#translation: she used my head like a revolver

[starrytrees]

ella uso mi cabeza como un revólver

[sincerelyyycece]

hey, are u still there?...good.

Y/N inevitably finds themselves settling into James's backburner.

note: modern au, inspired by niki's song, "backburner.", lily evans is briefly mentioned, here's what i promised you guys mwa mwa!

sincerelyyycece © ─ all rights reserved. please do not repost/translate/copy any of my work.

Y/N had always been the "backburner," the second choice, especially James’s second choice. She was the one he turned to when his first plans fell through—the one who was always there but never the priority. She was used to it and had grown comfortable in the role.

Right now, she's sent at least 15 messages to him.

Hey?

Can we meet up? I have some great news to tell you.

Hellooo.

You're probably busy. Text me when you can.

James?  Did something happen?

Nevermind, I'm probably overthinking it.

I'll just tell you here.

I got the internship :)

Delivered. Gazing at her screen, she sighed with a sense of familiarity. This repetitive pattern felt more like a routine or a game to her. The 'How long till he talks to me again?' Game, as she calls it. Setting her phone aside, she sought distraction from the mundane task of doing laundry.

A moment later, her phone chimed, drawing her attention. With a swift motion, she turned towards it. Hastily, she wiped her damp hands and cleared her throat before uttering, "Hello?" On the other end, she could hear faint shuffling before a familiar voice greeted her, "Hey, Angel." The affectionate nickname warmed her heart. "Just got your text. Congratulations!" he exclaimed. A soft "thank you" escaped her lips in response. His greeting sent a wave of warmth through her. "Apologies for not replying sooner. I was with..." He paused, clearing his throat. Her mood dimmed at the mention of another name. "With someone. I was with someone.”

Lily, always the first choice, James's top priority, the standard against which she measures herself. "Yeah, sure," she responded, lacking enthusiasm. "Mm-hmm," he trailed off. "So, do you want to celebrate? We could go out to eat or stay in and watch a movie," he suggested. "I'm not really feeling up to it right now. I'm pretty tired." There was a rustling sound on the phone once more. "Look, if this is about earlier, I apologize, alright?" he said. "Lily had some things going on and wanted to meet up, so we did." There it was again. Everything revolves around Lily.

"Um, yeah, I understand," she stuttered, trying to articulate her thoughts. "It's not that, James. I'm just exhausted from chores," she explained, glancing subtly at her unfinished laundry pile. "Y/N, come on. Let me make it up to you," he pleaded earnestly. "Pretty please," he persisted. She shook her head, amused, and relented, saying, "Okay, okay." Through the phone, she could hear his small yet enthusiastic 'yes.' "Order some takeout. We'll have a cosy night in with a movie," she suggested. "Yes, ma'am. I'm on my way," he joked lightly. "Take care." With that, she hung up and returned immediately to her laundry task.

Following that day, they continued hanging out. She pondered over the abrupt shift in their dynamic. It was uncharacteristic for her, yet she relished every moment spent with him. He delighted her by taking her to places she longed to visit and presenting her with gifts tailored to her preferences. He seemed to be doing everything right. However, as she prepared for a movie night tonight, a disheartening text message appeared on her phone. Hey, something came up. I have to reschedule. Sorry. She sighed, feeling a tinge of disappointment. Perhaps she should have anticipated this turn of events.

Sure, we can reschedule. she replied, her eyes brimming with tears. As they cascaded down her cheeks that night, she found herself immersed in a sea of sorrow. The following morning, she anticipated a message from him, but none arrived. Disheartened once more, she resolved not to reach out again. Days turned into weeks, with silence echoing his absence. It seemed as though he had vanished from her world. Or so she believed. Suddenly, her phone interrupted her reading, and without lifting her gaze from the book, she answered, "Hello?”

"Hey, are you still there?” echoed the familiar voice in her ears. Pausing, she glanced at the caller's ID. 'James :)' flashed on the screen. With a soft hum, she replied. His sigh reached her ears before he responded, "Good." Once more, she felt relegated to the sidelines in his priorities or had she truly ever moved from that place? Despite the familiar sting of disappointment, Y/N responded, "Yeah, I'm still here, James." His sigh of relief was almost audible across the line, and for a fleeting moment, she felt herself soften.

"I'm sorry, Angel," he murmured, his voice laced with a mixture of regret and something else she couldn't quite place. "I've been...busy." Busy, always busy. But she knew what that meant. Lily. Yet, she found herself replying, "It's okay, James. I understand." She knew she was settling for less, allowing herself to be on the backburner once again. But the truth was, she couldn't help it. She was drawn to him, like a moth to a flame, willingly choosing to dance on the edges of his life, even if it meant getting burned time and time again.

So, she swallowed back the hurt and disappointment, offering him a smile he couldn't see. "We can catch up soon, okay?" She suggested, her voice steady. There was a brief silence before he answered, "Yeah, that sounds good. I'll see you soon, Angel." With that, the call ended, leaving her with the familiar echoes of his promises. She sat alone in the silence of her room, her heart heavy yet hopeful. As she closed her eyes, she knew, deep down, that she was still James's second choice, his backburner. But for now, for better or worse, that was a role she was willing to play.

[herohimbowhore]

The revolving door of Red Bull drivers within the past decade has always been a topic of discussion.

Webber retires and Ricciardo's in. Vettel leaves for Ferrari and in comes Kyvat. Oops, no Kyvat out, and Verstappen takes his place. Ricciardo leaves and Gasly is promoted to the main team. But Gasly isn't it, and in comes Albon. Nevermind, Albon out and Perez is the man. Or is he?

It's a neverending cycle of one driver in and another replacing him only for rumors about replacements to swirl.

Hundreds of years earlier, similar patterns existed with Henry VIII and his six wives.

This brings forth the question: which wife's narrative suits the most for some of the former and current Red Bull drivers.

Based on the song Ex-Wives from Six: The Musical.

________________________________________________

My name's Catherine Of Aragon

Was married 24 years, I'm a paragon

Of royalty, my loyalty is to the Vatican

So if you try to dump me

You won't try that again

The initial thought for Catherine of Aragon, based solely on being the first wife would be Sebastian Vettel. He's the first Red Bull junior to make it to the main team, take the first win for both Toro Rosso and Red Bull, and win the first championship with the team.

However, Catherine of Aragon is Max Verstappen. Lyrically and based on the narrative, Max Verstappen is most like Catherine.

Paragon of royalty:

This could be translated into a racing lineage. Both of Max's parents were in motorsport. Jos is a former Formula 1 driver, though undeniably nowhere as good as his son. Sophie is a karting and race car driver who competed against Jenson Button, Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli, and Nick Heidfeld. Christian Horner in a recent interview on Dax Shepard's podcast eff won with DRS said that he used to kart against Sophie and she beat him.

My loyalty is to the Vatican:

In this situation, the Vatican would be Red Bull. Max's current contract ends in 2028 and he has mentioned many times that he could possibly retire when that contract ends. Max has never talked about a desire to race for another team.

Also, Max is rarely spotted not wearing the team kit. The man is dedicated to the team.

I'm that Boleyn girl

And I'm up next

See, I broke England from the Church

Yeah, I'm that sexy

Why did I lose my head?

Well, my sleeves may be green

But my lipstick's red!

Anne Boleyn is undeniably Sebastian Vettel.

Lyrically and based on the colors mentioned in the song, Sebastian has the makings of the Boleyn girl.

See, I broke England from the Church:

Breaking England from the Church for Sebastian is ending the Red Bull/Sebastian Vettel partnership that had won the team four drivers' championships and four constructors' championships.

Red Bull back then was Sebastian Vettel, they were one and the same. Sebastian got them their first everything and it seemed like a solid partnership until Sebastian signed with Ferrari. Thus, breaking England from the Church, or in this case leaving the team he won with.

Why did I lose my head?:

This is 2020.

Nothing is going right, Sebastian's dropped by Ferrari for Carlos Sainz Jr. Commentators are talking about how he isn't the same Sebastian Vettel and he doesn't have that same level of skill as before, especially in comparison to his younger teammate, Charles Leclerc.

Well, my sleeves may be green but my lipstick's red:

Sebastian retired in Aston Martin green, but he's not going to be remembered as the Aston Martin driver, he'll always be a core piece of Red Bull's history in Formula One.

Another way that this can be interpreted is Christian Horner telling Sebastian that he could always take a year off and come back home (Red Bull) if he wanted after Sebastian was dropped by Ferrari.

Jane Seymour, the only one he truly loved

Rude

When my son was newly born, I died

But I'm not what I seem

Or am I?

Stick around, and you'll suddenly see more

Now, Jane was a difficult one because she could be connected to three different drivers (Sebastian, Daniel, and Checo) at different points in their respective careers. But, in my opinion, based on how the 2023 season has played out, Checo is most like Jane Seymour.

the one he truly loved (rude):

While Checo is probably not the most loved of the drivers for Christian (see: Max, Sebastian, Daniel), the lyric does fit him when put into comparison with Pierre and Alex. Of Checo, Pierre, and Alex, he is the one that was truly loved.

Checo, when not performing to the level that Red Bull wants, has gotten a lot more support than Pierre and Alex. He's also lasted much longer than the other two.

When my son was newly born, I died:

This is Checo's championship aspirations earlier this year.

Just when it looked like Checo could be a legitimate challenger for Max in the drivers' championship, he had a fall in form. After two race wins and only a few points separating them, there was hope that maybe, just maybe Checo could beat Max. But following Miami, Max went on to have a record-breaking amount of consecutive wins. Thus, killing the newly born championship dreams for 2023.

Ich bin Anna of Cleves

Ja

When he saw my portrait he was like

Ja!

But I didn't look as good as I did in my pic

Funny how we all discuss that, but never Henry's little

One thing Anna of Cleves and Pierre Gasly had in common was that they both only had a short union with Henry VIII and Red Bull. However, after the breakup, they continued to be tied to their ex.

Anna of Cleves stayed in England and was a present figure in Henry VIII's life after their divorce, sometimes called his sister. Pierre Gasly was demoted to the junior team, AlphaTauri, and stayed there for a few years.

When he saw my portrait he was like, Ja!:

When Daniel left Red Bull, they needed to bring someone in to replace him, and out of the two drivers on the junior team, they picked Pierre. They saw his portrait (his record with the junior team) and thought it good enough to be promoted.

But I didn't look as good as I did in my pic:

Pierre's time with Red Bull is short-lived, just like Anna of Cleves' marriage to Henry VIII. He wasn't performing like Red Bull wanted, therefore, didn't look as good as he did when they signed him. Which led to a premature end and quick replacement just halfway through the 2019 season.

Prick up your ears, I'm the Katherine who lost her head

For my promiscuity outside of wed

Lock up your husbands, lock up your sons

K Howard is here, and the fun's begun

If Pierre is Anna of Cleves, then Alex Albon is Katherine Howard. Much like in the song when Katherine Howard begins singing halfway through Anna of Cleves' verse, Alex Albon began his time with Red Bull halfway through Pierre's contract.

Prick up your ears, I'm the Katherine who lost her head:

Alex's version of losing his head is not getting a contract for 2021 and becoming a test driver for the team. He spent the year without a race seat and it could have been a forever thing.

Katherine was young and married early, Alex was promoted before his time in his rookie year. Both of them were punished for something that was beyond their ability.

K Howard is here, and the fun's begun:

This is Alex with Williams, but still going to Red Bull events like Wings for Life and hanging out with drivers in the Red Bull "family." He's having fun, showing off his ability as a driver, and just making them think about offering him a contract when his contract with Williams ends.

Five down, I'm the final wife

I saw him to the end of his life

I'm the survivor, Catherine Parr

I bet you wanna know how I got this far

I said, I bet you wanna know how I got this far

Now, Catherine Parr, most would think is Sergio Perez. It would make sense, he's still with the team and he was a factor in winning the 2021 drivers' championship and has scored points for the 2022 and 2023 constructors' championship wins.

But Catherine Parr fits with Daniel Ricciardo. He is, in the sense of Red Bull, the survivor.

I saw him to the end of his life:

Daniel coming into Red Bull in 2014 saw Red Bull at the end of the team's first block of domination and the end of Sebastian's career with Red Bull.

This was the Red Bull downfall era as Mercedes was emerging as the top team. Daniel was the only Red Bull driver to get wins for the team. Daniel was there at the end.

I'm the survivor:

Daniel, unlike Pierre, Alex, and now Checo, was able to leave Red Bull with his head held high and a highly regarded driver. When he left, there weren't rumors of him losing his seat. It was on his own terms. He is, to this day, the only one of Max's teammates at Red Bull to beat him and challenge him over the course of a season.

Additionally, even after a downfall after the McLaren stint, Daniel's come back to Red Bull and is considered to be in contention for the second Red Bull seat. He is the survivor of the six Red Bull drivers. When his career seemed like it was going to end, he came back. In Mexico, he was in the top 10 in all sessions during the weekend and gave AlphaTauri their highest Grand Prix finishing of the season. In Brazil, despite rear wing damage that led him to be a lap down and spending most of the race behind Yuki, he was the third-fastest driver.

More on Red Bull Drivers:

Red Bull Industrial Complex: A timeline of all lineup changes in RB and TR/AT

[epickiya722]

My problem with bkdk is that I emotionally got disconnected from the ship because of how it was written. I know they are friends and see each other but other than that, what are they? They arent a hero duo, they arent competing against each other, they dont work together, Horikoshi says that Bkg isnt special to Izuku because its now Ochako, so bkdk dont even have a special bond apparently. They dont share a future together. Like... what am I supposed to feel for this ship? Again, I get that theyre friends but it is not enough for me to be invested in this.

No disrespect, truthfully, but we have opposing ideas. And what I'm about to say, you don't have to agree with. I don't ever expect that from anybody.

If there's one thing that 431 did keep consistent is that it is open-ended as 430 is.

With that said, I don't see how this chapter is telling us that Bakugou and Midoriya can't be a hero duo. I said it before, they don't need an agency to do that. Just because Midoriya isn't working at the same building don't mean they can't be heroes together. Miruko, a Hero who works alone and doesn't have an agency, has constantly been shown to partner with other Heroes, so how could that not work for BakuDeku?

Yes, Midoriya and Bakugou won't always be working in the field together. Because Midoriya chose to be a teacher, it makes him happy and he should do something that does make him happy.

That doesn't mean their special bond is gone. That doesn't mean Ochako is suddenly that special person to Izuku. I have my reasons to think that.

And while this chapter is weirdly written the more I think about it, the less this chapter does feel like an Izuku and Ochako chapter. I feel more like a self-acceptance chapter. It was just... not written well, I guess. Or something else! I'll talk about that later.

I said it before in a post long before we even got the full chapter, Izuku and Ochako mirror each other.

Here's the thing about MHA and being a SJ manga. If this chapter was really meant to be for Izuku and Ochako getting together, then how come whoever worked on this chapter didn't have them actually mention each other in their conversations before meeting up with each other?

Instead, the conversations they have with the others (Izuku with Katsuki and Eijiro, Ochako with Tsu) is about themselves. The conversations was about their (Izuku's/Ochako's) work lives. About how they're feeling.

I haven't actually seen if they even mentioned the other at all until the very end of the chapter.

I find it interesting that the part where Izuku is turning his head to look at Ochako, there's this phrase that says, from the translations I saw, "... a version of myself" or "... a me I haven't discovered..."

That sounds more like self-discovery than him realizing romantic feelings which is long over due, let's be real. Again, that mirroring I mentioned!

Who in the heck has a self-discovery journey and comes to the conclusion they need to be romantically involved with someone? If anything that's how relationships fall apart. You have to love yourself first. Accept who you are and change what is needed to be.

To me, that moment, was Izuku coming to the realization that he could be a better him. Katsuki states to him that he thinks Izuku should start thinking more highly of himself. Izuku doesn't do that much for himself. Neither does Ochako.

Both of their goals aligned with something revolving around other people.

Both wanted to be heroes, wanting to save and make people smile. Ochako had the goal to become a hero to have money to help her parents. Izuku wanted to be a hero like All Might. Which is him wanting to be like another person.

In previous chapters, we had Ochako reflecting on herself whenever Izuku came into the frame. She finds herself striving to be like him. This time around, it's Izuku's turn.

With the scene with Himiko and Ochako, Himiko pushes Ochako to be happy. But she never said to be happy with whoever you want. Just be happy with the way you want to live. That doesn't mean dating.

If this chapter was meant to be romantic for our main boy and girl, then why did it feel more like self-discovery? Why didn't this chapter cater more to developing a potential romance from the start of it? They have held hands before that looked more romantic (chapter 322, which is so funny to me that in the anime, they made it look less so) than that dap up.

Now why was this chapter framed to look like some "potential romance" between these two?

It just looks more like sneaky writing really to keep a crowd of people happy. That's the "something else" I mentioned earlier.

It's like "it looks like this, but really it's this".

So really, this chapter may look like it's set up for some romance for Izuku and Ochako, but instead it's set up for the two to accept themselves and what they want to do with their lives.

I know, I know. The whole "Ochako became Izuku's special person" part.

One, I don't find anything wrong with Izuku wanting to make that moment about Ochako because he hasn't spoken to her in a while anyways. At that moment, she became the person be wanted to talk to. They did become close friends during UA and who wouldn't want to make time for a friend?

Second, again bringing up back the mirror, what if this is Izuku seeing Ochako as him? Metaphorically, it's him wanting to talk to himself. Ochako is his mirror and he is hers. It's him finally coming to terms with wanting do something that doesn't involve him catering to other people. Same on Ochako's end. What if that's the case?

That's just my interpretation and again, I don't expect you or anyone else to see it the way I do.

The chapter didn't really make me feel disconnected from BakuDeku at all. I'm the same person whose favorite MHA ship right now is of two characters who don't interact on screen. So this chapter isn't stopping me any time soon.

Heck, this chapter even made me adore TsuChako more. That's been my ship since day one and even with the whole TogaChako rise, didn't stop me from seeing pink and green and crying at the thought of TsuChako.

It's so funny to me that in this very chapter that Izuku and Ochako literally made plans to see Katsuki and Tsuyu the following day. (Tsu and Ochako being at an agency together and Katsuki being Izuku's guest teacher.)

Now, if you feel disconnected from BakuDeku, that's fine. I'm not going to tell you to not feel disconnected or convince you otherwise. If you feel disconnected, maybe not look at anything related to the two. Don't talk about them anymore. Anything you have to, really.

I'm not going to tell you to feel how you choose to and again, this answer to the ask isn't me trying to convince you to change your mind.

[chastiefoul]

"banyak yang tak ku ahli, begitu pula menyambutmu tak kembali." | xiao

translates to: there are a lot of things i am not good at; including accepting the fact that you're not coming back home. notes: i feel so sick im gonna puke he's my favorite why am i doing this to him / hehe bawled my eyes out writing this / the title came from a song called 'rumpang' by nadin amizah. warning: angst, death (reader's)

loving you is so easy, that’s what xiao thinks. and for a man who’s dead set on not letting anyone tear off the walls caving around his heart, that’s saying a lot.

xiao had always attracted attention; whether by his superb strength, unworldly striking appearance, and of course the tale of the conqueror of demon that hardly left the shouts of the storytellers and whispers amongst liyue residents.

where most people approached him with mere curiosity and no more, they’re quick to run off after witnessing the cruelty in how he fights. yet, no one stayed to see the way he staggered as the outcome of using his eerie power got to him. wounded and alone, that’s how he spent most of his time.

fortunately, that’s how he met you that day. so troublesome, so unnecessarily selfless he thought, that you pull out what’s already a limited resources from your bag, treating his wounds like he’s a broken glass—the notion almost made him chuckle. “i am an illuminated beast, i have grown accustomed to injuries like this,” xiao said, as he made no effort to move his arm as you inspect it. “whatever being you are, even if you’re used it it means nothing. you’re still hurt.”

in the same day, verr goldet looked like as if she saw a miracle when xiao returned to wangshu inn, with you beside him as you assist him. well can anybody blame her? the yaksha who seemed to adore teleporting away to nobody knows where is now willingly be helped? what’s next, xiao falls in love?

that thought meant to be a sarcastic statement since that time it had zero percent probability on happening. but alas, that’s exactly what happened.

to be fair, xiao himself has erased his ties with that term. it’s always been a strange concept for him to grasp—the only time he’s close into perhaps understanding it, his fellow yakshas succumbed to their karmic debt; leaving him alone. and since, he’s no interested in something remotely even close that will involve his own emotions.

however like it’s said. loving you was easy, even especially for xiao. your kindness, compassion, quirks he finds amusing—your insistence. long he’s standing in mortal world, being with you somehow were the only times where he felt human. the loud thumping in his chest, the weird tight grip in his stomach, a warm sensation inside his chest. these lovely traits that somehow always revolved around you.

“ah, this must be love. i am sure.” he pondered to no one.

overjoyed did not even begin to explain the feelings he experienced when you reciprocated his endearment. from then on, xiao finally rediscover the exhilaration running through his veins that he have something to look forward to each day. being with you.

from then on, many times were spent together, many dates were planned, lots of kisses were shared. the talks, the laughs, the stories unfolded. love happened.

still, all good things must come to an end, don��t they?

✧

it all happened so fast, a rare time where the yaksha was momentarily distracted as you both were spending a nice time together in jueyun karst; an arrow you saw coming directly to your lover and your body moved without thinking, shielding xiao from the impact as the sharp object impaled you straight on the chest that you gasped.

and more than when he was surrounded by hundreds of enemy in the archons war, so much more than when liyue’s safety was compromised, xiao was panicked.

anger blinded him as he swiftly obliterated the threat before rushing to your side, holding your head close to his side. “stay, please.” he cried out desperately, sensing how little the life you have left. “xiao.. i love.. you.” you managed to let out the last of what you could force out and you were grateful that you were able to say that to him for the last time. after a few more seconds, the noise of painful breath hitching your throat grew silent, and xiao knew the body he’s currently hugging so tight, holds no more of your life.

xiao laid your corpse on the field where glaze lilies scattered—your favorite. he took you in once more, caressing your face so softly. “when i say mortals are weak, was this how you plan to prove me wrong? by dying to protect me? if it was i concede defeat once more, my love. you’re right—as always. so will you please wake up?”

drops of tears fell from his eyes, the guarded and unwavering yaksha broke down into heart-wrenching sobs and screams of agony.

his grief quickly twisted in to an unimaginable wrath, a story of where a portion of jueyun karst was ruined unfolded. it could be more, but fortunately morax was there catch the news as he was promptly forced to use a fraction of his power to appease the raging adeptus.

✧

“i am only excellent at fighting and everything that evolved in the world of violent, that’s it.” is what he always says, and the statement remains to be true, xiao is indeed not good at a lot of things. he just did not realize before one of them is accepting the fact the people dear to him will always leave, somehow.

you, who’s sweet, so utterly sweet that you made him forget momentarily about his fondness towards almond tofu. the lightness you brought, the marvel—no the art, of being near you; if almond tofu reminded him of how dreams tasted, you introduced him to a whole another level of wonderment. “archons, perhaps this feeling is as close i can get to experience what celestia must felt like—and it’s enough.” he thought.

you, whose promises were too good to be true but xiao couldn’t help but still lured—he thought it was okay if it’s you. who so easily made him relent and believed at another eternity where he’s freed from the darkness and karmic debt. a quaint little peace of mind where he’s assured if it’s with you, he can be finally be happy.

oh, how naive of the yaksha who lived through two thousand years.

how naive.

[specialagentlokitty]

13th doctor x reader - when I look at you

I was wondering if you could please do 2024 prompt #3 with the 13th doctor, if you still write for her? - Anon 💜

3 : “He/she/they carry more anger and pain then the whole universe combined, I can see it. Betrayal, hurt, deception, heartache, they’ve been through it all. He/she/they walked through hell a thousand times.” “Why are you telling me this?” “Because the only time I’ve ever seen true peace in his/her’s/their eyes is when he/she/they saw you.”

Grinning a little bit, you wondered over to one of the alien market stalls, looking at all the strange objects that they were selling.

“What’s this?” You asked.

The being behind the stall smiled at you, picking up the object you pointed to.

“It allows you to find whatever is on your mind, created a hologram map to it.”

“Oh awesome! This is going to help me find the doctor so much easier.”

“You’re friends with the doctor?”

You nodded your head and grinned sheepishly.

“It’s actually why I’m buying it, I have no clue where she went. How much is it?”

The alien smiled a little bit, holding their hands out to you and you held your hands, letting them pass you the bracelet.

“A friend of the doctor is a friend of me. The doctor saved me and many of my people, gave us a home here.”

You smiled softly.

“Yeah.. yeah she’s a good person..” you whispered.

You pressed a button on the bracelet and thought about the doctor, looking at the holographic map that showed she wasn’t all that far from you.

The alien came to stand next to you as you looked around trying to find her, and finally your eyes settled on her just down the street looking at something.

Apparently she had already found you because after a few seconds of looking at her she looked up and beamed brightly at you, holding up her hand, telling you to stay there so you nodded.

You let go of the bracelet and lowered your hand, putting your hands into the pockets of the hoodie you had taken from the doctor a while back.

The doctor got something and she ran over to you, nearly tripping over her own two feet as she came barrelling to a stop.

“I have a surprise for you! Close your eyes!”

You did as she said and you felt her take one of your hands, pressing something into your palm.

“Open them!”

She was beaming with pure happiness like always when she found something to show you, and you looked at the necklace she placed in your hand.

It was shaped like a star, and the middle of it was almost impossibly bright, but it didn’t hurt to look at.

“Wow… it’s so beautiful…” you whispered.

“A long time ago they learned how to harness the light from suns, turn them into jewellery and they’ve fast become popular all over the universe.” The doctor explained.

“Why?”

She took the necklace from you, standing behind you so she could put it around your neck.

“Well, in a lot of cultures it’s a sign that you’re spoken for, others it’s a way for somebody to say they love you.”

You smiled softly, watching as she walked around you.

“Then why do I have it?”

She just grinned brightly at you, taking your hand to kiss your knuckles before she beamed at the alien next to you, speaking in a language you couldn’t understand.

The TARDIS was great at translating but you soon learned that when the doctor was saying something that the TARDIS decided you weren’t allowed to her then you wouldn’t be offered translation.

Usually it revolved around you, something being said about you, nothing bad, always good things, it was the TARDIS respecting the doctors wishes to keep things a surprise.

So, you just stood there happily watching her, every so often catching her glancing at you, giving you the warmest smile possibly before turning to her old friend.

Finally the doctor turned to you and she walked over, kissing your cheek.

“Will you wait here? I’ll be just a few moments I’ve got to run an errand.”

“Of course I will, be safe.”

The doctor smiled ever so gently at you and she jogged away, and you turned back to the alien you were stood with.

They were watching the doctor jog away when they spoke.

“She carries more anger and pain than the whole universe combined, I can see it. Betrayal, hurt, deception, heartache, they’ve been through it all. She walked through hell a thousand times.”

You furrowed your brows a little bit in confusion.

“Why are you telling me this?”

The alien turned to you and they smiled slightly.

“Because the only time I’ve ever seen true peace in her eyes is when she saw you.”

“Really?”

“Oh yes. The doctor looks at you and it’s as if she has just watched the stars being made for the very first time, as if the whole beauty of the universe itself resides within you.”

You looked away shyly.

“I didn’t realise…”

“The doctor loves you wholly with both hearts, I can see that as clear as day, and perhaps, when you feel the time is right, you should act upon the love you have in return, I promise your advances will not be rejected.”

You thought about what they had said.

You and the doctor had always had this one and off kind of situation, you held hands, often she would kiss your cheek or knuckles, and she was insistent on giving you beautiful gifts.

You in return gave her your favourite hoodies to wear if you had to stay at earth for a while, you would always call her every night to tell her about your day and listen to her talk about hers.

You had never seen anybody during this time, and you couldn’t deny how you felt about the doctor.

As the doctor came back and you both made your way back to the TARDIS you were deep in thought.

You didn’t even realise the doctor was in front of you until you felt her hand gently touch the side of your face, and you snapped your eyes to her.

She had her brows furrowed, eyes full of concern.

“Is everything okay…? Did I do something to upset you…?” She whispered.

You didn’t think.

This whole time you had been hesitating, and you didn’t want to hesitate anymore.

You reached up, cradling her face and you leant forward.

The doctor didn’t waste any time in meeting you halfway, connecting her lips with yours, her hand moving to the back of your head as she stepped closer.

You smiled into the kiss and she did the same thing, placing her other hand on your waist, and finally she pulled away.

“Wow… okay.. that was.. wow..” she breathed.

You laughed softly, and she grinned.

“Do it again.”

You leant forward to quickly kiss her again before pulling away.

“Doctor the TARDIS stopped I need to go home.”

“Wait!”

You stopped at the door, and turned to look at her.

“I want another.” She beamed

You laughed, leaving the TARDIS and she was right behind you.

“Kiss me again! Please!”

You had to turned away to hide your laughter, and seeing your little grin made the doctor grin even more as she followed you into your house.

You stopped in the hallway to look through your post, and she moved in front of you, moving your arms so she could stand under them, letting you wrap your arms around her shoulders while she wrapped her around your waist, resting her head against yours.

Finally you set your post down, placing your hands on her back, burying your face into her neck.

“Doctor?” You whispered.

She hummed a little bit.

“I love you too…”

She held you a little tighter, beaming brightly with that little twinkle she had in her eyes every single time she looked at you

[beanzwrites]

since you write for spn, what about something where the reader is Sam and Dean's little sister and yk when in season 2 they go to the Roadhouse- well, maybe She meets Ash and she gets a crush on him and when they go to the Roadhouse She always stay with him? And maybe they also notice that she has Ash's ring (yeah in my mind he wears a ring with the scrabble's A) and they're like, teasing her, expecially Dean, saying things like 'oh, why don't you come ti the Roadhouse with us? We're pretty sure there's someone waiting for you' and it's just fluff with Ash? Thank you so much, even if you don't write it :3

"Your Frog Prince is Waiting~"

A/n: Thank you so much for the request; it's my very first one! I hope you enjoy! I'm not used to writing Ash, so I apologize if he seems a bit out of character; I tried my best.

Dean x Sister! reader x Sam, Ash x reader

Warnings: Cursing, potential cringe pet names, teenage crush

Description: As the Winchesters spend more time at the Roadhouse, the youngest gains a little crush on one of the residents. 😊

Latin Translation: mnemosynum (Keepsake)

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

The inside of the saloon was quiet as Dean shuts the creaking front door. All of the lights were off besides a sparking LED light hanging behind the bar. The place was grim, the sun casting through the ragged curtains seeming to be the only bright thing in the place.

(Y/n) stays close to her brothers as they venture deeper inside, only to bump into Sam as he stops suddenly. Her older brother barely spares her a glance, his attention caught on the boy laying across a pool table a few feet away.

"Oh god... is he dead?" She murmurs, eying him with slight trepidation. Sam shrugs in response.

"Hey, Buddy?" Sam calls out, taking a step forward. No response. "I'm guessing that isn't Ellen."

"You think?" (Y/n) snaps, observing the backside of the stranger. Sam snorts in response, before heading towards the back. "Sammy? Sammy, where are you going?"

"Stick beside me, squirt." Dean's voice says lowly, "We don't really know what's going on here."

(Y/n) turns to him to make a sarcastic response, but pales as she sees a woman press a gun to his back. "Dean..."

"Oh god, please let that be a rifle..."

"No, I'm just real happy to see you," the woman responds, cocking the gun.

(Y/n) took a step forward, only for the woman to dig the head of the gun deeper into Dean's back. "Don't move, or I'll shoot his spine out."

"Don't move -- copy that," (Y/n) repeats, making eye contact with her brother with a dry swallow.

"You should know something, miss. When you put a rifle on someone, you don't want to put it right against their back, 'cause it makes it real easy to do..." Dean rambles before turning around swiftly and stealing the rifle away from the woman's grip.

Before Dean can stand his ground fully, the woman throws a full punch at his face, causing him to stagger as she pulls the gun back to her.

"Sammy-" (Y/n) calls in alarm.

"Sorry..." Sam states as he comes back out with his hands over his head, "Can't help right now, I'm a little tied up."

The older woman who has Sam hostage eyes the two men for a moment before glancing at the young girl standing with a distressed look on her face. "Winchesters?"

"Yeah," both (Y/n)'s brothers say in unison.

"Son of a bitch," she laughs, putting her revolver in her back pocket. "Hey, I'm Ellen. That's my daughter, Jo."

---

"He didn't send you..." Ellen pauses, a look of sadness washing over her expression. Neither (Y/n) or her brothers responded as each of them look away from her. The pain of losing their father is still fresh in their heart. "He's alright, isn't he?"

No," Sam finally states with a sigh, "he isn't. It was the demon, we think. It, um... it just got him before he got it, I guess."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. We're all right," Dean says.

"Really, I know how close you and your Dad-"

"Really, Lady, I'm fine," Dean interjects with a stern look. (Y/n) gently places her hand on his thigh before looking at Ellen with the shake of her head.

"So, look, if you can help..." Sam announces, trying to change the subject, "We could use all the help we can get."

"Well, We can't," Ellen replies, "but Ash will."

"Who's Ash?" (Y/n) questions.

Ellen snorts before yelling out the name. As a response, the guy from before swiftly gets up with a groan. Balls fly from the table as he looks around to where his name was being called, his long hair flipping back and forth erratically.

"What?" Ash's voice booms, looking over at the group huddled by the bar, "closing time?"

---

"You got to be kidding me. This guy's no genius," Dean grumbles, "He's a Lynyrd Skynyrd Roadie!"

"Dean, give him a chance." (Y/n) grumbles out, kicking him slightly in the leg. Ash cheekily smiles and Dean rolls his eyes.

"Alright. Well, this stuff's about a year's worth of out dad's work," Dean shares as he sits down, "Let's see what you make of it."

Ash looks over the papers that Dean slid over, and scowls. "Come on, this crap ain't real. Ain't nobody can track a demon like this."

"How do you know?" (Y/n) questions, "Our dad was really good at it."

"Well, sweet cheeks. These are nonparametric statistical overviews, cross-spectrum correlations. I mean... damn. They're signs, omens. If you can track them, you can track this demon- You know, like crop failures, electrical storms. You ever been struck by lightning?" (Y/n) shakes her head in response as he looks at her, "It ain't fun."

"Can you track it or not?" Sam asks, giving Ash the stink eye.

"Yeah, with this, I think so."

"Really? How long?" (Y/n) questions with the quirk of her brow.

"It's gonna take time. Give me, 51 hours."

"You can really track down a demon in the span of over two days? I gotta say, that's impressive."

"Oh, you'll be impressed." Ash says with a smirk, "It'll be just like fine wine."

(Y/n) didn't say anything as her face flushes.

---

"That kid's hair was something else," Dean chuckles out as they go back to Bobby's car. "Looked more like a rat's nest to me."

"I don't know, I kinda liked it," (Y/n) responds with a small smile.

"Liked it?" Dean speaks, whipping his head around, "You mean to tell me you'd get your hair cut that way too?"

"No! What I meant is, it suited him. Not everyone could pull it off," (Y/n) speaks, climbing into the back of the van.

"Yeah, if you call that a suited haircut..."

"Do you really think he'll be able to track Dad's demon in 51 hours?" Sam asks, looking out the passenger side window.

"Psh, my bet is no. Dad spent his entire hunting career looking for that thing. There is no way a kid who sleeps on a pool table can top that!"

"I say he will," (Y/n) replies matter-of-factly.

"What makes you say that?"

"I just got a good feeling about him, is all."

---

"Did you find the demon?" Sam's breath tickles the back of (Y/n)'s head as he leans over her. Ash sets his computer down, casually placing his arm beside hers as he types away.

"It's nowhere around, at least nowhere I can find. If this fugly bastard raises its head, I'll know. I mean, I'm on it like divine on dog dookie."

"You can really be alerted right away?" (Y/n) asks with awe.

"Any of those signs or omens appear anywhere in the world, my rig will go off like a fire alarm."

"That's amazing..."

"Where did you learn to do all this?" Sam gasps in amazement.

"M.I.T., before I got bounced for fighting." Ash explains with a somewhat embarrassed look on his face.

"What was the fighting about?" (Y/n) responds, amusement crossing over her face.

Ash looks over at her with amusement of his own, "Wouldn't you like to know, sugar cube."

"Okay!" Dean says as he gets up from the table, "Give us a call as soon as you know something?"

"Si, si, compadre."

(Y/n) gets up from her seat, going to head after her brothers who already made their way back to the front, before being stopped by Ash.

"Hey, sugar cube. I wanna give ya somethin' before you hit the road," Ash says, as he leans against one of the chairs.

"Oh? And what's that?" (Y/n) replies with a flirtatious simper.

"Give me your hand," Ash says simply, "and you'll get your big surprise."

"Okay..." (Y/n) chuckles, reaching her arm out. Ash grabs at her wrist softly, eyeing each one of her fingers before placing something cool to the touch over her middle finger.

"mnemosynum," Ash announces with a bow, granting her access to what he put on her. A bulk piece of metal clung to her slim finger; the initial A engraved in it. "Until we meet again."

"Why?" (Y/n) asks. It's not that she didn't like it; it was quite charming. She was just slightly confused on why she got the gift in the first place.

"I have a good feeling about you, sweet cheeks. I think we are going to be tight these next couple months," Ash announces, "You can keep that, by the way."

"Thanks... You know, I can say the same thing for you."

"Is that so?"

"It's so."

---

"Come on, kiddo. We gotta get going," Dean says as he grabs his keys from the top of the motel's mini fridge.

"Why's that?" (Y/n) responds, not looking up from her book. "I thought you and Sammy were just going to the town over."

"We need some info," Dean pauses as he checks out the ring on his sister's finger, "and I'm sure your roadkill boyfriend would love to see you."

"He's not roadkill, Dean!" (Y/n) shouts, slamming her book shut. "And he's not my boyfriend!"

"Sure, and you aren't red as a tomato right now," Dean smirks. "Seriously though, we gotta go, so... get to moving, princess. Your frog prince is waiting~"

[theflyindutchwoman]

Given recent discussions in the fandom and because I’m curious to hear others’ opinion… would you want to see a Chenford breakup next season?

All right, let me start with my usual disclaimer : this is only my opinion and it has no more (or less) value than anyone else's. And this isn't meant as a personal attack either, regardless of which side of the equation you're in. I actually enjoyed reading other people's takes on this, particularly the ones who want a breakup, to see their perspective on the subject. It was truly interesting (no sarcasm).

To answer your question, dear Anon, no, I don't want a breakup. Mainly because I feel that so many shows go there, so I'm more interested in seeing Tim and Lucy navigate the ups and downs together.

One thing that attracted me to their relationship was their ability to talk to each other about everything and anything. How, despite their differences and their rocky start, they could always confide in each other… Be extremely vulnerable. And that is what I would love to see going forward. How this shorthand they've developed by working together can translate into their personal relationship. Don't get me wrong, just because they are usually good at communicating doesn't mean that it is perfect. It's not. Even before they became a couple. There are some cracks that became more and more visible as the season progressed. The theme of 'honesty' was their main thread in 5b. The storylines involving Sava & Jake or Isabel served to highlight that aspect. To emphasise how lies, deceit and miscommunication can destroy a relationship. Now it could be used as a foreshadowing… Or it could be used as a warning. Tim and Lucy already have a much stronger relationship, so I choose to believe that this could be a learning experience for them. Learn from other people's mistakes, learn from your past (in Tim's case).

Right now, those moments of dishonesty revolves around one common theme : work. Tim taking a desk job without consulting Lucy first… Lucy doing the five-player trade behind his back… Him trying to lie at first that he wasn't bored out of his mind… Her not saying anything about Primm (as far as we know)… Him not wanting to open up about his fears regarding undercover…  Those are starting to pile up and they're going to need to address it. The sooner, the better. Particularly the undercover talk. This has been a long time coming. It's clear that Tim is terrified but doesn't want to burden Lucy with this. And she can sense it. That last scene in 5.21 was (for me) a step in the right direction where they started voicing their concerns. It's nowhere near sufficient. But they stopped avoiding that topic altogether. Like I said, they can be great at communicating… But they can also be their own worst enemies. They're both selfless when it comes to the other… they're both used to do things a certain way. And now, they need to learn how to do these things together. To talk about these moments that may seem insignificant to them but isn't to the other. To stop making decisions for the other. This is quite new to them : as we've seen in the past, they didn't truly open up to their boyfriends/girlfriends. That's something they are going to have to learn together. And that's okay : this is part of the journey of being in a relationship.

Another reason why I don't want to see that is related to the characters' growth. The thing is, I actually could picture Tim breaking up with Lucy because there is a pattern here. If he got it into his head that he is holding Lucy back, an idea already planted by Noah in 5.16, then yes, it wouldn't be out of character for him to break up, thinking it's the right thing to do for Lucy. Which is not that dissimilar to what he did in 5.02 : sure, they weren't together, but it still felt like a separation. Especially since the end of that scene mirrored so well another one from 1.12… when he decided to divorce Isabel. And if you remember, that was pretty much for that very same reason : he was afraid that being with him would only remind her of her time as an addict and bring her down. So he did what he thought would help her the most and decided to divorce her. So breaking that pattern would be a tremendous character development for Tim (in my opinion). Then, there's the fact that this is something they knew would be coming up at some point. This isn't a new obstacle. The episode before they got together had Lucy go undercover. And Tim, even more so than her, knew what he was getting into when he told her that it was worth the risk. He may not have explicitly said it but the implication that she was worth fighting for was right there. So breaking up for something that they could foresee kind of negates those words. And it would play right into Lucy's insecurities. She was so hesitant because she didn't want to lose what they have. She is finally letting go of the fears that prevented her before from fully committing to a relationship… Her certainty in them is absolutely amazing. So breaking up now would hurt her so much. (I focused mostly on Tim here because I struggle to see a reason for Lucy to break up. At least, not if this is related to her career, be it undercover work or her promotion).

Now, that's not to say that it can't be executed in a beautiful way. Sometimes breaking up can help strengthen a relationship, as odd as it might seem. Sometimes it gets too much and taking a step back can offer a new perspective and a fresh start on healthier grounds. Just like sticking in a relationship at all costs can be very damaging and toxic. I mean, take a look at Lucy and Tim in their last respective relationships… They stayed well past the expiration date. But I, personally, would rather see them work this out together. See them 'fight' and argue, like they've done in the past… that very same thing they didn't do with Ashley and Chris. See them all vulnerable with each other, like they've also done in the past. I honestly think the writers could pull off the angst and drama with this storyline, without having to resort to a breakup. But again, that's only my preference :)

[p4nishers]

few of my aziracrow hcs throughout history:

in the 16th century crowley started the rumor that dead bodies could cure disease just for fun and it got a LITTLE out of hand when the rich actually starting eating that shit. he got a commendation for it and not only was it weird as hell but aziraphale didn't talk to him for at least two decades bc of it so it wasn't worth it

crowley was exclusively fem presenting in the 1970's and tried therapy that decade in hopes of getting her head screwed on right might make her enough for a certain angel. she ended up only going to 3 sessions and wiping her therapists memory of everything

aziraphale joined the army in ww1 as a medic and healed mostly in france till he was called away to an assignment (keep some promising young priest safe and make sure he ascends to sainthood) which took years and the war was over when he got back

crowley was a plague doctor in the 14-15th century bc he was originally supposed to tempt ppl into death but he could never actually bring himself to do it so he ended up lying to hell and healing/comforting people in their last moments of death. got found out eventually by hell and was kept Downstairs for a few decades in the 1400's. the black death and the famines that followed it after is the reason he despises the 14th century so much (also he just hated seeing aziraphale so skinny and so worried)

crowley invented the flat earth theory and the 'sun revolves around the earth' theory. hell gave him several commendations

crowley was on the titanic and has held a grudge against every single body of water ever since

crowley was friends with mary magdalene

crowley was forced (by hell ofc) to marry one of the lords she was tempting in the late 1500s and she did, reluctantly, until she got so tired of his bullshit she was like 'nah fuck this' and ran away. that got her a few decades of paperwork in hell but really, it was worth it. (the whole time aziraphale wrote her letters and was trying to figure out why he felt so heartbroken everytime he thought of crowley being married to another)

crowley helped put out fires in the great fire of london and when hell reprimanded him for it he made some excuses about helping the rebellion rise among the citizens and everyone hated lord bloodworth, even hell, so he reasoned he should've gotten a commendation alone for annoying the man. ALSO he did NOT lift a finger for the St Paul cathedral so they should be happy with him, really! aziraphale was in france at the time, watching Molière's newest comedy, even tho he barely understood a word.

crowley bleached her hair ONCE in the 1980's and immediately regretted it and miracled it away before anyone could see

crowley tempted one of the man working on the first translation of the bible and added spelling mistakes for shits and giggles

crowley would have married aziraphale in rome

aziraphale used to give rides to crowley back when they rode on horses cause horses canonically hate crowley and aziraphale might've been a smug bitch about it but he still liked helping crowley out. (crowley sat there like a block of salt the entire time and did not think of anything but his hands on aziraphale's waist for months after)

somewhere between 1941 and 1967 crowley confessed or TRIED to confess his feelings for aziraphale but was immediately shut down (even tho az felt the same) bc aziraphale was scared that heaven would find out and that crowley would be in danger. they parted on shit terms after and that's the reason they were so tense with each other in 1967 bc there was already a rejection between them

after the flood aziraphale saved every injured animal that he found bc he couldn't bear the thought of 'wasting' god's 'mercy'

crowley wanted to be a highwayman in the late 1700s but they heard it involved horse riding so they settled for being a footpad (travelled and robbed on foot) for a while and aziraphale disapproved, obviously, but he was no snitch

crowley rescued aziraphale from pirates once (aziraphale refused to part w his books and they were just about to execute him before crowley showed up) with a shitty fucking getaway boat and everything. aziraphale kissed his cheek in thank you and crowley promptly fell out of said shitty fucking getaway boat

in the early days crowley tried to convince himself that what he felt for aziraphale was simple jealousy or obsession with what he couldn't have but sometime after job he gave up

crowley invented jesters. aziraphale was a jester for an assignment (looking after a promising king and making sure he ascended to sainthood) and crowley laughed her ass OFF when she saw aziraphale in his little jester outfit. she still brings it up sometimes and aziraphale ignores her everytime

aziraphale kept bees in the 18th century and, following tradition (i kid u not) gossiped to them about crowley in exchange for honey

when crowley learned of what god asked abraham to do with isaac he was like 'oh absolutely fucking NOT' and 'kidnapped' him (politely asked isaac to come with him somewhere safe). aziraphale came to 'demand' him back until crowley explained the situation, after which he hemmed and hawed until he was like 'well... WELL!!' and stayed to 'watch' over them (make flower crowns with isaac)

aziraphale found crowley asleep on noah's ark with her arms warped around every animal she could reach and felt an emotion he wouldn't name for another 3000 years

aziraphale invited himself over to crowley's to celebrate 1999's new years eve and crowley did the littlest tempting they've ever done so aziraphale would hug one of their pillows all night and after he left crowley miracled his scent to never leave the pillow and still sleeps with it every night and pretend they have everything they want

[curiosityunsated]

This is a first draft ramble of an idea I had concerning Alastor and a fankid after his ‘death’ in the finale. I used Google Translate for the French, all complaints should be addressed to them 😉

“You could even call me… Dad!”

Alastor knew his disappearance- his assumed death- had taken a toll on his fawn. It had taken him nearly a week to recuperate in the shadow world; a barren place, hills as far as the eye could see, with only a crumbled radio tower as his shelter. He had never minded the quiet before, the solitude, but not being able to reach out to his friends or his child had been…difficult.

Aurelie had never spent more than a day or two without him to begin with, but combined with the easy assumption that the others would assume he had died… it distressed him to think of her distress. He was a monster, but he wasn’t incapable of connection. Aurelie had been a surprise, a product of his own magical experimentation, a masterpiece of his own making. His pride and joy.

Of course she had been well taken care of during his…unfortunate absence. It seemed that she had revolved mostly around Husk, which was natural considering how long he had been under Alastor’s… employ. But a new relationship had emerged as well, he had noted with a fair amount of disgruntlement. It seemed that Lucifer, a father himself, had also been doing his best to help his fawn along. If Alastor hadn’t been so completely irritated by the King, he would have been… well, not grateful, but something similar.

The reunion had been bittersweet. He was ‘home’, they were reunited, both safe and healthy and whole. But she had sobbed, soaking his shoulder to the skin with tears, and shook like a leaf in a hurricane. He had held her on his hip long enough for even his arm to hurt, at six years old she was getting too heavy for such transport. But even if he had wanted to set the poor girl down, he wasn’t entirely sure she would have let him. As it was, her tiny claws had popped holes in his shirt from grasping so hard. He didn’t let himself cry, of course, but his dead heart squeezed as he cradled the little girl close.

This had set the mood for the following several weeks. She remained two steps away from him and well within sight most of the time, commonly clinging to his coat or his pant leg. For a while, he had even allowed her to eat her meals in his lap- a habit that had stopped almost as soon as she had been capable of holding a fork herself. If he was honest, he had craved the closeness like fresh blood on his teeth. She was safe, and solidly back in his protection once more.

But now that the hotel was up and running again, and he had begun trying to re-establish the schedule they once had? It was like his sweet fawn had been swapped with an Eldritch being of chaos. (Which, to be fair, was almost precisely what she was but that isn’t the point).

She began resisting things such as bedtimes, refusing to sit still for the lessons he insisted she needed to learn (no Eldritch being of chaos of his would grow up unable to do simple maths, thank you very much!), and balked at sitting in her own chair at meal times.

Such is the situation Alastor found himself in now. After firmly refusing to let her on his lap for the third time, a tantrum was now brewing in the chair beside him. She pushed her food around her still mostly-full plate, doe ears pinned to her head and a scowl darkening with every minute. The conversation around them didn’t break, but Husk periodically cast a concerned look at the Radio Demon’s end of the dinner table. He wasn’t the only one; most of the others could feel the proverbial storm brewing.

“It isn’t good manners to play with your food, darling. Eat it please.” Well, not this kind of food, anyways- but those were skills he fully intended to teach her in later years.

“I’m not hungry.” He sighed internally at her words.

“You haven’t eaten for several hours, we had an early lunch. I know you’re hungry, my dear.”

“But I’m not hungry!” His ear twitched at her slightly raised voice, but it wasn’t much louder so he chose not to fight that fight in favour of the food battle he was inevitably about to engage in.

“Very well. Five more bites, and you may be excused.”

“One bite.”

“No, five bites.”

“Two bites!”

“We are not negotiating a deal right now. Eat your supper.” (And oh, how proud he usually was about her deal-making! She was getting so much better at it. Unfortunately for her, however, any deal-making was still at the leisure of her Father.)

This made her sulk harder, and she slumped fussily in her chair. Alastor waited patiently for her to take her prescribed bites, which surely she could see was the quickest way out of her perceived torment, but she did not. Ten minutes later, there was just as much food on her plate and Alastor was now approaching the end of his own meal. A particularly harsh push of her spoon scattered rice on the table around her plate.

“Aurelie, I won’t tell you again. Eat your supper, do not play with it.” His patience was waning, and his tone was getting sharp. She locked eyes with him, as if waiting for him to say more. When he quirked an eyebrow, her eyes narrowed. And then she purposefully pushed nearly half of her dinner off her plate and onto the table.

He felt his eye twitch, his ears pinned back slightly. Deep down, he admired the sheer bravery of his wee fawn and her blatant misbehaviour. Deep, deep, deep down.

“Aurelie. You will apologize to Princess Charlie for wasting food, then you will clean up your mess and go to your bedroom. I am very disappointed in your behaviour right now- I raised you better than this.” Oh, it was so hard to not raise his voice, to force the words passed grinding teeth and to keep his demonic power (so trigger happy with his emotions) down.

“No!” Aurelie shouted at him, evidently reaching the end of her limited patience as well. She stood on her chair to stare at him at almost eye level, and this time he let his lip curl. Disobedience was one thing, a challenge was quite another. Their dinner companions fell silent, and the tension could have been cut with a knife. She had never yelled at him out of anger before- never tried to stare him down like this.

“You do not speak to me in that manner, Aurelie. This is not a negotiation- go to your room immediately, I will be up to deal with you shortly.”

He watched incredulously as frustrated tears bubbled over, coursing down her cheeks.

“I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! You’re so mean- you don’t even love me anymore!” And then she stomped her foot on the chair before trying to leap over the back of it. She tripped and fell hard to the ground on her knees, squeaking a bit in pain.

“Aurelie-“ but before he could do more than stand up and reach for her, she had taken out of the dining room . He stared at the empty doorway in shock. What just happened?

“She didn’t mean it, boss, she’s just upset.” Husk tried, but Alastor ignored it. He was the Radio Demon; he wasn’t about to stoop so low as to dissect something as emotional as this with the motley crew he shared these halls with.

Why did she think he didn’t love her? He turned to clean up her plate and his, ignoring the others as his thoughts swirled. He tried to pinpoint a moment in time since he had gotten back that would help to explain this- or even to explain why she had turned so willfully disobedient. He could think of nothing.

Blissfully alone in the kitchen, he scraped and washed the plates as he continued to think. He almost growled when the kitchen door opened, and Lucifer slipped in.

“Hello, Your Majesty! How may I be of service?” Alastor asked, dialling his exuberant, transatlantic accent up to 100. As predicted, Lucifer glared at him.

“Knock it off, bellhop. I didn’t come in here to pick a fight with you. I wanted to talk about Aurelie.” Alastor’s smile sharpened.

“I assure you, there’s nothing you can tell me about my daughter that I don’t already-“

“She’s acting up because she’s trying to put space between you, so that when you leave again she won’t hurt as much.” He couldn’t help the radio feedback as Lucifer’s words impacted him.

“She- I’m- what makes you think I’m leaving? Especially without her, that’s prepost-“ Lucifer cut him off again.

“I’m not saying you’re going anywhere. No one is saying that. But you were the lynchpin in her entire universe and for five days she thought you had died. She’s scared of it happening again- and she might not even know she’s scared of it. Kids aren’t super self examining at that age.” Alastor stared at the other man, no longer a king in this moment but just a fellow father of a strong willed daughter.

“…how do you know this?” Alastor asked. For a moment, Lucifer looked every inch his thousands of years existence.

“When Charlie was about her age, I was gone for a month. A tour of the rings, right? But there was an accident in Envy the day I was supposed to come home, and to make a long and treasonous story short- my communications were cut until I got home. Unfortunately, she saw the aftermath on the news, and when they couldn’t get a hold of me… Well. It took me weeks to figure out why my sweet girl was being such a sour apple, but we eventually figured it out. Anyways. She knows you… love her…” the devil forced the words out, apparently remembering who he was talking to, “she’s just hurting. Talk to her.”

Alastor was silent, trying to soak up the fact that not only was this bastard giving him advice and commiserating with him, but it was good advice. Lucifer turned to leave.

“Thank you.” Alastor said quietly, just as the king touched the door. Without turning around, the man replied “Don’t mention it.”

And then Alastor was alone again. Making up his mind, he sank into the floor in an ooze of shadow.

He reappeared outside his daughter’s room. His delicate hearing heard quiet, hitching sobs and soft snuffles through the door.

His ears pinned at the small sounds of distress, and he was reaching for the doorknob when he stopped himself. Every fibre in him, every swirling shadow, every confounded animalistic instinct he had gained in this afterlife urged him to find his fawn immediately and shelter her- protect her from whatever it was that was hurting her. Unfortunately, this was complicated because it seems that he had hurt her himself, and his Maman had raised a gentleman who didn’t enter a lady’s bedroom without knocking.

So he knocked.

Quiet snuffling for a beat or two, and then a frail “come in”. His dead and twisted heart cracked just a little more.

“Aurelie, ma cherie?” He called, entering the room. A tiny lump on the bed wriggled, and then flung the covers off. She darted across the room at him, and he bent to swing her up into his arms. She clasped her arms around his neck fiercely, and for a moment he marvelled at just how strong she had grown.

“Je suis désolé papa, je ne le pensais pas ! Je ne le pensais pas. Je t'aime!”

“Chut ch mon faon. Vous êtes pardonné. Tout est bien.”

Remembering how to bring comfort had been an effort when she had been small. It had been him and his shadows in a world of darkness and death and hunting for decades when she had emerged from the shadows and into his arms. He had gotten better at it as she grew; her touch had become as familiar to him as his own skin, and his revulsion to his personal space being intruded upon had eventually lessened when it came to his fawn. More than once he had sifted through the previous memories of his Maman and what she had done when he was small; more often than not this meant grasping at threads of a memory at least two lifetimes old. But it was the best he could do, and it seemed to have worked.

So he let Aurelie cling to him and cry until she had no tears left. He swayed gently, amping up the radio white noise that followed him, and rubbed her back and stroked her hair. These were tried and true methods that had worked on her before, and on himself when he was human.

Eventually she calmed, and he sat on the bed, arranging her in his lap so she could curl up into a safe little ball.

She hiccoughed, and rubbed at her runny nose. Internally, Alastor winced- pinpricks in his jacket and now mucus? He may just retire this one. He summoned a handkerchief and handed it to her, letting her blow her nose and clean her face up. He brushed the last few tears off her cheeks with a gentle claw, and pet back her red hair and ears.

She had taken after him nearly immediately after being dispelled from the void, shifting from shadow to humanoid, flashing so many different combinations of colours and appendages that he had felt vaguely dizzy before his darling girl had settled on her current look. With her red hair, ears, and tail, no one doubted the Radio Demon was her sire. But he would tell her one day that she had his mother’s smile, and that was how he knew she was his daughter.

“Mon petit faon, look at me please.” She peered up at him guiltily.

“I need you to understand something, little one. I will always return to you, you have my word.”

“B-but you left, you were gone-“ desperate tears started to well up and he planted a kiss right between her ears.

“And I came back, didn’t I?” A tiny nod, “I am very sorry I scared you.“

“But… but what if you don’t come back next time?” He sighed gently.

“I am a very powerful demon-“

“The Radio Demon!”

“That’s correct, I am the Radio Demon. But even I have my limits, my dear, and I try not to exceed them. It has been a very, very long time since someone was able to best me like Adam did. But I promise I won’t leave you until you are ready to stand on your own- and perhaps not even then!” He gently tapped the end of her nose as he finished, and she giggled wetly.

“I won’t ever want you to leave!”

“Oh, I’ll remind you of that in ten years or so, my dear. Now, are you hungry?” Amusement rose in him as he watched the girl fidget, looking away and nodding.

“I thought so! How about we go downstairs and apologize to Charlie for wasting food, and then we can scrounge something up to fill that belly?” He grinned down at her as encouragingly as he could around his teeth, and she beamed at him.

“Okay!”

“Excellent. Off you get, then, you chaotic little being.” He opened his arms for her to do just that, only for her to reach up and hug him once more.

“I love you, Papa.”

“I love you as well, mon petit faon.”

[letmeridethatstaff]

The Truman and (Y/N) Show

Chapter 3: 97.2 ST

Word Count: ~1.2 K

Do not repost with out my permission nor translate and repost. This is a parody of The Truman Show.

Warnings for this chapter: mentions of religion, also * means there is a note about it in the end notes, toxic mother in law, fear of life being a show, not editing because it do be midnight

~~~

The scene opens to (Y/N) driving Truman to work.

Radio Announcer: And it’s another beautiful day in paradise folks, but don’t forget to buckle up out there in radio land! [MALFUNCTION] Remem-

105.7 Channel 1

Radio: Good driver- good- good- good

90.7

94.1 ST

“What the hell?” Truman starts fiddling with the radio.

“Wait for the cue. Wait for the cue. Stand by for countdown. Stand by-“ the t.v. screen shows tv static as it is hit by Truman. “Hun- wait you might break it!”

“Eh it’ll be fine!” Truman starts using his foot to wack the radio in hopes of fixing it.

“Their heading West on Stewart.”

Finally a channel!

“Stand by all extras. They’ll be on you in about 90 seconds.”

Odd must be one of those channels that tells a story. She’s listened to a few mostly it’s a radio show reenacting the Christian Bible*.

“Props, make sure the coffee’s hot. Okay they’re making the turn into Lancaster Square.”

Now that caught their attention. Both of them looked at each other. Distracted: she swerves out of the way from hitting a woman.

“Oh my god! She almost hit her! Something’s wrong. Change frequencies!” All of a sudden a loud high pitched frequency fills the car. Everyone around them stops for a brief second and then continues on as if nothing happened.

Radio Announcer: Ouch. Sorry about that folks I guess we picked up a police frequency or something.

“Or something.” (Y/N) parks the car and takes deep breathes while Truman looks around.

“It sometimes happens, and it can drive you crazy! Okay, it’s Classical Clive back in here and we’ve still got some great music up ahead, but hey don’t forget to buckle up. Remember safety. A good driver is a safe driver. A safe driver is what? Yes -“ the radio announcer chuckles before Truman shut off the radio.

“Are you okay?” Truman turns towards her.

“Yeah yeah- I’ll be fi-“ (Y/N) stops herself when she notices a newspaper headline: CRACKDOWN ON HOMELESS: Seahaven Island City Fathers say “Enough is Enough!” Officials Respond to Public Outery Over Nagging Problems

Those words- the same excuse Truman’s mom stated. They got out of the car with Truman following her. They reached the stand and Truman saw the same paper- realizing the same thing. Both in awe and shock.

“L-let’s get you to work.” (Y/N) grasped Truman’s hand and walked with him. When they reached his work place they kissed goodbye.

Truman reached the revolving door, but for some reason Truman just kept spinning in circles. He walked out towards her, “Trust me?”

“Without question.” He walked with her a bit before deciding he needed to tie her already tied shoes. They walked further to a little picnic area where they people watched. Then abruptly Truman walked into traffic- “Truman!” The bus slammed on its breaks and so did the other cars. Truman started running towards her and grabbed her hand- “You know I hate running!” She yelled.

“You know I love you!” He then stopped abruptly and ran in the opposite direction towards another building. One they never went into nor needed too.

Truman calmed himself as (Y/N) did too when they entered. When going to the elevators they weren’t able to reach it in time and the door slammed shut. A lady next to them stood at another elevator. Security at that point walked up to them, “Can we help you two?”

“I-we have an appointment with Gable Enterp-“ Truman started to say, (Y/N) was shell shocked as the doors opened to reveal not an elevator but about 5 people sitting, reading what looked like a script, and eating. Truman finally saw it too once the walls-doors?- started closing. “What the heck was that?!” Truman demanded. The guards grabbed both of them- “Hey!”

“Nothing. It was nothing.” A guard stated. “You’ve gotta go ma’am and sir. We’re remodeling.”

“No you're not! What are those people doing back there!” Truman started to fight against the guard's grip.

“It’s none of your business!” The guard holding (Y/N) became too tight and she yelped from the pain- “Hey! Get your hands off my wife!”

“If you don’t tell us what’s happening, we’ll report you!” (Y/N) was starting to fight back now after the audacity of the guard’s hard grip. Finally they were tossed out of the building. Truman hit a man with his briefcase on the way out- no reaction- no “Hey quit it!” from the man- not one person looked at them. No one was reacting.

~

After a rush home and taking refugee. They went to the one place they thought they would be alone, safe, their spot.

“Maybe we’re being set up for something. Do you ever feel like our whole lives have been building up to something?” Truman and (Y/N) were sitting on a sandy dune in front of the ocean. She couldn’t answer- she knew it was- but if she admitted it, then that would make it real. A terrifying reality.

“The sunsets perfect…” she said quietly. Truman realized why she hadn’t answered him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Leaning her head against his shoulder. “I’ve heard stories from Marlon about how perfect the sunset is…is because of the big guy** in the sky, with a great paintbrush- did you know that.”

“Yeah,” Truman told her dejectedly. “Between us…we should go away for a while.”

“Fiji?”

“Fiji.” She looks at Truman. Nodding in agreement. Sharing a kiss they head home.

~

An unexpected knock was at the door. (Y/N)’s nerves were high so Truman answered for them.

“Oh, mother! How unexpected of you!” Mother!?

Damn Angela and her unexpected visits.

~

Someway, somehow they had pulled up Truman’s baby photo album.

“Oh little angel!” His mother cooed. She of course sat right next to Truman with (Y/N) on the other side of him. Thank goodness she didn’t sit in between them like last time. After looking through multiple albums and multiple photos- “Mother don’t you think we should be getting you home?”

“Oh! Hold on a minute. Here’s us at Mount Rushmore! When your father was still alive. Such a long drive- Truman you slept the whole way there!”

“It seems so small.” Truman peered closer at the photo.

“Things always do when you look back, darling.” She quickly flipped the page, and picked up their photo album. “Oh look at you two! Didn’t she look amazing Truman!”

“Still does!” He exclaimed.

“A-and you know there’s still room for baby photos~!” She cooed to them. “At some point in time I would like to hold a grandchild in my arms Truman, before I go.” She started to wipe away “tears” from her eyes. Manipulative bi-.

“Angela we really should be getting you home!” (Y/N) pipped up.

“I’ll walk her out!” Everyone starts to get up-

(Y/N) whispers, “especially if you want a grandchild…”

“What was that dear?” Angela turned towards her.

“Oh nothing, just babbling!” Angela tutted at her.

“Oh you!” Angela quipped as Truman started escorting his mom out the door. (Y/N) started flipping through the albums. The ones she brought to their home were one of her favorites. The albums consisted of her mom, sister, and dad. Flipping through, page by page- she stops- flips back- her mom holding her as a newborn with her fingers crossed.

What the fu-

[toxinellebug]

HESPERIA/BETTERFLY kamikotized heroes Headcanons PART 1

There will be a bunch of these, but I will most likely only do 2 heroes per post.

Let’s face it; no matter what universe, Gabriel and Adrien are cut from the same cloth, therefore you should be prepared for puns.

The following heroes are NOT in chronological order of appearance in the timeline, but I will do my best to give you a rough idea of when they show up.

Some Heroes will have more detail than others.

Mr. Banana becomes…. *drumroll please*

Banana Punch! 

(Or in french, Pain Banane… Ok, hear me out, in French ‘pain aux bananes’ is banana bread, however, the word ‘pain’ is ALSO slang for ‘punch’.)

          Mr. Banana himself is a ridiculous mascot character, with ‘banana’ being a pun in itself for having a big smile, and his catchphrase of “stay peachy” a translation of the french pun of positivity, so naturally it only makes sense that his kamikotized hero form is that of a smiling loaf of banana bread wearing a martial arts head-band, and boxing gloves to punch evil-doers trying to rob some old woman when there are no enforcers nearby.

          Gabriel isn’t proud of it. But his power of Transmission gifts abilities that are best suited to the person’s emotions in that situation.

                  This Hero was a one-off that showed up before Shadybug and ClawNoir were introduced, and since only the old lady and her would-be robbers were witnesses, the act of heroism was swept under the rug for a long time because when Enforcers DID finally show up they just assumed the old lady was having a senior moment, and the two burly men had enough pride left NOT to confess they were bruised up by a loaf of banana bread, and instead claimed they were assaulted by some 6’9”, 230lb steroid fueled vigilante.

                  It took Alya FOREVER to connect the dots on this one, finally tracking down the old woman who was nearly robbed- because of course she would want to try to investigate vigilantes and see if they are tied to any conspiracies concerning a revolt against enforcers or an uprising against The Supreme….but even THIS was too far-fetched for her.  

               A little more digging led to the weirdest interview she has ever had. (There’s just something unsettling about those empty, soulless, banana eyes… *shiver*) But if you have a better explanation for how a scrawny dude in a banana costume can take on two brutes twice his size and walk away unbruised that DOESN’T involve magic, Alya would LOVE to hear it.

         (Think about it, in S4, Shadowmoth had to search specifically for negative emotions that revolved around taking risks, this means he can not just assign any random power he wants to anyone having a bad day- the power has to match their mood and desire to change the situation that put them in that mood. That is one of the limitations of the power of the Butterfly Brooch.)

Funfact: “Akuma” roughly translates to ‘demon shadow’, therefore “kamiko” would most likely be ‘blessed child’, since “kami” is god/divine/blessed and the affix “ko” is ‘child’.

      Betterfly probably sees his butterflies as little children, carrying the light of hope on their wings to those who are deserving of the burden of power for the greater good.

Théo Barbot becomes….

Monumenteur!

(A combination of monument and conservateur aka preservationist)

       Remember, in this Universe, Paris is “The City of Progress”.

      And Progress does NOT involve wasting money to maintain antiquated buildings and monuments from a bygone era.

      Such prime real estate would be better used for useful things; factories, banks, shopping malls, corporate buildings, apartment buildings, etc.

           But that doesn’t mean one can just go about demolishing historic architecture after selling to the highest bidder. (Not unless you want a riot).  No, no, there must be compromise!

         Nothing lasts forever, everything must go when it’s time has come; this is nature’s law.

             Economics and finances must support modern infrastructure to maintain the progress of society, not dwell in the past.

                   As such, there are no groups that specialize in preserving and maintaining historical buildings and monuments.  Old things are left as is until they have worn out their usefulness. Without specialized upkeep as well as preventative measures, these structures naturally decay and fall apart over time.   Once a building/monument has reached a point where it is considered structurally unsound (it could fall down and crush someone) it is then legally condemned for demolition, afterwards the location will be put up for sale and something new will be built in it’s place.

                     This means that in the last few decades, many of the beautiful architecture that Paris is famous for has been lost, but there are still some left.

For an artist, like Theo, it is painful to simply watch as these gorgeous pieces of history decompose to rubble in indifference.  He dreams of a beautiful Paris that celebrates it’s rich culture and shares it’s history for many generations to come!

          But what can he, a teenager, do? No one will invest money to preserve buildings past their prime. Everyone wants something new and more industrial. They are looking towards the future while turning their backs on the past.

         If only he had the ability to maintain these monuments himself! Then more people could appreciate the beauty of historic architecture and perhaps the aesthetic of a better restored monument would be pleasing enough to convince others that some history is worth preserving!

     Hesperia/Betterfly agrees.

Many of the monuments in Paris were created pre-WW1, with thoughts like hope, love, dreamers, and the enduring spirit in mind. These are not just great works of art- they are symbols of man’s determination to make the world a better place!

     As Monumenteur, Theo becomes a 7 foot tall living bronze statue dressed in French Revolution attire. Equipped with all his sculpting tools and possessing superhuman strength, dexterity, and stamina, Monumenteur is able bound across the rooftops of Paris at night to visit each Historic building/monument, and work his artistry to repair damage and carefully restore architecture, like magic.

        Suddenly, monuments that were literally 24 hours away from being declared “condemned” look brand new???  People are talking!  Opinions are divided; obviously the older generations who were born pre- WW2 feel nostalgic, and of course other generations can appreciate NOT living in a city interspersed with decaying ruins… but the biggest concern is, of course, “That better not be MY tax-money they are spending on this little art project!”  Appreciating art is one thing, but paying out the nose to appreciate it is another!

        Let’s face it, the Arc de Triomphe is lovely, but it ain’t putting dinner on the table, now is it?  (Just like in America, the Grand Canyon is a tourist attraction that generates some money for the state of Arizona, but there are many more things that could be done with that land that would be bigger bread winners if people didn’t care about history or preserving nature.)

There is also the question of “How?” Surely such a big renovation project would make a lot of noise, and take a substantial amount of time… how could such a big undertaking go unnoticed?

                 The Supreme does NOT like it when people notice things.

                       The rich don’t like it when their plans for new construction are delayed indefinitely.

          Shadybug and Claw Noir take it upon themselves to go on a little moonlight stroll to catch Monumenteur in the act. 

       Since this “hero” is big, muscled, and made of metal, it is a perfect chance for them to REALLY let loose and vent out some stress.

They are BRUTAL. 

     Having superpowers is literally the only thing that kept Theo alive. 

        Not once did Shadybug or Claw Noir stop to consider “hey, this is an actual person we are dealing with.”  They only cared about beating the snot out of him, trying to taunt the Butterfly man out of hiding by threatening to destroy the kamikotized object and turning Monumenteur into scrap metal in the process.

        The fight also leads to some visible damage to the buildings/monuments that Monumenteur has been painstakingly working to restore.

Gabriel is not some coward who would let two gang up against one while he sits on the sidelines, and of course comes to Monumenteur’s rescue just as his object is discovered and he is rendered helpless to a swift pummeling before being tossed off the side of the Palais Garnier.

          They narrowly manage to escape.

Theo is badly hurt, broken bones, hematomas, a concussion, and the damage to his hands ensures he will never sculpt again.

        Gabriel’s guilt is immense and he is stuck with a deep wave of self-loathing; How DARE he put a CHILD in such danger?! It is un-acceptable!  This young boy has been robbed of his future for the sake of a battle, the stakes of which, he can not truly fathom. 

      This can not, WILL NOT happen again!

Wars should be handled by adults, and children should be allowed to cherish their innocence!

From then on, Betterfly vows to never burden powers to a minor again (unless it’s something like, a little kid is trapped in a burning building and giving them 5 minutes of super-powers is the only thing that will get them out alive because Fire Suppressors will not make it in time).

            Later on, Alya will have to metaphorically move mountains to convince Betterfly to take her on as an ally and entrust her with powers to help him fight for the greater good. (Much like how in S3, “Feast”, Master Fu was convinced it was better to take back the cat and ladybug miraculous, rather than risk Marinette and Adrien falling victim to the Sentimonster. His fear of being the cause for their destruction as well prevented him from giving them a chance to prove they could overcome anything).

As for Theo, being crippled makes it impossible to have so many part-time jobs, but Gabriel plans to do right by that boy and offers him a part-time job as a gopher-assistant at the Gabriel brand. (It’s mostly just busy-work, but it has the name ‘Gabriel’ attached to it so it carries a small weight of respect that will look great on Theo’s resume. One day, after years of recovery and physical therapy, Theo will obviously want to pursue something more concrete, and this experience will be a rather cushy stepping stone on his career path.)

        Theo has no clue as to why THE Gabriel Agreste would offer him, a kid who hasn’t even enrolled in University yet, a job… All Mr. Agreste said was something about recognizing hidden potential when Theo entered his Derby Hat contest.

As for the property damage; No, Shadybug did not cast her miraculous “cure”.  This was strategic.

        The damage is VERY noticeable, but in a way that please The Supreme.

Soon the news are talking about how all the previous restoration was nothing more than a publicity stunt by radical youths, and the so called “repairs” were nothing more than cheap, hastily thrown together facades…. A cosmetic bandaid that was all flair but no substance, thus explaining how it was done so quickly and why it fell apart just as fast.

        There is even speculation that it was a financial ploy; a delay tactic to halt the sale of the land the condemned buildings are on by rival companies who weren’t pleased knowing they would be outbid.

The public soon grows bored and the secret of magic is preserved yet again.

However, this fight causes the dark, painful black veins to spread to Marinette’s hands, and as a result, she starts wearing fishnet gloves. (They are more practical weather wise and less suspicious than full gloves, and the lace makes the veins blend in seamlessly.)

Adrien has been getting by with make-up and a “Don’t touch me” attitude, that makes sense for a surly teen but breaks his father’s heart.

PART 2

[jordisblogg]

never here

note: has there been millions of stories like this? yea. & do i eat em up every time? YES

summary: after being in her lab for so long and neglecting you, you had finally confronted shuri about it, reminiscing now about what had happened to your relationship, not knowing that shuri herself, was doing the same.

pairings: shuri x black!fem!reader

warnings: angst, smoking🍃,fluff & suggestive themes at the end

translations: ndiyacela (please), uthando (love)

——————————————————————————

you sighed as you stared up at the ceiling, your body sprawled out on the bed that you and shuri shared, but what now seems like only you stayed in since shuri started being in her lab more. when you’d wake up, she would be gone. when you went to sleep, she would be gone. you couldn’t even remember the last time you both had sex.

it’s been weeks since you’ve spent actual quality time with her. i mean, yeah, you’d see her every once in a while, when you’d check up on her— when you used to check up on her—forgot to say you’ve stopped doing that since she got upset with you the last time you went in, real upset. you shook your head to yourself as you replayed what she said to you in your mind.

“y/n, i told you. you don’t need to keep coming in here! i don’t need you barging in here every 2 seconds telling me what i need to be doing!”

you couldn’t do anything but look at her like she was stupid then. was she seriously upset over you checking up on her?

“you mad … cause im making sure you eat? stay hydrated? you mad at me over that?! shuri, if i didn’t come in here you’d probably be dead— i mean- you don’t even think about taking care of yourself when you’re in here. you’re lucky i do it for you!”

“i’m not a damn child!”

“shit, coulda fooled me. you get mad when i feed you, you get mad when i when i try to get you to sleep, you get mad when i try to spend time with you! i mean i know you be having stuff to do but could at least give me SOME attention? i haven’t seen you in forever..” it was all flooding out now. everything you’ve been keeping in for those past weeks.

“everything doesn’t revolve around you! i have royal duties and projects to attend to, meaning i can’t have you clinging onto me like a leach all day!”

“a leach?!”

you sat up and rubbed your hands down your face. the more you thought about, the situation the angrier you got. you needed to relax.

you rolled up one of the spare blunts you kept in your room and searched around for a lighter. once finding it in a drawer in your bathroom, you headed outside onto the balcony. flicking the lighter a couple time before the joint lit, you licked your lips before putting it between them, inhaling a good amount and letting it marinate before exhaling.

the whole reason why you two were fighting was fucking stupid to you. but you weren’t going to say anything first. to you, your reasoning was logical.

about 5 minutes passed before you heard your name being called.

“y/n?” you didn’t reply, only putting the half finished blunt between your lips once more because you knew who called you.

shuri appeared beside you, leaning over the ledge with you. you kept looking forward though.

“sthandwa please, will you at least look at me?”

you took your time before you turned your attention over at her. your bored eyes stared into her regret filled ones.

“what shuri”

“i just wanted to talk to you. i want— i need to apologize. please” she begged, taking the blunt and putting it into the nearby ashtray and putting your hands in hers.

she didn’t know if what she was about to say was going to get through to you because of the state that you were in but she was going to try anyway.

“y/n, i can’t even begin to express how sorry i am. it’s just been hard, dealing with my brother and mother’s death. then working on new inventions to protect wakanda while ruling it at the same time. it’s a lot.”

you didn’t speak, letting her know that she was free to continue.

“but that doesn’t excuse how i’ve been treating you, and for that im truly sorry. you’re so precious to me and i shouldn’t have been taking you for granted” she brought your hands up to her face and placed 2 short kisses on your knuckles as she looked at you with those big beautiful eyes. you felt yourself relaxing into her touch, not realizing how touch starved you’ve been for the past few weeks.

“ndiyacela, forgive me”

you couldn’t help but cave. you took your hands out of hers and placed them on her cheeks, bringing her face closer to yours and kissing her softly. it was slow and passionate, shuri could feel all of your love pouring into it. she almost didn’t want to let go.

“i love you shuri, but i can’t help you if you don’t let me in. i wanna be able to help you through your grief. i know it was a whole lot from losing your family but pushing the people who are trying to help you isn’t going to make it better. trust me”

“please mama, don’t shut me out” you whispered before shuri wrapped her arms around your waist and placed her face in the crook of your neck, bringing you impossibly closer to her.

you couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face as she started littering kisses on your face and you shuddered when you felt her slim, cold hands reach under your hoodie and rub over your skin.

“come on, you blowing my high!” you giggled

“ just let me make up for the lost time baby..” she says, lifting her face from yours and trailing her way down your neck.

a/n: i got an obsession with the reader calling shuri mama/ma

[you-are-my-neverland]

writeblr introduction

this is my fifth-hundreth time doing this, but i wanted an easy introduction that i could update without many frills, so here goes.

introducing....me!

online, i go by star! (she/her)

college student majoring in foreign langauges, with a chinese (mandarin) concentration and a linguistics minor

i hope to go into literary translation of some sort, but we'll see how it goes

in my free time, i like to watch asian dramas, listen to music, and read; i also dabble in video editing

i talk about the above and more on my main @astarlightmonbebe, which i also follow from

when it comes to writing, i love reading/writing

character driven stories with lots of complicated relationship dynamics (give me more of we-used-to-be-close, estranged or otherwise multilayered found family/sibling relationships, fated to be but hate it, etc)

magical realism, especially coming-of-age

low or middle fantasy

lore/mythology/religion (love folklore, legend, especially ones that change, grow, and are more real than they seem)

what i'm working on (current as of august 2024)

wip: godhood

naying yue’s father has been missing for three years. after stabbing her bff/lover in the eye and getting expelled from college, she decides to celebrate her twenty first bday by killing herself. however, her plans are derailed when she is attacked by monsters, rescued/kidnapped, and told her father abducted her as a young child, and that her real identity is the heiress to a powerful family who is part of the mysterious Outsider World…

new adult low fantasy inspired by/incorporating wuxia elements

drafting book one right now; will likely be at least three books if i get there

comic sans ppt

other ideas bouncing around

a high school sports wip revolving around a sport called cyclone, where biking meets medieval jousting to create a very metal sport. gil reyes, once a cyclone prodigy and now on limited time, finds himself dumped and kicked out of his cyclone crew. a street tournament with a cash prize and a claim to fame leads to him starting his own crew, recruiting the scholarly sprinter, aadya; high school dropout and underground stunt rider/racer, yama; the duo of sprinter winnie and bruiser jade; a rural girl with brute strength and a boxer’s instincts, elle; and a brilliant time trialist who knows nothing about cyclone, pazu.

paper tigers

status: constantly rotating around in my head on a hot plate

when moonlil acang's father, the warlord of the north, dies in a violent explosion of which the only survivor is a mysterious girl he has apparently brought back from the mountains, moonlil is forced into a position he's never wanted. setting inspired by 1920s china/chinese history. featuring: grave robbery, complicated siblings, mythological elements, and a dose of revolutionary, imperial, and military politics.

the phosphene phenomenon

status: sketching out the details, potentially plotting

three years after witnessing a total solar eclipse and falling into a coma, diyu wakes up to find himself with New Eyes and a ghost attached to him. lalita's been dead for years, but she knows nothing but her own name. tasked by death to help other spirits move on before she, too, can find her afterlife, lalita and diyu have no choice but to team up, along with sunny, the one person diyu has never been able to stand. featuring: a super intense rivalry (swear), self discovery journeys, ghosts and mental illness, agents of death, and so on.

previously on here i’ve successfully completed the first drafts of two wips, fairbone and the metamorphosis of the lost (tmotl), which still occasionally pop up.

i’m not always the most active, especially during the school year, where my focus is on trying to write a few words a day if any at all, but i’m always excited to hear and interact with other’s work!

[ussgallifrey]

(She Moves With) Shameless Wonder | 21

✦ Summary: Your badge clearly said SHIELD consultant, so you weren’t entirely sure where Fury was getting this whole make you an Avenger idea from. But you had a feeling it might have something to do with the recent discovery of an artifact at the bottom of the Arctic Sea.

✦ Pairing: Steve Rogers x Female Reader

✦ Warnings: Canon divergence, dialogue taken directly from Avengers: Age of Ultron, language, mentions of Hydra experimentation, moderate violence, Steve Rogers definitely not being jealous.

✦ Word Count: 9.4k

✦ Playlist: Here

✦ Author’s Note: Uh...hey. How's it going? I'm just visiting as it was. For anyone who might be totally unaware, I've been away for almost a year now. At the beginning of 2023, my partner experienced a near fatal injury and well, life has kind of revolved around that for some time. He's physically healing, I'm emotionally and mentally healing and life is finally moving along once again.

Consider this me dipping my toes into writing once again. Maybe not regular updates, but a start. The majority of this chapter has been sitting in my drafts since, god, November of last year? As a spur of the moment kind of thing, I decided to reread the entire story earlier today and felt determined enough to maybe add to it once again. And... here we are. Anyway, back to the story <3

[Master List]

Steve finds himself in one of the several glassed-in conference rooms in the tower with Tony and Hill - only a few hours after Natasha was cleared by Dr. Cho. The billionaire looks like he’d rather be doing anything other than this. Most likely wishing he could be back in his precious lab, studying the scepter for all its worth before it was returned to its rightful home.

He closes the door behind him, eyeing the laptop on which Maria is typing, “Said you got a lead?”

She hums in soft acknowledgment, eyes scanning something on the screen before she finally gives him her attention. Tony rocks back in his chair, feet crossed at the ankle on the adjacent seat. Steve remains standing at the end of the table.

Images appear on the whiteboard behind her as she begins her report, “It took us two hours to bypass the corrupted files and the top-of-the-line encryption - ”

“No thanks to JARVIS,” Tony adds quickly, with a knowing smirk.

She nods, but otherwise ignores the comment, “We’re looking at roughly thirty years of backlog.”

Steve watches the images on the projection switch between the scepter, schematics, and patient files. Jesus.

“You were on the right track, Captain. Strucker wasn’t just using that thing for weapons - though we have at least a good amount of information on the weaponry he successfully made. But I believe your interest was focused on the containment cells?”

It’s at that moment that you and Clint walk in, offering an apologetic nod as you take a seat beside Tony. You lean forward almost immediately when you see what’s on the screen - an image taken just earlier today of the mangled cell block.

The screen changes to two prisoner files marked PATIENTIENT 4.1and PATIENT 4.2. Admittedly, his German isn’t as good as it used to be during the war, so he fumbles through the article with little to no comprehension.

“Anyone get that?” Clint gestures at the screen, an incredulous expression on his face.

Before Hill can even bring up the translation, you’re muttering out, “They… they weren’t experimented on. The scepter, it wasn’t - ”

“What do you mean?” Steve asks, eyes narrowing at the files as if he could somehow understand the foreign words now.

“Is there any language you don’t speak?” Tony whirls around in his seat to stare at you instead; totally missing the point.

“Jedek, Sentinelese, and Mudbara to name a few,” you answer levelly, before craning your head back to look at Steve and then over to Clint. “It says Patients 4.1 and 4.2 were entered into their program in 2005 - ”

Hill nods, the projection changing over to a set of images - body parts being measured and cataloged. They looked surprisingly small - skin stretched tight over the bones of a forearm, a calf, and a shockingly skeletal spine.

Children. He was looking at the images of two children that HYDRA had taken in.

Gritting his teeth, he manages to get out a sharp, “What else?”

Maria takes over then, back to more pages of files, “They were part of a series of off-the-record adoptions, during the country’s last civil war. People went missing by the hundreds back then. The official death count is still incomplete from the time. But it appears that individuals like Strucker were using the war to their benefit.”

The screen is flooded with images then, hundreds of people - primarily children, he notes with a sour turning of his stomach and the clenching of his fist at his side.

“And he was what, using the scepter like he was playing at God?” Barton scoffs with a bitter tone.

Steve is reminded then of the fact that if anyone understood the gravity of the scepter and the capability of its power in the wrong hands, it would in fact be Clint Barton.

Hill’s lips form a thin line, “For some, yes.”

“But not these two?” Tony fills in, twirling a pen between his fingers.

“Why?” Steve questions, unable to pull his gaze away from the new blurred image of a dark-haired girl, no older than eight - her eyes wide as she’s seemingly forced into a position for the camera.

It’s then that you lean forward in your chair, squinting at the file next to the girl’s picture before you rock back in your seat - “They were showing abilities on their own accord?”

And then the bombshell drops.

“This is their DNA structure against the typical human’s - ” In the center of the table, a blue holographic projection is displayed. Two double helixes slowly rotate alongside one another.

For all his aptitude, Steve can’t spot the immediate difference between the two. But you and Tony surely latch onto it quick enough. Leaning over the table, the billionaire swipes his hand at the helix on the left and instantly increases its size.

“What the hell is that?” Tony wonders out loud, turning the helix with his fingers.

It’s only then that Steve notices the strange strand near the center of the structure. It’s forked, compared to the other relatively straight branches. Almost spiked in its appearance.

“They called it the X gene, in the official reports,” Hill supplements.

“Which did what, exactly?” Tony asks, eyes still focused on the hologram.

She clears her throat for a moment, before saying, “From what we understand from their reports, these two individuals had naturally occurring inhuman powers on a previously unheard-of level.”

Everyone’s attention falls on her, and the silence lingers.

“Superpowered humans whose abilities can be traced back only to their own mutated DNA.”

Tony looks between the screen, the hologram, and then Steve.

“Shit. You’re saying these things can just pop up now, yeah? Any random person could get some kind of unnatural ability?”

“We have to look into it further, obviously - and if we were able to run the appropriate tests - ”

“What happened to them?” you ask, standing slowly. Clarifying only a moment later when you’re met with blank stares. “The file says they were still there when we breached the fortress. And yet we didn’t find anyone there that wasn’t already in a body bag in the morgue.”

She gives a tight nod, flicking off the presentation, “We have eyes on the city.”

“Do we even know what they look like? Let alone their intentions,” Tony questions, leaning away from the table and tapping the pen for a moment against his leg.

Hill shakes her head, “No. But we have a limited age range and a general profile to work with. And two people who were held captive for most of their lives will display a unique range of responses and choices. One slip, and we’ll find them. But if they were able to escape Strucker’s fortress on their own accord - ”

Tony seems unimpressed as he nods, walking backward for a moment as he says, “Keep me looped.”

You step forward to speak to Maria as the billionaire leaves - probably back to his lab. Clint stands up with a tired stretch.

“How’s she holding up?” Steve asks gently as the archer moves around the table.

The blonde smiles fondly, shaking his head, “You know, Nat, man. She doesn’t do bed rest for shit. I’m bribing her with coffee and I got Thor keeping her company right now.”

“Keeping her from escaping, you mean?” you turn back towards them with a knowing smile.

Clint chuckles, “Something like that.”

Steve nods, watching as he takes his leave then, waiting around for you to finish up with Maria. He recalled how rattled you had been that day upon discovering the cells. To finally have an answer to that giant unknown - well, Steve just wanted to see how you were holding up after it all.

Your brows raise marginally as you see him still standing there, but the two of you walk out into the quiet hallway together as Maria packs up her things, stepping in sync as you head for the elevator to the private quarters.

“So…” he starts, still processing the whole meeting in his head.

“So, naturally occurring superpowers,” you agree with a disbelieving shake of your head.

He shares your shock, glancing over at the curiously downturned expression on your lips. And here he thought the weirdest thing science had ever turned out was him. But in a world of literal Gods and billionaires with time and money to spend, Steve probably shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was.

“It makes me wonder,” you say as you stop at the metal doors of the elevator, “If this is the first instance of the mutation - if something in their specific genetics can be traced back to this. Or… or if this could be a totally random human mutation.”

The bell dings gently as the doors slide open and the two of you enter.

Steve just shakes his head, “I have no idea.”

You hum in quiet contemplation. The doors swish shut after a moment and Steve presses the button for the appropriate floor before stepping back, eyeing you out of his peripheral. Your curiosity was like a burning ember, he could see it growing by the second and it made him smile - seeing that thirst for answers, for knowledge, so clear on your face.

“They were seemingly random too - not necessarily connected powers or even all that similar really,” you turn to face him, eyes narrowed as you seem to work through everything out loud, “The male prisoner had an increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. And the girl had neuroelectrical interfacing, telekinesis, and mental manipulation.”

Slowly he turns to face you, peering down into your energized eyes with a look of confusion clearly plastered upon his own.

With one glance up at him, you specify, “He moves incredibly fast and she can move things with her mind. The grooves on the floor, the deformed cell bars. It’s kind of unbelievable, right?”

Steve offers a look of consideration as he nods toward the now-opening doors. The two of you exit onto the pristine floor of the personal living quarters for the team.

“Have you ever seen something like this before?” he asks, glancing over at you as the two of you pass the closed door to Dr. Banner's room.

“Not like this. Gods and other immortals, sure. Gamma radiation accidents and one notable serum-enhanced super soldier,” your eyes turn playful as you look over at him - he returns the expression with a smile of his own. “But never naturally occurring human mutation, no.”

“Tony's gonna have a field day,” he sighs, at last, coming to a stop just beside the door to the room the billionaire had forced upon you.

As if he wasn't already deep in the research pool with the scepter. Once Thor returned it to its rightful home, Stark would eagerly be jumping on the opportunity to explore the mutated genome for all its worth.

You make a thoughtful humming sound as you seem to register just where you are now, peering back at the door.

“Hey, uhm,” Steve clears his throat as he looks over at you, a slight blush on his cheeks. “You're going to the party tomorrow night, right?”

That pulls your attention as you look back at him with a gentle smile, “Yeah, he roped me into it. Told me to call up some friends to come along. He wouldn't take no for an answer.”

Steve laughs, “Yeah, that sounds about right for Stark.”

“Doesn't even matter that I have no one to invite along. Honestly, what does he think I do in my spare time to warrant friendships like that?”

The words themself seem disheartening but you're chuckling despite it.

He offers a grin of his own, “Seems to be a mutually shared problem.”

Your eyes flicker up to his, a sparkle of warmth within the depths of your irises.

“Yeah,” you breathe out gently. And then your hand grabs hold of the door handle and you push back with your weight to open it a crack. “Well, maybe I can scour my contacts for someone. And if all else fails, you could always call up Sharon?”

There's a hopeful lilt to your voice, one that Steve, unfortunately, has to dampen.

“She's on assignment right now. Probably won't be stateside for another month.”

Your lips form a gentle ahh, “I'm sure you'll think of someone by then.”

Seeing a chance appearing in front of him, Steve gulps down his anxious nerves. Natasha had said to be blunt after all.

“Or… I could just take… you.”

With a surprised blink, your lips curve up into a breathtaking smile that nearly sends him reeling.

“Sure, Rogers. Though Sam might be a little jealous of me taking his wingman away.”

Relief swims through his belly as he rocks back on his heels, unable to contain his smile, “I'm sure he'll get over it.”

The lab is thrumming with energy when you come to check in on the two scientists who, by the looks of it, haven’t left the room since at least the day before - if not longer. Settling in on one of the spare stools alongside an abandoned workbench, you watch them work - flicking between screens and running computations that are basically incomprehensible to you.

“How may I assist you?”

“Cronus!” you startle as the bot seems to materialize next to you.

Unlike the rest of the Iron Legion, this particular bot has a drawn-on smile on its mouthpiece, crudely done in a lopsided Sharpie scrawl. Along with two wonky curved eyebrows above the visual optics.

“Oh, hey, Your Highness,” Tony calls out, not even looking away from the new set of schematics in front of him.

Bruce gives a little wave of his own.

“No need for assistance,” you inform the drone, watching the digitized glowing eyes seemingly blink before it walks back to the corner of the lab from which it came.

From across the room, you hear the billionaire give a slightly defeated damn it before he looks up and seems to decide that you’re far more interesting - striding across the room until he’s leaning against the workbench next to you.

“Have I mentioned how unnerving those things are?”

He glances back at the bot, “My Legion, you mean?”

You hum in agreement, “I mean, I understand that you gave up the suit and this was the next logical step. But you couldn’t have made them a bit more… friendly?”

His lips form a challenging grin, “I’ll have you know that the Ultron line of toys are currently at the top of everyone's Christmas wishlist. And there’s an anime currently in the works inspired by my Legion. So, maybe it's just you and your slightly outdated ways.”

You blink in confusion, “Anime?”

“Seriously? How long have you been around here?”

With a strangled laugh, you look away, “A few thousand years, give or take. And I’ll have you know that my interests far outreach your capitalist hold on the franchise market.”

Tony stumbles back, a hand held to his heart, “Okay, ouch. I let you into my tower, offer you a room, and you call me a money-hungry capitalist?”

A shrug is all you offer him in return.

He gestures at Bruce with a pleading look in his eyes, looking for backup apparently. But the other scientist merely holds up his hands in a clear sign of not wanting to step into the fray.

“Okay, I’ll play,” he resigns, leaning his elbows on the workbench - watching you with a playful intensity. You can make out each ring under his eyes, the speckles of red veins in his tired expression.

“While I’ve been coming up with more and more exuberantly creative ways to fund this entire group operation, you’ve been doing what exactly?”

Turning on the seat to better address him, you state quite plainly, “Cleaning up SHIELD’s mess.”

“Which we’ve also been doing,” he shakes his head. “My question is: why haven’t you joined us on any of these little adventures?”

Admittedly, you kind of blank for a moment.

It was a legitimate question, considering you were doing nearly the exact same thing for the past year, just on your own. While you knew Steve had been silently tracking his long-lost friend during this time, you also were aware of the many raids he had partaken in with the team.

“I mean, even with this whole scepter business just about wrapped up, there’s still bases and terrorist cells out there. And since you’re already here - ”

“Anonymity,” you answer, suddenly.

Tony blinks, jerking his head back as you slowly and calmly press forward.

“I spent centuries being nothing more than a legend amongst your kind. I could come and go as I pleased. I worked for SHIELD while remaining almost entirely off their records. Yet one instance in New York and suddenly my identity was dragged into the open and now - ”

You gesture vaguely around the lab, “Now, I’m here and a part of a household name. I preferred it when it was just me doing the quiet work behind the scenes and not having my name and image on the news.”

“And lunchboxes and costumes and a few knock-off toys, to name a few other things, right?” Tony’s eyes flash with what you think is meant to be humor.

Your anger simmers and you offer him a tired, half-hearted smile, “It was an easier life when my name was only associated with museum pieces and ancient tales, yes.”

He nods thoughtfully, biting at his lip as he looks between you and Bruce.

“So… it’s a maybe?”

You shove his arm away, good-naturedly, “I’ll see you at your party tonight, Stark. You too, hopefully - ” you call over to Bruce.

The other man quirks his lips into a shy smile, “I’m not sure I have much of a choice in the matter.”

“You don’t!” Tony responds cheerily, eyes flickering over to you as you exit the lab. “Okay, let’s run it again, JARVIS, and see if we can keep the system from overloading this time.”

The party is in full swing now. The drinks have been flowing freely from the bar as comfortable music streams from the speakers. It’s a surprisingly casual affair for Tony’s standards - though the man is dressed in a three-piece suit. There’s a mix of colognes and perfumes and the sharp bitterness of alcohol in the air.

He hasn’t partaken in any of it, in all honesty. He’s on the precipice, waiting for your arrival.

Steve had done his best to hide his disappointment earlier in the day when you informed him that you would have to catch up with him at the party later.

“I’ve got to pick up some friends from the airport,” you had said, almost sheepish when you knocked on the door to his room.

And he had responded with a nonchalant of course, yeah, it’s no problem sort of answer. But now that the party had officially been going on for almost an hour, he couldn’t help but feel an anxious twinge in his side as he kept sweeping the room with his eyes - trying to find you in the crowd.

It’s not that he can’t socialize with the team, the veterans, or the other partygoers. It’s a completely different reason entirely that he keeps seeking you out amongst the celebration.

“So,” Sam knocks his elbow against Steve’s arm. “You find a place in Brooklyn yet?”

He gazes out over the atrium, knowing the well-recycled conversation was just Sam’s attempt at distracting him for another few minutes. While he had never explicitly spoken about his feelings towards you, it seemed it was apparently evident to just about everyone in his inner circle of friends - Sam and Natasha included.

“I’m not sure I can afford a place in Brooklyn.”

It was true. But like he had told you the other night, he didn’t all that mind staying at the Tower. It at least kept him busy when he wasn’t working on the missing person’s case with Sam. Everything had changed after the collapse of SHIELD and Steve hadn’t been particularly interested in going back to square one and attempting his shot at normalcy.

No, joining them on the HYDRA raids had been exactly what he needed.

The other man takes another swig of his drink, “Well, home is home, you know?”

Steve looks at him for a moment before he returns his gaze to the room - eyes not quite seeing the actual location itself. But lost in the beginning of an idea that his mind sometimes liked to dangle in front of him. Images of a possible future that didn’t seem all that unwelcoming - just a little improbable.

It’s only with the loud boisterous sound of Thor’s booming voice that he’s able to focus back on the party itself and, more importantly, on the three women who have just come up the stairs.

It’s like an immediate sucker punch to the gut as he takes you in. He’s not sure if he’s ever actually seen you in a dress before. But what a debut this is.

It’s very… Grecian, he’ll admit. Bathed in soft white fabric and glistening golden embellishments, you’re every bit a goddess as you make your way over to Thor - introducing your guests.

Steve finds himself literally muttering a silent wow to himself, feeling the uptick in his heartbeat and the sudden rush of warmth to his cheeks.

And then he’s clamping his hand on Sam’s shoulder, “Think I need a drink.”

The other man just chuckles into his glass, already knowing exactly where his attention has fallen for the rest of the night.

You can’t help but smile as Thor tugs the taller woman into a tight hug. The shorter of the two immediately backs up before he can grab hold of her.

“You’ve gotten bigger,” she states with an air of disinterest.

He chuckles, patting the other on the shoulder fondly, “Still using the same mystical illusions then?”

Sprite shrugs.

Her disguise is about five inches taller than her actual form and abnormally similar to the airport's gift shop cashier they had passed on the way out to meet you. With dark chestnut-colored hair and a pair of striking green eyes, she looked nothing like her usual self - but that was the entire point, of course.

“We’re trying to keep a low profile,” Sersi says gently, leveling Thor with a look that was filled with the expectation of continued secrecy.

It wasn’t every day two Eternals were invited to a Stark Tower party. But then again, only the two of you knew of their existence in the first place. A well-kept secret indeed.

He makes an understanding ahh sound, nodding your way, “Friends from work, then?”

“Yes, actually,” you tug Sersi’s hand into your own. “We worked together at the Louvre for two years.”

“And at the Acropolis Museum - ” she fills in.

“And the Natural History Museum in D.C. and - ”

“London and New York, yeah. We get it,” Sprite interrupts briskly, her attention drifting over to a young waiter with a tray full of champagne.

Sersi’s expression softens as she looks over at her companion, “And that’s our cue to get a drink. We’ll catch up later.”

She makes a valiant effort to pull Sprite away gracefully to a nice quiet corner while you look upon Thor in his crimson jacket and casually messy smoothed-back hair.

“I half expected to see you surrounded by your kind,” you admit.

He chuckles, eyes raking over the fit of your dress, “While it is no Asgardian revel, I must admit, I quite enjoy the company I have made here on Midgard.”

“Hmmm, I see.”

Your shoulder brushes against his upper arm as the two of you move through the crowd.

A glance across the room has you spotting Steve at the bar, conversing with Natasha and Clint. You want to make your way over to them, but you know how out of place Thor is in the room - much like yourself, honestly. You had never been one for parties, even back on Olympus - and they were frequent there. Not wanting to interrupt your companions' conversation at the bar, you remain with your fellow god.

“And when you speak of good company, I assume you are referring to your good lady? Dr. Foster?”

The way his brow creases as his lips form a thin line makes everything that much more abundantly clear, especially when the God of Thunder attempts to duck out of view to grab hors d'oeuvres from one of the caterers. He pops the caviar cracker in his mouth and immediately blanches, forcing himself to swallow it down and smile.

“Yes, of course. Very good, very… happy,” he nods, hands on his hips.

Taking pity on the poor man, you rest your hand upon his arm, “Odinson. I know you have been here far more often than you’d like to admit - ”

“Well,” he smirks, “Midgard is quite low on daring quests for someone such as myself to partake in. I seek leisure where I can.”

With an unsurprised huff, you say, gently, “If you were here for leisure, as you say, you would not be here with us, I believe.”

His shockingly blue eyes meet yours. An air of long-held familiarity passes between the two of you as the party around you continues on. It’s with a knowing look in your eyes that he has to force his own gaze away, coughing roughly into his fist.

“Ah, advice from the virginal goddess herself. Have you become an expert in the field of relationships, my Lady Athena?”

You release your hold on his arm, shyly rubbing at your own elbow as your eyes flit across the crowd.

“Hardly. But I’ve been around long enough to know these things, Thor. How long will you be away after you return the scepter?”

He sniffs indignantly, “I have been away from my home for a long time indeed. I feel it warrants an extended visit.”

Something in those eyes makes your heart clench, your features softening in intensity as it dawns on you. He was not spending time with Jane Foster because there was no longer a reason to do so. He wanted to be here. He desired to get away from that place and therefore that relationship.

The realization is heartbreaking, so you find yourself asking, “Are you okay?”

The god nearly balks at that, plastering on a very tight smile, “Wh-why would I not be? Come! We should have a drink to celebrate such an accomplishment!”

His arm wraps around your waist in an instant, his large hand covering the middle of your bare back - fingers splayed across your heated skin. If he did not want to ruin the evening with talk of his past love, then you certainly weren’t going to push the topic tonight.

“I swear if it’s anything like the terrible drink your kind used to have back in the day - ”

He beams, looking down at you as the two of you walk over to the railing overlooking the lower levels of the Tower.

“I come bearing only the best for such revelries - ” he grins, pulling an ornate flask from his open jacket, “And only for the closest of allies.”

Flicking the topper off, he holds it out for you. Taking a wary sniff, your eyes nearly bulge as you giggle a nervous sound.

“Cronus, help us all.”

Grabbing hold of the flask, you take a single swig of the fast-burning liquid, sputtering pensively as it runs down your throat. Voice turned hoarse as you wave it back his way, “See? Truly terrible. Your people have no concept of a good drink.”

Thor chuckles, taking a shot of the Asgardian liquor for himself before pocketing the flask once again, “For tonight only - and because I am in the presence of a friend - I shall try not to take personal offense to that.”

You give him a nod in return, eyes blazing with a playful challenge, “Do try that.”

Natasha, for all appearances, is fully healed up. She’s perched on the barstool, sipping on her red-tinted drink, eyes scanning the room when Steve approaches. Clint has a grounding hand on her waist as he talks to a man on the other side of her, though she doesn’t seem to mind the lack of attention. Settling her drink down on the counter, she smiles up at him sweetly.

“Well, well, well. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Steve scoffs a quiet laugh, tucking his hands into his pockets as he glances over at you - your two friends seem to be familiar with Thor, or at least extrovertedly confident enough to greet him with a hug.

“You got cleared to drink?”

Nat waves a dismissive hand, “I’m Russian, this barely counts as alcohol. Though I see you’re not participating.”

He shrugs, eyes flickering back over to the four of you as the conversation with your friends seems to wrap up fairly quickly, leaving you alone with Thor.

“Doesn’t do any good with the serum, you know.”

She makes a soft hum of understanding, taking another sip of her drink as she watches him watching the two of you from across the room.

You were the point of his focus.

The soft draping of your dress seemed perfectly tailored to you, with its flutter sleeves and high neckline. The hem fell just above your knees, and as you turned to walk towards the balcony overlook, Steve felt the sudden tightening of his throat as his eyes fell to your back. It was fully exposed, save for the clinching collar at your neck and the guiding hand of the Asgardian whose fingers were resting far too low for Steve's liking.

Clint’s laughter pulls his attention back over to the bar, as he leans down to whisper something in Nat’s ear before dipping back into the crowd of people. Steve’s focus falls on the arrow-shaped necklace the assassin begins to fiddle with.

“If you were looking for a moment, Captain, now would be a good one.”

Sometimes, he found it unnerving how quickly Natasha could read a person down to their very core. Even after all of his time training and working for SHIELD and the STRIKE team, he had never managed to school his features away like they did. He was probably an open book for her abilities, whether he liked it or not.

With a sigh, he finally looks back over just in time to see Thor’s hand on your bare back, his head lowered down as you clutch something small and silver-colored in your hand. You’re laughing and even across the noise of the room, he can make it out with near clarity.

Natasha slides her finger along the rim of her glass, with a teasing, “Tick, tock.”

Pulling back his shoulders and forcing a purposeful breath from his lungs, Steve begins to weave his way through the crowd. He’s stopped one too many times for his patience, but he gives each person a polite and respectful greeting before apologizing and attempting to continue forward once again.

At last, he spots the bright white of your dress. He can even hear the tail end of your conversation above the low hum of the music playing on the speakers.

“ - probably best if you just... yeah. We’ll speak later.”

And only once he’s made his way through the last few party-goers, does Thor press past him with a tightly-lipped Captain in lieu of a greeting. Steve watches him go for just a moment before he focuses his attention back onto the person he had crossed the floor to see.

Your brow is furrowed and your voice cuttingly vicious as you eye two new strangers beside you.

“What in Cronus’ name are you doing here?”

A man with dark curls and a warm complexion merely rolls his eyes at you, “This is how we’re greeted.”

“Well, what did you expect?” You snip, eyes flashing something dangerous as you round on the taller man. “A hug and a kiss? I mean... you can’t just come here and expect – ”

“A warm welcome?”

Steve’s gaze falls to the shorter of the two – still a hair taller than you of course. His grin is worryingly bright, forced, but not sinister. Steve takes a step forward.

The movement alone drags your attention away from the men and the tension on your face seems to dissipate with relief when your eyes lock in on him.

“Steve,” you plead gently, extending your hand out for him.

Unsure of what exactly he has stepped into, he grips his belt and stares straight ahead at the two visitors – only after giving you a quick glance.

“Captain Rogers,” you say with a hint of salt. “May I introduce my brothers.”

He knows his brows have risen in surprise as he refocuses on the men.

The dark-haired one, with the thin beard, sneers down at them both. While the shorter of the pair, decked out in a plum-colored velvet jacket, offers a more comforting smile. But Steve’s reassurance wains when he reaches out and grabs hold of your shoulder – trying to steer you away from him.

“Pleasure, of course. But we need to speak with our dear sister.”

You grip the man’s hand and yank his wrist back in a clear warning.

“And if you decided to seek me out in such a public place, clearly you give little care to who may be around to hear what you intend to say.”

A very clear I’m staying where I am. Steve almost wants to smile with pride as he crosses his arms over his chest and gazes down at you. Not a sign of fear or trepidation lies on your face when you shoot him a quick look.

The taller of the two sighs. Dropping his arms, he reaches into his wheat-colored pant pocket and pulls out something that glints in the ambient lighting. While he takes hold of the silver chain, a small locket slips to the bottom – dangling in the air beneath his fingers.

“A gift.”

Steve’s eyes instinctively trail to your face – curious what your reaction will be. But your expression remains resolutely blank.

Flipping the locket into the palm of his hand, your brother carefully flicks open the silver cover to reveal a gentle flickering orange flame.

If he were able to look away from it, Steve would have seen the near-gasp of surprise on your lips.

“You’ve been away, ‘Thena,” your other brother says gently. “For far too long.”

With a twist of his wrist, the locket snaps shut and Steve’s gaze rises to the dark eyes of the other man.

“A message, I give to you, dear sister. Goddess of Wisdom.”

Extending his hand out, the locket dangling precariously between the two of you, Steve watches as your fingers carefully wrap around the item – slipping the chain from your brother’s fingers until the piece of jewelry is safely secured in your own hand.

Leaning in close, ducking his head down to almost your ear, the taller of the two harshly whispers, “Uti prudenter.”

When he pulls back, your eyes harden and Steve swears a flicker of gold shines there for just a moment. Staring up at the man in question, you ask, “What have you seen?”

“Nothing but what is to come.”

You snort indignantly, tossing the locket in your hand for a moment of thought.

“How ever helpful, Hermes.”

He crosses his arms, sparing you a calculated look.

“I’m not the god of visions, am I?”

“Only a carrier of precious flames, is that right?”

Holding out his palm, as if to say well, give it back then. You hold the locket closer to your chest, turning your shoulder toward Steve, making the man smirk.

“As I thought.”

With a hmph, you watch as he disappears through the small crowd before descending the stairs. Your other brother watches on for a moment before giving you a small, albeit sheepish, smile.

“Be careful.”

At that, your features soften a hair. Raising a brow at him, you ask, “Aren’t I always?”

A sharp laugh escapes from his lips as he steps forward to wrap you into a quick, tight, hug. One that you quickly accept.

“Never.”

Without a parting word, he too follows the steps of your other sibling and heads down the stairs. You stare on for a moment longer, glancing down at the locket in your hand before at last you turn those brilliant eyes toward him.

“Family reunions, am I right?”

He can’t help but chuckle at that.

With a soft sigh, you lean against the banister behind you, encouraging him to do the same as he falls into place on your left. His eyes have a hard time trailing away from that silver-chained locket though, still sitting in your palm.

“They never travel this way,” you explain. “Must be important. Probably on word from the Fates.”

His curiosity piques ever more, but one question seems to fall into place at the forefront of his mind.

“And that flame... was that...?”

Your eyes lift from the necklace to meet his pointed gaze.

“The Promethean Flame, yes. Or an extension of it, at least.”

Giving another sigh, your fingers pull open the latch before you tilt your head to the side. Your hair cascades over your right shoulder as you pull the chain around your neck – clasping the lock together – before you gaze down at the heavy locket now resting against your bosom.

“You know that when I’m away from Olympus for too long, my powers weaken. My body grows more prone to suffering as a typical human would. This, I imagine - ” you take hold of the plain-faced locket, staring at it as though it’s a puzzle to answer, “May keep me from experiencing too great an injury.”

Releasing a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding, Steve says, “For your sake, let’s hope so.”

Your warm eyes trail upward to meet his gaze and a curved smile befalls your sweet lips.

There’s a faint feeling of warm inebriation now running through his veins – having partaken in one or two sips from Thor’s special flask. He uses that reason, and that alone, for the lazy arm he has resting on the couch behind you. His whole body flushes as you turn your head toward him – laughing at something Clint had said just a moment ago. Your left shoulder brushes against his bare forearm and he grins in return – not having heard a single sound above the ringing of your laughter.

“Absolutely not,” Clint’s saying – twirling a pair of drumsticks on the floor beside Maria.

Tony raises a brow in return, “Why would I lie about that? No, I had a rep from Ben & Jerry’s literally here before this whole scepter business blew up. They want to make a whole line of flavors around us.”

Your head lolls to the side, a tired smile tugging at your lips. He can feel the gentle bobbing of your pointed heel against his calf, though you don’t seem to notice as you glance back at the man to your right – saying something soft and apparently funny in nature to Thor who barks a laugh in return.

“What’d ya say, Cap?” Tony grabs his attention. “Up for a little rendezvous with apple pie and other such iconic flavors.”

Steve just shakes his head in return.

“ - yes, a solid rum flavor would do you well,” he hears you say to the other God.

“And for you?” Thor muses playfully. “What shall it be?”

Before you can even conjure up a reply, Steve finds himself saying, “Honey.”

Your sharp gaze turns to him and immediately a smile blossoms across your features.

“Honey, strawberries, and a touch of cream. You know me well, Rogers.”

Steve shrugs in return, secretly pleased with himself for anticipating such an answer and for turning your attention away from the other man for just a moment more.

Somehow talk of ice cream flavors and brand deals gives way to a more interesting topic of conversation amongst the group in only a matter of minutes.

“But it’s a trick,” Clint bemoans.

Thor smiles in a pleased fashion as he passes along the silver flask from you and then onto Steve who quickly knocks back another shot of the fiery liquid.

“No, no, it’s much more than that.”

He can feel the curl of your fingers around his hand when he hands back the container and his eyes fall to the small patch of uncovered skin above your knee – your white dress having risen slightly higher as you lean back against the warm cushions.

“Ah, whoever he be worthy shall have the power!” Clint exclaims, holding his hands out toward the hammer resting on the coffee table. “Whatever, man. It’s a trick!”

“Please, be my guest.”

Thor gestures at Mjolnir and silence seems to befall the group for just a moment as everyone’s attention pinpoints on the infamous hammer. There’s a second of silence as Clint seems to take in the words.

“Come on. Really?”

“Yeah.”

To his right, he can hear Rhodey sigh, “Oh, this is gonna be beautiful.”

Even you turn your attention to the archer now as he approaches the legendary weapon.

“You know I’ve seen this before, right?”

At Thor’s nod, he grips the handle and attempts to pull. But it doesn’t even budge a millimeter as he grunts with the effort. With an incredulous laugh, he draws his hand away, shaking his head.

“I still don’t know how you do it!”

“Smell the silent judgment?”

Glancing across the room, Clint offers his hand out to the billionaire.

“Please, Stark. By all means.”

With his typical air of arrogance, Tony lifts from the couch beside Rhodey and plucks open the button on his suit jacket. Steve leans back beside you and watches with glistening amusement as he rounds the table.

“Never one to shrink from an honest challenge. It’s physics.”

He takes a moment to wrap the leather strap around his wrist, preparing his hold as he looks toward the God in question.

“Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?”

Thor, unsurprisingly calm, responds, “Yes. Of course.”

Steve covers his mouth with his fist, already anticipating the likely outcome.

With two solid tugs and a few bitten grunts, Tony releases the strap – a sudden look of determination overcoming his features, as he says, “I’ll be right back.”

As he wanders off, much to the hooted badgering from Clint and Rhodey, Steve catches the familiar look you share with Thor. You lean into the other’s side, nudging his arm with your elbow as you whisper something too soft for even the super soldier’s ears.

Arriving back with a piece of a suit, Tony attempts the feat again. And, when that ultimately fails, he has Rhodes following after him to grab a part of War Machine’s armor. That attempt also fails – rather spectacularly as your sweet laughter fills his ears.

There’s also an attempt made by Bruce and Sam. The latter grunts with the effort before ducking his head down with a laugh.

“Man, I don’t know how you do this.”

And then he feels the gentle pressure of your arm against his elbow. When his gaze trails away from Sam, he meets your heated expression.

“Steve?” you softly goad.

What more can he do than roll back his sleeves and rise to the challenge?

“Go ahead, Steve. No pressure,” Tony drawls, still in defeat over his own failed attempt.

Sam gives him a warm slap to the shoulder as he passes.

“Come on, Cap,” Barton encourages.

Staring down at the hammer, he fixes his gaze upon the engraved runic wording. Physics had failed Tony, sheer force of will failed Clint. Maybe if he just...

Wrapping his hands around the handle, he offers you a quick glance – catching your watchful stare – before he pulls back with all of his might. He swears, for just a second, that he can feel it budge, but when he looks down... nothing.

Holding his hands up in defeat, a smile on his face, he catches the biting laugh from Thor as the other man shakes his head.

“Nothing!”

Steve presses past the two of you before taking his seat once more. You give him a solidary pat on the shoulder and a gently murmured tough luck, Cap. Someone clears their throat and Banner gestures his hands towards Natasha.

“And... Widow?”

Realization crosses her features as she leans back with a too-obvious smile.

“Oh, no, no. That’s not a question I need answered.”

Drawing their attention to the last remaining member of the team, Steve’s eyes fall upon you. Too busy watching the moment unfold with Romanoff, you’re suddenly staring at the group of them before also laughing – holding your hands up in pure dismissal.

“Absolutely not.”

“Come on,” Tony goads in an instant. “If there was anyone who could manage a feat of godly power...”

“Out of the question.”

This time, it’s Thor’s daunting timber that speaks.

Steve knows he’s not the only one curious by the sudden change in format as all eyes seem to fall on the God himself. Thor stiffens, fingers clutching his glass as he peers over at you for just a second.

“That’s not something that can be done,” you say in slow calculated words. “We will never wield one another’s weapons.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Tony immediately inquires.

Your nervous expression pauses on Steve for just a moment, as if needing strength for whatever conversation was suddenly unraveling. Your knee presses against his outer thigh and he immediately pushes back in return.

“Can’t, obviously,” Thor sniffs, gazing at the contents of his amber drink before taking a healthy drink of it. And then his dark eyes fall upon you, “Show them.”

Sparing the other God a heated glance, you stand up at once – your dress falls back in place with a careful draping of soft white fabric as you brush past Thor’s spread knees – taking your spot before the hammer.

Shooting a look at the accompanying group, you reach your hand out towards the weapon in question – just for a sharp bluish-white zap of lightning to arch out and singe the end of your fingertips. Pulling away with a sharp hiss of discomfort, you bring your digits up to your lips and gently suck at the burned flesh.

“See?” Thor drawls.

And then a light seems to glow in your eyes, a new wave of confidence, as you say with a teasing tone, “Fair is fair.”

Tossing your hand up into the air – a ray of golden light stretches down from the ceiling as your shield materializes in your hand. You hold the Aegis close to your side – looking ever so much like the fictional Goddess of legend that you were.

Steve’s fully, hopelessly, entranced.

Thor actually shrinks away from the object in question – digging himself further into the corner of the couch cushions as though he could vanish into them.

“No mortal man can wield such an item and I do not wish to try.”

Clint barks a laugh, “Come on! Like the lady said, fair is fair. Own up!”

The shield seems surprisingly light in your hand – though even Steve knows that appearances are entirely deceiving, having been in a position to use it on more than one occasion.

But with keen interest, everyone watches as the God of Thunder slowly rises to his feet. His hand reaches out, then pulls away, before he grits his teeth and finally goes for the strap of the inner handle.

You slip your hand away until you’re just barely holding it up at all. Thor’s fingers curl alongside yours for just a moment before you pull away entirely and –

BANG

“Fuck!” Barton hollers.

Thor screeches as the shield connects with the floor – splintering the wood – as the Aegis just barely grazes the toe of his shoe. He leaps back as if burned, though clearly he suffers from nothing more than burnt pride.

But Steve’s attention falls on the beaming smile on your face.

“Anyone for a go?” you ask cheerfully.

“Absolutely not.”

“Enough bruised ego for one day.”

And then your eyes cross over the group to meet the super soldier’s, a knowing glint in your warm expression as you ask, “Steve?”

Returning the grin, and feeling a bit prideful in the fact that he presses past a somber-looking Thor, Steve leans down and pulls the Aegis free from it’s temporary holding place in Tony’s floor – offering the shield back to you with little more than an uncomfortable twinge of discomfort from the sheer weight of the item.

“Thank you,” you smooze, taking hold of the shield once again and allowing it to lift up into the air and back to its home of origin.

There’s a moment that passes, between the two of you then, where a silent understanding almost occurs, but it’s immediately lost to the sharp ringing of a mechanical sound across the room. Steve’s hands fly to his ears as he cringes away from the noise.

Just as fast as the ringing occurred, it’s gone in an instant. But the sound of something metal upon the floor grabs everyone’s attention. Steve feels himself stepping closer to your side as you all look on at the metal bot that staggers out of the lab.

“Worthy? How could you be worthy? You’re all killers.”

He takes a breath, unsure of what exactly he’s seeing, but trusting it no more than he did SHIELD or any other faction he had found himself up against in the past three years.

“Stark.”

“Jarvis.”

“I’m sorry, I was asleep,” The mangled bot continues, glancing around – almost unseeing – at the room. “Or I was a dream.”

Tony’s pulled out a device and is speaking into it, but Steve can hardly look away from the sight before him – before them all. As the bot twists and turns, unsteady on its feet. Wires hang from its body like dangling tendons and veins, it holds a hand to its head as if in pain.

“- there was this terrible noise. And I was tangled in... in... strings. Had to kill the other guy,” the bot waves its hand in fleeting reference. “He was a good guy. But down in the real world, we’re faced with ugly choices.”

“Who sent you?” Thor demands.

The electronic voice of Tony Stark then plays out for them all to hear.

“I see a suit of armor around the world.”

Beside him, Athena barely breathes out, “Ultron.”

The bot fixes her with a glowing blue-eyed look and Steve stiffens.

“In the flesh. Or... no, not yet. Not this chrysalis. But I’m ready. I’m on a mission.”

Hill clocks the hammer on her gun, staring down the bot, “What mission?”

“Peace in our time.”

And then, as if fixing its look on one person in particular, the bot’s thrusters come to life and it surges forward – hand open – as it grabs hold of Tony and careens out the window.

Steve lurches forward, rushing to the shattered glass as the malfunctioning robot grips the billionaire by the neck over the bustling city street many stories below them all. Tony digs into the arms of the creature, his feet dangling, kicking uselessly for purchase.

Turning his attention toward the group now circling the open space, the bot seems to sneer.

“Look at you. The very ideal of peace-keeping. But what are you really?”

The bot soars closer, not enough to be within full reach. And Steve knows that any attempt at disarming it will bring Tony’s safety into immediate question. He can do nothing more than stare on in disturbed wonder as the robot begins lecturing them.

“Your very existence is a threat to peace. Agent Romanoff and Barton, the two gallivanting criminals.”

Its mechanical eyes rove across the group, landing on the person standing to his left. Your chin juts out in defiance. The robot chortles.

“And the Gods from another realm. How much destruction can you cause with just a flick of your mighty finger? Of course, your faith in humanity’s greatest threat is of grave concern to any being with a twinge of intelligence.”

A pointed metal finger singles out Doctor Banner, who shrinks away from them all – nervous glances shared – as he ducks his head down.

“Captain America, himself.”

Steve’s hardened gaze refuses to be moved by the bot as it focuses all of its attention on him.

“So locked in your ideals, Captain. But at what cost? Unwilling to compromise for something you believe in. Endangering the entire planet at the cost of a ghost.”

A surge of discomfort lashes up inside of him and Steve can’t help but look away – if only to catch your equally concerned eye.

“And you - ” At last, the bot jerks Tony away – giving the man no secure hold beside the arm extending him out to his doom. “Anthony Stark. A man so obsessed with making amends for his past, that you end up causing more harm than good.”

Tony struggles, his face turning red as he puffs out desperate breaths.

The bot turns toward them with the most menacing look a robot could ever give.

“This group – this team. You put the world at large at risk. Every argument, every guilt trip, and jab will lead to your failure. Where I was created to see the world as it is. How it should be. The ultimate global peacekeeper.

In an instant, the wall behind the bar explodes as three similar robots shoot out towards the group.

Tony is all but tossed toward them, landing in a curled heap beside Rhodey and Clint – panting out a worrying series of breaths before he manages to stand and call out to the Legion’s operating system.

Gunshots ring out, the heavy metallic clunk of Thor’s hammer making contact with something equally dense, shattered glass, and the shrill cry of Helen Cho meets his ears as he pushes forward. Leaping over the glass banister, Steve lands atop a silver bot, yanking back on its head with all his might as it tries to slam him into the wall.

It succeeds, with the second blow, as he tumbles down onto the floor – broken glass shards dig into his palm as he tries to steady himself.

“Cap!”

Sam’s voice rings out across the room as a shield is tossed his way.

Using a chair for a weapon, you manage to knock away another bot from Dr. Cho’s reach – sending it back into Thor’s hammer. Steve swivels in time to catch the shoulder joint of another robot, bringing the shield down on its back with some relief as the bot splutters out electrical shocks before ultimately disengaging.

Looking up from the remnants of the mayhem, his chest heaving and his hands gripped into tight fists, Steve watches as Tony takes a heavy step back from the initial mangled-looking bot as it presses further into the room.

“That was dramatic.”

Steve spares you a glance as he tightens his grip on the shield.

“I’m sorry, I know you mean well. But this... this team will never work. You will be humanity’s downfall. You want to protect the world, but you don’t want it to change. How is humanity saved if it’s not allowed to... evolve?”

Glancing down at one of its fallen comrades, the bot kicks the side of its head – the steel faceplate gives way, revealing the wires and mechanisms that lie underneath.

“With these? These puppets?”

It looks back upon them all.

“There’s only one path to peace,” it stares at Tony then. “The Avengers’ extinction.”

And then the bot shatters with the might of Thor’s hammer.

“I had strings, but now I’m free...” The bot drowns for just a moment longer before its lights dim and the entire thing grows silent.

Stepping forward, Steve stares down at the last remaining pieces of the mangled robot before his full fury turns toward the billionaire resting on the glass steps with another torn-apart robot beside him.

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

[gren-arlio]

I did it. I finished translating Schezo's storyline in Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon...for the most part.

So why don't we do a story, gameplay, AND character retrospective?

Hey everyone, Gren here.

As the story ends, my work doesn't. Schezo's route as a whole (as of July) isn't FULLY done. I'm still missing some stuff like small differences in talks, minor talks I missed, menus, etc. However, the main story route is about finished, minus the things I mentioned.

Which is why I'm posting this huge blog today. Finished it much earlier than I thought.

For those who don't wish to read post after post, I thought it'd be a decent idea to just throw it all neatly into one ultra large post that, while a long read, is simple enough to understand and gather. (Trust me, there's like 70+ paragraphs of this stuff.)

The game was pretty fun to translate, I won't deny it. Learning about the characters and more about what they are was super fun.

This post will cover the following:

The story of Schezo's storyline itself, and the gameplay revolving around it.

Some characters that properly got screentime. So characters like Mamono, Cockatrice, and all characters who basically say a single word and such won't be included. Some mentioned will be the ARS Trio, Draco, Witch, Succubus, and Satan.

Atmosphere of the game itself. The tone that's given usually and how the games OST (which spoilers: Is really good,) helps.

Hopefully, this is both enjoyable to read and helpful. For the people who've been here for a while, have fun reading the THIRD super large pinned post, easily the longest I've done.

Welcome to the Story, Gameplay, & Character Retrospective of Schezo's storyline of Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon.

This'll be a very long one, so take your time with this. Hope you enjoy.

Story of the game:

The story itself, for Schezo's story, is fairly simple all things considered. It begins with Schezo clearing a Dungeon, telling us that the layout of the place changed every time he went outside, forcing him to retry several times. All of the work was worth it though, as he acquires the Space-Time Crystal, a powerful item that'll make Schezo all the more stronger. However, the crystal instead absorbs his power, and Schezo gets warped away.

Woken up by the encounter, Schezo notices he can barely use his magic, questioning why this happening. However, Fufufu, a traveling merchant, comes up to him to talk about the new amusement park in the area; Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land, a place said to give a special item for magic if all 6 attractions are completed. Schezo wonders if he can regain his powers from doing this, and after getting a map by Fufufu to go to Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land, Schezo heads out to regain his powers.

(The map itself.)

Schezo runs into Arle first, who's not even there for the treasure itself, and is there to enjoy herself and have fun with Carbuncle. Schezo realizes that she's telling the truth, as she's unaware of a treasure to start, and after getting teased, leaves.

Then he runs into Rulue, who's accompanied by the guy we only remember for Quest, Minotauros. Schezo and Rulue begin arguing right off the bat, and Rulue says she's here to get the magical item to get magic, to beat Arle with it, and to win over Satan. Schezo calls the plan stupid because it overlaps with HIS plan, and he gets chased off by Minotauros. Schezo then laments that he has to deal with these two women again.

Throughout the journey, Schezo meets various characters we know and love, and keeps hearing a voice, a mysterious one who never tells their identity, yet explains where each magic orb (the Macguffins of this game.) is, leaving Schezo confused.

After collecting all 6 orbs and defeating Satan, the owner of Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land, a huge tower appears from the sky, The Ultimate Tower, a gauntlet of every single area in the game. There, he meets the real main antagonist, Doppelganger Schezo, who mentions that he was both the Space-Time Crystal and the mysterious voice, and the two duel.

In the end, the real Schezo emerges victorious, as the doppelganger's body begins to crumble. Doppelganger Schezo explains how he was behind all of this, much to Schezo's shock, before Schezo himself tries to steals his doppelganger's powers.

Yet Doppelganger Schezo says otherwise. Schezo has gotten much stronger, so much so that absorbing Doppelganger Schezo's powers won't do him any good, before The Ultimate Tower begins to collapse due to Doppelganger Schezo's lack of power.

(Doppelganger Schezo admits he's the Space-Time Crystal)

An explosion occurs, destroying the amusement park. Schezo stands in all the destruction, unhurt from it all, thinking about his final fight, realizing he's become stronger and better than his formal self.

Arle and Co. appear, all seemingly okay from the blast. Schezo deduces that everyone was okay because of Doppelganger Schezo saving them all, much to his surprise.

However, they're not exactly happy with the real Schezo as a whole. In fact, they're really upset at the fact that Schezo destroyed the amusement park, especially Satan and Arle, and chase him down for various reasons. Overall, it's a fun, simple, but occasionally serious story that's easy to grasp.

Now of course this isn't the entire game, there's a ton to explain for that section. For a lighting round of things that occur:

At the start of the game, Skeleton-T goes from a Boss to working at shops before getting evicted by Succubus. This changes when you beat her.

Draco is still pretty dumb at times, not even checking if Schezo has the tickets to enter. He just says "Yeah I have em lmao" and she let's him into the dungeon.

Serilly is supposed to be a boss, but can be completely avoided if you become her friend.

Kikimora plays a semi-big role as the usher guiding Schezo around. She also kinda dislikes Succubus.

Witch chases Schezo after she meets him for one goal: To get his clothes. One track mind does wonders to people.

There's obviously a ton more, but I'm picking the interesting stuff. Like most Madou/Puyo games, it's not serious at all besides a few scenes with Doppelganger Schezo. Madou games aren't exactly serious, contrary to popular belief. It's full of light hearted and goofy fun.

So what about the gameplay?

I mentioned this in an older post, but it's similar to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. (Best game I could relate it to.)

Every move and action you do is considered a "turn" and as such, the enemies move with you. As such, you can use this to your advantage, or die because Witch decided to do a long-range attack. As of typing, the menu translations aren't really...done, yet, neither are the moves the bosses do. Might have to do those someday for Extras.

(Witch doing Firestorm, decided to translate this one on the spot because it's convenient.)

Schezo is unique in this game because he's the only one to run solo. In the other two routes, Arle runs with Carbuncle, and Rulue goes with Minotauros. As such, you're on your own, and have no one to help ya out, but Schezo himself is quite strong, so don't worry.

Floors are obviously a big thing in this game, and they can range from 5 floors at the start to 100 at the final place. With places that have 10 floors, you fight a midboss who get their own dialogue with the protag of the route. At the 10th floor, the boss appears, usually with very comedic dialogue before the fight. Or be Serilly and just not fight if you become her friend.

Speaking of characters, time for my favorite part:

Character Personalities and Changes:

The characters are most of the time quite different from what we're accustomed to in the more modern Puyo games, but they're also fairly different from their older Madou counterparts. It's a fairly balanced mix of both sides, leaving to either well rounded characters to pretty one note characters.

So let's begin with the ones we all know and love: The ARS Trio.

The good ol' Arle Nadja, Schezo Wegey, and Rulue.

This'll only cover their versions in Schezo's Route, so please keep that in mind. They may be different in the other routes. If they are, lemme know.

With that, let's start with the man himself:

Schezo Wegey:

Schezo starts off as the Madou version we're used to, a man trying to make himself even more powerful by absorbing power, though this time the plan backfires pretty badly. He's cold, not wanting to get a partner because he thinks they'll slow him down, reflecting his gameplay. However, throughout the game, he slowly changes into a more caring person, but still the Schezo we know in Madou.

Take when he first meets Kikimora, for example. Schezo asks her a question that she couldn't answer, and he immediately calls her useless, causing her to get very upset. However, midway through the game, a similar scenario happens, leading Kikimora to cry, but Schezo apologizes and says to stop crying. It's a small, yet noticeable change.

The same goes for his friendship with Serilly if you choose to be her friend. At the start, Schezo's already hesitant to fight her, as she doesn't exactly seem like an enemy. After giving her advice, she happily leaves, but Schezo questions why he even cares about the girl to begin with.

At the Endgame, Schezo can meet up with Serilly again, and they have a genuine conversation about how Schezo has changed since they've last met, and Schezo questioning himself about how much he's changed. After Serilly herself gives advice, albeit in her own way, they can talk one more time, and Schezo properly thanks her for the advice she gave, even if Serilly feels like Schezo's being more distant. In a surprise twist, Schezo actually tells her that he's here for her before internally realizing he's changed drastically. While it's a major moment for Serilly herself, it also shows the huge changes Schezo went through.

And the last change is with him and Arle. At the start, it's the typical, Arle teasing him and him defending himself while trying to get her power. Hell, he tries to after a whole misunderstanding and gets blasted by a beam from Carbuncle. However, you can meet with Arle at the Endgame, before entering the Ultimate Tower. After Arle teases Schezo yet again, he snaps and properly yells at her, prompting her to call him a jerk and leave. Schezo, shocked at his own reaction, asks for forgiveness from Arle, and that he shouldn't have been so ticked off by a few words. It's unusual of Schezo to apologize, let alone to Arle, yet it's a defining moment in his route. He's even glad that she and everyone else is okay from the explosion from Doppelganger Schezo.

However, he's not perfect. He still very much bickers with Rulue, gets annoyed with Arle and many of the midbosses, and gets annoyed at Witch at every moment she's around. He's still very much Schezo, but he grows a lot throughout the game. In my opinion, it's one of the best written Schezo's out there.

Arle Nadja:

Arle isn't too far from most of her older and even newer iterations. In Schezo's route, she's only at Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land to play around, unaware of the treasures hidden in the park until the end of the game. In a weird way, she's blissfully unaware of what's going on, merely there to enjoy her day and have fun.

However, like stated in Schezo's bio, she can still be snarky and angered. When Carbuncle blasted Schezo, Arle was surprised, but said Schezo deserved it for being a pervert. She openly insulted Schezo on an occasion or two because he was internally thinking that all of his issues begin with women. (Yes. This is real and is an actual piece of dialogue.)

Rulue:

As per the usual for the R of the ARS, Rulue kinda got shafted in Schezo's route. Lot of her talk is with Minotauros, and she's fairly stagnant as a character. Her goal is simple: Get the magic item before Schezo so she can beat Arle and win over Satan, the classic.

She does it decently, but besides that and arguing with Schezo and/or Minotauros...she doesn't exactly do much in his route, which is fairly unfortunate. But what can ya do, really? She's still the Rulue we know and love today.

Side Characters:

With the ARS Trio out of the way, we may as well speak about the other side characters who got a fair bit of screentime. For this, I'll be going in the order the videos I translated went through. Be warned though, when I say "Endgame," I mean "Yeah the videos I saw kinda went through them all at the end of the game," so if they're not exactly AT Endgame, you know why.

With that out of the way, the first character is...

Kikimora:

Yeah. Not kidding. She plays a fairly big role in the game itself, as she works usually in the Information Booth, giving tips and tricks as an usher and leading the player (I say player because she's in all routes.) around Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land. Later in the game, she teaches Schezo how to see traps with a certain scroll, which is invaluable to the player. Fun fact: She isn't really a boss in Schezo Route. Dunno about the others.

Schezo meets her where she usually is and talk about the amusement park as a whole. When Kikimora can't answer a question Schezo asked, he's quick to call her useless, much to her sadness. However, she still helps Schezo out.

Kikimora is fairly honest, giving the same advice to everyone she meets, though is prone to being upset by people making fun of her, which can lead to her crying at times, to being annoyed at the fact Succubus was running amok and luring guests in. She even admits when she doesn't know the answer to a question, which is commendable. She's surprisingly well developed as a character, and I've grown to like her a lot more. She really doesn't speak about cleaning much, if at all, contrary to the Nexus. You learn something new every day.

Draco:

Draco is about the same from all of her other renditions, without the obsession with beauty that we usually see from her. In her first encounter with Schezo, before even the dungeon she's supposed to guard (Fire Mountain), she asks Schezo if he has tickets to enter the place. Schezo says yes without showing them, and Draco flat out believes him and leaves, making Schezo confused on how easy it was to do that. He did have the tickets, but even I'd be flabbergasted.

The boss fight encounter is fairly goofy. Draco is glad Schezo arrived, and waited for him. Schezo's flustered, trying to say that "Women..." Before getting cut off by Draco saying who cares if it's between man and woman, and that she's ready, making Schezo more embarrassed. Finally, she mentions that she's ready for the match, making Schezo feel stupid for thinking of "That". Absolute lunacy.

You then run into her after the fight, training to beat you next time, which I believe you can in the Endgame via a place I forgot the name of. Battle Palace I think?

Speaking of Endgame, you run into her again, telling Schezo that if he didn't look so moody all the time, he'd be even more popular with women, a statement kinda backed up in-game and in the manga, where Honey Bee kinda had the hots for him. Schezo says he's not really interested in women, causing Draco to ask if he's into men, which he quickly denies. She ends up confused, asking how a good-looking, popular guy like Schezo doesn't understand women, leaving as Schezo is surprised that he's popular. She's funny in this game.

Serilly:

Serilly has the current award besides Kikimora as the most well developed side character for absolutely no reason. At least in Schezo's route, she has such a large character change, least in Puyo standards as a whole.

Schezo first meets Serilly at Water Paradise, before entering the dungeon. Seeing Schezo, she's the version we know for the most part, afraid of Schezo and asking if he's there to bully her, which mostly confuses him more than anything. However, Suketoudara comes around (he's the exact same guy we know,) and asks her to dance, and she agrees, both leaving Schezo more perplexed.

She appears as the boss, thinking that Schezo was there to bully her, but Schezo surprisingly says otherwise, that if she doesn't want to fight, he won't fight either. Serilly takes this as Schezo wanting to be her friend, and asks him the all important question.

Schezo (In the run) said yes, why not. Serilly is genuinely baffled by him saying yes, like anyone would, really, and asks if he really wants to be her friend. Schezo says to quit not caring about herself and that the life she's living isn't exactly fun or happy. He mentions that if Serilly decides to walk (or swim) the path she's currently going, her life will never be happy, and if she's able to change, then Schezo will be her friend. In shock, she agrees and just...leaves the dungeon. Yeah, no boss fight. Nuts. Schezo then questions why he even cares for her, which is more a Schezo thing.

He runs into her again at the Endgame, and Serilly asks if he's there to see her, which Schezo replies with no, but he's here to ask a question: Is she afraid of him still? Serilly says no, she isn't anymore and has no reason to, leaving Schezo in a midlife crisis about how much he's changed, and to most likely the players and I shock, SERILLY gives advice to Schezo, telling him that the way he's thinking now isn't the way he usually thinks, before apologizing. Schezo takes the words to heart and thanks her for telling him that.

And with the final encounter, Serilly worries that Schezo is going to go far away, and she begins to cry about it. Schezo tells her that he's literally right there in front of her, and that he's not planning to go anywhere, and tells her to stop crying, which she does with her new confidence...making Schezo question why he did that and he really has changed.

She changed...quite a good amount compared to the usual Serilly. And I adore it, easily the best written Serilly we've gotten.

Succubus:

Yeah, if this post taught you anything, it's that for some reason she of all characters get development. Can't believe it myself, trust me. Besides the obvious change of how she looks compared to her Puyo self, her role in the game...is kinda odd tbh.

She starts off not named yet, mostly coming from a poster saying that she'll "Take people into a world of pleasure," that Kikimora really doesn't like at all, asking who in the world she is and why is she even trying to this, but Schezo is...let's just say curious, about her, and goes to see her.

Meeting her, Schezo is for some reason surprised to see her there, and Succubus is saying what she advertised, which in reality is becoming her servant, which Schezo says no to, even when she adds "benefits". Take that as how you will.

An odd thing to mention is that she appears in the (not released yet) Extra episodes as a boss, once again trying to get Schezo to become her servant. Thought I'd throw this here.

After that, you meet her again at... you guessed it, Endgame. But what she's doing is quite different; She's an usher now like Kikimora, guiding guests to attractions. Though she does take this opportunity to tease Schezo and such before explaining what she does. It's a small change, but it's...certainly a surprise to me and maybe a few others.

Black Kikimora:

Unlike her original counterpart, Black Kikimora doesn't exactly get a lot of screentime compared to Kikimora. She gets introduced in a pretty unique way compared to everyone else, even though she's a midboss. She gets introduced by Kikimora... kinda showing her off via giving Schezo a VIP pass to somewhere after beating Succubus.

Black Kikimora leads Schezo to a special room, where they... learn how to use traps to their advantage. Schezo completes this, and quietly remarks that she looks kinda ugly (gotta disagree,) and gets smacked by a broom.

Schezo then sees her again at the Horror House, trying to enter, and tells Schezo that he can enter. Before trying her best to open the doors and...not doing well. Sadly her midboss isn't too special, just Schezo asking why she's here and her not exactly answering it.

However, like many others, Schezo sees her again at Endgame. This time, she's quiet again, like usual, before Schezo AGAIN calls her ugly before getting yelled at. And their final talk? They're quiet until she yells "Say something!" and Schezo says he won The Quiet Game, before she gets salty, leading to Schezo asking why.

Overall, while it's not much, she still has something going for her. I like it.

Witch:

Witch... My third favorite character in the series behind Lagnus and Lemres. You're definitely a weird one in this game. She's first mentioned by Skeleton-T in the Horror House inside the dungeon itself, saying she had some of his tea, leading Schezo to ask who the hell she is.

When Schezo meets her as a boss, she's...fairly happy to see him, saying she'd "Love to have it," while saying "Ah, you..." and the I Want You shenanigans. Schezo, as expected, is perplexed, smeckledorfed, even confused on what Witch even means. She's starts to beg Schezo for "It," and she finally says what she wants from him... His clothes. And if he doesn't give them, she'll just rip them off. I can't make this lunacy in my dreams.

HOWEVER. Even though I haven't released it yet, in the extras, you find her after fighting Succubus... again. And after giving Schezo not one, not two, but THREE hearts in 3 different text boxes, what does she want this time? Take a wild guess.

His cloth-

Nah, for once its normal. A grimoire. But the clothes would be nice too. Schezo gets upset, saying he's NOT stripping for her, but gives her the grimoire she wants, the Meteor Grimoire, her unique spell and stuff. What does she give?

The fucking Areiado Grimoire. Schezo's signature spell before leaving while saying she'll get the clothes later. Even Schezo's shocked.

Like every boss, you can see her at Endgame, but she's in a unique spot. She's hanging around Arle, Rulue, and Satan like she's part of the team. Draw your conclusions as to why.

Schezo runs into her again before entering The Ultimate Tower, and she STILL thinks Schezo is cool, giving him another one of those hearts in text boxes, saying that the treasure and his clothes will be hers, and she'll be working extra hard for it. Schezo... doesn't really want that, though.

And at the final encounter, Schezo literally says, "Here we go again..." but instead, she asks if he's looking for the treasure too, which he says yes. But this time, Witch says that everything that's beautiful is hers, from the treasure to his clot- Are you kidding me

One track mind and STAYS committed to that goal? ...I have to partially respect it. It's absolutely ridiculous yet hilarious. I know Schezo's a pervert on accident, but at this rate, I think Witch might be genuine. Or is stupid committed to a goal.

And finally, Satan:

(Just hit the 10 image limit.)

Satan is honesty kinda similar to how he is in the other games. Which is quite shocking, I thought he'd be a little more goofy in this game considering how everything is in Schezo's route. However, he's fairly well written in this game, which is always a pleasure to see.

You don't ever see him until near the end of the game, as Schezo assumes the mysterious voice he keeps hearing is Satan, when in reality it's Doppelganger Schezo. Satan acts pretty grandiose in his fight, saying that he's glad Schezo got this far and is ready for their fight to be the final event of Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land, and from the gameplay, he goes one hell of a fight.

After defeat, he stands back up pretty quickly, shocking Schezo, who thinks he's a monster when in reality, he's just the Ruler of the Underworld. Differences, folks, they matter. They start to bicker about the magical item, which Satan genuinely had zero clue about, but tries to say that he totally knew about it.

After the Ultimate Tower rises, Satan is about as surprised at Schezo that it exists, and Schezo asks if he even knew what was here. Satan tries to explain, but he obviously can't, being left behind.

However, this moment is fairly interesting. You can meet him at the start of the Ultimate Tower, and speak to him. There, he genuinely wishes Schezo good luck and not to be super confident, as that'll make him slip up. Like I was, Schezo was shocked that he's hearing this from SATAN of all people, the guy he hates, and thinks he's gone mad.

Satan is at the final scene as well, along with Arle/Carbuncle and Rulue/Minotauros, incredibly upset that Schezo basically blew up the entire amusement park. Like any sane man would be.

In this game, he's fairly goofy like his modern self but is occasionally serious. Honestly, it's a solid version of Satan.

Finally done with characters. Time for the final section of this, Atmosphere and the OST:

Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon has a very...fun atmosphere, owing to the fact that its a literal amusement park. Each area is incredibly vibrant, so full of life, colorful even. The colors pop out, when in places where it's supposed to be more gloomy, and I think COMPILE did a fantastic job with it. I won't go into complete detail of every area but a few highlights:

(...That I can't show due to the 10 image limit.)

Water Paradise is incredibly pretty, the water itself looks really good, the paths taken pop out, and the boss stadium itself is incredibly pretty, with all the water around the bridges while Serilly...floats? Swims? One of those things.

The Horror House probably has my favorite look in the game. It goes from a graveyard to inside the actual house, all ending up in the boss stadium, an almost church-like area with seats scattered about.

I like the look of Fire Mountain. It looks like you're genuinely inside of an volcano, lava basically everywhere but practically useless because you can't go on it.

The game knows when to look good, when to give you that visual quality. But that's only half the battle, really. Music is another majorly important part on what makes a mood. And they nailed it.

Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon has one of the best OST'S I've heard for a Madou/Puyo game. Most of the songs are genuine bops.

To give a few:

(Puyo Puyo Dungeon Still Never Ends:)

(Hi, Honey:)

(What A Lucky Find:)

(The Final:)

(And finally, Fiend Empire:)

If I could drop the entire Playlist, I would, but we'd be here for a while.

So, all in all:

Translating this game and learning a ton about it was a blast, even if it was difficult. The game itself is very good, besides the Ultimate Tower taking forever with 100 floors and such. The artstyle and look of the game is charming, you get to learn about some other characters for once, and along with an amazing atmosphere and one of the best OSTS in Madou/Puyo, I'd say...

Yeah. Try it out. Just hope the translation makes sense.

Few quick things before we're done here:

This doesn't mean I'm done translating. Quite the opposite, even for Schezo's route, I got a lot to do. I'll be making "Extra" episodes to show off the things I missed, starting most likely next week of the release of this post.

If you want something translated, like a scene or the sort, lemme know. I'll try to help.

Most of the character talk is my opinion, it's fine to draw your own.

With that ending, that'll be all. Thanks for reading.