#I wish I had gotten more good footage of them

[waugh-bao]

Ночь с Машиной Времени (2023)

[thepersonnamedsam]

you already know how much I love gen z driver! could you maybe write something of how would it be if gen z reader’s birthday happened to be during one of the gp’s? how everyone acts and makes it all about her?

happy birthday!

pairing: the genz!driver x '23!grid

summary: it’s the genz!drivers birthday, and it just happens to be the miami gp!

word count: 1.7k

warnings: some swear words and some google translated spanish and dutch :)

note: oh i just love all of your request, especially that one, bc i’m a birthday lover myself! have fun reading it and feel free to request more!! <3

masterlist/ taglist

The first people to congratulate her, were her parents. They called her, in the middle of the night; they forgot that time zones exist. But her heart was full when she picked up the phone at 3AM and both of her parents where singing ‚happy birthday‘ to her. What wasn’t so good, was that she had to be asleep, because it was a Sunday and race day! But it didn’t matter, it was her birthday!

Two hours later, her phone was ringing again, but this time not because someone was wishing her a happy birthday, no, it was her alarm. But today it was okay. 5AM on your birthday doesn’t feel that early, does it now? At least it didn’t for her.

Andy, her personal trainer, knocked on her door at exactly 6.30AM, holding a tiny cupcake with a candle in it. „Happy birthday, y/n!“, his voice cheerful and happy. Her smiled widened and her heart full with love again. „Thank you, Andy.“

„Are you ready for the race?“, Andy asked her. She nodded and closed her hotel door. „I’m excited to see Danny again and Nando and all the other people of course. Oh and definitely Lewis.“, Birthdays were her thing, she always missed them in school, either she had them on a weekend or she was on holiday. So, being surrounded by people who are important to her, was the best present she could’ve gotten.

On the way to the paddock, Andy let her pick out the music, her car playlist was blasting on full volume. Tongue Tied by GROUPLOVE was her favourite song at the moment, that’s why she was singing at the top of her lungs to the lyrics.

„Take me to your best friends house, go around this roundabout, oh yeah“, she looked at Andy as if he would follow the orders of the song.

The music died down, as they arrived at the paddock. Press was already waiting on her, they knew it was her special day and hoped to get some good footage of the birthday-girl. Usually the media annoyed her this early in the morning, but today, nothing could’ve ruined her day. She smiled and waved to the camera, spoke to some press people and had nice conversations with all of them.

The media always tried to find some gossip, especially on the young driver, but not today. They were happy to see her this happy.

As she set foot on the paddock, people were congratulating her. Pads on the back, some strokes on her arm here and there, everyone was nice to her, and who doesn’t enjoy some attention sometimes. Especially if it’s for something you didn’t work for. It was her favourite day of the year, Christmas is second.

„Danny!“, she shrieked as soon as she saw him. She sprinted towards the Australian and jumped into his arms. „I missed you so bad!“ Daniel just laughed and hugged the young driver. „Happy birthday, y/n.“

Her smile was consistent and contagious, every person she smiled at, they just had to smile back. Even Max smiled at her. Well, he always smiled at her, she was one of the persons that could make him smile.

„Max, can you give me a piggyback ride?“, she looked at him with puppy dog eyes and he just couldn’t deny her. „Of course, zus sister.“

As Martin Brundle spotted the two, he motioned to his cameraman to put the focus on them. „And now we see Max Verstappen carrying the birthday girl y/n. It is not rare to see the young driver interact with the different drivers. Let’s wish her a happy birthday“, he talked into the camera. „Hello you two, happy birthday y/n, am I the first to congratulate?“, the older man looked at her with an amusing look on his face. „Martin, as much as I love you, you are hopefully not the first person to wish me a happy birthday“, she looked at him with a serious face.

„Did Max congratulate yet?“, a challenging look on Martins face, he pointed at the camera and said: „Remember, this is a livestream.“, Max‘ cheeks turned a pretty pink colour and y/n gasped. „He did not!“, she gasped. „Max, you didn’t wish me a happy birthday?!“ - „I’m sorry, schat darling. Happy birthday, my dear.“

But how could she hold a grudge against a face that looked like Sid from Ice Age?

Fernando was the next person she saw, and he instantly grinned at her. „Oh Nando, do you know whose special day it is today?“, she singsang to the oldest driver on the grid. „Hmm, let me guess, is it Roscoes?“, he laughed as he saw her shocked face. „How could you, I thought we were friends?“ - „We are, we are, cariño darling. Feliz cumpleaños happy birthday, y/n.“

„How old are you now, 5?“, he laughed at her. „Har har, very funny Nando. How old are you turning this year, 60?“ She was always getting irritated fast. He grabbed her by her hip and pushed her into a side hug of his. „Don’t ever change, cariño.“

„Don’t have a plan for that, who’d change something as fabulous like this“, her hands were pointing to herself. „But on a serious note, Nando, do you know where Lewis is? I’ve been searching for him.“ Fernando only shook his head, he didn’t know where the British driver was. He rubbed over her hair as she left his side to search for her mentor.

„Oh Lewis! Your favourite person is looking for you“, she shouted over the paddock, with no luck. She didn’t even see a trace of Lew, none. But what she did find, was a monegasque driver with the number 16 and a spaniard driving under the number 55. They were arguing over some bullshit, as always, as they spotted her. „y/n! Over here“, Charles shouted over to her and waved his hand. She ran over to them and greeted the older drivers with a side hug. Carlos quickly kissed her head as he wished her a brilliant birthday. Charles even sang the first to lines of the song.

She was a bit embarrassed, but she enjoyed the attention of the two Ferrari drivers. „I love you guys, but have you seen Lewis?“, she smiled at the two as they rolled their eyes. She just wanted to see her favourite person on the paddock. She loved them all equally, but you couldn’t deny that Lewis definitely was her favourite. „I think I saw him at Mercedes, his motorhome“, Charles told her, she totally missed the sarcastic undertone of his and just skipped along to the Mercedes garage.

Before she even set a foot in the motorhome, Toto Wolff approached her and squished her into a hug. „Alles gute zum Geburtstag, liebes! Happy birthday, darling! How are you, so happy to see you“, he whispered into her ear. She loved Toto. „Hi Toto!“, she grinned up at him, „I’m good, thank you. Do you know where Lewis is?“ Toto laughed and pointed to his drivers room. „Thanks!“, she yelled as she took off.

She hasn’t been to her own motorhome, just wandering around the paddock and taking in all the attention from the others. And as she knocked on the door, she knew she’d receive the best attention of them all.

„It’s open“, she heard and busted into the tiny room. „Hello, your favourite human on this planet has arrived and will be gracing your presence from now on!“ She grinned at him and he only laughed and embraced the girl. „I have a present for the birthday girl? do you know where she is“, he joked and turned around to grab her present. „A present? Aw Lewis, you shouldn’t have, you totally should have.“

The present contained some gag gifts, such as a Mercedes hat and shirt, or some shirts with funny pattern on it. But the original present was a necklace. It wasn’t anything special, really. It was a simple silver necklace with a tiny turtle as a pendant. Her eyes were tearing up, so she quickly wiped them away.

„Is this one of the necklaces that makes you a godparent of a sea turtle?“ - „It sure is, have fun with“ he turned the pendant around and looked at the engraving on it „Yertle. He is now your godchild“, he smiled at her and motioned to y/n to turn around, so he could put the necklace on. „Thank you so much, it means a lot“, she hugged him as a thank you. He smiled at her, he adored the young driver and was grateful that he was apart of her journey.

„Thank you, love you Lewis!“, she yelled to him as she sprinted out of the motorhome. She was finally headed to her own garage. They had planned a surprise party for her and Lewis was the distraction. As she reached her motorhome, she didn’t see anyone. „Hello, is it not race day?“, she joked into the dark.

„Happy birthday, y/n!“

She jumped, her heart was racing, but she had a giant smile on her face. Her heart, once again, was full, full with love.

„Ahh, thank you guys!“, she squealed and sprinted into the engineers and mechanics, just like she won a race, which she hasn’t, by the way. She hugged all of them, thanked all and smiled the biggest smile she ever smiled. „I’m so grateful for all of you! And now, let’s win this race!“

She didn’t win, but was one of her best birthdays so far. And the after party was her personal highlight of the day. There was a huge pile of presents, just for her of course.

Lando was the DJ, Max was standing on a table, preparing to do a toast for her and Danny was laughing and pointing his camera at everybody.

The evening was definitely something she’d remember, maybe not Max‘ toast, as it was very embarrassing;

„Dear people, we have gathered here to celebrate not only my win, but also a birthday of some special person. She is not our girlfriend, which we are all happy about, but they’re all jealous of her, y/n! Happy birthday, you beast, come up here!“

The alcohol definitely made it more bearable, but the fact that Pierre had to drag you to Mac spoke for itself.

„Pierre, let me be, go back to your boyfriend“, she spoke harshly to the French man, but he ignored her with a smirk on his face and brought her up to Max.

„Ladys and gents, the birthday girl herself!“

It was one of the better party’s she attended and when she looked at all the posts she’s been tagged, she found one particular that she liked the most.

daniel3.jpg

Liked by yninsta, charles_leclerc and 473’827 others

daniel3.jpg happy birthday to my personal favourite female driver of all time! let’s raise a glass or two, to all the things i’ve lost on you ;)

View all 4638 comments

yninsta i am the only female driver…

landonorris that’s why your his fav

yninsta rude af

daniel3.jpg don’t fight kids

charles_leclerc happy birthday y/n!

carlossainz55 yeah, feliz compleaños to our fav girl

pierregasly liked by pierre gasly

f1girly we love all the drivers in the comments, y/n is definitely the paddock princess

likedbypear oh yes, idk if i want to be her or with her

yninsta be definitely with me, c’mon

neymarjr happy birthday y/n!

°°°

taglist: @ironmaiden1313 , @topguncultleader , @missskid , @gulabjamooon , @lovelyy-moonlight , @peachyplumsss , @mistrose23 , @copper-boom , @love4lando , @champomiel , @serenityleah , @iloveyou3000morgan , @angelwithoutmywings , @elleeeee21

[love-lilly02]

The Challenge- Ch. 7

An- hey. (drops random half edited chapter that’s probably the shortest one i’ve ever written) see ya🚶🏾‍♀️

A total of two months, three and a half weeks and six days. 

That was how long you had been MIA. Each time another day was added to that count, you grew more restless than before. You wanted to go home, to sleep in your bed, eat american food, damnit just to have a different color shirt to wear. 

And yet you were still stuck here. 

Each day started off the same. You would wake up at the ass crack of dawn, eat something akin to breakfast with Nikolai and wait to see if today was the day you were going back. Instead, he would silently place a knife on the table— some days it was different— and walk out of the room. The same routine, every day. for the past two months.

It was enough to drive any normal person insane. and it had almost driven you insane, definitely would have if you weren’t in the military. 

You had managed to work up the courage to ask why he didn’t immediately send you back one day, why he tolerated you staying with him for this long. 

“If i send you back they do things different. Look at you oddly, treat you weirder. Here you can rest, regain your skills.” He had said, not pausing to spare you a glance. 

“I take you back when you ready.”

according to him, you had not been ready in a long time. 

you never really gave up hope. Not actually, you knew logically at some point he had to bring you back to them. And going back on your own was a suicide mission, one even worse than the thing that had gotten you into this mess. So you waited. 

If it took five months or seven years, you would wait. 

Kate Laswell was a woman of action. 

She knew this for a fact, it had been thrown back into her face so many times she lost body parts to count it. Which is why your disappearance bothered her so much. You were a person of action as well, it’s what prompted her to introduce you to the 141. So then why had you been MIA for the past three months? The thought sat there constantly, turning even the best days sour. 

That, and what you were doing to the team.

It didn’t take a genius to figure it out, although you did have to look a bit harder to see the changes. Especially in people like Ghost and Price, whereas Kyle and Soap might as well have worn their emotions on their sleeves. She wished she could do something to help, to find where exactly you were. Or if you were alive, even. 

All given evidence suggested otherwise. 

She had replayed the shitty camera footage of your disappearance, watched it frame by frame, pixel by pixel. Mutiple times, and she couldn’t figure out how there could be a way for you to get out of there. It just wouldn’t have added up. 

But she didn’t give up there, of course she wouldn’t.

She kept searching, looking for any sign of you. As a civilian, one of the russian’s captives, anyone. anything could come into play, you were a smart girl and everyone knew it. 

Unfortunately, that also meant you could cover up your tracks well. 

It took another month for anything good to come up. And that something good came as salvation always does.

In the form of a call. 

John had made an attempt to push the situation out of his mind, to allow you to handle your own business. His thoughts screamed at him to be more active, to do something more, but there was literally nothing for it. 

Or so he thought. 

The call came in while he was walking out of a meeting, silently dreading the mound of paperwork he would now have to do. When he saw the caller ID he had to do a double take, and he rushed to answer the call. 

“Nik?”

“Captain. It’s been a while, no?”

“Damn right it has. Makes me scared.”

His old friend laughed, and Price could imagine the way he was shaking his head.

“Yes, yes. But i have gift—what? okay, okay sheesh. I have… surprise… for you.”

Price just stared. “Is there someone else there? What’s goin on Nik?” 

There was silence on the other end of the line, then a lot of rusting. 

“Um. Hey.” 

Price almost dropped the phone. 

The process of getting you back wasn’t as hard as they thought it would be, but it certainly took a very long time. 

In reality it took two weeks. But to them each day felt like a decade.  

The entire flight took 11 hours, and they weren’t allowed to meet you halfway (something about using military vehicles for non military purposes. all four boys thought that was absolute bull shit but they couldn’t do anything about it) So they did the next best thing. 

wait. 

And they waited. and waited. Each time a chopper landed on the helipad they were rushing to the window, seeing if it was you. It got to the point that they had someone constantly surveying that area of the base, just so they could be immediately notified. 

And finally, finally you were back. 

It was a whole ordeal, theatrics that even soap had to roll his eyes at. The moment you got off the plane you were swamped with people asking questions, doctors trying to assess how you were alive and unharmed, people just staring in awe. 

But you ignored them all, scanning the crowd with a panicked expression. It didn’t disappear till you saw the four of them, standing far, far away from the mob of people surrounding you. 

Nik walked out behind you, placing a steadying hand on your shoulder. The two of you made your way down the ramp to the group, and Price smiled for the first time in a long time when he saw you. 

“Welcome back, kid.”

this was gona be an akward chapter anyways, i had NO idea how to write the reader's return. I'll make it up to you guys next time, pinkie promise

My Masterist

[semisolidmind]

alright, so. season 5 of lego monkie kid.

(before i start, lemme preface by saying that any comments made about the animation are made knowing that sometimes a production has to change studios, which means unavoidable changes, and there's not a whole lot to be done about it.)

with that in mind;

AAAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH

spent the first two episodes acclimatizing myself to the puppet animation. after having rewatched season 4 to refresh my memory, the difference in movement is jarring. it was almost unpleasant after having gotten used to flying bark. and the fact that they used footage from previous seasons in flashbacks didn't help one bit. i had to keep myself from wishing i was watching one of the previous seasons instead.

story-wise, it felt super rushed? i dunno if that was intentional, considering what felt like an underlying message of "you have no control, except when you do, and things don't always work out like you expect" that i felt like i was getting? that, and a lot of the emotional and story beats just weren't hitting for me.

was glad to see another red son and mei interaction, as short as it was. i missed their dynamic (even if that scene did just feel kinda recycled from season 3).

of course, we get no more clarification on wukong and macaque's past beef other than a few flashes of a fight. but, i am glad to hear them argue and be bitter frenemies again. the monkey bro trio had some good interaction this season. i'd like to see more of them all being silly together and pulling pranks, personally.

some of y'all said i'd like the new villain. some of y'all were right. ya can't really go wrong; a cool snake dude with off-kilter morals and a nice voice? AND he turns into a big monster? of course i think he's cool. can't wait to see where they take us with this guy.

was kinda expecting more with nuwa. but a primordial snake goddess is pretty cool, even if she did feel kinda two-dimensional (but that may just be from lack of meaningful screentime).

that ending felt really...abrupt. and a bit phoned in? rushed, even. again, i assume there's new writers, along with the animators? maybe they were being pushed to finish it quickly, idk.

overall, not a terrible season? but not my favorite.

[airas-story]

I'm a sucker for angst ironstrange especially amnesia!Tony (and usually happy ending at the end) please make more lol <333

So this is a continuation of the Confabulation Complication. There will probably be either three or four parts depending on the route I take. We have not yet gotten out of the angst.

“Boss?” FRIDAY interrupted. “Miss Potts is requesting access.”

Tony glanced at the wall of windows. They were blacked out and he couldn’t see Pepper, but that meant that Pepper couldn’t see him either. “Tell her I’m busy.” And he was. He’d had FRIDAY gather all of the pertinent footage of the past five years and was skimming through it.

There was a possibility that he’d lost and confused memories from before then, but Tony could handle that later.

Things that had happened in the tower or the compound were easiest to find, followed by things that had happened while he was in his armor.

But there were far too many things that hadn’t happened in either of those situations. He was irritated to realize that he’d spent more time with Stephen—Strange? Tony wasn’t sure—in his sanctum than in Tony’s space. He had almost no data points to tell him how to react to Stephen.

Then again, Tony could just avoid being around Stephen. He could completely skip out on that particular complication.

He could just avoid everyone for that matter, because he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to be around most of them.

Some things he remembered weren’t too far off. He remembered JARVIS dying, he remembered Ultron. He very much did not remember Thor picking him up off the ground by his neck or Steve throwing his shield at Tony’s chest and sort of wished he didn’t know about either incident now.

“Boss,” FRIDAY said. “You’ve been in here for three days. Miss Potts is getting worried.”

“Tell her I’m fine. Just getting caught up on my past history.”

He’d watched the break up with Pepper first. The first one. It had been… well, it had been almost exactly as he remembered it. It left a sick feeling in his chest and he’d had FRIDAY give him a presentation of their relationship in the time since.

He’d analyzed the footage desperately. They were good together, right? Not perfect, but that was an entirely unrealistic expectation. But good. He glanced to the side where he’d saved the video of Pepper pulling him into his arms in the aftermath of Ultron and JARVIS. The compassion and love on her face was real and his own expression when he looked at her was somewhere between desperate love and aching need.

That was real.

He didn’t remember it, but it was real. It was good.

“Miss Potts suggested that you may have better luck talking it out with her.”

Tony shook his head immediately. He wasn’t ready to face her. She didn’t deserve to have to deal with a fiancé who didn’t even remember loving her. That was why he was doing this, so he could find the pieces of history that would show him how to love her again.

Or at least how to pretend until it was true.

Because it’d be true again, right? He’d fallen in love with her before, surely he’d fall in love with her again?

He had to. Because this was Pepper.

“Tell her I’ll see her soon,” he said.

He could tell FRIDAY didn’t like the answer, but he had no doubt that she passed it on.

He turned back to the footage of the past he only remembered distorted pieces of.

A spark of light to his left interrupted his scanning and Tony looked over to see a portal opening a few feet away.

Tony froze. The sight of a portal opening into his lab was familiar and the way his stomach flipped with pleasure was entirely instinctual. The nausea that followed was a more appropriate response. He very much did not want to deal with seeing Stephen. He couldn’t bring himself to react though as the portal opened and Stephen stepped through.

Tony’s averted his gaze immediately. He couldn’t look at Stephen. It’d just confuse him.

“What are you doing here?” Tony asked.

“Miss Potts called me,” Stephen said. “She asked me to come convince you out of your lab.”

Tony swallowed hard. Pepper played dirty. “Well, you tried. You failed, but you tried. You should probably head back out, now. Tell Pep I’ll be out once I’ve figured out—”

“You’re not going to get your memories back watching footage,” Stephen interrupted. “That’s not how it works.”

Tony clenched his jaw. “I’m not trying to get my memories back.” Not really, at least. His quick dive into confabulation had already told him it wouldn’t be that easy. Sure, he hoped it would spark something, bring back the memories that would make everything make sense again—not that he’d gotten lucky, yet. No, he wasn’t trying to get his memories back, but he could train himself off of the footage, could at least pretend to be the person people expected.

He’d always been good at that.

And hey, fake it til you make it. Tony’d always been good at that too.

It didn’t help much with Stephen, who Tony had abominably little footage of. From the corner of his eye he saw Stephen shift, moving closer.

Tony stiffened. 

“Tony, I know that you’re confused—”

“You don’t know anything, actually,” Tony retorted. “I’m fine. Give me a week and no one will be able to tell the difference.”

Stephen didn’t answer immediately; the silence was strangely alarming. “What is that supposed to mean, Tony?”

Tony waved at the footage. “I’m relearning what people expect to see. It won’t be—”

“Tony,” Stephen sounded vaguely horrified. “That’s not in any way healthy. Pretending to be someone you’re not—”

“Is what I’ve done most of my life,” Tony said shortly. “I know how to mask, Stephen. Now, you’ve tried your best, but I’m not in the mood to be convinced out of here.”

Stephen let out a tired sigh. “Tony. You’ve been in here three days. Your fiancé—” Tony flinched, ”—is worried about you. I, as your friend—“ Tony flinched again, “—am worried about you.”

“Yeah, well take your worry somewhere else. Like I said, a week, and then—”

“And are you going to do that with me?” Stephen demanded. “Is that all I’m going to get from you from now on? The person you think I expect to see?”

Tony whirled to face Stephen, frustration spiraling out. “What else am I supposed to do, Stephen? I don’t… I don’t even know if I really know you. The you I remember… The you I remember loved me.” God, why did everything have to go so wrong? “The you I remember would have kissed me in that hospital room, self-imposed rules about kissing be damned. The you I remember would…” He swallowed. “I don’t know if I even know you, yet. I remember kissing you. I remember teasing you whenever I managed to make you blush. I remember curling up with you in the sanctum and just… enjoying each other’s presence as though we didn’t need anything from each other but each other. And that’s all a… that’s all a lie. I don’t… I don’t know you.”

And it hurt. It hurt that Tony had versions of a life that didn’t exist inside his head. It hurt that he wanted it so much when he knew he wasn’t supposed to. It hurt to know that there was no chance he’d ever have that.

“You know me, Tony,” Stephen said quietly. “We may not have kissed, but you certainly teased me plenty. You’ve spent hours working in the sanctum, just spending time with me. You’ve—”

“Stop,” Tony demanded. “Stop. I don’t know you. I’m not sure I want to know you.” 

Stephen flinched back, hurt crossing his face. “I’m your friend, Tony.”

Tony ran a hand through his hair, the rough gesture tugging at snarls that probably needed to be brushed out. “You don’t get it, Stephen. I’m in love with you. But it’s all a lie.”

Everything was.

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook:Sugar & Spice (Intro)

In which Jungkook really wants people to love you just as much as he does - or maybe not.

Tags/Warnings: Raccoon Hybrid!Reader x Idol!Jungkook, established relationship, opposites attract because I love that concept, are you tired of my hybrid stories yet because I'm not, fluff, romance, smut, jealous koo, slice of life, mild ddlg themes

Chapter length: short

Other content: Spoiled, Calm

━━━━━━━━━━.~°♡°~.━━━━━━━━━━━

"I forgot.." you mumble quietly, a little ashamed about your entire situation as you've just had to explain to your boyfriend that yes, you've just gotten your period, and yes- you've probably now stained his nice expensive little sofa in his studio.

"It's fine, see?" He mumbles before casually wiping the leather with a tissue before throwing it into the trashcan nearby. "Didn't even stain at all. Do you wanna go change?" He asks casually, looking at you - before he clicks his tongue, the clear waters in your eyes a telltale sign of your typically emotional reaction to things like these. "Come here, crybaby, everything's fine!" He laughs a little, letting you cling onto him as you hide in embarrassment.

"I don't feel good." You whine into his chest, and he chuckles.

"I know baby." He says, as he pats your head. "You wanna go wash up?"

"But I don't have anything to change.." you complain, now getting even more frustrated.

"Bullshit. I've got your pyjama pants here somewhere-" He says, parting from you to search for the clothing item before he crawls.. underneath his desk?

"What're you doing, Kookie?" You giggle a little, watching him pull out a simple black canvas bag that he opens the zipper of.

"Excuse me? You think after what- 4 years I wouldn't be prepared for shit like this?" He proudly claims, before holding up one of your period-slash-heat pull ups- something you've been horrified of telling him about the first two years of your relationship with him, too fearful of how he might react to it. But you've learned soon enough that while Jungkook does sometimes get a little mean in his fun with others around him, he's not a bad guy at all. He's just a bit clumsy at times.

"Why do you have them here?" You whine, grabbing after the pair he's got in his hand.

"Why not?" He shrugs. "Your heats can start random as shit, and your periods are even worse. Better safe than sorry." He simply answers, closing the bag and shoving it back underneath the desk. "Now go change, I'll prepare the couch so you can nap." He jokes, smacking your thigh as you get up to follow his word.

Pulling out a blanket, he puts everything he knows you'll appreciate where he thinks it'll be good, before he checks his phone.

Only recently, he's gone public. While fans knew you existed, they didn't know much about you, nor that you and Jungkook weren't just platonic but a genuine relationship. And while he'd been prepared for what surely was to come, he'd been surprised by the welcoming reaction of the fans, many already expecting it and others defending that he's a person who deserves a private life.

And so, he's been more open with you, company even allowing you to now be seen in behind the scenes footage, and even publishing professional photos from backstage of you. People became pretty much just as charmed as he himself had been years ago- happily accepting you as a part of it all now, and he couldn't have been luckier.

But at the same time, he starts feeling just a little upset at the comments some fans keep repeating.

"She's so cute, I wish I had a hybrid like her!"

"Honestly though, if hybrids were allowed to be idols, she'd definitely be the visual of the generation!"

"She kind of seems almost too nice for Jungkookie~!"

"You think she ever feels lonely at home? I mean, he's at work all the time.."

"Jungkookie?" You ask, and he snaps his head up from his phone, boiling emotions quickly forgotten at the sight of you holding your fluffy striped tail in your hands. "Can you take a nap with me?" You wonder quietly, and he internally swells with pride.

"Of course, baby bear." He chuckles before joining you on the couch, holding you close and tightly just how he knows you like it. Does he leave you alone too much? Do you feel lonely sometimes? He's interested in the answer, but scared of it just as much- so he won't ask the questions. He'll just hold you, love you, and care for you.

Because the love you have is special, and nothing will break you both apart. Not time, not work, and for sure, not his career.

Hopefully.

☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆

[save-the-villainous-cat]

Hiii, just dropping a request<3

There's nothing I adore more than a good, old, sweet betrayal so pls make the villain offer a lot of money to superhero just to turn the hero in and have them all by themselves. Make the superhero and the league betray hero, drug them and take them to villain. For whatever reason. May that be to take their time to break them or due to possessiveness. It's one of my really loved tropes so I'd love it a lot if you wrote it. Make it extra angsty for us pls

That's all, thank you for providing us with your amazing work but make sure to rest well and stay hydrated. Much love to you sweetheart 🩶🩵

“I’ve missed you,” the villain said softly, their hands landing on the hero’s shoulders. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

Their hands ran down the hero’s throat and with one finger, they lifted their chin. Despite their raw nature, the hero was much too tired to fight it. The drug had exhausted them.

“Look at me,” the villain said. “It’s such a pleasure to have you here.”

And the hero did meet their eyes. Lingering longer than they wanted. It wasn’t easy to escape the villain but that one moment of hope when they’d gone back home a month ago, was insignificant now.

They realised, they couldn’t win. The villain would do anything to possess them. They’d break their knees (they’d done it before), they would drug them (had also happened), they would break into their apartment (more than twice, actually) and do absolutely anything in their power to have them.

And they’d gotten their wish.

“You know I’ll get you whatever you want.”

Living with the villain sounded like a secure future. They’d take care of anything, literally anything but the hero also knew how lonely it was.

There was the villain and nothing but the villain. No friends, no family. The villain was greedy and stupidly in love.

So, the hero’s fingers curled around their nemesis’ hand. It was a fake kind of security but, god, they preferred it over whatever had happened to them. Where had friends led them? Right back to the start, right back to zero. It was a cycle, an endless one.

“Am I really that replaceable?” they whispered, staring in horror at the security footage the villain was showing them. The villain raised their hand to kiss the hero’s.

“Sweetheart, you know you’re not. Everybody knows,” they said.

“Why did they give up on me? I don’t understand, I don’t…” The hero looked at their nemesis, searching for an answer, searching for something. A moment of clarity, a moment of complete and utter clearness. But everything was blurry, everything was falling apart. They were unwanted, unloved.

They didn’t feel like a person anymore. The villain wanted them in a shallow way, they didn’t care about them. Not really.

Bleeding out like a sacrificial lamb.

The villain’s fingers traced the hero’s spine, all the way down and the hero was quite aware that they admired them. Wanting and deserving are two very different things.

“What does it feel like?” the villain whispered. “Knowing that you’re with me again?”

“Like I’m back in hell,” the hero answered. They swallowed and let themselves sink into the villain’s office chair, rubbing their face with the palm of their hand.

“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad.” Again, the villain’s hand was on them, touching their throat and going down to their collarbone. They weren’t scandalous, never tried more than that. As if they wanted an actual relationship with consent and love. But the hero knew that this would never happen, that they would never break to become a pawn.

“It is, I resent you.”

“I saved you. I showed you what these people did to you. They don’t care about you. They knocked you out of their heaven, so they could live more luxuriously. These people love money more than company. I don’t,” the villain said, angry now. “The word became flesh.”

The hero looked at them, frowning.

“Are you religious?”

“Not in the slightest,” they answered. “But when I look at you, I sometimes believe that I am.”

The hero hated that answer more than anything.

[fakehelper]

gif pack maker question game! 💕

I've seen a few of these float around for gif/edit makers and some questions apply to us, but I figured I'd make one specifically for gif pack makers! Feel free to send me some or just reblog and get some questions asked yourself! If you think of any other good questions, leave them in the replies and I'll try to add them in the future!

What is your favorite gif pack to date?

Which FC have you made the most gifs of?

What is the largest pack you've ever made?

What is the smallest pack you've ever made?

Who is your favorite gif pack maker? If that's too hard, top 3!

Which gif pack do you think is underrated (should have gotten more attention)?

Which gif pack are you close to deleting?

Have you ever deleted a gif pack?

How did you get started making gif packs?

Post your favorite gif of one of your current projects (or one from each!)

What scenes are the worst to color?

Which scenes are your favorite to color?

What was the worst show you've had to color?

Which show had the best lighting/was the easiest for you to cover?

Would you ever remake a gif pack? If so, which one(s)?

Would you ever do a gif pack collab? (ie, you split a season or movie of the same fc and gif half)

Which gifs do you think are ESSENTIAL for a pack?

Which gifs do you think should never leave the cutting room floor?

Do you have any current projects you want to talk about?

What are you most looking forward to gifing this year? Any upcoming movies or shows?

Do you usually gif a whole pack at once, or split up packs across various days (or weeks, or months... or years...)

What is your favorite expression to gif? Smiles, laughs, incredulous looks, etc

What FC do you wish had more footage for you to gif?

Which gif pack do you regret making? Why?

Any pet peeves when it comes to gifing?

Frames to Layers or Screencaps? Or do you use a different import method?

Frames or Video timeline?

Watermarks or no watermarks? Any reason why?

What is your favorite or standard gif size for packs? Any particular reason why?

Do you save your psds? If so, do you save one per scene and edit it or do you save one for each gif?

Do you save your .gif files after posting them?

What is a gif pack you've seen recently that you think deserves praise?

Are you someone who likes to take suggestions or do you just gif what you feel inspired to make?

Black and white gifs. Worth it?

Free choice! Ask whatever you'd like!

[mairitess]

form ba-7180, notarized // to be known, ch. 1

summary: Nya realizes her and Jordana have more in common than one might think.

a/n: idk this is just how I imagine what their relationship could be like ;-; i wish it were longer and paced slower but i'm not good at that! + also on ao3 and no longer just a one-shot! ch. 2 here on ao3

words: 1.7k

tags: angst, jaya mentioned, jordana characterization if it were up to me, and now it is up to me, nya pov, dr s2 spoilers, no beta bc idc

warnings: n/a

preview:

Nya would give anything – and gave up everything – to have her name remembered. She imagined Jordana was willing to do the same, evidently far more, for the same respect.

She imagined her face plastered over billboards across all the realms, grinning over a world wholly enlightened by her genius. She’d construct a high-rise to arch above Imperium to collect her novel works. Jordana would work her way down the floors each day, greeting her associates and meeting tours of aspiring young minds. And she’d remember each of their names – she swore she would.

Jordana was called every name under the sun but her own. She was bright and capable, cruel and jealous. So in the spirit of destiny and changing your fate, Jordana took control. She was spiteful. Who could blame her? For each project Jordana developed, Sora did one better. Unforgettable, brilliant, perfect Sora. Jordana became another body in the room, rifling through papers and screwing nuts and bolts, a nameless worker bee when Sora was there.

When Sora left, Jordana practically threw a party. Even if all she was getting was everything Sora left, Jordana crossed her fingers despite being a girl of science and hoped it would all soon become her own. No more Sora. Just Jordana, finally left to her own devices. Yet Sora kept haunting her, easily destroying the one thing Jordana crafted with pride for Imperium.

As “evil” as Jordana had become, Nya couldn’t help but feel, frankly, bad for the girl, the more she learned about her. Nya loved Sora so much, seeing so much similarity between them. But where Nya saw Sora like a little sister outgunning what she did at her age, Nya saw Jordana like an inverted reflection of her younger self. All three of them were so ambitious, so smart, so resilient. But what Nya felt unfortunately was shared just between her and Jordana was in what stood in their way. Sora, in all her early skill, was embraced and centered in Imperium’s ever-advancing development, even if it was in ways she hated and left. Jordana, even if she could keep up with Sora, would never compare.

When Kai and his friends first became ninjas, Nya went to unabashed depths to prove she was just as good, if not better. Her first proof of her excellence, though, was not attributed to her name – she was Kai’s sister. Then she was Samurai X. Then Jay’s girlfriend.

What’s in a name? For Nya, everything. Everything that mattered. She could conquer the world, defeat every Ninjago villain singlehandedly, and still get underestimated and go largely uncredited if merely referred to as Kai’s sister, or Samurai X, or Jay’s girlfriend, or the Water Ninja. That’s not to say Nya wasn’t incredibly proud to be those things – though she was most proud to be Samurai X, as she’d built the mech and its reputation with her own blood and sweat. But when the Fire Ninja was seen running through the streets, little kids would wait for him to finish whatever he was doing, then pull him aside: “Kai! You’re my favorite ninja!” The Ice Ninja would be out getting groceries, and fans would high-five him with the same corny saying: “Zane, you’re the coolest!” Everyone easily called out to the other ninjas by name. Not Nya. Rarely Nya. Maybe never, Nya.

The closest she’d ever gotten to profuse and total recognition and gratitude, she had to entirely give up her body and form. Why did it take losing her for the world to realize how much she mattered?

But Jordana… Every time Nya watched back fight footage between Sora and Jordana, she’d hear Sora say, “Who are you again?” Jordana would scream in frustration, her fighting reinvigorated. Nya understood Sora wasn’t saying that to egg on her foe, that Sora truly could not remember. But that seemed far worse than if it were part of encounter banter.

Nya would give anything – and gave up everything – to have her name remembered. She imagined Jordana was willing to do the same, evidently far more, for the same respect. How much worse it seemed to be forgotten rather than dismissed, to be fighting your own erasure to the point where you realize no one would remember you for your good works. Of course Jordana saw it fit that, if you wanted to truly be known, the only option would be to turn sides.

So Nya made it a point not just to remember Jordana’s name, but to remind her teammates of Jordana’s name, too. She saw it as an act of respect, even if Jordana wouldn’t ever know. Besides, underestimating your opponent was practically a cardinal sin in Wu’s teachings. Part of ensuring her team, her mentees, wouldn’t underestimate Jordana counted on them remembering her, and respecting what she was capable of. Maybe if Nya had felt more outcast by her brother and his friends, she would have had a far more similar path to Jordana’s thus far.

------

The ninja had found their way to one of the islands between Imperium and the Wyldness, chasing a lead in their hunt for Lord Ras, Jordana, Nokt, and Cinder. Though their stealth mission didn’t go as quietly as Lloyd had hoped – Lord Ras and Cinder ran off in opposite directions, splitting the team apart. Lloyd and Arin sprinted after Lord Ras; while Wyldfyre, Zane, and Cole went after Cinder. They’d seen Nokt for a moment, but he’d quickly disappeared, leaving Sora and Nya with Jordana.

“This will be fun,” Jordana laughed, adjusting her grip on her sword, keeping a steady eye on Sora. “Let’s kill the powers, shall we? Make it fair. I don’t want to make it too easy.”

Sora glared. “Easy for whom?” She retorted, only for Jordana to roll her eyes. “You’ll find out,” Jordana said. With that, she lunged at Sora, the tip of her blade easily missing Sora’s cheek as she dodged. “Maybe,” Sora snorted. “Or maybe not.” Sora spun the katana in her hand for show before slicing towards Jordana, catching the other girl’s sleeve with the sword’s edge. Nya watched on carefully as she surveyed their immediate surrounding area, making sure Nokt wasn’t still hidden somewhere among the foliage.

“You might have beaten me in class combat before, Sora, but I won’t let you do it again,” Jordana snarled, blocking Sora’s blows. “Again?” Sora asked, confusion spreading across her face. Her guard weakened slightly.

Jordana’s eyes suddenly glowed a bright red, as she brought her dao down briefly. “You know my name,” she said, low. “You know.” Sora shrugged, concerned. “Sorry. Really, I don’t.”

“Just remember me!” Jordana shouted brazenly, angling the hilt of her blade down toward Sora as she leapt at her. For a moment, Sora stood frozen, caught off by Jordana’s choice of words in combat, and was struck painfully to the head with a dense clunk. Sora cried out and Nya ran for her, blocking Jordana’s second swing as Sora managed to twist away, holding her head in her hands.

Then it was the famed mentor and her mentee’s nemesis, and Nya felt the weight of her wisdom acquired with age. It was the first time the two had truly faced off, and as sour as Jordana’s expression was, Nya didn’t want to fight.

“Please, Jordana,” Nya tried, deflecting each of Jordana’s bladed attempts at her chest. As practiced as Jordana may have been, Nya was far stronger and more comfortable with her golden spear. “You won’t win this. You can’t.”

Jordana was quiet, focused on finding a weak spot in Nya’s guard she could catch. So Nya kept talking.

“I know what it’s like.” “No, you don’t–” “I do, I swear. You are strong in your own right, Jordana, whether Sora is next to you or not. You don’t have to prove anything.” “Yes, I do! Nobody cares if you can do the job. They only care if you can do the job well,” she spat out. “That’s not true!” Nya pleaded. “It’s not true because it’s not about the job.”

Jordana’s swings slowed, and Nya took the opportunity. “You’re not what you do, Jordana. Who you are isn’t based on what you do.”

Both their swords lowered. Sora had managed to crawl over to a nearby tree and lean against its trunk, catching her breath, but her eyes were closed.

“Then… Then who am I?” Jordana whispered, her voice breaking. “Who am I if I have nothing to give to Imperium?”

Nya reached for the girl, instinct to comfort. She didn’t know what to say. Whatever propaganda Imperium citizens were receiving, its messaging was more ingrained than perhaps fixable in a night. Nya’s gaze drifted over to Sora, and her extended hand to Jordana came to a slow stop.

Why… Why didn’t she hit you with her blade?

“Oh, Jordana,” a familiar voice echoed all around Nya, and she felt her chest clench. “It’s not that deep. Truly. Besides,” he laughed, “you’ve done more than enough.”

Nya’s back felt like it was on fire as she was shot along the spine with a stun gun. She fell to the ground, all her limbs locked in place. “You follow through, Jordana. That’s all the Administration could ask for.” Nya was scared to look as the figure hoisted her up from behind, pulling her hands into handcuffs. “I’ll take her from here.”

His hands were warm despite the metal clinking against her wrists. She wanted to hold his hand.

“Sorry. Administrator’s orders,” he huffed, coming to her side to walk her towards the portal he’d come through. In Nya’s periphery, Sora was still breathing, but looked like she was passed out against the tree. Nya nearly yelled at her when she finally got a good look at the man dragging her.

“… Jay? Jay, it’s me –” “I know who you are. Jordana, let’s go.”

His grip was rough as Nya was pulled away, so much about him familiar yet everything wrong.

Jay’s voice was growing distant and fuzzy, but she heard him say, “Nice control there, Jordana. I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to handle it, but you did well. Good job.” He sounded as kind and proud as ever. It was almost soothing.

Sora forced herself awake again for a brief moment and tried to scream as she watched Nya disappear, but nothing came out, and her head was too heavy, and she had just enough sense to hit the emergency signal on her suit.

[thespiritssaidso]

Nature Hike (And Definitely Nothing Else)

Summary: Shawn and Lassiter go on an innocent — romantic —  hike in the woods. There’s definitely no ulterior motives from Shawn, nope not at all. 

(Alright, MAYBE there’s evidence hidden there, and MAYBE Shawn needs Lassiter there to witness him finding it using his psychic powers.)

Notes: had lots of fun writing this one! Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did <3 

Flufftober day 5: Acorn, Chestnut, Pine cone

—————

“Any particular reason you decided that going on a hike would be a good idea, Shawn?” 

“What? No! No, it’s- I thought it’d be a good way to bond together. You know, like a couple. Doing couple things.” 

Shawn watched as Lassiter wiped the sweat off his brow, only to be instantly replaced by more sweat. “Oh, of course. Because this is so romantic.”

Currently, the two were indeed hiking on a marked trail in the woods. The sun shone through what little cracks were made in the ceiling of leaves above. The atmosphere had a warm tint to it, as though someone had put a yellow lense over Shawn’s eyes. The breeze was gentle, ruffling the foliage every now and then. The air was rich with the smell of nature. 

Shawn was doing fine, maybe a little out of breath, but otherwise marched along without a problem. He was using a hiking stick he’d borrowed (read: stole) from his dad to make the trek a bit easier. 

Lassiter, on the other hand, was panting, not used to walking for this long on uneven ground. Sure, he could run after a perp and catch them just fine. But endurance? That was a field he struggled in. Well, not enough to be considered a problem, per se. Just enough so that hiking more than a mile would exhaust him. 

As for why Shawn really brought them out here? Well, it was true that he wanted some bonding time with his boyfriend. He just had… some more plans behind their date than he was letting on. 

See, just yesterday a man by the name Adam Williams had turned up dead, found in his apartment by the landlord. Slash marks covered him from head to toe, as though someone had gone full Caeser on him. It was brutal, and Gus had to excuse himself from the autopsy room. 

Two things stood out to Shawn when they examined the body. Dirt under Adam’s fingernails, and the faintest tan mark on his left ring finger. 

At first, Shawn assumed the dude was a gardener. But then he quickly realized that he’d have to be the worst gardener ever if he didn’t wear gloves while he tended to his plants. He also knew the gardener angle was a dumb idea the moment someone else who definitely wasn’t Lassie (Shawn loved his boyfriend, but the man had his moments) had suggested it. 

A quick trip to the apartment told Shawn that he was right. The place was pristine, save for the puddle of blood oozing into the carpet where Adam had been found. Puddle, singular. No sprays that could have been made by slash marks. Which meant that the crime hadn’t taken place there. And of course when they went down to examine the footage, the tapes were all corrupted. Which also meant that they had an actual murder mystery on their hands. 

Not long after the news had gotten out about Adam’s death, a separate family came to the police to report a missing person. A woman by the name of Alison Williams, AKA Adam’s wife. 

Which was what brought Shawn here, on this trail. The dirt under Adam’s nails must have meant he was outdoors a lot, if it hadn’t meant he was a gardener. One quick internet search and a phone call later, Shawn found that Adam and Alison frequented a trail just a mile away from their apartment complex. 

The very same trail that he and Lassiter were currently hiking. 

Obviously Lassiter didn’t know about any of this. Shawn wished he could tell him, but he had a reputation to keep up, even if it meant lying to his boyfriend’s face. 

The sound of rocks sliding against dirt caught Shawn’s ear, along with a ‘Dammit!’ From Lassiter.

He turned around just in time to catch the detective before he could completely lose his balance and fall. “Woah! You good, babe?” 

Lassiter only huffed, rebalancing himself and brushing off imaginary dust. “I’ll be a lot better when we finally go back home.” 

Shawn laughed at his negative answer. “Oh come on, Carly! It’s not that bad!” 

“Shawn, I almost fell. I think this was a mistake-”

“No no no no! It’s fun! We’re bonding!” He couldn’t turn back now! There was evidence out here, he could sense it. 

“Really? Because so far I have yet to hear you hold a conversation with me while we hike.” 

That was true. Shawn hadn’t really been talking much, something very uncharacteristic of him. He’d been too busy paying attention to his surroundings, trying to find maybe a glimmer of a gold wedding band, one matching the width of Adam’s finger. The chances of actually seeing it were low, but he had to at least try. 

Shawn thought of a lie on the spot. Not a good one, but it didn’t really have to be. “Okay, you got me. I’ve been identifying all the different trees here. Gotta refresh my memory, make sure I don’t forget any of them.” A task that was impossible for him. He remembered everything. 

“Oh. Well then, point some of them out. Maybe you could teach me something.” Lassiter grinned, and Shawn saw that he was being tested. Well, two could play at that game. 

He faltered, but only for a second. “Well, uhm. That one, over there, that’s an acorn tree.” 

“Oh?” Lassiter took a step closer to Shawn.  

“Yeah, and that one is… chestnut.” Something in Lassiter’s eyes, in his body language, made Shawn not stop him. He knew that look all too well. That look he got whenever Shawn was being an idiot. Many, many past experiences told him it was not a negative thing. He took a step closer to Lassiter as well. 

“Is it now?” Lassiter wasn’t even looking at where Shawn had pointed — a tree that definitely wasn’t chestnut. 

“And… pine cone.” They were very close now, only a few inches apart. Shawn could smell the rich cologne Lassiter wore. The slight angle of the trail made it so Shawn was just high enough he was looking down at his boyfriend. 

“Mh, close enough.” And Lassiter went to close the gap between them. 

Shawn made to do so as well, but was stopped by a small glimmer of something shiny. Something off the trail, at an angle that Shawn would have missed had he never looked that way.  

He tilted his head to the left to peak over Lassiter’s shoulders, getting a better look. 

Lassiter, who though Shawn had just moved out of the way for no reason, furrowed his brows. “What? What is it?” 

Shawn brought a hand up — one that wasn’t using the walking stick — to his temple and wiggled his fingers. “Ooo, my psychic senses are buzzing like crazy, Carlytown.”  

Lassiter deflated, and Shawn felt bad for ruining the moment. “Really?” 

Ignoring the guilt growing in his chest as he pushed past his boyfriend, Shawn carefully tread to where he saw the glimmer. 

Soon he was right on top of it. Crouching down, he sifted the leaves around until it was completely uncovered. It was a necklace, with a fine gold chain and a small heart shaped locket pendant. Shawn grabbed it and stood back up, facing Lassiter with the necklace held up high. 

Lassiter looked at it incredulously. “How the hell did you find that?” 

“My uber awesome psychic prowess, obviously.” Shawn turned the locket over in his hands and ran a thumbnail down the small crack to try and pry it open. 

He couldn’t see it, but Shawn knew Lassiter had rolled his eyes. “Great. So there’s a locket. What’s so important about it?” 

The moment he said that, it popped open, and the two were looking at a picture of a very familiar face. Two of them, in fact. “I’m pretty sure that answers your question, Carly.” He presented the photo inside to Lassiter.

“That’s- that’s Allison. And Adam. What’s this doing down here? Why is it on the same trail… we’re on…” A look of realization came over him. “Wait a minute. Shawn, did you…” 

As Lassiter’s sentence trailed off, Shawn caved. “Okay, I may have already had a small- very small vision earlier, and I saw this necklace here on this trail.” 

“So, this wasn’t a romantic bonding experience?” 

“No! No, god no Carly. I’d never do that to you. Yes, this was so we could both find the evidence. But it was also so we could have some time alone. Really alone, no prospect of absolutely anyone intruding on our time together.”

Shawn could see Lassiter melting. “Well, alright. But you do realize this means we have to cut this short and take the necklace to the station, right?” 

“Wellll, we don’t have to…” 

“Shawn.” 

“Not right now, at least-”

“Shawn.” 

“Okay fine.”

This time, Shawn saw Lassiter’s eye roll. “Come on, it was about time we headed back anyway.” And before Shawn could make another move, the detective grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him into a short kiss. He pulled away, expression nonchalant. “We’ll continue this later.” 

Shawn, with a big dopey grin on his face, just nodded and followed Lassiter. 

—————

ao3 link

[trappedinafantasy37]

Today is a sad day. I have officially written the last chapter of To Be Free From the Gods. Three full notebooks in which I wrote every single chapter, and roughly 60GB of video footage for references, and now it's finally done. I actually cried while I wrote the last few paragraphs. I've been working on this since March, bridging from one single thing that I had wished was different in the base game. I honestly never really intended to post it anywhere. And when I did, I did not anticipate anyone actually liking it. Nor did I anticipate people falling in love with Daedra, and her relationship with Minthara. Already had a couple people tell me that Daedra and Minthara are on their lists of favorite ships.

To everyone who has followed me through the story and kept up, thank you. There are not enough words to describe how much I love you and appreciate you. All of the feedback I have gotten has only encouraged me to do more, and I want to do more. Even though I am good at writing essays, I've never really considered myself to be much of a creative writer, nor particularly good at it. So, it makes me happy that people do like my creative writing, just as much as my analytical and argumentative stuff.

With that being said, there are still plenty of chapters left for me to publish so it's not over quite yet. Once I finish publishing TBFFTG, uploads on I Want This One will be more frequent as I will soon have the time to put more attention to it. But uploads will not be as frequent as TBFFTG, nor will I stick to a strict schedule like I used to. I want to give each chapter the proper attention and care, and will upload them when they are done. It will also be a long fic, but I don't intend on it being as long as TBFFTG (although, I never intended for that one to get as long as it did either).

I also do intend on getting over to my Shadowheart x Minthara fic. I have the framework written out for it, but only up to Act 3. I still need to finish my Shadowheart origin run before I start writing anything for it, which I might get back to within the week. I also have a small queue of stories that I do intend to get to as well so.

Love you guys!

[monster-cock69]

we'll be perfect

AO3 link here

Pairings: Peter x Tony

Tags: Future AU, Wholesome As Fuck, Adoption, Accidental Baby Acquisition

Warnings: None

Rating: Teen

Summary:

Peter had gotten used to his mundane life. He woke up, had breakfast in bed, watched reality shows, and repeated. Becoming parents was their next step. Naturally, they had to do it in the least mundane way possible.

Over time, Peter had come to appreciate the lack of excitement in his life. Sure, he’d looked forward to downtime, but eventually, the itch to go back into the world and do something would overcome him and he’d be swinging out of the nearest window. 

Today, his biggest goal was to stay in bed as long as possible and catch up on trashy reality shows. 

They’d already binged more than they could count, and Peter found yelling at horny people was more fun than getting annoyed at medical or procedural inaccuracies. 

In front of him, Aunt May’s contact took up a corner of the television as JARVIS announced the incoming call. 

“Answer it, JARVIS.”

“Peter I have good news and bad,” she rushed out, “bad news is Tony’s going to have to buy some cops. Good news is I got you a baby.” Her voice trembled with nerves, and he nearly couldn’t hear her over the sounds of screaming and shouting in the background. The loudest, most unmistakable sound though was that of a wailing baby. 

He opened his mouth to respond, at a loss for words. Then the call cut out. 

Tony was already throwing clothes at him as he half stumbled, half hopped out of his pajamas. His hair was sticking up in all sorts of directions, and Peter knew he hadn’t brushed his teeth yet.

“Well, you know, they say to be careful what you wish for.” 

“JARVIS is printing out our paperwork, Pete, and I already have him calling Agent Junior. It’ll be an all hands on deck sort of thing.”

“Did you call the lawyers?”

“Nah, they might just complicate things. Plan is SHIELD realizes they can’t put the kid in foster care and we come in to save the day.” 

“Look,” he said after noticing Peter’s worry, “no matter what we’ll be okay. Right? We’ve always been.”

Peter ran his hands through his hair, trying his best to pretend he was calm. Tony’s plan would probably work but there were too many ways it could go wrong. They’d been cleared by both an adoption agency and ACS but the publicity of – them really – made things slow going and higher-ups weary.

“We’ll be perfect,” he said in lieu of the truth. 

Downstairs, the car that Peter had learned to ignore was in the front, ready to go. Tony had taken the same type of car that SHIELD used and somehow made it even safer. It had top-of-the-line crash protection and enough airbags to make it float. 

What he’d really been ignoring, though was the car seat fastened in the back. 

“J, transfer Junior.”

“Look, I don’t know what the fuck kind of deal you had with the last guy, but I’m not helping you steal a baby out of the hospital.”

“Jack, we wouldn’t have gotten that call for no reason.” Tony bit out, pulling onto the street, “That kid’s got some sort of powers or something else going on with it. Get your ass to LIJ and do your job.”

“Tony–”

“You got a real way of talking to people you want favors from. And you’re lucky the hospital’s security cam footage came up. Kid was a safe surrender.”

Tony shot the speaker a dirty look and flipped off the red light camera as they waited for Agent Jones to elaborate. 

“I’m flying in,” he said after a beat, “I’ll be there in a few. But, if SHIELD’S getting involved, you know the kid’ll have to at least get classified before you can go home with it.”

Tony opened his mouth to retort, knuckles going white from clenching the steering wheel. 

Then Jack cut the line.

“Looks like we’re getting the band back together,” Tony sighed, “cause those doctors are not touching that fucking kid.”

“JARVIS, get Bruce on the line,” Peter said instead of replying. 

It went to voicemail. 

“JARVIS, try Strange.”

“JARVIS, absolutely not. We’re not calling the wizard.” 

“JARVIS, just call him.”

The call went through as they haphazardly avoided an accident with a school bus. 

As the phone rang, he shot Tony a look. If his husband took control of this call things could end badly.

“I’m not doing you any favors, Stark.”

“How about doing me and a soon-to-be Stark a favor?”

“Did your husband finally figure out the secret to cisgender male pregnancy?”

“Not yet, but a baby was just surrendered at LIJ and is showing extreme signs of powers–”

“I’m not a pediatrician.”

“We just need you to do the classification tests. SHIELD doctors aren’t exactly welcoming.”

“I’m upstate, either get me a jet or–.” 

“JARVIS’ll get something, sit tight and we’ll see you soon,” Tony interjected.

“And thank you,” Peter finished. Predictably, Strange hung up as soon as he could.

“So we’re parents now,” Tony announced.

“Are you hoping for a gender?” 

“I’m just hoping it’s cute and doesn’t melt my face off.” 

“We’ve already got the room ready at least– oh fuck.”

The entire block was flooded with police cars, and what looked like a SWAT team was trying to maneuver through the thick traffic. 

Half of the cars didn’t have any lights on and it looked like most of the hospital was dark. A few of the cars had crashed but there didn’t seem to be signs of a serious pile-up.

At the center of the melee was former police captain George Stacy, holding a bullhorn and wearing – of all things, a Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts.

He turned toward them, then shouted at the other officers to let the car through. 

“Thought you were retired,” he called toward Tony.

“And I thought you were retired.”

The former captain made a meh sound, then waved dismissively at them. 

“Park over there and fix this mess, please,” As Tony went to do so, he caught sight of Peter, “Still don’t like you, Parker.”

“Love you more, Sir.”

For a second, it was almost easy. Walking through the chaos and shouldering past whoever tried to get in their way was familiar in a way that almost nothing else was these days. The cops hated him as much as they always did, and people were equally relieved and apprehensive about seeing them. It was easy. 

Until he got to the small janitor’s closet just outside of the NICU. The power on that floor had been entirely cut, so there were no actual patients there, only increasingly annoyed cops and a small congregation of SHIELD agents. 

Agent Jones – who would likely dream of slitting their throats tonight – pounded on the door in front of him. 

“Alright, your saviors are here now. You can open up.” 

“Send me Peter!” She retorted. 

He ignored the dirty looks and shouldered through. He and the NYPD had always had a strained relationship. 

When he entered the room, May was holding a tightly wrapped and peacefully sleeping bundle. 

“A woman just came and dropped her off, said she couldn’t deal with her anymore. We got her hooked up to the monitors, and the second she was uncomfortable fuses started blowing. I didn’t know who else to call.” 

“We made a bunch of calls. Those SHIELD guys are our’s, and we’ve got Strange coming in to take a look at her. SHIELD’ll expedite the paperwork, and she’ll be home with us by tonight.”

“She’ll be alright?” 

Peter stared at the baby’s wrinkled brow, listened to her snuffling breaths, and felt something in his chest loosen.

“She’ll be perfect.”

[exhuastedpigeon]

They didn’t do anything with the Gerard storyline anyway so they should have cast a random actor to play a hardass captain with ties to Ortiz, which would have been in line with and reinforced her having connections like with the judge. He still could have tortured the team and we wouldn’t have had all the grossness of Gerard’s unaddressed past racism and misogyny hanging over the whole thing. Bobby still could have manipulated the dude into wanting to trade jobs for the plan or they could have had Hen confront Ortiz while in her uniform and wearing her body camera, so that she got to be the hero for her family. Maybe they could have taken the footage to Taylor and she could have broken the story. They didn’t need the whole threatening to shut down the 118 part of the plot because it felt about as real as the possibility of Bobby not waking up from his coma last season. I am glad they wrapped up the Mara story because I wanted her home with her moms but I do feel a little cheated that we didn’t get a scene with Hen and Chim talking about the difficulty of their situation, especially after the whole no contact order situation.

As much as I agree in theory that they could have cast a random hardass, because each episode is only like 43 minutes long they clearly wanted and needed a pre-established shitty character. If it had been some random hardass then we wouldn't have had the scene of the core four on the firehouse roof where Hen and Chim talk about already working under Gerrard and needing to keep their heads down.

I also don't love that they didn't really address his shitty past behaviour, but they also kind of did in a roundabout way because they talked about him losing the 118 before. And again, with how limited they are in terms of episode length addressing it in detail would have just taken away from another storyline.

I don't think Hen confronting Ortiz like that would have worked. The reason it worked with Gerrard is because they had a pre-established relationship and were already working together. She wouldn't have said half the stuff she said to him to Hen because she doesn't trust Hen.

Did I love every second of how they played that story out? No. But a perfect episode of TV is extremely rare. There were a lot of moments that I really loved. I love that Bobby used Gerrard's ego to manipulate him. I love that Hen got to confront Ortiz in public about shutting down the 118 and what she did to Hen out of bitterness and revenge.

Sure, I wish we'd gotten a scene with Hen and Chim talking about challenges of the no contact order, but it wouldn't have given us anything new. We saw Maddie's face fall when Hen mentioned it. We know how much it hurts all the characters because they've shown us that already.

I've said it like 5 or 6 times already today, but the show is never going to be able to dive as deeply into the stories that hardcore fans want them to because the show has a limited amount of time and budget to tell the stories they're telling. If you want to see a scene of Hen and Chim talking about the struggles they're going through I'm sure someone has written a beautiful coda fic about it. If you want Taylor breaking the story I'm sure there's a fic out there with that.

Given the time constraints and the fact that they clearly wanted to wrap up the Mara story and the Bobby story before getting into the meat of the season, I think the episode was really good. We didn't have much, if any movement on those stories in the opening arc because it was so disaster heavy so a quick wrap up made sense. 911 typically doesn't let those kinds of stories last for more than 4-5 episodes anyway, so I was expecting a quick wrap up based on the title alone.

Once again ending an ask with my new tagline.

Everyone take a breath. It's all fiction. Just have fun.

[alpineshift]

Number 6, Jack and Nico as members of an interdepartmental team (be it paranormal or otherwise)

buzzfeed unsolved/ghost files au perhaps?? hear me out for a moment... 👻

6. “I appreciate the effort but this is all wrong.” 

There's a lot more administrative work that goes into ghost hunting than most people realize.

That's to say, about eighty percent of their work is mainly administrative clutter, five percent is actual ghost hunting, and the other fifteen is sitting around in the cold and the dark for hours on end wishing for a cup of hot coffee or an extra blanket.

It's a testament to how great Nico is as an admin team lead that everything goes to shit the second he calls out sick for the day. And oh, they're a hot mess.

Nico "Workaholic" Hischier actually tapping out to recover is about as rare as a Bigfoot sighting. They'd probably have more luck getting a clear FBA on camera. Or Nessie swimming up to say hi.

Jack's a seasoned pro when it comes to ghost hunting and when he's got a camera pointed in his face, but he sure as fuck doesn't know how to use formulas in an excel spreadsheet (what the fuck is a =SUMIF even supposed to mean.)

Still. Jack won't let that deter him for his next goal: surprising Nico by helping him clear out the admin stuff for their next leg of the ghost hunting tour in (checks his smudged, hastily copied notes) Australia. Damn.

It's a good thing Nico labels all his files. Jack sometimes just leaves the transfers from his handheld in his download folders until Jesper yells at him for not labeling footage again.

There's absolutely no ulterior motives for him taking this task on, no, not at all. Jack's definitely not trying to impress Nico with his deep understanding of expense tracking sheets (zero), or his organizational skills (abysmal), and his ability to cut the per diem cheques (he fucked up and had to void so many cheques Jonas shoved him out the door and told him to look up hotels and flights instead.)

It's the thought that counts, right?? Nico takes care of them so often, it's only right that Jack tries to help out. Sure, he's already texted Nico twice this morning to check in, then ordered him a surprise delivery of chicken noodle soup and immune-boosting smoothies, and then sent some get well soon flowers too because his mom once told him flowers are always a sweet gift. But this is practical. And Nico is nothing if not a practical dude.

Jack doesn't manage to make the excel file look good, but at least he's got colour coded columns and he's managed to find a few good deals through their frequent flyer points. Something's bound to be useful.

And so, Nico returns the next day, not 100% yet but clearly over whatever twenty-four hour bug he's got going on. He's bundled up in a sweater and he's sipping a herbal tea, voice a little scratchy but his sincerity evident when he thanks Jack for the care goodies.

"Really, you shouldn't have, I would've been fine sleeping it off--"

"Neeks, babes, just shut up and let me look after you, yeah?"

(Nico's face had gotten really red at that, and Jack was worried his fever was back before Nico's cheeks returned to their normal colour.)

He'd been hopeful when he eventually forwarded Nico the link to his spreadsheet, stuttering through his explanation of the flight options he's gathered, rental cars, and hotels that are close to the airport. He's even made a list of late-night restaurants, because everyone's starved for greasy takeout after a long overnight shoot. Nico is staring, wide-eyed, at the file when Jack's finally done explaining. And he's quiet for a long, long pause.

"I. Jack. Thank you, this is--so incredibly kind of you. I really appreciate the effort, but this is all wrong."

The words would've been utterly devastating if Jack didn't see Nico's enormous, genuine smile, clearly holding back a laugh but not because he's making fun of Jack. Instead, he gestures for Jack to pull up a chair, making room for him behind the desk, and leans over to show Jack the itinerary saved in his perfectly organized OneDrive. (Jack tries very, very hard not to shiver at their close proximity, and the comforting scent of Nico's shampoo in such close quarters.)

"Our next shoot is in Austria, not Australia."

"Oh, for FUCK'S sake--"

send me a jacknico prompt!

[ironstrange1991]

Forbidden (part 3)

Pairing: Doctor!Strange x Fem!Reader

Synopsis: Stephen can't hide his feelings and in an attempt to force them hidden he ends up getting into an argument with you. You wonder if your love for him isn't in vain.

Word Count: 4k

Warnings: A bit of angst, basically two idiots in love without knowing what to do with all that sentiment. Mentions of being drugged. Small argument.

A/N: It took me sometime to finally finish this chapter, but I think the wait will be worth it. I really hope you guys enjoy it ;)

Stephen explained what happened to you to Pottz in the best way possible.  She said she would call the police and contact the night club security. That man needed to be arrested, Stephen knew well that that kind of person never made just one victim and he was sure they would find more accusations against him.

"Is she okay? Why didn't you bring her home?" Pottz asked worriedly.

"She was too weak and I needed to treat her, I thought my care would be more effective and would be better than taking her to a hospital and risking exposing her to a media scandal.

"Oh my god, you're right" Pottz sighed heavily "I just wish Tony was here. Now there's this thing with Happy. I don’t know where he is..."

"If I may make a suggestion..."

"Of course"

"Ask Romanoff to help you find Happy and contact Stark as soon as possible"

Pottz agreed "I will. Than you, Strange. I'm relieved to know she's in good hands."

Stephen hung up the phone sighing heavily. Was she? In good hands?

…

You woke up in the morning to a knock on the door and when you said they could come in America came in with a worried expression. "Are you all right? Stephen told me what happened."

You shook your head sitting on the bed putting your hand on your head and pointing to her hands "Is that for me?" She nodded handing over the pill and a glass of water she was holding "Stephen said you would need it."

You took the pill eagerly. The headache had increased and although you didn't feel drunk now, you felt like you had a horrible hangover.

America sat at the foot of the bed "I'm so sorry this happened, but I'm glad you're okay."

You smiled opening your arms and she gave you an open smile and crawled closer and hugged you.

"Oh I almost forgot, Stephen asked me to let you know that Happy is fine. I don't know exactly what happened, but Stephen will explain when he gets back."

 "He is not home?" You tried to hide it, but your discontent was noticeable.

"He and Wong went to Kamar Taj, but today is Saturday, so if everything is in order they should be back soon."

You nodded running your hands through your hair "I need shower and clean clothes. Can you take me home?" America blinked surprised "Do you trust me enough for this?"

You nodded confidently "Girl, you travel through the multiverse, I imagine that opening a portal to my room is no big deal."

She got up happy "I'll get my slingy"

You watched running and disappearing from the room and heard the sound of your cell phone vibrating. There were numerous messages from your friends and more from MJ.

You replied to Mike that everything was fine and ignored all further questions. From MJ on the other hand it was harder to hide the facts. As soon as she realized you were online she video called you. "I don't know what exactly happened last night, but you need to know that videos of Doctor Strange carrying you through a portal are all over the internet"

You sighed "He basically saved me from a crazy maniac who drugged me. "

MJ shook her head and then yelled at Peter that she was talking to you and that he should wait. She turned her attention back to you "You need to prepare for all the backlash from the tabloids, they adore you and now that they've gotten compromising footage of you with..."

You shushed her when America ran back into the room. MJ frowned "Wait a minute, are you in the Sanctum?" You nodded "I slept here"

America sat beside you waiting anxiously for the moment when she could finally show you her magic.

MJ made a face "I won't say anything about that." She went back to yelling at Peter and then back to talking to you "Peter asked if you would like to go out for a drink so we can talk. It's our last weekend before we go back to Boston so... And I probably should ask if you are okay. But you are okay, right. You look okay."

You nodded vehemently "I’m fine. Ah… Of course. I'm going to help America with her homework and then I call you back, okay?"

"Okay, talk to you later."

After a few failed attempts, America opened a portal in your room and you took the opportunity to take a shower and put on some more comfortable clothes. You were heading back to the Sanctum when Pepper knocked on the door.

"Thought I heard you. Oh, hi America."

America smiled shyly "Hi Pepper"

Pepper came in and closed the door behind her and stared at you for a long second then pulled you into a tight hug "I was so worried about what happened yesterday. When Stephen told me..."

"I'm fine Pep, I'm sorry I scared you."

She nodded, still examining you, her hand on your face "Tony will be here tomorrow, we’ll find out who that bastard is and if possible we'll keep him locked up."

"That's a relief" You said. "What happened to Happy? He was with me and then he disappeared, if Stephen hadn't been there I don't know what would have happened."

Pepper nodded "Natasha asked his help for a mission, it was something simple that wouldn't take more than an hour, he said he had checked the place and everything was clean. He thought you would be safe. You have no idea how guilty he is feeling right now."

You shook your head "It's fine. Truth be told, I tried to get rid of him all night"

Pepper gave a small chuckle and then frowns "I didn't understand what Strange was doing there, he doesn't seem like the type of person who enjoys these places"

It was America who quickly replied "Stephen loves music, I suggested to him to go out for a bit. He has a lot of work and hardly ever leaves the house"

Pepper nodded "You've been a blessing in his life, America. Well, I'll leave you two alone. Call me if you need something, okay?"

You nodded. America stared at you in silence, biting her lip as if weighing whether or not to say what she wanted to say.

"What" You asked

 "Nothing, it's nothing. Let's go? If Wong comes back and I'm not doing my homework he'll kill me."

…

Stephen finished the morning's training with the students with surprising difficulty. His mind kept wandering to the conversation he had with you. Now that the scare and adrenaline had worn off, he worried that he might have overdone it.

If anything was certain about the nightclub episode, it was that Stark would want answers and Stephen wasn't quite sure how to explain why he was there in the first place. And he also knew that that would make Stark spread his wings over you even more.

He found himself thinking about what he said. Saying he liked you was an understatement and yet he knew he shouldn't have said it. Stephen felt pathetically under your spell, and it was only his very firm conscience that kept him from kissing you last night. Fuck, what was he thinking?

"Strange, are you listening?" Wong's voice brought him out of his reverie and he realized he was standing alone in the middle of the courtyard.

"Yes, I am sorry."

Wong stared at him for a second and then smirked "We're done here. I'm heading back to the Sanctum, are you coming?"

Stephen pondered whether it wouldn't be better to stay until he was sure you were gone, but deep down he wanted to see you, and moreover, he needed to know if you were okay. He nodded to Wong who opened a portal and both went through it.

…

"So what Rousseau was saying was basically that the Tarzan movie is correct?" America asked making you laugh at the way she simplified your nearly twenty minute explanation of Jean Jacques Rousseau’s theory.

"Well, yes, but you can't quote Walt Disney on your assignment, so I need to make sure you understand the concept of Rousseau’s' theory."

America made a face "Can you explain one more time?"

You nodded hearing the familiar sound of a portal opening and tried to hide the way your heart was pounding in your chest.

"Well, Rousseau’s' theory says that every man is originally good, but when he comes into contact with society he is corrupted. This happens because, according to him, man and citizen are paradoxical conditions in human nature, as it is the reflection of inconsistencies that are established in the relationship of the human being with the social group, which inevitably corrupts him..."

You stopped when you realized that Stephen was standing leaning against the counter in the dining room watching you.

"Please, continue" He asked with a smirk on his lips, but he continued standing there watching you two.

You struggled to maintain your train of thought as you continued to explain Rousseau’s theory to America, but your cheeks were pink and there was a slight tremor in your voice and somehow you knew he was enjoying watching your reaction to him.

"But is there a way for man to be good again?" America asked after a few seconds of typing on her laptop. Those seconds that you and Stephen spent exchanging looks that you didn't quite know what meant.

"Rousseau believes that there is a path that can bring the individual back to his former goodness. He believes that the lack of equality in the human personality is something that integrates his nature; social inequality must be eliminated, as it deprives man of the exercise of freedom, replacing this practice with devotion to outward appearances and etiquette."

America nodded and went back to typing. Wong walked into the room with his hands behind his back and stood behind America watching what she wrote and then walked away with a satisfied hum "I'm glad to hear you're okay Miss y/l/n. Strange told me about your incident "

You nodded "Thank you, Wong."

"How are you feeling? Physically, I mean?" Stephen asked and you thought for a moment. Your heart was racing, your mouth was dry, you felt dizzy like you were falling and you could barely breathe, but those were just the reactions his presence caused in you and you knew that wasn't what he was asking "I'm fine. Earlier I had a headache, but now I'm feeling perfectly normal"

He nodded in relief "That's good. I spoke with Romanoff and she explained to me why Happy wasn't there..."

"I spoke to Pepper earlier, she told me everything."

He shook his head seeming to weigh his next words "I hope you'll be more careful the next time you decide to accept booze in places like these"

There it was again, the accusatory tone that seemed to blame you for what happened. "Like I said yesterday, I'm always careful."

America pushed the laptop for you to read what she had typed and you made a herculean effort to pay attention "That's great, you understood very well"

"I think maybe this kind of environment is not suitable for someone like you" Stephen continued.

"Someone like me? What does that mean?" There was a certain irritated tone to your question and both Wong and America seemed to notice.

Stephen sighed impatiently "I know how much you want to live like you're like everyone else, but the truth is, you're not. You live in the Avengers Tower, your godfather is Iron Man, you have a target on your back."

You sighed "I chose not to live in fear"

"You don't need to live in fear, but you need to recognize the dangers and better analyze the environment in which you are inserted, not to mention that..."

He stopped when you stared angrily at him "What? Say it."

"You can't be as naive as you were last night. If I hadn't been there nobody knows what could have happened and…  this makes me sick"

You fell silent knowing full well that if you opened your mouth you would regret it. You knew he was saying those things because he cared about you, the thing is, you couldn't shake the feeling that he treated you the same way he treated America which was extremely annoying and disheartening.

"Y/n, I'm talking to you" He said with an authoritative tone that made you snap. "Fuck you, Stephen, you're not my dad"

"Why? Do you need one?"

You stared at him in disbelief that he had actually said that. America stared at the two of you  and Wong kept his posture unwavering, but his eyes were watchful and you knew he noticed more than he let on.

Stephen sighed, running a hand over his face "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."

You nodded "Yeah you really shouldn't."

He rested a hand on his hip "What I'm trying to say is that I care about you..." America stared at him with a raised eyebrow and he hurried to correct himself "...as your friend I mean. I care about you as your friend."

You slammed your hand on the table getting up "I don't want you to be my friend, Stephen. I never wanted that!" You yelled turning your back on him and leaving the room.

Stephen sighed heavily watching you leave. He wanted to go after you, but he was relieved when America was faster than him and followed you. Wong shot him an accusatory look.

"What?"

"Ah Stark will love this" That's all Wong said leaving the room and leaving him alone with his own thoughts.

You wanted to punch Stephen's perfect face with all your might, but all you could do was pace back and forth in the foyer trying to calm down.

"Hey, you're okay?" America approached looking at you shyly.

You shook your head negatively "I don't know how you can stand him."

America chuckled nervously "He's all I have." You shook your had feeling bad for talking about him that way to her. You tried to fight back the tears in your eyes. "I am sorry, America. Can you portal me back home?"

She looked disappointed that you were leaving so soon.  "Of course."

Once you were in your room you threw yourself on the bed in tears. Your chest hurt and the realization that you were crying for Stephen made you feel so pathetic.

...

"Looking forward to going back to college?" You asked MJ and Peter. You were sitting at a table outside a small restaurant in town.

Peter scowled but it was MJ who replied "We are. Peter had a talk with Stark and it was agreed that he will pay more attention to his classes."

Peter agreed.

"That's great. I'm just sad that you guys are leaving. You'll be sorely missed."

MJ seemed to notice that you were down "Well, we’ll talk every day and besides, I imagine America has more homework and you can go help her"

She blinked shamelessly at you. You exhaled heavily "If she wants my help she'll have to go to my place, because I'm not stepping foot in that mausoleum anytime soon."

"Mausoleum?" Peter asked blankly.

"She's talking about the Sanctum Sanctorum"

"Oh and what's the problem? I thought you liked Doctor Strange"

You sipped your drink and fell silent. "Did something happen?" MJ asked.

"That's the problem. I thought it had happened, but it didn't. I probably got it all wrong, maybe my feelings got ahead and I ended up interpreting what he said in a different way..."

"What exactly happened?"

"Last night he told me he liked me" You shrugged "That's the word he used, but the way he said it..." You sighed heavily "Anyway, today he kind of scolded me for what happened at the nightclub and I ended up yelling at him."

"Sorry, I'm kind of lost here. Are you really talking about Strange? Like y/n,  you like Strange?" Peter's confusion was almost disrespectful. How could he not know yet? That was all you talk about.

"10 points to Gryffindor for your brilliant deduction" MJ teased and then addressed you "Why exactly did you two fight?"

"He said he cared about me as a friend and I felt like an idiot. He didn't fight me, I was the one who yelled at him in front of Wong and America. Now they must think I'm crazy."

"Or maybe they noticed what you haven't been able to hide."

You finished your drink and called the waiter to order another, but MJ scolded you "You better eat something or you're going to be sick"

You dismissed the waiter irritated. Apparently everyone was determined to treat you like a child today.

"What do you intend to do?" MJ asked.

You shrugged "Nothing. There's nothing I can do. My classes are next weak and I need to focus on passing my finals. I can't waste time with this fruitless dilemma."

MJ shook his head like she didn't believe a word you were saying.

"Why don't you talk to him?" Peter asked "I mean, no mincing words, just tell him how you feel and if it's not reciprocated you can finally forget about it and move on"

MJ stared at Peter as if surprised that was giving a good advice.

"I don't know if I can. Besides, Stephen isn't an idiot, he knows"

"You're right, he's not an idiot." MJ said "You're Tony Stark's goddaughter, he probably doesn't want to pick a fight with the almighty Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers.”

You went silent contemplating the idea and soon the waiter brought your food.

...

It was past 11pm and Stephen hadn't even gone up to his room because he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. Even the magic books that always managed to distract him were insufficient to get thoughts of you out of his head.

Annoyed with himself, he closed the books pushing them on the table and rested his head in his hands, it was only then that he heard footsteps in the dark corridor.

"Should be sleeping, kid"

America approached pulling the chair in front of his desk "You too"

He nodded "Did you lose sleep?"

She nodded "And you?"

He shook his head "Didn't even try"

She nodded and stared at him in silence.

 "Say it" He said

She shrugged "It's nothing"

He crossed his arms "I know you kid, whatever it is, just say it at once"

She rested her chin on her hand "I'm not sure I understand what happened between you and y/n this morning"

"There's nothing to understand. I over reacted and she got mad, that's all" He said trying to sound casual.

She thought for a minute "She said she doesn't want you to be her friend, but at the same time she won't stop talking about you when you're not around." Stephen tried to disguise that information pleased him. "Want to know what I think?"

He ran a hand over his face "You're going to say it anyway"

"I think she likes you" America said with a smile on her face and Stephen realized that the idea pleased her.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably "She said she doesn't want me as a friend, clearly you're getting this all wrong"

He got up and started arranging the books to put them back on the shelf. He could almost hear her eyes roll back "You're the one who doesn't understand anything, Stephen. She has a crush on you"

He finished putting his books away and left the library with America at his heels. Stephen didn't want to have that conversation, not only because he didn't think it wise to say anything to America for fear of her running to tell you in an attempt to play matchmaker, but also because he didn't know what to say, or what to do to.

"I think you like her too. You don’t hide it as well as you think you do. So why are you two fighting?"

Stephen stopped at the foot of the stairs and faced America "Things are more complicated than you think, kid. You don't understand because you're still learning how things work in this universe."

He started to go up the stairs, but America was close behind "I don't think it's that different from one universe to another and it doesn't have to be so complicated."

He stopped in front of her bedroom door and opened it indicating that she should enter "It's past bedtime."

She stopped at the door, staring at him decisively "Promise you'll talk to her. She is my friend. It can’t be bad blood between you."

Stephen thought for a second and then smirked "I'll think about it"

She smiles back "I really want you to be happy, Stephen"

He nodded "I know. Now go to sleep or I'll tell Wong you still haven't finished your homework."

"I hate you" She said

"Yeah right"

...

You haven't told anyone else about your unfortunate arguing with Stephen. Pepper knew there was something wrong with you and noticed that you were sad, but she assumed it was because of what happened at the nightclub and you were grateful for that. You didn't see Nat that weekend, you didn't see Happy, and neither did Tony return from the mission with Rhodes. You spent Sunday at home trying to write something for your dissertation and ended up being surprised by how much effort paid off at the end of the day.

It was Monday morning and you had agreed to go with Pepper to the record company's office to talk about a possible contract, which was obviously a huge mistake. The producers praised your music, but said it was "too heavy" and suggested that you consider something more mainstream.

"The face of the company" Pepper complained indignantly stomping her feet as you left the building "They want to have the Stark name on their company and they didn't even hide it. They even care about your music, it's offensive." She sighed "It was a mistake to bring you here Y/n, I'm sorry"

"It's okay Pep, I don't care" You said reassuringly. "I think it's more productive for me to focus on my studies. The band has always been a dream, but today I understand that being independent makes more sense. I like playing in small nightclubs, it's like a hobby."

She stopped staring at you and grabbed you by the arms "I don't want you to give up on the band. We can make it work"

You smile "I'm not giving up, but I'm also not going to give up my sound to fit on the radio like those idiotic producers suggested. Plus there's a certain charm on being an independent artist."

She agreed sighing "What a waste of time. At least we can enjoy lunch together, what do you think?"

…

You weren't exactly excited to get back to school, but when you finally got back to studying, you were grateful to have something to occupy yourself with and be able to think about something other than Stephen.

Since the day you left the Sanctum after arguing with him, you didn't see him again and you were dying to see him again, but you had already convinced yourself that you wouldn't do anything to change the situation and that way the weeks passed.

You dedicated yourself to your studies and continued to play with the band on weekends. Your work started to gain surprising notoriety and soon you realized you were playing bigger and bigger venues which was both cool and scary at the same time. The songs you casually released on the internet somehow ended up on the radio and Tony swore he had nothing to do with that and before you knew it you were getting offers for interviews and photo shoots, plus one or two label with offers you always turned down.

"Nat told me you had a visitor today," Tony said at a dinner at the Tower. It was a Monday night and it was just you, him and Pepper at the table.

You nodded without giving it much thought "They were from Skin & Ink Magazine. I tend to shy away from that kind of publicity, but I've always been a fan of their work. The premise is...interesting." It was just what you said.

Tony pulled out his cell phone and did a quick search, his eyebrow arching at every photo he saw on the internet. "A little too suggestive, don't you think?"

You shrugged "I'm always in the tabloids anyway, last time I had a hard time with the paparazzi. At least that's something I’m interested."

"It's really beautiful" Pepper said as if to show Tony that she was on your side. "I think y/n is right Tony. If it's something she wants to do, we have to support her. And the tabloids will write about her anyway."

Tony agreed putting the phone on the table "I trust you will make the best decision." He said and then changed the subject immediately.

"We're leaving on a big mission soon." He told you "Strange will go with us"

You felt your entire body tense.

Pepper sighed "When?

Tony shrugged, "We're setting everything up in two or three days."

You desperately wanted to tell him not to go, but you knew you couldn't  ask him that and it felt so unfair. Every time Tony went on a mission your chest got heavy and you went through your days like a part of you was missing. Knowing that Stephen was going along only made it worse.

"I... I better go to bed, tomorrow I'll wake up early." You left the table without giving them time to respond.

You still remembered the day you received the news of your parents' death. To see Tony go on a mission was to be haunted by those memories and you always feared the worst. He was all you had and Stephen was all you wanted. And both could be taken from you in a blink of an eye.

Leave a comment if you liked it. Interact! I will love to read all of your comments and opinions. It inspires me to keep writing ;)

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[renton6echo]

Day 1 of 30 Days of The Bad Batch

Season 1, Episode 1: Aftermath

Alright. Let's dive into, probably, my favorite episode of the series so far. It's just such a great opening to the characters and the story. What a way to open a series right at Order 66. I just knew we were in for such a rollercoaster from the start of this show. Really, Order 66? That's where you're starting off the show? Force, have mercy on us all.

The biggest gem of this episode is that it's the only one we get where we get to see Hunter, Echo, Tech, Wrecker, and Crosshair just be a squad together. If I had my wish, I would have liked to have seen more of that before Crosshair and the rest of the batch split off. It was harder to see what the loss of Crosshair did to the team on an emotional and military tactics level. We didn't get much in the way of their team dynamic apart from Crosshair just being known as the surly, grumpy one. While I do love all the theories around how it was likely Echo who stepped into the role that Crosshair had like like being the peacekeeper between Tech and Wrecker's, it would have been nice to see more of that so we had an idea of what the Batch lost.

I've put my live musings of the episode under this thread for the sake of my followers. Sorry, not sorry!! Ya'll knew what you were getting into following me 👀

Not sure if anyone else is interested in doing this but if you're also re-watching TBB before the season 3 premiere be sure to tag all your musings in the #30 Days of The Bad Batch so I can read them!!

@floundrickthewayfarer @saturn-sends-hugs @the-bi-space-ace

First off, Captain Grey, I wish we had gotten to know you more before your chip activated because you seem like a sassy and salty man. I'm sure you and Rex swapped lots of stories.

Wee Kanan. I remember watching this the first time and having just finished Rebels. I saw and heard Kanan and literally said, "Oh, shit. Please no!! This is so mean." Good times. Good times.

So at what point did they realize they could use Echo's scomp as a melee weapon? It is so badass.

Oooff. That shot of the large canyon separating Kanan and Hunter that symbolizes the break between clone and Jedi *chefs kiss*

I really wish we had more scenes take place in TBB's barracks. So many fun details to dissect.

Will never get over Tech's matter-the-fact "My exceptional mind." Legend.

LOL. Echo's put-out expression when Wrecker notes how ugly Palpatine is! I've never noticed that.

Wonder how well the clones are informed in intergalactic politics. Echo seems to have a real knowledge of the larger political nuance more than the others. He is the first to openly question clones as soldiers of the Empire versus the Republic. I assume the Kaminoans would not have spent a lot of time educating clones on political structures and more on just being compliant with the system they were born into. For most clones, the transition from republic to empire is more or less just a name change, but Echo clearly takes issue with the implications.

Battle simulation time! Honestly, I could watch a whole series of clones just bantering and comming each other in battle. Such a fun, creative way to learn about characters and see them interact with each other. Wrecker and Tech sniping at each other is the best thing ever.

ALSO, Hunter why you whistling at them? You got comms for a reason you dramatic punk.

The implication that Crosshair also cried after seeing a fully stocked armory is just...I need that footage.

I never noticed that most, if all the weapons the Onderon insurgents have are Republic-issued.

Omega liking the batch's smelly barracks? Yeah, she's one of them.

Freaking Tarkin. I'm assuming he was just going to fry all their brains to make the whole batch compliant. Ugh. Poor Crosshair.

Oh, Shock troopers. Worst jobs with the worst rap. Do you think we will get to see Commander Fox in the last season? 🤞🏽

"You were down!" Echo has the best sense of humor.