#natasha Hayward

[jewelianism]

the place became a taboo subject for residents after a nightmarish gathering.

[lesmiserabelles]

jules pendrith as anatole and cameron bajraktarevic-hayward as dolokhov / natasha, pierre and the great comet of 1812, darlinghurst theatre company

master: serarichu

[leek-inherent]

Portraits of Dolokhov and Anatole from the Australian production of Comet! Except I gave Dolokhov blue eyes because he needs them.

I recently read War and Peace and Dolokhov is my favourite character. He is so fascinating to me; like, what kind of guy would thrive during wartime? A very fucked up one! I especially enjoy his friendship and subsequent falling-out with Rostov because we get an insight into his worldview. I also love Anatole because he has nothing going on in his brain <3

[natti-ice]

Request Rules.

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Requests are open for universal blurbs!

Any requests fulfilled will probably be drabbles/blurbs!

If a character you want isn't listed, please send in an ask! there are some characters I don't write for.

Regular fics:

My only rules are that I won't write anything triggering like SA or SH, angsty themes are fine just please do not request anything gory.

My default writing is fem!reader, I do gender neutral upon request. Relationships can be romantic, platonic, or parental. Also any trope is allowed, as long as it coincides with my rules.

Smut fics:

Must be 18+ to request smut!

All smut fics will be written for fem!reader

I will write most things except for:

Incest (stepcest is fine), dubcon/non-con, age play (age gaps are fine), scat, piss, underage characters

If I am uncomfortable with your request I will deny it, politely of course.

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Fandoms I write for:

Bridgerton:

Anthony Bridgerton, Benedict Bridgerton, Colin Bridgerton + others please ask first!

Chicago Fire:

Kelly Severide, Matthew Casey, Christopher Herrmann, Wallace Boden, Stella Kidd, Sylvie Brett, Violet Mikami + others please ask first!

Chicago pd:

Hank Voight, Jay Halstead, Adam Ruzek, Erin Lindsay + others please ask first!

Criminal Minds:

Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, Tara Lewis, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, Luke Alvez, Penelope Garcia, Derek Morgan.

The Bear:

Carmy Berzatto, Richie Jerimovich, Syd adamu, + others please ask first!

The hunger games:

Peeta Mellark, Katniss Everdeen, Coriolanus Snow, Lucy Gray Baird, Finnick Odair

Marauders era:

Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Regulus Black.

Tom Riddle

The walking dead:

Rick Grimes, Michonne Grimes, Daryl Dixon, Negan Smith, Alden, Maggie Rhee, Glenn Rhee, + others please ask first!

Marvel:

Peter Parker (all 3), Pietro Maximoff, Wanda Maximoff, MJ, Natasha Romanoff, Yelena Belova, Kate Bishop, Steve Rogers, Matt Murdock, Sam Wilson, Bruce Banner, Thor Odinson, Carol Danvers, Scott Lang, + others please ask first!

Agents of shield characters!

Supernatural:

Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Castiel, Gabriel.

Stranger things:

Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley, Jim Hopper

Outer Banks:

Rafe Cameron, JJ Maybank, Sarah Cameron, Pope Hayward.

9-1-1:

Bobby Nash, Evan Buckley, Eddie Diaz, Howard Han, Athena Grant, Henrietta Wilson, Maddie Han.

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[ladyandthewalrus]

IDV Characters and Their Birthplaces

A reasonable number of people seem to have liked my previous chart of IDV characters and their social classes/income levels, so I thought I’d whip up another charting where the characters were born.

This chart operates on a combination of canon information and reasonable speculation including historical precedent and additional info from characters’ birthday art and the real people they are based on. It is not meant to crap on headcanons in any way, just chart the likely makeup of the cast as written (also! The United Kingdom and especially England and Scotland have lots of immigrant populations from across the world, but especially other parts of Europe, Asia and Africa).

Feel free to consult the list of everyone’s class backgrounds here, keeping in mind that we are taking for granted travel across the Atlantic was out of reach for members of the lower class and we are assuming that while IDV does have fantastical elements, given the heavy focus on class differences, money (and the need/desire for it) and the desperation created by poverty in many characters’ backstories, it is taking into consideration how expensive it would be for characters to get around. So we see more characters from North America and continental Europe who are from middle and upper classes make it to the manor, with a few exceptions like, Helena.

Also important is that on a grand scale, a lot of the events in IDV intertwine extremely closely. It is a small world full of fuckery, bad science, and occultism that seems to mostly be happening centered in one area, with Oletus Manor, Lakeside, White Sand Street Asylum, the Arms Factory, and Scared Heart Hospital all located within the bounds of one unnamed county/shire in England. Baron DeRoss definitely has an extensive information network that spans continents, but plenty of the characters in the story are locally sourced, as it were.

Let’s get going!

Born in England:

♡Margaretha/Natalie/Natasha: Likely born in England. She was raised in Lakeside Village, which is a stone’s throw from Oletus Manor based on this map from one of the art books. Although here referred to as LakeView, I think it is very fair to assume the name was changed in translation or slightly altered, but is meant to be understood as the same place, as many important in-game locations are in close proximity to each other and the water from Lakeside has unusual properties used in experiments by various parties at other lore-significant locations. Her uncle’s family is poor, so she was probably not born far from Lakeside. In terms of her ethnic background, her deductions mention her family eating borscht, so they probably hail from Eastern Europe originally. Her uncle’s surname, Hayward is English, and her adopted surname Zelle is Dutch and German.

♡Freddy: Freddy was present at Emma/Lisa’s first birthday party, suggesting a long friendship with Leo and having lived in the unnamed shire/town a long time too. He also makes several classist and xenophobic comments throughout the diaries of his manor group and is noted by the experimenters in his recent birthday letter to buy into Victorian England’s stratified class system and contempt for the poor. The Riley surname originates specifically from Yorkshire and Lancashire in England.

♡Memory/ Alice: Born in England to a noble father. Although the accents of the characters as portrayed by voice actors in English are really inconsistent, with the English Emma having an American accent, it is worth noting that both Memory’s narration in the Season 19, Essence 1 trailer, Alice’s words to Orpheus in Time of Reunion, and the off-screen voice of her mother in-game during Time of Reunion all make use of upper-class English accents. The surname DeRoss is an anglicized version of a Dutch surname.

♡Emily/Lydia: Emily is partially based on the English serial killer of infants, Amelia Dyer. She also worked early in her career at several locations on the map attached above, making it likely she was born somewhere not too far away. Her family is middle class, meaning she could reasonably be from anywhere in the United Kingdom as members of the middle class could move around within adjoining countries with relative ease. The surnames Jones and Dyer are both English.

♡Robbie: As an orphan taken to what became White Sand Asylum, he would have been from the surrounding area. His surname White is either English, Scottish, or Irish in origin.

♡Emma/Lisa+Leo: Leo’s ill-fated factory was located in the town directly by Oletus Manor. Given the timeline of events, with him burning the factory down when Emma was 10-11, Emma at least was probably born in this English town. The Beck surname is common in English and Slavic-speaking countries, and Woods is an English surname.

♡William: he is based off the real life Englishman William Ellis who is credited, perhaps erroneously, with creating Rugby, which did at least originate in England in 1845. The surname Ellis is Welsh and English.

♡Kreacher: as an impoverished orphan, Kreacher would not have traveled much, and there is almost no way he was born somewhere other than the contagious United Kingdom in terms of logistics. His surname Pierson is also English.

♡Tracy: If her father Mark’s clock shop being included/ referenced in the Chinatown map is anything to go off of, Tracy was probably born in England, as many major cities in the United Kingdom have Chinatowns but most are in England.  Her surname, Reznik is Czech.

♡Grace: She's a foundling that washed into Lakeside, so must have originated in the surrounding area to an extent. Her surname is unknown, both in terms of her birth and adoptive parents.

♡Kurt: Explicitly stated to have been born in Yorkshire, England. Frank is a German surname.

Born in Scotland:

♡Norton: Campbell is one of the most common surnames in Scotland, originating in the borderlands between England and Scotland. Two interesting things of note about the name 1) it means crooked-mouth, and Norton’s official art features him with a half-smile, half-frown, and 2) Clan Campbell is, to this day, not well thought of and considered to be full of violent backstabbers, which is also apt seeing as he is willing to resort to violence and trickery to get ahead in life. Norton’s skin Stray Poet/Troubadour also has him sporting the Clan Campbell Tartan (thank you @tallemy in the IDV lore discord for pointing that out). His birthday art from 2022 also features a map of the Scottish Highlands, and Scotland is known to be rich in mineral wealth, and thus, mining operations.

♡Percy: based on the character of Victor Frankenstein, who while Swiss in the novel, was based on the real-life Scottish scientists  Andrew Ure and James Lind.  For Percy to be getting corpses from Andrew, who is snatching them from an United Kingdom cemetery, it’s reasonable to think he is in the United Kingdom too, and he is a colleague of Burke, who is has been woking in England for decades..

Born in Wales:

♡Eli: His deductions and letters mention the character of Brooke Rose, a mistranslation of the name Blodeuwedd, a famous character from Welsh mythology, which tends to be fairly obscure. His surname, Clark, is generic and found throughout the United Kingdom.

Born in Ireland:

♡Keigan: The Clerk is partially based on the unpopular Irish judge and politician William Keogh. Again, although the accents employed in video materials are inconsistent, she clearly has an Irish accent in her English character trailer. Her surname Keogh is Irish through and through.

Born somewhere in the United Kingdom or British Isles:

♡Martha: Or at least “Martha” is passing herself off as the British Martha. The ideal of the “angel in the house” and Victorian womanhood Martha Behamfil fought against is inexorably tied to British class and gender values. Behamfil is likely a bastardization of Beham, which is an English surname by way of the Normans.

♡Fiona: Very little is known about Fiona’s background, but her given name is Celtic. The surname Gilman is also English with Norman origins.

♡Melly: She stared as a domestic servant at a manor, likely somewhere in the United Kingdom. As such, she was probably born in the United Kingdom, as the pitifully low wages of housemaids would make international travel legitimately impossible. Her surname before marriage, Ndlovu, suggests her father’s family hails from South Africa or Zimbabwe.  

♡ Ann: she comes from a wealthy family that falls within the geographical  range of influence of the cat cult. Her family own pastoral land where sheep graze, and sheep are in many ways the stereotypical livestock of the United Kingdom. Her surname is not known.

♡Bane: if he's working as a gamekeeper, he’s likely from the area around Oletus and knows the land well. Perez is a Spanish surname extremely common in the United States and Mexico, but also sometimes in Peru and even France.

♡Mike: A circus foundling and adoptee, he was probably locally sourced by Bernard. Morton is an English and Scottish surname.

♡Emil: Another character who would not have ranged far due to his extreme poverty, who was found near White Sand Asylum in a delirious state. His family surname is unknown, and the name Emil itself is popular broadly across continental Europe, and offers no clues.

♡Violetta: a circus foundling, based on a German performer, Violetta Wagner but probably abandoned somewhere in the United Kingdom unless the Hullabaloo and her prior employer/foster father/owner Max had international reach. The actual historical Violetta had living relatives and traveled with them.

♡Aesop: His given name is Greek (and honestly a very unique choice on the part of his mum). His Once skin previously including the Italian word for shame/disgrace, vergogna, is probably a reference to him going to an elite academy in that timeline, as many upper-class British boy’s schools included Latin, Italian, Greek etc in their curriculums. His letters to his teammates during his manor game are impeccably written, suggesting English is his first language. The surname of his foster father, Carl, is German, but the surnames of his birth parents are unknown. 

♡Andrew: Scottish Andrew theory here, and more broadly, Laz/Luz/Lutz Cemetery is within train ride distance  from Oletus Manor, making it in England, Scotland or Wales. Given his childhood landlord is buried in that cemetery, he has to have been born in one of these countries too. His German surname, Kreiss, makes plenty of sense, as Germans are one of the largest ethnic groups in the United Kingdom.

♡Orpheus: His parents were park rangers/ groundskeepers employed by the English DeRoss family. We do no know his given name and surname, as Orpheus is a nickname/alias. 

♡Ada: Ada and her father are based on the German doctor and scientist Franz Mesmer. It is highly likely Ada was born in England, given her father practiced there, and she came across Emil begging on the street when they were both children in the vicinity of the unarmed town so discussed in this post. The surname Mesmer is German.

♡Murro: A circus foundling and adoptee, he was probably locally sourced by Bernard. Morton is an English and Scottish surname.

♡Luca: 100% ethnically Serbian, based on his being heavily based on Nikola Tesla,  and his favorite  dish, ajvar, coming from the Balkans.  Active in the United Kingdom during his time working with Alva, who in turn knew his father as a young man, since the cat cult is linked to the events around the manor, Lakeside, and Golden Cave, all of which are in England. His surname, which is translated as Balsa but probably meant to be Balzer or Balzac, is Austrian.

♡Weepy/Joker: another circus foundling. He has no known surname and no proper first name either.

♡Alva: based on Thomas Alva Edison, an American with Dutch heritage. Alva and Herman, and then Luca, were working on their invention somewhere in the United Kingdom given that the cat cult got their hands so easily on Alva’s corpse. Lorenz is a German, Dutch and Spanish surname.

♡Will Brothers: orphans and circus foundlings. Their surname is German, and they don't possess given first names.

♡Luchino: fluent enough in English to conduct lectures at a college in England, and able to get to the manor by train. The surname Diruse is a nonsense name like Behamfil, but is probably a corruption of DeRossi, which, like his given name, is Italian. It is a given thing in IDV that to be Italian is to be cursed by a supernatural entity.

♡Burke: I think I’ve heard speculation that Burke is based on the Canadian architect Edmund Burke, but there aren’t many definitive pieces of evidence pointing to this besides the name Burke and a connection with architecture; the connection is a lot weaker than with other characters inspires by real people.  Lapadura is allegedly (?) Sicilian, but a very rare surname.

♡Victor:  His family seems to have been poor based on his dialogue in the Autumn Letter event. His favorite dish (and Luchino’s too) is Steak Diane, which was invented in London anachronistically in the 1930s. Grantz is a German surname

♡Edgar:  One of the few characters I can only tentatively guess about, falling into this category simply because so many of the characters are British. One of the artists Edgar is based on, Edouard Manet, was French. The surname Valden is apparently Russian, though very rare. Perhaps, perhaps, he is indeed French, and as none of the other participants of his game (José, Vera, Kevin, and Patricia) are British, they’d all be outsiders, in a sense.

♡Lucky: he is just some poor guy dressed like a 90′s kids sitcom character. I don't know. Also probably from Britain because almost everyone is.

♡BonBon: honorary inclusion. He is whatever his dad Burke is. A little Sicilian-British robot?

♡Galatea: Galatea is partially based on Camille Claudel, who was French, but she was likely born in Britain. She and her family are in the same social circles as the British Baron DeRoss, and she is mentioned to be considering traveling to Florence and Paris, which would be viable given her family’s wealth and not worthy of note if she did live in France already.

Born in Belgium:

♡Servais: Based on the real magician Servais LeRoy, who did spend a good part of his career in Britain. LeRoy is a surname specifically from northern France.

Born in Spain:

♡José Baden: He has a surpassingly common Spanish name and his favorite food is Paella. His family’s shipping activities saw them sailing frequently through the Mediterranean Sea. The surname Baden has Danish origins.

Born in Germany:

♡Jack: IDV’s version of Jack is heavily based on one of the candidates for Jack the Ripper’s identity, the artist Walter Sickert, who was born in Germany but grew up in England from the age of 8 onwards. Sickert is a fairly uncommon German surname.

Born in Austria:

♡Frederick: A HUGE number of composers and musicians were active in Austria, and specifically Vienna, in the 19th century. Frederick is mentioned in his deceptions as departing from Vienna for Paris, making it likely he and his family lived there, given his father was a famous musician. Many of them were from Polish or Hungarian families. Kreiberg appears to be German, as there’s a very similar German surname Kreisberg.

♡Marie Antoinette/Maria Antonia/Mary: This applies more to the historical Marie, as canon material suggests Hunter Mary is a woman experiencing delusions of being Marie Antoinette. Although Queen of France, she was born in Austria and lived there for the first 14 years of her life.

Born in France:

♡Joseph: fled France with his family. Joseph is confirmed to be largely based on the French inventor  Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, who even had a brother named Claude. Desauliners is a French surname that is much more common in Canada than France.

♡Vera/Chloe: Vera hails from the French town of Grasse, a hotspot in the perfume industry. Nair is apparently  (?) a Scottish surname, of all things.

♡Philippe: he is based on Philippe Curtis, a surgeon and wax artist. In his debut trailer, the map projected behind his sister shows his voyage beginning in what is either Eastern France or the Western edge of Switzerland. Surname unknown.

Born in Italy:

♡Antonio: he is based on the Italian violinist Niccolò Paganini. A celebrity musician would be internationally mobile and welcome at courts across Europe. His 2022 letter speaks of his lover, Andrea, who also has an Italian given name. His actual surname is unknown, as he is never referred to as Paganini in canon materials.

Born in Czechoslovakia/ The Czech Republic:

♡Annie: her mother was a British socialite, and her father a Czech painter. Her favoring of unconventional traditional dress despite being part of the upper class indicates she feels closer to her Czech, rather than British heritage, and as such likely grew up in proximity to other ethnically Czech people, as I doubt she would have access to that side of her culture as much had she grown up in the United Kingdom. Her 2022 birthday letter also lists her inheritance from her mother in British pounds, which would be odd to do when writing to someone who was also in Britain, as it could be assumed that was the currency in question. Her favorite food is Czech sausage. Lester is an English, not Czech surname, and it’s possible Annie identifies by her mother’s maiden name as a fuck you to her dreadful father.

Born in the United States:

♡Helena Adams: Based on the American activist and scholar Helen Keller. Her international travel was likely facilitated by Sullivan, as her family is not wealthy. The Adams surname is Scottish and English.

♡Patricia: abandoned as a baby in New Orleans, Patricia was technically born at sea and could count as being from Haiti as much as the United States. She is very loosely inspired by Voodoo practitioner and herbalist Marie Laveau, who was of French, Black and Native American heritage.  The surname she shares with her adoptive mother, Dorval, is French.

♡Kevin: his friend childhood Angelica was a member of the Great Sioux Nation, who since the 19th century have lived for the most part in the Midwestern states of North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and Nebraska. His Spanish surname indicates Spanish and possibly Mexican heritage as well, given many cowboys and farmers were mestizo.

♡Demi: Demi’s birthday materials include a ferry ticket for a vessel traveling from New York, suggesting she lives in the United States.  In terms of gameplay, she doesn't give drinks to underage characters due to strict censorship, but as a lore explanation, it would make sense that (although anachronistic by a good few decades) a European would not have any problem with giving someone under the age of 21 alcohol, but an American character may be stricter about drinking age.  The surname Bourbon is French.

Born in India:

♡Ganji: explicitly confirmed to have been born in India. The Gupta surname comes from Northern India.

Born in Nepal:

♡Naib: again, explicitly confirmed. The great question is how a mercenary from the Himalayas wound up in England carrying out assassinations.  We only know him by his alias, and have no idea what his given and family names might be.

Born in China:

♡ Shiyi/Yao: the daughter of a Chinese noble. Given that Shiyi came to Oletus to find her partner, Si, I also wonder how Si wound up involved in the dealings of an English manor in the first place and how the pair came to Baron DeRoss’ attention given the vast distance. The Xiao surname is ancient, originating between 770 to 476 BC, and is very common today in China.

♡ Bi’an + Wujiu: based on Heibai Wuchang, Chinese folk deities. Their in-game lore has them as two former government officers. Fan is a very common surname in China and Vietnam, and Xie ie even more common.

Born in Japan:

♡Michiko: Born in Japan, and moved to England with Miles Donnelly. His surname is Irish, but given that Michiko’s corpse was disposed of by the Female Dancer’s uncle Eugene Hayward at Lakeside, she must have lived nearby with Miles.

🌙🌙They Came from Space 🌙🌙

♡Yidhra: an Outer God, a being in the Lovecraftian mythos defined as originating from outside our solar system. She has been on earth a long, long time, however.

♡Hastur: a Great Old One, a deity that is based on Earth but, according to his original lore, has been active on other plantets, as the work he is most closely associated with, the King in Yellow, features mentions of the city Carcosa, an extraterrestrial location associated with Hastur.

TLDR: almost everything is happening in one little area! Almost all of these people got rained on a lot and are serious about tea time. I regret using the heart symbol as a bullet point because truly there are some characters on this list I would not piss on if they were on fire, but I value aesthetic consistency and there are a few individuals on this list I would cook a four-course meal for (It’s Andrew. I want to feed him. I want him to eat a lot and then take a really quality nap). I hope all my links work. Thank you for taking the time to read this far. ♡♡♡

[galateacakes]

Explaining IDV characters' lore bc I'm bored (Part 6)

Note: I researched upon different sources so let me know if I forgot something or wrote anything wrong <3 Also, I'm only covering backstories/pre manor lore and won't go fully explain like what exactly happened to them during the games.

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗮 𝗭𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲 (The Female Dancer)

▪︎ Before she appeared on the circus, she was a simple, young lady named Natasha Hayward under the care of her aunt and uncle, Marjory and Eugene Hayward. The three immigrated to Lakeside Village and became residents there.

▪︎ At some point, she came to see the circus set up nearby and met Sergi, a man playing as the smiling clown. Sergi took Natasha out on spontaneous dates. At some point, he gifted her a music box.

▪︎ However, her uncle Eugene seemingly dissaproves from her dating Sergei. He proves this point by locking all of the house's doors but only leaves a window open, which Sergei used to snuck in.

▪︎ He had Natasha sprinkle "soothing salt" in their soup to make them fall asleep so she could escape easily.

▪︎ Eventually, she joined the circus as an animal tamer under the stage name Natalie Zelle. Sergi then proposed to her, soon enough, the two became married.

▪︎ However, their relationship took an unhealthy turn in which Sergi became an alcoholic and would physically abuse Natalie off stage.

▪︎ Another clown, Joker, saw her scars and confronted her about it. He wrote down a letter to her one night, and she sought refuge in his tent.

▪︎ Sergei eventually found out about this and became extremely envious of the fact that Joker had a crush for her. So, he took one of the clown's face paint and mixed it with one of the acrobat's chemicals; which caused burns and permanent scars on Joker's face as he applied it later on before a performance.

▪︎ Soon after, the circus was set into flames by someone who is known as the "Carnival Killer," causing the people inside to be slaughtered, and the only survivors in the incident were Margaretha and Murro. (Mike was away at that time as he was purchasing supplies for his bombs)

▪︎ With losing her husband in the blaze, she became a dancer upon the name of "Margaretha Zelle," to make money but fell into poverty later on.

▪︎ She then went to the Manor for a chance to become a millionaire and to gain a sense of 'freedom'.

That's all thank you !! (This has been on my drafts for so long, I polished this first before posting so let me know if I missed something (´∧ω∧｀*) )

[the-scarlet-witch-22]

Chaconne: Part Fourteen (Agatha Harkness x Fem!Reader)

Word Count: 11.1K

Summary: With the days to the concert flying by, you do your best to assist MSO conductor Agatha Harkness as you both prepare for the final performance.

A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to the last chapter of Chaconne. It’s taken me a while to get here, but I’m so excited to post this and share it with all of you. Just a few reminders, this story was originally based off one of my favorite tv shows, Mozart In The Jungle. A few of the plot lines inspired me to write this story but, I do not own Mozart In The Jungle (unfortunately). I lost track while writing so this chapter is much longer, but I hope all of you enjoy. Thank you guys for reading and always sharing your thoughts with me, I appreciate it more than words can say. I hope you enjoy this last chapter and please, feel free to comment or message me to let me know what you think! :)

Tag-List: @anxiousgoldengirl @celasteria @danvers97 @imthedoctorlove @mcfriggingonagall @meowsaidmissy @scarletmeltstheice @shinkomiii @sxfwap @thestrangeundoing @upsidedowndanvers @venticalooks @vintagegoddess12 @thoroughly--confused @thewelshelk @tr333sus

Y/N POV

There was nothing more exhilarating than the start of a concert week. The grueling hours of practicing, weeks of rehearsals that seemed to drag by, all of it was worth it for opening night. Sitting on stage while the lights began to dim. Seeing the concert hall full of an audience who came to watch you perform. Well, that’s what you usually would look forward to. Only this time you wouldn’t be performing, you’d be backstage preventing Agatha from strangling the various stage hands and orchestra personnel.

With the concert quickly approaching, you were leaving work later and later every night. It seemed that there was a never ending pile of tasks to complete, and just when you thought you had finished, there turned out to be more to do. You loved the work, even if it wasn’t what you envisioned doing with your career. The MSO housed an impressive music library, with what seemed to be thousands of music scores. There were guest artist programs where world famous musicians like Wanda and Natasha would do various performances in the community. You had an unlimited supply of resources at your fingertips, but a small part of you wondered if it would be enough.

After you called Natasha to inform her you weren’t accepting the offer, she had taken to emailing you twice more to make sure you hadn’t reconsidered. But you weren't reconsidering, right? Sure, you weren't performing with the MSO, but you had Agatha. Agatha, who had taken to inviting you to stay with her for the past few nights. Agatha, who made you dinner each night, despite your protests that you could help. Agatha, who turned off your earliest alarm so you could catch up on sleep, and sent her car service to pick you up a few hours later.

Even with the domestic layers of Agatha that you were slowly uncovering, there were still unanswered questions. Despite all the time you’d spent together, the dates, and the sleepovers you’d never had a conversation discussing what this was. You couldn’t really picture Agatha as the ‘girlfriend’ type, and you were unsure how to ask her what she wanted long term. Or rather, you were scared that you wanted more than she did.

There was no use fretting right now, you reminded yourself as you entered the symphony center. You had a job to do, and it currently required all of your attention. There had originally been a youth music concert scheduled for the day, where hundreds of children would come hear the symphony perform, but Hayward canceled it last week. He claimed it was a waste of money that wasn’t benefitting the symphony, and instead scheduled yet another donor lunch. While you had been disappointed by the news, Agatha was livid. You recalled the thirty minute rant you witnessed last week, complete with Agatha’s ever colorful ways of insulting the CFO.

This afternoon’s dress rehearsal meant Agatha would be even more nitpicky than usual, if that was even possible. Agatha didn’t just expect a flawless performance, she demanded it. But rehearsals were running more smoothly as time went on, so you were hopeful today wouldn’t be a complete disaster. She seemed to be pleased with the orchestra's progress, or as pleased as she could be. There was a comfortable sort of banter between her and the orchestra (although the slight…bullying towards Dottie hadn’t changed), and it was nice to see her start to relax. The orchestra wasn’t afraid of her anymore, the fear had slowly turned into respect.

You’d usually find the conductor pacing in her office in the hours before rehearsal started, but much to your surprise her office was vacant when you returned from helping the interns set the stage. There was a note addressed to you on her desk, and in Agatha’s messy scrawl she informed you she’d be back before rehearsal started, and to make sure you had something to eat. On rehearsal days you were often so busy there were times where you’d forget to eat lunch, or even dinner. Agatha always noticed. Although she’d complain you were supposed to be her assistant and not the other way around, she’d make sure you ate something.

By the time rehearsal rolled around, most of the orchestra had arrived and were getting settled on stage when Agatha came sauntering in. She was carrying two cups of coffee, and handed one to you when she reached the stage. Her fingers briefly squeezed yours, and when she let go you instantly missed the contact. Wasting no time, she clapped her hands together to indicate the lingering orchestra members should get on stage.

“We’re going to run through parts of Dvorak before Wanda arrives.” Agatha informed you as she gathered her music scores and baton that you had grabbed from her office earlier that afternoon. “Can you watch the string sections to make sure everyone is following the correct bowings? It only takes one of them to fuck it up and become an eyesore.”

Nodding, you grabbed the spare copy of the Dvorak score and a pencil. “Anything else?”

“Let me know if anyone seems to be falling behind because of the tempo changes. I know we have problems with the flutes, but I’ve been sensing some of the first violins dragging as well.” Agatha added, and you scribbled down her instructions. “We’re going to be running through the program from start to finish for the second half of rehearsal, so I want to get all of the kinks worked out beforehand.”

The conductor paused for a moment as her eyes scanned the stage before turning her attention back to you. “I have a little surprise planned for today. Can you ask a few of the interns to wait in the lobby?”

A surprise? Is that where she disappeared to today? Giving her a sweet smile, you leaned in close enough to whisper. “Can I ask what it is?”

Agatha smirked, and there was a mischievous glint in her blue eyes. She merely tskd and shook her head. “All in good time, dear. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a rehearsal to lead.”

Firing off a text to 4 interns relaying Agatha’s instructions, you waited for confirmation that they would wait in the lobby before settling in your seat. Agatha was flipping through her score, and you scanned the first violin section until your eyes locked on Monica and sent her a quick, but enthusiastic wave. You missed her, and missed being her stand partner.

Tapping her baton, Agatha motioned for the orchestra to be quiet. “Good afternoon everyone. As this is our last rehearsal before tomorrow night, I have a few spots I want to run before our soloist arrives.”

She was flipping through her score at record speed before finally locating whatever section she was searching for. “If you could turn your attention to measure 191 in the first movement. Strings, I need less of you here. You shouldn’t be playing anything above mezzo piano.” Pausing, her eyes appeared to drift throughout the section, before adding. “And some of you need to use less bow. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t waste all of your energy in the first movement when we have three more to go.”

Raising her baton, the orchestra raised their instruments, and you turned to the correct page in the score so you could follow along. Unfortunately, the orchestra barely played a full measure before Agatha cut them off.

Clearing her throat, you could tell she was attempting to keep her annoyance in check. “Just a reminder, we are at measure 191 in the first movement.” She waved her baton back towards the winds. “Does everyone know where we are?” When everyone either nodded or confirmed they were at the correct place, Agatha sighed. “Alright then. Once more, and we’ll keep going this time.”

Your eyes locked on the measure Agatha was referring to, and quickly scanned the parts before she gave the downbeat to begin. Again, barely one measure in and she was cutting the orchestra off once more. Oh no. Although Agatha hadn’t been as frustrated during orchestra rehearsals, you were beginning to wonder if today would end that streak.

Tapping her baton on the stand, she took a deep breath. “Alright. I want everyone to take a moment and make sure we are all at the same place. In case some of you happen to be hard of hearing, we are at measure 191.” She tapped the baton again, louder, this time in clear frustration. “Again, that is measure one hundred and ninety-one.” This time she enunciated each syllable and a painstakingly slow pace. “Does anyone need help locating the measure? I thought they would have taught you to count by now but I am willing to assist if need be.”

When she was once again met with silence, she nodded. “Good. Once more, hopefully for the last time.”

Raising her baton, she gave the downbeat and when the orchestra played the first note you could immediately tell that someone was not at the correct measure. Agatha dropped her baton on her stand and shook her head. “Flutes, are all of you on the right measure?” There was insistent nodding from the flute section and you grimaced.

Agatha took yet another very, very, deep breath, more than likely to try and keep her temper in check. “Flutes, if we’re all in the same place then why are we not playing the correct notes? We are in the key of e minor, yes?” Without even waiting for the flutes to confirm she continued on her rant. “Right, right. Yes, yes. Very good, we can all read key signatures. I’m sure your parents are so proud they’ve paid hundreds of thousands of dollars on your education that you can identify what key you are in.”

Ouch. She was in a mood now. There was movement to your right, and you looked over to see Wanda Maximoff taking a seat next to you. The pianist gave your shoulder a light squeeze, and leaned in closer to you. “I see Agatha is getting along well with the orchestra.”

You resisted the urge to giggle, on the off chance Agatha somehow heard and became even more agitated than she already was. The conductor in question looked like she was getting close to going full rage. “Dottie, are you sure you have the correct measure number?”

The principal flautist nodded. “Yes, Maestra. It’s marked as measure 191.”

“Then why are you playing the wrong note? You have an e-flat notated but you’ve played an e-natural each time.”

“I don’t have an e-flat at 191, Maestra. It’s an e-natural,” Dottie insisted, and you swore she appeared to be shrinking in size in her seat from embarrassment.

The second chair flautist leaned over to read Dottie’s part before nodding. “She’s right, Maestra. It’s an e-natural at measure 191.” She then turned to Jimmy. “Right, Jimmy?”

Jimmy, who was seated on the other side of Dottie reluctantly looked over at her part as well. “It’s…it’s an e-natural, Maestra.”

“See, I have witnesses!” Dottie exclaimed. “It’s not me.”

Jimmy meanwhile was still scanning Dottie’s part, and he pointed at something on the page. “Wait Dottie, I think your part is numbered incorrectly. It looks like you’re off by three bars.”

Dottie became more flustered and she appeared to be silently counting each bar, before sheepishly looking up at Agatha. “Well, it looks like I wasn’t actually at measure 191. But it wasn’t my fault! The part was numbered incorrectly.”

“Ah of course, Dottie,” Agatha drawled sarcastically, her voice dripping with resentment. “It’s always someone else’s fault.” Grabbing her baton, she raised her arms. “Measure 191 everyone.”

The orchestra began to play and you were following along with the score until you felt Wanda lightly tap your shoulder. Giving her an inquisitive look she leaned closer to you again. “Natasha told me you turned down the job offer. I have to say I’m surprised, and I know she was as well.”

Shrugging, you gave a quick glance to the stage to make sure Agatha’s attention was solely on the orchestra before replying. “I’m grateful for the opportunity, but I’m really happy where I am right now.”

“You mean you’re happy with Agatha.” Wanda corrected you, but there was no malice or judgment in her tone; only curiosity. “Does she know you got the job?”

You debated over the risk of confiding in Wanda, but rationalized that she had been nothing but kind to you. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to talk to someone about this. “No, she doesn’t. Besides, it doesn’t matter now. I told Natasha that I wasn’t taking it, so she never has to know.”

“You should tell her,” Wanda suggested, her breath hot in your ear. “She’d want to know.”

“It’s not that simple,” You argued. “We don’t-”

“If my assistant and soloist could stop chatting, the rest of us doing our jobs would greatly appreciate it,” Agatha called from the stage, effectively shutting you up. “Wanda, if you’d like to come on stage for Rachmaninoff, we’ll continue after taking a 10 minute break.”

Wanda gave your shoulder a final squeeze as she stood up. “Just think about it, okay? I’ve known Agatha for a long time, and I can tell she really cares about you. You should tell her.”

With that, Wanda went to join the orchestra on stage, and you were alone yet again. Although Wanda meant well, there was no point in telling Agatha about the job in Vienna. You had made your decision, and you were happy with it. Agatha came skulking off the stage, heading in your general direction and you winced at how annoyed she appeared to be.

“Y/N, a moment?“ Agatha asked, and as she stared at you it became apparent she wanted you to get up and follow her.

Nodding, you followed her backstage. You barely rounded the corner when you felt Agatha grab your arm and yank you into a closet. It was a storage closet, and a rather roomy one at that. Now, it wasn’t unusual for Agatha to be staring at you, but this was different. At first you wondered if she was angry you were talking to Wanda during rehearsal, but you couldn’t detect any frustration in her gaze. Her eyes were scanning yours, as if she was trying to detect something, find something, but you weren’t sure what.

“Agatha?” You asked softly, gazing up at her. “Is everything alright?”

“I was hoping you’d join me for dinner after rehearsal,” Agatha explained, as one of her hands lightly grabbed your waist. “I’ve enjoyed having you stay over for the past few nights. It’s been quite…calming. I think Scratchy enjoyed it too.”

Beaming at her words, you blushed. “I’d love to, and I’ve enjoyed it too. But is that all you wanted to talk about?”

Agatha left one hand on your waist as the other gently reached to cradle your face. “It can wait until tonight dear.”

She pressed her lips to your forehead for a sweet and gentle kiss before letting go of your waist. “Now, if you’ll come with me. I believe they should be arriving any minute now.”

Before you could ask what, or rather who, was arriving, Agatha was already halfway down the hallway; leaving you to awkwardly trail after her. You never understood how she was able to walk so quickly in those heels. Just as you managed to catch up to her, you stopped dead in your tracks at what you saw occurring in the concert hall. There were children, hundreds of children, all excitedly entering the hall. Somehow the four interns you wrangled into waiting in the lobby had called for reinforcements, as there were now around a dozen interns and orchestra personnel guiding the school children and their teachers to seats.

For a brief moment you were brought back in time to your first visit to the symphony when you were a child. The hall seemed mammoth sized, with the shimmery chandeliers dangling from the ceiling, and the thousands of seats. Seeing a full symphony orchestra for the first time, as you rapidly fired off the name of every instrument you spotted to your parents. Watching the professional violinists warm up and prepare for the concert. It was what inspired you to want to perform in the first place.

Agatha was conversing with the stage manager and you stared at her in disbelief. This is what she was off doing today? However she pulled this off, after Hayward made a clear point of canceling it, was beyond you. She caught you staring in the midst of her conversation, and merely winked at you before motioning with what she wanted to do with the stage lights. Darcy walked by you at that moment, her mallets in one hand and her music in the other.

“I have to say, I can’t believe she managed to make this happen,” Darcy said to you. “Hayward’s going to have a total fit.”

“Yeah no kidding,” You shuddered at the thought of Hayward finding out. “Did you know about this?”

Darcy shook her head. “I just perform here.”

It took another fifteen minutes to get everyone in their seats, and in the meantime you joined Agatha backstage. The conductor was lightly pacing, and every few minutes appeared to be peering out into the crowd.

“You did this all on your own?” You asked quietly, as various musicians made their way to their seats. “Today?”

Agatha shrugged, not meeting your eyes. “Hayward seems to forget that this isn’t his orchestra, it’s mine. It’s about time he remembers who’s in charge.”

“How did you even get all of these kids here? I’m sure when Hayward canceled the field trip the schools canceled the transportation they had lined up.” You prompted, still amazed at the different obstacles you’re sure she had to face to do this in such a short amount of time.

Giving you a pointed look, Agatha gave you a small smirk. “I’m Agatha Harkness, dear.”

“You gave them a lot of money, didn’t you?”

Rolling her eyes at you, she chuckled lightly, before motioning to the hall. “What do you think?”

“I’m…” You trailed off, still in shock at what the conductor had done. It was so thoughtful, and considerate. You hadn’t given much thought to the topic before today but you’d ignorantly assumed Agatha didn’t like children. Clearly you were wrong. Realizing you had stayed quiet for too long you said the first thing that came to mind, the only thing on your mind. You loved her. “I-.”

“We’re ready to begin whenever you are, Maestra.” The stage manager announced as they approached you.

Agatha nodded. “Thank you. You can tell Wanda and the concertmaster to make their entrances.”

Once they walked away, you panicked as Agatha looked at you expectantly, waiting for your answer. You gave the conductor’s arm a playful punch. “Break a leg.”

She looked at you as if you’d lost your mind, but the sounds of the orchestra tuning roused her from whatever she must have been thinking. Turning away, she went to join Wanda near the stage door, and shot you another curious glance before heading out on stage.

Break a leg? What was wrong with you? You had a tendency to freeze in situations that made you nervous, and you were usually nervous around Agatha. There was something about her that constantly left you on the edge of your seat. You were so scared of disappointing her, and you were just as scared of getting hurt. That was part of the problem. You knew you loved Agatha, you’d been in love with her for a while. It was as easy as breathing. But the thought of being that vulnerable and open terrified you. What if she didn’t find this to be as serious of a relationship as you did?

The performance was going a lot better than the earlier rehearsal had. Even though you were stuck backstage, you could hear everything perfectly and there were moments where you pretended you were performing too. Being alone, with a concert going on a few feet away from you was all it took for you to admit that you were going to miss performing. Agatha had brought up the idea of you auditioning for the next open chair a few times, but the blind audition was still in the back of your mind so you politely refused. You wondered if you were crazy for turning down a chance to perform in Vienna with one of your all time favorite musicians.

You had been so wrapped up in your thoughts, you stopped paying attention to the concert until there was a surge of applause and some light cheering from the audience. You snuck out the side entrance to stand in the back of the hall, just in time to witness Agatha motioning for the orchestra to stand up. She shook the concertmaster’s hand before walking off stage, and when the applause eventually died down she came back out. You watched her say something inaudible to the orchestra, who were still in their seats.

A few of the children had gotten out of their seats and were lingering at the front of the stage. Agatha eventually noticed them, and surprised you once more as she waved for them to come up to join her. Still too far away to hear what they were saying, you felt your heart swell as Agatha handed one of them her baton, and helped them up on the podium. The rest of the group had scattered around various orchestra members who began demonstrating how to play their instruments. You forgot how long you stood there, until Agatha noticed you in the crowd, and motioned for you to come join them.

Wanda had come back out at this point, and had two of the children sitting on the piano bench, and was laughing with delight as she showed them how to play simple chords. Meanwhile, the violin section was swarmed, and you could make out Monica and the new violinist, John, allowing the kids to hold their bows. Agatha was having them stand on the podium, one by one. She would hand them her baton, and show them the proper way to hold it. This went on for some time, until finally the buses arrived and the interns had the children in neat lines to exit the hall.

When the doors shut once more, Agatha tapped her baton once more. “I know all of you are probably eager to head home, I have a few announcements. First, a reminder that the call time for tomorrow evening is 6:00 sharp. I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but you should know that being early is being on time, and being on time is being late.” She pointed her baton at the brass section. “Trumpets, I’m looking at you. No strolling in at 6:01, I want you backstage, unpacked and warmed up by 6:00.”

After a brief moment of silence, she continued. “Secondly, thank you all for the performance today. In all my years of performing and conducting, I’ve always enjoyed these concerts the most. There’s something quite special about what we do, when we do it well.”

Agatha seemed to have the whole orchestra hanging on to her every word. Despite her occasional outbursts and sarcastic quips, she was a beyond captivating public speaker. “I know some people on the board don’t feel it is necessary, as it doesn’t bring in enough money,” She scoffed, and Hayward’s words replayed in your mind. “But there is nothing more important than sharing this gift we have with the next generation. After all, there’s a good chance some of them might end up sitting in the very same chairs you’re occupying now.”

“One final thing,” Agatha added, as she closed her Dvorak score. “I know I’ve been rather hard on all of you for the past few months, but it’s because I see the potential this orchestra has. I don’t want the Manhattan Symphony to just be a good orchestra, I want it to be the best, and I know that’s possible.”

She picked her scores off the stand, and by reflex you grabbed them from her. “We aren’t a great orchestra yet, we aren’t the best. But I’m proud of the work you’re putting in,” She nodded her head to the winds, “All of you. Which is why I have planned a little something for tomorrow. I know most of you take public transportation to get to and from rehearsals, but tomorrow night I’ll be sending each of you a town car to take you to and from the concert.”

Your eyes nearly bulged out of your head from shock. A quick look around the room confirmed everyone else, including a lingering Wanda, was just as flabbergasted as you. A few people were clapping, others were offering their thanks to the conductor who waved it away. “None of that. Tomorrow will be the start of a new era for the Manhattan Symphony, and I want all of you to feel like stars.” She stepped off the podium. “That will be all, thank you everyone.”

On the walk back to the conductor’s office, you asked the question that had been practically burning a hole in your brain all afternoon. “How did you manage to get all of this done today?”

“I already had the school concert resolved earlier in the week,” Agatha stated as she unlocked the door, allowing you to step inside first. “The town car was an idea I came up with this morning.”

“You do know that they really think the world of you,” You teased, causing Agatha to scowl, but it was true. Agatha’s added pressure and high expectations was pushing the orchestra to new heights.

“I’d prefer they think nothing of me,” She quipped, packing her scores and belongings up in her bag, and you rolled your eyes.

“Of course, Maestra.”

The rest of the day was uneventful, and your dinner with Agatha turned into takeout on her couch, as you were both too exhausted from the day to do anything else. But it was perfect. You were so happy, and so content. You wanted it to stay like this forever.

The day of the concert proved to be pure madness. You decided to ride to the symphony center in the early evening with Agatha in an attempt to calm her down. The conductor had been in a mood all day, wanting to make last minute changes that you knew were impossible. You finally were able to help her calm down on the walk to her office, and she shooed you away as she carried her garment bag containing her outfit inside. Agatha had convinced you to wear an all black ensemble, and told you that you’d blend in well backstage (which you weren’t entirely sure was a compliment but you listened to her).

You waited outside her office door for some time before she finally said you could come back in. The conductor’s back was facing the wall and you barely made it through the door when she instructed you to close it. As she turned around, you gasped. Agatha had changed into a black Armani pantsuit that made her ass look fantastic. Her hair was as tamed as it ever had been, with her curly waves flowing over her shoulders and her makeup stage dark. She looked beautiful.

“You look…” You momentarily lost the ability to speak as you tried to not gawk at her. “You look incredible, wow.”

Agatha smirked at you, “Thank you, darling.” She pulled you closer to her. “I saw you checking out my ass as well.”

You blushed and wriggled in her grasp. “I was not checking you out. I was just…admiring the view.”

That made Agatha cackle as she grabbed your waist, nibbling on your ear and whispering, “Oh? Admiring the view, hm?”

You turned your head to capture her lips in a kiss. Kissing Agatha was so easy, just like breathing. Her lips moved against yours and you made a happy humming noise as she deepened it. Agatha’s teeth gently bit down on your bottom lip, drawing blood before she sucked, and you moaned at the sensation. She did it twice more before gently pulling away, kissing you once more.

“Wow,” You breathed out, wishing there wasn’t a concert soon so you could continue. “That was…really good.”

Agatha smirked as she went back to her bookshelf. “Indeed it was. I have a few things to do before the concert, dear. Would you mind checking on how things are going backstage?”

You nodded and as you went to leave, you subtly looked back at Agatha. Her ass did look really good.

“I can feel you staring.” She called out, not turning around, causing you to blush and practically run out of her office.

Keeping yourself busy, you helped the interns keep track of who was arriving. You marked off orchestra member after orchestra member until only one remained. After waiting for what you felt was a sufficient amount of time, you decided to go find Agatha.

“John still hasn’t shown up,” You informed Agatha, who was shutting her office door. “Has anyone heard from him?”

Agatha arched an eyebrow. “He’s missing? How horrible. We should send out a search party.”

“Agatha, that’s not funny. You had a car sent to pick him up, right? Maybe we can call the service company to see if something happened?”

“That won’t be necessary, dear,” Agatha waved off your concern. “Walker won’t be here in time.”

“How could you possibly know that?” You questioned, until a dark thought washed over you. “Oh my god, did you do this?”

Cackling, Agatha rubbed your arm, amused by your horror. “Relax darling. You’re acting as if I killed him. He’s currently driving through New Jersey, I believe. I have some friends in Westview. Nice town, quaint, but unfortunately it’s not where he needs to be.”

“Agatha!” You exclaimed, not comprehending why she would send one of the first violinists on a road trip. “Why would you do that?”

Shrugging, the conductor started walking away. “Looks like we’ll need to find a substitute player. What a shame, the concert is in fifteen minutes. That’s not a lot of time to find someone.”

All but chasing after her, realization dawned on you, and you lightly grabbed her arm, stopping her. “Agatha, I don’t have my violin. It’s at my apartment, and there’s no way I could get there and back in time and-”

You should have been used to this by now, but you were effectively silenced as Agatha kissed you. Firmly grabbing you by your hips, she pulled you closer and lightly bit down on your bottom lip, causing you to whine. Before you could even react, she pulled back, and smirked. “You’re really too easy, dear.”

“First, no I’m not. You just caught me by surprise.” You pouted, turning slightly red, and Agatha’s resounding cackle made you blushed even harder. “Second, I still don’t have my violin, and I doubt you have a solution for that.”

“Oh, I don’t?” Agatha frowned, and continued to the concert hall. “Thirteen minutes. Chop chop.”

You reluctantly took off after her, not sure what the use was when you didn’t have a violin to play. When you walked backstage, you were surprised to find your roommate standing near a table, scrolling on his phone.

“Sam?“ The sound of your voice causing him to look up. “What are you doing here?”

“Agatha called me,” Sam pulled your violin case out from under the table. “I’m not sure how she got my number, but she said you needed this.”

Deciding it wasn’t that important to figure out how Agatha acquired your roommate’s phone number at this very moment, you threw yourself at him in a hug. “Oh my gosh! Sam, thank you!”

“Yeah of course, Y/N.” Sam laughed as he hugged you back. “I’ve gotta say, your girlfriend is quite persistent, and scary.” He pulled out a pair of tickets from his coat pocket. “But she gave me and Bucky tickets so we can watch you perform.”

Your heart did flip flops at the mention of Agatha being your girlfriend. Is that what she was now? Your eyes drifted over the room until you found her across from you, talking to the concertmaster. She caught you staring, she always caught you staring, and winked before returning to her conversation. You couldn’t believe she did this for you.

Giving Sam a final hug, you took your violin case. “I’m really glad you’re here, but you should probably get to your seat. I think the concert is starting soon.”

“Break a leg out there!” Sam said encouragingly as he walked out of the room.

Quickly finding a place to set down your violin case, you opened it up and grabbed your bow. You always made sure to loosen the hairs before putting it away each time you practiced to prevent the bow from becoming warped. Taking a moment to tighten it, you then grabbed your rosin and applied a generous amount. The last step was to make sure you were in tune. You always kept an electronic tuner in your case, but had a tuning app on your phone as well. It took you a little longer than normal, the fall air was becoming colder as the days went on, and it made your violin more difficult to tune. Finally, you were ready.

The rest of the MSO was either already on stage, or making their way to their seats. A few people congratulated you on performing again as you passed them, but the one person you wanted to talk to was nowhere to be found. Where did Agatha wander off to now? You could spot Darcy with another percussionist, a few of the other first violins who were heading on stage, and an agitated looking Tyler Hayward who was heading your way.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Hayward all but seethed, his face turning red. “And where is John?”

“Um…” Trailing off, you looked around but still couldn’t locate Agatha. “He’s running late, so Maestra Harkness is having me fill in until he gets here.”

“Very convenient that the violinist I hired goes missing right before the season opener is about to begin.” Hayward said, his voice laced with venom. “And Harkness has no right asking you to fill in. Put your violin away, you’re not performing.”

“Is there a problem, Mr. Hayward?” Wanda’s voice echoed through the room, and you whipped your head around at the sound of it and almost gasped.

The pianist had changed from her usual attire into a beautiful one-shoulder a-line scarlet gown. The pattern of the dress made there appear to be rose petals scattered throughout it. Her hair was curled and pinned to the side. She looked beautiful.

“Y/N?” Wanda's voice broke you out of your trance. “Is everything okay?”

“This doesn’t involve you, Miss Maximoff.” Hayward replied, his voice lowering in volume.

“Perhaps it involves me, then?” Agatha all but growled, and you were worried she would try to impale Hayward with her baton. “What’s going on here? Y/N why aren’t you onstage?”

“What did you do with John, Harkness?” Hayward’s face was turning a rather impressive shade of red. “The number of rules you have broken in the past two days alone is grounds for your firing. I heard about your impromptu concert yesterday. You’re lucky I didn't call the board immediately to have you removed.”

“I could say the same of you,” Agatha said conversationally. “You know, I heard the most fascinating things from Loki Laufeyson about you yesterday at the donor brunch.” She shook her head at the man in disapproval. “Embezzling symphony funds, Tyler? I don’t think the board would approve of that either.”

Pulling her phone out of her back pocket, she held it out. “Perhaps you’d like to give them a call? It shouldn’t take more than a minute for them to get backstage.”

Hayward’s face instantly paled. “That won’t be necessary. We’ll discuss this later.“

He stormed off without another word, slamming the door behind him. Agatha immediately turned to you, seemingly having forgotten that Wanda was standing right there. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” You insisted. “Wanda showed up before it got worse. Thank you by the way, Wanda. Your timing is always impeccable.”

“It was my pleasure,” Wanda assured you, smiling brightly.

“If only all of your entrances were as impeccable, Maximoff,” Agatha taunted lightly, but her tone was more lighthearted than before. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Agatha,” Wanda replied with a small smile.

They were finally sort of getting along. It was about time. You finally walked on stage, where the rest of the orchestra was warming up. Monica looked thrilled to see you once you finally sat down.

“Hey stand partner,” She greeted you with a warm grin. “What, did Maestra kill John tonight to get rid of him?”

“Not quite, I guess he got stuck in traffic,” You whispered, which wasn’t a total lie.

At that moment an automated voice played over the speakers, reminding the audience to have their cellphones silenced, and announced that the concert would begin shortly. That was usually the signal for the orchestra to stop warming up, and sure enough the concertmaster came walking out a few moments later. There was applause from the audience, and after they bowed, it was time to tune the orchestra. Jimmy lifted up his oboe to play an A, and the woodwinds and brass tuned first. Then after a brief pause, Jimmy played another A and the string section, including yourself, tuned your instruments.

Finally, the doors opened and Wanda followed closely by Agatha came walking out. There was thunderous applause from the audience, and you had briefly forgotten how famous both Agatha and Wanda were. Agatha lifted her hand to signal the orchestra should stand for the applause. Looking out in the crowd you finally felt a wave of nerves rush over you. This definitely had to be the largest crowd you’d ever performed in, like…ever. You’d barely had time to think about if you could really do this. Were you ready?

Unfortunately you were out of time to decide that, as Agatha was raising her baton. Lifting your violin you waited for the downbeat and let go of any doubts in your brain. Wanda played the opening chords of the Rachmaninoff somehow more perfectly than in any rehearsal. She was so fluid in her movements it was like nothing you had ever experienced before. She played with such passion, such raw and unrelenting emotions, and with every run and cadenza it was as if she was pouring her entire heart out.

The second movement, the Adagio sostenuto, was breathtakingly beautiful with Wanda playing a sweet melody, accompanied by the orchestra. It was as heartbreaking as it was hopeful with the start of each new cadence. Somehow you enjoyed Wanda playing this softer melody even more than the fury of intense runs up and down the keys. Towards the end of the movement the first violins took over the melody, and you could practically feel your soul singing along as you played out. You had missed this, you’d missed it with every fiber of your being. Being on stage, performing in an orchestra, this is what you were meant to do.

Although you had been looking up at Agatha throughout the piece so far, she had been too wrapped up in making sure everyone was following the correct tempo. However this time, towards the end of the movement, you made brief, but direct eye contact, and you swore she smiled at you. Finally it was the third and final movement, the Allegro scherzando. While the second movement had been more subdued, the third was the complete opposite. Wanda, somehow still full of energy and seemingly not tired, effortlessly played all of her runs at the new, fast tempo.

The movement all but sped by, and you switched your focus between the music on the page and stealing glances at Wanda. She was beyond captivating, with her glissandos up and down the piano, her final cadenza practically had you hypnotized. The last few minutes of the concerto had Wanda playing her practically impossible chords as the orchestra sped into playing the final phrases, and you watched as Agatha cut everyone off.

The concert hall erupted into tumultuous applause, and Wanda stood up for her bow. There was some whistling from the audience, and the applause somehow got louder. After a while, Wanda walked off stage, and then came back for her encore. At this point it seemed that the entire hall had stood up, and you were nearly glowing from how blissful you felt in that very moment. When the applause finally died down, there was a brief intermission to reset the stage and move the piano. You waited backstage, and made a point to hydrate while you waited for the intermission to end.

Wanda eventually came over, accompanied by Natasha Romanov. The pianist had her arms full of flowers, as well as what looked to be a homemade card, presumably from her sons. Natasha, meanwhile, was helping her carry her loot.

“Wanda, you were incredible!” You exclaimed, and the pianist beamed.

“You’re too sweet, Y/N. Thank you. I think it went rather well,” Wanda said modestly, and Natasha snorted.

“Humble as ever, Wands,” Natasha joked.

“It’s really nice to see you again, Miss Romanov,” You greeted the violinist, and you meant it.

Natasha nodded, as Wanda excused herself to talk to other members of the orchestra. “I was happy to hear you changed your mind on Vienna. We’re excited to have you. The group is a bit smaller than this orchestra, but we have a lot of great repertoire lined up.”

“I don’t…” You were at a loss for words. “Excuse me?”

“I was a bit surprised to hear you reconsidered,” Natasha added. “My assistant said you’d called earlier this morning to ask for the contract and travel details.”

Now, you had been a bit spacey over the past week with stress of concert preparations, but you knew that you did not contact Natasha. That left only one person. Agatha. But how did she even find out? Your eyes trailed over to Wanda, who was praising Dottie on one of her solos, before realizing you were being ridiculous. You knew Wanda wouldn’t have said anything. But, it was clear Agatha was behind this. You just weren’t sure why.

“Of course,” You finally answered, deciding you would correct the mistake later. “I’ve…just had so much on my mind.”

Natasha nodded once more. “Well, for what it’s worth I think you made the right choice. I’m looking forward to working with you. I’ll see you next Saturday.”

She then excused herself to go back to Wanda just as the backstage lights flickered, signaling the end of the intermission. Great, you thought sarcastically, perfect timing. Scanning the room for Agatha, you realized you were out of time to find her, you needed to get back onstage. Grabbing your violin, you wracked your brain on if Agatha had done anything to suggest she knew about the audition, but you had nothing.

How could she do this? You’d made your decision, and you weren’t planning on changing it. Yes, you loved performing, it was what you’d always wanted; but now you wanted Agatha too. You didn’t want to move to Vienna and potentially lose her, you weren’t sure you could handle that. So, you made the executive decision to turn down the offer. As the orchestra tuned again, your brain anxiously went over any possible reason you could think of for why Agatha would have done this. Was she trying to get rid of you?

Agatha walked out on stage to more thunderous applause, and you took a deep breath. You couldn’t worry about this now, you’d talk to her after and everything would be okay. As the first movement began, you slowly felt yourself begin to relax. Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, or The New World Symphony, was still one of your all time favorites. Everything felt big and loud, and you were thrilled to be part of it.

Everyone else seemed to be more relaxed for the second half, even Agatha. Putting your mixed feelings aside for the moment, you couldn’t help but observe Agatha like this. With every rehearsal she seemed to let her guard down more, and more. She was wildly conducting, and her hair was practically bouncing off her shoulders. The way she moved her hands was like she was telling a story, and you were always so mesmerized by it. She looked so serene when she was like this, and just like at the first rehearsal she was paying no mind to the score. Instead she was cueing the various sections for their entrances, and once you reached the end of the first movement she seemed to gain more energy as she ended her hands with a flourish.

The second movement has always been one of your favorites. It was less complex than the first movement, but still required you to use the proper techniques. Agatha once told you the most common mistake a musician makes is just playing the music on the page. She said there was so much more to it than just that, and she was right. It didn’t matter how simple a piece appeared to be, there were dynamics, phrasing, vibrato, and at least a dozen other things to keep in mind while you were performing. Making music and sharing it was one of the best things that had ever happened to you, and you always made sure to give it your all.

This pattern continued all the way to the finale, the fourth movement. Agatha was practically jumping up and down on the podium as she conducted the opening phrase. Once again, you forced yourself to just concentrate on the music, and as the movement progressed you became bewitched from watching Agatha conduct. You had always understood why Agatha was as successful as she was. She was driven, motivated, beyond musically gifted. But there was one thing you had always failed to notice. When Agatha was on the podium, she could be herself. In these moments where she had her baton and the orchestra in front of her was when she was her most vulnerable. She was incredible and spellbinding, and you were hopelessly in love with her.

The ending of the last minute was a swell of notes from the brass section and a melody that sent the first violins high up on the fingerboard. It was extremely challenging to play in tune without falling behind, but you managed to do it. When Agatha conducted the final chord, you felt as if you were going to fall out of your chair. It was over, you did it. There was an outburst of applause from the audience, you lost track of how many times Agatha walked off and on stage from the standing ovations. You don’t even remember walking off stage and packing up your violin, or congratulating Monica and your friends in the MSO. You barely remembered the walk to Agatha’s office, until you were knocking on the door.

Agatha opened it and gave you that special smile she seemed to have reserved just for you. “Darling, come in. I’m so proud of you. How did it feel to perform?”

“It felt incredible,” You admitted, giving her a curious look. “Did you plan all of this tonight so I could perform?”

“Not all of it,” Agatha corrected you, but she was still smiling. “I knew you were more than capable of doing this, and I wanted to remind you.”

As soon as she said those words it all started to make sense. “You thought I’d change my mind about Vienna.”

Your words seemed to startle the conductor, who looked at you in surprise. “I didn’t-”

You cut her off with, “I know you know, Agatha.”

“How?” She asked, genuinely curious.

“Natasha mentioned how happy she was that I called her assistant earlier this morning and changed my mind,” You repeated what Natasha had told you during intermission.

“You know, I should be the one who’s angry with you, dear,” Agatha pointed out, as she placed her baton on her desk.

Of course she’d say that. Sighing, you moved closer to her. “How do you figure?”

“You had weeks to tell me about Vienna, and you didn’t,” Agatha remarked, and you detected some hurt in her tone. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“There was no point in telling you when I already made up my mind,” You stated, growing irritated with her. “I don’t want to move to Vienna, I want to be with you.”

“You can’t be my assistant forever,” Agatha argued, leaning against her desk. “And this is a solid job opportunity, Y/N. It would be foolish to turn it down.”

Throwing your head back in frustration, you took a deep breath before replying. “I already turned it down, Agatha. It was my decision, why can’t you accept that? Do you really not want me to stay?”

Agatha rolled her eyes. “Yes, Y/N. I absolutely loathe having you here. This is all part of my master plan to get rid of you.”

“Real mature,” You quipped, losing interest in arguing with her. “How did you even find out about my audition?”

“Wanda mentioned something about Natasha Romanov the other day, and I did some digging,” Agatha replied, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. “It wasn’t that hard to put the pieces together. I didn’t even know you had gotten the job until I called Romanov’s assistant and pretended to be you.”

You stared at her in disbelief. “You went through all of that work instead of just asking me?”

“In my defense, would you have told me?” Agatha asked, and you realized she had a point.

“I don’t know.” You looked guiltily at her. “I’m sorry, I should’ve told you.”

Agatha waved a hand at your apology before pulling you closer to her. “It’s okay darling, I’m not angry.”

You nestled your face in her neck before mumbling, “I’m still not taking that job though. We’re going to be okay, right?”

Agatha stroked your hair and for a moment you thought you felt her breath hitch. “Of course dear, of course we are.”

The next week passed by slowly as the post concert high began to wear off. Agatha had given you the week off work, which you didn’t realize you needed until you slept for over 16 hours straight from exhaustion. Things with Agatha were a little better after your discussion post concert, but there was still something that felt off. You didn’t know how to describe it, and maybe it was just your anxiety messing with you, but Agatha felt distant. She had invited you to spend the week at her townhouse, and you hoped that meant you would spend more time together but you’d barely seen the conductor- she’d spent the majority of her time at the office while you puttered around her home.

A week after the concert you were in bed reading a book when she sent you a text to meet her at the concert hall, and to bring your violin. You arrived nearly an hour later, out of breath as you practically ran the last few blocks. The lights were dim throughout the hall, save for the stage, where Agatha was sitting, waiting for you. As you approached her, you noticed how distracted she appeared to be.

“Hey, sorry it took me so long. I tried to get a cab but traffic was crazy so I ended up just walking.” you explained, still trying to catch your breath. Agatha didn’t say anything, so you continued. “I forgot my music at home, what did you want to work on?”

Agatha sighed, and ran her fingers through her hair. “Y/N, we need to talk.”

You felt your heartbeat stop at her words, and you tried to tell yourself it was probably nothing bad. It couldn’t be anything bad, right? “Okay, talk about what?”

The moment she met your eyes was when you knew it was over.

“No,” You managed to get out, looking at her as tears threatened to escape. “No, no, no, no.”

Agatha took a deep breath, before standing up. “Y/N, please don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.”

Her words sounded so cold and distant, but you could barely hear her over the sounds of your pulse ringing in your ears. Your chest slowly tightened, and you could barely breathe as you fought the tears hard, unwilling to cry in front of her. Taking a shaky breath, you shook your head. “I don’t understand. What did I do wrong? I thought we were happy. I thought you were happy. Am I not making you happy?”

“This isn’t about my happiness, Y/N, it’s about you,” Agatha said gently, and you couldn’t look at her. You knew if you did you’d start crying and you wouldn’t be able to stop. “I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but this is for the best.”

“You have no right to tell me what will be the best thing for me, Agatha. That’s complete bullshit.”

Agatha sighed, as if she couldn’t believe you were reacting this way. “Y/N…”

The tears that you’d been fighting had finally started to fall. “This isn’t fair, you said we were going to be okay. You told me that.”

“I’m sorry,” Agatha whispered, and you finally looked up to find her staring at you as if she’d never see you again. “I’m sorry, but this is over. I can’t do this anymore.”

“So that’s it?” You questioned. “We’re over? Just like that?”

“I’m not going to allow you to throw away your career because of me,” Agatha retorted, growing more annoyed. “And don’t act like this is so easy for me. I lo-”

Your eyes widened and Agatha’s quickly shut. Despite how quickly she cut herself off, you heard what she almost said. She loves you. Agatha Harkness loves you.

“I love you too,” You whispered, tears streaming down your face. “But you don’t have to do this. I’ll take the job in Vienna and we can stay together, okay? Wouldn’t that be okay?” Agatha remained silent and you tried again. “Please?”

“A clean break is for the best,” Agatha insisted, even as you continued to cry. “You’re going to go to Vienna and flourish, Y/N. Your career is just beginning and I can’t wait to see how far you go.”

“Agatha, no, please.”

She gently wiped the tears from your face before cupping your cheek. “You’re going to be okay, I promise you will be. You’re going to look back at all of this one day and it will be nothing more than a fuzzy memory.”

“I don’t want that, I want you,” You protested, breaking free of her grasp. “Please, if you love me you won’t do this.”

“I’m doing this because I love you, darling,” Agatha corrected you, leaning in to kiss your forehead. Her lips lingered for an extra second and again you felt her breath hitch. As she pulled away, you watched her regain composure.

“Try not to forget any of our lessons, hm?” She reminded you, as she lightly grabbed your chin, but you refused to look at her. “Maybe one day you’ll be the soloist for this very orchestra.”

It felt as if time was slowing down, and there was nothing you could do but sit on the stage and listen to Agatha attempt to rationalize why this was a good idea. As she was speaking you knew her mind was made up, and it didn’t matter how much you cried or begged, she wasn’t going to change it. You realized then that one of the most challenging parts of falling in love with her was coming to the realization that no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t save yourself from having your heart shattered if she changed her fickle mind about you. In a strange way, this felt inevitable.

It was a lot like performing, in a way. When you were in the midst of a performance, it was pure ecstasy, and you would ride off that high until the very end. It felt like you were flying, and every movement of your bow sent you higher and higher through the sky. But there was always the fear of falling, of missing an entrance or not hitting the right note, and that would send you plummeting to the ground. Practice could eliminate many of those errors, but you’d learned over the years that sometimes life could throw you curveballs.This is what that felt like, as Agatha all but held your heart in her hands, letting it all fall. There was nothing else to be done, you had to let go.

You never felt like you really knew the right thing to say, and it always felt as if you figured it out when it was too late. But this was the first time you knew what you wanted to say, and you were finally sure. When you opened your mouth, you felt your throat clench from the pain that was aching in your chest. Taking a deep, shaky breath, you looked up to find her eyes locked on yours. “It’s okay, I’m going to be okay.”

It didn’t feel that way now, it felt like your world was collapsing, but you weren’t saying those words for yourself. You were saying them for her. The rational side of your brain was arguing that Agatha hadn’t been a part of your life for very long, but the few months you spent with her had more of a lasting impact on you than relationships that lasted for years.

You had learned a lot of things from Agatha- you had learned that she preferred her coffee to be scorching hot. You knew she was an incredible cook, and that she had a library full of books that would take you years to get through. She had a soft spot for Señor Scratchy, and she had a terrible sweet tooth. Even though she enjoyed terrorizing the interns, she was also fiercely protective of them against Hayward and anyone else who tried to harass them. And now, you realize, she has taught you one, last valuable lesson- nothing truly good can stay.

Agatha Harkness was one of the most complicated and absolutely infuriating individuals you had ever encountered, but you loved her. You had always loved her, and you probably always will. So now, you now had to do this for the both of you- to assuage whatever guilt she might be feeling and to gather the remains of your dignity.

Agatha froze, and you could see her tense up at your words, and you continued. “I’m going to be okay. You can let me go.”

In the countless hours you’d spent in the conductor’s presence, you never saw her cry. But there was a single tear slowly streaming down her cheek, and you slowly wiped it off. “It’s okay, Agatha. I promise.” You weren’t sure who you were trying to convince, her or you.

Closing her eyes, she placed her hand over yours, leaving it on her cheek. You weren’t sure how long you stayed that way, huddled together in the empty concert hall, but it was over all too soon when she finally took a step back. “You have a flight to catch, dear. The itinerary I had sent over stated that rehearsal starts tomorrow.”

Just as you went to tell her you didn’t have a plane ticket, or a suitcase packed, she pulled an envelope out of her coat pocket. Handing it to you, it was not a huge surprise when you found a one way plane ticket to Vienna inside. You felt your chest tighten again. “When did you buy this?”

“When I found out you got the job,” Agatha replied, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m horrified at the prospect of flying in coach, so it’s first class.”

Under normal circumstances you would have laughed, but you don’t think you were capable of that at the moment. “I don’t even have my luggage, or my passport.”

“I have a bag packed of all the things you’ve left at my place, and I’ll send over whatever else you need once you get settled,” Agatha countered, and after a pause continued with, “And Sam gave me your passport yesterday.” She pulled the passport out of her other pocket. At your horrified glance, she gently shushed you before you could get a word out. “He didn’t know what it was for, I said it was a surprise.”

She had done all of this because she knew it was the only way to get you on that plane. Now, you were still angry with her for making this decision without you, but you were running out of time. You both were. Standing up, you closed the distance between the two of you, and kissed her. Agatha’s lips melted into yours, and you tried to forget that this was the last time you’d be with her like this. Unlike many of the other times you kissed her, there was no desperation or urgency. You were just two people in love, getting ready to say goodbye. Your face was still soaked with tears when you finally pulled back, and you saw it was partially due to Agatha. The conductor’s single tear had turned into at least a dozen.

“I really do love you,” Agatha said, and you had never doubted that. “I hope you know that.” You did, you knew.

“I really love you too,” You said, your voice starting to crack from the sobs that were attempting to come out again.

“Hank will take you to the airport,” Agatha added, rolling out the suitcase she had hidden behind the stairs. You had still partially been in denial that you had to leave, and the closer it got didn’t make it any easier. The conductor kissed your forehead again, and gently stroked your hair before releasing you for the last time. “It’s time to go, darling.”

Walking out of the concert hall, with Agatha rolling your luggage out, you grabbed her hand, while telling yourself it was going to be okay. Every step was a painful reminder that you had seconds left with her. When you made it outside, you saw the town car parked out front, with Hank waiting. You had never been good at goodbyes, or dealing with change so you usually avoided them when you could. But there was no escaping Agatha, who politely waved Hank back in the car as she put your luggage in the trunk. This was it.

Agatha opened your door, and carefully placed your violin case in the backseat. “Don’t forget to loosen your pegs before you take off. Wouldn’t want any of the strings to break.”

You knew her well enough to know she was trying to make light of the situation, but she didn’t have to. “Thank you, for everything.”

“I meant it when I told you I saw a lot of potential in you,” Agatha said quietly, and was nervously fidgeting her hands. “You’re a lot more talented than you give yourself credit for, Y/N. You need to stop apologizing for taking up space, and start demanding more of it.” She cradled your face in her hands one last time, giving you a sweet and gentle kiss. “Knock ‘em dead.”

She helped you in the car, and you desperately wished for her to get in with you, but you knew she wouldn’t. It wasn’t until after she shut the door did reality finally sink in. You were leaving, without her. The car windows were tinted but you could make out Agatha standing there, watching you drive away until you rounded a corner and she disappeared. While the tears had flowed nonstop before, you found that now you couldn’t cry no matter how hard you tried. You just sat there, watching the city you spent years loving pass you by. The pain that had been building up in your chest had finally imploded, and left you numb.

You weren’t sure what the future would hold now. Vienna could be a complete waste of time, and maybe you would come back and try to reconcile with Agatha. There was a small voice in the back of your mind pointing out that there was also a chance you would love it there. It was impossible to say now with your heartbreak so fresh and still causing your entire body to ache with pain. So you did the only thing that would help right now. Pulling your headphones out of your bag, you put them on. Scrolling through your library of songs, you knew there was only one you wanted to hear.

Vitali’s Chaconne in G Minor. You sat back in your seat as the opening notes played. It was funny, in a way, thinking that all of this started because of this piece. You thought back to that fateful day in the concert hall, meeting Agatha for the first time. Who knew then that it would lead to all of this? Allowing your shattered heart to be soothed by the calming sound of the violin and piano, you looked at the plane ticket Agatha gave you. You didn’t know what was going to happen now, and you certainly didn’t know if you were ready for it. But if you had learned anything from Agatha, it was to worry less and act more. You didn’t have to have all of the answers, or any answer right now. All you had to do was get on that plane and perform.

Agatha Harkness had made you fall in love harder than you ever had before, and managed to crush every expectation of love you ever believed in the exact same way. You weren’t sure if you’d be able to forgive her for doing this, but that wasn’t important now. Turning your focus back on the music, you were reminded of how much you loved this piece. It was like Agatha said all those months ago, not enough violinists appreciated the beauty of a chaconne. But you did, and you intended to continue on wherever your journey took you next.

[sshannonauthor]

Good evening, riders and slayers. I’m so happy to announce that I’ll be touring in person in 2023, to celebrate the publication of A Day of Fallen Night, the standalone prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree.   As well as making several UK stops, I’m really excited to be returning to the US and Canada for the first time in six years. The tour begins on Friday 24 February, with wonderful Saara El-Arifi chairing a launch event in London. Tickets go on sale on 11 November 2022 at 00:00 (GMT). Everyone who chooses the ticket + book option will receive an exclusive dragon pin.

UK

Friday 24 February – Waterstones Piccadilly, St James’ Church, with Saara El-Arifi – book here

Saturday 25 February – Waterstones Liverpool with Jennifer Saint – book here

Monday 27 February – Waterstones Norwich, Blackfriars Hall, with Tasha Suri – book here

Friday 10 March – Waterstones Bristol (Galleries), with Natasha Pulley – book here

Saturday 11 March – Falmouth Booksellers, Falmouth Methodist Church – book here

Tuesday 14 March – Waterstones Nottingham – book here

Wednesday 15 March – Waterstones Leeds – book here

Thursday 16 March – Topping St Andrews, St Andrews Episcopal Church – book here

Friday 17 March – Topping Edinburgh, Greenside Church – book here

Monday 20 March – Waterstones Birmingham, The Glee Club – book here

Wednesday 22 March – Topping Ely, Hayward Theatre – link to come

Friday 31 March – City Books, Ropetackle Arts Centre, Hove – link to come

US & CANADA 

Wednesday 1 March – Barnes & Noble, Union Square, New York City – link to come

Thursday 2 March – Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN – book here

Friday 3 March – The Novel Neighbor Bookstore, St. Louis, MO – book here 

Saturday 4 March – Tucson Festival of Books, AZ – link to come

Sunday 5 March – Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA – link to come

Monday 6 March – Indigo, Metrotown, Vancouver, Canada – link to come

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

If Natasha survived Endgame, what do you think she'd be doing after Thanos was defeated? I feel she'd be looking after Wanda to make sure she was okay, probably enter a relationship with Steve, stuff like that.

I love Nat but I don't like the idea of her being with Steve, I like it better as a platonic friendship. They clearly cared about each other and trusted one another and they were super close, but I honestly never saw anything romantic between them and I love relationships where two people are close but it's no more than platonic. That's one of the things I think Marvel did right.

The original EG pitch had Nat running an orphanage for children with snapped parents post-Snap, so if she had survived Thanos she could be doing that, maybe working with the GRC in order to help the blipped as well. I would have loved to see her helping other women and girls, especially knowing what she went through in the Red Room.

And yeah, she could have stayed in contact with the others. I'm imagining a scene of Nat accompanying Wanda to Sword and getting on Hayward's face to snap at him for what he was doing to Vision, that would have been fun to watch. Maybe arriving at Wakanda after Namor to help them out somehow and meeting Okoye again. Trying to stop the government from giving the shield to Walker.

Ugh, why did the Russos have to kill her... 😭

[therese-lokidottir]

I'll be one to point that out that some sectors of the MCU are better at addressing this than others, usually the ones where it's strongly implied why others wouldn't be involved or a reason is outright given that seems plausible. To give examples:

Iron Man 3: Rhodey explicitly says the US government wants to prove they can handle threats without the Avengers' help (which is a big reason for the Iron Patriot rebranding of War Machine). Meanwhile, Tony is also cut off from his allies when he's stranded in Tennessee for the middle part of the movie, and by the time he links back up with Rhodey, they're in a race against the clock to rescue the President and Pepper.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier had Steve and Natasha branded as fugitives by HYDRA. Sam's the only ally they can scrounge up until they link up with Fury and Maria.

Ant-Man: Hank Pym harbors his grudge against SHIELD for their misuse of Pym Particles.

Doctor Strange had Wong explaining that the Masters of the Mystic Arts deal with all the mystical threats the Avengers don't deal with (with Endgame later retroactively showing the Ancient One defending the New York Sanctum during the Chitauri invasion).

Ant-Man and the Wasp and Endgame established Scott and Clint as being on house arrest as a result of the fallout from Civil War to explain their lack of involvement in Infinity War.

Black Widow justifies the lack of other heroes' involvement (and Natasha and Yelena instead having to team up with their adopted parents) by being set during the immediate fallout from Civil War.

The Netflix shows had the reasons strongly implied: with the Hand, they were a shadow organization. The storylines in each season of Jessica Jones involve cases very personal for Jessica. The Punisher sees Frank's stories happen largely disconnected from the rest of the shows save for the Turk Barrett and Karen Page cameos because the other heroes wouldn't tolerate his use of lethal force on criminals. Daredevil season 3 had Matt in a mentally bad place post-Midland Circle, as well as Fisk using the FBI to tarnish him, Karen, and Foggy.

Honestly I think WandaVision belongs on this list because there's good reasons for the other Avengers to not be involved (the Hex erases' outsiders knowledge of Westview existing, only about a day passed between SWORD determining Wanda was behind the Hex and Wanda taking down the Hex; and Hayward wouldn't want the Avengers poking around when he's in the process of desecrating the corpse of one of their own and framing another for his crimes), though Strange's reasons for not getting involved as mentioned in DSMOM are pushing it.

I mean fair enough there are better explanations then others. When it's stuff like CAWS it's fine to go with idea of we're dealing with the situations as it comes and we don't have the time or the means to call anyone in. With the netflix shows the characters ran in different circles so you don't expect them to be able to call on anyone.

WandaVision is an interesting example because originally Doctor Strange was going to be there. That watch commercial was originally meant to be alluded to him trying to get through to Wanda.

I think it only really becomes a problem when people in-universe ask why can't they call someone and the answer is always just "No, because reason. Shut up." like they never give a good explanation

[indiejones]

THE 100 MOST POPULAR AMERICAN ACTRESSES OF ALL TIME ! (BASED ON INDIES SUBCONSCIOUS ASSESSMENT OF THE HIGHEST INFLATION-ADJUSTED WORLDWIDE GROSSING AMERICAN FILMS OF ALL TIME !) (1900-2022)

👇

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls520967383/

1. .Elizabeth Taylor 2. .Vivien Leigh 3. .Julie Andrews 4. .Marilyn Monroe 5. .Grace Kelly 6. .Audrey Hepburn 7. .Olivia de Havilland 8. .Norma Shearer 9. .Greer Garson 10. .Lindsay Lohan 11. .Faye Dunaway 12. .Natalie Portman 13. .Diane Keaton 14. .Jessica Lange 15. .Barbra Streisand 16. .Anne Bancroft 17. .Uma Thurman 18. .Ingrid Bergman 19. .Catherine Zeta Jones 20. .Joan Fontaine 21. .Natasha Richardson 22. .Emily Blunt 23. .Doris Day 24. .Winona Ryder 25. .Salma Hayek 26. .Ashley Judd 27. .Laura Linney 28. .Barbara Stanwyck 29. .Julianne Moore 30. .Shirley Temple 31. .Shirley Maclaine 32. .Sandra Bullock 33. .Meg Ryan 34. .Susan Sarandon 35. .Sophia Loren 36. .Gwyneth Paltrow 37. .Lauren Bacall 38. .Emma Thompson 39. .Helen Hunt 40. .Goldie Hawn 41. .Holly Hunter 42. .Sharon Stone 43. .Helen Mirren 44. .Audrey Tautou 45. .Greta Garbo 46. .Lillian Gish 47. .Claudette Colbert 48. .Carole Lombard 49. .Mary Pickford 50. .Gene Tierney 51. .Kristen Stewart 52. .Drew Barrymore 53. .Hilary Swank 54. .Agnes Moorehead 55. .Ava Gardner 56. .Jean Harlow 57. .Catherine Deneuve 58. .Katharine Hepburn 59. .Jean Simmons 60. .Helena Bonham Carter 61. .Susan Hayward 62. .Judy Garland 63. .Emma Roberts 64. .Greta Gerwig 65. .Jane Wyman 66. .Cameron Diaz 67. .Rita Hayworth 68. .Michelle Williams 69. .Julia Roberts 70. .Rachel McAdams 71. .Joan Crawford 72. .Carrie Fisher 73. .Deborah Kerr 74. .Geena Davis 75. .Laura Dern 76. .Maggie Smith 77. .Mary J. Blige 78. .Ginger Rogers 79. .Bette Davis 80. .Annette Bening 81. .Kate Winslet 82. .Cate Blanchett 83. .Ellen Burstyn 84. .Zoe Saldana 85. .Geraldine Page 86. .Marlene Dietrich 87. .Jane Fonda 88. .Joan Cusack 89. .Kathy Bates 90. .Carey Mulligan 91. .Sissy Spacek 92. .Renee Zellweger 93. .Marisa Tomei 94. .Penelope Cruz 95. .Liv Tyler 96. .Angela Lansbury 97. .Vera Farmiga 98. .Jessica Chastain 99. .Jennifer Aniston 100. .Jullianne Hough

[just-my-fandom]

Tag List ‘22-‘23 !!

Below are the tag lists for every fandom I write. You can request to be added (and/or removed) if desired

Some profiles do not show up!! (If you are highlighted white) please let me know if you have changed your name or switched profiles :).

EDIT: Writing NEW fics has been postponed until late January 2023!! Any current drafts I will try to finish and post to make up. Coming up list posted soon.

Marvel

• Thor Odinson- None yet

• Yelena Belova- @snooy245 @castortheghost @yelenabelova-wife

• Natasha Romanoff- None yet

• Wanda Maximoff- None yet

• Sam Wilson- None yet

• Bucky Barnes- None yet

• Steve Rogers- None yet

• Tony Stark- None yet

• Kate Bishop- None yet

• Peter Parker- None yet

• Michelle Jones- None yet

• Ned Leeds- None yet

DC

• Cisco Ramon- (One After Another story) @intoomanyfandom-s @thebloodrobin @thecatemacbeth7 @badasspolygenderfriend @writeroutoftime

• Barry Allen- None yet

• Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost- None yet

• Harry Wells- None yet

• Harrison Wells- None yet

• Any Wells’ not included- None yet

Stranger Things

• Billy Hargrove- @writer-of-camelot @intheendyouwillalwayskneel @hanoil15 @meaganjm @isistersuck @sweetdayme4427 @noodlenerd101

• Steve Harrington- @irreplaceable-ecstasy @rexorangecouny @fraeppuccino @spider-boyparker @itsfangirlmendez @tellmyselfies @xkotkuu @scarletmeii @krazykatkay456 @idumpyourgrass @strangerpotternatural

• Joyce Byers- @witching-imagines @teenwolflover28 @irreplaceable-ecstasy @icgaf

• Max Mayfield- @folly-olly @chincillagirl18

• Gareth Emerson- @emersongareth @krys-orion

• Dustin Henderson- None yet

• Mike Wheeler- None yet

• Eddie Munson- None yet

• Lucas Sinclair- None yet

• El- None yet

• Jim Hopper- None yet

Criminal Minds

• Jj Jureau- None yet

• Spencer Reid- None yet

• Aaron Hotchner- None yet

• Emily Prentiss- None yet

• David Rossi- None yet

• Luke Alvez- None yet

• Penelope Garcia- None yet

• Derek Morgan- None yet

Ninjago

• Cole Brookstone- None yet

• Kai Smith- None yet

• Lloyd Garmadon- None yet

• Jay Walker- None yet

• Zane Julien- None yet

• Nya Smith- None yet

• Wu Garmadon- None yet

• Garmadon- None yet

Voltron

• Keith Kogane- @boiled-onionrings

• Hunk Garrett- None yet

• Pidge Holt- None yet

• Shiro- None yet

• Lance McClain- None yet

Outer Banks

• JJ Maybank- @sinisterspidey @parkerhale13 @thoughts-elsewhere @b-lueberryy @deamus-liv @bubs-world @bibliophilewednesday @sexualparkour @jjpouggues @poguestyle17

• John B Routledge- None yet

• Kiara- None yet

• Pope Hayward- None yet

• Topper Thornton- None yet

• Rafe Cameron- None yet

• Sarah Cameron- None yet

Encanto

• Camillo Madrigal- @afluffyboi @bandshirts-andbooks @cloudysskies @erinisrightthere @alexloveskii

• Luisa Madrigal- None yet

• Maribel Madrigal- None yet

• Isabella Mardrigal- None yet

• Bruno Madrigal- None yet

The Black Phone

• Vance Hopper- None yet

• Robin Arellano- None yet

• Finney Blake- None yet

• Billy- None yet

• Griffen- None yet

[ulkaralakbarova]

Sixteen-year-old Poppy has everything her unlimited credit cards can buy, and a spoiled attitude to match. After a final thoughtless prank, her exasperated father ships her off to boarding school in England. There, Poppy meets her match in a stern headmistress and a class full of girls who will not tolerate her selfishness. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Poppy Moore: Emma Roberts Freddie Kingsley: Alex Pettyfer Mrs. Kingsley: Natasha Richardson Kate: Kimberley Nixon Jennifer ‘Drippy’ Logan: Juno Temple Roddy: Johnny Pacar Josie: Linzey Cocker Gerry Moore: Aidan Quinn Harriet Bentley: Georgia King Kiki: Sophie Wu Molly Moore: Lexi Ainsworth Ruby: Shelby Young Matron: Shirley Henderson Mr. Kingsley: Nick Frost Mrs. Loughton: Selina Cadell Miss Rees-Withers: Daisy Donovan Jane: Ruby Thomas Mr. Nellist: Jason Watkins Charlotte: Eleanor Turner-Moss ‘Wow’ Girl: Maisie Preston Jake: Tommy Kijas Lola: Sonia Rockwell Skye: Kelsey Sanders Twin #1: Katelyn Pacitto Twin #2: Kara Pacitto Rosemary: Vanessa Branch Ruthie: Hallie Eisenberg Film Crew: Producer: Tim Bevan Producer: Eric Fellner Director: Nick Moore Production Design: Eve Stewart Casting: Fiona Weir Music Producer: Steven Price Director of Photography: Chris Seager Producer: Diana Phillips Production Design: Marc Fisichella Casting: Joanna Colbert Foley Mixer: Peter Gleaves ADR Recordist: Rick Gould Editor: Simon Cozens Line Producer: Alexandra Ferguson Original Music Composer: Michael Price Music Supervisor: Nick Angel Set Decoration: Robert Wischhusen-Hayes ADR Recordist: Philip Rogers Writer: Lucy Dahl Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Doug Cooper Sound Mixer: John Midgley Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Sven Taits Makeup & Hair: Charlotte Hayward Hairstylist: Amy Byrne ADR Recordist: Rachael Tate ADR Mixer: Nick Kray Costume Design: Julia Caston ADR Mixer: Jeff Gomillion Makeup Designer: Fae Hammond Hairstylist: Liz Phillips Foley Editor: Robin Knapp Stunt Double: Karine Mauffrey Music Consultant: Kirsten Lane Foley Recordist: Tim Atkins Makeup Artist: Andrea Whitten Movie Reviews:

[lovelyylorelaii]

requesting rules and information

hello all and welcome to my requesting rules and guidelines post! i wanted to put this information out there in a place that was easy to access and all up-to-date to make for a fun and safe space for everyone to enjoy!

as mentioned in my about me post, i am a uni student and so there may be periods of inactivity or when my requests are closed for longer than usual, but please do not be alarmed i will be returning and your posts will be answered. so with that in mind it would be very much apprciated if you could not spam my ask box with the same request over and over again, or chasing up a request; if it has been requested it will be on my list and i will get to it so long as it does not ask something of me which i have stated i will not be writing. HOWEVER if i am active and your request did not ask me to write anything i stated in my boundaries post that i would not write and it has been a while since you sent it in there is a chance that it may have gotten lost so it is okay if you send me a message or request it again!

if requests are closed i would appreciate it if you would refrain from sending any requests in as i will not see them and they may get lost if too many are sent in when i am away. this would also make it difficult for me to get on top of posting again when i return from my breaks! when requests are open or closed will be noted in my biography!!

below are the characters and fandoms i write for, however, if there is someone not listed below you can request for them as chances are i will have heard of them but may not be the biggest fan of the show/movie/book but i will do my best and otherwise i will let you know! if a character below is crossed out then it just means i am taking a break from writing for thme for now, just to keep things interesting and so i am not always writing for the same person so, check back often as this may change!

⟡criminal minds

ෆ aaron hotchner

ෆ derek morgan

ෆ emily prentiss

ෆ jennifer 'jj' jareau

ෆ penelope garcia

ෆ spencer reid

��gilmore girls

ෆ dave rygalski

ෆ dean forester

ෆ jess mariano

ෆ lane kim

ෆ logan huntzberger

ෆ lorelai gilmore

ෆ louise grant

ෆ luke danes

ෆ madeline lynn

ෆ paris geller

ෆ rory gilmore

ෆ tristan dugray

⟡hunger games

ෆ coriolanus snow

ෆ finnick odair

ෆ gale hawthorne

ෆ haymitch abernathy

ෆ johanna mason

ෆ katniss everdeen

ෆ lucy gray baird

ෆ peeta mellark

ෆ sejuanus plinth

⟡marvel

ෆ bruce banner

ෆ druig

ෆ james 'bucky' barnes

ෆ loki

ෆ makkari

ෆ natasha romanoff

ෆ peter parker (tom holland/andrew garfield)

ෆ pietro maximoff

ෆ sam wilson

ෆ steve rogers

ෆ steven strange

ෆ thor

ෆ tony stark

ෆ wanda maximoff

ෆ yelena belova

⟡outerbanks

ෆ jj maybank

ෆ john b routledge

ෆ kiara carrera

ෆ pope hayward

ෆ rafe cameron

ෆ sarah cameron

⟡scream

ෆ billy loomis

ෆ ethan landry

ෆ kirby reed

ෆ samantha carpenter

ෆ sidney prescott

ෆ stu macher

ෆ tara carpenter

ෆ tatum riley

⟡shameless

ෆ carl gallagher

ෆ debbie gallagher

ෆ fiona gallagher

ෆ ian gallagher

ෆ kevin ball

ෆ lip gallagher

ෆ mandy milkovich

ෆ mickey milkovich

ෆ svetlana yevgenivna

ෆ veronica fisher

⟡stranger things

ෆ billy hargrove

ෆ dustin henderson

ෆ eddie munson

ෆ jane hopper/011/jane ives

ෆ jonathan byers

ෆ lucas sinclair

ෆ max mayfield

ෆ mike wheeler

ෆ nancy wheeler

ෆ robin buckley

ෆ steve harrington

ෆ will byers

⟡supernatural

ෆ adam milligan (michael!adam included)

ෆ bela talbot

ෆ castiel

ෆ charlie bradbury

ෆ crowley

ෆ dean winchester (moc!, michael!, demon! included)

ෆ gabriel

ෆ garth fitzgerald iv

ෆ jack klein

ෆ jody mills

ෆ john winchester

ෆ jo harvelle

ෆ lucifer

ෆ meg masters

ෆ rowena macleod

ෆ ruby

ෆ sam winchester (meg!, gadreel!, demon blood! included)

⟡teen wolf

ෆ alison argent

ෆ derek hale

ෆ isaac lahey

ෆ jackson whittemore

ෆ kira yukimura

ෆ lydia martin

ෆ malia tate/hale

ෆ peter hale

ෆ scott mcall

ෆ stiles stilinski

ෆ theo raeken

⟡the summer i turned pretty

ෆ belly conklin

ෆ cam cameron

ෆ conrad fisher

ෆ jeremiah fisher

ෆ steven conklin

ෆ taylor jewel

⟡vampire diaries

ෆ bonnie bennett

ෆ caroline forbes

ෆ damon salvatore

ෆ elena gilbert

ෆ elijah mikaelson

ෆ hayley marshall

ෆ katherine pierce

ෆ niklaus mikaelson

ෆ rebekah mikaelson

ෆ stefan salvatore

ෆ tyler lockwood

[dear-indies]

Hello!! Can I please ask for some alt faceclaims (especially plus sized females) for Danielle Galligan to use instead, please? Thank you so much for your amazing work and for raising awareness for these problematic faceclaims and for suggest alternates!! :) <3

Aidy Bryant (1987)

Gia Sinatra (1987)

Patricia Fa'asua (1987) Samoan.

Melanie Field (1988)

Rosey Blair (1988)

Brooke Markham (1988)

Sharon Rooney (1988)

Sarah Rae Vargas (1988) Mexican.

Erika Aguilera (1990) Filipino, Mexican, Spanish.

Megan Stalter (1990) - is bisexual.

Thais Carla (1991) Brazilian.

Nabela Noor (1991) Bangladeshi.

Dumooa Tahseen (1991) Iraqi.

La’Tecia Thomas (1991) Indian / Unspecified Australian.

Jessica Torres (1991) Ecoudoran.

Paloma Elsesser (1992) African-American / Chilean, Swiss.

Raven Goodwin (1992) African-American.

Bria Samoné Henderson (1992) African-American.

Lesego Legobane (1993) Black South African.

Beanie Feldstein (1993) Ashkenazi Jewish - chosen not to label her sexuality but has openly dated a woman.

Simone Mariposa (1993) Afro Guyanese.

Natasha Polis (1994)

Akshaya Naik (1995) Indian.

Stella Williams (1995) African-American / Mexican.

Yumi Nu (1996) Japanese / Dutch.

Morgan Hanbery (1998)

Joanna Pincerato (1998) Mexican, Syrian. Swedish and Italian.

Kenna Sharp (1999)

Jamie Zella (2000) Thai / Unspecified White.

Jana Riva Morrison (?) Filipino - she/they.

Light-haired since I noticed she's blonde on recent Instagram posts:

Shay Neary (1987/1988) - is trans.

Felicity Hayward (1988)

Alexandra Rodriguez (1992) Unspecified.

Simone Recasner (1992) African-American / Unspecified

Hunter McGrady (1993)

Emily Walden (1993)

Bronwyn James (1994) -

Hayley Herms (1995)

Aliss Bonython (1995)

Bree Kish (1996) ¼ Spanish ¼ Irish ¼ Dutch ¼ African-American.

Of course! I've bolded those withn a similar vibe to her based Google images!

[ao3feed-scarletvision]

Amygdala

by alpha_vega

Vision can't stop showering.

--

Or: what if Hayward was even MORE evil than in canon

--

This was originally the first chapter of "To whom did he belong?". I split off the first chapter into this fic. The rest of the fic can be found in this series.

Words: 2030, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of To whom do I belong?

Fandoms: WandaVision (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Rape/Non-Con

Categories: Gen

Characters: Vision (Marvel), Wanda Maximoff, Helen Cho (Marvel), Tyler Hayward, (not in the fic but talked about a lot)

Relationships: Wanda Maximoff/Vision

Additional Tags: Past Rape/Non-con, Psychological Trauma, Showers, Mental Anguish, Triggers, Rape Aftermath, Poor Vision (Marvel), Hurt Vision (Marvel), Vision Feels (Marvel), Not Canon Compliant, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Helen Cho is a Good Bro, Natasha Romanov Lives, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Long Live Feedback Comment Project, Acute stress disorder, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Whump

from AO3 works tagged 'Wanda Maximoff/Vision' https://ift.tt/a6OEQMu via IFTTT