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thestuckylibrary · 4 years

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Group Ask 166

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Anon 1 said: (past rape/noncon)

Hi! I'm looking for a fic in which Bucky hides his period from the team (once he is with the avengers) because Pierce made him believe that it meant he had lost a baby. There's at least mention of past rape and I remember reading it on ao3, but I haven't been able to find it -Thank you in advance for your help and making this archive!

Anon 2 said:

do you know the fic where steve got the serum but his body build didnt change and he never went down in the ice but he was also aging very slowly and that’s how he made it in the modern world. when he met bucky again, he prevented the events of cw from happening by telling tony about what really happened with his parents and stuff

darkphoenixrisingwrites said:

Hi, I am looking for a Stucky fic on Ao3. Bucky was captured and put into a safe house with Steve. Hr isn't allowed to leave the and isn't talking to Steve at first because he doesn't remember him. A government guy pays them regular visits. A female therapist comes to visit Bucky too. Nat and Sam were guests in the house. Steve manages to get Bucky to talk. Soon Bucky begins to remember stuff. He is sure that his memory of kissing Steve is real but Steve denies it. Steve orders stuff for the house via chat with some guy from the government. Thomas or so. Later Steve and Bucky sleep with each other and get almost caught by that government guy during a surprise visit. Nat, during one of her visits, figures out what's going on between them. If I remember correctly Bucky is on some kind if trial phase. If he behaves and if the therapist declares him not a threat, then he is free to go. If he breaks a rule he'll be tried for his crimes as the WS.

pendragonstar and dragonflybeach sent in We’ll Be Okay Someday* by arthurmarston (WIP | 105,982 | E) *implied/referenced rape/noncon, implied/referenced torture

Anon 3 said:

hi, hello, there’s a fic I’ve been looking for forever and I can’t seem to find... I don’t remember most of the details, but bucky was a merman. His tail was red and he had human legs as long as he didn’t touch any water? I think it was set in the war and it was very angsty. I remember a scene in which they’re being attacked and Bucky jumps off a cliff and into water, turns, and kills their enemies (hydra??)

herkharvey sent in Sharp Teeth and Bird Bones* by Shaish, Stringlish (restricted, complete | 32662 & E) *graphic violence

musicforlife2000-blog said:

looked everywhere and I can't find this fic, its about Steve being able to teleport, and Peggy has kids with Gabe, and they find Bucky but he doesn't remember himself but makes the decision to trust Steve in the hospital when Steve promises him revenge on hydra their relationship develops while Bucky remembers more, and then something about Steve being able to teleport people in some void and depending on good or bad they see some awful stuff and at the end Becca and Bucky find Steve on a beach

ice-whisper, dragonflybeach, princessniitza, whyaretheycalledpancakes and Anon sent in cascades.* by orange_crushed (complete | 152,138 | M) *graphic violence

Anon 4 said:

Hi! Sorry this is a bit vague but i was looking for this fic about bucky's recovery where steve does a painting of bucky that becomes famous (there was a lot about how the painting evoked a sense of distance between the viewer and the subject and i think rothko was mentioned?) and later on he does another painting of bucky that shows how far they've come and how they're in a better place now? Thank you!! :)

amazonrhinos sent in Casual Encounters by MoreThanSlightly (cadignan) (complete | 66,593 | E)

Anon 5 said:

Hi! I've been going crazy looking for a fic and thought I'd try my luck here. I remember it was a journal/book written by one of the howling commandos, showing Steve and Bucky from an outsiders pov in the war. Bucky was kept out of history, he was never referred to by name and in the fic the nazis had a nickname for him that had something to do with skull, and parts of bucky's character was the 'bear jew' from inglorious bastards.

Anon sent in Jacob (I Have Loved) by Lasgalendil (restricted, WIP | 109,472| M) *graphic violence, rape/noncon, major character death

whyaretheycalledpancakes sent in The Night War: 60th Anniversary Edition* by praximeter (Zimario) (complete | 109,105 | T ) */others or Brothers by bloodbuzzedohio (complete | 49,821 | E)

Anon 6 said:

Hi, ages ago I read a fic that was Steve and Bucky pre-war, it was basically a PWP where Bucky and Steve would have sex, but the whole tone was kinda: Bucky isn't looking Steve in the eyes, so he can pretend he's a dame, lots of denial, etc., but at the end, Bucky is being all gentle to Steve and says something like "I don't want to pretend you're a dame anymore" to Steve. I searched so much for that fic, so i was hoping that maybe someone could help? :)

Anon 7 said:

I was reading this very long post WWII AU fic, but didn’t bookmark it. Can you help me find it? Steve fought WWII, but in Pacific. Arnie died in Guadalcanal. Peggy was nurse. Steve got blue ticked. Bucky is sixteenish twink and met S in gay bar. S has storage chest and B finds sketchbooks there. S+B move together to 2 bedroom apartment. S feels guilty for making B live in shadows as a gay man.

herkharvey, princessniitza and allegra-dreams sent in Civilian* by alby_mangroves, CoraRochester (complete | 71,880 | E) *underage

trash-bih said:

Hi... I’m looking for a fic where Steve and Bucky are in Paris during/after the war and it starts off with them at like a party. Steve and Bucky are talking to different women. The woman talking to Steve knew he is in love with Bucky and pulls him off to the side to speak with him. She introduces Steve to her girlfriend. The women, Steve, and Bucky then leave for a hotel. At the hotel, Steve blindfolds Bucky but inadvertently triggers Bucky’s PTSD from his captivity/experimentation at Azzano.

Anon 8 said:

i've sent this ask before, but i think it got lost among the others. i'm looking for an abo fic, where bucky is an alpha and steve is an omega. it's in the 1940s. bucky goes to war and comes back from it alive. steve doesn't get the serum, so it's a pre-serum one. they have bunch of kids, i think it was around 7-8 (might be even more). they move somewhere else and bucky starts working as a mechanic with the romanoffs. thank you!!!

currently-recharging sent in Like Rahab* by moonythejedi394 (complete | 131,789| E) *rape/noncon

Anon 9 said:

Thanks for this blog! I'm looking for a fit that's an AU where they are both agents and Bucky gets kidnapped and Steve finds him by listening to background noise recording. Also he helps buck recover. Thanks again!

scriggle-scraggle sent in When the Sun Sets on Dark Silhouettes by caughtinanocean (oneshot | 8,283 | T)

Anon 10 said:

can you help me find this fic?? basically bucky goes to steve's house in the middle of the night and talks about how he was fucked by someone else at a party but he wasn't as good, so he has steve fuck him instead, but then they become boyfriends, and i remember that bucky had this like 'sweet space' where he basically drops really hard. thank you so much!!

theheartofmaria sent in No One Else by howdoyousleep (complete | 12,577 | E)

Anon 11 said:

hi im really desperate to find this fic im wondering if you could help me? basically its post tws and buckys running from steve and sam, but he goes to the museum’s exhibit on him and steals a boys phone in the bathroom to research himself more before returning the phone. steve catches up to him but bucky knocks him out to escape before eventually going to the tower with him and in the end he dyes his hair blue. does this ring any bells? thank uuuuu

Anon 12 said:

I'm looking for this fic where Steve&Bucky were fucking, but Bucky always had his mask on and refused to tell Steve his name. Steve got sick or smthn and Bucky came to visit him in the hospital and they fucked and I think Steve begged either for Bucky's name or for him to take off the mask? I think Bucky was a temporary avenger bc someone was sick maybe?? So they fuck for the last time bc Bucky's contract is up and so he tells Steve who he really is. Can anyone help me? Thanks!

allegra-dreams and Anon sent in a blade with no handle by ftmsteverogers (oneshot | 13,351 | E)

amazonrhinos sent in Happy Accidents by BetteNoire (WeAreWolves) (restricted, complete | 29,777 | E)

#group asks

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apomaro-mellow · 5 years

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What has changed?

So yeah, we can all agree that airing episodes out of order can hurt things like character development. But there is some kind of progression and things are escalating. And I kinda disagree with the fact that some people are saying s3′s finale is the same as s2′s.

So what has changed between Origins and Miracle Queen?

1. Marinette’s confidence as a civilian - We can see that before the new school year, she let Chloe bully her around. It’s only after defeating an akuma for the first time (and meeting Alya) that she starts standing up for herself. Pre-season 1!Marinette probably would have never stood up to Lila the way she did in Chameleon.

2. Marinette’s responsibility as Ladybug - This one is a less dramatic change, but one nonetheless. In Origins, she gave up her miraculous the moment things got tough because she thought she wasn’t capable. In Miracle Queen, things are even rougher and she does need to be comforted twice, but she never considers giving up.

3. Knowledge of the miraculous - This one covers a lot of ground. In the beginning, only Marinette, Adrien, Gabriel, and Fu had any knowing of the miraculous. (And possibly Nathalie, we don’t know for sure when she got clued in to HM). By the end of season three, Marinette knows all the powers of every miraculous. She and Adrien know how to combine two miraculous. And each know their powerups (water, ice, etc).

Gabe has been presumably decoding the book’s texts which was in his possession pre-season 1.

Half of Mari’s class knows what a miraculous is; that it comes with a kwami and grants superpowers, as well as the time limit as opposed to the beginning. LB and CN came out of nowhere to fight a monster that also came out of nowhere.

4. Akumas in Paris - Going off the last thing I said, Parisians reactions to akumas, which have become normalized. They’re still a scary thing of course. But before, folks would have no idea what was going on or why. Now there’s “akuma alerts”, presumably in most public buildings as we saw in the Louvre during Riposte. Now citizens know that not only will there be at least 2 heroes taking care of it, but that any damage will be fixed in the end. And knowing is half the battle as we see in the few times a person has either fought against Hawkmoth or avoided an akuma altogether because they’re aware that they feed on negative emotion.

As much as we decry Chloe’s development, she is the first to actually refuse akumatization when HM’s already in her head, showing us that it can in fact be done.

5. The Guardian(s) - Initially, only Marinette knew Fu from the beginning of s2. Adrien met him and presumably learned a bit more partway through the same season. In Feast, HM finds his true identity and this all comes to a head in the s3 finale.

Fu did give up his guardianship in that same finale and now HM seems to be back at step one because he doesn’t know who LB is. But now there’s a bunch of guardians in that newly rediscovered temple which must certainly be a plot point in the coming seasons (one would hope).

And Ladybug is the guardian now. With Fu’s memories gone, she is the highest authority among the Parisian heroes.

She could find out Chat Noir’s identity through necessity

She can hand out miraculous at her discretion. We’re definitely going to see more of her classmates get a miraculous (as confirmed through the leaks)

And this possibly means more kwami interactions. Either between themselves, Marinette, or their future holders and speaking of.....

6. Future Miraculous holders - So, Hawkmoth knows the faces of all the part time heroes and he certainly must recognize a few of them as Adrien’s classmates. Chloe could possibly know as well. Being akumatized seems to cloud the victims memories at times, so it’s uncertain how much of Miracle Queen she retained. So what’s in store for them now? If we go by the show’s rules, none of them can ever use a miraculous again (or at the very least not the same one). And this is where the other miraculous come in, I’m sure.

The point is, HM could very well draw conclusions about LB and CN’s identities based on the allies they chose.

7. Adrien’s rebelliousness - Technically the first time we see Adrien, he’s being a rebel, going to school against his father’s wishes. But as the seasons went on we see him doing more and more to go against Gabe. Whether it’s escaping his room as Chat Noir or just straight up lying about where he’s going (Desperada, Frozer, Startrain). And we see this result in him ditching an official event in Loveater that Gabriel is even attending (as a tablet but still)! Something pre-season 1!Adrien may have never done.

8. Hawkmoth - Season one he’s just a dude in his attic acting alone with his akumas. By the end of s3 we know the villain is the father of one of our heroes, doing this to restore his comatose wife. And by this time, he has allies. Mayura, who is Nathalie, who was in on the scheme possibly from episode 1. Lila, his part time minion. And now he possibly has Chloe, who at this point is disillusioned by Ladybug.

9. Chloe - Oh lawd, here we go. Okay, yes, her development seems all over the place but let’s just focus on where she started to where she is by the end of Miracle Queen. In Origins, she’s the queen of the school. No one stops her from doing anything and they just kind of roll their eyes while letting her do her thing.

Starting with Alya, people start to challenge her. Marinette and Adrien have done so as well, forcing her to consider the way she treats people. And from the beginning, she’s in love with LB (interpret that how you will).

By the end of s3, she’s been told to her face how she needs to treat people and how she needs to act if she really wants to be a hero. But in the end, she fights against Ladybug, willingly. She welcomes an akuma (almost twice) putting her in the same league with Lila.

I believe in s4 we’ll see a Chloe who is very much like s1!Chloe, except we’ll understand her motivations and the choices that led up to this and know that she doesn’t mean to be good for good’s sake but would rather do anything, even evil, to be taken seriously.

10. How Adrien sees Marinette - Oh LAWD here we go! In Origins, Adrien certainly notices her. As someone who doesn’t hesitate to tell someone off when they’re doing wrong. Adrien ends up making amends because he wants to make nice with everyone. And from then on, he and Mari are friends in his eyes. And while some of us lament that “just friends”, friendship is very important to someone who has been isolated his whole life.

S2, Adrien acknowledges her as their “everyday Ladybug”, which means he sees how she helps everyone and always does the right thing, which he finds admirable.

By the end of s3, he’s actually seen her in action as Multimouse. He has seen her being a hero in and out of costume at this point. Whereas before she was probably just one of many friends he wanted to make, now she’s an important friend, and an incredible one at that.

11. How Marinette sees Adrien - I’m not gonna say too much here because I wanna get into the lovesquare as a whole, but suffice to say, this dynamic has changed. Marinette went from not knowing who Adrien was, to being obsessed with him, to realizing that maybe it’s time to move on and that perhaps they’re better as friends

12. The Lovesquare - whooo boy. I want it to be known that because this is a children’s show, I’m betting on all sides of the square being resolved and together by the series end. I’d be surprised if any of the tertiary pairings (Lukanette & Adrigami) were seen through til the end. That being said, the status of our main couple has changed quite a bit. I already mentioned the possibility of Ladybug having to know Chat Noir’s identity due to her being the guardian, so just imagine that extra layer over these.

Ladrien

These two couldn’t look at each other two seconds without blushing and turning into babbling messes. We know Mari’s arc is leading her towards Luka and away from Adrien. Adrien’s is possibly leading him to Kagami, but a big part of his is his indecision. And this could mean that in the future, while he no longer flirts with LB as CN, he may try and shoot his shot with her as Adrien instead.

Marichat

In s1, LB’s attitude towards CN carries over into her identity as Marinette, which we see in Evillustrator when she mocks him. But come Glaciator and she finds out his feelings for Ladybug are serious, which is reinforced in Weredad. Seeing as Marin is moving towards Luka and Adrien towards Kagami, this could open up the door for a true Marichat friendship

Adrienette

This side of the square is pretty much “dead”. And I mean that in the sense that as of right now, neither is looking at the other as a romantic option. Marinette is moving on and Adrien never saw her that way to begin with. I’m sure this is something that will change is s4 and s5 and we might even experience a shift in the dynamic (reverse lovesquare anyone?). But as of right now, this might be the most platonic side of the square except for possibly....

Ladynoir

Remember in the beginning of Loveater when Chat Noir said he had a girlfriend and we all clutched our metaphorical pearls before he said “just kidding :3c” That might turn into a real conversation now if Adrien’s seriously going to date Kagami. Which means he won’t be flirting with LB. And Ladybug might be surprised this time around, but as we saw before, she would also be supportive. He’ll still be punning and she’ll be rolling her eyes, but now there’s no romantic advances on his part, which I’m sure LB will appreciate. But this could be potential for friendship and thus a stronger partnership.

And those are all the things that have changed from Origins to Miracle Queen. If I missed any, go ahead and lemme know.

#apo watches #miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #miracle queen spoilers #loveater spoilers #why did i spend 1.5 hr writing an essay for a children's show #personal

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percussiongirl2017 · 5 years

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No Deals

Title: No Deals

Characters: Younger Sister!Winchester x Sam, Younger Sister!Winchester x Dean, Castiel, Gabriel, Lucifer, Balthazar

Summary: Sam and Dean’s denial leads to some divine intervention.

Word Count: 2,258

Warnings: Character death, Depression, Angels getting involved, Fluff

Square Filled: Angel Grace for @spngenrebingo

A/N: This is a reposting of an old fic, but it has been heavily edited. Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated. Tags are open.

Buy Sam, Dean, Castiel, Lucifer, Heaven, and Hell’s Scent Here!

******

You would think with all of the deaths the Winchesters had experienced one more wouldn’t change anything. Who knew the death that would make them crack would be the death of their little sister, Y/N.

*Earlier*

“If there are too many, you need to run, Y/N.” Dean ordered.

“I’m not leaving you guys.” You said.

“He’s right.” Sam agreed. “You’re a great hunter, but this isn’t like our other hunts. If we tell you to run, you run and don’t look back. Understand?”

“Yeah.” You huffed.

The trio stood in the center of the abandoned building waiting for something to happen. Castiel appeared before the group with a grim look on his face.

“They’ll be here any second.” He frowned.

“Get ready.” Dean said.

You heard hear them coming for the door before it flew off the hinges. In poured about 20 demons in all shapes and sizes. With the help of Cas, you attacked the group head on. You plowed through the first few without a problem. Then the demons wised up and tried to separate you from Sam and Dean.

“Y/N!” Dean yelled.

“I got her, Dean!” Cas called before appearing by your side and fighting the cluster of demons.

A yelp sounded beside Cas and he saw you hit the ground. You stood up with blood dripping down the side of your mouth before going after your attacker. Sam and Dean had mowed down their circle and was joining you and Cas. Both boys had minor cuts and bruises as they helped finish off the last of the demons.

It came down to you and the last demon, but he was faster than you thought. His blade was buried in your abdomen before any of you could react. The demon smoked out as you slowly sank to the ground with blood soaking your shirt. Sam reached you first and pulled your head into his lap as your hands pressed against the wound.

“I’m fine.” You insisted. “It’s just a scratch.”

Dean knelt down beside you and removed your bloodstained hands while Sam pressed his flannel to the wound. Castiel moved beside Dean and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s bad.” He whispered.

“Shut up, Cas. She’ll be fine.” Dean snapped. “Can’t you heal her?”

He shook his head. “The damage is too extensive. I’m so sorry.”

Dean tried not to cry as the meaning of Cas’ words sank in. They couldn’t lose you.

“Hey.” You said weakly.

Dean moved closer to hear you as you tried to wipe his tears away.

“Don’t cry.” You said. “I’m okay.”

You removed Sam’s hand from your stomach and clasped it in one of your own. You also reached for Dean’s hand and held it.

“I’m not scared of dying.” You commented. “If it’s my time to go, then I have to go.”

“Don’t say that.” Sam sobbed. “You’re not gonna die.”

You looked up at him. “Sam, I know how bad my injuries are.”

You started coughing up blood as you struggled to breathe. Dean could see tears lining your eyes.

“You have to make me a promise.” You gasped.

“Anything.” Dean said.

“No deals.” You stated. “No selling your soul or anything to bring me back. Understand?”

Sam and Dean nodded reluctantly. “We promise.”

“Castiel.” You managed to say.

“Yes, Y/N?” He answered.

“Watch over my brothers for me.” You tried to laugh.

“I will.” He promised.

It was getting harder for you to breathe. “I love you guys.”

“We love you too, Y/N.” The boys replied.

You looked over at Dean. “It’s not your fault or Sam’s fault. Don’t blame yourself.”

You gave their hands a final reassuring squeeze before taking a deep breath. Your body became still in Sam’s arms. Sobs racked through the boys’ bodies as they realized their sister was gone.

*Present*

After giving you the hunter’s funeral you deserved Sam and Dean disappeared from the hunting world. Dean spent more time in his room drunk or throwing things around the garage. Sam had secluded and buried himself in research and books just to avoid human interaction. They never left the bunker anymore unless they needed food or Dean was at the bar. Castiel would visit from time to time and to make sure Dean hadn’t destroyed his liver with alcohol or to make sure that Sam had remembered to eat. It’s like they had literally lost the will to live. Four months had passed and Cas had finally had enough of babysitting the Winchesters so he devised a plan. He contacted what brothers were still speaking to him: Gabriel, Balthazar, and Lucifer in order to execute his plan.

“Are you sure, Castiel?” Gabriel questioned. “I’m going to have to pull a lot of strings upstairs to get this to work.”

“Look at them, Gabe.” Castiel said. “They’ve been stagnant since her death. They’ve lost the will to go on because they blame themselves. Both of them are going to end up dead if we don’t do something.”

“He’s right, Gabriel.” Lucifer agreed. “The Winchesters are actually of great use to us. Right now they are just causing more work for us while they wallow in depression and liquor.”

“What do you think, Balthazar?” Gabriel asked.

“I agree with Castiel, Brother.” He stated. “The girl was important to them. To be honest, I miss her company as well. She was one of the few that understood what we have to do.”

“If I recall correctly, Castiel, Y/N said no deals or anything to bring her back.” Gabriel pointed out. “She made the boys promise.”

Castiel shrugged. “She didn’t make me promise.”

Gabriel sighed. “Very well. I’ll see what I can do. Go back to the Winchesters. At least tell them to shower or something in case this plan actually works.”

“Thank you, Brothers.” Castiel said to the group. "I appreciate the help."

The other angels disappeared leaving Cas alone with Gabriel. Before he could leave, Gabriel stopped him.

“There will be a price to pay.” He warned. “I’m not sure what it will be, but everything comes at a cost.”

“I know.” Cas replied. “I’ll pay the price if it gets her back.”

“Balthazar is right though.” He laughed. “She was one of the few that understood what angels do and could keep a conversation going.”

With that he disappeared and Cas returned to the bunker. Sam was in the library buried in books with his head on the table.

“Sam.” He called.

“Huh?” He mumbled while sitting up.

“Have you eaten, Sam?” Cas asked.

“Yeah.” He said while running a hand through his greasy hair.

“Get cleaned up.” Cas ordered. “We’re expecting company.”

“Who?” Sam asked.

“Just some friends of mine.” Cas said while walking out of the room.

He opened Dean’s door to find him passed out among empty beer bottles. Sighing, Cas made his way over to Dean’s wasted body.

“Dean.” He announced.

No response from Dean.

Cas placed a hand on his shoulder and willed him awake. “Dean!”

“What?” He muttered while rubbing his forehead.

“Sober up and get cleaned up.” Cas said. “We have people stopping by soon.”

He left Dean to get up while he walked around the bunker and picked up trash and other discarded items. He ran into Sam and helped him return all of the books to their rightful shelves.

“What friends of yours are we expecting?” Sam asked.

“A few of my brothers.” Cas replied. “They have a surprise for us.”

“This sounds bad.” Dean grumbled while stumbling in the room. “They never have good surprises.”

“This one is good.” Cas promised.

Before either man could respond to him Gabriel appeared.

“Cassy, a word please.” He smiled.

They left the brothers to finish cleaning while they walked outside.

“Were you able to bring her back?” Castiel asked.

“Yes.” Gabriel answered. “I spoke with our other brothers and sisters and we agreed that Y/N should be brought back for the sake of Sam and Dean’s well-being as well as the fact that now things will get done.”

“And…” Lucifer suddenly appeared. “I get my second favorite Winchester back.”

“You know she’s going to be pissed, right?” Gabriel questioned Cas. “She made it clear that deals weren’t to be made for her.”

“She’ll be okay with it.” Cas confirmed. “When she finds out what Sam and Dean have been doing for the last four months…Well… She might be pissed then.”

Suddenly Balthazar appeared with you by his side. You looked around confused before stopping on the group of angels.

“Boys.” You stated. “What the hell is going on?”

“You’re alive!” Lucifer exclaimed.

“No shit Sherlock, but how and why?” You snapped.

“We brought you back.” Gabriel answered while gesturing to the other angels.

“Why?” You asked. “Cas, I made you guys promise that no deals would be made.”

“No.” Cas replied. “You made Sam and Dean promise. You just told me to watch over them.”

“You’re needed more than you think.” Balthazar added.

“What do you mean?” You asked. “Is there something wrong with my brothers?”

“Let’s just say your brothers haven’t exactly bounced back from your death.” Lucifer explained.

You took a shaky breath. “Castiel, you said you would watch over them.”

“And I have.” He answered. “I can’t change the way they grieve or how long they grieve. I can only make sure that they eat and don’t do anything to get themselves killed.”

“Your brothers are fine right now.” Gabriel insisted. “We also brought you back because honestly you’re the only hunter that puts up with angels. We miss having someone who will call us on our bullshit.”

“I feel so loved.” You said sarcastically. “Do Sam and Dean know I’m alive?”

“Not yet.” Balthazar sang.

“We planned on surprising them.” Lucifer explained.

“Come on.” Castiel said while walking back inside.

You followed the line of angels into the bunker. Castiel and Gabriel walked into the library leaving you with Lucifer and Balthazar in the hallway.

“So what’s this surprise you were talking about?” Dean asked.

“It’s something that will help you two get off your asses and get back to hunting.” Gabriel sassed.

“What’s the point in hunting?” Sam questioned. “We couldn’t even save our own sister.”

“You know she would be pissed if she saw the two of you acting this way.” Cas informed them.

“Well she can’t see us because she’s DEAD!” Dean snapped. “Why does it matter what she would think? It’s not like she can say anything.”

“Yes, I can.” You announced.

You walked out between Lucifer and Balthazar as Sam and Dean instantly backed up with bewildered looks.

“Sur-prise!” Lucifer exaggerated.

“What the hell?” Sam said confused.

“I said the same thing.” You laughed.

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” Dean shouted.

“No, Dean.” Cas explained. “I went to my brothers and pulled some strings.”

“We had a good reason for bringing her back.” Gabriel added.

“Other than being my second favorite Winchester,” Lucifer continued, “she kept you two in line and motivated.”

“And as much as it pains us to say this,” Balthazar chimed in, “we need your help to keep the world in order.”

You stepped towards your brothers. “I told you not to blame yourselves.”

“You’re our sister.” Sam stated. “It’s our job to protect you and we didn’t. You literally died because we didn’t move fast enough.”

“Sam, I don’t blame you or Dean for what happened.” You said. “I asked Cas to watch over you guys because I knew in my heart that you would blame yourselves. I wanted you two to move on not wallow in depression and alcohol.”

You walked over and pulled the boys into a hug.

“I didn’t realize how much we depended on you.” Dean admitted.

You laughed. “I never knew how much I was needed.”

“More than you’ll ever know.” Sam smiled and hugged you tighter.

You turned and faced the angels. “I owe you guys.”

“Don’t sweat it.” Gabriel said. “We were happy to bring you back.”

“Even angels need someone to lean on sometimes.” Lucifer smirked before disappearing.

Balthazar stood next to Gabriel. “Let’s us know when you’re ready to work again.”

With that the duo disappeared leaving the Winchesters and Cas in the library.

“Thank you, Cas.” You said. “For everything.”

“Any time.” The blue eyed angel smiled before disappearing.

Both Winchesters were suddenly slapped on the back of the head.

“Ow!” They whined. “Why did you do that?”

“Because you two are idjits.” You laughed.

“So we maybe we didn’t handle this too well.” Dean said.

You glared at him.

“Okay.” Sam corrected him. “We didn’t handle it well at all.”

You shook your head. “That’s why you’re my idjits. No one else can put up with y'all’s bullshit.”

You hugged them again and decided to go out and celebrate. While climbing in the Impala, Sam had one question he needed answered.

“Did you go to Heaven or Hell?” He asked.

Dean saw you smirk in the rear view mirror.

“Climbing the stairway was fun, but I prefer the highway.” You hinted.

Dean laughed. “She’s definitely our sister.”

******

Tags:

@impala-dreamer @feelmyroarrrr @mariekoukie6661 @latishiante1001 @ellen-reincarnated1967 @prompt-and-circumstances @ellie-andthemachine @spnbaby-67 @mersuperwholocked-lowlife @meeshw777 @rideandwritethings @sleepylunarwolf @moose-and-sqruille-lover @youre-acting-like-a-psycho @waywardasfudge @amotleyworld @fallenangelsneverfade @claitynroberts @wingedcatninja @dean-winchesters-bacon @death-unbecomes-you @arses21434 @lonely-skys @mannls @internationalmusicteacher @theloudkilljoy @closetspngirl @sandlee44 @polina-93 @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce

#no deals #spngenrebingo #spn genre bingo #sister!winchester x sam #sister!winchester x dean #platonic reader x cas #platonic reader x gabriel #platonic reader x lucifer #platonic reader x Balthazar #character death #being brought back to life #angst/fluff

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diveronarpg · 4 years

Photo

Congratulations, GABE! You’ve been accepted for the role of ARIEL. Admin Julie: Imagine my delight and surprise to see an Ariel application in the inbox after having them on the masterlist for such a long time, desperately hoping, wringing my hands --- and here they are! Gabe, your application blew me away. Your ability to pin down their mysticism while also humanizing their loneliness and their distance from their own identity was something I really connected with in a way that had me incredibly emotional. I cannot wait to see where you take them, and am eager to watch as you go! Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Alias | Gabe

Age | 29

Preferred Pronouns | He/They

Activity Level | I can reply at least once a day, excluding weekends.

Timezone | EST (GMT -5)

Triggers | My triggers are already covered in the blacklist.

How did you find the rp? | Alexei told me about it.

Current/Past RP Accounts | None

IN CHARACTER

Character | Alva Fae - Ariel

What drew you to this character? | In The Tempest, Ariel is rescued from entrapment by Prospero, who then presses him into service. If Ariel wants to be free, he has to serve. However, he is not a weak creature, as he can command gales and has “fearful power”. Alva’s history, thus far, only goes through the phases of getting out of “entrapment” ie the arranged marriage, unhealthy filial dynamic and subsequent use and abuse by the men they choose to be with. Their rescue by Mona, although seemingly altruistic, still has the tethers of servitude to it. Alva has a place because they are useful.

This sort of dynamic and backstory resonates with me. Over the years I’ve had several characters with similar issues, and I find that I enjoy their arcs; the meek becoming bold, the downtrodden becoming frightfully strong. Sometimes these characters can get lost in their own flaws, becoming weaker, desperately clinging to their savior, doing anything they can to stay alive and to feel alive. For Alva, I feel like if they survive the current gang war in Verona, that they could become a stronger, more powerful force than they are currently.

I can see how they learned from their mistakes, and how they could fall into the same traps. They strongly desire a life of freedom, a life that is their own, but they’ve never actually had to be in charge of themself. They ran away from a highly structured environment right toward a group where they could have a place, from structure to structure, from patriarchal figure to patriarchal figure. The only difference in their current situation is that they were offered to join a matriarchal figure’s structured environment, and they’re jaded enough to know to keep some secrets in case they have to run away yet again.

They desire freedom, but I think it actually scares them. Having no one to fall back on, having no one around them to guide them, no one to consult, having to just go out there and make decisions; it’s not something he really thinks hard on. If he was in charge, what would he actually do?

Who is Alva. Even Alva doesn’t know. They’ve done some things they aren’t proud of, but those things don’t truly define them. They were once a forgettable son, then a runaway, then a bedwarmer, now a lounge singer. They are an information gatherer, but that’s a job, that’s not Alva. It took them a while to get used to social media, having had a rather basic phone, and an interest in pleasing those around them. Now that they have a little time to themself, they can see how people their age act, how they see themselves, and they wonder if any of this can inform the person they are supposed to be. But is it worth it to be the kind of young adult that is growing up these days? They don’t know, in this life they are just trying to survive.

Also, growing up in a religious environment gives them a complicated relationship with God and the tenets of their religion. While they might renounce their beliefs, or their participation, they now have all this niche knowledge specific to their childhood religion. I wasn’t raised Mennonite, but I dealt with this at younger ages, having never really fallen into believing, but being raised by and around believers. It’s complicated when the people around you believe in something that doesn’t seem to have mercy or love for someone like you, even if you aren’t open about who you are. It makes you somewhat cynical, as you learn to read the behaviors of those around you and see what they choose to believe and practice, and what they conveniently ignore. This can influence what Alva chooses to do, how they interact with religion and how they interact with others.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character?|

Wisdom of the Naive

Naivete is what led Alva away from their constrained position in New York to a wandering soul in Europe. They believed that they could run away and that the people who took them in would keep them safe and would allow them to be their true self. As was evident, they were only a ragdoll to the leader, and they ran away again. Alva thought a name change would change themself, but they still ended up in bed after bed, with men who didn’t deserve them. After being rescued by Mona, have they learned not to be too trusting? Yes, perhaps. However, they’re still so young and there’s still hope buried inside of them. They are still looking for something. Alva won’t believe the sweet words of a suitor, but what of a friend? They don’t exactly have the life experience necessary to navigate the dark underbelly of Verona. They could befriend the wrong type, and end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. It would take every bit of wisdom they’ve learned, all the wariness they’ve adopted to keep from being the victim yet again. They are good at coaxing information out of others, and have realized their ability to draw others in. Their experience with people has been one of use, thus Alva knows they have to remain useful, but they yearn for freedom. If they can connect with the right people, they could build a network which would free them from servitude and carry them over the minefield that is Verona under the Montagues and Capulets.

Killer Consequences

Alva had to escape a bad situation by killing a man, and it weighed on their soul. While they would do anything to live, they don’t want to ever have to take another life again. This may or may not be possible with the way Verona is rapidly becoming a war zone. Being neutral won’t save them from random violence. Knowing that, they also know that they can and will protect themself if they have to.

If they’ve learned anything from the relations between the Montagues and the Capulets, its that killing has far-reaching repercussions. Alva is still looking over their shoulder from what happened in Spain. While nothing has yet to reach them, that doesn’t mean nothing ever will. They have to guard their secrets closely, no matter how friendly they may get with Verona’s people.

One slip-up and they can find themselves drowning in dark waters.

No Place Like Home

Alva is terribly lonely. Despite feeling so constrained in New York, their family was always around. It was a comfort to know that there were several people they could hide behind, or blend into. They feel exposed in Verona, with only the lounge affording them the business that was like his home.

Alone in their room at night, they feel a terrible weight crushing them. That weight led them from bed to bed and it takes everything in them not to succumb to it again. Nightmares wait behind their eyes, ready to torment them. They know, in their heart, that going home is not an option. They are probably disowned for running away, and that guilt; the guilt of leaving their mother; threatens to steal their breath. It’s hard to stay focused, but it gets easier if they stay in the present, working towards a future only they can see.

If someone were to offer them the building blocks of their future, and not just a safe haven to dart in and out of, they could very well realign themself. He’s left one mother behind, and he could do it again, it’s his nature to change for his own benefit.

Identity Crisis

Alva, although born and raised in New York, doesn’t have the authentic New York experience. Nor do they have more than a taste of their Vietnamese culture. They haven’t remained too long in any one place in Europe to really absorb the “citizen of the world” mentality. Their only strong tether is the religion they were raised into, and they recognize that the tenets were used to shape them into what their father thought they should be.

Having such a complicated set of identities, they often feel like no one among others. Having to keep their own secrets to avoid consequences, they also feel inauthentic when socializing with others. This feeling of being nobody has been with them since they were a child, and it was a defense mechanism to keep from being the object of their father’s ire.

They have an identity right now, as Mona’s lounge singer, but that’s just a hat they wear on their workdays. They are trying to craft their own identity, browsing social media for inspiration, and trying to keep themselves well-informed.

They desire to really, truly, be someone and this feeling of being no one often leads them toward people with strong personalities, for good or ill.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Sure, you can’t always walk the line of neutrality and remain safe.

IN DEPTH

In-Character Interview:

What is your favorite place in Verona?

“The Cathedral,” they say, the answer coming off their lips in a rush. It’s embarrassing how easily the answer– the true answer –is gotten from them. They smile, an expression that comes with practiced ease; a slight lift of the corners of their mouth, a softening of their gaze. “The acoustics are just lovely, and the architecture… simply amazing.” Which is not the full truth. The church means more to them than the way sound travels around its marvelous walls. There is the comfort of being within it, the way it dwarfs everything with effortless grandeur. Everything is small compared to the church, everything is simple, nothing but worship matters within its walls, and it doesn’t care who you are. If they listened closely, if they closed their eyes and stood very still, they could even feel the presence of God. But this lounge singer isn’t known very well for being religious, and so they sigh and tilt their head into their hand, curling their fingers against their cheek. “It is the most beautiful building in all the city, don’t you think?”

What does your typical day look like?

They chuckle and lean back a little, crossing their legs under the table. “Oh you’d be jealous.” They make a show of thinking about their particular routine, touching a finger to their lips, eyes tilted up to the ceiling. Wake up sweaty from a nightmare, bathe, pray, practice their vocals, dress, go out to eat, linger to observe others, browse social media, eat again, window shop, maybe actually shop, go back to the Dark Lady, get ready for work, perform, coax secrets out of others, that’s their routine. “I work as a lounge singer, right? Well, work doesn’t start until the building opens, so I get to sleep in. Sometimes I go out with friends, sometimes I stay in and entertain myself. Then it’s singing, socializing, and going to bed when I tire of it all.” They make it seem like they make their own hours, but they know they have to be in the Dark Lady before she opens, and they have to be picture perfect before the first patron walks through the doors. They only leave when they have enough information to justify leaving the lounge. It’s not a mandate, but the last thing they want to be accused of is taking advantage of Mona’s kindness. If they can’t offer her up whispers, then all they are is a singer, and singers aren’t that hard to come by.

What has been your biggest mistake thus far?

Several things come to mind, all of them decisions they thought they made. Running away, running away again, getting involved with this or that man, killing a man to run away again. “I think there are many little errors I’ve made, but perhaps the worst of them all was leaving my family with no way of contacting me.” It’s a lie, but Alva sounds so remorseful. They regret it all, but leaving their mother still makes them weep on their darkest day. They should have taken her with them, but would she have even gone? With seven other children to look after, would she have chosen to leave with them? Their mother’s welfare often keeps them up at night. How is she? How is she doing? Would things be different now if they’d gone to her, proposed the idea of leaving? Would she have come? Would she have? The frown on their face is small, and their brow is furrowed. They are making a concentrated effort not to emote as strongly as they feel. “But in order to live in my dream city and sing for a living, I had no choice but to go. Perhaps I should have had a proper farewell.” They sigh, a sad puff of breath. Then they reach for the carafe on the table and pour two drinks. Gone is the wilted lily, and a wide, playful smile spreads across their face. “Let’s drink to that, what do you say?”

What has been the most difficult task asked of you?

Their brows lift, an expression of surprise. “I don’t think anything too difficult has ever been asked of me.” They gesture, as though there is a raised stage on their left. “Perhaps singing in front of important clientele? It does make me more nervous. I want to make a good impression, you see.” Nothing exists outside of the microphone when they sing, but there have been difficult secrets they’ve had to learn. They’ve had to decide between keeping secrets or telling them, and the consequences often keep him paralyzed on the subject. “I have it pretty good here, all things considered.” And while not a harsh end to the conversation, their words have a finality to them. That is all that will be said on that subject.

What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?

Ah, time to play a vapid young adult. This is done easily, as they’ve experienced the love of gossip and vapid words from people their age on social media. They know far too much about what’s going on between the Capulets and the Montagues. So many have died, so many dangerous plots enacted, territories lost and gained. Their biggest fear is the Montagues and Capulets choosing the Dark Lady as yet another site for their feud. However, instead of concern, or even a minute amount of trepidation, they lean forward, lowering their voice, necessitating their guest lean forward in turn. “Things are so dangerous, are they not? You can’t have been in Verona long without hearing what has happened?” It’s like they are fishing for information they do not yet have. “Like with Alvise Vernon, or that crazy day in October? They say that you couldn’t walk the streets without seeing ghosts or apparitions. Then there was that day in November, I stayed inside, but the noise. I heard that someone blew up the bridge.” And tried to kill Cosimo, but they only have to know the silly fluff-headed things that seem important to the youth of this age. All these young ones care about is clout and money and looking smart, but not actually being smart. Besides, straying to the far more political side of the youth is asking for it, here in Verona. When it seems like they won’t get anything out of their guest, they lean back with a pout. “Ah well, it’s all very dangerous, I only know bits, but I know enough to stay inside if things seem a little off.”

In Character Para Sample:

Alva sat on the edge of their bed, their head resting heavy between their hands. Sweat beaded on their bare skin, rapidly cooling clammy skin. No sound but their breaths, no light save the neon glow of their clock; it was two in the morning. Their eyes were open; too afraid to close them and replay the lurid tableau they’d woken up from.

There had been a man with a black hole for a face, but he recognized those hands; the gold pinky ring with a scorpion motif and jet inlay, the expertly manicured nails, long fingers and wide hands. He had been a big man, the Spaniard, and the hole in his face… Alva had put it there. Those hands had reached for them, grabbed their wrists with a grip like iron. That awful black-hole yawned in front of them and just before the Spaniard leaned toward them, displaying the gore of the inside of his head, Alva woke.

They could hear the beat of their pulse, feel it shake their body with its strength. “God,” they whispered, pausing to lick the salt from their lips. “God forgive me.” There would be no lengthy plea tonight, no monologue for the Lord to listen to. Alva could barely put their thoughts together, let alone a paragraph of poetic prayer to a deity they were sure was consumed with busier things.

For a half hour they sat, paralyzed by paranoia, unable to move for fear of small noises, creaks and groans. Finally, too cold to ignore their discomfort, they reached down and pulled the sheets around their shoulders. Standing was an exercise; a long, drawn-out stretch that left Alva wanting to lie down again.

But, they couldn’t go back to sleep.

Sighing, they padded to the kitchen, the sheets gliding across the floor behind them. Eyes half-closed from weariness, heart settling in their chest, they reached laboriously for the lightswitch. The light would be blinding, but it was a well-known and oft-recieved pain. Their hand swatted the wall, missing twice before snagging the switch.

Alva’s eyes narrowed to slits in the brightness of the kitchen and they grudgingly draped the blankets over a chair so they could move about the kitchen unhindered. Everything was too loud, but it was the small routines that kept him from coming undone. They put two slices of bread in the toaster and put water on to boil, lurking by the sink, watching, waiting. Their gaze was fixed on nothing, and they drifted from the sink to the chair, to wrap themself up.

Alva’s mother used to do this, sit in the wee hours of the morning watching water boil. The coffee was for their father, the toast too, but they liked to imagine that their mother sometimes did this for herself. One time, they’d wandered into the kitchen and she was there, whispering a prayer they couldn’t hear. She’d heard them, stopped her whispering and got up to usher them back to bed, but not before they’d seen the tears in her eyes. What had she been crying about?

The toast made them jump, coming out of the toaster so suddenly. Annoyed, they stared at it as they waited for their heart to settle again. Alva let the sheets go, rising from their cocoon of warmth and took a plate down from the cabinet. They fished their toast out with their forefinger and thumb, only burning themselves a little. The butter was too cold to spread, so they cut two thick squares and let it melt atop the bread while they went to tend the water, switching the burner off.

Coffee was a luxury, one they were still meaning to indulge with some kind of fancy machine. As it was, they made do with instant; a capital sin in Italy, but who’d catch them? They stared dully into the pot as they stirred in the coffee, watching as it turned black. Black like– they tore their gaze from the pot and reached up to grab a mug from a hook.

This one was yellow, bought in a street fair. It was in the shape of a bear, and always made them smile. Even now, they could feel a tug at the corners of their lips as they looked into the yellow bear’s face. They poured themselves half a mug and set it on the counter, taking the can of sweetened condensed milk from the fridge. The poor thing was on its last use, and Alva was on their last can. The bread was down to the ends, and there was only a tablespoon of butter left.

Honestly, when had they forgotten to do a little shopping? The inside of their fridge was sad.

Alva leaned on the counter top, pouring the last bit of condensed milk into the coffee, watching as it swirled into the deep, and idly reached for a spoon from the drawer beneath. They poured and stirred until their coffee was an orangey brown, until all they wanted was a sweet sip and a bite of crispy toast.

They tossed the can into the recycling after washing it out, and adorned themselves with their blanket, arranging it so they could carry a plate and a mug without becoming a tragedy of spilled breakfast and twisted sheets.

When they settled, their breakfast on their nightstand, curled comfortably in their bed, it was three in the morning. Oh well.

Extras: I was wondering if, perhaps, Alva could have an anonymous online persona. Perhaps they use that to gather even more information than they would talking to people in the lounge. Although having had to learn social media, he’s become pretty fluent in it, and can comb through social media to gain bits and pieces of important news.

Vietnamese Food Guide, as I think he might be very into “home cooking” being a runaway and all.

#accepted #accepted: ariel #sorry for the delay my loves!

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winchestergirl-13 · 6 years

Text

The One

Prompt: “You're The One That I Want” from Grease

Pairing: Gabriel x Reader

Word Count: 2,033

A/N: Fourth and final part is now up! This part is for @sis-tafics 8K Musical Challenge. Jill, I hope you got a chance to read the other three parts and that everyone liked them. This is mostly fluff and just to remind everyone, you don’t have to change yourself just to make someone like you more. Being yourself is sometimes all you need. If you have to change to make someone like you, they don’t deserve you then. At least, that’s what I believe. Anyways, I hope you all liked this little series.

Summary: Grease meets High School Musical meets Supernatural in a four part series. Mordern day settings (HSM), but set to the songs from Grease. Each song is used by one or both characters to set the theme and story. This one is for the challenge itself.

Part One Part Two Part Three

* * *

Winter break was torture for Gabriel and (Y/N) as well. As soon as school started back up, Gabriel tried out for baseball and actually made the cut. The T-Birds were shocked to say the least, but weren't too surprised as he did have a killer fast ball. That didn't seem to matter for a while. Homecoming was coming up and (Y/N) ended up going with her friend Benny while Gabriel went by himself. It hurt to see her dancing with someone else, but he knew that he had to find a way to make it right.

One day, the volleyball team had to practice outside as the gym was being waxed. As they were running around the track to warm up before practice, the baseball team was on the other side of the tracks getting ready for the game that night. That's when Gabriel saw (Y/N). As she turned the corner, he made his way over to the fence separating the two fields and called her over.

“(Y/N)! Hey, can I talk to you?”

She was shocked to see him out in the field of all places. She thought about just ignoring him and keep going, but realized that pretending he wasn't there wasn't going to work anymore. So (Y/N) stopped and made her way to him.

“What do you want, Gabriel? More over, why are you out here of all places?”

He just smiled; she was finally talking to him again. “I joined the baseball team. And I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I never meant for that night to end the way it did. I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know you are. I got your messages...I just couldn't bring myself to reply because it did hurt. But I realized that holding onto that feeling wouldn't make things better,” she sighed, looking away for a moment before looking back at him, “I'm sorry too, Gabriel. I should've given you the chance to explain.”

“No, no. You don't have to apologize. You were right to walk away from me. Look, I know I don't deserve it, but I hope you can find it within yourself to forgive me.”

Before she could respond, she heard her coach yell over, “(L/N), get your butt back on the track!” Right as Gabriel's coach shouted, “Shurley! You can talk to your girlfriend later! Get back in the game!”

They looked at each other and gave a small laugh. (Y/N) leaned over the fence and placed a small kiss on his cheek. “I forgive you, Gabriel.” And then she took off, catching up again with her teammates. Gabriel grinned and gave a small “whoop” before getting back to the game. Maybe things will work out.

* * *

School was coming to a close in a few weeks and while The T-Birds and The Pink Ladies were friends, there were still moments where they tried to out-do the other. Most times it was Gabriel and Dean. And this time, it was a race down a deserted street and back to where they started. The Impala versus a T-bird. Both groups and school mates and random people who may or may not have gone to their school showed up to watch it. It wasn't like they were racing for pink slips or anything; more like a “my horse is bigger than your house” kind of thing. The two of them were trying to prove whose car was the best.

“There's no way your T-bird is going to beat my Baby,” Dean boasted with a prideful smirk.

“We'll see about that, Winchester. We'll see,” Gabriel replied, a matching smirk on his face. While everyone was watching them get into their cars and prepare to race off, (Y/N) was watching from a distance. Her and Gabriel have made up, but it still felt like something was missing.

“Is it me? What's missing here?” she asked herself as she watched Meg stand in between the cars and wave her scarf up and then down. Then they were off.

The T-bird and the Impala were equally matched, one then the other pulling ahead, but neither could get ahead of the other. Until they passed about a quarter of a mile before the turn back around and Dean was getting ahead. Gabriel cursed and tried to push his car faster, but the power behind the T-bird was nothing compared to the power and speed of the Impala.

Once they turned around, Dean took off and stayed ahead of Gabriel the rest of the way. He tried catching up once, but fell behind again. The cars came to a screeching halt at the start/finish line, Dean ahead by half a car length or more. Both drivers got out of their cars and Gabriel begrudgingly handed over fifty dollars.

“You win, Winchester,” he sighed, but a smirk was playing on his lips. He wasn't too upset about it.

“Told ya, nobody can beat Baby,” Dean stated, pocketing the money before thumping Gabe on the back. As the onlookers congratulated them about a great race, Charlie came over to (Y/N) and was squealing with excitement.

“Did you see that?! That was so awesome!”

“Yeah I saw Charlie. It was impressive,” she replied, looking past her friend to Gabriel before giving a sigh.

“Hey, what's wrong honey?” Charlie asked, worried something was happening between them again.

“Nothing's wrong. At least I don't think there's anything wrong. I just...” she stopped herself, the words not coming forth.

“Just what?”

With a sigh, she replied, “I feel like something's missing between me and Gabe. I'm happy things are working out between us, but it feels like something is missing. But I don't know what.” As soon as the words left her lips, she could see Charlie's brain working to find a solution. And she knew when it came to her; her whole face lit up with excitement.

“I think I know just what to do!” And with that, Charlie grabbed (Y/N) by the hand and proceeded to drag her over to her car with Dorothy following behind them. None of them noticed Gabriel watching with confusion, but figured he could ask her about it later.

* * *

It was the final day of school, graduation was tomorrow, and things were looking up. Everyone agreed to meet up at the school carnival they put on every year for the last day. Gabriel found the T-Birds rather easily; their leather jackets standing out among the crowds.

“Well looky here, boys! Gabe's got a Letterman jacket!” Garth exclaimed, crowding around their leader.

“Yeah I do,” he stated proudly.

“Wow. (Y/N) must mean a lot to you,” Castiel mentioned, looking at his cousin with awe. He was glad that Gabriel finally got his girl back.

“Yeah, she does. I wanna do good by her, and this was to prove to her that I can change.”

“Are you sure about that Gabe?” Sam questioned, tapping his shoulder and turning him to face where he was looking, all wide-eyed.

Gabriel turned against his will and cried, “What are you talking--(Y/N)?!” There standing in front of him, was his girlfriend (Y/N); dressed in dark blue jeans, a black fitted off-the-shoulder top, motorcycle boots and a leather jacket that said “Pink Ladies” in pink writing on the back. Her hair was done up in curls, laying loose over her shoulders with complimenting smoky eyes and red lips.

“Like what you see, Gabriel?” she smirked, pulling on the lollipop sticking out of her mouth. Gabriel was stumbling over his words, trying to find the right words. “You-you...wow. Why....?”

“What's the matter, sugar? Cat got your tongue?” she replied with a little sass, batting her eyes at him.

Gabriel just shimmed out of his jacket while stating,

“I got chills,

They're multiplying

And I'm losing control

'Cause the power you're supplying,

It's electrifying!” as he fell over dramatically in front of her. (Y/N) pulled the lollipop from her mouth and tossed it away before walking right in front of him as he shifted to kneel in front of her.

“You better shape up

'Cause I need a man,

And my heart is set on you.” she started backing away from him, looking over her shoulder as he followed.

“You better shape up

You better understand

To my heart I must be true.” she turned on him, poking a finger in his chest.

“Nothing left

Nothing left for me to do” Gabriel almost promised in some way as they headed for the fun house.

“You're the one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, the one I need Oh, yes, indeed” they sang in time with one another as they danced their way up the stairs and into the fun house. “If you're filled With affection You're too shy to convey,” (Y/N) smirked, crooking a finger at Gabriel to come closer, which he did. “Meditate in my direction Feel your way” she laughed as he “fell” back in awe before turning to follow as she continued waling through the fun house. “I better shape up 'Cause you need a man” he vowed, taking her hand and pulled her close before gently pushing her back as they made their way up a ramp. “I need a man Who can keep me satisfied” (Y/N) stated, hooking her finger under his chin before tapping his nose playfully. “I better shape up If I'm gonna prove” he started as they met on a walkway. “You better prove That my faith is justified” she confirmed as she hooked her arms around his neck. “Are you sure?” he needed to know if this is what she wanted. “Yes I'm sure down deep inside” she replied, pecking his cheek before continuing on through the fun house, leaving him to catch up with her. “You're the one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, the one I need Oh, yes, indeed” they sang and danced together as they worked their way through the mazes and onto the “shake shack”, where their friends were waiting outside.

“You're the one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, the one I need Oh, yes, indeed” they continued outside, Gabriel picking her up and spun her around before setting her on her feet only to twirl her into his arms. They continued dancing, their friends following their lead.

“You're the one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, honey The one that I want Oo-oo-oo, the one I need Oh, yes, indeed” they all laughed and held onto each other when they were done having fun. Everything was working out finally.

“Aw! They made up!” Kate gushed to Garth as they looked at the happy couple.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Eileen spoke up, “what's going to happen after high school?” They all looked at each other and realized she was right.

“Yeah, she's right,” Jo stated. “What if we never see each other again?”

“I wouldn't worry to much about that,” (Y/N) replied, leaning into Gabriel's embrace.

“She's right. Knowing us, we ain't going to drift that far apart. I mean, come on, we're the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies. There's nothing that can keep us apart,” Gabriel stated. Everyone knew he was right. There was nothing in this world that would keep them away from each other. They all had each other's numbers, they all knew where each of them were going after high school, there was no way they wouldn't see each other again.

The two groups spent the rest of the day at the carnival, just enjoying each other's presence and remembering all the good times at school. Whatever lies ahead of them, one thing was for sure, they weren't going to be afraid of a little challenge here and there. Not if they had each other, whether actually there or in spirit. This life is theirs to make something out of; no one said they had to do it alone.

* * *

So that’s the end of this little Grease meets HSM meets Supernatural series. I hope you all liked it and that I did good. I’ve written using songs before but not in this way. Hope you had fun and if you think I should do something like this again, let me know!

#sistafics #jill's 8k musical challenge #My writing #supernatural gabriel #gabriel x reader #gabriel fluff #grease meets supernatural #supernatural grease au #you're the one that i want #story using a song

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nitewrighter · 7 years

Note

Perhaps gency #20? (Apologies for the double ask, I sent the last one before I was finished typing haha)

Let’s do some Pre-Fall of Overwatch featuring Genji-who-is-angry-and-has-not-yet-undergone-character-development featuring Young!McCree-who-still-has-both-arms!

—

Genji folded his arms in the front seat of the car as McCree frowned over the engine. He couldn’t really tell what he was doing to the engine with the hood up, but Genji figured McCree knew what he was doing more than he would. Mercy sat in the driver’s seat looking over a map and he realized he had never seen her in civilian clothes or out of a labcoat or scrubs before. Reyes and Morrison’s instructions were for them to keep a low profile, which Genji couldn’t really do with Genji’s whole... look. But with any luck they wouldn’t be pulled over. Besides, Genji was a ninja--his whole point was being unseen. Being stationary in a car though... it made him antsy. Even more so when the car wasn’t moving.

“This is a waste of time,” muttered Genji.

Mercy glanced up from the map. “You keep going on about taking the fight to the Shimada clan,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“It would be better to strike at the heart,” he said, looking out the window at the desert, “The Shimada clan conducts many weapons and drug deals with numerous criminal organizations around the world. It conducts these deals in order to keep them in line. One petty motorcycle gang—”

“Deadlock ain’t just one petty motorcycle gang,” said McCree from outside the car, “It’s an organization with an iron grip on the whole southwest, and it’s lookin’ to expand. It might just be the Shimada clan’s way of keeping them in line, but this weapons deal goes through and we’re all in a helluva lot more trouble,” he tweaked at something under the car’s hood. “All right, try turning it over.”

Mercy turned the key and the car rumbled to life. McCree shut the hood and threw his hands up, “Hallelujah,” he said with a grin as he made his way around the car again, “Scoot das boot, Doc. My turn to drive.”

“You do realize you’ve just said ‘Scoot the boat,’ right?” said Mercy, still looking at the map, “And it’s not my fault your car broke down.”

“I realize this is a joint Blackwatch-Overwatch operation, which means yours truly’s in charge,” said McCree, thrusting a thumb at his chest with a grin before putting his hands on his hips, “Now come on, scooch.”

Mercy sighed and clambered between the driver and co-pilot seats into the back and Genji realized why he had been thrown off by seeing her in civilian clothes–it was the shorts. He had never seen Doctor Ziegler with bare legs before. It was always either pants or dark tights. Her legs were surprisingly muscled, but then again, considering a childhood in Switzerland and how she was practically on her feet all day, it made sense. He caught himself and quickly turned his attention back to the front of the car as Mercy plopped into the back seat and buckled her seatbelt muttering “Scoot das boot” under her breath bitterly and unfolding the map again.

“The Orca would be quicker,” Genji said as McCree started driving down the road again.

“We send that thing into Deadlock airspace and they’re gonna clear out fast. We gotta take things easy,” said McCree.

“This location you’ve been speaking of isn’t anywhere on the map,” said Mercy.

“I’m the map,” said McCree. He elbowed Genji. “Loosen up. Both of you. It’ll be another 2 hours before we hit Gabe’s rendezvous.”

Genji leaned back in his seat slightly, but remained somewhat tense.

“So… not much of a driver?” said McCree, rolling his grip on the steering wheel.

“I am better with hovercycles,” said Genji. McCree’s face lit up.

“You shouldn’t have told him that,” said Mercy.

“Why not?” said Genji.

“Because he’ll want to race you,” said Mercy.

“You’re saying that as if it’s not an amazing idea,” said McCree, he glanced over at Genji, “But no kidding? Hovercycles?”

Genji nodded. “Back in Hanamura, we would have a driver. When I was old enough, I preferred riding among the hovercycle escorts,” he paused, “Easier to break off and go do other things.” He glanced out the window to see reddish-orange rock formations. “So this is where you grew up?” said Genji.

“Implying McCree grew up?” said Mercy, tucking the map away.

“In the vaguest sense of the word,” said McCree with a grin.

“It is beautiful,” said Genji, looking out his window as they drove past a lonely abandoned gas station, “In a desolate way.”

“Just like me,” said McCree and Genji snorted.

“Oh so you do have a sense of humor!” said McCree.

“That was not a laugh,” said Genji. He looked out the window again. “Do people still live here?” he asked.

“There’s some communities out here,” said McCree, “Omnic crisis shook everything up. They were targeting areas with big populations so some people fled out to the boonies, made cute little towns that wouldn’t be as big a target. I grew up in one of those towns. Not a whole lot to do except target practice with bottles on fences just in case the bots decided to come for you.”

“And you, Doctor Ziegler?” said Genji, glancing to the back.

Mercy suddenly broke her gaze away from the window. “What—Oh I was…” she seemed to force a smile and then tucked her hair back, “Well I certainly wasn’t shooting bottles off of fences.” She went quiet after that and Genji tilted his head and thought to question her further on it when McCree suddenly pointed out the window.

“Oh hey! Terah! That town’s still standing!” he said as the drove past a sign.

“Still standing?” said Genji

“Well–you know how it is. Lots of people moved into the big fancy cities once the Omnic Crisis was over. But some people fell in love with the desert and stayed out here. Lot of ‘em were good people but…” McCree trailed off.

“They were vulnerable to the Deadlock gang?” said Genji, and McCree nodded.

Genji stared out the window, “The Shimada clan took advantage of the tragedy of the Omnic crisis as well,” he said, looking out the window, “In the panic of Omnic attacks on cities, we—I mean they would move in and wipe out their enemies.” McCree could see Genji visibly tensing further. “We had the resources to fight back against the omnics, to grant escaping civilians protection, and we only used the chaos to further our own power. I was only a child at the time. Father said looking after our own was what kept the Shimada clan alive.” He looked at his hand and then curled it into a fist, “But then…I was one of their own.”

He glanced up at the rearview mirror to see Mercy staring at him and he glanced off and uncurled his fist. Her brow was crinkled and her mouth was a thin line, like what Hanzo had done to him was somehow her fault. He never knew what to do when she made that face, so he simply straightened up in his seat and said, “So they have no true values, except in power. And they must be stopped.”

“Well… good thing we’re shutting down this weapons deal then, right?” said McCree. He elbowed Genji again. “You’ll get your chance, I know it. We do this, then we gotta do this right. Right?”

“Right,” said Genji. He glanced back at Mercy and found himself making eye contact with her through the rearview mirror. She opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, then seemed to think better on it and looked out the window again.

—

Mercy was asleep in the back seat less than half an hour later. Unsurprising–she had a tendency to nap when she could. Sunlight was catching in her hair.

“You should get a visor,” said McCree.

“What?” said Genji.

“A visor. Y’know, like on Reinhardt’s helmet. Wouldn’t get dust in your eyes when you’re rushing forward,” McCree smirked, “And you could probably get away with staring more.”

“Staring--!” Genji started but then looked off, “I was not staring. I was just thinking while I happened to be looking in a mirror where she was reflected.”

“Sure,” said McCree with a smirk and Genji’s brows furrowed, “Okay, I’ll bite. What were you thinking about?”

“Doctor Ziegler seemed… reticent when the conversation turned to the Omnic crisis,” said Genji, “Did I overstep? Or say something wrong?”

“Ah–that one’s on me,” said McCree, “I probably should have changed the subject before we got too into that. You don’t know so she knows you wouldn’t…” McCree trailed off.

“Don’t know what?” said Genji.

“She’s a crisis orphan,” said McCree.

“Oh…” said Genji, “Was she there when it…?”

“Yeah. Bombs knocked the roof of her house in. Killed her parents. Messed up her spine something bad. She’s got spinal implants from the whole thing.”

Genji stared at McCree and glanced back at Mercy. “I had no idea,” he said.

“Well she ain’t in the habit of talking about it,” said McCree.

Genji leaned back in his seat a little then stretched his prosthetic hand out in front of him, “It’s strange–I believe I’ve spent more time with her than anyone at Overwatch, yet I hardly know anything about her.”

“To be fair you’ve been pretty focused on this ‘destroying my family who killed me’ thing,” said McCree. Genji folded his arms. “Which is fair!” McCree quickly added, “Hell, if I went through that shit, I’d probably be derailing every conversation into ‘Reasons why I must destroy my criminal empire family’ too.”

Genji’s eyes widened with some surprise and his shoulders shrank inward a little.

McCree sighed, “Okay it’s not derailing–I mean, we are on our way to stop a Shimada-Deadlock weapons deal.”

Genji looked thoughtful. “Now that I think on it, you have barely spoken of Deadlock at all this whole trip,” he said.

“What can I say? I’m focused on the present,” said McCree.

“The present concerns Deadlock,” said Genji.

“Well I guess I don’t like talking about it then,” said McCree. They hit a pothole and Mercy muttered something in german in her sleep before readjusting herself against the window again. “All this time I’ve known her and she still has the most fucked sleep schedule in the world,” said McCree.

“You’ve known Doctor Ziegler a long time?” said Genji.

“Yup,” said McCree, “Couple years now.”

Genji glanced back at Mercy, then over to McCree. “Have you and her ever…?”

McCree snorted, “Nah. She shut that shit down pretty much her first day here. But I’d keep getting the stuffing kicked out of me on missions or just sparring with Reyes so we’d end up talking a lot.”

“What would you talk about?”

McCree snickered, “I dunno. Movies and shit. Maybe some old missions. Mostly just gossip and shit-talking around the Watchpoint. She liked to stay updated.”

“Gossip?” Genji repeated, looking up at the rearview mirror.

“Well that’s the best part about working with us,” said McCree, “No shortage of interesting people.”

“Hm,” Genji nodded in agreement.

“You’re staring again by the way,” said McCree.

Genji straightened up and then quickly turned his attention away from the rearview mirror and out the window. McCree snickered.

“You know something?” said McCree.

“Mm?” Genji glanced up.

“I think that’s the first conversation we had that didn’t default to your usual ‘I must stop my criminal empire family,’ brooding,” said McCree with a grin.

Genji glanced off and scoffed. “Let us just get to the rendezvous point,” he said, looking out the window again.

#gency #overwatch

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nemrut · 7 years

Text

The Reaper - Mercy Connection

So, Mercy patched up Reyes after the destruction of the Zurich HQ, right? Let’s go with that. She tried to revive him with flawed/incomplete/damaged technology at hand, Most likely it was either use the risky stuff she had right there right now or he dies.

My question would be, was she aware that she saved him? That he was alive and walked away and Mercy promised not to tell anyone he survived and the drawbacks and side-effects showed later, after Reyes had broken all contact and basically faked his own death (same as Morrison). Or did she try and thought she had failed but instead the technology needed a bit of time to kick in and he woke up later, flawed and broken and Mercy is unaware he survived, thinking him dead?

I would be inclined to think the latter, but my concern there is, no body ever showed up, right? Couldn’t have, since Reyes is using his body, being alive and all. (or does he?) Seeing that Mercy tried to heal him and if he had died right there, she would have given his body to the authorities who came for relief and after he was confirmed dead, it would have been sent back to his homeland for a burial. So what I mean is that I think we would have heard if his body had disappeared after the fact, at least in those newspaper articles.

Or the tech needed so long, he basically dug himself out of his own grave?

Same question regarding Morrison, I would assume that when the explosion happened, that Reyes and Morrison were in the same room. And if Angela found Reyes, chances are high that she’d have found Morrison as well. Not necessarily so, true, but still.

Did Angela know that both had survived, that both had decided to fake their deaths and she then took all the responsibility to be the face and de facto last remaining leader of Overwatch as the UN rushed to close it down?

That she had to basically carry all the blame and scorn of a public disappointed in their heroes and feeling betrayed by Overwatch and that members of Overwatch who saw her as giving up and betraying them by agreeing to the dismantlement resented her? Carrying all that whilst knowing that one or two of the three actual leaders who had started this, who were actually responsible for this basically fled?

That they (and let’s be honest, Ana as well, she could have come back at any time) foisted this terrible burden on her, she who had tried more than anyone to keep things peaceful but who had to fight against the weaponization of her technology and was betrayed by Overwatch as Ana’s tech shows (biotic rifle being built against her wishes, the stim boost that makes one tougher and stronger for a short time and nanobots that prevent healing and do harm, basically the opposite of what she would want) that she would be the target of everyone's scorn and spite?

And she still carried that burden. She didn’t tell anyone about Reyes or Morrison (if she knew which we’ll discuss in a minute).

Then again, Reyes knew Morrison survived. Seeing that the newspaper article about Soldier 76 assumed that it was Jack and given that Soldier 76 got a 10 million dollar bounty (which makes more sense if they knew who Soldier 76 and with that how dangerous he is), I’d say a few governments and high ranking professionals knew or at least heavily suspected that Jack survived.

It’s unclear if Morrison knew Reyes did. He didn’t seem particularly surprised that Reyes was Reaper but at the same time I’m not sure he was certain. He recognized Reaper’s voice when he heard it but again, unsure if that was something out of the blue or merely confirming a theory. he was there for Ana, and not really for Reyes but we don’’t know.

Both had suspicions about Ana being alive, given their dialog. Morrison was there to recruit Ana. Ana seemed relatively sure Morrison was still alive but I’m not sure if she was surprised that Reyes was alive at all or how his state was.

So, it’s really unclear who knew what. We can’t really tell, it’s all a bit frustratingly vague.

That said, coming back to Mercy, I am not even one hundred percent sure it was Mercy who healed him. Heck, we don’t really have proof she was there. We all inferred it since it happened in the Swiss HQ and that’s Mercy’s turf but I can’t find a single line that says Mercy was right there when the HQ blew up in the fight. I am 99.9% certain her technology was used/involved in creating Reaper, since the effects on Reapers body are on a molecular level and that’s where the nano-tech is at but every piece of dialogue that I could find about the matter really makes me think it wasn’t Mercy.

Mercy: What happened to you? Reaper: You tell me, doc.

and from Old Soldiers

Ana; What happened to you...? Reaper: He did this to me Ana. They left me to become this thing. Ana: Gabriel... Reaper: They left you to die. They left me to suffer...

Which doesn’t exactly sound like Mercy was involved, right? Especially since Mercy sounds surprised and more curious rather than horrified when she asks “what happened to you” ingame. As if she had no idea what happened to him and not that something she did had unintentional consequences. But she is also not shocked, but then again, there are no lines of voicing disbelief with Ana or Jack either and we know at least with Ana that she had no idea and all she says to her so far is to remind her that she could fix her eye.

When you google Mercy and Reaper lines, a variation of this pops up:

Reaper: Don't forget, you're the one responsible for this

Mercy: This is not what I intended Reyes

Reaper: (Revived by Mercy) This is your fault...

Mercy: This is not what I had in mind.

However, Lead Writer Michael Chu wrote on the official forums that this line/exchange does not exist in the game. And I similarly couldn’t find a soundbite of this dialogue and having played over 50 hours of Mercy myself ever since the game came out, not to mention way more hours where I had a Mercy in my team, I’m honestly not sure if I heard it or not. Here is a thread discussing that lines existence as a few are convinced it did exist at one point.

In one of these threads, this video is linked where some person is talking about Reaper and whatnot but they actually have a soundbite in which Reyes does say

“Don't forget, you're the one responsible for this”

It’s also listed under Final Blows when killing Mercy on overwatch.gamepedia.

Only Reaper though and no context given. We don’t know WHO is he saying it to. Could be Mercy, the overwatch gamepedia site thinks it was. Could be Soldier. Heck even if he did say it to Mercy, being responsible might just mean because her tech was used and not that she necessarily did it herself. She created the tech, she was researching bringing people back from the dead, it’s her ultimate ability ingame. Whether she herself used that tech on him, someone else did or just an accident, in a lot of ways, she would be responsible either way, since she was the creator.

So, maybe Jack and Gabe were fighting, stuff exploded and it was more comic book-esque in that the explosion made Angela’s lab blow up and the stuff there messed Gabriel up. Or, a darker take, Jack did something. In the Old Soldiers comic he does blame Jack. But he also says “they left me”. Is the “they” Jack and Overwatch or Jack and Mercy? The former makes sense for both instances, Ana and Reaper whereas the latter doesn’t for Ana. Does he mean both but that would be unnecessarily confusing and unlikely. So it makes me suspect that Reyes meant Jack and Overwatch or at least Jack and his faction. We know from the Olympa Shaw article that there was a civil war within Overwatch.

These records indicate that a rebellion tore the group apart from within. On one side was Morrison, determined to hold together what remained of Overwatch. On the other side was Reyes, whose agenda remains unknown to this day. A battle raged between these men deep within Overwatch's base. At some point, their fighting triggered an explosion that destroyed the facility and sent the dreams of an entire generation up in flames.

According to Overwatch's former agents, this outcome was inevitable. "After Morrison's promotion to strike commander, his relationship with Reyes changed," Dr. Angela Ziegler, medical director of Overwatch, stated during a UN committee hearing. "The tension became more pronounced as time went on. I tried to mend things. We all did. Sometimes when the closest bonds break, all you can do is pray you stay out of the cross fire."

The UN data goes on to disclose something even more disturbing: Morrison's body was never recovered.

Quote from the article itself.So yeah, two factions clashed and Mercy, fitting to her character, was on neither side. Now, it would make sense for her to have been on ground zero on this day. Both because a) it’s the Swiss Headquarters and her being kinda the main (and so far only) Swiss hero makes sense for that to be “her” main place where she lives and all and b) that in her role as mediator between the two factions, that she was trying to keep the two sides from actually fighting.On the other hand, when two parties clash, are ready to clash and I suspect even wanted this fight to happen, one way or another, would they try that with Mercy there? Or would they want that to happen at a time when Mercy is no way near so she wouldn’t come between them? Or did it happen in a completely different manner?Frustratingly, it’s even vague whether or not it was just Reyes and Morrison fighting or if both were leading actual factions and the fighting was between more than two people. Seeing how big of a fuck-ups those two are, I can believe that those two could blow up the HQ on their own, but what, was the building completely empty for some reason? Unlikely, as the article says “ Among the casualties were Morrison and Reyes. ” meaning there were more than just those two. The word rebellion is used, does that mean that the HQ was going its normal way and then Reyes came with a surprise attack and Morrison had to rally the loyal troops and that fight caused the explosion? Or because of the investigations into Overwatch, no one was in the HQ, those two met up (or three with Mercy as the mediator) and things escalated and that made things explode?And then what, Mercy found Reaper and healed him but not Morrison? Am I to believe she didn’t search for him? You’ll notice the article goes out of its way to mention Morrison’s body but there isn’t one word about Reaper’s. It also doesn’t mention a single word about Mercy being there on that day, only that she later talked about the general deterioration of the relationship of Reyes and Morrison.If Mercy found Reaper and healed him, did he just stand up and walk away? Did he look for Morrison and couldn’t find him? He did say he had been looking for him ever since that day, well, does that mean that after the explosion, did he search through the rubble? Did he immediately flee? Was he an incorperal ghost and woke up days later? If Mercy healed him, what did he tell Mercy? Pretend I’m dead? All possible. Or she wasn’t there at all, the fighting lead them to her labs, stuff exploded and he got nanobots all over him and comic book science happened.Or Jack and “they” did something to Reaper.Fact is, we don’t know. Overwatch has a lot of these things where you just don’t know for sure how things played out. Timeline stuff is vague enough. Heck, the Reaper is supposed to be a mercenary active for decades and that seems to clash with the facts that we know. Was Reaper an alter ego that Reyes used for a long time or is it a mantle he picked up. Like Doomfist, that it is a title and he maybe killed the other Reaper. Or was it part of his Blackwatch persona?So many questions. Honestly, I’m not sure about anything. Before writing this, I was actually more on the Mercy was there and caused the Reaper thing side, because that’s an interesting story hook. It makes for nice conflict. But now, I have to say, the signs seem to lean more towards the fact that Mercy really had nothing to do with anything there, that she wasn’t even there and didn’t know that neither Morrison nor Reyes survived.I don’t know if the Overwatch writers did some retconning via the line, rewriting the story and character dynamics, or if I am overthinking things or if they just love being super vague. It’s fun to speculate but honestly, at this point, I’d love some concrete facts and hard dates.

#overwatch #theory #reaper #mercy #soldier 76 #angela ziegler #jack morrison #gabriel reyes #overwatch thoughts

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humblereviewblog · 7 years

Text

Freeks, by Amanda Hocking

I had a lot of mixed feelings about this book in the beginning. It sounded promising, but the beginning is a little rough. However, it did redeem itself, quite well. So I will elaborate. There may be mild spoilers ahead.

A brief summary: Mara and her mother travel with a mildly dying sideshow....but all the “freaks” actually are, well, freaks, to be rather crude. Her mother’s a necromancer, her best friend is pyrokinetic, and there’s all sorts of other people who are definitely not normal. However, Mara is among those who are “normal,” at least, for part of the book. Anyways, her sideshow travels to the town of Caudry, where jenky things are going on, and to further complicate things, she meets a really, *really* fantastic boy, Gabe, and begins to develop mysterious powers.

The rough: the title, for starters. I don’t know, there’s just something about it, maybe the way it’s misspelled (which is on purpose and significant later on)...it just looks ugly. And it’s supposed to. I get it. But it still bugs me. Another bit of rough is the writing style. Especially at the beginning, it’s really heavy on description, and not, like, especially tasteful description. It does get better though. There’s also the insta-love between Mara and Gabe. I guess I understand that; she’s lived most of her live traveling, and she knows she’ll only be around for a bit, so why not make out with this cute boy after knowing him for approximately one hour? It just seems a bit cliche...like the main character at first. There’s just something about her. The whole “oh, I’m surrounded by all these cool people but I’m so normal, oh yes, entirely normal, wait, just kidding!” thing seems rather prevalent in books, at least, what I seem to be reading. And Mara is just, a little bit annoying somehow too. But she also improves. One last, weird little detail: the eighties music references. This book is set during 1987, March, to be precise. So maybe Hocking was trying to really anchor down that feeling of the eighties, keep reminding the reader that it is the eighties. But why use music? Mara didn’t seem to be a particular music-geek; in fact, she was described several times as an avid reader. But never as a lover of music. So the specific music details just seem a bit out of place, or at least, too plentiful.

I didn’t realize how much detail I could get into on the bad. Be not misled ! This book is definitely worth your time. And now for the good: the plot did speed up. A lot. I mean, I really loved just the basic idea of a traveling sideshow whose fortune teller really could tell fortunes and whose sword swallower was literally swallowing swords. Adding in the Caudry darkness was just a way of giving these characters a stable plot, I guess. And yeah, the plot was interesting. There were some curves that I did not see coming. I mean, a good chunk was somewhat predictable, but more in the sense of “I see where this will *probably* end, but I have no clue what’ll happen in between.” And as I mentioned, either the writing style smoothed out or the other elements of the story clouded it enough for me to overlook it. Now, for the real selling point of this novel: the characters. Other than my sheer determination to finish what I’d started, the characters kept me going. There’s a lot of characters, but they were all pretty well defined. Like, I never confused two characters or forgot who a character was (I only went back to find where a character was introduced because I couldn’t remember if he had special abilities or not, and that was the only time I had to do that). They all had distinct personalities, despite a lot of similar backgrounds, but in context, these people who were all different and outcasts, it makes sense. I would love to read about these characters in more stories, and I have but two complaints. One, it was really unfortunate how several characters left partway through the story, because I wanted to read more about them and I wanted their involvement. And two, most of the side characters were static. They were developed characters, but they didn’t change during the story. I would have loved to have seen them grow in some way or another, but alas, they did not. I get it, though. The story was focused on Mara and Mara’s changes and that, but still. It woulda been great.

My final thoughts are that this book surprised me with how good it was. It’s a pretty quick, easy read, and it’s definitely worth your time.

#freeks #amanda hocking #books #ya #fantasy

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gaperezmakes · 6 years

Link

Part 2 of the Prime’s Leadership structure, actually on time for once!

Script:

Hi there, welcome back, I’m still Gabe and we’re still talking about the Prime’s Leadership Structure.

So, here’s a quick reminder of what their chain-of-command looks like. Two branches, ten ranks, all headed by the General. If you want a full rundown of what it takes to get from Ranks 1-10, go back and watch part 1. All 13 minutes of it. Then come back here and watch part 2. We’ll see how long this lasts (you already know because you can see the video length down there). Anyway, where did we leave off?

Ah yes, rebuilding the leadership structure. At the end of The Making of a Grand Paladin miniseries, Orvyn submitted a proposal to the Dealer for a nearly-top-to-bottom restructuring of the Paladin Corps. In response, the Dealer said that some parts of the proposal would be easier to implement than others, but creating a whole new branch would be nearly impossible. So how do they go about implementing those changes?

Well, as with all other things having to do with their COC, it all depends on how big a change you’re talking about. Anything that’s a sub-officer rank (up to and including Rank 4) is as simple as giving the order and things get changed. Mid-level Officer ranks (Ranks 5-7) require a unanimous vote among the highest officers (Ranks 9 and 10) of the Branch. A shift in the upper officer ranks (Ranks 8 and 9) requires a majority vote in a special council meeting among the highest leadership of the Prime (so the General, Grand Paladin, Archmage, and all the Grand Marshalls and Grand Magni). It’s not necessarily a simple matter, but most changes are feasible with these rules.

Now, what about Orvyn’s plan to split off the Deathwatch Guardians into their own branch of the Prime? Well he’ll be hitting a huge roadblock there, because a change of that magnitude requires a unanimous vote in that special council I mentioned earlier. So, in other words, he has to get every single Grand Marshall and Grand Magnus, as well as the Archmage and the General to vote with him if he wants to make that split happen. I’m don’t think that I’m surprising anyone when I say that is highly unlikely to happen.

“Well, why would he make that promise if he knew he couldn’t keep it?” One, that’s politics. Two, he made that promise while knowing it was an unpopular opinion and letting everyone know it was an opinion he held. Three, his opponent was Sheamus. Nobody likes Sheamus except the magi.

Anyway, why make it so difficult? Also: Why make his “ultimate goal” (as it were) the most difficult of all? And what about the promotion ban? What’s that about?

First answer: For the same reason that some things in the U.S. Senate needed 60 votes instead of a simple majority: Because they don’t need rules constantly being changed all the time and it forces multiple parties to cooperate to get things done. Sure, at the lower levels things are as easy as “Do this because I say so” on the Grand Paladin’s part, but how many people in actual positions of power change their minds that quickly or easily? Okay, sure, you can argue that the opinions of politicians are basically bought and sold by their donors, but we don’t have any of those in this situation. Really, the only “donor” is Dusk of Iblis donating some sweet Light Essence armor to help fight the Children and the Empire. Otherwise, most people in power tend to stick to their guns and stay with one ideology.

Second answer: Because it gives him something to work for. Y’know, something I can use to develop his character in the next book. Duh.

Third Answer: So, for non-magical soldiers in the Prime, they are able to be promoted to the Sergeant rank, but no further. They are also overseen exclusively by the Paladin Corps, which is actually a bit of a misnomer. Why any of that? Well, the short answer is because it’s a discrimination thing.

First things first, although the main military branch of the Prime is called the “Paladin Corps,” it’s actually not composed solely of paladins. It’s called the Paladin Corps because the paladins are at the head of it, but the branch itself is composed of paladins, priests, the Deathwatch Guardians, and all the nonmagical units. Paladins and priests are basically on equal footing, Deathwatch are almost their own thing that I actually intend to cover in a different video, and all the nonmagical units have their own issues to deal with. We’re going to look at that last thing right now.

So, remember when I said to discount anything Gideon says about magic and magically capable people because he’s talking out of his ass? That’s a mostly safe assessment to make. The reality is that he’s not wrong when he says that people who don’t use magic outnumber the people who do (I don’t have a “muggle” equivalent word). In Rebirth, Iblis says that a third of people worldwide claim some variety of mage-ism. How are there varieties of it? Isn’t it just you either are or aren’t a mage? You either can or can’t use magic, how is there a distinction?

Well, the full description for how this works is a whole different video on its own. An abbreviated answer is that being a mage is more of a religious choice than it is a solid black-or-white question and answer. It’s a lot like how there are a thousand different variations on Christianity in the world. Their beliefs essentially boil down to the same thing, there are just nuances in what they believe and how they choose to worship. It’s not a perfect comparison, but it’s the closest I’ve got.

The point is that for the first time in their history, the paladins and magi are not a minority and are fully in-control of the society they live in. Yes, the paladins did run the Brotherhood, which ran the Union before the Civil War, but they were still a vast minority compared to the rest of the country. None of the paladins know what life was like under the Brotherhood’s rule, either. So, although there are few things they can agree about, both paladins and magi have decided jointly to discriminate against the non-magi as a sort of “payback” for the years of discrimination they have faced since the fall of the Brotherhood. (And if you think paladins haven’t faced discrimination because they’re paladins, then we’ll get into the aftermath of the Civil War and how paladins and magi were treated up until Iblis of Light came around in a different video.) So, a part of the “payback” is that non-magi cannot be promoted past Sergeant and are managed by the Paladin Corps. Another of Orvyn’s goals is to loosen the restrictions on, if not completely abolish the promotion ban, because of other discriminatory reasons that almost kept him from being Grand Paladin. Again, these are things to cover in other videos, right now we’re here to talk about the Prime’s leadership structure.

And speaking of the Prime’s leadership structure, why is the promotion ban significant? Earlier, I said that any change between Ranks 1-4 is as simple as giving an order, so if Orvyn really wanted, he could sign a piece of paper and end the ban. But there’s the caveat. They can only move up to Sergeant, which is only rank 3. If he wanted, he could allow them to move up to Surcaptain, rank 4. But every rank above that is treated with the appropriate level of security, meaning he needs an increasing amount of support for each rank above Surcaptain. In other words, Orvyn technically can loosen the terms of the promotion ban, but it will not be to the degree he wants.

So, does this mean that the Prime is essentially trapped by the whims of an especially uncooperative officer? No, the Dealer would not allow himself to be held victim by a subordinate who does not want to play nice. There are special “rank” council meetings, which are just held with the Dealer, the Archmage, the Grand Paladin, and two of their most “senior” Grand Marshalls and Grand Magni. The “seniority” is simply decided by the Archmage and Grand Paladin, allowing them to essentially ignore dissenting votes, if they are outside of that rank council meeting.

Okay, so what options are there if one of the senior officers do not want to play nice? Well, if there is a matter that can be decided by a simple majority vote, the Dealer has almost absolute power to overturn any decision made. You might notice that I said almost absolute. He cannot overturn a vote that is unanimous among his subordinates (so if everyone except for him agrees on a matter, he cannot change an outcome to suit his desires). Alternatively, if he overturns a supermajority decision against him, he has to defend his stance and get a majority vote in favor of his overturn, and he cannot override that choice (so in a council of 11 people, if 7 vote against him [approximately 64% of the vote, or over the 60% needed for their supermajority], he essentially has to convince 2 of them to change their vote to match his. If he cannot convince them to change their votes, his overturn is defeated). He also cannot overturn outcomes that require a unanimous decision (so if everyone but the Dealer votes against splitting the Deathwatch Guardians into their own branch, he cannot change the outcome).

But that’s all keeping things at the senior level. Are there mechanisms for change that involve the lower-ranked members of the Prime? Well, yes there is, although this method is more of a power-play than it is an actual exercise in democratic integrity. As you’ve noticed, the Prime is more-or-less an oligarchy. The leadership tends not to worry about the will of the people, unless there are obvious signs of unrest or dissidence, and those are quickly and easily quelled—although not usually through violent means. If there is an issue that cannot be resolved by the special council, then the issue can “face” the will of the people and be decided by a simple popular vote among the entire Prime. I won’t say these votes are rigged, because they’re not, but if someone were to know that an issue was coming to this vote then they could easily get a head start on their propaganda campaign for their side. And in the limited timeframe the Prime operates on, that advantage is easily what can decide the outcome of the vote.

Now, before I finish this, I want to lay out something very clear: Yes, all the shady tactics you heard about are intentional designs in the Prime’s structure. They aren’t things that accidentally made it past the Dealer and Mira when they designed their government. They know these things exist and they had a hand in crafting them. The Prime is not meant to be infallible. They aren’t meant to be “the good guys” facing off against a world of evil around them. Their purpose is to bring back a world they remember—not a utopia where no evil exists. Yes, one of their goals is to bring back Iblis to the mortal realm, but even Iblis doesn’t always do what can be considered indisputably good. They do what they believe is best, but not always what is morally or ethically right.

And that’s basically everything I wanted to talk about with the Prime’s leadership structure. Thanks for indulging me for these twenty-or-so minutes. I enjoyed this, and hopefully I can do something else like it in the future, but I’m going to dial it back for now. Next week on Tuesday, to coincide with the start of his five-part miniseries starting on Monday, I’ll talk about Swift from Rebirth.

#Age of the Black Empire #Leadership #Structure #Military #Political #politics #fictional #Video #Overview

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