#idk. I’m tired. death to America.

[kralmajales]

Whatever I like to piss EVERYBODY off by telling them we need a Jill Stein/Cornel West team up.

[literaryavenger]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Summary: You're part of the Strike team and join Captain America as he tries to live his new life in the 21st century. [Reader is NOT Hydra]

Pairing: platonic!Steve Rogers x F!Reader, platonic!Natasha Romanoff x F!Reader

Warnings: Language. Rumlow being a dick. Mentions of death. My poor attempts at being funny. Idk, everything else in the movie?

Word Count: 2.7K

A/N: Happy New Year! This the first chapter in a new series I'm starting! I'm not sure how long it's gonna be yet, but I know it's gonna be longer than Broken. These series is about an alternate universe where the reader exists and lives through the events that happen in the MCU. A lot of the details will be changed to insert the reader, a lot of the lines said by other characters will be changed to be the reader's and I've also made up a lot of things and scenes and added them, trying my best not to change the official timeline and the main events. I hope you enjoy this and all chapters to come!

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

“You heard the boss, newbie, text Romanoff and tell her to pick up Rogers.” Rumlow taps his knuckles twice on the table for emphasis before getting up and exiting the conference room.

You make sure he doesn't miss the way you roll your eyes at the now old nickname before writing ‘New mission, need you at the jet in one hour. Asshole wants you to pick up the old man in spandex’ on your phone and sending the message to Natasha, then you get up and make your way out of the room.

“Armory.” you say as you enter the elevator. 

“Confirmed.” the elevator voice says as the doors start closing. 

You suit up for the mission just assigned by Pierce and go to the jet to start doing the checkups you know the rest of the idiots on the STRIKE team won’t even think about doing. 

After making sure everything’s ready and in order, you can do nothing more than wait for everybody else.

Natasha and Steve get there exactly an hour after your text. 

“Right on time.” you point out.

“It wasn’t a coincidence, YLN.” Natasha smirks, making you laugh.

“Cap.” you greet him with a smile that he returns. “Y/N.”

The rest of the team meets you a few minutes after. “Ready for take off.” Rumlow says to the pilot and the jet takes off.

Once you get close to the target Rumlow starts briefing Steve and Nat. “The target is a mobile satellite launch platform: The Lemurian Star. They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them, 93 minutes ago.”

“Any demands?” Steve asks.

“A billion and a half.” Rumlow answers.

“Why so steep?” Steve questions frowning.

“Because it’s Shield’s.” you answer promptly, ignoring the scowl on Rumlow’s face that disappears almost immediately.

“So it’s not off-course,” Steve says, understanding flashing in his eyes as he glares at Natasha “it’s trespassing.”

“I’m sure they have a good reason.” Natasha offers.

“You know, I’m getting a little tired of being Fury’s janitor.”-Steve seems really annoyed now.

“Relax, it’s not that complicated.” Natasha simply says.

“How many pirates?” Steve’s attention is back on the screen.

“Twenty-five, top mercs, led by this guy. Georges Batroc.” Rumlow pulls up the photo of Batroc on the monitor and looks at you expectantly, making you roll your eyes.

Of course you’re the only one who actually looked through the files.

“Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He’s at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had thirty-six kill missions. The guy’s got a rep for maximum casualties.” you fill everybody in, although it was obvious most of the guys aren't listening. At least the Captain is.

“Hostages?” Steve questions you, but Rumlow cuts in.

“Mostly techs. One officer, Jasper Sitwell.” he shows his picture. You’ve seen Sitwell around headquarters, he seems pretty close with the STRIKE team. Not that you hang out much with them outside of mission, or at all for that matter. “They’re in the gallery.”

“What’s Sitwell doing on a launch ship?” Steve asks more to himself, and he has a point. “Alright, I’m gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat and Y/N, you’ll kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to the life-pots, get ‘em out. Let’s move.”

Yep, he’s definitely in Captain mode.

“Ay ay, Captain.” you salute with a smirk that mirrors Natasha’s while Steve gives you a fake annoyed look.

“STRIKE, you heard the Cap. Gear up.” Rumlow says but you’ve already started getting ready and stopped listening to him.

“Secure channel seven.” Steve says into his wrist communicator.

“Seven secure.” Natasha replies. “Did you do anything fun Saturday night?”

“Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so… No, not really.” Steve answers, making both you and Natasha laugh while the pilot lets you know that the drop zone is coming up.

“You know, if you ask Kristen out, from Statistics, she’d probably say yes.” you point out, exchanging a knowing glance with Natasha.

“That’s why I don’t ask.” he fires back

“Too shy or too scared?” Natasha pushes.

“Too busy!” He yells over the wind as the door opens and then he jumps. 

You and Natasha both roll your eyes and look at each other smiling, not needing to talk to understand the other.

You barely register Rumlow and Rollins commenting on Steve jumping without a parachute before grabbing one for yourself and jumping alongside Nat.

You and Natasha have known each other for a while now, all the way back since she was first brought in by Clint.

You trained with both of them, went on countless missions together (yes, including Budapest) and you would’ve been right by their side in New York if you hadn't been on an important undercover mission and had strict orders directly from Fury not to blow your cover.

After that you got assigned to the STRIKE team by Alexander Pierce, though you still have no idea why. But orders are orders so you’ve been working with the idiots ever since.

But you and Natasha are thankfully still pretty close and your down time is spent mostly with her, sometimes also visiting Clint and his family at his farm.

 Nat’s still annoyed at Clint about naming his only daughter after you, middle name but still, and not her. But to be fair, you have known Clint longer, a fact that always amuses both you and Clint to bring up.

You’ve just landed when you hear Rumlow saying “you seemed pretty helpless without me” to Steve.

“What about the nurse who lives across the hall from you?” Natasha says.

“Yeah, she seems nice.” you add.

“Secure the engines, then find me a date.” Steve says in his captain voice.

“We’re multitasking.” Nat tells him before turning to you. “you take port, I’ll take starboard and we’ll meet at the rendezvous point”

“Copy.” you say and make your way to the engine room on the right side of the ship. You start taking down guys and can hear Rumlow saying they’re ready in position.

Just as you finish with the last guy you hear Steve calling your name. “What’s your status?”

“Port engine room secure.” you answer.

“Good, make your way to help Rumlow with the hostages.”

“Roger that.” you can almost hear him groan in annoyance as you smile while following his orders.

“Natasha, what’s your status?” you can hear her grunt while she fights through the comms. “Status, Natasha?” 

“Hang on!” She says as she keeps fighting. “Starboard engine room secure.”

You hear Steve countdown from three and then the team moving in on the targets, you get to the rendezvous point just in time to see Rumlow rounding the corner with the hostages on his tail.

“Hostages en route to extradition.” he says in his comms as you look around for Natasha.

“Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Cap. Hostiles are still in play.” you let Steve know while helping take care of the hostages.

“Natasha, Batroc’s on the move. Circle back to Y/N and protect the hostages.” he receives no answer and at this point you get a little worried. “Natasha!”

You want to go looking for her but you know better than to leave your post, and you’re also very aware that Natasha can take care of herself. 

So you keep protecting the hostages while listening intently to the comms where you can hear Steve fight, then you hear a voice you assume it’s Batroc’s talking French and are even more surprised to hear Steve answer back in French. Impressive.

You can hear him fighting again and then you finally hear Natasha’s voice but don’t pay too much attention to the conversation, bringing your entire focus on the hostages now that you know she’s okay. 

You’re helping people into the life-pods when you hear an explosion go off somewhere on the boat. You don’t even realize you’re holding your breath until you hear Natasha’s voice again and let it go, feeling even more relieved after hearing Steve too.

The ride back is very uncomfortable as you help Natasha with the minor injuries from the explosion, Steve refusing help and insisting that he’s fine, and in the mood he’s in you’re certainly not about to argue. 

As soon as the jet lands he stomps away angrily and you share a concerned look with Natasha, worried about what he’s gonna do next. 

You help Nat to the medbay and leave her there when she assures you she’s okay and to not make a fuss over her.

So you make your way to the usual conference room for debriefing but when you get there Rumlow very smugly assures you that you’re not needed at this meeting. 

You’re used to being left out of meetings with the STRIKE team and Pierce by now, since you’ve been forced to join you’ve been left out of more meetings that you’ve attended, but it still bothers you sometimes.

Still, at least you don’t have to spend too much time with those neanderthals. Not your circus, not your monkeys.

So you just make your way to the Armory to put away your gear and then the locker room to change and go home for what you think is gonna be the rest of the day.

-

A few hours later you find yourself in the hospital where the STRIKE team has been called in the middle of the night because, guess what? Someone tried to kill Director Fury. Or, as it turns out, succeeded. 

You’re behind Steve, Natasha and Hill alongside Rumlow and Sitwell, watching Fury flatlining and the doctors calling it.

You want to go with Nat to see Fury, be there for her knowing she cared about him as much as you do, but obviously Rumlow has to be a dick and order you to stay put. And, whether you like it or not, he’s your boss.

He rudely interrupts Nat and Steve’s conversation telling him they need him back at headquarters and you can already tell something’s suddenly off.

As much as Rumlow can be an asshole, he’s never been openly rude towards Steve.

You can hear Sitwell in your earpiece telling the team to bring Rogers in for questioning as he and Rumlow get closer.

“STRIKE, move it out.” he orders but you don't start moving until Steve’s by your side, giving him what you hope is a reassuring smile. 

When you get to the Triskelion Steve is taken to Pierce’s office and you get ordered to go to Forensics and check into the evidence found on the roof, then go to Operations Control and wait for there for further instructions, so you do. 

When you get to the control room you see Sitwell concentrated on a particular screen so you get close trying not to get noticed and see Steve fighting STRIKE and SHIELD agents in the elevator. 

You barely have time to understand what’s happening before he’s throwing himself off the elevator and lands on his shield near the entrance of the building. Thankfully Sitwell’s “Are you kidding me?” covered your quiet “holy shit.”

You’re in the room when Sitwell gives the orders to track down Rogers to all the Agents and when he’s done, you discreetly follow him and the rest of the STRIKE team out the room.

For a bunch of guys who work for a top secret organization they sure suck at knowing when they’re being followed. 

No one talks until they get to a deserted corridor. “Pierce is going to kill us. Rogers has the flash drive and can use it to find Zola. You fucked up big time letting him go.” Sitwell sounds pissed.

“Take it easy, four eyes.” Rumlow sounds just as angry “You’re not the one that got punched by a supersoldier.”

They keep talking about the flash drive and Steve and Pierce and Zola. That name sounds familiar but you can’t remember for the life of you where you heard it from.

Then it hits you.

Zola was a former Hydra scientist from World War II, turned ally when the war ended. Thank god the Howling Commandos were hot so you actually paid attention during that particular history class. 

You're about to turn away so you won’t risk getting caught eavesdropping when you hear your name being mentioned.

“Someone should keep an eye on her.” Sitwell says, making you worried of becoming the next Shield target, but Rumlow proceeds to ease your worries.

“That’s a waste of manpower. The whole reason she’s even on our team was so we could keep a closer eye on Rogers, but she just spends all her time with Romanoff.” 

So that’s why Pierce assigned you to the STRIKE team.

Yeah, you’re closer to Steve than most people but it’s not like you’re best friends, you sometimes hang out outside of work but most of your interactions are mission related.

You decide you've heard enough to kind of put together what’s going on, but there’s not much you can do to help Steve yet, not knowing where he is. So you stick to following the STRIKE team, praying that your absence in the control room goes unnoticed. 

STRIKE gets a hit on Steve’s location and you follow them in your car to a mall but think better than to follow them in, waiting patiently outside. 

After a few minutes you see Steve and Natasha in their not so well thought out undercover outfits and, once again, the Captain surprises you by hot-wiring a car. 

You follow them, more discreetly this time, knowing Natasha and Steve would be better at realizing they’re being followed. 

You get to an old army camp in Wheaton, New Jersey and are about to follow them in and make yourself known to them, but before you can get out of your car you hear the plan the STRIKE team has through your comms.

The idiots never even thought about using a different channel. Of course Rumlow would underestimate you this much. 

So you decide to drive deeper into the trees surrounding the camp to make sure you’re not visible and wait, knowing Steve and Natasha will need a fast getaway. 

You can do nothing more than watch as a missile hits the bunker and the helicopters start coming. You want to go and help them, make sure they're okay, but you will yourself to stay put and not give away your position. 

When you can faintly see Steve’s figure, almost running with what looks like Nat in his arms, you finally turn the car on and drive coming to a stop right in front of him and startling him to a stop on his tracks.

“Get in.” you urge him, and he seems wary of you, rightly so. “Come on, Cap, they can’t know I’m here!”

He seems to decide to risk trusting you and delicately sets an unconscious Nat down in the back seat before getting in the passenger’s seat.

As soon as his door is closed you drive away as fast as you can, heading back to Washington and you can feel Steve’s eyes on you.

“How do I know I can trust you?” he finally says after a minute of silence, his eyes never leaving you. “You’re part of them, after all.”

“I can see where you’re coming from, but trust me I’m not one of them.” You glance at him and you can tell that he’s not convinced yet, so you go on. “I didn’t even know who ‘them’ were before today. Apparently the reason Pierce assigned me to the STRIKE team was in hopes to get closer to you. He overestimated how close we actually are. If Natasha was awake right now she would tell you how much I hate working with those assholes… You can trust me.”

You take a look at the rearview mirror and see Natasha, but her relaxed face does nothing to ease your worries. 

Steve seems to pick up on your concerns as his features soften and, ever the hopelessly optimistic, he chooses to believe you.

“Okay,” he says, “what do we do now?”

“We have to get you somewhere safe” you check your mirrors as much as you can, making sure you’re not being followed “I don’t know any safehouses outside of Shield's radar. We need a place we can go that they know nothing about.”

“I have an idea.” he says, you glance at him and see him already looking at you, so you nod.

[averagewriter-inthedark]

It’s Been A Long, Long Time 🥀 | Fallout AU P.1

Set after the events of S1 of Fallout

Masterlists | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Characters & Pairings: Cooper Howard/The Ghoul x super soldier!reader (romantic), reader x male!oc (past romance), reader x Chester Phillips (past romance), Lucy Maclean (platonic)

Content warnings: Fallout x Marvel AU, profanity, angst, mentions of death, violence, age gap (reader is physically in her 40s, Cooper in his 50s, but they are both hundreds of years old), cannon divergence, suggestive themes, strangers/enemies-to-friends-to-lovers | female!reader (she/her) | wc about 6k

Premise: When Lucy and Cooper stumbled upon the remnants of an abandoned underground facility in what used to be the Nation's capital, they are quick to explore in hopes of finding supplies and information on Vault-Tec. However, the two are in for the shock of their lives when they accidentally awaken a woman housed in a cryogenic chamber, whose historical significance can be traced back to the Second World War. Not to mention she possesses a valuable substance scientists have been eager to replicate for centuries. And after traveling for months, Cooper finds himself battling emotions he kept dormant for centuries, when they form a bond only the two former soldiers could understand. 

Note: Alright so idk how this happened but it was exactly it was the result of me hyperfixating on an idea for almost two weeks until I broke and had to get it out on paper (docs 💀) Enjoy!

———————

“What was it like?” Lucy’s voice breaks through the peaceful silence of the night. The moon was full and high in the sky. After a long day of traveling the group had finally made camp, exhausted from the day which involved a typical shootout with raiders and scavenging for information on Vault-Tec. Lucy’s voice was full of curiosity, her face illuminated by the fire as she ogled at the woman seated across from her. Elbows perched on her knees while leaning her chin on clasped hands. Only offering a raise of her brow to convey she heard Lucy’s question when the girl began to question if she did or not.

“You mean the war? Or life in general?” Came the reply, her transatlantic accent thick. The woman not taking her eyes off the fire to meet the girl’s eager stare. If any other lost soul in the Wasteland overheard the conversation they’d be quick to believe she was talking about the Great War. 

Only….it was far from it. 

“Everything,” Lucy failed at hiding her desperation, earning a warning glare from Cooper, whose ears perked up the second Lucy asked the question. The cowboy leaned against his own log off to the side of the woman. Legs crossed and hat slightly pulled down to the brim of his eyes. 

This time the woman looked at Lucy. Except she didn’t so much as move her body, only shifting her eye to glance from the side. “I thought you both read my file. And watched the tapes I recorded.”

“We did,” Lucy admitted, offering a nervous smile, “But reading about history is vastly different than when you hear it first hand from someone who lived through it. When I taught the kids in my vault they always preferred watching the holotapes rather than the books that’d been preserved. And so much from the 20th century had been lost….” her words fall short at the crossed look she received from Cooper. A warning. 

Heat rising to her cheeks, Lucy reiterated and in doing so began to ramble, “I-I mean I only ask if you’re comfortable with talking about it. Sorry I should’ve been more considerate--I know it’s a sensitive topic with-- I-I mean you just woke up not even two weeks ago to find 345 years have passed--,” Cooper was about five seconds from shutting the girl up with a tranq, looking at her like she’d grown two heads. “--and America is not how you left it. Oh God I’m being really insensitive--I am so sorry,” Lucy’s mouth snaps as the woman cuts her off with a tired sigh. 

It’s not like the woman was upset with Lucy’s question. Aware the former vault dueller had previously been a history teacher and enjoyed learning about the pre-war era, as well as the 300+ years America once was. Curiosity was natural. But one had to accept the reality that the truth was not sunshine and rainbows.

As she contemplated the next words to say, her mind traced back ten days ago. Where she awoke to a new world…or what her companions called, a wasteland.

“Well what do we have ‘ere,” Cooper’s southern drawl rang out against the walls of the elevator as he lifted the gate up to see where it had taken him and Lucy. There he was met with what appeared to be a large room connected to a hallway that seemed to go on and on. ‘Strange,’ he thought, hand hovering over his pistol. Ready for any oncoming attack.

When he and Lucy stumbled upon the rusted elevator shaft on the surface on what used to be an old military installation--not far from Vault 108, initially they believed it to be a secret vault. One Vault-Tec kept hidden and out of the public eye for God knows what. Unethical experiments. Research. Possibly to house government officials, considering it was located in good ole Washington D.C. 

Well what was left of it. 

Yeah, even America’s great capital wasn’t safe from the nukes. Leveled to bits just like the rest of the country. Kinda comical when one thinks about it. Why were they there exactly? Well, the trail to Lucy’s father and the many secrets of Vault-Tec led the two on a wild goose chase. For months until they reached the east coast where they hoped to find some answers.

However, whatever this place was, was far from the typical vaults they were used to. In fact it wasn’t a vault at all.

Stepping out of the elevator shaft, the space was pitch black making it hard to see all the facility had to offer. Not to mention if any threats were lying in wait. Cooper found the switch on his right and quickly flipped it up. Light flickering as it filled up the space and down the corridor. 

Cooper moved further in while Lucy trailed behind, eyes wide with wonder as she took in her surroundings, “woah.”

“Woah indeed…” he agreed, nudging his hat up to get a better look, “What the hell?” The bunker was definitely pre-war, but seriously dated to the point the man wouldn’t put it past it to be 20th century. Hardly ransacked---which probably was the biggest surprise. It made him wonder just how long it had been abandoned without discovery. 

Filing cabinets lined the walls, old desktop computers. Chalk boards and typewriters. Not a trace of robots. Hell there was even a Coca-Cola vending machine. Now that was a relic. Coca-cola disappeared back in 2044 when Nuka-Cola was introduced. If Cooper thought hard enough, he could still taste the original soft drink on his tongue. A sweet sweet lick of nostalgia.

Unsure where to begin, Cooper decided to start on his right by approaching the giant mural of a six-winged eagle surrounded by 50 stars. Obviously to represent the states of America. Painted below in bold red letters, S.H.I.E.L.D. 

“Shield,” he tested the word, a sense of familiarity surfacing as his brain picked at it. “Where have I heard that?” Lucy came to his side, eyes locked on the mural. Also trying to figure out what it meant. 

“Could it be some type of pre-war agency?” she wondered aloud, casting a glance at Cooper. “Like the CIA or FBI? Or a subunit of Vault-Tec” She received a hum. 

“Seems likely,” moving away, Cooper accessed the cabinet closest to him. Dust flinging in the air when the drawer was pulled, revealing a heap of carefully organized files. Grabbing the first one Cooper found the meaning behind the name, which took the air out of him. Now he understood why it sounded so familiar. It was something his once marine self had been briefed on when in basic training. 

“What is it?” Lucy questioned his dumbstruck expression. 

Shaking his head, “This ain’t the work of Vault-Tec, sweetheart,” Cooper motioned at the mural, “That ther’ anagram, it stands for the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division.” Passing over the file to her Cooper grabbed another. “Now I know you said yer’ some history buff, but this…..you gotta be involved in some deep shit to know about this.”

Lucy read over the document, brows furrowed, “Wait, I know about this. We learned about SHIELD in the vaults, not much but the important parts--that it was a counter-terrorism intelligence organization and a successor of the Strategic Scientific Reserve from World War Two….” her eyes widened, processing what she just said. They were in a SHIELD facility?

They continued to walk the facility, rummaging through files of former persons of interests and government officials. Lucy took interest with the photographs she found. Getting a peak of life in America during the 20th and early 21st century. Meanwhile Cooper searched for useful supplies. Hoping there’d be a knife or displaced gun. 

“This is so cool,” Lucy held a sepia photo of President John F. Kennedy shaking hands with Shield co-founder Agent Peggy Carter. Beneath it was one of the Berlin Wall coming down. “I can’t believe how well these held up.” Her eyes caught a black & white picture dated in 1947 of Hollywood actresses Natalie Wood and Rita Hayworth posing with a beautiful woman who looked like she belonged with them. All smiling at the camera, but unlike the actresses the mystery woman’s smile was closed and didn’t reach her eyes. Lucy didn’t recognize her, but made a mental note to see if she could find any other information on her. Assuming she must’ve been important for the photo to end up at the SHIELD base. 

Entering a room near the end of the vast hallway, an eerie feeling came over the two. So suddenly it made Lucy’s stomach take a turn, “that’s weird.” Cooper didn’t respond but internally he felt the same. Something about the room was unpleasant. But they couldn’t put a finger on it.

Unlike the other rooms, the two had to become tech whizzes to decipher the lockbox. A rather difficult task as the technology was ancient. In their research they discovered SHIELD founded in the 1950s. Then Cooper had to think back to his history lessons in basic to remember the organization disbanded in 2014. Almost ten years before Cooper was born. 

“What happened,” Lucy questioned. 

“Rats in the system,” Cooper put it short, but upon her confused face he explained further. “They were infiltrated, early on too, by the terrorist organization they were fighting against.” 

The girl frowned, not expecting that reason and wondered just how long it had been going on. For an agency of their nature to be infiltrated by the enemy, leading to their downfall.  “That’s unfortunate,” her statement earned a sound of agreement from the cowboy. 

More cabinets. More files. More questions they wanted answers to. 

And answers they’ll…somewhat get. In the form of a 345 year old cryogenic woman…..who was SHIELD’s lost super soldier. 

Okay so it was an accident. They didn’t mean to unfreeze the woman after they stumbled upon her pod hidden beneath the floors of where the lead scientists desk laid. And no wonder it took an arm and a leg to get into the room. It was the office of the man SHIELD recruited from HYDRA. 

And he harbored a major secret. 

“Well what should we do in the meantime?” Lucy felt uneasy, staring at the pod which was in the process of defrosting. Frightened at what waited for them. If she had been asleep for as long as the person inside and woke up to a world blown to bits, Lucy’d have a meltdown. The thought alone combined with the icy temperature filling the room caused chills to rise on her arms. 

“Don’t know. Maybe try and find out who the hell this is,” Cooper suggested, moving away from the pod to see what he could find. Staring with the scientists' desk, thinking it’d be the key.

Leaning over to peer into the window, noticing the ice had slowly started to melt, Lucy’s eyes widened. “Holy moly! She’s the woman from the photo!” 

“What photo?” Cooper glanced up, eyes narrowed with suspicion. 

Lucy made a motion with her hand, “I saw a photo in the other room of a woman standing with Natalie Wood and Rita Hayworth, but I couldn’t recognize her.” She pointed to the pod, face riddled with shock. “It’s her! She’s the mystery woman in the photo.” Suddenly Lucy realized something, “That was dated 1947…..” 

Cooper caught on to what she was saying. Moving hastily to pull out files from the drawers and handing her a stack, “Well let’s try to find more about our frozen popsicle.” They got work, Lucy perching herself on the desk while Cooper remained crouching on the floor. Reading for what felt like hours of decades worth of information the scientist had on SHIELD and HYDRA. Playing the waiting game while the woman defrosted from her pod. 

“How long will it take?” Lucy plopped another file on the floor after finishing it, moving to the next. 

“Not sure,” Cooper licked his lip to turn a page, reading about the assassination of a political figure SHIELD investigated. “Could be minutes. Could be hours. Once that thing warms up, who knows how long before she wakes.”

“What a surprise she’s in for.” Cooper grumbled in agreement, making Lucy frown, deep in thought. “How do you think she’ll react?” Now usually Cooper would’ve told her enough with the questions, but he was plagued with the same thought.

How would she react? They didn’t know anything about the woman except she’d been asleep for at least 300+ years. Truthfully Cooper was expecting her to lash out. It would be the most reasonable reaction to the horrifying truth. Either that or breakdown in a heap of tears. Honestly, maybe she’ll do both.

“I don’t know, vaultie. What would you do?” That made her fall silent which he was hoping for. The two return their focus back to the files. Losing hope by the second of finding the mysterious woman. There had to be something on her in the stack. After all, she was in a cryo pod hidden in the floor. Of a mad scientist. 

About five minutes later Lucy’s amplified gasp nearly had Cooper jump, turning to find her shell-shocked at whatever lay within the file she was holding. “What is it, 33?”

“Cooper this--this doesn’t make sense,” Lucy’s eyes read furiously over the papers, astonishment in her face. Refusing to believe what the file was telling her. But the picture was clear as day. Matching the face in the pod. 

Cooper looked at her wearily, “What is it, vaultie?” 

She looked like she’d seen a ghost. “The woman in the pod,” she held the file out, still in disbelief. Lucy’s mind raced with a million questions, fearful of the answers as she pushed the papers to him, “This is her.” 

Snatching the file, Cooper gave the girl an odd once over before drawing his gaze down on the file. There he saw what she was referring to. Eyes landing first on the sepia photograph stapled on the front. It was the first time Cooper was seeing the woman since he hadn’t seen the picture Lucy mentioned earlier and was already occupied with the desk to look in the pods window. 

She was beautiful. Ethereal. A timeless beauty like many women of the 1900s with a face people would kill for. In the photo she was posing with her right shoulder out, dressed in a crisp Army uniform, Captain ranks--which Cooper recognized and gave an impressed whistle under his breath--reflecting the light of the camera flash. Hair curled typical for the time, classy makeup. The man would be lying if he said he wouldn’t do a double take in the streets if he saw her walking down. 

Then Cooper got to reading, hairless brows raising to his scarred skull and he swore his heart stopped. “Ain’t no fuckin’ way.” 

There it was clear as day. 

S.H.I.E.L.D. File #0002

Project Rebirth -- Subject xxxx-xxxx

Name: Dr. Y/n M/n Andrews (neé L/n)   DOB: XX X 1908    SSN: xxx-xx-xxxx

Birthplace: Manhattan, New York, USA    Document Citizenship: United States

Education: Doctorate of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

Title: Advisor, Agent (formerly), soldier (formerly) Alias: Eagle

Rank: First Officer (WAAC); Captain (U.S Army)

Clearance: Level 10

Family: Captain Timothy Nile Andrews (husband--m.1933/deceased--d.1944)

Beatrice E. Andrews (daughter--b.1935), Henry T. Andrews (son--b.1939), Charlene L. Phillips (daughter--b.1949)

Howard A. Stark (Cousin)

Language(s): English, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian

Affiliation(s): MIT, Stark Industries, Strategic Scientific Reserve, United States Army, WAAC 107th Infantry Regiment, Howling Commandos, Steve Rogers--Captain America

Wars/Battles: Second World War

Cooper whistled, reading over the first page one more time before moving onto the next. A beauty and brains with a fighting heart. She was a soldier, a pretty damn good one at that with all her career accomplishments with the Army and World War Two. A genius by the looks of her contributions to physics prior to the war. 

Presidential Medal of Honor. Key to the City of Manhattan. Honorary Advisor of MIT’s Department of Physics. Contributor on many research articles and projects, including the Project Rebirth Cooper saw on the first page. His brows furrowed at the part where it said Y/n was also a Co-founder of SHIELD.

Now if that was true, then why was the woman trapped in a cryo pod? From the file alone Cooper could tell she was an important figure in American history. What had she done to earn her a one way ticket to frozen land?

Cooper’s hand stilled in the air after turning to the final page of Y/n’s file, the header in bold: Advancements to physiology following fusion of the Super Soldier Serum. “What the fuck?”

Description: After a successful transformation of implementing the Super Soldier Serum created by Dr. Erskine into the subject’s biological makeup, Dr. L/n-Andrews physiological improvements have exceeded expectations--in accordance with the results seen from Subject #0001, Steve Rogers. Dr. L/n-Andrews psychological responses lack abnormalities, cognition skills are excellent. IQ remains in the 160-179 range. Subjects’ blood tests show changes in DNA--more tests shall be conducted for further analysis. 

Attributes/Skills--before serum: Strategy, marksmanship, logistics, leadership, tradecraft, hand-to-hand combat

Attributes/Skills--after serum: Superhuman strength, enhanced agility, accelerated healing, slowed aging, enhanced immune system. 

Security threat level: high (dated 08/15/1951)

Cooper read over the file a second time. Not just to render his disbelief but also commit it to memory. He’d seen a lot of shit in his elongated life, but never did he expect he’d be dealing with a real life runaway supersoldier. 

More like a superhero.

“Cooper, what does this mean?” Lucy’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. The man glanced to find her chewing on her fingernails, anxiety all over her face.

“It means we’ve just woken up a superhuman from World War II, vaultie. Plain as day.” He kept his own concerns hidden, not willing to worry Lucy further. They’ll deal with the potential threat once she wakes up. 

Until then, they wait. 

During their search to find more on Dr. Y/n L/n-Andrews, they hit the jackpot when Cooper stumbled on a dusty box full of video tapes. Not holotapes that have been the standard since 2063. Video. Thankfully there was an old 20th century TV equipped with a VHS system. Talk about old school. 

Popping one in, labeled CA & EG Ad ‘42, Cooper claimed the seat in front of the desk while Lucy stayed in her spot. After a few seconds to allow the dinosaur television to turn on, black and white static filled the screen. Then a moment later the image became clear showing two figures they now had names to faces. Y/n L/n-Andrews & Steve Rogers. 

“Hello, America I’m Steve Rogers,” the blonde man waved, decked in his Captain America suit. Cooper made a face, not really impressed with the man attempting to be America’s sweetheart. 

Well to be fair he definitely fit the image. 

“And I’m Y/n Andrews,” the beautiful woman beamed, pearly white teeth flashing the camera. She had a strong transatlantic accent, popular of their time and heard amongst those in entertainment and high class society. A dialect teetering on the edge of half-British and half-American. Where basically the letter ‘r’ was nonexistent and vowels were elongated to make words sound more posh. Her outfit was similar to Steve’s in the sense it was obviously a tactical suit, but where his resembled the American flag, Y/n’s had the image of an eagle. “You may recognize us from the occasional radio infomercial or have seen our faces in your local recruiting office.” 

Steve pointed to the camera, “And we’re here to tell you that America needs all the help across the pond. Whether it be donating to the Red Cross or enlisting in the Army to become a proud soldier--.” 

“Don’t forget the Army Nurses Corps, Steve,” Y/n gently cut him off, still smiling and Cooper wondered if she was in pain. Relating to all the times he had to do those damn Vault-Tec ads. “They’re looking for determined, bright, exceptional ladies ready to provide our boys on the frontlines with the best care.”

“That’s right, Y/n,” Steve agreed, grinning at her briefly. The advertisement was the typical propaganda one sees during a war. Hiding the horrors, trying to get people to sign their life away to fight in something they didn’t ask for. Cooper heard it all. 

And as a former soldier and spokesperson, the bounty hunter picked up on how uncomfortable Y/n was, despite trying to hide it. Acting most definitely not her forte. The smile not reaching her eyes as well as her posture being tense. At times Cooper caught her looking past the camera where her face shifted before replacing it with the fake expression. Her demeanor screamed she wanted to be rescued. Like she’d rather get her hands dirty than being a showgirl for the American people.

Lucy scanned through the box of tapes, reading over the labels until deciding on the one marked, Debrief--Phillips, Andrews, Stark, & Carter, ‘45. What caught her attention was the first name, Phillips, it was the same last name of Y/n’s third child listed on the file. Then there was Stark, the name of her cousin. “The Second World War ended what year?” 

“Nineteen-forty-five.”

“Hmmm,” Lucy pressed play on the tv once the tape was in, moving back to her seat, but not before checking the pod. The ice had completely froze but Y/n had yet to wake up. The clock was ticking and Lucy grew nervous. Placing her attention back on the screen, “This has all the names of the people that founded SHIELD.” Cooper’s interest perked, the man straightening in the chair. Ready to put faces to names. 

“Why are you video taping this, Stark?” Peeking through the static, a feminine British voice was heard off screen sounding distressed and emotional. The camera focused on a table, where the two spotted Y/n seated while an older man in an army uniform stood beside her. Y/n appeared exhausted while the man nursed a drink. Then another woman in uniform, the one they believed had been speaking off screen, emerged and poured herself a glass of whatever the group was drinking. 

“So we have this on record,” a man’s voice, Howard Stark, entered. And based on the way the picture went wobbly, he must’ve been behind the video recorder. Adjusting the device so it remained focused on the table. Once satisfied he took his place beside the older man. Based on his ranks Cooper deemed him to be a Colonel. “Lighten up, Carter.”

“Do not tell her to lighten up,” Y/n’s tone was hard, lifting her gaze from the table to glare at her cousin before returning it. “Steve was your friend, Howard, have some respect.”

Lucy’s hand raised to her chest, right where she felt her heart sink. Overcome with a wave of sadness for the group who’d been deeply affected by what had transpired before recording the tape. Cooper understood the implication. Steve was gone.

Another detail the cowboy pieced together was the fact the older man, the Colonel, had to have been the Phillips the tape label referred to. Now that Cater was revealed to be the woman and Howard was indeed Y/n’s cousin. Meaning the Colonel was the father of Y/n’s youngest daughter. 

‘Now that’s a surprise,’ Cooper thought to himself, and based on the stunned look of his companion, Lucy thought so too. He had to have at least 20 years on Y/n.

“You don’t need to remind me,” Howard gruffed, reaching for the bottle and slamming it down roughly once his drink was poured. “But we’ve got important matters at stake right now. And we’d be letting him down--after what he sacrificed--if we waste our time wallowing instead of getting to work.”

“What important matters could you possibly be referring to?” 

“You know what,” this time the Colonel spoke, his deep voice radiating off the screen. His words caused Y/n to stiffen, slowly looking up to find him staring at her with a serious expression. “And if we don’t act fast now the feds are going to be on our doorstep quicker than a hot turkey on Thanksgiving day.”

Agent Carter's face turned dark, standing close to Y/n to lay a protective hand on her shoulder, “I think this conversation can wait, Chester. The war just ended, Y/n is still grieving her loss and--.” 

“I’m well aware and while I share her grief, I’ve got Senators calling with demands of what ought to happen now that America's super soldier is gone! We need a plan to keep them distracted.” The rest of the video mostly consisted of the group arguing with neither Lucy or Cooper able to grasp what exactly the soldiers were trying to exactly hide from the government. But based on the body language of everyone, the cowboy leading theory pointed at the doctor, and the serum coursing in her veins.

During their watch of Y/n giving a solo advertisement to recruit women to the Women’s Army Corps from 1942, they hadn’t realized how much time had passed. And although not an actress in her own light, Cooper felt himself drawn to the woman on the screen. She was enticing. The type of woman people both admired and envied. 

And with a sunken heart, Cooper related to her now more than ever. 

On their sixth tape, and evidently their last one, the duo were rather unnerved by the title. Sharing a look as Lucy took the initiative to place it in the system. 

House Committee Hearing ‘50

Lucy bit at her nails again, the skin red and irritated as she took her seat. A sickening feeling in her stomach. The anxiety was becoming unbearable, but they still had no clue when Y/n would wake up. Really they needed to form a plan, but they were too immersed in learning the woman’s history. 

“For the record today’s date is Monday the tenth of April, nineteen fifty and it is the first day of the congressional hearings on the matters of Strategic Scientific Reserve’s suspected authorization of the Super Soldier Serum on Dr. Y/n Andrews.”

Well things just got interesting. Cooper and Lucy now certain this hearing was what Chester referred to in the debrief tape. Congress had finally summoned them in regards to Y/n’s nature. 

The screen showed a man in a suit and rounded glasses seated in front of a microphone with a stack of papers. A marker reading Senator Bures placed directly in front of the mic. Other suited men sat around him with the American flag draped on the wall behind the chamber. Then the image flickered to a table. Y/n sat in between Chester and a man with a briefcase, who Cooper instantly registered as a lawyer. A gallery of people and photographers filled the space, Peggy and Howard in the front row. 

“Please state your name for the record.” The soldiers obliged and were then instructed to swear under oath. Cooper leaned forward, finger on his lips as he watched Y/n place her hand on the bible and repeat the words spoken to her. Deeply interesting on what the hearing would entail. One thing was clear: the government was threatened by Y/n. 

After some introduction questions, mostly directed to Chester and the beginning states of Project Rebirth, the attention turned to Y/n. “Dr. Andrews,” Senator Johnson spoke into his mic. “What was your initial involvement in Project Rebirth.”

Y/n leaned towards her own mic, hands clasped on the table. “I was a collaborator on the project alongside Dr. Erskine. As Colonel Phillips stated, he recruited my cousin and I in 1942 and I worked closely with Dr. Erskine because of my work on radiation physics.” Cooper and Lucy shared another glance. Y/n specialized in radiation physics? 

“How exactly does radiation physics play into the serum, Doctor?”

“We were working with particles, Senator. Particles with high speed energy and electromagnetic waves,” her tone was calm, neutral. Not given any indication she was under pressure and reporting like the scientist she was. “Dr. Erskine’s serum was, at its core, radioactive. It completely changed the biological makeup of the recipient. In our case, Captain Rogers. My role was to observe and record the effects of the serum on the human body. Specifically the level of radiation.” 

They asked a few more questions about Y/n’s work. Including her reports on the serum and its effect on Steve Rogers. Then it got to the whole reason they were having the hearing; did Y/n inject herself with the serum?

Now Lucy and Cooper obviously knew the truth. She was a supersoldier and fought on the frontlines. The file didn’t lie. The question was if the government knew as well. And by the looks of it, they didn’t. 

“Doctor, we have reason to believe you and members of the SSR conducted an unauthorized demonstration in which you, Dr. Andrews, underwent the transformation of injecting the super soldier into your bloodstream on the 22nd of August 1943.” Murmurs in the background suggested the audience were hearing it for the first time. Minus of course Howard and Peggy, who visibly stiffened behind Y/n.

Y/I head tilted up in defiance, “Your evidence?” Her voice was strong, confident. Cooper felt himself captivated by the way she commanded the room. 

“Doctor,” Senator Franz, removed his glasses. “It was reported all remaining vials of the super soldier serum were destroyed following Mr. Rogers demonstration.”

“That is correct.”

“A witness, who wishes to remain anonymous, has come forward saying that on the 22nd of August 1943, you, your late husband Captain Timothy Andrews, Colonel Phililps, Captain Rogers, Agent Carter, and Mr. Stark were seen in a restricted area for approximately three hours. They say you were carrying a briefcase and upon leaving the restricted area, your physicality had changed. Care to explain?” 

Y/n, again, was neutral, “To put it simply, Senator, we were having a meeting discussing Captain Rogers and I’s unit, the Howling Commandos. In the briefcase were maps and strategy plans to analyze. Nothing more, so I do not understand why this witness has assumed we even possessed a vial of the serum when all were destroyed in 1942.” 

The men didn’t look convinced, “That’s what we want to know. And it is not only this witness, Doctor, several soldiers who were on the frontlines claim you displayed unusual strength at times.”

“Well forgive me for saying this,” she was now smiling, but it wasn’t genuine at all, “but men refuse to believe women are capable of certain areas, strength for example, that are expected of them. It’s already enough for my intellect to be questioned,” Straightening her posture, Y/n went on to say, “Gentlemen, I was not only a doctor for the SSR, I was also a soldier. Therefore I trained like one--which my late husband and Captain Rogers were kind enough to assist me with. What that witness saw was my progress.” Cooper couldn’t help the amazed laugh that slipped out.

“Is she…” Lucy pointed to the screen, also astonished, “gaslighting the government?”

“She damn sure is,” Cooper laughed again. The balls this woman had rivaled some of the producers and agents he’d worked with in Hollywood. 

As the tape rolled on more back and forth happened between Y/n and the senators. They’d attempt to invalidate her story, she’d rebuff with the perfect response. Dismissing their claims and providing evidence of her own to counter it. Chester and the lawyer were asked questions as well, backing up Y/n which strengthened their side. 

It was a heated debate. One that lasted nearly an hour and had started to run its course. Congress was starting to lose the upper hand. And the defense was becoming exhausted. 

“Before we adjourn this hearing there is one last thing I have to say,” the room was eerily silent, the senators voice carrying throughout the space. Cooper saw the frustration in his face. Wondering where the hell he and his fellow chamber members got it all wrong. “We may not have all the evidence to convict you and the rest of SHIELD’s founders of anything today, but make no mistake,” His glare was stern, threatening. “We will be watching. And if we find the slightest confirmation, Doctor, that you are carrying the super soldier serum, you will be locked in a military prison for the rest of your life and subjected to experimentation.”

Y/n remained quiet, the threat lingering in the room as her gaze never wavered from the man. Movement from the side indicated Chester likely placing a hand on the woman, offering a comforting hand. “Understood,” the tone in her voice was impartial. “You may have your suspicions and conduct your investigations, but the truth of what took place in August of 1942 was laid before you today. America had their super soldier and he sacrificed himself to put an end to Hydra once and for all. My role was nothing more than a doctor devoted to research, and a soldier committed to ending the war. I assure you, Senators,” her eyes were full of fire, chin high with confidence. Refusing to let the men hold power over the situation. It was a chilling sight, sending a shiver down Cooper’s spine, “The super soldier serum died with Captain Rogers.”

Closing remarks were given and they were dismissed shortly after. By the time the static rolled, signaling the end of the tape, Cooper and Lucy were at a loss for words. Both in disbelief, and turning to each other with matching horrified expressions. Asking themselves the same question.

Did the government find out it was all a lie? Is that why she was in the pod--to be a science experiment for the rest of her life?

The theory made sense. A terrifying one that had a pit of disgust forming in the duo, but not surprising at the same time considering the government proved time and time again they were cruel. 

Well people in power in general. Take Vault-Tec for example. Who accumulated so much power they blew up America.

Lucy went to remove the tape, throwing it back in the pile before turning back to Cooper to figure out their options now they were dealing with not only a super soldier, but possibly a former government fugitive who underwent God knows what in her captivity. 

But before she even got a word out, Lucy became frighteningly still, eyes bulging from their sockets. The color drained in her face as she looked past Cooper’s shoulder, a choked sound leaving her mouth while it went slack. And before Cooper could ask the reason for her sudden behavior, a new voice entered the picture, causing the already chill atmosphere to become icy. 

“Who the hell are you people?”

[vampwritesstuff]

Forgotten Melodies

Chapter 5 - I Fucking Hate Stairs

Pairing - Kim Hongjoong x Fem!Reader

Genre - smau, post college au, non idol au, fluff, angst, ex friends to friends, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, slowburn

Moving back to Seoul after studying abroad in the States, Y/n couldn’t decide if fate wanted to punch her in the gut or give her a warm hug after she finds herself reconnecting with an old group of friends by pure chance. The only thing is, she didn’t leave on good terms with one of them.

a/n Idk how I’ve had the motivation to be writing so much lately but hey, it’s a good thing for you guys because that means more updates, also I was playing Oasis by EXO on repeat while making this chapter, i don’t even stan them but I need that song injected into my veins 😩 also this chapter isn’t proofread so I’m sorry for any mistakes! Hope you enjoy the chapter!!

Hongjoong had stared at the group chat for at least an hour the previous night. Meticulously studying the photo of you and Wooyoung that San had sent of the two of you pillow fighting. You looked a lot more different than he remembered, hell you even acted differently from the way San had described the interaction, but of course he only remembered the eighteen year old version of you. A quiet and soft spoken girl who somehow was unfortunate enough to befriend Wooyoung and be dragged into his crazy antics, and that consequently led to you making friends with San, and eventually the other boys and Hongjoong himself.

Hongjoong dragged a hand over his face while groaning, tapping his foot impatiently as the elevator took him to the floor that Wooyoung and San’s apartment was on. Hongjoong was tired, not only had his recent clients been a total nightmare to deal with but he’d been in a creative slump for any of his personal projects, and the knowledge that you were back in Seoul and had already reconnected with his friends was not helping soothe his already exhausted and anxious mind. Hongjoong knew you hated him, and it made him nervous to think about how you’d react to seeing him again. He felt guilty for how he handled things back in high school, and when he had finally built the courage to apologize to you, he learned that you had packed up and left for America, which stung if he was being honest. But he couldn’t blame you, he knew that you had always wanted to go to an American university.

The ding of the elevator arriving on the 6th floor broke Hongjoong from his thoughts and slowly he began towards his friends’ apartment. He knocked a few times on the door, slightly confused when the door swung open and a frantic Wooyoung cowered behind him and used him as a human shield. “Wooyoung what are you-” Hongjoong’s question was drowned out by the sound of a feminine voice yelling his friend’s name from inside the apartment. “Jung Wooyoung get your ass back here!” Hongjoong looked forward just in time to see you turn the corner of the entryway looking absolutely pissed as you held a hoodie in your hands.

Hongjoong stood frozen, just as you stopped in your tracks when you realized who Wooyoung was hiding behind. Hongjoong was taken aback by how much you truly did change, the picture San had sent in the group chat didn’t do you any justice. Just as he went to speak, you beat him to it, “I’ve gotta go, I have important shit to do.” You announced, which caused Wooyoung to release his death grip on Hongjoong and whine, “But you just got here.”

“I only came by for my hoodie, you already knew I wasn’t staying for long.” You chided him, completely ignoring Hongjoong’s presence. He could tell though that it was taking a lot of self restraint to do so, if the tension in your jaw, crossed arms and balled fists were any indication to your displeasure of Hongjoong being within feet of you. Hongjoong wanted to say something, anything to have you acknowledge him but once he broke himself from his stupor, you were already walking down the hallway, forgoing the convenience of the elevator and taking the stairs.

“Well that was weird, anyway, come on in hyung. You’re here for those packages right? San showed me where they were before he left this morning.” Wooyoung spoke as he pulled Hongjoong into the apartment.

You were pissed. Pissed because how the hell had you forgotten that Hongjoong was still their friend and at some point you would have been face to face with him? Pissed because of the way you couldn’t look him in the eyes, especially when there was so much you wanted to say to him. Years of pent up anger towards him resurfaced the moment you saw him in the doorway of Wooyoung’s apartment.

You stopped in the stairwell for a moment, taking a moment to catch your breath as you had practically sprinted down the stairs in order to get away from Hongjoong as quickly as possible, “I fucking hate stairs,” you grumbled to yourself, as you exited onto a random floor and took the elevator the rest of the way down. You took the time to calm down and refocus, seeing Hongjoong again felt like having a bucket of ice water poured all over you.

Was it childish to have reacted like that and run off? Possibly, but for the time being you could care less. He wasn’t your priority at the moment, and you could simmer in your anger towards him at a later time. You just wanted to go visit your mom and finally get some groceries in your apartment. As much as you loved take out, your wallet and stomach were begging for something else. Grocery shopping and a visit to the hospital would be a great way to get your mind off of things.

Back in Wooyoung’s apartment, Hongjoong was being interrogated by his younger friend. “So you and Y/n seriously never made up?” The black haired male asked, a deadpan expression on his face. “No, Wooyoung, like I said, I never got the chance to set things straight with her.” Hongjoong groaned as he massaged his temple, feeling the beginnings of a headache.

“Well damn, I mean, I know everything that happened was all just a huge misunderstanding between the two of you, but I didn’t think it had affected her so much that she would give you the cold shoulder as soon as she saw you.” Wooyoung said, and Hongjoong just closed his eyes and sighed.

“I get why she’s upset though, from her perspective you didn’t try to salvage your friendship at all and when you did you were too late.” Wooyoung empathized with you, knowing that if he were in the same situation, he’d probably react the same way. Hongjoong hated how his friend was right, Hongjoong’s priorities in high school were skewed and it cost him a valuable friendship with you. He thought he would’ve had more time to apologize.

“Oh! You know what, now that she’s back, you can start trying to mend things with her!” Wooyoung suggested excitedly, “I don’t know if you saw how she reacted to seeing me, Wooyoung, since you were busy cowering behind me, but there is no way in hell she’s going to let me get that close to her again.” Hongjoong rationalized, or maybe he was making excuses. Yeah, he was making excuses because seeing you and how much you changed had thrown him for a loop. He hadn’t seen you since high school and seeing you in Wooyoung and San’s apartment, the polar opposite of what you were like back then, gave him cold feet.

Hongjoong watched as Wooyoung rolled his eyes and pointed at him, “It’s not like you won’t have the rest of us around to support you, hyung. In fact, I’ve now decided that I’m not going to rest until both of you make up and become friends again!” Wooyoung smiled triumphantly, as if he had just come up with the most brilliant idea.

Somehow, Hongjoong felt like this entire thing was going to backfire terribly.

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Comment or send and ask to be added to the taglist!

taglist: @nilla56 @starrymatz @asherthehimbo

[fortjester]

okay let’s see here fic titles:

an ode to pizza

Battery

that one cup in my bathroom that looks like a bubble(it’s really cool)

squeeze

crimes

some of these have spoilers for gtn and/or htn, so reader's discretion! (thanks for sending so many, lol. got my brain moving)

an ode to pizza short modern setting oneshot, starring Ortus as he struggles w writers block and bemoans it to anyone who will listen (and also anyone who won’t), including the single employee behind the counter at a local, late-night pizza joint. the employee (Nonius, bc come on, who else was it gonna be?), tired but generally pretty pleasant, advises him to start small and not pressure himself into writing some colossal work, and suggests he start by writing abt something good that’s happened recently. Ortus instead becomes infatuated w the employee + validated by Nonius asking for updates on his writing, which does in the end actually solve his writer’s block. Only problem is that he can’t show Nonius any of his work, since it’s all abt him…

Battery Can’t think of anything particularly interesting to fit w this prompt (that i’m not actually planning on writing) so i’m going to extrapolate on a different definition of this word instead… women’s baseball team au; can either be modern setting or 40’s America, idc. Harrow’s no fuckin good at running and not particularly talented at batting but she’s got a mean pitching arm and an eye for catching batsmen out; Gideon’s got her sights on transferring to bigger league opportunities, as soon as she can catch a talent scouts eye with her awesome batting skills and get out of this dead end town. When Gideon finally does get poached, Harrow insists on being taken along, blackmailing Gideon into arguing her case; thus begins a tenuous alliance between the two as they get hustled into a ragtag women’s baseball league filled with similarly ambitious and equally skilled players from all over the place. Yes I am just pitching (ha) a TLTxLOTO fusion and idc if you don’t like it. Give me sapphic baseball content or give me death. Also just imagine w me Gideon coaching Harrow thru batting a lá holding the sword for her in ch37 gtn. beautiful, no?

that one cup in my bathroom that looks like a bubble (it’s really cool) Post gtn - As it turns out, getting rid of the part of her that can perceive Gideon means that whatever hole she tosses Gideon into is the same hole part of her own soul goes into. Harrow and Gideon’s fractured soul fragments have to navigate the labyrinth of Harrow’s own broken mind without getting caught, clotheslined into the well of her lobotomised brain and drowned, all the while not resorting to soul-on-soul violence or abandoning each other. Idk whether this is a pan’s labyrinth situation or a river bubble one or what, i just like the idea of gideon still having a harrow to seethe at.

squeeze Post-htn - Harrow wakes up in Gideon’s body and vice versa, and they individually decide to masquerade as each other until they can swap back. This goes about as well as you’d imagine, but they still give it a red hot go, and try to convince anyone who discovers the truth to get in on it and help them. Probably a crackfic if i’m honest.

crimes Hot Sauce, Honesty, Beautiful Ruby, Born in the Morning, and Kevin, herald Nona w their many illegal triumphs pre-knowing her, and beg her for one in return. Think that one episode of Batman the animated series where the joker, two-face, poison ivy, and killer croc are at a poker game telling their Almost Gottim’ story, but they’re no-good delinquent tweens talking abt their best cons instead.

(still doin the ask game if anyone wants to send anymore fic titles)

[ao3feed-stevebucky]

The Tale of Prince Steven of Avalon

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/a5WOrTg

by StuckyTillTheEndOfTheLine (Raven_Writes)

*Based on the story of Conn-Eda, an Irish fairytale*

Prince Steven Rogers's life is in danger. After being tricked by his cunning stepfather, Steven must embark on a quest to retrieve rare artifacts. The problem is that the items are impossible to obtain. Steven is fairly certain he will not survive.

But fate has other plans for our intrepid hero. Before he sets out on his journey, Steven is gifted a Movyatzekan (a talking horse), and the creature quickly becomes his dearest friend. When the quest takes a dark turn and requires Steven to do the unthinkable, will he be able to follow through? Will he get his happily ever after?

Words: 4841, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Captain America (Movies)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Major Character Death

Categories: M/M

Characters: Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes, Sarah Rogers (Marvel), Joseph Rogers, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Nick Fury, Brock Rumlow, Drew Balcombe (OC), Rebecca Barnes Proctor, Winnifred Barnes, George Barnes

Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers

Additional Tags: Based on a Fairytale, Conn-Eda, Yeah I know Major Character Death is tagged, but it's a temporary death, still might be triggering though, True Love, m/m romance, Fairytale Violence, there might be smut later on. idk yet, Rating May Change, additional tags as I think of them, i posted this instead of sleeping, I'm so tired, Worth It

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/a5WOrTg

[lizzie-is-here]

like the dawn

part viii- mission report

“if the devil was to ever see you, he’d kiss your eyes and repent” - farouq jwaydeh

summary: three bug-themed superheroes, another two named after animals, and a flying robot. what’s next, character development?

wordcount: 5.5k

warnings: violence, cussing, google translate, my inability to write serious scenes without making jokes, injury, past death (howard and maria), hydra torture stuff, trauma, insecurities, yk the usual, idk arguing???

taglist: @whelvedfeelingsstuff @sebsgirl71479 @rebloggingmyrecs @babyblublossom @local-mr-frog @thenyxsky @capsiclesdoll @moonlightreader649 @saranghaey

a/n: okay listen i think i have a thing for reader getting hurt during this specific battle 🤭 sue me i’m basic but i had to give u your y/n moment 😌✨ ALSO THANK YALL SM FOR 300 FOLLOWERS! i’ll post an event soon but i’m still working out some things love u all hope u enjoy!

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When Steve said he had a getaway car, you expected a bit more than a VW Beetle. Sure, you’re on the run, but there had to be a more conspicuous car to take.

But here you were, crammed into the backseat alongside Bucky while Sam took the passenger seat and Steve drove. How the blond learned to drive, you don’t know. The last time you saw him try to drive was the ‘40s, and he’d almost run you over.

He parks and climbs out to speak to a blonde agent, and you watch carefully as they meet in the middle. The woman opens the trunk of her car to reveal the shield, wings, and your bow. You sigh in relief.

Next to you, Bucky eyes the man in the seat in front of him.

“Can you move your seat up?”

…

“No.”

You were already uncomfortable. Your poor wings were cramped and tired, and it didn’t help when Bucky scooted closer to you to stretch his legs.

“You’re squishing my feathers,” you whisper. He apologizes and scoots slightly away, gently moving your wing before relaxing again.

The blonde agent is leaning in towards Steve. You narrow your eyes. Thankfully, your friend leans away and awkwardly grabs the shield and other confiscated equipment.

“You two are looking pretty tense there,” Sam quips, smirking in the rear view mirror. You don’t respond and Bucky kicks his seat lightly.

He had a point. Why did you care if they kissed?

Steve climbs back into the car before you have an answer, and the whole ride to the airport, you’re stuck in your head.

You know you used to like him- both of them. You remember the countless letters you wrote and how regretful you were over not telling them.

But it’s been 70 years. And after what you’ve gone through, you genuinely weren’t sure if you could love anymore. Or be loved.

It was a miracle that Steve still cared enough about you two to go through all this trouble. To ask even more of him, and Bucky, seemed selfish. That was the last thing you wanted to be to your boys.

Yours. Yours, yours, yours. It had never been any other way. Sure, Bucky went on dates and so did you, Steve often being dragged along, but you always circled back to each other. Always.

Steve finds a spot in the parking garage and you all get out, watching as the door to the white van next to you pops open.

First comes the archer. Agent Clint Barton. You try your best to push down the memories you have of analyzing every Avenger, assessing their threat levels. But by the time he and Steve shake hands your mind has already found three weaknesses on him.

The enhanced girl, Wanda Maximoff, is next. She was on the news recently; about an accident on a mission to Lagos that led to civilian deaths. She’s young. She reminds you of you.

“How about our new recruit?” Steve asks. Agent Barton slides the back door open, revealing a middle-aged man laying on the van floor. He jolts awake, clearly confused.

“What time zone is this?” he asks, eyes widening when he spots the famous Captain. “Captain America!” He excitedly takes his hand, vigorously shaking it.

“Mr. Lang,” Steve responds.

The man never stops shaking his hand. “It’s an honor. I’m shaking your hand too long.” Steve nods, and he lets go but keeps talking at a lightning pace. “Wow! Captain America. I know you, too. You’re great!” He points to Wanda, who smiles gratefully.

Taking another glance at Steve, he ends up awkwardly grabbing his pecs, and you look away as confusion radiates off your friend. He turns back to shoot a look that screams ‘this guy just grabbed my chest’, before resuming the rather one-sided conversation.

“Look, I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super people, so, thinks for thanking of me.” He waves to Sam. “Hey, man!”

They talk briefly, something about an audition? Tilting your head in confusion, you decide to cut him off before he makes this worse for himself.

“We should get moving,” you announce. Soon after, German floods the PA.

“They’re evacuating the airport,” Bucky translates.

A brief description of your opponents, an even shorter mention of Howard’s son, and Steve turns to the group.

“Suit up.”

You look around. It’s a parking garage. There are seven of you. You frown.

“Where?”

———————————————————————

After a very uncomfortable ten minutes of changing in front of each other, tying Wanda’s corset for her, and accidentally zipping a feather into your suit, you split off. Sam and Bucky head to a terminal. Wanda and Clint stay in the garage, and the new guy, Scott, shrinks down and hops on Steve’s shield, who goes to negotiate with the other Avengers.

And you perch atop the garage, staying well hidden while also having a perfect view of the area.

The Iron Man and the grey suit from earlier confront Steve first. Then the man in the cat suit. Then the Black Widow. Lastly, a small boy (man?) in a red and blue suit. He flips through the air with ease, firing what looks like… Spiderwebs? And rips the shield from Steve’s hands. Alright, enhanced agility, strength, and webs. Weird.

What you can hear of his voice is that of a teenager. A literal child. Even weirder.

In your earpiece, Sam speaks. “We found it. Their Quinjet’s in hangar five, north runway.”

You nock a glowing arrow just as Steve raises his arms, sending it cutting through the webs restraining him. While Clint grumbles about you stealing his shot, the arrow lands near Howard’s son.

Scott grows in size, returning it to Steve as you stand up on the roof. Your wings stretch out, casting a shadow along the pavement. You hear the teenager gasp and yell something about his US History textbooks.

He fires a web at you that you dodge, waiting until he gets close enough before flapping your wings and sending a gust of air towards him as he jumps. You sling a disc of light under him that breaks his fall.

He runs off to the terminal next, and you follow, avoiding stray shots from the two advanced suits. The kid gets tossed away before you even make it in, but you soar through the shattered window anyways.

Inside, webbed to the floor, you find Bucky and Sam. Landing next to them, you kneel with a smirk.

“Having fun?” you quip, carefully burning away the thin yet stubborn filaments. They both grumble before you all head back out, meeting up with your team as you sprint for the jet.

You’re stopped dead in your tracks as a glowing beam, similar to your powers, burns a line into the concrete and separates the two sides. A reddish-purple man floats midair. He has a cape, not that that makes you any less confused.

“Captain Rogers, I know you believe what you’re doing is right. But for the collective good, you must surrender now,” he says.

Sam asks what you’re all thinking. “What do we do, Cap?”

“We fight.”

As the two lines collide, you know you can’t go easy on them. A few of them have learned to target your wings, so you resort to stronger blasts to ward them off. You send a particularly brutal one at the flying man, who you think is a robot once you get a closer look.

Curiously, he doesn’t pause or hesitate, but when your attack collides and knocks him backward, he acts shocked.

You stare at one another for a moment, analyzing instead of attacking. But you quickly have to block an attack from Howard’s son, who’s emotionless metal helmet watches your every move. You bend a beam of light into his eyes, taking the opportunity to speed away with no intention of fighting something that shoots missiles.

The man in the cat suit seems to be targeting you and Bucky, needle-like claws slashing air as you duck and dodge. He goes for your neck, and just when you can’t move back fast enough, red energy surrounds him. He’s thrown away, and Wanda jogs up to you.

“Us girls got to keep an eye on each other,” she grins. You smile, nodding, and deflect a repulsor blast with ease. When you get a second to breathe, you spot Bucky on the ground.

Rushing over, you help him to his feet as explosions shake the ground.

“You good?” you ask, quickly scanning him for injuries. His left shoulder is more inflammed than usual, and he has some bruising, but other that, nothing major. He nods, checking you as well.

As more explosions surround you, you grab Bucky and run behind a plane. A large chunk of debris flies towards you, but a quick blast crumbles it into pebbles.

“We gotta go,” he shouts to Steve. “That guy’s probably in Siberia by now.”

“We gotta draw out the flyers,” he responds.

You step forward. “I’ll do it, you guys run.” Both of them instantly protest.

“You’re not going out there. Tony could knock you right out of the air with one repulsor blast,” Steve states firmly. “I’ll take Vision, you two get to the jet.”

Over comms, Sam cuts in. “No, you get to the jet. All of you. The rest of us aren’t getting out of here.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, if we’re gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it,” Clint agrees.

“This isn’t the real fight, Steve.”

Steve sighs. “Alright, Sam. What’s the play?”

“We need a diversion. Something big.”

Scott’s voice pipes up next as you duck to avoid the gaze of the flying robot. “I got something kinda big. But I can’t hold it very long. On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half… don’t come back for me.”

Bucky furrows his brows in confusion. “He’s gonna tear himself in half?” You shrug.

“You sure about this, Scott?”

He sounds out of breath. “I do it all the time. I mean once. In a lab.” Great. “Then I passed out.” Even better.

Peeking past the plane, you watch as he suddenly appears, towering over the buildings, and grabs the gray Iron Man suit. You can hear him laugh from where you are, clearly excited.

“I guess that’s the signal,” Steve says.

You gesture to the hangar. “Then let’s go!”

Staying on ground with Steve and Bucky, you only use your wings to boost yourself along. If you take to the air, it’ll be too easy to be seen.

Another golden beam shoots from behind you, taking out a nearby tower as your heart sinks. Out of nowhere, however, a red cast surrounds it, holding the building together. You throw a thankful smile to the young girl, who nods back to you as you speed up.

But something goes wrong. A loud ringing, and the magic disappears. You throw up a shield as best you can, but you still barely make it under the collapsing tower.

Waiting on the other side is the Black Widow. You remember her sometimes. Or, a younger version. You suspect HYDRA lent the Angel and the Soldier to the Red Room to help with training.

“Natalia,” you greet, guilt weighing down your tone. She smirks.

“Солнце [Sun],” she responds. A nickname. Her words hold no blame. Turning her attention to the blond, she shakes her head. “You’re not gonna stop.”

“You know I can’t.”

She raises her hand, charging the tasers on her wrists. “I’m gonna regret this.”

Her shot flies over your shoulder, attacking the man in the cat suit instead. She nods to you. “Go.”

You fly into the plane first, ushering your boys in as you hurry to close the door. Steve takes the pilot’s seat while you stay in the back. Bucky hovers in between, pacing anxiously.

The advanced jet goes airborne in a matter of seconds, shooting from the hangar as you hold on. Through a screen showing a back-facing camera on the exterior of the plane, you spot the grey suit trailing you.

Sam follows, attempting to take him out, but when a gold beam aims for Sam and he dodges, it strikes the suit instead. With the power source damaged, it plummets.

It reminds you of watching Bucky fall. You open the hangar, diving out as the two protest.

You spiral down, watching from the corner of your eye as the Iron Man and Sam do the same. None of you are fast enough. The suit hits the ground with a loud thud, and you land nearby as Howard’s son cradles his body. His helmet flips away revealing his harsh glare as you step forward.

“Please,” you say, holding out a hand. “I can help him.” You notice the quinjet hovering midair as Bucky watches carefully.

After glancing down to his unconscious friend, the Stark nods.

“Can you open the suit?” you ask. He doesn’t say anything, just talks to something called FRIDAY, which evidently controls the suit. It pops open for you to assess the damage.

Shattered spinal column. L4 through S1. You can feel the pain.

“Well? What is it?” he demands. You reiterate your findings. “Extreme laceration on the spinal cord. Possible paralysis.” You’ve healed worse.

“Well, I’ll get medical on their way,” Stark says. You jump.

“No! No, please, I can help him.”

“How?”

Taking a few breaths, you focus on the bone first. You fuse them, feeling each fragment return to its proper place. After that, you heal the nerves. They stitch together with a simple thought. The bruising is even easier, fading as your breathing calms. Your powers move through the body with your hand, swirling and dividing to heal the injuries. The man wakes up.

“Tony!” he shouts, slowly reorienting himself. He seems shocked to see you kneeling beside him, but quickly understands what happened by the remaining glow from your hands.

You turn to Howard’s son. He meets your gaze, features relaxing.

He nods. “Thank you.” You stand. Slowly backing away, he doesn’t follow.

You fly away in an instant, landing on the quinjet as Bucky helps you stabilize. Closing the hangar, Steve smiles at you.

“Old habits die hard,” he quips. “Always getting everyone out of trouble.”

You can’t help but grin.

———————————————————————

A few hours later, still soaring on the quinjet towards Siberia, Bucky speaks up.

“What’s gonna happen to your friends?”

Steve lets out another heavy sigh. “Whatever it is, I’ll deal with it.”

“I don’t know if I’m worth all this, Steve,” he murmurs. A part of you wants to berate him. But you were thinking the exact same thing.

“What you did all those years, it wasn’t you,” the blond insists. “You didn’t have a choice.”

Silence.

“What’s on your mind, (Y/N)? You’re being awfully quiet,” he says. You shake your head.

“Why didn’t you ever give up on us?”

Your words break something in Steve. They give him a glimpse into your mind, how your thoughts seem to be in a constant spiral.

“You’re…” He hesitates. ‘Friends’ seems insulting. A mere fraction of what he feels for you two. But now isn’t the right time. “My best friends,” he finishes.

“We almost killed you, Steve,” you press further. Your wings puff slightly, prickling as your head pulls picture after picture.

The Captain denies it. “No, you didn’t. I would’ve been fine. Besides, you both snapped out of it before that even happened.”

You furrow your brow, volume rising slightly. “You don’t get it. When I healed you, I could feel your pulse dropping.” Your voice shakes.

“You were dying, Stevie.”

His breath hitches. Since that day, he hadn’t known how bad it was. All he knew was that, when he woke up, he didn’t have a scratch on him.

But if it had been bad enough to kill…

When he doesn’t respond, you’re sure you’ve done it. You’ve fucked up to the point where he won’t forgive you.

“I’m sorry,” you say. “I shouldn’t have snapped, I-“

Bucky rests a hand between your wings, rubbing small circles. It forces the tension to leave your body and you slump slightly, still trying to apologize.

Steve puts the quinjet on autopilot and turns back to you.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, you don’t have to apologize,” he promises. “I didn’t know how bad it was.”

“But it wasn’t your fault. The moment you two were out of HYDRA’s control, you helped me- saved me.”

“And I’m going to return the favor.”

As the last words leave his mouth, the jet lands. Bucky takes a gun from Natalia’s set as you sling your bow over your shoulder.

“You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?” Steve asks.

You chuckle. “Was that the time we used our train money to buy hot dogs?” He shakes his head.

“Bucky blew three bucks trying to win a bear for you,” he says. The brunet rolls his eyes.

“You said you liked it,” he defends himself.

Incredulous, you shove him. “We nearly froze to death!” The memory becomes clearer. You remember the bear. Sure, it was nice, but what was more amusing was watching Bucky attempt to throw the ball while you and Steve laughed your asses off.

Stepping out of the jet, you approach the door. It’s already open. The other Winter Soldiers could be anywhere.

“He can’t have been here longer than a few hours,” Steve mumbles.

Bucky frowns. “Long enough to wake them up.”

Before any of you step inside the dark hallway, you cast a soft whirl of light down it. It illuminates the walls, revealing it to be empty.

Slowly, you make your way through the halls. It’s odd, you remember them as if they were in a dream, haunting yet familiar.

An elevator ride takes you to the lower level, and the moment Steve lifts the cage door, you’re all on high alert. You don’t even take out your bow, opting instead to sling light into the darker corners.

Bucky leads the way, gun trained on any hiding spots. Halfway up the stairs, you hear a sound behind you.

You all whip around, watching as the door creaks open to reveal Howard’s son.

“You seem a little defensive,” he jokes.

Steve doesn’t laugh. “It’s been a long day.”

“At ease, Soldiers, I’m not currently after you,” he points to you and Bucky.

“Then why are you here?”

“Could be your story’s not so crazy. Maybe. Ross has no idea I’m here. I’d like to keep it that way.” So he’s siding with you. “Otherwise, I gotta arrest myself.”

“Well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork.” Steve lowers his shield. “It’s good to see you, Tony.”

“You too, Cap.” He turns to you and scoffs. “Hey, Manchurian Candidate, Lucifer, you’re killing me. There’s a truce here. You can drop…”

You lower your hands first, but Bucky keeps his gun raised until Steve nods in agreement.

From there, Tony leads you. His suit is best suited for it, anyway, with scanners and technology you couldn’t believe existed.

Finally coming to the largest room, you and Bucky hesitate. A lot happened here. You got your wings here. Your memories were torn, one by one, from your mind… here.

You step inside.

“I got heat signatures,” Tony says.

“How many?”

“Uh, one.”

All seven cages light up as you get closer. All five soldiers are inside.

The doctor speaks over the PA system. “If it’s any comfort, they died in their sleep.”

You step closer to one containment unit, wiping the fog away. The man inside is bleeding from the head. A bullet wound.

“Did you really think I wanted more of you?”

Bucky grips his gun tighter. “What the hell?” You stay close to him, turning your gaze away from the soldiers.

“I’m grateful to them, though. They brought you here.”

A small window lights up, revealing the man. Tony fires a blast and Steve throws his shield, but the glass doesn’t budge.

“Please, Captain. The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets.”

Tony circles the stand in the middle of the room. The chair lies at the center.

“I’m betting I could beat that!”

“Oh, I’m sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you’d never know why you came.”

Steve steps closer to him. “You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?”

He doesn’t answer, instead leans closer to the glass to peer at the blond. “I’ve thought about nothing else for over a year. I studied you. I followed you. But now that you’re standing here…”

“I just realized… there’s a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw.”

“You’re Sokovian,” Steve says. “Is that what this is about?”

“Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No. I’m here because I made a promise.”

“You lost someone?”

“I lost everyone. And so will you.”

With that, he clicks a button and a screen lights up. December 16, 1991.

You freeze.

“An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumbles from within? That’s dead. Forever.”

Tony steps closer, deciphering what he can of the Russian words. “I know that road.” December. “What is this?”

———————————————————————

December 16, 1991.

The Angel of Death and the Winter Soldier were huddled behind a tree. Their target was on route, with a valuable serum in his car. Their handlers had told them that, if acquired, that serum could bring HYDRA further into power.

So there they were. You were tucked behind Winter, wings shivering as you waited.

The moment headlights approached and he affirmed that it was the target’s car, you struck. A beam of light popped one tire and sent the car veering into a tree.

A man stumbled out, begging for someone to help his wife. You ignored him, instead heading to open the trunk.

As you checked the items, Winter attacked the man and set his body back in the driver’s seat. Circling around the car, his metal hand barely grazed your primary feathers as he went to deal with the woman.

You grabbed the case and stepped to the side, watching a surveillance camera. Winter joined you shortly, shooting the lense.

And the next morning, the headlines read all about the mysterious deaths of Howard and Maria Stark.

———————————————————————

After the video ends, Tony jumps to attack you and Bucky. Steve grabs his arm, but neither of you run.

He has every right to be angry. He has every right to want you dead. You know he can kill you.

But you can’t leave Steve.

“Did you know?” Tony asks.

Steve hesitates. “I didn’t know it was them.”

“Don’t bullshit me, Rogers,” the billionaire hisses. “Did. You. Know?”

“Yes.”

And he throws a punch at the blond. Bucky aims his gun, but is blown back. Even though you raise a hand, veins beginning to glow, you don’t attack.

Tony doesn’t either. “Get out of my sight,” he demands. Whether he’s sparing you since you saved his friend, or since you didn’t directly kill his parents you aren’t sure. But you don’t move.

Flying past you, Tony grabs Bucky by the neck and throws him against the floor. He stomps on his metal arm, pinning him before aiming his repulsor point-blank at his face.

In a flash, he’s thrown off, and you’re running towards Bucky while firing more blasts. Steve joins in, blocking his friend’s attacks with the shield.

Tony fires a sort of handcuff at Steve’s ankles, immobilizing him before turning back on Bucky. A missile fires, blowing a support beam to bits.

The freezer units come crashing down, and a part of you can’t help but be relieved. Still, you run to grab Bucky before he’s crushed under the metal.

“Get out of here!” Steve yells. You want to protest, but the brunet grabs your hand, racing away as you duck under Tony’s attacks. Slamming a button, the roof begins to open.

“Grab on!” Hoisting yourself and Bucky into the air, you push yourself towards the exit. Not fast enough, though, as you spot a red and gold suit following.

He kicks Bucky from your grip, and Steve barely manages to deflect a blast aimed at the ex-Winter Soldier’s head. The latter runs up to you, hoisting himself up as you strain to lift him.

“Ну давай же! Просто немного дальше [Come on! Just a little further],” you shout. You can feel the wind rushing in, a literal breath of fresh air.

Just one rung away from freedom, the top begins to slam shut. You drag Bucky away as it falls, cradling his head as you tumble down.

He swings a metal pipe at Tony, but is put in a choke hold just as quickly. You charge up a blast, but the man in the suit speaks.

“Do you even remember them?”

You nod. Bucky wheezes out, “We remember all of them.”

They lurch back, with Steve grabbing on and you following as they plummet into a separate area. You land harshly, wincing at the pressure as you help Bucky up. He’s watching the other two as they fight, unsure about whether to help or stay out of it.

He grabs the shield, leaping to drive it into the suit. You follow, bending light into Tony’s eyes to distract him.

The three of you tag-team it, exchanging the shield and moving in tandem.

For a while, it looks like you could win. But then you and Steve get thrown away into a stone pillar, coughing and gasping for air.

The fight moves between Bucky and Tony as the former furiously tries to remove the glowing circle powering the suit. It doesn’t work, and all he gets is a repulsor blast to the chest.

Stunned, he falls to the ground and is blasted away again. Steve gets up in an adrenaline-fueled rush and puts his all into incapacitating his friend as you crawl towards Bucky.

“Hey, hey, Winter.” You divert to the old name on some buried instinct, shielding him from the fighting. He’s bleeding but you can’t find the source. “You’re okay, it’s okay,” you whisper, voice shaking. Steve won’t be able to hold Tony off for long. Not with his tech.

Right on cue, you hear the shield fly and hit a wall, and Steve gets knocked past you. Running a hand over Bucky’s chest, you heal the searing burns and bruises. But every time you heal one, you find two more.

Steve’s on his knees behind you, looking up at Tony. “They’re my friends.”

“So was I.” Tony throws him again, turning his back on you. “Stay down. Final warning.”

Bucky begins to roll over, even as you protest.

And Steve, stubborn as he’s always been for as long as your memory reaches, rises. “I could do this all day.”

Bucky grabs Tony’s ankle as he prepares a shot, but the latter sends a brutal kick to his face. You yell, blasting his back before Steve lifts him over his head, slamming him onto the cold concrete.

He jumped atop him, throwing punch after punch. He eventually manages to break off the helmet, and this whole whole you’re still focused on healing Bucky’s very, very bloody face.

Behind you, Steve grabs the shield, driving it into the arc reactor. But just as he does so, one last blast of energy leaves the repulsor.

You see Bucky go pale moments before the searing pain in your back sets in.

For a few seconds, it’s too much to do anything but gasp silently. But then you scream.

Your wings had never been truly “hurt”. Sure, HYDRA was rough with them, but they were always considered too valuable to be hit or cut, even as punishment.

The pain stretched from wing to wing, rushing down through your shoulders and back. You aren’t sure when you start crying, but Bucky gently wraps you up in his arms as something inside him snaps at the sound.

Maybe it’s the adrenaline, maybe it’s some of the Winter Soldier’s protectiveness, but he whips out a gun and points at both his best friend and the man trying to kill him.

At this point, they’d both separated, watching in fear at how the muscles in your back shook uncontrollably. They held up their hands, trying to calm the man.

“Don’t get any closer,” he warns, casting a worried glance down to you. Your body’s trying to heal itself, but the stress combined with the energy you’ve expended healing him is making it difficult.

Steve kneels. “Bucky, we’re not gonna hurt her.” He turns to Tony, who hesitates before agreeing.

The soldier turns his full attention back to you. Your eyes are glazed over, brain shutting off to compensate for the pain. He curses, lightly shaking you.

“Мне нужно, чтобы ты сосредоточился на своем исцелении, хорошо [I need you to focus on healing yourself, okay]?” he asks, only receiving a weak nod.

You do as he asks, and Steve and Tony watch as the redness and burns on your back slowly disappear. Ten minutes later, your wings have fully healed, but you’re still in agonizing pain.

Bucky looks up, still soothing you, and shakes his head. “This isn’t worth it. If you want someone to blame, blame me.”

“Buck-“ Steve cuts himself off as you groan. He’s right. This isn’t worth it.

Tony eyes the man, analyzing his tone. If what Steve had said was true, then neither of you had control over who you killed. It’s just a matter of whether or not he believes the Captain or not.

Well, as big as this lie was, he can’t recall the last time Steve lied to him. (At least, about something of this importance. Steve was a notorious cheater at Avengers’ Game Night.)

And he can’t help but feel that he owes you for helping Rhodey. Shit.

“Fine. Fine, let’s wrap up this WWE match. We’ll get you all back to the compound… and figure things out from there.” He sighs, partially in frustration and partially because he just nearly got his ass handed to him on a vibranium shield/platter.

At the two friends’ suspicious looks, Tony rolls his eyes. “I’m serious. If anything, it’s just because I owe her,” he says.

Wiping the blood from his mouth, Steve helps Bucky guide you to your feet, carefully avoiding your wings. Tony follows behind, just in case any of you try to pull something.

Your mind filters in and out as you limp through the HYDRA base. The moment you pass one room, though, you halt.

“The files,” you murmur. “Evidence- Tony-“ The billionaire peeks up. “You don’t believe us? The video proof is in there.”

You muster up a ball of light, gathering your strength and heading into the room. The same one you and Bucky had raided a year back. Neither of you had dared to go through the tapes showing exactly what HYDRA had done to you, but if that was what it took for Tony to believe you, then so be it.

Tony scans the room, FRIDAY pulling information and pointing out one box in particular. He grabs it and a few others, hefting them in his arms.

Through the hallways that stayed standing, you leave the base, spotting the man in the cat suit handcuffing the fake doctor. His helmet is off, and he offers an apologetic smile to you and Bucky.

“I would like to offer my apologies. It seems this man-“ He glares at the doctor. “-had it in his best interest to tear us apart. My name is Prince T’Challa.”

You weakly shake his hand. The quinjet bay opens up, and you, Steve, and Bucky head on as Tony and T’Challa stay back to discuss where to go from here.

You collapse in front of a bench, gently stretching your wings out onto the cold, metal, floor. The pain is dull now, yet the ache isn’t fading anytime soon.

“Are you okay?” Steve asks, hand hovering over your back between the wings. He doesn’t want to bring you more pain, but isn’t sure how else to comfort you.

You nod, sighing. When you turn and see his hand, you chew the inside of your cheek.

“You can… You can touch them.” You stretch your wing out and he tentatively sets his hand on the peak. He runs his hand down the back, passing over the feathers with a sort of reverence.

“I’ll have to teach you how to help wash them,” Bucky mumbles to Steve. “She can’t reach all of the feathers.”

Footsteps sound behind you, breaking the comfortable silence.

Tony steps out from his suit, straightening the cuffs on his suit jacket and holding his harm tenderly. He raises a brow at the super-soldier pile on the floor of his quinjet.

“Well, Three Musketeers, let’s head home.”

[itsyaboi-ray]

Can’t stop thinking about a Sunny wwdits au where Dennis, Dee, and Charlie are vampires, Frank is an energy vampire, and Mac is Dennis’s familiar. Ramblings under the cut:

Ok, so Dennis and Dee were aristocrats who, along with their mother, were turned into vampires. (or if it’s possible, I like the idea of the twins being natural-born vampires and they come from a whole family of vamps but idk if wwdits ever confirmed if that was possible. If it is, I’d go with that backstory for Dee, Dennis, and Barbara). 

I don’t know yet what exact age I’d put them at, but I will say they have been banished from almost every country in the world. They can’t go to Ireland because they caused the Potato Famine, they aren’t going back to France after nearly getting beheaded, etc. Them and Barbara eventually fled to America because they used Hitler’s death camps as feeding grounds and didn’t want to be associated with the Nazis (listen, they aren’t proud of doing it, but it was just the most convenient way to get meals, and they’re moral-less bastards).

So they settled down in Philadelphia by Barbara marrying Frank and they trust him to keep their secret since Frank himself is an energy vampire who drains energy by making people work under him (I also think at the time of the show, Frank would be nearing the end of his 100 year lifespan, so he would’ve been born a little bit before Frank actually was in Sunny). But everyone quickly (and literally) grows tired of Frank so they leave him until he tries to reinsert himself into their lives later.

Mac and Charlie were born in the same time period they are in the show and still grew up as childhood friends, just with Mac’s parents raising him to be a vampire hunter as he comes from a long line of them (I imagine in this au, Luther was arrested for murder when the guy he murdered was actually a vampire). Mac is not a very good hunter (despite his claims that he is) and his mom gave up on him being one when he was assigned to kill Dennis but failed and, in a pact to protect his life, Mac became Dennis’s servant and familiar. And, as a reverse of most familiars, the others constantly offer to turn Mac into a vampire since that’s what familiars are supposed to be for, but he always refuses since it goes against his religion and he thinks he’ll one day kill the twins and leave (but all the vamps know he’s too wimpy to so they don’t worry about it). 

Now, Mac had to keep his vampire hunting a secret, so Charlie had no clue about all this monster stuff until one night when he was attacked by a vampire who tried to kill and drink him and who may or may not have been Dee (I’m still deciding if I want that). But Charlie is unkillable, so he survived and was turned into a vampire instead. He still doesn’t know anything about being a vampire, so Dennis and Dee have to help teach him how to be one. 

And thus, all of them come together and buy a bar since, as I saw someone point out, a bar is perfect for vampires as it’s open all night and sad drunk people make perfect victims.

[weirdo19]

My rwarb reading experience

I think Alex has a full blown crush on Henry without even knowing. Like I feel he’s confused about the difference between love and hate.

NOT ALEX FALLING ON TOP OF THE $75000 EIGHT TIER ROYAL WEDDING CAKE. I-

HOW DOES ONE DO THAT

OH GOD ALEX NO, POOR HENRY. POOR CAKE

HAHA IMAGINE BEING THE REASON WHY THERES A THREAT OF A SECOND ENGLISH-AMERICAN WAR BECAUSE YOU AND THE PRINCE FELL ON A CAKE HAHAHA

I love ellen, she’s funny. “ but as the president, all I want is to have the cia fake your death and ride the dead-kid sympathy into a second term” has me rolling on molly HAHA

Stan Ellen Claremont

AHHHH THE PHONE CALL WAS SO FUCKIN CUTE , RUN ME OVER

God why that sweater for Christmas Alex. Just why

ALEX YOUR NOT BEING A DRAMATIC ASSHOLE. You fucking deserve parents who don’t argue on every turn. It’s not your fault they can’t be adults and I get how tiring it gets. YOU ARE NOT A DRAMATIC ASSHOLE.

I just wanna give my baby a hug, poor Alex.

Wtf is a noogie 👁👄👁

I’m confused, does Alex know he’s gay or bi. Because he can’t not know that. ITS SO FUCKING OBVIOUS

NOT THEM DANCIN TO GET LOW

NOT ALEX FORGETTING THE CONFETTI CANONS

Oh god, poor Henry. My man really just watched his crush kiss someone else

AHHHHHHH THEY FUCKING KISSED, OMGGGGGG FÜCK YES

HOW THE FUCK DOES ALEX THINK HES STRAIGHT, YOUR THE FARTHEST THING FROM STRAIGHT.

ALEX PLS TELL ME HOW YOU THPUGHT YOU WERE STRAIGHT AFTER KISSING YOUR BEST FRIEND FOR AN HOUR ON HIS TWIN BED. HOWWWWWWW YOU DUMBASS

Eeeeeeeeeee Alex just called Liam. Idk how this is gonna go but let’s see.

I’m losing my shit at Henry humming god save the queen so his boner can go away. I can’t stop laughing.

He has diagrams, oh god he has diagrams.

AHHHHH ITS THE ICONIC LINE

“I’m very, very gay” is my new fav quote

I don’t like this friends with benefits thing, it makes me want to bash my head in.

HAHA OMG HENRY CALLING AMERICA THE OFF-BRAND ENGLAND IS EVERYTHING TO ME, ITS SO ACCURATE

I love the karaoke bar scene it’s cute

“Bisexuality is truly rich and complex tapestry” is such an iconic line and i fucking agree

Page 202 is so adorable I might puke

I’m going to fucking THROTTLE LUNA

I’m so fucking glad Alex has Henry. I love them so much

I love zahara, she’s is so funny and such a mood.

I can’t stop laughing, not a fucking PowerPoint. I fucking love Ellen

“Exploring your sexuality: healthy, but does it have to be with The prince of English” slide has me rolling on molly. This is so funny

I’m weeping, the letters 😖

Page 264 and 265 should be illegal and not okay. I’m crying my eyes out.

Alex going to see Henry has me crying

Chapter ten should not fucking exist. That bitch broke me.

Okay maybe i forgive Casey for the beginning of chapter ten since she gave me the V&A scene. “I’m taking a picture of a national gay landmark, and also a statue”

YAYYYYY WE GOT THE LETTERS BACK

I’m about to beat the crap out of Philip

I take my forgiveness back, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT SCENE WITH ALEX AND RAF. 😭

I-, page 322. That’s it that’s all I have to say

I SWEAR TO GOOD PHILIP IF YOU DONT SHUT UP IM GOING TO MURDER YOU IN THE MOST BRUTAL WAY THINKABLE

YES HENRYYYYYY IM SO PROUDDDDD, TELL IT TO HIM

Omg zahara and Shaan high fiving because they had sex is the greatest and funniest thing ever. It gives me Jim and Pam vibes from the office

“I’ve been gay as a maypole since the day I came out of mum, Philip” AND THE CROWD GOES WILDDDDDD

The world wide support has me bawling my eyes out

YES MOMMA CAT, QUEEN SHIT

STAN ELLEN CLAREMONT AND CATHERINE FOX-MOUNTCHRISTEN-WINDSOR

Omg the mural, I need someone to draw that scene pls

I swear to god if Richards doesn’t get his ass thrown in jail I’m gonna throw some hand ✋

AHHHHH THE SPEECH AHEHEHE HER NDNDBRB AHHHHHHHHHHH

Ughhhhh okay fine, I forgive Luna

So what your telling me is that Jeffrey Richards is basically trump

June saying “I majored in nouns” is so fucking funny

Also can we talk about how Liam and Alex are okay, LIKE YAYYYYYY

SHE WON FUCK YES, STAN THE TWO TERM PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ELLEN CLAREMONT BITCHES

AHHHHHH I JUST FINSHED IT AND ITS PERFECT, I LOVE THIS BOOK SO FUCKING MUCH

[amerrierworld]

Babysitter (pt 9)

Thor (Ragnarok) - fanfiction

Pt 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 

Summary: A Loki interlude.

Characters: Hela, Loki

Word Count: 2,111

Warnings: Idk, swearing?

Loki was incredibly annoyed at the current situation. 

He’d woken up on a random, clunky spaceship with a pounding head and a bruised neck. He remembered the world going blank and being quite certain that he’d been dead until, frustratingly so, his lungs gasped for the most painful breath he’d ever taken. 

A janky pirate ship had snatched him from floating in space amongst the debris, stripped him of his armour -no doubt to sell or melt down into other knick knacks- and left him in the back amongst the cargo. They’d presumed he was dead, so when he had woken up, they had a bit of a shock. 

Not a word was comprehensible, Loki couldn't understand whatever gibberish language they spoke, so he ignored them and shuffled to their food supply. That got him a whack on his back from a whip and a kick to the back of the knees. 

Trying to take back his armour also earned him a few bruises. They didn’t seem very dangerous, but quite a nuisance. 

Amongst the cargo he found familiar debris that struck an icy chord inside Loki. There were piles of Asgardian clothing- ripped and filthy, but Asgardian nonetheless. Bags with very few belongings, and metal scraps of the ship they had been on. 

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the remainder of the ship of refugees was probably lost. When the pirates began to beat him again for rummaging through their stuff, a rusty old pipe amongst the stolen goods helped quiet them down immensely. 

With his kidnappers knocked out, Loki scarfed down what measly rations they had and set course for Earth at light speed -well, the closest speed they got to light speed which was more like a quick paced jog. 

He tied up the crew and tossed them in the back, and lounged in the cockpit as the ship traveled on autopilot, picking scraps of food from between his teeth. 

Communications on this ship were absolute garbage, he concluded. There was barely any signal and he couldn’t figure out where the closest planet was. So, he took a nap, ate some more food, and tried not to think too much about the harrowing experience of Thanos choking him to death.

Hours later, they entered a very familiar atmosphere. Loki let the ship crash-land, grabbed a bag of few supplies and hopped out just before they hit the ground. 

He marched on through the thicket of trees where they landed. Angry shouts that were no doubt curse words echoed from the smoking ship as he left them behind and tried to gather his bearings. 

An old cabin was the first building he saw. With a rusty dagger at the ready, he inspected the home around the back, looking for a vehicle he could take, something to get him moving faster than his legs, when suddenly a high pitched shriek nearly shattered his eardrums.

A young girl, no older than six, was staring at him with big brown eyes. Rain boots covered in mud, an aged stuffy in her hands. Loki put his finger to his lips, dreading that he was going to have to kill the girl before she gave him away or screamed bloody murder. 

“Daddy! There’s an Avenger in the yard!” she sped off towards a shed, where there was a light on inside. Loki’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. Whatever outcome he was expecting, this was by far the worst. 

“I’m not- fuck.”

He shoved the dagger away and out of sight and stomped towards the shed, fuming with annoyance. He was about to go off at the man for letting his daughter talk to random strangers and how he certainly was not an Avenger, but the man in question had a large saw in hand and about 200 pounds of muscle to carry, so he snapped his mouth shut. 

“Oh, hello there,” he said, his daughter bouncing about the workshop. “What brings one of you all the way out here?”

“And where exactly is out here?” Loki asked.

“Canada! What, you superheroes never been to Canada before? Always hanging around New York, eh? Are you taking a trip or something?”

“No. I, uh, crash-landed here.”

“From space?” the girl piped up, gawking.

“Yes, from space,” Loki said through gritted teeth. “Fighting angry aliens.”

“I told you, Daddy! He’s a hero!”

“I bet you’re trying to find your way to America, then? Lord knows why, there’s all kinds of weird things happening around town nowadays.”

“What do you mean?”

“Half the world’s gone! Poof! Just like that, some alien business I bet.”

“Are you going to save us from them?” his daughter asked again. Loki sighed.

“I’ll try my best. Now, can you please show me how to get to New York as fast as possible?”

The lumberjack’s husband took Loki and his daughter in his jeep and drove a merry long way to the nearest airport. On the way, the little girl asked him all sorts of questions about the Avengers, that he could only half-answer.

“Is it true Thor is super powerful?”

“Well. He's not that powerful. He just uses a hammer. Anyone with a hammer can use it as a weapon and suddenly be considered powerful.”

“I wish I had a super powerful hammer. Then my brothers would stop teasing me so much.”

“Hey,” her second father softly scolded.

“They’re mean!”

“Sibling feuds? I know the feeling,” Loki muttered.

“Do you have siblings, Mr. Avenger?”

“Sure do,” he smiled wryly. “Absolute bullies.”

“Me too!”

“Hey now, let our guest settle down a bit,” her dad said. “She gets a little excited around new people, so sorry.”

“It’s no problem.”

“The local airport’s just up here. It’ll take you to Detroit, and then you gotta get a connection flight to New York.”

“Thank you,” Loki said, genuinely.

“Why are you going to New York, Mr. Avenger?”

“To find my siblings,” Loki sighed. “At least, one of them should still be there.”

“But they’re mean to you?”

“Yeah,” Loki pondered as the car came to a stop. “But they’re family. I suppose.”

-

A few cunning lies and disguises later, Loki was suddenly landing in New York, amidst chaos. It had been a few days since he’d woken up, and apparently a few days since what they call the ‘Blip’. Humans clearly don’t like having their realities altered. 

Your home was abandoned. Alfred didn't even greet Loki at the door, and no amount of pulling and prying opened it for him. The lights were off, and he feared the worst.

It wasn’t until he was in the streets and overhead muttering about some crazy goth lady terrorizing a nearby street that Loki thought he had finally found something.  

He marched down the street until, to his surprise, he found Hela sitting hunched on the side walk, scowling and daring anyone to come close to her. She looked incredibly tired and disheveled, but her eyes were clear and angry, and recognized her idiot brother immediately. 

“What the hell brought you back here?” Hela snarled. 

“A toddler’s wisdom, if you’ll believe it,” Loki said, ignoring her glare as he sat down next to her. 

“You look like shit.”

“Thanks. So do you.”

Hela grumbled. 

“Have you eaten?”

“Since when did you become Mother? I don't need your help.”

“Really?” Loki picked up a filthy scoop from a pile of three ice cream tubs that were fully devoured. He dangled it from his fingertips for a moment, pulling a face. “I think you do.”

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

“Glad to see you too, sister.”

Silence. Hela really did look like shit, Loki noted. Her hair was mussed, and there were rips and broken pieces in her armour, reminiscent of the time they’d met. She had to be weak not to bother fixing it with her powers, or was just too preoccupied to even think to fix it. 

“Where’s Y/N?” Loki asked. 

“Beats me.”

“Did you kill her?”

Hela’s eyes snapped to his, a sudden fire in them. “How dare you say that?”

“Well, her home is abandoned and no one answered the door, and you’re here  cowering like a criminal. One makes conclusions.”

Something changed in her expression, and she turned her body to face him. “Abandoned?”

Loki frowned, “yes. Didn't you know?”

“No- I.. I’ve been here, the last time I saw her...” 

Hela jumped to her feet, nearly kicking Loki in the process. “That bastard, he took her, didn’t he? Him and his awful, forsaken pieces of shit he calls friends.”

“Who?”

“Our darling brother,” she spat. “He came in and- and threatened me, and then took her from me.”

She paced in front of him, green fire trailing behind her heels, hot with anger. She had expected you to come find her, take her back to your home, make her feel safe. But when you never came she had assumed you had abandoned her. Now, knowing Thor had taken you instead, filled her with rage.

“Where does your little posse hang out, hm? Some supposed secret lair? A great big castle in the sky?”

Loki blinked at her, at her sudden outbursts, at the scared glances from passerbys, and didn’t know what to say.

“Fine then, I’ll get her myself,” she growled, turning away from him. 

Loki nearly let her walk away, let her walk into whatever doom she was getting  herself into, but with a groan and a mad realization, he knew she was the only one he could rely on right now.

“Wait,” he said, reluctantly, hurrying after her and grabbing her arm. “You can’t just go running off. Tell me what happened.”

Hela spat at his feet. “I don’t need to tell you anything.”

“You care about her, don't you? Y/N? Why else would you want to ‘rescue’ her from our brother?”

“Be silent,” she hissed.

“No, no, I’m right, aren’t I? You care for her, but you messed up, and now you have no one on your side. That’s why you left, and that’s why Thor had to take her.”

Hela yanked her arm away before Loki could see her face, but he knew what she felt; remorse, and loss. 

“Tell me.”

And so, reluctantly, knowing she had no other choice, Hela sat him down, this time on an actual park bench rather than the ground. She told him what had happened, how her mistrust had turned to affection for you, and how Thanos had destroyed everything in the end, and how the Avengers had fought her out of fear.

“I know the feeling,” Loki agreed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, watching an elderly lady feed a bunch of pigeons as if nothing drastic had happened to the world the past few days. 

“And now I don't know where she is, and she probably hates me, but who am I to blame her for that?”

“If I know anything about Y/N, is that she cares about everyone, but it takes a lot more to win her love. She doesn’t hate you. She’s just afraid. I mean, you did after all break her window and run off into nowhere.”

Hela stayed quiet, made an annoyed sound in her throat, and looked away.

“I’m starving, how did you get all that ice-cream? Why not an actual meal? Or were you just eating your feelings?”

“Y/N doesn’t like it when I kill people, so it was either massacre the street or steal their dairy products,” Hela bristled. 

“Fair enough.”

“Now what, hm? You come out here, seemingly from the dead, chastise me for messing up, and now judge my diet? What do you really want, Loki?”

“Not sure, to be perfectly honest,” Loki said. “I thought I was dead, and then I wasn’t. Frankly, my priorities are shifting.”

“And what is your current priority?”

“Getting you back to Y/N so you stop moping around and fix this.”

“And how do you suppose we do that?”

Loki grinned, standing up. His armour shimmered and regained its full glamour; horned helmet and deep green cloak. 

“Taking notes from me, are we?” Hela grumbled. Loki glared at her.

“I was wearing this look long before you got here. Now, get up, we’re going to infiltrate the Avengers and give you your romantic happily-ever-after so you stop being such a pain in everyone’s neck.”

“You think we’ll just be able to get in? You really are as mad as Father was.”

“I’ve broken into quite a few places over the years, I’ll have you know. I’m the God of Mischief after all.”

“Am I supposed to be impressed?” Hela stood, her own armour strengthening again. 

“Shut it.”

A/N: Loki is not dead! I know he’s technically alive in an alternate universe or whatever.. but I wanted the Odin Trio to be together sooooo here we are. Let me know what you think!!

taglist: @midnight-lestrange​​ @cheerfullyvenomous​ @germansarechill​@gaylorrds @amii-nyc​ @waitingfortheendtocome​ @novakitten0901​@marvels-writings​ 

[savebatsfromscratch]

WHUMPTOBER DAY NINE - You're really joking at a time like this.

-

Prompt: Presumed dead / (blind) rage / tears

-

Title from a Bo Burnham song. (Can't remember which.)

THIS IS LITTERAL CHAOS, I'M WRITING CRACKFIC PRETENDING TO BE ANGST-

TWs: Swearing, death mention, violence

This should have been yesterday's lol.

Another perspective test~

An au of two Hetalia AUs stacked onto each other.

Basic rundown is, the states (my ocs, if you don't like to read oc stuff don't read this) think that America is dead, but actually he's just been dipping out on being important. (Massachusetts is important, idk why he just seems like he should be.)

My California character is a bird hybrid don't ask.

The glasses are Texas in canon if y'all remember. (And so he is connected to them in a way.)

Words: 1,874

Note in case you somehow missed it: This is actually a crack fic, but I'm entering it anyway.

“What the fuck?” Hissed Massachusetts, standing so quickly his chair nearly toppled over. ...he didn’t pay it any mind though, instead choosing to stare directly into his nation’s eyes. Brown meeting blue and boring straight through them. “What the fuck did you think you were doing away for so long?!” On his left, Washington D.C. stood, face drawn back in a scowl as his glasses slipped a centimeter down his nose. (And on the other side, California growled, feathers fluffing up in anger.)

America scratched the back of his head awkwardly, obviously noticing the daggers being glared at him. “Wow, has it been that long?” (In the corner of his eye he caught Hawaii holding Alaska back from decking him.) “I didn’t realise.”

He paused for a moment, noting the New York’s eye twitching, her own friend, her nation no less, had betrayed her! But instead of taking the rather obvious hint, America simply continued, in his own carefree way of course. “But if he’s swearing, “ he tipped his head to Massachusetts, “It must really have been a while!”

“No shit!” Called Hawaii, arms still wrapped around Alaska, who was obviously trying to break free without hurting her. She leaned in to whisper something in his ear (to calm him down by the looks of it) before continuing, “I can’t believe you’re joking about this! You abandoned us!”

“There aren’t exactly two of you.” Alfred pointed out, debatably rightfully. (Even if it did cause Alaska to start violently struggling again, and California to literally jump onto the table in anger.)

“Well-” Hawaii spluttered, obviously taken back by the response she had received.

Thankfully for her however, New York seemed to have the perfect one ready. “That’s no good reason to let us think you died! We cared about you! You were our friend!”

“Most of us anyway.” Muttered Texas, southern accent muffled further by the hat he was talking into. (He was leaning back in his chair, hat over his face, probably in an effort to not go into some sort of rage.)

America was unfazed by all of this (If a bit amused by the small slap Texas received for his daring to speak up.) so he just continued, “Well, I’m back now, so whatever you all were doing while I was gone can end, go on a vacation or something?” He glanced around the room, taking in several tired faces and a few injured arms and legs. “You look like you need it.”

“Oooh I wonder why.” Texas hummed, waving his hand in the air for a moment before reaching to take his hat off his face, “I wonder why you think you look so great in comparison to us.” his eyes glowed in anger, “Would it be the two year long vacation you went on?”

America opened his mouth to retort, but California cut in before he could. “Without telling any of us mind you. Like, if you had told someone, I’m sure we would have been okay with it.” He shook out his wings, and, with a nod to Texas, finished up his statement, “Most of us anyway.”

America rolled his eyes, which caused at least two previously uninterested states to jump to their feet.

“Alfred,” hissed Washington D.C., a thin veil of politeness covering the whirlwind of emotions that burned inside him, “I want to remind you that we thought you had died.” He pointed angrily at the nation, “Really died, not some sort of recoverable feat either.”

“We grieved you.” Pointed out New York, her voice clipped as if she regretted it now. (And America noticed that instead of retorting, Texas simply nodded to her.)

“Yeah!” Agreed Hawaii loudly, who now appeared to be the one struggling to hold onto Alaska, instead of him struggling to get away.

America’s face suddenly fell, as if he had just realised that he had fucked up. He looked to the other side of the room for help, only to see Nevada shake her head at him. (And if she had given up on him, then that meant that there really was not one immortal here that would be happy to see him.)

He took a shaky step back, eyes wide with fear as he saw more and more of his former friends face’s turn unreadable, inhuman eyes glowing with every emotion at once. (And he was sure his certainly were too.)

But, before he could make it out the door and into relative safety, Alaska broke out of his girlfriend’s grasp. (But if America had been paying more attention to the two of them, he would have seen that it was not Alaska who escaped, but Hawaii who fully endorsed whatever he was going to do.)

A cracking of glass split the air.

America looked up in fear, suddenly knowing for sure what a bad time he was in for. Alaska kicked aside America’s knocked off glasses, face blank even as Texas flinched in pain behind him. He was too busy seething with rage, and by the look of the murderous expression of Hawaii’s face, she was too.

Alaska didn’t speak, simply dragged America to his feet, blue eyes unreadable as Hawaii slowly creeped forward. A chair scratching against the floor as New York drew herself to her feet. (And another creaking as Texas covered his face with his hat and leaned back once more, an invisible smile dancing on his lips.)

“I can’t believe you!” Hawaii finally yelped, jerking forward to knee America in the stomach. (And as a bonus, because she had put her entire strength into it, the attack caused stars to dance over America’s eyes. Pain spiked through him as his own friends turned against him.)

“I can’t believe you either!” he coughed, curling in on himself the best he could without Alaska choking him. (The silver haired state was holding him firmly by the collar.)

California scoffed and jumped off the table, wings spread slightly to assert himself better. “You’re the one who let us think you died.”

America growled and tried to charge at him, but Alaska only tightened his grip, pulling the nation back. “He’s right you know.” The man whispered threateningly, his other hand poised to punch his nation if he even dared to fight back. (But unluckily for his bloodlust, even America wasn’t that stupid.)

“You did do that.” New York mused, dancing out of the way of America’s burning gaze as she shut the door to the room, “But of course you already know that, considering it’s a gross enough thing to do that we’ve brought it up five times or more already.”

California snickered as Massachusetts called across the table, “And we’ve hardly even gotten started beating you up yet!”

Across the room Nevada nodded, “I agree, but would like to add that y’all are completely free to speed up the process.”

A dark look flashed across New York’s face as she took the words in, and with a quick glance at Hawaii, and receiving a nod in response, she reached out to kick America. Catching him neatly behind the knees before stepping back for Hawaii to dive at him.

As all this was happening, Massachusetts was quietly conversing with Washington D.C., asking if it was all alright with him that they beat up the man he had slaved over sending search parties out for. Of course, Washington D.C. only laughed in response. (But adding a nod and a wave of his hand as a way to signify that his laugh was a way to say, “Go ahead, I don’t give a damn.”)

But that was all Massachusetts needed to take revenge for his sadness, and, walking calmly around the edge of the table, he began to brainstorm exactly how hard he was planning to punch out his former friend’s teeth.

Back to the present, Alaska had let go of America, in favor of Hawaii’s urge to roll on the floor in a wrestle with him. Watching humorlessly as his two allies duked it out on the carpet. (Only stepping in when America got Hawaii in a chokehold. And only when the nation began to laugh at her weakening attempts to free herself.)

Hawaii gasped for air as her boyfriend pulled the nation off her, teeth grit with anger as he lifted him off the ground. The woman laughed to herself as she got to her feet, crossing her arms to stand next to New York. (Noting the way that the others had all stopped to watch Alaska choke their nation. All except Massachusetts, who now seemed to have his mind set on decking Alfred to the ground, even if it meant taking Alaska with him.)

And that’s exactly what he did.

America let out of painted grunt as Massachusetts crashed into him, not paying mind to the rather offended yelp Alaska made as the three went down. More quickly than not however, the brown haired state jumped to his feet and lifted his foot above America, stomping down just a hair away from the nation’s face. (Thanks to his quick thinking in the learned tactic of “rolling to the side.”) What Massachusetts had failed to calculate however, was that if he missed with his stomp, he was going to have stepped rather hard on Alaska’s arm instead of crushing America’s face beneath the soles of his dress shoes.

“Ow! What the fuck-” Alaska yelled, letting go of America long enough for his to scramble away, “Who are you attacking here?!”

As Massachusetts halfheartedly apologized, California was catching America in the face with a swift slap of the wing, catching him right before he ran out the now open door.

Grunting as he hit the ground, America inwardly wondered how letting his friends think he was dead for a maximum of two years had caused them to start trying to kill him once he finally showed up. But, now doging New York’s foot instead of Massachusetts, he curled in on himself.

“Pull his hair!” Someone squealed excitedly, and in response to their ask, it had to happen.

However, as Hawaii lifted the nation into the air. (By his pretty blond hair of course.) Massachusetts and Alaska were getting into a bit of a fight. (One that was being encouraged by a very amused Texas. Who had taken his hat off his face to watch Alfred get choked a few minutes ago.)

So, as America’s eyes were streaming from the strain to pull against Hawaii’s hold, he suddenly had his escape written for him.

“Whoop!” Hawaii, eyes wide, suddenly let go of America, tripping over the now screeching mess that was Alaska and Massachusetts. (Wrestling with each other in the effort to release their pent up rage.)

America scrambled to his feet, and, noticing that literally no one was looking at him (in favor of asking if Hawaii was okay or attempting to pull Alaska and Massachusetts apart), he darted out the door.

. . .

A while later.

. . .

“Hey,” asked Washington D.C., loud enough to stop the remaining fighting happening in the room, “Where’d he go?”

[crystalstar8]

Knights of the Night (ch 11)

Chapter 11

Ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5, ch 6, ch 7, ch 8, ch 9, ch 10, ch 11

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139240/chapters/71536491

pairing: Jungkook x oc

genre: vampire au, college au, twilight, romance

word count: 2,054

warnings: blood (obviously), kidnapping, child kidnapping, needles, France

notes: vampires, vampire au, college, college au, so many twilight references, blood, needles, kidnapping, children, homelessness, dance, ballet, flashbacks, romance, slow burn, probably no smut, idk yet tho, France, French things, attempted genocide, inaccurate French history, bisexual main character, @strawberriewithchocolate-blog @mozy-j  @daechwitad-2​ @zobadak​​

summary: Catalina starts college in a small town all the way across the country. She doesn’t know anyone and isn’t exactly looking for friends. She just wants to focus on dance. But when she meets fellow dance major, Jimin, and adventurous, fellow freshman, Jungkook, Catalina ends up discovering a whole new side to the small college town; one that is dangerous but oh so enticing…

tw: France, attempted murder, death, it’s a vampire story so...

               When Catalina and Jungkook came back to the rooms wrapped in towels, hand in hand, everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and stared.

               “Did you guys fuck in the hot tub?” Jimin asked, breaking the silence.

               “Jungkook! That is irresponsible and inappropriate!” Jin screeched.

               “We didn’t fuck in the hot tub!” Catalina yelled over the chaos, trying and failing to contain her laughter. “Everyone calm down.”

               “We were just about to do some slumber party activities,” said Taehyung. “I got us some popcorn from downstairs and I heard of a game called spin the bottle-“

               “Or we can just talk,” said Jimin. “I want to hear about you guys, since you’re immortal and all.”

               “And we can braid hair,” said Taehyung. Jimin giggled.

               “Well, we’re gonna go change first, then we can do whatever you want,” said Catalina.

               After changing into some warm clothes, everyone gathered into the room with the largest floor space and sat around wherever they could. Catalina was sat on the ground in front of Taehyung, who was braiding her hair. Jungkook sat beside her, close enough for their arms to brush every time they moved.

               “So, what happened out there?” asked Jimin. “Give us the deets. I know I said not to go find him, but it looks like it went well.”

               “It did go well,” said Catalina. “We made up.”

               “And made out,” said Jungkook. Catalina elbowed him, but he just laughed.

               “Yeah, we…” Catalina felt breathless again as she looked over at the boy making her heart flutter. “Yeah.”

               “I mean, I don’t think we need the deets,” said Jin.

               “Yeah, I’m more interested in you guys,” said Jimmy K, pointing to the four vampires. “You guys have been around a while. You must have plenty of stories.”

               “Sure! What do you wanna know?” Hoseok said with a shit eating grin on his face, leaning back on his hands. Namjoon, who was sitting beside him, swatted at him.

               “Oh please,” he said. “You’re practically a baby.”              

               “He’s right,” said Hoseok. “I was born in 1973. Turned in ’95. I’m still not used to the whole ‘no aging’ thing. Definitely not used to living with people who are literally hundreds of years old. That’s a trip.”

               “How did you get turned into a vampire?” Catalina asked him.

Hoseok completely ignored her, turning to Namjoon and saying, “Yeah, tell us your story.”

               “I-she…” Namjoon stuttered, pointing at Catalina. Then he sighed and said, “Well, I was turned when I was twenty-three. The year was 1580. I guess I should give some history. So, during those times, there was a lot happening in Europe to the vampire community, specifically in France. This was called The Great Hunt, but it definitely wasn’t great for a lot of people. The vampires living there at the time were being relentlessly hunted and killed, rounded up and tortured. It was a massacre, and it led to a lot of vampires leaving the country and travelling the world to get away from it. That’s how I met Pierre. He escaped the hunt and fled, ending up all the way in northern Korea. I lived in a seaside village, mostly working on the water. One day, I ended up in a swampy area of the shoreline and my boat got stuck. Then this ghostly man came out of the water and sat on a rock. I had never seen anyone like him in my life; he was unnaturally beautiful and pale. I ditched my boat and swam to him, I couldn’t even control myself. We talked for a while and he told me about where he came from and then he bit me. He was going to drain me if it weren’t for the search party arriving, looking for me. He ran away and my fellow fisherman took me back to the village. I was half dead, but his venom was already doing its work. The transformation was excruciating. It felt like my veins were on fire, my head felt like it was going to explode, my jaw ached like someone was prying my mouth open, and it went on like this for days. Finally, when it stopped and the pain went away, I had this uncontrollable thirst. I could hear people’s hearts beating. I could taste their heat, just by being near them. I ended up killing three people in my village before I was captured. They were going to behead me, but I was stronger and faster now, so I got away easily.

                “I was on the run for so long, but eventually, I made it out of the country. I ended up in Bangladesh-“

               “How?!” Jin interrupted. “That’s…that’s all the way across China!”

               Namjoon shrugged and said, “I was fast and I never got tired. I was able to feed off of people along the way, as long as I kept moving. Anyway, I ended up by the ocean, the Indian ocean, and I met another vampire there. She worked on a ship and offered me a job. She turned out to be a pirate, and the crew was a mix of vampires and humans, all working together. We sailed the sea, taking ships and feeding from their crews. It was dirty, living like that. And it wasn’t how I wanted to live my life, so I left them and lived in India for a few years. Then one day, I took a boat to America and built my house in the mountains, using the riches I had from my pirate years. From there, I spent my days studying and getting degrees, learning as much as I can about everything.”

               “That’s incredible,” said Catalina.

               “So cool. I can’t believe you were a pirate,” said Jungkook. “You just don’t seem like the type.”

               “It was mostly about the community,” said Namjoon. “A lot of vampires were drawn to piracy during those times because they felt safe together. We couldn’t engage in regular society because the French were still hunting us across Europe and even into India for a while. But on the water, no one could touch us. But you’re right, I wasn’t the type. I didn’t like the bloodshed and pillaging and the dirty lifestyle, so I left as soon as I felt it was safe to live in society again, which was right around the time the Renaissance period began.”

               “That’s when I met Adrianna,” Taehyung said quietly behind Catalina. He had finished the braid and was tying a hair tie at the end.

               “Who Adrianna?” asked Jimin.

               “The vampire who changed me,” he said. “Ah, she was incredible. I miss her every day still.”

               “She’s not around anymore?” Jimin asked.

               Taehyung shook his head. “When we moved to the United States, the town we lived in found out we were vampires and they were going to lynch us. I got away, but she didn’t.”

               Jimin crawled over to him and gave him a hug.

               “I’m so sorry,” he said.

               Taehyung pouted and said, “It’s okay. It gets easier over time, especially now that I’m making new friends and doing things again.”

               “How did you meet her?” Catalina asked.

               “She found me in Korea. She was travelling the world, avoiding the hunts in France and Europe, and she ended up there,” Taehyung began. “I was only about sixteen at the time. I was painting and doing calligraphy for the royal family, but most of my time was spent on my grandma’s farm. She raised me so I wanted to help her out as much as I could. Adrianna found our farm and we let her stay with us, since she seemed unwilling to go into the town. She didn’t speak Korean at the time and I didn’t speak French, so we couldn’t talk much. She taught me French, and once I got decent at it, I taught her Korean and we became close friends after that. She stayed with us on the farm for a few years, helping with the chores and everything, and teaching me different art styles. She was an incredible painter. I found out she was a vampire one day when I saw her sneaking out of the house at night, so I followed her. She went into the village and drank from someone, hypnotizing them so they couldn’t remember. I told her I would keep her secret.

               “After my grandma passed away, I sold the farm and Adrianna took me to France. The hunts had ended and people were becoming more interested in art and science. We lived well in France, staying in a big house and studying under great painters. I even got to see the grave of Alexandria the Annihilator.”

               Namjoon, Yoongi and Jimmy K all gasped.

               “No way,” said Namjoon.

               “What was it like?” asked Yoongi.

               “Was her sword really on display there?” asked Jimmy K.

               “How do you even know who she is?” asked Taehyung. Jimmy K just grinned. “Anyway, yes, her sword was there. It was so big! It even looked like there was old blood on the blade. It was in a glass case, resting on a bed of her real fur capes.”

               Namjoon and Yoongi both erupted into a chorus of “so cool”s and “I’m so jealous”s.

               “Okay wait,” Jimin interrupted. “Who is Alexandria the Annihilator?”

               “Yeah, she sounds awesome,” said Jungkook.

               “She was,” said Jimmy K. “I did my history thesis on her. She was a famous vampire who led the resistance in France against the church. She saved hundreds of vampires by hiding them and smuggling them out of the country, but she also killed thousands of humans. She was slain in the early 16th century, ending the resistance and the hunts for good. Her lineage still lives though; she supposedly had a daughter with a human man, but it was in the midst of the resistance, so her daughter was smuggled away, kept in hiding for a long time. No one knows if she was a human, or a vampire, or something in between, but she’s said to still be alive today.”

               “Anyway,” Taehyung continued. “Adrianna and I lived in France during the early 17th century, so almost a hundred years after all that bad stuff. We had a lot of fun together. I had a little dog during those years, Yeontan, and I got to learn all about vampire history and culture. I wanted to be a part of it, and I wanted to be with Adrianna forever, so I kept asking her to turn me. She kept reminding me that immortality becomes a curse if you’re alive too long, and that I should wait to make a decision like that. We studied philosophy together, and I learned about life and death, and what our purpose was on this earth, I learned about critical thinking and how to form arguments. And when I was in my early twenties, I asked her again to turn me. I gave her a proper argument and everything. And she did.

               “And then, during the 1800s, we came to America and she…” Taehyung trailed off, his smile fading. “And then I was alone for a while. But then I travelled west, met Namjoon, and have been living here ever since.”

               “Were you and Adrianna lovers?” asked Catalina. Taehyung shook his head.

               “No. We loved each other dearly, but I was in love with her. I think she might have been gay though,” he said. “She liked to dress as a man when we travelled, she called herself ‘Adrien’ when she did. Or maybe she might have been trans. Well, either way, she wasn’t interested in men.”

               “She sounds like she was a very interesting person,” said Jimin.

               “She was,” Taehyung said with a small smile.

               Catalina then automatically turned her attention to Yoongi, hoping he’d share his story next. Apparently, everyone had the same idea, because when Yoongi looked up, he said, “Why are you all staring at me?”

               “Aren’t you going tell us your story next?” asked Jimmy K.

               “Oh, it’s really not that interesting,” Yoongi said with a wave of his hand. “I don’t even remember it.”

               “Oh, you’re so funny,” Hoseok said with a laugh. “He’s lying.”

               Yoongi let out a deep sigh and sunk into the couch he was on.

               “Where to start?” he asked. 

[praphit]

F9: What does Absurdity even mean anymore?

Due to COVID, I thought that my last movie theater experience was going to be "Bad Boys For Life". I'm happy to say that if I died today, I would be telling souls in Heaven that "F9" was the last movie I saw on the big screen (I'm sure that films are big talking points in the after life).

There weren't too many people there:

There was a woman coughing in the corner; I barely looked at her. I imagined that COVID was mugging her, and I didn't want to be a witness, and so have COVID come after me next. I'm vaxxed, but still I was thinking of ways to distract COVID, so I could enjoy the film. There was an old couple sitting up front (like REALLY OLD... sitting UP FRONT... Ha! that's awesome). Awesome or not, I was going to point them out if COVID came after me. There were two obese kids sitting a few rows behind me that I could also point out, as well as my friend that I was sitting next to... what?? Look, they would ALL want me to escape, so I could bring my "F9" review to the people!

WHAT??!

Let's not talk about my survival skills, let's talk some Vin & the Fam - that's why we're here!

It took a while for me to remember what was going on:

Dom (Vin), Letty (M. Rod), and their... kid? Oh, right, they have a kid, and they moved on to start a new life together. 

Didn't the real mom die or something?? Idk. You've got the British lady from "GOT" still hanging out with Luda and Tyrese. 

(they so crazy)

"Hobbs and Shaw" are still gone 

(making their own money, cuz bleep family!). 

Brian (Paul Walker's character - rip) is apparently, now everyone's babysitter. So, if anyone in this gang, who could die on any of these missions, ever have kids, they can just send them off to Nanny Brian's. 

There's a dude named Mr. Nobody who sometimes sends the gang on secret spy missions.

Oh, and people in the gang keep coming back from the dead. Boom! We're caught up with this absurdity. That's actually what I asked for when I got to the movies 

"Give me one ticket for Absurdity please."

In this batch of the absurd, we find out that Dom has a brother, and he's John Cena (Jakob). 

Charlize Theron is back! That must have been the worst bet that she has ever lost. I consider her to be one of the most underrated and underappreciated actors we've got, but movies like these ain't helping that case.

And who's idea was it to give her that haircut? - part of the bet she lost, I suppose. 

It was reported that the gang goes into space (at least two of them do). 

Annnnd the X-Men Jet is back! 

(it really does look like that - Wolverine included)

Seriously, after the X-Men's last two movies (which were turrrible), I was expecting them to crossover for a fresh start. Why not?? They're a spy team now, that goes to space! - nothing should be off the table.

They're looking for two halves of some... war sphere?? If put back together with some key... idk... John Cena rules the world.

Remember when Vin and the gang were all about street racing, money, survival, and brown booty? - those were simpler times!

But, why discuss the plot? Seriously, why? None of it makes any sense. From Dom and Letty living like Amish people (which is an ending worse than death for action heroes) 

to their convoluted explanation for bringing the latest person back from the dead (which reminds me of a married couple, when the husband or wife get caught watching porn, and try to explain that it was just a pop-up that came out of nowhere. The other spouse gulps their glass of wine and plows forward - that was me with this - gulping my soda (with a lil Henny) saying "whatever guys, let's please just move on".

and  what's going on with the two brother's is a thin thread at best. AND the villain's motivation...  

But, it's foolish to get into that., and take points off. I LOVE THESE MOVIES, but it ain't for the story. Let's grade "F9" by its own standards:

Racing, Action, and Family (they graduated from booty to family):

Racing

They've done the racing in a small city thing before, but this time it's with magnets! - SUPER MAGNETS!

YES!

I loved this! Cars are getting sucked into magnets. They're using them to make people fly away and explode. Which btw, they did my man Francis Ngannou wrong (an mma fighter). There's a fight scene with a giant white dude on top of a speeding vehicle. That giant white dude could have and should have been the role for Francis, instead he's just here to say high, and then blow up. As much as I loved these scenes, they were too quick in some areas. I think if they had slowed some of the magnet stuff down a bit, we could appreciate more what's happening.

Action

M.Rod is legit. 

She needs her own franchise. The only action star I enjoyed more than her was Vin, and that's really due to the absurdity of one scene. Do y'all remember the "Civil War" scene when Captain America has one hand on a building and another pulling back a helicopter?? 

It's the same level of strength needed for what Vin does in some underground chambers. You can see a bit of it in the trailer. He pulls the whole place down, and then, just like in "Civil War", he ends up in the water (but unconscious). Oh, and he does this after beating up like 50 people at once. Ha! I love it! Then, how he is rescued (cuz c'mon, he can't die) is splendidly preposterous, and I mean that is a complimentary way. That scene is perfection.

The only action that bothers me comes from Dom's sister (mia). 

She just doesn't sell being a fighter, but whatever. No disrespect... she’s beautiful, but... her hair might weigh more than the rest of her body.

Apparently, the highest trained fighters (agents) in the world (who have GUNS) never trained for a unskilled, unprepared, 110 lb woman in her 40's with a frying pan.

Family & Corona

Tyrese and Luda are always funny, but their act is growing a bit thin. It actually felt like an act this time around. I think it's time to add another black man in the mix; perhaps one who's older than they are... TRACY MORGAN?

Throw an OG in there and it'll freshen things up again. I do like though how Tyrese is starting to suspect that they might be immortals. I think they should test that theory out in the next movie; maybe have Tyrese break the fourth wall, kinda like Deadpool, as he realizes this is just a dumbass movie.

Dom and Letty's kid... terrible. I'm sorry! This is a bias of mine, but kids normally suck at acting. This one is no exception. Just get an older actor to play the young kid. I'm thinking Ryan Reynolds would have been a good choice.

You may be saying "that's absurd!" - I'm glad that y'all can still tell what that word means, cuz I can't.

The rest of the chemistry family magic is great!

Oh, and Cardi is here, but... barely (for like 30 seconds, if that). 

No rapping, no wapping, no cursing... kind of a waste of Cardi B, if you ask me.

John Cena aka Jakob with a K!

Meh. JC def has charisma, just not in this movie. He doesn't stand out at all. You know?? - The Rock, Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, etc all have a presence about them in this franchise. Cena?! what happened, buddy?

There are certain music artists whom you'd think would have a great personality based off their music and how they dress. But, then you meet them, and you realize that they're just normal bozos like you and I (only rich and famous). And normal bozos like you and I, AT TIMES can be boring. You gotta have some flair if you're not going to have personality. Give my man some pink glittery highlights, a face tat, some vampire teeth, and maybe a chainsaw for his left arm or something.

Grade: Good action. The absurdities were funny. I was entertained! Production was great! BUT it's getting tired, my friends. It's the same formula that I've mentioned and then, like always, they're grilling and drinking Corona's in the sun. After nine movies (with at least two more on the way)... I never thought I'd say this, but it's actually not absurd enough. Wait... I seriously can't believe I just said that.

I need to say that again to know it's real.

This movie wasn't absurd.. enough? ENOUGH. IT WASN'T! They're going to need to step it up for the next two.

They were in space, but not for long. They raced for the most part in regular cars (regular for them). . You only brought ONE person back from the dead??! C'mon! We can do better.

I'm giving it an entertaining C+

I like that we saw different younger Dom's (during flashbacks) through time. I think that the next type of vehicle they bust out should be a DeLorean.

Y'all feel me?? TIME TRAVEL, baby! 

Vin and the gang race through time! They can have Tracy Morgan. They'll each have a younger version (or older) of themselves join the group. Cardi B will actually do something this time - maybe turn into a car! 

And maybe Cable shows up as they tie it to Marvel.

Think bigger, Vin!

[traincat]

Hey so, why is it that so many,when talking about johnnys sexuality, keep using the word gay? Idk maybe im just damaged from all the bi erasure in other fandoms and in canonically queer characters but while there's a lot that implies johnnys attraction to men, that doesnt exactly negate his - albeit limited- attraction to women. Like i ofc want us to get an out and happy johnny but as a multisexual guy, I would hate to see them do what they did with iceman and just go for the Gay label, y'know?

Same anon as bi erasure one. I want to add that obviously i have nothing against gay people or gay rep, im just tired of how queer ppl (men in particular) get treated like we're all gay when theres such a wide spectrum and fluidity to sexuality, you know? Usually in comics we get shoved to the back with crap like "morally inverted tony stark fucks women AND men" or morally gray/evil characters as being promiscuous enough to sleep with all genders which... obviously sends a rather nasty message

I think I have to start this one off by saying the very obvious, which is that I am not in charge of any Marvel property in any way, shape, or form, and I really have no control over their decisions in the slightest. We’d be reading very different Spider-Man comics right now if I did. I also have no control over how other fans choose to think of Johnny Storm. In short:

I know that, personally, I have gone back in forth in how I think of Johnny’s sexuality, but that recently, while doing Fantastic Four readthroughs specifically focused on Johnny, I’ve said I think he’s gay and not bisexual because I think I’ve made a pretty good case that his attraction to women has by in large been written, whether intentionally or not, as performative, uncomfortable, or, at its mildest, just really awkward, ie not sincere in its presentation. I’ve talked about the myth of playboy Johnny before and how the point where it starts in canon is important. I also have a really long post about my personal thoughts on the decades and decades of queercoding where Johnny is concerned and how I came to my own personal conclusions on what I think about his sexuality and the writing trends that led me to this specific conclusion.  

I’m not erasing Johnny’s bisexuality because as far as Marvel has stated on the matter so far, at the time this post was written, Johnny is heterosexual. Even his brief sexual affair with Daken is subtextual, not hard canon -- Marjorie Liu has commented that it was written with that intention in mind, but it’s certainly possible to read the Dark Wolverine storylines Johnny appears in without a personal belief that they were fucking, because it’s not hard canon. (And if we want to talk about Marvel’s messy history of problematic bisexual representation, I personally think Daken “early appearances erotically asphyxiating a hookup to death” Akihiro is a pretty prime example, especially compared to the evil Iron Man orgy.) I think it’s interesting compare Johnny to Bobby -- something I do in the latter post linked above myself -- because, like Bobby, I think there’s a lot to dig into in Johnny’s canonical relationships with women that lend themselves well to this subtext, something I think it’s significantly harder to do with characters like, say, Spider-Man, specifically because of how those relationships were written. Which isn’t, in my opinion and from my standpoint, discounting those relationships entirely, but rather viewing in them in an alternative light. What I’m saying with Johnny specifically is that I think it would be harder to cast doubts about his genuine romantic or sexual attraction to women if there were fewer panels of him cringing away from being kissed by them. (They’re in the Johnny relationship history post. There’s a lot of them.) I also think it’s interesting that there are several out of main continuity universes that feature deeper dives into Johnny’s sexuality -- my go-to is always the incredible Startling Stories: Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules, a mini-series dedicated to the lives of a fictional “real” group of people who inspired the Fantastic Four, where the Real Johnny is a teenager dealing with his sexuality in stifling ‘50s small town America. But I’m also not objecting to anyone’s personal read on Johnny as bisexual instead of gay, because, again, neither of these reads are canon at the moment, and also I really don’t want to get into the deep waters of fictional character sexuality discourse. It’s just my personal read on the character and I think I’ve previously made my case on why pretty well.

[sharkinlovewithadolphin]

Tag game

Tagged by @died-by-the-scimitar thank you!! :D 1. what is the color of your hairbrush? shaft is made of bamboo wood, the brushes themselves are black

2. name a food you never eat: uhhhh idk, I’m quite picky, especially with the texture of food, so if the texture is gross and it’s too big to not chew in, i will usually try to avoid eating it. 

3. what were you doing 45 mins ago? watching an old try guys video

4. what’s your favorite candy bar? I don’t really have any

5. have you ever been to a professional sports game? Yes, a football game when I was 9, and I hated every second of it lol. I really want to go watch a handball game, though. 

6. what is the last thing you said out loud? “Nå” (means like.. “well then” ish) 

7. what is your favorite ice cream? chocolate, vanilla, caramel 

8. what was the last thing you had to drink? water

9. do you like your wallet? no

10. what is the last thing you ate? An ice cream 

11. did you buy any new clothes last weekend? no

12. what’s the last sporting event you watched? I mean my mom watches the eurogames in football right now, so every now and then I watch like 1 or 2 minutes when I pass the living room, but the last game i sat down and actually watched was men’s handball earlier this year. 

13. what is your favorite flavor of popcorn? just... salty? lol

14. who is the last person you sent a text message to? a friend a few hours ago, telling her i would start charging her after she wrote that she lived rent free in my head 

15. ever been camping? nope. I think I want to try it though

16. do you take vitamins? no, but I should (especially d-vitamins, considering how low my numbers have been since.. always), I got them lying around and everything but I sort of just don’t take them 

17. do you regularly attend a place of worship? no

18. do you have a tan? nope

19. do you prefer Chinese or pizza? it really depends on my mood honestly, either is usually neat

20. do you drink your soda through a straw? no, i don’t drink soda and i don’t use straws 

21. what color socks do you usually wear? black or white, but i also have some pastel colored and fruit motive ones 

22. do you ever drive above the speed limit? not intentionally lol, but i do catch myself accidently driving a little too fast (usually never more than 5-15 km/h above, and i always slow down once i notice).

23. what terrifies you? life. failure. the future. death of my dog. being stuck unable to reach goals

24. look to your left, what do you see? The side of my closet that’s covered in fandom and art postcards from redbubble 

25. what chore do you hate most? dishes, changing the sheets, cleaning the bathroom, taking out the trash

26. what do you think of when you hear an Australian accent? g’day mate + harurinralia 

27. what’s your favorite soda? i don’t drink sodas anymore, but if i should it’s usually a wannabe cola or something citrus fruity ish

28. do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? I don’t go to fast food places, but if i did i would go in

29. what’s your favorite number? 4

30. who’s the last person you talked to? my mom

31. favorite cut of beef? i don’t eat beef often, and i’m not sure what this even means lol 

32. last song you listened to? Lewis Capaldi - Don’t Get Me Wrong 

33. last book you read? Reading tipping the velvet right now, last book I finished was Romeo and Juliet I think

34. favorite day of the week? Also saturday

35. can you say the alphabet backwards? no

36. how do you like your coffee? I don’t like coffee, the smell on its own is.. nope

37. favorite pair of shoes? Don’t have a favorite. I used to love my black converses, but my feet are more happy with my current sketchers. 

38. time you normally get up? usually never before 7 (after school turned virtual for most of my last semester and i also stopped having morning shifts at work), and lately not before 9 

39. what do you prefer, sunrise or sunsets? i love both, but i think i prefer sunsets, just ‘cause they’re easier to catch and (as you said, Fra) more colorful in terms of purple and pink etc.  

40. how many blankets on your bed? one and my duvet, but I have 2 blankets across my bedframe since its made of metal and my bed is up against the always-cold wall towards our apartment stairs. 

41. describe your kitchen very typical early 2000s danish style, hasn’t been updated in 20 years (except for my mom painting the walls a pastel pink), but not like in an outdated-ugly way i think

42. describe your kitchen at the moment. some papers on the table, bread (packaged), and my mom’s figures and stones collecting dust

43. do you have a favorite alcoholic drink? I don’t drink alcohol either eeeeyh

44. do you play cards? no, but I used to love it when I was a kid, mainly go fish

45. what color is your car? I don’t have one, but my mom’s is silver

46. can you change a tire? I’ve never tried it, but I think I got the idea and might be able to should I ever need to. My mom’s husband usually changes them on her car. 

47. your favorite state? I’m not american, never set foot near america, BUT i think i like alaska, west virginia, and such, just for the environment (as seen through pictures)

48. favorite job you’ve had? I quite liked cleaning at private homes (of people I knew), which I’ve done a few times before. I work at a store right now (and have been for 3 years), though that is far from something I want to continue, to put it lightly. I got a job as a mentor (helping kids with homework and such), but I’ve yet to get any mentees, so I still can’t quite say much about it :/   Tagging: @hamykia @dandelionmeadow @nenufair @pilarsalazr @spacewitchqueen @happensweet @scimitar-and-longsword @ladyzeia @nicolosfaith 

[thewhizzyhead]

yay!!! friend-friends!! :D

and... *sigh* rant time.

please note that I have never watched or listened to this musical, nor do I ever plan to, as I find it very offensive to me and my culture. everyone can have their own opinion, of course, and my opinion should not be considered representative of the entire Vietnamese community as a whole.

(also, major suicide, war, racism, and death tws)

jsjdjf please do not attack me for this

let’s start from the very beginning. the Wikipedia summary of Miss Saigon states that it tells “the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover.”

... okay. okay. first off, that’s just. that’s the basic Wikipedia summary of the musical. and, well, it. doesn’t make me particularly thrilled. It’s also stated that Miss Saigon is based off of the opera Madame Butterfly, a racist and stereotypical piece of media set in Japan (I can’t remember what time period.) this means a couple of things, but to me it kind of means that they didn’t particularly do as much research on the actual experiences of vietnamese people during the Vietnam war as much as they should have.

so the musical basically centers around Kim, a 17 year old girl who works as a prostitute in order to get by. she falls in love with an American soldier who’s name I legitimately do not remember, and falls in love. they both fall in love with each other, but then Saigon falls, America pulls their troops out, Kim is left in Vietnam with soldier-dude’s child. soldier-dude is in despair in America, gets married with another lady, later goes back to Vietnam to find Kim. upon realizing soldier-dude is married to another lady, Kim is in despair, blah blah stuff happens idk what though, and then Kim kills herself so that her son can be adopted by soldier-dude and brought to America for a better life.

... yeah. okay sure. sure, this has it’s roots in true stories and experiences. but. but really, out of everything else, they had to use this. it paints south Vietnam as a victim, and while this war is complicated, with 3 sides (north, south, and America), they barely focus on the fact that the south is fighting to save themselves, too. pretty much every viet character in the musical hates themselves for being Vietnamese (apparently they actually say in the musical that the Vietnamese “think only of rice and hates entrepreneurs”) and the goal of pretty much everyone is to leave and run to America.

oh and also one of the Viet characters calls Vietnamese people “greasy chinks” which. Uh. hello???? what???

god I hate this musical so much. how many people watched it and cried and though they were having an educational experience??? before I was born, my dad actually was attending protests against Miss Saigon, as were many of his friends.

let me just say, if the world’s largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam is protesting it... there’s probably something wrong with the musical.

ugugugjghhfh I hate it so much. and then. and then. they sold shirts with Ho Chi Minh and the communist flags on them, and really? selling that stuff as merchandise at a musical about south Vietnam and the effects of the Viet Cong.

anyways. yeah. that’s. that’s the general gist of it I guess... not to mention some of the yellowface casting and ughhhh I don’t really have the energy I need any more but god I hate. this. musical.

haha I’ll go before I say something *too* controversial... I’m just tired of everything these days and I just- this really isn’t the best representation of the Vietnamese community and hhh yeah.

-🍵!

woah holy shit... i didn't know miss saigon was um THAT bad holy shit. all i knew about it was that this musical made lea salonga very famous (which um yea as much as i admire lea i personally believe that vietnamese actors should be the one playing these roles because duh vietnamese story but that's just my opinion) so um wow hearing about this shocked me. from what i'm understanding from what you said, it seems that the musical has some white-savior-ish undertones? like um moving to America and leaving Vietnam the overall goal of the characters that, like you said, hate themselves for being vietnamese is rather yikes... and then selling that kind of merchandise on order to promote the musical is um very tone deaf of them fjdjdjd this was very interesting to read tho tea anon!! Thank you for educating about this and if I'm ever gonna research about Miss Saigon musical context and controversies someday then I'm definitely gonna keep these in mind!