#not all stark fans are evil I promise!!

[jon-sedai]

The thing about Bran's intended importance (supposedly kingship of all no less) is it falls flat as far as this due to the lack of hinting of... what that even is supposed to "do" in the grand scheme of things? The show's version of some totalitarian regime with 24/7 surveillance from the magical King is fucked up, and it's hard to understand what else would make Bran special otherwise.

The only people interested in the idea (and only as surface level) are big Stark only Stans who just see it as "Starks get everything because" and that's as deep as it gets.

The idea of who would have leadership to rebuild the world is too much built on stanning as a whole. The only ones with an actual leg to stand on are fans of Daenerys simply because her entire arc is trying at different things to restructure an oppressive elite based governing only to at this point end up with the realisation that their class simply cannot exist in a society without seeking to opress so they have to go. That's also what we see in Westeros, so both monarchy AND lordship power must be evaporated. So there's that.

But Martin isn't even angling for that as far as it seems (which would mean even Targaryens and Daenerys relinquishing power by the end and all, even if it would be the system she is currently trying to develop to be applied), but angles for a 'King'. One whose power is magic, which makes one think it is what would make him King, hence angling for the show end which is frightening as a form of government. And in the 'political' sense he's a nice kid who means well for others, but that's it. It's just the whole having a nice lord now and then without guarantee for the next.

So while it might be little page time and some unfairness for Bran, outside of people just stanning "Stark supremacy" in vague terms, it's hard to think of why and in what direction people would 'root' for Bran in the specific intended importance of role he's apparently meant to have.

Whew, you sent a big one. So I’ll try to break it up and answer in parts.

The thing about Bran's intended importance (supposedly kingship of all no less) is it falls flat as far as this due to the lack of hinting of.

I disagree. I think GRRM has been hinting at Bran being a return to the past - more specifically, a greenseer king. And even before that, Bran’s royal status has been front and center the whole time. It’s just ignored.

We as a fandom get so caught up with the magic part of Bran’s storyline (though we can’t be blamed really!) but forget that Bran’s book chapters often place his magical arc right along his identity and status as a lost prince. I’m gonna make a bit of a generalization here and say that the majority of Bran’s chapters since Robb’s ascension mention his status as the current heir to the Northern crown. He is the Prince of Winterfell. But not only that, he is the prince of the woods and the hills and the greens (we see this language being used for Bran once he begins his greenseer training). This princehood is actually extended to Bran’s direwolf, Summer. Bran’s princehood extending to Summer is quite poignant too, since the direwolf is directly named to be an opposition to winter, and Bran’s mythological parallels rule as summer kings.

Bran’s magical arc doesn’t remove him from his royal heritage. It only reinforces it. Again, think of how he becomes a prince of the natural world in an almost literal sense. And also the motifs used for his royal status: e.g., when Jojen and Meera Reed swear fealty to him, as their royal prince, through ice and fire (in addition to other natural elements).

The show took the route of placing Bran squarely in the magical arc, forgetting that first and foremost, he is an exiled prince. After Robb died, Bran became an exiled king. The main point here is that Bran is royal! He always has been, always will be. Heck, his very name literally means “Prince”.

And there’s other things about Bran’s storyline that aren’t very clear with the show’s depiction; I’m mentioning it here since people’s aversion to king Bran is mainly the show’s fault. Bran is a retelling of various Arthurian myths. You might have seen various meta on his similarities with the Fisher King, for example. I’ve written before about how Bran is also very similar to T.H White’s Wart from The Sword in the Stone (sorry, can’t find the meta link). Because the show removed the royal elements from Bran’s story, viewers weren’t able to catch that he is intended to follow the King Arthur trajectory, albeit with various twists.

When I first joined the fandom, the consensus among Bran fans was that he would be King in the North (a big theory at that time was that Westeros would split back into its pre-Targaryen markups). The idea was that there are way too many hints about Bran’s princehood, especially in relation to the North, so the only endgame that made sense was for him to rule it. And Bran does have a mini ruling arc in Winterfell in ACOK, which was good ammo for this theory.

So Bran’s relation to kingship has always been there. For years in fact; I joined this fandom over a decade ago. It’s just that no one expected his kingship would extend to all of Westeros. And I think that will be GRRM’s task, tying in why Bran will take not just the North, but the south as well. However, I have the inkling that Bran the Builder’s legend ties into this (and we know that he had a legacy all over Westeros).

what that even is supposed to "do" in the grand scheme of things?

Blame the show runners for this. They do not at all understand Bran’s importance to the narrative. And I don’t think a majority of readers understand it either. I mentioned Bran the Builder above. Well, he’s a legend that crops up sometime around the Long Night. Now we have a new war with the Others coming up, and little Bran Stark is Bran the Builder come again. Plus Bran has parallels with the last hero, who is credited with ending the Long Night. We still have two books to see how things shake out but given that Bran is following the trajectory of perhaps two of the most important legends from the War for the Dawn - one who ended it and one who rebuilt Westeros after - it’s easy to tell why he is important “in the grand scheme of things”. But we still need TWOW and ADOS to see how it all plays out. Remember, we only have a published 5 books, and Act II is barely finished!

The show's version of some totalitarian regime with 24/7 surveillance from the magical King is fucked up, and it's hard to understand what else would make Bran special otherwise.

I 100% agree that Show Bran’s ascension comes with some very problematic undertones, in addition to being totally stupid. But again, blame the showrunners for not understanding greenseeing and Bran’s relation to it. Greenseeing is, as I understand it, nature magic. It’s not just that Bran gains the ability to see through ravens and trees, but he can speak to nature as well. He can even shape it (ref Hammer of the Waters). This is going to be really important when Westeros is decimated in the War for the Dawn, and needs to be rebuilt. That’s why Bran being the prince of the “woods and the hills” and being the reincarnation (so to speak) of Bran the Builder is so important. He can rebuild Westeros. This is a very unique skill set that literally no one else has because once Bloodraven croaks, Bran inherits the mantle of the Last Greenseer.

The only people interested in the idea (and only as surface level) are big Stark only Stans who just see it as "Starks get everything because" and that's as deep as it gets.

I’ll join you in being annoyed with that particular brand of Stark fan (we all know who they are). But I just want to remind you that so many of us Bran stans (in fact the vast majority of us) do not fall within that group. Bran stans who advocate for Bran’s kingship do so because we have noted his Arthurian parallels, in addition to noting his arc as a prince in hiding/exile. None of us book fans even remotely believe in him being an all seeing autocrat, nor do we want him to be. It’s a certain type of Stark fan (again, we know who they are), who likes the idea of King Bran because they also believe in an independent North. I think an independent North (with a separate six kingdoms) as endgame is a rather ridiculous idea, and I haven’t got around to detailing why in my blog. But as far as I’m concerned if Bran is to be king, he will be king of everything.

The idea of who would have leadership to rebuild the world is too much built on stanning as a whole.

Super agree! I think the POV structure exacerbates this issue. So a majority of “who will be king”, “who deserves to be king” is solely dependent on who the reader likes best (i.e., who has the biggest fandom) and not who is most narratively suited for the role. Ironically, Bran is hurt but this because he has a pretty small fandom; by far the smallest out of the Stark POVs. So he does not benefit much from solo stanning. Again, the typical Bran stan does not believe in Starkception. If readers chose to theorize the endgame king based on who is most narratively/thematically suited for the role, wouldn’t the boy whose animal familiar is named to be the opposite of winter and likened to a prince of nature be among the most popular options?

The only ones with an actual leg to stand on are fans of Daenerys simply because her entire arc is trying at different things to restructure an oppressive elite based governing only to at this point end up with the realisation that their class simply cannot exist in a society without seeking to opress so they have to go.

Agree with Dany, but I think you’re also forgetting about a young lord commander whose entire rulership arc was about being a revolutionary in a rotten and backward system…

P.S: Jon stans can be really annoying too (I would know, I am one), but they’re not wrong when they say that he actually is the one character with the most foreshadowing for “endgame king”; he is literally King Arthur through and through, so 🤷🏽‍♀️

That's also what we see in Westeros, so both monarchy AND lordship power must be evaporated. So there's that.

It’ll be interesting to see how Martin’s critiques on feudal structures plays into the endgame leaders. Especially when we begin to factor in the thematic relevance of stories like Brienne’s and Arya’s among the smallfolk, as well as the upcoming war with the Others and how the feudal structure might do more harm than good.

I tend to have a more optimistic outlook tbh. Winter means death, and I think that will also ring true for a lot of the problematic elements in Westeros’ political and social structure. And let’s not forget that we have a bunch of civil upheavals coming up with Aegon and Daenerys both invading Westeros. I think a lot of these petty lords will die either in battle or during the long winter that’s sure to follow, so what’s left when all is said and done is having our heroes (Bran and Dany and Jon etc.) pick up the pieces. I tend to believe that a massive shake up is in the works such that while it might have been impossible for a crippled boy to rise to kingship in the AGOT era, it just might be the one remedy in ADOS.

But Martin isn't even angling for that as far as it seems (which would mean even Targaryens and Daenerys relinquishing power by the end and all, even if it would be the system she is currently trying to develop to be applied), but angles for a 'King'. One whose power is magic, which makes one think it is what would make him King, hence angling for the show end which is frightening as a form of government. And in the 'political' sense he's a nice kid who means well for others, but that's it.

This is another thing that I blame the show for: people thinking Bran can only be an all seeing tyrant. I’ve already touched on this above but again, Bran’s greenseeing magic is so much more. It’s about nature…healing….Summer! I’ve been meaning to write at length about why the resetting of the seasons will fall to Bran, and why that means healing for Westeros as a whole, but I’ll abbreviate my thoughts for now.

Let’s once again consider Bran as a Fisher King, whose very life is tied to the healing of the land. Now, I think Martin is going for a rather “fairy tale” or fantastical resolution to ASOIAF; an ending closer to Tolkien and Arthurian myth. Bran’s magic, as healing magic, is then meant to be a positive. He sets the world back to rights, as a Fisher King would. He quite literally drives the darkness (winter) away, and GRRM has stated multiple times that the Others are the true threat.

In my write up about Bran’s similarities to Wart, I mentioned that Bran’s ascension could end up being similar to Aragorn’s in LOTR (and we know that Tolkien has heavily influenced Martin). Aragorn became king not because of his swordsmanship or his politics or even his royal claim, but because he had hands of healing. And people said that there was a king who returned to them because he healed them. Healing and kingship is really not a novel thing, and they’re tied to medieval understanding of rulership. So it’s not hard to see why Bran’s magical ability to bring back summer, so to speak, can be taken as a positive of him being a rightful king.

It's just the whole having a nice lord now and then without guarantee for the next.

I get what you mean, but tbh this would be a problem with Jon, Dany, etc. Monarchy and inheritance are unpredictable. We can only hope that the king/lord trains his heir well so that prosperity follows with the exchange of power.

So while it might be little page time and some unfairness for Bran, outside of people just stanning "Stark supremacy" in vague terms, it's hard to think of why and in what direction people would 'root' for Bran in the specific intended importance of role he's apparently meant to have.

Hopefully it’s been quite clear in my reply why Bran as king is so thematically rich. He’s connected to summer, has greenseeing magic which is connected to nature and potentially the healing of nature, and he is already royal. Him being a “nice kid” is just the cherry on top.

[low-budget-korra]

Let's talk about Yellowjackets

And that bad and lazy writing.

Idk if y’all remember when they said they had a story and drafts for 5 seasons? Yeah, fake news.

They may have had a story for the teen timeline, but it’s clear they have no idea what to do with the adult timeline.

1 - Speaking of the adult timeline.

Sometimes I think there might be a script hidden in the middle of so many plot holes. There are the classics, like Tai’s family and political career being completely erased from the narrative. But there are also things that just make no sense.

It makes no sense at all that adult Natalie would get to the point of wanting to kill Misty but be totally fine with Shauna. Okay, maybe in the next two seasons, we’ll see the reason why — but given how the writing is right now...I doubt it

I think y'all already know this, but in case y'all don’t: ALL the actresses from the adult timeline whose characters were killed off left the show upset, and some even said outright they felt misled by the production. They were promised something that wasn’t delivered. Also, Hilary Swank would show up to film and literally had NO script for her character, who to this day doesn’t even have a last name. And where's is the supposed adult Akilah?

It feels like they only have key plot points like “Lottie’s death,” “Callie kills someone,” “Van’s death,” “Natalie’s death,” “Melissa’s return”... But they have no idea how to get there, how to build up to those moments. So when the time comes, they just throw it in randomly.

Not to mention how it was way better when the adult timeline was about them worrying that the truth — the crimes committed in the wilderness — might leak and destroy their lives. Now it’s some Scooby Doo mess where one tries to kill another just because the script says so, with no proper construction. Like… why did Melissa wait until now to come back?

2 - Does that mean the teenage timeline is perfect?

No. The writers still haven’t decided whether there’s a supernatural element or not. And if they really have 5 seasons planned, we’re heading into the fourth without answers to questions like: Who was the guy in the cabin, and why did he appear in Jackie’s hallucination? Why did the bear just lay down and let Lottie kill it? Was Travis speaking for Jackie or just hitting a nerve in Shauna after what she said? Laura Lee, completely forgotten. Same with Crystal. We don’t even get mentions of them. It’s like they never existed. And who was Javi’s friend?

And the worst of all: Shauna’s plot armor.

And if you defend everything she does, you can leave now because the rest is going to be a hate post on her.

3 - That bitch is straight-up EVIL.

“Oh but she’s traumatized.” Who isn’t? Travis was SAed by the girls, lost his brother and had to eat him, and still doesn’t do half the messed up stuff Shauna does. Because Shauna is the ONLY one who turns her trauma into a collective problem.

Yes, she is very complex and still a pathetic character, and even though she stresses me out a lot, I still like her because of that. It’s just hard to swallow the Arya-Stark-level plot armor they give her. EVERYONE knows Shauna is out of control, violent, and therefore a liability to the group. And still, no one does anything about it. It’s not like she’s Rambo — there are like 10 girls there. The fact that not one of them jumped her sadistic ass is the most unrealistic part of the show to me tbh

There are no more excuses. If you say you’re a fan of Shauna and try to downplay what she does, you’re not a real fan — you just like your headcanon of her, not the actual character. A real fan stands by their favs’ messed-up choices and doings.

What Shauna did to Mari has no excuse. Mari died three times: during the hunt, when she was eaten, and when Shauna made a point of dehumanizing her and stripping her late body of all dignity. Why? Because Mari was the only one (along with Natalie) who never bowed down to Shauna’s madness and was never afraid of her.

Worse, like Natalie, Mari saw Shauna for what she really was: a deeply insecure girl who uses violence to take something you’re usually born with: leadership. Her monologue at the end was pathetic but totally in character, because yes, she is pathetic.

And her deep anger toward Natalie? It’s because she knew Natalie, thanks to her usefulness to the group, was untouchable. Mari didn’t have that privilege, so Shauna channeled all her rage toward both of them onto the weaker link: Mari.

I’ve seen people comment that the writers kind of turned Shauna into a racist character, based on how she acts toward POC characters. I personally don’t think the character is racist, but it’s very clear the writers’ room is mostly — if not entirely — white.

“Oh but the girls can’t turn on Shauna because she’s the group’s butcher.” Natalie can do that job. The only thing protecting Shauna from a mutiny is plot armor. And that’s never a good sign.

That scene where Shauna chickens out when Tai stands up to her just proves how weak and insecure she is. Like when a fake alpha acts when a real alpha show's up

To be fair, the group did use her for a while as a scapegoat for their dark desires. The problem is that Shauna ENJOYED the violence. She’s sadistic. That’s canon. And she acts like a dictator. It’s funny being in both the Yellowjackets and Arcane fandoms because Shauna is everything Caitlyn haters claim Caitlyn is, lmao.

Lottie, at least, is clinically ill and acts based on her beliefs, not out of joy. The only time she kills someone and smiles about it is when she kills the hiker. And except for Natalie, everyone — girls and boys — did something bad to survive, whether actively or passively.

The thing with Shauna is that she enjoys what she does.And again, what she did to Mari was sickening. I’m not naïve, I knew a show about cannibalism wouldn’t pull punches. But I personally don’t like seeing such cruel scenes of violence for no reason other than shock value maybe.

And back to Shauna’s plot armor, we can clearly see that some of the girls were really sad about Mari’s death, and maybe even a little angry at how Shauna handled it. And the writers want us to believe they wouldn’t say a single word to her? Again, there are like ten of them, and Shauna isn’t irreplaceable in the group. And that plot armor just makes all the other girls (except Natalie, who really is an angel) look dumb and weak. Which they’re not.

Just for comparison, even in Game of Thrones’ worst seasons, we had Cersei doing insane stuff but without plot armor. People didn’t rebel against her because of her last name and her 7-foot zombie bodyguard. Shauna has none of that. The girls just don’t turn against her because of plot armor.

4 - The missed opportunities

It would be so easy to make Walter being the son of one the hikers and he got close to Misty with the intentions of expose and/or kill them for what they did in the wilderness. He could even be Melissa brother in law, which would make her appearance don't be so outta nowhere. And a lot of good things could go from there.

Callie killing Lottie could be a lot better too.

[his-madness-keeps-him-sane]

I honestly think that the inability to understand the most basic ideas of ASOIAF characters comes from bad faith criticism, especially if they think that "long winter" is not a central plot point of the story.

Whatever about worldbuilding, I don't care about the freaking bees of Westeros (and the problem is again that Martin has a stick up his ass and should act more like Tolkien and embrace more the poetry and less the pedantry).

I understand and enjoy criticism (1- I think he deserves it, 2- I like to interact with different opinions of things I read/watch/whatever) but saying "winter is unimportant" explains why so many understand the books as a misanthrope story.

Because you have Jaime's journey after "being evil" or Sansa learning the game of thrones to survive while knowing that she doesn't want to become a Cersei.

There's a lot of dark and cruelty but the central conclusion is always the same: be clever!

That's where the TV show failed, in the book consequences matter!

Ned is not dead because he was "good", Ned is dead because he was DUMB!

Nobody said "oh but why did he have to die?" because we know why!

Every single death happens because someone didn't know how to play the game.

That's why Daenerys is doomed to become a fascist (the tv show was BAD but the general idea of Dany turning "bad" is there in the books too).

That's why I will always defend Sansa (arguably the biggest victim of fan's misogyny).

The characters, good or bad, are (usually) incredibly well written, with (usually) a lot of nuance.

From the anti chosen one/Prince Charming of Dany/Jon to the child soldier metaphors of Arya there's really a lot of though and care behind them all. And that's why the books have become impossible to finish. Too many complex pieces to play with.

Martin has A LOT to criticize and I wish he stopped with the bullshit (and the obsession with rape, and the racism, and the...) but I can't understand how someone can read those books and think "this author thinks humans are awful".

Everyone hates Cersei and then Martin goes "Take this, a Cersei POV chapter" and... Fuck.

Yes, she's bad. But suddenly she is a person, not a fairy tale evil queen. She has ambition, she's scared, she's a mother, she's a woman in a sexist world full of violence against women... And we learn all those fears and dreams directly from her, from the "evil queen".

One of the little things that the TV show did well was Joffrey's death.

I remember people being... Uncomfortable. Because while enjoying the death of a monster they realized "wow... He's just a 16 year old boy... Dying in his mother's arms..."

And that, and not "historical accuracy" or whatever Martin claims, is the true golden heart of ASOIAF.

That the world is awful and make us awful

And that it doesn't have to be like that.

That's why the winter IS central.

Because a looming doom should be enough to make them realize how dumb the whole "game of thrones" is (like, you know...the real world and climate change??? The pandemic and the totally insufficient collaboration between countries???) and yet they keep fighting for an ugly chair that kills you if you sit on it too hard because it's made out of the swords of a colonialist war.

IT'S NOT SUBTLE

For all its faults, what ASOIAF is saying (or should be if Martin stopped with the bullshit) is that the world is awful, but you don't have to, and that it's never too late to change.

That you can be good but you have to be CLEVER.

That the kids are the future and can be the change.

That the Starks were always right and the winter is coming.

And that the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.

And I don't think he's ever gonna finish the books, but I don't think it's a coincidence that the last book is called "A promise of Spring".

Say what you want about Martin and his stupidity and empty pride.

But ASOIAF, even if failing a lot in achieving it, is ultimately about hope.

Hope in spite of horror.

Btw, a disclaimer: I'm not even a fan anymore!

I haven't even read the last published book!

But to be a hater you have to admit the good parts too!

Listen to Orson Welles, the OG hater!

Jeez!

Disclaimer x2: I refuse to acknowledge any grammar or orthographic mistake, I can't read anymore 😌

Someone over on Discord asked, "I'm morbidly curious: How BAD is A Song of Ice and Fire in terms of the authenticity George claims it to be?"

My reply was straightforward:

The long and the short of it is that ASOIAF is basically a vehicle for GRRM to present both his rape fetish and his Hobbesian view on human nature and has less historical accuracy than Frozen or most other Disney movies.

That's actually a good way to think of it, now that I've said it--he's Family Unfriendly, they're Family Friendly, but both have the same relationship with History: just Pure Aesthetic with no consideration for how the worldbuilding would work.

[thepacksurvives]

Forever appreciative of all the Sansa stans who work tirelessly to offer new views on her character and arc despite being met with silence and disinterest at best or contempt and hate at worst.

Not only must it be pretty boring to restate and write essays on things that are written black on white in the books but they also have to set everything right after Sansa's character assassination in the later seasons of GOT.

Truly, the GOATs of the ASOIAF fandom. ❤️🐐

[jackoshadows]

Hi, so I watched GoT+ am on asoiaf 1 rn and I have a Q about Dany; why is her character so divisive? I read meta by pro Dany fans and its "Dany's compassionate, self critical, a good ruler, a political reformer, frees slaves she'll be a hero at the end" and the antis "shes entitled, vengeful, profiter of slavery, a coloniser and GRRM wont validate a foreign invasion with nuclear weapons; hes anti war!!" Like, wHAt? Surely her character cant be THAT ambigious?! These are popular opposites??

Alright, I'll try to explain this from my perspective as a Jon Snow fan. However, this will be spoilery if you have read only one book. I would suggest reading all the books before joining in on discussions about the character.

It's a combination of things.

One is most definitely sexism. I don't throw that word around lightly having been constantly attacked as a ‘sexist dudebro who hates women’ for simply critiquing a female character.

Sexism in fandom is when female characters are held to different standards compared to their male counterparts. When female characters are critiqued or disliked for doing the same thing that male characters are often praised for doing. Daenerys is subjected to a lot of this which is especially evident in the books because she has a parallel arc of leadership with Jon Snow over at the Wall - the two characters at the ends of the world. 

An example is right there in your ask. GRRM is anti-war and hence why would he validate Dany's invasion - She is therefore in the wrong. Okay. In which case why not extend that argument to every other main character in the series? GRRM is anti-war and therefore Robb Stark was wrong to wage war for Northern independence. GRRM is anti-war and therefore Jon Snow is wrong to help Stannis in his battle against the Boltons. GRRM is anti-war and therefore Tyrion is wrong to use wildfire and defeat Stannis at the battle of the blackwater. GRRM is anti-war and therefore Jon Snow is the villain of the battle at Castle Black.

I think the main thesis of GRRM’s argument in regard to his protagonists has been that there is no good or bad and instead they are all morally gray? Yeah war is bad and most of our protagonists engage in war and they are therefore morally grey characters. I mean, Jon Snow is over there taking child hostages that he has promised to behead - does that make him a baddie? Ned Stark took Theon as a child hostage. Is he a baddie? Our main characters all belong to noble houses in a feudal monarchy - a system of governance that GRRM relentlessly critiques in the books. Are they all baddies?

This double standard is particularly glaring when Dany's battles in Essos is about helping the little guy - the slaves who are under the worst kind of oppression. The WOT5K (War of the 5 Kings) on the other hand was about personal power, ravaged the land and lead to much devastation and suffering. However, for some strange reason when fandom discusses the books and the author being anti-war they focus particularly on Daenerys - that strange reason is sexism.

If you have watched GOT, I am sure you would have noticed those obvious  double standards yourself.

Tyrion standing there making sad faces makes it look like Daenerys is doing something wrong when she executes the Tarlys - two treasonous traitors. However every other House does the same! Jon Snow executed the mutineers at the wall - even a child. After the battle of bastards, he mentions the Karstarks and Umbers having been killed in battle or else they would have been executed. Sansa wants to punish even their children!! But for some strange reason [(i.e) sexism] a female leader executing traitors is evil. That she does so without crying (Something the show runner David Benioff points out in an BTS interview) means she is evil. Jon not crying when killing people = badass, Dany not crying when killing people = evil.

Daenerys in battle with Jaime Lannister to get the Iron Throne = evil. Starks fighting against the Boltons to get Winterfell = Yay! Awesome. Thousands die in both battles - in one battle they die, burned by dragonfire. In the other one they are hacked to death and die with their guts hanging out. In both cases, people die.

The show quickly moves past Jaime Lannister, the Tarlys and their men massacring everyone of Olenna's men and piling their bodies high and sacking and looting the place. However, the show takes time to linger on Tyrion's sad face with the sad music and the men dying when Daenerys is attacking those same men on the battlefield.

I am not even getting into season 8 because it was so, so bad and full of puke inducing sexism that will need 10 pages to outline. I think you have got the gist of why sexism is such a large factor in how Dany's character is otherized and analyzed by fandom at large and made worse by Benioff and Weiss' rampant misogyny shining through in the show's writing.

I mentioned this in another post and I will say again - removing show Tyrion from show Daenerys' narrative would reduce the sexism in her story arc ten fold. He was D&D's mouthpiece in the series after season 5 - there to tell us that Dany was evil for doing all the things the male characters did.

And yes, Nuclear weapons are bad. Nuclear weapons can also be a deterrent and prevent war. Nuclear weapons can also be useful in a fantasy, magical world dealing with an existential apocalyptic threat. This is why I find one to one comparisons like these to be ridiculous. The Starks also have some fiercesome beasts that the author has indicated will be used in battle. Are we calling them evil?

The rest. Colonizer? They should look up what that means and whether it applies to Dany's story in Essos. Profiting off slavery? If one reads the books one knows this is blatantly untrue. Entitled and vengeful? No more than any of the other main characters who belong to noble houses in Westeros.

Daenerys has her flaws, not saying that she doesn't. That's what makes her a three-dimensional and relatable character. It's easy to criticize the character because she does self-reflect and introspect, is sometimes crippled by self-doubt and wants to do things differently and try different options - something that makes her human and real and very well written. Leadership is not easy and she’s 15 in the last book.

The other aspect is a flaw in the writing with respect to the setting of Daenerys' story in the series. She's the only main POV character in Essos until Arya and Tyrion get there in ADwD. And there is a lot of orientalism in GRRM's writing for Essos - meant to represent the East while Westeros represents the West.

There's much to say about how he writes the Dothraki as savage barbarians. While he gives POV characters for the Ironborn with Theon and Asha and characters like Mance, Tormund and Ygritte for the Freefolk, where's the equivalent of all that for the Dothraki? Oh but look, they are eating honeyed locusts! How exotic! There's lots of cartoonishly evil slavers who kill puppies! GRRM keeps otherizing their customs and culture as being savage and cruel and different - highlighted by the fact that we don't have a single Essosi POV giving us their side of things.

I do find GRRM's orientalism distasteful and off putting, especially as Essos is just a prop, a stepping stone for the characters before they move onto Westeros where the real story is happening. That is however a critique of the writing, not of the character. People tend to conflate the two. A middle aged white man writing in the nineties about a fantasy eastern world does not make Daenerys a 'white savior' or a 'colonizer' and it's clear from various interviews the author has given that this was not his intention either.

Daenerys is also the only Targaryen POV in the books. Think about that. The Starks have 6 POVs in the first book. The Lannisters get 3 by AFfC. The Greyjoys have 4, the Martells have 2. The only major house worse off than the Targaryens are the Baratheons with no POV characters.

We see Jon Snow through Arya and Bran’s POV. We see Arya through Jon’s. We get none of this for Dany. The Starks have a home and a loving family. Dany meanwhile is starting off the story at her lowest point - an abusive brother and forcefully married off to a Dothraki. While the Starks then end up losing that security, family members die, one of them is a hostage and the other is on the run - they still have memories of each other. Danerys meanwhile, slowly and painfully works her way to the top. 

Reminds me of a post I responded to the other day, where the OP said that Arya and Jon cannot be underdogs because they are winners (Whatever that means). That’s the attitude that a lot of fandom has towards Daenerys - now that she is queen and has power, she has it easy compared to the likes of Sansa and the rest of the Starks. Ignoring that when the books started Daenerys was in a way worse position than any of the Starks.

This is a fandom that thinks that Sansa Stark deserves to be Queen in the North because she’s beautiful, has good manners and is a Stark. And this is the same fandom who think that Daenerys, who worked her way to the top - with no family to help, no happy childhood, no teachers, no security of food and shelter, who were beggars and on the run at one point - the Daenerys who is currently spending an entire book ruling a city state, making trade deals, dealing with an insurgency and famine, engaging in marriage diplomacy to sue for peace for the slaves she freed, that Daenerys is entitled. Do you agree?

I am a Jon Snow fan and even I can see how utterly ridiculous the fan discourse around Daenerys is. When the show was on, I was only posting about Jon and there was so much anti Dany stuff on the Jon Snow tags I had to wade into discussion about the character. And the more I defended her, the more I ended up re-reading her chapters, the more I ended up loving the character. There’s so much hypocrisy and sexist double standards where the character is concerned.

And I have not even touched upon the obnoxiousness that is ‘Jonsa’ - group of morons who think Sansa is the main character in a book series called A Song of Sansa and Sansa and Jon is secretly in love with Sansa who is going to be Queen with executioner/personal spymaster Arya Stark and her consort Jon Snow who will sexually manipulate and murder Daenerys for his great love Sansa.

Sansa fans make up the vast majority of asoiaf fans on Tumblr and the majority of them dislike Daenerys and Arya or see Dany as Sansa’s antagonist - even though these two characters have no connection in the books and I doubt they would ever interact. If you look at most of the anti Dany posts on here, they will be made by someone with a Sansa pfp. There are posts about how Jon will kill Dany or how Arya will kill Dany, and if you look at their blogs they will be big Sansa fans.

These are the same people who write essays on how Arya is not a real girl or is ‘male-coded’ or who write essays on how Daenerys only uses ‘threats and force’ whereas Sansa is apparently a political genius who uses ‘Soft Power’ - a foreign policy concept - because she talked down 13 year old idiot Joffrey that one time. When in the actual books, it’s Daenerys who has used Soft Power in her marriage diplomacy with Hizdahr and Sansa has never engaged in any kind of politics with actual adults.

Notice that these kinds of ‘metas’ are popularized by fandom bnfs using blogs like asoiafuniversity. There’s this very popular idea that’s propagated in fandom that Sansa is kind and compassionate when in the actual books there are more instances of kindness and compassion from Arya and from Daenerys. This is once again an example of how sexism and misogyny in this fandom has worked to give the wrong impressions of these characters. Arya and Daenerys are seen as more violent compared to Sansa even though Daenerys’ entire arc for two books has been about helping an oppressed population. The mind boggles!

It’s the same when it comes to love and romance. Arya and Daenerys are not considered worthy of love, romance and marriage because they are the wrong kind of girls. And let’s not bring age into this considering Sansa is 11 at the start of the books and she is the fandom bicycle shipped with every Tom, Dick and Harry.

I am not even getting into the slut-shaming and victim blaming that Daenerys gets in the fandom. There was actual discourse in this fandom on how Dany was not a good rape victim like Sansa because she brought up her rape in conversation! Daenerys is somehow seen as less than because she can’t possibly have children - that apparently makes her less of a woman and a bad partner for Jon Snow unlike Sansa Stark who will surely have ten babies!

The worst part is that’s it women who engage in this kind of discourse and the same women who turn around and gaslight the fandom into thinking that Sansa is unfairly targeted because of sexism.

There’s also the usual dislike from the fans of other characters.

There are Jon Snow fans who see him as the prophesied hero and main protagonist, who don’t like Daenerys coming over and taking away main character status. I personally think there is no one main character. IMO, Jon, Dany, Arya, Bran and Tyrion are all tier one main characters, who will work together against the Army of the Dead. [Note: This works the other way as well. I have seen Dany fans who dislike Jon Snow as well and think he is unimportant in the grand scheme of things]

There are Stannis Baratheon stans over on the Asoiaf subreddit who will excuse everything Stannis does - including burning people alive for his God - and then nitpick every single policy decision of Dany’s in order to argue she is evil or a bad ruler. 

There are house Stark fans who hate House Targaryen and see them as in opposition to each other. There are fans who believe in Northern exceptionalism i.e the North is special and Dany is a threat to that specialness because she wants the 7K etc. etc.

This turned out to be a long post. On the whole, the answer to your question on why Daenerys is such a polarizing character is mainly because of sexism. There are other factors like the setting and isolation of her story, the lack of other POVs etc. The main reason though is sexism and ship wars.

[soupgoose]

Late Nights and Early Mornings

Requested: No one other than myself :D

Genre: Slight Hurt/Comfort (very brief, like so little that its barely enough for a tag), So much Fluff, teeth rotting even, One-shot

Word Count: 3714

Paring: HeadEngineer!Mark x Captain!Reader [Gender Neutral], Still written (slightly) platonically, still up for interpretation (but let's just say that maybe Mr. Head engineer is crushing a little but >:) )

Warnings: None :D

Summary: When the Captain doesn't feel like going back to bed, someone else decides to take the initiative. 

A/N: Definitely another one of those self-indulgent ideas I came up with when I couldn’t sleep and decided “Hey this would be adorable”. And thus, this was born! MAyBe, just MaYBe I stayed up a little late to finish this, but hey! Can’t stop that sweet sweet writing grind! Did my computer try to crash multiple times as I was writing this? Yes, but that’s a future me issue.

As always, if you have any ideas or critiques for how I can improve in the future, please let me know!

Happy reading! 

-Soup :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You don’t get to choose if I exist!”

“I don’t know if your evil, or just stupid!”

“I’m going to fix the damage you caused.”

“What did you do?!”

“Captain no! Think about the colonist!”’

“Captain! Something is very wrong!”

“It all comes down to bad leadership.”

“Captain! NO-”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A sharp inhale breaks the calm silence that filled your chamber, as your body jolts forward. Your hand clenched the fabric of your night shirt. Heavy and panicked breaths rock your chest, and you feel your lungs desperately searching for oxygen.

The voices and screams of various friends and acquaintances begin to fade from your ears, leaving behind a painful quiet. You glance across your sleeping chamber, studying the assets that surround your bunk.

“Just a nightmare… It was just a nightmare.” You mumble under your breath.

Moving to sit against the headboard, your hand presses against the skin on your face. You try to rub the tired from your eyes, sighing to yourself in the process.

They hadn’t been as frequent recently, a stark contrast from when you had first landed on the colony's new home. Nightly terrors and haunting memories kept you in a perpetual state of exhaustion.

After an exhausting day with the colony, and the promise of yet another busy day quickly approaching, the one thing you were excited for, was a night of good sleep.

But of course.

Another nightmare.

You began to move from your spot on the bed, shifting quietly so as to not wake up the others in the rooms around your own.

To your credit, you had hid it fairly well. That was until you abruptly crashed mid meeting. What made it worse, was the fact that you did it in front of your crew leads and a select group of high ranking crew. And thus, your nights of sleeping in a 1 person suite stopped promptly.

Instead it was traded for a shared living quarters, fit with one large living room and kitchen, and separate rooms and offices for your “roommates”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first person to volunteer was, of course, Mark. No one was shocked by his eagerness to tend to and to room with his The Captain.

Apparently, his reasoning was that he wasn’t a fan of having a large suite all to himself. After having long gotten used to sharing a small living space with others, he felt uncomfortable with the lack of company and chaos which he had grown so fond of. He said that there was too much space and not enough noise to fill it, whatever that meant.

Moving to your closet, you figured that it wouldn’t hurt to put on something else. Hoping that the slight change in your environment would distract you from your less-than-pleasant waking. Smoothing down your hair, you began to look for something more comfortable to wear than the itchy wool nightshirt you and the crew had been given.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next person, surprisingly, was Gunther. Somewhat agreeing with Mark, he too wasn’t overly happy with the general lack of trouble that he wasn’t causing. He was much more excited for the “shenanigans” that the three of you could pull off with the combined free time. A cheer and a fist bump between Mark and himself was interrupted by Celci.

While she wasn’t completely thrilled at having to spend any extra time around the two, she wanted to make sure that someone was keeping the Captain relaxed and focused in this arrangement. And so, she was the last to volunteer.

“The whole point of us moving in is to keep them healthy and on track. If you two are always keeping them up zt night by messing around, and blowing up who knows what! Then that’ll defeat the whole purpose.”

There was an exchange of groans and eyerolls. But ultimately the three of them did come to an understanding. The point of this was to keep you from staying up alone, and this would hopefully add in a sense of comfort to lessen the frequency of your nightmares.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What you decided on wearing wasn’t exactly your normal uniform, but it could pull off as a convincing underlayer if you needed to explain to a bystander. Wearing a pair of comfortable pants and a slightly loose white shirt, you begin your trek to the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Burt, while he offered his full support, did not want to participate. After all, he was comfortable with his living space, as it had enough room for his projects and was isolated away from distractions. A plus was that it was connected to the Main Engineering Plant, which held a large portion of the crucial mechanics and the main power station, through a short maintenance tunnel. He did say that he would swing by often to catch up and spend time with the group when he could.

After no one else volunteered the arrangement was sealed.

Did you try to resist, saying that it would be too much effort and that they (your nightmares) would eventually pass? Yes.

Did they listen to your complaints? Technically? They did in fact hear what you had said. They just didn’t follow.

While at first glance at the situation it would seem that mixing Mark’s and Gunther’s personality with Celci’s would be a homicide in the making. In reality, as long as they didn’t mess with each other too much, everybody got along. At least enough to keep your sanity intact.

Ever since then, there hasn’t been a dull moment. Two explosive-happy maniacs make for quite the party. Various near disasters and encounters with death later, and the four of you had settled in a sort of manageable, but also chaotic schedule.

Their endearing smiles at your laughter went unnoticed.

Over multiple weeks, most, if not all, of your night terrors had taken their place on a storage shelf at the back of your mind. Very few people knew of the arrangement, and even fewer knew the reasoning behind it.

And you came to learn that your crew truly did care about your well being, and were relieved to watch you improve. Family style meals and weekly “game-nights” quickly became a tradition. And even though you never quite caught on, your crew was completely taken aback as they watched more and more of your true self break out of the façade that being a Captain had created.

Celci’s captivated gaze when you would ramble and rant was unseen.

You never did catch Gunther’s pride swell when he got you to laugh and play around with the group.

And not once did you realize how infatuated Mark was towards you when you would smile.

Things up until this point had become, you hate to say it but, almost perfect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The subtle clicks of your shoes echoed quietly down the hall. Many of the lights were off, other than a few nightlights that created a soft glow at the base of the walls.

Walking past Celci's room you could hear a faint white noise machine from behind her door. And a soft blue emitted from the crack underneath the door frame. You stopped in front of it, pausing to make sure that she hadn’t woken up from your movements. She was fairly easy to wake up if someone needed her assistance. Years of having to watch over the well-being of thousands of colonists prevented her from ever reaching a deep sleep.

After a second of listening you moved on.

You then passed Gunther's room on the other side of the hall. The man’s snoring and muffled music made you chuckle under your breath. You knew that you didn’t have to wait around, as you had learned quickly that he could sleep through almost everything, be it a blaring alarm or explosions right outside his door. He really only woke up on his own terms, and somehow always when someone needed him for something. How he managed to get up on time everyday still baffled you.

You continued on your journey, listening to your soft footsteps and the hum of the world around you.

The living room had a sizable nook for desks and cabinets, which is where some of the larger projects and work documents were kept. It was also where you found Mark.

Turning the corner you noticed two things.

One, the door to Mark’s room was wide open, revealing an empty room. And two, there was a light on in the kitchen.

“I’m surprised to see you up.” You announced from the archway between the hallway and the living room. You leaned most of your weight against the wall behind you, crossing your arms in front of you like a disappointed parent who just caught their kid up late on a school night.

Your voice was just loud enough to be heard by the engineer, as he jumped at the unexpected company.

“Captain! Shoot- wait. Um, captain? You’re awake?” He asked, quickly lowering his voice, so he wouldn’t wake the other two. He was embarrassed, obviously. Even though you both knew that he wasn’t doing anything bad, he still looked as if he had been caught red-handed at the scene of a crime. Face completely red and shoulders scrunched up to his ears.

You kept your volume soft as you let out a laugh, finally crossing the room and reaching the kitchen. “Well, you are talking to me, so I would assume so.” You replied sarcastically.

“Sorry, I’m just surprised to see that you're awake at this time. Typically your mornings don’t start this early. What’s gotten you up and moving?” He spun his chair around to face you. His eyes follow your deliberate, and somehow still exhausted, movements as you decide to make yourself a cup of coffee.

You began to speak while looking away from him, focused on the task at hand. “You’re definitely right about that sir. However I really have to ask, what in the world are you doing up? I thought that you had something due in a few hours?”

You could feel his face heat up even more from across the room, “I mean- Yeah… but I just had to get this finished before I could sleep.”

The coffee had finished brewing and a small hiss creeped from the machine.

“Is it the one for today?”

His lack of a response gave everything you needed to know.

“I see.” You poured the brew into two small mugs, stirring in any extra add-ins that you felt were needed.

“I know… I just-” he sighed in defeat, looking back at the desk. Strewn with papers and a small laptop, he looked over the mess he had created in his hurry to finish his project.

“I knew that I had to get it finished, but I was having so much fun that I just kept…”

“I get it, Mark. You don't have to explain it to me. You’re not in trouble, I just find it amusing.”

You smirk, placing the cups on the desk as you take a seat next to him.

“I know you have been, that’s why I’m not upset with you. I know that you have your “methods”, and really who am I to question them. You’ve gotten all of your projects completed by the deadline, and I’m not the first to say that they’ve all been good quality too. I just wish that they wouldn’t make you stay up as late as they do.” You playfully smack his shoulder with the back of your hand. He winced dramatically, causing you both to snicker.

“It’s not like me to procrastinate this bad. I mean, sure I’ve got my moments, but seriously I’ve been really productive this whole mission! Oh, is that for me? Thank you.”

He took a long sip from the mug, basking in its warmth. You watched as his body relaxed, his shoulders and back slightly slouched against the back of the spinney chair.

“That’s pretty bold coming from you, Captain. I should be the one asking you why you're still up, y’know. After all, you never did answer my question.”

You set your mug down against the desk wordlessly. He already knew why, he just wanted you to admit it.

He shifts in his chair, sitting a little straighter and with his full body facing you. He looked so worried, but also so…

You stared into the contents of the mug in front of you.

“Captain?”

Sighing, you look up at him.

“You already know why Mark. This one, I just couldn’t bring myself to go back to sleep.”

His eyes reflect your own exhaustion, but also radiate a look of genuine concern.

“Cap…”

You turn away, “I mean it really wasn’t that bad. Definitely not one of the worst ones. It’s just…frustrating. After not having one for a while, it bugs me that they come back when I need to sleep the most.”

Comfortable.

He reached out with an arm, placing his hand over yours. While surprised by his forwardness, you didn’t move your hand away. “Cap, you know you can talk to me about these things. That’s part of the reason I’m here after all.” His thumb began to gently caress the back of your knuckles.

You huff jokingly at him, looking at your hands. You take a second to consider his offer. “I know, I know.”

You feel the bags under your eyes grow heavier, despite having the caffeine from the coffee running through you.

“Of course.”

“I think-” you feel his hand tighten a little around your own, “It is was it is, y'know? But, thank you, Mark. You've helped me a lot.”

You know that's not what he wanted to hear, but he doesn't continue to pry. “Alright Cap, you know I’m here when you feel up to it.”

You couldn’t help from teasing him from time to time. At the beginning of the arrangement, you figured out that you could easily make him flustered, and you’ve been using it against him ever since. Never enough to make him upset with you, not seriously at least, but just enough that it still had a similar effect every time, and always caught him off guard.

“Well?” You spoke suddenly, and a mischievous grin formed.

“Well what, Captain?”

“You said that was only part of the reason”

“Yes? What are you-”

“Mind telling me what that other reason might be?”

He caught on to what you might have been suggesting, stuttering and blabbering as he desperately tried to find the right words.

You wouldn’t call yourself a natural flirt, not even a good one, but over the years it was just one of those random things that you had picked up.

You enjoyed the close, comfortable, moments that the two of you shared. Sure you had spent time chilling out with the others. But something about these moments with Mark just felt different.

You were still laughing to yourself as he looked away, the other hand subconsciously moving to the back of his neck. His offense wasn’t true, as if you could ever really hurt his feelings, but it was still amusing to watch.

Your smile falters for a moment as the warmth from his hand leaves your own. A blush began to collect at the top of your ears shortly after.

A good kind of difference.

You suddenly yawn, feeling the tiredness pulling effortlessly at your eyelids.

“Damn…” you chuckle.

“Well Cap, I think that’s a clear enough sign that you should go back to sleep.” He spoke, his confidence coming back to him.

“Never.”

“Wha? Captain, what?” He asked breathlessly, taken aback by your sudden stubbornness.

“Nope. I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” You add a dramatic flare to your statement.

You were half joking, you knew that you really should go back to sleep, but you weren't ready to, not yet at least.

“Come on Cap’n, you really need to get some rest-”

“So should you. Did you think that you were going to get off the hook that easily?”

“...Seriously?”

The cocky expression you wore said it all.

“So, you’re not going back to sleep until I finish this?”

“Yup.”

It takes you both a second before you make it over to the couch, and only then do you realize a crucial flaw in your plan.

Mark grew a smirk of his own, “Oh really?”

“Yup.”

“I bet you, 10 bucks, that you won’t be able to stay awake for more than 20 minutes.”

“Alright. You’re on. I bet you 15 that I can.”

“Oh I see how it is. I’ll raise you 15, if you can stay awake, while sitting on a couch, you win.”

You felt your confidence fall for a moment, “...Ok, fine, but only if you're sitting with me. It wouldn’t be fair having me sit behind you, just listening to you work.”

He thinks for a second, “Alright then, okay. Game on, Captain.” He sticks out his hand towards you.

“Game on, Engineer.” And with a firm handshake, the game began.

The couch is really only wide enough for two people sitting practically on top of one another.

“Oh crap…” you think to yourself.

“Well then, I guess this is a little trickier than you thought, huh Captain~”

He was way too comfortable with this. Being the fact that you and him were squeezed in right up against each other.

“Of course not!” you bluffed looking away from him, “I just forgot how tiny this seat is. I guess it’s really more of a loveseat, than a full couch.” You tried to force out a relaxed chuckle, but it came out sounding strained and nervous than you would have liked. You could feel his eyes burning holes into the side of your head.

“If you're uncomfortable with being this close to me I can move. I guess it would mean that you’d lose, but your comfort is a higher priority to me.” He spoke softly, leaning in a little closer. He lingered there for a moment, before chuckling to himself and retreating to his half of the seat.

It's a good difference, even though it's unfamiliar.

It's not exactly you being uncomfortable that was the problem.

No. It’s the fact that you are extremely comfy. Like the comfort from just him having his hand on top of yours. Just, multiplied by 1000, and over a larger surface area.

You wait for the red that covers your cheeks to dissipate slightly before you cough up a response. “I’m not going to lose to your cheating games, Mark. You can try all you like, but I am in no way-”

When you do look back at him, you find that he’s practically glowing as he’s looking at you. Eyes half lidded, and his cheeks are only a little more red than your own.

“Going…to-”

The way that he smiles at you makes your heart stutter. He looks at you like you're the only thing that matters.

“Lose.” Him throwing back the same style of teasing back at you was one thing. But how he was looking at you, was something completely unexpected.

“I’m intrigued”

He’s thinking about something. The way his eyes flicker over your features

“I’ll bring it back down to 10 if you let me try something.” Smile still mischievous, but with a layer of something else. Something gentler.

“Can you stand up for a sec? It involves a little bit of moving…”

You nod, standing up. This wasn’t exactly what you were expecting, but you're curious to see what his plan is.

Both of your cheeks are glowing brighter than before. However, he still looks so content and focused in the moment.

He sets his laptop down on the side table next to him. He moves over so that he's leaning more into the corner of the couch. One of his legs is placed across the back, while the other is draped over the edge and his foot is resting on the floor.

Once he finds a seemingly comfortable position, he pats at the little bit of couch in front of him.

Once you sit down, he beams, “come’er you!”, pulling you flush to him.

“It was a trap!” you yelp, trying to squirm against his hold on you. The two of you tried to suppress a laughing fit, but eventually it couldn’t be helped. You eventually relaxed against him, still snickering as you caught your breath.

His arms are wrapped tightly around you, and your chest is pressed against his own.

You can feel his heartbeat, and his body relaxing around you.

You thought about trying to resist, but his voice interrupts that train of thought.

You begin to feel your own heart calming down, your breathing returns to its natural cadence.

Your eyes droop slightly, and there's now a significant amount of effort in staying awake.

“Comfy?” He asks, still wearing a smirk, but more endearing than before.

“Mhm..” You mumble against him, burying your face into the top of his chest, your crown resting just above his collarbone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’ll drop it down to 5 if you let yourself relax…”

He could feel you trying to fight sleep. And in reality, he knew from the start that it wouldn’t take much effort to get you to sleep, but he didn’t expect to fall for his own trap.

You look up at him, “As long as the next time this happens I don’t find you awake like this again..”

He chuckled, “You drive a hard bargain.”

“Counter offer, how about I’ll just ask you for this the next time, so you don't have to deal with my stubbornness?”

“But I like dealing with you.”

You smile, letting your mind slip into the warmth that surrounds you.

You felt his laugh reverberate through his chest, and the hum of his voice hit your ears. “I’d like that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Gunther and Celci stumbled in on an adorable scene. Mark and the Captain were cuddled together.

Mark had his face buried into the top of their head, meanwhile the Captain had their ear pressed firmly against his chest.

“Would ya look at that”

Gunther whispered, moving across the living room, finding the almost empty mugs on the desk. Looking back at Celci, he smirks.

“Seems like someone owes me 20 bucks.”

“fine…”

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Expectations vs. Reality: Anime

Demon Slayer

Expectation: Hardcore horror series about evil monsters

Reality: Really good boy must protect his incredibly cute demon sister with the help of his friends, the whiny blonde guy and the funny animal man who yells all the time. Lots of found family goodness.

--------------------------------------------

Naruto

Expectation: A coming-of-age series about an outcast who must defy the odds to become the best

Reality: ...so then our main protagonist learns that he's actually the descendant of an alien god, thus making him part alien. Also, he was born to an amazing lineage, which directly contradicts the whole outcast image that the protagonist started off with.

--------------------------------------------

Dr. Stone

Expectation: Harsh drama about humans rebuilding society

Reality: Hey kids! Welcome to Senku's educational series about how to survive in the wild! Get your notebooks out because today, we're learning how to make gunpowder! Also, how to turn salt water into fresh water!

--------------------------------------------

Cells at Work

Expectation: Cute educational series about the human body!

Reality: Your body is a nightmare. It's constantly fighting off viruses that can either kill you or hurt you severely. Also, it turns out your body is a dictatorship, killing anything that doesn't comply with its standards. If a cell is out of line or born wrong, it's immediately sent for execution.

--------------------------------------------

Asobi Asobase

Expectation: Cute, slice-of-life comedy about teenage girls!

Reality: "Hey guys, I dare you to dare me to stick this baseball bat up my butler's ass!" "Hahahaha, I'd love to see that shit!" "NO, DON'T STICK THAT UP MY ASS!"

--------------------------------------------

The Promised Neverland

Expectation: Orphan kids must expect the orphanage

Reality: Well...you get what you were expecting. But in addition, you develop trust issues and a fear of nuns.

--------------------------------------------

Black Clover

Expectation: Magic and swords!

Reality: A coming-of-age series about an outcast who must defy the odds to become the best...wait a minute, this sounds familiar...

--------------------------------------------

Usagi Drop

Expectation: Cute series about a single dad trying to raise his kid!

Reality: The expectation is the same as reality...no, there's no manga here, what are you talking about? Stop talking about a manga, there IS NO MANGA.

--------------------------------------------

My Hero Academia

Expectation: Superheroes!

Reality: A coming-of-age series about an outcast who must defy the odds to become the best-wait, what? Again with this? Oh come on, there has to be a difference between this and Naruto. (MHA fans whispers in my ear) Oh, so the main villain gets arrested? Well...I guess that's original. The main bad guys in Naruto either die or get redeemed.

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Jormungand

Expectation: Metal Gear Solid, I think?

Reality: Well, it really is Metal Gear Solid, specifically the 4th game. But it's Metal Gear Solid if the main protagonist was a pedophilic Harley Quinn who got fused with Tony Stark.

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RWBY

Expectation: Anime girls saving the world!

Reality: Dark fairy tale drama about the world ending and how the world must be saved by this girl with magic eyes and this guy who is the current reincarnation of an ancient warrior. Also, people are racist towards half-animal people.

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Avatar the Last Airbender

Expectation: Legendary hero must save the world!

Reality: Expectation is the reality. But that being said, people care more about the first season villain's redemption arc.

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The Legend of Korra

Expectation: More Avatar the Last Airbender!

Reality: An in-depth look at a hero battling the ideologies of communism, theocracy, anarchism, and fascism. You can basically call this series, "The Legend of the Centrist".

[nikoruistyping]

Tony Stark x Fem!Reader, married couple trying to conceive a baby. Tony is dying to be a father e he really wants to put a baby inside his wife's belly 🥵

We need more smut and fluff with this man and your writing is fucking amazing, girl

The Relaxing Shower || Tony Stark

Tony Stark x Wife!Fem!reader

Summary: After yet another failed attempt at trying to conceive for a baby with your husband Tony, he makes one last suggestion that involves you, him and a very hot shower together...

TW: Small bit of Fluff, Just a Small Sprinkle of Angst, Lots of Smut, Adult Language/Swearing, Dirty Talk, Kissing/Making Out, Fingering (Kinda), Vanilla Vaginal/Shower Sex, Praise Kink (Kinda?), Nudity, Playful Banter/Jokes, Established Relationship, Aftercare, Mention of Failed Conception, Mention of IVF Treatment, Talking about Pregnancy Tests (Failed ones T_T)

Word Count: 2,900

A/N: Thank you Anon for the request! I really enjoyed writing this and hopefully you like it! This took me two days to write and edit for some odd reason because idk why but I got a bit too involved with the whole plot line of this request XD also side note is that THERE IS NO BREEDING KINK IN THIS! I personally am not a fan of the kink but to each their own I just wanted yall to have a heads up that this fic is safe to read if your uncomfy with that specific kink because so am I!

This was already the third test this month you were taking and now it was just time to wait. Having to wait three painful minutes to see the results of probably yet again another negative test. You and Tony have been trying to conceive for quite some time now but every time was sadly a failed attempt in getting pregnant. There was nothing wrong with you or him at all, if anything you both were healthy and also a very sexually active married couple. For some reason, the timing was never right or you would miss your ovulation window by a slim chance. You were starting to slowly give up on the dream of creating a family with him and you wondered if this was the universe's way of telling you that maybe having kids just wasn't for you.

You sat on the toilet seat cover, your leg bouncing uncontrollably, waiting and waiting, drumming your fingers against your thigh. You couldn't stop staring at that evil pink line staring back at you, laughing at your face. You tried looking away to distract yourself but all you could seem to do was just become more anxious by the minute and hope that today would be the day that two pink lines would appear instead of a measly one.

You heard the timer on your phone beeping and going off, you quickly scrambled to grab the test off the bathroom counter and when you looked at that single line your face fell completely flat. Negative. You dragged yourself out of the bathroom with the test in hand and you made your way over to the living room where you saw Tony studying, moving pieces of the hologram he was working on back and forth, reading and studying some of the new technology for his suit. He quickly popped out of his seat on the sofa when he saw you walk in and his steps got quicker walking over to you flicking off his reading glasses.

"So what was the result of the evil pee stick?" He said with a chuckle trying his best to always lighten up the mood with his playful demeanor.

"Negative...again." You said with a sigh, holding up the test for him to see. You buried your head in his chest as yet again you were at your limit and defeated because of how tired you were of always being let down.

"Oh, sweetheart I'm sorry...I really am," He said to you hugging you close, his hand cradling your head close to his chest and just embracing you.

"We are going to keep on trying, I promise. I don't care how long it takes we are going to have a baby," He raked his fingers through your hair trying to calm you down when you started to sob into his chest and that just made him want to hold you closer.

"You know we can still explore our options. I've been reading up on IVF and the results look promising-" He was cut off mid-sentence when you pulled your head away, looking up at him, your arms wrapping around his torso.

"I'm just tired, Tony...I know there are other options but I really wanted us to have this baby ourselves without any help and I don't think I can go through another disappointment even with help." Your voice was on the edge of breaking because of how sad and hard it was just to get pregnant. How was it that so many people it was so easy and for you, it was such a difficult process?

"Don't worry sweetheart, we are going to get through this together. I have a feeling that soon we will get there. Rome wasn't built in a day remember?" His hands went to cup your face as he looked deep into your sad eyes knowing that this was hard for him but even harder on you.

"How did I get so lucky to have you in my life, Tony?" You questioned trying to crack a smile to show him everything was fine.

"Now that I don't have an answer for but what I do have an answer for is that I know exactly what will cheer you up." He said grabbing your hand and leading you in the direction of the bathroom once again.

"Tony what are you even talking about-" You finally got the idea when you both were in the bathroom and you looked towards the very large and luxurious shower that was big enough to fit probably a whole party of people in.

"A shower?" You questioned, your eyebrow-raising at him as he turned around to face you, holding your hands.

"Yes, we are going to save some water. The water bill was extremely high last month." He said with a chuckle, a small smirk following it as he started to already unbutton his dress shirt but you had stopped his fingers halfway, taking over unbuttoning the rest for him and helping him shimmy it off his shoulders.

"Is that your subtle way of inviting me to join you?" You asked, your hands placing themselves on the nape of his neck while they slowly slid down his now naked torso, your fingers dipping into his collarbones, tracing over his pecks and ghosting over his abs as your hands found themselves on his hips.

"Call it whatever you want sweetheart but I guarantee you will feel so much better after a relaxing shower with yours truly." A smirk grew across his lips while his hands found your waist, his fingers teasing at the bottom of your shirt until he was able to pull it over your head and fling it into the laundry basket.

"That's definitely an invitation I can't turn down then." You bit your lip in response as your fingers started to tease with his belt buckle, unbuckling it as you pulled down his pants for him and he kicked them off to the side.

Before he could reach to take your pants off for you, you backed away teasing him, slowly undoing your pants yourself. He continued to stripe himself of his socks and boxer briefs while you flung your bra and panties into the laundry hamper and you looked over your shoulder to see him already entering the shower and putting on the water to heat it up. You tried covering as much of your body as you could with your arms crossing your body and keeping your legs as closed as possible. For some reason even though you had both seen each other completely butt naked before you always wanted it to still be tasteful and somewhat of a reveal when he saw you completely naked.

You slowly entered the shower and made sure to slide the glass door closed. You saw Tony's back facing you, the water falling over his body and dripping down his skin. You came up behind him, your arms wrapping around his torso, your hands placing themselves on his chest and you pressed your naked body up against his, breasts pushing into his back. Water now was falling over both of you and your hair was slicked back as it flowed down your shoulders.

"Hey there Mr. Stark." You managed to whisper into his ear and the minute he heard your voice he turned around to face you.

"Hello there Mrs. Stark," His voice was low and whispered as the space between you both was only closing the closer you got.

"Ladies first..." He trailed off grabbing the shampoo bottle off the shelf and squirted some into the palm of his hand and his fingers slowly raked through your hair, working their magic while slowly massaged your scalp. You hummed happily in response as the feeling felt so relaxing and therapeutic.

His hands rinsed out the soap suds while your hands had instinctively placed themselves on his hips making sure he stayed close to you. His touch was so caring and gentle with you, he had you in the palm of his hands (literally). He reached for the body wash and started with your neck, massaging the knots that seemed to be stuck in between your neck and shoulders traveling down to your collar bone. A stray moan escaped your lips as he traveled down further, both his hands cupping your breasts unexpectedly and sliding over your torso until he reached your hips. His grip seemed to have gotten harder as he kept on going, pressing lightly into your thighs, squeezing the flesh there. Tony took you by surprise by grabbing and turning you around quickly and starting again at the top, hands going down your back, tracing patterns into your shoulder blades and ghosting down your spine. His hands landed on your ass and squeezed rather harshly as he seemed to be kneading it softly. His hands went back to your hips and he suddenly pulled you closer to him, your ass was right up against his hips and the both of you were now underneath the showerhead, water rinsing you off.

"Are you starting to feel more relaxed now?" He asked leaning in closer and whispering in your ear from behind. 

You could feel him flutter kisses on your shoulder, his hands gliding along your hipbone, teasing you as they traveled towards the direction of your inner thigh but then pulling away when he was close to your heat, your legs were clenching up at the dirty thoughts building up at what he could do with those skillful fingers of his.

"I think...I-I'm far from relaxed right now..." Your voice could barely get out, you were already crumbling by his touch.

"Really? I wonder why? How about you tell me, sweetheart." He said while his hands made their way back up to your breasts, cupping them from behind and his thumb flicking over your nipple which made you bite your lip in response to hold in a moan.

"Ah...Tony I-" Was all you could manage to say as you felt him press up against your body harder, taking a few steps forward until your front was flushed against the shower tiles, your hands going up to press against the wall to keep your balance.

"I can't help you sweetheart if you don't tell me what you need." His breath seemed to be hotter than the water and steam in the shower. He continued to whisper to you and your head was flushed against the shower tiles, your neck turned completely to the side so you could see him in your peripheral vision.

"Please...I want you..." You managed to say and you could already feel his hard cock teasing you from behind, the head slipping and sliding through your folds. You were desperate to just have him be inside you, your hips grinding on him rolling back.

"Fuck-" You heard him curse under his breath.

He wasted no time thrusting into you, a moan escaping your lips as you took his whole length. You gripped onto the shower wall for dear life, keeping your neck turned wanting to watch as he fucked you, moving slowly in and out. He leaned in closer kissing your lips hungrily and he tried steadying the both of you with his hands on your hip making sure to keep the rhythm going as he thrusted hard and faster into you. His other hand made its way down slowly to your front, sliding down your thigh and going to rub your clit which drove you completely over the edge. Your lips kept crashing against his while the both of you tried to move and kiss at the same time, grunted moans escaping both of your lips as you felt him pound into you.

His kisses were ravenous and you could feel your legs go weak but his hands held you steady and close to him the faster he went. Long strokes of his tongue against yours, teeth catching your lips in bites, groans, and moans caught in one another's mouths and swallowed up as the water cascaded over both your bodies. Your loud moans echoed against the shower walls as his groans got louder between the gasps of air you both took for air.

"I'm so close..." He managed to whisper into your ear, his teeth grazing your earlobe nibbling at the sensitive skin and his kisses made their way down your neck burying his nose into the small space, leaving open-mouthed kisses there and on your shoulder blade.

You managed to keep one hand on the tiles keeping yourself steady while your other hand reached down for you to rub your own clit faster, feeling everything go numb, feeling his cock twitch inside you after he had kept pounding your g-spot over and over again. The both of you moaned almost in sync as his thrusts got sloppier and your hips seemed to lose control until everything came to a slow stop. The two of you clearly having reached your highs at the same time. You were completely dazed, still pressed up against the tiles, letting the water fall over your body for a moment while Tony pulled out of you. His arms immediately embracing you, the feeling of being surrounded by him was warm and loving, his lips kissing your neck and cheek softly.

"Clearly both you and I have very different ideas of what relaxing is." You said with a small chuckle as you found the strength to turn around in his arms to face him. Your hands cupped his face while water was pouring all over his head.

"Well did it work though? I'm still waiting for an answer." He questioned raising an eyebrow at you.

"I'll let you know next time," You said with a smirk on your face quickly kissing his lips, pecking them.

"But right now we need to hurry up or else we will turn into prunes at this rate. Your turn now." You reached over to grab the shampoo bottle and squirted some into your palm as he lazily had his arms around your torso keeping you close.

"Fine...let's be quick then." He sighed, your fingers plunging into his hair, raking and slowly massaging his head and you knew how much he loved having his hair pulled and touched so you made sure to take extra care of it.

You had done the same thing he had to your body, making sure to have your fingers run across every inch of his skin, washing him down. You even tried working your magic by massaging the knots in his shoulders and pressing against every single muscle, your nails tracing along his veins. You could feel his hands clench your body tighter the lower your hands ventured down his body but despite his demeanor of wanting to continue the funny business in the shower all you kept whispering to him was "Let's save it for next time." and all he did in response was sigh in annoyance. Even though he seemed to be the one in control he always did what you told him to do anyways. You both rinsed off in the water until you were fully cleaned and well "relaxed" according to Tony's definition of the word...

One Week Later...

Back to square one again and maybe fourth time would be the charm this time around. There you were sitting on the toilet again a place you had ultimately started to hate when it came to taking pregnancy tests. You kept staring at what seemed like the pink line of death and you tried to wait patiently this time and you were hoping that maybe just maybe there was a small chance that this would be the one.

The timer had finally gone off and you had closed your eyes picking up the test and slowly you opened your eyes to see that it was...Positive! You couldn't contain your excitement at all and you literally screamed at the top of your lungs as you saw finally two lines on the test and you were just jumping with joy. You had caused such a commotion that Tony came running into the bathroom and his eyes wandered to the test in your hand and he clearly connected two and two together. Your head whipped around to look at him and your eyes were filled with happy tears as you just looked at him and nodded your head.

"Tony...it's positive!" You said while you ran into his arms and hugged him so tightly that you both even stumbled back a few steps.

"So I'm really going to be a dad?!" He asked his voice almost cracking at the thought that it was really happening, you both had tried so hard all this time and now you were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Yes! I can't believe it! I'll have to go to the doctor to confirm it but I don't even care. I'm just so happy right now!" You said quickly, your heart was racing knowing that you finally were pregnant after so long of trying it happened.

Turns out that "Relaxing Shower" of Tony's really did work its own little miracle enough to finally get you pregnant just like the two had been wanting and hoping for so long.

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[takadasaiko]

Brown Leather Shoes (a Keen2 oneshot)

FFN I AO3

Prompt #16 "Stop that broody look and come over here" submitted from the Teasing Dialogue prompt list by @d-evils-advocate21

--

He'd broken protocol. Rules set hard and fast and drilled into every operative trained in St Regis. Once you're in, no contact. That was it. If ifs, ands, or buts. No excuses. The cops were onto you? Deal with it. The mark made you? Fix it. You didn't call him for help and he sure as hell didn't call you. If you made it through initiation, he knew you were up for the job.

That's why it had been so surprising to hear from him. He'd shown up, of course, like a good little soldier and taken the verbal lashing. He'd kept his mouth shut - for the most part - and promised Bud that everything was under control. The contract wasn't at risk. He was a professional. Bud should know. He'd raised him. He had this.

But all the confidence in the world didn't make it true. He knew it every time he looked at her. Jacob Phelps had never had a problem diving too deeply into a role. He wore it like a second skin, but it never penetrated his own. Not until her. He could still remember the way his chest had tightened at the sight of those damned shoes. Brown, leather loafers that had been delivered along with the rest of "his" things. They weren't his. Not really. They had been provided by Bud's source that supplied the physical side of identities that the St Regis operatives created. Jacob had hated them. They were stiff and would have been impossible to run in if shit hit the fan, but they were right in line with Tom Keen's style. The very style that he'd designed in order to stay on the edges of her group of friends. Clearly that had worked out well. Right back to that painful feeling that had caught up to him when he saw the little heart left in the dust of the shoes he had never worn.

He had her.

He had her, and he knew he'd have to walk away from her someday.

He could almost picture it: something between tear-stained and murderous. Probably a bit of both. She'd hate him for who he was and what he'd done. She wouldn't be the first in that respect, but the terrifying realization - the one that crept up on him when he least expected it - was that she was the first mark that he'd cared how they reacted. With Elizabeth Scott, he was finding it harder and harder to keep his eye on the exit with each passing day. .

Oh hell. He was in deep. Way too deep. Shit.

"Hey, you. Stop that brooding look and come over here."

Tom Keen snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of her voice. He glanced over to where she had made herself comfortable on his couch, a glass of wine in her hand and his - strangely full again - waiting on the coffee table in front of the glaringly empty place she wanted him in. He stared at her from behind the round, tortoiseshell rims resting on his nose and her grin slowly faded, worry creeping in to replace it.

"You okay?"

"Just thinking," he managed as he stood, feeling an unexpected twinge in his right leg. The scar from the bullet that had been buried there once had faded to the point that it was easily missed and it rarely bothered him anymore, but the reminder of the life before intimate dates that ended with a beautiful woman on his couch and more wine that he probably should have drunk was stark. It should have served as a reminder, but he found himself hating it. Shoving it down, and as he did, he let the seriousness that had apparently caught her eye slip behind the mask of calm. Of happiness. "About you."

"About me? What about me? " she asked suggestively.

He watched her watching him, feeling a strange warmth settle deep in his chest. Maybe that mask wasn't too far off. This was his reality now, and he was going to lean into it with everything that he had. With that settled, Tom offered her a smile and he moved across to the couch. Her eyes didn't leave him as her own smile broadened and she let him take the glass of wine from her hand as he bent down, pressing his lips against hers. "About how you changed everything," he breathed as they parted, foreheads touching as neither dared to move too far apart. It was honest, even if he knew she didn't know how. It was as close as someone like him could get.

Liz reached up, her hand clasping the back of his neck as she pulled him back in and they both rocked back onto the couch. She let out a playful laugh as he leaned into the kiss, one hand finding her free one as the other instinctively did what it could to keep them from rolling and crashing down to the floor. Her own free hand slid down from his neck to his back and pulled at the edge of his shirt, teasing at skin, and if he let her keep going in the direction she was heading in they were both going to be in a world of pain.

From rolling off the couch, of course. Only that. Because that was the moment that he decided. Mr Deep Pockets that wanted him to protect her? Fine. He'd protect her, and the closer he was the better he could protect her. Lips pressed, fingers intertwined…. Nope. They were off the couch.

Tom caught them as they fell, easing her into his arms and standing. Liz shifted, arms wrapping around his neck and legs around his waist as he carried her back to the bedroom. It was fine. It was going to be fine. It had to be. He wasn't willing to let her go.

--

Notes:

I've wondered for a long time about the dialogue in 1.19. Liz is yelling at him about every feeling, every memory being a lie and demanding that he say something to his wife who's dying in front of him. Tom's response? "It was the shoes." He then goes into a story in which he explains that he knew she was in at that point, but I do wonder if he was admitting he was too. That was the moment when they were both so entangled that he knew he was in too deep to even want to leave.

[sweetestpopcorn]

I’m disappointed with the joke of that show House of the Dragon. Why can’t HBO just leave my Targaryens alone?

Hi there! 🤗

If we don’t know what’s about, it’s about money. Because they want to make money. Because G*T gave them sh:t tones of money and awards and they want more and they are doing everything they can to get it and spending fortunes on adversiting it as much as they can.

After G*T though, my surprised is that any Targaryen and Dany fan still follows H*O and expects anything (positive or neutral) from them. I can’t be disappointed because I think season 8 killed my ability to be disappointed by asoiaf adaptations but I get what you are saying since I had negative expectations, and everything that comes out still manages to surprise me at how bad it is. 

Bonus: To anyone curious of my thoughts on anything else that came out, I think it’s even worse than I expected it to be. Everything I see just validates my thoughts and when it contradicts them it’s to tell me that I was still being too optimistic. 

Since I have no wishes to give H*O what I want though - money and free publicity and promotion - I don’t refer to them or their shows by name. I don’t share photos/edits of it. I won’t share or like any fanart or fanfic inspired by it. I don’t want anything to do with it and I just want their show to be over and the hype to die.

I am a fan of Fire and Blood and of the ASOIAF universe, I am against any adaptation, this or subsequent ones. We vote with our money, and my money is voting no.

Furthermore, let’s say that although the shows are very far away from canon (because they are and if you think otherwise read or re-read the books) and are just a loose adaptation, could I still enjoy them? Yeah, some adaptations aren’t very faithful and they are still ok. But think about what universe this prequel is taking place. A universe in which currently House Targaryen is gone (because Jon is a Stark let’s not forget season 8). Half of the Targaryens are crazy (in show canon), and one of the most promising Targaryens of all time became an EvIl QuEeN killed by her nephew after saving everyone’s ass*es. So my question is, why in this universe would you care about knowing more about Dany’s family? Unless you hate her and you just have a sick fantasy of wanting to see just how degenerate and insane her ancestors were, I don’t see a point. So even if I saw it from the lenses of “Ok this isn’t canon, it’s a loose adaptation”, I still can’t care given the Universe in which this is taking place. And then the time period they chose. Lol, anyone thinks it’s an accident? That they are choosing one of the darkest periods of House Targaryen?! Of course it isn’t! 

I wish the best of luck to any Targaryen and Dany fans planning on watching this. Y’all will need a LOT of cognitive dissonance to get through this. To antis, OH, it will be a field day!

All the best to you 🥰

[jon-sedai]

PSA: Lyanna Stark was NOT a hypocrite

It’s a little annoying how often ASOIAF fans will misread and purposefully misinterpret Lyanna’s thoughts about Robert’s true nature, as a way to prove that she’s hypocritical (while also absolving Robert from all his faults as a husband/lover).

First, let’s look at that conversation again, shall we? 

“Robert will never keep to one bed,” Lyanna had told him at Winterfell, on the night long ago when their father had promised her hand to the young Lord of Storm’s End. “I hear he has gotten a child on some girl in the Vale.” Ned had held the babe in his arms; he could scarcely deny her, nor would he lie to his sister, but he had assured her that what Robert did before their betrothal was of no matter, that he was a good man and true who would love her with all his heart. Lyanna had only smiled. “Love is sweet, dearest Ned, but it cannot change a man’s nature.”

And we must consider the larger context:

The girl had been so young Ned had not dared to ask her age. No doubt she’d been a virgin; the better brothels could always find a virgin, if the purse was fat enough. She had light red hair and a powdering of freckles across the bridge of her nose, and when she slipped free a breast to give her nipple to the babe, he saw that her bosom was freckled as well. “I named her Barra,” she said as the child nursed. “She looks so like him, does she not, milord? She has his nose, and his hair …”

“She does.” Eddard Stark had touched the baby’s fine, dark hair. It flowed through his fingers like black silk. Robert’s firstborn had had the same fine hair, he seemed to recall.

“Tell him that when you see him, milord, as it … as it please you. Tell him how beautiful she is.”

“I will,” Ned had promised her. That was his curse. Robert would swear undying love and forget them before evenfall, but Ned Stark kept his vows. He thought of the promises he’d made Lyanna as she lay dying, and the price he’d paid to keep them.

- Eddard IX, AGOT

Ned recalls his conversation with Lya as he returns from visiting one of Robert’s bastards. He has just made a promise to tell Robert about the babe and laments that he is a man who honors and keeps his vows. When me promises to do something, he will go through with it.

Furthermore, this scene is framed within the context of Robert being a liar. He will swear one thing and then immediately perform actions that directly contradict whatever oaths he has made. Robert would say that he loves Lyanna and would remain faithful to her, and only her, but then would immediately go an and betray her trust.

That’s what Lyanna is talking about in her conversation with Ned. She’s not condemning Robert for fathering a bastard. She’s condemning him for fathering a bastard all while he swears oaths of love and loyalty to her. Because Ned tells her that Robert loves her and only her, that he’s sworn to be faithful to her alone. Yet Lyanna goes, “are you sure about that, dear brother?” Because why would he swear loyalty to her then turn around and do the exact opposite of that loyalty, which is laying with another woman and fathering a child on her?

As much as Lyanna has the right to call out her betrothed’s promiscuity, she’s really not doing that here. She’s using his promiscuity to call out his lying and unreliable nature. Robert may love her, but he will not honor that love and stay true to her. That’s literally what she means by saying

“Love is sweet, dearest Ned, but it cannot change a man’s nature.”

Simple as that.

Also, notice how the topic of oaths and vows comes into play. This conversation undoubtedly brings into mind the concept of knighthood and the chivalric code. Robert has, from the very beginning, been a deconstruction of the knightly ideal. He’s a knight who fought a battle against the (not so) evil dragon/prince and won, but he was ultimately without honor and became a bad king. He’s the same knight who vowed to rescue his maiden (Lyanna) but was also unfaithful to her. This is a deconstruction of the chivalric tale. We’re meant to think that Robert, NOT Lyanna, is the hypocrite here. Robert is just another one of GRRM’s failed knights in ASOIAF; remember that before he was a king, Robert was a Ser.

And if we really want to bring Rhaegar into this, I’m afraid that we cannot call him a hypocrite for fathering a child on Lyanna.

He wondered if Rhaegar had frequented brothels; somehow he thought not.

The text directly contradicts the idea that Robert and Rhaegar are similar. Ned himself, who has a close personal relationship with Robert, acknowledges this. And going back to the point about the deconstruction of chivalry, Rhaegar is a knight as well. His elopement with Lyanna directly plays into the chivalric performance of a knight kidnapping an innocent young maiden. It’s a tale as old as time, literally. But this is not a clear cut case of Rhaegar being the evil knight (or the evil dragon, as some of our fantasy tales might have it) because the text goes to great lengths to paint him as the opposite of Robert.

Rhaegar did not swear vows of love and loyalty to Lyanna and then break them (as far as we know). While he was married to Elia and was fond of her, as per Barrtistan, there is no indication in the text that he personally vowed to love her above all before he ultimately absconded with Lyanna. So, Lyanna running off with Rhaegar instead of marrying Robert does not make her actions hypocritical. There’s really no reason to read this passage that way. At all.

So TL,DR:

STOP calling Lyanna a hypocrite because of this one conversation. That’s literally not supported within the text at all. Lyanna is not objecting to Robert fathering a bastard. Rather, she’s objecting too him fathering a bastard all while he tells her father and brothers that he wishes to marry her, love her, and be faithful to her.

STOP trying to compare Robert and Rhaegar through this lens - that Rhaegar and Lyanna are hypocrites. The text directly contradicts that idea. Robert is the hypoactive and the liar, NOT Lyanna or Rhaegar.

It’s that simple. No need to overcomplicate things.

I’m not entirely sure why this passage has been misinterpreted for so long but here we are…

[tonystarktogo]

It takes quite a bit of effort -- and some outstanding teamwork that Tony didn’t think he and Rogers would be capable of -- but they manage to break the helicarrier.

Hang on, that came out wrong.

To clarify [because Fury will undoubtedly be on Tony’s ass about this]: They don’t set out to break the helicarrier. But Barton, it turns out, is a damn talented saboteur and while Tony and Rogers successfully intercept his minions before they can get their hands on some of the very secret alien weapons SHIELD should’ve never gotten its hands on, they are way too late to do anything about the control center.

Or the rampaging Hulk. Who, if JARVIS is to be trusted -- who is always to be trusted because it’s JARVIS -- got into a screaming match with Thor. Wonderful.

Saving the helicarrier is a lost cause but they manage to break only part of it off -- the part they’re on because why wouldn’t they be -- so there’s a good 60% chance that not all of SHIELD’s top-of-the-top agents died in the crash.

Solid win for the good guys that.

[continues under the cut]

Sarcasm aside, they’re all alive. Tony caught Rogers -- not a fucking team player, ha --, Hulk is pretty hard to kill to the surprise of absolutely no one, save perhaps Ross, Thor and a very concussed-looking Loki can get downed by Captain America’s shield but are too godly-Asgardian-whatever to be phased by falling a couple of kilometers through the air and Romanoff just shows up amidst the rumble, covered in dirt, an ugly bruise on her jaw, blood tickling down her neck and the unconscious shape that is probably Barton slung over her shoulder.

Tony doesn’t even ask.

He’s too busy staring down Hulk. “Aren’t you supposed to be bigger?”

Instead of snarling, squashing him or whatever rage monsters do when they are told they aren’t impressive enough, Hulk claps his hands. “Tin man back!” he booms. “Hulk happy!”

Tony takes a wary step back. If Hulk tries to hug him too then big fan of the green guy or not, he’s taking to the sky and never coming back down again. Tony’s more than filled his hug-quota for the month, possibly for the year. And also people need to stop being so damn enthusiastic to see him, it’s gonna give him a complex.

Thankfully, there’s plenty of other people around him to serve as a distraction. Rogers for one is brushing already taking in their surroundings. Thankfully they’ve landed in an unhabitated, random hill in the middle of nowhere. The last thing Tony needs is more civilian causalities on his head. That said, he doesn’t recognize much of anything within eyesight, which isn’t promising.

Sure, his suit can probably get him out of here, but that still leaves a supersoldier, two secret agents and two Asgardians -- after Thor’s insistence on the term, Tony’s gonna stick with it, even if ‘god’ would freak more people out, see how well he’s taking other people’s feelings into consideration? -- unaccounted for. Plus the Hulk. But getting Big Green anywhere he doesn’t want to go would be impossible anyway.

“You alright there, Cap?”

“I’ll live.” Rogers grins at him, a little more tired and still with that same shadow that Tony can’t properly identify, but real nonetheless. Urgh. This much genuine happiness can’t be healthy. “Thanks for the help, Stark. You did good.”

Tony shrugs. “Hey, I’m all for team spirit and all that shit, ask anyone.” What else is he supposed to say?

Rogers snorts. Turns around to face Thor, who is carrying Loki towards them. Their future evil alien overlord doesn’t look too good up close, pale and haggard, with dark shadows under his eyes that would give Tony at his first post-Afghanistan depression a run for their money.

Not a record any sane person wants to beat.

“Everything alright with your brother?” 

Tony’s impressed how casual Rogers makes the question sound. It’s impossible to tell if he’s concerned about Loki’s welfare or subtly requesting information on his mental state or even demanding a report about potential trouble. Well done.

“Nothing he won’t recover from.” The expression on Thor’s face is hard to read, almost blank, but the way his grip around Loki tightens is a tell on its own.

Sternly reminding himself that he’s not gonna involve himself in Norse god drama -- again -- Tony catches Romanoff’s eyes and nods towards her carry-on. “Barton good as well?”

“He’ll be fine.” She says evenly. A threat if Tony has ever heard one. 

“Good.”

They both turn back towards the rest of the group. Even Hulk has joined them, perfectly content to just stand there and casually crush what’s left of the wreck inside his left hand. A powermove if Tony’s ever seen one -- really, if Tony didn’t already have his precious honeybear he’d claim Hulk as his best friend in a heartbeat. No second thoughts. Plenty of regrets. For other people, that is.

“Well, we’re all alive so that’s great.” Rogers rubs the back of his neck, wincing like he’s just realized how depressing that sounds. Shoots Loki an anything-but-inconspicious look. “I guess we should get back to the Tower, just in case.”

“What tower?” Tony asks over Thor’s agreement and Romanoff’s raised eyebrows -- they’re very loud raised eyebrows, okay.

Rogers freezes. The look on his face bears a weird resemblance to how Rhodey looked that one time Tony caught him with a Hammer gun. 

“Uhm. Stark Tower?”

Tony crosses his arms in front of his chest. “Why would we go there?”

Why would they even go to NYC? They already have Loki, even if he doesn’t look particularly chained up from where Tony’s standing and they’ve even gotten some of the brainwashed minions back. Shouldn’t they focus on the Tesseract now? Or barring that on pissing off Fury into telling them what else besides hella-illegal-if-anyone-knew-about-it weapons manifacturing they haven’t been told?

“...to regroup?” Rogers asks slowly.

Tony gives him the look that statement deserves.

“That sounds like a sensible course of action,” Thor adds. “And I would like to leave my brother in a place where he can rest.”

What high-level security cell wasn’t chill enough? Tony swallows that comment at the last second, vaguely remembering the protective fevor Thor has shown in defense of his brother and not at all eager to become its target.

“Hulk sleep,” Hulk says, not being much of a help at all.

Romanoff’s eyebrows judge them all.

“It’s decided then!” Rogers claps his hands, blatantly ignoring the lack of agreement from the sanest two people present. “Let’s go see if we can find a car to hotwire.”

Tony stares after him. “I can’t believe Captain fucking America just said ‘see if we can find a car to hotwire’.”

Romanoff scoffs, even as her gaze flickers restlessly back and forth between Rogers, Hulk and Thor and Loki. “I can’t believe they call him the man with a plan.”

“Well, no one said it had to be a good plan.”

“Don’t worry,” Rogers calls out over his shoulder, cool as a cucumber and doing a terrible job of concealing the amusement in his tone, “if a giant hole appears in the sky, you and Thor get to play flying taxi.”

Tony exchanges a glance with Romanoff -- not an easy thing to do considering his faceplate is still up -- and says quietly. “The scary thing is I can’t tell if he’s joking or not.”

“He’s not,” Romanoff deadpans.

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Love and Medicine ~ 13

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 3,160ish

Summary: You try to handle what happened with Steve, while Natasha tries to handle her pregnancy.

Warning: serious pregnancy complications

A few days later, you were anxious and needed to get energy out. You dragged Natasha to the park for a run. She was huffing and puffing as you basically ran circles around her.

“You’re stupid,” Natasha panted, trying to keep up. “You're stupid, evil, sadist and I wanna kill you.”

“Endorphins are good. Endorphins are mood elevators,” you replied. “This is supposed to make us feel better.”

Natasha stopped and threw herself on the ground. “Do you feel better?”

“I’m stupid.” You jogged around her.

“Slutty mistress.”

“Pregnant whore.”

“Sleeping with our bosses was a great idea.”

You stopped and sat yourself beside Nat. “You know what’s ruined for me?”

“What?”

“Ferry boats. I used to love ferry boats and Steve's got a thing for ferry boats. Now every time I see a frigging ferry boat—“

“You know what's ruined for me? Coronary artery by-pass grafts ... and aortic aneurysms. I used to love aortic aneurysms.”

You laid next to Natasha with a sigh. “Have you cried yet?”

“What do you think?”

“Do you think we’ll feel better if we cry? You know like just let it out?”

“Probably. Yeah…. Do you wanna cry now?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

~~~

Steve entered the hospital elevator, finding himself alone. Which was relieving. Unfortunately, at the last second, Fury entered wearing a beanie.

“Nice hat,” Steve commented.

“Shut up,” Fury responded.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m going back to work.”

“You’re not cleared for surgery.”

“Leave me alone. I’ve been sitting at home watching Ellen giving away things on TV. Ellen, Steve! You clear me now or I’ll hurt you.”

“If you want me to clear you so soon, maybe you should've thought about that before you gave chief to Stark and invited Satan to Seattle.”

“Satan?”

“Good morning,” Peggy greeted, entering the elevator. “I like the hat, Nick.”

“Satan speaks,” Steve murmured.

“Actually I prefer to be called ruler of all that is evil. But I will answer to Satan.”

“What is she still doing here?”

“I asked her to stay,” Fury answered. “We have a pediatric surgery attending on maternity leave.”

“Actually, I could use you on a consult,” Peggy told Steve. “Will you meet me up there Steve?”

“Ah yeah. Fine,” he responded. Peggy left the elevator. “I’m not clearing you for surgery.”

~~~

Dr. Gamora and her group of interns were all gathered in a patient’s room for rounds. Dr. Banner was also in attendance.

“Mr. Jackson is scheduled for resection non-small cell carcinoma today,” Natasha stated. “He did well overnight, has remained afebrile. He's had a dose of ceftriaxone this morning. He's pre-op labs are unremarkable. His chest x-rays, um, are unchanged from the previous.”

“I own a couple dry-cleaning stores,” Mr. Jackson explained. “Never believed what they said about inhaling the chemicals.”

“We’re going to do everything we can for you, Mr. Jackson,” Banner promised. He turned to Natasha. “Did oncology see him yet?”

“Uh, they’re waiting for the surgical path,” Natasha replied.

“Thank you, Dr. Romanoff.”

“Next patient,” Dr. Gamora said. The group of interns followed Gamora.

“You need to tell Banner,” you whispered to Natasha.

“No,” Natasha responded.

“I just think you should still tell him about the baby because he'd at least have the responsibility of having to pay.”

“No! You know what? He’ll never know. It’s over. Once this pregnancy is taken care of, Banner won’t even be a blip on my radar. He’ll be a smudge.”

“Right,” you scoffed.

You all entered the next patient room to see a young woman.

“Alexa Rickie,” Peter began, “she’s 23 years old. In for a scheduled ETS for treatment of her erythrophobia hyperpyrexia.”

“Erythrophobia?” Val whispered to Clint.

“Blushing,” he answered.

“You have any questions about the procedure?” Gamora asked Alexa.

“Oh. Dr. Ro….” Alexa began, but paused as she started blushing badly. Trying to get it to go away, she fanned her face. “Dr. Rogers explained everything. He was very… huh… helpful. He gave me some…. sorry…”

“Don’t be,” Peter said. “Half the patients that come through here have the hots for Rogers.”

“Dr. Quill,” Gamora scolded.

“What? It’s true.”

You simply rolled your eyes. It’s not like Peter was wrong. It was just so annoying because it was true, all the patients did swoon over Steve. Gamora ordered all of you to exit the room. You followed her and stood in front of her when she stopped.

“Okay, assignments,” Dr. Gamora said, looking at some papers. “Val, the Rogers’ need an intern up in the NICU.”

“The Rogers’?” Val repeated. “Like, the both of them? Together? And me by myself with the two married people who hate each other?”

“Go.” Val sighed and walked off. “Natasha you’re on the thoracotomy.”

“With Banner?” Natasha wondered. “Oh, can I have the hateful married couple instead?”

“Okay, I’m sorry, I thought that I was your resident and not your hostess. I assign, you take. Is there a problem with that?”

“No.”

“Is there some reason why it's inconvenient for you to spend the day in the OR, learning from Dr. Banner?”

“No. I'm very happy to be working with Dr. Banner. Thank you very much.” Natasha rushed off.

“Clint and Scott, the pit.” They nodded and left. “Peter, Alexa Rickie is your patient.”

“Yes,” he said quietly before leaving.

“Y/N, you will be doing scut.”

“Excuse me?”

“I can tell you’re still distracted from the Rogers’ drama, and you need to find some focus.”

“I’m plenty focused.”

“Prove that to me today.”

~~~

Val stood by Peggy in the NICU as Steve went over a baby’s chart.

“Where’s the mother?” Steve asked.

“Gone,” Peggy answered. “She stuck around long enough to get the kid strung out and then took off. Sound familiar?”

“Peggy!”

“Steve, I know it’s a long shot. I know that.”

“You told me you had a newborn with an invasive mash. You fail to mention that she's premature, underweight and addicted to narcotics. There's no way that this baby is going to survive spinal surgery.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Even if she does, she's a mess. She'll just get meningitis seizures. She's going to live a short painful life.”

“You don’t know that.”

“It’s my job to know that.”

“You’re not God, Steve.”

“Excuse me?”

“I'm sorry honey but you're not. You don't get to decide—“

“Wait, did you just call me honey? Don’t call me honey!”

Val tried to focus on the baby as the conversation grew more uncomfortable.

“Fine,” Peggy conceded. “You’re not God, Dr. Rogers. Look if a patient has any chance at survival, which I think she does, then you have a responsibility—“

“Don’t talk to me about responsibility,” Steve retorted.

“You took an oath Steve!”

“Oh, don’t you dare talk to me about oaths!”

“Steve, I messed up. People mess up.”

“You slept with my best friend in my favorite sheets.”

“The flannel sheets? You hate the flannel sheets.”

“No, I love the sheets.”

“You like the Italian sheets with the paisleys—“

“Would you just stop talking about the sheets?”

“Fine!”

“Look I’m sorry. I’m just gonna go,” Val interrupted. “I’ll go check on the labs.” She couldn’t leave the room fast enough.

“Peggy, don’t do this,” Steve said.

“Steve… look she’s a fighter,” Peggy watched the baby girl. “Look how far she’s come already.”

“Don’t get attached. Don’t get involved. Just… don’t make her life more painful than it already is.”

“Steve, please. She has nobody. She needs someone to fight for her.”

“She’s too far gone. You have to let her go. Let her go in peace.” Steve started to head out.

“Fine Steve, walk away. It’s what you do best.”

~~~

“How are you holding up today?” Tony asked, cup of coffee in hand as he walked beside you.

“Fine,” you responded.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard Gamora has you on scut today.”

You scoffed. “It’s ridiculous. She’s questioning if I’m focused.”

“She’s just making sure you’re alright. It’s her way of showing she cares.”

“Stupid way. Can you just put me on one of your cases for the day? I desperately need it.”

“Fine. Come on, I have a surgery in 30 minutes. You can scrub in.”

~~~

Natasha rushed into Dr. Banner’s surgery that had already began. She wasn’t feeling well and had spent a majority of the day in the bathroom. A nurse quickly handed her a gown.

“Here, Dr. Romanoff,” the nurse said.

“You’re late,” Bruce commented, focused on the surgery.

“I apologize,” Natasha responded, merging into the group of others that were watching.

“Just starting to dissect around Mr. Jackson’s tumor… I’ve almost got visualization.”

Natasha let out a shaky breath, as her head pounded. She had no idea what was going on, but she wasn’t willing to sit out on this surgery. She was already mad at herself for being late.

~~~

Val walked into the NICU with the baby’s chart. Peggy was watching over the baby who was gripping onto her finger.

“She’s got a good grip,” Val commented.

“Yeah,” Peggy agreed.

“I don’t think…” Val sighed, handing the chart over to Peggy. “It doesn’t look good.”

“She's a got a resistant strain of pneumococcus. The antibiotics aren't working. You may want to get yourself reassigned Val. I don't think we'll be operating today.”

“So do you think Dr. Rogers was right?”

“She’s just too far gone… she does have a good grip… I hate admitting that he’s right. Especially right now.”

~~~

Natasha was getting more exhausted with each passing second, and sweaty.

“The tumor has infiltrated the pericardium,” Bruce stated. Looking up, he sees Natasha looking like she’s day dreaming. “Romanoff! Romanoff!”

“What… sorry?” Natasha answered, the world around her muffled.

“Is my surgery interrupting your daydreaming?”

“No. Sorry.”

“There is an arrhythmia when I press down on the tumor. That is a sign of what, Romanoff?”

“Umm…. Ah. It’s a sign of, it’s a… it’s a sign that the uh, tumor has infiltrated the pericardium.”

“Possibilities?”

“In all… I’m sorry. I…”

“Do your homework, Romanoff. It could be causing a tear in the aortic muscle of the heart.”

“So he’s got a broken heart,” another doctor commented.

Panting, Natasha swayed before collapsing on the floor. A few of the doctors let out exclamations of surprise. From the gallery, Gamora, Scott, and Val saw everything. They quickly headed down to the OR.

“Dr. Romanoff, are you okay?” A doctor asked, kneeling beside her.

“Natasha,” Bruce called. “Natasha. Somebody help her!” He stopped surgery, but hadn’t moved from his spot. “Natasha! Don’t just stand there, dammit. Somebody help her. Get a gurney in here!”

Gamora, Val, and Scott rushed in with a gunnery and supplies.

“Natasha,” Bruce called again.

“Natasha,” Val repeated, getting down beside her friend.

“We’ve got it Dr. Banner,” Gamora said. “We’ve got it.” She put a breathing mask on Natasha’s face.

“Okay, talk to me. Tell me what we do we know,” Bruce ordered. “What do we know? Talk to me Valkyrie.”

“I don’t know,” Val responded.

“Come on people let’s move.”

“Natasha!” Gamora called. “What hurts?” Nat didn’t respond, but was conscious. “Let’s get her out of here. There’s a patient on the table. Lift.” They lifted Natasha onto the gurney and started moving her from the OR. “Good, good.”

“Dr. Gamora, when you get her stabilized, I need a report please.”

“Right, Dr. Banner!” They quickly move Natasha out and down the hall. “Uh! Her pulse is racing. I need her on a monitor to get a BP. Also I want her started on a liter of LR wide open. Val run ahead to emergency and let them know we're on our way.”

Val noticed that Natasha was trying to talk. She removed her friends mask. “What?” Val questioned.

“Seven weeks,” Natasha said, breathless. “I’m pregnant, Val. I’m pregnant.”

Val, Scott, and Gamora stopped and looked out each other. They moved the gurney into an elevator.

“Okay, no. We’re going to pre-op instead,” Gamora instructed. “Val, find Peggy Rogers. And be discreet.”

Val nodded and hurried off. She found Peggy with Fury and Clint near one of the nurses stations.

“Excuse me, Dr. Rogers. We need you fast,” Val said. “Um.. it’s Natasha, one of our interns. She’s…. she’s collapsed.”

“Natasha’s collapsed?” Clint repeated.

“Why do you need me?” Peggy asked.

Val sighed, not saying anything. Comprehension dawned on both Peggy and Fury, realizing that she must be pregnant. Clint looked at them, getting it too.”

“Natasha’s pregnant?!” Clint exclaimed.

“Shut up Clint,” Val scolded, before turning to Peggy. “Please come.”

“Of course,” Peggy agreed, following Val.

~~~

“Thank you for that, Tony,” you said, scrubbing out of surgery beside the attending. “I really needed it.”

“Of course,” he responded.

“Y/N,” Clint said, bursting into the scrub room.

“Clint?” You questioned. You studied him, realizing that there was something wrong. “What is it?”

“It’s Natasha.”

~~~

In pre-op, Peggy was performing an ultrasound on Natasha. Dr. Gamora was standing behind Nat’s bed, stroking her hair.

“Have you notified the father?” Peggy asked.

Natasha didn’t answer, simply breathing funny.

“Natasha? Natasha?” Gamora called. “Natasha? Is there anyone we can call?” Natasha just continued to gasp slightly. “Oh we’re losing her.”

“Do you see that?” Peggy asked, pointing at the screen displaying Natasha’s uterus. “It’s an extra uterine pregnancy in the tube there. She’s bleeding out. We need to get her to surgery immediately.”

They rushed Natasha to surgery and immediately got started. Gamora was still behind Natasha, watching over her, asVal observed the surgery.

“She’s gonna be okay, right?” Val worried.

“How attached was she to this pregnancy?” Peggy asked.

“I don’t know. She’s a pretty private person.”

“She's lost a lot of blood but I've got it from here. Dr. Gamora you must have a surgery or two of your own today.”

“I’m fine right here,” Gamora responded, keeping her eyes on Natasha.

~~~

You were rushing through the hall, trying to find out any information on Natasha and her condition. You were so incredibly worried about her, which didn’t help your already bubbling emotions. Rounding a corner, you rammed right into a chest. Hands grabbed your arms to steady you. You looked up to see Steve, looking down at you with concern. Just looking into his eyes, made you want to break down in his arms. Which was so extremely frustrating. You pushed back out of his grasp, causing Steve to hold up his arms in defense.

“Don’t!” You said sharply.

“Sorry,” Steve said.

“Don’t be sorry. I’m so tired of it, Of you being sorry.”

“Dr.—“

“Don’t do it!”

“Dr. L/N—“ He glanced around as you began causing a scene.

“Dr. L/N, seriously? Are you concerned about people finding out about us? Is that what matters to you?”

“Y/N, it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay! You have a wife who’s not easy to hate. Who’s annoyingly kind and painfully smart and I pretty sure that she’s current saving my best friend’s life.”

“Y/N, just—“

“Don’t! Stop talking to me like you’re my boyfriend! Stop talking to me at all.”

You rushed away, finding the OR that Natasha was being operated in. You opened the door. But before you could get fully into the room, Gamora saw you and came up to you.

“Need something?” Gamora questioned.

“I’m coming in,” you stated.

“No, you’re not.”

“I am. I’m her friend.”

“Exactly. She's lying on the operating table, naked, exposed. She's sedated but she's probably scared out of her mind. Now right now she's not a doctor. She's not your friend. She's a patient and she deserves to have all the privacy I can give her. You're not going any further.”

“We went jogging this morning,” you sighed. “I made her go jogging. Did I… is there a way that it could of….”

“No.” Gamora shook her head. “It started out this way. Nothing caused it to happen.”

“Just, please, let me stay by her side.”

“You can try. But I’d have to take you down.”

“Right now. Just in this moment. I hate you.”

“Yeah, well, I can take it. Focus on scut and wait outside.”

~~~

You found yourself working on scut in the lobby, trying to keep your mind off your friend in surgery. Steve stood far off, watching you. He couldn’t stop feeling terrible for what he had done to you, and he couldn’t stop loving you. Knowing that you wouldn’t want to be comforted by him, he found himself in the NICU, checking up on the premie baby Peggy had asked him to help on.

“Look at that, BP is stabilizing,” Peggy noted as she entered the NICU.

“She’s stronger since this morning,” Steve said, rocking slightly in the rocking chair next to the baby. “There’s no reason in the world why she should be stronger since this morning.”

“She’s really beautiful, isn’t she?”

“I’ll tell you what. If she makes it through the night, if she has a little bit more strength, I’ll operate.” They gave each other small smiles.

“You know the way I see it we could deal with us in one of three ways. Option 1. I could apologize. You could forgive me and come home and we could move on with our lives like adults. Or, option 2. I could apologize. You could forgive me, come home but, you can still bring it up to use against me whenever we argue.”

“Are you trying to be funny?”

“Satan has a sense of humor.”

“What’s the third?”

“I don’t know what the third option is.” She leaned in and kissed Steve, who kissed back. Slowly, she pulled away. “I just know that I still love you.”

~~~

Waking up, Natasha glanced around the hospital room. Her eyes stopped roaming when she noticed Gamora sitting in a chair beside her.

“What happened?” Natasha asked.

“You had an extra uterine pregnancy. Your left fallopian tube burst,” Gamora explained. “Dr. Rogers… she did everything she could but there was too much damage. She couldn't save the tube.”

Natasha didn’t respond, she simply looked away and closed her eyes.

~~~

You were sitting outside the medical center on a bench. It had been an emotional day and you were finally allowing yourself to cry. Walking out of the hospital to leave, Steve noticed you. But hadn’t noticed that you were crying yet.

“Y/N?” Steve called softly.

“Oh,” you gasped, trying to wipe the tears quickly.

“Y/N.” Steve came around to the side.

“Don’t…” You swallowed. “Please, please just don’t’ say anything.”

“Okay.”

He stood there, watching you try to pull yourself together before you quickly got up. You walked over, stopping in front of him.

“I’m just exhausted,” you sighed. “Missing my parents is exhausting. What happened to Natasha and you is… hating you is the most exhausting.” Without much thinking, you grabbed his face and briefly kissed Steve. “I don’t want to do it anymore.”

You headed back into the hospital, leaving Steve stunned.

next chapter >

Sorry that it has taken so long for this chapter to come out! Hopefully it’s not too terrible. Please forgive me.

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[deltaengineering]

Spring Anime 2021: Embarrassment of Riches

So this current anime season absolutely stinks, which just makes the last one look even more impressive. Well, maybe not all of it...

Zombieland Saga Revenge

First off, you don't need to tell me that the following is a severe outlier opinion. We good? Ok. ZLSR is, in a word, subpar. I liked S1 back in the day, but it was already in the process of getting lazy towards the end. S2 continues this trend and is basically just another idol show. And as someone who actually does watch other idol shows I have to say that it's not a particularly good one of those either. The zombie gimmick has mostly stopped mattering and we're just doing what every idol show does, only with the odd occasional sight gag. The alleged subversive qualities mostly amount to a flashback for Yuugiri, which is admittedly the best part of the show but feels like it barely has anything to do with anything. Apart from that, it's a bunch of generic idol plots, rehashed character beats, shoddy attempts at twists (while not connecting to any setups from S1), and the obligatory "idols give us hope" ending, which is terribly hackneyed and flat out bad. Tae gets further memed into the ground, because of course she does. And there's stuff that was simply never good to begin with, like Kotarou and his comedy schtick, which gets truly insufferable now that there's no qualities to distract from it. It really makes me think that S1 wasn't even all that good to begin with and seems like an attempt to turn this surprise success into an easy money longrunner with no edge and no ambitions. "The idol show for people who don't watch idol shows" indeed, but not the way you mean it. 4/10

Bakuten

But not to dwell on the failures, with the second show we're already above the cut — barely. This one got my attention with its really impressive performance scenes early on and it totally sticks to that, which is even more impressive. But besides that? Well, this is by far the most predictable show in a season where I watched an unambitious Kiraralike and put ZLS on blast for having no ideas. The characters are a mixed bag, some are cool (Shida, Asawo), some are very annoying (Mashiro), but those are the supports. The main cast is extremely one-dimensional, which is fine until they try to heap a ton of pathos on their lead, which doesn't go well. But I guess execution matters, and Bakuten is slick enough to get by. Writing this down in stark daylight I feel like I overrated this show somewhat (I actually put it over the next one originally, which definitely doesn't hold up when thinking about it), but I was indeed mostly entertained. 6/10

Yakunara Mug Cup mo

Yeah. Of course Mug Cup definitely doesn't invent or subvert anything either, but it's a pretty good Kiraralike that's always entertaining to watch. Explaining the qualities of such a nothing genre is as difficult as ever, but it mostly comes down to me liking the characters and it having nothing to annoy me. It's shorter than normal, which is a plus for slim shows like this. And yeah, you can make an excessive amount of dick jokes with the clay fondling. That helps too. Looks are just fine, pleasant but nothing out of the ordinary. Comfy low-effort anime. 6/10

Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song

This one is decent, but sadly still a major letdown. Because the first few episodes of Vivy were excellent and kicked ass, but then it became increasingly clear that the writing can't cash the checks the ideas wrote while the action starts running into severely diminishing returns. Vivy just keeps slowly getting worse and worse as it goes on, not by a huge amount each episode but by the end there's a pretty sizeable gulf between potential and result. Going into detail would probably be a little much for this venue because there's a lot, but from the top level view the issue is that while Vivy has good fundamental ideas and steals at the right places, it just isn't a smart show — it's schlock, and by the end, poorly thought out schlock that tries to smooth out every problem with liberal application of the big feels hammer and le epic twist at that. Yeah, couldn't tell that the Re:Zero dude was aboard here, for sure. That said, it still works pretty well as entertaining schlock that is not to be taken too seriously, and the characters are generally just very fun to watch even when they're doing stupid things. Still, I can't in good conscience rate this higher than Beatless, a show that looks like butt but properly executes on its ideas. 6/10

Super Cub

So this is 100% a Honda commercial, and I got really mad a Yuru Camp last season for being a blatant shill. Yet I'm feeling this, what gives? I think the main difference is that Super Cub is specifically a commercial for one product (and a very iconic product at that), while Yuru Camp is so all over the place that it ends up mostly a commercial for consumerism in general. And when Super Cub goes too hard on the product (which it does), it's at least pretty entertaining. That's something about Super Cub in general: It goes hard. Your regular Kiraralike this is not, because it's uncommonly slow, focused and moody - yes, it almost measures up to Yuru Camp at its best and demolishes it at its worst. Also, it's just extremely amusing to see sadblob Koguma grow a huge grizzly biker beard and become a badass outlaw dad to her goofy wife and cute daughter, all thanks to the power of afforable personal transportation. Needless to say, that can get unintentionally silly, but Super Cub has so much charm that it doesn't matter — it's great when it's good and still funny when it's not. 7/10

Shadows House

Shadows House turned up with a lot of potential, and I have to say it at least delivered on most of it. It has some problems; notably I'm not a fan of how the entire middle turned out to be a tournament arc of sorts that seems curiously inspired by Resident Evil memes, crest-shaped intentations and boulder punching included. I also think that this is a show that would be perfectly fine without explaining much, but I guess it is a shounen manga after all so we got dumped on eventually anyway. At least that came late - close relative Promised Neverland didn't show that much restraint. Shadows House is generally well written though, with great characters, interesting interactions and a great hook. But what really makes it memorable is that it's exceptionally good at the cute/creepy contrast, something that is often tried but rarely works as well as here, with great character designs and very appropriate production. I hope this gets a sequel, because it seems like it's just getting started. 7/10

SSSS.Dynazenon

Coming in with a fondness for Gridman, Dynazenon didn't have to do much to convince me. The surprise though is that it's not a rehash even if it's basically the same show, a character drama where occasionally huge and goofy fights break out. Dynazenon is Gridman done better, and the interesting part is how it accomplishes this - mainly by being far more conventional. I do appreciate that Gridman went for something weird and almost experimental, but that only really paid off towards the end while most of the show was a distraction/holding pattern. It just didn't feel like there was enough material for a full series there, more like a movie maybe, if even that. Dynazenon fixes this by just being a TV show, with an actual cast of characters that each have their own arc. And by spreading the material this way, Dynazenon ends up having a lot more nuance than its intensely focused predecessor, while having the same themes and not actually being any deeper. In a way, Gridman ends up looking like the spinoff in retrospect, while Dynazenon is the full package. 8/10

Thunderbolt Fantasy S3

So how good was this season? So good that Thunderbolt Fantasy doesn't end up at the top, that's how. And all the elements that made Tbolt such a sure thing are still there, big hammy puppets doing stunts and scheming never gets old. However, I do have to note that at this point, the writing appears to have gotten too comfortable. I don't expect it to ever top the amazing S1 ending, but at this point it's like Tbolt has stopped trying to deliver on endings at all and seems in the process of retooling itself into a longrunner instead. Barely anything gets resolved in S3 (the climax is that the climax of S2 is resolved again, for good this time... maybe), and everything else is just setting up plotpoints for the next season. Tbolt is truly lucky that it doesn't actually need to resolve anything to be a great time, but at this point I have to say that I'd appreciate it if they wrapped it up with S4. 8/10

Nomad: Megalobox 2

Speaking of sequels to shows I liked, Nomad doesn't so much improve upon its predecessor but steamrolls right over it. This is a tall order, since Megalobox was surprisingly good for a sports shounen and had a real nice, heartwarming ending that Nomad instantly negates for purposes of drama and everyone being extremely miserable. That sounds like a pretty terrible idea - and it would be, if Nomad wasn't as excellent as it is. To call it not the same show would be an understatement, because it's a true sequel, not just the same characters doing their thing some more, or new characters doing the same thing as the old ones did. Indeed my biggest problem with Megalobox was that it still closely adhered to its genre template and was very predictable; Nomad fixes this issue thoroughly. Nomad is about questioning what being a hotblooded shounen protagonist eventually leads you to, and how to fix everything you screwed up by being one. You could call it a deconstruction, but that term has been so abused for cynical, edgy "thing you like actually sucks" takes that I feel like it doesn't really fit here. Nomad isn't cynical at all, it's just a character drama about some boxers past their prime, and it being a sequel to a show that is indeed rather formulaic just enhances the experience. My biggest issue with it was that I really like what they did with Joe in this story, so the big focus on Mac's backstory felt like a distraction for a long time. But in the end that turned out to be absolutely necessary to make the ending work. The ending's just great, by the way, and I shall say not more about it. 9/10

Odd Taxi

Yeah boy, here's the show that has apparently become somewhat of a "greatest show you didn't watch" meme, which I can feel smug about because I don't need YouTubers to tell me what's good and followed this from day one. Anyway, Odd Taxi is indeed great, the greatest show in a few years even. What starts out as seemingly a relaxed hangout show in the vein of Midnight Diners quickly turns into a psychological murder mystery while never losing its quirky humor. The character writing is outstanding, with even small bit players being on a level that the average anime wishes it could have for leads. And the rollout of the mystery is exemplary, with answers given and new questions raised every episode with a satisfying and logical payoff in the end. This is also the rare anime that has rock solid production from the first to the last second; it's never really flashy but excellently done and highly consistent nonetheless. And the music just owns. I have a few complaints, mainly that there's a few logical weaknesses in the story (which wouldn't even register in a lesser show, but sticks out here since the rest is so immaculately constructed) and that the ending overextends on the emotions when the rest of the show is so reserved and dry in comparison. But those are only the reasons why I didn't give it perfect marks, and I almost did that anyway. 9/10

[lancearcherinrippedjeans]

Eternity - Chapter 6

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And we are BACK folks! Did you guys miss us?

Shoutout to @adriii-omega cause she wrote MOST of this chapter while Parker, (me, lancearcherinrippedjeans) has school and was sick!

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Starring - The MAGNIFICENT OC’s, Kenny Omega, Ricky Starks, The Best Friends, Private Party, Excalibur, Taz, Brian Cage, The Young Bucks and Tony Khan

Word Count - 6,792

Category - Fluff, tiniest bits of angst, comedy

6/?

Summary - The tournament is finally starting, how will it go with Nova on commentary?

Warning - Cussing, drinking, slight possesivness

Other author’s notes - Private Party are the STARS of this chapter, and this might look a little weird cause it was posted on mobile, also, follow @adriii-omega

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“First you leave me out of the tournament, and now you want me to go out on TV and play commentator?” Nova huffed, as she tried her best not to upset her boss; Tony Khan. “I know you’re not happy about being excluded , but I promise we have plans for you to do big things here in AEW,” he stood in front of her to block her path, “Plus, it’s only Youtube.” Nova let out a long sigh, “For how long?”

“Just until you become a fan favorite, you know like…” Tony stopped mid-sentence, trying to rethink his words. “Like Sawyer and Veronica?” Nova asked, already annoyed. “The fans are going to love you, I promise,” Tony grabbed the cream-colored folder off his desk and handed it to Nova, “This is the match card for tonight. Excalibur should have more info on all of the competitors, but you should know most of them.”

“You could just say Sawyer, Veronica, and Ricky. I promise you won’t hurt my feelings,” Nova joked, heading for the door, “Thank you Tony, but I hope this isn’t a waste of my time.” She shut the door, opening up the folder, and looking over the card for tonight.

She smiled to herself, looking at her friend’s names for the first round of the tournament. A long shadow caught her eye, causing her to look up and seeing Team Taz walking right her way. She gave a small wave to Ricky, making him turn all his attention that was on Taz onto her.

Ricky jogged over, “What weird stuff do they got you doing this week?”

Nova smirked, looking at Taz who was already annoyed they had to stop, “Well, I’m gonna be on commentary tonight!” She announced, plastering on a smile she definitely didn’t have in Tony’s office. “Does that mean you’ll be out there for my match?” his brows perked up in anticipation, “I’ll have the best seat in the house.” she laughed. Brian smiled as Ricky planted a kiss onto Nova’s cheek. Taz cleared his throat loudly, “Well if you guys are done making goo-goo eyes at each other, we gotta get going.” he pointed at his watch symbolizing the time.

“What are you talking about? The show doesn’t start for another two hours?” Cage spoke up from behind them. Nova and Ricky let out a small chuckle at Taz’s new expression. He stood with his mouth agape, darting his eyes at the FTW champion, “Thanks, Brian for correcting me,” he said through gritted teeth. “Is there anyone else that would like to make me look like a complete idiot?” He said through a fake smile. Nova raised her hand, “If it makes you feel better…I’m not on the card tonight,” Taz gave her an obvious expression. “Why would you be-”

“Instead I’ll be sitting next to you on commentary!” She gave him a bright smile, as his smirk disappeared. “The-the whole show…?”

“All twenty-four matches!”

“Oh HELL NO!! AYO TONY!?” Taz angrily marched down the hallway leaving Cage, Starks, and Nova in a laughing fit. “I can’t believe you,” Ricky said through laughs. “I don’t think I've ever seen him that mad.” Cage jokes, “Or run that fast.” He added, causing them to continue their laughter. “Poor Tony.” Ricky pointed, as an annoyed Tony Khan tried to reason with a loud mouth Taz. “I’m going to make sure he doesn’t get fired, I’ll catch up with you guys later.” He said while jogging down the hall. Ricky finally caught his breath and held his hand out. “Come on, I want to spend time together before you and Taz kill each other.” he smiled, making her giggle. “I’m looking forward to it, maybe I can get him to… hate me less?” Ricky chuckled before placing a kiss on her forehead, “You’re lucky Excalibur will be out there.”

“And making her way to commentary… The SuperNova Jay!” Justin Roberts introduced, as the small audience of professional wrestlers cheered. “It’s a pleasure to be able to sit next to you,” Excalibur started, “You haven’t even said anything and you’re already better than Taz!”

“Shut up Excalibur,” Taz grunted.

Nova smoothed out her dress before taking her seat. “I’m so happy to be here.” She gave a smile as the camera was on her. “It’s been such an amazing few weeks for you already here in AEW, first you officially signed with All Elite Wrestling, and now two of your closest friends; Veronica and Sawyer are competing tonight for a chance to challenge Hikaru Shida for the AEW women’s championship.” Nova nodded, as Excalibur opened his mouth to ask a question, but was cut off, “I have a question for you Nova,” Taz joined in, “How does it feel that your own BEST FRIENDS are worthy enough of participating in this tournament, and you are…out sitting on the sidelines?” Taz smirked, as he saw Nova bite the inside of her cheek. Excalibur looked between them trying his best to move forward. Luckily Sawyer’s theme music began to play causing the tension to be lifted.

It was towards the middle of the match when Sawyer and Madi were tied up in the corner. “I’m going to try an arm drag-” Sawyer whispered, so only she could hear it. “No, you aren’t. I am not letting you look stronger than me,” Madi attempted to kick Sawyer in the stomach, but failed, as she lost her balance. Taz face planted himself, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more unfocused wrestler than Wrenkowski.” He complained as they slightly laughed, “Thank god Sawyer is one of the most professional women wrestlers there is,” Nova started, “You see I’ve known both of these females for quite a long time and this rivalry trails way further back than you would think.”

“Is that so…please tell us more,” Excalibur asked with interest. Nova began to speak but instead looked over and saw Taz staring at her with a half-smile. “Well, for starters Madi had ALWAYS been jealous of Sawyer. Though unfortunately, she was the champion at the time, Sawyer always got all of the attention, and that’s something Madi always wants.” They both nodded understanding, shortly later hearing the bell ring.

“Here is your winner: Sawyer Holden!” Justin’s voice echoed throughout the arena. She slowly stood up, allowing her hand to be raised by Aubrey Edwards. Nova sent an evil grin to Madi Wrenkowski as she clenched her neck from the Canadian Destroyer that was given to her. She rolled her eyes before stomping off through the tunnel. Veronica sat with the Young Bucks at the monitor watching everything go down. Nick let out a sigh, as Madi walked past them knocking over a few trash cans in frustration. “God, she’s so annoying,” he commented, making Veronica laugh. “Good thing you don’t have to go against her,” Matt chimed in, “I wouldn’t be able to take it.” They nodded in agreement just as Sawyer made her way back. She sent a small smile their way earning a thumbs up from Matt. “Are you guys still upset with each other?” he nudged Veronica, as she looked over and saw Sawyer in deep conversation with a group of wrestlers. “No, we’re cool.” She half lied. The brothers gave each a look, knowing something was off.

“Hey have you guys seen Kenny?” she spoke up, trying to get the conversation changed from her and Sawyer. Nick sighed, “He’s getting ready for his match with Sonny tonight since Janela was taken out.” She mouthed an “O” before grabbing her phone and opening the messaging app.

Is everything alright? Nick just told me Joey is out.

The next match had started, and Penelope Ford was going against Allie. Shortly later her phone buzzed.

Kenny: Everything is fine. Where are you at??

Sitting next to the Bucks, my match is coming up soon.

Kenny: I'm on my way over there, see you in a bit.

A smile crept up onto Veronica’s face as she began to watch the match. On the other side of the hall, Sawyer stood next to her friend: Chuck Taylor.

“I don’t know man,” she whined, “I don’t think she even wants to look at me.” Chuck rolled his eyes before placing both hands on her shoulders. “SAWYER. GO. ASK. HER.” He gave her a push before leaning against the wall. Everything was headed smoothly, as she made her way next to where Veronica was sitting…

“Hey V!” she piped, causing The Young Bucks to give her a hard stare. Veronica smiled as she leaned back into her chair, “I was wondering after the show tonight we could go to our favorite restaurant. Just us three - like old times.”

A voice cleared their throat from behind making Sawyer turn around. A perplexed Kenny Omega looked over at the group. “Don’t mind me. I just came to see my GIRLFRIEND.” He shot a look at Sawyer, before walking behind Veronica’s chair, “You were saying?” he smirked. Sawyer’s face grew with anger before she turned on her heels, “Just forget about it.” she mumbled. Chuck watched in disgust as Kenny began to laugh. Veronica bit her tongue until she heard the bell ring meaning her match was soon. “Sawyer, wait,” she called out, causing everyone to look at her. “I’ll be there. Meet me in the parking lot at 9?” she suggested. Sawyer held back her stun expression before nodding and walking off with Chuck as he made an “L” gesture with his finger and pointed at Omega.

The Bucks looked between the two, “We’re going to head back to the locker room now, we’ll see you guys later.” Nick scratched the back of his neck, as Matt gave them both a tight lip smile and followed his brother. Penelope Ford came back with enthusiasm since she would be advancing to the semi-finals against Sawyer. She gave a quick hug to Veronica, congratulated her, and went to celebrate with her fiancé. Veronica began to walk towards the tunnels as she noticed her opponent, Serena Deeb, was warming up.

“Are we going to talk about it?” Kenny spoke up, making her stop in her tracks.

“Is there really anything to talk about? I'm going to get dinner. That’s it.”

“But seriously? With…HER?” he scoffed, “When will you finally see she is no good?” Veronica turned around walking slowly towards her boyfriend, “Babe, you don’t understand how Sawyer and I’s friendship works…we’re fine.”

“I don’t buy it. I am trying to protect you. I am trying to protect US.” he ran his hands through his hair, “Kenny….” “She doesn’t like me, Veronica! She’s trying to break us up because she thinks you deserve better,” He stopped his rant, before giving a sly laugh, “But honestly…it doesn’t get better than me.” He clicked his tongue, before lifting her chin, and planting a soft kiss on her lips. “I love you, don’t ever forget that.”

Back out at the commentary table, Excalibur and Nova went over some of the other matches, while Taz stayed rather quiet compared to how he usually is. “And the main event for this evening, Veronica Rodriguez vs Serena Deeb in a semi-final qualifying match for the AEW Women’s championship tournament,” Nova announced happily, looking between the monitor and the stage for what was coming next.

Ricky Starks’ theme came blasting out the sound system of Daily’s Place, and both Nova and Taz snapped their heads towards the tunnel. Ricky walked out, playing air guitar and looking over at commentary. “Ricky Starks is one of the most charismatic and talented wrestlers there is now,” Taz started, hyping up his client, “Just look! Look at the physique!”

Nova shook her head, “I couldn’t agree more, Taz.” She stumbled, too busy watching Ricky to even get her words out.

Ricky looked towards the commentary table, Taz yelled some stuff at him, before Ricky looked directly at Nova. He winked, then blew her a kiss, looking back at the ring and climbing in to start his match.

“AYO STARKS!” Taz yelled, even though Ricky didn’t look over, “THAT WAS UNPROFESSIONAL!” Nova giggled to herself, looking down at the monitor to watch her man wrestle. Excalibur looked at Taz, who was still frustrated, before looking back at Nova, “Hey Nova you look a little red there? Everything alright?”

Nova smiled, Taz glared, “Shut up Excalibur!” They both shouted in unison, in two completely different tones.

Nova knew she couldn’t be like this the whole match. If she couldn’t wrestle, this was one of the ways to showcase herself, she couldn’t mess it up.

Taz and Excalibur went on about the match and each opponent, when she spoke up, “I think everyone can agree that something changed once Ricky stepped into AEW. I mean there isn’t a star like him. He moves quickly, he’s entertaining, his theme is so catchy, honestly Taz, I think you hit the jackpot with this one,” Nova smiled at him, he opened his mouth to speak when she continued, “I mean, between Ricky and Cage, they’re on fire. Just imagine them without you.”

Excalibur tried to hold in his laughter, Taz snapped his head over at Nova, “Now hold on just a second-” The bell rang, interrupting Taz. “Here is your winner: Ricky Starks!”

Nova smiled proudly at Ricky, as he made his way back to the tunnel. He gave her one last wink, before turning around, barely even looking at Taz. “While that match was very entertaining, let’s move onto our next matchup of the night, Nyla Rose vs Abadon!” Excalibur announced, straightening his suit.

The match went quickly, Nyla Rose would face whoever wins against Veronica and Serena. The camera was shot at the commentary table, and the three looked up. Nova smiled at the camera, listening to Excalibur announce the rest of the week’s matches. “And tomorrow night, make sure to catch Wardlow and Hangman in the semi-finals for an opportunity at the AEW World Championship.” Nova looked away from Excalibur and to the camera, clearing her voice, “And make sure you don’t miss Being The Elite on Monday, the best Youtube comedy show,” Nova paused, “But how about our main event tonight? I don’t know about you guys but I am bouncing off the walls excited.”

Excalibur smiled, “I’ve been waiting for this match before the night even started.” Veronica’s theme music played, she walked out, looking around the small crowd of people before looking over to Nova. “Hey girl! That’s my best friend! Kick some ass!” Veronica smiled, even more hyped up after the words from Nova.

“Now unlike Sawyer, no offense bestie, Veronica has held so many championships. She beat both of us in a title match a few years ago.” Nova mentioned, as Veronica set her shades down.

“Now Nova I have to ask, how do you think this match will end,” Excalibur looked over to her, “While Veronica is very strong and could make anyone tap...Serena Deeb is also-” “Yeah yeah she’s a yoga instructor, look at her record. Veronica is one of the best there is now. I don’t think we should underestimate her, Excalibur,” Taz interrupted, looking at the monitor to watch the match. “Took the words right out of my mouth.” Nova mumbled, focusing on the action in the ring.

Veronica finally got the upperhand, pulling Serena into a submission move. Deeb tapped on the mat, and Veronica stood, not able to hold back the smile on her face. She let Bryce Remsburg raise her hand, winking into the main camera.

“That main event was off the charts. I can’t wait for next week.” Nova said. “Yes, but first you have to catch AEW Dynamite tomorrow night on TNT,” Excalibur announced, looking to Nova to take it away, “Of course, one of the best parts of the week, I can’t wait to be back next week for commentary everyone, goodnight!”

The crew called out that the cameras were off, and Nova let go of a giant breath. “That was outstanding for your first time,” Excalibur complimented, “Can’t wait for next week.” He shook her hand before leaving the table, Nova being only with Taz. She looked over at him nervously, before he stood up, holding out his hand, “Not bad, kid. You’ll do just fine these next few weeks.” Nova shook his hand, smiling out of disbelief as he walked away.

Time Skip

The girls all laughed as they took a seat at their table. “You made Madi look like she could wrestle,” Nova insulted as Veronica nodded. “I think it may have been her best match yet.” The waiter placed a basket of rolls on the table mentioning he would be back shortly to take their orders. Sawyer reached in and took a bite. “Your match with Serena was really exciting , a couple of the wrestlers gathered around to watch. It was great.” Veronica smiled, “Thank you, it means a lot…but let's talk about Ricky blowing that kiss to Nova. You guys must be serious.” She wooed, as Nova rolled her eyes. “Taz was totally cock blocking though,” Sawyer added, making them burst out in laughter. Veronica’s phone started going off on the table making her sigh. She set the phone on silent and placed it in her purse.

“What does he want now?” Nova groaned. “Probably wanting to know her exact location this time,” Sawyer mumbled as she placed another roll in her hands. Veronica let out a small chuckle, having it fade quickly as she began to play with her fingers. “He’s just worried about me,” she started. “I can’t blame him. It can be a bit much at times, but he loves-”

“Eck, don’t use that word. I can’t believe you almost said that word.” Sawyer rambled. “You ain’t use it for anyone else, don’t start now.” Veronica opened her mouth to argue but was cut off as the waiter arrived putting the conversation aside for the moment. Once the waiter left, Nova snapped her head over to Sawyer, “But I must ask you, Sawyer, what’s going on with you and Mr. Chuck Taylor?”

Sawyer almost spit out the very expensive champagne, “What?”

“Oh c’mon. If you and Wardlow aren’t together, there has to be something between you and Chuck,” Veronica hinted, Sawyer just shook her head, “No way. No way! He and I are just best friends. And he would’ve tried already.”

Veronica and Nova exchanged a sly look, they knew Sawyer was oblivious, but for now, they planned to focus on the appetizer.

For the most part - the dinner went great. There were no more topics about Kenny (who seemed to be the main problem), and they all ate until they were stuffed, not having to worry about the bill at the end.

“Well if it isn’t the three most beautiful ladies in AEW.” A voice shouted through the hotel lobby. Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen danced their way over with their million-dollar smiles glowing. “What y'all been up to?” Veronica grinned. Marq placed his arm around Nova causing her to flick it off.

“Just came back from training with Matt, nothing too exciting.” Isiah crossed his arms, leaning on the nearest wall. “You started freaking out didn’t you?” Sawyer questioned.

“Just a little bit.” Kassidy giggled as he started cheering. “It was Matt HARDY. Can you blame me?” He began to do the famous Hardy Boy dance before remembering he was in public and cleared his throat. “Anyways, we came to see if you guys wanted to do something tonight. We barely had the chance to hang out yet.”

“Sure why not? We have nothing better else to do.” Nova shrugged. “I’m cool with it, as long as Veronica is too,” Sawyer adds. The thought of having a good night with some of her friends fogged her memory, as she spoke before she got the chance to think, “Come over in about thirty minutes.”

Nova had walked to the nearest grocery store to gather a couple of items before Marq and Isiah would be coming over. “I feel like this night could go incredibly wrong if we’re not careful.” Sawyer brought it up. “How so?” Veronica laughed. “Just imagine, all of us? DRUNK? That sets up for disaster already.” Her attention was taken off of Sawyer when her phone began to ring again. She almost answered, before looking at the caller ID. She stared at it for a bit, before a pillow was flung at her.

“Veronica? Are you even listening to me?”

“No, sorry. Kenny was calling-” She looked back at Sawyer who sat with a blank expression. “Don’t look at me like that! I didn’t even answer.”

“But did you want to?” Sawyer crossed her arms. “Maybe...I just haven’t talked to him since the show, it’s killing me.”

Sawyer bit back her words, as her friend’s facial expression read it was affecting her. “And I know you guys aren’t fond of each other, but I supported you and Wardlow.” she stopped as she let out a breath, “He’s different Sawyer.”

“Wardlow and I are back together.” She blurted, but quickly covered her mouth as Veronica’s neck snapped. “YOU GUYS ARE WHAT?” she yelped. Sawyer secretly thanked herself for blabbing, to avoid another argument. “Shush! It’s not that big of a deal,” she laughed. “We just didn’t want to tell anyone yet.” Veronica nodded understandingly, “So, now I’m just ‘someone’? That’s cool.”

“Oh no , I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I’m kidding, I’m not one to talk about keeping secrets. I’m happy for you.” She smiled, as the door flew open. “Your favorite party people are here!” Marq exclaimed as Isiah followed in after with BOTTLES of alcohol. A couple seconds later a panting Nova stood in the doorway. “You guys saw me struggling. WHY DID YOU NOT HELP ME?!” She dropped the bags and flopped on the couch.

“I was holding my children.” Kassidy gasped as he raised his beverage in the air. “That was payback for flicking my arm,” Marq moved next to her and placed his hand on her knee. “But how about I make it up to you?” he sent her a wink as Veronica and Sawyer hid back their laughs.

“THAT'S MY BOY!” Kassidy yelped as he poured his first shot. Nova groaned in response, getting up from her seat and popping a cork on a wine bottle, “It’s going to be a long night.”

The Next Morning

A loud siren blasted through the room, Veronica shifted around in her sleep noticing her bed has been replaced with something way more uncomfortable. A snore caused her to jump, instantly regretting it as the effects of last night began to hit. She felt around, finding she was passed out in a bathtub. Veronica’s face flashed with confusion and was about to call out until she saw a slumped Isiah Kassidy on the toilet. “Zay?” she squinted as he began to stir. “Wake up!” she grabbed the nearest thing next to her, a bar of soap, and flung it at him. “AGH-” He shouted, waking up from his slumber. “What the hell…WHERE ARE MY PANTS?” he looked down in fear until a grin popped up. “Are you… fully clothed?” he peeked in the tub and sighed as, unlike him, was still in her nightclothes. “Damn, I thought I got some.” he snapped his fingers in disbelief. “How are you thinking of sex right now?

“Because I could have pounded that ass, but you wanted to be loyal, and have no fun. Mama ain’t raise no snitch.” He raised his hands in defense, “Plus this is normal. I party every night, and all night. Is this your first time drinking?” He asked in a mocking tone. He held his hand out to help lift her, accepting that she groaned as the room started spinning. Her arm rested around him, as he made her way to her bed. “Did you want me to grab your phone, I’m pretty sure I saw it somewhere in the living room-”

“NO.” she yelled startling them, “It’s fine where it is.” The events of last night began to become less of a blur. Multiple shots, loud ass music, and even more calling and texts from Kenny. At one point, she couldn’t take it anymore and used her phone as target practice as she lunged it anywhere she could. They reached the room and saw Nova spread out on both beds that had been pushed together, and Sawyer hanging upside down on the armchair. “Ah that’s right, Marq did a 450 splash off the dresser. It’s all coming back now.” They both nodded and exited the room. “Here, you sit here, I'll get you something.” He searched through the cabinets, sighing when nothing was found. Sawyer soon stumbled in and found her way next to Veronica on the couch. “I am never drinking with them again.” She leaned her head on her friend’s shoulder. “They’re too advanced for us.”

“We’re on a different level.” A voice boasted behind the couch making the two jump. “MARQ? WHY ARE YOU BEHIND THE COUCH?” Sawyer shrieked. He shrugged as he began to rub his head. “So, you guys have absolutely nothing- AHH MARQ?!” Isiah threw the cup of water and held his chest. “You damn near killed me.” he breathed out. Sawyer groaned, “You just spilled water on our floor!”

“Could you guys be any louder-” Nova started, but wasn’t able to finish as she glided down the hall. Isiah raised his hand to his mouth to stop the laughter from slipping out. “Please tell me this is water…”

“This Ain’t Water.” They said in unison, before bursting out in laughter. Veronica went to gather her friend, after for a fact, reassuring her it actually was just water. “As I was saying, before Marq scared some of the skin color off of me, you guys don’t own shit. If y'all planned to get wasted you should have packed some aspirins.” He suggested, earning an ear thump from Sawyer. “We didn’t plan to end up like this. You guys got us drunk.” Marq nodded, “She’s not wrong.”

“Is there anyone that could go pick something up?” Nova suggested, before feeling more effects as she rushed to the nearest bathroom. “I’m sure Kenny could-”

“Nope, I got Trent and Chuck on the way. We don’t need anyone else.” Sawyer blurted out, quickly sending a text to the Best Friends. Veronica's lips straightened, as she slowly backed out of the living room, and into the kitchen. A sigh escaped her lips, as she realized having to explain to her boyfriend why she had been so distant wasn’t going to be anything she was looking forward to.

The door opened, and Trent and Chuck both rushed to Sawyer’s side. “We came as soon as we could, I hope you like sushi.” They shoved the bag of food onto her lap, before taking out their drug store bag filled with a couple of pills. “Oh, you didn’t have to bring us food-”

“Speak for yourself,” Kassidy and Quen snatched the box out of her grasp, and began to pick at it. She threw her hands up in annoyance before Chuck placed his hand on her forehead. “Have you thrown up yet?” He questioned. “Not yet,” she answered, as she stared at him carefully. “Oh you will.” he sent her a smile, and for a moment she felt warmth until he stopped.

“Hey are the guys here with the aspirins…oh hey.” She stopped herself, as she made contact with them. “I’m Veronica, it’s nice to finally be able to meet you.” Slowly walking over, she reached for the bag from Chuck who pulled his hand back.

“So, you’re the famous Veronica Rodriguez....” Trent started, “I got to say Kenny chose well.” Chuck smirked, as Trent walked up to her. “I guess you’re too far up his ass, to realize you’re in for a load of trouble though.” She was taken aback until Trent began again. “I don’t see you around backstage a lot, Sawyer claims it’s because you’re always hanging out with the EVP’s. I bet if you suck them off hard enough, you could get lucky and get a title shot.”

Her fist clenched, but they held each other's stare until a cough from Kassidy broke them up. “Well, this is getting exciting. We got a bed in the back if ya’ll want to settle your differences there.” Sawyer face-planted herself, before grabbing the bag from Chuck and walking to the kitchen. Trent shortly followed shoulder bumping her, and letting out a small laugh. “It was nice meeting you.” Chuck spat at her, before making his way where his other friends were.

Veronica sat next to Private Party with an unfazed expression, “Of course they would hate me.” She thought of the multiple times Sawyer had run to them in the past couple of weeks, ever since she got with Kenny. Marq offered her the container of food, where she sunk into the couch and began to pick at the bits that were left.

“I’m going to head out for a little bit,” Veronica said, handing the food back. “Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Isiah questioned. “No, it’s not - but it’s not like I’ll find anything here that will help me.” She grabbed her sweatshirt and made her way to the door. “Have Nova help you guys clean this mess up, I’ll be back soon.” With a sigh, she closed the door and didn’t know where she would end up.

Sawyer slid down the patio door with a groan. “I bet you learned your lesson.” James, better known as Orange Cassidy, laughed over the phone. He had called Chuck wanting to get a daily update on the situation. “Hang up on him, or I’m going to toss your phone off the balcony.” Sawyer threatened making Chuck hold his phone to his chest. “Alright man, I got to go.” They said their goodbyes when Trent opened the sliding door. “Here’s your aspirin, and a bottle of water.” She took the items and took them almost immediately. Chuck let his eyes wander as he stared at her current state. Trent nudged him in the side causing him to snap back to reality. His eyes widened a bit as he smirked, and pointed in between them. Sawyer tossed the bottle to the side and closed her eyes. “You guys seemed heated in there,” She mentioned. “Towards V, was that necessary?” she laughed.

“Oh it was more than necessary,” Trent admitted. “She had the nerve to reach for the bag, after everything she’s done to you.” Sawyer held her tongue, knowing that it wasn’t all Veronica’s fault, they both were acting childish. “He’s right, she’s never looked in our direction either, her ego is only going to get worse around The Elite.” he took a seat next to her, relaxing his hand against hers. “I know you see it. I know you see her becoming something she’s not.” A calming silence rang through them. Sawyer thought over his words that seemed to hit her right in the face. Everything was starting to make sense.

At 9 in the morning, Veronica sat in the hotel lobby. Waving to some of the people that crossed by before beginning to hear her stomach growl. She looked for the nearest breakfast bar until she saw the people she was trying to avoid. Kenny sat at a table with The Young Bucks and seemed to be in a deep conversation, she slowly backed out and into the room next to her. It was mostly empty, except for a familiar guy in the corner… with a beer bottle and cowboy boots.

“We got to stop meeting like this,” she made her way over onto the stool next to him. He finished his glass, before taking a glance at her. “Rough night?” he asked. Veronica sighed before starting, “Is it that obvious?” she groaned. He put his glass down, looking her up and down, and bit the bottom of his lip. “Yea. You look terrible.” He lied. Hangman liked how the ‘Morning After’ look appeared on her, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Gee, thanks. I’ll make sure to let Private Party know.” His brows rose in surprise, “You drank with them? How are you still alive?” He cracked a smile at her dead expression. “How are you when you’re drunk? The daredevil type maybe?.” It was his turn to have a dead expression, as she laughed. “I’m the complete opposite actually, from what my friend’s told me… I can get handsy if I’m with someone. Other than that, I keep to myself in my small corner.” He raised his glass to her, and sipped it. “You’re drunk right now…aren’t you?” He let her look him over closely and started to feel himself get hot, “No, but I’m getting there.” Veronica took the glass from him, and drank the rest of it down. “You don’t need to be alone anymore, Page.” She placed an arm around him, “You’re safe with me now.”

“I'll hit you with this damn mop, if you don’t put her phone back!” Nova chased Kassidy around the living room, as he snapped another selfie of him. “Come on! Are you not curious at all to read one of these 400 text messages from Kenny?” He attempted to unlock her phone, before it was snatched out of his hand by Nova. “Hey!” he whined.

“Go get more paper towels.” She said while fully shutting the phone down, and onto the counter. “Ouu, so demanding. Kinky. I like that.” He flirted with Nova groaning. Marq came from the bathroom, and looked around. “Damn where did everybody go?” he scratched his head, as Kassidy made his way back into the living room. “Sawyer is on the patio, and I don’t know where Veronica went-” a knock interrupted them making his head perk up. “Must be her now.” Isiah went to the door, but let out a groan. “Ugh. It’s just Ricky.”

“Ricky?” Nova questioned as she made her way to the door. There he stood with a small bag, and a dumb found expression. “Oh I didn’t know you were here.” He looked between them with a hurt expression. “What? Oh no it’s not like tha-” Nova began to explain as Marq peeked his head out as well. “Why are you talking to my girl?” he squinted. Ricky’s eyes widened, as Nova slapped the back of his neck. “Go inside.” They stuck their tongue out, and closed the door leaving them alone.

“Just to be clear… there is nothing going on between you and them? Right?” Nova laughed, “Nah they just came over last night, and still haven’t left.” He let out a sigh of relief, before turning his full attention onto Nova. “Well, what did you need? I still gotta clean this place or they’ll destroy everything.”

“So you know our first date, when I told you I knew the artist from the bowling alley?” Nova nodded, remembering the date, “Yeah, have you told him I think he's talented, and about a possible merch design?” Ricky chuckled, “Yeah, about that…” He reached and grabbed the bag that he brought with him, pulling out a t- shirt, “I wanted to surprise you, since he knows what he’s doing, I got this designed for you.”

Nova grabbed it from his hands, her jaw dropped, “Oh my God…” “What’s wrong? Do you not like it?” Ricky asked, worried.

“I love it. This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.” Nova gushed, admiring the pink design. “Well, the reason I did this is because I had to ask you something.” Ricky smiled, waiting for Nova to look at him. “Well, what is it?”

Ricky took a deep breath, “When I first laid my eyes on you, I was mesmerized. And after our first date, I knew you were someone special. And the dates and calls after just continued to prove my point.” Nova smiled, Ricky said a bunch of stuff like this before, but this time felt...different.

“You are the most amazing person I have ever met, and I know I gotta ask before I don’t get the chance,” He grabbed her hands, “Nova Jay, will you please be my girlfriend?” Nova smiled so big, “I’d thought you would never ask.”

Ricky pulled Nova in, and let his hands rest on her backside as they shared a kiss. He lightly pushed her onto the wall, without breaking contact and let her rub against him a bit. A groan almost escaped his lips until the door swung open.

“Nova, I accidentally clogged the toilet- OH MY GOD.” Marq screamed, causing them to jump. His hands covered his mouth, as he quickly shut the door. “What’s wrong with you? You seem like you just saw a ghost.” Kassidy said while he flipped through the channels on the TV. “I just walked in on Nova and Ricky doing mouth to mouth, I’ve never been more devastated in my life.” Kassidy dropped the remote, and let his eyes close. “He’s out there kissing OUR GIRL?”

“How could she do this to us?”

Sawyer then came into the room with Chuck and Trent, “Have you guys seen Nova?” She made her way to the door, but was pulled back by Marq. “Don’t go out there! It’s dangerous and could lead to serious trauma!” Isiah cried. Chuck and Trent looked at each other with odd expressions, “What? Let me look.” Sawyer took a peep through the peephole and started screaming as she saw Nova and Ricky making out. “FINALLY. GET IT NOVA!” She cheered, making sure they could hear on the other side. Marq whipped a fake tear from his cheek, before leaning against Kassidy for support. “At the start, we had three girls…now we only got one.” Isiah glanced at Sawyer, making her cringe. “Now is not the time.” she reminded herself, as she and Wardlow wanted to keep their relationship private.

Chuck tensed, as Kassidy put his arm around Sawyer. “Have I ever told you, you were my favorite?” He smiled, but was met with an elbow to the ribs. “Too late, I got my eye on someone already.” she said, as she shot a look at Chuck who began to blush. Trent began to speak up until the door opened, and a giggling Veronica walked in with a tipsy Hangman Adam Page.

“Did you guys see Ricky and Nova outside? I first thought it was some random dude, but when I got closer,” she leaned onto Hangman “I noticed his big forehead, and instantly knew it was him.” She laughed.

“Well if it isn’t Hangman Pussypants Page.” Isiah rolled his eyes, at the sight of Veronica against him. “Did you get her even more drunk than she already was?” he asked with concern. “SHE drank my glass of whiskey, I had nothing to do with it.” “So, you couldn’t have taken it from her?” Trent interrupted, making Veronica lunge at him. Hangman picked her up, and tossed her over his shoulders. “Calm down.” he ordered as he set her on the couch, Hangman sat next to her letting his arm rest against her thigh. “I don’t know what happened before I got here, but it ends now. Veronica and I are both going to sober up a bit, and we need pills. Do yall got any here?”

Sawyer shoved Chuck, making him groan, he handed the bag over and Trent rolled his eyes. Nova then came in with Ricky, and they starred at the group. “Well isn’t this something,” Ricky started. “I thought you guys we’re going to suffocate out there.” Sawyer jokes, as she went to hug her friends. “You have gotta tell me the details.” Sawyer mumbled to Nova who nodded. “How about we put on a movie to ignore the sound of my heart shattering?” Isiah mentioned as Nova groaned, “Get over it!” “NEVER.” He cried. “A movie is fine with me,” Ricky shrugged as he took a seat on one of the chairs. “First we should take a picture, it’s crazy to see all this talent in one room.” She chirped.

“All this talent… and Veronica.” Trent laughed, making Veronica turn her head to face him. “I’m going to hurt him,” she started to get up until Hangman grabbed her hand. She took a deep breath before giving his hand a squeeze. Nova smiled as they took the perfect photo and posted it onto her instagram. It was only then till Hangman released Veronica’s hand, and took her face in his hands and kissed her.

[theoneforwriting]

Teamwork

Summary: Peter was expecting to be arrested, not a dream come true.

Day Two

Prompt: Teamwork

Villainous July Enemies and Allies They are both evil your honor.

Getting gasoline?

Easy.

Getting a lighter?

Easier.

Now combining those two things together and getting away with it is a whole nother ball park.

For one there’s now a giant fire and two now there's a giant fire.

“No no no no no no no.” was the mantra Peter used as he ran away from the scene of the crime. He didn’t think that his plan would work so well, okay? He also didn't think that an Avenger of all the God forsaken people in this city would happen to be getting coffee nearby.

“Stop running son, resisting arrest only makes it worse!” Thee Captain America called out after him.

“Sorry, but no can do!” Peter yelled back as he tried to lose the super soldier.

Jesus, what are they feeding this guy?

Peter took a left into an alleyway which should lead into a busy street and then-

“Oh crap.” A huge truck was blocking his exit and by the time he crawled underneath it, the Captain would have caught up!

“Who just parks in the middle of an alley like this?!”

“Somebody who will fire this gun if you don’t keep your mouth shut.” Peter slowly turned around to find himself face to face with a barrel of a gun.

“Ah well-”

“I said no talking.” The (obvious) robber jerked the gun threateningly. Peter without being asked raised his hands in the air.

“Now get in the truck-” The robber didn't get to finish his instruction before he was blasted backwards.

Another man, this time much nicer looking, had a gauntlet on that was still glowing.

“I like your moxie kid.” Peter turned around to see if anyone was behind him.

“Oh wait, you're talking to me?”

“I mean, do you see any other kids that just tried to set the Museum Of Natural History on fire?” The man’s glove retracted disappearing into a suitcase he held.

“You have no proof.”

“I think my own two eyes are proof enough junior.”

“My name is not junior and I actually really need to leave, I promise I won’t say anything about the robbery-”

“Ha, you think this is my robbery?” The man walked over the unconscious one on the ground, giving him a good kick in the ribs.

“Sorry but petty theft is below me.”

Peter felt like he was going to throw up. Every second he spent talking to this rando Steve Rogers was...was, actually why hadn’t he caught up to Peter yet?

‘Sir-” Peter tried.

“Tony”

“Well Tony I really need to go-”

“Sorry, but not sorry about letting you finish your sentences but I already took care of spangles for you.” Peter felt his heart stop.

“You did?”

“Yes, I came here with a proposal, help me with an operation in exchange for not throwing your ass in jail.”

“That’s not a proposal, that’s blackmail.” Peter pointed out.

“Tomato tomato.” Tony replied. At seeing that Peter was still not convinced he let out a deep sigh.

“Let me put it this way, the fire is almost out they will be looking for who started it, Mr.Ice won’t be unconscious for long and I will pay you.” The mention of money is what started to convince Peter, but does this Tony person really need him that badly.

“What did you say your name was again?” Peter asked.

“Tony Stark.”

“Wait, holy shit your Tony Stark!” All of Peter’s fear drained out immediately.

“Dude you should have started with that of course I’ll come work for you!”

Tony paused oh no a fan boy

“I saw what you did to Clint Barton. It was all over the news whatever the hell it is you're doing I want in.”

“Well then Peter Parker” Tony stuck out his hand “welcome aboard.”

Peter shook Stark’s hand enthusiastically.

Finally Peter thought

I’m going to make a difference

In the distance the screams from the museum could still be heard.

Peter smiled.

A real difference.