#so I don't know if I'll get a bottle of it

[bijoumikhawal]

Hurricane Helene Relief Funds

Brother Wolf Animal Rescue operates out of Asheville, which has been hit aggressively by storm and flood damage

The Asheville Survival Program is reaching out. They appear to actually be the ones who use the Cashapp $Streets1de, and they just got put with Appalachian Med for convenience.

Beloved Asheville is reaching out. www.PayPal.me/belovedasheville and venmo.com/beloved-asheville

Homeward Bound helps the homeless in the Asheville/Buncombe area

Theres a fund for smaller rural communities around Asheville. It's close to its goal, but I really wish they'd set it higher considering what people are gonna need. Someone make sure they surpass it!

Charlotte NC is reaching out. Charlotte Mutual Aid: Helene Disaster Relief. CashApp: MutualAid704. Venmo: MutualAid704. Open Collective: Helene.cltfnb.com

Olive Branch Ministry is reaching out from West NC

Josh Griffith is fundraising for his efforts to deliver food in WNC

Breathitt County in Kentucky is fundraising to help NC through the Rousseau Volunteer Fire Department, as well as asking for physical supply donations. Their paypal is jrousseauvfd, put "for NC flood". Jaxon Flower shop in Jackson KY will also take physical donations. They aren't looking for clothes, moreso cleaning supplies and other items.

North Durham Mutual Aid is reaching out.

Eastern Kentucky Mutual Aid is also reaching out for funds. There looks like there might be two orgs with similar names, but if so both are helping. There's PayPal.me/ekymutualaid, Venmo - @ekymutualaid, or Cashapp - $ekymutualaid. There's also a Facebook group where individuals are posting requests for aid.

There's a fund for relief in Erwin, Tennessee

Helbender Harm Reduction is collecting physical supplies in Knoxville alongside First Aid Collective Knoxille, whose Cashapp/Venmo is: $firstaidcollectknox. If you're nearby they're looking for clothes, blankets, shelf stable food, rain gear, flashlights, and batteries, which is what most other groups asking for supplies are looking at too.

The TriCities Mutual Aid group is mostly asking for volunteers and supplies in the Tennessee/Virginia area. However, they may shift to donations, and you can reach out to them to see if they would be welcome either way.

Food Not Bombs Tallahassee has a cashapp: $fnbtally2022. They and Mutual Aid Athens are also boosting any community calls for funds, labor, or supplies in various states on their Instagram pages

Taylor County FL is reaching out. Paypal: Mskatonic138@gmail.com and Venmo @Mskatonic138

The Footprint project's Florida team is asking for people to support their response by texting HELENE to 44-321

Since I don't know if the post I made late last night will get traction I'll reiterate that Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is a trusted org. You can send funds at the linked site, or via Paypal: MutualAidDisasterRelief@gmail.com Or Venmo: @MutualAidDisasterRelief

Appalachian Med is another trusted org I shared last night. They have Venmo: @AppMedSolid. Put Flood Support in the description

Animal Disaster Relief Coalition is helping people make sure their animals are fed.

A list of Mutual Aid groups can be found here

A friend of mine, Vyn, is asking for help since he'll be out of power for around a week in Southeast GA

Other physical supplies people will be looking for in flood impacted areas include:

bottled water, potentially water filters

personal hygiene items: wipes, camping showers, tampons/pads/other menstrual products, handsanitizer, mosquito spray, laundry detergent, washboards, toilet paper, diapers, and especially any products safe for sensitive skin

medications- ibuprofen, monistat and other meds for yeast infections, cold and cough meds, any diabetic meds that can be safely shared, etc

individually wrapped low or no prep food items, baby formula, and Gatorade

duffel bags, backpacks, heavy duty storage totes and trash bags, 5 gallon buckets, coolers

Fans, dehumidifiers, moisture sensors, generators, gas and gas cans, solar charging items and battery banks, first aid kits

chainsaws, crowbars, hammers, air filters, respirators, 2×4 planks, bleach, roofing nails, heavy duty gloves, and potentially waders.

and board games or other non electric activities for children

Double check if you can before you donate these items to make sure whatever local drive you're headed to wants them and can distribute the more specialized ones where they're needed

And please! Add any funds you know of, especially for South Carolina and North Georgia since I wasn't seeing many funds for those areas! I know South Carolina is in desperate need and there's definitely parts of North Georgia in need too. Atlanta saw some bad flooding so keep an eye for them too!

[mitsukitsume]

Family addition.

Alternative Universe where Isaac's parents are still alive.

Side note: I tried to make it gender neutral but there are implications that reader is female! And it's inspired from that one ask!

Pov: Isaac makes his parents grandparents.

You were so fortunate to meet him. It was almost as if fate wanted you to be one. If had just taken the day off from being a waitress from one day, you would never be with the love of your life. He was just so perfect. Extrovert, outgoing, the your of person to befriend the uber driver. Not to mention how contagious his laugh was. He was light to your dark world. He introduced you to his parents and you were taken back by his mansion. He seemed so humble. His mother was so kind and graceful although his dad seemed a bit intimidating, you quickly learned he meant no harm.

It had been 7 years since you and him been together and 3 years since he gave you his last name. And now..you two were holding a bundle of joy in your hands. Something you never imagined you'd actually get to experience. You watched as the tiny fragile life in your arms moved his little arms around seemingly in search of milk making the most adorable coos.

"What should we name him pickle?"

"Cucumber..."

Isaac chuckled at your suggestion.

"I am serious love"

"What about _____ Rhoades?"

"Hmm...I like it..I think it suits him."

Isaac reached down and placed a gentle kiss on your lips and a small kiss on the baby's tiny head. He smiled uncontrollable looking at the little life he created.

"When will mom and dad be here?"

Isaac was snapped out his thoughts when he heard your question.

"Any minute now love"

After a few quiet moments with your husband and baby son, you hear a knock on the door. Isaac's mother and father entered with a smile on their face. She gave you the bouquet of flowers and gave you a hug. Your mother in law was the sweetest person ever. Unlike most, mil she loved you like real mother.

"Congratulations dear! Oh he's so beautiful! Just like his grandma!"

You chuckled and slightly nodded in agreement. Isaac's father steps up to see his grandson. He gave you a small side hug and also congratulated you. He turned to his son and gave him a hug patting him on the back.

"How are you feeling dear? Any pain or discomfort? You know I am here for you and will try to help you in every way I can."

Your eyes almost teared upon hearing her kind words. She asked to hold the baby and you gently placed your son into her arms.

The baby wiggled around a bit and slowly opened his eyes for the first time revealing a beautiful set of ocean blue eyes. Isaac looked at his son beautiful eyes.

"He has grandfathers eyes!"

He said joyfully. Isaac's father let out a bittersweet smile looking down at his grandson. It reminded him of the time his father held Isaac for the first time.

"God..I wish father was here to see this.."

Isaac's father said. Isaac agreed and thought of his grandfather that had protected his family from every danger.

"I miss him too father.."

The baby suddenly started to cry. Isaac's mother gently rocked it before placing him back in your arms. You sooth him but he keeps crying. You look at your mil for help.

"Don't worry dear he's just hungry. I'll make him a bottle of milk you hold him okay?"

You smiled in appreciation. You fed the baby milk and he eagerly suckled on the bottle. After a few moments he was fast asleep. Isaac's parents also left you two alone for some privacy.

"I can't believe I am a father now...I mean I still feel like a child sometimes..."

"Me too.."

Isaac placed a few kisses on your lips before picking up the baby so you could rest. You layed down and looked up at your husband cradling your little baby in his arms. You truly won in life.

[bedlamsbard]

Some concept writing! Deaging isn't usually a trope that does anything for me, but I've been toying with this particular concept for a while now, and wanted to play with it while I was still too discombobulated from moving to work on Home. I do have a pretty good idea of where this would go, but I'm not sure that I'll return to it as a full chaptered fic. also I would have to do a lot of research in order to make Sokovia like. work.

About 4.1K below the break; CACW AU. (Would be SteveNat but they don't actually appear in this sequence.)

*****

By the time Tony got off the stage and checked his constantly buzzing phone, he found he had twelve missed calls from Rhodey, two from Pepper, and one each from the Vision, Sam Wilson, and Clint Barton.  He stopped just past the curtain, waving off the dean when he tried to speak to him, and called Rhodey first.

“Who’s dead?” he demanded.

“What?” Rhodey said.

“Who’s dead?” Tony repeated, feeling his shoulders brace in anticipation of the response; he could think of plenty of reasons for Rhodey or Pepper to call, but the others weren’t very likely to.  Well, Vision, but not Wilson or Barton.

There was a momentary pause on the other end of the phone, then Rhodey said slowly, “No one’s dead.”

“Okay, so who’s been horribly maimed?” Tony demanded, glancing around.  No one was running toward him to tell him that there had been some kind of terrible Avengers emergency, so whatever had happened hadn’t hit the news or social media yet.  In his experience, there was no one more willing than college students to put their noses in where they weren’t wanted, and considering some of the people Tony had met in his life that was saying something.  “I know the Lagos thing was a shitshow, but I thought all of us were fine.”

“You need to get over here now,” Rhodey said.

“Where is ‘here’?” Tony demanded warily.

“I’ll text you the coordinates.”

“I got a thing.”

“Cancel it.”

“You know I’m retired, right?” Tony said, but he was already walking toward the closest emergency exit, ignoring the dean’s startled expression and attempt to stop him.

He had come in the helicopter, not the suit, which he was ostensibly trying to wean himself off of on Pepper’s insistence.  He’d built a suit into the helicopter, though, and it would be the work of a few seconds to get into it and take off; it would get him to the coordinates Rhodey had just sent faster than the helo would.  On the other hand, that would probably get the attention of all the reporters who had been in the audience and who were waiting for the press conference that was supposed to follow the event.  If Rhodey didn’t want the press to know that they were apparently having an Avengers-level emergency, then Tony wasn’t going to be the one to alert them.  At least not yet.  He wasn’t about to leave the helicopter parked here for some curious undergrads to dissect, though.

He let FRIDAY take the helicopter out of MIT’s airspace before he engaged the suit and fell backwards into the freedom of the wind, letting himself take a few lazy loops for the hell of it before turning towards the coordinates Rhodey had sent.

As soon as he got there, it was obvious from the air where the Avengers had been and presumably still were.  The complex had probably once been an old SHIELD facility, which meant in practice it had really been an old Hydra facility; that was presumably what had brought the team out here.  Not only was it in the middle of nowhere, but the area around the site was heavily forested; Tony guessed that none of the scarce population in the vicinity had noticed when the Avengers had flown in.  He could see the Quinjet parked on the remnants of a helipad, near the far end of one of the still-standing buildings.  The two other structures had both collapsed, one sometime ago from the look of the wreckage and the other so recently that it was still smoking.  Wanda Maximoff was sitting cross-legged on the ground outside it, holding a water bottle and looking shaky while the Vision stood beside her.  Steve’s shield was propped up against the Quinjet’s ramp, but the man himself was nowhere in sight.

She jumped as Tony touched down next to them, though the Vision looked as implacable as usual.  There was a long scrape across Wanda’s cheekbone and dust on her leather jacket and in her hair, but otherwise she looked unhurt as she scrambled to her feet.

“Where’s the fire?” Tony asked, putting back his faceplate.

Wanda looked like she was going to cry, and after a moment, Tony corrected himself and asked instead, “Where’s Rhodey?”

“Colonel Rhodes is on his way,” the Vision said, which turned out to be an understatement, since before Tony could respond Rhodey slammed down beside him, making Wanda jump again.

“Finally, someone sensible,” Tony said, turning towards him in relief. “You know I’m retired, right?  Emergency calls are supposed to be Cap’s thing.”

Rhodey had put up his faceplate when he landed, which meant that Tony saw his face go grim as soon as he heard Steve’s name.

Tony felt an odd looping sensation in the pit of his stomach.  He and Steve weren’t friends exactly, not the way that Tony was friends with Rhodey or Bruce, but they were friendly.  They weren’t not friends.  It took him a moment before he could ask, “What’s happened to Cap?”

Rhodey pressed his lips tightly together, then confessed, “We don’t know.”

Tony stared at him. “What do you mean you don’t know?  What about –”  He looked around at the compound again, taking in the overgrown buildings and leaning fences.  There wasn’t another living being in sight.  “What about Romanoff and Wilson?”

“Sam’s fine.  Natasha –”  Rhodey hesitated.  “She’s missing too.  Sam’s looking for them.”

“What?” Tony said, feeling like he had missed some important details somewhere.  “Missing?  How?  What happened?”

“It’s my fault,” Wanda said, clutching the water bottle to herself.  The Vision put a hand on her shoulder and she leaned back into his grip, her eyes sparkling with tears.

Tony turned to stare at her.  “What, like – you snapped your fingers and went abracadabra and sent them to Timbuktu?”

“No, I mean –”  She hesitated. “Maybe?”

“Maybe?”

“Nobody went to Timbuktu,” Rhodey said impatiently, making Tony return his stare to him.

“What happened?”

Rhodey made a helpless gesture, oddly delicate despite the bulk of the War Machine suit.  “Well,” he started, and then stopped before trying again, “Well –”

“Oh, god, they’re dead,” Tony said.

“They’re not dead,” Rhodey said. “That would be easy.”

He glanced up as Sam Wilson’s shadow passed over them, circling once before he backwinged and came in to land alongside them.  “No sign of them,” he reported grimly as his wings folded themselves back into his harness.  There was an empty spot there; Redwing must have still be off somewhere. “But I don’t think we were ever really going to find Nat around here, not with the woods this thick.”  His mouth twisted.  “Not from the air, at least.”

“What, like she went feral and ran off?” Tony demanded, more confused than ever. “And took Rogers with her?”

“Well –” Rhodey said again, then thought about it and admitted, “Well, actually, sort of, yeah.”

*

There was video.

It wasn’t very good video; FRIDAY edited it together from the War Machine’s, Falcon’s, and Vision’s cameras, which meant that it was jumpy and incomplete, overlaid by Rhodey’s and Wilson’s HUDs.  All three of them had been outside the building when whatever had happened inside had happened; the only witnesses had been Wanda, Steve, and Natasha.  Steve and Natasha were gone; Wanda herself didn’t seem to have a clear idea of what had gone down.

“There was a man –” she said, and then stopped, still holding the water bottle against herself like a teddy bear.

“There was a man, okay,” Tony repeated, prompting.  When she didn’t go on, he muttered to Rhodey, “When’s Barton getting here, again?”

“He’s meeting us at the compound,” Rhodey muttered back.  “We’re not going to find anything else here.”

There was something terribly final about that.  Tony looked at him sharply and said, “Nothing?”

“Not at this point,” Wilson said.  There was a grim set to his mouth that Tony didn’t like, though his expression was still a little baffled by the turn of events.  He didn’t know Sam Wilson well, since the other man had been Steve’s friend more than Tony’s and had only joined the team after Tony had left, but Tony knew him well enough for government work.

Tony glanced up, where the Vision was just visible hovering above them, using his scanning capabilities to search for Steve and Natasha.  The general consensus was definitely that they wouldn’t be found if Natasha Romanoff didn’t want them to be found.  Everyone seemed to agree that whatever had been true about Steve Rogers’ woods capabilities in 2016, his ability to get around in them in his current circumstances was probably highly abbreviated.

Tony went to look at the footage again, frowning to himself behind his faceplate, since he had had to lower it to watch the video.  From outside, the building had looked well and truly deserted.  He watched Steve, Natasha, and Wanda go inside, all three of them careful and wary.  For exactly twelve minutes, nothing happened – nothing visible from outside, anyway.  Then scarlet energy exploded outwards from the building, making Rhodey and Wilson bank away; Vision had stayed where he was.

For a few moments the energy hung suspended in a nauseating red cloud, like something out of a horror film, then all of a sudden it was sucked back inside as part of the building collapsed in a pattern that was uncomfortably familiar.  The video veered dizzyingly as all three men swooped in, the radios suddenly crackling with overlapping voices.  At the last minute Wilson pulled back and veered away to fly circles around the building; of the three of them, he was least maneuverable inside, where his wings wouldn’t do much good.

Tony watched the three views on the inside of his helmet, a rather nauseating experience.  Rhodey had to force his way through the rubble of the building, while Vision simply phased through it; Wilson kept looping the outside of the building, asking periodically for status updates.  It was through his HUD that Tony spotted the figures slipping out of the ruins of the building.  As Wilson swooped in for a closer look, he saw that one was a slight red-headed girl in black.  She was half-dragging a boy with her, tall and lanky and awkward with it; he actually tripped over his own feet once.  As Wilson stooped on them, the girl turned, a pistol in her hand, and shot at him.

He got one wing up to block the bullet, though the action dropped him a few feet in the air and gave the two teenagers enough time to make the tree line that had been encroaching on the courtyard.  The girl went unerringly to the thickest place, where Wilson wouldn’t be able to follow with his wings out, still dragging the boy behind her.  He looked back at Wilson, his eyes wide, his face thinner and younger than Tony was accustomed to, just like the girl’s was.

They vanished into the woods as Wilson swept after them and had to stop, dropping to the ground as his wings folded up behind him.  He followed on foot, or tried to.

Inside the ruins of the building, Rhodey and Vision had found Wanda passed out on the floor.  The shield was next to her, covered in a fine coating of dust but otherwise untouched.  There was no sign of Steve or Natasha.

Tony retracted his faceplate and said, “What in the Freaky Friday hell?”

Wilson took his goggles off and rubbed a hand over his face.  “They looked right at me and didn’t know me.  I spent twenty minutes following on foot – trying to, anyway, never found a trace of them.”  His mouth twisted a little.  “If it’s what it looks like, then that’s all Nat; Steve said that the first time he ever left New York was to go to Camp Lehigh when he was twenty-four.”

“It can’t be what it looks like because what it looks like is insane,” Tony said.  “Also impossible.  Where’s Thor when you need him, the guy who actually knows about shit like this?  How long has it been?”

“Four hours.  They could have reached the highway by now, gone anywhere from there if someone picks them up.”  Wilson grimaced.  “The way Nat looks right now, someone would have picked them up.  And she has a gun, so…”

“This is America, everyone has a gun.”  Tony started to rub at his temples and remembered just in time that that would be an extremely painful experience in the suit.  “Okay, just so we’re all on the same page and I know I’m not hallucinating, what…was that?”

Sam and Rhodey exchanged a significant look, Vision’s expression remained inscrutable, and Wanda clutched her water bottle more tightly to herself, her gaze darting to Steve’s shield.

“They’re kids,” Rhodey said.

Tony winced. “Yeah,” he said. “I was really afraid that was what you were going to say.”

*

Clint Barton was waiting for them back at the compound.  “What happened?” he asked as they all filed out of the Quinjet.  The question was obviously directed at someone who wasn’t there; Tony saw him waiting for Natasha and Steve to come out last, and when they didn’t he actually stepped up on the ramp to look inside, where the shield had been stowed in a corner.  His gaze went to it, then he hopped off the ramp and repeated the question, his face going serious.

He didn’t take the answer well.

“They’re what?”

Wilson made a helpless gesture in response, stepping aside to let the Vision tenderly lead Wanda into the compound’s main building.  Tony eyed them as they passed; Wanda still hadn’t offered any explanation of what had happened, though it was clear that she had been at the center of it.  He still wasn’t entirely sure that he agreed with Steve’s decision to bring her onto the team over a year ago.  Against Ultron, maybe, but that should have been a one-off as far as he was concerned.

Clint’s expression was grim.  “Let me see that footage,” he said when Wilson had finished laying out the situation for him as best he could, which wasn’t very.

He watched it silently once they were inside, then looked around at the five of them – Wanda and Vision had reappeared, Wanda out of her field garments and now in comfortable clothes, the Vision looking as imperturbable as ever – and said, “You know the problem, right?”

“They’re kids?” Tony said dryly. “Or – teenagers, I guess.”  Long experience had taught him how to recognize jailbait at a glance.

“No.  Well –”  He tossed his head, looking uncomfortable, and went on, “If this is what it looks like, then they don’t know us, they just know – uh, whatever age they…are.  Were.  Are?”

“Uh-huh,” Tony said warily.

“Nat was with the Red Room up until eight years ago,” Clint said, sounding like he was expecting that to mean anything to them.

“Yeah, but she’s a kid, so –”

“She was raised in the Red Room,” Clint said.

“Yeah, but they’re gone,” Wilson said.  “They have been for years.”

“She doesn’t know that,” Clint pointed out.  “And Steve –”

Wilson winced.  “He was a kid in the twenties and thirties,” he said.  “But – I’ve seen pictures from before Steve got the serum, and that wasn’t – that was Steve, Steve now.  I mean, Steve as a kid, teenager, whatever, but with the serum.  Which means whatever happened to him couldn’t undo that.”

They all looked at Wanda, who had sat down heavily on the couch.

“Wanda?” Clint said.  “What happened in there?”

She fiddled with her rings, not meeting anyone’s eyes, and then said, “I didn’t know he was there when we went in.  I don’t – I have to know someone’s there before I can read them.”

Tony gritted his teeth but didn’t interrupt her; he still didn’t have a good grasp on what Wanda’s powers actually entailed, which grated on him.

“Do you know who he was?” Clint said, sounding very patient.  He sat down on the couch beside her, his fists clenching and unclenching before he stopped them with an obvious effort.

Wanda nodded slowly. “Only from the papers,” she admitted. “I never met him.”

Clint blinked and looked around at the rest of them, his eyebrows raised.  Wilson had perched on the edge of the coffee table, clearly trying to make Wanda feel more comfortable by not looming over her, but Tony and Rhodey were still standing.  Vision had gone over to the kitchen to get her a glass of water; he returned, his passage eerily silent, and pressed it into her hand as he sat down beside her.  Wanda took it, then had to cup her other hand around it too to keep it from shaking as she took a sip.

“Our newspapers?” Sam asked. “Someone one of us knows?”

They’d all made plenty of enemies over the years and not all of them had ended up behind bars; theirs wasn’t a profession that guaranteed friends.  On the other hand, Tony couldn’t think of a single person who could have produced this result – well, not one that was alive, anyway, since according to Thor Loki was dead.  Even if he hadn’t been, this seemed a little too petty for Loki.

Wanda shook her head.  “From home,” she said, then clarified, “From Sokovia.  He –”  She said something in her own language.

“The equivalent would be a baron,” the Vision translated for her.

It was JARVIS’s voice, of course – it was always JARVIS’s voice, and now as always it made Tony flinch a little to hear it.  It had been his call and they’d needed the Vision to beat Ultron, but at seventh and last he still didn’t know if the trade had been worth it.  He hadn’t even thought about it at the time, what the real cost would be.

“A baron?” Rhodey said, his eyebrows climbing. “They still have those?  I thought the Soviets –” He hesitated, clearly uncertain whether or not it was a sensitive subject, but Wanda just shrugged one shoulder.  Tony did the math and realized that she probably wasn’t old enough to remember the fall of the Soviet Union.

His memories of the event weren’t particularly great themselves, since it had been the same year his parents died.  Even without that, though, he hadn’t been all that interested in what was going on in the Eastern Bloc; at the time the closest he had ever come had been when he and Rhodey had crossed over into East Berlin a few years earlier just to see what all the fuss was about.  He didn’t remember having been impressed.

“Families like that don’t forget,” Wanda said, with a faint note of bitterness in her voice. “A lot of them left when the Soviets invaded during the war – the Great Patriotic War – World War Two,” she clarified when they all looked blank.  “After independence, when the ones who left came back, they brought it back with them.”  She put the glass of water down on the coffee table and drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, and added dryly, “Some of them wanted to restore the monarchy, too, but nobody would vote for it.”

Tony looked at Rhodey, who shrugged helplessly back at him, then asked, “This guy have a name?”

“Zemo,” Wanda said, like that was supposed to mean something to them.  “Helmut Zemo.”

“Sounds German.”

Wanda shrugged again. “A lot of people in that part of Sokovia have names like that.  Some speak German, too.”

Tony remembered abruptly that he still couldn’t find Sokovia on a map.

“What did he want?” Wilson asked.

She hesitated.

Tony felt himself tense, unwillingly remembering the greasy feeling of Wanda sliding into his mind the previous year.  His fingers twitched a little, wanting the security of his suit back, but he had left it in the Quinjet and it would have to smash through several walls to get here.  Not that walls couldn’t be replaced, but it would be so messy.

Besides, Wanda Maximoff was, technically speaking, on their side.  Even if right now it didn’t feel like it.

“Wanda?” Clint prompted gently. “What did he want?”

She was quiet for a long time, long enough that Tony started twitching. His phone buzzed in his pocket, probably Pepper wondering what was going on, but he didn’t reach for it; he wanted to know what was going on.

“Sokovia,” she said finally, and a single tear slipped down her cheek.  She dashed it away impatiently with the back of one hand.  “His family died at Novi Grad.”

Tony felt a muscle work in his jaw.  “And?” he demanded.

Wanda was quiet again, and then she said, “I don’t remember.”

Tony opened his mouth to call bullshit and then stopped himself with an effort.  Maybe it was bullshit and maybe it wasn’t.  Right now, at this exact moment, it didn’t change anything.  They could get the truth out of her later.

Wilson and Barton joined him and Rhodey in one of the labs later, leaving the Vision to fuss over Wanda.  Tony, not being stupid and definitely not wanting to relive his teenage years, waited until the door had shut behind him before he said, “So she did it, right?  Whatever happened to Steve and Natasha?”

Clint grimaced.  “It sounds like it, yeah.  You guys see any sign of this Zemo guy?” he asked Wilson and Rhodey.

They both shook their heads.  “He must have gotten out while Vision and I were looking for Wanda and Sam was chasing Steve and Natasha,” Rhodey said.  “Ever heard of him before?”

The question was directed at Clint, who shook his head. “Never had anything to do with Sokovia,” he admitted.

“FRIDAY?” Tony said.

“On it, boss.”

“We’ll get something on the guy,” Tony assured the other three men. “If he was in the news, even in a shithole like Sokovia, then we’ll at least know what he looks like.”

Clint shrugged.  He sat down heavily and clasped his hands together, pressing them to his forehead.  “This guy’s not the problem,” he said. “Well, not great, obviously, but not the biggest problem.”

“Steve and Nat,” Wilson said.

Clint looked up. “Nat, mostly,” he said. “Steve’s probably harmless right now; he doesn’t know anyone.  Nat –”

“Come on, she’s a teenager,” Tony said. “I mean, a teenager with a gun, but –”

“She’s still a Black Widow,” Clint said meaningfully.

“You said that already,” Rhodey pointed out. “Look, whatever Nat thinks is going on right now, the Red Room’s gone; she can’t go back even if she wants to.  That’s not a problem we need to –”

“Just because the Red Room’s gone doesn’t mean that no one in Moscow’s going to pick up the phone if she tries to check in,” Clint cut him off.  “We did all the clean-up we could eight years ago, but there were loose ends that even Fury couldn’t get tied off; SHIELD never had all that much pull with Russia, even after the end of the Cold War.  And Nat’s high profile.  Leviathan – whatever Leviathan turned into – whoever’s running it now would probably pull out their own eyeteeth to get her back, especially if she can bring Captain America with her.  Leviathan was the USSR’s answer to the SSR and SHIELD,” he added in response to the blank looks he got.  “As far as I know, Russia kept the name, the same way everyone keeps talking about the KGB even though it’s been the FSB and the SVR for years.  As far as we know, they didn’t go belly-up when the Red Room fell, but that’s a big ‘as far as we know.’  And I never had all that much to do with the Russians anyway; it was mostly before my time.  You’re going to have to call Fury and Hill to find out more.”

Rhodey massaged his forehead.  “You really think Nat’s going to want to go back there?”

Clint’s mouth twisted. “It’s not about wanting.  That’s not how places like this work.”

“And Steve does know someone today,” Wilson put in suddenly.

“What, Peggy Carter?” Tony said, doubtful.  “She’s, what, a hundred years old?  You think he’s going to turn up on her doorstep?”

Wilson shook his head.  “If he’s a kid, then he hasn’t met her yet as far as he knows.  But there’s someone out there now that he did know when he was a kid.”

They all stared at him, and then Clint said, “Jesus.  Steve’s been looking for the Winter Soldier for years and getting nowhere, you don’t really think he’s going to find him now.”

“No,” Wilson said. “But Bucky Barnes might be able to find him.”

[iid-smile]

watermelon duty , itoshi sae

x gn!reader ! mentions of knives, just you and sae enjoying some fruits, might be ooc

author's note: i know i said i barely know anything about sae but i just HAD to write this after seeing a certain manga panels on pinterest + i was really craving fruit during this (and i still am)

synopsis: while preparing some fruits for the two of you to eat, you run into a little dilemma that you have a creative fix to. if he's willing to participate, that is.

word count: 0.8k

late august, as the summer heat is only now beginning to subside. japan was always extremely hot, so a lot of the time you're insistent about getting some vitamin d in, maybe a tan, or at least attempting to enjoy the weather by going outside. and by that, you mean staying at home where shelter was easily accessible, alongside your boyfriend who you begged to have take some time off his training.

things have never gone wrong the past few times you've done this. you'd cut up some fruits for the both of you, pour some pretty mocktails and admire the wildlife around you, like bees and butterflies. however, it could only go so smoothly until you ran into a prominent problem.

"sae..." you mumble, already dreading what's going to happen next as you step into the back garden from the kitchen.

sae was lounging around outside, the chair beside him unoccupied for you. a half full water bottle was stationary on the small glass table, as well as your phone and a few melted chocolates. "hm?" he gazes up from his phone.

waddling over to stand in front of him, you hold up the sharp utensil in your hand, the tip of it completely missing. "i may or may not have a small predicament..."

"you broke the knife?" it doesn't take too long for him to notice.

you nod with a shy confession. "accidentally cut through a mango seed 'nd i've still got the watermelon to cut." and that was true. it sounds made up, but the mango had an abnormally large seed compared to what you're used to.

he was looking at you as if it was your fault that it was too weak of a material. his lips curled downwards, squinted eyes and furrowed eyebrows. what kind of knife snaps just from cutting into a mango seed? yours, apparently. "how do you expect me to fix that?"

"well..." you mutter, looking off to the side. even though you've been dating him for quite a bit, his stare does get overwhelming. "i've seen videos of people crushing watermelons with their thighs, and i was wondering if—"

"you want me to do that?"

you nod.

"the things i do for you..." he sighs, and he adjusts himself in his seat, waving you off. "pass it to me." no second question, straight to the point.

you don't want to seem too excited about it, hopping back into the kitchen trying to bite down a smile. behold, the dreaded, and also quite sizeable, watermelon sat on the cutting board.

you're actually a bit worried he wouldn't be able to open it up, because you know... it's a watermelon. the struggles you've had trying to cut it with kitchen tools, and he presumably could do it with his thighs? you may or may not fall in love with him all over again.

the fruit in hand, you march back over to him, and he's already sat up. "you ready?" he asks. are you ready? why is he asking you if you're ready? you should be the one saying that!

"yeah." the fruit's weight starts to catch up on your arms, and you hand it to him. "this might make a mess..." you state, almost as if to talk him out of it like you weren't the one to suggest the idea.

sae simply gives you a blank glance, positioning himself on the chair. "it's fine. i'll clean it afterwards."

"but-" he doesn't wait for you to finish, knowing full well you'll go on a whole blabber and nag session about how he shouldn't do such silly things for you, how you should've went out and bought another knife, the works.

crush!

and just like that, the watermelon was crumpled into two, as well as the addition of a few pieces that broke off. he even made sure to do it closer to the middle so you'd have more even halves. compared to the videos you've seen, he's done it quite neatly.

"done." his grip loosen's on the chair's arms, and he relaxes again. the red juice dipped down onto the ground, creating a small puddle beneath him, and you fear it'll soon become a sweet attraction to ants. his shorts were also starting to dampen with a small amount of liquid. luckily, the fabric was black.

"oh!" you gasp, snapping out of it. he was giving you a near expectant look, and you swiftly scoop up whatever you could, not even minding your sleeves getting stained. "i'll get you a towel!" you quickly rush back into the house.

as silly and clumsy as you may be, sae does love you, and he wouldn't crush a watermelon for you like that if he didn't.

[svnnyd4ys]

INSIDE THE MYSTERIOUS CUBE x RICHARD SIKEN (except it's just Crush)

some of his quotes that are literally just Inside the Mysterious Cube core (feels very Bubbamiah centric but we love them) (never encourage me to do anything, because I'll never shut up) (would've included his other anthology, War of the Foxes, but Crush fits it so much better anways)

"Do you know how it ends? Do you feel lucky? Do you want to go home now? There's a bottle of whisky in the trunk of the Chevy and a dead man at our feet staring up at us like we're something interesting. This is where the evening splits in half, Henry, love or death."

"You saved my life, he says. I owe you, I owe you everything. You don't, I say, you don't owe me squat, let's just get going, let's just get gone, but he's relentless, keeps saying I owe you, says Your shoes are filling with your own damn blood, you must want something, just tell me and it's yours. But I can't look at him, can hardly speak: I took the bullet for all the wrong reasons." (this feels soooo pre!ITMC idk) (the way i can hear Sam saying "your shoes are filling with your own damn blood")

both from Wishbone in Crush!! more under the cut (not exaggerating, there's a lot, so good luck)

"Imagine my legs crossed, my hair combed, the shine of my boots in the slatted light. I'm thinking My plant, his chair, the ashtray that we bought together. I'm thinking This is where we live."

"We've read the back of the book, we know what's going to happen. The fields burned, the land destroyed, the lovers left broken in the brown dirt. And then it's gone."

"Goodbye. Goodbye. No more tears. I would like to see you all in Heaven." (i can hear AJ the president saying this)

"We are all just trying to be holy. My applejack, my silent night, just mash your lips against me. We are all going forwards. None of us are going back."

(snow and dirty rain)

"You can sleep now, you said. You can sleep now. You said that. I had a dream where you said that. Thanks for saying that. You weren't supposed to."

(straw house, straw dog)

"You're by the side of the road. You're by the side of the road, and you're doing all the talking while I stare at my shoes. They're nice shoes, brown and comfortable, and I like your voice. In the dream, I don't tell anyone, I'm afraid to wake you up."

(i had a dream about you)

"Tonight, by the freeway, a man eating fruit pie with a buckknife carves the likeness of his lover's face into the motel wall. I like him and I want to be like him, my hands no longer an afterthought."

"History is a little man in a brown suit trying to define a room he is outside of. I know history. There are many names in history but none of them are ours."

"It wasn't until we were well past the middle of it that we realised the old dull pain, whose stitched wrists and clammy fingers, far from being subverted, had only slipped underneath us, freshly scrubbed."

"His wounds healed, the skin a bit thicker than before, scars like train tracks on his arms and on his body, underneath his shirt."

(LITTLE BEAST (underrated fave))

"Tell me we're dead and I'll love you even more. I'm surprised I say it with feeling."

"I want to tell you this story without having to say that I ran out into the street to prove something, that he chased after me and threw me into the gravel. And he knew it wasn't going to be okay."

(the torn-up road)

"I will keep watch. I will water the yard. Knot the tie and go to work. Unknot the tie and go to sleep. I sleep. I dream. I make up things I will never say. I say them very quietly."

(meanwhile)

"You have never experienced anything this ferocious or intentional with another person."

"and he's singing to you, even though you don't know who he is."

"The heart is monologing about hesitation and fulfilment while behind the red brocade the heart is drowning."

"This is the essence of love and failure. You see what I mean, but you're happy anyway, and that's okay, it's a love story after all, a lasting love, a wonderful adventure with lots of action,"

"The train station blue, your lips blue, hands cold and the blue wind. Or a horse, your favourite horse raised up out of the mud and galloping galloping always towards you."

"You just wanted to prove there was one safe place, just one safe place where you could love him."

(you are jeff)

"You are going to die in your best friend's arms. And you play along because it's funny, because it's written down, you've memorised it, it's all you know."

(planet of love)

"Kissing degenerates into biting. So you get a kidney punch, a little blood in your urine. It isn't over yet, it's just begun."

(a primer for small weird loves)

[volo-omnia]

fuck it this is my house and i get to make the self indulgent content

if y'all are interested more i'll be rambling under the cut

So i redesigned my PLA self insert oc! I wanted to simplify the design a bit to be more "giratina" like but also taking some inspiration from some hanfu designs-

anyway long list of Gristen's character here we go

TLDR: I want to design Gristen as a foil to Volo, and someone who goes through an inverse character development to him (i.e., Volo is a villain and over time slowly reconsiders his plan being bad/redemption arc, whereas Gristen is a hero but slowly reconsiders nothing they did was worth it and thinks Volo might be right)

Gristen is actually a player character back from Pokemon Platinum, going through the normal events of Platinum through their early 20's and becoming the Sinnoh champion, and also became friends with Cynthia to help run the league now that Cynthia has stepped down/retired. Gristen at this time is still pretty stable, albeit a bit overworked as the Sinnoh champion but overall enjoying their life with the events at Spear Pillar/Distortion world behind them.

Cue being isekai'd several hundred years in past Sinnoh, now Hisui.

Gristen has now started back at zero. All of their memories got yeeted into the void (except their muscle memory for catching/battling), and they lost all their pokemon.

The events of Legends Arceus plays normally, with the minor exception of a certain blonde merchant Gristen catches feelings for...

Gristen as their base self is pretty optimistic and upbeat, eager to help out others and building a future for everyone. This is true for both Platinum and Legends Arceus, but since these are very different time periods, how people respond to Gristen is very different. (The latter obviously being much more suspicious and secluding from them)

However near the end of the game is when things start to shift. Over the course of the game Gristen slowly regains their memories, putting the pieces together who they are and what Arceus wants of them, and the tension between them and the village starts to amplify as Gristen becomes more aware people don't trust them (despite how much they're earnestly trying to help) and the rumors spreading of them being a sign of disaster don't go away.

Cue the rift disaster nearly destroying the world, Gristen gets banished from the village, and they take this really badly.

Gristen starts reconsidering their relationship as the region's champion/hero/savior and wondering why they choose to keep doing things with little/no reward. Their mental health starts tanking as well, and they start getting intrusive thoughts to just leaving the Galaxy Team and/or letting the people fend for themselves. (They don't give into these thoughts, despite everything Gristen does intend on helping others and wants to do the right thing.) Basically their optimistic personality starts to fade as they become more nihilistic, and even having weird feelings towards being Arceus' "chosen hero" despite not having any choice in this whatsoever.

Gristen starts hanging out with Volo more at this point, listening to his long talks on myths/history and the possibility of creating a new world and finds comfort that despite how everyone else treated them, Volo was still there for them.

Most of the game plays out normally, insert some self ship stuff here, and the rift closes and the world is saved. Gristen is forgiven and is allowed to return to the village, albeit they are very hesitant returning to their survey duties knowing how easily they were dropped before. The post-game plays out the same as well, with Gristen and Volo collecting the plates.

Cue the final battle at the Temple of Sinnoh and Volo's betrayal.

This is where the final thread of Gristen snaps. Given how well they handled being banished, upon Volo's betrayal Gristen is PISSED. Like, straight up considering the possibility of killing Volo. They are genuinely so upset that all their bottled feelings of everything they have went through is spilling out now. (Also, this exact moment is when all of Gristen's memories return)

Now this is where the events kinda diversify, there are a number of endings/outcomes I've thought depending on what the final outcome is at the final battle. Depending on both Gristen's and Volo's choices I've been playing with different arcs depending on the direction they go in terms of development.

Normal Ending: Gristen wins the battle, chooses to keep going as the game's hero, the events of the game plays out normally. Gristen and Volo never see each other again and Gristen is now left alone in Hisui. (Volo does get a bit of a redemption in this, as now when alone he's reconsidering if he was wrong in trying to create a new world. He's stubborn, and still set in his current canon self, but there are a few cracks.)

Bad Ending: Volo wins the battle. He destroys everything, becomes god, and creates a new world. Gristen straight up dies in this outcome. (If I'm really being lenient, I could do a more softer/fluff approach and have Volo keep Gristen alive for whatever reason, but hey this is my house and I can kill my self insert) This basically becomes a Volo-centric route.

Even More Bad Ending: Gristen wins the battle, but THEY choose to destroy everything and becomes god. This is Gristen's most nihilistic self, fully giving in to giving up and eliminating everything. (It should be noted that Gristen, unlike Volo, does not want to become a god, because now they're immortal and stuck with the revelation that they're responsible for EVERYTHING now. So basically Gristen is now in supernatural mega hell)

True Ending: Gristen and Volo both get therapy.

There's definitely different ways I wanna play with this, but Gristen is essentially my attempt at some sort of foil to Volo, reflecting trying to balance out as the "reasonable" voice of a normal person but also the potential to reflect his worst traits.

Upon the climax their dynamic is kinda in this weird state of love and hate? With Gristen's feelings boiling down to "I earnestly love and adore you very much but holy shit this plan of making a new world is the stupidest thing I ever heard of and want to strangle you for it" whereas Volo's feelings boil down to "I deeply resent you being Arceus' chosen one over me and believe I should kill you for it but I do hold some respect for you and think you're the only one that understands me"

But also I'm also doing all of this because I want to smooch Volo on the mouth. This whole thing is just an elaborate foreplay

[theoceanoasis]

can we get part two of soundwave kidnapping Hotrod to make ratbat happy?

When he woke up he found himself chained to a bed with Soundwave nearby. He glared at the Decepticon demanding he release him.

"No. Ratbat wants to keep you and I can't have you wandering around the Decepticons base."

He glared and struggled to get out of his hand cuffs.

"I'm an Autobot and shouldn't be here."

"You're Ratbats caretaker now."

Soundwave opened his chest plating and Ratbat flew out. The sparkling chirped happily and cuddled against his chest for warmth.

He glared at Soundwave who was watching the two of them.

"I'm not staying."

"Yes you are. Now be a good little carrier and let your coding activate."

He looked at him in surprise because no one was supposed to know that. He then noticed a warning telling him that his coding was starting to activate. Panicking he gave Soundwave an accusing look.

"You did this to me."

"I didn't do anything. Your body has already decided that it's Ratbats caretaker."

The sparkling nuzzled against him and he could feel his coding desperately trying to activate. It was embarrassing because he didn't want anyone to know and because his chest plates were trying to open.

He glared at Soundwave refusing to back down.

"I'm not going to join your cause."

"You don't have to. All you have to do is take care of my cassettes."

"Why? Because you can't take care of them yourself. Especially Ratbat who you let wander around the middle of battlefields almost getting hurt."

Soundwave glared and his engine growled clearly unhappy with his words. He would have been pleased if Ratbat hadn't interrupted them.

He'd been nuzzling at his chest plates this entire time but now he was chirping hungrily.

He glanced down at the little cassette and then back at Soundwave.

"I can't feed him like this. Do you have a bottle or something?"

Soundwave immediately gave Ratbat a guilty look.

"We're out of sparkling energon."

"What?!"

"We've been trying to ration it as we look for more but there isn't more. Sparkling energon isn't a priority and the ones we have found have been poisoned."

He stared at Soundwave in shock having no idea. Now that he was really looking at him he could see how exhausted he was. He'd been desperately searching for sparkling energon while having to watch his bitty constantly worried he wouldn't be able to feed him.

Soundwave almost looked ready to cry as Ratbat kept chirping hungrily. He shifted in discomfort having no idea what to say or do.

He had no idea sparkling energon was in short supply or that people were poisoning it. He didn't even know what kind of a monster would do that.

Ratbat made a strange noise that made Soundwave tense worried for his sparkling. He looked down in confusion feeling his chest plates suddenly open much to his shock.

Looking down his once empty pouches were now filled with energon and he stared at them while Ratbat eagerly latched on.

He glanced back at Soundwave feeling embarrassed as his pouches were suddenly exposed. He had tears in his optics and Soundwave sensing his distress covered him with a blanket.

He then crouched down surprising him even more when he pleaded with him to help.

"Please Hot Rod we need you. Ratbat will die if he doesn't eat."

He looked down at the sparkling who was hidden by the blanket and then back at Soundwave. He felt horribly conflicted because he wasn't a Decepticon and didn't want to stay there for who knows how long chained to his bed but he also couldn't let an innocent sparkling suffer.

"Fine I'll stay."

"Thank you."

Soundwave sighed in relief giving him a grateful look.

"Let me get you some energon so you can refill as well."

Soundwave left the room and he watched him go. Surprised by how expressive Soundwave could be and that he didn't know the Decepticon at all. Just like his teammates they all saw him a certain way and now he's realizing how wrong they've been.

[running-in-the-dark]

I got a lot of new ink recently (20 samples and 4 bottles), so here's all of them because I think they're pretty 😌

[hannibalismos-jaaneman]

because i suddenly got my obsession with mbti handed back to me on this fine sunny day; is it just me or does every infj suffer with this stupid fucking thing called ik what i want but i don't wanna impose anything on anyone so i'll let this idiot decide?

[somelazyassartist]

You ever just like. Have something randomly pop into your head that like causes you to spiral rapidly but then you snap out of it like 30 seconds later. Yeag

[mellotronmkll]

My memory is so bad lately I literally can't remember anything and I keep literally forgetting words like the names of things

[strangefable]

just have to crylaugh when a perfectly random innocuous thing slams into you like a fucking freight train and reminds you that no, actually, you're never going to stop being traumatized about your dead parents

[cherrygorilla]

"...as we danced in the night, remember

how the stars stole the night away..."

It's their dayyyyyy. Whether they know it or not, this song started it all for them. And I so wanted to have something proper to celebrate such a momentous occasion (at least for me anyway, especially since I also missed out on doing anything for it last year, and because, as you know, I'll take any opportunity possible to fangirl/obsess over our characters lol). But, because of uni, I'm nowhere near done with the next chapter of TMM yet. So instead, you'll just have to enjoy a little moodboard, and a snippet/sneak peak of their next conversation - with the moodboard featuring some rather fitting quotes from Stranger Things' very own Murray Bauman, who, I think, Miles and Carrie could really do with a visit from if my recent rewatch is anything to go by... Too bad he has no place in my plot outline lmao. Oops!

"Oh come on, you teed that one up for me." "Get to work, pretty boy... And work that blue shirt for some tips." "You're delusional." "I'm telling you, one wink from you, in that shirt, with that hair, and the juniors will be weak at the knees. I know I am."

[dbphantom]

1 week

[hanatiny]

sorry for Ranting On Main™️, I just need to get this out of my system, feel free to ignore

[cherrygarden]

,