#again considering the fact that her hair glows she just thinks that the glowy eyes and slit pupils are just A Thing that ford does

[egginfroggin]

"Mother Knows Best" redraws with Bord go brrrrrrrrrrr

Words cannot describe how much I love portraying utter melodrama, oh my stars, the dramatics

Anyway, this. this is what you can blame the Tangled AU on just. Bill. being dramatic. So. have some dramatics. and a bit of toying around with lighting. for fun. as a treat. to me.

Y'all remember that bit where Gothel's on the stairs? With all the candles? Yeah, I'd like to tackle that next.

This is just a really convoluted excuse to get me used to drawing Ford, probably. And facial expressions.

Anyway, thanks for poking! Have a good night ^^

Transcript:

"Ditzy and a bit, well, hmm, vague"

"Stop, no more, you'll just upset me" Left text: "The drama queen to end all drama queens"

(Program: krita; time: about 2 hours)

[zozophoenixxx]

Serotonin Booster :D🐉

How to train your dragon edition

Here are some things I had forgotten or little details I just noticed on my rewatch, maybe even Unpopular Opinions 🤭👀

✨Defenders of Berk✨

Not Astrid being pissed bc Fishlegs called her mean lmaooo

OMGGG "I would never call my father ridiculous. I'm calling my chief ridiculous" THE POWER OF THIS SCENE

The way Toothless just sat to look at the sunset.. Me too bby me too 🥺

Toothless and Thornado's shots combined was amazing!

"The first rule about the dragon flight club is that there is no dragon flight club"

Istg Meatlug and Fishlegs are made for each other

Baby whispering deaths!

OMG THEY JUST CAME UP WITH GRONCKLE IRON

I love seeing the origin of things ☺️

Wowww I just realized that Gobber has a unibrow

Sandstone makes glass

That shiny black rock makes another shiny black Rock, it also has Meatlug boiling

WOW a combination of multiple rock makes Meatlug a magnet

The way Hookfang pays more attention to Fishlegs than Snotlout is funny

Fishlegs on Toothless!!!!

"TOO MUCH FURY, TOO MUCH FURY!" JAHDHDHAH

Awwww love how Fishlegs feels happy abt being needed

DAGUR'S BACK AHH

I never understood why Dagur called Hiccup his brother but it's kinda funny

Young hiccup actually fighting is pretty badass and that shield 🥴

The way they were all trying to get Gobber to shower lmaooo

Gobber saved Gustav's life and Fishleg saved Astrid's

Am I the only one that finds the whispering deaths kinda funny, like yes they're scary but these mfs have tiny wings, a big ass head, are covered in spines and can't see like-

Newly hatched whispering deaths can be more deadly that adults bc they can't control their jaws or spines

WOW WOW WOWWWW A WHITE WHISPERING DEATH - Titanwing whispering death with red eyes OMG NO NO THIS IS THE SCREAMING DEATH I KNEW IT ‼️‼️

Wow but the pain in Snotlout's eyes 🥺

Monstrous nightmares are stoker-class dragons

Fireworms get brighter the closer they get to each other

Ohhhhh now I get the history behind Hookfang and the fireworms queen's connection

"You're not just another sword, Hookfang"

Awww the fireworm queen saved Hookfang, I ship them now JSHDHSHS

BABY ASTRID!! 🥺🥺🥺 AWWW

Flightmare - follows the glowing algae caused by Aurvandil's fire, sprays a paralyzing mist to those who it considers a threat to its survival

Aurvandil's fire = Aurora Borealis

YES ASTRID BEAT SNOTLOUT UP

Hiccup: Well, you know, Astrid, uh, training dragons isn't the only thing I think about.

Astrid: Are you actually saying that to me with a straight face?

JAHSHAHAJAJ I SWEAR I LOVE THESE TWO the way both of them said these lines I can't ✋🏼😂

The way she said the exact same thing as her uncle and even took on the name I-

I have this headcanon that bc I'm pretty sure Astrid's parents were barely mentioned in the shows or movies that her uncle was the person that was there for her the most which is another reason why it upset her to see people making fun of him

Why does whenever Astrid gets shot by a dragon she always tries to hit it off like her axe is a baseball bat? 😂

Hiccup saving Astrid in the flightmare ep🥺🥺🥺🥺

GLOWY TOOTHLESS AND GLOWY STORMFLY AND GLOWY MEATLUG ARE ADORABLE

Awww I love how Hiccup makes sure to mention the fact that "Fearless Fin Hofferson was indeed fearless, just like all the Hoffersons" 🥺🥺🥺 STOP AND THEN SHE SMILES AND HE PROCEEDS TO PUT HIS HAND ON HER SHOULDER I-🥴🥴🥴

I love how they're always interrupted whenever they're about to say a bad word

Lil terrible terrors are adorable 🥺

The fact that what they were trained for was actually useful it's crazy

Astrid: "no one is kissing me on the lips ever!!" HHSHAHAH ASTRID WHY U LYING

I feel like we don't appreciate how smart Hiccup actually is, and I don't mean that dragon-wise or building stuff-wise I mean in general. I'm in ep9 and they're finding old dragon traps to get rid of them and there was a lil breeze and he was like "there's a dry hot wind coming in from the north. It hasn't rained in 2 months. This is definitely fire weather." like how- am I the only one that would've been like okok a nice warm breeze 😩

Dude the typhoomerangs are so scary and huge wtf

I KNEW HE WAS TORCH

Torch actually built a lil relationship with Tuff just for that but of time I love it

WE'RE FINALLY GONNA SEE THE SKRILL!! I love it it's one of my favorite dragons :D

I never understood why fishlegs says his name when he's excited

Skrills - The skrill was first found frozen, it's the symbol of the Berserkers, it can stay safely frozen for decades because of their internal body temperature, can't redirect any lightning if it's in the water 😳

Y'all the skrill and the nightfury have gotta be related somehow, they're probably like cousins or sum. I mean the night fury is the "unholy offspring of lighting and death" and the skrill can control lightning AND TECHNICALLY TOOTHLESS CAN TOO REMEMBER HTTYD 3 + they also have similar physical characteristics at least Imo.

Dude this dragon is so badass 😌🤩🥰😩🥴❣️🤍🤝 I'm literally so obsessed

Wow one of the first times I see the twins actually doing sum useful

The way the shots combine🥴

Dagur has misophonia - condition where people experience intense negative emotions for sounds such as eating, chewing, loud breathing or even repeated pen-clicking [ep11]

Oh wow so they originally trapped the skrill in this show i didn't know

Wait but baby Gustav is actually adorable wtf and the fact that he and Snotlout have matching Viking hats

OMG SEE NOW I'M SEEING GUSTAV'S ORIGIN WITH HIS DRAGON AND HIS DESIRE TO BECOME A RIDER

Fanghook🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Ruff puts fish oil on her hair to get "a greasy unwashed look"

Really hate when Snotlout doesn't accept no for an answer

THE HAND THING AHHHH I LOVE IT this time is Ruff and a scauldron

Ok guys so I did this with mi friend's puppy who I accidentally scared enough to make him piss himself and I'm pretty sure I traumatized him and now when I'm around the poor dog tries to get as far away from me as possible but one day we were kinda bonding although he still wouldn't let me pet it AND I DID THE HAND THING BECAUSE WHY NOT AND THIS LIL MF ACTUALLY PUTS HIS FACE IN MY HAND- I screamed and he left again🥺😂 BUT IT DID WORK

Scauldy🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥰😌☺️🤩🤍

Ok but ruffnut with short hair 🤩

Speedstingers

Also the way Astrid ran up to Hiccup in the ep14

Wait but the scene whenever they're fighting the Speedstingers and Fishlegs says they're too fast but Hiccup's like "not for a nightfury" and then they show Toothless dodging the Speedstinger's attack AND THEN THEY SHOW HICCUP PROTECTING HIMSELF WITH HIS SHIELD WHICH GETS THROWN AWAY BUT RIGHT THERE TOOTHLESS CATCHES IT AND THROWS IT BACK TO HICCUP who's like "Thanks bud" 🤩🤩🤩 literally so badass go watch it!! It's ep14 frozen min 17:40

I really liked the relationship Snotlout and Astrid created with each other's dragon 🥺

HOOKFANG'S WINGBLAST AND STORMFLY'S SINGLE-SPINESHOT ARE HELLA BADASS... I love how they worked together this time 🥺

DUDE JAHDHSJAJJJSA ppl really underestimate Ruff's cleverness, this bish really gets Tuff to do the dumbest things just to enjoy looking at him hurting himself JAHDHSJAH😂

TOOTHLESS REALLY JUST BIT AN EEL'S HEAD OFF TO SAVE HICCUP🥺

Baby toothless is high🥺

"Uh, okay. That one was a little close to the one good leg" JAHDHAHSHA ISTG I LOVE THIS DUDE

Johan hates Snotlout for breaking his stuff

Tuff got Macey the Mace from Trader Johan

Astrid looks hot without her shoulder pads

Ok but Dagur looks so weird without his viking hat in this show

The baby thunderdrums are adorable - BING BAM AND BOOM

NOOO STOICK JUST LEFT THORNADO 🥺

OHHH SO ALVIN WAS ACTUALLY FROM BERK and he was Stoick's best friend

Snotlout and Hiccup are parallels of Alvin and Stoick

Ok but that trick Snotlout did was amazing, he really had Hookfang do a lil typhoomerangs move and then the wingblast🤩

I FINISHED IT OMG NOW ONTO RTTE!!

[ribbonstrawberrysurprise]

Hi! I am a big fan of the Tokyo Mew series, and I was wondering if you could do an analysis on the Mew Mew's projected elements and animals and colors, and how they all tie into their powers as magical girls?? I've always wondered if there is a certain mythology or reason behind it, but it seems like the girls' colors are mostly based on their names(Strawberry- red and pink, Lettuce-green, etc), but what about their powers?

Like you said, TMM colors are much more based on their food names than on their animals. (Although, based on that one 4-panel side comic in volume 1, it seems that the colors came first, then the characters were given food names that matched.) There are two seeming exceptions:

1) Mint, but it is relatively common for mint flavored candy and gum to have blue packaging.

2) Berry, whose theme color doesn’t seem obviously related to her fruit. There are a few plants with white berries (snowberries, white beautyberry, etc.), but none that are very common in cuisine or native to Japan as far as I can tell.

Actually it seems to be the opposite (at least for the manga), with characters’ animal parts being colored as to fit with their food/theme color! Zakuro’s ears are colored much more purple than on an actual wolf, and Berry has pure white ears and tail despite neither of her animals being that color irl.

I guess it’s possible she’s supposed to be based on albino plants and animals? Her Mew form does pointedly have pale blond hair and red eyes…

Anyway, as for their powers/elements…

The Mews don’t really have defined elements, with the exception of Lettuce! They more so seem to have different methods of using generic light/emotion-based attacks.

Lettuce obviously has water powers in both the manga and anime. She’s introduced telekinetically controlling a swimming pool, and her attacks are always drawn/animated as water. (Except possibly in ReTurn? It’s hard to tell if LettuSniping Shot is a jet of water.)

Her power is clearly based on her animal and not at all on her theme color. She’s actually one of the few water powered magical girls who isn’t blue! I guess you could also make a connection with her name, in that Lettuce tends to have a lot of water in it (at least Iceberg does), but I’m not convinced that’s relevant.

Ichigo seems to have the power of love/heart/purification, in that her attacks can purify the Chimera Anima. You could also argue something to do with harmony/friendship, as she tends to get upgrades by receiving power from the other girls. Also, maybe healing, considering she brings Masaya back to life? In a way, it seems like the Mew Mews powers are very analogous to the Mew Aqua. As for her animal…. I guess people do love cats? But again, it seems more based in genre conventions than exclusive to Ichigo. Pink is classic love, but it’s also classic magical girl leader.

Berry seems to have the same powerset as Ichigo (logical, since she’s her replacement), at least at first. Her powers seem to be emotion-based, as she’s able to undo mind control with Ribbon Loveberry Check, but the other girls’ words (plus the fact that they attack her classmates first) imply this is true of all Mew Mew powers, not just hers. In ReTurn, however, she seems to explicitly have healing powers, which does seem like a natural direction to go from purification/love. Same as Ichigo for the animal connection. White does seem very associated with purity and healing (at least via association with nurses/doctors). Plus white mage.

Speaking of healing, Ringo pretty much exclusively has healing powers, plus her ability to grant power to Ichigo. Very appropriate for a Mew Aqua powered character! She also has a little bit of a music theme since her mini attacks are named after solfege and involve music notes. Penguins aren’t really associated with healing or music (really, you’d expect ice), nor are red or apples (really, they’re more associated with poison!), plus Ringo was explicitly designed to be a healer so your party wouldn’t get wiped out in the RPG. So, her powerset came first, then her design…

Next up is Pudding! Her element, as it were, seems to be… pudding! Sort of… It really looks more like gelatin than crème caramel. In the anime, she does raise up the ground to protect herself in her first appearance, and her attack animation does show it tunneling through the ground, so I can see why you’d make the argument her element is earth, but she never really does anything with this again. Even when it could really come in handy, like when she's trapped underground. And her attack is edible, as per the manga, so it can’t be clay or something! As for an animal connection, I guess you could say that monkeys are kind of known for eating things, I feel like this is clearly based solely on her name.

Zakuro…. sort of has an element? Her whip is called a “whip of light” in the anime, and in the manga it’s literally a glowing cross-shaped whip. This plus the “Cross” and “Pure” give it definite holy/purification/light vibes. But, in my opinion, this isn’t unique to Zakuro! Mint’s arrows are also pure light/energy, Ichigo’s attack is also very glowy, and Pudding’s… puddings(?) seem to form from light/energy. It seems like rather than a unique light element, she has the normal Mew powerset but used in a way that can cut or tie up the enemies. I can’t say wolves are particularly associated with light. Really, I’d assume dark, if anything, since they tend to be cast as villains? Same for purple…

Moving on to Mint! I’ve seen it claimed that Mint’s element is sound, but she never really does anything sound-based. Sure, her weapon has “Tone” in it, and her attack has “Echo”, but Pudding’s attack has “Inferno” despite having absolutely nothing to do with fire. “Check”, “Surprise”, and “Pop” are also seemingly unrelated to the attacks they describe. As for her weapon being lyre-shaped, yeah! All of the anime-style weapons are based on instruments!

As a a ballerina, she has an association with music, but she isn’t particularly useful in the fight in episode 6 vs Mary McGuire Chimera Anima, who really does attack with music. When she fights the ballerina bird Chimera Anima in episode 9, she doesn’t use music, or even really dancing! She defeats it with the power of Kicking Really Hard. And she does hear the Mew Aqua swan calling for help, but that’s just an extension of the generic “can talk to animals closely related to their infused genes” power that Ichigo and Zakuro also demonstrate.

Really, it seems like her power is just “arrow”. Like Zakuro, she doesn’t have an element; she’s just the one who’s able to aim the best from a distance. I guess when Lettuce steals her thunder in ReTurn, she's forced to upgrade to “a whole bunch of arrows all at once” and hit everything.

All Mew Mews basically have light and emotion based powers that they use slightly differently, with the exception of Lettuce, who seems to actually just generate water out of nowhere. But her powers are obviously connected to her emotions still (see how they manifest when she first awakens them). Them all having the same base power is supported by the way the manga will often not depict each attack individually, instead having each girl say her attack name and then showing the Chimera Anima exploding in a collective burst of light.

In short, rather than individual elements, I think it’s more like:

Ichigo: big finishing move

Mint: long range precision attack

Lettuce: knocking back the enemy? area of effect? (water)

Pudding: holding the enemy in place

Zakuro: cutting through small fry or holding the enemy in place

Berry: big finishing move, healing

Ringo: healing (music)

So, none of their character traits (color, animal, power) are that related? There’s some stuff that seems linked, but overall it seems like they’re most informed by genre tropes. (Also, a lot of the details of their powers were hammered out by the anime.)

[maladaptive-ninja-returns]

Freak (One Shot)

Loki x Reader Avengers The Office AU (Slowwwwww Burn)

Warnings: your writer being a dick about the otp

Word Count: this is the first time that I had to remind a therapist about a session. Usually it was me who would forget about sessions or even booking sessions. But that was also because I was scared. Now I know that in order to get better I need to make a few changes with my way of thinking. Bonus? I did not cry during this PMS cycle.

MASTERLIST in bio, darlings. Tags are open (check bio)

"...in summary, you touch any of my playthings, you will have to deal with the consequences." Kruge wants to pierce those eyeballs out but he has to stop himself in case he is taken a prisoner for harming the new king of Jotunheim on the very first night. "Understood, your grace," Helbindi gives a little bow and waits for Loki to open the door to his chamber before he lets his fangs out in pure animosity for the God.

Loki makes sure to close the door behind him before he closes his eyes and rests his head on the silver frame with a thud. At least he won't have to keep up the facade of being composed all the time in this room. Did I make the right decision? His thoughts are running at a speed that would be considered normal for Pietro. This is the last place Aellae would invade. He inhales a lungful, his mind addressing a hint of lilac in the cold air. That is if she hadn't already done that. And all the fingers are pointing at Helbindi. I am sure Helbindi has something to d-wait...Lilac?

Those computing brows are suddenly furrowing in curiosity while those eyes open to dart around the room in question. At the other end of this immaculate and massive bedroom, you walk out from the direction of the bath, your wet hair a beautiful mess, your skin glowing in the faint light reflecting off the shining frost, your dark blue pyjama shorts showing off those legs that seemed to have toned a little, thanks to the workout this deadly trip has provided. Out of nowhere, winds are blowing into the bedroom from the balcony to bring Loki more of that lilac scent you are covered in right now. Those teasing soft punches of air are doing their best to tickle your exposed skin while teasing the God with a little bit of peek of some more. He does not realise it but Loki's eyes are stuck on you, his throat trying to gulp down whatever is frozen in there, just not ready to digest the poetry unfolding in front of him. Normally he would have scolded you for putting your used towel on that chair, but right now all his brain can comprehend is you raising your leg on his bed to apply some lotion on it. Your head turns in his direction and he is suddenly finding himself running into the sole vase on his right side. He is Loki- the God of mischief- so, of course, it does not take much time to bring that vibrating vase to a standstill. But he still keeps holding for another moment or two, for the fear that it might move again. Any third person witnessing this can tell it is not exactly the vase he is trying to still. "This painting is nice," he murmurs to himself while looking at a pictureless frame decorating the wall to his side, pointing to it and pretending to appreciate it. His hands, though, cannot seem to find a comfortable position. "You're back?" you ask him, still working on your leg. "Hmm?" He pretends to notice you for the first time, still not ready to lock his eyes with you, instead, playing with his fingers. "Oh, yes. Just...had to give a couple of instruction to the...uhh...boys." "I don't like that Helbindi guy-" you screw your nose and Loki seems to lose a couple of ounces of air- "he gives off bad vibes." "Yeah, yeah he does," he agrees with you, walking slowly and calculatingly towards the bedroom part of the room. Your leg switches. "I'm glad that you have the majority though. That too considering you have been away for a looooong time." You raise your head and he busies himself in the ferns kept at the entrance of the bed-chamber before asking himself what his idiotic ass was trying to do. Finally finding the strength, he looks back up at you and nods with a smile. Walk to the other side of the bed, he is practically giving the basic instructions to his brain now. She isn't going out like this, is she? That one part of his brain clad in some dark crevices questions him. That one simple thought seems to raise multiple silent alarms in his body. "So-" he tries to point at you and the door but fails and instead takes his finger to scratch an itch at the back of his neck- "you're going to sleep in now?" That glowy leg worth months of hair growth suddenly drops on the floor. And so does your face. Loki cannot make out what you're thinking because he is busy waiting for your answer. "You want me to sleep somewhere else?" It's just a softly put question. But your eyes seem to glimmer in sadness as if he just betrayed you some way. "What?" he is more surprised by the fact that you did not think of it as a possibility. Why would she sleep somewhere else? We've been doing it the whole trip! Well, the whole trip did not have rooms like this one, balconies like this one and certainly not a view like this one. Loki breathes, opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out for a good few seconds. He is still trying to make his mind look away from all the stray water droplets falling from your hair inside your clothes. "No-" he blinks, bringing his eyes back to yours, licking his lips, he is soft in his speech- "um, you stay here." Loki, you are a God. With the sudden reminder, he clears his throat, straightens his back and brings back that dominating energy in the room. "You stay here," he orders this time. Your quick smile is already melting that robust core of his. And that quick jump on his bed catalysis the effect. "Cool!" You sit there with your legs folded under you, thighs spread, and that shirt not covering as much as it is supposed to. "Woah!" you snapped him out of his trance as you took a little jump on the bed. The sudden glow in your eyes was sending a tingling sensation down his spine. "Oh," you exclaimed, going up and down on your thighs, "we finally have a hard mattress! God, I'm old!" Loki just stood there, watching you arch your back as you went up and down, testing the bed, and at the same time testing his fortitude. Why-why is she not wearing a bra? Loki smacks his inner self. That's what concerns you right now? "Stop that," he growls. One final jump and you are falling on your back with a long sigh. That tingle seems to have subsided but as it is going back, Loki's gaze cannot seem to come off your body- you lying with your limbs spread out as you groan out loud to remove that fatigue from your lungs. That double chin of yours is quite evident when you raise your head just a little to look for the quilt and bring it closer to you with your feet. Who does she think she is? A part of Loki asks. Beautiful, his inner voice answers without a pause, all dreamy eyes for you and your double chin. "By the Norns, you have to stop," the God growled again, making you pause your leg mid-air with the quilt in between your toes. You drop that quilt just like that and turn to rest your head on your palm. "Stop and...?" that low hoarse tone of your mixed with a wicked glow in your eyes lights up a section inside the God he should not be thinking about. Especially when it has the power to take over his brain.  The next time he opens his eyes, you can witness a change in that usually brooding boy to something more...feral? Those bloody eyes of the only Jotun you know are sending you mixed reverberations. By the time you are trying to figure out what it is behind those eyes, Loki's leg is already on the bed and his body over you within two strides. Your hips are locked in by his thighs and he is looking down at you with a simmering gaze.  You are definitely questioning all your freaky actions tonight. But I thought I would tease him a little! You know, to get his mind off serious stuff going outside that door!! And here you are, lying under Loki, your hands clasped close to your chest while your eyes are trying to figure out his next move, all the while unconsciously biting your lower lip. Not gonna lie, this blue version of him kinda looks sex- Loki's hands go down, right between his legs. You are about to catch your breath and cross your legs when his hands yank out the quilt from between the two of you to lay it over you. Your lips are still apart, mouth gaping, breaths at a pause while Loki flattens the fabric out over you till your neck before tucking it on your either side to the point that you cannot escape it even if you wanted to. Your brows furrow in disappointed confusion. Your hands are making that universal gesture of 'what the fuck???' under that damned sheet whereas Loki is proudly looking at his work. "That should keep you warm." “Dude!” Is all you can let out from your lungs before letting your body struggle to get out of this cosy prison. Loki gets up and away from the bed to undo his coat, looking away from you and smiling at this little achievement. “Don’t waste your breath, darling. I learned it from my mother. You cannot get out of that  hold unless you have calmed down enough to-“ His words disappear when he turns back to witness you already deep in sleep; your lips parted, your head practically drowning in the pillow, and little snores already forming in your nostrils. “How exhausted were you to sleep within seconds?” He whispers, never taking his eyes off. I need to teach her not to sleep with her guard down in suspicious places.

.

The coat lay on the floor along with the familiar pants and shirt. Loki sits on the bed in a nightgown, letting his back rest on the bed frame while his eyes gather some much needed light sleep. The night outside is still if not for the periodic interruptions of crows here and there. The chill of this frozen land comes as a blessing for this Jotun, who is no longer regulating his temperature as per the Midgardian ways. His Jotun form too is breathing fine, even feeling better than before. A true blessing in disguise. “Mmm…no…I don’t like it…” you mumble in your sleep, opening Loki’s eyes before he knows what’s happening. His hand automatically reaches out for you, coming to rest on your forehead before realising he cannot use magic to get rid of any bad dreams. So, instead, he softly pats your head. Your sleep laden crinkled brows seem to find some peace from those soothing pats, going back to dreamless sleep and loud snores. Loki cannot help but burst into a silent laugh at those snores. How can someone so small and comparatively frail snore worse than a giant?! That laugh that crinkles the edge of his eyes seems to be slowly melting into a smile; and not any ordinary smile at that. It is bringing a sweet realisation with it; a realisation about this human. Among seven billion humans, this one seems to have brought him the comfort he never even dared to feel. The past few days spent in this human's company were far lighter and chirpier than the most extravagant days spent as a child in Asgard. There was no anxiety, no restlessness. Whenever he was not able to collect his thoughts, looking at this human used to bring everything to a standstill. Knowing that he is not alone this time brought a certain peace to his soul; brought solutions faster and escape routes quicker than his enemies could calculate.  Is this what it's like to have a friend? To have the want to protect them, fight them, tease them, make their life miserable but never let anyone else lay a finger on them? Is this what friendship means?? As if to answer his question, your snores break into a snort before you wiggle inside your duvet to crawl closer to him in your sleep. Your hand stretches out from under the warm cover, take an elongated sigh till it touches Loki's arm and wraps those toasty fingers around his cold muscle. Loki has paused his existence for a second to make sense of this moment. She feels safe with you, a soothing voice inside him resonates in his core and he is watching you in a new light. Some moisture seems to gather at the edge of his eyes before he blinks it away and slides down to rest his head on the pillow right next to yours. He does not realise it but his arm is frozen in that place for you to hold on to it and there is a slight smile on his lips while his eyes are observing every single detail on your face. The God does not seem to notice a bubble being projected out of the bed to overtake the room with a warmth that is emanating from the celestial being himself. And most of all he does not seem to notice the voice hiding in the dark corner somewhere looking at you with heart eyes. I like this human. She can stay.

[backtobackbakubabe]

I am the Alpha Now Part 3

Bakugo X Reader 

Words : 2733

Reader is from America and somewhat of a delinquent with an alpha quirk that allows her to turn into a wolf as well as bond with dogs. She is sent to UA to straighten out her attitude. She ends up in a power struggle with none other than our favorite hot head. Words in Italics are words said telepathically

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

Bakugo trailed behind you as you entered the classroom with Mercy hanging out  by the door looking nervous. “Are you waiting for permission or what? Get your ass in here.”

Mercy jumped ahead to catch up with you, tail wagging with excitement.

Bakugo just shook his head at how goofy Mercy was for how powerful he was.

He could hear his dumbass classmates practically squealing over you and he figured you might need help. Not that he necessarily wanted to help you, in fact he thought it’d be pretty funny to watch you squirm. But he had a job to do and that job was to help the new kid.

He was surprised when All Might had pulled him aside after class one day. He gave him a long winded lecture about how he needed to learn how to work with others. Seeing as your quirk gave you a pack mentality he and the other teachers thought maybe it would rub off on him. Make him understand team work or whatever.

So here he is stepping in to help you as his fellow classmates swarmed you. “OI! BACK THE HELL UP A SECOND!”

Everyone froze for a moment before resuming their questions. You looked to him with wide eyes, “My Japanese isn’t great to begin with, but they’re talking a mile a minute. I have no idea what anyone is saying. Someone keeps touching my hair and pinching my ass but when I look no one's there. Please help.”

He groaned, “I can help you with the translations but they’re just going to keep bugging you.”

You threw your hands up, “So what am I supposed to do?”

He walked over and thumped you between the eyes like you had done to him earlier, “Do that weird glowy eye thing you do. Tell mercy to crowd control, I don’t know. Just get the point across that they need to respect your personal space...” He looked back to the crowd of people who were now directing their questions to him to translate. He spoke Japanese and even he found it hard to figure out what was being asked. “SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN!”

When he had every ones attention he gestured to you, “This is Y/n. She’s new. She’s from America. She Doesn't speak Japanese that well so be fucking patient. She’s got some weird alpha wolf quirk and we all know what happens when you corner a wild animal so back the fuck up and let her breathe.”

He looked over and your eyes were a bright electric blue and Mercy was standing in front of you in a defensive position. He wasn’t growling but that didn’t mean he didn’t mean business. “Easy Mercy. We’re not looking for a fight or anything but Bakugo is right. They need to know we’re not here to play.”

Bakugo gave you a nod and your eyes slowly went back to normal. He then pointed to Mercy, “This is Mercy, he’s her beta and he..”

Some guy with yellow hair rushed to pet him, “Ohhh who’s a good boy? Is it you? Are you a good boy?”

Mercy’s eyes looked murderous but he knew wasn't supposed to hurt your new friends so he just let the weird boy talk to him as if he were a baby.

You opened your mouth to tell him off but Bakugo was already dragging him by the ear to his desk, “Kaminari you idiot! Mercy isn’t some ‘good boy’ he’s her fucking beta, he is smart, probably smarter than you and he will tear you to pieces if you talk down to him again!” He looked to your other classmates who now looked a little scared, “You all got that?”

A few people nodded some just stared at him. They all knew he had a temper but they had never seen him actually defend someone else before. Hell must have frozen over because Bakugo Katsuki looked like he gave a shit.

Bakugo didn’t even look back to you as he made his way to his desk and took a seat. There was an empty desk in front of him, and you assumed that was meant for you.

You snapped and Mercy fell at your heals as you took your seat. “Can I look around a little bit?”

You rubbed his head, “I don’t know, maybe wait until class is over. I don’t want anyone to freak out.”

He wined and plopped down rather dramatically in the isle next to you.

“What’s his problem? I thought he wanted to come.”

You tuned to face Bakugo who was already getting his notes out, and they looked very well organized. Was he a secret nerd? “He did want to come. He just wants to take a look around. Learn the room. He likes to do this every time we go someplace new. I just don’t want anyone to freak out.” You shrugged and turned back around just as a man… in a sleeping bag… popped up out of nowhere.

“Good morning class. I see you have already met our new student from the United States, y/n. I know you all have a lot of questions but there is plenty of time for that after class. Please be patient with her as she learns our language and routines. In most cases you will see her with Bakugo. Please consider him her translator, tutor, and guide while she is here.” He turned to look at you, but you were already spaced out. This language barrier was going to be a bitch. “Y/n is there anything special you would like to say before we begin our day?”

You heard your name. You knew he was asking a question. But you had no idea what was going on. The teacher softened and spoke again but this time in English, “Forgive me, it seems even as I was giving a speech about you being from America I still forgot to speak English. Was there anything you would like to say?”

You shrugged, “Uh… sure. It’s nice to be here and I can’t wait to meet all of you. Thanks in advance for putting up with my bullshit.”

You looked at a smirking Bakugo who started shouting out a translation. But what you didn’t know was what he translated that to was, “She says she can’t wait to meet you all in training and her dog Mercy needs to sniff out the room. Let him do his job and don’t bother him. You can meet him later too…” He patted Mercy’s head switching back to English, “Hey go do your thing they wont bother you now.”

Mercy jumped up and looked at you with his tongue lolling out the side, “Oh can I? Sparky said I can. Can I please?”

You narrowed your eyes at Bakugo, “As much as I appreciate it, please don’t make a habit of telling my beta what to do. I’m the alpha here, not you.”

Bakugo just leaned back in his chair, “Yeah we’ll just see about that.”

He made your fucking blood boil but you knew you would get your chance to slap the smug look off of his face later in the gym.

You nodded at Mercy who took off and started sniffing everything. He did it for most of class just pacing around the isles. Trying to learn faces and smells.

You spent the rest of the class trying to keep up, but it was just too much for you. You only knew every other fifth word or so. In the end you resorted to writing down words that were said frequently so you could look them up later.

Finally, after what felt like years you were dismissed to get lunch before training.

You stood up and stretched. You heard light snoring and that’s when you noticed Mercy had fallen asleep in front of your desk. “Typical.”

You leaned over to wake him up but before you made contact someone was behind you. One hand on your skirt the other around your waist. You’d panic but that familiar scent invaded your personal space just like it had done earlier. Bakugo pulled you to him while trying to pull your skirt back into place. He leaned in and whispered into your ear, “What did I tell you about bending over. Are you stupid or were you trying to give our classmates a show?” A shiver ran down your spine and your witty response died in your throat. “Next time I see your ass like that I am going to slap it.”

Your eyes began to glow and you could feel your wolf instincts kicking in. You are an alpha and NO ONE challenges you. You were going to tear him a new asshole, but before you could even get a word out he let you go and started walking towards the door, “Hurry up brat I’m hungry.”

You were fuming now. How could he say something like that and then act so nonchalant as if nothing ever happened. You used your foot to nudge Mercy awake. “Come on man. You just had to be asleep when Bakugo threatened to slap my ass huh?”

Mercy stood and shook himself to wake himself up, “Sparky spanked you?”

You caught up and were now walking behind Bakugo and some red headed guy who seemed to be friends with him. Odd you didn’t think he was the friendly type. “NO! He didn’t spank me, but he threatened to if he saw my ass again!”

“Well why did he see your ass? Did you moon him or something?”

You rolled your eyes, “No! I bent over to try and wake you up and I guess my skirt rode up a little.”

“Well he did tell you earlier not to bend over… You used to spank me when I did things you told me not to…”

“Who’s side are you on?!”

“Oh wow you’re right. She does talk to her dog. That’s so cool!”

You saw Bakugo had stopped with his red headed friend who was currently beaming a mega watt smile at you, “Hey sorry! I don’t mean to be rude, My name is Kirishima! My English isn’t the best but I’m going to work on it.”

You returned his smile, “Nice to meet you Kirishima. I’m y/n and this is Mercy.”

“So cool! So were you two having a fight or something? You sounded pretty mad earlier.”

You narrowed your eyes at Bakugo, “Not at all, just discussing proper punishments for pack members who don’t fall in line.”

Kirishima rubbed his neck, “Oh wow sounds intense.”

You returned your gaze to Kirishima and gave him a sweet smile, “Only for those who don’t behave.”

Kirishima chuckled, “Oh.. sounds kinky!”

That earned him a slap to the back of the head. “Tch. She doesn’t want to hear your perverted bullshit alright now get us a table!”

Kirishima rubbed the sport Bakugo had slapped as he scurried off to the cafeteria.

You crossed your arms over your chest, “She really doesn’t want to hear your perverted bullshit either.”

Completely ignoring you he leaned down and started rubbing Mercy’s ears. “It sounds like your alpha needs an attitude adjustment. Is she always this high strung?”

“Oh he’s funny. Tell him I said he’s funny. But also tell him to be nice or I will eat his homework… no one will ever believe him”

You snorted, “I’m not telling him that.”

Bakugo cocked his head at you, “Tell me what?” He stood up and was now facing you with his arms crossed. You hadn’t noticed how tall he was. He probably had half a foot on you.

You shouldered past him to enter the cafeteria, “It doesn’t matter what he said. I’d watch your back though, someone might mistake you for a chew toy.”

You saw Kirishima had found a table and headed in his direction but before you could take a seat Bakugo came up behind you with his jacket in his hands. “Please for the love of god tie this around your waist before you sit down. I’m getting you a new fucking skirt today if it kills me.” You blushed as you yanked the jacket roughly from his grasp. “Tch be a pouty bitch all you want just take it. I’m going to go get us some food.”

You quickly tied the jacket around your waist and felt monumentally better as you took your seat. The others were busy talking amongst themselves. Everyone once in a while they would make an attempt to include you in the conversation but they were busy stuffing their faces for the most part.

A guy with red and white hair came and took a seat across from you, “Hello, my name is Todoroki. I have pretty high marks in English so if you ever need help please feel free to ask.”

He seemed genuinely nice, and kind of cute if you were being honest. You smiled and reached your hand out to introduce yourself, but you had to yank it back to keep it from being crushed by a tray of food. “She doesn’t need your fucking help, that’s my job icy hot.”

You glared at him, “SHE can speak for herself thank you.”

He groaned as he yanked two notebooks and a tape recorder out of his backpack and slammed them on the table. You picked up the one you had seen him writing in earlier and was actually impressed in what you found. “All your notes today… they’re in English.”

He rolled his eyes, “How perceptive of you.”

You bumped his shoulder with yours, “You did this for me?”

He pulled a pair of headphones and some pencils out, “Don’t look too much into it. It’s literally my job.” He plugged the headphones into the recorder and handed you a pencil. “Now I recorded the lecture so we can listen back. I can retake my notes in Japanese, and you can follow along with the notes in English and try and learn something.”

You took one of the earbuds and stuffed it in your ear as he hit play. You hadn’t realized how hungry you were until your stomach growled and as if he read your mind Bakugo pushed a plate full of chicken and rice towards you. “Eat up. We have training after this, and I’d hate to beat you because you didn’t have enough food on your stomach.”

You put down your pencil and picked up your fork, “So do you want me to take notes or eat? Because I can’t exactly do both at the same time.”

Bakugo was finishing his bowl of ramen before pushing it away, “I mean I already took the damn notes for you. Just eat quick and catch up.”

“But what about me! I’m hungry too! Did he not get me anything?”

“Shit.. I guess I didn’t feed you this morning huh?”

Without glancing up from his notes Bakugo put his tray on the floor so Mercy could have what was left of his chicken and rice. His mood swings were going to drive you crazy.

When it was finally time to go to training you were practically buzzing with excitement. Mercy was too, “I get to help this time remember! He said I could train later! Do I get to fight sparky?”

You stopped mid-stretch to poke Bakugo who was warming up next to you, “Hey, Mercy wants to know if he gets to fight you yet?”

His nose scrunched up as he looked over to Mercy, “I know you’re not like an average dog, but I still feel bad trying to blow you up..”

You laughed, “Well at least we know you’re not hiding any signs of being a serial killer.”

“Tch, I just don’t want to hurt him! You, I have no problem with. You’re a pain in my ass. But Mercy’s cool!”

You rolled your eyes, “Oh shut up. You won’t hurt him. I’d be surprised if you could even hit him. He may look lazy but he’s really fast and his fur is super thick. The longer we are bonded the stronger he gets.” Your eyes started to glow as you started your shift, “What are you scared of a little two on one?”

His palms started to crackle, “Bring it brat. Time for round two.”

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

Tags : @tspice283

[crewhonk]

Only Happy Accidents (10)

Summary: It’s wedding day!

Warnings: Wedding Nerves, Mentions of grieving, emotional declarations, little Stevie is a naughty boy at the end

Words: Lots

Only Happy Accidents Masterlist

_______________________

You Matter To Me— Sara Barielles ft. Jason Mraz 

June 24th, Week 36, Wedding Day

YN woke with a jolt, fingers pressed to her side where her baby had gotten their foot stuck between her ribs. She was sure there would be a bruise blossoming soon enough, and she had only wished that Bucky’s theory about the baby being like Steve in the forties was true. However, that didn’t seem to be the case— the closer they got to the due date, the stronger the baby got and the bigger YN grew. YN was so large, that at this point, Pepper had asked if it was two babies instead of one, and much to Steve and YN’s relief, they were pleased to find out that it was, in fact, just one child. 

Steve shifted on the bed next to her, arms slapping the bed until it found YN’s shoulder and hummed, stroking her skin with his thumb gently. 

“You ‘kay?” He murmured, still half asleep. “So far. C’mere.” He grumbled, trying to pull YN closer. 

“I’m good. Baby just got stuck in moms ribs last night, so mom’s a little sore this morning.” YN cooed playfully down to her belly, and Steve, as if he had a sixth sense, put his hand over the sore spot on YN’s side and rubbed it absently. He mouthed at the back of her shoulder once he had pulled her closer to him, and she wiggled back into him, sighing as her body seemed to naturally react to his. 

“You were a little restless last night, sweetheart. You getting cold feet?” He mumbled jokingly and she scoffed. 

“About our wedding today? No. More cold feet about having Natasha plan our wedding though— I have no idea what to expect.” YN laughed, shifting onto her back and looking up at her Steve, curling her arm around his head and scratching his scalp as he kissed her collarbone. 

“Hey, we got to pick the wedding song and cake, and you got to pick the dress, so as long as you meet me at the altar today, I don’t care if a mime officiates the whole thing. I’ll consider it a perfect day.” He smiled and she rolled her eyes and snorted. “But seriously, you okay?”

“I’m okay,” she replied, remembering that nothing could get past Steve Rogers. “I had a few nightmares last night, though.” 

“About?”

“Well, since we haven’t gone officially public, which I still think is hilarious, I had a dream where press helicopters and paparazzi swarmed us and I couldn’t get to you no matter how hard I tried, and every time I almost got to your hand, the dream restarted. Then, I finally got to you and someone objected when the whole ‘stand now or forever hold your peace’ part rolled around and you killed them.” Steve smirked and nodded, and pulled the sheets over their heads, creating a safe little cocoon as he kissed her soundly. 

“I’d make sure I got to you first and I’m pretty sure the second bit won’t happen today— there’s only like, thirty people coming. You got nothing to worry about today, my wife.” He hummed and YN smiled. 

“Borat?” YN asked, cocking her head and making Steve frown. 

“What?” 

“Nothing.” She snorted and kissed him again. “Anyways, I’ll always make sure I hold your piece, Husband.” She hummed, sneaking her fingertips under the waistband of his boxers and feeling his stomach shudder as her fingers glided through the hair on his pubic bone. Just as she wrapped her hand around the base of his hot, half-hard cock, the sound of a bedroom door slammed open and something like confetti poppers exploded. 

“WEDDING DAY!!!” Three unmistakable voices screamed, and Steve sat right up, shielding YN with his body— sudden loud noises (no matter what they were) never worked well for Steve.

“Oh, it’s you guys.” He said, disappointment unmistakable in his voice. 

“‘Oh, it’s you guys,’ he says, disappointed that his fiancee couldn’t finish his hand job. Put your dick away!” Sam whined, and YN grunted, pulling her hands from Steve’s body and sitting up, running a hand through her messy bed hair. 

“Dick is away. Why are you guys here so damn early?” She moaned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she looked at the clock— 8:00 am. 

“You get married in four hours, and we have to start getting you ready.” Natasha chirped, skipping over to YN and pulling her up much to the couples annoyance. Natasha pulled a hoodie and sweatpants from Steve’s drawers and tossed them at her, and all parties watched as she hopped into the clothes. She turned just as she went to leave the room and skipped over to Steve, reaching over him, grabbing her phone and wallet and planting a kiss on his lips. The boys hooted and howled and cheered as YN cradled his face in her hands. She straddled him to the best of her ability, but with an eight month belly, she did the best she could, licking at his bottom lip and running her hands through his hair to make sure he looked thoroughly snogged. She pulled back, and took in the sight under her— at his flushed cheeks, and his messy hair, his swollen lips and bright eyes and nodded. 

“See you at the altar, handsome.” She winked, a thrill shooting through her body as she rolled off of him and landed as gracefully on the floor as she could. Her own face heated up as she felt his hand smack her butt and she shot back a glare as she left the room. 

“You stole my line!” He shouted after her, and she left the apartment with Natasha and a laugh. 

Back upstairs, the boys turned back to Steve with smirks and raised eyebrows. 

“What?” Steve smirked sheepishly, scratching the back fo his neck and bending his legs to hide the tent that would otherwise be prominent. 

_________________________

“Turn to Stone”— Ingrid Michaelson

The girls arrived at Peppers cabin and YN was immediately handed a blindfold that read ‘bride’. 

“What’s this?”

“I don’t want the venue to be spoiled. Put it on and I’ll take you upstairs.” Natasha demanded, and not wanting to deny her her day, YN listened and trusted that Natasha wouldn’t throw her down the stairs as they made their way up to Peppers spare room. 

When YN was able to take off her blindfold she discovered that the spare room was less of a spare room and more of a fitting room decked out for a queen. There was a snack bar beside the bathroom door, soft fabrics and rugs thrown across the floor and around the pedestal in font of a huge mirror which had YN’s beautiful, stunning wedding dress hanging from. YN gasped and clutched her necklace when she noticed that the hangar read ‘Mrs. Rogers’. Her knees went weak, and Natasha, the woman who noticed everything, held her up and smiled.  

“Like it?”

“Natasha. This is— this is amazing I can’t—“ YN gasped, complying with Natasha and sitting in the white armchair in front of a makeup desk. Natasha grabbed her a bottle of water and all the medication she would need and waited and watched as YN took it all. 

“This is your day, YN and you’re family. This is what we do for family.” A new voice, Pepper Potts sounded from the doorway. The mini version of Ton Stark popped her head around her moms legs and upon realizing she could finally enter the forbidden-wedding-room, skipped in and climbed onto YN’s lap. 

“We’re going to make you a princess today!” She cheered and YN gasped, squeezing the little girls waist and making her squeal with joy. 

“But what about you? There can’t be more than one princess!” She played along, and Morgan looked genuinely offended at her words. 

“Then you can be queen! Like Elsa!” She demanded and YN laughed, wiping the food from Morgans cheek she had apparently been eating only moments before and kissing her nose. 

“As long as I have my Anna by my side.” She smiled and Morgan nodded eagerly. 

“Duh!”

___________________

Both Michaela and YN’s mother arrived soon, and soon enough, the preparations had begun. YN hadn’t had much of a breakfast— the combination of nerves and a hyperactive baby making her slightly nauseous (very nauseous), so it was between layers of moisturizer and foundation that she was able to take nips of fruit and bread— the craving of the day, hot Cheetos in ketchup— was immediately banned upon the mention of it by a slightly crazed-looking Natasha Romanoff. 

“That! Is not happening! There is too much white in this room!”

Michaela had immediately taken to YN’s hair, and after seeing a few pictures shown by Natasha, she nodded and began to work quickly. YN and her mother chatted idly— not having much to talk about since they’d been distanced since her father had passed, but managing nevertheless. Pepper fixed YN’s makeup up— light and airy, she had said. There was only a light layer of foundation, and it was a glowy, healthy look set with mattifying spray— something that would reduce shine but keep the look. 

The four hours passed too quickly, and soon, The dress was being pulled from its hangar and YN was being helped out of her sweater and pants— both being moved carefully to mind the bump, makeup and hair. 

The dress was lighter than YN remembered— the fabric cool on her hot skin, and flaring over her bump. Despite the looseness of the fit, YN couldn’t help but feel sexy— the slim, but plunging neckline mirroring the wide and plunging back. The star patterns in the fabric glinted in the light, and when she turned around, the four women gasped and Morgan cheered loudly. 

“Princess! Princess! Princess!” She began to chant, and soon, the four grown women joined in, tears streaming down their own faces as they clapped and jumped excitedly. They crowded around her and fussed, adding final touches and chirping to each other and cooing over how genuinely perfect YN looked. Soon, she was coasted into the view of the mirror, and YN couldn’t even recognize herself if she tried. 

Her skin looked fresh and perfectly toned— body shimmer making her have a glow that radiated from the inside. Her hair was shining and healthy in the natural light streaming through the curtains, and the dress— oh, the dress. It looked as if it was made for her by the Gods themselves.

There was a hush as YN’s mother took the veil and clipped it in her half-up half-down hair, fanning it around and YN stared at herself— in complete awe at what these women had helped her become. She was so lost in the patterns of the dress and her skin that YN couldn’t help but jump at the sound of the door opening and closing. 

She turned quickly to find Bucky staring at her and shaking his head, an awed smile on his face. 

“Wow. That Rogers guy is one lucky man.” He commented, walking over to the podium and helping YN off of it, kissing her forehead and pulling away, looking her up and down and shaking his head. “You don’t even look like the same person from this morning.”

“Is he here?” YN blurted, flushing bright red. She could have asked what he was doing here, or if the fact that she looked different from this morning was a good or bad thing, but all she could think about was the fact that Steve may or may not be here, right now. In the suit and tie she would be marrying him in. 

“He is. And, YN YLN, I have never, in all my 100 years of knowing the guy, ever seen him look so excited or happy. You are his soulmate, he’s yours and— I’m just so happy that you came into his life. He loves you more than anything in this world, and believe me when I say it’s not just about the baby. You have him wrapped around your finger and he wants to live there.” He said, tears filling his eyes. “Thank you, YN YLN. For making my best friend the happiest man on Earth.”

YN looked up at Bucky— his smooth hair tied into a neat bun, and his bright blue eyes shining and happy and his scruffy cheeks pulled back in a wide, happy grin— and sniffed, her chin wobbling. 

“Nope!” Natasha chirped, voice thick with emotion of her own. “Get out, you can’t make her cry!” Bucky resisted Natasha’s pushing, and tried his best to not feel horrendously fazed by the daggers shooting from her eyes. 

“I can’t do that.” Bucky smiled, wiping his eyes. 

“Why not?” Natahsa glared, resting her fists on her hips and tapping her foot. In tandem with the light blue bridesmaid dress, her hair and expression looked fiery and dangerous and it shot a thrill through even YN’s body. 

“Because it’s time.”

__________________

“Keep Breathing”— Ingrid Michaelson / “Little Wonders”— Rob Thomas

YN and Bucky stood facing the back door— the windows were covered by a half-sheer white curtain, something just enough for the crowd to see the silhouettes of the people behind it, but not enough for details. Bucky was waiting for Sam and Michaela to get down to the altar before he opened the door, and as he did, he looked down at the woman who was going to marry his best friend. 

“You ready?” He whispered and YN took a huge breath, digging her fingernails into her palms and shifting her weight from one foot to the next.

“I’m just trying to wrap my head around what’s about to happen.” She whispered, voice shaking. 

“What’s that?”

“Well, I’m about to marry the old Captain America, the Winter Soldier, the new Captain America and the Black Widow are standing for us, and half the crowd has either saved the planet on more than one occasion or are from literal space. I feel like I’m going to wake up any second from the craziest dream in the world.” She rushed and Bucky snorted, unfurling her hands and holding them in his own. He could hear the chittering of the crowd outside, but he wouldn’t start walking until he knew YN would be sure to follow. Throughout the wedding process and learning more about her and watching Natasha struggle and stress over planning, YN had managed to worm a comfortable place in his heart.

“When you say it like that—“ He joked and watched as a sheepish smile found its place on YN’s face. “It’s time.” He whispered and YN sucked in a huge breath and nodded, steeling herself for the long walk she would have to take by herself. Bucky, sensing her apprehension stopped from opening the doors and entering himself, taking her hands once again. 

“You gettin’ cold feet, Doll?” He half-joked. While he did like YN quite a bit, he wasn’t sure he was too ready to drive the get away car for her yet. 

“I just—“ YN said, voice quivering with emotion. “I just imagined this day going so differently. Don’t get me wrong! I love that I’m marrying Steve and that I’m having his baby soon it’s just— I wanted my dad to walk me down the aisle. He was my best friend and he talked about him walking me down and what song we would dance to for the father-daughter dance and— I don’t know. I don’t know if I can do this without him by my side.” She sniffed and Bucky, knowing just how it felt to not have your loved ones by your side, wiped her tears and offered a smile once she met his eyes again. 

“I’m sorry I—“

“Let me walk you down. I know it’s not ideal— but you’re family, and Steve is my brother and I want you to have someone who loves you by your side the whole day— your day. Will you, YN YLN soon-to-be-Rogers, do me the honour of letting me walk you down the aisle and give you away to Steve.” He said, eyes kind but overwhelmingly serious, as if this was the most important thing to him. 

YN tried to quell the rise of tears from her eyes and her chin wobbled dangerously as she nodded. He gave her his most charming grin as he took her hand and looped it around his arm, squeezing her hand before raising his other hand to wrap around the handle of the door.

“You good to go?” 

“Don’t let me fall, Barnes.” YN said, voice shaking. 

“I got you, Kid.” He replied, and twisted the handle, pushing both doors open and leading YN out to the backyard. The swell of the wedding march sounded, and the crowd gasped, upon seeing YN and Bucky together. He lead her across the porch and down the steps and his eyes flicked up to Steve who seemed to be holding back from either crying, throwing up, or sprinting off the altar to sweep YN into his arms. Bucky looked down at YN who seemed to be focussed on her feet. He squeezed her arm, and leaned in to whisper into her ear. 

“Look up.” 

And when she did, Bucky could see YN’s world shift. Her steps were slightly quicker, and her eyes shined in the afternoon sun, and the death grip on his forearm loosened until he was afraid she would pick up her skirts and sprint to Steve, which he thought would be rather amusing. 

YN couldn’t breathe— she wanted to be in Steve’s arms and to wipe away the tears streaming down his cheeks and kiss him until either one of them passed out. The world around her seemed to fade away to nothing— the edges of her vision whiting out until the only thing she could see was Steve. He looked impossibly thick and long in his black suit, his shaking hands clasped in front of him, and she couldn’t help the smile spread across her face when she noticed he was bouncing on the balls of his feet slightly. She felt wholly in this moment, and yet, felt as if she was hyper aware of the world. She could feel the deer on the other side of the lake moving, and she could hear the birds chirping and fish jumping in the lake, and she could feel the wind on her skin and the heat of the sun, and if she could pick one moment to live in for the rest of her life, it would be this one. 

Finally, she looked up at his face, and the breath was stolen from her lungs at the smile on his face.

‘I love you,’ he mouthed, as she grew closer and she winked. 

‘I love you.’ She replied. 

Eventually— in a combination of too soon and not soon enough, YN and Steve’s hands are being joined by Bucky, and YN could barely hear anything the priest was saying— his voice a distant drone as she stared into the deep blue and green of Steve’s eyes— memorizing every emotion and colour and solidifying the memory of this day and how his gaze on her face made her feel. 

He blinked, and tears spilled from his eyes, and YN breathed out a laugh, pulling her hands from his and wiping them away with her thumbs. She let her touch linger for a mere second and hurriedly re-joined their hands when the priest cleared his throat. It was another five minutes before Steve squeezed her hands and she blinked out of her reverie. 

“Huh?” She uttered and flushed with embarrassment when the crowd chuckled fondly. 

“The vows.” Steve whispered and YN’s eyes widened.

“Oh. Uh— yeah.” She commented and Steve chuckled and smiled at her— all of the love in the world in his eyes. “Steve. I was trying to figure out what I was supposed to say in these vows, and usually, vows would start with something like ‘since the day that I met you, I knew you were the one’, but our love wasn’t like that. We started it backwards, and it was slow, and awkward but so fast and natural at the same time. Our love is scary, and bigger than us and a year ago, I couldn’t have pictured that my life would be the way it is now. It’s filled with so much joy, and so much laughter and comfort and thrill and it’s so overwhelming to the point of me wanting to scream off the rooftops so that the whole city can have a taste of how much I love you. I will love you for the rest of time, Steve Rogers, and we have so much of it and I can’t wait to get started.”

Steve let out a choked sob through his smile, and wiped his eyes again with the back of his hands, joining them and raising YN’s knuckles to press against his lips. 

“I met you, Yn YLN, while you were wearing a sexy pirate number on Halloween night. YN, you’ve added an excitement and thrill to my life that I have never had— something I tried to find saving the world or hiding from it. You’ve given me a purpose that can’t be fulfilled through a job— a purpose without an end. You’ve given me a purpose of love, and devotion, and a purpose to make your heart beat fast and your stomach flip and if we get to fall even more in love along the process then I’m excited for it. My love and purpose for you are bottomless, and you’ve taken my life in your hands and flipped it into something softer, and warmer and into something that I am proud to live. Loving you is the new purpose you’ve given me and I will thank you for it for the rest of my days.” YN could hear the sounds of people blowing their noses and sniffling and YN looked up, tears leaking from the outside corners of her eyes as she let out a shaking breath. 

“Shit.” YN cursed, smiling up at Steve who was mirroring her shaking shoulders. 

“Would the ring bearess please bring the rings?” The priest called, voice warm and soft. YN turned her head away from Steve for the first time since the ceremony had begun to watch Morgan slowly walk up to the altar, seemingly balancing two gold bands on one light blue pillow, despite the fact that they were tied with ribbon. He little tongue was poked out the side fo her mouth and her brow was furrowed in concentration until she reached YN and Steve who bent over and untied the rings, thanking Morgan with kisses and words and rising again to face each other. 

“Do you, YN YMN YLN, take Steven Grant Rogers to be your lawfully wedded husband, until the day you die?” 

“I do.”

Steve took YN’s hand in his own warmer one, and slid the band on her left ring finger, raising it to his lips to seal the promise of his love with a kiss, making YN’s heart flutter in her chest with the love she had for him. 

“Do you, Steven Grant Rogers, take YN YMN YLN to be your lawfully wedded wife, until the day you die?” 

“I do.”

YN sniffed, and took Steve’s left hand in her own, and with shaking fingers, slid the ring on, mimicking his actions and kissing his knuckle, watching in glee as his cheeks flushed even redder than they already were. 

“Then by the power vested in me, by the grace of God and the state of New York, I declare you YN and Steven Rogers! You may now kiss the bride.”

And Steve, evil glint in his eye, took YN’s waist in his hands, and swept her in a circle before dipping her low to the ground and planting his lips on hers through a toothy grin and elated giggles from his beautiful wife. 

And, as Steve grabbed his wife’s hand and lead her down the aisle— her bouquet raised in the hair and as rice was thrown over their heads Steve Rogers swore he could never be happier than he was in this very moment. 

___________________

“Lover”— Taylor Swift

“Please welcome, for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. Steve Rogers!” With a flourish of white and blue curtain, YN and Steve Rogers stepped out into the back yard, and gasped. The backyard had been changed from a summer camp cabin yard to an elegant shot from some romance movie. Fairy lights were strung from the tree to the edge of the deck roofing, and blue and white flowers were strung between them. The soft branches fo the willow tree were also weaved through the strings of the lights, giving the yard a sort of roofing structure which allowed the brightness fo the moon and stars to still be shown. Glowing warm lights were posted at every table and around the perimeter of the space, and frankly, YN had never seen anything quite like it. 

“Steve.” YN could only utter, and he squeezed her arm as if to say ‘I know’. He lead her through the clapping guests and up to the main table where they sat in the middle, with Natasha, Sam, Michaela and Bucky on either side of them. Without even having the chance to ask when the food would be served (YN was starved, and so was baby), caterers swept out from the house and down the stairs to elegantly place soup and salad and bread in front of them. 

The entire meal moved like this— entrees and meals served between speeches from friends and family— even Morgan had lamented about how much the Princess YN deserved a special day like this, and how she truly looked like royalty in the dress Uncle Bucky had chosen for her.  Sam, already drunk rambled about how much Steve deserved this and in the same breath, exposed every embarrassing thing Steve had done when he was seemingly alone. YN had cried laughing at that speech, and Steve looked between murderous and amused when Sam had told the entire crowd that Steve had waterboard himself on more than one occasion— the first time being ‘I wanted to see what it felt like’, the second time he had the hiccups and followed Natasha’s orders to drink water from the other side of the glass to quell them, and the third time was when Steve was watching cartoons and was too lazy to move from his upside down position on the couch to take a drink of water. 

“You are too cute for your own good, Rogers.” YN giggled in his ear, drunk off joy and the energy of the crowd. 

Finally the meals ended, and the tables were cleared and pushed into the periphery of the yard— far enough fr the thirty guests to dance, but close enough to fall into at a moments notice. 

“I think this is our queue,” Steve mumbled and offered his hand which his wife smiled graciously and took, letting him lead her to the centre of the dance floor. While she knew Steve would have appreciated something slow, both YN and Natasha were thrilled with the final choice of song for the first dance. 

Steve spun her slowly into his arms as the slow guitar and bass filled the yard and swayed gently as Taylor Swift’s voice crooned the words to “Lover”. 

‘Have I known you 20 seconds, or 20 years.’

Steve huffed a laugh at the lyric, smiling down at his beautiful wife and pressing his forehead against hers. 

“Have I told you how breathtaking you are today?” He murmured and YN snorted, pressing as close to him as her bump would allow. 

“Once or twice.” She replied, smiling up at him, and she swore the gold light of the candles and firelight made his skin glow and his eyes the deepest blue she’d ever seen. The eyes which had seen so much trauma and bad were so soft on her, taking in every speck of glitter and every bit of blush and every freckle which poked through the thin later of makeups he was wearing. 

The wold seemed far away as the two swayed together, simply trying their best to live in the moment and in each other. 

‘I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover.’

“I love you, Steve Rogers. Never thought I could be this happy again.” YN whisered, her hand curling through his dark blonde hair curled at the base of his neck. He grinned and bent down, pressing his soft lips against hers and drinking her in, running his tongue on her bottom lip to remember her taste. He pulled away and she laughed, thumbing the pink lipstick off of his mouth before kissing it once more. 

“I’m happy we feel the exact same way.” He replied, placing his forehead on hers and rubbing his nose against hers. Their lips barely brushed as they shifted around the room once more. 

The world came back to them soon enough with the sound of whistles and applause, and both YN and Steve blushed happily— not int he shame of being caught or exposed for their love, but for the fact that their love was so accepted and celebrated and it was almost overwhelming to see how happy their love made other people— let alone themselves. Finally— after seemingly waiting a lifetime, Steve and YN’s left ring fingers glinted the light as they were raised to the stars in celebration— never straying too far from one another at all. 

______________________

“Kiss - recorded at Spotify Studios NYC”— Kelly Clarkson / “Suit & Tie”— Justin Timberlake, JAY-Z

The bouquet had been thrown (Natasha had caught it, Bucky refused to make eye contact), the mead had been poured (Steve’s cheeks were flushed a healthy red, and Thor’s laugh boomed across the yard), the kids were huddled under a table, trying their damndest to stay awake with the snack they’d smuggled with them. Both Michaela and Sam had dissapeared multiple times over the course of the night— both returning seconds apart from one another with messy clothes and swollen lips, and YN had managed to sweep her mother away from Pepper multiple times over the course of the night to dance with her the way they used to in the kitchen, only to be interrupted by Steve who would wink at you and take your mothers hand. Morgan had graciously saved you from dancing alone after those incidents— both of you jumping up and down excitedly. Shoes and jackets were thrown haphazardly over table and chairs and drinks lay on their sides, long forgotten. 

Finally, the final event of the evening before people were allowed to disappear from the venue was called— the garter toss. 

“Would the groom and bride please return to the dance floor, please and thank you!” YN broke away from Pepper and her mom to the sound of Sams voice singing across the yard. In the middle of the dance floor were two things that made YN’s blood rush eagerly. 

A wooden chair. And Steve Rogers, smiling mischievously at her. 

Every time he had caught her eye over the course of the night, she grew more and more dizzy with love and lust for him. It had started when he’d shed his jacket— taught muscles pulling at the white fabric of his shirt, and his hair grew more and more mussed up the more he danced and jumped with his friends and wife. At some point, YN and Steve had been dancing, and in an attempt to seduce him, she’d undone his tie and left it there, undoing the top two buttons and kissing the sweaty skin she had revealed. 

Another two buttons and come undone since then— and bits of light brown chest hair began to show itself. He extended his hand towards her, and smiled— cheeks flushed bright and eyes shining with joy. YN blushed and walked across the floor to join him, letting him kiss her and place her gently in the chair before he nodded at Sam to start the music. The heady bass made YN’s heart pound as Steve began swaying his hips— the mixture of mead and wedding making him dorky and confident. His long fingers travelled up his chest and threaded another two buttons loose as he sauntered over to YN and turned, swaying his hips and grinding on her lap, making YN shriek with laughter and wipe tears from her eyes. His attempt at sexy was hilarious— and that was one of her favourite parts fo him. 

He spun around quickly, falling to his knees in front of her and surging up to kiss her lips before sinking down on his heels and wrapping a hand around her ankle. In front of everyone, he raised her ankle and planted a solid kiss on it, trailing them up her leg as he pushed her dress skirts higher up her body. After they had gotten to above her knee, he winked at her and flipped her skirts over his head, and YN clutched the sides of the chair as the crowd cat called them. She could feel him already working his magic on her skin. He was dragging his beard across her sensitive skin, and soothing the irritation with his lips and tongue. His hands were boiling hot, and his left hand wasted no time in pushing her thighs apart and pressing against the heated cotton of her underwear as his teeth found the fabric of the white garter wrapped around her thigh. YN couldn’t hold back her squeal as Steve pushed her underwear to the side and swiped two fingers up her core, gathering the slick of her pussy just as he began to pull the garter down her leg. He pulled out of the dress quickly, absently flinging it over his shoulder (it slapped pathetically against Bucky’s chest), and while everyone was distracted with the fact that both Natasha and Bucky had caught the omens of the next marriage, Steve raised his two glistening fingers to his lips and sucked them. He leaned over YN and kissed her, and she moaned lightly at the taste of herself on his tongue. 

“God, you’re going to be the death of me, Rogers.” YN cursed at him and he winked, only pulling his face inches away from hers. 

“Wanna go find a place to make out, Rogers?” He asked, breath smelling of YN and mead and mint, and YN shuddered a breath. 

“Yes, please.”

___________________________

 Tag List (send me an ask, ONLY. must interact with the fic more than a like): yesfanficsaremylife / notyourtypicalrose /  laurxn-robinson / disaster-rose / lille-kattunge / wwecrazed2010 / vxidnik / chewingoffmyfoot/ vitamingrant / captainamericasbeard / chrisgalore / songforhema / mmyepic / multifandommandy / tommyhoe / lostdarksoul6 / crist1216 / taeeemin / jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory / feelmyroarrrr / teller258316 / mrsdeanwinchester19 / qrangr / mariswritingforfun / nerdypinupcrystal / kittycatlover18 / laucontrerasv / printedpeterparker / @dumblani  / @captainomad / eversonaive / rainbowkisses31 / i-think-i-am-adorable / rainbowkisses31 / smalltintedgorl / geeksareunique / jennmurawski13 / clutteredmind-emptythoughts / venezuelaanklemayonnaise 

[the-power-of-stuff]

sukka modern AU road trip drabble #2

I am actually working on regular fic-sized fics, but whenever I get blocked, this road trip universe is a fun prompt for me. I’ve been on a few cross-country road trips, and apparently those experiences have given me a bunch of Suki x Sokka fodder... 

Also, uh, I don’t have a backstory for this or anything, since it’s just drabbles, so please forgive the fact that evidently in this universe Sokka does not come from a place with tons of snow. 😅

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

“Alright, maestro,” Suki said, smacking a kiss on Sokka’s cheek before burrowing herself under the covers. Sokka absently kissed the air where her face had been, distracted by the weather forecast on his phone. “What time do we have to leave in the morning?”

“Crap…” Sokka replied after scrolling frantically through the article he was reading. 

“What is it?”

“The forecast… Ten to fourteen inches of snow in the higher elevations, and this storm is passing right through our route.” He swiped quickly to another news report, then to a live traffic camera feed of the main highway. It looked clear now, but the snow wasn’t supposed to start until the next day. “Dammit, how could I have missed this?” 

He should’ve known. It was late October, in the mountains, of course there would be snow during this trip. They’d even gone out of their way to buy tire chains for the car just in case, but those were supposed to be more of an emergency situation kind of thing. He certainly hadn’t intended to drive through a huge snow storm. He didn’t even know how to use tire chains. It just felt like they’d be inviting disaster if they didn’t have them. 

Suki placed her hand on Sokka’s knee and squeezed. 

“Babe, it’s okay. Why don’t we just stay here an extra day? We’ll just skip whatever we had planned for tomorrow to make up the time.”

He whimpered a little thinking about it. They’d been planning to stop at this amazing donut shop in a city about an hour away the next morning, and he’d had his eye on a giant chocolate-glazed Oreo donut filled with Bavarian cream as well as these things called 8-hour fritters. He wasn’t sure how a regular fritter became an 8-hour fritter, but they were covered in a crackly sugar glaze and came in cherry-pineapple and that was all he’d needed to know. 

But there would be no donuts. Frowning, he turned his phone screen towards Suki so she could see the seven straight days of snowfall indicated on the weather app.

“If we stay, we might get stuck here, for who knows how long.”

“Okay, well...we’ll leave super early in the morning, try to beat the storm.”

It was the only thing that made sense. They’d have to leave hours earlier than they’d planned, and skip everything they’d been hoping to do in the mountains -- no donuts, no hiking, no hot springs. Then they’d be in the next city well in advance of check-in time at the next hotel, but-- 

“And if you’re going to be up all night worrying about this, I can do the drive,” Suki offered, interrupting his thoughts.

His frown deepened. He was pretty sure she hadn’t meant that as a dig, but when he replied, it was with indignation.

“I am not worrying, I’m planning. They are very different things.” 

*

The next morning, Sokka groggily handed the car keys over to Suki.

“Turns out staying up all night planning and staying up all night worrying have the same outcome,” was his grumpy surrender. But at least he’d found several options for killing time once they arrived at their next destination. 

Suki held his face between her hands when she kissed him and studied him for a moment after she pulled back. 

“Thank you for planning for us so well and taking such good care of us.”

The kiss and her words soothed some of his ragged edges, and he bumped her nose with his before getting into the passenger seat.

An hour into the drive, the snow started. They’d climbed a few thousand feet in elevation since their departure, and Sokka was anxiously -- no, prudently -- watching the shoulders of the highway for accumulation and ice. There was barely a dusting on the grass off the shoulder, but they kept passing electronic signs proclaiming that tire traction and chain laws were in effect, so the way he saw it, one could never be too careful.

And Suki’s driving was perfectly fine, at least when she wasn’t flooring the gas to accelerate past trucks that had slowed in the weather.

“Suk, don’t you think maybe, given all these flashing warning signs out here, that you should pass those trucks a little more...gingerly?”

“Sokka, it’s fine. The roads are no worse than driving through some light rain.”

“But we’re gaining, like, two-hundred feet in elevation every minute, which makes the state of the roads unpredictable-”

“Yes, but you can tell they’ve been salted-”

“They’re still slick-”

“Sokka, I know how to drive!”

The car suddenly jerked to one side.

“Suki!”

“That was the wind! We got buffeted by that truck’s slipstream!”

Sokka saw Suki’s shoulders tighten as she took a deep breath and held. When she exhaled, her mouth scrunched to one side of her face, and he watched as her grip flexed a couple times on the steering wheel.

“Sokka,” she finally said, voice pointedly even. “I’ll slow down, but you should have just told me you were uncomfortable, instead of doubting my awareness of the risks.”

He nodded, too chastened to say anything, and shifted his gaze back out the passenger side window. The next time they passed a truck, it was by creeping degrees, and even though his anxiety had lessened, his stomach felt a little sour.

*

That night, Suki sat watching the snow from the safety of their hotel room, and Sokka watched her from where he was lounging on the bed. They’d managed to beat the worst of the storm, and although the drive had been mostly uneventful, Sokka was relieved to have the riskiest part of their journey well behind them. 

Suki was cradling a mug of cinnamon-flavored hot toddy, courtesy of the hotel bar, and had curled up in a chair by the window. Sokka could see her face in the window’s reflection, a soft and dreamy expression cast in the orange glow of the overhead light. After taking a shower, she’d put her hair up and changed into a loose, oversized sweatshirt, and she looked so cozy and beautiful his heart felt like it could burst. 

“It’s so pretty out. Like a snow globe. You should come see.”

She turned to look at him. Her cheeks were a little rosy from her drink, which made her eyes look somehow both darker and more vibrant, and how was it possible that she was causing him physical pain right now?

“I can see how nice it is from here,” he said, giving her what he thought of as his Extra Charming grin. She smiled back at him warmly and only rolled her eyes a little bit, so he considered the gesture a success. “Want to come watch scary movies with me?”

Seriously, if she kept looking at him like that, all glowy and earnest, he was going to combust. He figured part of it was the beer he’d been nursing since they’d settled into their room, and part of it was the euphoria brought on by the catharsis he’d experienced after getting through the mountains, but mostly it was just the fact that he was so utterly, completely gone for this girl.

“Let’s watch Dream Warriors,” she suggested, eyes bright as she made her way over to the bed.

Once she was snuggled up against him, Sokka pressed his nose to the crown of her head and whispered into her hair, “I’m sorry.”

Suki pulled away with a look of surprise.

“For what?”

“For yelling at you in the car. For doubting you.”

“Sokka…” she smiled that warm smile again. Without the eye roll this time. “It’s okay.” Then she leaned up to kiss him, and he tasted cinnamon and bourbon on her lips. She tasted like comfort. “It was a stressful day. And you were sleep deprived. And you can’t stand not being in control.”

“Hey!” 

“So, I forgive you. But only because you’re going to do all the driving tomorrow.” Her smile was broad and innocent.

He sighed. “Fair.” And then he kissed her forehead. “Thank you. For driving the whole way today. And for taking such good care of us.”

Suki brushed her nose against his, mimicking his response to the same words she’d given him that morning.

“Okay,” he said, getting the movie ready after a few moments of simply basking in her. “Let’s get this show on the road. Or should I say, on Elm Street.”

He grinned cheekily when Suki slid a narrow sideways glance his way, one of her eyebrows arched.

“Hey, Freddy Krueger? I hardly know her!”

“Sokka! Oh my god, just start the movie!” 

*

sukka modern au road trip drabble #1

[parachutingkitten]

So here's the sitch, Pixal has ice powers, she knows it, and the show has been dancing around it for seasons now, and I'm here to tell the writers how to make the reveal happen.

(Fair Warning, this is a long one)

So, for those of you who have somehow never heard this theory before, Zane gave Pixal half his heart, Zane's heart is heavily implied to be the source of his elemental power, hence Pixal should theoretically be able to use it. Let's go over the evidence, shall we?

Season 3 Zane splits his heart and his spinjitzu stops working. He gets it back later in the series, my guess is just over time his body gets used to the amount of power available to him. But this clearly shows the heart has some effect on his powers.

Season 8 they make a point of having Zane mention that "you have half of my heart" implying that though these two have been rebuilt, those two pieces are still a part of their hardware.

Season 11 Pixal is able to use the staff of forbidden spinjitzu. She doesn't get crazy hair, but her eyes do glow. As apposed to Kai (whose powers are stolen at this point) who gets no reaction from the staff. This implies some level of powers, right? Maybe dormant powers that have yet to reach their true potential? Thing is, the ninja must have known whoever sent them had to have powers of some kind (at least subconsciously) and Pixal must have volunteered to stay behind. So she must have known it was possible for her to use the staff.

Her whole arc the past few seasons has been about the ninja... kinda ignoring her. No one guesses or finds out early that she's Samurai X (like happened for Nya). She stays behind on missions all the time. The ninja don't notice when she builds a giant base in the house, and kinda take her for granted time after time, depending on her gadgets to get them out of tight situations, and then running off to have fun with them. Granted, most of this is played for laughs, but it wouldn't be too far fetched for Pixal to reach her true potential connected to this kinda tension. There are two ways this could go over the course of the season, but the end result is the same.

The Big Moment:

The ninja did something stupid and get captured, even though Pixal told them very deliberately to be careful cuz her suit is out of commission rn and she's not sure how soon it will be ready to go into action again. But, she's the ninja's last resort, she gets the distress signal, grumbles for a second, but decides to take her unstable mech out to save them. She finds them. They're in some giant cage in the middle of some evil lair or something. Idk. Anyway, she fights the villain. She has to abandon her suit at some point cuz it's malfunctioning. The team is all like "oh no, she'll never make it! Get out of here while you still can Pixal!" Pixal looks around at the room, and then back at the team, and then directly at Sensei Wu, and sighs. "I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this." Sensei Wu is all like "It's time." They all start freaking out cuz the robots on the team have a tendency for self sacrifice. No one wants that. But Pixal calmly approaches the villain, closes her eyes, she starts floating, epic true potential glowy eyes and BOOM! Ice blast destroys the villains and saves the day. The whole room is coated in ice. The Ninja are flipping out over what just happened. "WHAT?! PIXAL CAN USE ICE?! HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN YOU COULD DO THAT?!" Pixal just knowingly smiles. "Long enough."

There are two routes from here.

Option 1: that wasn't her true potential, she reached it long before then.

The next episode is a flashback to an episode earlier in the season where we only saw her at the beginning of the episode. It's the story of her reaching her true potential. It's an episode about her going back to her roots and clear out the baggage from her past that’s holing her back. Stuff with Borg and coming to terms with the fact that she’s pretty much the only droid from that original season 3 line that survived. True potential on top of Borg tower. That would be an awesome image. Just another true potential episode. Wu is the only one on the team who saw this/knows about it. Maybe they have some talk at the end of the episode about "do I even use this power?" And Sensei Wu is just like "You'll know when."

Cut back to the end of last episode, the ninja have a bunch of questions. Maybe you can have a funny montage of all the times she's used her ice powers to help the team without them noticing. This option is a quicker way to do it, and results in Pixal looking super epic and on top of everything. But, it has a true potential episode with none of the ninja present which is kinda abnormal.

Option 2: that WAS her true potential and there has been build up all through the season

Pixal is feeling especially disregarded one episode. It ends with her being kinda bitter towards the team, and as a closing stinger maybe she slams a door, and we zoom in, and right where her fingers were, there's frost on the edge.

What?!

Next episode, there's a scene of Pixal meditating. She has some Zane style visions of things to come in the season all relating to ice- but she gets interrupted by someone- again we see some trace of ice as she leaves the room.

Maybe you have a few more teases like this if you want.

Later, she approaches Wu. She's known since season 11 that she has potential for ice power. He's known too. They talk it out. She's felt the ice more prominently lately, but she doesn't know what to do about it. She hasn't reached her true potential yet or anything. She doesn't want to step on Zane's toes, she likes just being Samurai X, and she knows that the power isn't really hers. It was given to Zane for a reason. Wu is all like "yeah, but Zane then gave it to you for a reason." She doesn't have a responsibility to use it necessarily, but she shouldn't be afraid to use it if she needs to. Some other wholesome bonding stuff and what not.

There's a couple of glances between the two over the course of the season, finally culminating in the true potential scene with the ninja from earlier. This option is defiantly longer, but results in a more rounded character arc.

Extras:

The important thing here is that in either scenario, Pixal rarely uses her ice powers after this. Especially in combat. It's like a last resort, season finale superpower sorta deal.

If you want a more concrete reason for this other than she’s just humble and doesn’t feel like using it, maybe Pixal's systems aren't equipped for ice powers, and it actually damages her whenever she uses them. She can be very up front about this and the team gets worried, or maybe she tries to hide it, but eventually it becomes too much for her. You could also use this as a way to get another droid self sacrifice scene, cuz we all know this show loves those.

Also notice, her true potential doesn't have to do with Zane in either of these scenarios. Her true potential should separate her from him to be her own independent character.

Of course, there is a third option of having a whole season dedicated to Pixal as a character and she reaches her true potential at the end. Bring back Cryptor, maybe. The main villains are the 15 older models of herself. Lots of wholesome Borg content. But that's very unlikely at this point.

Thanks for reading this far! On a very small side note... I don’t think I’ve ever seen any Pixal-as-an-ice-elemental-art. Just kinda strange considering this theory has been around since season 3.

Anyway, there's some good ideas in here. Pixal is an awesome character with awesome potential. Don't waste it writers.

[caranfindel]

Recap/review 15.13: “Destiny’s Child”

THEN: The pizza man! Megstiel! Oh, lord, I love these two. Ruby 2.0. Lots of pizza for some reason. Jack is soulless. Chuck is destroying his worlds.

NOW: Bunker. The guys are doing research in the library when they hear a weird loud noise. They rush into a room I don’t recognize and find a cute little seafoam green Fiat. With Kansas plates. {Sidebar: I’m thrilled to see Kansas plates. I wish Baby would get replated before the end.} As Savage Garden sings about ch-ch-cherry cola feelings at the base of your spine, two feet (but only one sock) emerge from the Fiat, and those feet are connected to… Sam and Dean! Well, AU versions of them, anyway. As real Sam and Dean watch in horrified confusion, we get glimpses of AU Sam and Dean – an expensive watch, non-flannel clothes, AU Sam’s hair half up. An open rift glows behind them. “Well,” says AU Sam, “we did it.” The AU brothers fistbump (which is smart; you don’t want to shake hands with coronavirus and all) and we see AU Sam is wearing an Apple watch. Which I think the OG Winchesters should wear, considering how often they seem to miss important texts.

All four make eye contact.

Dean? Sam? Sam? Dean? What the hell? What the heck?

The rift flares brighter, AU Dean says “Aw, nuts,” and the AU brothers and their cute little car are sucked back out of our world.

Title card!

Time jump. OG Sam and Dean are telling Cas about their doppelgangers. Dean is particularly disturbed by their car (as am I, because there’s no way those two big guys would be running around in a tiny little Fiat, no matter how fucking cute it is). And all three are just completely confused. Which is odd, considering that they know 1) there are AU versions of themselves in AU worlds, and B) people can move between those worlds. I don’t know why they can’t wrap their heads around AU Winchesters showing up in the bunker.

“How did they get here?” Dean asks. The answer comes from Billie. “They were running. Because God was destroying their reality. He’s almost done wrapping up those other worlds.” And when he finishes his other worlds, he’s coming after the Winchesters. It’s time move on to the next step in Billie’s plan for Jack. Our boy enters on cue, eating a sandwich and announcing he’s ready. Billie explains that the first step (eating angel hearts, ew) was to prepare his body, and the next step is “more spiritual in nature.” He has to find something called the Occultum.

The Occultum? That’s Latin for “hidden.” Where do we find it? I don’t KNOW. It’s HIDDEN.

Hee!

Smart Sam, slightly embarrassed chastised Sam. Love ‘em both.

They don’t really even know what it is, let alone where it is. Or maybe Billie knows what it is, and just isn’t talking. She stresses that since everything will go tits up if God finds out what they’re doing, they need to be ready, and vigilant. “And not stupid.”

Oh, Billie. It’s too late for that.

Research time. Sam’s frustrated, Dean’s distracted. Because he remembered Amara, and he thinks maybe Jack is supposed to kill Amara too. Sam scoffs at that, but Dean reminds us him that the world will be out of balance if Chuck is gone but Amara remains. Sam asks “But then who takes over? Jack?” Jack wanders in, blowing a bubblegum bubble, and proudly announces that he just learned how to do it. “Probably not,” Dean says. Heh. The guys question Jack about how, exactly, he’s going to strike God down, and either he doesn’t know or, again, he’s not talking.

{Sidebar: Neither of them thought anyone needed to take over as God if Chuck was gone. They were, in fact, looking forward to a Godless world. Why, now, does Sam suddenly think someone needs to take over if both Chuck and Amara are gone? Yeah, I know the answer. Bad writing. Thanks, Buckleming!}

They must have brought the Amara situation up for a reason. It’s the kind of monkey wrench that the writers usually ignore if they don’t have a way to address it. What’s going to happen? Here are the possibilities I came up with:

Both Chuck and Amara are killed.

Jack replaces Chuck as God, which means Amara can go on playing keno.

Either Sam or Dean replaces Chuck as God, and Jack or Cas becomes the Darkness. (Neither Sam nor Dean can receive the Mark of Cain again, right? Isn’t that canon? Or is it fanon? And did Sam’s very brief experience with the Mark actually count?)

Jack replaces Chuck as God, and Cas becomes the Darkness. Or vice versa.

Billie pulls a deus ex machina and the whole Chuck/Amara balance thing becomes moot.

The whole Amara situation will never be mentioned again.

Cas wanders in, gathering information from Sergei. Sergei? Again? Will we never be shed of him? Dean agrees with me. “Him? Are we that desperate?” Apparently so. Sergei says the Occultum was housed in a temple until it wasn’t and Dean starts throwing out movie plots to hypothesize what might have happened to it. I’m sure that was amusing to some of you. Anyway, it ended up in the hands of a faith healer with glowy hands. Oh, who could that be? Well, if you didn’t cover the guest star credits, you didn’t see Danneel Ackles. And even if you did, I’m sure you’ve guessed that the faith healer is Sister Jo, who everyone calls Jo rather than using her angel name. Even Cas. I think we should start calling him Jimmy.

Sister Jo’s. She’s wearing some weird combo of satin slipdress/turtleneck/pink blazer. Any one of these items is fine. Together they’re awful. Sam and Dean show up, asking where the Occultum is, and threatening her with angel blades when she refuses to spill the beans. Which doesn’t seem very threatening to me. As an angel, she’s still so much more powerful than they are. (Whatever.)

She says “I gave it to an old friend of yours – Ruby.” And Sam’s first response is “why would you give it to her” instead of “wait, we killed her years before you fell to earth and became a faith healer.” {waves to Buckleming} We get some ridiculous backstory (and again I don’t understand why an angel cares so much about couture brands) about how she was working with Ruby and oh, look, it’s Ruby 2.0! {Sidebar: I covered the credits, as I said, so I didn’t notice that Genevieve Padalecki was not in them. I love the way Show tries to set up a surprise and then their PR department completely spoils it. Because yes, of course I knew Genevieve was coming back. Even the Unsullied couldn’t avoid that spoiler, especially because some people on Tumblr do not use spoiler tags!!! However, I was under the impression she’d be in the final episode, so it was a huge relief to see her in this one. Let’s waste all the nonsense on a Buckleming episode!}

Anyway. According to Jo, Ruby claimed she had a buyer for the Occultum. Jo gave it to her, and then the boys killed her so the deal did not go down. {Sidebar: Once again, Show, flashbacks to older, better episodes are not doing you any favors.} The Occultum is still where Ruby stashed it – in Hell. Dean rolls his eyes, because that’s all Hell is now. It doesn’t inspire terror, just an eyeroll. Hell is basically Walmart. And Dean’s eyeroll is tantamount to me saying “Shit, the only place I can get toilet paper is Walmart? Ugh.” And I hate that, friends. I really, really hate the way Hell has become no more than an unpleasant inconvenience.

Here. Have a palate cleanser.

Bunker. Jack is eating… everything. He and Cas talk about how he’s really into food now, but he doesn’t feel things like he did before he lost his soul. He makes another guilt-free reference about “what happened to Mary,” like he did right before they put him in the box, and wonders if Dean will ever forgive him. {Sidebar: He doesn’t care if Sam forgives him, or he knows Sam has/will? Discuss.} Cas says “You know, Dean, he feels things more acutely than any human I’ve ever known.” Because yes, Dean has to be the absolute bestest at everything, doesn’t he? {Sidebar: How long has it been since someone told Dean he was pretty? What if he forgets???} Anyway, Cas thinks maybe someday Dean will explode and release his Most Acutest Ever feelings and then Jack will be forgiven. (Foreshadowing!)

The guys enter the bunker, discussing Rowena’s spell to get into Hell, and Dean calls Sam “Samwitch.” \o/ Because, as we know, someone over there reads my LJ and/or Tumblr. Um. Does this mean it’s the Buckleming? If so, I’m going to need some time. Cas shows up and looks constipated and says “come with me” and it’s an odd transition because it seemed like they interrupted his talk with Jack, but actually it must be some time later.

Cas takes them back to the mystery room, which I guess was identified as the armory but it looks more like another library to me, and shows them a ghostly AU Sam and Dean. They’re trapped between worlds, apparently. Dean doesn’t care. When Cas assures him they don’t seem to be in pain, he’s ready to move on. I wonder how acutely he feels that.

Sam tells Cas that Ruby stashed the Occultum in Hell and Cas says “Ruby. The demon you were sexually intimate with.” Sam’s all, really, Cas, you’re going there? and it’s another episode of ha ha, funny Cas doesn’t understand human interactions, and then Dean goes all squinty eyed and says ”sexually intimate?” as if this is NEWS TO HIM and WHAT THE FUCKING WHAT, SHOW. This is not news to Dean. Sam told him ALL ABOUT IT in “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Dean even told him it was “too much information.” Sam told him EVERYTHING. And now we’re supposed to think he didn’t know Sam was banging a demon?

FUCKLEMING!!!!

Anyway. Cas thinks they should get some confirmation from Ruby before going to Hell, but she is inconveniently dead. And also, why would she tell them the truth, considering they’re the reason she’s inconveniently dead. The guys don’t want to wait. They tell Cas to stay in the car right outside the door to Walmart and keep the engine running keep the spell to open Hell going.

Hell. Ugh So cheesy; so much hate. The guys come across a minion who says Rowena is hosting a reception, and he’ll take them to her. But Ruth wasn’t in the credits (for those of you who saw the credits) so obviously this is a trap. Fighty fighty, blah blah blah. Turns out they were set up by Jo. We do get a bit of a post-exertion huff from Sam, so it’s not a total waste.

While this is happening, Cas decides to go to the Empty to question Ruby, because he’s pretty sure Jo isn’t telling the truth. He needs Jack to kill him to the point that he’s only mostly dead. And we’re reminded about his deal with the Empty, so I guess that’s still a thing. Cas gives Jack a flask to hold his life force, and tells him that if this goes badly, Cas will be lost forever. And if Jack doesn’t keep the spell burning, the Winchesters will be stuck in Hell and will be lost forever. Wow, a lot of things could go wrong here. Jack puts a hand on Cas’s forehead and we see Cas’s grace drain into the flask.

Sister Jo’s place. She’s packing up and fleeing.

The Empty. Cas calls for Ruby. “Hello, Clarence,” says a familiar voice. It’s Meg! \o/ Oh, no. It’s just the Empty Guy in Meg form. Dammit. Meg’s got to be in here somewhere, and I’d love to see some Megstiel action one more time before I die. But it is very nice to see Rachel Miner. Empty!Meg calls Ruby out from the darkness. Ruby fondly remembers Sam as “the big lug” and tells Cas a completely different story about her relationship with Jo. {Sidebar: I hate to say this, but Gen doesn’t look so good in this episode, and I also remember her as a better actor.} Ruby tells Cas the Occultum is “a place, a thing, whatever you want to call it.” She’ll tell him where it is if he gets her out of the Empty. He promises to try, and she whispers in his ear.

Back at the bunker, the guys have returned and are horrified to find that Cas is hopefully in the Empty, hopefully finding Ruby, hopefully finding the location of the Occultum, and Sam says “that’s way too many hopefullys!” Hee. They demand that Jack bring him back. In the Empty, Empty!Meg tortures Cas and says Billie promised she could go back to sleep as soon as this is all over, while in the bunker, Jack feeds him his life force.

Resurrected from the nearly-dead, Cas gets called an idiot, because neither of these guys have ever risked their lives to get information (ha ha, sure Dean). He tells the guys he knows where the Occultum is, and they’re ready to go. However, Jack points out that if Chuck notices they’re gone and figures out what they’re doing, it’s game over. True. But that was also true when they went to Hell, and it didn’t seem to be a problem. Anyway, Dean has an idea. He thinks they need a visible presence in the bunker, because this is where Chuck will look.

We don’t know that. We don’t NOT know that.

Hee! Down in the armory, the AU Winchesters are still stuck between worlds. Dean thinks they can open the rift and yank the guys back into this world. Conveniently, since they’re stuck adjacent to this world, Cas’s grace should be plenty. The AU brothers are playing rock-paper-scissors and maybe I’m missing something, but it sure looks like Dean throws scissors and Sam throws rock, which means Sam wins, but Dean acts like he won. Maybe it’s different in AU World. Maybe AU World rocks are very soft.

Sam does the spell, because the one good thing I still get to have is that Sam is in charge of the spellwork. The next thing we see is the OG brothers and the AU brothers at the map table, drinking beer. I’m pretty sure Jared is going to take AU Sam’s purple suit home after they shoot the last episode. The AU brothers are awfully prissy and don’t drink much beer – “Dad won’t keep it in the house. He only likes his private label Scotch. He spoils us.” Damn. They really are prissy. And John is alive, and went through the rift with them, but they don’t know where he is now. Nor do they seem concerned at all, even though they toast him as the “best guy ever.” The AU Winchesters hunt worldwide, and get paid, and have their own plane. The originals explain to the AUs why they need them to act as decoys. OG Sam tells AU Sam that he’ll have to “lose the manbun” and AU Sam recoils in horror and this is NOT WORKING FOR ME. (Also, it’s not technically a manbun, it’s just half up.) I guess some of you loved them, and I’m sure J2 had fun playing them, but I’m just. Bleh. Rich hunters wouldn’t be fussy little twits. Maybe if they were MoL; I can see that. But hunters with money would, IMHO, be like those Duck Dynasty idiots. They’d still be wearing flannel, they’d just drive huge expensive SUVs.

Sam, who are these douches and why are they in our house?

{Sidebar: Why are all the AU Winchesters the same age as our Winchesters? If the other worlds were copies of ours, shouldn’t the AU brothers be younger? Shouldn’t we have Dylan Everett or Colin Ford here?}

Carrying on. The Impala pulls up to a church, and even Jack thinks this is too easy. But then it’s not, because we hear the distinctive growl of hellhounds. Dean gets the door unlocked just in time, and they all rush inside. Sam holds the doors closed as the other three casually wander around the church trying to find the Occultum. Sam is clearly having trouble, but no one comes to his aid. The sky conveniently clears, revealing a moonlit cross on the floor that marks the spot. Dean pulls up a floorboard and reveals a small blue velvet bag {Sidebar: Anyone else have a very similar Crown Royal bag full of cassette tapes in their car back in the 70s/80s? Or was that just me and my lowlife friends?} Inside the bag is an orb inscribed in Enochian: In order to be in the Occultum, the Occultum must be in you. Sam continues struggling with the door, and the others are all, you held the doors open against Lucifer himself, I’m sure you can handle a couple of silly hellhounds, which is true but still.

Bunker. AU Sam and Dean are cosplaying as our Sam and Dean, but not well. “They said lose the manbun, Samuel,” says AU Dean. “Look, hillbilly clothes are bad enough. I had to draw the line somewhere, and my hair is sacred.” Sam drinks beer with his pinkie extended, and hates it, and I’m sorry. I can’t stand this.

Scenes from the Writers’ Room

You know, last year, Jared got to play a couple of fun AU versions of Sam. I missed out on that.

Okay, but we’ve got you singing this year. And dancing.

Yeah, I know, but I really want to play a different version of Dean, too. I’m gonna be looking for jobs. I need to showcase all my talents.

All right, we can do that.

Also, make sure someone tells Dean he’s pretty.

Anyway. AU Dean is growing to enjoy beer, and he finds porn on Dean’s laptop (leave it to the Buckleming to bring back Busty Asian Beauties, ugh), and he thinks the OG life – nothing but beer, monsters, and porn – might not be so bad after all. AU Sam decides he agrees.

Back at the church, Sam is still the only thing between the rest of TFW 2.0 and grim death. As Cas and Dean squabble over what to do next, Jack figures out the obvious and swallows the Occultum. He collapses and glows and is transported to… Eden! Which has astroturf! And a weird girl who says Eden will change him “if you’re the one meant to find it.” She disappears and a snake appears in the tree. (Hello, Crawly!) “Who are you really?” it hisses. “Who are you meant to be?” Jack has some flashbacks to his best times and worst times and falls to the ground, crying. Then he appears back in the church as a glowing orb which immediately heads straight toward Sam, if you didn’t notice. But I did. Then it floats back to Cas and Dean. Sam collapses and the door opens, but the ball of light disperses the hellhounds and leaves Jack on the floor.

Aftermath! Bunker. Dean is dismissing the AU Winchesters. AU Dean suggests they all live there together, and OG Dean turns them down. He thinks they need to go to Brazil, and refuses their request to keep the flannel shirts. AU Dean tells him they saw the car – and drove it. I wonder when they did that, since the OG Winchesters drove it to the church. Huh. But that’s not what bugs me most about this. What bugs me most is that there’s NO WAY IN HELL (not even new, wimpy Walmart Hell) that Sam and Dean would have let those guys go. Would have turned them loose without any support. No fucking way.

Dean joins Sam, who is standing sadly in the hallway outside Jack’s door. Cas comes out of his room and says Jack is okay, but something is different. They go inside and oh, it’s not Jack’s room, it’s the kitchen. Jack is sitting at the table, crying. He apologizes for not understanding that killing Mary was his fault and begs for forgiveness. Looks like someone has been resouled. And – scene!

So. I didn’t really care for this one. In fact, it kind of made me lose hope for the rest of the season. And maybe the will to live. But I’m not going to dwell on that. I’m going to dwell on this: We don’t need any more side characters, even if they’re Sam and Dean.

Scenes From the Writers’ Room

Okay, who else can we bring back?

What about Ruby? I know a lot of fans would like to see some closure for her story.

I thought she had closure? When they killed her?

{laughter}

Good one. Yeah, let’s bring her back and wrap her story up. And we’ll give Cas and Jack some time too.

But we’ve gotta use the guys at some point. People are gonna complain.

I’ve got an idea – what if we have Jared and Jensen play two different people, rather than Sam and Dean?

You, my friend, are a fucking genius!

But if we had to get two AU Winchesters, couldn’t it have been the ones from Sam’s nightmares? Wouldn’t Boy!King Sam or MoC Dean have been awesome? And what if, after the AU Winchesters tumbled into the bunker, AU Sam quietly pulled OG Sam aside.

I need to talk to you. Alone. What is it? Do you have a secure room? Someplace we can ward? Why? Um… I’m not sure how to explain… Do you have Cain and Abel in your world? {Sam visibly blanches} We’ve got a dungeon. Come help me set it up. Now.

Wouldn’t that have been better than this crap? Or what about Samifer? Wouldn’t Sam and Dean’s reactions to Samifer have been magnificent? (Yeah, I know. We didn’t need a whole Plot. We just needed a small Device.)

And it turns out they’re not airing any more new episodes until… who knows when. Which means we’re stuck with this one. If I die and the last new episode of Supernatural I ever get to see is a fucking Buckleming episode, I’m going to be so pissed. I will come back and I will be haunting some asses. Enough whining. What did you think? And please help me stay unspoiled; thanks!

[embarrassingsmartphonegame]

Anything (Chapter 6, Final Chapter) - Nik Ryder x f!MC

Summary: After surviving an attempt on her life, she discovers there are worse fates than dying. And they’re all ice cold.

Warnings for this chapter: implied (off-screen) N*FW, discussions of trauma and therapy, a short tid bit at the end involving animal violence/death, and plenty of fluff and other domestic stuff

Links to previous chapters: one // two // three // four // five

One year later…

Nothing.

Nothing.

‘Everything.’ Leah thought fondly as she sleepily stared at the man sleeping next to her. Thin rays of golden light trailed through the spaces between the blinds of the window facing the bed, making the man in question flutter his eyes open. She smiled brightly and moved closer until she was snuggled close to him, and he lazily wrapped an arm around her.

“Too early…” Nik grumbled, pulling Leah closer to his chest with both arms. “Go back to sleep.”

“I don’t wanna get up either, but we gotta,” Leah said with her voice muffled against his bare chest. “We have things to do today.”

Leah giggled as Nik groaned, releasing her and rolling over on his other side. She learned quickly in the past year that he was not a morning person due to the frequency they have to take down the things that happen to go bump in the night. So she, who happened to be a morning person and seemingly full of boundless energy, became the default alarm clock (and a damn good one if she said so herself).

“Come on, sleepy head! Time to get up!” she declared, sitting up and letting the cool morning air hit her own exposed chest. Nik rolled back over and let his eyes trail appreciatively over her form.

“Well damn, you’ve convinced me.” Leah blushed at his comment and his eyes glued to her body. Besides the night she came back, only a few months prior she wouldn’t take her shirt off in front of him, self conscious about her scars being examined so thoroughly by someone she actually cared about. She briefly recalled the night she let him see them intimately, and the memory of him being so patient and tender with her made her melt. Leah playfully nudged him.

“Now is not the time for that; we have quite a day ahead.”

“I know, I know. But can’t a guy appreciate his woman on a fine sunny morning?” Nik grinned innocently and propped himself on one elbow, completely scarred abdomen in full view. Leah ran a hand through his soft but sticking-out-in-all-directions morning hair, smoothing it back into place somewhat.

“You can appreciate me as we get ready to leave.” With that, Leah jumped out of their bed and began looking through the closet. Nik got up after her and wrapped his arms around her, and Leah sighed, pretending to be exasperated.

“You’re gonna have to stop touching me, babe.”

Nik glided his rough, callused hands on her skin, and he nipped at her neck not-so-gently. “Not what you said last night, babe.”

Leah felt a shiver run up her spine as she turned around so they were face to face. She rested her arms on his shoulders and gazed up at him, a challenge in her eyes. “Oh yeah? I don’t recall any of that.”

“Need me to remind you, huh?” He pulled her even closer by the waist and brought his lips down to hers passionately, and she enthusiastically reciprocated. They kissed freely because there was nothing stopping them; that little apartment was their place. No monsters, no ghosts, nothing trying to kill them. And she relished these moments of peace.

“Mmm, I might remember something…” Leah pulled away slowly. She turned around with one of her hands grasping his behind her, leading him to the bathroom. “But we’re on a schedule. Come remind me in the shower?”

When she turned around to look at him, his face was split into a bright smile as he hurried after her.

==============================================

Half an hour later, the two Nighthunters sat at the small kitchen table, both dressed and ready for the day. In the past year since Leah moved in with Nik, the apartment had changed significantly. Besides the fact that Nik was more motivated to do upkeep on the place, Leah put her own touches. What once were stacks of potentially cursed books and tomes scattered on the floor were now neatly placed in a modern glass bookshelf and organized alphabetically. All of the weapons were cleaned and polished and displayed neatly. She even found pictures of Nik and Elijah from when he was younger and framed them, and the misty eyes she got from him when he saw what she did was all the thanks she needed. He would freely admit that she made everything in his life better, and she could finally say that she was home. That place was now their home, warm and welcoming.

Leah hummed contentedly as she stirred the cinnamon in her coffee like she usually did, and Nik perused the newspaper casually.

“I still don’t see the appeal of cinnamon in coffee,” the man next to her said, looking at her cup. “It doesn’t even dissolve all the way.”

“That itself adds to the flavor,” she replied, taking a sip. “I don’t know why you like yours black; do you have to be so dark all the time?”

Nik rolled his eyes, sipping on his own cup of black coffee. “What can I say, darkness is my one defining personality trait.”

“That, and running away from unicorns, ya giant softie.”

“They’re vicious!”

“Vicious and adorable!”

Leah laughed, and Nik couldn’t help but chuckle with her. “Vicious and adorable, huh? Now those are your defining personality traits.”

“Aww you think I’m cute, Ryder?” Leah cooed, smiling coquettishly at him.

“Why you think I keep you around, Mendoza?” Nik replied, using her last name instead of the usual nicknames (rook, babe, sugar, darlin’, etc.). It was rare that he’d use her first name, and Leah was used to responding to a variety of pet names.

“Wow and here I thought you liked me for my mind,” Leah teased. “Or my magic glowy hands.”

At the mention of her powers, the atmosphere suddenly became more serious; they both remembered why it was a special day, besides it being the anniversary of her return to New Orleans. Nik reached over and intertwined their fingers before speaking. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

Leah squeezed his hand and nodded. “Yes. It’s been a year now and I’ve made a lot of progress and stayed away for too long; it’s time.”

“Say the word and we’ll go.”

==============================================

After putting on their signature jackets (and sneaking a few kisses here and there), the pair got into Nik’s car and drove off. They held hands the entire drive and the entire walk through the woods and the open field, and Leah took several deep breaths to calm her nerves. She felt like a specimen on a Petri dish again under the scrutiny of the cathedral guarding Lamrian.

“Hey…” Nik began, bringing their intertwined fingers up to his lips to kiss her hand. “Just remember, I’m here for you. You don’t have to do this alone.”

Leah smiled radiantly. “I know. Thank you.”

A Fae guard approached them from the shadows, and he was as dutiful and tight lipped as Leah remembered from the year before. She waved nervously at him.

“Uh, hey, I know it’s been a while but I’m—”

“I remember.” He bowed deeply and stepped aside, gesturing for them to walk into the cathedral. “Welcome home, daughter of Lamrian.”

Leah and Nik walked into the cathedral, which promptly turned into a familiar grand throne room. Leah could see Lady Thalissa writing on an ornate ledger. She turned back to Nik, who gave her an encouraging nod.

“Go on, then. I’ll be here.”

Leah steadied her breathing and stepped forward towards her stepmother. At the sound of her footsteps, Thalissa looked up from her work.

“Leah…” she whispered, surprise on her Fae features. She immediately cast aside her quill and dashed over, wrapping Leah in a warm hug. Leah breathed in her sweet-pea perfume, instantly feeling comfort.

“I’m sorry I was away for so long. After everything...I needed some time,” Leah apologized, looking her stepmother in the eyes.

Thalissa squeezed her hand. “Do not apologize, my darling. I understand the need for solitude in the midst of grief. Losing my greatest love, losing my son...I could hardly speak to another soul for months.”

Leah looked down in shame. “I hope you and the citizens of Lamrian got my apology. I never meant to disrupt your lives so much.”

Thalissa tilted her chin up, and she smiled softly with tears shining in her eyes. “There are no apologies necessary. Even though we are not bound by blood, I consider you my daughter. Oh how I’ve missed you; the sun is now shining on my heart.”

Leah smiled back, her eyes also filling with tears. “I missed Lamrian and everything in it. I...I was actually able to access my magick a year ago and can do a few things.”

“My dear Elric wanted to teach you Fae magick,” Thalissa began, her expression betraying the scantest hint of surprise at hearing that she could use magick in a significant way. “I would keep that promise for him, should you wish it.”

Leah smiled impishly. “Will you teach me how to make grimfire?”

Thalissa let out a surprised laugh, pinching her cheek affectionately. “Let’s begin with the basics.”

She turned and drew a glowing portal into the starry fields of the Fae Realm. She stepped into the portal and gestured for Leah to join her. Leah looked back at Nik, hesitating for a moment on the border between her two worlds. He gave her a small wave.

“Don’t be gone too long, all right? You and I have a date with a rampaging ghoul later.”

Leah visibly relaxed, knowing that her home in the mortal world wouldn’t leave once she stepped into the Fae world. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Taking a deep breath, she walked through the shining portal, joining Thalissa. The portal closed behind them as she inhaled the smells around her.

“Maybe Cal was onto something...it does smell different than the human world,” Leah mused, taking in everything around her as they walked.

“I take it your friends have been helping you adjust to your new life?”

Leah grinned. “Definitely. You remember Cal, Katherine, and Vera? And that man with me was Nik, my partner.”

Thalissa smiled genuinely. “Of course! Such a nice group, and that man is clearly enamored with you.”

“I don’t know how I got so lucky,” she replied, shaking her head in disbelief. “After Elric died, I just...I ran away. I couldn’t take it and I was destroying myself. It took a friend flying all the way to Wyoming and my father to appear to me for me to come to my senses.”

“Ah, yes. My darling also came to visit me shortly after he passed,” Thalissa said, a dreamy look on her face. Leah took a good look at her and noticed even more fine lines on her face in the starry lighting of the open field. “I could hardly function, but remembering that he was always watching me helped. And your message gave me hope that you would one day truly return.”

“And I’m here,” Leah corroborated. “It took a lot of group therapy and grief counseling with my friend Katherine, who’d also lost someone. Things weren’t suddenly all better just because I moved, but they’re getting there. I got a new life by giving my old one away, and I don’t regret that for one moment.”

Thalissa squeezed her hand. “Wise words from such a young one. You’re right; it will take time to heal this hurt, both personally and for our people. But I’m happy I can have my daughter with me now. Oh, and I almost forgot: Cassie will be so happy to see you too.”

“She’s been with you this entire time?” Thalissa nodded and Leah smiled radiantly, remembering her perrikin.

Leah’s heart had never felt so full that day as they continued to talk and Thalissa taught her the basics under the magickal sky. As she said her goodbyes later with promises to return for more lessons and to engage the people of Lamrian at a later date, and as she and Nik (and Katherine) hunted that night, Leah took it all in with a huge smile on her face. To think that she was once stuck in a dead end job in Wyoming and no knowledge of who she truly was. It had been a life-changing year, but she wouldn’t trade it for anything.

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In an unnamed part of the bayou, two female figures cloaked in black hoods stood side by side. Fireflies buzzed around, the only source of light in the night. The one with many faces and even more memories of time spoke first.

“The thrice-cursed son finally figured out it was I who hired him. He was not pleased when he confronted me today. Shame it took him so long; mortals are unfortunately so slow.”

The woman next to her, who did not have quite as many faces, scoffed in response. “You think that’s bad? She still thinks it was a coincidence that her dimwit friend and dead father showed up on the same night!”

The Fate turned to her, her face suddenly wrinkled and full of anger. “What did I tell you about using your magick for things like this?”

The woman rolled her chocolate brown eyes. “Cassiopeia did a real number on her by sending that monster. Things were going to get worse if I didn’t step in!”

“You forget, Jacqueline, that I am the only one who can foresee. This is my final warning not to meddle in which you do not know!”

With that, the Fate evaporated away, leaving her alone with her thoughts. The witch silently walked away eventually, and in the process walked by a giant dead alligator. She shook her head at the site and disappeared into the shadows.

==============================================

A/N: Anddd that’s it, folks! At least for this story. Surprise, I managed to finish it within 2019! I’ll see you all when I’m well under way my next Nightbound series. Thanks again for reading and I hope you have an amazing start to the new year 💗💗💗 

My tag list will be in a comment because I had to bring my laptop in for repair, and my iPad makes it too difficult to do the tags in the post itself.

[snow-lavender]

The Last Day of Normality

AKA, “Why is there a superpowered teenager in my kitchen?”

Word count: 3075

Didn’t have anything specifically written for Jackie’s birthday today, so I decided to post something I had pre-written. This is my take on Jackie's first appearance. Fully headcanon!

Heads up, contains trans JBM, I know that’s really not some people’s thing.

AO3 link: here

July 10th, 2016

Jackie was done.

He couldn’t deal with this anymore. Fuck his classmates and fuck the school policy and fuck his Aunt Doris and fuck Irish conservatism and just...fuck. He dumped all the books and supplies out of his backpack and threw it onto the bed. You need to start acting properly. Jackie snorted. Yeah, that wasn’t gonna happen anytime soon. Your niece has some behavioral issues we need to address. Of course leave out the fact that the people he kept fighting were total assholes. Any more suspensions and we may have to consider expulsion. As the floorboards creaked, he noticed he was shaking. He tried to take a deep breath and calm down and...no, screw that, he needed to punch something. 

You have such a bright future ahead.

Thump, went the pillow.

You can’t solve every problem like this

Thump.

I’m glad you’re experimenting, but you’ll be an adult soon.

Thump.

What will people think?

Thump.

I have your best interests at heart. 

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Jackie paused, shoulders heaving. It felt like he’d been going at it for ten minutes, but, like always, his clock showed that only two had passed.

I have your best interests at heart. Yeah, that was the problem, wasn’t it. Doris legitimately thought she was in the right, thought they had the same plans for Jackie’s life, expected that her perfect little child would be just that. Perfect.

And Jackie loved her, he really did. Doris was the only family he’d ever known. But damn it, he couldn’t spend another day in this house. 

He grabbed his bag and went to raid his closet. Jeans, shorts, loose tees, sports bras, everything was dumped unceremoniously in. Laptop, chargers, socks, toothbrush- photos.

Jackie stared at the two photos on top of his bookshelf. One was of his parents, cuddling a small bundle of blankets. The other was of him and Doris from a few years ago, smiling in front of the Cliffs of Moher. He hesitated, then shoved them both in his bag as well.

‘hey, can i come over? -Jackie’. He shot off a text to one of his friends, then paced around the room, trying to burn energy.

“Jackie, dinner’s in ten minutes!” his aunt yelled up. 

‘Now? -Morgan :P’

‘preferably -Jackie’

“Alright, I’ll be there soon!” he replied.

‘Kay. Need a drive? -Morgan :P’

‘i can walk -Jackie’

Well, it was now or never. He shouldered his pack and reached for the doorknob...the fuck?

Jackie turned around, blinking in the sudden bright light. A green orb floated in the centre of his room. “What?” he murmured under his breath, reaching out to touch it-

Then there was a flash, and nothing remained in the bedroom but piles of scattered belongings. 

>=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=<

Jackie blinked the spots out of his eyes. When had he fallen on the floor? He moved to get up, then froze when he felt the floor. That wasn’t the carpet from his bedroom. He looked around as his vision cleared up. Instead, he was in a small, wood furnished kitchen. 

“What the fuck?” came a voice to his left.

Jackie looked over. In front of him was a man in his mid-twenties, looking just as confused as he felt. Jackie blinked away the blue glow around him, eyes still spotty from the flash.

“Who the hell are you? How did you get into my apartment?” the man asked.

“I-I don’t know!” Jackie stuttered. “I was just in my bedroom, and there was this weird orb, and then I was here!”

“Orb?” the man repeated. “Like a green, glowy type orb?”

“...yeah?”

He ran his fingers through his very green hair. “ ‘Cause the same thing happened here; I was just makin’ coffee, then there was an orb and it flashed and out popped some random kid.”

Jackie tried to even his breathing. “What the hell? Do you have, like any clue what that was?”

“Maybe? Do you have magic blood?”

“Uh, what?” answered Jackie.

“You don’t come from a magic family, then?” the man pressed. Was this dude delusional? Did Jackie just get teleported into a psych ward? It didn’t look like any hospital he’d ever seen before.

“Magic isn’t real, though.” he said hesitantly, trying not to provoke the man. 

He snorted. “You sure about that?” he said, gesturing around the room, and okay, Jackie had to admit, he might have had a point. The man held out a hand. “I’m Sean.”

The teen took it slowly. “...Jackie.” he replied. “Where am I, exactly?”

“Athlone, County Westmeath.” As he pulled Jackie up, Sean squinted. “Are you Irish? Do you even know what that means?”

“I’m from Dublin. And I made it through fucking primary school, I think I can piece it together.” Jackie said indignantly

Sean held up his hands. “Hey, you can never be too careful.” he chuckled. “You want some tea, Jackie?”

>=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=<

Half an hour later, the two were in Sean’s sitting room. An awkward silence had fallen after the bare minimum of information had been exchanged. (How to contact Jackie’s parents/guardians had been the main point of conversation. Sean had looked a little confused at Jackie's reluctance to contact any other adults, but thankfully hadn’t pried. He’d simply said that it was Jackie’s priorities were his choice, and agreed to figure out their current situation first)

“You said you were from Dublin?” Sean finally asked.

Jackie looked over at him. “Yeah, why?”

Sean squinted. “You looked familiar, so I was wondering if we might be related, but I don’t have much for family in the city.” He paused. “Maybe it’s like that whole ‘There are seven people in the world who look like you’ thing? ‘Cause you look a lot like I did in Uni.”

Jackie took his first real, long look at the man on the other end of the sofa. “You do look kinda like my Dad did.” he conceded after a minute or two.

Sean’s eyes widened. “We’re not dealing with, like, time travel, right? It’s 2016 for you?”

“Yeah.” Jackie laughed. “Thank fuck.”

Sean smiled. “Good, meeting my future kid would come with a shit-ton of questions I don’t want to think about.”

Jackie made a face, setting off another round of laughter between the two. When they calmed, Jackie let out a huff and fell back onto the couch cushions. “So we’re back at square one.”

Sean sat up suddenly. “We might not be, actually.” He fished his phone out of his pocket and started tapping away. “This could be a stretch, but....”

“But what?” Jackie asked. When he got no response, he repeated, “But what?”

Sean still didn’t acknowledge his question, but he did mutter “Perfect.” and then pull himself up from the couch. “I have a friend who might have more information. C’mon.” he said, walking out into the hall.

As he followed after the man, Jackie kept on prodding for information. “You said something about magic families? Can you use magic, then?”

Sean looked up from his phone. “Hm? Oh, yeah, I grew up with it.” he said distractedly. Then he stopped abruptly. “Shit. If you could keep that a secret, that’d be great.”

“Even from this friend of yours?”

“Please.”

Up the stairs and around the corner, Sean opened a door and entered. “Huh.” Jackie said as he followed in. “I think this room has more tech than all of my classrooms combined. What d’you need all this for anyway?”

“I’m a youtuber.” Sean answered from the desk.

“What, like Pewdiepie?”

“Yep.”

Jackie took in his surroundings. His eyes were drawn to a bookshelf filled with various merch and figurines. “What are all of these?”

Sean turned back from the desk. “Huh?” Then a fond smile fell across his face. “They’re gifts, mostly.” He started pointing things out. “That bug is from my friend Suzy, those are from this kid Alfie that I met in London, the Undertale ones there I got at Pax this year, this buddy here I bought myself, but I love him, so he goes on the shelf anyway..”

Jackie nodded as each item was pointed out. He noticed a particular abundance of one logo, and the pieces finally clicked. “Wait…” Jackie whirled around. “You’re that septic dude that Quinn won’t shut up about!”

“Hm?” Sean turned to face him, mid-tangent. “Oh! Probably, yeah.”

“Aren’t you, like, famous?” Jackie questioned. “Why do you live in such a tiny apartment?”

Sean gave him a look. “I’m sorry, that was kinda shitty, wasn’t it?” Jackie said after a second. “Kinda.” the other agreed, “I get that sort of thing a lot, don’t worry about.”  He set a hand on Jackie’s shoulder. 

The two were interrupted by a skype ringtone coming from the desktop. Sean bolted over to pick up, Jackie following behind a moment later.

The call opened, displaying a worried looking man. “Jack! Is everything okay over there?”

“Uhh, sorta? It’s a little complicated.” Sean gestured for Jackie to move into frame. As he did, Sean’s friend inhaled sharply. “Jackie, this is Mark. Mark, Jackie. He just kinda ...popped into my apartment. Soo… yeah.” he finished awkwardly.

“Hi?” Jackie said, giving a small wave.

Mark cursed under his breath. “Okay, now I get why you mentioned the... yeah, that clears things up. Uhh, I’m gonna just...gimme a sec.” He typed something frantically into his phone. “Nice to meet you Jackie. Jack mentioned-” he paused. “That’ll get confusing fast.”

“You could just, you know, call me by my actual name?” Sean replied with a smirk.

“But that’s weird!” the other whined, grinning. “Alright then, Seeaaan. I’m gonna pop into the office to grab Google. Be right back!” and with that, Mark hung up the call.

“Did he say Google?” Jackie asked hesitantly.

“I think so?”

The two stood silently for a few minutes, before Mark called once again. This time, he was sitting at a computer desk. Standing behind him was another person who looked strangely similar to him. This stranger stood rigidly, arms behind their back and face blank. 

“This is Google,'' Mark said. “He’s... uhh...hm, how do I explain you?” he muttered, turning around to glance at him.

Google’s eyes glowed blue. “Designation: Google IRL Humanoid Home Assistant. Model Serial Number: G-IRL 001B. For more information about this product, please consult your user’s manual or contact Google Support online or through telephone.”

“I guess that works.'' Mark said after a moment.

Jackie and Sean stared, dumbfounded. “...Holy shit, is that a robot?” Jackie asked.

“I am an Android.” it (he?) corrected sharply.

“What the fuck.” said Sean.

“Why are you surprised?” Mark asked. “I told you about him. I texted you to complain about him literally last week.”

“Well yeah, but I didn’t think he’d look so much like a machine!”. Sean protested. The robot frowned deeper. 

“But they don’t have that kind of tech at Google yet, right? They would have told us! This is a huge technological leap!” Jackie said, brow furrowed.

“That’s because they didn’t make him.” Mark replied.

“Huh?”

Mark grimaced. “Okay, um, the gist of it is, you have a character, right? From a skit or joke or something. So in my case, sometimes to characters, well,” he gestured behind him, “become real. Somehow. I still have no clue how it works.” 

Jackie gaped, slack jawed. “So you made a video about a robot ...and he just came to life.”

“Yup.”

“Do they all look like you?”

“Yeah, ‘cause I play them first.”

“....uhh….”

“Yup.”

Jackie turned back to Sean. “And you’ve met these...things?”

“I call them figments.” Mark interrupted. “Like ‘figment of the imagination’.”

Sean was still staring at the robot, looking uncomfortable. “I’ve only met one other, when Mark was telling me about them last year.”

Mark winced. “Yeah, I figured Googs would be a better first introduction than Wilford. He’s less...well, just less in general, I guess.”

“Why are you telling me any of this? I don’t get how any of this is-” Jackie froze. “You think I’m like them.”

Sean looked sheepish. “It would explain why we look so similar.”

“But I’m real!” Jackie protested. “I existed before this. I have a life, and friends and all that shit! I’m a real person!”

Mark spoke softly. “All of my guys have backstories, things that feel like they happened. But those people never existed.” He smiled apologetically. “It gets easier with time, I promise.”

“But I’m real.” Jackie repeated. “I can prove it!” He pulled out his phone. “Look, my friends have been texting me non-stop!”. As he spoke, another notification popped up.

New Text from Morgan :P

  Jackie, please answer. Everyone’s really worried about you. Doris called the Garda and everything. 

“See!” Jackie yelled. “They’re real! I’m real! I’m not some imaginary character!”

Sean raised his hands placatingly. “Jackie, calm down. It was just an idea.” He stepped forward.

“Get off of me!” Jackie yelled. He pushed Sean away and ran out the door. 

>=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=<

Jackie ran down the stairs, looking for the bathroom. He needed someplace private. He bolted into the small room and locked the door. Curling up on the floor, he rubbed at his face, and checked his phone to try to calm down.

Meanwhile, in the recording room, Sean and Mark stared in shock at the door. Slowly, Sean pulled himself out of the mattress he’d been shoved into. “Um.” he said eloquently.

“Are you okay?” Mark asked. “Yeah, I think so.” he replied. 

“So, this isn’t exactly the same thing. But do you have any clue what could cause..” He gestured at the door.

“Some random teenager throwing me across the room and then super speeding himself away?” Sean finished.

“Yeah.”

“Unfortunately.”

He stretched, grimacing as he wiggled a shoulder. “I recorded a video where I dressed up like a superhero. It went up today.” Sean sighed. “And I called myself ��Jackie-boy-man’.”

“Jackie.” Mark echoed.

Sean didn’t reply. “Can I call you if I need anything else?” he said after a moment.

“Course you can. Anything at all, man.”

“Thanks.” Sean walked over to the computer. “Thanks for everything. See ya.”

“Bye. Good luck Sean.”

Sean hung up the call and put his head in his hands. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?” he muttered. 

Leave him. Make him leave.

“Nope, none of that.” Sean replied.

Not his home. Not your responsibility.

“Stop it. Just because I don’t need to help doesn't mean I shouldn’t.”

Bleeding heart. Weak resolve.

“Okay, you can stop now.” Sean said, standing up. “I’m going to talk to him, and he’ll decide what to do, and you,” he emphasized, “are going to shut up and be reasonable for once.”

He left to recording room and started looking through the house. Jackie wasn’t in any of the bedrooms, not in the living room, not the dining room, or the kitchen…

When he tried the door to the toilet, it was locked. Sean knocked hesitantly. “You okay in there?” he asked. There was no response. “Can I do anything to help?” Still nothing. He tried once more. “D’you want some more tea?”.

That one got a quiet “Okay.” Sean left for the kitchen, and when he returned, Jackie was sitting against the hall wall, head on his knees. He set the two mugs down on the floor, before sitting himself. It took a little while, but Jackie finally spoke up. “I’ve been missing for two days.”

“What?” Sean exclaimed.

“Before I was here, I was in my room, on Friday night.” he sighed. “My friends think I ran away or something.”

“Did you talk to them just now?” 

Jackie covered his face further. “Mhm. Told ‘em I was safe. But what else do I say? ‘Hey, by the way, I got magically transported across the country, and also imaginary friends can be real, and also I might be one of them?!’”, he rambled.

“Yeah, Mark and I talked some more after you left.” Sean paused. “You got out of there crazy fast. Like, inhumanly fast. Did...did you know you have super speed?”

Jackie stared at him. “...I just figured I was bad at time management.”

“You threw me across the room.”

“...And anger management.” He looked up, worriedly. “You’re okay, right?” 

“Yeah, I landed on a mattress.” Sean smiled. “And I’m not mad. You should have seen some of the shit I did when I was still learning control. My parents have repainted the kitchen twice, and you can still see some of the scorch marks.” he chuckled.

Jackie laughed too. “Okay, sure, why not add superpowers to today’s what-the-fuck list.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Anything else, Universe? You wanna add multiple realities or some shit to the mix?”

They laughed. “Yeah, what a fuckin’ great birthday.” Jackie snorted.

Sean turned to him, surprised. “Happy Birthday! How old are you?”

“Seventeen.” Jackie smiled. “One more year, then I can finally move out.” Then he froze. “What if I lived here?”

“What?” said Sean. “How does that make sense?”

“Well, you think I’m one of those figment things, right?” Jackie continued. 

Sean nodded. “Yeah, I think you’re supposed to be a superhero character I made up.”

“All of your friend’s figments are close to him. Besides, you’re the only person who knows what’s going on.”

“I really don’t.” Sean protested.

Jackie shrugged. “Still. We’re, like, connected or something. You could help me figure out these powers or whatever. And…” he shrunk down again. “I wouldn’t really mind moving. I was about to get expelled, anyway.”

Sean rubbed at his forehead. “I’m twenty-six. I can’t raise a teenager. You’re like, ten years younger than me.”

“People make it work.”

He sighed. “I..I’ll think about it?”

Jackie nodded. Sean moved to get up, when Jackie suddenly interrupted. “Wait! Okay. Umm... so, you’re cool with gay people, right?”

Sean looked confused. “Yeah?” Then it clicked. “Oh! Oh no, don’t worry, I’m cool with you being-yeah, it’s okay.”

Jackie looked relieved. “Okay. Okay, cool. Then we’re good. No issue here”

“Gotcha.” Sean stood up, grabbing the mugs. “I’mma deal with these., then I gotta go record. You can use my Playstation, if you want. And I’m upstairs if you need anything.”

Jackie flashed him a thumbs up, then went back into the bathroom. He braced himself on the sink and looked into the mirror.

A superhero, huh?

Yeah, that could work. 

[namira2006]

Milos had never meant to make a bargain with an ancient Seelie royal. She had emerged from dramatic fog one night while he was staking out a mark for a contract in the sweet little town of Myrefall.

 The mark was a cheery and guarded old woman who wore secrets like a silk scarf fastidiously tied around a blouse collar. Openly, decoratively, inalienable. She adorned a different silk scarf daily. Milos could appreciate the subtle power to be found within such a meticulous adornment and admired the woman from afar. Two houses over from her he had been stationed. Upon arrival, he had draped himself in the false identity and case briefing bestowed by the organisation. Name: Avan Malek. Background: kid who struck lucky in a business deal and was able to finally purchase a house in the town for himself and family. Presence: Minimal but Pleasant.

 Nobody who knew Milos could possibly deign to describe him as pleasant. However, he felt pleasant when the allowed him to live another day. So, he would fight the Snarl in his belly and smile fucking pleasantly at the citizens of Myrefall. Everyone here was sickly sweet to one another. He had been out for a walk earlier that day, simply minding his own business, when a neighbour, Old Pickles, had felt entitled to stop and say hello. Old Pickles conversed at him for minutes, Minutes! Expressing genuine interest in his activities and life! The gall! He was struck with a pang, missing the acquiesced Fear and wide berth those in the castle gave him. The population here could really do with developing some shame, maybe a little bit of personal torture, just a little. Obviously, Milos grinned his best neighbourly grin and engaged the man, he was a professional after all.

 No part of his brief for the mark outlined, referred to nor alluded to any sort of Seelie presence. He checked and everything. Creatures, ideas, inventions, sometimes people; would sometimes pass through the Holes In The World. Extensive training was given by the Organisation to its employees about the Holes, with step by step instructions on how to deal with anything that could have entered. Simply put: kill it, make sure nobody witnesses this, do not dwell on Other Magicks, get on with your actual fucking job.

 The Seelie folk were no strangers to the Holes, after all, they inhabited another world and possessed magicks of their own. But generally, they flew under the radar on other worlds. The Central Board for Magick Education Curriculum and Practice in the Seelie government enforced strict policy about all Seelie children learning how to sufficiently cast glamours and conceal their magick. While the Seelie did not frequently engage with the Holes, some had exited in various places and could blend in with ease. Perhaps look a bit more closely at some of the strangers you pass by this week, perhaps you’ll notice an otherworldly shimmer to your local barista.

The foreign cottage had been his home for one week. The Organisation had not provided him with any leisurely activities for the scoping period. He pottered about the house, bored. Trained a lot each day, broke into most of the houses in the neighbourhood, read some scrolls, kept to himself. Cement yourself in the mark’s world, stay discreet, do the job, do the job, do the job. Usually, Milos would have already killed the mark and be debriefing the Shrouded in the Organisation’s board room after three days. Whoever had taken out this contract specified they wanted the mark to be taken care of by someone she had grown fond of. So, become fondness material he would.

Restlessness coursed through his mind, he vibrated with it.

It was day eight, he had done his routine town inhabitant engagement for the day. Only four homes broken into today. Eve had fallen, the moons rising. Sat in his back room, he examined what he’d pocketed from the mark’s house, taking notes in a black bound leather journal. The inventory: an official, sealed letter from the state of Zashtun, a large feather and one of those exquisite neck scarves.

He closed his eyes and focused on his fingers, pressing magick into them, around them, from them. His left pointer finger gained its glowy extension, allowing him to slice open the letter with the Sharp razor-thin blade. His eyes followed the neat, purposeful hand upon the parchment. A scribe, perhaps? I am writing to you about arranging a meeting due to your expertise on the matter of magicks in the history of Usta blah blah blah. Skipping ahead, he skimmed for any words of interest. There was obviously some reason Milos had been paid to silence this woman. Bingo.

Zashtun’s researchers believe we have made significant progress on closing the Holes in the World. Make haste. Why was it official business type always put their most important points at the end? Milos considered it counterproductive, just make your damn point, save some parchment, move on, whatever.

This was a huge Secret. The Holes were whispers in the collective unconscious, most people would never encounter one, but they were Known. They featured in stories transmitted to children, folk tales, poems. All of Usta’s magicks were somehow connected to them, this was less widely Known, but was no grand secret. The Holes just Were. Like the wind just is, like the sand in Frankston’s desert, the swamps of Cloncrow. Those parts of nature simply intrinsic to nature itself. Those natural forces that cannot be controlled, only ever harnessed. One stares awhile into any, aghast with the sprawling power held, with the power whispering magick, magick, magick. And one finds themselves unable to look away, and one’s tour group has already left them behind to ponder their own insignificance.

Milos’ face did not show any signs of being rattled, but his still glowing finger-blade was quivering. His head span a little. It was at this point he noticed vines had swiftly grown around his back door. It was engulfed in them. He cleared his throat loudly.

“Hmmph. Show yourself. I do not have time for games.” He commanded. Making no effort to disguise his thick accent, as he usually would. He stood up straight, assuming a crouched fighting stance. Magick flicked to his pointer finger and it shifted. In this form it produced a thin silk, capable of slicing through almost any substance. Came in very handy when opening plastic packaging. Milos gracefully tiptoed to the door, the leaves now rustling hard in sudden, conjured wind. They chittered. Dense fog peppered the room. He perched himself against the wall, only one foot on the ground, trying to locate anything that would help deduce whatever this was.

“My, my, my! It is always such a treat when humans think they could out-wit us. Darling, relax.”

A being had sprung up right next to him, he hadn’t even noticed. It was mere inches from his taut form. It seemed, similarly shaped to a woman. Definitely a woman’s voice. Plant debris scattered through its hair and its head was Too Big and its dark skin appeared to shift and shimmer under the surface. Scales. Those are fucking scales.

“Take a picture it’ll last longer.” She remarked, utterly deadpan.

Her arms (?) were folded and she was mere inches from Milos. Her movements were so fluid. She obviously was not currently underwater, but the languidness of her demeanour was like that of someone relaxedly floating in the sea.

Milos cleared his throat again. He sighed.

“Who are you? What do you want? Can we negotiate my firstborn? Etcetera, etcetera.” He did not care for this otherworldly figure’s disruption. However, it wasn’t an entirely unwelcome change of pace. Perhaps she is a worthy chess opponent, this prospect alone held him back from crowding her backwards into the tight, deadly thread he had set up. She did not have eyebrows.

“We both know you aren’t having any children, dear. Not with your………. Proclivities.” She was sneering.

“I really never thought otherworldly entities would be homophobic. As much as I’m enjoying this tense chat, might I suggest we do it over a game of chess?”

Milos had allowed her to play as the white pieces, graciously allowing her the perceived upper hand of a first turn. There was no chance she could possibly best him, not many could. The creature-lady widened her large yellow eyes, like a pelicans, then drew her expression to one of petulance. She appeared to have cottoned on to the fact that Milos was mere moves from trapping her in to Check Mate. Her pelican eyes lifted to meet his. Direct.

“You cannot kill that woman.” She said this in a way that did not allow for negotiation. Luckily, Milos had always thought beyond the realm of discussion and negotiating and exchanges. He only thought of that which Happened and that which did Not.

“Can you price match my employers?”

She hummed in response, contemplating.

“Not financially, no. My people do not deal in your supercilious monetary means. I can offer you sanctum from their web of pain. When it is unearthed you have not completed your job, it will not be you tangled in the sinister silks.”

It was his turn to hum in response. He furrowed his brows. Suddenly grateful to actually have them. This creature was so unreadable. So markedly Not Human. Milos decided this was entirely rooted in her lack of eyebrows.

“Hmmmmm. Do I dare even ask what you ask of me in return for this sanctum?”

[rnainframe]

Co-written by @gruvu! Here’s chapter 5!

The tag I’ll be using for this is #amfic!

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Alternatively, read it ON AO3!

[CONTENT WARNING: MILD GORE [HARM TO ONE EYE, AN ARM BEING PULLED OFF], MILD BLOOD [ROBOT BLOOD THOUGH]]

“CLARA, NO!”

Nigel crumples to the floor, landing face-down after the face-first impact with a wall. His accents flicker and dim into black. That claw-- it threw Nigel hard enough to leave a dent in the panels, some of them even showing cracks and signs of damage.

So… if that’s what happened to just the wall…

...what about him?

And who the hell is Clara?

Time seems to have slowed down during those moments, at least, for 18-- so much adrenaline. So much happening. She finds herself shoved to the floor, bearing witness to Nigel hitting the wall with a sickening crack.

18 freezes up, seeing the orange android on the ground. Her pulse is loud in her ears, and she’s unable to process what just happened. Who the hell is Clara, and why did he…

The shock slowly turns into anger. She pushes herself off the ground, grunting at dull pain in various parts of her body. First thing's first-- get Nigel, then get out. Not the best plan, but... Virgil, or, whatever he is, now, is in control of the entire facility… and absolutely pissed at her, specifically, for some reason.

“Virgil” snarls, the corruption in his programming now so overbearing it warps his voice, “There. Now you let go. Are you going to leave, yourself, or am I going to have to aim for an opening the next time I throw you across the room? Nigel can’t get in the way this time.” The claw that had made Nigel essentially a battering ram recoils back, like a snake about to strike.

“You bastard,” 18 hisses, her voice cold, harsh, and laced with enough venom to kill a rhino.  She scrambles over to Nigel and grabs him, turning him over-- being up close to him like this is... oh boy. Glowing, orange ooze covers his face and some of his clothes, now getting in his hair after pooling on the floor. The source of the artificial, neon blood is the shattered remains of what was once his left eye and earpiece, cracks sourcing from there and spread outwards like a spider’s web. Shards of orange-tinted hard light remain scattered on the floor, from his visor being smashed, before flickering away, seemingly out of existence.

Nigel is completely motionless -- it’d be easy to mistake him for some kind of corpse, but he’s not so badly damaged that he can’t be turned back on, at least. He’ll need some help, some repairs, and fast. But… are there any other ways to fix him without Virgil’s help?

Another claw whips out, snapping at the duo, trying to grab one or both of them. It latches onto Nigel-- the upper right part of his torso, specifically, due to the awkward angle the claw is coming from. It begins to tug on him. Very hard.

18 tightens her grip on Nigel, her breath hitching. Oh, no, she is NOT going to lose. Not again. Her features form a snarl, sweat forming on her brow as she shoots a sharp glare at “Virgil”.

But.. it’s not good enough. She isn't going to win, she knows this. She’s already tired and worn. “...I need to think of something…”

Desperate and impulsive as ever, she decides to take a huge risk.

She grabs her paint gun and aims a glob of repulsion gel at the corrupted android’s face. The blue gel is a good choice for blinding someone, though-- adhesive and rubbery, likely hard to clean off surfaces, judging by occasional reprimands in the past about how expensive it is.

It lands, splattering all over his cherry red visor. “Virgil” recoils, taken off-guard for a moment-- an opening for the test subject.

Taking a deep breath, she gets up and adjusts her hold on Nigel, trying to yank him free from the claw. There’s some kind of popping noise, alongside tearing, but she chooses to ignore it. She’s pumped with enough adrenaline to give a horse a heart attack, and not anywhere near willing to give up just yet. “Let go of him, or... I’ll shoot you again! I’ll get your-- your port gummed up!”

“Mm. Go on, try that. I dare you.” The chassis-bound android taps a button on his earpiece, drawing the gel-coated visor away from his face.

The claw latched onto Nigel abruptly pulls back.

Pop.

18 feels sick to her stomach as Nigel’s arm gets ripped clean off, leaving frayed wires and torn cloth behind. More of that luminescent orange liquid comes pouring out, leaving the test subject panicked, reaching down for-- her apron. Her eyes lock onto the article of clothing lying several feet away on the floor. “...dammit.”

Can she pull this off?

Maybe.

Her chances of aiming right a second time are probably very, very slim.

She aims the gun, once again, at “Virgil’s” face, then quickly lunges for the--

The shot misses, and a claw clamps down around her torso. She squirms, unable to move much with her arms pinned to her sides, as she’s forced to be face-to-face with the corrupt android. To make sure she doesn’t escape, a few loose cords join the claw in holding her.

“You know what you are?”

18 half-heartedly chuckles, trying to laugh in the face of fear. It’s hard, and not really working out. “A wonderful human being and a delight to be around?”

“Nothing. You’re nothing.” The words being hissed, plus them coming out in the voice of a core who had previously been.. Relatively okay towards her, turns the test subject’s blood into ice. “You’re just a number on a piece of paper. No, not even that!”

For a moment, 18’s hardened expression breaks. He hit a soft spot, causing her to stop struggling for a moment. Only a moment. No. NO! He's messing with her head, trying to break her. She's not going to let that corrupt android have the satisfaction. The test subject wrinkles her nose and spits right in the corrupted android’s face, then tries slamming her head into the bridge of his nose with a battle cry.

“I'm made of metal and synthetics, dear, you're the only one that's going to be reeling from that.” “Virgil” sarcastically remarks, barely even flinching.

“Wanna know a thing about metal and synthetics?” He, or… whatever he is anymore... he’s right. Her head is killing her, that mistake is probably going to leave a nice cut or bruise on her head. “They suck. And guess what?”

“What?”

“Your mission is not to accept the mission.”

“Paradoxes don’t hurt m--m----” As if to spite the fact he had just said that, he freezes up, his accents flickering. The claw and cords release their vice grip on the test subject with a spasm.

With a yelp and a lot of stumbling, 18 lands on the panels. “Holy crap... that actually worked.” She’d have to pat herself on the back later. Right now, she needs to grab Nigel and book it. With the unknown amount of time given by the simple paradox, she has to make use of it, and quick. Dashing over to Nigel-- wait, where's the apron? She forgot to grab it! She dashes and snatches the “lucky” piece of clothing from the floor in one smooth motion on her way over to the android.

Grunting, she lugs the one-armed core up onto her back, like trying to give a corpse a piggyback ride. He keeps slipping from her grip-- no thanks to that glowy orange crap (What is it? Oily glow stick fluid?) getting on her hands. She needs to get him out of here, but… THERE! 18 spots a slim opening in the wall; some panels must have been moved by the way the trio had previously entered, or maybe they’ve been jolted by “Virgil” getting badly affected by the paradox. Hopefully, she can fit Nigel through it, ego and all.

The clock is ticking.

The test subject drags the android to the opening, beginning to wheeze from the rush and strain she’s been through in the past hour or two. She keeps looking over her shoulder at the spasming, murderous robot, as she shoves Nigel through to the other side.

Aaand he gets stuck.

“Gah… sorry, idiot.” She kicks him a few times, having to force him through the opening. Now, it’s her turn, going in feet first-- she glances back at Virgil and gives him the finger-- and swiftly slides through, cutting her arm on a panel on the way.

18 reaches back and pulls on one of the panels, trying to get her escape route closed off before the window of opportunity closes. It’ll likely be soon. Whether that paradox has just been causing Virgil to freak out for a long time, or time is just going slower thanks to a burst of adrenaline, it’s still been going on too long to afford making any more mistakes.

Thankfully, it isn’t too hard to wrench it just close enough to her to not seem like a suspiciously large gap; not big enough for a human and an android to slip through anymore.

“...nn….” Nigel groans and shifts a little, his accents dimly flickering. His shoulder is still losing a good amount of good old glowy android blood. That should probably get looked at.

“Oh, thank God, you're alive...ish.”

“...C...Cl…” He’s not currently able to really form words just yet. Probably almost delirious, if androids are capable of that, really.

The test subject slowly lowers him properly to the ground after dragging his metal butt who knows how long through a dimly lit catwalk. After sitting him up against the railing, only then does 18 realize she’s shaking. The glow stick blood is all over her hands and shirt, and Nigel is still losing more. Hopefully blood loss isn’t too fatal for androids, considering how much he’s losing...

“Don't talk, okay? I'm going to stop the bleeding, Tangerine. You... do hear me, right? Give me a sign that you can hear me.”

Nigel’s good eye flutters open, half-lidded and dim. He looks up at 18, softly murmuring some attempt at a confirmation that he can, in fact, hear her.

“Good enough for me.” Her voice is an octave higher than normal, raised by anxiety and stress. Oh, the damage is-- she glances away, audibly gulping-- the damage is hard to look at, but she has to stop him from losing any more ‘blood’. Obviously, he needs the glow stick juice to live, and she needs Nigel to get out of here.

“If there's any pain, then, sorry, my bad. I don't... exactly know what I'm doing...” She begins to twist the loose wires, tucking them into gaps so they don’t get caught on anything. Oddly, she actually kind of knows what she’s doing. The test subject figures out how to disconnect sensors, hopefully dampening whatever pain the poor core must be feeling. The leaking, though… she can’t just twist that away. She needs to clog it up, or stop it entirely.

“...I'm… I'm sorry, Nigel.”

“...hh… hhhhhey…” The android moves his arm, trying to lift it. He sounds tired, but almost intelligible.

“Don't. It's my fault-- ah--!” She hisses under her breath; she just shocked herself.  Maybe she should take a step back for a moment.

The events of the past few moments slowly catch up to her as the adrenaline in her veins ebbs away, dying. Almost like Nigel nearly did... “I tried… I tried, and look at what happened. God...” She runs a gel and ‘blood’-covered hand through her hair. “Just… just hold still...”

“Hey, hey--” Nigel slowly raises his arm, resting his good hand on the test subject’s face. “...it’s… okay, C… Clll…” He’s shaky, but he’s alive.

“It's not! It is NOT okay! You were right! Look what I did--” 18 cuts herself off, registering the touch to her face. “What are you doing..?”

“...Cl...ara…”

“Who? Who is Clara? Gah-- no, I need to stop the bleeding, you're getting worse!”

“....I thought… I thought you were Clara.”

“...I'm… I’m nobody, remember?” 18 pulls away, looking around. How to clog the... Apron! Her apron! Duh, she grabbed it just to try and patch up his arm-- she quickly pulls it out and shoves it over the wound, wadding it up and making an attempt to tie a knot to secure it.

“There... okay! That should stop the bleeding… for now, at least. You're going to be fine. You BETTER be fine! Or… or... I'll do... something...”

“...nnh… s-sure thing.”

[crossroadsdimension]

Maria’s Adventures: Homeworld Bound

Remember when I was posting World Collision? This is that story’s sequel. I’m posting it on FF as well (author name FourthWallBreaker), and I’ll be dropping it onto AO3 soon enough. Just have to get everything else up there first....

Anyway! This one’s Transformer-based, so it’s kinda going out into left field if you guys are just following me for Gravity Falls stuff. Here we go!

Prologue – Return

The shockwave of energy that went off in the Nevada desert didn’t go unnoticed.

But it was where the shockwave originated that made some people worry.

“Did you just say the ‘Energon Badlands’?!” The man in the labcoat looked at his superior in shock. “We can’t send people in there, you know that! That’s neutral ground that even the Cybertronians label as off-limits!”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean we can’t investigate where the explosion came from,” the other replied. He sighed tiredly and ran a hand through his graying hair. “So far, all that’s being done is making sure that there wasn’t anyone in the area when the explosion went off. The plan after that is to wait and see if anything else happens.”

The younger of the two fidgeted worriedly. “And then?”

“And then we’ll have to see if the Cybertronians decide to do anything about it…or tell us if they’re experimenting with possible weapons on our planet’s soil.”

Space Break

The world was colored gunmetal gray, made of metal that seemed to have been something once, but was now slowly falling apart into piles of unidentifiable parts as the oxygen of the air ate away at the alien metal. It was quiet, but there was also something at work in the air here that drove away most who would come to this place.

A single figure stumbled over what used to be someone’s head, tennis shoes scuffing against the faded metal before leaping off and landing on the desert sand below.

A face with a guarded expression looked around slowly, taking in the landscape and the decaying metals.

“This place….”

Tears threatened to leak out of bright, almost glowing blue eyes, but they were blinked away.

“What happened here?”

The figure – a teenage girl in appearance – brushed her brown hair out of her eyes and looked around again, slowly turning. With each step, she saw another metal face, with optics cold and dark, and knew that there was something horribly wrong with what she was seeing.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, pushing down the waterworks that attempted to flood her system and bring her to her knees. “I need to know what happened here. Then I can allow myself to grieve.” She opened her eyes again, a grimness settling on her face as her eyes sparked. “Time to find the Autobots.”

Chapter 1

The last thing Bumblebee had been expecting to hear was a blast of static from his communication system right in the middle of patrolling the Nevada desert.

He pulled off to the side of the road. “Who thinks it’s a good idea to scrapping call me in the middle of a scrapping���“

His dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree when he tuned in properly to the voice that was speaking.

::--anyone on this signal, this is Flare-Up. Can anyone copy?::

Bumblebee stiffened on his tires. “Holy scrap.”

::To anyone—:: The voice stopped, then demanded more harshly, ::Who speaks?::

“I-it’s Silent Stinger,” Bumblebee replied quickly, using an old code name that he hadn’t said in a long time. It felt weird to say it now. “Not so silent anymore, though.” The excitement quickly leaked into his voice. “Flare-Up, where’ve you been? We haven’t heard from you in years – not since Morgen and Katie disappeared! What have you been up to?”

There was a pause.

::It’s not something that should be spoken about over the comms, Silent Stinger:: Flare-Up replied. ::Where are you right now?::

“Outside Jasper,” Bumblebee replied instantly. “Where are you? You sound pretty—“

::I…appear to be in the middle of the remains of a Cybertronian battlefield. On Earth:: There was another pause. ::I’ll come to you. Meet me on the outskirts of the town::

The connection ended abruptly, leaving Bumblebee sitting on the side of the road, dumbfounded.

Then he swerved onto the road in an abrupt U-turn, cutting off an old, white pickup truck that should have fallen to pieces from rust in its undercarriage by now. Bumblebee hardly noticed, however, as the Autobot was racing back the way he had come in order to meet up with someone he hadn’t thought he’d see again in a long time.

“I can’t believe she’s back,” Bumblebee muttered to himself, just barely staying within the speed limit as he shot past a sign that read “Jasper: 10 miles.” “She just up and disappeared without a word to anyone and now—“

A cold feeling settled in him. “She sounded…different. I hope she’s all right.”

He spotted the familiar figure five miles out from Jasper. It was a little hard to miss the figure who was flying low and fast towards the town, especially with how the hoverboard was catching the desert sun. Bumblebee honked loudly and turned off the road and towards the figure in the distance who was flying in a similar direction.

The figure turned sharply and flew towards Bumblebee, and the figure’s form became much more clear: a teenage, human girl, with brown hair and bright blue eyes that almost seem to have a glow hiding behind them. The orange jacket, red shirt, and jeans she was wearing rippled and waved in the wind caused by both the speed of the red and orange hoverboard and the desert landscape.

Bumblebee hit the breaks and swerved before stopping as the smaller figure flew up and stopped next to him.

“You haven’t changed a bit!” Bumblebee said in surprise as the girl landed.

The girl stepped off her hoverboard, not looking back as it folded up and disappeared into thin air behind her. “And you’ve gone back to your old paint job.” She raised an eyebrow at Bumblebee’s yellow-and-black appearance.

“I happen to like this design a little better,” Bumblebee admitted. Black and yellow had only been because of the Decepticons and needing camouflage. “I’m a bit attached to being yellow and black.” He chuckled nervously. “At least I’m not pink like Arcee would have been, right?”

A flicker of a smile appeared across the girl’s face, but then it was gone. “What happened here while I was gone? I saw—“

“Yeah.” Bumblebee sank down on his tires. “We, uh…we don’t really go to the Energon Badlands. Not after…well, I’m not sure what happened. Cybertronians started disappearing and then they just....” He trailed off.

The other’s expression darkened slightly. “There must be more to the story than just that.”

“Well, Ultra Magnus is keeping it under lock and key if he does know anything, and I haven’t seen him since he kicked me off Cybertron with my team.” Bumblebee popped the passenger’s side door open. “I can take you straight to the base we’ve got. It’s not much, and we have to keep things quiet, but it’s enough.”

The girl slipped inside without any word of protest, and Bumblebee closed the door and got back on the road.

“Who is still here?”

“We’ve got some old and new faces. We’ve picked up some pretty new tech too recently that lets us blend in a little better. You’ll see what I mean when we get there.”

His passenger folded her arms across her chest. “Considering that it has been…some time, since I was here, I would expect that some things would have changed. How are relations with the humans?”

“They…could be better.” If Bumblebee could drum his fingers right now, he would have. “They didn’t exactly appreciate it when a bunch of dead Cybertronians dropped into Nevada out of nowhere. And they don’t exactly like the fact that most of us down here were kicked off the planet and are now considered in exile.”

“Why?”

“…most of the Cybertronians back home weren’t part of the war. At least, most of it. And they wanted to put the blame on somebody, so…”

The girl’s eyes narrowed. “Sounds like when we put all the blame on the Germans for World War I. That’s a powder keg waiting to explode if things aren’t handled well.”

“Well, it’s Earth, and I kinda feel more at home here than I do there anyway.” Bumblebee took a turn in the road. “So, where’ve you been? Do you know where Morgen and Katie disappeared to?”

His passenger turned her gaze away from the wheel, looking instead at the passing landscape. “I’ll tell you when we get to the base. This isn’t something that should have to be said more than once.”

Something in her voice made Bumblebee slow a little. “…what happened? You don’t sound like you did.”

“A lot’s happened.” His passenger closed her eyes.

Bumblebee got the impression that she wasn’t planning on saying anything else. Considering how reserved she’d become, he wondered how much she was going to say at all when it came to what she had been up to.

Time Break – Change in POV

Maria came out of a light recharge when Bumblebee came to a stop. She opened her eyes and blinked twice when she saw metal walls and a human-sized corridor leading out of the large room they had arrived in.

Bumblebee popped the passenger door open, and she stepped out.

“Another underground base?” Maria looked around, eyes glowing a little in the dim artificial light from the few bulbs in the ceiling. “Where is it this time?”

Bumblebee’s sports car mode broke apart, parts shifting into other places as a towering mech took the car’s place. The doors settled onto his back as he explained, “We’re in the Rockies. I think that’s what you humans call it? We’re closer to the northern part of the country.”

Maria nodded, frowning slightly. The chamber they were in was completely empty. “Where is the rest of your team?”

“Over there, probably.” Bumblebee pointed towards the human-sized exit from the chamber. “Come on; I’ll reintroduce you.” He started walking towards the door, only to be surrounded by a bright flash.

Maria blinked, then blinked again. “Bumblebee?”

“Hmm?” The yellow-haired young man with the black stripe across the top of his head turned and looked at Maria in confusion. He blinked his glowing blue eyes a couple times before he smacked himself in the forehead. “Oh, yeah – you weren’t around when Joshua figured out Pretender Tech.” He motioned to his appearance – the yellow-and-black striped jacket, the yellow shirt underneath, jeans, and black shoes with yellow stripes. “Joshua figured out how to make us human-sized – and how to make us look human. Not everybody picked it up, but I like the idea of being able to blend in like this.”

“Joshua is capable of something like this?” Maria raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. He’s been busy since I saw him last.”

“He might be around here or back in the Midwest with the Predacons and Maximals; I haven’t been keeping track of what he’s up to.” Bumblebee motioned for Maria to follow him, grinning. “Come on; I want to see the looks on their faces.”

Maria followed after Bumblebee with a guarded expression, gaze fixed on the familiar Autobot symbol on his back.

So much had happened in her absence from this world. Could it really be the same world that she had left? It almost didn’t seem possible, but Bumblebee had recognized her, mentioned her parents and cousin by name.

She quietly moved her gaze away from Bumblebee’s back and towards the wall to her right as they started to reach the end of the tunnel. They were not going to take the news of what had happened to Morgen and Katie very well, especially if Bumblebee didn’t know what had happened to them.

“Hey, guys!”

Bumblebee’s call caused Maria’s gaze to move up again as they stepped out into the open.

“Bumblebee?” spoke up a confused, woman’s voice. “What are you doing back? I thought you said you were going to be gone for another day at least!”

Maria didn’t recognize the voice. She considered it likely that the speaker was a Cybertronian pretending to be human, and someone she hadn’t met yet.

“Something came up.” Bumblebee rubbed the back of his head and laughed. “Well, okay, more like someone.” He stepped aside, and Maria stepped into the room.

The first thing she noticed was that the room looked like a comfortable living space and a command center had collided together and gotten so mixed it was hard to tell where the Cybertronian technology ended and the sofas and gaming centers for the humans began.

Heads turns and stared as Maria turned her attention from the room itself to the people in it.

A man with dark yellow hair rose to his feet and stared in shock with wide, blue eyes. “No way. Is that….” He started moving forward. “Maria? Sis? Is that you?”

It took Maria a moment to recognize him. “Collin. You…you’ve grown.”

“Wait.” A young woman with long blue hair that had a white stripe disappearing into the tight bun on her head turned and stared. “That is Flare-Up? The World Jumper you’ve been talking about for the last five years we’ve been on this planet?”

So, the Cybertronians had been here for five years. But…Collin wasn’t a little kid anymore.

Collin looked back and nodded. “Yes, Strongarm. This is her.” He looked back at Maria and moved forward quickly before grabbing her in a hug. Maria blinked when she found that her face was pressed into her brother’s left shoulder.

He’d gotten taller. She hadn’t had the chance to.

“It’s good to see you again, sis.” Collin pulled back from the hug and smiled. “You haven’t changed a bit – I guess, since you’re a Reploid, you can’t age, huh?”

Maria nodded a little. “Yeah.”

“So, where’ve you been? I haven’t heard anything from you, Matt, or Liz since that summer you guys, Mom, and Dad disappeared!”

Maria looked away. “Speak for yourself; I come back and you’ve shot a food above me, Bumblebee and other Cybertronians are exiled from their home world, and there is a graveyard in the middle of Nevada.” She looked back at her younger brother with a deep frown. “What happened.”

Collin’s smile faded. “A…a lot’s happened, sis. Joshua’s been the most in-touch with Cybertron after Wildfire, Shape-Change, and Sparkseer disappeared with who knows how many other Autobots and Decepticons—“

“I saw the remains,” Maria replied flatly, the piles of gunmetal gray forms flashing through the back of her mind. “Where is Joshua? He no doubt knows that I’m back by now.”

“We haven’t heard from that Reploid in weeks,” Strongarm said with a frown. “Said something about trying to keep up with some top secret experiments and he just vanished off the face of the Earth. In any event, you don’t need him to tell you what happened. Cybertron settled back into peace after everything was rebuilt, our people moved back in, and then Cybertronians started saying something was coming right before they disappeared. When their bodies were found, someone had to take the blame, so they exiled anyone who was close to them. The only reason that I’m here is because I was investigating the disappearances and I bet they thought I was getting too close to a solution.”

A police officer, not a soldier. Cybertron was definitely no longer at war.

“What of Prowl?” Maria asked.

“He’s one of the Cybertronians who disappeared,” Bumblebee replied. “We’ve, uh…we’ve lost a lot of people that you guys knew.” He raised his hands quickly. “Not everyone – don’t worry about that! – but…” He lowered his hands. “How about I show you around so that you can see who we’ve got here?”

Maria tilted her head slightly, then nodded.

“So, we’ve got Strongarm and Collin.” Bumblebee motioned to the two of them. “I’m kind of in command – over here, anyway; the Predacons and Maximals have their own leaders with Jolt and Joshua working as mediators between them. Anyway, here we’ve got Sideswipe –“

“Hey, kiddo.” A young man with spiky red hair raised a hand and waved from the couch.

“—Bulkhead—“

A slightly round, but still muscular man with dark green hair nodded from where he stood leaning against the back wall next to a computer covered in Cybertronian script.

“—Wheeljack—“

“It’s good to see Wildfire’s little legacy is still running around.” The man next to Bulkhead, wearing a mostly-white jacket with a green and red stripe on his left sleeve smirked and gave a mock salute.

“—First Aid—“

A woman with mostly-red hair with two white streaks in it looked up from where she was tinkering with something and nodded. “I’d like to make sure you’re still running well, Maria. It’s probably been some time since you were last looked at.”

“—and Coil,” Bumblebee finished, motioning to a young man who looked eerily identical to Collin. The only difference was that Coil’s eyes glowed and he looked a little skinnier than Collin was.

Maria nodded a little. “Are there any actual humans around besides my brother?”

“We get visitors sometimes. Mostly Jack, since he took Fowler’s place when he retired. Miko and Raf swing by too, but not as often.”

“I have a wife and kids who know about what’s going on as well,” Collin added. “The kids are still pretty small, though, so I only come up here to check on things every few days. You probably won’t see me or Coil very often….” He paused. “Unless you want to come home with me and meet your niece and nephew.”

“Don’t throw me into everything at once,” Maria replied. “I…I need time to adjust to this.” She looked away from the others and closed her eyes before taking in a deep breath. “The last thing I remember of this world is that summer. I didn’t expect to come back and find out that you had grown up in our absence.”

“Our?” Strongarm repeated.

“She’s talking about Mom, Dad, Matt, and Liz,” Collin explained. “They disappeared that summer too; no one’s seen them since then.”

Maria looked up sharply at that. “I was with Matthew; he should have returned here with me, but I haven’t seen him yet. Joshua probably sensed where he returned.”

“What about the others?” Bumblebee asked.

“Morgen and Katie can take care of themselves, wherever they are,” Sideswipe called with a lazy wave of one hand. “They’re tough fleshbags; they’ll be--“

“They died the day I disappeared,” Maria said flatly.

Silence fell over the base instantly. Maria felt and saw the stare of every Cybertronian in the room as her words sank in.

“…what?” Collin asked in soft confusion. He shook his head slowly. “You – you…” He stepped back slightly as a hard look crossed over his face. “Who killed them?”

There was a tenseness in the room at Collin’s words. Coil looked like he was ready to step forward and pull Collin back.

Maria lowered her eyes to the floor before looking up again. “Joshua was there. He saw what happened, even if he didn’t disappear with me. He should have told you – why didn’t he?”

“Because he locked himself in his lab after you disappeared and refused to come out for years!”

Maria frowned. “And now?”

“Now, he’s been keeping up the idea that you’ve all just disappeared and his lab is now in the middle of a secret government base that only looks like our hometown!” Collin started pacing around the room. “It’s annoying how many secrets he likes to keep, especially after he decided on a whim to revive Galvatron to give the Predacons a proper leader and knock Predaking down a peg or two. That could have been dangerous for everyone!”

Maria filed the information away for later as her eyes narrowed. “He should have told you about the Dark Arms and what they did. They disintegrated our parents and then took me to—“ She cut herself off and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter now. They won’t be coming after us again.”

Collin stopped pacing and looked at Maria strangely. “Dark Arms? I haven’t heard of—“

“It. Doesn’t. Matter.” Maria’s voice came out clipped and annoyed. “What matters now is figuring out what is going on here and setting things straight before we have an even worse powder keg on our hands than we already do. If we don’t know what caused what I saw, then there is a chance that it could happen again, or someone is planning something far worse. I’m going to need to talk to Joshua. Do you have a Ground Bridge I can use to get to his location?”

Collin stared at Maria, then looked at Bumblebee, who looked just as confused and surprised as the human.

Bumblebee shrugged. “Uh…we don’t exactly have a working Ground Bridge here yet. And even if we did, the human government would probably try to come after us for it. The only reason we’re not being hunted down by them is because we agreed to keep to ourselves and stay out of anything they did. Same for the Maximals and Predacons.”

“Well, does anyone want to come with me on a cross-country roadtrip, then?” Maria looked over at Collin with a raised eyebrow.

Collin raised his hands. “I have a wife and kids not far from here; I’m not about to up and leave without giving them a few days’ warning at least.”

“I was planning on going.”

Maria looked over at First Aid as she left what she was tinkering.

“Joshua and Jolt both need to be looked over; at the rate they’ve been avoiding me, it’s starting to become dangerous if they keep it up. I don’t care if they’re both mechanics, they need a doctor’s touch.” First Aid looked pointedly at Maria. “I can look you over then, as well. Whatever it is you’ve done, it’s brought you back changed.”

“I won’t argue against that,” Maria replied. “An alternate version of Ratchet did assist in giving me some upgrades, but I went through a number of battles immediately afterwards.”

First Aid blinked a couple times. “You were…you were on an alternate version of our world?”

“Among others.” Maria looked over at Collin. “Matthew was on their world before the events that took place. I met up with him there.”

“You mean the DC one?” Collin frowned. “What happened over there? Joshua came back from that and said everything was fine?”

“Some….” Maria trailed off, then shook her head. “Some other things happened. Either Joshua wasn’t aware of what was coming or he became aware of it too late to warn the rest of us. In any event, it would be wise for me to let him know that I am back and that I want his help in finding out what exactly has happened here.” She motioned back to the door she and Bumblebee had stepped through moments ago. “Shall we go?”