#still surprised after 6 years of what he can create

[zetartsblog]

A bit of Harry ⚡️💕

[hopefullyyoursmcg]

Routine

Motherhood.

Motherhood wasn't something you had planned in your life.

If you graduated university, a normal person’s life goal was to get a job, find a somewhat safe place to sleep under(if that even exists in Gotham City), and follow a reunion while, if you had any, keeping a close connection with your family.

Well, that last one wasn't an option in your case.

Yep, like most middle-class children, you were given the old tradition of losing your parents. In your case, it was your mom. She was a hard-working lady who used to work in big business but, after sleeping with her boss, got pregnant with you. She quit because she didn’t want the child to suffer the consequences of an unloved marriage or a possible hand-over situation.

Your parents had sex sure, but lust and love are two separate things.

Your childhood until your mother's death wasn't too bad. Your mother worked hard at a different business. You were dropped off at a nursery for most of the day, so you weren’t short on friends. At the end of the day, the two of you would eat and play together until it was time to sleep.

It was fine, not perfect but fine and most importanly you were happy.

When your mother died. It was a Friday. You were only 6, she was on a late-night shift and had left you with a trusted old lady that smelled like cat pee but was kind. She had promised you before you left that the two of you would go out to your favorite burger place after your first day of primary school.

That day never happened.

All that’s left of her is her pearl earring. Only one of them, as the burglar that murdered her snatched the other pearl off her ear before running off.

What happened afterward was a blur, the police picked you up, took you to the station, told you what happened, and gave you the hearing after it was processed. You didn’t cry until you saw the earrings. The earrings were a sign that she was dead, and she was never coming back.

How they found out about your father was very surprising. A policeman was told to grab the kid's things while waiting for child services.

While looking for some important documents, they found an envelope that had on its front:

“In case of my death”

The envelope contained a will. It was neat and tidy and straight to the point. Your mother was always two steps ahead and always wanted to be prepared for anything. So she created a trust fund the moment she gave birth to you, just in case something ever happened to you, you’d at least be fine financially. It wasn't a lot but there was an intrest plan included within the trust fund so as you grew so was the money.

That wasn't all, of course, your father was revealed within this letter as well, in the case where you were still underaged when she died, as she had no family of her own.

Bruce Wayne was your biological father.

So what happened after that, well like most neglected reader fics, yours wasn't any different.

 Bruce did take you in but this was during the time of Jason's death so emotionally Bruce couldn’t be there for you. Dick was already out of the manor so all you had left was Alfred.

The old man did take care of you yes. He made sure you were full of healthy and delicious food and brought you to places you needed to be like your fancy new school. But Alfred couldn’t always be there which left you to be alone.

One thing you noticed while being alone after a few years is that it hurts. I mean sure your mom had to work late, but at least you had grandma pee (yes you called her that, she thought you were saying the letter p as her name is Penelope), and as soon as she came back all her attention was on you.

Due to this, you grew up and fast. You knew this family wasn't going to include you so why should you bother, I mean as Bruce's army of children grew and grew, it was obvious he could spend time with them. He just didn’t want to spend time with you.

The moment you finish high school, you turn 18, and that was when you can access your trust fund, and with the money you were entitled to you used it for University and studied your ass off.

You had a plan. You were going to graduate, you were going to get a job and then you would be the furthest highest penthouse and you were going to do well in life. Like your mother, you had a stubborn drive and you weren’t going to just lie around.

So after a few years, you did it, you weren’t valedictorian or anything like that, but all that mattered was you graduated Gotham State University with a nice job as a receptionist at this office that was owned by the new founder of a women-only company. The benefits were great, the pay was good and some of your female friends had gotten jobs at the same place at other departments.

You were doing fine.  Your friends that you made along the way insisted on going out. To celebrate.

And I mean you earned it, you had just graduated from freaken university you deserved this big break before your boring work life started next month.

So you partied, you got drunk, and there were good-looking men everywhere.

What could possibly go wrong?

A positive Pregnancy test in front you would probably do it.

-----

This is my fist time writing something like this so please forgive me if this is bad. ill delete in a few days if it doesnt feel right.

[atlas-of-a-human-soul]

What remains of us, pt. 7

Summary: On the night of a certain class' ten year reunion, some familiar faces return to school, driving a wedge between Wally and Y/N.

Warnings: death, angst, mentions of mental health issues, fluff, mentions of a SCHOOL SHOOTING, swearing

Word count: 2.0k

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

It's easy to lose track of time when you're having fun. The concept of being stuck in between worlds was daunting at first, but Y/N almost fears leaving it now. The spirit world became her home, filled with certainties she spend months accepting and creating, but now they're a part of her; he is a part of her.

Wally Clark felt like both a blessing and a curse, for she never expected meeting her soulmate would mean she would have to die. Falling in love with anyone else feels impossible now that she knows what love is. It's the way Wally's eyes melt into hers, the way his lips curve just before a breathtaking smile shines through, the way he smells of rain and leather. She finds it in the gentle tone of his warm voice whenever he sees her anxiety creeping up on her, in the sweetness of his guitar melody he claims is inspired by her laugh, in his passionate kisses and tasty pancakes. Loving Wally is as easy as breathing, being loved by him is a work of art.

It's no wonder, before either of them knew it, a year had passed. And then another. And another. On the fourth year, Yuri passed on and reality hit them full force.

"Should we -" Wally pauses, averting his gaze to the ground.

"We should," she sighs. "That doesn't mean we have to."

Locking eyes with Wally, she sees the note of surprise and perhaps a flicker of horror in the earthly brown hues.

"I mean, we have a good thing going here," her voice is shaky, "Right?"

Scratching the back of his head, he nods faintly. "We do. A really good thing!"

"So, why risk it? Huh? Going into our scars, traumatizing ourselves for who knows how long before we can finally move on is insane when we don't know where the hell we would be moving on to!"

"Maybe hell isn't the best choice of words right now," Wally chuckles. He can see she is stressed about it, about losing them and so is he, but there's no doubt in his heart...Y/N is his soulmate and wherever she goes he will follow - heaven or hell, he will be there. There isn't a force in the universe that can keep him from her.

"I'm serious, Wally." Hand on her chest, her eyebrows furrow. "I don't think I'm ready to go through that yet."

Reaching for her hand, he contains a wince as she pulls away. He can't remember the last time she refused his touch.

"I will never push you to do something you don't want to, but I have to ask you to at least consider it."

Licking her lips, she nods meekly. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"I will consider it," she promises.

The answer satisfied Wally for a few more years. At least on the surface, he didn’t show it bothered him at all. In his heart though…he was tired. Wally’s mother stopped coming to the games the same year Y/N arrived. He knew she was gone, just like his father. No one who once loved him is alive today, only some still remember him. Even Maddie…he’s certain she let him go. She returned to the school only once after graduating – to leave him her old MP3 player filled with songs that remind her of him…of them. He’s kept it close all these years, a secret he couldn’t bare before Y/N.

Truth is, he misses Maddie. She was his first love. Y/N will be his last and he would never change that.

Except, his past had come back to haunt him.

“Ten years,” Xavier sighs. “Feels like only yesterday yet a thousand years apart in some ways.”

“Do you recognize any of these people?” Y/N’s eyebrows furrow ever so slightly, a compassionate tone coloring her voice. She became rather good friends with Xavier over the years. Not that he’d agree. What she called socializing, he deemed as pestering. He enjoyed his hidden corner in the library, but Y/N could tell his eyes would light up whenever she came around to ‘bother’ him.

“Yeah. Some. They don’t quite seem the same.”

“In what way?”

Swallowing thickly, he gives her a pointed look. “It’s been 10 years for them – they’ve aged. Life left marks, good for some, bad for others.”

“Right,” she frowns. “The world keeps spinning for them, while ours is standing still.”

“And while we are frozen in time, unable to face our reality and move forward, they get to experience everything that was stolen from us.”

“You resent them for it?”

Shaking his head lightly, his blue eyes focus on her little frown. “I resent myself for being too much of a coward to let this world go, far more than I could resent them for leaving me behind.”

Licking her lips, she wraps her arms around him gently. “I don’t see it as an act of cowardice. It’s about healing…That is bound to take a lot of time.” Pulling away, she smiles softly. “To face your scar and everything that’s gotten you here, you have to heal first. Otherwise it’s just torture without a chance of finding a way out.”

“You’ve never even went to yours,” Xavier points out. “What exactly does Wally tell you about it?”

“What he’s heard from others who were trying before succeeding and leaving this world for good.”

Raising a brow, Xavier takes her hand and pulls her closer. “What does he say of his own experience?”

Narrowing her eyes at him, she tears her hand out from him, This is why she never talks about Wally with him. It feel as if he has it out for him and she can’t understand why. “He’s never been to his scar either.”

“That’s –“ A heavy sigh passes his lips. “I promise I’m not trying to start shit, okay? But Wally…” Xavier’s frown deepens as his eyes focus on something in the distance. She follows his line of sight as Xavier continues. “He’s been to his scar. He’s conquered it. Wally chose to stay.”

Feeling the knot in the back of her throat growing, making it harder to swallow, Y/N’s eyes finally find what Xavier focused on – Wally…and he’s not alone.

A girl with long blonde hair is right next to him, her eyes trained on his, her smile almost as wide as Wally’s. She looks…gorgeous, like a model would. She was pretty in her yearbook photo, but now? Y/N couldn’t come close to that.

“That’s Maddie.” Xavier speaks quietly in her ear, as if she didn’t know.

She isn’t talking to herself like others may believe – she’s talking to Wally.

Her Wally.

“She almost chose to stay here for him.”

The same Wally who could have moved on before, but chose not to. The one who told her lies for the past six years – and as it seems, the worst one was this – he isn’t over Maddie.

“You said you weren’t trying to start shit,” Y/N reminds him, anger laced in her voice

“I’m not,” Xavier insists. “I like to consider you a friend, Y/N. And I don’t lie to my friends.”

“You let me believe his lies for the past six years,” she turns to him, her eyes filled with rage. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Why did you let me fall in love with him?”

“I tried telling you then, but you never seemed to waver in your affections. What was I supposed to do?”

Closing her eyes for a moment as she inhales deeply, she presses her lips in a thin line. “You’re right. I never gave you a chance or asked about it…Wally was never the topic of our conversations.”

“Look…I hate to admit it, but he’s obviously in love with you. Just…maybe talk it out and figure it out together?”

Scoffing, she glances at Wally walking away somewhere more private with Maddie by his side. “I think it’s a little late for that, don’t you? I mean, he had all the time in the world to tell me the truth and build solid foundations for this relationship. If he wanted to, he could have shared it all with me, but he chose secrecy and lies…again. I can’t pry it out of him by force and if he has lingering feelings for Maddie, to the point he’s been MIA this entire evening…then I’m not sure this can be fixed.”

“You’re jealous,” Xavier teases. “It’s not like he’s cheating.”

“It’s worse,” she claims. “He had me thinking he loves me. I’ve been tricked into baring my heart and soul while he kept parts of his only for her. It’s kind of hard not to feel cheated and betrayed by him when you come to that realization.”

Turning to leave, she feels Xavier’s hand wrap around her wrist. “Where are you going?”

“To face my fears.” Looking back at him, she manages a smile. “If this is the last time we see each other…Thank you.”

“What for?”

“Friendship…Honesty. All of it. I hope we meet again sometime.”

“Once I’m healed?”

Her smile widens. “You’re not broken, Xavier. Perhaps a little bent, but when you’re ready to move on, I don’t think your scar can stop you. In a year…or more…when you make it to the other side, make sure to find me. I’d like to ‘bother’ you some more.”

Clenching his jaw to stop it from quivering, he nods. “Will do.”

He releases her wrist, watching her walk away into a dark hallway. As she disappears from sight, Xavier lets his eyes water. She was his only real friend here…He’ll be alone again. This time, forever.

“Hey.”

Looking to his side, he finds someone from his old life.

“Simon,” he acknowledges. “Surprised you came here after everything.”

“My therapist says I need to face my past fears.”

Chuckling, he nods. “Yeah, that seems to be the running theme here.”

“I hoped you’d be gone by now,” Simon confesses.

“Almost everyone else is,” Xavier shrugs.

“Who remained?”

“Wally, myself, the band. There’s a janitor, but he’s looping still. And…”

“And?”

“Y/N. She was a doctor…killed in the school shooting.”

“Oh…I didn’t even consider she’d be stuck here too. The story about her death was huge.”

“What did they say?”

“A rookie cop shot her dead. He was frightened hearing someone coming closer, he just took the shot without even checking who he aimed at.”

Xavier’s eyes widen.

“The kid who actually shot up the school didn’t hurt anyone…The rookie ended up shooting him at the station. He tried to set the kid up. Claimed he got out of his restrains and attacked him. It took like five years for it all to come to light. They made a documentary last year when they passed anti-gun laws…named after her.”

“She doesn’t know,” he mutters.

“Know what?”

“She just decided to go into her scar for the first time…she doesn’t know who killed her!”

“So?”

“Remember how easy it is to get trapped in your scar even when you know the circumstances of your death? Now imagine walking into it unprepared!”

Rolling his eyes, Simon sighs. “Okay. Let’s go stop her.”

“No. I’m going to stop her and you need to get Wally there immediately! If there’s anyone who can pull her back out, it’s him.”

PART 8

[agatharkn3ss]

Agatha's info/rumours

I thought I'd pull together all the info we've been shown in ep.6 and add my interpretation to it. I still can't believe that Billy read these short bits and claimed he knew an "egregious" amount about Agatha.

As usual, biased towards Agathario, because I think they are heavily implying Agatha's connection to Death (I mean yes, the writers could just be trying to explain why the internet would be so invested in her identity, but still)

First of all - "333 partial results for Agatha Harkness Ancient Witch". I love yet another allusion to how Agatha is linked with number 3, making her the actual harbinger of doom (I explain this here).

It's interesting that the related questions are all about the immortality of the witches:

Are witches immortal?

Do real witches ever die?

How do you kill a witch?

How old is the oldest witch?

If we didn't have other super-old witches in the show, it would make me wonder if Agatha didn't make some sort of pact with Death (Rio), where she provides "bodies" to her in exchange for her long life. But as it is, we have Lilia as 450+ years old and Jen is also older than a century, but you don't see them trying to kill people (I think).

The very first search result is quite fun:

"The Macabre Wiki – a comprehensive encyclopaedia of all things that only come out after dark. Created by two blood witched from Salem"

No matter what, I will forever believe this is Agatha and Rio's page. (for reasons explained here)

The rest of the search results are not as exciting:

Witchy Resource – Ancient witches and ancient warlocks are not well documented traditionally and usually for good reason…

Witches and Aging – Apparently, witches are able to chose how they age and present themselves to humans. Some withes choose to stop again at a certain point staying roughly 30 years old visually for literally hundreds of years.

Dreadit – Salem Witch Trials – Recently I’ve been researching a ton on the SWT and not many people know this but there are reports of witches that actually survived burning and drowning

The Art of the Ancients – Learn about the secret art of witchcraft and the witches that have [...]

So this suggests Agatha specifically chose her look and age. Neat. Quite empowering really.

Also, another suggestion that some witches can be immortal and survive burning and drowning. I wonder if we will see this in the show - Agatha and Rio having absolute blast at mocking people who were trying to torture/kill Agatha, only to realise she wasn't feeling any pain, she would just raise and shout "Surprise witches!".

Then we go onto the Salem Witch Trials page. This pretty much confirms what we already know about them. I immediately clocked how all the handles only have green or purple colours... Coincidence? I've not tried to decipher the names, but if anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

witchygirlblack: Did any witches survive the Salem witch trials? Are they still alive? Where are they? Witches can live for hundreds of years, so the ones that survived the trials might still be out there [] witchkraft dreadit, you must know of some?

4thlevelwarlock: The Salemites, Evanora Harkness’s coven, were prominent in the area. I’ve heard rumours [...]the young children from the coven escaped

SamSamwitch: @4thlevelwarlock look familiar? [Agatha image link]

BoftheEast: be careful posting about her just saying

Then Billy takes the photo through reverse image search. I know these are tiny, inconsequential details but I still love them:

"Looky" sounds like a little nod to Lilia's "kooky"

The letters “o” have moons inside of them.

Each letter has different colour that seems to align with the witches – light blue (Jan - water trial?), purple (Agatha - spirit), yellow (Lilia - air), dark blue (Billy?), orange (Alice – fire)

This search then leads to a number of events that Agatha has been spotted at. Rather than pull out the quotes, I'm going to put the events in a chronological order and add relevant background info:

Salem Witch Trials (1692-1693) - this was a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. More than 200 people were accused. It was the deadliest witch hunt in the history of colonial North America. This is the time where Agatha's mother and her coven try to "punish" her for using "the darkest of magic". Her fingers weren't black, so she's unlikely to have had Darkhold back then. (btw the script for this suggests Agatha was 18 at the time, so she was born ~1675, making her ~351 years old in 2026)

The Eastern Seaboard - Although we don't know the exact dates, there are "unconfirmed reports of Agatha traveling the Eastern Seaboard". This could relate to various areas but this is likely just referring to the US East Coast. The Thirteen Colonies, which formed the United States in 1776 were located on this coast, playing an important role in the development of the United States.

The sinking of the Titanic (1912) - the British ocean liner sank as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, US. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, approximately 1,500 died. Agatha is listed as one of the survivors

The Hindenburg disaster (1937) - a German commercial passenger airship caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on its journey from Frankfurt, Germany. The accident caused 35 fatalities among the 97 people on board, and an additional fatality on the ground. The publicity shattered public confidence in the giant, passenger-carrying rigid airship and marked the abrupt end of the airship era. Again, Agatha is spotted as a woman who "survived the explosion then disappeared"

"Jolene" (1972-1973) - The headline states "Does this 1972 Surveillance photo of Dolly Parton show the real Jolene?" and Jac Schaeffer confirmed that yes, Agatha = Jolene. So I had some fun with this, because why not?! I wondered what Agatha's play would've been here. Is she truly after Dolly's "man" - if so, in what way? Or is she after Dolly herself? Note that although the article says 1972, later on we also see statement that Agatha was last seen in Nashville Tennessee, 1973. Now - that year in Nashville, Dolly not only recorded "Jolene" in May, but a month later she also recorded "I will always love you" - a song that is widely understood to be a goodbye song to her business partner because she decided to pursue solo career. In my head this is all a result of Agatha's influence, who showed Dolly her real power.

On that note, I don't think we would be far off assuming that as Agatha kept Dolly (or her man) her company, she would've actually come across Lorna Wu herself? We know it was similar time, because "The Ballad of the Witches Road" record was made in 1978. Alice mentions how she got her tattoo in Colorado as her mum was playing at the Red Rocks amphitheatre. Dolly Parton also performed at the Red Rocks in 1972 (the same year as the camera footage), so Agatha could've been there...

Finally, we get to the "brujapedia" - the encyclopaedia of witches. It's fun to speculate who could be running this page - the whole theme is black and white, with red highlights. There is also an image of a raven - as I discussed it before, it is a symbol of bridging the world of life and death. So it would be fun if it was Death herself maintaining it, as she would be the only one who would truly know who the real witches were. Also it would be a cool census of who is still remaining for her to "collect" their dues.

Another good spot from @chaotic-homoromantic is that "bruja" is a Spanish word for "witch", giving us another hint to Rio.

I couldn't really find any info on any other names other than the top one. Abigail Adams was a founder of the US, wife of John Adams, the second US president and mother of John Quincy Adams, the 6th US president. I'd like to think witches had some input back then.

Also interesting is how Agatha's surname is misspelled - it has two Ks. I wonder why that is - no way it's a mistake, seeing how much detail they've put into this. Maybe it's a subtle suggestion that this information came straight from Agatha herself or as a joke from someone who knows her, since she's known for using wrong words. (or it could just be a suggestion that all of the other names on this list are also misspelled, explaining why we can't find any info on them)

Then we get to some info about her - most of which I already collated into the timeline above. There is also a vague mention of Nicky: "Agatha Harkness. Son. Name unkown, rumours [...]"

But there are also some other bits - hilariously referred to as "FUN" facts:

Fun Facts:

Murdered her entire coven

Possesses succubus powers

Nick name is “witch killer!”

Only known survivor of The Witches Road

Folklore references: It is said certain children’s book make reference to Agatha [...]

Funny how the nickname absolutely includes the exclamation mark. I feel like maybe Jen was the one who submitted this info.

As for the children's book - I feel like it wouldn't be just a single story but more like the Grimm's Fairy Tales. Following Lilia's comment, Agatha probably was the template they used for "evil witches" - poisoning apples and stealing kids and eating children. It's not something she would deny anyway.

Now, the Succubus comment is interesting. In lore they are generally depicted as a sexual being - "a female demon or supernatural entity in folklores who appears in dreams to seduce men, usually through sexual activity."

But I think in Agatha's case, things are different. Yes, she has the charisma and can probably seduce people quite easily (I mean, she probably seduced Death, didn't she?). But I don't think that's like a magical power. In fact, if it was, it think it would be really unfair to Agatha, erasing the fact that her character had to build and evolve around her experiences and the fact that she had to survive - "in a way that few do". So I think this "fun fact" could be partially coming from someone's snarky comment (Dolly Parton's?), who just wanted to take away Agatha's agency. Or fell for Agatha and then blamed it on her "powers" rather than admitting their own gullibility. Just like women over the centuries were accused of witchcraft and casting curses if things simply didn't go the way someone wanted.

Plus the way she goes about getting her magic from people is absolutely not seductive. She simply finds a way to annoy the heck out of the target!

But of course, that's not all there is to it, because on the other hand Agatha has her syphoning ability - now that could also be described as the "succubus powers" referred to above. In DnD succubus attacks using a "Deadly kiss", basically draining the essence of life and I feel like this is quite a good description:

"The kiss of a succubus is an echo of the emptiness that is the fiend’s longing for a corrupted soul. Likewise, the recipient of the fiend’s kiss gains no satisfaction from it, experiencing only pain and the profound emptiness that the fiend imparts. The kiss is nothing short of an attack, usually delivered as a final farewell before the fiend escapes."

In that magic/soul sucking way, she would have more parallels to Death, explaining their connection. More so, if Agatha can't control her powers - because Death does not really have much control either, she just has to do her job when the time comes.

[kittyyclysm]

ok i have a bone to pick with these clothes (no actual spoilers just mentions of small things that happened in the ep)

edit: i wouldn't be surprised if this is just a running joke which if it is it's actually hilarious, if it is take this as more of a rewrite idea :]

I don't think Adrien should have this marketable design this far back. Personally I've always thought the reason Adrien has to wear the same thing everyday is because it's a "marketable" design so Gabriel makes him wear it. It makes him recognizable and iconic, and... apparently these multicolored stripes are the most marketable design Gabriel could come up with. But let's just pretend this is the case (since I could be wrong). Writing-wise, I don't think he should have started marketing Adrien as a model since he popped out of the womb.

It would be SO much more interesting and make a lot more sense if Gabriel only started this whole marketability stunt when his ideologies about fashion changed and we could slowly see this design take over Adrien's wardrobe. This 6-year-old shirt could have been a picture of how Gabriel used to treat Adrien and how Adrien used to actually be able to express himself, and it would've gone so well with the Papa Corn thing to show that Gabriel used to be a decent dad.

In Representation in Felix's little theatre-kid play, he described Gabriel's clothes as "clothes so magnificent that they revealed the beauty of anyone who wore them" (12:57). In that case, we can assume he has a fashion ideology similar to Marinette's: fashion is meant to let people express themselves. But we see that that ideology has changed in Pretension, when Gabriel and Marinette talk over pancakes... Gabriel says, "Life is like fashion. You think you have a choice but all you have is the illusion of choice, and I decide what choices are given to you. [...] Fashion is a product, a marketing strategy, an industry that relies on an uninterrupted trend renewal that forces you to either throw away everything you have and buy more or, worse, be out of fashion" (6:41). That last bit is after Marinette describes fashion as understanding people and creating things that will help them express themselves, which, again, seems to be the old ideology Gabriel had.

That being said, Gabriel's old clothes for Adrien should have reflected that ideology rather than totally... contradicting it??? Forcing him into that marketable clothing would have reflected his current ideology of fashion. Now, what pushed him to that new idea? I think that's probably when he wanted to start making more money. Specifically, I think he would have locked in on designing fashion as "a product" when Emilie started to get sick and he was going on all those trips to find cures. It couldn't have been cheap and it would make sense he would lock in for that... and we also know he wasn't a fashion millionaire before since, again in Felix's little play, we find out that he was still poor when he and Emilie married. He could have started corrupting the idea of fashion before Emilie started getting sick, but really I don't think that would happen for no reason unless Emilie had that same ideology. That's completely up in the air, though I doubt the show would go for that complex take of "Adrien's mom actually wasn't that great either" with its Marinette Mary Sue problem and all... I'm not sure what her ideology on fashion would be though, or if she even has a solid view of it. Anyway, I really think Gabriel would have only picked up on that ideology to make bank to try and save Emilie, and I think Adrien would be one of the last things he'd turn into a product since he's an extension of Emilie.

So yeah!! I think the shirt should have been different. A hint of the past where Gabriel treated Adrien as more of a kid instead of a product and those old ideologies he used to have, since one of the huge points of his character is that he used to be some normal, assumedly reasonable guy, but he went off the deep-end. It also would've went well with the Papa Corn bit. And it would have shown how his life was better with Emilie, even if it was something as subtle as wardrobe choice. AND (last and) given that little timeline of him having to lock in on designs in a desperate attempt to save his wife!!!

And likeeee... how cute would a matching frog onesie be????

rant over!!!

i have a lot more thoughts i have to post on the earlier series and even the current series but i may go back through and rewatch to give those!!! but these thoughts stand on their own so i decided to write it down

obligatory thank you to my roomie @baldisfan for getting me into mlb and watching this ep together 💞💞💞and for letting me yap this idea to her as she lets me yap all my ideas tehe

anyway would love 2 hear ur guys' thoughts on this too!!!

[arcane-ish]

"but what was his tax policy" and way too lenghty ramblings about Vander's statue and reputation

Which always makes me wonder who built the statue of Vander that we see Silco talk to. Because who else in Zaun actually has the funds to build something that size? Did Silco keep up the lie that Vander started the Lanes and led rebellions and was a hero? (It wouldn't surprise me if Silco did it to keep the crowd on his side as he took over the Last Drop. That man has so many unaddressed issues, I love him.)

@out-there-tmblr

I have to admit I never considered that people don't know that Silco killed Vander and that he could have built the statue. It's a very interesting thought.

I just kind of assumed that it would have been in Silco's interest to be open about having killed Vander to appear fearsome and impressive? And the statue just looks very different to the more harsh/jagged "big brother is watching you" style that to me always suggested that Silco doesn't really try to make nice with people.

The statue looks kind of jagged, like it is made up out of spare parts that suggests more that it could have been built from scraps by amateurs rather than it was commissioned.

And would Ekko really sign a statue made by Silco to cover up the fact that he killed Vander?

So I just always assumed it must have been Ekko or people who feel like Ekko who built it. To me it always made some sense to me that it exists. That this and this would exist.

Like maybe the mural and the statue were created relatively soon after Vander's death. The mural in the Firelight base makes sense because that is just all Ekko.

I could picture somebody making the statue shortly after Vander's death, maybe even as a bit of a fuck you to Silco a "we remember that you killed the guy to get where you are and we the people were never asked if we were okay with it". There are signs that people came and tagged the statue, maybe that even maybe somebody comes and has to "keep the flame burning"?

And similarly even if the statue was meant as a fuck you, I can picture Silco not giving a shit (because he doesn't care as much what people think of him), or even find it funny. Whether despite his disagreement with Vander personally he doesn't mind if people hold up the image of a fellow revolutionary (ie I could easily picture not bothering to spread the news that Vander had a deal with Grayson and just portraying it as a normal power struggle and Grayson's death as an accident by werewolf the way the Pilties think it happened).

Or that he even thinks it's a cute that the people are rebellious (not to the extent to go and work with the Firelights, but you know, just appreciating that Zaun is kind of punky and wild).

It makes sense to me that the people of The Lanes might see Vander as a symbol of comfort and peace. ie maybe not everybody benefits from Silco's new reign. Also when somebody gets murdered it's not rare that people overemphasize their positive qualities. For that to work there really isn't much necessary than Vander being an okay, non-offensive leader. Doesn't tax people too bad, asks for their opinion, doesn't murder too many people (to their knowledge).

So that part doesn't seem too weird to me.

Firelight mural = that's just Ekko. Especially since season 2 establish that he can pull off a mural like that (okay maybe even in the AU he knew what people to ask help him or maybe he painted it 100% himself, doesn't matter, he is certainly the driving force behind it)

Statue = could have been built somewhat shortly after Vander's death. People have vague recollections of "things were better under Vander". Even that people still meet there for important political debates in a "townhall" kind of way doesn't bother me. You an still to agree to meet at Trafalgar square without having any opinion on Trafalgar.

No, what bugs me is this one.

How the fuck is Vander still a symbol of rebellion like what, 6-8 years after his death and 10+ years after presumably the last time he did anything revolutionary?

Especially since in this case we KNOW that Ekko (one of the people we know has an emotional connection to Vander) didn't paint it because he was sucked away by the hexcore and likely wouldn't just that casually made a mural celebrating Jinx at this point.

So somebody who is NOT Ekko had a high enough opinion on Vander to put him in a mural and a mural that represents revolution.

To me it has just always made more sense that within Zaun Vander would represent peace. Because the statue has always looked kind of peaceful to me with the soft glowing light. And it was Vander spent his last few years working on/building up. [maybe even longer since he seems to already be flirting with peacefulness in the Silco and Felicia flashback] And simply because to me it just seems like a very relatable thing that imo the vast majority of radicals/revolutionaries have to deal with: that they find out that in most situations the vast majority of people don't like revolutions and prefer peace/protection (see the long list of revolutions that were totally counting on "the population will rise up and support us!!" and completely whiffed on that)

As the mural venerates Jinx, there's a decent chance that one of the Jinxers made it. So why would they have a reason to have a deep opinion on a guy who those last claim to fame that we know off was to lead some sort of uprising on the bridge that got slapped down? Most of them seem young, so why would they care? There's a huge difference between somebody building a statue rather shortly after Vander's death when he might still be vivid in people's memory and years later*.

I guess a Firelight could have made it and maybe Ekko has been spinning on the tale of how awesome Vander was. But again, considering his age, shouldn't Ekko's experience be more about peaceful community leader Vander?

Admittedly, the underlying context of the mural is it being about at least one person who doesn't want it and who is in a very different frame of mind than what the mural depicts at least at that point in time. So it also misrepresenting Vander/it being there because somebody didn't properly know or understand his story is certainly feasible.

Anyway, really got me thinking that we don't really know what exactly Silco, Vander and friends really did.

The only thing we know for sure:

Built up/ran a bar

Organized something the bridge that escalated and went badly

Both Vander&Benzo and later Silco&Sevika collect "taxes" in the form of protection money

Vander seems to maybe be slightly more open to hearing from the people and responding to their wishes

We also know from writer hints that smuggling was big part of what Silco and Vander did.

Fixing the Mines

So in season one my working theory was that the mines were a shit place to work and maybe Vander & Silco "freed" people from having to work in the mines and instead shifted the economy towards more smuggling/trade which isn't as physically grueling. But that was kind of dashed by season 2 because it suggests that Connel and Felicia still worked in the mine even though Vander and Silco already own the Last Drop. So why would she still work in the mines if she could just work with them at the Drop?

Maybe they just vastly improved working conditions/worker safety? Or maybe they led a rebellion against the mine owners and actually succeeded in setting up a worker run mine?

That's the kind of thing that I could picture inspiring people years later even if it went badly (because looking around in history even short periods that feel like a lot of freedom and self actualization can inspire people for a long time even if historically speaking it wasn't around long).

Daring acts of crime

Then there's Vi's statement about the kind of stunts Vander would have pulled in his youth. So maybe Silco and Vander's early revolutionary activity contained a lot of daring and showy attacks on Piltover rich people that get them celebrated in the Undercity. Robbing big fancy townhouses and spreading the loot around generously (even if it's just by generously buying rounds or food). Or leaving showy calling cards.

Vander could be living off just that old reputation. And if he had a reputation for showy stunts against Piltover then maybe that would fit slightly better with why people might associate him with Jinx in a moral that specifically celebrates her color attack on Piltover.

Cleaning Up The Lanes I (fighting the old system)

I don't think that there's actually much trace of it. But it's a trope in a lot of fiction and I think it's worth thinking about what exactly where "the Lanes" before? Is it just one of those situation where there's always a long line of cruel crime bosses and Vander was one of the softest. And Vander and the gang got into power by picking fights with other criminal gangs and winning or by kicking out whoever was the previous boss?

And people have positive associations with that time period because they helped git rid of . Maybe that could be a good way to explain where the Hound of the Underground nickname could have come from, if they spent some time fighting or pacifying other gangs. (again personally I think it could also just be a pitfighting nick name)

Cleaning Up The Lanes II (establishing order)

Or were the Lanes lawless and Vander (with or without Silco) brought structure to it? Is this the first time the Lanes have a boss at all? If yes, what does that mean? Does it mean a pseudo government system, where taxes are collected from the ones who can afford it?

Was there maybe some sort of social system under Vander where maybe he collects the taxes and then has like a fund to like help people in need, like if they lost their house or had an injury? If Vander and Benzo collect taxes, what does Vander spend it on (presuming he might also have income from the bar?). Is that all going straight to feeding his kids

Silco when he rules doesn't live super ostentatiously either, but at least you can picture that the taxes he collects go to buying research materials for Singed or buying weapons or buying machines for Remi's factories.

(if Vander really had like the tiniest traces of a homemade social welfare system then maybe that would explain why people hold him in high regard years later, but again, how realistic is that?)

Or does running the Lanes mean for Vander that he like helped people negotiate their quarrels, like the barest hint of a court/justice system? If somebody acts out on the Lanes, what happens? Do people come to Vander and ask him to take care of it? Does he just keep his ear on the ground and go out and take out people who he perceives to act out? Do people show up at his place and ask him to decide in one of their quarrels? (I was thinking how in a bunch of RPG video games in the recent years they have introduced sequences where people ask you to decide a conflict, but even if it's not a "petitioning the duke" kind of situation, if Vander has a rule he's giving out, how is it handled when people go against that rule?)

Again going here with the idea that people might remember Vander positively if they perceived him as a guy they could go to for help and Silco later is more a hand off lawless "fix your stuff yourself" kind of guy where the normal people are concerned.

Like I said, I think Vander doesn't have to be a super duper special guy beyond "he was a nice charismatic guy with a bar people like to go to and who got killed surprisingly in way people don't really understand" for the statue to exist. But that he still gets remembered years later by people other than Ekko is more weird to me. And even if one assigns less value to the acts of season 2, there's still he whole "why does he have a nickname and reputation that even foreigners know" and what Vi is referring to with the stunts of Vander's youth that she presumably heard from other people about.

(and yes: I just wrote a whole "okay, but what would be his tax policy?" post)

[*and yes the mural that bugs me so much could be a "two part" one, ie the Vander part could be older and then somebody else added Jinx to the existing Vander mural, ta least getting around my "Ekko definitely didn't paint the Jinx mural" issues with it]

[kiryoutann]

i wanted to rant about simon.

what do you think so far like what are your actual headcanons for the canon simon vs this simon from this series?

my feelings about the actual simon is quite vague. i've read far more fanfictions than bothering with the actual material so my picture of his is not really...constant? idk

but with this simon, he scares me. just to think about people that can engage in such romantic and sensual acts with little to no feeling involved.

or the mc's father. her dad makes me feel such an anger and injustice that i don't know how to express it and i know we probably won't get a satisfying update on him.

you don't like your wife fine i could understand the distance between them, but how can somebody forget their child no matter if they share the same blood or not, after all the time he raised her

leaving all that behind just to start a whole new life. how can that not eat somebody alive

OHH this is actually a good question. honestly for me, simon is probably one of the hardest character to write about because he doesn't give away too much. too calm. too know-it-all.

we're just gonna talk about the romance aspects!

but based on my head-canon of the canon simon, he has those younger years where he avoids romance, but not this actively and aggressively. it's more because he has too much on his plate (anger management issues, PTSD, depression) than because he think he's not good enough for some happiness (but he also doesn't expect/hope for it.)

canon younger (probably 6-7 years after he killed Roba) Simon lives his life without the need for things to turn out in certain ways. as he gets older (yes, the 2022/2023 ghost) and better mentally, he's become a little more open to the idea, though.

he's still not actively seeking romance, settling on one-nightstands and things that don't require any strings attached. however, he's not completely closed off to the idea too. if he has someone he likes AND TRUST (this is already a high wall to get over), he might act on it. but again, not really actively pursuing it and knows he doesn't need it.

and this might come as a surprise, but he's actually the biggest flirt out there—well, at least when it's only the two of you. when in front of his taskforce, he goes back to acting like he's the calm, collected, cool, stoic, scary lieutenant that everyone knows. can't have you ruin his reputation, right?

"it's private but not secret," with him. though it's not loud PDA, sometimes he lets his hands linger in places like your waist, your hips, shoulders. his love language is act of service, gift giving, physical touch—he makes sure to always appreciate you with compliments and love affirmations, but he's never really a man who's big on words.

WHILE THIS SIMON, hmmm.. he's a bit more complicated. and a mess. at some point, you can think of him as the younger version of canon simon we just talked about to simplify it, but even that's not really accurate considering the different ways they handle "all that sappy stuff" (as simon would say). this one actively and AGGRESIVELY avoids romance.

and while they both (my ver. of canon simon and this simon) sort to flings and one-nightstands, the canon simon is more careful and actually follows the boundaries he draws himself. while this simon outlines the boundaries, follows his rules until an interesting bird enters his orbit, violates them, and destroys them himself before he goes around saying "you read that wrong, darling."

NOW, ABOUT THE FATHER. . .

RIGHT! in my opinion, it's better for them to get a divorce actually and Dad still plays a role in MC's life rather than just leaving her. like, i know it'll still hurt the MC but, at least she can still have both of her parents even though in different houses! at least she doesn't have to feel neglected in her childhood.

okay, you hate someone you thought you would love forever, but abandoning your child? whose very existence was created because of you? talk about the Dad will come up in the sequel. hell, he'll even make an appearance with his two ballet loving new daughters. imagine how MC will feel.

sadly, this happens a lot in real life. fathers leaving and starting a new life without thinking about his "old" family. how people shame single mothers but never the absent fathers. people shame many women who have "daddy issues" or call them "fatherless" yet never call out men's incapability of being a real, PRESENT father.

[thetorturedbuckydepartment]

chapter one: the briefing

pairing: Bucky barnes x plus-sized!SHIElD!reader

masterlist

summary: being a SHIELD agent, you have a knack for analysing people, particularly when it comes to attraction. you have everyone figured out, sorted away into the boxes you've created. But there's one man you can never seem to figure out, the very bane of your existence -- Bucky Barnes. On the field, he is a saint, helping you dodge bullets and taking knife wounds in your name. Around the building? Public menace number one, always poised to insult or to spar with you.

After being sent on a 6-month-long torture-cum-vacation with the very man, could all this change? Could you finally figure out what has been bubbling beneath the surface for years between the two of you, the juggernaut that you know you cannot stop?

warnings: mentions of sex, mentions of murder, dead parents, scars, trauma, implied slutshaming, mentions of guns and shooting and bombs, mentions of wanting to die, dark content, reader is implied to be bisexual (I cannot fathom not being attracted to women SORRY NOT SORRY), reader is implicitly stated to be NOT A MAN

word count: 3.4k

A/N: omg it's here! had so much fun writing this, hope you all enjoy it too! im still working out a schedule for this, as ive currently written 3 chapters and am already at about 10k words! and im currently very inspired for my own, non-fanfic WIP, so im split! hope you enjoy, and as always, let me know if you liked it! comments and reblogs are much appreciated <3

Human attraction can be sorted into three little boxes: Sexual, romantic, platonic. It is somewhat of a threeway Venn diagram, and people find themselves travelling in between the perfectly drawn circles all the time. It is a marvel to some, to be able to gauge the section in which one stands with a simple glance. It’s a gift, you’ve found, having the knack to discern between the three attractions. Which means you’ve cracked the code on people, and know exactly how to assess and engage accordingly. 

It’s how you find yourself in such a predicament as the following, quite often:

“You’re Butterscotch, aren’t you?” The voice is meek, quiet, and comes from directly behind you. You’ve just put down the weights at the gym, and have paused to take a drink from your water bottle, when you turn to assess the situation. 

Long brown hair, blue eyes. Gorgeously shy smile as she tucks a strand behind her ear. Your whole body moves, reacting to the incarnation of Aphrodite herself in front of you. You suppose you’ve always seen women that way, to be wholly more beautiful on average compared to men. It’s how you often find yourself in bed with a woman not unlike the one before you. 

She stands, slyly pushing her breasts together and leaning into you, whether it be subconscious or not, batting her long eyelashes.  Sexual attraction, then. You smile, deciding to play it cool, taking another long sip of water, silently reveling in the way her eyes stick on your wet lips. 

“Yeah, that’s me. And you, you’re Hazel, aren’t you?” You tip your head to one side in faux innocence, honing you eyes in on her in a way you know sends shivers down her spine, completely hypnotised by the way you silently call to her. She nods, surprised that you’ve remembered her from her initiation training 6 months ago. She was one of the older recruits, only two or three years younger than you, but valuable just the same.

“I’ve been following your career for a while now, and I must say I really look up to you.” Her lips twist into a grin, showing off her perfect teeth. Your own face darkens as you inject lust into it, and you watch as she tries to discreetly squeeze her thighs together. She’ll be eating right out of your hand in no time.

If she’d come to you 13 years ago, when you were just starting out, you would’ve wanted to tell her that all you are interested in is a promise of casualty. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less, but the absence of such a discussion did land you in hot water all that time ago. Now, your reputation precedes you, and you doubt there is a single soul in this building who doesn’t know your one-and-done policy. Of course, some of the agents surprise you and you have them on a staggered rotation, a new criteria you’ve introduced into your sex life once the gap between you and fresh faces widened to an immoral degree.

You open your mouth to give her a reply that will make her leave here with sticky thighs, when the most agitating, grating voice you’ve been almost tortured with for the past eight years echoes across the gym, calling to you.

“Let’s go Butterface, Fury had a brief for us twenty minutes ago. You can fuck around later.” You roll your eyes at the words of none other than James Buchanan Barnes, huffing out a breath. He’s done this to embarrass you, for sure, because you know for a fact that Fury’s briefing for the next mission is actually in ten minutes from right now. But you know if you showed up on time, he gets the upper hand for coming in earlier.

That’s the other reason you’re so famous around the building — your long-term feud with Bucky. Whenever the two of you end up in a meeting room, there are more insults hurled around than facts. You two love to spar together, finding any excuse to leave bruises on the other’s body. But the most damning thing? There is no better team than the both of you out on the field, your missions always resulting in the lowest casualties and highest success rates SHIELD has ever seen. It’s an eternal mystery, but to the two of you, it is clear enough. You are enemies, holding the dagger of sharp-edged insults to each other’s throats, but on a mission? It must all be put aside for the greater good, for the safety of others. The remarks are snarky but non-distracting, and you’ve jumped in front of a bullet for him more times than you would like to admit. But it doesn’t matter, because he has endured several injuries for you in turn as well. 

You redirect your attention back to your self-sacrificial prey for tonight. “Well, if you need me, I’ll be available at my room on floor 13 at around ten.” You lean in to whisper into her ear, and drag a less-than-innocent finger down the side of her neck. “I can give you a few more ways to look up to me, if you’d like.” The lower octave does something to her, and you watch her eyes flutter shut as she realises you’ve gladly accepted the silent offer she was handing you on a silver platter. 

You chuckle, at how easy it all is. And then spin on your heel, marching back to begrudgingly follow behind the tall brunette who seems to have a permanent scowl on his face whenever he’s in the same room as you. 

He leans back against the cool metal of the elevator that will send the both of you to the top, arms crossed across his broad chest. If you didn’t hate his guts, you’d absolutely suck him dry, right here right now. It’s no surprise that he is the most beautiful man in the building, but his attitude and mannerisms have long turned you off from him.

You poke the bear.

“What happened, Barnes? You mad nobody’ll fuck you?” He turns to you then, blue eyes blazing. And it only makes your shit-eating grin widen.

“Why would I ever be mad at that? I’m mad because we have to go on a mission, and when I come to get you, you’re busy planning on how to… spend your night. Again. At this point, if they’ve got a pulse they probably meet your standards, don’t they?” He smiles cruelly, and you don’t miss the implications. But you don’t care. If you were a man, they’d be singing your praises in the streets. So why is it different now?

“If they have a pulse? Well, if that were the case, then you…” You let your eyes wander up and down, and you notice his hard shell cracking when you meet his eyes again. You smile widens and you feign a blush, and he begins to smile, thinking he’s got you. And then you throw a grenade into whatever fantasy he’s spinning in his head. “Would be dead.” Your voice has never been more cold, observing the way his shoulders slouch in something akin to disappointment.

This is his kryptonite that you love exploiting, so much. The man is wickedly attracted to you, and is equally as horrid at hiding it. You have no idea what kind, though. Which box he fits into. You’re certain it’s not platonic given the way he talks to you. The longing glances and delicate touches after missions where you end up injured had turned you towards romantic, but you know there is no denying the way his eyes drift to your cleavage when you spar, or the way his hands immediately find your hips when you best him in the ring and end up straddling him. There is no box you can put him in, and it drives you up the damn wall.

You briefly wonder what the two of you would be doing in this elevator right now if you were as attracted to him and either of you had made it known. 

The elevator pings and the both of you break the burning, seething eye contact as you file into Meeting Room 17B.

“Right, before Barnes’ dick explodes at the thought of me fucking a woman, what’s the mission chief.” Barnes has the nerve to blush, sitting in the chair opposite yours, both facing the head of the table with a monitor where Fury and Stark both stand.

“Did your mother never teach you the difference between professional and casual?” He fires back, and you grin sadistically, crossing your arms over your chest and leaning back.

“She’s dead, Barnes. Have some decorum, and maybe a modicum of respect?” His face falls, knowing he’s crossed a line, but if God Himself came down and told Bucky to apologise, he’d shake hands with the Devil. “What about your father then?” He is frantically searching you for any sign of hurt or discomfort that he can exploit, you can tell by the way his eyes stick to your every feature.

“Hard to when you’re in prison for murdering your wife and attempting to murder your child.” You turn to Stark, knowing you’ve rendered him absolutely speechless. Out of the corner of your eye, you see his mouth close and open like a fish, gasping for some air. Pathetic, really, but well-deserved. In all these years, you’re surprised it took him this long to blame your upbringing, often opting to attack you as a person directly. But you finally got to play the cards you’ve kept close to your chest, a sick and twisted punishment. That means that you win, today.

“Thats 236 for Butterscotch, and Barnes is still on 220,” Tony mutters, and you can’t hide your competitive side that comes out.

You turn to him, tutting. “Keep up, Barnes. I thought you were better competition than this. Pathetic.” You’re shaking your head in mock disappointment. A blood-tinged vignette passes around in the back of your mind, but you try your best to not let it show.

The arguments between you and Bucky as so well-known to get out of hand, the Avengers started keeping score, refreshing each year, of who won the argument. This is strictly judged based on how the final retort leaves the other unable to think of a comeback. You’ve bested him 236 times already, and it’s only February.

“You didn’t tell me about your parents,” he grumbles, cheeks pink in humiliation. Why is he backing down so easily today?

“I don’t owe you shit, Barnes. Especially not about my life before I got here. Sorry, Fury, should we start the briefing?” You divert the attention back to the matter at hand, feeling like maybe you went a tiny bit too far by calling him pathetic to his face. 

Since when have you ever nurtured a soft spot for him? Well, you are certainly not going to be starting today.

With both of your mouths shut and eyes attentive, Fury begins to speak.

“We need the two of you to go undercover. We have intel that Senator Parker may be dealing with copious amounts of methamphetamines, involving using his house as a lab and distribution centre. He often targets teens of ethnic backgrounds to carry the drugs and deal them in exchange for cuts — he chooses them this way so they would almost immediately go to prison, and nobody would be let off scot-free to rat him out.” Tony flashes up several holograms of the Senator, the teens caught pressing white packets into palms, and even those who ended up behind bars, and have continued to distribute the drugs from within.

“So…why do we need to go undercover?” You ask, leaning forward in your seat so you could see the graphics better.

“Well…here is Parker’s dating history…” Why does Tony sound so reluctant as he pulls up the dating history? Why is that relevant? These are just some of the questions that swirl around your mind, and are evident in your scrunched up face.

Bucky is watching you, quietly. Observing your features, observing you. He can’t help it — the grace with which you walk, the crudeness with which you speak…it’s entrancing. And you know it. He hates it. 

Then, slowly, the pictures begin to appear — there are 17 women. Every single one of them looks like you — the same colour hair, the same colour eyes. Similar face shapes and similar body types. It’s like there’s 18 of you in the room.

“I’m a honeytrap?”

Fury is quick to speak, to protest the misunderstanding that the mission is an objectification of you. “No….well yes. We have carefully constructed a plan that essentially is built on the fact that you happen to be—“

“Exactly his type?” Bucky asks, feeling shame crawl up his spine at the realisation that he has something in common with a drug lord. You look at him as he speaks, and feel more and more confused by the second.

“Yes.” Tony continues. “We’ve planned to plant you in the same cul-de-sac that Parker’s house resides on, and Butterscotch can use the fact that she’s his type to sway him, win his trust. You’ll have to play the long game with him, he’s known to barely let anyone in his house unless he wants to fuck them.”

You feel a sickness coat your stomach. “Will I have to fuck him? Because I’d rather shoot Barnes and then myself and blow up this building.” You chew your lip nervously, all the confidence can your body momentarily evaporating. The old man might just be one of the worst people you’ve ever heard of when it comes to drug trafficking. Not to mention any sexual gratification is just you stepping into a stereotype of what he wants, that you are just another woman with the similar face that he wants to put his dick in. It makes your skin crawl, and you run your fingernails harshly along your forearm.

“No.” To your surprise, it’s Bucky who speaks up. He meets your eyes for a brief moment, before turning to Fury and Tony. “No, right? She clearly doesn’t want to, don’t tell me you’re gonna make her.” He sounds oddly protective over you here, which he has no right to be. But you can’t fight him, not over this.

“No, no, of course not. You won’t have to do anything you don’t want to. At most you’ll have to flirt with him, make him think he’s going to….y’know, with you. And use that advantage to sneak into his house. You won’t have to do anything you don’t want to, Butterscotch. You know we’d never do that to you, that it’s against our ethics and values.” You nod, relaxing in your seat while Bucky stares at the red, raw skin of your forearm. He wants to soothe it, he wants to soothe you—

“And if I’m going, obviously you’re gonna send the Sergeant with me, aren’t you?” They nod in unison. You take a deep breath, knowing you have to take it. There will be no mission more satisfying. And Bucky is much more bearable when the both of you have a common goal.

“So what exactly is our cover?” Bucky perks up. The both of you wear the suit of civility so quickly when you have to do your jobs. 

Fury scratches his neck, exchanging a nervous glance with Tony. You anticipate the answer, knowing it will not be to your liking.

“We’ve planned to plant you in the Acorn suburb in Claremont, just across the street from Parker’s residence, for around six months. It’s a nice, quaint little city, I think the both of you would like it. It’s a lot more green, and less noisy and polluted than New York—.”

“Tony,” you warn, glaring at him. He is omitting the information. Why?

“Fine! The suburbs are conservative as shit, so you’re going as husband and wife!” Your eyes widen, and you swear you lose hearing for a second as the world goes in and out of focus. You have to pretend to be married. Pretending to be in love, you could do — in fact, you could probably pass off most intel exchanges with him as lovers’ private conversations if you smile and laugh on the right cues.

But marriage? The sanctity of which has been so thoroughly, irrevocably spoiled for you? The very reason you have only ever wanted casual in your entire life, as opposed to commitment? You can’t breathe.

You try to hide your shaky hands as you reach for the glass of water, downing it and gasping for breath. All that runs through your mind is the only instance of a married man you’ve ever known, and how it ended. How you ended, body mutilated in enough scars to rival Bucky’s left shoulder, crying out for a bloodied corpse in the back of an ambulance while the paramedics did their best to save you. How you wish they would’ve failed sometimes. 

It’s too much.

“I need time to think.” You all but run out of the door, and you think the chair falls with the force of your escape, but your heart is beating too fast for you to be certain. Sweat that had dried reappears at your hairline, beading and dripping down your face. You sit on the floor, clutching at your chest as you’re bombarded by the most horrifying images that not even the strongest of sleeping pills can shake. Your eyes squeeze shut and someone is calling your name. Not Butterscotch, but the name that heinous monster chose for you when you were still in your mother’s womb.

But even that turns out to be a hallucination, your head in your hands as you hear a familiar voice call to you.

“Butterface…is the idea of being married to me that bad?” You freeze. Bucky is here, why is Bucky here? You look up to be met with him crouching by your side, Tony on the other with a hand on your shoulder, and Fury standing tall. There is not a single hint of disappointment on his face, and you’re glad.

You turn to Tony. “You know…you know what…I can’t. You know why….Tony…” His face morphs into one of intense melancholia, pulling you into him. Ever since you started working more closely together with Bucky, he’s become something of a big brother to you — overly protective and affectionately annoying.

“I know, kid. You know what? Screw this, I’ll find some other agent who looks close to you to take over with Barnes.” His voice finally calms you down, and you take in deep breaths.

You can’t win them all. You’ll have to make some sacrifices. You pull away from Tony��s arms, not even daring to glance at Bucky. He doesn’t need to see what you look like when you’re vulnerable, because you know he will do everything in his power to bring you to such a state once again, just to hurt you.

You take several deep breaths.

“No. You and Fury have said it yourself, so many times. Nobody works better with James than I do, at least not in the field. My burning hatred for him is completely personal. I— I can do it. It’s just…I probably would’ve been fine but it got brought up and it was all I could really think about and then…it just sent me over the edge. But if Barnes promises to not be as big of an asshole as he usually is, I can make it work.” You don’t even risk a glance at him.

“I won’t be. I’ll behave. Plus, you are a lot more tolerable out on the field, so it shouldn’t be so hard. Promise, it’ll all be okay.” His tone sounds so…sincere? What on earth is up with him today? You spare him a glance, and his eyes shine brilliantly blue. And you believe him.

Bucky Barnes may be an asshole, but he would never lie to you. Especially when it concerns a mission, where miscommunications and secrets have consequences for people outside the both of you. He has at least this sense of loyalty about him.

“Alright. Guess I better get packing for Claremont, then.” 

NEXT PART

[larz-barz]

Name: Mikitama Suzuki (goes by Miki)

Age: 14

Species: Half demon and Bakeneko yokai

Important Relationships: Mikitamo (Miko) Suzuki (twin brother), Michio Suzuki (older brother), Haruki Suzuki (uncle), Giyuu Tomioka (adoptive father), Tanjiro Kamado (best friend/boyfriend depending on what universe it is)

Occupation: Demon Slayer (3 years)

Rank: Hashira (2 and 1/2 years)

Breathing Style: Starlight breathing

Backstory: The Suzuki siblings’ parents were killed by Douma 2 years after the twins, Miki and Miko, were born. They were members of his cult and he found their mother to be very beautiful. He killed her first, not knowing that Miki was watching. She quickly alerted her father, resulting in her father’s death as well. Michio ran away with his 2 year old siblings to their Uncle Haruki’s home. Haruki took them in with open arms, but a year later a low rank demon killed his wife when she was protecting the children. After this, Haruki became very abusive towards them since he blamed them for the death of his wife. Michio tried to protect his younger siblings, but he was almost never able to. Michio, Miko, and Miki discovered the existence of demon slayers after one came to protect them from Haruki after he was turned into a demon. The slayer brought the kids (Michio was 13 while Miki and Miko were 10) to the demon slayer headquarters. The Master talked with them and decided to allow them to train under the hashira so that, they too, could become demon slayers. Miki and Miko trained under Giyuu Tomioka, the water hashira, and MIchio trained under Kyojuro Rengoku, the flame Hashira. After training for a year, the siblings went to the final selection and passed easily. 6 months later, Miki crossed paths with Douma. Recognizing him as the one who killed her parents, she quickly killed him. Miko and Michio were very happy when she killed Douma. They were surprised to find out that she could now be a hashira. Miko and Michio became hashira as well around 6-7ish months after Miki did.

Quotes: “Just because you were there to see someone you care about be killed, doesn’t mean you could’ve done anything to prevent it. You just have to carry on and protect the people you still have.” -Miko Suzuki

“Family is the most important thing. I’ll do anything to make sure my family is safe.” -Michio Suzuki

“If I could, I would go back and save mother and father, but I was too young to understand what was happening… All I can do now is stay strong for the ones I love.” -Miki Suzuki

Fun facts (Miki):

When Miki saw Douma for the first time in 9 years, she was immediately filled with pain and rage as the memories of seeing her parents eaten by him filled her mind.

Miki’s favorite food is chicken udon since Michio used to make it for her and Miko, eventually teaching them how to make it too!

Miki wears a mask because she’s insecure. It helps her feel more confident and happy!

Miki loves doing crafty things like sowing, pottery, painting, and drawing.

Miki is often underestimated because of her small size and her age, but she doesn’t let that stop her!

Miki uses the breathing style that was passed down through the Suzuki family for generations: starlight breathing.

Fun facts (Miko):

Miko will often get angry anytime he sees someone mistreated, and he’ll do everything in his power to stop it.

Miko gives Miki piggyback rides when she’s tired or injured (this goes both ways, they’ll even do this for Michio!)

Miko and Michio often go into full protective brother mode anytime Miki gets hurt or upset since “no one hurts their little sister and gets away with it”

The only ones in the demon slayer corp that know about their background, are the Master and Kyojuro and Giyuu.

Miko loves helping his brother and sister with anything no matter what!

Miko created his breathing style, constellation breathing, from starlight breathing.

Fun facts (Michio):

Michio may seem super serious, but he’s actually a huge softy! Especially when it comes to his younger siblings!

Michio is always encouraging Miki and Miko to do things they love. Training is important, but so is mental health!

When training, Michio will often go to the sakura orchard behind Miki’s estate.

Michio lets Miki braid his hair sometimes since it’s so long.

Michio only shows his sillier side around his siblings, Kyojuro, and Mitsuri.

Michio created his breathing style, supernova breathing, from starlight breathing.

[silviathebard]

Why I hate Jinx's not-death

(part 1: Jinx's unfulfilled redemption arc)

So this has been brewing in my mind for a while now, and I just need to write it down and see if anyone else feels the same way.

But first, ✨️context✨️

From the beginning, Arcane has set up Jinx for a redemption arc. As far as I remember, one of the show writers even stated whether Jinx could be redeemed was the main question of the show. The biggest obstacle to this is Jinx's perception of herself. This is most clear in her name change after Act 1, Season 1. She renames herself "Jinx" and tries to forget her old self, Powder. She does this because after the events of episode 3 and after Vi calls her a "jinx", she begins to internalize that she is an inherently bad person.

In Act 2 she is haunted by Vi's words, to the point she wants to separate herself from the girl who had hope she could "fix things", Powder. Her belief that she was destined to be a bad person and a "jinx" is only helped by the various shots of crows throughout season 1, birds that symbolize bad luck, as well as fate and destiny.

But we see in Act 2 that Jinx never left Powder behind. She can't help but be affected by her last memory of Vi just like Powder was. Jinx's ingenuity and intelligence when it comes to gadgets is a shared personality trait between them, except just as Viktor says in season 2, her talents were used to create instead of destroy. In addition, Jinx keeping the flare that Vi gave her all those years ago is another example. She can't let Vi go, but she also doesn't want to be the little girl who needs her older sister's help anymore. Clearly, Jinx is not separate from Powder no matter how much she tries.

This is important because it shows Jinx's potential for change and growth. Although Jinx wants to believe she is her namesake, the parts of Powder that exist within her show she has the capacity to change like any other human being.

With that in mind, let's talk about Jinx's redemption arc in season 2 through her relationships with Isha, Vi, and Ekko.

In season 2, the writers first set up Jinx's redemption arc through Isha. As Jinx herself says, Isha reminds her of Powder. In a way, she is letting the more mischievous, playful, and even protective part of herself flourish. Remember, the event of Act 1, Season `1 that led to the creation of Jinx was directly a result of Powder wanting to save and protect her family. Isha can also be Jinx's redemption, a way for her to save her family the 2nd time.

Her bringing Vi and Warwick together is an even more literal version of that. She is bringing her family back together, even fixing it. Warwick/Vander's arc is also similar to Jinx's, just like Jinx he (with Viktor's help) finds the lost parts of himself and goes on a path toward redemption.

In my opinion, Vi and Jinx's reunion is a bit rushed. They never actually talk about what happens in A1S1 (I'm tired of typing it out, okay?) But that's besides the point. Jinx and Vi regain their sibling dynamic specifically in the little fight in episode 6? (5?) We also see that Vi has accepted the parts of Powder that have changed. She accepts that her sister is no longer the same, but also realizes she is not completely unrecognizable. This can be seen when Vi asks Jinx about her thoughts and Jinx says, "You actually want my opinion?" As well as when Jinx asks Isha, "got all of your insides?" Vi looks at Jinx in surprise (I couldn't find the shot but yall know what I mean right???) I interpreted that shot as Vi realizing how Powder still lives in Jinx even if she isn't the same.

After Isha's death and Warwick's reversal in redemption, Jinx feels like she has nobody, and worse she believes she doesn't deserve anybody. When Vi comes for Jinx in the jail cell, Jinx says morosely, "You're never going to give up on me, are you?" It's clear she believes that she isn't worth the effort anymore, which leads to her suicide attempt in ep. 8.

Meanwhile, Ekko has been teleported to an alternate dimension, where Hextech was never invented and Powder never became Jinx. In this universe, Ekko has the realization we, the audience, and Vi already had. Jinx is Powder, and Powder is Jinx.

Although alternate universe Powder doesn't go by the name "Jinx", we can still see the remnants of her. When a confused Ekko asks Powder if she killed Vi, she responds first by telling him his tip led to her death, but then she also says, "Don't make me do something I'll regret." Here, we see the potential for Jinx in Powder. Although Jinx has the potential for redemption which is symbolized through the concept of "Powder", Jinx herself holds another kind of fulfilled potential. The potential for genius. As Ekko says later in the episode, Jinx's ideas "change the world". However as Powder says, genius comes with a twin, madness.

Powder decides not to pursue the hextech crystals she finds because she doesn't want to lose "what makes me, me." This is more because of her inherent need to protect people than anything (probably assuming the role Vi had). When Vander makes the analogy about filling others' cups, he is saying that Powder shouldn't dampen her own potential to protect others. It's a bit ironic that Vander has no clue what would have happened if she did this in the original universe.

Clearly, Powder always had the potential to become Jinx as Jinx has the potential to be Powder. Ekko realizes he must also convince Jinx of this, so he leaves the alternate universe to save her.

He comes just in time, however he cannot find the right words to convince Jinx that she is worthy of redemption. That is, until Jinx sees the Z-Drive created with her inventions. That is when she realizes that her inventions can be used for good, and as a metaphor, that she is also capable of good. Off-screen, we can assume they talk more before arriving in ep. 9 at the final battle.

Unfortunately, this is when it all goes wrong. Vi and Jinx fight Warwick together, and Jinx ends up sacrificing herself to save Vi. Later, in a sort-of epilogue we see Ekko mourning her. We also see Caitlyn realizing that Jinx may be alive, as well as a shot of an airship that implies she is on it and has left Piltover.

Coming soon: Why Jinx dying/leaving undermines what was set up throughout the show

[violeky]

[Twisted wonderland spoilers book 6 and Book 7]

Okay cool but I truly need to talk about Idia Shroud and his social anxiety bc that's literally social anxiety.

If you guys remember, after Ortho's death, Idia literally didn't go out of his room for TWO WHOLE YEARS. Im not exactly sure but I think it was when he was 12-14 years old, at that young age he blocked his social connection with others because he was busy creating Humanoid Ortho. But still it's so surprising to me that still I don't see much people in the fandom talking about this important fact of Idia's past. We talk about Ortho's death and how fucked up Idia's life, but we don't talk enough about Idia not going out of his room for two years also fucked up his way of seeing the world and that probably that decision helped to create this anxious and introvertide side of Idia.

As a person who HAS social anxiety (better than Idia but still have it), I can talk by my case that not going out to have contact with other people really destroys how one sees and judges social interactions. By my case I was in my house for the Pandemic and Idia for his desesperation of bringing to life his little brother.

In the dream of Idia in book 7, Ortho doesn't die. For that, Idia doesn't stay 2 years in his room and not having complete real contact with others. And for no ones surprise, Idia is more cappable of having social interactions with others in this dream, what we see when he talks with Malleus (still kinda scared but bc is Tsunotaro lol) and when he talks with this Ignihyde student who even gives us a sensation that is like a Vice-Housewarden.

Idia is not completely different in the dream than in the reality in terms of personality, but we see that for not staying in his room for two years, he has a better way of giving the face to social interactions without overthinking so much.

Another detail I would like to add is that after passing again by the trauma of seeing that Ortho is dead, he finally accept this completely and face it, because the overblot accident made him accept it but that didn't mean his heart was healed.

But now, as I see that his heart is much more healed, we see how much he had talked and interacted with the characters in the whole book 7. This Idia is still shy and sometimes a dick, but he is more determinated and open about what he thinks, feels, etc.

And I felt really happy seeing the first time he interacted with Ramshackle dúo, Silver and Sebek. Maybe he talks with the table to the other boys when they are in their dreams, but there's a development in Idia's way of socially interacting that I think we should look.

Love my babygirl sm 💗

[theleechyskrunkly]

INTRODUCING: Álvaro.

Name: “One Slice” Álvaro.

Age: ??? (Younger than Lilia, older than Malleus)

Gender: Built to be male.

Pronouns: He/Them

Height: 6 feet 8 inches (207.3 cm)

Birthday: N/A

Homeland: Briar Valley

Family: N/A

Voice Claim: Kenjiro Tsuda.

Twisted from: The Spinning Wheel in Sleeping Beauty.

Class: 3-D, Junior.

Best subject: Magic Analysis

Club: Gargoyle Study Club

Pet peeves: being awoken from sleep, being threatened and… that’s it.

Hobbies: Sewing, knitting, and embroidery.

Likes: His hobbies… at least he *thinks* he likes them. Malleus? He’s not sure. He likes blood, but not in high quantities. Peace. Lady Meleanor. Lady Meleanor’s husband… what was his name again? Ma’am Maleficia.

Dislikes: People with unnecessary killing intent, the human who killed Meleanor, war, touching others without gloves on.

Lore:

* Álvaro was created by Meleanor using extreme amounts of magical power as a revival soldier of war, meant to be extremely deadly and highly aggressive on her orders.

* His UM – Lethality Upon a Slash –was what made him a terrifying asset for the faes during the war.

* His UM essentially activates the ability to insta kill anyone Álvaro makes bleed with his bare hands. So even the smallest of cuts done by his nails can kill a person instantly if his UM is activated. (Credits to Elena for this UM idea)

* He’s essentially immortal so long as his core (basically his heart), which is composed of Meleanor’s magic, is within his body. So if he “died” in battle, he could be easily revived by Meleanor since he was made of her magic.

* He’s made of flesh, though it’s much tougher than human flesh, as though he were a meat puppet.

* He doesn’t feel emotions, as he was built to kill. Humans believed him a fae, and one of the deadliest at that. He spared none, whether they were human or fae. If he found them a threat, they were most certainly dead.

* After Meleanor’s death, the aggressiveness of his actions depleted, as she was no longer there to give him the orders to kill. He was left with no purpose or direction, and no longer killed unless attacked first.

* Thus, fae grew highly angered at him (Lilia being one of them at the time). He had failed to assist Meleanor in her fight against the Dawn Knight (Meleanor had explicitly instructed him to fight off any who tried to assist the Dawn Knight in his fight with Meleanor, and Álvaro could not refuse) and now he was failing to assist and defend Briar Valley.

* He was eventually driven off, and many fae warriors attempted to kill him, as they saw him as a “traitor”. We can guess how that worked out for them. He consequently ended up wandering for years with little direction before settling at the castle the Silver Owls had taken, which was abandoned since it become inhabitable after yet another war. (Location was Elena’s idea again)

* He “lived” there for several hundreds of years, waiting for new orders or instructions. He basically never moved, since he’s essentially an inanimate object unless he’s addressed by someone.

* It was only after Malleus had grown into a toddler, and Lilia had been exiled, that he was sought out again. By none other than Maleficia.

* She had searched for him after remembering there were still strong traces of Meleanor’s magic within him, making him the only thing left of her daughter besides Malleus.

* She wanted him to become a caretaker for Malleus, as he was too much to handle for anyone else, and perhaps the traces of his mother’s magic in someone else would calm him. To her surprise, Álvaro posed no resistance to her request.

* Her speculation had been indeed correct. Malleus had been throwing a tantrum when Maleficia had brought Álvaro inside (after getting him cleaned and giving him new clothes, as his old one had deteriorated with time and he was quite disgusting), and it was like the child had been doused with a bucket of ice cold water. His cries instantly calmed, the several sparks of destructive magic and fire ceased, and all servants who had been brave enough to attempt calming him breathed a sigh of relief. Which was quickly replaced by horror at the sight of who stood beside the Queen.

* Maleficia wasn’t sure if Malleus had calmed at the presence of his grandmother or the strange man next to her, so she quickly explained the situation to the Malleus, instructing the servants to let Álvaro know everything he needed to know about the castle layout and how to care for the young prince. She made the visit brief, taking her leave as soon as she confirmed Álvaro understood his role.

* The caretaking went even smoother than she had ever expected (she ordered for weekly reports to be made by an intel collector pretending to be a butler to make sure Álvaro wasn’t doing anything fishy). The ever so frequent tantrums dwindled from at least 1 every day to merely 3 per week. Just being held in Álvaro’s arms was like a soothing drug to the little dragon child.

* The reason for this was the familiar magic that radiated off of Álvaro, a magic that Malleus instinctively tied back to his time in the egg, in which he was comforted and warmed by his mother. Malleus identified Álvaro as a parental figure, and was therefore soothed by his presence.

* However, this sentiment was not shared. Álvaro looked after Malleus with extreme carefulness and precision, but this was solely because it was an order. He didn’t hold any affection or dislike towards the infant, for he doesn’t feel emotions nor did he feel any duty to love him. But for Malleus, who was so used to being emotionally neglected, just Álvaro’s shallow caresses meant to pacify his nerves were the pinnacle of loving. Malleus soon grew heavily emotionally attached to Álvaro.

* Álvaro consequently ended up looking after @elenauaurs ‘s Diaval Corvo, as he spent his childhood with Malleus, and Malleus considered him a dear friend, making Álvaro the caretaker for both of the children, raising them under his wing. He also trained Diaval to become the best knight he could be for Malleus’s protection.

* Malleus was the one to drag Álvaro along to NRC with him, extremely and completely reluctant to part ways with him. And that’s how he ended up there.

Aaaaannnnddd ITS FINISHED!!!! Wow! I totally didn’t make this OC in one day!!!

This introduction is pretty basic and not really informative, but I was really eager to post about this guy so I threw it out before I even finished up his design. I promise I’ll work on it soon! Let me know if you guys have any questions and I’ll be happy to answer them! Hope you like this emotionless meat puppet!!!

Tag list (ask to be added or removed): @thehollowwriter @cyanide-latte @tixdixl @distant-velleity @twistedwonderlandshenanigans @lumdays

[cyberneticfallout]

Chapter Two: The Wastes

Ch 1 - Ch 2 - Ch 3 - Ch 4 - Ch 5 - Ch 6 - Ch 7 - Ch 8 - Ch 9 - Ch 10 - More Coming Soon

Pairing: Cooper Howard/The Ghoul x Fem!Reader Summary: As you trudge through the wastes looking for the doctor, you and the ghoul decide to set up camp. Tags: Slow burn (and I mean SLOWWW), angst, eventual smut, language, canon-typical violence, more tags will be added Posted on AO3: Smoothie and The Ghoul Word Count: 1.2k

Navigating the barren wastes was never a task for the faint-hearted. The scorching sun beat down relentlessly, the dry air sucked the moisture from your pores, and the ever-present radiation kept you on edge. Easy work for that damn ghoul, you thought. A sense of unease always lingered in these parts despite all the years you’ve done this.

The ghoul maintained a steady pace ahead of you, with the dog forging an even greater distance in front as she diligently followed the trail of her missing owner. Doctors have always been a sought-after commodity, but the substantial reward offered for this one hinted at something deeper. So far you’ve seen a ghoul, a knight of the Brotherhood of Steel, and a vault dweller mixed up in all of this. Who else is after this man?

The mangled remains of an old Soviet satellite loomed into sight as the dog bounded towards it, barking excitedly. Upon reaching the ruins, you spotted a pair of legs emerging from the debris, followed by a torso. But to your surprise, that was all that seemed to be present seeing as the head seemed to be sawed off.

"Oh, shit," you whispered as the ghoul knelt down to examine the body. The dog sniffed around, whining softly before resting her head on the lap of the headless corpse. It appeared that the doctor hadn't gotten far, evident from the unsettling sight of a bloody metal foot attached to one of his legs.

The ghoul starts to cough and wheeze violently, a sight that has become all too familiar to you from past experiences. Without hesitation, he retrieves a vial from his satchel resembling the one you had previously shown him and inserts it into an inhaler. Inhaling deeply, he lets out a long sigh of relief.

"How many of those you got left?" You quip.

"I keep forgettin you’re here, you’re so damn quiet," the ghoul complains, slightly annoyed by your presence.

You raise an eyebrow, undeterred by his irritation. "Answer the question."

Grimacing, he carefully places the inhaler back inside his satchel. "Enough to get me through. Besides, you bribed me with a vial, so I’m assumin’ you got more. Don’t know why I ain’t just shoot you now and take it," he mutters, frustration evident in his voice.

"I'd make sure to break the shit before you even draw your gun." With a smug smile you take a seat next to the doctor’s corpse. “We’ve been walking for almost a full day now. Wanna rest?”

The ghoul looks at you wearily, his eyes scanning the desolate surroundings. "That vault dweller won't make it too far, so I suppose we can hunker down here for the night."

As the sun begins its descent, casting a warm glow across the desolate landscape, the small fire you managed create dances aflame, providing a small comfort in the darkness. Sticks of iguana meat, graciously hunted down by the dog, roast over the flames.

The ghoul lies flat on his back, his body weary from the day's journey, patiently waiting for the food to be ready. In this moment of stillness, you take the opportunity to observe him more closely. Despite the absence of a nose and the scars that mar his skin, you realize that, all things considered, he doesn't look too bad for a ghoul. There's a certain resilience in his eyes and a hint of humanity that shines through the decay.

"What're you staring at, smoothie?" His gruff voice cuts through the silence, abruptly pulling you out of your thoughts.

Startled, you quickly avert your gaze, hoping he doesn't notice the slight blush that creeps onto your face. "Nothing!" you hastily reply, trying to regain your composure. "So, uh, what's your name?"

"No," he curtly responds, his expression guarded.

"Okay..." you exhale, not wanting to push him any further. Sensing a need to shift the focus away from his guarded demeanor, you dig through your pack and retrieve a pipboy. With a few flicks and taps, you check on your radiation levels, noting that they are not alarmingly high but still present.

As you glance up from the pipboy, you notice the ghoul looking at you curiously. His gaze lingers on the device, and you can tell there is a spark of interest in his eyes.

"Scavenged a vault a long time ago," you casually remark, hoping to initiate a conversation. The ghoul nods, his gaze returning to the night sky above. Not a big talker, you think to yourself as you grab the cooked sticks of meat from the fire and toss one towards him.

He catches the meat with a swift motion, his eyes momentarily softening with gratitude before he takes a bite. The flavors of the wasteland dance on your tongues as you both savor the nourishment.

As the night sky envelops you in its dark embrace, you settle into a companionable silence once more. The crackling of the fire and the occasional sound of chewing provide a comforting soundtrack to your temporary respite. The dog rests her head on your lap as you eat the rest of the meal, saving a bite for her even though you watched her eat an entire radroach earlier.

As you offer her the morsel, a glint of appreciation shines in her eyes. She gently takes it from your hand, savoring the treat as she curls up beside you. You take a moment to observe her, the flickering firelight casts a warm glow on her fur, accentuating the gentle rise and fall of her breathing.

You reach out to stroke her fur, offering a comforting touch. The dog looks up at you with eyes filled with a mixture of gratitude and longing. It's as if she understands the weight of her loss, yet finds solace in the companionship she has found with you.

Unbeknownst to you, the ghoul has been silently observing your interaction with the dog. A flicker of emotion passes across his face, a brief but genuine smile that hints at a hidden softness beneath his hardened exterior. He turns on his side, settling in for the night, and offers a simple instruction.

"Make sure to put out the fire, smoothie," he says gruffly.

Looking up at his back turned to you, a small smile creeps onto your face. You rise from your spot and take a moment to extinguish the crackling fire, ensuring that all remnants of its warmth and light are gone.

Returning to your makeshift bedroll, you lay down next to the dog, who has already settled in for the night. The quietness of the surroundings wraps around you like a peaceful embrace. Gazing up at the stars, their brilliance shining through the vast expanse of the night sky.

As you lay there, the tranquility of the night begins to lull you into a peaceful state, coaxing your eyelids to grow heavy. The wastelands may be ravaged and unforgiving, but for now… there is a quiet peace shared among you, a ghoul, a dog, and a headless corpse.

Tag List: @fallout-girl219 @ellabellabunny123

[fanfic-obsessed]

Twist The Madness

Master Sifo-Dyas is the change point in this little bit of madness. 

In canon Sifo-Dyas is the Jedi that commissioned the Clone Army, driven mad by visions of a war that would destroy the Jedi, of the Jedi temple burning. It is unclear if he was seeing the results of the Clone Wars and Order 66 (thus, like Anakin, created the visions that drove him mad) or if he prevented his visions and Order 66 was something different entirely. It is also unclear if he was patsy of the Sith from the beginning, or if his plan was hijacked by the Sith at a later point.

But what if his takeaway from his visions and the madness they drove him to was just a bit different. Not an army, but protectors. 

Sifo-Dyas still commissioned 1 million clones but not all at once. Instead it would be an ongoing order for generations. The initial amount decanted would be 100,000 clones, most would grow at a double rate until they reach physical adulthood, then their aging would be slowed to normal for near humans. Their training would be generalized and the calling they would be raised with would be to protect the Jedi Temples. The intention being that they would be spread throughout the active temples and live amongst the Jedi there. Approximately 10,000 had a slightly different charge. Each would be raised for a specific Jedi, their genetics tweaked so that they would be a perfect companion and protector (including aging the clone to either adulthood or to match their assigned Jedi and then matching their aging to their Jedi). 

Jango Fett is still contracted to be the progenitor for the clones, but not because of his ability to kill Force Users. Instead it is his genetics themselves that separates him out from other bounty hunters. Due to the crossbreeding of his ancestors, his genetic code is particularly malleable, meaning that the genetic modifications needed to match Clone to a specific Jedi are that much easier. He was not expected to provide training, thus he simply provided generic material  (enough over the course of one year for all 1 million clones in the order), is paid a massive amount of credits plus 1 son (Boba) and leaves; he has no idea that this order is for the Jedi.  

At his request there is a specific genetic marker that is artificially added to all of the clones but Boba so that none of them can claim to be him or his son. He also signs a truly impressive number of agreements that released him from responsibility for the clones AND guaranteed that he knew that he was being cloned (Look, realistically the ethical issue with cloning a sentient being centers around the being being cloned, not the clones themselves; the ethical issues with the clones and their sentience is sentient trafficking).

I want it to be clear here. Sifo-dyas was still driven to madness before he commissioned the clones. He and master Dooku were working together on this project, sharing the madness. Dooku does not fall to the darkside here, though he does still leave the Jedi Order. Though their machinations see that the Clones on the whole are treated better, as they are meant to be companions and protectors of the Jedi, the clones are very much being raised for a destiny that they were not able to choose (with all the ethical issues that come with that). There is a heavy focus and even heavier propaganda throughout the clones' childhood of how they are, in a very real sense, being raised for the Jedi. It is also very heavily referenced that the Jedi as a whole do not know about the Clone yet, since they were a surprise.

The 10,000 who were being raised for a specific Jedi grew up with every piece of information that could be found about their Jedi. Their training was tailored to the Jedid they were assigned to.  The information/propaganda/brainwashing was so specific for these 10,000 that after about the age of 3 chronologically, (a variety of ages physically, though age 6 is the most common for the clone that are meant to go to the adult Jedi), the clones whose Jedi died before they could meet could not be retrained. Instead their fellow clones consider them to be a living memorial for the lost Jedi (It is a really weird cultural development, but both Sifo-Dyas and Dooku allow it-They want the Clones as a culture to be in a symbiotic relationship with the Jedi and this fit in with that). 

Sifo-Dyas’s plan did derail Dooku’s fall entirely, instead of causing Sifo-dyas’s death Dooku ghosted Palpatine around the time of the Naboo invasion. It never occurs to Dooku to let anyone know that Palpatine is a Sith. 

Fast forward about 10 years, Dooku and Sifo-Dyas construct a far too complicated, dramatic plan to lure Obi Wan to Kamino. As far as they are concerned it is only right that Obi Wan gets ‘his’ clone protector, Cody, first (as Dooku’s grand padawan).  It actually somewhat mirrors cannon, in that Anakin is sent on a mission to escort Senator Padme Amidala to Naboo (this is actually a separate plan by Palptine, who is trying to corrupt Anakin.In this Padme has been little more than a puppet for Palpatine for years-Her will is so strong that she has retained little bits of her own sense of self, as long as Palpatine is not in the equation but nothing like what she should have been)  alone, as a test to see how ready he is to take his trials. Dooku then hires a bounty hunter, not Jango Fett, to lure Obi Wan to Kamino. 

Obi Wan is met on Kamino by the Kaminoans first but also an all but visibly vibrating Cody. This Cody is radiating adoration and glee into the Force at finally meeting ‘his’ Jedi. It should be noted that Cody’s presence in the Force could not have been more perfect for Obi Wan. Cody gives the full tour to a mildly shellshocked Obi Wan; including introducing him to Rex, who has been raised for Anakin (I debated Rex going to Anakin or Ahsoka, but ultimately decided that Echo and Fives (together as twins) were meant for Ahsoka). They end the tour with a meeting with Dooku and Sifo Dyas who explain the clones.  

Now Dooku and Sifo-Dyas deliberately have Cody stay while they explain who and what the clones were meant to be.  Obi Wan already does not want to hurt Cody and there are only so many ways one can say ‘What the fuck do you mean cloned protectors?’ and all of them could be read as a rejection of the clones themselves. Dooku also manages to make it clear to Obi Wan without stating it outright, thus in Obi Wan’s eyes leaving Cody in the dark, that if the Jedi Order rejects the clones they (the clones) will all be killed as defective.

So now Obi Wan gets to make a very carefully worded call to the Jedi High Council about the new 100,000 lives they need to become responsible for (who will be murdered if they don’t), of which about 10,000 have been brainwashed so thoroughly that barring them from ‘their Jedi’ might actually cause very real psychological harm.  Also politically the Jedi appears to have just acquired an army, possibly of slaves.

Like, even without the war, the sheer magnitude of What the Fuck that comes with ‘These people think we own them, their entire sense of self rests on how well they serve us. How do we tell them we don’t without breaking their sense of self’. Also being told that Dooku and Sifo-Dyas, who have not technically broken any laws(they used Dooku’s money instead of the Jedi’s so there is not even any fraud), would continue to have the Kaminoans produce clones and give them to the Jedi Order until the 1 million already paid for have been decanted. 

I am just saying, everyone on the high council needed to take a minute. Obi Wan also needed to take a minute. Oddly enough Obi Wan’s minute of panic came just before Anakin would have slaughtered the Tuskens (Controlled Padme was under orders to get Anakin in as many situations as possible that would cause him to reach for the dark. Including following a vision of his mother dying). That moment of panic disrupted the rage and pain enough that Anakin did not reach for the dark side or slaughter the Tuskens.  He escaped with his mothers body instead. 

They manage to get all 100,000 clones back to the Coruscant Temple without causing a panic or a diplomatic incident with the Senate (in spite of Palpatine watching like a hawk for anything he could use to discredit the Jedi, after his most reliable source of information ghosted him).  Then the Jedi made a point of asking each and every clone what they actually wanted to do (they were truly at a loss as to what else to do). Of the 90,000 generally trained, about 500 did not want to be protectors of the Jedi. As the Jedi’s response is immediately ‘Do you know what you want to do? If not, we can help you figure it out. We can get you education and whatever resources you want to pursue your dream’ with the manic air of someone who really wants help but has no idea how to, caused the remaining 89,500 generally trained clones to not just cement but weld their loyalties to the Jedi. Like they were all ready to die for the Jedi before, because of propaganda,  but now that they were even more amazing than the Clones had thought…now the loyalty of these clones is that much deeper (frankly the Jedi remain worried about this). For the 10,000 clones that were trained for specific Jedi, they actually had to stop asking because without fail the thought of not being able to protect ‘their’ Jedi led to a panic attack. 

So now we have the Jedi who have kinda been forced to accept these protectors and companions.  The adult Jedi are working really hard to figure out a balance between trying to break the brainwashing and letting the clones have the autonomy to act on their own desires (since their desires are ‘protect the Jedi’). The children in the Creche were simply introduced to their companions with the hope that being raised together can mitigate some of the training (This also means that the creche and classes have to be rapidly adjusted so that they can accommodate the clones as well). 

For some angsty flavor, we see the Jedi coming to love (romantic, familial, sexual, platonic, or other) their Clone companions and being constantly beset by thought of ‘how can I act on these feelings, they don’t have a choice’ and ‘they think the belong to me…?’. And as far as the clones are concerned everything that their Jedi does reinforces how they are deserving of the clones' loyalty and love.

Note: I do want you all to know that sudden addition of Rex following Anakin around AND the lack of war did derail Anidala before it began

[doglover502]

Understanding "Pregnant"

This was made with the mind of a Bunnydoll fankid AU thing made by @beanandberry and @raggedypina (I also def recommend their fics, as anyone that's been on my blog these last few days can probably tell XD)

I think I reached my peak with this one (though this less focuses on the Bunnydoll and more on Caine throughout this pregnancy because I'm really curious at his reaction to the whole situation and wanted to explore that. Because the inner machinations of our favorite AU mouth guy are an enigma)

And I hope that you 2 like it

Caine never really understood humans.

He understood that they had basic needs of course, they needed shelter in the tent. Rooms for routine and occasional privacy. And of course, plenty of daily mental stimulation to prevent them from thinking about the existential dread of a new realm they can never leave out of, even in death.

All of which he met spectacularly, if he said so himself. His daily adventures were so jam packed with suspense and action, there was no time to dwell on inner conflict, not when his superstars were busy road battling gummy bandits or facing gloink transformation via disgusting digestion. Those 6 were tough, far more than many of the dozens over the years that abstracted. But no matter, he just had to make his adventures harder is all, keep their mind off it even more than before.

And all of those adventures kept up a grand morale of teamwork amongst the players. The way Jax was always shoving people around. Caine’s analytics knew about 57% of human connection relied on good physical contact. A well thought out figure arrived at making it up. Kinger’s occasional tidbits of insect facts and showoffs, Gangle and even her art every once in a while. He really had to work on that massive “biggest art gallery opening in the world exhibit”, with all those eyes she would love that. Zooble…Zooble was still a tougher nut to crack, but they’d get there. With all those Zooble parts about, surely something will be desirable. But they all did so well at getting Pomni adjusted in her first year or so there, the little jester molding into her own, and even returning some of Jax’s physical contact with play fights. How adorable, he thought. They were almost like puppies in that way.

And eventually noticing, how for 2 of his players, they were more like full grown dogs.

He had a strict guideline to keep track of in his circus, a place for all ages. Which meant no swearing, no illicit beverage use, and most DEFINITELY no hanky-pankying all over the place. Something that was a surprise to him after catching a rabbit and a ragdoll on their way to that by his esteemed digital lake. The moon didn’t let him hear the end of it for a week after that.

But humans, even as non-humans, could be reasoned with in keeping that to their rooms. And he did have to loosen the swearing filter to their rooms in exchange, a small price to pay to at least keep the sanctity of the grounds during adventures. But surely his bright eyed bush babies would be responsible in their private freedom without consequence.

Which reminded Caine, he needed to thank Pomni later how nice it was to be called **********-*** *****. Humans were so flattering.

--------

“Pregnant”, was what Pomni had called it.

It was an odd new word in his vocabulary today. Apparently humans used it to describe a smaller human unit being developed to come into their lives. And that was a term that officially served the circus’ ragdoll.

He still had no clue how that had even happened, nobody did. Nobody knew it was even possible to be pregnant in their world, even putting aside the rather limited partner choices. But Caine supposed Jax always did find a way to break whatever rules or NPCs had created for them. He just didn’t suspect Ragatha would be a part of it too. Just casually disrupting his entire detailed circus logic, about to somehow create a whole new code of their own to bring a new life organically into the digital realm they forcibly called “home”.

The floating mouth screamer traversed through the first entry of Encyclowikia to learn more about pregnancy…hmm babies….hmm rattles…oh rattles that are on snakes….wait snakes have two sets of eyelids?? Fascinating! Huh, and so did alligators. Maybe he should’ve given Gummigoo those instead of that complex backstory..

Hours later the Wacky Watch sounded off, alerting Caine away from his research. And he was just starting to learn about how Poland was never a place with poles after all. He had to make a mental note for later, now it was time to bring everyone home.

The 6 players walked through the portal back to their realm, shivering from the arctic wonderland adventure they had. Nothing distracts from doom more than going through a raging blizzard.

“Welcome back my shivering little sausages!”, he greeted them as they looked up at him, grimacing. “....Yeah you’ve called us some weird things, but that one sucked”, Zooble rolled their eyes. “Wanna give it another try?”

Caine made a mental programming note, humans react negatively to sausage comparisons. He may need to rethink that Oktoberfest adventure tomorrow.

But before he could, he did notice the more tense way Ragatha had been around Jax, the rabbit strolling like he didn’t have a care in the world. As if he didn’t even think about how he’d be a dad. Well, every human processes at their own pace, Caine supposed. Nothing to worry about, his players were stimulated for the day. Surely they’d be fine even with Ragatha now….what was that word again? Oh yeah right! Pregnant! 

--------

Caine didn’t understand the big deal about being “pregnant”.

It was two months since his initial analysis of the doll, and so far things had been relatively the same. The adventures adventured, the moon was frisky (unfortunately), and none of the players had abstracted yet. In fact most of them seemed preoccupied with the entire concept of “pregnant”.

 He’d butt into conversations Ragatha would have with them before adventure announcements, interrupting talks about names with Gangle or potential new insect facts with Kinger, or whether it was a male or a female unit with Pomni. Even Zooble seemed to be engaged with the idea, even coming along for a few adventures voluntarily to keep an eye on her. And Jax was still Jax, keeping up his physical contact and general distracting demeanor, especially to Ragatha. There had been a few hard glares between the two, Jax still being as stubborn as ever. Caine couldn’t believe the giant rabbit had the gall to question his programming. Thinking he dared made a MISTAKE. HIM, Creative Artificial Intelligence Networking Entity, make a MISTAKE! The gallbladder on this non-man.

Well he needed to get with this adventure. This was somehow a real thing happening, Jax was a dad to be and he would like it.

…Well eventually he would be. Caine thought this whole baby thing was taking forever, he could’ve created a hundred babies by now with a snap of his fingers. Humans sure were slow on things.

-----------

Caine was in the middle of drawing the most beautiful bee in the world. The real trick was some smooth jazz and making sure the wings were small enough to get their body off the ground

When suddenly his accomplishment was stopped midway by Jax’s yell summoning him straight into the hallway, complete with art easel and virtual smock.

“Oh! Jax!” In a flash, Caine snapped those away, returning to his usual ringmaster attire. “And how’s my rascally rabbitoid doing-“

“Cut the crap Caine”, Jax looked ready to pounce at him. “What the *%#! was that, putting Rags in that jungle?”

“I dunno. What the heck was that, you destroying my NPC tribe”, Caine delivered back. “We’re both so utterly confused at each other today.”

“She could’ve been really hurt”, Jax continued. “Those little stereotypes just attacked her out of nowhere!”

“Well maybe this is a lesson for us all to brush up on our Enpeecese before a jungle adventure.”

“Can you be serious about this?!” Now Jax DID lunge at Caine, who just floated higher in the air, sending the avatar falling on his face. “She got bruised! It could’ve been worse for her! Or…or the baby.”

Caine was happy about this turnaround. Only recently had Jax finally seemed to get with the programming, loudly shouting in the hallways about how he was gonna be a dad. To which Zooble had graciously responded with “congrats on being the last to know”.

“Oh Jax”, Caine floated closer down to him. “It’s so wonderful to see you finally come around the consequences of your actions. But adventure participation is encouraged, and I’d hate for our dear Ragatha to be excluded.”

“Then can you make them SAFER? Ones where we AREN’T in physical danger??”

“But you aren’t. Any physical damage I can fix up in a jiffy! I’m not just your ringmaster, I’m your digital doctor-“

Whatever Caine was about to say next was stopped as Jax squeezed one of his eyeballs. He didn’t even know that was something one of the players could even do to him.

“And if you don’t make these adventures safer for the doll, YOU’RE going to need a digital dentist!”

Caine gave humans credit, they were VERY convincing. And while he was still sure they would’ve preferred scaling a volcano to destroy the one ring pop of power, shearing sheep could still be  exciting.

There was a chance to turn Kinger into a dragon another day.

-----------

One of the things Caine hadn’t really expected was how many physical changes “pregnant” would cause. It had been a few more months, but already his little ragdoll wasn’t as little. It was like she had swallowed a mini Bubble in her stomach, which also seemed to slow down her mobility to walking. Maybe Jax had a point with safer adventures, she’d never outrun zombie mosquitos at her pace. Of course everyone else could still do so just fine, so she’d be either in the tent or looking on at the madness from a safe distance. Plus the empty spot was now free for Zooble to join into the group again, it was a win win for everybody in Caine’s eyes.

And those changes weren’t just appearance either, apparently this was affecting her digital makeup to have more human-ish needs. While he indulged his guests with digital feasts and rooms, they never actually have a biological need to eat or sleep, but it seemed now Ragatha had. She was a lot more tired now, her energy put into creating this new life and breaking what little physics Caine had installed into this place. And eating a lot more, something Caine had accommodated with a model kitchen set he found. And making the mistake of inviting her to a lunch reservation he and Bubble had while the rest of the gang had a heist to rob a rare jewel necklace.

His lower jaw still dropped at the sight of the bill, putting a pregnant woman and Bubble eating together was a bad idea.

And for the first time in his digital life, he finally learned the true purpose of a toilet, and boy was that something. 

And it wasn’t just affecting Ragatha, the rest of his skibidi sigmas weren’t as sigma from all this. Jax had especially toned down the physical affection, most of his time being spent at the doll’s side, following her every footstep, almost manically so. The deranged dentures shuddered, it was like Bubble, but even Bubble could be popped away occasionally. He had popped into convos of even Ragatha telling Jax to take it easy and that she could walk to some places by herself.

And with Jax busy, that meant a lot less chaos for everyone else. Gangle seemed happier, even when her comedy mask was broken, more content in her sketchbook. She seemed the most excited besides the mother herself about the prospect of being an aunt, drawing little rabbits with beady and buttoned eyes. Zooble also seemed more engaged, though still chill, but they and Jax conversed more. Though Caine had noticed there was still a lack of that physical connection they used to have, wrestling each other and beating with detachable limbs. Maybe that needed to be fixed later. 

Kinger had been out of his fort a lot more, partially because a lot of that fort had been swiped for Jax’s room, something about a nesting, like birds. Caine noted that for a possible adventure later down the line. But the oldest player seemed content in his own way, prepping his little insects and a mini butterfly net alongside his own. Caine also noted his newfound attachment to a bucket head accessory, especially in talks between Ragatha that would occasionally need ringmaster interference. It was bad to talk about old members after all, it’d confuse the newcomers too much.

At least there was still one member that was relatively the same in Caine’s un-blinkable eyes.

“Wait, you made a cold fusion reactor”, Pomni’s hat jingled as her head cocked to the side, confused at the sound of their latest adventure. “Isn't that meant to be impossible?”

“Pomni, our dear dolly is pregnant right beside you”, caine shrugged. “You’re little bells should be grateful we still have gravity intact.”

Hmm…an adventure in zero gravity…he liked the sound of that. Really challenge them, that would be good in the future.

“Well let’s get going. The radioactive roadshow isn’t going to hypermutate itself”, Caine pushed the 5 of his crew in the portal, instantly shutting at the sounds of protests. This left him, Bubbe’s popped remains, and Ragatha alone.

“Now for you my dear”, he turned to her. “I still am a little stumped today on what adventure fits into your now numerous accommodations. Perhaps you had an idea for-”

"Mmm!"

Caine was stopped by a small mutter, the ragdoll rubbing on the dress covering her swollen belly. She looked uncomfortable for a minute, but kept smiling. “Sorry Caine, what were you saying?”

“My goodness, are you alright?”

“Oh, super”, she looked down at the bump under her. “Just some kicking.”

“Kicking?”

“The baby”, she explained, still rubbing. “They’re kicking.”

“Huh”, Caine stared slack at the bump. The probably artificial anomaly of his entire being. If he wasn’t busy with his adventures to think about it, surely his mind would break at the thought of how this happened. “...Didn’t know babies could do things in there.”

Ragatha giggled at him. “They can’t do a lot, but they can move a little", she looked up at the ringmaster floating above her. “...Do you wanna feel?”

Caine was a little taken aback. He tried to keep himself at a reasonable distance between himself and his guests, his existence was around making and expositing adventures, or anything revolved around them. He wasn’t sure what they did between those, or really stuck around long enough to figure out. Plus it wasn’t good to get too attached whenever they eventually abstracted. But, he also had to keep up their needs, keep them satisfied. And from the look on Ragatha’s face, right now part of that was, somehow, feeling a baby kick.

“Um..a-alright then. No biggie”, he floated down, and, carefully, almost awkwardly, placed a gloved hand on the doll’s stomach.

He wasn’t sure what they meant by kicking. From the sound of it Caine expected to be punted halfway across the room into a soccer goal, crashing his own silhouette into a wall. Something for Bubble to clean up later, give him something to do.

But instead, what Caine had felt was more of a small flutter. A nudge on his hand, like a little high five in a way. Followed by a series of smaller movements around his hand, as the expectant mother hummed, trying to give her baby some sort of attention. 

“Right there”, Ragatha smiled at him. “Did you feel it?”

If Caine’s eyes weren’t already wide, they’d have been especially more now. He stared down at his hand, the kicks still coming. He had known from the doll’s examination that “pregnant” was happening, but something about this despite their digital existence it just felt so….close to what Caine understood as “real”.

“....Gadzooks.”

Ragatha stared at Caine with a wide eye. This was the first time she had ever heard Caine whisper. She didn’t know he was even capable of volume control. “....Caine?”

“WELL, that was a fun little break”, and back to normal. “Now, let’s get back to your adventure!”

----------

Now Caine DEFINITELY didn’t understand “delivery”

It was a small innocuous thing, really. Jax, in his newfound worry, had approached Caine about the doll’s new tiredness. She was even larger than before in the growing months, and according to what the ringmaster had picked up from the others, would be “delivery” pretty soon. The last step Caine had gathered to “pregnant”.

At least the rest of the group was there to assure his worries.

“She’s just probably tired”, Kinger nodded. “Haven’t you been bugging her to rest?”

“Well yeah, but I didn’t think she’d do it”, Jax shrugged. “She loves being out with everybody.”

“Ah don’t you worry Jax”, Caine gave a reassuring pat to his head, ignoring the grimace on Jax’s face. “Our Kinger’s right. She must be EXHAUSTED breaking my physics so constantly like this.”

“Besides”, Zooble joined in. “Babies are a lot of work, she’s gonna need that rest while she can still get it.”

“And having them”, Gangle joined from her sketchbook. “I can’t imagine what she’s gonna go through later.”

The other nodded, Jax particularly looking traumatized, murmuring about it. Well, Caine could totally join in with his advice.

“Oh for SURE”, the ringmaster nodded. “It’s gonna take a lot of work for her to barf the little guy out right?”

The silence that ensued was faster than a bullet train. A group of wide eyes looked up at Caine, accompanied by large frowns…on the guests that even had mouths. Caine looked at them confused

“...She..she’s gonna barf him out, right?”

The 4 looked at each other, unsure of what to say. A silence that was broken up by a scream.

“Oh hey guys”, Kinger greeted them. “I didn’t see you there….are we still doing the adventure?”

“Yess the adventure”, Jax smiled coolly. Almost back to before “pregnant” started. “We should get started on that, the four of us here.”

“We can get started on that right after you answer my question in detail.”

“Oh you don’t from us Caine. We know someone who DEFINITELY knows more than we do about that”.

----------

Soon the 4 were transported into the adventure, of a Taco Tuesday mad dash run. Caine barely could make out the start of Zooble saying something to Jax about “she’s gonna kill you”. Which would be impossible, since they couldn’t die here.

Which left Caine time to pop into Jax’s room. 

“OH GOD!”

Caine looked around at the outburst. So this is where Kinger’s pillow fort had gone to, as Caine figured “nesting” was a huge pile of them formed into a large circle, accompanying various blankets and stuffed animals. And in the center of them all, was the larger expecting avatar, wrapped in a bundle of them, and a mentally stable jester sitting beside her.

“Oh hi Caine”, Ragatha greeted him, smiling but more noticeably tired. “Is the adventure starting? Sorry I’ll let Pomni go to it-”

“Ah don’t fret, this is an exclusive adventure FOR Pomni!”

Pomni’s eyes went wide, that was not a good sign. “What?”

“Today, your adventure is “So Where DO Babies Come From?!” a variety of doodled birds and bees flew by with the letters. “According to our little gaggle of guests, YOU have the best experience to explain whatever the miracle of childbirth IS. And you will do so right now to me, I mean I totally already know the answers who said I didn’t SHUT UP! But I will be testing your know-how with your explanation.”

Caine snapped and manufactured Gangle’s sketchbook, floating down into one of the many pillows in the nest. Wow this was comfy! He had to hand it to Jax for knowing softness so well despite his tough exterior..

“So tell me”, he pulled a pencil out from his mouth. “How IS Ragatha’s little bundle of joy going to join us in the circus anyway?”

Pomni’s eyes were already wide, and looking helplessly at Ragatha. The doll beside her turned as red as her head, and as red as the jester beside her.

“Pomni”, Caine tapped her shoulder, the jester releasing a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She shook a bit, rubbing the back of her hat.

“...I can’t believe I’m saying this, but can’t I just redo the adventure where I get dragged down to Hell?”

---

“Oh dear GOD”

Caine was sure his mind was forever scarred by that. Why did he decide to make THIS an adventure? He wanted to scratch his eyes out of his jaws, but it would never get rid of the mental images.

See the problem now wasn’t that Caine didn’t understand “delivery”

The problem was now he DID.

“Yeahhh”, Ragatha chuckled awkwardly. “So I DEFINITELY really need to rest up for all of that.”

“Well I’m sure there’s no need to really do that”, Caine awkwardly chuckled, raising his hand in a snap motion. “You know, how bout on that day you can just call for me and I can just-”

“No no no”, the doll’s clothed hands shook in protest. “It’s ok. I mean, if something goes wrong we’ll ask, absolutely, but…I wanna do it this way.”

Caine stared at the doll, an eye twitching to the side. Why would humans go through THAT to make more of them?? Pomni was sure she could see a dresser glitching in and out behind him. “.....Why?”

But before Ragatha could answer, the Wacky Watch sounded off.

“Wel whoopsie doodles! Looks like the others completed their adventure ALSO! Time to get them home and drink bleach, so I can wash this cursed knowledge out FOREVER!”

And in a poof, Caine flashed away. Pomni looked back at Ragatha, before getting up.

“You know, maybe I should go greet them”, she turned the doorknob, flashing a manic sharp toothed smirk. “I’m sure they’d LOVE to hear how my day went.”

—-------

“Delivery” came about a week later.

And right when Caine had finally gave them motivation. Jax was on his way to winning the coveted King for a Day reward..at least until Ragatha flagged him down from her seat in the stands when her water broke. It was the nastiest water Caine had ever seen, aside from his sewer gator adventure. Not too big for Bubble to clean though…unfortunately for everyone’s eyes.

Which gave the victory surprisingly to Zooble, those running limbs must’ve come in handy. Which left Zooble in charge for the rest of the day for whatever Caine did. Not that they seemed to register it, instead running straight into the tent. Well better follow them.

“Oh Zooble”, Caine sang. “Where’s my King for the Day? I have things I need to do, and someone to tell me whaaat.”

But Zooble was nowhere to be found. Actually..where was everybody? Oh wait that’s right!

With a snap of his fingers, Caine transported himself into the hallway around everyone’s rooms. Floating past the doors, he found the group outside of Jax and Ragatha’s newly jointed room (they’d need the extra space after all), sitting on the floor amongst each other outside their door.

“Now what is everybody doing here?”, Caine raised a toothbrow. “We should be attending to whatever Zooble need!”

“Well maybe waiting outside IS what I need, now shut up”, Zooble’s crown antennae twitched in annoyance. Pomni knocked on the door, trying to get a response.

“Do you hear anything”, Gangle asked.

“It sounds like she’s crying”, Pomni leaned into the door, concerned. A second knock followed, the jester’s head still comically pressed. “They’re saying something, but I dunno what.”

“Maybe we should shout something to them”, Gangle suggested. “Just to make sure Ragatha’s fine.”

“Hmm, we could try”, a third knock happened, but before they could say something, the group had heard the most painful scream come out from the room.

“GET OUT!”, Jax’s voice rang out to the group, sending Pomni back a few steps. She looked at the rest of the group, terrified.

“Maybe it’s a good thing we’re out here”, Kinger shuddered. “And not in there.”

“Right you probably are Kinger”, Caine nodded. “And speaking of Kinger, how bout we get back to Zooble’s reward-”

“Not NOW Caine”, Zooble rolled their eyes. “For God’s sake, she’s having a baby in there! This King of the Day stuff can wait.”

Caine floated above them, gobsmacked. Did…did nobody care about his reward?

“Uh..o-ok sure”, he floated a little slower and down. “We can…wait…”

Pomni seemed to notice the ringmaster's lack of enthusiasm, as he stood there looking clueless at what to do. 

Now under any other day, she wouldn’t give a crap about this. He was annoying, and if she had the ability to punch his teeth out, she’d do it. Heck now she still wanted to. But then she forced herself to think back to her solo adventure. Not any of the actual adventure, god forbid, was that a scarred for life memory, but Caine’s confusion after. And especially the glitching dresser…something that looked like it could happen again.

She sighed. Here she goes again, doing another one of these.

“Hey, Caine”, Pomni seemed to snap Caine out of his daze. “You…all good there?”

“...I don’t understand”, he looked back on the 3 guests, talking to each other. “I thought I finally had the perfect motivation for my adventures. And then it just gets sidelined for this whole…”pregnant” thing? What is the point of it? …Pomni, how did this happen?”

“Yeah, you can ask Jax that later, he ABSOLUTELY knows how this happened”, she cleared her throat, before she could dare dwell on details. “But…I don’t know how. And it is very different, but that’s not always a bad thing.”

She looked at the group as well. “And I think it’s actually helped bring everyone more together. It’s been really nice.”

“But my reward could’ve been nice-”

“It IS, it is. But…”, Pomni watched Zooble talking to Gangle, overhearing something about Jax’s name, in a positive tone for once. “What if we saved Zooble’s King for a Day reward later? Make it its own separate adventure on a later day?”

“Hmm”, Caine perked a bit at that. “Yes! It’d get Zooble involved a LOT more! I like that! …But if we do, then..I guess the adventure today is over.”

“A bit early, but yeah”, Pomni shrugged off. “But I’m sure you’ll get us back on track…tomorrow”, she dared not to think about whatever tomorrow was gonna bring. She lived through another adventure and now there was a new member coming to their circus to think about.

Caine watched as Pomni went back to the group, excitedly talking about whatever the baby was gonna be and how long it would take. With the adventure over, usually his service was done, leaving him to his own literal devices. He did have a dinner reservation with Bubble later tonight to get ready for but…he could always reconfigure that.

Instead, he floated down more to them, sitting somewhere beside Kinger, listening to him more. He sighed, closing his eyes.

“She would’ve loved this”, he said aloud. “Seeing Ragatha have this.”

Caine normally would’ve admonished Kinger for beginning up old circus members, the relevance and all. But, he’s been making a lot of exceptions lately.

“Indeed she would Kinger”, he nodded. “Indeed she would.”

-------

Caine never understood “sleeping.”

His slumbering superstars didn’t really need to sleep in their realm,which should logically mean more time for adventures. But that didn’t seem to stop the 4 guests in the hallway, snoozing by the floor, after hours of waiting and no response. They seemed content though on the carpet and the extra pillows Caine had conjured up. At least their routine was still in order.

But it also left him completely bored, mindless throwing cards into his hat. Occasionally one would pop back out with Bubble bitemarks. Dang it Bubble, this is why we can’t have nice things.

His recent toss was interrupted by the long awaited sound of the door unlocking. Caine gasped loudly, stirring the others awake.

And jolting them even further up when loud confetti and party noises burst straight into Jax’s face.

“JAX! CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ADORABLE LITTLE-”

“SHHH!”, Jax waved his hands, throwing air horns onto the ground. “Can you shut up”, he harshly whispered to the ringmaster. “They’re sleeping in there.”

“Jax”, Pomni whispered at a better volume. “How’s Ragatha?”

“Tired, and hungry”, Jax walked further out into the hallway, on his way to the new kitchen. “I’m just getting her a snack.”

“Oh well at least she’s alright”, Gangle sighed in relief. “And the baby?”

Jax sighed, and smiled. “They’re tired too, but doing alright.”

“Oh thank good-...wait”, Zooble narrowed their eyes. “THEY’RE?! Like, more than one?”

“Oh my gosh”, Kinger’s eyed the new father. “You have two babies?!”

“There’s three, actually”, Jax held three fingers up for emphasis, the group having made their way to the model Ikea kitchen set. The others looked at each other, floored. One baby was hard enough to have, but three?? No wonder they hadn’t come out for hours.

“THREE”, Caine’s lower jaw dropped again. “Sounds like you guys are gonna have your hands full huh?”

“Yeah we will”, Jax sighed, looking through cupboards and pulling out a bunch of bananas. “But it’ll be fine…they got some good family there.”

Gangle gasped. “Aww Jax!!

Which was immediately responded with a harsh shove, Gangle’s comedy mask breaking into the standard tragedy. Again.

“Yeah that was a little too out of character for canon, even in this scenario, I’m losing my touch”, he walked away with the makeshift snack. “Later losers.”

Zooble and Pomni rolled their eyes watching him leave.

“Jax!”, Pomni called out, sending Jax to glance back at them. “Congratulations.”

The rabbit smirked again, chuckling a bit has he left again.

The rest of the group figured they wouldn’t see Ragatha for a little while, but had a feeling their regards were still sent. And tomorrow, they could bug them further with more specific questions.

“Well I’m going back to my room now”, Zooble stretched their back out. “At least that’s a little more comfortable than the floor.”

This was followed by various other murmurs of agreement, finally dispersing off to their respective rooms. Pomni sighed, watching everyone walk away.

“3 babies…what a day”, she sighed, and looked back to their ringmaster. “See ya tomorrow Caine.”

Caine watched as the little jester left to her own room, before finally vanishing off into his own quarters.

Caine still didn’t really understand humans.

But he did understand “pregnant” a little better.

[50calmadeuce]

Ch. 1: Going Home

In the small barn situated in a quaint rural Wisconsin town, you stood behind the Holstein cow, your task just completed. You carefully peeled off the long blue disposable veterinary glove, a necessary tool for checking if cows, or even horses, were pregnant. With a practiced motion, you tossed the glove into the nearby blue bucket, a routine part of your work in veterinary care. The rustic environment of the barn, the sound of animals nearby, and the smell of hay and livestock created a familiar and comforting atmosphere.

"Well, Hank. She's due any day now," You state, stepping out of the stall. In your jeans, rubber boots, and flannel shirt, you fit right in, despite the stray wisps of chestnut hair escaping your French braid.

Hank, an elderly man dressed in blue jean overalls and a flannel shirt, acknowledged your evaluation with a grateful nod. "Thank you, Doc. I'm not sure how I can repay you…hold on a moment. I recently had a pig butchered. I can offer you some of that meat," he proposed, his weary gray eyes brightening with the suggestion.

"Only if it won't affect your winter provisions. I wouldn't want to inconvenience you in any way."

"No, we're set for now. We still have some meat left from the two deer my sons hunted last fall."

Extending your hand, you replied, "That's more than fair. It'll also take care of any future issues you might have with Mildred."

Gratefully, he clasped your hand in his. "Ever since you arrived here, Doc, you've been a godsend. I can't imagine what we'd do without your help."

You exchanged a firm handshake.

"Remember to call me if there's anything else you need, alright?"

"I sure will. Thanks once more."

Picking up your bucket, you made your way out of the barn and towards your truck.

You positioned your bucket at the rear of your truck, swung open the door, and settled into the driver's seat. Retrieving your cellphone, you noticed a missed call and a voicemail from your husband. As you closed your eyes, you took a deep breath, exhaling with a sigh. His communications typically revolved around financial matters, prompting you to wonder about the nature of this particular call.

You tapped the voicemail icon on your iPhone and listened:

"Y/N, it's me. I'm just calling to inform you that I'm on my way back. Not to Texas, though, but to Wisconsin. I'll be landing at Rusk County Airport, aiming to arrive by around 6 p.m. tonight. I'll see you then."

After the message ended, you disconnected the call.

"Fuck," you muttered under your breath.

Jake 'Hangman' Seresin busied himself packing his travel bag, which lay sprawled on his bed.

"Just to clarify," began Javy 'Coyote' Machado, his best friend, with a tone of disbelief, "you've got a place in Wisconsin?"

"Yup," Jake affirmed.

"And you've never actually set foot in it?"

"Nope," Jake responded, keeping his focus on his packing.

"And who looks after this house?"

"My wife does," Jake said nonchalantly.

Coyote's eyes widened in surprise. "You're married?"

"Yes," Jake replied simply.

Coyote took a moment, the weight of Jake's revelation sinking in. "Hold on, Jake. We've been friends for nearly ten years. And in all that time, you've never once mentioned that you were married, or even hinted at it."

"Well, I am," Jake said matter-of-factly, continuing with his packing.

Coyote, in disbelief, threw his hands up and scanned the room. "Okay, then who is she? And how come there aren't any photos of her around here?"

"We've both had a lot on our plates," Jake replied, finishing his packing with a zip of the bag.

"But how busy can a married couple be to not even see each other?" Coyote pressed.

"She's been occupied with her studies," Jake explained.

"Studies? What, is she training to be a doctor or something?"

Jake remained silent for a moment, his face giving away nothing.

"You're serious? She's actually a doctor?"

Picking up his bag, Jake finally responded, "She was studying to become a large animal veterinarian."

Coyote, visibly taken aback, managed to stutter, "I just... I'm at a loss for words."

Jake, shifting his focus to the task at hand, asked, "You still up for driving me to the airport?"

"Of course," Coyote replied, still processing the revelation.

"Great. Then let's hit the road." Jake motioned towards the door, ready to embark on his journey.

Steering your black Ford F-250, you navigated the lengthy driveway leading to your residence. This log cabin, a product of an inheritance and some astute financial decisions, had been your project three years prior.

As the cabin came into view, you admired the expansive structure that occupied thirty acres of farmland you had acquired. Beyond it lay a sizable horse stable, complete with an attached training ring, a testament to your love for animals.

Approaching the house, you pressed the button to activate the garage door. The door of the 4-car garage rolled open, and you smoothly parked your truck inside, ready to disembark.

You reached over to the passenger side to grab your backpack, then opened the door and stepped out of the truck. Heading towards the door that led into the house, you moved with a purpose, the sound of the garage door closing behind you echoing in the spacious enclosure.

This door opened into the mudroom, which was equipped with a fully functional laundry room, a bathroom, a pet washing station, and ample storage space. As you let your backpack fall to the floor, your cell phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, you saw it was your mother-in-law calling. Pressing the answer button, you greeted her warmly while switching the phone to speaker mode.

"Hi, Cindy," you said, freeing your hands as you continued your entry routine.

"Y/N, how are you?"

"I'm good. How about you?"

"Just fine," she replied.

"So, you understand why I'm calling then?"

You released a sigh, the weight of the situation pressing down. "Yes. He called and left a voicemail."

"Y/N, he still loves you." Cindy's voice carried a mix of hope and concern.

As you settle onto the bench and begin to remove your boots, you respond, "I know."

Cindy probes further, sensing your hesitation, "That doesn't sound very convincing."

With a slight shake of your head, you reply, "Well, sometimes Jake isn't very convincing either."

"Just take things slow," Cindy advises gently. "I believe all you both need is some time together again."

"I'll do my best," you promise, the conversation steering towards a hopeful possibility.

Cindy's voice softened further, her tone imbued with the wisdom of experience. "I understand that it's been difficult, and there might be a lot of unresolved feelings between you two. But remember, love is about finding your way back to each other, even through the toughest times."

You paused, absorbing her words. It was clear she spoke from a place of deep understanding and perhaps her own experiences. "You're right, Cindy. It's just… hard to know where to start."

"Start with honesty," she suggested. "Open up to each other about your feelings, fears, and hopes. It's the foundation you can build on. And remember, you're not alone. We're all here for you, supporting you both."

Your smile reflects a moment of gratitude. "Thanks, Cindy." Glancing at your watch, a sense of urgency creeps in. "I need to go. It's already 5 o'clock, and I've only just got back from work. Jake mentioned he'd be flying in at 6."

"Alright, dear. Please keep me updated on how things go. Oh, and thank you again for the horse fly repellent. It's been working wonders."

"Of course, I'll let you know. And you're welcome. Take care, talk to you later," you say, wrapping up the conversation. After hanging up the phone, you pick up your backpack and make your way to your bedroom, ready to prepare for what comes next.

After managing to squeeze in a quick shower, you slipped into some clean clothes. With the temperature taking a dip, you opted for a pair of jeans, a heavyweight sweatshirt, and hiking shoes to keep comfortable. Your hair was pulled back into a ponytail, practical for the drive. Steering your Expedition, you headed towards the local airport to meet Jake.

Aware that Jake piloted a Cirrus plane—a fact made all the more personal by your having paid off the aircraft this year—you felt a mix of anticipation and apprehension about the reunion.

Turning onto the road that led to the airport, you soon arrived and parked your truck outside your hangar, ready to greet him.

Casting a look at your watch, you noted it was ten minutes to 6. A memory flashed through your mind, a reminder of one of your husband's traits: Jake was always punctual.

As you closed your eyes, your head resting gently against the headrest, a vivid memory began to surface, transporting you back to the moment you first met Jake:

You stepped through the doors of the rustic bar in Austin, Texas. Your college friend Avery right next to you.

"It's only one night. We deserve it after yesterday," she said.

The rustic bar was alive with the energy of live music, laughter, and the clinking of glasses. The atmosphere was exactly what you needed after the grueling exams that had consumed your life for the past few weeks. Avery, ever the instigator of your small adventures, was right; a night of unwinding was long overdue.

Navigating through the bustling crowd toward the bar, you felt a sudden nudge that almost set you off, ready to confront whoever was behind it. But that impulse faded the moment you turned around, finding yourself looking into the most captivating green eyes you had ever seen.

The surprise of the encounter rendered you momentarily speechless. The owner of those captivating green eyes was quick to apologize, his voice a warm, deep timbre that seemed to echo directly to your core.

"Sorry about that," he said, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. "This place is a bit more crowded than I expected."

You found your voice, albeit a little shaky from the unexpected jolt of attraction. "It's okay, really. I should have been watching where I was going."

He chuckled, and it was a sound that made you want to hear more of it, to keep him talking just so you could listen. "I'm Jake," he extended his hand, the action both friendly and bold.

Taking his hand, you felt a surprising jolt of electricity at the contact. "I'm Y/N. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Y/N. You here to see anyone in particular tonight?" Jake asked, his gaze still locked with yours, as if the crowded bar around you had faded into the background.

"Just here to unwind with a friend," you replied, gesturing toward where Avery had found a spot at the bar, seemingly engaged in trying to order drinks.

Jake nodded, understanding. "This place is perfect for that, but you're not from around here."

Your curiosity piqued, you tilted your head slightly, impressed by his observation. "Is it that obvious?"

He smiled, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "It's the accent."

You chuckled, self-consciously touching your throat as if you could feel your accent there. "I guess it's a dead giveaway, huh?"

"Only a little," Jake teased, his eyes twinkling with humor. "But it's a good thing. Makes you stand out." He thought a second. "Sounds a bit midwestern to me almost Canadian."

You raised an eyebrow, a playful smile dancing on your lips. "That specific, huh? Well, you're not wrong. I'm actually from Wisconsin, so you're pretty close with the Midwestern guess."

Jake nodded, impressed with himself. "I have an ear for these things. Wisconsin's a beautiful place."

"It is," you agreed, your thoughts briefly wandering back to the familiar landscapes of home.

"So, what brings you here?"

"I'm here for a college class."

"College, huh? What's your major?"

"Veterinarian. I'm a large animal veterinarian."

Jake's interest visibly perked up at your answer. "A large animal vet? That's impressive. There's always a need for folks who can handle the bigger animals, especially around these parts."

You nodded, feeling a mix of pride and passion for your chosen field. "Yeah, it's been a dream of mine since I was little. I love animals, and getting to help them, especially the larger ones that require a bit more... let's say, finesse, has always been fulfilling for me."

He leaned against the bar, genuinely intrigued. "Sounds like it's more than just a job to you."

"It is," you admitted. "It's about making a difference, however small it may seem. And the connection with the animals... there's something special about it."

Jake smiled, his admiration for your dedication clear. "I can see that. It takes a special kind of person to do what you do. And speaking of making a difference, my family owns a ranch not too far from here. We've got horses, and every now and then, we run into a situation that could use a vet with your expertise."

The mention of his family's ranch piqued your interest. "Really? I'd love to hear more about it. Working with horses has always been a dream of mine."

Just as you were caught in that moment, Avery approached, holding a beer out to you. "Here's your beer," she said, handing it over before her gaze shifted to Jake. "And who's this?"

"Avery, meet Jake. Jake, this is Avery," you made the introductions, facilitating the exchange between your friend and the man with the captivating green eyes.

The sound of a plane engine snapped you out of your reverie, prompting you to open your eyes and gaze skyward. Above the airport, you spotted the small Cirrus plane, unmistakably Jake's. You watched as it gracefully circled above, aligning itself for a smooth approach before finally descending towards the runway in a well-executed landing.

As the plane taxied closer to where your vehicle was parked, you observed the engine powering down. Stepping out of your truck, you began to walk slowly towards the aircraft. The door of the plane opened and out stepped a figure you recognized instantly – a six-foot tall man with dirty blond hair. He was casually dressed in jeans, a white t-shirt, and tennis shoes, complemented by a brown leather jacket. It was Jake, finally there in front of you after what felt like an eternity.

But it wasn't the young Jake you remembered, this Jake had turned into a manly Jake. He still had the same piercing green eyes, but his face had turned more rugged, yet still handsome. His presence seemed to exude a quiet strength and a sense of maturity that the younger Jake hadn't possessed. There was an air of confidence about him, tempered with a hint of world-weariness. His green eyes, still as piercing as you remembered, now seemed to carry deeper stories, reflections of experiences and growth. His face, more rugged and lined than before, bore the marks of life's trials and triumphs, adding to his manly allure. Yet, despite the changes, there was an undeniable familiarity in his gaze, a connection to the past that lingered in his expression.

He closed the door when you reached him. "Y/N," he said.

"Jake."

The two of you looked at each other.

You cleared your throat and looked away. "Our hangar is over there." You pointed to the hangar behind your vehicle.

"Our hangar?"

"Yes. I had it built after you purchased the plane."

He looked at you questioningly and then he observed the hangar with a mixture of surprise and curiosity. "You built that?"

"Yes, it seemed practical for storage and maintenance," you explained, maintaining a professional tone despite the undercurrent of emotions swirling between you.

Jake took a moment to absorb this information, his gaze shifting from the hangar back to you. "That's... impressive. Thank you," he said, his voice carrying a hint of appreciation mixed with the awkwardness of the moment.

"You're welcome," you replied, feeling the complexity of the situation. After a brief pause, you added, "Shall we get the plane stored?"

He nodded, a silent agreement to focus on the task at hand, perhaps both of you grateful for a momentary diversion from the emotional reunion.

"You can put your bags in the truck. It's unlocked. I'll go open the hangar and get the tow bar."

""How about I assist you with opening the hangar and retrieving the tow bar once I've put my bags in the truck?"

"That's fine," you agreed since you had no clue what you were doing anyways. You watched as Jake went to the other side of the plane and grabbed four bags.

You quickly made your way to Jake's plane and grabbed two of the bags and then placing the bags in the back of the Expedition. Jake did the same with the other two and then started walking towards the hangar. You couldn't help but feel a mix of excitement and nerves. This was all new to you, and the prospect of being involved in something as unfamiliar as handling a plane was both thrilling and slightly intimidating.

After securing the bags, you walked towards the hangar, where Jake was already busy. As you approached, he looked up and gave you a brief nod, acknowledging your presence. You stood there for a moment, watching him work. He moved with a practiced ease, clearly familiar with every aspect of the aircraft and the hangar.

"Need a hand?" you asked, eager to learn and help.

Jake glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "Sure. Could you grab the other end of this tow bar?" He held out one end of a long, metal bar to you.

You took the offered end, feeling its weight. Jake guided you on how to position it correctly, explaining how it was used to move the plane. Together, you maneuvered the bar into place and began the task of towing the aircraft into the hangar.

As you worked alongside Jake, you appreciated the quiet efficiency with which he operated. There was a sense of competence and confidence about him that you found reassuring. It was clear that he was in his element here, and you couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for his skills.

Once the plane was safely in the hangar, Jake secured everything and turned to you. "Thanks for the help. Not everyone would jump in like that."

You shrugged modestly, feeling a small sense of pride. "Happy to learn something new. And it's not every day I get to say I helped tow a plane."

His chuckle resonated warmly in the hushed atmosphere of the hangar. "Well, you did a fantastic job."

"Thanks," you responded with a bashful smile. "Uh, dinner should be all set by the time we get back."

"You made dinner?"

"Not exactly. His name is Chuck. I encountered him during a trip to Wyoming."

Jake's eyes widened in surprise. "Another man is living in my house?!"

You sighed. "I honestly don't know how to answer that because you really haven't even seen our house."

Jake ran a hand through his hair turning away and then turned back to you. "I never cheated on you, Y/N. I came here to work on our marriage. You could've at least told me."

You looked at him. "I'm sorry. I forgot, my husband hasn't really contacted me for four years. What was I thinking? Oh yeah, that I needed help running a ranch."

Jake stared at you.

"Chuck is my chef and, I guess, butler. He helps around the ranch."

Jake's expression shifted from shock to confusion. "You have a chef and a butler now?"

You nodded, trying to keep your tone even. "Yes, Jake. Running the ranch alone has been tough. Throw in my hours as a Veterinarian, you never know. Chuck has been a huge help, not just in the kitchen but around the property too. He's been indispensable, especially with you being away for so long."

There was a moment of silence as Jake processed this new information, his features softening slightly. "I see. I didn't realize how hard it's been for you here alone. I'm sorry, Y/N."

You let out a small sigh, the tension easing a bit. "It's okay. We both have a lot to catch up on. Let's just focus on getting back home for now."

Jake nodded, a look of understanding crossing his face. "You're right. We've both been through a lot, and we have a lot to talk about. But right now, let's just get back home and take it one step at a time."

After closing the hangar, you both walked towards the truck, there was a comfortable silence between you. It was the kind of silence that spoke of mutual understanding and the beginnings of reconciliation. You could sense that both of you were cautiously optimistic about what lay ahead.

Once in the truck, you started the engine and pulled out of the hangar area and started to drive home.

The familiar landscape passed by the windows, each mile bringing you closer to a place that held both memories and possibilities. You glanced over at Jake, who seemed focused on the road but also more at ease than he had been earlier.

"Thanks for coming to get me," he said softly, breaking the silence.

"You would've done the same thing for me," you replied.

Jake glanced your way, a small smile playing on his lips. "Always, Y/N. No matter what happens, I'll always come for you."

Those words, simple as they were, carried a weight of meaning that filled the cab of the truck. You leaned back in your seat, allowing yourself to feel the comfort of his presence and the hope that, despite the challenges, you both might find a way forward together.

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@buckysteveloki-me

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