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kuekyuuq · 4 years ago

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I have to ask...

Where do the anti-supercorp people get the idea from that Lena Luthor is xenophobic?

Are we watching the same show?

I can see how one does not like Lena.

I can see how some of Lena's actions can be considered irredeemable.

I can see that her family was/is xenophobic.

I can agree she made some horrible mistakes in judgement.

Canon told us:

Lena was fired by Lex from LuthorCorp because he thought her naive about her pro-alien stance. The same brother who analysed Lena since she was four.

Lena was horrified when Lex tied her to a chair and made her watch his attempt to kill Superman by turning the sun red

Lena came to National City in hopes to work with Supergirl (an alien)

Lena actively re-branded LutherCorp to LCorp to get rid of the anti-alien stuff and everything else people connected with the Luthor name

Yes, Lena created an alien-detector, but her intention was one out of ignorance (of the backlash this could cause), not of hate - when Kara much later explains the potential bad the item could cause, Lena is very much listening

Lena helps Kara on several occasions, using her intel and providing it to Kara, so Kara can investigate and write articles to dismantle anti-alien organisations (e.g. Veronica Sinclair's fight club, Cadmus)

Lena helps Supergirl on several occasions, using her intel and providing it to Supergirl, so Supergirl can dismantle anti-alien organisations

Lena actively seeks to dismantle Cadmus - the anti-alien group - even before Lena started suspecting Lillian to be involved

Lena schemes against Lillian to use Medusa to kill all aliens on Earth

Lena testified both against her alien-hating mother and brother

As soon Lillian told Lena about Lex' former facilities, she starts looking into them - they are well hidden, so it does take her a while (and by this date in the show, she may still not have unearthed all of them) - and dismantles many of them / continues to give Kara/Supergirl information about them (e.g. when Kara asks Lena for tech to find missing aliens, Lena offers to look into L-Corp (= former LutherCorp) database to search for anything useful for that particular cause

Lena encourages Kara strongly to find a way to warn all aliens about the alien registration manifest being leaked - she inspired Kara to "blob"

When Lillian finds out Lena is pro-alien and helping find the abducted aliens, she has her goons try to scare her off ("nothing permanent" - the goons accidentally threw Lena off her balcony...) - even her own family sees how non-xenophobic Lena is

Lena sacrifices Jack (her former boyfriend and still potential romantically involved one) to save Supergirl (the alien) - and (rightfully) blames the human woman, who controlled Jack, for it

When Lena suspects and confirms Rhea to be an alien, she cuts ties with her - because Rhea lied to her, not because she's an alien

Lena starts working with Rhea (confirmed alien) again - to help aliens who "weren't as lucky" as Rhea's people and to further and better Earth technologies; reduce environmental damages by infrastructure / good transports / traffic.... only to be betrayed by Rhea.

Lena learns Mon-El, Kara's boyfriend, was Daxamite and has zero issues about it

Lena has no issue with Sam being half-alien, but with the Reign-half being a huge menace to Earth, so tries to stop her and save Sam

The DEO kept Kryptonite in case any of the Supers went rogue - like Batman and Oliver Queen kept theirs - Lena kept and created Kryptonite and Harun-El to ...cure cancer; to fight against sicknesses, to use as a clean energy-source, to... do good things

...yes, she lied about it. But, her not-so-wrong reasoning was "if I tell, they will take it away. If they take it away, I won't be able to do good with it."

Lena rather had Supergirl drop her than chemicals that could have harmed thousands (human and alien)

Lena becomes quick allies and friends with Brainy (admitably, in many ways he's more AI than alien...) and befriends Nia later on, too

What else does Lena do with her stash of Kryptonite and the knowledge she gained from it? When Mercy & Otis Graves irradiate Earth's atmosphere with Kryptonite, Lena already has created an anti-Kryptonite suit for Supergirl and the fact it’s already at hand saves Supergirl’s life!

That's only up to season four...

Yes, Lena did shitty stuff in season five. Arguably, for the right reasons, but ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’... But were any of those things xenophobic?

The problem she has with Kara in season five is NOT because she’s an alien - but because she felt betrayed, personally. Rightfully so? Eeeeeeeh.... while it surely must have hurt to learn your best friend lied to you and played two personalities, at times taking advantage of it, too - which, let’s be honest, Kara did - Kara did have her reasons (initially), it IS selfish for Lena to assume the worst and take the fact itself so personally. But, everybody lives in their own world, I am sure - dear few readers, who took it upon yourselves to read this monster of a post - we can agree, that we all judge the world and others based on our own perceived reality, based on our own experiences, emotions and circumstance, whether we try to be better than that or not... I’d even make the argument, Lena is more upset with her intimate friend “Kara” (whom she shared her most intimate thoughts and feelings with) having lied to her, than with “Supergirl” taking advantage of her. Being played, Lena can deal with, but trusting and seeing that trust shattered... low blow. Please, correct me if I’m wrong, but to my knowledge, the only time Lena uses Kara being an alien against her, is when she uses and reworks the Fortress of Solitude's already existing settings to trap Kara in there for long enough for herself to get a head-start on getting Myriad to work (how else was she supposed to achieve that?). Myriad, which she wanted to use to STOP hate, including racism (xeno-cism?). Brainwashing everyone is most certainly a veeeeeeery misguided approach, but the premise of ending all hate and the resulting pain is very much like the notion of "praying for world peace" - just that Lena got sick of praying and decided to actually go ahead and do something about it ((again: notion good; (attempted) execution horrifying)).

Even Lena trapping Malefic was to that very end. She trapped Eve (human) as well on that line of thought. At the least, she offered Malefic a deal to his liking as payment...? Eve on the other hand....

If anything, Lena is people-phobic. She has a hard time trusting anyone, remains suspicious to a fault. ...she did effectively kill Eve on Earth-38, though, by over-writing her with Hope.

Kara forgave her aunt, who came just as close, wanting to use Myriad for very similar purposes - and then forgave Lena, eventually, just as much. The difference being, Astra died. We never got to see if Astra would have actually stopped her plan, convinced Non, and/or would have aimed / worked hard to redeem herself...

In the same episode, where Lena's attempts with Myriad failed (and Hope took the fall) Malefic, who had tried to murder multiple people as part of his revenge against his brother (and had targeted Kelly for a while, too) was set free by J'onn and sent to Mars to do good there.

The whole of National City forgave Supergirl (and her potential for going bad and for her causing actual destruction) only a week after the redK incident...

All that said:

1) Lena lied to Kara and played her. Sure, Lena felt betrayed and from her point of view, with her set of experiences and her own preexisting many traumas and (very bad) coping mechanisms, it was... well, understandable... or at least traceable. But, forgivable? That's ultimately up for her victim (Kara) to decide. And, apparently, she does forgive her. Not easily. But she does; understands both sides, evaluates, listens to others, observes the remorse, and makes her own decision / judgement... which is (initially, tentative) forgiveness.

2) The show is REALLY BAD at dealing with characters' actions’ or events' consequences. Period. There is no real consistency, 'cept that things don't have real repercussions. That is how the writers decided to write the show from season one on. If the writers think Kara forgives Lena and show it, then that's that.

3) Every time I read the notion that Lena was/is xenophobic, I can't help but wonder if anyone who claims such even watched the show.

4) Lena is not her brother. She's flawed. She makes mistakes. But for once, Lena and her character are suffering the consequences. That may not enough for the liking of Lena Luthor haters, or anti-Supercorp taggers, but it is what it is - and it is much more than most any actual bad guy had to suffer through. Bad guys with evil intentions, (mass) murderers, people (alien and human) that rationally caused lasting harm and/or trauma to their victims.

5) Lena is not xenophobic.

Kue out.

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nikkywrites · 4 years ago

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The Superhero Next Door // Part One

Summary: Starla moves in with her sister. Things get better. Then she notices her new neighbor and not in a good way.

Based off this prompt/idea by @caffeinewitchcraft

This one has been reworked a bit. Still the same story though, just fixed how Starla notices Duke, basically. That’s the biggest change.

*****

"That would be a literal blessing," her sister says, sighing into the phone with hope that pierces through the static of low reception.

"Well," Starla sighs, hand on her hip, looking at the stacked boxes in her apartment, artfully ignoring the eviction notice laying on the kitchen counter. "I kind of don't have a place to live past Thursday, so I don't have much of a choice."

"Well, you're always welcome to come take the guest room."

Starla rubs the bridge of her nose. "I can't afford any rent, though."

"You don't need to pay rent, " Melissa insists, words garbled by the piercing sound of a crying baby. There's some rustling, sound muffled as she deals with the crying newborn. "You're my sister,” she continues, voice softer as she soothes the baby, practically cooing. "It's no problem and you'd be doing me a huge favor anyways, with the kids."

"Okay," Starla says, nodding to herself, like she has options and a choice. "Let's do it."

So she moves in.

It’s what’s best for both them, what with Starla’s apartment block being torn down to place a strip mall, and with Melissa having two new babies that she was raising solo. This was better for both of them, and it would help restore their bond that had been neglected since they had both reached adulthood and thrown themselves into work and romance.

This was good.

Starla moves in easily, happy to be closer to her sister and niece and nephew, but missing the busyness of city life.

She’s a babysitter now. Glorified, with her lack of rent, and definitely overpaid, but still a babysitter.

It’s exhausting, so maybe not so much overpaid or glorified. Maybe she had underestimated the amount of work and attention two babies took.

Watching one baby is difficult, but two? It’s the only thing that fills her day, and it does a fantastic job of doing so. It takes time, and after only a few days, she’s become adept at holding them both at once and caring for both of their needs.

She’s becoming a good aunt, she thinks. A solid second parent to the tiny babies who will never meet the man tied to them by blood. It’s hard, but she loves them and that makes it worth it.

It doesn’t take long for her to familiarize herself with the neighbors.

Casey from down the block walks her two Shepherd mixes twice a day every day. Mat from across the street brings his sons to the park three days a week. Leslie jogs at six in the morning before work. Jake brought her a welcoming tin of muffins when he noticed that she’d moved in, a joint gift from him and his wife. Kay from the end of the road hosts a weekly hang out that she kindly sent her an invitation to alongside a welcome note.

None of them are who catches her attention, though. It’s Duke, who is her new direct neighbor who catches her eye. She’s never bumped into him or anything, but she’s acutely aware of his existence.

She’s-- she doesn’t mean to spy, but she’s sure that he’s no normal neighbor.

She’s fairly convinced that he’s a Super, actually.

No one in the neighborhood suspects, no idle gossip whispered when she questioned about the new neighbor who hasn’t bothered (or noticed) that someone new has moved into the house next door. He’s fairly secluded among everyone.

He doesn’t go to Kay’s hangouts. He’s just home to sleep, everyone says. He’s not a social guy. He does, though, travel into the city pretty often for hours at a time. Some of it is on a schedule.

Some of it is not.

Starla has... perhaps checked the news when he does, to see how often it lines up with city Super sightings, but it doesn’t enough for obvious eyebrows to be raised. But she knows that Supers don’t always go out in suits when they’re working, so it’s an iffy measurement from the start.

It doesn’t damn or clear him.

Not much would. But she’d find what she had to. If he was low-level, she’d be fine with it. It was the high tiers who couldn’t escape from their work. Who’s work followed them after they shrugged off the suit and the mask and the name.

It was fine if he wasn’t dangerous. She wasn’t planning on outing him. She just needed to know if he was safe.

After she learned that, she’d leave him be.

It’s his fault for being obvious. He comes home bruised and battered from an office job. He has odd hours. He’s left for the city at night a time or two, speeding out of his driveway in a hurry. No one has ever been in his house. No one has said anything more then hello or good morning to him. He was a ghost. A picture of what it looked like when someone was trying to be invisible.

It was suspicious. It had her gut rolling in unease.

Scones are how she decides to start. it’s polite to bake goods for neighbors and scones are bland enough he probably won’t hate them. It’ll open the door of her getting closer.

The twins are napping when she gets the chance to start throwing the batch together. She hopes they sleep for the hour or so it’ll take for her to throw it in the oven because she’s starting it from scratch. They don’t, of course, or more specifically, Cassie doesn’t.

She abandons the bowl of unmixed powders with liquid poured over the top like a faulty volcano to scoop up the crying baby. “Hey baby,” she coos, swiping a finger over a soft, velvet cheek as she bounces softly. “Whatcha crying for, huh?”

She settles fairly quickly, her large eyes drifting down. Carefully, Starla sets her back into the rocker and returns to baking, sacrificing time for silence.

They sleep through the rest of mixing and shaping into triangle-esque blobs. It’s after she sets the timer that they wake again, and she’s quick to go over and give them another feeding, and a diaper change for Benjamin.

Caring for them both had seemed impossible, at the beginning, but now it was as easy as breathing.

Her life is turning around, rising from the bland routine it had fallen into. A brightening comet that lights her night sky.

Things were much less stressful now. She enjoyed her day to day, which she didn’t before. She’d loved the city, but it hadn’t been kind to her and the eviction notice was just the straw that broke her. That sent her away. The suburbs were nice, too, though, and she was close enough to the city to be satisfied.

It was safer, too.

Or, it was statistically. She’d never suspected her apartment floormates or coworkers to be Supers. Now she was determined her neighbor was one. Now she was worried about it.

Back at her apartment, a ripped-up street was just another Thursday. Rubble blocking a road was normal. It hadn’t disturbed her too much. Life was boring.

It wasn’t now. And not just because of the twins. She had a mystery, too.

She likes mysteries. Puzzles and games and books. She likes to guess who the villain is, in thriller stories and in mystery books. She guesses right sometimes and she doesn’t on others, but she likes attempting. At trying to slot together all the little clues and dissecting the truth from a heap of mostly inconsequential evidence.

As a kid, she’d wanted to be a police officer. Her dad had watched a lot of crime shows and she’d liked watching them fit pieces together to bring justice. It looked fun, when it was on TV.

Then she grew up. She learned that police work was a lot more boring and restricting than the shows made it out to be. Cops were just second-rate overlooked heroes. They got all the paperwork. None of the glory. They did the stakeouts and the waiting. All of the parts that were a slog. Heroes got the benefits. Her fire had been snuffed out. but she still loved the idea of it.

She still likes solving mysteries. And even if she didn’t-- she doesn’t like the idea of someone dangerous living next to her family.

What if a fight followed him home and a Super battle broke out? If Supers started fighting that close, there would be nothing she could do.

It was best she figured out what kind of Super her new neighbor was . If she was lucky, he was just a nonpowered, try hard vigilante. Which was kind of illegal, but not particularly dangerous. But that was if she was lucky. If she was unlucky, then they were in danger just because of their proximity to him.

Living in the city, she’d seen too many new reports of mangled office buildings, smoking apartment buildings, has seen too much of the wreckage fighting leaves behind on the streets and the buildings and the people. It had so much impact on people. It was a very destructive thing to happen.

There was a reason why most of city budget goes to upkeep and repair. Super battles break everything and because they’re doing good, they don’t face punishment.

Starla is pretty indifferent to Supers. She knows that they’re expensive and destructive. They’re good too. Now she just doesn’t want that near her sister and the babies.

She was going to figure out just how much danger they were in. Exactly how much.

She was going to figure out Duke’s secret identity.

*****

Done! This one was a struggle to do for some reason. I think it’s a tad better now, though.

#writeblr #writblr #writing #creative writing #prompt fill #sorta #nikkywritesstories #my writing #super world #hero world #oc starla #oc duke #the superhero next door series

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wiypt-writes · 4 years ago

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Stark Spangled Banner

Ch29. The Sokovia Accords Part 1: When You Gotta Go...You Gotta Go.

Summary: Things didn’t go according to plan in Lagos and as a result The Avengers are faced with a set of regulations which the Government are seeking to impose on them. But, when Steve gets a phone call with some devastating news, it all pales into insignificance.

Warnings: Bad language, Smut! (NSFW, Under 18s) Bad Language words.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: Elements of this have been reworked/rewritten…for reasons which will become apparent at some point! Once again HUGE thanks to @angrybirdcr

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 28

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chaos. That was the only way to describe what went down when The Avengers mobilised. The Institute was compromised and, after a violent chase Natasha secured the biological weapon which had been stolen, whilst Katie and Sam provided support from the air, Wanda dealing with a huge cloud of poisonous gas which had been released.

And then Steve and Rumlow ended up exchanging blows, which was where it all went completely to shit.

Neither of them seemed to have the upper hand, although it felt like Rumlow did for a while, as he slammed Steve into a building and extended a blade from one of his gauntlets.

“This is for dropping a building on my face.” He snarled. Steve, however, was quick to respond and pulled the gauntlet off, only for Rumlow to reveal another knife. After a violent struggle, Steve finally got the better of the man, forcing him to his knees, both of them heaving from the exertion of the fight. As Steve glared down at him, Rumlow reached up to remove his mask and Steve’s mouth fell slightly open at the sight of the man’s scarred face.

“I think I look pretty good, all things considered.” Rumlow chuckled.

“Who’s your buyer?” Steve asked, grabbing him by the collar.

“You know, he knew you. Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky.”

Steve froze, his stomach twisting slightly at the mention of his friend. He remembered him? Really? His jaw clenched in anger slightly as he looked down at Rumlow who was smirking.

“What did you say?” He demanded.

“He remembered you. I was there. He got all weepy about it. Till they put his brain back in a blender.” Rumlow wheezed with a laugh. “He wanted you to know something. He said to me, ‘Please tell Rogers. When you gotta go, you gotta go…’ And you’re coming with me.”

It was whilst this was going on that Katie, who had been flying over, saw exactly what was happening. FRIDAY scanned Rumlow and told her about he was wired to explode, but even as she yelled a warning to Steve on the coms, the bomb vest exploded. Steve staggered back slightly, but the blast was encapsulated by a ball of red energy. Katie landed besides Wanda who was concentrating on keeping the explosion contained around Rumlow and she lifted him into the air before she lost control. The explosion finally blossomed, devastating entire floors of a nearby office building. Wanda’s hand flew to her mouth in shock as Katie stood by her side, looking up in disbelief.

“Oh my…” Steve approached the girls, looking up open mouthed. This was bad. Really bad. “Sam … we need fire and Rescue … on the South side of the building.” He stuttered between breaths, before he looked at Katie “We gotta get up there.”

She nodded and took off.

The Avengers did all they could to help the rescue efforts, but after twelve long hours Katie suggested they leave, as just like in Sokovia, the locals were baying for blood. They didn’t know the exact death toll. Steve wasn’t sure he wanted to either. When they landed back at base Wanda was first down the ramp, she hadn’t spoken a word since the incident, and she sped straight past Rhodey who was waiting at the bottom. He watched her go and then looked at Steve.

“Secretary Ross has already been on.”

“Ross can kiss my ass.” Katie mumbled, wiping at her face which was dirty from the clear up efforts.

Rhodey smiled a little as she stepped off the ramp.

“What does he want?” Steve asked, ignoring Katie’s grumblings. .

“A report.”

The Captain sighed. “Okay, we’ll get right on it.”

“No we won’t” Katie spun round to face him, her face stern. “It’s gone four am and we have been awake for over twenty-four hours. The team are tired, you’re tired. Ross can wait.” Steve opened his mouth to tell her that he really thought it was best they deal with it now but she wasn’t having any of it. “Don’t argue with me Steven.” She cut him off before he could start, her eyes flashing dangerously. “We’ve been away for almost a week, and it’s been a long day. We’re all tired, we need rest, and that means you too.”

Rhodey and Sam exchanged a grin, they loved it when Katie put her foot down with Steve. She was the only one who could make him see sense when he was like this and the only one of them that the Captain was secretly, just a tiny bit scared of. With good reason the men thought, because, let’s face it, she had the keys to his sex life after all.

Steve looked at her, half of him was exasperated at her calling him out like this, but the other half knew she was right. Eventually, to avoid an argument he sighed and nodded.

“Fine. Rhodey, tell Ross I’ll call him tomorrow. Go get some sleep everyone, we’ll debrief in the morning.”

“Somebody should probably check on Wanda.” Sam pointed out and Katie nodded.

“I’ll go.” She volunteered, heading out of the room.

After a brief search Katie found her in the communal kitchen, slumped down against a counter with her knees pulled up to her chest. She made her way over and slid down to sit next to her. The two sat in silence until Wanda eventually sniffed.

“It’s all my fault. I thought I could contain it. I should have thrown the bomb somewhere else.”

“Wanda, you did your best.” Katie sighed, putting her arm around her. “That’s all anyone can do.”

And then the younger woman broke down. She sobbed, dropping her head onto Katie’s shoulder and there was nothing to do but let her cry and soothe her, telling her it would be okay.

Once she had settled Wanda back in her room, Katie made her way back to their apartment, running her hands over her face. She was exhausted, but she also knew Steve was brooding over the events as well. She walked into the bedroom and looked into the en-suite through the open door watching as Steve was drying his hair and his face after having showered, dressed in nothing but his grey sweat pants, which hung off his hips in a way that usually made his wife combust. As he finished he glanced in the mirror and caught sight of Katie who was leaning up against the door-frame.

“How is she?” He asked.

“Upset.” Katie said honestly “She’s taking things really hard.”

“This is all my fault.” Steve sighed heavily, shaking his head as he turned to face her.

“Steve, what happened is no one’s fault…” She began, but he cut her off.

“You were there.” Steve looked at his wife. “You saw what happened, Doll.” His shoulders dropped as he tried to brush past Katie to exit the bathroom, but she stepped to the side to block his path.

“Yes, I saw what happened.” She looked up at him. “But I still don’t understand why you’re blaming yourself.”

"Because I lost focus!” Steve yelled, his frustrations bubbling over and he ran a hand through his damp hair as Katie blinked, the only reaction she gave to his angry change in demeanour. “All Rumlow had to do was mention Bucky and it was like I was a little kid in Brooklyn again.”

“Bucky?” she frowned. “He mentioned Bucky? I don’t-“

“He told me that Bucky remembered me, well he did, until they, and I quote, ‘put his brain back in a blender.” Steve pinched the bridge of his nose and Katie looked up at him, his face was contorted with a mixture of grief and tiredness. She sighed and wrapped her arm around him and he buried his face into her neck. Always so stoic and unmovable to the outside world, but with her it was a different story.

“Sorry for shouting at you.” He nuzzled closer, sniffing slightly, his voice slightly muffled when he spoke.

“It’s okay.” She soothed and he took a deep breath.

“All he had to do was say his name and I lost it. He was wearing that fucking vest from the start, I should’ve gotten rid of it right away but-”

“It is not your fault.” Katie shook her head, her hand gently stroking his hair. “Stevie, I challenge anyone to be in that position and not react the same.”

"I’m supposed to be the leader,” He pulled away with a shake of his head as he straightened up slightly. And it was true. As far as he was concerned this started and ended with him. “I’m supposed to stay professional no matter what, but when it comes to Bucky and you for that matter…”

“Baby, you’re only human.” Katie assured him, her voice gentle as she took his face in her hands “Super-strength, enhanced yes, but still a wonderfully flawed, dumbass human being, just like the rest of us.”She leaned up to give him a gentle kiss. “We can only do our best, Love. Nothing more.” He sighed and then pulled her in for another hug, burying his face into her hair, which smelt of ash and gunpowder and her, giving him something to anchor himself to. As her face pressed into his bare chest he felt her smile softly before she pulled back to look at him.

“Wanna be little spoon tonight?”

His face split into a childish grin because the thought of her holding him was so damned comforting and appealing right now. “Yeah, yeah I do.”

**** The relative feel-good factor that had been present at the base for months was completely decimated. None of them had ever been under the illusion that life as an Avenger would be easy, but now it seemed to be getting harder by the day. In the weeks that passed by following the Lagos incident, various Diplomatic Heads of States waded into the debate, demanding some kind of regulations were put in place to police The Avengers, something Steve, Sam and Katie felt drastically opposed to, the three of them often getting into protracted discussions between themselves about what it could mean for the Avengers were it to happen, discussions which Natasha, Rhodey, Vision and Wanda avoided.

The most troubling thing for Katie though, was the silence on the issue emanating from Tony. He’d called by, of course, to make sure everyone was alright, but she had assumed he would be anti-government control considering his stance on all things official previously. But he hadn’t commented to any of them about it, which worried his sister immensely. Katie tried several times to get him to open up whilst they were out touring with the Foundations but each time he shut her down and changed the subject. This wasn’t helped by the fact that one day they were accosted by a woman who had lost her son in Sokovia. She blamed him, blamed her, blamed all of The Avengers, and had grown even angrier when Katie had tied to placate her. Their flight home that day was a silent one, Tony speaking only when they landed home to state that everyone needed to get round the table to talk things over, specifically how they go forward as a team and that they should face facts, The Avengers needed to be accountable for their actions and if that meant they were put under sanction, then so be it.

Steve had reacted exactly how Katie had assumed he would, out and out refusal to even contemplate listening to what Tony was going to say. Katie had sensibly pointed out that the issue of Government control wasn’t going to go away and they had to confront it, and to do that they needed a joint position, of which Tony was a big part. Steve had simply shook his head, insisting that it was out of the question at which point Katie’s temper had bubbled over and she had yelled at him, calling him an stubborn prick, before telling him to take his head out of his ass and look around at his team. His team, which at the moment, was struggling a little. She’d continued to blaze at him about how things couldn’t continue the way there were, and something was going to have to give, and then she called him a moron for not being able to see what was staring him in the face, before slamming the door to their quarters as she stormed out.

In the wake of her spectacular exit, Steve angrily headed to the gym to pound his frustrations out on a punching bag. And whilst there, with each blow he landed, he thought about what Katie had said, and as the angry fog cleared from his brain he realised she was right. Wanda had been withdrawn for the past few weeks, rarely emerging from her room, talking to no one really but Vision. Natasha was currently taking some time out at Clint’s which was almost unheard of, unless it was over a holiday period. Sam and Rhodey had continued their training with Evans and the new recruits but even there Steve could see things were subdued, neither of them socialising much. His team were suffering and he’d been so wrapped up in his own, stubborn little world to realise. And, as their Captain and leader, he had to rectify this and do something about it. So, he swallowed his pride and apologised to his wife and told her to call Tony.

They arranged to meet the day after next, and in preparation, Steve gathered his team they day beforehand and told them what was going to happen. He asked them to think about their positions and feelings carefully, but made it perfectly clear that whatever they decided it wasn’t going to be a problem, and they would reach a conclusion jointly, because that’s what they did.

As it was a sunny day, Katie suggested an early evening BBQ to try and coax them to spend some time together. And Steve was happy to see it working, as for the first time since Lagos, everyone seemed to be relaxed. But then that was his girl all over. Full of great ideas because she understood people and could empathise with how they felt in a way Steve could only wish of doing.

“Well, I gotta say.” Sam dropped his cutlery onto his plate with a clang. “For an old man, you sure can grill a steak pretty well.”

“I’ll take that as a back handed compliment.” Steve rolled his eyes and picked up his glass which contained a decent measure of the Asgardian Liquor Thor had left for him. He was secretly pleased though, whilst Katie was the cook, the grill was most certainly his domain.

“That potato salad was fantastic!” Wanda looked at Katie “Where did you learn to cook?”

“Sure as hell wasn’t Tony!” Rhodey quipped .

Katie laughed and shrugged “I dunno, I picked various pieces up from Pepper, and I watched a lot of cooking shows as a student in England but, well, I just tried and found I could I suppose. Has everyone had enough or…”

There were murmurs of a general stuffed nature from around the table, and she stood up to clear the plates until Steve gently grabbed her arm. She’d been fussing like a mother hen around everyone all evening and he wanted her to sit down and relax.

“Leave that, we can do it later.” He insisted gently, shooting her a look.

“Mr Neat-Freak telling me to leave the dishes?” She grinned, as he pulled her onto his lap. “That Asgardian stuff going to your head already?”

He shot her a look but at that point they were both distracted by a loud “Shit!” from round the table where Sam had spilt his beer.

“Now, just hold on a minute.” Rhodey said, his eyes flashing as Sam hastily began to mop at the river of Peroni that was cascading across the red and white gingham table cloth. “Cap doesn’t like that kind of talk.”

Everyone laughed, except Steve whose brow creased into a serious look.

“You heard Rhodey, Sam” He arched an eyebrow. “Watch your fucking language.”

The table descended into fits of laughter and Steve took the opportunity as he looked around his team to raise Katie’s hand to his mouth, pressing a gentle kiss to her wrist, a gesture she took and understood to be a thank you and another apology. She’d been right, agreeing to talk about what was coming had lifted a weight off everyone’s shoulders.

Well almost everyone’s.

Steve still had that sick feeling in his stomach, that sick feeling that told him there was something big and bad looming on the horizon.

*****

“11 Wakandans were among those killed during a confrontation between the Avengers and a group of mercenaries in Lagos, Nigeria last month. The traditionally reclusive Wakandans were on an outreach mission when the attack occurred.”

The next afternoon Steve was sat watching a news report on the screen above his desk, turning his compass over in his right hand. He felt exhausted. As he ran his hands over his face he felt himself tense up when King T’Chaka of Wakanda came on the screen

“Our people’s blood is spilled on foreign soil. Not only because of the actions of criminals, but by the indifference of those pledged to stop them. Victory at the expense of the innocent is no victory at all.”

The King had waded straight into the debate immediately after the incident as a group of his people had been killed in the blast. He was one of the main campaigners about the need for some form of sanctions to be put in place. Steve was on edge enough about Tony coming, and deciding he didn’t want to hear or watch anymore, he turned the TV off. But, his sharp ears caught the continuation of the news broadcast being continued elsewhere, and he inclined his head a little to the left as he took in which direction it was coming from. He glanced up and saw that the window to his office was open, and standing up he walked over to it, the sound growing louder.

It was coming from the residential floor above. Directly above, unless he was mistaken. Which meant the person watching was in Wanda’s room. He turned and made his way out of his office and up the flight of stairs at the end of the corridor, figuring out he could make it up one floor faster than he could call the elevator. He pressed his palm to the door which would allow him access to the floor which contained Wanda, Evans’ and Natasha’s rooms, and it slid open with a little hiss.

“They are operating outside and above the international law. Because that’s the reality, if we don’t respond to acts like these” came the voice which grew louder as he approached her room. He stopped at the door, which was open, and paused as he saw Wanda was sitting on her bed, watching a TV which stood on a dresser in the corner.

“What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeri – “

With a deep breath Steve picked up the TV remote from the nightstand and turned the set off before placing the remote down, leaning on the doorframe

Wanda looked round. She spotted him but she didn’t get up.

“It’s my fault” she swallowed gently shaking her head.

“That’s not true” Steve replied gently.

“Turn the TV back on. They’re being very specific.” She said sarcastically.

“I should’ve clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it.” Steve pushed off the frame and walked over to the bed where she was sat. “Rumlow said Bucky and all of a suddenly I was a 16-year-old kid again, in Brooklyn” He sat on her bed next to her, “And people died. It’s on me.”

“It’s on both of us” Wanda looked at him.

“You know,” Steve smiled gently as he recalled the words Katie had said to him years ago, “this job, we try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn’t mean everybody. But if we can’t find a way to live with that, next time maybe nobody gets saved.”

Before Wanda could reply, Vision materialized through the wall making them both jump. It made Steve slightly uneasy how the android was the only person who seemingly could get the drop on him like that.

“Viz! We talked about this.” Wanda chastised him.

“Yes, but the door was open so I assumed that…” He gestured at the door and stopped. “Captain Rogers you wished to know when Mr. Stark was arriving.”

“Thank you. We’ll be right down.” Steve nodded.

“I’ll use the door. Oh, and apparently, he’s brought a guest.”

“Who?” Steve frowned, that hadn’t been part of the plan as far as he was aware.

“The Secretary of State.” Vision said, turning to go.

Steve’s frown deepened and he turned to Wanda. She was sat looking at her hands. He knew instantly why Tony hadn’t mentioned he was bringing him, because he would have been met with a resounding no. Giving Wanda’s shoulder a squeeze he stood up and left the room telling her to follow him down when she felt ready to.

“Why is he here?” Katie was blazing at her brother when Steve arrived at the conference room.

“Oh hi, Tony.” The billionaire snarked, rolling his eyes. Katie glared at him, her arms folded and chin jutted out defiantly, a look Steve had seen many times before. Tony sighed. “Look, I suggested he come. He can explain the thinking behind the proposed sanctions better than I can.”

“What do you mean, proposed?” Steve looked at Tony. “I thought this was supposed to be a discussion on the idea?”

“They already have a set drafted.” Tony informed him after a moment’s hesitation and Steve scoffed, turning away as Katie rounded on her brother.

“Are you for real?” She hissed through her teeth. “So not only do you spring him on us, now you’re saying the very thing we thought we were going to be discussing, as a team, is already fucking decided?”

“Kiddo, just hear us out, please?” Tony sighed

“Us?” she spat, as she looked over at General Ross who was stood talking to an aide at the other end of the room, in front of the large TV screen. “That asshole is not part of us, Tony. This is bullshit.”

Steve had to fight the snort at the utter look of disgust on his wife’s face. She despised the man, for no other reason than she thought he was an arrogant prick. That said, he knew if he didn’t calm her down, that infamous temper was going to really boil over and that wouldn’t be helpful to anyone.

“Come on.” He stepped forward and placed his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to placate her. “He’s here now so let’s listen and see what he has to say.” She pulled a face which was a cross between annoyance and disappointment aimed directly at Tony as she shot him one last glare and allowed Steve to guide her towards a chair, his large hand in the small of her back. She flopped down, angrily, her nostrils flaring as she looked away from everyone, out of the glass walls of the room. This was a shitty stunt for Tony to pull. Whilst she knew Tony wasn’t opposed to some form of sanctions, the fact that he was seemingly already involved in drafting them without discussing it with any of them, didn’t sit well with her at all, but what worried her more was the fact that he and Steve were undoubtedly now going to be majorly at odds over all this, which in itself was going to test team loyalties.

And make her life a bigger pain in the ass than it already was.

Wanda and Vision arrived shortly after and once they were all seated Steve’s hand slid onto Katie’s thigh under the table. She squeezed his fingers gently as Ross cleared his throat and looked at the assembled team, before beginning to speak.

“Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my backswing.”

Shame you got up, Katie thought to herself.

“Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass I found something forty years in the Army had never taught me: Perspective.” Ross continued.

I wonder how many Post Its I can staple to his head...Katie considered the question for a moment, deciding that eight, one for each of the original Avengers and an extra for good luck, should do it.

“The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives… but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some… who would prefer the word “vigilantes”.

“And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?” Katie asked, unable to contain herself anymore. Steve’s hand gave her knee a gentle squeeze in an attempt to calm her down.

“How about “dangerous”?” Ross responded, not flinching at her question.

Fuck the staples, let’s use nine inch nails.

“What would you call a group of US-based Enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?”

Ok, so now Steve was starting to get slightly uncomfortable. He stared at Ross, his chin resting on his left hand, jaw set. Ross then activated the screen behind him. News footage from past missions and SHIELD matters began to flash as he spoke.

“New York. Washington DC. Sokovia.”

Katie swallowed and her hand tightened around Steve’s. He knew Ultron and Sokovia had affected her more than she tried to let on. She took a deep breath and then the footage stopped and flicked to the latest incident in…

“Lagos.”

As footage of the burning building morphed into a shot of a dead girl, Steve glanced up at Wanda and saw her bottom lip began to wobble. The Captain took a deep breath, his face dark as thunder as he looked at Ross, gently bringing his fist down to rest on the table.

“Okay. That’s enough.” He spoke firmly.

Ross nodded to the aide, and the images disappeared.

“For the past four years, you’ve operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That’s an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution.” Ross spoke as the aide handed him a thick book. He slid it across the table to Wanda. She picked it up, then slid it to Rhodey.

“The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries. It states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they’ll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deems it necessary.” Ross explained.

It was worse than they had imagined. They’d expected to be subject to some kind of regulations, rules, a code of conduct. Not overt Governmental Control. This would essentially make the Avengers another branch to an army, and Steve wanted no part of that. Keeping his voice level he looked up at Ross. “The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we’ve done that”.

“Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?”

Why use nine-inch nails when you could use a javelin? Katie glared at Ross a Steve took a deep breath, glancing down at the table.

“If I misplaced a couple of thirty megaton nukes you can bet there’d be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That’s how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground.”

“So, there are contingencies?” Rhodey asked.

His question was left hanging.

“Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords.” Ross carried on. “Talk it over.”

Katie glanced over her shoulder at Tony, at the same time as Steve did too. He was behind them, in the corner of the room. His brown eyes locked onto Katie’s as she shook her head at him. He looked away and then Natasha turned to Ross.

“And if we come to a decision you don’t like?” She asked the question that no one else had dared to.

“Then you retire.” Ross smirked at her before he made his exit, flanked by his aide.

“Glad that clears things up.” Katie muttered, standing up. “Oh no you stay right there!” She pointed at Tony as he also made to leave. “What the fuck, Tony?”

“So much for coming to discuss potential ways forward.” Steve stood behind his wife, eyeing his brother in law, his nostrils flaring in anger. “Instead you help issue us with an ultimatum”

“Can I suggest you take time to read them first?” Tony sighed. “You know, before you hang, draw and quarter me.”

“I’m assuming from your use of the word, you, that you have already read them?” Katie looked at him. Tony stayed silent for a moment, before he groaned.

“I need a drink.”

With that he left the room and Steve looked round at his team, all eyes on him, waiting for direction. He took a deep breath. “Take ten guys, and we’ll meet in the communal lounge.”

**** Chapter 29 Part 2

#stark spangled banner #steve rogers #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers fic #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers x ofc #Katie Stark #mcu #mcu fanfic #steve rogers smut #chris evans #chris evans characters

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thepartyresponsible · 5 years ago

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so here’s a short fic about what could have happened the morning after the events of winter soldier, if the team was ever actually allowed to get along. it’s 100% ridiculous team fluff.

After the fall of SHIELD, after that whole surprise splashfight in the Potomac, after the Winter Soldier hauls Steve Rogers out of the water and is subsequently tranq’d into unconsciousness thanks to Clint’s excellent – albeit somewhat belated – sharpshooting, Tony decides it’s time for the Avengers to rework their communications plan.

“I mean,” he says, with the kind of truly theatrical astonishment he saves for special occasions, “a phone call, Rogers. I had to track you assholes through CNN.”

“We were on the run,” Steve says. “How was I supposed to--”

“On the run!” Tony points emphatically at Bruce. “And you didn’t invite Bruce? He loves being on the run, Steve, and you know that.”

“What? That’s not...” Bruce looks between them and blinks. “Tony, I don’t actually--”

“You don’t have to make excuses for him, Bruce,” Tony says, waving him off. “The point is, he had a big adventure without us, and look what happened.”

Across the table, Natasha coughs something into her fist that sounds suspiciously like Mandarin.

Tony makes a noise of wounded shock and swivels to face her. “Settle down, Data Breach,” he says. “I had a weekend rager and lost a few suits. You and Steve partied so hard you toppled a government agency, adopted a stray super soldier, and leaked exceedingly personal details on every single one of us. Half of the world’s seen more than half of Barton’s ass, and I, personally, am affronted on his behalf. His behind? His behind’s beha--”

“Tony,” Steve says, rubbing at his face. “Do we have to do this right now?”

“Oh, why? Do you have afternoon plans, Steven?” Tony paints on an expression of thoughtful concern. “Are you gonna take down the CDC this afternoon? Leak Bruce’s sex tape and topple the U.S. National Park Service?”

“Okay,” Bruce says, “I have a number of objections to that statement. The first being--”

“You have a sex tape?” Clint lifts his head off the table for the first time in ten minutes. He’s a red-eyed, bedheaded mess. He washed up on Tony’s doorstep a few hours back, driven from his apartment by people who wouldn’t quit climbing the fire escape to press their faces against his windows and ask for autographs. From the videos Tony’s seen of Clint fleeing Bed-Stuy, he barely made it out with his life and virtue intact.

“No,” Bruce says. He’s flushed to his ears. “I don’t have a sex tape. And, if I did, it wouldn’t be at all related to the National Park Service. Tony, I really don’t know why you would even connect the two.”

“I have a question,” Sam Wilson says. He has his hand up and everything. Tony refuses to be charmed by him, no matter how mercenary he is with that slightly gap-toothed grin.

Tony gives him dual finger-guns to really underline how not-charmed he is. “Talk to me, Goose.”

“Yeah,” Wilson says, “can I go home?”

“Oh, you sweet, summer gosling,” Tony says, under his breath. And then, louder, “JARVIS, give us some drone footage of Mr. Wilson’s home, please.”

JARVIS projects a feed onto the space above the breakfast table. Wilson’s not an Avenger or a SHIELD agent; he’s new and handsome, but he doesn’t have anywhere near the following that the rest of them acquired post-New York. So there’s just a modest showing on his sidewalk, six or seven news vans and about twenty people prowling around interviewing neighbors. As they watch, one guy lifts the lid on Sam’s garbage can.

“Oh my God,” Sam says. “It’s not even trash day. What the fuck.”

“Sam.” Steve looks stricken. He has a habit of doing that, Tony’s noticed. It’s a nice midway point in Steve’s I fucked up realization pattern, tends to make an appearance after the consequences of his actions settle in but before he resolves, stoic and grim-faced, to do the same damn thing all over again if God, duty, or Lady Liberty demand.

Tony likes to think his own I fucked up routine is a bit subtler. But, to be fair to Steve, he’s had more opportunities to practice.

“They’ll be gone in a news cycle,” Natasha says, coolly dismissive of everything that isn’t the half-eaten almond croissant in front of her.

Tony rolls his eyes. “Right, and will that be before or after Congress drags in half the team?”

“Aw shit,” Clint groans, face mashed into the table again. “Am I gonna have to wear a suit? Nat, you’ll do it for me, right? Wear my face and do all the—you know. The testifying part? Bartons don’t do well in court.”

“I can’t testify in front of Congress,” Bruce says. He’s starting to look suspiciously bug-eyed. The wider his eyes get, the more likely Tony is to wake up in the morning and discover his favorite houseguest has fucked off to Malaysia. “I don’t like public speaking. I’ll break D.C.”

Tony snorts. “D.C.’s been broken since the 1700s.”

“Hey,” Steve says.

“No, no, let him speak,” Sam says, not even looking up from his scrambled eggs. “The man has a point.”

Tony blinks. “Hey, Wilson, you wanna stay here til the reporters stop camping out at your house?”

Wilson flashes him another adorable grin and then proceeds to wink at him. “Sure thing,” he says. “Was that a hot tub I saw on the roof?”

“No,” Tony says, “but it will be by the end of the day.”

Clint manages to visibly perk up without ever actually lifting his head. “Hell yes, a hot tub party. I think I sprained something dodging all those civilians.”

“International super spy,” Natasha reminds him. Some of that almond croissant is stuck to her chin. Tony has never met a braver pastry.

“International super spy,” Clint agrees, pointing at himself, “with zero collateral damage in the past six months. I wasn’t gonna break my streak trying to get away from Suzie Grabbyhands. Although, honestly, next time, Nat, if you’re gonna leak my personnel file, maybe redact the pictures from that undercover gig in St. Barths. You know the effect they have on people.”

Tony clears his throat. He saw the pictures years ago, back when Clint’s file cropped up in the list of potential Avengers candidates, but he’d still been left slightly stunned when they resurfaced post-Potomoc splash-pocalypse. It would take a stronger – and straighter – man than he to become so quickly inured to the sight of all that well-muscled, freckle-dotted skin.

“Speaking of which,” Tony says. “Barton. Do you still have that swimsuit? And, casual follow-up question, will you be wearing it to this evening’s hot tub party?”

Clint tips his head up just far enough to level a surprisingly devastating smirk Tony’s direction. “Is that gonna cover my rent?”

“I’d like to focus,” Bruce says, “if we could, on the massive data breach that Steve and Natasha--”

“Yeah,” Sam says, “me too. But, real quick, I have some questions about this swimsuit.”

“Natasha’s got a matching one,” Clint says. Steve chokes on his pancakes. “Very relaxed public decency laws in the French West Indies.”

“Romanoff,” Tony says, turning a beatific smile her direction, “what are your thoughts on hot tubs?”

#writing #fic

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erinsoffthehookcrafts · 4 years ago

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After some "help" from Blaze, the closet and bookshelf are finished!!!! I am fairly certain that I will eventually need the whole top shelf of the closet but for now it's enough room. The last spots that need finishing, which will be quick, are the rack I added after the 6 boxes and my main table. It seems every year I spend a few days after Christmas working on reorganizing my work room not because it's super messy or anything. I do it because I can see what colors I have and start to plan what I want to work on for the year. What work in progress pieces am I going to finishing and which ones do I need to pull and try again, not every idea comes to light. I rework my focal points. What main areas will I be in? Am I running low on packing/delivery supplies. This year while cleaning, I have come to a decision on commissions. While I really love creating custom things, I really like bringing my ideas to life as well. Between working a full time job, regular life chores and getting customs out, I felt like I didn't express me enough this year and my main goal for this coming year is to make those ideas in my head. First I plan on releasing color themed unicorns, like the teal one I made as a custom Christmas gift. Let me know what color I should do first. #crochet #crochetlife #crochetersofinstagram #crochetdoll #amigurumi #yarn #yarnie #maker #makersgonnamake https://www.instagram.com/p/CJZEGZcLB8d/?igshid=x7gxm67vgkrw

#crochet #crochetlife #crochetersofinstagram #crochetdoll #amigurumi #yarn #yarnie #maker #makersgonnamake

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slade-neko · 4 years ago

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My Thoughts on Super Smash Bros

Just something I wanted to write up since Smash Bros is one of my favorite game series and kinda got me into video games. (WARNING: Its fairly long...)

Super Smash Bros. (N64 & Melee)

Super Smash Bros. was my first 3D game. Got it one year for Christmas when I was a little kid with a Nintendo 64. That game introduced me to video games. Before that I had only played Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt on my parents’ NES console. I wasn’t hooked on video games until I got my hands on a Nintendo 64. “Whoa! The graphics are so 3D!” It also introduced me to so many major Nintendo characters I did not know about like Link, Samus, Fox, and Kirby. It was the best gateway a kid could ask for to “get into” video games. Inevitably I ended up getting a Gamecube with Super Smash Bros. Melee as my first game on it too. Melee was great just like reliving that original feeling all over again. What made these games even more special was unlocking the characters. In a time before internet, you had no clue who was in the game and how to unlock them. The excitement of seeing that “Challenger Approaching” screen was like nothing else. A lot of your information came from questionable sources of kids at school. Rumors with no real answers (until you get an official guide book.) No internet leaks or spoilers. Those were good times!

One word I would use to describe the overall feel I got from Smash 64 and Melee would be Classic!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Years later, Super Smash Bros. Brawl came out. I’m not sure why, but I really got into that game. It was probably due to the timing and circumstances. The longest wait between Smash games being Melee to Brawl was 7 years and that brought a lot of desire for a new Smash game for me. Also the memories of being a kid playing this with my friends after school on weekends, big sleepovers, using the game’s crappy wi-fi connection, good times! I also did not understand the game’s mechanics as a kid and why people hated them, so I couldn’t complain about that. The art style of the game wasn’t necessarily my favorite, but it worked well for that game. It went from the bright vivid colors of Melee to a more dull, colorless, gritty style. Best example is Ocarina of Time Link being swapped over to Twilight Princess. Oh, and the game really picked up as a lot of fun when I began modding it. Turns out Wii’s were very easy to Homebrew and Brawl was fairly easy to mod. That brought out a HUGE replay value of installing new mods, making my own mods, and all sorts of endless possibilities with the game. Getting Project M (a fan mod for Brawl that reworked the entire game more competitively) really opened my eyes to the competitive side of Smash and showed me why normal Brawl was so bad.

One word I would use to describe the overall feel I got from Brawl from its art style, orchestrated full choir theme, to its fantastic Subspace Emissary cutscenes would be Epic!

Super Smash Bros. 4

Smash eventually died down for another 6 years until Super Smash Bros. 4 came out. Man, Smash 4 was exciting because “Hey, new Smash game!”, but seeing it in full... it was honestly very weird. The 3DS version launching first felt like a big demo... at 240 pixels... wow. (I hated 3DS for taking wonderful games like Smash, Monster Hunter, the N64 Zelda remakes and dragging them into a low resolution, portable Hell!) That aside, I forcibly played the 3DS version until the Wii U one came out. Then the true game began and well it still wasn’t the Smash I was hoping for. It was fun, some cool new characters, but some more cuts too. Questionable new game mechanics among other things that made gameplay pretty un-fun. Hearing about how the 3DS version dragged down the Wii U version was quite disheartening too like Ice Climbers getting cut because they simply would not work on 3DS and the two games just HAD to be the same was stupid. The 3DS was a horrible anchor weighing down the game. Oh, and I don’t think they had a very clear direction with the art style of this game... The Zelda characters are still Twilight Princess designs, but are now bright and vivid? It just looks weird and out of place for them. Ganondorf looks exceptionally ugly because of that.

One word I would use to describe the overall feel I got from Smash 4 from its theme music and the whole game’s aesthetic feels very Sporty.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Not long after and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate came out of the dark to save the day. Ultimate is really amazing. They took the crappy Smash 4 and cut its chains from the 3DS so it could soar above and beyond. A lot of it is Smash 4 assets ported over from the Wii U to a better console, the Switch. They somehow got EVERY single character back with a ton of new ones, almost every stage, so much amazing music, and well it truly is deserving of the Ultimate title in terms of content!

So the game is pretty great and has A LOT of content, but its still not without issues (at least for me.) This is me being overly critical with the game and my MELEE FANBOY BULLSH*T opinions coming through, but there are quite a few things I don’t like about this game. The theme music (albeit catchy) is super sappy anime bullcrap music. I don’t mean that in a negative way, despite how I worded it, IT is very sappy anime music about the forces of good fighting evil together. The World of Light mode isn’t a lot of fun at least for me it wasn’t. It wasn’t Subspace Emissary, which I know its wasn’t meant to replace it. I had the most fun with Adventure mode in Melee and would’ve preferred to have a little mode similar to that instead. Spirits are seriously just the stickers from Brawl. I frequently call them that unintentionally when playing the game. Doing Spirit Board battles is nowhere near as fun as doing nicely planned out battles like Melee’s Event Matches (nothing can top Event Match 51!) Spirit Battles are typically just jokes that can be beaten in less than a minute. Also no trophies... I understand why they chose not to because of how much work they require, but it still doesn’t mean I can’t miss them. The gameplay is definitely an improvement over Smash 4, but I still crave that fast paced action Melee/ Project M had. Heavier gravity, harder to recover, quicker to KO, L-Canceling, hit-stun and proper combo potential are all things that made faster, higher speed action. I’m not super big into the competitive scene, but even I think the faster pace of Melee-style gameplay is far more fun to play and watch.

Then there’s issues created because the devs are pushing too much into the competitive side of the game such as picking stages first then characters second, not having the game remember my character when returning from a match, having to make new rulesets just to change a few options. I’m pretty sure these are all things competitive people want that help out in tourney situations and stuff, but I don’t like them for normal matches. These are small issues in the long run, but I am bothered by them every time I play and I don’t see them ever changing that. All they need is a few new options to fix this. Toggle an option for stage select or character select first, a quick customizable ruleset option and have saved rulesets separately, and the option to remember your fighter. Heck they could even go a step further have it remember your preferred color to each character saved to your name data like how Smash 4 3DS did (that was a cool feature!)

The one word I would use to describe Smash Ultimate is HYPE! Nothing builds hype like a Smash Ultimate trailer. Every single trailer builds more hype for this game. From the original reveal trailer with the Inklings, Ridley, King K. Rool, and now Sephiroth?! Seeing those trailers, I can’t help, but smile and get hyped up and excited! Despite my nitpicky issues I have with the game, I can still say its a pretty darn good Smash game! I applaud Sakurai, the dev team, and Nintendo for going big with this game and putting so much effort into it and I can still enjoy it even if its not quite at the exact level I want.

#my thoughts #Super Smash Bros #personal

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ladymelissaduthe · 4 years ago

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Challenge #0.5

Aka The fic where Missy overthinks and Meets Jackson

a/n: Hello, this was supposed to be posted prior to challenge 1 but I.... didn’t like the opening HAHAHAHAHA so I reworked it and I like this version better. (get’s into Missy’s mindset a little better... I think... and her priorities too HAHAHAHA)

Anyways, this is set in the first night in the palace. Thank you Bri (@jackson-graham) for this RP (this was the first ever RP I actually did as Missy BSJNDJNJ very illuminating in terms of speech style and mannerisms) , (as always: just saying,,,, Jordan Fisher makes me, ~swoon~ LMAO). Anywhos! enjoy hehe (2704 words)

If you ask me about things that keep me up late at night, I never would have guessed that Arin Schreave would have been somewhere in the top 3.

Well, meeting Arin Schreave to be more specific.

In the top 2, was what I was going to wear tomorrow. In the top 1 spot was “are people going to like me around here?”

I could have been lying on the most comfortable bed, with a beautiful view of the ocean and it could be the dead of night in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever had the opportunity to visit, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how I was going to meet the prince and what exactly I’ve gotten myself into.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been waiting to wake up from all of this, half expecting that this was all some strangely long dream. That /I/, of all the girls from Midston, was picked to meet the prince. Oh gosh what was I doing here?

I suppose the greater question was why was I walking to the kitchens in the dead of night in the palace?

I sigh, wrapping my arms around myself as I continued walking down the hallway I knew where the kitchen was. My maids were kind enough to show me where they placed some of the packed meals I brought with me.

Stressing over meeting a prince really did work up an appetite.

Everything’s fine. Everything’s cool. You’ve already picked out your dress, you’ve taken the time to already practice in the shoes you were going to wear tomorrow. You’ve practiced some of your answers for the interview tomorrow! You’re ready. I mean, come on. You’ve talked to boys before. All this stressing about meeting one boy was definitely going to give me stress lines in the morning. Oh shoot, do I make a right or left by the painting of Danielle Schreave?

Right. I had to make a right then go straight. Huh, the palace was even lovelier in the daytime, and a lot easier to navigate too, but just a few steps more… and I finally find myself at the door Campbell showed me earlier.

Back in Orleans, I was surrounded by a group of people who liked me—but over here? I had to build up my entire image here from the ground up… and well, I hoped the cupcakes daddy made would help me make friends but… wait, was there someone else in the kitchen?

“What the—” I mutter, seeing someone sitting on top of the counter, munching on… were those the friendship cupcakes I brought with me?

He was… young. My age, I suppose? Familiar looking, but I couldn’t really pinpoint why. He blinks a few times at me, swallowing the bite he just took.

“Oh, uh… hello” I hear the sound of his phone locking before he sets it on the counter.

I reach up to push some of my unbrushed hair back, trying to make myself look presentable before flashing a smile. Smiling always works, right?

“Hi! I’m Missy! I,” my eyes glance over to what else was in his hands, cupcake… yeap, before my eyes go back to him, “I just got here.”

He hops off the counter and I get a better look at him as he holds out his free hand for a shake, “Jackson. Been here for a while.” He flashes a small lopsided smile.

I maintain my smile, shaking his hand lightly. Jackson. Again… it was familiar. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jackson.”

Jackson shakes my hand firmly before letting go, “And yours, Missy.”

He holds up the cupcake in his other hand, “Would you like one?”

I can’t help but laugh, eyeing the fridge and make my way to it, a little ways past him.

“No thank you, I had something else in mind. Anyway. I’m glad you’re enjoying my daddy’s cupcakes.”

I catch him setting the cupcake down then rubbing the back of his neck from the corner of my eye. “I um, I’m sorry, I thought they were left behind from dinner.” A small frown appears on his face.

“Oh there’s no need for apologies,” I laugh, trying to put him at ease.

I open the fridge, looking for one of the couple glass containers I brought with me in this huge fridge. Grammy really did make sure that I wouldn’t go hungry over here. Ah here they are. I take the container out and close the fridge. Oh right, Jackson was still here. Cupcakes. Right.

“My daddy made me bring a couple of dozen of those with me.” My eyes look over to where the rest of the cupcakes were, smiling at the memory of my dad giving me those dozens of cupcakes with smileys drawn on them. “Have another one, if you’d like.” I offer.

Jackson’s lips press together, a finger tapping on his leg. He eyes the remaining cupcakes.

“They’re very good.” Jackson looks back to me. “Is he a baker?”

“Yesiree, one of the best bakers his side of Orleans.” I nod, trying to scan the room for a microwave, tapping my nails against my glass container. “And they’re not just god, they’re vegan.”

His brows raise, I wonder if they were threaded or just naturally nice. Why are guy brows always naturally nice?

“Really?” He picks up the cupcake he left behind and takes a large bite, looking like he was taking his good time to chew before swallowing. Huh, he seems pleasantly surprised. “They taste every bit as good as non-vegan cupcakes.”

“That’s exactly what everyone’s been telling me too,” I laugh. “I don’t know how he does it.” I shake my head lightly, thinking back to the long and winded discussions daddy and I would have over dinner, asking me to try his new vegan cupcakes, then thinking back to the glass container in my hands.

“Mind pointing me in the direction of a microwave?” I ask.

“Sure.” Jackson walks towards me, he points to somewhere behind me. “That door slides to the right. You’ll find it in there.” He flashes a small smile. “Odd, I know.”

“Much thanks.” I grin back to him, turning and walking to the cabinet he pointed out. Sliding it. Why wasn’t it opening?

“Oh..” I was sliding it to the left. I laugh to myself then look to my hands. Right hand, yes. I nod to myself and slide the door to the right, revealing the microwave. “Sometimes I forget which side is which.”

Jackson chuckles, sticking his hands in his pockets. “It’s a wonder you made it here safely.”

“I know! I can’t quite believe how I didn’t get lost on the way here.” I giggle, turning back to the microwave to open it and put my container inside. Why did he look so familiar? Where have I heard that name before?

“So Mister Jackson, do you have a last name?”

He averts his eyes for a moment, then looks back to me. My brows raise at that. Was it weird to ask him his last name? ((“Waldia. Jackson Waldia.”))

“Graham. Jackson Graham.”

“It has a nice ring to it.” I reply to him. I press a couple of buttons on the microwave. Cook time. Uh… two and half minutes seems alright. The microwave starts to whirr. Jackson Graham did sound like a nice name.

Graham. Jackson Graham. As in… Jackson Graham…. The brother of Felicity Graham…? Ex-Fianceé to Prince Arin…. Oh. Could that be why he averted his eyes? If I met someone who potentially could be the replacement girlfriend to my sister’s ex-fiancé, I probably would have done the same. I wouldn’t know. I’m an only child. “You’re the prince’s friend, right?”

He nods quickly, “Mostly. More with Safiya though. Well, Princess Safiya.” A small smile appears. “Haven’t called her that in a while.”

“Guess someone’s Mister Popular with the royals…” I tease, turning fully to face him, leaning on the cabinet.

“A byproduct of being the younger Graham.” He tilts his head, his eyes moving to somewhere behind me. “A vegan meal I take it?”

“How’d you guess?” I give a quick glance back to the microwave.

“Luckily.” He meets my gaze again. “Did you follow in his footsteps? With the baking?”

I blink, but quickly shake my head. “As a hobby, yes. Professionally? Not quite.” I laugh. “I followed my mama’s footsteps in that department.”

“Weddings. I plan weddings.” I add, feeling a sense of pride saying it.

Jackson seems intrigued, but considers my reply before giving me a crooked smile.

“I think I’ve finally met someone in a business happier than mine.” He replies.

I grin at that remark. “And what business are you in, Jackson?” I put my hands behind me, what exactly are other happy occupations?

“Aspiring veterinarian. Right now I work at an animal shelter.” His smile grows ever so slightly, but I feel myself instinctively smile wider. I gasp, just at the thought of working with animals. That sounds super adorable.

“That sounds absolutely delightful! You must get to work with the cutest little critters.”

A small laugh comes from him, “Critters is definitely one word for them. You’re right though. I couldn’t love another job more.”

“If you ask me, I think your business is happier than mine.” I chuckle, pushing some of my hair back. “I mean, nothing’s more pure than that.” Comparing it to weddings, working with animals does sound more pure for sure.

His arms fold loosely across his chest. “I could argue love in a marriage is just as pure.”

Love in a marriage. I place a hand on my cheek. Oh, you could only hope for that. That feeling when you’re walking down the aisle to the person you know you want to spend the rest of your life with, that security, that love.

“Weddings are definitely filled with pure joy.” Oh I hope I could find that here. Here. Selection. Palace. Prince. I blink for a couple of seconds, pulling myself from my daydream… nightdream?

“You can only hope for that.” I shake myself out of it. I was hoping to find that here, maybe.

“Is that why you got into the business? To take part in the joy?”

“I’ve always loved weddings, even when I was little. Everything… everything about it so magical. The moment you see a bride on her wedding day and when she walks down the aisle.” I squeal unapologetically, feeling the secondhand butterflies in my stomach just thinking of it. I live for those moments. “It just makes me so happy to see everyone happy.”

Jackson points a finger to me and my fangirling over weddings, “Pure. See?”

I grin. “I guess you could say I’m just a die hard for weddings.” I laugh to myself. Was living on secondhand butterflies from weddings really that bad? Not actually. At least I wasn’t bitter over people’s happiness. Not at all. Okay… maybe slightly jealous but that’s beyond my point.

The microwave beeps as I continue to explain. “But maybe animals can make you just as happy. My mama has always told me that happiness can come in any shape or form.”

He hums at that. “Thankfully, so do animals.” He breathes out a chuckle through his nose.

“Oh definitely!” I open the microwave, talking about animals making me think of my own pet. “Huh, makes me already miss Pancake.” I take my container out, damn it was still hot. I quickly set it on the counter.

“Dog? Cat? Bird?” he asks, opening a drawer and handing me a fork.

“More like… a pet pig.” I laugh, taking the fork and waiting for his reaction. I wonder what an aspiring veterinarian would think of a pet pig…

He gapes for a moment, looking quite intrigued, “Do you really?”

“Now why would I lie about having a pet pig?” I lean my side against the counter, giving him my best amused look. “Pancake the sweetest little thing you’ll find.”

Jackson’s brows furrow, “Why a pig? Do you have other livestock?”

“Not really, we don’t have any other animals other than Pancake.” I shake my head, grinning. “Some people choose to have a dog, I just… got a pig”

Pancake was a gift from a client, and he’s been a part of my family ever since I was 15. Been the cutest little thing in the family since me.

“Uncommon.” He smiles. “I appreciate that.”

“Pancake’s the reason why, I kind of went… vegan.” I smirk, “I mean acon wasn’t the same after I got him.”

He chuckles, “I can imagine. I have a feeling I might go down the same path starting next year.”

I raise my brows. “Well if you need a recipe or two to start adjusting, you’ll know where to find me.” Did that sound… too cocky? Oh god. “Not that I’m implying that I might stay here long, I mean—I HOPE I DO!” I set the fork in my vegan pasta.

There were no guarantees that I was actually staying here. Oh I should stop rubbing my wrists, that’s not cute at all. I breathe out a laugh. Oh wow, even when I laugh it’s awkward.

“You know, it’s okay. To be confident about staying.” A small smile forms on his face. I appreciate people who try to smile to cheer others up. “Not everyone is confident in the good kind of context, but it seems like you have the right idea.”

I look to him after considering his words, trying to relax myself.

“Sorry,” I shake my head. “Tomorrow’s just a big day, and well, I guess you can call this first night jitters.”

I think to myself, why was I so worried? Maybe it’s because you saw your competition today, all 34 of them.

I’ve never felt so small before, and I was 5 foot 9! Still, I felt so small, even when having read the backgrounds on everyone in the magazines. They were beautiful, well-educated, and a lot of their names were scattered more than mine was when we got to the airport.

I press my lips together, trying to dismiss those thoughts. I was well-liked back home, everyone loved me back in Orleans. I was going to be my best self and let everything follow.

I straighten my back.

“Thank you.”

“I’m sure you’ll do plenty fine. I know…” he seems to pause ever so slightly, “the situation is precarious. But Arin is kind. Remember that, despite everything else.” He smiles kindly at me.

For the first time in a long time, I felt so small in the scheme of all things, like I didn’t have much control. Kindness was the only thing that could soothe my mind for now, or the guarantee of the presence of kindness. I hope Arin was as kind as Jackson said.

“Kindness is all that I can really as for here.” I feel my smile tilting, “or anywhere really.” I look down on my glass container and try to pick it up, but it was still too hot. Guess I’ll have to improvise. I grab a part of my dress’ skirt to act as a mitt and it surprisingly worked.

“I’ll be having this in my room.” I feel myself smile a little brighter as I walk to Jackson’s direction, and gesture my head to the direction of the cupcakes on the counter.

“Help yourself to more of the cupcakes. See it as an introduction to veganism 101.” I scrunch my face up, teasing him.

He chuckles a bit, “Thanks. I hope you um, enjoy the meal.” He gestures to what I’m holding.

“Thank you for showing me where the microwave is.” I say before starting to make my way back to the door I came in. “Nice meeting you, Mister Jackson Graham!”

“You too, Missy.” I hear him call back, seeing him offer a small wave from the corner of my eye.

Aside from the stylists and my maids, that was the first full conversation I’ve had here. Huh, who knew my conversation here was gonna be with the brother of the Prince’s ex-fiancee.

I wonder if his sister was as nice as he was.

#selection oc #selectionoc #selectionoc6 #missy duthe #missy fics #~jackson tag #side rp tag

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yayninjabob · 4 years ago

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Author Commentary

Ramblings from Yay Ninja Bob about her monstrous creation~

Besides working on my fic, I personally try to journal every day, and I realized that a lot of my journaling has become me pretty much rambling about the process of writing this damn fic lol. So I thought I'd share some of that for those who may want to know more behind my chapters from my author's perspective.

It's certainly not everything I can say, but it is a lot haha..

Chapter 1 - Thirteen

Behind the title:

Well, when I first began writing VillainR, I hadn't planned on having chapter titles at all. Mainly because coming up with chapter titles (or titles for stories in general) has always been something I struggle with personally. Anywho after I decided I wanted to challenge myself with chapter titles, I went back and named chapter 1 "Thirteen." Why? Well, it is the PpG's thirteenth birthday, of course there is that. VillainR as a whole is many things, but one major thing is it is a coming of age story for Buttercup/Joey/Jojo, as well as a story of self-discovery. There's a few important ages I wanted to cover and 13 is around the age where many kids start to "develop" and being a super-powered kid, Buttercup finally begins to develop her own "special power" at this age. I wanted this "growing pain" to be the catalyst for the events of Part One. So, I gave the chapter the title of "Thirteen" to try to highlight the significance of that age for Buttercup. The self-discovery made at this age is that special power (although they are unaware of it at this point). It's considered an unlucky number, and as it turns out, it is an unlucky year for our main character.

During the writing process:

First draft was written on Halloween night 2019 and pretty much all of it was completely scrapped haha.

I started writing it in first person, like the original Villain, in Buttercup's POV. I kept the events but approached it again in third person and liked it so much better that way. One major thing I wanted to improve on with the rewrite was character development which is pretty hard to achieve when writing in a limited POV of a character who eventually loses sight of much around them. I debated briefly on maybe doing alternating POVs between Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, but then I felt like it would still exclude a lot for other major characters like Mojo and Princess. I could add them too but I thought alternating too many POVs would be overwhelmingly difficult (for me as the author for sure but I imagine for the reader too) Third person seemed to be the best way to handle everything and really my only challenge with that was tweaking the whole "unreliable narrator" trope which I will be honest is my favorite trope ever. It is a challenge to try to recreate the same effect in third person, but I decided that a close third person was the best way to 1) tell a broader story and 2) still set limits on the reader's perspective, and control when and how I drop information and attempt to recreate a similar experience in an entirely new way I've never tried before heh. (I guess I will spend more time on this on my notes for Chapter 6)

Second draft I scribbled out in another few days with this new approach. It began at the start of the carnival and ended where it ends. Simultaneously I was reworking my overall outline for the fic and began to narrow down all the characters I wanted to be my key players for this epic. Once my outline was expanded to include everyone, I added the scene with Mojo and Him. For me, that's when I was like "Ayyy it's all coming together 👍👍" haha.

Another thing I wanted to improve on was setting and world-building. So final draft I decided to include some "history" behind Townsville and that's when I worked out the final draft.

This chapter definitely had the most trial and error during the writing process than any other chapter other than 5 so far.

Inspirations:

Townsville world-building/history - much of it is inspired by the city I grew up in (for the most part) which is Los Angeles. I mean it has all the sort of settings we've seen in the show which are all pretty diverse right? Townville had to have a diverse cityscape ranging from a busy downtown setting to quite suburbs to upperclass mansions, beaches, an island, forests, etc. Well I knew LA had all that and so I tried to re-imagine Townsville as basically an alternate universe LA lol. Monster Isle, I based on research I did on Catalina Island. I imagined the Utonium household was in a middle class neighborhood like Pasadena- close to the heart of LA but still a relatively "calmer" part of the city. Morbucks Manor would be in the Hills like Beverly Hills. Downtown was the heart of the city like Downtown LA. I debated briefly whether or not to have the Gangreen Gang be from an area modeled after South Central or East LA, but eventually I went with East LA because TBH I am just more familiar with it since that's where my mom's side is from and where I grew up early on in life. PLUS East LA actually has a pretty big punk scene so that fit the story too with Ace being in a punk band and all that.

1998 PpG Show References:

"Oh my gosh they have giant Bunny-Bunny's at the prize tent!"

(Super Zeroes)

Pop Culture References:

(OK most of my pop culture refs are just punk references lets be honest lol. Why Punk?? - because it is rebellion and rebellion is the heart of this fic)

The Clash - OK in original Villain I established that this was Buttercup's favorite band so I HAD to have that back for the redux. Here's all the refs I crammed into chapter 1 lol:

"Oh, Man! It's so hard to choose, like, I love literally everything by them. But I gotta say it's a tie probably between their first album and London Calling."

"Hell yeah. Jimmy Jazz is my jam."

youtube

"You know, my band does a cover of White Riot," Ace continued to talk music with the teenager as he lit his cigarette and took a deep drag. He held the smoke in his lungs as he continued, "Only we call our version Green Riot."

youtube

Blondie:

The one artist Buttercup had introduced Robin to that she instantly obsessed over was Blondie.

(Some) Symbolism:

- Blossom is 5'9" and Buttercup is 5'8" - Buttercup is always falling one step behind Blossom.

- Bumper Car scene - has some foreshadowing and well...

Blossom sat behind the wheel of a red bumper car at the opposite end of the metal floored rink. Buttercup crossed her arms in protest, "No way. I'm driving." she demanded.

Blossom also crossed her arms from where she sat behind the metal wheel. "So you can just rampage and crash into everybody here? No way." She fastened her seat belt with a quick snap and placed her hands firmly on the steering wheel again.

"Ugh. That's the whole point of bumper cars! It's to bump the other cars! You're supposed to try and bump everyone before the times up!"

"You always take it too far, Buttercup. I'm driving, so get in." The redhead grasped the steering wheel in her hands firmly, and refused to move.

And...

"You drive like an old lady," Buttercup shook her head in disbelief as her sister managed to avoid yet another collision.

"Well, that's your opinion," she shrugged off the insult, "Personally, I think it takes just as much skill to avoid every single car in here, as it does to hit every single car," she smiled at her sister.

And finally a brief allusion to the OG Villain lol...

"Blossom!" Buttercup shouted louder so she could get her sister's attention. She pointed at the fast approaching purple car that zoomed towards them from their right side. Behind the wheel of that car was Bubbles who wore a rather determined look on her face as Robin cheered for her.

Blossom saw, but by then it was too late. Bubbles and Robin's car slammed into Buttercup and Blossom's car at full force, spinning Buttercup and Blossom's car into the wall of the arena. The loud buzz which signified the end of the ride then sounded.

- the roller coaster is Buttercup's ideal carnival attraction; it's got the thrills, twists, turns, ups and downs. And makes Bubbles sick.

- the Ferris Wheel is Blossom's ideal carnival attraction; it's a staple of any fair, grand and big, overlooks everything, and traditionally romantic

YNB's favorite scene:

Personally, I loved writing the whole exchange between Buttercup and Blossom in the car. Establishing their rivalry, Buttercup's jealousy over Blossom's special power and heroism, Blossom's projection of her own insecurities, their differences, and their commonality.

Final thoughts on the chapter:

I was pretty satisfied with how it turned out but I did wait to post it until I had a decent headstart on chapter 2. I was pretty nervous about whether or not I could stay personally committed to writing this fic so I just wanted to make sure I was really feeling it first, lol. It had been so long since I'd written fanfic so I just needed to be sure.

When I outlined everything I estimated the chapter length to be around 6-7k words... And I was surprised that it was double that at about 12k. Which was wild because on my outline each opening chapter for Part 1, 2 and 3 were supposed to be shorter and more like preludes to everything else. Well, I guess they ARE shorter chapters but STILL definitely longer than any chapter I used to write for my multichaptered stories. At the time I thought "Ok obviously my writing has changed but surely I wont go much longer than 12k for future chapters...." Hurr hurr.

Personally, I was pretty proud of myself for spending so much time on it and rewriting it over and over and all that. In the past, TBH whatever was my first draft was pretty much also my last draft haha. I cranked out a chapter in one sitting usually and edited it mayyyybeee lol. I just wanted to get it posted so I could move on and get to that next point in the story. But I suppose now that I'm older and a bit more self aware, I realize a lot of my own anxieties manifest a lot in my writing though and I can recognize it in my old works like the OG Villain where I JUST WANNA GET TO WHAT I WANT TO WRITE RIGHT NOW OK?? I forced myself to slow the hell down this time, take it one scene at a time, and when things felt off I took breaks, slept on it for a few days and came back with new approaches or ideas. And so far that's how I continue to work on it.

Also, CHVRCHES. I listened to a ton of that band while working on this chapter especially.

#villainr #ppg fanfic #yayninjabob #behindthescenes #writing process #chapter 1 #let me know if you guys like this kinda stuff and I'll continue for the other chapters #commentary #author stuff

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fmdtaeyongarchive · 5 years ago

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hello, this is a quick and overdue update post on ash! you don’t necessarily need to read it, especially if our muses don’t/won’t interact often, but there’s some plot bunnies littered here and there too, so idk hit me up if something speaks to you (but i’m pretty behind on messages again sorry), even if we already have a thread going/are in the middle of plotting/haven’t plotted yet.

i think i’ll post a plot call including some shared home and schedule stuff soon, but don’t let that stop you if you have an idea now! this also includes some too in-depth explanation of Why ash is The Way He Is lately if that’s of interest to you

professionally

ash’s main solo work focuses currently continue to be solo/collab music, endorsements and cfs, and writing/composing/producing for others. those are pretty much the general career areas he’s getting pushed in at any given time and has been for a while now, though he’s been able to expand more with writing/composing/producing for others lately.

ash is extremely overworked lately. it’s going to catch up to him, but for now he’s pushing through.

he finished his solo fanmeeting tour a little bit ago and is relieved that it’s over since it was pretty emotionally exhausting as any fan interaction is for him, and all the travel wasn’t too good for him either

he’s working on parts of songs for some people, which is one of the things he’s doing he actually doesn’t mind (and he’s open to do more for more people as always <3)

i wound up needing to rework some of my plans for ash’s music going forward, but in general, he’ll have a continued power struggle between what management wants and what he wants. management wants something sexier, ash wants to be an angsty emo boi. ultimately, i think ash’s angsty emo boi will show itself to be more profitable musically, with management trying to add a sexy side to that because the whole ~sexy~ thing is better to build a marketable cf/brand niche off of than sad and angsty is. it leans a bit into the Bad Boy w/ a Heart of Gold image they had to give him after his dating scandals too

the calvin klein brand deal in particular really solidified the push for a sexier and more mature image, so that’ll be pushed through some future claims (mainly crs/endorsements) that are still in the works.

as of right now, the plan is for his next albums and some portal singles to come from an angrier/more self-loathing place (especially in regards to his romantic relationships) than his previous albums (with untitled, 2014 he got rewarded for those feelings and well... it has long term effects lmao) which is going to put him through a lot personally for the next several months.

he’s not ~officially~ working on them yet since fatalism promos just ended, but the current plan (which has changed way too much recently i am sorry to anyone affected by my indecisiveness but hopefully this one sticks) is for him to release two mini-albums in 2020, one in early june and one in late december, that serve as sort of a part 1 and part 2 in a ~duology~. as i’ve explained to some people, one is basically h*rny-emo and the other is just straight emo

it’s been nearly two years since he had a major scandal (his laziness/attitude scandal) so he gets more positive comments on his articles nowadays, but that’s a lot of pressure for someone who got used to constant hate and he feels like he’s due for a new scandal any day now, which he’s found is almost worse than when he was in the midst of scandal after scandal.

personally

in his personal life, he’s Super (s?)Tired, Single, and Sad

the exhaustion is a big factor in both is professional and personal life. he’s Tired. that’s his dominant emotion right now and seeing as it’s beginning to affect his physical health on top of his mental health, it’s hard for him to ignore.

it’s possible your muse hasn’t heard from him lately if they’re not super close. he spends all of his “free” time in his home studio and sleeps in there when he’s able to fall asleep as well. it’s genuinely concerning and if anyone wants their muse to yell at him and tell him to take better care of himself, feel free. i can’t promise he’ll listen.

likewise, if your muse wants to get mad at him because he's ignoring them, destroy him, thanks.

he’s single after ending a really serious relationship so he told himself he was going to focus only on work now... for like five seconds. it didn’t last. big surprise there. did he initiate the break up? yes. has he taken it as proof he’s unlovable anyway? also yes.

i’ll shove most of ash’s Love Angst explanation into this bullet point... around his scandal in 2016 and with the subsequent worst mental health of his life, he found his coping mechanism was throwing himself into constant relationships and/or jumping from one love to the next to essentially try to justify his existence and for three and a half years, he relied on that instead of addressing all of the toxic mindsets he has toward himself. now that he‘s single and planning to stay that way (a choice made as a result of a lot of those toxic mindsets, actually, though he tries to paint it as putting his mental health first), he’s realized it’s a lot harder to lose himself in someone else to repress everything if he’s also fending off love. as a result, he’s seeking out intimacy from people he’s already been close to in order to try to fill that hole (the one the problems he actually needs to address are at the bottom of, so he doesn’t come face to face with them), all without having to risk heartbreak

for similar reasons, he’s also been way more impulsive lately. if he wasn’t so utterly exhausted, he would have done some really stupid shit by now.

so if your muse wants to do impulsive shit, he might be a good bad influence

honestly, he’s really been trying to find himself lately and it’s hard because he’s realizing just how much himself is impossible to be for as long as he’s an idol

he’s kind of already wanting to sell his apartment and downsize because he feels so lonely at home, but he won’t do it yet since he hasn’t even had it a year and trying to sell a home is just more work for him. he could very well end up doing it in the new year, but tbh he’d really prefer to live in a studio apartment but he needs an extra room to use as a music studio so he’s not willing to sacrifice his studio just to possibly feel less lonely :/

his birthday is next month on the 24th if anyone wants to spend it with him!! he’s turning 24 so... we love a golden birthday! he’s spent the last two birthdays completely alone and depressed (last year he was overseas with just his manager for a solo photo shoot and the year before that knight had a concert in japan) so it would be nice if he didn’t have to do that again this year

yeah that’s it for now ig... plot call post and minju update post coming... some time

#&& there's nobody home | ooc #jk's hair n his tattoos n his nose n his purple microphone 🥺#&& queued

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jamlally · 5 years ago

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All eyes on you Pt 3

Warning: This story definitely has some Dubcon possibly some NonCon and features a Dark!Steve as well as a shady!Bucky in places. This is NOT a happy here he come to save the day fic. If you don’t like that then please don’t read this. It is intended for 18+ readers only

Belle was heading down into the subway station after another long night when another body collided with hers, she stumbled slightly and a gloved hand reached out to help steady her. “Sorry Miss” a gruff voice apologised, Belle glanced up pulling our her earbuds to apologise, she hadn’t really been looking where she was going

“ Um Sure no problem” She caught a glimpse of what she though were blue eyes and a beard from under a hat before she was on her way. She couldn’t help but feel a little shaken, at this time of night she hadn’t expected anyone to be be about to bang into her, but she should have been making an effort to keep an eye out. Deciding to leave her earbuds out she headed down to catch her train.

Steve smiled as he stopped at the top of the stairs, Her voice was rich and melodious but gentle just like he imagined. They had their first contact and it was everything he had hoped for.

Belle shivered as she locked her front door. The cold was bitter and despite the many layers that she had worn she was chilled to the bone. The apartment wasn’t a lot warmer than outside which meant that she would need to contact the Super again about the boiler. There was no point in doing anything tonight so she pulled on a sweater before deciding to make some tea. Sipping from her cup she moved to her old beat up laptop and composed a short message to the Super asking him to look at the boiler, before turning on some light jazz and settling down to fold laundry. Working through the pile she made a quick count of her t-shirts, she was sure that she had washed her dark blue one, but it wasn’t in the pile. Checking the laundry basket didn’t turn up the shirt which meant that she had probably left it in the basement laundry room. It was too late and far too creepy to head down there at this time of night, she would need to remember to check there tomorrow. Putting away her clothes she settled into bed with the last if her tea and a book, her eyes quickly drifting closed.

He ran his thick finger over the small screen that sat in his lap. His Belle looked so peaceful as she slept. Her dark eyelashes rested on her cheeks and she took deep even breaths. He had watched her as she went about folding her clothes, tensing a little as she noticed on of her shirts was missing, He knew she wouldn’t find it in her apartment, it was currently sitting on his bed at home waiting for him. He enjoyed the soft jazz that she had put on. It wasn’t big band music but he liked the soft sounds, it even made the modern songs sound better when they were played that way. He watched her sleeping for a little while longer before setting down his phone and heading back home. He had work to be getting on with and plans to finalise.

Steve had been kept away with one mission after another and while he could keep an eye on Belle with the cameras it was not the same as being able to actually see her. Watching the cameras while he could go and grab a coffee from her at the coffee shop was fine, but relying on them to be his only source of exposure only ramped up his frustration. He needed to feel a little of the soft touch of her skin when she handed over his change, he needed to be able to draw in the rich scent of her as she passed to clean up tables or collect glasses. He couldn’t even bring the scarf or t-shirt with him. There was no way to explain to the others why he was carrying them and frankly he didn’t want to deal with the questions. By the time he and the team were heading back to Stark Tower battered and bruised he was like a bear with a sore head.

“Man I hope that Hydra give us a break for a while, I need some R&R” Sam joked as he rested back in the flight seat. “I can’t wait to grab a shower and a hot meal and then head out for drinks and dancing”

“You have anywhere specific in mind?” Nat questioned and Steve grunted as he tried to drown out their chatter maybe if he could sleep things would be over more quickly. He had his own plans to work on and didn’t give a damn about the others.

“Yeah - there’s a club I like - Nocturne, It’s across town, not the best area, but the drinks are good and…” As soon as Sam had mentioned the name of the club Steve had tensed, that was Belle’s club. The idea if of the others being there, being near her, being able to touch her made his heart race, They were going to be near his girl and that was not something he could allow to happen. His hands tightened as he tried to control his temper, the arms of the flight seat creaking and groaning under his grip. He was pulled back to the here and now by a mental hand on his arm, Turning his head to the side, glare firmly in place he looked into Bucky’s face before glancing down at his friends metal hand. Bucky glanced down at the flight seat drawing his attention to the damage he was doing to the chair. That look was all it took, they had worked together for long enough for Steve to understand what Bucky was telling him and to know that his old friend would not mention what he had seen. He nodded once and let go of arm rests calling to Sam and the others.

“So what time are we heading to the club?” he asked, keeping’s tone light. He couldn’t look over, they would see the truth in his face, but he needed to see his girl and going with the others would keep things on the down low. There was a pause as the others realised that for once he would join them on a night out

“Er how about 9, that work for everyone ?” Nat checked.

“Sure; I’m gonna get some shut eye and rest up for a bit “ Steve offered as he closed his eyes reworking his plan behind his closed eyes. Slowly he smiled as he brought things together in his mind, It wasn’t ideal but in a few short hours he would be able to see his girl and he had the perfect shield.

It was another busy night in the club. Belle hadn’t had a chance to take a break as the patrons queued for drinks. Her expected colleague for the night hadn’t turned up for their shift and the back up bartender was on their way in but they would be at least another half hour. Most of them had been patient but there had been the odd asshole who gave her grief. Taking a moment she pulled the scarf from around her neck and used it to tie back her hair. It wasn’t the best solution but the sweat was running into her eyes and she was fed up brushing her hair back.

“Yo baby, What’s guy got to do ta get a drink round here ?” the brash voice of a customer from earlier rose over the din. Belle sucked in a deep breath, the guy had been an asshole from the minute he had entered, acting up to get the attention of the scantily dressed women. She gave him a tight smile and a nod getting him know that she had heard him. There were other customers in the line that needed served first. She knew that Mr Douche as she had mentally started calling him, would not be happy but there wasn’t anything she could do about it.

“Wow some folks are just assholes, huh” The petite red head who was next in line smiled at Belle as she titled her head in the direction of the Douche.

Belle smiled back “Yeah, drink doesn’t always agree with some people. What can I get for you?”. It was a simple but large order and Belle dug out a couple of trays for the other woman to use. “OK here you go, I can keep an eye on the second tray while you take that one over if you want. Just shout and I can pass it over” . The red head squeezed her way out from the line and Belle went on serving working her way over to the Douche. She was about to take the order when the red head called out for the second tray. Belle heard the Douche sigh as she moved away and handed over the second tray, the red head smiled in gratitude before heading off.

“About damn time! I want a refill” The douche pushed his shot glass over in Belle’s direction his lip curled in distaste “In fact why don’t you get me two and make the second on he house for the wait”

Belle gave her best customer service smile as she struggled to not roll her eyes “I can happily get you two shots of what ever you want but we’re going to need you to pay for them both”

“Fuck that, you kept me waiting on purpose, You owe me princess!” Belle turned away to serve someone else This guy was clearly well on his way to a good hangover and was going to be difficult no matter what. A sharp jerk pulled her back causing her to stumble. The douche had his hand wrapped tightly around her wrist in a painful grip, and was hauling her back around to face him “Don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you bitch!”

“I need you to take your hand off of me” It was busy enough that she knew it would take the bouncer longer to get to her than usual. She raised her hand in signal, hoping that who ever was working the floor would see her. She pulled against the hold the douche had on her arm but he just tightened his hold on her wrist causing her to grimace in pain as it felt like the bones in her wrist were grinding against each other. Obviously she wouldn’t be able to force the guy to let go of her

“You’re hurting my arm sir, and I can’t get you the drink while you have hold of me” She tried to give her best genial smile but she knew that it looked strained and not all that genuine. She couldn’t help but glance out to look to see if there was any support coming her way A sharp twist to her wrist made her cry out

“I think you should make it 3 now, for my troubles” the douche growled out

“And I think you should take your hand off of the lady” a clear voice called out. The douche glanced over his shoulder before letting out a muffled grunt and letting go of her wrist. Belle stepped back cradling her wrist to her body and the douche fell to his knees, Standing behind him was the red head from earlier. “I think you’ve had enough and that you owe our bar tender an apology”

“Fuck you bitch!” Belle could only stare in amazement as the other woman’s hand whipped out, grabbing hold of the douches wrist and twisting it sharply until there was an audible crack. The man cried out and tried to pull away, though the red head didn’t let go

“A friend of mine is getting some help from the bouncer, he’ll make sure that this gentleman is escorted out”

Belle glanced over to where the woman had gestured with her head, and could see a tall, broad shouldered man with longer hair speaking to the bouncer and gesturing with his hand in their direction

“Thank you, I ..I wasn’t sure what was going to happen” the whole event seemed a bit surreal and she was amazed that the woman had come over to deal with the douche while the man got help.

“Don't worry about it, I’ll keep an eye on this one if you want to get your wrist seen to, or anything”

Belle glanced at her wrist where there were already bruises forming and some swelling. She really wanted to put ice on it, but the queue for drinks wasn’t going down “Yeah I think I probably need to get these folks some drinks or we’ll have an issue. Thanks for your help, I really do appreciate it. I’m Belle by the way”

“Nat - and don’t worry about it, it’s like my thing ”

Belle carried on serving but remained hyper aware of the customers. She intended to go over and say thanks again to Nat and her male friend but by the time the relief bartender was there and she had them up to speed, they were long gone. She spoke with the owner and the bouncer that had thrown the douche bag out and set it up that if Nat and her friends came back then they could get free entry and drinks for the night. The manager hadn’t been happy that a patron had been hurt but when she had shown him her wrist he had backed down a little.

Between the meeting and shutting down the bar it was nearly an hour later than usual when she left to head home. Her wrist was aching and she wasn’t looking forward to her shift the next morning at the coffee shop. The usual feeling of being watched was back again, but tonight she didn’t put in her ear buds, worried that there would be a chance that the douche would have waited for her. She was just coming up to the final turn before she reached the straight stretch to the subway when she felt it, the presence of another person. It seemed that whom ever was watching her was not content to just look.

She sped up her pace to a slow jog and used each road she crossed to look behind her. Every time she looked she didn’t see anyone there, but tonight she couldn’t ignore her gut. Someone was watching her, following her and she just needed to get somewhere safe. Tears started to from in her eyes as she had the feeling that who ever was there was getting closer. The jog turned into a run, each step jared her aching wrist but she couldn’t stop herself, someone was coming. The tears fell now, quickly blurring her vision, and the cries she fought to hold in made her lungs burn.

Ahead she could see the lights of the subway entrance. Safety - just a few more meters, one more road crossing and she would be safe. She started to slow a little, checking left and right to make sure that there was no traffic coming She used the back of her hand to wipe away the moisture from her eyes and cheeks and then went to step off of the sidewalk. Her foot hit the ground but then her ankle turned and wrenched causing her to fall forwards. She thew her hands out trying to catch her balance but as soon as her sore wrist hit the ground she knew she had misjudged and she felt a slam of pain as her head hit the curb edge and her vision narrowed.

Steve had loved watching his girl at the bar. As always she wasn’t dressed in a way that he thought was becoming but her knew that things had changed since his day and this was what she needed to do in order to make her living. He did his best to join in with the conversation but made sure to always have one eye on her. Tonight was busy, more than he had ever seen it, and she seemed to be all alone which got his back up, She needed some help and support, he didn’t like to see his girl run ragged. She was doing her best and remained gracious through out. he loved the way that she had her hair kept out of her face. The scarf made her look like she came from his time, he knew that she didn’t know about him but he could day dream that she did it for him. When Nat had gone up to the bar he had offered to go and help, she had turned him down and he knew he couldn’t go up without making a scene, so he watched as Nat spoke to his girl and she served up drinks. He liked how she made eye contact when she served someone, and how she kept things clean and organised. It was the same as at the coffee shop.

“Yo Cap you ok there man?” Sam broke through his day dreams pulling his focus back to the table.

“Yeah, Yeah I’m good Sam, just trying to work out if Nat needed a hand. Did I miss something? It’s hard to concentrate with the noise” He gave his best charming smile and Sam laughed before clapping him on the shoulder

“That’s not noise old man, that is what we call Music. You know if you came out from the corner there have been more than a few ladies who have come past that would like to have a dance and drink with THE Captain America” he continued

Steve smiled “Perhaps, but how about we take small steps, let me get used to the music and then next time we’ll tackle the ladies After all I don’t know how to dance” For a moment in his head he saw a different face when he said that but then it was gone again

“Hey man what ever you want, but if you don’t want to oblige them then I might” The younger man stood, emptying his glass as he did before throwing Steve a wink and heading out towards a group of women who kept staring their way. Nat made her way back with the tray and paused before heading back to the bar

“We might want to keep our eyes open, there could be a problem over at the bar” she gestured to where his girl was dealing with a customer “The guys as asshole. and he seems to be looking for a fight”

Steve scowled as he watched the guy get more aggravated when Nat was given the second tray. He couldn’t hear the conversation over the sound of the music but it was obviously not a pleasant one. He wanted to go and pull the guy away from her, beat some manners into him, but he also didn’t want to make a scene. His jaw tensed as he ground his teeth together his hand pulling into a fist. He sucked air in harshly through his nose and didn’t try to hide his stare. Nat turned to follow his gaze and stood watching as well. They both saw her stumble back at the same time, Steve’s hand clenching down on his beer bottle hard enough to make it shatter spraying beer over him and the table.

“Shit, there isn’t anyone there to help her” Nat muttered but he didn’t bother to respond, he was already on his feet and heading over to remove the assholes hand from his girl, and quite probably his arm from his body while he was at it. Nat pulled him back,

“Look at state of you, your hand is cut up and you’re covered in beer - Go speak to the bouncer and i’ll help her out”

Steve growled in frustration but he could see her point. He didn’t want his girl to be scared of him the first time she saw him face to face so he headed in the other direction. The bouncer had seemed pissed at Nat to begin with but had come around when Nat had opened up her eyes wide and explained how it was scary but she had taken “self defence” classes and she was sorry if she hurt the man. Luckily the asshole had been swearing it up and hurling abuse so the bouncer had escorted him to the exit. By the time they were back at the table, the broken beer bottle had been cleaned up and no one was any the wiser as to what had happened but Steve couldn’t find the same sense of peace

His hand twitched, he wanted to touch her and check she was ok, if he couldn’t do that then he wanted to be able to breathe in her scent and make sure she was safe. Christ he had been right here, in the same room as her and he hadn’t been able to keep her safe! He had worried in the past that his job would mean that he couldn’t have a woman, she would be in too much danger, but he could see now that in this modern world, there was enough danger that regardless of him being there or not, a woman wasn’t safe without a man to look after her.

He had sat for a bit longer watching his Belle as she got the new bar tender up to speed and carried on serving. She was obviously favouring one arm but he admired her dedication at keeping going. As soothing as watching her work was his anger just seemed to grow as he ran through what had happened with that asshole, how he had put his hands on her, He was sure that he had said something inappropriate too, if he would put his hands on her then he probably ran his mouth.

The others seemed to be distracted with the music and other patrons and he knew that hanging around here wasn’t going to help him stay calm, but there was one thing that would help. He left his half drunk beer and headed out, a nod to the bouncer from earlier and he was out in the cold night air phone in hand as he typed, a few seconds later he had the information that he needed and a direction in which to focus his attention.

#dark!steve rogers #dark!steve #dark!steve x ofc #kidnapping #stalking #dub/con #non/con

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