#like girl i get that maybe you think that seeing homeless people on the streets ruins your aesthetic (SARCASM) but those are people's lives

[comas-are-for-sleeping]

every day i feel myself becoming a little more pretentious and i HATE MYSELF for it

[perfinn]

you're out of touch, i'm out of time

aegon ii targaryen x reader

wc: 3.3k

summary: you have a tendency to pick up strays, but when you pick up the king of westeros (who was supposed to have died hundreds of years ago), things begin to get a little complicated

cw: NSFW, f!reader, aegon being a creep (shocker), aegon being deeply pathetic (also shocker), aegon is drunk or possibly hung over, attempted sex (aegon begs for a handjob but doesn't get one)

masterlist, read on ao3, divider by saradika

You’ve always been too nice. You’re aware of this unfortunate fact, though you staunchly refuse to admit it’s a weakness. Has this trait left you without necessities from time to time because you gave them to someone who needed them more? Yes, but you sleep better at night knowing that that homeless girl had sturdy new shoes, even if you had to walk home barefoot. You can always handle a bit of discomfort if it means improving someone’s day marginally. It’s not as though you’re without any sense of self preservation– you know when to say no, or when to walk away. When someone is out for their own self interest, or just plain dangerous. 

You’re smart about it. Mostly. Sometimes, though, your sympathy gene takes over, and you approach the danger because you feel there’s more beneath the surface. So far, it hasn’t put you in any troubling positions. Still, first time for everything. And as you stand on the edge of the pavement, toes of your shoes swinging down into the gutter as you sway back and forth, you wonder if you’re about to break your successful streak.

There’s a man in the busy city street, raving and desperately trying to get someone’s attention. Usually, he’s the type you’d regretfully ignore for your own safety, but he seems different. He doesn’t seem like the usual King’s Landing crackheads. He’s dressed too nice, for starters. Strange, yes, but still nice. In fact, it looks to be better quality than anything you own. And he’s young– which isn't uncommon in this situation, but it always makes your heart ache when they’re young. 

He looks desperate, terrified, and as another person ducks their head and walks past him, you feel yourself moving toward him. You don't know why. Maybe because you know if you leave now, you’ll not sleep tonight for the sheer guilt of passing him by. He spots you making your way over and turns to you, seeming to hope against hope that you’re going to acknowledge him. 

“Hi,” you say in a calm, even voice. It's a tone you’ve gotten quite good at. You’re not professionally trained by any means, but these things generally come with the territory. “Let's get you out of the road, okay? You could get hurt.”

“What the fuck are those things?” He demands of you as a car stops to let you take him across. You wave your thanks to the driver, who looks mildly disgruntled, and take the young man gently by the arms to get him onto the pavement. “Where are the horses?”

You know he must be confused, so you’re gentle with him. “There's no horses,” you say, still holding his arms as he finally looks away from the disappearing car and into your eyes. He looks so deeply afraid, but you notice he does take a moment to look you over. You let him, trying to see the best in him and hoping it's just curiosity. It doesn't matter right now anyway, you tell yourself. “Are you okay?”

“No!” He snaps. “Course I’m not bloody okay! Where am I?!”

“You’re in King’s Landing,” you say. “Let's get you somewhere quiet, okay? Are you hungry?”

“This,” he laughs in disbelief, looking around. “Is not King’s Landing, I know what King’s Landing looks like!”

“Okay,” you nod. “I believe you. Let's go sit down, I’ll buy you something to eat.”

The man looks at you with what you think is an offended scowl, but the offer of food does seem to intrigue him. “And wine?”

“No,” you say, and he deflates. 

He scratches at his chin, but nods in agreement. “Yes, fine.”

You smile, a bit of relief easing the worry in your ribs. Sometimes people won't cooperate, or they’ll turn you away when you say you won't buy them booze or give them money outright. This young man seems to be content enough without wine, so you wave your hand and lead him down the road toward the nearest fast food joint. 

He follows behind you, panicked eyes still looking around as though he's never seen the world before. It's not wonder, but something close to anger, indignation maybe. You make it to a diner you like, opening the door for him. He's clearly astounded by the ugly cacophony of colours inside, but you can't blame him. You don't come here for the aesthetics. 

“Go sit down?” You tell him gently, framing it like a suggestion as you point to your favourite booth. He scowls, but does as bid. 

The teen behind the counter takes little notice of your strange company. It's King’s Landing, he's probably seen something ten times as strange already today. Once you’ve paid, you join your new stray, sitting down across from him and folding your hands on the table. 

“So, what's your name?” You ask him, and he looks away from the bustling street outside the window to stare at you in what you assume is disbelief. 

“What’s my name?” He echoes, leaning slightly over the table. “Are you serious?”

You blink. That’s… not a question anyone’s ever been mad at you for. You learned quickly which questions to steer clear of to avoid pissing people off.

He scoffs, leaning back in his seat and tapping a dirtied fingernail against the peeling surface of the table. “Aegon,” he says, almost experimentally. Like he's testing the waters. 

You nod politely, and tell him yours.

He stares at you. “Nothing? Aegon? You’ve not heard the name Aegon?”

“Well, of course I have,” you say, confused smile pulling at your lips. “It's a common enough name. I think I knew a guy in school named Aegon–”

“You have been to school?” Aegon asks, eyebrows shooting up and a laugh spilling from his mouth. He leans back, dragging his hands over his clammy face. “Have I been drugged?!”

You’d put serious money on that being a resounding yes. 

“This is crazy,” he says, leaning forward again. He says your name slowly, glancing around before his eyes land on you. “Can you tell me what's going on?”

You bite your lip, thankful when the cashier calls out your order number. You rush to get up and get it, fearing you may be way out of your depth this time. He talks like he’s never seen the world before, and his comment about you having gone to school… none of it makes any sense. You’ve never even had the thought of dropping someone off with someone who’s better equipped to handle problems of this magnitude, but Aegon has you really considering it. When you return with the tray of food and set it down, Aegon has the specials menu in hand and is squinting at it. 

“I got you what I usually get,” you say, setting the tray down and placing his wrapped burger in front of him, leaving the fries on the tray. “Aegon, I want to help you, but I’m at a bit of a loss.”

“That certainly makes two of us,” Aegon says, unwrapping the burger curiously. “What meat is this?”

“It’s beef,” you tell him, unwrapping your own. He watches as you take a bite of yours, and he nods as though in satisfaction before taking a hefty bite of his. “Aegon, I want to understand what’s going on in your head. Can you just…”

You’re not sure how to say it, really. It’s invasive, and you don’t want him to feel like you believe he’s crazy, or lying.

“What’s your deal?”

He chews slowly on his burger, eyeing you suspiciously. “My deal,” he echoes, lips turned down in a scowl. “Is that I’m the King of Westeros.”

You nod slowly, biting into your burger so you don’t have to answer right away. You hope if you stay silent long enough, he’ll feel compelled to keep talking. 

“King Aegon,” he says slowly, like you’re the deluded one. “Aegon Targaryen, Second of His Name, Protector of the Realm, all the rest. Are you serious?”

You swallow your mouthful and nod. You’re not particularly well versed in history, but the titles ring a bell. It’s some sort of messiah complex, you’d wager. Trying your best not to seem dismissive, you pull out your phone. “Let me see,” you say. 

“What’s that?” He asks, leaning forward and trying to snatch it from you. You move it out of his way, yelping softly in contrition. 

“My phone!” You say. “I’m just looking you up, Aegon.”

“You’re what?” He says, looking horrified. “Give me that!”

“Dude, no! Let me just–” You stand up from your seat to be out of his reach, hurriedly typing the name he’d told you into the search bar. “Look, I know the name Targaryen, that’s the Conqueror's name!”

“Yes! Aegon the Conqueror!” He cries. “You’re finally making sense!”

“What? No, I mean Daenerys!”

“Who!?”

“Aegon, sit back down!” You snap, and he pauses in his pursuit of your phone, stunned into silence by your firm tone. Slowly, he returns to his seat, picking up a fry to eat it. 

“Only because I want to,” he says childishly. 

You frown at him, shaking your head before looking back at your phone as it pulls up the results for your search. 

‘Aegon II Targaryen, also known as Aegon the Elder, was the sixth Targaryen king to sit the Iron Throne, succeeding his father, Viserys I Targaryen, as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms.’

The search pulls up a picture as well, one of those terribly done paintings from the dark ages. It’s hard to say whether the Aegon in front of you looks much like the one in the painting, but he does have the same pale blonde hair and violet eyes. He’s a lot more pathetic than the portrait, too. He has the qualities of a wet cat, and you hate that it’s somewhat endearing. When you keep scrolling, you find a painting that can’t have been contemporary. This is a more detailed portrait, likely from half a century ago, where Aegon is covered in burns and lies dead in a carriage. 

You look up, meeting the wary eyes of the confused but un-burned man before you, and slowly sit back down. You know that he isn’t actually the king from nearly a millennium ago, but there’s an uncanny quality about him that makes you want to doubt the logical truth. His clothes, for one. You don’t know many homeless guys with such fine embroidery on their clothes. And there’s his features… you know them to be Valyrian, but rarely does anyone still pop up with the stark blond and violet irises. You remember well enough from your high school history classes that the Targaryen dynasty had those features.

“What does your little brick do?”

You blink, looking down at it and pulling up the contemporary portrait – part of you tells you not to show him the other. He scowls at it, but nods. “Seven hells, that’s not flattering. Where did you get this miniature? You have this and yet claim not to know me? What game do you play?”

You sigh. He truly doesn’t understand, does he? 

“Aegon, what year do you think it is?”

He rears back and regards you with more suspicion. “129 AC,” he says.

“And what were you doing before this?” 

“I will not tell you that,” he says. “You’re one of Rhaenyra’s spies, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know who Rhaenyra is,” you say softly. “I’m sorry, Aegon, I’m not a history buff.”

“History–” He stops, and goes deathly silent for a long moment, as though the whole situation is finally processing for him. You wonder if it’s the stench of wine that hangs off him explains his slow processing. “What year do you think it is?”

You tell him the year, even tack today’s date on for him. He stares are you, and you can see his brain buffering yet again. 

“Seven hells,” he murmurs. You find you share a similar sentiment. 

He picks up his burger and begins to eat it slowly. He’s silent for a long while, eyes seeming far away as he contemplates. You try not to stare at him, but it's no easy task. 

“This is going to sound crazy,” he says after a long while. “But I believe I may have travelled… through time.”

“I’d say so, yeah,” you respond. At this point, it's the only explanation. You’d usually say something about eliminating all the impossible options, but that just doesn't work here. Time travel is impossible, or it should be. And it's possible Aegon is just suffering from a deeply intense messiah complex. But that doesn't seem right. Your instincts haven't led you wrong before, you’re not about to ignore them now. 

“What am I going to do?” asks Aegon.

You want to tell him you’re going to try to find a way to get him back to his own time, but you’re struck once more with the image of him burned and twisted, dead in a carriage. How can you send him back to his fate knowing his grisly end?

You take in the man in front of you, this historical figure you’d never heard of until five minutes ago, and bite your lip. “We’ll figure it out,” you promise him. “You… can stay with me until we do.”

That’s probably dumb, and you’ll probably regret it. But not more than you would regret leaving him out on the streets.

“I suppose,” sighs Aegon like he’s spoiled for choice. You get up to ask for a bag for your food, glancing back as Aegon chews sadly on his burger. 

You get Aegon back to your place, and he wanders into the flat ahead of you. You watch him go with a soft huff, rolling your eyes. If everything else hadn’t convinced you, his attitude is proof positive that he’s from the past. He has all the entitlement of a prince and none of the consideration of those around him that modern men have (sometimes) gained. 

Your flat isn't much, two bedrooms and mostly paid for by your university. You had a flatmate for a time, but their sudden withdrawal left you without anyone and the school doesn’t seem to have noticed. Aegon can stay in the empty room until you figure him out. 

Aegon’s standing in your living room, staring in wonder at the decor you’ve collected over the course of your degree, at your television, maybe he’s just looking at all of it. He’s turning in a slow circle, eyes narrowed. 

“This is very nice for a commoner. Very strange, but it is not… disgusting.” He pauses in his assessing, looking between you and the ridiculous tapestry you purchased one night after far too many drinks. “Who is this man?”

“Oh, he’s this guy from a movie,” you say, not really processing that he won’t understand what a movie is. He stands there, dumbstruck, while you go to put your leftover food in the fridge. 

“A what?”

“Just… don’t worry about it. There’s going to be a lot for you to take in, but with any luck you won’t be here too long.” You come back over to him, taking him in. He looks out of place standing here in his king’s threads. “Let me get you something to wear.”

“There’s nothing wrong with this,” he says, shifting and taking in your clothes. “Where is your father? Your husband?”

“My father is in my hometown, and I don’t have a husband.”

“You live without a man?” He eyes you suspiciously. “A whore?”

“Okay,” you say, gently grabbing him by the shoulders and walking him over to the sofa. “Sit here, I have some men’s clothes lying around. Do not move.”

Aegon huffs, rolling his eyes and sitting back with folded arms. You wonder, as you go into your room to find something for him, if he’s heard the word ‘no’ very much in his life. It wouldn’t seem that way, but sometimes the way he reacts to you telling him off leaves you thinking otherwise. He’s a bigger mystery than you’ve ever faced, but something tells you he’s worth it.

You emerge after a while to see him flicking through the book you’d left on your coffee table, frowning. He looks up when you enter, setting the book down. “Your home is peculiar,” he informs you. 

“I know,” you say, handing him the soft clothes you’d found. “Student housing is kind of a lottery. You can get changed in the spare room, if you want. I’m going to go shower. If you get hungry, your leftovers are in that big white box there, okay?”

“Yes, yes, whatever.” 

You watch him enter the near-empty bedroom and shut the door, heaving a heavy sigh before you go off to your own room. You don't shower. Instead, you pull out your computer and set out to learn all that you possibly can about Aegon. 

What you learn twists your stomach into knots so tight you feel that they would trap the nausea that grips your throat from escaping. Aegon was no saint, no, but what you find is that his life is steeped in tragedy. If he believes himself to be king now but remains unburned by his cousin’s dragon, he must be near the end of his life; but the worst of his troubles have yet to begin. 

It is strange to think of the pathetic and bratty man in your flat as growing into the role of a king, if one could say he ever did. He seems nothing but a lost young man, unloved but for the power he afforded his Hightower family. 

The reports on him are so extensive and exhaustive that an hour has passed before you realise you haven’t been disturbed. You get up from your desk, wondering if Aegon has somehow wandered out of your flat and back onto the street.

When you open the door, you’re greeted by the sight of your kitchen cabinets strewn open, and your cheap bottle of vodka now empty on the counter. Aegon is sprawled on your sofa, cradling a novelty ceramic beer mug you won in a pub quiz in your first year. 

“Seven hells,” you mumble, going over to him and snatching the cup from him to be met with his whining protests. You sniff the cup, nose scrunching in disgust at the acetone-y smell. “Not even a mixer…”

Aegon looks up at you, trying to reach for the cup and whining your name. At least he changed into the sweats. The King’s Landing University jumper rather suits him, actually. 

“Please,” he says, looking even more closely akin to a wet cat. He seems on the verge of tears. “You’re pretty, do you know?”

“I’ve heard,” you say, setting the cup down on the coffee table and turning to him.

He grabs your wrist, tugging you closer with surprising strength considering how sloshed he is. “You’re so pretty,” he whispers. He almost sings your name. “Will you get me off?”

“Wh- Aegon!” You snap, tearing your wrist away. “No!”

“Please! Just your hand, you’ve got such soft hands!”

“Aegon,” you hiss. “No. You’re drunk. Even if I wanted to, that wouldn't be okay. You don't know what you're saying.”

Aegon pouts at you, falling back against the sofa and letting out a soft hiccup. “That doesn't make sense.”

“Maybe not in your time,” you say, grabbing him a blanket and laying it over him. “Gods- just- just try to get some sleep, okay? We’ll talk in the morning when you're fully sober.”

“I’ll die before that,” he says, snuggling up to the soft blanket with a ridiculous cartoon of a wolf on it. Another of your decor purchases you thought would be hilarious in the moment. You grab his cup and pour what’s left of the vodka into the sink before gathering up your remaining bottles and vowing to take them to the cabinet in your room with a lock. 

“Maybe. But if you vomit on my carpet, you’ll be paying the cleaning bill, your grace.”

part ii

[lunamochii]

Caelus — x fox!freader

contents; overstimulation, ooc Caelus(i think), grammatical error, wrong spelling… etc,,

reblog with tags and feedback are highly appreciated!

Dubbed as one of the people who saved your planet to danger, it was amusing on seeing him enter the establishment you’re working for.

“My my, why is a person like you in such places?”

You approach him, fingers trailing on his arms, your tail brushing past by his thigh. You heard him chuckle and look at you with his golden eyes

“To meet you, ofcourse.”

The smile on his lips that he have showned you was the start of your taking a liking to him, day after day he would come and ask for your company only. Men are known to come here everyday to seek company to different girls, yes, you work in a brothel. It was quite hidden so it was quite a schock seeing Caelus lingering around that day.

“Don’t you get bored with my company? There are other girls who are quite more entertaining..”

You ask. It’s not like you hate being with him but you just can’t help but wonder why, that day was your first time meeting with him. So, him saying ‘to meet you’ it is as if that he have met you before

Caelus look at you and bring you closer to him, arms wrapping around your waist as he began to kiss your ears. Blushing at what his doing, you decided to peak at him and his eyes is already looking at you

“With you is where I feel comfortable. I knew that when I saw you being gentle with the kids.”

You blink at him and remembered you once played with some kids on the streets, they were homeless and were always wandering. Then one day, one of the children told you that they found a place for them to stay. That a man payed for them.

“Caelus you…”

The man before you just smile and gave you a kiss on the cheeks

“It nearly cost me all of my savings just to get them say your whereabouts.”

You can feel your tail swaying softly on the back, you look at him and place your hands above his chest

“And? Were you disappointed when you saw it was a brothel?”

The only time he felt anger was the thought of someone touching you aside him.

“No, more like I want to take you out of this place. Say, why not? Come with me for a night and you can decide.”

His playing with your hair and you immediately agreed, it’s not like you have something to lose. Caelus smiled brightly and quickly carried you. You were telling him to put you down but he won’t budge. Both of you went out the building with you on his arms, you were basically hiding your face. Too embarrassed to let the people see you.

“Wow! I can see the stars from here! Oh my, your place is beautiful!”

Caelus watch you in happiness and his so glad that he found this place, he knew you like watching the stars. Plus, your eyes shine brighter when you’re happy.

“Really? I got some help from Himeko on acquiring this place though, she told me she would deduct my salary.”

You turn to look at him, a woman’s name. There’s still so much of Caelus that you don’t know.

“Himeko?”

Your voice so low that Caelus is glad he has a good hearing skill. Maybe he should thank March 7th since he adjusted to her screaming voice when it’s early in the morning.

“She’s like a person who takes care of me. You jealous?”

He smirk at you and you were a blushing mess

“Jealous?! Me?! O-Ofcourse not..”

You covered half of your face and he only just laugh as he sat down on a sofa, he extended his arms out while looking at you

“Won’t you want to be the only person who would take care of me? Hm?”

You bit your lower lip and went to him. Getting in between his legs, his one hand slip inside your robe, as he use his other to bring your face close to his as you both shared a heated kiss.

You opened your eyes as soon the kiss ended and you let out a moan when he trail his kisses from your neck down to the center of your chest.

“I want everything of you.”

Caelus, ever since he was brought to this world the first thing he did was fight. Up until he arrived at your planet, meeting you was a refresh from him. Is this desire that Dan Heng told him? If so, he desires for you, he desire for you to touch him, kiss him, love him, leash him. He just wants to be with you. Every second and minute.

He push you down on the sofa and quickly loom over you. He have this dark blush as he continue to shower your neck with kisses

“Taste so good…”

His fingers are working miracle as he rub and pinch your clit, your voice is uncontrollably loud. Pulling your robe down, he can finally see the two beads he wants to see. Pulling his one hand away from your clit, your breast was covered with your wetness as he began kneading them at the same time.

“C-Caelus— hnng~ to think I was right about you wanting it rough…”

He look at you before sucking both of your nipples and that almost made you lose your mind, not that he cares, he wants you to go crazy for him. Reading those magazines on the brothel is paying off.

“Caelus! Caelus! Haahh~ hnng~”

“Chant my name. Moan my name.”

“Yes master! Eek! Cumming! I’m gonna cum!”

He suck hard and your body shudder at the feeling of letting your release, but he wants you to go crazy for him, right? He immediately slid his fingers inside your pussy and finger fuck you. Grabbing on the sofa, you were trying to scurry away but he won’t let you.

“Caelus! There are rules! You mustn’t— mhhm!”

“Rules are meant to be broken, right? Also, we won’t know if my cock will fit inside you.”

His right. You gave him a blowjob once and his cock is big. Thick. But this is making you crazy, you grab on to his coat and came for the second time, Caelus lick your nipples before throwing your robe on the floor, taking off his coat and his shirt. All of it are on the floor now, he wants to move on the bed but he can’t. He must fuck you right here, right now.

“Turn around”

He commanded and you obeyed, you felt him staring at your pussy that is dripping wet, then his eyes went to look at your tail that is swaying softly

“Does a fox feel something when their tail are being played?”

You felt your heart jump and before you can say anything he started to rub your tail, his rubbing it like how he rub his own cock. Tears start form on your eyes as you moan loudly, his playing with your tail while toying with your pussy.

“N-No more— I— this— hnngg~ mmhhhmm..~”

“Look at you, can’t even speak properly.”

Caelus smiles warmly before leaning in to capture your lips to share a passionate kiss with you. He didn’t stop rubbing your tail and to add more his already playing with your ears too

“Too much— aahhh not my ears! Caelus! Haahhh~”

He let go of your ear and you felt him unbuckle his pants and you can feel the tip of his cock poking at your entrance.

“So hard for you, my fox. There’s a saying ‘sly fox, dumb bunny’ but look at us! It’s more like you’re a dumb fox.”

With that he thrust his cock in and it made your whole world spin, he let go of your tail and grab on your waist as he move in a fast pace, he never knew this is how it feels. He only heard from Dan Heng on how good it is to be inside a woman, his good friend sometimes shares his escapades with him. Leading him to know a lot of sexual activities. Well, whenever he comes across Dan Heng’s room back in the train, he would hear moaning.

“Your mind is wandering..”

Caelus snap back to reality when he heard you voice, he look down at you and saw your pouting lips that he couldn’t help but lean down and kiss you.

“Sorry, just thinking about another girl.”

“Caelus!”

He laugh and kisses you once more before thrusting his hips back again, sooner after you were a mess again. He loves teasing you, he likes to hear your voice lace with annoyance.

“Such a dumb fox, going dumb just because of my cock drilling inside you.”

You huff and moan his name loudly as he let you cum for once again, you’ve lost count and Caelus seems to be not stopping anytime soon. His right, you’re a dumb fox and his a sly bunny. He laid you sideways, placing your right leg on his chest as he thrust his cock again. You’re glad he change the position, it was beginning to tire you out.

Seeing his body, he has some scars and it might be because of the monsters he have been fighting. He also let out low grunts whenever you tighten yourself. He keeps on kissing your leg and time to time he would grope your breast.

“Done checking me out? Don’t worry, you’re the only one who’s allowed to touch me.”

“I know. You’re also the only one who can touch me.”

Caelus smiled and change the position once again and you are laying flat on your stomach with your both legs trap between his legs, arms pin at your back, he thrust his cock back inside you slowly as he let out a groan

“It’s so fucking good to be inside you. Oh fuuuck…”

He will be sure to taste you after you guys take a bath.

“Gonna move now, baby.”

He let go of your arms and move at a inhumane pace as if his chasing something, you let yourself go and just moan his name just like he wants to,

“Cumming! Caelus!”

“Me too! Ugh fuck, come here.”

He let you turn your head slightly so you guys can share a kiss as the both of you came undone. His cum filling you up, hot and thick and you’re sure it’s oozing out from your hole, he came too much. He suck your tongue once more before pulling away from the kiss and leaning back as he kiss your tail before removing his cock, he jerk his cock a bit and covered your back with his cum.

Caelus looks proud at what he has done. He told you stay put as he got up to bring some tissue so he can clean your back before carrying you inside the bathroom.

You watch him clean you and you can tell that your days ahead with him won’t be boring.

“I love you, Cae.”

He looks at you with full of love and adoration. He leans forward and kisses you on the forehead before carrying you.

“I love you too, Y/N.”

[coffee-master]

[IDEA TO USE: TRANS STANLEY PINES]

[Lee Pines]

I wish there was a fanfic about trans Stanley Pines, who realised he was trans AFTER he was kicked out of the house.

Honestly I belive that during his childhood and teenage years there would be visible sights, but Stand ignored it due to the many circumstances.

I also think that his realtionship with his father would be maybe ever worse? I belive that Filbrick would often complain that his "daughter" was making more mess than his other sons, or complain for not being "a typical girl" or "girly" or other stuff.

Anyway-

After being kicked out I think that due to the new enviroment and other people (good and bad) Stan would probably run into some queer group in one of the bars. Maybe he would try to scam them or steal.. But somehow he would end up with a conversation AND REALISATION.

Egg cracking.

Later Stan would realise that he's a guy and do something about it. (In illegal way due to the situation)

He would do some dirty job to get some shots of testosterone. And it would start working.

He made a call to one of his old pals (on crime) to get a top surgery. The operation was of course a big risk (like 70% you survive, 20% you will die of blood loose on the table and 10% you die due to the infection if the surgery went bad)

I think the transition would have a positive impact on his mental health (like:; "Yeah Testosterone won't solve my money or family problems BUT LOOK WHO CAN GO SHIRTLESS!!)

A little steps would make him smile.

(TW: Another small detail is that during his living on the streets before transition Stan would probably also experience some sexuall harrasment) [I'd have a big impact on him]

Another think is that the transition would help him with his crime record. Slowly [DEADNAME] Pines wanishes away and nobody knows where or how and nobody can susspect him anymore.

From now on He would call himself Lee Pines. (simply)

[Let's be honest. I don't think Lee change his name to Stanley.. it's just like Stanford.. But that's only my opinion]

But Lee Pines would get himself more criminal record and in the end still use new fake IDs and ect.

NOW.

Let's get to the part where Lee gets a postcard from Stanford.

NOW THIS IS WHERE THE REAL FUN BEGIN! Because he doesn't know about this whole stiation.

Stanford is waiting impatiently for his twin sister to show up in his Shack, but when he opens the door, he sees this MESSY HOMELESS GUY (suspicionsly similar to him)

"WHO ARE YOU?! DID YOU COME HERE TO STEAL MY EYES!?" - Stanford is ready to shoot.

Lee is clearly confused. He expected that his twin wouldn be shocked to a man at his doorsteps. But he didn't expect it would go like this-

"Geez, you sure now how to-" Before he could even finish his sentence Ford rapidly moved his crossbow even closer to his face.

"Who are you!?" Stanford yelled insantly.

"Woah Woah- Chill out pointexter-" The messy twin slowly raised his hands up.

"Talk. Now." Ford threatened.

"I'm your brother you dumbass-!" Lee yelled flustration and anger, not paying attention to his words at all.

Instead of being angry Ford only laughed manically at the answer. Shermie was far away with his own family. Moreover adding the fact that he didn't keep in touch with him in a long time. The answer was just hilarious!

"Wrong answer, try again." Ford smirked thinking this must be some trick of imagination or another shape-shifting creature from this forest.

Meanwhile Lee was terrified seeing his brother in this state of mind. Just what exacly happened to him?

But before he could even question this whole Madness, he heard counting.

"Five.." It was Ford. "Four.." And he was counting down.

He was counting down-

Who could have even guessed that reunion with his brother could cost him his head? Nevertheless Lee prefered to stay in one piece.

So he spoke.

All that he know.

"In the middle school I used to take your box class, since you hated it so much and once Pa' found out, he was pretty pissed at both of us!" Immiediately he saw how Ford was taken aback.

It was a good sigh.

So he kept going.

"During summer we'd go on the beach and pretend to be treasure hunters! One time we wanted to make a fireplace next to the boat? I used my dresses as a firelighter and later I was 'forced' to wear your nerdy clothes as a punishment! We had a pet! Shanklin the Stab Possum! World's greatest pet!" He talked and talked until there was no oxygen for him to breath.

But he did it.

Ford blinked dumbfoundly instantly taking a step back from him. Lee didn't hesitate and used this opportunity once again.

"You told me to come here! You send me a post card!" He slowly reached to his pocked, taking out the pice of paper and rapidly waved it in his face.

"What.." Confused twin lowered his weapon down at the sight of the evidence.

"A lot has changed during those ten years brainiac." Finally the other twin said a little coldly, after seeing Ford putting weapoon away. "I go by Lee now." He added simply.

For a moment Stanford didn't say a thing, as if he've just got a brain damage.

"You know what? This isn't the weirdest thing I've seen. Get inside!" Stanford didn't have the time to question, especially when outside, everyone could see them.

Instead he dragged "Lee" into his house.

You can guess what happened next.

And, If someone would be interested in writing a fic about this or something similar then go ahead! DO IT! This is free to use!!!

Please!

Just tag me, becuase I'd like to read it too...👉👈

[MasterPost]

[shiorilizzy]

My thought about yandere Wriothesley

My thought about yandere Wriothesley

I swear he has SO MUCH POTENTIAL!!

He may look like a gentleman, you can see him as a gentleman and he can even be a gentlemen

But be aware of how far he took to get revenge on his foster parents. He will do anything to get what he wants.

Well at least to you, he will be gentle and easy, not that brutal and bloody.

I have a feeling that Wriothesley will have eyes on good girls. You may be noisy or sassy, you may be silent and shy, but your eyes, your heart… They are so innocent… So pure… It’s utterly beautiful like crystal to him. The way you help others, the way you are not scared of his appearance.

He may notice you when you two are in the shop, both buying a big bag of tea, milk and sugar. He is surprised at that amount of tea and your shining aura.

His heart goes BANG when he sees you help a homeless boy, you defend him against those bad people.

You’re… kind… and brave. He loves your slight tremble, trying to act tough.

He is jealous of that boy. He is so lucky to have you protect him. Wriothesley wishes he had someone like you in the past, maybe his life would be a little sweeter.

Like a hunter set his eyes on the prey. He will find a way to approach you.

Even if you have a boyfriend or husband already, it doesn’t matter to him. Remember his material for talent upgrade? He need “Order”, not “Equity” (or Justice to me). And it’s right for you to become his lovely and only treasure.

Wriothesley is actually very human. He will not just snatch you into his place.

At least, he tried to be a normal boyfriend, a perfect lover to you. After all, he really wants an ordinary life like everyone else.

But later, things got ugly. He struggled so much to believe you or everyone, everything around you.

He suspected the man talked to you on the street that day. He thought your family, your friends were trying to separate you from him. He is scared that you’ll leave him someday, that he will lose something he treasured so much again.

That’s when he decided: You need to be placed somewhere he can watch, always.

Things got even worse if you wanted to break up with him. You’re done. There is a high chance that you will wake up with your leg broken, or cuff, depending on how bratty and cold-heart you were.

Well, he will bring you down with him no matter what.

If I have to describe Yandere Wriothesley in one word, I will say: manipulation.

I believe Wriothesley is hella good at manipulating. Do you see how he cornered Lyney till he lost control? This big shit will gaslight you to believe fish can walk.

He did say that he would feel bad if he kept a pet in the fortress because they could not see the sunlight. But he could train you to accommodate to the environment. That’s much easier.

He will act like he was not the one who kidnapped you but “just a little bit forceful invitation to live with him”.

He will be a gentleman, respect you, listen to you, even argue with you if you are too “fussy”, told you that you can be nicer to him.

Why he is doing those? Because he knows you’re a “good girl”

Sooner or later, your kind heart will make you doubt yourself that maybe you were too harsh on him.

Your innocent soul will soon feel guilty because every “hassle” you cause others to deal with.

Wriothesley, unlike most of yandere who just lock his darling in a room the whole day, he makes you busy all day, let you roam around the Fortress on your own. You’re his darling, his cute little pet, not his prisoner.

He needs to create a playground for you, so you don’t have time to be sad, angry, miss the upper world, or even think about escaping.

Luckily, he is the Duke, the Warden, and the fortress is out of Fontaine’s control. So technically, he is the King down here.

So darling, what do you want to do? Just name it and he will give you.

A baker? Prisoners will smile happily when receive your delicious food every day. A teacher? Those people will express how grateful they are to gain more knowledge thanks to you. An accountant or secretary? Wriothesley himself will gladly have you on his side, helping him with paperwork.

Even if you want to be a slut. You will be promoted from part-time slut to full-time slut. But only for him.

Whatever you want, name it and he will find a way.

See? Life is really good down here, right? You have a dream job, delicious food, pretty clothes, lovely people, and especially, a man who is loyal and loves you unconditionally. What could you ask more?

Slowly, even if you can escape, you will not do that because you’re having so much fun and peace in here.

After all, the Duke really wants to be loved, as much as he loves you. But being a skeptical person because of his trauma, he needs you to stay where he can watch you.

Sometimes, he will show you his weak side. That will kick your mother hen instinct, just like that day when you protect that weak boy.

Oh this sly wolf, he will do everything to get you.

But do not think you can get away with everything. You definitely don’t want to see him get mad ever again.

Let’s say, you escaped and got caught by him.

That man will let you sit and watch he torturing your partner in crime (of course you cannot do all the work yourself), let you hear their loud agony, see their body slammed hard on the ground.

The more you beg for them, the more torturing he will give them. Until you are trembling in fear and tears and whimpering.

Does the guiltiness eat you? That’s his intention. He just knows you too well.

That is just one of his tricks. He has plenty to use. After all, he lived for quite some time, and most of them were in the Fortress.

He usually hugs you in sleep. Don’t hesitate to put your head on his arm or sleep on his body. He LOVES those pressures.

I have a feeling he will hug you like a teddy bear. And when he needs to switch to the other side, he will just “move” you along with him.

Even when you guys are in a “bad term”, he will sleep and hug you no matter what. Wriothesley even snug his head in your neck, like a poor boy.

As if you WERE the one at fault!

Overall, Wriothesley will make your relationship become “normal” sooner or later. You will think that this is just a little “special”, a little extraordinary, a bit of spice in love that everyone has.

That staying here forever is normal

That his love is totally normal

That you love him

That you want to have a family with him.

Wriothesley is smart, he knows what he wants, and doesn’t really care about morals.

So it is impossible for you to escape since he set his eyes on you.

I would write about him in bed another day

[langernameohnebedeutung]

Thinking about writing a 14 year old girl who starts out bratty and grows and changes, but thinking about the best way to write her in a bratty manner without seeming like I'm bashing on teenage girls in general, any thoughts?

Oh, that's actually something I have quite a few thoughts about!

the shortest answer I can think of is to look at teenagers you know in real life and their behaviours - that's a good start to make that character authentic. A lot of people get age milestones wrong when writing kids (personally that's why I avoid writing kids) and especially with girls, it feels like a lot of authors can only write 'basically an over-sized toddler' and 'she only cares about boys and sex'. Now, teenagers are also tricky because they are all very different. I think learning about what actual 14yo do in their freetime, what interests them, what music they listen to, what jokes they make - or to maybe look at some of the things you did at that age - can be very helpful to avoid being too "how do you do, fellow kids!

Tbh, I always feel like the biggest issue with the way people write the 'bratty teenage girl' is that she's always there to be the 'reaction character'—because she's written by adults, and it reflects how adults feel dealing with teenagers, especially teenage girls. Usually, you have a main character, typically a middle-aged man, who is doing something, and the teenage girl character is standing on the sidelines, chewing gum and telling him he's boring or uncool or be like 'urgh, old people'. At the end of the story he wins her over and, in a heart-warming scene, she will say something like, '…actually, you're not that bad,' or '…okay, maybe you are pretty cool.' It mostly just feels like the adult author feeling insecure about their own age and whether they're still in touch with The Youth, and it's been done A Lot.

Then you often have teenagers as damsels to be saved—and the bratty factor often makes them more difficult to save. That's also a very common trope that often results in people hating on the character, even though, in my opinion, that's often unfair (and very often especially unfairly directed at female characters).

If you think of teenage girl characters who work really well, I think it's the ones that sincerely reflect the experience of being a teenage girl (or a teenager in general). Or whose experiences serve as a good allegory for those experiences. Think of your classic 'teenage detective' stories where the adults just. don't. listen. In those stories, 'bratty' is often a label assigned to the main characters BY adults who ignore them—we understand the context of why they are bratty. It makes perfect sense for them to be that way. Or think of your YA protagonists who stand a little outside society, who often try to do what is right but get very little recognition for it. Or think of all those shows featuring teenagers that have aged well and are still popular with adults—shows like Avatar or Kim Possible. They are usually stories that take the problems of teenagers and the world they face quite seriously - by placing them side by side with actually world-threatening events. While at the same time, the dismissive way adults treat teenagers is a giant threat to these worlds.

Now, obviously, these were shows specifically FOR kids—but I would argue that similar rules apply when writing a teenager in any other genre, especially if you want to avoid bashing them. Take their issues seriously. Explain why they are 'bratty.' Explore what it means to be 'bratty.'

For example, right now I'm rewatching Gotham (a show not for kids), and a major character is Selina Kyle, the young Catwoman, who is living on the streets as a homeless girl. She has a flippant, careless, often mocking demeanor and doesn't really let people in. A lot of people see her as a 'brat'—but because you see her in many situations, you understand what her life is like. You see how people treat her (she's frequently referred to as 'street trash'), and you understand perfectly why she acts that way.

When she does show that she cares about someone, when she lets people in, or when we find out, for example, that she takes care of other kids on the street or the stories she tells herself to feel better about her family, it’s not just to make some adult character feel better. In those moments, we actually learn something about her, build a meaningful connection with her, and see what makes HER tick. She is more than just the 'bratty teenager.'"

Obviously, it doesn't always have to be a giant tragic backstory. That really depends on the story you're telling. Personally, I would argue that even being a teenager (especially a girl!) in normal middle-class society comes with enough reasons to be a 'brat.' There you are, 13 years old, and old men are cat-calling you on the street. You're in your training bra while the beauty industry bombards you with insane beauty standards. Your parents are divorcing, and when you want to understand why, everyone talks to you in a baby voice. You get bullied in school, someone makes deepfakes of you and shares them on Snapchat, and when you try to explain that to the teacher, you can see their eyes glaze over because they don't have a clue what you're talking about.

One very common statement I hear about teenage girls is "they do it for the attention" - which, to a point, is true. Obviously, they want attention. Everyone wants attention to some degree. But notice how this is the same language often used to ignore and neglect the needs (especially medical needs) of adult women. Teenagers also often don't have the language to communicate the complex feelings and situations they are dealing with now. Being bratty or sulking or similar behaviours are they way of trying communicate their feelings. A good way to write a teenage girl like that is to explore her character and to be true to the motives and reasons why she is acting like this.

For example, I think a lot of teenagers are in a very alienated position in society. They're in a very difficult phase in their lives: They are growing into adult problems and adult feelings, adult routines. But those are still VERY big shoes for them to fill. It is overwhelming. This is also why they make convenient main-characters for these kinds of YA novels - because these are not yet integrated into society. They often have an outside perspective. They question the status quo. And this also appeals to teenage audiences because they are in the position where they start questioning the world around them, their family, school, gender, religion, politics.

Teenagers want to have an identity for themselves, make their own decisions, and explore who they are—but very often, the adults around them still treat them as kids, limiting them without even bothering to explain why. Much of the environment created for teenagers is out of touch with their interests—it's often condescending, lecturing, and not very empowering. Every time they have new hobbies - Pokemon Go, Fortnite, some new band, they are always mocked relentlessly by the same adults who don't even know how to entertain them. Some kids on youtube are eating tidepods and suddenly their entire generation is being blamed. The same messages are repeated over and over at teenagers and they're preached to in this way regardless of their own experiences or behaviour. If you are a teenager, no one cares about YOUR life, situations, or struggles—which, at this time, can be quite serious. You want to take charge of your own life, start captaining that ship—but very often, you stand by while some adult does it for you, telling you not to start smoking (it's dangerous!! Don't listen to your friends!!). (again, doesn't it make sense why teenagers see themselves in girls fighting dystopian governments?)

When kids become teenagers, their parents often stop being the most important go-to people in their lives—this is when their friends become their social bubble, and they share many things ONLY with them. So, the things adults often mock about teenagers (like 'But daaaaad, I reaaaally want to go out tonight!' or 'Muuuuum, I really need that One Direction tattoo!!') genuinely are that important to them. 'But everyone is going!!!' really is a valid reason in their eyes. And they often experience adults who not only don't understand but are extremely mocking toward them. Another reason why they might seem bratty to adults - when their behaviour might seem perfectly sensible to them.

Also, consider that when teenagers are portrayed as dumb or naive, that's usually the adult perspective on kids being less cynical and experienced than adults - and that's why they get angry when you say no to something or get bored and annoyed when you lecture them. They might genuinely believe that a new top or a trip to the clubs will help them win new friends, or that this boy might really like them if they do what he says. It seems real to them because they haven't lived through it yet. They have hope that these things will work, and they're a lot less worried about risks because they haven't seen things go wrong as often as adults have. (Just recently, I walked down a narrow street on a steep hill that I used to skate down at breakneck speed without any helmet or protection as a teen—where I could never have slowed down or avoided a car—and back then, it hadn't even occurred to me how dangerous it was. As an adult, I had a 'how am I still alive??' moment seeing that place.)

You know how we often say, 'Be nice to toddlers and babies, this really is their first time on a plane/in a car/in a supermarket'? The same applies to teenagers when it comes to things adults find childish. Wearing THAT outfit or going THERE really is that important to them. And do you know who they hang out with? Who some of their most important social contacts are? Other teenagers, who also think THAT is important. That romance book with its familiar tropes or those song lyrics we've heard a thousand times really are That Deep for them—because it’s new to them

They also don’t live within the same contexts as we do—they don’t have jobs, they go to school, and they don’t get money or immediate rewards for what they do. Is a teenager sulking during a trip or on holiday? Well, they worked just as hard at school this year as you did at work, but they don’t get a say in where the trip goes, most of the time. When they mow the lawn, they don’t really care what the garden looks like—because it doesn’t impact them. So of course they roll their eyes when you ask them to. They live in a world where they constantly do things without seeing any direct benefit, while the things they do find rewarding are often mocked or forbidden by adults

So yeah, one way to make a bratty teen sympathetic is to explore why she is bratty and to show her side of events.

Also: You can explore what makes her less bratty! Perhaps she's nostalgic for simpler times or she really loves animals or she moved and misses her old home or she is passionate about a hobby or music or drawing. These things might make her more approachable to people who also respect them and we see the personality beneath the brattiness.

And also you can explore what bratty means! There are many different flavours of "bratty teenagers". Some are already well-established tropes like the rich brat* or the goth kid. But the real challenge to making a bratty teenager likeable, imo, is to give them a distinctive personality and to make their bratty behaviour reflect real life motivations. In which way is she bratty? Does she disagree with everything you say? Perhaps there is a bigger thing she feels she's not listened to about. Is she reclusive? could be there are a lot of arguments happening around the house she wants to avoid. Does she have specific opinions and viewpoints she stands in at all times? Or is she contrarian on principle? Are there people she's particularly bratty towards? How does she act around her friends, teachers, strangers, neighbours, parents etc. I think the more you explore that the more she becomes a person and the more she becomes a person, the less it feels like you're bashing or mocking teenagers.

On the other hand, you could also write a character who really is a huge dick or even a villain. There's also many flavours of that - anything from the pissy older sibling to the mean girl bullying people in school to the Creepy Kid. (Think of characters like Joffrey from Game of Thrones, that's how far you can go with an evil brat villain even in adult story.) In these cases, I would also explore why they are who they are - even if the answers to this might be less sympathetic.

If you do that, you could also include other teenage characters with very different personalities to show that you are not making general statements about teenagers but that this is just one character you are describing. Or you could give her parents who act similarly. Or maybe it's a question of schooling - that's another popular trope for teenage villains, they might be a reflectin of a dysfunctional social environment like their school or the place they live.

*the thing about the rich brat trope: As someone who worked as a teacher at a boarding school for very wealthy kids, I often have issues with the very shallow depictions of this that basically boil down to "this kid gets everything they want so they suck". There are some very specific forms of neglect that are common among rich people and tbh, I think if you want to go in that direction, I would also look at what life this kid lives and WHAT they are lacking.

[themculibrary]

Admin Favorites Masterlist

Tori

All's Fair in Larb and War (ao3) - phonecallfromgod ned/peter T, 23k

Summary: Ned Leeds just wants to transition painlessly into college life, but that's easier said than done when Tony Stark has a personal beef with you, Liz Allan's back in town, and your roommate and your superhero boyfriend hate each other (but just don't know it yet).

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Bruce and Clint start fake-dating to mess with the others. But then it becomes a question of how long they can keep this up, and maybe their “dates” aren’t quite so platonic anymore…

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Summary: “I jump into stuff,” he said. “Leap first, think later. And I’ve always seen things better from a distance. Guess I don't have to tell you that.

“So when you wanted to keep us on the QT, I assumed it was to keep the gossip down, so no one would think I was a way to get to you or that I was sleeping my way to a level five. I got too close, too fast to see that the reason you didn't want to tell anyone is that you just weren't that into me.”

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Funny how people assume only men can be abusive.

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Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers, or any other Marvel thingummies, nor am I making money from this.

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So, he really doesn’t have time to date the billionaire that flirts with him everyday as he buys his cup of coffee. Even if he did, he can’t let himself fall for the man. Because if he knew that he lived from a backpack and showered in a public bathroom there’s no way he’d still want him…right?

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His lips were so dry, his mouth too, and his throat, but the rest of his body felt like hot languid liquid was flowing through it. Steve swallowed, licked his lips. Maybe Steve’s mouth was dry too?

One hot summer, when Bucky and Steve are fifteen, the line between their friendship and something new that Bucky can’t quite name blurs. It is only years later that the line disappears completely and Bucky can finally put a name to that something.

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burnie

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OR:

Who’d’ve thunk procrastinating an arts assignment could save two pals in another century?

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He’d been staying in Delacroix for nearly a month now that not much was happening since the flag smasher business. Turned out Sam was actually serious about that ‘long vacation’ thing, though the ‘separate’ part seemed to have slipped his mind. Which was fine. This was nice. In the beginning. But Bucky wasn’t used to sitting still, so after one and a half day of sleeping, reading, and looking out over the docks, he had started to get restless, latching onto any opportunity to distract himself.

And then John Walker mysteriously shows up on a boat and asks for his help. This can't go wrong, right?

(I mean, you've seen the tags and the answer is: yes it can)

here is my hand that will not harm you (ao3) - andibeth82 clint/laura T, 18k

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It starts as something he wants nothing to do with.

And then, it becomes something more.

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A swathe of guards are crowded around one particular wall. A few feet away, employees are clustered, whispering and gawking.

The main focus of which is...a girl. A little brown-haired girl curled against the wall. Her eyes are closed, but she’s holding out a hand in defense. A hand plated with red and a glowing sphere encased in her palm.

What is that thing?

Morgan Stark appears in the Stark Industries atrium in the year 2006. Tony and Pepper attempt to get their future daughter back home while dealing with the implications that her existence has for their relationship.

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Subject to Change (ao3) - missingcrowdsof1000s, Write_To_You bruno/kamala, aamir/tyesha, muneeba/yusuf, past wanda/vision T, 48k

Summary: An ever-evolving back-and-forth narrative that asks the question — what will it take for Kamala Khan to finally realize that she’s in love with Bruno Carrelli?

Ships Passing in the Night (ao3) - osprey_archer T, 2k

Summary: Hydra releases the Winter Soldier for the Battle of New York. Steve Rogers is 100% thrilled to meet a fellow frozen World War II soldier, even if he was a Soviet.

The Beacons (ao3) - boopboop M, 7k

Summary: To be great, a man must first be broken.

James Falsworth has extensive experience when it comes to taking good soldiers and making them great. His methods have been proved time and again, and though harsh, they always get results. He's never failed to break a man, never failed to prepare him for the horrors that await.

Until Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes throws a spanner in the works.

The Care and Feeding of Traumatized Ex-Assassins (ao3) - Sholio T, 6k

Summary: Steve starts to notice someone's been in his apartment while he's not there. Set after Winter Soldier; spoilers.

The Courting of Tony Stark (ao3) - boombangbing pepper/tony, pepper/rhodey, pepper/happy, tony/joanna, tony/rumiko T, 50k

Summary: It only takes her nine years to say 'I love you' back.

Thermotemporal Equations (ao3) - Blinky The Tree Frog (blinkytreefrog) T, 48k

Summary: Bucky Barnes is used to strange happenings; his time with the Howling Commandos has guaranteed that. He's therefore not totally thrown off balance when he wakes up in an extraordinary tower in a seemingly impossible year. He can’t help but be worried though, no matter how much reassurance he's getting from Steve and his new team.

The Sound of Silence (ao3) - Jac_Danvers ana/edwin T, 24k

Summary: On the eve of the German invasion of Hungary, Anna Zellner was a Jewish shop girl who wanted nothing more than to keep her head down and her family safe. She never thought that selling a tie would draw her into a dangerous world of secrets and spies. A world where her only hope is a bumbling British attache. The story of Edwin and Anna Jarvis, featuring a healthy dose of Howard Stark.

Wrong About You, Wrong About Me (ao3) - betterthanworse M, 30k

Summary: It's effortless, really, for Bucky to slip once more beneath the blanket of Hydra’s conditioning; old patterns slipping back into place, nice and easy, as natural as breathing.

Or,

In Madripoor, Selby gets to name her price. Sam and Bucky must keep up the charade for a little while longer.

(You Can’t Choose) What Stays and What Fades Away (ao3) - Taste_is_Sweet steve/bucky G, 3k

Summary: At some point in everyone's life, the first words their soulmate will ever say to them will appear in deep black writing on their skin.

The words fade to light grey when a soulmate dies.

Sometimes new words replace them, whether they're wanted or not.

(These were the words Steve was born with, running in a messy, uneven line across his skinny little chest, beneath both his collarbones: You okay, pal? Those jerks didn't hurt ya too bad, did they?

Steve woke up from the ice in 2011 with the words, Who the hell is Bucky? circling his heart, in printing so precise it barely looked human.

Steve hated them.)

[k4shixe]

Prompt 4 with nanamiiiiiiii pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

BabySitter

CW; reader is 17, character is 28, age difference, strictly platonic, complements said to character, type of flirting (its teasing/joke tho), shouting at reader, kinda swearing

Pairings; rich!fem!reader x bodyguard!nanami (platonic)

Summary; After getting caught too many times, your father decided to get you a body guard. In an attempt to get rid of him, you go it the mall with your best friend.

Word count; 3k+

Prompt: “that’s enough.”

A/n; aaah here it is! Worked 2 days on this and ngl I never did watch the anime so he might be a little too formal. BUT I did enjoy writing this so please send any requests along! And I hope you enjoy! :)

12 minutes.It took them 12 minutes to find where you were. It’s worse that there are things that you shouldn’t be having at the party, especially at a party with teenagers. And you thought escaping to go to the party was easy. Oh how you knew you were going to get it. Your father stood in front of you with guards blocking the way out.

“Y/n I expected better. I told you that, you, explicitly, couldn’t go anywhere until we finish the meeting. You could’ve been kidnapped or worse”

“But dad I was bored! What was I meant to do wait?”

“That’s exactly what your meant to do! You leave me no choice but to take your credit card and get you a bodyguard”

“Okay fine my card is understandable but a bodyguard! That’s crazy! I don’t need to a baby sitter! I’m 17 for god sake!”

“It’s too late. My decision is final. Now go to your room, your grounded until you show me you can behave.”

You left for your room, sitting on your bed and sulking over the fact your going to have a babysitter. Or as your dad called it a “bodyguard”. You wished your mum was here, but tragically she died in a car accident when you were still a toddler so you knew how precious you were to your father. He loved you but you couldn’t blame him since you managed to get past everything he tried but that also didn’t change the predicament you got yourself into. You decided to texted your best friend telling her about what happened.

Bestie <33

I got caught ;(

Now my dad got me a babysitter

Oh cheer up,is it a guy or girl?

And are they hot?

Oh shut up.

And he didn’t even tell me so idk

Ok fine, how about

you just try getting rid of them?

Ooo, now your talking!

Just come to the mall tomorrow,

I need more outfits

Didn’t you buy some last week?

Yeah but I already wore those

Okay whatever you say

After chatting with your friend you started realising that you actually didn’t know who it was going to be. It could be some scary homeless dude your dad found on the street. You started praying it was atleast a girl, maybe you 2 could be friends. And with that you fell asleep.

“Honey wake up. Sweetie please get up” Your father shook you lightly.

“So early in the morning though” You slowly sat up on your bed,rubbing your eye to try get the tiredness out. You squinted your eyes seeing a tale, well-built man who was wearing a suit with blonde hair styled with a neat part next to your dad.

“Dad who’s this?“ you say visibly confused as you regained your eyesight.

“This is Mr Kento Nanami, he’s your new bodyguard.” Your dad sounded oddly proud for his accomplishment of finding such a well groomed bodyguard.

“But Dad he’s like 50! People are gonna think I’m dating this weirdo!”

“That’s no way to talk to your bodyguard y/n!”

“Im 17 I shouldn’t have some babysitter! I should be able to make my own decisions!”

“Sneaking out to go to a party at 3am shouldn’t be one of them!” He took a deep breath to calm himself down “Y/n, you are having him as a bodyguard and that’s final. Now if you need me I’ll be in my office” Your dad walks off leaving you and this “weirdo” in your room.

“So… your what now?”

“As your “dad” stated I’ll be your body guard. I’ll have to watch over you and make sure you don’t do anything reckless”

“Okay old man, I know my dad told you to do this but aren’t you annoyed you have to babysit me? You can just quit right now and blame it on me. I won’t mind.”

“Nice try but I already got paid so orders are orders until said otherwise. And I’m not your babysitter, I’m your bodyguard”

Man, this guy was going to be hard to convince. You thought as you looked at Nanami who was looking around the room, analysing it.

“Okay mr bento ninja could you leave my room?”

“It’s Mr Nanami to you, and I can’t just ‘leave’ I was ordered to stay”

“So what your going to watch me change then?” You say raising your eyebrows while starting at him awaiting his answer.

“Of course not, don’t be childish. I’ll leave if you had told me why.” He says as he left the room and closed the door behind him.

After getting changed into a sleek bodycon dress that really complemented your look, and with some makeup,heels plus a matching purse, you were all good to go. Now to only convince your dad. Shouldn’t be hard right? Walking down the staircase with Nananmi behind you (you couldn’t help be a little disgusted), you went to your fathers office and opening the door when hearing a “come in” by him.

“Dad could you please give me my credit card back? I promise I won’t spend much” you say with a pouting face and batting your eyes. You knew he couldn’t say no.

“Sorry sweetie but rules are rules. Until I can trust you again no credit card until then.” To say you were shocked was an understatement.

“But-“

“No buts,ifs or ands. Rules are rules.”

“Can I atleast go out with f/n?”

“You can but you must take Nanami with you. He must know anything and everything you are doing, and he can and will be able to check your phone if necessary. That’s the only other rule”

“Fine.” You groan and glare at Nanami who couldn’t care less and walked off, after he nodded to your dad he followed after you.

You pull out your phone, making a quick call to your driver when you heard Nanami clear his throat. “You do know your under my care, so I should be a able to do everything for you. Ms l/n.”

“Ugh don’t call me l/n, brings back memories. Just call me y/n. And I’m just calling my driver, I need a lift to the mall.” You have gotten your mother’s last name when you were born, since your parents felt like you’d like it more, especially when you’d become someone of more importance.

“If you insist Ms y/n, and you know I can drive.”

“Yeah…no thanks I’d rather take my own driver.”

“Very well. Whatever you want.”

The car ride to the mall was quiet. Too quiet. You wanted to listen to music but kind of over thinking that the music would be too loud and Nanami would judge you. He sat on the opposite side of the car, sitting still and quiet. Why are you overthinking something you would never think twice about? Is this bento dude that intimidating? I swear he’s staring at me from the side of his eye. Ugh snap out of it. You leaned your head back and let out a small groan. This was so nerve wracking. You pulled out your phone and just opened it to check the time. The lock screen showing a picture of your mother, father and you just a happy family. You stared at it with a small smile, the picture always made you calm and relaxed. Nanami noticed and decided some small talk would be better then silence.

“Is that your mother?”

You jumped a little at his words. First not expecting him to talk and second to ask that question. “Oh uh yeah…”

“Where is she? I never seen her around before”

The fact that sentence stung was a whole different type of pain. It felt like he was making fun of you just like the kids did to you when they found out in middle school. You tried putting a fake smile up but it hurt a little too much and an ich in your throat to cry came. You quickly tried wiping away the forming tears but just opted to looking the other direction when that wasn’t working.

“She uhh, died when I was younger”

And for the first time you got some emotion out of Nanami. Surprise and more of a regret for asking that question. “Oh, sorry I wasn’t aware.” He noticed the tear on the side of your face still visible to him and got a handkerchief from his suit pocket and handed to you.

For the rest of the car ride it was more awkward and silent then before. You managed to calm down but now you were thinking what Nanami thought of you. Some spoiled brat? Probably. I mean he isn’t wrong. You zoned out looking at him and didn’t even realised till he looked back at you. “Is everything alright”

“Oh sorry! I zoned out! I tend to do that a lot.” You looked back out the window blushing from embarrassment. He shook his head and went back to his seating position.

Finally you had made it to the mall and the drive opened the door for you with Nanami fixing his suit while walking up to you. You entered the mall looking for your friend and found her at the Gucci store shopping for some shoes.

“Hey! F/n!” You quickly walked over to her giving her a hug like always.

“Who’s the old guy?” She whispers to you looking behind you to exactly point him out.

“It’s the dumb babysitter my dad got me remember?”

“He is kinda hot though.” You hit her lightly.

“Shut up. Now let’s go to Sephora, I heard there selling a new makeup pallet!”

“Quickly then! We need to get it!” She grabbed your hand as you both rushed off with Nanami keeping an eye on you both, mainly and specifically just you. You reached the aisle with just a few pallets left when you realised.

“Crap, I wasn’t allowed to get my credit card. I can’t pay for it.” You say disappointedly.

“It’s fine just take my emergency one. It has a budget of like 50k though so just be a little mindful.”

“Omg did I ever tell you that your the best?”

“No but you should start” you and f/n laughed as you went to pay before

“Not so fast. Do you think your father would let you pay with your friends credit card? There is a reason he took yours away from you.”

“Yeah but this is different. So don’t try put your reason into this. Besides if he doesn’t know then who cares.” You say and your friend nodded her head in agreement.

“Fine. If you really don’t care, I’ll call him right now” He says getting his phone out his pocket.

“Hey! Wait! I won’t use her card” you mumble quietly as you put the make up pallet away upset about it.

“Let’s go to the restroom I got to tell you something.” F/n whispered and you nodded. You both began walking, Nanami close behind. When you reached the door you both quickly entered saying something to Nanami about fixing your make up and hurried in.

“That was easier then I thought.”

“Yeah but what would he do? Enter the girls bathroom?”

You both burst of laughing, Nanami could definitely hear you both from how echoey the bathroom was but you didn’t care right now.

“We need to get rid of your babysitter. Even though he is kinda hot at all”

“Agreed, except for the last part. But atleast we know we won’t be fighting over the same guy in the future.” You say as you both laugh.

“Ok we could go clothes shopping next and since we’re basically the same size just look for everything you want and pretend it’s for me.”

“Got it, now let’s try the make up pallet you got”

“Yess!” Let’s just say you guys spend at least half an hour in there just gossiping and doing each others makeup. F/n was telling you the juiciest gossip ever when it was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Who would be knocking to enter a public restroom?”

“Beats me” you shrug.

“Are you ladies done in there?” Of course it was Nanami who was standing the whole time just waiting for you to leave.

“Would’ve thought security took him away for being a perv”

“Same!” You both burst out laughing again before another knock stopped you. “Well let’s just go clothes shopping!” You both get up and leave the restroom after packing up. Entering the first clothing store and looking for clothes, you both went to the swim suit aisle and poor Nanami had to stand there looking at the ground while you both giggled and tried them on. You swear you could see a tint of pink on his cheeks from the embarrassment. You smirked, your plans working. Now just a matter of time. I mean what would people think of some grown man following two girls trying on bathing suits. After picking out a few you headed to the dresses and picked out a few to try. Finding one you particularly liked but didn’t know if you should get, you decided to play a little joke on Nanami, and your friend encouraging it just built up your confidence.

“Oh mr Nanami~”

“Yes Ms y/n. What is it?.”

“Do you think this dress looks nice on me?” Expecting some sort of reaction, you can certainly say you were disappointed when he just nodded and looked back to where he was looking. You frowned and rolled your eyes, “whatever”. Your friend and you finish shopping and managed to get Nanami off your back about you trying on the clothes even though your not supposed to buy anything. “It’s just for fun! It’s not like we’re hurting anyone. Besides shes going to buy them anyways” your friend agreed with you.

Of course you guys went a little overboard and bought way too many clothes to hold them all. After a good 4 hours you waved your friend goodbye and she gave you half her bags insisting you “hold them” for her and she’ll pick them up next time. Your friend secretly handing you a credit card, not having as much but enough to get you a few extra things. Nanami still swift and quick to catch up with you, you decided to try something on him. With a little bit of a dramatic effect (thank god you took acting classes).

“Oh Mr Nanami sir. Could you please hold my bags? My arms are sooo tried, I don’t think I can hold them anymore” you say looking up at him with ‘puppy dog’ eyes.

“No. I’m your body guard, not a mall porter”

“Oh Pretty please~”

“Fine.”

“Thank you!” You say delightedly as you hand him your bags and quickly rush off to another store. Using the card your friend gave you managed to buy at least 3 more bags worth of clothes, 3 with shoes, 2 with purses and accessories and that was just the starting. You kept handing Nanami bags, and he was just silently taking them and holding each one. You could tell he was getting tired and fed up with you though. Slowly and surely you noticed him getting slower from carrying all those bags and the anger was just building up. The last straw was when you showed up with another 2 bags just hanging them on his arm when suddenly

“that’s enough.”

To say that didn’t scare your soul out of you was an understatement. You were mortified.

“Enough?…”

“Enough. You are going home this instance and you will carry your bags on your own.” He was practically death staring you, leaving you speechless.

“Yeah okay…” yeah okay? Why did I say that? I should’ve told him to shut it and listen to me. What am I doing? A little too scared to say anything back, you picked up as much bags as you could, struggling to pick up some as the weight of them was way more heavier then expected. Nanami sighed and picked up the rest, escorting you out of the mall. After following you for around 6 hours and having to go through the most embarrassing things ever. He still took your bags and watched over you, maybe because it was his job, but maybe, just maybe, he actually did care.

Nevertheless, the car ride back was silent like before, even being able to hear a pin drop was possible. You got your phone out and opened a food delivery app, scrolling through the food options. Yes, you did have a personal chef at home but you wanted to eat out today. Especially being forced to eat a models diet was tiering. You felt a little bad for Nanami so you sucked up your pride and turned your head to him.

“Uh Mr Nanami, would you like to eat something?” He looked over at you before shaking his head.

“thank you Ms y/n but no.” And with that the car when quiet again.

Getting home with all those bags was a trouble waiting to happen. You should of thought of it, oh how your brain was mentally screaming at you. But thanks to mr snitch, he called your dad beforehand telling him about everything. Your were no longer allowed to hang out with your friends, they could come over but that was it. After a shouting match with your dad, you slammed the door to your room with tears in your eyes. Your almost an adult and no freedom. What was the point? Nanami on the other hand, probably doesn’t know what a slammed door means and knocked on the door before opening the door. You quickly composed yourself, opting to just wash your make up off instead of looking like a clown you and went off to your bedroom’s bathroom. You had to push Nanami out of your room to change as he wasn’t believing you, thinking you’d run off. You began doing some homework, being homeschool was easy but the homework you got was something else. Struggling on one question in particular, you didn’t notice Nanami leaning over your chair looking at the question.

“No, your doing it wrong. Here.” He scribbled a few things on the paper which somehow made perfect sense to you. You mumbled and quiet thanks “Thanks…” which he simply acknowledged with a nod.

“Mr Nanami could I tell you something?” Nanami nodded his head for you to go on.

“I’m sorry about today, and thank you for watching over me. Even though it’s your job and everything but uhh…” Here comes your dumb phase! You were sure he though you were as stupid as you sounded.

“What I’m trying to say is thank you.” You keep your eyes on your homework, scared he’d just look at you with disappointment. But you looked up and you swear you saw a teny tiny smile on his face. You smiled back as you noticed he wasn’t mad at all. Maybe things with a body guard wouldn’t be horrible after all.

Request here ;)

[lxstfathier]

Storm

Police! Rodolfo Parra x Reader

Summary: you’re crying, overwhelmed by your problems, and it all leads to an unusual encounter with a police officer.

Warnings: dysfunctional family, anxiety, depression (?).

A/N: i’m kinda proud of this one, i think my writing in english is improving, it still isn’t nearly as good as what i write in spanish but i’m happy with it. So… enjoy, hope you like it 💗

The cold autumn wind blows relentlessly, moving the tree branches until their orange leaves fall to the ground. The sky is full of big dark clouds, announcing a storm about to start at any given moment. And you can’t help but shiver at the harsh weather, hating that you’re there without any other piece of clothing to keep you warm besides your oversized shirt and tiny shorts.

It’s a complicated evening. Another one of those where your house is a living hell, both of your parents yelling at each other for hours and your older sibling blasting music at full volume in their room, making it all fucking unbearable.

That’s why you’re outside, sitting on the sidewalk, a few blocks away from home, bawling your eyes out. But at least with some peace. The streets are empty, so it’s only you, the birds chirping, and your horrible loud thoughts.

Still, your misery is interrupted when a cop car pulls up by where you are. And you try not to mind, staying in your own business, but once you see the officer get out, walking straight to you, it’s impossible not to consider this as the worst day of your life. Maybe he thinks you’re a drug addict, or a criminal, or a homeless, who knows, but his attention is the least thing you need right now.

“Are you ok?” He asks, genuinely worried to see a girl crying in the middle of a lonely sidewalk, wearing nothing but a shirt when it’s about to rain.

“Yes, i’m fine, officer” you answer, not even looking up at him, only seeing his black boots next to your naked legs.

“Well, you don’t seem fine. Do you need help? Assistance? Anything?” there’s nothing a police officer can do for your situation, so you just shake your head, hoping that he’ll finally go away and leave you alone.

A few second pass, hearing the sounds of a zipper and windbreaker fabric, not knowing what is he doing. And then you see him, scrouching down to be at your level, offering you his jacket to stop you from freezing.

Your vision is a little blurry because of the tears, so you can’t see his face clearly, but he’s young for sure, probably not more than ten years older than you. He has dark hair, with a matching stubble, and pretty brown eyes. His uniform is all black, wearing a bulletproof vest around his torso, the shiny star of the “Policía Estatal” on the left side, and an embroidered patch of “R. Parra - Comandante” on the right.

You usually don’t trust new people, let alone a cop, but he seems nice, and the cold is pretty bad, so you take his jacket, muttering a “thanks” while putting it on. It’s way too big for you, although really warm, smelling good, as clean and masculine cologne. So you can’t complain.

“Mind telling me why are you crying?”.

“It’s just some family problems” you shrug. “Nothing too serious”.

“I’m a good listener… if you wanna vent” he says, a kind smile appearing on his lips, and you feel safe enough to tell him just a little bit about your personal hell.

“I don’t get along with my family, they’re always screaming and fighting, and i’m sick of it. I just want some peace in my life.” Tears roll down your cheeks, soon feeling his thumbs against your skin, gently wiping the wet trail.

You don’t know how to react. Why is he doing that? Why is he so sweet to a random girl on the street?. You’re not used to being treated nice, it feels really weird, but somehow you crave more.

“I’m sorry. I know how that feels like”. His voice is soft, soothing, and for the first time in your life you’re not being yelled at for expressing your emotions.

He understands you quite well. Parra was once a hurt kid just like you, with parents who fought a lot and mean sisters that seemed to enjoy picking on him. Until, one day, he decided to focus all that sadness and anger into something better, joining the police and forgetting about everything until he became a Commander.

The only difference is that you can’t find the strength to get back on your feet.

Suddenly, fat droplets of water start falling from the sky, and both of you know it’s time to go before you get soaking wet. He can keep working, and you… well, you have no idea.

“Ok, pretty girl, i should take you home” he says, standing up again, offering you his hand to help you do the same.

“I don’t wanna go home” you pout, looking up at him. Going back to such a chaotic place sounds awful right now.

“Where do you wanna go, then?”

“I don’t know. I have nowhere else to go, but any place is better than home, i don’t care.” You reply, accepting his hand to get up, still feeling your legs slightly weak.

“I can take you to the police station, we don’t have any problem with letting you spend the night there. How does that sound for you?”.

Once again you feel strange. As if someone finally saw you like a human being instead of a simple burden. And you know that his job is literally to help people, he probably does this everyday with different persons, but you like it, it warms your heart, and also it makes you feel kinda special.

“Sounds good, officer!” you tell him, forcing a smile. “Or should i call you Comandante Parra?”

“Either is fine” He shrugs, letting out a little chuckle.

Parra asks for your name too, and then guides you to his car, allowing you to be on the passenger seat. What a honor. You really thought you would get thrown into the backseat like any other lawbreaker. So now that you’re in the front, getting full view, you feel like a little kid, excited to get a ride in a cool cop vehicle.

Of course he notices your enthusiasm, even though you try to be subtle, but not daring to say a word about it. He just looks at you while driving, wondering why such a cute girl had to get a shitty family like his. It’s not fair, you should be smiling instead of crying.

“Will you be working at the station?” You ask, trying to make conversation now that you’re in a better mood.

“No. I’m supposed to be patrolling today.”

His response is not really what you wished to hear. Of course you don’t want to stay in a police station full of strangers, that would only fuel your anxiety, and it’s not like you already know Commander Parra, but you trust him enough to be by his side a few hours.

“Can i stay with you?” you ask, almost begging, thinking that he probably will tell you a negative answer. “I won’t give you trouble, i promise, i’ll just be the passenger princess.”

That question is unusual to him. Why would you want to spend your free time in a boring night of work with a police officer? that makes no sense. However, he won’t tell you no, not when you’re being so adorable.

“Fine” he agrees with a smile. “You’ll come with me, but you might get bored.”

“Gracias, Comandante” you thank him in a low tone, still a bit shy, but Parra hears it clearly.

Rain starts pouring, the water creating a relaxing sound as it hits the car. He drives around aimlessly, not caring about the storm, and you try to distract yourself away from your problems, contemplating the drops running down your window, tracing your fingers through the smooth fabric of his jacket.

Sometimes, you even turn your head to the left, just to catch a glimpse of him, appreciating his side profile and flawless uniform. And Commander Parra has to pretend he doesn’t notice you watching.

[superman86to99]

Superman #91 (July 1994)

"THE FALL OF METROPOLIS," Part 3! Superman vs. giant city-destroying robots, although the real villain in this story is… the greed of man. Specifically, one random LexCorp corporate climber called Mr. McDonald who, at the start of the issue, is digging through the ruins of a bank to look for a safety deposit box full of money. A homeless man (technically, everyone's homeless now that Metropolis got bombed, but he was already homeless) called Wild Bill tries to make polite conversation, but McDonald tells him to piss off. Even when the aforementioned giant city-destroying robots show up, McDonald is too focused on finding his box to get scared.

Meanwhile, Superman is shocked to learn that Lex Luthor is being kept in a fancy hi-tech medical pod while thousands of people injured during Metropolis' destruction are on the street. However, a doctor convinces him that this is actually necessary to keep Lex alive now that he's in a vegetative state, meaning he's conscious but can't move or talk. That last part is unfortunate for Lex and everyone around him, because if he could talk, he'd be screaming about the killer robots that he knows are heading directly this way.

The robots do arrive and hit Superman pretty hard, causing him to come crashing down right in front of Wild Bill and Mr. McDonald. Bill, who by the way is a friend of Bibbo's, thinks they should help "Sooperman," but McDonald is only interested in the fact that the fight broke part of the bank's vault, finally allowing him to reach his precious money box. It's up to Wild Bill to nurse Superman back to health using nothing but a juice box -- or at least I think that's juice. Maybe there was something slightly stronger in there.

(Note: Those panels make it look like Superman drank the juice and immediately flew off, but I need you to know he actually thanked Bill first and told him any friend of Bibbo's is a friend of his.)

After the revitalized Superman goes back to fighting the robots, Wild Bill hears a scream and sees a girl whose legs were buried under the rubble. He tells McDonald they should dig her out, but LexCorp Bro refuses because he's already on his way to use his box full of money to buy himself a cozy room in the only major building in Metropolis that wasn't bombed out, the Newstime Building. Again, Wild Bill helps the person in need all by himself (no juice for her, though, which is probably for the best...).

While fighting the robots, Superman finds out that they were made by Luthor to "prevent Metropolis from suffering the same fate as Coast City" in case of an alien invasion -- or, failing that, finish wiping the city out in order to "leave nothing for the conquerors." Given Metropolis' current state, the robots assumed it must have been invaded and went into "scorched earth" mode. The robots have now reached the hospital where Lex is and are about to give their creator a very ironic and very painful death, but Superman intervenes and saves him (and only feels a little bit sorry he wasn't too late). Instead of thanking Superman, Lex curses him out because he would have "welcomed death" now that he's a vegetable, seemingly forgetting that two pages earlier he was all "NOOOO!"

(Pretty sure he soiled his medical pod there.)

Once he's finished punching the robots into scrap metal, Superman starts relocating the people from the now half-destroyed hospital, plus Wild Bill and that girl he rescued, to… the Newstime Building, just as McDonald has finished bribing his way into it. McDonald is indignant that he spent all his money to get here and now there won't be any space for him, and even brags about being one of the "top dogs" at LexCorp who helped fund those impressive robots. Superman is unsurprisingly unsympathetic to his plight.

I'm assuming the crowd jumped on McDonald's ass one second after Superman left. As a general rule, it isn't very wise to brag about being responsible for killer robots in front of the people they just tried to kill.

Creator-Watch:

As with last issue, this one is guest-drawn by Brent "Kurt Busiek's Astro City" Anderson, since Dan Jurgens needed a two-issue break from drawing Superman to focus on drawing Superman and like 200 other characters in the upcoming Zero Hour event (it's kind of insane that it was only two issues, considering Zero Hour will have five in one month). As a kid, I didn't appreciate "the good Superman artist" (they're all "the good one," foolish child!!!) going away for two issues, especially since the cover credits promised a Jurgens/Rubinstein joint, but Anderson's moody style has grown on me over the years. More on him in Don Sparrow's Art-Watch section below!

Plotline-Watch:

I guess we're meant to understand that the other giant city-destroying robot that appeared in Man of Steel #35 and Wonder Woman #88 was part of the same LexCorp program, even though that one looked completely different and had a human brain inside it (Superman made no mention of anything like that in this issue, though it's possible he's just numb to finding human brains inside robots by now). I prefer to think that other robot was a leftover Cerberus agent awakened by the city's destruction. Seems like the sort of thing they'd come up with.

Wild Bill's role in this issue could have been played by Lois Lane's homeless friend (and occasional George Carlin lookalike) Charlie, if they hadn't killed him during the Clone Plague storyline. Or, going further back, by Jimmy Olsen's homeless friend Pete Shoemaker, if he hadn't been murdered by Brainiac. Hm, I think I know why Wild Bill never showed up again...

I was recently lamenting the fact that late '93/early '94 was the first time since Jurgens joined the Super Squad full-time that we didn't get a Very Special Dan Jurgens Christmas issue. '89/'90 had "Homeless for the Holidays," '90/'91 had the drunk driving story, '91/'92 had "Metropolis Mailbag," and '92/'93 had "Metropolis Mailbag II," all classics. Unfortunately, now that we're in constant crossover mode, there doesn't seem to be much space for little stories like that. This issue has nothing to do with Christmas, but I do feel like it could have scratched the same itch as those older one-off stories... if it wasn't set in the middle of a big storyline and didn't have to devote most of its pages to it, anyway.

Shout Outs-Watch:

Shout outs to everyone who joined our new newsletter (check your spam folder for that verification email if you haven't clicked it!) and double shout outs to our supporters, Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Bheki Latha, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Sam, Bol, Gaetano Barreca, and Dave Shevlin! Become a supporter and get extra articles via Patreon or by upgrading to the newsletter's "pay what you want" mode!

And shout out to Don Sparrow too, whose section is up ahead...

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We start with the cover, and it’s a pretty good one, if a little generic—Superman battles an AT-AT like walking robot, firing its between-the-legs blasters at Superman’s cap, as he punches one of the legs. A pretty simple, if dynamic pose, and Jurgens’ Superman is always a welcome sight, particularly in an issue with a guest artist.

Speaking of the guest artist, Brent Anderson takes pencilling duties on this issue, and it’s a mixed bag.  The closest description I’d use of Anderson’s work in these pages is like a rushed Neal Adams.  There’s lots of great dynamic realism, but it gets a little loose in places.  That could be just that his style isn’t gelling with the scratchier, sketchier look of Joe Rubenstein’s inks, or it could be that it is loose like that at the pencil levels.  As the story opens we’re thrown into the rubble of Metropolis, picking up from Action #700 where Lex’s machinations leveled the city.  We get a full three pages of people we’ve never seen before (kudos to the art team for including the very ‘of its time’ line art shaved into Mr. McDonald’s fade!)...

...until the big 4th page splash, where the ED-209 looking battle bots descend on the rubble.  There’s a very Neal Adams-esque angle as Superman spies the onslaught from afar on page 7, which definitely stands out in a good way from the rest of the page. As with some previous fill-ins, Brent Anderson’s ability to draw realistically is almost a detriment—if he had a simpler style, the little errors might be forgiven or look less glaring.  But because he can really render, when the faces go wonky, they really go wonky.  Obviously the comatose Lex Luthor isn’t looking like a living magazine cover, but the asymmetry in the way he’s drawn here looks really eerie.

[Max: The Cryptkeeper comparison from a few issues back is even more apt now...]

Same as a few pages later, we see Mr. McDonald improbably find his safety deposit box full of cash, with a very wall-eyed expression.  Superman getting blasted by a high intensity ray is well done, particularly the grease pencil edges on the bolt hitting Superman.

Superman frequently has the yellow of his crest in shadow, reminding me of a later era where Superman dons black in the S in mourning.  The next best highlight comes in the splash on page 20, where Superman flies through one of the battle bots in explosive fashion. 

Strangely, the frenetic pace of the issue, with Superman careening wildly from one battle or rescue to another ironically leaves this reader a little bored.  It’s all action, sure, but it feels pointless, and a little repetitive after Action #700 had a pretty similar plot.  I know the fable of Mr. McDonald, and his cash being useless in a no man’s land scenario was supposed to be poignant, but I found it hard to care much about the story, even in a negative sense.  We’re supposed to cheer against this guy, I think, and be inspired by the rabbinical looking homeless man, but since this is just about the first we’ve ever seen of them, I just wasn’t interested. [Max: See, it would have worked better if that was Charlie!]  Making matters worse, when McDonald confesses he knows all about the robots as he designed them, Superman is happier to leave with a bon mot than he is getting McDonalds’ expertise on how to stop any further robots, or perhaps what might come next. 

SPEEDING BULLETS:

The angle that the robots are following a scorched earth policy in the wake of Coast City is at least somewhat interesting, but it does beg the question why so many programmers, like McDonald apparently went along with this plan.

Aside from a few wide shots later in the story, Metropolis is pretty sparsely populated as drawn here, which again diminishes the impact of the displacement caused by the missiles in Action #700.

Look, I don’t want to throw Cindee any shade, especially since she’s just a kid, but doesn’t it seem like she could have just moved those bricks off herself, one by one?  [Max: Maybe she's a junior reporter taking a page from the Lois Lane playbook to get an interview with Superman?]

I get what Superman is saying when he reacts to McDonald’s greed, but the sentiment is a bit weird.  Yes, Superman, the robots that killed and crushed are worse than the guy who tried to pay to get a better spot in the queue.

With Anderson and Immonen filling in pretty regularly month to month, it almost feels like these issues are auditions of a sort.

Though we do get an update on the “Lex is trapped in a dying clone body” storyline, the lack of the rest of the supporting cast is felt very keenly.  This issue might have felt a lot less like filler if we’d seen what Perry or Jimmy or Lois or Bibbo were up to.  Heck, the Bill character could very easily have just been Bibbo, though I guess then we’d lose the have and have not contrast between Bill and McDonald. [Max: Hmmm, I do like the idea of McDonald assuming Bibbo, who'd look particularly scruffy after spending time digging people out of the rubble, is a homeless person when he's probably richer than him...]

There something sweet—if weird—about Superman being revived with a juice box.  Better that than a Hostess Fruit Pie, I suppose.  

[dickensianenglishbulldog]

Me in a test: Right. Off we go. First question. I think it’s-

My Brain: da da da da da de dum da da da da dah da da. da da da da de dum da da didilly da da.

Me: I beg your pardon? Is that the archers theme?

My brain: wooooohoho.

Me: well now that’s doctor Who.

My brain: zommer is icummin in ludu sing cuckoo.

Me: Allright. I can live with that, let’s get on.

Brain: He’s got the whole world in his hand. He’s got the whole world, in His hand. He’s got the whole world in his hand. He’s the whole world in his hands.

Me: Now why would you choose that song? I- look I think we should get on with the test. Do you remember anything about chromatography?

Brain: I wonder what the invigilator is doing at the back of the hall.

Me: Well he’s probably walking around like he does when we can see him.

Brain: Maybe he’s dead.

Me: I really don’t think he-

Brain: I wonder who would die if that light fell.

Me: You’re very morbid today, but it would probably be those six people unless it shattered on impact then I suppose-

Brain: You really ought to be doing that test.

Me: I wAs TrYiNg. Okay. Chromatography.

My brain: Terrible Tudors, gorgeous Georgians, slimy Stuarts, vile Victorians, woeful wars, ferocious fights, dingy castles, daring knights.

Me: Right. Brain. Given the fact that it was you who was analysing how failing this test would inevitably lead to dying an early death, homeless, cold and alone on the streets while I was trying to sleep at one o’clock last night I can’t help but feel it’s a bit rich that it is also you that’s distracting me now. I insist that we focus and get this damn thing over with, okay?

Brain (subdued): Okay. I suppose so.

Me: Chromatography is-

Invigilator: Okay then girls. All those doing chemistry separate sciences please stop writing and close your test papers.

My brain: Did you know that Chromatographic techniques are a set of analytical techniques employed to separate, identify and quantify inorganic and organic compounds?

Me:…

Me: I really hate you.

My Brain:

[thedelusionreaderbitch]

Peter Parker x Nb! Sibling! Reader - Calm of the mind, mind of the calm (PRIDE 2023)

A/n: Whether reader and peter are biologically related or adopted is never specified and up to the reader! Also don't ask me how this works in the timeline because it doesn't. Enjoy the second installment to the fics of pride 2023!

*There is a note at the end of this fic, there is a disclaimer about the fandom, but I didn't want to put it at the start because it would spoil the fic!*

(The reader's agab is not mentioned in this fic!)

Summary: To Y/n, they've never been one or the other. Now that it's out though, they need a new place to stay.

Warnings: swearing, homelessness, transphobia/homophobia, self esteem issues, mental parental abuse, I think that's it? You have been warned!

The 3 P's:

[Pronouns used: they/them] [Pov: 3rd person] [Pairings: (sibling!) peter x reader, (platonic!) peter x may x reader, (parental!) peter x tony, (parental!) tony x reader, (mentioned! platonic!) avengers x peter]

They never really understood it.

The way people would be well- people. Look at each other and think boy, or girl, instead of; red head, or brown eyes. It all seemed so silly to them, the way the world appeared to work.

They never told Peter this, their lovely brother, their brother who had enough on his shoulders. He didn't need their shit added onto his trauma, and workload. Peter's always been too self-sacrificing for his own good, yet there was a need to tell someone, so they told May.

They told her how sometimes when they looked at the stars they wished they were one of them instead of some person on earth with everyone else. How sometimes when they looked in the mirror they would trace their face thinking about everything they would change about it to appear more the way they wanted it to. To have someone look at them and have to look twice, then again, and maybe even four times, they want strangers to gaze upon them and debate; "Boy or girl? What is it? I can't tell!"

They told her how sometimes they'll stare at the animals across the street and think about how easy it must be for them, to just be who they are and not have to be forced into a box.

Forced to chose, one or the other - how lucky they must be.

And lucky they were, because May had not agreed to them at all.

She had told them that they had to realize that- that, whatever they were doing wasn't natural, that it wasn't real. What they were trying to get themself to feel was delusional, and that there was only 'he' or 'she' nothing more.

Their aunt had quickly stormed out saying that; "I don't want to hear another word about it from you again."

Then she left for work and the tears didn't come. They didn't flood forward with gushing waves, they just felt nothing, empty, numb. Probably, shock.

They had trusted someone with- with something so vulnerable, and deep, it was like ripping open their own skin and showing the truth underneath. Here! I am here!

For someone to reject something so pure, and true, was nearly criminal. How could someone do that?

Then the tears came, not rushing - not at first anyways. Maybe they didn't come unrestrained, but they didn't stop. They didn't stop for a long time, so long they were afraid that someone was going to see.

Therefore they locked themself in their room.

They did this for weeks, they didn't talk to Peter, May or any friends at school. They didn't attend dinner, they barely ate as they didn't want to be around the people in their own home.

It was May's words that clinged with them after, that circled around in their head for hours on end just stuck on repeat.

"I don't want to hear another word about it from you again."

If nobody wanted to see, then why ever bother showing up in the first place?

Peter was frankly fed up, and worried about their behavior.

Nobody seemed to have any answers as to why Y/n was disappearing, the only person that looked as though she had any idea what was going on was his aunt May. However she wouldn't say a word about it to Peter and would just roll her eyes and say; "Y/n is fine."

Peter was not very convinced that a quote on quote "fine" person will isolate themself from everyone.

Finally he decided Y/n needed to talk to him, and the time was now.

"Y/n." Peter whispered from the other side of the door gently. Barely loud enough for them to hear him but still loud enough for them to jump when they hear it.

"Can I come in?"

As soon as they hear their brother's voice they very nearly start running crazily around the room shoving stuff around to stop Peter (from coming inside their room no doubt) before jumping out the window (they'll be fine) and running off hopefully before he could catch them.

That didn't happen though.

Of course that didn't happen.

This is Peter Parker, their brother, and fucking Spiderman, he didn't wait for their response he was already pick locking the door. (Y/n's going to have to have a serious talk with him later when to use his superhero abilities, and when not to use them. [And no, they do not care if the one and only Natasha Romanoff showed him how to do it herself, it's not cool to invade someone's privacy.])

When he opens the door they definitely don't expect him to look worried. Angry perhaps, but concern? For some reason it had invaded their mind that their brother had stopped caring about them.

(They tell themself that May hadn't planted that seed. But they don't quite know if they believe it.)

He didn't talk to them right away, he just slowly guided them to their bed where they sat, while Peter took one of those rolly chairs they had in their room.

"What's going on n/n?"

"I-" Their voice is hoarse, not from lack of use but rather the emotion that comes with it.

"May, she-"

Peter nodded his head understanding slightly that this had something to do with May. "Ya, I got the part that May was involved somehow."

"I don't want to hear another word about it from you again."

But that's not how it works is it? You can't force people to be quiet, they'll be an out cry, people will riot. People aren't meant to be quiet they are meant to be loud and annoying and maybe even obnoxious, but that's what makes them human. It's what makes us all human - our voice, even if we don't speak with it, or if the people around you don't understand it. It shapes us.

"I told her I'm nonbinary." They spoke calmly, and strong now. "And now I'm also telling you I guess." Their voice flatters by the end.

Peter blinks for two, three, four, five seconds before finally - finally breaking the silence.

"Oh thank god, that's it? OH! I didn't mean it like that! But when you're a superhero you kinda assume the worst so-"

Their giggle cuts off Peter's ramble and he smiles at himself because he made his sibling laugh when he's sure they haven't in a while.

"I'm guessing May didn't take it very well basing off your expression from before?"

They just shake their head; "No, she- I don't know if I can stay here." They whisper while they curl into themself slightly.

Peter had always loved May like a mother, while Y/n coming from where they came from always saw her as more as an aunt rather than a mother. A very parental aunt, but an aunt nonetheless.

Meaning that they were a little scared of what their brother's reaction was going to be.

"That bad? Well, I might know a place where you can stay."

Everything in the room seemed to sag in relief at his response, the tension dissipating within a mere second.

And they knew everything was going to turn out just fine, maybe not great but fine was better than terrible.

_______

While they had most of their things with them, there was some stuff that they did leave behind. Not anything absurdly big, or anything that they would miss, just some blankets and sheets, that kind of stuff.

Peter had said they wouldn't need to bring their mattress, sheets, blankets, or anything along those lines. It made them wonder where they were going to stay.

After the first few awkward sentences of that conversation with Peter that felt like just yesterday. While the both of them had talked about a lot more since then. Like what their were pronouns (they/them,) if they thought they were going to get any surgeries in the future, or if they wanted to take hormones of any kind.

Of course they had talked about the living situation but Peter had never said with who, they would be living with. Which made them extremely nervous, and leaving them feeling like an idiot.

If they had known who they were staying with, they would have never said yes.

Oh, what a shock it was when they stood right in front of the Avengers compound in upstate new york. Really though, with their brother being Spiderman they should have seen this coming.

Although they thought they would be staying with maybe one of Peter's friends temporarily? Like Michelle, she seemed cool! Plus Y/n knows enough about the Avengers and Tony Stark (or Tony Stank as Y/n and May used to say jokingly to Peter to piss him off. [Now the memory is harsh around the edges and blue in color.]) to know that any commitment with them is anything but temporary.

"Peter, there's no way I'm staying here."

Their brother only grins, almost mischievous but loving in nature. "Mr. Stark already agreed, plus you can't even move out of May's place legally until you turn eighteen, and Mr. Stark has the best lawyers money can buy."

They couldn't help the rolling their eyes at how formal Peter was despite knowing Tony for quite a long while now. (Even though they know they will probably be doing the same.) Yet their heart warmed, they hadn't even thought about the legal side of things. Although it would seem unlikely that May would call any authorities over them running away, it would be good to be with someone who could back them up if she did.

As they sigh in defeat the car rolls to a stop at the Avengers compound, and they have to mentally prepare themself for what's to come.

Oh, come on, who are they kidding? Their life has been shattered, there was no way in hell that they were going to being able to properly mentally prepare themself for living with a bunch of superheros that have better things to do. (They have people to save, universe to keep from collapsing! Much more pressing issues than a homeless teenager.) They shouldn't have to worry about them.

Suddenly, their door is happened by a man in a suit so expensive they want to let their head smash into the pavement. As their eyes examine the man's watch all the way to his piercing brown eyes.

Eyes that are sad, but wide, like they've seen thing they can't even imagine. Wars, death, victory, and new hopes. Yet they look at them, like they can't imagine what their going through, like their problems is more important than keeping the world from imploding.

(It makes the seed wither slightly, yet it's roots still remain.)

"Hey Kid, call me Tony, because if I have to get called Mr. Stark by someone who lives with me, I might just lose it."

Their face splits into a wide grin as Peter groans behind them. A fondness spreading across their body as they smile at Iron man like he's just saved them from an monstrosity.

(The best part is, he did.)

Words 1863

*disclaimer! I know May would have probably never kicked the reader out but I was venting!*

-thedelusionreaderbitch

Marvel taglist: No one yet! :)

Fics of Pride 2023 taglist: No one yet! :)

[pr1ncessava]

Master Detective Archives: RAINCODE - Gumshoe Gab with Lady

Author’s Note: Gumshoe Gab is a free time mechanic in Master Detective Archives: RAINCODE where Yuma Kokohead gets to talk with the other detectives. This won’t contain any spoilers of the game itself, so no need to worry about that! Blue text will be Yuma’s inner thoughts and purple text is Shinigami talking, but only Yuma can hear her. Enjoy!

Gab with Lady Volume #1

Yuma, calling out: Hey, Lady? Lady, where are you? Where did she go…? Lady, behind Yuma: You called? Yuma: Ahh! Lady: Heehee! Yuma: D-Don’t do that to me! Y-You gave me a scare…! Lady: I did? Well in that case, trick or treat! Yuma: It’s not even that time of year… Lady: Oh, speaking of treats, want some of the key lime pie I made? Yuma: Y-You… made a pie? Lady: Sure did! And I’m about to start another too! Yuma: You just finished making one and you’re already making another? Lady: Sure am! Shinigami: Jeez, this girl’s a nonstop baking machine… How the heck does she do it?! Yuma: Hey, Lady… How do you have so much energy to churn out so many sweets for all of us? Have you had experience doing something like this before? Lady: Sure have! Making sweet treats, giving ‘em out to people… Heck, I even helped clean around the place and washed the dishes! Yuma: Wait…you did all of that?! Making desserts, serving them, and cleaning the place… What is she referring to?

Work at a Diner

Yuma: Did you…work at a diner? Lady: Ehehehe, nope! You’re on the right track! Remember, think sweets. Like delicious cheesecakes, amazing tiramisu, stuff along those lines! Yuma: O-Oh, I…guess I was wrong… She would make desserts, serve them, and clean the place… What is Lady referring to when she says this…? Did you…work at a café?

Working at a Café

Yuma: Did you…work at a café? Lady: Sure did! It was amazing! *sigh* The smiles I’d see on everyone’s faces after they ate the treats that I made… That always made me so happy! Yuma: Oh, that’s nice. Lady: And I got to meet so many different kinds of people. It’s amazing how you’d interact with all sorts of people with completely different backgrounds as you, y’know? Yuma: Oh, well…that’s a way to think about it. Lady: And I’d help my grandma clean the place! Two cupcakes are always better than one! Yuma: So, Lady used to work at a café before she became a Master Detective…how sweet. Wait, did you say grandma? Lady: Well, she wasn’t really my grandmother, she was an old lady that found me alone one night and she took me in! And from that point on, I’d help her run the café she owned! Yuma: Took you in? Did you…not have a home before? Lady: Nope! Not until she found me! And at that point, the café became my home! Shinigami: Eek! She was homeless?! Yuma: W-Wait, so when you were a kid, you and your family lived on the streets? Lady: What family? Yuma: H-Huh…? Lady: It was just me! If I had any family members, I certainly couldn’t recall them. Yuma: … Lady: Oh come on now, don’t look so blue! Here, have a slice of the pie. I’ll cut it for ya! Yuma: It’s bewildering to think someone as cheerful as Lady used to be homeless as a child. She seems to have taken that in stride… Lady: And… Ta-da! Here ya go, now you won’t feel so sour anymore! Shinigami: Kyahahaha! Master, you and Lady seem to have gotten closer!

Work at a Bar

Yuma: Did you…work at a bar? Lady: Ahahaha! Oh, Yuma…you’re so silly! Thinking of me as a pretty pink bartender…that’s so cute! Yuma: Oh, so I was wrong…? Whoops… She would make desserts, serve them, and clean the place… What is Lady referring to when she says this…? Did you…work at a café?

Gab with Lady Volume #2

Yuma: Geez…Chief Yakou’s having me do more chores for him again… Lady: Ooh, maybe I could help! Yuma: Huh? Y-You want to help? Lady: Sure do! Two sets of hands is always better than one! Plus, you know me! I’ve already got somethin’ in the oven, I’ve got more than enough time to spare! Yuma: That’s really kind of you, Lady… Shinigami: Hold on, are you sure you want the embodiment of a sugar rush to help out?! She might make everything messier! Yuma: I’m not sure, Shinigami. She did say that she used to clean the café she worked at as a kid… Shinigami: Yeah, fair point. Lady: So, what do you say? Yuma: That’ll be really useful, thank you. Lady: Sure thing! Tell me where to start! Small Time Skip Yuma: Whew…that went by fast. Thanks again, Lady. You really helped a lot. Lady: It’s no trouble! Baking a big gourmet wedding cake is gonna go way quicker with more hands! Yuma: But, we weren’t baking a cake? We were just cleaning… Lady: Well, yeah, but you’re picking up the entrée, right? Yuma: I’m…what? Shinigami: Jeez, why does she keep saying stuff like that?! It’s so confusing and it makes me want candy at the same time! Yuma: When Lady talks about baking a big wedding cake together, she’s referring to something…but what is she referring to?

Teamwork

Yuma: You mean…teamwork? Lady: Ding ding ding! There ya go! It’s all a matter of teamwork! Plus, who’s gonna make sure the cake looks just as good as it tastes? Yuma: I-I guess that makes sense… Hey Lady, how come you wanted to help out? Lady: Huh? What do you mean? Yuma: You didn’t have to offer a hand, but you did anyway… Lady: Oh yeah! I figured you’d want a little help! It’ll make things go quicker! Yuma: It sure did, thank you. Maybe I could help you out sometime? Lady: Ahahaha! Thank you for the offer, but I’m gonna decline. Yuma: Huh?! Lady: It’s really sweet of you, honest! I just prefer doing things alone! I guess I just got really used to it, y’know? Yuma: I guess… You seemed like the type of person to want help every now and then, Lady. Lady: I do? Well, aren’t I a mixed bag of candy then? Hahaha! Yuma: Can I ask why you prefer to work alone? Lady: … Meow? Yuma: H-Huh?! Lady: Meow, meow, meow! Shinigami: Careful, Master! She’s about to knock a glass off the table! Yuma: Lady, don’t! Lady: Meowww! Shinigami: Kyahahaha! Master, you and Lady seemed to have grown even closer!

The Joy of Baking

Yuma: Are you talking about…the joy of baking? Lady: Ehehehe, not this time! Yuma: Wait, really? Wow, that’s a first… What Lady means by having more hands to bake a big wedding cake… You mean…teamwork?

Doing Business

Yuma: Do you mean…doing business? Lady: You think me offering help was transactional? Aw, now you’ve got me feeling sour! Yuma: N-No, I didn’t mean that! Oops… What Lady means by having more hands to bake a big wedding cake… You mean…teamwork?

Gab with Lady Volume #3

Lady: Yuma! How are you doing, sugarcube? Yuma: Huh? S-Sugarcube…? Lady: Yeah, silly! What, you’ve never heard an endearing nickname like that before? Yuma: N-No, it’s not that! Lady: Ehehe, I know! I’m just messing with you a bit! Yuma: Oh… It’s weird, Lady’s surprisingly easy to talk to… She can easily carry a conversation, let alone start one… So, it’s kind of easier to talk to her because of that alone. Lady: Hm? Whatcha thinking of? Having an internal monologue or something? Yuma: H-How did you-?! Lady: Ahahahaha! I was right, wasn’t I? I could tell because of your face! Yuma: Really? You could? Lady: Well, yes and no. It is partially because of that, but to be honest, I was pulling your leg a little. It’s weird… I kind of expected my own guess to be wrong since my answer was so out of nowhere. But, here we are! This usually tends to happen with me. Yuma: Tends to happen…? Lady: Well, yeah! Y’know, it’s kind of like winging a recipe. You’re forgetting what ingredients you need to use and what order to do everything, but you end up getting it all right in the end! You get what I mean, right? Yuma: Do I? Lady: Aw c’mon! Put that big brain of yours to use! What do you think I mean? Yuma: O-Okay, I will…! Um… When Lady talks about how you wing a recipe only to get it all correct in the end…what does she mean?

Good Luck

Yuma: Do you mean…having good luck? Lady: There you go! See, that wasn’t so hard, was it? This just tends to happen for me! I guess they call me “Lady Luck” back at the WDO for a reason! Yuma: Wait, they call you that…? Lady: Sure do! I mean, I usually just guess things as a joke, and then they tend to be right! Yuma: Really? But, what about your detective work? Surely, you don’t do that with investigations…? Lady: I do sometimes! Shinigami: Are you serious?! Lady: Haha! Shocking, right? Honestly, I shock myself with it! Yuma: But, you use your investigative skills and your Forte too…right? Lady: My investigative skills, yes. My Forte, no. Yuma: Huh? Y-You don’t use your Forte? Lady: I like giving myself a challenge. Yuma: A…challenge? Lady: Well, yeah! Rather than actually having to deal with it, I try to just eyeball it! And if I can’t, I use it as a last resort. Yuma: A last resort…? What do you mean by last resort? Lady: … Yuma: Please don’t knock anything over. Lady: Meow! Yuma: Lady, seriously. Lady: Okay, okay. Oh, that reminds me! I just recently made some mille-feuilles! Would you want some? Shinigami: And there she goes, changing the subject back to desserts. Yuma: Oh, um…sure! Thank you! Lady: Yaaay! C’mon, Yuma! To the kitchen! Yuma: Aah! Shinigami: Kyahahaha! Master, you and Lady seemed to have grown even closer!

Intuition

Yuma: Are you talking about intuition…? Lady: Pfft-ahahahahaha! I would say that’s right, but it’s completely wrong! Ahahahahaha! Yuma: O-Oh, ahaha… I guess that was wrong… Um…what does Lady mean when you wing a recipe entirely but get it right? Do you mean…having good luck?

Context Clues

Yuma: You’re using context clues…? Lady: Aw c’mon, Yuma. We just went over this! It’s partially context clues, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Yuma: O-Oops! I guess that was the wrong answer… Um…what does Lady mean when you wing a recipe entirely but get it right? Do you mean…having good luck?

Gab with Lady Volume #4

Yuma: Um, Lady? Lady: Oh, hey Yuma! Yuma: Is it all right if I asked you a question? Lady: Sure can! Ask away, pop the bubblegum! Yuma: Pop the bubblegum…? O-Okay, um…you like sweets a lot, right? And you learned to bake back home… Lady: Sure did! Why? What’s got your licorice tied in a knot? Yuma: Thinking about it now, it has me wondering… Why do you like desserts so much? Is it because of living in a café, or is it something else? Lady: Ohh! That’s what you’re wondering about, huh? Well, the café is part of it, but there’s something else about sweets that always drives me wild. Anything sweet is amazing! It makes me feel like I’m on top of the world, not to mention it overpowers anything bitter or nasty! Yuma: Overpowers anything bitter or nasty…? Lady: That’s exactly what I said! Yuma: Huh… Lady says she means that sweet stuff overpowers anything bitter. What does she mean by that…?

Love For Sweets

Yuma: Are you talking about…your love for sweets? Lady: No! Well, yes, but that’s not what I mean! Yuma: I guess that was wrong… What does Lady mean by sweet stuff overpowering bitter flavors? Are you saying it’s a palette cleanser…?

Bringing Happiness

Yuma: Do you mean that…it brings you happiness? Lady: Ahahaha! Never say that again. Yuma: H-Huh?! I was completely off with that…! What does Lady mean by sweet stuff overpowering bitter flavors? Are you saying it’s a palette cleanser…?

Palette Cleanser

Yuma: Are you saying it’s a palette cleanser…? Lady: Yes! That’s exactly it! It’s such a nice palette cleanser! Any sweet treat I eat will immediately make me forget about anything gross I’ve eaten beforehand! Yuma: A-Anything gross…? Shinigami: What does she mean by that? Lady: Oh right, probably should’ve told you. So, you know how I was homeless as a kid, right? Yuma: Right… Lady: Yeah, um…I kind of had to do some interesting things to survive. Y’know, like digging through trash and eating roadkill… Yuma: H-Huh?! Shinigami: Y-You mean to tell she’s eaten dead things before?! Lady: Yeah, not my proudest moment…but I managed to make it this far in life! Ahaha! Yuma: H-How are you even alive?! Lady: Most of the time, it was pretty fresh. Heck, you only have twelve hours to eat roadkill before it spoils. Shinigami: Jeez! Just when I thought she couldn’t get worse, she gets even crazier! Yuma: Lady…you’re crazy. Lady: Ahahaha! Sure am! Luckily, I don’t have to do that anymore! Yuma: Y-Yeah… Lady sure does know a lot about how to survive on her own. It’s one thing to have to face that, but as a kid who was all alone…it must’ve been even harder. Hey, Lady… Can I ask another question? Lady: Sure can, ask away! Yuma: You seemed to struggle a lot when you were a kid, so…how do you stay so happy all the time? Lady: Well, that’s easy! You’ve just gotta be your own sweetness! Yuma: Huh? Be your own sweetness…? Lady: Sure is! By the way, there’s macarons in the fridge! Go on, take some! Yuma: Really? Thank you! Shinigami: Kyahahaha! Master, you and Lady seemed to have grown even closer!

Gab with Lady Volume #5

Lady: Ah, Yuma! Perfect timing! Yuma: H-Huh? Perfect timing? Lady: Yeah, perfect timing! Y’know, I was thinking about the last time we were hanging out. With the whole “be your own sweetness” thing, right? It’s nice to have sweet things all around you, and we all want to think that life’s gonna be peaches and cream… Shinigami: What is she talking about…? Yuma: Just say it, Lady. Lady: I meant that you have to rely on yourself. Yuma: W-What?! Lady’s always so friendly, so hearing her talk about being alone is so shocking to me… Lady: Yeah. Like I said, not everything’s a cakewalk. Hell, I think I’m a prime example! Yuma: You are? Lady: Well, yeah! Whenever something goes wrong, all you can really do is just pick yourself up and move on with your head held high! It’s like a puzzle! Take all the broken pieces to make a pretty picture! Yuma: Huh… When she puts it like that, I think I’m starting to understand. Taking something that’s broken and repairing it to make a pretty picture means…

Staying Positive

Yuma: Do you mean…staying positive? Lady: Aw c’mon, Yuma! I thought you knew it was more than that! Yuma: I guess that means I’m wrong… Taking something broken and putting it back together to make a pretty picture means… Do you mean…being resilient?

Being Kind

Yuma: Do you mean…being kind? Lady: You’re not making any sense. Yuma: W-What?! Hearing that from Lady… Now I know that I’m wrong…! Taking something broken and putting it back together to make a pretty picture means… Do you mean…being resilient?

Resilience

Yuma: Do you mean…being resilient? Lady: Exactly! You really are on my wavelength! Yuma: So, due to how bad your childhood was, you learned to be resilient? Lady: Sure did! I can’t let small stuff like that get me down! Yuma: That’s a nice way of thinking about it. But wait a minute, you said an old lady took you in and you worked for her at a café…don’t you still have that? Lady: Oh, so you did remember that. Um, how do I put this… Yuma: Put what? Lady: There’s a reason I’m a detective now and don’t work at the café anymore… Shinigami: Don’t tell me she boom-killed someone! Yuma: I don’t think it’s that, but something bad must’ve happened… Lady, are you sure you want to talk about it? Y-You really don’t have to if you don’t want to…! Lady: No, it’s okay! I don’t mind. So, I’m sure you know about the roller skates I have built into my shoes, right? Yuma: Right. Lady: Well, when I was younger, I found an old pair of roller skates and that had me thinking. So, I suggested the idea of a delivery service for the café, and grandma loved it! Since then, I would skate and deliver the snackeroos to happy customers! And one day, I was doing exactly that! I thought the idea would lead to amazing things in the future! But, it wasn’t amazing… Yuma: Huh…? Lady: I had only left for five minutes. Five minutes was all it took for the whole place to… Yuma: The whole place to…? Lady: To burn down. Shinigami: She lost her home?! No wonder this poor girl’s crazy! Lady: I lost everything. My home, my family… It felt like a part of me died that day, Yuma. But, there was one thing I gained. Yuma: There was? Lady: My Forte. Honestly, it’s part of the reason I don’t like using it. It makes me remember… But, that’s all in the past now! I know what it’s like to lose something important, and that’s why I want to help people! They need to know they are not alone. Yuma: … That’s…a lot to take in. Lady lost everything, even her loved ones, and it’s the main reason she even became a detective. She may be crazy, but she certainly does have a heart of gold. Lady: Huh? You alright? That wasn’t too much, was it? Yuma: N-No, it wasn’t! In all honesty, it makes me admire you, Lady. To use your own experiences to help others going through something similar, it’s truly noble of you. Lady: Aww! Yuma, you’re so sweet! Now, come on! Let’s go share some cookies together! Shinigami: Kyahahaha! Master, you and Lady have forged the ultimate bond together! Good for you, Master. I’m happy for you!

[bluejaysandblackbats]

into the silent land

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam

Summary: Willis Todd is arrested before he can cheat Two-Face and be murdered in this AU. He regains custody of his twelve-year-old son, Jason, and they rebuild their relationship. Can Willis make up for his mistakes, or is he doomed to repeat history?

(The title comes from a line in the poem, Remember, by Christina Rossetti).

Chapters: 5/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Willis Todd, Original Character(s), Faye "Ma" Gunn

Additional Tags: Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Canon Divergent AU, Father-Son Relationship, Good Parent Willis Todd, Willis Todd Redemption, Mentioned Sheila Haywood

Chapter Five: Old Ghosts

After Willis dropped Jason off, he looked in Jason’s room for a phone number. He found it in a little address book in Jason’s drawer. He sat by the phone, frowning as he dialed. The phone rang twice and Willis moved to hang up before receiving an answer. “Peter Todd, speaking,” Pete answered, “Hello?”

Willis cleared his throat. “Dad… Hi—. Hi, Dad,” Willis stammered.

“Billy? Hey, fella. How are you? How’s your son?” Pete questioned. 

“Jason’s great. He um—. He’s got an open house at school on Friday,” Willis answered. 

“That sounds like a good time,” Pete replied, “And how are you, Billy?” 

“I promised I’d write a letter to Jason’s mother,” Willis replied. 

“You want me to come over?” Pete asked. 

Willis’ lips twitched into a frown. “Yeah… I just—. I’m a grown man and I can’t—. Jason doesn’t know. Catherine used to sign everything. How can I tell him I can barely write my name without losing my patience? He’s such a smart kid, and I know he gets it from his mother. I just—.” 

“Billy. It’s alright. I’ll write the letter, but you should explain to Jason that you have a learning disability. You’ve struggled with this your whole life, Kiddo. It doesn’t have to be a secret. You’ve done pretty good for yourself. You got your diploma. You went to a trade school—.” 

“I did, but I—. I want Jason to think he’s got a chance for something better. I don’t want him getting discouraged because of my sh—. My stuff. I’ve got brothers that are mob lawyers and stock brokers and real estate—.”

“They’re crooks without conscience. I know they’re my sons, but they’re hopeless causes. Douglas hasn’t dated a girl over nineteen since he was nineteen. I’m not entirely sure Alan isn’t a serial killer… And the last time I saw Mark—. 

“Billy, you’re the only one I’ve got any hope in. You’re the only son I have that has a conscience. You made your fair share of bad choices, but you feel bad about it. Doesn’t that count for anything?” Pete replied. Willis sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“How’re your daughters?” Willis questioned. 

“I talked to Melissa the other day. I told her I saw you,” Pete answered, “She still wants to see you… She’s worried about you.”

“And let me guess… Christine’s still telling people I’m dead,” Willis scoffed.

“She was in high school, Billy,” Pete defended.

“Yeah… Showing off for the rich kids at her cushy private school while I was fifteen, freezing to death on the streets. I asked her for five dollars to get something to eat. She acted like she didn’t know me. A few years later, I married a doctor, and she’s calling me, talking about making amends,” Willis chuckled. It stung. 

“Willis, you never told me you were homeless back then. Why didn’t you—?”

“Your new wife didn’t want me around, remember?” Willis sighed. 

“Billy, I had no idea you were homeless. You think I’d turn you away if you needed me?” Pete questioned. Willis froze. “Billy?” 

Willis gave Pete his address. “Maybe we should talk, Dad,” Willis replied, “I’ll see you in a little while.” 

“I’ll see you in a minute,” Pete replied. 

*

Pete knocked on the door, and Willis answered. “Dad, can we write the letter before we talk? I just—. I wanna get it over with before I pick Jason up… You can stay as long as you want after that,” Willis promised. Pete nodded. 

He sat at the kitchen counter with Willis’ clipboard and paper while Willis cooked dinner. “Okay. Start whenever you’re ready,” Pete answered.

“Dear Sheila… I know it’s been a while since I sent you a letter. Jason’s fine. He’s the spitting image of you, and I see it more and more every day. I told him about you recently and now he thinks about you all the time. He asks me all sorts of questions. He wants to know you. Do you think you could write a letter and address it to him? It’d make him feel like a real big man to get mail. He’s everything you imagined he’d be. Jason’s smart, and he’s forgiving to a fault. He forgave me for keeping you a secret. 

“I hope you answer this letter telling him you still care. I know you love Jason more than you hate me. Hell, I’ll even let you see him. If you don’t know what to say, tell him about all the stories you read to him when you were pregnant. Tell him about how you used to carry him in your jacket when the heater broke in our apartment. Tell him that you think about him because I know you do. For your son and mine, Willis,” Willis stated. Pete wrote as fast as Willis spoke. He was used to writing dictated notes. Pete turned away with tears in his eyes. 

“Billy—.”

“It’s for Jason. I have to get her to write him a letter. He’s a good boy. He doesn’t ask for anything. He asked me to talk to her. I gotta give him that at least,” Willis interrupted, “I’ve been trying to get the words together since I promised Jason—. It’s not about me anymore. It’s about him. I want you in his life, I want him to know who his mother is, I want him to have everything he needs.”

“Billy… Can we talk about what Doreen said to you?” Pete asked. 

“Dad, I showed up at your house after I went to Christine for cash. She turned me away, and I stopped by to talk to you. Doreen said I looked high. I swore I wasn’t. I was sick, and I had a little liquor to take the bite off of the cold. I told her that. She said you told her to turn me away if I ever showed my face,” Willis elucidated. Pete’s top lip twitched into a snarl. Willis had only ever seen that look on his father’s face once. 

“I would never—. She had no right to turn you away. If something happened to you as a—. Billy, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know,” Pete apologized. Willis scratched his head.

“I love you, Dad. Even if you did turn me away, I still loved you. I’m trying to be what you were to me to my kid. If I hated you, I wouldn’t try so hard to be like you,” Willis reassured him. Pete sped around the counter and pulled Willis into a hug. Willis froze, stiffening in his father’s embrace as he succumbed to tears. Willis was a little boy again for that moment. He hugged his father back, whimpering as Pete rubbed his back. 

“I wish I could’ve done more for you, Billy. God, I’m so sorry. I know it doesn’t change what happened to you, but I wish I could try again. I’d be better. I’d find a way to get you away from her. I’d give you the world if I had one more chance to get things right,” Pete cried. Willis sniffed and pulled away. 

“You were the best dad you could’ve been given the situation we were in. I was there when Mom pulled a gun on you. I was there when she told you no one’d believe you. I saw it… You didn’t have a choice… And I understood that. I hated it, but I understood,” Willis confessed. He’d never admitted that to his father before. “It wasn’t your fault….” Willis looked at the tile floor of the kitchen, trying not to make eye contact as the memories of his mother flooded to the surface. He hadn’t spoken about it in therapy. He spent most of that time talking about his anger issues and wanting to be a better father. There were far too many things to unpack about his time living with his mother and brothers. Only one other person knew for sure what happened before he left. They were the only living soul he could bear to tell.

[wqintraining]

NEW X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - SEASON 1, EPISODE 4

We open on Sofia, nervous and panicking, as Julian is helping her learn to fly more than a few feet above the ground. He’s patient with her and does have sound advice, but he still teases her, which, even with her anxiety, Sofia can’t help but return. 

On the ground below, Brian, Cessily, Sooraya, and Laura are watching. Or, rather, Cessily and Sooraya are watching, while Brian and Laura are on their phones. Cessily asks Sooraya if she’d maybe want help with her flying too. Sooraya answers that she doesn’t think she can learn anything from Julian, but she does have Storm helping her. Brian meanwhile is antsy because the group, sans Sofia, is supposed to go see a movie soon. 

LAURA: “It’s not happening.” 

Laura pockets her phone and starts walking off without another word, Cessily looking back at her with concern, when she picks up on a scent.  She pulls out her claws and shouts for the group to run, getting their attention, but she’s cut off by a soft, but powerful voice. 

“Please don’t be so dramatic.” 

Polaris descends down from the sky. 

LORNA: “You wouldn’t last two seconds.” 

Lorna asks if one of the kids could be so kind as to escort her to their headmasters. She has a message from Magneto. 

In Scott’s office, Polaris meets with him, Jean, and Emma. She’s an old friend of Scott and Jean’s, but the two don’t completely trust her because of how she’s thrown in with her father and been acting as his right hand. They support the Mutant nation he rules over, Genosha, but that doesn’t mean the past is completely in the past with Magneto. 

Lorna says this can be a good opportunity for them to work on that, as Magneto wants all three of them to come to Genosha to discuss current affairs. 

LORNA: “He’s particularly interested in speaking with you, Scott. He’s curious how your intentions may differ from Xavier’s.” 

SCOTT: “They don’t.” 

They agree to come, but Scott wants the whole team present, just in case, and has Storm, Kitty, and James notified as they walk out into the hall. Just then, Cessily pops out, along with not-so into this Laura and Sooraya, revealed to have been eavesdropping, and asks if they can come too. When the teachers say no, she appeals to Polaris, saying she’s always wanted to visit Genosha. Sighing and electing to avoid the fight, with Lorna glaring at him, Scott says they can come. 

LAURA: “I’m confused, Cessily. You resent being a Mutant. Why would you want to visit Genosha?” 

CESSILY: “I don’t, but YOU need a girls day, and this beats just going into town.” 

On the Blackbird, Kitty and James talk. James isn’t a fan of Genosha at all. He got an invite a while back, but turned it down; it just seemed like one big, pretty reservation to him. Kitty has a different perspective on it, as she got the invitation too. 

KITTY: “Not sure there’s a Mutant alive Magneto didn’t manage to reach.” 

But while she turned it down, her dad took it, and she sees no issues with it. Genosha isn’t a place to force all Mutants to live and abandon their individuality. It isn’t even a place just for Mutants. It’s a place for anyone who wants to live in peace. 

JAMES: LAUGHS. “If you buy into the propaganda that much, why did you say no?” 

KITTY: “Funny enough, same reason as you. I didn’t want to leave home.” 

As the Blackbird lands, we see various shots of Genosha. Made nearly entirely of metal, it’s a metropolitan paradise, with not a homeless or hungry person in sight, smiles and power-based street performers on every corner, and vendors giving out goods and food with no sign of commerce. 

Cessily and Sooraya are in complete awe of Genosha’s beauty, while Laura is put off by the fact that nothing smells like anything. Even the people smell the same. 

One of Magneto’s other children, and lieutenants, Quicksilver, arrives, saying that’s what happens when they hand out the same shampoo and soap to all citizens. 

In contrast to their friendly relationship with Lorna, Scott and Jean are much more cold and distant toward Pietro, who’s only ever caused problems. Emma, however, gets along with him splendidly, the two perfectly catty together. 

KITTY: “I’ll be dogged. Someone who likes Emma.” 

STORM: “Given his other sister, we shouldn’t discount the involvement of sorcery.” 

The girls are given permission to explore, and Kitty  heads off to see her dad, with Storm electing to come with her, while Pietro leads the other four X-Men to Magneto’s castle. 

As the X-Men walk through Magneto’s enormous home, Pietro questions Emma, wondering what the Hell she’s doing with the X-Men. Apparently, after her last school closed down, Magneto offered Emma a position here with status equal to himself and Polaris, but she turned him down, as Pietro puts it, “to keep being a school marm”. 

EMMA: “Magneto’s offer was very generous, but teaching is where my heart lies. We all have our parts to play.” 

The X-Men are brought to Magneto’s throneroom, Erik sat on his throne, where Pietro speeds across to join Lorna at his side. 

They await Magneto to greet them, but that isn’t how he begins the conversation. 

MAGNETO: “Summers. You have walked your team into a fortress where I am god, and a nation where I am something greater. What would you do if this had turned out to be a trap?” 

While the others are calm, James’ hand is on his knife, ready to fight. Scott remains stonefaced for a second, before smirking. 

SCOTT: “I dunno, Erik. Take you down like I’ve been doing since I was 16?” 

The two men stare each other down, before sharing a laugh. Erik gets off his chair and, much more casually, invites them all to come eat. They shouldn’t discuss important matters on an empty stomach. 

On the streets below, Cessily is excitedly running around eating all the free food, getting all the free stuff, and watching as many street performers as she can, loudly cheering them on. She has MISSED getting to go out freely like this. 

Sooraya meanwhile takes a more calm approach to exploring the city, though she does still try most of the food that meets her dietary restrictions. Laura is uninterested in eating anything, since it's all just artificial chemicals. 

Sooraya asks what she’d like to do for fun other than go around and eat, and Laura isn’t sure.

LAURA:  “I don’t have fun.” 

Cessily’s sure that can’t be true, and asks a vendor where the best place on Genosha to go for three cool teenage girls is. They’re pointed to a spa, which excites Cessily, who used to go to those with her cheer squad all the time, but mildly terrifies Sooraya and Laura. 

We cut to the interior of a basic, but comfortable Genoshan apartment, where a middle-aged man is reading a book. There’s a knock on the door. He calls out that he’s not in the mood for any “Human Joshing” today. 

Kitty and Storm proceed to phase through the door, the former reminding the man that knocking is really just a courtesy for her. 

The man leaps up, and Kitty runs into his arms, the former revealed to be her dad, Carmen, both ecstatic to see each other. They run through many of the standard check-in questions, until Storm coughs. 

KITTY: “Oh, right. Sorry. You remember Storm, right Daddy?” 

CARMEN: “Of course! There aren’t many teachers who keep looking after their students after graduation!” 

STORM: “Please, Mr. Pryde. You know Kitty is much more than just a student to me.” 

Kitty is embarrassed, making her dad and “mom” laugh. Carmen invites them to come sit in the other room so they can catch up, saying he’s been saving up some of the better meal packets they get for whenever Kitty came to visit. 

As he walks out, Kitty and Storm take note of the various framed pictures on the shelves. There are some from Kitty’s childhood with her parents, some from her teen years with X-Men, New Mutants, or Excalibur, displaying her in a variety of terrible costumes, but ALL of them feature her. 

The two smile at the pictures, reminded of old times, with Storm resting a hand on Kitty’s shoulder. 

KITTY: “You think the kids would ever take me seriously again if they saw me in some of these.” 

STORM: “Oh, Kitty. No.” 

Kitty sticks her tongue out at Storm. 

On their way to the dining room, Erik interacts with the other headmasters, treating Jean as a respected equal, asking Emma if she’s had any second thoughts. Arriving in the dining room, James notices Erik staring at him. 

JAMES, BITINGLY: “Something the matter, *your highness*?” 

MAGNETO: “Oh, no. Apologies, Warpath. I’m aware that Storm and Katharine make up the rest of this team. Next to everyone else, you seem like an outlier.” 

Before James can get more angry, Erik clarifies that he’s in no position to judge. Not with who he’s let into his inner circle. 

JAMES: “And who’s that?” 

Erik smiles. “The man behind the meal we’re about to have. And an old friend of yours.” 

Roberto Da Costa bursts out onto the scene, accompanied by a plethora of waiters bringing out their meal, welcoming the X-Men as he describes the intricate, multi-course meal he’s put together, and telling them to prepare their taste buds to be stunned. 

JEAN: “You brought Sunspot into your inner circle?” 

JAMES: “Sunspot learned to COOK?!” 

Roberto gives a more personal, and yet far more obnoxious welcome to his old friend James, while the others look to Erik for an explanation. 

ERIK: “What can I say? He was one of my students during my time running your school, he came to Genosha wanting a fresh start after going bankrupt, and, well, he makes a shockingly decent kugel. I promise he’s smarter than he seems.” 

The headmasters don’t appear convinced. 

Back with the girls, they’re at a Genoshan spa, and Cessily is trying to get her friends into the mood, but Sooraya is nervous, and Laura is completely disinterested. Cessily continues to hype up how fun this will be, but when the employees start on them, Sooraya almost immediately becomes uncomfortable, and Laura goes feral, kicking away the woman working on her and running away, claws out. Sooraya, who’s gotten the woman working on her to stop, asks if they should go after her, but Cessily’s just disappointed. She tried. And she’s gonna enjoy this before they go get her. Just then, Cessily starts freaking out from a strange sensation, her metal body reacting to the treatment differently than her fleshy body ever did, with it proving anything but soothing. The realization that this is yet another part of her old life she can’t enjoy anymore causes her to start freaking out. 

In Carmen’s house, he’s sitting around the kitchen table with Kitty and Storm, eating what look like slightly higher quality ready-made meals. Carmen knows it’s not great, but it’s what Genosha can mass produce; the vendors usually have fresh stuff, but they run out quickly. The girls say it’s fine. 

Kitty makes sure her dad is happy here, and he really is. It’s nice, as a human, he’s only a reserve member of the army so he doesn’t need to train too often, and he enjoys helping out whoever he can. 

But Carmen doesn’t want to talk about himself. He wants to know what Kitty’s doing. She’s teaching now, right? 

Kitty says that’s right, teaching Kindergarten specifically, but she’s also back with the X-Men; the rest of the team is actually here on business. 

Carmen clearly takes issue with this, which Kitty digs into. Her dad’s proud of her for being a hero, but when she left home at 13, he never imagined this would just be her life forever. Kitty insists it's her responsibility, and besides, she’s a Mutant, a computer genius, a ninja, and she’d been to at least a dozen other worlds, both alien and mystical by the time she finished high school; settling down with a normal life isn’t an option for her. 

Mr. Pryde gets that, he does, but she can’t exactly blame a man for being worried about his daughter spending her entire life fighting and putting herself in the line of fire. Like many adult children do around their parents, Kitty slips back into acting more like a bratty teenager, shouting that it doesn’t matter what he’s worried about, that it’s her life, that he could never even begin to understand what she’s been through or what life as a Mutant is like, and reminding him that he only has this comfortable life here because of *her*. 

Storm tries to get her to calm down, sure her dad didn’t mean any offense, but Kitty storms out anyway. 

As the X-Men enjoy Roberto’s cooking, Scott requests that they get down to business, with Erik happy to oblige. 

Magneto explains that there are nearly 20 million Mutants on Earth at this moment, with the vast majority, 16 million, living on Genosha. 5 years ago, Mutants numbered less than 1000. With the rate at which new Mutants are discovering their identities, and the accompanying rate at which Magneto’s scientists expect evolution to take its course and humans slowly stop being born, he estimates that in less than a century, Mutants will make up the majority of the population, and within two centuries, Mutants will be the sole inhabitants of Earth, claiming it in full as is their birthright. This is why, now more than ever, it’s important that they, as Mutantkind’s leaders, be able to cooperate. It is up to them to shepherd their people into the future, with himself protecting and ruling over the majority, while the X-Men teach their children and hunt down active threats - like the Purifiers. 

Scott sighs, apologizing for Stryker still being out there. The team’s had some growing pains. Failure won’t happen again. Erik’s sure it won’t. Charles trusted Scott, and so does he. He just hopes in time, that trust will be reciprocated. 

Jean tries to tell Erik it's not that they don’t trust him, but…

ERIK: “History is history. I understand completely.” 

James is just glad Magneto isn’t talking about speeding up the process or anything, but Erik assures him he’s learned his lesson there. Trying to dominate the Earth instead of waiting to inherit it will only ever divide Mutantkind. 

Just then, everyone but Roberto and James begins getting sick, before they pass out. With those two being the only ones who weren’t eating, James assumes Roberto poisoned them all. 

James grabs Roberto by the collar, wondering what’s going on and what kind of plot by Magneto this is. Roberto points out that 1) Magneto and his kids went down with everyone else, and 2) If he’d poisoned everyone, they’d be rushing to the bathroom, not passed out. Not that he’d ever defile his cooking that way. James questions then why he wasn’t eating, to which Roberto says it’s simply not appropriate for a chef to eat in front of those he’s serving. It’s about respect. 

ROBERTO: “Not that I’d expect a Hellion to understand respect.” 

James smashes Roberto into the floor, with Roberto powering up for the first time to protect himself. 

James says he should count himself lucky; they need to focus on figuring out what’s going on.

Over with Laura, she’s sitting at the pier, staring out at the ocean, breathing heavily. 

LAURA: “Sofia lied. Breathing doesn’t make me feel better.” 

Cessily and Sooraya find her. Laura tells them to go away, with Cessily apologizing for getting her into something uncomfortable, saying she doesn’t really know what her deal is. That was also part of why she wanted this girls day; she wanted to get to know her better. Laura says there’s no point. They aren’t actually friends. She’ll pass time with them until she’s allowed to join the X-Men, but she has no reason to be friends with a shallow cheerleader. Cessily, hurt by that comment, shouts back at Laura that she’s just a goth girl who thinks she’s “too cool for school”  when if she was actually ready to be an X-Man, she’d be one. 

CESSILY: “And you don’t know the first thing about ME, either!” 

Laura proceeds to accurately breakdown Cessily’s personality, an estimate of her past, and a breakdown of all her insecurities, reducing her to tears. Sooraya gets between them, telling Laura to stop, immediately.

SOORAYA: “Fine. You DO apparently know us. Why not TELL us about yourself so we’re all on the same page then?” 

Laura mocks that hearing wouldn’t help them understand. Cessily wipes away her tears and tells her to try them. 

In the castle, Roberto and James investigate the kitchen staff. 

ROBERTO: “I’m not mad at any of you. I’m just extremely disappointed in one of you who’s probably going to jail forever.” 

They let them know that no one’s been hurt, but someone knocked out their party, and they need to know what’s going on. They don’t have any immediate leads, but James is a master of body language reading, so if any of them are lying, Roberto assures them they will be caught in the lie. 

This goes on for a bit…before Roberto gets kicked back, one of the chefs transforming back into their natural form of Mystique just to smirk at him as she runs off. As the two pursue, James has to give Roberto props: lying about him having some magic body reading power was clever, with Roberto complimenting him in turn on selling the bit. 

Back at the pier, Laura has finished telling her story, leaving the others in shock. 

LAURA: “Do you see what I meant? You could never understand what I’ve been through. What I am. So why don’t you just leave me alone?” 

Cessily and Sooraya proceed to hug her, telling her how sorry they are. No, they can’t understand. But they can see how horrible it was, and tell her none of it was her fault. They want to support her anyway they can. 

Laura is awkward about this act of kindness, not having expected this at all, and thanks them, also apologizing to Cessily for how she was treating her. Cessily forgives her, and admits she just really wanted to act normal, but that’s not what any of them are now. But maybe that’s fine. Cause for as much as she may not want to be a Mutant? She can’t deny how nice it was today not being stared at or insulted for her appearance once. If that’s the future, she can wait for it. 

Laura smiles a crack and says they should try something like this again sometime. Cessily thinks that’s a great idea…and asks if she’s gonna tell them about her obvious crush on Julian. Laura is confused by that question. 

LAURA: “I…don’t like boys.” 

CESSILY: “Oh. Wow. I was way off. And wait, you mean…?” *SQUEALS AND HUGS*? “I have a queer Mutant friend!” 

Both of them look at Sooraya nervously, who sighs and shakes her head. 

SOORAYA: “Religious, not bigoted.” 

The three share a laugh together. 

James and Roberto attempt to chase Mystique down through Genosha. They each get close at one point, but Mystique gets the best of them each with a transformation. James is stopped by the sight of Thunderbird, while Roberto is utterly horrified by the sight of a young blonde girl with bangs. 

Because of their mutual failures, Mystique gets away. Even still Roberto tells James not to beat himself up. If he couldn’t stop her, no one could. 

JAMES, angrily walking off: “The others could have.” 

Carmen sits in his bedroom, lights off, with his hands buried in his face, beating himself up for what he said. Storm enters, having been concerned about him. 

She sits down with him, and Carmen explains that he knows he can never fully understand her; they live in different worlds. But every time he turns on the news, he gets a glimpse into hers, and it's terrifying. But he would never ask her to follow any path other than her own, and he’s angry at himself for giving the impression otherwise. 

He hates asking this, but he questions Storm if the X-Men really *need* her? Everything else aside, is being one of them really her “responsibility”? 

Storm begins her answer by saying that the X-Men, Mutants, and the entire world itself would not still exist today if not for Kitty. But he knows this already. As far as the current team goes, Cyclops brought her in to help manage internal friction. They’ll see how that goes. But neither of these are why they need her. The battle they fight isn’t an easy one, and it isn’t always a simple one. Often, hard choices need to be made. But whatever ideas any of the rest of them have, they can always count on Kitty to remind them who they are, and what lines they cannot cross. She is the best of them. She is their heart. 

STORM: “It is not her responsibility to be an X-Man. It is the X-Men’s responsibility to not let her down.” 

Inside the wall, we see Kitty’s inside there, tearing up with a smile as she hears this. Still focusing on her, we hear her dad say that hearing that from the woman who knows her better than anyone makes him more proud than if she’d saved the world a million times. This isn’t the life he wanted for her, and he’ll never stop worrying about her, but he couldn’t be more proud of her. 

Kitty runs out of the wall and tearfully hugs her mom and dad. Carmen momentarily starts chastising her for eavesdropping, but he quickly stops, and the two hug her back. 

KITTY: “I’ll never let you down. I promise.” 

STORM: “We know.” 

Later, with everyone conscious and seemingly unharmed, they’re frustrated that Mystique is still working against her own people, but more so curious what this was about. Emma has a thought. Her and Jean’s minds, even while asleep normally, are fiercely protected. If someone wanted to extract information from their minds, knocking them out first would be the way to do it. In all likelihood, she was working for a telepath. Magneto has work to do, but he trusts the X-Men to get to the bottom of things, shaking Scott’s hand goodbye. 

As the X-Men and kids load onto the Blackbird, they’re surprised to find Roberto waiting for them. 

ROBERTO: “Mystique insulted the memory of someone she really shouldn’t have. I’m helping you all take her, and whoever hired her, down. The kugels can wait.” 

With Kitty pushing to allow it, clearly hurt by whatever Mystique did as well, and James admitting he WAS pretty good, along with the pain and drive in Roberto’s eyes Scott can identify well, he allows him to become the final member of the team.

[cuntkinghorr]

I have experienced several bouts of homelessness since I was a teenager....

and maybe it's because I'm a girl or maybe people think me a nice person or maybe I know the right people or God knows why, because I don't mean this to have been everyone's experience and it's not something I'm terribly familiar with (hard drug use that is, alcohol yes), but I could always get drugs for free when home deprived. Like always. Including alcohol and even legitimate scripts. Even and maybe especially as a teenager. And that's the worst part of it all.

Of course you want you do drugs. Your life sucks. Does it go well? No, not usually. But it's due to factors that almost displace the drug use issue. Rare is the person with a perfect life (with no: inner, familial, health, marginalization, racism, systemic abuse, home life, social, sexual/gender, unbearable stress/life purpose, existensial, community/school ostricism issues) that just happens to have fallen deeply into drugs. So rare I don't know of a single instance. Not personally at least.

And as everyone knows, most hard street drugs, unmonitored scripts and alcohol use exacerbate any issue at all. But the vast majority of people can cope, hide it, manage their lives, get away with it and stave off homelessness.

I know of several people that did heroine and meth and other hard drugs for decades and live/lived a "normal", some even familial, life and never got arrested or incarcerated or lost a job or anything of the sort.

Some people belong to entire families of addicts who cycle in and out of jail instead of bougey ass rehabs and house arrest or nonarrest at all due primarily to their lack of privilege and wealth, class status, and based more on bigotry and societal structures and not the merit of punsihment at all, whatsoever.

Do you think they arrest a lot of cartel, mafia, organized crime syndicate, white collar, corporate fraud, environmental negligence, government corruption people? No, they don't actually. These people get tons of passes and do so much more overall harm to society than any homeless people ever could.

And let's not forget that there are clean homeless people that do not commit any crimes at all. I know a handful of truly nice people that for various reasons choose a different lifestyle that doesn't include a permanent address, soft bed or easy bathroom access. And a few others that were thrown into it out of need to leave a horrible situation immediately and nowhere to go but the streets. Also remember in the US we have a lot of medical bankruptcy and lack of affordable housing.

So before anyone goes accusing homeless of being horrible people. Why not go meet some? Volunteer at a soup kitchen, senior center, children's youth home, homeless shelter, etc. Before judging you should get a well rounded idea of who the people you're judging are, and the difficulties of their life. And your one or two familial or known people with this problem is not a general consensus of any kind.

I always say that I don't care to pass judgement on people because it's not my job. And I definitely would never, ever, ever want that job... no matter the pay or benefits. Because you'd have to know all about their life to be able to pass judgement and the little I know about people's lives who have been homeless.... a lot of it is heartbreaking and really fucking sucks smelly shitballs. Why would I want to see loads of shitty tragedies or worse..... paths they didn't have to take or were sabbotaged and waylaid with by truly evil entities/systems/people/circumstances?

Sure most evil in the world is pure selfishness and some is mental health issues, but the rich and powerful and educated don't hold the key to virtuosity. They can just pay, bribe or schmooze their way out of shit because that's what upper eschelon people do. They rarely pay for their societal sins and vices. Everyone else does. That's the only trickle down scheme I see them ever truly do well.

And the problems homeless have didn't just spring up out of the morning dew. Most people have trauma, negligence, abuse, violence, disorders, parasites (literally intestinal and brain worms which are very common worldwide and throughout other animal kingdoms actually but can and will get worse when one slums it a lot, be that alleys, porn stores, dirty bathrooms, unsanitary food service, hookers/promiscuity, needle sharing, and not doing whole body cleanses and not washing hands after pooping or staying away from poop laden areas. Why do you think farmers and vets deworm animals. For the insurance scam?) along with many other systemic issues that most society/government/ religions/media/educational institutions, etc do very little to truly help with.

Leaving humans with humanities issues to fix for themselves individually, which is the most assine cruelty of this shitty world. As if anyone actually could do that? Its a bandaid on an avalanche.

It's almost as if the people lording over us are all dumb as fucking doornobs and just running around a dark room blindly bumping into each other and all the furniture until it's time to go home and then wake-up and do it all over again. It is as if they dont actively and purposely make or keep these societal structures absolutely abysmally horrible and then laugh at everyone's stupidity at playing along with the depravity.

We have so many systems and structural societal paradigms that instill inequality very much on purpose. Be it bigotry, racism, fascism, hatred in general, classism, elitism, sexism, agism, on and on and on and on. We are made and expected to judge and hate each other and punish and berate and violate and repudiate and isolate and desecrate and punish and be utterly fucking vicious to each other because obviously the world stops spinning on the correct axis, I guess, if we don't.

People are so stupid, narrow minded, elitist, judgemental and fucking egotistical.

But go ahead and act like nothing I said pertains to you fucktoids. You dumb imbeciles.

I am still tolerating you all. But some of you may not be able to say the same about me. I can pretend a lot better than most of you, fortunately. Maybe because deep down I'm not the depraved, raging, maniacal, vengeful, blood lusting person I portray myself to be here.

This is just me venting. This is me spouting off because I hate this world now. And I'm trying to find myself, my purpose and a single reason to live besides my children because this world doesn't hold any allure for me anymore. I hate almost everything and everyone in it.

So there is no luck with that necessary endeavor yet. But I'll get there, hopefully. As long as I wake up each day I will keep trying to find a reason to give a fuck in this shitty, brutalistic, inhumane planet and its dumb, selfish, useless inhabitants. Meanwhile you're all stuck with this bitter version of me. Welcome to my hell.

If you don't like it. Look away. Ignore me. Get a life. Fuck off. Go be nice to your children, or dog or something. Get off my back. I have enough vermin surrounding me.

And maybe... I don't know, consider being part of the solution instead of bitching about shit you don't really know much about..... you putrid, hypocritical, entitled, dumbass fuckheads.

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