#since i have FINALLY narrowed down my future major and since i'm

[deadringers2023]

i've been so busy with my classes this semester plus i cannot gif anymore since i'm out of storage and an external storage cost $$$ so i haven't had any desire to be here but i miss you guys a lot and i thank y'all for still tagging me in things <333333

[dk-wren]

Week 3 - 30 Days of Buddy Daddies

Welcome back to Week 3 of me responding to the 30 Days of Buddy Daddies prompts! Thank you for all your support on the previous two weeks' posts. I've been having a lot of fun answering these prompts. Anyways, without further delay, here are my responses for days 15-21!

Day 15: Favorite Official Illustration

Massive fan of Lily's work, so here are my favorites (was gonna say top 5, but even that was hard to narrow down)

I mentioned it last week, but these two pieces of Kazuki, Rei, and Miri in kimonos are some of my favorites, so definitely gotta include them here too.

Bonus: Since it came out after the 15th, but I’m so love with it I have to include it because Rei (and Miri) finally got their cat!!!

Day 16: Character Whom You Most Identify With

Trait-wise, Kazuki is probably the character I identify with the most.

I like to make sure my friends or whoever I am with is taken care of, which has lead to me being referred to as the "mom of the group" on multiple occasions. I generally try to keep a positive external attitude, even if that's not reflective of how I actually feel. And I always try to lead with love.

Definitely not to the same severity as Kazuki, but I also have a tendency to sometimes let past memories or mistakes influence current decisions. It's those moments where I might want to do something or try a new thing, but a lingering memory just pops back into my head and I psyche myself out/decide to longer move forward.

Also, a lot of what I do for my major (and hopefully in a future career) is research-based, obviously though in terms of historical or biographical information and not how to take out someone quietly and efficiently.

Day 17: Character Whose Story You Would Like to Know More About

I would love to know more about Kyuutaro.

I really enjoyed his character and the way he kinda teetered between sides. I was asking myself, will Kyu help Kazuki and Rei or Ogino or is he gonna encourage the duo to be a family or warn them about getting too close with Miri. Things like this made me wander what is his history with the organization, let alone how he got involved with the organization.

The audience is really never shown anything about Kyu's life outside of Yadorigi, so I'm curious does he have a lifestyle outside of the cafe that's like what Rei used to have (very isolated and shut-in), did he have a past partner like Kazuki, I don't know, what is he like when away from the organization/giving out assignments.

There's a brief glimpse into when Kyu assigned Kazuki and Rei a mission together for the first time. Like, I just want to know what were his interactions with each of them beforehand and what other reasons motivated him to pair those two together. Also, the dynamic that is hinted (?) towards with Kyu telling Miri Kazuki is a comedian and Rei's a Middle Eastern Oil Baron, as well as his little smile in the finale telling Kazuki and Rei that he's no longer gonna run errands for them as he drives away, he clearly is fond of or enjoys Kazuki and Rei's company. I would've been so excited to see this side of their relationship explored more.

Again, there's a lot of mystery around Kyu so I would love to know more about him.

Day 18: Theories or Headcanons

I did a few head canons about a quarter or halfway through the series, so here's some more based on the second half of the season and epilogue!

Because Kyu will occasionally watch Miri at Yadorigi, he keeps a private stash of her favorite snacks behind the counter. Kyu even lets her create a "reserved for Miri" or "save for Miri" sign that he hangs on the draw or box where they're kept. This remains their little secret for a while, but eventually Rei or Kazuki notices the sign and asks Kyu what's behind the sign that says "reserved for Miri," which he just brushes off by saying toys/coloring supplies. Eventually, Kazuki realizes it's a secret snack stash and Miri's been having more sweets while staying with Kyu then what he allows her to take/have, prompting Kazuki to tell Kyu to stop giving Miri extra treats. If Kyu listens to Kazuki's request is up for debate though.

In ep. 11, Kazuki and Rei are shown watching one of Miri's shows that presumably she forced them to watch in the beginning, and then probably began to enjoy on their own (or they just associate that show with her). I imagine as Miri begins to grow up, they keep watching this show or another one of Miri's favorites even after she loses interest. She at first thinks they are still trying to treat her like a child or don't want her to grow up, but then realizes whenever Kazuki or Rei turn it on, they don't even refer to it as "her" show anymore or ask if she wants to watch it. This causes Miri to eventually ask why they still watch that show and if they realize she's no longer into it. Kazuki and Rei are not oblivious to the fact that she's grown up, so they share a laugh and tell her that they just enjoy watching it still.

Around Christmas, it becomes an annual tradition to go on a fun family outing to Marinoa City and go on the Ferris wheel, share a crepe, and maybe do a little holiday shopping. I don't know when or how Kazuki and Rei will tell Miri that her mother has passed, but I feel like once they do, they would take Miri to visit her grave on the same day so that it really feels for Miri like she gets to spend the day with her whole family. They'd probably start this tradition the year after the main storyline ends, but depending on when Kazuki and Rei reveal the truth to Miri, that would be incorporated into that day's plans later.

Kazuki's really good at making hand shadow puppets. Not something he intentionally set out to learn, but maybe one night Miri has a nightmare, there's a thunder storm that scares her, or a power outage, and she goes to Kazuki's room where he takes out a flashlight and begins to play around. He does really simple ones at first, but Miri is so fascinated by it, she keeps asking him to do more. So, after Miri is finally able to go back to sleep, he looks up how to do other animals for the next time Miri asks and learns that he's got a knack for it.

Still kinda a draft, but I was thinking about how Rei has very few "normal" experiences in life since he has spent basically his whole life under the eyes and rules of the organization. He's definitely street smart, but comes up a little short when it comes to book smart. So, what if Rei eventually decides to enroll in one of those online degree programs. Perhaps as Miri gets a little older and is less dependent on her papas, Rei has a bit more time on his hands (and perhaps also because Kazuki is still limiting his gaming hours per day). He does some poking around online and feels going to college/getting a degree is a fairly normal thing to do, leading him to just apply for an interesting sounding one. He would get accepted, and when Rei tells Kazuki, he breaks down crying because he's so proud of him and that he did it all on his own. Perhaps this would lead to Miri and Rei doing their work together at the dining table or going on trips to the library together so they can both work on their school work.

Day 19: What Would You Write in the Mom's Chat

A) if this is true to life, I'd probably be quietly reading all the messages in the Mom's chat, reacting to some, and occasionally typing something

B) if I were to type something into the Mom's chat though, it would probably be something along the lines of "You think Kazuki will ever let us know when he's gonna do a stand-up night? I'm dying to see him perform. Not to be cheap, but do you also think he could get us in for free?"

Day 20: Scene/Moment that You Would Have Liked to See

No idea where this would have fit in, but would have liked to see Kazuki and Rei tucking Miri in at night. Like let me see them read/act out a bedtime story, pepper her with kisses, and pull her blanket up high to make sure she's all snuggled in and nice and warm.

And like, how adorable would it be if Miri starts insisting Kazuki and Rei gotta kiss all her plushies good night too or she teaches them the smile spell, which she then makes them do for her every night.

Day 21: A Post from Kazuki's Instagram

I’ve already written about the Ferris wheel scene being the scene that caused me (the most) anguish. But the way this post broke me and just made me so sad, even without a caption, is why I’m including this one.

Angst aside, the Instagram was so fun! Always looked forward to see what part of the new episode would be featured in the post. I doubt there will be, but hope there’s little updates every now and then.

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Thank you again for reading this week's responses! Another very hectic and busy week, so I really did not have a whole lot of time to edit my replies (apologies for any errors or really long sentences). But, still glad I was able to step away from my work every now and then to work on these prompts! As always, had a lot of fun this week, even if some of my answers are on the shorter side.

Not that anyone cares, but also think I'm gonna hold off on posting the next round of responses until the end of the month so that there's not one post with like 2-3 days. Could change my mind, but that is my current plan.

See you again sometime soon!

-Dakota Wren

[powerofmettatonneo]

Happy Birthday Jason!/An Announcement + Bonus Content

After half a month of no updates on What Measure is a Non-Human, I finally have one! And, since y'all have been dedicated enough to follow my Tumblr, y'all get to be the first ones to know (all one of you currently; hi IYP! Thanks for all the support!).

I've been hard at work writing the story, but not spending as much time editing it as I would like, so I'm currently sitting on two-three chapters. This is because the mental downtime I have at my job gives me a lot of time to think of ideas that I want to immediately write down before I forget them, but the physical time I spend there takes away from the time I can spend editing it. I could hypothetically release them with less editing done on them, but I want to hold myself to a higher standard of what I release into the world and do genuinely enjoy the editing process. However, with that all being said, I have three days off in a row, and I'm going to use this chance to buckle down and try and get them ready for publication by Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, I can't promise anything, but I do have other news that I can make assurances on.

I've decided that Valentine's Day is Jason's birthday. I wanted to give most of the major characters birth months, at least, just for chronological cohesion; I chose this day in particular for Jason because I have personal history with the day that, when combined with the fact that he's the mc of a romance story, made it the perfect day for him. In celebration of his birthday, I have written out a 7k word prequel one-shot all about the confession/first kiss that I will be posting on Valentine's Day, come hell or high water.

I actually wrote a first draft of the first kiss portion all the way back in December, right after the second chapter, and as a bonus for those of you who take the time to find this post, whether now or in the future, I'm going to share it with you. Most of it will be repetitive to the last bit of the finished story, so beware of spoilers I guess (but this is a prequel anyways so like do they even matter), but I have added enough to the final product to make it stand out and above. Really, this is largely just to archive it as I think it's interesting to see how any story evolves over time, much less my own, and I hope y'all feel the same way. See y'all on Valentine's Day, and without further ado, here goes the original first kiss scene (also fair warning, there's still no smut, but it does get more explicit than I've previously allowed it to):

…Hazel reached up and kissed him. Jason entered a state of shock, freezing in place. At first, his mind went completely and totally blank, but that quickly changed into a series of scattered thoughts as his mind tried to reconfigure itself. I'm being kissed. By Hazel. Who is a Pokemon. Oh Arceus, I’m being kissed by a Pokemon—and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever felt. As soon as he returned to coherent thought, however, the kiss ended. Hazel pulled away, and Jason could see that she looked… scared. The look in her eyes was the same that he had when he confessed his feelings to her. It hit him then; the kiss was her idea of a response, and he had just frozen in place like an idiot. He could imagine the doubts and fears rushing through her at his complete lack of a reaction. He also knew exactly how to alleviate them.

Jason narrowed the gap between them and restarted the kiss. He could clearly feel the surprise in his partner and just as clearly feel it melt away as she returned it. Her lips felt velvety against his as they both pushed against each other with all their might. All of the nerves, the adrenaline, the raw energy they were feeling was channeled into the kiss. They fell back onto the bed, Hazel on top, and didn't stop for a second. It felt like they were melting together, becoming one.

Hazel broke from the kiss, and before Jason had a chance to react, she dragged her tongue across his lips. She moved it down, trailing along his chin and neck, resulting in a small moan escaping his mouth. When she arrived at his shirt, she grabbed it with her teeth and began tugging at it.

“S-stop,” Jason gasped, lightly pushing his partner back. Hazel let go of his shirt and stared at him, a look of disappointment in her eyes. It hurt him to see it, but he had read enough ‘romance’ stories to know where this was going.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t do this right now,” he said, trying to let her down gently.

“Umbre,” she whimpered, looking down at her feet. She felt ashamed at herself for pushing so hard so fast and afraid of what her best friend would think of her for it. Or, she did, until the implication of those last two words hit her. She jolted her head back back up and was met with a worried smile on Jason’s face.

“I’m not saying never,” he started, “but I don’t think I’m ready for something like that yet, and I’m pretty sure mom would just straight up kill us if she found out.” Hazel just sighed at that, but even the vague hope of “not never” sent a small shiver up her spine. She laid down on top of him, enjoying his warmth. They sat there in a comfortable silence for a while, simply enjoying each other’s touch in the wake of the roller coaster of emotions they had both just experienced, and soon drifted off to sleep, not caring what tomorrow might bring so long as they had each other.

[Also, one final super extra bonus note: my beta only left one comment on this original draft when I showed it to her, and it was too funny not to mention: on the line "Her lips felt velvety against his", she simply wrote "I refuse to consider the mechanics of this", to which I simply responded "coward".]

[uh-velkommen]

Guys I gotta admit this isn't living up to what I expected it to be. I've been becoming more and more depressed because I thought going to grad school would be this big life changing event where I was really gonna find myself, engrain myself thoroughly into a new culture, learn so much about the topic I enjoy, and maybe even meet some super cool people along the way. And while I'm not particularly struggling in those departments, I just feel like this was a waste of time. I wanna just move back to the US, refund my student loans, and pick up where I left off in August. I keep thinking about how I had my apartment furnished exactly how I dreamed it would look and how I was able to stock my kitchen pantry with fresh ingredients to bake desserts every night from scratch and I just enjoyed living in my own peace. When I was in school I didn't want to leave because school felt like where I belonged. When I was an "adult" I didn't want to leave because I felt at peace. Now I'm back at school and I don't want either thing. I don't want to restart my meshing into adulthood but I don't want to financially struggle and only talk to people for 3 hours a day each week.

I decided to meet with my academic advisor to plan out my two years because I felt like that would give me motivation to keep going. I want to study multilingualism and neurolinguistics. All of which was advertised when it came time to search for graduate programs. But then I meet with my Advisor and she tells me they're not offering classes like that in the near future. I ask about taking classes in Copenhagen or Stockholm at the same time, she tells me I'd have to pay double tuition as a non-EU student. I tell her, okay how about language evolution, that was something I really emphasized having an interest in when I did my application. She offers me, "Variations of English" and "Sounds of the world's languages." These are classes I already took in my undergrad. And this is a recurring problem. Linguistic departments are always so small and understaffed that they end up offering the same things over and over again. I'm currently taking classes on things I already know! To make things worse, they keep telling me that I need to take B.A. level courses here since I didn't major in Linguistics in my undergrad. I explained to them over and over that I took classes in those general subjects, phonetics, syntax, semantics, etc. and my advisor replied with, "We want to make sure you take classes that cover linguistic theory" Okay so like, Chomsky and Sapir, I can do that, what are the classes called? "Syntax and Semantics." OH MY FUCKING GOD. I can't bare another semantics course, I've taken like 3 already. Finally I just show her my transcripts so she can see what classes I took and she goes, "huh, I don't see a lot of linguistics here?" And I can just HEAR her thoughts floating around saying, Why did we even admit you??

I mean, shit I've been thinking the same thing. I'm not struggling though, I was a straight A student in all my Anthro/Ling classes. And I told them over and over that I was a Linguistic Anthropologist and that's why most of my classes are listed under Anthropology and that I'm here to really narrow down my studies. I WANT to do the hard stuff. I want this interest to be reignited and I'm just not getting it here. This is a waste of time and money because this school isn't providing what I need.

But I'm not a quitter, I can't just stop something a month into it, I just don't know how. So I remind myself that this is a means to an end. We do this for two years, we get a job, we live in Sweden, we're happy. But linguistics isn't exactly a lucrative field, in fact, I know exactly what the job market looks like in Scandinavia and nobody is looking to hire an M.A. Linguistics kid. Finding work here is not garaunteed. So then what, I do all this, go into debt, go broke, ruin my credit score, end up with no job and no home to return to, scrambling to find an apartment in a city I've never been to with a job I have no true passion for and the remorse of an opportunity wasted weighing on my conscious? But hey, at least I got to live in Sweden!/s

[sheliesshattered]

This week has been all about seam finishes for my RRD cosplay. And now thankfully, the large majority of it is finished!

When I sewed the dress panels together, I added a narrow strip of silk organza (cut from the selvage edge of the organza for 8 of the 10 seams, and slightly wider on-grain strips for the other 2 seams) both to add stability to the seams without adding much weight or bulk, and so I could turn the organza over the cut edges of the fabric and encase the entire seam, to prevent any possibility of fraying on the inside of the dress.

Each of those seam finishes needed to be folded over, pressed, and machine stitched down such that the raw edges are all encased -- the first two pics are in progress, from earlier this week. Given that the 12 yards of selvage edge from the 6 yards of organza I ordered only covered 8 of the 10 dress seams, this was quite a lot of ironing, pinning, and sewing throughout this week. Thankfully work continues to be just the right amount of weird to allow me to fit in at least a little bit of progress nearly every day this week. I finished the last of it tonight, pressed the seams flat, and grabbed a few photos! The third pic is all the finished seams on the inside of the skirt, and the fourth picture is looking from the outside (through the ugly basted-in zipper) to the finished seams on the inside of the front of the dress.

The other seam finishing I've been slowly working on is for the interior of the sleeve seam, pics five and six. Since I'll be wearing a separate (sleeveless) black organza underdress to add some opacity and skirt volume to the dress, I decided to fully line the sleeves rather than just reinforce the seams to keep the weight and color consistent with the dress. This also let me finish the top edge, wrist edge, and the forearm opening by just sewing the outer fabric to the lining fabric, then sewing the seam of the sleeve all in one go.

All that turned out great, but it did leave raw edges of the seam pressed up against my arm, and they 1. itch (especially the organza), 2. won't lay flat on their own, and 3. may continue to fray over time. I fiddled around with a few different ways of finishing that inner edge, and decided just to do a teeny tiny hand-rolled flatfelling, and then tack it to the lining fabric with little whip stitches. I've been mostly focusing on the dress seams, but I did manage to get one sleeve a little more than half finished in the last week. There's a lot of handsewing in my future, but I'll keep chipping away at it as often as I can.

I had been thinking about trying to do at least the first turn of the skirt hem next, just to stop the fraying from continuing to climb upwards. But even after all the manhandling it went through while I finished the seams, it looks like the fraying on the skirt edge may have stopped. I did a narrow zigzag stitch that seems to be holding up better than the original staystitching, and at this point I think it miiiight just hold up well enough for me to put the hem off until the final step.

Things like getting the grommets in and lacing it up tighter than the basted-in zipper currently has it will change how the hem lies, and having the sleeves laced on and all the trim applied may change the way it hangs, too. And ideally I'd like to mark out the hem with the underdress on as well, since that fullness will also change how long the hem should be, but the underdress still needs a fair amount of finishing as well. So as long as that zigzag stitch is keeping the fraying from traveling any further up, I'm going to keep putting off the hem for as long as possible.

Which means that the next step will be finishing the edges of the armscyes and neckline, and get them ready to handle the lacing grommets and wide trim around the neck. I want to reinforce both with black organza again, but I thiiiink that should all be a pretty straight forward process. I want to lower both the neckline and the underarm just a bit, so I'll need to try the dress on again tomorrow (maybe with the underdress on as well, hmm) and mark that all out.

Once the neckline and armscyes are finished, it'll be on to adding the narrow trim to the seamlines and the wide trim to the neckline! All of that will be done with handsewing (and then the beading on top of the neckline trim, too), but I'm really looking forward to getting to some of those details and make the dress start looking more screen-accurate.

Aaaand because I have zero chill, I've already paced out the other two cosplays I want to try to pull together in the next 13-weeks-plus-one-weekend before Dragon Con. I'm pretty sure I have everything on hand for the first one, and I've sourced everything I would need for the second one. Both would involve one solid sewing project each, but limited drafting and no new techniques, so they might come together pretty quickly. Finishing the RRD cosplay is still definitely the priority, but gosh would I love to have those other two finished for Dragon Con as well.

97 days to go! Let's see how far I can get.

[xneens]

i do

Warning: language, major character death, violence, angst

Word count: 3.4k

Summary: Soulmate AU where the last words you will ever hear from your soulmate is written on your wrist so you won't know it's them until you've lost them.

Staring at the words on your wrist, you held back another sigh, tracing the black ink with your finger, dread and sadness washing over you. You shuddered at the words, unable to rid of the lump in your throat.

I do.

Born with the words on your wrist, no one knew when they would meet their soulmates, unknown to who your other half was until they died. It was cruel, knowing the last thing they'll say to you would cause you immense pain. Horror stories stemmed from the agonies of other's pain, movies made out of the tales that would become famous.

Some, those who were protective of their hearts, buried themselves away from others, but fate always led them to their soulmate. No matter how short the time would be stretching from the duration of your life to a single second before you'd lose them. The best outcome to happen was when two lovers let go, and spend their lives together, to die at when they were to, finding out they had spent their lives with their one and only. That possibility was becoming more and more realistic with modern technology and wishful thinking.

Yet, there was some tragedies. The unfortunate ones would have their sentences written on their wrist, knowing they'd only know their soulmate for a short time, or not at all. “It's nice to meet you.” "What's your name?" "Can I get your number?" "Sounds like a date." Not knowing them at all was, to most, was worse than to know them at all.

A few rare situations when your soulmate would die young. Parents told horror stories, reading the words off their kid's wrist. "We're playing dodgeball in gym!" "I didn't do my math homework." "You can come to my birthday party. I'm turning seven next week!"

Then there were the most terrifying stories. They were the ones turned into thrillers, a real life story turned into a disrespectful horror movie. They'd lose each other, aware there was nothing they could do. "I thought you locked the door." "I don't think we're alone." "Behind you!" "Someone's in the house."

Thankful none of the situations applied to you, you still couldn't get the words branded in your wrist out of your head. It lingered, whispering the last words before your heart would be torn, only healed when death came for you. Some looked on the positive side, knowing meeting their soulmate was inevitable.

Natasha broke you out of your reverie as she tackled you down on the mat, leaving you breathless at the sudden attack, confused to how you've become acquaintances with the ground. You spit your hair out, grimacing in disgust as a few strays stuck to your lips. With your hands tied behind your back, and crushed against the former assassin's body, you turned your attention on her smug smile, glaring daggers.

"Okay, get off before Tony pictures us scissoring again." you grunted, too tired to push her off of you. Natasha laughed, letting your wrists go as she shifted her weight off of you, sitting next to you on the thick mat. You rolled onto your back, closing your eyes in exhaustion. "That was unnecessary, Nat."

Spending the day at the gym with Natasha seemed like a good idea after being beaten by Clint the day before. You knew you were getting rusty, without all the life threatening missions and people to save, your skills wasn't needed. Besides, you loved yourself too much for Steve to convince you to join him on his suicide runs. He woke up before the sun rose, and it only took a few runs to realize that even you couldn't keep up with his fast pace. ("Although, I would love to see his fast pace in the bedroom. Ow, Sam!")

After tying the score—despite the lack of training, you and Natasha still tied when it came to hand to hand combat—you had sat down on the bench, which was now sweaty, and sulked, sighing over the words written on your wrist.

Natasha rolled her eyes, leaning on her elbows as she eyed your expression, eyes narrowing when you didn't return her smile. "What's with the sad face? Are you thinking about your soulmate mark again?"

"You know I only allow myself to think about it once every other month." you replied. Natasha made a noise in respond but you ignored it. "Shut up, I know I'm pathetic. No need to voice your opinions."

"You're not pathetic, just compassionate." she whispered, her eyes sparkling with remembrance. Natasha had lost her soulmate on a mission a few years before the Avengers were formed, but it didn't stop her from living her life. You hoped you could follow her path when the horrid time came. "Out of curiosity, if you had to guess, do you think you've met your soulmate by now?"

You've given it much thought, coming up with a good theory that even Tony Stark would be impressed by. Of course, you didn't share it with anyone, giving Nat the simplified version of it. "With the amount of people I've met, I like to think so."

The playful smirk returned to her lips, a wiggle of her eyebrows as she digested your words. "And do you think a certain blond, big-hearted, super soldier might be it?"

You reached for the nearest water bottle, throwing it at her only to have it hit the wall behind her as she dodged it. Natasha laughed, putting distance between you, sensing an attack. You scowled at her but it lacked real annoyance. "Oh my, God. I have, like, the smallest crush on him and you're already planning our children's proms."

"I'm thinking: under the sea." Natasha joked, grinning when the corner of your lips curled up. The both of you burst out laughing, thinking about Natasha in a ridiculous kid-friendly dress as she chaperoned yours and Steve's future offsprings.

As if summoned, Steve chose that moment to enter the training room, freezing in his tracks when he saw you and Natasha cackling. His expression made Natasha double back into another round of laughter while yours subsided in giggles. Steve cleared his throat, looking down as a slight blush decorated his face.

He murmured your name, walking up towards you, his blue eyes eyeing the ground with too much interest. "Did you hear about the party Tony is making all of us go to?"

Natasha stopped laughing immediately, jaw clenching at Tony's betrayal. They had a truce where Natasha would stop hacking into his system to play Spice Girls—with the help of Bruce, of course—and Tony was to stop throwing parties every month. It's been three months since the last party, the one where Natasha has almost killed the billionaire. Tony couldn't hold off any longer. She stood. "I'm going to kill him."

Before either of you could get a word in, Natasha was already out the door, her stance deadly as Tony Stark awaited his death. The door slammed close behind her as Steve sat down beside you on the mat, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

You admired his ruffled hair, blond strands hanging down on his forehead. You had mentioned to him that he looked sexier with his long hair, and it seemed like he was following your advice. Dressed in a simple black t-shirt and gray sweatpants, Steve Rogers was every girl's waking fantasy. It truly was unfair how good he could look in sweats.

"Hey." you greeted, smiling sweetly at him. Being happy around Steve was as easy as giving Pepper Potts presents. He returned the smile, grinning from ear to ear as he looked away, his cheeks reddening even more. "What can I do for you, Stevie?"

"Thor wanted to have some kind of Asgardian contest that may or may not level the top floor. I thought you might want to do something else, have a peaceful night instead of risking our lives to one of Thor's games?" he asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Not letting excitement cloud your senses, you grew cautious, eyes narrowing as you looked around the room, trying to search for a hidden camera that would allow Tony to get you back from ruining his thousand-dollar crocs. Steve Rogers was not asking you out in no way.

Steve saw your expression, quickly backing off. "Only if you want to. I'm sure you missed Thor and all. It's okay, I can suffer a few third degree burns—"

"No!" you shouted, making Steve flinch at the suddenness. You cleared your throat, cheeks heating up. "Uh, I mean, yeah. I wouldn't mind missing the party. Where did you plan on going?"

Slightly surprised, a smile crept on his lips. He ran a hand across his face to hide the cheeky grin. "Wherever you want to go."

You threw him a smile, unhealthily giddy. If Clint were here to comment, he'd compare you to a happy school girl with a massive crush. "Oh. Okay."

A voice interrupted the short silence, scaring both you and Steve. You suspected the AI, Friday, had been invested in your conversation. "If I may make a suggestion, I advise you both to leave sometime in the next hour before Mr. Stark ropes you in. I'm inclined to think Mr. Stark won't be above blackmail."

"Thank you, Friday." you murmured. The AI said it's goodbye, far too amused for your liking.

Steve got up, offering his hand for you. Both of you were smiling like idiots, cheeks hurting from the too-big smiles that adorned your faces. You had a suspicion you somewhat embodied a clown. The super-solider kept his hand wrapped around yours. "Would you like to leave at this moment, or get changed?"

You shook your head, liking the warmth of his touch. "I'm good. Let's leave."

Steve Rogers was a gentleman, that was confirmed by his acts and the influence of being raised right. Despite that fact, he was a savage in the bedroom. Or half the time, out of the bedroom. You had been surprised, yet pleased, when you fell into his bed halfway through the second unofficial date. After that night, Steve finally built the courage to ask you to be his girlfriend—a term he found silly but otherwise a happy milestone.

After years of being friends, Steve was ready to begin the rest of your lives together. No one was surprised, besides you, that he had proposed three months after the first official date. Being head over heels, you excitedly agreed, only to blanch when Tony started a petition to let him plan the wedding with you. Pepper had stopped him.

No one knew what happened the night of Thor's and Tony's party. Though, Steve made a smart choice to ditch it when you both found a floor of the tower littered with blackened metals and slightly burnt walls. The team wouldn't speak of the incident, not that neither you or Steve cared. You had both been too jubilant to interrogate them.

The wedding day came. Steve had been stopped by Thor, failing to sneak into the room you were in. No matter how strong he was, Thor wouldn't allow any bad luck to happen especially after you had lied to him about naming your firstborn after him. Steve tried, and failed, to tell him you weren't going to name his son after the God of Thunder. Bucky was too busy arguing with Sam about the flower decoration to help out Thor.

Dressed in the lavender bridesmaid dress, Natasha burst into the room, a smile adorning her face. She had thanked you multiple times for not dressing her in those ugly dresses she had seen on Pinterest. "You getting cold feet yet?"

"Mine are toasty warm." you mumbled, hands trembling at the thought of declaring your love in front of a crowd. You wondered if it was too late to get ear plugs so no one would hear all the gooey, cheesy vows you would utter to Steve.

"Very convincing." Natasha teased, taking a shot of the wine laid out on the table. Placing the flute down, she eyed the door, prepared to attack Steve if he managed to get away from Thor. "Alright, what're you worried about?"

You bit your lip, messing up the fresh layer of lip gloss Pepper had put on. Glancing out the window, you saw the crowd settling down in there chairs. The anxiety built up inside you. "Um, falling down the aisle. Accidentally saying the wrong name. Messing up in my vows. Dying of embarrassment."

"You'll be great, I promise. No one's going to die. You won't trip because Tony wouldn't let you. You won't say the wrong name because Steve's is practically implanted in your brain and you'll be too busy staring into his ocean blue eyes that you won't mess up. Now, are you still worried?" she asked, laughing when you managed to trip over your wedding dress.

"If anything, Tony's going to purposely trip me." you muttered, tempted to take a swig of some liquid courage, but the fetus in you held you back. The ceremony would start soon, and being too nervous, you hadn't eaten any breakfast. It was probably a good thing considering the nausea you were feeling. Why call it morning sickness when it didn't happen in the morning?

"You're being paranoid, everything will be great." she sighed, turning to the window, staring directly at the green hybrid. The Bruce and Natasha thing was unsurprising but kind of weird, especially with the whole sex thing. You had gagged at the thought of Bruce trying to fit inside of Natasha, and stopped altogether. "I'll be right back, I gotta do something."

She left the room before you could address her, groaning when she left a tiny crack in the door. Natasha knew how much it annoyed you when people left the door open when you originally had it closed. Heaving a sigh, you went to close the door, only to be met by a small force. Steve stuck his head through opening, his worried frown turning into a dazzling grin as he spotted you.

Without a word, he took you in his arms, his hand cupping your cheek as he pressed a quick kiss on your lips. You smiled into the kiss, closing the door behind him as your arms wrapped around his neck.

You pulled away, wiping the lip gloss smeared across his lips. Steve did the same, smirking at his handy work. "Hello, Mrs. Rogers. How do you feel?"

"Like I want to tangle myself around you in every way possible." you whispered, pressing another kiss to his lips. Steve chuckled, his thumb drawing small circles on your back. "How about you, Husband?"

"I've been waiting for this day for a very long time. You can't imagine how jovial I am." said Steve. He gave your nose a quick peck, and you giggled. "I know it's suppose to be bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony but I couldn't bear it."

Giggling, you pulled him closer, your lips meeting his neck as you sucked softly at the sensitive skin. "Hmm, I can't wait until I'm officially yours. Do you think we have time for a quickie? It'd really help with my wedding nerves."

Steve laughed, but the sound came out a little breathless. Even with the thickness of the wedding gown, you could feel him on your hip, smirking when he shifted. "While that's a very tempting offer, both Natasha and Pepper would kill me for ripping apart this beautiful dress."

"But Steve—" your whine was cut off by Natasha pulling Steve out of your arms.

The redhead glared at him, pushing him towards the opened door. "You, out, now."

"I'll see you—" Steve began to say, only to be cut off when the door slammed in his face. Natasha turned to turn her death stare on you.

"Look at your makeup. I can't believe he snuck in here with Thor on his ass." Natasha complained, pushing you towards the vanity, quickly applying the tube of lip gloss on your lips. You blinked back the tears as she practically poke your eye with the mascara wand, trying to fix Steve's touch on your slightly smeared mascara. "You look like you're going to puke."

You shook your head, taking a deep breath. "I'm good. Where's Tony?"

"Right here." he answered, entering with a velvet box in his hand. The billionaire set it down on the vanity before eyeing your stance. "Wow, you look ..."

"Like I'm gonna throw up all over Steve's suit?" you finished, panic rising.

"I was going to say gorgeous but now that you mention it, you do look a little green." he teased, earning himself a nudge from Natasha. Tony rubbed his ribs. "If you want to ditch, I have the car running in case you want to make a quick getaway."

You rolled your eyes, wishing you hadn't let him talk you into such a big wedding. All you wished at the moment was to take Steve with you and elope. "Thanks for the offer but I'm good. Let's get this over with."

"And here I thought you weren't romantic." Tony joked, handing you the bouquet of flowers.

Natasha checked her watch, the music audible. Morgan, the flower girl was already walking down the aisle along with Pepper's nephew on her heels. The former assassin opened the door, grinning. "Wait a few seconds before you follow me."

And with that, she walked down the short hall before stepping outside, the aisle was cleared by flowers adorning the sides. Weeping willow branches hung down from the huge tree, creating an illusion of fantasy, the little arch at the end of the aisle was created of leaves and even more colorful flowers. You were surprised no one was sneezing with the amount of pollen.

You took Tony's arm, taking another deep breath. Looking at him, you swore he was a bit proud. He smiled at you. "I hope you know I take full credit for the union of your two souls."

Ignoring his mini jab, you raised an eyebrow. "And how so?"

"There was never a party." he informed, grinning cheekily. He pulled you towards the opened door, walking down the hall. "I made it all up so Rogers would get the balls to finally ask you out."

"Then what the hell happened to the tower?" you asked, confused. People were beginning to stand but your curiosity became more important than your nerves.

Tony winked. "That's for me to know, and for you to dot dot dot."

"God, you're such a nerd." you mumbled, turning your attention ahead as your feet hit the white carpet that moonlighted as the aisle. The nerves began to bubble, and you gripped his arm tighter in fear of falling face first.

The ceremony was a blur, Steve just as nervous as you had been, becoming more and more braver as he spoke his vows. By the end of it, you could barely see him through the tears brimming your eyes. If it wasn't for the waterproof makeup, you were sure you would've cried your face off.

You had just finished your vows when the priest had asked if you would gladly wed the man in front of you for the rest of forever. You whispered a soft "I do."

The priest turned to Steve, the super-soldier happy beyond belief. He asked him the previous question he had asked you. Yet, Steve, being eager, had almost cut him off near the end.

His eyes bored into yours, filled with love and warmth. "I do."

Then everything turned black.

You awoke in the Medbay, needles puncturing your arm, a tube tied to your nose. Every single inch of your skin hurt, your eyelids heavy as you opened your eyes, only to close them once again when the bright fluorescents shone. You felt someone squeeze your hand, a finger brushing along your wrist.

Turning your head, you glance at the person, finding out it was Tony. While he was relieved you were awake, something in his eyes made you believe he wished he had more time to prepare you for the worst. At the moment he uttered those words, you wished your ears had been damaged in whatever hell Hydra had dropped on your wedding.

"Steve's dead."

[yamaoni]

The Second Great War of Remnant has begun. Once more, Vale and Mantle are embroiled in a massive conflict, only this time, they are on the same side against Atlas.

I don't think it was a coincidence that so many people drew parallels with the last episode and WWI. We've never seen people fight that way in RWBY. Grimm don't use projectile weapons the way humans do, so the benefits of the trench are diminished; especially if you compare it to the drawbacks.

Now, I understand not everyone in the Atlas military has their aura unlocked and the squishy soldiers need some cover, but if The Long Memory didn't nuke every grimm on Atlas, the lines would have been overrun and then there would have been nowhere for them to retreat to.

You think the very real hand to hand struggles in the trenches of WWI were bad, imagine being trapped in a narrow trench with a bear. Or having this thing explode out of the ground under you.

I refuse to believe no-one in Atlas ever thought, "if we put the dirt from the trench in a box, no only can we give our soldiers cover, we can also give them an elevated position to fire from."

The top of a wall has been the primary defensive position for the people of Remnant for a long time. You can see them in the establishing shots of most settled places the team has visited. So why are we seeing a trench now?

Simple.

Show, don't tell.

RWBY has done a pretty great job, especially in the last few seasons, of showing the audience what it is trying to convey without explicitly telling them. They especially like drawing from well known folk lore to give insight into the future of the show.

Only difference here, instead of drawing the parallel between characters, they're drawing parallels between worlds.

Remnant's first Great War started with Mantle suppressing freedom of expression, the destruction of Art and Color. Ironwood always has little in the way of color, but in his first broadcast since everything started hitting the fan, he has none.

That broadcast also included evacuation ships being blown up by fighter-bombers, Dunkirk. It threatend to level a city if they didn't surrender, Battle of Brittan. All delivered by a dictator trying to scare his opponents into submission through careful use of film.

Theories

If the rest of the season is WWII, I have several theories on plot direction. Considering how well they did keeping up with both ends of the battlefield it wouldn't surprise me if they followed all of them at the same time.

Operation Dunkirk

Or, the evacuation of Mantle.

Players: Penny, Nora, Ren, Happy Huntresses

The Happy Huntresses involvement is a given. Not only has saving Mantle been their goal the whole time, they're also stuck in the middle of it right now.

Penny is the Protector of Mantle. It would be a shining moment for her character to fully throw off the virus Watts implanted and overcome Ironwood's threats to do so. Just crossing my fingers that it doesn't end like the Iron Giant.

Nora is currently Penny's tether to sanity, so she has to go with, and I doubt they would separate Ren from her for the next arc so he's going too.

Surprise twist for this plot I'm betting will be the Starwars "they aren't warships, just people" scene everyone loves to rag on. After all, the broadcast went out that they needed help and, at least at Dunkirk, it was fishing boats and pleasure crafts that retrieved the 338,000 surrounded on all sides.

Why We Fight

Or, countering Ironwoods propaganda.

Players: Robyn and Qrow

For one, these two are unaccounted for and in the heart of Atlas' military machine. If anyone has means to do so, it's them.

The film, Why We Fight, also countered the dramatic cinematography of Goebbels propaganda by painting it as ridiculous and making a folksy call to action much like Robyn has done in the past.

Operation Fortitude

Or, the deception of Ironwood.

Players: Emerald, Jaune, Oscar

This is the mission to make Ironwood think the team is going after the relic. This theory is why I actually thought of and wrote out this whole thing. Thanks @maxiemumdamage, I had things I was supposed to do tonight.

https://maxiemumdamage.tumblr.com/post/644291955872890880/willing-to-bet-my-own-soul-that-emerald-uses-her

Only difference in my theory and their's, is Jaune is going to be playing the part of Penny.

I say this for two reasons. One, Joan of Arc pretended to be a man. While we've gotten both Jaune pretending to be something he's not and him in a dress, this would pose the first time in the story he could do both. Two, it would put him on a direct collision path with Cinder. It needs to happen at some point to bring his arc to a conclusion, but man I hope we're not about to watch him burn.

With Ozpin active again, Oscar has to go along to direct them to the vault. He's also one of two backing the idea of Emerald joining the team and Jaune wouldn't be willing to work with her without him.

Operation Overlord

Or, busting down the doors of Atlas Acadamy.

Players: Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Yang

Where Operation Fortitude was the faint, Operation Overlord was the real deal. For those that aren't history buffs, this is D-Day.

I think this is the reason we've only seen the main team fighting together once since their split from Beacon. And even then, that fight was at most pairs of fighters and not all four of them supporting one another.

RWBY tricked us into thinking season 4 was the post-timeskip level up we come to expect from anime when really we ended up watching the training flashbacks as they happened instead.

We've seen hints of it with the various team ups and combinations, but are we really ready for how much ass kicking they are about to do?

I'm hoping for a One Piece level of badass entrance that can give me shivers whenever I go to watch it again like the walk to Arlong Park still does to this day.

(Aside: if you try telling me RWBY isn't anime, I'm just going to ignore you. Anime is an art movement. If you don't understand what that means, watch this video. https://youtu.be/uFtfDK39ZhI)

Now last and certainly not least

Operation Valkyrie

Or, the death of Ironwood.

Players: Winter and Marrow

The long awaited defection. Plenty of speculation has already floated around about if and when these two where going to cave to their morals and jump ship. I don't know how many of us were expecting the straw to break the camel's back to be a nuke held over Mantle, but I certainly wasn't.

What worries me, is Operation Valkyrie failed and all its conspirators were executed. As if there weren't enough death flags for Winter before.

Even if it's not Winter that kills him. I don't see Ironwood surviving this season. Even if it means he goes out like another hated dictator. It's not like it would be the first time RT had a fallen hero chose to use his own sword.

Wildcards

Or, Murphy will have his due.

Players: Cinder, Watts, Neo, Tyrian, Mercury, Clover

These players can go any which way. Three we know for sure are going to be active in the coming episodes and I wouldn't be surprised if the other three play a part as well.

Oscar made a hell of a light show for Tyrian and Mercury to see behind them. Not to mention, Salem will still need a ride home when she pulls herself back together.

Clover keeps getting mentioned even though he's hospitalized. If he was truly out of commission for the rest of the season, they would have made us think he's dead before bringing him back like they did with Penny.

Up to now, what we've seen is a three way conflict. But one of the hallmarks of Remnant's First Great War, was making temporary alliances to fight off grimm.

The grimm might be gone, but the wild cards can't complete their own objectives if they are dead. The question is who's goals better align with their own.

Two surprise twists I can see here. One, Mercury stabbing Tyrian on his way to defection. He was raised by an assassin and has not going to get a better chance than that. Two, Clover joining Operation Valkyrie. He might have accepted that sacrifice is a necessary evil to ensure Atlas' survival, but might go Schindler's List on us and find horror in what Ironwood plans to do.

TLDR

I spent way too long writing this out. All the WWI imagery means we're getting a WWII movie with RWBY characters. Major death flags for Penny, Jaune, and Winter.

Also I finally figured out how to do a readmore. Apparently it's just been a long time since I updated.

Note: kept seeing things talking about clovers death and I kind of went ???? Isn't he barely alive in medical? Went back and watched that scene and though I am 90% sure he is dead still kind of weird that they have him in his own room instead of a morgue and the initial framing made my mind instantly think he was propped up on a hospital bed. I mean, I guess we needed to have all the ACEOPs there for their reaction to Ironwood... but it definitely made me think he was alive. That and they have a bandage on his chest wound... when he's supposedly dead. Also have a phantom memory of Harriet saying something about him being in critical but I think that's my memory playing tricks on me.

Having his face exposed instead of covered by the sheet and seeing him in the same frame as Winter being treated also didn't help my gut reaction of "Oh Shit! He's alive? How?!" If I'd followed up more on the "how" might not have made the blunder of writing his return as the final twist in my theory. Oops

[roselen-mylady]

In Another Life

Bucky Barnes x reader ° part two

Summary: Waiting 88 years to find your soulmate? It was cruel. But it was a cruel fate Bucky would have to face whether he accepted it or not. Bucky was a tortured man all his life and he wasn't even granted the solace of having his soulmate at his side. All he had was the promise of one in another life.

They were separated by two different times.

But the pain in their lives were connected. Y/n had been alone ever since she could remember. All she could depend on was the soulmate that was destined to be at her side. Yet when the snap occured she lost him.

And Bucky never got to meet her.

A/n: For those who read this book before, I had to do some major redrafting so please be patient with me! Enjoy🤟

2014

“She’s a child, Fury.” The woman’s voice scolded. Y/n winced hating the fact that she was the source of conflict between the two. Fury wore his usual monotone and mildly pissed off expression as his eyes narrowed on the woman. Councilwoman Hawley’s face hardened as she turned to Y/n, “Do your parents know you're here?” She questioned, her voice loud and demanding. 

Y/n's eyes drifted to Fury, uncertain and intimidated. Councilwoman was right, Y/n was just a child. But she had a mind that only Tony Stark himself could rival and that mind quickly realized that the only way she was going to stay at S.H.I.E.L.D was if she lied. 

"Yes. They wanted to thank you for the opportunity S.H.I.E.L.D has given me." Y/n said cooly, trying to muster up enough confidence to fool the woman. Though she didn't seem convinced, Hawley was tired and after a few moments of staring down Y/n to see if she would relinquish her testimony, she sighed. 

Councilwoman then turned to Fury, looking at him with less than pleased eyes. "I trust you'll handle the affairs then." Fury offered no acknowledgement in return and Y/n wondered if everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D was this cold. "Fury, I'm taking a chance here for you. The minute this proves to be more of a burden than a service, I'm ending it." The harshness of her tone shot through Y/n like a bullet but Fury appeared unphased giving her a little solace. 

"You'll find the council will be grateful for what I'm doing here." Fury's proclamation seemed to grip the councilwoman, stopping her dead in her tracks as a conflicted expression fell over her features. She shot him a deadly glare however what rage bubbled up in her wasn't enough to compel her to reply and she continued on, leaving smothering tension in the air. 

"What are you doing?" Y/n asked cautiously, turning to the man who had convinced her to leave her old life behind. The leather of his eyepatch squeaked in protest as his eyebrows furrowed, his eye landing on her small frame beside him. 

"We are going to take the first step in protecting our world for the future. Welcome to the Next Generation Initiative." Y/n swallowed thickly to try and relieve the dryness of her throat as Fury moved toward the door. 

"We start immediately." His voice called and she quickly followed after him, hoping to not agitate him further. "First let's see what you're capable of." 

•••

The months that followed were hard, harder than she had naively expected. Fury was true to his word, providing her with a living space at S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters along with necessities such as food passes and clothes, though all of them sported the S.H.I.E.L.D logo. 

At first it had been exciting to live a new life, the pride that came from becoming independent being enough to distract her for the first couple of weeks. But soon she found that being isolated from the rest of the agents wasn't just the normal separation from the pack that came with being new. 

Communication with other agents was limited by her new guardian and her access around The Triskelion was even more restricted. It didn't take much for her to catch onto the fact that she was meant to be a secret instead of an agent. 

This annoyed her but she hardly saw Fury which prevented her from questioning or even opposing the situation. And in the times she did see him she never got any answers. Fury pushed her constantly and while she knew she had signed up for it, she couldn't help but wonder if she'd made the right choice. 

In order to stay at S.H.I.E.L.D she had to avoid all contact with her parents and adjusting to her new life without them was hard. The only person she had to trust with her well being was Fury and while he made sure she was taken care of, he wasn't exactly a parental figure. He was cold and abrasive and having conversations with him were frightening and offered very little support. 

Her wish to be a hero convinced her that maybe it'd get better once she adjusted to the way things operated at S.H.I.E.L.D but it never did. Loneliness crept into her every second she was there and nothing she did seemed to help. 

Doubt seeped into her heart and she started to question the cause she now stood for. Her parents had always rejected Fury's propositions toward making Y/n an agent but Y/n had never understood why until then. Fury was shrouded in a thick layer of mystery and the appeal it once had quickly faded away when she began to realize she had left everything behind for a promise of doing something great. 

She felt like a naive and stupid child chasing the dream of being a superhero like so many children had and she longed for the guidance of her parents. 

Training was even more miserable than her solitude. Fury wanted her to be ready for anything even though all of her missions so far were from the safety of a control room. He trained her himself, claiming that it was easier that way instead of taking other agents off of missions.

While she felt like it was a lie she accepted it and attended training everyday. And it wasn't long before she learned that his cold exterior was frozen all the way through. 

"Agh!" Y/n cried out in frustration, forcing herself up from the ground. Fury almost smirked as she rushed forward, messily slamming her fist into his arms that had moved to block his face. A pained groan escaped her lips as she retracted her fist trying to conceal the red spotting through from under the wrap. 

Another hand entered her view and she gave a defeated sigh as Fury took her bloodied knuckles. "I don't understand why I have to do this. You just want me for my brain anyways." Her irritation flooding off of her. 

"It's so that nobody kills you. What good would your brain be if you're dead?" Fury said, offering no warmth or ease as he spoke. A frown tugged at her lips and she jerked her hand away, getting herself into stance. 

It wasn't long before she was on her back again, her lungs struggling to replenish the air that had been knocked out of her. But Y/n found herself strangely motivated with each failure. Each time she slammed into the mat she was filled with an overwhelming amount of rage and whether it had been his plan all along she didn't know but she rose to her feet again with more strength than before. 

With her fists drawn to her sides and her shoulders coming back in a brilliant pose of purpose, she stood before him anger radiating off of her. Her eyes narrowed on Fury with a determined shine and she advanced again, this time landing a hit to his ribs. While she wasn't too intimating in size, she easily calculated places to strike in which would leave the attacker most weakened and with her new found strategy, Fury fell.

Before she could even process her victory, a foreign sound echoed through the gym making her freeze. It was an eerie sound that shouldn't have sent a chill down her spine. A sound that heard from anyone else would've made her smile. Yet coming from the usually stoic man she couldn't help but recoil as if hearing it was the equivalent of being stuck. 

Fury's body shook in laughter as he pushed himself up off his knees. "Motherfucker." He exclaimed, his eye landing on her with a glimpse of something she'd never seen from him before. Pride? Amusement? Either one brought a disbelieving and hesitant smile to her face as she quickly moved to help him up. 

"I was wondering how many times it would take getting the crap beat out of you for you to finally put that brain of yours to use." Fury grunted, his hand coming to his ribs as he stood. Y/n's brows creased looking up at him in confusion. 

"Wait, you're not mad?" She questioned, rattled by how entertained he was with her finally snapping at him. He moved to unwrap his fists looking up at her with a lifted brow. 

"Am I supposed to be? Taking me down was your objective." He replied, glancing over his shoulder as she mimicked him, tugging the wrapping carefully as to avoid further hurting her split knuckles. She offered a shrug, allowing her prideful smirk to appear. 

"Well, you just got taken down by a girl." Fury's gaze hardened on her cheeky grin and he shook his head, his amusement diminishing with her childish humor. 

"Don't give me that bullshit. I've been training you for months, you taking me down once ain't nothing to be excited over." He grumbled, trying to dismiss her win. 

Y/n's smile lingered for the rest of the day. 

•••

"So what's the point of the 'Next Generation Initiative'? Aren't some of the Avengers, like, immortal?" Y/n questioned, poking at the keyboard in front of her. Fury's annoyed gaze fell on her for the fifth time in the past ten minutes and he sighed heavily pushing the keyboard away from her. She lifted her head off of her elbow and turned to face him as his chair swiveled toward her. 

"Thor's practically immortal. But the rest aren't." Fury explained. Y/n reached out to grab the pen on the table only to have Fury slam his hand down on hers, forcibly stopping her. "Do you always have to mess with something?" He questioned, his tone sharp. 

Y/n gave him a glare before retracting her hands and wedging them between her thighs. "What about Hulk? Not only did the gamma rays make him immortal, he can't die as either Bruce Banner or Hulk. And what about Captain America? I mean isn't he like 100?" She rambled. 

Fury massaged his temples, reminding himself that he had to put up with her if he wanted his project to succeed. "96. And no he's not immortal." He corrected, ignoring Y/n's mockful expression as she rolled her eyes. 

"Whatever. You didn't answer my question." She accused, shooting him an expectant gaze. He peered down at her, his brow lowering in an unamused scowl. 

"Like the Avengers Initiative, Next Gen's purpose is to protect Earth from all threats, whether it be from other worlds or our own." Fury droned, his own statement seeming to bore him. He'd given the same speech to the council a million times before and he wasn't someone that cared to repeat himself. Yet in enthusiasm Y/n easily had enough for the both of them as she listened carefully to his every word, enjoying the fact that he was finally telling her something. 

Sure she'd known that joining S.H.I.E.L.D especially with her skills would mean some kind of hero work. Fury had explained to her and her parents once before that with Y/n's brain she could help set the world forward into technical advances and with the right training become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. All she knew about S.H.I.E.L.D was what could be linked to the Avengers so she had automatically been hooked but her parents didn't share her eagerness. 

Yet never did she imagine becoming a part of a project similar to the Avengers, a team she'd grown up idolizing. Suddenly any doubt she'd felt washed away with her fascination toward becoming a superhero. The idea of putting her skills toward something bigger than herself was what had drawn her away from her friends and family after all. 

"So, the next generation of superheroes?" She assumed, unable to hide the thrilled smile that crossed her face. Fury nodded slowly, unsure whether he should be encouraging her so much. Her unwavering grin stuck as he turned back to the computer in front of him, tapping on the keys with a quick sweep of his hand. 

"Then why don't the Avengers know about me?" She questioned suddenly. 

"The council doesn't want anyone to know about you. At least not until this succeeds." He answered shortly, his concentration unbroken as he did so. 

"When will that be? And why aren't there more of me? I mean aren't there more superhero kids you should be scouting?" Y/n began questioning again making him sigh heavily. He was beginning to regret recruiting her, finding her intuitive and adolescent need to question everything bothersome. 

"You are what we call a trial basis. That's when-"

"I know what a trial basis is. I'm not stupid." Fury's eyes narrowed on the girl who'd interrupted him, nearly chuckling at the irony of what she'd said. 

"Well, then stop acting like it." He retorted, drawing an unhappy pout from her. With arms crossed and her brow creased she glared at him but he ignored her turning back to the computer. 

"I'm not acting stupid. Trust me, I'm sure I'd be a lot more help if I actually knew what was going on. This is the most I've gotten you to talk since I got here." She challenged, making sure not to provoke him. If she had there'd be no way to get answers out of him. "I'm just saying I left everything to be here and you can't even give me the time of day to explain why I'm really here. Why would you recruit me? I don't have powers, I just happen to be smart. Why would you pick me to start such an important project?" 

The doubt she'd been feeling for months was beginning to flood back as she confessed to him. His persistence in wanting to recruit her at the start had convinced her enough that she was worthy of being a part of whatever he had planned but now that she knew what it was she was becoming painfully aware of how minuscule she was in comparison. 

Fury kept his stare focused on the monitor before him, a sigh flushing through him and escaping out his nose as his hands stilled on the keyboard. He knew she was right. All the information he'd given her up to that point was the name of the project and the vague details he'd offered her parents. 

He needed to give her a sign of good faith, something to earn a bit of her trust and acceptance in order to continue with the project. 

Y/n watched with an intense gaze as he grabbed the mouse, directing the cursor toward another file. Everything in her was screaming to press for an answer but the contrast in his behavior kept her from doing so. Never had he gone silent before and she wondered if this was finally it. Was he finally going to reveal his true intentions? 

After effortlessly bypassing several forms of security, a file was brought up, her own picture dragging her attention away from his silence. To the left of the photo was her name, birthdate, social security number and several other pieces of information like her parents' names and her education records. 

Yet beside her name was another name, this one bubbled in quotations like an alias. 

"Next Generation Stark?" She read aloud, the words rolling off her tongue like she was accusing him of a lie. Fury sat back in his chair, crossing his arms as he studied her baffled face and slack jaw. "Stark? Like Tony Stark? What the hell does that mean?" She demanded, all restraint on herself to remain polite out the window upon such an absurd comparison. 

Fury pierced his lips gesturing to the computer, "Exactly what it says." He told her, his tone much more matter of fact than she felt was appropriate. Her head frantically shook as she tried to make him see how absolutely insane he sounded. 

"I can't be. Tony Stark is my hero and a literal superhero. Not to mention a billionaire, genius-" She was cut short by Fury sitting forward, a smirk playing on his lips as he snidely remarked. 

"I thought you were a genius. IQ of 224 and all." The sarcasm practically dripped from his words and Y/n's glare returned with more intensity than before. 

"If that's the only similarity between us we're going to have a lot of problems." She pointed out earning a returning glare from Fury. The fact that he was arguing with a teenager was enough to make him question his life choices but the fact that she was calling him out on the outlandishness of his operation was enough to make his blood boil. 

Though his pride was unwilling, he managed to release his irritation with a deep sigh. The entire program rested on his ability to train and create the next line of defense and though it frustrated him, the only 'defense' he had was Y/n. 

"Look. I didn't recruit you because I wanted you to be Stark." He began, the tension that built in his shoulders and between them easing some as he spoke. "I recruited you because you have the potential to be someone just as great." 

Y/n tried to fight the warmth that spread through her chest. It had been the kindest thing said to her in months and her need to please others simply jumped for joy at the praise. 

Her once defensive posture slacked a bit as she fell back against her chair, sending him an irritated yet pleased look. "You're strangely motivational. Were you born like that or did you take lessons?" She questioned, her snarky manner returning with the lightness in the air. 

"I know a guy." Fury shrugged before returning to his work. Y/n rolled her eyes, growing used to the way that everything he said had to hold a bit of secretiveness. 

"If you say yourself, I will slap you regardless of who you are." She replied, lifting her legs up and placing her feet up onto the desk. Fury eyed them with a disdained look before pushing them off with one swift movement. 

"You know that code name is all the more fitting with that attitude of yours." He countered, slightly entertained as her feet fell back to the floor forcing her to sit up right. Her expression remained annoyed unable to muster up the effort to glare at him once more. 

"Tony Stark wishes he had an attitude like mine." A short scoff escaped Fury as Y/n crossed her arms, a smug smile tugging at her lips. 

•••

The months that followed were easier with her new found purpose. As Fury had hoped, giving her more details on the project insured her compliance and even inspired her to take on more tasks and missions. 

It was a few months after their discussion before he decided to untrust her with Project Insight. With the help of the 15 year old genius the work went smoother and a lot of the technical issues they faced either became minor inconveniences or vanished all together. 

And with her new access to the labs containing some of the most advanced technology she spent almost all her free time tinkering away. Whenever Fury asked what it was she was devoting so much time and energy to, she immediately shut him down, a little embarrassed by the idea of telling him. 

But it didn't stop him from checking surveillance in the lab. He had to confess it was a pretty good replica of the famous Iron Man though he'd never tell her. He was almost tempted to alert Stark that his precious suit wasn't as exclusive as he'd hoped. 

Though it was slow at first and unwanted, Fury grew used to Y/n's presence and rather than a nuisance she became a normal figure in his life. He'd never admit it but whenever she wasn't at his side or where he'd left her a small bit of panic would set in. The instinct Maria pointed out to be paternal was often and annoyed him beyond belief but happened nonetheless. 

The feeling seemed to be mutual because Y/n frequently came to him with anything and everything that happened during her day to which he reluctantly listened. 

"Some of the other agents were talking about their countdowns. I can't wait to get mine." Y/n spoke, glancing up at Fury as he faintly listened from his desk. Not yet satisfied without his full attention, a mischievous smirk curved onto her features and she leaned on her palm to look at him. "Who's your soulmate?"  

The hard stare he directed at her would've been enough to make a grown man quake but Y/n had become immune to such glares. "None of your business." He replied, his tone callous and indifferent. But Y/n noticed something, a fleeting glance to his left just before he spoke. 

Her knowing smile riled through him and he huffed, moving aside his monitor to properly scowl at her. "Is it Maria? Nah she's too nice to be your soulmate. Or maybe it's one of those opposites attract types of situations?" Y/n unleashed every thought that buzzed through her mind and Fury wasn't sure which one to be most enraged by. So he remained silent, allowing her curiosity to brew. 

Sensing his disinterest in answering her she sat up, moving to climb to her feet. "Well, I guess I'll just have to ask Ms. Hill." The sigh that filled the air was playful as if getting the answers she so wanted was a chore but Fury knew she had no issue in seeking out the woman in question. 

"Leave her be. She's leading a covert mission right now." He cautioned. Y/n paused, sinking back into her chair as he folded his hands. "She's my soulmate, is that what you want to hear?" His confession sent a bit of joy through her from being right but she didn't speak her pride, instead allowing him to continue. 

"When she joined S.H.I.E.L.D we found out we were soulmates but we never let it get in the way of our work." The explanation came easily but the troubled expression on his face was anything but. She almost felt a bit guilty for dragging the truth out of him. 

"So you guys aren't together?" For the first time ever, she watched him shift uncomfortably. His action only seemed to urge her to press more, sensing him beginning to crack. 

"We are a part of the percentage of the world with platonic soulmates." He described. She nodded slowly, not believing him for a second. She may have only been there for a little under a year but she had never seen such a profound bond between two people. A little envy from their relationship had established itself in her even if it was a 'platonic' relationship. 

"Does she know that?" 

Fury froze, his single eye widening ever so slightly. She'd struck a nerve. 

"Y'know what? I'm done telling you shit." Fury snapped, turning away from her with an agitated growl. Y/n instantly sat forward, guilt grasping hold of her creased brow as she scrambled to apologize. 

"Wait no, I'm sorry. I'm sorry." It came rushed but was heard making Fury haltingly glance back up at her. Her lip had been pulled back between her teeth as she chewed at it nervously. "My-my mom used to tell me that just because I know a lot doesn't mean I need to know everything. She usually keeps me in check but-..." 

Her words dropped off into a deafening silence. Y/n tended to question everything and while her mother believed it to be some form of OCD her father argued it was just her paranoia. Whatever the case it led to a lot of frustration for those who were being interrogated and Y/n realized for the past year Fury had been the focus of that. 

His hardened expression faltered and if one truly studied his expressions they would recognize a bit of remorse had surfaced to match her own. 

"I really miss her. My dad, too." Y/n confessed, solemn and longing. "I wonder if they're mad at me. Maybe that's why they haven't tried to visit me." 

An unfamiliar pang of guilt hit Fury's heart and his gaze fell onto the file in front of him. Anywhere to avoid looking at the child before him. How was he supposed to tell her that her parents had tried to see her? Tell her that each time he sent them away, insisting she was safe and that they should leave? Tell her how many letters and calls they'd received from them over the past year in hopes it might reach her. 

How did he begin to make up for such a wrong yet necessary act? 

"Maybe it's time you visited them." The statement left him before he even had a chance to properly analyze it. What was he thinking? Letting her leave would compromise the whole project. 

But he couldn't help it. Something deep inside him needed to make up for all the secrets and lies and his unwanted connection to the girl only justified his actions. 

"Really?" Fury nodded, yet again surprising the both of them. 

"I'll have an agent take you tomorrow. But only under one circumstance." He told her, the seriousness he was known for returning. She nodded instantly ready to pay whatever price to see her family.  

"You must come back to S.H.I.E.L.D." 

A tense feeling she'd only felt upon her arrival rested in the air, easily thick enough to make her choke. But the excitement she felt outweighed any rational thought. 

"I promise." 

Part three

[stareiiez]

Mephistophelian Summer

Chapter 1.

𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕕 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥: 𝟚.𝟡𝕜

𝔸/ℕ: Hello, Hello! <3 Tonight at 1:11 am I bring you the first chapter of my horror au! There’s no horror going on right now, it’s just setting up the basis for the reason why and where the horror of this fic takes place. 

Warnings: Cursing and Foul words, that’s about it! 

𝑀𝑒𝑝𝘩𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝘩𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑛: adj: showing the cunning or ingenuity or                                       wickedness typical of a devil; also see:                                                                  devilish; diabolic; diabolical; mephistophelean; evil.

The ticking of the bell that hit 11:30 am, it seemed the clock's noise rang in Tucker's mind louder than the students' chatter and laughter that rang in his classroom. His head was propped up on both of the palms of his hands as his dark brown eyes narrowed in on the white clock's face. It seemed like the large and small hand of the clock seemed to move slower than normal, just because it was prolonging the students of Vallahala High. Summer would begin right when the clock would strike noon, and the early release would grant sweet sweet freedom for the next three months of blissful vacation. Tucker couldn't help but grin at the plan that was forming in his head-on just how he would spend his summertime. Unlike most of his peers would get summer jobs to save up money, Tucker would be wasting his time with his group of friends doing everything and going anywhere he wanted without a care in his world.

A  smooth grin spread over his lips as his eyes got a little hazy from his daydreams. It wasn't until his summer daydreams were ruined by the vibrating phone in his jeans back pocket. The bright cellphone screen lit up with multiple messages from the group chat him and his friends had created a few years back. In this chat, conversations ranged from absolute chaotic mindnumbing interactions to the dissecting every little thing about their lives and beyond their home planet. Usually, Grif would insinuate these conversations when he would smoke two or three joints and spam the group chat with his otherworldly conversations.

His phone screen lit up from already ten or more messages from the said group chat. Without care, Tucker settled back into his seat and unlocked his phone. The teacher didn't care, it was the last day of school and they too might be counting down the minutes for summer vacation. Until next week when they would go back to teaching some poor sorry sap of students that didn't manage to pass both fall and spring semester with the best grades in the world. Thank god his future goal major wasn't education.

Fellow Delinquiants, and Dick and Carolina.

11:37 am Dickhead 1: So what's this about some big summer plans?

11:37 am David: Summer plans? I was applying for that summer job you know-

11:39 am Stoner McGee: Work? During freedom? You make me tired.

11: 39 am David: Well... Carolina is getting a summer job with me too-

11:40 am Tucker: BOOOOO you both suck ass

11: 40 am Tucker: Listen assholes, there's no work this summer; because we are going camping.

11:41 am Redhead: We are doing what?

11:43 am Tucker: Relax, I'll let you all in on my plan when we get out of this hellhole.

11:46 am Dick: The outdoors seems fun!

11:48 am Sis: Camping? Are you on crack Tucker?

11:49 am Donut: If we're camping I vote on bringing food!

Well, at least some people were on board with the idea. Before he could read any more group text messages Tucker slipped his phone back into his pocket and sighed contently. This summer was going to be the best thing to happen to him in a while. Ever since he concluded that he was for sure graduating next year, and a few of his friends had already planned their future that didn't seem to involve him, it was starting to sound shitty. Call him a pussy, or bully him but he had abandonment issues. He hated being alone or being left behind, that's why most of his time was at least spent with at least his group of friends or at least one of his friends. He needed to feel secure and safe, and by god did they make him feel like he had a second family. This summer was the last summer he could spend normally without the stress of college looming over his shoulder, or friends coming and going. He wanted to have fun and take charge of the rest of his youth before it was forever locked away in the state of some four-year hell of education so he can get a job.

Once the clock finally hit 12, Tucker had sprung up from his seat like something struck him. His backpack was slung over his right shoulder and he all but ran out of the classroom along with the other excited students. Papers were flung in the air, and screams and chatter filled the air. Notebooks were flung, textbooks were thrown in the trash and homework filled binders were torn apart. The papers scattered and fluttered through the air in a victorious motion. Tucker jogged through the halls, his body weaving through bodies and moving fluidly with the masses of people who were making their escape through the school's front doors.

The large wooden doors were flung open and the ruckus filled the open air, classmates ran all over. Some made their ways to their cars, some stuck around to say goodbye to their friends, or others sprinted into the aligned school buses that awaited to take them home for the last time in the school year. The bright sunny, noon air shined upon Tucker as he inhaled his first noseful of fresh air. 'Ah freedom, so that's what it smells like.'

A content sigh slipped past his lips while he leaned back against the school statue of its mascot. One large puma that has it's back arched and teeth bare. They just changed to the Pumas after some big back and forth argument in the school district of Blood Gulch High should accept and appreciate their mascot if it was a warthog. The school cringed as well as the student body when they first found out that their school teams were about to be known as the Blood Gulch Warthogs. They wanted to be feared and at least have some kind of ring to it, so the school board decided on naming Blood Gulch, The Blood Gulch Pumas. It was pretty stupid to argue over some type of animal that resembles their school if it was up to Tucker. This highschool reminded him of chihuahuas. All talk and not enough bite.

"Hey man." A male voice spoke up before Tucker could bask in his summer freedom for a little longer. The male tilted his head to greet the new presence, and couldn't help but grin.

David 'Washington.' stood before him. All dark brown hair, with the blonde dye that was accenting the tips of his spiky hair. The blonde dyed tips were part of a half tipsy dare at the beginning of the junior year and Carolina had managed to do a decent job in dying his hair correctly. Wash, at first nearly died at the sight of his new hair. Then slowly for a week he slowly accepted the blonde accenting the dark brown of his natural hair color. Even his parents thought it looked nice and even joked that he should go full blonde, something that Wash had somewhat considered but never went through with it yet. He casually slipped the second strap of his backpack over his left shoulder, and his large palms grasped the two straps contently.

"Where's the rest of the guys?" Tucker asked once he reciprocated his greeting to one of his best friends.

"Carolina is dragging Church here since I'm sure Allison is trying to shove her tongue down his throat by now. Grif is going to drive his little sister home and then meet up with us with Simmons, Donut, and Frank."

"Why exclude Sis? She's always the life of the party." Tucker frowned.

A small scoff as a shy grin slipped over David's lips, "Please? Her? She's that and a whole ass hurricane."

"Exactly why she's invited with us to these summer plans of mine." Tucker grinned, a little more cooly than needed.

"Right, what kind of plans are we-"

"Hey! I said I'm going goddamnit!" Another voice cut in, this one pitched up higher in distress as a few grunts left his lips.

Both males tore their attention away from each other to watch a fiery redheaded girl grab a dark-haired male by the back of his shirt towards the two. The dark-haired male's arms were flailing about as he fought to keep up with the long-legged strides that the redheaded female took to meet the two boys.

"I can walk on my own, you know?! You're embarrassing me." The male hissed as the female finally unhanded him, her long pale arms crossed over her chest as her nose lifted slightly in the air with a huff.

"Really? Seems like you couldn't walk straight after you seemed to be having your soul sucked out of you by the blonde bitch." The girl growled back, anger set in her bright green eyes.

"Told you," Wash whispered to Tucker, making the other snort with amusement. It was cut short when the green-eyed gaze was sliced over to the two instead, silencing any ore commentary about her little brother.

"Just because you're only 30 minutes older than me, does not mean you can just drag me anywhere." The dark-haired male huffed more, he stood up straight and fixed the black-framed glasses on his nose. His duller green eyes were narrowed in a glare at his sibling.

"Church always glad to see you," Tucker commented, his eyes swept over the pasty-skinned male. A shit-eating smile took over his features as he caught the smear of dark red covering his entire mouth and one place on his neck. 'My man.' Tucker thought slimly.

"Hey, Leonard you got a little.." Wash spoke up, his finger pointing to his mouth. A small blush adorned his freckle splattered cheekbones and nose, his eyes quickly averting when realization dawned on the other's face.

The smear of the lipstick only colored the redhead's face in a little more irritation than necessary. The tension hung over the four heads, and with Carolina nearly on verge of bringing all hell loose to her little brother and his girlfriend. Wash cleared his throat and shot Tucker a look, one that had Tucker shoving his hand in his back pocket and fishing his car keys out

“Let's get some lunch fuckers." He said, returning Wash's look, and lead the three to his car.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Slim's Pickens, a dinner that has better food than its cursed name, had the best food in probably the whole town. The radio station lulled in the background of the diner. Chatter, silverware clinking against plates was comforting in a way, this one diner had the aura of 'Welcome Home.' and that was one of the reasons why it was the group's favorite spot to hang out at. Tucker had his feet propped up on the chair next to him as he scrolled on his phone, his eyes scouring through a few text messages he sent to Grif. He had been pestering and frankly pissing off his friend, to get the rest of his friend group to the diner. He was too impatient to lay down his big summer plan. With a groan, Tucker shut his phone screen off and tossed his head back over the chair's back.

"What is it with you today? You're so jumpy and you practically shoved us into your car." Wash commented, his gaze was on Tucker for a while now. He was watching the impatience grow more and more on Tucker's features, and it only made him snort in amusement.

"You nearly hit seven cars on your way here, and nearly ran through two red lights," Carolina added, her head was propped up on her hand and a single eyebrow rose in judgment.

"You will know when the other idiots are here." Tucker huffed, his eyes roamed over to Carolina. The once pissed off look on her face from her little brother was far gone, thanks to her practically forcing him to clean off the marks and lipstick stains Tex had left on his face.

"Well if you're going to play the waiting game, I am going to order something to eat." Carolina hummed, before picking up the menu and leaned over the table to David. Their chatter over what sounded better to eat, or certain prices.

20 minutes later, a clean Church, and plates of fries and other items of food that was placed before the four; Grif, Sister, Simmons, Donut, and Frank Dufrense had joined them. Finally.

"Alright, asshole tell me why you nearly made me get in a car crash from all your stupid texts," Grif said as he plopped down in the chair in front of Tucker. He didn't hesitate to steal a curly fry from Wash's plate and shove it in his mouth. His dark eyebrow rose as he chewed.

Tucker frowned before answering. "I already figured out what we are going to do this summer."

"If you're bringing up that camping trip-"

"Yes I am bringing it up, come on! It'll be so fucking great. Us, a private lake, privacy, alcohol. All the works!"

"Woo! Par-tay! Let's get it!" Sis cheered, her hands flinging up in the air as an excited grin split across her lips. Her eyes sparkled at the thought of getting shit-faced and puking her guts out in the crystal clear lake; then go skinny dipping in the waters at the dead of night.

"Oh no, the hell you aren't! No parties! You're three years younger and so underage." Grif bit out, his gaze fixed on his sibling that was sitting at the far end of the table right in front of Carolina. His voice ruining the enthusiastic expression on Sister's face.

"You're not my mom! Don't tell me what to do!"

"I'll kick your ass like our mom, I'll break my lazy rule of not doing shit just for you."

"Where exactly are we going to go do this if we agree?" Simmons pipped up from beside Grif.

"A place I always camped at with my Dad during the summer. It's called Tahoe Wood but I call it paradise."

"Tahoe Wood? You mean as in that endless fucking woods that most people get lost in Tahoe Wood?" Church commented, his voice sounding not too pleased in the slightest.

"You have me as a guide, come on I know that place like the back of my hand." Tucker scoffed.

"I am just brimming with confidence that nothing shitty will happen to us."

"Hey! Fuck you man!"

"Tucker, how long are we going to stay there?" Frank "Doc" cut in before Tucker or Church could further curse each other out in the diner.

It's happened at least once or twice, and each time the two were escorted outside by the waiters and left outside to cool off. They were allowed back inside once they at least said sorry to each other. They were treated like little kids for being in high school, but it came from a place of fondness. The employees all came to know the friend group well since they used the diner to hang out and eat almost once or twice every week.

"One week tops, think of it as a 'fuck you school' getaway." Tucker shrugged, his eyes watched as Grif stole a few more fries from Wash's plate. How the dyed blonde male didn't scold the other from stealing his food away more than once was a shock. "When are you and Carolina getting those summer jobs?" Tucker asked Wash.

"Sometime in the second week of June." Wash glanced at Carolina for confirmation.

"Since it is the last week of May, let's do this shit! Come on! Start the summer with a fucking bang!" Tucker pleaded, the palms of his hands smacking the table in the emphasis of his words. Plates clanged and silverware rattled from the vibrations, the noise drew several eyes of customers that were contently eating to glance over at the group.

"If we agree to this stupid trip will you shut up?" Church hissed, his eyes darting to the customers in the diner then back to Tucker. His pale green eyes were sharp and slightly cold as a wave of annoyance washed over his features.

Only when Church was pissed, annoyed, or just slightly miffed he looked like Carolina. He was the spitting image of their father, just like Carolina was a spitting image of their mother. Except Carolina had dyed her naturally blonde hair a fire engine red when she turned 16 and kept it red from since then on.

"Yes," Tucker said, rather smugly.

"Then yes! Now shut up."

"Hey! You don't speak for the rest of us. Camping sounds boring, and tiring work." Grif complained.

"Grif, shut up! I'm not going to hear Tucker complain for another hour about this trip. You go, or my sister is kicking your ass to Tahoe Wood and back!" Church hissed under his breath.

Well at least Tucker was satisfied, he would simply grin to himself as Grif bickered with Church. The two were bent over Carolina and Simmons that were sitting next to them. Donut and "Doc" were frankly content on conversating and adding in friendly banter to the swelling argument between the two males. It didn't help that both Grif and Church would yell at Donut or Doc to 'shut up and butt the fuck out' before going back to their argument.

This is going to be the best vacation ever.

[yayninjabob]

Author Commentary

Ramblings from Yay Ninja Bob about her monstrous creation~

Besides working on my fic, I personally try to journal every day, and I realized that a lot of my journaling has become me pretty much rambling about the process of writing this damn fic lol.  So I thought I'd share some of that for those who may want to know more behind my chapters from my author's perspective. 

It's certainly not everything I can say, but it is a lot haha..

Chapter 1 - Thirteen

Behind the title:

    Well, when I first began writing VillainR, I hadn't planned on having chapter titles at all.  Mainly because coming up with chapter titles (or titles for stories in general) has always been something I struggle with personally.  Anywho after I decided I wanted to challenge myself with chapter titles, I went back and named chapter 1 "Thirteen."  Why?  Well, it is the PpG's thirteenth birthday, of course there is that.  VillainR as a whole is many things, but one major thing is it is a coming of age story for Buttercup/Joey/Jojo, as well as a story of self-discovery.   There's a few important ages I wanted to cover and 13 is around the age where many kids start to "develop" and being a super-powered kid,  Buttercup finally begins to develop her own "special power" at this age.  I wanted this "growing pain" to be the catalyst for the events of Part One.  So, I gave the chapter the title of "Thirteen" to try to highlight the significance of that age for Buttercup. The self-discovery made at this age is that special power (although they are unaware of it at this point).  It's considered an unlucky number, and as it turns out, it is an unlucky year for our main character.

During the writing process:

     First draft was written on Halloween night 2019 and pretty much all of it was completely scrapped haha. 

     I started writing it in first person, like the original Villain, in Buttercup's POV.   I kept the events but approached it again in third person and liked it so much better that way.  One major thing I wanted to improve on with the rewrite was character development which is pretty hard to achieve when writing in a limited POV of a character who eventually loses sight of much around them.  I debated briefly on maybe doing alternating POVs between Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, but then I felt like it would still exclude a lot for other major characters like Mojo and Princess.  I could add them too but I thought alternating too many POVs would be overwhelmingly difficult (for me as the author for sure but I imagine for the reader too)  Third person seemed to be the best way to handle everything and really my only challenge with that was tweaking the whole "unreliable narrator" trope which I will be honest is my favorite trope ever. It is a challenge to try to recreate the same effect in third person, but I decided that a close third person was the best way to 1) tell a broader story and 2) still set limits on the reader's perspective, and control when and how I drop information and attempt to recreate a similar experience in an entirely new way I've never tried before heh.  (I guess I will spend more time on this on my notes for Chapter 6)

     Second draft I scribbled out in another few days with this new approach.  It began at the start of the carnival and ended where it ends.   Simultaneously I was reworking my overall outline for the fic and began to narrow down all the characters I wanted to be my key players for this epic.  Once my outline was expanded to include everyone, I added the scene with Mojo and Him.  For me, that's when I was like "Ayyy it's all coming together 👍👍" haha.

     Another thing I wanted to improve on was setting and world-building.  So final draft I decided to include some "history" behind Townsville and that's when I worked out the final draft.

    This chapter definitely had the most trial and error during the writing process than any other chapter other than 5 so far.

Inspirations:

     Townsville world-building/history - much of it is inspired by the city I grew up in (for the most part) which is Los Angeles. I mean it has all the sort of settings we've seen in the show which are all pretty diverse right?  Townville had to have a diverse cityscape ranging from a busy downtown setting to quite suburbs to upperclass mansions, beaches, an island, forests, etc.  Well I knew LA had all that and so I tried to re-imagine Townsville as basically an alternate universe LA lol. Monster Isle, I based on research I did on Catalina Island.  I imagined the Utonium household was in a middle class neighborhood like Pasadena- close to the heart of LA but still a relatively "calmer" part of the city.  Morbucks Manor would be in the Hills like Beverly Hills.  Downtown was the heart of the city like Downtown LA.  I debated briefly whether or not to have the Gangreen Gang be from an area modeled after South Central or East LA, but eventually I went with East LA because TBH I am just more familiar with it since that's where my mom's side is from and where I grew up early on in life.  PLUS East LA actually has a pretty big punk scene so that fit the story too with Ace being in a punk band and all that. 

1998 PpG Show References:

     "Oh my gosh they have giant Bunny-Bunny's at the prize tent!"

    (Super Zeroes)

Pop Culture References:

   (OK most of my pop culture refs are just punk references lets be honest lol.  Why Punk?? - because it is rebellion and rebellion is the heart of this fic)

     The Clash - OK in original Villain I established that this was Buttercup's favorite band so I HAD to have that back for the redux. Here's all the refs I crammed into chapter 1 lol:

   "Oh, Man! It's so hard to choose, like, I love literally everything by them. But I gotta say it's a tie probably between their first album and London Calling."

"Hell yeah. Jimmy Jazz is my jam."

"You know, my band does a cover of White Riot," Ace continued to talk music with the teenager as he lit his cigarette and took a deep drag. He held the smoke in his lungs as he continued, "Only we call our version Green Riot."

Blondie:

     The one artist Buttercup had introduced Robin to that she instantly obsessed over was Blondie.

(Some) Symbolism:

     - Blossom is 5'9" and Buttercup is 5'8" - Buttercup is always falling one step behind Blossom.

     - Bumper Car scene - has some foreshadowing and well...

Blossom sat behind the wheel of a red bumper car at the opposite end of the metal floored rink. Buttercup crossed her arms in protest, "No way. I'm driving." she demanded.

Blossom also crossed her arms from where she sat behind the metal wheel. "So you can just rampage and crash into everybody here? No way." She fastened her seat belt with a quick snap and placed her hands firmly on the steering wheel again.

"Ugh. That's the whole point of bumper cars! It's to bump the other cars! You're supposed to try and bump everyone before the times up!"

"You always take it too far, Buttercup. I'm driving, so get in." The redhead grasped the steering wheel in her hands firmly, and refused to move.

And...

"You drive like an old lady," Buttercup shook her head in disbelief as her sister managed to avoid yet another collision.

"Well, that's your opinion," she shrugged off the insult, "Personally, I think it takes just as much skill to avoid every single car in here, as it does to hit every single car," she smiled at her sister.

And finally a brief allusion to the OG Villain lol...

"Blossom!" Buttercup shouted louder so she could get her sister's attention. She pointed at the fast approaching purple car that zoomed towards them from their right side. Behind the wheel of that car was Bubbles who wore a rather determined look on her face as Robin cheered for her.

Blossom saw, but by then it was too late. Bubbles and Robin's car slammed into Buttercup and Blossom's car at full force, spinning Buttercup and Blossom's car into the wall of the arena. The loud buzz which signified the end of the ride then sounded.

    - the roller coaster is Buttercup's ideal carnival attraction; it's got the thrills, twists, turns, ups and downs.  And makes Bubbles sick.

     - the Ferris Wheel is Blossom's ideal carnival attraction; it's a staple of any fair, grand and big, overlooks everything, and traditionally romantic

YNB's favorite scene:

     Personally, I loved writing the whole exchange between Buttercup and Blossom in the car.  Establishing their rivalry, Buttercup's jealousy over Blossom's special power and heroism, Blossom's projection of her own insecurities, their differences, and their commonality. 

Final thoughts on the chapter:

     I was pretty satisfied with how it turned out but I did wait to post it until I had a decent headstart on chapter 2.  I was pretty nervous about whether or not I could stay personally committed to writing this fic so I just wanted to make sure I was really feeling it first, lol.  It had been so long since I'd written fanfic so I just needed to be sure.

     When I outlined everything I estimated the chapter length to be around 6-7k words... And I was surprised that it was double that at about 12k.  Which was wild because on my outline each opening chapter for Part 1, 2 and 3 were supposed to be shorter and more like preludes to everything else.  Well, I guess they ARE shorter chapters but STILL definitely longer than any chapter I used to write for my multichaptered stories.   At the time I thought "Ok obviously my writing has changed but surely I wont go much longer than 12k for future chapters...."  Hurr hurr.

     Personally, I was pretty proud of myself for spending so much time on it and rewriting it over and over and all that.  In the past, TBH whatever was my first draft was pretty much also my last draft haha.  I cranked out a chapter in one sitting usually and edited it mayyyybeee lol.  I just wanted to get it posted so I could move on and get to that next point in the story.   But I suppose now that I'm older and a bit more self aware, I realize a lot of my own anxieties manifest a lot in my writing though and I can recognize it in my old works like the OG Villain where I JUST WANNA GET TO WHAT I WANT TO WRITE RIGHT NOW OK??  I forced myself to slow the hell down this time, take it one scene at a time, and when things felt off I took breaks, slept on it for a few days and came back with new approaches or ideas.   And so far that's how I continue to work on it.

   Also, CHVRCHES.  I listened to a ton of that band while working on this chapter especially.

[rainywritingsx]

Torn • BNHA X OC • Chapter 8

Finally, a new chapter ^^ I'm so so happy to see that this book is gaining more reads oj my Wattpad each day, and your comments motivate me to write more! I'm overjoyed that you guys are enjoying the story just like I am and I hope that you'll continue to do so in the future :). Anywayyy, onto the chapter now, enjoy!

You can find the prologue for the story here, and on my masterlist you’ll find all of the chapter ^^

Upon seeing my astounded expression, a mischievous smirk covered the stranger's face. For a moment, the both of us were silent, just looking at each other. I was at a loss for words and he just seemed to enjoy watching me being uncomfortable. My breath hitched in my throat as I tried calming down. His eyes were captivating to say the least. My eyes slowly scanned the rest of him, though it was dark there were a few things that stood out, immediately noticing the scars that covered majority of his body. What I assumed were staples were used to keep it all together, and I noticed he also had a few piercings. His hair was dark from what I could tell and he was taller than me.

This really caught me off guard. I definitely did not expect our paths to cross again.

"I see you do recognise me, don't you sweetheart?" The nickname caught me by surprise, which I tried to hide by looking away, but to no avail. He wasn't even trying to help, since it seemed that my flustered state was very amusing to him.

"Is this how you thank your saviour? I'm really hurt, princess." He said as he faked sadness and placed a hand on his chest, which I couldn't help but giggle at involuntarily.

"Ah, you're not mute. I knew it." he chuckled softly.

"Hey! I'm just... a little shy, that's all." I said as I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"I see." and then it was silent again.

"Uhm," I finally spoke up again. "thank you. For earlier, I mean. I don't know what would've happened if you didn't save me."

"Princess, are you really thanking a villain?" He sighed. "I just did what anyone else would've done. Those bastards are all talk. They think they're cool until a real villain shows up." I slightly tilted my head. a real villain..? That was interesting of him to say. What was a real villain to him?

Hold on, Janie. why were you even curious about this? He's just some stranger that you happened to recognise, that was all.

"Anyway, you should probably go home now, cupcake. These places aren't exactly fit for people like you." I narrowed my eyes at that second sentence. What exactly did he mean by that?

"People like me?"

"Oh come on, doll. You know exactly what I mean, you just don't want to admit that to yourself." I couldn't help but pout. Maybe I did know, but I was just hoping that I was still wrong for some reason.

"Hey, I'm not as weak as you think I am." He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, pardon me." He began, eyes slightly wide and his tone higher. "The oh-so-precious Janie Kotu is of course the most powerful, with her parents being the most notorious villains at the moment. She will definitely become just like them too." He faked a bow and looked at me from below his lashes. "My sincere apologies, milady."

"Look, I know I may seem a bit spoiled, but that doesn't mean that I'm incapable of doing anything."

"You might have strength, but do you even want to become like them? Does your power matter at all if you're not even passionate about what you do?" How did he know that?... Wait, no. For all I knew he could just be bluffing, right?

"I know that right now your heart lies somewhere else. But why? Are those heroes really any better than us? They're all stupid fakes."

"No, that's not true." I protested. "All might is-"

"Ah, yes, All Might." He interrupted "The only one who actually cares. But he's retired as of right now, hasn't he? He can pretend all he wants, but he's not as strong as he used to be."

"Okay, hold on, why are you even saying all of this?" Where did all of that come from? He barely knew me, so why was he just starting to tell me all this? "You don't know me! You may know my name, but I don't even know yours."

"Oh, my sincere apologies princess." He said in a 'sincere' tone and made a fake deep bow again. "The name is Dabi." His tone was lower again, which sent shivers down my spine for some reason.

"Look princess, you just... how do I say this," he thought for a little before looking back at me again. "you just spark my interest, that's all." I could hear the smirk in his voice. "A villain in making who also wants to attend UA at the same time? Sounds pretty interesting if you ask me." upon hearing this a gasp left my mouth as my eyes widened. How did he know? If he knew, who else saw me too that day?

The stranger chuckled, clearly noticing my shocked reaction. "Don't worry sweetheart, I'm not planning on telling anyone." He stopped and leaned down towards me, making me back up slightly. "What I will do though, is tell you that you're making a huge mistake. That oh-so-perfect little world of heroes that you dream of... In reality, it's no better than this here." I scoffed as I crossed my arms, not losing eye contact with him.

"How would you even know that?" He was just bluffing, right?

"I have my ways, doll." He chuckled. "But, you know, I'm not forcing you not to go or anything of course." I frowned and eyed him suspiciously.

"After all, I think it will be quite amusing to say the least, watching you realise all of what I said yourself. You might even regret not listening to me."

"I really don't get you... Can we just go? Please?" I sighed, tired of his rambling that I wasn't in the mood for.

"Alright, sweetheart. Where do you live?" I narrowed my eyes at him. Did he really think I was going to tell him my address?

"Oh, you do have some common sense I see. Good, because your knight in shining armor won't be there for you every time."

"Can you just walk with me until we get to that cat café that's not too far from here?" I said, not reacting to his comment. He chuckled and hummed in agreement before we started walking.

To my surprise, the walk was actually silent and peaceful. Dabi didn't really speak, and I wasn't in the mood of speak. Realisation of how dangerous the previous situation could've been had hit me and all I wanted to do was go home right now.

Dabi probably had sensed my discomfort, because when we got to the café he didn't make a witty remark or use a cheesy pet name on me.

"Alright, Janie. I'll go my own way from here now." For some reason, I didn't like the way he spoke. No, it wasn't because I liked his witty remarks and cheesy nicknames, I just wasn't used to it. Wait Janie, what even was there to get used to to begin with? I barely knew him.

"Okay." Was all I said to him. But there was a part of me that longed to see him again. I wanted to keep in touch with him, I wanted to know more about him. How did he know I took part in UA's entrance exam? How could he read me that easily? So far nobody had really figured that this wasn't what I wanted...

Dabi nodded, sent me a tiny smile before turning around to leave. I turned around as well, going my own way but it still feeling wrong. I stopped dead in my tracks and bit my lip. My goodness, what was wrong with me?

I turned back around, only to see that Dabi was still walking. A quiet sigh escaped my mouth. Why was I hoping that he would turn back around? Why was my heart pounding right now?

No Janie, you just weren't used to this. You didn't have friends, you weren't used to guys paying attention to you. This was just like the entrance exam, nothing to worry about. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts before turning back around to walk back home. I wasn't going to look back anymore. That was nothing. I didn't feel anything.

Once I got home, I immediately went to my room, not being in the mood to talk to anyone. Not that my family was that talkative towards me anyway.

I plopped down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. Flashbacks of today came to mind, causing me to shiver for a moment. Was I going to tell my parents about this? No, they and my brothers would laugh at me...

Then Dabi crossed my mind. Dabi... Wait, why was I thinking about him? He saved me and was just an interesting person, that was all. nothing else. We happened to see each other twice, but I would probably never ever see him again. Obviously I didn't mind that.

Janie, how naive you were.... I had no idea what the universe had in store from me from that day on. it's all his fault. because of him you are in this situation right now, years later...

.......................................................................................

A few days later, I almost had a heart attack when I checked the mail and saw a letter for me from UA. I didn't think I'd get the results back so quickly! Wait, what if my parents or brothers saw it? No no, they would have told me probably. I wasn't dead yet, so they obviously hadn't seen the letter, right?

In my panicked state I nonchalantly hid it in my bra to be sure that nobody would see it. I put the rest of the letters we received together in a neat pile and calmly went to my room.

As I made my way to my bedroom, my heart was racing. Was I accepted? Was I not? What class would I be in? What would I even do if I was accepted? Was I really going to try living a double life? For how long was that even going to work? What if anyone found out? No wait. I didn't even know if I was accepted into the school at all, so I was not going to worry about other things until I had read the letter.

I entered my room and made sure to close the door before walking to my desk and sitting on my chair. While taking the letter out of my bra it was only then that I realised how strange that was. I couldn't help but giggle at myself as I shook my head.Luckily, nobody had seen that happening.

I looked back at the letter and took a deep breath. I had no idea what my score was at the end of the practical part of the entrance exam, so I really couldn't estimate what class I'd be in if I was accepted at all. I wanted to open it right now, but part of me was also terrified of both of the possible outcomes.

No, Janie, you had to get over that and just do it. Without thinking my hand made its way to the letter to open it, and I gasped when I saw a hologram appear. Woah, it was Present Mic! I didn't know that much about the pro hero, but I was aware that he was strong, and also very, very energetic, which I honestly liked.

"Hellooooo there! My name is Present Mic, I'm a pro hero and a teacher at UA High! I am here to inform you about your results of the entrance exam." My heart was pounding and I could feel my hands becoming clammy. I gulped and bit my lip as my eyes stayed focused on the pro.

"Now, Janie Kagura, on your theoretical exam you did exceptionally well!! So cool!! Your results were in the top 30!" Upon hearing this my jaw almost dropped to the basement of our house as my eyes grew the size of dinner plates. Top 30????? How?

"However, when we take a look at your results of the practical exam," his tone caused slight worry. I'm guessing I didn't do as well on this part as on the theoretical exam. "your score appears to be quite low..." unconsciously, my lips formed into a small pout as I could feel my heart sink to my stomach.

"But!!!!" he said, his voice filled with enthusiasm as a big smile appeared on his face again. "The other teachers and I all agreed that you definitely have some potential there. and it wouldn't be right of UA to let that talent go, right?" I gasped as I stood up from my chair, my hands covering my mouth. Was he trying to say what I thought he was trying to say?...

"So, Janie Kagura, I can happily tell you that you have been accepted into UA High!" A happy squeal left my mouth as I started jumping up and down. Me? Accepted? Really? Oh my goodness, was I dreaming? I quickly pinched myself, giggling giddily when I realized this was actually happening and it wasn't just some silly dream in my head.

"While you weren't accepted in class A or B, you were accepted in class C, which is totally awesome already!" The goofy smile on my face was still apparent. Yes, being in class 1-A would be a dream, but I was already happy that I got into this school with such a low acceptance rate.

"And remember, there are more ways to still get into the Hero Course! UA would never waste any potential!"

"Now, there are a few things that still need to be settled. First of all, the dorms for the new students haven't been finished just yet. There are a few problems that we need to take care of first. But when they're done...." I zoned out at this point as my eyes widened. I completely forgot that UA had dorms... Oh my, I was so screwed... Was there any way for me to be able to cover this up without it looking suspicious? Think Janie, think, I thought to myself as I grew more and more frustrated by the second. I was so dumb for not considering these things before, why did I only have to realize it now?

Okay wait, I still had time. The dorms weren't finished yet, which meant it would take a while until those were finished. I still had time...

"In the rest of the letter you can read the practical and boring information. We can't wait to see you at UA High, Janie Kagura!!" and just as fast as it appeared, the hologram disappeared. I was still astounded, did I really get into UA? Such an amazing school with an extremely low acceptance rate? I got in?

I wondered if those two guys were accepted too... They seemed nice and I would like to be friends with them if i were honest. They were different, but interesting people nonetheless.

Wait, Present Mic had said that there was more information in the letter, which meant it was probably a good idea to read that letter. I sat down on my desk chair again and grabbed the letter. It basically said on Monday most things would be done, like getting our measurements for our uniforms and suits. Our suits... I was going to get a hero suit? Oh my goodness, that felt so surreal. I, Janie Kotu, who was born to be a villain, actually had the opportunity to change my fate. I could feel tears well up in my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away. While I was overjoyed right now, I also did not want to expect too much, as I knew anything could happen that could stop me from following my dream.

Apart from what I just mentioned, the letter also talked about getting the keys to our lockers as well as the fact that we would find out who our homeroom teacher was when we got to the school. All of this would happen next week, and the week after that the lessons would start. I'd also receive my timetable next week. I really hoped there was at least some time between this and the villain school...

Wait, but on Wednesday I was going to go to my parents' work. Crap, what if I had to go to UA that day? If I told them I had to go to school, they'd be able to make sure I had a day off, which was easy considering the influence they had. So yeah, that wasn't going to work of course. Pretending to be sick was also not an option, as my mother would probably get overprotective and end up staying home with me. That or my father would manage to convince to leave me alone at home, which was possible since my dad was rough to say the least so he'd obviously think I was exaggerating. But still, it was risky.

I shook my head to get out of my thoughts. I had no idea on what days I had to come, I knew I had to go on Monday but that was it. Worrying over something that wasn't even confirmed was completely irrational, I knew that. Yet I just couldn't help but feel anxious about this. It wasn't an everyday thing to lie about the school that you were attending and barely anyone knowing about it.

A soft sigh escaped my mouth. I hated the fact that things had to be like this. Yes, I was the one who did all of this stuff secretly, but if only my parents were more accepting, if only they weren't the most notorious villains at the moment... Things would be completely different if that was the case.

Suddenly a completely different thought crossed my mind. I didn't even have a design for a hero suit! Quickly I grabbed a pencil and a few pieces of paper. While I was no art mastermind, I was able to draw a simple person with proportions that were kind of okay? And that didn't matter too much, since they probably mostly cared about the clothing itself.

But how was I just going to design something just like that? I had exactly zero experience with fashion design... Maybe I could try using everyday outfits in a way? And I'd just add a few colours that I loved. Ah, I was sure that all of these heroes in training had been dreaming of what their suit would look like since they were little, if only things were that easy for me... Yes, I had always secretly wanted to save people instead of harming them, but I never even thought it was possible so I never let myself dream, as it would only bring pain.

I just decided to draw whatever, and hopefully something nice would come out of it. I drew outfits I wore often, outfits that I had seen in magazines before and would like to wear, dresses that I would love to wear but were way too extra so I wouldn't wear them anywhere..

My heart stopped when I heard a knock on my door. I quickly hid my UA letter and right after that my mother opened the door.

"Hey sweetie!" she said, her tone high-pitched as usual. "Dinner is almost ready! Oh, what are you doing?" she asked and I could feel my heartbeat spead up. Without waiting for an answer, she entered the room and looked at the drawings.

"Oh, you're designing a villain suit! How lovely!" she exclaimed excitedly as she examined every drawing. "When I got my first villain suit I was so excited! Your grandparents actually chose it and designed it for me, so it was a total surprise." she was quiet for a moment, blankly staring at the drawings before something seemed to cross her mind. She gasped in excitement and looked back at me.

"Your dad and I will do the same for you! You'll get to wear it on Wednesday!" a small frown appeared on my face. Wednesday was only a few days away.

"But that's in a few days already, mother." I said, causing her to chuckle softly

"Oh honey, don't worry about the time! Your dad and I will take care of it." she answered with a bright smile, which honestly raised my concerns even more. But I knew my mother and I was aware that nobody would stop her nor my dad even if they tried their best.

"Now, let's go downstairs, your brothers are waiting already and your dad will be here soon!" I nodded and got up. Once I entered the dining room, the loud laughter and voices from my brothers died down. I decided to act as if I didn't notice it and sat down at my usual spot.

Not too long after my mother and I had sat down, my father also entered the house. I couldn't help but flinch when I saw him, as there was some blood on his clothes. Yet everyone else acted as if there was nothing morally wrong with this. Knowing that getting mad would not get me anywhere, I made the decision to remain silent and just quietly started eating.

"So, how was work today, dad?" Malo asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he looked at my father with a smirk. Chobu jumped up, almost spilling his glass of water in the process.

"Yeah! Tell us about it, dad!" he exclaimed, and Emry just nodded in agreement. I knew that my father wasn't going to give the details, as Chobu and Emry were still young, but the story was still going to be clear and I hated the fact that my father spoke so prideful of his actions. And the fact that everyone else in the house supported it just stung me even more.

As my father told about whatever he did today, I tried to focus on something else, because I really had no intention of losing my appetite today. For a while I was just eating my meal, not really thinking at all. That was until my father said my name. I hummed and lifted my head only to see everyone staring at me. I made eye contact with my father, whose icy stare almost dug holes in me.

"You know, stories like this are important to hear, Janie. You especially should be listening as you are the one who will follow in your mother and I's footsteps." the urge to roll my eyes and tell him to piss off was major, but I was aware that it wouldn't help and, well, I never really said stuff like that.

So... I just nodded in agreement.

"Aw, honey, Janie meant no harm! I'm sure she has a lot on her mind today." my mother said. "Oh! you know what I saw Janie doing today?" she asked, an excited smile playing on her lips. She seemed a little too excited in my opinion....

"She was designing her villain suit!" and I could swear this was one of the rare moments where I saw pride in Malo's eyes. It was so weird, one time he was happy and excited for me, but other times his personality made a whole turn. Like when we went to school together he seemed happier than ever, but then at other times it was as if he barely cared. I couldn't even figure out my own brother... Part of me thought that maybe the times he tried being nice were just his ways of trying to get on my good side so he could have a lot of power in the future. And maybe sometimes that facade would crack, because of his ill intentions.

"Oh, Takeshi, remember when I did that too? When we met I was wearing my first villain suit!" she smiled as she clasped her hands together in excitement. "We can get one done for Janie by Wednesday, right darling?" My mother asked my dad, who nodded. He seemed to be more at ease because of what my mother had mentioned.

"How about you and Malo get matching ones? You two will obviously be fighting together!" I could see stars coming out of Malo's eyes as my mother said this. "I'm sure you two can also bond more when fighting."

"And it's good for you two to gain more popularity." my father added. While yes, from their viewpoint it was a smart move, what worried me was the fact that if Malo and I would join our parents in missions, it meant that my face was exposed to the world. UA was definitely going to figure out who I was...

"But maybe we should keep their identities kind of hidden for the heroes." my father then said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "We don't want them to get arrested already or for the police to already." I was about to jump out of my chair at that remark.

"Hm, I'm sure a mask will be okay. I'll let the designers know!" my mother replied. "Malo, Janie, any preferences you have for the suit? It still needs to gain attention of course so it must be something eye catching!" Malo opened his mouth to say something when my mother stopped him.

"Oh wait! How about you two think about it together after dinner and then let us know? I'm sure you both have wonderful ideas!" Yeah, lovely.... Sounded great... But I knew I didn't have much of a choice so I agreed. I saw a naughty smirk on Malo's lips which told me he was up to no good. Oh, boy...

[killian-whump]

Is it bad that I wouldn't want a continuation? I'd be down for a reunion- like special, but not anything in-character, you know? I feel like a bad fan, but for so many reasons, I'm ready to let the show lie. 1, I like where we left things. More, even short lived, could screw that up. 2, as much as I dug season 7, I feel it muddied the waters of the story up enough already. 3, missing major characters again would feel wrong. 4, the fandom as finally chilled the F out. I don't want more crazy.

Oh, Nonny. Nonny, Nonny, Nonny.

That’s not bad at all. I mean, all of the things you mentioned are absolutely valid viewpoints and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you having them. I’m sure, if there’s any truth to these speculations, that a LOT of fans are going to agree with you on those points.

But, life being the way it is, there’s also going to be a LOT of people who don’t agree with them - or, like myself, agree that these are definitely valid issues, but also feel that the benefits outweigh them considerably.

To put it bluntly, I’ve become even more “Colin-centric” in my fandom of Once in the time since the show ended. When I was actively watching the show, I was invested in other characters and other plots and other ships and other cast members... but my focus has narrowed since then. My biggest OTP now is Colin’s Work x My Eyeballs, so as long as that happens, I’ll be happy as a pig in mud. Anything else, quite honestly, takes a backseat.

And just like I feel that way about Colin, there’s folks who feel that way about EACH cast member, character, ship, etc. Those whose faves are taking part will be thrilled, and those whose faves can’t or won’t take part will be disappointed. C’est la vie. I don’t think that any ONE character or actor is (or should be considered) SO important to the show that it (or content relating to it) cannot be done without them. There’s still plenty of stories and ships and characters to explore!

But what I DO think should be universally agreed to is that if/when a reunion or continuation or backstory special inevitably happens... what happened with S7 should NEVER be allowed to go on again. We ALL need to stand together and be firm on this, because it does seem like Jen is actively distancing herself from the show and her role in a way that implies she’s probably not open to revisiting either of them. And there is NO reason why she (or her fans) should stand in the way of those who DO want to revisit Once - be it behind the camera, in front of it, or enjoying the finished work, if we should be so lucky.

I do feel you, probably most strongly, on the concerns over them “ruining” what was considered “canon-compliant” with things left as they were. As a Wish Hooked Queen shipper, if Sean’s involved in whatever goes on, there’s a chance they’ll somehow resurrect OG Robin and reunite him with OG Regina - totally killing my ship (but thrilling OG OQ fans!). But then, there’s also the chance that they might have Sean in as Wish Robin, paired with the Evil Queen... and they might make Wish Hooked Queen canon! So I could win or I could lose - but really, that’s the risk with ANY ongoing show. I don’t think it should prevent any future visits to the Once world.

[luvdsc]

1. (You don't have to read it all if you don't want to but I just wanted to send it in) It's honestly really stressful for a bunch of reasons.. The first being no one knows if the year will start on time, and if it does we don't know if we'll be able to take classes in school instead of online (I'm awful with online classes too so I'm really scared they'll start online).

2. The second thing is SATs & ACTs. I'm better at test taking than I am in the classroom so my plan was to take them and submit my scores to show I can do well in school, but they got cancelled this year so I'll have to take them next year. I still don't know when the ACT will be, but I do know the SAT will be at the start of the school year which isn't great because that's 3 months from now and I already don't remember much, so I'm probably not gonna do as well on the thing I was banking on..

3. Another thing is I have zero clue if/when I'll be able to do college tours, which isn't good because I haven't toured any yet :( And finally on top of all that I have the normal highschooler problems of having no idea what to go to school for and having no clue where I want to go... Ughh there's so many other smaller reasons too but those are the important one's.. Thank you for listening to/letting me rant though and sorry it is so long, I just really needed it!! 💕💕 💕

✿ ✿ ✿

of course, i’d read it all, lovebug! 💕 yes, it’s definitely scary with the uncertainty of the school year. i had to go through that with my last quarter where they kept delaying the start in order to accommodate the online switch. i’m not gonna lie to you and say online classes was a breeze because i definitely struggled with it myself, but i ended up with 3 A’s and 1 B, so i can tell you how i studied online if that will help? please go to your classes. don’t skip even though you desperately want to. go to class, turn off your phone, pay attention and take notes. you might tell yourself that it’s okay to skip because you can watch the recorded lecture later, but that’s a big fat lie and you’re not going to watch it lol. hold yourself accountable and watch it live and take notes like you’re in your actual classroom. participate when the teacher asks questions, don’t just sit there silently. actually do the problems and examples they go over and do the practice problems if they assign them. as for studying for tests, if you know when you’ll be having a midterm, start a week early and study one chapter a day and do some practice problems for each one. this way, you won’t be scrambling to cram study the night before and it’ll seem less daunting. you will get through this, honey bee! ✨

secondly, as for SATs and ACTs, i actually do think you remember more than you give yourself credit for. I didn’t study for them very much, and I think I did pretty well on them! I know the SAT scoring changed from when i took it, but I got a 2250 out of 2400 on the SAT and 33 out of 36 on the ACT. There are a ton of mock exams online and I used those super thick, paper thin soft cover books to study from, which had many mock exams. I don’t quite remember what was covered in those exams since it’s been 4 years, but if you want to study for math, i suggest that you review one chapter a day, starting at the beginning of your summer! that way, you aren’t cramming everything into the few days before the test and feel overwhelmed. it’s not as scary this way either, setting aside one or two hours to review each chapter and this will refresh your memory! i wish i could help you with the reading and writing portion, but i didn’t spend much time studying for this part. i mostly just tried out the mock exams because i’m not sure how else to prepare for that. you’re smart, sweetpea, and i know you’ll try your best, and that’s what counts the most! if you aren’t satisfied with your score, you are always able to retake it! there’s nothing wrong with retaking it. colleges won’t count that against you. i believe in you, lovebug! 💗

it sucks that you aren’t able to do college tours, i’m so sorry ): if it helps, i can describe to you how my university is like? a couple of my friends are actually the student tour guides at my school, too, so i can get more info on that if you’d like! my sister and i both went to private universities, so i have a better grasp of how those are and what the class situations are like. but many of my friends go to public universities, and i can ask them what those are like as well! my other friend went to community college, so if you want to know what that’s like, i can also ask her! 🌸

i talked about the struggles of choosing a major earlier, and i’ll put that here as well as add onto it! it’s a scary thing choosing what you want to do for the rest of your life. i went through that as well. i did extensive research and bounced between seven different potential majors. i didn’t know what i wanted to major in either and applied with different majors to each place. but it’s also possible to change your major later on, which is what i did twice. i will tell you this, it is the easiest to transfer majors from engineering to anything else. it’s the hardest to transfer into business or engineering if you’re majoring in sciences or arts. business is in between, so it’s hard to transfer to engineering from there, but much easier than it is to transfer to engineering from arts and sciences. transferring into arts and sciences is the easiest overall. it’s okay if you don’t know what to major in. but also, keep in mind that it’s much more difficult to change your major in a public university than a private one. also, to be honest, as long as you have some sort of degree, you can make yourself marketable to any job as long as you have the experience to back it up. granted, this doesn’t mean you can suddenly become a cardiovascular surgeon with just an economics degree, but what i mean is that it is very possible to get a job outside of what you have a degree in! 🌻

what’s your favorite subject, honey bee? what are your favorite extracurriculars? is there some topic that you’re really interested in? talk to the people around you and ask what their job is like! does it sound interesting to you? can you see yourself doing that kind of work for a while? do you think you’ll enjoy that kind of job? 💓 also, please make sure the average job in your chosen field of study will support the lifestyle you want or that you are okay with the lifestyle it supports! this is the reason why i didn’t choose to major in art, even though it’s my passion. i don’t want to be living in a shoebox and having an unstable income based on whether or not i can sell my paintings. it’s why i chose to go into business because i prefer a comfortable lifestyle with a nice apartment, much travelling, and lots of sushi in the future lmao

i didn’t know where i wanted to go either tbh. i never had a dream school. so i chose based on the school that offered me what i wanted most, which was a small classroom size with good teacher-student relationships, close to home, and the ability for me to change majors easily since i wasn’t set on the one i applied with. and i’m very happy with my decision! so maybe, if you list down what you want from your future school, you can narrow down your choices? 💕

you’re always welcome to come talk to me or rant about whatever you’d like! i’m sorry my response is so long, but i really hope any part of it will be able to help you in making your choices, lovebug! i’m rooting for you, and i hope you have a wonderful senior year ✨ please don’t worry too much about it, and remember to have fun as well!!! enjoy your last year!!!! 💐

[pathogenic]

Knight of Enbarr

A self insert fic

[[MORE]]

Hubert's nose crinkled as he looked down from the balcony that he and the rest of the royals of the Imperial House sat. "Lady Edelgard, are you certain this is a good idea? Is my protection not enough?" He asked. He loathed the idea of having to work with enough to ensure the Crown Princess' safety.

"Hubert, it's not my choice." Edelgard reminded her retainer as she carefully leaned against the balcony. She had not yet recovered from her journey back from the Kingdom of Faerghus. "Besides the additional help would be nice."

"Still, I cannot help but feel this is a slight towards my abilities." He sighed. He was unable to stop Lord Arundel and now these were the consequences - he couldn't help but feel frustrated and that he failed the Vestra name to some degree. Still, Edelgard laid a hand on his shoulder. 

"I still have plenty of faith in you, this is just to ensure nothing like… that happens again." She reassured. Hubert gave a sigh through his nose as he looked back down. The fights would begin soon.

For weeks there had been a call for any warrior to test their metal against each other to serve the Crown Princess. Many had entered. The preliminary fights, from what the two of them had heard, were quick, but those who made it through showed great promise. Now it was time for the final tourney.

Hubert's eyes carefully watched the knights and warriors that came into the arena. He would lean over and whisper to Edelgard all that he saw; strengths, weaknesses, who wasn't fighting as honest as others. His keen eyes also noted the armor and their weapons. 

Though he could not see their faces, many of them came from more wealthy families as well. The fine shine of their armor and sturdy wooden in their weapons suggested such. However, there were a handful still that had to be from a lower class. It impressed the young noble that they made it as far as they did. 

The two had to admit that the fights were dull at first. Obvious differences in skill often made for poor entertainment. However, as they reached the last few brackets, even Hubert found himself on the edge of his seat. Some of the more excitable nobles had already picked their favorites and cheered and cried loudly along with the fights.

At last, the final round had come and the arena was practically in a frenzy as the Herald stepped onto the field.

"My lords and ladies!" He called, quieting down the excitement. "I present to you the final round! From this fight we will finally see who is truly worthy to serve our Princess Edelgard von Hresvelg and preserve the future of our great empire!" He motioned to a taller knight with a tower shield. Upon it was painted three roses on a black background. His armor was of well crafted metal, his weapon was a solid polearm.

"From our capital, Enbarr, I present you you Sir Domenik!" The herald called. Some of the nobles cheered, many commoners did. He then motioned to the shorter knight. Hubert could not make out much. Their helmet had chainmail that came over their neck, a shield with a wolf painted on it, and more shoddy armor. Despite that, her axe was certainly the best part of her set. Hubert could see the great care that went into.

"From the outskirts of our own Empire comes Haydes!" He called. The lack of title still made Hubert curious, and the name told him little about the stranger in the rink. 

"Lay on!" The Herald called as he moved out of the way. Hubert watched as Haydes continued to use the same tactics as usual. They normally player defensive and let the larger knights come to them. It wasn't a bad strategy, he figured. Charging someone taller than you rarely went well. 

He watches as the knight finally moved in. Between the reach he naturally had and the length of the polearm, he found it easy to stab from a long distance, but it seemed to be what Haydes was betting on. With a quick slash, they split the center of the polearm. With the knight now disarmed, they moved in and went for a swing, catching the tower shield instead. The two disengaged. Domenik moved in to grab the end of his polearm, rearming himself. It was a far less effective arm, but a knight should be able to adjust. 

The next move Domenik moved in once more. Haydee changed to a more aggressive approach, holding their axe above their shield. Domenik went to hit that instead, thinking they were moving in to strike, but instead Haydes took the momentum of the hit to let the weapon swing around their head. As the axe made it behind her, she crouched and popped back up as the axe finished it's rotation, making it aroikd his shield and catching his helmet.

Hubert watched closely as the knight dropped his shield. The axe had cut through the helmet, the fight was over. "My," He said to Edelgard, "it seems we have a champion."

"I recognize that move." Edelgard informed. "I bet you they learned from one of our previous knights. Still…" She tilted her head. "If it is the one I think it is, I wonder how they convince him to even train someone who isn't of noble birth."

"Hm." Hubert hummed, narrowing his eyes. "Perhaps we can discuss that over dinner." He watched as the one called Haydes relaxed. They reached up and pulled at the helmet. Short brown hair spilled out, stuck mostly to their face from sweat from all the fighting. She held up her axe in victory as the Herald called out for the end of the tournament. Edelgard's knight had been found.

The tournament ended in a feast, the noble families were in good spirits after watching all those fights. Hubert's father, Marquis Vestra and Count Bergliez had endured the newly made knight found her quarters in the castle and visited the blacksmith to ensure she had good armor and arms to serve the princess before arriving to the dinner.

Hubert noted how the poor woman looked out of place amongst the nobility, listening to their stories and answering questions when asked. He approached her, silent and quick, however she seemed to see him at the last second and looked over at him. 

"Hello." She said. "Can I help you?"

"That was an impressive performance out there." He said. "I must be honest, I expected the trained knight to win, not a stranger who is barely a part of the Empire."

She shook her head. "I couldn't lose." She said. "I trained too hard to let myself lose." He wasn't sure whether he liked that answer or not.

"Oh?" He said, keeping a pleasant appearance for now. "You made it to the final round. Wouldn't that be reward enough?"

"No, I have debts to pay. There is nothing to be gained by reaching the finish line and not crossing it." She answered. Well, he couldn't argue with that.

"Who are these debts with? Since you serve Edelgard directly, perhaps something could be arranged?" He asked.

"The knight who trained me and my village for helping me pay for the vast majority of what I owe that knight." She answered.

"And who is this knight?" Hubert asked. He felt a bit concerned that she was so forthcoming.

"Oh, he was an old guard for Emperor Ionius IX." She said. "Sir Alderin." Yes, Hubert knew the name, he was there when he retired.

"You are awfully forthcoming with information. That can be dangerous." How could she not know this? She looked to be Hubert's age, if not a little older.

"Are you not Hubert von Vestra?" She asked. He felt stunned for a moment. "House Vestra, from what I've been told, is very good at finding and using information. As heir of the house and my future college, it feels pointless to his from you."

"Hm, perhaps." He answered, smirking a bit. "I suppose you are right that I would find out eventually. Still, I hope that you'll learn to tighten those lips for everyone except Lady Edelgard and I. I'd hate to have to put the call for another knight so soon."

"Oh, you have my word. You shouldn't have to worry about that." She reassured.

"Time will tell." Hubert said. "Do enjoy the dinner, it was made to celebrate your victory after all."

There was something he had to admit. When Haydes said she'd do something, she was dead serious about it. Hubert could hardly recall a problem with her spilling information and she was exceptionally good at keeping Edelgard safe.

Hubert couldn't figure out why he was fixated on her and her performance as he worked to pack his bags. He and Edelgard were to leave for the Monastery soon. It was regrettable that she would not be joining them, he supposed he would miss her company, but it worked out to their advantage to have her stay in Enbarr.

He paused as he heard a knock at the door. "Come in." He called. He watched the knob turn as Haydes herself entered. "Oh? To what do I owe this pleasure?"

She shuffled her feet a bit with her hands behind her back. Hubert narrowed his eyes. This nervous behavior wasn't typical of their interactions. He had to wonder what exactly was going through her head. "I have a request to make of you, Hubert. … And a parting gift."

"Go on." He said, crossing his arms. 

"I want you to write to me while you and Lady Edelgard are at the Monastery. I want to know how things are going for the both of you and if there is anything I can do to help you both. I'll already be sending reports to you to keep you both posted, but I'm… Well, I'm going to miss you both." She admitter. Odd, Hubert couldn't recall anytime when someone said they were going to miss his presence. He felt embarrassed at the fact that his cheeks felt warm.

"That… can be arranged, certainly." He answered. "Was that all you wanted to ask of me?" He asked. She gave a quick nod.

"As for the gift…" She moved so she could reveal the wrapped box she had hidden behind her back. Hubert tilted his head as he accepted the box from her, pulling it open. He opened the lid and looked inside. It was a package of quality coffee beans, a press for him to make coffee from, as well as a couple of books.

"Just a little bit of home, you know?" She said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"They're wonderful, thank you." He said, his voice came out softer than he expected. "They'll certainly be of use." He watched as she relaxed into a wide smile.

"I'll let you finish packing. I hope you and Lady Edelgard have a safe journey." She moved to leave the room. Hubert watched her go before looking back at the gift. He smiled before he shook his head. She was an odd one.

[makeste]

Sorry for the interruption,but considering you're up to the most recent chapter in the current arc, I'm wondering (hopefully if it isn't too early to ask), what are some arcs/events you think could happen in the future of MHA? I'm still thinking we'll get a prison break arc but I feel it will happen in the second year of UA.

all right, so here are my guesses for how things will play out for the rest of the series. I’m fairly certain about the next several arcs, but after that it gets a lot more uncertain. I think by this point we’re far enough along in the series to take a decent stab at predicting the major events though.

so first we have our Villain War Arc with Tomura duking it out against Re-Destro and his gang. and presumably Tomura is going to make it out of this alive, if not win outright, and he’ll receive the loyal services of Gigantomachia along with 11 brand new High End Noumus for his trouble. just in time for Christmas! as for whether Re-Destro and the Quirk Liberation Army will make it out if this intact, that remains to be seen. they seem like a pretty huge threat, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they stick around in some fashion for a little while after the arc ends.

anyways, however that ends up turning out, my prediction is that the arc after that will be a New Years Arc. the timing is just about right with the storyline currently being in mid-December, and the holiday break would provide a great excuse for getting the kids out of school for a little bit, which is important for two reasons. one, it’s been a while since we’ve seen characters like Inko and the Bakugous (and there are still a lot of families we’ve never seen at all and it would be fun to meet a few of them), and it would be a chance to catch up with them for both character development purposes and, in some cases, physical development (since Endeavor still wants to teach Shouto that new move). and two, it’s been forever since the kids dealt with an actual villain attack, and for plot reasons we currently can’t really do that at U.A. since any more attacks there would have serious consequences for the future of the school. so that means we have to get the kids out of the dorms and off U.A. property in order to have a proper battle, and New Years vacation provides that opportunity. I’m envisioning a Noumu attack on a crowded shrine or something along those lines. maybe a bunch of the kids plan to meet up for a hatsumoude outing, and this way Horikoshi can include whichever combination of kids (and teachers too probably) he feels like. and this way they’re introduced to the new Noumu threat, and Deku can maybe unlock another one of his new quirks, and we can see some other new moves as well.

after this I’m anticipating that we’ll finally be ready to start my long-awaited Noumu Arc, wherein we finally learn more about these fuckers, as the police and pro heroes finally start to realize the severity of the threat, and make it their number one priority to track them down and eliminate them. during this arc we may finally start internships again, particularly if the kids have proven themselves and managed to take out a Noumu or two on their own in the previous arc. alternately, realizing the danger and the connection to All for One, Izuku and Katsuki (and possibly some trusted friends) may start their own mini investigation, being the industrious and resourceful kids they are. maybe they figure they’ll just try to learn what they can, and if they actually do stumble across any big leads they’ll let the adults know right away and they won’t do anything stupid or take any risks themselves. except that of course it doesn’t turn out that way, and they inevitably do end up Deep In The Shit. and somehow during the course of this arc they finally learn the secret of Noumus and how Ujiko has been making them using kidnapped kids, and all that other extremely dark and disturbing shit. and Hawks probably plays a big role in this arc as well (and possibly Endeavor and Dabi, by extension).

probably this will be a huge arc, and once it’s over we’ll need a break from all that seriousness, so I expect we’ll see some more school stuff; possibly a training session with some of the kids from Ketsubutsu and Shiketsu. we may also see the kids enter their second year, depending on how much time passes. if that happens we’ll learn where Shinsou ends up, and hopefully that will be 1-A! we may also learn more about Aizawa’s past if we haven’t already by this point. and have some more character development for the kids as well.

and now we get to the events which I’m certain will happen, but I’m not sure when and how and in which order. but basically:

Mass Production of the Quirk-Be-Gone Bullets - sparking a huge crisis and possibly taking out a number of the big heroes in the initial wave of attacks. this may lead to the kids’ training being intensified yet again out of fear of the new threat. if the Quirk Liberation guys haven’t been eliminated, the remaining members of their army may go to war against the League again, which would buy the heroes some time. maybe they manage to take out the League’s production facilities and buy a little more.

Prison Break Arc - because All for One isn’t just going to sit around forever. Stain will probably get out too, which is… well, whatever. it may end up splitting the loyalties of some of the League’s members though. and depending on whether or not AFO is able to heal up and restore himself to full strength, he may end up turning on Tomura as well which would obviously be huge. we’ll probably be getting Dad for One hints left and right at this point, and maybe even the big reveal at long last, depending on how things go.

U.A. Traitor Reveal - a.k.a. Hagakure is outed at last. so this I think will go hand-in-hand with the U.A. Invasion arc, and will probably be the lead-up to it. U.A. frantically trying to narrow down who the traitor could be. maybe even someone is framed or wrongly accused. lots of ways to play this one out.

More Mysterious Shit with One for All - uncovering the secrets of the last two wielders! possible time travel shenanigans! unlocking the rest of Deku’s SIXQUIRKS. etc. I don’t think Deku will fully master all of this, mind you – I’m thinking more along the lines of him frantically working to learn as much as he can in a limited amount of time, knowing shit is about to hit the fan and he’s almost out of time to prepare. think Aang training to defeat Ozai with the deadline of Sozin’s comet looming over him. also by this point he may have been outed as All Might’s successor and so there may be additional pressure on him in that regard. I can’t decide whether or not I think that’s likely to happen lol.

and finally, U.A. Invasion Arc - I envision this being either the final arc or the next-to-last, the reason being that the school would probably be destroyed or at the very least severely damaged. allow me to remind you all of Dabi’s speech all the way back in chapter 62 about how U.A. and All Might were the two most trusted foundations of the current society. well, we already lost All Might. so basically, if U.A. falls, that’s it. fucking chaos. anarchy. complete and utter panic. and that’s why I feel like this could only take place at or towards the very end of the series, when it’s fucking do or die time. anyways, so this will be huge, with a ton of epic battles and shocking plot twists, and it’ll probably be more brutal than any arc that comes before it, with at least one shocking death (looking at you, All Might. mind you, if I’m wrong it’ll be the happiest I’ve ever been to be wrong about something). Tomura by this point might have changed sides, or he might be on His Own Side and just kind of confused and looking for his own revenge and not sure who he hates most at this point and All Might might actually get his chance to save him after all. and Deku will finally beat AFO with the help of Kacchan and all the rest of his friends and all the past wielders of OFA. and bam. end of series.

so there you have it, those are my predictions. Horikoshi has said in past interviews that he doesn’t intend for this series to run for as long as some of the other WSJ classics (he originally only wanted it to be 30 volumes lol), and he’s also talked about how his favorite part of superhero stories is the origin story, which to me indicates that we won’t be seeing any timeskips or anything of the like. I figure all of these events would be more than enough to get us to 400-500 chapters easy, which seems like a reasonable length to me. of course it could easily end up running longer depending on whether or not he gets carried away. I probably won’t complain if so lol. anyway, should be a wild ride.

[stammiviktor]

Requesting DVD Commentary for Tether, from "He'll fight" to "He's all I have". I'm interested in this whole scene really, but I tried to narrow it down a little. :D

[this is for the DVD commentary fanfic ask game here. Send me an excerpt from any of my stories if you want to hear my thought process behind it!]

Thank you Cait! I have a lot to say about this story, so the majority of this is going under a read more lol. I hope no one minds if I include a few lines before your selection starts for context, also.

(Link to the story here!)

“I’ll be twenty-six. And that’s only if he makes it that long.”

Yuuri is on eggshells. He fidgets. “Your grandfather seems really stubborn.”

“Yeah, well, his heart apparently isn’t.”

“He’ll fight—”

“So what?” He turns his head, trying to bore a hole through Yuuri now. “Ten years, twelve years, what’s the difference? He’s almost eighty.”

Yuuri tries his best to make his voice sound gentle. “Ten years is a long time. A decade…”

“Fuck, Katsudon, that’s not the point.” His eyes are red and wild and growing more so by the second. “Ten years, and where will I be? Still training. Still competing. You know I hadn’t seen him since Rostelecom?”

One of the greatest things about this show, in my opinion, is all of the different types of love it showcases. Yes, Yuuri and Viktor’s love story is at the center, but we have a whole supporting cast of characters that love our main characters and each other, as sons or brothers or grandchildren or adopted sons-in-laws, and are loved in return. Yuri loves his grandfather. This is very clear from the first few episodes, when Nikolai is Yuri’s inspiration for Agape, and Nikolai so clearly loves Yuri - I mean, Yuri mentions pork cutlet bowls one time in passing and Nikolai goes home that day and invents katsudon pirozhki.

But I think it’s also glaringly clear from the show that Nikolai is Yuri’s only support network. His mother is obviously not in the picture, to say nothing of his father. And they haven’t lived in the same city since Yuri was, what, ten or eleven? And how often can Yuri possibly see him, for a few weeks during the off season? Once a year at Rostelecom?

Figure skating is Yuri’s passion, it’s something he loves enough to dedicate his life to it, but it also demands incredible sacrifice. It demands money, time, and your body. (“If selling my soul is what it takes to win, I’ll give you this body, no holds barred.”)

Yuri’s point in this excerpt, as he says, is that it doesn’t matter if his grandfather surpasses everyone’s expectations and lives longer than the max ten years of the doctor’s prognosis. Whether Yuri realized it before or not, whether he was just avoiding thinking about it, he can’t avoid it now: his grandfather is old and his grandfather will die. Yuri has very limited time with him. His grandfather likely won’t live to see Yuri’s entire figure skating career. There’s a clock staring him in the face now, counting down from ten with the knowledge that it could be longer or shorter but that his grandfather, the man who raised him and supports and loves him, will be gone by the time Yuri is Viktor’s age.

So, effectively, Yuri feels torn in two directions, between his love of his grandfather and his love of skating. He feels like he can’t have both. He feels like he’s sacrificed his grandfather in pursuit of the ice. He feels guilty but also sick looking at the future and knowing this isn’t going to change. He can’t give up one or the other. And he’s already wasted so much precious time without even realizing it.

There it is.

Vicchan’s in Yuuri’s head, then, as small and soft and bouncingly happy as the day Yuuri left him for Detroit and, as it turns out, never saw him again. He nods and tries to get his voice to work around the lump in his throat.

“Okay. I understand.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a character have this conflict. Yuuri ‘sacrificed’ his relationship with his beloved Vicchan in pursuit of his skating career– he leaves Hasetsu at 18 and for some reason never comes back even to visit. He missed precious time with someone/something he loved because he was far away pursuing his dream. You can’t make that time back up. You can’t change it. And Yuuri probably understands that part of what has Yuri so freaked out is that this could have been worse than just a scare - his grandfather could have actually died this time, and Yuri wouldn’t have had the chance to say goodbye or even have seen him once in the time leading up to his death, just like Yuuri didn’t with Vicchan.

Yuri’s not talking anymore. He’s looking away, white fingers balled in white sheets. His knees are drawing closer to his chest, making him smaller, smaller, until Yuuri notices a fine tremor ripple through the boy’s shoulders.

“Yura…”

There’s a low noise, barely discernable, from Yuri’s throat that means nothing and everything at the same time. On the wall, the banner encourages davai, Yuri! and his eyes are searching every other part of the room but there.

I wanted to write this story partially for this scene. This entire story is Yuri struggling with being vulnerable, and in this scene he’s finally breaking down but he’s still fighting at every step. Yuuri, though he’s used to crying more so than Yuri (especially in front of others), understands this struggle to hold himself together very well. He has a lot of empathy for Yuri in this moment.

When he finally speaks it’s in Russian, hometown accent barely there as his voice cracks and curls in on itself.

“He’s all I…”

Yuuri wants to not understand, but he does anyway. He reaches out before he can stop himself, his hand finding Yuri’s balled into a fist around the sheets. There’s that noise again, like something choked back, and Yuri’s chin falls to his chest. Behind locks of straw-like hair, his eyes are screwed shut.

The hand lets go of the sheets and makes a fist around Yuuri’s fingers, instead. A breath, then, barely audible:

“He’s all I have.”

Yuuri understands feeling like you’re fighting alone. Even with his massive support system (something Yuri doesn’t share) he knows how terrifying and pressure-inducing those feelings can be. Soon after this, he will reassure Yuri that even if he feels like he’s alone, he isn’t.

It just comes down to the fact that Yuri is scared. He’s only sixteen and he feels responsible for taking care of his grandfather now, which is a common role reversal in parent-child relationships but Yuri is extraordinarily young to be dealing with this, and has absolutely no other family to lean on. Plus, he lives far away, hasn’t seen him in months, and knows now that their time is limited. He’s terrified.

Yuuri doesn’t try to fix it. He can’t change the situation, no matter how shitty it is. But what he does, and what he has been doing since the beginning of the story, is refusing to let Yuri feel like he’s fighting alone. He is being Yuri’s support network (or at least a representative in Moscow of Yuri’s support network that is comprised of himself, Viktor, Yakov, Lilia, etc). He listens to Yuri, tries to help in any way he can, and makes sure this boy who is little more than a child knows that there are many people who love him and will help him if he will just let them.

It doesn’t change the fact that Nikolai is Yuri’s only blood family. It doesn’t change the fact that he will be dead before Yuri retires. But it does help.

(This turned more into an in-depth analysis than it did a DVD-style commentary on what I was thinking as I wrote it and how it all came to be. All of that is a bit too personal, though, so we’re gonna stick with meta-analysis lol)