

He moved his hand away and saw a carving into the tree he held on.

A.D.

5738

4, 1

“Fifty-seven, thirty-eight… Four, One…” Gen read the engraving. “5738, 4, 1…”

It was like everything he had known right now had changed.

He wondered how… how would Tsukasa be able to determine the current year. Was it even really year 5739?

But this engraving shows it. 5738… It’s been a year since the engraving was written in the tree. April 1st… How did the writer knew of the exact date even…

“5738… April 1st…” Gen repeated himself, “H-How…. How did… How could someone…?”

“No…” Gen gathered his thoughts, “Someone… someone must have carved this after breaking out… They had to. But… How would… would they know the exact date…”

“Is it even possible…?!”

He read again the crude kanji and the numbers written on the tree. It was clearly there. It wasn’t some sort of hallucination… It was actually written there…

“This… this is…” Gen shuddered in excitement at the realization of someone like that existed, and broke out first, “This is too antastic-fay! Whoever did this… Must be…”

Then his thoughts were interrupted by Tsukasa calling him to the cave.

Gen quickly dashed inside. To see Tsukasa standing in front of a pile of… bat guano. Gen’s nose scrunched up at the awful smell and saw yellow liquid dripping down from the cave’s ceiling, to a clay bowl.

He quickly deduced it as a so called “miracle fluid” that Tsukasa had mentioned. But when he read Tsukasa’s expression, he felt there was more… than just that fluid…

That night, he couldn’t stop thinking about that engraving.

5738 A.D. April 1.

He wondered who could even do that. In that darkness. For almost 4000 years, calculated the year, month and date. The exact date?!

He thought of possibilities. He knew you can tell how old a tree is by cutting it and counting the number of rings… But that would have been a gigantic tree. He considered the number of natural disasters that could have destroyed it way before the next millenia… So he scratched out that idea. He thought maybe some sort of machine that could tell the time survived, but he hasn’t seen a sign of any kind of civilization, let alone a machine that could tell the time. His thoughts wandered of any kind of sci-fi theory he’s seen. But just like before, he saw nothing…

Nothing from the year 2019.

Gen curled up onto his sheets. It has hit him again, the realization that there was nothing left from the year he knew. No buildings, no cars… no cola even…

He felt the sudden urge for a bottle.

As he realized he couldn’t sleep he stepped outside of his living quarters and saw the stars in the sky. It was numerous, more than he could ever count.

Count…

That’s when he thought of something… a completely etched-fay possibility…

Yes, there was no machine or anything that could tell the time, but the fact remained that time still moved forward, no matter what…

It was something insane. Something that no human being should be able to do, but it was possible…

He had heard rumours of a kid who counted the exact seconds within a month, and he had counted it exactly.

“To count the passing seconds…” Gen thought to himself, “To do that during all that time in the darkness…”

Many feelings he suddenly felt for this mystery counter. Excitement, pity, delight, fear… In order to do that, he would have had to remain conscious all that time… Gen eventually felt nothing and his mind went completely blank after a while. When Tsukasa revived him, he thought everything before was just a dream… a long 3720 year dream…

He had to find them… he had to find the person who could have done this feat… He had to know. He had to know this person. He had to pick him apart and understand his own way of thinking. He had to analyze everything about him. He had to know how and why would he do such a ridiculous yet logical thing.

He hadn’t felt this eager in knowing a person he hasn’t even met.

The rest of that night spent thinking about this person. He smiled at the thought of someone else being this unique.

It was like… to him it was like getting excited over a book he had heard only good reviews about.

Yes he was skeptical, but the thought of someone like this.

It got him excited.

Yuzuriha finished his new outfit the next day, he was very grateful for her. Especially after hearing the fact that she spent all night with it. Gen felt a bit bad for her, until he heard her voice crack just a little…

Gen did not have supersonic hearing, but as a mentalist, he taught himself to pay attention to people’s subtle noises. He wonders if Yuzuriha is lying to him.

He tried the new outfit on, and it fits him just right. He was definitely impressed with her.

Tsukasa called for him after he had finished his new outfit.

He was given a mission…

“Those dusty old fossils who used to be in power…” Tsukasa began as he led Gen to a path in the forest, “Are even less necessary in this natural world of stone…”

Gen didn’t hear a hint of hesitation from those words. In fact to him Tsukasa spoke of his ideals in such great confidence and conviction, that the mentalist felt a bit swayed by those. Especially when he said…

“But I see a massive amount of potential in you… Gen.”

Gen felt himself snap out of that trance. He knew Tsukasa had a lot of natural charisma, but even he as a master of minds, felt like he was grabbed instantly and quickly, as if he got there by himself. He cursed himself mentally, as he remembered how Tsukasa crushed the statue of his manager. And all of the other pieces of statues he has seen scattered everywhere.

“There’s something I need you for…” Gen’s attention was grabbed again as Tsukasa cleared some branches to reveal a treehouse, made by… concrete? He wondered. “And your skills as a mentalist will be invaluable…”

Gen saw on the side a few empty jars, crude makeshift spears… he was surprised that even the ladder that leads up to the treehouse was still sturdy. To him it looked like it was all abandoned.

But that wasn’t where they went, rather, Tsukasa led him to a hut near the tree house. It had a worn out sign that said, “Laboratory”.

Tsukasa led him inside and the mentalist saw broken clay pots everywhere. He watched his step, as he moved in closer to see more and more broken pieces scattered everywhere. To him it was an obvious sign that whoever lived here scrambled to take everything and left. To the untrained eye that is.

Gen saw this was too intentional. It was too much of a mess for him. He thought maybe a scuffle, but that would have caused those shelves to fall apart. To him, it is as if the previous occupants just intentionally took those jars and smashed them.

“Follow them for me.” Tsukasa gave him his mission, Gen’s deductions were right, “And get inside of their minds… Perhaps I’m being overly cautious, but I want you to track down this man Senku and tell me if he’s dead or hiding out somewhere…

Senku…

And there it is the name of the person he was looking for.

‘Senku…’ Gen thought to himself. He tried to think of anyone he knew by that name, none came to mind.

So he asked, “Who is Senku?”

“He, was the first of us to revive…” Tsukasa replied.

‘First? Don’t tell me…’

“He used his knowledge of science to create a formula to undo the petrification.” he continued as Gen took in this invaluable information, “That’s how he revived me…”

Gen couldn’t hide his surprise anymore.

‘This Senku person… revived Tsukasa? He created a formula to undo the petrification?’

“This man…” Tsukasa continued as Gen felt the man’s voice grew bitter, “His only desire is to revive everyone, no matter who they were…”

‘What? He… what?’

“He’ll bring back the same people who ruined our world…. And they’ll make weapons…” Gen felt every word laced with pure hatred.

“He was the most intelligent man alive, and that’s why I killed him myself…”

He saw Tsukasa’s eyes narrowed as he finished his sentence. Gen held back even his own expressions, but to hear that from Tsukasa’s mouth, he finally understood.

He finally understood what he had to do.

Gen enjoyed it. He enjoyed experimenting and toying with the human mind and the limitless possibilities of the human psyche. He mostly used it for his own benefit and gain, but that’s what the world, the previous world, taught him. To him adults were easy picking, even more so than teenagers and children. He knew as one grows older, the ideals and beliefs, and biases a person has learned will stick longer and thus harder to change or remove. Gen knew of this and exploited it to his heart’s content.

He asked Tsukasa if he could stay a bit more to inspect the area. The man let him, and asked if he knew the way back.

Gen knew the way back.

When he realized that he was finally alone, he quickly observed the area. He looked at the pieces of the broken jars, the stains on the floor and at the walls, he saw the various broken tools nearby. He then rushed into the tree house and saw the same mess as the lab. Gen saw this as a laughable way to make it look like they got scared and escaped.

He saw Tsukasa’s expressions, the hatred in his words… Tsukasa was scared. Very scared. He only knew of Tsukasa as a fearless man who would stare down other fighters bigger and stronger than he was, and took them down easily. For someone to induce such paranoia and fear in him…

He has to know. He has to know who this Senku person is.

He just has to!

After gathering what he can from the area, he went back to the Empire. He gave Tsukasa what he could deduce in the area, and said that he probably dashed at around southeast to where the Empire was.

Tsukasa in turn gave him more information that was more valuable than even he thought.

Gen was right it was southeast to where they were, Hakone (or it would have used to be considering the lack of any buildings). He was also told of a blond haired, blue eyed girl that seemed to have no knowledge of science and had a very primitive way of thinking,.He was shocked to hear that there is a possibility of a village of primitives in that area, and that Senku might have made contact with them if that was the case. So now he had a destination in mind.

Hakone. Around a two day walk from where they were now. Gen didn’t particularly like the idea of walking so far and so long, but his desire to meet this Senku was what pushed him further.

Before he left, he asked Yuzuriha for some extra materials and a cutting tool.

His journey was long and painful, especially since he didn’t wear any shoes. Along the way he picked up many nightshade flowers and stored them into various hidden sacks underneath his clothes. He even found many berries and even some small animals he could use to make fake blood bags for his own protection, just in case everything went downhill for him. He knew when to expect the worst. After all, he made a living from expecting the worst in people and exploiting it.

His journey took way longer than two days. He was exhausted, yes, but every step further was one step closer to meeting this Senku. He thought it was worth it.

From what he knew about the positions of his shadows, he had deduced it was around noon. He walked further and further through the forest, and that’s when he heard something, music. He heard music playing nearby, he walked closer to the source, and saw it, clear as day. A village, built on two small peninsulas connected by a bridge, and in front of it was…

Well to his surprise. It was a ramen stand.

Gen approached the stand closer then was quickly given a bowl of said ramen by a child wearing a melon mask over her head. He thought it was kind of cute.

He felt a pang of hunger as he took a whiff of the bowl on his hands. It was a crude version of ramen that he knew, but well, he supposed it was still ramen. So he took a bite.

Gen nearly gagged from the taste.

He remained very quiet despite the complete awfulness the dish had. He couldn’t even call this ramen. He heard this was foxtail millet ramen.

Once again he nearly gagged at the thought of foxtail. Foxtail, was what the noodles were made out of. He could feel the grainy texture and the bitter aftertaste of the ramen.

It was ositive-pay awful!

But he heard nothing but praises for this dish. Gen peered to see other people wearing similar clothes like the one the melon girl wore. It looked like they were almost inhaling the ramen. It was a complete consensus that it was the best thing they’ve ever had.

That’s one other thing that hits Gen.

He sighs and misses something way more than ramen right now.

One of them quickly asked for seconds and Gen sighed and realized with the stereotypical glutton man. He supposed that in any kind of era there’s always a glutton.

Then his attention quickly changed when he saw the man at the stand itself, putting the ramen together.

His hair stood out the most, literally. Even at the year 2019, he would have easily stood out. He wondered if it’s dyed or if he used any hair products. Almost every bit of his hair stood upwards defying gravity. To Gen he looked like a walking giant leek or bok choy. Then when he turned sideways, that’s when Gen finally saw his face. He looked sweaty and tired, but his face is full of eagerness and pride, that admittingly seemed contagious. The most noticeable features were the two jagged scars that lined and bent up from his forehead down to this eye line and just below the eyelid. The Mentalist instinctively touched his own scar.

He remembered the explanation Tsukasa gave him. That these scars are just a side effect of the depetrification process.

Gen remembered the day when he saw his reflection at the river and saw the scar running underneath his left eyelid, where it turned to shape his mouth then went straight down his chain and his neck. To him this was a reminder that he was petrified and awakened. Which meant, this man was…

“Are you the man who made this incredible food?” He heard a young girl approach the man with such eagerness and obvious intent of flirting, “the one called, Senku?”

Senku…

This green haired, prideful, obviously exhausted guy…

Is Senku?

Gen tried hard to cover his laughter. This was the man that Tsukasa, the strongest primate high school, was scared about? He looked physically weak. Everything about him was so lanky and skinny. It completed the giant walking vegetable set. Big green leaves and a nimble easily breakable stem.

He was….

‘This was the man who wrote that date on the tree isn’t it?’

He saw a familiar equation written on Senku’s outfit.

E=mc2

'Yeah… definitely the science nerd around here.’ Gen chuckled internally, 'Who the hell writes that on their own clothes?!’

When the girl asked Senku what kind of girls he liked Senku simply answered this:

“A kind that would pump a ton of oxygen into my furnace”

Gen groaned internally at that answer

'And he’s uninterested at romance. Like he’s some sort of a Shonen protagonist…’

The blond villager girl whom Gen deduced as quite strong, and possibly the girl that Tsukasa ran into before, even expressed her displeasure at that answer. He wonders if she had some feelings for this Senku person.

The Mentalist admits that Senku is quite handsome. It was a shame to him that he isn’t interested in romance. He would have loved to have gotten closer to him. But he supposed that he still has a job to do.

Well to everyone in the Empire of Might it was his job.

To Gen….

It was some assurance.

If this Senku is what he thought he was, that this Senku is the man that striked fear into Tsukasa’s heart.

This handsome, nerdy, passionate man…

Might be the counter he was looking for.

Better strike while the iron’s hot….

“Ah… this ramen is making me wickedly thirsty…” Gen admitted to himself, out loud for everyone else to hear. “A cola, would be great…”

And with that, Gen had Senku’s undivided attention.

The Mentalist then went to work, fully analyzing this Senku to his heart’s content.

Little that he knew what would happen later that within the past 3700+ years of his life, would change for the better.

'This is worth it…’

#Dr. Stone #Dr Stone #asagiri gen #shishio tsukasa #ishigami senku #fanfic #drst

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