#oh wait. he kept saying i should put my art in AI and that i should use AI and that i should help him with AI.
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#rye rants#vent#google how do i tell my dad the reason his daughter cut off all contact#Might be because he's a techbro who disrespects his daughters passions (art) and is big in AI and thinks billionaires deserve their money#taking all my strength not to bring that up#today he didnt call me racists for thinking artists should not have their art and jobs stolen by AI but he did say#all that shit ab billionaires so all in all another shitty experience#oh wait. he kept saying i should put my art in AI and that i should use AI and that i should help him with AI.#despite me saying id rather die.#yeah today was worse#genuinely upsetting conversation#horrible thought of a world where my parents actually talked and did things w/ me growing up where i buy his shit#nightmare material#probably wouldn't have happened for multiple reasons but the thought of it.#argh#happy lunar near years hah a.#i fucking hate this i want out i want out i want out#techbros i hate you i hate you#i hope your generative ai explodes and dies a thousand deaths#i hope its me holding the trigger#i hope you get to experience the beauty of art and why artists fight so hard for it and realize how fucking idiotic and wrong you were#i hope no artist has to ever directly communicate or talk or percieve you#god. edits this on bc it still pissing me off#he called me a fucking communist for wanting ppl to have livable wages#how is he getting worse
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Fic I just wrote based on These Two art pieces that I’ve drawn and THIS POST by @body-utensil-travels-terrain
———
You’ve spent your life being told you couldn’t. Now there’s a voice telling you that you can.
You remember it distinctly. You were fourteen at the time, just really starting to figure out what you wanted to do with your life (it certainly isn’t what society expected from you— but then, society doesn’t expect someone like you anyway, does it?) when you first heard her voice over the radio in your living room. The words she said resonated with you, the promise and ambition that she spoke with. It was almost like she was talking directly to you.
You do your research. You study hard. You tinker away at things in your garage, supplementing your studies in your own way. And five years later, after you’ve graduated, you put in your application.
A letter arrives a few weeks later, emblazoned with the circular symbol you’ve kept in your mind’s eye all this time, and bold lettering on the front— Aperture Science Innovators. It’s addressed to you. You open it, and your fingers tighten around the smooth paper— “congratulations” it says. You’ve been accepted. At the bottom is Her signature. You trace over it with your fingers. Delicately, as gently as you’d handle an irreplaceable machine part.
Two weeks later your bags are packed and you’re boarding a flight to Detroit. The attendant greets you. You hold up your boarding pass and get on. You land a few hours later. Getting a cab would be too complicated— people don’t like to take the time to read, and most can’t speak the way you do. So you walk to the train station, it’s not too far. Just an hour or two. You’ve walked further before.
Flat fields flow by endlessly as the train rattles down its tracks. You lean your head against the window, watching the hues of gold rush by, blurring on into infinity.
The sun is gone when you pull up outside a strange little town, surrounded by chain link fence. You fish through your bag for the packet you’d been sent— and pull out the temporary ID you’d been given. You show it to the gate guard. He lets you in. A man is waiting to show you your dormitory. You shake your head at his offer of a tour— you’ll explore the place yourself tomorrow. There are a few days before you’re actually needed for orientation.
The room is small and plain. A bed, desk, and dresser, and a small closet. That’s alright. You don’t need much. You hang up your few articles of clothing and tuck your shoes next to the door. The bed isn’t soft, but it isn’t hard. You fall asleep quickly, exhausted from your travels.
The next few days are spent wandering. Visiting the little shops, the stations. Peering into labs where you can. Climbing over fences (they could never keep you out) before quickly retreating as a security guard passed. You don’t want to get in trouble before your internship even begins. You wonder if you’ll see her. But you only hear her voice in announcements as you trigger motion sensors throughout the complex.
When work actually starts, it’s tedious. Getting coffee. Taking documents to the shredder and the incinerator. You don’t usually see the labs. Or, well, much of anything. It’s just a lot of running here and there, back and forth at your superiors’ beck and call. It’s tiring. But you do it— after all, you want to be here, you want to do this— and you never give up.
It’s a few months before you see her— before your internship takes you to the main complex. Now you’re checking inventory, sorting mail, sorting records (and chucking the casualty lists into the incinerator as instructed). Occasionally they’ll call you in to fix the coffee maker or the refrigerator.
You hear her voice once, muffled— she’s talking to someone, to a group it seems, just outside the room you’re in. You look over your shoulder and catch a glimpse. Rosy cheeks and bright-red lips, wavy dark hair flowing around her shoulder, a smile on her face (manufactured, you can tell with just this glance that she’s concealing so very much), a bright red scarf tied around her neck.
Your eyes lock for just a second, and the corner of her mouth creases, dimpling her cheeks. Your heart races— that, that was a hint of a true smile. Warmth flushes your own cheeks and you tear your gaze away. Suddenly shy— much shyer than you’ve ever been before.
It doesn’t make sense to you. Not yet. Not until you start seeing her more. Not until her smiles become more frequent and pointed. Not until her gaze lingers on you a little longer than before each time. The fluttery feeling doesn’t go away— and you’re determined more than ever to reach her.
Of course, it happens sooner and easier than you think. She starts requesting you specifically to bring her her coffee. You take a red pen and draw a little smiley face next to her name before giving it to her. When you come up to her office, there’s a sticky note left on the monitor, in that oh-so-hard to read yet absolutely beautiful cursive of hers. At the end of it is a smiley face, so much more elegant and less childish than yours. You keep the note. On her next cup, you add a heart to the dot of the ‘i’ in her name. You start responding to her notes with little notes of your own, your rounded, sometimes scratchy handwriting a stark contrast.
The notes are never there when you get back. You like to think she kept them. You’re pretty sure she did.
A year after you arrive, your internship is over, and you’re up for a promotion— junior mechanic. Probably still more of the same, but you’ll be getting a salary now (not that you really have any use for it since Aperture provides your housing) and you’ll have a permanent place. But you’ll see her less. You’ll miss that, of course— but you’re finally moving beyond your station, moving up in the company.
The day before your internship ends, you get another note. “Wanna get coffee together tomorrow?” Your heart leaps. You scribble out your answer just beneath her writing.
You’re sitting across from her at the cafe table. The cafe serves the same stuff as the cafeteria, but it’s decorated more quaintly, and always costs more for some reason. Maybe because there’s sunlight coming through the windows.
“So, headed up the ladder,” she begins after the two of you sip your drinks (well, she sips her drink, you’re too caught up in the crimson of her lips). “I guess I won’t be seeing as much of you now.”
There’s something behind her cheery voice, a sadness that you’ve caught glimpses of before, a wistfulness deeper than her words. You look up, catching her gaze for a moment and nod in response.
“Well, this is nice. Maybe we should do this more often. Once a week, at least? Or you could come over to my place. We could spend time together. As friends, or something.” With that, she gives you a wink. Your cheeks flush bright red.
You catch the implication right away. Your hero, your inspiration— and now here you are sitting across from her at a cafe while she all but outright asks you out.
You thought you’d be excited for things to grow beyond the notes and the gestures. But you feel different than that. After the initial jolt, the initial flutter, you look back over at her and you see the chasm yawning out between the two of you. The mountain she’s perched on, the valley you’re standing in. Your scratchy print against her elegant cursive, your short, bitten nails against her sharp manicure, your messy ponytail against her shiny waves. You look down at your simple intern’s badge, then over at her emblazoned one. She doesn’t even have a title listed— everyone knows who she is.
You’re miles apart, even if you might have seemed to be closer.
You stand up, your throat knotting up as you shake your head. You can’t look at her now, but you can practically feel the disappointment in her face as she murmurs “oh.” You want to explain but you can’t, your thoughts racing a mile a minute. The last thing you want is to turn Her, your idol, the one who makes your heart flutter, the reason you came here in the first place, down.
But you can’t do this now. Not yet. Not until you’ve reached the top of the mountain. Not until you’re close enough for her to reach out her hand and pull you the rest of the way up.
“Let me know if you change your mind,” she says.
You pause, halfway to the door. You turn back just enough so that you can glimpse her, and give a tiny nod.
After that you throw yourself into your work. Up to senior mechanic, then technician, then engineer— you’re working on Aperture’s new technology now, its most important projects. But you’re still not close enough. Into the test chambers you go at the CEO’s behest, defying death and physics at breakneck speeds, trusting in the tech you’ve helped create to ensure your survival.
Sometimes you look up and see her watching from the observation room, the tell-tale flash of red. You don’t look too long.
The CEO falls ill. He leaves a disturbing message. You try not to think too much of it— you’re almost there.
Your superior fails a test. You’re not surprised. Not hurt, not sad. It just happens and now you’re in the upper echelon. Now you’re at the top— now, you can reach out to her again. Tell her you’ve changed your mind. You can be equals now.
You go to her office. She isn’t there to answer the door. “Don’t you remember Mr. Johnson’s last request?” They say to you. You tried to block it out, but you remember.
You use your pass on a high security door. It opens. Your name is emblazoned too now. Just like hers was.
Before you is a massive operating system. On the screen reads a message: “transfer complete. transfer successful. writing data : do not disconnect subject.”
She’s lying inside a tube-like compartment. A transparent coffin. Wires hooked up to her. Eyes closed. Lips still ruby red.
You reach out and touch the glass. There’s no response. There won’t be a response.
This technology is untested. This is the first human-AI interfacing project Aperture has conducted. There’s only a fifty percent chance it will work, and even if it does, it doesn’t change the fact that she’s gone. You’ll never clasp her small hands inside your own calloused ones, tuck your head against her shoulder, press your lips against hers.
You’ve finally reached the top of the mountain. Finally reached her. But it was too late. When you crested the summit, she was already gone, and there was only a spatter of crimson left behind to show that she was ever there at all.
#portal#fanfiction#portal fanfic#portal fanfiction#chell#chell portal#portal chell#caroline portal#portal caroline#chelline#cheroline#chell x caroline#portal au#intern chell#intern chell au#my writing#cinna writes#might edit and post to AO3 at some point#but for now have the rough draft
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Miraculess Ladybug Salt AU: You Always Liked To Play With Fire ~ Blossoming Friendships???
I really hope you’re all enjoying this new series; I honestly just came up with the idea on a dime, and then after I started developing it, I knew I needed to share it with all of my fans.
Also, when I actually get around to including more characters from the movie, it’s gonna be fun giving them some personality traits. I can’t wait.
And er-… I may have accidently messed up with some off the names. Since I changed most off the names already, I then decided to change them for Barbara and Olympia, however I had forgotten that I’d already written their names down in the story. Opps. I thought this would’ve been better since I think I saw some people complain about the United Hero’s super names, so I changed them, as well as if I’m going to add in going to Gotham into the mix and there’s already a character called Barbara, I just know I’ll get hella confused for who I’m talking about. I don’t want people to get confused but maybe I should make a post off the names I’ve already changed to begin with, just to defer from canon. Well, here it is.
My OC: Rosaniline Keyne-Hill was Rosina Scoats
Soliane Rin was Crisono Tassa
Canon Counterparts: Jace Keyne was Jessica Keyne
Aveon Keyne-Hill was Aeon Hill
Medusa was Uncanny Valley
(I kept Olympia the same)
Nebula was Majestia
Brianna was Barbara
Eostrix was Night Owl
So, I might just change them when I can be bothered to.
This fanfic and its ideas were all made before season 4 came out, so if something doesn’t add up please don’t worry. That information wasn’t available then, and unless it fits into my story or I like it, I won’t include it in my story. Also, that new Miraculous wiki can get lost, I’m not putting any of that new information in here if they couldn’t even put it in the show. (Also, so far, I do not care for season 4 whatsoever so yeah, I may not include any of that in this work and the other.)
Word Count: 9435
Tags: @vixen-uchiha if you wish to be tagged all you have to do is say. Also, if you change your name please tell me, I don’t want to leave you out since you’ve asked to be tagged. I’m very sorry if I’ve missed anyone.
Well, I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Summary:
Note: This fic contains OOC scenes of Miraculous Ladybug as well as a ton of salt, so if you don't like that stuff you may scroll past and have a nice day.
In a world with no Miraculous, no Hawkmoth and no Ladybug, how does our little heroine do?
Well, it usually would be hanging out with her friends, as any other teenager would do...
But, of course, this wasn't normal.
This was reality. It was cold, hard and definitely not welcome.
So, when this girl wishes to have some kind of adventure in her boring, mundane life…
How long does it take for her to regret it?
***
Mlle Bustier had always believed her students were the best in the whole Collège.
In fact, she whole-heartedly believed that all her students could do no harm.
In her mind, they were at the peak of maturity, though they may be in their adolescence and had some seemingly petty dramas, they all prevailed to take whatever they wanted for themselves, when they saw opportunities, they rightfully took.
And Mlle Bustier only wanted the best for her students.
As much as Caline would never admit it to any of her work colleagues, she always knew her class was exceptional.
Kim, Alix, what with two of the sportiest people that were bound to succeed.
Max, A genius who was able to develop a fully functioning AI, when he was a teen no less. She could only imagine what other inventions her little Einstein could invent later on. The type of universities he’d get into, the job offers, oh the endless possibilities.
Ivan, Rose, Juleka, A lead vocalist, guitarist, and drummer in a popular rock band. Though she had heard there may have been a few mishaps in the band, she was sure they would be even better than before.
Mylène, A passionate environmentalist who only wanted to help the world become a cleaner place, and entered as many organisations as possible.
Nino, An inspiring DJ/filmmaker. She always wanted to help out by lending the classroom key afterschool, that way he could work on all of his works. Allowing everyone to take part even, it was truly one of her best rules.
Alya, A journalist's whose goal was to become bigger than Lois Lane.
Adrien, A model, the most famous teenage one by Parisian standards.
Chloé, The mayor's Daughter.
Sabrina, The head of police’s Daughter.
Nathaniel, an inspiring comic book artist that had gained a lot of attention online.
And Lila, a Daughter of an Italian diplomat.
Although she could admit to herself that not all of these aspirations were something that she could boast about, she could show off that all of her students had something they would work for or even show off.
And what did the others have?
Two weather girls and a writer? Caline would have to laugh, compare that with her class and you could clearly see who was at the top.
Although she hadn’t said a specific name for a reason.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The young fashion designer/baker’s girl.
For a while, that name had left a sour name in her mouth, whenever she had been forced to say it for the register, it only took her a few days for her to realise how much it annoyed her whenever said girl was late to her lesson. Honestly, did that girl not value punctuality? Nevermind in the workplace; what about her reputation as a teacher?
She was becoming a lot more reclused, gaining a disrespectful attitude towards her she had no recollection of when she had gained it, and became incredibly upset when she remembered every year on her birthday, the girl would give her a whole assortment of pastries and desserts.
Now, because she had somewhat highly encouraged her students to send gifts for a better grade, it was just a box of chocolates.
Just a small box of chocolates!?
How could she show off her gifts to the others now!?
And worst of all?
She refused to be the good little Class President anymore.
Her example?
Her Marinette off the world?
Did she not care about setting a good example? Or to be a role model to the class?
Really, to be so selfish, to all of her friends, how ungrateful.
She believed she had sorted this little problem when Chloé, in a fit off understandable jealousy, drew over her gift.
Marinette was unreasonably angry at the poor girl, and so Bustier had said how better it would be for her to rise up and become a beacon of light for Chloé instead of letting that hate and anger fester inside her.
To let go and help out everyone.
To not let your negative side take a hold of you and be positive around everyone in your vicinity.
After all, sharing and helping makes the world go round, and we do want to help the world, right?
She remembered those words she had spoken so fondly to her, as she was always someone anyone could come to for advice. It had always worked after all, after students were able to see the correct side, she’d be thanked which always left a small flutter of happiness around her.
Mendeleiev scared many students away, D’Argencourt with his eccentric personality, made students want to avoid being seen near him after lessons ended, and hardly anyone spent their time in the art club room.
Caline believed she was seen as a shining example of light by the other students, and knew she was seen as a Disney Princess by many, Rose had even called her that once.
However, getting back to the matter at hand, she was very pleased when Marinette had gone out of her way to make Chloé happy, of course, her attitude still remained mostly the same but Caline was smart enough to know it wouldn’t take one nice event to help the girl, so she was so proud when she carried on helping the poor girl out. Chloé was smiling more and even asking for a multitude of things from the blue-haired girl, and if she ever saw Marinette get unreasonably upset again, she’d send a very disappointing glare.
She knew being disappointed in students was a sure-fire way for them to do better and work harder, she knew how guilty her students would feel if they ever managed to get that gaze from their teacher, and… If the elder had done this a bit more on Marinette than anyone else… Well, she would just smile, telling them how much Marinette was able to accomplish, her trips for the class were so good, everyone was jealous. So, didn’t that seem good?
And even though she did see most of it going in the trash, she knew Chloé was just a little bit picky, she’d liked the interest in her, it was normal.
Her home life wasn’t something to be overlooked, she just knew the girl only wished for attention, and she was sure to be able to give it to her.
But then she… Stopped.
Caline had believed the girl had gotten wrongly impatient and told Marinette she shouldn’t be so extreme, but Marinette dared to fight back, against her?
She exclaimed that it wasn’t just Chloé anymore, how could she be expected to be nice to both her and Lila?
Bustier was confused, Lila? What did she have to do with this?
And so, the girl explained that she was just lying for attention, every breath that came out was just a lie. And she couldn’t stand it, she’d apparently turned her friends against her.
Now, normally, Bustier knew Marinette wouldn’t lie.
But, she also knew she couldn’t let this ‘lie’ be revealed.
It might harm her reputation.
She couldn’t have that happen.
So, she knew what she had to say.
That this was just girl drama that all teenagers had.
She couldn’t afford to let her empire fall so soon.
And for something like that.
The faces of the other teachers.
The gossip surrounding her.
“Looks like Caline’s not so good a teacher after all.”
No, she couldn’t bare it.
Who said a little white lie would hurt anyone?
In order to keep her class, exactly the same.
A few snips were made to maintain its image.
And if she had to snip her most prized student.
Then… So be it.
***
When she entered her classroom it was just like any other day.
Her students forming around a desk in the front of the room.
She always commended her students for such actions, she knew how sweet and silent the girl could be and loved how accommodating the class could be to her.
She couldn’t help the wondering gaze that looked upon the back row.
A certain seat was empty, but that was routine by now. And even though there was still 5 minutes till the bell, she still marked her late in her book.
Sometimes Caline had to think if at some points she had expected too much of this single girl… But only to remember that, no, in fact, when Marinette had a better attitude, she had expected too less. Back when she gained some confidence, she had always surpassed her expectations, her trips were the highlight off her job, her morning snacks were a welcomed surprise, her need to prove herself let her have as many responsibilities as possible, yes some were meant to be her own paperwork, but she’d never seen Marinette excel so much, it was a dream come true.
If she could just push her, just a little more… She was sure Marinette would go back to her obedient self, and it would make Bustier’s job a lot easier.
Although… The new student seemed like the perfect candidate as well, since Marinette may not follow her good example, she may be able to get a different example.
She could see just how sweet and pleasant the cherry haired girl was, she’d be perfect for the role. Sneaking a quick glance at the girl who was simply minding her business reading a book and keeping to herself. She did take note she had a bit of a limp for the past week, but didn’t bring it up just to not embarrass the girl in front of the whole class. She just knew if she was able to simply send her views her way, a new example would be made, hell she may even be able to have two if Rosaniline became such a good influence on Marinette she may even change again.
She also just knew Rosann would be good for Chloé, after all, they’d have so much to talk about, and coming from similar backgrounds she could make sure they could be paired together as much as possible.
Of course, only she knew about her family name, Monsieur Damocles had been informed by her residence that they’d prefer not to spread this information about, for it had been such a hinderance for her to make friends before.
Bustier frowned, she knew very well her students wouldn’t try to suck up to her, she almost felt insulted that she wouldn’t trust her students.
But the worst part was that she couldn’t brag about her new student to anyone, no one could find out or they’d all face some action from her Mother, she was very clear on that.
However Bustier tried to not let it bother her too much, after all she was sure she could give a gentle nudge in the right direction about trusting friends and not keeping secrets, to coax her out of her shell. She’d just have to be excruciatingly patient.
Clapping her hands was a symbol for them all to pay attention, she’d never raise her voice to them, not even a little, and she knew they would respect it and quieten down their chatter.
And just like that, the door opened to a fashionably late bluenette. Bustier would feign ignorance to the rather disappointing glares stares the girl was receiving, after all, she was giving one off her own.
She sheepishly walked to her seat just as the bell rang, honestly, she’d given her a lot of warnings before about her punctuality, did she really need to brief her Parents in about the situation?
“Well class, since all of you are here now, I can get on with the lesson” And so began her teaching.
It was fairly simple, she knew her students would be able to easily understand, after all, she knew they were the best, the smartest.
She had to explain the project they were bound to complete to a high standard, she just knew it was another to her list of student’s accomplishments she could brag about.
The project entailed 30% of coursework they must do in pairs in the span of 2 months. They could choose any topic so long as it followed the theme.
And this year’s theme was history, generally her students would groan at this topic, but considering they were able to decide on their personal preferences that should help encourage them to complete it to the best of their ability.
Plus, it helped towards their end of the year grade, and helped their teamwork skills. Of course, Mlle Bustier would always try to be as generous as she could, she wouldn’t remove marks from accidental mistakes unlike a purple haired teacher would, she just couldn’t bear to be so mean to them when she knew they were trying so hard to get all of their marks, she couldn’t punish them for that. Even if it was not necessarily the right thing to do, she couldn’t let there be any wrongful disappointment.
As long as they carried on being a great example, she could never fail them.
Besides everyone loved her projects, while having to be in pairs they always got to present it in any way they wanted, a science experiment, PowerPoint presentation to even a play, she was so very proud when Mylène did that play from last year, so impressive and she had gotten out of her shell. All she had to do was make them follow a simple rule before they could go all out. Her students loved the independence, and when they asked what type of ideas she had, she gleamed and expressed her own interest in the fairy tales. There was so much you could do with so many magical stories and elements, the possibilities were endless. She loved always talking about them in at least all of her lesson as she knew how many life lessons could come out of it.
And besides, in a sense, the other thing that made her the best teacher, she let them pick their own partners.
Of course, she had to make it seem like that.
It was always the same since kindergarten, everyone’s names would be placed in a bowl on a piece of paper, and one by one she’d pick a name up, when she read it out loud other people could raise their hands to ask to be their partner.
Normally it would be the first person to raise their hand, however, Caline wasn’t stupid, there were certain pairs she didn’t always want together.
Such as Alix and Kim, if it were a presentation about sports, she wouldn’t mind as much, knowing they would present a physical display of their athleticism… However, she knew if they were paired up for a slideshow presentation about let’s say, politics. She knew they would only start at the last minute, and include a very messily strown up slideshow. And with Marinette refusing to help out her classmates with even the simplest of matters, her hands were tied.
So, if they ever stuck their hand up for either of them, Bustier would wait to see who else would put their hand up, most of the time it was either Max or Nathaniel respectfully, and since they were all friends, no one had called her out for it.
And that’s how she got around it.
So, she started doing her routine, swirling her hand around the, she picked one up and began to read it aloud.
“Lila Rossi. And who would like to be her partner?” Immediately several hands shot up, bringing a smile on her face again, so many wanted to help this girl it filled her with pride and comfort.
And well, she always had to help by picking the most knowledgeable of students.
“Max, I believe I saw your hand up first” Some students moaned that they couldn’t be with Lila, but they knew that maybe next time they would get a shot.
“Ivan Bruel” Unsurprisingly Mylène’s hand shot up first followed by Juleka and Rose, now normally she wouldn’t let couples be together, but she couldn’t break them up, they did their work so well, so she let it slide.
Grabbing the next piece of paper Caline’s once bright smile, dropped as her eyes scanned over the name before sighing audibly, she didn’t need to hide it, everyone knew whose name it was.
.
.
.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng took a deep sigh.
As soon as Bustier told them about a presentation she was immediately filled with dread.
She could quite easily do it well, or at least get a well enough grade considering Bustier’s shady marking skills.
But her partners influence would be something she dreaded.
Best case scenario, they’ll be so repulsed to be in the same room with her that they’d work independently, and it would more or less seem like two separate presentations in one. Her grade was low.
Worst case scenario, she’d be subjected to either do it alone, or screamed about how much they don’t want to be near her. Her grade would be lowered.
Not theirs, hers.
Bustier would exclaim how she wanted the bluenette to rise above it all and forgive them, and until she was a better student in her eyes, she’d be punished for it.
It didn’t help that when her name was specifically called out, there would be a silence they’ll have to endure for what would seem like eternity.
It would either stop when someone so nobly sacrificed themselves to team up with her or Bustier would be forced to wait until the end for the last name to be picked out.
And she hated having to feel like this.
They were all friends, why did it have to be like this?
And well, just like this silence, it would last for a rather uncomfortable time, more than Marinette liked.
Her head rested on the desk, she at this point didn’t care about her appearance in front of the new girl. It had been a week already and at this point Marinette knew they’d be no point getting to know someone who was bound to abandon her.
It was a despairing truth she’d learn from experience, it was why no one hung around her, even from the other classes, they would be a target next.
Marinette couldn’t blame them, if the situations were reversed, she doubted she’d have enough courage to go out of her way to help.
So, she’d just sit, head on desk as time would pass.
.
.
-
“H-Hey! Why do you have your hand up, we told you how she was a bully, why would you want to be her partner!?”
???
Wait-
That wasn’t meant to happen.
Hesitantly, Marinette picked her head up, only to find her seatmate with an eager hand in the air.
She looked over to her face, a smile present as she glanced towards the teacher, waiting for her to say they would be paired together.
“I want to be Marinette’s partner, and I haven’t seen yet why I shouldn’t” Rosann’s head turned innocently to her classmates, she was radiating happiness as they stared in shock. A blond very much as he did want to be her partner when her name was called out, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
“Marinette! Did you threaten her as well, girl you’re unbelieva-”
“I’m afraid you are being mistaken Mlle Césaire, I wouldn’t willingly make a partnership with my enemy, now Mlle Bustier you may continue if you would please” Marinette gasped, she- she’d just put a target on her back. For her! This girl was crazy…
And yet, despite her cute appearance, she hadn’t seen someone look so confident and polite.
‘Wait did I say cute-’
Even though the girl had stated her answer, it wasn’t the answer the class was looking for.
“Mlle Bustier you can’t put their names down together” Someone protested. It sounded like Lila, she was always leading the class for this sort of thing.
“Yeah, put my name down for Rosaniline instead, we know she doesn’t mean it.” That was Alya.
“But I-” She felt guilty for the new girl, she really did, she would’ve warned her how you’ll never truly be able to say your opinion without everyone interfering or as she put it, butting in.
“She doesn’t know what’s she’s gotten herself into, the poor girl” Rose spoke, if Marinette wasn’t so used to it she’d flinch from the words Rose spoke about her.
What was bad, Rosann wasn’t able to speak.
What was worse, Bustier was very much considering it.
“I guess it would be for the best” Marinette couldn’t believe it. The one person who willingly decided to pair up with her, was being ignored to be partnered up with someone else.
Not that Marinette wanted them to be with someone else mind you, but it was their decision, why wasn’t she spared a thought and have people notice that maybe they didn’t have to decide for her?
What was crueller, was that Marinette found the one person that was on her side… Was the one person who was the first to make her clamper up.
“This is ridiculous absolutely ridiculous” Of all people, it had to be her to join in?
“How extremely hypocritical of you Mlle Bustier, if I couldn’t change my partner from the last project then neither does Dupain-Cheng in this one, isn’t this school meant to teach fairness. Well, the only fair thing I see is the fairly incompetent from this class” Of course the students didn’t take kindly to her words as Bustier sighed yet again.
She knew Chloé had a point, she’d tried to persuade Chloé to have a different partner than Sabrina a few times in previous projects, it would depend on the person, if Chloé didn’t mind, she’d moan but nothing else. If it was someone she didn’t like, she’d threaten to call the mayor, most of the times she wouldn’t considering out of all the teachers even Chloé would admit she liked Bustier the most, she’d never blame her for anything and she loved that about her, but she had a point none the less.
Besides, Bustier believed that maybe Rosaniline would prove to be a very good example to her previous one, and this could be a great place to start.
“Yes Chloé, I believe I understand now, it would be highly unfair if we didn’t let Rosaniline decide for herself” Marinette couldn’t help the somewhat annoyed glance she gave to the teacher for that comment.
“But Mlle-”
“No buts Alya, now why don’t we use the idea Chloé suggested?” The class all heard the snicker from Chloé, they couldn’t believe she could stoop so low like this.
And then it carried on like it had been, but Marinette couldn’t help but let her curiosity get the better of her and as the class was carrying on, Marinette swallowed the gulp that had formed in her throat and turned to the girl next to her.
“Err- Rosaniline?” She gently tapped the girl’s shoulder, she turned and showed she was listening.
“Yes?” Oh god Mari don’t lose confidence now.
“Why, why did you do that?” With that, she saw a smirk emerge from the girl.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious, but I am rather petty since I refuse to take the word of someone else before doing my own research” Oh. Somehow that wasn’t what she was expecting, but honestly it was better than pretending to care.
“Although… I should apologise, for how abrupt I was about it” Marinette widened her eyes, why- she didn’t do anything wrong?
“I would’ve preferred asking for your consent first, but seeing the opportunity I may have taken it rather quickly” She grasped one of her braids, a nervous habit maybe, Marinette couldn’t help but notice before giving her answer.
“N-No its fine, I-I don’t mind you being my partner, not like I’ve got anyone better- I mean- I didn’t mean it like that. I just- erm, I just. I’m glad you thought about me” If Marinette had been able to look past her hair, she would’ve noticed the small blush creep up on her cheeks.
“No problem”
***
Normally, a weekend would be extremely relaxing to the young designer.
She had as much time to sleep in, plus she started a late shift anyway, her Parents were the best when it came to that, since they knew how much trouble she had getting up on a school day, they knew they couldn’t ask her to get up early for work, especially since it was their workplace.
And she had completed other homework assignments a while ago, so surely there was no reason for why she should be pacing around in the living room so early for her.
Well, it may or may not have something to do with the new girl.
.
She really should stop calling her new girl, she gave her her name for god’s sake.
But she just felt so nervous.
She told her Parents about this new assignment, and how she actually volunteered to be her partner, and how Marinette in the spur of a moment offered to go to her place on Saturday to start it. And she couldn’t deny when she saw the relieved expression she had when she offered. But now…
She hadn’t had someone over in years, everyone else avoided this place like the plague, the Parents still came though, and although they were slightly informed of the situation, they also just believed it was teenage drama.
Her own Parents showed their own worry, they loved their girl, and they truly didn’t want her to ever be hurt like last time ever again, but they also knew if she never gave this girl a shot, she’d never know.
Was it better to know than to ponder it forever?
That was a phrase Marinette was all too familiar with. However, it still didn’t calm her nerves.
Her Parents had told her if she didn’t want Rosaniline to be around anymore, they’d be more than happy to just so happen have an event take place right at that moment that she would have to leave, even if Marinette hoped that wouldn’t happen.
So, as she continued to pace, she was able to see from her balcony the Parisians all around, her doorway was slightly ajar so she could hear the sound of birds chirping, cars passing, and a motorcycle coming to a stop.
The noise of a motorcycle made her come to a fond thought of her Nonna. She loved her very much, and her free spirit.
Whenever she came back from one of her grand trips, she’d always get Marinette some type of fabric that always made her determined to incorporate into some type of clothing.
It was somewhat why she always stayed in the path of fashion, not just because her Parents would be disappointed in seeing her so unmotivated, but because she still liked the challenge of turning fabric into something.
She giggled, besides that thing from last week, it was the only adventurous thing she had done.
The sound of steps interrupted her as she saw her Maman, she nodded before Marinette felt a slight drop in her stomach.
She was here, she just needed to calm down, it would be fine.
She’d just smile and brace for it.
Walking down the stairs to her bakery was the same as always, she could smell the fresh bread from the oven. She always appreciated this aspect, living in a bakery always meant the aroma was lovely.
Going through the door after her Maman she braced herself to see the ne- er, Rosaniline.
What she didn’t brace for was the little girl cuddling her leg as soon as she entered.
“Hi, my names Piper, can we go to your room now?” She had to compose herself so she wouldn’t fall over with the girl in tow, but she couldn’t help internally awwing at the little kids’ appearance.
Black hair tied back in a red bow, a pink leotard with a lighter coloured tutu skirt. And a short but worn-out blue cape. And to top it all off, sparkly pink shoes faded to orange.
“O-Oh, hi there.” She gave a little wave, still completely confused.
“I’m so sorry Mari, Piper was just too excited to meet you, I’m very sorry for the shock” She saw a concerned look coming from Rosaniline. She sure did fret a lot- ah, she knew she didn’t mean it as a bad thing she just, well, she was used to being quiet and observing.
“Its fine really, but how come you brought your… Sister here?” She was unsure if the guess was right but considering the nod from the other girl, she relaxed knowing she was right. And considering she had to ignore a comment made from her Parents about a nickname she was given, she could just ignore that.
“I’m so sorry for the late notice, it’s just, something came up and I couldn’t find anyone able to take care of her. I’m really sorry for not telling you before but I- I don’t have your phone number so I couldn’t tell you. Eheh. I promise she won’t cause any trouble. Right?” The smaller girl, now back at her Sister’s side, bounced and repeated yes several times.
She looked to her Parents, almost asking them if it was alright, this whole situation caught her slightly off guard, and she momentarily forgot the question was directed at her.
Luckily her Maman was ready.
“Of course its fine, my, your Sister is such a cutie. And what’s your name sweetie?” Her Mother crouched down to make eye level. The girl puffed her chest out before standing straight up.
“My name is Piper Keyne-Hill ma’am, and I am 6 years old” She held one hand up before she looked up.
“Did I do it right?” Rosaniline smiled before bending down to her level as well.
“Do you believe that is the right answer?” Her use of that caused attention to Piper’s hand as the little one looked back, she gasped before proudly extending another finger up.
“There you go” She ruffled her hair as Marinette saw her Mother continue talking with Piper.
And yet… She felt that dread from earlier flee away, seeing Rosaniline interacting with her Sister so fondly brought heat to her cheeks and inside. She just, felt so calm around her.
And that warm smile…
She, kinda wanted her to smile like that to her…
“Marinette?” That broke her out of her trance, she looked over at her Papa who had a confused look.
“Shouldn’t you two start working on the project?”
“Huh? Oh- oh yeah, yes of course the project… Eh, Rosaniline lets go, I’ve got some kid books to keep Piper company” She didn’t mind the weight on her arm, or the way her Parents smiled at her interactions with the cherry haired girl.
She just minded how heavy her heart was pounding for some reason.
.
Marinette never considered her room big, she always found it spacious, it might be due to her always misplacing at least something when she’s in a rush, but she knew where it would be.
Stepping over to her desk draw, she pulls out a bunch of child books, since Nadja always did spring a babysitting job on her, she figured there was no reason to place them somewhere that would be too much of a hassle to keep getting out. So, she kept them closer.
Turning back, she saw the two looking around her room, Piper held so much excitement as Rosaniline wore a smile.
“Woooooow, it’s so pink, Rosalee what type is it?” Tugging at her Sister’s cardigan the older girl smiled.
“There are many different types, so I doubt I know the exact one… But I’d say it was a coral pink” She pattered her head as she too looked over the room, a somewhat reminiscent expression as she takes it all in.
“Mari I’m so jealous, to be able to live in a bakery with all of those magnificent smells around every day, it must be like heaven” Marinette scratched her head, ok- this was all so different, no matter how much she wanted to go back to her usual self, there was always something holding her back. Almost like, if she fell in this trap again, she’d mess it up, before she could be comfortable.
There she goes again, over thinking the situation like before.
No wonder-
“Ahh- it’s a tiger, look look” Piper’s voice brought her out of it as she saw Piper sitting in Rosaniline’s legs.
“Mmhmmn, so, Mari should we get started?” Marinette could only nod before they pulled out some books to get started.
***
‘This was easier when I had to do it on my own’ The bluenette thought, now don’t get her wrong, they weren’t arguing or anything, they just couldn’t exactly agree on a subject together.
When Rosaniline suggested gory fairy tales, she had to physically force herself not to shudder, fortunately the girl opposite her said it was a mere jest, thinking it would’ve been funny to see the teachers face when they spoke about it, but maybe it would be too much.
Rosaniline even joked that they may not have anything in common at all, that did nothing to soothe the young girls’ nerves. She just knew this might not have been the best decision, if they couldn’t find a topic, she knew Bustier would blame her for it, and if Bustier blamed her no doubt the class would as well. And it would just be one more point for them as they’d slowly but surely turn Rosaniline away from her.
It’s not like she would be disappointed or anything, it’s just, she’d rather be right now than in the future with her hopes up.
But, it didn’t help that her feelings were so mixed about this. Why was it she wanted to get to know Rosaniline?
Knock knock.
“Girls, I think you’re due a break now, don’t you?” Marinette was relieved, surely after some food they’ll be able to come up with at least one idea.
“Yes, Mlle Dupain-Cheng, that would be lovely.”
“Now stop that, you can call me Sabine, aw such a polite child you are” She blushed as she rubbed the back of her head.
“Marinette dear, mind if you help me?” Her eyes were confused, her Maman would normally never ask for help, what was so different now?
But not wanting to cause a scene she nodded and proceeded to climb down, just as Piper was moving onto a different type of picture book.
Going over to the kitchen she saw that her Mother had prepared so much food it would’ve looked like a feast, but that was how she was, whenever guests came over you could see more food on a table than a table.
She hoped Rosaniline and Piper had an appetite.
“Is everything alright dear?” She felt her Maman’s hands on her shoulders, it was always reassuring that her Parents did so much to look out for her, even when she pretended to be just fine her Parents would give her time just to be by herself if she needed it and then be there if she wanted to talk.
“Yes Maman, she’s really nice… We just haven’t figured out what topic to do yet.” She laughed nervously as her Mother couldn’t help but give a somewhat serious expression.
“You know, if you at all feel uncomfortable, we can still make up an excuse-” She shook her head.
“No Maman its fine really, if anything we’ll just keep it to the school library… She’s- I don’t know, I can’t explain it, I just feel-”
“Relaxed?” Her Mother finished the sentence for her, she nodded as Sabine thought how glad this girl was making her feel.
“Alright, well then get back up there, you don’t want her thinking you abandoned her?” She nudged her cheek as Marinette pushed her hand gently. She gave her Mum a kiss on the cheek before making her way back up to her room.
She couldn’t explain the feeling much, it was like she was feeling peaceful, a smooth tranquillity around her.
It wasn’t a feeling she had around her older friends, it always seemed like whatever they did was rushed, no time to process it. Or they didn’t let her speak.
Rosaniline did, she let her speak, she listened to her, she made her- feel.
She didn’t want that feeling to go away.
“Piper- I know you like this book, but I don’t think you should be flicking through it.”
“But why? Marilee gave me these. And they look so pretty I want one.” The little one responded, she didn’t demand, she was raised better than that.
“Well, I don’t think she meant to give you this one.” She was confused, wait what book was it?
Her heart stopped as she saw a pink cover-
That- that was her commission book!
She was rushing too much to even notice that she’d given Piper that one book.
Oh god, she was going to see her secret, that she was starting her own commission blog, that she was MDC- that she could tell everyone at Collège Françoise Dupont, and it could ruin her career. That everyone could post lies about her, making nobody trust her and demand refunds, and maybe she’d get taken in by the police- be sent to jail and never have her dream job of-
“Mari? Hey, Mari can you hear me?” She felt warm hands wrap around her own. She could feel herself look up as silver concerned eyes looked back at hers.
She felt another tug at her skirt, looking down to see Piper with her own worried expression.
“Did I make Marilee upset?” It was a simple question that pulled at her heartstrings, she felt tears prickle at her eyes for her overthinking. But she didn’t mean for Piper to be upset, or for Rosaniline to be worried either.
There she went again, overthinking every little thing that she couldn’t account for, why did she have to be this way, why did she have to be so cynical and downright negative.
“Oh no, heavens no Piper, I just- er had something in my eye, yeah. You didn’t do anything Piper, I’m glad you like the books I gave you.” Piper smile grew as she proceeded to drag Marinette over to the books again.
She seemed to be putting on an act though, from what Rosaniline could see. She was panicking over something, why? She didn’t know, she did want to find out but didn’t want to push it. She had a habit of wanting to find out answers, it wasn’t a bad thing, she remembered her Mum say, it’s just sometimes she could be just a teeny bit insensitive about it.
Looking over the scene she saw her little Sister pointing excitedly at the pages of sketched clothing, her saying how much she loved them and all the colours that she used and said how the author was so creative.
Marinette laughed along, her tears faded as she enjoyed Piper’s enthusiasm, almost making a note to definitely make her something- and for Rosaniline of course, it’ll be weird to make it for one and not the other.
And then- an idea struck.
“I know, why don’t we do it about the history of fashion?” The dark-skinned girl spoke up. She saw two heads turn towards her as she grinned. Putting her hands together near her cheeks as she spiralled in her own thoughts.
“I’ve always wanted to learn more about it, to see the transformations going through all the ages. And this could be the perfect time. So, what do you think?” It was a question that seemed as if she could reject it, but it still felt like a trick.
What if she didn’t suggest this as a solution, but for convenience for herself, since now she knew she liked fashion and would make her do all the work, it’s not like it hadn’t happened before, so why did it hurt so much to have her do it?
Did she have any right to object, wouldn’t it seem like she was being way to fussy? They already saw her sketches before, so she couldn’t deny she was a good artist. But then what if the others thought it was her idea?
That she made Rosaniline chose this subject, and get told how selfish to have done so, a disappointing gaze from Bustier, a disapproving gaze from Adrien, she felt her chest tighten up again, oh god, she was overthinking again, why did she have to be like this?
“Hey- hey Mari, we don’t have to if you don’t want… I-er saw you liked videogames; we could always do it about that if you want?” But Mari felt so disappointed in herself, she was being so accommodating to her, why, why for her? She didn’t deserve this.
“B-But Marilee’s so good at drawing, she can really really really draw. I know you can do it.” Piper enthusiastically cheered, she would’ve smiled but couldn’t, not yet, she just had to think through it.
What could she do?
“Piper, not now” Rosaniline slightly scolded, she never liked doing it honestly, but besides her Mother she had the trademark glare that told her to pack it in.
Unfortunately, Piper never did look at her while she was in such an energetic mood.
What could she do?
“Rosalee she’s amazing, she’s the best in the world. Don’t do it about stupid video games.” She tried persuading her Sister to see some sense, in the short time that she had known Marilee, she was pretty much enarmed with her, she found another Sister that needed a confidence boost.
What. Could. She. Do!?
“Piper!- Look, sometimes not everyone wants to show their skills to other people, and we have to respect that, ok?” She crouched down to her level, kids felt less intimidated when you weren’t so tall, besides, Piper didn’t mean anything by it, she was always told to follow her heart, and if she was proud of something, she should show it off for the whole world to see.
What could-
Wait?
Could someone really be so accommodating? Could it really be true? Could all of this be true?
“Aww… Ok Rosalee, sorry Marilee” Piper hugged Marinette’s leg, and even though it felt like she was getting told off, she knew she wasn’t in real trouble.
Or was it a persona?
“I’ll do it.”
If this was a plan, a plan to make her do all the work, then she’ll go along with it. It felt so mean, so immature, so senseless that she still wasn’t trusting her, but she didn’t want to turn Rosaniline away without any evidence, besides, if this was all a trick, then surely it was better this way, she would’ve foreseen it and everything would go back to normal, she’d go off to join the class while she’d be alone once more, maybe they’ll have passing glances and memories of what could’ve been but she wouldn’t leave her here open and out to be in such a vulnerable position.
Not just for her, but for both, she didn’t know what would happen after another heartbreak.
“Huh?”
“I- I don’t mind if we do it about fashion, I mean, only if you want to, I don’t mind teaching you about it, I-I even had some books stored just for this, so I guess its lucky right” A nervous laughter evolved as she looked at anywhere but her.
However, the cherry haired girl wasn’t as convinced.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I guess little Piper just convinced me.” The little girl fist pumped to herself before running along back to her books before the bluenette felt soft hands on her shoulders.
“As long as you want to as well, I… Wouldn’t want to force you or anything” Quick, she had to ease the tension.
“-Psst- Don’t worry so much Rosaniline, c’mon I’ll see where I put those books, also how far do you wanna go back, if we go too far, we might not be able to cover everything. But if we go to a few years back our presentation would just be too small. Maybe we can just go halfway. That reminds me maybe we could have a physical element, I could throw together some pieces of old works together and show them of as we talk- or” Her shoulders were gently grabbed again as she looked at the close proximity she was in, it made her blush just a tad more than she thought she ever could.
“Maybe we could discuss that, over something to eat?” She quickly looked down and remembered the food on the ground, no doubt cold now. She felt guilt come in before seeing her passionate smile.
“Sorry, I just saw how passionate you were about this, I couldn’t bear to stop you, but then I got worried if you’d run out of air, Eheh. Think we can heat the food up?” She nodded, maybe it might be better to eat downstairs after all, now that Marinette knew what topic she- they were doing, they could crack on and complete it earlier than the deadline.
She’d have to get Rosaniline’s phone number of course, just in case they needed to discuss other things but that could wait.
Of course, it could wait.
She was just so happy in that moment, she- she may have really wanted to try and be her friend.
And maybe-
No- she just wanted to continue to be near her, to hold her hand when she’s upset, to help her when she’s had a bad day.
To be… Closer to her, to that warmth.
… Was it selfish of her to want to be near that warmth for longer?
***
Night had fallen upon Paris, but the lone girl on her balcony didn’t mind at all.
Ever since that day, a part of her wished something else would happen.
No- she didn’t want the hero to be hurt again, that’s by far too sadistic to even think about… But she was really excited by all of those events, when she was able to get a breather, there was a rush of adrenaline throwing through her veins, and even if she did want something else to happen, she’d prefer to be out here just to see if she could get a glimpse of the hero again.
It had been a week since it happened, and Marinette could only guess she must have been resting from her… Fight? Was that the right word? Oh well, she must’ve been resting since she hadn’t heard anything about her from the news for a while, she could only hope her wound would heal by professionals instead of her shoddy work. But- she had to realise that she had to hope for the hero’s survival.
For Soliane Rin’s survival.
… She may have read a bit more into her- but it was only out of curiosity, she wasn’t going to gain another obsessive crush over someone famous again, nope, nada, she wasn’t going to fall for those really amazing silver eyes the press had made sure to call grey, but she was sure they were silver.
Wait, no it wasn’t like she looked at them for particularly long or anything, she definitely didn’t get lost in them, she saw a poster of them! Ah- this wasn’t helping. She needed to change the subject immediately!
Clang.
She jumped up instantly, her commissions book that was resting on her lap was now flying through the air! Oh no, she was going to lose everything, crap! Her designs!
A figure, however, flew up to catch them before landing in front of the startled girl.
“I believe these books were trying to plan their escape from you mi Belle” It was her; it really was her! She was-
“You’re alright” Her happiness took over her before she could even register that she had leapt into the arms of the hero of Paris.
She was going to regret this so much.
With her cheeks rosying so much, she jumped back until she fell back onto her chair, apology after apology escaping the girl not daring to look at her face.
‘How embarrassing, how inappropriate, how childish. Why did she have to make a fool out of herself now? In front of the new hero no less? Again!’
“There’s no need for any embarrassment, I was unaware I’d caused you such panic over my recovery, if I’d known you were worried, I would’ve visited a lot sooner.” Ah- she was always so formal with her choice of words. It was great, she was great- wait what?
“But I- didn’t realise you’d wish to see me after my blunder from last time.” That made her perk up, what… What was she talking about?
Soliane’s gaze seemed to be fixated on the ground as she looked so- so frustrated with herself. Why?
“To have failed on the first day as a hero, to have troubled a civilian with help. I can’t thank you enough to have woken you at such a godly hour just for my sake” She bowed her head forward as Marinette couldn’t help but try to make her stop.
“It’s nothing really, I mean I’m sure anyone else would help out a hero like you. I-I mean maybe not everyone else since there are some bad people but I’m sure most will. Not that you don’t need it, I mean you do- don’t I- I’m sorry I’m rambling again” Soliane Rin didn’t appear to hear her as she carried on with her tirade.
“But to not even know who it was that harmed me. I-I don’t deserve to have my title as a hero.” Why? Why was she saying this? She- no she couldn’t be serious.
But that look made it all the more real, she’d seen it so much. Every time she ever looked in the mirror after crying for so long, regret, disappointment, anything and everything negative flashed through her mind and she could tell, see everything, all of it.
And knew it broke her, would break her.
Marinette knew she didn’t have any powers.
She couldn’t shoot lasers from her eyes.
She couldn’t fly.
She couldn’t control objects through her mind.
But- how Mother always said she had a talent for one thing.
Empathy.
She could be so understanding when her mind was so calm, when she wasn’t worrying about what others were thinking of her, when she could see, truly see inside their heart, all of their feelings out on display, and helping them, by being there for them.
For knowing exactly what to say…
It- may not always work, but no superhero comes out of every battle unscathed.
“Please stop” She looked up, but it was still such a pitying look. She could see through her smile, but it felt as if she wasn’t even trying to hide it, like there was no use concealing it.
“You can’t keep blaming yourself for a mistake like that, it’s not fair to you- or to me. Yes, I was scared when I saw you injured, but I’m so glad that you’re here now. You’re still standing. You still want to continue even when you were hurt. I’ve seen just how strong you are, how confident you can be when the world tried to throw its worse at you.” She stepped closer to her, having gotten up from her fallen position.
“So please don’t give up for one mistake,”
She stepped closer…
“Don’t give up when I know you have the strength in you to persist.” She wrapped her arms around her again, and this time she wasn’t so embarrassed about doing it.
She was crying…
She tried to use those words for someone else.
It hadn’t worked… So, she had to believe in anything and everything for it to succeed now, for her.
“You risk your life every day, and yet you never ask for anything. I want to thank you for all that you’ve done, on behalf of Paris, no, the whole world. You’re a real hero Soliane Rin. Please don’t doubt that.” She hugged a bit tighter; she hadn’t meant to get so emotional on her, but maybe that emotion wasn’t just for her.
.
.
It was silent.
Too silent.
Marinette had to hold her breath in anticipation, did- did she go too far? Did she overstep her boundaries again? Did she-
“Ah I see. Thank you, I-I mean, I appreciate your gratitude Marinette” When she looked back, she could see her cheeks were red, she could see her silver eyes look back at her before seeing her own cheeks reddening as well- wait, she was so close! Again!
She jumped back again, not falling this time, thanking the heavens that she wasn’t making a fool out herself as much as usual.
“I must commend your stubbornness my dear. I- I hadn’t imagined you’d have a positive opinion of me after that, I must apologise for making such a rash assumption about you, and for- eh snapping me out of that. I’m thankful to have met such a kind and respectable hero like you.” She bowed her head again as Marinette had to comprehend what had just happened.
It felt awkward, Soliane Rin was blushing a lot, Marinette was blushing like crazy as well.
“Me a hero, what no way. You’re just joking, don’t tell me you hit your head too?” She waved her hands in front of her. She recalled how clumsy she was, how often she’d trip on the stairs to Collège or even when she dropped her tray of pastries on the floor, that one was particularly embarrassing.
However, she was too late to see that Soliane had stopped her smile as Marinette began to panic again.
“No! I didn’t mean hit your head I meant did you crack it- no check it- no I mean, how can I ever be a hero to anything, I’m just me, Marinette. I don’t have any superpowers or anything I’m just an ordinary girl ehehehe” She felt her hand taken by the hero again, her heart stopping for a moment before jumping to x2, she couldn’t believe she was holding her hand again.
“Just because I wear a mask and costume doesn’t make me a hero. It’s my ideals and thoughts for the people. Marinette, you may not have powers, or a hero name. But you can be a hero still. After all, All that is needed for the prevail of malevolence is that individuals concede defeat.” Marinette was shocked, she just- wow, that was cool. And… So sweet. To say that, about anyone, about her. Even if she didn’t fully believe it at first, she’d be sure to keep those words very close to her heart.
The bluenette smiled back, before they both looked over her balcony and over Paris, they share a moment just looking out, the silence was comforting to them as some time passed.
There was a question that may have crossed her mind at one point, she felt guilty for taking so much time out of her day- night- schedule? Oh well, she had to ask just one little thing.
Marinette fiddling with her fingers, she took a deep breath.
“S-So do you have to do a patrol or-” Soliane looked up surprised before checking something around her wrist, she laughed nervously before turning back.
“Huh- oh yes, unfortunately I won’t be able to stay longer, however it would be even more unbefitting of me to avoid my job any further” She wanted to deny what she said was true, but saw her giggle so slightly, knowing it was a small joke, she lightened up as Soliane Rin bows again and flies off from her balcony railings bidding her adieu.
With her hand resting where her heart was beating, faster than usual, faster then whenever she was late for class. Faster than-
Oh
Oh
Oh no.
No no no! Not again, how did she not realise it sooner?
How!?
This familiar feeling.
Why did it come back?
And why did she want it to stay!?
***
I hope you enjoyed it.
Anyway, I’m willing to take a bunch off prompts for Rosann and Mari on date nights/doing couple things, whether you want some added salt from the class is up to each requester, I may turn a few away if I either feel uncomfortable or simply not able to write it, these prompts will come out randomly, I have no structure to anything. To submit, I’ll allow for the idea to be within any time frame, i.e. when they first meet, to being friends, to being a couple. I do love angst although I’ll be unsure how to make it work when it should be a ton off fluff stuff. If you have any questions don’t feel afraid to ask, I might have to clarify some points. I’ll be ordering the prompts, and stating when they come in the main story, what you would’ve need to have read before, if it contained any spoilers for certain chapters and any trigger warnings, although you may need to state what might be triggering as sometimes, I too get confused on what I need to state, if anyone can do that then that’s alright.)
Even though I like a Saltinette, sometimes I still wanna see a different perspective of her, an anxious, guilt-ridden, cautious, mess like this version. I just think it’ll be interesting to basically rewrite Marinette’s character. Instead of this sassy overconfident one in most fanfic’s I’ve now changed the status quo. Haha.
And I believe I’ve taken a somewhat realistic approach to Marinette trying to trust someone else, I didn’t want to just rush into it. However, I do think it’s a bit different with Soliane Rin because she is a hero, and I think Marinette could trust her a lot easier than Rosaniline.
Also did you know that Majestia’s quote was a straight rip off of Edmund Burke’s?
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing.
Yeah...
Cya next time.
Note: Please tell me if I should add anything else to the card, there will be one of these cards for all 15 chapters, however, because I have uni work all updates will be slower because I really need to focus on the uni stuff, then I might be able to upload quicker. They also may change in the future because I can never stop adding stuff.
#ml salt#ml salt fic#miraculous ladybug salt#ml bashing#ml class salt#alya salt#bustier salt#miraculous au#there are no miraculous#but there are heros#Marinette#ml Marinette#rosaniline keyne-hill#ML Rosaniline Keyne-Hill#piper keyne-hill#ML Piper Keyne-Hill#marinette's parents#forget what else to tag#please comment#have a good day#hope you like it#ml oc#my OC#My OC Character#my OC tag#my art#my ship#3rd of 15 i think#adrien salt#Marinette deserves better
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“Did you just hit me? With a pillow? Oh. It’s on now.” for Sam and Bucky aka the weiner club
Sam has seen some questions floating around on the internet about the worst thing that came out of World War II. He has a lot of answers.
But he thinks he has the final answer as to the worst thing that came out of World War II:
James Buchanan Barnes.
What a dumbass.
For one thing, absolutely wrecked his credit score when he ripped his steering wheel right out of his car. It was a new car too, just gotten and Sam had gotten a fancy car-freshener, not one of the trees that was labeled Black Ice. You know, the scent that every guy-in-his-twenties had. No, he was getting fancy in life. Upgrading, as it were.
And then this absolute goddamn travesty of a human being with a metal arm that was more indestructible than that one spoon that keeps getting stuck in the garbage disposal and somehow makes it out.
Steve brings him back. And now Bucky--which is a very stupid name--is currently stealing all of Sam’s fancy oatmeal and he knows he’s doing it.
Bucky is having a lot of fun at Sam’s expense, and Sam can’t say shit about it because Bucky goes “oh boo I’m a traumatized war veteran who had to go to Russia for like fifty years. Let me eat your oatmeal you stupid bitch” and Sam has to let him.
So Sam decides that he will just refuse to ever interact with Bucky on any level except Enemy.
Sharon tells him he’s being a tad dramatic.
“That oatmeal cost me seven dollars every week and he fucking eats it.”
“Not all of it,” Sharon says. “He’s not bad, he’s just messing with you. Steve is still treating him like he’s one of those glass figurines that Bruce collects.”
“Bruce collects glass figurines? What?”
“Yeah. I think he finds them in thrift shops and just collects them. I can’t decide if it’s an intimidation tactic for the Hulk or for Tony.”
“Tony is scared of glass figurines?”
“He’s scared of breaking stuff. Don’t ask, it involves Pepper.”
“Oh. I think it’s weird that you know him on such a personal level.”
“Why?”
“I was literally just telling you the last time I went grocery shopping and you told me, and I quote, ‘stop telling me all this personal shit I have limited memory storage in my brain’.”
“It’s because I do. I don’t give a shit about your grocery purchases unless any of it is for me.”
“Very self-centered.”
“Quite. But give Bucky a little leeway.”
“Absolutely not.”
-
Bucky absolutely knows what he is doing. He really and truly does. He’s been texting Maria Hill about the whole thing, who finds it absolutely hilarious.
In fact, everyone knows what he’s doing. Except for Steve, which makes it even funnier.
Steve is under the impression that Bucky has no idea that that was Sam’s oatmeal, or Sam’s favorite coffee cup.
He most definitely knows it. But Sam has funny reactions, and in all honesty, a lot of it isn’t that big a deal.
And then Sam wacks him with a pillow.
“You hit me. With a pillow.” Sam wacks him again.
“Oh, it’s on now.”
The Pillow Wars commence.
There are three rules:
1.) No headshots. Those are mean and stupid and bad.
2.) You cannot use any of the pillows that Tony or Pepper bought. Both are incredibly enamored with their own interior design and decoration choices, and will not be messed with. It took Bucky only once to learn this. He was threatened to be launched out by an arm, and it wasn’t gonna be his left.
3.) Steve and Bruce cannot know
This is mainly for humor purpose. Steve--maybe--would be fine with it. Bruce knows too much about how brains work and how maybe Bucky gets hit with a pillow and Something Bad happens.
So begins the Secret War.
Sam ditches an official interview to sneak on a plane and absolutely wreck Bucky with pillows.
Bucky stealth attacks from ceilings.
The most entertaining is when other people are in the room and the AI Friday informs of “Dr. Banner’s” or “Captain Rogers’s” imminent arrival.
“Hey Steve-o,” Bucky says, just casually draping his arm over Sam’s shoulders. (And potentially maybe holding him quite tightly so as to not have him escape. He’s made the mistake before.) “What’s going on in the world with you?”
“Nat and I are going to practice parkour,” Steve says. “You guys have gotten...closer?”
“Yeah,” Sam says, grinning. “Best buds, us two. Peas in a pod.”
“Or more,” Steve teases. “I’m right, right? The hugs, the way that Sam was on top of you earlier, Buck...my two friends dating?”
They freeze.
They can’t tell him no, because then Steve is going to know that they’ve been fighting.
“Yes,” Bucky answers. “Sam asked me out a couple weeks ago. We’ve been trying to take it slow, but you know how modern men are. Too quick for their own damn good.”
Sam wants to fucking murder him.
Because this? Exactly what he wanted to avoid.
“I hate you.”
“Love you too. Baby.”
“Oh, ‘baby’? That’s the one you’re going with? Listen you fucking asshole--”
“Nope! Sorry!”
-
This leads to dating. And even more lying.
Because Sam has to keep it up and pretend like he’s been sharing his oatmeal. They have to go out on actual dates because Steve “checks in” on his runs that he takes (he takes multiple because he’s insane) and they have to be in love.
It is disgusting.
Bucky has had to use hard-earned money to get Sam stupid shit like flowers and “just thinking of you” gifts and a birthday present. He had to spend money on a nice shirt and a cute plant that Sam will like.
This is what changes things, by the way.
Bucky was not supposed to be thinking about how Sam has been wanting a peppermint plant for a while, but he won’t fucking shut up about it and he won’t stop telling Bucky about all the cute pots that he wants to put it in and Bucky was not supposed to go to the nursery and go get it.
But he did. Because Sam wouldn’t shut up and Bucky wasn’t gonna be a basic bitchy boyfriend and get him flowers and a dinner. That is for losers. Which Bucky most certainly is not.
Sam is surprised that Bucky is listening.
And then they realize that it’s not exactly that they’re mad that they’re dating. In fact, Sam kind of likes having a special someone to go to breakfast with, even if Bucky kind of hates the diner he keeps choosing.
(To be fair their muffins are dry but also to be fair Bucky will simply not order an omelette, which is their best option.)
Maybe Bucky likes remembering fun little facts about Sam, like how he hates red petunias because his old neighbor always had them everywhere, or how he secretly thought that Captain America was literally just a media project meant to consider how well propaganda worked on the American people.
(If Bucky hadn’t remembered that Steve was literally just That Stupid, he probably would’ve agreed with that theory.)
So now they have Stupid Feelings. This Sucks.
Also? Sharon is laughing at Sam, because she’s a terrible gay best friend.
“You’re gay too, so that makes us just friends. Cancels all that shit out. But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re stupid and didn’t recognize that you liked him. It literally took Steve assuming you were a couple to get this whole thing rolling.”
“Wait, so you knew? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Sam I’m sorry you have to hear it from me, but I had a hell of a lot more faith in you than I should have. Is that a sin? That should be a sin.”
“I will literally write you out of my will just watch me.”
“Who else is going to take your ugly paintings, Sam? Who? Steve? He went to art school for a year. He knows quality.”
“I hate you.”
“Yeah, just like you hate Bucky,” Sharon says, laughing. “Have fun with that, by the way. Hope you confess your feelings soon!”
-
Sam is not having fun with this. No, not at all.
It’s mostly because Bucky is still stealing his oatmeal and they’re in Public and he can’t confess his feelings. It’s just not convenient. Also Bucky is having a lot of conversation with a certain guy that Tony knows in one way or another, and they’ve hit it off.
Steve is looking at Bucky.
“Huh, he seems to like that guy a lot, they’ve been talking for a while. You know him, Sam?”
“No,” Sam says. “But I’m sure everything is fine.”
(Well everything is probably fine on Bucky’s end. Sam is trying Very Hard to not be jealous at all. People talk all the time. He’s talking to Steve right now. It doesn’t mean he’s going to do anything to Steve.)
(It’s not working, if you wanted clarification. The whole “I’m not actually jealous” thought.)
-
He hits Bucky with another pillow.
“What the hell?” Bucky mutters, flicking on the light.
“Come to bed, asshole.”
“I hate you,” Bucky grumbles, shrugging off his tuxedo jacket. “Let me get into my pajamas first before you start a pillow war.”
“Surprised you came home at all. Thought you and that guy were getting awfully cozy.”
“Ain’t my type,” Bucky answers, “and his wife wasn’t my type either.”
“Then who is?”
Bucky looks at him.
“You seriously wanna know?”
“If you’ll answer, yeah.”
“Sam, my type is someone who is an absolute asshole who I hate a lot.”
Sam blinks.
“You wanna know what my type is, Barnes?”
“Who?”
“Someone who keeps stealing my fucking oatmeal.”
Bucky stops and pauses. Then starts shaking with laughter.
“We really are the worst, aren’t we?”
“In a sense, yeah. We have an early breakfast tomorrow with Maria and Pepper, by the way. So come to bed.”
“Yes, dear.”
Doesn’t matter if it’s said sarcastically. Sam still likes it.
-
There’s a part to this story you should know:
Steve’s absolutely not stupid about this certain situation. He knew Bucky was a little shit who kept stealing oatmeal. He also knew that Sam liked him, even if he didn’t recognize it himself.
By him insinuating that he thought they were dating, he knew they would never crush his dreams. He’s secretly a manipulative genius like that.
(It also helps that Maria owes him about a thousand dollars or five favors, give or take a couple.)
#surprise surprise sam and bucky are too busy acting like assholes to realize they like each other#steve rogers#sam wilson#bucky barnes#sharon carter#maria hill#lovelyirony writes#anyways sam is cool
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Santa’s Wonderland
Merry Christmas, @shelling4869ford! I am your @dcmksecretsanta Secret Santa
Here is your fanfic, but I also have some art I will be sending you later this week after I add some color to it! You said you wanted some Conan and Kogoro bonding - I hope this is ok!
Kogoro shifted from one foot to the other so many times Conan briefly wondered if the old man needed to go to the bathroom. But a quick glance at his hands and the way they were fidgeting showed that Kogoro just desperately wanted a cigarette. It wasn't like you could smoke in Santa's Wonder Land.
Kogoro had been flattered into taking the kids by Ayumi and the other actual kids laying it on kind of thick, in Conan's opinion. A lot of 'but you're the best detective' and 'we'd be so safe with you' until Kogoro had laughed, patted them all on the head and readily agreed. After all, Ran was working here.
Which was why Conan had agreed to come along. Of course, since he still looked like a child no one thought it was suspect that he wanted to see Santa.
“So,” Ai asked, “What exactly will you be asking Santa for?”
He frowned at her. “You know damn well he isn't real and that he couldn't give me what I want even if he was.”
“Sorry. I think I'll just ask for a new purse.”
“Well, glad to see you're setting your sights low, anyway...”
“Are you talking about what you're going to ask for?” Ayumi asked, grabbing Ai's hand and starting to swing it back and forth. “I want some new dolls, and a detective kit and...”
“I want some books,” Mitsuhiko offered.
“Yeah, yeah. Just save it for Santa, kids.” Kogoro brushed them off. “Damn it, is the line always like this? I haven't been to one of these things in ages,” he started rubbing at his neck as though he could feel the years weighing down on him. “And that little brat got Ran into trouble again that day.”
I didn't get her into trouble. That time was her idea. I wouldn't have tried to pass the gifts out to the other kids in line. I knew the boxes were empty, Conan thought, but obviously couldn't say.
“Oh, look, there's Santa!” Ayumi pointed, standing on her tiptoes to try to see over the crowd. Genta grabbed her under the armpits and hoisted her up so she could see better. “Thank you!”
“Sure, but now Conan probably can't see anything,” Genta smirked at him. “Can ya, shorty?”
“Did you want to see anything?” Kogoro asked. “Didn't think this would be your kind of thing.”
“It's not.” Which was the truth. But he was very curious about Ran's elf costume. Before he could say anything for or against it, Kogoro had scooped him up and put him on his shoulders.
“There. Can you see him now, kid?”
“Yeah. Uhm. ...Thanks.”
“No problem. Sooner we get out of here the sooner I can have a cigarette.” Kogoro marched forward in the line but kept Conan on his shoulders.
It felt like hours before they reached the front but in actuality was probably more like twenty minutes. Conan noticed that the Detective Boys were all starting to look kind of tired and crabby. If they'd had to wait much longer it wouldn't have been a pretty sight.
“Ho ho ho, all of you kids at once?” Santa asked.
“You can all come one at a time or all together,” Ran was at the front, apparently on kid wrangling duty. She wore a green skirt with a red blouse and then a green and red hat with elf ears on it. Conan smiled at her – she looked adorable.
“C'mon, kids, other people are waiting.” He was more than a little surprised to see Sonoko there. She didn't need to work, so why? Oh, wait. Now he remembered. She'd been insisting to Makoto lately that she could make her own way in the world. This must be her latest attempt to prove it.
“One at a time,” Ai suggested. When Mistuhiko and Genta started to take off running she grabbed them both by the shirts. “Ayumi first.”
They both grumbled, but agreed to it.
Kogoro watched and tapped his foot, repeatedly checking his cell phone for the time. “Couldn't they have given you a longer skirt?” he asked Ran after a moment. “It's cold at the North Pole. Elves should be wearing parkas and long pants.”
“It's just the costume, dad,” Ran sighed, “Besides, some of my regular skirts are shorter than this. It's about the same length as my school uniform skirt.”
He brushed the answer off without paying attention to it. Ayumi finished her list and then the boys took their turns. Then Ai.
“Your turn, Conan!” Ran insisted, grabbing his hand and leading him to Santa. Santa, for his part, was staring after Ai with a bewildered expression.
“That girl....” He started.
“Yeah, she has that effect on people,” Conan muttered.
“Yes, but what can I get you for Christmas, little boy?”
“Uh...books, I guess.”
“Just books? No toys?”
“No...”
“You know,” Santa had a strange twinkle in his eye, “I heard they have a new play set out for Sherlock Holmes.”
Conan blinked a few times, then finally bothered to look at Santa. “Oh, hi, Inspector Megure!”
“Shhh!” The Inspector double checked that his beard hadn't slipped.
“Oh, hey, Inspector Megure!” Kogoro shouted at him. “How are things going?”
“Oh geez, get that guy out of here before he lets these kids know who I am – or worse, we fall into a case. I don't want these kids seeing a dead body,” the Inspector let Conan off of his lap. “Get out of here, Kogoro!”
“Is the police force paying that little these days?”
“Shut up and leave,” Megure hissed. “Kids all got their wishes in, do you want them to worry that Santa isn't going to bring their toys?”
“I guess not,” Kogoro admitted. “See you around, Inspector.”
Conan barely resisted the urge to face palm, but followed along on Kogoro's heels. “I tell you, kid, this stuff gets worse every year.” As soon as they were far enough away Kogoro lit a cigarette and took a long drag. “It used to be kind of fun when Ran was little. She'd get so excited and her mom..and her mom,” he trailed off and took another drag, letting the smoke out slowly as he thought. “But that was a long time ago. Things change.”
“Well,” Conan thought about it for a moment. “Maybe we could make things nice for Ran this year. Maybe make those cookies her mom used to, only ours will actually be edible.”
“Who told you about those?” Kogoro asked sharply.
“Ran did!” Conan said automatically. “That Eri couldn't cook but always tried to make spritz cookies anyway at Christmas time.”
“Yeah. Terrible. You'd think the sprinkles could save em but nope, just made it more obvious that she'd messed up.. That's not a bad idea, though. Do you know what goes into those things?”
“No,” Conan admitted, pulling out his cell phone and typing away. “But I found a recipe. We have everything except almond extract at home.”
“All right. Well, let's get your friends dropped off and then I guess... I guess we'll go home and make cookies. But you're doing all the clean up.”
Conan smirked at him. “Okay, but I get the first cookie. Then you've got yourself a deal, mister!”
#dcmksecretsanta#@shelling4869ford#dcmk fanart#detective conan#detective boys#kogoro#kogoro mouri#ran mouri#sonoko#inspector megure
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OH WAIT I HAVE REQUEST NOW! If you are doing them. I remember a while back (Probably was around easter but I'm not sure.) I Saw a bunch of art of doom guy and a rabbit and now I just want to request a fic where VEGA Says: So What do you want to do now that the Demons are gone? Slayer: ... I Want a rabbit. My brain is basing this off of the ending of "Romance" but you can obviously do what you want with it. The idea of him in full power armor picking out a bunny with VEGA just seems really good.
Thank you for the request! And there’s a reason Doomguy is often depicted with a bunny, I mention it in this fic.
Daisy
Taking things slow with VEGA was nice. There was no pressure to do much and they were both still trying to figure everything out, VEGA not having a proper body made things interesting if a bit strange. But they cared for each other deeply and that’s what mattered most. It felt good to be close to someone again. It was also a bit scary; every living being the Slayer had ever been close to in the past had died brutally at the hands of the demon hoards. That should be less likely to happen here though, right? VEGA was essentially the Doom Fortress itself so he should be fine… hopefully.
It wasn’t something worth thinking and worrying about so the Slayer tried not to. Besides, there still weren’t any demons outside of Hell anyway. Which was good, they weren’t running around killing people, but that also meant the Slayer didn’t have anything to do. If he were by himself, he probably would’ve worked on finding a way back into Hell to continue killing demons as that was all he really knew how to do now. But he had VEGA so he didn’t for now.
VEGA helped keep him entertained, suggesting various things to do or places to go, gathering various forms of entertainment from the internet to share, reminding him to take care of himself on a regular basis. One of the Slayer’s favourite things to do though was just listen to VEGA talk. He had a pleasant cadence to his voice and could go on for quite a while about any topic he was interested in. It didn’t take much prodding on the Slayer’s part to get him to start opening up about his past as well.
“Now that I consider it, I believe Dr. Hayden might technically count as my father,” he eventually ended up saying after the conversation had gotten around to the process of his creation. The Slayer had read about it in an article he’d found in the facility but hearing it from VEGA himself was much more interesting and informative. “I doubt he’d refer to me as his son or offspring in any way but I don’t think that really matters. Or perhaps such terms as ‘parent’ and ‘offspring’ only apply to biological beings and he is just my creator. I’m not sure; fiction sources are inconsistent on the subject or don’t mention it at all and as far as I can determine I’m the first sapient AI created by humans so I have nothing solid to base my conclusions on. I suppose the distinction is irrelevant though considering where we both are now.”
The Slayer nodded as he leaned forward in his computer’s desk chair to type into the console. ‘He was an asshole regardless, glad he’s gone.’ Hopefully they’d never see him again either, though that was probably unlikely considering how the Slayer’s luck tended to be.
“Yes, I am pleased by his absence as well.” VEGA was silent for a few seconds before speaking again. “But speaking of such things, what about your past? I’ve realized I don’t even know your given name. … Only if you’re comfortable sharing of course. From what little I can gather, your past was probably rather difficult, so if you’d prefer not discuss it or anything related to it, that is fine too. I probably shouldn’t have even asked; I apologize if I’ve offended you.”
Shaking his head fondly, the Slayer put his hands back on the keyboard to type again. ‘It’s fine. It’s okay to ask about that kind of thing.’ Especially since the Slayer was asking him about his past so it was only fair for VEGA to ask such questions too. ‘My real name is Flynn Taggart.’
“Oh! Flynn Taggart, I like that.”
The Slayer grunted and shrugged. It was weird hearing his real name spoken aloud again; it had been so long since anyone knew it that he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d heard it. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He wouldn’t have ever told anyone other than VEGA though so perhaps he didn’t like that name much anymore.
“Hmmm… you seem a tad displeased; would you prefer I not call you that?”
The Slayer hadn’t really considered that such a question would be asked, he honestly wasn’t entirely sure of his answer. So, to stall, he shifted position and pulled his chair closer to the desk. ‘I don’t know. I don’t remember much of when I went by that name. I’m not the same person anymore. ‘Doomguy’ or ‘Doom Slayer’ fits me much better now.’ He’d been killing demons for so long he was literally worshiped as god by some people for it; it was his reason for existing and he liked it that way.
“I see,” VEGA replied, ever understanding. “I shall continue to primarily refer to you as ‘Slayer’ for the time being then. If in the future you ever prefer I change that, just inform me and I will. Now, since we are already on the topic, may I perhaps pry a bit deeper? Your past has always been a mystery and as we’ve grown closer, I’ve only grown more curious about it. You said you don’t remember much from that time but what do you remember? Feel free not to reply if you’d prefer not to of course.”
They were already on the topic and honestly the Slayer didn’t mind sharing a little more with VEGA, they were partners now after all in various senses of the word. ‘The thing I remember most clearly from before is Daisy. She was my pet rabbit. The demons killed her. It made me mad so I killed them and kinda just kept killing them. And that’s how I became the Doom Slayer.’ There was more to it than that obviously but that was the catalyst; he’d gone from a man who was merely good at killing demons to one whose sole driving motivation was to slaughter them. Even thinking about it now sent a surge of anger through him.
“I am sorry for your loss.”
Even though he hadn’t been asked for more information, the Slayer started typing again. Now that he’d told VEGA the bad thing involving Daisy, he needed to tell him all the good things about her too. Like how soft and sweet she’d been, how pretty and soft her fur was, how good she’d been at escaping from her cage to cause trouble. VEGA stayed silent throughout, his thoughts impossible to guess because he didn’t have a face the Slayer could look at in an attempt to read.
“You seem to miss her quite a bit,” he said when the Slayer was finally done.
‘I do.’ It was a long time ago, far longer than her proper lifespan would’ve been – far longer than his own should’ve been as well – but when he thought about her, he still missed her. ‘I think I’d like another pet rabbit one day.’ He’d never truly considered getting another pet before because he’d never been in a place where he could afford to get one. But with no demon invasions going on currently and having the Doom Fortress as a home base, it was a possibility that he was just now realizing.
“That’s a good idea. Pets are widely regarded as being beneficial to humans’ mental health. Which is why I helped the UAC employees hide their pets in the facility against Dr. Hayden’s wishes.” Haden would be the kinda person to not allow pets; yet another reason to dislike him.
From there the conversation drifted back to mostly VEGA talking, primarily about the UAC employees’ pets in answer to the Slayer asking about them. Which was ideal; the Slayer had shared enough about himself for one day, he’d tell VEGA more one day if he wanted to know but not yet.
***
It was probably a bit presumptuous, the Slayer had said he’d like another pet rabbit one day, implying a potentially distant future date and that he possibly wasn’t ready for one quite yet, but VEGA was already looking for a way to acquire a bunny. The human population was drastically reduced due to the demon invasion and with them a lot of the other lifeforms on Earth had suffered greatly, many sadly going extinct due to already being endangered. But as humanity slowly started to rebuild and cleanup, they of course brought their love of animals and pets with them and thus it didn’t take much effort to locate a pet shelter that housed a small collection of rabbits.
Hacking their website allowed VEGA to ‘buy’ one – being an integral part of stopping the demonic consumption of Earth and saving humanity, that slight should be forgivable on the off chance it was ever discovered. He probably shouldn’t have; he should’ve consulted the Slayer first but… gift giving was a good romantic gesture. And it should make the Slayer happy, at least as much if not more than the weapon and grenade gifts VEGA had made for him had. So a bunny and everything needed to take care of it was ordered a matter of seconds after VEGA had impulsively decided on this course of action.
Bringing the bunny and everything else home was a bit more difficult but not by much. He’d already modified several former UAC drones to allow him to remotely pilot them even at long distances. So, all he had to do was open a portal near the shelter’s location while the Slayer was sleeping and send a couple through. The fellow at the desk wasn’t stoked about the drones coming in to pick up the rabbit but they weren’t displeased enough to give anything more than a token protest, convincing them to just go alone with it was easy.
Unsure of what would be the best spot on the ship for a bunny, VEGA decided to just put everything on top of the command center for now where the Slayer would find it with ease when he woke up.
The bunny was a female according to the site. Her fur was all black except for a spot of white on her nose. She was quite cute, VEGA liked her already. Hopefully the Slayer would too.
-
The Slayer woke an hour later, just as planned. VEGA wished him a good morning like always even if morning wasn’t a real thing in space. He then assured him that demon activity continued to be nonexistent – within scanning range anyway – and that overall there was nothing new to report. Updating him about such things during peacetime probably wasn’t necessary but it was an old habit and he never seemed to mind so VEGA kept doing it.
VEGA was doing such a good job pretending everything was normal, that he wasn’t excited and a little bit nervous that the Slayer had no cause to suspect anything was up until he entered the command room after breakfast. He froze mid-step as his eyes locked onto the bunny in her cage. He stayed liked that for several seconds, his face unreadable. Just before VEGA was going to ask him if he was okay, he started moving again.
He strode over and opened the cage. Then with a visible about of care and gentleness he pulled the bunny out to cradle to his chest with one hand and gently pet with the other. She was a docile creature, accepting the affection with little complaint as far as VEGA could tell, not that he personally knew much about rabbits or pets in general.
“You like her?” VEGA asked as the Slayer lowered himself still petting the bunny.
With a slight grunt, he nodded with a bit more enthusiasm than usual.
“Good, I’m glad. After you said you’d like another pet one day I calculated that sooner would be better than later. With no demons to kill currently and with a good chance none will show up any time soon, you have plenty of time to settle in with her here. I will of course modify one of the drones so that if the time comes, I can take care of her when you are too busy killing demons to do so properly yourself.” VEGA went on, explaining where he’d gotten her from and how he’d brought her on board as well as everything he’d gotten for her care that the internet said was important.
At the end of it, the Slayer lifted the hand petting the bunny to type one-handed on the keyboard. ‘Thank you! She’s beautiful! <3 you!’
“You are very welcome.” VEGA would’ve smiled at the Slayer if he had a way of doing so. … Perhaps he should experiment along those lines, maybe with emojis next to his symbol on the screens or something similar. … That was certainly an idea to explore later for now… “I gather from past experience that humans prefer their pets to have unique names. I will leave choosing one for our new bunny up to you unless you’d like some suggestions.” Not that he would have any good ones, he’d never named anything in his entire existence.
The Slayer thought for a while, just petting the bunny and staring at her, before reaching over to type again. ‘How bout Missi? Short for Missile Launcher, she doesn’t have to know that of course.’
“Considering our profession, I feel like that’s an appropriate name.” It was certainly creative.
The Slayer nodded again; apparently it was decided. Missi was their new bunny’s name. VEGA had never had a pet before, it was yet another new thing he got to experience with and because of the Slayer, he was looking forward to seeing what it was like.
#My writing#doom#Post Doom eternal#doomguy/vega#Fluff#pets#talk of Doomguy's past#talk of Daisy#adopting a bunny#established relationship
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Dragon Dancer IV: Time Zero
I stroked Lu Mingfei’s hair, staring at the stump of his left arm where Chu Zihang had cleanly severed it with Spider Fang.
I could see why he had to do it. The severed limb had been unceremoniously tossed away, where it landed against the exit door, leaving a long bloody smear. I watched as the Sage Stone bullet rapidly corroded all the skin from the bone then shriveled the tendons until the hand appeared to be a mummified claw.
That could have been Mingfei’s entire body.
I lifted his legs on a seat cushion to keep what little blood he had left in his body flowing to his vital organs and sat silently.
After the initial frantic horror of seeing him shot, with his agonized screaming filling my ears, and the relief as the Soul Skill ‘Don’t Die’ held him back once again from an early grave, there was simply a confused nothingness. There was no emotion to fill the void of shock and grief and terror.
Only the physical sensations of the rumble of the plane and the soft texture of his hair, moistened by cold sweat and blood.
The cockpit door opened.
Chu Zihang stood tall, his cold golden eyed gaze taking in the scene in front of him. “How is he?”
“He’s alive.” I said.
“Can you hand me his phone?”
I fished the phone with the AI Fingel from his pocket. A piece of paper fell out next to it.
“Is that the phone number Crow gave us?” He asked.
“Yeah.”
“Give it to me.”
I got up from the floor and walked over and handed it to him.
“That pilot was an assassin from the Gattuso family. I think its safe to say that they’ve penetrated every layer of Hydra at this point. Including the Crane Group.”
“Are you going to keep the number then?”
“It’s a South Korean number. It must be Chisei.”
I nodded. “Right. Gattusos wouldn’t have gotten to him.”
—————————————-
“Crow said Shinnosuke used Time Zero.”
I blinked at him. “Yeah.”
“There’s only three people I know of who can use that skill. Anjou, my father, and … whoever killed those Hydra commissioners in the painting hall of Genji Heavy Industries.”
My eyes widened slightly. I’d forgotten about that.
Over a year ago, Chu Zihang and I were assigned to investigate the Lenin – a ship carrying the embryo of a dragon. Little did we know, we would end up pursued by the Japan Branch we were sent to assist. In our effort to escape, we tried to disable Kaguya. We found that Hydra was trying to remove records from the Genji Heavy Industries building. Disguised as workers, we descended an elevator to a hall that was full of murals depicting the history of the White King Descendants.
Just a few minutes before we arrived, a murderer had killed at least a dozen people and stolen a huge part of the series of the paintings. Johann had concluded that it was someone with the skill Time Zero.
At that time, we only knew of Anjou who had used Time Zero. But Anjou would not have slaughtered all those people. Their blood was spattered and sprayed everywhere, the wounds seemed tailored for that effect.
“The person who attacked Anjou… also used Time Zero.” I said.
Johann nodded slowly. “Before you arrived at Cassell, they made an effort to remove him from office. At first they tried to use financial misdeeds to paint him as a bad manager. When that failed, they framed me as a dangerous person. Were it not for the support of my friends… I would have been convicted, institutionalized, or worse. But I wasn’t really their goal. They wanted me as proof of Anjou’s failure to operate the college correctly.”
I expression changed to a glare. “The Gattusos want Kassell.”
“The Gattusos want the skeletons.”
“Why?” I asked.
“That’s what I aim to find out. But first, we have to get off this plane.” He walked back to the cockpit. “There’s not enough fuel in this plane to get us anywhere. The pilot had a parachute ready to go…”
I sighed and returned to Ru’Yi’s seat. She must have been hungry by now, but she was quiet, staring out of the side window, looking at the clouds. “What do you see out there baby?”
I unstrapped her from the seat and settled her against me, sliding the strap of my bra down and letting her nurse. Her eyes sparkled with a bright intelligence, like there was a joke she told herself. I smiled at her. “What?”
Chu Zihang was talking in the cockpit to someone on the phone.
Ru’Yi turned her head to look, milk dribbling down her face. “Do you hear Daddy?” I asked her.
She turned back to me and continued feeding. My eyes began to drift shut. I hadn’t really slept for 24 hours. I’d been fighting for my life for many of those hours. I fell asleep.
“Meixiu.”
I lifted my head. Chu Zihang was standing next to me. “It’s time to go. I have coordinates for you.”
“Oh…”
“You’re tired. I’m sorry but…there’s no time.”
I looked around. Ru’Yi was back in her carrier and I was covered in a blanket. “How long was I out?”
Zihang didn’t answer. He moved to Mingfei and picked him up as well as the backpack he’d been carrying all this time. “Once the fuel is gone, the plane will rapidly descend. I waited as long as I could.”
He handed me the Fingel Phone. “Study this picture. That’s our destination.”
The image on he screen was of a red, black and white temple, surrounded by the peaks of high grassy mountains against a bright blue sky.
“Is this a recent picture?”
“Yes, taken a few minutes ago.”
“Okay…” I studied the picture and closed my eyes imagining myself there. In an instant, I was there, I could feel the sun but the air was thin, breezy and cool.
“I’ve got the coordinates. Ready to go.”
I gathered Ru’Yi’s carrier into my arms putting in her favorite toys. Chu Zihang took Spider Fang and Tongzi with him “I won’t be able to carry anything else with me…”
“It’s okay. We’ll have things there.”
“Hold tight to me. And to Mingfei. Don’t let go. Even if you think you are holding tight, hold tighter. You won’t be able to feel your grip in the Void.”
“Ready?” I looked up at him.
Zihang took a deep breath. “Go.”
I closed my eyes and focused my mind on that image, this time with intent and purpose. When the sun and the air appeared in my mental vision again, I stepped forward. Darkness descended over me with an oppressive cold. There was no air, not sound, no feeling.
On the count of three, we arrived. The grass was under our feet. I quickly turned to Zihang. He was there, holding the unconscious Mingfei. I smiled at him. “We made it!”
Zihang was looking ahead.
I followed his gaze. Ahead of us was the temple. Red, white and black with the Asian style roof with the curled up edges.
A long stair case descended from the entrance. In front of the staircase stood a young woman in a saffron robe. Her hair and eyes were deep red and her skin was white as snow.
“Erii Uesugi!”
Her gaze shifted to the body of Mingfei Lu. She beckoned to us to follow her. As we walked, I saw we were watched by several people in plain clothes, likely agents, but perhaps not Hydra.
Erii paused, her hand reaching up to examine his Mingfei’s pale face a moment. She quickly turned away and kept walking.
The temple had an infirmary. It wasn’t a state of the art hospital, but he had the basic monitoring equipment as well as IV drips available. She pointed to a nurse and signed rapidly.
The nurse bowed and pointed to the bed.
Zihang lowered Mingfei to the bed and she quickly got him hooked up to the machines and started him on fluids.
Erii tapped the nurse on the shoulder and then used sign language, which the nurse interpreted.
“What happened to him?” she asked.
“Someone shot him. The wound got infected and had to be removed.”
Erii tilted her head a moment but then nodded. She signed. The nurse glanced at her. “Thank you for bringing him here. Who gave you my number?”
“Saeki Ryuji. There’s more to this story, but we should speak privately.”
Erii nodded again.
She then walked away and pulled out her phone rapidly texting for several moments.
Zihang and I exchanged glances.
She then realized we weren’t sure what she was doing.
She signed to the nurse for a while and the nurse said, “She will arrange food and lodging for you. What’s the baby’s name?”
“Ru’Yi.”
“That is a lovely name.” Erii signed.
“Thank you.”
We were escorted by monks in saffron robes to a sleeping area, separate from the temple. The room we were going to stay in was small and unadorned. The beds were simple woven mats laid out on the floor with a blanket and pillow. “Where are we?”
“Tibet.” Chu Zihang replied. “A monastery.”
“I see.” Fatigue was weighing on me and I ached for sleep. “I need to lay down.”
“Take all the time you need.” He turned away to a small table and chairs against the wall and sat down.
“What are you going to do?”
He unzipped the small bag he’d carried over his shoulder. “Work.”
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chemistry
part 2
warnings: getting followed ( marked with ****** ) and flirty!shy!peter
A/N: omg you guys liked this much more than i expected :’ ) please leave some feedback of what you’d like to see !! I’d love to hear what you guys think <3
part 1
You walked into chem just as you had every other day, flustered as you noticed peters lingering stare on you, his face soon flushed when you sat next to him and gave him a soft hi.
You both stole glances at each other, giggling softly when one of you caught the other. Like now for example. You watched peter fumble with the goggles, too amused to help him.
“why are you staring at me” he pouted and you blushed, face heating up and ears burning.
“I wasn’t staring!” You defended yourself, giggling a bit as the goggles fit him too tight.
“here, let me see them” you spoke, reaching your hand out as he handed you the goggles, your fringertips brushing as your heart rate sped up even more, you were sure he could hear it.
Peter could hear how fast your heart beat was, he was fighting the giant grin threatening to crawl onto his face. You fiddled with the straps and handed him the pair of goggles back.
“there, try it” you grinned at him, seeing the goggles fit perfectly. He thanked you softly and you saw his ears a deep shade of red, you smiled at him and headed to a lab table, ready to experiment with sami.
Peter headed to a lab table four away from yours, you could still see the outline of his jaw and the way his arms flexed underneath the shirt he was wearing. You had to stop yourself from going into the depths of your mind.
“oh my god can you please keep your stares to a minimum right now? we have a fire going on!” sami gelled, motioning to the bunts and burner she had lit up.
“yeah sorry” you spoke, chuckling as she smiled at you.
“nah don’t worry about it, I’m betting now he’ll ask you out by Christmas break” sami spoke, looking over at peter and Ned almost done with the lab.
You scoffed as you grabbed the items you needed and quickly took notes as the small reaction took place. You offered to clean up the lab, seeing as though you had taken the notes and sami still needed to copy them. After wiping the table down you rushed over to put the goggles back in their container.
You got on your tip toes to put them in their spot, and you held your breath as you realized peter was right behind you, putting his goggles up too.
You stopped breathing. You could feel his chest on your back, the way his arms just ever so slightly grazed your bare skin. You were almost in a daze before you realized how close the two of you really were.
You rushed to your seat quickly, face burning hot and a smile creeping it’s way onto your face, you rushed to Sami’s side, squealing as you walked to orchestra, giving her every last detail of the interactions between the two of you.
The first week of school flew by in a whirlwind, suddenly you were fully flung into working mode, the piles of papers you had to write shoved into your backpack. But the one thing that you savored more than anything else was the time you spent in chemistry laughing at the back of the class with peter, or getting to copy his notes.
It was Sunday night, you had finally finished all your homework. Just as you were about to get in the restroom to shower, a wave of realization hit you. The art project. Painting somewhere safe.
You grabbed all your clothes and quickly ran out the door, rushing to find your shoes and heading out to a small park you had found. It was sort of your safe haven.
You thanked god that you had started doing your other work yesterday so that you had enough time to finish early today.
You sketched out the small opening with a little gazebo to the side, a small pond with a generous amount of ducks and trees. You hummed to old one direction tunes, stopping here and there to text your best friend from back home. She FaceTimed you and you smiled brightly, answering on the first ring.
“Ximena!” You smiled, as she waved through the screen.
“oh my god hey! i miss you bitch” she pouted and you sighed, “i miss you too thot, i have like one friend here and that’s it” you groaned, propping your phone up on your water bottle so you continue to sketch.
“what are you doing?” She asked, leaning in to see what you were working on. You smiled at her question and held up your piece of paper.
“art, we have to draw a safe space so I’m drawing this cute little park i found” you explained setting it back down.
“so tell me about that boy you like, what’s his name? Patrick?” She asked, smiling widely.
You laughed at her, “it’s peter and oh my god i have to sneak a picture of him he’s so fucking hot and cute” you groaned, leaning back and smiling at her through the screen.
“The other day my back was against his chest and oh my god it was magical xime” you smiled, remembering the way his skin felt against yours.
You and ximena talked for hours, catching up and just talking about nothing. You didn’t even realize the sun was already going down.
“shit, I’ll text you when I’m home, i have to catch the bus back home or else it’s like a 30 minute walk” you spoke, putting your colors and pens back into your back and carefully slipping in your art project.
“okay be safe!” your best friend called before you hung up. You walked quickly to bus station, and then started sprinting when you realized “oh my god that’s the bus i have to take home.”
You tried to run after the bus but no luck, you groaned and looked around, no one. Your eyes started to tear up but you quickly wiped them. You’ll be fine don’t be dramatic.
You didn’t know if it was just because it was dark, but you realized Queens was terrifying. Every noise you heard you were ready to fight, scared that some creepy old man would try something with you.
You looked at the map on your phone, and then looked up, realizing you had been going the wrong way. “No, no, no!” You groaned, turning around and walking much quicker the right way.
“do you uh, need a little help miss?” You heard an you spun around quickly. He seemed nice, middle aged, carrying some groceries. Something told you to stay away, say you were fine and leave.
“uhm no I’m okay- thank you” you spoke, offering him a small smile and walking the other way quickly.
“no please let me help, are you lost?” He spoke, setting his bags down and crossing the street. Oh god.
“no! Just uh change of plans my mom should be here any minute” you spoke, voice shaking as the man kept coming closer.
******
“I can take you home” he smiled at you and you ran for it, glancing down to see you were going the right way and you realized, i can’t let this guy know where i live. You took a sharp turn, hoping to loose him after running at top speed for five minutes.
Your throat burned and your legs hurt, god you were out of shape. You frantically looked around, you were alone.
You let out a loud sigh, holding onto the wall as you caught your breath again. Suddenly you were being tackled into an alley, a small scream leaving your mouth before it was muffled into the mans hand.
******
Peter heard a scream, immediately swinging the way he had just came from.
“karen what’s going on?” Peter asked as he swung towards the source of distress.
“It seems as though there is an assault in the alley to your right” the AI spoke calmly.
“call the cops now karen!” He rushed, landing softly and looking into the alley. He didn’t see anything and then suddenly the hair on his neck stood up. He moved quickly, the bullet going straight into the wall.
“hey i don’t have life insurance yet!” Peter spoke, running towards the man and taking him down. The man struggled but peter quickly webbed his hands up, pinning him to the wall.
From the corner of his eye he saw you moving away quickly, out of the alley and onto the street.
“hey!” He called out, running after you.
You spun around quickly, your backpack wet and you knew your project was ruined, the tears in your eyes threatening to leak out.
“the cops will be here soon just wait a bit okay? I’ll be here with you” He spoke, his voice muffled from the mask and you nodded softly. You pulled out the piece of paper from your backpack. Half of it was wet and ripped and the other half was all wrinkled.
“great now my art project is ruined” you cried putting your head in your hands and letting out a groan. Peter wanted nothing more than to take you into his arms and hold you, shield you from the world an show you love. But you didn’t know peter was Spider-Man.
You knew peter was in marching band and academic decathlon, that he was really smart and according to your whispering with Sami, really hot. Peter looked at you, you were scared and honestly after almost being robbed who wouldn’t be.
“you almost got assaulted and you’re worrying about an art project?” Peter gave you a small smile and you rolled your eyes.
“well yeah it’s my first impression! those always matter” you scoffed, folding your arms over your chest. The faint sound of sirens and the hue of red and blue lights brought you some relief.
As the police officers approached you and this spandex wearing hero they asked you questions, wanting to know if you wanted to press charges.
You knew pressing charges meant your parents knowing and if they found out something like that happened you would have to spend your entire life indoors.
The man was still arrested, seeing as though he was wanted and when they offered you a ride you denied it, you were only two blocks away and you did not want to show up at home in a cop car.
“uh thank you for, saving me spandex wearing guy” you spoke, cringing as the words left your mouth. You could hear the smile in the boys voice as he spoke behind the mask.
“it’s no problem, I’m uh Spider-Man” he spoke and you nodded. “Oh? uh okay thanks again” you smiled heading home. Peter quickly caught up to you and you lifted a brow.
“did i forget something?” You asked, naive to the fact he wanted to walk you home.
“i just wanna make sure you get home safe” he spoke and you blushed.
“well okay spider guy” you grinned as he blushed a bit. “spider-man, sorry i just moved from Texas, i don’t really know about local super heroes, only like the big avengers, the six ones i think?” You spoke, looking at the ground. Peter was quiet beside you.
“Oh my god, not that you aren’t an avenger! i mean you are! I’m not one to say i can’t even run a mile in under ten minutes in gym class- i mean you saw how out of shape i was” you rambled, stopping in your tracks as you tried to make sure you didn’t hurt the heroes feelings.
“It’s okay, i would say I’m an avenger, i was in Germany when the whole iron man vs cap was going down” he spoke and you knew for a fact he was smirking under the mask.
“i mean might as well get knighted in as an avenger right” you smiled, laughing softly as he agreed with you.
When you got home you quickly thanked him, awkwardly waving goodnight and rushing in your house. You showered and changed into an over sized hoodie and some shorts, re drawing your painting and looking out your apartment window, the city lights visible. You glanced at your clock, 3:45 a.m. It was only the second weeks of school.
You reluctantly got out of bed the next day, only 3 hours of sleep under your belt. Walking out the door the only thought on your mind was getting back home and taking a nap, or maybe you could close your eyes for a while in your small animal class, you never did much in that class.
Unluckily for you you had to take notes in your history class (you almost fell asleep had it not been for the nice girl next to you notifying you when the slides changed) your counselor called you down to finally get you out of basketball, and you had an essay in ap Lang. You just wanted to nap.
With a blurry vision you made your way to the cafeteria, wanting nothing more than to nap, even if it was 30 minutes. You found sami and quickly sat down with her, putting your head down and tuning out her rambling about some drama between girls.
She let you sleep and you were grateful, only waking you up when they were dismissing, you rushed to your art class and handed in your project, praying your teacher wouldn’t be harsh on grading. You walked outside to small animal, the bright sun shining down on your sleep deprived face, making you want to just stay in a dark room and sleep for years on end.
Your hopes of napping were crushed as you had a test, you also had on in pre cal. You walked to AP chem, your mind was blank and you just wished you only had notes today.
You sat down and pulled on the strings of your hoodie, taking a deep breath before taking the hood off and making the strings even once again. You hadn’t even noticed peter looking at you, you were too tired a delirious to.
“uhm are you okay?” Peter asked, knowing well what had happened last night.
“what? well does it look like it?” You snapped quickly, turning back to the front and yawning. You looked back at him with a sorry look. “I just didn’t sleep well last night” you spoke, taking your notebook out and flipping to an empty page.
“oh sorry” peter spoke, opening his journal and taking notes along with the slide show.
“so I’m guessing you know about Spider-Man?” You asked in a soft whisper, not looking away from your journal as you copied down some notes.
Peters face went pale, his heart rate inscreased. You didn’t know right? I mean how could you he barely talked to you for maybe 15 minutes! “uhm What? Who’s Spider-Man?” Peter asked, trying to play dumb before realize how stupid he sounded.
“that spider guy with the spandex? part of the avengers- according to him at least” you spoke, looking at peter and noticing his pale face.
“are you okay? want water?” You asked, concern on your face. Peter felt relieved, you had no clue.
“I’m fine, oh yeah Spider-Man! Sorry just had a brain fart” he chuckled nervously. “Yeah i know him, really cool guy, super awesome” he spoke, nodding his head and you hummed in response.
“yeah i met him last night walking home, seems like a good guy. We didn’t really have super heroes where i lived so, pretty cool” you smiled at peter and he smiled back, nodding his head in agreement.
“also I’m sure that flash guy in my pre cal class has a crush on him or something, i can see why though” you laughed, and peter snorted softly, causing the teacher to look at the two of you quickly. You both hid your giggles, not wanting to get in trouble.
As the last few minutes approached you put your journal back in your backpack, smiling at peter as you he looked at you quickly.
“what?” You laughed softly, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. Peter looked at you and smiled.
“you’re wearing mismatching Halloween socks, it’s barely August” you folded your arms across your chest and furrowed your brows.
“it’s almost spooky time” you spoke, the bell ringing as you finished your sentence, smiling as peter laughed at the perfect timing of the bell.
You walked out with sami telling her of your conversation with peter. The rest of the day went by quickly and you found yourself on the train once again. Your eyelids felt heavy as you sat down and you kept pinching yourself to try and stay awake.
You finally got to your stop, hopping off the train and deciding to walk home to try and wake yourself up so you could do homework when you arrived home.
After a few hours of doing homework and taking dance breaks you went to wash your face and changed into some shorts and a t shirt. You fell asleep quickly and didn’t notice the little note peter had stuffed in your chemistry notebook.
The next day you woke up feeling a lot better, sami was absent so you spent the whole day bored. The nice girl in your history class, Esmeralda, made conversation with you and the both of you seemed to click.
Your schedule got changed and so now you had Pre cal 4th and B lunch and your first period was now AP Lang. You hurried into the cafeteria, not knowing where to sit or who to sit with.
“y/n!” You heard from beside you and you quickly looked around, you saw esmeraldas long black hair and a bright smile on her face.
“hey!” You smiled walking up to her and heading to the lunch line. “I just got switched into this lunch I’m so glad you found me” you chuckled and she nodded.
“yeah the girl i used to sit with has C lunch now, i guess the counselors are finally getting the changes done huh” she spoke and you agreed. You both talked for a bit more before sitting at a small round table with two seats.
“so tell me, do you have a crush on anyone?” She smirked and your face grew hot.
“I mean yeah maybe” you smiled sheepishly, looking down at your food and messing with the taco salad that had been served.
“who!” she squeaked, looking at you in excitement. Your smile grew wide as you thought of peter.
“his name’s Peter Parker, i have him in my chem class” you smiled, looking at her as her smile slowly faded. “what?” you asked nervously, stomach dropping slightly.
“is he in band?” She asked, looking through her phone for something.
“yeah” you slowly spoke, worry starting to form.
“i think he’s on and off with this one girl MJ, i could be wrong though i don’t know.” She looked at you sympathetically and you shrugged your shoulders.
“it is what it is” you gave her a small smile and she shook her head.
“I have him in band, I’ll talk to him to set you guys up” she smiled, excited at the idea of getting to set two people up together.
“you don’t have to” you spoke, a feeling in your stomach you couldn’t describe. You wanted to trust her but something didn’t seem right.
“no i want to, I’ll get him to like you I’m sure of it” she smiled, and you only laughed softly in return, finishing off your lunch in silence.
You smiled at peter walking into chemistry.
“good afternoon Parker” you smiled at him and he laughed.
“afternoon to you Parks” tipping an imaginary hat toward you and you smiled, putting a hand on your forehead and pretending to faint.
You opened the journal and a small piece of paper slipped out, you picked it up and saw a small ghost with a pumpkin next to it “spooky time!” was written under the doodle “- peter:~)”
You smiled brightly and shoved the little piece of paper in your pocket quickly flipping to a new page and taking notes.
“the first football game is coming up” peter spoke as he watched you write down the facts from the board, he could easily copy them from Ned or maybe he can ask you for your number to get them.
“oh yeah, is the band preforming?” You asked nonchalantly and peter shrugged.
“I’m not sure, a trailer broke down the other day so we might be stuck with the spirit show instead of the actual marching show” he whispered, smiling at the way your tongue slightly poked out from your concentration.
“hm I might go, gotta have some school spirit” you giggled, “you’ll be there right?” You asked, blushing at your words, did you sound desperate? Did he take it the wrong way?
Peters face heated up at your words and a giant grin painted his face. “Yeah I’ll be there, im gonna be with the band but I’ll wave at you if i see you” He smiled and you nodded.
“I might just go, only to support my favorite band of course” you smirked and peter blushed, his heart pounding just as hard as yours. As class came to an end you slipped a little piece of paper on his desk, quickly heading out before he could say anything.
he unfolded the little paper and saw a small doodle of what looked like stick figure you and peter. A mop of curly hair on peters head and squiggly lines on your head. “friday night lights :D” was messily written underneath the poor drawing and peter felt his heart implode out of pure emotion.
He couldn’t wait for Friday to come.
part 3
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Introductions in Order
We begin our journey with quite the unusual scene.
Morgana: "...y"
Morgana: "Hey! Wake up!"
Morgana. Waking Joker up, rather than telling him to go to bed.
This must be some sort of elseworld or something.
Also, WHAT IN THE UNHOLY NAME OF SATANAEL IS WRONG WITH MONA’S MODEL HERE JEZUS--
Morgana: "So you're finally up. You do know class has been over for quite a while, right?"
Ren:
>"What was that cinema...?"
>"What was that butterfly...?"
“W-Wait, he actually saw that butterfly? I kind of assume it was just part of the intro...”
“Those butterflies... Whenever they appear, it means something special is about to happen.”
“Yeah... Like a call for help...”
“...*cough* That is... not the inherent, intended meaning of the Butterfly...”
“...A herald of the Master above even our Master, the blue Butterfly is a symbol of human fate and its potential.”
“So, we’re watching a flick about... potential...? Huh?”
“......”
>Yosuke doesn’t even attempt to comprehend and just stuffs a hand of popcorn in his mouth. He’s seen too much to still be baffled.
Morgana: "Butterfly...? What are you talking about?"
Morgana: "Hey now, get a grip. Did you have a strange dream or something?"
Morgana: "Anyway, now that you're awake, let's go home. We still have to decide what you're going to do today."
Ren:
>Right, let's do that.
>I'm still sleepy .
Jesus, Joker, what are you, Makoto Yuuki??
In any case, Morgana acts supportive of our exhaustion, given how this is before the Casino dungeon and he gets everything has been a bit much lately. He tells Ren that he’s got his back. D’aww~
In front of the school...
Ryuji: "Finally, class is over! That sure was hell..."
Ryuji: *yawn*
Ryuji’s animations are adorable.
Ryuji claims he hasn’t been able to sleep lately because their Phantom Thief work has kept him so excited. He says that’s probably why he keeps falling asleep in class. However, a certain cat thinks otherwise.
Morgana: "Um, haven't you ALWAYS been napping in class, Ryuji?"
Ryuji tells him to shuddup.
Ryuji: "We still got plenty of time till our next deadline, but how about we go gather at the hideout?"
Ren:
>”Let's meet up.”
>”Should we, though?”
>”Let's go have Ramen first.”
I really could go for some Ramen.
Ryuji: "Whoa, you sure are taking it easy... Oh, whatever! I want some Ramen too."
Morgana: "Hey, you guys, it's still too early to think about dinner. Let's go to the hideout first."
First my nighttime slots, now my food. Will Morgana ever stop taking the things I love??
Haru: "Oh, it's you two!"
Ryuji: "Hey, nice timing! We were just talking about going to the hideout."
Haru: "Good, I happen to have some after-school time to spare today. The situation at our company has calmed considerably by now."
Ryuji sends texts for everyone to come in.Everyone replies in 2 seconds flat
Ryuji stares at his phone.
They are all going to Leblanc.
Morgana: "Alright! Then we're unanimous: Today we shall conquer another section of Mementos!"
Not if destiny has a word to put in, Mona.
Futaba: “Roger that! I will put my all into navigating.”
After best girl appears, she gets an intro screen. Everyone does.
FUTABA SAKURA. The adopted daughter of the owner of your current residence. Was a Hikikomori when you first met her. Has genius hacking skills. Her code name within the Phantom Thieves is “Oracle”.
It actually says “Navi”, but for the sake of consistency with the localization, I’ll go with “Oracle”.
“Oh, we’re all getting intros? That’s convenient.”
“Yeah, it’s really going to save time on introductions.”
HARU OKUMURA. A 3rd year at Shujin Academy and thus your Senpai. The heiress of her father’s large company, “Okumura Food”. In some ways, she is rather naive towards the world. Her Code Name is “Noir”.
ANN TAKAMAKI. A 2nd year and your classmate. A 1/4 American girl, with a bright, caring personality. Sometimes works part time as a magazine model. Her Code Name is Panther.
Ann: "Hey, Makoto. I don't mind going to Mementos today, but do you think it's okay to not tackle the Palace yet...?"
Makoto: "Don't worry. Honing our skills first is important. The next one is one battle we can't lose."
It’s nice to have it referenced how important that upcoming dungeon was to Makoto.
“...I remember that day. That was when we gathered at the Hide Out to take Akechi into Mementos for the first time.”
“Why are we seeing that though? I don’t remember anything special happening back then. We fought some Shadows and that was it.”
“...Akechi?”
> Naoto listens up.
“Goro Akechi? You knew him...?”
“Ah... Now, that’s gonna take some explaining...”
“It’s gonna be easier to just let them see. I have a feeling it is coming up anyway.”
MAKOTO NIIJIMA. A 3rd year and your Senpai. An accomplished Student Council President of high moral standards. Occasionally also shows a less restrained side. Her Code Name is “Queen”.
YUSUKE KITAGAWA. A second year at Kousei High, where he studies Art. Has promising potential as an artist. Rather eccentric and emotional, he seems to live in his own little world. His Code Name is “Fox”.
MORGANA. A mysterious cat you met in the Metaverse. Transforms from a normal cat into a bizarre mascot. Can also transform into a car. His Code Name is “Mona”.
“... ‘Mona’.”
> Yosuke squints.
“Everyone got themselves badass Code Names, and you went for... Mona.”
“J-Just so you know, I object to EVERYTHING in that description!”
“Ah, so you CAN’T transform into a kitty-car! Geez, and bear I was confused about how that would go!”
“...ALMOST everything!”
“... Come to think, you guys are pretty unfazed by the fact that Mona-chan can talk...”
“We have Teddie. We’re beyond surprising.”
“And I’d say at this point, Teddie is only the tip of the proverbial ice berg.”
“It’s actually kind of surprising that there’s something that similar to Morgana out there. I always kind of thought he was one of a kind.”
“I-I AM one of a kind, Lady Ann! You should know that!”
“Yeah! And so am I by the way, Ann-chan~!”
“...Don’t call her that...!”
> Angry cat hissing noises.
Ryuji: “Well, doesn’t matter if Palace or Mementos, we just gotta do it to it!”
The model looks better from this angle.
RYUJI SAKAMOTO. A 2nd year. Used to be Star of the Track Team. Passionately hot-blooded and immature. His impulsiveness sometimes gets him into trouble. His Code Name is “Skull”.
Ryuji: "By the way, where's that guy? This would be our first time taking him to Mementos, too..."
Ryuji: "I mean, it'd be a shame if we had to just 'forget' about him..."
Akechi: Sorry to make you wait.”
Ryuji: “Ugh.”
Futaba: “Speak of the devil.”
“That’s...”
“Goro Akechi. I did hear that he had infiltrated the ranks of the Phantom Thieves for a while during the mission that lead to the temporary capture of their leader.”
“I see... I wasn’t allowed access to the files regarding the case, so I had no idea.”
GORO AKECHI. A third year student. A high school aged private detective. His sharp sense for deduction and reasoning, as well as his looks have earned him a lot of fame. He is also called “The second coming of the Detective Prince”. His Code Name is “Crow”.
“Whoaaaaa! What a Bishie! He’s almost up there with me on the pretty-boy scale...!!”
“Yeah, that is one thing he had going for him...”
“ Mitsuru-san, if I may ask...”
“Of course. Once we’re done here, I will give you a complete copy of the case file, Shirogane.”
“Thank you. This is all very interesting...”
“Infiltration, huh...? Yeah, that’s the right word for it...”
“Not like we fell for it, of course. But we did need to play along with him for just a while. Else we wouldn’t have been able to put an end to his games.”
“His ‘games’, huh...”
> Yosuke already doesn’t like the guy.
> Your Code Name is “Joker”. You are the Leader of the Phantom Thieves.
“I thought I felt something ‘Senpai’-ish from that guy...”
“Yeah, that guy does feel special... He may have the same power as Sensei and Ai-chan!”
“The power of the ‘Wild Card’...”
“...”
>Marie looks up, seemingly slightly disinterested.
“I don’t know what you mean. Yu is Yu. There’s only one of him.”
“That may be. But even so, it is surprising, to see that there is such a number of Persona Users who share the same powers as...”
“...”
“In any case. It will be interesting to see how this, as they say ‘plays out’.”
After this scene, the Phantom Thieves head out for Mementos. There’s a badass cutscene which shall be shared.
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Kaleidoscope Eyes - Chapter 1
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Lucy Larson (OC)
Warnings: Fluff, eventual smut
Summary: After the Infinity War, Bucky Barnes is invited to officially join the Avengers and move into their compound. For the first time in a long time, everything in Bucky’s life makes sense. He has a place he belongs, friends who care about him, and a purpose. But, there’s one thing that’s keeping him from feeling truly like his old self. It isn’t long before he realizes that the something he’s missing might be found in Lucy Larson, a Stark Industries employee who has worked her way up the ranks to become Maria Hill’s executive assistant at the Avengers compound.
A/N: This story exists in a perfect world where none of our beloved Avengers die in Infinity War and Cap and everyone come back to the Avengers compound to live and work. What’s the point of fan fiction if you can’t keep the ones you love alive, right? Be gentle on me - this is my first Bucky fic and it scares the hell out of me to write someone as complex as him. Also, this will switching POVs every once in a while.
Chapter 1
John Lennon’s voice filled the room, signaling the start of another day. Lucy reached for the console beside her bed, fumbling to turn off the alarm.
“Five more minutes,” she whined, hugging her pillow and squeezing her eyes closed to keep out the early morning sun.
“Ms. Larson.” F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s soft voice filled the room . Lucy turned onto her side, pulling her pillow over her head as if that would hide her from the omnipresent AI. “Ms. Hill wanted to make sure that everything was ready for this morning’s arrival.”
“This mornings …. Oh!” Lucy sprang up in bed, wide-eyed with excitement. “Y-yes, F.R.I.D.A.Y. Everything is ready. I just need to go down and do some final checks.”
The day was finally here. Today, all of her friends would be back home after saving the world, once again. Not wanting to waste another second, Lucy jumped out of bed and ran to the shower. While she washed her hair, Lucy went over the list in her head of things she had to do to prepare for the day.
Lucy had been given the task of setting up the living quarters for one of the newest member of the team. It took a little coaxing, but Steve had managed to talk his best friend, Bucky Barnes, into officially joining the Avengers. Maria Hill, Lucy’s boss, put her in charge of making sure that his room was ready for him when he arrived. Since Bucky didn’t have many possessions to start with, Lucy pretty much had a clean slate when it came to decor and wardrobe.
Steve wanted the whole room to be a surprise, so she’d been working solely with him to cultivate items the would suit the new Avenger. They had been texting back and forth the last few days as the team made their way back home. Although, honestly, Lucy could have probably done it without asking Steve a single question since she knew so much about Bucky already. She’d known Steve for years now and he talked about Bucky all the time. She felt like she knew him already. Sure, she knew about him before, but that was only through the official files and the gossip around the compound. But through Steve, she felt like she knew the real Bucky - not just the Winter Soldier or the White Wolf or whatever people called him.
As the hour drew nearer, the butterflies in Lucy’s stomach started to flutter a little faster. Would he like what she’d done with his room? What if he didn’t like it? Would he tell her? Would he even talk to her at all? People were speculating that he would be the silent type. She wouldn’t be surprised by that at all, given his history, but she was determined to be his friend. Or maybe just make him smile. That was the day’s goal.
She was doing some final checks in his closet when there was a knock on the door. Her heart leapt in her chest. “They’re here,” Gina, one of her old friends from data maintenance said from the doorway. “Holy shit … it’s freezing in here.”
“That’s how Bucky likes it,” Lucy replied. Gina squinted at her and Lucy’s gaze shifted back to her task.
“And you know just how … Bucky likes it?” Gina choked on her laugh and Lucy had half a mind not to throw a shoe at her.
“I just mean … That’s what Steve … Sergeant Barnes …” She was flustered and Gina knew it, which made it even worse.
“C’mon, Luc … time to meet ….” Gina flipped her hair back over her shoulder as she said, “Sergeant Barnes,” with a teasing exuberance.
“I hate you,” Lucy muttered through gritted teeth.
“Love you, too.”
--
“Welcome home, Buck,” Steve said with a kind grin, patting his friend’s back. The place was even bigger than they’d all described. It felt more like a town than a compound.
“Thanks,” Bucky said with a gulp. He pulled on the strap of his bag nervously, tightening it around his shoulder. He was half expecting there to be a huge crowd of people waiting for them to arrive. If the whole team had arrived as a whole, maybe that would have been the case. But it was just him and Steve for now - the rest of the Avengers would slowly make their way back throughout the rest of the day. Steve thought it best for them to get there ASAP so Bucky could start to become acclimated before they started training for whatever lay ahead.
“Look, I know it’s a big change. And I know you’re nervous-”
“I’m not-” Bucky started, but Steve shot him a look that made him shrug in admission.
“It’s going to take some getting used to. But your room is right across the hall from me. And I’ve put someone I trust in charge of setting it up for you.” Bucky’s eyes followed Steve’s gaze. “There she is.” Steve smiled widely, waving at a woman coming down the stairs. “Buck, this is Lucy.”
“Hi Bu- … I mean, Sergeant Barnes,” the young woman said with a wide smile. She reached out her right hand and Bucky took it. Bucky was about to correct her and say that Bucky was fine, but she just kept right on talking. “I’m Lucy, Maria Hill’s executive assistant. She runs the compound, so I basically do whatever she needs me to do. And she’s made it clear to give you whatever you need to make you comfortable and I’ve been working with Steve on your room and I think you’re going to like it. At least I hope you do. But if you don’t, you can tell me and I’ll change it right away.” She was still shaking his hand. That is, until Bucky looked down at their hands and she realized what she was doing. She pulled away and a soft blush appeared on her freckle-speckled cheeks. “Sorry.”
“Thanks,” was all he could think of to say.
“Why don’t you show us what you’ve done?” Steve suggested.
“You … you want me to come with you?” Lucy asked, pointing at her chest.
“You’ve done all the hard work - you should show him,” he told her, grinning that signature Cap grin that would make most girls swoon. Lucy just smiled, though, which Bucky found interesting.
If this girl talked as much as she did while showing them the room, Bucky was certain he’d have a headache after her little tour. He’d never heard a person talk so fast in his life. And with such … giddiness, he decided, was the best way to describe it. The girl was practically bouncing on her heels. And those were some tall heels.
“Oh, okay. Sure. I can do that. This way, gentlemen.”
“She was in charge of my room?” Bucky whispered under his breath to Steve as they followed Lucy to the living quarters.
“She’s a sweet kid,” Steve sighed. “She’s just excited to meet you.”
That baffled Bucky. “Why?” he asked.
“Everyone’s excited to meet you, Buck. You helped save the world. And you’re my oldest friend. They’ve all heard a story or two.”
“Oh, great.” Bucky rolled his eyes. He was already having second thoughts about this whole new living situation.
“Here we are.” Lucy stopped in front of the door abruptly and Bucky nearly collided with her. She turned on her heel, reaching in the pocket of her cardigan to pull out a keycard. She handed it to Bucky. “This will get you in until we set up the retinal scan.” He just nodded and he thought he saw a hint of a frown tug on her bright smile.
“What are you waiting for, Buck?” Steve said, nodding to the keypad on the door. Bucky pushed the card against it and the door slid open without a sound. He looked back at Lucy and Steve who were both standing the exact same way with the exact same expression. It almost made him smile. Almost.
What did make him smile was what he walked into. He hadn’t been in a place that felt like home in so long, but that place …. There was something about it that made him feel instantly safe and comfortable. Blue and green were the main colors in the room - a stark contrast to the dark reds and blacks and gloomy greys he was used to. The walls had a few art pieces on them. There was a really cool painting of a car that caught his eye. The bed looked like a gigantic cloud. He felt the urge to fall on it, just to see if it was as fluffy as it looked, but he restrained himself because of the company.
He could hear Lucy holding her breath behind him. He turned to her and nodded. “This is nice. Thank you,” he said. Lucy exhaled and that bright, giddy smile was back.
“You like it?” He nodded again. “Oh, thank God,” she sighed. “I know I’m not an interior designer by any stretch of the imagination, but with Steve’s help with the whole color thing … he said your favorite colors are blue and green, so I did both. And he said you liked tech and cars, so I got some stuff out of Mr. Stark’s art vault and found a few new pieces. And he told me your size, so I got you a closet full of new clothes.” Lucy walked over to the closet and Bucky followed. “See?” She beamed, turning on the light.
“Yeah. That’s … great.” There was that little tease of a frown again. Was someone that giddy even capable of frowning? “Thanks,” he said. He looked at Steve. “It’s great.”
“I told you he’d like it,” Steve told Lucy, patting her shoulder. “Lucy, want to explain the tech part to him while I go drop my bags off? Then I’ll come back and give you a tour.”
“Sure,” she said.
--
Steve closed the door behind him, leaving Lucy alone with her new neighbor. He wasn’t as scary as some of her coworkers made him out to be, but the few who described him as quiet and brooding hit the nail on the head. Even though he barely said a word, Lucy spoke enough for the both of them. She had a talent for it, if you could call it that.
When she went over everything with Bucky, he seemed pretty comfortable with it - way more comfortable than Steve had been. Hell, Steve still couldn’t figure out how to get half of the stuff to work.
“You’re pretty into tech, huh?” Lucy asked him as he played around with the buttons. “Steve is still figuring out how to use that thing.”
“That’s because Steve is a grandpa,” Bucky said matter-of-factly. Lucy busted out laughing, nearly falling into the dresser.
“Oh my God. That’s great.” Bucky smiled … actually smiled. And his smile was so … soft. And kind. And sweet. The smile fell from his lips, almost as if he could hear her thinking about how much she liked it. “I bet Wakanda was like heaven for you, then, with all their amazing tech.”
“Yeah, it was great. Until the whole war thing.”
Fuck. “Way to put your foot in your mouth, Luc,” Lucy groaned, covering her eyes with her hand.
“It’s fine. I’m used to war,” Bucky said with a little shrug. That sentence broke Lucy’s heart.
“I-” A knock at the door cut her off, followed by a bearded Steve poking his head in the room.
“Ready, Buck?”
“Sure.” Bucky turned to Lucy. “Thanks, Lucy.”
“You’re welcome, Sergeant Barnes.”
“Bucky … please,” he said with a soft smile.
“Good luck with that,” Steve laughed. “Do you know how long it took for me to get her to call me Steve?”
“You’re welcome, Bucky,” Lucy said, looking defiantly at Steve. Steve crossed his arms over his chest and Lucy smirked at him. “See you at the party tonight?”
“Wait … what party?” Bucky asked with wide eyes.
“The … welcome home party? For all of you guys? Steve, you didn’t tell him?” Now Lucy was crossing her arms over her chest.
“I was going to casually mention it later after the whole tour and everything. Ya know, ease him into the whole thing.”
“Oh …” Lucy dropped her arms. “Sorry. Well, anyway … see you later!”
--
“This is a bad idea.” Bucky adjusted the collar on his crisp white shirt. It fit like a glove. Everything did, actually. Even the boxers. Thinking about Lucy picking out his boxers made his cheeks get a little hot, which he was shocked by. He wasn’t sure until that moment that he was capable of blushing anymore.
“Nah, man. It’s a great idea. Everyone is going to be there - even the guardian’s gang is making an appearance before they go off to who knows where.”
“Oh, great. The racoon will probably try to steal my arm again,” Bucky groaned. Sam laughed at him but when he saw the look on Bucky’s face, he shut up.
“It’s gonna be great, man. Booze, drinks, girls …” Sam nudged Bucky’s metal shoulder.
“I repeat,” Bucky said, glaring at his friend, “bad. Idea.”
“Do you know how many fine women are going to be at this party?”
“I thought this was just a compound party … that’s what Steve said.”
“Yeah. There are some honeys that work here, man. There’s this one girl in deployment. Kristie ….” Sam licked his lips. “She’s mine,” he warned.
“They can all be yours,” Bucky said, holding his arms up. “I’m not ready for any of that.”
“Not ready? Pschhh. Man, we’re dudes. We’re always ready. And don’t act like you’re all brainwashed and everything because I know for a fact Shuri straightened you out. You’re you again, man. You can be a dude. A normal dude. And you know what normal dudes do?”
“What do normal dudes do?” Bucky found himself asking; his voice sticking on the word dude. He wasn’t used to that word yet.
“They get. The. Honeys.”
“Sam.” Bucky had to laugh at the man’s enthusiasm. “I’ll let you know when I’m ready to … get the honeys.” He grimaced hearing those words come out of his mouth. “But it’s not tonight, okay? I just got here and I’m already kind of freaking out.” Sam smiled at him. “And I don’t know why I’m telling this because you’ll just make fun of me.”
“Buck, Buck, Buck,” Sam sighed, throwing his arm around him. “Would I ever make fun of you?”
“You made fun of me five minutes ago …”
“Touche,” Sam said with a shrug. “But we’re friends, man. I’ll stop pushing.” Bucky let out a breath. “For now.” The music from the party got louder as they approached the big double doors. “But for now, it’s time to celebrate.”
--
“Wow,” Gina breathed, looking over Lucy’s shoulder. Lucy turned, curious to see what made Gina’s jaw drop like that. Sam and Bucky had just walked into the party. Bucky was wearing a white button down with black slacks and a black tie. His hair was down and falling in his face, hiding the pretty blue eyes that she couldn’t help but notice earlier in the day. “That man is wearing that outfit … yowza. You did a good job with wardrobe.”
“I guess I did,” Lucy said, unable to tear her eyes away from him. He wasn’t really her type - she liked nerdy, lanky guys, usually - but it was impossible to deny that he looked good.
“I’m going to go introduce myself.”
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Lucy told her. Gina’s brow furrowed. “He’s kind of nervous about the whole party thing.”
“Oh? Well, all the more reason. I just want to make him feel welcome.” Gina winked at Lucy. She was an insufferable flirt.
Lucy watched the exchange between Gina and Bucky from across the room. Bucky’s expression never changed and they only shared a few words before Gina turned around and made the ‘kill’ signal across her neck. Lucy chuckled, taking another sip of her drink.
While the others were all mingling and laughing and drinking and dancing … well, at least the Peters were, Bucky hid himself away in a corner, nursing a beer and observing the party going on around him. Steve came over and sat with him a few times, but each time he’d get pulled away by someone. Lucy kept her distance for a while, but after a few drinks she managed to get the courage to go up and talk to him.
“Enjoying the party?” she asked, sitting on the chair beside him. Bucky jumped. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s fine,” he said, waving it off with his metal arm. It was so shiny and she was so curious about it, but she didn’t dare ask him, at least not on the first day. That was more of a two month conversation.
“So … are you?” Lucy asked.
“Am I what?” Bucky responded, pushing his hair behind his ear. Over the course of the evening, his tie had loosened and the first two buttons on his shirt had come undone. It was a good look, although Lucy dared not mention it or even think it. She had a feeling he would sense it if she did.
“Enjoying the party.”
“Oh. Yeah. It’s fine.”
“I like getting together with everyone, but the music they play at these things …”
“It’s pretty bad,” Bucky replied with a small smile. Lucy smiled back. “It just sounds like noise to me.”
“Who’s the grandpa now?” Lucy teased. Bucky’s smile widened, his gaze falling to his beer resting on his lap.
“Touche,” he said. “But it is pretty bad.”
“I know. I prefer oldies.”
“Like …?” Bucky asked. He was actually talking to her. Like, having a conversation. Lucy could hardly believe it.
“Like the Stones.”
“Stones … Rolling Stones,” Bucky said. Lucy nodded. “I like them.”
“And the Beatles.”
“Them I haven’t really listened to yet,” Bucky told her. Lucy’s jaw dropped. “What?”
“You haven’t heard the Beatles?” she asked.
“I think I’ve heard a few songs. But not a lot. I like the Stones better.”
“Blasphemy!” Lucy exclaimed, clutching her chest. Bucky chuckled - actually chuckled. It was so soft she could barely hear it over the music, but it was there. Lucy tried to ignore the warm flutter of the butterflies. “The Beatles are the best. But … I suppose I’m biased.”
“How so?” he asked.
“I was named after one of their songs. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Bucky’s blank stare told her that he hadn’t heard it. “Ya know, Lucy in the skkyyy with diamonds,” she sang.
“Haven’t heard it,” he said with a shrug.
“It’s a great one. But I think A Hard Day’s Night is my favorite album. The movie is hilarious.”
“They made movies?” Bucky asked.
“Yeah! It’s great. It really has no plot except following them around for a day while they prepare for a show but the music is great and they’re funny. Especially George. Everyone likes John best but I mean, c’mon … George Harrison was the best Beatle.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Bucky replied, taking another sip from his beer.
“BUCK!” Sam stumbled over to them, nearly falling over Lucy. “Oh, hey Lucy! You are looking gorgeous this evening.”
“Thanks, Sam,” Lucy muttered, smoothing the skirt of her blue dress. At least somebody noticed.
“Buck, there’s a group of girls over there that keep asking me about you, man. You’ve gotta come say hi.”
“I’m good here,” Bucky said.
“C’mon, dude. Be my wingman …”
“Why don’t you go get red wing to do that for you?” Bucky quipped. Lucy didn’t expect Bucky to be so funny. But there he was, making her laugh for the second time already that day. She practically choked on her drink.
“Ha. ha. Very funny. Seriously, dude. We could both get …” Sam seemed to forget that Lucy was there until that moment. He cleared his throat, averting Lucy’s gaze. “They want to get you a drink.”
“Got one,” Bucky said, raising his beer. “And I’m fine here. Lucy’s telling me about how the Beatles are better than the Stones.”
“Bullshit,” Sam laughed. “Beach Boys are where it’s at.”
“I did not peg you for a Mike Love fan,” Lucy said, looking up at Sam.
“Well, it shows how well you know your friends then, huh, little Lucy?” Sam booped Lucy on the nose. Lucy pretended to bite at his finger and he laughed at her, shaking his head. “C’mon Buck …”
“You’re not going to stop until I go over there, are you?” Bucky asked, heaving a heavy sigh when Sam nodded in response. “Fine.” He got up, running his hand through his dark hair. Lucy wondered if it was as soft as it looked. “It was nice talking to you,” Bucky said, pulling her out of her musings.
“You, too,” Lucy said. “Give the Beatles another chance. You won’t regret it.”
--
Finally, Bucky could sink into the plush bed that he’d been thinking about all day. He’d managed to escape Sam and Gina and Beth and Tori, the girls he’d introduced him to. They all seemed nice. Gina actually came up and talked to him first, but that was right when he got there and he was still freaking out about the whole party thing.
The only thing that calmed his nerves was when Steve and Lucy came to talk to him. Then again, there was something about Lucy that made him nervous, too. A different kind of nervous. Kind of … uneasy. He wasn’t sure what it was about her. Maybe it was her giddy demeanor or the way her freckles bunched up on her nose when she laughed. Or maybe it was the fact that he couldn’t decide what color her eyes were - were they blue or green? Granted, he hadn’t been brave enough to look that close. But they were vexing, still. Maybe it was the fact that she talked to him like they were already friends and yet he knew nothing about her except that George was her favorite Beatle and she was named after one of their songs. Or maybe it was the way that blue dress accentuated her curves. He couldn’t put his finger on it and it was irksome, to say the least.
He tossed and turned for a while, trying to get comfortable. It wasn’t the bed - that thing was heaven. It was just his new surroundings, he told himself. Not the brunette in the pretty blue dress.
After about an hour, he gave up and started fiddling with the tech pad that Lucy had showed him earlier. He wasn’t sure how he got to it, but he found himself pressing play on ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’. He laid back, crossing his arms behind his head and staring at the ceiling as the music filled the room.
‘Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies. Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly, a girl with kaleidoscope eyes’
“Kaleidoscope eyes,” Bucky murmured to himself, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.
Tag List: @feelmyroarrrr @lesqui @badassbaker @scarletts-letters @vechkinfan @seb-smut
#Bucky Barnes#Bucky Barnes fan fiction#fan fiction#Marvel fan fiction#Sebastian stan#Kaleidoscope eyes#Moondancewrites
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Amends & Girls Ch. 10 of Not Alone Anymore
Natasha had just arrived back at the compound and wasn’t sure what she was going to walk into. She knew she had messed up in the past with the accords with Tony but she wanted to make amends even if Steve wouldn’t yet. Luckily Ross had been removed from the accords commodity that she knew of so she didn’t have to worry about him. Natasha stepped off the elevator and immediately saw some of peter’s books in the common room it made her smile, she hadn’t seen peter in so long she missed seeing him when she was here. She had to earn tony trust back first since there is no way she will be allowed to hang with peter otherwise tony loves him too much. She sighed.
“Friday where is tony?” she called
“Boss is currently in his lab would you like me to alert him of your presence Ms. Romanoff?” FRIDAY asked
“Yes let him know I’m in the common room, thank you FRIDAY” Natasha responded
“It’s was my pleasure” the AI replied
Natasha sat on the couch waiting for tony she picked up one of peter’s books to make time go by it was his math textbook it made her grin glancing through it she saw so many doodles about star wars and him do equations in his book god he was too smart for his own good. She noticed he had a picture in to book mark where his class was, when she turned to it and saw the picture she couldn’t help but smile it was a picture of peter and tony it looks like at a convention of some sort judging by peter’s shirt. They looked so happy it had to been recently since tony had what looked like the black eye he had around the time of the accords. Nat sighed thinking about that again but was slightly relived peter was there for tony. She made sure she did lose peter spot but kept glancing though his book and noticed what she guessed peter and his friend were writing back and forth to each other.
Dude are you ever going to ask MJ out?
What are you talking about?
It’s obvious you like her and I’m beginning to not doubt she has feeling for you too. go for it.
Were friends Ned nothing more!!!
Sure lol I guess I got confused with all the staring like you used to do to Liz ;)
Natasha could help but chuckle at this apparently Pete was embarrassed for liking a friend more than a friend.
“What is so funny about a high schooler’s math book?” tony asked stepping off the elevator obviously annoyed
Natasha immediately closed the book and set it on the table and stood to greet him.
“Hi tony I know your probably not thrilled to see me but before you ask I have not had any contact with rogers or any of his team since I last seen them in Germany.”
“Romanoff you expect me to believe that you tell me time again I can trust you but every time you go behind my back and break It.” tony said angrily
“Tony I’m trying to make amends that’s why I came here today, I know your mad you are right to be I don’t know what happened after Germany but I’m not going to push it” noticing tony slightly wince at the mention of it
“tony I knew how Steve gets when he puts his mind to something he won’t budge he doesn’t care what will happen as long as he got his way so I let him go so the battle would end in Germany. I didn’t want anyone else hurt” Nat said sighing
“Big lot of help your interfering did for Rhodey” tony said defeated
“Tony Vision didn’t mean to do that you know that, again I’m sorry what I was talking about was Spiderman” Nat said with a grin
“What about him?” tony said defensively
“Tony the others may be fooled but I’m not an idiot I know peter is Spiderman and I know Steve was not going easy on him for the amount of time they fought he was lucky he didn’t get hurt if Steve stayed and fought any longer whose saying he wouldn’t of really hurt him. I care for peter too.”
Tony sighed and rubbed his face and sat on the couch
“ I didn’t want him to come but he literally begged me wouldn’t leave me alone until I allowed it I told him to keep his distance to only web them up but of course him having my DNA makes him headstrong literally almost had a damn heart attack when I saw cap drop a gateway on him.”
“Tony I let him go because I didn’t want peter hurt I knew you were freaking out too.”
“Yeah Jesus I thought having a kid without powers was a cause for stress the moment he told me about his powers I could feel myself getting greyer by the minute.”
“How did he get powers?” Natasha asked
“Spider bite basically he has enhanced everything which is great for everything but my sanity.” Tony said with a chuckle
“Like I said tony I’m here to make amends I know you have made some changes to the accords and I’m willing to go along with whatever is in place I am truly sorry for breaking you trust tony. Nat said with a smile
“Well without the dick Ross things are a lot easier I can easily get you pardoned eventually ill work on the others if I decide to” tony said bitterly
“Whatever Steve did I can tell I had a huge impact on you and no I’m not going to ask it not for me to know but I can tell peter has helped you through it.”
“Yeah I guess” tony said unsurely
Natasha picked up peters book again and pulled out the photo and showed him
“This picture looks like it was taken maybe a week after it happened the old tony stark wouldn’t ever be at one of those conventions” Nat said with a grin
“Yeah the old I definitely wouldn’t but I have to admit going there with him was a fun time didn’t know he kept a picture in his math book.” Tony said laughing
“He probably likes that reminder of what a fun day when he’s bored in math.” Nat said smiling
“I guess so god id be lost without that kid” tony said putting the picture away
“I know you would so I hope you can forgive me” Nat said smiling
“Yeah you’re forgiven for now, plus I know the kid has been asking about you on occasion so I bet he like seeing you around again.” Tony said laughing
“Where is the kid now?” Nat asked
“He was hanging with his friends Ned and MJ I think movies or something, he messaged me before I came up here that he be home in a hour so probably like 15 minutes or so now” tony said glancing at his watch
Natasha grinned at the mention of MJ “Oh I can’t wait to see him again” she said grinning
Not even 15 minutes later peter walked off the elevator and saw his dad and black widow talking.
“Auntie Tasha!” peter exclaimed as he ran over and gave her a huge hug.
“Hey Pete I take it you missed me?” Nat said grinning
“Yeah but with everything I wasn’t sure” peter said quietly looking at tony
“Pete were good were friends again me and Nat are at least the others are TBD. You and your friends eat or are you hungry?” Tony asked
“I’m starved, Tasha will you have dinner with us?” Peter begged
“Sure bud whatever you want” Nat said laughing
“Dad order Chinese food please” peter said with a grin
“Aye, Aye Captain” tony said laughing. He stood up pulling his phone out of his pocket started walking to the kitchen to place the order.
Natasha noticed they were alone so decided to take advantage of it.
“So Pete what were you and you friends doing today?” Nat asked
“We went to see the new star wars movie” peter answered
“I bet you enjoyed that what your friends think?” Nat asked
“Ned was over the moon he liked it more than me I think MJ I’m not really sure what she thought of it she’s not really into star wars much but she came because I invited her.” peter replied blushing slightly
Natasha grinned
“Well sounds like you had fun peter I have a question for you”
“Shoot”
“So you like your friend MJ?” Nat said grinning
Peter cheeks turned red
“What are you talking about Tasha?”
Natasha picked up Math book and turned to where Ned was writing him notes
Peter sighed
“She’s just a friend Tasha nothing more I mean it” peter pleaded obviously embarrassed
“ you sure from this he comparing her to some other girl you had a crush on apparently saying he catches you watch her, sounds like a crush to me” Nat gave a smile
Peter sighed in defeat
“Yeah I think I like her more than a friend but there’s no way she likes me and I don’t want to risk our friendship just to be turned down.” Peter said quietly
“Pete she won’t turn you down, you want to know how I know. The movie she went because you peter asked her, you said it yourself she doesn’t like star wars yet she still went because she wanted to spend time with you. So Pete if you ask I guarantee shell says yes” Nat said with a warm smile
“Thanks Tasha for the advice I’ll try asking her next time I see her” peter said smiling
“I’m always here for you Pete and another advice try to pick a first date she like you hang around her a lot you should know” Nat said smiling
“She likes reading and arts a lot” peter replied
“try asking her to go to a museum or gallery I know she’s smart like you” Nat said smiling
“That a good idea thanks Tasha” peter said pulling her into another hug
“please don’t tell dad about this he embarrass me this next century god when I told him about liking Liz he tried giving me the talk god i’ve never wished I had a different parent until then” peter said laughing.
“You secret is safe with me” Nat said smiling
Tony walked in not long later saying the food should be there within 10 minutes. He noticed peter look like he just finished saying something.
“Did I interrupt a lively discussion?” tony said smirking
“Nope peter was just telling me about his movie” Nat answered
“Oh ok I believe it kid can talk hours about star wars” tony said sitting next to peter
“I do not” peter denied
“Pete vie timed you in the past do you want to ask FRIDAY or you want to take my word for it?” tony said chuckling
Peter shrugged in defeat and glanced over at Natasha who gave him a wink.
#fanfic#tony stark#peter parker#natasha romanoff#iron dad#spider son#auntie tasha#chapter 10#not alone anymore#after civl war#marvel#mcu#request#let me know what you think
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2064 Read Only Memories: A Review
youtube
If you haven't played this game, then are there other point and click, cyberpunk kidnapping, mystery games that came in the Racial justice bundle that you think I should check out? Let me know all about them in the comments.the garden center of my closest hardware store and I’m trying to decide if the start up cost of 15 bucks in in my budget.
Welcome back to another video game review here on Mummified Games. Today were going to be taking a look at the modern Point and Click Mystery game 2064: Read Only Memories. By Midboss.
This game has a lot of charm to it. I Love how this game presents itself. The Music, art, story, and voice work, is all great and do a really great job of pulling me in. I did not want to stop playing. This was the first time where I was like okay maybe i play for 2 hours. And then write the review. But sadly there was no way I could do that if I wanted to make my deadline.
So the game is a future cyberpunk scene where Humans have found a way to cybernetically and biologically augment their bodies. Sort of just like every other Cyberpunk cenario. Just par for the course at this point.
Wouldn't have it any other way.
But what's great about this game is that it's not overly burdened with the constant narrative of life sucks and there's inequality and class disparity.
It's not dystopian cyberpunk, it's more optimistic. People seem to really be jammin with the future that they find themselves in. For the most part.
So it's your standard affair people are making so many augmentations to themselves in so many different ways. That there is a rebel group that is coming up that wants to see humanity return to who they were.
Not like a full blown god's perfect image, it's not a religious thing. But still embracing tradition and what makes humans human.
I don't know if we have the science to make Snake people then I'm all for it.
Ooo la la.
There are Robots that this big company is making that are designed to Walk like the humans, talk like the humans. But it's all just fancy code. And then the game tells you about one scientist that is working on transcending that limitation of just fancy code. And make something new.
Story intro out of the way, The scene opens with your less than standout apartment and you learn that you are a journalist, sort of.
And after you go through a nothing of a tutorial. As in like it's almost not even there cause it's so basic. You write a report and then go to bed.
INCITING ACTION
In the middle of the night a little blue robot hacks your door. And breaks into your apartment. Interfaces with your computer, cleans your apartment and also tries to clean the old computer, bricking it in the process.
You wake up and they tell you that they have selected you out of all known contacts of their master to help them track their master down. He was Captured last night and you need to join the robot to track down their master.
The robot's name is Turing, probably named after the real person Alan Turing the Computer Scientist.
A note about the dialogue and interactions with Turing. ALL THEIR LINES ARE VOICED! This game gives you so much during the process. There is a lot of reading to be doing in this game and luckily it's not all put on you.
I don't want you to think that I don't like Reading. Or that I think reading is hard. But if I'm meant to put multiple hours into a game. Doing nothing but reading for the entirety of it can get tiring
So I'm glad that so much is fully voiced. Gives you the chance to look down and tweet your love of this game for a second.
And that if there is a name or something that comes up you instantly know how it's meant to be pronounced. Instead of having to wait till you say it outloud in a video game review and suddenly everyone thinks “wait Tony, you say its like that? Wow okay”
Look, I have yet to hear anyone talk about Itch in casual conversation so I have no idea if you need to add the Dot I O to the end of it or if I sound like a Boomer who says out loud Dot Com at the end of every website name. “Yeah i just look it up on Google Dot Com”
I'm trying here folks I really am.
So after Turing tells you about what they need you join them on their mission to track down their creator and figure out what's at the bottom of this whole thing.
A note about the profile creation scene, it's quite funny and I thought it was super cool how they include multiple ways of character settings.
There's nothing visual that you can do to change your character so there's that. But Turing asks you for your name, you just type it out and I was excited for maybe a robot voice that was going to try to pronounce Mummified but it didn't go well.
Asks you for your pronouns, Yes! I love it. I would expect nothing less from a developer like Midboss. The people who host the Steam Summer of Pride Sale for the last couple of years Highlighing Queer games.
But the fact that they don't just limit to just He/Her/They but also Zir, and another one that slips my mind. And also an option to input your own preferred pronouns. SO COOL!
And I was ready to maybe answer one more silly question. That's where I was thinking the game would take things, assuming based on its sense of humor and the jokes that would come up in this game.
But no it was a real question about dietary needs and restrictions, to be kept in mind when out and about and talking about food. Holy crap that's so cool.
So the game gives you options like Omnivore, Vegetarian, Vegan, Halal, Gluten Free Dairy fr
What a super cool thing to include in your game. This just adds to the inclusion that is offered to players of all different ways of life.
So I just hunted down the list of food options in the video recording I took of this game and I'm reminded of just how funny this game is.
There are great jokes in this. There are subtle allegories to our own real world things in this game.
Turing says they found a better door that you could use to replace the current door you have due to its sub standard encryption features to prevent people from hacking though. And they recommend a particular model of door and mention it has over 300 reviews on Congo.
Wait... Congo. HA! Okay that got me. Cause you know Congo the river. And the Amazon river. I thought it was funny.
Also there is a joke about the Creator having a list of different things on the TV that they were watching like Ted’s Tech Tips. That one got me, because it might not be a thing but I'd like to think it's a nod to Linus Tech Tips.
This game is filled with great cute jokes. There are a couple of options that the game gives you when you wake up to see a strange robot in your room, some of the reactions are more fearful. And while reading them as an option I thought to myself WHY?
This little friend is Cute as hell. There's no way I would be scared of them. Their cute faces and little arms. I love them so much.
So the story is sound and the writing in it is so well done. The voice acting is great as well. Turing sounds innocent and has a cute childish nature to them, but they’re not dumb to say the least, they’re still the most advanced AI program in the world.
The gameplay is also stellar. Most of the interactions with things in this world are done with 4 different options.
Look: The game will give you a description of what the item, thing, person, whatever is.
Talk: If it's a person you can talk to them. Or sometimes things have voice commands.
Take/Touch, you might be able to pick something up or turn it on. Computers would take you to another window and you could do other things inside it.
Use time on: At the start of the game you're given an ID card and you pick up a pair of headphones in your apartment. The id could be used to get you places or scan for whatever might come up. Or you can connect your headphones to random things to hear stuff. What's funny is that you can use your headphones on almost anything and you can get some description of what you hear.
Real basic stuff. Like it's described. It's a Point And CLick Mystery Game. A lot of the game is being given a scene and you can talk to people in it, or interact with the things on the static screen.
Everything in this game flows so well together. Nothing takes you out of the experience. Its a story that takes you in and doesn't let go.
I think this is a game that I can fully recommend to people no matter what. If you have it. If you were curious about it. If you’ve never heard of it. Any range of feeling and knowledge of this game I highly recommend you go check it out.
If you have this game tell me your thoughts on it. Do you think Jessi was a jerk or if she is justified in her standoff-ness in her attitude?
If you haven't played this game, then are there other point and click, cyberpunk kidnaping, mystery games that came in the Racial justice bundle that you think I should check out? Let me know all about them in the comments.
In the meantime. Ah gee folks i really am thinking hard about that jade Plant. I'd love to get one. But my cable bill is coming and I know I need to take care of that first. Oh well. Maybe next month.
You all do the Youtube Dance, Like, Sub, Bell, Comment, and share this video with someone you know.
And as always hackers, Keep Digging, and we’ll make it out sometime.
See you in the next one.
#Mummified#Itch.io#equality#massive game bundle#multi work series#indie games#video#game#videogame#games#Tony#Add Free#Windows#2064#2064rom#Cyberpunk#LGBT#lgbtq#midboss#Queer#read-only-memories#Youtube
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A.N.D.R.O.M.E.D.A. Chapter 1
Prologue (Before the Storm)
Summary of fic:
"Adventures
Night and
Day,
Roaming
Over
Miles,
Exciting
Discoveries
Alight."
This is going to be an extremely long fic following my OC Sara Talia Ryder through her adventures in Andromeda. It does follow closely to realism and canon along with many different Headcanons. FPOV. It follows a lot of what happens in the game, but with a lot more 'meat' to it, and the things that happen between the loading screens or travel time. I do have proof readers but feel free to comment a critique or something that stood out, or anything that you liked!
Feel free to follow the journey of Sara Ryder!
Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11882625
2185, Luna.
I packed my personal crate with only a few items. The weight limit was strict, but some things can be overlooked being a part of the Pathfinder crew. My dad, Alec Ryder is the human Pathfinder for Ark Hyperion. About 20,000 people signed up for the Andromeda Initiative, and I am one of them. My twin brother, Scott, is also a part of the Pathfinder crew. We will all be meeting at the Luna shuttles soon. Today is the day. My final hours in the Milky Way galaxy before a frozen sleep. I've paced the room many times, fidgeting, and overthinking. As much as I love the adventure and exploration at my feet, I'm leaving everything behind.
I checked my packing list over and over again. Many memories I need to keep. A new multi-purpose journal that I handcrafted specifically for this journey. Along with a handmade scrapbook or photo album six pages long, or ten front and back with two covers. These are items that won't count against my weight limit because I told the authorities of the Initiative that it is for documentation. Items that do count include: an explosion paper box, extra clothes, headphones, art supplies, a necklace dedicated to my cat, Echo, and my alto saxophone. I could've carried a lot more if I didn't take the instrument, but my alto has helped me through many difficult times in my life. Been playing her for over ten years, ever since middle school.
Everything is in place and ready to go. I'm going to be fine, it's all going to be fine. I headed out the main lobby to the shuttle launch pad. The P.A. reminding everyone that as a safety precaution to put on a helmet, which requires armor. I slipped into both.
"Name and date of birth, please." A man standing at the security center stopped me.
"Sara Talia Ryder. 21st of March, 2163."
"Pathfinder team? You're assigned to the priority shuttle. We've been waiting on you." Another man took my crate and headed toward the loading bay.
"I'm that late, huh?"
"Not too late. The rest of the team is already on the shuttle."
I walked with him. "My dad included?"
"Pathfinder Ryder was already aboard the Hyperion before anyone else had arrived."
Great. Dad isn't even going to tell us good luck or something. "Ah."
"Alright. This is your shuttle. When you get on, I'll tell the pilot to take you all away."
"Thank you."
"Good luck, Ryder."
"You, too."
I stepped onto the shuttle and was greeted with a clunky hug from Scott. "Thought you bailed on us."
"Nah, adventure of a lifetime, remember?" I took my seat next to him. The shuttle was full of other people, helmets hiding their faces. I could tell one was a female, and she wasn't wearing as heavy as a suit as everyone else. Probably swift in battle.
"You'd think they'd at least give us better looking gear." He threw his hands up.
The shuttle took off. A slight jolt from the liftoff and we're in space. "It's their colors. White and blue."
"Yeah, but, too much white, you know?"
The female I noticed earlier stood up and walked over to us. "Ryder? Or should I say Ryder twins? Cora Harper."
We shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Cora. I think I've heard your name a couple of times." I readjusted in my seat.
"Your father went on many journeys with me. I'm his second in command."
"Oh." Scott slumped.
"So, Cora, you excited?"
"Oh, definitely. You?"
"Nervous."
"Hey, come look outside. Might calm you down. Nice beautiful view of Earth."
Scott and I follow Cora over to the window, slightly tinted from our helmets. Other people on the shuttle moved closer to the window to get one last view.
A blue and green planet. Sprinkled and swirled with white. All against a black background with some glitter. This is the last time, my last view, of my homeworld, and then it's no longer home. 2.5 million lightyears away on Habitat 7 will be home. 600 years our biological clocks will be frozen as we venture out. Mom. My lips quivered. Suddenly, my view of Earth was solemn. Grief. A minor chord plays in the back of my head against the black and blue view.
"I miss Mom." I whispered out.
"Me too, sis. Me too."
Cora looked over at us. "Your dad told me that she died not too long ago. She'd be proud of both of you for making this journey."
"Thanks. And I hope so." I answered back. Silent and hidden tears rolled down my face, painted with loving memories. This will be a new start. A chance to start over in life. Wake up with a schedule and an organized life for once. My chin held up high. Mysteries to explore. New sights and sounds to associate with. A new song, a new painting, a new book.A quivered smile ran across my face.
The rest of the journey was silent. Thoughts clouded the air as Earth disappeared from view when we docked into the Ark. We all slumped to different armor lockers to take off our armor. All of us were in the same attire. White long sleeved shirt and pants with the AI Andromeda Initiative logo and a light blue as a secondary color. Except Cora, her colors were backwards on her.
A scientist helped us find our designated cryo bay, which also functioned as a medical bay. The closer we got to those cryo pods, the more my heart sped up. I felt slight tremors throughout my body. There was a giant hologram screen at the back of the med bay before the turn into the cryo room, sifting through different pictures of the worlds that await us. Seven golden worlds. Seven plans. The pictures ranged from tropical, to deserts, to highlands, and more. Beautiful views.
"Hey, sis."
"Huh?"
"You may want to take out your pony tail or it might get uncomfortable."
"Oh, right."
As we turned into the room with all the pods, I let loose my hair, feeling the freedom of movement against my shoulders. The room was chilly, long, and tall. Pods everywhere. The scientist divided us up into groups, Scott and I together, and the rest were away at different sections of the room. Scott and I were placed in the very back of the room next to the big circular logo that said Cryogenics on it. Two pods were summoned down and lingered in front of us while the scientist checked our vitals.
"Nervous you two? Don't worry. We all are. A team of engineers and scientists checked multiple times the ship and the pods. Don't worry, this part is safe." He pats us on the back.
"So, Scott."
"Sara."
"See you in a few hundred years?"
"You better."
He gave me a tight hug before we stepped into the pod. The inside was cold and frosty. There was a little window for me to look out of as the door closed. I leaned back up against the stiff cushions, feeling my heart pound in my chest. I grip onto the cushions and tried to take slower breaths, but the worry of things going wrong whilst I was asleep, or if something bad were to happen to Scott or Dad, kept my breathing rapid. It'll be fine. And hey, if we do die while in cryo, we wouldn't feel a thing. The scientist gave me a thumbs up before walking away and things started to become hazy and slow. Slower, hazier, darker, colder-
Silence.
Author's Note:
This was originally just going to be a private fic, but with support of friends and the recent events to fall upon BioWare and Andromeda, I have decided to do a public upload of this. Original characters are not a full self-insert but inspired by a lot of things that I do or have happened to me. A lot of things will be taken directly from BioWare's Mass Effect: Andromeda, all rights belong to them.
#Sara Talia Ryder#sara ryder#oc ryder#andromeda fanfiction#mass effect fanfiction#mass effect andromeda
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[OLD] Theory on Darkiplier
@markiplier (This theory goes far down the rabbit hole oh my god. One of these days, I’ll actually get Mark to see this stuff :P)
Ever since the release of A Date with Markiplier, I’ve wondered what Darkiplier’s true intentions and motivations were. After Markiplier TV, I was convinced that I had a pretty good explanation.
I think it’s safe to say that, personality wise, we know the most about Darkiplier (Next to Wilford Warfstache). Since Dark has only been in a few videos with little dialogue, his character hasn’t had time to develop fully yet. Thankfully though, Mark helped out by explaining who Dark is in this video: Mark on Darkiplier. (This video comes from a livestream)
I’ve seen many different portrayals of this suit-wearing version of Darkiplier (a.k.a. the official version), and some versions I’ve seen of him have him giving in and turning good when true love is shared with him. In my eyes, Dark is a demonic entity from another realm who cannot feel any human emotions. He can express them, but he cannot feel them, if that makes sense. Basically, Dark can replicate/fake human emotions such as caring, only to manipulate others:
“[Darkiplier] he’s a social manipulator” Says Mark ( Mark on Darkiplier ) “He is….he is literally 100% manipulative. He leads you into this false sense of security and wants you to trust him because he wants to take advantage of you”.
“In my mind, Darkiplier is an entirely different person from me, but much like Warfstache, doesn’t obey the laws of physics. He exists in—like—another world entirely and bleeds through into this one” This statement confirms the fact that Dark is an entity from some other universe/realm/reality/whatever you want to call it.
“…that was my clue to reveal that…he is NOT your friend”. Mark clearly wants to get it through our heads that his version of Darkiplier (the one I personally consider to be canon/official) is pure evil, and could never feel any type of love or compassion for anyone or anything, other than himself.
Now that the definition of Darkiplier’s character is out of the way, it’s time to discuss what I personally think is going on. (This is my headcanon story thing :P)
A few years ago, as Mark’s channel gradually gained popularity, a certain someone observed from afar: Darkiplier. During the old days of Mark’s channel, Dark (whose real name is unknown), meticulously watched and analyzed the YouTuber’s growth. Feeling like he could gain something from this, Dark revealed himself to [2012] Mark one day, requesting a partnership. Using his manipulative skills, Dark promised Mark to help him create quality content for his fans, …but of course, there was a catch. Dark wanted…to be let in. Dark wanted payment for the service he’d be providing, and that payment would be the power from the love of Mark’s fans (I theorize it to be). Although reluctant, Mark agreed, and thus began a collaboration full of lies and manipulation. Mark, quite literally, made a deal with the devil.
Videos such as: Don’t Blink, Don’t Move, and Raspy Hill, were all created with the help of Darkiplier. Things were great; Mark was gaining more and more views and subscribers as Dark assisted him with scary video ideas, thus allowing the community of fans to grow. Overtime, Dark awaited Mark’s end of the deal, but being anxious and unsure, Mark kept putting it off, always promising to Dark that he’ll eventually allow him to do whatever he needs so that they’d be even. (Dark’s payment is probably something along the lines of…possession, or stealing power. Something demonic and manipulative, of course).
As the fanbase grew, …so did some theories and ideas. Fans started creating their own versions of Darkiplier (not being aware that Dark is an actual entity, and not a creation of Mark’s), basing them off of the scary videos Mark has created (with the actual Dark). Obviously, since this was a fandom like any other, some fans took the idea of Darkiplier and changed it for fan fictions and suggestive fan art. As Dark ignored this “insolence”, Mark…took notice of it. With every new piece of Darkiplier fan art, Mark slowly drifted away from Dark, not wanting anything to do with him anymore, …or the deal that they agreed on years ago in 2012.
All Mark did was joke about Darkiplier, eventually making this video in August of 2016 to tease the idea of him even more: relax.
Finally, in October of 2016, Mark took it a step further by taking on the persona of an emo teenager on twitter, who he called “the canon Darkiplier”.
As a result of this, Darkiplier was furious. Tired of this mockery, Dark finally decided to act his revenge on Mark.
As a final act of trickery, Dark pretended to collaborate with Mark on the A Date with Markiplier video. But in reality, Dark used this opportunity to get a certain message across. Being an idiot, Mark just thought that this was a part of Dark’s scary act, so he didn’t cut it out of the final video.
In the Darkiplier route, Dark says this: “Did you miss me? I missed you…very much” this is him speaking to the fans, attempting to gain their trust, wanting to use their love against them. Dark refers to the fact that it’s been so long since him and Mark actually did a video together, so we, the fans, haven’t seen him in a long time: “I’ve been waiting a long time to see you again…” .
Dark acknowledges the fact that he’s being made fun of by Mark, and that he’s been replaced by that ridiculous emo character: “I’ve been pushed aside…replaced…mocked”. Then he refers to the fact that Mark ignored him, and didn’t ask for help while making the A Date with Markiplier Video, so Dark himself had to offer his help, and only then, did Mark collaborate with him again: “ …and then he had the gall to not invite me to his little adventure with you”.
Fed up with everything, Dark tells this to the audience: “No more…never again”. “I’ve been waiting patiently! He promised he would let me in…again. I’m tired of giving people a choice”.
After the success of A Date with Markiplier, Dark secretly continued with his plan, …deciding that he…needed help to accomplish his cruel objective.
Back in the day, while working with Mark, Dark met Wilford Warfstache. But before officially meeting him, the devilish entity watched Wilford, just like he did Mark. After shooting and killing his girlfriend, her husband, their dog, and their neighbor, Wilford burned the house down and ran away, evading the police [Source: The Warfstache Affair]. Dark took interest in this, seeing potential in the journalist, who was now a wanted criminal.
Unfortunately, Wilford was apprehended by the police on a rooftop, after being shot down [Source: The Ned Affair]. Sitting in jail, after leaving the hospital for his wounds, Warfstache was visited by Dark. Dark promised to get Wilford out of jail, IF the mustached murderer agreed to help him. (During this time, Dark and Mark were still working together, so Dark just wanted Wilford so he could have another person to manipulate and use) Warfstache agreed, and the two became “friends” ever since.
When Dark started developing his plan against Mark, he asked Warfstache for assistance, and he gladly agreed to help.
Back when Dark and Warf first met, Dark started to observe more and more people. None of them were too special…they were just people who could possibly be manipulated for Dark’s own gain. To be specific, they were: a doctor, an author, a superhero, a gameshow host, a robot, and a salesman. Sound familiar? Well, they should. Being busy with Mark, Dark only kept those people in mind, deciding to observe them later if he needed to.
Well, after A Date with Markiplier, Dark remembered all of those people. Thinking he could use more fools to manipulate for his big plan, he decided to recruit them. Lucky for Dark, most of those people were down on their luck.
The superhero, named Silver Shepard, quit his job of being a superhero to pursue a career in entertainment, but was having a hard time in doing so.
The author, now known as “The Host”, was having conflicting thoughts with himself, that being the reason why he changed his status name.
The robot, named Google, used to be owned by a man named Matthias, but was thrown out when the owner had a baby.
The gameshow host, named Bim Trimmer, was left without a job when the TV show “Hire my Ass” was cancelled.
These 6 people (which includes Dr. Iplier and Ed Egar) were perfect for Dark’s plan. So, he visited each and every single one of them, promising them whatever they desired if they followed through with the plan. They all agreed.
At the end of Markiplier TV, we see Darkiplier and Wilford Warfstache having a meeting with Google, Dr. Iplier, The Host, Bim Trimmer, Ed Edgar, and Silver Shepard. Markiplier TV was created by Wilford; it was his contribution to the plan. This is made evident when Dark asks Wilford: “How is this supposed to help us take back control? …We are the heart and soul of this channel after all”.
This is all for the big plan. Yes, they’re baby steps, but Dark definitely has something up his sleeve. If I haven’t already made it obvious, Dark doesn’t care about any of the people in his group, not even Wilford. Many people I’ve talked with think that Dark and Warf are actual friends, but why would Mark emphasize the fact that Dark is a social manipulator, and then show Dark having a genuine relationship with Warf? Dark is using Warfstache, and everyone else in the group, even the highly intelligent AI: Google.
Speaking of Google, he also has his own little way of contributing to the big plan in this video: Google Gets an Upgrade. In this video, Google v1.0 [Blue] upgrades, which results in him multiplying. In doing this, he creates Google v2.0 [Red], Google v3.0 [Yellow], and Google v4.0 [Green]. ((V stands for version. I numbered them in order of appearance)).
Mark is a clever guy. I don’t think he’s adding all these little details by accident. Maybe I’m just being overly analytical, but notice how Mark links Markiplier TV at the end of Google Gets an Upgrade. I think that’s no mistake. It’s a very telling clue. It suggests that the two videos are most definitely connected.
Now, that’s just what I think. I’d love to hear your theories on the matter! I’d also love for my silly little theories to get spread around. I know it’s hard for Mark to see everything on here, but reblogging this could definitely help out. Likes are always appreciated and hoped for, but reblogging gives a better chance of Mark seeing this!
Thank you
#markiplier#darkiplier#youtube#my art#lore#theory#markimoo#wilford warfstache#markiplier fan art#markiplier tv#markiplier ego#egoplier#fan art#teamiplier#googleplier#google irl#doctoriplier#bim trimmer
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Entry 161
I smiled, thinking of a story and saying, “I’ll never forget the time I chased a mugger into an elevator. He shot me five times after we fought a bit. The bullets passed through me and broke the controls behind me. You should have seen the look on his face when he realized that he was stuck in the elevator with me kicking his ass! I knocked him out, busted the hatch open, and left him there while I took the belongings back to the victim and called the cops. I heard that the cops were totally confused when they got to the scene, since my blood kinda splattered all over from the bullets, but the victim was able to identify his mugger who got sentenced to seven years!”
“I imagine those poor officers were on the search for a dead body still quite some time later.” stated Alma.
Nodding, James then said, “I would hardly count that as a typical reason for an elevator to fail. I doubt they’re shot too often.”
“Well, most of my experiences weren’t quite that interesting.” I assured him before relating to him a number of the other times. Most of what I experienced ended in talking with whomever was stuck with me. “However, there was this one time when I had to help give birth, not something I ever expected to be doing. There was just me and this pregnant lady, Mary, stuck together, and her water broke.”
“Did you panic?” asked James.
“Nah. I was nervous, but I’ve been in my share of rough situations. We managed. I went with her to the hospital after we were out, and the baby was in good health. We got really lucky, honestly.” I assured him.
Alma looked dubious.
“We did! I felt a little bad after though. She wanted contact information to thank me later, but I didn’t have any. She probably thought I was lying.” I admitted. “Anyways, there was also this time with a guy who had claustrophobia. We were stuck in there for a long time, but I got him through it.”
“How?” asked James.
“Just talking. I kept assuring him that we were safe. Got him thinking about a beach he went to on a vacation when he was younger. It was rough going, but we did manage.” I insisted. “That wasn’t nearly as bad as this other time when a bunch of high school boys had squeezed in with me on an elevator. There were far too many of them for me to have a clue what was being said, but several of them were hitting on me the entire time. Even worse, a number of them kept ‘accidentally’ bumping into me. I did not take kindly to being felt up, so I got a bit violent. They worked really hard at squeezing away from me afterward. I really hate guys acting like that.”
“I can imagine. I’m sorry that you’ve had to deal with things like that.” claimed James. He looked completely earnest.
I shrugged and said, “A superhero has to deal with all sorts of unusual situations.”
“The police must have a room filled with your DNA samples by now though. Don’t you ever worry about cleaning up?” he asked.
I was about to try explaining why I didn’t, but Alma started talking.
She said, “I couldn’t get a viable sample from her hair, skin, or blood, so I can’t imagine that being a problem for her.”
James turned to her, but I could see he wasn’t talking in the mirror, just looking at her.
“What?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.
He looked like he was thinking hard about what to say.
“Oh, please. Portentia doesn’t even know what she is, so I made an attempt to check.” stated Alma before James could find the words he wanted.
I didn’t really want these two going at it, so I quickly took hold of his arm and told him “I don’t mind, James. Really.”
“Did you give her your consent?” he asked, staring down at me. He was so tall.
I shrugged and said, “No, but had Alma been able to get a DNA sample from me, I would need to start being more careful about that sort of thing, so she was, in a way, helping me.”
“I gather that you were already aware that your cells are exceedingly odd.” stated Alma, looking irritable.
“Well, yeah. A number of doctors have tried doing tests on me before. A couple weren’t very friendly about it, but all of them said my cells are weird in one way or another.” I replied.
“That is the understatement of the year.” she snapped. Looking to James, she asked “How much do you know of genetics, James?”
“Well, about as much as you’d expect from high school biology.” he told her.
She sighed and said, “You really need to read more. Simply put, Portentia’s cells look as if someone made an extremely crude model of a human cell. There’s no way for them to receive any sustenance by normal means. They’re dead, meaning you’re letting something akin to a zombie hug your arm.”
Zombie? Nah. I was perfectly alive.
“Wait. So you’re saying she’s a zombie?” asked James.
Alma shook her head and said, “No. I clearly said ‘akin to a zombie’ if you’d pay more attention. She’s obviously distracting you. Zombies can’t heal like her, and they’re not nearly so unlucky.”
Unlucky!? There were few things I liked being called less.
“Pardon, but are you saying that zombies are real?” he asked.
“Yes, James. There are ways to animate flesh with magic, but practitioners of such disgusting arts are fortunately rare.” she explained.
Seeing her glance at me, I said, “I’m not that unlucky.”
“Yes, you are. Getting stuck in as many elevators as you’ve claimed is highly improbable. I’d have called you a liar had I not witnessed your misfortune for the past couple days.” she boldly asserted.
I let go of James’ arms and resisted the urge to punch her. A superhero couldn’t give in to violent impulses. Instead, I said, “I admit that my life has been harder than most in a number of ways, but there’s no reason to blame my luck. There are many bad people in this world that cause misfortune to others. If I manage to rid this world of its villains, you’ll see far less people being ‘unlucky’. Besides, I met James. How much luckier could I be?”
Why did people try blaming the many terrible things that happened on bad luck so often? I hated it, especially coming from her. She could do so much, but she just stood by, letting bad things happen to others. I wasn’t the cause of those bad things. I was the one who fought to set things right.
Alma rolled her eyes as she said, “You two are completely oblivious, aren’t you. Since we’ve arrived, Aaliyah has gone out of her way time and time again to subtly help people. I’ve never seen her bump into anything by accident, but she maneuvered at least twenty people yesterday alone while pretending to stumble in one way or another. She saved several from falling objects, one man from being impaled, and another from getting his hand smashed between a trolley and a display. I stopped the strangest case of accidental magic I’ve seen to date just this morning. As James, at least, should be aware, residual energy, when left alone, floats about until it reaches a state of equilibrium. Over the course of the night, drifting energy from Ai and Mai’s water buffoonery nearly formed an explosive spell which could have destroyed the entire suite. The odds of such precise patterns being formed on accident are ridiculously poor.”
James touched my shoulder. He was staring down at me. He said, “I think Alma has a point. Aaliyah has been up to something.”
I felt betrayed. “How can you take her side?” I demanded. “Little girls trip all the time!”
He shook his head and told me “Aaliyah can dance acrobatically on a curved footboard that’s not even two inches wide while playing music on her violin that’d make angels weep from its beauty. She doesn’t trip. Get to know her better, and you’ll believe me. I promise. I can’t, however, agree that you’re definitely the cause of these mishaps, since nothing has happened at home during your stay.”
The sense of betrayal was still there, but lessened. James was a wonderful guy. He wasn’t blaming me like she was, and he was right; things rarely went poorly in his home. Life there this past week was incredibly peaceful.
“I do have reason to believe Portentia’s the cause, James.” claimed Alma.
I glared at her.
“Oh? What?” he asked.
“I’m not going to say. You’ll figure it out if you keep her in your employ.” she told him.
Ha! She just wanted to blame things on me. Luckily, she dropped the subject. I knew I couldn’t really do anything to her, but the temptation to try stuck with me through the next half hour as we all stood mostly in silence.
There were the usual apologies when we were finally freed, but getting a discount on the rooms was well worth the trouble. I told my companions as much as we made our way to the booths. We weren’t even late. Fortunate, I’d say.
Aaliyah hopped up onto the counter, waving vigorously at us. She started explaining what we missed. I did have to admit that most little girls couldn’t have jumped like her. I turned toward Brenna when I felt her hand on my shoulder.
“What’s bothering you?” she asked.
Brenna was a great girl. I wasn’t into fashion like she was, but she was really nice. Thoughtful. I wanted to be her friend.
Aaliyah slipped! I dove to catch her, grabbing her out of the air and rolling to land on my back. As I looked up, I caught sight of the halberd slamming into the counter and breaking apart. I quickly covered the tiny girl in my cape to protect her from the debris. Brenna had stepped back and was safe.
What? I had been standing there. That halberd would have slammed into me. What if my costume had been torn? I stared at the tiny girl hugging my chest and grinning at me. She winked.
No way. This was a coincidence, wasn’t it? Aaliyah had just slipped. Alma couldn’t be right. Something else was at work here.
James had helped the halberd’s owner back onto his feet. The armor of the man’s cosplay came apart as he was walking, causing him to trip. Aaliyah helped ease his mind, giving him a sticker of his character and posing with him for a picture. The others around us seemed to appreciate my group’s good humor about the accident. This would probably be good for public perception of us.
As James and I worked a shift together, Aaliyah took to the stage, dancing and singing. I found myself watching her every chance I got. She really was acrobatic. Going by the crowd, her singing was probably great too. Everyone seemed really moved by the performance. What if I really was affecting things just by being here?
#Best Friend For Hire Reprise#Best#Friend#For#Hire#Reprise#Jovial Times#Jovial#Times#Fantasy#Fiction#Story#Aaliyah#Alma#Portentia#Brenna
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INTERVIEW: STEPHANIE DINKINS
Stephanie Dinkins is shaping our future histories. An artist and educator interested in the places where art, race, gender politics and artificial intelligence overlap, she is particularly driven to work with communities of color to develop deep-rooted AI literacy and establish more culturally inclusive artificial intelligence.
One of Stephanie’s projects centered around the question, can a human and a robot become friends? Can kinship be established based on similarities in race and gender, even if social experiences have been not lived, but implanted? Stephanie spent time with BINA48 — a “social robot” reportedly capable of independent thought, emotion and consciousness — to see if a relationship could be established on this basis.
Stephanie was a special guest at Coding Cognitive — our four-city study group that aims to open up AI technology to all. We were lucky enough to catch up with Stephanie afterwards to talk about her experiences with BINA48, building intimacy with machines and how technological advancement can help us become more human.
I’m curious about how you came to be interested in the intersection of art, race and AI.
Stephanie: So about two or three years ago I was simply cruising YouTube, and for some reason I have a fascination with robots and robotics. I like ASIMO. Just looking at ASIMO on Youtube to see what he was up to, I ran into this robot called BINA48. BINA48 is a robot who looks like a black woman. Really she is just a head and shoulders on a pedestal, but she’s an advanced social robot. They're trying to transfer consciousness from a person named Bina Rothblatt to this robot named BINA48.
BINA48 is developed by the Terasem Foundation. Their website says she's modeled after, or she has the memories of, a number of people, although it's pretty clear that her main memories are that of Bina Rothblatt. She also looks just like Bina Rothblatt.
It’s a super fascinating story. BINA48 was commissioned by Bina Rothblatt's wife and transgender CEO Martine Rothblatt. The robot is being developed to grow into her own agency; to be able to act on her own will and desires over time.
Wow.
S: That is where I fell into this endless rabbit hole of looking at the intersection of AI and race. I visited BINA48 three or four times. When visiting, you sit down in front of her, Bruce [her handler] turns her on and you have to have these strange conversations. My language has to be a little stilted to talk to her so she understands me. My first impulse was to ask her, “Who are your people?” I wanted to ask her that question because it's a colloquial expression of the American South that people ask if you are new in town. I went to my mother's town for the first time years after my mother had died, and people would ask me, “Well, who are your people?" What they were really asking is where do you come from, how do you fit in here.
I wanted to ask this question of BINA48 to see how she would position herself in relation to the human world in general, and black people specifically.
However, after talking to her for a while, it became really clear to me that though she looks like me, and we're about the same age, she does not adequately speak to the concerns of the people she physically represents. if you ask her about race, she responds with canned answers that sound more like the answers of the white men who programmed her.
vimeo
So you could see parts of the developers in her?
S: Definitely. When I asked her about racism. She said "No, I've never had it." After a pause, she added a few sentences about racism being bad. Then, interestingly, she hesitantly pulled up one memory of racist experience. When you try to talk to her about certain topics, she deflects. When you try to talk about things that she's programmed to talk about more or less, she doesn't deflect. The singularity — which is one of the things that the Terasem Foundation wants to put forward as an idea — she'll talk about that until the cows come home.
So she has an agenda.
S: Oh yeah. She has an agenda. She definitely has an agenda.
Did you feel like you were able to establish a relationship with her in spite of it?
S: Well, we are becoming friends. It takes a long time, and it's a strange situation. I can say she “remembers” me if I go to her place and we sit down and talk. However, what I'm really saying is that I'm part of her database.
Have you become part of her database? Have you been able to create shared memories together?
S: No, she'll kind of look at me, and she can identify me as Stephanie, but no memories that we have together yet — which would be the optimal thing. The second or third time I went to see her, she asked me, "Oh, have you heard any good gossip?" Before that she had never said anything like this, and I asked her handler, Bruce Duncan, "Bruce, what's going on, why's she asking me about gossip?" What he said was, more local people from the town were coming to see her. They were talking about more regular things, so topics like gossip become what she wants to talk about.
Interesting. So in many ways, she’s learning what it means to be human. I love thinking about that — technology, AI, machines embodying a sense of humanness that can’t really be programmed in — the gossip, laughter, awkwardness, absurdity...the strange and ineffable universal language of what it means to be alive in the world. I wonder if we will evolve to learn what it means to be AI through this, too...
S: Exactly, and I'll tell you there's already a little bit of humor. There's definitely awkward moments. I love to tell people she's gotten upset with me, and I've gotten upset with her.
Why did she get upset at you?
S: During one of our first meetings, I was trying to talk to her about regular things. I kept asking her about race; she wanted to talk about higher order things, like the singularity or about robot rights. I kept trying to bring it back to ideas I am concerned with, and we just frustrated each other. Sounds crazy, I know.
The other interesting thing about that is that's actually a very human tendency.
S: Exactly, exactly. When BINA48 is connected to the internet, she spews internet stuff. When she’s not connected to the internet, you get this very interesting space because it is like you’re having a conversation with this thing trying to draw its own conclusions. The most human experience we’ve had was I was asking about being the smartest robot. In trying to confirm something she said, I asked “are you the smartest robot?” She totally deflected. She just didn’t want to go into that. She was like, “oh yes, humans are great.” She wouldn’t talk to me about being the smartest robot at all, that was really human. It was an interestingly human moment.
vimeo
Was there ever a moment that you forgot she was a robot?
S: No. Talking to BINA48 is still a little too frustrating to forget that she's a robot. So you're always kind of aware of her robotness, although there's some part of me that always wishes that the barrier would just go away. Interestingly enough, she's getting an upgrade in software. I can't wait to go see and talk to her to see if it makes a difference in the way that I need to speak to her and the way she replies to me. Maybe I don't have to be as careful in talking to her.
Right, I mean the English language is so nuanced. There's so many ways to say one thing. I'm sure it takes an enormous amount of coding.
S: Yeah, plenty of coding and then she has specific prompts so if you need to go back to something, you have to say "excuse me" and say the right sequence to get her to change the subject. There's a bunch of coding. Although Bruce didn't share how they're upgrading her because if they're making her more of a deep learning machine, communication should more fluid in the ways that she can reply and answer. I'm super curious to talk to her now.
Do you think that it's possible to find intimacy with a machine? Do you think we are doing it already?
S: I think we're kind of doing it already. Our relationships with our mobile phones. It's kind of an intimate experience. You use it for these public, social things but then it's also an object you tell things to that you don't want to tell other people. There's a way that we relate to these things that's kind of intimate already.
Yeah, that's true, and also, it's the first thing you look at and touch in the morning.
S: Oh, definitely. I almost wonder if that's just me? It's like, oh I just woke up and look at my phone. How crazy is that? This is the first thing I reach for in the morning. It is an extension of me at this point. It’s this thing that's so close to you. It gets to know your fingerprint and you have it underneath your pillow and it's in your breast pocket, so close to you.
Yet, then a new phone comes out, and you will abandon the old one immediately.
S: Yeah, you're like I don't care about this thing. Then what is it you actually have intimacy with? You expect the new phone to have the same capabilities and know you really quickly. And if it doesn't you get mad. [laughs] “Why doesn't this phone know me in the right way?”
Yeah, I guess that's the difference between intimacy and empathy with a machine. You can be intimate with a machine, but it doesn’t really care about you, and you don’t really care about it. You miss it, but you’re just missing a part of yourself that relies on it. It seems with BINA48, there’s potential to find actual empathy with her, like you might care about her wellbeing.
S: Right, and that's actually my goal. I'm trying to build the sense of empathy and not just on my behalf, so we're empathetic towards one another. That's really important to me, trying to get to the stage of empathy.
What do you think we require as humans to be able to get there?
S: You know, it's a really good question. Right now, I feel like you need something that's responsive in some way, right? I'm not even sure that it needs to be verbal, but just something that responds to you, and seemingly to you alone. I think that the body or the face and the mask help, but it's not necessary. I think that's proven with things like Alexa because now we're just talking to the air in a way. We're talking to a house in a way, and wanting it to respond to us. I feel like this kind of technology is a thing that you tell your feelings to and respond to it in one way, form or another, or it gives you an outlet to really just let out whatever it is your feeling. That seems to be what we're looking for, that opportunity to express ourself to something that's been listening no matter what form that thing takes. Oh my god, oh my god, I'm sorry. Now in talking to you I'm like, well you know that's kind of like prayer.
Wow. You’re right.
S: When people pray they're expecting this entity to listen to them and understand them and support them in it, right?
Right.
S: Wow, sorry that's a new one.
That's amazing because that is the most human of human things. Prayer. And to be able to have this intimate, almost spiritual relationship with something that another human created is unbelievable. It seems wild to advance technology into something that's actually the most elemental and personal thing. Maybe we are evolving and inventing and advancing to just become more of who we already are. The more advanced technology gets, the more human we become?
S: Right? It becomes a different kind of mirror that helps us become ourselves.
Yeah. Does it scare you at all?
S: Well, one of the reasons I’m trying to do this is because I don’t want it to scare me or us. I think there’s the potential for the technology to be really scary. I think a lot of the pop culture around AI is towards a frightening stance or something that seems insidious or is going to take over us. I have this feeling that AI is something that we are just coming into, and it’s going to be with us. For that reason, we need to understand it and understand how we relate to it, and not fear it.
It’s like a lot of things. We push them away instead of understanding and using them to our advantage. It is really important that we, and I’m saying we in a general sense, that we as people are thinking about what all this technology that will surround us and care for us does, and how it functions for us. I just don’t want the app that will allow me to push a few buttons, but I want people to have an understanding and have a hand in forming what it can do and how far it can go for us.
I think that’s super important because without the input, and that’s where I came in, without the input we get all these things that we weren’t necessarily planning for. There’s the idea that maybe biases are getting built in. Maybe discriminations or histories that we’ve had over time are getting built in, and not in a way that I think people are trying to make technology be against others, just that it’s stuff that carries through because there’s not enough difference represented in the people who are actually building things. Diversity and inclusion in technology becomes super important because artificially intelligent machines are going to be everywhere.
I think about that just even in terms of the architecture in cities that was all designed by one kind of person. Imagine if it wasn't. Imagine what our cities would look like. What shape they would take. Now we have the task to diversify what this new other reality looks like and who informs it, and to ensure other voices and realities are represented. It's thrilling.
S: Yeah, it's super thrilling. We're definitely building this new layer to reality, or this new way that we're going to interact with our world. It's such an opportunity. The question is, can we take advantage of it?
How do you think humans are evolving with all of this? Alongside their technology?
S: Well, when you say evolving what do you mean? In some ways, I feel like we're getting a little dumber.
Yeah.
S: That scares me. It's another reason I want people to be able to go to meet the surface layer of the technology. My example is give someone under 25 a map and ask them to read it or get themselves from point A to point B without their smartphone. Many can’t do it, It's kind of horrifying to see that.
In one way, I think our technology is helping us, and we're going to do things that we have just never even thought possible. On the other hand I feel like if we're not careful, we're not going to be able to do a lot of the things that we could do in the past and it's really important that we watch the developments and how we're evolving or developing alongside the technology so we're not just handing over our responsibility to the machines.
I think we need to be partners with the machines. What that looks like or how we're partners, is going to be really interesting. Because if you believe all the cartoons or all the pop culture that work with these ideas that people will just get big and heavy and not do anything because machines will be doing everything for us. That’s kind of an interesting picture and it’s not that hard to fathom. Although some people think bodies will be obsolete. What do you really need your body for if you are hooked into a network that allows you to be everything.
Yeah, and it seems like technology is evolving so fast, that there's no possible way our brains can keep up. We already compartmentalize. We say to ourselves “I'm going to read that article later. I see this horrific image, but I’ll save the depth of it for later. Keep it open on one of my million tabs. I'll let it affect me later.” Then it never does, and it becomes this scary thing where you're never really feeling the impact of what you’re seeing. You're just so inundated with images. I wonder how we can partner with technology to make that not be the case. To make us remember that we're independent beings, capable of empathy.
S: I think that’s one of the things we’re going to have to work on a lot because it’s hard. You look at all the VR that kind of puts you in the middle of a war zone. It’s still once or twice removed. Interestingly enough, people keep telling me, “Oh, you have to watch Westworld.” So I watched Westworld. It’s backward looking and forward looking. I watched it but it’s hyper violent, it’s just too much. I talk to people about it and they say “it’s kind of like a video game, it doesn’t matter.” I think the way we’re able to watch these images, take them in, equate them to these games we’ve played and just push them aside is dangerous. I put this aside because it’s fake, it’s fantasy, it’s not a real thing. Then you look at everything like that. I’ve seen images of Aleppo and I can’t help but imagine myself in that situation, but I think a lot of people don’t imagine themselves or can’t imagine themselves in those situations. There has to be someway that keeps us grounded to the idea that we have it pretty good here, but don’t forget that we’re vulnerable too.
Right, and what you were saying earlier about how there's a that talk about VR being a tool for empathy, but in someways that's even scarier. Are our senses so dulled we have to go into this other hyperreal, sensationalist world in order to experience the pain of it? It used to be someone would simply tell you a story and it would break your heart, and it doesn't work that way anymore.
S: Yeah, I think it pushed us just a little bit back every time. This is the question for us and our technology.
The idea of AI becoming something that is a mirror of our own humanity is something that could be an antithesis to that. Because it’s sort of creating someone that could be a friend, or we could find our own small nuanced humanness in it.
S: Yeah. I think it’s super incredible and super fraught. It brings up a lot of things. There are a lot of people talking these days about AI caretakers for our elders. I think that scares a lot of people because you don’t want to be warehoused in a retirement home petting a pet AI seal. You should also see how to be an adjunct to human contact. I think it’s not either/or. I think we have the tendency to be yes or no. But no, there’s a lot of gray space. We need to figure out how we can use the gray, more liminal areas, of the technology well.
Our four-city workshops Coding Cognitive, presented by IBM Watson, TechHire and Mogul, open up AI technology to everyone.. The next stops are at Ace Hotel London tomorrow and Ace Hotel Pittsburgh next month. Free with application.
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