#but somehow the hero and the supervillain meet and fall in love

[thepenultimateword]

Types of Confessions : Public Confession

CW: Murder

“I love you!”

For a moment, the entire street seemed to go quiet. Cameras whirred from behind blockades. Nervous feet scraped the asphalt as police shifted, attention briefly moving from Supervillain to the battered hero who had just thrust their way into the line of fire.

Supervillain could only stare, the edge of their knife pressed to the Director’s throat. Just a smidge more pressure, and he’d bleed like the pig he was.

But there was Hero, breathing hard, hair sweaty and ragged in their face, costume in tatters. Supervillain had sent several of the syndicate to hold onto them until this business was over, but apparently they didn’t compare to a legal power user when they really wanted something.

“Don’t do it,” Hero said, stumbling forward another step. They were bleeding through one leg of their leggings. “You do it, and every officer here shoots you down. Or they catch you and dissect your brain until they figure out what went wrong. Why you can still hurt people.”

Supervillain raised their brow. “And if I do stop? What? Mr. Director here forgets I ever threatened him?”

Hero took another step. “I made a deal. I-if you stop. We can leave. Together. They won’t stop you. You don’t have to be trapped in this city anymore. You don’t have hide.”

Supervillain could feel the director’s shoulders relax a little. He was confident that Supervillain would take this out. Exchange all his bitterness for a happy ending.

“This is my magnum opus,” Supervillain said. What I’ve built my career on. You want me to give it up?”

“I love you!”

“Why should that matter?”

Hero choked.

The director stiffened.

“This isn’t about me. This is about you. This is about us. And everyone this city exploits. And crushes. And pushes under the rug. This place is supposed to be some sort of powered utopia but it’s a scheme. And I like it better when I’m the one behind the curtain.”

“Please. Please I don’t want to lose you.”

Supervillain’s heart pounded. Hero’s words only now just soaking in. They didn’t make a difference. But they felt warm in their chest. Hopeful. Grateful. Regretful.

They might never get the chance to actually kiss them. To hold them. To go on a date with them. To tell—

They could do that part. They’d intended to never say it, but well…

“I love you too.”

“Supervillain…” Hero sounded pleading. They knew it wasn’t the sort of ‘I love you’ that expected longevity.

“We could always do both.”

“Supervillain, no wait— I don’t even know if I— This isn’t how—”

They gazed directly into Hero’s eyes. “Save me, my hero.”

Then they slit the director’s throat.

[frownyalfred]

Arkham Prince - Masterlist of Posts

I've linked the major asks below with a preview (edited for length) below, grouped by subject/theme and rough chronological order of how I received them. Additional shorter asks/clarifying questions, as well as shorter bits of commentary are at the very bottom.

The very first post:

I have been thinking about the idea of Bruce going insane without being Batman, about Batman being his coping mechanism, and that reblog that was like "he would definitely have ended up in Arkham if he didnt make Batman." Now I'm thinking of an AU where that is exactly the case, and maybe Clark expands his interest towards Gotham a bit, as much as he doesnt like heroing there, because it is the neighbor city of Metropolis. It's like his backyard. And maybe he wants to understand the problem of Gotham at the root, so he goes as Clark Kent, reporter, to interview the patients at Arkham, and there meets Bruce Wayne. Maybe falls in love. Maybe its angsty as fuck because this Bruce is 10 times less adjusted than the Bruce we're used to, but of course, equally as brilliant. (Maybe he could escape any time he wanted but thinks he would murder people if so. Maybe he doesnt trust his anger.)

Expanding Asks:

the idea of arkham patient bruce wayne has burrowed into the depths of my mind. this is SUCH a fascinating thought and changes so many things…how does the justice league fare without batman? how does alfred? i’d assume alfred is given bruce’s guardianship when he’s institutionalized, and i could even see him taking in the robins – finding and helping these children who remind him so much of his own boy, trying not to fail them as he failed bruce. how bruce himself does in arkham is so interesting to consider…is he kept on the same level of security as the real supervillains? is he moved there after Events?

Clark, realizing the League has a problem, a trap from someone like Lex they don't know how to unknot, something which requires finesse and strategy which is a little beyond them... taking that stroll (flight) down to Gotham, feeling insane himself for seeking advise here of all places... but the Arkham Prince delivers. Clark explains the situation, answers questions that he had no idea related to the issue, and Bruce hands him the solution in the span of 10 minutes, while the League had been brainstorming and going in circles over this for days...

Clark Kent and the Arkham Prince Finding Common Ground:

clark’s first attempt to interview the prince of arkham go about as well as you might expect, given that he’s a reporter with sunshine all but seeping out of his pores. the first time bruce doesn’t even talk to him, too furious at the gall of this metropolitan newshound to interrogate him for the sake of some gruesome, sensationalist op-ed obviously about the tragedy of the family wayne and the irredeemable mire of gotham to do anything more than death-glare at him for the entire length of the meeting. but clark, unsatisfyingly, doesn’t give up after that. if bruce doesn’t talk to him, he sure talks to bruce, and with each subsequent interview the questions…change. no longer trying to establish facts about bruce’s life or his crimes, not asking about his experience in arkham, not even going for the low-hanging fruit of why’d you train for years to kill those people, but seemingly random and unrelated things. he wants bruce’s opinions on emissions policies (need to be stricter and more tightly enforced, especially in gotham, jesus, there’s a reason lung cancer and asthma rates are through the roof) and lex luthor’s keynote speeches (unprintable, wiped from clark’s tape recorder in case luthor somehow finds out) and whether or not clark should buy a new suit (why bother, it won’t be any less tragic than every other polyester abomination he cruelly forces bruce to look at every time he stops by). clark slowly and stubbornly makes himself as much a part of bruce’s routine as visits with alfred and lucius and the doctors, and all the while superman is playing a high-stakes game of mental chess with the sinking suspicion that bruce wayne has already won in more ways than one bruce figures out kent is superman about three hours after the first time big blue gets namedropped during an interview. he commences with a plan that is part honeypot, part campaign of psychological warfare, and part genuine bid to get this midwestern alien who holds the safety of his city in his hands to try and give a damn like a proper gothamite would, like no one but bruce ever seems to.

Clark, whose one of his grestest fears is being constrained, treated as a threat, dissected, studied, as the alien specimen he is. He has to pretend. He had to be so careful. Every day or he won't have a life to live.

Clark asking the Arkham Prince to Consult for the JL:

i would kill to have clark-as-supes get some kind of special dispensation to bring arkham prince bruce to the jl hideout (the watchtower doesn’t to be without batman’s engineering/logistics knowhow and WE funding, at least not until bruce is more formally considered a consultant) for help on one of lex’s more convoluted and immediate threats. it’s just not possible for bruce to solve the problem in isolation without the league’s resources, so instead of bringing league missions to bruce superman has to bring bruce to the league mission. i started imagining the team’s reaction to their unwitting reliance on criminally insane mass murderer bruce wayne and then i remembered oliver exists and now i feel only sadness thinking about that particular reunion

Just wondering how regular JL universe would react to meeting this au, meeting Batman and seeing Bruce Wayne's potential Would they realize that their Bruce is limited by what he can do inside Arkham, but that this Batman is also limited by his own rules and codes. Would Ollie be crushed at what his former friend could have been, thinking maybe if he had stepped up and been a "better friend" Bruce wouldn't be in Arkham, he could of been working beside him instead. Can imagine Batman saying "I don't kill" and Bruce just smiling in what should have been the brucie smile and replying "but I do"

The crossover is so funny in regards to Supes. Like here's Arkham Prince AU Clark, terribly in love with a version of Bruce who is so unavailable to him on so many levels, aching with it every time he dares think about it, staring at Regular Universe Clark in complete and utter disbelief. (expansion of "regular JL universe" ask above)

Your take on Prince of Arkham's level of influence on JL members, at the top being of course Clark. And also: first time he is taken into the JL base, does he hack into their systems?

OMG arkham bruce and clark have gotten closer and maybe clark makes bruce promise not to kill again after bruce gets out of arkham so he can join the jl but then someone is killed and theres evidence it was bruce but bruce swears it wasnt him ( bc it wasn’t him ) but theres so much evidence that even clark is starting to doubt bruces innocence and the jl has to kick him out and hes taken back to Arkham or for interrogation and then ANGST BRUCE BEING TORTURED FOR CONFESSION BUT HE STILL SWEARS HE DIDNT DO IT until its proven that he didnt do it

@bat-chik's Harvey Dent Visits Bruce in Arkham

"We can't even claim self defense," Harvey continued. "You-" "He has cancer." Harvey blinked at the non-sequitur, "What?" Finally, the orphaned Wayne turned and faced him, face blank, unconcerned about how much more this action would add to his sentencing. Unconcerned except for the steel eyes seething yet holding back so much hurt. Harvey remembered once again, with a small pang, why he had gotten a crush on Bruce in their college days. "Nygma. He has cancer. The only way to get medical care in Arkham is by ending up in the hospital wing." Bruce moved with all the weight of the world on his shoulders and sat in the bolted chair across from his lawyer, and life long friend.

Where are the Batkids in This?

pls consider. a dick greyson who gets tossed in arkham after tracking down and torturing then killing killing his parent's murderer. tiny and lost now that what was driving him is done. a bruce wayne who hasnt been in That long yet, not long enough for people to see him as a threat rather than just an oddity, who takes one look at that angry little kid and says "oh. oh that ones mine" and spends as much time with the kid as he can. and bruce Loves gotham, thats his whole drive. but to dick, gotham is nothing but the place his world crumbled. and i think this bruce never sat with his feelings of grief either. i think he always needed a cause. and i think he saw dick having lost his cause and tries to help him find another (id like to put forth escaping as a hobby, managing to get into Any part of arkham that he pleases especially with his athleticism and small size)

It would be funny if in the Arkham Prince AU, since all the kids are in there for being um - gremlins and down with murder - that Jason in this was the pacifist?

Re: Jason being the pacifist: "I will follow you forever because you killed him." Endlessly devoted Jason my beloved. If you give him one (1) positive attention he will light himself on fire to keep you warm. I love him so much. Self destructive king.

Tim committing a crime just to end up in Arkham and study the famed insane Bruce Wayne is actually startlingly in character for him...

Clarifying Asks:

when do you see him as getting committed? was he already batman? did he already have any of his kids? if not, what *happened* to those kids who never had bruce to fight for them?

Okay, but since Bruce is the Prince of Arkham, whats stopping his kids from being in there with him?

Oh I am sooooooooo curious about what Clark thinks about Arkham Bruce having a gaggle of prison murder children.…you ever think he’s asked Dick to give Clark flowers during one of his escapes????? Or is that too corny for them.

I've seen some Arkham Prince asks and responses referring to Bruce still being rich, but would he still be?

Additional Thoughts:

i am torn between the other Inmates Hating bruce (hes the picture of those who hurt them. a rich man who is just like them but gets Way less pain for it) and adoring him

Picture this, Alfred goes to see Haly's, sees another black haired blue eyed child losing his parents at just about the same age. Another feral child with murder in his eyes.

it’s extremely important to me to consider arkham prince bruce with longer, shaggy hair and a perpetual three-day beard

The smut in the Arkham Prince AU would be INSANE.

This Arkham Prince AU has folks in a choke hold but ya'll forget one thing. The Joker and Harley Quinn.

god i am just exploding thinking about bruce and sex in the arkham prince au. there is absolutely no way he’s not accustomed to exchanging sex for favors, information, anything he wants or needs. (additional thoughts on how Clark fits into this/Superbat)

Okay hi so my main source of Arkham knowledge is the Penguin show so I’m gonna ramble a bit about factions and divides and stuff. (Sofia Falcone expansion)

continuing my thoughts on Sofia Falcone coming off your great opinions to my last ask.

There is a parallel thread between Bruce and Sofia

[tennessoui]

spider-man au where obi-wan is falling for hot and surprisingly ripped single dad anakin, learning about things like his rough childhood, his green card marriage, her family’s subsequent dissaproval and his current widower status, but is constantly nervous about his place in anakin’s life because anakin is constantly either late or running out early when they spend time together, and constantly making shitty excuses (anakin doesn’t even have the twins this weekend. so why is he running out to take them to the synagogue? on a sunday afternoon?)

meanwhile, he’s also falling for enigmatic masked vigilante spider-man (spider vader?), who’s had an evil arc a few years ago, and so people still haven’t trusted him again even though he defeated sidious, but he feels bad because he likes anakin! he can’t like both.

until he finds out someone who kissed anakin also kissed vader, and tells himself that it’s just anger at his friend being cheated on, until anakin’s friend who is in the know tells obi-wan that anakin & vader like to share, and suddenly he can’t get the idea of being ‘shared’ out of his head. anakin, of course, does not like to share. especially not when it’s obi-wan. not even with himself

sorry for just coming into your inbox with this but i’m never gonna write this so i need to tell someone about this au

ooooooo you know I’ve thought about a superhero au before, where anakin is the hero and obi-wan is somehow always near a disaster and eventually anakin gets suspicious that obi-wan is actually the CAUSE of the disaster so he goes undercover as his unmasked self to investigate this possible supervillain in khakis…….

meanwhile obi-wan is a guy who the superhero vader rescued once and sorta maybe fell in love with him so he hears about a disaster in the city and runs towards danger because cmon. Look at that ass in spandex. He can rescue him any day.

and I can see these AUs sliding together imo: Spider-Man!Anakin torn between trust and mistrust of MJ! obi-wan because he’s been used and twisted in the past, but he can’t help but confide in Obi-Wan as his civilian identity.…

and obi-wan finds himself torn between Anakin, this harmless nerdy civilian he met in the library and then kept meeting, and Vader/Spider-Man who keeps rescuing him, touching him like he knows him and roughing him up in a way obi-wan really really likes

[virtuouswhitehatorganization]

Tentacrush (Villainous Oc)

Name: Herberta Bierce

Age: Same Age As Jamoncio

Headcannon Voice Actor: Mae Whiteman (Spanish); Martina Panno (English)

Love Interest: Jamoncio

Abilities: Eldritch-human which grants her various powers including telepathy, pherensible tentacles for arms, limited shapeshifting based on eldritch physiology, long lived, etc Residence: Marin City ; Noctis City (formerly); Mictlan (Formerly)

Occupation: Supervillain

Species: Human-Great Old One Hyrbid

Sexuality: Straight

Relatives: Hasthur (father); Cthulhu (uncle); Roberta Bierce (mother)

Personality: She is a plucky villainess with great ambitions of fame. She desires to one day make her father proud and show she's worthy heir to his name. Despite her ambitions she values personal relationships in her lives, like how she was happy that she saw Jamoncio again after not seeing him for years. She is very supportive of him due to the abuse he endured under his dad and also sees potential in him being even better the villain he is if he just got the support he needs. She also also holds a large grudge against Miss Heed due to her brainwashing her, stealing her money, and even getting her sent to Mictlan. She plans on trying to get back at her one way or another. Despite Jamoncio's participation in the cover up to frame other villains, she forgives him for it due to him always being under his father's thumb and not always knowing better for himself. As a result, she really does despises Don Porccini for his abuse and wants to one day also get back at him even from beyond the grave. She also despises how much he was willing to sell out his fellow villains to be a coddled fake hero. She can be pretty ruthless and unforgiving towards those she hates and will not hold back in hurting them. She is also a big daddy's girl and is very close to him.

Background: The daughter of Hasthur and a human follower named Roberta Bierce she was raised to be his heir and follow in his footsteps. She would enlist in the Black Hat Institute as a student to get a formal education in evil and where she would meet Jamoncio, son of Don Porccini. They would become friends and form a tight bond with one another, especially giving some relief from his parent's divorce and his abuse by his father. After they graduated they drifted apart and both went into villainy somehow. During her time as a villain, she was brainwashed by Miss Heed and forced to be her simp. She was soon snapped out and unlike many others was unluckily sent to Mictlan. She would reside there for months and wouldn't have a shimmer of hope until see Jamoncio who she was glad to see again but was sad it had to be through prison. She and him would bond through prison and Jamoncio admit the reason why he's there is because PEACE betrayed him and his father's gang when his father tried to get in their favor and become a hero. However, they double crossed them and made them all except his father be put in prison. He would also tell about the abuse he endured under his father and made her angry. It was through this bonding they would fall in love and officially become a couple. They would then bide their time in prison until a break out happened and they were freed. She would then join him to help make him into a crime boss that can outdo his father.

Created through https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/1532707

* She is friends with Chimera

* Like many she gave up all her savings when she was brainwashed by Heed. And now wants to get back at her after being in prison.

* She is close with her Uncle Cthulhu even though her father and him don't get along. He often spoils her.

* Her and Jamoncio's relationship is similar to Beret Girl and PJ's relationship which a guy with an abusive parent gets with a girl during his older years and finds happiness with her.

* Her mother lives in Marin City.

* Her relationship with Jamoncio could be a reverse of Miss Heed and Flug's relationship where instead of it being a case where a former classmate uses the guy for her own needs and manipulates his feelings here she genuinely cares for him and tries to support him. It also has her remain a villain till graduation and later hook up with him years later.

* She used to live in Noctis before being brainwashed and sent to prison.

[black-rose-events]

Villaintine's Day 2023 Writeblr Award Ceremony

A Black Rose For The Pretty Writer

A token of our villainous appreciation!

Awarded to the following users:

@puddleslimewrites for their snippet: Deadly Distraction 🖤

@world-of-fire-and-flight for their snippet: Pair of Dorks

@heroes-villains-side-blog for their snippets: "Welcome to the Team Mr. Henchman. You Start Monday." and Fire & Darkness

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Orange Lily

Orange lilies represent hatred so of course it should go to snippets with a great nemesis dynamic!

Awarded to the following users:

@puddleslimewrites for their snippet: Deadly Distraction 🖤

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Iron Villain

When Villain is dead set on their goal, like really dead set -- it's honestly impressive the writer still makes us root for them somehow.

Awarded to the following users:

@puddleslimewrites for their snippet: Deadly Distraction 🖤 for making us root for Supervillain even though they're implied to be a murderer!

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Of One's Own Free Villain

When the hero does the villainous thing on their own! Outside of their villain's influence! Showcasing that the nemesis bond goes deeper than just regular face-to-face meet-ups.

Awarded to the following users:

@world-of-fire-and-flight for their snippet: Pair of Dorks where SPOILER Hero is the one to initiate the celebration of their nemesis-aversary!

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A Hero Makes The Villain

We all know a hero is absolutely nothing without their villain. Like, literally. They would not be a hero without someone to antagonize them, so pat your villainous selves on the back for keeping heroes in a job! But sometimes, it happens, that a hero does have a tiny minscule influence on the villain.

Awarded to the following users:

@world-of-fire-and-flight for their snippet: Pair of Dorks where Hero's heroically sweet nature makes Villain want to be a better villain and partake in future villainous celebrations! Well, it's just nemesis anniversaries, but no accomplishment is too small!

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If Love Doesn't Scare You, No Evil Thing Will

Loving someone or knowing someone loves you can be terrifying...but also a great motivating force, and heroes and villains are no different. The only question is: how does it change their agenda, if at all? Love is also said to be the most powerful weapon of all, so if that doesn't scare you...no villainous scheme will! (You thought we were going for it, didn't you?)

Awarded to the following users:

@heroes-villains-side-blog for their snippet: "Welcome to the Team, Mr. Henchman. You Start Monday."

Even though Spectre may not admit her feelings for Henchman, she knows they're there...now if only she could embrace them like the Big Red Button That's Actually Green😜

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Villainville

We all know that found family is a popular trope for a reason (it's just so wholesome!), but what about those found families who are made up of rogues? We're talking master criminals, thieves, grifters, the whole lot. Welcome to Villainville: House of Rogues!

Awarded to the following users:

@heroes-villains-side-blog for their snippet: "Welcome to the Team, Mr. Henchman. You Start Monday."

CRIME FOUND FAMILY! CRIME FOUND FAMILY! CRIME FOUND FAMILY! Not only did Henchman find a villainous family, but Spectre and Codex are building an evil empire that's sure to be the baddest, most close-knit villain group ever😈

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In Darkest Day, In Blackest Night...

This one's for the scenes that have us biting our nails, sitting on the edge of our seats, and when things aren't going in our favorite character's favor. Whether you enjoy stories where the villain wins (or in some cases, corrupt heroes), or not, you've got to admit the ✨suspense✨ is killer.

Awarded to the following users:

@heroes-villains-side-blog for their snippet: Fire & Darkness

Speaking of being on the edge of your seat, this one will leave you guessing and have you questioning everything you know about heroes and villains. Did we witness a corrupt hero, or the tragic fall of someone trying to do what was just for the good of the many? We may never know...

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Twist Our Heartstrings

AHHHH THE FEELS! From plot-twists you didn't see coming to plot-twists you feared would come that still utterly gutted you, there are a lot of things that can tug on your heartstrings when you're really invested in a story.

Awarded to the following users:

@heroes-villains-side-blog for their snippet: Fire & Darkness

Ow my heart🖤 Not only did you have us sitting on the edge of our seats, you made us feel invested in such a way that broke our hearts to watch the fall of our new favorite blorbo.

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Last Villain And Testament

The heroes won. The villain is defeated. And yet...Are they? Are they really defeated? Did the heroes really win? Or were the heroes the villains all along? It may be the final act, but we all know it's never over until the villain laughs manically.

Awarded to the following users:

@heroes-villains-side-blog for their snippet: Fire & Darkness

While we deal with the fallout of an ambiguous ending, there's a certain finality here that leaves us wary of Fire Star and wondering just what the Dark One would say if given the chance to. Maybe there's no true evil or true good here, but there's certainly a dynamic and we're in love!

[akawrites000]

sunflowers, breaking clichés and faraway lovers

Hero trudges back home, her foot kicking up some mud on this lonely strip of road. She can't decide if she's happy or frustrated that nothing ever happens where she lives, not even villains, as if they don't find this place appealing enough to even visit.

She decides, after a moment, that maybe it's both. She's both happy that she doesn't have to deal with villains here, that this is the one constant place that she has in her life, and she's also a little frustrated that nothing ever happens here, and everywhere you see are familiar faces. She kind of wishes her town had the tradition to were masks like people in Jaoanese festivals do, so that it would at least bring some novelty into this place. Or she wishes that she can spot a new face somewhere, but the only face she wants to see right now is that of her partner's.

The wind blows to the left, and she turns to look. That's the path that leads to the sunflower field, one of her all time favourite places. She takes out her phone as the wind pushes her further to the field, holding the device in front of her face, trying to get a nice angle. Click. She opens villain’s chat and hits the send button, with a yellow heart emoji attached to the picture. She then sits down at the edge of the field, legs dangling, eyes taking in the spectacular view in front of her. This is probably the only place I'll never get tired of, even if it's the same ten years from now, she thinks.

Hero’s phone vibrates in her pocket, and she pulls it out to see a message from villain. She opens the chat — smiling softly.

V: This looks so beautiful!! Is this the sunflower field that you always talk about? Thank you for the picture baby💛

Hero takes a moment to swoon. She loves it when villain calls her baby, and she has a feeling that they know that too.

H: Yes it is, one of my favourite places ever! I wish I could show this to you someday.

There it is, hero thinks. This ache that mixes up with the bubbly feelings in her chest because her lover lives in an entirely different continent away from her and there's nothing either of them can do about it for now. It's this sizzling agony that's there right under her skin, keeping her awake at night sometimes.

V: That sounds lovely. I would love to see it.

And then hero’s smiling, grinning. So much that her cheeks start to hurt and those blue feelings inside her chest slowly melt away, leaving her with this happy, giddy haze. Somewhere inside, the logical part of her speaks — what is even happening ?

Hero ignores that and just stares at the wide expanse of the field in front of her, beautifully painted by the sun setting on the horizon behind. She lets her mind wander to villain, her lover whom she's never met but knows — because one doesn't have to meet to know someone right? Of course hero aches to meet them, just like all the lovers in ancient texts do. She's no different. So she tries to meet them in her imagination at least- one hand in their soft, brown hair, while the other cups their cheek, tender with that natural blush that drives her crazy; and then villain's hands are in her hair, tangling her long back strands but she can't find it in herself to care one bit —

Her phone buzzes again and hero’s pulled out of that soft world in her mind, back to the real one. Her eyes take in her surroundings once again, noticing the changes. The sky is inky blue, like deep ocean waters and the sun is nowhere to be seen . The sunflowers that were all looking at the sun like dedicated devotees, have now turned to look at their loved ones next to them instead, and settle in their arms for the night. Hero looks at her phone, her mind working in two angles — one thinking about this fact that she read about sunflowers somewhere while the other focuses on villain’s chat box.

V: You'll have to fight supervillain later this evening right?

Hero groans as she remembers her pressing duties to this city — fighting supervillains, protecting the civilians, being the symbol of justice. It's only in the short time that she spends with villain — in their chatbox, occasional phone calls, when she thinks of villain, that she feels like a normal twenty something, just living her life and falling in love with someone breathtakingly amazing.

H: You're always more updated about my schedule than I am xD But yeah, I have to.

Hero imagines villain’s mouth, unable to decide between their usual smirk or rare soft smiles. She wonders what expression they're wearing right now.

V: Of course I am. That's one thing technology is good for.

Hero chuckles, simply happy that villain even bothers to keep track of all of this.

V: Fight safely and vigilantly okay? Trust your gut feelings, they're always valid. Your feelings are always valid.

Hero clutches her phone tight in her hand, trying to bury her face into her own arms. Her heart performs this dance everytime villain does stuff like this, and she never knows how to handle it.

H: Thank you my love❤ I'm a little nervous of course, but I think I'll be okay. I can do this.

Hero knows there's no point in putting up a front or lying to villain. They always know somehow. And hero thinks that she doesn't want to lie — she's always putting up a front for the world, the people, her opponents. So she wants at least this one person in the entire world to know who she really is, in all her silly, anxious and raw glory.

V: You'll be fine baby. You're an amazing fighter and I believe in you.

Okay, that's it. Hero feels like her entire body is on fire and she forces herself to look away from the phone screen at the field in front of her so that her fingers don't start doing this embarrassing keysmash that people generally seem to do when they're embarrassed. Does she want to do that? She thinks she'd rather avoid it. Or at least try to.

That's when her mind supplies that fact about sunflowers that it was trying to remember. When the sun is not visible, the sunflowers turn towards one another, as if the sun is just a fever dream that is abandoned as soon as it dips below the horizon, and the only real things that exist in the world are the flowers themselves and their partners who exist right beside them. Hero watches as the wind gently coaxes them, one flower falling into another and vice versa, as they hold each other and dance while the first stars form constellations in the sky. Hero thinks how beautiful this is, that there is a whole universe beyond clichés, that a sunflower doesn't have to achingly wait for a sun that will never belong to it, but instead the world is for its taking as it falls in love with the flower next to it — one that will return its feelings.

And all of a sudden, hero is overwhelmed by this weird emotion in her chest. She can't name it, she's always been bad with names. But sitting here and looking at these sunflowers breaking clichés makes her heart soar for some inexplicable reason. It's like nature is telling her that nothing else matters other than feelings that are respected and returned.

She opens villain's chat and starts typing in everything that she's realised in the past minute with increased fervour, afraid that all of these thoughts would just up and disappear into a puff of nothing because nothing is really everlasting — except this one moment. And she plans to make the best of it. She types the last letter, then attaches a close-up picture of two sunflowers with tangled petals facing one another and hits send.

Villain takes a minute to reply, but it brings the brightest smiles to hero's face regardless.

V: I don't know if you even realise this, but I just love the way you fucking think ❤ The sunflowers seem like they could pass for humans themselves don't they? Because I just find this whole thing alarmingly human — the way we have our hearts on our sleeves when we know no one else is looking, for that one person.

Hero sighs happily, she didn't think feeling understood could feel this liberating. It's definitely one of those feelings that people can get high on , she thinks. Damn, she thinks she's definitely getting high on this herself.

H: Thank you love, I love the way you think too! And I do agree, the sunflowers are humans xD (plus ten heart emojis).

A few more minutes go by and hero receives another message from villain with this attached picture:

there's a hand (hero guesses it's villain’s hand) holding two violet flowers together (so they look like they're hugging) with this caption —

I had to chase away two ducks for this picture, because these flowers were apparently their evening snack. How cool is that?

And hero’s full blown laughing now, the clutching-your-stomach kind of laughing and she hopes that the laughing emoji on her phone would do this justice. Probably not.

—

Here's the live coverage of Hero vs Supervillain-

The newsreader reads live from the venue and villain’s eyes refuse to leave the tv screen for even a single moment. They watch as their hero holds her ground against such a powerful foe and villain’s heart fills up to the brim with a mix of fondness and pride. They don't feel the rest of the evening pass by, as they sit and watch the entire live coverage without as much as even getting up.

Hero emerges victorious, and she has a few surface injuries here and there, some nasty looking gashes but she's standing there and she's alive and she's okay and villain finally lets out a breath that they didn't even know they were holding.

That's their strong, sweet and kind hero and villain can't be happier to call her their girlfriend.

Hellooo there lovely people!! I know it's been a long while since I posted (that's because life is pretty hectic rn) but I finally found some time to write (and procrastinate, but that's the usual lol). So what's new is that I've given you all some female rep, because I just realised that I haven't really written much female mc content. So I hope you all enjoyed reading this, and thank you for your support as always - means a lot<3

[fictionadventurer]

Oh no, there are a lot of good reasons to write a Northanger Abbey Superhero AU.

Henry Tilney is squarely in my wheelhouse of sarcastic, cynical, flippant narrators. He could be the POV character!

Henry has a whole character arc! I could even condense the story into a relatively short piece.

I was wrong--he doesn’t meet Catherine by rescuing her. That’s how his arc ends. Showing that he’s learned to live up to Catherine’s ideals of superheroism.

At their first meeting (they’re both students at Northanger University),  Catherine finds out about his powers and is a bit star-struck, and he teases her by poking fun at all the common superhero tropes, while insisting that real-life superhumans are nothing like the legends.

The sheer fun of watching him react to innocent homeschooled country bumpkin Catherine--moving from mild amusement and a sort of brotherly pity to genuine respect.

Instead of teasing Catherine about writing about this night in her journal, he teases her about being an intrepid girl reporter looking to tell the world about the latest exploits of the newest superheroes.

I was wrong again: Henry’s powers don’t include telepathy. Because not knowing her thoughts gives him opportunities to misjudge her before realizing that she actually is as sincere and innocent as she seems. 

Henry Tilney could have electricity powers??? I’ve already got a P&P character with those abilities, but somehow it seems fitting to have sparks flying while he’s revealing his abilities to Catherine at their first meeting.

And as the story goes on, we can casually reveal that he’s much more powerful than he lets everyone believe, as he absentmindedly does Thor-level things like calling down lightning.

But he could also maybe have some speedster or teleportation type abilities on top of it? He seems like the guy who’d race into the battle and baffle bad guys by never being quite where they expect him to be.

I kind of love the idea of playing up his Shawn Spencer vibes by having him put on this act that he’s a barely competent goofball whose greatest talent is for the sarcastic quip, only to prove himself in the final battle as one of top titans of this universe in terms of sheer power.

Of course Catherine assumes that General Tilney is a supervillain and expects to find a lair in the hidden portion of the house. Henry would be more offended by these assumptions than the book version was, because he’d wonder if her suspicions were tied to stereotypes about superhumans.

(Henry quickly calms down and admits that Catherine was right, because his father may not have an evil lair where he masterminds all the recent crime sprees, but he is a villain because of his complete indifference to anything except his own desires).

General Tilney somehow got the idea that Catherine was connected to a wealthy family of powerful superhumans and that she just hadn’t come into her powers yet, and when it turns out that she’s an ordinary person, he kicks her out with extreme prejudice.

Which of course puts her in a dangerous part of the city at a dangerous time of night where she can fall into the clutches of the real supervillains.

(Who are probably John and/or Isabella Thorpe).

And Henry has to stand up to his father for the first time in his life, refusing to stay in their comfortable, self-serving world and finally revealing the full extent of his powers as he rushes to the rescue as a fully-fledged superhero.

Catherine is grateful and helps to save the day with good common sense.

And she’d be so proud of him, and he’d try to downplay it by making self-deprecating jokes, and then he’d very seriously give her all the credit for giving him the courage to stand up to his father.

Henry would be kicked out of the house after that and living on campus. He and Catherine could be a power couple--quite literally. Catherine already has designs in mind for improved costumes.

Like, Henry isn’t going to make a career out of superheroism (gotta finish college first), but he recognizes that heroes can exist and he can be one of them.

There’s an actual character arc! The P&P doesn’t have a character arc. It’s a superhero ensemble story. But this is a full-on origin story!

I could give Catherine her due as someone who helps Henry to grow as much as he helps her grow.

But I already have a sprawling P&P superhero AU underway and there’s no reason to start another WIP when I can just write these bullet points.

They’re fun bullet points though.

[nightfrostshadow]

Stolen Hearts

Villain smirked as she raised prepared to jump off the roof right into the alley Hero had decided to run into. It was a dead end after all, Hero was going nowhere.

All of a sudden someone grabbled her arm and she tumbled to the floor due to the momentum. She prepared to brace her fall but realized it was unnecessary as she had landed on – she looked down in equal parts of surprise and annoyance to see who had stopped her from going after Hero and had yet been gracious enough to brace her from the fall he had caused. Supervillain. She got up in a huff and ran to the edge of the roof only to see Hero running off far out of reach by now no doubt having taken advantage of the fact. She sighed. It would have to be done another day now.

She turned around to face Supervillain arms on her hips ready to berate him.

He smiled as he stood up and reached out his hand. “Nice to meet you I’m Supervillain.”

Villain stared as she did the same out of courtesy while she smiled. They knew who the other was except they hadn’t met each other formally. Well, it wasn’t all bad. Supervillain was incredibly handsome after all. She could find Hero another day.

Before she could say another word Supervillain crossed his arms as he stood and with a mischievous smile said, “Hey why don’t you return what you stole from me Villain?”

Villain stared at him in bewilderment , “I literally just met you what are you talking about?”

“My heart Villain, you stole it.”

Villain smirked as she felt her heart flutter slightly, well two could play at that game. “Now, why ever would I do that? I’m a villain darling, I don’t return things I steal. 

Luckily for you, every story needs a villain. So let me be in yours.”

Supervillain smiled as his heart pounded in his chest, his ears beginning to feel hot, “Well I’m one too you know?”

Villain laughed as she spoke, her eyes shining, “Well then our story is going to be extra special.”

“We both fell for each other a moment ago didn’t we?”

 They both burst into laughter at the pun as they both looked at the setting sun with a slowly growing warmth in their hearts.

Villain smiled at him with a gleam in her eyes. “I won’t be returning your heart you know but I will have something here for you tomorrow. Right here, same time.”

With that she was off. Running over the roofs no doubt back to her home.

Supervillain smiled as he watched her fade into the distance and thought to himself. Tomorrow is going to be a lovely day.

The next day Villain showed up with an enormous bouquet of flowers. So did Supervillain. Both looked at each other and laughed. “Great minds think alike.”

“Guess we both raided flower shops. Lets see which one of us is better at crime shall we Supervillain?”

“Challenge accepted.”

Villain waked over to him as she placed her bouquet in his hand and took the one meant for her.

He looked into her eyes, “I love the shade of the flowers but do you know what’s even prettier? The shade of your eyes,” he said as he tucked back a strand of her hair. He moved his finger to trail around her mask, “I can tell you are absolutely beautiful even though you have a mask on. Somehow it makes you look even more mysterious and stunning.”

Villain smiled at him and with her heart madly beating inside her chest as she felt the blood rush to her face thankfully the mask covered her cheeks she winked at him, “You know what? We’re even about the hearts because it looks like you’ve stolen mine too.”

With that she hastily made an exit along with her flowers.

Supervillain grinned as he watched her leap off the roof and land gracefully as she walked off hugging the flowers tightly.

Hero happened to come across them one day after finally figuring out that two villains had decided to raid the flower shops. That was definitely a different crime. She now found out why.

She decided that the best plan of action would be to make them go on a date so maybe they would fall in love and not commit crimes? Hero clearly had doubts about this plan but decided to try anyway. She wrote down a message on a piece of paper and folded it into an airplane and threw it at the two villains from her secret hiding spot.

Supervillain and Villain were in the middle of seeing who had managed to steal the better chocolate for the other when the plane flew out of nowhere and landed at their feet.

They picked it up.

Its almost time for dinner why don’t you guys go eat at a cool restaurant?

They both stared at the paper and started laughing. “Its obviously a trap why would we fall for that now?”

“Besides I’m not even hungry,” Villain grinned. “Guess we’ve got company here but we’ll have to disappoint them because I’m going back home now.”

The next day Hero called Sidekick to come help her. Together they set up a picnic up on the roof with candles and flowers and a cake which was shaped like a heart.

“Hero, what makes you think this is a good idea? Clearly you have no clue how to be a wingman do you?” Sidekick sighed as she lit the candles, “and neither do I so it’ll be a miracle if we pull this off.”

Hero shushed her, “Nobody can resist cake,” she said as she pulled her onto another roof where they could hide and watch.

The two villains arrived as usual and stared as they took in the sight. They looked around suspiciously.

“Looks like someone knows where we are everyday.”

“Guess we have to meet somewhere else now.”

Supervillain hummed thoughtfully as he looked at the cake. Heart shaped. I have an idea now.

After they both left Hero and sidekick gloomily came out of their hiding spots and sat down to eat the cake while thinking of a new plan.

From that day onwards the crimes increased in the city. It started off with simple ones like thefts of flowers and chocolates and much more but slowly they started getting more dangerous when suddenly a whole bunch of people had gone missing.

Hero and Sidekick finally managed to track down the villains new meeting spot.

“Well, I thought the heart made of corpses was very touching. I do love the colour red you know,” Villain said with a dark smile, “To thank you I’ll get you a real heart next time. Or would you like to cut it out together? I already have a person in mind,” she said with a sinister smile. “I haven’t seen Hero lately; I suppose we can hunt her down together.”

Meanwhile in their hiding spot Hero and Sidekick stared at each other with mouths agape in horror and shock.

They had killed people just to make a heart shape? They were planning to cut out Hero’s heart next?

Hero and Sidekick realized that they had to work out a plan that got them to finally date like normal people instead of… whatever it is they were doing.

What they didn’t take into account was that when two villains fall in love, the story gets a lot more exciting and dangerous.

[britishassistant]

I just can't with these AU's my mind keeps going to how I think Mayu would React and just Fall into unstoppable giggles at everyone's reactions, if its anything like I think it goes it would be even funnier than the classic meeting, and don't even get me started on all three Yuu's meeting each other somehow.

Mayu: HONRY JAIL FOR ALL OF YOU *bonks with bokken*

This. This is why Mayu likes One Piece. Mayu wouldn’t have to deal with all this dumb romance peacocking and lame black-and-white hero vs villain stuff in One Piece.

Pirates are way cooler than superheroes and supervillains anyway. Seriously, these guys are worse than Sanji for turning into lovesick idiots!

The supervillains and superheroes are very confused by the twelve year old with the wooden sword who dresses like a ninja yet claims they’re a pirate. They don’t exactly wanna hurt the kid, but the brat’s sword swings and kicks actually are pretty painful...

Yuu the reporter is also very confused by the twelve year old with the wooden sword, but at least they haven’t bonked the reporter yet.

And then Yuu turns their back for one minute to convince Leona not to put the girl in one of his death traps. When they look back, the child is gone.

Panik.

Mayu inadvertently kidnaps Cheka on her journey of mayhem across the city and begins teaching him the ways of piracy by telling him stories about One Piece. It’s going pretty well, until an opportunistic mugger draws a gun on the pair in a dark alley, with the aim of kidnapping Cheka and blackmailing Farena with his son’s safety.

Mayu freezes.

She can barely stand between Cheka and their assailant, let alone tell him to run, trembling, breath coming in harsh pants. Her eyes are tearing up as they’re fixed on the barrel of the gun, aimed at her head, a small whimper escaping her throat as the hammer is cocked—!

King descends like the wrath of a merciless god.

The Prefect has to intervene to stop him from disintegrating the mugger entirely. Though they may let him beat the mugger a little longer than strictly necessary to neutralize the hostile target and keep the children safe. They eventually get through to him by reminding him that Cheka is right there and will see if Leona decides to give the mugger the ultimate punishment.

King compromises not getting to enact as much violence as he wanted by dumping the mugger at his brother’s feet and telling him exactly what the bastard was planning to do with his son.

Then he leaves the shaking, crying, begging mugger to Farena’s mercy.

Cheka and Mayu are taken to Yuu’s apartment by the Prefect, and given hot cocoa and blankets before Yuu emerges from their bedroom after the Prefect vanishes, fussing over the pair and putting on a movie that Charon reccomended for them. Studio Ghibli is good for the soul, even if it doesn’t have pirates.

Leona arrives later, after the two children have curled up on Yuu’s couch, fast asleep. He stays the night, tail flickering as he keeps watch, until Cheka wakes up the next morning. Yuu stays up with him, one hand carding through Mayu’s hair.

Tomorrow, the two children will still be a little shaken from their adventure, but ready to say goodbye and return home to their respective loving parents.

But for now, the supervillain and the reporter will keep guard over them, the best defended apartment in the city quiet save for their breathing.

[ravencyclebigbang]

Raven Cycle Big Bang 2020 Masterlist

The 2020 Raven Cycle/Call Down The Hawk Big Bang has come to a close! 

Twenty-six teams (and some…) created a ton of great fanfic and fanart over the course of the event. When we started this event we couldn’t have known what 2020 would end up being, so our appreciation goes to all participants for being so resilient and marvellous and sticking with us until the very end.

A Big Bang is traditionally a fandom event that produces 10k+ words fan fictions and associated art, all fully complete. That’s all the reading and looking your art might desire!!!

Please make sure to show your love to all creators by commenting, kudosing and sending loving pigeons!  And stay tuned, because we might have a little Post-Bang Giveaway ready for you…

We have an Ao3 collection in case you want to filter by tags and ratings and the like. Below the cut is a full master list of the various contributions to the TRC Big Bang, so they can be browsed with ease.

Team #1: that perilous stuff (which weighs upon the heart)

Fanfic: AO3 Art: Tumblr

Writer: @saywhatjessie (tumblr)/JessJesstheBest (AO3)

Artist: @pygmypouter (tumblr)

Beta: @rroguess (tumblr)

Synopsis: “Uh, Mr. Parrish? You’d like to read for Lady Macbeth?” Adam felt his eye twitch, even while he nodded. It was true that even at an all boy’s school where boys would have had to read the female parts, Adam probably wouldn’t have normally volunteered to read Lady Macbeth. But Ronan had called him a nerd. So he was prepared to be the biggest nerd Ronan had seen. “I know what I’m about, ma’am.” Or Ronan and Adam volunteer to read for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in class. Shenanigans ensue.

Team #2: Uncanny Omens

Fanfic: AO3 | gthechangeling Art: Tumblr | drawfulneutral Art: Tumblr

Writer: @yesterdarling (tumblr)/YesterDarling (AO3)

Artist: @gthechangeling (tumblr)

Artist: @drawfulneutral (tumblr)

Beta: ghostangel (AO3)

Synopsis: The Forces of Heaven and Hell have always assumed that the world would end. More specifically, they always assumed the world would precisely end on a Saturday evening, just a few days after the Antichrist’s birthday. The Armies are forming, the Four Horsemen have been drawn out, and the Antichrist is coming into his full power. Yet not everyone longs for Armageddon. Adam and Ronan - an Angel and Demon living in rural Virginia - most certainly don’t want it to; not when Earth has so many libations that they’ve come to enjoy. Besides, Armageddon without humans having a say in the matter wouldn’t be fair, would it? With their livelihoods and the lives of Mankind on the line, they plot to throw a wrench in the Divine Plan. It’d go far easier if anyone knew where the Antichrist was, though.

Team #3: We seek someone to sew sutures in the places where we’re torn

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @blueseyforthesoul (tumblr)/kirani (AO3)

Artist: @thecorvidrotation (tumblr)

Synopsis: Gansey isn’t the half of his soulmate pair with a name, and Blue hasn’t said anything so he doesn’t think she has his name either. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a huge crush on the cute bassist of his roommate’s band. Shenanigans ensue.

Team #4: You Better Shape Up

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: stop_whining (AO3)

Artist: @attentionhoard (tumblr)

Synopsis: A Pynch fic inspired by the classic 1978 movie/musical Grease for TRC Big Bang 2020.

Team #6: Pranks and Pups!

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Instagram

Writer: @comfy-spot (tumblr)/RandyKorn (AO3)

Artist: manao.ri (instagram)

Synopsis: The end of winter break rolls around, and Ronan finds himself stuck in a depressive episode despite the miracle of having his friends all together once again. Blue and Henry bully him into a Platonic Date Night Extraordinaire (which isn’t so platonic on Henry’s part). There’s gelato, misdemeanors, dog piles, a duck, dance parties, and even a car chase - everything necessary to force one Ronan Lynch into admitting that he’s just as deserving of love and care as the rest of them.

Team #7: In gardens all wet with rain

Fanfic: AO3 | forestgeitart Art: Tumblr | purrsnicket Art: Tumblr

Writer: @magicienetreveur (tumblr)/hollyanneg (AO3)

Artist: @forestgeitart (tumblr)

Artist: @purrsnicket (tumblr)

Beta: @semicolonsandsimiles (tumblr)

Synopsis: In a land where magic is real, Ronan spends most of his time hiding from it in the palace gardens, where he’d once met a boy who could tell the future. There’s love letters, a masquerade ball, and an evil plot to be foiled.

Team #8: The Waiting Game

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @inoctavo (tumblr)/inoctavo (AO3)

Artist: @lenaisanerd (tumblr)

Beta: @emjenenla (tumblr)

Synopsis: When all they can do is wait, Declan’s mind catastrophizes… then tries to plan for them. It’s a good recipe to make more problems when everyone’s gone around the emotional ringer. Featuring existential crises, denial, tough decisions, Declan meeting Opal for the first time, and Jordan painting Declan like one of her French girls.

Team #9: if love is just a game (then how come it’s no fun)

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @toast-the-unknowing (tumblr)/shinealightonme (AO3)

Artist: @rroguess (tumblr)

Synopsis: Ronan probably shouldn’t have sworn at the stranger he runs into leaving Gansey’s favorite hipster coffee shop. Blue probably shouldn’t have tracked down Adam’s soulmate without his permission. But they did, and now all four of their lives are tangled up together, whether they like it or not.

Team #10: Strange as Angels

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @skyermirth (tumblr)/skyermirth (AO3)

Artist: @squash1-squash2 (tumblr)

Beta: @galwaygremlin (tumblr)

Synopsis: Adam takes a job for the summer as Caretaker of the Barns, which local legend says is haunted. Adam soon finds out this is true when he meets the resident “ghost,” who isn’t very scary with his mohawk and grouchy demeanor but romantic heart. Falling in love with a ghost was not what Adam had planned for his summer. (Loosely based on the 1947 movie “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”.)

Team #11: Dream Killer

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @attentionhoard (tumblr)/mvsic_bxxks_stvdy (AO3)

Artist: @sinplaytheartist (tumblr)

Synopsis: Ronan Lynch is a man with extraordinary talents. If he can bring a living, breathing bird from a dream, what’s stopping him from bringing his best friend back from the grave? But some challenges are too great for one dreamer alone.

Team #12: Bread & Circuses

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Instagram

Writer: @galwaygremlin (tumblr)/okay_pretender (AO3)

Artist: crystaline_art (instagram)

Beta: @inoctavo (tumblr)

Team #14: Ag iarraidh forais i bhfodhomhain

Fanfic: AO3 | forestgeit Art: Tumblr | homunculiii Art: Tumblr

Writer: @semicolonsandsimiles (tumblr)/semicolonsandsimiles (AO3)

Artist: @forestgeitart (tumblr)

Artist: @homunculiii (tumblr)

Beta: @g-reywaren (tumblr)/applepi314 (AO3)

Synopsis: Adam is more surprised that he came to Ireland at all than he is to find a doorway to the Otherworld. When Persephone gives you cryptic predictions about your future, you’re almost certainly about to stumble into some magic. And for all his exterior bluster, Ronan seems almost relieved to have someone to visit Tír na nÓg with. But things turn complicated quickly when, during what was supposed to be a quick trip through the doorway, they encounter Ronan’s little brother - who is definitely human and definitely in New York. When Adam ends up back in Ireland long term, he finds himself increasingly entangled in the magic of the Lynch bookshop, the Lynch family lore, and one Lynch in particular.

Team #15: See You Later Alligator

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Instagram

Writer: @crostiina (tumblr)/crostiina (AO3)

Artist: fricklefracklefloof (instagram)

Beta: @creativefiend19 (tumblr)

Synopsis: “Adam.” he read out loud, because he didn’t know what else to do, because he was bad at conversation yet he definitely felt the need to say something.

He thought Adam was going to be even more annoyed and tell him off for being there and close and talking to him. He didn’t know why he did, maybe it was just that night messing with him, maybe it was just him never feeling right anywhere he went. Adam just shrugged.

“Told you I wasn’t Janine.”

Graduation year, Ronan Lynch is wasting his time with horrible friends and too many vices. Things change when he meets Adam Parrish, local (apparently) sane person and ambitious soul working the graveyard shift at a gas station’s market as he waits for acceptance letters to come. Somehow, they both happen to become the best part of the other person’s day.

Team #17: weekends are for the dogs

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @royai (tumblr)/rizahawkaye (AO3)

Artist: @cheeriosnuggles (tumblr)

Synopsis: Ronan Lynch - fresh off the loss of his father, the truth of his Dreams - has so much to learn about himself, about Dreamers, about Niall, and about the black-coated wolf that tears its way through Henrietta.

Team #18: primavera

Fanfic: AO3 | Tumblr: Art

Writer: @manonblaccbeak (tumblr)/Imnotweirdjustwriting (AO3)

Artist: @gthechangeling (tumblr)

Beta: @pnrrish (tumblr)

Synopsis: the rebirth of Adam through art

OR: a renaissance AU featuring the gangsey

Team #19: trouble is (i don’t wanna let go)

Fanfic: AO3 | gouachemole Art: Tumblr | ladvy Art: Tumblr

Writer: @adverbialstarlight (tumblr)/adverbialstarlight (AO3)

Artist: @gouachemole (tumblr)

Artist: @ladvy (tumblr)

Beta: @violettfemme (tumblr)

Synopsis: It’s been two years since Henrietta’s infamous supervillain, Apothecary, disappeared from the streets and left the beloved hero Greywaren alone without his nemesis – and former secret lover. But now he’s back and determined, this time to team up and save the city from an even larger threat.

aka a pynch superhero au

Team #21: Love in the Time of Socialism

Fanfic: AO3 | Art 1: Tumblr | Art 2: Tumblr

Writer: @oldkingyounggod (tumblr)/aurumdalseni (AO3)

Artist: @effwit (tumblr)

Beta: @crostiina (tumblr)

Synopsis: This is a story about a magician with a terrible history. The death of Adam Parrish’s father after he leaves for college means a chance at closure with that part of his life, but he’s not on the journey alone. At his side is a king, whose loyalty never faltered, no matter how much the world threw at them, or how many times they couldn’t agree on how to live their lives. This is also the story of a dreamer, who loved his best friends so much that he didn’t dare risk losing them by asking for something they couldn’t give. So kisses that could have been became kisses that never were, and Ronan Lynch tells himself he’ll make his home a place they can return to. They’ll all come together again for Adam, even fierce little Blue Sargent, so he doesn’t have to face his past alone. And while he works at closing those doors, he’ll make his way into places where all the love Adam, Ronan and Gansey have built up over the years will finally have the space to bloom.

Team #22: we will raze this earth together

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @teddylupin (tumblr)/perfect-porcelain (AO3)

Artist: @kojotei (tumblr)

Synopsis: Ronan is the heir to the Cabeswater throne, a mythical place that was thought to be lost to time. He is the only one of the late King Niall’s son to inherit the royal ability to shift into a dragon. He doesn’t want the throne. In his attempt to escape, he is captured and brought to the kingdom of Henrietta where the court magician, Adam is tasked with attempting to communicate with him, only Adam doesn’t know he has a human form. All Adam sees is the beautiful monstrosity that is Ronan.

Team #24: Heavy lies the head

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @tinyarmedtrex (tumblr)/tinyarmedtrex (AO3)

Artist: @non-platonic-murphamy (tumblr)

Beta: @waywardsoul-s (tumblr)

Synopsis: Adam can’t stand the court magician, Ronan, but when his King sends the two of them on a quest Adam has no choice but to learn to work with the other man.

Team #25: A voice inside me sang your name

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @maskingfragility (tumblr)/Fata_Morgana (AO3)

Artist: @pank0 (tumblr)

Beta: @campbraceyourself (tumblr)

Synopsis: Adam Parrish has recently gotten engaged, he works for a prestigious law firm in DC and he is about to be made partner. His life is millions miles away from the trailer park in Henrietta, he has accomplished all he has ever wanted, so when the call of an ancient, magical forest starts resonating inside him he is faced not just with his past, but with the possibility that his present is not what he really wants.

Team #27: Life is a Fucking Nightmare

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @sterlynwrites (tumblr)/sterlynsilverrose (AO3)

Artist: @sinplaytheartist (tumblr)

Synopsis: We’ve All Read “Dream Thieves” at this point.

All the reader sees is the end of the nightmare of Joseph Kavinsky. But, what we don’t really see is exactly what leads up to that. This is an unapologetic look at Joseph Kavinsky and his daily life. It gives weight to the words:

“Life is a fucking nightmare.”

Team #31: The Creation of Adam

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @pynches (tumblr)/clawsnbeak (AO3)

Artist: @purrsnicket (tumblr)

Beta: glam_reaper2 (AO3)

Synopsis: When Ronan Lynch enrolled in art school just to mess with his brother, he never thought he would actually be good at it. Now, with only a few months left before he is supposed to graduate, he has to turn in one of the biggest art pieces yet. Enter Adam Parrish, a poor student who wouldn’t say no to some extra money. When he saw an advertisement on Craigslist looking for a model to help with an art project, he didn’t hesitate to react. Working together seemed easy enough but there might be more between them than they bargained for.

Team #34: The Royal Treatment

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @oldguybones (tumblr/Oldguybones (AO3)

Artist: @the-ronan-cycle (tumblr)

Synopsis: When Adam Parrish turned eighteen, he became the rightful heir to rule his home country of Henrietta. For years, he looked forward to taking over the nightmarish reign of his father and make the changes he wanted to see. But there was a huge problem. To officially hold the title, he first must wed and his foul mouthed, farm hand boyfriend, Ronan Lynch, knew nothing about royalty. Adam knew though, that there was no one better to rule by his side. So he must teach Ronan how to behave in the face of royalty without changing what he loved so dearly about him.

With time running out, will he be able to do that in time to gain the current King’s approval?

Team #38: and could you carry me through no man’s land

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @mletart (tumblr)/mletart (AO3)

Artist: @wy-mackk (tumblr)

Beta: @stadamparrish (tumblr)

Synopsis: For The Raven Cycle 2020 Big Bang

In which Ronan Lynch gets himself into trouble with the High Council and Adam Parrish ends up taking Ronan on as his familiar. Adam learns the secrets of the Lynch family, and they both learn about magic and about each other. It goes a lot better than either of them would have expected at the start.

Team #39: Weirdos’ Voices

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr

Writer: @flyde (tumblr)/parttimehuman (AO3)

Artist: @shamanda-lie (tumblr)

Synopsis: Without ever having seen the guy, Ronan is crushing hard on one of the construction workers renovating his building. Sitting against the door to his apartment, listening to the beautiful voice and oddly entertaining ramblings of a certain Ganseyboy, Ronan wonders what it would be like if they ever met. It happens when he least expects it…

Team #40: the first problem was putting us in charge of a kingdom

Fanfic: AO3 | Art: Tumblr 

Writer: @bipolarronanlynchevangelist (tumblr)/elliptical (AO3)

Artist: @turqidoodles (tumblr)/Turq_I (AO3)

Synopsis: Ronan Lynch loses control of his magic, which is the catalyst for a lot of shit, because he’s the first proven user of chaos magic in… basically ever. Gansey’s trying to be a good king despite his fears that there may be no such thing. Adam Parrish works beside him, earning his terrifying reputation through psychic study and occasional gray morality. Blue Sargent can’t leave her home or she’ll sicken and die, and her wanderlust is driving her to seek less-than-sensible solutions. Noah Czerny knows a lot about healing, but he’s not omnipotent, and he’s a little tired of being asked to clean up everyone else’s messes. Declan Lynch doesn’t trust the crown. He especially doesn’t trust the crown with his little brother. Mysteriously, all of this leads to rather a lot of conflict.

[yummyyume]

In which Ladybug and Chat Noir are true Heroes

I’ve been sitting on it for a few weeks now. It wasn’t supposed to really be a fic, but it turns out okay, so I decided to finish it and post it anyway. The end is kind of rush, but I wanted to be done with it so, yeah.

Hope you all like it!

I apologize for any spelling and grammars errors, English is not my first language. I hope it’s still intelligible. 

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Marinette is doing a better job at superheroing than she ever thought she would. Still, contacting real professionals sounds like a good idea. Chat is a bit reticent at first, because being Chat Noir is the only freedom he has and he doesn’t want it to end, but after she points out all the people who are suffering, he shamefully agrees to call the Justice League with her.

They don’t receive any answer, and no one shows up.

Chat is sure that it’s because there’s a world ending threat they have to take care of first, and they’ll answer as soon as they can. After the fifth’s plea for help, he doesn’t seem to really believe it either. Still, they continue to call every month.

When Chat becomes too pushy with his flirting, she sits him down, taking a day off from patrolling, and shows him a video about sexual harassment. He watches the entire thing, horrified. And then he apologizes and swears to never flirt again and he’s so, so sorry, but he really doesn’t know how to do social things or how to deal with his crush in a non-anime way, he only ever had one friend before starting school and she wasn’t the best at social interactions either and can Ladybug ever forgive him?

So, Marinette calms him down and tells him it’s alright. Everyone makes mistakes, even more so when they don’t know about the issue. And maybe he can ask his new friends about ethics and social issues. And of course, she’ll be there to answer any of his questions. We’re partner, chaton.

So, the next day, at school, Adrien takes Nino aside so they can have a private talk. He tells him about the crush he developed on this girl he works him, about the flirting and how she showed him a video on sexual harassment, and he didn’t know. So can Nino, please, helps him learn this sort of things? Anything Gabriel wouldn’t have thought Adrien needed to be taught, because those were society thing that everyone learnt eventually. Except, apparently, Adrien.

Nino is horrified. He’s so going to kick Gabriel Agreste’s ass! This is what happen when you isolate your kid!

But Nino is also really proud of his bro for accepting that he was in the wrong and trying to educate himself.

They start by learning more about sexism together. Then Nino ropes Max, Kim, Marinette and Alya into teaching him about racism. And then, Juleka pipes up about ableism. Soon enough the whole class is involved and they’re all learning about all kind of harassments and world problems. They’re all learning things. Chloé gets involved more and more as Ladybug’s influence gets stronger. They have debates and everyone try to stay nice and not talk over each other. It doesn’t always work, but at least they stay respectful.

(And Adrien realizes that maybe he can say no too. Maybe sexual harassment is not something that only women have to deal with. And maybe child labor laws have merit. Maybe what his father is doing is really abuse. Maybe he can do something about it. He has his friends to support him and they won’t let his father just take him out of school because he disagrees with Adrien. Maybe he can be really free.)

A few weeks after the video, Chat Noir excitedly tells Ladybug about what he’s been learning with his friends, and Marinette hides a wince at the confirmation of her suspicions. Because it was definitely suspicious when Adrien asks Nino about ethics the following day of their talk about sexual harassment. She hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it and she didn’t tell Tikki, because the moment she thought about telling her kwami, she remembered with sharp clarity Chat Noir telling her “I can only be myself when I’m Chat Noir” And Marinette can’t take that away from Adrien. He’s her partner and, no matter the lack of romantic feelings, she loves him.

It also puts her crush on Adrien in question, because if she’s in love with Adrien, but not Chat Noir, then she doesn’t love Adrien in his entirety. And since Adrien is not really himself in public, then that means she’s in love with the image he’s portraying to the world, not the real him. She has a good cry, it’s her first heartbreak, but then it’s easier to let go of her crush and focus on being his friend. And Adrien looks like Christmas has come early when they have a full conversation without her stammering. The fact that he thought she didn’t like him and didn’t want to be his friend breaks her heart a little.

(She may or may not tell him she knows his identity and also shares hers, but only when they’re already transformed so their kwamis don’t know they know. Maybe.)

Fast forward a few months, Ladybug and Chat Noir are a very efficient team and the students of Miss Bustier’s class are closer than ever.

(Volpina happened and then Lila ‘leaves for Achuu’. Mrs. Rossi may be busy, but she doesn’t want her daughter’s education to fall behind  and so she calls the school to know if the State will help pay for tutors while the Akuma situation is being handled and that’s how she learns that her daughter is lying to her. Again. Lila is shipped back to Italy to attend a strict boarding school.)

The Justice League still hasn’t answered.

And then Syren happens and two million people died.

It doesn’t matter that Ladybug brought them back with her cure, they still died! And they remember drowning! She read the comments on the Ladyblog, people are scared! She was aware that people died in Akuma attacks, but none have been as deadly as Syren. (And she’s so, so relieved that Ondine doesn’t remember the damage she did. She’s a teenage girl, she doesn’t need this sort of trauma to drag her down. Marinette knows from Kim that she’s already feeling enough guilt when she heard about it after everything was back to normal.)

This time, Ladybug doesn’t just call the League. She ropes Alya into helping her and she rants for a good five minutes about what is happening in Paris and two million people died, don’t you care?! Aren’t you supposed to be heroes?! Alya posts it to the Ladyblog and sends it to the JLA.

That how the Parisians learn that Ladybug and Chat Noir have been trying to contact the League for months and they’re all pretty angry at the dismissal. Everyone who can, send an email or call. They’re going to be heard, dammit!

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The Justice League’s mailbox gets so suddenly flooded that all the heroes receive an alert about an emergency and they all immediately zeta-beam to the Watchtower. Diana has to finish her mission on Themyscira before she can meet everyone, but she has full faith in her teammates to hold on until she gets there.

The heroes are then confronted with the video of a rating teenager about the flooding of Paris and all her followers.

“Paris is not flooded!” Superman seethes, looking at the monitor. “And the heat signatures are roughly the same number as yesterday!”

Some more poking and they find the Ladyblog run by a teenager with shaky videos about her classmates somehow becoming supervillain. The CGI is pretty great but it’s so cliché, it’s hilarious.

(Diana receives a ‘false alert’ message and rolls her eyes. Men.)

“We don’t know if she did it on purpose or not, but it can’t happen again.” Batman says.

Heroes start to zeta-beam back to their city, grumbling.  

“Someone should go put the fear of God in the kid.” Red Hood jokes, rolling his eyes (not that anyone could see).

“Thank you, Red Hood, for volunteering,” Batman replies very seriously, but Jason knows that Bruce is laughing at him. Dammit!

So Red Hood zeta-beams to Paris (he doesn’t even pack a bag, it’s going to take like five minutes). Batman has sent him the address of the school the creator of the Ladyblog attends. It’ll be a good start to find the polka-dot kid.

Except that halfway to his goal, he has to stop on a rooftop because there’s a giant woman raging and fighting two really acrobatic people. One of them is the red polka-dot girl, the other is a black leather clad guy who can’t be much older than her.

“Batman, we’ve got a problem.” He coms.

“Red Hood?” and he can hear the worry in Bruce’s voice, and he feels even more shitty.

“The girl and her partner are fighting a 15 feet woman made of diamond. Half the Champs-Elysées are in rumbles. I really don’t think it’s a scam.”

And then he sees the Miraculous Cure, watches as the Champs-Elysées are restored, sees people coming back to life and understands. Jason feels sick. Because the girl in the video was a teenager and if everything she said is true then she’s been dealing with this whole shit for months and even as Robin he had Batman he could lean on.

As the two heroes jumps away, Jason races to catch up with them. Ladybug and Chat Noir are definitely teenagers and they look suspiciously at him, but he manages to convince them that he came from the JLA and can they please talk?

The Parisian heroes accept, but they were in the middle of something first so they can meet up latter at the Eiffel Tower. And then they swing away without waiting for an answer. Red Hood doesn’t chase them down. He tells everything he just saw to Batman and asks for someone to comb through the Ladyblog and give him some damn intel before it’s time to meet the kids.

Half an hour later, Jason is in jeans and playing the clueless tourist, asking what the hell is going on here.

It’s early evening when Ladybug and Chat Noir arrived at the Eiffel Tower in one long graceful jump. Jason is a bit jealous because he definitely had to use his grapping-hook to get there, but those kids can do it without assistance.

Chat Noir is super exited to meet him now that they have time to talk. Ladybug is more cautious, but she looks just as relieved.

“Are you here alone? Why did it take so long before someone came?” She asks softly.

Looking at the kids, Jason doesn’t want to tell them that no one took them seriously. They look so relieved to see him here. Obviously, the girl’s rant was powered by fear and helplessness, not any hate against the JLA. Now that he’s facing her, he thinks she looks really small in her red polka-dot suit.

Dammit Bruce! This weird serial adopting nonsense wasn’t supposed to be inheritable!

He owes them the truth, though. His com is transmitting live so he knows that B is listening at least, but he doesn’t really care for protocols right now.

“The JLA receive a lot of requests for assistance every day, so we have civilian workers that sort out which requests are genuine, which ones would benefit from a JLA intervention and which ones are scam.”

“And our requests were classified as scam because there’s no proof left after I cast the Cure.” She looks tired and resigned, like she had already come to this conclusion months ago. Red Hood can’t fault her that. The preliminary report he received from Red Robin showed him how smart she was. She’s also not one to suffer delusions and they’ve been fighting for months. It would have jaded anyone.

“But we send a new request for assistance every month,” Chat said, quiet and solemn beside his teammate. “It should have raised red flags that the same person sends the same request every month.”

“It should. We’ll look into it.”  

“Can you control your negative emotion?” Ladybug eventually asks. “Because we need help. Chat and I, we’re not detectives. We don’t know where to look or how to cross patterns or whatever else we would need to do in order to find Hawkmoth. We don’t have a helpful mentor to show us the way. But we’re also been fighting for months and Paris is ours. We’ll accept help gladly, but only from people who know how to control their negative emotions. We don’t want to face an akumatised hero, we have enough trouble with some civilians.”

And shit, but Jason hadn’t thought of that. From the curses in his ears, he isn’t the only one. Fuck magic, it makes everything more complicated.

“Maybe they could lend assistance from a distance?” Chat proposes, looking at Ladybug. “We could send them our data so they can look for Hawkmoth from a safe distance while we continue to take care of Akuma. And once we have a name or a location, we’ll finally put at end to it.”

“That’s a good idea, Chaton.” She raises an eyebrow in Red Hood’s direction.

“Works for me,” he shrugs. There’s a sharp ‘Red Hood’ in his ear, but Jason ignores it. The kids are right and Jason, at least, doesn’t want to know what an akumatised Red Hood could do. “Here.” He throws an extra com at Ladybug who catches it effortlessly. “I’ll be on my way, but we’re staying in contact. And send any data you can to the JLA so we can start working on your case.”

“Thank you.”

Ladybug smiles softly, but Chat waves exuberantly before Red Hood throws his grapping-hook to the nearest building. He hopes they can catch Hawkmoth quickly, and that they’ll both continue to hold on and that they’ll both be there to see their city free. They deserve it.

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And I’m going to stop there, before the plot bunnies can try to make me write more and lose interest.

The idea came when the sentence ‘This weird serial adopting nonsense wasn’t supposed to be inheritable!’ popped into my head and wouldn’t leave me alone. And then I wanted to address Chat’s attitude and Marinette’s crush, because while I like Adrien salt and Lukanette is my OTP, I like Adrinette too and Chat’s attitude, no matter what, is not okay.

I didn’t write it with a pairing in mind, though, so feel free to think of it as pre-Adrinette, Lukanette, Daminette or any other pairing you want. Or keep it gen if that’s your thing too. 

[anika-ann]

Ground Rules (for Love and War) - Pt.1

Of War and Peace

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader        Word count: 3860

Type: Two-shot, reader insert

Summary: Steve Rogers always has been a bit of a mystery – always polite, with a little bit of foot-in-mouth syndrome, unbelievingly kind and definitely good-looking – but a mystery anyway. He treated you differently from his friends. Why?

 You would never expect the ongoing prank war between Bucky and Sam to shed light on the matter.Of course, Tony Stark is also to blame. Whenever he isn’t? You are his assistant – you would know.

Warnings: silly pranks, blackout, attempt at humour, swearing… fluff and way too shy Steve

A/N: Loosely based on a request from AO3 from Call_Me_Mrs_Rogers: awkward flirtatious Steve and Tony’s-Assistant!Reader, Sam-Bucky prank war and a power-cut. Whole request in the notes under the first chapter.

Sam Wilson was a brave man, you thought.

An undoubtedly handsome, considerably capable, loyal to a fault, but first of all, an incredibly brave man.

That was the only logical explanation of him declaring a prank war to James Buchannan Barnes; and it started by the Falcon himself reminding everyone who followed his Twitter that Bucky’s middle name was indeed Buchannan and he loved to be called that.

The truth was that calling Bucky that name was bordering with dangerous. Pulling out a stunt like Sam had, now that was like singing up his own death sentence.

“Wilsoooon!” Bucky howled through the corridors and you jumped in your seat before smirking into your second cup of coffee that day.

You wondered what Sam had done this time. Ever since the first Twitter event, both Sam and Bucky were stepping up their game.

Social media pranks. Sugar-salt switching. Soaped door handles. Hair dye in shampoo. Itching powder. Glue on a mug. You name it.

They were like infants. Worse even. As if the Tower needed more men-children in it. As if Tony wasn’t enough.

Now, Tony Stark was a brilliant man; distracted, sarcastic, a maniacal scientist and a hero, whom you were honoured to call your boss. Except Pepper Potts was the one in charge, pulling the strings and hiring you after she had become the CEO of Stark Industries, because she could no longer be his assistant.

Because Tony Stark was a genius of a man-child who needed constant supervision. He needed a girl Friday and F.R.I.D.A.Y. sometimes wasn’t enough. Enter you. A glorious secretary with an engineering degree and enough patience to deal with him. Hand-picked by Virginia Potts herself, sometimes being chosen to go to a meeting with her to represent Tony’s intentions rather than him, since you were less likely to piss people off, being able to keep cockiness in check.

But damn, weren’t you proud.

Your train of thought was cut short as the former Winter Soldier strode into the communal kitchen with a stormy look on his face and sneezed on its way; four times. Loudly.

Your face twisted in sympathy.

“Haven’t seen him,” you answered before Bucky could collect himself enough to ask.

Another wall-shaking sneeze was his response.

Now that one was just cruel; as far as you knew, supersoldiers couldn’t get sick. So it was just the sneezing itself, whatever it was caused by. Still, you guessed it must have been horrible to go through that after so many years of blissful germ-freedom. Honestly, if you sneezed like after seven decades, you’d lose your shit. Why did it feel like your lungs were about to leave your body through your nose at the mere thought of it? Scary shit, alright.

Bucky growled and stalked away. Not before he nodded in thanks.

He left the room with another sneeze.

“Bless you,” you muttered under your breath and eyed your tablet.

Tony was asleep as he had stayed awake until two a.m. working on the newest upgrade for the security of the Tower, so technically, you had time to enjoy your coffee in relative peace.

Naturally, peace was a short supply in the Tower, the home to the Avengers.

When Pepper had first offered you to simply move in since you spent the most of your time there, you had been reluctant. It had only been a week in and while you met some of the team members, finding out they were far less intimidating than they presented themselves to the press, it sounded… overwhelming to stay there 24/7. However, you had been quickly persuaded after you nearly passed out, because your sleep schedule was a mess, consisting of either passing out on the couch in the Tower or making it home only to fall asleep before your head hit the pillow, and being woken up by an urgent call from the Ironman himself two hours later.

Living in the Tower had its downsides and its upsides.

Downside was that it rarely got quiet and it was the perfect target for any supervillain as it had all of the Earth’s mightiest heroes in one place. Constant supervision from an artificial intelligence was as reassuring as concerning.

As for the upsides… you hadn’t expected to actually… befriend the Avengers. You certainly wouldn’t guess that once Natasha Romanoff warmed up to you, she was a great friend, a female element alongside Pepper that the Tower and the team sorely needed. The times you bonded over the aforementioned men-children were one of the best in your life.

Clint was a lot of fun, though you had soon adopted the habit of making a pot of coffee just for him, since you were usually the one to get up from bed before him and talking to him pre-coffee was the risk equivalent to touching Sam’s snacks.

Bruce… kept for himself a lot. But when he came out of his shell, either liberated by alcohol or when discussing science with Tony, he would radiate an aura anyone would be happy to bask in.

Sam was the ray of sunshine, gentle with a lot of fun stacked behind the chocolate eyes of his, but once he got into the same room and Bucky… oh boy.

The silently charming grumpy supersoldier added to the team in a way you wouldn’t see coming – perfectly. Except that he and Sam were always in each other’s hair. Always bickering; one that sometimes resulted in a war. Occasionally funny; other times utterly annoying. Rright now, you felt like it was something in between.

“Good morning,” sounded pleasantly from the door, where the last member of the peculiar household stood, seemingly hesitant.

Oh. Steve Rogers. That was right. Your biggest guilty pleasure. That man was a pure eye-candy, a body perfected by the serum only to protect the great man hiding in it. You didn’t have many opportunities to truly know him; but whenever you saw him, he had an air around him, greatness and kindness, yet somehow fogged by modesty.

At times, he appeared sheepish almost, but always polite. To you anyway. His friends were a different story; it saddened you occasionally, that he didn’t consider you a friend, not really giving you a chance, treating you differently. You suspected it was because you weren’t a fighter; while assisting Tony nearly 24/7, it was obvious that the billionaire tried his best to keep you away from the danger zone as much as possible.

The arms-long distance Steve Rogers kept you at was causing you a heart-ache at times, yet you had a feeling he didn’t have any particular dislike for you; only that he treated you differently. Always polite. Always a pleasant interaction.

You couldn’t help but smile at him, his usual running outfit and tousled hair giving away he was coming back from his everyday morning routine of what was probably like thirty miles or something.

“Good morning, Steve. Had a nice run?”

Looking himself up, slightly guiltily, he scratched the back of his neck. It occurred to you that he was embarrassed at not being the most cleaned-up version of himself in front of you – a woman –, which you found adorable. His forties-man was showing.

“Yeah. Yes. Thank you. Did you… sleep well?” he queried, shifting by the door.

“Yes, actually… are you going to stand there all day?” you teased him lightly and the corners of his lips twitched as his gaze fell to the floor, his shoulder finally bouncing off the door-frame.

“I just didn’t want to disturb your moment of peace…”

Your chest felt warmer at such admission. What a sweet thought.

“That is very kind of you,” you praised him as he gestured to the coffee pot, checking with you if it was for everyone’s use. You nodded and chuckled at the tinniest flaw in his thoughtfulness. “Except you were beaten about a minute and half by a much grumpier and louder supersoldier.”

Steve groaned and leaned onto the counter. “Let me guess: Sam proceeded with another prank.”

You made a finger gun at him, grinning. “Exactly. I don’t know how he did it, but I don’t think I ever heard a person sneeze that loud. And that often. Poor Bucky.”

“Bucky brought this upon himself. He deserves it,” Steve grumbled, sipping at the coffee, his eyelids sliding shut blissfully. You were pretty sure that something resembling a moan resonated in his chest, which… didn’t do a thing to you. Didn’t bring thoughts that were not about caffeinated beverages, but something slightly dirtier. Nope. Nothing. Like… at all.

You stood up from you stool and gathered your stuff, ignoring the way your heart suddenly sped up.

“Well, I just hope we can all keep sane before this particular battle of their war is over,” you hummed, every word honest and hopeful. “These two might bring the Tower down. As if Tony wasn’t enough…”

“Very true. I’ll try and keep an eye on them… try,” he emphasized when your nose scrunched with a bit of doubt and you made a so-so motion with your free hand.

“Bold move. I hope you don’t get caught in the middle. Though I’m sure you could pull the blue-hair look unlike Bucky…”

Why did I just say that?

Smiling softly into his cup despite his eyes going wide in horror, he took a deep breath and looked you straight in the eye. The brightness of his irises had your breath caught in your chest.

“So am I. You… uhm, you look beautiful today, by the way,” he complimented you sweetly, his gaze swiftly glancing over your outfit and casual hairstyle. And for a good reason; having to assist Pepper on a meeting today, you had been chosen to wear a pink ladies suit and a white shirt. You had expected to look like a ridiculous copy of cotton candy – you had not anticipated to… actually look presentable. Feminine even. You.

Your cheeks matched the colours of your jacket at the praise; Steve’s shoulders straightened.

“I meant… not that you usually don’t. I was… uhm, I like the… the look on you. The one you have today,” he stumbled over his words and suddenly your whole body felt warm, pleasantly and yet embarrassingly.

“Thank… thank you. Have a nice day, Steve,” you nearly squeaked, threw a quick smile over your shoulder and rushed from the kitchen.

Oh yeah.

Steve… he would often utter a compliment, like a proper gentleman he was, treating women right. Except you never heard him say such thing to Natasha, who was far easier on the eyes. Or to Pepper. He would open the door for you, reached the top shelves when you needed it, always offering a helping hand, shy and gentle smiles, so… diverse to how he was when with the Avengers.

No, Steve Rogers didn’t treat you like his friend.

And god knew that the day you figured out if that was a good thing or a bad thing would be the day of solving the biggest enigma of the new millennium.

Unknown to you, Steve melted into the counter, putting down his cup of coffee and groaned at his utter inability to flirt.

“I swear, man, before you manage to give her a normal compliment without putting your foot in your mouth, someone else will snatch her,” Sam commented, having just sneaked into the kitchen to grab a three protein bars, cautiously scanning his surroundings.

Steve shot him a glare. “Thank you, Sam, you’re being very helpful. Has Bucky found you yet?”

“Shh! Don’t say his name! Do that two more times and he will app-“

“Wilson! You- ACHOO- fhakhin’ bird- ACHOOO-brain!” Bucky’s voice thundered through the whole floor and Steve smirked with satisfaction.

Sam’s body turned to stone, his eyes horrified and yet endlessly amused.

“Sorry, Cap, gotta go! But for God’s sake, just ask her out before we all go insane here…”

“Says the guy who cursed a supersoldier with sniffles!” Steve called after the disappearing figure exasperatedly, only to hear Sam’s laughter in the distance.

༻༺༻༺༻༺༻���༺༻༺༻༺༻༺

“Silly circuit! What’s wrong with you? Do you have no decency? Just work…” you mumbled under your breath, eyes glued to the interface from a way too short distance, but you didn’t care for your health at this point. You just wanted to fix this.

“Is it talking back?” a hesitant and yet teasing voice asked, making you nearly jump out of your skin. Your head snapped up in surprise.

“Steve. Hey,” you welcomed him briefly, shocked at the vision of the supersoldier in the workshop. “What brings you to our dungeon?”

“Coffee break,” he wiggled two coffee cups in his hands pointedly and beckoned towards the clock that… read ten in the evening. Oh. You didn’t realize you had been down here for so long. “Something tells me you didn’t have one in a while. Am I… overstepping?”

Your cheeks flushed similarly to his as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, reluctant to cross the distance between you.

Coffee honestly sounded heavenly now. And with delivery and perhaps some company? Not bad, not bad at all…

“Oh. No! No, that’s just… I’m surprised,” you admitted. “I mean, you’re always nice to me, of course, but… eh, sorry, my people skills are lacking at this time of day. Remind me how to tell-- gosh, I can’t even word, I mean speak-- you really do have a point about that coffee break.”

You chuckled, a palm over your forehead, fighting the urge to run it down your face in embarrassment at you babbling.

Steve, ever the gentleman, tried to hush his laughter at least partly, the sound coming out subtle and cute. He held out one of the cups for you and you instantly sipped at it reverently with your eyelids fluttering close, barely registering his soft: “Well, here you go.”

“Thank you, Steve.”

“You’re welcome. What are you working on?”

Surprised once more by his query, you took another vehement sip of coffee before placing the cup in safe distance and answering.

“Eh, just some glitch in Natasha’s Bites. I think she fried it, using the electromotive units too much during the last mission and now the interface is misbehaving and we would rather avoid her accidently electrocuting people, god forbid, herself.”

“…that we would,” Steve agreed, blinking at you, seemingly a bit dumbstruck, but a twinkle of mischief reflected in his irises. “Looks like the coffee is kicking in pretty quick. You have no problem with wording now.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle self-depreciatingly. He wasn’t wrong.

What threw you off balance was that he was… having a conversation with you, a playful one, so atypical of him – at least as far as it was concerning you – and… it felt truly nice. It did things to your stomach, a pleasant fluttery sensation and you quickly downed the rest of your cup, wondering if it was the shot of caffeine. You were about 97% sure that it wasn’t the cause.

“Har, har, Captain Rogers. I’ll have you know that it’s only my human skills that gets progressively pathetic with my caffeine levels running low, not my ability to say big words. Anyway, what’s got into you tonight? There’s something different about you… not that I’m complaining!”

Once more, his reaction took you aback. He flashed you a quick smile before lowering his gaze, holding up both of his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Guilty as charged. Sam might have found me making coffee for two and decided to give me a pep talk. He told me, and I quote, to suck it up and just spit it out. … And then made me take a sip from Thor’s flask.”

Your heart started beating its way out of your chest, a mixture of panic and excitement at his admission.

“Sounds like he’s a good friend then. Is there something on your mind? That you need to… spit out?”

“Yeah,” he confessed, peeking at your from under his rich eyelashes, shy but determined gaze settling on you as he leant onto the counter behind him. “I feel like… things I want to say tend to come out wrong. I… I’d like to know you better. If that would be alright with you.”

You felt endlessly grateful that moment, that the words ‘my jaw went slack’ were only a figure of speech, because otherwise you would have looked very comical and very much stupid. Still, your lips parted, the flutter in your stomach growing in intensity.

“…oh,” you breathed out intelligently, only to realize he had actually asked a question. Kinda. And he was waiting for you to answer. “Uhm… yes. Yes, I’d love to do the same. I… I admit I thought that maybe you just weren’t interested in further interaction, because I’m not on the team-“

“No! That’s not it at all, I swear,” he rushed to reassure you, sending a tiny pleased smile at your approval. “It’s just… like I said. I’m always tripping over myself around you, putting my foot in my mouth and- and things I want to say sound less awkward in my head.”

Tripping over himself around me? That sounded… nope, that couldn’t be it. Right? Except your heart was now hammering against your ribcage in excitement at the possibility, turning more real every second he was looking at you and dammit, do not give into the silly hope that Steve Rogers might actually like like you.

“Steve, you’re literally the nicest guy I’ve ever met. I like to think about you as sweet, not awkward.” Now wow, really, sweet? That was way too much, dummy. Except he smiled shyly, his eyes lightening up at the compliment and your fingertips tingled at the sweet display of delight. He relaxed further, settling more comfortably against the counter. “Now, what do you want to know?”

“Anything,” he shrugged, the corners of his lips still up in invitation, an encouragement to share with him anything you were willing to.

“Well, you clearly already know how I take my coffee…”

Hint of darker pink coloured his cheeks, much to your glee.

“How did you end up working for Tony?”

“First of all, we all know I’m working for Pepper…”

He laughed at that, but listened patiently after, watching you work as you told him about your mum always being away on business trips and your father taking you to his workshop to keep your child’s mind occupied, teaching you stuff that was way too complicated for a little girl, but fascinating at the same time, showing you direction when you turned the age of making the big career decisions.

“Applying for this insane position wasn’t a spur of the moment. Pepper sent out e-mails to candidates she picked – I didn’t even know about the position opening, she simply used some of Tony’s searching tools and wrote people of whom she thought might handle the job. It was a little scary, to be honest. First, I thought there was no way for me to sign up for that; it would mean basically no personal life and I never wanted to be like my mum, never home…. But then it occurred to me how proud she would be of me, much like dad is and… I thought that it doesn’t have to be forever, you know. I can work here now and switch to something else when I decide to be a mum. Of course, I can see now, unlike when I was a kid and teenager, that she tried, but… I realized lots of that stuff only after she died and it’s just… I’m sorry she wasn’t there and that I didn’t try harder to appreciate her.”

You couldn’t fathom when you started pouring your heart to him or when your eyes started burning, but suddenly his hand was there, gently squeezing yours, his wide shoulders as if shielding you from the rest of the world simply by standing by your side and your eyes closed of their own account, your body strangely comfortable in Steve’s huge presence.

“I’m sure she knew,” he whispered warmly.

You smiled at him through the tears you had failed to keep at bay. “Sorry. Now whose mouth is loose. I bet you didn’t expect me oversharing when you said you wanted to know me better.”

“No, I didn’t,” he confirmed, observing your face with a mixture of laughter at your joke and compassion at your outburst. “I appreciate that you’re willing to share something so big with me. Thank you.”

“It’s that eyes of yours. They made me spill my guts.”

He didn’t point out that your focus was on the device on the table and not his eyes, pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket instead. He gave it to you, never letting go of your other hand.

“Oh wow,” you only commented, no more words needed. Who the hell still carried-

Steve groaned silently. “Please don’t make any old man jokes.”

“I was about to compliment your chivalry.”

“Sure you were,” he grumbled, but his mouth was curled up in a grin, so you assumed he wasn’t too offended by your reaction.

Staring at the dazzling display of perfect teeth, you missed another person coming in; until their shocked voice snapped you from your trance.

“Whoa, what’s happening?” Bucky blurted out, bewildered at the scene in front of him.

You jumped away from Steve as if you got burned, your hand slipping from his. To be fair, so did he.

When had you got to standing in such intimate proximity anyway? Christ, something must have got into the air vents. You’d blame the Barnes-Wilson war for that… not that you complained. Having Steve standing so close, offering comfort without a single word of complaint after listening to you pouring your heart to him… you weren’t entirely joking when saying you were about to commend his chivalry.

Steve cleared his throat, his voice hoarse as if he had been the one crying. “Bucky? What can I do for you?”

Bucky frowned first at his best friend and then at you, his gaze flickering between the two of you before settling on you, a worried wrinkle appearing on his forehead.

“You alright, dollface? Do I need to punch Captain Foot-in-the-Mouth in his face?” he beckoned his chin towards Steve and you instantly shook your head, still too caught off guard to find your voice.

“Buck, please…”

“It’s a relevant question, Steve. And I’d do it if she asked.”

A surprised chuckle escaped your lips and you offered Bucky a grateful smile, only to grin up at Steve before wiping the rest of your tears.

“You seem to have very supportive friends, Steve,” you remarked.

“You have no idea. What did you need?”

“Nothing from you, punk,” Bucky smirked and shifted his attention fully to you. “FRIDAY told me you needed me in here? Something about an upgrade for my arm? Which I don’t need-”

“… which is why I’m not working on such thing,” you said, baffled. Should you be working on Bucky’s arm?

The former Winter Soldier had an utter confusion written all over his face.

“Huh? Then why-?”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence.

The workshop was suddenly swallowed by darkness, stunning him into silence.

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Part 2 ༻༺༻༺༻༺༻❁༺༻༺༻༺༻༺

Tags: @mermaidxatxheart @cxptain​ @smilexcaptainx​

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Original request: Basically, the reader is Tony's assistant and she's in and around the tower 24/7. Steve really likes her and in the rare times that she's able to get away from her work, she really likes him. They're always flirting with each other in the slightly awkward old-man way Steve has but they never actually get together. Bucky and Sam decide to get creative and start a prank war. The only problem is that they cause a power-cut and because of Tony's high-tech stuff, Y/N, Steve and Bucky are trapped in a room together with a bit of food, a board game (monopoly?) and some candles. Maybe Y/N just finished training and was in her small, tight outfits and Steve couldn't keep his eyes off her. Could the whole thing be full of sexual innuendos but NO SMUT PLEASE! Anyway, Bucky does something (maybe he sticks his foot out and Y/N trips over it into Steve's arms? Idk, I'm not good at this...) and they end up kissing or whatever?

Sorry for not completely following the script requested, I focused more on what my keyboard dictated O:-) I did say I was terrible with given scenarios. Hopefully you’ll enjoy at least a bit anyway. I can’t see myself filling any other request in my life, but I did have fun with this ;)

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Thank you for reading!

[ominousunflower]

Glad It’s You

for Day 27 (Naps) of @adrinetteapril

Summary: After fighting four late-night akumas in a row, the heroes of Paris are desperately in need of a nap. (Post-reveal, pre-relationship.)

Word count: 3147

Read on AO3

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With ten minutes of class left, the sound of a book slamming against the desk startles Adrien awake.

“Sorry, Madamoiselle Bustier!” Nino says, as the entire class turns to him. “I, uh, was testing the acoustics in here.”

A vague frown flits across Madamoiselle Bustier’s face. “Please test the acoustics outside of class time, Nino. Now, as I was saying, several of the themes in Shakespeare’s plays recur in popular works today…”

Adrien yawns and slumps back in his seat, struggling to keep his eyes open.

“Dude,” Nino hisses. “I’m running out of ways to keep you awake.”

He has a point. In the past fifteen minutes, Nino has dropped his book, kicked Adrien’s leg, faked a coughing fit, hit the desk to “kill” a bug, and yelled, Wow, look at that fat pigeon outside! And none of it has kept Adrien awake for more than a few seconds.

“Sorry,” Adrien mumbles. His jaw stretches in another yawn. “I was up late doing homework last night.”

“Are you in extra secret classes I don’t know about?” Nino whispers. “Because I’m pretty sure you have just as much homework as the rest of us.”

“Modeling,” Adrien says with a shrug, which is his go-to excuse whenever I was up all night fighting akumas and sentimonstres won’t do.

A few seconds of silence pass, during which Adrien nearly nods off again. Then a loud shriek from behind him sends a jolt through his veins, and he jumps to his feet, scanning the room for danger.

“Alya,” Madamoiselle Bustier says, her voice edged with exasperation. “Are you alright?”

That was Alya? Adrien hadn’t even recognized her voice. He’s not sure he’s ever heard her make a sound like that.

“I thought I saw a spider,” Alya says.

“Don’t you like spiders?” Alix asks.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t be startled by one!” Alya says. “Sorry, Madamoiselle Bustier. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Sighing, Adrien lowers himself into his seat, his heart still pounding from adrenaline.

Nino snorts. “Looks like Marinette is having trouble staying awake, too.”

Adrien twists in his seat to look at Marinette—his confidante, his partner, and, of course, the secret love of his life. (Or maybe not-so-secret, considering he’s confessed his love on multiple occasions.) Their eyes meet, and Marinette gives him a bleary-eyed smile that crinkles the shadows under her eyes.

“You too?” he whispers.

She nods. “No amount of caffeine can save me.”

“Oh? So the sight of my stunning face doesn’t get your blood pumping?”

Marinette rolls her eyes, and just that simple action makes Adrien’s heart skip a beat. He’d thought it would take years for him and Marinette to have this sort of casual camaraderie—and then, to his delight, he’d discovered that she was Ladybug, and Marinette had discovered that he was Chat Noir.

After the inevitable week-or-so of awkwardness—during which Marinette compulsively made cat puns every time she saw him, and Adrien tripped over his feet every time he saw her—they’d settled into a comfortable rhythm, and now, it’s as if they’ve been best friends since birth.

“Please pay attention, you four,” Madamoiselle Bustier says. Adrien reluctantly tears his eyes away from Marinette and turns back around. “I’d rather not rearrange the seating chart, but I will separate you four if I have to.”

They all blurt out assorted apologies, and with a nod, Madamoiselle Bustier continues with the lesson.

Somehow, despite the fog in his brain, Adrien makes it to the end of class without falling asleep again. As soon as the bell rings and everyone begins gathering their things, though, he folds his arms and buries his face in them.

Behind Adrien, Alya says, “Marinette! You awake? Are you getting lunch with me and Nino?”

“I—” Marinette breaks off, audibly yawning. “I think I’ll go home for lunch so that I can take a nap.”

“Good plan,” Alya says. “You look exhausted.”

“Probably because I am?”

“Listen,” Alya says, “I’m all for productivity. But maybe you should take on a little less work? You’re barely getting any sleep with all these commissions.”

Ah, if only it was a question of taking on less work. Adrien is sure that Marinette, like him, would love to be fighting fewer akumas. Unfortunately, Papillon’s supervillain agenda doesn’t seem to take their sleep schedules into account.

Adrien wonders when Papillon even sleeps, since he seems to send akumas at every possible time. Do he and Mayura take shifts using the Butterfly Miraculous? Is Papillon an insomniac? Or does he just set an alarm on his phone before he goes to bed? Siri, set an alarm to “send akuma, muahaha” at 02:48, please.  

“What about you, dude?” Nino asks. He nudges Adrien’s arm. “You going home for lunch?”

“Mm.” Adrien slowly lifts his head and glances in Nino’s general direction. “Yeah, I don’t really have a choice. But maybe I can get a nap in, too.”

“You two go ahead!” Marinette says. “I’ll wait for Adrien.”

Alya and Nino say their goodbyes, and then Adrien and Marinette are sitting alone in the classroom.

“Come on,” Marinette says, patting Adrien’s shoulder. “The sooner we go home and eat, the sooner we can sleep.”

“Screw Papillon,” Adrien says in response. He gets to his feet and nearly topples over, his head swimming with sleepiness. Marinette’s hand on his arm steadies him, and he turns toward her and lets his forehead fall against her shoulder. “I’m sick of this,” Adrien mumbles against Marinette’s shirt. “I mean, it’s been, what? Five nights in a row with akumas and sentimonstres? Or has it been six?”

“Only four, actually,” Marinette says. She pats his back. “He’ll slow down eventually, minou. We just have to push through.”

“Ugh.” Adrien slumps against Marinette, reveling in how soft and warm she feels. “I think I could nap right here.”

“Not an option,” Marinette pokes his cheek. “Let’s go. We’re wasting precious naptime by standing here.”

Grumbling to himself, Adrien shoves his books and papers into his bag—not caring that his homework sheet gets crumpled and ripped in the process—then slings the bag over his shoulder and follows Marinette out of the classroom.

Their arms brush as they walk, a habit formed from being Ladybug and Chat Noir for so long. The two are used to casual touches, to staying close so that they don’t get separated, and those habits have carried over into their civilian lives. Of course, Adrien’s not complaining, even if Marinette’s gentle touch sometimes makes his face flush bright red.

Really, how is it possible that she’s Ladybug? It makes perfect sense, and yet, he hadn’t thought that Marinette Dupain-Cheng could get any more amazing. Occasionally, he still has trouble wrapping his head around the concept.

“Hey,” Adrien says, bumping his shoulder against Marinette’s as they start down the stairs. “We’re a pretty great team, huh?”

Marinette laughs. “You’re always saying random things like that.”

“It’s not random,” Adrien says with a blush—though really, given how tired his brain is, he’s not sure he’s able to hold a coherent conversation. “We’re a great team, so no amount of sleepiness can make us lose.”

“Well,” Marinette says, a smirk tugging at her lips, “that may be true, but—eek!”

She stumbles and pitches forward, and Adrien wraps his arms around her, pulling her against him before she can tumble down the stairs.

“Careful, buginette,” he says, leaning close until their noses are almost touching. To his delight, she doesn’t pull away. “Falling down the stairs might be quicker, but I imagine it’s a lot more painful, too.”

“I—uh.” Marinette blinks her bright eyes, the ones that make Adrien fall more in love every time they look at him. “Nice reflexes.”

“Thanks. I try.”

She jabs a finger against his chest. “But you could have caught me without hugging me, you touchy-feely tomcat.”

“Well,” Adrien says. He fumbles for a response, which is hard when he’s exhausted and holding onto the girl he loves. “We’re standing on an es-câlin-er, aren’t we?”

“You’re awful,” Marinette says, wriggling away from him. Adrien grudgingly lets go of her, since she seems to have regained her balance. “That pun wasn’t even endearingly bad. It was just bad.”

“Rude,” Adrien says. Marinette begins to descend the stairs again, and he instinctively grabs her hand in case she trips a second time. “Do you know how hard it is to pun on one hour of sleep? I’m doing my best.”

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Marinette teases.

Adrien smirks. “For you, my lady, the sacrifice is worth it.”

Marinette just snorts and rolls her eyes again.

When they reach the bottom of the stairs, Adrien releases Marinette’s hand. Her fingers stubbornly cling to his for a moment, though he supposes it’s just her slow reaction time.

“Um, so,” he says, as they cross the courtyard. “I guess you don’t want to get lunch together today? Since we’re both trying to catch up on sleep?”

That’s another new development, since they learned each other’s identities: spending their lunch breaks together. Although Adrien’s father doesn’t let him eat lunch at school, he doesn’t care whether Adrien eats lunch in the dining room or his bedroom. Lately, then, Adrien has been taking his food upstairs, and Marinette has been sneaking into his bedroom as Ladybug. It’s a thousand times better than sitting alone at the end of a big empty table, and Adrien cherishes any chance he has to spend more time with Marinette.

“I can still come by!” Marinette says. “I’ll just leave a little early so that I have time to go home and sleep.”

You could sleep in my room, Adrien thinks, but he decides to keep that suggestion to himself. “Sounds good,” he says instead. “I’ll text you once my food is brought up.”

They go their separate ways once they reach the sidewalk, and Adrien slowly climbs into his car. Somehow, he almost falls asleep on the brief ride to his house, but when the car stops, he rallies just enough to drag himself inside the mansion.

Nathalie meets him at the door. “Are you eating in your room today?”

“Yeah,” Adrien says, yawning. “Have the cook send the food upstairs, please.”

The moment he sets foot in his room, he pivots toward his bed and trudges toward it, kicking off his shoes as he does.

Energetic as ever, Plagg phases through Adrien’s bag and circles his head, making him slightly dizzy. Although Adrien isn’t the biggest fan of camembert, he envies Plagg for being able to recharge just from eating the stuff.

“Ah, the good life,” Plagg says. “Slacking off in the middle of the day, sneaking your lady love into your room for a surreptitious date—”

“It’s not a date,” Adrien mumbles. “It’s just lunch.”

“Yes, and that’s entirely beyond me,” Plagg says. “You’re in love with her, and she’s clearly in love with you, so it only seems natural that—”

“Sleep,” Adrien says, as he throws himself onto his mattress. “Too tired for romance. Naptime.”

“Well, that’s a first,” Plagg says, his voice receding as he flies off toward a bowl of snacks on the coffee table. “Not that I’m complaining. You’re unbearable when you go on and on about your bug.”

A minute later, there’s a quiet knock on the door.

“Come in,” Adrien says, his words muffled by his pillow.

The door opens, and footsteps pad over to the nightstand by his bed. Adrien hears the sound of a tray being set down, and then the footsteps retreat just as quickly as they arrived.

“Thank you,” Adrien mumbles, and the door clicks shut.

His mind floats toward dreamland, vague shapes moving behind his eyelids, snippets of sound swirling in his head as he slips into sleep. His body feels heavy, sinking all too happily into the mattress as he finally gets the rest he needs.

“Adrien?” a quiet voice asks.

Adrien curls up, his fingers digging into the blanket. “Mm.”

“Oh!” the voice says. It kind of sounds like Marinette. Or Ladybug…Maribug. Ladynette? Whichever. He loves all of them. “You’re sleeping. I guess that explains why you didn’t text me! Um, I brought my lunch, but I can just take it home and let you nap.”

“Wait,” Adrien murmurs. He flails an arm out, blindly reaching toward the voice. “Sleep.”

“Yes, I’ll let you sleep! That’s what I said.”

“No.” Adrien summons every ounce of strength in his body to turn his head, peering up at the girl standing next to his bed. Maribug is transformed right now, wearing her red and black suit with a yo-yo strapped to her waist. “Detransform and sleep.” Eyes fluttering shut, he pats the mattress next to him.

“Oh. B-but—but that’s your bed. And you’re in it.”

Adrien whines and lifts his arm again, beckoning Ladynette toward him.

“I guess I can sit here until you wake up,” she says. “That won’t hurt, right? Right.”

Adrien hopes she’s talking to herself, because he’s too tired to respond. The mattress dips as she sits next to him, and Adrien immediately snuggles closer, wrapping an arm around her waist. His fingers dig into loose cloth, like a shirt, and he realizes that she must have detransformed without him hearing.

He cracks his eyes open just long enough to look up at her face. Marinette squeaks, staring down at him with wide eyes. Smiling, Adrien closes his eyes and presses his face to her side.

Fingers stroke his hair, scratching the spot where his cat ears would be if he was transformed. Adrien feels a familiar warmth bloom in his chest, the kind that would become a purr if he was Chat Noir right now.

“Lie down,” Adrien murmurs, his words barely coherent. “You need sleep.”

He hears Marinette yawn above him. “Well…it would be a waste to go home, now that I’m here. Maybe just a few minutes.”

The mattress dips again, and Marinette shifts beneath Adrien’s arm, sliding down the mattress until his arm is draped across her waist. He doesn’t need to open his eyes to know that she’s stretched out alongside him—he can feel it, the same way he senses her movements during battle without looking.

For a minute, Adrien hovers on the edge of sleep, acutely aware of the space between their bodies. Heat-seeking, touch-starved, he’d love to close it; but the first move is Marinette’s to make, not his. She already knows where he stands.

Then, just before he drifts off, the space disappears. Marinette’s arm wraps around his waist, pulling them closer together, and she presses her cheek to his chest.

And suddenly, Adrien is very, very awake.

He holds his breath, afraid that this is a mistake—afraid that she’ll change her mind or retreat at the slightest touch. Her face is warm against his chest, her fingers idly toying with the hem of his shirt, and Adrien can sense each breath she takes, can hear the occasional sigh accompanying her exhales.

Even though he’s frozen in fear, he’s pretty sure he’s in heaven.

“Relax,” Marinette mutters. “You’re too tense.”

Adrien’s breath gusts from his lungs in a laugh, and he tightens his arm around Marinette’s waist, tugging her closer. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” he says.

“I’m very comfortable,” she says. “This mattress is way nicer than mine.”

Adrien hums. “Well, my window’s always open, you know.”

Marinette snorts and nuzzles against him. “It sounds like you’re propositioning me.”

“You know I’m innocent.” Adrien hesitantly moves his hand to Marinette’s back. “Is this okay?”

“Mm hm.” A moment later, Marinette’s foot brushes against one of Adrien’s calves, her leg settling over his. “Is this okay?”

“Y-yeah.” Taking a deep breath, Adrien rests his chin against the top of Marinette’s head. Every point of contact he makes between them, he feels like he’s stepping off the edge of a cliff, falling into a ravine that could either hold spikes or a trampoline at the bottom. “You know, I wish we had more moments like this.”

“Hugging?”

“Resting,” Adrien says. He sighs. “I know I said we’re unstoppable, and we are…”

“But?”

“I’m tired,” Adrien whispers. “Marinette, I’m exhausted. And so are you. I don’t know how we’re going to keep this up.”

Marinette is silent for a long moment. “We have to,” she finally says.

“Yeah,” Adrien says. He runs his hand up and down Marinette’s back, then reaches up to play with one of her pigtails. “I guess we do.”

“We’ll figure it out,” she says, and her words are less clear this time, garbled by sleepiness.

“Like we always do,” Adrien says, allowing himself a small smile.

“That’s right. You and me, against the—” Marinette breaks off in a yawn. “Against the world.”

Hearing his words from her mouth—words he wasn’t even sure she remembered—Adrien feels his cheeks heat with a blush. Grateful that she can’t see his face, he presses his lips to the top of her head in a featherlight kiss.

Marinette moves, and Adrien’s afraid she’s about to scold him. Instead, though, she tilts her head back and presses her lips to his jaw, a soft kiss that doesn’t quite reach his cheek.

Adrien’s face burns hotter, and he buries his face in her hair to hide his blush.

Marinette giggles, her body shaking against his. “You blush easily.”

“I don’t,” Adrien mutters.

“It’s cute.”

“Oh.” Adrien swallows nervously. “Um, so maybe I blush a little.”

Marinette laughs again. When she doesn’t say anything else right away, Adrien thinks maybe she’s fallen asleep—but then she murmurs, “I’m glad it’s you.”

Adrien frowns. Does she mean that she’s glad it’s him she’s cuddling with? Or something else?

“I know we’ve known each other’s identities for a while,” Marinette says, “but—I don’t know if I ever said that. I’m glad you’re my partner, Adrien.”

“Oh,” Adrien breathes. He tentatively moves his hand to cup the back of Marinette’s neck, his thumb stroking the spot behind her ear. Marinette’s words have his heart racing, almost enough to overcome the exhaustion seeping through his bones. “You’re not usually this forthcoming, buginette.”

“I’m too tired to be embarrassed,” she says. “But I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“Mm.” Adrien resists the urge to kiss her head again. “I’m glad it’s you, too, you know.”

“That’s nice,” Marinette mumbles, and Adrien laughs. He can tell she’s drifting off now, her words barely enunciated, her body going lax in his arms.

And having her so close—having her arms wrapped around him, and his around her—he’s never felt safer. He’s never been more certain that they fit together perfectly. And somehow, he’s never been more in love with her.

Smiling, Adrien closes his eyes and lets himself drift away with the girl in his arms.

[charliejrogers]

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) - Review & Analysis

Here’s a non-controversial statement: 2017’s Wonder Woman is a legitimately great film (if you discount the last act’s boring battle). A fun, yet emotional anti-war tale with a great period aesthetic. What elevated it from greatness was its starkly bleak reveal that Ares does not start man’s wars, but he merely gives humans ideas for how to instigate them. Ultimately, it is Man who holds responsibility for our own destruction, and despite this Wonder Woman still chooses to help us poor creatures. Cool themes, cool hero, cool movie.

Wonder Woman 1984 shares the main character from its 2017 forerunner, as well as its dedication to recreating a particular period aesthetic (here the 1980s), but the brilliant writing from the first film is gone. The main themes are essentially… “be careful what you wish for” and “winners never cheat; cheaters never win.” Not the most grand and interesting follow-up to the prior film’s genuine insight into human nature.

But that’s OK. I’m really not sure why this movie is getting so much flak online. If DC’s recent prior history with filmmaking should have taught us anything, it’s that 2017’s Wonder Woman was a fluke. Remember that this is the same studio that brought us the outstanding climax to Batman vs. Superman where one grown man learns that another grown man’s mother is also named Martha. Oh, and did we all just forget that Justice League is one of the worst movies we have all collectively ever seen?

So let’s not be too hard on WW84 for not meeting the quality of 2017’s Wonder Woman. Few comic book movies can. In the more fair comparison to other movies in the DCEU, it sits below Shazam! and Aquaman, and just a smidge below Birds of Prey, but certainly above Suicide Squad, and then literally leaps and bounds over every other movie they’ve made.

Let’s start with the good. Honestly, despite my gripes about the themes of the movie not being very profound, I found the story to be interesting. The movie centers around Diana Prince (Gal Gadot in her role as an archaeologist for the Smithsonian and not as Wonder Woman) stumbling upon an ancient stone whose inscription invites people who hold the stone to make a wish. No one takes it really seriously at first, so two people make wishes without thinking they could come true. The first person is Diana herself who wishes to bring her boyfriend (whom she only knew for about a week, mind you) from the dead. As a reminder from the first film, her boyfriend Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) had died nearly 70 years prior to the start of this film in a dramatic, sacrificial, world-saving act. Apparently, Diana hasn’t moved on at all from the 1910s and still considers her short-time lover to be her forever lover. She’s not really a human and did not grow up a human, so I think we can forgive her for not moving on… but it is weird to imagine that Diana somehow works at the Smithsonian (without going to college? Or did she?) without developing any friends or interest in life. Wouldn’t she have moved on... like a little bit?

Anyways, she wants her boyfriend back, and that’s wish #1. Wish #2 comes from new character Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig… who I am shocked to find is 47 years old! She looks fantastic and far younger in this film). Were Barbara a man, the way she is treated by her colleagues would put them in the stereotypical role of a future school shooter. Barbara is a brilliant gemologist for the Smithsonian, but goes completely unrecognized for her brilliance. She is shy and unconfident, and subsequently people frequently forget that they have even met her. Add on to that the fact that she has to work in the same office as Wonder Woman, and her loneliness and subjective feelings of unattractiveness increase as male employees drool over Diana while they ignore and mock Barbara. Therefore, we would forgive her for having a chip on her shoulder. Yet, for all this, Wiig avoids playing her as an angry, emo goth. Barbara kinda has this air about her of “Well, this is just how life is, and there’s nothing I can do to change that.” Given the character’s lack of self-confidence and lack of social grace, it at times seemed like Wiig was just reprising her old SNL character, Penelope, the socially awkward one-upper. But that’s not fair to her character. Wiig portrays Barbara with an earnest goodness to her. She’s one of those people who when allowed to talk one-on-one proves to be more eloquent and interesting than you could have imagine. Far from being angrily envious of Diana’s confidence and beauty, she’s more sadly jealous. Naturally, then, she wishes on the stone to be more like Diana… unaware that this wish might have some unintended benefits.

But then, there’s a third key character to the film (and a third wishmaker), the main villain Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal). I cannot tell you if this was a good character or not… and I cannot tell you whether the imperfections of the character are more due to the film’s writing or Pascal’s performance. Lord is another loser, and like Barbara, his “loser” status is the result of being a victim of America’s prejudicial attitudes. But whereas Barbara fell victim to sexism, Lord falls victim to racism. Hispanic in origin, Lord grew up in America with an abusive father at home and racist classmates at school. Beaten down from an early age, all he wants in life is to make a name for himself, to prove he’s not a loser. In a clever twist, Lord (the person who originally ordered the wish stone to come to America before it was confiscated by the FBI and sent to the Smithsonian for analysis) does not simply use the stone to wish for riches and power… he wishes to BECOME the stone. That way, he can get nearly infinite wishes so long as he can con the people around him to wish things for him.

The scenes of Max Lord as a flawed human who just wants to not be a loser show Pascal giving a great performance as a human being at the ends of desperation. The scenes of Max Lord the supervillain are… not good. In a long string of over-the-top, eccentric, hyperconfident supervillains in countless superhero movies, Pascal’s Lord is just not interesting. In fact, he is literally a weak character. He cannot fight for himself as his body is crumbling (a side effect of wishing to become a stone). Furthermore, his initially grounded motivations to finally be respected and successful seem to be just utterly lost by the end of the film when he just wishes for world chaos… only then to turn around and declare undying love for his son. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Failure to understand a character’s motivations casts a shadow over Barbara’s character arc as well. It is explained that the wish stone takes something in return for granting someone their wish. So as payment for bringing Steve Trevor back to life, Diana loses some of her strength. Still… this strains to fully explain why Barbara, after gaining Wonder Woman-like strength, turns into a walking humanoid cheetah (complete with bad CGI like she walked straight out of the cast of 2019’s Cats.) Like I get that she lost some of her humanity and morality in exchange for strength… but Cheetah girl seems like a little much. And though initially it is fun to see Wiig get to play Barbara as a confident and sexy woman who fights back against the patriarchy, the movie (I think) unfairly pushes her into the villain role. In my opinion, she should be treated as a tragic character, something akin to a Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight, as her villainous tendencies are not really her fault. She literally had the part of her that cares about other humans taken away from her when she naively and innocently wished to be like Diana. Instead, the movie has Diana lecture her that she shouldn’t be so evil. She literally can’t, lady! Stop being so hard on her! In any case, it seems like a failed opportunity to generate sympathy for a genuinely likable character who tragically becomes a villain not through her own accord.

That failure to create genuine emotions extends to Diana’s story as well. As soon as Steve is resurrected, you know by the movie’s end he will be dead again. There’s no other way this movie ends. Yet, the fact that Diana is so stubborn in refusing to give up Steve makes it hard to sympathize with her. She is simply being selfish, making her eventual decision to say goodbye to Steve feel more like her finally doing the right (and obvious) thing, and not some heartbreaking decision. Also the fact that seemingly Diana hasn’t even tried to move on in the last seventy years doesn’t help matters for me: it more just feels like a lazy way to write in Chris Pine’s popular character into the second movie. The move certainly weakens the idea of Diana as a strong, independent woman by making her emotionally stunted and crippled for the last 70 years. It would have been a much more satisfying (and daring) choice if Diana had moved on from Steve emotionally and had to deal with the guilt of having brought him back by accident, particularly if he didn’t want to go back to being dead. Instead... Steve knows he has to go back and Diana feels no guilt keeping him around. It’s weak character writing.

These poor choices I contrast with two of my favorite TV shows that demonstrate perfectly how former lovers who miraculously reunite eventually have to say goodbye for good: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Jane the Virgin. For risk of spoilers to those still watching Jane, I’ll stick to the Buffy example. There’s an episode of Buffy (though technically an episode of the spin-off show Angel) where Buffy and her vampire lover Angel are fresh off their recent and tumultuous break-up, but through some dark magic that neither seeks out, they are given the opportunity to live a life where Angel isn’t actually a vampire and their love can be fully expressed. Yet, in the end, Angel opts to give up his life as a human and return to being a vampire. The choice is so moving precisely because (due to circumstances I cannot begin to explain) in choosing to give up his life with Buffy, he saves her life as well. Whereas in this movie, Diana choosing to let Steve go is really just her choosing to undo her choice to essentially cheat death. Angel, however, is actively choosing to give up a life of happiness he never wished for but was just given on a silver platter, and will now live in a world where his lover will never know his selfless act and will go on hating him. It’s heartbreaking in a way Wonder Woman dreams it could be.

And not to get too Buffy-heavy… but that show also deals with the emotional consequences of being ripped out of the afterlife much better than this movie. Steve just kinda unrealistically adapts to being alive again in all of five minutes. If, perhaps, from the start he questioned why he was there and hinted to Diana that something was wrong, the emotional aspect of this story, the doomed nature, the feeling of “this is the last chance we’ll have together” could have made this a stronger movie. I wanted to find myself crying when Diana finally says bye to Steve, and I was no where close to that. Gal Gadot shares at least part of the blame. She’s a pretty wooden actress. It’s something I noticed in 2017’s Wonder Woman, but in that movie she was supposed to be a fish out of water so her stilted presence seemed appropriate. Here, where she’s supposedly become an assimilated American for 70 years… it is just bad acting.

Anyways, another aspect of this film that was lacking were the visuals. The bad CGI of Barbara as Cheetah is just scratching the surface here. The opening flashback to Diana as a girl performing in the Amazonian Olympics just… looks fake. I don’t know. The reliance on CGI over practical effects is clear and distracting. It’s only worse in the subsequent scene where Wonder Woman stops a theft from occurring in a mall. The effects are just bad. Like passable for a film in the 1990s or early 2000s. But for a 2020 blockbuster, it’s noticeably bad. And already the scene where Wonder Woman is running towards the camera with a weird green screen behind her seems to have become a meme given just how weird it looks.

And yet, for all the negatives I’ve listed, this is a decent action flick. There’s even some nice set pieces like the one in the White House. As little as I liked Max Lord as a supervillain, I found figuring out the other half of each of his various Monkey Paw wishes (i.e. the downside of each wish) to be clever. unfortunately, each of the main three characters fails to have a story line that takes full advantage of their emotional potential, or they are just poorly acted. With few exceptions, the film eschews “fun” in favor of “seriousness.” Really the only exception is, as in the first film, the chemistry between Pine and Gadot. Their chemistry makes for some of the movie’s best moments, like when Wonder Woman makes the plane they’re flying in invisible and the pair flies over fireworks on the fourth of July. But that sense of whimsy in their scenes is largely absent from the rest of the film. This is particularly true of the action sequences, especially those at the climax. The seriousness makes them rather boring. Really, I’m comparing these action scenes with the last half hour or so of Birds of Prey which really set the bar for superhero movie fight choreography. So in the end, it’s overall an OK movie. It certainly isn’t as bad as others make it out to be, but I cannot believe I’m saying this… in 2020 if you’re in the mood for a fun superhero movie, you’re better off with the Suicide Squad sequel than the Wonder Woman sequel.

**/ (Two and a half stars out of 4)

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Reasons to Kidnap Someone

It totally got rid of my cool formatting- Sorry :/

They are in your way

They saw too much

Maybe wrong place at the wrong time

To silence them

Maybe they are too smart and know too much? Or are guessing too correctly

Maybe they are a reporter and are placing too much emphasis on taking you down

Or just paying you attention on media

You disagree with their political statements

Vehemently hate them because of it

Maybe like sexism or racism

Or want to change their opinions

They are in your friend group and you don’t cope well with them being there

Things would be so much easier if your best friend didn’t have a fiance!

To mind wipe them/control them

Emotional Reasons

Vengeance

To conconquer/ prove your better

Because you love them

You want a friend!

Only they are good enough?

Or only they would be willing to love you?

You want a yes ma’am person

Because you feel like you own them

Because you want to mess with them

To eat them… this one’s kind of weird but oh whelp.

To play matchmaker

Maybe they’re like a civilian Hero pays close attention to and you be all over that ship and you want to blossom their romance by getting Hero to save them???!!! DRAMA!!!

OOOOooo what if they end up being like Hero’s cousin that would be awkward and hysterical.

You think they suck morally and the city deserves a better hero. A new one will come if you get rid of the current one

To shame them

Can either be super dark

Or can be light like ‘Ha! I’ve won more times than you!’

They are your sibling or someone of close relation

To get them to fall in love with you

To get them to make up with a mutual friend

Because you super unstable and you want to reenact an event.

To Help Them

They ask you to

Because you want to protect them

From themself

From fighting you

From someone/something else which they don’t think will be a problem

To make them a better hero

Maybe you want them to be more of a challenge for you?

Or maybe you want them to defeat someone you never could?

DRAMA you could die doing it and you both might be in love with each other **CUES DRAMATIC DEATH SCENE**

To team up

Hero’s been wrongly convicted and they resist your escape attempts insisting they believe in the justice system. They leave you no choice.

To heal them

Maybe because you owe them and this will somehow help them?

To save them from someone else

Like maybe from hero/supervillain/ect.

Or maybe they are a kid and you want to keep them from battle?

Because they are pregnant

Maybe you want to make sure they are not putting the unborn child in danger

To give them information or prove the information to them

For a surprise birthday thing???

Maybe you don’t understand emotions very well and so you kidnap Hero’s ex-lover/ex-friend and deliver them to and your thinking, ‘Hero’s mad and they probably want to take it out on their ex.’

Either Hero is down with this

Or they don’t correct you but is like do whatever you want to them

Maybe ship them to another country, get rid of them etc.

Or they be like ‘that's a big bundle of messed up bro.’

To Benefit From Them

To start up your career

For information

To barter with

To sell to someone else

You want something they have

You need them as a test subject

To figure out their powers

To figure out how to give yourself more powers

To figure out how to mind wipe

etc.

To steal their powers

You want them to bear your children????

Artificial insemination

Because they are pregnant

Maybe because you want to take their unborn child away from them to raise as your own

Maybe you can’t have children

Maybe the child is predicted to be super powerful

You Want them to...

Make something for you

Like a weapon

Heal you

Power your technology

Teach You

How to be kind

Oooo for moral reasons

Or for acting reasons

Drama! They may think they are changing you but really they are helping you in your espionage!

How to use your powers

How to fight

Some other skill

To learn how to kidnap someone else

How to be them so they can trick you friends or the public?

Help You

By force

Willingly

To use as someone expendable or sacrifice them

To Use Against Others

To blackmail someone else

To distract others

Use their situation to distract the other heroes while you put on some other heist

To trap others

To make a point to someone else

You kidnap Hero’s friend/lover-- like no one else except me, hero! Muhahahahaha

To separate hero from them

Either like “they are no good for you, I’m saving you from a toxic relationship”

Or “they are improving you and motivating you waaaaaay too much! I better scare them away/kill them/make Hero think they just disappeared or broke up with them!”

Or something like I can get anyone of you at any time, nowhere is safe

An exchange?

To barter for someone else or something else

Social Expectations/ Fulfilling Obligations

You need a date to some work meeting or something

You need to pretend to be married

Because it’s expected of you as a villain

Outside pressure from peers or otherwise

Right of passage

You need to build your image with other villains

For your boss or someone more powerful

To give as a gift or favor to someone else

To teach other heroes to come what to expect from you

What if that was how you interviewed for henchmen?

To get an update on someone else

If you guys can think of any other reasons, clean- not icky, dirty ones- I’d love to put them on my list. These are definitely not all my ideas! I have seen them in other works and stuff, so they are kind of for anyone to use. 

When I ask people ‘why would someone kidnap someone else’ the usual response is rape. And it’s sometimes hard to think outside of that reason, especially when you favor writing female protagonists. So next time, choose from this fancy list and have a good whump. 

[chartedrights]

Golden Age AU Masterpost

For everyone lacking context, the Golden Age AU is just me riffing on every piece of comic book media I’ve ever consumed. Here are some single-paragraph rundowns I’ve made to keep track of things as I start to write!

The Board of Directors is analogous to the Justice League- they’re pretty much entirely people with superpowers (with the exception of Carol, at first), they’re very prestigious, and they come together to ward off larger threats like the impressive super powered task force they are. Or they used to. Membership’s sort of dropped, and people with powers are getting harder to find and recruit, and the big headliner who ran it left it in the hands of some nurse, which is like. So not sexy.

PEIP is PEIP- they fit right in where they were. In the shadows, in the dark, fighting the threats that the “special people” won’t, protecting people on a lower level than “oh god, the apocalypse,” because apparently the superheroes aren’t concerned with espionage or alien meteors anymore. The pricks. Mostly run by people without superpowers- as far as they know- and deeply concerned with keeping heroes responsible for their own actions. They would be oversight, if they were allowed to be.

CCRP Technical is an interesting place. Charlotte and Ted work there, for Sam, though neither of them is quite sure what it actually does. Paul was recruited in hopes he’d grow into upper management, but he didn’t have the ambition for it. Bill has been there for a decade or two now, ever since he started attending those meetings with Becky and Mrs. Davidson. Melissa... Melissa is their rising star. Mr. Davidson isn’t sure what they found in her, but he’s glad to see her succeed! Good for her! Four for you Melissa, you go Melissa!

Hatchetfield.... is Hatchetfield. It’s small, it’s insular, it’s full of gossip and weirdness and people with eccentric ideas of morality. It might be easier to admit that superheroes and supervillains exist, but let nobody say that the citizens of Hatchetfield ever took the easy road. They will walk uphill, in the snow, denying the supernatural both ways.

Paul is a real sweetheart. He’s autistic, he’s quiet, he likes his routine and the simple pleasures in life... and he just happens to be unkillable and he maybe possibly sort of has the ability to fly. He could be an excellent addition to either team, but he refuses to be a proper superhero, making him Hatchetfield’s most obvious target. Which in turn means that he often ends up acting like a proper superhero against his own will. He thinks Emma is perfectly lovely and still hasn’t noticed her committing crimes.

Emma is Hidgens’ Lab Assistant, which is code for “committing crimes for college credit,” and she does a lot of the footwork for him. Being a henchman definitely tops food service, lets put it that way. She also gets to follow in the family business- a long line of Perkins supervillains ended when Jane broke free and became a real hero for Tom’s sake. She always wanted to be a good person, but Emma is not as opposed to violence. She also cannot wait for Hidgens to level Hatchetfield, which is made complicated by the fact that she likes Paul rather a lot, and he likes Hatchetfield.

Hidgens is a supervillain. He never leaves his house, orchestrates incidents of immense damage to the civic infrastructure, and refuses to acknowledge that just maybe putting children into the path of radioactive chemicals is not a valid scientific experiment. He’s not necessarily a bad person, it’s just that his morals refute even the idea of black and white. More like blue and red. Orange and green. He is of the opinion that world peace can only be achieved by world domination, and therefore has begun a track to world domination. He and Sam have a blood feud of indeterminate origin.

Becky Barnes, low-level healer and walking anesthetic, somehow ended up in charge of the Board of Directors. The last leader disappeared three days after handing off control, and Becky is still looking for them. Becky is very conspicuously not looking for her ex-husband, however. It makes some people suspicious, and nobody more than Sam, who is Stanley’s most obnoxious cousin. Apparently, ruining Becky’s life runs in the family. Despite these troubling events, Becky does her best to keep the city standing and the world turning- she and Bill manage what they can, Carol and PEIP manage what they can’t. She’s still in a precarious place, however, and she’s looking for help.

Frank Pricely supplies everyone with gadgets. Hero and villain alike, everyone pays. Not always the same price, but everyone pays. He’s a neutral party, and he acts the part, but everybody likes to debate his loyalties. There’s no such thing as truly neutral, right? Everyone has their price- even him. It’s just a matter of what that price is.

Lex is his cashier, which means that she learned early on in her career in retail that the panic button is not half as good a first resort as the paralysis darts Frank keeps in the cash drawer. She has the ability to manifest objects, as long as she knows where they are. She needs a concrete location to pull them away from, which means that she snoops in every house she visits, checks the staff rooms of every store she enters. She can, on command, find you just about anything you need. For a price. She’s learning a lot lately, though, and what she learns about her powers might put her at risk.

Bill is one of the few members of the Board of Directors still standing. He and Becky get coffee all the time, and commiserate about the lack of help in Hatchetfield. He has telepathy, and certain illusionary abilities, which come in especially handy when he’s talking people down or trying to sneak hostages out of hostage situations. A gentle, well-intentioned man, Bill is not outwardly very intimidating, but he’s strong. Much stronger than most people would like to think. Becky keeps trying to hand off leadership to him, and he gently hands it back every time- he’s got other problems to deal with right now.

Formerly married to the infamous Perkins family heiress, Tom tries to live a nice, quiet life. He used to be a hero- and a damn good one- but Jane defected for him, and then died for it, and he carries more guilt than he probably should. Tom never thought of himself as special, really, and he still doesn’t. He can warp matter- twist it into shape, turn it from one thing to another, and he’s a fine craftsman when he wants to be. But it’s a dangerous thing to have on hand when you’re angry or frightened, and Tom still has an awful case of PTSD hanging around his neck. He’s doing his best to wrangle with it, but he’s going to need some help.

Ethan is just a teenager. Really, he promises. He absolutely swears. Nothing special about him! He’s just real intuitive! He and Lex have been looking into that whole “experimentation” thing they did at CCRP back when they were babies and it wasn’t even interesting! He’s just a mechanic, honestly. He’s a straight C student! He hasn’t even joined the cult off the coast on that houseboat!! He’s a good kid. No reason to be concerned at all.

Ted is also Hidgens’ henchman, but definitely the lower-ranked of the two. He applied hoping he’d make some friends, but thus far all he’s managed to do is fall in love with Charlotte, who is Sam’s henchman. It’s not going badly for him, but it’s not going well, either. He and Paul still work together. Every time Hidgens asks, Ted is like “Paul? Nah. He’s totally normal.”

Gary is a mob lawyer. He used to work for Emma’s family, but now he works for Sherman and Linda. They’re technically competition, and if they ever find out that he’s playing both sides he’ll absolutely die, but in the meantime he is racking up that cash. He is so rich. He is capable of great evil, and occasionally does terrible things, but overall he’s an affable guy. He and Charlotte had an unfortunate tryst once that ended with her tying him to the Welcome to Hatchetfield sign with his own scarf, but he still pines for her. She’s the one that got away. And continues to get away. cops hate her: local woman refuses to go to jail.

MacNamara still works for PEIP, which is only slightly a different job, on account of there being very public superheroes in this world. He and Xander have been married for ten years, but they are both under the (mistaken) impression that it wasn’t a real marriage because it was done undercover. He thinks about that and is very sad about it sometimes. But they’re partners, and that’s good enough that he can be content with it. For now. He has the ability to intensify or nullify other people’s superpowers, and he does his best to keep it quiet. He thinks there’s something noble about living without superpowers, and vaguely wishes that he and Chad’s roles were swapped- until he remembers that Chad has one (1) brain cell to his name.

Xander has the ability to speak to computers. It’s not flashy, at first glance. It doesn’t have the pizzazz of Paul’s gifts or the subtle mind fuckery of John and Bill’s. But he can know whatever he wants, can hear anything, tap any phone call, look through any webcam. He doesn’t, because he’s not a fucking creep, but he can. PEIP was lucky to find him before CCRP- and so was everyone else in the world. Xander’s not flashy in general- he keeps a lot to himself. He and John have been partners for a long time, and they still haven’t said they love each other. He still hasn’t told John that he’s a member of the Board. He still hasn’t told John that he and Paul are in the same book club.

Schaffer doesn’t need powers. You think she needs powers? Her power is that she breathes and death turns away. PEIP was built by good people like Schaffer, people with principles and strong hearts and ice cold spines of steel. Normal, human people, unremarkable except that they chose to be better. She’s fourth-generation PEIP, born and raised to believe in the service they do, the protection they provide. Some of the more bitter agents will say that Schaffer benefitted from nepotism. They will never say this in front of her, because deep down they know she did not and they know that she will prove it by kicking their asses. She and Carol used to date, but the strain of crossing enemy lines in what was, essentially, a Cold War between PEIP and the Board got to them both. Schaffer is the person Hidgens called after he got struck by lightning.

Charlotte is Sam’s henchman and quietly in the running for longest con ever pulled. One day she is going to off him and take his place as the leading supervillain in Hatchetfield, but that day is not today. She likes Ted, but Sam keeps telling her to kill him, so their relationship amounts to “the inherent eroticism of trying to murder each other”. Nobody is entirely certain how she does what she does, but she’s very, very good at her job. Emma looks up to her just a little. She had a therapist once. He tried to sleep with her. She no longer has a therapist. She does have a very lovely goldfish, however.

Mr. Davidson is MacNamara’s twin brother and Hidgens’ ex. His wife is a genuine bona fide Batman-level hero in a bigger city, so he occasionally gets kidnapped or tortured. Hidgens still writes him bitter and mildly threatening love ballads that he genuinely treasures and sends very heartfelt thank you notes for. His life is so messy. There’s so much drama. He’s also completely powerless and cheerful about it. (Re: the Working Boys.... he’s Chad. Chad MacNamara Davidson.)

Alice is developing absolutely no superpowers and she’s really really annoyed about it. She used to take this out on Lex, as teenagers will, but after Lex dropped out she began to regret that. Too little and much too late, but regret is regret. She keeps trying to mend that bridge, but it’s not working. Unfortunately for her, she’s still been seen with Lex and Ethan, and that’s enough. Imminent danger perceives no difference between friend and foe. Alice is full of a very different kind of potential, however, and sooner or later all that bottled-up anger and stress will lash out.

Deb, on the other hand, is an intern at the Board of Directors’ headquarters, which is now St. Damien’s given that Becky is in charge. Interns for heroes are much less common than henchmen working for villains, but Deb has a keen interest in coordination and overseeing operations. Bill hates having her on comms for missions, but she’s just... so good at her job. She can brew a pot of Red Bull twice-steeped coffee, arrange a date with Alice, avoid an international incident, redirect PEIP and talk Bill through defusing a bomb in the same ten-minute stretch. Lesbians can do anything. This is a fact. They are the backbone of our society.

Hot Chocolate Boy is full of secrets. And hot chocolate.

And speaking of St. Damien’s, do you recall poor Bridgette, who lost her eyesight in a horrible accident? I’m not saying Hatchetfield is going to have it’s very own Matt Murdock expy, but I am saying that. She’s blind, she’s Catholic, and she’s coming for your kneecaps.

Linda is a very low-level villain who operates out of her husband’s office and sics her Boating Club on people. Gerald should technically be a threat, given that it’s the Monroe family prerogative to slaughter rising heroes with an alacrity that distinguished them from all the other families in Hatchetfield. He is not. He’s barely even a henchman. Linda got all the bloodlust between the two of them, and she is out for blood from the start. Though initially quickly defeated, she grows in seriousness over the course of time and ends up a formidable threat with a weighty grudge against Becky and Lex. She’s not much in a physical fight, Linda, but she is deeply, deeply vindictive, and she’s willing to make any deals she has to to bring Becky down. Any deals. With anyone. Anything.

Sherman Young is a mob boss, and you know it. He’s a real creep and he’s got some sick hobbies, even for a man in his line of work, but somehow the 80s jacket and the comb-over mullet make it all worse. He’s the richest man in town, and that’s saying something, but if Linda has a say in things he won’t be for long. The Youngs, the Monroes, and the Perkins have been at war since the founding of the town, and Sherman is cutting down his competition. He might have even arranged for Jane’s accident to happen, but nobody is sure. Nobody living, anyway.

Sam is a villain. He’s not super or anything. He’s just a villain. He’s top-tier Joker-level normie, but he still goes toe-to-toe with all kinds of heroes. Notable for being pretty much exactly the same as his show counterpart in regards to his proclivity for threats and violence. He once told Paul to “talk to his fucking gun” only to find that Paul is, despite all outward appearances, fucking immortal. He is still very embarrassed about it. He’s up and coming in the Hatchetfield Villain circuit, but he’s definitely a threat. To who? Who can say. Somebody, somewhere.

Papa Ed is a PEIP informant, and he has the ability to speak to animals. He’s raising Peanuts to be a very small, very enthusiastic little squirrel spy.

Man in a Hurry is a former speedster who lost his powers and compensates for it by Being In A Hurry at all times.

Homeless Man is a CCRP agent. He specializes in camouflage and compassion. He doesn’t remember what came before, but he knows something did, and finding out what it was is all he has left to hope for.

Howard Goodman does not have superpowers, but he’s got gumption. Okay, I lied. He doesn’t have gumption. But he’s a very nice man.