#damnit nakia

[morallygreyandone]

Just like that

One fucking tweet derailed destroyed destabilized damaged the entire nashuri fandom on twitter

Now

I will unleash it here

LOOK AT WHAT HE IS WEARING

LOOK

SHURI WAS WEARING SOMETHING SLEEVELESS AND LONG TOO

WHAT DOES THE BRIDE WEAR??????

RYAN

RYAN I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE

SHOW YOURSELF

COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR

[morallygreyandone]

Namor Wanted To Marry Shuri - Theory/Meta

Evidence:

Ramonda Vs Shuri Interactions

The Talokanil Breathing Apparatus

The Line 'Nothing.'

Non-Political Motivations

Evidence 1 - Ramonda vs Shuri Interactions

The way that Namor interacts with both of these characters is very revealing. In order to acquire an alliance, Namor should be trying to foster a good relationship with the reigning monarch, which was Queen Ramonda. But this isn't what Namor does. Instead, he is disrespectful to Ramonda, but goes above and beyond to impress and convince Shuri.

Ramonda

When Namor arrives in Wakanda to confront Ramonda and Shuri, he completely ignores Ramonda's first demand for answers about who he is and how he got into Wakanda. He got past their shields, their greatest defence. He has appeared at times of heightened international conflict. And he was wearing vibranium, a material that only Wakanda was meant to have. This is a man who has sunk ships and killed people for getting close to his Kingdom, he knows how alarming and stressful his presence there is and the onslaught of worries and questions that will be racing through Ramonda's mind.

Yet he acts nonchalant, too busy complimenting Wakanda rather than calming the understandably distressed Queen. Why ignore and disrespect the woman he should be trying to befriend? Arrogance? Foolishness? Or had he already come to the conclusion that Ramonda would never agree to an alliance with him, so didn't bother wasting time with niceties to her?

Side Note: I am convinced Namor has a sophisticated spy network and that's how he was able to decide who he wanted an alliance with. In the original script, it's mentioned that The Talokanil are tapping into fibre optic wires and that that's how they're getting information about the surface world. It's probably one of the ways he learns about Wakanda, as I think he would do a lot of research on the country and its rulers before seeking an alliance.

Shuri

Shuri on the other hand, Namor treats with nothing but respect. When she asks for an audience with him, he grants her it rather than simply keeping her as a political hostage in a dungeon. He gifts her a beautiful dress covered in jade which is a valuable resource to his people. He could have left her in her normal clothes or even put her in worse as a means of a power play to make her feel less confident, but instead, he allowed her to meet him dressed as royalty. That shows he respects her and her position.

Namor then explains to her Talokan's origin and his past. He takes her to his Kingdom, allowing Shuri to be the first surface dweller to ever see it. He does all this to help Shuri understand 'what he has to protect'. This was a very risky move as someone as intelligent as Shuri would have the opportunity to learn about his people and discover potential weaknesses that could be used against them. Considering he's planning on going to war with the surface, that is not information he wants getting out. Yet he takes that risk to try and convince Shuri and make her see his reasoning. He respects her enough to try and convince her and he even listens to her opinion even if he isn't persuaded by her.

He then gifts Shuri his mother's bracelet. His mother Fen who has long since passed away and what few possessions he has of her are all that he has left to remember her by. This is a royal heirloom. A piece of his family. This is not something given away to just anyone.

Namor treats Shuri and Ramonda differently. He is respectful, playful, comforts Shuri over her grief with her brother's death and explains the situation of his Kingdom in depth, none of which he does for Ramonda.

Why does he do this? Because Shuri is the Crown Princess of Wakanda, the Heir to the throne, and someone he thinks is more likely to join him or 'burn the world' with. One day, she'll be Queen. If he can convince her to marry him, then not only does he have some sway over Wakanda but if they were to have children, that influence will carry out across the centuries. He would be securing a very powerful ally for a very long time.

Evidence 2 - Talokanil Breathing Apparatus

I think Namor always intended to capture Shuri so that he could try and convince her to join him. The Talokanil wear breathing apparatuses that allow them to breathe on land, BUT, they also allow people to breathe underwater.

Now why would they have technology like that? They're planning on going to war with the surface world. Surface world underwater technology is not the greatest, so if they were to get their hands on these masks, it would be very useful in battle and thus is not something the Talokanil want falling into enemy hands.

Why do they have them then? The only reason could be that they were planning on taking a hostage. It could have been Riri, but if they only wanted Riri why were there multiple breathing apparatuses that could work on land and sea? They were planning on taking more than one person.

Shuri.

Evidence 3 - Nothing

The line 'Nothing' is spoken when Namor and Ramonda meet on the beach to discuss Shuri. If Namor wanted an only alliance and not one specifically with Shuri, then this was his opportunity to demand it.

He has The Crown Princess, Heir to the Wakandan throne, the Head of The Wakandan Design Group and the world's most intelligent person, within his grasp. She'll have useful intel on Wakanda, intel they don't want anyone getting a hold of. Shuri is one of the most valuable hostages that Namor could ever ask for and the key to getting his alliance. Ramonda offered him anything for her daughter's return. And instead of asking for an alliance, he says he wants nothing.

At this point, he has no plans of making an alliance with Wakanda through Ramonda. He only wants one if it's through Shuri. Why else would he be keeping her in Talokan? It serves no other purpose.

Evidence 4 - BPWF Photo Caption

In BPWF Movie Special Book, in the caption of the top image, it says this, "Seeking Kinship and support, Namor gifts his mother's bracelet."

KInship shows that Namor wanted to form a close bond with Shuri. One way he could acquire this is through marriage. uniting their Kingdoms, becoming one people, one family creating a kinship. It would secure his nation a powerful ally for centuries if they have children.

This also shows it's not Namor being manipulative as some people like to say. He was genuine in his attempts to bring Shuri to his side. He wanted kinship and support. A true ally. Someone who would have his back as he would have theirs.

Evidence 5 - Not All Political

Namor's pursuit of Shuri is not all political. He has been described in various media as being 'Charmed' and 'Smitten' by Shuri. In the script, he's constantly smiling at her, especially in the original.

He seems to be a man of his word, yet can't follow through when it comes to Shuri. He promised Ramonda he would come to Wakanda and kill her if she betrayed him, which she did and he stayed true to his word. He also promised to kill the Princess but when he had the opportunity - TWICE - he didn't do it. He could have killed her on the aircraft before she took the herb, but he didn't. He could have speared her in a way that would instantly kill her in their final battle, but he didn't. He even tells her 'it could have been different.' Why say that unless he genuinely wanted it to be different.

In Conclusion

[wenellyb]

Really wanna keep on wishing that sambucky are a romantic couple for the rest of the mcu (movies, tv shows, etc) and they stay alive and have kids and grow old together (UNTIL THE DAY END OF TIME DAMNIT)

Hi anon,

Hmm yeah... about that "until the end of time" hum I don't want to be a killjoy but the MCU doesn't have the best track record in handling the couples... I'm trying to think of MCU couples who really got a Happily Ever After and there's Nakia and T'Challa, Scott and Hope and Peggy and Steve, I guess, then there's hmm, there's uh, there's... You know what? Let''s change the topic!!!

Anyway does any of the Sambuckies have plans to become a billionaire in the upcoming years? It would be great if the could buy Disney and then give us domestic Sambucky and Happy Ever After you mentionned and the kids!!!

I know I do sound like a killjoy, but Anthony and Seb would never let anything bad happen to Sambucky, they'll reshoot the scenes themselves with their own money if they have to!

Now back to being serious!!! I want everything you just mentionned for Sam & Bucky it would be sooo great! And I also have the feeling that the current writers want them to stay together for a long long time with the way they're describing them as a "family" so I know they won't do anything drastic in the upcoming years!

Besides to me Sam and Bucky are already a romantic couple! You don't leave your city and move to another town for your "co-worker", so I'm already enjoying a lot the storyline we got, I hope it'll stay this way.

I'm confident that at least in the next movie/season we'll keep seeing this dynamic with them being even closer because now all the tension between them is gone!

[cinaja]

Before the Wall part 37

Masterlist

TW: Hallucinations (heavier then last time), panic attacks (or something similar) Please skip the third scene (scenes separated by these lines ----) if these things are triggering for you!

A/N: This chapter is only Miryam's pov for once because it seemed to fit best, the next chapter will go back to being multiple pov

----

“Before we proceed with this,” Miryam tells the human councilmembers a day after she finished her spell, “there are two problems we need to discuss.”

They are meeting in one of the southern human-owned palaces that they already used once, which is a good thing, since Miryam isn’t sure if she could have managed to create any wards today. She spent the entire night tossing from one side to another in bed, too nervous to sleep. Her power has been acting up as well, flaring and ceasing seemingly at random.

“The first problem is that the spell needs to be cast as soon as possible, but can’t take effect immediately because it’s meant as a security measure,” she says. The others are watching her in silence, all of them tense. They all spent the past years waiting for this, and now, Miryam has the attention of the entire room. “This means that there needs to be a way to activate the spell at any given point at time after it has been cast, and it can’t be just me who is able to do it, since that would leave the spell useless should I die. I’ll get to the solution for that in a moment.”

Now, Nakia does interrupt after all. “If you already solved the problem, why are we discussing this? Isn’t it enough that the spell works?”

“Unfortunately not. Because the second problem is that I don’t have enough power to make the spell work.”

That earns her some dismayed looks, but it is true. Even if she combined every trick she knows – the strongest grounding spells, bones and gemstones and blood to draw more power – it wouldn’t be enough. She could cast the damned spell during a solar eclipse and still wouldn’t even come close to the level of power necessary to as good as split the world in two.

“Remember how I said this is impossible?” She asks. “Well, this is what I meant.”

“And your solution is…” Andromache leaves the end of the sentence hanging in the air and looks at Miryam expectantly.

Miryam has to resist the urge to fidget. “There is another way for a witch to get power. It’s called Sacrifice.”

Jurian and the queens tense in their seats, staring at Miryam like she just suggested they jump off a cliff.

“What kind of sacrifices?” One of the independent human generals asks.

“It means…” Miryam hesitates. “It means that you use up another person’s life force. Or their soul, as some might call it. The person who gets Sacrificed dies in the process, their very essence gets destroyed, but the power it generates…” She shakes her head, trying to shut down the memories. A circle on the ground, Artax smiling. Her mother looking at her. “I’ve seen it happen,” she says tightly, “but I’ve never done it myself – and I’ve sworn I never would. But if we want this spell to work, it’s the only way.”

For a moment, silence reins around the table. People exchange uncomfortable looks. Miryam almost hopes they’ll reject the idea, call it monstrous and tell her that it’s not worth it.

“How many…” Andromache begins, but cuts herself off. “I mean, theoretically. If we were to do this. How many people are we talking about?”

“Six.”

Together with the caster – Miryam, in this case – that makes it seven people involved in the spell, which is a good number. Artax usually goes one further, using forty-eight Sacrifices, making it two times seven people involved, but Miryam could never bring herself to Sacrifice this many people, even if such a huge number of People wasn’t too unwieldy for this particular spell. Even the idea of using six is horrifying.

“Well,” Jurian says, “At the danger of sounding like an asshole, but is this a problem? We take prisoner after each victory and most of them get killed either way. Why not use them?”

Murmurs of agreement rise around the table. Miryam feels sick. This entire discussion is wrong. She doesn’t want to do this, not at all.

“Because I need to tie the spell’s activation to the Sacrifices, and I don’t know how to do this if they aren’t willing.”

This gets her confused looks. Miryam sighs and begins to explain.

“The Sacrifices won’t happen when the spell is cast, but when – if – we actually activate it. They will have to be the ones to say the final words, since we can’t count on me being around to do it, and because of that, they will have to participate willingly.”

Again, silence follows. “So we need volunteers,” Andromache says finally, “This means humans.”

Miryam nods slowly, staring down at her hands. “With families, preferably. It’s a blood spell, so if one of the people we pick dies, close relatives will work as well.”

She can’t believe she’s saying this. She despises herself for it. Hasn’t she sworn to never do it? She’s going to murder people, damnit. Worse than murder, actually. Suddenly, it’s hard to breathe. This is just what all these other witches do. What Artax does.

“Six people you say,” Nakia says softly. “Then the matter is clear.”

Andromache catches on before Miryam does. “You mean…”

Nakia simply nods. “It needs to be someone from this room, if only for secrecy reasons. And really, what types of rulers would we be if we asked anyone else to step in for us?”

Miryam opens her mouth to object, then closes it again. She doesn’t know what to say, what to feel. She is torn between newfound respect for Nakia and horror at the fact that they expect her to as good as kill some of her closest friends. But would it be better if they were strangers?

Please, she thinks, begging Jurian, Andromache, anyone. Please, stop this. Don’t ask me to do this. I can’t, please don’t make me.

But Andromache nods slowly.  “Then it’s decided.” She turns to Miryam. “You tie the spell to the six of us.”

----

“I can’t do this,” Miryam whispers.

In an hour she will meet the human queens in a clearing outside of Telique. The timing is perfect so that she can cast the spell at noon when the sun is at its peak and so is the power. She took every precaution, but she’s still scared out of her mind. Her fingers are shaking and the shadows have been around all day, lurking at the edge of her vision.

“What?” Jurian asks. They are both sitting in his tent, he on the table, she on the bed. “I thought the spell worked.”

“It does.” Miryam wraps her arms around herself like she can keep herself from falling apart that way. “But I… I can’t do this, Jur.”

She’s so scared. Scared of what is happening to her, and absolutely terrified of what casting that spell might do. She doesn’t want to do this. Just for once, she wants to be allowed to be scared. She wants to sit down on the floor and cry, and for Jurian to put an arm around her and tell her that everything will be alright. That he understands, that she doesn’t have to do this if she doesn’t want to.

Instead, he glares at her. “I just don’t understand you, Miryam. This spell could save millions of people, you have been working on it for years, and now you say that you can’t?”

One of the shadows lets out a shrill laugh. Miryam feels tears burning in her eyes and furiously wipes them away, but the tears just keep coming.

Jurian sighs. “Sorry. I just…” He puts a hand on her arm. “Are you scared of having to cast the spell? You don’t need to be. Come on, Miryam, you’re brilliant at this.”

That just makes her cry harder. Did she truly lie so well? But she doesn’t want him to not know. They always solved everything together, so maybe they could find a solution for this, too. Maybe Jurian will say just the right thing to make it better, or he will even find a way to get her out of this. She just needs to tell him.

“No,” she says, stumbling over the words. How is she supposed to explain? “I’m not…” She hesitates and Jurian frowns at her. “These problems I’ve been having with my power, they’re bigger than – “

The door to the tent opens and Miryam flinches, but it’s just a soldier who enters. He inclines his head and passes Jurian a note. Jurian quickly scans the contents, then looks back up at Miryam.

“Amarantha’s army is on the move.” Miryam knows what he’s about to say next, even though she desperately hopes he will not. But Jurian only looks conflicted for a moment, then says, “They’ll be passing through a forest – it’s perfect terrain for an ambush. I need to go make a plan, we don’t have much time.”

“But what about the spell?” Miryam asks. She hates how small her voice sounds. “You promised you would come along.”

“I know.” Jurian sighs and takes her hands in his. “But I can’t really help with the spell anyways. I’ll be useless there, but here, I could win us a real victory.”

His eyes search her face. Clearly he’s hoping for her to agree, but she can’t. Jurian wouldn’t be useless if he came along, because him being there would make the spell at least a little less terrifying. And he promised that he would come, but now, he’s going to go chasing after Amarantha once again and leave her to cast this spell alone. She has no idea what’s going to happen to her once she casts the spell and now, Jurian isn’t even going to there with her. For all she knows, casting it might kill her and if that happens, she wants him to be with her.

“You understand this, don’t you?” Jurian asks, voice pleading.

And just this once, Miryam wants nothing more than to tell him no, she does not understand. Just this once, she wants to beg him to choose her over his revenge, and see what he will do. But she can’t bring herself to say the words. Because no matter what Jurian might once have told her, they both will always be bound to this war first. It’s why Jurian will go to fight Amarantha once again instead of staying behind to help Miryam. And it’s why she will let him go and go to cast the spell alone, even if it kills her to do it.

----

Miryam’s fingers shake so badly that she has trouble drawing the circle. She keeps having to redo symbols and is much slower than usual; it takes her almost an hour to draw the main circle and the six smaller ones at the sides, one for each of the queens, who stand by and watch her work in silence. The shadows watch as well. They are closer than ever before and their presence terrifies Miryam.

“Alright.” She straightens and pushes an unruly strand of hair out of her eyes. “You need to – “ One of the shadows shrieks and she flinches. “Go stand in the smaller circles please.” Now, her voice is trembling ever so slightly. “I’ll activate the circles now.”

The queens follow her request without a word. Miryam wonders if they are as nervous as she is, or if they simply believe that an important moment like this should be greeted in silence. Miryam would have preferred for them to talk, the silence is nearly unbearable.

All too soon, everyone is in place and Miryam has inspected the circle one final time. There is no excuse to delay this any further.

Step by step, she tells herself, gripping the paper with the spell so hard she crumples it, Just activate the circle, then keep going from there. This is okay, you can do this.

Slowly, carefully pronouncing each word, she begins to speak. The strings thicken around her immediately, new ones appear for her to hold onto. The candles she put up around the circle flicker to life, flames dance around her. For a moment, everything is going well.

Then, her power flares so hard it nearly slips her grip. The flames are suddenly reaching far too high. The shadows move closer. They dance around her, mingling with the strings, and scream her name in a thousand voices.

“Stop,” Miryam whispers. “Stop.”

She has enough control left to clamp down on her power. It protests, cutting through her like a knife, but the flames die down. Tears run down her cheeks and she is shaking so badly that the paper slips out of her grip and falls to the ground.

“Miryam?” Andromache asks softly. She is still standing in her circle and watching her from dark, worried eyes.

“I can’t do this,” Miryam manages.

Stumbling, she takes a step backwards, then another, until she is out of the circle.

“Miryam.” Andromache reaches out for her, but she doesn’t seem to dare to leave her circle. “What’s wrong?”

Miryam can’t answer. The shadows are still there, lurking between the trees and she just can’t do this. Can’t face this. Sobbing, she turns around and runs into the forest. She is still crying, tears reducing the trees to shades. She doesn’t know how long she’s been running when her foot catches on something and she ends up sprawled on the forest floor. Pain races through her foot, but it’s nothing compared to what her power is doing to her.

With shaking arms, Miryam pulls herself into a sitting position, back leaning against a tree. But then, the shadows are back. They press in on her, screaming, whispering, crying out for her. Miryam presses her hands against her ears but the voices only grow louder.

“Go away!” She screams. That makes them laugh. Her power flares, but she won’t let it out, so it just keeps rebounding through her body and it hurts.

“I most certainly will not,” a new voice says, cutting through the noise.

It startles Miryam enough that she looks up, only to come face to face with Nakia. The old queen is frowning at her. Around them, the shadows pull back, their whispers growing fainter as if they are curious what the queen wants from her.

“Get up,” Nakia says. Her voice clangs through the forest like a whip.

“I can’t.” Miryam is still crying. She tries to wipe the tears away, but her hands are shaking too badly.

“You are the leader of this Alliance.” Nakia’s voice is iron, cold and unyielding. “Unsuited as you are to the positions, you chose it. You don’t get to lay down and cry about all the things you can’t do. And now get up.”

Miryam shakes her head. “I never wanted this,” she whispers. Her magic flares again and she curls up on herself, whimpering. “I never wanted to lead the Alliance, I just…” Her voice breaks.

“Bullshit.” There is not a hint of sympathy in Nakia’s voice. “Of course you chose this, or do you want to convince me that you somehow failed to notice what you’ve been doing these past few years.” She lets out a bitter laugh. “We had decided that this war was madness, but you couldn’t accept that, could you? You thought you knew better, so you dragged the entire Continent into a war without ever thinking that if we lost, millions might die.”

This makes Miryam cry even harder, but Nakia isn’t finished.

“And afterwards – did you ever stand back? Did you ever, just for one moment, think that maybe a little girl like you has no business telling a bunch of adults what to do?” She snorts. “But no, not the great Miryam. You just never shut up, do you?”

Miryam shakes her head. The pain is nearly unbearable and the shadows are moving in again. “I only ever wanted to save them,” she whispers. “Everything I did…”

“What you did,” Nakia cuts her off, “dragged an entire Continent into war. What you did risked the life of every human on this Continent. And now you have the nerve to sit down and cry because you can’t?”

Nakia reaches out and grabs her by the arms, dragging her to her feet with more strength than Miryam thought she had.

When they are almost face to face, Nakia says, “And now, you will go back to this clearing and you will make this right. You will cast that stupid spell, and if it kills you. You owe my people this much.”

Miryam stares at her, trembling. She wants to object, but she can’t think of a way to defend herself. After all, she did cause this war without truly thinking about what might happen if they lost. The queens had decided not to join the fighting and Miryam forced them to. And if she’s entirely honest, she is also the one to blame for her position with the Council. She had every chance to stand back, but chose not to. Maybe this is punishment.

With shaking fingers, Miryam wipes her tears away. “Alright,” she whispers. “I’ll try.”

“Good.”

On the way back to the clearing, Miryam keeps stumbling over her own feet, but when Nakia offers her a hand, she shakes her head and keeps walking on her own. The other queens are still standing in their circles, varying degrees of worry on their faces.

“Is everything alright?” Andromache asks.

Miryam nods, but keeps her eyes trained on the ground. The paper with her spell is still lying on the ground where she dropped it, but by now, the sun has almost reached its zenith. She’ll need to hurry if she doesn’t want to miss the correct moment to cast the spell. At least the circles are still active.

“Good,” she says, mostly to calm herself. “This is fine.” The shadows seem to disagree since they move in more closely, but Miryam does her best to ignore them and instead turns to the queens. “Don’t leave your circles until the spell is finished,” she says. “I’ll be using a lot of power and you might get scared, but no matter how the spell goes, there are security measures at place to make sure you don’t get hurt.”

Usually, circles like this are keyed to transfer power to the outer circle and protect only the caster in case anything goes wrong, but Miryam changed it around to work the opposite way. Risking other lives to save her own isn’t her style. At least this way, she’ll be the only one who ends up dead if she messes up.

She carefully straightens the paper with the spell. “I’m starting now,” she says. Right about now, she could really use someone telling her that everything will be fine, but no one seems inclined to offer words of reassurance.

The first words are always the most difficult. They burn and cut in her throat and Miryam has to watch out to pronounce them properly. Her power rises, circling higher with each word until it fills the air around them and Miryam has to yank at it to keep it focused on the task she wants it to fulfil.  The words come easier now, more natural.

Still, her power keeps rising, higher and higher. She has never gone this far before and soon, it is nearly impossible to keep it in check. Voice trembling, Miryam keeps going, calling power from the air and sky. The sun is shining high above her, its light drawing beams of light into the air.

The power twists in her grip, lashes out. Miryam pulls it back and redirects it towards the net of strings she is weaving, the tear through the world she is instructing it to lay the basis for. The shadows move closer again, screaming, but Miryam is almost finished not. Just a few. More. Words.

But as the spell reaches its climax, so does her power. It strains against her hold and this time, a tendril manages to break free. The strings she was so carefully weaving together tremble and begin to drift apart.

“Sheje,” Miryam hisses.

Her power snaps back to her grip, but now, it is moving around her, shooting through her body. Miryam grits her teeth and continues with the spell. Slowly, the strings fall back into formation.

The last line. Her power builds up, towering over her like a wave about to break. Miryam finishes the last words, voice barely more than a whisper. For a moment, the world seems to hang in a strange balance, suspended in the air. Miryam sees the sunlight glinting through the air, the fear in the eyes of the queens.

Then, her power comes crashing down. It rushes through her, burning like fire, freezing like ice. Before she even has the chance to scream, it is gone again, rushing into the sky, strings scattering and forming anew in its wake. The spell takes form, a tightly woven net of strings, shimmering in a hundred colours.

Miryam’s legs give out from under her and she drops to her knees.

Fire in her veins. Ice and fire, rushing through her. Someone is screaming – maybe her, she can’t tell. Her throat is so sore it feels like it’s bleeding, so it might well be her. The screaming increases, more voices joining in. That definitely isn’t her.

“Miryam?” Someone asks, panicked. “Can you hear me?”

Yes, she wants to say, but her tongue won’t form the word. Her power flares again and now, she is sure that she is screaming, screaming and screaming. The pain simply won’t fade and she can’t breathe.

“What’s wrong with her?” Another voice asks.

Finally, Miryam manages to open her eyes, but all she can see are the shadows, pressing in close against her. They are laughing, crying, screaming at her. She tries to crawls back, away from them, but her arms won’t hold her weight and then there are hands grabbing her, holding her in place. She tries to push them away, but the world tilts sidewards and everything around her begins to spin.

For what might as well be a second as a year, there is only pain, and darkness, and incoherent screaming. Miryam is drowning in it, pulled down as if weighed down by stones. Finally, she manages to fight her way back to the surface. She opens her eyes, gasping for air.

She’s lying on her back, and a woman is kneeling over her. Dark, curly hair, brown skin and a kind smile. Miryam stares at her, too stunned truly understand.

“Mom?” She finally whispers, voice breaking.

Her mother reaches out for her, still smiling, but as she does, her hand begins to dissolve into smoke, first the fingers, then the entire arm.

“No!” Miryam makes to grab her, trying to stop her from vanishing entirely, but she has already dissolved into smoke.

Artax appears in her place, staring down at her. Miryam screams and scrambles backwards. Suddenly, the ground is gone from under her, she’s falling, but only for a moment, then she lands hard on the ground.

“Miryam, calm down.” Suddenly, Andromache is kneeling over her, frowning. “You’re safe, nothing can happen to you.”

She reaches out for Miryam, but as she does, her face begins to change and then, it’s not Andromache but Ravenia who is kneeling over her. Miryam lifts her hand, trying to call her power, but it won’t come. Instead, a sharp pain shoots through her chest.

“You need to calm down,” Ravenia says with Andromache’s voice.

“Get away from me,” Miryam gasps.

She tries to crawl away, but her back pushes against something hard. The world is spinning again, and the shadows are back, surrounding her.

“What happened?” A new voice asks, cutting through the general noise.

Miryam tries to focus on it. Someone is talking, she knows, but the words don’t reach her. She groans in pain.

“I don’t know why - ,” someone begins. Then, there’s more talking, but she doesn’t understand the words over the roaring in her ears.

“Where the fuck is Jurian?”

Jurian. Miryam tries to hold onto the name, but it doesn’t work and he isn’t here anyways and she’s caught alone in the dark. It hurts so badly. She tries to move, to somehow escape the pain, but it won’t leave her alone. The shadows are still screaming.

“We need to do something!” Someone snaps, and that’s the last thing she hears before the world goes mercifully silent.

----

Miryam wakes up in a bed that isn’t her own. She blinks up at the ceiling of the tent – a different colour than hers – for a few moments while her still-slow mind tries to catch up. She attempts to sit up, but her body seizes up and she falls back into the pillows, gasping.

“Miryam.” Before she can truly panic, Drakon appears next to her bed. “It’s alright,” he tells her, “You’re safe.”

Miryam stares at him, trying to figure out if he is actually here. Maybe she’s seeing things again. He did seem to appear rather abruptly.

“Are you in pain?” Drakon asks. “I can get a healer if you need one.” When Miryam doesn’t reply immediately, he turns to the door and she decides that a hallucination likely wouldn’t try calling a healer.

“It’s alright,” she says, although it technically isn’t. Everything hurts so badly she can barely lift her arms and when she tries to reach for her powers, there’s no response.

Drakon hesitates for a moment, watching her as if he’s trying to decide if he needs to get a healer in spite of her reassurance. When he seems satisfied that she isn’t in immediate danger, he pulls a chair that was standing by the beside closer and sits down.

“Here.” He takes a small glass vial from the nightstand and hands it to her. “For the pain.”

Miryam nods in thanks, but when she tries to take the vial, her fingers shake so badly that she can’t grab it. Without commenting, Drakon opens it for her and holds it to her mouth so that she can swallow. The liquid burns in her throat.

“What happened?” Miryam asks.

“I don’t know,” he says. His face is grave. “Andromache refused to tell me, and she only had someone get me after you were already…” He breaks. Miryam shudders at the memory. She remembers all too well what state she was in. The pain, the absolute helplessness. “We decided it would be best to take you to a Fae healer,” Drakon continues, “so I brought you to my camp. That was yesterday.”

Miryam nods. She doesn’t bother to ask if the healer found anything. If the book she read is anything to go by, they won’t be able to help her.

“And Jurian?” She asks. “Does he know where I am?”

Drakon’s face tightens further. Miryam can only imagine that he’s thinking about Jurian’s notable absence during her breakdown, but he doesn’t comment. “Andromache says she’d tell him.”

Miryam nods and leans back into her pillows.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Drakon asks. His voice still sounds strange and for once, Miryam can’t place the emotions in his tone.

“No.” She knows he deserves better than that, but even if she wanted to, she couldn’t tell him about the spell she cast and she doesn’t know how she should explain the other things that happened.

“Then allow me to take a guess.”

Miryam’s bed shifts as something lands on the matrass next to her. She turns and finds a book lying next to her – once she recognizes immediately. Her stomach twists even further.

“You went to the library,” she says.

“Yes. Since you had told me you had your powers under control, I was rather confused when the healers told me you were basically tearing yourself to shreds with it. So I decided to take a look at what had been written in that book you said had helped you.” Anger – that’s what it is. He’s angry, but trying hard to conceal it. “I think you know what I found.”

Miryam pushes herself back in her bed, trying to get into a sitting position. She can’t have this conversation while lying in bed. It’s bad enough that her entire body aches. It takes her embarrassingly long and by the time she is at least somewhat upright, she’s out of breath, but she manages to sit up.

Drakon is still watching her. “Aren’t you going to say anything?” He asks.

“I don’t know what,” Miryam admits. She doesn’t want him to be angry with her, but she can’t take back the lies she told, or stop herself from dying slowly.

“Maybe you could explain why you spent the past year lying to me.” He still sounds calm, doesn’t raise his voice even a bit, but she can feel that he’s angry. And disappointed, which is worse.

“I didn’t want you to worry,” she says, “I knew there was nothing to be done, and fretting over it seemed pointless.”

“Nothing to be done?” Drakon repeats. “We tried to find a solution for one day, Miryam. There were a million things we could still have done if only you had said something!”

“And what?” This argument, Miryam decides, would go way better if she wasn’t lying in bed. Or at least if her head stopped hurting this much. “What could we have done? Because the only people who would truly be able to help me are other witches, and the Guild would rather kill me than help me.” She crosses her arms. “We could have done nothing and I wasn’t about to let you waste time used trying to find a solution that isn’t there. Not in the middle of this war.”

Drakon jumps to his feet so quickly that his wings brush against the nightstand. He begins to pace before Miryam’s bed. Miryam watches in silence, without interrupting. Let him come to the conclusion that this is hopeless himself, that will be easier.

“No,” he finally says. He stops walking and turns around to face Miryam. “No, this has nothing to do with the war. You had every option to try and find a solution to this problem. You had over a year to figure something out, but you chose to do nothing.”

Miryam presses her lips together. “The war is more important, I need to – “

“You won’t be able to do it if you’re dead!” Drakon snaps. He shakes a head and runs a hand through his hair. He looks tired, like he hasn’t slept all night. “I promised you that you would survive this war, remember?” He asks softly, anger gone. “Well, I intend to keep that promise, even if you seem hell-bent on making it difficult.”

Miryam can’t meet his eyes. He’s right, she realizes. She chose to do nothing not because of the war, but because she was scared. That’s what it always came down to, from the very beginning. Too scared to face her power, too scared to face her past. Deep down, she knew that, and maybe some part of her indeed chose to die rather than confront her fears.

“I’m sorry,” she says, “But there’s nothing you can do.”

Drakon taps his foot against the ground. Looks around the tent like he’s hoping to find the answer there.

“There might be something,” he finally says, “But I’m not sure. I need to go check.” He steps towards the door. “I’ll ask Nephelle to keep you company while I’m gone,” he says, already halfway out of the tent.

“Wait.”

For a moment, Miryam forgets all about her pain and tries to sit up. She immediately regrets it. Groaning in pain, she lets herself drop back into the pillows. Drakon is immediately beside her.

“Do you truly have a solution for this?” Miryam asks. Her mind is still moving to slowly for her to entirely understand what he is saying, but this, she understood.

“I don’t know. Like I said, I need to check.” He begins fidgeting around with the hem of his coat. “And I’m technically not allowed to talk to you about this. About any of this. Just…” He sighs. “I know this is a stupid thing to say, but please just trust me that I would tell you if I could. And that I’ll do whatever I can.”

Miryam doesn’t want Drakon to leave. Chances are he won’t be able to find a solution, anyways. Why would he, if those scholars at the university couldn’t? She doesn’t want him going on some wild chase all alone, trying to find answers that aren’t there. But if it makes him feel better about the fact that there’s nothing to be done about what’s happening to her if he tried, then she won’t stop him.

“Okay,” she says, “Go on. I’ll be waiting.”

Drakon nods tightly. He stands around awkwardly for a moment, as if trying to decide if he should do or say something else.

“I’ll find something,” he finally says and turns for the door.

“Drakon.” She calls him back again. “What did the healers say?” She asks. “How long do I have?”

Drakon pauses in the door, fingers curling and uncurling at his side. “They don’t know for sure,” he says softly, “A month. If you’re lucky.”

----

Tags: @croissantcitysucks @sjm-things

[abovethesmokestacks]

Pia you’re so amazing and ilysm 😭🖤 I’d love to see what you come up with for Steve Rogers!!!

Fair Game

“Thank you so, so much, I knew I could count on you guys!”

Steve and T’Challa looked at each other, then back at you with mild confusion. To Steve’s knowledge he hadn’t said yes to anything, but then again, you had talked up a storm walking in and he and his colleague had simply been sitting there, enjoying some downtime and a cup of not too shabby coffee. Working as a high school history teacher had its perks, but damn, Steve lived for these moments of calm, of silent communication because they all knew when the others had a particularly rowdy class or a big project that took up a lot of time or parents demanding this and that for their precious little angel.

“Right...” T’Challa said, offering a halfhearted smile.

If you saw through it, you didn’t care. With a twirl, you positiviely skipped across the teacher’s lounge to talk to principal Fury. Steve quickly turned to T’Challa.

“What the hell did we just do?”

“We? You were the one nodding!” the geography teacher hissed in reply.

“I did not!” 

“Rogers, you are so over the moon for her, and now I have to suffer for it, too. I had plans for Saturday, Nakia and I were gonna go have a picnic and I was gonna-”

Steve’s eyes bulged. “No. No way, you were gonna- Shit, I’m so sorry, man. Maybe you can get out of this?”

T’Challa quirked an eyebrow at him, “Have you ever seen anyone able to defy her? Besides, I’d look like an asshole for trying to get out of chaperoning the spring fair.”

“That’s what we’re doing?” Steve hissed as he got an elbow jammed into his side for his troubles. “Ow! Jeez, take it easy! It won’t be so bad, right? Couple hours of chaperoning tops, you can still make the picnic happen!”

---

“Rogers... I’m gonna kill you,” T’Challa hissed, trying to contain his shivers.

“You were the one who said it was chaperoning!” Steve hissed back, fists clenched so hard his knuckles were paling.

“I assumed it was chaperoning!”

What they had actually agreed to was sitting on the two boards for the dunk tank. They were only one hour in and they had both been dunked five times into water that Steve was sure was way colder than it had any reason to be. Their t-shirts, emblazoned with the school’s mascot were glued to their chests and Steve realized he had very strong opinions about sitting in wet boardshorts for longer than five minutes.

A long line of students crawled from the little stand where the science teacher, mr. Banner, collected the tokens required and Steve winched when he saw several students from the school’s varsity baseball team a little ways back. T’Challa might actually kill him for this. The dunk tank would become a cage fight. He was too young to die in a dunk tank, damnit.

Two hours later, the dunk tank closed to let Steve and T’Challa out and give their replacements time to settle in. T’Challa all but leapt out, snatching the bathrobe handed to him and powerwalked out of sight. Steve, on the other hand, kept sitting, watching the students mill around the fairgrounds, the scent of kettle corn and cotton candy heavy.

“Shift’s over, mr Rogers.” You were standing standing next to the tank, looking up at him with a sly smile.

“Yeah, I know. I’m just... not overly fond of trying to wiggle my way off this thing,” he replied. Wet board shorts really were the devil.

“I can help with that.”

You looked so innocent that for a second, Steve actually believed you had genuine plan. Then you moved, and pushed the button that released the seats, and Steve plummeted into the water with a yelp. When he broke the surface, you were laughing, arms wrapped around your waist.

“Shhh... oot!” He waded up to the little ladder on the side, climbing out. You stood waiting for him, handing him a robe, and Steve tried to pierce you with his sternest glare. “You are gonna owe me for that one, miss.”

Still giggling, you stepped up closer, cocking your head before speaking in a low voice: “Why don’t you meet me by the kissing booth, and we’ll call it even?”

Steve stared, mouth falling open. “There’s- We have a kissing booth?”

“Get to the science lab in the next five minutes, and we will.”

[yes-bitchxxxmarvel-stuff]

You Are Who You Choose To Be!

(Chapter 1) Part 2 Who I Was Meant To Be!

Tony Stark'sXDaughter Nathaile Stark

(Prompts This Is A Tony Stark And Daughter Stark Imagine I Came Up With Myself.

What If Thanos Never Did The Snap! But Instead Tony Stark's Daughter Sacrficed!! Herself Instead To Protect The Avenger's And Save The Entire Universe!

(Warning's) Language! Violence!

Alright Dad alright!!! We went to turn around when i felt someone put their arm around my neck pulling tight than putting a gun to my head. Peter was also in a headlock with a gun to his head Everybody stay where you are chill the F' out! This guy Took his helmet off than pointed his gun at Dad I'm going to ask you this one time!

Where is Gamora?

Oh I'll do you one better who's Gamora?

The guy dad had pinned to the ground yelled I'll do you one better Why is Gamora

I sware I'm going to shoot this Guy!

Yeah come on let's do it you shoot my guy I'll blast him Let's go The guy yelled Do It Quill i can take it Another voice came from behind me No he can't take it Strange looked at him she's right he can't take it Alright if you don't want to tell me where Thanos is That's fine I'll kill all 4 of you starting with this one right here Strange looked at this Quill guy that still had me in a headlock. Alright Thanos let me ask you this one time? What Master do you serve? What am i supposed to say Jesus? So your from earth? No I'm from Missouri! That's on Earth Dipshit! Yeah Whatever  Mr.Suit man i am I looked up at him So your not with Thanos? No! Quill realsed me He took my girl I'm here to kill him I walked away from him over to dad.

So who are you guy's I looked at him We're the Avengers Dude! Dad pulled me back to him I am they are not! The woman looked at me your the one's who Thor told us about You know Thor? Yeah Tall looking dude not that good looking I raised my eyebrow. Okay so why are you guy's going after Thanos we are going to Steal the Gaunlet before he ends half of Humanity Quill do you know where Thor was headed? He was talking about some Place that could make Weapons! For The God's

I grinned yeah Now that Sounds like the Thor we know. Quill how did you get here do you have a Ship? Yeah i have a Ship Mr.Suitman why? Could you give us a Ride to Waknada And where is that exactly? It's on Earth Dipshit dose it look like I'm from Space.

I walked out from behind Dad over to Quill i opened the face shield. He stepped back Woah!! Your a chick? Uh well yeah Listen I'm sorry about my father he's kind of a Hard ass My name is Nathaile Stark! Quill held his hand out Im Star-Lord Aka

Peter Quill I smiled Star-Lord? Yeah? Okay

It's nice to meet you. He turned around oh and this is my Team that's Drax and This is Mantis and That's Nebula It's nice to meet you Nathaile Dad walked in between us okay You don't need to introduce yourself to the space guy's Now could you give us that ride? Sure And you are? I'm Stark!! And that's all you need to know my ships over here Lady's first Quill held his hand out walking me up onto his ship after we all got on Quill got in the driver's seat the rest of his team got in the other open seats Mantis smiled at me you can sit in this seat Groot sat here he won't mind i think he would really like you! Dad walked up to me You alright? yeah I'm fine why are you being all soft all of a sudden? What are you trying to do Impress them so they will take us home? And why are we going to Waknada?

No Haile i am not trying to impress the Space People and we are going there Because i know someone there who can help us I leand back in my seat I didn't say another word the rest of the trip we safely Entered the Earth's Atmosphere with no problems We were getting close to Waknada.

Listen Stark we need a plan for when he comes and we all know he's coming For That Stone the Wizard has And Visions Mind Stone Peter and I stood back as they all talked about their plan Hey guy's I have a Plan they just continued talking.

I walked up to everyone Hey I have a Plan at least hear me out come on Dad finally snapped No you are not helping I told you and Peter are to fall back and let us take care of this thing Stark at least Let her tell us what her Plan is Strange i don't need you telling me how to be a parent! Stark just give her a chance Fine!!!

Dad crossed his arms Haile Do tell us what your brilliant Plan is? He stepped back letting me Speak. Mantis you said you had the Ability to make someone sleep correct? Yes if you could Make him sleep long enough for Dr.Strange to hold him down while My Dad Peter Quill and Drax to pull the Gauntlet From his hand Than we would have it! Stark I'm starting to Think your Daughter is more of Genius than you!

Shut Up Strange! Dr.Strange put his arm around my shoulders we will go with your plan Kid! I walked back to the seating area taking my seat with a huge smile on my face As we fastly approached Waknada.

Someone came through on the Radio.

Who are you and how do you know about this place? Respond now or we will shoot you down!! How do you work this thing Quill press that button and hold it down to talk. This is your Final Warning Speak now or we will shoot you down!

This Is Tony Stark!! I'm here to speak with

T'Challa I'm an Avenger The other end went Quiet Hello? Is anyone there?

Mr.Stark T'Challa Yes! It's great to finally hear from you We were beginning to Wonder if you were ever going to show up Your not the only Avenger who's come here The rest of the Avengers are here as well We will be waiting for you at the landing strip.

Oh and Mr.Stark

Welcome To Waknada

Guy's look at that We had flew through some kind of invisibility Cloak the hid the world of Waknada This place was even more beautiful than i thought it would be Quill brought the ship down on the landing strip we exited the ship Sure enough T'Challa was standing there Along with the rest of the Avengers I stopped when i saw Uncle Rhodey It had been Month's sense the last time i saw him

I opened the suit and went running towards Him Haile? Is that you? Uncle Rhodey a huge smile filled his face I jumped into his arm's hugging him Where have you been where did you go? We will talk about it later Okay later is fine anyway how have you been? You look good? I smiled iv been better Dad walked up next to us Rhodes nice to see you could make it! Yeah you too.

I stepped back I couldn't believe everyone was all here back together in one place

The only people missing were

   Steve Thor and Clint

Aunt Nat hugged me Hey you how are you? I'm good how about you?

I'm doing alright is your dad with you?

Before i got a chance to amswer Dad was bossing me around yet again!

Haile get back into your suit it's not safe

I rolled my eye's yeah Nat he's here

Damnit!! I looked at her confused What? What is it? Oh right Shit! Steve's here isn't he? Yeah he's here I turned around I went for Dad I knew this could end in too Ways Dad and Steve were going to continue their fight When he found out about who Killed my Grandparents Or he was going to forget about it for now and leave it alone.

Before i could get to him Steve Walked over to us Haile! Is that you? Ugh yeah Hi Steve he hugged me It's been what 3, 4 years? Yeah somthing like that I felt an arm rest on my shoulder i looked over my shoulder Dad was standing behind me I looked back at Steve. Ready to stop this if a fight broke out Tony it's nice to see you Dad nodded than looked away Cap! Peter looked at me Awkward!!

Shuri pointed up into the sky

Hey guys i hate to interrupt but Their is something Big Entering the Atmosphere

I looked up Oh God he's here I looked at Peter this is it it's really happening Pete look at me I put my hands to the sides of his face stick to the Plan Remember the plan.

T'Challa walked over to us in the Black Panther Suit everyone else with me Let's Avenge the World Haile look at me I turned to Dad yeah? It's your Time now Make me proud I smiled Don't worry i won't let you down We stood back as a Force Field went around Waknada two of Those Q Ships landed releasing a bunch of monster's

We stood our ground as we watched these things try to break through the Wall killing themselves when they did make it Through Haile! You stay where either me or Rhodey can see you Peter you too.

T'Challa Stepped forward we can't let them get behind us we need to keep them in front of us For Visions sake Open The force Field Wait if you open that Waknada will be Destroyed It will be the end of Wakanda Well we better make it one hell of an Ending Nakia and Okoye Stood next to

T'Challa Do it!! Open the Force Field!!.

T'Challa's Panther mask coverd his face and crossed his arms over his chest Yelling

Wakanda Forever as T'Challa and Cap Took off running towards the creatures everyone stayed behind I stayed behind Dad and Rohdey for the most part but i did get to Take some of the creature's out I heard a loud Explosion come from behind me I spun around Seeing that the Creatures had Entered Where Vision and Wanda were Shit! I flew up off the ground into the air heading for the building I landed in the back where the building had been blown open i started fighting off the beasts till i was pinned to the ground I hit them with everything i had the including the Blasters F.R.I.D.A.Y Started talking to me Haile your taking too much impact at once the suit can't handle it you need to get out of here Haile!!

No I'm not leaving i can do this!

My head was now being slammed into the ground repeatedly i somehow manged to free my arm Blasting the 3 creature's ontop of me in the head killing them i pushed them off me and stood i could feel the blood running down my face I managed to make it into the building Shuri was still working on Vision Wanda was fighting the Creature's alone I limped my way over to her Haile! Get out of here i got this!

No Wanda I'm not leaving She blasted me out with her power's i landed outside the door on my back I laid their Trying to catch my breath when another Creature jumped on top of me I started hitting it over and over again I went to Blast it with the blaster's But nothing came out!! Ugh F.R.I.D.A.Y What the hell is going on with my suit? I told you Nathaile your suit can not take on anymore Damage I head butted the The Monster hard enough it flew up off me i got up and leaned up against the building I went to leave the area I was half way off the ground when something grabbed me by the leg pulling me back to the ground The same creature pulled me down to it slaming it's fist through the Suit stabbing me in my abdomen with it's claws I let out a Piercing Scream!!

God Damnit!! F.R.I.D.A.Y GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!! The suit lifted off the ground i was in the air i pulled my arm's from the suit and held my hands over my abdomen my hands were soaking wet from all the blood I put pressure on it grinding my teeth together It stung so bad! I laid back in the suit trying to steady my breathing

I was suddenly Blinded from a bright Blue light that lit up the sky Thor landed in the middle of the field taking out half of the Monsters Suddenly that red flashing light came across the screen System Failure The whole suit shut down I started screaming As i was now falling out of the sky.

Tony where is Haile? Mr.Stark look! We looked up in the sky Haile's suit had black smoke coming out of it as she was falling out of the sky Oh my God she's flying dead stick!! Rohdey Took off Towards her

While Peter and I faught off the Creature's watching from the ground in Horror as she fell closer and closer to Earth!

Mr.Stark He knocked the Creature to the ground What is it Peter? Look I looked up in the sky as Rohdey Caughter her They both landed a few feet from the fight their was nothing but a huge dust cloud when they hit the ground I took off over to them I landed next to them She wasn't moving Rohdey was trying to open her suit Tony i can't get the suit open F.R.I.D.A.Y Read Vitals

Sir! She has a Pulse What Happened F.R.I.D.A.Y?? The suit took all it could She wouldn't listen to me Sir I broke the suit open pulling it from her body her eyes were closed she was holding onto the side of her Abdomen I moved her hands seeing all the blood her hands fell limp on her chest

Oh God! I put my hand to the side of her face Haile? Her chest was slowly rising than falling Rhodey I need to get her out of here Stay with her I'll be right back.

I stood up flying up off the ground Peter He looked up in the sky Mr.Stark? Kid she needs you Rhodey is with her F.R.I.D.A.Y

i need another Suit here ASAP!! I looked down only seeing a few creature's left we had killed them off T'Challa i need your help It's my daughter Every Avenger stopped what they were doing And listened to Tony Talk she's dieing she's been stabbed by one of the Creatures she's losing a lot of blood!

Marvel Imagine By @yes-bitchxxxmarvel-stuff

@77marvelimagines

[dramaqueeenamby]

Space Between (13)

TAGLIST: @katshrev @elaindeereads @soulmates8 @naturallyqueenie @onyour-right@msincognito67@janellemonaenae @afraiddreamingandloving @hutchj @90sinspiredgirl  @airis-paris14 @dolphinpink310 @purplemuse @amberkay284 @leafdragon117 @meeky-imagines@aieyr @h-challa@quietemptydiariess @katasstrophey @wakanda-inspired@destinio1@dessianna1@blackpantherimagines @httpjex @palmsofgranate@dessianna1@armani9-9@melanisticroyalty @stressedgyal@profilia@theestrangeddreamer@mixedmelanin@almostpurelysmut@writingmarvellousimagines@amberthegamer @sisterwifeudaku@texasbama@lcb7 @kumkaniudaku@lavitabella87  @dessianna1@httpjex @armani9-9 @melanisticroyalty@stressedgyal @idilly @blue-ishx@beautifulbashfulblackqueen @twilight-sapphire-lover@derangedcupcake @thiccdaddy-mbaku@kaytauru @sonofnjobu @wakandamama @LUCI-HER@FRIENDLYNEIGHBORHOODKIRBY@spacequeenstuff @masterbeautyy @thenamesaj

Words: 5K

❤️#BUNBUNWEDNESDAY ❤️ (early)

DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ TWELVE. YOU WILL BE UTTERLY CONFUSED.

ALSO......PLEASE DON’T HATE ME AFTER THIS.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE TAGGED IN THIS STORY, CLICK HERE.

MASTERLIST

SPACE BETWEEN (12)

“He’s lost his goddamn mind.”

“He really had her arrested?”

“Come now, he can’t seriously believe her to be guilty of these accusations?”

“He is clearly hurt by this and not thinking straight.”

“And what of Bunme? What is he to tell her?  Oh, your mommy is in jail for alleged crimes against Wakanda?”

“I’m not sure he’s going to tell her anything. Bast, he hasn’t even let her know that he’s returned.”

“We think she doesn’t know,” N’Jobu sighed. “Bunme is a very smart and crafty child. She very well may have caught wind of their return.”

“I can’t believe that she’s really his child,” Nakia shook her head, her face filled with astonishment. “I can’t believe she lied.”

“She must have had a good reason,” M’Baku chimed.

“Just like he probably thinks that he had a good reason for locking her up like some criminal.” Hawla hissed, pacing across the floor, rubbing her growing baby bump. “He was wise to have his wing of the palace guarded by Doras and that I am with child cause if not for them....” She finished with a groan, her husband placing his hand on her knee to calm her down.

Just then, Shuri and Erik walked into the room, both of them wearing irritated expressions.

“He still will not allow you access?”

“It’s a smart decision cause as soon as I get close enough, I’m knocking his bitch ass out.” The prince growled.

“We can’t just leave her in prison,” Shuri threw her hands up. “What are we to tell Bunme?” The general prayer among the group of concerned individuals was that the little princess would sleep later than her usual 10:00am wake-up-time in order to give them extra time to figure out a course of action.

“We shouldn’t have to tell her nothing. She should be free to tell her herself.” Erik was visibly and soundly irritated by everything. “Damnit, I knew she should have told him. If she would have just listened to me-“

“Wait, you knew?” Nakia pressed.

N’Jobu spoke up and explained how he and his son came to figure out the truth. Erik then chimed in toward the end to inform how Y/N was stopped from telling the truth after a phone call with her sister.

“At this point, does any of that even matter? Our number one concern and priority is figuring out how to get her out of this mess.” M’Baku informed, everyone offering various nods and small quips of agreement.

“You two are the highest in terms of the chain of command, can’t you free her?” Hawla sighed in desperation.

“Unfortunately, with the amount and severity of the charges being alleged against her, only the king can authorize her release.” N’Jobu shook his head, a deep scowl on his face.

“We could break her out-“

“And make her look even more guilty?” Nakia rolled her eyes at Shuri’s kind but naive suggestion. “No. Our only course of action is talking sense into T’Challa.”

“Or beating it out,” Erik muttered earning a glare from his girlfriend.

“I second that motion.”

“M’Baku!”

At that moment, Okoye entered the room full of mixed emotions.

Shuri stood up from her seat and wasted no time. “Can we see him?”

The general hesitated, aggravating Erik.

“Talk, Okoye.”

The fierce warrior glared before sighing. “He is not here.” Variations of “what” and “where has he gone” were thrown at the woman before she loudly and plainly stated. “He went to go see her.” Silence. “Alone.”

“To free her?” Hawla’s voice was full of hope.

“No.” Okoye’s eyed dropped to her ground. She was ashamed. “To take her testimony.”

♔ ♔ ♔ ♔ ♔

Prisons in Wakanda were far different from the cells back in Niganda. This was something Y/N learned upon being locked in her “cell.” Though she hated even being there, she had to admit that a square shaped cell, covered by transparent walls of vibranium with a bed, mirror, table, and other pieces of furniture was far from what she was expecting.

Perhaps she received such a room because of her status as a royal. However, aesthetically pleasing surroundings could not make up for the inner turmoil that she felt.

She knew that telling T’Challa the truth would be a difficult task, but she never imagined that it would bring about such detrimental consequences. Laying on her side, staring at the wall across from her, all she saw was the broken man before whom she pleaded. All she could hear were his harsh words.

Yes. The fact that she was being accused of such vile treacheries bothered her to her core, but her main concern was getting through to T’Challa. If only he could give her time to explain herself, stress to him that she was going to tell him the truth that very night, but circumstances beyond her control prevented it from happening.

However, her biggest and main concern was Bunme. She didn’t know how her baby girl was doing and prayed that she was not told of her mother’s current whereabouts. How could you explain to a five-year-old that her mother was in jail? She didn’t want that stress on her daughter.

She just prayed that T’Challa felt the same way.

The princess sat up and looked straight ahead, her eyes immediately connecting with a stoic-faced lover of hers.

She wasted no time in standing up and walking toward him, stopping in the middle of the cell, his eyes raking over the stretch pants and an oversized shirt that she’d been given as part of her detainment.

She had so many things that she wanted to say to him yet her mind kept drawing blanks. Words failed to leave her mouth. It took a good minute for her to garner a sentence and even that was marked by brevity.

“Bunme-”

“She believes us to still be away on our mission.”

That bit of information brought some comfort to the young woman despite the remaining anxiety that ate at her. “So she doesn’t know that I’m here-”

“No.”

She winced from his tone and dropped her head. “Good-”

“Five years,” he spoke, his eyes focused on the floor, his jaw tense as he struggled to maintain composure. “I’ve missed five years of her life because of you.”

Her slumped shoulders and red eyes gave away her dejection. “T’Challa-”

“I was not there for her first steps, her first word, her birth.” She clenched her eyes shut at his pained delivery. “Why?” She sniffled and went to speak when his fist banged against the wall, causing her to jump back in shock. “WHY?”

“I was scared, T’Challa!” Y/N shouted, wiping at her eyes. “I was terrified at how you would react! I didn’t even know how to react.”

“You should have told me, you knew how I felt about you.” He was legitimately hurt by her deception, not that she could blame him. She’d done this, created this mess. “Did you honestly believe that I would turn you away?” It was damn near unbearable. She couldn’t take the disappointment in his question. She’d never seen him look so vulnerable.

“I don’t know,” she sniffled, her eyes avoiding his as he was now staring directly at her. “I was already hesitant on what to do and then I talked to my sister-”

“Your sister?” He interrupted, his tone starting to transition into anger. “So you trusted someone who you’d told me time and time again treated awfully over me? You allowed her to dictate what you did with my child?”

“If you would give me a chance to explain,” she crossed her arms and moved closer to the barrier between them. The physical barrier. “My parents we-”

“Inkosi Yam,” Okoye came running into the room. She sent an apologetic and sympathetic glance to Y/N before looking over at T’Challa. “It’s Klaue. We have a location.”

The Black Panther straightened and turned to a despondent Y/N whose eyes told a story that he’d yet to hear, but his first duty was to his people. He had to get Klaue behind bars before anything else.

Without another word, he turned to follow his general out the door.

“I didn’t do what she said, what they all believe me to have done.” Y/N called out as soon as Okoye was out of her line of vision, her voice barely above a whisper. “I would never betray you or your country. You must know that.”

He stopped, his fist clenched at his side as he looked over his shoulder. The queen held a little hope that her last-minute statement got through to him, penetrated the dense wall of betrayal and pain that she’d created.

Instead, her heart broke even more as he kept on walking. Once he was gone, she released the sob that she’d been holding in the back of her throat, covering her face with her hands as she went to go sit on the bed.

“Well,” she jumped from the introduction of the new voice, going to her feet, the tears continuing to stream down her face. “That was rather…...anticlimactic.”

Her eyes narrowed to crinkled slits. “You son of a bitch.”

Dumi smiled, walking up to the glass, his arms crossed. “I know you must be upset.” He laughed as she went to hit the glass, her eyes glowing white. “Now, now, princess, let’s not behave too recklessly.”

“This whole time you’ve been lying to me.” She hissed, her mouth trembling from a perfect combination of anger and hurt. “I trusted you.”

It made her sick to know that such a person had been around her poor child for five years. The man was practically a father figure and not once had she picked up on the underlying sinister nature. Truthfully speaking, she blamed herself. She should have seen through his facade.

“You mean as he trusted you?” His eyes widened with faux innocence as he motioned to the area where T’Challa and Okoye walked out just minutes prior. “Such a shame how that all turned out. Truly.”

“Why?” She whispered, her heart yearning, needing a reason.

“That comes later,” he nonchalantly waved her off. “What I will say is….do you remember Atu Arziki? No? What of Sibusiso Nuru?” He stepped closer to the glass, his eyebrows raised. “Still nothing?” She was silent, her brain wrecking for an idea as to who those two people were, but the names weren’t ringing a bell.

Y/N gasped loudly when he punched the glass. “Well, let me refresh your mind, princess. Atu Arziki was my older brother who just so happened to be unlucky enough to be forced to serve as a training partner for a young mutant child who refused an order from her dictator parents to kill him-”

She started to move back. “No-”

“Well, the dictators didn’t like their precious daughter’s act of obedience. Not at all. They were just requesting the death of the boy, no one else, but that little bitch couldn’t even do that.”

“Stop,” she squinted her eyes and covered her ears.

“So do you know what they did?” His smile dropped as his eyes hardened with anguish and heartache. “They killed him and his entire family, letting only one lucky child live to know to never again make the same dire mistake.”

She dropped to her knees.

He shrugged. “And Sibusiso Nuru? Well, he was a decorated Wakandan War Dog, one of the best. You remember him from your conversation with your sister, yes?” Y/N didn’t even bother to express surprise. She’d already garnered that Dumi was listening in on her phone calls with Anajah. She would have also bet that it was him who filled Ramonda’s head with all those lies regarding her working with Klaue. “Until he was captured, tortured, and murdered while stationed in Niganda. His family took it extremely hard, but none harder than his poor daughter….Ayo.”

“What?” Her eyes were bug-eyed as the second in command stepped from the shadows with a smirk on her face.

“Ah, yes, but Ayo always swore she would extract her revenge on her father’s killers.” Dumi continued, eyeing the warrior from head to toe. “It was such a perfect pairing, her and I. You know, guarding your little brat while she was at school became much more bearable after the union of Ayo and me.”

“You bitch,” Y/N sneered, her nose turned up at the sight of the woman who’d not only betrayed Y/N, but her king, and her country. A thought crossed her mind. “You two helped Klaue escape….didn’t you?”

“She talks too much.” Ayo rolled her eyes and looked over at Dumi. “Let’s speed this up, please.”

“So impatient,” the man snickered. “Ah, yes, of course. We are actually here to break you out.”

“And why in the hell would you do that?”

“To take you back to Niganda to answer for your crimes against our country,” he continued, his head tilted. “Did you really think we would allow you to escape? You or your sister?”

At the mentioning of Anajah, she froze just as her heart stopped. “What? What have to done to her?” She placed her fists against the wall. “If you even think of hurting her-” She was cut off by the Zenzi member rolling his eyes and lifting up a tablet with a video playing. Y/N gasped as she took in the sight of her bleeding and bruised sister, tied up by his wrists and ankles being savagely beaten by four men, members of the Zenzi.

“No!” She cried out, her heart breaking at the sight. “Stop! Please don’t hurt her!”

“Oh, don’t worry, princess. She’s fine…..for now.” Her forehead dropped against the glass. “You parents on the other hand…..” He sucked his teeth, hitting a button on the screen before pained screams of agony filled the princess' ears. She looked up and immediately felt her stomach drop.

On the screen, were her parents, tied up against two wooden poles, surrounded by hay and flames.

They were being burned at the stake.

Melting skin, intestines oozing out, and just the horror of it all prompted the princess to dub over and start vomiting.

“Yeah…..not an easy sight to stomach, huh?” He chuckled in jest. “Oh, and while I hate to be the one to pile on the agony-”

“The children’s hospital has been planted with bombs that will go off with only a simple phone call,” Ayo interjected. “500 children. Dead. If you don’t cooperate.”

“Why are you doing this?” Y/N sobbed, palms flat against the floor. “Why?”

“Niganda has suffered for too long under the rule of your family. No longer will we be repressed.” Dumi hissed. “Your parents are dead, yes, and eventually, your sister will be too unless you come with us.”

“And do what?” She screamed before another wave of projectile vomit hit.

“Share the same fate as your parents.”

She stared ahead, momentarily paralyzed by his statement. “W-w-what?”

“Your brother left long ago and is no longer a problem. Your sister could care less about us, but you, you are the anomaly that we cannot underestimate.” He narrowed his eyes. “If we are to truly become free from the terror of your bloodline, we must eliminate all possible threats to our new age.” A beat. “That includes you.”

So overcome by her grief, she didn’t even notice Ayo walk over and disable the shields as Dumi stepped into her cell, standing over her.

“Of course, you could always stay here and face Wakandan judgment, but then you have the blood of your sister and 500 children on your hands.”

All she could do was cry. They wanted her dead. She knew that the Zenzi wanted her family off the throne but she never could have imagined the brutality that would extend her way. She never pictured herself being punished along with her parents.

Her parents….they were dead.

She didn’t know how to process that. On one hand, she felt nothing. They were far from good people. On the other hand, she felt everything. They’d given her life, brought her into this world.

Did that not count for anything?

“So princess,” Dumi smirked, watching as she threw up, her stomach in shambles from the grisly and disturbing video. “Would you like some time to think about your options?” His smirk transformed into a sinister smile as he watched her hunched back begin to shake from the intensity of her sobs as her vomiting ceased. “How about ten minutes? No, that’s too long. Five?”

Y/N was stuck between a wall and a hard place. Going with them meant that she was signing her death warrant. Not going with them meant that her sister and 500 innocent lives would be lost.

Y/N wasn’t even sure if they would stay true to their word and spare the innocent if she agreed to forfeit herself, her life.

But was she willing to risk it?

She wanted to scream.

In a flash, Dumi had the princess up against the wall, his hand wrapped around her throat. “You have thirty fucking seconds to make a decision, thirty seconds till I make the call, thirty seconds till they’re all dead.”

The thought of all those innocent babies dead….because of her. It gutted her.

Almost as bad as just the thought of what she was about to say.

“No,” she managed to get out despite the lack of available oxygen. “I’ll-”

He tightened his grip, lifting her up so that her feet were starting to dangle.“What was that, Nala?”

“I’ll do it,” she forced out, her eyes clenched shut to keep the sight of the monster before her out of her vision. It was no use though because she was still haunted by the graphic execution that she’d just been forced to watch. There was no escaping this terror. “I’ll do it.”

♔ ♔ ♔ ♔ ♔

“I want an autopsy done immediately,” T’Challa hissed, storming into the palace.

The lead that they had on Klaue was accurate sans one bit of information.

He was dead.

Stabbed through the chest some type of object, his body collecting insects and smelling of rotting flesh once they found him.

T’Challa was livid. He wanted the man alive, to stand trial, to see him suffer as they sentenced him to death.

Twice he’d been deprived of the justice that he so desperately sought.

T’Challa was preparing to head up the stairs when he felt someone coming behind him. The skilled warrior immediately grabbed the attempted assailant by the throat and forced him against the closest wall.

“Erik?” He was confused not just by the fact that his cousin was apparently trying to attack him but by the terrified look in his eyes.

“We gotta do something.” Was all he said as T’Challa released him.

He truly was in no mood for his cousin’s games. “About-”

“Come on,” Erik did not wait. He immediately headed for the library, the king surprised to find the bulk of his companions waiting for him.

Except that wasn’t the most surprising. No, what was surprising was the sight of Y/N interacting with Bunme who was sitting on her mother’s lap.

What?

The child’s eyes lit up as they landed on him. “Baba!” Bunme quickly jumped down from Y/N and scurried over to T’Challa who crouched down to lift her up and hug her against him. “You’re back!” She giggled as he struggled to find the correct words.

He wanted to act as though nothing had changed, like she was still the same little girl whom he’d grown to love, formed a bond with.

But she wasn’t.

Before, he viewed her as the daughter he always wanted but never had.

Now, she was the daughter that he always wanted and always had.

Slight change in wording.

Extreme difference in meaning.

“I’ve missed you, sam isipho.” He murmured into the top of her head, kissing her cheek.

Bunme giggled and pulled back with a broad smile. “Now we’re all back together again!”

His heart ached. If only she knew….

“Baby,” Y/N spoke as she stood up. That’s when T’Challa saw it. The anguish in her eyes and the strange bracelet on her wrist. It looked so familiar. “That’s what I need to talk to you about….mommy….” Her voice broke. “Mommy has to go.”

Bunme frowned as she wiggled in his grasp, prompting him to carefully place her down on the floor. “Why?” She started walking towards her mother. “You just got back.”

“I know,” she sniffled as T’Challa looked around the room and finally picked up on the fact there wasn’t a single person in that room who wasn’t fighting tears if not openly shedding them.  “But….you know the bad people back in Niganda….right?” Bunme nodded as Y/N got down on both knees and lightly grabbed her shoulders. “Well….they’re going to do something very bad if mommy doesn’t go back.”

T’Challa was utterly confused. What in Bast name was going on?

He pulled Erik to the side. “What is she-”

“This terrorist group called the Zenzi executed her parents, has her sister hostage, and are threatening to bomb a children’s hospital if she doesn’t turn herself over in the next hour,” Erik spoke in a rushed, quiet, and dangerously controlled voice.

T’Challa moved back ever so slightly as his eyes widened from all of the information. “Turn her over for what?”

A brief look of hurt flashed in Erik’s eyes before he calmly responded with, “What do you think, T’Challa?”

“But what if you get hurt?”

“Oh, don’t worry, Bun Bun.” Dumi’s voice sounded as he walked in the room, his signature smirk on his face. “I’ll be there with her the whole time.”

T’Challa growled and went to lunge at Dumi when Erik and M’Baku moved to restrain him.

“He’s with the Zenzi, T’Challa.” Erik hissed in a low voice as the king kept his deadly glare on the former guard. “Do anything to set him off and one phone call damns everybody to death.”

The king stopped. Dumi was a spy. 

He suddenly wished that he’d killed him when he wanted to. 

Bunme ignored Dumi, untrusting of the man ever since she was told that he wasn’t “nice anymore” by her mama following his firing, her pout still as prominent as she proposed the question that Y/N had been dreading. “When will you come back?”

It took everything in her not to break down right then and there.

“Do you remember what I told  you when the bad people tried to hurt us in Niganda before we came here?” Bunme reluctantly nodded. “I told you to hide in the closet while mommy fought them, and you asked me the very same question….so I’m going give you the very same answer.” T’Challa heard his sister's quiet sobs as an equally distraught Nakia tried to comfort her. “Where’s mommy?”

Bunme slowly lifted her index finger to her heart. “Right here.”

Y/N smiled through her pain. “And how long is mommy going to be there?”

Again, a pregnant pause. “Forever.”

“That’s right, baby girl.” Y/N sniffled, reaching out to caress the top of her head. “Mommy loves you so much.”

“Mommy, why are you crying?” Bunme questioned gently as Y/N dropped her head to try and blink away her tears even though she knew it was no use. “I’m scared….I don’t want you to go.”

Y/N felt all resolve break as her little girl threw her arms around her, clinging on to her for dear life, her own tears staining Y/N’s shirt. “Please don’t go.”

“I’m always with you, Bunme.” She promised, tightening her hold on her daughter for one last embrace. “Always.”

“Alright,” Dumi rolled his eyes and walked over, grabbing Y/N by her upper arm and yanking her to her feet. “Time to go, princess.”

“Hey!” Bunme shouted, crying and rubbing her eyes. “Leave my mommy alone!”

T’Challa immediately went over to grab her. “Bunme-”

“Baba,” she turned to him, the sight of her crying breaking his heart, but he maintained his stoic expression. “You gotta help mommy! Please!” At that point, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Even M’Baku was blinking away tears. “You promised you’d always protect her!”

T’Challa looked at his former lover, the anguish in her eyes, and then over at Dumi who was watching them closely, waiting for the king to make a move.

He only had one option.

T’Challa delivered with all the coldness that he could muster, “There’s nothing I can do.”

Heartbreak….just….heartbreak.

“It’s okay, baby.” Y/N tried to reassure as Dumi started to drag her out the room. “I’ll be okay.”

“No!” Bunme went to run after them, but T’Challa restrained her. “Mommy, please don’t go!”

The older princess looked from her daughter to her love one last time and whimpered out: “I love you.”

With that, she disappeared from their site.

“Mommy!” Bunme was screaming at that point, trying to hit at T’Challa. “Let me go!”

“Sam Isipho,” he attempted to calm her down, but it was no good.

“No! I hate you!” Those three words rendered him speechless as he unconsciously let her go, Bunme making a sprint for the door.

Nakia quickly jumped up and wiped at her eyes. “I’ll go get her.”

T’Challa couldn’t even respond as those words oscillated in his mind. Well, before he felt himself being pinned to the floor.

“You weak ass son of a bitch!” Erik yelled, raining fists on his cousin. “You just let her go like that?!”

T’Challa broke from his trance and easily pushed Erik off, jumping to his feet. “Er-”

“Man, fuck you!” Erik was in no mood for excuses or explanations. “You foul as shit, T’Challa!”

“Erik,” Shuri attempted to speak up but was cut off.

“Naw! You know they gon kill her right?! Probably torture her too! And yo’ ass didn’t do shit to stop it!” He continued as M’Baku moved to hold his arm. “You really gon let her d-”

“SILENCE!” T’Challa finally snapped, marching over and snatching him up by the collar. “I would see myself dead before I allowed that to happen!”

Erik maintained his fierce expression. “Then why the fuck did you just allow him to take her like that?”

“If I had given him any indication that I plan to go after her, who knows what he would have done?” T’Challa retorted harshly.

“Wait. So we’re going to save her?” Hawla questioned with the first hint of hopefulness to enter the room all day.

“Of course,” T’Challa did not hesitate. “But we’re going to need some help.” He informed, pushing Erik away and pulling his Kimoyo bead to his mouth. “Has he arrived?”

“I have,” everyone turned to the door where a dark-skinned man with a deep accept and solid build spoke boldly. “And just in time, it would seem.”

Erik sized him up. “Who the fuck are you?”

The man also eyed him from head to toe and scoffed before walking over to T’Challa. “We must hurry. My sister is in more danger than she realizes.”

“She’s powerless too.” Shuri chimed as T’Challa regarded her with confusion. “That bastard managed to break into my lab and steal the power disabling device that I’ve been working on. Somehow he gained access and knew that I’d completed it.”

The bracelet. T’Challa suddenly realized. That was why it looked so familiar.

“You don’t understand,” Belay shook his head. “Y/N is an extremely powerful mutant, but her weakness always has and always will be her love for our people. Whoever plans to take the throne should want her at his side, using the lives of Nigandans as collateral to secure her as his queen. The love of power would certainly overpower the hate and contempt for my family.”

“What are you saying?” T’Challa pressed. He was in no mood for riddles.

Belay’s eyes softened ever so slightly with fear.

“I think she’s walking into a trap.”

♔ ♔ ♔ ♔ ♔

Y/N stirred from her sleep to find herself being dragged through the grand palace of Niganda.

Well, it wasn't necessarily sleeping. 

She’d been knocked unconscious as soon as she walked into the plane.

“Wh..” She tried to talk, blinking several times to clear her vision as she looked to her left to see Ayo and Dumi walking side by side. “Where are you taking me?”

“To our leader, of course.” Dumi scoffed. “And future queen.”

She stalled. Queen? What?

“You fool,” she managed to insult but cried out when one of the men dragging her on her knees hit her on the side of her head. “Niganda doesn’t allow women to rule.”

“Correction,” Y/N’s head shot up as she desperately searched for the source of the voice. That voice. She’d know it from anywhere. “They used to not allow women to rule.”

Y/N’s heart was beating erratically as she finally zoned in on the individual who emerged from the shadows. “Anajah?”

The bruised woman smirked. “It seems we have much to catch up on.” A beat. “Sister.”

[ao3feed-stucky]

by hitlikehammers

This is the way the world ends: not with a whimper, but a snap.

Yet even that wasn't truly the end of any of their stories. Not even close.

   Post-Avengers: Infinity War Fix-It for the 2018 Marvel Big Bang.

Words: 5098, Chapters: 1/15, Language: English

Fandoms: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Black Panther (2018), Ant-Man (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Thor (Movies), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Captain Marvel (2019)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, Gen, M/M

Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers, T'Challa (Marvel), Shuri (Marvel), Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Sam Wilson (Marvel), Everett Ross, Thor (Marvel), Loki (Marvel), Nebula (Marvel), Thanos (Marvel), Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Nakia (Black Panther), Hope Van Dyne, Janet Van Dyne, Hank Pym, Ava Starr, Scott Lang, Clint Barton, Maria Hill, Nick Fury, Bruce Banner, Vision (Marvel), Wanda Maximoff, Peter Quill, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, Groot (Marvel), Mantis (Marvel), Peter Parker, Stephen Strange, Gamora (Marvel), Carol Danvers, James "Rhodey" Rhodes

Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Minor or Background Relationship(s)

Additional Tags: Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Speculative Avengers: Infinity War Part 2, Reality Splitting, The Infinity Gauntlet is Real Fucked Up Just Now, Alternate Planes and Realities and Realms and Dimensions—Oh My!, Consciousness Sharing (of a sort), Nebula's Intergalactic Revenge Tour, Steve and Bucky Saving the World Because Their Love Is That Strong Damnit, Pining, Presumed character death, The Cave of the Heart-Shaped Herb, Resurrection, Those Damn Infinity Stones, When You Want Something Done Right Leave it to the Ladies, Ensemble Cast, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, Supersoldiers in Love

[juliabenerdy]

Women Outshined in Black Panther IMO

Okay...so here is the deal for Black Panther...if you haven’t seen it yet...DO IT! If you don’t plan on seeing it yet I highly recommend you change your mind. This movie blew my mind. I will have mild spoilers in here so read at your own risk if you have not watched yet. The acting was freaking superb. Literally top notch to were all the actors and actresses. However, I really do have to give a special nod to the ladies in this film. 

I mean how badass is that? The General Okoye was Danai Gurira, most people would know her in her role in Walking Dead, and she was just as fantastic in this. The actress that played Nakia, Lupita Nyong’o, was also just as amazing. I really liked how strong she was as a character and had her own ambitions despite also being a love interest role. Comic book women are not always done well for that. Plus his sister, Shuri, was the princess but practically in charge of their Science Tech! Smart, beautiful, and bad ass! I think there are a lot of women in this for little girls to look up to and I would say that it would be about time for women to have some limelight in a Marvel movie. I honestly think they out shined the actors.

Another great aspect of the movie that I would love to point out is the interaction between Chadwick Boseman and Letitia Wright who played brother and sister. Essentially being the coolest royalty I have ever seen I loved their sibling bond. 

I really liked the instrumental soundtrack. I felt inspired by the African music and the way Wakanda was traditonal but technical. It was a beautiful synergy. I don’t want to get into too much spoilers in this so I will go ahead and end this on a note that hopefully leaves people happy and inspired to see this movie. This may have been a Marvel movie but it didnt feel like a total Marvel movie. Most importantly this was just a really awesome science fiction fantasy movie with the roles primarily African American and it was wonderful. The actors and actresses were all amazing and there was not one moment where I was bored. I should also point out that I never felt uncomfortable watching this film so the controversy of people saying that if you are white that you shouldn’t see it is stupid. Go see it! It is wonderful!! They people that worked on this film deserve to have you see it. I got to experience my whole theater applause after the movie ended and I couldn’t help myself. I teared up. With all the things happening in this world it is nice that I can see a movie in my area without any drama and there are like minded people around me that enjoyed it. Because damnit...Black Panther rocked my socks off!

 Nerdy Approved!

[toxicnotebook]

Saw Black Panther and it RULED THEY DIDN’T FUCK IT UP!!

Spoilers behind the cut, of course

Holy shit the writing in this movie was fantastic. The opening scene where they established Wakanda’s history in two minutes? Excellent. The flawless way they tied the beginning with the rest of the plot? Impressive. The massive amounts of showing instead of telling? Absolutely refreshing, other super hero movies should take note (I’m looking at you, GOTG 1).

THE ART DIRECTION WAS PERFECTION. COSTUME, SET, PROPS, ALL OF IT.

I NEED THE ART BOOK

Killmonger is possibly the best Marvel villian we’ve had so far. Believable backstory, clear motive, didn’t just write him off as ‘crazy’, classic villain charisma, and perfectly matched the hero. His last line gave me chills!

(I’m glad Michael B. Jordan finally got a role in a good superhero movie)

OKOYE WAS AMAZING I LOVED HER EVERY SINGLE ONE OF HER SCENES WERE GOLD

SO WERE SHURI AND NAKIA

THE CAR CHASE!!!! THE CAR CHASE

BROTHER SISTER TEAM AND BADASS WOMEN TEAM VS TRASH PARTY VILLAIN KLAW

‘Turn on the music what do you think this is? A funeral?’ I can’t believe they make Klaw a fun villain. Bless Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole and their excellent writing

BATTLE RHINOS FUCK YEAH

Even though I knew the final battle would be T’challa against Killmonger, I was kinda hoping the Dora Milaje or Shuri & Nakia would be the ones to take him down

Listen, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. The superhero plot demands that the final confrontation happens between the main hero and the villain. But I still wanted to see it.

At least they got to beat him up a bit lol

Speaking of the Dora Milaje, I was bummed their history wasn’t explored more :( I don’t think they even called them the Dora Milaje in the movie? Maybe some scenes got cut.

Also: I was really, really hoping the first post-credits scene would end with T’challa showing off ALLLL the tech. I was disappointed it cut off right before that moment

I WANTED HIM TO SHOW OFF IN FRONT OF THE UN DAMNIT

"LOOK AT MY SICK TECH"

"LOOK AT IT”

"MY SISTER MADE THIS ONE SHE’S THE BEST"

T’Challa and Nakia were cute together! I hope they go full Battle Couple in the sequel.

Unrelated, but a trailer for Red Sparrow played before the movie, and the sheer irony of an ad for a Black Widow ripoff playing before an actual Marvel movie was almost too much for me to handle. God.

[descendants-and-hamilsquad-au]

A LIE IS A FUCKING LIE, DAMNIT! *storms out, hitting the wall as I go*

Nakia: Should we...?

T’Challa: No. we need to let him cool off for a little bit. I’ll talk to him after a little while.

[themarvellousmimzi]

Natasha x Bruce Banner/Hulk. Let girl get that Hulksmash! damnit.

Nakia x T'Challa. I stan a healthy relationship between the two most beautiful people on earth.

Carol Danvers x Nick fury. Same energy. Same taste in music.

Carol Danvers x Maria Rambeau.

Captain Marvel x Valkyrie

Michelle Jones x Peter Parker

Eddie x Venom

Valkyrie x Loki. I'm trash. I know it.

Gamora x Thor. Peter fkn who?

[ao3feed-lokiangst]

Dismantle The Sun

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2RcvMJA

by hitlikehammers

This is the way the world ends: not with a whimper, but a snap.

Yet even that wasn't truly the end of any of their stories. Not even close.

   Post-Avengers: Infinity War Fix-It for the 2018 Marvel Big Bang.

Words: 5098, Chapters: 1/15, Language: English

Fandoms: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Black Panther (2018), Ant-Man (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Thor (Movies), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Captain Marvel (2019)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, Gen, M/M

Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers, T'Challa (Marvel), Shuri (Marvel), Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Sam Wilson (Marvel), Everett Ross, Thor (Marvel), Loki (Marvel), Nebula (Marvel), Thanos (Marvel), Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Nakia (Black Panther), Hope Van Dyne, Janet Van Dyne, Hank Pym, Ava Starr, Scott Lang, Clint Barton, Maria Hill, Nick Fury, Bruce Banner, Vision (Marvel), Wanda Maximoff, Peter Quill, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, Groot (Marvel), Mantis (Marvel), Peter Parker, Stephen Strange, Gamora (Marvel), Carol Danvers, James "Rhodey" Rhodes

Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Minor or Background Relationship(s)

Additional Tags: Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Speculative Avengers: Infinity War Part 2, Reality Splitting, The Infinity Gauntlet is Real Fucked Up Just Now, Alternate Planes and Realities and Realms and Dimensions—Oh My!, Consciousness Sharing (of a sort), Nebula's Intergalactic Revenge Tour, Steve and Bucky Saving the World Because Their Love Is That Strong Damnit, Pining, Presumed character death, The Cave of the Heart-Shaped Herb, Resurrection, Those Damn Infinity Stones, When You Want Something Done Right Leave it to the Ladies, Ensemble Cast, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, Supersoldiers in Love

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2RcvMJA

[atakportal]

Hope's ponytail in 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' is everything

New Post has been published on https://pin.atak.co/hopes-ponytail-in-ant-man-and-the-wasp-is-everything/

Hope's ponytail in 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' is everything

In Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) does something decidedly unusual for a female superhero: She wears her hair up while fighting.

And not in a fancy sci-fi updo or anything, either. Just a plain old messy ponytail, the likes of which you’ve seen on every long-haired woman at the gym. 

It may not sound like a big deal. But that one detail speaks volumes about who Hope is – and, maybe even more importantly, how the film sees her. 

Hope is not the first heroine to discover the sweet relief of getting her hair out of her eyes. Some, like Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Nebula, Black Panther‘s Nakia and Okoye, or Deadpool‘s Negasonic Teenage Warhead, go super short or totally bald. Among the long-haired set, Shuri, also from Black Panther, favors elaborate hairstyles that pull her braids back or up. 

They are anomalies, though. Most superpowered ladies fight with their luscious locks flowing freely – see The Avengers‘ Black Widow, Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Gamora, Thor: Ragnarok‘s Valkyrie, X-Men: Apocalypse‘s Psylocke, or even Wonder Woman herself. 

Not a ringlet out of place, even in the middle of a fight.

It makes zero sense, practically speaking. When I had long hair, I could hardly write a blog post without getting my hair in my face or stuck to my neck, never mind knock out half a dozen henchmen. 

Sure, maybe you could explain away some of these unworkable styles from a narrative standpoint. Who’s to say the Asgardian equivalent of Pantene hasn’t come up with a magical formula to keep your locks behaving in the midst of battle? 

Hope’s ponytail isn’t about prettiness. It’s about pragmatism.

But the real point of these styles is to look good on camera. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Wonder Woman’s crowning glory emphasizes her femininity even as she charges into war zones, and it’s part of the iconic look we’ve admired for decades. I don’t know that Wonder Woman would have felt any more (or less) empowering had she decided to wrangle it into a bun.

However, as in so many other areas of life, there’s a double standard at play. There are male superheroes who sport loose and lengthy styles, including Thor, Bucky, and Aquaman. But their hair is allowed to get gritty and messy in a way that their female counterparts’ don’t. 

Thor’s hair gets sweaty and tangled after a hearty battle, while Gamora’s seem like she just stepped out of a Drybar. Bucky’s has the greasy sheen of someone who hasn’t showered in weeks when he resurfaces in The Winter Soldier. Black Widow, in the same movie, finds time to magically straighten her hair after showering at Sam’s.

You can practically smell the battle sweat from here.

Which brings us back to Hope’s ponytail. It’s not particularly sexy or stylish or even polished. She has the flyaways and bumps of someone who barely even glimpsed in the mirror before yanking it up. In reality, of course, all superhero hair is carefully styled and maintained by a team of professionals, and Hope’s is no exception. But this ‘do isn’t about prettiness, it’s about pragmatism. 

Hope is a down-to-earth lady who’s just like us. And that means she pulls her hair back when she beats up bad guys, damnit.

It’s there to let us know that this lady is more concerned right now with getting shit done than she is with looking cute. It’s there to make her seem no-nonsense and #relatable at the same time. It’s a marked contrast from the untouchable Anna Wintour bob she sported in the last film, when we only saw her from Scott’s perspective as a cool, mysterious figure. 

Most crucially, it’s a detail that lets us know Ant-Man and the Wasp itself cares more about presenting Hope as a capable superhero than as sexy eye candy. She’s still attractive, of course – literally every superhero is a stone-cold hottie, even the ones who would never deign to care about such things – but her prettiness is framed as incidental.

Not only that, it’s proof that someone, somewhere on this set cared enough about Hope to consider how a woman like her might wear her hair in a situation like this. That sloppy pony is a subtle way of positioning Hope as a bonafide lead of Ant-Man and the Wasp, rather than just another supporting character. 

The MCU movies’ first true leading lady isn’t a literal goddess, or a mysterious spy, or a space assassin – not that there’s anything wrong with those. She’s a down-to-earth lady who’s just like us. And that means she pulls her hair back when she beats up bad guys, damnit.

!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments);if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '1453039084979896'); if (window.mashKit) mashKit.gdpr.trackerFactory(function() fbq('track', "PageView"); ).render(); Source link

[dramaqueeenamby]

Space Between (7)

*****Tag notifications aren’t working so for those who don’t know, I update this story on Wednesdays. Your best bet is to just check for the newest chapters on Wednesday evenings. :/ At least, until Tumblr gets their shit together. Smh.*****

❤️ #BunBunWednesday ❤️

Words: 3253

MASTERLIST

TAGLIST: @katshrev @elaindeereads @soulmates8 @naturallyqueenie @onyour-right @msincognito67 @janellemonaenae @afraiddreamingandloving @hutchj @90sinspiredgirl  @airis-paris14 @dolphinpink310@purplemuse @purplemuse @amberkay284 @leafdragon117 @meeky-imagines @aieyr @h-challa @quietemptydiariess @katasstrophey @wakanda-inspired @destinio1 @dessianna1 @blackpantherimagines @httpjex

Space Between (7)

Y/N was avoiding T’Challa.

She’d been doing so ever since she woke up and carefully lifted Bunme out of his bed to prepare her for another day at school. She’d had breakfast delivered to their room and stayed in their even after her daughter’s departure. She wasn’t sure how long she could avoid him but was pleasantly pleased with her success thus far.

However, she realized that she needed to seek out Nakia and ask the woman about possibly accompanying her to Jabariland to go visit Hawla later that day and could not figure out how to work her Kimoyo beads.

She was walking down the hall, about to send up a prayer of gratitude for the continued avoidance of a certain king when she felt herself being grabbed.

Damn

“We need to talk.” She tried to not focus on how good he looked, smelled, or how his touch reminded her of their events just the night before. So passionate, so fulfilling.

As much as she hated him at times, she could never deny that the man always satisfied her every desire under those sheets.

“About?”

“Y/N.”

She jerked her hand back out of his hold, prompting the king to sigh. “Personal space, T’Challa. Personal space.”

“You really want to talk about personal space?” He propped a brow which earned a small glare from the woman.

“What do you want?” She relented.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” His handsome face took on a small frown which elicited a look of shame from the princess.

“I haven’t-“

“Y/N.” His voice indicated that he was in no mood for her sideways excuses.

“It was a mistake.” She said rather loudly. “We shouldn’t, I shouldn’t have, I don’t know.” She stammered, placing her middle and index finger on her temple. “I never should have come to your room, and I want us to just, to just forget it, okay? Let’s just pretend that it never happened. Alright?” Y/N went to walk away, but T’Challa grabbed her, pushing her up against the wall. “What the hell-“

“How much longer do you think you can hide from me?” He questioned darkly, his voice a mixture of frustration and desire.

“Let go of me-“

“Answer me!”

“Need I remind you the last time you neglected to heed my warning!” She hissed quietly, struggling against his grip on her wrist.

“Run? Just as you always do.” He shot back smoothly, remaining stagnant in his spot.

She tried to lunge at him, but his grip was iron. “I’m right here, T’Challa.” She sighed, letting her eyes fall on their connected hands. “How the hell am I hiding?”

“You know what I am talking about.” His voice dropped as he lowered his mouth toward hers.

“What are you doing?” She whispered with pure unadulterated apprehension, inhaling sharply as he quickly diverted his lips to the middle of her chest.

“Why do you continue to deny yourself?” He questioned against the top of her breast, sucking the supple skin that was pushed up by the corset of her top. “Deny us both?”

She exhaled shakily, her head dropping back against the wall. Damn him. Damn him to hell.

“It was just sex.” She tried to convince him, herself, maybe the both of them. It was hard to say and focus with such a talented mouth going to work on her bosom.

“We both know it was much more than that.” He spoke with a hint of humor, running his tongue up the middle of her cleavage. Y/N whimpered, shaking her wrists in an attempt to free herself from him. Again, she was unsuccessful. “Y/N.”

“Why can you not just leave me be?” She questioned with helplessness. “Why can’t you cast aside your feelings for me?” Her eyes were starting to water as T’Challa lowered their hands, lessening the distance between them so that their chests were almost touching. “Surely there are plenty of other women in Wakanda. Why must you like-“

“This is not a case of me liking you, sthandwa sam.” He interrupted with swiftness, his voice dripping with sincerity.

Y/N’s stomach dropped as she suddenly wished she had never gone to his room.

Or Wakanda, for that matter.

“What?” She breathed, her heartbeat going at an astronomical rate. Damnit, this sanctuary really was turning into purgatory.

The princess waited for the king to say something but instead watched as his gaze hardened with irritation.

“Stand down, boy.”

She frowned. “What are you-“

“Let her go.” Her eyes widened at the sound of Dumi’s voice. “Now.”

T’Challa growled and released her wrists, Y/N immediately deprived of his surprisingly warm touch.

“What did you just say?” It was almost rhetorical, but the menace and challenge in his voice were undeniable. “Have you forgotten who I am? Your place?”

“Dumi, stand down.” Y/N instructed as she moved between the two men, placing her hands on T’Challa’s chest.

“My place is to protect the queen.” Dumi retorted smoothly as he continued to hold his hand on his sheathed sword. “And I care not who I have to strike down to do so.” A beat. “Even if that includes the mighty Black Panther.”

At that, T’Challa ripped himself from the princess hold and grabbed Dumi, shoving him against the wall.

“T’Challa, let him go!” She pleaded, placing her hands on his bicep.

“You speak not to the Black Panther, but to the king.” T’Challa sneered. “And consider that a blessing from Bast for the politician is much more lenient than the warrior.”

“T’Challa!” Y/N yelled his name again, moving her hands to his waist, finally getting him to look at her. “Please.” She stared at him with pleading eyes, praying that she could get through to him, trying not to show her own fear.

She’d never seen this side of T’Challa.

However, she released a breath of relief when he finally let go as she moved her body in front of his.  “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, you will be removed from your duties-“

Dumi’s nose flared. “He was hurting you!”

“Raise your voice with her again, and it’ll be one of the last things that you ever do,” T’Challa threatened calmly.

She shut her eyes and avoided snapping at the king. “Do I look as though I am harmed? I am fine, Dumi. Now go.” She stressed. “That’s an order.”

Dumi looked from the princess to the king, a look of abhorrence and disappointment in his face. She was prepared to speak again when her guard turned on his heel and disappeared down the hall.

As soon as he was gone, T’Challa shared, “I don’t trust him.”

“Why? Because he does his job.”

“He is too invested and not into the right things.” He shared. “His loyalty is questionable.” Before she could further protest, T’Challa continued. “Why would he send Bunme, a five-year-old, alone, to navigate a palace in the middle of the night?”

Y/N frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Last night.” He stepped closer to her, neither moving as he placed a hand on her hip. “She told me that he told her you were in my room and sent her, by herself, to go find you.”

“He told me that she snuck away.” Y/N explained, and she had no reason to doubt him as she knew better than anyone that her daughter was one clever child. That little girl could weasel her way out of the most secure situations. “That explains how she just so happened to end up by us.”

T’Challa recognized the look of realization. “What is it?”

“I never told him that I was going to see you. I said that I was going for a walk.”

He shook his head. “You didn’t have to. He’s a man. He knew exactly where you were going and who you were going to see.”

She blushed and dropped her gaze before clearing her throat. “I will talk to him.”

“Or I could.”

“I said talk, not maim.”

“You do not believe that I can control myself?”

“That-“ she gestured down the hall. “-was control?”

“He still lives, does he not?”

“Too much, T’Challa.”

His eyes squinted ever so softly as he leaned forward, grabbing her hips and pulling her against him. His mouth dipped against her ear. “And yet you take me so well.”

She turned her head and rolled her eyes, but he could still see the faint smile on her face as she shoved him off and walked away, purposely swaying her hips in the process.

♔ ♔ ♔ ♔ ♔

Y/N was reading a book, which book, she knew not or which page, just that it had occupied her thoughts and mind for the past thirty minutes as a way to keep her from thinking about everything else.

She wanted to talk to Dumi, needed to speak with him but was in no state of mind to do so.

How could she when the king of Wakanda had practically implied that he loved her? As if things weren’t bad enough already. She just really wished she’d stayed in her room last night, except she didn’t, and now she had to deal with the consequences.

Yet…..there was a small part of her that didn’t regret what happened. Waking up with T’Challa, her daughter snuggled between them, the three all so peaceful, there was a sense of normalcy that accompanied that image. Something about that which made her feel like she could get used to it. Like she could get used to him.

Damn.

“The History of Us,” She looked up from her book to see Erik leaning against the open door of the massive palace library with his signature smug smirk. “And here I was thinking that you were tired of hearing about Wakanda.”

“Erik.” She found herself smiling. “Please.” She patted the seat next to her, watching as he sauntered over before reaching over before to give him a hug. “Welcome back.”

“Thanks.” He chuckled, eyeing her up. “I miss anything?”

She paused. “Nothing noteworthy. I attended Public Training Day.”

“Heard you did more than just attend.”

She narrowed her eyes. “If you already knew, then why’d you ask?”

He shrugged. “And miss out on an opportunity to hear about someone kicking Challa’s ass? Shit, you must not know me very well.”

She giggled softly. “Where did you go?”

His gaze visibly softened before he cleared his throat. “To go see my mom.”

“She is American?” It made sense. The way Erik dressed, his lack of an accent, his Westernized way of dressing, and the whole nine yards.

He nodded. “She’s a professor down in California, over at Stanford.” He then went on to briefly explain how his parents never married, having conceived him when his father briefly visited America and how he spent his summers in Cali with her but the rest of his time in Wakanda with N’Jobu.

“Does she ever come to visit you?”

“Now that T’Challa has opened up Wakanda, that’s the plan.” He said, leaning back into the sofa and spreading his left arm over the top. “What?”

“What do you mean, now?”

“Come on, you know we never use to allow outsiders. It was the law. Ever since the beginning of our foundation.”

“Why?” She pressed, not even hiding her shock.

“Vibranium. It’s too powerful and valuable to fall into the wrong hands.”

“And you all are so perfect and faultless compared to the rest of the world?”

Erik grinned. “We’ve gone without incident thus far.” A beat. “But it makes no difference now, once T’Challa came back from Oxford and took the throne from my pops-“

“Your father used to be king?” Her eyed widened. This was all such surprising news to her and a much-needed distraction.

He nodded. “After T’Chaka was killed, T’Challa was too young and, obviously so was I, so the mantle fell to the next in line which was my father.”

She followed the chain of thought. “So technically, you could have been king too?”

“If I challenged him.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Politics isn’t really my thing.”

“Perhaps you just don’t think you could best your cousin in battle,” she teased with a small smile.

Erik chuckled. “You’d lose that bet, baby girl. On any given day.”

She remained quiet, allowing everything she’d just learned to settle in before speaking again. “So, once T’Challa became king, he reversed the law?”

He nodded. “One of his first acts.” His eyes fell on her. “Maybe now I know why.”

She picked up on his indication. “Oh, please.”

“What?” He shrugged. “If I was him, I’d make it so the woman that I love and my daughter could come to visit as they so pleased.”

Y/N’s heart stopped and her mouth dried as she snapped her head in his direction. “What did you just say?”

“Relax, your little secret is safe with me and pops-“

She tried not to show her panic at the mentioning of the fact that not only did he know the truth, but N’Jobu did too. “I don’t know what-“

“I’m sure you don’t,” he winked, standing up and stretching. “A little advice though? Tell him. He deserves to know the truth, Y/N.”

And with that, Erik left the stunned Princess of Niganda with many, many thoughts and situations to ponder.

♔ ♔ ♔ ♔ ♔

T’Challa walked into his room later that evening and stopped in the doorway.

“Hi, kitty!”

He couldn’t even stop his smile despite his confusion. “Hello, sam isipho.”

The energetic little princess was settled in the middle of his bed with a vibranium tablet, notebooks and other school supplies surrounding her. Of course, her doll was with her too.

He started to ask how she’d gained access to one of the arguably most secure rooms in the place but decided against it. It honestly didn’t matter. He doubted few could deny the child anything, period.

“Are you busy?” She tilted her head to the side and pouted slightly.

“For you? Never.”

That earned him a giggle. “Can you help me with my homework? I can’t find Shuri and bad kitty is being a meany head.”

“Bad kitty?”

She shook her head. “Erik.”

T’Challa mentally rolled his eyes and made a notation to ask Erik to politely return the Jaguar Habit back to the lab asap.

“Of course, I will help you.” He kindly agreed and motioned for her to follow him over to the sofa on the other side of his spacious bedroom. He watched with amusement as the child climbed off his bed with her dolly, tablet, and notebook, skedaddling over to join him on the expensive piece of furniture.

“It’s just the math that I don’t know.” She started to explain taking the king by surprise as she nonchalantly lifted one leg onto the sofa and then crawled over into his lap, making herself comfortable as she started to point out her area of difficulty. “Stay right there.” She wagged a finger to her doll that was sitting up beside them, earning a small chuckle from the Black Panther.

“Ah, I see what the problem is.” He started before going into a concise and lucid explanation for the child, watching in astonishment as she picked up on the concept in less than five minutes. “Brilliant.”

“That’s what my teacher said!” Bunme beamed while looking up and over at him. “She said I’m really...um.....umm...”

“Bright?” He suggested.

“Yeah!” She pointed with excitement before her smile dropped. “That’s good, right?”

“It is excellent.” He complimented. “You are a very special little girl, Bunme.” She retained her smile before it dropped again. “What’s wrong, sam isipho?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course. You can ask me anything.”

“Well.” He watched her twiddle her fingers. “You have a mommy and a sister and other family....where’s your daddy?”

He froze, not expecting the question but handled it as best he could. “Bunme, do you remember when you told me that bad people killed your father?” She shook her head. “Well, when I was a little boy, not much older than you, a bad man killed my father.”

Bunme gasped in shock and once again surprised the king as she leaned into him, placing her tiny arms around his body in an attempts to give him a hug. “Stupid, meany head, bad man.”

His lips lifted into a small and sad smile as his hand went to softly caress the back of her head. “Indeed.”

She lifted her head to look at him. “Do you remember him, kitty?”

He looked down at her. “A little. My memories are few.”

“I never met my father.” She frowned with sadness, looking down, around, and then up at him. “Do you think he would have liked me?”

He answered without hesitation. “He would have loved you, Bunme.”

She grinned with pure appreciation. “Kitty, when mommy and I go back....is it....is it okay if I come back and visit you?” Again, her smile faltered slightly. “I like it here, and...I don’t want you to forget me.”

T’Challa’s heart sank not only from the child’s statement but just from the mere thought of them leaving.

He didn’t want them to go.

Not now.

Not soon.

Not at all.

“Here.” He put his hands around his neck and pulled a necklace out of his collar. “I want you to have this.” She watched in awe as he removed the necklace with a black vibranium pendant on the end in the shape of a Panther on it and placed it around her neck.

“It’s a kitty!” She exclaimed with wide eyes of excitement while observing it.

“It is.” He confirmed, carefully watching her. “Passed down in my family for generations. My own father gave it to me, a gift from his father to him and so forth, and now….I am giving it to you.”

She looked slightly confused as she squinted one eye. “Isn’t it special to you?”

“It is, but so are you.” He answered, watching as her smile started to reappear. “And now you know that I shall never and could never forget you, Bunme.”

At that, the little girl lost it. She got on her knees while still in his lap and attacked him with a better version of her previous hug, wrapping her arms around him as she whispered in his ear. “I think your daddy would think you’re a really good kitty.”

T’Challa quieted for a moment as the little girl’s words deeply resonated with him even if she didn’t realize exactly what she was saying. Being a good ‘kitty’ aka king, Black Panther, making his father proud.....that was all he wanted for the late King T’Chaka’s legacy. Somehow, hearing it out of her mouth solidified his latent fears.

He closed his eyes and lightly kissed her temple. “Thank you, sam isipho.”

“I think he’d also want us to get ice cream.” She whispered while his lips were still pressed against her temple.

The king laughed loudly. “Is that so?” She nodded fervently. “Well then....” Bunme started laughing loudly as T’Challa stood up with her in his arms, switching her so that she was on his hip, placing a kiss to her cheek as she held onto his neck. “Ice cream we shall get.”

“Yay!” She cheered as the two left the room, Bunme not even remembering the infamous doll that still sat on the sofa.

Welp. So Erik knows? And N’Jobu?

And Dumi.

Imma just tell you right now.

T’Challa don’t like his ass. The feeling is mutual though so....

Wonder if anyone else does....hmmm.

I decided to pull from the comics in terms of backstory because I felt it goes better with this storyline.

Also, question.

I’ve been receiving comments and questions that my stories and characters are too loaded and intricate to be “Y/N” aka reader stories. Do you all agree? Should this be switched over to a T’Challa x Main Character story? Literally, nothing would change except “Y/N” would have a name, and I’d provide a picture of how I imagine her looking. lol 

Because we already have a picture of our child Bun Bun.

Or we can totally leave things as they are. I’m perfectly content with either option. Truly.

Let me know!

[dramaqueeenamby]

Family Counseling (8)

Family Counseling (8) - Drabble

MASTERLIST

A/N: It’s literally 3am here, and I’m so exhausted, but I said Wednesday and damnit you guys are gonna get a chapter on Wednesday!

So, this one is strictly backstory because I figured it’s time to partially answer the question as to why T was out here being a F Boi for all those years. I say partially because it is my belief that people can make their own decisions and take control of their own lives. But that’s all I’ll say on that. (: 

This one skips around a bit, but it’s all in the past, goes in chronological order and ends with the events that occur in CACW. Also, if T seems too OOC, remember, my interpretation of him is a hypid of Comics and MCU.

No lines from the comics in this one ( I don’t think. Again, it’s mad late. Literally typing with droopy eyes). However, I like aesthetics and visuals so here are some pictures to words for this chapter. I.e. how I imagine ‘her’ looking and her outfit for this chapter.

Hope I didn’t miss anyone in the tagging! If I did, I apologize! Let me know! I’ll be sure to get you next time!!

Seeing all the love really makes my day! <3

@janellemonaenae | @ruminationsofaraven | @dreamer7black | @hutchj | @onyour-right  | @iamimanim | @groovybbyyy

Words: 3106

They didn’t fight that often, but when they did, things got ugly.

Partially because both of them were so strong-minded and neither were willing to back down.

Especially when it came to the Sokovia Accords.

“How could you agree to this? It is wrong! It is a violation of basic, human rights, T’Challa, and you know it!”

“You are missing the point, Y/N. How many more innocent lives must be lost before these people are finally reigned in?”

“These people? You mean people like myself?”

“You know that that is not what I mean. The Avengers-“

“The Avengers save lives, but I suppose they only need to be reigned in when it is Wakandan lives that are lost, hmmm?”

Up until that volatile exchange, they’d had an interesting relationship, one not even she could explain. They were friends, but they were also lovers.  She would visit him in England while he finished getting his Ph.D at Oxford during her breaks throughout her own graduate school experience at NYU. Sometimes he would come visit her, it all just depended on who could make it work.

She knew when he and Nakia were on because boundaries were kept with the war dog sometimes being there when she arrived, T’Challa sometimes not even bothering to inform her prior to her arrival.

Then there were the times that the prince of Wakanda and the spy were off; those were her favorite and the easiest to decipher. They’d barely make it halfway into his loft before he had her up against the door, thrusting so forcefully into her, the pictures up on the wall often falling and shattering.

And she hated that. She hated that uncertainty that accompanied their arrangement, that “alternative” that always floated above her head because no matter how much she tried to convince herself that T’Challa lover her the way she loved him, she knew that wasn’t the case.

He would have permanently ended things with Nakia and made her his girlfriend, but he didn’t, she was simply kept on the back burner, called for when he needed council and a set of legs to go in between.

At least, that’s what it felt like for her.

Nevertheless, she accepted it because she loved him, and love is truly blind.

+++++++++

“What troubles you, my son?”

T’Challa looked over at his father.

“Nothing, Baba.”

King T’Chaka laughed and looked out the limo’s bulletproof window. “Surely, you do not expect to engage in diplomatic relations with a troubled spirit?”

T’Challa revealed a small smile, almost embarrassed to think that he could hide anything from his father. “It is…It is y/n.”

The older man stilled. “I figured it was.” He took a deep breath. “I gather she is not in agreement with your acquiescence to the Accords.”

T’Challa exhaled deeply and ran his hands over the pants leg of his suit. “She believes them to be invasive.”

“And what of you? What do you think?”

He paused and took a moment to gather his thoughts.

“I have a duty to my country, to my people, to always put their safety first,” T’Challa spoke with the utmost conviction, but he was unsure as to who he was trying to convince.

T’Chaka nodded slowly. “Being King…it requires difficult decisions, sacrifices, and certain situations arise that not everyone who is not of our culture will understand.”

“Y/N is Wakandan, Baba.”

“Hodari is of Wakanda, but her mother was not. My son, you must understand that the trace and influence of the mother can never nor should ever be erased from a child.” T’Chaka advised. “Y/n cannot help who or what she is; however, it is vital that we, that you, also take heed to these moments to remember why she can never be your queen.” A beat. “Wakanda must never allow an outsider to sit on the throne.”

The words cut deep, a reminder of his father’s closeted view on their ways of life. A reminder as to why he could never give the woman he loved more than what he currently did because, in the long run, he would end up hurting her.

But he already was, toying with her emotions, with her heart. It wasn’t fair, not to her. But he couldn’t give her up, and he knew that was selfish of him, one of the few times in his entire life that he was selfish, but he wasn’t ready to accept the fact that he could never be with Y/n in the way that he truly wanted.

If only he could find the strength to tell her that.

+++++++++

She’d just finished up Maladaptive Behavior & Psychopathology when she noticed the other students whispering among themselves, sharing their cell phone screens with one another. She’d learn that could only mean one thing.

Something had happened whether in the terms of actual importance domestic, foreign, or in the entertainment field.

Knowing the students in her class, she tended to believe it was some superficial news revolving around a family who was famous for Bast knew what considering they had absolutely no talent.

However, as she passed the lounge, she happened to glance up at the television where she overheard the last bit of the correspondent’s statement.

“…..and among the dead, King T’Chaka of Wakanda.”

“What?” She whispered.

Or so she thought.

“Yeah.” A student came up behind her and shook his head, a sad look in her eyes. “Terrorist attack. Bombing in Sokovia. Representatives for 117 nations were there for the signing of the-“

“Accords.“ She breathed, eyes still glued to the television as she clutched her phone.

The brunette nodded. “They’re still conducting a search for possible survivors, but the king is the latest to be confirmed dead.”

“What of the others?” Y/n snapped her head to turn to look at the young woman. “The other Wakandans. Prince T’Challa and the other representatives?”

He mouth opened, but nothing came out but stutters. “I didn’t realize that there were others. Like I said, this literally just came out within the past hour or so.”

“Thank you.” She spoke abruptly and practically sprinted to the nearest restroom, locking herself in the largest handicap stall. She grabbed her phone and hit the third favorite in her contact list. “Come on, Baba.” She started to pray to Bast, as each ring made it harder for her to breathe.

“Y/n!” Her father finally appeared as the call switched over to FaceTime, a few cuts and such on his face but other than that he appeared to be fine.

“Glory to Bast.” She released a shaky breath and shut her eyes. “Baba, I just heard….King T’Chaka…”

“I know…” His head dropped, and her heart sank. The nation had just lost its leader, but her father had just lost one his dearest friends.

“I am so sorry.” She whispered, and when he said nothing, she finally garnered the courage to ask. “Baba…where is T’Challa?”

“He is safe.” He confirmed, and she leaned her head back against the wall. “But he is not holding up well.”

“He just lost his father, Baba.” She reminded with a grimace. “This is not something-“

“You do not understand, daughter.” He interrupted with a newfound sense of urgency to his voice. “The pr-the king has made a vow to kill the man responsible for T’Chaka’s death.”

“What?”

“He was….he was right there when the blast occurred…I fear that seeing it happen has had opposite effect on him.”

Y/n grew quiet. Her mother’s murder struck absolute grief into her….

“He is blinded by rage….” She spoke lowly before shaking her head. “You must speak with him.”

“I have tried. He is beyond reason. At least, with me….”

She diverted her eyes. “We…we are not on good terms right now, Baba.” She chewed on the inside of her cheek.

“He listens to you.” She sighed. “Please. If he kills this man-“

“Wait, he already knows who it is?”

He paused. “I will start the preparations for your travel arrangements. It is not safe for me to share such sensitive information over the airway.”

“Baba-“

With that, he disconnected the call.

+++++++++

Along the ridiculously long flight to Sokovia, Y/n learned that not only had T’Challa gone after the culprit, an alleged Bucky Barnes in Romania, but had been apprehended for interfering with an international case and was being detained in Berlin along with Captain America and Falcon.

Being redirected twice allotted her a lot of time to get caught up on everything.

She felt the eyes on her, most judgmental, as her father argued away with a certain Agent Ross who continued to grill her father on “what the hell she was doing there.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Wait in there, please.” Agent Ross instructed as he lazily motioned to a room that contained Steve Rogers and an African American man.

She was momentarily starstruck by Captain America but soon recalled that not too long ago a certain lover of hers was involved in a battle with America’s favorite superhero not too long ago.

She turned to look at her father.

“Baba?”

“I will handle this. Do not worry.” He spoke in Xhosa as the two disappeared down the hall.

She took a deep breath and entered the room.

“Well hello,” The black man with a charming smile and suave voice was the first to talk. “How you doing? Perhaps detainment ain’t so bad, after all?”

Y/n squinted her eyes in recognition. “You must be the Falcon?”

His smile faltered as Steve chuckled. “Okay. What happened to secret identities? Break a couple international laws and all of a sudden due process is thrown out of the damn window.”

She smiled. “Relax. No one told me anything. It just makes sense. You being in here with…” She turned around to face Steve who was sitting down at the edge of the table. “Captain.”

“Please.” He gave a slow nod. “Call me Steve.”

“And I’m Sam.”

“It is an honor.” She extended her arm and shook their hands. “I wish the circumstances were a little different.” A beat. “I am Y/n.”

“So, Y/n,” Sam took on a flirtatious tone when he said her name. “What they got you in for?”

“I am here of my own volition.” She said vaguely, not wanting to reveal that she was specifically there for T’Challa.

She was enjoying the conversation and had a feeling that letting them know her true intentions would ruin that.

Steve gave her a strange look. “Your accent…”

She withheld a frown. So much for reminding incognito.

“I am Wakandan-American.”

“Ah,” Sam muttered, a disappointed expression on his face. “You’re here for the cat.”

“Sam.” Steve scolded, before turning his gaze back to Y/n. “Are you his…

“I am here to try and reason with him. T’Challa is….the man you see now is only a shadow of who he truly is.” Again, she was careful with her words, unsure of how much she should reveal. At the end of the day, they were still on opposite sides of the battle.

“Sounds like you two are pretty close,” Sam noted.

A small smile crept on her face. “He-“

“Y/n?”

She looked over at the door to see him standing there, a surprised look on his face. She didn’t know what came over her, but she suddenly forgot where she was, forgot about their last shouting match, forgot everything.

She pushed herself out of her seat, moved across the room, and threw herself at him. He immediately latched his arms around hers. She mumbled into his chest I’m so sorry in Xhosa, hating how she felt him tense from her words of consolation.

They stayed as they were for a few more seconds before pushing her back and cupping her face.

“What are you doing here?” His eyes kept darting from her eyes to her lips and she could tell that he was fighting the urge to kiss her.

She placed her hands on his wrists and looked at him. “What are you doing, T’Challa?”

He sighed and kissed her forehead, lightly trailing his hands down her sides. “Come with me.”

She took his hand as he led her out the room. She didn’t realize until they were halfway toward his private room that she didn’t say goodbye to Sam and Steve but that seemed trivial in the grand scheme of things.

“You should not have come here,” T’Challa warned as he closed the door to his private room. “It is not safe.”

“My father is worried about you.” She slid her bag off her back. “I am worried about you.”

He avoided her eyes. “All will be well soon enough.”

“No.” She shook her head and marched up to him, forcing his face into her hands as she made him look at her. “You do not get to do that with me. Fool these Americans with this aloofness, but do not think for a second that your charades work on me.” A beat. “He would not want this, T’Challa.”

She saw it for a moment. A spark of the old T that she knew return at the mention of his father, but it was gone just as quickly as it came.

“The dead have no wants.”

He gently pulled her hands from his face and walked past her.

She pushed her lips together and looked down. “Killing Barnes will not alleviate your pain, T’Challa. It will only plant a seed of rage that will eventually consume you.”

“Do not pretend for a second that you understand-“

“Of course I understand!” She spun around and matched his loud tone of voice. “You know that if anyone should know that it’s me!” They stared at each other before she asked him a question. “Why do I feel like you’re pushing me away?”

He furrowed his brows. “What?”

“There once was a time where I could get through to you, where you would at least contemplate my advice, but it seems as though as of lately you continue to put up this wall between us.” A beat. “I suppose I am only of use when you need your sexual appetite appeased.”

“Y/n-“

“No-“ She put up her hand and grabbed her backpack. “I love you, T’Challa, and it is because I love you that I cannot stand here and watch you do this.” She turned to walk out the door, hand on the knob. “I will not stand by and watch you lose yourself to hate.” She shut her eyes. “Bast be with you.”

+++++++++

Y/n didn’t like tears. She just didn’t. She thought them healthy, but a waste of time. She much preferred to talk about the cause of tears rather than actual crying.

That’s why she tended to hop in the shower when she felt a good cry coming on.

So after her not so pleasant exchange with T’Challa and after asking her dad to book her a ticket back home, she headed straight to her hotel and went straight to the shower.

She was currently on her third shower. At that point, her skin was so red and warm, she hadn’t bothered to put clothes on, just settling on a towel.

Each shower was accompanied by a good sob.

She cried for the loss of her king, she cried for T’Challa, and she cried for herself.

She hated that she wasn’t more patient with T’Challa, knowing how stubborn he was. Then she hated how she always seemed to give him chance after chance. It was as if nothing he did was terrible enough for her to cut him off, for her to finally let him go, and move on with her life.

Would this be enough?

Would killing a man be enough?

She had a sick feeling in her stomach that the answer was no?

That made her cry even harder.

She had exited the bathroom and was tightening the towel and looked up to find him sitting on the edge of her bed. “What the-“ She grabbed her heaving chest. “For Bast sake, how did you-“

“How did you do it?”

She sighed. “Do what, T’Challa?”

“He was…there…alive….and then he was just…gone..”

She licked her lips and slowly approached him. “The first thing is you cannot blame yourself.”

“I was right there.” He said more to himself than her. “I should have noticed sooner. I should have-“

“And I should have killed my mother’s murderer’s with just the thought,” she interrupted and placed a hand on his chance. “The only thing that contemplating hypothetical scenarios do are create cognitive dissonance. You will destroy yourself if you do not forgive yourself.”

He looked down at her, a vulnerability and passion that she’d never seen before burning in his brown eyes. “I can only do that in the event of his demise.”

“His death will not fill that void, T’Challa. Nothing will because it never goes away. It just gradually gets better over time, and with the love and support of family, friends, and the people that you love.” She spoke with honesty while tugging on the sides of his shirt.

He gave her a questioning gaze but pulled the shirt over his head and allowed her to lead them to the bed. “What are you-“

“You need an outlet.” Was all she said.

He grabbed her wrists as she started to unbuckle his jeans.

“No.” He shook his head. “I won’t take advantage of you. Not after you have made your feelings clear-“

“T’Challa-“ She sighed and shut her eyes. “It is not taking advantage of me if we both want it. You need an outlet, and I need…I don’t know. I just know you well enough to know when your mind is made up, and you have already decided that you’re going to kill that man, and I don’t know where that will leave us.” She allowed the words to flow freely and without a filter. “So tonight is just about….release.”

And release he did, he’d always been an attentive and adaptive lover, giving her whatever she wanted.

But that night was different, he was aggressive, forceful, not so much as to cause her pain, but as to where she could feel his pain.

It was almost lovemaking on an empathetic nature, and it scared the shit out of her.

But when she woke up that morning and saw that he was gone, empathetic mattered not, she realized that something had to change, she had to change.

She couldn’t do it anymore.

She had some decisions to make.

She just hoped that he could live with them.

She just hoped that she could live with them.