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#i still can't believe that they made a sequel trilogy to one of the most successful and beloved film franchises ever and didn’t plan them

My Top Posts in 2022:

Infinity War (Chapter Two)

Summary: (Y/N) reunites with an old friend and the Black Order invades New York in search of the Time Stone.

Pairing: Steve Rogers X Reader

Word Count: 5.4k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: This chapter’s a lot longer than I originally anticipated but I’m really proud that I was able to finish it on time, so that’s nice lol thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Two (Previous Chapter)

For a Master of the Mystic Arts who once boasted to have an extensive watch list of people who posed a potential threat to Earth, Doctor Stephen Strange had no goddamn idea that a power-hungry genocidal maniac was on his way to retrieve two out of the six Infinity Stones. It was all (Y/N) could do to keep her irritation in check as she gave the two baffled sorcerers a brief explanation of not only who Thanos was and why he was so dangerous, but how she, her one-month-old daughter and Bruce Banner all found their way back to Earth; not only was she irritated by his ignorance of the Mad Titan, but also the lie he’d told her moments before she’d been accidentally transported to Sakaar.

“You didn’t strike me as a liar when we first met.”

Stephen, who was preoccupied with bandaging the two wounds on her bicep, sighed but kept his focus on his work. “I’d hate to argue semantics with you, Miss (Y/L/N), but I never lied to you; I told you that you wouldn’t be alone during the birth of your daughter, and you weren’t.”

“So, you didn’t think to give me a heads-up that if I touched that ugly cauldron over there, I’d wind up trapped on an alien planet with a Prince of Asgard acting as my midwife?” (Y/N) asked, the harsh edge of her voice cutting through the silence in the Sanctum’s foyer. “Was it fun for you, looking into my future and seeing how I’d spend a month struggling to keep myself and my daughter alive? Knowing that Steve wouldn’t be there for Carina’s birth and deliberately keeping that information to yourself?”

“I understand why you’re upset and I’m not trying to dismiss your feelings, but I did warn you that messing around with time was a bad idea. A person isn’t meant to know too much about their own future; if I told you what I saw – which, for the record, was only the moment of your daughter’s birth on Sakaar and a brief glimpse of you both back here in New York – it simply wouldn’t have happened.” Once he was finished securing the bandage around her upper arm, Stephen stood up from the antique lounge they were seated on and extended a hand to her, a glimmer of regret in his darkened gaze. “For what it’s worth, you adapted to your unfortunate circumstances far better than I thought you would.”

(Y/N) huffed out a humorless chuckle and allowed the doctor to help her stand, inwardly frowning in concern when she felt his hand tremble in hers but deciding not to mention it. “That’s only because I had help the entire time. Loki-” Her throat tightened in grief and she forced herself not to think of her unlikely friend and all the others that remained trapped on the Statesman. Thankfully, she was prevented from finishing her sentence when Wong – the other sorcerer that protected the New York Sanctum from mystical threats – and a freshly-dressed Bruce walked into the foyer. “How’re you feeling, Bruce?”

“Okay, I guess, but my memory’s still a little foggy…” Bruce fiddled with the sleeve of his borrowed blazer and observed the wrecked staircase with his brow furrowed in confusion. “You said that the Bifrost brought me here? I don’t remember any of that, i-it’s like the Hulk’s stopping me from trying to remember or something but I don’t know why. Usually, the Big Guy and I are on the same page but lately it feels like we aren’t even reading the same book.”

She walked over to where Bruce stood and gave his hand a comforting squeeze. “All that matters is that you’re safe now; we’ll figure out whatever’s going on together, okay? You don’t have to go through this alone.”

The scientist threw her a grateful look and they both turned to Stephen as he opened a sparking portal and stepped through it. “We’d better go through after him so Tony doesn’t get too freaked out and go full Iron Man on him.”

“You go ahead, I’ll stay here with Carina,” (Y/N) replied, hiding her growing discomfort behind a fleeting smile that vanished when Bruce turned away; she hadn’t seen or spoken to Tony Stark in over two years, with their last tension-filled interaction being the day she’d moved out of the Avengers Facility, and she wasn’t entirely sure how he’d react to seeing her again and learning that Steve Rogers conceived a child with her while on the run. All this stress is going to give me premature grey hair, she silently remarked, glancing over at Carina’s pram hovering by the foot of the ruined staircase and brightening a little when she saw that Wong was entertaining the cooing infant with magical bursts of multicolored fireworks. She walked over to the pair, adjusting her daughter’s blanket and quietly chuckling as her eyes widened in awe at the bright display above her. “Looks like you’re Carina’s favorite person at the moment, Wong. You know, when we first met Stephen mentioned that you were a fan of my novels.”

Wong smiled and nodded. “They’re woven together with such intricate details and compelling characters that they’re almost impossible to put down; my entire collection is back at Kamar-Taj, otherwise I’d ask you to autograph them for me.”

“Well, I’m just a-” She copied the arm movements that Stephen used to conjure the portal across the foyer. “-away, so feel free to drop by anytime when all of this is over.”

Before either of them could say anything, Stephen marched back through the sparking portal with Bruce and Tony Stark on his heels. The billionaire’s attention was focused on the doctor and the emotionally-frazzled scientist but when Stephen turned to close the portal behind them, his gaze shifted and finally landed on (Y/N); his brow shot up in surprise and if she didn’t know any better, she’d say that he was a little pleased to see her. “It’s been a while, Austen.” His familiar nickname for her brought a small smile to her face. “How’s my favorite historical fiction novelist doing, and why’s she dressed like Éowyn from Lord of the Rings?”

“The world’s in danger and we’re the ones who have to save it again, so pretty good, all things considered. I’ll explain the outfit in a minute but first, I think that there’s someone you should meet.” With a steadying breath, (Y/N) reached down into the pram and lifted her squirming daughter into her arms, kissing her brow before walking over to where Tony stood. “Tony, this is my daughter Carina…Carina Lorraine Rogers-(Y/L/N).”

Tony’s brown eyes flicked between (Y/N) and the infant in her arms as a flurry of emotions crossed his face; there was shock, disbelief, anger, sadness, and even some regret before he finally settled on the ghost of his trademark smirk. “She’s a cute kid. Good thing she takes after her mom, huh?”

“She may have my looks, but she inherited all of her attitude from her father.” Right on cue, Carina blew an exceptionally loud raspberry and began to gum the edge of (Y/N)’s breastplate, making Tony chuckle and (Y/N) sigh in mild exasperation. “You see? She definitely didn’t get that from me.”

The billionaire looked as if he wanted to say something but thought better of it, giving her and her daughter another smile before glancing back over at Stephen, Wong and Bruce standing in the center of the foyer. “Now, can one of you guys explain why I’m here in a wizard’s secret lair and not jogging through Central Park with my fiancée?”

Exchanging a wary glance with Bruce, (Y/N) tightened her hold on Carina and launched into the briefest explanation she could manage of hers and the scientist’s adventures in space; how both of them ended up on Sakaar and their struggle to survive in the Grandmaster’s palace, how they became involved in the Asgardian’s fight against the Goddess of Death and how they both wound up back on Earth. Tony patiently listened to her talk and didn’t interrupt, but she could practically see the wheels in his head turning as she told their story and she was reminded of the argument she’d overheard the night that Ultron first attacked the Avengers.

“…A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We’re standing three hundred feet below it. We’re the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but that up there? That’s…that’s the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?”

“Together.”

“We’ll lose.”

“Then we’ll do that together, too.”

Tony was right about needing to be prepared for another cosmic threat, (Y/N) silently admitted to herself, but we’re not going to lose this fight against Thanos…we can’t lose. When she finally finished, she stepped back and allowed the two sorcerers to explain the Infinity Stones in their own words, watching in barely-concealed awe when Wong raised his hands and used his magic to conjure a ball of light above them all.

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70 notes - Posted May 5, 2022

Infinity War (Chapter One)

Summary: In the wake of Asgard’s destruction, (Y/N) and Carina’s journey back to Earth and to Steve Rogers is interrupted when Thanos attacks the Statesman.

Pairing: Steve Rogers X Reader

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings/Disclaimers: Disclaimer for a brief description of a panic attack

A/N: And here we’ve reached Avengers: Infinity War...I might as well apologize now for the angst that’s in store for ya’ll this time around lol thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter One June 2018 The Statesman, Space (Previous Book)

“…So, that’s everything I missed while I was away from Earth?”

(Y/N) nodded, anxiously fiddling with the hem of her golden-yellow cape while she watched Thor absorb all of the information she’d spent the past half an hour relaying to him. “Pretty much. Look, Thor, I know it’s a lot to take in all at once so if you need a minute to process-”

She was abruptly cut off when the large Asgardian wrapped his arms around her and held her in a near-suffocating embrace; once she got over her initial shock, she looped her arms around his trim waist and rested her cheek against his muscular chest with a resigned smile. Telling Thor about the Sokovia Accords and the disbandment of the Avengers was something that she’d been dreading ever since running into him on the streets of Greenwich Village, unsure of how he’d react to the news. She’d prepared herself for anger and possibly even tears, especially after everything he’d gone through on Sakaar and having seen Asgard destroyed barely a day ago, but she certainly hadn’t prepared herself to be on the receiving end of a bear-hug.

“I can’t imagine how difficult things have been for you these past few years, Writer (Y/L/N). Once we establish a settlement for what remains of Asgard, I’ll speak to this Secretary Ross about pardoning Captain Rogers and his accomplices; after all you did to help save my people, you have my undying word that little Carina will finally meet her father.”

“That’s very sweet of you, Thor, but…” She managed to pull away enough so that she could see his kindhearted face. “I’m not so sure it’ll be that easy. One hundred and seventeen countries came together to sign the Accords and even if you managed to have the document amended or abolished…well, it’s been almost two years and Steve and Tony still aren’t on speaking terms.”

Thor’s blue eye was filled with sadness as he nodded and loosened his hold on her, but he did his best to give her a reassuring smile. “Hope can be just as powerful of a weapon as any sword or blaster and as long as we hold onto it, anything is possible.”

(Y/N) matched his smile with one of her own and gave his arm a playful nudge with her shoulder. “You’re a pretty great king.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far.” They both turned to watch Loki enter the chamber with a bright-eyed Carina nestled in his arms, a gleam of mischief in his blue-green gaze as he cheekily continued. “He’s been king for less than twenty-four hours, mortal, let’s at least give the oaf a week before we draw any conclusions about his mighty reign.”

“And you, Loki, thrive far too much on purposefully antagonizing the people around you.”

Thor waved her off with a widening grin. “It’s all right, Writer (Y/L/N), these days he’s all talk and no action; the old Loki would’ve followed that all up by stabbing me, but pretend marriage and pretend fatherhood seems to have softened him up.”

Loki rolled his eyes and Thor stuck his tongue out at him, causing (Y/N) to shake her head in exasperation as she watched their interaction. “Seriously? I swear, my daughter’s more mature than the both of you combined and she’s only a month old.”

“Mortal, your spawn is not-”At that moment, Carina’s tiny fingers wrapped around a lock of Loki’s raven hair and tugged, eliciting a surprised yelp from him and a snort of amusement from Thor. “Yes, what was that you were saying about her so-called elevated maturity?”

Ignoring Thor’s laughter and Loki’s accusatory glare, (Y/N) lifted the infant into her arms and held her up at eye level. “Carina Lorraine Rogers-(Y/L/N), that was a very rude thing to do to your Uncle Loki…but I’ll let it slide this one time since he called you my spawn.” She kissed the tip of her daughter’s nose and carefully placed her in her floating pram, taking a moment to adjust her blanket before moving to stand beside the brothers at the large window; she stared out into the star-filled space before them, and she couldn’t hide her awestruck smile at the beautiful sight. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this sight. How long do you think it’ll take to reach Earth?”

“I spoke with the Valkyrie earlier and she assured me that we’ll be there within the week; we’re twenty-two jumps away from Asgard, which means we only have around forty more to go.” Loki replied, fidgeting a little as he folded his hands in front of him. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to go back to Earth?”

“Yes, of course, the people of Earth love me. I’m very popular.”

“And it’s where the father of my child is so yes, I also think it’s a very good idea.”

Loki bit back an exasperated sigh. “Let me rephrase that for you both: Do you really think it’s a good idea to bring me back to Earth?”

His brother considered his question before shrugging his shoulders. “Probably not, to be honest.” (Y/N) reached down and took Loki’s hand, squeezing it in comfort as he looked down at the floor. “But I wouldn’t worry, brother. I feel like everything’s going to work out fine.”

Loki looked up at them and when he met their eyes, a hopeful smile tugged at the corners of his mouth; they all turned back towards the enormous window but as they watched, a massive ship came into view and blocked out the light of the nearby stars. For the briefest moment, (Y/N) wondered if it was some sort of rescue vessel responding to the distress call the Asgardian refugees had put out shortly after their escape, but her optimism evaporated the moment she saw Loki’s pale face and heard his horrified whisper. “Thanos.”

“Wait, who’s-?” (Y/N)’s heart plummeted in her chest when she recalled the troubling conversation about a genocidal world-conquering maniac obsessed with Infinity Stones she’d stumbled into during one of the Grandmaster’s parties. “Oh God…”

“What’s wrong?” Thor asked, a frown on his face and a glimmer of fear in his eye as he took in their reactions. “Loki, who is that?”

“There’s no time for explanations, Thor, we need to sound the alarm and summon every Einherjar we have left right now, before it’s too late! We must evacuate-” Loki’s frantic words were interrupted by the entire ship shuddering as the larger vessel fired its first blast and a shrill alarm began to sound throughout the ship. “Please, brother, you must trust me! Take (Y/N) and lead the people onto the escape shuttles, I’ll gather our warriors onto the bridge and begin mounting our defense with Heimdall.”

Before either of them could reply, Loki dashed out of the chamber and after exchanging matching looks of panic, Thor and (Y/N) gathered up Carina’s pram and hurried to follow his command.

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74 notes - Posted April 28, 2022

Taking Care of Business (Chapter Twenty-Two)

Summary: While helping to re-establish the Mandalorian covert in the substrata of Glavis, Din asks the Armorer to forge a gift and learns more about the Darksaber alongside (Y/N) and Paz Vizsla.

Pairing: Din Djarin X Reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings/Disclaimers: Disclaimer for a brief description of a panic attack

A/N: Okay, I intended on including Din’s Darksaber training and the duel here but I decided it deserved its own chapter, so the action will definitely ramp up next time lol I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Two The Covert (Previous Chapter)

“So, how did you become acquainted with a pilot?”

Din glanced up from the chain he was fastening around the forge and looked up at Paz, the muscle in his jaw clenching when he noticed his fellow Mandalorian watching (Y/N) as she worked to rewire some old equipment alongside the Armorer. “I helped her defeat the remnants of a crime syndicate and in turn, she helped me return Gro-the foundling to his own kind.”

“Why haven’t you exchanged vows yet?” Paz asked with an accusatory edge to his voice, turning back to face him and pointing to the signet fastened to his pauldron. “Clan Mudhorn cannot thrive with only two members, but a riduurok will ensure its continuation.”

“We’ve been busy,” Din replied, resuming his task with slightly more force than necessary and carefully watching Paz out of the corner of his eye while he considered their exchange.

What he told Paz was technically true, but the fact of the matter was that he hadn’t even asked (Y/N) to marry him; the subject of marriage was one that simply never came up between them. He knew, of course, that the captain loved him and wanted to continue traveling as his partner, but he had no idea if marriage appealed to her or not. If he were being honest with himself, one of the real reasons he hadn’t brought it up was because he was afraid of ruining what they already had. He told himself that he’d bring it up once their lives calmed down a little, but it was starting to look as though a calm life just wasn’t in the cards for them just yet. I’ll ask her the moment the time feels right, he promised himself as he glanced over at (Y/N), no matter where we are or what we’re doing.

The two Mandalorians moved the forge to the center of the workshop, Paz pushing the heavy machinery while Din tugged it into place using the sturdy chain, the sound of the successful installation echoing throughout the room. While Din began unfastening the chain, Paz started connecting the tubing to the forge and broke the silence with another pointed question. “Where did you come upon the Darksaber?”

Although his shoulders were tensed, Din continued hauling equipment as he gave his fellow Mandalorian a carefully worded reply. “I defeated Moff Gideon.”

Paz considered his words for a moment. “Did you kill him?”

“No. But he was sent off to the New Republic for interrogation and he’ll face justice for his crimes.”

The larger Mandalorian scoffed and began winding up the loose chain. “Death would’ve been justice for his atrocities.”

“This is true.” They both turned to see the Armorer and (Y/N) enter the workshop. “The blood of millions of our kind is on his hands.”

“I’m a veteran of the Rebel Alliance and while the atrocities Moff Gideon committed still affect me to this day, I know that killing him in combat isn’t justice.” The captain’s frown was deep and her expression clouded with frustration as she stared unflinchingly at the two Mandalorians before her. “Once he’s put on trial and any useful Imperial intel is taken from him, he’ll be executed for his crimes by the New Republic Tribunal.”

While the Armorer and Paz stood in stunned silence, Din admired his partner’s wisdom and fearlessness; not many people would readily contradict a Mandalorian while in their presence, but (Y/N) was hardly unfazed under their intimidating stares. A tense moment passed before the Armorer turned away and began pressing buttons on the nearest control panel. “We shall see.” At the flip of a switch, the forge ignited and she walked over to a nearby cabinet as she continued. “The songs of eons past foretold of the Mythosaur rising up to herald a new age of Mandalore…” She pressed a button and the doors slid open to reveal her familiar forging tools. “Sadly, it only exists in legends. Where did you come upon the beskar spear?”

Reaching over his shoulder, Din unsheathed the spear he’d strapped onto his jetpack and held it in his gloved hands, examining the shining metal while he moved to stand beside (Y/N) at the forge. “It was a gift of a Jedi. It can block a lightsaber; I used it to defeat Moff Gideon.”

“It can also pierce beskar armor.” The Armorer pointed out. “It’s mere existence puts Mandalorians at risk. Mandalorian steel is meant for armor, not weapons.”

Din recalled a recent conversation he’d shared with (Y/N), where the captain had voiced her concerns about the risks involved with wielding the beskar spear; if an opponent managed to disarm him, they’d have no problem using the spear against him and injuring or possibly killing him. He looked over at his partner and nodded before holding the weapon out towards the Armorer. “Then forge it into armor.”

The Mandalorian crossed the workshop and accepted the spear. “The Darksaber is a more noble weapon for you to wield.”

Just as long as I can learn how to wield it without slicing one of my own limbs off, Din thought with an exasperated eye-roll, moving to sit beside (Y/N) on a storage container and watch the Armorer place the tip of the spear into the white-hot fire. (Y/N) intertwined her fingers with his and rested their joined hands on her lap, his thumb rubbing soothing circles across her knuckles as she finally spoke up. “Have you ever heard of Bo-Katan Kryze?”

“Bo-Katan is a cautionary tale.” They watched as the Armorer poured a solution into a deep basin of water and at her statement, Din found himself leaning forward in interest; since meeting the unconventional Mandalorian back on Trask, they’d both been eager to learn more about her and the real reason why she was so hell-bent on defeating Moff Gideon. “She once laid claim to rule Mandalore based purely on blood and the sword you now possess.” She walked back to the forge and rotated the spear as its metal began to weaken. “But it was gifted to her and not won by Creed. Bo-Katan Kryze was born of a mighty house, but they lost sight of the Way. Her rule ended in tragedy; they lost their Way, and we lost our world. Had our sect not been cloistered on the moon of Concordia, we would have not survived the Great Purge.”

“When we first met, she mentioned having fought in the Purge,” (Y/N) recalled, and her eyes flicked between Din and the Armorer as she hesitantly continued. “But I still don’t exactly know what happened to Mandalore.”

“Those born of Mandalore strayed away from the path. Eventually, Imperial interlopers destroyed all that we knew and loved in the Night of a Thousand Tears. Only those that walked the Way escaped the curse prophesied in the Creed. Though our numbers were scattered to the winds, our adherence to the Way has preserved our legacy for the generations until we may someday return to our home world.” The captain nodded once the Armorer’s story ended but judging by the familiar line that formed between her brows, her mind was racing with thoughts; removing the spear from the fire, the Mandalorian finally looked up at Din. “What shall I forge?”

Din bit his lip as he thought over her question; he’d ask that the Armorer forge something that could provide (Y/N) with some added protection, but he knew that the captain would only consider it a waste of beskar and refuse to accept the armor. His thoughts then turned to another member of their small clan and while he still felt the familiar sadness that came along with remembering Grogu, his lips curved into the smallest of smiles. “Something for a foundling.”

“This is the Way.”

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80 notes - Posted February 9, 2022

"Bullseye!"

Summary: When (Y/N) complains about Cap’s method of training agents to Kate Bishop, her good friend and hopeless crush, the archer volunteers to take over her firearms training. Or, a simple archery training session between two young women leads to lots of awkward flirting and the start of something new.

Pairing: Kate Bishop X Fem!Reader

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: Okay, so this is sort of new territory for me, I've never written a wlw story before, but I’ve always wanted to and Kate Bishop’s one of my favorite new ladies in the MCU lol thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoy!

“Bullseye!” (Fanfiction Masterlist)

“It was really sweet of you to volunteer for this, Kate.” (Y/N) slung her full quiver of arrows over her shoulder and awkwardly held her training bow at her side as she smiled at her friend. “I’m kinda hopeless when it comes to Cap’s training courses and the others can be a little intimidating, so this really means a lot to me.”

Kate looked up from adjusting the circular target at the opposite end of the training room with a smile of her own. “Believe me, I remember how hard all those weapons certification courses were. That’s why I decided to go ahead and develop my own training course, so that newer recruits can learn the basics without the fear of being forced to run laps or – God forbid – do push-ups.” (Y/N) giggled as the archer wrinkled her nose in disgust, feeling some of her apprehension melt away only to be replaced with the familiar fluttering in her chest brought on by her undeniable crush on Kate Bishop.

The raven-haired archer’s kindness and sarcastic wit were rivaled only by her stunning beauty, all traits that made quick work of capturing (Y/N)’s heart and reducing her into an embarrassingly lovesick fool. But Kate was her only close friend at the Avengers Compound and she feared that revealing her true feelings would result in a ruined friendship, so she resolved to bury them deep and try not to pine. Try and ultimately fail, (Y/N) thought with an inward sigh, doing her best to ignore the way her heart skipped a beat when Kate stood beside her and playfully hip-checked her as she notched an arrow onto her bow’s string. “All right, Professor Bishop, what’s next?”

“I’m gonna show you how to correctly fire an arrow and then I’m gonna watch you fire one to see what areas need improving. Just watch what I do and you’ll be okay, my young Padawan.” She chuckled and adjusted her foot placement while (Y/N) rolled her eyes in exasperation. “So, this is the stance you’re gonna wanna take: back straight, feet shoulder-width apart and at ninety-degrees to the target. Don’t grip the bow too tightly or you’ll hurt yourself, then position your fingers like this…” She gestured with her chin towards where her fingers curled around the bowstring. “One finger above the arrow and two below. The string’ll snap on your fingers if they’re not straight and believe me, that hurts like a son of a bitch so always take the time to check your fingers before moving onto the next step.”

(Y/N) nodded. “Will-do. I’m not exactly a hand model, but I think I’d prefer to keep all my fingers just in case.”

“Well, I happen to think you’ve got very nice hands.” (Y/N)’s brows rose at the unusual compliment and Kate’s face flushed with embarrassment. “Was that too weird? That sounded kinda weird.”

“It was a little weird, but no one’s ever complimented my hands before so I’ll take it.” Quickly looking away from the archer’s sparkling eyes, (Y/N) cleared her throat and nodded towards her bow. “So, what’s the next step?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, the next step!” Kate gave her a flustered smile before raising her bow and pulling back the string. “Use your back muscles to pull the string back, not your biceps, and pull it back so that your index finger’s under your chin; the string should lightly brush against your nose and lips, like this, and now you take a moment to aim at your target using your dominant eye…and once you’re aligned, you relax your fingers and release.” The arrow sped across the training room and impaled itself into the center of the circular target, and Kate turned to her with a bright grin. “Bullseye! You ready to give it a try, (Y/N)?”

(Y/N) nodded and with a nervous chuckle, she notched her arrow and shuffled her feet into position. “Not sure I’ll get a bullseye on my first shot, but I’ll try my best.”

“Think positive thoughts! I know they’re not the most fun but I’ve seen your proficiency scores in Cap’s firearms course, and you’re one hell of a crack-shot; just pretend that your bow’s a .22 and you’ll be fine. Do you mind if I fix your posture for you?” When she agreed, Kate nudged her feet further apart with the toe of her book and she was forced to bite back her gasp of surprise when the archer stood behind her and gently straightened her back for her; her eyes went wide when Kate not only remained close behind her, but as her hands moved to rest on the curve of her hips. “Okay, next step?” (Y/N) struggled to focus on her training for a moment before remembering to adjust her fingers on the bowstring, earning an approving hum from the archer. “Hey, you were paying attention!”

“Well, it’s easy to when you’ve got such an excellent teacher,” (Y/N) replied with a smile, emboldened by the weight of Kate’s hands on her hips and the praising tone in her voice; was it her imagination, or did the archer’s breath hitch? Before she could give a reply, (Y/N) raised her bow and drew the string back. “How’s this?”

“G-Good. Yeah, it’s good, just…” One of Kate’s hands left her hip and moved to cup her elbow. “This arm needs to go a little higher.” Her hand remained in place even after (Y/N) did as she said, her fingers curling against the material of the workout jacket and their warmth practically searing (Y/N)’s flushed skin. “Use your nose and lips as your anchor. Good, just like that, now take aim at your target…” (Y/N) felt the tip of Kate’s nose brush against her hair as she softly murmured into her ear, “And fire away.”

(Y/N) released the arrow and watched with bated breath as it sailed through the air, where it impaled itself at the very edge of the target’s red center. “Bullseye!” She exclaimed in delight, jumping up and down in excitement as she turned to her beaming friend. “Holy shit, Kate, did you see that?!”

“Yeah, that was an awesome shot!” The archer laughed and smiled at her celebratory dancing. “Didn’t I tell you you’d be great at this?”

Without thinking, (Y/N) threw her arms around Kate and the two friends shared an enthusiastic hug, the sounds of their giggles echoing throughout the vast training room. Her eyes went wide once she realized what she’d impulsively done but when she started to pull back, she caught sight of the archer’s gaze fixated on her lips; her dark eyes darted up to meet hers and while a pink blush spread throughout her face, she slowly brought her hand up and brushed the pads of her fingertips timidly against (Y/N)’s own flushed cheek. A newfound glimmer of hope that Kate might have similar feelings for her blossomed and anxious butterflies fluttered away in her stomach as she whispered, “I-Is it okay if I kissed you right now?”

A brilliant smile spread across Kate’s face. “Absolutely.”

(Y/N) leaned in and closed her eyes as her lips brushed against Kate’s in a slow kiss; it was soft and gentle and perhaps a little shy, but while the archer’s arm encircled her waist to bring her closer and her calloused hand cradled her cheek as if she were made of delicate glass, she knew that it was perfect. After they finally separated, (Y/N) rested her forehead against Kate’s and breathlessly smiled. “That was…wow.”

“Yeah, that’s kinda what I was thinking,” Kate chuckled, her dark eyes gleaming with happiness as she bashfully bit her lip. “I like you, (Y/N). A lot. Like, a lot-a lot.” The archer grinned when (Y/N) giggled at her overemphasis. “I’m, um, I’m not really experienced with all this, but I think it might be your turn to say something.”

“I like you, too.” She took hold of Kate’s hands and gave them a gentle squeeze. “I don’t know where that leaves us…but I’m free tomorrow night, if you wanna go grab some pizza and see a movie with me? O-Or not, I know you’re pretty busy and I wouldn’t wanna intrude-”

(Y/N) squeaked in surprise when Kate’s lips crashed against hers and effectively silenced her anxious rambling, and it took her a moment to recover and kiss the archer back. They were both out of breath by the time they finally separated, with (Y/N) trying in vain to regain her voice and Kate smiling widely in triumph. “Bullseye.”

“…Oh, please tell me you’re not gonna say that every time you kiss me.”

“I’m not sure yet,” The archer shrugged as (Y/N) playfully rolled her eyes. “So I guess you’ll have to wait until tomorrow night to find out, won’t you? I’ll get Clint to dog-sit Lucky and we’ll have a night on the town; I’m talking pizza, ice cream, the movie theater, Rockefeller’s skating rink, maybe even one of those cheesy escape rooms we could probably solve with our eyes closed…” They both chuckled at that and (Y/N) relished the newfound softness in Kate’s dark eyes as they stared into hers. “How’s that sound?”

With a happy sigh, (Y/N) looped her arms around Kate’s neck and smiled. “Sounds very Kate Bishop: a little bit weird and absolutely wonderful.”

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158 notes - Posted November 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

What The World Needs Now...

Summary: Entirely out of options and fearing for her daughter’s safety, (Y/N) decides to pay Professor Charles Xavier a visit at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. The man in charge of the school, however, was nothing like what (Y/N) had expected.

Pairing: Charles Xavier X Reader

Word Count: 5.3k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: I was going through one of my old flash drives when I found this one-shot I’d written years ago, way back when I had a huge thing for McAvoy’s Professor X (specifically Professor X from X-Men: Apocalypse, the flowing brown hair really got to me lol). After making a few quick edits, I decided to publish it for you all to read so I hope that you enjoy! "What The World Needs Now Is Love" by Jackie DeShannon partially inspired this one-shot, so give it a listen if you've never heard it before :)

What The World Needs Now... September 1979

Looking out the window of the taxi, (Y/N) quietly admired how the sunlight streamed through the endless forest of trees; although they’d been traveling from Westchester County Airport through the woods of upstate New York for nearly a half an hour, the beautiful scenery still managed to keep her distracted from any anxious thoughts.

(Y/N) turned to Molly, who was curled against her side and fast asleep, and gently brushed her hair away from her peaceful face before looking down at the letter resting on her lap. The paper, once crisp and white, was wrinkled and stained from countless readings and although she could practically recite the words from memory by now, she began to read the letter once again.

Dear Miss (Y/L/N),

To say that I was pleasantly surprised by your letter would be an understatement; in all my years of research, I have never heard of a mutation developing at such a young age. I would very much like to meet your daughter to uncover more about her mutation but unfortunately, I am unable to leave my school and students unattended for extended periods of time. Would it be possible for you and your daughter to travel here? I know how complicated everything must seem to you now but I promise you, Miss (Y/L/N), I will do everything in my power to help the both of you in this challenging time.

Regards,

Professor Charles Xavier

Enclosed with the letter were two first-class plane tickets and in any other situation, (Y/N) would’ve rejected such generosity, but she was beyond desperate; Molly’s powers were accelerating with each passing day and becoming more and more noticeable, and they’d already been the target of threats from their supposed friends and neighbors. So, without a second thought, she and Molly found themselves on an airplane the day after the letter arrived. Professor Xavier seems like a very kindhearted old man, she thought with a hint of a smile, maybe the sort who wears patches on the elbows of his jackets and misplaces his reading glasses, or one who is even bald. No matter what he looked or dressed like, though, she was beyond relieved to have finally found someone who could possibly help her daughter.

“Would you look at that?” The taxi driver gave a low whistle. “That’s one hell of a house, huh?”

(Y/N) looked up from the letter and gasped in awe. In the distance stood an enormous mansion, similar to European castles and manors she’d only read about in books; the impressive stone structure was ringed with a manicured lawn and towering trees, and tendrils of ivy grew along the towering walls of the building.

“Molly? Molly, sweetie, time to wake up, we’re here!” Molly’s eyes slowly opened and she sleepily raised her hands to rub at them. “Molly-Bear look, doesn’t it look like a castle?”

Molly finally looked up and her face immediately brightened. “A castle, Mommy!” (Y/N) had to quickly stuff the letter into her purse and move it out of the way as the five-year old clambered onto her lap for a better look; she pressed her hands, which were wrapped in a pair of pink mittens, onto the window and stared at the mansion with wide eyes. “Is there a dragon in there?”

“I’m not sure, sweetie, you’ll have to ask Professor Xavier when we meet him.”

Minutes later, the taxi driver pulled up to the front of the mansion and stopped. (Y/N) thanked him and paid their fare before getting out and grabbing their two suitcases; they watched the taxi drive off before walking up several steps to the mansion’s massive front doors. On the stone wall beside the door was a modest brass plaque, which read Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.

“Wanna help me knock, Molly-Bear?” When the little girl smiled toothily, (Y/N) set their suitcases down, picked Molly up and rested her against her hip before raising her knuckles to the door. Molly placed her small fist against the door and they both knocked loudly, and (Y/N) silently hoped that someone in the enormous house would be able to hear them.

Much to her surprise, however, the door opened only a few moments later to reveal a tall man; he had a youthful face, with carefully styled brown hair and brilliant blue eyes behind a pair of black-rimmed glasses, and he wore a white laboratory coat over a dark blue button-down shirt and brown slacks. “Hello, how can I help you?”

“We wanna see Professor ’Zavier!”

The man’s bewildered look would’ve made (Y/N) smile if not for their serious situation. “My name is (Y/N) (Y/L/N), and this is my daughter, Molly. We’re here to meet Professor Charles Xavier.” She reached into her purse, withdrew the letter and handed it to the wary man. “He sent me this letter several days ago.”

His eyes quickly scanned the words and he looked up, his guarded expression falling as he gave her a bright smile. “Of course, the professor’s been expecting you both, Miss (Y/L/N)!” Giving back the letter, he opened the door wider and gestured for them to enter. “Here, let me get your bags for you.”

“Thank you, Mr.…?”

“Oh, it’s Hank, Hank McCoy.” He shook her hand before bringing their suitcases into the house and nudging the door closed behind them. “The professor should be in his study, so if you’ll follow me…”

While Hank led them through the halls of the mansion, (Y/N) looked around and admired the beautiful interior. Everything from the mahogany wood-paneling to the slightly-faded ornate carpeting made her feel as though she were Nick Caraway from The Great Gatsby, entering the elaborate home of the mysterious Jay Gatsby for the very first time. However, she couldn’t help but notice a distinct lack of students roaming the halls.

“Excuse me, Hank, but where are all the children?”

Hank glanced down at his wristwatch. “Right now, they’re all in fifth period. It’s usually a lot noisier around here, but I think they’re all taking tests today.” They turned down another hall and continued walking. “I’m sorry for back there, by the way, we don’t get many visitors and sometimes the ones we do get-” He bit his lip and looked down before continuing. “They’re not all exactly fans of mutants like us.” Giving his head a small shake, Hank glanced between her and Molly out of the corner of his eye. “So, um…what exactly is her-?”

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475 notes - Posted January 28, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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19thsentry-blog · 2 years

Text

In The Shadows

Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic (Lukanette Endgame)

Chapters

Prelude | Chp 1 | Chp 2 | Chp 3 | Chp 4 | Chp 5 | Chp 6 | Chp 7 | Chp 8 | Chp 9 | Chp 10 | Chp 11 | Chp 12 | Chp 13 | Chp 14 | Chp 15 | Chp 16 | Chp 17 | Chp 18 | Chp 19 | Epilogue | Worlds Not Our Own | Timeline

Chapter Seven: The Question (AO3 Link)

Chapter Snapshot

Gabriel nodded, his gaze dropping to the various photographs on the table before his pale icy eyes locked with hers. "Before we discuss anything further, I'm afraid we will need to discuss something unpleasant. Miss Dupain-Cheng, is it true you are in love with my son?"

The question felt like having a meter-long band-aid ripped off with brutal quickness. A breath caught in her throat, a thousand questions running through her mind at a mile a minute. How did he know? Who told him? What was the right answer? Would he deny a nomination if the answer was a yes? What was wrong with her that he would call it unpleasant?

Why would it matter if she did?

Did she still love Adrien?

Marinette was neck-deep in raspberry macaron filling when her phone erupted into Jagged's guitar solo. She peeked over to see who was calling her, squeezing the icing bag out of panic when she saw Adrien's contact image on the screen, causing a huge squirt of pink filling to go flying across the counter. "Oh my god! Oh my god!" Marinette chucked the bag down and hastily scrubbed her hands against her apron, terrified but picking up the phone anyway. This was it--she'd find out if Gabriel still thought she was hot stuff or yesterday's news.

Adrien's calm voice drifted through the receiver. "Marinette?"

"Hi, it's me, I'm here--did he…?" They had been afraid that Gabriel wouldn't have time to review her portfolio with Félix and his mother in town, but Adrien had found a way to get it to him when he was in a relatively non-hostile mood (she couldn't blame Gabriel, if she had to share a house with Félix for a week she'd probably rip out his spine and turn it into a hat--actually, that might be a cool design idea...).

"He wants to know if you have time to come see him in person," Adrien said, not giving a definitive yes or no on whether Gabriel liked her designs.

"Now? As in right now?!" Marinette looked down at herself, covered in flour and icing and all manner of weird and sticky. "I'll be there soon, just--just give me a few!" She slapped the phone down on the counter, forgetting to hang up before she dashed upstairs to change, bumping past her father on the way up. In the fastest costume change in history, she was out the front door in the space of a few minutes, the macaron catastrophe left undealt with on the counter. Marinette would have to make it up to her mom and dad later, but landing a job and not having to live with them forever was waaay more important.

She knew the path to the Agreste mansion by heart and could make the trip in under twenty minutes, but she had to take another two minutes to stop before she got to the gate to even her breathing and apply fresh perfume to hopefully cover whatever sweat smell she might have gotten on the run over. Tikki gave her a reassuring smile when she stuck the perfume back in her purse, and with one final deep breath, she calmly walked around the corner and pressed the bell.

The freaky eyeball camera stirred to life (she hated that thing) and without any words or preamble, the gates opened. In her younger years she'd fantasized about that, that Adrien's bodyguard and Gabriel's assistant would know her immediately and would let her in without trouble because everybody loved her and they all thought that she and Adrien were perfect together--

She snapped out of her daydream when the doors to the mansion opened, Adrien's bodyguard holding it open for her. Marinette skipped up the steps and into the main hall, wondering if she would see Adrien while she was there. Nathalie was waiting for her just inside the door.

"Miss Dupain-Cheng," she bowed slightly, clutching her tablet to her chest. "If you would please follow me."

Well, that settled that. Marinette nodded and followed Nathalie into Gabriel's office, trying not to panic when the door was shut behind her. Gabriel's atelier was impressive as always, a long white room with a black and white checked floor, designer dresses on dress forms, and photos of Adrien on the wall to her right. At the back of the room, standing in front of Emelie's portrait was Gabriel Agreste. A table had been set up in the middle of the room, Marinette's designs spread across the top in large, full print.

"Miss Dupain-Cheng, I'm glad to see you here on such short notice," Gabriel said, winding around his stand to approach the table in the center of his office. He sat at a small stool at the end of the table and pressed his fingertips together. "I understand you are looking for a nomination to the Lanvin apprenticeship opening shortly, is that correct?" He indicated with a nod of his head that he intended for her to sit on the stool directly opposite him.

Marinette let go of her vice grip on her purse strap and walked to the table, trying to mimic Gabriel's incredible posture. "Yes, that's right." A Ladybug mechanism kicked in, and instead of succumbing to anxiety-driven stutters, she sounded confident and poised (thank God, thank God, thank God).

Why would it matter if she did?

Did she still love Adrien?

"No," she asserted quickly, her panic causing her to falter. Gabriel raised an impassive eyebrow, opening his mouth to speak--God, he'll say no, he really would say no--"I mean, I'm sorry," she laughed a little and pressed her palms to her skirt. "That sounded like a lie the way I said it. I don't want to lie to you, Mr Agreste, your question just caught me off guard." The more she spoke the more Ladybug found her footing, worming her way back into her speech. "I did love Adrien--I think I always will in some ways. But there's so much out there, so much to do and see and experience, and now that I'm older I'm really understanding that. This portfolio here is a part of that desire. There's still a lot of fantasy, but I want to explore and design different kinds of pieces…"

In the back of her brain, she recognized she had managed to work around that extremely personal question and bring it back to her work. That was something that at the end of the day, no matter what happened, she could be proud of. Gabriel seemed to accept the change of subject until the end. It was impossible to avoid it, given the photo's subject. At this point she was standing closer to his shoulder, having moved around the table to better show him the details she was proud of. Gabriel lifted the photo off the glass table, looking at it under his studio lights.

"Is this how you see him?" He asked, grey eyes scanning the page. It had been the first design she created for this portfolio, and she could still feel a bundle of nerves in the bottom of her stomach from the shoot itself (she had expected Adrien to tell her it was a ridiculous idea--but he always encouraged her creative side. It was only in love that he pushed her softly away). Adrien was sitting back on a set of stairs, lounging in the sun in a white Grecian-like tunic like a modern-day Apollo. He looked so mature and…sensual. She had expected to turn into an awkward, babbling mess, but seeing him in that light was…much different from what she'd been imagining.

Marinette smiled a bit sadly. "He fit the image the most, but…" her eyes turned to the large wall of Gabriel's framed photoshoots of Adrien, her Adrien, dreamy but still innocent, still in the throes of boyhood. "When I think of Adrien, I think I see him the same way you do."

They were both quiet for a moment. Gabriel broke the silence when he set the photo down and clasped his hands together. "I only have one more question for you, Miss Dupain-Cheng."

Marinette started a bit and had to force herself not to grab the lifeline of her purse strap--people would realize eventually it was a nervous tick. "Yes, what is it?"

"Why come to me? A nomination is not required, and with your level of talent, I believe you could level the playing field for those who had one. Why did you ask me, specifically?"

Marinette could hear the unspoken question in his words--the real reason he was asking. She walked back around the table and sat on the stool so she could see him properly, eye to eye. "I don't expect any obligation because I'm a friend of Adrien's. Truthfully, it's the opposite. You would judge me harsher than anyone else because of that." Even down to asking if she loved his son, she thought grimly. "Part of me relied on that--if you believe I'm good enough to nominate despite everything--well, that means something. The Agreste name has a lot of weight in this industry, and if I didn't try to ask for your backing for this apprenticeship it would feel like I wasn't doing everything I could. But, even if you didn't give your recommendation, I still would have submitted my portfolio. I don't give up easily," she said with a small laugh. "The other reason is…it is something more personal. You were the first real designer that noticed me. Seeing my hat design in a real photoshoot on a professional model, and then on the runway…it lit a fire under me. I wanted you to see just how far I've come these past few years."

Something of a smile came across Gabriel's lips. An understanding passed between them--that she wasn't just 'Adrien's friend' to him anymore. She was a creator. A real fledgling designer. "…In light of all you have told and shown me today, I would be glad to nominate you."

Marinette couldn't help the sigh of relief that passed her lips--all the work and anxiety had been worth it.

"I believe you'll do very well--your portfolio shows your range of design, your voice, and your propensity for growth. I do have one last comment for you," he said, shifting the pictures around until he found the one of Juleka and Marc. "For you to submit this, the photographer's credit will need to be listed. This was the only one that did not have the proper credit listed."

"Wait, that's not right--" Marinette said with a frown, once again standing up to investigate the photo. She knew she had it listed when she handed it off to Adrien. She was so proud of how that photo had turned out; Adrien had done such an incredible job on the photography--did he not want his father to know he was the one who had done it? Marinette bit her lip. Gabriel was watching her carefully, reading the lines on her face. He would know if she lied to him, and he'd have to find out eventually when he reviewed the final package for her apprenticeship. "I'm sorry for the mistake," she said finally. "The photographer I had booked couldn't make it for the shoot. Adrien stepped in as the photographer."

Gabriel froze, his body stuck in surprised contemplation. "I see," he said finally, voice oddly tight. He didn't sound angry, Marinette thought, just…confused. Gabriel never struck her as someone that liked surprises. His hand suddenly flew to his chest, under the knot of his tie. "I apologize, Miss Dupain-Cheng. I'm afraid I must cut this short." He stood quickly and turned to her. "I will have the nomination letter written by the end of the week and have Nathalie send it to you. I look forward to watching your progress."

Marinette was on cloud nine the whole way home. For a moment, her future became unclouded, and she could see that she was building it brick by solid brick and that someday, she'd be standing on top of the tower looking down. The clouds would probably swirl back in when it came time to find out if she had beaten out the other competitors, but for now, she was just happy. Marinette stopped by the park to sit and text her friends the good news. She even ran into Manon and Ms Nadja at the park and got the privilege of sharing the news with someone in person. Just as she finished her text to Adrien, thanking him for everything he had done, the telltale crash and screams associated with an Akuma attack rang in the air.

Marinette dove for the bushes and unzipped her purse with a smile. "Ready to go, Tikki?" She was grateful that the attack hadn't happened during her meeting with Gabriel. After all, baking stellar macarons, taking over the fashion design industry, all followed up by saving Paris by kicking total ass? That was a damn good day in her book (okay, so maybe the macarons hadn't turned out stellar because they were still unfinished on the counter, but they would have been stellar if she finished them).

That good mood was promptly shattered when the pastry monster she was fighting slapped her so hard she was smacked up against a wall like a wet paper towel. Ladybug fell a good 7 meters back down to the ground, too dazed in the head to try and save herself. The magic suit buffered a lot, but now her ass hurt, and her head felt like someone had just shoved it full of steel wool. "Shake it off, Ladybug," she muttered, peeling up off the sidewalk. She held her head in one hand and balanced herself against the wall of the building she'd made a lovely "Ladybug" imprint on. Several blocks away she could see the monstrous bakery conglomeration trying in vain to swat Chat Noir away like a fly.

How was she supposed to know that not finishing those macarons this morning would launch a series of stupid scenarios resulting in some other patisserie chef getting turned into an Akuma victim? It was flattering that customers thought her baking was superior enough that they felt put out when they couldn't get their hands on her and her parent's sweets. But so much that they would complain to the other nearby bakeries? It wasn't exactly a flattering situation for the other bakers and patisserie chefs in town (she would be pretty pissed if that happened to her, too). If she ever wondered why she tended to catastrophize over the smallest things, this would be a prime example in one. Don't finish one batch of lousy macarons and suddenly all of Paris was under siege!

Once Ladybug was sure the black spots in her vision were just the ones on her suit and not a symptom of a concussion, she whipped back out her yo-yo and threw. Feeling it catch, she pulled back slightly, launching herself back into the air, wind whipping in her hair. Step one, get back over to the akumatized victim. Step two, figure out where the Akuma was hiding. It had regenerative powers, so they likely would need to keep wearing it down until it stopped being able to regenerate so fast. If it had regeneration, the Akuma was likely inside the frosting somewhere; wearing down its regenerative powers should reveal whatever was inside. Then she could call her Lucky Charm--

Ladybug kept her plan of attack in mind as she neared the massive patisserie nightmare. Her plan was a fine one, but it was hard to do that when there were so many people on the ground in danger of getting smashed. The Akuma had wandered into the main street and traffic was backed up a mile. Cars and scooters lay abandoned from where they were toppled over, either covered in gooey icing and batter or kicked aside in the scuffle. One bus had toppled over onto its side like a beached whale, with people having to escape from the windows and hop down to safety.

She could tell Chat Noir was trying to bait it away from the street and towards Place des Vosges, the same park she'd been enjoying her accomplishment just thirty minutes prior. It wasn't taking the bait. Ladybug watched the behemoth stumble backward toward the street, unleashing an enraged shout that burst her eardrums, leaving a sugary sweet smell in the air as it bellowed. It was backing up further into the street, right back towards the inert bus and the last two people on the side; a boy was helping pull someone out of the bus and Ladybug's heart launched into her throat when he lifted his face.

Luka.

She dove for him, her yo-yo wire slung around the arm of the mammoth creature threatening to crush him. He wouldn't see her coming, his features were set in grim determinization as he helped the man off the side of the bus. Just as Luka turned to see the giant foot threatening to come down on him Ladybug was there, grabbing him by the waist and shooting off to safety. Luka's body was tense up against hers, his warm hands grasping each of her shoulders. Ladybug jolted to a stop on a roof far enough away from the Akuma that she could be assured he wouldn't get crushed and gently unwound her arm from his waist. Away from the pervasive sugar smell, she could finally smell him again--earthy and pleasant and Luka--it made her head swim.

Luka took a step back from her and she realized with a flush of embarrassment she had just been standing there smelling him (not smelling him, she'd just been standing there…catching her breath. Yeah.). "I uh…I should get back," Ladybug said, gesturing vaguely behind her at the mayhem and taking a step back of her own.

Luka blinked at her as if she had just said something stupid. She probably had said something stupid. "Thanks--for the life-saving,” he said hesitantly. She felt one of those blushes coming on. “I just got here, and no one warned me about…giant cookie monsters."

She’d been so happy to see him in the street (and then immediately terrified he’d be crushed), that she hadn’t stopped to wonder when he'd gotten to Paris. ...Or about why he had decided she wasn't worth a text saying that he'd made it. But he had just gotten here. "Oh, well, yes," Ladybug started with an awkward laugh. "They usually don't go over that in the tours. Over there is the Eiffel tower, and there's the Arc de Triumph, and to the left, you can see a giant monster rampaging through the Seine…" Maybe she should have warned him when he said he wanted to visit Paris, but she had wanted just one normal night where she didn't have to think about Akumas and world-saving…

Luka burst out with a laugh that warmed her down to her toes. She really did have to get back; she'd already spent unnecessary time dragging him several blocks away to make extra sure he wouldn't get squished. Ladybug frowned to herself. If he was new, would he really know how to get back? "If I asked you to stay here until it was over, would you?" she asked, uncertainty creeping into her voice.

Luka hit her with a brilliant smile, an edge of mischievousness to it. "Probably not. I'm looking for someone--I'm already pretty late."

She fiddled with her yo-yo just to have something to do with her hands. He had mentioned a friend wanting him in Paris, was that who he was trying to find…? "Do you know where you're going?"

"Not even a little bit."

The sugar monster's roar rang loudly even from as far away as they were. Her stomach clenched. "What's their name--I know a lot of people, I might have heard of them?"

Luka raised an eyebrow skeptically but answered anyway. "Her name's Marinette--"

"Dupain-Cheng?" She blurted out. He was here for her, he hadn't forgotten, and he still liked her enough to--

"That's her, how did you know?" Luka's head tilted, cerulean eyes scanning her face.

Oops. Too eager. "I save a lot of people," Ladybug said, trying to slow the beating of her heart down. Her yo-yo began to vibrate, and she had to grasp it tight so she didn't accidentally fling it. "Oh God--I gotta go!" Chat Noir was probably really tired of playing cat and mouse with the vengeful lump of pastry. "She's usually around Tom & Sabine's Boulangerie!" Ladybug shouted over her shoulder, running back into the action. She had a city to defrost.

Ladybug wasn't gone for long when Luka transformed. The city was quiet around the clash at Place des Vosges, trees cracked under massive thundering footsteps and sugar cloyed at his nose like he'd inhaled a pack of crushed-up smarties. Luka jumped across the rooftops of the deserted streets, most of the citizens having evacuated from the nearby area. If Ladybug was a hero, and all signs he'd seen since he got to Paris indicated that she was (literally, there were signs with her face on them at the airport), then surely whatever happened in New York had to be a misunderstanding.

He hadn't made the best impression the first time they met, but he had no way of knowing he could trust her with his actual motives back then. Not that it mattered--Ladybug had seemed upset he was using the Snake Miraculous to get money, and that's exactly what he had been doing. Still, how she'd treated him earlier indicated she was genuinely quite kind. If he could clear the air between them, he might find himself with an ally rather than an antagonistic acquaintance.

Luka kept to the shadows while he watched Ladybug and her companion--a blond hero with black cat ears, a slick black suit, and a belt for a tail. When Ladybug was saving Paris, she was resplendent. A passionate heart flying through the sky in red and black with blue eyes that saw everything, that planned in a split second, that made decisions. The most finely tuned orchestra sang through her body when she danced in the air. She wasn’t just a Miraculous holder, she WAS Miraculous, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

Ladybug was wrapping the giant's legs with her yo-yo wire to trip it up like it was an AT-AT Walker, and the cat hero jumped onto its back, digging into it with his staff. The sugar blob wobbled with its legs caught in the wire, and it began to fall onto its back--Luka couldn't see much from this angle, just the cat hero launching himself out from under it before he was squashed, holding a long black tube of some kind. Ladybug ran over to him, the two of them conferring with their heads together while Ladybug's hands moved quickly.

Luka could safely say he'd never defeated anyone with a bicycle pump and a balloon before. Sugar exploded around a giant red and black dotted balloon that had been shoved into its back earlier. With a deft whip of Ladybug's yo-yo, the monster disappeared, leaving only a young woman in a patisserie apron, the giant balloon, and a bright white butterfly. Luka clenched his hands, watching the butterfly’s ascent into the air—it wasn’t just the Ladybug and the Horse Miraculous that were in Paris. Evidently, there were several; not all of them being used for good.

Ladybug removed the balloon from the bicycle pump and let it shoot into the sky, watching it transform into thousands of little ladybugs. The bugs dispersed around Paris, removing the goop, repairing the buildings, and even returning cracked trees to pristine condition. Sangpo and Sass had told him about the powers of the Ladybug Miraculous but seeing it in action was really something else. Luka had been so busy tracing the paths of the ladybugs he didn’t even notice that he’d been spotted from his place at the tree line. She had no antagonism towards the foe she had just bested—but she had plenty to level at him. Ladybug was stomping towards him like a reenactment of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham singing The Chain after their infamous breakup. Her companion fluttered after her nervously, a hummingbird chasing nectar.

Luka seemed to make friends naturally—it wasn’t something he was conscious of, friendship just seemed to fold itself around him. But when pressed to make friends overtly, he wasn't sure what to do or how to act (weren't all relationships better when they just happened naturally)? That was why, despite it never, ever actually working, Luka looked at the irate Ladybug and the only thing he could think to do was wave at her.

It made her madder.

"What the hell are you doing in my city?" she hissed, blue eyes roaring like a rainstorm on the prairie.

Luka tucked his hands in his scaly jacket's pockets, not sure what else to do with them if they caused her to rampage towards him like a bull that had seen red. "We didn't get to finish our talk last time," he said, smiling down at her.

She grabbed his jacket collar, pulling him down to her eye level. "I wouldn't call punching you a talk." Maybe not, but Ladybug hadn't actually managed to hit him during their fight in New York either. Not that he'd been fighting fair. Ladybug's wound-up fist was stopped by her companion, who was trying to wedge himself between them in vain. "Er, Buganette, we might cover more ground by talking before punching in this case--"

She let go of Luka's jacket with a shove and stood back, crossing her arms. "Fine." While Ladybug had taken the lead in the Akuma fight, she acquiesced to her companion, although she didn't seem happy about it.

"You'll have to forgive milady, she's…passionate." He paused when Ladybug threw him a withering stare behind his back. Clearing his throat, he continued. "Given that, I doubt proper introductions were made. This is Ladybug, and I'm her partner, Chat Noir. And your alias is…?"

Luka blinked. An alias? He'd never had one--Detective Ramirez had called him Scales, but that was only because addressing him as "hey, you," was getting tiresome. "Uh--huh. Sorry, I've never picked one before. You can call me…" Chat Noir was looking up at him expectantly, almost with a bit of excitement--shit, he needed something that wasn't lame--anything at all, "…Viperion. That'll do."

Chat smiled, brilliant green eyes shining in the growing dusk. "Viperion, excellent. Wonderful to meet you. Now, er, as milady so eloquently put--why are you here? Not that we aren't thrilled that the Snake Miraculous isn't lost, but I was given the impression from the incident in New York you weren't interested in returning it to the Guardian."

Viperion felt like time was sliding under his feet for a moment, feeling that same lurch that he usually experienced when giving himself a Second Chance—but he hadn’t twisted his bracelet. Time wasn’t really slipping and reversing; it was just him. "Wait, what? There's a Guardian here in Paris?" Viperion looked between the two of them, trying to remember if Ladybug had ever mentioned the presence of a Guardian when they first met. There was no way she had--he would have latched on to that immediately. His heart felt like it was going a thousand miles a minute; this could be it, he thought, with no real idea of what "it" was.

It was Chat Noir's turn to look at Ladybug with a glare, ears drooping as he looked at her. "Sweets, you really need to get better with introductions."

Ladybug shrugged sharply; arms still crossed. "Smooth-talking is your thing--and don't call me 'sweets'."

Chat rolled his eyes and turned back to Viperion, extending one arm towards Ladybug with a flourish. "Ladybug is also the Guardian of the Miraculous. She's sworn to return them all to the Miracle Box, which was why she was seeking you out."

Viperion could barely hear from the pounding in his ears. "How many others are lost?" he asked, voice hoarse. "That thing was made from the Butterfly Miraculous, right? How many are…safe?" Was his searching over? The 140-year journey, so many things lost and too little found, finally coming to a halt seemed impossible.

Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at each other, exchanging confused glances--he didn't blame them, if they thought he was just a thief this whole time his desperation must have sounded dissonant to their ears. "Fifteen," Ladybug finally said, so quiet he almost didn't catch it. "We have fifteen. Hawk Moth has two--" she gestured behind her as if the sugar conglomeration was still there, "--and we know where the Snake is, now."

He braced his back against the tree behind him--fifteen with the Guardian (a real Guardian, with a real Miracle Box, not whatever it was he was), two found but in seemingly bad hands, and two with him. Nineteen. All accounted for; almost all back where they were supposed to be. "I have two," Viperion said. "Not just the Snake. The Mouse, too."

Ladybug's head snapped up, her eyes blaring with hope, "You have both?! I can't--I mean, I've been looking for them for so long--does this mean you'll return them?"

Something was lodged in his throat, stopping him from saying a word. Return them?

Wes prodded Mullo's stomach, whipping his finger back when Mullo snapped her two front teeth at him with a giggle. "So here I was, thinkin' you got your lily-white arse kicked out of some bird's place and that's why you always looked so bloody pathetic. What you're really tellin' me is you're on the run with two magic whatsits, burdened with some grand and glorious promise from an old geezer to keep 'em safe as houses?"

Luka swallowed and nodded, grateful for Sass's comforting weight on his shoulder. He hadn't been able to explain Mullo's ability to fly around the room and go 'poof' through walls--not this time. It was either explain himself or continue watching his roommate run around the house after Mullo with a baseball bat, screaming his lungs off. So instead, he just said, "Yeah. That's basically it." Minus living for almost a century, anyway.

Wes sucked in his cheeks. "Right then. An' you thought the best course of action was to move in with a roommate who would find out all your deep dark secrets?"

He shrugged--the kitchen chair that Wes had 'inherited' shifted under his weight, wobbling uncomfortably. "I'm not made of money. And normally you're drunk, or high, no offense--"

Wes rolled his eyes and dug in his pocket for a cigarette, scowling when Mullo stole his lighter and disappeared with it. "Oi, you little rodent, bring that back over here--!" he sighed, looking back to Luka. "It's the '80s, mate, and I'm not gettin' any younger. Always best to get your jollies in while you can."

"I won't be in your way for very long. Just long enough to make sure no other Miraculous have shown up here in London."

"Yeah, yeah, alright--don't cry or anythin'. So, what would you do if you did find another one? I doubt it's just sittin' around in some knick-knack shop on main." Wes moodily stuffed his cigarette back in the box, clearly giving up on chasing Mullo down for his lighter. He took to shaking his knee up and down instead.

"That's where I found Mullo," Luka said, using his thumb to drag the chipped guitar pick around his neck into view. "But if someone has it, I'll get it back."

Wes raised his eyebrows, a smirk on his lips. "You? You look like you're 6 stone wet, I don't think you're doing any rescuing. 'Sides, what if it's one of those Guardian blokes? What d'you do then?"

"I guess…I guess I never thought about that."

Wes snorted at him, but it was true. After the trip to Tibet when he and Sass had tried to find any remnants of the Order of the Guardians, it just seemed so hopeless. There was nothing, just a jagged pit in the ground that seemed to go all the way down to hell. Not a scrap had been left behind.

"Well, I'd start thinkin' about it. That's what you boy scout types do, innit? Preparation and all that bollocks. If I were you, I'd be ready for some monk-lookin' chap to come walkin' up easy as you please and tell you to hand your friends over." Wes let that sink in, spinning his pack of cigarettes on the tabletop. He raised his eyebrows at him, amber eyes intense. "Could you do it?"

He still didn't know--he'd never been able to answer the question. He really had tried to think about it that day, and every once in a while after. In some ways, wouldn't it be easier? He would be done. The burden on his shoulders that had been pressing down on him for over a century would be lifted, as well as all the secrets he had to keep, the secrets that had cost blood and tears and years, so many years... He could be normal. It would all be over.

Ladybug took a step towards him, hands drawn together over her chest in hopeful prayer. He realized, then, that part of her nightmare would be over too.

"Could you do it?"

His answer poured out of him like molasses, thick and viscous. "I don't think I can."

He could hear her heartbreak. The desperate hope she regarded him vanished, completely crushed under his words. A small beeping sound chimed, and Ladybug's hands shot up to her earrings. "Not now--" Ladybug hissed, more to herself than anyone else. She shot a panicked look at Chat Noir, then turned back to Luka, aggression marring her features again. "I'm not letting you leave with them," she said resolutely. She backed up several steps, and then turned and jumped away, a streak of red against the deepening blue sky.

Viperion watched her go, realizing with a small jolt of shock that she couldn't control when she transformed back. It had been so long ago for him that the transformation back was a constraint that he'd forgotten about it. Chat Noir stayed where he was, eyes inscrutable as he studied Viperion.

"She really won't give up, you know. We would follow you wherever you go."

Viperion let out a soft chuckle--not because it was funny, but because he knew it was true. He'd do the same. "I know. I don't intend to run away." Where would he go? All the Miraculous were here; he was the one who had been late to the party this whole time. All those years--just by himself--how long had they all been in France? Were they here when he'd come looking for whatever blood ties he might have left? How much time had been wasted?

"You can trust her. I know she can come off strong, but it's just because she cares." Chat Noir's tone had softened, an attempt to be the angel on his shoulder, to convince him to do the right thing.

"Could you do it?" Viperion asked.

Chat frowned like he hadn't been expecting the question. "If she asked…"

Viperion shook his head, pushing himself off the tree he'd been leaning on. "No, could you do it? After decades, after everything else you knew was gone, if this was all you were…what would you do?" And suddenly, he really needed to know. He needed to hear the answer from someone still living--someone who was still here. He knew Wes's answer, but he was the only one keeping his friend's spirit alive. If he had lived, would he have changed after all this time?

Chat Noir lowered his head, staring at the black ring on his finger. A soft breeze flew by, no longer bringing the scent of sugar and icing, but that of falling and decaying leaves. Red and orange leaves fluttered between the two dark figures, the air itself wrapping around Chat Noir in tendrils, begging for an answer. He finally looked up, fixing Viperion with a sad gaze, green eyes gone soft. "If it was just me--I think…I think I'd beg them to take it."

Viperion took a sharp breath in--Chat's response was the typical thing, wasn't it? When the end goal was in sight, why would he turn and walk away from it? Viperion drew back, letting the wind continue to divide the rift between them. "I'll be around, Chat Noir."

Rather than sneaking back through his window to transform back, Adrien chose the far riskier option of changing in the backyard so he could slip in through the back door quickly. There was a lot left to think about, but Adrien wasn't sure he was ready to talk with Plagg yet. His conversation with Viperion had left him somber, a pit of unease swelling in his stomach that didn't seem intent on going anywhere. Besides, he was late for dinner; and whenever Aunt Amélie was visiting she always insisted on sitting down as a family. While he and Félix hadn't been on good terms recently, Adrien was always glad he didn't have to eat alone when they were all here.

The dining room was already lit, plates of salad set on each plate. His father sat at the head of the table, Amélie and Félix flanking his left side, Nathalie sitting stiffly on his right.

"Adrien, you're late," Gabriel said, the line between his brows stiff and uncompromising.

Adrien reached back in his mind for an excuse, but Amélie cut him off with a bubbly laugh. "Oh, Gabriel, give him a break. He's an adult now, I'm sure he has places to go. Have a seat, dear. We've already started." Gabriel shot her a nasty look but didn't have a chance to get a word in edgewise. Amélie continued talking while Adrien seated himself next to Nathalie and began to pick at his cucumber salad. "Nathalie, are you quite alright? You've barely touched your food," she said.

Nathalie started, pushing her glasses up reflexively. "Yes, quite alright, thank you." Adrien always suspected it made Nathalie highly nervous to be at the table with them. She attacked mealtimes at the table as if it were a professional obligation. Whenever Amélie and Félix excused themselves, Nathalie's shoulders would sag, and he once thought he heard what sounded like a sigh of relief escape her lips. When the Graham de Vanily's weren't here, she simply ate on her own time, and merely watched over his shoulder for lunches and dinners. He felt guilty that even though it made her uncomfortable, he vastly preferred Nathalie sitting next to him during mealtimes rather than standing to the side.

Amélie carried the conversation all on her own through the salad and the first course; Adrien was always impressed with how she could keep on with very little encouragement. Félix kept giving him odd sidelong glances throughout dinner, and when his mother was busy with a bite of pork he finally spoke. "So, Adrien, did your friend's project bear any fruit?"

Adrien gave a quick look to his father before answering--his father hadn't mentioned that he'd agreed to nominate Marinette for the apprenticeship at Lanvin's, but he knew from Marinette that it was true. "It did," he said, spearing a brussels sprout and shoving it in his mouth.

Gabriel set his fork aside. "Marinette is very talented, I have no doubt she would secure the apprenticeship with or without my assistance."

Amélie looked between the three men, realizing that for once she didn't have anything to offer in the conversation because she didn't know who they were discussing. "Who is Marinette? A schoolmate?" she asked Adrien.

Adrien nodded, but it was Félix that answered, something stirring behind his eyes (a look Adrien knew meant he was scheming or delighting in something that no one else would know until it was too late). "Mmm, a friend of Adrien's from school. An aspiring designer. I had the privilege of observing one of the shoots she did for her portfolio. Adrien did an excellent job as the photographer."

Adrien gripped his fork harder. Was that what Félix had been planning? To get him in trouble with his father after he took all those pains to make sure he didn’t find out he'd done something without his permission?

"The photography for that shoot turned out well." Gabriel's voice was flinty, icy eyes attempting to pierce through Félix's nonchalance. "However, it should not have happened without you speaking to me about it first, Adrien. I am sure you understand that."

Adrien slumped. He didn't even get time to be happy that Gabriel thought the pictures came out well. "Yes, Father."

"Gabriel, you're too harsh," Amélie chided. "Adrien, did you ever see the pictures Emelie took in her youth? She was into photography for a good year or two. I'll send you some of them when we return home. She would flutter from hobby to hobby endlessly, but she was always creating something. I've always envisioned you with a girl like that--someone with passion."

Félix brought a finger to his cheek, a foxy smile on his lips. "That sounds just like Marinette, don't you think? Always doing something new, that one."

Gabriel placed his napkin on the table and stood abruptly. "I'm afraid I must get back to work if you'll excuse me." He bowed slightly, then gave a moment's glance at Nathalie who left with him, one of her soft relieved sighs following her out the door.

Adrien didn't stay much longer; he escaped to the relative safety of his room at the next available opportunity. Plagg was already finished with a healthy portion of camembert and was laying belly up on Adrien's pillow. "I don’t know how you stand those awful dinners. If you have to wait two hours for the cheese plate, that's not a dining experience, it's torture."

Adrien smiled, although his heart wasn't in it. He felt guilty. He loved Plagg and he loved being Chat Noir, but if he was honest, the most fun he had in his life was when he was with Ladybug. If she wasn't there, would he want to keep fighting alone? Being a hero was rewarding, yes, but he wasn't a fighter--not really. He hated conflict. Adrien was there for Ladybug because she said she needed him, but if she ever told him she didn't anymore…then he'd probably just stop.

Plagg's lazy drawl cut through his thoughts. "Viperion's an odd fellow, hmm?" Plagg stretched deeply before sitting up. "Guardian types usually are."

Adrien sat next to him. "What do you mean? Is he really a Guardian, like Ladybug?"

"I doubt officially, you need the Miracle Box to be involved for that. But they do all have that painful sense of duty." Plagg huffed. "You know if it were me, I'd be glad to be rid of the whole charade and spend the rest of my days in bed with a lovely hunk of camembert."

Plagg was trying to make him feel better, he realized. Adrien's heart lifted slightly, but before he got a chance to say anything further, he saw Plagg's ears go rigid, and the Kwami quickly disappeared under the bed. There was a perfunctory knock at the door before it opened. Félix slipped inside, closing the door behind him. Adrien had once hoped that he and Félix could be as close as they were when they were kids, but now whenever he saw Félix, he just felt pangs of dread. There was always some private joke he wasn't understanding, and he was more often than not the butt of it. He sighed and flopped back on the bed--he didn't have the energy to address him. Félix would start in soon enough, anyway.

Félix walked over to the bed leisurely, hands clasped behind his back as he examined the familiar trappings of Adrien's room. The rock-climbing wall, foosball table, his CD collection…it was all where it normally was. Nothing new here.

"You really ought to redecorate, you know. This room hasn't changed since you were twelve."

One point to Captain Obvious, Adrien thought bitterly.

Félix continued when Adrien didn't rise to the bait. "I won't stay long. I understand you must be tired. I just wanted to come by privately to see if you needed any support."

A few years ago, he might have leaped for joy at that statement, assuming it meant that Félix wanted to be friends again. Now it just roused him with suspicion. "What do you mean?"

Félix shrugged lightly, unclasping his hands from behind his back to pick up the small white ball from the foosball table, throwing it up in the air and catching it deftly. "Even if you never intended to date, I'm sure it still stings that she's moving on. Your father never would have agreed to nominate her if she wasn't."

Adrien finally sat up and rubbed his face blearily. If Félix was going to play with him, he'd rather he just got to the point than insist on playing cat and mouse. He didn't feel much like chasing today. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Félix," he said with a sigh.

"Come now, there's no need for secrets here." Félix's smile turned twisted. "You know how Marinette pined for you--even you can't be that dense."

Adrien unlaced his shoe, momentarily wondering what Félix would do if he threw it at him. He let it fall to the floor instead. "It doesn't matter," he said finally. "She's my friend--" he could feel his breath catch, a painful clench in his heart stopping him.

Félix caught the marble-sized ball one more time before setting it back in the center of the field. The smile was gone. "I don't know why you insist on acting this way," he said evenly. With a dark look, he was across the room in a moment, his hands gripping Adrien's shirt to push him back onto the bed, his knee in Adrien's chest.

Adrien grasped Félix's wrists, trying to shake him off in vain. "What are you doing?" He gasped; Félix's knee was restricting his ability to breathe.

Félix pushed down harder; his neatly combed hair swinging around his eyes violently. "What are you doing, Adrien? Are you really this craven? Can you really not care when I tell you Marinette doesn't love you anymore? She's moving on from you--everyone is moving on from you! What are you going to do about it?!"

Adrien's hands loosened their grip, mind suddenly scrambling for purchase, lungs painfully tight. "They're not…"

"Are you blind? Stupid?! Your friends all have their own futures, Marinette isn't waiting for you anymore, even your father is moving on from Emelie, day by day. You'll be alone, and there will be no one to blame but yourself--" Félix's steely green eyes bored into him, wrath and rancor dancing darkly.

The need to breathe won out over anything. Adrien wrapped his arms around Félix in a tight bear hug and rolled, landing them both on the floor with a deep thud that echoed in his bones. His throat burned as he breathed deep, flexing his fingers and feeling a harsh tingle in response. They both lay with their backs on the hardwood floor, rough and irregular breathing filling the room like a metronome. There would be time later to think on the pained, haunted look on Viperion's face, and to wonder if Ladybug would someday end up the same way. There would be time later to wonder how Félix could root out his feelings for Marinette when even he hadn't known--but tonight, laying on the floor of his room with his once beloved cousin, all he could think was, why does he care?

#in the shadows mlb #alternate universe #lukanette #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #gabriel agreste #nathalie sancoeur #luka couffaine #amelie graham de vanily #felix graham de vanily #Nat's Monster In The Box #urgh trying to find good spots for a chapter snapshot without spoiling the story is....hard #im doing my best #also not 100% proud of the banner for this chapter #but one can only spend so many hours browsing free images without LOSING BRAIN CELLS

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ryujin-zanba · 4 years

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i realise given the notes that some of y'all are actually interested in reading what the newspaper articles say in this post so here they all are under the cut (please keep in mind that a lot of them contain personal headcanons and some hints at certain pairings which i will tag. it's okay if you disagree with/dislike the thoughts i have ab some characters' futures but if you find that's the case just keep it to yourself and dni please) ʕ•ᴥ•ʔง

[Poster which says: Vote for Froppy 🐸]

(Not so subtle Napoleon Dynamite reference from me)

Hero Red Riot Saves the Day an Hour Before His Wedding! As expected of our favourite man in red, but what did the groom have to say about this? (The groom is Bakugou and he was proud of Kiri ❤)

Pro Weekly Deku takes title of Japan’s number one hero third year running! Following in the shadow of the longest reigning number one hero, newcomer Deku has a lot to live up to, but he is already breaking records and impressing critics with his heroism, and fans just can’t get enough of him. In only his third year as a licensed pro, Deku has managed some incredible feats and is shaping up to give the former number one quite a run for his legacy. The retired pro recently shared in an interview that he could not be more proud of his junior and that he is cheering for our new number one the whole way.

A New Ingenium Takes the Mantle But what can we expect of our dashing (pun intended) new pro? The youngest son of the Iida family is following in his brother’s footsteps as he officially takes on the name and the legacy of beloved hero Ingenium.

Lemillion Saves One Million Golden hero Lemillion reclaims his position among the top five pros in only his first week back. After participating in the saving of a suspected one million lives involved in an international hostage crisis, Lemillion saw a 100% popularity increase in the polls and has been recognised by several world leaders for his incredible display of heroism. Lemillion has recently returned to hero work after taking a year off for paternity leave last Summer. A brief interview with the pro revealed that husband and baby are both doing well and their little one is already starting to show signs of developing a strong quirk.

(Mirio’s husband is Tamaki ❤)

Former U.A Students Pay Tribute to Late Mentor Yagi Toshinori How the world is mourning a great hero and the people closest to him are upholding his legacy.

[Accompanying image of Toshi in his pinstripe suit, tired but smiling]

Not All Heroes Wear Capes U.A high graduate goes on to make major advances in the field of restorative medical science. Eri, formerly of U.A high school, is currently completing her doctorate at Tokyo University and is expecting to graduate this year with her first PHD. Her influence in the field, however, has already sparked plans for the implementation of several quirk-specialised branches in every major hospital across the country, a system speculated to be fully functioning as soon as next Spring. Having already successfully treated several prominent heroes throughout her blossoming career, we can expect many great things from Eri in the future and wish her all the best with her final exams.

[Crude cat drawing next to the text 1-A]

(Reference to Aizawa’s cat drawing that he put on a banner for his class during the sports festival in Smash, which he then hid from them)

[Magazine cover of Yaoyorozu with the top text ‘Women in Business’ and the bottom text ‘Creati’]

Shouto-Out Former pro hero Shouto retires at age twenty five in order to pursue a career in nursing. After the new data that came to light last month showed an incline in children born to forced quirk marriages, the ex-pro expressed his interest in becoming involved with caring for and counselling the startling number of those taken into care every year as a result. His partner had this to say, “Shouto has had a lot of difficulty finding a path in life that he believes he truly chose for himself, but I think this is his way of being the hero he wants to be and he has my full support.”

(If you guessed Midoriya as Todoroki’s partner being quoted in this, you guessed right!)

Hero affectionately dubbed ‘Pikachu’ by residents of local children’s hospital

(Kaminari, of course ⚡)

Present Jack Pro hero and musical talent Earphone Jack has officially joined the Put Your Hands Up Radio team. Rumours that she is set to succeed Japan’s favourite radio personality have already started circulating, but we’re pretty sure the nation’s sweetheart, Present Mic, has got many years yet before we’ll see him retire.

[Magazine cover featuring Midoriya with the top text ‘Deku’]

Uravity Saves US Space Shuttle First person in history to be awarded a knighthood by NASA and her achievements haven’t stopped there. The hero known as Uravity is a staunch advocate for the proposed universal income scheme and her support for the bill has garnered such enthusiasm from fans that it is likely to pass in court this February.

(In the image I accidentally called her Uraravity instead of Uravity, sorry girl!)

He’s Still Got It! Present Mic wins lifetime achievement award for Put Your Hands Up Radio, the show he has been proudly presenting since his debut as a hero. Maintaining a huge following and unwavering popularity, his nighttime slot every Friday from 1am to 5am has also earned him a place in the hall of fame for highest number of consecutive awards in radio hosting history, congrats man!

(Mic might not be one of Aizawa’s students, but he is just as proud of his husband’s achievements ❤)

Tsukuyomi Gets His Wings Tsukuyomi and his quirk, Dark Shadow, have officially taken over at Hawks’ agency after the young hero retired from the field to pour everything into his successor. As it stands, Hawks will continue on to support Tsukuyomi and we wish them both the best with any future plans from here on.

(Possible spoiler for latest manga chapters... but I think the bird man might be taking a leaf from All Might’s book and finding someone to carry on his legacy 😅)

Kacchan’s Kitchen Newly opened in the most up and coming area of the city, the restaurant will join several others on the renewed marina-front, though its owner and head chef are what really set the place apart. Already it has received great reviews from critics.

(Personal HC alert! Bakugou decides the hero life isn’t what he wants anymore and invests in his culinary skills instead, making Kiri a very well-fed man lol)

Dance ‘Til You’re Pink! Pro hero Pinky opens a second dance studio that offers new prospects for passionate kids who are unable to attend paid classes. Children from low-income families are invited to choose from a variety of options when it comes to which discipline they wish to pursue and all equipment, performance outfits and other costs are covered by the studio.

The Modern Batman Or should we say Catman? Illusive hero known only by his mind-control ability is spotted petting a local cat during his evening patrol.

[Accompanying image of Shinsou petting a black cat and looking almost identical to Aizawa in his attire]

#i should have done this anyway but i didn't think my art would get that much attention so ty everyone!#kiribaku #tododeku #erasermic #miritama #dadzawa #class 1 a headcanons #mha headcanons #bnha headcanons #my wriiting

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daisylincs · 4 years

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Author Interview Tag

Tagged By: so, long story short... these tags happened right as I was getting super busy with end-of-the-year-craziness, and I completely didn't see them until I was re-scrolling through all my mentions on Tumblr recently. So the people who initially tagged me have probably forgotten they even did (🤣😬🤦‍♀️) but my my count, they would be: @loved-the-stars-too-fondly, @libbyweasley, @aleksandrachaev, and @everythingirl44. Thank you very much indeed, all of you!! This looks like an absolutely amazing challenge, late as I may be to it.

Name: Lily

Fandom(s): Agents of SHIELD (TV) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)

Where You Post: AO3, and the occasional drabble/prompt fill to Tumblr - which, upon consideration, I should probably collect on AO3 🤔

Most Popular Oneshot: for Spideychelle, and overall too, apparently it's my, my, just how much I missed you, my surprisingly angsty (but with a hopeful ending) ten-years-post-FFH fic for Day 4 of Spideychelle Week.

For AoS, it's time can break your heart, have you begging please which, to be entirely 100% honest with you, I completely forgot I wrote in the first place 🤣🙈 It's post-7x10 angst on... that 7x10 and very spoilery death, with some Dousy hurt/comfort. Apparently, Dousy hurt/comfort is the rage, so... that's cool, I suppose.

Most Popular Multichapter Fic: just a few weeks ago, I would have responded with something like, "multichap? Me? As if 😳😅" But now... well, I'm actually posting my first multi-chapter fic later today, so we'll see how that goes!!

Favourite Story You've Written So Far: oh, gosh, that's a really, really hard one!! I've really, really enjoyed almost everything I've written, so picking is going to be very tough cookies xD

For AoS, I think I'm going to go for take my hand, take my whole life too, which is one of the first few things I wrote, but still holds a very special place in my heart, because I felt that it was a fic I could really be proud of, you know? Plus, it made me feel ridiculously soft and shippy-happy throughout the writing process. Plus plus, it has an absolutely stunning banner created by the amazing @ughfitz, which still touches me a lot, because I'd never had such a beautiful banner made before and askjgddfshhdhh it's just perfect.

I'm also very partial to july second, the birthday fic I wrote for @doctorofaos - because Hunter's point of view, it turns out, is ridiculously fun to write, and I had an absolute ball. The whole arc - a surprise birthday party for Daisy, and some team bonding/family fluff - just really works for me, too.

Another one that has to go on this list is hold out your hand, 'cause friends will be friends, my DaisyMack Soulmates BroTP, because that one is my amazing wife @aleksandrachaev's favourite, and it melts my heart so much to hear how much she likes it. 💜

Then lastly, for Spideychelle, my favourite thing I've written is quintessential spideychelle, no contest - it's a Roommates AU and my birthday gift for @eowima, and all the bonding those two dorks do over Lucifer and fandom in general brings me endless delight.

My Aladdin AU, now when did you last let your heart decide, will also always hold a special place in my heart, because it's the first really long thing I wrote. I put a ton of effort into it, and, well, I still think it's kinda fab.

(also I'm so sorry for the relentless self-plug that turned into, oh my God, apparently I'm just that indecisive and love talking that much. I apologise once again)

Fic You Were Nervous To Post: Aubrey, high-five! Because one of the things I was definitely the most freaked out for was that is good, my first-ever Quakerider fic and birthday gift for @acerobbiereyes. The response to that turned out to be overwhelmingly positive, though, and I have even made promises to venture into Quakerider-land again 🥰

I was also a little stressed for we love you, we love you, and we hope you love we too, which was my first-ever polyship fic - Fitzskimmons and cute notes for the fluff bingo - and something I also dedicated to the amazing @bobbimorseisbisexual. Also the formatting for this thing was HELL, and computers and I do not get along, so I was in cold sweats that it wouldn't work and fail on me completely... but, no, it worked, and the wonderful response to it too, very much melted my heart 🥺💖

How You Choose Your Titles: song lyrics. Almost always song lyrics. And if it's not song lyrics, it's a quote of some kind - it just works for me, and I actually find it fun to go hunt for something that works. Maybe I'm weird, but I actually do love it xD

Do You Outline? absolutely, yes - in fact, a great many of the things in my WIPs folder are solely outlines, or even just the beginnings of outlines. I find that outlines are a really good way to save your ideas if you don't have time to write them out properly, so you can come back months later and be all, "what the hell I'm actually so clever." (or, y'know, occasionally, "what the hell can the earth come swallow me up." But let's go with the cleverness 🤣👌)

In Progress:

... I think it's better that we don't talk about my WIPs folder, which, as most people who know anything about me can tell you, is an utter mess, and more than a little insane. (If you don't believe me, check it out here - I bet you do now, right?)

Out of that monstrosity, I'm currently working on numbers 20, 64, 192 and 174, which would be my Skimmons Hallmark Rom-Com, and fics for my three Secret Santas - Spideychelle, Fitzsimmons, and then one for the AoS Secret Santa whose pairing is, in delightfully SHIELD style, classified until the 24th of December.

Then in the very background, I'm also writing some Pipsy, Fitzsimmons and plat!Diper for the fluff bingo yes which I have still not finished I'm awful I know, and I'm going to make my lateness a liiiitle better by passing them of as gifts for my friends. I do love my friends very much, though, so that's more than fair I think 🥺💜

My Complete AO3: ta!

Do You Accept Prompts? yes, always! I have this plan in the back of my mind of gathering up all the prompt lists I've got saved to my drafts and doing like a masterpost/mass prompt request thing, but I'll leave that for a little later yet, because goodness knows I have enough to finish 🙈 In the meantime, though, if there's anything you'd really like to see me write, I'd be just thrilled to do it for you! It'll definitely take me a couple of months to actually get to it, but if you don't mind the wait, then yes, absolutely, I'm your girl! 💖

Upcoming Work That You're Most Excited About: oooooof, another tough one, but I'm very much looking forward to posting the first chapter of my Skimmons Hallmark Rom-Com, which I'm going to do later today!!

Then there's also my three Secret Santas - though I'm not particularly religious, the idea of a gift fic exchange brings me endless glee and I cannot wait to see what my giftees think! I also can't wait to get my own gifts, too, of course... ;) Oh, it's just going to be so much FUN!!

Tagging: well, everyone did this a couple of weeks months ago, so I'm not actually going to tag anyone - but if you see this and think it's cool, by all means go ahead and say I tagged you! 😍 Also, have a very big virtual hug, all of you, and thank you so much for reading through all my blathering!! 💜💖

#tag game #author tag #author interview tag #ahhhhh it has been SO LONG since I was tagged for this fsklfsgjdhkksdhs it's terrible #but here I am; late and very... chatty?#does that help at all??#lmao well you'll be seeing a lot of that the next few days 🤣😍#ahhhh it feels so good to be properly back in the fandom game!#three cheers for breaks xD #queue'll figure it out together

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imanativeofswlondondahling · 4 years

Text

Becoming A Stark? (3) Peter Parker x Stark! FemReader

Word Count: 4848

Warnings: Swearing, mention of physical abuse of a child

A/N: Dinner with your two best friends and the Avengers, what could go wrong?

Chapter One || Previous Chapter || Master List

You had invited both Betty and Astrid for dinner, like Tony suggested. It had taken a lot of loose excuses to explain why you were picking them up instead of them just coming over and why your Nana and Pops wouldn’t be at dinner. But you and Betty had been best friends since kindergarten and Astrid had joined the two of you when she moved to New York in fourth grade, the three of you inseparable since then so they trusted you. But the idea of bringing your two best friends to the tower and introducing them to the Avengers and more importantly to Tony, that was a whole other thing. Plus Tony had mentioned that Pepper was going to be there, so you were meeting your dad’s girlfriend on top of everything. Tonight could possibly be the worst night of your life if everything goes to shit.

“Y/N, you ready to pick up Betty and Astrid?” Happy asks from the elevator in the living room.

“No.” You answer honestly as your sandal covered feet drag towards the elevator.

“It’s going to be great.” Bruce calls from the couch where he sits with Natasha.

“We’re excited to meet your friends.” Natasha adds.

“You’re not the one who has to explain that your life is over to your best friends.” You mumble. “Make sure Tony is at least presentable when we get back?”

“I’ll threaten him within an inch of his life if I have to.” Natasha promises. You wouldn’t honestly put it past her.

“And no inventions. This needs to go as normal as possible.” You add as Happy holds the elevator doors open for you.

“We’ll keep him out of the lab.” Bruce adds with a laugh. You run your hands over the skirt of your pastel pink dress, before walking into the elevator. The dress you chose for tonight is nicer than you’d normally choose for just dinner at home, but Astrid and Betty didn’t know the Tower was home, so you decided to at least put on a dress compared to the graphic t-shirt and shorts you had been wearing all day. This dress had buttons down the front, pleats, a collar, and a sash that tied around your waist. It was sleeveless, so you might get a bit cold, but Jarvis could always fix that if you did.

“It’s going to be alright. It’s just dinner with your friends and family.” Happy says from the other side of the elevator as the doors close.

“I don’t know if I’d call them family.” You say before asking Jarvis to take you down to the parking garage.

“They’d call you family.” Happy says before stepping off the elevator. You walk towards the black town car, thinking over the words he had said. Sure you were getting to know them all better and yes Tony was your biological father, but family? You’re not sure about that one. Happy opens the door for you to slide in. “Astrid or Betty first?”

“Betty is farther, so her first?” You suggest, before looking at your new phone you had gotten this morning. It was way too over the top, but seeing as it’s also top of the line, you can see why Tony would want you to be seen with it and not the phone you had for the past few years.

“Sounds like a plan.” Happy turns onto the street before looking towards you in the rear view mirror. “You want music?”

“Uh sure?”

“JARVIS can connect to your phone.”

“Jarvis is part of the car too?” You shouldn’t be surprised, but for some reason you find yourself surprised that he’s integrated into everything.

“He wouldn’t be Just A Rather Very Intelligent System if he wasn’t.”

“Wait, it's an acronym?” You ask, all this time just thinking it was a name like Wallace and Queenie are.

“Your dad is really into acronyms.” Happy gives you a small smile. “So music?”

“Uh JARVIS, can you play my Spotify playlist?”

“Sure which playlist Miss Y/N? June? I Hate Life? Tony Stark Can Rot?-” You cut him off before he says anything else.

“Play June JARVIS.” You close your eyes not wanting to make eye contact with Happy after JARVIS just told your dad’s security that you have a playlist called Tony Stark Can Rot.

“Secrets safe with my Y/N.” Happy says from the front seat as Under Pressure by Queen starts playing. He drives towards I-495E. Happy knows in a little more than a week, they’re going to be driving this twice a day to take Y/N to Midtown School of Science and Technology. It’s an almost hour drive round trip but Tony was adamant with everyone that Y/N not be moved from the school that all of her friends were going too. Happy is surprised to hear a lot of familiar music play through your playlist that normally plays through Tony’s. You may not have been anywhere near him growing up, but at least he’d be proud that you listened to the classics. Pulling up in front of the brown stone that was programmed into the GPS, Happy sees a blonde girl waiting in front of the building looking up and down the street, probably expecting Y/N to walk up at any point in time. Instead you open the door and call out to your best friend.

“Betty!” Her eyes open wide and stare at you. But she climbs into the car before asking all her questions.

“Y/N, holy cow! You never spring for like yellow cabs, so why did you get a town car? We could have even easily taken the subway like we do when we head into Manhattan.”

“It’s a long story, but I’m not the one paying for the car. I promise everything will be explained but can we wait until Astrid is here? I don’t want to explain everything twice.”

“Sure, of course! Have you finished the essay yet for English?”

“No, I'm still finishing the book.”

“You haven’t finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn yet? Are you sick or something? You read faster than Astrid and I combined. Or did you spend more time on the science essay? Should I write more you think? I was thinking maybe I should do some more research about my favorite scientist. I mean there’s so much out there about Bruce Banner now since the whole Avenger saving New York thing. But I’ve already done two pages over what we're supposed to do. Who are you writing your paper on again?”

“Frederick Banting. Created insulin. Seemed important enough to get a paper about him.”

“Oh definitely. Look at Astrid’s dress, it is so cute! Not that yours isn’t!”

“It is cute.” You see your brunette friend waiting in a yellow sundress outside of her apartment building. You open the door, and see yet another surprised face at the town car.

“Ok, a town car. We’re fancy now?” Astrid asks as she climbs in with you and Betty.

“Apparently we are.” Betty says, still not knowing why you were in a town car.

“There is a crash on your route, so with traffic the drive will take 35 minutes, Happy and Miss Y/N.” Betty and Astrid look up in concern, trying to figure out where the voice is coming from.

“Thank you JARVIS.” Happy says, turning onto a side street.

“Is Jarvis like a GPS that happens to know your name?” Astrid asks looking at you wearily.

“Kind of? He’s more like an AI.”

“Why does the town car, which you’re not paying for, have an AI that knows your name?” Betty asks, more concerned.

“So the car is my dad’s along with the AI.”

“Your dad?” Astrid and Betty both repeat. They both have known you long enough to know that Nana and Pops had stepped into the role of parents before you could walk or talk.

“But I thought you had no idea who your dad was?” Betty asks.

“I didn’t. Not until a couple days ago and it kind of came out of nowhere. Long story short, I’m living with him and his, uh, family now.”

“But still in New York right? Like you’re still going to school with us right?” Astrid asks.

You nod as you say, “Yes. I’m just living in Midtown now and Happy here is going to drive me to and from school now for safety reasons.”

“For safety reasons?” Astrid asks as Betty voices her own question.

“What is your dad like a big somebody?”

“Yes.”

“To which?” Betty asks.

“To both.” You shrug. You really, really don’t want to say it. You beg the universe not to make you say it.

“Y/N, who is your dad?” The question you had been dreading leaves your friend’s mouth.

“Tony Stark.”

“Holy shit.”

“No way.”

“So you should win like every science fair that we have from here on out.”

“Science is still my least favorite subject.” You answer honestly. “Just because Tony is my father doesn’t change anything.”

“But you’re a Stark, that means like science flows through your blood.”

You motion towards Queenie, who’s clipped to your sash. “I think it’s like insulin. It’s supposed to but it doesn’t.”

“Wait, so if you’re taking us home for dinner, but your Nana and Pops won’t be there does that mean…” Betty trails off not wanting to jinx it.

“We’re going to the tower for dinner.” You confirm.

“Are the Avengers going to be there?” Astrid voices.

“I mean they live there and have eaten dinner with me every night so far.” You jokingly say. “And I figure they need to eat tonight too.”

“Hold on, I’m having dinner with Bruce Banner and you didn’t give me time to prep questions? This would have made my report so much better!” Betty’s head falls back to the headrest in defeat.

“Bett, I’m sure he’d be willing to answer anything you come up with. The Avengers are all really nice.”

“And Daddy Dearest?” Astrid asks.

“No comment.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“It’s not like he’s bad or anything. It’s just he came out of nowhere, took me from Nana and Pops’ and he doesn’t seem to understand that I can handle my diabetes on my own. He had JARVIS monitoring but like way higher than it needed to be. He had alerts set if I fell under 100 the other day.”

“You’ve known him how many days Y/N?” Betty asks.

“Three?”

“It’ll take some time. Plus once we’re back at school, you won’t have to spend as much time with him.”

“Thank god.” You say softly as Happy pulls the car into the tower’s garage. You know as soon as you get upstairs you’ll feel suffocated again, but your friends want to see the tower. So you tell JARVIS to take you upstairs. When you get to the living room though you’re surprised to only see one person waiting for you.

“Hi you must be Astrid, Betty. I’m Pepper.” The strawberry blonde standing in front of you turns to look at you suddenly and with a genuine smile on her face turns to look at you. “And you have to be Y/N. Tony hasn’t stopped talking about you since he found out about you. Which is a nice change of pace since he likes talking about himself if you haven’t found out, which I would find highly impossible. I can’t wait to get to know you through you though. I’m sorry we haven’t met until tonight. SI business has been all over the place with the transition and, well, everything.” She motions towards you. “But I’d like to take you out to maybe lunch or something where it’s just the two of us before you go back to school if you don’t mind?” This was not the reaction you were expecting from your father’s girlfriend.

“Uh, sure. Yeah we can do that.” You push a lock of hair over your shoulder trying to distract yourself with the nervous habit of playing with your hair.

“Great, I’ll give you my number before the night’s over and we can plan something.” She flashes you a huge smile. “Now Steve and Bruce are in the kitchen and I think Natasha is either distracting them or trying to keep Tony from sneaking down to the lab again. And Rhodey is just hanging out I think. I don’t know where Clint has snuck off too but he’ll reappear before dinner is on the table I’ll bet on it. Want to introduce your friends to them all?”

“I was going to take them up to my room but we could do passing introductions.” You agree, knowing that Betty will never let you hear the end of it if you don’t introduce her to Bruce sooner rather than later. “Kitchen is this way.” You motion for them to follow. As you walk into the kitchen there’s a booming laugh that you don’t recognize. Six pairs of eyes turn to fall upon you and your friends as you enter into the kitchen.

“Tonydaughter!” A large, muscled blonde man comes to scoop you into a hug.

“Point Break maybe wait until she knows you to scoop her into a hug.” Tony calls from the other side of the kitchen, a glass filled with a dark liquid in his hand.

“Ha, midgardians are so funny. She will be a better friend of mine than you are.” This man that you have to assume is Thor based on how he talks and acts, sets you down though. Even though you weren’t expecting the hug, it did feel nice after so many days of not having much human contact. “Who are these?”

“I’m Betty Brant, your highness sir.”

“I’m Astrid Stollas.” Astrid does a bit of a curtsy, not sure how to act around the god.

“Brantdaughter and Stollasdaughter, there is no need for these Earthy customs. But we do need to feast.” He raises his fist as if to command it.

“It’s still cooking, Thor.” Steve says from the stove.

“Can you wait twenty minutes?” Bruce asks and Betty’s eyes go wide.

“Betty, Astrid,you met Thor, but meet Steve, Natasha, Rhodey, Tony, and-”

“I know who you are.” Betty cuts you off before you can introduce Bruce. Bruce goes a bit pale and you have a feeling you know where his mind went and not where her’s actually did.

“Yes, I know I’m the Hul-”

“You’re the most renowned scientist of the generation. They painted you into the mural at our school.”

“What?” Bruce looks at her in confusion.

“I just finished my seven page research paper on you.”

“Looks like Brucy has a fangirl.”

“And who are you again?” You ask Tony, determined to not let him ruin Bruce’s moment.

“I am Iron Man.”

“But you’re not in a mural at a school for science and technology. Clearly not important.” Pepper wraps an arm around Tony’s waist as his jaw drops.

“Fix it.” He says to her.

“I’m not donating to your daughter’s school just so you can be in a mural.”

“But I want it.” Tony whines.

“Can’t have it.” Pepper throws back.

“Clearly unimportant.” You say with a shrug. “Astrid, Betty, do you want to see my room?”

“I’m good here.” Betty says, staring at Bruce. Astrid rolls her eyes and pulls Betty by the elbow towards where you are before following you up the stairs.

“She said I was unimportant.” Tony whines to Pepper.

“I think coming from a fourteen year old, you’ll be ok.”

“She’s not just any fourteen year old.” Tony says it and Pepper knows it's true. That girl is the only thing that Tony has talked about for the past four days.

“At least she was joking with you tonight.” Natasha points out as she steals some of the veggies from Steve’s cutting board. “After yesterday, she could have done way worse.”

“And she introduced us to her best friends.” A smile rises to Tony’s face.

“She did say science is her least favorite subject.” Happy says from the living room and Tony’s face falls again.

“She what?”

“Nothing boss.” Happy takes the elevator to his own floor, leaving them with their own messes to deal with for the night.

“Why is she going to a science and technology school if she hates science?” Tony asks Pepper.

“You’ll have to ask her. Or, you could wait until she talks to you about school.” Pepper says.

“Wow Y/N. Half your books aren’t even here yet and you already have so many new ones.” Betty says looking at your shelves that Tony had built the other day.

“I think Tony thinks he can bribe his way into my life with buying books. But it won’t work.” Astrid is standing over by your desk and notices that your sticker covered laptop is plugged in charging but there are some dark data screens, waiting to be used.

“Did he make you a data-”

“I don’t know. I refuse to use as much of his tech as possible. The only one I have to use is the Stark Phone.”

“Y/N, he’s offering you the latest and greatest in Stark tech and you’re just throwing it away to stick it to the man? I would kill for half the tech you have, including the AI.”

“Well if you can find a way to take it, you’re welcome to have it. I don’t want most of it.”

“Because it’s from him or because it’s by him.”

“Both.” Astrid and Betty look at you in confusion. “I was perfectly happy with my life in Queens, living with Nana and Pops and he just came and took me away without any choice. Then he shoves all this tech in my hands and expects me to be elated over all of it. That’s not me. That’s not what I do.”

“Of course it’s not. You would live in the 18th century romance novels as long as you could still rep your LGBT letters.” Astrid says and you can’t help but roll your eyes. Before any of you can say anything else, JARVIS comes over head.

“Dinner is ready Miss Y/N.”

“Why does he call you Miss Y/N? Everyone else is just their names?” Betty asks.

“I don’t know. I guess he was programmed that way.”

“Jarvis?” Betty calls out.

“Yes?”

“Can you call Y/N just Y/N?”

“Certainly.” She smirks at you as you roll your eyes.

“Come on, let’s get dinner over with.” You say rolling your eyes.

“It won’t be that bad.” Astrid promises as the three of you head towards your door.

“You’ve yet to have dinner with the Avengers.” You mumble as you walk them down towards the kitchen. The three open spots are between Pepper and Bruce and you know that Betty will kill you and Astrid if she doesn’t get to sit next to her favorite scientist, so the three of you end up sitting with Betty next to Bruce, where she will probably talk his ear off all night, Astrid in between you and Betty, with Pepper on your right. Tony is sitting on her other side, so it’s not like you can just ignore your dad all through dinner, but you can sure try.

“So you’re all going to be freshmen this year?” Pepper asks. It’s not a total surprise that she knows about your schooling since Natasha had mentioned that Tony had talked to her and Pepper about the situation. But hearing it actually come out of her mouth takes you by surprise. But Astrid saves the day in the end.

“Yup. We’re all starting at Midtown School of Science and Technology, much to Y/N’s chagrin. If we could go to a school where the focus is only reading and English instead, that would probably be her top choice.”

“Is English your favorite subject?” Pepper asks you and you nod, having just taken a bite of the pasta in front of you.

“It’s always been her favorite subject. If Betty hadn’t made her put her book down the first day I met them, I don’t think I would have gotten a word out of her. But then again, Harry Potter is addictive, so it makes sense.” You shoot Astrid a look, for spilling all the beans about you.

“Tony mentioned you were a reader. Something about his cards are buying more fiction then they probably ever have.” Pepper’s hand pats his as she throws a smile in his direction. “That’s probably a good thing. Some people in this place could take some breaks for reading every now and then.”

“That’s unfair. I do read.” Tony almost whines from next to her.

“Something other than manuals and physics books?” Pepper teases. Maybe this is what Natasha meant by she doesn’t put up with Tony’s shit? She calls him out on things? You can’t help but think to yourself as you watch the interaction. Her attention turns back to you. “What are you reading right now?”

“Once and Always.” Tony says as you give your own answer.

“For school or for fun?” Then you turn and look at him. “No, I’m not. I finished that like two days ago.”

“You weren’t even halfway done with it.”

“Couldn’t sleep.” You shrug.

“How about both?” Pepper asks, returning to your question.

“I have to finish A Tree Grows In Brooklyn and write an essay on it before the end of the first week of school, so I’m working on that. And for fun, I just started Love, Simon. And I’m loving it.”

“What’s Love, Simon about?” Pepper seems genuinely interested, but do you tell her the plot and possibly out yourself in front of the all of the Avengers? Especially when some of them like Steve had lived in a time when being bi was really not ok?

“It’s a contemporary of sorts. It’s kind of better to go into it not knowing a lot.” You decide to skimp on explanations and play it safe.

“Well if it you end up enjoying it all the way through, let me know. I’m always looking for a good next read.” Pepper says with a smile.

“Uh sure.” You’re almost surprised that she’s interested in what you’re reading. Nana and Pops always supported you reading whatever you wanted, but they had their own genres to read.

“What do you think of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn?” Steve asks from across the table.

“Boring.” Astrid says with a smirk. “I skimmed enough of it to write my paper.”

“I like the writing style. That’s why I’m taking my time with it.” You admit. “If I really wanted to, I could sit down and finish it in a couple hours. It reminds me of my first time reading To Kill A Mockingbird.”

“If you like those you should give The Secret Lives of Bees and The Poisonwood Bible a try.” Steve suggests before taking a bite of his own plate of pasta.

“You’re just suggesting those because you love those. If she’s a reader she should go with some of the real classics. War and Peace. Anna Karenina. Real Russian novels.” Natasha suggests with her fork enunciating her words. Betty and Astrid can’t help but laugh. All the Avengers turn to look at the teenagers, who seem to be laughing at one of the world’s deadliest assassins. Astrid tries to stifle her giggles, but Betty falls silent.

“Sorry Miss Widow, it’s just Y/N has already read both and loved them. But she read them back a couple of years ago and the school got mad at her for not reading at grade level.” Tony turns to look at you.

“You got in trouble for reading a big Russian novel in middle school?”

“Elementary school.” You correct him. “They didn’t think a 1200 word novel was the right reading experience for a fifth grader.”

“Yeah I’m never going to doubt she’s Tony��s kid.” Clint says before stuffing some pasta in his mouth.

“You read War and Peace at ten?” Natasha asks. You think about it for a moment and then nod.

“Yeah and followed with Anna Karenina, A Confession, The Death of Ivan Ilych, and Resurrection. I went through a Leo Tolstoy phase at that point.” Your eyes drop to your plate as everyone else’s eyes are on you. You push some of the veggies around your plate.

“Our teacher, Mr. Balton, hated it because he couldn’t get mad at Y/N because she was still getting all of her work done and she had the highest grades in our class. Even tried to say she was a distraction to the rest of the class, but when she’s just silently reading, he doesn’t have any pull. He even threw her book across the classroom one day, because he was pissed that she was reading so far above her grade level. And instead of exploding at him, Y/N stood up, walked across the room, picked up the book, sat back down, flipped it back open to where she was and started reading again.”

“Your teacher threw your book?”

“He wasn’t the greatest. It was public school.” You shrug, as Astrid had just explained one of the roughest school years of your life. Mr. Balton tried to make your life a living hell.

“I’m going to find him and-” Tony mutters.

“He got fired.” Betty adds. “He had issues with a lot of the students and was very prone to throwing things.” Betty pauses, and you can almost hear the story she’s not telling. Your head pops up and you catch her eyes. “Anyway…” She turns to change the subject.

“Betty you’re not going to tell the story that got him fired?” Astrid says around a mouthful of pasta and your hand flies over her mouth.

“I don’t think we need to share that story.”

“I think we definitely do.” Tony’s voice comes from the other side of Pepper, firm and less teasing than other nights at dinner.

“Betty, why don’t you tell us about your science paper?” You suggest, knowing that if Tony hears the story, someone will blow a gasket. Most likely him. It shows how badly the public schooling system was, and Pops and Nana had already blown a fuse over it. You didn’t need Tony Stark getting upset over something that happened four years ago.

“I’m more interested in learning about what got your teacher fired.” Tony repeats. “Astrid?”

“I’m good Mr. Stark. I don’t think I was even there the day it happened.” Astrid says before pushing some pasta into her mouth.

“Betty?”

“I’m not even sure which incident you’re talking about sir.” If anything, your two best friends would have your back no matter what. The rest of the table has gone silent. Tony could go into a rage over things that had happened last week. They all had suspicions based on the fact that you wouldn’t let your friends tell the story. If it was something from four years ago that you were worried about him losing it over, you probably had good reason to be worried.

“Y/N?”

“Tony?”

“How did your teacher get fired.” His words come out harsh.

“Why do you really want to know?” You challenge.

“I think you know exactly why I want to know.”

“Tony, is now really the time?” Pepper asks, a hand draping over his.

“Pep-”

“Fine, you really want to know. This is why.” You pull your hair back to show a six inch scar that is hidden by your hair normally.

“What the hell is that.”

“That is what happens when someone throws scissors across a classroom at your head.”

“He threw scissors? At your head?” Tony’s words are spoken through a clenched jaw.

“He did. And had you been there, you could have joined Nana and Pops in their outrage. But four years ago you were off doing your own thing. So… moving on.” You lift your fork to your lips as the rest of the room barely breathes.

“Why?” Tony’s words are almost silent.

“Why what?”

“Why did he throw scissors at you?”

“Because I was reading. I was reading Resurrection and he said no kid my age should be reading a 500 page book while there are kids who could barely do their multiplication tables. And he wanted to make his point. And the closest thing to him was a pair of scissors.”

“I’ll make sure he can never teach again.”

“He can’t. At least not in the state of New York. I doubt anywhere else either. He assaulted a minor. That goes on like police record shit.”

“I should have been there.”

“You didn’t know.” You try to be more mature than you feel in this moment. “You are now. Next time something happens. You’ll be there, I hope.”

“I will.” His arm wraps around Pepper to grasp your shoulder. “I’m here for you from now on.”

tags: @persephonehemingway @iamaunicorn4704 @furiouspockettoad @daughter-of-stark @eternalharry @huntective-kyeo

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ginnyzero · 4 years

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Completely Harmless Ch. 54

Completely Harmless An SSO SilverGlade Re-imagining Story (Or Fix it Fan Salt fic) By Ginny O.

When Lily and her friends wanted to buy horses and were directed to the Silverglade Manor and its myriad of problems, they didn’t expect to start a revolution. They were just a bunch a stable girls. Completely harmless. Right?

A/N: Things are only canon if I say they’re canon. Pre-Saving the Moorland Stables compliant for the most part. Posted in its entirety on my website. Posted in 2000 to 4000 word bits here. Rated T for Swearing Word Count 177,577

Chapter Fifty-Four CHILL-ax during Happy Horse Week!

The decorations were approved by other clubs while the few votes against them were roundly ignored. It helped that gave everyone a goodie bag and had a snack table set up with their treats and cups of apple cider mixed with ginger ale. The marble balloons had been turned into arches and pillars. She’d borrowed the flag banners from Jorvik Stable to show off what things would look like complete with hay bales.

The Councilman hadn’t been too happy about the hay bales, but Kate had promised to clean.

Everyone was relieved that Lily was okay. And they were more than willing to take shifts at the council house in order to help make the decorations they needed between breaks in training. Training that was more important than they realized.

In fact, it was Herman that clued Lily in as she waited her turn to run through the show jumping event set up in the Arena.

“Really looking forward to seeing all you girls at the County Fair this year,” he said with a big grin on his face. Leaning against the fence of the riding arena he looked almost lazy as he watched the girls.

Lily looked down at him and put a hand on her horse’s neck. “Herman, I think you’re forgetting that most of us have never lived here before. Or should I be asking Linda or Pauline?”

Herman glanced up, the grin didn’t fade. “Didn’t forget. Didn’t know you didn’t know.”

Lily rolled her eyes. Her stallion tossed his mane.

“There’s an eventing contest held at the County Fair every year. It’s the first qualifier for the Claymore Challenge. Every club comes and tries out. Course, last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, was just the Bobcats and the Bulldogz. Be nice to see them have a bit of competition.”

Lily’s brow furrowed. “But we’re collecting ribbons,” she said slowly drawing it out.

“Gotta train your horse and get it into condition so it knows what it’s doing. Practice is one thing, Lily girl, doing exhibition is another. The lights, the crowds, you don’t know how your horse is going to react. Depends on the crowd too.” Herman sucked his teeth. “Yep, some mighty fine riders in practice can’t make it through exhibitions.”

Lily pressed her tongue to her back teeth and looked off to the side as her brows furrowed. “Qualifiers,” she said after a few moments and not coming into any conclusions.

“Yep, helps me winnow it down. I know you’re all doing well in your ribbons. You can’t all go to the Claymore Challenge as much as I’d like to send you all. One Club per county. Thems the rules.”

Lily looked down at him. “I wasn’t given any rule list when I made the club. How many members are we allowed to have maximum anyways?”

“Fifty.”

Lily blinked. There went the plan to merge clubs to get around that pesky rule. “Well, we’re a bit beyond 100 people, Herman. I think we’re hitting closer to 200.”

Herman grinned. “And you wouldn’t believe how proud I am of that, all of you choosing to leave Moorland and form clubs to help out the district. Brings a tear to me old eyes, it does.”

Lily snorted. She shifted her attention. Tracey rode around the track keeping her posture upright as her stallion took the turns.

“You’re doing good things,” Herman rocked back and forth on his feet.

“If you say so,” Lily glanced back at him.

“You don’t think so?”

“I think I’m doing what needs to be done whether it’s good or bad, I can’t say.” Lily gripped the reins in her hands turning them over between her fingers. “I’m doing the best I can or we are, or I hope we are. One never knows. You have a lot of things you don’t tell newcomers, like, qualifiers being at the County Fair.”

Herman chuckled. “You’re revitalizing this county.”

“You didn’t need me for that, you just needed to act.”

“Mrs. X of CHILL wants to meet you,” Herman said.

“Fancy that,” Lily said in a dry voice. “I’m not surprised.”

“Alone.”

“Of course,” Lily murmured. “Because what other way do you meet the leader of a secret organization that,” she paused. “What does CHILL do?”

“Put nails in the road for G.E.D.,” Herman said.

“Your horse idioms are so lovely, Herman,” Lily said. “Where is she?”

“Observatory 12 in Epona.”

Lily backed her stallion away from the fence. “And let me guess, she wants to see me as soon as possible.”

“You know how this works.”

“Way too many crime shows, way, way too many.”

Herman laughed.

“How cliché can you get?” Lily muttered and nudged her horse into a trot. The nearest transport to the Observatory was in Crescent Moon Village she thought. Hillcrest and the Dews Farm in Epona were getting transports set up still. Hillcrest’s was in need of a major repair since someone had tried to use the truck to ram the wall. (It hadn’t worked.)

She took the transport to Crescent Moon Village and went directly down the road through the Marsh and up the side of the mountain to the Observatory perched on the edge of the Cauldron opposite of Hillcrest.

Dismounting, she opened the huge doors of the observatory a crack and slipped inside.

It wasn’t as dark as she’d thought it be. Sunlight streamed in through the small windows illuminating the place.

“I’m glad you came,” Mrs. X said from the middle of the room. She smoothed the skirt of her ankle length green dress, but a deep hood obscured her face.

Lily stepped closer. Mrs. X’s face was also covered with a mask. Crossing her arms, Lily stopped. “I don’t deal with people who hide their faces.”

“My identity is a closely guarded secret, one I’d like to keep that way.”

Lily pressed her lips together. “You’re either trying to recruit me. Or, you have a message for me. Spit it out one or the other.”

“You’ve impressed me.”

“Funny, you don’t sound impressed.”

“You’ve interfered with a major operation. Hillcrest is only a small part of the G.E.D.’s plans for the Harvest and Epona Districts. You’ve set me back months of work.”

“You, lady, are a vigilante.” Lily lifted a finger off of her arm. “You run around in the shadows not sharing information with the authorities, and causing more problems than you solve because you won’t work within the boundaries of the law.”

“The law has failed us.”

“So, Bernie Winterwell didn’t want to leave his house and was happy to be bribed. Was it a moral failing? Or is House of Winterwell in dire straits? Or is there another reason? I don’t know. I don’t care. If Baron Winterwell isn’t doing what you need to do, you go to Count Marchenghast.”

“He’s ill. The Countess is overwhelmed. They’re too young and inexperienced to handle the G.E.D.”

Lily’s lips parted. “Really? Because, Mrs. X., I’m what, sixteen, and I’ve handled them just fine by oh, seeing that they don’t have the proper paperwork or you know, put people in actual danger and taken this to the people in charge like the Rangers and the nobles who run this county and they’ve managed to take care of things with the information me and my girls have provided them. I do not feel that the people of Hillcrest are an acceptable sacrifice so you can try to stop the grander scheme and get the higher ups.”

“You are too young to understand.”

“I understand that right now you’re no better than the druids, most of whom, also wear hoods and also, who I will not have anything to do with unless they show their faces. Here’s my message to you, it’s the same one I gave to Elizabeth Sunbeam. You lead and take action instead of observing and waiting. You follow. Or you get the hell out of my way. The people of Hillcrest will not thank you for standing by and watching.”

“Jarlaheim is in great danger. You don’t understand how great.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Yes. We know. You remember Mayor Elaine. She was in Hillcrest. She knew what Ms. Drake was up to. Ms. Drake has been arrested. Given her lawyers, she probably won’t be in there for long. But it’s a good way to stall them and give time for Mayor Elaine to recover and take control over Jarlaheim.” Lily turned on her toe and grabbed the door. Pulling it open, she looked over her shoulder. “Come out of the shadows, Mrs. X, and into the light.” She walked out shutting the door gently behind her.

“People,” she said to her stallion.

He whuffled.

Lily mounted and turned him around down the mountain. “Vigilantism, peh.”

He nodded his head.

“Jarlaheim is in great danger,” Lily mocked. “Gee, you think? I mean, there aren’t four dig sites around the place, probably illegal dig sites, run by the G.E.D. if it’s not in great danger. Like, I don’t have girls in every stable and town and farm in this county by now. And do you know what we teenage girls like to do?”

He knocked his ear back seemingly interested.

“Share information. People might call this gossip. Because they only hear about who is dating who and who is fighting and what embarrassing thing happened to so and so this week. But there is important information among the trivia.” She patted his neck. “Sometimes, if the mare is fat, it’s not that she’s actually fat, she’s pregnant.”

He whinnied.

“Exactly, you get it.” Lily let him trot down the road. “Diabolical corporations. Aliens. Witches. Ghosts. Aliens running diabolical corporations. Druids. Chipmunks and squirrels as spies. Magic horses. Now vigilantes.”

He nodded his head.

“Nahnahnahnahnahnahnah, Batman!”

Her horse whinnied again.

She quieted as she got out of the marsh and into the village. She hummed “Spider-man, spider-man, does whatever a spider can,” under her breath as they passed Hayden’s house.

She took the transport back to Jorvik Stables.

When Herman asked her how it went, she replied with, “It went.”

The decorations were ready in time for Happy Horse week, if barely. Barney had helped them by using the vinyl wall art to make plywood versions of the horse silhouettes with his wooden scroll saw. He’d also made them horse heads to vary up the horse shoes and hang their smaller horse garlands from. They weren’t allowed to touch his saw. They could lose fingers if they weren’t careful. Plus, he was making the silhouettes five or six at a time to save time. Each stable and town had at least one of each galloping, show jumping, and dressage silhouette. Carney Summers had been busy making race signs for everyone.

But everything was painted, glittered, glued together, whatever needed to be done in time to decorate for the week. Metal and plastic buckets had ribbons and bows on them. Plastic helmets also had bows and rhinestones and gold trim. They wrapped fancy striped ribbons in Jorvik national colors around every extra haybale they were strewing about for decorations. (And handy seating for the tired parents.)

So, the day before Happy Horse Week was also busy instead of training, they were decorating and making sure everything was out and just so. They’d put together plenty of snacks for the tables and had decided that mint candies went in predominantly blue favor cones, and granola went in predominantly green favor cones.

Putting together the selfie walls had been a bit easier now they were at the third time around. They used the triangular and horse shoe garlands to drape the circle. Put plenty of championship ribbons on the upper left hand side. Put together a pillar or arch out of marble balloons and made sure there were hobby horses and stuffed plushies (fresh from Fort Pinta) out for people to use as props.

Agnetha has pursed her lips at the arches of balloons in front of the rose archway and on each side of the bandstand, but she hadn’t said anything dire.

Thinking ahead, they set up the pavilion so people could decorate their own buckets and helmets if they wanted to do so. They even had championship ribbons for name badges.

They had to rearrange the jumps in the riding arena. (That gave them time to decorate it.) Though the Rose Arches remained firmly in place. And put together the special race tracks for the cross country races through the grape fields.

It was a good thing that they had extra decorations and banners, because just in time for Happy Horse Week, the Silverglade Oval Track was ready to open and it needed to be decorated as well.

Pia and Ingrid sent pictures of the Art Show and Flea Market respectively. Everything was horse themed! Pia had plenty of exclamation points. She never asked for it to be that way!

They had to help transport the cake from Ma Anna’s Pastry Shop in Firgrove all the way to Moorland. They transported it in separate tiers thank goodness, but they still wanted an escort for some reason. When it was put together, the bottom three tiers were sold colored, there was a blue tier, a green tier, and a white tier. Then the top two tiers, one had stripes, and the smallest was white with green and blue polka dots. They stuck a large golden harp in the top of it as a topper.

The tables for the Moorland feast were set out. And there were extra tables so they could set out the grab bags, horse masks, party hats, and horse ears for the kids. The Farmer’s Market bustled with happy people who were more than happy to put up another tent for the Carnival games of bobbing for apples, pig pen, horse shoes, hobby horse races, and pin the tail on the horse. They had a special spot for the pinatas (and plenty of them.) And a booth all set up so everyone could get their face painted.

Realizing they’d forgotten prizes for said games, Kate and her club ran to Jorvik City to get more of the prizes like they had in the grab bags. (Because why not try to collect them all, according to Regina. She was roundly reminded, again, that this wasn’t Pokemon!)

The Timber Wolves escorted Andy’s petting zoo down and helped him set it up at the same time they brought down the cake.

It was quite the whirl of activity.

No one was sure who exactly hid the Golden Horse Shoes, only, that they were hidden.

So, everyone was excited the first day of Happy Horse Week, despite the fact that they’d had to make a schedule so there were people minding the races, giving beginning riding lessons, doing the lunge informational event, the craft pavilion, and the snack booth.

“Where do we want to go first?” Was the biggest question. Firfall was having a jousting demonstration at their medieval fair. There was the County Fair to check out too with all the food, and booths, and games, and they had to keep an eye on the competition up there with the eventing qualifiers. Or, they could go to Moorland and get a slice of carrot cake or apple spice cake (or both) and go straight to the Farmer’s Market to do games there. Or, they go to Fort Pinta and grab Token Takes Jorvik, buy a horse plushy if they didn’t already have a stuffed lovie of their own and start on the different challenges, plushy vacation pictures, Andy’s Geocaching, and Hayden’s Spider Hunt.

More than a few of them though were bowing out of Hayden’s Spider Hunt.

“No thank you,” they said.

They knew they’d see all of it. It was a matter of did they want to watch a pie eating contest at the County Fair or not? There was going to be a demonstration of a flat track oval race too that sounded interesting. They all agreed that they wanted to see the horse rubber duck race. That sounded too funny not to see.

The last day was the Light Ride.

It was with light hearts that they made their schedule and took to explore the county during Happy Horse Week. (They had Golden Horseshoes to find!) The first place they had to go was the Silverglade Oval Track ribbon cutting ceremony!

Loretta shifted her weight on top of her white stallion, the pink of her showjumping jacket setting off her fair complexion. Lily cynically thought that was the reason why the Bobcats colors happened to be pink. Loretta looked good in it. Loretta glanced over at her. “What are you doing here?”

Lily tugged down the sleeves of her own showjumping jacket, light purple. (Thought she’d the option of a dark purple or mulberry color.) “Same as you, I suspect. Claymore Challenge qualifiers.”

Loretta’s eyes widened. “No. No. You can’t. Your clubs are too,” she trailed off.

“Too what? We’ve qualified. We’ve earned the ribbons.” Lily looked down her nose at her. Had Loretta forgotten about the fact that more clubs meant more competition?

“You haven’t been around long enough to train your horses to be competition ready,” Loretta curled her lip. “You’ve been too busy doing other things.”

Lily leaned forward a bit resting her weight on her folded hands. “Not for the last month, month and a half. You don’t want to train for more than a couple hours every day and risk hurting the horse.”

“But you couldn’t have earned enough ribbons.”

Lily smirked at her. “I did.”

“That’s not right.” Loretta frowned.

“Take it up with Herman.” Lily shrugged. She tilted her head.

The Announcer’s voice rang out. “President of the Bobcats, Loretta.”

“You’re up,” Lily told her.

Rattled, Loretta nudged her stallion into a trot to take the arena.

Lily narrowed her eyes and watched. Either Loretta wasn’t as good as she claimed to be or Lily’s appearance as the next competitor after her had truly rattled her. She missed several jumps knocking down the bars.

When Loretta came off the field she looked furious. She stopped her horse by Lily. “If someone like you who isn’t even from Jorvik keeps me from going to the Claymore Challenge again,” she started.

“Again?” Lily raised a brow. “Last I checked the rules, Jorvik citizenship wasn’t required to compete, only belonging to a Riding Club in Jorvik in good standing.”

Loretta sucked her cheeks in and trotted off. “I won’t be defeated.”

Lily watched her go and put a hand on her horse’s neck. “And President of the Silverglade Equestrian Center’s Silver Drakes, Lily,” The Announcer said.

Lily squared her shoulders. She had an event to do. She could wonder who had beat out Loretta last time. Lisa. Linda. Or Anne?

FOR THE ACCOMPANYING IMAGES PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE MY WATERMARK AND CONTACT INFORMATION. THANK YOU. I get it. Some of you might get excited and want to see this stuff in the game, especially the clothes, tack, and pets. However, the only way I want to see this in the game is if I get paid for it. If I see it in the game and I’m not paid for it, there will be hell to pay. You think I’m salty. I’d be angry. Personally, I’m not going to send this info to SSO. If you do, leave my contact information there! Don’t give them any excuses to steal.

Now, I’ll know you haven’t read this note if you leave me comments about how ‘salty’ I am about the game and if I hate it so much I should do something else. I am doing something else. It’s called Mystic Riders MMORPG Project. Mystic Riders however is a very baby phase game. You can check out our plans on the game dev blog. (Skills, Factions, Professions, Crafting, Mini-Games, 25+ horse breeds!) If you know anyone who would be interested and has money or contacts about game making, direct them to the blog.

#star stable #sso #star stable online #fan fic #jorvik reimagined #star stable salt #happy horse week #loretta isn't learning #silverglade reimagined #completely harmless #many nods to ruth westside

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wichols · 5 years

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This is my first time ever doing any type of fan prompted writing event for myself and let me tell you I have some thoughts!!

But before thoughts let’s talk numbers.

Start Date: 1/8/2020

End Date: 1/24/2020

Total Fics Created: 9

Total Word Count Posted: 11,935

Prompts Received Anonymously: 5

Prompts Received By Users: 4

Longest Fic: Burning Intentions (2,203)

Shortest Fic: Attorney First, Wife Second (754)

Thoughts:

It was interesting to see which pairs and couples my general audience was requesting. By far the two most popular requests where anything to deal with Kyoya (my OTP) and Mori. You wanted my two favorite boys to get some comfort and happy endings and I was happy to supply them. Now that I step back and look at them, I will give you little fun facts or interesting thoughts I had while writing each one (mostly because I think it is interesting how writers explain their process of writing or their opinions on their own writings). The list starts chronologically from first to last fic posted.

1. Bland Cereal & Pregnancy Brain (Mori x Haruhi)

I imagine that of all the hosts these two will have the closest thing to what Haruhi would deem a normal life. They will make time for each other and always try to check in on each other. If Haruhi wants normal life filled with a steady stream of love then Mori is her guy. I giggled my way through this prompt at Haruhi and her oblivious nature (my favorite quality about her). This prompt took two sittings to complete. The first to write it and second to edit. Overall one of the quicker ones I wrote in this batch.

2. Attorney First, Wife Second (Kyoya x Haruhi)

This fic is one of my favorites that I have written. It is also the first posted fic where stuff gets steamy. I was gasping and eeping the whole time writing their steamy elevator interactions. This story took 1 sitting to write, edit, and post.

3. Solemn Tears (Kyoya x Mori)

As stated in the original post this is the first-ever M/M fic I have written. IT WAS SO HARD. Not because it was M/M but because both characters don’t really ever let their guards down long enough for them to cry. Not only that, I really had to dig and analyze what would really push them to the point that they would cry. Have you ever seen two brick walls cry? Cause I sure haven’t! Their dynamic is interesting and I am glad that I got this prompt to stretch my writing skills. Multiple sittings required because I had no idea how I was going to write it.

4. Shrouded Kiss (Kyoya x Haruhi x Tamaki)

Oh, the angst! Out of all the fics posted this one felt the most OOC. My first thought when I received the prompt was, “Kyoya never does anything by accident.” Haruhi was a little OOC in my opinion but that’s because of how Kyoya proposed the idea of finding love. Do I believe what he says about only knowing once you have tried things with different people? No, but there is merit to say that each relationship and person you are with is going to feel different. Some people are just naturally passionate people while others are more subtle with their love. From what I recall this was a pretty easy write and edit.

5. Obliviously Pregnant (Kyoya x Haruhi)

Haruhi probably couldn’t even surprise Kyoya with a pregnancy even if she tried. She might not have married a doctor but when you marry into a family who is a leader in the medical business nothing will stay a secret for long. On top of that, I am sure that Haruhi is so focused on work that she would actually just convince herself that she is sick rather than being pregnant. Now reader, I know you are curious as to why I decided to bless them with twins. Well, you see…..plot device. That’s really it. Plus, after I asked Google about multiples and pregnancy I was plagued with diaper ads. Note to self, use incognito more often when asking questionable questions.

6. Salmon Side Effects (Tamaki x Haruhi)

This was the first “Free Space” prompt. And I was in the thick of writing and posting. By the time I got to this prompt, I was tired. Not long after I got this prompt I experienced a depressive episode and spent the week slowly crawling out of the pit. I just couldn’t bring myself to work on this fic. I knew I would have to write Tamaki super excited and all I could think about was trying to make it throughout the day without crying. But I got out of the pit and finished it. Multiple sittings needed for completion.

7. Unyielding Devotion (Mori x Haruhi)

I am not sure when it comes to other writers but I cannot read and write fic at the same time. And after binge writing the last few fics I needed a break. I needed to read some fic! One night I was scrolling through FF.Net and decided it was time to start working through my 70+ fics waiting to be read. Picked a fic and I was off to the races (Something Honorable This Way Comes by ilovemori9). It was sweet and wonderful and totally the opposite of a break-up prompt. I think with the break up he was trying to do right by her, wanting her to not be held back by what was required of him. When I first started brainstorming this prompt I was going to have Kyoya lurking in the shadows waiting to take Haruhi as his own but the story wrote itself and it wrote Kyoya out of the story. I think it is better that way.

8. Broken Banner (Mori x Haruhi)

TINY HAMMER! Running joke between @ohshcscenerios and myself. This was such a fun story to write! Once I started I just had to finish. I don’t normally lean towards cute and innocent so it was a nice change of pace. Mori is held in high regard but he is, after all, a high school 3rd year. And he has a soft spot for Haruhi. Also, did you know that Mori is 6’2” while Haruhi is 5’1”? How do you accidentally kiss someone who is a foot taller than you?? So part of the issue in creating this story was how to get their mouths close enough to bump lips. I think the outcome suited the prompt. This was a two sitting story.

9. Burning Intentions (All Characters)

The final prompt….this prompt I tell you what. I will be honest I loathed this prompt in the beginning. I was utterly at a loss as to how I was going to write this. I opened the doc, stared at the prompt and closed the doc multiple times over the span of a week. It was like that episode of Spongebob where he had to write an essay and he felt like he was doing so much work but all he did was the fancy-looking “The”. I almost gave up on it. I almost posted an apology instead of actually trying to write something. In a last-ditch effort, I pulled up Pinterest and searched the word ‘fire’. And then an idea hit me! I wrote part of it one night and finished it up the next day. This story quickly became a favorite because of the witty banter between the hosts. I was laughing at my own writing. I am now very proud of this story!

Final Thoughts & What’s Next?

Throughout the last 16 days, I have accomplished many things when it comes to writing! I went from only having posted 4 fics to now having 13 fics. Today (1/24/2020) on FF.Net Boundless Opportunities (Kyoya x Haruhi) reached 200+ views. On top of the 11,935 words I have posted I have also written an additional 9,124 words for other projects I am currently working on. That is a grand total of 21,059 words written from January 1-24! In my free time, I also finished The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and am 13 chapters deep with The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. On top of everything else, I created a beta profile! I have done so much this month and I want to thank everyone for their support and kind words! They really do me so much to me!

January has been busy! So I am looking forward to celebrating Freedom February!! I am giving myself permission to do whatever I want in February. I still have 11 more paper books to finish as well as 100+ fanfiction stories waiting patiently waiting to be shown attention. Basically what I am saying is I want to spend more time doing other hobbies as well as work on some of my wips that I have been neglecting since I started this project.

Speaking of wips I will be spending February obviously working on my Kasanoda x Haruhi fic but also an idea that sprung up into my head this past week produced a very interesting idea for an AU bad boy fic with Hikaru x Haruhi that has some potential to become another multi-chapter story. Too soon to say if anything will come of it but I want to keep my options open!

TL;DR: January was crazy. Lots of writing. Background information for each fic posted from the bingo prompts. A list of January achievements. Don’t expect me to post anything prolific in February. Using my free time to explore hobbies other than writing. Diving headfirst into digital and paperback stories. Hopefully, make progress on my two main unposted projects. Stay tuned for updates and questions regarding my wips. Thanks!

Special shout out to @ohshcscenerios for helping me out so much! Half of my stories wouldn’t be nearly as good without your help!! Thanks for pushing me to write some fluff instead of just sad angsty fics! Go check out the blog for all your burning host club asks.

If you would like to read any of these fics you can find them on Tumblr, AO3, or FF.Net.

#100 hits bingo #OHSHC #ohshc fanfiction #haruhi fujioka #tamaki suoh #Kyoya Ootori #takashi morinozuka #mitskuni haninozuka #hikaru hitachiin #kaoru hitachiin

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imagine-loki · 5 years

Text

Mad Predictions

TITLE: Mad Predictions

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 2

AUTHOR: inspired-snowflace

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: “A freedom restrained the sun shall invoke, The gift from the plea a mother spoke, Purpose shall be bestowed upon your life, In form of one you should have called wife, A lover presumed dead shall be back, Now shall you truly pay for your attack.”

Ever since the fortune teller had spilt these words, Loki’s life was thrown into a hurricane. He dared to hope that after the attack on New York and the following arrest, things would get better, but these words seemed to point in an opposite direction.

Things would never remain the same, for better or worse.

RATING: Everyone

NOTES/WARNINGS: Just a note- Tony can be playfully annoying in this story, joking at the wrong moments, but that is only because he knows that humour would cheer you up. Otherwise, he loves you as if you were his child. Mentions of nightmares. Also, there is a description of the scars. The medical analysis is not from any reliable source. Read the next chapter early on my tumblr!!

RECAP : You are an avenger, who remembers nothing of her past. Her powers can kill painfully, but they can also heal people. When Thor brings Loki on Earth to serve for his punishments, the reader and Loki have a fight. However, you feel a connection to Loki. Loki remembers you too, but as a lover he murdered.

That night you had one of your worst nightmares. With assassinating people, nightmares came. But today, it was not ghosts haunting you. You felt as if you were falling off a cliff. No. You were being THROWN off a cliff. You could not identify the person standing in front of you in your dream. Was he the one that pushed you off? Was he there to save you? You didnt know how but you were sure of three things- first, the person was a man. Second, he had betrayed you. Third, he was filled with remorse for his actions.

“Y/N!!” you heard someone scream. But you knew it wasn’t in your dream. You woke up to see yourself completely drenched in sweat. You were shivering and the dryness of your throat had you thinking that you had been screaming your lungs off. But a look around the room, confirmed that thought. Your screams woke the avengers up. And all of them were ready as if to kill some attacker.

“Are you alright?” Clint asked.

“No!”

“It was only a dream, right?” Tony questioned with concern.

“It was! But it felt so real!! As if that had actually happened..”

Through the corner of your eye you saw a figure standing idly in your room. A figure looking at whom you wondered why he had even bothered to come here.

“What did you see?” Clint asked while handing you a water bottle.

“I…. fell off a cliff… no…. somebody pushed me off the cliff… it was a huge drop…like a 100 feet drop… I most definitely… died.” You said as the memories crashed back.

“It was so real.” You added; still shaken slightly. With an involuntary glance, you knew that Loki was looking at you with sad eyes, his shiny green emeralds upon you.

“Y/N” Nat started carefully, “By any chance do you remember whether you fell on your back or front?” her voice seemed relaxed but you knew it was urging.

“I was facing the person who pushed me off. I think I landed on my back.”

The assassin and the archer exchanged a look. Before you could say anything, the assassin added, “Do you think the scars on the back of your head are… due to being pushed off a cliff?” As a reply, you frowned. Dr. Banner checked the cracks on your head and looked grimly “They can be. A 100 feet fall you say? The closely bunched up nature tells us that the impact was absorbed by one region and the slight branching out indicates that there was just one powerful impact. So yes… what you are thinking, about it being a memory, it is possible.”

“Is that possible? A memory?” You said glancing at both Bruce and Tony.

“Yes. Often when you see certain things, certain triggers activate your subconscious to be active and instead of recalling them as memories, you recall them as dreams, or nightmares, in your case.” Bruce explained.

“Very similar to PTSD” Tony added, shooting a hot glance at Loki.

You had no idea what to think about this. A memory of the life you have lived? And that memory was being thrown off a 100 foot cliff?

“No, Y/N, that does not mean that your life was filled with trauma. It is just that the trigger reminded you of the most horrible event in your life.” Bruce said as if reading your thoughts.

“Y/N, do you want to sleep with Nat instead?” Steve questioned.

“No. I am really very sorry that I woke you all up…” you felt ashamed. “Nothing to worry about lady Y/N. Everyone has such times.” Thor reassured.

“Thank you guys.”

“And Y/N don’t worry. If anything dare disturb your sleep again, we would love to torch it to death.” Tony said with a playful wink but you knew he meant his words.

The next morning you woke up to see you room bare with none of your things in there. You rushed out to check what was happening. “Hey Y/N, you are awake!” Tony said when he saw you. When you questioned him for an explanation he replied, “Oh, well, last night you seemed pretty shaken. So we decided to shift your room. Perks- you are closer to Thor and Bruce now. But there is a disadvantage- you are now also closer to reindeer games. But don’t worry, he was threatened enough times.” After thanking him and his usual- “don’t mention it, kid”, you entered your room. Everything was placed beautifully.

However, at night you woke up at the sound of muffled up screams, only to discover that they were not coming from your throat. You opened your door to check that they were from the corner room, where Loki lived. Hesitantly at first, you went to his room to see him in a mess. His hair scattered in a circle around his head and body covered in sweat. You decided to help him for reasons unknown to your own self. You sat down and started humming many songs that you knew. Many were pop songs, but there were some that sounded like classical folklore. You seemed to know the entire tune but could not recollect the lyrics. His body seemed to calm immediately under the soothing touch of your voice. However, that meant that you will have to sing the entire night so that he could sleep. You tried using the original recordings or recordings of your voice but nothing seemed to work. He needed your and only your voice.

These late night adventures caused you to loose a lot of sleep. There were not many nightmares, for there was hardly any sleep. But the nights where there were, it was the same- falling off a cliff while the sky was painted a bright orange. This caused your dark circles to run deeper, you became lazier and generally grumpy. However, you felt happier that you were helping somebody. Loki seemed more refreshed during the day and less grumpier.

Despite the first conversation with him, Loki granted you sad meaningful looks from time to time as if he knew something. At times, it seemed like an apology. Sometimes it just felt like he KNEW that it was you behind his newfound sleep. Yet he made no efforts to talk to about the same. Despite everything, the conversations were very few, if any at all. But whenever he was with you, there was a sadness laced in his eyes.

This continued for a month or so. The other avengers seemed to notice your lack of sleep and whenever they confronted you about the same, you would come up with some silly excuse for staying up late- “Oh! I was craving some ice-cream” or “I wanted to finish this book but didn’t realise it was late”.

You weren’t exactly sure why you were doing this- he just seemed like someone who atleast deserved a good night sleep. Or probably, you were doing it due to the connection earlier. Or was it something else? Well, he was handsome and charismatic but that couldn’t be it, could it? You weren’t sure about why you were lying to the avengers. They would generally be proud to know you were helping somebody, but in this case you felt that they would try to talk you out of it. Or rather force you out of it (they can be rather stubborn) and so due to such reasons you kept it a secret, even from Steve. You didn’t require as much of sleep as the others but one month of seldom sleep was taking its toll on you. One day, knowing that you wouldn’t last much longer if you kept sleep depriving yourself, you decided to investigate the cause of his nightmares. If you could solve that itself, you would be able to sleep and Loki would get a goodnight’s sleep.

You had been tempted to do this before but you felt that by invading his nightmares, you would be stepping into a private area without permission. But today you felt that you would just go to sleep and feared that Loki would discover you sleeping in his room ( unbeknownst to you, that had already happened where he had carried you to your room, confirming his thoughts that you had been behind his sleep). However, the thing bothering you other than the invasion of privacy was the unknown nature of your powers. Wanda had seen your mind while searching for memories and the only thing that she had stumbled across was that your base powers were the ones related to life only. But occasionally, you displayed powers like teleportation or telepathy (that is how you knew Steve’s past with Peggy and that led you to connect to him due to the loss of his lover). And to see into his dreams you would require to tap into that side of your powers that you had no idea about. But overwhelmed by the need to sleep, you ceased singing.

After a few minutes, you saw Loki moving his head from side to side and you knew that the nightmare had started. A few shivers went through his body like the waves of the sea. You sighed and tapped his forehead with your index finger. Your head jerked back as you entered his dream. You saw Loki walking, an orange expanse spread in the sky with a funnel of clouds above the cliff he stood on. You even thought that you heard a muffled warning somewhere. But no, that was not the weird part. You were there with Loki!!! You wore something that vaguely resembled a gown, a faded leafy green and flower designs. You looked very happy and were taking animatedly while using your hands. For some reason you were facing Loki and walking backwards.

However, the present you couldn’t hear their conversation. Both Loki and well, you, didn’t notice yourself watching them. Suddenly, you reached the edge of the cliff and the present you’s heart got caught in your throat thinking this is your end. Little did you know that you had a worse fate.

Loki caught your shoulders before you could fall. The past you looked thankful then confused. The present you didn’t understand this until you saw Loki’s solemn expression and a lone tear gliding down his cheek.

And then it happened. Loki pushed you down the cliff. You saw the tears and heard the scream of agony of your falling self. And then silence. A strong jolt went through your (present self’s) scar. Loki turned to the man who you assumed was the one who had given out the muffled warning. He wore a black cloak so you couldn’t see his face.

As Loki argued to the body, you saw an avalanche of emotions tumble through his face- sadness, regret, anger. After talking, he hastily hurried away (as if he hadn’t just killed you so to speak). The last scene you saw was your limp body lying at the cliff below with the waves of your hair surrounded by a crimson circle. You and Loki both woke up with a start. You both made eye contact before you ran to your room as the truth dawned on you- he had murdered you.

#Loki #Lover #Angst #God of Mischief #Others #Submitted fic #submission #mad predictions #chapter 2 #inspired-snowflace

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jyotifestpost · 3 years

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Alia Bhatt's movie 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' enters Rs 100 crore club

Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's latest film "Gangubai Kathiawadi", starring Alia Bhatt in the lead, has breached the Rs 100 crore mark at the box office.

Based on a chapter from writer S Hussain Zaidi's book Mafia Queens of Mumbai', the biographical drama features Bhatt in the title role of one of the most powerful, loved and respected madams from Mumbai's Kamathipura neighbourhood during the 1960s.

Released on February 25, the film opened to positive response from the audience and critics.

The filmmaker's banner Bhansali Productions shared the box office collections of the film on their Twitter handle.

"She reigns over our hearts & the box office! Book tickets now #GangubaiKathiawadi, in cinemas now," the tweet read.

Bhatt also celebrated the milestone on her Instagram handle by posting a photo from a restaurant.

"Happy century to Gangubai & happy vegan burger + fry to Alia. Thank you for all the love," she captioned the post.

"Gangubai Kathiawadi", which had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival last month, is co-produced by Bhansali Productions and Jayantilal Gada's Pen India Limited.

"We had supreme confidence in Bhansali and the film. We had faith this film can bring cinemas back and we mounted it accordingly. Today, it's still running packed houses and we are proud of it," Gada said in a statement.

The film also stars Vijay Raaz, Seema Pahwa, Shantanu Maheshwari and superstar Ajay Devgn in a special appearance.

#bollwood #alia bhatt #movies #news

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mylucky137276 · 3 years

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Alia Bhatt's movie 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' enters Rs 100 crore club