#reconnecting with her but they only know one side of things!!! cmon please let her in!!! AND THEN THE BROTHER DOES

[snowshinobi]

💖❤️✨🔪🫀🌲🔥

@snowshinobi Hiiiii :3 I'm responding to your tags on a new post and not the original since the original was already somewhat lengthy, and I plan on being LONG and RAMBLY, but I have sooo many thoughts on what you said and I'm going to say them. Also my browser crashed TWICE (TWO TIMES. 2) when trying to write this post so I'm really fighting for my life out here to get my silly little OC posts done. Also it's under the cut because it's looooong as hell LMAO

Firstly, you're so nice to me forever <3 Secondly, I think you've basically hit the nail on the head. The majority of the issues Maggie has coming back from death and her 9 years gone are really tied almost exclusively to her close family, because she... never really had anyone else. While in-universe it's only 9 years, realistically the jump in technology and culture is around ~20-30 years (Maggie died in the 90s/early 2000s essentially, and wakes up in a just barely futuristic city), but... the most jarring thing to her in terms of what she missed out on is just. Flipphones are no longer popular. Other than her family, she's only close with one other person... who just so happens to be a ghost, and therefore both 1. Wouldn't change much over the timespan due to how long she's been a ghost and 2. Unlike her family, was aware that something happened, since she could see the ghost-of-a-ghost Maggie left behind (The ghosts name is Opal, she positions herself as a sort of "guardian angel" figure, though she's not actually, and serves as just another parental figure for Maggie while also getting after the ghosts that constantly harass her to pass on messages to the living). Maggie has no real relationships outside of her family, and while her relationships with her family are massively impacted by her unknowing death, other than that... the timeskip itself doesn't weigh on her because she had no one regardless. Her struggle to adjust to everything thats happened would've happened regardless of the timeskip for her, because she was such an isolated shut-in that it's the same whether it happened the next day, or nearly a full decade later

So another very interesting thing is that you've actually completely seen where I was going with everything, in spite of everything I said being very surface level and not actually delving into the plot at all. I completely skimmed over Jenna (She's very important to the plot, but she's by in large a regular person as opposed to Maggie's... everything), but for some additional context, Jenna has a horrendously shitty homelife, so her moving in with Maggie is both a gradual process (It goes from spending time there, to spending nights, to eventually just never going back home and moving in fully), and also serves as an escape for her. Part of that is also, so vitally, the food aspect. For some additional additional context, souls essentially serve as a persons lifeforce, practically every bodily function is improved by a soul that's stronger, though the "strength" of a soul is essentially entirely random, and not dependent on the individuals actions of any kind. Maggie had a generally weird soul before (Seeing ghosts inherently means she has to have something going on with her soul), but when she wakes up after her death, her soul is now even weirder, and part of that is that it essentially lets her get away with bad habits she absolutely should be seeing more consequences for. She barely eats, and when she does, it's basically exclusively crackers and whatever other safe foods she has around the house, because actually making food is a level of care and effort she just... doesn't give to herself in the slightest. Part of Jenna staying with her is that Jenna, without really discussing it, entirely takes up the mantle of caretaker of the apartment, with the biggest task being food prep, Jenna sees Maggie's unwillingness to take care of herself and silently steps up and starts making her actual meals so she's eating properly.

The problem is is that this also kinda... just straight up sucks? Jenna doesn't think much of it, it's something that needed to be done so she's doing it, she wants Maggie to be well fed even if she won't do it herself, and she's already been responsible for making all of her own meals for years prior anyways, so it's just another thing she does. Except that's shitty! Maggie's seen firsthand how terrible her homelife is, and it really weighs on her how even in her escape from that, Jenna's still being put in a position where she feels like she must care for her or else she just won't eat properly. So food is such a massively important thing to both of them, it's this symbol of love for both of them, it's love on the part of Jenna, for stepping in and taking care of Maggie when she can't do it herself, and it's love on the part of Maggie, for realizing how her own bad habits impact the people she cares about and wanting to lift that weight by taking care of herself better. It's also very vital for Maggie because she just... doesn't... have hobbies. Learning how to cook becomes really her only hobby and she puts all of her love and care into it, because for the first time in a long while she's actually passionate about something! ...Unfortunately she also is very very bad at it. She's inventing new dishes like "Burnt Salad" and "Please Help I Fucked Up Kraft Mac N Cheese" and still having to have Jenna come in and help her. But it's the thought that counts, and it'll only be a matter of time before she can make something vaguely edible.

And finally, the stuff about names! I didn't post it here, but while idly talking about her in a Discord server I'm in, I definitely think that had I made Maggie like even a few months later than I would've done she would've been nonbinary. As it stands right now though, I'm saying she's probably some form of genderweird but too busy trying not to die to think about it <3 Growing up knowing that ghosts are real and routinely being shut down by authority figures in her life about it has made her very aware of how bullshit a lot of things are and how the people who claim to be knowledgeable tend to not know what they're talking about (Beyond just the "people don't think ghosts are real", she's also got ghosts willing to tell her when people are lying because they've got nothing better to do than just gossip) , so if she spent even just a moment thinking about gender as a social construct she'd instantly recognize that and probably take up some form of genderweird label, but as it stands she's just too stressed with Being The Protagonist to think about that

Now, the thing with Margaret. I'm not even going to lie to you, I think you made a better connection to how a name connects with community in terms of the narrative themes than I did. The thing with Margaret denying the name "Maggie" existed for two reasons, the in-universe explanation is that, with the little scrap of soul Margaret has leftover from Maggie, it's essentially working overtime just to keep her vitals working, it can't dedicate time and energy to making her an individual with preferences and a personality, so part of that is that she doesn't respond to "Maggie" because ultimately, that is not her name. Her name is Margaret and she's not going to respond to "Maggie" because "Maggie" isn't her name. Of course, out of universe the reasoning is that I wanted an easy way to distinguish between Maggie as she is the protagonist, and the version of her that lived in the years she was gone, so different names makes the most sense.

I think your connection to how name relates to community genuinely works on a level I hadn't fully pieced together myself yet and I really love that because I think that absolutely works with everything. One of the main conflicts of the plot is how Maggie is entirely disconnected from her family thanks to the years she was gone, with Margaret having no priorities beyond "survive", she basically never spoke with her parents or brother for years. While her family tried to reach out to her repeatedly (Especially given that, while they're unaware the truth of what happened the night Maggie was murdered, they do know something happened, and they believe that whatever it was severely traumatized her, and that's where the sudden and drastic shift in personality came from), there's a point where they just... gave up. She wasn't trying to talk with them or contact them in the slightest, so around a year or two after Margaret moved out, her parents gave up on her. Her brother would still be there a bit, but he also didn't really... try... anymore.

When Maggie wakes up, she tries to call her parents... and they don't pick up. They'd grown resentful over the years, and now that Maggie wants to talk to them, they don't forgive her for the years of not speaking to them, and aren't interested in whatever she has to say after nearly a decade of trying to reconnect with her and being met with nothing. It's her insistence that she wants to be called Maggie that actually gets her brother to realize she's telling the truth and that something happened. She shows up at his door, already something that Margaret wouldn't have done, and that combined with her being visibly upset when he calls her Margaret and tells him that's not her and that she's Maggie, it signals to him that whatever's going on is real (...though he would've figured this out eventually, given that she also literally 17 again and not in her mid-20s, and has a giant glowing stab wound in her chest). I think it works absolutely perfectly as being a symbol of community, her disconnect from her community is what led to her being called Margaret, and her desperation to be returned to that community is when she's Maggie again. So uh. Congrats on getting the themes of my OCs better than I did <3

And uhhhh closing thoughts! I honestly did still skim over the majority of the plot (Literally never even mentioned Eli or what's going on with her stab wound </3), but I think you reeeeally hit the nail on the head with everything I'm kinda getting at with these OCs, which is... frankly wild given how little main plot I actually got at. Basically everything I mentioned in my original post was the setup, not the main plot. But waaaaugh thank you for being so niceys to me and also giving me another excuse to ramble endlessly <3

[idorkish-og]

4am Cuddles pt.2

Notes: FINALLY PART 2 is DOOONE! There will be a part 3, depending on how this goes. I’m not 100% in love with this chapter, but it’s a good bridge chapter. This was not Beta read, so all mistakes are completely on me. If you want to be tagged in this, please shoot me a message so I can add you. I’ll be adding a tag list if I get enough people (AKA more than zero lol). ENJOY! 

It had been a week since your departure from the Avengers’ Tower. You had told Natasha you were just going to visit some family for a while - which wasn’t a complete lie. That night you left, you had called Hank, and as predicted, he had offered you space at the mansion. You knew seeing your old team would be good for you. There were many times over the past years that you almost went back to them, but you knew you couldn't. You hadn’t wanted to use your powers anymore and no one in SHIELD knew, or at least they pretended not to know. Despite this, home was with the X-men and the students.

You knew you didn’t have much time left before having to return to the Avengers, it was your job. The past week had been spent reconnecting with your friends. You spent time with Piotr - drawing and painting together and with students in his classes. Other moments were spent with the girls - Jean & Ororo- shopping and gossiping. You also helped around with chores and classes, as needed. Charles insisted you use the time to rest but you loved helping with the children and they seemed to like you back. Most nights you spent in the lab with Hank. It was the most comforting place for you and you felt as if you had never left this space. Despite being close to other X-Men, everyone knew you and Hank were each other’s favorites. The past week had been filled with nothing but joy and happiness. A few people questioned your real motives for returning but you dismissed them immediately. Charles and Jean were sure to know your real reasons but both kept their old promises of never invading your mind to poke around. Jean knew that with time, you would open up and tell what happened. Otherwise, she was glad to have one of her best friends back.

You had at least another full week left before you would be forced to return. Knowing you would have to leave your family and friends again was hard and began to weigh on you. Late saturday, you found your way to the roof of the mansion, your feet hanging over the sides. When younger and still a student here, you would often find yourself up on the roof to get away from everyone. The quiet that came from begin alone have you time to think. You had taken off and immediately threw yourself into keeping yourself busy that you never once have yourself the time to think of what had happened and your next steps. Would you actually go back to the Avengers? You'd be forced to work with Tony and pretend that you never had an issue with him. You knew that if you went back, Natasha would figure everything out. The team wouldn't be the same. You could go back to being a normal agent, perhaps change office locations. But you loved being out in the field, fighting with the team was something you couldn't go back from.

    Your other choice was to leave and stay at the Mansion. Charles would be more than willing to let you stay. You could work with the students in class or you could help Charles with admin things. Heck, you were sure Hank would be willing to make you his assistant if it meant you staying. The thought that disturbed you the most was that of running away from both and never returning. You knew you could leave in the middle of the night and they'd have a hard time finding you. Even with cerebro, it would take Charles time to find you and you'd be gone by the time they got there. “Bad day?” A voice called out making you scream and jump. You flailed about as you fell from the ledge back into the roof. The voice started laughing. “You ass,” you sighed when you realized the voice belonged to your blue ball of fuzz. “Damnit Fuzz, why do you enjoy sneaking up on me?” “Why do you insist on calling me Fuzz?”

“I asked first, Hank.”

Hank walked toward you and helped you to your get before pulling you close and placing his hands on your waist. “Because, my dear, it is far too amusing and adorable to see you so lost in thought that you don't realize the amount of noise I do make to get your attention, yet you still get scared. So again, bad day?” Resting your forehead on his chest, all you could do was sigh and shrug. “Come on Y/n. You have to give me more than that.” You pulled away from your best friend and ran your hands down your face. “Just a lot to think about. I’ve made some bad choices lately and I’m not sure what to do anymore.” Hank stepped toward you and wrapped his arms around your shoulders, pulling you back towards him. Instinctively your arms wrapped around his waist and you snuggled against him. He looked down at the woman in his arms and sighed as he rubbed your back. “I got an idea. What about an ice cream and movie night? Like we used to do. I’ll grab the ice cream and spoons, you pick the corniest movie you can find, then you can vent to your dear ol’ Fuzz.” You let out a smile and nodded your head against his chest. “That sounds perfect. Meet in your room?”

“Meet you there in 20 ok?”

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-Back at the Tower-

Natasha flopped down on the couch next to Clint and sighed. It had been a week since she had last saw her best friend and despite the messages that Y/n was ok, Natasha couldn’t help but worry. “Ya know, if Y/n says she’s ok, then you know she’s ok right?” Clint’s voice broke Natasha out of her thoughts and she nodded slowly. “I know, but it doesn’t feel right. She’s never talked about her family to me and we talk about everything. She would have told me something before taking off in the middle of the night while we’re all away. Do you think she’s in some sort of trouble?” It was not often that Natasha would show her worry. It was even rarer for Natasha to visibly be anxious. Clint sighed and grabbed her legs, pulling them onto his lap and massaging her calves slowly. “Tasha, calm down. Y/n is ok. She has another week before she’s back here. And we’ll probably see her at the party this week.” Throwing her head back against the sofa’s cushions, she let out a groan. “I forgot about that party! And we’ll be having ‘important people’, as Stark refers to them, there as well.” Clint let out a laugh and pushed her legs off his lap. “It’ll be fine. I got to go, training and all.”

Natasha half-heartedly waved at Clint. Pulling her phone, she shot off some quick messages.

Tasha: y/n!!!! See you at the party right?! Miss you babe! :*

y/n: Tasha! <3 <3 Fingers crossed! Miss ya right back my baby spider!

Tasha: Even if you aren’t here, help me pick out something, k? Skype? Pics? HELP! <3

y/n: Send me pics and I’ll help. I’m 90%  sure I’ll make it to the party. Pinky promise!

Tasha: Ugg, you’re killing me! I’m taking Wanda shopping tomorrow, we’ll send plenty of pics so be near your phone! OR ELSE

Y/n: lol I promise! I gotta get going. Need to help with dinner. LOVE YOU MI AMOR!

Natasha sighed and tossed her phone on the coffee table. She normally wouldn’t be this anxious but she knew something was off. Y/n would never keep things from her. Sighing, she shook her head. It would only be a few more days before the big party. She’d see Y/n there, for sure. Jumping to her feet, she made her way to the twins’ apartment area, “WANDA! We need to start planning for saturday!”  

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After an hour of binging on ice cream and corny 80s movies, you had finally vented to Hank about everything that happened, although you decided not to mention names. You knew that Hank wasn’t the biggest fan of Tony Stark, and you didn’t want him to look at you differently. “So, you slept with a co-worker behind everyone’s back and behind his partner’s back? You know you’re my best friend Y/N, and I won’t judge you, but that was a mistake,” Hank pointed his spoon at you before grabbing another spoonful of ice cream. “I know Fuzz! That’s why I broke it off! I couldn’t do it anymore and I didn’t want it to be awkward, but then it became awkward! I really thought I was in love with him ya know? Then I realized I was just being used and I pulled away from him. But then he started getting all weird,” pausing you shoveled a spoonful of ice cream into your mouth and sighed. “...and? Cmon, I’ve let you go the whole week without me asking anything. You were pretty anxious on the phone when you called. I’m worried about you Boo.” You smiled and chuckled at the nickname. You had called him Fuzz from day one of being friends, it was a name only you could call him. It wasn’t until you forced him to watch Monster’s Inc that he started calling you Boo. Scooting closer, you rested your head on Hank’s arm and sighed. “Hank, I was falling in love with a man who was already taken. I convinced myself that he would leave her because he obviously wasn’t happy with her. I kept telling myself that it would all work out. It wasn’t until he proposed to her that it all came crumbling down, but he still kept coming to me,” you sniffled and wiped at your nose. Hank shook his head and pulled you to sit between his legs and his arms wrapped around you. There were no words he could say to make your heart heal and it was in moments like these that he felt helpless. “Boo...Y/n, despite what happened. Maybe it’s for the best,” he took a moment to think of his next words carefully, unsure as to how you would react, “What if you just came back here? With me..well with us. It wasn’t that bad was it? I-I-we all miss you!”

You sat between his legs, your head resting on his chest. You had sat like this so many times over the time of your friendship and it had been the most safe spot you could ever find. You moved your hand to his arm and slowly stroked at the blue fur. “I’ve been thinking about that ya know. About staying. I was going to talk to Charles and see if I could just work at the school. I’m sure I could do the most good here. I wouldn’t need to use my powers as much here…” your voice drifted. You closed your eyes and felt Hank shift behind you. He moved you both so you were now laying on the bed, you laid on him and nuzzled your cheek to his chest as his arms wrapped around your waist. “Y/n, we would all love you to come back home. Let’s be honest, Charles would let you do nothing all day if it meant you came back. But it has to be because you want to be here and not because you’re running from your problems. It didn’t work well last time, it won’t work well this time. You’re my best friend, and you should know I love you more than anybody else. So when you’re sure about what you want, I will support you.”

You wiped at the tears threatening to spill and nodded at his words. You knew what you had to do. Before you could come back to your family, you had to face your team. You couldn’t just abandon them. “Hank, there’s a party at work coming up. WIll you go with me? Pretty please? With cherries and sprinkles on top?” Hank gave a toothy grin and nodded, “Of course I will. We’ll make everyone jealous. I mean, cmon, Just look at me!” You looked up at his smirking face and both of your started laughing. “Let’s get some sleep, we’ll talk more in the morning,” Hank pressed a lingering kiss to your forehead and pulled you tightly against him. Giving him a nod, you relax in his arms. This was how you often found yourself falling asleep after missions. Being in his arms again was comforting, it was safe and felt like home. “I love you Fuzz.”

“I love you too my little Boo.”