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ajwamiju-archives · 3 years

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Inarizaki boys trying out fasting

Warnings: None? I hope there's none

Inarizaki x Muslim! Manager! Gn Reader

Note: This is extremely rushed, unedited, kinda unrealistic, and probably ooc, and I know Ramadhan is only like, a day left but I feel like I just need to. Also Ik Ramadhan in 2012 is during summer break shush,,, I also can't HC so there's that. //Pls this is so bad I wanna cry//

On a particularly warm and sunny day at Inarizaki High, volleyball practise continues on as usual. You, as the manager, still consistently run around the gym to tend to the players' needs despite Ramadhan starting today. But since you've gotten used to fasting, you feel just fine and as if nothing is out of place.

Or so you thought.

Kita had noticed that you seemed a bit under the weather today. He hasn't seen you consume anything for the whole day, hell, he hasn't even located your lunch box or water bottle. Concerned, he approaches you and stops you from running around, filling the many water bottles of the members of the team.

"[Surname], are ya okay? D'ya need a drink?" He asks, placing a hand on your shoulder to stop you.

"Hm? Oh, thank you for your concerns, Kita-san, but I can't drink now." You answer quickly, attention still diverted to the water bottles in your hands.

"Stayin' hydrated is important. Ya need to take care of yer health."

"As much as I want to drink, it's not time yet. I have to wait until about 7 p.m. before I can break my fast." You say, now fully giving Kita your attention.

"Fast?"

"Yes, I'm fasting. Today's the first day of Ramadhan."

You leave Kita in a hurry as more boys start to finish their practise, you know how pissy some of them can get if you don't deliver their water bottles or towels in time. Kita stares at you zooming about, he's heard of fasting practises but he doesn't think he's seen someone still have that much energy despite not eating or drinking for hours.

Aran notices Kita and approaches him, wiping the sweat falling down his neck. "What's up?" He asks, watching you hand over water bottles and towels to the players.

"[Surname] is fastin'."

"Ya mean they haven't eaten anythin' for the whole day?"

Kita nods keeping his eyes on you as you hand Atsumu his water bottle. You were about to tend to the first year members when Kita walks over with Aran tailing behind him, stopping you momentarily from your task.

"First years get yer own towels and water bottles. Give [Surname] a break." Kita commands while Aran takes the water bottles and towels in your arms to pass it to their owners.

"Kita-san, Ojiro-san, everything's fine! You don't nee--"

"Is everythin' okay?" Akagi asks as he approaches you, Kita, and Aran with Omimi in tow.

"[Surname]'s fastin', we should let 'em have a small break." Aran answers as Kita goes off to watch the first years in case any of them stirs up trouble.

"I heard [Surname]'s fastin'? What's that and for what occasion?" Atsumu asks as the second years start to approach your small group.

"Ramadhan just started and that means me and other Muslims must start fasting if we can," you start, stepping back to include as many of the inquisitive volleyball meatheads as you can. "Fasting is a practise where we don't eat, drink, or uh... indulge in our earthly desires for a set period of time over the course of a month, at least that what Islam teaches."

"So you mean, you haven't and won't eat or drink for the rest of the day?" Suna asks from somewhere in the back of the group.

"How're ya still alive?" Osamu adds, narrowing his eyes in disbelief at you explanation.

"Not the whole day, until about 7 p.m., I have to check the schedule again." You answer, waving your hand. "And I've been fasting since I was a kid, I'm used to it by now."

"Does everyone have to fast though? Like no exceptions?" Akagi asks again.

You shake you head no, thinking for a bit before listing off those who can't, "kids before they hit puberty, the elderly, the sickly, and I think travellers aren't obligated to fast meanwhile women can't fast during their periods."

A chorus of understanding 'oooh's sounded across the gym once you finish your explanation. Most members leave the group after the acquiring the new information, leaving a few behind, the few mostly being the ones in the starting lineup.

Akagi suddenly calls for everyone's attention, a wide grin stretched across his face. "Why don't we join [Surname] tomorrow? It's fine if we join in, right?"

"Of course, anyone can fast during Ramadhan."

"What do y'all say? Don't ya think it'd be an interestin' experience?"

"I'm not opposed to the idea, I suppose it would be a great bondin' activity as well." Kita says, approaching the group.

"I agree with Shinsuke, I'll participate too." Omimi says with a soft smile.

"Sounds like a fun experience! I'm in!" Ginjima pipes up after listening the whole time.

The others agree with you, with the exception of Osamu who's still quite hesitant in participating. You don't blame him, food is his life, after all. "I dunno, I don't think I'll make it..." He mumbles.

"It's fine if you decide not to participate, Osamu! You can't force these things after all. But if you still want to try out, you can break your fast earlier, that's a method commonly used for first timers as well." You explain, waving your hands in a small gesture of panic.

Osamu furrows his eyebrows and purses his lips, contemplating whether he'll join in or not. He sighs, making up his mind. "I'll try to last as long as I can."

"Sweet, potential blackmail material." Suna mutters under his breath.

"That's great! What I said goes for all of you though! Don't force yourself if it gets too hard for you!" You say as you start to step away from the group. "Set your alarms for 2.30 a.m.! You'll have about 50 minutes to eat and drink. It's also better to eat or you might just regret it tomorrow."

"What about for when we break our fast?" Ginjima asks before you turn around.

"You all can come over to my place to break it. My family and I will cook for you all." You answer with a grin.

"Are ya sure? We can always bring our own food." Kita asks.

"It'll be fine, besides, my family will be delighted to have you all over." You assure, turning around to talk to the coach.

You requested for the ones participating tomorrow to be dismissed from morning practise and to be given a lighter regime for afternoon practise. Atsumu was not happy and started to complain but Kita shut him up quite easily.

The next morning, the first thing you do is check up on the group, not surprised to find out the twins, Suna, and Akagi still asleep. You and the others spam the four, sighing in relief when one by one they start to respond.

You- Don't forget to sleep as much as u can before school, okay? Going the whole day wo food will be v draining n exhausting

Aran- Is there no way to combat that?

You- Not that I know of, u just get used to it after some time. I usually try to keep myself distracted in class whenever I start feeling sleepy

You continue to make conversation with the team, giggling when Atsumu sends a picture of Osamu eating with his eyes closed. You check the clock and purse your lips before making another announcement.

You- Fasting starts in 10 mins. Get ready!! Also, prioritise drinking water before going back to bed

You lock your phone after seeing their responses, grinning to yourself and wondering who would whine the most. While it may get annoying, it's still good entertainment and who are you to turn down entertainment when you have to restrain yourself from consuming anything but air for up to 15 hours.

You don't see any of the fasting participants during morning practise, you mostly end up helping the bench warmers or even those who don't even get a jersey in their training. You know they were going a bit easier on you though, evident by how they help you out more with your tasks.

You finally meet up with the team during lunch, seeing Suna and Akagi fast asleep with their heads buried in their arms, Osamu barely alive, and Atsumu being extremely quiet, for once. "How are you all holding up?" You ask with a grin, taking a seat on an empty chair.

"I don't feel much different so far, thirsty and tired enough to make me a bit uncomfortable but overall, I'm fine." Kita says with a small smile and a nod.

"I think half of us are basically fine, a bit uncomfortable but fine. The other half isn't so fine though." Aran says and points to the ones mentioned above.

"Atsumu has been less energetic," Ginjima laughs. "He says it's to conserve energy for afternoon practise."

"Well, it's not a bad strategy." You laugh, shaking your head. "But you all got this far! If you keep your mind busy, I promise it'll pass by faster and before you know it, you can eat and drink again."

"I didn't feel hungry during the lessons, I didn't even realise I was hungry until lunch started." Omimi says, nodding his head.

"It does that, it does that." You say, stretching your arms and nodding. "Well team, you still have half a day left! Good luck! You all can do it!"

When you all meet up for afternoon practise, you notice it's started taking a toll on the team, most, if not all of them have started spacing out more often, their serves and receives getting a bit wonky from lowered concentration. You would have to frequently go around and encourage them (telling a lot of them how much time is left) and it usually gets them some semblance of energy back.

With their training regimes cut in half, it means they finish quicker than the other players (Atsumu is still not happy about this), all of them barely having the energy to continue training. "How about you all take a nap at my house while I cook."

"We can take a nap at yer place?" Akagi asks bleary-eyed, a tired smile stretched across his face.

"Mhm, I've got to admit I'm very impressed you all made it this far, especially Osamu-san."

"I can barely stand, can we get to yer place quickly please, [Surname]-san?" Osamu whines from the bench he's claimed.

"Alright, alright. I'll meet you all at the front gates. Go change and we'll head back so you all can rest before breaking your fasts." You instruct before going to coach to give him an update, to which he laughed at because seeing some of his most energetic students so quiet is very amusing to him.

You meet the team at the gates of the school, all of them, even the most composed, are eager to lie down and drift off for a few hours before eating. "You know, if it's too much we can stop at the convenience store to buy you drinks." You remind as you lead them to your house.

"We've made it this far, we can take it." Osamu mumbles.

"Are you sure?"

"We're sure. Just need some sleep." Suna adds, voice barely understandable.

"Alright, we're almost there." You giggle, taking a turn.

Not long after you said that, you arrive at your house, opening the gates and door for the boys. You lead them to the living room where most of them basically crashed to either the floor or any of the seats available. You laugh and turn on the air conditioner, taking some of their bags to make a path from the kitchen to the living room.

"[Name]! You're home!" Your mother greets as she walks out of the kitchen to find eight fully grown men sprawled about the living room. "Hello! [Name] has told me about you lot. You're all still fasting?"

The team gives your mother weak nods and affirmative answers making your mother smile wider. "Impressive! You're doing incredible especially for first timers. I remember when [Name] was like this when they were younger." Your mother sighs dreamily.

"Well, I'm going to the kitchen to prepare the food. Make yourself at home here, you can turn on the TV or read the books if you want. Bathroom is first door to the right." You inform, pointing to the hallway before leaving for the kitchen.

While preparing the food, you would occasionally check on the boys. Some are sleeping, some or watching TV, and the rest are busying their minds either doing their homework or reading one of the books on the bookshelf. You smile fondly, snapping a quick picture of them for memories. Somewhere along the way, the rest of your family came home, surprised to see the guests occupying the living room. (They promised to eat in the dining room while you have your fun with the boys.)

10 minutes before 6.50 p.m., the designated time, you walk out of the kitchen with a grin. "10 minutes left, can anyone help me and my mum with bringing the food out?" You ask with some quickly volunteering.

When you walk back out with plates of food, the ones sleeping are slowly waking up from the smell of food permeating the room. You pull a digital clock out and place it on the middle of the table while you all sit around it, most staring at the clock intently for it to turn to 6.50 p.m.

Suna takes out his phone and checks the clock with seconds. "15 seconds!" He announces, making some scramble to stare at the seconds ticking down from his phone.

"10!"

"9!

"8!"

(You all really are treating this like new years, huh?" You giggle as you watch the boys count down.)

"7!"

"6!"

"5!"

"4!"

"3!"

("They're gettin' louder." Kita comments, smiling fondly at his team.)

"2!"

"1!"

"Thank you for the food!"

As the clock changes from 6.49 p.m. to 6.50 p.m., the boys cheer and sip (or gulp down) their drinks, sighing loudly in relief. "Today was real hard, I honestly have even more respect for y'all who do this for a whole month. How do y'all do this without dyin'?" Osamu says as he takes one of the onigiris you and your mother prepared.

You laugh at the comment he made at the end, swiping a dessert from the table. "Practise, a lot of it." You answer. "You all did so good today! I didn't even hear a single swear word from any of you!"

"Actually, Atsumu slipped up and swore during practise." Suna pipes up.

"Suna, ya snitch."

"That's okay. You all did your best and that's what matters! Good job everyone!" You say, a smile stretching so wide across your face your cheeks start to hurt.

"It's been a very interestin' day, this was a good idea!" Akagi says.

"Ya barely stayed awake the whole day." Aran points out laughing.

"I did it either way."

"Honestly, if we didn't have school today I would have barely stayed awake the whole day too." You huff, plopping the dessert in your mouth. "When you break your fast food just tastes... so much better than usual."

"I can agree with that." Osamu says.

"Let's all take a picture to commemorate today." Kita says, placing his cup down. "Let's use Suna's phone. His camera's quality is better than the rest of our phones."

"He's also tall enough to be qualified as a selfie stick. Well, to be honest, Ren would be the best selfie stick but I don't think Suna wants anyone else touchin' his phone." Akagi comments.

"And that would be right." Suna says and takes out his phone, opening the front camera and standing a bit further away to capture everyone.

"Alright everyone, say money!" You grin as Suna's thumb presses the button.

"Money? Not... cheese?" Aran asks once the photo is taken.

"Money makes a better face, and I mean, who doesn't prefer money over cheese?" You ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I second that." Atsumu says, nodding.

"I third that." Akagi adds.

You all continue your meals until everything has been wiped out. Throughout the dinner, a lot of playful banter is exchanged and chaos reigns over the living room. Honestly? You don't mind, because not only did they sacrifice their schedules to do this with you, they still manage to lift your mood up tenfold. Even though they can be annoying little shits, you wouldn't have it any other way.

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aspoonofsugar · 3 years

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RWBY Chain Of Faves

Who are your top 10 favorite RWBY characters and why?

Hello anon!

Thank you very much for this ask! I love talking about faves!

1) The murder kids aka Emerald and Mercury

I have talked about them here and here and I’ve shared some minor thoughts here and here.

I think their story has yet to enter its climax, so the metas on them are not as finalized as those on other characters. Still, the set-up is all there and I love it. As I say in the metas linked, they are a unit (body and soul, weapon and semblance). They are also two of the characters who mostly explore the cycle of abuse (together with Cinder, who is both victim and perpetrator).

I like how they are given the chance to screw up very very badly (and are given consequences for their actions), but are also always framed as two kids who try to be toughter than they are.

What is more, I love their relationship and their dynamic with Cinder. I think both bonds are very complex and are shown rather than told. This is why Emerald and Mercury’s body language is very effective imo. Their closeness is mostly conveyed through them glancing at each other or how they move around each other. This makes sense because they are in a place where they can’t speak freely.

In particular, I like that their relationship is deep, but not idealized. They care about each other, but are too scared to save each other. This is why Emerald needs the help of an adult (Hazel) to leave her abusive environment. This is also why she is recovering in a healthier environment that also lets her understand the consequences of her actions better. At the same time, Mercury who is instead stuck with another abusive mentor can’t currently escape.

When it comes to each one of them individually...

Emerald’s design and semblance are among my personal favourites. Her semblance especially is at the very top of my list. It has so much potential thematically and flexibility in terms of use (invisibility, transformation, specific illusions fitting a character’s flaw). I hope they use it more and in diverse ways in the future to show Emerald’s growth. For example, how cool would it be if she used it to help another character overcome a panic attack? Or if she helped Ruby enter the mental state to use her eyes with it?

I also really like she has a specific fighting style that fits her thief motif and is very different from others. It is less scenographic, but very pragmatic and I love it.

I also liked the focus she received this season and I think it needs to be finalized. I am curious on how it will happen.

Mercury’s background is the one which breaks my heart the most. The little we know is horrible :( I also think it is a story that heavily relies on symbolism to convey the idea of abuse...

Marcus took Mercury’s legs, so he can’t psychologically escape the cycle of abuse... Marcus told Mercury he needs no crutches and Mercury is refusing to aknowledge his hurt and to heal... Marcus’s violence messed up Mercury so much he is not sure what he wants and his semblance is missing to underline it.

I wonder if we will discover more about his background or if what we have so far is all. I can see it go both ways to be honest. Also, Tyrian’s interactions with Mercury are interesting and meaningful, but also terrifying. I both want more and I am scared of having more :’’)

I am also looking forward to see how his allusion will be used. As for now, he has the potential to have at least three different motifs going on. The one of Mercury the God, the one of Mercury the metal and the one of Mercury the planet. Curious to see what is done with them!

Finally, I’m the One is one of my favourite songs because it is full of foreshadowing and perfectly conveys what their characters are about. I would love to properly analyze it one day, even if I have used it in multiple metas already :), so I am not sure I have new things to say.

The same can be said about their fight against Coco and Yatsuhashi and their fight with Cinder against Amber. In a sense, those two fights are complementary, since the first one foreshadows their major assets that are properly shown and charged symbolically in the second.

In short, their fight with Coco and Yatsuhashi is how they want to appear:

I'm the one that your mama said 'Don't mess with them or you'll end up dead That type they don't follow any rules'

Their fight against Amber is who they are deep down:

I'm the one That was born in a nightmare a murderer's son

I'm the one Who rose out of filth and was loved by no-one

3) Penny

She is the protagonist of the Atlas Volumes and has my favourite arc so far.

Her arc is contradictive, sad and powerful. In a sense, her whole character is written to hurt :’’’) She is given a happy and enthusiastic personality to hide how tragic her story is.

Penny is an example of how to write a specific kind of tragedy, where the main conflict does not lie in the character’s flaw, but in the environment she is in. Penny wants to be a “real” girl, but others won’t let her. This conflict escalates until she tragically manages to affirm her personhood in death.

At the same time, she is given self-issues that can be seen as a flaw and tie to her environment. She is self-sacrificial and struggles to see herself as a true person. Still, this flaw does not really drive her plotline (others’ control of her does) and, as @hamliet has stated, it does not eat everything around Penny.

So, she dies tragically because she never gets the chance, not even to overcome these self-issues, but to properly face them. At the same time, her death is powerful and cathartic because she negates others’ control and manipulation. She negates the mechanisms that had her develop self-issues to begin with.

Is it a happy outcome? Not at all. It is sad and contradictive. It is gray, but this is precisely why it is powerful. It manages to convey and explore complex and contradictive ideas. It does not offer an answer, but only bittersweet questions.

I also really like how Penny’s allusion is used in the story. It is played straight in terms of plot since Penny becomes human as the story goes on. However, it is problematized in terms of themes. It conveys that humanity is about making choices and experiencing both happiness and pain. Finally, Penny’s final scene is an inversion of the original novel.

Penny is not the Blue Fairy’s creation, but the Blue Fairy’s creator:

She goes from Creation (passive, a child) to Creator (active, an adult).

Incidentally, Penny too has one of my favourite songs. Friend is beautiful and it perfectly describes her arc. It conveys how much she loves humanity despite how complex and painful it is. The music starting slow and melancholic to gain more power as it goes on describes Penny’s life beautifully. It is a story that ends too soon (the music interrupts at its most vibrant), but it is still a melody full of love for life:

An answered prayer A chance to Share the world To be a girl Who fin'lly felt alive

4) Cinder

Cinder is probably the most complex and best written character so far.

She manages to make me feel for her and to make me incredibly angry with her at the same time :’’’)

I have written several metas on her, so you can read my thoughts on her background, the focus she received this volume, how I think her arc will end and some minor symbolism.

Cinder is built on an equilibrium between victim and perpetrator. She is both and the narrative strikes perfectly with its framing of her. It is both sympathetic and strict and most of all tragic because no matter if Cinder wins or loses... she keeps spiralling either way and she can’t understand she is fighting a worthless fight.

She is also full of interesting motifs and symbolism. One I would like to explore more in the future (and for it to be explored more by the story itself) is her fall motif.

She chooses the surname “Fall” herself when it is decided her first target is the Fall Maiden. This makes for a nice juxtaposition between her and Winter.

Cinder is born with nothing. Her own name refers a substance almost completely burnt, something with almost no color. It is a very humble name, so she chooses a surname which is important. It is a surname that hints to her role as a vessel of the Maidens.

She is not chosen to be a Maiden... she is not supposed to be one. However, she decides she is going to take the power even if it is not hers. She is taking destiny in her own hands.

Winter is born with apparently everything. However, this is also why everything gets decided for her. She is given the name Winter before she was born. Similarly, Ironwood chooses her as the Maiden even before she discovers about them.

Cinder sees Winter as having everything Cinder deserves. However, she misses how Winter is facing very similar struggles. She might be given what Cinder is negated, but she too has to make that destiny hers. She has to take her story in her own hands, just like Cinder.

At the same time, Cinder’s fall motif is linked also to the idea of falling. She falls and makes others fall. Exactly like she burns and is burnt. The orange of her flames aesthetically calls back to the orange of the falling leaves.

This idea is also conveyed through Cinder constantly mistreating and even killing characters representative of sides of herself.

She abuses Emerald and Mercury aka her child selves.

She kills Watts aka her negative foil.

She kills Pyrrha and Penny aka her Maidens’ foils.

It is clear that all this hurting and killing parts of herself won’t end well for her. I mean, she, not Salem, is the one responsible of the two major deaths in the series (Penny and Pyrrha), so she is bound to receive consequences.

Another thing I love about her is how her intelligence is people focused. She is very good at reading and manipulating others and this is how she wins her major fights. This is both her flaw and her major asset. I like it because I think RWBY is good in showing different kinds of intelligence and Cinder’s one is very coherent with her personality.

Finally, I love how her Cinderella allusion is used. It is a deconstruction of the original fairy tale that is born from a question: “What if Cinderella were not the kind victim of the story, but a bad victim?”. It is also interesting how the key character in Cinder’s allusion is not the Prince or the Stepmother, but the Fairty Godmother who fails her twice (Rhodes and now Salem).

As a side note, I can’t wait for The Truth to be out in its complete version.

5) Oscar

Aka the one who deserves nothing of what he gets :’’’)

I love him because he is an example of how to write a character who is a cinnamon roll, but that also is not boring and has complexity.

His struggle is about his sense of self. He starts the story by wishing to become more than what he is, but he does not like that this “more” turns out to be about fusing with another person. He wants to grow not to lose himself to another entity.

This is his major fear:

Who will you see? There in the darkness When no one is watching Who will you be? When you're afraid And everything changes Will you see a stranger? Feel proud or betrayed?

This is well conveyed also by his relationship with the rest of the group. He starts as the odd man out and others mostly rely on Ozpin rather than him. He sometimes even seems to disappear behind Ozpin. However, as time goes on, he forges genuine bonds and he becomes dependable on his own. He becomes even more so than Ozpin because he has something Oz lost out of cynism. The ability to trust.

In the Atlas volume he is the character that embodies the thematic statement about trust:

Oscar: You want him to trust us? Then trust me.

The point is that to be trusted you should trust first, even if there is no guarantee it will work.

It is interesting because the theme of trust is explored starting with Ozpin, Oscar’s foil, who does not trust others, so our protagonists feel betrayed. However, in Atlas they find themselves in Ozpin’s shoes and must choose if to trust Ironwood or not.

Here, we explore a form of conditional trust. This idea is presented by Ruby, who wants to be sure it is safe to trust Ironwood. So she keeps secrets and studies him until she decides she can trust him... only to discover that was not the case immediately after. This happens because trust can never be completely safe. Actually, in its most negative declination, this kind of trust becomes the control symbolized by Ironwood.

No matter what, trust is always a leap of faith. This is why trust is a risk. Oscar shows this concept well. He decides to still trust Ironwood at the end of volume 7, but it does not work. Still, he does not stop and decides to trust Emerald and Hazel. This time his trust and faith are repaid. He is fred and gains a new ally:

I love Emerald and Oscar’s interactions btw :’’’) It is good that Oscar is the one who is growing closer to her. They escape Salem together and Oscar has not been hurt by Emerald the same way the others are.

Anyway, even if trust is worth it, the exploration of this theme in Atlas actually ends on a negative note. It ends with Cinder who is an enemy of trust because she uses others’ trust and feelings against them.

Anyway, Oscar is a key character and I can’t wait for his story to develop more!

6) Ironwood

He breaks my heart.

He is a an excellent tragic Hero.

He thinks he is the Great Good, but this is precisely why he spirals out of control and falls with his own Kingdom, hated by his allies and forgotten by his enemies.

His downfall stems from his inability to trust, his refusal of emotions, his single-mindness and mostly his convinction he is better than others. This idea is structural of Atlas society and is seen in many of his inhabitants. No matter the social class, we see multiple people thinking they deserve better and that they are above others. This is why Atlas falls and his people becomes refugees in the poorest Kingdom of Remnant.

Anyway, Ironwood thinks he is better than others, so he should be the one deciding for others as well. This idea is flawed and perfectly conveyed through his ideology of sacrificing everything. He feels he has everything, so he can sacrifice what he wants. Still, this is not the case. Others’ lives and feelings are not his. He doesn’t own them.

7) Weiss

I love Weiss. She has one of my favourite designs and one of my favourite semblances and fighting styles.

Her snowhite allusion being played to explore the idea of a dysfunctional family is very good.

In general, I love how much she has grown slowly, but steadily and how she has progressively become warmer. I enjoyed her interactions with her siblings this season. She also gets many moments where she shines for her humanity and intelligence.

She is both Snowhite and the Prince, but also the Huntress that changes and makes others change. She becomes an inspiration for her whole family and since the Schnees are all in Vacuo and she will eventually join them, I am curious if there is going to be more about their family dynamic.

Other than this, I am excited about her Nevermore summon, what is means symbolically and when she will use it.

8) Ruby

I think Ruby’s arc must still enter its climax and that she will shine towards the end of the series.

That said, I love her as a protagonist. She has an interesting set of skills that makes her competent, but not invincible. Moreover, I like how she is important and a participant of the plot, but also does not single-handedly solves everything by herself. She has to learn just like the others. For example, this volume she learns that trust is a risk and the importance of taking risks.

Moreover, she is actually very rarely the protagonist of a volume climax. Speaking of the most climatic volumes, Pyrrha is the protagonist of the climax in volume 3, Yang and Raven are in volume 5, Penny in volume 8.

The climax where she is the most in focus as a character is volume 6 and that is the volume where her eyes are explored and her personal arc is set up. That said, she still manages to be important and to contribute to the action in many ways.

I think her role is to inspire others and I guess that by making that speech this volume she is gonna grow into a symbol even more. If that happens it will be interesting to see what this means for her.

Apart from this, I am curious about her subplot with her mother and if it will tie to her choice to save Cinder with her eyes (since I think this is where we are going). She is going to be both Hood and the Huntsman who kills the Wolf and saves the Victim.

9) Nora and Ren

They are my favourite canon romance.

Their story starts with Ren getting focus (with Nora as a support) and is slowly shifting to Nora developing as her own person (with Ren as a support).

It fits for them to be one of the series main romances because as characters they both explore the concept of emotions and emotional intelligence.

I would say Nora is one of the most emotional intelligent characters in the cast. She is aware of her own feelings for Ren and tries to push their story forwars. She quickly picks up on Pyrrha’s crush and encourages her to make a move. Honestly, she sees herself as a dumb jock, but she is far from it. She is one of the wisest and most sensitive characters:

Nora: You shove people out so you don’t have to feel things that are hard!

Ren is ironically the one struggling with feelings, even if his semblance is all about emotions. In a sense, it is as if he develops it precisely because he struggles with this part of himself.

As a child he is easily overwhelmed by emotions like fear, which goes in the way of his actions. So, when he is under stress he deveops a magical power that lets him control this part of himself. However, as time goes on, it becomes more and more obvious that he should face his own feelings. And once he faces them:

Ren: No! No one is replaceable.

Then he becomes able to see both himself and others more clearly.

In general, both Ren and Nora must overcome their issues if they want to end up together.

Ren’s issue was his fear of being completely vulnerable and to open up with another person. Nora’s is her complete dependance on Ren and how she sees herself as only a part of him, while she is much more.

As a side note, Ren finally confessing his feelings for Nora only to be (temporally) rejected is a great note for his character arc. He was repressing his feelings out of fear, but now he has grown enough to take a risk (opening up, showing vulnerability). Well, this risk does not pay off immediatley. Nora asks him for some time and this is surely not how Ren would have hoped things to go. Still, he understands and supports her. He takes an emotional risk that does not pay off immediately, but he is able to live with it.

In terms of writing, I also think Raven is top notch. Moreover, Winter is a lowkey favourite as well.

I also like some minor characters like Ilia, whose background is built on a very interesting premise that fits her chameleon motif, and Whitley who manages to be helpful even if he is not a fighter. Velvet also has a cool weapon and semblance that tie with her photography motif.

I also love Yang, Blake and Jaune aka the other members of the main cast.

In terms of design, many of my favourites have also my favourite designs (Emerald, Weiss, Mercury, Cinder, Penny, Winter, Ruby, Ren and Ilia).

Other than them, I love Neo’s design, characterization and fighting style:

Finally, I also like Tock’s design and concept, even if she only appears once.

Thank you for this ask! I had fun with it!

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misssophiachase · 3 years

Photo

Under Your Skin

Happy B’Day, @galvanizedfriend I am LATE, soooo LATE but this means the birthday celebrations just continue, right? I have a friend who celebrates her birthday for the whole month so....

I made you a little thing in honour of this auspicious occasion (also, please tell me you got cake on the day, otherwise I will send you some lamingtons). This is part 1 with part 2 on its way.

Thank you also to the lovely and talented @diaz-eddie for making sense of my pics and putting them together when I couldn’t.

(Nik)

Monday

“Get your ass out here pronto, Nik!”

Who needs the snooze button when his employee is threatening to knock down the door with nothing but her fist. He’s seen Anna in action on her roller derby team and is fairly certain she can kick his ass today and probably into next week as well.

He begrudgingly leaves the warmth and comfort of his bed dressed in nothing but fitted, grey boxers but instead of answering the door he decides to make a detour. Eyes still firmly closed, he makes his way blindly to the bathroom and splashes some much-needed water on his face at the basin.

“You realise we can hear you, right? There’s no amount of pampering that’s going to make that face pretty enough, Niklaus,” he winces, knowing she’s using the full version of his name to invoke his absent sister on purpose.

Apparently Anna has recruited Lexi to torment him as well. Given her mixed martial arts training he doesn’t want to mess with her either. All he needs now is…

“Afraid of some girls, Mikaelson?”

Like clockwork, Bonnie makes up the trio. Given her psychic abilities of course she knows he’s afraid of them. She practices magic, probably has a list of his future mistakes documented for blackmail purposes and may or may not have a voodoo doll with his name on it.

Growing up he thought having Rebekah as a sibling was tough but now he has three more and all are ready to converge on him as soon as he opens the door. It’s lucky he decided against giving them keys. Granted he’s their boss and lives upstairs from his establishment but Nik isn’t a fan of the sleeping with one eye open concept.

“We have an incredibly opinionated, talkative and highly-strung person who would like to make a formal complaint to the owner about a certain tattoo from the weekend. Also, Enzo called her gorgeous and let’s just say it didn’t go down too well.”

“Oi! I can hear you, Bennett, given I’m standing right here. In my defence, Niklaus, she is gorgeous and what woman doesn’t love a compliment?”

His friend from college in Rhode Island, while being extremely talented, has little-to-no customer service skills. Nik also, rather unfortunately, noticed a spark between him and his younger sister during her last visit and has been trying to block it from his memory ever since.

“Uh, when they’re making a complaint and are seriously pissed. I say we muzzle him for good,” Anna offers.

“I second that,” Lexi agrees.

Nik wonders if any of his employees actually work given their current and incessant bickering at his front door. He decides then and there a move might be a good option.

Like most, Monday is his least favourite day of the week but he’s fairly certain it isn’t for the same reason. Nik likens it to the moment a weekend hangover finally passes and clarity makes an unwelcome return, complete with a litany of regrets.

Being owner of one of the top tattoo studios at Venice Beach, Nik doesn’t see tattoos as regrets. Far from it. He has a plethora, all telling a story.

His story.

The good, the bad and the downright ugly.

Unfortunately, others don’t see it the same way, much like the person downstairs ready to ruin his day and all before he’s ingested some much-needed caffeine.

“Happy Monday to me,” he mutters, not bothering to look in the mirror before scrambling to find some clothes.

Ten minutes later he appears in his usual uniform of fitted jeans and a suitably hued henley, probably more disheveled than he’d like but given his unorthodox wake up call, it’s hardly surprising.

As he makes his way down each step toward the studio floor, his eyes immediately dart towards an impatient looking blonde at the front desk. Blonde waves caressing her shoulders, pink lips and blue eyes that perfectly match her shirt. She’s standing there impatiently while tapping her perfectly manicured nails on the front desk.

He isn’t blind, she’s beautiful, but at the same time there is something in her eyes and overall body language that spells the bad news he’s expecting. He’s disappointed but when their eyes lock, he does his best not to betray his real feelings.

This is business, after all.

“Well, finally,” she snaps. Even with that frown, he’s trying to reconcile the fact she’s complaining but he’s extremely attracted to her at the same time. “I’ve only been waiting for fifteen minutes. I hope you enjoyed your sleep-in while I’ve been languishing out here.”

“Thank you, I did,” he murmurs lazily, noting the way she purses those lips while her eyebrows rise curiously. “So, what can I help you with Ms…”

“Forbes,” she utters and he doesn’t miss the way she fumbles something so easy as her surname. It’s cute, but he isn’t supposed to think that. He’s also not supposed to be perusing just how well she wears fitted denim either.

Read the rest on AO3 HERE

#happy b'day yokan #better late than never #klaroline fanfiction #misssophiachase #klaroline #under your skin

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solreefs · 2 years

Text

Reflection

<- previous next ->

Summary: Statement of Kareem Amir, regarding a series of incidents in a glass shop in Amreya. Original statement given July 17, 2022. Recorded July 1, 2031.

Warnings: injuries due to broken glass, semi-graphic death, implied suicide, unreality, not being in control of your own body

Tagging: @gay-otlc

Words: 2613

A note on naming and locations: Amreya is a real neighborhood in Alexandria, notable for its many factories and petroleum refineries.

You may have noticed that the statement giver here has two names that would be considered first names instead of a first name and a more traditional surname. This is actually a very common naming practice in Egypt. While some Egyptians do use surnames, most use the first name of their father, regardless of gender. On more formal legal documents, a third name, that of their grandfather, is also commonly used.

ao3

[CLICK]

Jess: -started a month ago.

Morgan: I know. And I was supposed to be here then, but there were travel complications.

Jess: Oh.

[he staples a set of files]

Well, don’t get too comfortable here. We’ve lost twelve Postulants already.

At this rate, there won’t be six students left to fill those spots. Here.

[he hands her a stapler]

Morgan: What are we doing?

Jess: These are all the statements we’ve discredited, and this pile over here is all the supplemental research. We’re stapling them together.

[papers shuffling, stapling sounds]

Morgan: Are these... bones?

Jess: Damn, thought we got them all. Put them on Portero’s desk, he’s the one who found that bag in the first place.

Morgan: Shouldn’t these be in Artifact Storage?

Jess: Technically, yeah, but this place is a mess. There’s no telling what’s in most of these boxes.

[he staples another set of files]

Bones are pretty much business as usual around here at this point.

Morgan: I see. And the tape recorder?

Jess: What- oh. We use these for recording the statements that don’t do so well on digital. Don’t know what it’s doing here, though.

Morgan: [she picks it up] Oh, it’s on.

Jess: How long has it been running?

[CLICK]

Wolfe: Statement of Kareem Amir, regarding a series of incidents in a glass shop in Amreya. Original statement given July 17, 2022. Recorded July 1, 2031.

Wolfe (statement): This whole thing happened about two years ago, so I’m sorry if some of the details are a bit off. I’ve been meaning to come here for a while, but somehow never found the time until now.

Amreya is mostly a place for factories and refineries, usually not for small, half-abandoned glass shops. So even though the building itself was small and unassuming, it still stuck out like a sore thumb. I noticed it while walking to the train station after work, and since I still had a little time before I needed to be there, I decided to stop and have a look around.

There was no name to be seen anywhere, but the shop’s hours were listed on the door, and the front window displayed mirrors and windowpanes. I couldn’t see anyone inside, and according to the hours on the door, the shop was closed right now. I checked my watch, and saw that I was nearly going to be late for my train. I ran the rest of the way to the station, forgetting all about strange glass shops for the time being.

I like to take the earliest train in the morning, both so that I can be on time to work, and to have a little extra time to walk around. The next morning was no exception, and I found myself retracing my steps back to the glass shop without even thinking about it. The place fascinated me, and even now I still can’t fully explain the hold it had on me. The best explanation I can give is that the shop had a story, and I couldn’t leave it alone until I figured out that story.

Going by the times on the door, it should have been open, but when I tried the handle, it was locked. I looked inside, and again, saw no one.

In that moment, I made a choice that to this day, I don’t know if I regret or not. I had taken the trouble to come back to the shop, so I couldn’t just leave. I had made up my mind that I was going to find some answers, somehow, and that was that.

I walked around the side of the building, wondering if maybe there was another entrance. I found a back garage, with a truck parked outside it, but the garage door was closed, and I drew the line at actually forcing my way in. The lot behind the shop was full of bins and crates and boxes, but they were all empty. Walking around the other side, I saw there was a small hole in the outside wall. I pressed my eye to it, and although it was dark inside, I could make out what looked like a storage space, filled with more mirrors and windows and a few other furniture pieces. I took my phone out of my pocket, turned on the flashlight, and held it up to the hole.

Mirrors. There were mirrors everywhere.

The walls of the storage space were lined with them, and they were all different sizes and shapes. Mirrors hung from the ceiling, and what little I could see of the floor seemed to be made of mirrored tiles. Excess mirrors were stacked in towering piles along the far edge of the room.

Someone tapped my shoulder, and I spun around with a yell of surprise, dropping my phone. Standing behind me was a man with curly blond hair and very long fingers. He smiled and asked me what I was doing. I stammered out that I was just looking to see if the shop was open, a ridiculous excuse, I know, but it was the best I could come up with on the spot.

The man laughed, and there was something wrong with the sound. My head pulsed with a sudden pain, and I took a step back, away from him. He told me he was the owner of the shop, that his name was Michael, and that the shop wasn’t quite ready yet. I nodded, then glanced at my watch. I was going to be late for work if I stayed here any longer. I gave him some vague excuse, and hurried away.

That evening, I deliberately took a different route to the train station, not wanting to run into Michael again. I avoided the shop for a few days, thinking that I’d come back when it was actually open. My encounter with Michael had unsettled me a little, but my curiosity was undiminished, and I couldn’t bring myself to leave the shop alone entirely.

About a week later, I took the train to Amreya on my day off. I went directly to the glass shop, double-checked the hours, and tried the door. This time, it opened, and I went inside.

It was smaller than I was expecting. The storage space in the back must have been easily twice the size of the actual shop. Like the storage space, though, it was almost entirely filled with mirrors. The only windowpanes were the ones displayed at the front- the aisles of the shop all contained mirrors of various shapes, sizes, and styles. I spent a few minutes just wandering, looking at the way each of the mirrors seemed to subtly distort my reflection. On the far side of the shop, there was a small office space, the door of which was closed, but I could see that it was empty through a window in the door. It occurred to me that I hadn’t actually seen a cash register, or price tags on any of the mirrors. Was this place even a store?

I had some other errands I needed to run, so I ended up leaving after only spending about half an hour in there, but I came back the next day. And the next, and the day after that.

I know how that sounds. Writing it down, it seems so obviously stupid, but I was addicted to the mystery of it all. I wanted to know everything about the place, and I was even brave enough to ask Michael a few questions once.

I certainly never learned everything about the shop, but I did find out a fair amount of information. The mirrors were in fact for sale, but only on request. Michael handled the actual payments in his office. The shop also functioned mostly as a place for Michael to store his mirror collection, as he seemed reluctant to actually sell any of the mirrors.

I only ever saw him make one sale. A young woman bought a small, round mirror, and the whole time the two of them were discussing the price, Michael’s fingers kept twitching, like he wanted to grab something. I could never figure out if he was trying to grab her, or the mirror. I watched carefully, but nothing out of the ordinary happened when the woman paid, except that Michael seemed oddly sad about losing the mirror.

I mentioned earlier that the mirrors distorted my reflection. But that wasn’t all they did. The shop itself looked different in different mirrors. Looking in the full-length mirror with the pale wood frame near the back of the shop, I saw a desk in the corner that wasn’t there when I turned around. A simple, oval-shaped mirror showed the front door as made of wood and painted yellow, instead of being made of glass and having the shop hours on it. A silver-framed hand mirror showed entire aisles that didn’t exist outside of its reflection.

One day, after about six months of this, I came into the shop before work, and saw Michael propping up a new mirror against the wall. It was full-length, taller than he was, with an ornate fractal pattern carved into the dark wood of the frame. In its glass, Michael’s reflection was distorted, but much more so than in any of the other mirrors. In this one, his hair was longer, and moving on its own, the ends twisting and twirling into spiral patterns. His fingers had too many knuckles, and ended in sharp points.

I stood frozen in the doorway, watching as Michael adjusted the mirror, stood back to inspect it, and turned on his heel and walked away into the office, apparently unfazed. As soon as he disappeared behind the door, I walked forward and examined the mirror. Nothing about the shop’s reflection seemed off. All the shelves and aisles were reflected just as they were, and I could see people walking past in the street outside… Except the streets were quiet and empty this early in the morning.

I watched as a young woman walked up to the front door of the shop in the mirror, and was surprised to find that I recognized her as the only person who I had seen buy a mirror from Michael. As I was turning around to check if she was really there, something dug into my shoulder.

I turned back to face the mirror, and saw Michael standing directly behind me, hand on my shoulder. The hand touching me seemed normal enough, but in the reflection, the sharp points of his fingers were embedded in my skin. I pointed to the mirror and started to ask why the woman was coming back, but Michael just shook his head. “She made her choice,” he said. “Whether she knows it or not.”

I took a step back, and my shoulder began to bleed freely from five small puncture marks. Michael smiled at me, and I felt nauseous, though that could have just been from the pain. “I think you should go now,” he told me, and I nodded and ran for the door.

I didn’t mean to come back, I swear. I told myself I was done with that place, and for about a week, it worked. But then, as I was waiting for the train home, I suddenly turned and left the station, my feet moving of their own accord. I knew where I was going, and I fought my body every step of the way, but it did no good. I was standing in front of the fractal mirror before I knew it.

I walked through the shop aimlessly for a few minutes, my legs taking me on a winding path up and down the aisles. Eventually, I was able to stop, and I took a moment to think through what had just happened. I’d definitely missed my train by now, but if I walked back to the station, there was another one in half an hour. I’d be home later than usual, but I live alone, so it’s not like anyone would be waiting up worrying for me. I headed for the door.

Except it wasn’t there. I turned the corner and found another aisle of mirrors. I doubled back, tried going the other way, but only found another aisle I was sure I had never seen before. I hadn’t started to really panic until now; even with everything that had happened, at least I still knew where I was. How on earth was it possible to get lost in such a tiny shop?

I don’t know how long I spent trapped in that place. Every turn just revealed more and more unfamiliar mirrors, and I got desperate enough to try to find my way using the reflections. If anything, that made my situation worse, as I quickly got to a point where I couldn’t tell the difference between reflection and reality.

At some point in my wanderings, I came across a small, round mirror frame. The mirror itself was shattered, and the glass shards embedded in the head of the woman who had purchased it months ago. I screamed, but of course no one heard.

She was obviously dead, and suddenly I wondered if that was what it took to escape. Perhaps if I died in what I had come think of as the mirror world, I would return to the outside world. But I would have to break the right mirror. The woman had smashed her head through the mirror she’d bought, but I didn’t own a mirror from the shop. So which one...

The one with the fractals carved into the frame. I can’t quite explain how I knew the answer, but all that matters is that I found it, eventually.

I approached the mirror- and stopped. Call it cowardice or delayed self-preservation instincts, but I couldn’t bring myself to put my head through the glass. Instead, I raised a fist, and punched through the middle of the mirror, cutting my hand badly but barely noticing. I lost my balance, and fell back through an open yellow door onto the sidewalk outside.

I lay there on the pavement, my hand bleeding, my shoulder wound throbbing with fresh pain, and my head reeling. I don’t know what happened after that, but someone must have called an ambulance, because the next thing I remember is being in the hospital.

Apparently, I had been missing for two days, and one of my neighbors had gotten the Garda involved. Since then, I’ve stopped taking the earliest train, and just try not to think about it too much.

It’s weird, though. Every so often, I’ll look at my reflection in a mirror, or window, or even water, and behind me, I’ll see that yellow door the oval mirror showed me, the one I fell out of.

Wolfe: Statement ends.

Postulant Brightwell tried to contact Kareem Amir, but he hasn’t been seen since July 23, 2022, less than a week after giving this statement. Amir did provide an address for this mirror shop, however, and Postulants Schreiber and Seif investigated it, along with Niccolo Santi from Artifact Storage. I would have gone myself, but the terms of my position are quite clear that I am not to leave the Archives unless I receive specific instructions from the Artifex Magnus. I-

[pause]

[sigh]

The shop was almost entirely empty, except for a few mirror fragments that Santi took to Artifact Storage. Asking around revealed that no one in the area knew anything about any mirror shop that might have been there nine years ago. Another dead end.

[CLICK]

#return of wolfe!#and first appearance from morgan!#the great library #statement begins #also should you not want to read the statement itself #there is a jess and morgan interaction at the beginning that contains none of the content warnings #and the chapter ends when wolfe ends the recording #so you’re not missing anything besides the statement if you just read the first part

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chaosintheavenue · 3 years

Note

Can you tell us about your OCs?

I sure can! As you've probably noticed, I have a lot of them, so I'll do an introduction to some of the main Fallout guys I've talked about here...

The Main Three (plus in-game screenshots):

Tibbs- My Van Buren Prisoner. He turned to stealing to help his family out of a tight financial spot, but got caught and arrested, then he escapes from prison at the start of the VB plotline and that whole drama starts. Tries his hardest to be seen as an all-powerful amazing hero figure in the wasteland, but he's basically just a guy trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Charlie Sallow- My main New Vegas character, and my all-time oldest OC (I created her around 2011). She's not Courier Six, but she ends up doing a lot of the side quests that they usually would after the real Courier gets locked in the Sierra Madre vault. She ends up travelling to the Capital Wasteland and Commonwealth later on in her story. Likes to think of herself as good leadership material. Can be sarcastic and hot-headed at times. Very interested in pre- and post-war history. Also, as you might have guessed from her surname, her family situation is... interesting. She's the daughter of Sigrid (my Chosen One) and the one and only Edward Sallow...

This screenshot is a quick replica of her I made on PC, her original NV file was on an old Xbox 360 which broke :(

Dana Kincaid- My Sole Survivor. She was a relatively famous personal injury lawyer before the war, and has advertisement posters on billboards around the Commonwealth. Often gets suspected of being a synth because of her unusual appearance (she has purple eyes and is very tall compared to most post-war people) and resemblance to her advertisement posters. Can be sassy, but not to the same extent as Charlie. Based on secondhand information I've gleaned from others online, I'd imagine she'll be most inclined to work with the Railroad, but I don't have much information about her companion or faction preferences yet because I've literally just started her playthrough, which will be my first Fallout 4 playthrough!

Others:

JJ Jensen- Ah... poor JJ. I literally invented this little dude to kill him from the New Plague, but he stubbornly refused to die, so here he is. He absolutely adores anything animal-related and can usually be found wrapped up in a blanket burrito-style, either reading about or drawing animals. Has a pet Nightstalker called Jasper, and later on also a canary called Ennie. It's also become a bit of a running joke for him to get hurt (and usually killed) in as many different ways as possible...

Sid- Basically a token Evil character. Legion spy guy (AKA he's the head of the Frumentarii before Vulpes Inculta). Extremely intelligent and crafty. Also has major issues with controlling his temper. He was originally intended to serve as an antagonist in an arc that I ended up scrapping, so now he just goes around bastarding without too much of a story purpose outside of his own sidestory.

Brutus Decimus- Charlie's boyfriend. A former Legionary who was never truly loyal to the cause. Very socially awkward. He also travels around with Charlie later on in the storyline.

Here they all are!

Tibbs, Charlie, Dana

JJ, Sid, Brutus

Picrew link

If you have any more questions about any of these guys, or you're curious about any of my more minor OCs (I have a looong list of them on my OC page), feel free to ask! :D

#thanks for the ask!#scipiolyoko #Tibbs #Charlie #Dana #JJ #Sid #Brutus #poor JJ #new plague #just a mention but still #death mention #knife tw

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hubbytaeil · 4 years

Note

hello! can u please do angst #6 from your prompt list for johnny?? maybe some enemies or fake dating ?! thanks <3

Johnny + #6 It’s a real shame nobody asked for your opinion

genre: kind of angst, reneissanse!au

synopsis: an alternative universe in which reader is a Medici and Johnny is a Pazzi in 15th Century Florence. In case you didn’t know, Giovanni is the equivalent of John

tw: mentions of blood and death

word count: 3k+

a/n: there i go again putting together two of my favourite things together aka Johnny and Italy so really this is pure self-indulgence. On top of that, this will be the last post I make. I’ve been thinking a lot, I’ve put two and two together and I understood that I’m about to enter the busiest period/year of my life, but that’s adulting right? Either way, it was fun to be here while it lasted, thank you for your support but I feel like I need to concentrate on getting my life together now. Remember to take care of yourself, nenétte says goodnight <3

It was a perfect night for a celebration; it seemed as though the whole city of Florence had gathered in the presence of the Corsini in their great villa. Music played gayly and the atmosphere was filled with laughter and joy. You knew very well this was all your friend Matilde’s doing, her social gatherings were known to be the most entertaining throughout the republic. The reason of the celebration was unknown but the guests were having a splendid time. When you finally questioned Matilde about it, she just shrugged her shoulders.

“Must a lady always have an excuse for her to wish for good company and a good laugh?” she whispered in your ear so that she would not be heard by her older sisters.

“Oh, most certainly not. Yet, I am still rather perplexed on why the lady in question has to invite the entire city in her home to simply have a laugh.” you responded, holding her hand in a teasing manner.

“We should enjoy ourselves for as long as we can, y/n. Just like your brothers always say, don’t they?” you nodded at Matilde’s statement, glancing over at your brother Lorenzo engaged in what seemed a heated conversation with one of the guests. You always regarded yourself to have had such a lucky disposition, having been born in one the most influential families of the peninsula. Yet, your true luck laid in the wonderful family members you had been blessed with. A young lady such as yourself could not have hoped for a better environment to grow up in, surrounded by illustrated artists who would always come in and out of your household, the toms of the library of your beloved father, God rest his soul, and, of course, the presence of your ever so outstanding siblings. Lorenzo noticed your gaze towards him and he saw how must’ve been lost inside your numerous thoughts. He shook his head slightly. Divertiti. Have fun, he mouthed. You smiled enthusiastically, remembering what such beautiful lines of wisdom you had found lying on his desk along the piles of scattered papers. You felt the need to share them with Matilde.

“As my dear brother would say, del domani non c’è certezza. Of tomorrow there’s no certainty.”

“And would your other dear brother say, sorella?” Giuliano intruded in your conversation but Matilde was not at all displeased. Giuliano had that effect on every lady (or lord), with his astonishing complexion and rather captivating character that at times could be considered rather bellicose.

“Well in your case, you would just simply sneak away with the fairest lady here present and leave your younger siblings to watch out for themselves.” you affirmed, of course he couldn’t help but smirk at truthfulness of your words.

“Not this time, y/n. Tonight I’m very determined to protect you from the rapacious gazes of Florentine society. Mother’s orders.” Said Giuliano sternly, locking his arm with yours, leading you to dance and separating you from Matilde.

“Is that so, Giuliano? Is any of the gentlemen here present organising some sort of coup against my character?” you implied, trying to veil your cheeky smile. As the music initiated, you let your brother guide you in the sea of people, hoping not to get the wrong steps and end up on someone’s feet, just like what happened last time with one of the Albizzi boys.

“Not that I know of, no. But who knows what are these pompous bastards’ ways to smear our family.” your brother hissed when he got the chance to be close to your ear as he made you turn.

“You’d know better not to utter such profanities, messere.” you muttered, mocking your childhood governess which made Giuliano laugh silently as he positioned you both in line. You continued on dancing and you could feel your brother glaring at every gentleman whose turn was it to dance with you. Much to your determined protector’s surprise, you had never cared much for the company of men, therefore you were sure you could defend yourself in case of uncomfortable or inconvenient situations. You limited yourself to exchange the bare minimum of pleasantries, enough for you to be polite but not enough for them to justify any sort of pursuing. An equilibrium soon to be disrupted by a young man, all dressed in black, who you had never seen before, not at any of Matilde’s parties or in church or even in one your brothers’ company. The gentleman, who most definitely stood out for his imposing height, took your hand and led you forward. You had never felt intimidation in the presence of the opposite sex, as opposed to what all decent ladies are taught, and yet there was something about him that made you both fear and admire him, with his hair long and dark and his serious gaze.

“Are you enjoying yourself, my lady?” his raucous voice filled your ears as he made you sway past him and back at his side. You tried to compose yourself.

“Most definitely, my lord. I reckon you are as well.”

“I am certainly, though it is rather unfortunate that no other lady can dance as well as you.” whispered the puzzling man, in the corner of your eye you saw a smirk. That must have been the dreaded coup Giuliano was worrying about. You were ashamed to admit that being charmed wasn’t as unpleasant as you had expected. You could’ve even get used to it if it meant looking into the stranger’s beautiful eyes and how they glowed under the candle lights. They irradiated a particular light, making anyone believe that they held some type of knowledge a common person could not aspire to.

“It is the mere product of practice. Truth to be told, I find books more entertaining at times.” you took a step forward together, hand in hand.

“Is that so? And in what readings have you most interest?” you smirked at his question, holding in a chuckle, resulting in him frowning as he waited for your respond. He pulled you in and then you spun around him.

“I’m afraid if I told you, messere, you wouldn’t want to pay me such honouring compliments anymore.” You showed him your most endearing smile and he gladly reciprocated, staring at you attentively as you draw a circle around him.

You were doleful to let go of his hand just to give it to another gentleman. Faster than you expected, the dance came to an end you were already anticipating to resume the conversation with your newest acquaintance. You felt silly in not having asked for his name. You spotted his eyes again the crowd and he was svelte to start making his way to you. But before he could reach you, you observed how his eyes shifted from you to something that was behind. His expression had darkened. You turned around to realise how that something was no other than a rather crossed Giuliano. The young man froze where he stood, meanwhile Giuliano was quick to grab you gently by the arm.

“I most definitely have oppositions about your taste in men, y/n.” your brother grumbled, not taking his flaming eyes off the gentleman dressed in black.

“I actually found him to be the most agreeable gentleman to dance with me tonight. What could your oppositions be, brother?” you glanced over at him once again, wearing a pleased smile. This time he didn’t even flinch, he had reassumed the initial austere expression. It set off a bitter taste in your mouth.

“Do you really wish to know the reason of my oppositions?” Giuliano’s tone was strange. You knew he was hiding something from you. You nodded impatiently, only wanting to find out the dynamics of this sudden change of mood.

Giuliano let your hand rest on his as he made his way to the unknown man with you at his side. Your heart sank in your chest once you were face to face yet again with the handsome stranger. What was your brother trying to do?

“Giuliano de’ Medici.” spoke the tall man. You were not surprised at him knowing who your brother was, but it didn’t explain at all why this was your first time seeing him.

“Giovanni de’ Pazzi.” responded Giuliano. Your throat ran dry at the sound of that name and your head was suddenly heavier.

It couldn’t be. He was a Pazzi, but how was this possible? You had never seen him around any other person who carried such dreadful surname. All good dispositions towards the man changed in the blink of an eye. And all it took was a bloody name.

“Tell me Giovanni, how was England? It was quite a lengthy stay, wasn’t it?” Giuliano posed his question, but the usual tone of mockery was not trying to be hidden by any means.

“It was indeed, lengthy enough for me to start calling myself John, like the locals did. But I have missed Florence very much.” John’s tone on the other hand was firm and poised, hard to believe he was a Pazzi if one didn’t notice the deadly spark in his dark eyes, the same spark you had mistaken for a sign of a respectable man.

“May I present to you my sister, y/n de’ Medici?” the reveal of both of your identities had banished any sort of possible affection between you and John. There you stood face to face, a pernicious look in both of your eyes. You bowed never letting your gaze leave him, not interested in being polite, not to him or any member of his family.

“It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, madonna. I certainly look forward on having more conversations regarding our favourite lectures.” his devious smirk didn’t look as charming anymore, not when it reminded you of the odious man who was head of his family.

“I certainly do, messer Pazzi.” you responded with not even a drop of sincerity, you made sure the message was clear. You heard an unpleasant voice calling out John’s name. It was Francesco de’ Pazzi.

“If you’ll excuse me, my brother requires my presence.” John bowed elegantly and was swift to leave you and Giuliano alone. You squeezed your brother’s hand as tight as you could after John was far away enough.

“Say, what would you do without me, sorella?” Giuliano was glad in having succeeded in your mother’s plan but you felt deceived and most importantly, you felt uneasy having been so close to someone who despised your family so deeply. Though you were relieved in having been saved from stepping into the lion’s den.

“They should hang these Pazzis’ portraits around town so that decent young ladies don’t make the grave mistake of dancing with them.” you whispered bitterly.

“You seemed quite glad in the moment; I’ve never seen you look at a man like that.” Giuliano teased you.

“Do shut your mouth, and don’t mention this to anyone.” you warned him, your voice shaking thinking about John’s hand touching yours, about his eyes piercing through you like an arrow.

“Whatever for? Lorenzo always speaks of ending this rivalry once and for all. Perhaps, he’ll be happy to acquire a Pazzi as a brother-in-law.” Giuliano spoke with poison in his voice, since he clearly didn’t agree with his oldest sibling. Not to mention just weeks prior Francesco de’ Pazzi and Giuliano had been involved in a fight around the market place. Giuliano had a tumultuous character and it didn’t help the devilish rumours the Pazzi would spread about your family. You clang at Giuliano’s arm like you did when you were child.

“I shall never speak to a Pazzi ever again, let alone marry one. Just the mere thought makes my skin crawl.” had you and Giuliano been alone, you would’ve spat on the ground.

“Well, you’re in luck, I’d never let you commit such treason against our family, but must importantly, against me.” you both chuckled softly, hoping not be observed by anyone who would report what you were saying to the people involved.

“I know you two are up to no good, whatever is going on?” Lorenzo approached you, assuming a concerned look.

“Absolutely nothing, brother. I was just mentioning how all eyes seem to be on y/n this evening.” confidently answered Giuliano, tapping on the palm of your hand.

The evening was far from being over. Though, unlike your brothers, you required fresh air from time to time during crowded banquets such as these. You asked Matilde to join you on one of the balconies but she kindly refused after Giuliano finally asked her to dance. Therefore, you made your way alone. You rested your palms on the reeling, breathing in and out, looking up at the sky and following the trail of stars.

“You know, my uncle always says you Medici spend so much time looking up at the clouds that you forget what really matters.” a familiar voice sent a chill through your spine, making you shiver in result. You turned around to see John standing in between the pillars with a smug look on his face. Perhaps he thought he had conducted you into some trap. You pitied him.

“And my dear brother Lorenzo always say that you Pazzi waste all your great potential in going after what is out of your reach.” you replied severely, your back as straight as it could be. John snickered at your comeback. He looked rather dangerous with his face beaconed by the torches hanging on the wall, almost like Lucifer after having fallen from heaven. You had to admit, there was a hint of fear inside of you but shut it out as fast as you could.

“Have you been sent here to antagonise me?” you asked him since he hadn’t spoken.

“You are a Medici indeed.” John affirmed almost to himself, observing your every feature. “But no, I hadn’t such intentions. Though I could, if you were inclined.” said John, taking a step towards you.

“You’d be wise not to antagonise the wrong person, messere. One may even get hurt.” you warned him, looking at him dead in the eye. You were not used to stepping down to anyone, you were proud and not ashamed of it. Thought you two seemed to share this particular trait. It was a silent quarrel.

“Well, if that isn’t an inviting prospect.” John grinned, not taking your fervour seriously.

“So, you have come to antagonise me. I guess it runs in the family.” you raised your eyebrows in false surprise. “Did your uncle have to bring you back here all the way from England for this sole purpose?” you laughed in his face but his expression didn’t mutate. Yet his body seemed to tense up.

“The reasons of my return certainly do not concern you, my lady. Furthermore, I gathered you were enjoying yourself mingling with a Pazzi. Now, that’s not a behaviour worth of a Medici, is it?” John scolded you and rage created a stinging sensation that spread throughout your body. You tightened your fists, to the point where they hurt, anything not to let wrath cloud your judgment.

“I do not believe you are to be the best individual to judge what is worth of a Medici or not.” you stated as you commenced to circle around him.

“You have just returned to Florence and you are probably following your brother’s orders to please him. In that case, I wouldn’t blame you for your foolish provocative attempts.” you completed the circle as you said this.

“but I would blame you if such behaviour had been deliberate. Oh, it would’ve been so unfair to me, messer Pazzi.” you affirmed, sarcastically raising the pitch of your voice. You stood once again face to face, far away from the brief moment of propensity that you two had shared hours prior. You weren’t sure if his lively eyes regarded you as a prey or as his equal. John contemplated you, his opponent, before breaking into a smile.

“And what a pain it would be, y/n” You saw him move his hand preparing to reach for yours until he refrained himself “for you to know that I’ve been unfair to you.” John knew how to play this game very well indeed, whether he had learnt from his brother or anyone else in the family. Did he stop himself because in him there was enough decency left that didn’t make him want to compromise a young lady? Or perhaps did he want to prolong the fun he was having?

“Your perseverance is admirable, Giovanni” you saw him wince at his real name being pronounced. “though too much of it could lead to dangerous outcomes.” your venomous threat didn’t make John retreat but you could see that he was impressed by it.

“I certainly hope this fierceness of yours doesn’t get you into trouble, my lady.” he whispered.

“And it is a real shame no one has asked for your opinion in regard of my character, my lord.” you stared into each other's eyes like sword blades colliding. It was a tie.

“Y/n.” you heard Lorenzo calling your name, though it resounded like white noise in your ears. He informed you that it was time to leave. You looked over John’s shoulder and saw him looking rather preoccupied. You were glad that it wasn’t Giuliano or else he would’ve challenged John straight away after seeing you alone with him. You didn’t even bother bowing to John and you simply took heavy steps towards your brother.

“Are you alright, y/n?” Lorenzo questioned, rubbing one of your shoulders.

“I’m feeling splendid, do not worry about me.” you reassured him. You glanced back at John whose expression was cryptic. You worried if that expression was going to haunt your dreams that night.

“Have a good night, madonna. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of other occasions to talk about Ovid.” John hinted at the conversation you had during the dance and it made you fume with both rage and humiliation. You saw your brother’s expression darken at John’s words but he remained calm, even if the grip he had on you said otherwise. You, on the other hand, were seeing red. It was beyond unfairness; it was absolutely evil. You pushed aside the fear of John spreading vicious rumours about you being promiscuous or loose solely based on that conversation.

“There’ll be no need.” you affirmed, succeeding in keeping your voice stable. “I believe we have nothing more to say to each other. Have a good night.” and like that you stormed out alongside your brother, utterly infuriated at the state of wrath John had put you in.

“You and Giuliano are going to be the death of me, you know that?” Lorenzo muttered in your ear after you two had reached the carriage.

“I’m so sorry, brother.” you lowered your gaze.

“I believe you have done nothing to be sorry or ashamed for.” he made your raise your head and look in his eyes. “Furthermore, at your age I was way more reckless than you are right now.” he made you chuckle which slightly lifted your spirits. It didn’t shake off the feeling that you had made a terrible enemy that night. John eventually came to visit you in the first nightmare you had in years. One in which he was standing victorious over Giuliano’s lifeless body who laid on the altar of the Duomo, the holy cloth covered in his blood.

#johnny au #johnny scenarios #johnny imagines #johnny fic #johnny angst #nct 127 imagines #nct 127 scenarios #nct au #nct imagines #nct scenarios #nct dream scenarios #johnny smut

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rebel-without-cause-x · 4 years

Text

The Secret

Part 1

Jax Teller x OC

SUMMARY: Everyone has secrets to some extent. But what happens when you have kept an enormous secret for 6 years? Harleigh Winston spent her whole life around SAMCRO, in fact she was born into the club. But after her heart gets broken she runs from Charming and the club keeping the biggest secret she had ever had.

Series Master list // MASTER LIST FOR JAX

The sun was starting to set on the city of Chicago, as you watched the smoke from your cigarette dance around in the slight breeze your daughter came running into the backyard wearing a T-shirt that drowned her.

"Momma look what I found" she grinned pulling your attention to her.

You eyes went wide as you realised it was Jax's reaper crew shirt.

"Amber where did you find that" you breathed hoping she hadn't found the box under your bed.

"Under your bed momma along with other things" she grinned grabbing your hand and leading you to your room.

Seeing the contents of the box spilled out of the floor you had so many emotions bubbling away. Sighing as you sunk to the floor leaning against the bed, you ran your fingers over the items, a single tear rolling down your cheek

"C'mere baby" you sniffed opening your arms to you 6 year old daughter.

"What is this momma?" She asked as you picked a photo up off the floor.

You couldn't help but laugh a little. It was the night you guys had snuck out of the club just to go sit in a field and get high.

"Who is it?" Amber asked.

"This is me, your uncle ope, and an old friend" you said pointing everyone out.

"Why are your eyes red momma?" She asked.

"We had hayfever baby" you smirked you wasn't gonna tell a 6 year old you was high.

Every photo you had was of you and Jax, In fact everything in this box had something to do with the stupid blonde haired idiot. Going through the box with an excited 6 year old just broke your heart as you relived each memory as if it was yesterday.

It was now 7pm and Amber was fast asleep in her room, you had a constant reminder of Jax seen as Amber had the eyes and smirk of her father. You couldn't help yourself as you was sat back in front of the box.

You felt guilty for not telling Jax he had a daughter, you never even spoke about him around Amber. Tears were streaming down your face at this point as you held the shirt up to your nose. 6 years down the line and it still smelt like Jax.

It was in that moment you decided you was going home. You missed the club, missed your family and a secret needed to be told now matter how hard it would be.

———

You knew your piece of shit car wouldn't make the whole journey and it was proving it point now as steam billowed out of the engine as you and Amber sat on a rock as you pulled your phone out.

"Well if it isn't my little sis" Opie laughed.

"Alright d-i-c-k-head" you laughed.

"I'm assuming little one is around" he chuckled

"Yeah she is look Bro I need a favour, I was gonna surprise you but my piece of junk car broke down and I need a tow" you said

"Wait your in charming?" He asked.

"Yeah I'm by the field we always used to get high in" you laughed lighting your cigarette.

"Okay be there in 10" he said ending the call.

Within half an hour you was pulling into TM.

"Now baby if anyone asks your name what do you say?" You asked looking down at amber.

"Amber Winston-Teller" she grinned

"No baby, don't say Teller" you sighed as she nodded confusion all over her face.

"The secret is finally gonna be revealed?" Ope asked as he parked the truck.

"Yeah it's time he knew" you sighed.

"Thank god, 6 years is too long to keep a secret" he laughed "but he's gonna figure it out sis, she is like the female version of him"

"Don't you think I know that ope" you sighed swinging the door open before climbing out and helping Amber out. She was always nervous around new people so she clung to you with her little arms around your neck.

As soon as you slammed the door shut all eyes on you.

"Just play nice sis" ope whispered as the whole mc was walking your way.

"Has my daughter finally come home" dad grinned barging through everyone.

"Hey pops" you grinned placing Amber down on the floor so you could hug your dad "maybe I haven't decided yet"

"Well either way it's good to see you" he grinned turning to Amber who was smiling widely at him "now come give grandpa a hug"

Leaving dad to catch up with Amber, the lads instantly tackled you to the ground.

"Urgh get of me you idiots" you laughed but that soon changed as Jax walked outside, his eyes landing on you before his gaze moved to Amber who was now hanging off Opie's neck.

You couldn't read his expression, you knew the cogs were turning trying to piece things together as he walked over to group.

"So does this wee lass have a name?" Chibs asked.

"Amber" you smiled just hoping she didn't give the game away.

"No momma that's not my full name" she grinned.

You just wanted the ground to swallow you up right now.

"My name is Amber Winston-Teller" she grinned proudly

You was definitely fucked now, taking a deep breath you looked up to find all eyes on you but you felt Jax's glare burning into your sole.

"Did I just hear her right, her surname is Winston-Teller" Jax shouted as Piney took Amber inside. "How old is she?"

"Yeah" you mumbled. "She's 6"

"You mean I've had a daughter for 6 fucking years!" He spat poking you in the shoulder before turning to Opie "so much for a friend aye to keep this from me"

"Jax" you breathed reaching out for his arm but he pulled away from you before climbing on his bike, speeding out of the lot.

"It's probably best you let him cool off sis" Opie whispered pulling you into a hug

#jax teller fanfiction #jax x reader #jax teller one shot #jax teller imagine #jax teller x reader #jax teller #soa x reader #soa imagine #sons of anarchy one shot #sons of anarchy x reader #sons of anarchy imagine #jax teller x oc

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immortalled · 4 years

Text

Some highlights and trivia from the Misfits series 1 scripts that no one asked for (extremely long post ahead):

Episode 1

- Jeremy feels somewhat more manipulative and selfish. It’s nothing new that he’s the reason Louise kicked Nathan out, but there’s a deleted scene where he comes in immediately after Louise has booted Nathan, Louise is crying, and he just tells her “You’re doing the right thing. We need this.” And I dunno. I get it, but somehow seeing it just makes the whole situation feel scummier. I could be biased.

- After getting her powers and losing her fiancé, Kelly cries all night. Again, no surprise, but it hurts getting confirmation. :(

Episode 2

- The old woman Nathan pushes in a wheelchair does in fact roll out the door when he lets go. RIP Joan. Some say that if you listen carefully, you can hear her still rollin’ to this day.

- The old “SHE’S STEALING YOUR PENSION” war vet is named Stan. Stan has some serious PTSD. Please protect Stan.

- Alisha thinks Sally is lesbian.

- Simon’s wardrobe is inspired by Joy Division’s Ian Curtis. I’ve never seen Curtis dance, but apparently Rheon incorporated some of Curtis’ dance moves into Simon’s character.

- There’s a deleted scene where the gang finds Nathan in the community centre, staring sadly at a photo of Ruth which has been put up in her memory. Robert really keeps playing the same characters, doesn’t he?

Episode 3

- When Kelly and Jodi are fighting, Socha accidentally headbutts Mojekwu for real. Whoops.

Episode 4

- The athletic segments are filmed at the Crystal Palace Athletics Stadium.

- In a deleted scene, Kelly calls Simon a “good-looking bloke” and tells him he should get a girlfriend. She also says that “loads of girls like sweet, quiet guys”. Simon is touched by this and immediately asks if she’s single.

- Nathan was only supposed to kiss the bowling ball. Of course Sheehan had to be weird and lick it instead. Disgusting.

- Simon’s jerk friend, Matt, sounds a little less like a jerk in the script. He’s actually guilty and feels more sympathetic. Doesn’t make him embarrassing Simon in front of everyone any better, though.

- The original plan was for Simon to turn against the main cast and evolve into a supervillain by the end of season 1, which is one reason why Simon is so horribly creepy in S1 (namely perving on the girls).

- Confirmation that Simon is excited by vulnerable / unconscious girls. #yikes

- Nathan’s dad, Mike, is named “Gareth” in the script. “Gareth” canonically thinks Nathan is an “inconvenience”.

- Tony’s surname was originally “Warren” instead of “Morecombe”.

Episode 5

- There’s a note in the script that says “Curtis’ rap during his self-assessment therapy with Sally is the only improvised dialogue in the whole of Series 1“ and I’m not entirely sure, but I think that’s probably a typo. Either we missed out on Curtis’ special hidden talent for rapping, or that should say “Nathan” and Sheehan adlibbed the Ruff In The Jungle Business. I think the latter is more likely.

- Sally tells Simon in a deleted scene that she was teased as a child for being fat.

- Simon, while talking to Sally at the pub about trying to burn Matt’s house down, has a wave of guilt about peeking up Kelly’s skirt outside the club in the last episode.

- Confirmation that Sally begins to have genuine feelings of attraction toward Simon. #yikes yikes

- The scene with Nathan picking up the baby took over half a day to shoot because the babies kept crying.

- Kelly originally snaps Nathan out of Finn’s hypnotism by pushing herself into his thoughts. Which I think is fascinating because I don’t remember her telepathically communicating with characters before.

- The BMX footage that Simon shows Sally is supposed to be Superhoodie. Hello, plot-holes and paradoxes.

- In a deleted scene, Nathan says he’s jealous that Kelly has “two powers”; being able to hear other people’s thoughts and talk to people telepathically. Seriously sad that this ability was removed in the final cut.

- In another deleted scene, Simon suggests that maybe their powers are changing. Kelly seems to agree. Rachel and a lot of Virtue symbolism also appear early; the gang unknowingly disrespect Rachel by sloshing water on one of her Virtue banners and walking over/on it as they pass.

- Yikes. Deleted scene that alludes to Nathan’s possible alcohol problem with a shot of the community centre’s kitchen and all the empty bottles.

- In another deleted scene, after Kelly questions Nathan about his dad, Nathan complains (revealingly) about Kelly getting in his head. Things get a little flirty, Kelly teases him and serves potato letters with the chicken nuggets. She spells “PRICK” out on Nathan’s plate. It’s really cute.

- Not only was Simon supposed to be the supervillain, but he was supposed to die at the end of season 1.

Episode 6

- “Virtue” was originally called “Respect”, but had to be changed because a political party used the same name.

- The girl in the opening scene, the one Alisha knew from school, is Ellie. Presumably the same Ellie Alisha mentions in episode 1.

- The two other Virtue members that pass the gang are named Danny and Lucy.

- This deleted scene was too good not to write out. Simon, Kelly, and Nathan are discussing how to solve their Virtue problem and save Curtis and Alisha:

NATHAN relents, thinks a moment, has an idea...

NATHAN: Okay. How about we spike them?

KELLY’s exasperated.

NATHAN: We get them off their tits on acid. They’re hallucinating so bad they puke. When they come down, maybe they’re back to normal.

SIMON: D’you think that’ll work...?

NATHAN: Hands up who has a better idea.

Neither SIMON nor KELLY put their hand up.

NATHAN: Then I’ll call my dealer...

NATHAN whips out his phone.

Cutting to a character that was revealed in another deleted scene that I didn’t list, Chewy. Massive stoner, surrounded by a variety of pills, yada yada. Chewy’s phone rings, he answers.

NATHAN: Chewy? It’s Nathan. Can you sort us out with some trips?

CHEWY: I don’t deal drugs any more.

We now see that CHEWY is using his other hand to comb his previously unruly hair into a neat side parting, which looks utterly ridiculous...

CHEWY: Nathan, mate. I’m telling you, drugs are bad news.They lead to a life of crime, mental illness and prostitution.

NATHAN’s horrified by the response. He quickly ends the call, looks at KELLY, who can see there’s something badly wrong...

NATHAN: (appalled) They’ve got to him... Chewy... That boy’s been stoned every day since he was twelve. (angry, jabbing a finger) She’s gone too far this time. She has crossed the line.

- When Simon and Nathan are being surrounded by Virtue, Simon was supposed to punch Nathan instead of push him away.

- In the original script, when Simon was supposed to be evil, he kicked Nathan to the ground then battered him bloody with a baseball bat. In the storyboards, it looks like Simon intends to kill him. Nathan barely manages to escape thanks to Simon being interrupted by Virtue.

- Superhoodie was originally introduced in a series of short online films recorded by Simon.

- In a deleted scene, Nathan takes refuge from Virtue in a place called Bar X. The scene was meant to be set up as a reference to The Shining. It’s empty. Nathan gets drunk and starts to reminisce with the bartender, James, about underage drinking, pulling girls, and how many times he’s gotten sick in the toilets there. There’s some odd tension in this scene between Nathan and James and I’m not sure what it is, but it’s amusing.

- Nathan’s scene with Kelly in her flat is longer. There were some funny lines about her track suit and a lot more awkward fumbling as he tries to compliment the chav look.

- There was supposed to be a Vegas Baby-esque montage of Nathan “arming” himself and getting dressed to infiltrate Virtue. We were ROBBED.

- Kelly was supposed to stroke Nathan’s hand affectionately after putting his iPod in the coffin with him. R O B B E D .

- The graveyard scenes were filmed at Kensal Green Cemertary.

- Many of the people in the club after the funeral are Virtue members.

#misfits #misfits tv #nathan young #kelly bailey #simon bellamy #alisha daniels #curtis donovan #scripts #out of immortality [ooc];#[reference placeholder];

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katherinemallory · 4 years

Text

#2 The late-night date with James Bond

You can read the previous chapter here.

I could feel the increasing heart rate in every inch of my body. I have already learnt a few important facts about my new mission and I’ve been going home in order to find out more. I was so curious I even wanted to open the files Mallory had given me earlier while I was still sitting in my car, but my professionalism didn't allow me to do it.

When I arrived home, I could barely think straight. My black double-breasted coat felt like it was made of lead. I was probably way too sensitive for this job... I knew I needed a bath to be able to relax and look at the files once again with a clear head. I put a kettle on, because a huge cup of Earl Grey would always do the trick, and went to the bathroom.

After at least ten minutes (I wasn’t sure how much time I had spent in the bathtub, but honestly I couldn’t care less...) I went to my bedroom and changed into more cosy clothes. I chose a velvet turquoise track suit, and then tied my short hair as I headed to the living room. I sat on the sofa, looking at the files with a cup of Earl Grey in my right hand.

What I had found inside didn't surprise me at all. I would meet 005 tomorrow. Standard procedure, I thought. The man we had to observe in Geneva used to collaborate with a crime syndicate from Milano, but Italian intelligence lost the track of his links to the criminals after the assassination of one of the secret agents involved in the investigation. Such an unusual beginning to the mission that would require the involvement of two field agents... I started to get pretty sarcastic, as I was reading the details. The operation seemed like it was just another undemanding mission, and it didn't excite me at all. Maybe a secret mission shouldn’t ever get you excited, but I always felt that a bit of positive emotions wouldn't hurt that much. In that case I couldn’t spot *anything* to look forward to...

Nevertheless, ironic way of thinking wasn't the right one either. In order to change my indifferent attitude, I kept recalling what Mallory had said about the mission earlier, and, to my surprise, I couldn't focus on the information properly. The only image I had in my mind was the one of my supervisor looking incredibly dashing in his suit. I tried to forget his mysterious green eyes, as I continued to browse the files and photos of Abbruscato and his friends.

I got both bored and hungry really quickly. I didn't intend to eat much, because I remembered I would spend the upcoming evening with James Bond. Sure, he mentioned only "a drink", but I predicted he wouldn't like to spend the whole date having just one drink. I’d lie if I said I didn’t expect a fancy dinner.

I started to dress up as 8 P.M. got closer (Bond was supposed to pick me up one hour later). I wasn't sure what kind of outfit would be appropriate, because it all depended on Bond’s views on the character of our date. If it was just a drink, an evening dress would be definitely too much, and I didn't want to end up as overdressed for the occasion. On the other hand, it was more or less obvious that Bond would wear one of his favourite suits - maybe not one of his most luxurious ones, but it would still be a suit.

I didn’t see that coming, but I ended up wearing a violet suit myself. I guess that regardless of his views on the matter, I needed Bond to understand the message. I wasn’t interested in anything else than just a one-night date (not to be confused with a one-night stand)... I didn’t care if he wanted to get to know me better or if he only intended to spend one night with me. My intentions remained the same.

However, it didn’t necessarily mean I looked ordinary. Just the opposite. I found some time to do my hair the way it suited me best, and chose one of my favourite diamond earrings (I bought them years ago after my first pay from the SIS). As usual, I refused to do my make-up (I didn’t even know how to do it... I always preferred my natural look).

When I was ready, I looked in the mirror for one last time, just to make sure my outfit was right. It definitely was. The delicate colour of my suit contrasted my dark brown layered hair. My hair was short and wavy, exposing the diamond drop earrings. It was a deadly look, both powerful and feminine.

I enjoyed the view for a few seconds and out of the blue an insane thought came to my mind: how would it feel if Mallory was gazing at me right now? Would he enjoy the view as much as I did? What would he say...? I closed my eyes and imagined my supervisor sitting behind his wooden desk, as I entered to his office just before going on a date with him. There was a combination of astonishment and delight in his sight when he undid the top button of his deep blue shirt and run his fingers through his hair to seem more attractive.

Such vision turned me on really quickly. I got a chill, and then I suddenly realized I shouldn’t have been fantasizing about M. He was my supervisor after all and I was dead sure he wouldn’t reciprocate my interest. And apart from that, he was probably married... Oh, come on. M wouldn’t comment on my look. He would just instruct me to stop smiling so foolishly and focus on the mission.

It was only a few minutes left until 9 P.M. I looked through the window and saw Bond’s silver Aston Martin DB10 parked outside. He might be a bit annoying if you focus on his enormous ego, but this guy’s got style, I thought. I was ready, so I locked my apartment and went down.

Bond was standing next to his Aston Martin, looking like a million dollars in his grey suit. Or maybe the suit was silver, just like his car. I couldn’t tell because of the night’s darkness.

“Evening, Targett,” he said with his hands still in his pockets. “We meet again.”

“Evening, Bond,” I replied, trying to form a smirk on my face. “Impressive. You already know my surname. And I wondered how you knew where I lived...”

He smiled.

“Did I just surprise one of our best secret agents?”

“Not so loud! I thought you were more responsible than that,”, I sighed.

He came closer to me and murmured into my ear: “I thought so too, but it seems your presence affects me so much... I lose my mind easily.” He looked me right in the eye as he opened the car door.

...

That Aston Martin car was really *something*. I’ve never even *seen* such an expensive car in my life, so I didn’t feel truly relaxed riding shotgun. When Bond started the engine and tried to look at me, I avoided his sight, turning my head to the right window. I felt a bit ashamed. I observed the city streets as we travelled into the night. London seemed quite peaceful in the evening. Me and Bond were both quiet and after a few minutes I heard a tender melody. It matched how I felt inside. At first, it felt kind of weird and uncomfortable to listen to the song, as I wondered if the words had some hidden meaning.

... but I can’t see a thing in the sky I only have eyes for you...

I turned to Bond.

“This song really does create an atmosphere,” I stated.

“It’s the Flamingos,” said Bond. “One of those really old songs I happen to enjoy.”

“Oh,” I teased him.

“Don’t you like it?” he asked and you could observe a small sign of concern at the corner of his mouth, even though his voice sounded as overconfident as usual.

... maybe millions of people go by But they all disappear from view And I only have eyes for you...

“Just the opposite. I love it,” I laughed loudly, and then realized I had absolutely no idea where we were going. “So where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see. I do not plan to ruin the surprise,” Bond answered immediately, catching a glimpse of me. Another double-meaning song came from the speakers.

... I don't have plans and schemes And I don't have hopes and dreams I don't have anything Since I don't have you...

...

It turned out Bond had invited me to his own apartment. It was pretty small and unarranged, as he probably didn’t spend a lot of time there. But honestly, it didn’t matter at all to me. I instantly forgot where I was, because Bond did everything he could to make me feel truly special.

“Can I offer you a drink?”

I decided to use my best weapon: a joke.

“Isn’t that the purpose of my visit here?”

He laughed. “This is the exact reason why I like you, Targett. The sense of humour which doesn’t allow you to take everything people say too seriously.”

“Is that the *only* reason to like me?” I teased him again.

He showed that *famous* Bond smirk and refused to comment on my question. “So, what is your pleasure?”

“A glass of dry red wine will do.”

He poured me a glass and let me sit behind the table. It took him a while to serve me a dinner, which, to my surprise, he had prepared himself earlier. I still can’t remember what we have eaten, but it definitely was delicious.

“How was it?” asked Bond with curiosity in his eyes.

“Do we really have to talk about work?” I replied, being clearly disappointed with the topic of our conversation.

“We don’t, but actually I have one question for you,” he insisted.

I agreed to hear that one question. A forced smile appeared on my face.

“Shoot,” I said.

He laughed at me again. “I have to admit I didn’t expect a different reaction from someone whose name’s *Targett*,” he said and looked me directly in the eyes. “This is a name for the job, isn’t it?”

“Yeah”, I replied, still faking the smile.

“So,” said Bond after he took a sip from his glass, “which of the numbers has been assigned to you?”

“Assigned?” I faltered. “It hasn’t been assigned to me, I have chosen it.”

“Oh, really? Tell me,” he requested.

“You know, when I came to M’s office earlier today he passed me a list of spare double-0 numbers. Then he ordered me to pick one of them and I had no doubts...”

“Interesting,” interrupted Bond, and continued to talk, as he noticed my confused face. “Mallory’s never allowed anyone to pick their number before. When there is more than one number to choose from, he does it himself and you just get informed about his decision.”

I was still a bit surprised and I didn’t know how to react.

“That kind of special behaviour,” added Bond, “means Mallory truly likes you.”

His last sentence left me speechless. Putting my thoughts into words wasn’t easy.

“Okay, you’re just confusing me now,” I confessed after a few seconds of silence. “Probably he just respects my previous work and for some reason...” I couldn’t finish the sentence and got a bit annoyed. ”You should stop looking for whatever you’re looking for,” I added, and immediately felt it sounded a bit too harsh.

“His reason is totally understandable,” said Bond calmly. “I would have let you choose your own number anytime... Especially if you looked like that,” he commented, then paused for a while and looked deeply into my hazel eyes. “That violet shade does suit you well. You’re a very attractive woman and you are aware of that.”

I blushed as if I had been caught naked. I couldn’t deny that his words had pleased me, but he didn’t know the reason behind my reaction. The truth was, I imagined that this implicit special treatment from Mallory had been really caused by both my skills and beauty.

“Thank you, James,” I said, realizing I called Bond using his first name for the first time.

“It’s the truth, Katherine,” he replied, refusing to call me by my surname as well. “So...” asked Bond, “... which one’s your number?”

“It’s double-oh-two.”

“Why?”

“It’s a very personal story. I do not think I can tell you right now.”

“All right,” he said and it seemed like he had really understood. “I noticed that you said *double-oohhh* instead of *double-0*. Does it mean anything?”

“Yeah, it means you are interested in only one thing,” I said and started to laugh at him.

...

Later that evening, probably around midnight, Bond ordered a cab for me. He wanted to make sure I got home safe, so he went with me, holding my hand for the whole time. I was fully satisfied with the way our date had gone and I even enjoyed his confident, but gentle touch... However, I couldn’t articulate my feelings when we got out of the cab.

“It was a lovely evening and...,” I struggled with words again that night. “I don’t know how should I thank you for this. I really enjoyed it.”

“A simple kiss would do,” he replied, looking at me with his cold blue eyes. I could tell he was hoping for the prize.

“Thanks, James,” I whispered into his ear and placed a kiss on his right cheek. After a few seconds of silence, I asked: “Is James Bond disappointed?”

“Not at all,” he said, but I didn’t believe him this time. “I’ll have to earn it, I suppose.”

I didn’t answer, I just gave him a smile and then turned around.

...

Even though I knew I had to wake up early and report to Q, I kept wandering around my apartment. Ironically, I was pretty tired, but couldn’t sleep because of the intense emotions I had experienced during the day. First of all, I met my new supervisor and received my first double-0 mission. Then, I went on an *actual* date with James Bond, which had gone better than I could possibly imagine. For a moment I wondered if I began to fall for his charms.

I needed to distract my mind with something, so I checked my e-mails. It seemed like I had received a new one. It was sent at 10 P.M.

002,

Meet me in my office tomorrow after the medical. I will introduce you to 005.

See you there at 11 A.M.

Yours sincerely,

I wasn’t sure if M had mentioned this during our meeting earlier today. It was a long day and in the end the details didn’t matter that much. Wow, I thought. Was he really still working at 10 P.M.? And can you be more specific than him? What a man.

I looked through the window and observed the stars. Peace. Nothing needed to be done until tomorrow. The next day would be full of new experiences. Time to meet both Q and 005, then.

And see Mallory once again before I leave for Switzerland.

***

To be continued.

#james bond #bond james bond #james bond fanfiction #gareth mallory #m #002 #katherine mallory #q #fanfiction #007 #mallory

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potteresque-ire · 5 years

Text

(I wrote this as a response to another post. It got long, potentially upsetting, so I decided to move it here.)

(TW: Criticism of Draco Malfoy under the cut.)

I think the best analogy I can come up with for Slytherins in an Americanized Hogwarts is if they are the children of the tech giants (Hello Draco Bezos) and multi-company conglomerates, the top-earning Wall Street hedge fund managers, the property moguls like the Trumps and the Bloombergs, and the legacy politicians like the Bushes and the Kennedys. This would be a fairer comparison to the social-economic power of Slytherin families in the books because conservatives in the USA mostly do not come from privileged homes. And I suspect even this American analogue may pale to its UK counterpart, for it lacks the centuries of practice ("tradition”) as a convenient excuse for continuing its underlying bigotry.

Draco Bezos or Draco Trump or Draco Bush has as little choice as being of these surnames as Draco Malfoy. The members of the Americanized Slytherin house, likewise, don’t deserve to be seen as all evil, and maybe — and very likely — they’re not. But consider what Americanized Ron would think about the Slytherins as a group, bearing in mind that the books are written in the POV of Harry, a child himself and Ron’s fierce friend, if…

(Under the cut, for I’m VERY talkative today ...)

- If this Americanized Draco still buys his way into the Quidditch team with a Nimbus 2001. The obvious bribery aside, everyone in this Slytherin team can readily afford the same thing, and likely already has, at least, a Nimbus 2000 in possession.

- If Americanized Lucius also interferes with school policy with connections to Washington; he rubs shoulders with Secretary of Education Umbridge, who he got to know back when they were lobbying together in the capital.

- If the execution weapon of choice for Buckbeak is a golf club, a gift from the President Goyle of MACUSA. Walden McNair, former Slytherin, has just received a medal of honour for being able to wield it with style. This is a tale retold by a very bitter Theodore Nott, whose father owns the golf course resort where President Goyle plays but Nott Sr. only gets to keep the hamburger wraps of the President’s lunch. The other regular attendee of these lunches is the landowner of the entire Hogsmeade, who happens to be Gregory Goyle’s father.

And speaking of Hogsmeade...

- If Goyle Inc. hikes the rent of the town after every visit by Hogwarts students. Prices of items sold in Hogsmeade shops hike accordingly to deflect the cost. The Weasleys haven’t been able to afford anything there for years.

Goyle Inc. has also been looking to invest in Ottery St Catchpole, re-develop the area into one with ... farmer’s market. Lots and lots of farmer’s markets where a loaf of bread costs $10.00 apiece.

- If American Hogwarts is also free but God knows for how long. Its profits from the previous years — sorry, not profit, but endowment as should be referred to for non-profit organisations — has been channelled into the stock market and the stock market hasn’t been doing so well. Mrs Zabini, the manager of the fund, still gets her commission even if Hogwarts goes bankrupt. In fact, a volatile market with high trading volumes is a godsend for her income, and her yearly bonus is large enough to run Hogwarts for a year. She’s very generous, however, and donates 1% of it to the school, which gets her name engraved on the Gryffindor-Zabini Tower.

Meanwhile, if the Weasleys go home every summer not knowing if they can return to the same tower on September 1st.

- If Skelegro and other potions in the infirmary are rationed due to high cost and every time a Weasley find themselves injured in a Quidditch match, the Malfoys, father or son or both, would remark on the Weasleys having more children than they can afford, and recommend the school board that these potions should be rationed by surname as well. The Slytherins have no such concerns of course; the Parkinsons are heads of an international potion conglomerate and they can always import extra potions from Brazil, which are sold at a small fraction of the cost they sold to Hogwarts (yes, they have the licence and patent to produce the Skelegro. Why did you ask?).

…

Perhaps -- assuming my understanding of UK’s class system isn’t too off the mark -- these if’s can provide a sense of Slytherin’s privilege in canon to the American audience, and related to this, how Draco’s prejudice towards Ron cannot be put on the same moral scale from Ron’s prejudice against Draco. I’d also like to emphasize this: I haven’t touched at all, on this list, on Voldemort’s reign of terror. I haven’t touched, at all, on the fact that Voldemort’s war had been spearheaded by the parents of many current Slytherin students, and this war had only been suspended -- not ended -- for just short of a decade when the Class of Harry Potter entered Hogwarts. The wounds were still fresh. Arthur and Molly could’ve easily suffered similar fates as the Potters and the Longbottom’s. The bigotry of the Slytherins, and of the Malfoys, wasn’t merely a suspected thing in the canon years, like how we feel about a celebrity who’s made a questionable tweet. Not only was their bigotry a fact in the canon years, but it was also a real, ongoing threat that, if permitted to run its course, could and would ruin the lives of the Weasleys.

Ron seeing the Slytherins as a threat arguably served the dual function of keeping him safe -- perhaps not at the moment, but in the future. Draco, on the other hand, had nothing to fear about Ron and above all, the socioeconomic class that the Weasleys represented.

They never stood on equal grounds.

And here’s the thing I don’t understand. Or I think I understand it, having seen this Ron-is-as-bad-as-Draco-and-Slytherins-are-victims-of Dumbledore’s-prejudice debate in various forms over the years — this isn’t new or controversial, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this has become the dominant view within the ship — and I’m not sure I can get myself to face what I’ve understood, because what this is is worrisome for me.

Please hear me out.

The Drarry fandom on Tumblr has, in my observation, always taken a very strong, hardline stance against prejudice. The post that says something along the line of 10 people who sits with a Nazi makes a table of 11 Nazis get numerous likes and reblogs. And yet in this situation, we have a boy, Ron, who is directly affected by the prejudice, who’s familiar with the connections between his Slytherin classmates and those who have not only worked to make their brand of bigotry the law but helped murder those who do not agree, and his distaste for these oppressors as a group is somehow seen as equal as his likely future oppressors’ disgust at his presence.

The reason given is inevitably a variation of this: Draco was a child. He was parroting his parent’s beliefs. He was too young to be responsible for his words, or his actions. He was a victim.

I’ve not seen this defence offered, not even once within the Drarry circle, for a real-life bully. Tumblr’s user base is young, and many have a history of being bullied due to their race, gender, sexuality, disability, socioeconomic class. After a bit of subtraction (Young Age - Bullying History in Years), I’d take that many of these RL events happened when the victim and the perpetrator were about the age of Ron and Draco in canon. And yet, not once have I seen a shipper on my dash suggest the bully was a victim, or that they weren’t at fault because they were only parroting the prejudice of their conservative families, their schools, their religion etc. That maybe they didn’t mean what they were saying or doing.

This is a (very) good thing. But it also makes me wonder: defenders of Draco and the Slytherins do know, deep down, that the excuse they’ve offered Draco isn’t nearly good enough to exempt him from his behaviour.

Draco might not have understood the greater political ramifications of his bullying, but he knew he was hurting Ron. Bullying cannot a be mindless act; it cannot be a passive reflection of one’s lessons from school or family for It’s a pre-meditated, targeted behaviour, and a good bully like Draco — he came up with a bullying chant that the whole school knew in the end — tailors his acts to serve a specific purpose of hurting the victim. Draco might not have known that calling Hermione a Mudblood could devalue her life enough to make it ripe for elimination when Voldemort came to power, but he knew perfectly well that the term was derogatory. This is especially true if one agrees with the common headcanon that Draco was second only to Hermione in marks in school, that he was no Crabbe or Goyle and he was intelligent.

Our ship celebrates Draco’s sharp tongue, but that tongue was used exclusively to ridicule, to bully in canon -- it’s fandom that has given it a better / higher / romantic purpose. His father’s tongue spoke the language of bigotry to the ears of the Ministry; this was the Malfoy’s weapon of choice and Draco was forging his own in the books. His bullying ways in canon was written with humour, with Weasley is Our King being the epitome of the laughs. I don’t believe it was JKR’s intention for her readers to fall in love with Draco via his bullying style, however. The HP world was built as a mirror of our own (rather than as a manual of what an ideal world should be, as many in fandom has seemed to assume), and Weasley is Our King showcased how easily bigotry can creep into our day-to-day language when it’s masqueraded as a joke (Even Luna was singing it at some point):

Oh, relax! It’s perfectly fine for everyone to know the Weasleys were born in a bin, into poverty! Funny, isn’t it? HAHAHAHA!

Imagine seeing this kind of behaviour on Tumblr. Imagine trying to defend this kind of behaviour on Tumblr.

I have faith that most of my Drarry friends cannot, will not do the latter.

So please, please reconsider what you’re really saying when you call Draco the victim, the vulnerable one, when you insist that he and the Slytherins had been wronged. I don’t mean to start another debate and I don’t plan to engage in one; this isn’t a call-out post either, I enjoy reading all the opinions expressed and I understand many of the sentiments I’m questioning comes from a place of love. I just hope that everyone who’s reading (thank you) can sit back, think a little. Imagine for a moment that table with the Nazis. Even if, at the table, there’re actually 10 Nazis and 1 who isn’t, who is more vulnerable? The non-Nazi sitting with the Nazis? Or the person who refuses to sit at the table and makes a bad judgement call on the 11th sitter by assuming they are a Nazi as well? Who is more the victim, or more likely to become one? The 11th sitter who’s wrongly labelled? Or the standing person who is being eyed by the 10 Nazis with disgust, the 10 Nazis who already have a family history of hunting down the standing person’s family and friends?

Or does the answer -- and this is the understanding I’ve got but haven’t dared to face -- does the answer depend on if he character in question had white-blond hair that glinted so beautifully in the sun? Is that the reason why Draco Malfoy, bigot, bully, has been given this special treatment, this carte blanche in the sense that he’ll always remain on our good side, be exempt from our moral judgement regardless of what he did, because his physical description doesn’t contain a single hint of melanin?

#pie speaks #hp meta #pie metas

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what-is-your-plan-today · 5 years

Text

CSI: Rogers and Barnes- The Serious Cereal Serial Killer

Ch4: Hit and Run Co written with @icanfeelastormbrewing

Episode Summary: There’s another body, and it’s another familiar face. Some bitching and arguing and an accident. SHOCK!!!

Episode Warnings: Bad Language words. Contains flash back which alludes to a sexual assault. Nothing graphic but avoid if this is a trigger.

Episode Pairings: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark (she still hates him…)

Song for Episode: Demons At The Door by Sleeping Wolf

A/N: This entire series contains dark humour (CSI + Brooklyn 99=CSI Steeb) Avengers and Stark Spangled Banner Easter Eggs and jokes. You don’t need to have read the SSB series to understand or enjoy this, but we’ve used the Universe to spin this off from so somethings might puzzle a few of you if you ain’t, but feel free to ask.

Also, our knowledge of American Policing and Brooklyn is limited, so bear with us if we slip up, but at the end of the day this is a fiction so we’ll claim any mistakes as creative license!!

As always we live for re-blogs and comments

CSI Rogers and Barnes Master List

Main Masterlist

"Of all the places in the world...." Steve groaned as they approached the murder scene.

It was a late July evening and the cool breeze that blew at the Ice Rink at 8 p.m. wasn't a good match for his short sleeved navy blue polo shirt. He didn’t like ice, either. But that was a whole different story. He shrugged on his denim jacket as he walked, giving a slight shiver.

"Hey, it's me who has issues with winter sports, not you. You love ice, Capsicle." Bucky said laughing at his own lame pun.

"Jerk" was the only thing Steve bothered to say to his friend.

They waved at Thor who, as per usual, was directing the police operative. The man was more rushed this time as the new body had appeared in a more popular with tourists spot at a busier time of the evening too.

The area had been secured but people still lingered in the area, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening and, if they were lucky enough, of the bulk under the sheet before they put it in a body bag.

Steve saw a pair of journalists trying to bargain some information out of the police officers who were trying to keep the curious onlookers at bay. He had seen them around other crime scenes and at a few press conferences he had attended over the last couple of years. It was a matter of seconds when another two or three more turned up.

As they approached the scene, they saw that Sam had arrived and was discussing some sort of procedure with Bruce who was crouched down by the body. Katie was busy inspecting the surroundings oblivious to the two men behind her and gave a start when Steve and Bucky greeted her.

"Hey" she said catching her breath and placing a hand on her chest. "You startled me."

"Sorry" Steve smiled. "How are you holding?"

She didn’t return his smile, instead she just gave a shrug.

"Reinforcements are here" Bucky said puffing his chest.

"God bless America" Katie scoffed. "Well, pretty much same crime scene only this one is frostier."

"You can say that again." muttered Bucky. Katie glared at him and ignoring his jab regarding the tension between her and Steve and continued her report on the scene.

"No bullet wound, so no casings. This is a promenade so no vehicle tracks, I was inspecting the area for footprints but there are no wet marks so the attacker wasn't on the ice. We need to see what Sam says about the body, but I presume from the lack of evidence of a vehicle, plus the fact it would be pretty hard to drive here anyway at this time of day without being seen, that the victim was attacked where he's lying, by the bench that faces the ice rink."

"Have you talked to the boys that found it?" Steve asked Katie while looking around searching for the kids who had spotted the body.

“Him.” she replied, not looking up

"It's a male?" Bucky asked Katie.

"Yes, the boys reported the body of a man who seemed to be dead by one of the benches in front of the rink." Katie said. "Well, according to Thor their exact words were “There's a dude here, he got smoked.” Yeah, quite the literary talent." she added when Bucky chuckled at the boys’ use of slang. "Anyway, a police officer is with them, we’re waiting for their parents to show up and then we can drive them to the station to take their statements."

"Ok. Let's see what Sam and Bruce got." Steve said as he began to walk towards the scene, followed by Bucky and Katie who was now grabbing a mint from the packet that Bucky was holding out for her.

"Do we know anything about the victim?" Steve asked turning her head to Katie and then turned again to greet Sam.

"Nope. Not yet. Sam only told me there was no bullet wound, only what seemed...." Steve frowned and turned to ask Katie why she had stopped talking when he saw she had paused in her tracks and stood there frozen looking down at the body.

"Katie?" Bucky who had also stopped walking asked a worried look on his face.

She didn’t reply, merely stood there her eyes wide, a look of utter shock on her face.

"She's shaken. She's not hearing you." Steve told Bucky as he moved towards Katie, recognising the signs instantly. He’d seen it often enough "Can you please take the reins, while I... umm..?"

"Sure, pal. I've got this." he said before Steve could finish the question and turned to Sam and Bruce whose worried looks were focused now on the three of them rather than on the dead body on the floor.

"Hey. Are you ok? Katie? Look at me." Steve said quietly holding Katie's face between his hands.

She seemingly reacted to the human contact and the soft voice speaking to her. Her eyes fell on the ones before her and Steve saw those green orbs staring at his, struggling to focus, and once she did she flinched from his touch and composed herself.

Steve swallowed hard and tried to hide his wounded pride as much as possible.

"Come here." he said as he took her arm gently and guided her to the spot where their cars were parked.

"Need anything? Water?" Steve offered patiently giving her time to adjust to reality.

"No, I'm fine thanks." she said and fell silent again looking past him towards the bulk on the ground beside the bench.

"Are you gonna tell me what that was about?" Steve asked tentatively.

Katie stood now leaning back against the left door of her car as Steve waiting patiently for an answer which he honestly wasn't sure he was going to get given how things were between the two of them. His fists clenched inside the pockets of his denim jacket fighting the urge to reach for Katie to comfort her but he knew she wouldn’t appreciate it. Instead, he watched her carefully as she moved her eyes frantically between the crime scene and him, and closing them she whispered "I know him."

"You knew the victim?" he asked frowning.

She nodded and inhaled deeply before opening her eyes again and saying "Sitwell, Jasper Sitwell."

Steve looked at her intently trying to get more information from her, he couldn't recall where had he heard that name but it did sound familiar.

"Sitwell..." he repeated as if uttering that surname again would magically bring a memory back. "Katie, I don't..."

"Steve" she said her eyes on his "remember what happened with Rumlow?"

"Yes." he said the word nearly getting stuck in his throat. Now he was beginning to get worried.

"Sitwell was Rumlow's alibi when Peralta and I were digging into him. We had to drop the case because that bloodsucker stated they were together when it all happened." she rubbed her temples and laced a strand of hair behind her ear before continuing "Never believed him. We were forced to drop it. And then..." she choked on her words.

"Shhhh" Steve said gently reaching for her to calm her with a hug. But she raised her palms stopping him on the spot and he retreated hurt showing in his eyes as it was the second time in less than 5 minutes that she had rejected his touch.

"I'm fine." She said biting her lower lip and looking down to the ground "Or I will be... gotta get out of here Steve" she added before moving around the front part of her car.

"Are you sure you can drive?" Steve asked before she reached the driver's door. "Want me to take you?"

"No." she said too fast and sharp for Steve liking

"Let me call Tony... or Bucky could?" he tried again, worried she would be too upset to focus on the road.

"I'm fine, Steve. Just need a hot bath and to get some sleep." she said taking the car keys out of her jacket right pocket.

"Ok, well… be careful.” She nodded and went to open her door before Steve suddenly remembered something.

“Wait…” he said, and she turned to look at him "I've got something for you.”

He ran towards his car while Katie stood there by the open door of hers waiting for him with a frown.

"Here! My ma gave me this for you." he said handing her the slice of apple pie Mrs Rogers had sent with him.

"Does she know...?" she said taking the foil wrapped pie he was handing her, looking down at it as he handed it over.

"That you're back? Yes, told her earlier." Steve nodded pursing his lips at the memory of her mother's advice.

"Tell her thanks and I'll drop by when I can." she said smiling to him for the first time since she came back from DC.

Steve nodded and smiled back at her as she closed the door and started the car. He leant over the driver's window and said "Drive safe." before she pulled away. He sighed, hands on his hips, his never wavering gaze on the taillights of the blue Honda Civic as it drove away.

"What was that about?" Steve turned around to see a concerned Bucky.

"The victim was.... ummm.... Let's say he was an old acquaintance. Long story. Tell you about it later." Steve said and gestured to the crime scene before asking Bucky.

"Same scene?"

"Yeah, pretty much. This time there's apparently increased violence though. Two blows." Bucky answered.

"Cereal?"

"Yes. I would say it was Jump Start this time. God I hate that shitty generic brand stuff." Bucky scoffed while unlocking his phone.

Steve raised an eyebrow and was about to ask him what was the deal with him and cereals, but honestly he had too many things in his mind at the moment and Bucky's one of many quirks was the last thing in the list right now.

"Ok, get in the car. I sent Katie home, so it's you and me taking the statements of those kids tonight." Steve said walking to the car and opening the driver's door.

"You sent her home and she did as you told without putting up a fight? That's a first." Bucky grinned as he entered the car and sat on the passenger seat.

Steve only groaned and started the car and shook his head at the sight of Bucky devouring his slice of pie.

During the drive back to the station Steve filled Bucky in on everything. And by doing so he found himself catapulted back 5 years previously to one of the NYPD Charity Balls.

Steve could see Katie was excited for this one, it was her first formal event since moving from Uniform into the Detective branch little over 7 months previously after years of hard work on her part to get there. She was determined to make a name for herself, prove to people she wasn’t just Commander Howard Stark’s daughter. Of course Ward had let her down last minute, as per usual, but she wasn’t letting that dampen her spirits. He picked her up, and had to smile as she practically skipped down to his car, her deep red, knee length dress flared slightly out from her hips and she had a soft black shawl draped over her shoulders. She climbed into the passenger seat and gave his cheek a quick peck as he told her she looked stunning, as always. She beamed and then the car filled with her happy chatter, about how she was looking forward to letting her hair down, especially after the case that she had been working for weeks had collapsed.

Steve, as always, kept an eye on her all night, without being overbearing. If she wanted to get drunk to the point of puking then that was her prerogative, he’d simply be there to mop up just like he had done several times before. But then he was caught in a conversation with Thor, Terry Jefferson and Barton about the recent Super Bowl and as such he hadn’t seen her for a lost sight of her for a while. When he looked up to find her, as it was his round, he realised she was nowhere to be seen. After asking Natasha where she was, the red head had frowned saying she hadn’t seen her for a while either, so Steve had headed off to see if he could find out where she was.

And he found her.

“Katie…what the hell?” Steve looked at her as she was stood near the bathroom. She was pressed hard against the wall, almost like she was trying to sink into it. Her breathing was ragged and there were tears streaking her face and he noticed she was shaking from head to toe “Jesus Sweetheart what’s…” “I just...Stevie…I…” She was stumbling over her words as turned to him and practically threw herself into his arms. He frowned and pulled her close, rubbing her back softly as she trembled against him.

“You’re scaring me honey.” he said softly. He’d never seen her like this in the entire 5 years they had been friends. “What…”

“He…er…he was waiting and…”

“Ok, slow down…” he said gently, his hands sliding to her face. “Who?”

“Rumlow…”

Steve took a deep breath through his nose as he felt the nerve in his jaw twitch. “What did he do?”

“He….he was rambling on about the case and….”

“Katie…” he looked at her, his voice calm and commanding “Tell me, what did he do?”

“He said that if I told anyone no one would believe me anyway because of the rape case being dropped and…”

Steve felt cold all over as he looked at her. His thumbs gently skated over her cheek bones as she took a deep breath “Did he touch you? Because if he did I swear to God…”

“He put his hand up my skirt and…” “Mother fucker…” Steve said, one of his hands taking through his hair, the other slamming against the wall causing Katie to flinch “Where did he go?”

“I don’t know….”

With that he wheeled round, ignoring her calls and stormed towards the main door of the bar, yanking it open.

“Hey Rogers…” Peralta looked at him “You seen Katie? The boss is just about to…” “Where’s Rumlow?” Steve demanded, cutting him off.

Peralta’s face darkened “He just left…bastard had a nerve showing up anyway, I can’t believe…”

Steve didn’t wait to hear the rest, the red mist had descended and he had only one thing in mind. That fucking cunt should be banged up in a cell from what he had heard. Apparently he had a cast iron alibi from the rape, but both Katie and Peralta were 100% convinced he had done it. But the case had been dropped as the victim had decided not pursue and as such he was still wandering around the 99 free to do what he wanted.

And he’d just assaulted one of the most important people in Steve’s life.

He ran out of the bar and spotted Rumlow as he headed towards his car. Picking up a sprint, at the sound of his feet pounding on the tarmac, Rumlow turned round and Steve sent a punch straight into the bastards face, sending him sprawling over the bonnet of his car. Steve dragged him up off the bonnet with one hand fisting in the front of his shirt before delivering another punch again, feeling his nose crunch under his fist as the man dropped to the floor. He was just winding up to boot him hard in the ribs when someone grabbed him from behind.

“Cap…” He heard Barton speak, but Steve shrugged him off easily. He went to lead with his foot again, the only thing on his mind was beating the piece of shit until he couldn’t stand up, but when someone else grabbed him, the grip was much stronger, and he was dragged back by both arms.

“Rogers, leave it…come on man…” It was Terry Jefferson.

“Son of a bitch!” Steve yelled, attempting to work his way out of Terry’s grip but to no avail.

“Stevie…” another voice, this one quieter cut through the fog and he took a deep breath as Katie appeared in front of him, both hands on his chest “Stop…”

His chest heaving he took a deep breath and looked down at her as Rumlow gave a groan from the floor behind her. Clint bent down to see to him and Steve held his hands up in surrender. Terry let go and Steve looked at Katie, his hands once more holding her face, the knuckles of his right tender from the punches he had landed.

“You alright?” he asked softly and she nodded. Steve drew himself up and turned to Terry “He assaulted her…”

“What?” Terry frowned, and looked down to Rumlow. Upon hearing Steve’s words, Clint had turned to look up at them and Natasha moved forward, her hand falling to Katie’s shoulder. Katie gave a small nod, and took a deep breath as Natasha looked at her and Steve stepped away slightly, and noticing Katie was still shaking he shrugged off his jacket and dropped it lightly over her shoulders before he heard Terry barking instructions to Peralta to get a unit down to the bar.

Rumlow was now on his feet, and in a second Clint had his arm up his back, and had shoved him down on the bonnet of the car, Rumlow giving a yell.

“Move again and I’ll break it…” he snarled, giving it a harsh jerk.

“He attacked me…”

“Did he?” Peralta asked, his phone clutched to his ear as he looked around, “I didn’t see anything…”

“Me neither…” Terry spoke.

“Yeah, hi, this is Detective Jake Peralta, I need a unit…” Peralta spoke, walking a little way away from the group as Rumlow gave another yell as Clint yanked on his arm again

“Looks like you’re mistaken shit bag.”

“Doll…” Steve turned to Katie again, who was now leaning her head against Natasha’s shoulder clutching his leather jacket around her as the red head’s arm pulled her in. She looked up at him, her green eyes still sporting that petrified look. “You up to giving a statement?”

She glanced at him, then to Rumlow, and then drew herself tall “Yeah, he’s not getting away with it a second time.” “Only he did.” Steve spat out as he swung the car into the station parking lot “The Prosecution advised Katie that it would simply be her word against his. Rumlow was sticking to his story, saying Katie had led him outside on purpose and then got cold feet. And the previous accusation couldn’t be used as the previous victim had dropped all charges…” “What previous accusation?” Bucky asked.

“Rape.” Steve sighed “The victim saw Rumlow at the station and her reaction basically led Katie and Peralta to believe it was him. But before they could go any further, he had a cast iron alibi…and that was Sitwell, the guy we just saw with his head caved in and a mouth full of cereal”

“Fuck…” Bucky mumbled.

“Katie basically went through weeks of hell to in the end drop her case, which killed her. And her fucker of a boyfriend wasn’t much of a support either, simply telling her that she shouldn’t wear such “tight or revealing clothing” for fear of egging men on.” “Are you for real?” Bucky frowned.

“Yup. Trust me, it took everything I had not to kick the crap out of him for that.” Steve sighed, “Still, being Howard’s daughter had some perks. He went in all guns blazing when he learned about what happened and kicked up an absolute storm, threatening to go to the press and everything. Pierce, in the end, instructed Rumlow to “resign”. Which is another thing that sticks in my throat. He should have been fired.”

“Instead he got to leave with the full benefits of a pension.” Bucky shook his head.

“Yeah, still, it meant he was away from Katie. Which was something she was thankful for.”

Bucky was silent for a moment as Steve cut the engine and ran his hand over his face. “You think his murder could be connected to the dropped rape case?”

Steve shrugged “I dunno. It could just be a coincidence but…” “I don’t believe in coincidences.” Bucky shook his head “Not when it comes to stuff like this.” “Me neither.” Steve said, undoing his belt. “Let’s get these statements taken.” “Aye, aye Captain.” Bucky said, saluting as he followed his friend out of the car.

*****

It was way past eleven the next morning when Bucky entered the kitchen of the station. He and Steve had been working late the previous night, taking statements and going over the case files again and again. The rest of the team had been working on other minor cases or doing paperwork waiting for them to arrive for briefing and were now taking a coffee break.

"Morning, Barnes." greeted Clint who was perched on the kitchen counter. "Fancy some coffee?"

"Yes, please. You really remind me of my ma's parakeet, always perched onto something." he said taking the coffee pot Clint was holding out for him as he opened one of the cupboards to get a mug.

"Tweet, tweet." Clint retorted and Natasha, who was filing her nails, scoffed.

Bucky spotted Katie engrossed on some files that were scattered over the kitchen table while sipping from her coffee mug and moved closer to her and leant over her.

"How you holding?" he whispered placing a kiss on her head.

She looked up at him and smiled softly for an only answer.

"Good." he whispered again and turned to the others to ask "Is there anything worth eating around here?"

"Here, have one." Wanda, who had been watching his interaction with Katie with a broad smile, offered him a box of doughnuts. But she slapped his hand when he was about to take a particular one.

"Not that one. Those are Steve's favourites!" she cried.

"Sorry." he said with a sarcastic tone as he raised an eyebrow at Clint and Natasha who were smiling at him knowingly. "God forgive me if I ate your Captain’s food." he continued while Wanda pulled a face.

It was at that moment that Katie sat up and gathered all her papers to head for her desk but she bumped into Thor at the kitchen's door.

"Greetings, little Stark" Thor said joyfully.

"Morning" she said flatly before heading out. Thor shrugged and moved to one of the cupboards.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked the others while rummaging inside the cupboard "Have we run out of pop tarts?" he groaned turning around.

"Take a doughnut, and watch your hand, picking one is like playing Russian roulette." Clint quipped and Wanda stuck her tongue out at him.

"She's been particularly snarky all morning." Natasha deadpanned looking intently at Bucky who sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Bitchy." Wanda added and Bucky shot a glare at her.

He was going to say something, not too compromising but enough to get them to leave her alone, when Steve appeared at the kitchen door and called "Everyone, briefing in five." before leaving again.

"Gotta go" Wanda said and before stepping outside the door she turned and added "Are we meeting for lunch?"

"Yes. Diner on the corner, just after briefing!" Natasha yelled for her to hear.

Steve was already sat in the briefing room checking his phone when Wanda came in and placed a coffee mug and a plate with two doughnuts with red, white and blue sprinkles on the table in front of him.

"Thanks" he said "Where is everyone? I told them five minutes."

"They're coming. Well, everyone bar Katie, I don't know where she is." she shrugged.

Steve raised her head to look at her and asked "What do you mean you don't know where she is?"

"She left the kitchen without bothering to look us in the face. Ask Barnes, they seem very close." and as she leant over his ear she whispered "I think they were having a moment back there."

Steve stiffened on his seat and gave an angry bite to one of the doughnuts avoiding saying something he could regret later on. He hadn't failed to notice how close the pair of detectives had become over the last week and it was something that was starting to piss him off. Would Bucky....? No, he wouldn't... He tried to shake those thoughts from his mind and was snapped back into reality by the voices of his team plus Bruce entering the briefing room.

"All right, let's start." Steve said when everyone had taken their seats, noticing Katie sliding in and taking up a seat further down the table. "Sam called. He's currently doing the second victim's autopsy and Tony is out of town working in another case, so Bruce here will do the honours." he said gesturing to the scientist.

Bruce cleared his throat and in a nervous tick he took off his glasses before speaking, "Well, regarding the first victim, we have concluded that the murder weapon could be a round, blunt hammer…"

"A chasing hammer." Thor nodded and everyone turned to look at him, questioningly. "What? I like hammers." he shrugged. "I was actually the hammer throwing champion in the school athletics team."

There was a pause everyone taking in what Thor had just revealed. Then Katie spoke turning to Bruce "But it wasn't a frenzied attack? A single blow?"

"Yeah, that is unlike the second victim, but we'll come to that later." Bruce confirmed.

Steve saw Katie shiver at the mention of the second victim and before he could even register what he was doing he asked her if she was ok to which she only nodded not taking her eyes from the table. He looked directly at Bruce, gesturing for him to continue, not able to deal with the glances he was sure Clint, Natasha and Wanda were sharing at his question to the sergeant.

"As you know we recovered some hairs from Ross trousers" Bruce resumed his report.

"Oh, well that's something." Bucky nodded. "A potential lead maybe?”

"Yeah, wouldn't bank on it." Bruce said "Initial tests show us it's not human."

"What do you mean it's not human?" Steve frowned.

"What do you mean, what do I mean?" Bruce stuttered looking at Steve "Exactly what I just said. That hair is not from a human being. And it's not from the more common domestic animals either like dogs, cats, rabbits, horses... So Peter's on with it now, as soon as we get something we'll let you know."

"Ok, thanks Bruce." Steve said while everyone was lost on their thoughts trying to decipher what kind of animal Ross had been around.

"As for the second victim, we have confirmed his identity." Bruce said chewing one of the arms of his glasses "His name is Jasper Sitwell."

And at the mention of that name Steve saw Katie close her eyes and couldn't help but ask her again.

"You sure you're ok, sweetheart?" he had blurted the words out before he could stop himself and her head shot up and she gave him a filthy look.

"Stop asking me if I'm ok for fuck sake, Steve!" she raised her voice angrily "And DON’T call me that! I'm not your sweetheart, never have been."

Steve clenched his jaw and for a second closed his eyes. If he could have smacked the back of his own head right there and then, he would have. That was on him. Still, he needed to react, despite the grudge Katie was holding against him, they were in a briefing meeting and he was the Captain, being talked to like that was out of order. He looked at Katie and opened his mouth to tell her off, when Bucky shot a quick glance at him and then turned to Katie grabbing her arm.

"Stark. You're off the line. We're not discussing personal matters here." Bucky told her before leaning and whispering to her "Even if he is an asshole."

Steve watched her soften a bit under Bucky's call and then saw a glimpse of a smile on her face when he had whispered something to her. But that smile had faded when she had spotted Wanda shaking her head gazing at Katie reproachfully. That's when he decided to step up, but was again cut off.

"What's your problem?" Katie glared at Wanda while Bucky sat back in his chair and raised his hands in a sign of surrender.

"Katie...stop it!" Natasha tried to intercede also shooting daggers at her.

"That's enough!" Steve spoke up, his voice loud as he cut across the briefing room. "Sergeant Stark, you have any problems with your superiors just issue a complaint form."

"I'll issue a form, I'll shove it up your fucking ass. Fuck this..." Katie yelled at him before she stood up and stormed out of the briefing room.

Bucky stood up fast as lightning and went for the door hurriedly after saying "I've got her, just continue with the briefing."

Steve stood there frozen deciding whether to call the meeting off or get it over with once and for all, when he heard Clint say to Natasha "You should have gone after her." and she shot him a deathly glare.

"What a ..." Wanda started to say.

"I said enough, Wanda." Steve raised his voice and heard Bruce groan and he couldn't blame him, after all the scientist didn't like people with anger management issues.

"Sorry Banner, you were saying..." he said pinching the bridge of his nose and gesturing for him to continue.

"Ummm yes..." Bruce said scanning his notes " that is, I was saying the victim is Jasper Sitwell. Preliminary visual inspection at the crime scene says it was two blows on the head this time. Cereal in mouth as well. So we'd say same MO but we'll give you more details after Sam has finished with him."

"Thanks Banner" Steve said to Bruce who nodded shyly.

"Barton, Romanoff, I want you to investigate Jasper Sitwell. Use all your spy tricks, the guy must be someone relatively important, Sam said yesterday the tie he was wearing was expensive."

"What a pity" Natasha drawled.

"Well, he was a suit and tie kind of guy. We'll find something Cap." Clint said and Steve rolled his eyes at the detective's use of nickname.

"All right, I'll call Rhodes, same course of action with the press." Steve said now looking at Wanda who nodded.

"Wait, why was Little Stark so pissed?" Thor asked out of the blue and everyone turned to look at him astonished.

"What, were you napping?" Steve said and sighed “OK. You're dismissed, I can feel a headache brewing." and stood up to head for his office, but before that he heard Natasha say not as quietly as she intended "I can feel a storm brewing." and Wanda sniggered.

***** Bucky caught up with Katie as she stormed out of the main office and into the corridor.

“Doll face, just...” She wheeled round at him and he held his hands up “Ok, my bad…”

“Leave me alone…” she said, her voice quieter “I’ve had enough.”

“I can tell.” Bucky said “You made that perfectly clear.”

Katie sighed and folded her arms, her tongue poking into her cheek.

“I’m not defending him but maybe, just maybe, Steve’s a little concerned about you.”

“He’s no right to be.” “Maybe not, but you two were friends for a long time before it went sideways.” “Before he sent it sideways…” “Whatever, the point I’m trying to make is that was a slip of the tongue, that’s all.” “I am sick and tired of this.” She said, looking at him. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the team being off with me.” “Well, you are kinda scary when you’re angry…and you always seem kinda angry so…” “And why do you think that is?” she asked “I didn’t ask for any of this Bucky… he was the one that pulled me back here I just…” “So, let’s just get the job done and then you can go back.” Bucky soothed. “Look, we’re going for lunch in a moment so this afternoon let’s just get our heads down and get our ideas up on the boards.” She frowned and then there was a look on her face as if she was understanding something. But what it was, he had no idea. Instead she shrugged and headed back into the office, ignoring everyone as she walked, in particular Wanda. Wanda followed her with her eyes, narrowing them slightly until she spotted Bucky watching. He gave her a look of his own and she scurried back to her desk.

“Right, lunch!” Thor clapped his hands. There were murmurs in the office and Bucky nodded, telling them to go ahead and he’d catch them up. He popped his head into Steve’s office.

“Punk, we’re going for lunch.” he said. Steve looked up “you coming?” “No I’m gonna go have half an hour in the gym.” Steve said. Bucky knew that was Steve’s way of working out some of his frustration so he didn’t argue.

“I’m assuming from the lack of a black eye you managed to calm Katie down.” Steve looked at him.

“In a fashion.” Bucky shrugged “I’ll feed her a double cheeseburger like you suggested, she’ll be fine. Just maybe stop with the pet names huh?”

Steve snorted “force of habit.” Bucky gave him a final nod and leaving his friend to it he headed after Natasha and caught the gang up as they walked the block or so down the road. They headed to a table in the corner and Bucky took a seat between Clint and Wanda, picking up the menu and giving it a glance. He looked up momentarily when Natasha spoke to the waitress who took their drinks order, saying she would come back and take the one for their food in a moment. They all began to discuss what they were having, Bucky deciding he would probably go for his usual, the Southern Fried Chicken sandwich. Putting the menu down he looked around the team, Natasha and Wanda leaning together pointing at something on the card before he realised they were one short.

“Hold up…” he frowned “Where’s Stark?”

At that Thor frowned and looked around, as if only just noticing she wasn’t there. Clint gave Natasha a look, one that clearly said ‘I told you so’ whilst Wanda looked down at her nails.

“Have you deliberately not invited her?” Bucky’s frown deepened as he began to realise what it was that Katie had understood before. She’d understood that she hadn’t been invited.

Fuck.

“We’re just getting a little tired of her attitude.” Natasha sighed. “She was out of line at briefing before.”

“The way she speaks to Steve is disgusting. She’s being such a fucking bitch…” Wanda added. “Ok, that’s enough.” Bucky said sternly. “She’s got a lot going on. And Steve, well frankly, he isn’t innocent in all of this.”

“Oh please!” Wanda snorted “They fucked after a Christmas party and then she made a meal out of it, dramatically running away to DC…”

“That’s not…” Bucky sighed, shaking his head “You know what, it doesn’t matter. I’ll take mine to go. Not having her sitting alone in the office, it’s cruel and frankly I expect more from you.”

Natasha frowned “Do you know something we don’t Serge?”

“Ask her…or Captain Goldenboy.” he sighed, standing up. He headed over to the counter, ignoring the hushed whispers that had struck up and ordered his own, and then after a pause added a few extra items. He sat by the counter, faffing about on his phone until about 20 minutes later it was ready. Grabbing the bags he headed back, still feeling slightly pissed at the behaviour of the unit.

He headed up the elevator and into the office, crossing towards his desk. Katie was sat at hers, pen between her teeth and he could see she had been crying.

“Hey…”

“Thought you had all gone for lunch…” she said looking up at him and he could tell she was trying to keep her tone casual.

“Decided on take out…” He waved the bag and spotting the logo she smiled, a genuine smile at him and it lit her pretty face up. “Cheeseburger, chilli fries and a vanilla shake?” he asked as he began to unpack the items.

“Thanks Bucky.” she said softly, taking her food from him. He smiled at her again before he took one of the subs he had bought through along with a bag of chips and a soda to Steve’s office, dropping it all on his desk. He was just leaving when Steve walked back into the room, almost bumping into him.

“Thought you were going for lunch?” Steve said, brushing his damp hair back with his right hand.

“I was…” Bucky said, before he gestured to the door. Steve shut it and turned back to his friend “Until I got there and found out they’d deliberately excluded Katie.”

“What?” Steve frowned “Why?” “Sick of her attitude…apparently” Bucky said and Steve sighed.

“So you bailed?” “Yeah, not having her sitting here alone.”

Steve took a deep breath and rubbed at his temple. He looked at Bucky, opened his mouth and then shut it again, shaking his head.

“Spit it out…” Bucky said, looking at him.

“I err, well, there’s nothing going on between you and her is there?” Steve asked, his eyes locking onto Bucky’s.

“What the fuck?” Bucky scowled, an angry flush spreading up his neck to his cheeks “Because I bailed on lunch as she wasn’t there? I did that because it’s fucking cruel…”

“It’s not just the lunch…” Steve cut him off, his eyes still focussed on his “Wanda said she thought you two were having a moment before and I’ve seen the pair of you…” “Man you really are as stupid as you look…” Bucky snorted. “She looked lost this morning, so yeah, I gave her a bit of a hug and a kiss on the head but fuck me Steve…even if I did like her that way do you really think I’d go there knowing your history? You’re by best friend, it’s an unwritten rule…”

There was a silence in the office and Steve sighed, hanging his head.

“Sorry man, I know. I just…”

“Just nothing, get your head out of your ass.” Bucky snorted. “You need to watch Wanda, Steve. She’s got a thing for you and I get the impression she instigated leaving Katie off of the lunch invite. She was being particularly nasty about her this morning too before briefing.”

Steve gave a groan and shook his head “That’s all I need…”

“And as you keep saying, Katie is vicious so you could end up with a full scale bitch fight on your hands.”

“Do you think I should talk to Wanda?”

“To be honest I’m not sure whether that will help.” Bucky shrugged “I’m just telling you to be aware. You say Katie is strong but…well, there’s only so much anyone can take. She’s been crying, I can tell.” He looked at Steve who bit his lip and glanced out through the blinds to where Katie was sat, eating her lunch.

“You brought her lunch back?” Steve looked at him.

“Yeah, is that ok or does it mean we’re fucking?”

“Alright, I said I was sorry…”

“Good, because I got you a Pastrami and rye, extra pickle. And there’s no way I want to be romantically involved with your punk ass so…”

Steve glanced at the bag and when he turned back to look at Bucky, the sergeant was surprised at the look on Steve’s face. Almost like he was about to burst into tears. “Thanks Buck.”

“It’s only a sandwich.”

“No I mean for looking after her.” Steve said, giving him a significant look.

“You’re welcome pal, what can I say? I like your girl.” Steve sighed “She’s not my girl…” “Yeah, yeah…” Bucky said, and with that he turned and left the office.

***** Steve looked up as there was a knock on his open door. Katie stepped in, file in her hand and she strode to his desk, dropping it down.

“Initial profile.” she said, nodding to it “It’s only a basic one at the moment but I’ll keep working on it. I’ve given a copy to Barnes as well and run him through my initial thoughts.”

“You wanna give me the basics?” Steve asked, leaning back in his chair, gesturing for her to take the one on the opposite side of the desk.

“Not really but you’re the boss.” she said, remaining stood up, arms folded “I think we’re looking for a male. The MO doesn’t fit with a female as you know and the victims have all been struck at the back of the head at an angle that would insinuate the height of the attacker in Ross’ case was similar, or in Sitwell’s case taller. Ross is 6ft and the blows took significant strength. Of course it could be a tall, bodybuilding female but I doubt it.”

Steve nodded and waited for her to continue.

“Also the hammer blows…it’s a typical cave man move. A bang on the back of the head, like with a club. Most Male serial killers are known to hunt their victims like that, throw-back to the hunter gatherer days. Women serial killers will normally use poison or suffocation…or if they’re in a frenzy a sharp knife.” He smiled, he had almost forgotten how good she was at this.

“I also believe that the victims were known to our guy, and that they know him too. First off there’s little to no physical resemblance, apart from them being male. Which leads me to believe he is targeting them deliberately. The lack of other marks on the body means they’re not being manhandled out to the place their killed either, so I believe it to be prearranged. Oh, and on that Barnes has had tech start to look at their phone records…see if either of them had calls or messages before hand.” Steve nodded “And the calling card?” “I’m stumped.” Katie said, shrugging. “Literally. I can only, again, go back to what I said in DC. Normally leaving things in mouths is either a sexual thing, which in this case we can rule out as there’s no signs of any sexual activity taking place, or a class statement, you know the whole silver spoon trope. I can only conclude this is his message about how dangerous either an everyday object can be, or how dangerous he can be with an everyday object. It could mean something to the killer, but…”

She paused and then looked at Steve “I want to dig into Sitwell more.” Steve watched her as she continued and bit back the smile at the fact she was telling him what she was going to do rather than asking for permission, like she always had. “I’m going to call back to the 99, drag the Rumlow case files out…see if there’s anything that can tie Sitwell to Ross or vice versa. I know Rumlow is doing a stretch inside but…” “Sure. I’ll call Holt and let him know.”

With that she gave him a curt nod and went to leave.

“Katie.” he said gently and she turned to look at him.

“Just be careful”

She didn’t reply, simply gave him a cold look and left. He watched her head to her desk where she said something to Bucky who nodded to her as she picked up her hoody, purse and then the mug in her usual end of day routine- she would NEVER leave an unwashed mug on her desk, no matter what time she was leaving.

A few moments later Bucky popped his head in, telling Steve he was heading off and had a couple of things to do on his way home so he would be later back. By couple of things, Steve assumed he meant a dame so he simply nodded and then once his friend was gone he glanced at the file Katie had left him. Before he started looking at it in detail he needed another coffee. He left his office, heading for the kitchen and as he made his way down the corridor he paused as Natasha’s raised voice hit his ears.

“You know as well as anyone round here, Stark, we’re a family. We look out for one another…and we’re just tired of the way you keep snapping at Steve. It’s not fair…”

“Wait you think... “Katie snorted and let her a bitter laugh "You think that I'm being unreasonable?” "You’re being a bitch!” Nat scoffed

Katie let out another derisive snort “Whatever…” she replied sarcastically and Steve knew from her tone she would be rolling her eyes.

“Look, you slept together. Yeah, we figured as much, and then you ran…” “I ran?” Katie laughed bitterly “Oh, that’s fucking priceless that is! Of course he hasn’t told any of you, wouldn’t want to ruin his God’s Righteous Man reputation would he?” “What are you talking about?” Nat asked.

“I didn’t run anywhere, Nat, he did!” Katie said, her voice loud “After we spent the night together I woke up to find him gone. And then he ghosted me for 3 days.”

"Shit." Nat said gently, "Katie…honestly I had no idea…I knew you'd both...you know but we all just assumed you'd decided it was a mistake and…"

“I wasn’t the one that decided it was a mistake. He did. Nat, I practically begged him to give me a reason to stay but he wouldn't.”

There was a pause and Katie spoke again, and Steve could hear the emotion in her voice. “You know, he told me that he cared, that he’d had feelings for me for years but…then he goes and does this and…”

She trailed off and Steve swallowed, he hated that he had hurt her so much, but more so that he couldn’t do anything to make it right. "I'm so, so sorry." Nat spoke again, her voice soft “I wouldn’t have…well, leaving you off the lunch invite was cruel, I should have said something to Wanda.”

Again nothing. And then Steve heard a sniffle “Shit, Katie come here..." There was the rustling of clothing as he assumed the two women embraced.

“Why didn’t you talk to me?” Nat asked.

“I don’t know I just...I suppose I thought by cutting myself off it would help but it didn’t. I’ve been so lonely…DC is great and the job is amazing but, well all my friends are here and…”

She was crying now and Steve’s heart sank even further. He’d done this to her.

“I’m sorry I ran out on you all like I did…and I should have talked to you I know. I missed you Nat.” “Yeah?” Steve heard the amusement in Nat’s voice.

“Of course I did.” Katie laughed a little “You were my best friend.” “No I wasn’t” Nat said softly.

“Well, my best girlfriend…” Katie replied.

"Have you told any of the 99 you're back in town?" Nat asked after a short pause. "No." "You should call Diaz. Us girls can go out, beers and a catch up."

"I'd like that. That is if Wanda hasn’t poisoned me before hand." Katie snorted. "Yeah well she’s sweet on Cap... you know that. " "She’s welcome to him. Let him give her the best fuck of her life and bail before the toast is ready." "The best fuck of your life?” Nat said, chuckling “That’s some claim.”

Katie gave a bitter laugh. "And don’t I wish it wasn't true."

“Well you know what they say…” Nat replied “The best way to get over a man is get under another one.” Steve didn’t want to hear anymore. He couldn’t. Frankly the thought of her with anyone else was enough to make him ill. He turned and strode back the way he had come and grabbed the files, shoving them into his laptop bag along with his tablet and his trusted leather bound notebook Katie had bought him the previous year. He’d do this at home, he didn’t want to be in the station anymore.

He was in a daze as he drove through the streets off Brooklyn, Katie’s voice ringing in his ears. "She’s welcome to him. Let him give her the best fuck of her life and bail before the toast is ready." Her tone had been cold, callous, a far cry from the Katie he knew and loved. A fuck. That’s all she believed she was, but it had never been about that, she meant far more to him. She always had. He couldn’t blame her for thinking that at all, but hearing her speak about him that way was tearing him in two, especially as he knew it was his fault.

Bucky was right, he should have left her well alone, got another profiler on the case. And it was for that reason he made a snap decision. He’d talk to her tomorrow, give her the opportunity to go back to DC.

He was that wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the car running the red light, as it hurtled towards him. The last thing he remembered was hearing the screeching of tyres and brakes, the sounding of a horn, and then the squealing and crunching of metal caused by a harsh impact to the driver’s side of his vehicle. He was thrown sideways, his car sent into a spin, his head snapping painfully to the side as it collided with the metal of his door column as it folded inwards.

And everything went black.

@the-omni-princess @momobaby227 @geekofmanythings16 @angelofhell-666 @thewackywriter @marvelfansworld @cobalt-gear @asgardlover75 @jennmurawski13 @jtargaryen18 @saiyanprincessswanie @navispalace @patzammit @joannaliceevans-fanficblog @djeniiscorner @ayamenimthiriel @coldmuffinbanditshoe @disneylovingal @madzmilllz @sgtjaamesbaarnes @sweater-daddiesdumbdork @southerngracela @goldenfightergir @kellymat @official-and-unstable-satan @charmed-asylum @pagesoflauren

#csi rogers and barnes #csi au #steve rogers #steve rogers x original female character #bucky barnes #clint barton #natasha romanoff #wanda maximoff #thor odinson #bruce banner #tony stark #sam wilson #brooklyn 99

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shark-myths · 4 years

Text

@alienfuckeronmain tagged me to deep-search my soul with these questions, and it is the exact distraction I was looking for! no pressure to do this one, pals, but i tag @carbonbased000 @leyley09 @shoeboxofphotographs12 @glitterandrocketfuel @allkindsofplatinumandpercocet @setting-in-a-honeymoon @toorational and anyone i’ve forgotten!

1. Do you prefer writing with a black pen or blue pen? does anyone like blue pens? who is this product made for

2. Would you prefer to live in the country or city? the city, cuz i spent 7 consecutive years very broke in rural areas with homophobia neighbors and having things to do is so thrilling. but i imagine one day retreating into the desert and living far from my nearest neighbors

3. If you could learn a new skill what would it be? I have learned all the skills I am interested in right now, because learning new things is an a+ quarantine activity. maybe the ability to do physics? i would like to be proficient in physics and i am deeply not

4. Do you drink your tea/coffee with sugar? Never

5. What was your favourite book as a child? all of them! I have always read like i’m running out of time and often get stressed when i think about how few books i will be able to read in my lifetime. as a child I reread Lord of the Rings and Robin McKinley and the Holly Black Tithe series the most, and i was OBSESSED with those gold-paged books with ribbon bookmarks that were diaries of girls from different historical periods, and i have never been able to read historical fiction since.

6. Do you prefer baths or showers? I hated baths passionately until my chronic pain reached a tipping point, and since then i have learned to really enjoy the long hot soak with a drink and a book. (i didn’t like showers either until very recently. life support tasks felt like a huge waste of time until i got a partner who helped me figure out how to enjoy them)

7. If you could be a mythical creature, which one would it be? i have always wanted to be one of tolkien’s elves! I want a long life filled with learning languages and reading books and existing in green peaceful spaces, and then i want to be able to die when i am done.

8. Paper or electronic books? I like paper better--I’ve been building a library slowly my whole life--but my kindle has been life-saving during the pandemic when i couldn’t go to the library.

9. What is your favourite item of clothing? right now i’m doing all my work remotely and clothes feel meaningless, but i have a plain black tank top that i feel really comfortable in

10. Do you like your name or would you like to change it? I don’t like my name at all--it’s Kaylie--because it is so aggressively peppy and feminine. it doesn’t sounds like an adult’s name; it evokes exclamation points and pigtails. i have always wished for a severe, no-nonsense name like joan, or a pretty but to-the-point name like eva.

11. Who is a mentor to you? Leslie Knope

12. Would you like to be famous and if so, what for? I used to fantasize about being a famous writer, and now in my field i do wish i had a name that mattered or was considered esteemed or expert in something in some way. I would love to have a research job where i had paid time to publish! but i don’t want it enough to work on it outside of my capitalist mandatory labor hours, because i don’t have enough time for my loved ones as it is

13. Are you a restless sleeper? lately yes, since my cat died in january i have slept like absolute hell

14. Do you consider yourself a romantic person? not really, but i am a thoughtful one

15. Which element best represents you? earth

16. Who do you want to be closer to? physically i want to be closer to my long-distance pals like @alienfuckeronmain @newleafover @time-less @immoral-crow @leyley09 (leyna let’s have a movie night when i’m done moving???)

17. Do you miss someone at the moment? pretty much all my friends i used to regularly hang out with, sam who moved to seattle, sam who lives in madison, all the people i listed above

18. Tell us about an early childhood memory. I used to play going to work. i’d pack up a backgammon case as a briefcase, grab my stuffed gorilla, and go write in notebooks and move pieces of paper around

19. What is the strangest thing you have eaten? I am an extremely boring person and all I eat is popcorn and bread

20. What are you most thankful for? having an able body that works to support me and keep me whole, having a partner who makes me feel truly cared for

21. Do you like spicy food? yep!

22. Have you ever met someone famous? once at c2e2 i met george r.r. martin and no one else cared he existed because got wasn’t a show yet, so i awkwardly went up to him and proclaimed my love for his work, and then he trapped me in a long conversation about vampires

23. Do you do you keep a diary or journal? a journal! i have since i was pretty small, they take up a full shelf of a bookcase

24. Do you prefer to use a pen or a pencil? pen, and i have lots of Special Pens that i only use for a particular purpose or project, because i am a huge raging...

25. What is your star sign? virgo

26. Do you like your cereal soggy or crunchy? crunchy and without milk

27. What would you want your legacy to be? personally, that I wrote things that meant something to the people who read them; professionally, that i removed barriers to accessing healthcare for trans and gender expansive people

28. Do you like reading, what was the last book you read? see above--I completely adore reading. last book was Sisters of the Vast Black and currently i’m reading The House in the Cerulean Sea and it’s totally charming. I’ve been reading really quality science and nonfiction writing too, please send me your recommendations

29. How do you show someone you love them? I make them breakfast, I tell them so constantly, I send them things in the mail, I bring them small interesting gifts, and I say every nice thought I have about them out loud

30. Do you like ice in your drinks? not especially, but it’s fun to chew on

31. What are you afraid of? surgery

32. What is your favourite scent? smoke from blown-out candles, lavender, laundry detergent my loved ones use

33. Do you address older people by their name or surname? whatever they’ve told me to call them? this seems like common courtesy

34. If money was not a factor, how would you live your life? I do so much less clinical work and work fewer hours in general, I would run for office so I could influence policy and stop wasting my fucking time on the ground level, I would spend more time writing, I would spend so much more time with my family, I would devote the time to running longer distances again in a way that doesn’t aggravate my busted knee

35. Do you prefer swimming in pools or the ocean? the ocean!

36. What would you do if you found £50 on the ground? oh i would definitely spend that on something stupid and self-indulgent i wanted, like a pete wentz hoodie

37. Have you ever seen a shooting star? YES! when i was kid every summer i’d be sent to jesus camp, which thank god because that’s what got me into fanfiction, and it was in the middle of nowhere, wisconsin, and you could see the entire milky way and shooting stars blaze across that thing ALL THE TIME, and it shook me to my foundation every summer and for a time i mistook that feeling for faith in god instead of wonder at the infinite being and possibility that is our generous universe

38. What is the one thing you would want to teach your children? i have none of my own but my partner has a 5 year old, so quite against my intention i have become a parent-adjacent person. i try to teach him about emotional accountability for the effect of his actions on others

39. If you had to have a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it? the next tattoo i want is a big snake crawling up my mostly bare left arm

40. What can you hear now? my laptop fan

41. Where do you feel the safest? when i’m protecting someone else

42. What is the one thing you want to overcome/conquer? my relationship with my body

43. Of you could travel back to any era, what would it be? i’d really like to be a gentleman of leisure in a jane austen novel

44. What is your most used emoji? the purple heart

45. Describe yourself using one word. earnest

46. What do you regret the most? not going to a 4-year university and having a #college experience. it’s one of my most stinging regrets because it was not a decision i got to make for myself

47. Last movie you saw? what is a movie theater? what does it feel like to be in one? the last movie i watched is charlie’s angels from the early 2000s because that was an unexamined sexual awakening for me--lucy liu being efficient in leather has never left me, efficiency is the single trait i most attracted to--and i wanted my boyfriend to see how bad it is

48. Last tv show you watched? either Kipo and the age of the wonderbeasts or star trek tng!

49. Invent a word and its meaning. instead i will say that i think the most beautiful english word is ache. my favorite way of creating things is transforming and remixing what already exists, which makes writing with words someone else invented the ideal challenge and pastime

(i really loved doing this! it was nice to talk about myself at the end of a workweek. thank you @alienfuckeronmain !)

#tags #about me #a humble shark

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 4 years

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Back again with one of my classic asks. With spooky season nearly upon us, I’d love to know what you think the boggarts are for the HPHM crew. 👻

Oh snap, I’ve thought about this a lot and it’s another one of those magical signatures that flesh out a character that are always fun to think about. Let’s see what I can come up with! This is going to be very disorganized and I apologize for that.

Some of the characters are confirmed, we know for a fact that Tulip and Penny’s Boggarts are Merula and a Werewolf respectively. We also learn some of the other characters’ fears, although it’s not confirmed if they would be their Boggarts. Bill fears losing his family, meaning his Boggart would very likely be the same as Molly’s. Though it might be an easy way out, I think that Charlie would have the same values and probably have the same Boggart. Rowan feared failing their exams, which means that maybe it would be similar to Hermione’s and just be their Head of House condemning their failure. Or perhaps someone closer to them. Just imagine Rowan seeing their brother, or MC looking at them in disappointment?

Barnaby is said to fear clowns, and that’s genuinely hilarious. However, I have to wonder if they would really be his Boggart form. Though he pushes it down all the time, Year 5 makes it very clear that he lives in an abusive household. I’ve seen a lot of head-canons that Lucius would be Draco’s Boggart, but I’ve never agreed with them because however terrible Lucius was at parenting, he was never abusive - at least not to Draco. Barnaby, on the other hand? I wouldn’t be surprised if his Boggart is his father. Alternatively, I find myself remembering how he gravitated toward Merula and Ismelda, despite how they would hurt him. MC helped him see that he was being used. Maybe Barnaby fears being hurt by people close to him? Maybe the Boggart would be something more like a shadowy, scary figure - beckoning to him. The dissonance when one isn’t sure about the difference between abuse and love.

Then there’s Tonks. She’s said to fear losing her abilities. This is one of the only times she ever talks about her shape-shifting powers in a serious moment that isn’t played for laughs. She fears losing her powers? Why would that be? I think I know. I think I know why she constantly makes animals noses, and has her hair pink or purple or whatever color. I think I know why she prefers her surname. And sure, part of it would be that “Nymphadora” sucks as a name, but it’s not like “Tonks” is that much more “normal.” No...I think Tonks wants to distance herself from her mother’s side of the family. I think she’s low-key ashamed to be related to people like Bellatrix. I bet she’s the spitting image of Andromeda, who as we know, is the spitting image of Bellatrix. Maybe that’s why Tonks never shows her real face. Why she embraces the muggle side of her family more. Why she would fear the loss of abilities that let her present herself as she wants to be. As to what her Boggart would physically look like? Maybe Bellatrix herself.

We don’t have any canon information about any other characters, but let’s talk about Ben. I can’t say for certain what his Boggart would be, but I know where his fear lies. Ben is keeping some kind of secret. He’s definitely on our side, but he’s not telling the whole truth. Maybe he’s trying to protect MC, I don’t know. But I bet he fears, or at least feared, what MC’s reaction would be to learning this secret and learning that Ben lied. Imagine his Boggart being MC hating him and turning their back on him for it. Of course, after Chapter 18, I think it would turn into Rowan’s corpse. I doubt I need to explain why.

Let’s get a bit obscure for a second. This one is more of a head-canon than anything else because there really isn’t any evidence for it beyond how I interpret the character. But when it comes to Badeea, I think she fears the loss of her senses, and her awareness. To put it simply, she fears losing her mind. Being unable to appreciate the world for all of the beauty and wonder it has, all of the new secrets she can learn. I think she’d be afraid of going blind, because that would painting a lot more difficult. I can envision her Boggart taking the form of Badeea herself, visibly unhinged. Blind and stumbling around, muttering to herself.

I’m not sure what Liz would have as a Boggart, but I have to assume it would reflect on what she finds important. The things that are important to us are ultimately going to shape our greatest fears. Liz is an activist, we know this. I think she fears the evil that humanity is capable of, especially to the innocent. She fears the trauma that cannot be spoken, because the victims lack the language to ask why this is being done to them. Children and creatures, primarily. I could see Liz’s Boggart taking a couple of different forms. Maybe a wounded animal in a cage. Sometimes it’s difficult to figure out what a Boggart would do for the more abstract fears...

Merula is one of the characters that I know exactly what her Boggart would be. At first it was Jacob’s Sibling. She feared them, felt intimidated by them. We know this - that was the real reason she locked them in a room with Devil’s Snare. She’s also envious of them - I wouldn’t be surprised if they played some role in her Erised vision as well. But post-Portrait Vault? Come on, we all know who her Boggart is. That seems almost like a given. You may be surprised that I’m not listing her mother, but Pre-Portrait Vault and post, I just don’t believe it would be. I’m not saying Mrs. Snyde is a good person or a good mother, but Merula seems to genuinely love and miss her.

Chiara is different from Remus in that he hated himself for what he was. I don’t think that Chiara does. I think she has self-respect, but just because that’s true, it doesn’t mean the rest of the world respects her or would look at her with anything but fear and hatred if she shared her entire self. We see this with her trauma over what happened with Selina, and I think we have our answer right there. Young Selina, screaming and terrified when she saw Chiara’s transformation. We never got official confirmation that this was her Boggart, but it’s exactly the kind of thing that would be. It represents all of her insecurities. And sure, MC witnessing her transformation may have helped with that, but I don’t think for one second that it all went away.

Talbott is another character who all but tells us what his Boggart would be. It’s said that many people who grew up during the First Wizarding War had Voldemort as their Boggart, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Talbott did. (Would make far more sense than MC having Voldemort as a Boggart, that’s for damn sure.) Or if not Voldemort himself, a Death Eater. Could also be his parents’ corpses. Hell, he said that they only found his parents because of the Animagus Registry. Suppose they were killed in animal form. Suppose his Boggart is a swan, lying slain and bloody. There are multiple forms it could take, but it’s crystal clear what Talbott fears the most. He fears the people who murdered his parents, and he fears that he’ll suffer the same fate and that they will have died for nothing.

Okay, I knew you were waiting for this one. Skye Parkin. Another character who’s anxieties are worn on her sleeves, pretty much blatantly. I’m not sure what form the Boggart would take. But it seems clear to me that she’s insecure about her own talent as a Quidditch player, not to mention her lack of social skills. She’s under tremendous pressure and she would have anxiety about not living up to that pressure. Would her Boggart take the shape of Ethan? Maybe. But similar to Merula, I’m not sure because at least on a conscious level, Skye doesn’t seem to realize that she fears him. The Boggart could just as easily take the shape of Rath. Either way, it would have quite a bit of fear to go on.

Let’s talk about Jae. I’m not sure how canon this is but I’ve heard that the reason he’s dealing in Dark Artifacts is for the sake of his mother, and I really like that idea. It implies that there’s a lot more going on with him and with his family. I can only assume there’s no Dad in the picture. I can only assume that perhaps they aren’t doing that well financially. He can bond with Charlie over that. In any event, I think Jae’s biggest fear is his operations shutting down, that he might get caught or busted. Because he probably depends on this business to help his mother. Not sure what form that Boggart would take, perhaps Ministry wizards showing up to arrest him? Perhaps something to do with his mother?

Ismelda. Oh Ismelda. Again, we all know what the source of her fear and her pain is. We all know her baggage. Then again, I think her reaction to her family has manifested more into hate, than actual fear. On the other hand, she seemed pretty scared when she thought Merula was going to ditch her for MC. I have to assume that, at one point, she desperately wanted her parents’ attention and feared that they would never love her, before she settled into bitter acceptance of that. I think Ismelda’s fear would look similar to Badeea’s, in that it would take the shape of Ismelda herself in the state that she fears - her being all alone with no one caring about her. Or maybe it would take the form of her sister, throwing this in her face.

Orion seems to value one thing more than anything or anyone else, and that is his family. He lost one family before, and now he has a new one in the form of his Quidditch team. I think he has an interesting perspective about them, and however odd his choices may be I think he’s fully invested in helping them and seeing them grow into the best people and players they can be. I wonder if the reason he’s hesitated to get too involved in the whole fiasco with Skye, is because he fears conflict? If so, I can relate to that. Or maybe he sees something that we don’t. Either way, I don’t think he’ll ever kick Skye off the team because she’s part of that family. His Boggart is probably something to do with his family, and serious harm coming to them. I’ve always speculated that his family died of natural causes. Maybe he fears his new family will dissipate in similar ways? The old fear of losing touch with people after everyone leaves school? Again, this is getting primarily into head-canons and I know I’ve rambled on, but I wonder if his Boggart wouldn’t be the members of his team, reuniting with him and barely remembering or caring about him...

I haven’t covered everyone, but with characters like say, Murphy and Diego and Andre, I have genuinely no idea what their Boggart would be. These are the characters that I’ve had ideas about for a while and I’m so glad I was able to share them, so thank you for that!

#HPHM Headcanons #HPHM Analysis #Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

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flowerthornsart · 4 years

Text

Haven meets Sybil

A drabble that i ended up working on for the day, it ended up being longer than i thought it would (3493 words) but I’m super happy with the result!

CW for blood, body horror, and medical grossness

Applying for nursing jobs was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I wasn’t expecting to have a job right away, but with my rent, bills, and student loans cropping up, it’d be nice to get a higher paying job than door dash and Walmart. Sure, I was getting by, but it felt almost as though I had wasted those years studying. It was getting more and more disheartening with every email stating I wasn’t “quite what they were looking for”, if I even got an email or phone call back at all.

I was lying in bed, scrolling through social media, and trying not to let the weight of the last rejection email I had gotten suffocate me when a notification popped up.

1 new email.

I sat up a little, clicking on the notification and being taken to my inbox. I refreshed, and refreshed again, but nothing popped up. That’s when I noticed that there was a 1 next to the spam folder.

“Thank you for your application!” the title read, and I could feel my heart start to flutter with nervous excitement as I opened it up.

“Hello Miranda Havis, thank you for submitting your application. We here at Mending Collective have looked over your application and would love to interview you in person. Please give us a call at…”

I barely read the rest as I looked over the number, typing it into my phone and waiting with bated breath for an answer. After a long bout of ringing, it cut off suddenly.

“Mending Collective, Sybil speaking.”

The woman’s voice on the other end was low, in both volume and tone. It took me a second to speak up, nerves getting the best of me for a moment.

“Yes, this is Miranda Havis. I had gotten an email about the position?”

“Oh, Ms. Havis!” The voice sounded more sing song at that. “I’ve been waiting for your call; you’re wanting an interview, right? How about this, I have a client I’m going to meet tomorrow, so why don’t you come with me and show me just how good of an assistant you can be? It beats sitting in my office and asking a bunch of questions.”

“err…” I stammered, unsure what to think. This was in no way professional; I wasn’t sure how to react. “I could always meet you after, if you’re busy.”

“Well, if you’re there, you can show me how well you preform under pressure. If not, I can go alone and consider other applications.” She replied bluntly. “Meet me at the address listed on the email by 3:00 pm. If you come early with some coffee, that might warm me up to you more!” She cackled a bit at that. “Hope to see you then!”

Sybil hung up before I could even reply, and I was left stunned, mouth gaping. Did I really call the right number? I looked over the number listed again and again, even clicked through to the official site linked, only to be greeted with a very early 90s looking site. It had the same number, the address, and a little about the head and seemingly only doctor, Dr. Sybil. There was a picture of what looked to be an almost generic woman in a doctors’ uniform, face framed in grey hair and smiling a pearly white grin. The description of services was vague at best, things like “surgery, pharmaceuticals, and cleansing.” I sat back, eyebrows furrowed, and phone still clutched in my hand as the picture stared up at me. This couldn’t be real. To have a practice so small, to have such a strange doctor with an even stranger idea of an interview, it all seemed too crazy. But I did need the money, maybe Sybil was just getting started, as bizarre a start that would be.

I went through the rest of the day in a haze, flipping from going, or not going, or reasoning behind why someone would pull such an elaborate trick. Kidnapping? Murder? From sundown to sunup the next day, my mind was racing.

Yet I found myself getting dressed, and ready to go by 1:30. I wasn’t completely stupid, I texted a couple friends the address, a vague sense of what was going on, and what I was wearing to the ‘interview’. I didn’t tell them of the odd phone call, just that I felt safer letting them know where I was, since it was in the town over. I could tell they thought it was odd, but they assured me the interview would go well and to not be so nervous.

So, I drove, and picked up coffee on the way while I was at it. The office ended up being in a building consisting of different offices and clinics. If it wasn’t for her office being pushed into a back corner, the black out curtains covering the glass front along with the sign “by appointment only” being plastered on the door would have made it stick out like a sore thumb.

I shifted one of the coffees into the crook of my elbow and tapped twice on the door waiting for a response moment trying the door. It swung open, and the first thing I could smell was potpourri. Its strong scent in comparison to the slightly sterilized smell of the outside hallway made my nose itch, but I shook it off as I walked in. It wasn’t as dark as I thought it would be, the fluorescent lights overhead buzzing as I took in the room.

There were shelves of books, jars, knickknacks that made the whole area look eclectic. There were only a couple chairs in this, what I could only assume to be a waiting room. The plush carpet seemed to hold on to the scent of the potpourri on a couple of the shelves, though there were some petals and plants in there that I just couldn’t identify. The door on the other side of the room had the plaque for Sybil’s practice, though it still only listed the name “Dr. Sybil”. No first name or indication that she had any other surnames. Before I could go to knock on that door, it swung open.

I wasn’t expecting the doctor to be so tall, or to look so different from the picture online.

If I had to guess, Dr. Sybil is easily 6’0”, give or take. Her skin is a pale grey, oddly shiny in the fluorescent light as though she was drenched in water. Her hair was a pale, almost grey purple, her wild hair tied in two loose pigtails on either side of her face. Though the first thing I noticed after her height was the scowl on her face.

She had many sharp teeth, too many for a human to have. Her yellow sclera made her white eyes even more piercing, before her expression changed to a strange crooked smile.

“Oh, look who showed up! Ms. Haven, right?”

“uhm, M…Ms. Havis, ma’am.”

“I didn’t expect you to actually bring coffee! I can already tell we’re going to get along great.” She took the coffee cup from the crook of my arm. As she spoke, I could see glints of even more teeth peeking from the sides of her lips. She took a long swig of the coffee before looking to me again. “Follow me, I’ve got what we’ll need for the house call, and I think I have an extra mask for you.”

“extra mask? Wait-!” I finally bring myself to speak. “Who are you? I mean, what are you? What kind of practice is this?”

Sybil stopped at the door, turning back to me before shaking her head.

“Ah, I forgot I pulled from some human candidates. I didn’t realize I pulled from ones that are unfamiliar with less… mainstream practices.” She turned fully to look at me, tilting her head.

“you already know my name, but as for what I am… well, best way I can put this…” she furrowed her brows for a moment. “You know what a vampire is right?” I nod, taking a step back. “Christ, calm down, if I wanted to bite you I would. I’m sort of something like that, but not in the traditional way. I don’t turn other creatures to vampires, I don’t burn in the sunlight, I’m more akin to a leech, I suppose.”

Sybil pulled her lip back, revealing what I thought I had seen: Her teeth seemed to circle her mouth, and there were a few more hiding behind the from teeth.

“I’ve been around humans for centuries, long enough to learn about you, the way you work, and what shouldn’t be there. Including more supernatural things. That’s what we’re dealing with today.” Sybil put her hand on the handle of the door, looking at me expectantly. “I may have pulled resumes from places other than my usual, I forgot that humans don’t always want to dabble in this sort of environment. If you don’t want to come with me, that’s fine, I don’t even mind if you tell people, because who would believe you? I will say I pay handsomely, but this is ultimately your choice.”

“Handsomely? How much would the payment be?” I blurted out. As unsettling as Sybil herself was, and the idea there was more out there like her, I did still have rent to pay. Sybil’s grin crept back onto her face as she chuckled.

“There’s not exactly co-pay for the visits I do, usually I get to keep the money for myself. But I don’t really need a lot of money, just enough for upkeep and I get my meals as payment from the client as well.” She must have seen the horrified look on my face because she waved me off. “Its nothing deadly, I promise. The most the client has after is a bite mark. My point is, I don’t mind doing a fifty-fifty split with you. These sort of jobs are high demand, there’s very few people who can do it, and my services can range from 3,000-5,000. So, half of that at least 3 times a week if not more.”

I opened my mouth to speak, before closing again. That sounded like an amazing opportunity, almost too good to be true. But if there was even a chance… I nodded before speaking again.

“I’d like to try and see how this first day goes.” I replied, and Sybil gave me a firm pat on the shoulder.

“Atta girl, you’re a brave one Ms. Haven! Let’s get going.”

The ride there went without a hitch, Sybil asking small questions and I asking small questions in return. Ones like “how was your day? what was college like? Man, the weather outside is too hot isn’t it?” It was almost like I wasn’t sitting next to a vampire leech. It wasn’t long before we pulled up outside of a residential house, a cookie cutter house that looked like the ones surrounding it, save for the tacky flamingo lawn ornaments outside. Sybil reached into the backseat, pulling out a bird mask before fishing out what looked like a gas mask. She measured the band between her fingers, looking from it, to me, before handing it over.

“Here. It’s good practice to have your face covered, and for a human like you, its best for creatures like these to not be able to recognize you later.”

I was about to ask, but she put her mask on and opened the car door, and I just went along with it. It fit fairly smug over my mouth and nose, my eyes the only thing really visible. I followed tentatively behind after Sybil retrieved a bag from the trunk. She knocked on the door, and I could hear the sound of multiple locks being slid open before it opened. A face of a man peeked out from the door, looking the two of us over before opening the door completely. He looked to be in his 50s, haggard, his T shirt drenched in sweat down the collar and pits. I shoot a glance to Sybil before she clears her throat.

“Good evening, Mr. Paisley, I take it Mrs. Paisley still isn’t feeling well?” She asked, a lilt of concern in her voice.

“Feeling well? She’s torn up the whole basement, she looks like a fucking nightmare!” He snapped, a tremble in his voice. Sybil lifted a hand.

“Language, sir. That’s why me and my assistant are here. Did you mix the sleeping medicine into her food like we discussed?”

“Y…yes… she fell asleep twenty minutes ago. She actually looked peaceful, and…” He trailed off, swallowing the knot in his throat before continuing. “Please help her, Doctor. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

Sybil nodded, walking past him as I followed after.

“So, what it sounds like is a possession, but not the usual demon kind. From what it sounds like, something implanted into her, maybe she ate something, on their last camping trip that’s been driving her to animalistic tendencies. My thoughts are that whatever it is, it’s using her like a skin suit. Its not too late to save her, though.” Sybil explained as we walked down the hallway, to the staircase that lead to the basement. She stopped, looking to me as I had very obviously paled at the thought. “Your job, quite simply, is to assist me in this surgery. Be alert: this is a live creature, and you’ll have me by your side. And this.”

She stepped down a couple steps, grabbing a baseball bat leaning on the stone wall and handing it to me. “your resume said you were quick on your feet, Ms. Haven, we’re putting that to the test.”

My stomach churned as I thought of turning back, but I felt I couldn’t just leave, not after entering this house. I followed after Sybil, closing the door behind me. The lights in the basement were dim, torn up cardboard boxes and the contents inside were strewn around the room, the stench of rotting meat mixed with the musty smell of the basement and made me gag. In the middle of the room was a woman, lying on her side. Red liquid was dried on her face, and her fingers looked caked in pieces of ground meat. Sybil pointed me to a knocked over ping pong table in the corner, and as quietly as I could I set it back upright. Sybil set the woman on the table, handing me plastic gloves, and putting on ones of her own. I swore I could see movement under the woman’s skin.

“Alright, lets start with the scalpel.”

For a bit, I was simply helping Sybil with tools, watching as blood pooled, cuts were cauterized, flesh was moved away, and her chest cavity revealed. Except, there wasn’t natural.

If you’ve never seen a teratoma before, it looks like a lump of flesh with teeth, eyes, but is ultimately benign. This, however, looked more like a large bone growth. I wouldn’t have thought it was alive if it didn’t have eyes that immediately snapped to me. It was nestled just below the ribs, the woman’s’ organs pushed out of the way enough to accommodate the boney mass as tendrils of flesh twisted into each other and were trailed out to keep it anchored in the body. It clicked and writhed in the light, making the woman’s skin undulate in different areas. I couldn’t see Sybils face, but I could hear a steely resolve in her voice.

“Be ready.” Is all she said, before grabbing the pair of forceps she had laying on the table and clamping it around the creature. There was a loud wail, muffled but still audible, as it tried desperately to get its hosts’ arms to move. One of its tendrils ripped through the skin of her forearm, bringing muscle with it before letting it fall back and shooting out at me on its own. It wrapped around the front of the gas mask with surprising force, pulling me forward and making me stumble nearly face first into the wound. I clawed at it as I started to coil around my neck, trying to get a grip on it but the mixture of blood and whatever other fluids it secreted made it hard to get any sort of hold. I looked to Sybil for help, but she was too busy dealing with the creature herself, fighting against a few of the tendrils as she pulled the creature with the forceps. As my vision started to get fuzzy, I spotted a scalpel on the table. I snatched it, using the last of my strength to plunge the blade into the creature. Another muffled shriek escaped the core as I stabbed, it pulled tighter around my neck until I sawed through the flesh, an off-white ooze bursting from the middle and smelling distinctly of sulfur and rotting flesh.

“Get the bat!” Sybil yelled, yanking the forceps back and falling flat on her back as the creature was pulled from the body with sickening pops and squelches. It wriggled, the full length of its tendrils finally on display, tall enough to easily pull away from Sybil. I could see now why the screeches were so muffled: teeth clattered on the top of its form, stained red from having been buried in the flesh surrounding it for so long. It attacked Sybil head on, ripping into her now held up arm to protect her face and mask. Quick as I could I wound up with the bat, smacking it hard enough to launch it across the room. The force of the hit and how hard it slammed into the wall caused it to crack open, grey brain matter oozing with that same off-white fluid pouring onto the floor. It twitched and gurgled, still trying to crawl towards us before the extent of its injuries finally caught up to it, curling into itself and going still.

“good work, Ms. Haven.” Sybil panted, a rivulet of blood staining her sleeve. “Take this jar and this solution, scoop some of that creature into the jar and whatever else is there, dissolve it in the solution. I’m going to fix Mrs. Paisley up.”

How she was so nonchalant about what just happened, I don’t know, but the rest of that procedure was a blur. I vaguely remember scooping the remains into the jar, tightening the lid, and cleaning up the excess. My body felt shaky with adrenaline, and I remember Sybil telling me to take the bag and jar to the car while she discussed payment with Mr. Paisley. I heard the front door open after what felt like hours, but what could have only been a few minutes, with Sybil walking out to the car while Mr. Paisley waved, looking relieved and less haggard than before. I couldn’t help but stare at the wound on his shoulder, ringed teeth marks threatening to bleed again until Sybil blocked my view by leaning on my door.

“Ms. Haven, hand me the gauze, I didn’t even realize I was bleeding until now.”

I nodded, reaching into the back, and grabbing the gauze, passing it through the window. She wrapped her arm as she walked to the driver’s side, sliding in, and tearing the gauze with her fingernails before tucking the excess in.

“M…my name is Ms. Havis.” Was the only thing I could think to blurt out.

“Oh. Do you mind if I call you Haven? It rolls off the tongue a little better.” She smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but notice the red tint. I nodded and sat back in my seat. “You did wonderful, by the way. You’re stronger than I thought! You handled it like a professional, so I guess college is good for something!” She laughed. “Listen, you’re going to see and deal with a lot of dangerous things working with me, but on the bright side, we got 4,000 for that arrangement. So, 2,000 in one day isn’t so bad, right?”

I nod, smiling a little up at her as she started the car, taking off her face mask. I pulled mine off as well, feeling how sore my throat was after that ordeal. It felt like that surgery should have taken the whole night, but it was only an hour and a half tops. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but it was just as exciting as it was frightening, and the money was great already.

“I think I would like to work with you again, Doctor.” I said, and Sybil cracked a genuine smile.

“I’d hope so! Let’s get some booze, and some food in you, and we can discuss if you want it in cash or not.”

An odd start, for sure, but I was starting to get used to strangeness already.

#writing #drabble #original writing #monster girl #my writing #cw body horror #cw blood #cw medical

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