#still so bitter they weren't endgame

[bluespiritshonour]

People don't understand, when I say maiko wasn't well-written it's 'cause I'm BITTER.

When Zuko got together with Mai in The Awakening I was like

For some reason I didn't remember Mai smiling when Ty Lee teased her about Zuko back in Return to Omashu and it had gone completely over my head that the flashbacks in Zuko Alone were Zuko's.

Plus I used not to spare much thought to Mai and Ty Lee during my first watch so...

I just loved the idea of the two of them together. I was like “wow, so knife girl likes that wet blanket, huh? Inch-resting.” and that was that.

And then they get together and I can't express how much I loved it. So don't even tell me that if I think they weren't well-written it means that maybe I don't like the ship.

I do.

But I'd honestly, vaguely, thought they wouldn't be endgame.

So, on one hand I was pleasantly surprised they got their happy ending, especially Mai because characters like her either change to appease the audience or have a bad ending—

There's this sort of defying expectations at every turn aspect to this ship that I love. I realise now that the reason I felt that way wasn't because I thought they weren't a good match, but because that's what happens in media.

Maiko ate all the tropes and spit them out chewed up and I stan.

But Zuko could really have been a better boyfriend, man. I guess he (and the writers) already had too much on their plates.

I guess too much character development is a thing...

Anyways, it doesn't assuage my poor heart which wants more good (emphasis on good) content for my babies.

Tldr: maiko feels like it came out of left field not because it actually came out of left field, but because it's something we're simply not used to. That being said, Zuko's character development with respect to his relationship with Mai still needs a lot of work. So, yeah, when I say maiko wasn't well-written I mean that. I'm not bashing the ship, I'm just bitter because of what could've been.

[crossf15]

Dungeon Meshi spoilers

Dungeon Meshi is so good because I got into it in its earlier arcs when everybody was posting out of context funny gags and panels. So I went into it like "Wow funny food gag manga with cute dwarf" and then it turned out like THIS???

The way Ryoko Kui pulled the rug from under us was genuinely masterful. Marcille's corruption arc was such a strong red herring, that I completely missed the foreshadowing for Laios'. Which is funny, because every character, including Laios Thorden himself, has basically been stating plainly what he was going to do when he became the lord of the dungeon from the start.

For me, as an autistic man, it should have been obvious. Like, of course Laios fucking hates people. He and his sister spent their whole childhoods being treated as lesser because they weren't "normal" enough. When he finally learned how to blend in, this just ended up making him easy to take advantage of, and boy did they. His generic "human fighter" façade wasn't just a subversion of writing tropes, it was something Laios himself did purposefully so people didn't reject him.

Even when he finally found a group of friends that truly, genuinely cares about him, there's still that disconnect. They love him, but they don't really get it. They're offput by his more eccentric qualities, the things that make him him. Because of this, Laios is scared to tell them how he really, genuinely feels, because everyone else before them has left him.

Then when he's confronted by the Winged Lion, he has all of his darkest impulses, and his deepest feelings laid out in front of him. He can't hide these aspects of himself anymore, literally. However, it's liberating in a strange way. He can't hide, but he doesn't have to hide anymore. More than anything, Laios wants to be himself without the constant fear of persecution. He doesn't want his life to be defined by whether or not people understand or accept him. The Winged Lion of course, knew this from the moment Laios stepped foot in the dungeon. It's not just that his desires are strong, complex, and tasty. Laios is vulnerable, isolated, and easy prey.

The most tragic part to me, is that if Laios did confide in his friends about this darker, more bitter part of himself, I feel like a lot of this could've been prevented. Marcille knows intimately what it feels like to be different from everyone else, and Senshi's experienced what it's like to be unwanted. He doesn't have to be pretend to be happy-go-lucky and heroic all the time. They could've helped him if they knew, but now, Laios is fully under the Winged Lion's control. The Winged Lion got exactly what he wanted.

I feel like there's still hope though. Much like Farlyn, Laios is still there, just in a different shape. The only way they can save him now, is if they fully accept him, inside, and out. Anyway, this is how the story's going to pivot to the Laios x Senshi endgam-

[agoodfictitle-shadowban]

From Vormir, With Love - Part 2

Tags: strangers to lovers, love in space angst on earth, slavery mention, alien abduction, post Endgame, will add as we go on

Summary: As you're being chased you crash on Vormir. So far, so bad. But things take a turn when you come face to face with a marooned Black Widow.

[Part 1] [here] [Part 3]

Word count: 3.1k

A/n: after some nice vacations I'm back! Thanks for all your support, and I hope you'll like this chapter!

Taglist: tbd

You were right, June didn't like you bringing one more person along. An Avenger on top of it. Still, she simply gave one look to the newcomer, groaned, and went back to her repairs. You could work with that.

Now, you're hanging in the cockpit of your ship, looking at the star chart. In the five years you spent drifting into space, you never managed to find Earth again. Most Aliens don't care for humans, and don't know where they're from. As for star charts, they cost an arm and a half, so you have to work with the one you have - one which of course doesn't give the common names of planets in human language and no translator has cracked it.

"What are you doing?" The voice comes from behind you, covering the snores of the rest of the crew in the background. Sleep doesn't come as easy to you, even if you have the privilege to have your own bed. For tonight, you decided to give it up to Tim. He looked miserable after the fight with Natasha.

"Looking up at the stars," you answer simply, eyes still on the chart.

"What are you doing in space?" She asks after a moment of silence.

"What are you?" You retort, not even contemplating answering her question, and finally looking up at her. Now that you know who she is, bitterness is starting to build inside you, for her and all the so-called Mightiest Heroes of Earth. You take a deep breath, you don't want to lose focus. "I know for a fact Avengers don't travel that far out without a reason, and clearly something happened." You point at the Aliens who came back from the blip. "Cause those guys appeared out of nowhere three days ago. So, what's up with that?"

"So it worked…" she whispers at first, in a sort of wonder, and you understand she had something to do with all that. She looks at you, searches your face, and for a bit you think she won't answer you. And then she smirks. That surprises you. "You're a smart one, aren't you?" She puts her feet on the board and you glare at them as she keeps talking. "I was here to save everyone from the snap. It's good to see we succeeded." She seems genuinely happy about it, but also troubled.

You hum, and you wonder if that's truly for the best. Memories from the day of the Snap flood back to you.

-

You had never been that scared in your life before. You had no idea where you were, if you were even still on Earth - you guessed that you weren't, because those… people were clearly non-humans. You remembered going to the convenience store down your street, after a long shift at work. The night had already set for a few hours at the time, and as you were about to pay for your ramen pack and soda, those things came out of nowhere. You tried to hide, to fight, but it was no use. You remember thinking that maybe, just maybe, someone would come and help you. The cops, the military, anyone. Maybe SHIELD or the Avengers had detected that strange activity, somehow, and they were on their way. But no one came.

The aliens took all of you, all the ones that were in the store, and the next time you opened your eyes, you were in what looked like a ship.

You were kept in a cell with the clerk from the store - June, you learned, an engineering student who was working two jobs to pay for college - and food was coming from the ceiling in bags. You quickly realized it was sedated, and stopped eating until your stomach begged for something, anything. Some of the aliens were walking around, probably to keep an eye on the prisoners, and you quickly noticed that the only ones armed were those who had six eyes and a weird stone in the middle of their forehead. There were others, they looked like they were only doing maintenance or cleaning. They had a collar around their neck. This lasted maybe a week, and you kept praying that anytime, at any moment now, someone would come to save you. But once again, no one came.

And then one day… no one came again. No guards. The prison doors opened for apparently no reason, and you took a step outside. Was it a trap? Your naked feet walked alongside other prisoners. Besides June, you couldn't understand any of them - they were all aliens speaking different languages, and the other three humans were nowhere to be seen. You found weapons, and fought some of the aliens. You managed to outnumber most of them with the other prisoners. Soon enough, you were aboard a ship and on your way elsewhere. You remember looking at the star chart with so much hope. Home. It was right there.

-

Home is nowhere to be seen.

"I wish you could be as optimistic as you." You shake your head.

Now, those Aliens have more manpower than ever, and will certainly come after you again. You will need to lay low for some time before you can keep going on your quest for Earth.

"You're not happy," Natasha simply states. It feels like you're raining on her parade, so you decide to reassure her in order to keep the peace. There is also this weird feeling in your chest that makes you like her smirk, and the stupid spark in her eyes, so you might as well try to keep it there even just for some personal gratification.

"No, it's probably good. Means more people to help us get back to Earth. Which, you wouldn't happen to have a star chart on you?"

"No. But I might know someone who does." Here is the smirk again, thinning her full lips that you could kiss right now if she is telling the truth. You lunge towards her and put your hands on her upper arms, one on each side, squeezing her. She looks surprised, eyes wide, almost ready to fight but she keeps it in her.

"Wait? Are you for real?! This would be fantastic!"

"Why don't we calm down first, hm?"

You want to throw a party and dance of joy. "Calm down? It's been more than five years!" You whisper yell to not wake up your guests. "I can finally go home!"

She decides you're a lost cause when she sees you walk towards June's quarters and almost fall from dancing happily between the bodies sleeping on the ground. Somehow, seeing this after the past few days makes her smirk slightly, her heart lighter. You disappear around a corner just as the memory hits.

-

When she opened her eyes, it was to a dark sky and crimson surroundings. Her clothes were damp from the small pools of water under her. Not far was the sharp cliff she jumped from. She remembered the last thing she saw. Clint. She sat up. He was nowhere to be seen, and she wondered if her sacrifice didn't work, because right now, she was very much alive. No. She should still be dead. She should still be… free. She swallowed. She never wanted to die. But. But… she stood up, as tired as ever, and checked her equipment. Her Widow's bites were fried, as were her comms, but she still had her sidearm. Now, she had to find Clint.

He was nowhere to be seen, she realized once she came back up the cliff. No one was here anymore, not even Red Skull, she was all alone. Alone. She was used to it, it was fine.

She checked her comms again. Still nothing, not even statics.

She sat down on the same rocks as earlier. Was it earlier? She searched around her pockets, and found her phone. She was barely able to make it work, but soon enough she realized what her problem was. She was back to today's time, after she left for the past. Clint wasn't here, not because he abandoned her, because the last time he was had been years ago. It suddenly made sense. What didn't was why she was here. But for now, she had a much more pressing question: how was she going to go back to Earth?

Luckily, fate gave her a quick answer.

In the horizon, light caught her eye. Someone was crashing here, and she would only hope to get to you before you left again. With no time to lose, she started her walk.

-

"Are you sure she isn't brain dead? 'Cause she ain't answering." June's voice brings Natasha back to the present. She arches an eyebrow and tilts her head the slightest in her direction.

"See, not dead," you say in triomph.

"Why don't you stop talking about me like I'm not here." Her tone is harsh, and it shuts up both of you. You rub the back of your neck and look away, ashamed, while June just crosses her arms almost in defiance. It's still enough to get back to the main subject.

"Whatever," June starts, "do you really know people who could help us?"

The irreverence aside, there is some fear in her voice, and it quickly clicks in Natasha's head: she's scared to get her hopes up. It's a fear she understood all too well; hope is always the first step towards disappointment. Hope is dangerous. But sometimes it's all you have, and she isn't about to disappoint those lost women.

"Yes, we just need to find them."

"And who are they exactly?" asks a very guarded June. You elbow her, and she simply send you a glare, ignoring your suddenly very shiny personality. You'd never been one to be pessimistic, despite everything that happened, you just knew how to hide it, but right now you were almost beaming with joy.

"Carol Danvers, ideally, then Peter Quill, or Thor, one of the two if we don't have a choice." She shrugs like this will be easy. To be fair, they are very well known individuals. June looks at you to see if you know who she's talking about, since you're well informed usually. You are always the one going outside the ship to find the missions. It takes you a second to know exactly who she's talking about, and you nod.

"Carol is our best bet, anyone with authority has a way to contact her. We can just go to the federation probably, but the Nova Corps could be closer. I think they have an outpost a few jumps away…" You're already thinking, looking back at your star chart to find the closest place where you can contact Marvel, or whoever the other two were - well, Thor you know, but the name of Peter Quill sounds made up, even if it titillates your brain. "I'll check the radio as soon as we leave Vormir's atmosphere. Something is blocking the communications."

June nods, then looks at Natasha with distrustful eyes. "You better be telling the truth or you'll pray you did."

Somehow, the threat works on you too and you move on your seat in discomfort. June always was the more serious of the two of you, and held an even bigger grudge against the Avengers than you did. It reminds you that maybe you should distrust a spy a little bit more, as you eye the ship's console. Natasha is less impressed, but still takes things seriously.

"I am," she simply reaffirms in all seriousness. You observe her, and she seems genuine to you. It looks like it's enough for June too, because she simply goes back to her bed.

"Sorry for June," you say when she's out of earshot. "She's… we both went through a lot. Makes things hard." Hard to trust, hard to forgive. You're happy that she could help, but you also know tomorrow the bitterness will still be there. Of course, Natasha knows too well what you mean, the vulnerability that comes with the short explanation, and she offers a simple nod in understanding, her eyes expressing all of her empathy.

You're thankful for it.

A small silence establishes itself, during which you look each other in the eyes. It's easy to fall in hers, the infinite pool of water so inviting, so full of hurt to learn and comfort to find. You could read a full life, and something more, a spark no one else had. It lasts a few seconds, before you get back to the star chart, and she stands up to go get some water. When she comes back, she brings some to you, and you thank her in a whisper. She starts to clean her weapons and tinkers with her widow bites to try and repair them. While she does that, she notices you talking to yourself when you plan your next course and smiles slightly while looking down. Her lips crack from three days spent in what was virtually a desert.

Somehow, it makes her think of home.

-

Everything is ready for take off, and as your hand hovers over the handle ,you send a look to June. She gives you a thumbs up, but you know she isn't as sure as she looks, you know she probably thinks there is a small uncertain chance you will crash again and not survive this time. But with the help of Natasha - turns out she's a good mechanic at least - and some of the maintenance crew, you managed to repair the ship earlier than June told you the first time.

"Okay, up and away we go," you whisper to yourself as you push the thrusters. "Let's hope."

The ship shakes under the building pressure, but it holds. You push them some more as you gain elevation, the ground further and further away, and before you know it, you manage to leave Vormir's atmosphere.

You let out a breath of relief.

The ship stabilizes under you, and you send a thumbs up to June this time. As you go back to the console, your gaze crosses with Natasha's, and you exchange a small smile. You only had brief talks since she joined you, but she always was nice to everyone, if a bit short with Tim. The giant humanoid feline was still suspicious of her, the same way he was suspicious of almost everyone. You mainly tried to ignore the small brewing conflict, but it was getting harder. For now, you were simply happy to be back in space and not in pieces.

"We're green across the board," you announced, and everyone let the reassurance lift the weight off their shoulders. You then focus back on the ship. You still had to have the autopilot calibrated to the nearest jump point that would allow you to access the Nova Corps, then, if you were lucky, Earth.

It takes you little time to get the autopilot calibrated, and once you do you notice Natasha is still watching you, where the others simply went back to their activities. She's leaning against the hull, her arms crossed, a spark of curiosity in her eyes.

"How did you learn to pilot?"

"Observation. When we… commandeered this ship–"

"You stole it?" She raises an eyebrow.

"They were bad people." She nods, and you continue. "We had aliens with us. I just watched them pilot and learned via observation."

"Not everyone could have done that. What did you do back on Earth?" Her interest starts to make you the slightest uncomfortable, but you simply answer with a shrug.

"I worked some job that barely matters anymore."

"Never had a flying lesson?"

You shake your head no, and you notice admiration in her traits. It seems like you impressed her.

"I'm impressed," she confirms. "It takes some exceptional skills to pick up something like that."

Somehow, it makes you blush slightly and your chest rises with pride. You look away to hide it as you feel conflicted, and decide it's probably because the only other person you spent time with the past few years has been June, and she's not one to show admiration for others. Definitely nothing to do with Natasha herself being incredibly competent, and pretty. Very pretty.

Your eyes can't help but wander back to her when you notice the way the dim lights from the ship are highlighting her sharp jaw and her cheekbones, her long lashes projecting their shadows on her delicate skin. You realize you're staring, and that she's actually staring back. It makes you slightly uncomfortable, as you feel that after five years, there isn't much to look at, so you decide to break the brief silence.

"It's not… maybe a bit but– you know, you look tired. Maybe you should rest or something?" You fumble to change the subject. She has the audacity to smirk, and you want to cross your arms like a petulant child who's been caught in the cookie jar. But she's nice, and simply agrees.

"I should. You should too, commander." There is some teasing behind her voice, and you sputter a bit. She doesn't wait for an answer before she ducks back to the other side of the ship.

You stay there for a minute, trying to process the whole conversation. Was she…? Was that flirting? No. No way. You frown, trying to understand what just happened.

"Nope, no way. She's right I'm just tired," you finally settle on. You stand up and go back to the living side of the ship, asking Tim to keep an eye on the trajectory before you join your bunk. It was more a hole in the wall with a mattress stuck in it than anything else, but it was yours. There was another bunk on top of yours, where you kept some of your stuff before the arrival of everyone, but it had been cleared to give space to them. On the other side of the room, there is the same configuration, and on the top bunk you can make the silhouette of the spy. 

It's the last thing you see before you fall asleep, and you wonder how long the newfound safety you felt is going to last.

[winters8child]

It´s been a long, long time

Chapter 59

I perched on one of the many tables in Tony's lab, my heels long discarded and my elegant dress swapped for a simple shirt and yoga pants. The air was thick with tension as we grappled with the aftermath of Ultron's attack. The realization that he had infiltrated and compromised all our systems was a bitter pill to swallow. He had access to everything, including nuclear codes.

"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead," Natasha remarked, her voice tinged with worry and disbelief as she paced the floor.

"He didn't say dead. He said extinct," Steve corrected, his tone somber and resolute.

"And he also mentioned he killed someone," Clint added, his voice trailing off as he wandered around the lab, his steps aimless and heavy. The loss of Jarvis weighed on us all—Ultron had targeted him because Jarvis was our last line of defense.

Thor erupted without warning, storming across the room and seizing Tony by the neck.

"Come on, use your words, buddy," Tony croaked, his voice strained but still carrying a hint of his trademark sarcasm.

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark," Thor thundered, his eyes blazing with fury, his grip tightening. His anger was palpable, bubbling just beneath the surface of his skin.

Steve took a step towards them, his voice firm and commanding. "Thor. The Legionnaire."

Thor released Tony, who stumbled slightly before regaining his balance. "The trail went cold about a hundred miles out," Thor reported, his voice still laced with anger as he continued to glare at Stark. "But it is headed north. And it has the scepter."

"Now we have to retrieve it. Again," Thor continued, his tone dripping with accusation. Dr. Cho, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. "I don't understand. You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?" she asked, directing her bewildered gaze at Tony.

Tony started to chuckle, a sound that seemed entirely out of place given the gravity of the situation. I looked around at our collective confusion, our faces mirroring each other's bewilderment.

"Tony has finally lost his mind," I said, my voice exasperated and tinged with disbelief. Bruce was shaking his head vigorously, his eyes fixed on Tony. Before he could speak, Thor's voice boomed across the lab, "You think this is funny?"

Tony turned to face him, a strange mix of humor and frustration in his eyes. "No, it's probably not, right? This is very terrible. Is it so... It is. It's so terrible," he said, his voice tinged with laughter that seemed to mock the gravity of the situation.

"This could have been avoided if you had not played with something you don't understand," Thor reprimanded, his tone harsh and unforgiving.

"No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this," Tony retorted, stepping forward until he was almost chest-to-chest with Thor. The tension between them crackled like electricity.

Bruce tried to intervene, his voice calm but urgent. "Tony, this might not be the time."

But Tony was having none of it. He turned sharply to Bruce, "Really? That's it? You just roll over. Show your belly every time somebody snarls?"

Bruce's eyes widened in disbelief. "Only when I create a murder bot."

"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" Tony asked, his frustration boiling over. The tech jargon flew over my head, adding to my growing headache. The night had stretched on far too long, and our nerves were frayed beyond repair. I had to admit Tony had a point. The attack on New York had starkly demonstrated that Earth needed some form of protection against the threats lurking in the vastness of space.

"We are the Avengers," Tony declared, his tone intense. "We can tackle arms dealers all day long, but that up there—" he gestured toward the heavens, his expression grim, "—that's the endgame. How were you planning on beating that?"

"Together," Steve replied firmly, his voice carrying a resolute determination.

Tony’s gaze was unwavering as he stepped closer, his eyes locked onto Steve’s. "We’ll lose," he said bluntly.

"Then we’ll do that together, too," Steve answered without missing a beat, his resolve as unshakable as ever.

We all retreated to our rooms, the exhaustion from the night's events weighing heavily on us. Sleep was urgently needed. I collapsed onto the center of the bed, my thoughts still tangled with the chaos of the evening, when I noticed Steve removing his shirt.

Amid the ongoing Ultron crisis, I had almost managed to push aside the troubling memories from the maze. But now, all the guilt came crashing back, a tidal wave of remorse overwhelming me. I squeezed my eyes shut, only to find that doing so intensified the pain, making Bucky's face the only image that lingered in the darkness.

Steve collapsed onto the bed beside me with a weary sigh and began tracing gentle circles on my stomach. The warmth of his touch sent a shiver through me, and I opened my eyes to meet his gaze. His eyes were filled with concern, but he offered me a reassuring smile and pressed a tender kiss to my forehead.

Tears welled up as I felt the comforting weight of his presence. The softness of his touch and the simple act of lying here with him brought a profound sense of solace amid the turmoil. His brows furrowed in concern when he saw the tears streaming down my face. Gently, he wiped them away with his thumb. My eyes fluttered shut at the feather-light touch, and I leaned into the warmth of his palm.

"I know it's been a tough night, but we’ll be okay," he whispered, his voice soft and soothing as he kissed away my tears.

Despite his comforting words, I felt like the worst person in the world. The weight of my guilt was unbearable, and I lacked the courage to be honest with him, paralyzed by my selfishness. I cupped his face in my hands and gazed up into his eyes, my tears continuing to fall. "I love you, Steve," I choked out, my voice trembling. "I love you so much... I’m so sorry..."

His brow furrowed in confusion, though a faint smile lingered on his lips. "I love you too," he said softly. "But why are you sorry? I don’t understand..." My lip quivered as I stared into his eyes, my mind racing through all the possible outcomes of telling him the truth. The weight of my decision felt unbearable, and despite knowing that honesty was needed, I couldn't bring myself to speak. The reason? A paralyzing sense of selfishness.

As the silence between us grew heavy, I felt a surge of desperation. Unable to bear the weight of my unspoken truth and the agony of not being able to share it, I reached out and pulled him close. My lips crashed against his with an urgent, feverish intensity. It was a kiss born from a mix of fear, regret, and an overwhelming need to connect.

Steve’s initial surprise gave way to a passionate response. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me even closer as if trying to absorb the whirlwind of emotions that had overtaken me.

His hand slid to my thigh as he hovered above me, our tongues and lips meeting in a fervent clash. I grasped the hem of his shirt, tugging it upward to reveal his broad chest. The need to be as close to him as possible drove me to quickly discard the rest of our clothes. We were soon pressed together, our bodies bare and entwined, skin against skin.

"I love you so much," I whispered between labored breaths and gasps as his fingers traced fiery paths over my skin. Each touch ignited a new wave of desire, making my body arch toward him.

Steve's eyes locked onto mine with an intense gaze, his expression a blend of raw passion and deep affection. He leaned in, his breath hot against my ear as he murmured, "I love you too. Always."

I pulled back, my breaths coming in heavy gasps as his eyes fluttered open, surprised by my sudden hesitation. He searched my face for an explanation, but I remained silent. His hand gently cupped my cheek, his voice soft but laced with concern. "What's wrong?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but the words seemed to catch in my throat. The weight of what I needed to say felt overwhelming.

"He was here... Bucky... during the party," I stammered, unsure of how he would react.

His eyes widened in shock. "Why didn’t you tell me? I thought he was leaving... What did he say?" His voice grew almost frantic, a mix of worry and agitation evident in his tone. I pulled the blanket up to my chin, suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable. "He said he was scared... that he didn’t want to leave without me," I confessed, my voice trembling.

Steve's expression shifted to one of deep concern, and a heavy silence settled between us. After a moment, he spoke again, his tone serious. "Well, tell him I want to talk to him."

"I don’t have a way to reach him," I replied, my voice tinged with frustration. "He just appears and disappears, like a ghost."

Steve nodded, a look of determination in his eyes. "Then let him know that next time he shows up. Is that everything he said?"

I nodded, unable to meet his gaze. "That’s it..."

He looked at me for a moment longer, then sighed deeply. "We should try to get some sleep. It’s late." He got up, pulled on his shorts, turned off the lights, and settled back into bed, facing away from me.

I spent the rest of the night wide awake.

Tags: @capswife

Next Chapter

[aithusarosekiller]

tell us please about your top3 (or just 3) wlw relationships in marauders era! and 1-2 headcanons about them additionally ♡

AAAAA ok!!!

It's so difficult to pick but I managed to narrow it down :D I was planning to just share two specific hcs but I got carried away with each one and it just turned into word soup lmao

1: Dorlily

OH MY GOD I LOVE THEM 😭 I don't talk about them NEARLY as much as I should, I need to write a fic for them at some point. The rivals to lovers of it all, the constant competition and snarky flirting. I love them sooooo much! Especially if it ends badly and it's all angsty before they later get with other people but they're still just bitterly pining over eachother. Even when they're together they're trying to one-up each other and it should be toxic but it's their love language. They go from 0-100 so fast (take that however you will) and everybody around them is shocked to find out they're together. Definitely starts off casual and then accidentally grows into something more. If they're endgame I can see them fighting over large purchases and who drives and stuff, not because they hate each other but because they want to see how much they can get away with doing for their partner without addressing it. Kind of like aggressive princess treatment? I mainly like them in modern aus or crime aus.

2: Marylene

Also underrated but they're gaining popularity. Friends to lovers!! They definitely were each other's first crushes and convinced themselves they were over it but they weren't. They got together through their friends plotting and telling them the other liked them bc they couldn't admit to it themselves. A lot of accidental flirting. They work well in both canon and other aus but I love the idea of athletics aus for them (usually dance and hockey) as well as any form of historical bc they're just so chaotic it's amazing. They settle in really well together and none of their friends really notice when they take a new step in their relationship because after the initial panic and denial they end up moving really smoothly. Everyone is jealous of them for it.

3: Crystalflower (Lily and Sybill)

A little biased bc I made this one...but they complement each other so well! They're both smart but Lily is more obviously academically inclined and Syb is a little less obvious in her intelligence but it's there and Lily sees it. Then the angst of the war and the prophecy 😭 of her knowing it could be the woman she loves who is in danger but being in no place to stop it. Having to see Harry and see her girl looking back at her. The GUILT. Sybill teaches her tarot and in return Lily helps her with her extended writing skills. Nobody knows they're together, nobody really knows they hang out, but they like it that way. They can share each other without intervention or judgement.

Bonus: Bugmia (Walburga and Euphemia). Technically not marauders era but I have to mention them bc they're so overhated and I love them as bitter exes where they both thought they could fix each other and it never worked. Also quidditch rivals!!!

[boseobrien]

I understand if bapa shippers would have preferred it if Bose and Chapa ended up together because, hey, that's just them seeing "potential." Bapa is their headcanon. However, what bapa shippers shouldn't do is dis-credit bomika by still saying that their scenes were platonic because at the end of the day, the writers canonically made their scenes to go beyond friendship and when bomika shippers said that their scenes are meant to be romantic they are were right because that's what it was. I might even understood bapa shippers interpreting bapa as something romantic IF the writer had decided way later in the series that they wanted to make Bose and Mika a couple, because before than the writers didn't know who they would want to pair together, but that's not the case. The writers knew from the very start that they wanted to make Bose and Mika a couple, so that means that all those Bapa scene's their shippers claim were romantic were not written that way which means the character's Bose and Chapa never felt that way, and Havan and Luca weren't portraying it that way so it's something completely in ther head, they were not robbed because they never had anything in the bank to begin with. Bose and Mika were written to be paired together, and if Bapa shippers don't see the chemistry, that's them. Not every ship in the world has chemistry for everyone. (Bomika does) but they shouldn't deny that Mika and Bose don't make sense when the whole purpose of their dynamic is that they have a slow burn relationship that not even the characters have fully unlocked yet because the show ended. This whole Bomika/Bapa ship war isn't even a war because Bomika (in the show and in the fandom) was never in competition with Bapa because Bapa doesn't exist was not even a consideration in the show. It's just bitter and toxic Bapa fans who want their reality to be real so bad that they take their insecurities and jealously out on the real endgame of the show because they always knew that Bomika was more than platonic.

Also, Bomika is/ was going to be a representation of interracial romance in childern shows. It was going to show young kids that you anyone can end up together no matter your race or background because love is love. ("But Chapa was poc." Most of you see her as white, point blank period. Which isn't that odd because Havan is white passing) in most Nickelodeon or Disney shows back in the day, couples who ended up together are 98% of the time the we're the same race which is was mainly White. Nickelodeon has only two main endgames that were BWWM, and they we're both Keke Palmer from years ago. Now more recently, networks are starting to branch out with this BWWM rep and you can tell how racist and people who have micro aggression towards these minorities are uncomfortable seeing white male leads in romantic relationships with their other black female leads, and it's really showing peoples true colors from all fandoms, like the Little Mermaid, Percy Jackson, Titans, Spiderman, and etc. Bapa shippers don't seem to understand that their public hate for Bomika is actually rooted in something deeper and need to take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror.

Bapa is an opinion, a headcanon that isn't harmful if you view it that way because it will never, ever, happen.

"Bomika is real" or "Bomika is endgame" or "Bomika is canon." Is not an opinion anymore, It's a fact.

[gwyns]

“I fully feel like the majority of GA/ EL's are young or haven't ever dated (not all of them obvs but yeah). So they think any interaction with a man is romantic and that when a (hot) man is interested in you, you must oblige.” The laugh i let out when an E*riel said this. And yet, their side is making multiple troll accounts & sending death & rape threats. They really think that it’s hot & romantic how Azriel hadn’t planned beyond the fantasies he pleasured himself to, referred to Elain as “the third”, continues to speak up for her when she doesn’t like that, & didn’t care if he hurt Lucien in the Blood Duel even though it would affect Elain regardless if she doesn’t want the mating bond or not. Even if the mating bond is rejected you will always feel that pull. I can’t with E*riels. They’re so delusional. It’s funny how the ones who make posts saying “I want all of us to get along and not bring each other down! We need more peace and love in this fandom! I love how we don’t have to drag down Gwyn to hype up our ship!” And then they like posts or make posts that are gross and disturbing and rude and are sexist & harmful to Gwyn and her trauma.

honestly at first i was going to half agree with this because i thought "oh! a self aware e/riel!!" but then i realized that the "el" in question was referring to eluciens 💀

also isn't it funny how i never ever once saw e/riels use the "oh they're young and inexperienced" take until after gwynriels and eluciens started saying it? and i'm supposed to believe we're not the blueprint?? riiiiight

i find them saying this especially ironic considering elain and az, much like the other ships, haven't actually done anything. they nearly kissed and wanted to fuck. so what? tamlin and feyre did more and guess what? they still weren't endgame. that's just a physical interest, it means next to nothing if you don't actually care about the other person. no gwynriel or elucien is saying our ships actually do care that way about each other yet, just that they'll get there eventually

the glaring issue with them stealing this argument is that you can't apply it to every other gwynriel or elucien you see. meanwhile, more often than not, you see an e/riel scream about them being endgame simply because az was horny and wanted to eat her out. that's it. that's such a naive view of romance. any grown up who has had people show an interest in them will tell you that and idk about anyone else but i've had multiple guys tell me they love me and i didn't feel an obligation to reciprocate a single one!

they try to act so mature and demure (don't understand why this word is suddenly popular but whatever. it's a nice word) but in reality they're bitter, mean and jealous. this shows in every post they make about gwyn, even ones that claim to be neutral or like her. there's always this hint of condescension coming from them. and it's most obvious with them creating multiple troll accounts to... what? show the world they're a loser? i mean, to each their own but at least my ships occupy me enough so i don't have to waste my time obsessing over ones i hate

[saiilorstars]

ch.13: The Lost Pieces 

Steve Rogers x OFC fic • squeeze your eyes for a Bucky Barnes x (2nd) OFC

taglist: @ocappreciationtag​​​​​​​​​​​​ @arrthurpendragon​​​​​​​​​​​ @anotherunreadblog​​​​​​​​​​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​​​​​​​​​​ @stareyedplanet​​​​​​​​​​​ @gloryekaterina​​​ @averyhotchner​​​ @foxesandmagic​​​​​​​​​​​​ @lenonizi @kmc1989​​​​​​​​​​​​

Story Masterlist • Seren’s Masterlist• Chloe’s Masterlist​​

Also available on Fanfic ○ Ao3 ○ Wattpad

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know!

Maria Hill was the savior that no one had expected given their streak of luck lately. But she showed up with a game plan that she explained in a very rushed manner as they headed to some secret base not too far outside the city. She assured them that those inside were people they could trust, and she had to reiterate that to Seren when the latter saw a medic approaching them. Natasha was still nursing a bullet injury in her shoulder and given the severity of the blood she was losing, Seren didn't make it harder. Besides, she had other things to worry about.

"I need some tech — a control room — whatever you have to help me locate Chloe." She was right on Maria's tail and actively searching for a room before Maria even answered. "We need to find Chloe as fast as possible!"

"We'll find her, but I think you'll want to see someone else too," Maria said, sounding oddly confident too.

Seren didn't quite care for it right now, honestly. She couldn't find it to be confident with just about anything right now. Their track record as of late was just awful. "Unless it's God himself — because I have a few questions to ask him — I'm not quite interested, Maria. I need to find Chloe."

"Follow me, guys." Maria picked up her pace and said nothing more, leaving the group with no choice but to follow after her. They followed her down some dark corridors until they came into a dimly lit room where the last person they were expecting was lying on a bed in pretty bad shape...but alive.

Seren became a statue. It took two seconds for Steve to go from surprised to irritated. Natasha was relieved. The only one who didn't understand was Sam.

"About damn time," Nick Fury said to a room full of wide eyes.

There wasn't a word spoken for minutes except for the medic giving Natasha instructions for her injury. Eventually, Fury was the one to break the silence. He did so with a long list of his injuries.

"...lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, one hell of a headache…"

"Don't forget your collapsed lung," the doctor reminded him, as if he needed it.

"Oh, let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good."

"Good?" Seren nearly snorted, still unable to pull herself together from the shock. She was trying to remember to be a decent person and not lose it like she very much wanted to.

Natasha was a lot more calm about the situation, and neither Seren nor Steve were surprised about that. She was always the best at controlling her emotions. She looked at Fury cautiously like he would disappear if she blinked. "They cut you open, your heart stopped…"

"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."

"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve asked, despite already presuming what the answer would be. Like Seren, he was keeping himself calm and surprisingly was doing a better job at it than Seren. He kept glancing in her direction and she was actively avoiding all of their eyes.

"Any attempt on the director's life had to look successful," Maria replied.

"No," said Seren abruptly, shaking her head. "Even if that wasn't the endgame, you still wouldn't have told us anything. And that's the truth." Nobody could ignore the sour resentment in her voice. "Because another truth is that you only tell the full plan to those you trust and clearly," she let out a bitter chuckle, "we weren't on that list. Except for Chloe, of course, and even then..."

"Agent Soul—"

"I'm not 'agent Soul' anymore," Seren snapped. "I never was, apparently! Because SHIELD never existed! Because the whole time there were moles everywhere and even when you did know about them, you didn't tell anyone, Fury!"

"I couldn't tell anyone, Seren, because—"

"Because you didn't trust us!? Are you serious!? Me!?" Seren laughed. She saw Steve reaching for her shoulder but in her anger she stepped away from him. She focused all her attention on the one man who, from her perspective, had a lot of the fault right now. "I've worked my entire life for you and you didn't trust me enough? You doubted my loyalties!?" She started laughing again and brought a hand up to her mouth. "You must be kidding me right now! You gotta be!"

There was a long silence in the room after which everyone except for Seren looked at each other. Steve gazed specifically at Fury with a 'she's right' look. Fury all but rolled his eye and let out a big breath.

"Yes, alright, you have a point but I did what I could," he ultimately said, not that Seren appreciate it. It wasn't what she wanted to hear. I couldn't risk them taking SHIELD's highest agent."

"I could take care of myself," Seren muttered. "Obviously today I'm off my game for reasons beyond my control."

"But that's just it, Seren, I had no idea where to start," Fury said. "I didn't know who was part of the moles and who wasn't. Not even Atria could tell."

The mention of Seren's grandmother put the woman even more on edge. "Excuse me?"

Steve's eyes fell shut. This isn't getting any better...

"My grandmother knew about this?" Seren walked up to the foot of Fury's bed, eyes blazing with newfound anger. "She knew and she didn't say anything!?"

"She couldn't say anything if she didn't know anything, Seren," Fury said. "All she would have done is make you panic. If it's any consolation, she didn't know about this when she brought you on. It was until later and by that time, you were so deep in SHIELD that there wasn't any point."

"Oh, there would've been a point," Seren said. "Because if either of you had told me, maybe Chloe wouldn't be where she is now. With HYDRA."

"That's not on you, Seren," Natasha cut in. She thanked the medic for helping her out and slid off the bed to rejoin the group.

"Yes, it is! I brought Chloe straight to HYDRA! If I had known that there were moles, I would've done things very differently!" Seren's angry eyes were shining with tears. "But now she's out there, God knows where, and I need to find her!"

"We will find her," Steve assured her. He was finally able to claim one of her hands and held it tight. "We're going to find Chloe, we're going to find Bucky too, and this time we're going to make sure that HYDRA goes down."

"Winters was always a target but I never thought it would be like this, much less from who," Fury said. He shifted in his bed to sit up better. "My best guess was always the tech piece she absorbed."

"What could Hydra want with a Hivemind?" Natasha wondered. "Chloe was never able to fully understand them. Nor them to her."

Seren stiffened when she recalled Sitwell's words.

'Hydra lost one of the pieces years ago. The dormant piece can't be activated until they have the other.'

"There's two pieces..." She said with a heavy alarm. "Sitwell said Hydra lost the other piece years ago. The one that HYDRA has couldn't be activated without the other...and now they have Chloe..."

"Wait, wait, how would they activate that piece if Chloe's already absorbed the other one?" Sam asked. "She told me that SHIELD tried taking out her piece but it was impossible."

"It still is," Maria confirmed, having been present for many of those attempts.

"So if they can't take her piece out...then they're going to try to..." Seren gulped as dread filled her chest. "I need to find her!" She had only turned halfway when Fury called her to wait.

"We'll find her but we need to make a plan first," he said.

"With you?" Seren's sharp tongue wasn't something they heard very often. Then again, seeing Seren close to losing it wasn't a very common sight either. Today was an exception for many, many things. She now gazed at her former boss with ire in her eyes. "For what? You want me to work for you like the clueless puppet I've been all my life!? No!"

"Seren—"

"No!" Seren stopped Natasha in her tracks. "You always said that I needed a backbone and so here it is! Words cannot describe how awful I feel right now — how stupid I feel! I mean, how the hell could I have been so blind!? How could I have not seen it before!?" She looked at Fury again. "You just stood there and let all this happen! You couldn't trust SHIELD but what about the Avengers? What about the Initiative I worked my whole life for? The people you managed to get — you didn't think about telling us then!?"

"You were barely a team as it was," Fury reminded her of her own thoughts before. "Even Rogers was more than reluctant to join."

"But I was there!" Seren yelled. "I was always there, Fury! I saw the walls of SHIELD bases than my own home! But you let me keep working in the dark! You let me bring an innocent girl into this web and you let her stay in it! And now you want me to jump back into my role as naive Agent Soul? Ha, I don't think so!" She spun around and stormed out of the room.

For all the attention that Steve suddenly got when Seren left, he didn't really feel as awkward as the others. He gave a small shrug of his shoulders as he met Fury's gaze. "I would just be grateful she didn't go supernova..."

~ 0 ~

Chloe struggled every now and then with the agents behind her. Her wrists had been bound with special cuffs meant to negate her abilities. Apparently, while SHIELD had developed a special pair for Seren, HYDRA had been working alongside with the project on a similar model just for Chloe. Wasn't she just lucky...

"Where the hell are we going?" she demanded from the pair of agents. Of course, just like the last time she asked, nobody answered her. "Where did you take the others?"

No answer.

They pushed her into some building, a bank by the looks of it, where she found a much heavier load of agents waiting for her. As brave as she wanted to be, she couldn't deny her racing heart nor the fear that was growing inside her. She was outnumbered by the dozens. The thing about always being on the run is that she was not used to facing heavy numbers like this. Hell, she wasn't as skilled of a fighter as her friends, definitely not like Seren. She was a runner, Seren was a fighter.

Now here she was, facing the shadows that had been after her for so long. She had plenty of faces to match said shadows.

And she was afraid. She was alone and so very afraid.

She dug her heels in the floor, forcing the agents behind her to physically push her forwards. She, in turn, put all her efforts to slowing their pace. "I don't want to go anywhere with you!" she yelled. "I want to see my friends! I want to see Seren!"

"Why, so we can blow her brains out right along with yours?" She heard Rumlow's voice ahead of her. She stopped fighting against the agents as he approached her.

Disgust etched across Chloe's face as she looked at him. "You wish you could get that close to her. She'd wipe the floor with you. And that's if Steve didn't get to you first." She smirked for a brief moment before Rumlow made to smack her across the face. She instinctively flinched but for some reason, Rumlow didn't go through with it. "Where...where are the others?"

Rumlow's lip curled into a deep scowl.

Ifthey'redeadthentherewouldbenoanger—

Chloe squeezed her eyes shut and groaned with the sudden blast of words in her head.

Hadtheybeenkilledtherewouldbeatotalsatisfactiononhisface—

"Stop, stop, stop," she whimpered.

—buttherewillbeaguaranteed100—

"I said STOP!" she yelled.

Rumlow laughed, making her open her eyes to see the grin on his face. "I always knew you were damn crazy, Winters."

"Shut up," she muttered.

"She's not crazy, Rumlow. She's gifted." Alexander Pierce arrived on the scene with his own flock of agents behind him. He smiled towards Chloe like she wasn't being detained against her will. "She took a little longer to be ready but that's alright. HYDRA is nothing if not patient, especially with its greatest assets."

"I am not your asset," Chloe spat. "Where are my friends? You didn't kill them. He" — she nodded at Rumlow — "would've bragged about it already. But instead he scowled."

"Did you deduce that on your own?" asked Pierce, eyes already studying her in a way she absolutely hated. "Or was it them?" For her own safety she would stay quiet. "Tell me, do you know what they are? Where they're from? It must be magnificent to have an entire race in your head."

"Not as much as you would think," she said. "It gets loud."

"Well, it's all your fault, really. Nobody asked you to stick your nose where it didn't belong," Rumlow said with a sarcastic smile. "But you've always been annoying like that, haven't you?"

"And you've always been second best, right?" she countered with a smug smile. "And in case you're wondering, I deduced that on my own." Rumlow's face fell before she finished. He made a move against her when Pierce shut him down.

"Stand down." Pierce's word was law by the looks of it. Now it made sense to Chloe why she wasn't really hurt (beyond the emotional trauma). Pierce wanted her for something. "Your friends, as you say, escaped but it won't be a problem. We have powerful weapons, after all."

Chloe stiffened. Her eyes roamed the hallway. It was abandoned judging by the dirt accumulating on the walls. But it was dead quiet. Her eyes started glowing blue. Pierce watched with an almost fascination. Up until now he had only heard from their infiltrators in SHIELD what their Hivemind looked like inside Chloe Winters.

And suddenly, the glow in Chloe's eyes faded and she was back in the present. Her eyes flickered back to Pierce with the sense of new knowledge. "You have him here, don't you?" She asked what she already knew. "This whole time, the ghost you had following me was the supposedly late Sergeant Barnes."

"The Hivemind again?" Pierce's lips stretched into another clean smile.

"I was there when his mask fell...but yes, the Hivemind helps connect the dots. He's here right now. So what do you want from me?"

"They haven't told you, then?" Pierce seemed to take extra satisfaction learning her disadvantage. "Let's walk," he motioned to her.

She raised an eyebrow at him, hoping that every part of her body was screaming that she hated him. The agents behind her, however, shoved her forwards. She stumbled a few steps until she was able to reclaim her balance. She swallowed hard and raised her head to walk alongside Pierce.

"The piece that you absorbed when you were a kid, didn't you ever wonder why you couldn't fully connect to the Hivemind?"

Of course she had but in the beginning, she was just terrified that she had a piece of tech in her body in the first place. "What the hell was it doing there in the first place?"

"Ah, mission gone wrong," Pierce rolled her eyes. "Decommissioned the agents who failed there. The tech pieces were left behind from an old mission in the 60s. It took us forever to find them but imagine my reaction when only one piece made it to my hands?"

Chloe suddenly felt a tiny bit of pity for the agent in charge of that mission. "What did you want with them?"

"It was HYDRA's hope that we would learn how to wield the pieces correctly. We didn't know they were part of a Hivemind until we examined the piece we had."

"What did you think they were before?"

"Nobody knew except that they were alien," Pierce said. "And you'll understand that anything foreign can always be of value if wielded correctly. HYDRA takes anything it can and this wouldn't be an exception. So even when we only had one piece, we made it a priority to figure out what the tech could do. But unfortunately, we soon realized that we didn't have anything without the other piece." Pierce finally looked at Chloe, who gulped. "It was even more unfortunate when we learned where the piece had gotten to — into. A clueless girl that one of our own agents brought to S.H.I.E.L.D."

Chloe looked away. Seren. Seren had unknowingly brought her to the very organization that would try to kill her later on. "You wanted to kill me—you tried to kill me several times. What, did you expect to yank it out of my corpse?"

"Initially," Pierce said without a care of Chloe's horrified face. "But that was before we got all your test results. When SHIELD conducted its initial tests on you, HYDRA learned how the piece had fused to your body. It is now part of your body, meshed with your DNA. Even if we had killed you, we wouldn't have been able to salvage the piece you absorbed. We would've damned ourselves."

That's why they stopped trying to kill me, Chloe realized. They needed me alive. "But...but you started following me? What for? And trying to kidnap me?"

"If we could not take the piece back, we had to at least make sure we could harvest its power regardless of its whereabouts. But you turned out to be one smart cookie." Pierce stopped in front of a gated door. "Fury never shared the statuses of your missions. There were no reports of it either. You were hard to find, Miss Winters, and that is very impressive for someone on Hydra's list."

"I don't feel very honored," Chloe moved her arms a bit to remind them of the very special clamps on her wrists. "In fact, I feel more like a prisoner which" — she bobbed her head — "I'm sure is what Sergeant Barnes has probably felt this whole time too."

"The cuffs are merely precautions," Pierce said with a smug smile Chloe wished she could wipe off with her powers. "You need to understand first."

"Forgive me if I don't understand the people who have made my life miserable for the past 8 years! I lost my family because of you people! I couldn't go back home anymore! They think I ran away! I lost everything!"

"For a good cause, our cause," Pierce remained uncharacteristically calm despite the shouting in his face. "You're young, you don't understand what we're trying to do."

"My age doesn't define whether or not I understand good and bad. I am more than competent to decide what I want and let me tell you that being here is something I don't want. What I would want is to get the hell out of here and see my friends—scratch that," she nodded towards the gated door, "I would like to take that poor man with me and get the hell out of here!"

"You're here to serve us now," Pierce's voice took a more natural hard tone. That's the one Chloe thought would be more his style. "You don't say 'no' to HYDRA. I know your limits, Winters. We've studied them right alongside SHIELD, make no mistake of that."

Chloe's eyes flickered to the agents surrounding them. "Why am I here?" she asked. "What are you going to do with me?"

"Connect the pieces, what else?"

"No," she shifted her gaze to the gate. Her eyes took on a soft blue glow. "That's not why I'm here. You could've done that anywhere. I'm here for another reason."

Peace. He's under duress. They cannot control him.

She straightened herself up and looked directly at Rumlow. "Open the gate," she commanded, much to his shock.

He scoffed at her. "In case you forgot, you're not in charge."

She cocked her head at him. "Open. The. Gate."

Just as Rumlow's face twisted with anger, Pierce spoke up. "Open the gate, Rumlow. She understands now."

Rumlow's head snapped in his direction. "But she's not—"

"Open it," Pierce reiterated, tone cold as ice.

Rumlow's jaw clenched but he went around the pair to open the gate. A scientist was coming up to the other side when the gates opened up.

"He's erratic, sir," he fumbled with Pierce, especially when he saw Chloe. "I-I don't know…"

"She'll know what to do," Pierce said with such a certainty that brought more nerves to Chloe. She sure hoped she could figure out that 'what' part in the span of the walk there.

Eventually, she was led into a room that couldn't possibly be filled with more agents and scientists. For a split second, she got the gist of Seren's fear of doctors. All the prodding and the experiments they could do with nobody to stop them. Only in this case, the "subject" wasn't a Celessian but a human man.

Not completely human, don't kid yourself Chloe.

She stopped as soon as Piece did—this would be the only time she would fall in line with him—and looked ahead. All the pictures in the world wouldn't compare to the sight of Bucky Barnes today. He didn't look a thing like the museums portrayed him as. Steve would always say that Bucky had the sharpest of looks and a charming smile. Chloe often agreed with him when she saw the pictures but not today. Today, he looked like a man with a blank slate.

He seemed beyond exhausted in his chair. His eyes were low and detached. His bare shoulders rose every now and then with a visible breath but Chloe suspected that he was too tired for even that. His hair was long enough to almost reach his shoulders and it looked in dire need of care. Chloe's eyes lingered over his metal arm that rested idly on the arm rest. Whatever damage Natasha had done to it earlier was gone. But she still couldn't get past the ugly red that marked the connection between the metal and his flesh. She wondered if it hurt all the time...

"Has he been here the whole time? With Hydra?" she found herself asking as if she would be privy to any answers.

To her surprise, Pierce did give her a response. "His work has been a gift to mankind."

"He...he died," Chloe shook her head. "He's been dead since 1940 — you've had him since 1940!?" She was absolutely horrified at the idea of just how long Bucky had been (no doubt) tortured since then. "Decades..."

"He has a bit of a head-start than you, of course. But he'll be a great teacher. And you will make a good ally."

"A what—?"

"You can see the future!"

"I can't really—"

"You would help devise the Winter Soldier's plans and execute them. Together, you'd be unstoppable and thus make HYDRA invincible."

Chloe let out a humorless, loud laugh. "I will die before I become anything of HYDRA's!"

"Funny, that's what Barnes said in the beginning too. Least that's what the reports said."

Chloe swallowed very hard and whipped her head in Bucky's direction. He's a ghost of who he once was. It terrified her to think that she could end up like him. "N-no..." she took a step back and bumped into Rumlow. She turned and saw the other agents stepping towards her. They had surrounded her and blocked off the entrance.

"You are here to do a job, Winters," Pierce said. "One that you will do a lot in the future now. SHIELD kept a good record of that ability. Peacefulness."

Chloe sucked in a breath as the Hivemind started whispering in her head. The fight. It's left him troubled. Chloe glanced at Bucky again. He looked like he was in an endless struggle. "The fight...he's starting to remember, isn't he?"

"He can't remember what's not true," hissed Pierce.

Chloe's head snapped in his direction, looking rather indignant on Bucky's behalf. "You're joking right?" Now instead of fear, all she felt was anger. HYDRA was prepared to act like they didn't kidnap and brainwash a whole man for decades. If she had the power to give him even just a little piece of all those memories, then she had a duty to at least try. "I need my hands," she said firmly.

Pierce glanced at the agent holding the key and nodded at him to go ahead. Chloe was perfectly still as the agent stepped up to uncuff her.

"I'm sure the Hivemind will tell you that your chances of escaping here are very slim," Pierce warned when Chloe was free. "Rest assured if none of my agents catch you, he will," he gave a nod in Bucky's direction.

Chloe had no doubt about that. She took in a breath and stepped towards him. Her fingers danced on her sides the closer she got. "Sergeant," she decided to go with for the moment. She doubted he remembered his own name right now anyways.

"He hasn't been that in decades," Rumlow said.

"I don't think I asked for your opinion," she snapped and came to stand in front of Bucky, though leaving a cautious distance for the moment. "We met before at the attack on the bridge…"

At the mention of the bridge, Bucky's eyes finally lifted from the floor. Chloe held her breath for a moment. Even the shine of the blue eyes that Steve talked about were gone.

"The man on the bridge…" Bucky said, his voice gruff, "Who was he?" She would know. She was on their side. She was always on their side.

"Don't answer," warned Pierce on time because Chloe had been just about to do that.

"You send him to kill Steve and you don't even have the courage to tell him who he is?" She shouldn't be surprised. HYDRA were made up of cowards. "Maybe you're not as brave as you think."

"Agent Winters, you seem to think like you're in control but I assure you that you are not," Pierce's face hardened. "You figured out what you're here for, now do it."

Chloe turned away from them. She met Bucky's gaze and had a very limited time to think of what to do. It wasn't like she had options to begin with. "I'm Chloe." She said, maybe it would matter if someone gave him a name. After decades and missions like these, she doubted Bucky recognized any of the agents with a name. "I, um, I think we've already met...in a way. But, um, that fight on the bridge—"

"Agent Winters—"

"—left you very, uh...tired, right?" Chloe smiled nervously at Bucky. He, in turn, remained blank. "I can help you." It was harder to go on when all Bucky did was stare at her. He had to be calculating her moves. If only he knew that she had zero moves right now.

But in truth he was placing her. She was the mission that he didn't understand right-away. She was the mission that, in a way, allowed him to rest. There was never any fighting for her missions, never any kind of encounter with someone. He just watched from a distance and reported back.

Now she's been captured. He knew what that meant for her...what could come next.

"...run." His quiet whisper managed to elicit a sharp gasp from Chloe. It even startled the rest of the room. The Winter Soldier hardly ever spoke when he wasn't addressed.

Chloe's shock wore off as she realized what he tried to do for her. Her expression softened. "I can't," she replied to him. She smiled sadly at him. "I...I have to stay here. But if I have to stay here, then I at least want to help you. I, um...I have an ability that, um, well...it's known to ease the mind. I won't look through any of your memories. I only want to help calm you down. I just need to touch your temples." She gestured to her own temples with her glowing blue hands. "May I?"

"Why are you asking? Just do it already," one of the scientists told her.

Chloe's eyes flickered to them. There was no point in being incredulous bug she couldn't help it. "Just because you all chose to violate his body and his every thought, doesn't mean I'm doing the same!" With that, she shifted her gaze back on Bucky.

He hadn't moved, not even an inch, he only stared. At the very least he could be trying to figure her out, which was a fair thing to do. She was a bit too bright for his usual interactions. As much as he thought, he couldn't understand what her purpose was. Everyone around him had a purpose, whether it was to fix him or give him orders, but everyone had a purpose. It all typically came down to make him more efficient.

"You have the Hive Mind..." He remembered, and watched her face pale. Was her Hive Mind like his metal arm? Her "advantage"?

Chloe wasn't surprised that he knew that. "I do," she nodded, "But I only want to help you. I know a thing or two about having your mind violated. And it's also because of these people."

Bucky's eyes flickered to the others. Chloe took that as a win. He was listening. She reached for his temples only for him to seize her wrists. She flinched then heard the shifts of the weapons behind her taking aim on Bucky.

"Stop!" she told them. She tried not to budge as much under Bucky's tight grip. He was rightfully suspicious of her. She doubted nobody before her had ever used a "good guy" tactic on him. His eyes frantically searched hers for any sign, a clue, of what she would really do to him if he allowed her to touch him. "If you don't want it, I won't do it," she eventually said to him.

For a second, he lost his grip on her. It was evident that he'd been expecting anything but that. He turned his head towards the others; the weapons were still on him.

Chloe followed his gaze. "Lower them," she ordered. "You want me to do this, then lower the weapons. Otherwise you'll have one dead Hivemind and bye-bye evil plans."

With that logic, it was only time before the weapons were gone.

It was almost bemusing to see the shock on Bucky's face when it happened. Chloe smiled slightly at him. "Can I?" She gestured her wrists still bound by his hands.

The shock wasn't enough to cover his expression when she asked for his permission. Because of that, Bucky gave a slim nod of his head. Now he was curious and that was a novelty. He hadn't been curious about anything in...he didn't know how much time had passed.

Chloe's smile widened with his nod. She just wished her hands wouldn't shake so much. You are way out of your element here. No matter. She had to push through.

Bucky was still as a statue when her hands reached him. As much as he despised foreign hands on him — he learned to hate it once he got the gist of what typically happened whenever somebody touched him — he still didn't move. He did note, though, how unusually soft her fingers were. And gentle. That was entirely distinctive from the others.

She looked at him with a light that nobody else possessed. It made him curious again — and the novelty came again — about what she would have to do for Hydra. It also made him feel sorry for what was to come because no matter what was coming, it wouldn't be good.

"Just think," Chloe whispered to him. She was very slow when it came to pressing her forehead against his, closing her eyes. Usually, she didn't do this step but given the amount of years Bucky had, she needed to go big. She often did it with Steve as well and he had that gap of 70 years in the dark. She was grateful that Bucky didn't immediately shove her away. She could feel his nervous breath and definitely felt the subtle moment in which he flinched at the closer connection. She just hoped that she could keep his trust going. "The uneasiness, the questions, think about that and feel the ease that I'll send through."

Bucky had not closed his eyes, wanting to be alert as much as possible, though it really didn't seem like Chloe was going to try anything. She seemed very different from everyone else — she was. All the scientists around him were always rough and brief with him. Yes, he was enhanced to withstand 'rough' but it didn't mean he liked it. Chloe was very far from that. Her fingers were so soft pressed against his skin. She smelled so nice too. And the best part? She genuinely wanted to help.

Chloe focused all her power on Bucky. Never had she tried so hard to make it work. While Bucky had no idea what was supposed to be happening, he felt it. It was strange. His mind, as fuzzy and conflicted as it was, started to shift. Every thought, no matter what it was, was dissolving to allow this wave of serenity to wash over him. How could this woman be producing that level of calmness? As much as he had planned to stay alert, his eyes fell shut. For the first time since he could remember, everything dark around him slipped away. He knew nothing but sweet bliss and calmness.

And it was in that sweet bubble that he saw flashes. They were quick, disappearing almost as soon as they showed up, and very fragmented. Voices filled his ears, unknown but at the same time very familiar. And then he saw him. The man from the bridge. He was smaller, but the same face. They were an old street—

"That's enough," came Pierce's order.

Chloe's fingers pulled away from Bucky's temples and she pulled back. She met his gaze sheepishly. "I hope it helped you," she said honestly. He seemed surprised, and a bit troubled again. Maybe she hadn't helped him...

Bucky looked at her with wide eyes. "The man on the bridge...I knew him. You...you showed him..."

"I didn't..." Chloe said nervously, glancing back at Pierce. The last thing she needed was for him to think she was showing Bucky images of his past life. "I can't — I can't actually do that..."

Bucky was sure of what he saw. "He was there. And..." The voices he heard now began to sound a lot like the man too. "Who was he?"

"You met him earlier this week on another assignment," Pierce answered him.

Chloe looked back at him, her eyebrows knitting together with incredulity. "You can't just wash this over, you know. He will figure it out."

"It's been seventy years, Winters."

"So this is the first time they met again and look at what's already happened?" Chloe gestured towards Bucky. He was clearly trying his best to remember. "As much as you can brainwash with your high tech, the brain is a complicated thing. It's surprising."

"I knew him," Bucky said, inadvertently proving her point.

Chloe very quickly confirmed it. "You did!" After that, she had agents coming to retrieve her. She thrashed and yelled at them to leave her alone.

Bucky watched her with new curiosity—it was almost becoming familiar to him in a way. Being curious. Despite her loud yells, she seemed confident about what she was saying. He did know that man.

Pierce walked up to him while Chloe was forced to stay a good distance back. "Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped the century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're gonna give it a push. But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves."

"What!?" Chloe's face scrunched. She knew that it was in her best interest not to speak but when had she ever been prudent about anything? "What kind of bullshit is that—"

"ENOUGH!" Rumlow pulled out his gun and pressed it against her temple. "I swear to God, Winters, say one more thing!" Chloe naturally recoiled from the cool metal on her skin, but being restrained didn't help get very far. "You don't have to die but we can sure as hell find a way to shut you up."

The natural fear in her whimper brought Bucky to make his conclusion that she was most certainly not like the others around him. If that was the truth then she had no reason to lie. She said that he did know the man on the bridge.

Pierce cleared his throat to remind him that he was still waiting for a response. Bucky's eyes left Chloe to meet the man's. "But I knew him," he insisted. He hadn't been certain about anything in a while, but now he was. "I did."

Pierce shook his head. "Winters, your little act is going to cost you."

Chloe made a face. "But I didn't—!"

"Prep him," he ordered the scientists.

"He's been out of cryo-freeze too long," one of them said.

"Then wipe him and start over!"

Chloe watched the people around them hurriedly move to do whatever Pierce instructed them to do. "What...what are they going to do?" She could see that whatever it was, Bucky was no stranger to it. He seemed ready for it but with a deep, and genuine, fear. She got the idea why when clamps shut around his arms. "Woah, woah, woah, wait!" She pushed herself towards them, forcing the agents around her to hold her back. "Leave him alone! It's my fault! I did it — leave him alone!" Her eyes started glowing a radiant blue, causing the agents to scramble to cuff her again.

Pierce was out of patience. "Implant the other piece," he commanded.

"What!? No!" Chloe's eyes widened with horror. "N-n-n-n-no!" The agents started pulling her away and as much as she fought, she couldn't stop them. "NO! NO! PLEASE DON'T! NO! NO!"

Bucky heard her screaming as she was dragged out of the room. It triggered a few more memories of himself in very similar situations. Endless screams just before the torture began. It was his last thought before his hell started all over again.

[dontbotherwiththepronunciation]

Hi!

I loved everything you already shared about the poll with us. I would be super interested if you could share some of the ideal endgame scenarios people envisioned and if they correlated with other aspects(specifically ship preference and liking house Stark)

Hi! I am extremely sorry for how long this has taken. Things have been busy and this took more time than I thought it would. In all truth there weren't that many correlations when it came to ship and preference. My biggest surprises were that both, in the Iron Islands and the North, people would prefer him to be in a non-ruling position, that the option "At the Wall" was so popular, and that the option of him becoming Bran's prophet was shown a lot more love than what I usually perceive in fandom.

To be honest I think this was the most entertaining ask I've gotten about the survey and it was nice to embark on a slightly more complex mini-project.

Other data for reference: The overall House Stark score out of the 109 people (that is counting my irls) who gave a punctuation was of ~6,22/10

Also fun enough out of the 1/10 voters six of them were my Stark-hating irls whom I dearly love for their extremist tendencies/j jdsghfjsdhf

Numbers regarding most and least liked ships (including my irls):

Also, once again, this is a mix of interpretations and ideas and please be mindful of not publicly shaming someone who can't defend themselves. If I could keep the bitterness down so can you. Bitch about it with your mutuals and friends (also me if you really need someone) but don't go around publicly mocking those who were kind enough to offer me their insight.

Shipping, pro/anti-House Stark views and other tendencies in preferred endgames:

King/Lord of the Iron Islands

Average House Stark score was of ~5,0/10 and surprisingly Thenye and Greysnow people were more present in this group (9/13 Greysnows and 10/23 Theynes) while the rest were lacking (8/46 throbbs, 3/14 thamsays, 1/10 theonsas and two other voters didn't pick any ships. Book vs Show people were distributed proportionately although when it came to themes, people who chose Nr. 4 Suffering, redemption vs irredeemability, accountability over past misdeeds were more inclined to pick this option (17/23 counting my irls).

hmphhhh…difficult things here. i know what i dont want but......was it you tereshkova who said satisfaction doesnt know its own shape, or was it đặng? nothing new you already know my ideas. more than anything id like to see him in environments that are stressful but emotionally cathartic. you told me about the fandom-cottage thing and….naaaahhhhh…i dont like it. if he has to have a life of idleness id want that to be unsatisfactory for him. i think having him as an advisor or ruler in the islands is still my favourite endgame but only if hes allowed to do things. his time with the starks and the boltons might make him reflect on ironborn culture and his own (exaggerated) views on it. politically he could try to adopt a more centrist position on old-new-way and hopefully make some reforms about the rape culture and thralldom. i want him to go on long walks at the beach late at night with jeyne, falia, wex, qarl and tris. i think he deserves real friends. oh and i want him to kill ramsay. rip you and your christian dogma but im different.

Puppet King/Lord of the Iron Islands

Average House Stark score of ~6,1/10 with no strong shipping preferences. Asha wasn't in the top 5 POV characters of many, but most of those who picked her were also inclined to this possible endgame, which I found curious and those who were particularly interested in many Theon & Greyjoy relationships were also majorly present in this group.

Non-ruling position in the Iron Islands

No tendencies at all. This answer was picked by more than half of those who responded the question and it was a complete mix when it came to ships and themes of interest. Something that was quite shocking to me though was House Stark's average score of ~8,9/10.

At the Wall

I would have expected Greysnow people to be more fond of this option yet only 6/13 picked it and it somehow still managed to be the second most popular one. The average score for House Stark was a high one too, ~8,4/10, and in all truth there weren't many remarkable things perhaps with that this group was composed mostly of people who first engaged with the books before the show (36/53), which was uncommon compared to the other answers and that half of the thramsay shippers (7/14) also picked this option.

Exiled/in Essos

There wasn't anything disproportionate when it came to ships but a tendency I found interesting was how many of the TCK's (11/15, counting my irls) were fond of this concept. This is also one of the few subsets in which Daenerys found a warmer welcome compared to Sansa (who was still loved but had less sympathisers than usual). The House Stark score had an average of ~4,9/10, which was lower than I'd have expected, and 17/26 voters (≈ 65,3%) were of the mind Theon could have adapted to the Iron Islands while only 6/26 (≈ 23%) were against that concept.

Bro I can’t fathom how you're twisting and turning with this question kkkkkkk (ノ_<。)ヾ(´ ▽ ` ) Purely wish-fulfilment and only wish-fulfilment I’d want him to go somewhere where the title of perpetual stranger won’t contradict his own perception of self. Somewhere where he can only be considered as a stranger but it won’t clash with a false sense of home. We’ve discussed Braavos and you made me curious with your talk of Lorath as places of escapism that are thematically meaningful and rehab and therapy away from war and toxic people would do him well. AND HE HAS TO TAKE JEYNE WITH HIM HE PROMISED HE PROMISED HE HAS TO KEEP ONE FUCKING PROMISE IN HIS LIFE

Advisor/Hand/Servant in Winterfell

House stark average score of ~7,2/10, responders were also fond of him staying in a non-ruling position in the North (23/26 voters picked that option too). This time there was a strong current of shippers: 14/26 voters picked throbb as their preferred ship (~30,4% of all throbb people) and 7/26 voters picked theonsa (=70% of all theonsa people). Unlike the previously mentioned option, it was Sansa who had the most sympathisers here with Daenerys being perceived as a villain by 7/26 of the voters and six being alright with her possible descent into madness. Sansa however had 15/26 voters rooting for her to become Queen in the North and only 4/26 voters being accepting of darker twists in her storyline.

Non-ruling position in the North

This is the group that gave the highest scores to House Stark and so we come to an average of ~9,2/10. Throbb were very much in the lead here (22/37) and surprisingly there was a concept that was often repeated by the throbb people who picked this option involving Theon staying in the North somewhere in a cottage in a semi-delusional state of mind and regularly hallucinating Robb as a positive presence in his life. Some mentioned Asha, Wex and/or Sansa as people who visited him but for some reason Jeyne was never included although the answers came from people who claimed to have read the books. Here's an example:

Someone had this post on tumblr where he gets to heal in a cottage in the North and lives alone but for Wex who takes care of him and Robb who is still dead but Theon hallucinates him and the two finally get to be in love and happy but he's not real and theon is lying to himself because not having robb at his side would make life unbearable how is he supposed to move on without him? how can he be happy when the only person who truly loved him is gone because of him? Sansa visits him and she is warm and kind and plays along because she understands his pain

Prophet of the Drowned God

I was mostly just surprised that it was such a popular option given how I haven't seen it explored a lot in the current fandom. Theon's religious arc is a personal point of interest for me since it mirrors Aeron's but I rarely see the fandom taking it into account. The House Stark average score reached ~6,5/10 and prefered ships were distributed properly. This whoever was the only case in which the Theon & Aeron and Theon & Euron relationships were picked more often than Theon & Alannys, still lower than Asha but significantly more popular in this group.

Sadly there weren't any answers that expanded on this more, but this possibility caught my attention.

he is the drowned God (i’m joking but am i)

Bran's Prophet

Average House Stark score of ~5,7/10 which was slightly below the total average. There weren't any strong shipping preferences although it was not surprsing but remarkable to see almost all those who had Bran as one of their favourite POV characters (9/10) pick this while only 4/10 were fond of the "Dies for the Starks/Bran" option. A majority of of those who picked this option got to interact with the books before the show (30/47).

Theon finding his place at bran's side, and bran forgiving him for his misdeeds. But i need it at the ultimate snail's pace.

Dies for the Starks/Bran

Only three out of the voters also marked the option of him becoming King/Lord of the Iron Islands, the vast majority preferred throbb as a ship (16 out of this subset.about ~34,7% of all throbb shippers) and the overall House Stark ranking was of ~7,1/10. Overall many on this subset rejected the idea that he could have fit into the Iron Islands had he returned sooner or never been taken and a surprising number explained that an endgame they'd loath would be him getting into a ruling position.

i don't want him to be given a position of honor or power. he is a fundamentally changed character who is highly traumatized and disabled both mentally and physically as well as being haunted by the ghosts of his past. there is no possible way for it to make sense that he is given power over a sheep farm let alone a kingdom

Dies by Stannis' hand

Sadly nothing really remarkable. No disproportionate shipping tendencies and an average score for House Stark of ~5,7/10. Those who chose this option weren't majorly from any specific demographies or tended to choose a specific option for themes. Slightly disappointing since I was curious. I did however find it interesting that out of those who chose this option, everyone also picked the "At the wall" possibility.

Stannis is going to kill him and I've made my peace with that.

Dies by Ramsay's hand

Not many strong tendencies. The House Stark score was on an average of 5,6/10 and out of the people who picked this alternative only 2/8 were thramsay people. The rest were two throbs, one theyne, one theonsa and the other two didn't pick any preferred ships. Opinions on House Stark differed greatly although in this case it wasn't tied to ships and the throbb and theonsa people gave it rather low ratings. Something that picked my attention is how the eight people here were also inclined to choose "Dies a traitor's death" as a possibility they'd be content with. Thematically I can imagine why but it still was surprising to me.

Dies heroically and publicly redeemed

Average House Stark score of ~5,8/10. There weren't any strong shipping tendencies. It didn't even strongly contrast with the "Dies a traitor's death with only a few people remembering him fondly" option since 10 of it's voters would have also been content with that option. There wasn't anything noticeable when it came to preferred themes either.

Dies a traitor's death with only a few people remembering him fondly

A significant number (11/14≈ 78% ) of thramsay shippers picked this option and the average score of House Stark in this subset was of ~3,1/10. Very fun for me to observe, I didn't think this option would show any clear tendencies but it did. When it came to chosen themes there was something interesting going on. Nr.3 (the most chosen one out of all voters) was only chosen three times by people who picked this possibility although there wasn't a clear preference for another specific set of themes.

It would feel deeply wrong to me if he died heroically and was lauded after his death. It feels like so much of his story is about accountability and living with your mistakes/regrets and and ending like that would completely undermine that message. I also hate the idea of him being in some sort of position serving the Starks because feeling beholden to them was the source of so much of his discontent and issues to begin with. I think the most satisfying ending would be one where Theon gets to be his own person, not who anyone else wants or expects him to be.

Here are some of the wish fulfilment answers that I am allowed to quote and either proposed less common endings or expanded on the common ones in case you are curious. The question on the survey was:

What would be your ideal Theon endgame? You can list more than one concept/scenario. It can be as unrealistic as you want. This is pure wish fulfilment.

listen i just want him to kill ramsay it'll be satisfying

Away! Free cities! Go live and be free, my beautiful damaged honeybee

Half of his ashes are buried with Robb and the rest are thrown in the sea

Asha's hand on the Iron Islands or in the wild north like Jon in the show

I'd like him to survive, but I'd like him to strike out as a common man. I'd enjoy it if he could abandon his noble origins and just be Theon.

Theon living a simple life in the North, maybe by the coast. Asha comes to visit sometimes. He can't use a bow anymore but he has a sweet old horse to keep him company.

him fighting at winterfell against the others and dying. history remembering his terrible deeds but the people who knew him remembering his acts of kindness and bravery.

i really want him to be a kind of diplomat between the iron islands and the north, moving between the two families and homes he has ever known. finally being a greyjoy and a stark

made to take the black, living out the rest of his days on the wall unrecognizable and quietly introspective, ignoring the imminent magic war. or some sort of prophet/mouthpiece of the old gods.

My ideal scenario is that Sansa is queen in the north, Asha is queen of the iron isles. Sansa/Theon is a purely political marriage alliance with Theon getting to live in Winterfell with Jeyne living there as well, and he gets to heal from trauma.

Puppet king or not even a king (but either way, Asha did use him with his consent so she could take the Seastone Chair), living in the Iron Islands. Healing, maybe with Jeyne, perhaps not. Not sure he seeks fatherhood, may be satisfied as an uncle. Possibly a prophet/diplomat to Bran's court on the Isle of Faces.

As horrible as this may sound considering he is my favorite character, I do wish that by the end of the series he's dead. Not in TWOW yet and definitely not by being executed by Stannis. I can't really say how I wished it would happen. The show version doesn't really feel exactly right for book Theon, but I still think it'd have something to do with Bran.

Get the guy to a place where he can belong. Get him to a place where he can have agency, and a purpose that he stands behind. Get him to a place where he can heal and recover as much as possible. I can also see him taking on a mentor role for children of some sort, seeing as he's haunted by the ones he killed/ordered to have killed to be placed as fBran and fRickon

I truly have no idea. Hair grows in black again 😂. Um vibing with Jon on the wall, or if Jon's not on the wall being some advisor or something for him. He could do something with Asha too. I'd like for him to talk with bran cuz it seems they've almost spoken through trees and such. I guess I'd be content if Theon was content I don't know what that looks like for him

I think it would be great if he died in a way that made him feel heroic but he was not remembered heroically. Maybe a death no one else knew about but which saved lives etc. I'd like to have someone offhandedly mention finding his body (ideally not even knowing who he is) and burying him an an unmarked grave. Nameless and landless for all eternity, not even the king of his own resting place.

My ideal Theon endgame is him returning to the Iron Islands eventually, and facing his sister/Euron again/at least once. I want his arc to entwine with Aeron's somehow, and I want more interaction with his seemingly prophetic abilities. I don't think I'd want him to stay in the Iron Islands, though. I'd like it if he eventually travelled abroad/was exiled to Essos, or another land removed from the conflict. Puppet king Theon with Asha is also great!

Idk tbh. My ideal endgame is he escapes with Robb when they are kids and go live in dorne or something lol Hmm. Actually tho. I think I would be very happy with him joining the free folk somehow. Becoming besties with mance. And then the white walkers end up being a physical manifestation of their society’s disconnection with nature and magic and suppression of different ways of life. And the free folk + bran + Daenerys, missandrei and co end up being instrumental in helping the threat end without reproducing even more violence. And Theon gets a wonderful wildling husband or wife and lives happily ever after cjvghxh

Maybe as Sansa’s king consort ? I think with all her shit marriage, this one would be her endgame, he would sometimes advise her and would aid Yara to make her peace known through the Iron Islands, maybe he would take a summer isle in Essos where he and his Queen could rest from time to time, leaving Winterfell under Jon’s command and they eventually retire there and die of old age back in the North where they belonged : Theon would die as : Theon Greyjoy Stark, King Consort of the North, Prince of Pike and the Iron Wolf. And how great it would be if Winterfell became a home to parent less children or batards, all children of Queen Sansa and King consort Theon

Alive, his hair grows in black again, he spends his life travelling across the Kingdoms for various propaganda purposes and makes meaningful connections with people of many ilks. Seer Theon who connects with the Gods of all places. Occasionally he returns to places that are significant to him as a matter of routine (the Iron Islands etc) and sees people he once knew. They're all older and scarred and only able to spend so much time in each other's company before the Pain sets in but they enjoy the spurts of connection they have. I would like to see Theon managing his chronic pain relatively successfully. The idea of him having a bastard from the before times is also appealing to me

I don't know!! I kind of hate them all. All my happy endings require no ramsay, and I don't want that. I think I'd want to know more about his post ramsay health and body to inform the answer... I'd like Asha to rule the iron Islands I think. I don't want theon to serve the starks. I don't want him to rule anything. Sometimes I think I want him to retire in a cottage but that's so sad. Consigned to a life of retirement and isolation at age 20 simply because of disability and trauma? Fuck that. I know people could visit him in the cottage but idk man. I want the narrative to leave him alone, but I want hope. He can't die. I don't need or even want him to have prestige, just security. He is 20 years old! He has his entire life ahead of him!! I really have no idea my friend.

I want him to live AND be FREE. He’s been stuck between options, he can choose one or the other or not choose at all and be punished either way - he must be given the agency he has always lacked. It could be an ending that a lot of characters need or deserve but for me: that’s Theon’s ending. After his arc it’s the one that suits him most. Like…. him realising that he struggled so much because he never knew what he really wanted, that he strived for something that would never satiate him, would never work out. And for all he’s been through and committed I can’t see him in a ruling position, or being another servant. No I want him to escape from all that. I want him to live, free to come to terms with his guilt and his suffering and that he survived his life being ruined, he survived death which means he should get to choose his new life

I would love to see him in power honestly, taking the lessons he learned and applying them. Will they be good? what has he learned about arrogance, cruelty and power? would he make a good leader? or would he just be repulsed by all those things? has he learned the right lessons? he has done a very brave and morally righteous thing but will he keep doing it in more complicated scenarios? what role hed play in saving the world from the ice zombies? would he help bran? Wouldn't it be awesome to see what he would do in the iron islands? how he would help it's people? will he keep on saving Jeyne? what will be their relationship? will probably never see any of this but something I'd really really like is that "no more fucks left to give" and "smiling through torture and broken teeth" attitude theon has on the sample chapter, seeing him interact with Asha and Jeyne would be amazing. Maybe even Dagmar and his mom...

Hmm. Some position of influence/power on the Islands (Lord Commander of the Iron Fleet, Asha’s Hand, co-ruler with Asha, something like that) and general social integration (having respect from people generally as well as managing to re-connect with old friends/acquaintances or making new ones to where he has a genuine social support network that’s not just 1 or 2 people). In my dreams, he’s also managed to recover/heal from his trauma and injuries both physically and mentally/emotionally to the furthest extent even remotely realistically possible. Which would still likely leave him with some PTSD/anxiety/etc issues but ideally at a highly manageable level and ideally his physical injuries would be compensated for as much as possible (perhaps even with some help from fantasy-magic-healing-that-mimics-modern-medicine lol) so he can still participate in normal activities from archery to dancing to fucking eating, even if with some unavoidable limitations/issues. (His hair is growing in black again after a while, you can fight me.) He’s got a close and mostly-functional relationship with Asha. I’m a little less hung up on the romantic aspect here, but if we’re talking like 100% wish fulfillment of the fuzziest sort… Married to Jeyne and still capable of procreating a child (even if they gotta get a bit creative about it), and Asha names said child her heir. (Listen. You said pure wish fulfillment was acceptable so…)

(if the last person I quoted here reads this: I am very happy you took me by my word. The more wish fulfilment people wrote for this question the better this was for my understandings!)

Also, if anyone has any other questions please feel free to send them. This took longer than usual because I was recently visited by a friend and there were some other personal impediments, but I try to get to them as fast as I can.

[pholiabanna]

No because they also enjoy Mike rejecting Will's friendship hug? Many of Mlvns are really just homophobic and actually enjoy Will having no friends or being rejected by his friends, the way they talk about S3 proves this as well or how they came up with made up ''core 4'' thing to exlude Will. Honestly many Mlvns would just be homophobic bullies if they existed in ST universe. Or actually it kinda says a lot about their personalities irl already.

They have an intense hatred for Will that can only be explained by them noticing he's a real threat to Milkvan. Because the show is actively making you root for Will's happiness, and they filmed S4 in a way that make sit clear you are supposed to root for him to get the boy, not El. So if you still want Melvin to stay together, the point of the season flew over your head, or it didn't but you're actively choosing to ignore it and live in denial.

And I seriously doubt even them can be that dumb to not realize the moment Mike discovers the painting is from Will, Will is getting the boy. That's why they hate him so much. They know he's the better suited partner for Mike and they are bitter. So they unleash all that frustration by making fun of him, and by extension, by hating on Noah too a lot of the times. That's their way to cope. I'm not even gonna comment on that "core 4" thing because it's ridiculous, and they know Will was part of the original friend group years before any of them met El, so even if they want the Party to hate Will, unfortunately for them the Party loves him. Again, it's just plain bitterness because of byler endgame and their homophobia (a lot of them just are homophobic and hate them for being gay). But season 1 is literally about how every single character in the cast loves Will enough to risk their lives just to save him. If they don't understand this, then they weren't supposed to be watching the show in the first place, and they definitely shouldn't be expecting the writers to cater to them because they just don't understand the story at all.

But thankfully enough, the show will never go in the direction they want, because for starters S5 will revolve around Will and they'll have to deal with seeing him on screen a lot of the times, without being able to skip his scenes because they'll be important for the supernatural plot. And thankfully enough, the show will give Will the boyfriend he wants (Mike) and the only thing they'll be able to do is watch and cry. They may start with the homophobic jokes again, but it won't change the fact that the story didn't go the way they wanted to. They're just clowns and miserable and sad, and I won't feel even slightly sorry for some of them because it's what they deserve

[bluespiritshonour]

One thing about ATLA I love is... Things start making sense once you think about them...

Like, maybe I watched it when I was too young to catch on to a lot of nuances and my rewatches have been sparse and inconsistent but like...

While watching the show I didn't like Maiko—something seemed to be missing. At the same time I really wanted them to be endgame and resented the fact that they weren't better written. I still ship them to this day because—HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A COUPLE LIKE THAT ON SCREEN THOUGH?—I like every slightly unconventional thing and Maiko is unconventional and unique.

Last time I was thinking about how I didn't like that no big deal™ was made out of Mai sacrificing herself at Boiling Rock and I was just entertaining fix-it scenarios in the empty echo chamber called my head where it goes something like:

Zuko: Does that mean you don't hate me anymore?

And instead of Mai putting a full-stop after “I actually kinda like you” she continues to tell him that he'd have to win her back though. Like, in a friendly way—“I want to be in a relationship, sure, but I want to be wooed” way—because, well, she was in prison and now she has a better understanding of why he did what he did—

Oh wait! Is that why she forgives him so easily? Because she was in prison—probably with the Kyoshi Warriors because that's where Ty Lee was too (honestly I've begun to appreciate MaiLee more as time passes)—and while saving Zuko was a leap of faith and she didn't understand him then, but now she does? She knows what he did was right and she's glad to have been able to help him with it?

So...yeah. Her forgiving him makes total sense now. If Zuko had tried to explain it to her instead of breaking up in a letter I don't think she'd have understood (I understand why Zuko left her with a letter, I really do; but I'm still going to trash him for it: [cue exasperated tone] “Zuko!”)

But she does now...

What I don't like however is the “They let you out of prison?”

You're the fucking Fire Lord now, aren't you supposed to have pardoned all PoWs? Which includes Mai and Ty Lee. Who ended up their trying to save your arse?

[cue exasperated tone, second time] “Zuko!”

It could have been something like “Did you get out of prison alright? There wasn't any problem right? I'm sorry I couldn't come to get you personally—” or any variation of that!!!

How difficult could it have been?

But yeah. The point remains. I'm no longer bitter about Mai forgiving Zuko so quickly this time around.

Another thing I disliked is how in The Beach Zuko kept coming back to Mai expecting a warm welcome after every little friction. It was a classic man move where they upset you and try to act caring immediately afterwards and expect you to be responsive to it.

I loved Mai slapping his hand away when he tried to put his arm around her and yelling that she's still mad at him.

At least Zuko knows when to back off: he did everytime Mai told him to. And he didn't call her names for not being forgiving (which is what you expect men to do honestly).

Bar so low it's in hell, I know.

I hated that about him, that he thought he's owed forgiveness (with Mai here, never properly having apologised and trying to act as if nothing wrong happened) and later with Katara...

So... What I'm trying to say is... I love that in that last scene when Maiko is reunited... He isn't expecting her to forget everything and forgive him like a good little girlfriend. The fact that she does has a lot of reasons (she understands his motives now) but the fact that he goes, very timidly “You don't hate me anymore?” is actually very cute.

Add one more to the pile of “Zuko's character development.”

Like, yeah. What he did was necessary. But she also does have a right to be mad at him.

I'll just... Take it as a by-product of The Beach... He has bettered himself. Okay? I'll take it as that.

So. I've come from when I absolutely hated the Maiko post war reunion scene to a point where I only dislike the “they let you out of prison?” part. Also, it was cute the dopey way he smiles around her and she helped him dress, okay?

[penny-hartzs]

completely unrelated to our private conversation about questionable relationships on tv: what were your emotional support ships as a teenager? 🥰

This is a questionable and somewhat basic list, be warned:

Ron and Hermione It's weird to think about now, because everything HP related has been tainted for life when JKR revealed her evil self but I was so obsessed with these two as a teen and a pre-teen. The book version especially was filled with such sweetness and friendship and teasing and I'll always be bitter that the movies took away so much of their story and Ron's character.

Rory and Jess I realise I might not feel like this were I to watch Gilmore Girls as an adult but the absolute GRIP these two had on me at like fifteen and sixteen can not be explained, I was literally obsessed with them like I read my first ever fan fic because of them and Jess was my first sexual awakening. I remember seeing him and wondering WHAT ARE THESE FEELINGS I'M FEELING? WHY AM I SWEATING SO MUCH?

Sawyer and Kate Listen, these two had insane chemistry and one of the best sex scenes on television and no one will ever convince me they weren't supposed to be endgame before LOST got extended and the writers started coming up with storylines out of their ass

Monica and Chandler My most wholesome ship, always. It's interesting that FRIENDS figured out a way to write a fantastic couple everybody loved without breaking them up even once, but every sitcom writer ever since somehow forgot.

Peeta and Katniss Truth be told, I was in my early twenties when I read THG but i have to include them here because they're so formative anyway and I'm so glad people still love them as much as they did back then. Also Jackie and Hyde but I pretend that never happened for obvious reasons

[emblazons]

I always thought it was weird that the thing Melvins defaulted to when they saw July criticism of Mike is "you're just mad your ship didn't happen" or "So Byler not being canon makes Mike a bad character? Stay mad." Because there's a large middle ground in between "Byler canon in vol 2" and "Mike ignoring Will crying in the van and saying his life started that day they met El in the woods."

If they weren't intending for Byler S5 endgame (which we know now that they are) then there is so much they could have done that didn't fit into one of those two extremes and still was written well, and so seeing all the (at the time) valid criticism be dismissed as just bitter shippers being bitter never sat right with me.

(I’m assuming this is in regard to the answered asked I linked in a couple of posts before this, so forgive me if I’m mistaken lol. That’s what I had in mind answering this).

Honestly? When I first walked into this fandom I didn’t even realize the things you listed were mlvn “talking points” until I saw them repeatedly in comments from vitriolic antis obsessed with ‘defending’ their ship / tearing down byler 😭 the first time I saw someone try to use me being critical of the writing to say that somehow meant mlvn endgame I laughed aloud, because the fact is (dare I admit this lmao) I was sold on those two breaking up more clearly after vol ii than I was Byler happening in S5 ☠️

That said—it is curious even now that people think engaging critically / having (at least somewhat objective) criticism for your media somehow means you don’t like what you’re criticizing, considering that (at least for me) it was the total opposite. It was my love for ST that made me invested enough to dig into why what happened in vol ii with WillElMike went down in the first place—and I’ve always been a firm believer in the “the most respectful thing you can do when engaging with an artist is to take their work seriously,” which was the respect I showed The Duffers by making an attempt to make sense of the “mess” they presented in Vol II.

To this day I think there might have been a few ways to make clearer their intent without giving the entire plot away—and I think The Duffers realize it too, considering they’ve admitted to hearing feedback from S4 and clarifying / reworking some things in S5 (if someone had that I’d love a link. I’m like 80% sure it was something for TUDUM) even though they do play stuff close to the chest. It’s not bad to admit a few things could have been clearer/tighter or even that it’s probably not great that it took most of even their most dedicated fans several months of reframing to make sense of their work, but I digress—the duffers aren’t perfect, even though they’ve written a great story + have a clear setup moving them into season 5. And that’s okay!

I’m more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt now that I know what their intentions were—which is why I always tell people to listen to the creators more than the actors when it comes to understanding wtf is going on. When you listen to how they write / what they think about what’s going on, it becomes a lot clearer 1) where their interests lie and 2) what they are trying to get across in both the action and the subtext—which is how most bylers got to the sentiments we have now.

Thanks for the ask!

[yaraaflor]

soooo someone sent me an ask saying that they didn't get the appeal of peter/felicia and asking if i could explain? like in a genuine nice way. and i started typing out a whole answer and then briefly saved it as a draft and then. somehow lost it rip. fuck tumblr. so i'm gonna try to recreate my answer but it got long lol sorry

so i gotta preface this by saying, i'm not a felicia expert, i like her a lot but there's plenty of her stuff i haven't read. and also i am a petermj truther at heart, i think they're soulmates lol. i don't necessarily see peter and felicia as a like an endgame, happily-ever-after kind of couple. but i do enjoy peterfelicia, and also feliciamj and peterfeliciamj, my ideal throuple lol.

but for peterfelicia: i mean for me i do think they just have good chemistry, which i find hard to put into words. but i can't lie i also think a big part of the appeal is their circumstances, like peter as a superhero and felicia as a cat burglar/criminal. it gives them a whole enemies to lovers vibe, except for a bit more lighthearted bc they're both fun people and felicia doesn't like. actually try to harm people. and i like how that kind of keeps them at odds with each other, but also they really click in other ways. they're both fun and humorous and genuinely have some shared values. they're def not perfect as a couple and have issues but they do enjoy each other, like it's not just based on physical attraction, and on occasions where they have to work together, as a couple or not, i think they work well bc they get each other's motives and know each other's moves.

but also, i just like felicia as a character? like once she broke away from just spider-man stories and started appearing in other marvel stuff and getting her own story arcs, she really developed and became a complex, loveable character. she's flirty and fun, she's a bit selfish, she has a kind of rough background, she can be bitter and mean when hurt, but she's not cruel and she does help people sometimes. she's been around since the 70s so she has a long history i can't totally keep track of but she has bounced between being a criminal and an anti-hero a lot, without losing her core values. she has a good heart but she still enjoys the rush of stealing and doesn't feel super guilty about it. tbh felicia does read as just the marvel ripoff as catwoman in a lot of ways, but honestly i kind of like her better, i think she has a lot of layers. which helps me like peterfelicia, bc i think when both characters are well-developed, it makes their romantic relationship more compelling and believable. and i also think felicia and peter bring out interesting sides of each other, she makes him a bit more playful, he reminds her she can do good things. even when they're not a couple or even flirting they have a strong relationship.

(also i kind of got the vibe that this ask was in response to my petergwen critical post, which has been gaining some traction recently, and i want to reiterate i have nothing against petergwen, i think they're fine. i just think peterfelicia have a bit more complexity that makes them interesting- again, partially bc peter and gwen weren't a couple for that long before her death, and after that, their whole relationship is marred by tragedy and guilt. whereas peter and felicia have decades of history, they've been on-off a few times, they've seen each other through some rough periods, they've worked together platonically and even connected as civilians. they were never like a totally solid couple the way peter and mj were for many years, but that also makes them interesting, bc it's a different sort of relationship dynamic that we see for peter.)

[youarentamaybeyoureayes]

Oh my gosh, yessssss! What you said about R*nis kept saying if Olivia was not to leave the show, they would be endgame. I made a post about Rina and compare to s2 to realize that Rina has been there all along with too many signs on reddit so Rinas would gush and discuss about how they have noticed the signs now with s4 explaining everything. So anyways, just yesterday, I got notification from Rini basically saying, "You all are dumb as hell. If Olivia hasn't left the show, they would be together. They would be endgame. You all are so dumb." Like she thinks that insulting us all would what? Make it true? It was so amusing to see how pressed she was enough to come in my post and insult all of us because we were discussing about Rina history. I had to call her out that you need to research it first before coming in here and calling us names because you think you are so smart to say such things when it's so obvious you had completely no idea what you are talking about. I really HAD no energy to fight with her because I knew it was such waste of time and she wouldn't listen to a reason so what's the point. So your post is exactly accurate. I kept seeing crap like that and it's really annoying.

exactly like, even on youtube recently, you can't even look at a few comments on some of the new rina videos without a bitter r*ni or p*rtwell who hasn't watched the show since season 2 or started boycotting during season 3 once they saw their ships had no chance at surviving coming to complain about how much they miss r*ni and how despite so many things proving otherwise, they would've been the real "endgame" of the show. i genuinely think a lot of it not only has to do with the fact that a lot of r*nis were also j*livias, which honestly has to be one of the biggest reasons the ship saw any semblance of hype to begin with, because the material alone is simply and never has been there. but since they're j*livias, they're perpetually stuck in season 1, unable to move on from it and unable to accept that any other ship could've been endgame just because they got theirs almost three years ago at this point.

it doesn't help that a lot of locals are r*nis, and most of them have abandoned the show or claim that the later seasons are inferior because of nostalgia and refusal to accept the ships that ended up happening because it didn't align with what their idea of the show was. so unfortunately, they remain to be loud and bitter. i honestly thought they'd shut up after season 3, but rina being endgame really ended up driving them to the brink of insanity.

overall, it's still fun to relish in the fact that we did get the endgame no matter how many people are bitter about it. just annoying to see the same tired discourse pop up over and over again. especially because, had they actually been right (and we all know they aren't) what is it going to change? they even gave them p*rtwell when ricky and gina weren't together and that still ended up crashing and burning just as much as r*ni did.

at the end of the day, r*nis are just bitter that the show didn't end with ricky single and pining for nini. most of them didn't even actually ship p*rtwell either because they hated (and some still do) gina and barely began tolerating ej until he got out of the way of r*ni. they would have rather had the show end with ricky being single if it wasn't going to be nini to come running back to him despite feeling suffocated by him. r*ni was practically their last existing lifeline to j*livia, and since they didn't get it, all they can do is complain.

[emmanelson]

BILLY AARON BROWN and AMY DAVIDSON in 8 SIMPLE RULES (2002-2005)

“Do you believe in heaven? God heaven? Or sitting-here-on-the-couch-with-you heaven?”