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chaotic-mystery · 4 months

Text

Pairing: dbf!Joel x reader

Summary: it’s my take on what illicit affairs means. Every time I listened to it I imagined Joel, specifically dbf Joel. I hope the swifties go *easy* on me and pls don’t say anything if you didn’t like it.

Warnings: angst. And more angst. Swearing, forbidden relationship, arguing, fwb, alluded age gap but not specified. Use of nicknames (kid, baby……don’t look at me ok I didn’t do IT), reader is not physically described, no use of y/n. I think that’s everything but tell me if I’ve missed something! || wc: 1.8k || a/n: I love you @planet-marz1 for beta reading this & all my babies who held my balls and pushed me through this <3 thank you thank you thank you. ||

He was someone you should have never been attracted to. Your parents’ friend, a family friend. Someone they trusted to watch over you if they left town, to check on you as if he cared about you. No one noticed the lingering stares frequent more and more with each stop at your parents home. No one noticed the way you returned the gazes at him, the longing feeling of wanting to feel his mouth all over your body with his hands not far behind to get any spot he missed. It all came together when your dad had a party, the champagne coursing inside you and giving a little liquid courage. Joel couldn’t keep his eyes off of you and it didn’t feel wrong, no matter how much you tried to convince yourself it was. Nothing more was going to come from this, it was just a fling for the night and you’d go right back to how things were. At least that’s what you told yourself when you kissed him in the laundry room, the soft orange glow casted over you two from the street lamp outside.

Yet here you are months later, telling everyone you were going out for a walk, already covering up your demeanor for when you return. Joel parked down at the end of the block and you found yourself reciting that you can always stop this whenever you wanted to. He’s careful not to sit there for too long after you get inside his truck.

“Did anyone see you?” He asks, wiping over his mustache quickly while he looks in the rearview mirror about a dozen times.

“No, they didn’t see me.” You mutter from behind your hood. You reached out to grab his hand from his thigh, tucking your fingers between his palm and the fabric of his jeans.

“Okay, good. Good. Missed you.” He says as he pulls into the same vacant lot as last time. It wasn’t always like this, parking here behind the abandoned mall. He used to book hotel rooms for you two so you’d feel safe with him, feel special. The red rose petals scattered everywhere on the floor and the bed no matter how cheesy it was, you liked it. It was a scarlet colored secret between only you two and it was thrilling to keep, in a way. The more you met up with Joel, the less distance he put in between your town and the lucky room for the night. Nights turned into a couple hours, which slowly morphed into quick meetings here, in this empty parking lot to an abandoned mall.

“Thanks for not wearing that perfume this time, doll. Almost got caught last time because I smelled like you.” He tries to lighten the mood as he shakes your thigh gently. It was the perfume he used to love when you’d wear it, the one you had on that night the first glance he took of you started this entire affair.

It became harder and harder to not hide your scent on him when he’d come over to your parents house as if he wasn’t just with you. Your dad would ask why he smelled of your perfume, Joel turning to you so you have to lie and say you greeted him outside before letting him in. Couldn’t leave a trace of you in his little world no matter how badly you wanted to. To desperately leave a subtle token of you on him, that he was yours, that this older man wanted something to do with you.

Joel wastes no time getting your navy blue hoodie off your torso and his lips on your neck, telling you once more that he missed you all day. The same words he spoke before suddenly didn’t make your heart flutter after the hundredth time hearing them. The smile doesn’t form as wide as it once did when he calls you ‘baby’. Funny how that works, finally getting what you wanted to hear him say and it wasn’t holding its weight anymore like in the beginning. They were just words you were taking for what they were; sweet nothings. You two developed a look to share while with others, a little nod of your head towards outside when you needed to speak in private and say what you couldn’t in front of anyone else or just needed to be close to one another. Those moments kept you wanting more from him, every single time.

Behind closed doors seemed like the only time you were everything to Joel, it was the sliver of time you got validation that he even liked you. He grew paranoid and tended to be cold when he was around your parents, no eye contact, hardly any conversation shared with you. When you were alone in the backseat with the sweat drying on your back as you laid against his chest, you were the one he wanted to be with…until it was time to come back to reality and get dressed like nothing happened.

“You don’t even look at me anymore when my parents are around, you’re acting too suspicious, Joel.” You mutter, dragging your thumb across his shoulder as you stared into the fabric of the seat behind him.

Time and time again you so desperately wanted to go public with Joel but every time you mentioned it he got upset, telling you that would be the dumbest thing to do. According to him, it was best to keep meeting in the back of his truck for a half hour and being dropped off with one less piece of you each time. You no longer felt like his baby anymore no matter how many times he called you that. Not a single thing he mutters to you while he’s on top of you in the truck replays later as you try to sleep like the early days. It was becoming more and more diluted with each quick goodbye kiss.

Joel pulls away and sits up straight, moving his hand to your thigh and giving a squeeze.

“Don’t do this right now, kid. C’mon, you know how I feel about ya.” His head hangs for just a moment as if you scolded him. Pulling his head up to look at you in the eye, Joel cups your face softly before speaking again.

“I’d lose so much if I told everyone about us, you know that right? You’re dad would probably beat my ass and never talk to me again, I don’t think any of our friends would honestly. I’d lose so much if everyone knew, not just you.” He sighs tiredly and lets go of your face and sits straight up in his chair before putting a hand over his mouth and the other on the steering wheel as he looks out the window to the empty lot, rain clouds scattered above and turning everything gray.

Was that all he was worried about, losing your dad as his friend and the other so called friends he had? Really?

You wait for what feels like forever before you scoff and sit back in your seat, arms crossed over your chest, feeling like nothing but a godforsaken mess for putting yourself in this situation.

“I thought you liked this..” He waves his hand back and forth between you two without turning back to look at you. “...This works, this is easy and it’s safe. Why do you wanna ruin somethin’ like that, baby?” Joel chews on his cheek waiting for your response, hoping somewhere in his words that it clicked in your mind to keep this between you two.

“I did like this, Joel. I liked being your little secret in the beginning. Learning our little unspoken language and how to find you during parties when you wanted to see me, staying out all those nights with you and we’d talk about everything and you’d drop me off in the morning before my dad woke up to see me sneaking in. I did…like being your secret. We started doing things that couples do, real couples. Why is it so wrong of me to want tha-?” You ask firmly, feeling your heart beating in your throat when he cuts you off with his booming voice.

“Because we can’t! We just can’t! I’m sorry, kid. You know we can’t do more than this. I’m sorry. You’re a beautiful and talented human being, you can g-” Now it was your turn to cut him off.

“Joel, don't even give me that shit. I don’t want to hear that.” You turn in your seat to fully look at him, eyes not leaving his face for a second.

“Do you understand how much I would lose if we went public with this? I’m willing to throw all of that away to be with you. That is how much you mean to me. You mean more to me than my dad potentially not speaking to me ever again, possibly being kicked out, shunned, all of it. I don’t want anyone else but you, okay?” You had found your voice halfway between your counter argument, and damn did it feel good.

“Kid…we just can’t. I’m sorry. We can still be friends and I’ll always be around if you need me. I just, I think I put you in too deep with this.” His eyes flick between himself and you. The only noise audible was the rain pattering down on the windshield, thunder booming softly after a few seconds.

The tears sting your eyes and cascade down your warm cheek.

“Baby..” Joel coos and tries to wipe your tear away but you turn away before he can get close.

“Don’t call me that. Don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby.” He sighs with obvious frustration at your words and tucks his hand back next to his side. The hurt mixes with rage and the tears keep rolling down your face, Joel sits there unsure of what to say.

“Look at me, Joel. Look at this idiotic fool you’ve made me. Sitting here begging someone to be with me and love me so loudly, all the while it’s not reciprocated. You don’t want to show everyone how much you want to be with me, you just want to keep me a secret. Take me home, I’m done.”

You grab your sweater off the backseat and put it back on before buckling up once more.

“Kid, I’m-“

“Don’t call me that! Take me home, or I’ll walk.” You shout, the crack in your voice making your tears flow faster. Joel looks away and turns the truck on, driving back to your street in complete silence. He barely turns the corner at the end of your block and you get out without another word spoken to him. It was the one and only time he watched you get inside the house.

#joel miller fanfic #joel miller x you #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller fic #joel miller angst #illicit affairs #taylor swift #joel miller x reader #dbf!joel #dbf joel miller #dads best friend #dbf!joel miller #tw age gap #tw arguing #tw angst

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darling-i-read-it · 10 months

Text

System

Dalton Lambert x fem!reader

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: set after insidious the red door so spoilers for that, the readers scared daltons wandered off again

Author’s Note: Sorry this took so long love! I’ve been a bit everywhere lately but I was finally happy with this. Also my spell check is being hella weird so if there’s some misspelled things just ignore it lol. I hope you enjoy!

Requested: by anon, hi i literally just got home from the insidious movie with my friend, but i was wondering if you are taking requests, if not feel free to ignore! but i was wondering if you’d be able to do a dalton x reader where they maybe meet his family? and he has an episode during it and gets stuck in the further and reader has to try and coax him out of it? or he has an episode and comes out of it in a panic attack like state and reader helps him through it and his family is in shock that dalton lets her see him like that. they think its really sweet that she can help him through it and everything.

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director/creator

(not my gif)

Thanksgiving break. You could fear the cold in the air as people talked lightly going down to their cars, happy to leave school behind for a couple days of rest. Dalton threw his bag over his shoulder, watching you watch the window. The leaves were falling onto the street, whisked away by the gentle wind. You could see people’s silent laughter through the glass.

“You ready?” Dalton’s voice broke you out of your trance. You nodded once, pulling your bag up over your head as well. It just had some clothes and your laptop, plus chargers. You hadn��t been expecting to go back for Thanksgiving with your heavy workload.

“Your dads here?”

“Yeah, pulling up outside.” You turned back to the window like you could locate him. Dalton grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the door. You followed him outside of his dorm room. He shut and locked it behind him before leading you down the stairs among the stragglers of people leaving for break.

You had never seen the parking lot so crowded.

Dalton put his phone to his ear, keeping a firm grip on your hand. You followed him blindly.

“Near the flag poles isn’t an instruction dad,” Dalton said, voice annoyed. You looked around, trying to place the car. You didn’t actually know what he was driving but you knew Mr.Lambert’s face. “There are a ton of flag polls.” Your eyes scanned the area. “Are you talking about the one with the school flag?” You sat Josh Lambert, standing outside of his car with the door opened. You hit Dalton and pointed. He followed your gaze. Dalton hung up the phone and guided your way through the parking lot.

Mr. Lambert smiled when he saw you both. He pointed beside him, where an American flag was posted between some trees.

“It was the only thing near me,” he explained.

“Don’t worry about it.” You offered your hand to shake.

“You must be Y/N. I’ve heard a lot.” Josh shook your head.

“Thank you for letting me stay over the break. My family is so far away and getting a plane ticket in this weather has never been good odds.” Josh’s smile was genuine and kind. You had only met him over the phone but Dalton had mostly assured you of his normalcy. After the whole flying away possessed by demon thing, you understood that Josh also had issues with staying in his head. You felt for him.

“Oh of course. Any friend of Dalton’s is a friend of ours.” Josh winced, trying to find the right words. “It’s a pleasure.”

“That’s good dad.” Dalton took your backpack. You smiled gently, trying to let him know you understood what he was trying to give off. “This is gonna be a long drive.”

Josh asked you plenty of questions, happy that someone in his car actually answered him. You didn’t mind chatting. It was a couple hours after all. Before you were there, Dalton couldn’t exactly shut out and put his headphones in. Still, he sat behind you, sketch book out, half listening.

Eventually you came to his and his moms home. It was nice and large, almost secluded but not quite. You didn’t peg Dalton for a large house kind of guy but the second his mom opened the door, it all clicked into place.

Josh had started recently living with Renai again, much to Dalton’s surprise. He didn’t talk about it often, only in passing. You were able to pick up bits and pieces from everyone’s body language but that was about it.

Renai had Josh take your bags.

“Thank you so much Mrs. Lambert for letting me stay,” you said hurridly as she ushered you inside. She smiled, so brightly it hurt. She looked just like Dalton’s pictures of her. Goregous and kind.

“Renai, please. Dalton go take those upstairs.”

“Are we allowed to sleep in the same room?” Dalton asked, teasingly.

“You can sleep in the guest room,” she said, ushering him away. She turned to you. Dalton walked up the stairs, followed closely by his father and your bags. “It’s nice to formally meet you Y/N.”

“And you! I’ve heard so much, seen your face on a lot of different sketches,” you joked. Her smile remained, dripping in generosity but not so much it made you uncomfortable. You felt instantly comfortable in the house.

“I’m sure you’ve become the new muse,” she joked.

“He’s extremely talented. He could make a tree look interesting.”

“Don’t say it to him, it’ll go straight to his head.” Renai would sometimes call you when she was worried about Dalton. After the demon event she grew more worried about having him out of the house. You became her eyes and ears, which she was eternally grateful for.

There was a childlike commotion upstairs. You both turned to see a little girl barreling down, her hand loosely holding the railing. Once she hit the bottom she halted. Dalton was following close behind her and behind him was another teen boy, though younger than Dalton. It was easy to guess the names.

“Oh shit D,” Foster mumbled. Dalton hit him.

“Are you Y/N?” Kali asked. You nodded.

“And you must be Kali! It’s very nice to meet you.” She smiled, ogling. You grew self conscious under everyone's gaze. Dalton pushed through his siblings to get to you.

“Hey, go get your own person to stare at.” He grabbed your hand. “C’mon, I wanna show you my room.”

“No funny business,” Josh said as he came down the stairs. “Keep that door open.”

“He doesn’t bring girls home often,” Renai explained.

“Mom,” Dalton seethed. You laughed as he tugged at your arm. You followed him up the stairs.

“It was nice to meet all of you!” you called, your arm half way out of it’s socket. You observed the place as you walked, glancing at the family photos on the wall. At some point they started to lack Josh completely. “You’re were so cute,” you cooed at one of the photos. “What happened?”

“Woah there.” You laughed as you finally landed upon his room. It was a normal teenage boys bedroom but cleaner. You wondered if Renai had cleaned when Dalton left. There was art supplies still scattered on the desks and some laying on his made bed. Your bags were put off to the side, next to his.

“I see you have no intention of posting up in the guest bedroom?”

“Oh no,” he said. “My mom’s a lightweight and will be in bed by nine.” There was countless pictures on the wall. Some were painted, some where with ink, some with just pencil. It was like a whole other gallery. “I have a couple new ones to add up there.”

“Oh yeah?” You turned back to him. He was grabbing his sketchbook out of his bag. He turned it open to the one he was working on in the car. It was a back view of his dad and you talking. Josh was mid word but you were smiling, watching intently. “Is that why you weren’t talking with us?”

“I don’t like my dads taste in music.” You grinned warmly.

“I love it. Like I love all your stuff.” He carefully went to tear it out and you moved to get some things out of your bag.

You had dinner, courtesy of Renai, and quickly turned in. Dalton made a big show of going to bed in the guest bedroom, rolling his eyes and pretending to pout. You cuddled into his bed, scrolling through your phone as you waited for him to come back. Your eyes drooped. It had been a long day, filled with new things. Dalton’s bed was way more comfortable then the dorm room bed and far bigger too.

At 10 you heard the door open slowly. You turned on your side and smiled sleepily at Dalton walking in. He ran his hands through his hair, shutting the door quietly behind him. He climbed under the sheets beside you. You moved over to make room but the bed was big enough where it almost didn’t matter.

“Bigger than the dorm room bed huh?” he questioned. You usually had to squeeze together. You got very used to being on top of each other.

“Just a lil.”

He dipped his head over you, kissing you gently. Your body eased into his touch. His lips were lazy and sleepy, also fueled by the long day. He moved away after a moment and layed his head down next to you.

“Tease,” you joked.

“My mother is in the next room.”

“No more kisses then.”

He scoffed and the two of you got comfortable, his arm under your head, your cheek against his chest. The window was creaked open, the sound of the suburbs floating into your ears as you drifted off.

You woke up with a start. There was an echo of a noise but you were still half asleep and couldn’t pinpoint it. You sat up, glancing down at Dalton. He laid on his back, eyes shut. You looked around the dark room. You didn’t know it’s curves well enough to know what had changed. You rubbed your eyes, trying to decide if you were still asleep or not.

Through your shadowy perception, you saw the door creak open. It was slow but the movement struck home. You turned to Dalton and nudged him. He didn’t move. You nudged him again, harder this time. He stayed completely still, the only indication he was alive from his breathing.

“Dalton,” you muttered. You shoved him again, almost knocking him off the bed.

Nothing.

Fear shone in the lights of your eyes. You sat up completely and turned on the lamp beside your bed. You took a deep breath. You had done this before. You could do it agian. Dalton and you had talked about what you could do when this happened. He assured you that, while he likely couldn’t get possessed by that same demon, there was no guarentee he couldn’t drift off.

You cleared your throat and set your shoulders back.

“Dalton can you hear me?” Your voice was loud and clear. It needed to project if he was gonna hear you. You took clear breaths in, counting and then releasing. “Dalton, baby, you’ve gone to far.”

You glanced back at the door. Had he left? Was that him coming back in? How long had be been out?

“Dalton, listen to me. Follow my voice.”

With each passing tick of the clock you got more anxious. You wondered if you were too late. Your breathing became more labored as you sat there, starring at his face, begging it to move. “Dalton.”

You knew shaking him did no good but you did it anyway.

Renai could hear your speaking in the other room. Despite what Dalton said, she was also easy to rise. She had gotten into the habit when Kali was a baby, always able to easily identify her childrens voices. She knew it was yours immediately. She nudged Josh, who woke up after a couple pushes.

They listened for a moment, making sure they weren’t going to enter some sort of scene they would never be able to unsee. But then your voice came again.

“Dalton, follow my voice. I’m right here.” Renai knew the script well. It sent shivers down her spine to hear someone else say it. She quickly moved the covers aside and padded down the hallway to Dalton’s open door. She stood in the frame, Josh behind her. You were turned away, looking down, sitting practically on top of Dalton. Your voice, though stressed, was soothing.

“Dalton I’m right here. Come back to me.” Renai was about to jump forward and start helping when Dalton sat up straight. He hit your head with his because he was moving so fast. You both groaned in pain.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” he said quickly, grabbing your cheeks. “Are you okay? Did I bruise you?”

“No, no I’m okay,” you breathed. You let out a hefty sigh of relief. “Are you okay? You scared me!”

“I’m fine, I’m okay,” he promised. “Followed your voice.”

“Everything okay?” Josh asked. You both turned on a dime. You almost fell off the bed with the speed you were trying to get off Dalton. He still had his hand on your cheek and it fell just as quickly as he had put it there.

“Yeah we’re fine.”

“Totally okay!”

Your voices overlapped into a scrambled mess.

“You’re still floating away?” Renai asked. She hadn’t heard anything about that. Josh was still grounded, as far as she knew. Dalton shook his head.

“Not often,” he promised. “I think being back home triggered something.” He rubbed his eyes. “But I’m fine. We have a system.”

“Yeah, just in case. I can usually tell because he starts to move things around when I’m sleeping,” you explained. “The door usually opens.” Renai nodded. She parted her lips, the fear dissipating. You had it handled.

She was impressed.

“Is that why you’re in the same bed then?” she questioned, eyebrow raised. Dalton rolled his eyes but you had the heart to laugh.

“Sure mom.” Her gaze lingered.

“You sure you’re alright? Do I need to quiz you on something?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” Dalton promised. “No demons here.”

“None over here either,” Josh promised. Renai scoffed.

“Good to know.” She turned back towards the two of you. “It’s late. Get some sleep and stay in your shoes okay?” Dalton nodded quickly. She left the door wide open as she turned to leave but not after giving you one last look.

“We could’ve used a system,” Josh mumbled.

“Maybe we should get one,” Renai concluded.

You turned back towards Dalton.

“She let you stay.”

“Yeah well, I think that was the astral projecting.” You laughed a bit. You were still reeling from the fear, even though you were trying not to show it.

“Wanna grab a midnight snake or something? Just to shake off the demons?” He smiled, thinking of kissing you in his kitchen, the privacy something he wasn’t used to.

“I would love to.”

#dalton lambert x reader #dalton lambert x fem!reader #insidious the red door imagines #dalton lambert imagines

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se-07spaceoreos · 9 months

Text

Crescendo

Summary:

Wanda Maximoff hated being alone, since she could remember she always had someone. Pietro, Vision, William, Thomas, and for some time before Thanos. Before Vision, before her happily ever after.

There was you.

Words: 3294

WARNINGS: Fulff(?), Angst, Hydra, Death, If there are any more feel free to tell me!!

There was anger in grief, lonesomeness. This, Strange could understand. Wanda Maximoff was angry, at the world, at herself, at fate. Many people who grieve are, and many people who grieve are also desperate, even if they themselves don’t know it. Desperate for a lie that they’d take for a truth. Wanda was that kind of desperate, she was too desperate. Going from universe to universe in search of a family that she herself would call her own, but would not inherently belong to, living a life full of lies taken as the truth so she could get her happy ending. Stephan knows that, grief, desperation, longing. They all go hand in hand, but something about the way Wanda was searching was alarming. Wanda Maximoff, now the Scarlet Witch could have chosen any universe. In an existence filled with the void of time her children and husband were everywhere, yes maybe somewhere Thomas came out a bright blonde, maybe somewhere Vision was a brunette. But Wanda kept on going back to one universe and one universe only, and Stephen Strange had finally figured out why.

The Scarlet Witch only ever existed because of hydra, and where the Scarlet Witch resided so did your headstone. Wanda was not only searching for a universe with her children, but one with you in it, where you were alive.

The problem was, if you were alive, then the hydra experiments never happened, the bombs never exploded, Wanda never got tested on, in those worlds, her powers didn’t exist, rendering her powerless, and if she was powerless, she was trapped. She’s been trapped before, she didn’t like it. If she was trapped she couldn’t fight, if she was trapped she couldn’t fix times wrongdoings.

Wanda Maximoff kept coming back to this universe, because her happy ending was complete. She not only had her family, she had you.

You were what she wanted, and if she wanted you, then Strange needed you. But maybe not this you, not the you that Wanda wanted, but the you that Wanda had.

Drifting over Wundagore Mountain the Scarlet Witch took in her surroundings, scanned the area, listened to thoughts. As she listened, a smirk overtook her lips, they were scared. As they should be, who are they to keep her from an ending she wanted? An ending she deserved, she deserved a happy ending, she deserved to be loved, she deserved happiness. That’s what she wanted, and that’s what she’ll get. No matter what it takes, no matter who.

Where is he? He said he would be here- What if I die- I can’t thin- Maybe if I- We need help-Strange and Wong-The Scarlet Witc- The sky’s red-Why am I here

Although, it seems from what she's heard, Strange and the Inhuman have yet to arrive. Pity, she thought for a doctor he’d value the lives of others, just a little.

If they didn’t show, she was going to make them. Muttering words she raised her hand up, the sky above her slowly turned to a darker shade of red, the people beneath her began to drop one by one. Their sling rings may be able to teleport them. But you can’t escape the sky, you can’t run from the air you breathe.

The people that dropped started screaming.

And the Scarlet Witch? She finally got what she wanted. Stephen Strange had shown up, and to her enthusiasm, he wasn’t alone.

She started making her way over to him slowly, as fast as she wanted this to end she thinks that this part, she should at least cherish. Once she took this Inhuman, this girl. She would have everything she wanted, everything she craved.

As she watched the doctor mutter words of his own to clear the air, Wanda rolled her eyes. Doctors, scientists, people, they all had to make her life so difficult. The people that dropped screaming from nightmare induced sleep near Strange, slowly turned quiet, the thoughts of their fear that was just buzzing like the static of a television in a room turned quiet, and for a second, it was quiet where they stood. In that moment there was only a witch, with two people in her way.

Noticing the portal that Strange slung was still open, Wanda asked “Are we waiting for someone?” Her eyebrows came together, her lips curved into a smirk “Any army maybe?” She giggled, “You shouldn’t have, I’m flattered.”

Seeing a figure come through the portal, she lifted her arms, ready to fight.

Seeing only one person come through made her tilt her head “Wong?”

Hearing your thoughts made her eyes drift down, body rigid, breathing pause.

“Y/n?”

She called to you softly, hopefully. Like talking any other way would make the person before her disappear. The body before her looked to her head on, no longer turned. Wanda could see all of the person before her.

It was you, the exact you that left her.

While she was older, stronger, different. You hadn’t aged a day, your eyes were a little different then she remembered, your hair a little lighter, she would say your smile seemed different as well, but you weren't smiling, if anything, you had a crinkle between your eyes and lips pursed, looking around, lost, confused, but not scared.

Finally meeting her eyes, you softly called back to her “Wands?” Wands, she smiled, her teeth showing. It wasn’t a smirk, it didn’t come from an advancement in her plan, but instead came from a memory of the past. Wands, only you and only ever you would call her that.

You projected your thoughts; What's going on?

And her smile wavered, you were scared, and all of a sudden Wanda hated Strange. Not because he was an obstacle in her way, but because he brought back a monument from her past. He brought back you. Not the grown you, the healthy you, the alive you, the you in her wanted universe. But you. Her childhood best friend, her person to confide in, her once upon a time, and you were scared, but you were here. That’s all that mattered right?

She looked at you, once again, as she watched you grimace at the people waking up from their haze, some of them still silently screaming, some of them clutching their heads. Did you do this?

She wanted to lie, she really did, she even started shaking her head a bit to deny fault. But she could hear your thoughts, you already knew the answer.

In a hoarse voice you whispered “Why?”

She lowered her arms, slowly walking toward you. She didn’t pay any mind to the Inhuman, she didn’t care about Strange, or Wong. Not right now, not when there was you.

Pensive, all three of your onlookers stepped to the side. This is what Strange wanted to happen, he didn’t want anyone interfering.

Pinching the palm of her hand, the Scarlet Witch tried playing it off, attempting to laugh a little, hoping that the tension would subside, and that you would realize that this was her, and you were you. Just like old times, this is all she’s ever wanted, this was all she’d ever need. She’d just have to convince you a little.

“I- I want my family back” she whispered, eyes darting to avoid yours. “The one we always talked about, I wanted my picket white fence, and overgrown hedge, I wanted it back, I want it again” She stepped closer to you, apprehensively resting her hand on the side of your face, smiling when you leaned in to it. Words started rushing out of her mouth at the excitement she felt, she could have all of that, and she could have you. “I almost have it back, I did all of this so I could have it back, and I’m almost there, and- and now I have you- ” you put your hand on hers, “Wanda”

Wanda, the way you said it sounded so, foreign to her. The way you said it made her feel dejected, insecure, it made her feel as if you were, disappointed.

“This isn’t okay”

“No, no-” she tried to reason “But, it will be! Don’t you remember? I promised you, I said I’d do anything” Her words and her desperation mirrored her hands that seemed to be grasping at you, trying to pull you in but not being able to fully do it. Wanda put her head in the nap of your neck, and whispered “It’ll be great”

Staring at the wall Wanda twisted and twirled her fingers, childrens blocks encased in a red wisp floated behind her as she awaited your return. You were being punished, you both were. While you and Wanda were given serums that supposedly consisted of some of the same compounds, Wanda was making progress, you were not. While she could hear screams in her head, you would be asleep. While she could move objects with the movement of her fingers, you would have them in your hands. This normally wouldn’t be a problem, but as time went on the scientist expected some sort of results, and you hadn’t given any. Your time had been up.

“Wanda, you and I both know that this isn’t what you want- wanted” You started hugging her back. You could feel tears on your nape, “But it is” she whispered.

“But it isn’t”

Following you with worried eyes Wanda and Pietro both watched as the scientist made you stand up before them on a square platform, they wanted you to demonstrate moving the same blocks that Wanda had just moved. Even if it shifted a little, you would be spared.

Your eyes darted to the twins in fear, and you shifted your arm up, willing you hands to do something, for you mind to hear someone. Your hands started to shake.

There where disappointed sighs in the crowd, judgemental clicks of the tongue.

This was it, this was your end.

You started lowering your hands.

Then a block shifted.

And the disappointment turned to encouragement, and the clicks turned to claps, for themselves or you, you wouldn’t know, you didn’t care, because now you were scared.

Not for you.

But for Wanda.

You pulled back, looking into the eyes of someone you knew so well yet so little about. “Don’t you want to live more than a lie?”

In the confinements of your cell, you turned to Wanda, thinking out loud “Why would you do that? You know what could happen to you?” Wanda chuckled, like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Do you know what almost happened to you!?” She stood in front of you, resisting the urge to point her finger at you in distress. “They were going to -get rid- of you, Y/N, you were going to get KILLED” You ran your hand over your scalp “I know that, but now what am I supposed to do next time? What are YOU supposed to do next time? Wanda, now it won’t only be me, it will be YOU”

Sitting on her bed her thoughts turned soft “They won’t kill me, you know that” You sat next to her “I know that” she started resting her head on your shoulder “I’ve been through it before, I can do it again” You brought your hand up to her shoulder, pressing her into you.

“I don’t want you to”

You both sat there, thinking, memorizing, these could be your last moments. “Why did you do it?” Wanda shifted in your hold. “I didn’t want you to get hurt. Why didn’t you want me too?” You sighed, “I didn’t want you to get hurt” Wanda smiled, and for a second, you did too, but you wanted her to listen, you didn’t want her to learn, not now.

“And I mean it, Wanda” She held onto you a little tighter, and rubbed circles with her fingers “Don’t do it next time” She pushed herself away. “Why? Why aren’t you happy that you’re alive?”

“Wanda, thank you for saving me, but if helping me is at the expense of you. Don’t do it” Tears started falling from her face, your hands started wiping them away. “I want you to get out of here, you and Pietro have a chance. I want you to be happy, to have a home, to be loved. You deserve it”

“I am happy! I will be happy! As long as I have you!”

You rested your hands at her shoulders, “Don’t lie, no one can be happy here”

“I’m not lying, I have you, and I have Pietro”

You pulled her in, wanting to leave this argument for later, not wanting to see her sob so hard, “You should live more life than a lie, Wands. Promise”

She sniffled, “I want too” she murmured, “But I also want to give up” Your grip around her tightened “But you won’t”

She nodded “But I won’t”

“So promise”

“I promise.”

“It-it’s not a lie, I do have you, and my family. The house? It’s exactly like the one we drew as kids! I am happy, I will be”

“It’s exactly what I wanted, what we wanted” she whispered.

“But it’s not yours”

The patter of feet and the giggle of children accompanied by the news filled the Maximoff household, Pietro was being chased by their father. You and Wanda were drawing pictures.

“Look” she said, wanting your attention. When you turned a drawing of a house came into view, “That’s pretty”

“Yep!” she said.

Taking a closer look you noticed seven figures, “Who’s next to your mom and dad? And you and Pietro?”

She shook her head “It’s not my family! It’s ours! Silly!” You stared at the drawing shocked, and loudly whispered “You want five kids?” She shook her head “Yeah!” “See, this one looks like you!” She pointed to a stick figure with eyes that supposedly were the same shade as yours. “Why? Do you not want any?” She asked. “Well, I just wanted one” you say, and she squinted her eyes, and stuck out her hand “Three?” you shook your head, “...Two?” you thought about it, and it made sense. Wanda and Pietro seemed to get along fairly well. You grasped her hand, “Deal”.

“I can make it mine” You nodded, “You could, but do you want to?”

No, no she didn’t want to. She wanted her life, she wanted the pieces to fall into place by themselves, she didn’t want to be the maker of her own world. She just wanted to live in it.

“Maybe”

“Maybe?”

“I want you, and Pietro, my family. I want more, and I could have that if-”

“Wanda, what’s my favorite color?”

She paused, why were you asking this? “I-I don’t know, you changed it too much”. You smiled, “My favorite color was your least favorite, they were always the ones I drew with so we didn’t have to share” Wanda didn’t know this, for a mind-reader, she feels as if she doesn’t know a lot.

“What was the show I hated the most?” Wanda stepped back, shaking her head “I-I don’t-”

“Wands, I can see you’re trying to memorize me , trying to remember, but at the same time exploring” She nodded, she was, you change- “The thing is, I haven’t changed a bit”

“No-no you have, you’re,”

“Exactly, the same,”

You were exactly the same.

You both nodded, you in coherence, Wanda in acceptance. The thing was just that, you hadn’t changed. Your eyes weren’t a little different, your hair wasn’t a little lighter, your smile, it wasn’t a little brighter. While Wanda had aged you had stayed the same. Time, it made her forget.

“You can’t do this, Wands. You know I’ll always be with you -”

Between her tears she chuckled “No, no- The truth is I’m- I’m going to get old, I’m going to forget. Time is going to dull my memories and the us that I remember will seem so short compared to the entirety of my life”

“Wand-”

“I will forget the way you smell, the way you laugh. The way you look, your edges will dim and the figure of you will blur,”

“And I?”

“I don’t want that, I want you and only you even if that means that you are solely what consists of my life. I don’t want the memory of us to dull. I don’t want to leave you behind, I don’t want what we had to be our loudest moment. I want more.”

She faced you like it was her last time, because this time, it was. “Why won’t you let me”

“The people who love you, should love you, Wanda. Not who you’re meant to be. Don’t you remember?”

She does, she did, and as much as she tried. She can’t forget

“You know, once you go back,”

“I know,”

“Why can’t you stay?”

You smiled softly, reassuringly. “If I stay, than my Wanda, will never be deemed ready enough to escape”

You knew what happened

She shook her head, “That’s not fair, aren’t you happy? You’re here, we’re here” You wiped the tears off her face, “I don’t want you to just be happy Wanda. I want you to live a good life. Happiness is fleeting, I want you to enjoy living”

She sniffled, wiping her nose, “Are you happy, though?”

You smirked “Who could be happy in a place like that?”

She shook her head, “That’s not what I meant, I meant-”

“I know” Looking at her you asked “Are you happy?”

Wanda looked around, she listened to your thoughts, she listened to what her heart and her head had to say . “No,”

You shook your head “Then no, no I’m not,”

She stepped closer to you “I don’t want you to go back. You shouldn't have to,”

You nodded “I know” and you looked behind you where Dr Strange was opening a portal, “But I have to, I don’t want to leave her. I don’t want to leave you,”

Clasping her hands in yours she started rubbing like she used too, she inhaled one last time, just like she used to. She brought you in, and hugged you, like she used to. “I want to give up,” your lips turned up a little, you pulled her in closer, like you always did. “I know.” Then you pulled back, and kissed her fingers, “But you won’t,”

“But I won’t.”

Then you lingered. Then you left.

Wanda let go of her promise.

She wasn’t looking for a happily ever after, she wasn’t yearning for her once upon a time. She simply existed.

Memories are unspoken stories, the more you forget the more desperate you are to hold onto them. They contain laughter, tears, people. Sometimes you can force yourself to forget if you lived large enough. But to Wanda, the loudest memories that she could never silence. Were the ones with you in it.

Stepping out from the portal you turned to Dr Strange, thanking him. He nodded, and watched you walk to the time travel device stored in the Avengers compound. “I know we’re supposed to protect the timeline, and be the heroes. But don’t you think returning a kid to their death is a little immoral?” Strange turned to Wong, nodding while smacking his lips “Yes, but we can’t do anything, this has already happened.” Wong squinted at him, “Do you not have compassion?” Taking a breath, Strange sighed, “I’m a Doctor, Wong. I’ve had to deal with hard decisions before. The best ones you make can sometimes be the hardest. Also, not a kid. 20 I think” Raising his eyebrows, Wong shot him a look.

“What?”

“There is no patient, Stephen. You are no Doctor here. ”

Digital Library (If you wanna read more works)

#wanda maximov x reader #wanda maximoff #wanda x y/n #wanda x reader #wanda maxmoff x y/n #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x you #wanda x you

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hisdarlingabsurdity · 1 year

Text

Frankenstein's Monster

Pairing: Neteyam x Fem! Human! Reader

Tags: slow af. Part two otw. Bitter, jaded reader. Stressed Neteyam. Slow burn. Reader is a reader.

You haven’t been yourself lately, and you think it might have something to do with how everything is just so blue. Ever since you were so disrespectfully given birth to, you’re almost always surrounded by blue. It wasn't annoying at first, except the color never seems to be out of sight, there's always something that's blue everywhere you look. Literal blue aliens talk to you. And nobody has any idea how vexed you are at how ridiculously blue the sky is. Now the sea. Everything is just so goddamned blue.

But you say nothing. It would be unbecoming of you to complain (about something so silly too) after all, it was the Sullys who saved you, Jake had taken you under his wing and taught you almost all he knows about surviving here as a human, so it makes sense that they would take you with them in their self-imposed exile.

They saved you from Dionysus Red, Container 12 where you were known as Subject 003. Even your uniform as No. 3 back then was blue. No wonder you hate the color.

You really do not know where you stand with all of this. You are grateful, yes. You now eat three times a day, and not those shitty slop they served you back in Dionysus. You had a room of your own and you were free to do as you like, study, learn, listen to music, read, and use the technologies so generously bestowed upon you at Hell's gate. But you didn't belong there, hell, you don't belong anywhere on this moon you were so kindly shoved into existence on.

But you were glad that there was another human there that was your age. His name was Spider and you think he's stupid, especially when he tries to hiss. You adore him, but he gets on your nerves sometimes.

"I wish I could breathe outside like you. It's so unfair," he said one day.

You were watching a video about earth when he strutted in, and stared at you for five minutes straight, before finally speaking. You peek over the screen in favor of looking him in the eyes when you respond. "Sorry we couldn't salvage any of the tech they used to experiment and torture me for an ability I did not ask for. Though it would've been better if you waited for them to make it to subject 14, maybe by then they'd be working on people like me but with tails so they can make tsaheylu."

He shook his head, unraveling his crossed arms. "Okay, sorry. But that wasn't what I meant. You know that."

You shrug. "I don't know what you need my lungs for when you can just stay here with me and just…not go outside, to a world where everything tries to kill ya." You see him giving you a pointed look.

"But you don't even stay here all the time like that, I also envy how Jake gets you himself and teaches you how to survive here. Like, are you kidding me? The Chief himself? And he's practically adopted you." He mumbles the last part.

You wonder if he sees the arrangement as special treatment. You don't see it as such but of course, leave it to Spider to overthink things. If he pursues this logic, as ridiculous as it is, he might even one day think that Jake sees you as part of his family. Fool.

"He tries, and I have no idea why. I'm just going with it because I respect him and I believe he's doing it because for some reason (you sigh) he sees me as his responsibility. He's got like what, six kids? Ain't that enough brats to handle?"

"He's teaching you all that stuff because it's all you need since you can breathe their air, all that's left is for you to learn skills and stuff. Y'know, stuff scientists can't inject on you." he says as he plops himself up on a table. "And he's got four."

You roll your eyes, before they flickered to his legs, freshly smeared with spartan fruit, dyed to mimic the Na'vi body stripes. He sees you looking and sighs once again. "You see what I do to try and feel like I belong with them?"

"You certainly belong with them more than I do, you grew up here, and you get along with his children too."

"More like they tolerate me." He rolls his eyes.

"Their mom tolerates you, the kids like you." You drop the datapad on the table to completely focus on him. "That's something, isn't it? At least the kids don't hate you. His eldest glares at me like I personally offended his ancestors."

"Oh, they don't hate you. You don't exactly make it easy to approach you."

"Yeah, well I'm not that interested in making friends, ok? I've got you already. In any case, I think you might as well be part of their family with the amount of time you spend around them."

"I still think being able to breathe the same air as them would help a lot," he replies.

Sometimes you still miss him.

You do hope that he's still alive…unless he's in a situation where dying is much more preferable.

Naturally, since Jake Sully more or less became your guardian, you had to leave with them. You didn't mind really, and you felt a kind of loyalty towards him, loyalty that's bordering on obsequiousness, and it scares you because you know you would do anything he asks of you (so you've gotten good at hiding before he gets the chance).

And that same loyalty made you feel anger again for the first time in a long while.

"Absolutely not." Ronal says, the moment her eyes landed on you, she's already decided.

You feel blood rush to your ears, your fingers digging into your palms as you feel everyone's eyes on you. You knew what Jake's family was thinking. That Neyteri was right and that they shouldn't have taken you with them. Now, they were moments away from finally convincing the chief to let them stay, and your mere presence ruined it. You hated the fact that they would be rejected, and sent away because of you. You knew you'd cause an inconvenience, everyone did, yet they just had to drag you along.

You were seriously even considering friendship with them, since you don't have a Hell's Gate to hide in, no Spider. Now they're all you've got. And you thought that maybe they don't hate you that much. But now the inconvenience of your presence was palpable, you realize that you've got no right to even think about friendship.

"She's one of us…"

You could hear Jake in the background, voice too muddled because you couldn't focus, you didn't want to focus, because if you did, you'd hear what they had to say, and when you do, you wouldn't be able to help but formulate a response, and then you'd never be able to keep your mouth shut like Jake practically begged you to. So you bit your lip, kept your eyes on the ground, and held your tongue.

⌛🌊⌛

You yawn as you stretch, popping a few joints here and there. You step out of your new home with the Sullys, which was what they called a marui. You look up at the blue sky, then down at the blue sea. Then you catch some of the reef folks giving you the stink eye. You glare back and they shuffle away with a grimace, all pride and indignation. You really wanted to give those blue, lanky-ass grumps a good throttling.

"Stop glaring at the locals, dad told us to behave." The eldest of the Sully kids say as he steps out, already geared up for the day. You look up at him. "He only meant it for you troublemakers. Also, it wouldn't matter if I behaved or not."

It didn't matter because they would always find something to be displeased about when it came to you.

You knew that he knew exactly what you meant and you walked away. Then you went padding right back, then past him to grab the book you forgot from inside the marui. You feel his gaze at you as you leave until you rounded a corner, walking far away to go look for a hiding spot for the rest of the day.

You plan on making the most of your freedom before Jake masters whatever water animal it is he's practicing on, because then he'll have time to spare on you.

You hear someone call out your name.

You turn and watch as Kiri sprints her way towards you. You squint up at her, almost blinded at the bright smile she was sending down at you. What an angel.

"Now, where are you skulking off to again?"

"Anywhere that's far enough."

She looks around comically. "I don't think dad would appreciate you migrating off to another island for your reading time."

"Haha, very funny." You say, trailing off awkwardly, not knowing how to further contribute to the small talk she was obviously initiating.

She giggles as she proceeds to walk ahead, slow enough to let you know that she wants to walk alongside you.

"Look, I just…" she starts, waving her hands a little as she looks for the words she wants to say. "I don't think separating yourself from us is a good idea."

You say nothing, so she continues.

To be honest, it wasn't surprising of her to approach you about this. Of course they might care a smidge about you, like one would normally feel for a stray cat they occasionally give food to.

"They might see that. That we aren't that close. They might realize the distance you're creating and use it to their advantage, to try and hurt you."

"Then you underestimate people, and their capacity for cruelty."

"I think they'd be too disgusted to even try and approach me."

"Oh, I'm well aware of cruelty, I never underestimate anyone's capability for it. But I know I can be just as cruel. You can count on me to not be a pussy and let them trample on me."

"I know. But I think it's better if you don't go looking for trouble…" she says.

"What do you mean?"

"I think it's better if you stay close to us, don't give them the opportunity to approach you. Don't give them a chance to get a rise out of you and cause conflict."

Oh but of course. Of course she wasn't worried about you, she just doesn't want you to cause more trouble for them. Fair enough. It was presumptuous of you to think that you'd even be on the same level as a stray cat.

"But I don't think your siblings would appreciate my presence around them. Believe me, I also don't want to cause anything bad for your family. Why'd you think I keep my distance for? I stay far away from you, because I know that they'll attempt to provoke me, maybe possibly even try to hurt me, get rid of me, or kill me. I stay far so no one will get involved. The conflict would be contained. Just me. Get it? "

You stop, and she turns to you with an even more worried look on her face as she scans your features. "That's a valid point," you say.

She stammers, struggling to reply as her cheeks darkened. What she was getting worked up for, you do not know. But you do hope that your genuine wish to not cause problems for them would set her mind at ease.

You walk off.

⌛🌊⌛

You think that perhaps they shouldn't worry too much about you causing trouble, when they can't keep away from it themselves.

You hear Jake's voice from inside the tent. He was seething, and you watch as Lo'ak, the second son, walks out of the marui, his face bruised. He huffs as he pushes past you. You decide against loitering around there like a nosy eavesdropper, not wanting to come face to face with anyone from the tent. Then Neteyam walks out of the Marui. He raises an eyebrow at you, then you turn your back, about to escape from the reaches of the flame, or at least tried to.

"And you," Jake calls out.

You turn towards him, and you see Neteyam grab this opportunity to vanish.

"You're coming with me."

"...um, no. I don't think so."

From the corner of your eyes, you see Neteyam pause, then pivot towards you, probably with a 'the fuck?' look on his face, the usual one he sends towards you.

Jake narrows his eyes as he stares you down, and you gulp.

"What I meant was, I am not ready yet, sir. I would like to have more time to gather my courage, please."

You hear Neteyam scoff.

Jake's brows drew together, deep in thought. You knew you had at least a little bit of a chance that he might relent when he takes his time to decide. If you had no chance at all, then he wouldn't have to think about it. You knew he was too busy for you, and you were right.

"Fine. But prepare yourself. I won't be as lenient once your training starts. You have a lot to learn."

You, in your relief, grinned up at him. He blinks, clearly taken aback, his stern gaze softening. How it baffled you even more, when he nodded and patted you on the head, before striding off.

You almost burst out laughing when you catch Neteyam gawking at you. You try to keep your lips from curling into a smug, shit-eating grin for his sake. You failed.

⌛🌊⌛

You hate how that exchange improved your mood so much. It was revolting, the way the world seemed so much brighter after receiving a pat on the head from your saviour. You must've been a lot more lonely than you let yourself realize.

Perhaps Jake knew, because he went ahead and dragged you with them to dinner. The dreaded communal gathering that you've been avoiding.

You should've attended these gatherings sooner.

You loved watching the reef folk squirm under your blank stare. And since Jake successfully mastered riding a skimwing, his reputation improved significantly. The reef folk are more careful not to offend him and his people now, at least in front of the chief. Now you can creep them out without having to worry about getting beat up (at least not right now).

The fun was cut off though, when Neteyam notices what you've been doing. He was onto you at once, smiling politely at the people he passed, then as he reaches you, his smile falls into a scowl. He leans down to you and whispers "will you stop doing that." It was more of a hiss, really. His smile was back again as he pulls away.

For the rest of the night, you can feel his gaze on you. You don't see your life flashing before your eyes, so it probably wasn't a glare anymore. It was unnerving, still. Especially since he's also, quite obviously hovering around you. He wasn't even trying to hide it, like a reminder, a warning.

It was a pretty nice distraction though. At least it was a far cry from the kind of looks you always get from the reef people. Granted, you kind of deserve it for creeping them out with your perfectly practiced, blank eyes, but they wouldn't receive such disturbing stares if they weren't looking at you in the first place. Since the beginning, they look at you like you were a walking direhorse shit. Except for that one girl named Tsireya. You could practically feel her curious stares like laser beams. At least they hurt less than the usual repulsion. Ah. Hurt. Yes, of course it hurts. No amount of bitterness and pretense of indifference can protect you from your very human weaknesses. The desire to be a part of a community. How completely alone you are now, without Spider, without those agreeable middle-aged scientists back in Hell's Gate, who exerted so much effort into building rapport with you. Tsireya's curious gaze is refreshing.

And as if she was summoned with the mere thought of her, Tsireya taps you gently on the shoulders. You meet her squinting eyes, sparkling with mirth, with your dead ones.

"Hi," she says

"Hi," you answer.

She looks down, still smiling. Shouldn't you say something? But she's the one who approached you, if anyone's gotta say something it should be her.

You watch as she purses her lips in thought. Then she meets your gaze again.

"I apologize. I've never met a human before, and don't really know how to say what I want to say exactly the way I mean them."

You feel a bit warm, right in the chest because she talks so gently and she's so nice and her voice doesn't bear any disgust or hostility…

"What I do want to say is that," she continues. "I would like to be your friend."

"No, thank you."

Observe, the way her eyebrows meet but with anger so nonexistent, its absence apparent in the way her lips form a pout, her eyes glistening in dismay. You know she feels guilty because of the way her villagers have been treating you. You start to feel a little guilty yourself, but her mortification at your unexpected rejection of her offer of friendship gives you that unhinged sense of satisfaction. It gives fuel to the tiny flames licking at the hollow feeling in your knees. It was exhilarating.

You knew Neteyam was watching, too stunned to try and save the day.

You also knew that her brother was watching, his body tensing at the sight of his upset sister. He was far enough away to give you time, and you wait as he pushes himself off the tree he was leaning against, his eyes burning holes at the side of your head.

"You wouldn't gain anything by becoming friends with me. If anything, it would probably upset your parents." You explain.

Tsireya shakes her head, and she grabs both of your hands. Your eyes widened at the contact.

"I do not think you deserve the way you've been ostracized. You are different, yes. But you are not evil, not like the demons we've heard so much about. Let me be your friend, we can show them that you are not one of those demons."

You did not expect this reaction, and you look around, hoping that no one other than her brother and Neteyam was looking, fat chance because everyone in the village has been blatantly looking at the two of you the moment she took your hands in hers.

"How do you even know that I'm not one of them?"

Aonung reached the two of you, his lips curling in disgust at the sight of your hand in his sister's.

"I have a feeling. And let us confirm this feeling of mine by spending more time together!" She gives you an earnest smile.

You wanted to shoot her down again and reject her, this time right in front of her brother, just out of spite. But with her round, bright eyes, her genuine smile and reassuring grasp, you couldn't do it.

"If you really want to, I guess." You shrug, trying to appear nonchalant, even as she squeals, shaking your hands as she gleefully bounces up and down. You wanted to smile too.

"Do you wish to be one of us or something?" Aonung asks, clearly giving his all to appear civilized.

"No." You answer simply, and as fast as you can before you could think of a rude answer.

You notice everyone losing interest in your conversation with the chief's children. The reef people are slowly getting back to mind their own businesses. You don't want to gain their scrutinizing gaze once again, and upsetting these two kids would.

"Then why are you trying to associate yourself with my sister?"

"Aonung," Tsireya groans. "I was the one who asked her first. I'm the one who wants to be friends."

Aonung ignores her as he steps closer towards you, his eyes flickering over to Jake before down again at yours. You couldn't help but steal a glance at Jake too, only to find him too busy talking with Tonowari, the chief. You meet Aonung's gaze once again, this time he was wearing a predatory grin.

"A human, a demon, trying to worm its way into somewhere it doesn't belong. That's what you are. Do not forget."

You take a deep breath, feeling the cool night air stretch your lungs as you try to resist the urge to deck him, right in front of his own village.

"What's up?" Lo'ak saunters toward your friendly group, both his arms resting on top of his head in a lazy manner. His clueless gaze shifting from Tsireya, then to you, then at Aonung. "Am I interrupting something?"

Simultaneously, the metkayina siblings answer a negative and a positive.

"Great, what is this? The gathering of freaks?" Aonung laughs. Neteyam winces, his eyes burning a fiery glare that you've become familiar with.

Kiri follow behind Lo'ak, sheepishly looking at you through her eyelashes.

"It must be, since you're here too." You say before Neteyam could even open his mouth.

The other three, Lo'ak, Kiri, and Tsireya blanches at your answer, the two other 'freaks' not even given enough time to feel offended. Silence ensues and you could almost hear the gears in Aonung's brain as he processes your unexpected retort. It definitely wasn't one of your best, and you cringe.

Lo'ak all but explodes in raucous laughter, causing eyes and heads to turn in your direction once again.

Aonung's sharp eyes flicker once again towards the direction where his father and Jake were, before huffing as he slowly backs away.

"That's right. Enjoy yourself tonight. It is a party after all."

He was definitely going to have you killed.

You know you've contradicted yourself when you told Kiri that you do not want to cause them trouble, only to later start provoking reef people. You managed to not make a scene (you kinda did) and ruin the party (you nearly did) though. That's something.

"What was that?" Neteyam asked, eyebrows slanted downwards in disapproval. You shrug. "Some guy walked up on me and started spouting shit?"

He huffs, clearly irritated. "You've obviously been annoying people on purpose," he says in a low voice, so as to not gain more attention.

"It was me who approached her!" Tsireya whispers, vehemently defending you.

"What happened?" Lo'ak asks, also whispering, his head bent and leaning towards you.

"We all know you've been making others feel uncomfortable on purpose." Neteyam says to you.

You scoff. "Story of my life in a nutshell."

"What?"

"I only treat people the way they treat me, Neteyam. They glare at me and it doesn't matter if I ignore them, they'll still see me as a monster and treat me like shit. I just decided to have fun with it."

Neteyam sighs. He looks around before meeting your gaze once again. "Just stop with the troublemaking, it's the least you can do."

You wanted to rip your hair off.

"Well, I'm sorry then. Sorry for terrorizing the metkayina people by mirroring their stares!" You flip Neteyam off, mouthing a very aggressive 'fuck you'. He gapes at you, mortified. You shake your head, muttering a tiny "shit" as you leave, already regretting the way you handled things, but still leaving as fast as you can to escape.

…

"You kinda deserved that." Lo'ak states.

Neteyam gives him an offended look, before also shaking his head as he walks off to the opposite direction, his head filled with thoughts of you.

#neteyam #neteyam x reader #neteyam te suli tsyeyk'itan #avatar way of the water #avatar way of water

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sleepingdeath-light · 9 months

Text

yandere hcs ; edalyn clawthorne

requested by ; anonymous (28/07/22)

fandom(s) ; the owl house

fandom masterlist(s) ; here

character(s) ; edalyn clawthorne

outline ; “May I Please request Yandere Edalyn Clawthorne (From The Owl House) Headcanons. NGL I think she would be scary considering the curse ,but that's just me.”

warning(s) ; yandere!eda, physical violence, kidnapping, obsessive behaviour, possessive behaviour, near-death of reader

as far as being a yandere goes, eda is absolutely terrifying in how her obsession towards you manifests — after all, she has no reputation to threaten, no job to lose, and she’s spent decades outmanoeuvring the emperor’s coven so the chances of her ever getting caught and punished for her actions is so close to nothing that it’s basically negligent

combine all of that with her emotionally volatile cursed form and her scarily loyal house demon, hooty, and you’ve basically got zero chance of escaping her once she’s finally got you in her grasp

she’d been watching you for a long time before she snapped, living vicariously through you as you went about your day as a normal citizen — covertly following you as you ran errands, staying outside of your home and listening to you as you go about your daily routine, sneaking into your home to watch you sleep, and so on

she knew your schedule like the back of her hand, talked about you constantly to king and hooty, and didn’t even consider taking you until king suggested it — like it was the most normal thing in the world — and so she did (the very same day in fact — even though she was woefully unprepared, but she wasn’t exactly known for thinking ahead when she did things, so this wasn’t too out of the ordinary for her)

outside of the kidnapping and refusal to let you leave her home, your relationship is shockingly typical and easy to adjust to — you find yourself getting used to the regular chaos of the owl house without even realising, even, until it feels more ‘normal’ than your previous life and you start to hate how much you ‘love’ your ‘new family’

she uses pet names for you, jokes around with you, is affectionate and mischievous in equal measure, and makes sure that you’re provided for as best she can — she’s very obviously enamoured by you, but she still doesn’t open up to you, not really

she knows everything about you and you know almost nothing about her, which makes conversations difficult and one sided — the most you figure out is that she’s cursed (because she leaves her potions everywhere), that she’s a wild witch (because you’d seen her wanted posters around bonesborough for years), and that she has a sister in the emperor’s coven (because you heard them arguing at the door when you were still trapped in the upstairs room — but she was long gone before you had the chance to call for help), but as far as her personality and life beyond that went she was incredibly guarded and avoided answering questions about it however she could

if it weren’t for how physically affectionate and flirty she was with you, you might have felt more like an object to stare at than someone who she cared for (in her own, twisted way)

at least you had king and hooty to keep you company, who were both orders of magnitude more open and genuine with you than eda was — with them both giving you more insight into the life of your captor and providing you with good company and laughter as best they can

(king in particular looks to you as a playmate and even a sort of parental figure, and you usually spend the days where eda’s at the market playing with and tending to him — he particularly loves cooking and baking with you and has been known to curl up on your lap and fall asleep after a particularly long day)

you rarely ever get a glimpse into eda’s curse, only having heard the basics from hooty and eda herself, but one notable encounter was the first and last time you tried to escape from her — the stress and anger and upset felt all mixing inside of her until she snapped and you ended up being hunted down by a furious owl beast, which caught you soon enough and nearly mauled you to death before she regained control

she used potions and spells to heal you as best as she could, but some scars, both mental and physical, still remain and act as a visceral reminder of what awaits you if you try to flee — the pain never leaving you even as you fully acclimatise to your new life, no longer trying to fight back

because next time she might not be able to stop herself

because next time the owl beast might not be as merciful as she tries to reassure you that it is

because next time might be the last time

and, at least, by staying with her you still have a chance of being able to see your loved ones again, however small that chance might actually be — because a small chance is still better than what you would have if you were killed

besides, this new human, luz, seems to be softening her up quite a bit so you might have a better chance than you thought — and, either way, you don’t mind her company (she’s a fun kid, after all)

maybe things will get better for you now

maybe

#sleepingdeath #gender neutral reader #yandere hcs #yandere x reader #yandere toh x reader #yandere toh #yandere eda x reader #yandere eda #eda x reader #toh eda x reader #the owl house x reader #yandere the owl house x reader #yandere the owl house #toh x reader

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kitty35 · 2 years

Text

Were You Jealous?

Eddie Munson x Witch!Reader(Mostly gender neutral but there are uses of she/her)

This is a part two to Something About The New Student, though you don't really have to read that to understand this one

Type - hurt feelings and jealousy with major fluff at the end

Summary - Ever since Eddie became Chrissys' dealer, it hasn't been the same. She was all he ever talked about. It hurt so much to hear someone you love talk so fondly about someone else. Truly, it made me think things I never had before.

Requests are open :)

Slowly, I began to show him parts of my life that I hadn’t before. The biggest one being, allowing him to see and interact with Miso. By then he knew I was a witch, along with majority of my family—my father being the only human—but he didn’t realize just what that meant. To say he was shocked when the little black blob said ‘hello’ to him without moving their mouth would be an understatement. It took a good hour for me to calm him down, but eventually he did. Now, he treats Miso like his own pet which always warmed my heart.

“Then, she got so scared, she threw the popcorn everywhere!” Eddie yelled while laughing. I loved everything about my best friend and I really meant it when I said that. People from the witch side of my life have told me that love was the most beautiful thing ever. They said that it consumed a person whole and became the center of their life. In their words, love was the most beautiful gift a person could ever get. But right now, as I watched him go on and on about Chrissy? That love felt more like a curse then a gift.

“(Y/n), you should have seen her face. I’m telling you it was so funny! I didn’t think muscles could move like that” They were right though, it did consume me whole. I found myself messing up simple spells and potions that I have never messed up before, all because I was daydreaming about stupid Eddie Munson. It only made it worse because he doesn’t feel the same way that I do. Ever since Eddie became Chrissys drug dealer, she was all he ever talked about.

“(Y/n)? Are you there? Have you even been listening to me?” There were times where I even considered doing things I knew I shouldn’t. I swore to my mother when she passed that I wouldn’t stoop to that low, not even for love. Though, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind considering all the things that she did for my father when they first got together. It was more of a ‘be better then I was’ type of thing then following her example. She wanted better for me. My whole body shook, bringing me from my thoughts. After blinking a few times, I realized that Eddie was the one who was moving my shoulders. There was a concerned look in his eyes as I just stared for a few seconds.

“Have you heard anything I just said? Like, at all?” My hand came up to scratch at the side of my face, closing my eyes to avoid his gaze.

“No, sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

“Something? What’s so important that you can’t even hear me talking to you?” Once again my eyes opened, looking at him before scanning the very full halls. My hand even vaguely gestured to the people around us, trying to say it was something I couldn’t say here. Yet he didn’t get it, making a face for me to continue and answer him.

“Just, it’s about my job.” He should know what that meant.

“What about it?”

“I don’t know, just stuff.”

“No, I wanna know. What’s got you so stressed?” He sounded worried and his expression held that same sentiment too. Before I could answer, a new voice butted into our conversation.

“Eddie! Hey!” It was Chrissy… Of course it had to be her. I felt myself pull away from the two as she leaned against him, slightly looking over his shoulder to see me. His hands fell from my shoulders as I stared down, missing how his eyes never once left me. “Hey to you too! I didn’t even see you there!” I could tell she forgot my name. After all, she refers to everyone by their name, even when she didn’t need to. Was I really that forgettable?

“Hey.” I responded, turning to my locker and putting the books I just grabbed away. I don’t think I’m going to class anymore. Something in the back of my locker caught my eye. It was an old flower book. I can still remember the day Eddie got it for me. He said to keep it in my locker so when we skipped together we could use it to identify different flowers. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I already knew majority of the flowers that grew here, that would have broken his spirit.

Without even thinking twice, I reached my hand into my locker. Pushing it as far back as I could, I summoned a flower. Well, summoned wasn’t the correct word but that was as close to what I did as I could think. It was a dark maroon colored petunia. Deep red for unrequited feelings and a petunia for resentment, perfect for both of them.

“Here, this goes with your outfit.” I smiled and handed Chrissy the flower, hoping she didn’t know the meaning behind it. She took it happily and quickly tucked it behind her ear.

“How do I look?” She asked Eddie, doing a small spin even if it was unnecessary. He barley even looked at her before giving a small ‘pretty’. That hurt more then I thought it would.

“(Y/n)…” He trailed off, turning back to me. Of course he knew something was wrong and while he didn’t remember exactly what that flower meant, he knew it wasn’t good.

“Look, Munson, I’m fine. Okay? I just…have a lot on my plate with school and work and everything else and I just need a minute!” My locker slammed shut without me touching it as I finished my sentence. It took everything in me to not be yelling but I didn’t fully succeed. My voice had raised a little and he could see the tears that I tried so desperately to hide. For a second it felt like the world was silent as everyone in the hall stared. Never before had anyone seen me show my emotions like that to anyone and especially not towards Eddie, the guy who was glued to my hip since freshman year when I moved here. It was startling to see me express anything other then calm joy when I was around him. I was sure there would be rumors spreading by the end of the day. My hands opened and closed, something I did as almost self soothing, before I turned and left.

“What was that all about?” Chrissy asked as Eddie let out a groan.

“I don’t know. She’s never been like that before.”

“It must to be hard to deal with that.” That sentence threw him off, making him gently push her away. Not like an actual push, just something so there would be space between them.

“What?”

“I’m just saying, if she’s acting like that and it’s stressing you out—which it is, don’t even try to lie to me about that—then maybe the friendship isn’t worth it?” He couldn’t believe his ears, face showing his shock. “What?”

“No, she’s not stressing me out and I’m offended that you told me that our friendship isn’t worth it.”

“All I’m saying is that it doesn’t sound healthy on your end. How many times has she dumped all her stress on you?”

“Never! I literally just said this is the first time she’s ever been like that.”

“Well, I don’t think you should keep her around.” It took him a second, again, to understand what was being said to him. Why was Chrissy acting so weird now too?

“Chrissy, we aren’t dating. You can’t tell me who I can and cant hang out with.”

“We could change that.” She smiled, moving closer again and wrapping her arms around his neck. All he did in response was lean away, hands held up in confusion.

“Woah, back up there!” Now both of them were confused.

“I thought you wanted to date me?”

“Where did you get that idea?” He removed her from him.

“All the times we got high together? When you took me out to the movies literally just last night, wasn’t that a date?”

“No! We got high together because I wanted to get high and it’s more fun with a friend and (Y/n) doesn’t use my stuff and last night wasn’t a date. (Y/n) didn’t wanna go to the movie and I tried to invite the boys from Hellfire but they were busy or it was too last minute.”

“But…you…”

“I’m sorry I gave off that impression, but you got it all wrong. I don’t like you like that.” Then it hit him, if Chrissy thought something was going on between them then I might too. If that was the case then he knew he messed up, big time. “Look, I need to go find (Y/n).” He didn’t even say bye before leaving and running to where he knew he would more then likely find me.

I sat on damp leafs in the woods behind the football field. The tree bark was rough on my back even through my clothes but I just ignored it. Tears fell from my eyes as I tried my best to stop them. Thoughts of Eddie and Chrissy together flooded my mind making it impossible to actually stop crying despite that effort. Miso did their best to cheer me up but their little dances and poor singing/acting could only help so much.

Small thoughts popped up in my brain for only a second each. I had plenty of items that could get rid of unwanted people. Cursed jewelry that did the job for me, voodoo dolls that just needed the DNA to match with a person, potions that made people hate someone, spells that changed how someone sees someone else. Thought after thought of things I could do passed my mind and as much as I wanted to, as easy as it would be, I couldn’t do it. I would never be able to. I could sit here and wish and imagine everything I could do but yet never be able to. As much as it pained me to see him with Chrissy, it would hurt me even more to see him heart broken, especially if he was so hurt because of something I did.

Miso heard all these thoughts and finally settled in next to me. I could hear them purr, telling me it wasn’t my fault. They said I was a good person and didn’t deserve this. But how could I be a good person when I had thought of so many ways to hurt other people—hurt the person I love?

“(Y/n)!” I heard Eddies faint voice call out. I wasn’t sure if I had finally lost it but I must have. There was no way he followed me out here. But I heard him again. “(Y/n)! I’m serious! Where are you?! I know you’re somewhere out here!” I stayed hidden as Miso went to say hello. For as much as I loved how their relationship has grown, I hated it a lot right now. I mean really, were they my familiar or his because it really felt like they were his when they betrayed me like this.

“Hey, buddy.” Eddie sounded out of breath. “Have you seen (Y/n)?”

“Why?” They asked.

“Because the two of us need to have a chat.” Fuck, was mad at me for storming out like that? Was he going to tell me he never wanted to see me again? Were we even still friends? I don’t think my heart could handle it if we weren’t.

“(Y/n) upset.”

“I know and I wanna help, but I can’t if I don’t see them.”

“Promise you help?” No, don’t you fucking dare.

“Yes, I promise I’ll help.” Miso, don’t.

“Okay! This way!” You little traitor. I couldn’t help but sigh in my mind at that. Before long, they were in front of me. “Found friend!” They exclaimed. I was never able to stay mad at them when they gave that stupid, lovable grin.

“I see that… Thanks, Miso.” I sighed out, eyes closing out of annoyance.

“(Y/n), please tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s just a lot, okay? You can go hang out with Chrissy. I’m sure that’s a lot more fun. I can handle this on my own.” He fell to his knees in front of me, slowly grabbing a hold of my hands.

“You know that I don’t like Chrissy, right?”

“What?” I was confused at that. No, that couldn’t be right. I must have heard him wrong. Maybe this was all a hallucination, but the firm pressure from his hands told me otherwise.

“She offered to go out with her but I told her no and she seemed confused. She said that she was sure I liked her but that just isn’t true.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m more then a hundred percent sure. I’ve never been more sure of anything else in my whole life.”

“It sounds like you like her when you go on and on about her.” It took him a second to respond, a small grin coming to his lips.

“But you don’t hear the way I talk about you.” Our eyes met. “You can ask the boys, when you aren’t around you’re all I ever talk about. Unless I’m the DM, but that might as well not even be me.” I giggled a little. “There’s that smile I adore.” One of his hands let go of mine in favor of cupping my cheek. Once there, he wiped away all the tears that had formed. “I got a question for you.” He only got a small hum in response. “Were you jealous?” I didn’t respond but my cheeks burned bright red.

“Yes!” Miso chimed in.

“Hey!” Eddie laughed at my outburst as I tried to stand up to avoid any further embarrassment. Though he didn’t let that happen and quickly pulled me into his arms. We fell back into the dirt. I complained and told him to let go as he just laughed. Soon enough we both quieted down and realized our position. I was laying on top of him, legs on either side of his hips as he kept his arms firmly around me.

“I could get used to this. You’re quite easy on the eyes.” My head fell to his chest as I clenched his shirt in my hands.

“Same here.” Happiness swelled in his chest at those two words from me. Very gently, he placed a kiss to the top of my head as a sigh fell from my lips. He didn’t have those words or ideas about love like I did, but in that moment, as he felt fuzzy and warm from head to toe, he knew that was what this was. This relationship, whatever it was, was love from both ends, and he never wanted to let that go. Never.

A/N- I'm sick rn and couldn't sleep so this was what I did lmao. I hope you enjoyed it! It isn't supper huge in the witch concept but it's still there. I'm thinking about doing a fic, separate from this one, where Jason and his friends basically try to burn the reader alive and Eddie helps save them even though they don't need it. Idk, does that sound cool?? I think it does lol

#eddie x reader #eddie munson x reader #stranger things x reader #x reader #xreader #witch reader

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coldresolve · 4 months

Note

A huge part of the whump being torture apologia discussion comes from the fact that people exoticize torture. It's foreign. It's something you see in spy movies and read about in thrillers. It's a pain that most people can safely distance themselves from in order to experience emotional catharsis or simple enjoyment. The thing is, some people don't get to have that distance.

It's hard for me to describe the sheer grief that comes with it all. I know a man who was tortured in prison. People who faced abuse from family so severe that it amounted to torture. Someone whose torture was to watch their friends be deliberately hurt. I wish whump writers could learn to have compassion for these people as well, even if their lived experiences are not exceptionally common or openly spoken about.

If an author portrays domestic abuse in their writing, it's generally considered necessary and responsible for them to either write the abuse in a realistic way or to state outside their writing that their portrayal of this very real issue is unrealistic. This respects people's lived experiences with abuse and prevents creating a culture of normalizing and glorifying abusive behavior.

It's most definitely not too much to ask of whump writers to uphold those same standards when writing about torture.

you have no idea how nice it is to get someone well spoken and well thought out in my inbox every once in a while. uh im on like hr 30 of being awake and kinda struggling piecing my thoughts together right now, so forgive me if i dont make a lot of sense, but i wanna say sth

the tone of your ask for some reason really hit a nerve for me. like getting slapped in the face, kind of. i think its the fact you come across really compassionate and just. calm, thoughtful in this. kinda puts my approach into perspective lol

i think im just angry about this topic. like ive got a passion for wanting to get it right, but its driven by anger and frustration. having ppl nitpick the fuck out of everything i say instead of actually having the sorts of conversations that should be had about the topic. i know me being angry edgy tantrum controversial oh whats he gonna say now guy and all that, turns people away from listening to me but i dont know how else to approach it sometimes, i don't want to make excuses for people who i feel should know better. i dont have that kind of patience i guess, at least not right now

i think that anger is like a manifestation, symptom. im angry about the people this happens to, and how catastrophic it is. angry at the people who let it happen. the systems that are built around it. people don't see how systemic torture can be. im angry that the fucking war on terror media frenzy was so effective, because your average person still fucking believes in all the bullshit. or the idea of torture survivors being "broken" like its a personal failure, like its the result of their own shortcomings when they're some of the strongest people you can meet. just all these unfair ideas about it that are everywhere. and people still somehow find it necessary to keep spreading those ideas, even if they know theyre wrong. when it doesnt add anything of value, youre not saying anything about it, youre not actually adding something to the conversation by going along with the bullshit, youre literally just entertaining yourself

i dont know how to not be angry about it, i think. thats the growth goal for me i guess, cause i know this isnt the sorta thing thats gonna fix itself tomorrow. and i dunno your ask just made me think about that, like how i handle this on a personal level. and i think itd be healthy for me to step away from the discussion for a couple days at least and just. accept that i tried to reach people this round, maybe it didnt really work, thats fine, ill try again some other time. also i am writing all this very slowly cause my skull is kinda collapsing in on itself so to speak and maybe that has something to do with me being sorta hopelessly frustrated lmfao. apologies

#asks

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writerlyhabits · 1 year

Text

White Christmas

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x female reader

Word Count: 4.7k

Summary: The Holiday season catches Bucky by surprise, but after a less-than-ideal morning, a friendly invitation from his new neighbor is more tempting than he would have anticipated.

Prologue to the Neighbors Series | Masterlist | Ch. 1

Warnings: language, festive holiday things (I tried to keep it very vague so all celebrations could be filled in), talk of wartime and Bucky’s past, I think that’s it…

AN: Happy Holidays!! I was watching White Christmas – one of my favorite Christmas movies, if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it – and the opening scene made me think of Bucky and how he might react. I thought of his neighbor showing this movie to him, and then did the math backward from the timeline of my series and realized she moves in right around Christmas time… so this is the fic that happened 😂 Set before chapter one, you don’t have to have read any of Neighbors to be able to follow along, but there are nods to later chapters if you have.

Thank you @deceiverofgodss for listening to my rambling, ily 💛

Bucky let out a sigh of relief when he got all the little app icons to jumble around the way google had said, finding the app he’d just been using and tapping the buttons in the corner. Yes, I want to delete the app.

It had been about a month since he’d been given this new life, and it was… still an adjustment. The Wakandans had been more than generous, Shuri and Ayo seeing to it directly that he had everything he needed. They organized the pardon trial, went through hoops to find him a decent lawyer, and helped him settle into the apartment the government had set up for him. Shuri, in fact, had scolded him when he tried to tell her he’d find the place on his own, saying something along the lines of him being too stubborn for his own good.

It was very reminiscent of when his family had dropped his sister Rebecca off at school in Indiana. Ayo had told him they’d already prepped the place with everything he would need to get started, Shuri had excitedly whispered about a new tactical suit she’d hidden in the back of the closet – “just in case… you can never be too prepared” – and then they were gone.

Bucky had been required to start weekly therapy sessions as part of his pardon, and begrudgingly – by court mandate – he went each Saturday morning to hear comments about finding out who he was again. It was exhausting.

It had started with the haircut. He hadn’t lasted two weeks before the shoulder-length mess drove him crazy. Though that wasn’t fair… it wasn’t the length that bothered him, but the reflection in the mirror. His codes were broken and his life was in his own hands, but the Winter Soldier seemed to be staring back at him everywhere he looked.

The short hair was an adjustment to say the least. But he had stepped out of the barbershop feeling lighter, like a new man. And the face that looked back at him was one he hadn’t seen in a long time.

That being said, it had also directly led to a plan that was most definitely one of his worst.

The last time he had truly been James Buchanan Barnes was back in the 1940s, notorious for being popular with women. So when that cocky confidence surged back up again, he had the not-so-brilliant idea to try it again. He thought that if he went back to being the ladies' man he once was, he’d find himself.

A horrible decision, that one.

Having no clue where to even start, he took to searching on google “How does dating work in the 21st century?” Which had him downloading a dating app. The one that he was getting rid of this very moment.

It had done nothing but confuse him further. He couldn’t take a good picture of himself to save his life and had worse luck creating a description for his profile; in hindsight, “James. 105. Still don’t know what to put here… I think I’m better in person” probably wasn’t his best move.

Most of the girls thought he was trying to be funny, and were disappointed when the following conversation proved otherwise. Some girls took his profile as an invitation to talk about a number of things he wished he didn’t understand. And a handful of them… well, he didn’t think he could blame his poor excuse of a profile for the pictures he’d been sent, but it happened nonetheless.

The dates he had been on were filled with nothing but meaningless small talk and modern nuances he didn’t understand, leaving him with less and less of the already dwindling monthly check he’d gotten as part of his pardon. It didn’t take long for him to come to terms with the fact that groceries cost far more than they did in the forties, and that his three thousand dollar army retirement wasn’t exactly the sum it used to be, especially when rent took up so much of it. Maybe he shouldn’t have turned Murdock down when he’d suggested they fight for more…

No, he didn’t need to be selfish, he would get by. It had saved him from having to deal with any more of the loud crowds of press or the looks people gave him in the courtroom, which was why Bucky had told Matt ‘no’ when he suggested they could get away with more than a retirement rate based on outdated economic values.

He’d certainly survived on less when he was in Romania. He’d be fine.

Bucky approached the top of the stairs that deposited him in front of his apartment, returning from the last of his lousy dates as the app in question disappeared from the screen. Good riddance.

As he went to put his key in the lock, he heard steps behind him coming down from the floor above, and he turned to glance over his shoulder as his door clicked open, pleasantly surprised when he found you descending from the floor above.

You had on a flattering sweater and looked very put together, as you always did, except it didn’t look like it offered you much warmth since you kept your crossed arms close to your body as you moved through the building. In another time, he’d leap to offer you his jacket or make some quippy remark about keeping you warm. He’d have to be blind not to admit you were a very pretty girl, one he would have gone after back in his prime…

But he wasn’t that man anymore. Not by a long shot. Who he was, he had no idea, but the James Barnes of his past was not who was standing before you in the hall.

You gave him a warm smile as you made eye contact, and he returned it with a friendly grin of his own.

“Hey! James, right?” You asked sweetly, and he nodded in confirmation as you fished your own keys out from the pocket of your jeans. “Funny how we seem to keep meeting like this… You at your door, me at mine,” you joked as you gestured between the two of you, and it genuinely made him laugh.

“Such strange places for either of us to be. We can’t keep seeing each other like this,” he tossed back, your airy giggle filling the landing. You were the first person all day that he hadn’t minded starting a conversation with. He didn’t know you all that well, he’d only seen you in the building a handful of times, but your interactions always left him with a smile on his face – in comparison to the rest of his daily encounters, that was a high compliment. “Making more banana bread rounds?” He asked only a little awkwardly, gesturing up the stairs you’d just descended from as he tried to keep the conversation going. .

“Hm? Oh! No, not today,” you answered, a little uncertain yourself. At least, that’s what he could guess from your posture, picking at your hands as you kept them in front of you.

“That’s good. I don’t need any competition for your leftovers,” he joked, earning an amused grin.

“Is that so?”

“Are you kidding? That was the best banana bread I’ve had in eighty years.” You laughed out loud, your face scrunched up as you threw your head back. At least it had come across as funny because he wouldn’t have known how to play it off otherwise. “I may or may not have polished it off in one sitting,” he continued when your laughter had come back down to a chuckle.

“Oh gosh, I’m glad to hear it! I’ll have to let you know when I make another batch,” you smiled, the warmth in your voice practically reaching out and taking hold of him, and he couldn’t say he minded.

“Please do.”

The conversation hit a short lull – though shockingly, not an awkward one – and he feared whether this would be the end of it. Something about you made it easy to open up a little bit more, and he liked branching out from talking to either his therapist or Mr. Nakajima; neither of those conversations were easy, but unfortunately required. You were different.

Before he could worry too long, your brows shot up on your forehead as you came to some sort of realization. “Oh, hey! What are you doing for the holidays?” you asked excitedly.

“I uh… I won’t lie, I hadn’t even realized Christmas was coming up so soon,” he admitted. “I don’t really have any plans.” He could confidently say that was the understatement of the century, having lived through most of it.

“Well, if you need somewhere to go, I was gonna do something Christmas Eve. Just, y’know, make some snacks and put on a few holiday movies,” you shrugged, and for a moment, Bucky genuinely didn’t know how to respond. “I’m new to the city so I haven’t found my people just yet, but nobody needs to be alone during the holidays.”

When Bucky met you, he had opened his door to find you smiling directly at him, handing him a plate of banana bread muffins, and introducing yourself as his neighbor across the hall. And now, only a few days later, you were inviting him into your apartment to celebrate the holidays. He hadn’t been graced with this amount of kindness in a very long time, and it was more refreshing than he was prepared for.

“Is anyone else coming?” he asked slowly, not quite sure what to do with himself and this wave of emotion that had hit him.

“Uh, well I’ve been knocking on other people’s doors kinda asking the same thing,” you started, gesturing to the stairs you’d come down from a few minutes ago. “A lot of people are traveling, or have other plans. Or, you know, are lying to the stranger who just invited them to her apartment a few floors down.” Your comedic shrug made him chuckle under his breath, and he liked how easily you put a smile back on his face.

“So it’d just be you and me?” Did that realization make him nervous? This whole interaction would be a hell of a lot easier to navigate if he could just understand what the hell his own feelings were doing.

“That’s what it looks like... if that makes it too weird, that’s okay! But if you’re an introvert like me and like that there won’t be people there, my offer still stands.” Now it was your turn to look at him a little nervously, completely unaware that he could tell, waiting to see if you would end up having to spend the holidays alone.

In that moment he realized that you were just two lonely people. One in need of a little extra kindness, and one with that much extra to give, conveniently placed right at each other's doorsteps.

“I’ll be there.”

When Bucky knocked on your door a few days later, you answered in a cozy-looking sweater, leggings, and tall fuzzy socks with festive patterns on them. He started to feel a bit nervous about the stark contrast of his leather jacket and gloves – more specifically, about what he would say if you asked about taking them off – but the warm smile that spread across your face managed to ease his worries. For now.

“Hey! Come on in!” You beckoned, holding the door open wider and turning back into the apartment, allowing him to follow in after you. “I’m glad you came over, I’ve been here all day and I just… well, human interaction could do me some good,” you laughed, and he chuckled with you.

“Don’t mention it. I’ve been there, it’s… I’m glad to fill the position.” You smiled sweetly as you flitted through the space to the kitchen, and he took a second to take in his surroundings while you were occupied.

Your apartment had a different layout than his, your front door dropping him directly into your open living room on his left, and the decently sized kitchen separated by a half wall of counters to his right. It was hard to judge precisely how large the space was as the only things in the room were a couch, a TV sitting on a dresser that definitely wasn’t in its final position, and a neat arrangement of cardboard boxes in the middle of the living room. And yet, despite the lack of living this space had gone through, it was far more warm and inviting than he was expecting. Even so early on, it felt like a home.

You had an assortment of foods and snacks jumbled together on the countertop closest to him, and he watched as you pulled a few more dips and toppings out of the fridge. He had half a mind to laugh at the comical amount of food you had prepared for just two people, but he was a super soldier whose monthly expenses were starting to make him count his pennies... He could make a sizable dent in your selection without even trying, and leave only feeling a little bit guilty.

“Sorry for the mess,” you started, stepping around a different stack of boxes piled in front of your cabinets. “I definitely thought that I’d have plenty of time to make my apartment look presentable by now, but I underestimated how much crap I have, so… I’ve made my peace with the cardboard coffee table for now.”

“I mean, you’ve been here how long, maybe two weeks?” He asked, and you nodded as you popped a loaded cracker into your mouth. “I’d expect you to have a cardboard coffee table still. It’s only a small change from the three pieces of furniture in my living room.”

“Three? How long have you lived here?”

“About a month,” he answered with a tight-lipped smile, and a small grin appeared at the corner of your lips. “To be fair, I didn’t really have anything when I moved in, so it’s… a work in progress.” You nodded in understanding as you pointed at him with intention.

“Well, that’s different! Having to furnish an apartment is expensive, it takes time. Organizing the hodge-podge of shit you’ve collected over the years is less forgiving,” you explained, and he laughed when you rolled your eyes at all the boxes still surrounding you.

Bucky was still trying to figure out how he wanted to settle into your space, but watching you be so candid and casual within minutes of his arrival was like a palette cleanser. Sure, maybe you didn’t know about the vibranium hiding under his left sleeve – nor that the history associated with it was his to claim – but watching you pick nonchalantly at the finger foods displayed between you was slowly eating away at his unease. You were relaxed and comfortable around him…

It was a nice change.

“Help yourself, don’t be shy! Eat as much as you like, I’m sick of reheated leftovers, so if you don’t eat them now you’ll be taking them home,” you ordered pointedly as you stepped back into the living room, leaving him chuckling quietly to himself. “I’ll go ahead and put on something festive… Do you like old movies, James?” you questioned as you reached for the tv remote.

“Define old movies…” he offered cautiously. Catching up on the pop culture of the last seventy years had been a daunting task he’d barely scratched the surface of.

“Like, really old. Classic Hollywood, from the forties and fifties.” Thank god…

“Yes. Yeah, I do. They- Yep, those are my favorite,” he fumbled, grateful that he’d at least know how to steer his way through most of this conversation. You looked ecstatic at his answer.

“Have you seen White Christmas?” You asked excitedly.

Dammit.

“I uh- no, I haven’t gotten to that one yet.”

“What?” you asked incredulously, sounding offended as you snapped your head around to look back at him. “Oh, we’re watching it right now, you’re gonna love it.”

Bucky raised both of his brows as if to ask if you were serious, a playful expression tugging at his features, winning him over when you gave him a sly grin before turning back to find the movie on your screen. What was he getting himself into…

“It’s got some big names, too. Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, and … shoot, I always forget his name…” you trailed off, fidgeting your fingers in concentration. He spared a glance up at you as he waited for you to figure out what you were trying to say, only to see a familiar face appear on the screen as you selected the movie. Well, somewhat familiar.

“Is that Danny Kaye?” He piped up, remembering that painted smiling face from posters when he was younger.

When Becca came home from school in the summer of what had to be 1940, his family had driven up to Manhattan. As a treat, their parents had bought tickets to a show at the popular nightclub there – La Martinique – to see none other than Danny Kaye and his wife perform. It had been earlier in his career than whatever this movie was you were trying to show him, but if the smile on your face had anything to say for it, the vintage actor’s career must have done pretty well after the Barnes family had a chance to see him.

If he only had a nickel for each time he’d seen a celebrity in the 40s end up doing well for themselves. One for Danny Kaye, one for Howard Stark… That money could’ve at least bought him a soda to enjoy while being promised flying cars – and he was still waiting on those.

You snapped your fingers and pointed back at him with a wide expression of relief. “Yes!! Danny Kaye… Ugh, he’s so good in this.”

“No kidding. I’ve seen him in- uh… in other movies,” he started, recovering weakly from almost letting a detail slip that he very much would not have been able to explain. ‘I watched him perform in person over 70 years ago’ wasn’t exactly a shared experience. “My interest is piqued. Let’s see if it’s as good as you say,” he teased, happy when you hadn’t caught onto his blunder and shot him a smug look.

“It will be.”

…

Bucky didn’t know what to expect from your classic holiday movie, but opening on a scene from the front lines of the war hadn’t been anywhere close.

“Christmas Eve, 1944.”

That was a date he’d remembered living, having spent it similarly to what he saw on the screen. The Howling Commandos had banded together in their temporary camp, pulling together any bits and pieces they could to decorate one of the smaller trees growing just inside the perimeter. The men had shared traditions from back home, sang holiday carols, and kept Dum Dum Dougan from doing anything too outlandish. He definitely kept Steve on his toes, acting as an oversized mother hen to the whole group.

“God, some of them are just so young.”

Your voice took Bucky out of his thoughts, looking up to see your gaze locked on the screen with a commiserative expression. Your eyes followed a young soldier in one of the back rows before you turned back to look at him, becoming a little sheepish as you attempted a smile.

“I know that sounds ridiculous. Like, they’re not actually out at war, he’s just an extra in the background, but…”

“But it happened.”

He’d seen those boys come in. As Sergeant James Barnes of the U.S. Army in 1943, he’d seen men of all ages come into his responsibility as privates, the war encouraging an influx of men enlisting, himself included. Some of his men had wives and families they were fighting for. Some of them were around his age, having nothing better to do with their “able bodies” than surrender them to their country’s use.

Some of those boys were freshly eighteen, enlisted mere days after their birthdays, and dropped in his hands. He’d even seen some as young as seventeen, having managed to get away with lying their way into the army, and each one of them made him feel more and more anxious about Steve’s ability to succeed at doing the very same thing.

“I think people forget about that, sometimes,” you continued, your gaze back on the screen as you looked through the crowd of soldiers in between the crooner’s solo shots. “Just how young, or even how human these soldiers were.”

He felt a lump start to form in his throat at your sentiment.

“Obviously I know that these guys aren’t actually out on the front lines,” you continued, a small laugh escaping as you gestured toward the movie. “But I just… it makes me think about the soldiers who were actually out there and the lives they had. Their loved ones, wives and children, friends and girlfriends they might have left behind. What they went through when they were out there…”

You paused, and when he studied the tight-lipped smile you were giving him, he knew you were trying to stop yourself from getting emotional. It caused a strange sort of tug of war in his brain, instincts that had been long since dormant wanted to prevent your tears, keep you happy. And yet, he was baffled by how moved you were by stories of these soldiers…

Soldiers like him.

“Sorry, this- I know this is silly, but-”

“I don’t think it is,” he offered quickly, and his train of thought was momentarily derailed when your sparkling eyes caught his – apparently the power of a pretty woman’s crying eyes still had an effect on him seventy years later.

He may not have been that same suave ladies' man anymore, but he wasn’t about to deny the fact that you were a very pretty woman, one that the old James Barnes would have been pushing people aside to ask you for a dance. He was old, not blind.

“Really? Getting all sentimental about people who don’t really exist?” You snarked, trying to laugh it off.

“But some of those men – the actual people – don’t have anyone to think about them like this anymore. Its… I think they’d appreciate knowing someone remembered their efforts.” He needed to stop and collect his thoughts for a moment, dancing on that line between his truth and the white lies he’d been telling so as not to stand out as a 105-year-old war veteran.

If you kept looking at him like you could see into his soul he’d be spilling his guts in no time. He wasn’t ready to be seen like that, not by anyone, not by you. You were the only person he had actually wanted to talk to, he liked getting to know you, getting to relax for two fucking seconds without being holed away from the rest of the world…

He couldn’t risk losing that. Losing you.

“I- I hadn’t thought of it that way,” you contemplated, pursing your lips as you reevaluated your emotions. “What made you think of it like that?”

I’m one of them.

Yeah, that wasn’t an option.

“Uh, my dad, I think… he was in the Army before I was,” he started, which wasn’t technically a lie. But with the exaggeration, it gave him a moment to reflect on the truth, and remember those moments with his father so many years ago. “He was able to come home early after being wounded overseas. But even years later, he would look at the young men in their uniforms with this look in his eye… like he was taking the time to understand them, care for their situation like he wished he’d had someone to do for him.”

George Barnes had never been a man of many words, especially not about his feelings. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t shared his stories with his children and passed on the legacy he’d carried with him through his service years.

And now haunting the conversation Bucky was boring you with now. Way to be a sad sack, Barnes.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring the whole mood down,” he tried, giving you an apologetic grimace, but your expression only softened.

“Stop, you didn’t bring anything down. Besides, I started it,” you shrugged, and he couldn’t help but chuckle nervously. “So, you said you’re in the Army?”

Did he say that?

He did.

Shit.

“I- well, I was. I’m uh… I’m not now.” Oh this was going fucking swimmingly. “I was discharged,” he finished awkwardly. He was tempted to just walk out your front door. Empty stomach, empty hands, dignity in shambles… but his identity intact.

“Oh, okay. Do you mind me asking what happened?”

Every muscle in his body was telling him to run. Get up and bolt out the door. But what good would that do him? You were his Neighbor. He couldn’t go far, and even if he escaped this conversation now, he would still see you in the hall between your apartments.

Bucky was stuck. If he ran, your friendship would be strained. It was even a friendship yet, it wasn’t anything yet, and he would ruin it. But if he stayed, one more slip could mean you finding out who he was. And what then? Would the Winter Soldier come back to ruin this for him anyway?

“I was… medically discharged,” he started, his throat tight as he forced himself to say something. Maybe if he kept it vague, he stood a chance at making it out to see the light on the other side. “There was an accident. I uh… well, I don’t usually talk about it.”

“I’m so sorry, I- we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I didn’t mean to pry,” you rushed to assure him, mere moments after he’d fumbled his way through an excuse. He felt like he’d just run a marathon, his heart thumping wildly in his chest as he realized he’d somehow made it through. You were now the one sitting awkwardly, fiddling with your hands once again as you wracked your brain for a change of subject, some way to backpedal towards common ground.

The two of you had that in common.

“It’s okay, really. Besides, I started it,” he tried, throwing your words back at you with a small grin. A strange sense of ease washed over him when you laughed, relaxing back into your seat and sparing a glance back at the television screen.

The division had just finished singing a heartfelt song to their general – much more emotional than he wagered the average man of his time was capable of expressing, but that’s a Hollywood adaptation for you – when the sounds of explosions became much more prominent, men running for cover this way and that. It was, unfortunately, a familiar scene.

“You have to watch this!” You cried, quick at attention once you realized which part of the movie you were in. “It goes by quickly, but it’s important!”

“Alright alright, I’m watching,” Bucky smiled, welcoming the topic change as he settled on the couch next to you, watching this scene you deemed so important before he set out to tear into the snacks on the counter.

Much to his own surprise, it was really nice. If someone had told him a month ago that he would thoroughly enjoy himself as he watched a movie on his neighbors couch, he wouldn’t have believed you. But he also wouldn’t have been able to anticipate that the neighbor in question would sing along to all the songs or gush about the sway of the women’s skirts – he listened as you described your dream dress in great detail, and he hung onto every word. “Something just like this pink one Judy has on, but maybe in a darker color? Like a dark blue…”

Bucky wouldn’t have believed he’d be laughing over a plate of appetizers as you mocked the nasally blonde side character, or stopping himself from spitting his coke everywhere when you rattled on about just how “freakishly tiny” Judy’s waist was – your words, not his. He’d even found himself comfortable enough to open up on his own, avoiding any conversation coming close to his complicated past, but he liked being able to talk with you about things he was familiar with.

He’d helped you set up your record table when he brought it up on accident, relieved when you offered to give him a tour of your collection when it was a similar interest. And, having moved into aiding with handiwork around your apartment, he was quick to offer his super-solider enhancements to get the dresser moved at least to the right room. You tried to insist he didn’t have to, but when you watched how easily he accomplished it, the protest fell quietly out of the conversation.

He liked being useful. He liked making you laugh… Mostly, he liked feeling like himself again. Whoever he was, it felt good to be someone he didn’t mind seeing in the mirror.

Maybe he’d run into you in the hall more often.

Thanks for reading!! If you’d like to be notified when I post a new fic, be sure to follow @writerlyhabits-library + turn on post notifications! 💛

Masterlist | Ch. 1

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes #neighbors #neighbor!bucky #neighbors series #james buchanan barnes #james bucky barnes #white christmas #christmas fic #holiday fics #holiday season #kam speaks

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thesevenwondersofawitch · 4 months

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The Brothers Sun e7

Damn, that was so clever having people kill the Boxers, June really took her job to heart, good for her

I love that the mom also brought tea😂

"The head of the Boxers must be so pissed right now." Man is panicking😂

"My time in the shadow is over."

"Shit, you go, girl! Hey what's yours." Good job TK, being a support dude

"Or or don't go, Girl!" The panic in Bruce's tone😂

The way the mom is literally asking her son who's given everything for her, to support her in her quest to become head of all crime. Wow. And he is gonna do it cause he's a good son 🥺

They're making a seating chart 😂

I like to think the goggly eye is a reference to Everything Everywhere All At Once

I too would have bad blood if someone lost my pet

TK asking Bruce to put in a good word with his family 😂

Yeah, TK is definitely not a good gangster 😂

Aw, the Mama's face🥺

Oooof, Bruce has snapped, and I can't blame him🥺

Aw, the way the mom recognizes that Bruce is a good friend for trying to keep TK away from everything, and how he'd rather his friend hate him than be put further in danger 🥺😭(but what if TK goes to the bad side?)

That's got to be hard for Charles to see how much his mom is protective of Bruce, but not of him🥺

Charles telling him mom he wants to stay, and her saying that a bakery is a great way to launder money😭 I WAS SO SCARED SHE WAS GONNA DENY HIM THE HAPPINESS

Hey who turned out the lights?

IS IT THE GHOSTS

Nope it's just Charles's friends who aren't siblings at all😭😂

OH SHIT THE DAD IS THERE?

Oh shit. Xing, seriously?! You ASSHOLE!

IS THE NECKLACE POISONED

She's deeply upset by him🥺

Oh shit, the dad got Bruce his dream car👀

Yeah, this isn't good at all

Aw Alexis is in danger

I think the Dad is gonna try to kill the mom👀

Nooooo Charles doesn't want to be the head of all crime he wants to run a bakery🥺

The way the tailor pulled Bruce back😂

Oh no, I'm guessing the dad is gonna try and bring Bruce into the fold 🥺

Nooooo my boy🥺 he looks as if he is about the burst into tears

Oh shit, the mom saying that the dad can't have both of them🥺

Bruce, listen to your mama

The way Bruce asked if Charles would prefer to watch the cooking channel🥺

Charles being totally different because of peer pressure sucks(as a younger sibling I totally get Bruce)

You may be his son, Charles, but you're also your mother's son

The way Bruce is begging his mom and brother to see the truth and do what it is they want, not what is expected of them.

Frankly, if I was Bruce, I'd run away and fake my death, then when the dust settles and hopefully the mom and brother have fixed things, I'd reappear

The way she admitted to manipulating Bruce to his face is so hard, because she's hurting him and I think she knows it,

THE BASTARD DARED TO BRING UP HOW SHE LEFT HER ONLY SISTER TO DIE ALONE? IT WAS HIS FAULT

"The only purpose you were serving was me." FUCK YOU

He's definitely a villain, he didn't wash his hands and then touched her face😳🫣

She's definitely doing more than getting her hair done😂

Grace is pissed

The way Bruce didn't even get the title right for dragon head😂

Bruce is literally the only one who is willing to do anything for his family without his pride getting in the way

Oooooooooooo they shook hands it's a official 👀

Bruce trying to get Charles to go get churros instead😭

Charles' phone is in the other jacket (what if Bruce accidentally takes that one)😂

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww the way Charles is saying he'll send his brother money so he can live his dreams 😭😭😭

The good looks so tasty

All the ghosts have arrived

That's a good question, where IS Charles

Oh he's in the kitchen 😂

Poor Bruce is being haunted by his actions when watching the great British Bake off of 😂

I wonder who he's calling

I'm willing to bet that at least some if not all of the servers are part of the Boxers

Oh shit, Bruce is wearing the jacket with Charles' phone😂

Aw, he called June😂 love how she's happy to go as long as she gets to kill Bruce's girlfriend 😂

Awwww it's also because they're all the family she has left🥺

The way that TK sat in front of the car😂

Why did he get in sideways??😂

Ouch, I love that June just pushed him off😂

The way Charles just noticed Bruce and the others behind a fish tank😂

I don't think that the dad is actually going to put Charles up for the role of head dragon

I feel like the mom is gonna make a grand entrance

Oh, he did put his son forward but I don't think this is gonna end well

Fuck yeah I called it! THE MOM JUST MADE A GRAND ENTRANCE FUCK YEAH

Also, bad bad bad nec

HA THE ONE GUY WANTS TO HEAR WHAT SHE HAS TO SAY LOVE THAT!

FUCK YEAH HE GAVE HER HONORARY MEMBERSHIP!

"Self centered dinosaur"😂 love that

Oh shit, tea leaf story😂

Oh shit IT'S A BOMB

The way everyone is just awkwardly standing

The way that Bruce just ran into the room and got the bomb😂 tripping as he ran away with the cart😂

Oh damn RIP to those FBI guys

It's a shootout!

Damn it Grace killed someone

The way that Xing charged at the guy who killed Blood Boots, that was some swift and brutal justice right there

Charles' friend did the move from his favorite movie and got killed, at least he loved him s dream 😂

The way the mom is getting Bruce out of there

Oh no, the dad now has a gun, and I seriously worry he's gonna kill Mama Sun

I love June

Damn, a fishhook is a big ouchy🥺

I love that TK took the FBI guy down 😂

Charles looking at the chair with a smile😂 he looks like Christmas cake early

Oh police dude, you naive man,of course he survived. He's Charles fucking Sun

Fuck no, Charles don't listen to your dad, don't kill your brother🥺😭

#TheSevenWondersOfAWitch watches #the brothers sun #brothers sun #Netflix the Brothers sun #Charles sun #mama sun #bruce sun #Michelle Yeoh

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cchickki · 5 months

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"About the Blogger" Meme

Thanks for tagging me @currymanganese! ❤️ sorry i'm doing this super late ugh

Star Sign(s):

virgo sun, pisces moon, capricorn rising (i can list my entire chart if anyone is interested lol)

Favorite Holidays:

i'm not religious but i absolutely love christmas. my favorite time of year and favorite holiday. i get depressed whenever it's over and i have to take the decorations down.

Last Meal:

i think a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. i was craving it lol

Current Favorite Musician:

lana del rey and kendrick lamar! i listen to a lot of music and all different genres, but those are my go to. there's something about fantastic writing/wordplay and production across both of their genres that just inspires me and transports me to a different place when i listen.

if anyone is interested, my spotify profile is here: (x)

When the Tigers Broke Free by Pink Floyd

The Wall is one of my favorite albums!

Last Movie Watched:

Everything Everywhere All At Once

i'm so glad i finally got to watch this movie, it was incredible. although watching it with my boomer dad at parts was awkward (aka the butt plug part lmaoooo)

Last TV Show Watched:

oh man, still trying to finish Succession, my husband is dragging his feet with it even though we both are enjoying it. finished The Boys almost 2 months ago, need to start Gen V soon. i'm bad at finishing shows, unless they're mini series.

Last Book/Fic Finished:

i recently reread Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas, the prequel to The Hate U Give. i haven't finished any of my fics in awhile, except for the two mini requests from my friend @chrissymodi-frost.

Last Book/Fic Abandoned:

oh boy... i've got quite a few i'm struggling to get through... just look at my ao3 and you can see how bad my writer's block has gotten lately :(

Currently Reading:

rereading The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas <3

Last Thing Researched for Art/Writing/Hyperfixation:

i graduated in may 2023 with my art history degree, so i was deep into ancient egyptian history and art, and had to write a hefty 20 page paper on german painter Albrecht Dürer. my most recent hyperfixation was the uncharted games again, so while writing i was researching the Hoysala empire

Favorite Online Fandom Memory:

first joining tumblr and meeting so many friends on here. but i'll tell you back in 2013 when the citadel dlc for mass effect launched, that was an incredible build up and very fun few months.

Favorite Old Fandom You Wish Would Drag You Back In/Have A Resurgence:

not really an "old" fandom, but i was HEAVY into spiderverse over the summer, met some great mutuals through it. i still spiderverse, but don't feel as fixated with it at the moment. the fandom was kind of annoying with some people's think pieces, not gonna lie, and kind of turned a few of us off from it. i'm sure it'll have another "resurgence" when the next movie Beyond the Spiderverse comes out!

Favorite Thing You Enjoy That Never Had an Active or Big "Fandom" but You Wish It Did:

most recently the movie The Creator! movie was so visually stunning, with great/powerful themes, and one of my favorite tropes: found family (kinda) with a father/daughter dynamic. not enough people liked it/saw it which sucks, so the fandom is pretty much non existent for it. i want more art and fanfics from it! i'm going to be buying it soon, that way i can get inspirited and hopefully create more for it!

Tempting Project You're Trying to Reign In/Don't Have Time For:

i was working on creating a real-life version of nate's notebook from uncharted 4. it's taking a lot of time, and is quite an undertaking so i had to take a break from it. i do want to continue it though!

no pressure tags (sorry if you were already tagged!): @mothertodaughters, @chrissymodi-frost. @malabadspice, @not-those-kids, @durrtydawg, @lilylavender, @lilsnatch, @libertatias, @xinamiguel, @georgieluz, @distantsonata, @soft-girl-musings (and anyone else who wants to! sorry i'm trying to remember all my moots tumblr names)

#tag game #long post #about the blogger

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biitchcakes · 4 months

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@gammaragee asked: 🎥 - What’s your favourite tv show/movie? // ( accepting )

Okay, strap in ⸺ this is gonna get long I can feel it in my bones HGFDSGK I cannot. . . not talk about both of these things in a stupid amount of detail. I'm literally gonna just go ahead and stick the keep reading here.

Favourite shows ! I'll start off with SCRUBS. Oh, how I adore this show with every fibre of my being. My stepdad, someone pretty important to me, worked in the emergency room, and actually started his internship within a year of Scrubs beginning. So, watching it with him meant it was always going to cement itself into a special corner of my heart, but even with that aside ⸺ the show is just damn good. It's hilarious, it's heart wrenching, it's got a killer soundtrack each and every season. The characters feel so real, no matter how goofy they or the situations their in are at times.

I simply just think of the episode My Screw Up or My Fallen Idol and I feel a pit in my gut, I tear up. Everyone always brings those episodes up when talking about Scrubs, but there's a reason for that. MAN it's some good T.V. I hardly ever listen to podcasts, but the Scrubs rewatch podcast was one I tuned in for.

The way J.D. sees the world, his little fantasy cutaways, his rambles ⸺ hate to relate to the man LOL but boy does that hit home here. I was thinking about including a favourite scene but I couldn't. The whole show is just everything.

Next up: SUPERNATURAL. Man. I actually haven't seen much of the show past season nine. And even then, I haven't watched seasons 8 or 9 since they came out about ten years ago. And there's 15 seasons in total. That said, the first five seasons of that show. . . Holy hell. I can't begin to get into the way that show makes me feel 😭 It's so nostalgic, it's like coming home after a long time away. My one and only tattoo ( so far lmao ) is from that show. I know it can be cheesy at times, but that adds to its charm for me. I love how of it's time the first few seasons are.

The visuals of it, it's so aesthetically beautiful. And God, when the emotional scenes hit. . . they HIT. They punch through to the depths of my very soul.

There are things about both the brothers I find relatable. They're comforting to me, they're like family.

Last but certainly not least, THE GOOD PLACE. I nearly didn't watch this one. I got into it around the middle of seasons three, but I only knew the premise of "woman who should be in hell ends up in heaven by mistake". Which, if you've watched to show, you know is definitely not the only thing that happens DHGKSJ

I won't go into detail because I always want to avoid spoilers about it where I can because the twists the plot takes throughout the seasons are a lot of fun to experience first hand. And, even if you do know, the show is still super worth it. It sent me down my own philosophy rabbit hole for months. Already interested in it before, I've kept up on it since, I watch lectures whenever they pop up.

The finale. . . UUGGHGKSJDHGKS. One of the best on television. That show fundamentally changed me. I am chronically bad at finishing things, but I have finished both Scrubs and the Good Place. Boy am I glad I have. Best finales ever.

Alright this got away from me very quickly HGSDJK

I'll be brief here fhdskjfds so MOVIES ⸺ my top 7 are:

Willow

Meet the Robinsons

Shawshank Redemption

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Stardust

Here is my LETTERBOXD account.

A list of MY FAVOURITE FILMS.

( bonus ⸺ here are my favourite horror movies, as well as my ranking for animated Disney movies; I'm currently working on a list of Jessica's favourite movies for a post on here at some point. )

#i am so co-dependent on my media i know LOL #my deepest apologies this is the wordiest of the lot today😭#i just love my shows and movies 🥺#( o o c . )#gammaragee

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laughingphoenixleader · 9 months

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OC Mundane Tag Game

thanks for tagging me, @accidental-spice !!

Rules: Pick an OC you'd like to talk about and answer the questions for them! Then tag ten people, or as many as you can. 'Underdeveloped character I adopted' is fine, too! Absolutely no pressure to play, though

Also, if some of it can't apply to your OCs, just answer what would be the answer-- like if they're in a historical setting, they likely can't watch movies, but what is a movie they'd like?

(Also, most people have many ocs, so feel free to retag people and answer as many times as you get tagged! Or get really wild and just answer for as many ocs as you'd like! :D)

Questions:

1. What is their favorite movie? hmmm ok I’m picking Daesha! I think The Princess and the Frog would be a beloved of hers, as she’d really connect with Tiana! She’d love Mulan, too. She’d also rly like Legally Blonde!

2. What is their favorite season?

She’s an autumn person, I think! It just has her Vibes! She’d really enjoy watching the leaves change, and her caf cantina’s cozy vibes are even more immaculate in autumn!

3. What do they find annoying?

Men.

Just kidding lol. She would definitely make that joke and not mean it…usually. Homegirl has some Stuff to work through in that area. Anyways, she’s annoyed by anyone who messes up her cantina’s vibe. And everything about Twi’lek stereotypes infuriates her. But when it comes to domestic, everyday annoyances…I think she gets frustrated when people pick apart movies. She’s like “it’s my day off I took off w o r k to enjoy this so LET ME ENJOY IT”

4. How would they like to spend their Christmas or equivalent holiday?

She just celebrated Life Day with her parents for a long time, which was really intimate and enough for her. She and her parents are very close, and they’re super proud of her! Daesha loves welcoming people into her caf cantina, but she’s a bit of an introvert when she’s off work, and she’s quite the workaholic. So she doesn’t make a lot of effort socially, besides the customers who eventually become friends and family to her. One in particular…but that’s another story.

5. Do they play an instrument? If so, what? How good are they at it?

Nah, but Daesha does love listening to music! She’s got one headphone in most of the time and gives the BEST music recommendations!

6. What’s their favorite meal to eat?

Daesha’s breakfast is caf, so that one lol!

7. Do they have a favorite video game or board game?

OOH Daesha would play a lot of board/card games with her parents!! I think she’d love Monopoly lol and the card game Spades! She’s very competitive, but in a fun way. When she was a kid she was more fiery about it lol but she’s usually more chill now. Usually. Unless you get her really worked up. Also she’s secretly a gamer on her off days and story video games make her cry like nothing else, especially Undertale

8. Do they celebrate their birthday?

Her parents make her celebrate lol. and they leaked her birthday to her customers so they all join in and every year they bring decorations as soon as the store opens and hang them everywhere and buy way too much caf as a present for Daesha haha

9. What’s their bedtime routine?

she used to SUCK at self-care, but now she’s got a fire skincare routine lol. she always makes a to-do list for the next day before she goes to bed in her super organized planner! she’s an early riser, so she doesn’t stay up super late—unless it’s the night before an off-day, in which case she g a m e s so hard and then falls into bed. also occasionally she gets stuck in the hypnosis that is Brooklyn Nine-Nine and binges too many episodes. she only once in a blue moon, tho. also yes her favorite character is Rosa, closely followed by Amy

10. What’s an OC (or canon character) they like to spend time around? What do they tend to do together?

She and Hera VIBE. they connect for so many reasons and on so many levels! throughout the Rebellion, they don’t rly get to see each other, but afterwards, they reconnect, and they FaceTime/holocall or whatever about once a week! it’s therapeutic for the both of them, and they very occasionally meet up and Daesha makes her caf and they talk for hours. also Daesha loves Jacen so much she thinks he’s the cutest thing and sometimes when Hera’s out doing General Things and no one in the Ghost Crew is available she drops him off on Keothon and he hangs out with Aunt Day for a while and she lets him help out in the caf cantina! he loves being a mini barista and the customers adore him!

tagging @jessicas-pi @musewrangler @locitapurplepink @anileahvictoria and anyone else who wants to play!

#tag game #daesha #oc #I LOVED doing this!!!

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litcityblues · 1 month

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I Finally Watched This Movie

I am way overdue for this movie, I realize this and for that, if anyone out there is judging me for it, I apologize. I don't know if modern life requires a lot of content consumption, but I try and manage my fire hose of content so I don't drown, so it took me a while to get here.

So, Everything, Everywhere, All At Once:

The story of Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) who runs a laundromat with her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), they immigrated to the United States two decades earlier- eloped as well, and had a daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu.) As the movie opens, the laundromat is being audited by the IRS, Evelyn is stressing out over the visit of her demanding father Gong Gong (James Hong), Joy's relationship with her mother is strained because of many things, but Evelyn's reluctance to accept her non-Chinese girlfriend Becky is at the top of the list. Oh and Waymond, her husband? He's trying to serve her with divorce papers.

At the meeting with the IRS Inspector, Deirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis), Waymond's body is suddenly taken over by Alpha-Waymond, a version of Waymond from the Alphaverse. He explains to Evelyn that many parallel universes exist because every life choice creates a new alternative universe. Her version from the Alphaverse developed 'verse-jumping' technology that enabled people to access the skills, memories, and bodies of their parallel selves by bizarre actions. The multiverse is under threat from Jobu Tupaki (Alpha-Joy) whose mind was splintered after too much verse jumping. She experiences all universes at once and can verse-jump and manipulate matter at will. She has created a black hole in the shape of an 'everything bagel' topped with literally everything that could destroy the multiverse.

Evelyn, understandably, doesn't believe Alpha-Waymond at first, but soon finds herself caught up in the action, jumping from multiverse to multiverse where she's a stone in one, a movie star in another and everyone has hot dogs for digits in a third. She keeps jumping and jumping until finally, her mind splinters and she collapses. Like Jobu, she uncontrollably jumps across all the universes at once and Jobu almost convinces her that nothing matters, she has been looking for an Evelyn who agrees with her so they can both enter the bagel and finally die, but just before Evelyn does, she listens to one last plea from Waymond who begs her to stop fighting and be kind, even when life does not make sense. She decides to take his advice and experiences an existential epiphany and takes his advice, using her multiversal powers to fight with empathy.

This repairs the damage and neutralizes Jobu and her forces and brings her back to her home universe. She reconciles with Waymong, tells Gong Gong about Joy's girlfriend and Deidre even agrees to redo their taxes. One final task remains as Jobu enters the bagel alone and in the home Universe, Joy begs Evelyn to let her go- but instead, she tells her that even when nothing makes sense and they don't get along and she could be anywhere else in any universe, she will always want to be with Joy. This saves Jobu from the Bagel and Evelyn and Joy embrace.

This movie is a lot, I'm not going to lie. The title is perfect because there are times when you really feel like you're getting everywhere, everything all at once and it's almost overwhelming, but it's also an absolutely stunning visual spectacle. The visuals of this movie are beautiful and it deserves all the flowers and hype that it got on that basis alone.

I wanted to say that I had issues with the story, but having written out this review, I really don't. I think it's a perfect example of what science fiction at its best is like: it transports you to other worlds and other places and other universes oftentimes to tell the simplest of stories- in this case, how a broken family fixed itself and how a mother finds a way to tell her daughter that she loves her. Given the massive amount of disrespect the Academy shows to 'genre' films, it is so awesome to see a movie that demonstrates the power of genre in such a visually stunning way that underpins what's really a pretty simple and timeless story.

I can see why people might not like this movie. If multiverses aren't your thing, this might be a hard sell but at the same time, if you haven't gone near science fiction ever before and are looking for an entry point this could be a good one for you.

I, however, loved this movie. i loved the story. I loved the acting-- I have yet to see Michelle Yeoh in anything that I have actively disliked, and you would have to be the Grinch not to be absolutely thrilled for Ke Huy Quan who is awesome in this movie. James Hong has been around for what seems like forever and even though the dude is 95 years old, he proves that he still has it. Stephanie Hsu is absolutely incredible and goes toe to toe with Michelle Yeoh in this film.

Overall: It deserves all the flowers, hype, and awards that it got. It's visually stunning. A beautiful film to look at. A simple, beautiful story about the power of empathy and kindness. A stunningly good cast and a GENRE FILM that gets SOME RESPECT. FINALLY. My Grade: **** out of ****

(Okay, I went and looked at this list and went all the way back to 1930. Birdman did win Best Picture, but you can make the argument that it was less a genre film and more about an actor playing a genre character. And yes, Lord of the Rings did win. In 2003. Other than that, I can find nothing that comes close to a genre film even getting a sniff at serious critical recognition. 2001: A Space Odyssey came out in 1968 and was not even nominated. So nitpick me if you will, but I am right. Some respect for genre films was long overdue.)

(Damn it. The Shape of Water won in 2017 as well. Okay, so maybe genre films are slowly gaining a little more respect. But there have been 96 Years of the Oscars and I can find three (maybe four) movies that fit the bill of genre films that have ever won Best Picture. That's still less than one percent however you cut it.)

#everything everywhere all at once #movie review

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