#so now the fandom is super split
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Watching the Percy Jacksonification of the ATLA fandom in real time -
#I don’t even watch atla but I see people talking and I’m like I’ve seen this before -#People complaining about the casting#and all of a sudden the previously hated movie is being praised???#so now the fandom is super split#also people need to be nicer to the fire nation actresses like???#percy jackson#pjo#percy jackon and the olympians#pjo disney+#pjo tv show#atla#avatar the last airbender
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I'm so lucky, lucky!
fandom: obey me pairing: demon brothers x gn!reader warnings: none prompt by @ember-is-clueless: Can I request the brothers with an extremely lucky MC? The MC might not go to gamble a lot but when they do they win every time, it also strays off to other aspects like if they guess which answer is right on a test, they get it correct. Thank you <3 A/N: ty for the request <333 I hope this is okay. this idea was pretty fun to think about actually as there are a lot of scenarios that could happen surrounding this. i also went super far with just how lucky the mc is lol, just letting you know i basically went the superpower route.
LUCIFER
• Lucifer notices how lucky you are very early on during your stay at the Devildom.
• You were somehow always in exactly the right place at the right time to avoid his and his brothers' wrath. When demons at RAD would make any attempt to harm you, you would just happen to run into him or even Diavolo himself before they could do anything. In fact, even when you went against his orders and went out late alone, you would always come back unscathed.
• Lucifer doesn't believe in luck, and therefore isn't comfortable relying on chance alone to keep you out of danger. It might save him a headache or two, but overall, he won't loosen up his overprotective tendencies. What if the one time he puts his faith in your luck to protect you, something goes wrong?
• He realises later on that your luck comes into play with him too. Whenever you're caught alongside the anti-Lucifer squad — if he ever even manages to catch you in the first place — he always just happens to be in a merciful mood that day, so the punishments you all receive are comparatively light.
• He is trying to work on this. He can't have anyone thinking he's gone soft.
• Is admittedly impressed by your ability to pass any test by guessing the answers, but cannot support you getting by on just that. He will still enforce studying time for you and insists you actually make an effort with your schoolwork, even if you don't think it's necessary.
• Lucifer is not amused when his brothers start trying to drag you everywhere with them to use your luck to their advantage, and encourages you not to let them do so. Even if you don't mind it, nothing good comes from them getting their way all of the time.
You were really in trouble this time. Caught trying to give a cup of coffee laced with one of Satan's newest concoctions to Lucifer, it seemed lady luck was absent today. You knelt before him with your head lowered as he glared down at you, but just as he opened his mouth to begin his lecture... CRASH! You jumped at the loud sound of glass shattering in the hallway, followed by a yelp that sounded suspiciously like Mammon. You turned to Lucifer, who had directed his attention to the door, where the sound came from. "MAAAMMOOOOON?" As Lucifer stormed over to the door and out into the hallway, you lived to thank your lucky charms another day.
MAMMON
• Mammon noticed you were lucky pretty quickly, but it took him a while to realise just how lucky.
• He'd make jokes about how lucky you seemed to get all the time for going out at just the right time to always conveniently avoid Lucifer's wrath, but he only took it seriously when he challenged you to a game of poker and lost all of his savings, as well as the jacket and belt he was wearing at the time. He was stunned.
• Mammon might have a reputation for losing all of his money on gambling, but that doesn't mean he's bad at it. He just suffers from the same habit a lot of gambling addicts do — he can't stop. He wins and wins until he loses. So, now knowing you're even luckier than he is...
• How do you feel about being a walking lucky charm?
• He'll take you with him to casinos as "arm candy" and have you blow on his dice before he makes a move, or even just play the round in his place and split the winnings. You don't even have to know the game, just go with your gut and you'll end up winning by complete chance.
• Another thing he likes to do is walk up to random demons and make a bet such as, "do you think this human here can flip a coin that'll land on heads 10 times in a row?" It being a statistical unlikelihood, the demon will usually allow Mammon to take one of their pennies (so they know it's not a fake) and bet against it. They never bet that much grimm on it, but the shocked look on the demons' faces every time as you just keep landing on heads is completely worth it.
• Lucifer isn't happy about any of this.
• Don't worry though. Outside of making bets surrounding you and dragging you to casinos with him, he's practically your personal servant. He has to butter you up so you don't refuse next time, you know? So, he waits on hand and foot for you all day. Practically worships you.
"MC! MC, babe!" You peeked over the couch as you heard Mammon shouting your name from the hall. Just as he passed by the living room, he caught sight of you and broke into a grin, hurrying over and leaning over the back of the sofa. "There ya are! C'mere, take a look..." You shuffled closer so you could get a view of what he was holding. "...Lottery tickets?" You questioned, glancing up at him. "Yeah! I just bought 'em— will you scratch 'em out for me, baby? Please?" He begged. "I'll do anythin' ya want!"
LEVIATHAN
• Levi takes a while to find out about this ability because of how much time he spends in his room. There are very little opportunities for your luck to come into play there... except for in video games.
• The first time you demolished him in a game you told him you had never played before by pure chance, he demanded rematch after rematch until he solemnly concluded that it wasn't going anywhere. You were pretty sure he hated you for it, judging by his refusal to talk to you or message you afterwards, until he invited you back to his room again, this time to play a co-op game together.
• Predictably, he's jealous of your luck. How come you don't even have to try, and all these good things just seem to come to you naturally? It's not fair.
• He mostly gets over any petty resentment he holds after you two start to get closer, and actually really enjoys games where he can team up with you. He's pretty bad at explaining controls, but it doesn't even matter because you always end up with the luckiest possible circumstances. You contribute even when you aren't trying to.
• Thinks it's hilarious a lot of the time, too. If he's in a voice chat lobby he'll start mocking the other players for losing so badly against a total noob. He's surprisingly toxic.
• One time, Levi had to leave his room because Diavolo had arranged a student council meeting on the day where a special, limited-edition figurine of one of his favourite shows was dropping. He damn near had to be dragged away from his computer by Lucifer, and was sulking the whole meeting. Why today of all days...?
• But you just so happened to pull out your DDD and open Akuzon at the exact moment the figurine dropped. Blissfully unaware, you ordered it, thinking nothing more of it other than "Levi will probably like this".
• He was devastated when the figurine was already sold out by the time he got home, but when it showed up at the door anyway, he couldn't decide between being ecstatic and confused. Was this some kind of miracle?!
• When you explained that you had ordered it for him, he literally drops to his knees and starts thanking and praising you.
• Joins Mammon as your second personal servant.
"LOLOLOL, I thought you losers said you were good at this game!" Levi taunted into his headset, provoking the other players in the lobby to talk back, hurling all kinds of insults his and your way in response. "How much of a normie do you have to be to lose that bad against a total noob?" "Levi," you hit his shoulder. "Stop it." Levi looked at you then paused, a sly smile forming on his face as he listened to the other players yell. "They're saying I carried." You furrowed your brow. "Like hell you did! Oh, it's on."
SATAN
• Also doesn't really believe in luck, but his opinion can be changed if you allow him to experiment with it a little.
• Here's a pop quiz about various subjects in the Devildom you should, by all sound logic, know nothing about. Let's see how you perform when all you can do is guess. Huh... they're all correct. Alright then — could you crack this egg for him? Just a regular egg, and he'll see... its a triple yolk. Well... for the final test, here's a random lottery ticket. You couldn't possibly—... did you just hit a jackpot? Seriously?
• After a while of "observing" your unnatural abilities, he is eventually forced to conclude that lady luck really does exist, and she plays favourites.
• Your luck definitely comes in handy, and he will use it to his advantage, mainly to gain the upper-hand in pranking Lucifer. As long as you're around or are the one performing it, it's far more likely for their pranks to succeed. And if they get caught, the punishments are always far less severe, so they can get back to finding new ways to inconvenience Lucifer as fast as possible.
• He also likes bringing you with him to bookstores, because whenever you wander around or randomly pick out a book, it always happens to be some kind of rare edition or cursed book that is... for some reason in a public bookstore. And it's not like the curse will hurt you either. No, you're just too lucky for that.
• Sort of develops a more laid-back attitude to what you do overtime, unlike Lucifer. Satan has full faith in your luck, and doesn't tend to worry much about your safety. That isn't to say he doesn't care, more like he believes fate itself will always keep you safe.
• Also, whenever he takes you to cat cafes or areas popular with stray cats, they always surround you and jump up onto your lap. Even the feistiest of cats are calm enough to be pet by you. He loves this, and tries to take you with him every time he goes out somewhere like that.
"Pspspspsps..." "Oh, that's Paprika. She doesn't have an owner and is scared of people, so she won't—" Satan's sentence was cut short by the usually shy and aggressive kitty jumping up into your lap. She 'mrrp'ed as you pet and cooed at her, and it took you a moment to notice the utter silence from the man next to you. "Satan? What's wrong?" He blinked and gazed lovingly at you, completely starry-eyed. "...I love you."
ASMODEUS
• He knew you were lucky right off the bat. I mean, you had to be with looks like yours. You basically won the genetic lottery!
• Obviously, your abilities go far beyond just good looks. But he honestly doesn't care as much as his brothers do about all of that. He's much more focused on how you are absolutely slaying every single outfit you try on! No matter how hideous a combination is, you always make it look good... How?!
• I would say he's jealous, but that would be a lie. He's still hotter, obviously... but you're close second! Well, no, you're not that close behind, but still!
• If there's anything he is jealous of, it's your lack of bedhead. He's drawing a line, it's completely unfair for you to wake up looking perfect every morning.
• If Asmo were to ever use your luck to his advantage, it would be to score his most desired modelling shoots. Just having you near him makes scouts more likely to approach him, and having you in a picture makes it go instantly viral. You're his lucky charm for stuff like that.
• Doesn't approve of his brothers stealing you away for all kinds of shenanigans though. Mostly because it's taking your attention away from where it should be, on him. He may not take advantage of your luck as frequently as the others, but if that's what it takes to have you all to himself, he might start to!
• Designs a cute little four-leaf clover accessory for you to wear, like a bracelet or a hairclip.
"MC, honey!~" Asmo came running into your room, a big smile on his face. Before you could even speak, he latched his arms around you in a bone-crushing hug, kissing all over your face. "Thank you so much for getting me that photoshoot~ it was amazing!" Confused, you wriggled around for a bit of freedom, and he loosened his grip on you. "I didn't get you anything?" "Of course you did, sweetheart! It's all thanks to you I was lucky enough to come across an opportunity like that~ so, how about a special reward for my favourite lucky charm, hm?~"
BEELZEBUB
• Beel is unlikely to notice unless your luck is pointed out to him. Not because he's stupid or doesn't pay attention to you, but because he just doesn't think in that way. He'll notice when things seem to conveniently always go your way, but he doesn't piece all of those events together and come to the conclusion that you have absurd luck on his own.
• It's only when one of his brothers comment on it that the puzzle pieces all connect and he's like "ooooh." His only real reaction beyond that is a shrug. He frankly doesn't care that much.
• He notices that whenever he takes you out to eat, he always ends up with extra food on his plate that he didn't ask for. He notices that there always happen to be extra replacements for any ingredients he eats when he's on dinner duty, as long as you're in the house. He notices how some vendors are more willing to give him samples on-the-house when you're by his side. It's just not the main reason why he wants you around all the time.
• He loves you because of how unique you are and because of how much you've helped his family. Your luck is convenient, yes, but he doesn't go out of his way to use it for himself. The last thing he wants is for you to think he's using you.
• ...He might ask you to help him sneak food into places though.
• Beel is also unlikely to put much faith in your luck to keep you safe. He knows you've managed to evade danger in the past, but he'd much rather protect you himself so he can be sure.
• Even though he doesn't use your luck to his advantage, he'll ask a lot of questions about what you've been able to do with it in the past. He might ask you to try out a few things solely for experimental purposes, but it's usually just to see how far-reaching your luck actually is. Treats it like a superpower, which it kind of is.
• Such as: what if someone tells you to cook a meal you've never heard of without a recipe? If you just try random stuff, will you end up with a good meal anyway? You tried that one out — the answer was, somehow, yes.
You felt a rough tap on your shoulder. Turning, you were met with Beel, looking very guilty and with a bag full of snacks. "Can you hide these in your coat?" He asked. "Beel, we're at a movie theatre..." You spoke with a hushed voice, looking around warily. "We can just buy popcorn." "I know, but... just popcorn isn't enough." He looked at you with such sad eyes that you couldn't help but give in. You took the bag from him, tucking it under your arm, and he lit up. "Thank you, MC."
BELPHEGOR
• Sure, he noticed, but was pretty sure he wouldn't care about it at all. He sleeps through most days anyway, so...
• He was totally wrong, though. He remembers waking up next to you one morning, cuddled snugly into your chest and arms lazily draped over you from the night before. Groaning, he turned and looked over at his bedside clock... 12:00, it read. He blinked. Had he slept through the beginning of RAD? Without Lucifer or Beel coming to wake him? Seemed unlikely...
• It was only when he checked his DDD that he saw a few messages in the House of Lamentation group chat of Lucifer informing everyone that there had been some sort of mishap with a potion, so RAD's halls were closed off for the day, and perhaps tomorrow. How lucky, he thought. He gets to spend all day in bed with... MC.
• Anyway, he tries to sleep in your bed literally every night from then on, because whenever he does there always seems to be some kind of event that causes RAD to be cancelled or delayed.
• Lucifer bans him from doing this after realising it. He can't just have the entire school year amount to nothing because classes kept getting cancelled, after all. Belphie was not happy about this at all.
• Even when staying overnight with MC is banned, he'll still find ways to use their luck to his convenience. When he naps on them or near them, he's far less likely to be disturbed from his sleep. There's also the bonus of MC helping him and Satan get away with their pranks on Lucifer more often.
• That's what he gets for revoking Belphie's sleepover privileges.
• Your luck sometimes backfires on him, though. Whenever he tries to pull a prank on you, it always goes horribly wrong. To be fair, he probably should have predicted that outcome.
"Belphie... wake up..." You spoke softly into Belphie's ear and he twitched in his sleep. All it took was a few more gentle shakes and he finally stirred, looking at you with sleepy eyes. "Come on, it's time to get up." "What?" He huffed and rested his head back down on top of you. "RAD's cancelled... I don't need to get up..." "It—" You paused and blinked down at the avatar of Sloth. True, it was cancelled for the day, but that announcement was only made about thirty minutes ago. Belphie had been sound asleep. "—How did you know it was cancelled?" The only response you got was a smirk and a knowing look before he went right back to sleep.
#obey me#obey me x reader#obey me lucifer#obey me mammon#obey me leviathan#obey me satan#obey me asmodeus#obey me beelzebub#obey me belphegor#obey me headcanons#obey me shall we date
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AO3 is Removing 'All Media Types' without Public Input or Announcement. What Can We Do?
What's Happening?
For those who don't yet know: AO3 and the Tag Wranglers have begun to slowly remove the 'All Media Types' tag for older fandoms. Aka, removing the 'umbrella' tag for many franchises, and forcing franchises to be split by media, or to be shoved under one umbrella that does not accurately reflect the types of fics or source medias they come from. This has been slowly occurring with no official announcement, under the pretense that things will be 'easier' to manage, or that some users claimed that the 'All Media Types' tag was confusing. This has begun in secrecy, without genuine input from the userbase, and without any public announcement. (As of 9/5/2024 9:30 AM PST) Many of us are pretty confident in AO3 staff's decisions, but the fact that this decision is not only incredibly impactful, but made without public input, has deeply violated the condition of the site as an archive... an archive of OUR own.
Current seen issues and active risks:
Removal of 'All Media Types' automatically makes fics from different sources in the same franchise a 'crossover', forcing users to consider non-crossover fics 'crossovers'. So, any fanfic that spans or implements elements from multiple pieces of media in a franchise are now considered a 'crossover', despite being from the same franchise and not a crossover.
Removal of 'All Media Types' forces users to manually search for the fics and ships they want one by one through each fandom tag in a related franchise. (Imagine looking through all the separate DC or MARVEL movies one by one).
The 'include crossovers' and 'exclude crossovers' filters are now useless, and removing genuine crossovers (crossovers between franchises) must be done manually through the filter system, which can take upwards of half an hour, if not longer, with the amount of one-off genuine crossovers that exist.
Slightly smaller franchises are being shoved under the umbrella of a single, super popular fandom. (See, Sherlock Holmes. All Sherlock Holmes media has been relegated to the tag 'Sherlock TV', which confuses users, as the tag now includes not only BBC Sherlock, which is the umbrella tag, but any works based off of Arthur Conan Doyle's original works, the 2009 Sherlock Holmes films, and the 16+ Sherlock Holmes adaptations and international TV shows... none of which are BBC Sherlock.)
Anime and manga fandoms (especially smaller ones) are being automatically split by media type, without regard to the fact that many anime and manga adaptations are very similar, and/or authors tend to often implement elements from both anime and manga.
As far as we are aware, no one is going to be correcting any improper sorting resulting from this.
Accounts that are no longer active/accessible, memorial accounts, and orphaned fics and no longer be corrected by their original authors and are at risk of being misplaced into incorrect fandom tags. Unfortunately, no one can fix this but the tag wranglers, who were supposedly removing 'All Media Types' in the first place to prevent MORE work. Counter intuitive, isn't it?
Already, fandoms are being improperly split, others being improperly merged, and still more being far more confusingly sorted. This deeply damages AO3's integrity as an ARCHIVE.
What Can I Do?
As soon as it's back up again, make sure to stop by the Contact Support page! There, you're able to let them know exactly how you feel about this, and what fandoms your fear will be impacted by these changes. Many already have been.
In the meantime, make sure to contact AO3 on Twitter (or X): ao3org (AO3's general twitter page), ao3_wranglers (AO3's tag wrangler page), and OTW_news (the parent host of AO3).
There is also tumblr: ao3org (AO3's tumblr page) and transformativeworks (OTW's tumblr page).
And finally, the Organization for Transformative Works contact page.
If you are aware of any additional medias, please add them below to ensure that AO3 thoroughly understands the negative impact of this decision, especially the violation of trust resulting from making such a massive choice without impact. Be sure to share this information elsewhere, repost, share the links, and make a stink. Furthermore, if you are able, letting AO3 know that you are no longer comfortable financially supporting them in the future.
Be sure to also repost and list any fandoms you have personally noticed have been impacted by this change!
Already Impacted Fandoms:
MARVEL, MCU, Marvel Comics, Avengers, and related tags
Any Sherlock Holmes based Media
A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon)
World of Warcraft
Assassin's Creed
Monogatari
BanG Dream!
Jujutsu Kaisen
Disney (all media, now: Disney Theatrical Animated Universe)
DC and DC Comics
AND MANY, MANY MORE!
#fanfic#fanfiction#ao3#fandom#vote#textpost#star wars#batman#MARVEL#World of Warcraft#jujutsu kaisen#anime#manga#MCU#one piece#fandom things#disney#sonic#nintendo#capcom#game of thrones#house of the dragon#dc comics#sonic the hedgehog#pokemon
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Ok. Dumb question incoming, but I'd much have a 'conversation' than try to read fanlore or watch video essays or something because I want to hear individual people's contributions.
Why Star Trek?
Don't get me wrong - I like the franchise! I'm not super duper familiar with it, but I do enjoy the bits and pieces that I do know. But I am wondering why that in particular is hailed as the grandmother of all fandoms? Obviously people were fannish before Trek, but I don't think anyone can deny the impact that OG Trekkies had on fic, zines, and eventually on the internet.
I know that it's always been popular and well-liked, but it's not as if there was NO SUCH THING as popular culture/fan culture before that (I mean, come on, the term "parasocial" predates the first Star Trek episode by 10 years!) . Was it just a perfect mix of timing + popularity + etc? Is there something in particular about ST that "hit different" than other series at the time? Or is the fandom really really just that mighty and it's almost "luck" in a way? I guess I'm wondering what particular dominoes cascaded in a line in order for Star Trek to have the impact on fandom that it does today.
or am I wrong? were there just-as-big fandoms before and I simply overhype Trekkie power in my head / happen to see more talk of that than I do of other fandoms? It could definitely be a social circle bias thing.
Ugh. Asking OTNF why Star Trek is so important to fandom history feels very much like asking a Russian History major why War & Peace is so important to literature - hence why I warned you that it'd be a dumb question! But I am just so damn curious what sort of crack was in early ST fandom that made it SO widespread and SO strong.
Like, I guess the TLDR is: what was particularly 'different' about Star Trek, either as a fandom or as a franchise or both, that made it Theeeeee OG fandom, rather than something, like, i dunno, LOTR or the earliest versions of Marvel/DC comics or General Hospital or something else like that?
--
I await the hordes of angry Man from U.N.C.L.E. fans eager to prove that they were first.
And, no, it wasn't that popular. Hence the aggressive Save Our Show campaign and explosion of fan culture when it ended after three seasons.
Part of the answer to your question is that there were like three things on TV at the time. What big fandoms? 'Parasocial' was about non-subculture people feeling warmly towards news anchors or hosts of variety shows or something, wasn't it?
LOTR got rediscovered in the 60s or 70s from what I hear, but science fiction and fantasy books were for fringe weirdoes. SFF was not mainstream for the most part. There are a bunch of History of Book SF Fandom things on Youtube, and you should consult them on the complex role of LOTR in that space. LOTR wasn't a mainstream thing until there were live action movies a billion years later.
The key about Star Trek is that it was a hit with the pre-existing book SF crowd. They were an organized subculture. Some of their favorite writers wrote episodes. Other shit on TV was for people who did not form subcultures in that way. Other shit for SF fans had an audience 1/10,00th the size.
MFU was insanely popular. Illya Kuryakin was the heartthrob of a certain era of girl and inspired many a Russian major. (Seriously, there are soooo many Russia-boos of a certain age who probably still have a poster of him somewhere.) The actor set a record for fanmail. The show may have more influence on fandom history than we think now, but it also didn't rerun the way Trek did, at least in some eras, and it didn't have sequel series in a franchise. I'm always finding 2015 movie fans shocked that there's a still extant and semi-active fandom—or even shocked that the movie is based on something.
Starsky & Hutch was also hugely important and is the moment slash fandom and "Media Fandom" really split from book SF fandom. As Trek fans moved on to buddy cops, they were into a completely mainstream show but in a non-mainstream way. Trek was an awkward bedfellow at SF cons, but S&H just didn't fit at all.
Of course, while Trek is the grandma of AO3 type fandom, don't forget that a shitton of modern fans who are doing "research" just look at the same few sources. Enterprising Women is great and all, but even other fans of the same stuff are like "Oh, that was just X's friends. Where's [thing] and [thing] and [thing]?" Ditto Textual Poachers and the other scant early sources that people think have academic weight.
While Trek would still be central, the picture of what was going on in the late 60s-early 80s would look a bit different if you just found a bunch of 70-something nerds and asked them than if you regurgitate other people's research, you know?
If you want an idea of what else was going on in SF fandom back in the day, check out Galactic Journey, where they roleplay that it's 55 years ago and review SF things "as they come out".
If you want to understand MFU, here's a vid of Illya:
youtube
--
What say you, readers?
What have acafandom and fandom history and meta left out?
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| i have no idea where he came from, but i know i love the hp fandom so much cuz like damn thanks now i got another comfort character
Theo Nott x Reader
+ his friends x reader <3
some of these are angsty bc let’s be real, a relationship with him wouldn’t be a happy sailing all the time
» masterlist
🐍 theo mr. possessive nott — he’s not very talkative, not very outgoing, not very showing, until someone tries to lay a hand on you
“i fucking hate it when he looks at you,” he says every time someone looks at you. he lost a lot as a child, he’s over-protective and overly needy when it comes to you, because finally he has a person he feels love towards — he doesn’t want to lose you too.
so someone even thinking about becoming close to you? no.
🐍 gets into fights a lot… like a lot
🐍 doesn’t know how to handle his anger so he’d often take it out on you (ends in either unfortunate fights or fortunate make outs, or both)
🐍 either rly chill or rly angry
🐍 he loves his friends, wouldn’t ever say it out loud, of course, but he’d die for them, or kill for them, they are his family — super happy you get along with them well <3
🐍 sometimes a bit too well — you and mattheo could tease him for the entire day and say stupid shit and jokes and he’d grow extremely annoyed over it (he loves you both)
🐍 mattheo being super protective over you whenever theo’s not there, he’s like a brother to you
🐍 trusts his friends around you buuut will kiss you every now and then just to remind everyone 🙄
🐍 the train ride to school at the beginning of the year goes like this; theo, mattheo, blaise, draco, enzo and you, but the cabin’s only made for four people, so it’s you on theos lap and enzo squeezed between mattheo and draco because you all refuse to separate… you all listen to dracos complains the whole time
🐍 you and him couldn’t care less about dracos fights with potter and his friend group; theo genuinely does not give a fuck and finds it a waste of time, and you don’t mind the potter group that much so you just don’t participate and often disappear to spend some time together in the forest
🐍 both of you see thestrals and come to deep forest spots to just sit in the grass and watch them
🐍 he notices a lot of things — notices when you are cold and will give you his jacket, scarf or his school robe, he notices it when you go quiet, and just makes sure he’s there with you until you are okay again, he notices when someone makes you uncomfortable and he’ll make sure to make their day a living hell, notices when you like something, when you mind something, when you sound happy or really sad, usually knows what to do to help you
🐍 neither of you is a fan of parties and it usually ends bad if you end up going; theo gets too wasted OR gets himself into another fight, and you don’t handle big groups of people well
🐍 he doesn’t actually enjoy parties at all, he just goes for his friends and status… and you just go for him
🐍 blaise being the hero and distracting you with jokes and his witty remarks so that you wouldn’t focus on the big loud crowd and the fact that theo disappeared somewhere (enzo is clueless and tries to drag you to dance with him — blaise almost punching that guy bc he’s just so dumb)
🐍 theo having the audacity to get mad at you after he returns with a bloody nose and a split lip and seeing you laugh at blaises jokes
“yeah whatever, spend the night with him for all i care”
🐍 you end up crying, he ends up finding you after like five minutes after he said that bc the guilt was eating him alive (also he didn’t want you to spend the night with blaise and he did, in fact, care)
🐍 jealous makeout that night and later on just laying in bed, while you both stare at the ceiling and play with eachothers fingers and hands, and explaining to him how him leaving you alone in a big crowd made you feel anxious and how blaise actually helped a lot, and him agreeing on not going to parties any time soon
🐍 already called you “my girl” “mine” “my baby” a lot but uses it a lot more after that party, especially during heated moments
🐍 might sound ironic but he gives off extremely calm energy when you get to know him, that guy that gets into fights and has bruised knuckles all the time and gives everyone a death glare, is the calmest person you’ve met when you are alone with him
🐍 he likes books — reading together is a big quality time and comfort for him <3
🐍 book shopping dates where he’ll get you the books you want
“oh, i’ve read this, it’s a classic in muggles world,”
“oh,” you keep reading the back of the book for a while, “it sounds interesting,”
he smiles and just takes it from your hands to get it for you, and does this every single time you look at a book or talk about a book
🐍 staying up late in the slytherin common room reading and talking and listening to the fireplace
🐍 he likes to lay on your chest
🐍 you like to wrap your arms around him, and he loves it when you do that, makes him feel safe
🐍 tired studying sessions where you both go “screw it” and lay in bed, cuddle, make out and play with some silly spells like letting your patronus run around (the only happy memories he uses are with you and his friends)
🐍 sneaking off at night just bc it’s thrilling to make out in dark halls full of ghosts
🐍 getting caught and losing house points only to do it again the next night
🐍 astronomy tower dates sound cool at first but everyone goes to astronomy tower to have dates, so eventually you find your own secret spots
🐍 he’s horny 24/7, it had to be said
🐍 doesn’t know how to talk about his emotions so he’ll either show it by being affectionate physically or by protecting you all the time
🐍 will just grab you and start kissing you passionately whenever he feels like it
🐍 you missed so many classes because of him… but oh well
🐍 definitely has a thing for risky makeouts, the danger of getting caught and getting in trouble turns him on
🐍 does that thing where he’ll put a hand on the table corner just so you wouldn’t accidentally hit yourself
🐍 stands in front of you whenever there’s a bigger group of people (especially after what you told him after that one party, he just does it subconciously now)
🐍 mattheo knows too and they’ll just both shield you with their bodies
🐍 switching ties together <3 it doesn’t matter, the student ties are all the same but it’s the feeling that counts
🐍 wearing his scarf as well
🐍 stroking your thigh in class, during dinner, lunch and breakfast in the great hall, mf will sometimes leave a little peck on your neck and have no shame
🐍 doesn’t care about other people, at all, he’s careless when it comes to anyone beside his few friends or you, makes you feel special <3
🐍 he has a lot of mental breakdowns, especially from all the death eater stuff, and won’t allow you to comfort him (eventually he will, but it’s hard for both of you — takes him ages to open up to you)
🐍 yeah, death eater bf — it’s not always easy
he even tried to push you away when it came down to it, but he just couldn’t, so now he tries to keep you away from all these things as much as he can
🐍 he’s good at potions, helps you out a ton
🐍 “hey nott, pair with me?” cuz they all know he’ll save their asses in potions assignments
🐍 “nah I’m with y/n” automatically 🥰🥰
🐍 again, library dates sound cool until you realise everyone goes to study dates in the library, so you’ll end up borrowing books and studying in your room together, undisturbed
🐍 with that being said, there’s usually not much studying…
🐍 “hey, uh— about yule ball,”
“yeah i don’t really care,” he’d mumble while reading a book.
“oh...” your voice would drop. his eyes would look up and study your expression. he’d end up asking about suits and which one to get later that day.
🐍 yule ball actually being a lot of fun <3
🐍 idk but like matching all black outfits to yule ball with his friend group >>>>>
🐍 he’d eventually get bored of the event and drag you out to the quidditch stadion to sit on his lap in the cold night and make out. he’d mumble how perfect you look and how lucky he is, and he’d make sure you feel good (skilled fingers bf)
🐍 ron tried to flirt with you once and he broke his nose
🐍 a guy from ravenclaw tried to flirt with you once and he broke his whole face
🐍 neutral on PDA — he doesn’t see the appeal but he also doesn’t care about others so if he feels like kissing and touching you, he’ll kiss and touch you
🐍 you’re not like him, if someone tries to flirt with him, you don’t go around breaking peoples faces and yelling, rather you shut off and drown in anxiety, he notices so he keeps his role of the “mean guy thats friends with other mean guys” and straight up tells the girl to fuck off (holds your hand right after and shows a bit more PDA that day)
🐍 he doesn’t smile much, which only makes his smile prettier. you love it when you make him smile or chuckle
🐍 holding eachothers hands a lot — it’s just a reminder that you are both there, whether it’s in class, during lunch, watching quidditch, walking down the hall, he likes to feel you are there with him
🐍 his friends just call him nott and people that he’s not close with call him theodore, so you calling him just theo feels somewhat special, and it makes him feel warm inside
🐍 does a thing where he’ll stare at you calmly and make you blush and go “whatt?!” and he’ll just chuckle and say “nothing, my girl’s just pretty”
🐍 all six of you hanging out around the castle or the forbidden forest at night and him squeezing your hip or leg whenever it’s really dark so others wouldn’t see
you teasing him back by pretending something scared you and hugging him real close and ‘accidentally’ brushing your body against his
you both end up frustrated as fuck
🐍 doesn’t say i love you often but when he does he really means it
i love him sm it’s not even funny anymore.
also do ya’ll think lorenzo knows he’s now completely out of nowhere a face of some random slytherin character? 😭 like that thought of him finding out is just funny to me idk
#lorenzo zurzolo#theodore nott#theo nott#theo nott x reader#theodore nott x reader#slytherin#mattheo riddle#mattheo riddle x reader#draco malfoy#draco malfoy x reader#blaise zabini#lorenzo berkshire#theo nott smut#theo nott imagine#theo nott imagines#theodore nott smut#theodore nott imagine#theodore nott imagines
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Mamma Mia! themed bot release 🪩
Challengers
* ˚✧ / Art Donaldson & Patrick Zweig / Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (you can either be freaky with them together, or you can do what tashi should’ve done, which is make them be freaky with each other!!)
* ˚✧ / Patrick Zweig / Money, Money, Money
* ˚✧ / Tashi Duncan / Our Last Summer
Glee
* ˚✧ / Marley Rose / Thank You for the Music
* ˚✧ / Quinn Fabray / Mamma Mia!
* ˚✧ / Santana Lopez / Dancing Queen (not showing up on my profile :/)
Grey's Anatomy
* ˚✧ / Addison Montgomery / Does Your Mother Know
* ˚✧ / Derek Shepherd / I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
* ˚✧ / Lexie Grey / Super Trouper (i can’t she’s such a cutie 🥹)
Marvel
* ˚✧ / Agatha Harkness / Slipping Through My Fingers (request that I incorporated into this release)
* ˚✧ / Bucky Barnes / Honey, Honey
* ˚✧ / Natasha Romanoff / Take a Chance On Me
Miscellaneous
* ˚✧ / Logan Huntzberger / SOS
* ˚✧ / Regina George / Lay All Your Love On Me
* ˚✧ / Winston Schmidt / Voulez-Vous (also not showing up on my profile)
thank you all for your love and support!! it genuinely means so, so much to me and i could not be more grateful. watching mamma mia! for the first time honestly really inspired me and i've loved ABBA for a while now already, and i thought it'd be fun to make bots inspired by the songs!! (and yes there are like 3 or 4 songs not included, i know)
i decided to do them split up based on the fandoms i am apart of, because the songs (i feel) are versatile and I don't think that there are characters from a single movie/show that would be able to be used for every song. i would've loved to do abba/mamma mia x challengers, but not every song can be applied to tashi, art, and patrick, which is why i did characters from different movies/shows :)
and i do need to give some credit to @voidsuites because really, maya did it first with her brat x challengers bots (which you should go check out/use if for some reason you haven't yet).
#tashi duncan#c.ai#challengers#character ai#c.ai creator#glee#marvel#agatha all along#agatha harkness#natasha romanoff#black widow#derek shepherd#addison montgomery#greys anatomy#patrick zweig#art donaldson#art donaldson x patrick zweig#tashi duncan x you#patrick zweig x you#derek shepherd x reader#mamma mia#abba#quinn fabray bot#quinn fabray#santana lopez#lexie grey#bucky barnes#winter soldier#gilmore girls#regina george
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Catie's Big Ass bucktommy fic rec (Part One)
So I'm not gonna lie, I have most of these fics priv. bookmarked because I HAVEN'T COMMENTED ON THEM YET AND I FEEL REALLY GUILTY ABOUT THAT. But more than one anon has asked for this and it tickles me pink that y'all like my writing enough to trust in my recs. So. Please, please, be better than I am and make sure to kudos and comment if you enjoy any of these works.
(Guys, there are SO MANY amazing writers in this fandom. So many truly breathtaking fics already. I got two hours into this and realized I was going to need to split this into parts because I have too many things to say about each of these and I want to do them all justice.)
Writers you can trust in:
@rcmclachlan /ao3 : I will sing RC's praises to the moon and back. There is something about the way RC injects humor into the tiniest of lines that makes me want to scream into a pillow until I pass out. You will see more than one of RC's fics in this list.
@kirkaut /ao3: kirkaut is the reason I jumped on this bandwagon. The unhinged spiral into LFJr obsession and the prevalence of well thought out meta and incredibly hot fic drew me in. If you are not following kirkaut, change that now.
@26-cats-in-a-trenchcoat / catfud_ohplease on ao3: Devastating prose. The ability to turn a theme on a dime and STAB YOU IN THE HEART with it. Mac owns my whole soul when it comes to really scratching that itch behind my eyelids for thematic imagery and really creative ideas for fic that aren't just run-of-the-mill smut/angst/fluff.
@devirnis / ao3: Ali only has one bucktommy fic up on ao3 but it is devine and I love it. Ali is also the only writer who has tempted me into reading buddie. This is not an indictment on buddie fandom or buddie fic writers in general, I just tend to be a one ship kinda gal and I don't really dive into fic for a ship I don't vibe with. Ali's writing has made me reconsider this position.
@beefcakekinard / thingbe on ao3: The domesticity. Literally just reread one of Rose's fics this morning and HAD to comment on it again because it made me want to fling myself to Jupiter.
(This is not a comprehensive list, but I just realized how many fics I have already bookmarked for bucktommy and I'm already under a readmore.)
Fics that make my brain go brrrr:
only fools rush in - somnum365 ( @firehose118)
Tommy lets Buck set the pace. Buck is ready for something.
Super hot and all about checking in. I've got a thing for discovering sex with a partner starting out with frottage and this delivers. The characterizations are so great.
Colin Firth Thinks You're Hot - IDontGoHereEither (@herrmannhalsteadproduction)
Buck is late for a special date night with Tommy, but he still stops to help a stranger stuck on the side of the road. Luckily, that stranger is about to help HIM.
Cute as fuck with a super fun guest star. Who doesn't want Mr. Darcy to think your boyfriend is hot?
sad girl poetic thursday night - screamlet
Date night menu: pasta primavera and emotional unpacking.
There's something about the pacing of this that sent me into a tailspin. The stream of consciousness that actually bleeds from the dialogue into the action and vice versa. Hng.
I Was Only Falling In Love - Princessfbi (@princessfbi)
Tommy in crisis mode.
There's a moment in this fic where Eddie has to pull Tommy back from the precipice of something and it lives entirely rent free in my head, forever and ever amen. The firefam taking care of Buck by taking care of Tommy.
let me count the ways - ashesandhalefire
Buck and Tommy in the aftermath of a good evening are chattier than they probably reasonably should be
There is something about this fic that feels like the witching hour is upon you, like you could live in this little pocket world Buck and Tommy have created for themselves forever. The dialogue is fantastic, and the way they communicate with each other is just *chefs kiss*
let's make it cinematic - kirkaut
Tommy helps Buck deal with some of his impotent rage in the face of the Gerrard of it all.
Listen, I do not have a praise kink. This kinda makes me wish I did.
"[...]Everything is.” He circles a finger around in the air. “It’s very spinny.” - this line of dialogue came for my fucking throat.
Sick with it - Mellow_Yellow
what if in an alternate universe babyslut Buck joined the 118 when Tommy was still in his closeted asshole era and they had a torrid affair??
The way this is a little fucked up. The way the characterizations aren't exactly familiar because they haven't aged into what we know them as in current canon. The way you can see in every broken line and every stutter step that Tommy is falling for Evan and has No Fucking Idea what to do with that. Ugh. Best Met Earlier AU I've ever read.
He blinked as Tommy walked by, eyes sliding closed again before he left. He felt a light touch on the top of his head but figured he was imagining it. He couldn’t think of anyone at the 118 who would touch him that carefully. - just absolutely fucking end me they're so good/bad for each other
A Full Body Workout - Persiflager
Tommy and Buck spend a day trying to distract Eddie from the *gestures vaguely* all of it.
The way this is so quiet in the way it shows you how Tommy and Buck care for each other. The way they are down bad but still so hyperaware of the pace they've set, the things they've talked about. The way they take care of their friend here. I'm obsessed with the tone of this one. Also, as a general theme, nothing draws me in more than well thought out dialogue, and this one has some fucking GREAT dialogue.
Your love is better than ice cream - Cecily_v, liminalmemories
An alternative meet-cute, where-in Tommy doesn’t know the 118 and decides Buck is worth it anyway. Buck is confused but figures some things out.
There is so much I love about this AU. How they meet. How their relationship progresses. How it feels glacially slow in comparison to the canon storyline but also how in character they both are. The foundation of their love in this fic is downright eatable.
just couldn't fall til we met - thingbe (@beefcakekinard)
Buck and Tommy spend a quiet morning in together.
This is the one that crossed my dash earlier today and made me eat fucking glass on reread. The closeness. The way they're both so tactile. The blink and you'll miss it hints at a life being built together. Eating this UP every time I read it.
The Premium Twunk Appreciation Society, President: Tommy Kinard - everythingremainsconnected
5 times Tommy almost faints like a Victorian maiden at the sight of Buck’s flesh, and 1 time he can do something about it.
“Hey,” Evan said, shoving Eddie out of the way and filling the screen with his playful glare, “organise bro time on your own time, I’m on the phone with– with Tommy.”
“With who?” Eddie repeated. Tommy didn’t need to see his face to hear the fondness in the mocking. “Who’s on the phone? I didn’t quite catch that.”
- They are so stupid about each other in this fic, please read it and watch steam blow out your ears at how sweet and hot and down bad for each other they are.
desire (i want to turn into you) - chthonicheart
The first time Buck’s really able to bury his face between a man’s tits, he nearly cries.
pwp but with a whole heaping of character study. HOT.
rule four (you were only waiting for this moment to arise) - middyblue (daisyblaine) [@middyblue]
Tommy has doubts.
There is a general mood to this piece that feels heavy in a way I can't quite explain. There was a weight on my chest all the way through this in the BEST way possible. The way Tommy navigates his mind and struggles to trust the little slice of peace he and Buck have carved out is just mindbogglingly beautiful.
Come Fly The Friendly Skies - RC_McLachlan (@rcmclachlan)
Buck meets their rescue mission's would-be pilot and is extremely normal about it.
"Throttling is what I'm gonna do to you if you don't shut up and let the nice man steal a helicopter for us,"
WHEN I TELL YOU I AM INCANDESCENT WITH RAGE over how funny and insightful this fic is.
Every characterization is picture perfect.
Maddie gives great hugs, but she's so small; if she had this guy's build and could basically fold Buck into her like an old blanket, they'd have to pry him out of her arms with the jaws of life.
In the back of Buck's mind, in a place he hasn't discovered, he's already picked out a venue and chosen his centerpieces. He's mentally putting together seating arrangements. This line of Buck's thoughts on Tommy Kinard told me so.
Please read this and join me in trying to destroy RC with my mind (lovingly).
little by little - MediaWhore
Buck & Tommy, during and after the wedding.
There is something so soft and gentle about this fic. The way Tommy just gives in to the exhaustion and props himself up against Buck because he knows he'll be able to take the weight (he wants to take the weight and Tommy knows it). The quiet flirting, the way they take care of one another. The jumpscare of Marge and Phil and how this fic is right at the edges of exploring that but Buck has me important priorities.
“It was badly done,” - the way this is so in character for Ma Buckley and the way it made me want to SHAKE HER TIL HER TENDONS SHATTERED AND SHE CRUMBLED LIKE A SATISFYING CASINO IMPLOSION
Soft and heartbreaking and mending all at once.
while you arranged flowers - newtkelly
Buck’s got a wedding date, but as far as today goes, he’s also got a regular one.
The way I want to wrap this Buck up tenderly and hide him from the people in his life who DON'T DESERVE HIS AFFECTION, HIS LOVE, HIS JOY.
The non-urgency of this, the absolute too-much-too-soon he's dealing with in his own mind while he grapples with the reality of seizing a second chance with both hands and getting to explore himself within the confines of a very lovely, very sweet and kind, VERY HOT man he wants to get on his knees for.
Beautiful prose, excellent dialogue, an insightful character study.
#bucktommy#bucktommy fic rec#catie's babtfr#i you happen to find yourself on here and i haven't included a tumblr link lemme know#i did my best to search profiles and beg. and end notes but i know i probably missed one or two of you#thanks nonny for pointing out my misspelling of princessfbi. 'preciate you#i'm collecting your tumblr usernames like pokemon every time i come across you in the tags. jsyk
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A BioWare Guide on How to Murder a Fanbase
I have been a Dragon Age super-fan for almost fourteen years, now. I have played every game, with every DLC. I have read every novel, lore book, and every comic — yes, even the terrible ones that are better off forgotten. I have seen the anime film, the animated series, and the web mini-series. I have enjoyed all of these pieces of the franchise over and over, more times than I can count. So, make no mistake: the negativity you’re about to hear comes from a place of love for this fantasy world, developed by many creative people over the years. I would love nothing more than to see the resurrection of passion in the Dragon Age fandom again. But the unfortunate truth is, that resurrection is only needed because BioWare took the fandom out back and shot it in the first place.
In December 2018, three years after the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser epilogue DLC, BioWare first announced the then-untitled next Dragon Age game with a teaser trailer. At this point, most fans were anticipating this would mean within the next couple years, we would see the game. This assumption was based on the fact that Dragon Age: Inquisition was first announced in 2012, and released in 2014, with an extra year of development added last minute.
There have been dribbles of extra content since then, adding to the franchise. This was enough to keep some fans still breathing and interested. 2020’s Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights was a lovely anthology. 2020’s Dragon Age: Blue Wraith and 2021’s Dark Fortress were wonderful comics tying up the story started in Knight Errant. And 2022’s Dragon Age: Absolution was a well-animated series with an interesting cast of characters and story. But all these still left the fandom with a major question: What was going on with the next game? It was untypical of BioWare to be so secretive, in comparison to how they handled sharing information of the past games in the franchise. The only form of updates fans still have to go on is mostly just concept art and short stories, hinting that something must be in production. But why was the wait so long?
In 2015, the first version of the next Dragon Age began with a clear vision, clear scope of practice, and a reportedly happy developer team. Most gloriously in my book, there was no multi-player… but this did not align with the Electronic Arts typical money-mad schemes. EA’s push for “games as a service” meant they wanted to monetize all their games as much as possible, and therefore, they wanted them to be a live service — as Anthem demonstrated, that meant sacrificing things that are staples of good RPGs, like narrative and character choice. So in 2017, version one of the next Dragon Age was scrapped and replaced. This new version would have, in total or to at least some degree, an online portion of play.
There is one part of Schreier’s article, “The Past and Present of Dragon Age 4,” that really sticks out to me, regarding this:
“One person close to the game told me this week that Morrison’s critical path, or main story, would be designed for single-player and that goal of the multiplayer elements would be to keep people engaged so that they would actually stick with post-launch content.”
The idea of splitting up components of a game into single-player and multi-player is a terrible idea, because it means that there would be a large bulk of content only accessible through online gaming; something many fans, like myself, are repulsed by. Even if I did enjoy it, I spent most of my life growing up with either no internet or shoddy internet incapable of playing online games. I know many rural people who are still in that position, losing more and more of their favourite gaming pastimes because they are locked out of the ability to play them. It is a disservice to hide content behind a wall like this, especially in a world that is so lore-heavy like Dragon Age. The news of multi-player in Dragon Age understandably upset many, and this is when I first noticed a large drop off in excitement over the next game.
However, in 2021, the failure of Anthem (multi-player) and success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (single-player) led the executives at EA to bend to the wishes of BioWare leadership and allow them to go back to the drawing board yet again on the next Dragon Age. This meant removing all multi-player content!
While I am very happy that there will reportedly be no multi-player in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, I can’t help but feel bitter and a little disgusted over the ridiculous development time spent on something no one but EA wanted in the first place. If it weren’t for this foolishness, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf would be in our hands right now. Instead, it’s been in development hell for nearly nine years and counting. Nine years is a long time to expect fans to carry a torch for you through radio silence, but it’s no wonder BioWare has shared barely anything about the next game; it’s been in flux for so long, they likely haven’t had anything concrete to show.
BioWare hurt its reputation even more when the news broke that the studio very suddenly laid off 50 people who were working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. This is pretty damning on its own, but BioWare took it a step further. Former developer Jon Renish shared a statement revealing that the studio was only willing to offer laid-off employees two weeks of severance per year of service, and denied health benefits. The denial of health benefits in particular is a pretty wild move for a studio with a reputation for “stress casualties”. The latest news on this is that BioWare has still so far refused to negotiate better severance packages, leading to a lawsuit. The lawsuit originally had 15 former employees, but this dropped due to the fear of not being able to afford to pay their bills. So now, while EA sits on $400 million net income, the laid-off employees are struggling to buy holiday presents for their children. These horrid business practices are not to be ignored when accounting for a lack of faith in a studio. What kind of monsters reward workers who make your games special with vaguely reasoned lay-offs?
The latest news on the Dragon Age: Dreadwolf front from BioWare came early this month, December 2023, with a trailer… announcing a trailer that will come next summer… that will announce the release of the game. Supposedly. Maybe. We’ll see. But by this time, BioWare is something of a laughing stock of their own fandom. Reactions to the video released with a pretty map graphic and a few rendered locations were, from what I personally observed, mostly sardonic in nature. People have commented on the vapourware nature of the game, and like all vapourware, that leads to disintegrating trust.
Despite all this, people like Mary Kirby, (one of the veteran Dragon Age writers who was a victim of the layoffs,) said, “it’s bittersweet that Dreadwolf is my last DA game, but I still hope you all love it as much as I do,” encouraging fans to still support the game when it eventually is released. But after every misstep BioWare has taken, that’s a tough sell now. Fans are finicky, RPG fans more so than others, one could argue. We have our favourites, and many of us stick to those favourites for life over our appreciation for the artistry — but that relationship between studio and fan should go both ways. EA and BioWare has betrayed that relationship, and it will take a hell of a lot to build it back up again, now.
[This piece is also available on Medium!]
#dragon age#datv#dragon age dreadwolf#bioware#game development#meta#releasing this into the wild and running away
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A Bullet in the Chamber
Proxies (Hoodie, Masky, Toby) x Gender Neutral Reader
Genre: Horror/Dark Angst
Summary: They want you to prove your love, to prove that you truly believe you’re meant to be together…with the help of Tim’s revolver, of course.
Content/Warnings: God, where do I start…obviously massive use of a gun, they play russian roulette, descriptions of gore, the proxies are super manipulative and emotionally abusive to reader, just a super obsessive not healthy relationship, this is NOT a feel good fic, it’s implied reader is being held captive
Like my writing? I take requests! NSFW or SFW for any fandoms in my bio (request rules + masterlist in pinned post)!
Also, please reblog! it’s free, takes two seconds, and really helps me out
Feedback is encouraged and appreciated:)
Not fully proofread! Let me know if you see any errors!
“We just wanna…play a little game with you, that’s all,” Tim drawls, his voice deep and lazy as he looks at you from behind his mask.
You’re nervous suddenly. Unbearably nervous. A cold chill runs throughout your body and makes your stomach convulse in an agonizing manner, and you don’t know if you’re going to vomit or pass out first. You don’t know why. He’s only just started speaking. Maybe it’s the way he drew out the last part of that sentence, or the way he immediately tried to soothe you before you’ve even fully understood what’s going on, or just that look in his eyes that says ‘I want to fucking gut you.’
There’s a reason you learned to keep your guard up around these three.
Suddenly the little circle you’re all sitting in on the floor feels much, much tighter than is comfortable, and it doesn’t help that Toby slides in closer, bumping your shoulder with his and flashing you a knowing smirk. What exactly he knows, though, is a horrific enigma to you.
Brian is on your other side, and although he doesn’t move, for a split second he glances at you out of the corner of his eye before his gaze returns to Tim. He’s managing to hold a straight face, but you can see the corners of his mouth just barely twitching as he internally fights to keep the emotion bubbling beneath the surface at bay.
There’s silence for a few moments, you’re not sure how long, but you don’t realize they’re waiting for you to speak until Toby nudges you.
“I, uh…what, um— what kind of game…?” You stammer, immediately regretting your question despite the curiosity that’s gnawing at you like a starving animal. You shudder when Toby giggles, clearly trying to stifle the sound as he bumps your shoulder again.
Tim thinks over his answer for a moment, scratching at his stubble in a manner that is far too casual. You think he’s going to speak, you’re expecting it, but he doesn’t say anything at first beyond a tired sounding sigh. Your eyes are locked onto his hand as it reaches behind him, and when it emerges once more it’s holding onto the grip of Tim’s revolver.
“There’s one bullet in the chamber.”
The world is spinning suddenly as you watch him place the weapon on the ground, and the sound of it sliding across the floor to you makes you sick. You bite back a gag as it slows to a stop in front of you. Your mouth hangs open uselessly as you struggle for words, desperate to pull out some sort of protest to what you know he wants but no sound comes.
They watch you grapple with yourself for a few moments before Brian places a hand on your knee. It’s supposed to be a comforting gesture, and normally it would be, but now it feels like a threat.
“Hey, don’t freak out so soon,” He says, lips curled into a subtle smirk, “We did this all the time when we were younger, it’s practically a rite of passage.”
Unsurprisingly, this does little to quell your fears. You’re shaking now, unable to wrap your mind around how they could be acting so nonchalant about putting your lives on the line like this.
“Listen,” Tim huffs, “I’m gonna be straight with ya, kid. We know how you’ve been feeling recently.”
That hardly narrows it down. You’ve been feeling a lot of things recently, none of it good and all of it confusing. That’s just the sort of conflict born from this kind of captivity. You shrug, unsure what to say.
“We know you w-wanna leave,” Toby clarifies, “I saw you staring out t-the window the other day…you just s-sat there for hours.”
That…made you feel a bit guilty. You shouldn’t, but you do. You could’ve at least made it less obvious.
“We trust you, hon,” Brian adds with a nod, “But we also think we could all use a little…what did you call it?”
He turns to Tim, who yawns before answering.
“…Group bonding.”
You shudder at the phrase. Disgusting.
“I…I don’t think this is the best way to…t-to do that,” You murmur, but your words hold no weight when you can’t even look them in the eyes. You’d never take the risk of making any sort of real fuss anyways.
Tim shrugs, seeming to consider your words.
“How would you do it, then?”
You…don’t have an answer for that. Why don’t you have an answer for that?
“I-I don’t know, I mean…can’t we just have awkward group sex like other, uh…groups, or whatever?” You ask, hesitating to call your dynamic any sort of relationship.
You make sure to tack on a nervous laugh at the end to make it seem lighthearted, but no one is amused. Toby giggles, but he’s laughing at you, and it’s painfully obvious.
“Don’t stress about it,” Tim says, “Just think of it as a…a test, you know?”
He sighs when you shake your head no.
“Ya know, like…a way of proving yourself. I mean, you trust us, right?”
You hesitate to answer that, but nod quickly when Tim narrows his eyes at you.
“Good. Well, think of it this way: if we all survive this, it’s a sign that we’re…meant to be together.”
“There has to be a better way—“ You blurt out before you can stop yourself, and Brian instantly takes to calming you.
He wraps an arm around your waist and pulls you into his side. His other hand comes up to your face, holding your head against his shoulder.
“Calm down, baby,” He says softly, “Don’t jump ship so fast. I told you, we’ve all done this before. We’ll even go first to show you there’s nothing to be afraid of, alright?”
He’s not really giving you a choice.
You nod.
Maybe you’ll be able to just get this over with. If you sit here for much longer, you’re gonna be sick.
Toby reaches out to grab the gun first. That doesn’t surprise you at all. He’s never been one for forethought, or common sense in general. One day his hubris will get him killed, you think, but for once you’re hoping it won’t be today.
Not today.
Not here.
Not right in front of you.
Brian doesn’t let you go, continuing to hold you against him as Toby makes a show of spinning the chamber, letting it run until it stops on its own. He giggles with deranged amusement as he presses the end of the barrel to the bottom of his chin, looking back at Tim with a crooked grin.
There’s silent for a few moments, and you can’t look away from him until you follow his gaze to Tim, who is staring back with furrowed brows.
He’s still for a beat, and then he nods.
A signal.
Go.
You have a split second to process Toby preparing to pull the trigger before you bury your face in Brian’s hoodie and he, in turn, covers your face with his hand and squeezes you tight. It’s hardly comforting, but it’s better than nothing.
The soft click of the trigger seems to echo endlessly in the silence that follows.
Silence.
You quickly look back up and are immediately met with Toby’s hazel eyes looking back at you, their corners crinkled with the wide smile that’s spread across his pale face.
“Lookie there,” He drawls with a laugh, “This h-handsome face is still in tact.”
“Hardly the better outcome,” Tim mutters with a roll of his eyes.
This prompts Toby to slide the gun to him next, crossing his arms in feigned hurt.
“You go n-next then, wise guy. If you blow y-your brains out, at least we’ll know you h-had one.”
“Shut up,” Tim hisses back as he, too, brings his hand up to spin the chamber of the revolver. You’re still trying to catch your breath. You didn’t think they’d be so eager.
You’re gripping onto Brian’s hoodie so tightly your knuckles burn as you watch Tim press the barrel of the gun to his jaw, angling it upwards toward the dome of his skull.
He’s not nearly as giddy as Toby. He’s straight faced and silent, which isn’t odd, but something in his eyes is darker than you ever remember it being. You can only see his eyes with his mask on, yet you know his expression exactly. He’s staring right at you, and you’re imagining his brains dashed against the wall behind him, his face and any identifying features that once made him human reduced to a splatter of viscera that barely resembles the pieces of a person.
And when it’s all over, you think, you’ll surely be the one left to clean the mess of what used to be Tim. You’ll be left to scrub the red stains from the floorboards while the others continue on as if nothing has happened, and suddenly you can’t breathe.
The world stills as once more the trigger is pulled with a click.
Then relief hits you like a shockwave when that click is followed by silence.
Silence.
Your lungs fill faster than you were ready for, and you cough and sputter as your chest heaves with newfound breath. Brian rubs your shoulder gently, his other hand reaching out to grab the revolver as Tim slides it to him. The gun is exchanged without a word, only piercing eye contact as Brian lifts the weapon and spins the chamber, just as his companions had done before him.
It seems so natural for all of them. In the half a second it takes for Brian to lift the gun you wonder how many times they’ve done this, if you’re the first person to witness this ritual, and if not, what happened to those who came before you.
You don’t find any hope of getting answers, though, as you watch Brian press the barrel to the side of his head. He gives you a squeeze, and you can’t tell if he’s assuring you or saying goodbye just in case.
You still haven’t released his hoodie despite the throbbing pain in your fingers. You’re barely a thread away from tearing out a patch, but you can’t let go. You don’t look at him this time, unable to pull your head away from where it rests on his shoulder. You wrap your arms around him and squeeze like you’re trying to crush him, but he only lets out a breathy chuckle and ruffles your hair in response as if he’s amused by your terror. You’re a scared kid to him, a foolish little child running from an imaginary monster despite the very real threat.
You can hear his hoodie shifting as he adjusts the position of the gun. You can hear the slight scratching against his hair as the barrel moves against his head. You can hear him suck in a quick breath as he readies himself to pull the trigger.
You hear the click.
And then silence.
Silence.
You’ve never been so grateful for silence.
You nearly jump out of your skin when Toby claps and laughs loudly, practically howling with wildly misplaced celebration. He shakes you in his excitement, unable to get any intelligible words out through his giggling.
“Shhh,” Brian says with a finger to his lips, “We’re not done yet.”
He’s right. Goddamnit, he’s right. Not everyone has played yet. You were hoping that maybe just this once the higher being that trapped you in this hell would have this minuscule mercy on you, but you were met with a resounding no.
Brian places the gun on the floor in front of you. You can’t hear the sound of the metal gently knocking against the wood floor, but it makes you feel ice cold. Your world is rapidly going dark as you struggle to make yourself breathe.
You can feel the others’ eyes on you, three pairs of eyes staring right at you and boring a hole through your skull that’ll surely be identical to the one the bullet will leave. Maybe they’re imagining it, too.
It seems you’re not moving fast enough for them.
Toby reaches out and grabs your wrist a bit too roughly, forcefully placing your hand on the gun. You wince like you expect it to burn, but you’re left with only the cruel sensation of metal on your palm.
You weakly curl your fingers around the grip of the gun. It feels impossibly heavy as you lift it, trembling like a leaf in the wind. You force your other hand up, placing two fingers on the chamber of the revolver as you prepare to spin it.
You press the pads of your fingers against the metal, pushing down in an attempt to spin, but the gun slips from your shaking hands and clatters to the floor. You yelp in surprise and clamp your hands over your mouth, tears suddenly forming in your eyes but refusing to flow over.
Brian sighs. You can’t tell if he’s annoyed or just disappointed. He picks up the gun, and you think that maybe, just maybe he’s going to let you out, grant you some small reprieve and tell you you don’t have to do this.
Instead he wraps an arm around your waist and holds you close, and his other hand presses the barrel of the gun right to your head.
“I’ll do it for you,” He says, as if it’s nothing serious. Like he’s just grabbing a box off a high shelf to be nice.
You feel like he’s strangling you. He might as well be. It would be a more humane death.
He’s going to kill you, you think, you’re going to die in this godforsaken house with these bastards, you’re going to die in isolation with no one to honor your body.
They’ve sentenced you to death.
You think back to that question of how many have come before you. Is this what they thought about, too? Is this the first, third or twentieth time someone like you has been here? How many unfortunate circumstances have stained the floorboards red over the years this cabin has stood?
It doesn’t matter.
None of that matters.
You’re going to be the next.
That’s all there is for you to be now.
A stain of red on the old wood floors will be your only legacy.
You can hear your heartbeat in your ears as you look up at Brian. His expression doesn’t move an inch. There’s no trace of the humor he always seems to have, not even a hint of feigned compassion or sympathy for your position. He’s not letting you out of this. None of them are.
You reach down and grab Brian’s hand where it rests in your hip, your nails digging into his knuckles. He doesn’t react. He doesn’t even move beyond adjusting his finger to pull the trigger.
Each second seems to go on for an eternity, yet at the same time everything is moving far too fast. You can’t process what’s happening but you just want it over with, that’s your only choice.
He’s lifting his finger, preparing to bring it down on the trigger.
He’s pressing the barrel of the gun into your skin just a bit harder as he readies himself for whatever happens next.
This is it.
This is it.
This is it this is it this is it this is it this is it this is it this is…
The trigger clicks.
Then there’s silence.
…it.
Silence.
And then Toby erupts with animalistic, ecstatic laughter. It rings in your ears and echoes around your skull in an almost painful manner. You can’t stand the sound.
You’re alive.
The game is over.
All at once relief floods your body in such an overwhelming manner your vision goes dark. You can’t speak a word before you’ve gone limp in Brian’s arms, and he barely has time to put the revolver down and catch you. He holds you in his arms and makes a half hearted attempt to wake you, but when you don’t respond he looks up at Tim with a smirk.
“Out like a light.”
Tim can’t help but chuckle, and for a moment it’s even a full on laugh. This only encourages Toby, who’s flopped over onto his back as his body writhes with mirth.
Brian groans as he stands, pulling your body up with him. He throws you over his shoulder and nods to the others.
“I’m taking this one up stairs, gonna put ‘em to bed. I’m sure they’ll be whiny when they wake up, and you two better deal with it.”
Tim and Toby nod and wave him away. Toby’s finally stopped laughing enough to pull himself off the floor as Tim picks up the revolver. He shoves it into Toby’s chest, nearly pushing him over.
“Go put it up,” Tim orders.
“Or what?” Toby teases as he takes the gun, “You g-gonna get mad ‘cause I won’t clean up y-your toys?”
“Just do it,” Tim demands with a growl, clearly not amused. Toby rolls his eyes and huffs like a defiant child, but nods.
Tim starts to walk away, headed upstairs to his own room, but he pauses on the first step and turns to Toby.
“Oh, and don’t forget to load it,” He adds, “If it’s empty the next time I need it, I’m gonna kill you.”
#marble hornets#creepypasta#marble hornets x reader#gender neutral reader#creepypasta x reader#angst#horror#marble hornets angst#dark angst#creepypasta angst#ticci toby#ticci toby x reader#toby rogers#dark content#tim wright#tim wright x reader#masky#masky x reader#hoodie marble hornets#hoodie x reader#brian thomas#brian thomas x reader#slender proxy#creepypasta proxy#slenderman#horror writing
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Statistical analysis of the most popular A:TLA fics on AO3
(All of this is accurate as of May 27 2024)
I like numbers and statistical analysis and for some unfathomable reason I find it calming. So last night I made this spreadsheet!
DISCLAIMER: This is not a judgement of the quality, value, or merits of any of the fics on this list. It's just me being curious about what's popular with the A:TLA fandom on AO3. I was genuinely surprised at some of the results!
Observations and analysis under the cut:
TL:DR, the fandom fucking loves putting Zuko into Situations.
Methodology: I'm including all fics from the first page of results from the most kudos'd, commented, hits, and bookmarks tagged under the Avatar: The Last Airbender (cartoon, 2005) tag on ao3. I am deliberately not including any larger multifandom flash fiction or drabble collections because I don't think they're super relevant. This ended up including 38 fics in total.
I put all the fics into one single spreadsheet in order to compare the differences between fics that are really high on the kudos count but not the hit count, or what has a lot of comments but fewer hits. Basically, I'm throwing a lot of things together to observe what gets engagement and looking at patterns that emerge!
Top 5 most popular fics by hit count:
Salvage - MuffinLance
Fractures - EvieNyx
Embers- Vathara
Towards the Sun - MuffinLance
The Art Of Burning - hella1975
Max: 1,407,170 (Salvage -MuffinLance)
Min: 78,168 (Risking it all - Sreeder)
Average: 349,442
Top 5 most popular fics by kudos count:
Salvage - MuffinLance
The Family You Choose - TunaFishChris
where the stars do not take sides - WitchofEndor
Fractures - EvieNyx
The beginning of a new and brighter birth - aloneintherain
Max: 59,947 (Salvage - MuffinLance)
Min: 3293 (Risking it all - Sreeder)
Average: 19,868
Top 5 most popular fics by number of comments:
The Art Of Burning - hella1975
Salvage - MuffinLance
Fractures - EvieNyx
Towards the Sun - MuffinLance
War Games - Lovely_Elbow_Leech
Max: 13,469 (The Art Of Burning - hella1975)
Min: 358 (Hallowed - Haircrescendo)
Average: 3634
Top 5 most popular fics by number of bookmarks:
absence of heat, excess of destiny - theycallmesuperboy
Salvage - MuffinLance
where the stars do not take sides - WitchofEndor
The Family You Choose - TunaFishChris
The beginning of a new and brighter birth - aloneintherain
Max: 150,317 (absence of heat - theycallmesuperboy)
Min: 430 (Risking it all - Sreeder)
Average: 9297
Highest kudos/hit ratio: Safety First - Haircrescendo (20.36%)
Lowest kudos/hit ratio: My Heart Burns For You - alwaysZutarian (0.89%)
Average kudos/hit ratio: 8.25%
Fic Ratings:
G: 9
T: 18
M: 6
E: 2
Unrated: 3
Popular authors (people who showed up more than once):
Aloneintherain (3)
Haircrescendo (5)
MuffinLance (4)
WitchofEndor (2)
Characters:
Literally all of these fics are Zuko-centric. Not all of them are Zuko-pov but every. single. one. focuses on Zuko as a main character. At least one of the following tags is on every single fic in this list: "The Gaang & Zuko", "Zuko & Zuko's Crew", "Zuko & Iroh" "Zuko & Azula" and "Zuko & [insert gaang member here]"
Relationships:
Ok this is what actually shocked me the most. I fully expected to see more Kataang, Zutara, etc in the top rated fics, but NO! Only 21 out of the 38 fics had any relationship slash tag, and of those, 20/21 were Sokka/Zuko (shoutout to My Heart Burns For You as the token Zutara fic to make it into this list). I did NOT realize Zukka was so popular! Now I'm super curious about what it would be like to run these numbers on FF.net because I know so much A:tla fanfic was written before ao3 existed and most hasn't been cross-posted, and Zukka wasn't a popular ship until more recently.
Other random observations:
There seems to be a pretty even split between post-canon firelord Zuko fics and canon-divergent "Zuko joins the Gaang early" fics.
Only one modern au as far as I could tell! (shoutout to "The Good Vanilla")
We all seem to love a Dadkoda fic
There is a very strong correlation between one-shots and a high kudos/hit ratio.
Seemingly no correlation between word count and number of kudos. The top kudos'd stories were mostly under 10k words, while all the other catergories were dominated by fics in the 100k+ word count.
I didn't really see much correlation between hits, kudos, and comments overall.
There were LOTS of fics that only showed up in one category, which was really interesting! I figured each list would look pretty much the same, and there were several fics that did show up on the front page of every category (Salvage definitely sweeps the board for overall most popular fic), but there was a lot of variation between each list! Some fics had TONS of hits but very few comments, some had truly wild kudos/hit ratios, some were just massively bookmarked.
Thank you for indulging in my nerdiness, and feel free to tell me what I missed or anything you're curious about!
Update: I did it again, this time with Legend of Zelda
#ao3#a:tla#avatar the last airbender#fanfiction#ao3 stats#archive of our own#zukka#zuko#atla fanfiction#did you know that when I get stressed or overwhelmed by life events#i apparently find organizing and numbers and spreadsheets very soothing#i don't know what this says about me#atla ao3#sokka/zuko#muffinlance#witchofendor#aloneintherain#haircrescendo#Emily talks
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My Favorite Detail in Farscape is [Spoilers!]
Ok for real spoilers for the entire show including Peacekeeper Wars, so I'll put a gif here and you all agree to scroll on past if you don't want spoilers for a show that ended in 2004.
Ok, so for everyone still here, my all-time favorite detail in Farscape is one that I didn't catch until my second watch-through, and I don't think it's common knowledge in the fandom. (Edit: apparently it's more commonly known about then I realized! Obviously this is because Farscape fans are keen-eyed and insightful and starved for content lol). It's certainly never mentioned or pointed out in the show itself. But it's just so perfect that I get giddy everytime I think about it.
So after Crichton gets twinned, in "Thanks for Sharing," Crichton A gets injured in the bar explosion on that planet that puts lobsters on your head. He is left with a cut above his left eyebrow, and the resulting scar can be used to tell the two Crichtons apart for the rest of season 3 (Crichton A is the one on Talyn with Aeryn).
Wound in "Thanks for Sharing"
Scar visible on Crichton A
No scar on Crichton B aboard Moya.
(Also frell me it's hard getting clear pics / gifs for this show somebody get on that)
Anyway, the scar/injury is never really addressed after that first episode, it's just a super-subtle costuming detail that shows the two Crichtons are now living separate lives. Crichton A then dies after finally achieving everything he ever wanted, Aeryn is heartbroken, drama ensues. The question is raised and discussed often, with much angst: which Crichton was the real one? Did Aeryn fall in love with the original or the copy?
Of course, Crichton B eventually accepts that they were both "him" and yet both individuals too, and Aeryn eventually says "There is no longer any difference in my mind." So it's resolved, mostly.
BUT.
2.5 seasons later, at the end of "The Peacekeeper Wars" Crichton B finally activates the wormhole weapon. After Einstein unlocks the knowledge for him, he returns to Moya bloody and hurt. And for the rest of the movie, he has a wound, and then a scar--a small cut above his left eyebrow.
It's never mentioned. It happens right near the end, when obviously a lot of other things are going on. It's really, super easy to miss. But I think it's amazing. They both really were the real Crichton. And even when they split and began leading separate lives--their destiny was still the same. The timelines reunited, kinda, or two separate possible outcomes synced up. It's such a beautiful, perfect bow to wrap up one of the most emotionally powerful arcs in the show. I just love it. Farscape really is in a league of its own.
#farscape#john crichton#aeryn sun#Deep media analysis#long post#scifi#You guys this show is so frelling good#Nothing else like it#I still can't watch S3 without crying#Props to the makeup team idk whose idea it was but they did a good job
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Witches and Ghouls - Jabberwock Edition
This was originally requested by Anon who asked: "How would to Tokyo Debunker characters find out about and react to a Witch! Reader?"
I had to split it up into a few sections, separating the boys by their houses so here's the next part. The links to all the others are below. I hope you like the headcanons!
Fandom: Tokyo Debunker
Characters: Haru Sagara, Towa Otonashi, Ren Shiranami x gn! Reader
Frostheim | Vagastrom | Jabberwock | Sinostra | Hotarubi | Obscuary | Mortkranken
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You're a witch! And even though the characters have made deals with demons themselves, they might have some surprising reactions.
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I think Haru would actually be pretty oblivious to this. It’s going to completely blindside him since he’s so busy running Jabberwock.
And as much as he cares about you, wondering whether you’re a witch or not isn’t super high up on his list or priorities.
His perception of you doesn’t change a whole lot but he will ask you to help out more around Jabberwock since he knows now that you aren’t a defenceless human.
He’ll also keep an eye out for any hard to find ingredients you might need. Jabberwock is pretty big and there’s a lot of strange plants growing there.
Towa’s going to know instinctively about your witchy powers. The moment he sees you, he’s going to smile mysteriously and hand you some ferns (a plant that represents magic).
He won’t tell anyone though. He likes being in on your little secret and wants to keep it just between the two of you.
He also won’t be put off by your witchiness. He’s pretty strange himself so if anything, he thinks it’s nice being around someone with strange abilities who’s not a ghoul.
Much like Haru, if you need any plants, he’s all over it. He knows Jabberwock even better than the captain and will often bring you plans even if you don’t ask for them.
Ren is the last to know. He’s watched one too many b-rated horror movies and now he has no idea what a real witch looks like.
Totally blindsided and completely freaked out. He’s used to those things happening in movies, not real life and it’s going to take him a while to rationalise everything.
Once he realises that he still cares about you regardless, he’s immediately falling into the “oh, okay, that actually changes nothing” category.
The revelation really isn’t going to change anything about your relationship. He won’t ask anything of you, as long as you don’t ask too much of him.
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Hey, did you enjoy this? If you like my writing, please consider donating to my Ko-Fi page! This will allow me to make some money off my writing, something I enjoy doing.
ko-fi.com/justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms
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#writing#fanfic#headcanon#headcanon request#request#tokyo debunker#tokyo debunker x reader#haru sagara#haru sagara x reader#towa otonashi#towa otonashi x reader#ren shiranami#ren shiranami x reader
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You're So Timeless | Vol. 1
Steve Rogers x Reader
Fandom: MCU
Summary: In 1943, Steve Rogers was visited by his soulmate. He fell hard. Problem is, she was from the future and didn’t stick around for long. Now, in the twenty-first century, he finally found her again, except this version of her hasn’t met him yet and won’t know he’s her soulmate for another year.
Note: So this is a combination of my other two Steve Rogers soulmate AU fics, but lengthened and fleshed out into a full fic. I was literally possessed to write this. I have no other explanation. I really like how it came out. I gave this one chapter headings (I am also going to post it to Ao3) and yes some are Taylor Swift titles. Sorry about that. It takes place roughly around the time Civil War would, but we have managed to avoid the war this time around. I also moved some other characters up the timeline because I think they’re neat and I said so. Without further ado, please enjoy my new Magnum Opus.
Also Tumblr made me split it into two parts. Part 2 linked HERE and also at the end of the post.
Warnings: Canon-typical violence/injuries, soulmate au, tons of mutual pining, kind of a slowburn but in reverse. Light angst, but a happy ending.
Word Count: 38.7k total (I am not sorry)
Reader Is: Enhanced (forcefields), 24 years old, female
The End
Time.
It was a fickle thing. In the blink of an eye, a year had passed. A mere twelve months earlier, you had been living a different life. The only life you had been responsible for was your own. And your plants, but…they never seemed to last that long under your care. Now, everything was different.
It was the day before your birthday. Your twenty-fifth birthday, which, in the world you lived in, meant that tomorrow, a name would appear on your wrist, the name of your soulmate. It had been stressing you out all day, the weight of tomorrow and everything it meant.
It was late, and you were exhausted from a day of overthinking. The longer you stayed up, the longer you delayed the inevitable reveal, and thinking about it too much made you nervous, so you just decided to get to sleep sooner than later.
It was once you were just about to climb into bed that there was a knock at your door.
“It’s open!” You called. The door opened slowly, revealing Steve, who was leaning in your doorway, arms crossed, that pensive look in his blue eyes. “Oh, hey.”
“Hi.” He chuckled. He seemed nervous, although you weren’t sure why.
“Everything alright, Steve?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I actually came in here to check on you. Wanda said you were…quiet.”
“Yeah, you could say that.” You hugged your arms around your frame and bit your lip, looking up at the super soldier standing in front of you. “Just…I don’t know. I’ve been looking forward to tomorrow for my entire life, but…now that it’s here, I’m so scared.”
“Hey, come here.” He said, pulling you to him, strong arms wrapped around you, as if he could protect you from the future itself.
“I don’t know what to do…”
“(Y/N), whoever they are, they are incredibly, incredibly lucky. You don’t need to worry about anything. It’ll all work out. It always does.” He said it like he was certain. Like somehow he knew what would happen in the morning when suddenly your life was turned on its head and you had to venture out to find your other half.
Since you’d met him, Steve wore a leather band around his wrist, covering his soulmate’s name. You’d figured he must have met them in the forties and…maybe they hadn’t made it long enough to see him come out of the ice. But you didn’t ask about it. You never dared to put that question into words. He’d been through enough heartbreak already.
“What if they don’t like me…?”
He scoffed, holding you tighter. “That’s impossible. They’re going to love you. So much. I promise.”
“And…and we’ll still be f-friends?”
Steve pulled away, looking down at you, a hand very carefully touching your cheek. “Of course we will still be friends. Nothing is ever going to change that. I promise.”
You nodded, a tear slipping down your cheek. “Good. Thank you, Steve. For everything.”
He gently wiped the tear away, the pad of his thumb warm. Once he was sure you were okay, he let go, looking at you with that knowing sparkle in his eye once more. He took a little extra time to look at the shirt you were wearing, the Star Wars tee you’d had since high school. “See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.” You agreed.
“And happy birthday, (Y/N).”
We’ll Meet Again
“Ma’am? Are you alright? Ma’am?” The voice sounded far away. You were pretty sure you were still dreaming. You opened your eyes slowly and immediately became aware of the pounding pain in your head.
“Ow, oh my God.” You reached up and felt there, but it didn’t feel like you were bleeding or anything.
“Ma’am?”
You froze for a second, slowly looking up at the figure standing above you, confusion written all over his familiar features. It took you a long moment to put the pieces together. You were on a porch somewhere in what appeared to be New York, but it was…different. A lot different than the parts of the city you knew. Alright, it had to be a dream.
You looked up at the man standing above you and did a double-take. But no, it was him. It was a tiny, frail version of Steve. Your eyebrows furrowed and you sat up slowly, staring at him for a long moment before whispering, “Steve?”
His mouth opened and then shut again and he made a face of confusion, like he was trying to place where he knew you from, but he didn’t know you yet, and wouldn’t know you for several more years, to say the least. “Do I know you?”
“It’s complicated.” You exhaled. “Can we go inside? You’re going to need to sit down for this.”
Dumbfounded, Steve nodded and you stood up from the porch, only to find that he was at your eye level when you did. Weird. He led you into the small apartment and you looked around. It was quaint. There was an easel in the corner of the room and…Bucky Barnes sitting on the couch? You stared at him for a good, long moment, a shiver running down your spine.
“Who’s the dame?” He read your shirt. “What is Star…Wars…?”
“About to find that out myself.” He chuckled, leading you into the living room. “Buck, could you give us a minute?”
“I’ll be in the kitchen.” Bucky got up and walked to the other half of their tiny two-bedroom.
You sat down on the couch and so did he. The silence was thick. You thought for several moments. You weren’t quite sure how you had ended up in the 1940s. You looked down at your hands and it was then that your gaze finally landed on the writing on your wrist. And then everything made sense.
“What’s the date today?”
“It’s July 4th, why?”
“July 4th…” You whispered. “What, 1943?”
You could see the wheels turning behind his eyes before he replied, “Yes ma’am.”
“Well, happy birthday, first of all. And second of all…” You held up your wrist so he could read it. Steve’s eyes went wide and he stared at the three words written neatly on your skin in his own handwriting.
Steven Grant Rogers.
“You’re my…” He looked at you for a long time, his eyes wide. He hastily undid the cuff around his wrist and held it out to you, your own name written there. He ran a finger across the letters, as if to prove they were really there.
“I’m your soulmate.” You said certainly.
It hit you like a truck, then. The weird look on your Steve’s face, the way he was so certain that everything would work out. It was because he had already lived through this. And that meant that in all the time he’d known you, he’d been hiding his mark not because his soulmate had died, but instead because you were his soulmate and you didn’t know it yet.
Your entire year of friendship, of memories, of roadtrips and missions and movie marathons…he had known the whole time. And that look in his eyes wasn’t just his protective side coming out. It was love. It had been love the whole time.
Oh.
Steve exhaled a long, shaking breath, really taking you in. Once again, he had a million stars in his eyes. He let out a whispered, “Wow,” as tears began to form.
You came back down to earth. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” He chuckled, sniffling as a tear ran down his cheek. “I’ve just, I’ve got a lot of…health problems, so I wasn’t sure if I’d ever…meet you. And you’re here and you’re great and I just…I’m sorry.”
That brought tears to your eyes. “Oh, Steve…” You pulled him into your arms and he didn’t hesitate to surrender to your embrace, his arms wrapping tight around you and holding you close, head nestled into the crook of your neck. “Just breathe. It’s okay. I’m right here. I’ve got you.”
Always.
He took your advice, doing his best to avoid an asthma attack on what was shaping up to be the best day of his life. Once he finally caught his breath, he pulled away to look at your face again. “I have to ask…How did you know?”
“I don’t know if you can tell from these clothes,” you motioned down to the t-shirt and sweatpants you were wearing, “but I’m not from around here, exactly.”
“I kind of thought so, but I didn’t want to be rude.” He smiled softly. “Um, where are you from, then?”
“I’m from the future. Like…a while from now. It’s hard to explain why or how, and I’m not really sure how I got here, to be honest, but I’m glad I am.” You sighed, thumb grazing his cheek, wiping away his tears. He crooned at your touch. “I don’t know how long we have before I have to go back.”
“Am I there? Where you’re from?”
“You are. It’s complicated. We’re really good friends and…when I get back, I’m sure we’ll probably be even more than that.” You smiled, shaking your head. “I can’t believe I didn’t put the pieces together sooner.”
“(Y/N)?” Steve asked, trying out your name for the first time.
“Yeah?”
“Let me take you out today, show you a good time here before you have to go back.” He took your hand and carefully laced his fingers through your own, testing the weight of it, the feel of it.
You smiled. “I’d like that.”
“Not to eavesdrop, lovebirds — congratulations, by the way — but if you’re going to take her out, we’re going to need to find her some clothes that aren’t so…‘not from around here.’” Bucky leaned in the doorway.
“Yeah, I thought the same thing.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll call one of my girls and we’ll get her squared away. Sit tight.”
“Thanks, Bucky.” You said, chuckling when his eyes widened after you addressed him by name. “I know you, too. From the, uh, future.”
“Weird…” Bucky decided.
“Long story?” Steve asked, studying the look on your face.
“Very.” You agreed. After staring at him for another long moment, you pulled him back into your arms again, exhaling a long breath before whispering, “Steve, I’m so glad it’s you…”
***
“Wow.” You stared at yourself in the mirror, studying the way Bucky’s, ahem, lady friend, had curled your hair, done your makeup. You did a little twirl and relished in the way the skirt of your dress twirled. It was navy blue, short ruffled sleeves with a flared skirt and buttons down the front. “I think it suits me.”
“I agree. Blue is a good color on you.” Steve was sitting in a chair at the edge of the room, absolutely enamored as he watched you. “Although, I’m sure they’re all good colors on you, doll.”
You felt the heat rise to your cheeks. “Thanks.”
“I mean it.” He stood up and walked to you, slipping one of his hands into each of yours and staring into your eyes, looking at the way you looked standing next to him in his reflection. His soulmate. The kind of girl people write poems about. “You look great.”
“I don’t look out of place?”
“No one is gonna think you’re a time traveler. Well, unless you tell them.” Bucky said. “Maybe don’t do that anymore.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t planning on it.” You chuckled and gave Steve’s hands a squeeze. “Where to first, soulmate?”
His cheeks reddened as soon as you said the word. “Well, I was thinking we could go to my favorite little diner down the street to grab something for lunch, and then maybe we could take a walk through the park, catch a movie, and then go out for drinks tonight?”
“What, you aren’t gonna take her dancing?” Bucky teased, ruffling Steve’s hair under a large hand. “Show the girl a good time?”
“I would if I didn’t have two left feet.” Steve chuckled, a sheepish smile on his face. He looked at you, waiting for some kind of response. “How does that sound?”
“It sounds like a great time, Steve.”
He smiled. “Good.”
The two of you left the apartment not long after that, and walked side by side towards the diner. Your hands were swinging in the space between you and your hand brushed Steve’s once, twice, a third time, and then you slipped your hand into his, intertwining your fingers.
You caught him smile out of the corner of your eye. “Is this okay?”
“Yeah, of course it’s okay.” He grinned and chuckled to himself. “You can hold my hand as much as you want, doll.”
When the two of you finally got to the diner, a little bell rang over your heads and you got seated at a booth by the window. The two of you ordered drinks and you skimmed the menu while you waited.
“So, tell me about yourself.” You said, resting your chin against your fist and looking over at Steve. You studied the way his blue, blue eyes flicked up to your own and the blush that covered his cheeks shortly thereafter.
“You probably know a lot of it already.” He chuckled. “Unless we don’t talk a lot?”
“We talk quite a bit, but I still want to know about this you. Here and now.”
“I like art. Drawing and painting and stuff.” He said. “I haven’t had time to do much lately, but I’d like to get back into it.”
“See, that I didn’t know.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I didn’t know you were into art.”
“I could, uh, show you sometime.” He offered.
“I’d like that.” You smiled. “What else?”
“I like to read. I like going to Dodgers games with Bucky. One time he took me to Coney Island. I don’t like rollercoasters, but I liked playing the games. He wasted three whole dollars trying to win a teddy bear for a redhead named Dot.”
“Three whole dollars…” You chuckled. “Well you don’t have to worry about the rollercoasters too much, I can’t go upside down without throwing up.”
“That makes two of us. Enough about me, tell me about you.” Steve nudged, his hand slowly moving towards yours. “How do we know each other? When did we meet?”
“We’re…coworkers, I guess you could say. We met about a year back and now we live in the same building? I’m sorry for being so vague, I just—”
“Don’t want to give it away, yeah, I get it.” He nodded, understandingly.
“You took me under your wing as soon as I moved in and really made me feel welcome. You’re the one that brought me onto the team, actually.” You took a sip of your drink. “We’ve been through a lot together already, and I’m sure it’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Mmm…” Steve nodded. “I know I just met you, but I’m really glad you and I are close. Well, will be close.” He paused before chuckling and shaking his head. “There’s still some little voice in the back of my head telling me all of this is just some amazing dream.”
“That doesn’t even begin to cover it.” You chuckled, tucking a piece of curled hair back behind your ear. “I’ve…I’ve had a crush on you forever, Steve. I can’t believe this is happening.”
He stared at you, almost dumbfounded. “O-on me?”
“Yeah.” You agreed. You’d forgotten, you supposed, that Steve had had this phase, the self-depreciation, the insecurity. Your Steve, when complimented, was shy, sure, but you knew he understood what people were talking about. This Steve didn’t see it that way. Not yet. But it would be your job to use your one day with him to change that, to make your soulmate see that he was worthy of love, even self-love. “Yeah, of course on you, Steve. I can’t believe I get to have you.”
His cheeks reddened and he finally took the leap, taking your hand across the table, thumb grazing your knuckles with care. His blue eyes sparkled. “Funny. I was gonna say the same thing about you.”
***
Once the two of you were finished up at the diner, you took a walk through the park. It was gorgeous out, a bright, sunny, warm summer afternoon. Several couples were strolling down the paths, hand in hand, and you were one of them, your hand held tight in Steve’s, his thumb gently stroking the back of yours.
You went to the theater and caught a movie together. Luckily enough, they were showing the Wizard of Oz. Your current situation had you feeling like Dorothy in more ways than one. The movie had only come out four years earlier, which was definitely strange. Not to mention the fact that the tickets were only twenty-five cents, the popcorn a mere ten cents.
And then, once the movie was over and the sun was setting, you went to a bar, where Steve ordered each of you a drink. You took a sip of yours, something sweet, and smiled at him across the table.
“So, how’s your day been, birthday boy?” You asked coyly.
“The best I’ve had so far,” he replied, his eyes sparkling. The sparkle faded, however, when his expression grew somber. He hesitated, but then asked, “Okay, I have to know…How long do I have to wait to see you again?”
You exhaled a long sigh, biting your lip. If you told him the truth, he might ask questions you couldn’t tell him the answers to. And besides, the real answer would require some math. You didn’t know the specifics.
“I’ll be honest, Steve, it’s…it’s a pretty long time.” You thought for a long moment before continuing, “I…I can’t really tell you why. It’s all really complicated, and if I tell you too much, it might not happen the way it’s supposed to.”
“Oh…” Steve nodded and took a sip of his drink. Once he set down the glass, he reached across the table and took your hand. “Well, however long it is,” he looked straight into your eyes and a chill ran down your spine, “It’ll be worth it. Every second. I promise.”
You could have cried. “I hope so.”
“There you two are! I was wondering which bar you’d wandered into!” Bucky was, apparently, already slightly intoxicated as he approached you and Steve with a date of his own. “How was your day on the town, lovebirds?”
“Spectacular.” You replied. “I wish there was more time to soak it in.”
“New York sure is something, huh?” Bucky’s date asked, giggling innocently. If only she knew the half of it.
“Yeah, you could say that.” You laughed and tucked a piece of hair behind your ear.
“You guys wanna sit with us?” Steve asked.
“If you don’t mind too much, punk.” Bucky grinned.
Steve got up and switched sides of the booth so he was sitting next to you instead of across from you. You slid your hand into his, intertwining your fingers. He smiled, chuckling softly to himself as he gave your hand a squeeze.
“Did you give the lady her dance, Rogers?” Bucky asked, smirking.
“Not yet.” Steve chuckled. “We’ll see. The asthma makes it a bit difficult sometimes.”
“Never seems to stop you from getting into fights.” Bucky muttered, causing Steve’s cheeks to flush.
“Just wait until the band plays something slow,” Bucky’s date pointed out.
“There you go!” Bucky raised his glass to his lips. “Great idea, Maggie.”
“Glad to be of service.”
And so, the four of you chatted until the band started to play something sweet and slow. Steve looked at you for approval and you nodded. He led you out onto the floor with the other couples.
Steve blushed, flustered, and he looked at you before saying, “I don’t know how to do this.”
“It’s easy.” You promised, guiding one of his hands to your waist and holding the other. “That’s it. And then we just move to the music. You can twirl me around if you feel so inclined.”
“Alright.” He chuckled, swaying in time with you. “Hey, uh, (Y/N), I need you to know…I had a really, really great time today. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted in a soulmate and I’m so excited to spend the rest of my life with you someday, however far away that someday is.”
“I’m glad I met your expectations.” You smiled, tugging him a bit closer.
“No, you exceeded them. You’re better than anything I could have imagined. I’m so lucky.” He paused, and his expression fell a little. “I know I’m a lot. I have a lot of problems and they might complicate things sometimes, but…”
“Steve, you’re perfect.” You shook your head and leaned forward, resting your forehead against his. “The universe gave you to me for a reason and I’m so, so glad it did. You’re amazing. I can’t think of anyone better to spend the rest of my life with.”
He was quiet for a moment before whispering, “Can I please kiss you, doll?”
You leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips, the music swelling around you as you guided his hands to your waist, cupping his cheeks to hold him close to you. When the moment had passed, you rested your nose against his, meeting his eyes and inhaling his scent, committing this version of him to memory before he was reduced to just that, a memory.
“Steve Rogers, I am so sorry you will not hear me say these words until after I go back tomorrow, but I love you. I have loved you for a very long time. And I know I will love you for the rest of my life.”
You spent the rest of the night together. Twirling across the dancefloor, talking, soaking each other in. But when you reached the front porch of the townhouse, Steve looked back down the steps to find you’d disappeared, leaving him with nothing but the memory of your lips, your laugh, your smile.
“You gonna be alright?” Bucky asked, a hand on his shoulder.
“I don’t know.” He replied, words swallowed up by the sounds of the night. “Just give me a minute, pal.”
Bucky nodded, solemn. “Take all the time you need.”
The Beginning
Steve remembered the day you’d met—for the second time, though he didn’t realize it right away—like it was tattooed on his brain. It was a few years after he’d come out of the ice and he had taken Tony’s advice to get out more, which had led him to the local mall.
It had been an uneventful day. He strolled around the perimeter, taking in the storefronts, studying the fashion, browsing the menu of a pretzel place, reading the posters on the exterior of the movie theater, the things that were coming out in the coming months. Nothing interested him in particular. He didn’t really care for war movies.
After a few quiet hours, his peaceful walk was interrupted by screams, people running away at top speed, which, of course, caused him to spring into action, assessing the situation. He ran towards the source of the chaos, scanning, scanning, until his eyes landed on the attacker, a guy with a flamethrower, aimed at a teenage theater employee. Steve hurdled over a trash can, moving people out of the way, directing them to safety and trying to put himself between himself and the mallgoers, but before he could, you did, hands out in front of you and what seemed to be an invisible shield poised there, redirecting the flames and protecting the movie theater employee that had nearly been caught in the crossfire.
A quick flick of your wrist knocked the attacker’s gun out of his hands and it slid across the floor to Steve’s feet. He chucked it into the fountain without a second thought, where it fizzled pathetically. The guy lunged at you with heavy metal gauntlets, and you dodged the first swing but caught the second in the face, falling backwards. When you landed, however ungracefully, you sent a blast of energy at the guy, knocking him over a plant and sprawling onto the tile floor.
While the guy was on the ground, Steve tackled him, wrenching the gauntlets off of his hands and chucking them away, too. Soon, the police arrived, apprehending the guy while mall security comforted the distressed mall patrons, ushering them to safety and medical attention.
You sat on a bench after, breathing heavy, a cut on your forehead. Steve walked over, interested in this superpowered rescuer, someone who wasn’t yet on the Avengers’ radar, but would most definitely be on the news the next day if the sheer amount of phone footage recorded was any indication.
“Are you alright, ma’am?” He asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just glad everyone is okay.” You told him, meeting his eyes.
He finally got a good look at you and froze, looking bewildered. A deer in headlights. “You’re…”
There you are, doll. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.
It was you. Of course it was you. Since the moment he’d been unfrozen, he’d been looking for you. His soulmate. The girl from the future that popped in on his twenty-fifth birthday, turned his whole life on its head, and then left without warning, hours after their first kiss. Back when he was five-foot-nothing with asthma and more medical conditions than he could even remember.
Back before he was anything.
And you’d loved him anyway. You’d given him the day of a lifetime and hope for not only a future, but for love. That someone could love him for him despite it all.
“I know.” You knew? “I…I don’t know what it is or…why I can do it. I’ve been like this since college.”
Your powers, you meant. You thought he was talking about your powers and not your name, which was burning a hole into his wrist beneath the thick leather band keeping it hidden.
“Right. Well, it’s…” He sighed, gathering his words, hiding the elation and pain behind a warm smile. “It’s a good thing you were here. I don’t have my shield on me.”
“Mine is built in.” You chuckled.
“You, uh…have a cut. On your forehead.”
“Oh, do I?” You reached up and found it with your fingers and they came away a bit bloody. “Shit.”
“Come on.” He offered you his hand and you took it, letting him lead you over to the counter of the theater. “Hi, do you have a first aid kit we could borrow?”
“Yeah, of course.” The girl at the counter said, rushing to grab it.
Steve patched you up with gentle hands, off in a corner on your own, in the room the theater used for birthday parties. Staring up at him, you finally realized the obvious. This was Captain America. And he was using a careful finger to spread a triple antibiotic ointment on your cut.
Play it cool, (Y/N).
“Do you do this often? The hero thing?” Steve asked, trying to sound somewhat indifferent. He couldn’t be, though. Not entirely. Not when it came to you.
“No.” You shrugged. “Haven’t had much opportunity, thankfully. I mean…I’d like to, I just didn’t know how to…get into it, I guess. Any email I sent to Stark or S.H.I.E.L.D. or whatever would end up on a slush pile.”
“Well, I’ve got some connections. If you’re seriously considering it. I can’t say I recommend it, but…Obviously you’ve got that protective instinct and you seem to work well under pressure.”
“I don’t know about that. My heart is about to leap out of my chest.” You admitted, laughing as he carefully laid a Bandaid over the cut, closing the kit.
“That makes two of us.”
“Well, if you think I’m really cut out for it…I’d love to help.”
***
It was three days later that Nick Fury got in touch with you. You thought it was a scam call at first, but no one else would possibly have the info about you that he did. That was S.H.I.E.L.D. for you, you supposed.
You packed up your apartment, your boxes of books, your old journals, your clothes and makeup, your life, and hopped in the jet that was waiting for you at the meeting place. Inside was a pilot with flaming red hair, Natasha Romanoff. The Black Widow. It was hard not to get a little starstruck.
She helped you load your things into the jet, let you settle into the copilot seat, and then you took off, soaring away from your old life and towards your new one, the mysterious, magnificent facility tucked into upstate New York, that iconic A emblazoned on the front of the building.
“Steve said you’re telekinetic. That’s cool.” She complimented with a smirk.
“Yeah, I’ve got force-field stuff. I don’t know what else, exactly.”
“Oh, we’ll figure all that out. Banner already has a list of tests he wants to run. Nothing too intense. I made him promise not to give you the lab rat treatment too soon.”
“Reassuring.” You chuckled.
“Wanda’s been decorating your room all day. It’s not often we get new blood.”
“I appreciate it. I can’t wait to meet everyone.”
“They can’t wait to meet you.”
The jet landed a little under an hour later and Natasha helped you haul boxes towards the front door, where Steve was waiting. It was like time slowed, that look in his eyes, glistening little stars.
“Come on, Rogers, these boxes aren’t going to move themselves.” Nat waved him over, snapping both of you out of your trance.
“Right, right.” He jogged over. “Is there anything heavy?”
“That one.” You pointed. “It’s got my candles in it.”
“On it.”
You grabbed a few tote bags, slinging your computer bag over your shoulder. A few others came out to help, Clint and Wanda namely, the latter of whom used her shimmering red powers to speed the process along. Were you any more confident in your own powers, you would do the same, but you hadn’t had much opportunity to use them yet, and you didn’t want to drop anything fragile on your first day.
You started unpacking the essentials, your smart speaker, your laptop, some books and your favorite candle. You put some clothes in the dresser, hung some up in the large sliding closet in the wall. Upon further examination, you had your own bathroom, too, which was nice. There was a wall tapestry with sunflowers on it, and several little knickknacks. Wanda’s loving touch.
Someone cleared their throat and you turned to find Steve there, arms crossed, leaning in the doorway.
“Hi there, um, just checking in. Figured you might want a tour when you got settled in. No rush, of course.”
“I would love a tour. I can already tell I’m gonna get lost in this place.”
He grinned. “Not on my watch. Come on. I’ll show you around.”
Steve walked with you through the office spaces, the computer labs, Bruce’s lab, Tony’s. Tony was in the city, but Bruce was home and introduced himself with a dad joke about the Hulk and a warm handshake. You saw the training facility, a giant room with floor to ceiling windows, a wall of mirrors, practice dummies, landing mats, and plenty of sparring weapons. There was, separately, a fully furnished gym, and then the basics, a large, modern kitchen, living areas and lounges, study spaces, a library, a party room with a bar, and a very fancy coffee machine.
You could see yourself making a home here.
Steve walked you back to the hallway where all the bedrooms were. “If you need anything or have any questions, my room is just down the hall on the left. Wanda is next door. Dinner is at six.”
“Six o’clock it is. Thank you, Cap.”
“You can call me Steve.”
“Steve.” You nodded, slowly accepting the fact that you were now on a first name basis with Captain America. “And you can call me (Y/N).”
“Nice to meet you, (Y/N).” He said, some twinge of nostalgia at the end of his words. You turned back into your room to get some more unpacking done and Steve walked back down the hall, taking a deep breath and looking up at the ceiling, doing his best to hold in his tears.
…Ready For It?
You spent the first few days in your room for the most part, unpacking but also hiding, if you were honest. You met Vision. He seemed nice. He also had the ability to phase through walls, apparently. Still no sign of Thor, but you weren’t holding your breath. You were sure he was a busy guy.
Sam Wilson introduced himself with the same offer everyone else had so far, to let them know if you needed anything. You appreciated it.
And then, finally, there was Tony, whose dry humor came across immediately. He sized you up, drilling questions about where you went to college, what you majored in, what your top three movies from the 1980s were. You were pretty sure he liked you, but you didn’t think he trusted you. And that was okay. You knew that was something you’d have to earn around there.
“No soulmark yet, kid?” He asked, eyeing up your bare wrist.
“Not yet.” You confirmed.
“That makes you what, twenty-three? Twenty-four?”
“Twenty-four. As of last month, actually.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “Well that’s exciting. I’m sure you’re counting down the days.”
“More or less.” You chuckled, catching Steve watching you out of the corner of your eye. He did that a lot, you noticed.
Before Tony could come up with some witty comeback, the lights flashed red, accompanied by a loud siren.
“Vis? What’s going on?” Tony asked as Vision walked into the room, his sophisticated sweater melting into the uniform you’d seen on the news, red and green with a golden cape.
“There seems to be a stir at the local fairgrounds. Tremors and gunshots. Hostages.”
“Alright, let’s go pay them a visit then.” Tony pressed a button on his watch and transformed into Iron Man in front of your very eyes. “You can stay here or come with us. Up to you. But suit up fast. We’re out in five.”
You stood there for a moment, waiting for the shock to wear off, but the sirens definitely weren’t helping.
“Stick with me.” Steve instructed, voice calm, confident.
“Okay.” You nodded, following after him, towards the hangar where they kept the jets.
Natasha was standing at a locker, pulling her catsuit on with impressive speed, Clint beside her, loading a quiver with arrows, checking his bow.
“Nat, can you get her ready?”
“Baby’s first mission?” She asked, impressed.
You nodded, waiting for orders.
“Well, it should be an easy one, from the sound of it. Here, put this on. We’ll get you your own gear in the next few weeks.”
She chucked you an extra suit and you did your best to shimmy into it. Surprisingly, you could actually move in it. There were holsters, but you weren’t gun trained, so you figured it was best to leave that to the professionals. Instead, you followed the others onto the jet, hoping your forcefields and blossoming battle instincts would be enough to protect you out there.
***
The fair had devolved quickly into madness. There was fire, screaming, running, and gunshots. You flinched at the onslaught of it, but followed the others out anyway, listening to the voice in your earpiece, Steve’s voice, as he issued orders. You were put on civilian evacuation with Sam while the others engaged with the attackers. Six of them.
You did your job diligently, ushering people to a safe distance while law enforcement arrived. Until one of the attackers engaged with you, however, mistaking you for a civilian. Something snapped. In an instant your flight instinct vanished, replaced with the need to fight. He punched at you and you countered, sweeping a leg under him and then using a forcefield to knock him into the cornfield.
One of them launched a bazooka at Tony while he wasn’t looking, and without a thought, you trapped the explosive in a bubble, forcing it into the air where it exploded harmlessly, away from everyone.
And when the dust settled, the rest of the team turned to look at you, sharing looks with each other.
“Thanks for the save, kid. I owe you one.” Tony complimented, clapping you on the back on his way into the jet. “Let’s get something to eat. I’m starving.”
Your heart raced with the adrenaline of battle, the feeling of a job well done. Steve gave you a thumbs-up, a proud grin. His risk had paid off. You weren’t a total failure.
“You doin’ okay?” He asked, slinging his shield onto his back.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” You replied, letting the energy fizzle back into your palms.
He watched with interest at the faint crackles of blue that made up your powers. “You did good out there.”
You felt your cheeks flush. “Thanks, I—"
“Alright new girl, were are we stopping for food?” Natasha asked, slinging an arm around your shoulders.
“I get to pick?” You asked with a laugh.
“And don’t be afraid to pick something fancy. It’s Tony’s treat.” Clint added, walking with the rest of you onto the jet. You strapped in while the others tried their darndest to influence your pick, bickering like siblings. Like your family.
Yeah, you could get used to this.
Waypoint
Your training started shortly after that first mission. Bruce took all your vitals, measured them before, during, and after use of your powers. He recorded said powers with every device known to man until he had your ability down to a science. He had a hunch they were of cosmic origin, but you had no idea when you could have possible come in contact with something like that.
Next came a uniform. At the moment, it was a dark indigo color, something similar to navy blue, but leaning a bit more purple. The chest area was left blank, Tony claiming he’d add a symbol once his graphic design team came up with something. He did add some accents up the arms and down the legs, thin, light blue lines that matched the color of your powers.
Natasha and Clint gave you a few crash courses on weapons and your aim left a bit to be desired, but your hand-eye coordination wasn’t bad. Sam put you on a modified military workout regimen to get in shape, get your stamina up with the rest of the team.
You practiced making forcefields, seeing how big you could make them, how small, how much force they could endure before they broke. Natasha shot some bullets at them, and your fields caught them, allowing you to kill their momentum and drop them harmlessly to the ground. They could withstand some electricity, but not Wanda’s powers. And they held against Steve’s superstrength, but not for long. Still, a few hits from a supersoldier was more than most could endure, so it would buy you some time in the field.
Eventually, you moved on from just forcefields and started learning to move objects. It turned out, you were not limited to bubbles. You could create platforms underneath things. This evolved into creating platforms underneath people, that they could jump on, or ride on top of while you moved them.
You practiced using them for transport too, but it was harder standing on them while controlling them, especially if you tried to jump from platform to platform. It was a bit like patting your head and rubbing your tummy, and it would take a lot of practice.
There weren’t many missions, and the ones that popped up, you didn’t get sent on. They were high level things, and while your powers were improving, and very quickly, Bruce was always quick to reassure you, you weren’t ready for covert ops yet, especially ones that had been months in the making.
Every time Steve got sent off, he left with that sad little half-smile of his, the one where he pressed his lips together, eyes glittering like a lake under moonlight. He’d give you some words of comfort, usually dealing with how short the mission was supposed to be. It didn’t often make you feel better.
Bruce stayed behind with you, most times. More like all of the times. Code Greens, as they were called, were seldom necessary, and besides, as they had learned with Wanda back during the Ultron days, Bruce could be a liability if someone else got in his head. But it was nice not being completely alone in the big empty facility.
“He always looks so sad when he leaves.” You noted, sipping from a mug of warm tea. Steve had left only moments before, the last member of the team that was shipping out.
Bruce thought about it for a moment. “Does he?”
“Oh. I don’t know. Maybe I don’t know him that well.” You shrugged, the sounds of Animal Crossing resonating from the TV.
“You know, he has, lately. He didn’t used to.” Bruce noted.
“Weird.”
“Uh-huh.” He replied absentmindedly. “So explain to me this game?”
“Okay, so you move to this island and have to spend all your money paying off debt to this raccoon…”
It was in another training session that there was a malfunction. A shock grenade went off dangerously close to Sam. Before you could even process what you were doing, your hand shot out, a bright, pulsating star crackling in front of him, another, second star on the other side of the room. Steve assessed the situation and used the shield to knock Sam into the star, neutralizing the grenade right after. There was a bright flash and Sam appeared on the other side of the room, tumbling out of the second star.
You froze, curling your fingers and closing both of them. There was a slight pinch in your shoulder, near the base of your neck. The others all stared.
“Wait, what was that?” Bruce asked over the intercom.
“You did that?” Steve asked, motioning to Sam as he walked over.
“I think so.”
“What was that?”
Natasha asked, looking you up and down. Sam stared at you like you’d sprouted a third eye.
“I don’t know.”
“Do it again.” Bruce insisted. “Hang on, I’m coming in there.”
The door from the observation room opened and Bruce joined the rest of you in the circle that was steadily forming, all of them watching you, waiting.
“I don’t know, it was just like…” You focused on that feeling again, the desperation to get Sam the hell away from that grenade, and as though you were punching a hole through reality, it opened in the center of the circle, an eight-pointed star, bobbing and ebbing and flowing, made of the light blue energy you were so familiar with.
Carefully, you opened another one, ten feet in the air above the first. Clint shrugged and chucked a tennis ball into it. Sure enough, it popped up to the second one, before falling down through the first one again. This continued until eventually you closed the bottom one, letting the tennis ball bounce harmlessly across the floor.
“Well shit.”
“Waypoints.” Bruce said, deep in thought. “Teleportation. This…this opens up a lot of doors.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Steve murmured.
“Hey, that’s kind of cool. Waypoint.” Clint said, drawing attention to it. “What do you think?”
“What, like as a codename?” You asked, weighing it as an option.
“I like it.” Sam grinned. “Waypoint.”
“Waypoint.” You repeated, trying it out. Hi, I’m Waypoint. I’m an Avenger.
It sounded silly, but it was getting more official by the day. There was, of course, only one way to make it official official, and that was with one of Tony Stark’s famed parties…
Wonderstruck
You let out a sigh, staring at your reflection in the mirror. It was the night of the big party. Your first, as an Avenger, and the official induction of what Tony was deeming the second class of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Sam: the Falcon, Wanda: the Scarlet Witch, Vision, and You: Waypoint.
He’d gotten you a dress to wear, one that matched your uniform. It was long, sleek, that navy blue/indigo color. It glittered like stars and moved like a dream. And in the middle of it, poised at the base of the sweetheart neckline, was the eight-pointed star that Tony had turned into your symbol.
Your hair and makeup were done, and all that was left was the zipper.
Someone knocked on the door.
“It’s open!” You called, expecting Natasha or Wanda. Instead, it was Steve, who, when he saw you were unzipped, pulled the door almost all the way closed and shielded his eyes with his hand.
“Sorry! I’ll leave—”
“Wait, actually, could you help me zip this up? I can’t reach.”
Steve nodded, slowly lowering his hand and entering the room. He closed the door behind him to give you some privacy. He was dressed in a sharp black suit with a blue tie. His lapel pin looked like a tiny version of his shield.
“Wow…” He murmured, taking you in. “You look great, (Y/N).”
“You think so? I’m not sure blue is really my color…”
He scoffed. “It most certainly is.” He swept the hair off of your shoulder, meeting your eyes in the reflection in the mirror as he gently pulled the zipper higher until it was secure in place. “In more ways than one.”
“Yeah, guess so.” You agreed, nervous energy crackling around your fingers, blue as ever. You dispelled it, snapping out of it.
Steve looked at the two of you in the mirror for a long time before turning towards the door again. Halfway there, though, he turned back around, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a flat velvet box. “This is, um…for you.”
“Oh! Thank you.” You reached for it, heart racing. Inside was a necklace, its pendant a silver star with eight points. In the center, an aquamarine gem. You gasped, looking at it. It was beautiful, delicate. “Steve, this is beautiful. Thank you so much.”
“It’s the least I could do.” He said, offering his hand. “May I?”
“Please.” You said, handing him the necklace and moving your hair out of the way. He did the clasp behind your neck. It settled between your collarbones.
“There. Now it’s official.” He whispered.
“Almost.”
“Almost.” Steve agreed, offering you his elbow. “Right this way.”
You looped your arm through his, letting him lead you out into the initial murmurs of the party. What Natasha dubbed the “extended family” had shown up. Rhodey, Maria Hill, Nick Fury, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, and, of course, Thor.
He was a sight, that was for sure. He towered over everyone else at 6’5”, arms the size of tree trunks. It was a bit intimidating to say the very least.
“Rogers!” Thor bellowed.
“Thor! I didn’t think you were coming.”
He grinned. “I never miss a feast.” His eyes fell on you. “And you must be this new team member Banner spoke of.”
“I’m (Y/N). It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“The honor is mine.”
“Here.” Natasha handed you a champagne flute. She eyed up your necklace. “That’s cute.”
“Steve gave it to me.”
She quirked an eyebrow and looked up at the supersoldier, who still had your arm. “Steve has good taste.”
“Steve had help.” He admitted, smiling sheepishly.
“I’d get you one too, Rogers, but Thor has the strong stuff.” Natasha said, patting his other arm while you took a sip of the champagne. It was sweet, tangy. “God’s favorite boy scout has trouble getting drunk.”
“My tolerance is too good.”
“I think we just need to get you a Four Loko. Or two.”
“A what?” Steve asked.
“It’s like four drinks in one can. They’re insane. I tried in college, but tapped out halfway through.”
He considered it for a moment, letting out a laugh. “See, that just might work.”
Tony wandered around the lounge, greeting everyone. He looked you up and down. “You look beautiful, Portal Girl.”
You internally chuckled. The others had advised you not to feed his ego when he used his nicknames. “Thank you, Tony.”
“And you’re also here, Rogers.”
“Tony.” Steve nodded.
“You her date tonight?” He asked, motioning to your joint arms.
“Oh. Yeah, I suppose I am.” Steve agreed, not budging. Neither were you.
“Well, I hope you’ve taken some dance lessons since last time, Rogers. I’m sure (Y/N) wouldn’t want to have her feet walked all over.”
Steve chuckled and rolled his eyes as Tony moved onto his next targets. Sam emerged, looking very sharp in a red suit. Even Vision had dressed up for the occasion, Wanda beside him wearing an elegant red dress. The two of them talked and laughed on the other side of the room and you smiled. You could tell when you moved in that he cared about her.
You wondered if robots could have soulmates, too. If any android had a soul, surely it was Vision. Maybe you’d ask him about it sometime.
Once all of the expected guests were accounted for, Tony did the briefest ceremony in the history of ceremonies, introducing you all to the few members of the press he had allowed to come. You spent the beginning of the evening shaking hands, networking, and then once the strangers left, the real party started.
Nat switched you to something a lot stronger to champagne, and she was running the bar, so it was easy to get refills. Clint and Thor were arm wrestling on one of the tables which was…hilarious, admittedly.
Steve found you after a few hours apart. “Hey, will you be my partner?”
“Sure, for what?”
He laughed, loosening up quite a bit with Thor’s Asgardian mead in his system. “Sam and Bruce are trying to teach me how to play Beer Ball or something.”
“Beer Pong?”
“That one, yeah.” He nodded. “Winners play Clint and Nat.”
“That checks out.” You chuckled. “Yeah, I’m game. I haven’t played since college, though.”
“I haven’t played ever so I’m sure you’re a step ahead of me anyway.”
“We’ll see about that. Your physics skills are pretty good, what with the shield and all.” You complimented, earning that charming smile of his. “We might just give them a run for their money.”
“Enough flirting, kids, get over here.” Bruce grinned as he finished lining up the cups.
“You know how to play Beer Pong?” You asked, plucking a ping pong ball off of the table and fiddling with it.
“Kid, I have seven PhDs. I have played my share of Beer Pong.” Bruce admitted.
You couldn’t help but smile at that. It was nice to see the Avengers loosen up like this, have a good time together, really truly bond.
You gave Steve the basic rundown of the rules: no elbows past the edge of the table, balls back, stoplight, island, and that if you let Sam and Bruce get too many cups, you and Steve would get “schwaisted” as the kids said, or, at the very least, you would. Steve would probably be fine.
“Ladies first.” Sam said, giving you the second ping pong ball, one of which, you handed to Steve.
“You’re gonna regret that.” You said, rubbing the ball between your hands before perfectly bouncing it into the cup at the front of the pyramid. “Your turn, Steve.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” He said, sinking the ball into the same cup. “I believe that’s three cups, gentlemen.”
Sam’s jaw dropped. He shared a look with Bruce. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”
“You’re telling me.” Bruce chuckled, retrieving the ping pong ball and rolling it back. He started drinking the contents of the first cup, leaving the other two to Sam. “Alright, do your worst.”
Needless to say, you wiped the floor with the other two. Barely even gave them a chance. Which is why it was only fair that Clint and Natasha kicked the absolute shit out of the two of you.
You struggled to down your third cup, which is why when you reached for the fourth, Steve shook his head and took it from you, only offering a wink when you opened your mouth to protest.
“Hey! Steve, it’s supposed to be five each.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, she already finished hers.” Steve shrugged, chugging another like it was water. “Right, (Y/N)?”
“Yeah absolutely. What he said.” You shrugged.
You helped clean up the mess a bit after the game was over, rounding up empty cups, wiping down the table, and then washing your hands as Tony switched the music to something upbeat, dancing music.
“Come on, let’s dance.” Steve urged, clearly toeing the line between tipsy and drunk. He reached out for your hand and you couldn’t resist. You didn’t even try.
You let him lead you out to the middle of the room, where Wanda and Vision were already dancing together and looking adorable doing it.
“I thought you couldn’t dance.” You laughed as he spun you around to the music.
“I’m a quick learner.” He whispered, mouth against your ear.
You swore your entire body flushed red, but you let your feet lead you through the dance. Steve took both of your hands, swinging you out and then back in, spinning you around. You blamed the alcohol on what happened next. Your heel caught on the fabric of your dress and you fell over the back of one of the couches, tugging Steve down with you.
He laughed, using an arm to push himself off of you, hovering, eyes soft. “Sorry.”
“It’s my fault. You’ve got me falling for you, Rogers.” You murmured, gazing up at him through your eyelashes.
You said it as a joke, a quip, but there was some truth in it. More than some. It had been a magical, magical night. And if it weren’t for the leather cuff on his wrist, you could see yourself spending the rest of your life with him.
Steve closed his eyes, smiling and sitting up, helping you upright again. “I’ll go get us some water.”
You sighed and sat back against the couch, heart hammering in your chest.
Natasha perched on the armrest, looking down at you. “What was that?”
“Not sure. I think I fumbled the bag. If…if there even was a bag I guess.” You chuckled, shrugging.
“No, there is something there. I can see it.” Natasha said, thinking as she nursed a glass of wine. “Hmmm…”
Steve stood in the kitchen, getting two glasses of filtered water from the fridge. He exhaled a deep sigh, leaning against it. He replayed the moment in his head over and over. The look in your eyes, the way your necklace glimmered in the light, the sound of your voice, the flush of your cheeks. You were catching feelings for him, that much was clear. He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
Steve Rogers, I am so sorry you will not hear me say these words until after I go back tomorrow, but I love you. I have loved you for a very long time. And I know I will love you for the rest of my life.
Maybe it was a good thing, he reasoned, thinking back on his first night with you all those years ago. But you still couldn’t know why. Not yet.
It was going to kill him to keep it a secret for ten more months.
Timeless
Sherbert rays of the sunrise lit the training room, filling it with a warm orange glow. You were sitting on the floor, stretching your legs while you listened to music. That was another thing on the growing list of skills that had improved during your stint as an Avenger: your flexibility.
Suddenly, Steve was standing over you, saying something you couldn’t hear due to the noise cancelling headphones over your ears.
You slid one off, looking up at him. “Good morning.”
“Morning. You’re here early.”
“Couldn’t sleep.” You shrugged, reaching for your other leg.
“Sorry to hear that. Wanna talk about it?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I think I drank too much caffeine before bed last night. Learned my lesson. No caffeine after six.”
“That’s a good rule. Mind if I stretch with you?” He asked.
“I don’t mind.” You tossed your headphones onto your workout bag and connected your phone to the Bluetooth speakers, putting on some music you could both listen to.
“I recognize her. This girl’s voice.”
“Taylor Swift.”
“Ah. Yes, her. I keep hearing about her.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.” You laughed. “Have you liked any of her songs so far?”
“I don’t know if I could name one for you, to be honest.” He listened to the song that was playing. “This one’s not bad, though.”
“I’ll send you some recommendations. There are some I think you’d really vibe with.”
He smiled. “I’d really like that.”
The others came in not long after, did their warm-ups, and then Steve briefed everyone on the plan for their training session, one in which everyone would swap weapons, practice using each other’s things in case they ever had to in battle if one of their teammates got disarmed.
You started with Clint. He showed you the absolute basics of archery, how to pull back the bow, how to notch an arrow, how to aim, taking into account distance. You fired a few arrows into a target and did okay, you supposed, but you would need some practice if you wanted to actually get good at it. Years of it, realistically.
Natasha showed you how to use her electric batons, which were fun, but did intimidate you a little. You definitely did not want to end up on the wrong end of those things.
And then, inevitably, you were standing in front of Steve. He offered you his shield, which on its own seemed daunting. You held it for a second, assessing the weight of it. It was noticeably lighter than you thought it would be.
“Woah.”
“Yeah. People always expect it to be heavier.” He said, a hand resting on his hip as he watched you hold it. It looked so right in your hands, he decided. “It’s good for a lot of things, but first…” Carefully, he helped you put your arm through the straps on the back of it, holding it in front of your body in its primary and most famous purpose.
You let out a sigh, shaking your head. “This is so crazy.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah, you have no idea.” You chuckled, waving it around a bit.
“You keep looking at it like it’s Thor’s hammer or something.” He teased.
“Feels like it.”
“Well the good news is, this thing is not password protected by some Asgardian magic words. The bad news is, that means the bad guys can pick it up, too.” Steve said, gently positioning your body in an offensive stance, nudging a foot with his own, switching your arms around. “You can use it to bash somebody head on, or you can angle it a bit to get a more direct blow. It will take the force of most things. I…I actually kind of don’t know the limits. Hasn’t failed me yet. The paint does come off from time to time, though, so don’t worry about that.”
“Okay, wow.” You nodded. “Good to know.”
“I trust you with it.” He said, eyes meeting yours.
You smiled, heart racing. “I’m honored.”
He showed you a few other tricks, and then training wrapped up for the day, everyone grabbing some water, taking a shower, or making plans for lunch. Once you walked off with Wanda, Nat cornered Steve.
“What was that?” She asked, that catlike grin on her face.
“What was what?”
“I saw it, you know, the way you looked at her. I think you’ve got a soft spot.”
“Yeah, well, I did rope her into all this. Can’t say I don’t feel responsible for her.” He dodged expertly, weaving through Natasha’s mental gymnastics with skill and precision, or so he thought.
“Uh-huh sure. Well, she, Wanda, and I are going antiquing this afternoon. You should come. After all, you know quite a bit about vintage valuables.”
He laughed. “Hey!”
She walked off, smiling to herself. Steve thought about it for all of four seconds before he decided he would tag along. He hadn’t been to an antique shop in this century, so he couldn’t imagine the kinds of things they had there now. He might even learn a thing or two.
***
After a quick lunch, Steve did decide to tag along. It wound up being him, Vision, and the girls, which he certainly didn’t mind.
You and Wanda were buzzing with excitement, Natasha looking on and following behind with Steve. Vision lingered, studying everything, picking things up to get a closer look. He had projected a human disguise over himself, something Steve didn’t know he could even do, but it seemed to work. No one had batted an eye at him since they stepped foot in the shop.
“This place is…huge.” Steve said, glancing down the hall of the seemingly endless store.
“Biggest one in the state.” You chimed. “It’s the whole city block.”
“There’s a basement, too. And a second floor.” Natasha informed him, patting his arm. “This is gonna be an all day kinda thing.”
“Oh undoubtedly.” He said, setting down the teacup in his hands, a petite, floral thing.
You sifted through a box of records, picking up the soundtrack of the Muppets Movie.
“Is that a frog?”
“This is Kermit thee Frog, show some respect.” You laughed, putting the record in your basket.
“Kermit?” Steve asked again, seeming genuine.
“Oh I forgot you missed the Muppets, oh my god.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t sound familiar.”
“We need to fix that as soon as possible.” You told him. “Can’t have you missing out on cultural icons like Gonzo and Miss Piggy.”
“Okay now you’re making things up.” He chuckled, shuffling through the records as well. You showed him a few good ones and he added them to his basket, saying something about how he’s been meaning to use his new record player.
Wanda browsed some vintage rings, picking out a few, and Natasha rifled through a rack of vintage dresses, most of them from the forties and fifties from the look of it. Nat held up a navy blue one, silky, with short ruffled sleeves and buttons down the front. Steve froze, looking at it. For a moment, it looked just a little too familiar. Like the dress you had worn that night.
Eventually Nat put the dress back. You hadn’t seen it. You were distracted by a shelf of VHS tapes, looking for the old Barbie movies, whatever those were. Wanda was with you, on the next shelf over, calling out movie names when she found something cool.
Steve wandered off on his own, looking around at the different trinkets and toys, old letterman jackets and jewelry, dishes that may or may not contain lead. Finally, he came upon a little room full of art, paintings and photographs, handmade pottery.
Time stood still.
He stared at the large painting on the wall, oil on canvas. Two star-crossed lovers dancing in a bar in Brooklyn, a little guy with a dream, dancing with the most beautiful girl in the world, twirling in her dark blue dress. His heart raced. He never thought he’d see this painting again.
It had been his last painting before leaving for Camp Lehigh, the last painting he did before his life and body changed forever. He’d used the last of his paints to make it, every color mixed with care to get the exact color of your hair, your eyes, your lips, all from memory.
And it was here in front of him. When he had been presumed dead, it must have been sold off. He didn’t really have anyone left it could go to.
In that moment, he wasn’t Captain America. Standing in his shoes was that little guy from Brooklyn.
“Woah.” You murmured, suddenly right next to him. “It’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, it…it is.” He agreed, looking away from it. He didn’t want you to get too close of a look at it. However, that didn’t stop you from walking forward to inspect it closer.
“‘Soulmates.’ Artist unknown.” You read from the plaque. “Oh, it’s from the 40s. 1943. Does it look familiar?”
“Yeah, actually. Bucky liked that bar.” Steve said, pointing to the details of the interior. “It’s a little place in Brooklyn, called Val’s. Well, it was I guess. I don’t know if it’s still open anymore.”
Your eyes lingered on the woman’s face, on the man’s. You didn’t say anything about how they looked, about the uncanny resemblance to yourself and Steve. Instead, you sighed. “Someday, I want to be that in love with someone.”
He just about cried. But instead, he gathered his words, put a hand on your shoulder, and told you with confidence, “You will be.”
***
Hours later, when you were all shopped out and you’d checked out with your things, Steve stayed at the counter while the rest of you went to the car.
“Hey, um, that painting in the art room. The soulmates in the bar. I’m interested in buying it. Would it be possible to have it held here for a while, though?”
“Oh I’m sure we could arrange something,” said the old man at the counter with a smile and a nod. He started writing out the purchase form.
Steve glanced back towards where it was, that fragment of his soul he didn’t think he’d ever see again. He knew the fact that he’d stumbled upon it was nothing short of fate.
Wildest Dreams
It had been Tony’s idea. Of course it had. It always was, wasn’t it? He’d insisted that all the members of the team who hadn’t yet been exposed to Wanda’s mind manipulation should be, just in case there was a misfire during combat and one of you got caught in the crossfire. It would be important to see how each of you reacted, the kinds of things you saw so you’d be able to snap out of it.
Theoretically, of course.
This left Natasha, Steve, Thor, Bruce, and Tony out, as they’d already had their fun with Wanda’s magic. The rest of you, however, were waiting for your turn.
Wanda felt conflicted about it. She didn’t want to hurt her friends on accident, let alone on purpose, but Tony was insistent, and he had some of the others on his side. Namely, Rhodey, who had been hanging out more and more, and Clint, who’d had his experience with a different kind of mind control shortly before the Battle of New York.
It was part of why he’d volunteered to go first. Once he came to, he gave you a thumbs-up, shaking it off and walking over to Natasha.
“You sure you’re good?” She checked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. No big deal. Who’s next?”
Sam looked at you and the despondent look on your face before volunteering himself to go next. Rhodey went in solidarity, despite being too busy with his government responsibilities to be a full-time member of the team. And then it was your turn. You stood next to Wanda. She offered an apologetic smile before red crackled around her fingertips and it hit you.
For the first few seconds, you were fine. You felt tingly. You blinked a few times and your eyes felt weird. No doubt, your eyes were red, like the others’ turned when they were under the influence of Wanda’s powers.
“Hey, (Y/N), you okay?” Steve asked, voice urgent.
“Think so.” You replied, mouth full of cotton. It felt like that time in college someone had given you an edible that was too strong. The first and last time you’d ever gotten high. Like you were sinking and melting. Your legs buckled and Steve surged forward, catching you before you hit the floor, gently lowering you into a comfortable position. “Hey, you’re pretty strong…” You murmured, head lolling onto his shoulder.
The others all looked at each other. Clint dragged over a bean bag and Steve gently lowered you onto it, adjusting it so you’d be comfortable.
“She’ll be okay, Steve.” Natasha reassured him, the guilt in his eyes palpable, yet still not explained. Not entirely. She had a sneaking suspicion whatever it was had something to do with the name written on his wrist, the name he wouldn’t show anyone. Not her, not Nick Fury, not even Sam.
“Yeah, I know.” He nodded, slowly taking a step back. His eyes didn’t leave you. He had to force himself to look away. “I, um…I have to go…There’s a…” Steve motioned towards the door before leaving the room, while you sat there, catatonic, off in your own little world.
***
“Hey, (Y/N), you okay?” Steve asked, his voice close. “That was a long nap. Forget to set your alarm?”
You opened your eyes and you were laying down on the couch. Steve was standing at the island in the kitchen, cooking something. It smelled good. Really good. He was wearing a button-up, sleeves rolled to his elbows, still wearing his slacks from work. He had music playing from the record player, your vast collection of hits from decades of music, and he was still hooked on 40s jazz. You supposed you couldn’t blame him.
“You cooking?”
“Mmhmm.” He nodded. “Come over here and get a taste.”
You followed, out to the kitchen. He set down his wooden spoon and swiftly intercepted you, pulling you up onto the countertop, kissing you deeply, a hand running through your hair. Your hand came up to frame his cheek. He was growing a bit of a beard these days. You liked it, thought it suited him.
You sighed against his lips and then pulled away to look at him. He grabbed your wrist, pressing a long kiss to your soulmark. Three simple words. Steven Grant Rogers.
“I love you, doll.” His words cut through you, eyes tender and sincere. “Always have.”
But this wasn’t your Steve. And it wasn’t your reality, given away by the slightest tinge of red in his irises.
It wasn’t real. And neither was the glimmering wedding ring around your finger.
***
You blinked awake, the power dispersing from your head, leaving you shockingly sober. And hungry. That familiar sting was back, right between your neck and shoulder. You wondered how long it’d been.
Clint was in the room with you. So was Sam. Natasha was gone. Wanda too, surprisingly. As was Steve.
You got chills even thinking about him, the phantom of the wedding ring still clinging to your finger.
“You alright?” Sam asked, making eye contact with you first.
“Yeah, I’m good. How long…?”
“Three minutes. New record.” Clint said with a grin.
“Oh.” No wonder it had felt so short. Part of you wanted it to last longer.
“We’re sending Rhodey to get some food, if you’re hungry.” Sam said.
“Where from?”
“The golden arches.”
“I could go for some nuggies.” You admitted. “A McFlurry, perchance.”
Clint laughed. “How did I know you would say that?”
In the kitchen, Steve stood, hands on the counter, mug of coffee steaming in front of him, untouched. He stared at the cupboard door.
“That must be one interesting cupboard. You’ve been standing there for like five whole minutes.”
“It’s only been three.” Steve said, glancing at the clock.
“And the fact that you know down to the exact minute is why I’m so intrigued.” Natasha chimed, tilting her head. “What is going on with her? I have never seen you look at anyone like that in the entire time I’ve known you. Is she…what, the kid of an old friend? Grandkid?”
“It’s nothing, Natasha. She’s the newest member of the team, I’m just worried—”
“Steve.” She said, cutting him off, that look in her eye. “If you want to get all defensive about it, fine. Keep your secrets.” She sighed. “But if you need someone, I’m here. Whatever it is, you don’t have to carry it alone.”
Steve let out a long sigh, weighing his options. It was something to the tune of eight months until your birthday. That was still a long time. A lot of time for that secret to slip through the cracks and, potentially, break the timeline. The Butterfly Effect was something he had researched extensively. Your future together was something he wasn’t willing to risk.
No, it was too important that you stay in the dark, even if that meant keeping his friends in the dark, too.
“Thanks. I appreciate it. But I’m fine, really. It’s nothing.”
“Uh-huh.” She nodded unconvinced. “Well, she’s out of it. Clint just texted. She wants twenty chicken nuggets and an Oreo McFlurry.”
The relief was immediate. You were okay. He could only wonder what you had seen in there, and why it had been so quick. The others had been under for upwards of ten minutes. You’d only been down three. “Well good. I’ll let Rhodey know.”
Invisible String
It was late. A few weeks after your tussle with the Scarlet Witch, if you could even call it that. You could tell Wanda felt guilty about the whole thing, but it wasn’t her fault. If anything it was Tony’s. Sure, the exercise had prepared you for a worst case scenario, but it had also dug a very awkward gap between you and Steve. You could barely even look at him without wanting to burst into tears.
He had his soulmate, whoever they were. You really needed to let it go.
You walked down to the kitchen to get a cold drink, but there was already someone sitting at the table. Steve, sitting there, hand resting on his chin, papers spread out in front of him. There was a picture you recognized as Bucky Barnes.
You’d heard whispers of him around the Compound from time to time. Steve’s best friend turned Hydra assassin, brainwashed for decades and now, rogue, out there somewhere. Sam always seemed to be looking for the guy. Natasha and Clint, too. And there had never been any sign of him. Well, until now, it seemed.
On the TV, Star Wars was playing. Empire Strikes Back. Steve looked up at it every so often.
“Star Wars?” You asked.
He chuckled and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Your first time?”
“No. They were the first things I watched when I was out of the ice. I like them a lot. The hope, the Force, the Jedi stuff, the music.” He shrugged. “They’re good.”
“Who’s your favorite?”
Steve smiled, sheepish. “Han Solo.”
“And here I thought you’d say Luke Skywalker.”
“He’s great, too. You like Star Wars?”
“Yeah, I used to be obsessed with them in high school. Haven’t seen them in a while, though. I’m something of a Leia girl myself.”
“That makes a lot of sense.”
“Does it?”
“Oh yeah.” He nodded. “You’ve got that spark.”
“What order did you watch them in?”
“Nat made me watch the originals first.” He confessed. “I like the prequels, though. Well, two of the prequels. Phantom Menace is…”
“Oh yeah. You’re not alone in that.” You laughed softly. “You know, I never really pegged you as a sci-fi nerd.”
“Yeah, well, someone I really care about seemed to like them a whole lot, so I knew I had to check them out.” He shrugged. “What are you doing up so late?”
“Getting a drink. What are you doing up so late?”
He looked down at the papers and then back up at you. “Oh. Yeah, this is just…Trying to get some stuff figured out.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” You offered.
He thought about it for a long moment, letting out a little sigh before nodding. That was the only reassurance you needed before grabbing a can of soda from the fridge and plopping down into the seat next to him.
“They found him. Clint and Natasha. They think he’s hiding out in Kentucky somewhere.” Steve said. He shook his head. “He saved my life a few years ago. After all the brainwashing, he still pulled me out of the water. I don’t know how much of him is still him, but…”
“But it’s worth a try.” You reasoned. “Obviously he’s been through a lot, but he must be pretty strong to have made it through everything.”
“I don’t know when I’m going. They haven’t narrowed it down all the way. And Tony doesn’t want me to even go at all.”
“Tony is full of shit.”
He laughed. “Yeah…”
“If you want to go, you should go. And if you need me, I’m there. You shouldn’t have to do it alone.”
He met your eyes with a sobering gaze. “You mean it?”
“Yeah, of course.” You agreed. “When, uh, when I was in the eighth grade, my class took a trip down to DC. There’s a Captain America exhibit in the Air and Space Museum, it had just opened. We learned about you and Bucky. How close you were, what happened. There are videos of me just crying uncontrollably there, learning about it. They had to take me outside, get me some water. I couldn’t go back in. I don’t even know why. Something about it…”
“About me?” Steve whispered.
“That’s embarrassing. I shouldn’t have told you that.” You chuckled, shaking your head.
“It’s not embarrassing. It’s sweet.” Steve said, reaching for your hand on the table. You let him take it, fingers curling.
“So when you found me that day, I guess I always knew it would lead to something like this. A stroke of fate, or something.” You admitted. “Some part of me knew that you would mean something to me someday. I guess I never thought we would be friends.”
“How old were you?”
“God, this would have been like ten years ago at this point. I was like fourteen or something. I was twenty-one when they found you in the ice. It was all over the news my sophomore year of college, kind of right when I was figuring my powers out, actually. And then everything was all over the news and I…went into hiding more or less, hoping it wouldn’t be me on the TV next.”
“Until the mall?”
“Yeah. But I couldn’t just…let it happen, you know? It was like some part of me knew that I had these powers for a reason, and that if I didn’t stop it, who would? I didn’t know you were there, obviously, but, I think even if I had, I still would have jumped in.”
He smiled softly, eyes earnest. He gave your hand a squeeze. “Well I’m really glad you did, for the record. I think we’re all a little better off because of it.”
There was a moment of quiet. “Steve?”
“Yeah?”
“How old are you?”
“Oh, um…I’m ninety-eight.”
You chuckled. “No, like how old are you really?”
Steve took a breath. No one ever asked him that. No one really cared about that. No one except you, it seemed. “I’m not sure. I’d have to do some math. I think I’m twenty-eight maybe. Twenty-nine.”
“Thought so.” You smiled. “Well, Steve, whenever you get it figured out, say the word and I’ll suit up. We’ll bring him home.”
Out of the Woods
The next mission you were sent on wasn’t to bring back Bucky. Not yet. Instead, you were on the team that got deployed into a rainforest to break up a rogue Hydra base. It was warm, almost too warm for your uniform, but you were grateful for the coverage, especially when they started shooting.
You ran down the makeshift path, evading enemies and throwing up forcefields to stop them in their tracks. Thor was in town, so he was zipping around through the trees with his hammer, the force of it bringing some down every once in a while.
“On your six.” Steve reported through the comms. You dodged out of the way and sure enough, a Hydra agent tumbled ahead, tripped by a small field you cast at his feet. A few of Natasha’s bullets took care of that.
“Thanks.” You replied.
“Don’t mention it. I could actually use some backup. I’m in the building. There’s more of them than I thought there would be.”
“I’m on my way.” You reported, changing directions and sprinting towards the building housing the Hydra base. What they were doing here, you had no clue, but Bruce theorized it had something to do with a meteor that had landed out that way a few months prior. They were probably harvesting whatever materials had been inside it.
You kicked down the door. Steve had six guys on him, two of which he disposed of quickly. You made a portal beneath one guy, sending him falling down a flight of stairs with the second portal you opened.
The other three guys went down quickly enough, only for a guy in a giant mech armor to come crashing through the interior wall. He shot and Steve jumped in front of you, taking a hit to the neck. A tiny syringe filled with shimmering purple liquid.
“Fuck! Steve!” You ran to him, but that didn’t take care of the large problem looming behind you. Seeing red, you made another portal at the feet of the robot, opened it in the ceiling, and cut it off as it was halfway through, destroying it in a flash of sparks and shredded metal. It shut down, giving you time to get to Steve.
He was sitting against the wall, head slumped to the side. You took the syringe out of his neck, tucking it into a pouch on your belt for testing. If this thing was poison, you’d need Bruce to start whipping up an antidote as soon as possible.
“Steve, hey, stay with me.” You touched his face, trying to wake him.
At your touch, he blinked a few times, drowsy. He gave you a crooked smile. “Heyyy, there you are.”
“Come on, we’ve gotta get you back to the jet.” You told him, pulling him to his feet, but he slumped in your arms like dead weight. You had been working out since you’d been recruited, but he was still heavy. “You’ve gotta work with me, big guy.”
“They used to call me little guy.” He murmured, sounding drunk. “Back in Brooklyn.”
“I’m sure they did.” You slung his arm around your shoulders and started hauling ass out of the building. A few agents shot at you, trying to hit you while you were distracted with carrying Steve to safety, but they forgot you were the one Avenger whose specialty was defense.
You lit a forcefield in your left hand, using its faint blue light to guide the two of you through the dim hallways. It slowed all the bullets to a stop, causing them to drop to the floor harmlessly. There was something kind of poetic about it, you supposed. Steve was so famous for that shield of his, but now you were the shield, protecting him.
“Did you guys find anything in there?” Clint asked.
“The good news is, we cleared most of it out. Bad news is, Steve got shot with something. I’m bringing him back to the ship now. I don’t know what it was but he’s acting really drunk.”
“Tranq darts seem to have that effect on him, yeah.” Bruce explained. “Bring him back here and I’ll make sure it wasn’t laced with something else.”
“On it.”
You lugged Steve along, stopping to rest and readjust against a wall for a second.
“Thank you for takin’ care of me even when I don’t feel so good.” He said, leaning his full weight against you.
“Of course, Steve. I’ve got ya.” You pulled his arm around your shoulders again. “You would do the same for any of us.”
He smiled, face impossibly close to yours. “Oh, I’d do anything for you, (Y/N).”
You knew it was probably just the drugs talking but you’d be lying if you said it didn’t do something to you when he said it anyway.
Once you were outside, you opened a waypoint in front of the two of you, the second portal in front of the jet, and then stepped through, closing it behind you. Bruce opened the door and helped you haul Steve inside, onto the cot of the makeshift mobile infirmary.
You handed Bruce the empty vial.
“Thank you for remembering. Thor always breaks these and then I have to do bloodwork to figure out what was in them.” He chuckled.
“He’s very smash first, ask questions later.”
“No wonder he and Hulk get along so well.” Bruce joked. “Alright, get back out there. I’ll make sure he’s alright.”
“Thank you.”
“Be careful out there.” Steve advised, eyes half-lidded. “They have guns.”
“I’ll be extra careful, alright? I promise.” You met his eyes and he smiled immediately. Once you were sure he was okay, you stepped out of the jet again, getting back to help the others.
***
When you got back, you were nursing a bullet wound. They’d gotten you in the arm. It wasn’t too bad, though, the bleeding had almost stopped. Natasha went straight for the med kit when you two stepped foot on the jet, motioning you over to the stool.
Steve was there, still on the cot. He stared as Nat started cleaning your wound. “Wait, you got hurt?”
“I’m okay. It’s not that bad.”
He nodded and reached for your hand. “I’m really glad you’re alright, doll. Had me worried sick.”
Doll. You replayed the word in your mind. Steve had called you a lot of things in the past few months, but never once had he used that somewhat outdated term of endearment. You liked it, though.
You met Natasha’s eyes and she smirked while the supersoldier held your hand.
Sam walked in next, eyeing up the scene unfolding in front of him. “Woah, what’d I miss? Feels like I missed several chapters.”
“Steve is drunk.” Clint explained, counting his remaining arrows.
“Tranq dart. He’s fine. Just needs to ride it out for a few hours. He should be back to normal by the time we get home.” Bruce explained as he put away his tablet.
“You feeling alright, buddy?” Sam walked over and put a hand on Steve’s other arm. “You’re holding (Y/N)’s hand kinda tight there.”
“Huh?” Steve asked, directing his eyes to your joint hands. He let go. “Oh. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, Steve.” You reassured him.
The others trickled in slowly until everyone was accounted for, the base destroyed, the Hydra operatives in SHIELD custody for questioning. Fury and his team would handle it from there. You couldn’t help but play the mission over and over in your head.
Never had you used a waypoint to split something in half. But something had clicked in you when Steve was hurt. You’d never felt like that before, like part of your soul itself was being ripped out. He meant more to you than you cared to admit, especially when your fate was tied elsewhere.
Still, your new ability needed training. It was a dangerous skill to have, and if you didn’t hone it properly, you could end up doing some serious damage on accident.
Come Find Me in the Future
It was the night before you and a select group of the team were heading out to find and recover Bucky. Clint had finally gotten a hit on him. But if he had, that meant others could be after him, too. People that wanted him back. Badly.
You were nervous about it for that reason. You weren’t sure why the rest of you hadn’t already left, to be honest. You didn’t want to race with Hydra. It wasn’t one you were sure you’d win.
To stave off the feeling of dread, you had commandeered the living room TV and popped in Howl’s Moving Castle. You were nursing a mug of chamomile tea in your hands, playing games on your Switch.
You were near the end of the movie, at the part where Sophie was whisked to the past, when Steve walked into the room, in his pajamas, a tank top and a pair of plaid pants.
“Hey, Steve.”
“Hey. You’re up late. Big mission tomorrow.”
“Yeah, it’s almost over.” You told him. “Drinking my sleepy tea as we speak.”
“Sleepy tea?”
“Chamomile mint. It’s good. There’s some over by the Keurig if you want any.”
“Thanks.” He smiled, walking over. “What’s this?”
“Howl’s Moving Castle. One of my favorites.” You told him.
“What’s it about?”
“That is a complicated question.” You laughed. “I’d have to start it over, I think.”
“Another time, maybe.” He chuckled, crossing his arms.
Steve watched as Sophie got sucked back through the wormhole to the present.
She called out “I know how to help you now! Find me in the future!”
He perked up. “Wait, she…there’s time travel?”
“Yeah, she gets pulled into the past for a bit and tells him to find her and then years later, the first words he says to her are ‘There you are, sweetheart. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.’ It’s really sweet.”
“They’re soulmates?”
“They are.” You nodded.
“Does that happen? Often?” Steve asked, hung up on it. “In real life?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve never heard of that happening before.” You shook your head. “I don’t think anyone would believe it, even if it did. Happens a lot in fiction, though.”
“Oh. Cool.” Steve nodded. He met your eyes and then looked down at his lap, tongue flitting across his pink lips. “I, uh, wanted to apologize.”
You furrowed your eyebrows. “For what?”
“The mission last week. I, uh…I said some things and, uh…I just, I’d hate to make you uncomfortable. I’m sorry if I did.”
“You didn’t.” You assured him. “No apology necessary. You were drugged. I probably would have said worse, to be honest.”
He smiled. “Okay. Cool. Thanks. And thank you for agreeing to come tomorrow. We could really use the help.”
“Of course. I’ve got your back, always.” You told him, earning another one of those earnest, lovesick smiles. “Anywho, I finished that playlist for you. The Taylor Swift one. I can make you a more general one with different songs, but…figured that was a decent starting place.”
“Great, yeah, thank you.” He nodded, looking at his phone as it pinged with the notification you had sent it to him. “I’ll give it a listen.”
“Let me know what you think.”
“Oh I will.” He chuckled to himself. “Really, thank you. I appreciate it. And um, have a good night. See you tomorrow.”
“Bright and early.” You saluted.
He nodded before repeating, “Bright and early.”
Bygones
Bright and early was an understatement. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon when your alarm went off. You groaned, rolled over and silenced your screaming phone, forcing yourself to sit up so you didn’t drift back off.
Today was too important for that.
Instead, you got up, brushed your hair, and went out to the kitchen, where Vision had whipped up a full breakfast for everyone going out. It was you, Steve, Nat, Wanda, and Sam. A small team, but enough firepower to bring him back without overwhelming and/or scaring him off.
“Morning.” Steve said, eyes landing on you the moment you walked into the room.
“Morning.”
“Coffee?” He offered, pushing a cup of your favorite iced coffee over to you. You couldn’t lie, you were impressed.
“Thanks.” You grinned, taking a long sip to kickstart your morning. You loaded a plate up with eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast, plus a little side of hashbrowns, thanking Vision thoroughly.
“It is my pleasure, (Y/N). As someone who does not require sleep, it would be rude of me to let you all starve so early in the day.”
“(Y/N), you got him listening to Taylor Swift?” Sam asked, eyes drilling into you.
You laughed. “Uh, yeah. What about it? She’s a cultural icon, do you want him left out of the loop?”
“Hey, I’m not complaining.” Steve shrugged, sipping on his coffee.
“Of course you’re not.” Natasha chuckled, words warbled by her own cup. You noticed the way her lips pursed. If you weren’t mistaken, you’d say she was nervous. About what, you couldn’t tell. She seldom got nervous. Or at least, she seldom let it show. But it was definitely there.
Wanda was the last into the kitchen, already fully put together. She gave the chef her thanks with a warm smile and sparkling eyes. You couldn’t help but smile. Those two, beyond a shadow of a doubt, were absolutely made for each other. You wondered what her wrist would have to say about it when the time came.
Once everyone had eaten, those who weren’t suited up got ready, locked and loaded for a tense mission. You’d have Clint on the coms here, doing recon from a drone. The rest of you loaded up onto the jet, strapping in.
Nat and Sam hopped into the cockpit. Wanda sat next to you, Steve across the aisle, his eyes meeting yours every so often.
“It’ll be alright.” You said, trying to dispel his nerves.
He nodded, but didn’t reply, just giving a short nod and staring at the holographic map on the wall as you approached closer and closer. You could see that little guy from Brooklyn peeking through the eyes of the supersoldier sitting across from you, nervous about his best friend.
You unbuckled just before you landed, walking across the jet to strap on your weapons. The others did the same, arming themselves. Nat was going to keep the jet warm for a speedy exit, the look in her eyes still unreadable. The rest of you got ready for war.
It was an abandoned warehouse, large garage door, broken windows, slanted roof with a hole in it. Definitely not the most secure of places. According to Clint’s drone, Bucky was in the back room.
“Waypoint, I need you out here ready to get us a quick escape.”
“Got it.” You nodded, positioning yourself within eyeshot of the warehouse and the jet so you could make a portal either way.
“Wanda, Sam, you’re with me.” Steve instructed, taking a minute to breathe, to think. “He’s gonna be ready to run. We have to talk him out of it.”
“Uh, Cap. Might wanna work a little faster. There’s another plane incoming. About three minutes out.”
“Alright.” Steve nodded, taking off his helmet and slinging his shield onto his back. He led the other two into the building.
For a heartwrenching two minutes, you didn’t hear anything. And then you heard a plane. And then gunshots.
“(Y/N), now!” Steve instructed.
You did as you were told, opening the waypoint in the warehouse, another just outside. Nat had picked the jet up off of the ground, firing at the one Hydra had brought. She took another shot, damaging the wing and causing it to go down.
“Shit, wait—!”
There was a flash of light and you expected it to be Steve that came through first. Maybe Bucky, even. Instead, it was a grenade. And a split second later, it exploded, knocking you unconscious.
***
Steve stood over you, horrified. Thanks to your suit, the damage didn’t seem too bad. But you had blood and soot caked on your face, the ends of your hair singed.
It was his fault. He had told you to open the Waypoint, only for a Hydra agent to toss a grenade right through it.
He all but collapsed to his knees, collecting you in his arms. Bucky was on the jet already, Sam, too. Only he and Wanda were outside with you.
“(Y/N), come on. Open those eyes for me.” He pleaded, voice soft, eyes aching with tears. “Hey, come on. Please…”
“We should get her back to the jet.” Wanda goaded softly, a hand on Steve’s arm.
“Yeah.�� Steve nodded, a tear slipping down his cheek. He scooped you off of the ground, an arm beneath your legs, the other around your back. Your arms hung down, limp. Your head rested heavily against his shoulder, eyes closed.
By the time Steve walked up the ramp, Nat already had the infirmary cot down, ready to go. Bucky watched, eyes intense. He looked up when Steve approached, eyes falling on you. They widened when he got a look at you.
“Woah, is that…?”
“Yeah.” Steve nodded. “It is.”
Natasha helped him get you situated in the cot, wrapping the cuff around your arm that would measure your vitals. With everyone accounted for, Sam closed the door, lifting the jet into the air.
“I’ve got Banner on the line.” Natasha told him.
“Good.” Steve’s eyes didn’t leave you for a second, watching as the breaths entered and left your lungs. “Tell him to get the infirmary ready for her.”
“Already on it, Cap. She’ll be okay. Her vitals look…well they look good, all things considered.” Bruce relayed. “Just get back here as fast as you can.”
***
As soon as the jet landed, Steve unhooked you from the vitals monitor and collected you in his arms, carrying you to the gurney Bruce had ready, walking with him as he wheeled you towards the infirmary. Bruce insisted he needed some time and sent Steve away, taking a piece of his heart with him.
Vision checked over Bucky, giving him the okay almost immediately before going to help Bruce in the infirmary.
Steve sat at the table, Bucky sitting down to join him. The others gave them a minute alone.
“Hey, pal.” Steve exhaled, trying to force a smile. “Glad you’re here.”
“Me too.” He agreed. “Thanks for coming to get me.”
“Of course.” Steve nodded. “I’m with you—”
“Til the end of the line.” Bucky smiled, eyes soft. His irises flicked towards the infirmary and back. “You wanna talk about it?”
Steve let out a sigh, the wall finally coming down and more tears slipping down his cheeks. “It’s my fault, it’s all my fault. She’s—”
“She’s gonna be fine. I promise you.” Bucky’s hand grabbed onto Steve’s wrist, the covered one. The one with her name etched onto it. “She has to be. Has she…does she know yet?”
“No one does. Just me. And you.” Steve confessed. He wiped his thumb under his eye. “So you’re right. She has to pull through.”
Steve held onto that spark of hope for the coming hours. He showed Bucky to the room that had been prepared for him, but Sam offered to give him a tour of the place, knowing their friend was in a fragile mental state.
Eventually, Vision found him and told him he could enter the infirmary. Bruce had finished treating you. When Steve walked in and saw you, still unconscious, laying on that bed, he choked on more sobs. The bruising on your face was pretty severe. You were hooked up to several monitors, an IV. Supposedly, your injuries were not too extreme, but you had a cracked rib and would need time to heal before you could do any missions or training.
Hours later, Nat found Steve in there, wringing his hands, tears in his eyes. He fiddled with the cuff around his wrist. The playlist you’d made for him played softly from a speaker in the corner of the room. Timeless. As if he wasn’t already crying enough.
“She’s gonna be okay, Steve. Bruce thinks she might wake up soon.” Nat comforted, sitting in the chair next to him. She put a hand on his shoulder, confused by her friend’s sudden mood. Members of the team had been injured before and sure, he checked on them, but he never reacted like this.
“I know, I just…” He shook his head. “I’m worried about her is all. It’s…kinda my fault this happened.”
Nat pressed her lips together, tilting her head. “This seems like a little more than that. You wanna tell me what’s really going on?”
He wanted to hold onto his secret. He did. But he was feeling fragile, vulnerable. It couldn’t hurt to have just one more person on his side. “I can, just…not here.” Steve nodded, leading her out of the room, out of your earshot, if you could even hear him while you were out, but still in sight thanks to the soundproof windows.
Nat’s hands settled on her hips, waiting for an answer. Instead, Steve took the cuff off of his wrist and held it out to her, letting her read the letters that had been etched there for the better part of a century.
Her jaw dropped. She stammered, arms crossing. She met his eyes and when she saw the sadness there, the guilt and longing, her expression softened.
“I should have told her. A long time ago, I should have told her but I can’t. In six months, on her twenty-fifth, she’s going back in time to 1943 to meet me on mine. And it…didn’t seem like she knew until she was already there.”
“So you’ve just been holding it in this whole time?” Natasha asked. “You’ve been in love with her…”
“Since the forties, yeah.” Steve nodded. “My great lost love, as Tony likes to call her when he rags on the band I wear.”
“Does he know?”
“No. Just you. And Bucky.” Steve amended. “He was there when she…”
“Right. Weird.” Natasha let out a long sigh, looking through the window. Her fingers reached for her own cuff. She hesitated, but pulled it off, holding her soulmark out to him. “Fair is fair.”
Steve stared at the letters for a long time, realization slowly filling his eyes. The name on her wrist was none other than James Buchannan Barnes. “Oh my God.”
“I didn’t know how to tell you until all the dust settled, but it just settled, so…” She shrugged, putting the cuff back on. “I’ll figure out how to tell him, too, if he doesn’t know already.”
“Buck’s mark was grayed out back then. We thought…well, we didn’t know what it meant.” Steve said, shaking his head. It was the reason Bucky had dated around so much back then. He’d figured if he just found someone else, his mark would change and he wouldn’t have to be alone. Never could he have guessed what it actually meant, that his soulmate wouldn’t be born for another forty or so years. “And then he lost his arm…”
“Yeah, that part I did know.” She smirked. “Well, I’ll keep an eye on her. Let you know if she says anything you need to hear.”
“She probably thinks my soulmate is dead, too. Everyone else does.”
“Ironic.”
“No kidding.” Steve sighed, gazing longingly through the window.
“We’ll get you through it, Steve. You’ve waited seventy years. Six months is nothing.”
“Yeah. I’m gonna sit with her for a while. I don’t want her to wake up alone.”
He slinked back into the infirmary and sat in the chair beside your bed, watching your steady breaths and listening to the beeping of the heart monitor. Natasha watched him through the window, feeling lighter and heavier at the same time. Nevertheless, she was glad they had talked. At least now, they could be there for each other.
Vol. 2 Here
Tags: @cap-lu20
#steve rogers x reader#steve rogers soulmate au#steve rogers imagine#captain america x reader#captain america imagine#marvel#mcu#avengers
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The Bangtan Gal Chapter 94- MAMA Awards 2016 Part 1
Summary: BTS win their first Daesang! Tensions run high when Jen's friendship with Hyuna ends abruptly due to sneak dissing and a scrapped performance. BTS attends the Mama Awards making iconic moments that leave the world shooked.
Words: 13,000+
Genre: Big Jungkook Fluff. A little chaos never hurt anybody :)
Click here for PART 2 of this chapter
Author's note: OK the 3rd Muster chapter isn't done yet, I'll post that next since this was done. The 3rd Muster chapter is basically a filler chapter anyway. So once I come back from taking a smol break I will start writing that and then the following story chapter. This was done and I didn't want to keep it waiting. Kind of been anxious to release it.
As I addressed during the Bon Voyage season 1 chapter, this should be the last time I write about Hyuna. This idea came up recently and I rolled with it. My ideas changed a bit but I wanted this to just be chaotic af. I wanted to think outside the box and I like what I came up with. Again this smol girl ain't that much of a lyric writer but A for effort. Decided to combine the chapters and make it into the Mama Awards chapter.
I would like Jennie to always have a cool stage for the MAMA Awards. And have fun moments. It's only 2016 in the story and Jennie still has a lot of growing to do but I think this moment I have planned for this chapter is an interesting start to how she speaks up for herself. We got 2017, 18, 19, and the rest of the years for even more character development, wins and failures along the way for her.
Hope you enjoy it! I'd say Beyonce's 7/11 is the inspiration for her stage at MAMA. I love the song so much and the instrumental. Especially the Coachella version. Always a banger. I also loveeee Beyonce's laugh at the end of the Coachella version. So I had to add it for Jennie. It might just be her signature.
Whenever there are scenes with BlackPink and BTS' Jennie (My character), I'm going to keep BlackPink's Jennie as Jennie during the dialogue while BTS' Jennie will just be called Jen. Hope that won't be too confusing.
Throwback to this funny video when they won at MMA 2016. I remember this video like it was yesterday. Timeless. As I continue to write, I get a little emotional. It was so fun seeing all this in real time.
Again this chapter is split into two parts because I couldn't fit all of it in one post. So this is part one.
Have an awesome day! Super excited for Jin to return from enlistment! Not much longer now!
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'BREAKING! MAMA 2016 Collaboration with Cube's Hyuna and Big Hit's Jennie scrapped!'
Jennie frowned at the article as she sat by her desk in the Smartie Factory. It was crazy how things abruptly changed. Lately, Jennie and Hyuna weren't on speaking terms and issues have been occurring for a while.
It all started with the sneak dissing that Jennie had found out on her Tumblr. She loved scrolling through the tag of her name and came across a fairly popular post regarding Hyuna attending a few variety shows and interviews.
"Unlike the others, I don't need to repeatedly say I'm the best from head to toe. You already see it," made ARMY think about Jennie's War of Hormone lyrics.
"Some rookies can be a bit much. Some like to try to overshine a veteran,"
"Some girls in this industry are a bit too fragile. I don't need to call myself bulletproof,"
"You mean the original version of How's This,"
These were just a handful of statements said by Hyuna and ARMY immediately speculated she was throwing shade at Jennie.
'Uhhhh did Hyuna just sneak diss, Jennie? Am I freaking out over nothing? That bulletproof and glass line was SUS,' one comment said.
ARMY went on to do more research and they immediately figured out that there was some sort of animosity in Hyuna's words and it caused confusion in the fandom.
"The hell...?" Miss Bangtan murmured as she read about it and even saw her and Hyuna trending on Twitter.
Her stomach dropped and she felt hurt by the words. It confused her as to why she would say these things. Deciding to go straight to the source, she messaged Hyuna on KakaoTalk.
Jen: Ummmm what's going on sis? We got a problem or something? If so let's address it now. Call me when you're free
But hours later, still no reply. What officially solidified the fact that there was an issue was when Jennie facetimed Hayoon about it.
"I'm trying to contact her so we can settle this shit now instead of over the internet. But I haven't gotten a response. I don't know how this happened. I didn't even do anything. I know we haven't talked in a while, but damn,"
And that was when Hayoon informed her what was going on from what she heard. She and other people have been overhearing her talking about how upset she was that she would be sharing the stage with Jennie for How's This. She wanted to perform it alone and on top of that felt bothered by the fact that the duet music video with Jennie started to get way more views than the original video.
"I mean it got more views because ARMY loves to support every member of Bangtan. They were bound to have the views boost," Jennie exclaimed on Facetime while Hayoon nodded. "That's one of the amazing things about them. They watched that video for me and I'm grateful but damn, is it that deep? So, she doesn't want to share the stage with me and is feeling some type of the way that her original music video didn't have that many views? Ma'am, if that was a problem, instead of throwing shots, why not talk to me face to face and express yourself? All this childishness for what?"
"I know. It's ridiculous," Hayoon said with a frown. "I had to distance myself from her. I didn't like the things she was saying. And I even talked to her about it but she blew me off and said she didn't care,"
Jennie sighed and shook her head. "Annoying...thanks for telling me...wow...the switch up is crazy...I just don't understand,"
"Of course. Still no reply?"
Jennie went to check back on the app and scoffed. "Did this bitch block me?!"
"What?! No way!"
"Wowwww. So, it's like that? Okay. I can't even contact her anymore...this is making me start to have trust issues a little bit. Like we were so close. We would hang out and talk often...I trusted her with a lot of shit, too. I hope she doesn't spill anything personal. Because now I'm thinking about my relationship,"
"As much as I dislike her attitude, I don't think she'll spill anything especially when she is dating E'Dawn privately,"
"Yeah...I'm not going to air her dirty laundry and talk about how she got a rookie boyfriend and shit. That's unfair to E'dawn and his future career as an idol,"
"Agreed. No need to get him involved. I believe she won't involve Jungkook as well, so no need to worry,"
Jennie sighed. "When I see her at one of these award shows I'll confront her. This is ridiculous,"
"Some kind of girl's girl she is. So close to award season, too? She should not be trying to paint you as this bad person,"
"Yeah...I just don't know how long it's going to take for the public to understand how grimy she is,"
As the news of her performance with Hyuna wasn't happening anymore, Cube Entertainment and even Mnet made the excuse that they felt like Jennie was not ready to perform with Hyuna and was a bit difficult to work with. Which was a load of bull and lots of fans saw through the BS. However, Big Hit responded in defense of her saying that she was ready, was very easy to work with and it was their loss on the collaboration.
It warmed her heart to see the company come to her defense and say she would prove doubters wrong on BTS' stage at the MAMA Awards. Hearing the news that the collaboration was scrapped made her feel down since she had been so excited to perform with someone she looked up to for many years. G-Dragon's words still rang through her mind that not everyone is your friend in the industry and the switch ups are crazy.
Now back to reality, Jennie continued to sit by her desk, deep in thought about the situation. All she wanted to do was speak to her like an adult and squash whatever issue she had with her. But with her being blocked, it was clear she wanted nothing to do with Jennie.
It had been days since the first set of disses along with lyric changes to throw shots at her and the lack of response from Jennie had everyone talking.
People commented:
'Unbothered. I like that,'
'Hyuna cooked you!'
'Everything she said about Jennie was true,'
'Rookie! Hyuna is better than you!'
'So, are you going to respond to HyunA?'
'Damn, still no response?'
'Jennie is known for her impressive stage presence at MAMA. They could have been a powerful duo if egos didn't get in the way. Something ain't right,'
'LOL Hyuna won by default. She is taking forever to respond. Is she scared?'
'Get in the booth, Jennie. Or are you taking the L?'
'So, you just gonna let her talk shit about you like that?'
'Jennie doesn't have to respond to anything.'
'I hate how you guys are instigating this drama.'
'No response is a response, Jennie!'
'Does Miss Bangtan need her bulletproof boy scouts to help her with this one?'
'I bet Jennie is the problem. Because she and Hyuna were great friends. She must have done something wrong...'
'Time to stop hiding behind your boys, woman up and respond to your senior.'
'Respect queen Hyuna!'
'You should be lucky she even asked you to collaborate.'
'ARMY gets on my nerves. They like to spam and stream everything for bragging rights. That music video didn't deserve to get higher views than the OG!'
'Yikes...going after one of the chillest people in the K-Pop industry is not wise because if Jennie responds I bet not hear shit that she was disrespectful when Hyuna started this first. And don't try to say respect your seniors.'
'Y'all are a little too comfortable being rude to Jennie on her page...'
'Hyuna started it and Jen will finish it. Watch!'
'Hyuna is being a bit too bold running her mouth.'
'Of all people when you have Bangtan backing her? And other idols who are close friends with her? I don't understand the logic.'
'Hyuna is untouchable in the industry, no idols will come to her aid,'
'I doubt any idol will defend Jennie from Hyuna. She should handle this herself.'
'Bangtan shouldn't always have to fight her battles. She should handle this by herself,'
'Jennie handles business. She'll respond,'
Still, on social media, she saw herself getting tagged in a lot of Hyuna stuff. Come to find out she was still sneak dissing and her stans were eating it up and defending her. However, ARMY was not too happy about the abrupt attitude change and shade thrown at Miss Bangtan.
"Do you want me to say something?" Yoongi asked, who sat next to her, ready to defend her honor.
"Yoongi...no," she firmly said as she turned to him.
"The situation is so grimy. Like damn, the bitch can't share the stage with you on her song that she wanted you to be on in the first place? Why bother asking to collab?" Angelina spoke up, sitting on the couch with Namjoon. "Did she think it wasn't going to go well? She underestimated the power of ARMY's support and your talent as an artist. Those comments on that YouTube video were mainly about you, Jennie. You outshined her in the music video and she was mad about it and has been holding it in for a while. The bitch is jealous,"
"I'm just confused and thrown off by everything. Like I thought we were friends—"
"Well, she's not your friend," Angelina firmly cut Jennie off, getting upset about Hyuna. "A friend doesn't sneak diss. Fuck her,"
"Are you going to let her just bash your name like this in public?" Namjoon asked.
"She is South Korea's IT girl. Everyone loves her. And if I respond...I have a feeling I'll be public enemy number one. You know how the media is gonna twist this and make me the bad guy," Jennie reminded.
"Jen, I love your calmness. You know I'll be ready to fight somebody if someone did that to me. Diss tracks would already be on standby to release," Angelina added. "I wish I had your calmness, right now, as we speak. But stop being nice,"
"I'm not trying to be! I'm not! I'm not being nice, I'm trying to wrap my head around being blindsided! I'm getting annoyed, now..." she sighed out of frustration.
"Good. Write about it,"
"Listen, I shouldn't cause Bangtan any drama. Award season is coming up...I can't be taking the attention off of us at the award shows. I don't even want to be involved in this drama...why can't I just have some genuine celebrity friends, that won't get mad over petty shit, like this? I'm getting PTSD from Hailey and that took a while to heal from,"
"Munchkin, you're not causing drama for us," Hobi spoke up with his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, next to the couch. "I know you're thinking of the negatives but the positives outweigh it. You should respond,"
"And you know that people love you, too. She is not the only beloved K-Pop idol, in the world," Yoongi affirmed. "You've been making a positive name for yourself with us as BTS. ARMY and us will not stand for the slander. I want you to write about it all,"
"Turn this negative into a positive," Namjoon reminded.
"Diss track incoming?" Angelina smiled.
Jennie let the rappers' words sink in as she glanced at all of them. They had a point. She couldn't just let her bash her name like this out of nowhere. On top of that, she didn't want to hear anything about being respectful to her seniors when she was getting disrespected unprovoked. It bothered her when people think they can talk to younger people in any type of way. Respect should be a mutual thing.
"For now, don't bother engaging in the drama on social media. Don't respond to any of it online. Continue to go about your day like normal," Namjoon suggested.
"Yeah...okay. You're right. All of you," Jen replied. "I can't let her just get away with talking shit and not saying it directly to my face. Especially when she didn't even want to respond to my messages and blocked me. She needs to get checked,"
"Good. I'm looking forward to this," Hobi smiled.
"You and I both," Yoongi revealed his gummy smile.
Jennie chuckled and turned to Namjoon. "This reminds me a little bit of the Bobby situation and your diss at MAMA 2014. But yours was more of entertainment. Unlike this,"
The leader chuckled at that and nodded. "Yeah. Well, what are you going to do, now?"
"Handle it," she firmly responded and grabbed her notebook.
"Best news I've heard all day. Get writing," Angelina broke out into a big smile, as the others agreed.
"Mama Awards 2016. Speak your truth, there. Let's talk to the staff later about everything," Namjoon recommended.
"Okay," Jennie nodded, liking that idea. "I'll show you what I have when I'm done. Can I be alone, please? To work?"
The boys respected her decision and left her to work while Angelina stayed behind with Namjoon waiting for her outside the studio.
"Word of advice? Try the 8 Mile method. The stealing thunder strategy. You remember the movie and the final rap battle with Eminem?" Angelina asked as she got off the couch.
"Yeah. I've watched it a few times. That's not a bad idea. I'll work on it,"
"Good. Happy writing. Just make sure you eat, okay? Don't be stuck here, all day. I'll be with the others,"
"Don't worry, I'll take breaks. See you,"
After Angelina left, Jennie got started with writing. She also began going through her vault of music files she created over the years to pick which one to perform her rap with.
Rapping…kind of scary to think that this is what it would come to. Yoongi had been an amazing mentor. If Hobi could learn how to rap when he had no background in it, she could too. The amount of faith the rap line had in her to encourage her to respond to Hyuna in this way was a big deal. It was a deal that she could not mess up.
As she proceeded to work, her dog Tony slept quietly on the dog bed in the corner, tired out from playing around with the members a few hours earlier. Jennie occasionally glanced at the adorable dog with a smile while she worked. Miss Bangtan worked for hours, doing research, writing, and analyzing Hyuna's recent interviews regarding her. So engrossed in her work, she jumped slightly when she heard a series of knocks at her door.
"Who?" she asked out loud.
"Your Golden Boyfriend. Jeon Cena!"
"Enter my realm, my love," she smiled and turned her seat around to see him walking in with a few bags of food. "Hey!"
"Hi. I figured you were hungry so I bought food for us," he set the bags on the desk and grabbed a seat to sit next to her.
"It smells so good, thanks," she kissed him sweetly.
Getting a good look at her, he noticed she was wearing one of his hoodies which made him smile. The way it was oversized on her made her look even more cute.
"Any time. And your package of Smarties came. I grabbed a few bags so I can fill up your bowl,"
"You are the best!" she squealed happily and kissed him again before planting multiple kisses all over his cheek, making him giggle.
After he filled up the bowl, he gently grabbed her hand to stop her from reaching out to grab a few pieces.
"Ah-ah! What are you doing?" he called out.
"Helping myself to my smarties?"
"Nah. Food first. Let's eat,"
"What? Oh, come on. Babe, don't do that,"
"Food first. Smarties after," he released her hand.
"They're small, they're not going to spoil my stomach,"
"Food, honey," he grinned, opening the platter of chicken for them to eat. "Take a break,"
"Fine. I should take a break, anyway," she stretched and closed her notebook, placing it to the side. "Game of Thrones?"
"Yeah, we stopped at Season 5, right?"
"Hm hm. The first episode," she set everything up on one of her monitors.
"Hyung told us what you're working on. I'm glad you're going to go through with it. It's not fair,"
She smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah…I just wished she talked to me,"
"She'll realize the mistake she made when you respond. I'm looking forward to seeing what you say. You always have a way of showing off your craft during the MAMA Awards. ARMY will be in for a treat,"
"Thanks. I hope to do it justice. I've been thinking about a lot…especially with the new year coming up. I think my New Year's Resolution for 2017 is to…be more cautious of who I trust and who I open up to. To see my childhood friends again when we go on tour and write songs in a more positive light. I think that'll be a pretty good start,"
He leaned over to kiss the side of her head. "I like that. That is a good start,"
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The day of the Melon Music Awards was finally here and backstage was lively as everyone went through rehearsals. Jen was excited to see familiar faces again as she strolled backstage. She let out a deep breath when she finally saw Hyuna who had finished talking with a staff member. Jen had been seeing her all day but whenever she'd get close, Hyuna would rush off.
Not anymore.
As Jen approached her, she knew people were watching her every move, wondering what might happen. Keeping her head up high, she finally came face to face with her.
"You got something to say to me?" Jen questioned as she looked at her with a frown.
Hyuna looked a little surprised and took a step back.
"Nothing at all," she replied with a fake smile.
"Are we going to talk like adults or are you gonna run, again? Where's that energy when you were taking shots at me on that variety show?" she asked and tilted her head to the side when she didn't reply. "If you don't want to be friends anymore, that's cool. I don't care. But I don't appreciate you going out of your way to talk shit about me and lying on my name. Blocking me so we can't speak on the phone? That is mad corny,"
"Jennie, you're causing a scene," she brought up as noticeably more people were being nosy and watching the confrontation.
"I do not care, stop trying to change the subject. What is with you throwing shade like ARMY and I wouldn't notice? Even talking about how difficult I am to work with? The fuck? Do we have a problem?"
"Do we?"
It took all the strength Jen had to not pop her in the head right then and there with the way she sarcastically responded. Hyuna was playing games and it was getting harder for Jen not to put her hands on her. MAMA Awards couldn't come fast enough.
"Keep my name out of your mouth. I'm not telling you again. Are we clear?" Jen demanded with a glare.
"Crystal."
After walking away and calming down, Jen informed the members about the nonsense. It annoyed them with the way Hyuna responded and highly anticipated Jen's performance at the MAMA Awards to set her straight. It was going to be worth the wait.
As the show was about to start, Jen went to the women's bathroom and as she came out to wash her hands, she saw BlackPink primping in the mirror and talking amongst themselves about how excited they were for the show.
Jennie gasped in happiness and turned around with a bright smile. "Hi! Oh my gosh, we've been looking for you!"
The sudden burst of excitement surprised Jen as she stood by the four girls who were happily smiling after she dried her hands. Once it officially registered that she was in front of BlackPink, Jen grinned widely.
"Hey! You're BlackPink! Wow! Hi! Oh my gosh, wow, y'all look so beautiful!"
"So do you!" Jisoo beamed as they all bowed.
"Hi, I'm Jennie. Jennie Walker," Jen introduced herself.
"Nice name. Hi, I'm Jennie. Jennie Kim," Jennie giggled with her and held her hands.
"Thank you. Nice name!"
"Thanks! It's nice to catch you before the show. It's really nice to meet you,"
"It's nice to meet you, girls, too!"
"Hi~! I'm Rosé!"
"I'm Lisa!"
"And I'm Jisoo!"
After releasing Jennie's hands, Jen spoke, "You girls are amazing! It's great watching you ladies thrive. I love your songs and I can't wait to see you perform, tonight,"
"Thank you! We've seen your dance videos of our songs. You perform it so well. Maybe you should be the fifth member," Jisoo giggled.
"I'd love to but Bangtan would be upset," she teased, as the girls laughed.
They were all so sweet. Their friendly energy matched so well with Jen's as they all vibed and immersed themselves in bathroom girl talk. As Jen had her eyes on Jisoo, she pointed out that her beauty was on a whole new level. Photos and videos didn't do her justice.
"Can we hug? Are you ladies ok with that? I'm like such a hugger these days but I like to ask before touching," Jen asked kindly.
"Of course!" Lisa beamed and went right in to embrace her with the rest of the girls.
"Are you ladies excited for tonight?" Jen asked.
"Nervous! But very excited. It should be a fun show. The dress rehearsal went well," Rosé replied.
"You ladies are gonna kill it. Have fun with it! Go out there and show them that BlackPink ain't playing around,"
Jen's encouragement seemed to have pumped them up as they smiled brightly and thanked her.
"You're close with Bam Bam, right? He's one of my good friends," Lisa spoke up.
"Yeah! I love him! He's the best and one of the funniest guys ever. He's a piece of work, huh?" Jen chuckled.
"He is! I hope we can all hang out sometime,"
"Yeah, I'd love that. We have a 97 Liner group chat we can add you and Rosé in! We're trying to see when we can have another get together. Even if it's just a handful of us. I have the WINGS tour coming up so it'll probably be a long while until Jungkook and I can participate in any hangouts. But we'll be there in spirit if the group plans something in our absence,"
"Being in the group chat sounds like fun. It'll be nice to get to know the others who were born in the same year. You'll introduce us?" Rosé asked.
"Yeah! I got you! You have to meet Hayoon. She is one of the sweetest girls you'll ever meet. So down to earth. She can be a little shy but give her some time and she'll open up to you. When you see her show off her real personality she gets very intense when playing games. Especially card games,"
Lisa and Rosé giggled at that.
"G-Dragon speaks highly of you. I always see him at YG and when we catch up he always brings you up," Jennie added.
"He talks about me to you?" Jen's eyes lit up.
Jen remembered that Jennie worked with G-Dragon before, being in one of his music videos. And Rosé even worked with him, on a song. It made her heart soar that he spoke highly of her. She hoped that one day she could collaborate with him as well. They brought it up a few times but she wanted to continue to improve her craft as an artist before working with him on music. She wanted to be at her best to sing with someone as legendary as him.
"Yeah! He told us he took you under his wing. I remember him saying how determined you looked when you approached him at K-Con. He admired your drive to take action. The way you did not hesitate to ask for advice on how to be a better performer. He also told us you are someone he trusts and that you are authentic," Rosé added.
"Wow...I am honored, my gosh," Jen let out a breath and placed her hands over her heart.
"Can I just say I love the move that you do with Jungkook during Blood, Sweat and Tears!? That flip and spin? It's so good!" Lisa said excitedly. "I want to try to do it during a dance practice but your chemistry with him is something that cannot be duplicated. I've studied dance covers of your little duet and it's clear that the move was meant for you two. I admire your passion when dancing,"
"Aw really? Thank you! I admire your passion for dancing, too! You be killing it on stage! You move with such grace and power, I get blown away every time, girl. I need to learn a thing or two from you,"
"We should practice together, sometime!"
"I'd be down!"
Their conversation was cut short when they heard an announcement that the show was about to begin.
"Before we go to our seats, can we take a selfie?" Jisoo suggested.
"Yeah! Let's do it!" Jen cheered.
Jisoo took out her phone and held the camera up high while the girls crowded around Jen. With all of their face cards on point, the selfie turned out beautifully as they posed with peace signs, kissy faces, and bright smiles.
"Oh, we cute, cute! Send this to me!" Miss Bangtan requested.
After exchanging numbers with the girls, the five of them went to their seats with fansites filming and noticing them together. Seeing the sight made ArmyBlinks excited that they finally met and hoped they take pictures.
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As the show began, Jennie sat with Bangtan as the camera occasionally caught her exciting reactions which would make Armies cheer. Jennie happily cheered and lip synced Blackpink's lyrics with fans noticing how Rosé biased she was.
When it was time for Bangtan to perform BST, audience members and idols anticipated JenKook's signature move but they didn't perform it this time and did different choreography. The disappointment was evident on some idols' faces as they whispered amongst themselves about them not doing their move as well as fans.
"No~! I wanted to see the spin," Lisa whined. "Why didn't they do the spin?"
"I know! I wonder why they decided to change the choreography," Jisoo pouted.
"Damn, no spin?" Zico wondered.
"Darn, they didn't do it? What changed?" Kai wondered with EXO.
Fans tweet:
'Are you fucking serious!? Jennie and Jungkook wtf!? I am PISSED!'
'JenKook y'all had ONE JOB!! ONE!! We wanted the spin!'
'I know these damn babies did not skip their highly anticipated dance move of BST,'
'I stayed up all night only for them not to do the spin!? Big Hit, I'm about to sue! Count your MF days!'
'Who scrapped the spin!? I wanna fight! #BringBackTheSpin'
'LISTEN!! If it ain't broke don't fix it! Nothing and I mean NOTHING needed to be changed in JenKook's duet. Keep it like it is! It was perfect! #BringBackTheSpin'
Backstage after their performance, Jungkook laughed at the flooded tweets from Armies and other fans. They all were complaining about them not doing the dance move and it surprised him to see how much viewers enjoyed the unique move. The couple wanted to do something a little different for the Melon Music Awards but clearly, their decision did not sit well with everyone which amused them.
Jungkook tweeted for damage control, 'Ah...we didn't do the spin this time. Sorry ARMY. We will do it next time,'
Immediately fans replied:
'Y'all better! That move is generational!'
'What were y'all thinking switching it up!? We better get nothing but sexiness the next time y'all do it! I am so serious!'
'Bullying works guys!!'
'Y'all know better!'
'OH ARD! That's what I thought. You two better raise the bar next time!'
'GOOD! It better be sexy af the next time you two perform it! I need my JenKook crumbs!'
'I hope the next time they do the move they take it up a notch. Their chemistry has me glued to my screen!'
'THANK YOU!!'
As the show was drawing to a close, she sat in between Yoongi and Taehyung while they watched the presenters call the nominees for album of the year. In Jennie's mind, she assumed EXO was going to win it. EXO had been powerhouses for their albums and the big 3, JYP, SM, and YG always swept these big awards. However, it was an honor to even be nominated in the category for The Most Beautiful Moment In Life: Young Forever album.
She sat, relaxed, already ready to applaud EXO for winning the award as she waited for the presenter to say it.
"2016 Melon Music Award Best Album of the Year goes to...BTS!"
The sound of the group's name caused Bangtan to widen their eyes, looking at each other in utter disbelief.
Did they REALLY just call BTS the album of the year winners!? WHAT!?
Idols around them stood up, equally surprised that a group not from the big 3 won the award as they applauded them. GFriend cheered happily, bouncing up and down as Hayoon yelled cheerfully for Jennie. Namjoon immediately stood up, stunned by the announcement.
"Oh s—" Hobi shouted in shock.
Jennie sat in her seat dumbfounded as she looked around, glancing at the members who equally had the same shocked expression.
"What the f—" she stopped herself as she covered her mouth, trying to process the news that Bangtan had just won their first Daesang.
Daesang...they won a Daesang!
"We won? We won!?" she slowly stood up once the rest of the boys did.
Armies around the venue cheered and screamed as they waved their ARMY bombs in celebration.
"Ahhhh Jennie looks so surprised!" Hayoon giggled to her group before quickly rushing over to embrace her.
It started to become a tradition for these two to find each other to hug, high five, or do something whenever they won an award. Hayoon grabbed her hands and jumped up and down excitedly with her.
"BTS did it! BTS won! I'm so happy for you!" she beamed, pulling her in for another tight hug.
"Holy shit, what the hell is happening!? Is this real!?" Jennie exclaimed, hugging her tightly.
"Yes! Go up there!" she laughed and lightly pushed her forward after pulling away.
Jennie adjusted herself and began walking up to the stage with the rest of the group as they bowed to everyone. She walked with Hobi and Suga as a bright smile came across her beautiful face, feeling her heart pound. As they made it to the stage with Namjoon holding the award, she stood in between Jin and Hobi.
"ARMY! Thank you!" Namjoon shouted on the mic with a big smile as he tried to control his overwhelming emotions.
Seeing Jin start to cry made Jennie begin to rub his back to comfort him. She did her best not to cry herself as she soaked in this moment with the boys. Noticing Hobi looking like he was about to cry, she went to rub his back too, comforting him.
"We have received the best award since our debut here at the Melon Awards. Bang Sihyuk PD-nim, Big Hit Entertainment, parents and friends who have helped us, I want to thank them again and ARMYs, I love you! ARMY, I LOVE YOU!" Namjoon shouted with elation.
After he finished his speech, the members all went in for a big group hug. They all had big smiles on their faces, feeling euphoric from this victory. When they make it backstage, they are still stunned and thrilled that they won the award with a Bangtan Bomb camera filming them.
"Wow really...wow," Namjoon spoke, still processing everything.
"I was so surprised," Jungkook said on camera.
"We weren't anticipating it. We really weren't expecting it. We weren't even expecting it one bit,"
"Thank you so so much. We were so shocked,"
"We won! We won~! I still can't believe it!" Jennie squealed and shook the camera. "Thank you so much!"
Noticing Hobi's tears running down his cheeks with the foundation running down too, Jennie embraced him tightly while the camera filmed them.
"I know...I know..." she murmured. "I'm so proud of us,"
"Army, thank you so much!" Jin said on camera with his tear stained face while Jennie released Hobi. "Thank you, Army! Thank you, Army!"
"Bring it in," she outstretched her arms for Jin and he immediately kissed the top of her head and hugged her tightly.
"She gives the best hugs," he told the camera.
After they returned to their seats, Jennie sat in between Hobi and Jin to continue to watch the show while pulling themselves together. As EXO closed the show, she watched their performance in admiration.
"I wonder what it would be like to close an award show," Jennie wondered out loud with a smile.
Jin listened and began to speak as she looked up at him. "I believe that one day we will get the opportunity. If we can get this Daesang then this is just a step forward in achieving more as a group,"
"Yeah. We will, for sure,"
After the show, they took photos with the trophy and hugged the staff members as they continued to celebrate. Once Angelina found Jennie, she ran and jumped on her, making them both fall to the floor as they laughed.
"Ah~! I am so proud of you! BTS did it! BTS won album of the year!" she began giving Jennie multiple kisses all over her face as she continued to laugh.
After they got up, they embraced tightly, getting emotional.
"Wow, look at you! Thriving in BTS! That album deserved album of the year! It has bangers on top of bangers. This is your motherfuckin' moment, sis! Enjoy it!"
"Thank you! And thank you for being here to support us," Jen murmured against her shoulder.
"You know I'm always going to be there for you just like you are with me. You're stuck with me for life, sis. This win is only the beginning. Watch Bangtan soar to new heights after this! You better enjoy the damn ride, it's gonna be a fun one!"
After pulling away, Angelina wiped Jennie's tears.
"I'm not gonna lie, I thought EXO was gonna win it. When they said BTS I was like what!?" Jen continued to ramble as the camera person for the Bangtan bomb began to film the other members to get their thoughts.
Later on, Jennie sat down on a chair and took in some deep breaths to pull herself together while Jin and Jimin rubbed her back.
"I'm okay...I'm alright...wow...this feels like a dream. This feels like a freaking dream," she sighed.
She shook her head and started praying, thanking the Lord for this moment as emotions came over her again. Tears ran down her cheeks as she whispered to herself, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"
After she was done praying, she looked up and smiled at the guys when they all went to comfort her. "We did it. We really did it. This is amazing. Wow...over the big frickin' 3!? Blessed! I am so proud of us! Thank you. All of you for making this experience so fun and rewarding,"
"Your family is on the line!" Angelina beamed and handed Jen her phone to reveal her parents and sisters on facetime.
It was wholesome hearing them scream and cheer for Bangtan. The boys even jumped in to say hello and thanked them for their support.
"Ok now that we got the celebrations out of the way, why in the hell didn't you and Jungkook do the spin!?" Jennie's mom complained causing Bangtan and Angelina to laugh.
"Yeah! We were looking forward to it!" Alani frowned.
"You guys need a redo! ASAP!" Vienna added.
"I admit I was looking forward to seeing it and felt my world crashing down when it didn't happen," Jennie's dad spoke up.
"You are so dramatic!" Jennie laughed. "Not you all mad we didn't do this spin, tonight,"
"We'll do it next time," Jungkook grinned. "We promise!"
"You two better. I'll be watching," Jennie's dad pointed at them.
--------------
Days later, Namjoon was in his studio doing a V-Live to catch up with ARMY. As the live went on with fun and engaging moments, he then started to talk about Jennie. A proud smile appeared on his face as he thought of her.
"Jennie is the best. She has been improving a lot behind the scenes and continues to keep a good head on her shoulders. When I first saw her, I was watching the audition for the Bangtan Girl for BTS. She stood out to me because of her outfit choice." He chuckled. "She looked like she was going to wreck someone. I had my head down, so I would listen closely to each person's lyrics created for bulletproof, while V was next to me. As soon as I heard her verse, I had to look up. I know she was probably a bit stressed getting hit with a bombshell of creating a verse for the song over a weekend and presenting it on a Monday but she made it work and she impressed me. When I met her, I thought she was very determined and cute. She's like a little sister to me. And I feel like a proud big brother watching her improve every day in her skills. Ah...I'm getting too personal, am I? Sorry,"
His eyes scanned the comments flowing in.
'Awwww keep going, it's okay! This is so cute!'
'NamJen forever! Best bond in Bangtan!'
'Awwwww he looks like a proud big brother!'
'Thank you for always taking care of Jennie!'
'My baby Jennie and the best leader Namjoon! Thank you for being there for her!'
'Thank you for being a great leader to her!'
"I just want to be the best leader for her. And I want to be that strength she needs to keep pushing forward. She has improved so much over the years. She was so timid when it came to filming music videos, but after filming videos like Dope, Fire, and Blood, Sweat & Tears, I've seen her confidence and charisma grow. I may not understand what it's like to move and work in another country like she did but she has really opened up and become more comfortable here. She's fully adjusting to South Korea. And I'm very proud of her. All of Bangtan is,"
As he continued his live, someone knocked on his door and he turned around. Announcing the person to come in, Jennie strolled in with a bright smile and a plate of cookies.
"Hey! Here, I just made them. I'm going around delivering cookies before working in my studio,"
"For me!? Really!? Oh, this is a great surprise. I'll help myself to these now," he thanked her and took the plate to place on his desk. "You need to open up a bakery,"
"I want to! I wouldn't mind going to culinary school or something. I'd love to make my own business and open up a bakery, one day. We'll see what the future holds. Oh, you on live? Hey, ARMY! I miss you, guys! How are ya?" She waved and read the comments.
'Jennie!!'
'Hi, mom!'
'She baked again!!'
'Jennie, I love you!'
'Do the spin with Jungkook!'
'Do the move with Kookie!'
'JenKook spin for MAMA!'
'JenKook move!'
'Why didn't you do the move at Melon!?'
'Ma'am we want answers about Melon! What happened to the spin!?'
"Yo...." she began to laugh out loud at the comments. "Not y'all roasting me again for not doing the spin. It's been a week! Is it that serious? Oh my gosh,"
Namjoon started to laugh at the comments too, amused that this has become such a big deal in the fandom. When he heard even idols were asking about the spin, it was clear that JenKook had a chokehold in the industry with their strong chemistry.
"ARMY has been a little upset about that," he brought up.
"A little? They spamming my Instagram, too. I didn't think it was going to cause this much of a fuss. You guys really like our signature move?"
Comments rushed in:
'DUH!'
'The way you two dance together are goals!'
'YES GIRL!'
'I can't with her lmfao.'
"Look forward to MAMA, okay? I gotta go but cheer us on at MAMA. Everything will be worth the wait. See ya!" she beamed and left.
----------
The day of the MAMA Awards was finally here. The day Jennie anticipated the most. She had a good feeling about this show and was excited to show off her hard work with what she had planned. The morning of the show, she decided to tweet one simple word along with an eyebrow raising hashtag.
'Bet. #GonBeAnInteresting24Hours #Jen'
Jennie had been a trending topic on Naver and various K-Pop news outlets, which caused people to anticipate the MAMA Awards even more to see what might happen and if she may respond to Hyuna. Her silence on the matter had been a hot topic and now with her tweet going viral, fans stirred in a frenzy.
People tweeted:
'Uh oh!'
'Woke up and chose violence I see. Now I have to stay up and tune in. What time does the show start again EST time??'
'She broke her silence!'
'She's about to get her lick back!'
'Hyuna has not realized what she had done and is about to face the consequences,'
'Aw, shit...'
'She is about to piss people off and I'm going to love every second of it,'
'No matter what happens and no matter what you do, we will always love you, Jennie!'
'You about to respond!?'
'Hyuna is attending the show, too!! Uh oh....'
'Guys...I think something big is about to happen. Bigger than what we may think. Something is gonna go down tonight,'
'I'm so scared for tonight. Jennie, what are you about to do?'
Already in her short ruffled white dress, her hair was put up in a bun with hair on the side as she sat to get her makeup done. She also wore a small daisy pin for good luck thanks to G-Dragon gifting it to her on her birthday.
"Jen, what can viewers anticipate from you, tonight?" J-Hope asked with a grin as he was getting filmed for their MAMA 2016 Bangtan Bomb.
Glancing up, she smiled. "Expect the unexpected,"
-----
As the members got out of the car for the Red Carpet, they were met with loud screams, photography, and cheers with the MCs announcing their arrival. Jimin held out his hand for Jennie to take and he aided her out of the car.
"Thanks, Chim," she smiled warmly.
It was awesome to see international fans travel to the MAMA Awards. She tried to wave and make eye contact with every fan she could. Peeping some of her fansites made her heart soar. The dedication they had for her did not go unnoticed. Miss Bangtan heard her name get shouted, making her turn to who it was as the fan giggled excitedly and waved. She waved back and grinned as the fan was happy to have caught the moment on their phone.
The group proceeded to walk and made it to where the MCs were, standing on the stage.
"It's BTS, who are taking the world by storm, that is entering, right now. They're a group with perfect performances and won an award for producing their own albums,"
No matter what, Jennie didn't think she'd get used to all the screaming and cheering. It was like each event they attended, the screams got louder and she came to realize Bangtan was really moving up. It was a beautiful thing.
As Jungkook walked closely behind her, he caught a whiff of her perfume. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, smiling softly, enjoying the scent.
"You smell nice," he murmured, opening his eyes.
She glanced back at him and smiled. "Thank you. Hayoon got me some new perfume for my birthday. I like it,"
"I like it, too. You should keep wearing it,"
"I will,"
She stood in between Jimin and Jungkook as the group did their greeting and struck a pose just for the fans.
"Today since we are here at MAMA, we personally would like to hear some good news," Namjoon said on the mic.
"We are just one month away from 2017. Can we ask what plans you have?" The MCs asked.
"We're planning a fanmeet in Japan," Jin answered. "And we're working hard on music production so please look forward to it,"
Just a short while away before the show began with idols heading to their seats, Hyuna made her way to the stage and sat in her seat which was front row. There was tension in the air as anticipation filled to what Jennie might do as a response. Everyone was interested to see how this was going to go and idols were living for the drama. Gossip went all around the idols as they had private discussions on what might happen and who might win this.
"Where is Miss Bangtan?" Chanyeol wondered as he looked around, seeing that she wasn't sitting with the rest of BTS.
"Probably still getting ready?" Sehun assumed.
"I just want to see what she has planned tonight. Hyuna is already seated," he pointed out.
With Jennie, being the social butterfly and eager to meet her favs, she had strolled backstage to find the three men she wanted to meet. First up was Timbaland. He had been invited to perform with Eric Nam and to receive an award. Timbaland had worked with so many artists and was one of the many inspirations to her. She still believed he, Nelly Furtado, and Justin Timberlake were one of the best trios ever in music. They mixed so well.
He was so chill in person and they took a few photos. He even looked pleased to see a black woman here as she thanked him for all his work. Perhaps one day she'll get a chance to work with him. She shared that she DJs and has been making songs for herself that are not quite ready to be released. He encouraged her to keep at it and gave her advice on making music which she took to heart, feeling grateful for his words. One day she will share her passions with ARMY.
Meeting Wiz Khalifa was a fun experience, with them sharing a hug and him having a big grin on his face. She expressed her admiration for his song with Charlie Puth and that she couldn't wait to see him perform tonight.
Meeting THE Quincy Jones had her starstruck. One of the greatest music producers of all time was in front of her as they shook hands. Her face warmed when he called her gorgeous and it was sweet of him to take time to talk to her. He listened to her talk about making music and he gave her lots of words of wisdom on creating.
She could listen to Quincy talk all day. He had a way with words that made her feel like she could do anything her creative mind envisioned when producing. But what stuck out to her the most was when he told her some of the best advice he had gotten.
"Your music will never be more or less than you are a human being,"
And it stuck with her. Being an idol is exhausting at times but she loved the work and the way it paid off. She wanted to remain happy. She wanted to continue to thrive with Bangtan and enjoy life. She wanted to speak her truth. She had to be vulnerable tonight when she got on that stage for her solo. She truly needed to dig down deep tonight when responding to Hyuna.
After tonight, she wanted to remove all negative thoughts and move forward with everything. And to take a break from social media. A break from social media was needed. Breaks were good and she could always see it assisting her mentally.
After speaking to these men, she felt a fire light in her and felt even more musically inspired. She posted the photos on Twitter with the caption, 'An honor to meet these amazing & talented black men! Night has been made! Thank you for your kindness and words of wisdom! #Jen'
After going to the bathroom, Jennie made her way to the stage, earning loud cheers from fans when they saw her. She smiled and waved, heading over to where Bangtan was sitting. She ignored Hyuna's presence as she walked past her and acknowledged her idol friends sitting around. Fansites filming her caught some reactions of some idols watching her in awe, admiring her look for the night as she took a seat next to Jungkook at the end.
"Welcome back!" Jungkook grinned.
"Yeah, glad to see you smiling, brighter. Did something happen?" Hobi asked.
"Thanks! And yeah, I got to meet Wiz, Timbaland and Quincy Jones! My heart was racing a bit! They were awesome! I took photos with them. You'll see on our Twitter," she beamed.
The members were surprised and happy as she talked about the interactions she had with each of them. They could tell she was creatively moved by their words of wisdom. Soon after, the boys were all immersed in their own conversations while Jennie tried to adjust her bracelet which was put on a bit too tightly. She accidentally dropped the bracelet and both her and Jungkook aimed to kneel to grab it.
"Thanks, I got it," she glanced at him with a smile, grabbing it first as they both rose, still sitting quite close.
Jungkook got caught in 4K with the way he kept his eyes on her while her focus was on the stage and audience members as the show was preparing to start soon. The way he glanced at her up and down as a small smile came across his face with his lingering gaze did not go unnoticed with fan sites filming them.
Feeling his eyes on her, she turned and looked at him up and down, with them both occasionally glancing at each other's lips. Then they began to smile as she found herself getting lost in his blue contact colored eyes.
No wonder things felt like something was missing. The two of them realized they hadn't kissed each other all day. They'd been so busy preparing for the show and making sure their dances were fine that they didn't even get a chance to share one kiss today.
"Do you two need to be separated?" Yoongi asked teasingly while covering his mouth to avoid getting his lips read by fans watching them. This became a reoccurring thing to cover their mouths so they could speak more freely at these shows.
Jimin and Taehyung started laughing since they had been watching the couple this whole time.
"They haven't kissed at all, today. Jungkook might just go feral," Jimin giggled.
"Yeah, you two need to be separated," Yoongi advised with an amused smirk, making the 95 Liners laugh again.
"We really don't," Jen replied. "We'll be on our best behavior,"
"Are you sure? You two are distracted by each other," Taehyung teased.
"Do you remember where we are?" Jimin added to the teasing.
"Did we fail to mention we caught Jungkook's pleased expression when smelling her new perfume? He can't get enough,"
"Hyung!" Jungkook glared, feeling his face warm.
"We've moved to you two enjoying each other's smells and scents you use? You two need to relax," Hobi laughed.
"Oh my God, can you leave us alone and stop watching us?" Jennie exclaimed, feeling her face flushed.
"Should I be concerned?" Jin asked, listening to the conversation. "Maybe you two should switch seats,"
"Seriously?" Jungkook frowned.
"We'll be on our best behavior, Jin," Jennie reassured.
"Are you sure? Because I do not believe that,"
"Neither do I," Namjoon spoke up with a light laugh.
"You guys are exaggerating!" Jennie exclaimed.
"This time, I don't think we are," Jin chuckled and let out a sigh, already knowing they were going to drive him nuts tonight. "Just please try to behave yourselves and stay professional tonight,"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
Once the show began, Jennie jumped for joy and found herself getting emotional when IOI won Best New Female Artist. Cameras caught her looking proud and ecstatic for the girls with her eyes getting watery.
When GFriend and Seventeen performed for their collaboration, Hayoon was paired up with Vernon. The synchronization of the two groups blew Jennie's mind as she had her jaw dropped at their dancing. When Gallant performed, she smiled over at Taehyung since he was a big fan and cheered loudly with him, overjoyed with his performance.
As Baekhyun and Suzy performed Dream, Jen watched him, mesmerized as the camera caught her singing along to his parts. The members would glance over and smile at her being so into the song, knowing how much she adored him. It caught a lot of attention from Exols and ever since Jennie started meeting the EXO members, Exols took a liking to her. They loved how vocal she was about her admiration for the group and how highly she spoke of them. The EXO members would always have nothing but good things to say about her and enjoyed their sweet moments together. Armies and Exols wondered if they'd share another moment tonight.
Later, Bangtan managed to win Best Dance Performance. However, Jin and Taehyung weren't with them when they announced them as the winners, causing Jennie to laugh. They were probably in the bathroom. Nonetheless, she stood up with the rest of the boys, bowing and thanking everyone with big smiles.
"Yeah! Go, Jennie! Congrats guys!" Bam Bam shouted and approached them with Yugyeom.
The two Got7 members high fived her, Suga, and Jimin before they went up to the stage. Rapmon gave the award to Hobi and stood behind him so he could do the acceptance speech. Jennie smiled proudly as she stood next to him and listened to him speak.
"Wow! Thank you so much for such a huge award," Hobi said on the mic. "And since it's the best performance award for us, there is a larger meaning behind it. Thank you so much. And to the ARMYs who are always supporting us, thank you so much. And I would like to thank Teacher Son Seung Deuk who created this best performance,"
Jennie chuckled once Taehyung and Jin rushed on stage to join them. They both gave her a look as the three of them tried not to burst out in laughter. The trio smiled at one another while Jin placed his hands on Jungkook and Rapmon's shoulders, smiling at them.
"Thank you so much!" Hobi ended his speech, earning loud cheers.
"Thank you, ARMY!" Suga shouted.
"I love you!" Jin added with Taehyung and blew a flying kiss.
----------
As Zico performed Boys and Girls, Jen sat in between Hobi and Taehyung, vibing and doing the choreography. Once he made his way over to where Bangtan was sitting, the members danced in their seats while he took a seat near Rapmon on the arm of the couch. When Bermuda Triangle came on, she stood up with Hobi and Taehyung, getting hyped as they watched Dean and Zico back on the main stage.
"This is my shit!" she started dancing and vibing to Dean, singing along with Hobi and Taehyung.
Don't let 'em in, let 'em in
Get out my zone
We, we, we never know
We, we, we never talk
'Cause we, we, we criminal
Don't let 'em in, let 'em in
Get out my zone
She laughed out loud when Taehyung began dabbing and she followed his movements, making him happy. Once Zico summoned Crush, Jennie immediately turned and locked eyes with Jungkook who was still sitting as they pointed to each other and lip synced his verse.
Nuul jaril jedaero bogo nuwoyaji
Y'all fake bitches tryna act like me
Anjaseo meongman ttaeryeodo nae sopa wie (ssodajineun)
Mula, mula, we gon' pour up
Murder, murder, sumeul jungnyeo
Sangkwaehae ne meori wie gonggi
Nobody can't come over here
Dean, Crush, and Zico killed it on stage, hyping up the crowd. It was one of her favorite performances of the night. Later on, Jen switched seats again and found herself sitting at the end with Jungkook. She grinned as the next act consisted of a collaboration between Got 7, Monsta X, and NCT 127.
Get it lifted
As soon as NCT's Firetruck began to play, Jennie began nodding her head to the beat, enjoying the song. This song was a banger and one of her absolute favorites.
"Firetruck," she mouthed, beginning to lip sync the song while dancing in her seat.
"Ey, yea, yea, yea, yea!" She fan chanted with the audience and Jungkook.
The camera showed Jennie and Jungkook both on the screen as loud cheers occurred and they looked at the camera, headbanging. Bangtan giggled at their enthusiasm and so did some other idols who peeped them on screen.
Fans tweet:
'Why they matching each other's energy so loudly?'
'Their face cards!'
'They're making the same facial expression, so cute'
'JenKook!!'
'I think she does a little bit too much at these award shows. Just sit and enjoy the show, not all the excessive dancing, taking attention from the artists on stage,'
'These two are so beautiful. Wow!'
'Lmfaoooo they are a mood!'
'I'm really happy Mnet is showing Jennie on screen. Her reactions are always so lively instead of others just sitting there,'
'I love how excited she gets about all these groups. Still a K-Pop fan at heart. I'm happy she still reacts this way at shows,'
After NCT performed, Jennie cheered on Jooheon who rapped with Taeyong. His flow and attitude were amazing and she paid close attention to how he performed. Once Monsta X began to perform Fighter, she ended up cheering for Wonho when he was shown singing. She passionately sang his lines while fans had tweeted how Wonho biased she was. After their performance, it was time for Got7 as they performed Hard Carry with her dancing along.
As the show went on, she was proud to see Seventeen win the World Performer Award as she was the first to stand and applaud. Seeing The8 made her smile widely and wave as he waved back.
"Gosh, I hope one day I'm chosen to present an award at one of these shows. It would be fun," Jennie thought out loud.
When the presenters began to announce the nominees for best female vocal performance, Jennie jumped in her seat and cheered loudly when Ailee was shown on the screen. Bangtan glanced at her with knowing smiles, loving her excitement for the woman she had admired for years.
Once Ailee was announced as the winner, she applauded, jumping up and down, excitedly. Just before going up to the stage, Ailee caught a glimpse of Jen and smiled widely, waving at her. When she gave her acceptance speech, the camera caught Jennie watching her with admiration. The angle of where Jennie was filmed caused Twitter to geek over how beautiful her face card was and point out the love in her eyes as she watched Ailee.
With the show getting ready for the next segment, Jennie suddenly received a few packs of smarties from Jungkook.
"How'd you know I was about to ask?" she happily accepted them with surprise in her voice.
"I brought some with me just in case. I was paying attention to your facial expression. When you're about to ask for smarties or say that you wish you had them, you make this cute face. It's like you're pouting,"
"What? I was not pouting..." She turned away, feeling her face warm as he giggled.
"You just did it again,"
"Stop looking at me," she playfully pushed him away, making him laugh harder.
Lately, with the members, her smarties are always on standby. Over the years of getting to know her, they started to understand and know exactly when she wanted the candy and managed to always hand them to her before she opened her mouth to ask.
"Still, thank you," she added and began eating them.
As she ate her smarties, she ended up tossing them up in the air to catch and eat. Wanting to challenge her, Jungkook decided to do it too with his pack of smarties to see who could catch more in their mouths. In the end, Jungkook won as he grinned victoriously while Jennie caught any smarties that she missed from her mouth with her fast hands.
Rule Number One: Do NOT waste Smarties
Next up on the show was Twice and IOI performing. Jennie looked and felt like a proud mom watching IOI perform Pick Me. Fansites caught her entire reaction to the girls performing and thought it was wholesome seeing her get emotional. Being a trainer at Produce 101 to seeing the girls thrive as a group made her heart feel complete. Whenever Jennie was shown on screen, loud cheers would occur and sometimes idols reacted positively when they saw her on screen, with some smiling and commenting that she looked nice.
Once IOI began to perform Very, Very, Very, Jennie began to do the choreography while lip syncing.
nal neomuneomuneomu
neomuneomuneomu neomuneomuneomu
neomuneomuneomu neomuneomuneomu
After they performed, Twice was up to perform Cheer Up and then TT as she watched happily, cheering her friends, Mina and Jihyo, on.
"Just like TT! Just like TT!" she performed the choreography with Taehyung.
-----------
It was time for Hyuna to perform, as some idols were anticipating if anything was going to happen. They hadn't found something this entertaining in a while and hoped something would go down between her and Jennie. Hyuna strutted on stage and performed U&ME. Then she performed How's This with her backup dancers.
Jennie thought it was extremely petty of Mnet to keep a camera right in front of her to film her every reaction but she remained unamused and watched with her head up high. Bangtan didn't even like the fact that the camera was basically in her face nor did Armies.
Suddenly, Hyuna had changed some of her lyrics, not looking Jennie's way as she danced.
Not a high and mighty girl scout in the club behind some fake bulletproof glass. How boring.
Some idols widened their eyes while others glanced over to where Jennie sat.
Yet another diss? This was getting out of control.
Bam Bam cringed and glanced at Jennie with worry, hoping she'd be all right. Hayoon frowned at the diss and shook her head slightly.
However, Jennie only smirked as she continued to watch, knowing that all eyes were on her to see how she'd react. Bangtan glanced at her and as she met their eyes, she gave them a nod. They nodded back and remained calm as they continued to watch the performance.
Suddenly a switch flipped in Jennie's demeanor as she rolled her neck and stared at Hyuna.
'This bitch got me fucked up...' she thought as she kept her cool.
Fans tweet:
'Not again!! Enough already!'
'Is she trying to provoke Jennie?'
'Don't be mad if Jennie catches her in an alley to stomp that ass!'
'The neck roll! I repeat! The neck roll! Jennie just did the neck roll! That is BAD! She got something planned! Get ready!'
'I don't like how she's acting. This is bullying at this point. Hyuna needs to chill,'
'Jen better than me because I would have ran on stage and popped her shit,'
'From the looks of it, Jennie is so bitter and jealous,'
'That smirk means business. I'm not ready,'
'I wish people would stop judging Jennie,'
'Jennie looks like she's plotting,'
'Why does she look so hot when she's upset?'
'Bangtan knows something that we don't because they don't look bothered at all,'
'Bangtan isn't even phased?! What is Jennie planning tonight?'
Little did they know Jennie was listening closely and analyzing what she was saying to use it against her.
'High and mighty...' she thought, making a mental note.
----------
Timbaland arrived on stage to perform with Eric Nam.
And boy was it...awkward.
She sat next to Namjoon during this performance and covered her mouth to murmur to him, "Yo, Timbaland looks so confused. This whole performance is hard to watch,"
And he agreed. It was hard to watch. And she wished the crowd was more excited for Timbaland. It was THE Timbaland and the audience wasn't that loud for him in comparison to Eric Nam. No offense to him.
After being told they were needed backstage, Bangtan got ready for their performance. She changed out of her dress to wear black pants and a long-sleeved ruffled white shirt that hugged her body nicely. With her hair out, she wore a black suit jacket with some silver designs around it, and the daisy pin was placed on the jacket for good luck. As she got ready, she watched on the monitor to see that EXO had won best group and Twice won best female group.
Waiting to get on stage, Jennie ended up posting G-Dragon's iconic diss on the MAMA Awards on her Instagram story, which sparked even more interest in what was going to happen tonight.
"I got a little solo stage. It's going to be pretty fun. I hope everyone likes what I have in store," she beamed at the Bangtan Bomb camera after warming up her voice.
She looked ahead to see Jin checking out the special effects makeup on Taehyung's back to show off his broken wings. He went on the touch it but began to freak out, causing her to giggle.
"It feels like pudding!" Jin exclaimed.
"Why is Jin Hyung so childish?" Namjoon wondered, causing Jennie to laugh again.
The laughter loosened her up and made her less on edge about tonight's big performance.
She was ready.
After everyone was ready and went over last minute rehearsals, the eight of them gathered around and put their hands in the middle.
"All right, fellas! Let's make it a memorable one!" Jennie cheered.
"Indeed! Mama 2016, let's make it a legend. Bangtan! Bangtan!" Namjoon shouted.
"Bang-Bangtan! Fighting!" the group shouted and pushed their hands down.
----------
Backstage with the rest of the boys, Jennie watched with a smile as Jungkook looked ethereal while hanging from the ceiling on stage. He really did his thing. And it was harder than it looked.
She turned to the backup dancers who were patiently waiting for their cue to come out after they performed BST. She greeted them happily and asked if the cookies she made for them yesterday tasted fine. They raved over their love for her baking and appreciated her kindness. She wanted to thank them for being such a great support system for Bangtan and wanted to give them something nice.
"Let's have some fun! See you out there!" She beamed and bowed at them.
On stage, next up was J-Hope performing Boy Meets Evil, hyping up the crowd with a blue background. Then Jimin was revealed on stage, featuring a red background as he danced to Lie while blindfolded.
"The camera work though~?" Jennie watched in awe while the camera did a full circle as he danced.
Then the two had an epic dance collaboration on stage while performing the rest of the choreography for Boy Meets Evil. After they were done, the rest of the group met up on stage and began to perform Blood, Sweat, & Tears as the audience cheered loudly.
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Here we go, the most anticipated part. The audience had been waiting to see a MAMA Award version of their duet. As the rest of the members were on the floor, only Jen remained standing with Jungkook. Like always, Jungkook stared at her with love and desire as he slowly made his way toward her from behind. With his presence behind her and face near her neck, he held her in his arms. She leaned into his arms as she began to sing with her mic.
How much longer before you consume me?
No matter how much I resist, I can't fight what you're doing
He turned her around and tried to get closer but she backed away. Persistent this time, he pulled her straight into his chest as he smirked and held her gaze with the audience screaming at their closeness.
My mind is telling me to break free but my body is freaking out
No, I can't want you, get out of my head
As you love every inch of me you see that I want it too
They continued to dance sensually with him mirroring her movements.
Breath on my neck, I bit off more than I can chew
Reflecting on my choices, I'm wonderin' if there's any way out of this
"Here comes my favorite part!" Yugyeom pointed out with the rest of Got 7 agreeing.
"Are they about to do the spin, this time?" Somi asked the IOI members as they were hopeful.
"Are they gonna do it?" Baekhyun wondered.
"The part is coming~!" Yuji giggled with the rest of GFriend.
"The spin coming?" Mingyu asked in anticipation, leaning forward, studying their movements.
"Let it be the spin," Mina had her fingers crossed.
"Here comes the spin!" Wonho cheered.
The idols got excited and so did the crowd as they began screaming and cheering when JenKook did their signature move. Everyone watched in awe at how they moved and thought about the amount of trust that was needed to pull it off. They weren't called The Golden Duo for nothing.
Jennie was pulled back into his arms as she continued to sing.
I'm losing this battle, I just can't resist.
The music changed slightly from the original instrumental of BST. Jennie and Jungkook were supposed to dance a little more for this instrumental but they remained close and pressed up against each other with her in his arms. They held each other's strong gaze and suddenly their lips met as they drowned out the loud pandemonium around the venue.
With their eyes closed, Jungkook gently lifted her chin and turned his head to deepen the kiss as they both smiled into it.
With the idols, Bam Bam began shaking Jackson while their jaws were dropped, looking shooked. Jay B and Mark widened their eyes while the rest of Got7 acted chaotic as they all enjoyed every bit of the surprising moment.
"What!? What!?" Jackson shouted as he fell dramatically.
The boys laughed at his reaction. Yugyeom grinned immediately once he saw them kiss and let out a chuckle. It made him proud to see Jungkook be so open about Jennie like this. The amount of guy talks they had about girls and how Jungkook's eyes would light up whenever he mentioned her made Yugyeom understand that these two were serious about each other.
The kiss fit so well with the performance and her lyrics. But there was no denying the love in their eyes as they looked at each other and how they kissed.
With IOI, various reactions occurred as some dropped their jaws, widened their eyes, covered their mouths, and giggled to themselves. Some filming them even caught a few of them mentioning how happy and cute Jennie looked with Jungkook. With EXO as they watched the kiss unfold, Chanyeol covered his face, giggling at the sight. Baekhyun smiled genuinely, watching Jennie kiss the man she loved dearly.
"Full of surprises," Sehun chuckled.
"Very," Xiumin added.
Twice looked at one another, surprised at the sudden kiss. They were excited to see their signature move but a kiss on top of that? Blown away. Mina and Jihyo glanced at each other with big smiles, happy for their friends.
"Did you think that was going to happen?" Jihyo asked.
"I didn't think it would but look at them. So cute! Jennie truly loves him. She smiles so brightly with him,"
"Mm hm!"
With Monsta X, the boys reacted dramatically and were in awe at their chemistry.
"I was waiting for a kiss!" Hyungwon pointed out.
"Me too, I was like, they have to do something big," Shownu chuckled.
"I wasn't expecting that at all, like damn!" Jooheon exclaimed.
All of GFriend gasped and then began jumping and squealing in their seats after seeing them smooch. Hayoon giggled with the girls and pointed out the kiss.
"It's happening! It's happening! I cannot stay calm about this! Finally~!" Hayoon cheered and began clapping with Yuji and Eunha.
"They kiss so passionately, my gosh," Sowon looked on, amazed.
Seventeen looked surprised while Mingyu and The8 happily smiled, enjoying the fact that their friends kissed openly on stage.
Meanwhile, Hyuna rolled her eyes as her reaction was filmed and she began to frown. She had her fair share of kisses on the MAMA Awards stage but the way the audience was screaming and cheering was a much louder reception than hers over the years.
With Bangtan, the boys were caught by surprise by their kissing. No one said anything about a kiss on stage. Jimin and Taehyung did their best not to freak out as they focused on the performance. The way they grinned and glanced at each other while they remained on the floor. Their hearts felt full to see their ship this open with each other in public. They especially loved how the kiss was a deep and passionate one and not just a short and sweet one.
Yoongi had enlarged his eyes a little at the bold move, wondering if this had been planned privately in advance. Getting over his initial shock, he became amused.
'These kids...' he thought.
Namjoon wasn't too surprised about it. He knew Jennie and Jungkook loved to be extra. He felt proud to see them show affection to each other on stage, not having a care in the world. They looked happy and that was all he wanted for them. To be happy like this privately and publicly. He found himself getting amused as he glanced at their passionate lip lock.
Mnet was having a field day with this. Ratings were definitely through the roof now with this shocking moment along with them raising the bar on this passionate kiss.
Jin and Hobi screamed internally when they saw them smooch. They weren't expecting it and thought they'd go along with their routine. After getting over the shock, it pleased them to see them be this bold in public and thought it fit well with the performance.
Back with Jennie and Jungkook, they pulled away as she bit her bottom lip lightly, returning his smile.
But then...reality set in.
'Oh...oh shit,' They both thought and realized what just happened.
They both remained "In Character" for their performance although it was pretty clear their feelings were showing out. It was bound to happen. The kiss was not planned at all but they moved to each other by instinct. And it felt good. So good. She kissed her boyfriend in front of the entire world, solidifying a MAMA Awards moment.
Remembering her last line, she finally sang the end of her verse.
Only a matter of time before you screw me up and I'll be stuck reminiscing.
Jungkook had to refrain from kissing her again as they both leaned back in which caused more screaming from the audience to occur. Then they reluctantly pulled away as he blew out air and shook his head a few times, trying to control himself from making out with her on stage.
'We're on stage. We're on stage,' Jungkook reminded himself as he kept backing away from her and went to the next dance position for the song.
With the screaming still occurring around the venue and fansites of Jennie and Jungkook catching their every facial expression, this moment was on its way to going viral.
People on social media were going crazy over the timeline with memes and various tweets:
'JENKOOK STANS RISE!'
'It wasn't even a quick kiss! That kiss was longer than anticipated!'
'My man did NOT want to let her go.'
'They both looked like they didn't want to let each other go. They were both in a trance!''
'We said spin not kiss wtf wtf AHHHHHH!'
'WHY DID SHE KISS HIM!? WAIT!'
'Oh...OH! They playing this BST sexy persona a little TOO well!'
'The way he had the GRIP on her?! Jungkook PLEASE!'
'The way he backed away!? She got him straining!'
'Jungkook saw an opportunity and took it! That smile into the kiss!? Oh, my man wanted to do that for a LONG time!'
'Why is he kissing Jennie!? Why!?'
'I'm fine...I'm totally fine...'
'We shipped the right ship! They kissed! They fucking kissed in front of everybody!'
'Were they acting!? Because that looked too real!'
'Jennie looked so dazed after kissing him!'
'Rookie King Kiss on STEROIDS!'
'That kiss was too American!'
'Do you see how happy the 97 Liners are looking?! Something is up!'
'Cries in Taennie!'
'The kiss that was meant for Taehyung nooooo!'
'And to think this was supposed to be Taehyung in this position instead,'
'How to be Jennie? Had sexy scenes with Taehyung and now gets to kiss Jungkook on stage? Lucky!'
'It's happening! Everybody stay calm! Stay fucking calm!'
'That tension is something that cannot be replicated because I was going crazy watching them on my screen. I was like KISS! And when they did I screamed! I didn't think they would do it!'
'How can I be Jennie in this moment?'
'A stage kiss!? Is this a stage kiss!? This looks so real!'
'Jennie's acting lessons are paying off. She is playing the part well of slowly giving in to temptation. Jungkook is hard to resist!'
'THE TENSION! THE BEDROOM EYES!? OH MY GOD!'
'WTF WTF A KISS!?'
'WAIT A DAMN MINUTE!'
'JENKOOK POR FAVOR!!'
'I have no choice but to Stan. Jennie show me your ways. First it was Taehyung, now it's Jungkook!'
'We got a man down! Jungkook get up! He is obsessed!'
'The way I felt like a third wheel I–'
'Jennie STAND UP! Ma'am you're supposed to be resisting temptation!'
'He down baaaad! What is happening!?'
'AHHHH'
'SKSKSKSKS'
'WTF JUST HAPPENED!?'
'They taking it to a whole new level!'
'OH MY GOD'
'Lives are about to be CHANGED!'
'Y'all can stop being in denial now! JenKook forever! Better than your other ships!'
'They are stressing me out! Can they PLEASE confirm it!?'
'Do you know how long we've waited for a kiss!?'
'JenKook stans we up!'
After performing the rest of the song and heading backstage while Jin and Taehyung do their final act together, Jungkook pulled Jennie into his arms and looked down at her.
"No turning back now," he grinned.
"I know," she grinned back. "I feel relieved and happy,"
"Me too. Kill it out there. I'll see you, soon. I love you,"
He cupped her face and pulled her in for a deep kiss, followed by multiple short kisses.
"I love you, too,"
"Was that planned?" Namjoon laughed.
"It just happened. I don't know who leaned in first," Jennie admitted.
"I don't know either but I'm not complaining," Jungkook added.
Jimin and Hobi jumped excitedly with Yoongi.
"JENKOOK~!" Yoongi shouted, making them all laugh as he started shaking the couple.
"Oh my God..." Jennie chuckled.
"JENKOOK~!" Jimin shouted. "Do you know how happy Tae and I were!? Our ship is soaring! Finally! That kiss was everything! You two know how to make us proud, huh?!"
The staff members had to step in to get them to separate so they could get them to their next location for the main stage while Jennie remained where she was. She waved goodbye and got ready.
"Jennifer."
She turned to see Yoongi.
"Control your emotions out there and wreck her life. You got this," he nodded in reassurance.
"Thanks, I will. See you out there," she nodded and saw him walk away, only leaving Namjoon.
Namjoon smiled down at her and held her hands, giving them a gentle squeeze.
"Jennie, you are undeniable. You are so good that they can't ignore you. This is your moment. Show them who Miss Bangtan is,"
Her eyes got glossy as she looked up at him and broke out into a grin.
"Thank you,"
He pulled her in for a big hug, kissing her forehead.
"I am so proud of you. And I am proud to be your leader. I'll see you out there,"
Once he left, she let out a deep breath and waited for her cue as she gripped her mic. The backup dancers were currently on stage, some in white cloaks and black cloaks while a Bangtan Bomb had been filming her all this time.
'Why did you and Jungkook kiss on stage?'
She was asked as a smile crept up on her lips at their lip lock. Turning to the camera she responded with a wink, "I did say no matter how much I resist I can’t fight what you’re doing. I officially fell into temptation. It was worth it though,"
Once the staff told her she could go on stage, she touched her daisy pin, thinking of G-Dragon. As soon as she got back on that stage...she knew everything was about to change.
"I hope I continue to make you proud," she murmured.
PART 2 OF THIS CHAPTER
#jungkook x oc#bts 8th member#bts additional member#bts female oc#bts female member#bts fanfiction#jungkook fanfic#jungkook scenarios#jungkook fluff#bts black oc#kpop black oc#jungkook x black oc#kpop fanfiction#kpop scenarios#kpop imagines#bts imagines#bts scenarios#bts fluff
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i am recently becoming obsessed with brock purdy he’s just so cute and i have a request maybe f!reader comforting her boyfriend brock after the loss of the super bowl
Next Year (Brock Purdy X Reader)
Fandom: RPF/NFL
Requested: Clearly (thrown together quickly bc if i didn't it wouldn't be out til April lol)
Warnings: none
POV: Second Person (You/your)
W.C. 431
Summary: Post-game flights
As always, my requests are OPEN
MASTERLIST // HITLIST
~~(^Pinterest)
It was not his fault. The team played well, and Brock was on top of it. Sure, he had a couple of stumbles, but he was under a lot of pressure, you knew that. It was his first Super Bowl against the modern-day Tom Brady. It was going to be hard, and you told him that. You knew it was going to be difficult because it seemed like everything was stacked against the Niners.
As soon as it went into overtime, you knew it was over. The team did not know the rules of overtime, and they kept the ball. Even as a viewer, you knew that was not the move. Let alone when Patrick Maholmes and Travis Kelce started celebrating on the sideline after the flip.
And when you got back to the hotel, the only thing you could do was hug him. You two hid away in the hotel that you would have to leave in the morning. The last thing he wanted to do was face the world or look at the things people were saying online.
You watched movies and ordered room service, you answered the door instead of him. You gave him a back massage and before you knew it, it was check-out time. When you got to the airport, you held Brock’s hand and split off from the rest of the team.
“Where are we going?” He asked, watching his team head toward the private jet while you and he started walking towards the public departures entrance. “The private jet is the other way.”
“We’re not going back to San Fransisco yet,” You replied simply, showing him the email confirmation of the new flights. You walked through the doors and up to a confirmation kiosk as Brock read through the email.
“We’re going to Miami? Why? What’s in Miami?” He asked quickly.
“Slow down,” You chuckled, taking your phone back as you finished checking you both in for your flight. “We’re not staying in Miami. It’s just for the night. We’ll be taking another flight tomorrow.”
“Where are we going after that?” Brock asked as you walked through the airport towards security. You had the pre-TSA check, so you did not have to wait in the long line.
“Somewhere you won't need to worry about,” You replied ominously. You were not going to tell him anything. “This is your chance to relax. So let me handle all of the stressful stuff for now, and you focus on getting yourself back in the mindset of a Super Bowl champion because you’re getting that ring next year.”
~~~~~
© BAD268 2024. DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION.
#brock purdy x reader#brock x reader#brock purdy#niners#san francisco 49ers#49ers#nfl x reader#nfl fan fic#nfl imagine#nfl football#nfl#bad268#ship268#thing268
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violent delights by justdoityoufucker
violent delights
by justdoityoufucker (orphan_account)
T, 4k, Wangxian
Summary: Wen Qing is fairly confident in her own skills. She knows the theory—wrote the theory—and has performed many surgeries before, has worked with broken cores and devoted her life to the study of it. But there’s something different about this. - Or, the one where the Golden Core transfer goes...sideways. Kay's comments: This story explores an idea that I find super interesting, what if the Golden Core Transfer just didn't work? The odds weren't in their favour after all and here it just doesn't work, Wei Wuxian's core says nope and returns to Wei Wuxian, no matter what Wen Qing attempts. It changes things and for the better, at least for Wei Wuxian and the Wens and I love that and love their relationship especially. You know I'm so weak for Wei-Wen found family vibes. Ah, and now I'm sad again that justdoityoufucker left the fandom. I adore their fics so much. Excerpt: Except, a half shichen later, it disappears. It disappears. The core disappears out of Jiang Wanyin’s body. It’s an instantaneous happening—one second it’s there, channeling the remnants of Jiang Wanyin’s spiritual energy along with Wei Wuxian’s, and then there’s an abrupt, gaping emptiness that is familiar only because it’s how his dantian felt before the transfer. “J-jie?” a-Ning asks at the same moment that Wei Wuxian makes a rough noise of abject confusion, an emotion that is mirrored on her didi’s face. “What’s h-happening?” She forces some of her spiritual energy to remain in Jiang Wanyin’s meridians, cycling to ensure nothing goes wrong, and rushes over to Wei Wuxian, who has suddenly regained some color in his face. It’s hard to focus on splitting her energy, cycling it in two other bodies, but immediately she can tell what’s wrong. Wei Wuxian’s golden core is back in Wei Wuxian, like she never took it out. His meridians are perfectly reconnected, spiritual energy cycling as if it had never been stripped out.
pov wen qing, pov wei wuxian, canon divergence, no golden core transfer, jiang cheng has no golden core, not jiang cheng friendly, pre-sunshot campaign, sunshot campaign, post-sunshot campaign, wei wuxian lives, wen remnants live, families of choice, hurt/comfort, rogue cultivator wei wuxian, angst with a happy ending, everybody lives, wei wuxian leaves the yunmeng jiang sect
~*~
(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)
#April 2024#Wangxian Fic Rec#The Untamed#Wangxian#MDZS#Kay's Rec#short fic <15k#teen#violent delights#justdoityoufucker#pov wen qing#pov wei wuxian#canon divergence#no golden core transfer#jiang cheng has no golden core#not jiang cheng friendly#pre-sunshot campaign#sunshot campaign#post-sunshot campaign#wei wuxian lives#wen remnants live#families of choice#hurt/comfort#rogue cultivator wei wuxian#angst with a happy ending#everybody lives#wei wuxian leaves the yunmeng jiang sect
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