#and my family is... not being actively against it? but not super for it either

[lubrumalis]

ghost headcanons! (realistic)

tw: nsfw, spoilers, dead dove do not eat

a lot of these are based off of my personal understanding of him

part 2 —> character analysis of ghost

general:

didn’t go back to manchester after his family died, too many foul memories—a lot of friends will probably know him as a murderer (comic reference, ghost was accused of killing his family in the newspaper)

has a fit body. a lot of people like to hc him as big and bulky, i think otherwise! its actually a huge disadvantage to be bulky in size as a soldier (logistics while fighting yk). most SAS soldiers are trained for endurance and fitness, i think he has a moreso lean body

hes not cold and ruthless, wouldn’t say hes a big softie either.

VERYYYY punctual. always on time

will not abuse or rape anyone. this guys been through atrocities, he would never do it to someone else

won’t hire a prostitute, ever.

honestly, hes just another dude in the military. he loves dad jokes and bourbon😭

ghost doesn’t think hes mean or tries to be, he simply is intimidating because of his size and way of talking

he likes watching soccer in his free time

gets internally offended if someone thinks hes from london (anywhere but Manchester)

very dark humoured. tell him any dark joke and he wouldn’t care

loves tea

listens to older british bands, like the smiths

cannot understand modern slang at all. what does ‘iykyk’ and ‘rizzler’ mean???

texts like a typical millennial. uses ‘😂’ and ‘😜’ unironically. types with proper grammar and spelling with punctuation too, maybe an occasional LOL

also unironically likes posts about trust issues and being a sigma male. he doesn’t actually think hes one, he just relates to those quotes that are like: “being alone is better than with fakes” 😭😭😭😭

ghost probably hates other men more than misandrists 😕 i think its bc hes always fighting other men and dealing with the cruel things theyve done, so ghost subconsciously feels more on guard with men he doesnt know

has insomnia

doesn’t cry. ghost doesn’t remember the last time he cried.

isn’t rich rich, but has a ton of savings. he doesn’t have a family or spend a lot. so the money piles up.

relationship hcs:

first off, i dont think he’d realistically get into one anyway LMAO

s/o would have to the chasing, i dont think ghost is the kind to actively pursue someone

he has charisma, doesn’t feel like using it

hes very against the idea at first—his family got murdered because he was in the military, you think hes gonna let it happen again?

probably will not like someone working with him as a soldier

i think itd go two ways: a) you are a civilian who aggressively pursues the poor guy and he gives in, b) you work as a military nurse and gradually get to know him, c) you are a longtime close friend of his before he was in the military

i cant see him being fwb with anyone, only one night stands

hes not a toxic partner or super lovey dovey

ghost doesn’t entertain multiple women at once

itd most likely end up in a breakup where he fears for your safety:(((

BUT lets ignore that

tbh, i think he would probably be with someone very empathetic and kind to others. he doesn’t like people overly energetic, too soft, or someone that annoys him

persons gotta be independent and good with long distance

simon doesn’t care about age gaps, but probably wants someone at least in their late twenties

had a hard time opening up, eventually told you everything once he trusts you

another reason why i think he wants someone empathetic is because he has severe trust issues😃😃

last thing he’d care about is looks for long term relationships

the type of guy to disappear for 6 months and reappear to be like “remember im your husband???”🫡

doesn’t let you tell your friends about him—No hes not being uncommitted or toxic, but hes simply being cautious after what happened to his family

you can’t show anyone photos of him, his name, his occupation, NOTHHINGGG

so you fake a name for your bf who your friends think you’re lying about

definitely does not let you post on social media about him either.

installs security in your home, teaches you self defense, and gives you weapons. this guy can be paranoid

will never hit you or lay a hand on you

ghost genuinely thinks you saved him—his life was bleak and empty before you came in. subconsciously thinks of you as a savior

he buys you gifts, does chores for you, he really likes you :(

ghost actively tries to make his voice sound softer and friendlier when hes talking to you

doesnt understand playing mind games, things like the silent treatment or “im ok” when ur not ok thing. just tell him how you feel

doesn’t tell his team about your existence. you and his job are always going to be separate.

avoids talking about what he does in the military. ghost has killed and injured many and he doesn’t want you to see that side of him.

scary dog privileges for SURE

[jello-chennie]

✧ pro-hero bakugou and the love he holds for his family (afab!reader)

✧ genre/tw fluff ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

✧ word count 498

What if pro-hero Bakugou loves going on family adventures with his wife and kids?

One of the things he likes doing is staying active, and he also loves spending time with his adoring wife and the two beautiful kids they had together. Once he’s cemented himself as a top hero, he takes every opportunity he can to bring his family on an outdoor adventure.

I can see Bakugou dragging his family across the country, or even to another country so they can hike a mountain together. At first, you protest because of the chilly weather, but as soon as the kids catch wind of Bakugou’s plan, they plead for you to say yes. It’s three against one, and you’re entirely outnumbered.

The kids who got their rambunctious nature from their father are joyous. They can’t sit still on the plane, they’re jumping in their seats on the bus, and they’re taking off as soon as their feet hit the base trail of the mountain. You and Bakugou maintain a more reasonable pace, keeping a watchful eye over them as you chit chat.

Bakugou finds himself bringing a hand to his chest at the first rest stop; his heart starts to relentlessly do backflips as he looks upon one of his kids hungrily shovelling a plate of food from the concession into their mouth. The other child sits docilely in your lap as you wipe away the tacky remnants of their own snack. Bakugou’s chest fills with tender adoration for his family, and he can’t help but to plant a honey-saccharin kiss onto your lips that is sticky, and lasts far too long for public consumption—but he doesn’t care. He gives it to you in appreciation for giving him two beautiful kids. It’s those same kids that start shouting about the two of you being gross that ends the shameless display.

The adventure continues with everyone’s bellies full. This particular mountain has a stair pathway leading to the top. It’s about an hour into the hike, and you worry as you see both children completely putter out of gas. Once more, your husband is the athletic one between the two of you—you sense yourself dragging your feet as well.

As cool as ever, Bakugou wordlessly hands you the backpack of supplies to carry, and hoists you onto his back, wrapping your arms around his neck. Effortlessly, he grabs up both toddlers into each of his arms. Without blinking or breaking a sweat, Bakugou continues up the seemingly endless flight of stairs, carrying all three of you the rest of the way up the remainder of the mountain.

His sons think he’s the strongest guy who ever lived, and the coolest dad on earth. You can’t say Bakugou’s actions didn’t impress you, either.

And a few days later, Bakugou can’t help but smugly grin to himself as he sees the news and the tabloids rave about the super domestic moment witnessed by fans between Pro-Hero Dynamite and his lovely family.

a/n inspired by my favourite episode of the return of superman

[hana-no-seiiki]

Hello again! I hope you're having a wonderful day! I was just wondering if you could write a platonic yandere batfam? Where one of their Darling is like Tony Stark from Marvel. A super smart genius billionaire who just gets kidnapped by the batfam. Darling knows that they can't beat them all at once or one on one fights so they go with pitting them all against each other. I could think that they could rival Bruce or Tim in intellect and resourcefulness. Darling knows for a fact that they are being watched and learns where all of the cameras are placed. Trying to find any blind spots for said cameras, but is likely won't find any. Mostly because of paranoia and clingy behavior of the family. Yet they still manages to stay one step ahead of the Batfam and just leaves after 4 months or so. Maybe have them be resourceful like Tony when he was kidnapped. Using small scraps of metal and basic trash to help in their escape. With the Darling being absolutely disgusted of the entire ordeal. Maybe even have them start a career and becomes a superhero/antihero (Iron Man type of suit? Maybe?) because of the family's actions. P.S. So sorry it got so long, I couldn't really help myself. Hope you enjoy my request/prompt.

Hello Hello! Sorry for the late response but here ya go!

YANDERE BATFAM x TONY STARK! READER

summary: long story short, tony stark! reader has no chance if they don’t have their knowledge of nanotech. many nicknames are created.

status: unedited

I feel like the scenario you’ve given can go two ways depending on how far the reader has gone through their personality development (keep in mind most of my marvel knowledge comes from the MCU)

If you’re still that ‘arrogant, sexually active, ignorant of the consequences your company’s weapons have’ phase then it’d definitely be much harder for you to escape.

Then again, I find it really hard for the guys to be attracted to someone like you at that point. M a y b e Dick, but he wouldn’t see the relationship too seriously.

And frankly speaking, even if they were attracted to the reader at that phase; you would just never be able to escape. The only reason why Tony was able to in his first movie was because he wasn’t fighting against armed and experienced vigilantes that happen to have a shit ton of money. Especially with Tim and Bruce on board. You will not find any blindspots. Not the bathroom (they’ve kidnapped you and restricted your freedom, why would they respect your privacy at this point + they know of your experience with robotics), not in any corner of your room, or any point in time either because at least one of the batfam will be watching you.

Now, let’s say you were a vigilante before everything went to shit.

[Y/N] [L/N]. Billionaire, philanthropist, genius reveals that they are in fact Iron Man.

Now that is where I can see both you having a chance and the men taking notice.

You reminded Bruce a lot about himself. He has met you already in a bunch of Galas, used to writing you off as a spoiled brat that would definitely get themself killed. But your turn to vigilantism certainly intrigued him.

Intrigue quickly turned to an obsession. Learning about your past, the way your parents died. It was as if you two were the same person, just with drastically different suits.

He wanted you for himself, a partner in crime if you would, but you see there was one problem. You were engaged. Soon to be married to the love of your life and previous secretary Pepper Potts. Meaning that you would most likely retire your heroism and that you’ll dedicate your time to someone unworthy of your affection. Like seriously [Y/N], relationships borne out of power imbalances are doomed to fail can’t you see? Not to mention the dangerous act you’ve made of sharing your identity as Iron Man. What were you thinking?

So what better way to teach you that you belonged to him than kidnap you and keep you to himself?

His obsession with you wasn’t subtle. To you and the other members of the family.

Dick had already been attracted to you (mostly sexually) since the day he met you. Your identity as Iron Man, and just the sheer boldness you have exposing yourself, made him realized that he admired you rather than saw you as object of his sexual desires.

I could also imagine you being the one to save Jason. Perhaps not being able to completely stop his turn into Red Hood but you at least put in the effort unlike some people. That likely jumpstarted a partnership/friendship between you too.

Thus, Bruce chooses him as the ticket to getting you all safe and sound in the safety of his manor.

Now you already knew Bruce is Batman and the identities of the Robins. Through your investigation towards Jason and whatnot. Similar to your anti-Hulk suit and Batman’s anti-Superman one, you were also prepared to go toe to toe with the Dark Knight.

What you didn’t expect was that Jason of all people would be the one working with him to get you.

That certainly put a damper on your plans, but oh well.

That’s where you’re formally introduce to Tim and Damian. You’ve known them. Worked with them as well. Not to the extent of how much you’ve been with Red Hood but enough to at least be acquaintances.

Tim adored the banter and intellectual debates you two had. You took your time earning his trust, and taught him about the A.I. you usually had in your suits (slowly hacking into the surveillance systems making sure that you’ll have at least a couple minutes of time of privacy for your plans).

You even named one A.I. after him. T.I.M. ‘The Impervious Man’ it stood for you said. It actually meant ‘The Introverted Mess’

Have I mentioned you give every one of them horrid nicknames?

Dick was just various ways to say penis.

Bruce was Gatsby (if you weren’t picking at his age, or his deep ass voice, or his dark ass aesthetic, or bat theme) if not Vladimir. Or The Puny(er) Bruce. Oh god, Emo Bruce- My Lovechild with Banner??

Jason was muscle-man, titan, half-a-hulk, or [insert bulky hero] wannabe. (Sometimes when you’re feeling extra sadistic you’d throw in a Joker related one there too)

Tim was the introverted mess, chair guy, wheels, lanky boy, flashy traffic light guy, guy who definitely dreams of getting pegged, Budget Falcon. Baby Falcon.

Damian was The Diva, The Boy with a Baton up his Ass, Junior, Kid (Basically any nickname that highlights his youth), Kid with long knife, Katana Kid. Green-eyed Meanie.

Collectively they were just “The Super Secret Emo / Goth Boy Band.”

Anyways when it comes to Damian, the boy, as usually towards the people he meets, acts like a total tsundere. He just tries so hard to act mean as if he hadn’t spent the last night reading about your achievements and inventions for the nth time. You used him as a benchmark to see when the whole family has fully trusted you.

It takes you a few months (mostly due to you hacking into their systems and trying to learn their weaknesses) but after slowly gaining their trust cozing up to them you escape.

You could have since the beginning, nanotech and all that, but you were feeling kind of bored and gave them a chance to convince you to stay. Unfortunately, your future wife was still better in comparison these 5 goth men.

You’re definitely upping your anti-kidnapping measures after that.

Also you definitely hold that incident as a way to blackmail them. A system is prepared to share everything about them everywhere if they attempt to take you on again.

That’s one thing you have over Batman, sure you didn’t have a bunch of ingenious children under you to use at your disposal. But you also didn’t have an identity to keep safe.

You’re almost looking forward to their next move.

[notjustjavierpena]

The idea of javier and reader being a baby making factory is so 🤪🤪

Trying (Drabble)

Series Masterpost | Main Masterpost | Support a disabled creator

A/N: Actually! My idea of them is that they don’t do super well with their attempts at starting/expanding the family. Which is why I think that they accidentally made Sebastian; they didn’t think they were super fertile and got a lil sloppy. It has always taken a good chunk of time to get reader pregnant during the times they were actively trying but fate often has it that when you stop focusing on it, it becomes easy.

Pairing: Javier Peña x f!reader (no y/n)

Word count: 500 words

Tags: Not explicit thoughts of infertility, trying for a bebe, soft!javi, the inherent suffering of being a person who has a womb, angst, hurt/comfort

Trying

“One line again,” you say quietly and try to hide your voice trembling as Javier leans against the bathroom sink. He reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose, letting out a frustrated sigh as the reality of not being lucky this time around either sets in. You shift on the toilet seat, “Really thought this was it this time.”

It’s been four months now without any luck.

“It’ll happen, baby,” he says without sounding overly optimistic. In fact, he sounds like he is in doubt, on the verge of giving up, and the tone of his voice makes you rise from your seat without a word. You twirl the pregnancy test in your hands for a brief moment before aggressively, and with exasperation, throwing it into the sink and pushing past your husband.

You start to cry the second that he cannot see you anymore. It’s big, heavy, and self-pitying tears that are accompanied by sobs as you walk into the kitchen with fast steps. You place both your palms on the counter, not caring about not having washed them yet, feeling stupid for being in this stupid house with two stupid spare bedrooms that you can’t help seeing as stupid nurseries.

Behind you, Javier says your name so softly that you heave for breath. You can only stammer your response, “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Javier asks. You hear him come up behind you, so you turn to face him. Your face is tear-streaked, nose as well as mouth are puffy and red.

“The one thing my body is supposed to be good at doing and it’s not working. Probably won’t even be a good mom either,” your sniffles are filled with frustration, a fresh teardrop escaping as you tear yourself down in front of him.

“No, no, baby, no,” Javier shakes his head, tuts gently, and moves to cup your teary face. He wipes a few drops away with his thumbs, and you help by catching a few that threaten to drip off your chin, “It’ll happen. Think about how happy that’ll make us.”

“And if it doesn’t?” You know it’s a worst-case scenario, but admittedly it would be easier if people would only just talk about the struggles of getting pregnant. There is never talk about it not being a bed of roses, that it takes time for some couples. It’s always so fucking romantic and whoopsies, we’re having a baby.

“It will,” he stresses, holding your gaze while smiling gently, “Pero sí no, then we’ll figure it out. Maybe we’ll have our own Olivia like Connie and Steve.”

“Okay,” you reach up to hold onto his wrists, closing your eyes to steady your mind. He rests his forehead against yours.

“Okay,” he repeats, “And you’ll be the greatest momma in the world.”

You chuckle whilst still having tears in your eyes, “Okay.”

“Okay,” he chuckles too, “Now I think we need to wash your pee fingers.”

.

.

If you would like to follow my writing then go follow @notjustjavierpena-fics and turn on notifications 💖❤️

[goldenlikedayl1ght]

scott street - d. wagner

a/n: i am feeling super normal about my relationship with my dad! and i just need a little comfort right now. reminder that you aren't your parents, and step parents can be either your actual parent or the worst in the world! i would know. warnings: big angst, huge. reader and danny sneak off to fuck, and then again at the end of the fic, domestic abuse, divorced parents, step parents, neglect and trauma, cursing, uhhhh yknow. daddy issues, but i hate that term bc of tiktok, enjoy ! word count: 3.1k summary: he's your danny, even while putting the pieces back together. paring: danny wagner x fiance!gn!reader now playing: scott street - phoebe bridgers "do you feel ashamed/when you hear my name?"

It happened before your mom got remarried. You were back from school on summer vacation, after your stepdad helped you move out for the summer. It had been the end of your freshman year.

For weeks, you tried to convince your dad to help move you out, begging him to be somewhat active in your life. He hadn’t seen you since winter break, and that was only because you had to go over to his house. Because your brother begged you to give him a shot. But this time, he refused to help you move out. You don’t go to college that far from home, but he tells you he wants to save himself the trip if you’re just going to be home a few days later.

You don’t even have to ask your stepdad. He offers.

And this is what makes it not a big deal when he buys a car decal from your campus bookstore. It has your school’s logo, and says the name of your school, with ‘Dad’ next to it. You laugh and talk your whole trip home, and it doesn’t seem that deep. I mean, your dad has neglected you for years, treating you like a toy on a shelf, and you don’t even have to ask your stepdad if you can grab a snack for the trip home.

It’s just easier for you to be around him, and he really acts the way a father should. He isn’t even married to your mom yet, and you feel this great swell of love for this man, knowing that he’d be the one to be there without hesitation.

Your brother manages to convince you to go with him to get dinner with your dad a few days into your trip. In a few days, you’ll have people over. Your extended family, your brothers’ friends, and your friends from high school.

Well, your friend. Sam can’t make it; he’s having a root canal done.

But Danny will be there. Your Danny. Being in college hadn’t been enough to push aside your crush on your best friend. You suspected the summer would probably make that even more difficult. But you hadn’t seen him in a few months, and you missed him desperately. You focus on him to get you through the dinner from hell.

Your dad picks you up from your moms, your stepdad not yet home. You sit awkwardly in the front seat, anxious for a reason you can’t quite put a finger on.

But really, dinner goes sort of well. You push through the awkwardness of it all, and it’s not that bad.

Until he pulls into your driveway to drop you off. He sees the sticker on your stepdad’s car and starts screaming at you.

You scoff, telling him you find it rich that he’s making comments about your mom’s boyfriend when he let his wife absolutely torment you and your brother for years.

Before you can blink, he grabs you by the hair and smashes your face against the dashboard. He’s still screaming at you when you come to about ten seconds later. Your brother is screaming too, telling your dad to stop, and he’s pulling you out of the car. Blood runs down your face, staining a shirt you got from Danny. It makes you start to sob as you run into your house. You hear the slamming of car doors, and your brother follows you quickly, holding your bag and sweatshirt.

Your mom swears she’ll kill him, but you keep crying. You’re too sad to be angry. But you decide right then and there, you’re done with him.

When you go to the ER, they tell you that your nose is broken. They set it back into place and bandage it up, telling you to take it easy for a few days.

When you see Danny a few days later, he’s immediately concerned.

He holds your face gently, asking you what happened. You’re tired of explaining it to everyone.

“My dad. He banged my head into a dashboard a few days ago. Broke it.” You sighed. You see him tense.

“I’ll fucking kill him.”

“You’ll have to get in line.” You tell him. You take a sip of your beer. You move on from the subject quickly, asking how he’s been, what he’s been up to. He tells you that the band he had joined with the Kiszka’s is starting to pick up. You’re thrilled for him.

It’s hard to stay away from your attraction.

The night goes by smoothly, until there’s a knock on your front door. Your mom goes to answer it, and after a few minutes, she calls you over. Your dad stands there. He has a pile of papers in his hands.

“What do you want?” You ask, putting down your drink. He looks past you. Danny leans against the doorway to the hallway. You don’t ask him to leave.

“To give you these. I’m signing over my parental rights.” He tells you. It hurts more than the broken nose. You stay quiet. Inside you, you feel the ghost of your ten-year-old self screaming for her daddy, telling him to take it back. But you take the paper, and see he’s already signed and notarized them. “It’s been a long time coming.” You laugh, biting back tears.

“Fuck you. Get out of my fucking house, I don’t want you here.” You tell him, angry now. You want to yell, because he waited until three weeks before you turned eighteen to do this. It’s an extra punch to the gut.

“No more Christmases, no more birthdays, no more support, other than what’s mandated by the court.”

“Go to hell! You were never there for any of that shit!” You tell him. He just stares. “You broke my nose, if you care.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you, but I need to do what’s best for us.”

“Have a good fucking life.” You slam the door in his face. You ignore your mom’s gaze. You ignore Danny’s. You start to cry as you walk quickly through the house, dodging your family members. You make it outside to your backyard, where sobs rack your body. Someone says your name from behind you, and you know who it is.

You let Danny hug you, hold you, as you cry.  You cry for a long time, and he stays just like that, refusing to let you go. When you finally calm down, you’re laying your head on him when you ask him a question, and it breaks his heart into a million little pieces.

“Why doesn’t he want me?”

He just hushes you softly. But, you want an answer. You demand it of him, and he gives you one.

“Because he’s a fucking moron. You’re the best, you’re kind, and gorgeous, and fucking funny. You make me laugh constantly, and for so long you’re going to date men who remind you of him, because you’ll long for his love. But he doesn’t deserve your love. And what he does… That isn’t love. One day you are going to meet someone who never questions why you don’t talk to him, and they will be his exact opposite. You deserve that type of love.” He tells you.

You just look at him for a few minutes. Maybe it’s the alcohol. Maybe it’s the pain.

You kiss him. It lasts a few moments, and he kisses back. Then he’s pulling away, mumbling no…

No?

“We can’t. You’re drunk, you’re upset. I won’t kiss you just because you’re sad. I’ll kiss you when the time is right and you’re happy. I’ll kiss you when I know we’re both ready and in love.” He tells you. You feel betrayed. You know, somewhere deep down, that he’s right. That you both deserve a first kiss that isn’t full of angst and drama.

But you’re angry. Angry at your dad. Angry at Danny. Angry at yourself. Angry at God, who you haven’t prayed to since you were nine. You pull away from him, wiping tears that remain on your face.

“I think you should go.” You say softly. He knows you don’t mean it. But he respects your wish.

“I’ll call you tomorrow.” He tells you. “Don’t be a stranger.”

He leaves, and for a second time that night, you’re crushed that a man has left you despite telling him to go.

It’s been five years since that day. You’ve graduated college, and you spend most of your days waiting for Danny to get home from the studio or from a tour.

He finally kissed you again when you graduated college, promising to never let you go ever again. Promising to never let any other shit for brains guy hurt you because you wanted to be loved. He promises to hold your hand while you put yourself back together. He never insists on doing it for you, but he always supports you.  

You’ve been in therapy for a long time, and most days, you don’t think about your dad. You have your mom and stepdad. But somedays, it hurts. And it doesn’t hurt you, it hurts that same ten-year old who lives inside you.

But you ignore it. You focus on your career, your life, your boyfriend.

And one day, a few months before your brother’s wedding, he asks you to marry him. You say yes. It seems so natural; you’ve only been dating for just under two years, but you’ve been in love for as long as you can remember.

You love being engaged. You love thinking about him as your future husband. For you, there are few questions about the wedding. You’ll get married in early fall, you’ll have your mom walk you down the aisle, you’ll have red velvet cake, and Josh will sing your first dance song as well as officiate.

All these things seem very natural to you.

They’re not as easily answered as your brother. When his fiancé got pregnant right before your engagement to Danny, he began questioning whether he’d have your dad there. You couldn’t say you didn’t understand it. There were times you considered reaching out. And with a kid on the way, you knew why he would want his dad in his life again.

It doesn’t stop you from booking an emergency session with your therapist when he tells you he’s coming to the wedding.

He won’t be part of the wedding party, and he’ll have no part in any speeches or traditions. He’ll just be there to support your brother and his wife. You’ll barely notice him; Danny reassures you of this time and time again.

The wedding went well. You focus on your brother and his wife, your sister-in-law. You’re so proud of him. Danny watches you the whole time. He thinks about how you’ll look at the alter of your own wedding, and he melts a little at the thought. Your engagement ring looks lovely with the flowers your sister-in-law picked out.

During the cocktail hour, in between the reception and the ceremony, he can barely keep his hands off you. He’s pulling you out of the crowd, kissing you against the walls, telling you how pretty you are. You don’t really think about your dad.

You sneak off with him, and he takes you into a nearby empty room. An employee from the venue almost walks in on the two of you. You can’t stop laughing. You tell him you love him again and again. There’s something about someone so close to you getting married that thrills you in preparation for your own wedding.

You sit with your mom, stepdad, and your sister in law’s immediate family. Danny holds your hand as your sister-in-law’s sister makes her maid of honor speech. You make a speech too, your brother dubbing you his best man, regardless of your gender. Your sister-in-law dances with her dad. Your brother dances with your mom.

Your stepdad asks to dance with you to Goodnight My Angel, by Billy Joel. You oblige. While dancing, you tearfully ask him to dance with you to it at your own wedding. He agrees, happily. The photographer takes a photo of you during the dance.

And that’s the last time during the night that you’re truly sober, and you spend the rest of your night dancing with your mom, and with your fiancé. You love calling him that. You slow dance to your favorite songs, and that night, you decide your first dance song will be a Loggins & Messina song.

You’re getting a drink at the bar when he finally says something to you. Your father. His first words to you are as follows:

“I saw you dancing with him. To that song.” You laugh spitefully.

“With Danny? Yeah, I’m gonna dance with him, he’s my—”

“No. With your stepfather. Why would you disrespect me like that?”

“You left. You abandoned me. You wanted nothing to do with me. You have no right to comment on my relationship with my stepdad.”

He stands up to face you.

“You were disrespectful. Rude. Horrible. Out of control, I couldn’t deal with you!” You glare.

“You’re so full of shit. He was always more of a dad to me than you were.” You can tell he’s ready to hit you, but you feel a hand on your arm from behind. Your head whips to see Danny. Your shoulders slump. You’re immediately calmer. Your other hand goes up to lay on his hand, where his thumb is gently rubbing your forearm. It’s then that your father sees your engagement ring. You go to say something, but he cuts you off.

“Engaged?” You realize he didn’t know.

“Yeah. You remember Danny.” Your fiancé says nothing.

“Of course, I do. You always were in love with him.” It almost makes you smile, the way your dad remembered your crush on him. But you just as quickly remember when he called you a slut for having two boyfriends in a year. You just as quickly remember him leaving you and your brother for hours, days, at home with your stepmom who refused to let you eat any food. You just as quickly remember the pain from the broken nose, and the worse pain of him showing up at your door to sign away his parental rights.

“Yeah. I always was.” You grab your drink and take Danny’s hand properly now. “Have a good night.” You tell him, and you lead Danny away from him, leaving your father at the bar, where he was always meant to end up.

Danny says your name, asking you softly, “Are you okay?” You let out a shaky breath, taking a sip of your drink. Tears brim your eyes.

“I love you, Danny.” You tell him weakly. He can tell that that’s a no. He guides you away from the party, this time to not make love with you, but to comfort you. Tears run down your face as you lean against the wall in the hallway, feeling the thump-thump of the music from the party. He frowns and wipes your tears, shaking his head. “I thought seeing him wouldn’t hurt anymore.” You say quietly.

Sometimes the child that yearns for your father slips out. You can’t keep them inside in this moment.

“I know, baby.” He says gently. “…Do you want to talk to him more after this? Invite him to the wedding?” He isn’t coercing you, isn’t forcing you to. He’s only laying out your options.

“No.” you tell him. “I don’t need him. I’ve got you. I’ve got mom. I have Mark, and my father be damned, I have a fucking dad. Not that asshole. I have a dad, and it isn’t him.” You tell him. Danny nods.

“You have grown into an amazing young adult. I’ve been in love with you for so long, and I am so proud of you. You’ve grown so much, and you’ve made yourself a damn good life.” He tells you.

“Damn good.” You confirm, your voice breaking.

“Damn good. You’re right. He’s not your dad. Dads don’t do the things he’s done to you. He might be your father, but he isn’t your dad. And it’s okay to miss him, but you have an amazing life without him. And we’re gonna get married. And we’re never going to make his mistakes. You are nothing like him. We’ll get hitched, and have sex every night, and we’ll die in our nineties after a long life of Rock n Roll, Sex, and love. We’ll dance to Loggins and Messina at your wedding, our kids will call Patrick ‘pop’ and he’ll never have a second of your life.” He tells you. You kiss him gently, unable to form the words to tell him how much that means to you. When he stops kissing you, just for a second, he tells you, “We’ll make a new home, with just the two of us. We’ll host holidays, and you’ll never cry on Christmas again.” He tells you.

His words heal something in you. He won’t let you be hurt by your father ever again. The war is over, and now you’ll try to heal, try to move on.

Danny wipes your tears and asks you to come dance with him. You oblige. You dance through the night and focus on your future.

And it’s just as your fiancé describes. You get married. You dance to ‘A Love Song’ by Loggins and Messina, sung by your officiant, Josh.

Sam is Danny’s best man, and your brother is your maid of honor.

You dance with your stepdad to that Billy Joel song.

On Christmases, Danny kisses you under the mistletoe and holds you close.

He’s nothing but romantic and good to you.

On Father’s Day, a particularly hard holiday for you, he brings you home a cake before you go out for dinner with your mom, stepdad, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew.

It’s white, and has small hearts all over it, and in red frosting, it reads, ‘You can’t choose your father, but you can choose your daddy.’ It makes you laugh, and you ruin your hair and ruffle your clothes making love before you leave for dinner.

That night before he goes to bed, he kisses you and tells you that he loves you. That he can’t wait to live the rest of his life with you.

It takes you a long time to fall asleep, thinking about your dad, your Danny, and your stepdad. You wonder if you’ll ever have the courage to have children, out of fear of fucking them up like your dad did with you. You wonder if Danny and you really will live a long, happy, sexually vast life. You realize he is your soulmate, and that he’ll always be your husband.

You decide you’ll be alright.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for making my fiancee do extra flights to pick me up and drop me off again?

For context, I'm 24M and my fiancee is 26NB. I'm disabled and can't fly alone because of it, though to be honest even if I was able-bodied I likely still wouldn't be able to due to also having AvPD.

We're in a long-distance relationship - I live in Scotland, and she lives in Indiana, USA. We've met up several times before, all of which were her flying out to visit me with me paying for all of her flights and our accommodation etc. We began to talk about moving in together and getting her a Visa to live here, but her family understandably said they wanted to meet me first (she still lives with her parents), so I agreed that before focusing on any of that I would visit her there for a few weeks as well to meet her relatives and let her show me around like I had with her.

Since I'd paid for all of her visits here, the agreement would be that she'd pay for my flight there this time. However at the time I made it pretty clear that if I couldn't find anyone to go with me (which was doubtful from the beginning as all of my family work full-time and I don't have many IRL friends who'd be able to travel with me for weeks at a time) it would be a case of "either I have to get picked up or I can't go at all". She agreed to this and said she'd be fine with doing that as long as I paid for those flights, which I was more than happy to do as they're a favour/accommodation for me.

To try and ease the pain-in-the-ass'ness of her having to do an extra trip out here and back just for me, we arranged for her to stay here with me for a week before and a week after so it's not a case of her getting off a plane, grabbing me, and getting on another plane and she can have a break. Accommodation is all sorted for that and everything already which I'm paying for as well. Everything's been booked and she seemed totally fine with this (beyond some understandably minor grumbling about how annoying and tiring it'll be to do the extra flights which like, fair, it will be).

However, after the tickets were booked, pretty much everyone she knows blew up at me over those extra flights. As far as I'm aware her parents/friends knew that's what we'd need to do, but I guess were holding out hope I'd be able to get someone to come with me, which unfortunately I wasn't (and trust I asked everyone I possibly could because I wasn't really looking forward to throwing out the extra £2k as a disabled person who can't work either), and now that it was confirmed my fiancee would have to be doing the extra trips they were really angry about her doing it.

Her parents have, for lack of a better term, gone completely berserk. Her mom has locked herself in her room, her dad came into her room while we were on call to scream that she wasn't going and that it made no sense, that if I couldn't fly by myself then they aren't going to let her move in with me either, they removed my name from their family signs and shit, it's a whole thing. They've basically completely frozen me out over these extra trips. I know at least one of her friends is also incredibly angry at me for 'making' her do it, and has told my fiancee something along the lines of "If I ever meet him I'll be sure to make him feel guilty for this" and as far as I know has actively said they hate me over it. Everyone is telling her to cancel the trip over it, which we can't do because we just spent thousands on non-refundable tickets (and which we don't want to do anyway!).

My fiancee was taking the "Why don't they understand you're disabled?" route to me but I was worried she was saying something else to them and that's why they were so angry, but I've double and triple checked with her that she's not actually secretly super against the idea, and she confirmed again that beyond her being a little annoyed about the extra time/effort it's fine and she's down to do it and that she understands why we have to do it this way. I've apologised over and over because I KNOW it's complicated and annoying and inconvenient and if there was another way I could find I would love to take it. I've tried to do everything I can to make up for it, cover everything financially, give her the extra buffers of time before and after so it's not just a pick-up drop-off trip and is just like an extra visit here, I can't think of what else to do to make it better for her and everyone else.

But her family and friends' reactions have made me second guess everything like - is this more than just an annoying inconvenience? Am I being completely unreasonable by asking her to do it at all? It seems like everyone did a complete 180 on their attitudes towards me over it and it's making me wonder if it's actually way bigger than I can see.

What are these acronyms?

[river-fisher]

Okay, so I was thinking of coming up with a "Fulbright is alive" AU of my own, and I ended up rambling about my ideas to a friend, so y'all get an edited down/tidied up version

Allow me to introduce to you.... the Investigator Fulbright AU! Yes, it is inspired by the lies of the phantom! As much as I love the Fulbright we meet in game before the reveal, I wanted to try out something different. I'm honestly surprised this isn't a thing yet (as far as I've seen) >>

Ramble under cut!

So, let me explain the timeline

During the ~dark age of the law~, Fulbright became disillusioned from the justice system. Justice is his main motivation - he wants to make the world become a better place, to help people. When the system shifted to actively work against that, with all the false arrests, evidence, convictions? I don't think Fulbright could take the injustice. He, as an enforcer of the system, would actively be complacent to all those things. So he resigned.

For a while, he shifts between jobs, none fulfilling his need for justice and field work. I think one day, he gets roped into a private investigation, which, when solved gives him the same rush he felt when he was a detective. He opens his own obscure investigation business. He didn't expect it to do as well as it did - the ~dark age of the law~ made common folk distrustful of the system, so if a person went missing or if someone needed closure from a case that was handled poorly in the courts, they came to him. He even got lucky enough to be able to pick his clients carefully, to weigh the morality of what he's doing - he'd rather skip a case and eat cheap food for a while than contribute to the already awful system.

Actually, being an investigator was almost better, in some cases, for Fulbright. The lack of regulation and restrictions allowed him to come to conclusions not solely based on evidence, but on other things as well, things that wouldn't be admissable in court (such as emotions, subtle nervous tics, etc). He spends a couple years like this, his business being decently successful.

One day, however, he gets this recurring client. Always anonymous, very careful about any information they share. Fulbright is cautious, of course. The client needed information on various people's schedules, habits, etc. It seemed decently innocuous though - none of the people he tailed faced any harm.

Yes, you guessed it! The client is the phantom. I mean, I can't make an AU and not include him, y'know? So yeah, the phantom is careful to pay in Fulbright's regular rates to avoid alarming the investigator. He hires Fulbright for a couple different reasons: having a different perspective on the people he's going to impersonate is very useful, it saves him a lot of time and effort, and it gives him more information on Fulbright - The person that is essential for his plan to get his psych profile back.

We know that the phantom was being taunted by Blackquill, and like... I don't think the phantom takes on long impersonation missions often. It's kinda a waste of resources imo, especially if he's doing it unemployed. So unless we reason that he was finding information from the police while impersonating Fulbright, I think it's more fun if we force him to collaborate with Fulbright! And that's precisely what I intend for this AU.

The phantom comes up with a plan to have Fulbright collaborate with him. I enjoy the headcanon that Fulbright doesn't have family around or like. super close friends, so hostages don't work. He isnt the type to give into money either. So, whats left? I might think of something different later, but for now, I'm thinking that the phantom could simply impersonate Fulbright while committing a crime. Get some evidence of it, and boom, blackmail!

Anyway, Fulbright is forced to join the force again. As an Investigator, he learned to manage his emotions better, but in the force, he tries to portray himself as though he hasn't changed much. He's a bit clumsy on cases now too, having become rusty with all the protocols and evidence based arrests.

He isn't entirely upset about the arrangement, despite the fact that its completely unjust. its nice being on the force again, being a detective again. He did miss it at times, since being a private investigator wasn't exactly lawful at times.

Moving along, when it's announced that Blackquill is going to be a prosecutor again and needs a trusted detective handler, Fulbright jumps at the opportunity. Of course, it's mostly because he has to, but having had some time to research Blackquill, the old UR-1 incident felt off. From the time as an investigator, he knew to trust his gut, even if he didn't have the evidence to prove anything.

He gets the job because 1) most people are scared of ~the twisted samurai~ and 2) because Fulbright has experience as a private investigator, aka, people trust him enough to come to him. Being trustworthy and dependable are very important qualities when handling a criminal, no?

Anyway, from here it could branch off in a couple different ways depending on your preferences (Blackquill and Fulbright's relationship wise.), so I'm not gonna ramble about that here.

Going timeline wise and ignoring all that for now, i think fulbright tries to find out more about the phantom. I mean, although he's being blackmailed, he's still aiding a criminal. No way would Fulbright take kindly to that.

I do think that most of what Fulbright is forced to do isn't a crime though. I think the phantom would be clever enough to not push him to his breaking point. Also, the phantom is a paranoid fuck and would not leave any important tasks to someone else. He'd rather just impersonate Fulbright for the few times he needs to.

Anyway, in the final cases, I think that the phantom would take over for the investigation parts, but wouldn't be the one to testify in turnabout for tomorrow, simply because he wouldn't risk his life like that. Everything turns out pretty similar with the phantom being revealed, the truth coming out about UR-1.

I think it'd be fun if Fulbright got shot anyway though, because the phantom got shot at the chance of him yapping about the organisations he works for. Well, Fulbright has evidence of the phantom existing, which is pretty threatening too.

But I also just want him to get shot so so bad HAHA

Anyway, yeah! That's what I have regarding the outline of this AU. I have some daydreams etc in my brain as well, but nothing concrete enough to express for now. I hope my silly little ramble was fun to read :)

[communistkenobi]

what are some of your favorite nonfiction podcasts?

the big one I recommend is just king things - two marxist academics go through the books of Stephen King in publication order. extremely funny and insightful podcast, very accessible (like this is not a theory podcast or anything, it’s very laid back and casual), and I really appreciate their approach to literary criticism.

game studies study buddies is by the same hosts as just king things but this is a theory podcast. Each episode they go over and discuss a book from the field of game studies (ie the academic study of games). I very much recommend you listen to this if you want to like passively absorb critical/leftist theory. The hosts are academics, one of which teaches about games regularly as a professor, so it kind of feels like someone is teaching you about a text. I find it fairly accessible, I learn a lot about games, and as I said they very frequently structure their discussions with left wing theory. I find them very insightful!

blowback is very good, it’s about the imperial history of the United States. a history/journalist type podcast. this can get extremely heavy and difficult to listen to given the subject matter so I would not binge this (I usually listen to it when I’m doing a physical activity) but it’s a really good source of historical information and has helped me develop my political understanding of modern western imperial history. each season covers a different event: S1 is the invasion of Iraq, S2 is the Cuban Revolution, S3 is the Korean War, S4 is the invasion of Afghanistan

ALAB (all lawyers are bad) is good with some caveats. It’s a podcast by a bunch of lawyers who spend a lot of time on twitter discussing how horrible lawyers are, usually either focusing on specific high-profile lawyers (Kavanaugh, Dershowitz), specific american legal regimes (anti-BDS legislation, sanction law, etc), or specific trends in the legal system that causes structural problems (eg lifetime judgeship appointments with no mandatory retirement age). They also sometimes do random funny lawsuits or cover legal responses to events like Jan 6th. A mixed bag in terms of focus but mostly it’s hating on American law and the legal system. This is a critical recommendation because it’s a bunch of lawyers dudes riffing and some of their analysis can be stupid/bad, they say stupid shit that comes off as “anti identity politics” at times, etc. I’m pulling from memory because it’s been a while since I listened to them so I’m sorry if this is overly vague/general. The best way to describe it is chapo-adjacent if that means anything to you lol

and finally the podcast knowledge fight. this is a podcast dedicated to covering and debunking Alex Jones. in all honesty I don’t find this podcast super valuable in terms of analysis, like they are only really focused on debunking the claims Jones makes and explaining why they’re factually wrong. Which like that’s a good thing to do, I’m not saying its bad, but I don’t really need to be convinced Jones is lying about everything lol so I don’t personally find it super useful/insightful. If you have to interact with Alex Jones fans regularly (like family members) then maybe that will be more valuable for you! Totally depends. however the reason I bring them up is because I DO recommend the series of episodes they have titled formulaic objections - in this series they go through all the deposition material from the sandy hook lawsuit against Alex Jones (the one that cost him a billion dollars in damages and court sanctions lol). They play clips of the depositions throughout these episodes, which are so fucking insane to listen to. Like listening to a bunch of employees of an insane fringe right wing media organisation being questioned by lawyers for hours on end is so entertaining lmao. This lawsuit is about the sandy hook school shooting so a warning about the subject matter, it can get dark at times, but on the whole it’s extremely fucking funny to listen to. And the hosts provide a lot of context for what’s going on in the lawsuit, talk about it, and also they debunk the shit Jones lies about in court that you may not know about, so I find that part of it really good.

[scarlet--wiccan]

How did you feel about the Pietro and Tommy interaction in Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver? A lot of people seemed to think it was Pietro being a jerk to Tommy but I didn't see it that way necessarily, Pietro seems to respect his nephew and care in his own way (it's implied he stops over from time to time).

While not a father figure or close to them by any means (that's Jeff Kaplan) Thematically ofc Pietro is often more associated with Billy and Tommy than Vision. He shows up with Wanda in that love unlimited comic and Wanda casually mentions Pietro when she visits Billy in #6.

On a side note. We have Wanda teaming up with both her boys coming up in the new solo. Are you excited? Anything your hoping to see?

I enjoyed it! I certainly didn't think Pietro was being a jerk-- he's on edge about the fight with Wanda, and he and Tommy have always had a slightly competitive dynamic, but it's not like he says anything rude or mean. If anything, I thought he was being encouraging. Tommy comes across as very protective, and it seems like he really cares about his family, which a very sweet full-circle moment for him. I think Pietro was also being protective, in his own prickly way, by trying to prevent Tommy from getting further involved in the fight against the Wizard.

My only real problem is that I wish they'd gotten more page time together. This is Pietro's first truly significant interaction with either of the twins since Children's Crusade, which means that Orlando had the opportunity to set the tone of their relationship and fill in any family bonding that might have happened off-page. There have been hints and indications that they do spend time together, so I think he could have gotten away with giving them a closer dynamic, and I'm a little disappointed that he didn't. Having a solid relationship with Wanda's kids, on top of being more active in Luna's life, as we've seen, would support the growth and maturity that we're supposed to be seeing from Pietro.

I'm super happy that Billy and Tommy are both going to be in Scarlet Witch. I was really sad that Tommy and Wanda didn't get any time together in SW&Q, so I'm glad he's coming back-- I just always want to see more of him, in general. Similarly to what I said about Pietro, I want Orlando to establish that Wanda and her sons do a have a close relationship off-page-- that they stay in touch and see each other regularly, even outside of these team-ups. Billy sometimes implies that he's learned more about magic from Wanda, but we've never seen that aspect of their relationship. I don't necessarily expect this comic to get into it, but being Billy's magical mentor would create more opportunities for Wanda to talk about her family history. I really want to get more insight on how Billy and Tommy-- and Luna-- relate to this part of their heritage, and this would be a good way to bring it up in conjunction with other story beats.

We also haven't seen much of Billy and Tommy together in the last, like, decade. Even when they are on-page together, they don't have always speak. I'd like to get a better feel for what their relationship is like as adults. It was stated, once, that Tommy had joined Billy and Teddy on some kind of diplomatic mission in space-- I have to imagine, then, that they're much closer and more trusting than they used to be.

[thequeenofsarcaasm]

Chapter 9 of Love is in the hands

Thanks again to @bearhaviour for inspiring 50% of the nastiness of this chapter and to @fah-keet for always encouraging me to take artistic decisions that will lead me to hell.

Summary

After getting kicked out of his home for being queer, Suguru comes across his childhood sweetheart in a strange gay bar that is owned by his new “family”: a bunch of queer social rejects who were taken in by Yuki, an eccentric matriarch. He finds a new home (and his lost love) there.

Glimpse

“I don’t think I ever made someone cum that hard and that says a lot for coming from an ex professional piece of ass as myself. Are you okay?” Satoru asks.

“Still a bit overwhelmed. I’m sorry,” Suguru says, feeling gross over the mix of cum and sweat covering his body. 

“It’s okay. I think I should be the one apologizing,” Satoru says with a laugh. Gently, he rubs a warm, humid towel over his partner’s bare abdomen to get rid of any trace of their previous activities.

“You were great. I just-yeah. You were great. Too great even. My skirt- Shoot.” Suguru covers his forehead with his hands and shakes his head. Suddenly his voice is tangled up again and his cheeks are wet, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s going on with me,” he sniffles. 

“Did my dick break my boyfriend? Did these people even pay me what I was worth?” Satoru asks himself aloud. But his attempt at humor is fruitless. Suguru can’t stop sobbing.

“Suguru,” Satoru discards the towel and pulls him in a tight embrace.”What’s wrong? Is it because of your parents?” he asks against his hair while gently petting it. 

“I’m fine. I just need a few minutes,” Suguru reassures in ragged breaths. What an embarrassing day for him. 

“Do you think tea would help calm you down?” Satoru asks. “Lavender maybe?” he suggests. His voice is so kind, so loving and his gaze so tender that the tears threaten to flow again.

“Maybe,” Suguru says.

Satoru collects his cum stained t-shirt and shorts from the floor and slips into them. Hopefully, he won’t meet anyone on his way. “Just give me two minutes. Okay? I’ll go fetch you some. Cuddle with my Kuromi while I’m gone. She smells just like me.” He leans down for a quick forehead kiss and walks out urgently. 

Indeed, Kuromi proves herself to be a great placeholder while Satoru is gone. Suguru fights against the cold by holding on tight to her, cradling her head like a human child. A few minutes later, Satoru comes back with his favorite mug, the one not even Suguru is allowed to touch, in normal circumstances at least. 

“Are you sure you’re alright?” he asks as he hands it to Suguru and sits on the edge of the bed..

“Yes. I-That pounding was for the books. Are you mad at me or something?” Suguru jokes. The mug is warm against his palms.

“I just got carried away,” Satoru laughs shyly. 

“Well, you might be a brute but you sure are great at aftercare. Thank you, Satoru,” Suguru says with a smile. The tears are gone.

“It’s the least I could do after making you cry. You were hot though. Super hot,” Satoru comments shamelessly.

His partner can’t help but chuckle. “I heard you the first time. You’re a sadist,” he says. 

“Can’t help it.” Satoru shrugs. “I’m not really normal about you,” he admits. “Besides, you’re not especially kind to my body either.”

“Can you remove your t-shirt and turn around for me?” Suguru asks as he places the mug on the bedside table and scrawls closer to examine Satoru’s back. He traces the red stripes with the tip of his fingers, earning a slight shudder from Satoru. “Does it hurt?”

Satoru turns his head to look at him. “Nah. It’s fine. I deserved it anyways,” he reassures. “You better trim those nails though. An accident could happen.”

“Do it for me later?” Suguru asks.

“Sure.” Satoru says.

The raven scoots even closer to him, pressing his chest against his back. “I love you, Satoru. With all my heart.” he whispers against Satoru’s shoulder, nuzzling him closely.

“Why so sentimental suddenly? Are you going to cry again?” Satoru taunts.

“I'm still dick drunk. Don’t mind me,” Suguru says. “Wait,” he perks up. “ Maybe I really am a cock slut.”.

Satoru claps his hands proudly. “Congratulations, you just unlocked the skill of self awareness,” he jokes.

‘Stop teasing,” Suguru giggles, more at the memories awakened by the clapping sounds than anything else. He rubs his cheek against Satoru’s freshly shaved undercut and leaves a little kiss just underneath. “ Hey Satoru,” he calls softly. “Do you think I should try something new with my hair?”

[laurie-stark]

Chapter I: Secret's Keeper

A/N: RAHHHHHHHHHHH Cherry Bomb is finally yours. Thank you to everyone for the tremendous support and excitement leading up to the publication. You guys loving Laurie means more than I can express.

A special thank you to w1steriaa_for being Laurie's biggest cheerleader and also the best proofreader ever. Guys, please go give Amber's works a read bc she is so immensely talented and I could not have done this without her.

see you guys in two weeks for the next update! lots of love, m<3

Word count: 2.8k

Cherry Bomb Masterlist

Seven in the morning was an ungodly hour to expect a fourteen-year-old to pay attention to ninth-grade algebra. The bell had just rung and I was already sitting in the same spot I had been since January. I may be my father’s daughter, but Pepper Potts drilled punctuality into me like it was my life’s blood. And I’d grown up watching how stressed she would get every time Dad ran late for an event or press conference. Being Tony Stark’s personal assistant was hard enough, so I decided when I was still pretty young that being early was another way of being kind. It was the least I could do.

My classmates started to file into the room and take their seats. Despite it still being early in the morning, the New York City summer heat was well on its way. And it was only May. Being on the fourteenth floor of a really old building didn’t help either. But hey, I was not one to complain. I was just happy to be at school at all.

Kidding, of course. That was horseshit. It was mornings like these, when the humidity made it feel like I was underwater and I’d only gotten four hours of sleep because I had been studying for the history test I had next period, that I truly cursed my younger self for wanting to go to real school so badly. Being homeschooled made the most sense when I was younger. Dad was hardly ever in one city for longer than a month and he had crippling undiagnosed separation anxiety to me. So, I spent my childhood following him around the world. It was nice though. I had complete control over my education and my dad did a pretty good job of being involved, as much as a billionaire harlot with a small gambling addiction could. Naturally, Dad spent the most time on science stuff with me. He’d work in his lab on weapons, and then eventually the Iron Man suits, while I did spelling and math and science. It was nice, nearly perfect. As I got older, I think I began to realize my dad was definitely working overtime to be a better father than his was. And he was a really, really good dad. 

Homeschooling also meant that I had a lot more freedom and flexibility than the other kids my age. And where some kids do hard-core dance or varsity one sports, I would bother the Avengers over their intercom. So basically dance, if Tony Stark being a dance mom equated fighting by his daughter’s side to protect the people of New York…You get the gist. I was a registered agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a couple of years. It was never anything crazy, I just helped where I could. It started eight years ago, with Loki. Nick and his team knew virtually nothing about controlling the Tesseract and he thought me and my abilities would be helpful. They weren’t. So, Nick found other uses for me. 

The Battle of New York left me fairly shaken up and my parents were super against any active participation during missions. In between my schooling and singing lessons, I would help with the preparation: scouting locations, hacking enemy mainframes, anything that let me feel like I was truly a part of a team. I was always desperate to impress the adults in my life, to show them that I could be useful and worth something. That feeling sparked when I first met Nick Fury and it never truly went away. 

I liked being an agent. I liked being in on all the secrets, I liked helping people, and I loved working with the Avengers. Nat, Steve, Clint, Bruce, and Thor became family. Suddenly I wasn’t a lonesome only child whose only friend was her dad and his assistant. I was the guy in the chair, the one handing out coordinates and fallback plans. I had a purpose. 

Sokovia changed everything. I still had nightmares about what happened a year ago. I’d wake up in a sweat, feeling the phantom grip of metal fingers around my arm. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sounds of screaming people I couldn’t save because I froze up. They died because I wasn’t strong enough. Dad put his foot down after that. He told me that what I was doing wasn’t good for me and he’d be a terrible father if he let me continue. He was right, but I was still angry about it. 

Real school was our compromise. If I wasn’t allowed to go on missions anymore then I needed someplace else to have a social life. It was pretty good timing too because I had just wrapped up the eighth grade curriculum. It took a lot of convincing and three PowerPoint presentations to finally convince my dad that being a normal kid in a normal school would be beneficial for me. He got me into Dalton and the rest was history.

However, what wasn’t history was the test on that very subject that was surely going to kill me next period. I spent the remainder of my math period going through my flashcards and study notes. I wasn’t alone, nearly half of the class was in the same boat as me. And if they studied as much as I had, then we were all fried. 

…

Halfway through my history test, I knew I was screwed because all I could think about was lunch. Every factoid about Greek history was clouded with fantasies about turkey avocado sandwiches. There was a little French sandwich place just down the road from my school and it was my favourite. The owner was a true French man from a town just outside Paris and he let me practice my French with him. I spent at least two lunch periods a week being ruthlessly criticized by a middle-aged man, but that made it more authentic. I wasn’t super fluent, but I knew enough to hold a conversation, or at least get through a conversation with Emery. But French was not going to help me pass this history test and I was beginning to recall all my knowledge of Percy Jackson as a last resort. 

Forty-five minutes later, I gathered all my dignity and shame and walked my test up to the front of the room. I handed it off to my history teacher, who gave me a grim smile. My classmates seemed to be just as stone-faced as I was and I think we were all hopeful that our teacher would curve the grade. 

I rocked on the balls of my heels outside the classroom door, waiting for my two best friends to finish their tests. When I first started at Dalton, making friends was a challenge. Quite a few of the student body had been attending the school since kindergarten, so their relationships had been forged nearly a decade ago. I didn’t have an abhorrent amount of friends; I knew enough people to say hi when we passed in the halls or have someone to sit with in the cafeteria. I would have been content with just that, but I was fortunate enough to have made two wonderful best friends. 

Like many of the numerous friendship pacts, Brianna Sinclair and Meredith Camden had been best friends since their preschool days. We met briefly during freshman orientation, but it was first-semester theatre class when we really got close. Brianna and I were both huge theatre nerds and she was quick to sit at the desk next to mine. She was a redhead with the spirit to match the fiery hair. She loved performing and astrology, and she was definitely the epitome of an Aries. It wasn’t long before she introduced me to Meredith and we all became happy chums. 

Meredith Camden was perfect. She was the only freshman I knew who was already planning her senior year class presidency. And, she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, and I don’t even like girls. Meredith was a true stunner, from her long, silky coils to her perfectly smooth dark complexion. She was kind as well. Even though I met Brianna first, Meredith was the one who really made me feel welcome at Dalton. At first, I was apprehensive about making a trio out of an already tight-knit pair, but Meredith always made sure I felt included. And soon enough we were as thick as thieves. 

Post-test stress had kicked in while I waited for the girls. I used my thumb to rub circles into the centre of my palm, switching back and forth between my hands. When I caught a glimpse of red, my back straightened. 

“How bad was that?” I asked.

Brianna swung her ponytail over her shoulders. “That was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done,” she huffed.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Meredith chimed in softly. “Everything that was on there was in our notes.”

“I was up until like three in the morning studying and I still think I failed,” I said as we began to walk towards the stairs to our next period. 

“Well studies do show that quality of sleep greatly impacts test performance, maybe next time you should prioritize getting a good night’s rest and study more in the morning.” 

Brianna rolled her eyes playfully at Meredith’s info dump. 

I smiled at her. “I’ll give that a try.” 

We squeezed through the flood of students walking around us and I slunk back behind the girls to give us some more room.

“So what are we doing today? Shop along Park? I think Madison Beaucard is having people over. Oh, we could go to the flower market, I have been dying to get my hands on fresh tulips now that they’re in season.” Brianna’s hands were flying around as she talked. 

“Right now?” I asked.

“No, stupid,” Brianna teased.  “After school.”

“Be nice,” Meredith chimed in. Brianna shot a playful look at the other girl.

“We finally, finally finished the renovations on the indoor pool yesterday so you guys could come over to test it out!” Meredith offered. Her family had been chipping away at that project for as long as I’d known her for. 

Brianna tugged on Meredith’s arm excitedly. “Oh my gosh, yes! We are so doing that.” She turned around to face me, still hanging off of Meredith. “You in, Laur?” 

I smiled but heaved a high. “Sorry Bri, I wish I could, but my family is gonna want me home right after school.”

“Of course, how silly of me,” Brianna feigned an English accent. “It’s Wednesday.” 

“Are you sure your Dad wouldn’t miss you just for one week?” Meredith pouted. 

“I’m sorry dude, it’s out of my hands.”

“Ugh, your parents are no fun.” 

I smiled inwardly. “You know I’d be hanging out with you guys in a heartbeat if I could.” 

To Meredith and Brianna, Wednesdays meant I had “family time” immediately after school each week. If it were any other day I would have happily tagged along for shopping or swimming or whatever new activity Brianna found on Instagram was. But Wednesdays were always signed off. 

The truth was that I had training at the compound. Although my dad was firm about pulling my involvement with S.H.I.E.L.D., he allowed me to go Upstate once a week to do drills with Nat. Natasha Romanoff had been training me in hand-to-hand combat since I was seven or eight. She said it was important that I knew how to protect myself. At first, it was just for fun, but with how defenceless I’d felt in the last few years,  I started to get more serious about it. 

There was also the small matter of superhuman powers that I had very little control over. They showed up when I was seven, pretty soon after my father was kidnapped and held hostage overseas. They say it was the trauma and intense emotionality that triggered my powers being awoken. But my knowledge of the powers ended there. My father absolutely refused to let Nick Fury or his team study me or study the things I could do. Which, if I was honest, was a good call on his part, but it did leave me living with a lot of questions. From what we could tell, it was some sort of gravitational and elemental manipulation; the product of experiments my birth mother ran on me as an infant. I tried not to think about that too much, though. I just knew that when I feel things too hard, the powers can get out of control. It was pretty scary, and really confusing as a kid. But thankfully the Avengers found an expert.

Wanda Maximoff has been a great help in the last few months. Training with Nat became also training with Wanda after Ultron and the destruction of Sokovia. Her powers are very different from mine, but she approached me after she moved into the compound to see if I wanted her help. I remember I had woken up in the middle of the night to my bedroom at the compound looking like a storm had passed through. I must have been having another nightmare and set myself off in my sleep. After I did my best to put the room back in order through tears, I found myself on the roof of the compound, looking out at the stars. Wanda found me sitting out there. Turned out she was having similar dreams. She asked me about my powers, I asked her about hers and soon enough she was offering skills and advice and suggesting I start honing in on training. It had been about a year since then and my control had gotten a lot better. But of course, this was all a humongous secret I was keeping from my friends. One secret wasn’t too bad though. 

“I was thinking we haven’t done our monthly movie marathon sleepover this month,” Meredith pointed out as we took our seats. The three of us had history and English class together this semester. “Laurie, is your place free?”

And there was the other shoe. Secret superhero shenanigans weren’t the only thing I kept from Meredith and Brianna. I was also under strict orders to pretend that I didn’t exist. Or rather, pretend that Laurie Stark didn’t exist. 

Sometime after the battle of New York, probably during all the stuff with the Mandalorian, my dad asked Nick Fury to erase me from existence. It was a safety thing. Somewhere between aliens and terrorists attacking our house over and over, my dad decided he needed to take a more proactive role in my general safety. Hazards of the job, he called it. I understood, I guess, but it just meant there were even more secrets to keep. I was enrolled in school as Laurel Potts. My private social media accounts were under that same name, and I even carried a fake learner’s permit with the alias. I always felt really guilty when I had to turn down bringing friends over or lying about why they had never met my parents, but the secrets kept me safe. And they offered me freedom. Win some, lose some. 

“Sorry guys, our kitchen is undergoing a huge reno,” I blurted out the lie. “My dad has been super into…dutch ovens?”

I could tell they didn't believe me but they shrugged it off. Guilt panged at my heart and I rubbed at the centre of my palm again. When it was just me and my dad and our small world, I could be anything. And as much as I loved being out in society like a normal teenage girl, I wished I could live it authentically. 

The girls snuck a look at each other they thought I wouldn’t see. I could almost hear the best friend telepathy going off. They were definitely thinking I must not want them around. With their backs to me, I felt my shoulders begin to tense. My girls had never once made me feel out of place since starting at the Dalton, but I had never been oblivious to the fact that three was a crowd. 

I turned away from my friends when our English teacher pulled the class’s attention to the front of the room. We started our lesson on writing comparative analysis essays, but the only thing I was analyzing was the body language of the girls beside me. The pinch of my thumbnail against my palm was enough to bring me back to the present, and I forced myself to focus on worrying about that rotten history test instead…

[sergeantgoggles]

I am DEEPLY offended that the jessixcase family au was left out of the list, so I'm going to demand you tell everyone else about it 💙

I am also deeply offended that I forgot to add them to the list! Especially because it’s one of my favorite AUs!

This is a No Order 66 AU (and Hardcase doesn’t die on Umbara) where the clones win the war and start to integrate into society. Jesse, Kix, and Hardcase are an established throuple and end up being given an apartment (or renting, but I like the idea of them just being gifted a whole ass apartment). Kix remains active, choosing to further pursue his medical studies and becomes a surgeon on Coruscant. I can’t remember if Jesse and Hardcase pursued jobs, but I’m pretty sure Jesse stayed active with the military to help Rex and Cody. Either way, not super important to this AU.

What IS important is that they adopt two baby clones before the Kamino facility gets shut down. One of them is a little older, 4 years, and the other is still barely a year old-ish.

Meet Cosmic (Coz) and Vi.

Coz is a proud, fiercely loyal kid with blond hair (like his Uncle Rex) and heterochromia (one hazel, one violet eye). Vi looks nearly identical to Kix, even more so when he gets older and cuts his hair the way his daddy does during the war.

(Note: Kix is Daddy, Hardcase is Papa, and Jesse is Buir.)

Anyway, I could actually gush about them forever, so I’ll just post a little snippet of stuff that we’ve talked about in the server about them because this family makes me so incredibly happy and we don’t talk about them enough.

.

Kix comes home from work in the morning and falls asleep on the couch with his baby while he and his older brother watch cartoons.

He gets them some breakfast and then lays down. Vi abandons his breakfast and crawls up onto the couch with his daddy and falls back asleep with him. (Vi is the cuddle bug of the family).

Jesse wakes up to feed them and finds Coz sitting on the floor with a box of cereal in his lap and Kix sound asleep to the sounds of Blue's Clues and Vi faceplanted in his chest.

Coz  quietly waves and whispers, "Hi, Buir!"

Jesse's heart melts and he sits down next to Coz, asks if he can have some cereal, and Coz passes him the box. Jesse eats a handful and asks Coz if he wants anything else for breakfast

Coz just grins and leans against his side. "I want eggsssss."

Jesse snorts and hugs him. "Eggs? I can do that."

He turns to try and prod Vi awake because he shouldn't be sleeping that late, but he whines and buries further into Kix, which stirs Kix. Kix is exhausted, but he sits up with him and tells him he has to eat breakfast. Vi agrees, but only if Kix stays with him. So, Kix, tired, sits through breakfast, though he's thankful for a hot, Jesse-made meal and stumbles into bed with Hardcase after Jesse gets the boys started for the day. A hot meal with his babies, some sweet kisses from Jesse, and a cup of his favorite (non-caffeinated) tea goes a long way toward healing the stress of an overnight shift, and a nap with Hardcase is a perfect way to finish it.

Kix asks if he should wake Hardcase and Jesse shakes his head.

"He was up late. I can handle the boys and take them out for a few hours. Besides, you know he sleeps better if you're with him."

Kix just smiles. He feels bad because his job doesn't allow a lot of room for switching schedules, but he is always happy to crawl into a nice cool bed in a room darkened by blackout curtains with one of his favorite people.

[shrimpmandan]

I think at this point anyone who calls themselves a proshipper but is like, staunchly aggressively no-matter-what anti-RPF is either deluding themselves or thinks that the concept of "real people being reimagined as fictional characters" hasn't existed for decades at this point.

Everyone was fucking raving about Hamilton and Clone High barely a few years ago. A lot of extremely famous, influential movies are based off of real people, such as The Wolf of Wall Street. Every single fucking cartoon you've seen that references a real life historical figure like Cleopatra or Napoleon is technically doing RPF to some degree. THE MAGIC FUCKING TREEHOUSE IS RPF.

All this is ignoring how much we WORSHIP AO3, but-- but but, the founder of AO3 very much supports RPF. And by supports I mean they actively WRITE RPF. Tons of American Idol stuff that's all obscenely popular!

Now of course, there's gonna be some people who have a kneejerk rebuttal about how it's "different" with historical figures, that it doesn't matter because they're all dead, or that movies and books are different from fanfiction that may or may not be sexual. Except all of those arguments make absolutely zero sense when you think about them for more than two seconds.

Shouldn't the subjects being dead make it... more disrespectful, on a base level? You could made a valid case that with historical figures, nobody is left alive to mourn them. In comparison, people who have died relatively recently still have loved ones alive to mourn their deaths, and who would very likely be negatively mentally impacted by stumbling across an RPF fic. Understandably so--

but wasn't our whole argument that other people's feelings are their own to deal with, and not our responsibility?

You can make a similar case for serial killers, too. The victims of Jeffrey Dahmer still have friends and family that are alive. I would imagine they wouldn't want to see posts sexualizing or glorifying him-- but I doubt they're seeking out anything related to him /at all/, frankly. And then we're back to point one about how all that matters is that shit is consistently tagged and that people simply don't read what they don't like.

In my opinion, the sole, sound argument against RPF would be sexual RPF of minors. Even if no contact or even grooming is happening: that is still sexual content of a living minor. That is CSEM. That is a completely valid thing to be against. I honestly fail to see why sexual drawings of real minors are illegal, but not writings. Still, writings and drawings do not involve the same amount of /direct/ abuse as 'regular' CSEM and CSA, but making the argument of psychological harm is fair, especially when this is a case of a child being directly sexualized against their will.

But then we're still back to square one.

Don't like don't read.

Honestly, I'm neutral on RPF. I'm against anything that involves a sexualized depiction of a real child, and I'm generally not super interested in or comfortable with reading fics about real people, but it's also not a topic I can just disassociate myself from and say that it's somehow disconnected from proshipping. It isn't. Proship communities are built off of the backs of RPF shippers, like it or not. And honestly, I couldn't care less so long as the shipper in question is still respectful of the privacy of the subject(s) they're writing about. The version of the person they're writing is fundamentally not real, and that's a weird thing to wrap your head around. One could even argue my own reasons for singling out child sexual RPF is hypocritical or contradictory, and I wouldn't disagree. I think having mixed feelings on the subject is understandable. But being completely, over-archingly against it due to knee-jerk discomfort? It just seems a bit silly to me.

[widowsistersandfriends]

Tickle Trap

Request: The reader is Steves younger sister. She wants to join the Avengers like her best friend peter and the rest of her family. Steve, however, is very much against it due to his overprotective nature, and the reader is still young (still in high school with spiderling). Despite having no superhuman abilities, she wants to prove herself. One day, while rummaging through old items in the Avengers compound, the reader stumples upon Natashas old (outdated) spy tech - seeing it as her golden opportunity to prove herself. Maybe if she can trick and trap her brother, he will see she is more than capable. However, as she has no real training or idea on how to use the stuff, she quickly traps herself, leaving her to her brother's (nonexistent, as bad guys don't show it in the field) mercy

Notes: Thank you so much for this request! I love the idea behind it, and I had a lot of fun writing it! Thanks for being patient for this fic, I appreciate it! I also added Natasha in there to help enhance the plot, and I hope you enjoy! Also special thanks to @thenigotthisfamily for helping me figure out the ending! ❤️

Word Count: 1820

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

“How come I can’t be cool like the rest of you?” You questioned Steve, who was your older brother and the famous Captain America. Despite not having any superhuman strength or superpowers, there was nothing more you wanted than being an Avenger.

“Because, it’s too dangerous, and I don’t want you getting hurt,” he replied.

“I could say the same thing about you. How come it’s okay for you to get hurt?” You persisted.

“There’s a much lower chance of me getting hurt due to my super strength. Besides, you’re too young anyway,” Steve said.

“I’m the same age as Peter! He gets to be an Avenger,” you said unhappily.

“He’s only an Avenger because he was bitten by a spider that gave him spider senses. Otherwise he’d be too young and not fit either,” Steve said. 

You huffed in annoyance, knowing that you would find a way no matter what.

The next day, you were rummaging in the old storage room at the compound. You were looking for something easy enough to use so you could prove your skills to your older brother. You tossed a few things aside, as they looked too complicated. However, you now stumbled upon what looked like a simple contraption with a remote control. Once the button was pressed, the trap was activated, and the person would be trapped in it. Not only would you prove that you could use their equipment, you would also show that you could outsmart a superhero. Your plan was to wait in Steve’s room and hide. When he entered, you would activate the trap. However, things don’t always go as planned.

You were hiding in Steve’s room behind his dresser. You smiled to yourself, giddy to see your plan in action. However, while you were squatting there, you felt a cramp form in your foot, causing you to fall out of your squatting position and hit the button with your knee. With that, the device activated, ropes shooting out at once and quickly trapping you to the wall with your hands and arms away from your body.

“Oh no! I’m so screwed,” you said to yourself, struggling to break free. If your brother caught you getting trapped with your own trap, he would never believe you had what it takes to be an Avenger. You contemplated whether you should struggle more to escape, or call it quits and yell for help. You twisted and turned, but the trap was so tight and well done that there was no hope. You swallowed hard before shouting, “Somebody help! I’m stuck!”

“Is that Y/N?!?” You heard Steve gasp from downstairs, as you also heard Natasha telling Steve that she would come help.

You heard footsteps trampling up the stairs quickly, and before you knew it, you had to face the music. The music of embarrassment.

“Hi guys,” you said shyly, avoiding eye contact.

“Y/N, what on earth happened?” Steve and Natasha asked at the same time.

You thought about whether you should lie or not. Lying may make them forgive you faster, but you also knew you were a terrible liar. You took a deep breath before speaking.

“I uhh found this thing, and it trapped me?” You finished, making it sound more like a question than a statement.

“Where did you find my old spy gear?” Natasha asked, shocked that it was even still around and worked. You didn’t say anything, as you weren’t sure how to get out of answering that question.

“Are you okay Y/N? Like is it hurting you?” Steve asked. You shook your head no.

“Well, we’re both glad you’re okay, but I still don’t understand how any of this happened,” Natasha said, looking around the room for any clues.

“Did someone else do this to you?” It’s okay to tell us, we promise we won’t get you in trouble or anything,” Steve said, worried that someone messed with his little sister.

“No, I promise no one else was involved and didn’t hurt me,” you reassured them.

“So if no one else was involved, that means you trapped yourself? Why would you do that?” Steve asked.

“I plead the fifth,” you said, sticking your tongue out at your brother, now being silly after clearing up that you weren’t hurt or picked on by anyone.

Steve looked taken aback at first, but quickly righted himself.

“Oh so you want us to get that information out of you huh?” Steve said, walking over to you, with Natasha not too far behind.

“Wait! No! What are you gonna do to me?” You asked, suddenly feeling very exposed. You were trapped against the wall, no part of you was touching the ground. Only the wall.

“Let’s just say, we know every human’s weakness,” Steve said, grinning at Natasha.

With that, Steve reached out to tickle your sides, causing you to scream with laughter in response. 

“STEHEHEVE STAHAHAHAP THAHAHAT,” you laughed, unable to hold it in. 

“Better tell us what happened then,” he teased. He knew you were stubborn, so he targeted all your weak spots. Luckily for him, you had many of them to choose from.

You squealed with laughter as he began vibrating his fingers between your ribs, a spot that you absolutely could not stand.

“PLEHEHEASE IHIHI SWEHEHEAR IHIHIHI CAHAHANT TAHAHAHAKE IHIHIT,” you screamed.

“Oh you’ll take it. At least until you spill,” Natasha said, now bending down to tickle your feet with her ridiculously perfectly sharp nails. To make it worse, Steve was now digging into your armpits, making you wheeze with laughter.

They could tell you were getting out of breath, so they gave you a break and a chance to talk.

“Ready to talk little missy,” Natasha said, coming over to poke your tummy. You flinched and bit back a giggle.

“Not to you,” you replied, knowing it would only cause trouble. The redhead began to quickly spider her nails over your kneecaps, a spot you didn’t even know could be ticklish.

You snorted hard, shaking your head from side to side, as you wiggled your legs as much as you could to get away from the tortuous nails.

“Natahahahasha stahahahap plehehehease,” you giggled breathlessly.

“Come on, you know you want to spill,” Natasha teased.

“Okahahahay plehehehease juhuhust stahahahap,” you barely managed to get out. Natasha stopped tickling you, as they both waited for a response.

“We’re waitinggggg,” Steve said goofily. 

“Keep waiting,” you said smugly, knowing exactly how to get on your brother’s every nerve.

“You really want me to get that spot, don’t you?” Steve asked with a smirk.

“NO PLEASE! ANYWHERE BUT THEHEHEHEHERE STAHAHAHAP OHOHO MY GOHOHOSH PLEHEHEASE,” you screamed, as Steve wiggled his finger around your belly button.

“Spill, Y/N, or Natasha will go get an electric toothbrush. Your eyes widened at that, assuming it would be a thousand times worse than this already was.

“OHOHOKAHAHAY IHIHI WAS TRYIHING TOHO PROHOVE THAHAT I COULD BEHEHE AN AVEHEHENGER,” you shouted, desperate for your worst tickle spot to stop being tortured.

“Oh Y/N, I know you want to be an Avenger,” Steve said softly.

“But this could’ve been really dangerous. What was your plan to use this anyway?” Natasha asked.

“I was gonna wait for Steve to come in, and I would hide and trap him to prove that I could use the same tools a spy once did,” you said, now feeling small.

To your surprise, Natasha grinned and came over and patted you on the head.

“I have to say, that wasn’t a bad plan, and I would’ve loved to see that happen,” Natasha said with a laugh.

“Hey!! That’s mean,” Steve said, as you giggled.

“I’m sorry for putting myself into potential danger and not listening to you,” you apologized.

“It’s okay, Y/N, we just want you to be safe and away from harm. As an older brother, it’s natural for me to protect you from harm’s way,” Steve said, as you nodded.

“I still think we gotta tickle her a little more as punishment,” Natasha said cheekily.

“Right, make her sorry for all the times she’s asked to be an Avenger,” Steve said, as the two of them were formulating a plan telepathically. With that, Natasha pushed a little on your back, as the trap gave a little room for you to arch your back. “Does this tickle?” Natasha asked, slowly spidering her nails over your lower back.

“YEHEHES IHIHIT TIHIHICKLES NOW STAHAHAHAP,” you laughed, arching your back, leaving your tummy out for Steve to tickle.

You were a mess of laughter now, wanting to both arch your back and suck in your stomach. The fact that one had to be sacrificed was torture to you. You lost it when Steve went back to your belly button, along with the back tickles.

“GUHUHUYS PLEHEHEASE NOHOHO MOHOHORE ENOHOUGH,” you squealed, turning red and beginning to sweat. The two of them had mercy and pulled away, releasing you from the trap.

“Oh my gosh, you guys are the worst. Who the heck is that good at tickling,” you grumbled.

“Us apparently,” Steve said, smiling down at you. You rolled your eyes in response.

“Have you learned your lesson?” Natasha asked, as you nodded.

“Hey don’t worry kid, we all make mistakes. But, I have something in mind that might make you feel better,” Natasha said. Your ears perked up and you turned towards her.

“While you don’t have superhero powers, that doesn’t mean you can’t be a part of our team. Why don’t I make you the master tickler of the team?” Natasha said reactivating the device, this time on Steve, putting him in the exact same situation you were in.

“Natasha don’t you dare!” Steve shouted, trying to remain calm.

“Allow me to tell you exactly how to wreck the brave and strong Captain America,” the redhead said, telling you where to attack.

“You TRAITOHOHOR!” Steve laughed, as you tickled into his deep hollows. A spot that Natasha frequently targeted when they had tickle fights.

“You may be able to beat me in a fight of strength, but you can’t beat me in a tickle fight,” you teased, poking his ribs.

“Y/N STAHAHAP IHIHIT TIHIHICKLES,” Steve squealed, making you giggle. You gave his sides a good squeeze and even found a good spot around his ears and neck, thanks to Natasha’s help.

 Eventually you let him go after getting a good amount of revenge. Natasha knew she would be the next target, so she ran off faster than light. Unfortunately for her, she had left the device behind. So you and your older brother planned revenge. The best way siblings could bond. You also had a new title of Master Tickler at the compound, which many of them found ironic given how ticklish you were. But it didn’t matter, since you had an official title with the group you belonged with. The Avengers.

[ellipsae]

Here's the next Post-Epilogue design for Jade! I struggled a lot with this one because a lot of his design has specific purpose so I was weighing function against aesthetic and had to make some trade offs. Anyways, the small satchel and wrist contraption is a prototype for strengthening fonic artes.

More details under the cut. !Lots of Spoilers as well under cut!

-So firstly, I fully believe Jade would return to his research on Fomicry and lead the medical movement for replicas and replica health as he had mentioned in-game. I like to imagine that he goes by Jade Curtiss-Balfour as it's just easier than being called two different Family Names (as he's more well known in the research circles as Balfour).

-In the post-Epilogue world with the Planet Storm stopped, the concentration of fonons have dramatically decreased so I imagine spellcasters like Jade would find their fonic artes significantly weakened and perhaps some higher level artes can no longer be activated in normal circumstances. So to supplement the lack of fonons, the prototype uses concentrated fonic crystals (manufactured by fontech machines) that can be consumed during casting. For most efficient usage, the crystals can be absorbed into the body via contamination so it doesn't dissipate into the atmosphere.

-It's a bit hard to see, but Jade has half-glasses and one eye is darker because he's dispelled the fonic eyes on one of them. My understanding of the fonic artes is that it opens the fon slots in the eyes beyond normal circumstances to absorb more fonons in the air. With the lower concentration of fonons post-Epilogue, I figured that in desperate situations, the fonic eyes might overstrain themselves to try and draw in fonons (which increases the risk of going blind) and it happens to Jade once and he decided to cut his losses by removing it/disabling in one of his eyes and keeping the other one as a last resort (even if it may result in sacrificing sight in one eye)

-His turtleneck sweater is an homage to Professor Nebilim. The quilted coat is partially based on his young design. I had really wanted to keep his military boots in the design in the same colour scheme but having them all blue-teal made it really hard to colour coordinated the rest of his outfit so I changed it to grey. I wanted him to be able to switch between 'Doctor Balfour' and 'Colonel Curtiss' mode very quickly.

-I'm not too familiar with military ranks but I really hope that Jade tried to resign from the military so he could focus on his research (he can't do both jobs full time) but Peony wouldn't let him so he either demoted him or gave him a sideways promotion into a non-commanding officer role. It works out for Jade in the best way because he can take advantage of his military resources and access to help his research.

-His main research base is in Keterburg hence his winter-oriented outfit but he frequently travels to Belkend to collaborate on research and projects. He will sometimes help with theory behind new fontech and also deciphering old Dawn Age technical manuals (which were released in small batches from the forbidden archives in Daath).

-End of the day, Jade becomes super well known because of his knowledge and expertise that eclipses his former research and Necromancer title from his military days which makes him more approachable for marriage meeting requests plus he's more personable now after his travels and friendship with the party