#sending this as a text alert to all of my followers. like the government
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i've done something that has the potential to make me really annoying. not as annoying as i can be about dragon age. but do Not say you haven't been warned.
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pls pls elaborate singing in the shower & spy au im so curious!! <3
"Singing in the Shower" is the tentative title for a shower sex jake fic with too much plot added in.
here's a snippet from the rough draft under the cut, 18+ only:
His voice takes on a familiar tone, the same one from flight school when he’d be picking apart why a maneuver didn’t work, or more specifically why someone else had failed at it. Like your inability to orgasm tonight is just an engineering problem. A little math, a little grease, and he can fix this.
“What isn't working?”
“Well, every time I get close I remember whose dick is in me.”
He rolls his eyes, his voice taking on a bored tone, “We’ve established that you do not hate me enough for that."
You stay silent, refusing to admit that you do not, in fact, hate him enough to deny yourself an orgasm. He hasn't done anything genuinely hackles-raising in some time, having toned down at least twenty percent of his dickishness, so there's less active resentment being worked out while you're fucking.
It's easy and fun being with him. Oh god, you like seeing his texts light up your phone. You enjoy his purposively bad sexts, that you're sure he only sends so you'll come over and fuck him to get him to stop. You come to the horrifying, jarring conclusion that he may very well be your friend, sort of. Fuck.
Biting your lip, you amend, “Fine, maybe it's not that.”
“I gathered.” He nudges you, “I can tell something’s going on up there, wanna fill me in?”
“No.” You admit with a little sigh, “I don't know.”
“Well, I'm tired, so we’re just going to sit here.”
“Sorry, my pussy is broken today.”
Your phrasing draws a little stomach-tensing laugh out of him, eyes creasing as he looks at you. His perfectly calloused palms slide up and down your thighs. His lips are curved into a soft little smile. “It’s fine.”
“You can just…” your eyes focus on a water droplet on his collarbone, eyebrows jumping in allusion, unable to really say it, “if you want to.”
He catches the implication; he can just get off and be done with it if he wants. Annoyance twists his features, his brow furrowing, though it doesn't feel wholly directed at you. “Jesus, I can feel myself getting soft,” he scoffs, “You're not a fleshlight.”
And you actually can feel him start to lose his erection under you.
The spy au I'm currently working on came about mostly cause I saw Greg Tarzan Davis in the newest Mission Impossible and simply couldn't help myself. I also love spy stuff, I've always been intrigued by media that had spies in it since I was a kid. I grew up watching the Bond movies and shows like Nikita, Covert Affairs, Burn Notice, and Chuck. Most of which have a decidedly more pg or pg-13 tone than my au.
I'm planning on it being a few different interconnected series (maybe?).
All of their call signs and the nicknames for the reader are codenames in this.
So, an agent who was previously presumed dead, Spectre, she and Jake, aka Hangman, were partners and after her death he was never really the same. He's been on desk duty for the past two years.
Bob, an analyst on the team, was asked by Jake to put an indefinite facial recognition alert for her. So it kicks off with him getting a hit for her in London. The Operations Manager, Mav, brings Bradley onto the case, ordering him not to tell Jake about the revelation until they know more, and sending him to London to track Spectre down.
There in London, to play nice with a foreign government and give the impression that they respect jurisdiction, he's teamed up with an MI5 agent, Rook.
Shit spirals from there.
here's a snippet:
A last wet little gurgle leaves his throat as he goes still, his eyes left staring toward nothing. His head hangs back limply, red clinging to the corners of his slack mouth, the viscera of his throat exposed. Blood rhythmically drips to the floor. The pool grows beneath him.
This sort of thing used to shake you, now you just follow a well-run routine, not necessarily numb, but devoid of the emotions doing something as grotesque as this should provoke. Violence should stir, you know this, you used to be stirred by it.
The first time you killed someone it was sloppy and panicked, you cried afterward. Mav sealed it with the stamp of self-defense, a good kill, but it didn't rid you of the lingering feeling of being damned. Maybe, the last vestiges of growing up catholic.
You used to be a mourner, silently giving them their last rights, knowing the weight of every life. A witness to people’s final drawn breaths.
Now, you're a butcher.
You don't leave the blood for long, scrubbing your hands in the sink before it settles and dries in the cracks.
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Part 3
Needless to say, I don't pander for attention, it typically comes to me. Except for a few times but not today. In all this time, relationships was still a nice to have but inconvenient.
I tried dating a rich guy mostly because he was rich and I got bored of it. I wanted to get to know him but there were all these strange internal barriers he had and he seemed merely fascinated to show me off as his woman than actually getting to know me. This was a birthday in Paris, weekend in Dubai sort of guy. He was prepared to splurge on me. For a while it seemed flattering until his comment about leaving my job and how he could finance my lifestyle. Hmmm red flag and that was the end. How could he not see that though the job didn't pay so much, it was part of my process? I was learning to stand on my two feet, why take that opportunity away from me? I tried to have this discussion with him and he swipe it with as a feminists' need to prove herself. Why would I need to do that when I had him but it wasn't about him. We remained friends and for three years, he asked me to marry him every year and every year I would say no.
I met a couple more throwing money at me. Sending me random alerts and wanting to buy cars or use their cars or have their drivers to take me here or there. Vacation invites here and there. Over and over again. I didn't have a car, I used the bus or uber on weekends. Public transport in Lagos is shit so there was incentive to take it, yet something about looking out the window in a danfo on my dime gave me peace and freedom.
One day at a mall, I was with my cousins watching a creative performance. I saw and ignored a man in his early 40s out to get me attention. His last resort was to slide in his card into my back pocket. I pulled out the card, he worked at the presidency, something administrative officer to the president. Okay, he had my attention. My cousins were all over it, insisting I followed up. In fact one of them took my phone and sent a text. Well, I was in for the ride. What would he show me or teach me about himself.
He was in town for a few days, high level meetings, he asked we met over lunch. We did. It didn't take too long for the request for sex, or something like that. But this one came in rather sleepy way. He had on his desk a list of names. He claimed to be working on the scholarship grants the government was giving for students to study in Manitoba, Canada. This stopped me on my tracks; I was wanting to travel to Canada to study and my preferred province was Manitoba because I had family there. He laughed, saying, all I needed to do was to do the needful and my name would be included on the list. A full scholarship including allowances and flight tickets. I was seated inches from what I believed was my dream and yet I said no.
Even as I sat in an uber back home, I believed myself to be stupid for refusing. A no is no, even when I don't know why I saying no. Months later, the government would leave some scholarship students stranded in Manitoba, that's besides the point. I'll tell you what I've come to, something in me knew that I did not have to get what I wanted that way. It had nothing to do with righteousness. More like, that transaction was beneath me.
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no because mitch probably wakes up one morning before his girl and admires her and then he slowly realizes that he wants to spent the rest of his life with her !! he knows that he wants to spend all of his mornings lying in bed with her in his arms and when they finally get married he’s so happy that he can finally call her his wife for real this time :( and lemme just say their honeymoon is absolutely insane like he’s fucking her like his life depends on it
this absolutely RUINED ME, im literally melting !!
cause we know he has trauma about his relationships yk, but with you ?? he just cannot focus on the bad possibilities. he'd literally go to hell if you told him too !! he's in LOVE with you !!
like he'll ne waking up to you whining some fun shit in your sleep and smiling like a goof and he can't help it !! you're the woman he wants !! you're his soulmate, you own him and there's no question or doubt here !!
like let's say that this time, he wasn't the one to go on the dangerous government mission but you were ! you had to go and it your first mission, you couldn't skip it !!
he spends the two days before sulking cause how dare they send you on a dangerous mission yk ?? it's basically only to retrieve infos but he considers a butter knife too dangerous for you. when you're gone, he buries himself in work but when he can't, he just paces back and forth, waiting for you to tell him you're okay. he even stays on alert at the possibility of getting a text that feels like it's been sent by someone else (in case you get in an accident or get kidnapped) !!
so the moment you get home, you can't even drop your stuff that he's already lifting you up and hugging you as if his life depended on it.
"don't ever leave me alone like this again bunny..."
"did you miss me ?"
and he genuinely questions it cause he's not the kind to miss people or get that attached yk ?? but the answer is clear to him, even before you ask !!
"i thought i was going to die without you. these were the three worst days of my life since i've known you."
then follows the mind-blowing sex that has your body trembling for a while afterwards. he just pins you to the mattress and takes care of you, making sure you feel exactly how much he missed you in each stroke, thrust, kiss and caress. you're so soft in his arms, he can't get enough of you, everytime he feels close to being satisfied he needs more of you again.
after that he doesn't even clean you up, just keeps you in his arms and wrapped around his cock. he's caressing you sweetly and telling you shit that he usually wouldn't say that easily yk ?? :
"you're so pretty when you're sleepy bunny. makes me feel like i'm melting into a puddle, just for you. and you smell so sweet too, like a jar or honey and vanilla. fuck, i can't get enough of you. you're my everything, my sweet sweet bunny. i love you so much princess, i can't breath without you. i need you so much bunny, i hope you know that."
the only response he gets is this cute little whine that you do when you're asleep. he stops talking and just stares at you with this goofy smile on his face.
he wakes up around like 3am when he feels you move and smiles when he notices that you're just trying to hug him tighter. he starts staring all over again and before he knows it, it's been 4 hours since he woke up and had been watching you sleep comfortably in his arms.
he's still baffled that you sleep that easily in his arms despite how tense and jumpy he gets. his night terrors aren't helping either but you still do try and succeed in feeling good against his chest and he just cannot see himself in a bad light anymore ?? like he will always thinks he's a lucky fucker who attracted the goddess's attention but with the amount of praises you give him, he just can't think of himself as anything less than what you say he is. and it's not that he just can't see himself as less than what you see, it's that he literally puts incredible amounts of work into being the man you'd want to spend life with.
in this little moment of trying to rationalize his feelings, he finally notices the part where he wants to live a life with you and that sends him into a panic.
he hadn't thought of marriage since his ex and he remembered thinking about these regularly before yk ?? like settling down and shit. but with you, it just slid into place, made sense on it's own, without much prior thought. in his heart, he'd become your husband or he'd be nothing. these weren't hopes and dreams, these were facts coming straight from his head.
you wake up because you hear him breath and feel him shake. it takes like less than a second for you to be on your knees, cradling his face and kissing his forehead, tenderly reminding him that he's awake and he's safe. and he knows it but it doesn't matter, he just starts blabbering.
"bunny... fuck bunny you don't understand... i'm in love for you... so much i-... i can't breath bunny, i need you to live... my only purpose is to make you happy and give you everything you desire. i need to make you my wife and build a family around you bunny... fuck, you'd look so good with my ring around your finger. and a baby, huh ? one or a thousand, we can have a family. a few little ankle biters that look like you baby, fuck i-i... i can't think straight bunny... fuck, i wanna marry you, i need to... I'll be your husband and do everything in my power to make you the happiest ever... let's get married bunny, let's do it..."
and you're stunned, not my his words necessarily but by how quickly you started crying about them. he hugs your waist and has you straddling him while he kisses your neck to calm down from the panic attack.
"god mitch ! you can't just propose to a girl like that..."
he genuinely laughs cause you look really confused.
"sorry bunny, i can redo it when we get the ring, what do you say ?"
"absolutely not bunny, not when you're my wife. if that's really what you want, fine. but i'll work my ass off to keep you home, working the least possible. you'll get all the hugs and cuddles you want bunny. but fuck, i need to make you my wife."
he flips you over to lay you on the bed and starts kissing down on your chest.
"and how about we get to work on this little family of ours ?"
#•° jin replies <3°•#•°sweet people in my inbox°•#mitch rapp x reader#mitch rapp smut#mitch rapp imagine#mitch rapp#mitch rapp x you#dylan o'brien smut#dylan o'brien imagine#dylan obrien#dylan o'brien#female reader#woc reader#black reader
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Missed Opportunities | Helmut Zemo x Reader | Chapter 3
Welcome to Part 3! You've made it this far? I'm impressed. Thank you for sticking around. This is quite the long chapter so, I hope you enjoy the juicy action all around.
And this one was quite the doozy to write. It's 3AM now? Hah, I've spent the entire day writing two chapters. But definitely don't expect more at quite this frequency. But I appreciate you all none the less.
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Tag Requests: @lostghostgirl94 @neoarchipelago @fillechatoyante @fanfics-ig
Did I miss someone? For future tag requests: Please send me a direct message if possible, it's easy to lose people in the mix and I don't want to miss anyone!
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For previous chapters go here: Part 1 | Part 2
Word Count: 5.358
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
It had been precisely three hours, forty-two minutes since two Avengers and a criminal mastermind had left the safe house you were staying in.
You were currently staring up at the ceiling with mild boredom waiting for the next round of texts to come in. An alert notification rang through the near empty residence, the noise echoed off the walls of the living room intensifying the reverberation of sound.
Rolling over, you flopped onto you stomach from your position on the couch, stretching your arm out to grab the phone off the coffee table.
Carefully, you read the incoming message. 'No recent signs of Karli, but following up on a handprint Bucky found a couple miles from our initial start position. Zemo has a theory it might lead to a section of tunnel that veers off towards the harbor. Will update again in another hour. - S'
Great.
So they'll easily be gone at least another couple hours, leaving you to your own devices. That's dangerous. There's no telling what kind of trouble you could get into without something to do. Your mind was always processing, constantly formulating new plans and calculating risk probabilities. It's why you were so fidgety and animated. You didn't inherently have ADHD, but your brain was so active the symptoms manifested as such. You had a genius level intelligence, you just chose to down-play it most of the time. You craved activities to keep your mind from going into overdrive; it's why you spend most of your mornings running. To drain your body of excess energy and let your brain rest.
You groaned in irritation, tossing the phone back onto the coffee table. Sam could have at least given you a pin point location so you could do some research on the area where the handprint was found.
Maybe you could read for a bit.
You got up and headed to your room at the back of the apartment. Zemo gave you the last room at the end of the hallway, it also happened to be the only room that had a half bath attached to it. Which in retrospect, was quite thoughtful of him.
As you reached your room, a chilly draft fell across your body, causing goosebumps to raise on your fair skin. You noticed you left a window open in the room and moved to close it. Often times, late at night you sat at the window sill and read to pass the time when you couldn't sleep. Sometimes, you'd crack the window open and simply listen to the sounds of the outside; they were just as soothing. There was no denying it was quite lovely where you were staying. Helmut Zemo had impeccable taste.
You grabbed your book and crossed the room, rubbing your arm to help circulate some heat back into your body, but before you got to the door, a patch of blue caught your eye. Zemo's hoodie. It had been left draped haphazardly over the back of one of the chairs in your room. A constant reminder you needed to give it back to the Baron, but you weren't ready to just yet, and funnily enough, he hadn't asked for it.
Shifting from foot to foot, you debated what to do. It was comfortable. Wearing it one last time couldn't hurt, right? There wasn't anyone here to cajole you about it anyways and you could just take it off before the guys got back. Perfectly reasonable. Before you could talk yourself out of it, you snagged the garment off the chair and pulled it on as you walked back out to the main living room, book in hand.
As you rounded the corner and made your way through the kitchen back to the couch, you heard a loud metallic bang against the entry-way door accompanied with the tell tale signs of door knobs turning. Caught off guard by the sudden intrusion, you had leapt off the ground, clutching the book to your chest.
You stared at the door in fear knowing it was way too soon for anyone to have returned yet. And they wouldn't have caused the disruption in the attempts to break in. Pushing down your apprehension, your senses started to return to you, and you realized you need to get to your phone. Now.
Your eyes moved across the apartment and landed on the coffee table a short distance away from you. Bingo. You took a step forward towards the table when the front doors suddenly swung open and a whirl of red, white and blue flew past your face. The projectile, nearly hitting you, caused you to stumble, knocking you backwards onto the floor. You landed clumsily, but thankfully caught yourself before your head smacked against the ground.
You didn't need to look up to know exactly what object flew at your head. The sound alone was unmistakable.
"Apologies for the erratic entrance, I only meant to use it to help open the door - I hadn't planned on Lemar here unlocking the them so easily. When the doors fell open, it kind of just flew right out of my hand."
Annoyance had now replaced your fear.
John Walker.
You had many opinions of the man based off what Sam and Bucky had told you, but you hadn't had the pleasure of actually meeting him. Until now.
This did not help sway your opinion of him in the very least. If anything, it only solidified that the government had made a rash decision. You don't just had over the shield to anyone.
You glared up at the intruders from your position on the floor. This was completely unexpected. How did he even manage to locate this safe house? Something nagged at the back of your mind that Captain Walker might have had help from people with a questionable background. You shoved the thought aside for the time being.
Lemar had gone around to the back of the couch and pulled the shield out of the wall embedded in between the two stained windows. Walker, who stood next to you, was offering his hand to help you up.
You didn't even make an effort to consider his gesture and got up off the floor without his assistance, dusting yourself off in the process.
Walker appeared undeterred by your dismissal of him and instead put on a winning smile and rotated his hand in the attempts of a handshake.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot. John Walker. Captain America," he proudly stated.
"I know who you are Captain Walker, as well as your friend here," you briskly answered, crossing your arms in front of you.
You could see the smile start to drop off his face and his eyes turn a bit darker.
"And I know who you are as well, you're well documented along with the Avengers, but I was trying to be polite," Walker grounded out with forced effort.
You didn't want to start an argument with the newly anointed Captain America, but there was something off about him that just irritated you.
"Polite?" you sarcastically question. "How is barging into someone's residence, polite? Please, do explain," you shifted your weight onto one side, giving him an expectant look.
"I don't have to explain myself to you. In case you've forgotten, I'm Captain America," he took a step towards you, his body language highly suggesting an intimidation tactic.
You held your tongue and took a step back to place more distance between yourself and Walker. You spared a glance at his partner to gauge his reaction, but his expression was guarded, although he was watching with rapt attention.
"What do you want, Walker?" you bit out. You attempted to keep some of the contempt out of your voice, but he had quickly turned your mood sour this afternoon.
"Where's Zemo?" Walker cut straight to the chase this time.
"Not here, obviously," you held your arms out, gesturing around.
"I want to know where Zemo is. He's coming with us," the captain took another step towards you, this time with a more forceful intention.
You furrowed your brow and took another step back. His posturing was starting to make you slightly nervous.
"Even if I did know where he was, I'm not saying either way. Zemo has been surprisingly helpful to us, and we need him to locate Karli along with the rest of the Flag-Smashers, including the missing vials of serum. And he's more likely to continue working with us, than provide you with any information at all. That I can say with absolute certainty," your words sounded confident, but inside you were trembling.
That was apparently the wrong thing to say to Captain America.
His entire demeanor changed. Once where there was some warmth and light-heartedness, there was only a cold emptiness left in his gaze. He reached back to grab the shield from Lemar, and then without any warning shoved you back against the wall to your left.
You heard the distinct sound of your right shoulder pop as is slammed into the wall along with the rest of your body. The rapid movement from Walker and impact from the shield knocked the wind right out of you. The pressure from the amount of force he was exerting pinned you to the wall and caused the shield to be painfully pressed into your side, separating you from Walker. You could feel the rim of the shield digging slightly into your neck, but not enough to cause any real damage.
"John!" you heard Hoskins shout with alarm from behind Walker.
You swallowed thickly; very real fear had settled into your bones. You were capable of defending yourself, but hadn't actually needed to put those skills into any use. Bucky and Sam had taught you some moves and hold to get out of, but it never crossed any of your minds once you'd have to fight Captain America. You tried to shift your head to the side to see how far away your phone was. What possible options you had. Maybe you could appeal to his partner and deescalate the situation before things got too ugly.
"I'm only going to ask this one last time. Where is Zemo?" Walker spit out, putting force against the shield, which in turn, caused you to grimace in pain.
"Hoskins, you really going to allow Captain America to torture an innocent citizen trying to help in a cause we're all aligned in?" you gasped out, trying to swallow as much air as possible through the pain wracking your body.
You refused to let it show. Holding back as much of the discomfort you were in. You didn't want to give Walker the satisfaction.
"John, ease up. She's not a terrorist, and frankly, I agree with her," Hoskins voiced, his footsteps bringing him closer to Walker with the hopes of gaining his attention no doubt.
The pressure from the shield against your form was lifted slightly, though the shield was still closer to your body than you'd like to admit. You closed your eyes to focus on regaining some stability and figure out your next course of action to get yourself out of this mess.
"Stay out of this Lemar," John replied, but his menacing stature had lessened minutely.
You opened your eyes to stare at Walker. He had removed the shield between the two of you and placed it on his back; however he stepped into your personal space instead and placed a hand against your collarbone, essentially rendering you immobile again.
Well, at least now you could breathe.
Walker peered down at you with distain, "You're really not going to give him up are you?"
You clenched your jaw and lifted your chin defiantly at him.
"No," you answered.
The wheels were turning inside Walker's head. You could literally see the fire burning in his eyes, realizing he wasn't going to get an answer out of you. Not willingly.
He dipped his head and released his hold on you, pointing a finger right at your face, "This isn't over. Not by a long shot."
You saw Lemar walk up and pat Walker's shoulder, "Alright, let's get out of here."
Walker straightened up and stiffly walked away, leaving Hoskins trailing behind. His ego had taken a blow today.
Hoskins gave an apologetic shrug, "He's under a lot of stress."
Before Lemar could fully clear your line of sight, you quietly spoke up, "He doesn't deserve that shield."
Hoskins didn't have a response to that.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
In wake of the aftermath, you had tried to clean up as best possible. You assessed your injuries were non life-threatening, though your right shoulder was most definitely dislocated. The arm was kept close against your body hoping to not jostle it too much. You felt spikes of pain as you cleaned the area where Walker had thrown the shield into the wall, but ignored it so you could get the place back in shape before Sam, Bucky and Zemo returned.
Sam had messaged not too long ago, they were roughly 20 minutes out from the apartment.
Your ribs were throbbing from where the shield had been buried into your side, but you didn't think they had been broken, only bruised. You were going to have to ask one of them pop your shoulder back into place.
You were dreading the conversation, but were determined to remain as calm as possible to help alleviate the immediate reaction they were going to have once you revealed what happened.
The events of the day had finally caught up with you and coupled with the cleaning efforts, your body was signaling it's exhaustion. You were in the kitchen, and honestly didn't think you could make the short trip to one of the sofas; so you carefully sat on one of the chairs in the kitchen and waited patiently.
Sure enough, 20 minutes later, the doors to the apartment opened and the guys swiftly came in to greet you.
"Did you even leave the kitchen?" James inquired, coasting around the kitchen to grab a drink.
You smiled tightly and responded in kind, "For a short while, yes. Did you guys find anything worth while?" You quickly wanted to change the subject but knowing you were only delaying the inevitable.
"Yeah, we think we've discovered a possible building Karli is using to hideout in. We had planned on eating something quickly and then leave again to check it out tonight," Sam explained.
As Sam was talking, Bucky had accidently bumped into you, causing you to wince and pull your arm tighter to you. Luckily, he didn't see your face, but Sam did.
"Hey, you okay?" Sam questioned, voice filling with concern.
You blew out a breath bracing yourself for what you were about to say.
"What happened to my wall?" Zemo piped up, giving you a curious glance, he had moved to run his hand along the diagonal cut, inches deep, in the space between the ceiling to floor windows.
Bucky left his glass and walked over to get a better look, as did Sam. Both of them would know precisely what caused a mark like that to become etched into a wall.
Sam and Bucky snapped their heads back to you as soon as they saw the indention, but it was Zemo who spoke first.
"John Walker was here," he stated, shrugging off his coat and hanging it over the back of the couch he was nearby.
"It was an, eventful afternoon here," you tried to put some overly cheerful, comedic tones into your voice, but failed pretty miserably.
"What happened?" Sam immediately asked.
The trio had made their way back to the kitchen to get answers from you.
Zemo came to stand nearby, eyes roaming your body, searching. With his expertise, there was no question that he would quickly figure out you were injured; so you tried to tell your story as concisely as possible.
"Um, so - Walker and Lemar showed up. He asked for Zemo. I told him he wasn't here aaaaand they left. The end," you hurriedly spoke, wanting to get this over with and not draw any more attention to yourself.
But you could see in Helmut's eyes, he knew there was more to your story. His carefully crafted mask was starting to crack as you saw his gaze drift down to you cradling your arm underneath the island away from Bucky and Sam's eyeline.
"You're hurt," Zemo said. His face showed open concern as he walked the remaining distance to you.
With more tenderness than you thought possible coming from him, he slowly and carefully moved your right arm away from your body. He kept his eyes trained on you for any discomfort or signs of pain.
Once your arm had left your lap though, you reached over with your left hand to grip one of his wrists to prevent him from moving your arm any further.
"Don't, please," you pleaded, gritting your teeth and swallowing down the pain threatening to erupt from you. You were panting now, and more clear than ever something had happened to you while they were gone.
Helmut released your arm without hesitation, but did not leave your side. You saw him exchange tense looks between James and Sam. Normally, Bucky would have been focused on keeping Zemo away from you, but with the current circumstances, he was no longer a priority.
"What actually happened?" Bucky softly called out, he and Sam had gotten closer to take a better look at you. Sam brought a chair out to sit next to you and give you a once over, while you explained.
The expressions on their faces were grim as they anxiously awaited your reply.
"It wasn't - it's not quite as bad as it seems," you started, stuttering out the words as Sam brought his hands up to check your head for any injuries first.
"He just barged right in and was insistent on finding Zemo. He was acting so arrogant and pompous, I just refused to give him any information on his whereabouts," you continued on. "He didn't like the fact I wasn't willing to cooperate with "Captain America" and he got a little.....rough with me."
Sam paused his surveying to meet your gaze. You could see the guilt beginning to creep into his eyes. He turned his head to look up at Bucky, who was angrily flexing his vibranium arm in displeasure. Probably only affirming his notion that Sam should have never given up the shield in the first place.
"What did he do?" Bucky's tone brook no argument. He wanted to know the truth.
You scrunched your face in unpleasantness when Sam checked your lower neck and collarbone, he had found the place on your body where the shield and his hand had met you.
"Is this from - ?" Sam couldn't finish his sentence and he looked away in anger. You could tell he just wanted to get up and throw something, and that was commonly uncharacteristic for him.
Zemo had shifted his position to take a peek at what Sam was doing while he checked you out. You saw how his eyes had darkened with quiet rage taking stock of everything. There was an outline of a thin scrap mark against the underside of your neck and jaw, but it was a clear demarcation that would only be caused from the shield itself.
You nodded sadly and focused on answering Bucky's question as you gave Sam the okay to keep going.
"Walker, didn't get what he wanted, so he did the only other thing he knows how to do," you cleared your throat and rubbed your hand against your forehead.
"Use brute force," Zemo darkly said.
"He used the shield to push me up against the wall over there," you pointed over as you continued re-telling what happened. "I was knocked into the wall pretty hard, but Walker lost all focus and nearly suffocated me from the force of the shield against my body. I think he -" you yelped like a wounded animal, not able to finish your story when Sam touched your shoulder.
Bucky's eyes had widen and became deeply concerned over your pained scream.
Your muscled were clenched tight as you tried to ride out the pain, face starting to turn red.
Zemo had placed a light hand on your back, leaning down to comfort you and remind you to breath.
You fumbled with your good arm as you tried taking in deep breaths and motioned to Sam what was wrong with your arm.
Even with your poor mime animation of pretending to have your arm pulled from your socket, James picked up on what you were getting at. He tapped Sam to switch places with him. Your eyes were watering at this point and you blinked back the tears wanting to fall.
"Alright doll, on the count of three, I'm going to raise your arm and put pressure on your shoulder, okay?" Bucky solemnly said.
Sam gave you a smile of assurance while Zemo ended up taking your good hand, letting you know you could use him to brace yourself. He and James shared a silent conversation before nodding at one another. If Sam had a problem with Zemo providing you comfort, he didn't show it. You figured he was letting some of his dormant humanity rise to surface in this moment.
You shook slightly trying to prepare yourself for the next round of pain once your shoulder was fixed, but James didn't give you any time.
"Three," he commanded, snapping your shoulder back into its socket before you had a chance to even reaction.
You let out another cry of pain, holding onto Zemo's hand tightly, but somehow, the fear of the oncoming pain dissipated as you let go of his hand and rubbed your shoulder with minimal soreness.
You cleared your throat and looked at everyone after a few moments of rest. Surprised at how efficiently James had handled your shoulder, but then again, he was the perfect person to do the job.
You scrunched up your nose at James, "What happened to one and two?"
He huffed out a laugh, "It worked didn't it?"
"Thank you. All of you," you gave a lazy smile through the tiredness that filled you up. "I think I'll be okay now - that was the worst of it. Promise. Walker didn't do any further harm to me. I managed to convince Lemar to get Walker to back down," you glossed over the section where Walker threatened you, but you could bring that up later.
None of them were satisfied with your response, but you're guessing they let it slide given the circumstances.
Zemo reached into the freezer to grab an ice pack. He handed it to you to place on your shoulder helping with your recovery. You accepted it from him extremely grateful. You mused your opinion of him was constantly evolving the more time you actually spent with him.
Sam had asked if you were sure there weren't any other areas you wanted to have checked over for injuries.
You assured him, you were alright, just tired and very sore.
Bucky had swiftly gotten up from his chair and made it known he wanted to go after Walker this evening. You knew he wasn't going to let this incident go any time soon. Sam had also been in agreement after fully understanding what transpired, but Zemo was eerily silent.
"You guys should follow your original plan. Don't let Walker distract you. I'm alive and I am going to be okay. Go follow your lead on Karli," you interjected, trying to be the reasonable one. There was no need for them to go off halfcocked while they were still very upset. You were too, if you were being honest with yourself, but your focus was on your friends first and foremost.
"Well, we're not leaving you here alone. I can stay behind and let Zemo and Sam check things out," James said.
"Actually, it makes the most sense if I stay behind," Zemo chimed in.
"Why is that?" Sam countered warily.
"The particular location you are going to, I have....a history there. It would be wise for me to not be seen in that part of town as to not raise any alarm bells," he reasoned with them.
"And why should we trust you with her?" Bucky asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.
"Because I have no motive to do any harm to her nor shall I allow any further injury come to her. On this James, I give you my word," Helmut replied, the seriousness of his tone was not lost on anyone in the room.
"Okay," Sam relented, moving about the kitchen to pack some food for their evening night out.
"Just like that, huh?" James said with disbelief.
"Yeah, just like that," Sam parroted back.
Bucky wasn't happy about the situation, but there was an urgency to find Karli, so he caved.
James leaned over on the counter to make sure you were 100% okay being left along with Zemo, reminding you at any time you can call and they'd rush back instantly for whatever reason.
You stood up slowly, balancing the ice pack on your shoulder and shuffled over a few steps towards him, "Thank you. Now, go."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
You waved to to your friends a second round of goodbyes for the day. You sagged against the counter, temporarily forgetting about Zemo for the moment. You really needed to lie down.
As if he read your thoughts, you suddenly felt his presence as an arm wrapped around your waist, resting firmly against your hip.
"Here, let me help you get someplace more comfortable than this," Zemo asserted, taking his free hand and dropping the ice pack from your shoulder onto the counter. He then grabbed your left hand, raising your arm and wrapped it around his neck to help support you. So now most of your weight is on your left side, allowing your right to have most of the pressure released from your injuries.
You were so close to him you could smell his expensive cologne and aftershave. It was intoxicating and caused your head to swim a little. You stumbled slightly, but Zemo kept you steady as you both made your way to your room.
In your exhausted state, you managed to sneak in a few glances to Zemo, who was concentrating on the task at hand, not wanting to cause any jarring movements. He deserved more credit than you had been giving him; he truly did seem to care in his own warped way.
Once you had gotten to your room, he guided you to the bed to lie down. Not once had you complained. A true testament of just how tired you were. You couldn't even muster a snarky reply at his disheveled state of being, from practically dragging you down the hallway.
You snuggled into the hoodie you were wearing and tried to lie in a position that wouldn't cause too much discomfort for your shoulder and ribs.
Zemo had stepped into the closet and when he returned he came back with a couple extra pillows. He propped them against your injured side to prevent you from rolling over during the night.
If nothing else, Zemo was incredibly thorough when he focused on something. And right now, that focus was you. It was unnerving, but also thrilling at the same time. Maybe you did have a head injury, because all you could do was smirk at how utterly adorable he was tending to you. It made you curious as to whether this was what Zemo was like before. For the first time, you really wanted to know more about him.
You saw how he was confident in everything he does, and this situation was no different apparently. He had been muttering to himself as he adjusted bedding and made sure there was nothing in the room that you could trip over if you had to get up. He was taking in all the possibilities, like you did.
He had been actively avoiding looking at you though since Bucky and Sam left. You weren't entirely sure why, as he's had zero problems watching you over the past several days. You have a feeling it's because you're one of a few people who have seen beneath the surface of Helmut Zemo, and he's reacting the only way he knows how to at this moment.
Distraction.
You were too sleepy to ponder this any further and turned your head to the side to see what Zemo was fiddling with now.
He had finished up the last of his tasks and looked around the room satisfied with his work. Only then did he turn to look at you.
If it had been anyone else, you would swear that Zemo almost seemed nervous. He was, at many times in your experience, hard to read; so all of these new expressions are a different side for you to see.
Zemo tentatively sat on the edge of the bed next to you.
"Do you need anything?" he genuinely inquired.
You shook your head, indicating you didn't.
All of a sudden he laughed. It ended nearly as quickly as it had began. You raised an eyebrow him in reply, but he simply tugged on the sleeve of his hoodie you were still wearing.
Too tired to be embarrassed about it, you simply mumbled, "Shut up. I still plan on giving it back, although, given it's track record, you should quite possibly get rid of it. After what happened today, I think it might be bad luck."
You saw Zemo dip his head and chuckle at your reply. He look much more carefree when he laughed. You'd have to add him to your daily list. Make Zemo laugh.
His expression sobered rather quickly though and became pensive after that, staring out the window briefly before resting his gaze back on you.
"You keep it. It looks better on you."
Not knowing what to say, caught up in the storm in his eyes, you give a small smile. You can feel your cheeks turning red under the intensity of his stare.
Zemo stood up, getting ready to leave when you stopped him by latching onto his wrist.
"Wait," you murmured.
The swift action caused him to furrow his brow in confusion.
You weren't sure exactly what you wanted from him, only that you didn't want him to go.
"Stay."
You could tell you startled him with your request. Your eyes grew larger realizing the potential double meaning.
"Just until I fall asleep?" you clarified, a yawn escaped as you covered your mouth.
Zemo visibly relaxed and had you relinquish your hold on his arm so he could pull up a chair to your bed. He turned his head around the room in search of something. He went to the nightstand and picked up your book.
Amusement flitted across the features of his face as he read the cover. Zemo sat down on the chair and propped his feet up on the side of the bed.
You shut your eyes and tried to block out the soreness covering your body. Tomorrow would be worse. The next day always is. You had begun to doze off, when ever so quietly, you heard Zemo's voice fill the room.
He was reading to you. Lulling you into a peaceful sleep and letting you know he was still present. Wanting you to know, in his own way, he was upholding his promise to Bucky and Sam. That you were safe with him. That you could trust him just as you had, when you asked him to stay in the first place.
With those final thoughts, you drifted off, listening to the subdued sound of his voice.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
#helmut zemo#helmut zemo x reader#tfatws#bucky barnes#sam wilson#my writing#team zemo#baron zemo#the falcon and the winter soldier#mcu imagine
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It's hard to see through the sticky wet droplets that fall from above your brow, from your lips and cheeks. You huff, blood splatters the floor at the feet of a woman dressed in an old fashioned black kimono. Her fox mask askew on a rare occasion.
"You broke her, you BROKE HER!" You screech, small frame shaking from fading adrenaline and flashing memories of cold steel and even colder eyes. This was too much, way too much for your seven year old body to handle. But you would do what you must to survive.
The woman turns towards you, her blue eyes iridescent even in the low light.
"No child, you broke her. You were just going to let her kill you." She shrugs as if it weren't such a heavy statement.
"I'm- I'm her weakness, she's better than me, SHE HAD TO!" A stammer that grows into a deafening scream.
"No my dear, she always has and always will be your burden."
You wake in a cold sweat, alarm blaring and your heart stutters in your chest, knives instinctively woven into your fingers.
"An old memory. A dream." Soothing words from a shaking voice, knives never faltering as you lower them, slipping them back onto your person. You rise, peering out the window to see the city blanketed in snow, heaps of it as more fall from the sky. The sidewalks cleared in such a half assed way you were sure they would just turn to ice instead, the piles in the storm drain already turning a mute grey.
You hated the snow, it always brought up bad memories and the biting cold made every scar you owned throb. Ebbing in memories you wished you'd forgotten. Instead you get ready for the day pulling on your hero suit although you didn't have to work the overtime today, you guess old habits die hard. Two weeks had passed since Bakugou offered you that side job. He paid you enough that you wouldn't have to worry about your sister's bills for the next month.
Still Christmas dinner couldn't come soon enough.
You lock the apartment and push through the biting air, face begging for a reprieve as you walk into the icy wind but it's not as if you could walk to the agency backwards.
Bakugou and Kirishima wait outside of the agency building for you, Bakugou holds out a steaming coffee as Kirishima offers a warm smile.
"You're late." "Just on time." They speak over each other before Bakugou gives Kirishima a glare.
"We're patrolling the fucking shopping district today." Bakugou shoves the coffee into your hands as you grit your teeth, trailing behind the two as Bakugou sets out the pace. You let your eyes wander, snow clinging to their hair as Kirishima wears next to nothing, his dumb ass costume having sleeves for warmth. You roll your eyes before they fall on Bakugou. Normally you can smell the spicy burnt sugar wafting off of him in troves but the wind chill is dangerously low for someone who relies on sweat as their weapon. The snow comes down thicker, the flakes a puffy white that sends you miles away before a gut feeling brings you back into the present. You grab onto both of the men, straining your ears to hear over the bustle of the city. Something isn't settling right but they don't seem to be on high alert. Maybe your nerves are fried from the dream.
Your concentrated look doesn't go unnoticed by either party looking over their shoulder. Bakugou shoves the two of you into a side alley to stay out of the way of the hustling streets since you're just standing there. You seem to be off your game, you're more subtle at letting them know about danger without alerting civilians.
"Oi. Spit it out." Bakugou crosses his arms as he stares you down. You blink away the rage, the wind whipping through the side alley making the three of you shiver. You grab onto Kirishima, placing your palm on his sculpted pectoral before explaining.
"Just some buffs for the day. Your unbreakable will be 65% harder and you'll be lighter on your feet." Kirishima gives you a concerned look as you reach for Bakugou who tries to resist.
"Don't need your fucking help."
"Yea?" You hiss, "What good are you if you aren't sweating moron?"
You yank his arm to you, pulling at his sleeve to get to bare skin, pressing your warm fingers against his cool forearm. You send him a knowing glare.
"Gonna feel like summer for you today sweaty palms." You shove him away and he thinks to swing at you. Kirishima diffuses the situation.
"All day buffs? Isn't that a strain on your quirk?" Kirishima was always concerned about you.
"I'll be fine. You know I'm at a place where a lot of my own personal buffs and debuffs are idle." With a snap of your fingers a little display appears in the air thanks to your support bracelet. Reminding the two men of a video game, your stats out there for them to see. The screen rolls through them fairly quickly. Bakugou can only catch a few as the text moves at a rapid pace. Poison resistance 85%, Stab resistance 98%, weapon pulled from body closes wound 50% faster, returned weapon caught or pulled from body 100% hit rate, deadly intent. Your stats disappear as quickly as they came. Bakugou knows your quirk's ability comes from experience, he thinks of the ones you have maxed out and let's his eyes linger over your face. Over the muted slashes and his stomach churns from concern, suspicion. How would a "petty thief" come across a blade and return it enough times that they could never miss? It surely wasn't in the time of your forced hero work, he has yet to see you take anything more than a surprise punch.
"Are we fucking done? We got extras to babysit." Bakugou growls stepping out onto the sidewalk and into a nest of paparazzi.
"Dynamight, over here Dynamight. Is it true you're dating your partner?"
"Is it Red Riot or Rouge?" Another reporter shouts. Screaming out question after question putting Bakugou under rapid fire.
Cameras flash as you can practically hear Bakugou's blood pressure increase ten fold, he inhales sharply to scream but Pro Hero Red Riot saves the day.
"Guys we're on the clock, please save this for our designated interview dates." He smiles listing the dates and times. You wonder how they collected here so quickly, scanning the crowd for a nosy bystander that may have tipped the tabloids off with your location.
But your eyes lock onto something far worse.
In the crowd is a woman with auburn hair and icy blue eyes, dressed in an all black kimono. She smirks and mouths "Finally" to you before she throws her deadly ice darts, dipped in shining poison yet to be added to the government registry.
But how could they know when you helped her make it. Working on instinct you yank Kirishima forward by his steel face mask until he is doubled over before you pull Bakugou into the same position by his belt of winter grenades. One ice dart sinks into your shoulder while the other nicks your throat but it's not as if it matters. Mithridatsim was your best friend growing up.
A small box flashes in the top left corner of your vision, a status only you can see
WARNING! MORE EXPERIENCE NEEDED: LAST ADMINISTERED DOSE OF POISON X HAS BEEN SIX MONTHS, PLEASE DO NOT CONSUME ANYMORE TO INCREASE LOST RESISTANCE AND GAIN EXPERIENCE.
Fuck! How could you forget that her special blend of poison required exposure every two months?! Hero work was making you too soft, making you wonder just how many other skills were deteriorating from lack of repetition and experience.
But that was a problem for another day. For now you growl, yanking the men down further to keep their eyes off of you as you give chase. Following her deadly speed with ease, thankfully she is headed out of sight from civilians and paparazzi although it spells trouble for you.
Or maybe it spells trap.
She throws another set of ice darts, you dodge them all but one that sinks into your stomach. You grip onto the ice, pulling it from your skin when a warning pops up
LIMIT EXPOSURE, REACHING LETHAL DOSE, PASSIVE BUFF ACTIVATED, HEALING RATE REDUCED FROM 50% TO 30% DUE TO POISON X, RETURNED WEAPON HIT RATE REDUCED TO 65% DUE TO WEAPON TYPE, COLD RESISTANCE INCREASED TO 55%
WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE A CHANCE?
The question flashes as you push forward, following her step for step. You loved and loathed that question, it could increase your chances of the poison clearing instantly, heal your wounds perfectly and return your hit rate back to its max level.
Or you could utterly "fail" the chance roll earning you double the pain and debuff.
The closer you were to whatever magic number your quirk decided, the better your chances.
Another set of darts that you barely dodge. You grind your teeth, hero work was definitely making you too soft.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE A CHANCE?
"Yes!" You growl as your quirk activates. It announces to you the size of the "dice" and the numbers to avoid as you give chase.
PASSIVE BUFF DEACTIVATED "LUCK OF THE DRAW" FOR CHANCE ROLL, DIE SIZE 70, NUMBERS TO AVOID CRITICAL FAILURE 1 THROUGH 50, NUMBERS TO HIT FOR CRITICAL HIT 72 THROUGH 75. ALL NUMBERS IN BETWEEN THE CRITICALS WILL INCREASE BUFFS AND DECREASE BODILY HARM BY 15%.
ROLLING DIE NOW.
In your mind's eye a giant die flashes in your head as numbers blur together while it rolls.
50! CRITICAL FAIL, DAMAGE INCREASED BY TWO, POISON RESISTANCE REDUCED BY 15%, TEN MINUTES UNTIL BLACK OUT
THANK YOU FOR TAKING A CHANCE!
DOUBLE OR NOTHING?
You swat away the temptation as a copper taste begins to coat your tongue, spitting red into the snow. You return the damn dart anyway, lucky enough for you it sticks into the nape of her neck but the ice is not strong enough to sink deeper. Finally she takes a left into an alley and you follow before the mouth is closed off by ice.
Sealing the two of you into an icy tomb. Snarling you exchange fists, hoping to wear her out before you lose consciousness, as she was never good at hand to hand, unlike yourself.
Who lived for the up close and personal.
PASSIVE BUFF "UPPER HAND" ACTIVATED, MELEE AND CLOSE COMBAT SKILLS INCREASED
You rear back your fist, landing it straight into her jaw, causing her to fall back onto heaps of trash. You pin her, pressing one of her ice blades to her throat.
"What are you doing here Fox?" You hiss, and she smiles in delight.
"Could ask you the same little ‘hero’!" She laughs and it's haughty, bringing up now bitter memories, "How far you have fallen sister."
"Tch, this was not my first choice." You fake smile, pressing until you draw blood just to make it even.
"Did Madem send you?" Even saying her name makes your stomach churn while Fox rolls her eyes.
"Who else would send me to fetch their golden child?" She shrugs, using her quirk to make another cold weapon as you're distracted. Although you have the upper hand she still has enough room to sink another ice dark into your side, causing you to grit your teeth.
"You're the fucking favorite now. What more does she want?"
"You're her favorite, you both are. She wants a complete set." She purrs and it feels as if her ice is freezing your blood. Vision blurring from your rapid heart rate, from your rage and the venom.
"What the fuck do you mean? What about her?! She is fucking unwel!" It echoes around in the ice and she smiles, playing you for the fool you were.
"Exactly as I said. I wouldn't count your twin out just yet. You know how Madem lives for backups." She winks, as you feel exasperated. The poison coursing through your veins, your vision tries to spot but you push through.
"I'll let you go just this one Fox but if I ever fucking see you again-" She interrupts.
"Please, you know the rules. Don't come home empty handed. Plus what you do to me will be far more mild than what Madem can think of." She spits blood onto your face, you bare your teeth and sweet drips onto her kimono. You were running out of time.
"ROUGE!" Bakugou shouts in the distance, earning a smile from Fox below.
"Wow bold of you to keep the name." She laughs, "Well your weakness works in my favor. What a dream it would be to be captured by your boyfriend. Then I could tell him everything about me. About you."
"You'd snitch? Just like that?"
"Wouldn't you do anything to keep a loved one safe?" Her words sink deeper than any dagger, any ice pick, she's ever thrown.
She's right.
"ROUGE!"
You would do anything.
Huffing you do what you hadn't in well over a year and although you'd done it thousands of times. It never got easier. You press the blade deeper, letting it slice into her throat as a red line follows in her wake. She looks up at you with a soft smile, relief flooding her features as sweat prickles your brow.
WARNING BLACK OUT IN TEN SECONDS, POISON X WILL BECOME LETHAL IF ANTIDOTE IS NOT ADMINISTERED WITHIN THE HOUR. COUNT DOWNS STARTS NOW :10, 59:59
With shaking hands you set the already melting blade into her hand, jumping over the other ice wall deeper into the alley as you hear heavy foot falls come your way.
You fall into a heap yourself, pressing your hands into your wounds, tempted to attempt to activate double or nothing. Although it could kill you instantly with the status you were in now.
A part of you hopes it does.
7
The ash blonde blasts through the icy walls, spotting you in an instant. When he sees the perpetrator dead, his stomach churns as he reaches you. Your clammy to the touch and your support bracelet is flashing with an alert for a trusted on looker.
5
PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF
It yells as Bakugou shouts his name. A little hologram of you shows up before your voice pours out. Silently you're thankful that you could tinker with the item enough that should you come across something from your past you could intercept some information.
Or at least manipulate in your favor should you be rendered non verbal as you are now.
3
"It seems an especially strong poison has been introduced into my blood stream. The antidote will be elderberry tea, which can be found at these surrounding locations. Please do not take me to a hospital, by the time they identify the poison I will be long gone….I'm talking to you Bakugou. Get the tea. If I pass out, force activate one of my idle or passive buffs. Specifically Adrenaline high… Trust me, you're going to have to..."
The world fades to black without any warning as you float in what feels like non existence. Probably the best sleep you'll ever get even when it's short lived. Like it is now.
"Fuck." Bakugou hisses as the stupid translucent you blabbers on and on of ways to activate this dumb ass, complex, and mysterious as fuck quirk you had. He thinks of how the mini you emphasized pain would be a trigger to activate the idle buff. He grips onto your forearm, thinking of doing a point blank blast. Best case scenario you'd have his palm burned into you for all eternity, worst case scenario you lost your whole fucking left half.
"Fuck! FUCK!" He doesn't want to hurt you but he has to. He thinks of the limited time you have as an ominous timer floats in the air from your bracelet. He tries slapping you across the face first, nothing. Your cheek barely reddening as blood oozes from your wounds. Gritting his teeth and choking on his honor he hits you again, this time with the help of his quirk to add some force.
When that doesn't work, his sadistic side comes out, fueled by his desperation and his gloved fingers subconsciously find the wound in your throat and shoulder. Thinking to exploit it in order to rouse you. He lets out a low hiss as he plunges his fingers into the wounds, digging deep into the one in your shoulder.
PASSIVE BUFF "ADRENALINE HIGH" ACTIVATED.
Your eyes snap open, rage fueling them as you act on instinct, slamming your forehead into Bakugou's hard enough that it bruises both of you.
"OI FUCKING! I'M TRYING TO HELP!" He shouts, forearms popping as heat rushes up his spine from your landed hit. He pushes back his hair, rubbing his sweaty forehead before baring his teeth at you.
"What the fuck?!" He snaps, "Who was that? Why is she dead?"
"Another time yea?" You say weakly, lifting your wrist so he can read the time, "The tea still has to steep."
You stand but wobble on your feet as warnings flash in your minds eye and thankfully not on your stupid support bracelet. Much to Bakugou's disdain, he needed to know what he was working with, not blindly trusting you. Especially not now with growing suspicions.
ADRENALINE HIGH OVERRIDES DAMAGE AND POISON EFFECTS FOR THE NEXT 10 MINUTES COUNT DOWN STARTED 09:59
"Dismiss." You spit blood and the information fades away. You stumble like a drunk towards the mouth of the alley, avoiding your fallen sister as your mind races.
"She wants a complete set."
"Fuck." Is all you can manage thinking of your actual sister, hoping she was safe within the confines of her own prison. That needed to wait. Right now you needed that elder berry tea. The closest shop carrying the product was several blocks away and at this rate you'd never fucking make it.
Bakugou catches on, scooping you in his arms.
"Hold on tight Princess." He growls, propelling himself into the air to land a few store fronts away from your destination.
"Can't believe you're dragging me down." He hisses, fully taking over holding you to him. He squeezes a bit tighter. Your stomach flips and you blame the poison.
"If anything I'm bringing your image up. Imagine the paps seeing this bull shit. Headlines like 'Bakugou, the knight in shining armor saves the day.' Or some horse shit like that." You weakly tease, he glares down at you.
"Tch. Fuck off. They'll find a way to twist it."
"Well your mom will see it for what it is." You squeeze tighter around his throat, nosing the crook of his throat. You feel his laugh through his chest.
"Yea and what's she gonna see?"
"You saving me dumb ass." You pull at his hair and he glares down at you.
"Great, now she'll force me to marry you. Is that what you want bitch face?"
"I'd rather die first. Plus you wouldn't be able to afford my dowry, ass hat." You tease, all he can do is roll his eyes.
"You're fucking right about that. Now where is the stupid elderberry bullshit?" He growls, waltzing through the front door as if holding you were nothing.
IDLE BUFF ACTIVATED SLIGHT OF HAND INCREASED TO-
"Dismiss." You whisper, vermillion burns into your skin, "Next aisle."
WARNING: LACK OF EXPOSURE WILL CAUSE A LOSS IN EXPERIENCE. SLIGHT OF HAND WILL DECREASE
Grinding your teeth you reach for an easy snack, shoving it into your shirt sleeve as Bakugou studies the tea.
"Where?" He snaps, causing you to sigh heavily. You point with exaggeration to the small purple box.
SLIGHT OF HAND MAINTAINED, EXPERIENCE PREREQUISITE MET, BUFF IDLED.
You needed to think of a way to turn this annoying "emergency" mode off, but whenever you were in critical condition, the warnings would display non stop. Most of your quirk you had memorized but you had to admit, it had been a while since you last rolled for chance.
For fun.
"Grab something for Kirishima, you know how he gets when he worries. You need water too."
"This ain't a fucking road trip!" He growls but oddly enough he moves to the back of the store towards the drinks. He grabs a code red for Kirishima and an energy drink for himself. You hold onto the cold drinks as he holds onto you and the tea awkwardly. Setting them on the counter fixing a nasty glare at the clerk.
"R-Rouge and Dynamight wow!" They gush, about to ask for an autograph before ringing the two of you up.
"Kinda on a time crunch kid." Your bracelet flashes 20:32 before the clerk understand the dire situation.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. On the house."
"Doesn't work like that." Bakugou snarls, eyeing you to get his wallet. Little does he know you already snatched it, pressing a twenty into his hands. He glares at you as best he can.
"Keep the change." You're beginning to think that was his new catch phrase as he makes his way towards the hot water dispenser. Setting you on the counter while he let's the two bags steep per your holographic instructions. He taps his finger impatiently before cracking open his energy drink.
It was going to be a long day.
"I'm going to cancel with my mom." He says finally, reaching for his phone, "I'll still…"
"No you fuck. Your mom expects both of us there. I'm not dying."
"Yet, bitch face." He places the tea into your hands, "Think she'll be more pissed if you die in her living room than not show up."
He eyes your wounds, noticing the droplets of blood that followed in their wake, how your scent clung to his skin. He contacts Kirishima instead instructing him to get the first aid kit ready at his house.
"When you're done with your tea. We're gonna get those wounds bandaged."
"Nah I'll be fine, once the poison status is cleared. My other status will return to normal. I'm kinda like a pokemon."
"Don't care, as your boss I'm telling you Imma wrap your wounds with Kirishima now drink your fucking tea." He hits your shoulder before a sadistic smile clouds his features, "Or am I going to have to activate your passive 'Adrenaline High'?"
"Fuck off, I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna pass out with half the cup down." You shove him away from you as his pocket pings.
"Only pretty sure? You're fucking stupid. You can check that."
"Tired of my quirk today." You grumble while Bakugou glares at his phone, he turns it towards you, it's from his mother an article titled "Bakugou, the knight in not so shining armor?" Her text is in all caps beneath ARE YOU SAVING HER I SWEAR TO GOD BOY YOU NEED TO WATCH HER BACK BETTER SHE BETTER BE OKAY YOU BETTER BE OKAY
"Guess you'll have to propose to me now." You laugh sliding from the counter, something from around your throat catches his eye now that things have calmed down.
An odd feeling burns in his chest as goes all the way to his fingers and toes and realization washes over him in waves. He sees a gold chain that leads down to what looks like the droplet of blood. The garner necklace he gave you.
"Come on Kiri is probably waiting." You nudge, grabbing for Eijirou's soda, your own tea almost finished. His eyes follow after you for a moment as he tries to figure out why you hadn't taken it off yet, he's never seen you wear jewelry before.
There is no reason for you to wear it, still the feeling in his chest burns hotter. It makes him feel suddenly proud and oddly possessive. He grinds his teeth, skin popping as he stomps after you, yelling.
"Don't you take credit for the soda I bought!"
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When you need a Superfriend
By Nach0Ava
On Archive of Our Own
Tumblr user: @nach0ava
So I have not really watched Supergirl however when I read the first chapter I had to share this with you all! This is the first chapter by Nach0Ava. (Second chapter is on its way as well!) Marinette gets sent away by her parents to America! Please go read Nach0Ava's story!
Summary:
When Tom and Sabine believe Lila's lies, they send Marinette off to live with an old family friend in National City. When living with a government agent and a physiologist, how long is it until she gets figured out?
Chapter 1:
“I don’t understand! Why are you sending me away?”
Marinette looked up at her parents in disbelief. They had just told her that she was going to be sent to live with a family friend. In America! Sure, she could speak fairly good English, but it still didn’t make sense!
“Your recent behaviour has led us to think that the change could be good for you. Kelly and her girlfriend Alex are lovely people, and they might be better equipped to deal with you than we are.”
As her mother spoke, Marinette felt a bitterness rise in her. Of course. Lila. She had made good on her threat, managing to turn even her parents against her. Claiming that she was involved in a gang, she had an older boyfriend, she did drugs, the list went on. And when Tom and Sabine had caught Marinette out past curfew one too many times, they took it as the truth. She couldn’t tell them that she was Ladybug, so all she had was half-hearted excuses. Still, she needed a way to stay in Paris, as she couldn’t be Ladybug somewhere else, and if there was no Ladybug, there was no-one to catch the akuma, and no-one to cast the cure, never mind all her guardian duties…
She was getting off track. She had a goal and she needed to accomplish it. Just like taking down an akuma. Except she couldn’t hit this problem really hard for it to go away.
“Is there any way I could stay in Paris? I’ll switch schools, I’ll go live with grandpa Roland, I’ll do anything!”
Tom and Sabine exchanged a look. They didn’t want to believe it, but they had to make sure.
“Honey, calm down, aren’t you worried about an akuma?”
Marinette started pacing as she rambled, mostly to herself.
“Right, I’ll get upset, then you guys will get mad at me, and then one or both of you will be akumatised and then I’ll have that whole mess to deal with.”
Tom reached out a hand to her shoulder to stop her pacing.
“You aren’t worried about you getting akumatised?”
Marinette shook her head.
“No no, I’ll be fine.”
A slight push from her bag and the looks from her parents made her backtrack.
“I mean, I’m really good at calming down before they get to me, I mean, it’s worked so far right?”
She let out a nervous chuckle while her parents stared at her.
“Marinette… Are you working with Hawkmoth?”
Marinette looked for the start of a smile from her mum, the laughter in her dad’s eyes, anything to say they were joking. When the just kept staring she burst into laughter.
“Haha, you guys… You guys really thought… Haha, that’s hilarious!”
Her parents failed to see the humour and gave her thatlook.
“Remember all those times I’ve been attacked? Reflekta, Horificator, pretty much any akuma that clones or traps people I’ve gotten tangled up in.”
Not technically a lie, she never said she got hitspecifically, but she definitely got attacked.
“Well, maybe you should get out of Paris anyway. It’s clearly not safe here, and maybe it’s best for you to leave. You’ll like it in National City, they even have their own superheros!”
Great. A reminder of what I have to give up because of Lila. She was about to keep protesting, but she felt three quick pushed on her side by Tikki. We need to talk.Her argument died on her tongue and she sighed.
“When am I meant to leave?”
Her parents exchanged relived looks.
“The plane is booked for next Friday. That gives you about a week to pack up. We could mail over a box with all of your sewing things once you get settled, if Kelly and Alex are ok with it of course.”
Marinette fought the eyebrow that was threating to raise. A week? I was hoping for some more time to test and train a new guardian, and a new holder for Tikki. It would be a rush, and there weren’t many people she trusted anymore. Still, there was work to be done, so she had to get started.
“I guess I’ll go start packing then. Can I be un-grounded so I can spend my final week saying goodbye and sorting things out?”
Her parents nodded, glad she was taking this so well.
“Of course honey, just not tonight ok? It’s getting rather late.”
Marinette nodded and ran up to her room, shutting the trapdoor quickly. She went up onto her bed and starting crying into her pillow, feeling the weight of all the kwami comforting her. Eventually she rolled on to her back, drying her tears.
“I’m sorry Tikki, you said you wanted to talk?”
She looked at her expectantly. Marinette already knew what Tikki wanted. She needed to find a new wielder and Guardian, and she shouldn’t have been putting it off, but sometimes it felt good to cry. Tikki came to settle on her lap and patted her leg comfortingly.
“Marinette I know what you’re thinking, and you don’t have to give up being Ladybug or being Guardian. So you better stop that train of thought right now missy.”
Marinette sat up, blinking. How could she… Oh.
“I’m an idiot.”
Tikki giggled while she flew up and booped her nose, while Kaalki sniffed from the corner.
“I can’t believe you forgot about me Guardian. You’ve given me out before!”
Marinette giggled at the kwami’s haughty attitude.
“Sorry Kaalki, I got a bit too emotional to think clearly.”
Kaalki just grabbed a sugar cube with a huff and flew off. Marinette climbed off her bed and grabbed her bright pink suitcase.
“So who wants to help me pack?”
~~<3~~
Chloe, Kagami, Luka and Marinette were all sitting at a table at a café during their lunch break. Luka had graduated already, so he was usually free to hang out. Chloe had come up to Marinette not too long after Lila’s takeover with an apology. Marinette had been wary at first, but Chloe was actually really nice when she wasn’t putting up an act. She had soon proven herself and had been given another chance at being a hero, under the new name Honeybee. Kagami had approached her after Adrien had asked for advice on the Lila situation. She had hated his passive approach, and when she had tried to talk to him about it, he just refused her help, ignoring the fact that he had asked for her help. Kagami had come to offer her help, and they become friends soon after. She had re-claimed the dragon, under the new name Tempête. Luka had heard Lila’s heart song and immediately knew that was someone that he didn’t want to hang around. He had tried warning Juleka and the rest of Kitty Section, but Lila had told them that having an older singer wasn’t a good look. He had been kicked out, and Marinette had been there to comfort him with pastries and musicals. After she had introduced everyone to each other, they had become a tightly knit group. So, as one could imagine, they weren’t taking this well.
“They gave you a week? That’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!”
Kagami made a noise of displeasure as well.
“Sending you to America seems a bit extreme, what reason did they give again?”
Marinette scoffed.
“My ‘recent behaviour’ or something like that. Also known as, Lila. Oh, that’s not even the best part.”
Marinette gave out a dry chuckle and everyone looked on in interest.
“Apparently, I’m working with Hawkmoth.”
Luka plucked a string on his guitar, sending out a loud note. Chloe just stared in disbelief, and Kagami made for her foil.
“I’m going to run them through with my sword.”
Kagami gripped it tightly, ready to get up and make good on her threat, but Marinette grabbed it from her, unbothered by the fencer’s unimpressed glare.
“No-one is stabbing anyone. I don’t really have a choice, so I just have to suck it up and deal with it. Besides, it could be good to get away from Lila.”
Chloe was the first to get up to give her a hug, followed by Luka, and then by Kagami, who Marinette wasn’t completely sure that she wasn’t just trying to get her sword back.
“It’ll be ok guys, we can still video chat through Skype or something. I won’t be able to text, because I’ll be on an American phone plan, but we can figure something out!”
Chloe pulled away and took out her phone, tapping away immediately.
“I’m going to get you an amazing phone plan, with unlimited overseas. Same for the rest of you. That way, we can all talk and not worry about the fact that there’ll be an ocean dividing us.”
Marinette slowly took the phone and added it to her slowly growing pile, pointedly ignoring the glare Chloe shot her.
“I’m sure there are other, free, ways to contact each other. I think there’s an online service, what’s the name in English? Chaos or something like that?”
Luka strummed at his guitar in thought before pulling up an app on his phone.
“Is this the one you were thinking of?”
He had opened Discord, in dark mode of course, and had his profile open.
“Yeah, that’s the one! We can talk on there, and it has the bonus of being accessible from computers! So, no reason to go overboard, ok Chloe?”
Chloe humped and opened up the app store, downloading Discord. Kagami noticed what she was doing and mirrored her. They all took a few minutes to make accounts and become friends, before Luka, the one with the most experience, had set up a server for them all. Quickly choosing nicknames, Marinette pocketed her phone with a grin.
“Now that that’s done, anyone want to come help me pick some things to take?”
~~<3~~
It felt like the week passed quickly, lessons passing by in a blur. She didn’t pay much attention, just enough to keep Mrs Bustier satisfied. She didn’t bother alerting anyone in the class (outside of Chloe) that she was leaving, ignoring their taunts and insults. Chloe and Kagami had been big helps in learning how to ignore them, so now they rolled off her like water on a duck. She made sure not to bring anything valuable, most of her stuff was in a suitcase anyway. On her final day, she only had her schoolbooks, the school assigned tablet, and three neatly wrapped gifts. As she was packing up to go meet her friends for a final goodbye, she was stopped by Alya.
“I need you to make a dress for the upcoming school dance.”
Marinette briefly noted that this was a demand, rather than a request, but she just started her usual commission speech with a sigh.
“Depending on the materials used and the time it takes to make, the dress could cost anywhere from €300 to €500. There will also be shipping costs, plus the fact I’m not taking commissions right now, so it will probably be a few weeks before I might be able to get started on it.”
Alya was staring at Marinette like she had grown another head.
“€300, what are you talking about? I’m not paying youfor a dress, and you make mine every year, so what’s the problem? I can’t wait a few weeks, the dance is next weekend!”
Marinette sighed and pushed past the taller girl.
“The problem is that I don’t have time, materials are expensive, and I made you those dresses when we were friends. But we’re not now. So, leave me alone. Goodbye Alya.”
She walked out to meet her friends, leaving Alya behind, too stunned to talk. When she snapped out of it, she grumbled to herself.
“She’ll see reason on Monday. She has no right to refuse after all she’s done to Lila! Maybe if she makes Lila’s dress too, she’ll forgive her! Lila’s nice like that, Marinette will come around after making up for everything she’s done!”
Alya walked away, satisfied, planning her new dress in her mind.
Marinette ran up to her friends, engulfing them in hugs. They all hugged right back, sad to see her go. Marinette suddenly pulled away from the hug, and grabbed three parcels out of her bag. She handed them all out, urging them to open them. Luka opened his first, finding a beanie that perfectly matched his hair, with a teal snake pattern around the rim. Chloe went next, her patience not holding any longer. She got a headband with tiny bees embroidered all along it. Kagami received a red handkerchief, with an elemental dragon on one side, and a storm cloud on the other, a lightning strike going all the way across. They all started to thank her at once, with Marinette just blushing sheepishly.
“I just took note of all your favourite heroes, and added them to a design. It’s not that big of a deal.”
They all hugged again, before the clock chimed behind them, making Marinette jump.
“I have to go! I’ll send you all a message when I land, but you better not stay up for it if it’s late here!”
A chorus of “No promises!” filled her ears as she ran home, taking in the sights one more time. She burst into the bakery to find her mum still working the counter, and her dad busy baking. Not thinking much of it, she went up to her room to grab her belongings. After some quick cuddles from the kwami, she had everything she needed. Most flew into the suitcase, comfy in the hidden area Marinette had made, lined with a soft faux fur. Only Tikki and Kaalki flew into her jacket, ready to transform if need be. They had assured her they wouldn’t show up on the x-ray, so she was fine with having them in there. As she lifted her suitcase and went downstairs, her strength from being Ladybug shining through, she was surprised to see her parents still busy at work.
“Maman, Papa, I thought we were going to the airport now?”
Her parent’s exchanged looks before Tom stopped his baking and walked over.
“Honey, we can’t afford to come with you, we need to keep the bakery open. There’s an Uber outside for you, but you’ll have to go on your own. I’m sorry.”
He pulled her into a hug, one she half-heartedly returned. She walked over to hug her mum as well, and went outside with her suitcase.
This was it.
She was really being sent away.
All because of some dumb liar.
With a comforting press coming from inside her jacket, she got in the Uber, prepared to start her new life.
#miraculous ladybug#miraculous marinette#marinette dupen chang#miraculous au#miraculous fandom#miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir#ml salt fic#superfamily#supergirl#arrowverse#kelly olsen#alex danvers#lila bashing#lila salt#class salt#alya+salt#chloe sugar
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Key
Genre:
[♤] = Angst [♧] = Adventure/Action
[♔] = Crack/Comedy [♡] = Fluff
[❁] = Fantasy [♢] = Thriller/Scary
[☆] = Mature themes [★] = Smut
[➵] = Trigger warnings
Status:
[✎] = Projects [✉] = Request
[✓] = Complete [X] = Incomplete
[ ] = Coming soon [∞] = On going
[Sitting in their/your lap] ☆♤♡♔
[Saying another name] ☆★♡♔
[Wearing their/your clothes] ☆♡♔
[Fidgeting] ☆★
[Getting your Period] ☆
[Crying] ♤♡♔
[Singing/rapping/dancing]
[Getting hard] ☆★
[Favorite part of you] ☆★
[Thigh Riding] ☆★
[Pregnancy Reveal] ☆★♡♔
[Perfect] ♡♔
[Walking in on them] ☆★♡♔
[Walking in on you] ☆★♡♔
[Being walked in on together] ☆★♡♔
[Significant other is CEO] ♡♔♤
First time for them ☆★♡♔
First time for you ☆★♡♔
Honeymoon night ☆★♡♔
Star Signs:
Star signs as [RunBTS]
Star signs as [BTS songs] [Part 2]
[BTS Text Imagines]
[Bangtan Sonyeondan and the Purple Magic]
BTS go to Hogwarts
[BTS Birthday - One Wish] ♡♣️
[Kisaeng] ♡♣️☆♔➵✎
[Mall Santa] NJxJMxReader ♡♔✎
[Cold] ❁♤☆♢♧➵
[Lost Boys] ❁♡♤☆♢♧➵
[The Check-up] ☆➵
[A Very Bad Day] ♡♤♔✉
[Soul Food] ♡♤♔✉❁
[Jinnie] ♡♤♔❁♧
[Side Dishes] ♢❁✎
[Even the cake is in tiers] ♡♤♔❁♧
1. [Music is the spark that sets my soul on fire] ♡✉✓
2. [Dance is the celebration of the flame] ♡✉✓
[Baby girl] ♡✉
[Bonnie and Clyde] Mafia au ♡♤☆♢♧✉
[Royal Pain] ❁♡♧✎
[SEA] ♡♤☆♧♔➵
[Feel Better] ♡♧
[Blue Side] ♤❁➵
[Steal my sunshine] ♧✎
[I wish there were more good days] ♡♤✎
[Peace] ♡✉
[Pizza] ♡✉
[The bomb] ☆♤♡♧♔♢➵
[Pandemonium] ☆♤♡❁
[Namjoon the giant and his tiny friend] ♡♤❁
[Talk is Cheap]
[Death need no invitation] ☆★♤♡❁➵ (same storyline as [Me and the ghost in number 23] but a one-shot instead of chapters)
[Herb] [Herb.2]☆★♡♤♔➵
[Kitten] ☆★✉
[Beach] ☆★✉
[Wild space] ☆♡❁
[Daylight] ♡♤♔♧❁
[I Kendo it] ♡♤♔♧
[Horror movies] ♡♔
[Love Listening] [Part 2] ☆★♤♡➵
[Stars] ♡✉
[Dangerous] ♡✉
[Um...] ♡✉
[Like real people do] ♡✉❁
[Video games] ☆★✉
[Salad] ☆★✉
[Ramen] ☆★✉
[Temptation] ☆★✉
[Mad] ☆★♤♡♢➵
[I will wait (Some say)] ♤♡
[Dude] ♡✉
[Stretch] ♡✉
[Icecream] ♡✉
[Autism] ♡✉
[Lap] Mafia au ☆★♤✉
[Jealous] ♡♤✉
[Actions Speaker Louder Than Words] [Part 2] [Part 3] ♡♤✎
[WAITING FOR YOU ANPANMAN!] ♡☆♔❁♧♤
Your life may be considered a little unsavory, but you would call it dangerously cozy. When a group of crime fighting young men put your plans on hold. Over run with criminals they work to protect the innocent and stop these malicious acts of violence.
[I’m Dead] ☆★♤♡❁♔✓➵
Woken one night by memories of the past you meet a mysterious man on your balcony. He is cocky and charming and you find yourself swept up in something that is bigger than you can imagine. Why? Because he is death. And because your meeting is long overdue.
[Curse] ♡♤❁♔✓
A modern-day fairy tale whereby seven young princes born under King Bang’s greed cannot find true love. Unless they break a special spell, called the ‘Bang curse’. In order to break the curse, Prince Seokjin must be loved by a ‘Blue’ blood, by a royal. That seems almost impossible when you have a pig nose. (based off the movie Penelope)
[Wash Out] ♤♡❁♔♧✓
Taehyung and his best friend Y/N are Dolphin trainers at Wash Out; Marine Wildlife and Theme Park. When the nerdy marine biologist and resident veterinarian Doctor Kim Namjoon goes missing; the two friends form a ragtag team with Taehyung's rival Seokjin and a…. Fish?
[Midnight Circus] ☆♤♧
Traveling through the back alleys is the midnight circus. Step inside and fill your curiosity by gazing at the freaks of the night. IF YOU DARE.
[Family Secrets] ☆★♤♡♔♧
Suga is a spy who threw away his name years ago. His latest mission requires maximum stealth he must find a wife, child and house. Taehyung aka 103899V is a child who has been the subject of extensive experiments and can now read minds, and you, you are a hitman. Each of you must keep your secrets from one another. A truly one of a kind family. (inspired by ‘Spy x Family’.)
[Choices] ☆♤♡❁♔♧
Soulmate Au
[Quarantine] ☆♤♡➵✓ ( ★ in separate marked chapters)
ALERT! The city has shut down!
While you happen to be visiting the BigHit building. The government puts out an Alert across the entire Seoul area. Banning anyone from stepping outside, while they disinfect the streets. But you aren’t alone, you happen to meet the international Kpop boy group ‘Bangtan Sonyeondan’.
[Femme Ft. BigBang, TXT, NCT, BLACKPINK] ☆♡★♤♔✓
(Femme is french for female. I mean NO offense to any of my fellow LGBTQIA+ community when I use this term) The Year is 3019. Some Females (Femme) were preserved cryogenically in an effort to prevent extinction. Using Elite computer algorithms a Femme is matched with her Male applicants to find the perfect match. Male applicants are usually selected whilst in school and housed together to create trust before they are matched with their femme. It is common for a Femme to be paired with 3-5 applicants due to the shortage and the compatibility between each. But you, you have 7.
[Me and the ghost in Number 23] ☆★♤♡❁➵✓
(the same storyline as Death need no invitation just extended into chapters instead of a one-shot) Moving into your new apartment on the dance academy campus, you hear is haunted. You practice your routines with the ghoulish resident in the second bedroom. Things get heated, except you know ghosts are cold. so…
[Witching Ft. Monsta X] ☆♤❁♧✓
After your brother goes missing, you find yourself in Seoul with nothing but a prosthetic limb as the only clue to what might have happened. Circumstances lead you to a coven of seven handsome young men. But they happen to be a well-known coven that goes by the name ‘Bangtan Boys’.
[Tiny Tan - Limited Edition] ♔❁♧♡✓
It is your first time buying proper merchandise, there are new chibi figurines and the first person to order will receive a limited edition set. But what happens when BTS have gone missing without a trace and a few days later you receive your package. The box says congratulations, you open to find your limited edition figures, they look so lifelike. OH WAIT! it’s cause they are.
[Light it up] ♔❁♧♡☆✓
In Bightville there is never any nonsense, the scariest thing one might face is tripping at the roller-disco. But, when you move to the small town, crazy things start to happen. Suddenly people are going missing without any leads. It’s when your neighbour Seokjin goes missing that things get serious because now his friends suspect you!
[BTS Among Us] ♔❁♧♡♢☆♤➵✓
You have a crew of 11, well now 10. The captain has been killed. Whatever it is doesn’t appear to be human but from the evidence you gathered, whatever it is, is pretending to be one of you. Who is it and why?
[BTS 365 Prompts] ☆★♡♤♔❁♧➵✓
Seven boys. Seven days a week. 365 prompts. Find your birthday and read your special prompt. (feel free to use them.)
[MANIA] ☆★♤❁✓
At eighteen everyone takes a blood test to find out their blood types. A, B, or O. Each blood type represents the person’s secondary gender Alpha, Beta or Omega and can be Dominant (+) or Recessive (-). When small thin Yoongi receives his letter he doesn’t expect A+. He knew there was no way he was an Alpha especially not a dominant.
[Hope in the Sheets] ☆♡★♤♔➵
You held many titles: his neighbour, colleague, wingman… well, more likely a wing-woman, yet most importantly, you were his best friend. You had been friends since you were born. Between the two of you, you were younger; barely, but he never let you forget it. He always seemed to ruffle your hair and tease you, which could get rather annoying but he made up for it by treating you to things. What if a drunken one night stand between you and your best friend Hoseok leads to more complicated situations? Your reckless twenties are cut short as you find yourself suddenly responsible for something a little more.
[Sly like a... ?] ♧♔❁♡♤X (☆★ in seperate marked chapters)
Human’s strive to be better, faster and stronger looking to animal DNA. Thus Hybrids are born. As the rise for designer and Pedigree Hybrids increase, so do the failed attempts. There is one species scientists are unsuccessful in creating, but, folklore says they have been here all along, hiding and blending in with the humans for many millennia. How clever they are.
[Sparks of the Heart] ☆★♡♤♔❁
In a world where Humans live alongside humanoid computers. They can download software, use the Internet, send e-mails, or receive calls. A learning software helps mould their personality, habits, and knowledge, to make life much simpler. They must stay charged up in order to continue working properly. But there are a small few that are changing. Feeling.
[Seoul Mates] ☆♡★♤♔∞
Finding your Soulmate is one thing trying to keep them in Seoul another. The Bangtan Boys each have a different Soulmate mark. Follow their journey to discover their other half.
Story request OPEN!
[BTS Asks] ☆★♡♤♔➵∞
You ask, they answer.
[Jodo-Myeon National School of Magic] No set storyline or story format.
[Incarceration]
The world's craftiest criminals held in the most expensive and elaborate prison. What do they do to capture your attention?
#bts#bts reactions#bts scenario#v#jimin#jin#namjoon#jhope#jungkook#suga#bts suga#yoongi#bts jungkook#bts v#bts taehyung#bts jhope#bts hoseok#bts namjoon#bts rm#bts jin#bts seokjin#taehyung#seokjin#hoseok#rm#smut#fluff#masterlist#fanfic#scenarios
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The Buy In
Chapter 3: Puzzle Wrapped in an Enigma
by @dracusfyre
On the way back home after the brothel closed, Bucky logged into Discord and dropped into a channel labeled only with random numbers and letters. First day of work was :thumbs up: but there were two dudebros who tried to jam up my shit. Wish they would back off, he wrote. The channel was monitored 24/7 in case of emergency or actionable intel.
He waited as the dots danced, then his police handler wrote, that sucks. who are they?
Bucky typed the last four of Rumlow and Rollins’ badge numbers and put his phone back in his pocket. This operation was way more important than those two swinging dicks; between the video from tonight, which was going to be a PR nightmare for the department, and his request, Rumlow and Rollins better be manning a desk for the foreseeable future.
He was pulling out his keys to his apartment building when he heard a car door opening nearby. His head whipped around and his other hand was already on the pistol in the holster at the small of his back when he heard, “Whoa there Blue Eyes,” in a familiar voice. The figure that stepped out of the car held his hands up and stepped into the light. “Hard day at the office?”
“I’ve had worse,” Bucky said warily.
“How’d everything go today?” Stark shoved his hands in his pocket and leaned against his car, the streetlight casting harsh shadows on his face.
“Fine. Didn’t KT give you a debrief?”
“Yeah, I heard his side. I wanna hear your side.”
Bucky thought about it, wondering if he should put a shine on it or be honest. “KT and Hawkeye’s play tonight was clever and would have worked perfectly against a different set of cops. But I think those two won’t give up until they get back at the person who embarrassed them. Might have made more problems than they solved.”
“Yeah?” Stark tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. “You sure about that? KT's been on the job for a few years now and thought it was a good call. It's your first day and you saw the cops for all of fifteen minutes.”
Bucky shrugged. “I’ve met guys like them before. Don't strike me as the type to know when they're beat. Best thing would be for them to be encouraged to take a long walk off a short pier.”
Stark made a thoughtful noise. “But KT explained office policy on that?”
“Yeah. Only as a last resort.” Bucky tried to sound neutral, but something of his skepticism must have bled through.
“You don’t agree?”
The note in Stark’s voice put Bucky on high alert. Higher alert, since his heart was still racing from before. “I get the logic, it’s just…different,” Bucky said. “Makes sense though. Bodies attract attention.”
“Is that the only reason you think it's a good policy?” Stark asked neutrally.
Bucky hesitated. He got the feeling there was a right and wrong answer to this and wished this conversation had happened six hours ago when he was less tired. “Killing people changes things,” he said finally - honestly - hoping he wasn’t about to touchy-feely himself out of this operation. Between the military, the police, and then undercover work with organized crime, he had been so steeped in machismo that it had become second nature – to those guys, life was one big dick measuring contest - but Stark didn’t seem to work like that. Or at least, he didn't want people to think he worked like that. “Not just changes people, but like…it sends a message to everyone else. ‘This is what a life is worth.’” Bucky took a deep breath and let it out slowly, forcing himself to maintain eye contact with Stark. “People respond to that. Makes them…mean. Hard. So if you can avoid that...” He ran a hand over the back of his neck, feeling like an idiot. He probably sounded ridiculous. “So, yeah. Anyway. Guess if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right? Seems to be working for you.”
“We do alright,” Stark said slowly, and Bucky figured he must have said the right thing because he straightened and held out a hand for Bucky to shake. Bucky looked at it with surprise and took it, feeling acutely aware of the strength of Stark’s grip and the callouses on his palms. “Welcome aboard.”
***
Tony got back in his car as Blue Eyes continued into his building, cranking it and pulling away from the curb on autopilot. If Blue Eyes hadn’t been a cop, Tony would have told himself that he was too good to be true; as it was, Tony wondered if it was possible that the police or feds or whoever had profiled him well enough to give “Brooks” a gold plated script to work from. But it hadn’t felt like the new guy was playing him tonight; his comments had been too rambling and inarticulate to have been prepared in advance. Rhodey was going to think he was an idiot, but he really though Brooks was being honest with him tonight, which had the potential to change things.
At the first stoplight, he pulled out his phone and texted Rhodey.
I like him.
Rhodey sent a rolling eyes emoji almost immediately. Blue Eyes?
Yeah I want to keep him. he’s wasted as a cop.
The three dots must have started and stopped a dozen times; Tony was almost back to his own place when he finally got a response. You’re playing with fire.
Tony smirked. I know, he wrote back. It’s what I do.
Yeah, but this time, if you get burnt, we all do. Tony pulled into his private garage and turned off the car, listening to the engine tick as it cooled. Rhodey was right. As much as he was intrigued by Blue Eyes, he couldn’t put his people at risk by tugging on that thread. “Dammit,” he said out loud, scowling as he got out of the car. “Ten years ago I wouldn't have thought twice.”
***
A few weeks into the operation Bucky and KT were making the rounds, checking in with the businesses and people on their beat, and Bucky was suddenly struck by two things: one, just how much this gig felt like being a street cop, walking the sidewalks just observing the neighborhood; and two, how no one was ever this happy to see him when he was a street cop. People saw KT and more often than not, they were smiling, chatty about business and local gossip. Most of them greeted Bucky (“Oh, this must be Blue Eyes,” which had yet to stop making Bucky’s ears burn) and were happy to introduce themselves. The ones that weren’t smiling were the ones that had something to complain about: permit not going through, shipment delayed, broken equipment that insurance wasn’t paying out for. KT took notes, nodded and commiserated, and when they left almost everyone looked at least mollified, if not cheered.
“You know, for us playing the bag men today, we sure aren’t picking up any money,” Bucky commented. A couple of times KT had taken a store owner to the side and Bucky, straining his ears, heard something about loans; these people always had the look of someone explaining why they couldn’t pay but it wasn’t their fault, honest. Like everything else, KT made notes and listened politely.
“That’s not what we’re doing,” KT said. “This is check in. We do it every two weeks or so. Money stuff is all handled online.”
“Yeah?” Bucky knew for a fact that the FBI had been working with the Treasury to trace Stark’s money, and, failing to find any signs of dirty money or money laundering, had concluded he must be operating with cash only.
“Yeah. Boss didn’t want to tempt anyone or make them a target.” That was smart, Bucky reflected. Ripping off other gangs was an art form in organized crime. Still, he had to wonder how Stark kept the money transfers so well hidden from the best financial analysts in the US government.
“No targets except his accountant,” Bucky joked, fishing for info. “Like with Al Capone.”
KT just shrugged at that, like he didn’t know and didn’t care, so Bucky left it alone. “So what do we do with that stuff?” Bucky said, gesturing at the notebook KT had been writing in all morning.
“We take care of it.” He took the notebook out and flipped through it. “Not too much stuff this time.”
Bucky turned that over in his head. “So under the Mechanic, fixers actually…fix things,” he said. “You’re really going to call a shipping company and an insurance office and everything?”
“Yep. Well, we are.”
Made sense; if businesses were paying Stark for protection, he could also throw in other services to sweeten the pot and keep people from rolling on him. Bucky shoved his hands in his pockets and was lost in thought while he mostly followed KT around the neighborhood. Granted he’d only been here for less than a week, but so far nothing was adding up to what he’d read in the case files on Stark and his organization. It was making him uneasy. He’d come here with a picture in his head, and a goal of filling in the holes so they could make a case against an organized crime boss; but now he was increasingly realizing that something was wrong with the picture. So when KT told him one night that they had the next two days off, Bucky sent another message on the Discord channel and when he got a confirmation, he went to the New York Library, the big one with the stone lions and millions of tourists. He went to the adult services desk and asked for a laptop. The librarian studied his ID, went to a safe, and handed him a laptop from inside. Bucky found a study carrell in a quiet spot and logged on with an 8 character name and 16 character password, established and memorized before he’d started this operation, and opened up the case files on Stark.
Scrolling through, Bucky felt some of his disquiet ease as he re-read the laundry list of crimes Stark was reportedly involved in: racketeering, tax fraud, illegal gambling, high-end car theft. Armed obberies; he opened up the file on robberies and realized with morbid amusement that even while Stark protected his own people from being targeted, he had no problem targeting bagmen from other gangs, making off with hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time. Tax fraud, obviously; if Tony was hiding all of his income from the FBI, he was definitely hiding it from the IRS. Though as he opened up Stark’s tax statements, gotten from a subpoena to the IRS, and noticed that the document for just one year was hundreds of pages long, Bucky reflected that a good accountant could hide a lot of money in his legitimate businesses and all the assets that Stark had inherited from his parents.
At the back of the file was sex trafficking, which was based on a handful of reports that said that prostitutes were disappearing from other parts of the city and showing up working for Stark. Bucky put a note next to that one recommending the line of investigation be dropped. After spending hours and hours at the brothel chatting to the Widow and the ladies there, waiting to see if Rumlow returned, he knew none of the men or women there were being forced to stay, not even for lack of other work. Widow recruited from all around the city, helping people get out of the business if they wanted to and offering others a chance to work for her. Turns out, most of that building was devoted to the people who worked in the brothel: everyone got their own apartment, which was separate from the suites they entertained clients, and there was an in-house doctor and even childcare in the basement. All the money went straight back to the sex workers, except for this mysterious buy-in that no one had explained yet, and they were using it for a bewildering array of side projects that the women were more than happy to talk about during their down time.
After a few hours, which included writing up his reports from the past few weeks of working for Stark, Bucky sat back and closed the laptop. It was his first month, he reminded himself. No one was going to let him close to the real work of the organization after just a few weeks. He sent another message to his handler on Discord, and when he got a confirmation back, he stood up and walked away from the carrell; when he was about twenty feet away, he saw his police contact, dressed like a soccer mom, come by and spirit the laptop away.
His next stop was the gym; by the time he was done, shirt soaked wet with sweat and muscles aching, his head felt clearer. He didn’t know why Stark was trying so hard to seem like a good guy, but if Bucky was patient enough he’d scrape past all the pseudo-philanthropy and get to the real man underneath. Stark wasn’t the first guy to be handsome and charming and charismatic while hiding a dark side.
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the chain on your neck;
full masterlist
Pairings: Steve Rogers x female!reader
Word count: 2,291
Warning: too much fluff probably
Summary: Steve Rogers came home to you after a delayed return and brought something special for you.
a/n: i was listening to call it what you want by taylor swift (well, it would be pretty obvious for my swiftie followers lol) anyways, i was really inspired by the line “i want to wear his initial on a chain round my neck” and that to me, has always been one of my favorite lyrics of reputation. also, the title was inspired by that exact line from you are in love. so here’s a steve rogers fic predicated on that line! hope you like it. please leave a like and comment. ❤
It was 9.30am on a Sunday morning in New York. Normally, you would take your sweet time to stretch in your bed and turn slowly to the other way around to gaze lovingly at your boyfriend. It was a rare sight to see him in such a serene state, so you didn't have the heart to wake him. It was lovely to see him without the wrinkles on his forehead and furrowed brows because he was carrying so much on his shoulders. His duties as Captain America, the missions, the battles, the reports, the urgent late night calls, the miscreants had clearly took a toll on him.
And you being his girlfriend, it was crystal clear to you how often he would put on a facade to be the backbone of the Avengers. Because, everyone is relying on him. There were innocent folks that needed his protection. There were little kids looking up to him. He didn't have the luxury to pour a couple tears to lay off some steam or have a mental breakdown in public. He had to be strong and steady.
Often times, when the fight really did a damage on him and it was written all over his face, he would try to hide it away from you. You knew he needed you, you knew he needed your comforting touch to ground him. He wouldn't ask for it though, he would simply undress himself out of the grimy suit and wordlessly wrapped himself around you. The feel of your skin against his kept him sane throughout all the worst missions he'd ever gone through.
So when you had the chance to just take a minute and enjoy this brief moment of life simply letting your boyfriend be... Human, you cherish and savor every single second of it.
That's your usual Sunday morning routine. But not today, today you woke up in a cold bed alone because the love of your life had gone to another mission in Prague four days ago, and he was supposed to come back last night. You were feeling grouchy because you didn't get your morning cuddles and kisses and Steve's morning cuddles and kisses were like coffee to other people. They need their morning boost to start off their day.
Delayed returns were part of the job. There was always unexpected incidents that required immediate attention of whoever took the mission. And the behest is that, you do not come home before the mission was truly taken care of.
So instead of sulking all day in bed, you leisurely check your phone and send him a good morning text. You figured that it would ease the feeling of missing him. You knew better than to wait around for an instant reply. You were not allowed to check your phone under any circumstances during missions unless you are safe and sound in your hotel room. So you decided to get yourself out of bed and washed your face and brushed your teeth.
After your daily morning routine, you went to the kitchen to cook yourself some early meal. Nat, Tony, Wanda, Vision, Rhodey and Clint were already there in the middle of their breakfast. They greeted you in your not-so-cheerful state.
"Good morning, kid." Tony was the first one to speak up.
"Hey Tony." In an indifferent tone. You just weren't in the mood to socialize because you missed your boyfriend terribly, and you just really wanted to spend your Sunday morning with him.
"Someone's in a grumpy mood." Natasha spoke up. The woman was always too good in seeing right through people.
"Not really, I'm just hungry." You retorted. Again, with that disinterested attitude.
"Hungry for some food or a certain super soldier, cause I've seen you hungry for actual food y/n, it wasn't like this."
"Okay! You're right. I'm missing my boyfriend and I'm so goddamn worried. He hasn't contacted us since last night, when he was supposed to come home. I texted him this morning and he still hasn't answered. What if something had happened to him and he wasn't able to send a message? What if he got stuck somewhere where he can't find a signal? What if he-"
"Sweetie, I think you are getting yourself too worked up. Just take a deep breath and eat some breakfast, yeah? I'll make you some coffee to ease your nerves." Wanda politely interrupted you. Out of all people, she knew exactly what the feeling was like. Aside from being able to read people's minds, she had actually lost so many of her loved ones, so she understood your overwhelming fears.
You put your head in your hands and took a deep breath and exhaled. You were getting too worked up and you needed to clear your head because freaking out is clearly not going to solve anything or give you any answers. It's not going to turn whatever situation Steve was stuck in and provide you a call or a text from him out of nowhere.
And you didn't realize how hungry you had been until your stomach started to make some growling noises that told you you needed some nourishment.
"Yeah, okay, I'm gonna cook something up."
Just as you pushed your chair back and stood on your feet, Friday's voice alerted everyone from the tranquil state of the room. "Captain Rogers, sergeant Barnes and Mr. Wilson are about to land in 5 minutes."
As everyone in the room had realized what was happening, they all immediately got on their feet and ran to the where the helipad was placed. You, on the other hand was overwhelmed with a sense of relief and joy. Because your boyfriend has come home and in one piece. You were about to see his beautiful sapphire eyes again and you couldn't wait any longer. You wanted to be the first one to welcome him home as soon as he lands.
As the quinjet landed on the ground and the door opened up wide, revealing your boyfriend and your friends, Bucky and Sam on his sides, walking out limping but still with that warm, familiar smile on his face because he finally saw you. Four days had felt way too long for being overseas from you.
He instantly ran as fast as he possibly could to you and grabbed you by your waist and carried you off the ground in a tight embrace. He buried his face in your neck and inhaled your luscious scent. You couldn't see his face because you were also burying your own face in his neck, but you could feel him smiling so widely because he was home and you were in his arms now.
"God, I've missed you so much, baby."
You moved your face to the front of his and pressed your foreheads together.
"I've missed you too, baby. So fucking much." You sniffled. In that moment it was just you and him, because you had been without each other for way too long to have a care about anything else in the world. Four days felt like four thousand years. It might seem dramatic but that's what happens when you are madly in love.
"I know baby, I know. I'm here now, it's okay." He kissed you, it was brief but it held more meaning than words. You closed your eyes as you relished in the feeling of him. Pressed up against you and tangible. Not a looming presence in your room, not a ghost in your dreams, not a whispered name in your prayers.
He put you down as threw his arm around your neck to keep you close. You both walk in each other's embrace to your room. Luckily, he didn't bring home any severe wounds that would require an immediate & extensive care. He could go straight to his own bed, take a warm shower and change into his pyjamas so he could lie in his cozy bedstead with you. Really, that's all he really wanted right now.
Steve Rogers was a man of sentiment. Not a lot of people saw it but, it's factual. You were lucky enough to witness the way this man displayed his affections and the way he'd never let you doubt his love and loyalty a single second. He was an assertive and a solemn leader to the team, especially when he had to save the world and faced the government. But you knew his tender heart way too well to let it affect you behind closed doors. You love him for the man he chose to be even when he didn't.
After you both wash yourself off the dirt, you put on one of his hoodies that literally swallowed your smaller figure. You looked so tiny and adorable in his shirts, he never minded that he'd often have trouble finding a certain shirt. It was always his hoodies, sweaters and old shirts that he rarely wore anymore. If she claimed it, then it's hers. No room for argument. Not that he'd try anyway.
She was drying her hair with the hairdryer in the small mirror of her bathroom when he walked in with nothing but his sweatpants on, he stared into her beautiful eyes in the mirror with a smile. "I got something for you."
"Yeah? What is it?" She smiled back at his reflection in the mirror.
He pulled out a lovely navy blue box with a silver ribbon on top of it. It made her turn around with an inquisitive look. She moved her eyes directly to the box in his calloused hands. He opened the lid cautiously, fearing that she might not like the surprise. Because even Captain America is still scared of rejections, he was trained for orders and enemies, but no one taught him that the little, sickly guy from Brooklyn would be rejected by a lot of women who couldn't see him past his appearance. And certainly, no one prepared him for the rejection from the love of his life. His past fears are clouding his mind and taking over his emotions before she even said a word.
The navy blue box revealed a beautiful piece of jewelry, specifically, a golden vintage necklace that hang up the letter "S" in the middle of its rounder. The red rose adornment on the left side of it only added the exquisite intricacies to it. And the antiquated piece of leaf on the other side enhanced more of its charm. She couldn't help the desire to touch the charming piece with her own fingers. She delicately curled them around the rustic chain, deliberately picked them up closer to her sight; she was charmed by it.
"Do you like it?" Steve spoke up timidly, as if he was doubting his own choice, he really wanted her to like it. He nervously stared into her eyes, waiting for her answer.
"I love it, Steve." She returned that restlessness expression on his handsome face with a fond smile. She loved it. She truly loved it and she meant it. She wasn't even faking it to spare his feelings, she genuinely became attached to it even if she hadn't even hung it around her own neck yet.
"Where did you get it from?" She continued. Her curiosity knocked on the moment.
"There was this local gift shop in Prague, it looked really old and small but still had its own charm, you know? I was walking around one night..." He looked distant for a second. "Couldn't sleep, the mission really carried a weight that day. I just kept walking, taking in the fresh midnight air until I found the shop... It drew me in."
Steve's face changed from an agitated expression to pure delight. He couldn't wait any longer to see it encircle the shape of her neck, so he asked; "do you want me to put it on you?"
"Please." She turned around to face the mirror again and waited for Steve to unclasp the hook of the necklace. She could feel his warm, steady breath on the back of her neck and this is the kind of intimacy not a lot of people talk about, but oh, how much it mattered in the moment.
When the necklace was on, she took her time to soak it in, how divine it looks on her now, she didn't think she could go anywhere without this necklace being a part of her. She pressed her thumb on every inch of this necklace, it really is a part of her now.
He is now wrapping his bulky arms around her shoulders and put his head right on the right side of hers. He looked at her reflection in the mirror. "You know why I chose this necklace?" He left a swift kiss on the right side of her neck where he was just resting his head on.
"Why?"
"Because it's the closest thing to your heart, and that's where I'm always supposed to be."
She didn't realize tears had started brimming in her eyes, the tenderness and sincerity in his voice made her realize just how lucky she was to possess such love him, and to have that love returned in if not, a greater measure than she ever hoped for.
"I love you, you know that?" It was rhetorical, she knew damn well that he had it ingrained deep in the back of his head that she loved him. Desperately, utterly and irrevocably. And so did he to her. It was more than a mere declaration but rather a vow, that it would be bounded to their souls for eternity. In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, 'till death do us part.
"I love you too, angel."
#steve rogers fic#steve rogers fanfic#steve rogers x reader#steve rogers x y/n#steve rogers x you#steve rogers fluff#steve rogers one shot
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anyways @ THE ANON THAT ASKED ABOUT THE GREG RUCKA PODCAST TRANSCRIPT: i did it
Long Ass Post under cut
(literally not kidding there’s an hour long podcast worth of transcript under this cut)
Mimi: Hi I'm Mimi Chan, welcome to culture chat, thanks for joining the conversation. Hi everyone, happy Friday. You might want to watch The Old Guard movie on Netflix before listening today. You can also read my film review to get hyped up for viewing – which is linked here.
Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández‘s The Old Guard comic has been adapted to film that is available for viewing on Netflix. As the writer of both the comic and screenplay, Greg brings insights on the movie and the decisions behind some of the deviations from the comic.
For fans of the comic, have no fear, the characters and story follow pretty closely to the original. I am fortunate that I developed a friendship with Greg during our weekly conversations and felt comfortable asking candid questions about the adaptation.
Greg shares insights about the film that prompts a discussion on how the film speaks to the crisis our country is currently in amidst the covid19 pandemic and the lack of accountability from our government.
The Old Guard, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, is available on Netflix now starring an amazing cast including: Charlize Theron and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
For those that don’t already know: Greg Rucka is a New York Times bestselling author of hundreds of comics and nearly two dozen novels. He has written for film, television, and video games. His career has included critically acclaimed and Eisner-winning work in both the creator-owned and work-for-hire arenas.
I’m loving these conversations and hope you are too. If you are, please rate my podcast on your platform of choice.
Finally, if you would like to support with a donation, you can become a patron of the show by visiting my website or Patreon.com. For comments or suggestions, please email me at [email protected] or reach out on social media @sifumimichan. Now on with the show!
[the phonecall starts]
Mimi: Hello, hello, Greg Rucka!
Greg: How you doing, Mimi?
Mimi: Great since last week, um, I'm great also because I got to watch The Old Guard!
Greg: [BIG GASP] You did?
Mimi: I did, I did! Apparently I qualify as a real journalist to Netflix. [laughs]
Greg: [also laughs] Right, you sent the media inquiry and they said ‘sure’!
Mimi: I said, ‘you know, what? It would be great if I actually saw this before talking to Greg, and then I could really have a conversation.’ And I was like, ‘wait, why don't I just check if I can?’ And then naturally--
Greg: Lo and behold!
Mimi: Yeah, if you ask, uh, you know,? That’s when things get done.
Greg: [finishing her 'if you ask' thought] --you shall receive, yeah.
Mimi: That's right, that's right.
Greg: It's interesting to me because I know that for some people... you know, they had no problem getting access...
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: And then, you know, the friends and family screenings were a freaking nightmare to arrange.
Mimi: Oh really?
Greg: And they were like 'oh no you can only give it to only like seven people'
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: And it's like 'oh hey dudes calm down' but, you know, uh, it won't matter come midnight tonight--
Mimi: That's right!
Greg: --Everyone's gonna have access!
Mimi: That's right. so I was so excited to be able to watch it and, um, man-- I almost feel bad talking to you right now because I feel like you must be really kind of exhausted from talking about the film --as much as you love it! I just I can only imagine that it's been hour after hour after hour of inquiry, so I feel a little guilty.
Greg: There has been a lot of talking about the movie, yes. There has not been a lot of talking about the movie with you, however, so that that does distinguish it.
Mimi: Ah, you are too kind to me, too kind to me. So, first of all-- and you're gonna have to sit here and just take it -- I'm just so unbelievably excited for you and a huge congratulations-- I mean-- I already knew from the trailer, that it was going to be a quality and just an intense and well-written film, because you wrote it. But, upon watching it --you know, of course, you know, Oscar [her bf or husband maybe?] got to jump into my media pass. He was privy!
Greg: I was gonna say, did you say 'you can't come in here while I watch it', you know?
Mimi: I mean, you know-- he's not gonna tell anyone. But we were, we were completely enamored. We were super super excited, and it wasn't just an action film, you know. I think beyond that, what you and Gina brought to it was just-- the strength of the characters, which is something you and I have discussed so much, and how that is what drives a story, and so beyond it being a good movie I just really feel like you were able to tell the story that you conveyed-- not only in the comic, but, you know, come to life. And so I'm, I was, I'm just so excited for you.
Greg: And I'm delighted to hear it
Mimi: I have been reading reviews-- I wrote my own little review-- you know, since I got the access and all, I felt like obligated but, um, obviously, I'm not the only one with this opinion. You must feel-- I guess validated is the wrong word, because I think, you know where you stand with your work, but it must feel really good being your first screenplay.
Greg: I-- wow. um. Hm. I -- so Netflix sends, um, an email like on average once a day, sometimes it's been twice a day, with sort of like 'here's the press round up'!
Mimi: Yeah
Greg: And so I’ve woken up the last couple days to 'here are the reviews!' and I immediately delete. Right? Because I don't want to see them, um... and that's just me, right. That’s just me trying to negotiate how I feel about... reviews and my relationship with them. And, it isn't the most mature way to deal with them, I am the first to admit, um, but I-- for better or worse, I'm in a place where I feel like, well if I invest in a review --that is a positive review-- the amount of work... um... the amount of work required to do the due diligence on the reviewer and also on then, say, negative reviews is such that I just-- I'm not going-- I can't devote it.
Mimi: Right, mm-hm, yeah, it's a rabbit hole.
Greg: So some of the reviews-- and all that said, some of this stuff is getting to me anyway, right, I mean, I got-- you know people text me and 'oh look here's a review' and it is gratifying as hell. Uh... at the end of the day --and I learned this with my novels pretty early on, is that at the end of the day, you know, a great review is wonderful, and it'll make you feel good about yourself, and maybe it'll sell more books... but at a certain point in -- and you know this-- you've experienced this... as you make the thing, and then at a certain point it goes into the world and all you can do is be like... you know, ‘are you wearing clean underwear and hopefully you'll find a safe home’ [<-- he’s talking like he's the story's mother with that statement]. You know, hopefully-- hopefully there will-- there are people out there that will embrace. So the extension of that is that... Netflix reaches something like 130 million plus households around the world. alright, Um, I'm pretty sure out of a theoretical 130 million people who might see the movie, uh, you know -- I would be surprised if, you know, 30 percent of them didn't-- you know-- couldn't stand it. I wouldn't-- I wouldn't be surprised. Right? There are going to be people who are going to see it and it's not going to be their thing.
Mimi: Yeah
Greg: they're not-- it's not going to speak to them-- they're not going to like the choices that we made-- that they're going to be offended, or just bored or whatever. And... Can’t do anything about it!
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: All I can do is stand beside the work that we've created and say I am proud of what we did here, and I feel that we, um, we honored the source material, and --I believe -- in many ways improved on it.
Mimi: Yeah and that's something I definitely want to get into. I mean my take was obviously-- I'm a fan of your comics, so I know the comic, I know the story, and the immediate thing as a comic book quote unquote fan is like: you're comparing, right, you're comparing the story, you're comparing the characters-- and, you know, when I wrote my little review I thought about what I could say, you know, I could I could criticize action, I could talk about this... but I really feel -- and this maybe, it's because you and I have been talking for like 11 or 12 weeks straight now, it's literally like... the perfect story at a time when we need it most. I think there's strong women, there's a diverse cast, and ass kicking to greedy individuals of the world is exactly what we need right now!
Greg: Like oh yeah, there's some lovely wish fulfillment. Yes, you know, it's like 'oh, you know, rich selfish pharma asshole? Yeah oh no you got an axe in your head! Too bad!'
Mimi: I know! I was like, ‘so Greg, so Greg!’ and-- you know, we've talked about this before like now that I'm reading your novels and your prose, it's, it's I hear you speaking to me in my head even though usually it's an audio book-- and so even watching the film Oscar and I immediately were like 'I wonder what pharma did to piss him off recently' and, you know, so it's just it's so great--
Greg: Exist!
Mimi: -- to be able to kind of watch it-- [laughing] Exist, right right. So, um, so let's talk about--
Greg [gearing himself up]: Let's talk about insulin prices maybe, uh, you know, I mean. Doesn’t take much--
Mimi: Yeah and you and I discussed this, uh, previously as well that you do feel that at the end of the day you wrote a better story, and I already put a disclaimer at the top of this podcast that yeah--
[Both at once] total spoiler alerts big spoiler alerts!
Mimi: --but there's no way I'm not going to talk to you about it! Which is, um, you know, the ending obviously is so, uh, different than what was laid out in the comic. One is, uh, Andy is still bleeding! What the hell! [laughs] so that's the first thing. But my big takeaway and the thing I loved, and I think that was probably a decision by both you and Gina, um, was Nile really becoming kind of the heroine and finding herself in her own, but also really the one to bring everyone back to what was purposeful and what was meaningful-- finding that why, you know, and I think that was a really really powerful choice and I actually really enjoyed that choice. So I was wondering, um, you know, for you of course knowing the story already, and then going 'okay here I am going to adapt' it like at what point did you realize like-- that was something that needed to change?
Greg: Well, um, I mean if people have been listening to interviews some of this is going to sound a little repetitious. I will say that, you know, the first draft of the screenplay I did with, uh, Matt Grimm(?) as sort of my producer in quotes, at Skydance and when we finished it-- or when I finished it-- and he had given me all the notes and I’d done revisions, and we put it in front of Don Granger(?) at Skydance-- and Granger came back with three notes. And I have dealt with a lot of Hollywood types and in the main-- most of their notes are crap. And Granger has yet to give me a note that wasn't spot dead on. And the biggest of the three was, um, you know, he said-- I really like-- it's really good-- he says ‘Nile has no impact whatsoever on this plot. Um, if you remove her the story changes, but the plot doesn't’. And I sat there and I went-- you know, bewildered -- and I sort of looked at the source material and I was like 'you are absolutely correct. You are absolutely 100% correct'. So the big thing that happened between the first draft and the second draft was that I thought of the second draft as-- this is the Nile draft-- like the first draft had been the Andy story. And then the second draft was me going, ‘okay you have the Andy story, now what is the Nile story? Really really take a look at that and figure out how to bone it up’. So and I honestly think that in large part it was the execution of that, uh, was one of the things that Gina responded to so strongly when she was given the screenplay. And then when Gina came aboard, there was just consistent work in fine-tuning not just Andy and Nile but everybody else's stories throughout the work. But it was, um, it was absolutely, you know, I mean-- it was-- it was-- it was malice of forethought. It was-- it was 'Nile has to be able to shoulder this and we need to serve her well'
Mimi: Yeah and--
Greg: Andy was never the question, it really was: can we do right for Nile?
Mimi: Yeah no and that really definitely shines through. And I think there's that says so much about you as a writer, as a screenwriter, as a storyteller, because there are a lot of people, um, that would not be able to have that humility in writing and maybe take that feedback and criticism. because, you know, this was not like you adapted someone else's comic, like this was already your comic, you know, so they're basically giving you notes on what's already your story-- and did you find that aspect of it, uh, challenging or was it just kind of second nature-- because I know you as a person, so I know that you would take criticism well, if it is well meant and if it was constructive. but at the same time when you're in it though, and you've put so much work into those drafts-- it's not like 'oh let me just write this' and it takes five minutes, you know? You put so much into it. So how's that process for you?
Greg: You know, it was not-- it wasn't as difficult as some people seem to think it might have been. And maybe it's simply that I'm at an age where I'm able to look at my work with some degree of objectivity and I, long ago, past the point of believing that, uh... that that the work can't be improved. and I went into the process eyes very wide open, you know, I think one of the reasons Skydance was willing to let me write the drafts was because I made it clear up front that I understood... The movie was not the comic. It needed to be a different thing, and one of the things that they were adamant about were the things that I kept. Now, I had a conversation with Granger once where I said 'I'm kind of surprised nobody ever came to me and said ‘you got to get rid of that armored car sequence' and he looked at me and he said 'if that hadn't been in there I would have wanted to know why, and I would have made you put it back. That’s one of the things that we bought' for instance. So I think, you know, if there was anything to recommend me, it was that I entered the process... fully aware that this had to be a different animal.
Mimi: Yeah, yeah.
Greg: And that was liberating. And there are certain things-- for instance, you know, um, in the comic book there's the sequence in the Paris safe house on the stairs in the apartment. And when Charlize came on one of the first notes was 'we're gonna have to change that sequence'. Because in recent memory Charlize Theron has done a pretty intense action sequence--
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: --coming down the stairs in an apartment.
Mimi: Atomic Blonde, yeah
Greg: You got it! And it was like oh that-- that's a gimme. And the result of that was the discovery of Goussainville right, which is this real town 30 minutes outside of Paris that is a ghost town; it's been a ghost town since the early 1970s.
Mimi: Wow, yeah it was a beautiful location
Greg: Yeah and-- and the place is real, and they didn't shoot in Goussainville. They shot-- they shot that at the same place where they shot the medieval castle flashbacks.
Mimi: Okay.
Greg: That's all the same estate.
Mimi: Nice, nice.
Greg: It's about an hour outside of London. Which gives you an idea of the magic--
Mimi: Of the magic of movies yeah! And do you feel like maybe because your experience as a comic book collaborator... like you have to collaborate. I’ve learned about this a lot more as I’ve spoken to so many creators -- like you and Michael for instance-- on Lazarus, like the way you collaborate, it's not 'I write you draw, period' like-- you-- there's a lot of back and forth, a lot of questioning of your decisions and-- ‘arguing’ may be the wrong term, but, you know, there is a lot of, uh, collaboration in terms of Michael giving you feedback and vice versa, and not feeling like 'oh you're stepping in my territory'. Do you feel like that is probably something that maybe even conditioned you for the screenwriting process?
Greg: I think so. If -- I mean-- I don't wanna-- I don't wanna pat myself on the back over much. But I do think that I am, um, I think I'm certainly a willing collaborator if not always a good collaborator on projects. Um, that if the people I am working with... want to engage that collaboration, I tend to respond to it very well. Um, and I think that's something that absolutely was learned through comics. And I can think, you know, immediately of Gotham Central which doesn't exist if Ed Brubaker(?) and I don't learn how to work together with Michael Lark(?) very quickly and very adeptly--which to this day, is one of my favorite collaborations in comics ever. I don't think you get to work, like, 52 for DC, um, if you don't learn how to collaborate, and to collaborate well.
Mimi: Exactly.
Greg: Which isn't always which isn't always saying 'yes and' sometimes you have to put your foot down and say 'no but'
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: Um, and there were plenty of arguments to be had, you know, in the process of this. Um, but most of those arguments frankly didn't occur until really late in the stage, and they were always focused to the same end. It was never-- that-- there was never an argument about, um-- there was never an argument about intent. there was always an argument about 'what's the best way to do it' right, 'what's the best way to execute' and, you know, I lost as many of those as I won, and... In the end... it seems to have all worked out, because, you know-- it is by no means a flawless motion picture. But I think it absolutely is a successful film. I think it does, it does, it tells its story well, it is moving, it is exciting, it is fun, it has a heart to it...and it leaves you with some questions! And they're not just plot questions-- that-- it leaves you with some stuff that if you are inclined to think about, there's a lot there's a lot to unpack.
Mimi: Absolutely. Yeah. I mean... the question, of course, that whole immortality-- like some people immediately will be like 'of course I’d want to be immortal' I'm like 'but would you want to watch everyone you know die?' and then 'all right would you be alone' and, you know, of course Booker's-- you know, um-- punishment, have you, of being alone quote unquote for a hundred years... I mean a hundred years, you know, you think-- that's a long time.
Greg: Right.
Mimi: And so, uh, I do have to ask though what's up with Andy! Like --you're-- you left us in such a --in such a state! Oscar’s like 'you have to ask Greg what's going on with Andy' or do we not-- we cannot go there?
Greg: Look, the film has a very obviously-- very obvious 'in case of sequel break glass' scene. Right, I mean-- and that's how I've been referring to it. The 'emergency sequel' button is right there. And all they have to do is go 'beep' and you have your entree into another story. Um, the question about Andy really is whether or not the immortality is the thing that matters, right. Where she is left at the end of the film, I think, asks some really cool questions about who this woman gets to be moving forward. Um, and should we be able to do a sequel, you bet your ass we're going to interrogate the hell out of that. Um, but... one of the things that I particularly like about the movie-- and I say this with the, you know, 'in case in case of sequel break glass' proviso, is that the movie doesn't need a sequel. The movie has an ending, it is a complete work. It does not say, uh, 'unless there is a second story this story doesn't have merit or value or mean anything'.
Mimi: Right.
Greg: It stands absolutely on its own.
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: Um, should there be an Old Guard 2, then I suspect an Old Guard 2 is gonna be arguably contingent on making an Old Guard 3. That, once you enter into a second part you are actually saying 'we are we are talking about, uh, a collection, we're we're talking about a completion here' and that movement in that structure is in act 1 and act 2 and act 3. But as it stands now as you walk away from it-- all right, so maybe Andy's gonna die. You know, maybe the next day she crosses the street she's hit by a truck.
Mimi: I'm gonna guess no on that!
Greg: But maybe. Or maybe, maybe she gets to go for 50 years, you know, and die of old age. Finally.
Mimi: Right, um, and I liked what she said, when there was that realization point by others that, you know, she was possibly losing her mortality and she said 'it doesn't matter, we go in the same way, and we come out the same way, as we always did' so nothing changes.
Greg: ‘This changes nothing’
Mimi: ‘This changes nothing’. And that really resonated with me because you kind of go ‘okay it's not about the immortality or the magic or the fighting or any of that', you know, it's like, who she is and what her purpose is has been-- you know, it was just I thought it was really--
Greg: Well and I think thematically right, um-- hold on a second sorry-- um, I think, um, thematically that that is the crucial thing right? Um, it is an issue of -- okay at the end of the day... you can strip away the whole immortality of this movie and it's still saying the same thing. And it is saying that how you live your life matters. And the decisions you make, and the choices you make, and the ways you... choose to help people, matter. And they matter beyond an accounting you will ever be privileged to see. And the... obvious and I suppose easy, um, analogy for that right now is the act of wearing a mask in public.
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: Your decision to wear a mask in public may save the life of somebody literally on the other side of the world.
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: And that may be the person who will cure cancer, I mean, to draw it really big.
Mimi: Yeah yeah that's the ripple effect.
Greg: Right yeah, we don't know the value of the life. And I’ve talked about this as well but, you know, if you use the good place, um, term of moral desert--
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: --if you're trying to live your life in search of moral desert then-- you-- that's a fine reason to do good things, but it is a flawed motivation. That the motivation needs to be 'we do the best we can and we try to help others because that is what we should do'. And what the film is able to say 'is these people have been around long enough that it is possible to see it'
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: But that isn't the reason you do it, right. And Andy says --and I think this is important she says that to Booker-- you do it on faith. You know, she says to Booker, 'have a little faith, Book'. Um, that she has come through all of this with this reaffirmation, that there is that... there is a worthiness to the effort itself. That we engage in the struggle for the sake of the struggle. And I can't think of anything frankly more resonant in July of 2020 than that right now. We are living in a time, in a place that is genuinely the worst it has ever been in modern history. I mean it genuinely is.
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: We're looking at this-- this makes the start of World War II look like a fucking picnic. The crises that the world is facing and the bad actors who are attempting to keep it going, who are actively fighting attempts to fix it, uh, is staggering. We are facing a banality of evil at this moment that is incomprehensible, if you really start to think about it. And it is on every fucking level, you know, it's it is from foreign students we're going to kick out of the country--
Mimi: I know that's infuriating.
Greg: The only reason to do that is to kill higher education, at a time when higher education is its most vulnerable. It’s the only reason to do it.
Mimi: Yeah, it's all insidious
Greg: That is-- that is a-- that is a direct, direct attack on the intellect of the country. It is it is an attack trying to make the United States dumber, because the stupider we get the easier we are for these fucking fascists to control. Right, we have-- we are at war with Russia, but we have the GOP and the president refusing to admit it, because they work for Russia.
Mimi: Yeah yeah.
Greg: Right, but we are at war with Russia right now. All right, there's no question. We have a president who is actively promoting a white supremacist agenda, because he wants a race war, because he wants a civil war, because that way he won't have to lose the election and he won't have to leave, because if he leaves he's going to get raped to death when he goes to prison.
Mimi: Tell me how you really feel, Greg!
Greg: We are-- we are literally at a staggering crisis.
Mimi: Yeah yeah no, and when you're explaining all of those things about the film that was exactly what I was thinking was, well and that is why it's so frustrating when something as simple as, I hear people say ‘well I don't believe I should have to wear a mask' that's why it's so infuriating-- [they talk over each other a little]
Greg: --selfish thing to do
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: It is a staggering selfishness. I-- [mocking] 'oh it's hard for me to breathe wearing a face mask' it's like, 'you're the same guy who won't wear a condom because it doesn't feel good!’ you know, and it's like-- and-- I’ve got no tolerance for that, I literally have no tolerance. You know, you can't do-- it's funny, you're asking ER people to do it 24 hours a day.
Mimi: Exactly
Greg: They seem to manage it!
Mimi: Have you seen, uh, Jon Stewart lately, he's been doing a lot of interviews and there was this one where he's like 'yeah, I mean what happened to wearing a mask as like a sign of a medical professional? So the next time you go to surgery you're to tell your surgeon 'don't you dare wear a mask, get that liberal shit away from me, because I'm an American, I don't need your mask--'
Greg: '--I don't need you I’ll take those dreams(?)--'
Mimi: Yeah yeah
Greg: It's bullshit, it's selfish bullshit, and it's propaganda.
Mimi: Yeah right.
Greg: And it comes down from, you know, it comes down from, you know, the hissy fiddler in chief.
Mimi: Yeah. Lack of leadership.
Greg: Exactly.
Mimi: I'm living in it in Florida, too. Let me tell you that that trickle down is no joke, here.
Greg: I hate to tell you, Mimi, but [sarcastic] thank you, Florida. You know. Florida: the reason why the rest of the country can't have nice things.
Mimi: I know! Florida wins, every time it's so embarrassing!
Greg: I would be, I would consider moving [if he lived in Florida], simply because I would be infuriated.
Mimi: I know and, you know, I thought about it in 2016, but then I thought ‘I will stay and fight!’ because of you! You’re the one that wrote at the end of Lazarus to stay and fight, and now it's your fault that I'm staying! [Both laughing]
Greg: But see and here's the thing, right-- we can, we can rag on Florida, easy target, the fact of the matter is there are plenty of Floridians who are wearing masks and looking around and being like 'what the hell is the matter with you guys'.
Mimi: Yes! So we're trying! We’re trying!
Greg: And this is the other thing the vast number of people who are trying to do right, the people who do have empathy, the people who do care, we outnumber these guys! But the problem in being in a situation where we're all in it together is it doesn't take many people who say 'I'm not in it with you' to fuck it up for everybody else. That’s the problem. And then that is tied to the fact that those of us who do look at one another with empathy are resistant to-- for instance, taking a baseball bat to the people who are ruining for the rest of us. And this is one of the things frankly that we need to get over. We need to get to a place where it is not-- it is not tolerated. We need to get to a place where-- and the starkest example is this, you know, if you're going to pull out that racist bullshit somebody needs to hit you. There was a time when racists were scared and the reason they were scared was because they got punched in the mouth. And we stopped punching Nazis in the mouth!
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: we've stopped punching Nazis in the mouth! And we have spent way too long right now trying to reason with people when they are working from a place that defies reason. If you start your argument with 'you don't have a right to exist'. I'm not going to convince you! I have no obligation to convince you! None! None whatsoever! You look me in the eye and you say 'because you're Jewish you should die,' I get to say, 'guess what, here's the baseball bat'. That does not engage me. I will engage you about policy decisions.
Mimi: Mm-hmm yeah.
Greg: You know, Mark is fond of saying-- I remember he said 'I missed the days when I used to be able to argue with my republican friends about policy'.
Mimi: Yeah yeah I know.
Greg: You can't do that anymore, now it's about ideology and it's not even valid ideology. It is a demonstrably invalid ideology and we know it.
Mimi: Yeah yeah yeah the moral compass has been completely destroyed.
Greg: And we know how that happened and we know why that happened.
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: And we all know that Mark Zuckerberg is not doing anything to fix it, because Mark Zuckerberg is a chicken shit.
Mimi: Oh you mean 'Mark Zuckerberg, comma, the known pedophile'? Who doesn't believe in checking facts?
Greg: Yeah. I'm talking about Mark Zuckerberg, who was recently seen having sex with dead goats.
Mimi: [laughs] That one, okay got it. [laughs again, pause] so, uh……... The Old Guard... I'm just kidding!
Greg: No, but, okay but to bring it back around, I think that... look, there's one of the things that I love about the movie, and I think Gina and especially Charlize's performance, carries is the melancholy of it. But to end the movie on this note that Nile brings. This grace note that is, I think, it's not a call to arms, but it is an affirmation of what we can do. It doesn't matter, it literally is-- take away their immortality, the message is the same. and I'll take that message right now, man, without hesitation.
Mimi: Yeah it's true, she made the choice to get into the fight and to, you know, back up her team, her new family basically is what it is and, um, I would be amiss if I didn't talk about my unbelievable love for Nicky! [pause] and Joe! I, oh my god, [fangirling intensifies] so I loved it as much in the comic, but seeing it on screen... There was just something very magical for me, especially, you know, the scene in the truck and Joe does his 'my boyfriend' speech. you know, I-- oh my gosh. I think I rewound and rewatched that part because it was just so beautiful and so perfectly executed and, um-- that relationship to me, is just that's what I need right now. Like I need to believe in love, and I need to see, um, the happy parts of the film.
Greg: Marwan killed that, but I gotta tell you, one of my favorite moments is the moment when they're in the lab and, uh, and Nicky being like, 'much as I like watching you sleep...' and just the warmth between them on that and, you know, 'I’ve been thinking about Malta' and 'which time in Malta' and--
[both, very cutely] 'Ah that time in Malta!'
Greg: Yeah and I just, you know, Luca and Marwan. I look-- the casting on the movie is superlative. I just --I cannot imagine how they could have cast better. But the genuine friendship between Luca and Marwan, behind the scenes. They were, you know, they were going out and drinking at night, and Leandro has a photo of the two of them, uh, between setups outside of the soundstage at Shepparton, and they're kicking a soccer ball back and forth! They just, you know, they just loved each other as people.
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: You know what I mean? They were tight.
Mimi: Yeah yeah it translates! It really, it really translates on film. Like it's, you know, obviously maybe they're not like in love and like this couple, but you could see there's this chemistry, and they're friends, and there's a love for one another and, um, oh gosh it really translates. And so yeah-- I oh-- I just want to take Nicky home with me.
Greg: There is a shot-- it's one of the last--it's the last, I think, solo shot on Luca and it's the moment when he's looking at the sociogram, and he's just got his head cocked to the side... and it is... it's one of those things that you can only do in film, right, because it's --literally the camera, he is looking past the camera at this thing that the audience isn't seeing, and all it is him looking at it, and it's not like his he's doing facial calisthenics or anything.
Mimi: Right yeah
Greg: And I look at that shot and I just adore him-- and I can't even tell you-- I don't know if he was acting. It looks like acting to me!
Mimi: Right yeah Luca did such a spot on--
Greg: But that look in that moment. And me-- I just go-- like oh my god. He is so good.
Mimi: Yeah yeah.
Greg: He is so good.
Mimi: So let's talk a little bit about being on set because I know that you, uh, of course it's Stump Town but you weren't as involved in it the way that you were with this film being the screenwriter... um, you know, what was just kind of some memorable moments for you or what challenging moments even?
Greg: Challenging moments? Okay, um, this is gonna get me in trouble. I’ll tell you-- so I’ll tell you a couple of my favorite stories. Um, challenging was-- there were a lot of night shoots. And it was roughly, you know, I mean we're talking on the ninth, and I think I got back from England almost a year ago tomorrow, right. And I had been in England for about four or five weeks working on the film. And, a lot of those were night shoots on location. And that meant that you would, you know, end up going out during the day and you would have to wait until full dark in England, in summer. So there was literally shooting on the shortest night of the year, you had three and a half hours of darkness in which to shoot. And it gets a little bit of a grind.
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: You know, you're out there, and you're tired, and it is late, and it is cold, and there are only so many, you know, Americanos you can get from craft services (?) [laughs] yeah, um, and that was... that was exhausting. Um, I will tell you the best day I had.
Mimi: Yes.
Greg: Um, and this is going to piss people off, if they ever hear this and they won't so. Um, Mark Evans is this wonderful wonderful man, who was the producer on the movie. He was the guy on the ground. And when I arrived there had been, um, I mean-- so the long and the short of it is this: I got fired from the project in January of 2019. They brought in another writer for about six to eight weeks, they fired that writer. They brought in another writer, uh, and at that point Gina was re-engaging me. And then I ended up, by the time I was back out there, I was rehired on the production. But in that interim of like two and a half, three months, there had been different scenes and variations on the script. And so when I arrived the draft was this Frankenstein thing that was some of my original stuff, and some of the stuff Gina had done, and some of the stuff the last writer had done, and then the stuff that I had been doing throughout May and into June before I got there. And we ended up, um, on this day and it was super hot, and it's the sequence when they are filming-- it's the sequence outside of Andy's mine. And it was the arrival at the mine and then it's the scene with Andy and Nile outside of the mine. And those were shot at a quarry, um, in or near... I want to say Sussex.
Mimi: Okay.
Greg: So it's about an hour and a half outside of London and it is already scorching hot as we're headed out there. And we all know it's going to be all day, because we're going to have to, um, set everything up to then shoot dusk as dawn, right?
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: So I'm staying at this hotel and they have a driver, you know, the driver was assigned to me and I forget his name-- he was lovely, it was this great guy, and these guys are all interesting anyway, like the set drivers-- there's a whole discussion to be had about these guys. This guy is terrific, and we're driving down and we're talking, because I like talking to these guys, and, you know, I'm not going to be able to write in the car because I'll throw up everywhere. And he tells me that, oh yeah, you know, his parents moved down here and this and that, and I knew going out that day that Mark and I were going to spend the day in a trailer trying to compile everything into one collective draft. And I already wasn't looking forward to that, because I’d be like 'I'm gonna be in a goddamn trailer all day doing that. I don't wanna...’ [grumbles]. But I said to him 'wait a minute you're from around here?' he says 'oh yeah, you know.'[pause] '...you know, any good pubs?' and he says, 'uh, I do, yeah, there's a great old pub I can think of' and I say 'okay'. So we get to the location, and we are in the middle of nowhere because it's a FUCKING quarry.
Mimi: Right.
Greg: And base camp where they put the trailers is literally a mile from where they're shooting.
Mimi: Okay
Greg: Right because you have to go up this hill and up these little roads to the quarry. It’s an old quarry. and I get there, and nobody's around, and one of the assistants says 'oh Mark's over there' and I go okay and I go to Mark's trailer and I knock on the door, and I open the door, and he's sitting there. And it's not glamorous. Understand these are not the movies star trailers, these are not airstream trailers, these are absolutely no frills-- like there-is-a-bathroom-and- two- tables trailers, right? There's nothing sexy about them. This is not--I know what people think of when they go oh 'you're in a [noises]'. No! This trailer-- I mean Charlize may have had a glorious trailer--
Mimi: Right, this was not Charlize's trailer
Greg: Yeah Kiki might have, you know, I don't know--
Mimi: This is more like a middle school trailer.
Greg: Exactly. The example is this is the kind of trailer that they bring to the elementary school when they've run out of classrooms, right
Mimi: Right.
Greg: Right and so Mark's sitting there. And he's-- and the thing about Mark is he's got so much energy, and he says 'Rucka!' and I say 'Mark! ...let's go to a pub.' and he goes '...can we do that?' and I say 'do we have to be here today to do this? There a reason you have to be here, in this trailer, to do this work?' and he goes '...let's go to a pub!'. So we find the driver, and I say to him-- I think his name was Steve-- and I say 'Steve, can you take us to that pub?' and he says 'yeah!'. So we get in the car-- and we drive, and it takes about 20 minutes, and about 15 minutes into the drive Evans is looking at me like 'this is not go-- I thought it was nearby'. And, you know, its like-- it is nearby, but these are little narrow roads --
Mimi: Right right.
Greg: --the driver had to orient... and we finally get to this place-- this beautiful old pub up on top of this hill--
Mimi: Wow.
Greg: --in Sussex, on the hottest day of the year so far, underneath these trees, at these benches-- and this is an old pub, like they closed at like two and didn't open again until five and we got there at like 1:30. So we got there, we get lunch, we get a plate, and we sit out there and we work until like 5:30-6. And about halfway into this Mark's like 'we're gonna get in so much trouble for doing this'. It’s my favorite day on this set right now. literally lo and behold by about the time five o'clock, six o'clock, rolls around he's starting to get calls from his assistant being like 'they want to know where you are'.
Mimi: Right. [jokingly] 'We’re working offset!'
Greg: And we did! We got it all compiled and then we drove back to location and-- we were there when they did the actual shooting and everything. But that was, and will probably be to the end of my days, one of my most favorite film experiences, which is the part of making the movie where we got to go 'we get to go do this now'
Mimi: Yeah yeah.
Greg: You know, and that was, it was a treat. I loved it.
Mimi: I love that, yeah. And it's so great because you needed some creativity. Like a trailer just doesn't do it, so I thought that made it a lot of sense. How much fun, though, because I often hear that when people are filming in different places, you don't get to explore in the way that you would like to. So it's nice that you kind of were able to take a mini break. A one day break.
Greg: But it really was --and I do kind of mean it-- was a present.
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: I have photos from time on set, and there's a shot... the house that was used for Merrick’s apartment, is called the jura house, and it's apparently owned by some Russian oligarch, and it's a very shi-shi, fancy, you know, 800-architectural-awards house.
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: And I have a photo of Evans and me-- I think Leo took it --and we're literally sitting on the floor, in the basement, which is where all the monitors were set up, as they're filming upstairs... backs to the wall, each of us with our laptops on our knees, each of us using these, uh, rifle bags that have been doubled and tripled over as pillows. And that's the experience on The Old Guard. It’s literally [?? I’m not sure what he said, ‘doing our best’ maybe ??] and, um, yeah, so yeah. It is a remarkable-- and you know this, you made a movie-- it's a remarkable amount of hard work. You come out of the experience going-- and I’ve said this before-- once you are involved in the making of a movie, you can never walk away going 'god how do they manage to make such a bad movie?' The question is always 'how did they manage to make a movie?'
Mimi: Yeah.
Greg: The mere act of forcing this kind of bizarre storytelling into creation... is it's staggering. It defies any realm of logic... the precision required, the commitment required, the attention required, to create something that's going to exist on somebody's eyeballs for a second or two or three. Shot by shot. You know, um, it's insane.
Mimi: Yeah it is, yeah and there's so many moving parts, you know, and you're such a huge part of this one and so I'm so excited to see how well it came together. and it-- from what you could see, because you were saying 'oh, you know, everybody was close on set they were playing soccer and all these things' and it's like, you can see that it's a film that has, you know, cohesion. like it's very well put together, like you could feel that everything was in its place, like I could see you got along with Gina, I could see that, you know, you could see each part was where it needed to be, because seeing sets that fall apart-- and you-- it isn't a question of how movies fall apart and they don't, you know, go from one process to another, there's no, um, you know, synergy between the people working. But it really really did come together and I'm super super excited for you, and excited for the sequel! My my only thing--
Greg: Potential! [sequel]
Mimi: Potential! Oh I think I think that, uh, viewers are going to want more. like I said, it's a film that we do need right now and I think it's a refreshing, uh, type of thing where we can kind of just take a moment away and be lost in a film. I think that's a gift, because I find that that doesn't happen as often as I'd like it to these days! Uh, but, um, but yeah the casting, everything was beautiful, and I'm so happy for you, as a writer but also as a filmmaker now. My only quarry, my only disappointment is I was not around to, um --especially since there could be a sequel-- to at least audition for Qynh because I know there's some awesome sword work that could be coming in the future! And I'm so like-- but I'm super excited because Veronica, you know, the little we did get to see of her, she did a fabulous job! But I was like 'man I would have liked to throw my hat in for that one'. [laughs]
Greg: Gotta talk to your agent!
Mimi: I know!
Greg: I didn't have anything to do with casting!
Mimi: I know, I know, I know. No, but it's super exciting to see kind of that how it all comes together. Especially reading it, right, because of course like I said, I've read the rest of the comic. I know the new one just dropped!
Greg: Yeah, issue five will be out next week.
Mimi: That's very exciting! So yes so, uh, listeners go ahead and grab that! Get the whole thing though, so you could see it from beginning to end! Because, uh, it does kind of complement seeing the movie, you know, it complements it. You get that backstory, you kind of get the feeling for the characters in a different way, and like you said they're different mediums. Um, but both really amazing stories, and a lot of fun to, um, to be a part of. And to experience so super exciting [they both make weird excited noises] so, uh, hopefully we'll talk again next week, I know you have been going crazy with all these interviews but, um, everybody go and watch The Old Guard right now! Because it is available, you can turn on your Netflix and you don't have to wait, it's right there!
Greg: Right there!
Mimi: Right there for you!
Greg: In fact you won't even have to search for it!
Mimi: No, it's gonna be number one!
Greg: It's gonna shove it in your face!
Mimi: Yeah it'll be recommended for you, and, um, I also, uh, you know, as a filmmaker. I know that you guys don't need as big of a push because it's Netflix and all but, you know, give it a little rating! Go on to imdb and give it some love. Um, because why not? [laughs] Alright Greg, I don't want to take up much more of your time, I think you need to unwind and enjoy this. Congratulations on your film and, uh, we're super excited for it!
Greg: Thank you Mimi!
Mimi: That's all for today's episode! Thanks for listening to culture chat and hope you enjoyed the conversation.
#it was completely random whether i included the 'um's tbh#also warning greg goes on a Political Rant in the middle so if that kind of thing bothers you: there it is
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Codename Cupid: Chapter 20
Previous: Codename Miss Cuttlefish, If Ya Nasty
Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x OFC
Genre: Secret AgentAU, Government AgentAU
Rating: PG15
Word Count: 1.8K
Warnings: Swearing
Summary: Codename Black Panther sends a shock wave through one OT7 member as he grapples with what his orders mean to his life outside the organization.
Codename: Black Panther
Present Day
Jungkook walks into the offices of OT7, sunglasses on, smile on his face as he sends a text message to Cricket. He can’t deny it, he’s happy, like really truly happy and so deeply in love. It’s been a minute since he’s been in any sort of relationship, let alone with someone so dazzling, electric as her. He didn’t mind the fall because it felt too great, too inviting, too much like home. Returning from his training at headquarters, he’d made a bee line to Cricket before returning to the dorms the next day, alerting the others to his suspicious absences. They didn’t pay it much mind, which put Jungkook on high alert. But not too high, after all, the cloud of love has him soaring.
“Jungkook,” Namjoon calls, pulling Jungkook’s eyes away from the text he’d just sent and to the conference room. Everyone is seated around the table, tablets and computers strewn about, coffee cups and refills waiting patiently to be consumed. Yoongi growling about something, Jimin trying to reign in the negativity that was so unnecessary this early in the morning. Jungkook, upon glancing up at the screen, stops dead in his tracks, eyes wide, taking in the image in front of him.
“Why, why is her picture, why is her picture up there?” He stutters.
“Black Panther?” Hoseok’s voice increase by an octave, confusion evident in the heightened pitch and arched eyebrows he addresses at Jungkook’s change in demeanor.
“Why is she up there?” He demands, finger still pointing at the screen. “Whose mark is she?”
“Black Panther?” Hoseok asks again.
“Sit, I was just about to brief everyone,” Namjoon says, pointing to Jungkook’s chair. He sits next to Jimin, who eyes him suspiciously. Jungkook knows that Jimin knows, the slight eyebrow raise, the words unsaid. He’s absolutely fucked.
“What’s got you so hot and bothered?” Yoongi asks. He doesn’t look at Jungkook, just listens to the horror lingering in his voice. “You know her?”
“That’s an understatement,” Taehyung adds, sipping his tea and watching the scene unfold.
“Kook?” Yoongi asks.
“She’s, she’s my girlfriend,” Jungkook tells them, eyes still the size of saucers, heart percussing like a high school marching band in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.
“What?” Hobi’s jaw drops. That was the problem with forgery and documentation, he thought, always the last to know.
“You’re shitting me,” Yoongi cackles.
“Is this going to be a Cupid part 2?” Seokjin asks, eyes warily glancing from JK to Joon. “What was that mission called?”
“Codename: The First Heartbreak,” Hoseok answers.
“Who told you?” Jungkook requests.
“Who do you think?” Namjoon responds.
“You were tailing me?” He seethes.
“We weren’t tailing you, we were tailing her,” Taehyung corrects him. “There were too many coincidences, and then,”
Namjoon changes the slide, and there is all the proof OT7 needed. Jungkook and Y/N, holding hands, kissing, arms around each other… Photographic proof from the last eight or so months that they were indeed dating.
The wind is knocked out of his lungs as he collapses into his chair. One photo and he could’ve downplayed it, but an entire series spanning season changes? How long had they known?
“How long has this been going on?” Namjoon demands, knowing full well it’s nearly as long as they’ve been tailing Black Panther.
Jaw locking, Jungkook responds through clenched teeth, “A while.”
Jaw locking to mimic Jungkook, Namjoon grinds his teeth. “How long is a while?”
“Shouldn’t you know?” Yoongi interrupts.
“A few months,” Jungkook responds.
“Months?” Hobi asks.
“10 months, five days,” Jungkook clarifies.
“Ten months?” Jimin yells.
“We’ve only got proof of the last six!” Taehyung answers.
“You’ve been sitting on this for six months?” Yoongi barks. “You didn’t tell me?”
“Are you in love?” Seokjin questions.
“Is she in danger if I am?” Jungkook doesn’t look to his hyung, eyes still staring down Namjoon.
He shakes his head in response. “No more than she is if you aren’t,” Clearing his throat, he changes the graphic on the screen. “For the sake of this mission, we need to begin to isolate work JK from real world JK,” Namjoon instructs. “You can ask him questions about his dating life during off hours.”
“Black Panther knows about your job?” Yoongi asks.
“She knows that I work for a government agency, doing a variety of tasks, but that’s it,” Jungkook informs him. “I asked. I asked you if I could tell her-
“You asked if you could tell the person you’re dating, you never said it was her,” Namjoon snips. The tension has moved through his entire body, clenching his muscles.
“How was I supposed to know she was the one you were following?” Jungkook bites back. “You didn’t say anything!”
“I am not obligated to,” Namjoon responds. “And you asked so early on, I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know she’d become a pawn in your games?” Jungkook asks.
“You had been dating a few months, I didn’t know she was going to be a part of this.”
“But when you found out, you kept it to yourself, so you, Jimin and Taehyungie could plot and plan,” The accusation sits low in his brows, scraping the bottom of his vocal register against the truth he’s desperately seeking.
“Jungkook,” Namjoon clicks his jaw, his tell, and Jungkook prepares for the battle by cocking his eyebrow, daring Joon to make a move.
Using his analytical mind to read the room, Seokjin uses his place as the eldest to break the tension. “Does she know you are connected to us?”
“No, she doesn’t know that we’re connected, but she’s asked about the tattoo,” Jungkook informs them.
“I told you not to get that stupid-
“You’re the one who sent her notes on watermarked paper!”
“That was one note!” Hoseok interjects. “It was one note, and I will not rat out whoever did it, but it was handled.”
“Focus on what matters,” Seokjin interjects.
“The intimidation you’ve been sending her for months?”
“Jeon,” Namjoon’s choice of last name does not go unnoticed, and Jungkook shrinks into himself.
“I can’t tell how pissed Joon is,” Taehyung says, eyeing their leader. “Is this Yoongi forgets to turn on his recorder during a meeting about an Agust D mark, or Hoseok putting the wrong date on the –
“Why are you dragging us into this?” Yoongi asks.
“Say something,” Jungkook whispers.
“How did you two meet?” Namjoon wants to know.
“In a bar,” Jungkook answers. The room is silent, everyone negotiating whether to leave it at that, or press on. They know what Namjoon said, but clearly that doesn’t apply today.
Yoongi just wants the kid to be happy, the youngest of the 7, he’s been indoctrinated with OT7 nonsense since before he had a say, raised to be a top operative in all fields, Jungkook has unwillingly given up the most.
Hoseok, ray of light that he is, feels similarly to Yoongi, though with less guilt.
Taehyung and Jimin, however, exude an air of being completely pissed off by the news.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us,” Jimin says.
Taehyung nods, “Aren’t we brothers?”
“I didn’t want to spoil it, or for you to go digging. I didn’t want to know anything other than what she’s told me. If I told you, well, you’d do your job a little too well.”
“If you asked, we wouldn’t have,” Taehyung tells him.
“You’re mad at me,” Jungkook states.
“It sucks to find out your brother is dating and potentially in love with someone through your job, not from them,” Jimin answers.
“You didn’t even hint that you were together,” Taehyung adds.
“You didn’t tell her about us?” Jimin asks.
“She, she knows a little, but not your names. I didn’t know, I didn’t know this was her case, or that you’d be watching her.”
“Some operative,” Yoongi scoffs.
“Min,” Namjoon warns.
“Alright, sorry,” Yoongi’s hands are raised in surrender, his smirk tilting his lips.
“She knows, Jungkook, about us,” Taehyung’s voice is soft. He was always the most delicate with Golden Maknae, something he’d developed when they trained together.
“I know,” The crown of his head is all that can be seen.
“How?”
“You think I don’t know? She’s, I don’t think she’s worried about me being a part of Cupid’s world, but she knows I’m somehow connected to you lot,”
They sit silently, again, waiting for anyone to speak. Taehyung and Jimin have put some of the pieces together, in their secretive alcove of an office, away from Yoongi’s gaze, they refused to mention that they had potentially fucked up, let alone dragging Namjoon into the errors. As they wait, Yoongi and Hoseok’s nonchalance oozing through the men. Jungkook’s shoulders relax, eyes closing, head resting against the back of his chair. He can’t hold back the tears that are falling, the fear and desolation pulling them down his chin.
“Jungkook, I am going to ask you to do a few things, and when I ask, you are going to do them in a timely manner, and not argue with me about it, do you understand?” Namjoon always inevitably breaks the silence. His words, a formality they all were expecting.
“You’re giving me a direct order?” Jungkook clarifies.
Solemnly nodding, a gesture that surely would tip his entire body into a bow if he was standing, Namjoon replies, “Yes.”
Mimicking his action, Jungkook nods before speaking, “Can I refuse?”
“No,” Seokjin answers for him.
Jungkook looks to Seokjin, whose brown irises are fervent behind his spectacles. He understands the pain that comes with having a girlfriend that OT7 wants to use. He’s been through the heartache of breaking up because work demands it. Staring back at him, Jin knows what he went through with Cupid is nothing like JK and Black Panther, when love is involved, it raises the stakes exponentially.
“You need to send in photos of her evidence, the ones not transferred to her computer,”
“The ones she keeps in her surveillance bag,” Jimin answers.
“You will wear a wire and conform to the set of rules that your predecessors have followed,” Namjoon continues.
“This is a real relationship, a woman I care about deeply, someone I want a future with. You, I won’t.”
“You don’t have a choice,”
“Send me on assignment, send me to headquarters or to Tanzania, send me somewhere but please, don’t make me do this.”
“Jungkook,” Yoongi, ever soft for his maknae, saunters over to Jungkook. Crouching in front of him, midnight irises into midnight irises, he stares at the teared vessels. “We all have something we have to sacrifice, that we don’t want to put on the line. Seokjin gave up something potentially wonderful, lord knows the danger we put TaeTae in. We all have to, at some point, make that move. Now it’s your turn.”
“All for one and one for all, right?” Jungkook snorts, the snot dripping from his sinuses pulling back against the pressure.
“You don’t have to lie to her,” Namjoon’s voice has softened, his sleepless nights giving way to the torturous job of being in charge.
“You’re asking me to inherently lie to her, to pretend that I’m something I’m not, to sneak around and collect her information! That’s lying,”
“Yeah, it is,” Yoongi stands, “But what else are you going to do?”
Next: The Final Notice
#clubjimin#houseofddaeng#Jeon Jungkook fanfic#Jeon Jungkook story#jungkook x you#jungkook x reader#BTS#BTS fanfic#kim namjoon#kim namjoon / rm#kim seokjin#kim taehyung#Kim Taehyung / v#park jimin#Min Yoongi / suga#min yoongi#jung hoseok#Jung Hoseok / j hope#secret agent au#government agent au#BTS agent#espionage#codename#codename cupid#thebtswritersclub#ficswithluv
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A Soul to Mend His Own | Ch. 2
A Kylo Ren x Modern! Reader in a soulmate au with some canon divergence. —————————————SLOWBURN————————————–
He is already the Supreme leader, searching the universe to find you, his Empress. Your name on his wrist has been the only constant in his life, while you have doubts about his existence and his acceptance of you. He isn’t in the database and why did the name Kylo Ren cover Ben Solo?
Originally posted on my Ao3 Crystallclover. If you missed Chapter 1, Click Here
Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Chapter 2: An Arrival to be Remembered
UFO has been sited entering the Earth’s atmosphere
Unknown armed and masked being exit ship heading towards the White House, is the President in danger?
Aliens spotted in D.C.
You woke up to the sound of your alarm, and got out of bed. You have been in the habit lately to start your day without checking your phone first. Mostly to avoid early morning emails from your boss before you have even had coffee.
You head to the bathroom relieve yourself, wash your face, and brush your hair. Exiting the bathroom you head to the kitchen and make yourself some breakfast and coffee. You enjoy the sunrise through the large windows in your apartment. Finishing eating you immediately wash your few dishes and get ready for work. You pick out your work ‘uniform’ of a black blouse and black trousers. You head to the bathroom to brush your teeth, put on a little makeup and get changed.
Heading back to the kitchen you prepare a to-go cup of coffee and pull out your lunch for work. Finally, you check your phone.
First, you see an email from your boss reminding you for the 10th time about the morning meeting that you have every Thursday. It isn’t like you to forget something you do every single week for the past year. Never once have you been late, in fact, he was always the one to forget. You wonder if these emails were meant more for him and less for you. But he was always the micromanager.
Next, you check your texts. Your usual morning photo from one of your siblings about one of your nieces/nephews. Another one from Hayden asking if you were still on for tomorrow night’s weekly bar trip. You answered ‘Yes 😀 .’ Another from Carter asking what you think of the news headlines this morning. Odd, although this isn’t the first time you two had discussed something like this it was odd to receive a text like this from them first thing in the morning.
You open Twitter to see #alieninvasiondc trending. You scroll through the news tag. Every major news site around the world is talking about the shuttlecraft that landed on the White House lawn last night, and the armed and armored soldiers that departed from the craft. All of the soldiers wore white armor, except one in silver. There was one who was in all black and a red-haired human-looking man among the group. Not much is known other than they haven’t been seen leaving the White House.
You text Carter back ‘Just looked now, either this is a hoax or the world as we know it is coming to an end. I’ll see you at work.’
You packed your work bag, grabbed your car keys and set off to work. You park in the ramp attached to your building and walk to the elevator. You wave at the security attendant to the opposing skywalk like you do every morning. You arrive at your floor and buzz-in. You say hi to Nancy in reception and head to your desk.
Strangely all of the televisions in the office were muted and tuned into CBC News, normally the one in the break room and the ones in reception were on, the others only really got used during Hockey Games or events like the Olympics. Your boss was in the walkway with his attention turned to his phone.
You set down your things at your desk and boot up your work computer while setting up your laptop on its stand. You did your usual check through work emails until the 9:00 AM weekly meeting. Your boss hasn’t moved from his position in the walkway.
8:55 AM hits and you grab what you need and head to the conference room. The tv was on in here as well. The others in the Marketing department filled in after you. Your boss, Scott, had yet to move from his place in the walkway. 9:00 AM hits and you continue small talk with your co-workers, most of the conversation is directed at the events in D.C.
9:05 AM your co-worker Ally sends a Slack message to your boss. He looks up from his phone to the clock on the wall and runs into his office. After a few minutes, he rushes out and into the conference room.
“Sorry, I am late everyone the Wife is just paranoid over this Alien Invasion thing. I can’t get her to stop texting me,” he chuckles.
Ironically this isn’t the first time he has been ‘late’ to a meeting after being on the phone with his wife an hour after work already started.
Suddenly you all get an Emergency Alert System notification on all of your phones.
‘International Emergency: Please tune in to your local news broadcasting station to receive an Emergency Report.’
Scott asks, “where is the damn remote?”
Ally hands it to him, he unmutes the tv.
The headline reads: ‘President of the United States has an Important International Government Update’
Live from Washington D.C.
On the screen, it shows the President of the United States, with the silver soldier, one in all black and the red-haired man from the video of the invasion last night.
“I have an important announcement. Earth has been contacted by people from space who call themselves the First Order. The First Order has informed me that they would like to peacefully work with Earth. As long as we fully cooperate as an entire planet no harm will come to any of us. Currently, our galaxy is at war, and the First Order seeks our help, in return of offering Earth protection from a group of people called the New Republic.
They have explained to me and the U.N. as a whole that the New Republic is not to be trusted along with their mercenary army called the Resistance. It is through my decision and the decision of the U.N. that we will cooperate and join forces with the First Order to be under their protection.
All citizens of Earth in the next 7 days must register with the First Order. You will be given a citizen number, some citizens may be reassigned to work directly with the First Order. All military personal will be reassigned to be under the First Order. You should not worry as most citizens will be unaffected, life will go on as normal. As long as citizens follow these orders and any orders to come, we shall be safe,” said the President. The President moved out of the way for the man in all black and with a black mask to move to the podium.
“I am the Supreme Leader of the First Order. I promise no harm will come to those who cooperate with us. We seek to peacefully transition your planet, as you know it Earth, to a primary First Order Planet. We value honesty and loyalty, along with hard work. We strive to rebuild the Empire and to maintain order in the galaxy. That is all,” The man's voice was distorted through the mask he was wear, it sounded mechanical or digital but it had a deep sound.
The broadcast cut back to the news anchor. “Currently all citizens of earth are to report to their a local city government building or town hall within the next 7 days for First Order registration and possible reassignment. All citizens must remain calm and do as the government has directed. Any questions or concerns will be answered by local government officials and First Order personnel. All foreign citizens to Canada will follow the same protocol as citizens. All citizens are asked to bring various forms of identification, such as a Passport, driver's license, birth certificate, social insurance number card, any immunization forms, military I.D. and more. You can find a full list of required documents at the CBC website or at canada.ca. As a reminder, all citizens are urged to stay calm and to follow all orders regarding and following First Order registration. Citizens are also advised to stay tuned to local news sources for any updates.”
The conference room sat stunned at the announcement.
“Well were f*****,” said Scott. “We are all surely f*****. Who are these people to think they can just take over like that? Do they think we are just going to sit by and let them brainwash us? Let them take everything from us?”
“I don’t think we have a choice, you heard the U.S. President, the U.N. is in agreement. This is for our own safety. If you are going to go against them and get yourself killed keep us out of it,” said Daniel one of your marketing co-workers.
“I’ll talk to Henry, and see if we can all take the week off, who knows this may be the last time we even get to see our families,” and with that statement, Scott left the conference room.
You sat there not really moving, processing what you just witnessed on the tv and the confrontation between Scott and Daniel. So did the rest of your co-workers. You could tell they were all in shock, the world as you knew it was about to change, the future had shifted.
All of your phones went off again. This time it was an email from Jonathan the CEO.
‘All employees will take today, tomorrow and next week off, in order to give proper attention to the government mandate. Please be safe and I hope to see you all come -Henry G. Wells’
Everyone in the conference room got up and went to their desks. The office was silent, except for the sounds of items being put away and people gathering their things. You were almost done getting ready to go when Carter appeared next to you.
They didn’t speak, for fear of being the first one to break the ominous silence. Carter just looked at you expectantly. You finished packing up and walked with them out of the office. The elevator was packed but silent. Everyone got off and walked to their cars. Carter followed you to yours.
Keeping their voice down, almost to a whisper, they asked, “I know I texted you this morning about all this but what do you think now? Do you want to go back to your place or mine?”
You thought about it for a moment before responding, “let’s go back to mine. We can discuss it from there.”
Carter accepted your response and went to their car to leave. You followed suit. Today was not what you expected.
Tags: @sheadre
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You ask I deliver — both tfatws asks in one!
tfatws weekly ask 1
i finally saw ep1!! i wont be able to see ep2 until thursday at the earliest but i already have some Thots on this ep. here are the ones I remember
first is, and i'm so sorry for this, a grammar lesson. an appositive is when you stick an additional phrase in between commas, dashes, or the like. i actually just used one! the "and i'm so sorry for this" in the first sentence of this paragraph is an appositive. thing is, most english speakers don't normally use them when they speak, only in writing. so i'm always on high alert whenever i hear somebody in tv or movies use one. (it's generally a marker of bad screenwriting). anyway there was one right in the beginning of the episode. the white army guy yelling at sam wilson said "first lieutenant Torres, our intel officer, will be helping on the ground." yeah so. the writing of this series started out on the wrong foot for me. but the rest of the episode was obviously tons and tons better (every interview i see with malcolm spellman makes me love him more and more)
the contrast between the opening minutes (falcon action sequence) and the rest of the ep.... i would 100000/10 rather watch a series with just sam and bucky dealing with life. i dont give a single crap about the flag-smashers or any of that. i just want sam, sarah & fam getting their boating business back on the ground & yeeting racist dickwads, bucky going through therapy and making amends, sam and joaquin being bros, sambucky homoerotic tension, etc.
the cinnamontography! wandavision mostly used cinematography to signify era n stuff. tfatws doesn't have wv's premise to go off of, so here's some tricks i noticed:
with sam there's obviously all sorts of shots with the captain america iconography next to his face, but he hasn't totally claimed it. there's the mural of steve rogers in the background; there's sam staring into the shield like it's a spectre of steve's face; there's sam looking into the exhibit, the shield and sam separated by glass and a layer of camera focus. steve is a constant spectre, always there, an idea, a symbol himself. sam's relationship with this iconography is distanced. he is separated by glass exhibit walls. by painting canvases. he doesn't yet feel worthy to take on that iconography. this whole thing was pulled off quite well but also a bit on-the-nose if only in quantity. there's just sooooo much fancy iconography stuff
speaking of the exhibit, there's something that i get real pissy about. it's when like, there's an action going on you're supposed to be paying attention to but the cinematographer is like,,,, hey! check out this location! or this headline! or something! there was a lot of that in the exhibit. the camera was like, you could focus on sam and rhodey's convo (which was fine but could have been so much better with an extra like 10 minutes of deep character study talk) but noooo you want me to look at the symbol for the united nations and read all the text about bucky who hasn't even showed up yet. shut up i know the lore and ill watch the shot-by-shot breakdown yt vids you don't have to make the shot this long jkdsalcjklasejf
my fav trick was with bucky and the therapist. i had seen a clip of the scene with bucky and the therapist beforehand and i thought the cinnamontography was super obnoxious, but then i was like, oh duh. the shots frequently change the distance between the camera and its subject. sometimes it's uncomfortably close and sometimes it's really far. a clear allegory for the duality of therapy, esp for bucky! therapy is an invasive process wherein he is ruthlessly examined, picked apart, and berated for his trauma (this therapist is crap in every way btw, "mean therapist" works for greg house and greg house only). so the camera goes close. it makes the viewer claustrophobic like bucky. but when he's like "no i haven't had any nightmares" the camera suddenly goes really far. we see bucky as this tiny head in the center of the bottom of the frame. we are distanced from him. he has pushed us away. we cannot see him. he lies because he is vulnerable. so yeah, amazing work there. the therapy scene was hard to watch on purpose!
did bucky slip a note to yori inside the dollar bill? bucky stop making me emooooo. the suuper awkward fake smile has me 😭 (veteran trying to adjust!)
mark my worrrrds when sam asks someone y the govt picked john “white bread” walker they’re gonna say “we needed somebody everyone can get behind....someone uncontroversial, someone everyone can see themselves in” like that exact racist dog whistle
tfatws weekly ask 2
just saw ep2 so im taking advantage of the 2 seconds i can be on tumblr without worrying about tfatws spoilers before new episode drops
when isaiah said "your people put me in prison for being a hero" and bucky thought "your people" means hydra. 🤦♂️
speaking of racism, the interplay between sam being Black (anti-Black racism) and sam being the Falcon (negrophilia, "can i take a selfie w you as i deny you a loan?") and the intersection between the two (j*hn lichrally called sam "steve's wingman"! he takes the crypto out of crypto-racist in like 2 seconds!) !!!!!!!! a Black celebrity's Black experience, the separation of man and identity!!!! (thinking about vanessa bayer in snl in that skit "beyonce is black" telling her black friend "you're not black, you're...my girl!")
after sam gets racially profiled by cops we see j*hn standing in front of cop cars cinematic parallels turns out j*hn is racist who knew
this therapist sucks major ass but she got bucky and sam together in the same room and ready to collaborate...that's something ig. it was lichrally couple's therapy she said she used her miracle exercise with couples sambucky antis get blended
bucky says "he was wrong about you so maybe he was wrong about me"...that's not how people talk. when therapist asks bucky, the guy who doesn't talk at all about himself, "y do you hate sam", the last thing bucky's gonna do is actually connect his hatred of sam to his own self-worth issues. bucky generally refuses to talk about himself, so why would he talk about himself in the one context that nobody ever links back to their own neuroses: hatred of other people? one thing human beings hate most is admitting we're wrong. admitting you hate someone because of your own issues? that's a major therapeutic step. bucky would absolutely have to be prompted to do that. even like one or two lines of dialogue more would have set up that line better. but in terms of the actual thought? an amazing way to take the sam/bucky relationship. bucky bases his self-worth on steve believing in him, and if steve is wrong bucky has no self-worth, so 1) he has to develop self-worth disassociated from steve's assessment of him and 2) he has to love himself before he can love sam, and 3) he has to realize that sam giving up the shield is a sign of sam's humility not his unworthiness.
conversely, we don't get into why sam hates bucky? yeah sam has the right to hate a guy that has tried to kill him (albeit while brainwashed) multiple times, and now shows up in his life just to bash him but. everything happens so fast i cant follow their relationship
in fact i dont feel like i understood much of anything. like y did bucky and sam go on that mission together? how connected are sam/bucky/joaquin with the government? doesn't bucky just want to retire now? literally what is everyone doing/feeling and why???
if battlestar becomes a knowing commentary on the black best friend stereotype i'm gonna party, but i dont expect much of that
the interplay between man and symbol. captain america is obviously a symbol. the shield is obviously a symbol. but steve rogers? the. man behind the cowl? he too seems to become a symbol. a paragon of a good guy, so good he's unreachable. steve was just a guy stop idolizing him the last thing steve would want is to be idolized
as the resident musician/music nerd on mcublr, 1) that captain america rally music slaps, but 2) re: the song at the end of the ep, if you're just gonna rip off mozart's lacrymosa then at least play mozart's lacrymosa. we wont blame you the lacrymosa slaps (if you dont know what im talking about go on yt and search it up youll recognize it fo sho
look i love enfys nest as much as the next guy but if tfatws is gonna get erin kellyman to play another innocent little gurl blackmailed into the fakeout-villain position (her text seemed to suggest as such) then 😡 like why can't women just....be evil? young, freckly, innocent-looking women? girls are not untouchable pure objects but full of rage and resentment just as much as anyone can be
bonus ep1 comment: bucky says about that senator whose car he hijacked, "she continued to abuse the power i gave her." fictionaldarling on yt say that he says "i" because he can't disassociate himself from his winter soldier persona which begets endless and senseless guilt. like dude. can i not be emo for like 1 second.
OKay. First off, as much I enjoy your sending it to me, what made you decide to send me these??
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TFATWS WA #1
Don't worry about getting this to me as early as possible. I usually don't watch the episode right away.
1. Cool writing lesson.
2. Everyone wants a comedy show [like Friends] about the MCU superheroes.
3. Cinematography is always a beautiful thing.
4. Sam definitely has to carve his own Captain America status for himself, outside of Steve's ya know everything.
5. They have to do that for people who was just now tuning in because they're in love with Sam Wilson or Sharon Carter.
6. I think the therapist was taking a 'tough love' approach for Bucky, because she likely has some very strong opinions about the literal assassin she's been assigned to give therapy too. She did not choose to talk to him, she was assigned that make that clear in the second episode.
And, Bucky isn't lying when he said it wasn't a nightmare. It wasn't a nightmare, it was a resurfaced memory. So, technically he wasn't lying - and yes, the camera does move away because while he's saying he didn't have a nightmare, he's not expanding on what actually happened - so, he's still pushing the therapist/us away.
7. Bucky, and Steve, have/had a TON to adjust to.
8. Yeah, I agree that will be the bullshit line they give. If they ever actually talk about it.
TFATW WA #2
Yeah, always got to take advantage of avoiding those spoilers lmfaoo.
1. Honestly, that line was double meaning. Both about White people and Hydra [which is made up of mostly white supremacists/nazis] So, the line is gesturing to both White People in general and Hydra assholes together. I think the terminology is “double edge sword”??
2. This whole paragraph structure confused me, ngl - so I'm going to answer it the best I can. I do like that they're not ignoring the fact that Sam being Black is 1000% the reason he's not the Official Captain America - because the gov't is racist as hell.
I also like the little lines about how they point out little things about Sam's Falcon persona, like that kid calling him 'Black Falcon' specifically and Sam's response show the split between Sam and Falcon itself.
John is a dick for calling Sam the wingman of Steve Rogers. Sam was a hero all on his own before Steve asked him to join up again. [Side note, it's lichrally??]
3. Exactly, the parallel of Sam being profiled and surrounded while just on the street and John being surrounded by fans and being able to spring Bucky with apparently only a few sentences shows a Loooooot
4. Honestly, at this point I wonder if she's not actually a therapist and is just an agent assigned to assess Bucky outside of an Official Building. I do know, however, that her 'look at each other and speak' exercise is actually a real therapy practice. It's just a little slower.
5. Actually, I think he would've blurted that out. That whole line. I don't think Bucky hates Sam. I think they could've done the scene better, but I think that had Sam prodded him/the therapist been more annoying Bucky would've lost control of his emotions and blurted out the whole "If he was wrong about you, he was wrong about me" but I feel like the writing for this show is just... not there. Sometimes you blurt shit when you get overemotional and I think that was what Bucky was supposed to be like.
6. I don't think Sam hates Bucky, I think he doesn't trust him though. I do wish they'd talked about that though. The whole 'talk to each other' scene should've been a LOT longer and a LOT slower.
7. Sam and Bucky's relationship is being fast tracked because they don't really know how to work the relationship out, writers-room-wise. Bucky is technically retired, but I feel like he's trying to live up to Steve's expectations and doing what Steve would've done and we all know that if Steve was there, Steve would've jumped on that plane with Sam. It looks like Sam/Bucky/Joaquin are a side-team based from Military services but as Sam says they're all free agents so...?
8. Sadly, They seem to just be propping up to be another stereotype.
9. Captain America is a symbol. Steve Rogers is a man. But now Steve Rogers is an idol because of all the shit he's been through and honestly, it's not a bad thing he's become an idol for people - it's using Steve as a reason to make White Bread Walker the next Captain that makes Steve's idolization so fucked.
10. I don't know anything about music so I have no opinion here, sorry.
11. Enfys?? Also, I think they did the whole Innocent Girl Thing as side commentary for Bucky lowering his guard about seeing a young girl rather than a guy.
12. Bucky is the Winter Solider. The Winter Solider is Bucky. That is how Bucky will always see it because although he was brainwashed, it was still him and he remembers all of it. When you have constant memories of something 'someone else' did, you tend to not be able to pull the two personas out of each other. I want Bucky to take up the title, White Wolf instead of Winter Soldier. Honest.
This is all my opinion, I’m honestly a little disappointed with the writing of TFATWS so far so... I’m not really optimistic about this.
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Books read in October
I read a paperback book for the first time in over three months months and was sharply aware that I couldn’t change anything about the way the text was displayed to make it more comfortable to read. I wondered, sadly, if I no longer like reading physical books.
Then I became engrossed in the story, and there were long stretches of time when I didn’t think about how I was reading a brick of printed paper. I turned pages as automatically and effortlessly as breathing. I think I was just out of practice.
This month’s Unintentional Colour Scheme: pink, purple and light blue.
Favourite covers: The Time-Traveling Popcorn Ball and The Other Side of the Sky.
Also read: “Good Neighbors” by Stephanie Burgis and Tiny House, Big Love by Olivia Dade. (And half a romance novel which I disliked and have no interest in remembering or reviewing.)
Reread: The last section of The Beckoning Hills by Ruth Elwin Harris. The middle section of Hunting by Andrea K. Höst.
Still reading: Between Silk and Cyanide by Leo Marks, and Angel Mage by Garth Nix.
Next up: The Switch by Beth O’Leary, and Hamster Princess: Little Red Rodent Hood by Ursula Vernon.
*
The Time-Traveling Popcorn Ball by Aster Glenn Gray: A magical story of time-travel and of friendship between eleven year old Piper, who has just moved into a new house, and Rosie, who lived in the same house fifty years earlier. It’s totally charming, and exactly the sort of story I adored growing up. Sometimes that makes me wish I could send a book back in time to my younger self, but I appreciated this book’s references to things that my younger self didn’t know about. I also appreciated how, even though I’ve read similar stories, I couldn’t predict how this one would end. That was very satisfying.
The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett: In 1547, Francis Crawford, the Master of Lymond, wanted by the Scottish government for treason, is back in Edinburgh. The audiobook was the perfect way to experience this! The voices the narrator uses highlights clues in the text, about who’s speaking or the subtext and emotional tones of a conversation, which helped me to follow the story even when I felt confused about exactly what was going on. I enjoyed the Scottish accents, the clever wit, the ambiguity about Lymond’s plans and motives, and the way many characters are very intelligent, perceptive people. I was interested in the historical political intrigue. I loved the twists and revelations, which are brilliant -- incredibly clever and satisfying.
“Good Neighbors” by Stephanie Burgis: The first “fantasy rom-com” about a grumpy inventor who, along with her father, moves into a cottage nextdoor to a notorious necromancer in his big black castle. I wasn’t expecting to read about Mia stitching up undead minions, but appreciate that Burgis doesn’t take this opportunity to give glory details. This short story was fun and satisfying, and I am looking forward to when the rest of this series becomes (easily) available.
Lake of Sorrows by Erin Hart: After Haunted Ground, Dr Nora Gavin heads to the midlands west of Dublin to oversee the evacuation of another body discovered in a peat bog. The setting is fascinating and I like the atmosphere -- this has a strong sense of both place and mystery. However the multiple murders meant there’s more unpleasantness than I’d prefer. But it’s probably not enough to deter me from reading the next book.
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams: Engrossing -- a poignant story of childhood during the late 19th century and womanhood in the early 20th century, and an absolutely fascinating insight into the decades-long process behind the first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s father is one of the lexicographers collecting and defining words for the Dictionary. Esme grows up with a fascination for words and begins to collect words that the Dictionary leaves out. I liked that Esme has people in her life who love and support her, but the ending is intensely sad. I’m not sure why that disappointed me. As an ending, it fits this story.
Taking Down Evelyn Tait by Poppy Nwosu: Australian YA. Lottie is furious that no one else seems to realise what Evelyn Tait, her nemesis (and stepsister) is like. Her best friend Grace is in love with Evelyn. Her teachers and her father tell Lottie she should emulate Evelyn. So Lottie decides that she’s going to do just that -- she’s going to be better than Miss Perfect. I thought this was a very realistic portrayal of a teenager’s relationships -- with family, with friends, with school and with herself. It’s amusing and, ultimately, believably positive. It captures Lottie’s perspective and her experiences in-the-moment so effectively and intensely.
Wired Love: a romance of dots and dashes by Ella Cheever Thayer (1888): Nattie, a telegraph operator who chats whenever she can “over the wire” with C., another telegraph operator miles down the line. I love stories where characters fall in love through exchanged messages. And the experiences of telegraph operators is absolutely fascinating -- simultaneously a product of the past and yet incredibly relatable from a contemporary perspective, because the internet and mobile phones mean we communicate so much through text. After Nattie and Clem meet, the focus shifts away from the telegraph office to antics at their boardinghouse, but the story continues to be fun and delightful.
Once Upon a Con series by Ashley Poston:
Geekerella: When Elle discovers her late parents’ cosplay costumes in a box in the attic, she hatches a plan to enter a cosplay competition and use the prize to escape her step-family. This contemporary Cinderella retelling about two teenage fans of a SF series Starfield is a romance-through-messages story. Elle uses her father’s old phone, so sometimes she gets messages from people about ExcelsiCon, the convention her father founded. One message sparks a conversation -- but neither she nor Darien realise just who they’re texting. As expected, this is fun and fandom-y, and it makes the coincidences and Cinderella moments feel believable.
The Princess and the Fangirl: At ExcelsiCon, Starfield actress Jessica Stone swaps places with a fan, Imogen. Jess needs to find a mislaid script before she’s accused of leaking it, and Imogen hopes for an opportunity to promote the #Save Amara initiative. I enjoyed how they both experience a different side of fandom. Imogen discovers the pressures of being a star, when con appearances are your job, and, away from the spotlight, Jess discovers how cons allow people to come together and celebrate things they love. My only disappointment was the way they both deceive Imogen’s fandom friend, Harper. I wish that had been handled differently.
The Little Bookshop at Herring Cove by Kellie Hailes: Unlike other books I’ve borrowed because they had “bookshop” in the title, this didn’t focus very much on books, nor did it describe its bookshop vividly. Sophie could have easily owned a different sort of shop without changing the plot, the setting or the atmosphere. This is a light-hearted romance about nice people in a generic seaside town -- not what I was looking for. I wanted more about books and a stronger sense of place.
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly (narrated by Cassandra Campbell, Kathleen Gati and Kathrin Kana): This begins with three different women at the start of WWII -- a teenager in Poland, a newly-graduated doctor in Germany and a wealthy consulate worker in New York -- and becomes about the Ravensbruck Rabbits, Polish political prisoners subjected to medical experimentation. Not what I expected or wanted to be reading (which is not its fault. I switched to the ebook, because I'm irrationally squeamish about some medical things and cope better when reading to myself). This story is compelling and does a good job of showing how the pain and trauma didn’t just end with the war. And it’s incredibly important to keep telling stories about distressing parts of history.
The Other Side of the Sky by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner: More or less the sort of story I expected from these two. Nimh is the Divine One in a world of magic and prophecy. North is a prince in a floating city of science and engineering. Nimh believes the gods fled into the sky thousands of years ago, and North believes no one still lives down on the surface… until he crashes his glider. I enjoyed this but don’t feel any emotional investment -- yet. I will read the sequel.
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade: April and Marcus keep fandom separate from their professional lives -- April to avoid negative comments, Marcus (an actor) to avoid violating his contract. So when Marcus sees a cosplay photo of April online, he doesn’t recognise his friend, he just sees a gorgeous woman getting nasty comments and invites her to dinner. I was hooked. As a romance, this didn’t always focus on the things I most wanted it to, but I understood why it made those narrative choices and liked how the characters resolved their mistakes. And I really liked it as a story about fanfiction and the way we tell stories in response to other stories.
Big Love, Tiny House by Olivia Dade: Lucy goes on a Tiny House Hunting show and drags along her best friend Sebastian. I’ve watched countless tiny house videos on Youtube, so it was fun to see tiny houses depicted in fiction -- although I was disappointed that all the houses are so disastrously bad. Beyond that, I have no strong feelings one way or another about this romance novella.
Memento: an Illuminae Files novella by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (narrated by a full cast): A bonus prequel, set aboard the Alexander prior to the events of Illuminae. The audiobook is so well done! Even though this is a short story/novella, I cared about the new characters it introduces -- I really like the epistolary format and how it requires the reader to fill in some of the gaps for themselves. (I think that’s part of why I love The Illuminae Files but so far have no strong feelings about Kaufman and Kristoff’s latest series.) And it’s always interesting to see more of AIDAN.
#Herenya reviews books#Aster Glenn Gray#Dorothy Dunnett#Erin Hart#Pip Williams#Poppy Nwosu#Ella Cheever Thayer#Ashley Poston#Martha Hall Kelly#Amie Kaufman#Meagan Spooner#Jay Kristoff#Olivia Dade#Stephanie Burgis
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Absolution
Summary:
noun: formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment
The Capital Wasteland lauded the Lone Wanderer as a hero, a Messiah, a savior who’s willing to give her life for the Good Fight. Beyond the legends, the propaganda, and the mythification that surrounded her legacy, there is only one person who knew her bare soul. She gave him his absolution, and now he will fight for hers.
Author’s notes: Finally, after months, I finally got to updating the fic! Schedule will be still irregular, but if things go according to plan the next chapter might come at around April 7. Thank you for staying tuned, please enjoy the chapter!
XXIX
January 14, 2278.
The green glow of Percy’s Pip-Boy illuminates the dark corridors of the Vault. I squinted, vaguely reading the time as two in the afternoon. She stands closer next to me. My partner does that whenever we explore vaults, and I can’t blame her.
Even I get creeped out by these damn things.
I didn’t know which was worse; the ones filled with insane clones who screamed “Gary”, or the one that filled my lungs with some kind of drug that made me and Percy trip out of our minds and almost hurt each other.
I don’t even wanna remember either. I must shift my focus on helping Percy find the GECK.
The ventilation is dead, and so is the thermostat, with the vault being in a state of decay for fuck knows how long. Some of these underground bunkers were built when I still had skin. Percy was extra cautious, and she was right to be. We faced several super mutants; Percy took care of them from a distance, while I offered additional firepower, ensuring none of those big green muties came within ten feet of her.
Reloading my shotgun, I hid behind a fallen desk as Percy fired another round from her Gauss rifle, nicking one mutant coming from my blind spot. The corner of my mouth tugs upward when I remember the first time we faced super mutants together, in the DC ruins.
I look at her now, and how she’d grown as a fighter.
Once all the muties in the area are dead, Percy sneaks over to a terminal, the glow of the monitor washing her helmet with a sickly green hue. My partner retracts her helmet, and begins typing away.
Shotgun still warm on my peeling hands, I’m alert to my surroundings as usual, though I can’t help but glance at her baffled expression, her frown frown deepening the more she reads the text on the screen.
“Shit. This isn’t science, this is sick! Charon, oh my god,” she whispers, eyes fixed on the terminal. “Some twisted scientist experimented on the vault residents to make the mutants. Vault 87 is where all the muties are coming from. They kidnap wastelanders and take them here and infect them with the FEV strain that doctor concocted.”
Expression grim, I turn to Percy. “Are you hinting that we blow this place up too, like Paradise?”
Sighing, Percy shuts the terminal off. “It’s too dangerous due to all the radiation in the area, and we don’t have the means to do it now. Maybe we can inform the Brotherhood.”
Knowing those tin cans, I roll my eyes at her. “If they decide to do something about it. They can’t even send their own men to fetch the damn GECK and they sent you.”
“My opinion of them is slowly getting worse as the days pass, that’s for sure,” Percy quips, powering down the terminal. “Fuckers have the most advanced weaponry in all of the Capital Wasteland next to the Enclave and they’re hiring a teenager and her ghoul partner as errand runners.”
At Percy’s remark, I chuckle.
“You mean the Wasteland Avenger and the Ghoul Reaper.”
“I thought you hated those nicknames,” she chuckles, the helmet of her suit protracting to cover her face once again.
“I still do, and Three Dog has no fucking problem using them, and us, to promote the Brotherhood. But those assholes don’t even respect you.”
Percy pauses, then her helmeted face turns to me. “Do you think he’s a little bit biased towards the Brotherhood?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, for starters, he preaches about how ghouls are people too, and he’s absolutely right about that, but he says nothing about the Brotherhood's bigotry against ghouls. Worse, a ghoul had been directly and indirectly helping them, and he’s still quiet.”
I rubbed my chin at her observation. “Huh. I’ve never thought of it- Percy, your six!”
She turns around, and sees the centaur approaching us, those god-awful tentacles writhing as it advanced. A few things unsettle me, seeing how I have to deal with my ugly mug whenever I look in the mirror, but those things? It makes the hairs on what little skin I have left stand.
It took two rounds to take it down, its head splitting like a rotten fruit the second time Percy shoots it. Disgusting.
Percy seems to be thinking of the same thing, recoiling and shivering. “Thanks.”
I grunt in response. “Let’s get a move on. I don’t wanna spend another minute in this damn place,” I muttered, and my partner nods.
We advance, taking care of any mutants we bump into along the way. Percy sweeps every area we go into for supplies, and terminals she can tinker with. I have a feeling that her accessing the files in this vault isn’t born out of her natural curiosity now. She’s seeking something.
A truth of some sorts.
On one particular terminal she accessed, she recoiled in horror, stumbling into me. I steady her, my large hands cupping her shoulders as she takes a sharp inhale.
“That bad?”
“Yeah,” she gasps. “Look.”
Barely making out the words, I lean over to read the text with difficulty. Thankfully, Percy spells it out for me. “These are death codes. They represent what the vault residents succumbed to. See that?”
She points at a string of text on the screen. “UD000.”
“Unexplained deaths. If I had to guess, they came up with this to cover up the fact that these people actually died due to the experiments their bastard scientists did to them. Now look at this,” Percy continues, typing away and accessing a list of the deceased. Eighty goddamn seven of those were unexplained.
A twisted feeling crawls up my spine, reminding me of the government program I was forced into.
??? ??, 2074.
Lined up, waiting for what’s about to come next, I stood beside Mag. My lanky limbs were tense, and the skin of my neck felt sickeningly tender, the collar around it making it bulge. From the corner of my eye, I look at my fellow trainees, all six of them.
Out of the hundreds of people they brought in, only the seven of us survived.
Sergeant Williams steps in the room, and all of us move in unison to salute, starched black uniforms barely creasing as we raised our arm for the gesture.
“Listen up, maggots! Out of the four hundred seventy three recruits we had for rehabilitation, only the seven of you didn’t wash out, drop dead, or ate a gun. Consider this the greatest honor, for you are now considered rehabilitated from commie propaganda,” he barks, barely concealing his Texan drawl, spittle flying everywhere.
“Consider this the greatest honor, for you are now ready to dedicate your worthless goddamn lives to the USA! You are to follow every damn command issued to you by whoever holds your contracts! You were trained for this singular purpose, are we clear?”
Our voices filled the room as we shouted “Yes sir!” in unison.
That was the day I was given my name.
The sergeant christened me as Charon, burning away whatever was left of Artyom Volkov, or so he thought.
Out of the hundreds of souls that got wasted from the Enclave’s bullshit, I somehow managed to survive, and I still intend to continue surviving. I have my partner Percy, that jackass DeLoria, and the dog now.
I pull myself back to the present as my partner shuts down the terminal, turning to the medical safe and taking whatever supplies we can get.
“C’mon. I don’t wanna linger here any more,” she whispers, a small tremble in her voice.
Following her to a corridor, the red lights glower over us almost ominously as we pass by several holding cells. The goosebumps on whatever’s left of my skin intensify. It was cold, desolate.
Until some crazy fuck lunged at us from behind a reinforced glass window and scared the living daylights out of Percy, who screams in surprise and bumps into me. Out of instinct, I catch her, and use my body to shield her.
The man continued to bang on the window as we both recovered from the damn surprise, a frown on my face as I took a closer look. The poor guy’s been driven mad from being held there. I doubt we can save him.
Of course, what happened made us look inside the rest of the holding cells.
I regret doing so immediately.
Centaurs, blobs of vaguely fucking human abominations and other unsightly shit occupied the holding cells. Percy is visibly disturbed, gagging, her helmet retracting just in case she vomits from the sights.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” she curses, sweat dripping from her brow despite the cold. “We should put them out of their misery.”
“Do you really want to deal with them right now?” I ask her as her eyes watered from the scene. “Let’s just come back for them once we retrieve the GECK,” I continue, gently placing my hand on her upper back.
Percy nods, and wordlessly forges on.
As we rounded a corner, we heard a brash voice ringing through an intercom.
“It can’t be!”
Both of us turn towards the sound. Slowly, cautiously, we creeped at the source, and we saw the unthinkable.
A super mutant is locked behind a holding cell. He’s standing next to the window, looking at my partner and I in surprise. Then, he continued talking. Not the broken speech you’d expect from a mutie, but full, actual sentences.
“Either you are quite real, or I’m going quite mad. Could you actually be a pure human?” the super mutant asks, gawking at Percy. Just to be safe, I remain at her side, still gauging if he can be trusted. “And this… is he another of the experiments, like me?” he continues, addressing my presence.
“Yes, I’m human. He is a ghoul. He’s like that because of the radiation and not an experiment, I’m afraid,” Percy replies, stepping closer to the glass to stare at him back, craning her neck to get a better view of him. What’s left of his jumpsuit are in tatters, and he loomed over the window, as big as the uglies who were dumber than him, if not even bigger. Even I had to crane my own neck upwards. This guy dwarfed me.
Damn, is this what Percy feels like when she’s with me?
“But what are you?” Percy asks.
“Me? You care who I am?” he asks, and I can almost hear Percy’s heart break at the question. He seemed like an outcast, locked away like this. I get the feeling he’s exactly on good terms with the mutants that roam the vault.
“I’m not used to pleasantries, forgive me. I’m more used to being struck around by the others,” he responds, pressing a meaty hand against the glass. Just as I thought. Guy’s an outcast.
“My name is Fawkes. I’ve lived in this cage… all my life.”
I looked at Percy and expected the sympathetic expression on her face. One look at that face and I already damn know she’s thinking of how to help him out.
“I’m Percy Zhou,” my partner introduces herself. “This is Charon.”
“A friendly mutie. Now I’ve seen everything,” I comment, and I hear Fawkes groan.
“Must you use that vulgar term?” he laments, face twisting in disdain, or disappointment, or an approximation of either seeing how the movements of his face muscles are limited. “Indeed I was born in the F.E.V. Chambers, but super mutant I am not. I prefer the term Meta Human. Suits me better, don’t you think?”
I was taken aback. I mean, damn, this guy sounds smarter than DeLoria. Hell, he sounds smarter than me. And that’s what makes him dangerous; if the dumb ones are a menace, imagine the damage a smart one can do.
“Percy, I think we should go. He might be dangerous,” I mumble, and Fawkes moves even closer to us, a shift in his tone.
“No, please! I haven’t had a single civil conversation all my life! Don’t go,” he begs, and though his voice is grating and booming like the rest of the super mutants, you can almost hear pain behind it.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Percy reassures him, pressing a small hand against the dirty window as a gesture of camaraderie. Then, she whips her head towards me, and whispers. “Charon, he’s lonely. Don’t you think he deserves even just a polite conversation?”
Grumbling, I fold my arms and nod. Percy smiles softly, and turns to Fawkes again. “Is your name really Fawkes? Like Guy Fawkes, the man who was involved in a plot to end his people’s persecution by assassinating a king?”
Fawkes seems delighted that Percy knew that tidbit of information. “Ah! You know your history as well! Yes, the name comes from a man who was willing to fight and die for what he believed in. I found it fitting, given my current circumstances. I’ve taken it from a historical entry in the computer,” he replies, gesturing to the terminal in his cell.
As they continued their conversation, I scanned for any threats that might befall us. What’s left of my ears picked up something from their chat, and my head whips towards Percy.
“I’ll get you out,” she said.
I frowned and folded my arms. “Percy, what the hell are you doing?”
“Charon, Fawkes said that the chamber holding the GECK is highly irradiated, and he can get it for us. Don’t you think it’s a good trade? He can have his freedom, and we can get what we came here for.”
“And I’m immune to radiation too. I’ll take the GECK,” I tell her, straightening my back subconsciously out of bravado. “We don’t know if he can be trusted. For all we know, the moment he gets out of his cell, he’ll attack us!”
“You’re not an errand boy, you’re my partner. That’s perfectly reasonable, but we’ve handled mutants before, Charon. If he gives any indication that he’s going to betray us, you’re free to empty your clip on him.”
This is starting to turn into an argument. I massaged my temples, frowning. “I’m not going to take that risk. I need to protect you.”
“What if he’s actually decent, and we just leave him here to rot and be tormented by the other mutants? You have your freedom now, Charon. Don’t you think he deserves his too?” Percy almost shouts, voice raised, and on her tiptoes.
Her words made me pause. Percy just had to go there, didn’t she? And it was effective too. I look at the big, green super mutant, or Meta Human, whatever he wanted to call himself, and a pang of guilt tugs at my gut.
Grumbling, I relent and nod.
This woman’s heart might be the death of her one day. Setting Fawkes free better be worth it.
#lone wanderer#female lone wanderer#charon#fallout charon#charon fallout#fallout 3 charon#charon fallout 3#fawkes#fallout fawkes#fawkes fallout#fallout 3 fawkes#fawkes fallout 3#fallout 3#fo3#charon x lone wanderer#oc: percy zhou#fanfic: absolution#series: through river acheron#fallout fanfic#writers on tumblr
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