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scribble-scrabbles · 3 years

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Writing Prompt - “Wrong Timeline”

[WP] You’re doing research in an old library when a stranger comes running up to you. They go to give you a hug while saying, “My love.” You flinch away and their expression falls. Under their breath they say, “Fuck. Wrong timeline.”

...based on these findings, we can conclude that the enzymatic reaction is stable at physiological pH, and thus…

My eyelids drag coarsely across my weary eyes as I blink up at the time. I'd been waist deep in journal articles in the ancient half of the university library for hours, and everything was blurring together, getting me nowhere. Another day wasted. I sighed, gently closing the journal and placing it back in it's spot on the table, where dozens of books and journals littered the workspace. I closed my eyes and inhaled the musky scent of old books and old buildings, letting my thoughts drift as they wished, relinquishing control.

I was 2 years into a PhD program, researching the biochemical processes of aging and going nowhere in the meantime. The whole field was chock full of pseudoscience and impossible to prove theoreticals, resulting in a metric fuck-ton of useless drivel that I needed to parse through while writing my thesis. Trying to be a “serious scientist” in a field of superficial commercial products was exhausting and disheartening. And yet, like all budding scientists, I felt my cause was righteous - that unlocking the mechanisms of aging would let us reverse senility and save those we held most dear. It was a pipe dream, and I knew it, but I clung to the hope that one day this would all mean something. I peered at the stacks on my table and sighed, rubbing my temples and feeling the headache starting there.

Time for a change of scenery. I thought to myself, standing and stretching. I was deep in the stacks of the older section of the library building, where largely forgotten volumes of scientific journals and old medical texts were housed. The room was largely silent, minus the hum of the ventilation system and occasional creak of the floor above me. I liked it here, wrapped in solitude and blanketed in the smell of books and old wood, as opposed to the laboratory or classroom where I was constantly asked questions I couldn’t answer about where my project was heading and what, exactly, it was that I wanted to accomplish here. A female in academia isn’t exactly new, nowadays, but a female in academia studying biochemistry in a laboratory that also tested makeup and skin care products was treated as a joke.

Slinging my purse over my shoulder, I turn to go back to the main library when I hear a faint “pop” somewhere in the stacks beside me. I know the odd pops and creaks this wing makes well enough, and I’m stuck with the sensation that I am no longer alone. I shift to see into the cluster of shelves and see a figure moving among the rows. How did someone get past me without me seeing them?

“Hello?” I call, “Sorry, I have a whole bunch of journals over here on the table, so if you can’t find what you’re looking for you may want to…” I trail off as the figure moves into the open. He’s a tall, slender college student, and he looks at me with a sudden warmness and recognition that sends a flush of embarrassment through me. I’ve never seen this man before in my life, but he’s looking at me as though I am his oldest friend.

“Oh thank goodness! My love!” He rushes towards me, moving to embrace me. I flinch backwards, suddenly alarmed, running through every potential acquaintance in my memory and coming up blank. I am absolutely sure I have never seen this man before in my life. He stops, his warmness instantly replaced by despair. “Fuck!” He exclaims. “Wrong timeline. Again.” He drops his hands to his pockets and averts his gaze. “Sorry to bother you, ma’am.” I stand in stunned silence, gripping my purse. His green eyes flick back up to mine, briefly, and I see what seems like true sorrow there.

“Does that line ever actually work on anybody?” He stares at me, confused. “Because, I mean, I have to admit it’s unique but a little bit over the top.” I smile at him, and after a moment, he returns it.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” He snorts out a short laugh, still obviously embarrassed. “You look just like someone I know.”

“Someone you love, you mean? She must be pretty special.”

The stranger looks at his shoes. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“Why did you think she’d be here? I’m pretty much the only one who ever uses this section of the library - at least for the past few months.”

“Ah, well..” he rocks back and forth on his heels, “She’s been working on this project for astrophysics and I thought I’d find her here.”

“Well, there’s your problem.” I laugh. “This is the medical wing.” He looks up sharply.

“Medical?”

“Yeah, pretty sure it has been for at least 2 years or so now. Probably a whole lot longer than that.”

“You’re in the medical field?”

“Well no, not exactly. I’m in a biochemistry program, but I’m studying the aging process and…”

“Oh, well,” he starts, then pauses, “that’s different.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I feel heat rising to my cheeks. “Because I’m a girl and I’m…” he holds his hand up soothingly.

“No, no! I just mean…” he trails off. I cock and eyebrow at him, waiting. He sighs. “I just mean, you’ve never done this before.”

“Well of course I’ve never done this before, it’s not like I have other PhD’s just lying around.”

He meets my eyes for a moment, seeming to weigh his options. Then he shrugs and says “I mean, in every alternative universe, I’ve never once seen you pursue medicine. It just...isn’t you. You’ve always been a physicist and a damn good one. I just have a hard time seeing you as anything else.”

“I….what?”

He sighs. “Your name is Rachel Turner. You grew up in Huntsville, Alabama where you were supposed to get interested in rocket science and physics. I don’t know what diverted that, but I know that in every other timeline, you still love books, terrible movies, and have a soft spot for old things and history.” I shift uncomfortably and he laughs softly. “And when you’re uncomfortable you push your hair back behind your ears like that, and shift your weight to your left foot.” I straighten, and consciously shift my weight back to my right. “You’re stubborn and fierce and have never encountered a puzzle you couldn’t tease apart.” The twinkle in his eyes falters, slightly, “Until you open the portal.”

“Was I your TA or something?”

“What?” He looked confused.

“Is that how you know so much about me? Are you stalking me?”

“What, no, I…”

“Because if you did you’re a terrible stalker. I only lived in Alabama until I was 3, we moved when my father died and my mother needed to go back to Ohio to find work and be closer to family.”

“Your dad died?”

“Yeah, early onset dementia.”

“...which is why you’re studying aging.” He nods, satisfied. ”Look, I’m sorry for scaring you and wasting your time. I’ll let you get back to your work.” He motions to the stack of books on the table.” He turned to go back into the stacks.

“Wait!” I exclaim, before I know what I’m saying. He looks back at me over his shoulder and smiles.

“You may want to find Sam Albertson over in the physics department.” He says, turning back to walk away. “But he’s not going to remember any of this though.”

I stood, stunned and watched him disappear into the stacks. I heard another faint “pop” a few seconds later and the sound snapped me out of my confusion. I rushed into the stacks after him, but found nothing. I searched and searched, feeling along the walls, looking for hidden openings, until the library lights flipped on and off flipped on and off three times, signaling that it was about to close. I returned to my table, looking all around for any clues of the stranger’s identity or where he could have gone. Had I really just met a time traveler? Could such a thing really be possible?

I shook my head, thinking it was more likely that I had just fallen asleep while reading my articles.

As I made my way back to my apartment, I remembered the name he had given me and decided to search for “Sam Albertson” on social media. I nearly dropped my phone when the stranger’s green eyes looked back at me from his profile picture.

“That little fuck.” I whispered, heading towards the physics department. He was a graduate student, so maybe he would be there this late in the evening. He was published on a paper describing faster-than-light travel models, which gave me a place to start looking. My heart thundered in my chest, a mixture of rage and embarrassment, as I ran up the steps of the physics building. I looked briefly at the directory, then started making my way towards the quantum research labs. Halfway down the hall, my annoyance became tinged with terror. Why was I looking for my stalker in a mostly empty building at night? What if he was dangerous? My steps slowed as I came to the door. Did I really want to do this? I froze, suddenly acutely aware of the insanity of my undertaking. My thoughts whirled through a hundred possible scenarios, not one of them favorable. I turned, and started quickly back down the hallway. All of this could wait until morning, until after I had eaten and slept and had a clearer head.

The door opened behind me, and I reflexively quickened my steps.

“Can I help you?” A voice called after me. I stopped, chagrined, and slowly turned to face him.

Behind me stood Sam Albertson, just as he had stood before me in the library a few hours ago. Except, not the same, I realized, as I took him in. In the library, his hair was longer and shaggier, and his face held a whisper of stubble that made him look older and more rugged. The Sam in front of me now was clean shaven, with short, but still unruly hair. His green eyes looked at me curiously.

“Sorry.” I muttered. “I was just…” He took a couple of hesitant steps towards me. My mind was racing, trying to make everything make sense.

“Are you okay?” He said, curiosity shifting to concern. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I shook myself, trying to fit the pieces together. You’ve never encountered a puzzle you couldn’t tease apart, the stranger had said. The stranger. Not the man in front of me. I suddenly knew exactly what I was going to do. I straightened and extended my hand. “I’m Rachel,” I said. “I’m thinking about changing my major.”

Sam grinned, taking my hand. “Oh yeah, what are you interested in?”

I grinned back. “Tell me about alternative universes.”

#reddit #writing prompt #creative writing #time travel #alternative universe #alternative timeline #short stories #fiction

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theastrophilearchitect · 3 years

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WandaVision series review part 2.

Last week, I posted part 1 of my WandaVision series review, containing my initial thoughts and breakdown of episodes 1-3 (part 1 can be found here). This post, part 2, will contain my breakdown of episodes 4-6, and part 3, to come next week, will contain episodes 7-9 and my final thoughts.

So, let’s go.

Episode Four: ‘We Interrupt This Program’ This is the episode where everything comes together; where things start to make sense. This episode debuted on January 29th, finally giving us some answers after the first and second episodes were released on the 15th. It has a runtime of 34 minutes, which is fairly on par with the episodes up to here, though this episode doesn’t follow the sitcom format, but feels more like your classic MCU content.

The episode opens with a previously on WandaVision recap, which seems to very much focus on Geraldine, the meaning of which soon becomes clear. And we enter a black screen which slowly fades into the form of Geraldine, with voices from the movie Captain Marvel--the voices of Carol Danvers, Maria Rambeau and Maria’s daughter, Monica, which just confirms fan speculation that Geraldine is, in fact, a grown-up Monica Rambeau, and we must currently be seeing her after the Blip--after Bruce Banner’s snap in Avengers: Endgame returned all those Thanos killed at the end of Avengers: Infinity War.

Monica sits in a hospital room, but the bed beside her is empty, then she leaves the room to panic as people coalesce throughout the hospital. She asks about a patient in room 104, then one of the doctors recognises her, and tells her her mother--Maria Rambeau--who presumably was who she was in the hospital for, is dead, and about the Blip, because it seems to Monica it’s only been a few minutes. And we have the Marvel logo, after an introduction instead of right at the beginning as in the sitcom episodes.

Cut to the headquarters of SWORD, standing for Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Division, which is quite clearly just talking about Vision. Honestly, though, Marvel’s obsession with making their acronyms real words--I’m talking to you, SHIELD and HYDRA--is mildly irritating because of how unrealistic it is. Just a me-gripe.

Monica fails to access the building, her badge apparently outdated, and we’re introduced to Tyler Hayward, acting director of SWORD in Monica’s absence. Hayward brings her into the building and declares Monica grounded, able to only carry out terrestrial missions, on her mother’s order for if the personnel who disappeared in the Blip were to return. He then assigns her to an ‘FBI thing’. Cue the wonderful Jimmy Woo.

Monica is welcomed near the sign for Westview by Jimmy Woo, the FBI agent who dealt with Scott Lang’s house arrest in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Jimmy tells Monica a witness he had in Westview has gone off the radar; that everyone seems to have forgotten the man’s existence. And they approach two policemen stood by the sign, who claim Westview doesn’t exist. Ah, Wanda’s lovely magic. Jimmy also says he can’t contact anyone on the inside.

‘This isn’t a missing person’s case, Captain Rambeau, it’s a missing town. Population 3,892.’

And Jimmy claims the town itself won’t let him in to investigate, but though the town seems empty, it is visible, and there doesn’t appear to be any physical barrier. Monica sends in a helicopter-style drone, and the camera feed glitches like a television screen as it nears the town, then the drone disappears--the toy helicopter Wanda found in episode 2. Monica approaches the town, and a television-barrier becomes apparent. Monica touches it, and is pulled inside, hence becoming Geraldine within Westview in episodes 2 and 3.

Cut to a day later, the glorious Darcy Lewis from the first two Thor movies, Jane Foster’s (Thor’s love interest’s) intern, now graduated and with a PhD in astrophysics, sits in a van with several other scientists of different fields. Outside Westview, SWORD has set up a kind of military base. Darcy takes some readings and gets ‘a colossal amount of CMBR’ (Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, which is one of the things used to prove the Big Bang Theory), and notices ‘longer wavelengths superimposed over the noise’, and has the idea to set up and link a vintage television to it.

Cut to night, we watch a man in some kind of protective suit crawl through sewers into Westview, the border of which transforms him into the beekeeper from the end of episode 2 which prompted Wanda to rewind and skip to the 1970s.

Darcy’s TV picks up the signal, and plays the previous episodes of WandaVision in their sitcom format, pointing out Vision is meant to be very, very, very dead. We see that the hands the camera zoomed out to reveal watching the show at the end of episode 1 belong to Darcy.

At this point, SWORD starts putting together a wall and whiteboard of their information, and it’s really fun to see them asking all the same questions we as an audience are. Why hexagonal shape? I take it this means the border is hexagonal, not that we’d know that as an audience. Why sitcoms? I know the answer, but only because I watched episode 8 already. Same time and space? and, of course, Is Vision alive?

It’s really fun knowing the answers.

Jimmy and Darcy watch Monica as Geraldine, and question whether she’s playing along or if she’s oblivious. With some science-y Darcy stuff, we also see that the voice in the radio in episode 2 was Jimmy, but we see the episode glitched itself out of that situation, like what SWORD is calling the ‘Westview anomaly’ is righting itself when they interfere.

As they watch Wanda give birth, they expect the anomaly to break, as all the other people are real people brainwashed, but then the babies are born, indicating Wanda has some kind of creational power (foreshadowing). Geraldine mentions Ultron, and as Wanda tells her to leave, the episode again glitches to the credits, not quite as we saw in the actual episode.

It then cuts back to that scene in episode 3, but not through the old TV as Jimmy and Darcy are watching. I didn’t notice whether or not it did this in episode 3, but the aspect ratio has increased, more to that typical of a modern show, in contrast to the smaller ones of the early sitcoms. And we watch Wanda threaten Geraldine with her magic, glowing red as it should--the event episode 3 emitted, instead giving us Vision’s perspective. Wanda tells Geraldine to leave, and blasts her through the walls of the house, and straight out of Westview, hence the end clip of episode 3. Wanda repairs the wall just before Vision returns home.

Something curious though--we know when SWORD sends things, including people, into it, they transform to fit the style, like the drone becoming a helicopter, the man becoming a beekeeper and Monica’s style changing to fit the decade, but when Monica comes out of Westview, she still looks like she did in the 70s episode.

Cut back to Wanda inside Westview, and she sees Vision walking, but apparently dead; skin-tissue-stuff pale, eyes blank and a hole in his head where Thanos took the mind stone, but he acts normal. Then Wanda sees him again looking normal. Vision tells her they don’t have to stay here if they don’t want to, and Wanda replies that they can’t; that this is their home--’Oh, don’t worry darling. I have everything under control.’ Which affirms Geraldine’s claim at the end of episode 3, that it’s all Wanda. (I’m going to refer to her as Geraldine when talking about episodes 1-3 and Monica when talking about 4-9, even though it’s the same character.)

Wanda and Vision sit down to watch TV and the credits begin, though Vision seems a little apprehensive.

And we finally have some answers about what the hell has been happening in Westview, and the vaguest idea how it fits into the MCU timeline as a whole.

Episode Five: ‘On a Very Special Episode...’ This episode was released on February 5th, with a runtime of 41 minutes, longer than any of its predecessors but still not exceptionally long. This is likely so it can follow the 1980s sitcom format with the inclusion of the SWORD parts. Note at this point, when the decade shifts, it occurs as something goes wrong: we shift to the 1960s when Mr and Mrs Hart question Wanda and Vision about how they came to Westview; we shift to the 1970s when they see the beekeeper, and we shift to the 1980s as Wanda forces Monica out of Westview.

So, we have the recap; nothing particularly noteworthy about it or its focus.

Shit, I just realised Tony’s snap at the end of Avengers: Endgame is now part of the Marvel logo sequence. Ouch.

Music plays, and we open to Tommy crying in a 1980s-style house. This episode is mostly formatted off Full House, in which Elizabeth Olsen’s elder sisters, identical twins Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, played the youngest daughter, Michelle Tanner. Unrelated to the plot, but a fun aspect.

Billy and Tommy won’t stop crying, so Wanda tries to force them to sleep with her powers, but it doesn’t work, and we still don’t see the red sparks, but, again, that’s an 80s-style special effects thing. Also, aspect ratio in this episode: a little larger than in episodes 1-3, but not quite episode 4′s. Funny thing here is that episodes 1-3 were shot and edited in such a way the episodes registered on Disney+ as having a larger ratio, giving a black border around the frame on the screen, but it doesn’t have that in this episode. Just a technical thing I’m not sure of the cause of, though in retrospect may simply be to convey the size of TV screens in the eras.

Also, can we take a moment to appreciate Wanda’s curly hair and floral waistcoat in this episode?

Agnes shows up to help them with the babies, to which Vision is apprehensive, and after a moment, she says to Wanda: ‘Do you want me to take that again?’ as though they’re following a script. This continues, Agnes asks if they should take it from the top, which confuses Vision, but Wanda just laughs it off. This is interesting, because the only other person we’ve yet seen break character is Geraldine, who entered the anomaly after its initial formation. Then Agnes shifts back into character, and the laugh track picks up again.

Vision questions Agnes’s comments aside with Wanda, but Wanda brushes it off, and acts as though nothing happened, and his suspicion only grows.

Then suddenly the twins are about... five? I’d say five. I don’t know. As Wanda and Vision realise this, Agnes says, ‘Kids. You can’t control ‘em. No matter how hard you try.’ There’s a running theme of children in this show--obviously the children themselves, ‘for the children’ in episode 2, and Mrs Hart’s questioning of when they were going to have children in episode 1. This semantic field fed theories that Wanda was literally doing this ‘for the children’, and this comment from Agnes could suggest the children will be the downfall of the anomaly--Wanda brainwashes the adults, but not the children.

The introduction to this episode is really cute. It has a mellow pop song playing over the top, and the 80s thing of using old photos of the characters; they’ve used actual photos of Elizabeth Olsen and the actors playing the twins, and mildly horrifying photoshopped versions of Paul Bettany as a child, but made into Vision. These photos of Vision were leaked before this episode came out, and it’s just hilarious to me because Vision was born an adult. And, assuming WandaVision takes place in 2024, after Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home, Vision is literally nine years old as it takes place.

There generally isn’t much to pick apart in the theme songs themselves, but the general idea of this one is ‘we’re making it up as we go along,’ which could be an interesting insight into Wanda’s state of mind--we’ve somewhat villainised her up to this point, creating the anomaly and controlling people, but the stance should be taken that she just doesn’t know what she’s doing, and is trying her best, selfish as her goals may be.

Cut to Hayward questioning Monica about her memories, and she describes a hopeless feeling--grief--controlling her--Wanda’s grief at the loss of Vision in the fight against Thanos. They take some kind of scan of Monica’s body and draw blood, but have to redo them because the results came out blank--foreshadowing.

Hayward describes Wanda as ‘the principal victimiser’ instead of one of the victims of whatever was happening in Westview, jumping straight to villainous conclusions.

A point here: in a recap of the ‘subjects’, Jimmy Woo states Wanda was born in 1989, which is actually a change to canon, because in the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, set in 2015, she was 16, born in 1999. Questionable. Still not sure why they did this, but this makes her 29 in WandaVision, excluding the years of the Blip, where she would otherwise be only 19.

Hayward asks Jimmy if Wanda has an alias--in the comics, Wanda Maximoff is Scarlet Witch, but this alias has not yet been stated in the MCU--foreshadowing. Hayward focuses on her failures, such as working against the Avengers upon her introduction and the destruction she caused in Nigeria at the beginning of Captain America: Civil War. He then calls Wanda a terrorist based on how Monica described her experience in Westview.

Hayward then reveals to us footage of Wanda entering the SWORD headquarters where Vision’s body was kept, and shattering glass to access it, broken into pieces, as though to steal it, which Jimmy doesn’t believe because it’s a violation of the Sokovia Accords, and Darcy wonders what will happen when Vision learns the truth.

Wanda comes into the kitchen to find Tommy and Billy with a dog they found and want to keep. Wanda is apprehensive about letting them keep him, Agnes shows up with a dog house, and Wanda decides to create a dog collar, right in front of Agnes. Vision calls her out on this, and she says she’s ‘tired of hiding’. They name the dog Sparky, then Wanda sides with Vision that the twins aren’t old enough to care for him until they’re ten years old, to which they just age themselves up again. Agnes jokes that the dog should stay the same size, but still doesn’t question the magic.

A note here: Wanda skips decades when things don’t go her way, and the twins skip ages--Wanda is in control of the things around her, but not herself, as they are in control of themselves.

Meanwhile, Monica tries to figure out how she could re-enter Westview, and Darcy starts to call the anomaly the Hex because of its hexagonal shape. And they discuss that Wanda must be wielding ‘an insane amount of power’ to maintain the Hex and the twins, beyond anything she’s ever displayed before. Monica mentions she could’ve taken down Thanos on her own if he hadn’t used the infinity stones, and Jimmy mentions he thinks Captain Marvel came close, to which Monica stiffens, and dismisses the conversation about her--something has clearly happened between Monica and Carol since the events of Captain Marvel.

They go a lab to run an analysis on the 70s clothes Monica wore when she came out of the Hex, and discover they’re bulletproof, like the vest she wore when she entered, and they establish Wanda isn’t creating anything, but is rewriting reality.

Vision goes to work, where he helps his co-worker Norm with his computer, and they get an email from SWORD about Westview, mentioning Darcy and radiation. Everyone in the office reads it out with Norm, but they laugh at it, while Vision is suspicious. He turns off the computer with his powers, then does the same zap-thing to Norm, who suddenly comes back to his regular consciousness, outside of Wanda’s control, and begs for help. He tells Vision he has to stop ‘her’, that ‘she’s in [his] head’. Vision zaps him again, and he goes back into sitcom-brain.

Wanda tells the twins Vision went to work, which they question because it’s Saturday. Wanda tells them he just needed a distraction because they weren’t ‘on the same page’. She talks about family, and tells them that her on brother is far away.

Sparky the dog barks at something outside, and we cut to a drone’s view. Monica has sent in an 80s drone, something the Hex wouldn’t need to rewrite, and we see that’s what Sparky barked at. Monica tries to speak to Wanda, and through the drone’s view, but not the broadcast’s, her eyes turn red, and Hayward orders an operator to ‘take the shot’, though Monica didn’t know it was armed. They take the shot and the drone’s camera cuts out. Alarms blare, and a worker claims ‘there’s a breach.’

We go outside to the border, and Wanda exits the Hex, wearing what she wore in the climax of the Infinity Saga, dragging the drone behind her. This is confusing to watch back, because I know in retrospect she wore civilian clothes when the Hex was created, and was left in them when it was destroyed. Shooters aim their guns at her, and she throws the drone to Hayward’s feet. As she talks, what she had elft of her accent in Avengers: Infinity War has returned. She tells them to ‘stay out of [her] home,’ that ‘if [they] don’t bother [her], [she], won’t bother [them].’ Monica talks to her, and she prepares her magic. Monica asks what she wants, and she replies ‘[she has] what [she wants]. And no-one will ever take it from [her] again.’

And ‘for the children’ clicks--Wanda clearly created the Hex to have a life and a family with Vision. Wanda uses her magic to turn the guns onto Hayward, but they don’t shoot as she returns to the Hex.

This scene is important, because it shows us for certain that Wanda is aware of what she is doing, and shows for certain that she is in control, where before we had substantial evidence, but nothing this undeniable.

And cue this episode’s advert, for Lagos Brand paper towels--’For when you make a mess you didn’t mean to.’ This is a reference to an event at the beginning of Captain America: Civil War, in which Wanda accidentally killed twenty-six civilians in Lagos, Nigeria.

We cut back to the Hex, where Sparky has disappeared. They cross paths with a mailman, who says ‘Your Mom won’t let him get far,’ another subconscious reference of one of Wanda’s cast to her control. They find the dog dead in Agnes’s yard, who says he ate her azaleas, which poisoned him. The twins are upset, but Wanda stops them aging up, and gives them a lecture about grief. One of the twins tells her she can ‘fix the dead,’ which Agnes does question. This is a reference to her apparent resurrection of Vision, but Wanda tells them death is inevitable and forever; blatant hypocrisy.

Later, Vision asks Wanda how the boys are, and Wanda says ‘life moves pretty fast out in the suburbs’, a reference to the show’s time-jumping. Vision tells Wanda of his conversation with Norm, and tells her he was in pain. Vision says ‘You can’t control me the way you do them,’ to which Wanda replies, ‘Can’t I?’ and the credits roll, but sitcom-style credits, not the WandaVision credits.

Wanda tries to leave, and Vision asks about the ‘Maximoff Anomaly’, but she feigns ignorance. He accuses her of controlling the town, the credits stop, and they rise into the air with their powers. Wanda says she did it for both of them, Vision asks what’s outside of Westview, but she doesn’t answer. Vision says he can’t remember his life before Westview, but Wanda reassures him that he is her husband and a father; he asks why there are no other children in Westview, which she again dismisses. Wanda exaggerates the insanity of what he thinks--gaslighting--and says she doesn’t know how it started in the first place.

The doorbell rings, which she says she didn’t do, and Wanda opens the door to Pietro Maximoff, the brother who she claimed was ‘far away’, but we know to be dead. Except it isn’t Aaron Taylor Johnson’s Pietro, from Avengers: Age of Ultron, and it’s not just a recast. He’s played by Evan Peters, who plays the version of Quicksilver in the X-Men movies, which is clearly intentional.

This led to speculation about the opening of the multiverse, and even though WandaVision doesn’t directly go that route, Wanda’s next appearance is going to be in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

This episode was an excellent one, and we’ve truly begun to build towards the climax.

Episode Six: ‘All-New Halloween Spooktacular!’ Released February 12th, this episode has a still-leaving-a-lot-to-be-desired 37 minute runtime, and is one of the ones primarily featured in the trailers, which showed Wanda and Vision dressed in mock-up costumes of their character design in the comic books, which is especially exciting for Wanda, because, not only has she not yet been officially called ‘Scarlet Witch’, she also hasn’t had an official costume, with most of her other outfits in a darker red, but not the comic Scarlet Witch.

Recap of the relevant information, roll the Marvel logo, and this episode opens with a fast-paced theme song, which shows Wanda for the first time with the red effects of her magic in the Hex through the sitcom camera. This song mentions ‘illusion’ again and again, then moves into a rather elongated verse of repeating ‘let’s keep it going’, implying Wanda is now simply trying to extend the time she has with her family.

The twins introduce the episode in that 1990s break-the-fourth-wall style, they play with Pietro, and Wanda comes downstairs in her costume, claiming to be a Sokovian fortune teller. Pietro says it’s ‘worse than the costumes Mom made us the year we got typhus,’ and we cut to a really brief flashback of Wanda and Pietro trick-or-treating; Wanda has her hair in a braid and Pietro has an eyepatch, which some thought might just be an Easter egg of the two dressing as Black Widow and Nick Fury, but looking at it now, it seems more incidental.

Vision then comes downstairs in his costume, and says he’s only wearing it because Wanda took all his other clothes out of his closet, and that it’s a Mexican wrestler. He tries to leave for the neighbourhood watch, to which Wanda starts, ‘No, that’s not what you’re supposed to--’ as though she’s beginning to lose control over the Hex. Pietro dresses in a mock-Quicksilver costume, and dresses Tommy in something similar, referencing that Tommy, in the comics, also has superspeed.

Wanda tries to test Pietro on a memory of their childhood, which he calls her out on, and she asks why he looks different, but he says ‘you tell me’, again implying this is her doing. Wanda talks to Herb, one of the neighbours and a member of the watch, who tells her Vision isn’t on duty.

Cut to Vision near the edge of town, and he sees people in their yard repeating the same motions over and over, as if Wanda has less control over the outskirts of town.

Cut to this episode’s commercial: this one is animated, of a boy of a deserted island, and a shark jumps out of the water, and gives him a ‘Yo-Magic’ yoghurt to eat, which the boy takes, but is too weak to open. Time passes, and we watch him starve--’Yo-Magic! The snack for survivors!’ This could be referring to Wanda’s inability to save the people around her with her magic--she couldn’t save HYDRA’s other test subjects, then she couldn’t save Pietro, then Vision.

Wanda asks Pietro what happened to his accent, and he asks her the same question, then tells her his memories are fuzzy. Tommy then goes to get candy, and reveals his superspeed powers. He and Billy then go off with a promise not to ‘go past Ellis Avenue.’

Darcy, Jimmy and Monica hack into Hayward’s data, and discover he figured out a way through the boundary, and that he’s tracking Vision and the people in his vicinity. They notice the people at the edge of town are hardly moving. Cut to Vision, who realises the people even further out are completely stagnant. He then morphs from his human costume to his typical Vision-self, flies upward and observes the town, noticing a car at the edge, which he flies down to.

We see Agnes in the car, dressed as a witch and still, but not unresponsive like the others. She tells him she got lost--’In the town you grew up in?--and he zaps her the way he did Norm in the last episode. She recognises him as Vision, an Avenger, but he doesn’t know what an Avenger is. She tells him he’s dead, and explains Wanda’s control, then laughs manically until Vision zaps her again, and she once again becomes the Nosy Neighbour, then turns the car and drives away. We zoom out to the street sign: Ellis Avenue.

Darcy sees Monica’s bloodwork in Hayward’s files, and tells Monica she can’t go back into the Hex as she wishes, because she’s already been through the boundary twice, and had her cells rewritten molecularly--Ms Marvel!! But Monica dismisses it, and tells Darcy she won’t stop until she helps Wanda.

Pietro accuses Wanda laughingly of only avoiding traumatising the town’s children by only bringing them out for a holiday cameo, but praises her, because ‘Families and couples stay together, most personalities aren’t far off from what’s underneath, people got better jobs, better haircuts, for sure,’ and tells her he’s impressed, but asks how she did it, which she doesn’t answer, then tells him she doesn’t know how she did it. She just remembers loneliness, and numbness.

She then looks back to Pietro, and sees him with bullet wounds in his chest; dead the way she saw Vision in episode 4, but she blinks it away.

Darcy watches Hayward’s tracking of Vision, and he approaches the barrier, sees it in all its television glory. Then he pushes through. He strains to make it through, and SWORD agents pull up on the other side. He nearly makes it, cape all that’s left, but it clearly painful, and he falls to the ground. Chunks of him tear off and fly back through the barrier. Meanwhile, Billy realises something is wrong with an echo of Wanda’s power, hearing Vision’s yells, and runs to Wanda.

Hayward handcuffs Darcy to stop her trying to get him to help Vision as he comes apart. Wanda asks Billy where Vision is, to which Pietro says, ‘Hey, don’t sweat it, sis. It’s not like your dead husband can die twice.’ Her eyes turn red and she sends him flying into a haystack. Billy focuses, and sees the SWORD soldiers, says he thinks Vision’s dying, and Wanda freezes everything around her, then sends out a blast of power.

Outside, the boundary of the Hex moves, expanding, and the SWORD agents panic to get away as Vision is re-encapsulated, but Darcy is handcuffed, and t passes over her. The SWORD camp turns into a circus, but Hayward, Monica and Jimmy get away--slightly wondering why Monica tried to when she was trying to get back in.

And the episode ends there. I don’t really have much of a conclusion to this episode--in truth, not too much actually happened aside from Pietro and the twins, but we are so building to the climax. This is also actually furthered by the absence of a laugh track in this episode, though this is also due to the fact they became less common.

And that summarises my breakdown of episodes 4-6. Part 3, with episodes 7-9, will come next week!

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themusicplayedherlife · 4 years

Text

Unrequited (Part 4)

pairing: eventual!bucky barnes x reader; one-sided!bucky barnes x natasha romanoff; one-sided!reader x steve rogers

word count: 3.6k +

warning: just a flirty tony; an annoyed bucky; and some cute moments

a/n: a new challenger appears! and you spend more time with bucky than you have in the past years

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“Do you really have to come with me?” You murmur, keeping your distance from Bucky.

He tries to close the distance between the two of you with long, quick strides, but you only keep widening the gap. “Will you stop?”

You breathe out through your nose harshly. “Not until you tell me why you need to come with me!”

With a hand on your forearm, he manages to gently tug you and turn you in place. “If you’d just—there.” You shake your arm free from him and he takes a deep breath, but he relaxes when you don’t make to move away from him. “Thank you,” he says exasperated as you cross your arms. “I need to see what your T.A is teaching you so I can help you better. Besides, Natasha is going to be there, too, right? And you two usually go out for lunch after this, right?” Your eyebrow quirks. How did he know that? Natasha maybe? “Listen, I get to help you and I get to spend time with Natasha. Two birds with one stone.”

You drop your arms, reluctantly relenting. “Yeah, okay, but what if my T.A doesn’t let you stay?”

“Come on, who wouldn’t give in to this face?” he says, motioning to his smolder that quite frankly makes you want to shiver.

“My T.A,” you deadpan. Janet can be laidback most of the time, but she’s also very strict when she needs to be.

He stuffs his hands into his pockets and grins. “You want to bet?”

“If I get in trouble—“

He rolls his eyes. “Just trust me, will you? Now come on, before we’re late.”

The rest of the walk to your class is relatively quiet. You still try to keep your distance from Bucky as you walk, but you’re no longer running away, at least. He doesn’t say much, he mostly stays glued to his phone and occasionally says things like: “did you know that Steve is lactose intolerant? Loves ice cream to death, but makes him sick,” and “once when we were seven, Steve tripped on air and fell into a puddle in front of his crush.” It’s out of the blue, but it fills the silence and makes it less uncomfortable. Doesn’t make you want to blurt out things you’ll regret.

Your classroom is on the first floor of the Science building (also known as Stark Hall), and it’s still somewhat empty by the time you arrive. A few students are already sitting, and they greet you with smiles, but eye the man behind you with curiosity.

Your T.A still hasn’t arrived nor has Natasha. Bucky settles in next to you in the middle row, taking off his backpack and placing it on the table to take out a notebook and pencil.

“What are you doing,” you ask curiously.

“I’m going to help you,” he says as if it were the most obvious thing.

You’re not sure whether to glare at him or just ignore him. “By taking notes?”

“Yes.”

“But I’m taking notes?”

He flashes you a glare. “Just relax and trust me, will you?”

You purse your lips. “Fine,” you grumble, taking out your own notebook and pencil.

The clock ticks with the seconds; a couple of your classmates are talking about a frat party they had been invited to and a few others are actually talking about their homework.

Bucky is doodling in the margins of his notebook—Stars, the moon, and just random things. Your eyebrows furrow as he adds detail to the moon, making sure to shade in the craters. Now that you think about it… didn’t Natasha mention a long time ago that he was majoring in Astrophysics?

The door creaks open and your best friend walks in. You elbow Bucky, ignoring his quiet protests to greet your friend, but the way she’s frowning and typing away furiously on her phone tells you that maybe it’s best to not interrupt her until she notices you.

She lets out a sigh and puts her phone away, and her green eyes lift to meet yours. She smiles weakly and sits down next to you. “Hey.”

“Hey, you okay?”

“I’ll tell you about it later,” she says and you nod, but your worry doesn’t melt.

Did something happen in her History lecture? Or maybe with her dad? No, he doesn’t like texting. He prefers to call. Her mom on the other hand...

“Nat,” Bucky greets her, breaking your train of thought. Bucky, shit, that’s right. You had momentarily forgotten about him.

Surprise colors her face, meeting his eyes then yours—you shrug—and then his again. “Bucky, what are you—“

“Good afternoon, class,” an unfamiliar voice drawls as the door opens. Your classmates all share a look of bewilderment while Bucky lets out an exasperated groan. “Let’s get this discussion started, yes? I’m recovering from a raging hangover and I really want to get the hell out of here to get some good ol’ junk food.” The unfamiliar man removes his glasses and your classmates begin to whisper excitedly.

“Why didn’t you tell me Tony Stark was your T.A?” Bucky hisses lowly just for you to hear.

“Because he’s not!” You whisper back, your eyes never leaving the front.

You’ve only ever seen Tony Stark from afar, never having a chance to talk to him, not that you wanted one. He’s intimidating, too charming and friendly; a little too eccentric with a passion for sarcasm, and the rumors surrounding him? Yikes. But that doesn’t mean you don’t admire him. I mean… how could you not? He’s only a year older than you and is already working on his Masters (or was it his PhD?)! And yet, here you are, barely getting through your third year of college.

Tony’s eyes roam the classroom as he hangs his sunglasses from the front of his black t-shirt. His eyes are droopy—tired, but the bright mischievous glow in them and the smirk on his face contradicts the tired shape of his eyes. “Janet is out sick for today, but she’ll be back to teach you younglings next week.” He hops onto the simple desk in front of the class. “For now, you’re stuck with me.”

“Great,” Bucky murmurs.

You raise a brow. “Do you know him?”

He leans closer to you to answer your hushed question. “Who doesn’t?”

“I meant personally.”

Bucky tilts his head, scowling. “Unfortunately.”

Discussion is uneventful, to Bucky’s apparent surprise; Tony goes over the differences between Ionic and Covalent bonds, explaining them a lot better than Pym did, and then hands out a sheet that, “Janet wants you to turn in next week. Said it counts as attendance or something.”

“What exactly were you expecting?” You ask him as you pack up your things.

He shrugs. “I don’t know. Stark can be a wild card.”

“Now that’s a compliment for the ages.” Tony stands in front of the desk Bucky had been sitting at with an amused smirk on his face.

You’re pretty sure Bucky didn’t mean it is a compliment, but Tony sure as hell doesn’t seem to care.

“Stark,” Bucky greets him dryly.

“Barnes.” Tony’s eyes drift to you and Natasha and the glint in his eyes brightens. “You never told me you had such good looking friends. Anthony Stark, but you’re welcome to call me Tony. Everyone does.”

Before you or Natasha can introduce yourselves, Bucky cuts in. “Will you quit it?” Bucky nags. “Won’t Pepper be mad when she finds out you’re flirting like a dog again?”

The glint in his eyes dulls and you swear you see his jaw clench, but it’s gone as soon as you blink. “I’m proud to announce I’m a single man, Barnes.” His eyes leave Bucky and stop on you, his earlier charming smile growing wider and brighter. “You are?”

You introduce yourself, a little starstruck and a little wary.

His hand reaches for yours and you’re thrown off by the fact that he doesn’t shake your hand, he kisses it instead. “Charmed.” He slowly releases your hand and you don’t know whether to giggle like a schoolgirl or retract your hand and burn it. “And you are?”

“Natasha Romanoff,” she says, offering her hand. “If you kiss my hand, I swear to god I will end you.”

Tony laughs, it’s deep and charming, and really, really beautiful. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” He shakes her hand before his eyes find you again, and you almost flinch back, completely unprepared for his gaze. “Now that I know Janet has such good looking students, I think I’ll be sitting in on her discussions more often.” His smirk is lopsided and teasing, nothing like Steve’s, but it definitely has its charm. “Actually. I have a party at my place this upcoming weekend.”

“When don’t you?” Bucky mumbles, but it goes ignored by Tony.

“Why don’t you guys come along? Bring a couple of friends?”

Your eyes shift from Bucky to Natasha and to Tony again. “I—uh…I don’t know…”

Natasha shrugs, wrapping her arm around your shoulder. “Why not? Destressing before finals might be what we need.” Finals isn’t for another couple of weeks, though?

“She gets it.” He grabs one of the leftover sheets Janet had given him for today’s class and plucks a pen out from his bag to write down his phone number and address. He hands it to you, but it’s Bucky who takes it, plucking it from out of his fingers. “I’ll see you Saturday. Ladies,” he addresses you and Natasha with another charming smile before his lips straighten as he looks at Bucky, “Barnes.”

You watch as Tony saunters out of class, head held high and glasses once more covering his face.

Bucky sighs. “He’s too much.”

You couldn’t agree more.

“Eccentric, maybe, but I think he’s all right,” Natasha says, taking the sheet from Bucky. “I’ll keep this.” She flings her bag over shoulder, ignoring the protests he murmurs. “I have to get going. I’ll see you back at the apartment.”

“We’re not going out for lunch?” you ask her, trailing after her dumbfounded.

She offers you a small smile. “I’m not really feeling up to it today.”

Just like she won’t force you to divulge information, you won’t either. “We will talk later though, right?”

“Yes, I promise,” she says her smile growing a little brighter. Her eyes drift behind you. “Bye, Bucky.”

“Bye, Nat.” Why does he sound like someone shot him in the chest?

“Well,” you start when she’s out of ear shot, “there goes your plan.”

“Yep,” he says after a long sigh.

“What now?”

He mulls it over. “I guess now we get lunch.”

That’s not what you meant, but lunch does sound good.

You just didn’t think it’d be together.

Bucky takes you to a small diner called Stan’s just a couple of blocks away from campus. There’s a lot of cheesy memorabilia in the diner; paintings of vintage muscle cars and a weird painting of the last supper with dogs hanging on the wall; and a jukebox in the corner, a little worse for wear, but still playing some tunes. It’s noisy, but not too noisy to the point you could get irritated. The waitresses are sweet and nice, smiling in the direction of the door and welcoming the customers when the jingle announces an arrival, but they seemed to have been especially sweeter to Bucky. He must be a regular.

You find yourself sitting across from him, watching him order for the two of you. He knew this place better than you anyway, and at this point? You’d eat anything if it meant spending less time with him.

His gaze moves from the retreating waitress to you and you quickly avert your eyes to stare out the window, but it’s too late. He caught you already.

“What?”

You reluctantly look at him and whisper. “Nothing.”

“Clearly not nothing if you’re staring at me that intensely.”

Were you? You flush. “Sorry.”

He sighs. “Why are you always so nervous around me? I thought we were making progress. You were talking back this morning.”

“It’s not just you, Bucky.” You frown, trying to find the right words. “I’m… I’m like this with everyone who aren’t my friends.”

“And Steve,” he adds for your just as the waitress brings you your drinks and straws. He thanks her with a smile and you do the same after sending him a quick glare. “What about him do you like, anyway? I mean I know he’s a great guy and all, he’s my bestfriend, but…”

“Does it matter?” you ask him, a little wary as he opens his paper straw with a push on the table.

“Well no,” he says, adding a lazy drawl to his vowels. “I’m just curious.”

“Why do you like Natasha?”

“What isn’t there to like? She’s hot, funny, and smart.”

You scoff as he takes a sip of his coke, mimicking his earlier actions to get your straw out of its pocket. “That’s it?” That's all he can say about Natasha? A person he claims to like?

His eyebrow quirks. “Yes?”

Wow. You feel offended for her! “That’s literally three general things that anyone could say about her! About anyone!”

“All right,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “Then what would you say about Steve?”

You smash the paper encasing the straw between your fingers, rolling it into a ball. “I like… I like that he’s sweet. He cares a lot about the people around him, and even strangers.” A smile blooms on your face, remembering how you once caught him helping an elderly woman walk to the bus stop by campus. “His jokes are a little outdated, but they make me laugh.” You lean against your elbow as it cradles your cheek. “And when he smiles? It’s always a little crooked, like a mischievous kid trying to get away with something. And his laugh? It’s so loud and genuine and just so sweet—“

“Okay!” Bucky interrupts, a little disturbed and perturbed. “Okay, I get it! You really like Steve.”

Oh, shit! You drop your hand onto the table and straighten. This is so embarrassing! You really fucking need a filter! Heat crawls up your neck when you meet Bucky’s gaze, cloudy blue eyes narrowed on you, and you quickly look away. “Right. Sorry.”

“How do you know all that about Steve, anyway? You two barely hang out.”

You frown, mouth latching onto your paper straw and trying to ignore the itch behind your ear. “And you've hung out with Natasha more and you only had generic things to say about her!”

“That’s because I don’t know what I like about her,” he admits, voice a little strained. “I just do. And sometimes people don’t need a reason to like someone, okay? They. Just. Do,” he emphasizes his last three words.

You’re not sure if he’s trying to convince himself or you. “I guess…”

A plate of burger and fries is placed in front of you and you look up to thank the waitress only to take a double take. She’s not the same one as the one that took your order, she was blond, this lady is a brunette.

She smiles at you kindly, but something about it is almost gleeful.

Why does she seem so familiar?

She places the other plate in front of Bucky as she says, “Here you are, hon.”

Bucky’s eyes skirt from you to her, and then his face breaks out into a warm smile. “Thanks.”

“You know,” she says, blue eyes returning to you, and this time they’re much more than gleeful, they’re wicked, “this is the first time James has brought a date to the diner.”

“Date?” you sputter, feeling the familiar heat crawling back up your neck. “James?”

“Mom!” he practically whines.

“Mom?” you repeat, wide eyes shifting between the two. Is that why she looked familiar? Well, now that you’re getting a closer look, she does look a little bit like Bucky. Those blue eyes are almost exactly the same, the only difference is that hers are a little brighter in color, leaning away from grey, but the shape is the same. Their eyes a little hooded and a bit intense. Hair, the same dark color with waves trying to fall over their eyes. And unlike Bucky’s sharp edges, she’s softer, rounder in the face and sweeter in expression. You wonder if the rest is all from his dad?

She laughs joyfully. “Don’t be embarrassed, James! No shame in—“

“Okay, thank you, mom, but we’re not here on date!”

“Your son is tutoring me, ma’am,” you say politely after introducing yourself by name and you can physically see the excitement drain out of her face.

“Oh.”

Bucky rolls his eyes, but it’s all good nature if the small smile still pressed on his lips is anything to go by. “Well, gee, ma, don’t get too excited.”

She shakes her head. “Can you blame me?” She turns to you conspicuously, wanting him to squirm in his seat. “This boy used to be such a serial dater back in high school. Was worried he’d never find the one. Come college and it’s as if he’s on some kind of dry spell!”

You were not expecting her to say that, so the laugh that comes out of you is just as unexpected and definitely not appealing in any way.

Bucky flushes, mouth hanging open. “Ma! Seriously?”

She shrugs and laughs. “All right, I think I’ve embarrassed you enough. Have a good time and don’t do anything I would, you hear?”

You could practically hear Bucky slamming his head against the table. “Ma!”

“Enjoy, sweetheart,” she says directed at you with a smile and a wink. “Lemme know if you need anything.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Winnie.”

You blink. “Huh?”

She points to the name tag on her uniform with the name Winifred written in cursive. “Call me, Winnie, hon.” You nod and she flashes you another smile and a wink and turns away.

“Wow,” you say with a breath, eyes following after her.

“I know.”

You reach for your drink, still in disbelief at the woman who was so ready to embarrass her son—you liked her. “Your mom, huh?”

He picks up a fry. “Yep.”

“James?”

He finally lifts his gaze to meet yours. “First name. Bucky is part of my middle name, Buchanan.” Wait. What? He mirrors your own look of bewilderment. “You really didn’t know?”

“Uh. No?” Should you have?

He chews on the fry contemplatively and his eyes burn into you. “Huh. Thought you did.”

Your eyebrows knit together as you squirm in your seat.

He waves his hand dismissively. “Forget it. Doesn’t matter.” He leans against the table. “Nobody calls me James other than my mom and sisters, anyway.”

“Not even Steve?”

A grin slips on his face. “Who do you think was the first to call me Bucky?”

“Guess he started a trend, huh?”

He tilts his head up as he grin is slow and lazy. “Guess so.”

You finally dig into your food, melting when the well seasoned fries crunch and then melt into your mouth. These are the best fries you’ve ever had and no one can convince you otherwise. “So, what now?”

Bucky is mid burger bite, pausing for a moment to stare at you. “Hm?”

“What is your next plan?” You ask, slowly and unsure if you even want to know. “Since today’s fell through.”

His nose scrunches as he presses his lips together tightly, burger landing back on the plate. “I don’t know. I have to think about it.”

A part of you isn’t sure whether you should suggest it, but you do anyway. He’s helping you, right? So, you should help him, right? “What about Tony’s party?”

He visibly flinches—maybe you shouldn’t help him. At all. “Stark parties are overrated.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know,” you admit, leaning back into the padding of the booth. “I’ve never been.”

“Wait. Seriously?” Why is he so surprised? That’s kind of offensive.

“No!”

“Why?”

You shrug, a little skeptical of his interest. “I don’t know? I just never had the chance, I guess? But that’s not important!” There are more pressing matters to talk about, at least for him. You might not be good at helping, but you need to at least keep trying to get better. “For your next plan, wouldn’t it be the perfect place to get Natasha alone? Butter her up a bit?”

His face contorts, lips disappearing and eyes narrowing in your direction. “At a Stark party? Yeah, you’ve definitely never been.”

You resist the urge to roll your eyes. “Isn’t it like any other party?”

He snorts. “Think of the party you had and multiply that by one hundred.”

You’re almost afraid to ask. “Are they really wild?” I mean, you’ve heard stories about how notorious they are, but you thought they were just that—stories.

He nods slowly.

Okay, now you’re conflicted. “Knowing Natasha and Pietro, they're going to force me to go.”

“If it’ll make you feel better, Sam will most likely convince Steve to go,” he offers with a teasing smile.

You squirm, excitement bubbling in the pit of your stomach. “Really?”

“Yep,” he pops the p. “This could be your chance to get closer to Steve! Maybe flirt a little.”

Heat blooms in your chest, the excitement dying down. “I don’t—I don’t actually know how to flirt.”

“What?”

“I’ve never flirted, so I don’t—“

“Everyone,” he emphasizes, “knows how to flirt.”

“Yeah? Well not me.”

“Okay, tomorrow, noon, meet me at my apartment.”

Your eyes nearly buggered out—did he really—“What?”

“I’m going to teach you how to flirt,” he says, confident and proudly with a toothy grin that has you wanting to smack it away.

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes #reader insert #marvel imagine #unrequited series

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misssophiachase · 4 years

Photo

Klaroline AU Week - Day 3: Crossovers/Fusions

He’s the new hotshot recruit at the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School and unbeknown to him, she’s his new instructor (you know how this goes). Lines from the movie in italics (because I’m no aeroplane expert).

Take My Breath Away

Sunday 20:45: Raised By Wolves Cocktail Bar, San Diego, CA

“I start my new job tomorrow, Kat,” she insisted. “I should be home in bed preparing.”

“You do that every night, roomie,” she shot back by way of response. “And drinking wine and watching the Notebook for the millionth time doesn’t count as an activity.”

Caroline was an Astrophysicist and had been working in DC for the past ten years. She’d recently moved cross country to take a contract position at the Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego and had reunited with her best friend Katherine who was a Professor at the University of California in La Jolla.

It made sense for them to move in together, but Caroline was realising that Katherine was one of the nosiest roommates ever.

“This is a completely new role for me,” she argued. “I need to be on my game, these officers are some of the best in the Navy, Kat. They don’t call it Top Gun for nothing.”

“I’m jealous that you get to work with gorgeous men in uniform and I have to lecture children.”

“I never understood that. What is it with everyone’s obsession with men in uniform?”

“Well, maybe you just haven’t seen one in the flesh yet?” His crisp but attractive English accent wasn’t enough to stop the rolling of her eyes.

“And I suppose you’re going to remedy that situation,” she drawled, turning in her chair and meeting his dark blue eyes for the first time.

She wanted to deny it but she couldn’t. This guy was hot, with or without the white, naval uniform. Sexy stubble, sinful, crimson lips and dirty, blonde hair that curled teasingly over his ears was only the beginning, he had a pair of rogue dimples that she swore had superpowers they were that disarming.

“Alright, love?” Caroline felt Katherine nudge her subtly in the ribs. She needed to retain what composure she still had.

“I think you got the wrong location, the fancy dress party is on campus,” Caroline teased.

“Cute,” he shot back, licking his lips teasingly. She should have been repelled but this guy had the opposite effect and Caroline knew it had nothing to do with the uniform.

“I need to apologise for my friend,” a fellow officer, also in head-to-toe white offered. “He can’t help himself, he was dropped on his head as a baby.”

“Oh, I know what this is,” Kat realised. “This is your little, two-man act to try and pick up poor, unsuspecting patrons.”

“Gee, tough crowd,” he murmured in his friend’s ear, although they could still hear him. Officer Number One’s gaze hadn’t wavered, it was still firmly trained on Caroline.

“I’m Lieutenant Klaus Mikaelson, this is Enzo St John,” he offered by way of introduction, his eyes slipping lower and perusing the low-cut, black top Katherine insisted she wear. Caroline could feel an unmistakable blush forming in that region and hoped he wouldn’t notice. He was an arrogant ass for sure but her body obviously didn’t care about that.

“Lieutenant?” She asked, wondering if this cocky guy was one of her students because if so this was going to be really awkward come morning.

“We’re Naval Aviators,” he said it slow like she couldn’t understand the concept. “At Top Gun.”

“Impressive,” Katherine cooed, her voice laced with sarcasm, not that Officer Number Two noticed.

“I go by Lucifer though,” he shared, they both looked at Enzo curiously.

“Did your mother not like you?” Kat asked, mouth agape. Unlike her friend she hadn’t been around the Naval culture Caroline had.

“It’s his call sign, like a nickname,” Klaus explained, again slowly. Caroline had to stop herself from telling him where he could shove his mansplaining.

“My surname is Saint, get it?” The girls just looked at each other thinking that was just weird logic.

“And what is your, call sign is it?” Caroline bluffed.

“The Original,” he smirked, knowingly, tipping his hat in her direction.

“The Original what?” She asked, unable to help herself.

“Well, how about we get to know each other and I’ll tell you all about it, love.”

“Wow,” she muttered, Caroline was surprised there was any oxygen left in the bar his ego was that inflated. “Unfortunately, I’m going to have to pass. In fact, we were just leaving, right Kat?”

She picked up her purse and grabbed Katherine’s hand. She might have wanted to be there but Caroline had no interest in staying any longer.

Monday 05:45: “The Strand” Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA

“Tully! Tully, come back here, girl!” He heard a melodic voice before he saw her.

Running along Pacific Beach was his rare downtime these days. Flight school was intense, not that Klaus minded. He was a fighter pilot first and foremost and he was living his dream.

He liked to think he was confident, most people considered him arrogant but Klaus could practically fly in his sleep it was that deeply ingrained in his life, so too the Navy.

The first time he’d faltered since arriving was the previous night. Klaus considered himself good with women but his performance at the bar was woeful. If he wasn’t aware, Enzo had been reminding him ever since. He’d never had a woman literally leave a place because she didn’t want to talk to him.

Klaus knew he’d acted stupid, peddling those tired lines but he had a habit of doing that when he liked someone. And he liked this girl, that much was clear given he’d been thinking about her ever since. Not that he’d probably ever see her again.

The golden retriever bounded over to him, rubbing against his bare legs and almost tripping him in the process. Klaus stopped to lean down and give her a pat. “Hey, girl.”

He looked up into the familiar, blue eyes of the woman from last night. Dressed casually in form-fitting jeans and a white t-shirt, those blonde waves hanging loose over her shoulders, Klaus didn’t think she could look any better than the previous night but he was wrong.

“Lose something?” He asked, noting just how adorable she looked flustered, her creamy cheeks tinged pink from the exercise.

“You again?” she asked, obviously only just realising who he was. “I didn’t recognise you without your costume.”

“There’s that sarcastic wit I’ve missed,” he chuckled. “I take it this is a friend of yours.” Caroline eyed the dog in frustration as she rubbed up against him lovingly.

“Traitor,” she muttered. “Tully is my friend’s dog and as I’ve discovered this morning has a mind of her own and enjoys flirting with strange men.”

“I’m not a stranger,” he drawled. “You know my name but I never caught yours, love.”

“That’s not my name,” she shot back. Klaus felt his muscles going cold so started stretching on the spot, his shorts riding up even higher. He could see her checking him out like she had last night. He still had it.

“Well, if you told me then I wouldn’t have to call you that,” he grinned.

“I better get going, don’t want to be late,” she replied, hooking the leash to Tully’s collar.

“Late for what? Or is that just another excuse to get away from me?”

“I start a new job today, I need to be on time.”

“Well good luck, love,” he offered. She didn’t bother to argue about his endearment and just shook her head. Everything in Klaus wanted to ask her out again but knew it would probably be pointless.

Monday 09:45: Miramar Naval Air Station, San Diego, CA

“Civilian specialists are here because they are our very best source on enemy aircraft. One of our very best is Caroline Forbes. She has a PHD in astrophysics and is a civilian contractor so you do not salute her. But you better listen to her because the Pentagon listens to her.”

“Good morning,” she greeted them. Klaus was seated in the front row with Enzo not quite believing what he was seeing.

Turns out her new job just happened to be him. He was torn over whether it was a good development or a bad one. Hooking up with your boss was obviously frowned upon but at least this way he knew where to find her.

The way she looked in that fitted, black, skirt suit with her wavy hair pulled back into a bun at the nape of her creamy neck was messing with his composure and looking around the room he could see his fellow students thought the same thing.

A ripple of jealousy came over him and Klaus didn’t like it one bit.

Somehow he’d managed to lose track of what she was saying, something about F5 and MIG 28 Aircraft but he’d been too busy to really take much notice.

“However, the MIG 28 does have a problem with its inverted flight tanks. It won’t do a negative G pushover,” she explained.

Enzo nudged Klaus. Only a few weeks ago they’d seen a MIG 28 do exactly that during a training exercise which had attracted enemy aircraft and nearly killed them for their trouble. They continued to discuss it between them.

“The latest intelligence tells us the most it will do is one negative..” she paused mid sentence.”Excuse me, Lieutenant, is there something wrong?”

“Yes ma’am, the data on the MIG is inaccurate,” Klaus replied, noting her adorable but puzzled look.

“How’s that, Lieutenant?”

“Well, I just happened to see a MIG 28 do a...”

“We,” Enzo interrupted.

“Uh, sorry, Lucifer. ‘We’ happened to see a MIG 28 do a 4g negative dive.”

She cocked her left eyebrow, almost like she was trying to work out whether he was telling the truth or just messing with her.

“Where did you see this?”

“Uh, that's classified.”

“It's what?”

“It's classified. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.”

He sent her his very best smirk and given her less than impressed expression, Klaus knew he was going to have to do a lot more work to win her over.

But he was more than willing to try.

10:45

“Ma’am? Excuse me!” He called out. She continued walking towards her car, choosing to ignore him not interested in a discussion right now, it was already extremely awkward enough. “Caroline!”

She finally turned, realising he was going to continue to make a scene until she acknowledged him. Of course she’d expected him but what transpired after she hadn’t. Caroline was trying to work out if it was all arrogant bluster or something entirely different.

“Yes, Lieutenant?” She answered officially, trying to ignore just how good his khaki uniform brought out his Californian tan. He came closer, and even though he wore Aviators she could tell his eyes were trained on her with that same intensity she remembered from the previous night.

“You tricked me.”

“I did no such thing.”

“You knew I was at Top Gun, you knew I was your student but yet you didn’t feel the need to tell me, why is that exactly?”

“I felt that it was inappropriate to disclose my identity at that time.”

“But yet it’s okay to just show up in class like that? What if I’d said something in front of everyone.”

“I knew you wouldn’t,” she murmured. “You want to be here just as much as I do because we love what we do and this, whatever this is, doesn’t factor into that.”

“This? You rejected me last time I checked,” he replied. “Twice.”

“Is that why you did that before in class? Was it some form of petty payback?”

“It wasn’t petty,” she gave him a look which clearly said she didn’t believe him. “Okay maybe a little bit petty but it did actually happen, Enzo has this great polaroid you’d love.”

“But apparently it’s classified though right?”

“How about we go out for a drink and I’ll tell you the redacted version?”

“I am not going out with you, I don’t know how many times I have to say it.”

“Why not?”

“I’m your teacher, you’re my student. This can’t happen because it is all kinds of wrong, Lieutenant .”

“I don’t like to take no for an answer and, just so you know, I don’t give up easily, love.”

“Is that so?” He sent her his best smile and finally removed his sunglasses, those blue eyes roaming over her body before eventually landing on her face. Caroline was trying to pretend he had no effect on her whatsoever but she could feel her resolve fading fast.

“I’ll see you in class tomorrow, ma’am.” He walked away, the spicy scent of his aftershave hovering in his wake.

Caroline had no idea what she’d gotten herself into but at the same time it excited her too. It had nothing to do with men in uniform, just one man in particular.

#kcauweek2020 #klaroline fanfiction #klaroline drabbles #misssophiachase #take my breath away #top gun #fusion

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starlingsrps · 3 years

Text

leo kelly character dev.

BASIC INFORMATION

full name: leonard harris kelly

reasoning: nope. none at all. he wishes.

nickname(s): leo and you should really only ever call him leo

preferred name(s): leo

birth date: september 2

age: thirty

gender: male

pronouns: he/his

romantic/sexual orientation: heterosexual

nationality: american

ethnicity: caucasian

current location: los angeles, ca

living conditions: look, he's got an obscenely large whiteboard and a bed. the rest is willa's call.

BACKGROUND

birth place: boston, ma

hometown: marblehead, ma

places lived: cambridge, ma; houston, tx; los angeles, ca

social class: upper middle

education level: degrees in astrophysics from MIT; post-grad research at NASA; currently fourth year phd student at caltech in astrophysics

father: martin kelly

mother: elise kelly

sibling(s): charlie, 28; emma, 25

birth order: oldest

children: no; not violently opposed to the idea but also not super anxious for it to happen. he can wait.

pet(s): nah

other important relatives: legions of cousins on both sides

current relationship: just moved in with willa james so it's going great.

OCCUPATION & INCOME

primary source of income: student stipends

secondary source of income: research

content with their job (or lack there of)?: it’s pretty great, as long as he doesn't think about the student loan payments when this is all over.

past job(s): he's taught and he's researched. he has not done much else. like he bussed tables at the yacht club in high school?

spending habits: god, the budget spreadsheet. it lives on google docs and he does look at it while out sometimes.

most valuable possession: all in his noggin but mostly his external hard drive.

SKILLS & ABILITIES

physical strength: decent.

defense: he’s just going to walk away

speed: fast

intelligence: disgusting. he skipped a year and a half of h high school, does the sunday new york times crossword in pen, and has done extensive work at nasa but still cannot be left unsupervised when he's high because he will let a squirrel in the apartment to hang out.

accuracy: dead on but the rat bastard knows how to use physics to his advantage.

agility: nimble af

stamina: boundless

teamwork: bossy. very bossy.

talents: teaching, vision, and spatial reasoning. he fit all of his belongings in a hatchback to move in with willa.

shortcomings: when he's dumb, he's real dumb.

language(s) spoken: english, some mandarin he picked up from his roommate at MIT

drive?: yes and prefers it to most things, even in la. plenty of time to think and listen to podcasts and think.

jump-star a car?: yep

change a flat tire?: yep

ride a bicycle?: yep

swim?: yep

play an instrument?: nope

play chess?: yes but he hates it

braid hair?: nope

tie a tie?: yep

pick a lock?: yep

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & CHARACTERISTICS

face claim: grant gustin

eye color: brown

hair color: blue

hair type/style: short, longish on top.

glasses/contacts?: glasses 75% of the time, contacts the 25% of the time he feels like it

dominant hand: right

height: 6'0

build: just a bean pole man

exercise habits: pushups help him think and also keep him awake.

skin tone: fair

tattoos: nah

piercings: nope

distinguishing features: he's very limb-y in general and has pretty eyes

usual expression: neutral

clothing style: he's a basic bitch - sweater, jeans, t-shirt. do not make him think any harder than that. he would 100% let willa dress him tbh.

allergies: wicked seasonal allergies

diet: nothing super out of the ordinary but he does skip meals pretty frequently if he's working on something that needs his full attention.

physical ailments: —

PSYCHOLOGY

enneagram type: 5 - the investigator

moral alignment: lawful neutral

temperament: melancholy

mbti: intp

mental conditions/disorders: little stressy, little depressy.

sociability: introvert

emotional stability: p steady

phobia(s): unexplained explosions, drowning

addiction(s): nah

drug use: if leo wants to drive out to joshua tree to get high and camp at every midterm and end of semester, that is his business.

alcohol use: eh, sure.

prone to violence?: nope.

MANNERISMS

speech style: nothing he'd consider extraordinary

accent: nope.

hobbies: reading, puzzles, walking

habits: he has a lot of routines just to make things more efficient but it's all so boring.

nervous ticks: cracking his neck

drives/motivations: professional success, personal satisfaction

fears: mostly drowning

positive traits: confident, analytical, enthusiastic, brilliant, honest.

negative traits: brutally honest, absent-minded, imposter syndrome, prone to dropping horrifying facts about the universe in casual conversation.

sense of humor: dry

do they curse often?: oh yeah

FAVORITES

activity: problem solving and hiking

animal: dogs

beverage: leo is aware of what all of this red bull is doing to his organs. he doesn't really care.

book: pretty much any mystery.

color: red

designer: what does willa think he should wear because he just bought a four pack of hanes t-shirts at target and doesn't know

food: can he eat it while walking? cool give it to him.

flower: he enjoys plants

gem: eh?

holiday: the fourth of july - the kellys are the kind of white people who go to the cape every year for the fourth and he'll haul ass back from california for it without question.

mode of transportation: walking but la is terrible for it so he'll drive HE GUESSES.

movie: disaster movies. all of them. the worse the better. the more tenuous the logic surrounding the physics the better.

musical artist: elton john

song: if he says "rocketman", you'll assume he's being sarcastic but he is not.

scenery: the desert at night. STARS.

scent: sea air and willa.

television show: the x-files

weather: summertime - he's a lizard and soaks up heat and sun.

vacation destination: the cape and joshua tree.

ATTITUDES

greatest dream: he's really hoping to go to work for nasa once he has his phd in hand, as far as professional dreams go. personally, he's plotting out a proposal to willa.

greatest fear: open water

most at ease when: problem solving and sitting quietly..

least at ease when: leo is confident in a way that he is seldom not at ease in any situation. i hate him.

biggest achievement: he has a good reputation in his field and is well respected but he has also perfected the art of the grilled cheese.

biggest regret: nah.

top priorities: willa, career.

#c: leo kelly

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a-very-fond-farewell · 4 years

Text

The forbidden crack! Untamed prompts: 18/?

University AU: “Negative Space”

[ok so, self projection is a bitch, but I am petty to myself on a regular basis so it’s ok]

[title is from the Japanese concept “ma”, which Wikipedia describes as:

“a Japanese word which can be roughly translated as ‘gap’, ‘space’, ‘pause’ or ‘the space between two structural parts.’ In traditional Japanese arts and culture, ma is more carefully defined as the suggestion of an interval. It is best described as a consciousness of a sense of place, with the ‘intervals’ suggested often being more than simple gaps, instead focusing on the intention of a negative space in an art piece.

Ma is not necessarily an art concept created by compositional elements, such as the literal existence of a negative space. Instead, the intention is often to create the perception of an interval in the viewer experiencing the elements forming an art piece, making maless reliant on the existence of a gap, and more closely related to the perceived experience of a gap.

Ma has also been described as ‘an emptiness full of possibilities, like a promise yet to be fulfilled’, and as ‘the silence between the notes which make the music’.”

Fun fact: “ma” also means “but” in Italian, which is what usually follows whatever intrusive thought may plague my mind. Eg: “I may be useless now, BUT just you wait until I get some dopamine to get me through this shitty times.”]

Wei Ying never asked for much in his life. He’s content with cleaning classrooms and toilets and nobody can beat him at wiping the marble floors if he works hard enough. Granny Wen, his supervisor, is slightly impressed with his ability to make the wood shine for ages to come. His nephew Jin Ling sometimes comes to check on him when he’s done with senior classes or cram school in the evening, and together they sit down and listen to whatever his older friends in music production came up with during the day. Jiang Cheng occasionally would ask him to keep him company while he grades papers and they bitch about ZiXuan and his inability to dote on their sister. The cafeteria ladies are always nice to him and they give him extra congee because they worry for his questionable consumption of spice products.

He’s fine, really.

So why can’t he stop wandering over to the science building these days? Looking for a clean board to use, for an equation to finally solve? Even if in the end he just takes the chalk in hand and simply stares down at the inky surface in front of him, unable to write. His mind working on a software too advanced for the hardware that constitutes his brain.

Thirteen years. It has been already thirteen years and yet it feels like yesterday, or like it never happened at all. Like it has yet to be. Time blindness is a bitch to deal with, yet dyscalculia and ADHD makes a joke out of you when you love math on a visceral level... but you burned too bright too fast and now you function on no data and with an even shittier signal. Having a burnout at 23 should have taught him humility instead of pride, but Wei Ying has always worked out of spite and certain habits are difficult to forget.

Couldn’t put the number in the right order, switching digits left and right since he was young? Fine. Numbers were concepts anyway, entire civilizations working their magic without even knowing what “zero” stood for. A brain steaming with a million ideas per second? Good. New connections brimming with ideas he could use to better the world.

It worked fine until he let himself down. Until he became a useless empty lighter, a wet match tossed out, carbon monoxide in the air.

Dropped out before finishing his very ambitious, highly dangerous for his psyche, thesis project. Aunt Yu never forgave him for that, not after paying for his advanced classes, not after trusting Uncle Jiang and supporting him despite his many flaws. What good is being first of your class every year, poster child of a teaching system done right, graduating bachelor at 21, if you can’t finish your master at 23 and get your PhD at 25 and start teaching by 27 and drive yourself insane in the process?

Wei Ying dropped out and didn’t finish his master, didn’t enroll in the teaching program, and let everyone down. His Uncle and Aunt looking down on him, whether out of pity or shame. Jiang Cheng may have been the one leaving him behind, but he used to be the one saying “you should have tried harder”. YanLi worrying over him when she should have focused on her career first. Jin Ling growing up with stories of his uncle “not being worth the money put into his education”, taught to not disappoint and make his family proud. The Jin side, that is.

And now the kid comes crawling in defeat to him instead of Jiang Cheng after bombing a test in high school. And they chat of what he would like to do and how much he likes sports and how much he despises the idea of getting a scholarship for that and being called stupid or something by his classmates. And he cries when he thinks Wei Ying cannot see him as he leaves the campus late at night.

Wei Ying didn’t even want to solve that impossible theorem he fixated on in his early twenties. His thesis project was inconsequential in the great scheme of things and his professor only wanted him to be his one trick pony in the end. No. Wei Ying wanted to teach math in elementary school, hell... even in kindergarten. He wanted to change the approach to the subject. Because numbers cannot be taught like language is and there are many ways to teach how to sum up digits and divide quantities and there are no rules on how to make sense of space either.

But how can he teach when even time eludes his senses?

Something that nobody can define, but certainly most perceive as linear... but not him. Not since his brain fried up in his attempt to function like a normal human being.

After thirteen years nothing has changed.

Until one day he hears something else aside from his usual intrusive thoughts and burdensome memories. A melody so quiet he almost mistakes it for the wind, coming from the music building.

He walks slowly, night surrounding him like the embrace of a friend as he makes his way to the traditional musical instruments room. The one where Jin Ling’s friends meet sometimes as they wait for the younger boy to join them. Wei Ying holds his breath as he spies through the gap of the door left ajar, neon light slicing his face like moonbeams as he peeks in and recognizes Jin Ling’s friends and another figure sitting on the ground, guqin on their knees.

But before he can lean in and breathe in the vibrant sounds all around, the door opens and music theory Professor Lan finds Wei Ying clutching his mop for dear life.

They said the man could see colors within the notes, that he despises language outside of his class or office and that only his brother, the history of art TA, could convince him to talk every now and then.

If numbers were created to measure space, Wei Ying firmly believed music had been invented to make sense of time and count its seconds in rhythm and notes, pauses and beats. Yet, time seems to stretch to a stop as the janitor focuses all of his attention on professor Lan’s stern face and his heart quickens its pace.

Wei Ying takes a rushed breath and dives right in with a weird sense of hope pumping in his veins. A small, timid voice whispering that life is not made to be atoned, but to move on and grow.

One step at a time.

“I’m Wei Ying, Professor Lan. May I listen while you play?”

Yes, maybe it will be enough just to let time flow at its pace.

Whatever rhythm that may be.

[some hcs down below]

WWX does not magically solve the math theorem. he may or may not help kids figure out how to use numbers on the long run tho. no, he will still work as a janitor and there’s nothing wrong with that.

yes, LWJ is autistic and stimms and finds WWX’s honesty soothing. yes, you can add your hcs on the matter. he has synesthesia, but more on the grapheme-color side of the deal than anything else and he sees certain letters/numbers/notes in different colors. people think he can see colors in music, but they misunderstood and thought he could recognize different hues while listening to music instead of reading it.

JC has grown since his uni years and doesn’t resent WWX anymore. he teaches astrophysics as a TA and doesn’t pressure his brother to pick his studies up anymore. WWX has mixed feelings about this: he feels he’s a lost cause, to the point not even his brother spurs him to best himself anymore, but he is grateful for the patience anyway.

LXC is the official LWJ translator of the campus along with their cousins SiZhui and JinGyi. he bonds with WWX and JC over how tired they are, seldom staring at flies roaming above them in the cafeteria bc none of them can even move. he lives on caffeine and regrets, but he’s getting better as he develops a love for his plant babies and tries to not let them die on a daily basis.

Wen Ning and Wen Qing are little overachievers and adrenaline junkies, hence their competitive streak on their way to their third master degree just for funsies. they scare people with how driven they are, but the juniors love them.

NMJ is the one to go to if you need to get away with murder, but JGY will actually be the one helping you dispose of the body. the fact that they both work in criminal law is somewhat both reassuring and disquieting. they hate each other and yet cannot stop hang out, they are close to 40 and need the rivalry to keep going anyway. nothing beats a good nemesis. not even sex. maybe.

NHS has failed his entrance exam to become a nurse too many times to count, but he is determined to see the end of it. even if he could potentially work in the family business, but he doesn’t know anything about managing an empire of bricks and he doesn’t care. if NMJ could run away, well, so can he.

MianMian is Wei Ying’s bestie and has the biggest crush on JGY’s sister A-Su the kindergarten teacher, but since they are childhood besties she doesn’t know how to approach her. she is Jin Ling’s idol and a certified boxer and refers to herself as a useless bisexual. Wei Ying boxes with her sometimes, she always win.

YanLi is an equestrian mum, but in the best way possible: she coaches children for shows and teaches them horses should be loved and feared equally and that if you want to shoot arrows from a running horse you should always, ALWAYS let go of the stirrups the moment the beast gets too unhinged to ride. JC fears her, WWX is only glad she didn’t train police dogs for a living.

ZiXuan actually loves his wife, but WWX and JC question his career choices and the fact that he’s a retired lawyer spending his family fortune while he’s a stay-at-home dad and does all the housework. WWX and JC believe he should give their sister a better life and work his ass off to deserve her, but he does make amazing rice cakes and keeps up with Jin Ling’s studies and is very supportive of his dreams.

A-Qing and Song Lan are siblings and sometimes bring JC food from the campus cafeteria where they both work at, while Xiao XingChen and his carer Xue Yang work with LXC for a project on accessibility for visually impaired visitors of the local museum. JC and LXC work to make Song Lan and Xiao XingChen fall for each other, but the youngsters are too protective to let them play matchmaker so easily.

[this is all for now. please, if you want, add your own headcanons!]

#mdzs #cql #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mdzs/au: modern #mdzs/au: uni #the forbidden crack! untamed prompts #nieyao #xicheng #wangxian

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andrea-lyn · 5 years

Note

Dunno if I’m doing this right but, a malex prompt: Michael did go to UNM but lost Alex the same way. Ten years later, they meet again in Roswell.

After Rosa dies and Michael takes the blame for it, he sees the way Isobel looks at him. Guilt and sympathy and a bundle of other emotions that he’s not sure he can deal with, and it never stops. “I can’t stay,” he tells Max one night, even though things are tense between them, on the cusp of Rosa’s funeral. “I can’t take the way she looks at me, Max.”

“Isobel needs us,” Max says sharply.

“If I stay, I’m gonna end up telling her,” Michael admits, and as bad as it’ll be to abandon Isobel and Max in the middle of this, he knows if he stays and Isobel finds out, it’ll be so much worse. “She’s got you. You’re the ones with the connection and maybe for a little while, it’s better if I get out of here, before I break and tell her what happened. I’m not saying I’m going forever, but I can’t stay.”

Max doesn’t look like he has the energy or the argument to convince him otherwise. He’s giving up his dream to go travel, but then, he didn’t decide to cover up a murder and earn his sister’s crushing sympathy for it.

“It’s not the first time you two were on your own. You were fine last time, too,” Michael says, trying to ignore every stinging pain that says that they don’t need him. “I’ll go to UNM,” he shrugs. “That way, I can come back every once in a while to visit. It’s a good cover, but it gives me the space I need.”

“Michael…”

“This isn’t a reward,” he guarantees, lest Max think that somehow Michael is giving himself an out. Alex is gone, Isobel thinks he killed those girls, and Max will barely look at him. There’s nothing in him for Roswell and at least if he goes to school, he might actually be good at something.

Max still looks like he isn’t convinced.

“You better come back.”

“Four years, maximum,” he vows.

He keeps true to his promise, even if he doesn’t exactly follow the normal course most students do. Four years later, he hasn’t taken a semester off and he’s loaded up on extra classes, taking night ones in addition. For all that he could have a social life, he ignores it to throw himself into school because he discovers that equations, like music, can quiet his mind.

Three years later, Michael Guerin returns to Roswell with a PhD in astrophysics and his engineers’ ring for mechanical engineering (dabbling in chemical because he needs the challenge). For a while, he teaches at the high school and moonlights at the junkyard, but then he starts hearing whispers that the government’s secretly looking into aliens through an unauthorized project.

That’s when Michael decides that “hold your enemies closer” is sound advice and puts in a job application when they start hiring science geeks.

He’s been consulting with the Air Force for two years now, with only one solid rule. He avoids Jesse Manes at all costs, even though it’s been almost ten years since the incident in the tool shed.

He’s not sure he could avoid being arrested if he’s within four feet of the man, because his fucked up hand speaks of a lot of history, but Alex Manes’ absence from Roswell tells the rest of that story. Michael knows that Alex hadn’t decided to leave all on his own, that Jesse was the little angel and devil on his shoulder for that conversation.

Alex has been in his head a lot, lately. With Isobel talking non-stop about the ten year reunion (and Michael is just so glad that she’ll speak to him, that she looks at him and he doesn’t see sympathy in her eyes anymore), Michael can’t stop thinking about Alex.

It’s practically fate, then, what happens when he shows up to Foster Ranch to work, a few days before the reunion.

They’ve been setting up for a few tests while they work to get zoning permission on the new facility and they want Michael testing the ground and the area and he takes special notice in the tests that are being ordered by Master Sergeant Manes, looking for strange materials in the earth.

He’ll swap out the test results for some fake ones, keep the real specimens, but even now he feels smugly right that he’d made the right call taking this job. At least, he feels pretty good until he sees some of the new guys in Roswell hovering around his trailer.

The one rule of a site - stay away from Doctor Guerin’s shit, or get what’s coming to you.

“Hey!” he snaps, annoyed that a new bunch of recruits are traipsing around on his territory. He gives the CO an annoyed look, but he shrugs as if he can’t be held accountable for what these kids do, which means Michael needs to deal with this himself. “That’s my lab, you’re going to contaminate the…”

He yanks at the soldier’s arm, but when he turns him around, it’s Alex Manes.

Shit.

“Alex…”

They stare at each other for a long time. He knows all about Alex’s accident, knows about the IED, knows about his leg. He’d managed to get the reports with his clearance and while he’d begged for an assignment that brought him over there, they’d kept him here in Roswell to clear the land for their new facility, citing his desire to be close to family.

It figures that would bite him in the ass when he’d wanted to go after the only other family that mattered.

“This is yours?” Alex asks, pointing to the trailer.

“I mean, it belongs to the good ol’ US government,” Michael says, leaning forward to open the door so he can reveal the lab inside. He’s running the tests they’ve been asking for (chem tests, soil tests, and helping to plan the site), but he’s also using the opportunity to sneak in at night and get pieces off Foster Ranch.

It’s all kinds of win-win-win here.

“I didn’t know you’d be here today,” Alex admits. “I heard you were working with us…”

“Yeah?” Michael has had countless fantasies about what it’d be like to run into Alex again, but standing on a work site surrounded by coworkers hadn’t been in the list. He thinks that the CO would get a little pissed off if Michael backed Alex against the trailer and made out with him for the next forty minutes. “High school physics got boring, plus the job at the junkyard doesn’t exactly pay very well.”

He doesn’t think he should say, I’ve been waiting for you, I keep waiting for you to walk into a meeting room and be on my project, I’ve been needing to see you again.

Here he is, as large as life, and twice as handsome as Michael remembers him being.

“I heard you got your doctorate. I meant to send a card, but we were in the middle of the desert and…”

“It’s okay,” Michael promises. “You don’t have to apologize, it’s just a piece of paper.”

From the proud look on Alex’s face, he clearly doesn’t think so. He’s felt this before. With Max and Isobel, he’d felt it, that gut-punch of pride when he feels so happy of his accomplishments and no matter the dark sins of his past, he’s proven that he can be something.

The moment draws on, but it doesn’t feel awkward. If anything, it’s heated, the two of them staring at each other while the world around them shrinks.

“Are you going to the reunion?” Michael asks, when the silence between them starts to feel heavy and Michael starts to think about doing things other than talking again.

“I was thinking about it, but it felt a little like adult prom to me and my history with that isn’t so great,” Alex answers over his shoulder, but he doesn’t fully turn around. “You?”

“I was waiting to see if I could find a date. I don’t know,” Michael admits, heart pounding in his chest. “Isobel’s planning it, so I probably have to go no matter what. I said I’d help with the slideshow, so…”

“It could be fun,” Alex offers.

That moment is back and the heavy heat between them with it. Michael forces himself to look at Alex’s uniform so he doesn’t do something stupid like haul him inside the research lab and break all the samples by pushing him to the table. Alex looks like he’s considering things of his own, his eyes clearly on Michael’s lips.

“I should get back,” Alex finally admits, though he sounds weirdly disappointed. “I’m just here to help see the sale of the site through, I need to be back on base.” He lingers, again, like he’s waiting for Michael to say something.

Michael wishes someone had handed him a script or something, because he’s lost.

With one last shrug, Alex turns to start making his way out, leaning heavy on his crutch as Michael watches him go.

“You’re the stupidest genius I know,” the CO mutters as he walks past, shaking his head. “Or did they not teach you Romance at UNM?”

“Fuck off,” Michael hisses, which will probably get him a reprimand later, but it does do the trick of spotlighting the very big elephant in the room he’d been missing. The reunion, the hesitation, Alex’s waiting and disappointment…

“Hey!” Michael shouts after Alex, before he can get back in the car. Capitalizing on his courage, not caring how many people are around them, he keeps going, figuring in for a penny, in for a kiloton. “You wanna be my date to adult prom? I figure, I’m this published astrophysicist with a pretty sweet gig,” he says, with a casual shrug, “I might be able to hold my own against a decorated airman.”

Alex hasn’t fully turned around, but he’s smiling a little, lips curved upwards.The sun catches him perfectly, making his skin seem to glow, more beautiful than any alien piece Michael’s hiding in his bunker.

Michael tries not to think about how he’s asked Alex in front of a shitload of people and given their history, that might be a bad idea.

Lucky for him, history isn’t repeating itself. “Pick me up at six,” Alex says over his shoulder. “I expect you in a suit, Dr. Guerin,” he adds, and even from here, Michael can see the way Alex licks his lips, like the image of Michael in a suit in his head is tasty in and of itself.

He picks Alex up at six in a suit, and he’s got a corsage with him.

“Happy adult prom, huh?” Alex jokes.

Pinning it to Alex’s flannel (because the bastard made Michael dress up and then didn’t himself), he thinks he’ll figure out some fair revenge later. “Only if we end the night better than it did ten years ago.”

“I think that can be arranged.”

#Anonymous #malex #michael/alex #au #michael goes to unm #and becomes a Sexy Doctor #he and kyle totally have a 'doctor' 'doctor' pissing contest once a week #and it's amazing #roswell new mexico #fic prompts

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thisiswhatwereupagainst · 4 years

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@shattered-catalyst asked me what underused female Marvel characters that I’d like to see in the RPC. I misread it as asking what underused female characters I would like to see in a canon Marvel story, and started making this list. Then I realized what they ACTUALLY asked me---and answered it HERE-- but since I had this list started I thought I would post it! As a note, I tried to overlook my own biases for whom *I* simply want to see back in action, versus if there’s actually story potential there that I think other fans would genuinely want to see. It’s also by no means complete/comprehensive, so if you think someone is missing and deserves to be on here---you’re probably right! Feel free to add to it! BLINDSPOT - Blindspot is a female member of Mystique’s Brotherhood who was friends with Rogue, and had the powers of memory manipulation. After several missions, Mystique decided to cut ties with her due to lack of trust. Blindspot left, but not without wiping herself out of Mystique and Rogue's memories first, as she always covered her tracks, which is why Rogue doesn’t remember her (actual reason is she was retconned in, she’s a 2000s creation) Years later, when Rogue had become an X-Men, they would come into conflict once more, as Blindspot wanted to ‘save” Rogue from Xavier’s “brainwashing”, but Rogue would still leave Blindspot with her X-uniform to remember her by. Blindspot is unique in having been a Brotherhood friend to Rogue, as she was never shown as close to any of the other members, and was also mysteriously immune to Rogue’s powers. I think Rogue fans might enjoy seeing her in a Rogue story again, and perhaps learning more about their time together. CATSEYE - I think ALL the Hellions were criminally underused, and I know from X-Men/comics discussion boards that there’s an audience for their return. Catseye seems to be the favorite in terms of who people found most interesting, and I agree. A girl who believes she’s a cat who can turn into a human form, rather than the reverse, is a really neat concept, not to mention Sharon had a charming personality with surprising depth for what little time she got. There’s a lot that could be done with her return, and I think she could totally be the lead in a revived Hellions story on Krakoa, or a story depicting their time as Frost’s students at the Massachusetts Academy. CORDELIA FROST - Look, everyone loves Emma Frost, I think it’d be easy to get people interested in a Cordelia story. Not to mention the fact that like...Adrienne is dead, Christian was institutionalized, but Cordelia has been running around this whole time. She seems to have had some big plans once upon a time, what happened to that? Nothing ever came of it. Why not? What’s she been up to all this time? Also, we should finally get to see what kind of powers she has! I’ve seen it quoted around the Internet that Emma claims Cordy is “the Professor Xavier of empaths” but I’ve not only never seen the source for where she says this, she’s never demonstrated ANY kind of powers in canon, besides Emma not being able to read her mind. I would like to see what the “subtle, dark, and devious” Frost baby gets up to! DARKSTAR - Darkstar is a mutant and she’s been present in the comics since 1976. She’s been a member of X-Corps, as well as served in the Champions with Angel and Iceman back in the day. Yet her loyalty (coughBRAINWASHINGcough) has always brought her back to serving Mother Russia first and foremost. We saw recently though that Russia has gone back to its “All mutants serve the State or die!” position, and not allowing its mutants to go to Krakoa. It’s pretty easy to work Darkstar into a story about that, and finally exploring the way she was deeply conditioned to the point her “choice” to serve her country is probably anything but, and coming to terms with that at last. I’d really like to see a story like this, because Darkstar is kind of unique in that her brainwashing wasn’t a dramatic trauma-conga full of torture and abuse, she actually seems to have been treated well, she was just also kidnapped as a baby and never knew anything else. I think it’s about time we get a story that shows abuse doesn’t always “look like abuse” and how denial of someone’s agency can run so deep that their own choices that they THINK they’re making of their own free will, really are products of that. Also, her story could be an easy way to get my STARLIGHT fix, and FANTASMA on top of that. Remember, Fantasma was banished to Limbo, and pulled Starlight in after her. Why WOULDN’T Darkstar want to go rescue her teammate? And there’s a member of the X-Men who is mistress of Limbo and can open portals there, it’s totally easy! Darkstar enlists Magik (who has a huge fan following, and thus would get people interested) to guide her through Limbo so they can find Starlight and bring her home, but on the way they run afoul of Fantasma! Who, being a Dire Wraith sorceress, makes a great foe for Magik! PHANTAZIA - During 1990s, Toad struck out on his own and formed his own Brotherhood, which consisted of several old faces---Pyro, Blob, and Sauron (despite Sauron not being a mutant)---and a new one, the woman known as Phantazia, aka Eileen Harsaw. Phantazia had the power to manipulate electromagnetic energy fields. This allowed her to fly, disrupt machinery, and disrupt the bioelectric energy fields and nervous systems of other living beings as well, resulting in pain, paralysis, loss of physical coordination, and in the case of superhumans, the inability to control their powers, causing them to fluctuate in strength, cease functioning altogether, or spew out uncontrollably. Not much is known about her personality, but she seems to have been well-educated, as Blob refers to her as “Ms. PhD” and tended to stay out of the arguments between her male teammates, ignoring them while she read books on scientific subjects, such as astrophysics. . She also displayed loyalty, such as when she also opted to stay with her teammates when only she among them was invited to Magneto’s new mutant sanctuary of Avalon. Alas, Eileen met a wicked fate---for some reason, she was one of the few mutants to retain their memories of the “House of M” reality shift, and the shifting back and forth drove her insane. She was last seen in a S.H.I.E.L.D. custody cell, babbling “House of M” over and over. I think Eileen was interesting. She had a cool powerset, hints of a personality, and was never much of a “bad guy” certainly not enough to deserve what happened to her. Female Brotherhood members are also pretty rare, so she catches my eye for that too. I like to think Xavier found her and fixed her mind, and she’s going to hang out with her old pals Pyro, Blob, and Toad on Krakoa. HAVEN - I’ve been yelling about her on this blog for like 5 years, but if you’re not familiar with her, Radha Dastoor aka Haven was a villain who ran a cult dedicated to bringing about the end of the world as we know it in order to usher in a golden age of peace. She only did this, however, because she was being possessed by a demon. Her real self was a kind, charitable woman who was just all about feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, and, as it happens, advocating for mutants. Though it had little to do with her villainy, Haven still found time to be a demon-posessed super-terrorist AND write books promoting mutant/human peace and give lectures condemning bigotry. She seems like someone who SHOULD have gotten saved from said demon, but no, she dies alone in the mud after being victim-blamed by a Marvel deity. Her entire arc is really misogynistic, she’s only possessed because she had sex once and then got pregnant, she’s basically punished for breaking the purity taboos of her culture once, and it’s also pretty...racist isn’t the right word, but she’s the first Indian and Hindu character in the X-Men comics, and a lot of her terrorist philosophy fed to her by the demon comes from actual Hinduism, which has unfortunate implications, as does the fact that the “brown woman with a funny religion ended up being a terrorist just like the government said so X-Factor attacking her before they were sure of this is okay” was part of her story. Eesh. Anyway, she was a very good person and an interesting character, I think bringing her back as someone trying to do good in the world again as a human ally to mutants while also dealing with what happened to her and what she did and her loss of 20 years of agency to possession, would be a good story. I at least want to see a cameo of her taking care of a bunch of orphan and refugee kids who are a mix of mutants, Inhumans, Warpies, aliens, and humans. LORELEI - Lorelei is another little-known woman from the Brotherhood of Mutants, and unique in that she’s NOT a mutant. At one point, Magneto used a machine to mutate members of the native tribes in the Savage Land, giving them super-powers. These Savage Land Mutates served him in their homeland, fighting the X-Men at his command, but he left them behind when he returned back to the rest of the world...all save Lorelei, who he took with him for his new Brotherhood, citing a possible “Pygmalion complex” for why. Lorelei was a beautiful blonde woman who could control men with her voice. However, she seems to have a childlike intellect, as she speaks very simply and in the third person, and doesn’t really seem aware of what she’s doing or why she’s being told by Magneto to do it. It’s a really worrying dynamic, and I also worry about Lorelei once Magneto just...kinda ditched her, I guess, and left her with Unus, Blob, and the Vanisher. Then she turns up back in the Savage Land serving yet another bad guy. Lorelei--or Lani Ubanu, as seems to be her name before Magneto transformed her--comes off as an unaware innocent that just gets constantly picked up and used by greater villains because she doesn’t know any better, and given that this is because of the powers Magneto gave her, I’d like to see that come back and have him take responsibility for her. And if she’s NOT as unaware and innocent as she seems, I’d like to see that, because she’s been around since 1969 and she doesn’t have a personality and she barely speaks! Flesh this girl out! MADELYNE PRYOR - I feel like this one is cheating a bit, because I’m not sure I’d say Maddy is under-used. She’s seen more action just this decade than all the others on this list saw in their entire careers COMBINED. It’s more than she’s just...not used well, in my opinion. 2000s writers generally seem to forget that her stint as the Goblyn Queen came from being infected by demonic energy and also insane (for VERY understandable reasons), and seem to think she’s just evil on her own. Not to mention they take all the depth out of her; she’s a character with a full personality of her own and some very fucked up struggles that she was not to blame for, but that all gets boiled down to “Scott’s sexy evil ex who is mad he left her so now she trounces around in skimpy clothes she never actually wore when she wasn’t possessed because EVIL LADIES ARE SEXY CUZ FEMALE SEXUALITY IS EVIL” and it’s just....u g h. When Maddy was herself, she actually was very heroic, to the point she sacrificed her life to save the world (her FIRST death, which everyone forgets). But she also has good reason to be really angry and bitter at the X-Men, and I don’t see her letting go of that even when she’s back in her right mind. So I think depicting her as an anti-hero, who saves innocent people yet works against the X-Men, would be a neat story, with the ultimate conclusion being her letting go of her grudge, not for THEIR sake but for HERS, to not have her be tethered to them any longer, not even by hate, and finally live a life that is HERS. MISS SINISTER - So, Miss Sinister is NOT Nathaniel Essex in a lady suit. She’s actually an entirely different person, and actually has a very sympathetic situation. She’s a woman named Claudine Renko, whom Mr. Sinister injected with a virus containing his own DNA. The idea was that in the event of his death, the virus would activate in her or one of his other test subjects, transforming them into Sinister complete with his consciousness replacing their own. But when it activated in Claudine after Sinister’s apparent (but in fact only temporary) death in the “Messiah Complex” story, Claudine did not become possessed by Mr. Sinister nor become him---not exactly. She became essentially a female clone of him, gaining aspects of his appearance (such as the chalk white skin) as well as his telepathic powers. He might also be how she got her wicked personality, but since we don’t know anything about her prior to this, that could just be how she was already. But she also suffered invasive memories of Essex's life, and that as a malignant presence within her mind, he was slowly killing her as a means of self-resurrection. He even managed to manifest briefly before being re-absorbed back into her. It was for this reason that she wanted to switch bodies with X-23, thus gaining Laura's healing factor, something she had wanted after her stabbing, and thereby freeing herself of Essex. The plan backfired when Essex took control of Laura's body and used her to mortally wound Claudine. Laura managed to overcome Essex's presence in her mind, expelling it through force of will. She was next seen working with Emma Frost on using The Mothervine, though Emma ended up turning on her. I remember feeling bad for Claudine when I read her story with X-23. Having someone else trying to take over your body is a pretty good motive for doing something as evil as trying to steal someone else’s, while also being inexcusable to do. It’s unlikely she was a willing subject for Sinister, so she probably isn’t to blame for what happened to her, but is to blame for her actions after, which is the kind of villain I like. Also, while she’s usually in lingerie ala a Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, she wore a really cute little normal outfit in a story with Sebastian Shaw and Daken...which ironically is when she actually was Black Queen! I’d like to see more of Claudine, and find out more about her story and who she was before all this, and whether or not she’s REALLY free of Sinister, as she seems to be now. After all...is anyone ever free of him? Bonus if she teams up with Madelyne Pryor! NOCTURNE - No not TJ Wagner, THIS LADY! I don’t think anyone (except me) is hoping for her return, as I don’t think anyone else really knows about her, but Spider-Man stuff is still popular so there’s no reason she couldn’t come back and have a prominent role in that. I really hope they go with the interpretation that she’s gay, since now is a time that they can actually have that open instead of coded, but more than just the representation of a gay WOC (which is awesome) I really am interested in her adjustment and journey into her new identity, and in particular her communication via empathy powers rather than speech. That really intrigues me about her. I think she could become very compelling and popular if brought back and handled well, perhaps in a story that brings back other neglected characters in the Spider franchise as well. SAT-YR-9 - Okay, so in the Captain Britain/Excalibur comics of the 80s, there was a woman named Courtney Ross. She was a banker and Captain Britain’s ex, and she became a side character, having adventures with the team and even besting none other than ARCADE through STAND UP COMEDY. Then one night, a version of her from another universe emerged in apartment, killed her, and took her place. This evil counterpart was Sat-Yr-9, who had been a cruel dictator in homeworld, and has been running around doing evil in 616 since while masquerading as Courtney. Captain Britain discovered the ruse and vowed revenge...but has yet to really do anything, probably because Sat-Yr-9 herself really hasn’t done anything since either. She popped up for a brief moment in the 2000s as the new White Queen of the Hellfire Club, but that’s it. I would like to see more of her, in that role or outside it. Given her connection to both the Hellfire Club and to Kitty (whom she was grooming under the guise of “Courtney Ross” and seemed to have big plans for, as well as some mysterious connection to that was never explained) I think she’d be great for the Marauders series. Or in the new “Excalibur” series that stars Psylocke as the new Captain Britain! I also think there would be interest in a story that finally resolves her murder of Courtney and shows Brian finally at least TRYING to make her pay, I still see it talked about on Marvel boards how unsatisfying and frustrating it is that Brian vowed revenge DECADES ago and has yet to do anything about it, and how much of a waste that makes Courtney’s death (Courtney was surprisingly popular with fans even to this day due to how she handled Arcade, it instantly endeared them to her...and then that’s RIGHT when she got killed off, literally the evening after) Maybe Betsy is the one who finally gets her at last! THRENODY - I think that Threnody’s coming back in the recent Deadpool series revived enough interest to justify bring her back yet again, and I think her baby being killed, however monstrous it was, means that fans are probably ready to see her get a happy ending for once. I know I sure am. ZALADANE - Zaladane was a personal villain to Polaris, and given that Polaris has never really had a book that was about her (as far as I know, I’m far from a Lorna expert) I think bringing her back as the bad guy for a Lorna solo series would be cool. I also would like it resolved if she’s Lorna’s sister or not. It seems to add up at the time it was written, but changes to Lorna’s backstory continuity since make it impossible. I think that a suitably comic-booky explanation could work for that, such as “she *is* Lorna’s sister but from another dimension, not 616, and also that explains how/why she’s in the Savage Land” or something like that. Plus it satisfies both the people who think she is and who think she isn’t.

#xmen #x men #x-men #marvel #marvel women

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itsgonnabe-brian-may · 5 years

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Finals Week Forgetfulness

// Gwil x reader

wc: 1.5k

I hope you don't mind but I was loosely inspired by @sweetlygwilym & as a science person I need more sciency y/n on my dash. Also, this fic was born out of pure procrastination so its trash but that okay, It's a lil blurb and fluffy.

Tags: @joemhazzello

Today was Friday and Monday was the start of your last round of finals for the year. But they weren’t done yet and you needed to study, so you dragged yourself out of bed. Though the peacefulness of it coaxed you back. Your boyfriend, Gwilym, still sound asleep. You had gotten out of bed before Gwil, which was a rarity. Gwilym woke to an empty bed, initial confusion was replaced by the realization that it must be finals week. With a groan he pulled himself from the duvet, having the same thought as you. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he pulled on his attire for the day. Next, he padded into the kitchen in search of caffeine that he desperately needed.

It was hard not to notice your frame hunched over your books, almost like getting closer to the pages allowed you to absorb the information quicker.

“Studying already I see,” Gwil mused pressing a soft kiss to the side of your head.

“Mhm,” you mumbled back barley lifting your gaze from your textbook, not wanting to lose focus.

A low chuckle escaped his lips before placing a fresh cup of coffee in front of you. Thin steam whisps carried the sent to your nose, the sent alone was almost more effective in waking you up than the actual coffee.

“God, your a blessing,” you smiled up at him and taking a sip. You couldn’t help let out a groan of pleasure. It was the start to a long day, long weekend. However, you’ve been through it before and it was your last round of finals before finally getting your degree. Giving you a burst of motivation. It also helped that you had Gwil, he would always make sure you slept and ate. Having been together for roughly 2 years, around 4 weeks of finals, you guys had a routine. You would get up at the crack of dawn, steal one of Gwilym’s sweaters and pair them with leggings, and study all day. Barely acknowledging people outside of the ones mentioned in your textbook. Normally you’d kick Gwil out to stop the distractions but today he was full booked with Interviews, so making sure he wasn’t bothering you wasn’t going to be an issue, not that he was an issue.

Throughout the day your coffee cup refilled and emptied as papers became more and more scattered. A half eaten sandwich sat beside your text books. The table had been turned from a place of gathering for people to a place of gathering of notes, notebooks, random study sheets, and highlighters. Lots of highlighters. All laid about haphazardly. But you were too absorbed into your studies to notice or care. Your passion for your major made it so much easier to study. You had gotten your Bachelors of Science and worked for a few years before deciding you wanted to go back to school and get your Masters Degree. It wasn't really going to advance your career but you enjoyed it, which is all that matters. You were lucky to have Gwil as your number one supporter, even if he understood nothing that came out of your lips when you got excited and went on a tangent. Normally, you'd catch on and apologize, but Gwil just shut you up with a kiss because he found your smarts incredibly hot. Just not on finals week.

Gwil’s day was definitely more exciting than yours. The 3 interviews he had scheduled turned out to be a blast. Plus anytime he could get with the full cast of Bohemian Rhapsody was a good time. Though he was mostly excited to get back home, maybe a little anxious, but mostly excited. Today was the day that Brian and Anita May were coming over for dinner as a thank you from both you and Gwil. Mostly Gwil, because there was no way he could have done his job without the immensely helpful and kind guidance of Brian.

You were also excited and planned an elaborate meal, except you had forgotten. Caught up into your studies was an understatement. So when the door opened and you heard Gwil come in laughing you perked up slightly. However, it wasn't until you heard two more voices chime in that you stood up pushing the chair out of the way and walked to the hall.

“Gwil, love, is that you— Shit“ you called running a hand through your messy hair. The last part was muttered under your breath as you suddenly became self-conscious of your appearance and the mess of study materials scattered about.

The 3 turned in your direction pausing their conversation to exchange greetings.

Brian gave a small wave in your direction, trying to hold back his laughter at your frazzled state.

“Y/N, it’s wonderful to see you again,” Anita spoke up pulling you into a hug as you silently thanked the gods that this wasn’t your first time meeting the pair. Brian was next to pull you into a hug, eyeing the mess of papers on the table.

Gwilym just pressed a kiss to your temple.

“You forgot didn’t you,” He chuckled quietly.

“Yea... I guess I got to caught up in studying,” you laughed shyly and moved to clean it up. However, Brian beat you to it. His curiosity had gotten the best of him and was already glancing at the math and physics problems that filled each page. His glasses sat on the bridge of his nose as he delicately picked up your notebook.

“Physics?” Brian guessed looking up at you with a kind.

“Yea, I’m actually about to get my Masters,” you explained sheepishly busying your embarrassed hands by gathering loose sheets of paper. You were no stranger to who Brian was and his PhD in Astrophysics. Sure you admired the man for being an absolutely brilliant musician and kind man, but you were more impressed with his passion and intelligence. The rest of the cleaning process was halted by conversation. The two of you quickly began discussing complex theories and laws. Gwil was kind enough to place a glass in wine in your hands, but it went untouched as you and Brian needed both hands to talk & visualize things.

"You understand anything of what they're talking about?" Anita asked Gwil as she helped prepare a simple salad.

"Not a bloody word," He laughed happily.

"Oh good, glad someone's with me," she responded patting his shoulder gently and laughing about something to herself.

Eventually, dinner was ready and the conversation shifted to anything and everything. Then the conversation moved to the living room where more wine was poured and more topics were brought up. You had drifted closer and closer to Gwil throughout the evening. Now you were pressed into his side on the couch, nursing a glass of Merlot talking to Brian about particle physics in stars. Again you two had fallen down a wormhole, though there's no physical evidence that they exist, of science-based conversation. Gwil had his arm wrapped around you and watched you admirably, still not understanding a bloody word. As much fun as the night had been you couldn't stop suppressing your yawns every 5 minutes. You had been up for at least 20 hours at this point, and the Merlot was not helping. Thankfully Anita noticed and kindly bid Brian that it was in fact time to go, for real this time. As each time they had attempted to part conversation drew them back. And no, it wasn't just the physics theories. Gwil and Brian had shared the same intensity conversations about guitars and books.

"Thank you for coming, I'm sorry It wasn't the nicest but I hope you still had fun," You apologized as you hugged goodbye.

"Nonsense! it was lovely, thank you for inviting us over," Anita smiled kindly.

"No, I believe it you who we thank, especially during precious studying time," Brian said sending a wink in your direction.

"Either way, thank you for coming, it was lovely having you," Gwil added finishing up the thank you's and they left.

As soon as the door was closed and locked you practically melted into his arms. With a gentle swoop, you were in his arms and on your way to the bed you had waited to return to all day. You lazily pulled off your leggings and clambered into bed, immediately resting your head on Gwil's chest.

"It blows my mind that you can be so smart and cute, I don't know what I did to have you in my life," He breathed out pressing gentle kisses to the forehead.

"I love you Gwil, especially when you put up with my studies," you murmured tilting your chin to look up at him.

Instead of responding he connected your lips to his. The kiss was lazy but filled with admiration and love. His tongue swiped along your bottom lip and you blissfully allowed him in. Your body fell heavy and all stress from the day disappeared like your fingers in Gwil's brown hair. There were no ulterior intentions to the show of affection, just pure love and admiration. When you pulled away you placed a small kiss to his cheek before driting off into the peace. Hoping to find solace in it for as long as you could before dawn came and you were forced to finally face the mess of papers still on the kitchen counter. Where sitting on top of the notebook a pale colored sticky note saying "Wishing you the best on your finals - Bri" would be found.

#gwilym x reader #gwilym lee x reader #brian may x reader #gwilym lee #brian may #professor!gwil #queen imagines #queen x reader #gwil x reader #gwilym imagine #gwil lee x reader #gwil imagine

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winterromanov · 5 years

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she’s the sunset (in the west) - thasmin fic

Poppy Smith is the youngest and quietest kid in Yasmin Khan’s reception class, so it’s a bit of a shock when she encounters Poppy’s mum - the chaotic, intelligent whirlwind that is Doctor Joanna Smith. With both parent and child struggling to hold their worlds together, Yasmin becomes more involved in the life of Joanna and Poppy than she originally anticipates (other than having the biggest, fattest crush on Joanna, of course. It’s impossible not to.)

single parent/teacher thasmin au

chapter one

Her last meeting of the night is at six fifty and Yaz has never felt so exhausted in her life.

It’s not the kids. She deals with them day in day out and yeah, it’s tiring, but it’s nothing compared to the tirade of questions from irate parents she’s had thrown at her since four pm. Many of them seemed annoyed at their kid’s reading ability—or lack thereof—which would be a problem if they weren’t four or five years old and, naturally, Harry Potter is still going to be a bit ambitious for a boy who can barely hold a pencil. She’s been through piles and piles of identical maths problems with erratic results, handwriting exercises varying from just about legible to dancing scribbles in HB. The art, on the other hand, is a lot more fun talk about. She tried so hard to hide her giggles when showing a bemused mother her daughter’s drawing of a dog poo she’d seen in the playground.

But right now, all Yaz wants is to lock her classroom door, make her way to her car and have the longest and hottest bath of her life. Ideally with a pizza and half a bottle of white. It’s been that sort of day.

But there’s still one more agonising ten minute appointment to go. Fortunately it’s with one of her…less behaviourally challenging pupils, a little girl called Poppy, with an August birthday that pits her at the younger end of the class. Despite her age, there’s no unintelligible scrawls in Poppy’s exercise books—she’s smart, one hell of a reading ability, but very quiet. Yaz has seen her stalking across the grassy edge of the playground at break and sat alone at lunch, usually armed with a dog-eared picture book about space.

It’s not Poppy’s behaviour Yaz is slightly concerned about. It just can’t be good, or healthy, for a little four year old girl to have not made any friendships in the month she’s been at the school. She’d really like to talk about it with Poppy’s parents, but the clock on the wall above the door ticks on and there’s no-one to be seen.

Six fifty-six.

Six fifty-seven.

At six fifty-eight, Yaz sighs and starts to pack up her things, because sometimes parents forget appointments or can’t get away from work or life happens. At six fifty-nine, she’s about to leave, when—

The classroom door flies open and a woman walks in gripping Poppy’s hand, flustered and panting like she’s just run across the playground. She looks up, blowing a strand of blonde hair that’s blown into her eye-line away from her face. Two vivid green eyes blink back at her—Yaz hasn’t seen anything like them, and maybe it’s the sappy part of her left over from her literature degree, but it’s the kind of gaze that horny Renaissance poets write sonnets about.

(It’s pathetic, but it would be a lie to say that she doesn’t end up writing one herself a little bit later down the line. Oh, well. It’s called being ridiculously in love.)

“Sorry,” the woman breathes in a Northern accent almost as strong as hers, “I’m late. Am I late?”

“You are late,” Poppy says decidedly, identical eyes staring sagely, “Can I please go sit in the reading corner, Miss Khan?”

The reading corner is a pile of cushions and beanbags in an abandoned alcove of the classroom, now covered with posters of The Gruffalo and animals that begin with every letter of the alphabet. Poppy has her space book tucked under her left arm, as well as a little stuffed dog.

“Of course you may, Poppy,” Yaz says, smiling, dropping her bag onto the ground by her chair. “Me and your mummy are just going to have a short chat about how you’re doing at school.”

Poppy nods, and the woman presses a kiss on the top of her head as she rushes away, little shoes tapping noisily on the carpeted floor. The woman turns, smiling apologetically.

“I’m so sorry. I do try, really, but sometimes it’s like the world is working against me to purposely make me late.” Yaz notices the small array of earring glinting on her ear, the smart grey coat she wears on top of some cuffed mom jeans and a long sleeved shirt. She leans across the desk, shaking Yaz’s hand. “I work up at the university, you see, and the traffic is an absolute nightmare if you… sorry, I’m rambling, aren’t I? Already taken up enough of your time, I expect. It’s Miss Khan, right?”

She talks at a hundred miles an hour, waving her hands occasionally, and there’s something oddly compelling about it. It really doesn’t take much to warm to her—or to notice the contrast between her and her daughter. “Yasmin. And you would be Mrs Smith?”

“Miss,” the woman hastily corrects, but then smiles awkwardly, scratching her head. There’s an absence of a wedding ring, which isn’t so unusual, but there’s a pain in her grimace that she doesn’t see in so many divorced parents. Rather the widowed ones. “Technically, it’s Doctor, but I really can’t stand titles, sounds a bit pretentious. Joanna is fine.”

Doctor Joanna Smith. Yaz smiles inwardly, and wonders if it’s totally inappropriate to have a little bit of a crush on one of her student’s parents, because there’s just something about this beautiful and chaotic woman in five minutes that is impossible to put her finger on.

“Okay, let’s talk about Poppy, shall we?” Yaz says, fanning out Poppy’s collection of exercise books onto the table. There are no full-sized seats in the room other than her own, so Joanna is perched on a red plastic one, face comically just above being in line with the desk itself. It doesn’t seem to bother her. “She’s a lovely little girl. Very, very smart for her age—her reading is on par with someone at least three years older and her maths is coming along really well. I’m worried she’ll overtake me!”

Joanna laughs a little, but she’s busy scanning rows of handwriting and felt-tip illustrations, fingertips skimming a picture of roughly drawn little dog. It’s the same one she has clutched in her hands in the reading corner, grey with a red collar.

“Here,” Yaz says, turning the book slightly to an assignment labelled My Family, “We asked all the kids to talk about who they live with, what they do, and so on. She clearly looks up to you a lot.”

It’s heart-warming, really, and Yaz almost teared up sat at home marking it. My mummy is very clever and kind and when we hug we go to the moon. Mummy says I am a star but I think she is a star too and one day we will go to space together

There’s no mention of a daddy, or anyone else, and maybe that’s what makes this task so bittersweet sometimes. Reading about the kids who aren’t like the other kids.

Joanna’s eyes glaze over for a second and she looks over to the reading corner, where Poppy is lying on her back with her book held at arms’ length. Her hands clasp together. “What she like with the other kids? She never talks about anyone at home, really, and she always struggled with making friends at nursery. By that I mean she didn’t have any.”

Yaz softens because she can see concern in her eyes and a sort of muted desperation and hope that she’ll say something that contradicts her thoughts. But lying doesn’t help anybody in situations like these. “She is very quiet and that does often mean she’s by herself, yes.”

Joanna bites the inside of her cheek. “You should see her at home. Can barely get her to shut up most of the time, always banging on about penguins or black holes or…well, she talks about you quite a lot.”

“Me?”

“Oh, yeah,” Joanna nods, “Ever since you read Alice in Wonderland she’s made me read it to her every chance she gets, but apparently I don’t do the voices like Miss Khan does.”

Yaz remembers reading a bit of the story just the other week with all twenty-nine kids sat on the carpet eagerly, rolling with laughter every time she changed from high to low pitch when voicing the Hare and the Hatter. Poppy had sat silently at the back, expression unwavering—yet the whole time she was taking it in, making a bigger impact than Yaz anticipated.

“There’s a fine art to the voices in Alice,” Yaz replies, Joanna grinning, “You clearly just haven’t mastered it yet.”

“I have a PhD in astrophysics but satisfactorily reading a children’s book to a four year old’s standard is where I fall short, yeah?”

Yaz leans forward, rests her chin in her hand. Hopes she’s been subtle but doubts she actually is, but that is usually the way. She wants to keep talking about Poppy but she also wants to talk about her, what she sees when she looks up at the sky and what it means. Her job at the university. The silvery light of a full moon and the pull it has on the tides.

“I’m sure you’ll get there. It just takes practice.”

“Yeah. That’s a good motto for parenting, actually.” She pauses, looking down at her hands. Her nails are painted navy blue and chipped at the corners. “I just—like, I worry about her, a lot. We lost her dad a couple of years ago and most of the time, it’s just me and her.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Yaz sympathises—there it is, there it is.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Joanna insists, “Long time ago. I don’t think she remembers him. And I don’t have any family, not anymore, just a few friends who are basically family, but… she needs more than that. I’m not worried about her schoolwork at all. I just want her to be able to talk and play with people her own age rather than me all the time. As much as I’d like to build dens twenty-four seven. Who wouldn’t?”

“You shouldn’t worry. It’s only the first month of term, after all. Kids move at different paces, and it’s just taking Poppy a little longer to settle in.” Yaz smiles comfortingly. “If you like, I’ll keep a closer eye on her. See if I can encourage her to be more involved with some of the children.”

Joanna’s demeanour brightens a little, hands loosening apart. “That would be great, thanks. Sometimes all she needs is a bit of a prod in the right direction.”

At that moment Poppy stalks over to the desk, toy dog straying behind her, book still clutched tight to her chest. She looks at her mother expectantly.

“What is it, baby?” Joanna asks softly, stroking Poppy’s blonde hair gently. “You tired?”

She shakes her head decisively. “Can I show Miss Khan the picture in my book?”

Yaz grins brightly, leaning across the desk. “You know, Poppy, I absolutely love pictures. And I think I’d love to see the one in your book.”

Poppy looks shyly over at Joanna before opening it to the back cover, where a biro illustration of a strange blue box stands majestically amongst the index. Joanna pulls her onto her knee so she can point to it better and Yaz looks intrigued, curious to know what it means.

“This is my time machine. Mummy drew it for me,” Poppy explains carefully, “And we’re going to travel back to the dinosaurs so I can ride on the back of a diplodocus.”

“A diplodocus?” Yaz raises a questioning eyebrow, as it’s a big word for such a little girl, and Joanna masks her giggle by kissing the back of her head. “That does sound like fun.”

“Mummy tells lots of fun stories. I especially like the one about the lizard and her wife and their pet potato.” Joanna does another terrible attempt of hiding her laugh and Yaz finds it ridiculously endearing, especially the way her nose scrunches as she grins. “If you like mummy could put you into one of her stories.”

The thought of being in this woman’s head after she’s left the classroom behind is too good an offer to refuse. They share a look, barely a second—but surely, surely, it’s not just her that feels something?

“I think I’d like that a lot,” Yaz says.

When they shake hands as Joanna and Poppy are about to leave, her hand lingers a little longer than before. Her skin is soft but flecked with black pen, a small silver ring indented with a moon on her index finger. When they break apart, Yaz longs for a reconnect. This cannot be the last time they meet. It cannot be the only time. It cannot.

#thasmin #thasmin fic #doctor who #dw #doctor who fic #doctor who au #thirteenth doctor #yasmin khan #thirteen x yaz #fanfic

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a-second-hand-sorrow · 5 years

Text

Dance With Me? (Brian May X Reader)

WC: 3121

Warnings: Some swearing, its Very Australian, y’all it is so fucking cute

Summary: Y/N returns home to Brisbane for Christmas with her boyfriend Brian who is very shocked at how different Christmas is in Australia.

Tagged: @antoouu @ceruleanrainblues (If y’all wanna be tagged in any of my future works lemme know and I’ll do it)

A/N: I’m actually really proud of this one so I hope you guys like it! (Also all temperatures mentioned are in Celsius not Fahrenheit fyi)

BORHAP MASTERLIST

December 17th, 1978

“Yes mum, I know. I am coming home for Christmas, don’t worry.” Y/N said, glancing at the clock on her bedroom wall. It was 10 at night and she had stayed up late so she could call her mother in Brisbane.

“Well that’s good to hear. Are you bringing that rock star boyfriend of yours?” Y/N groaned at her mother’s question, her eyes going to the bathroom where Brian was currently taking a shower.

“I don’t know. Maybe, but it depends on his schedule. You know how busy he is, mum.” Y/N said, twisting the cord of the phone in her hand. Her mum let out a sigh before taking the conversation away from boyfriend-related matters.

“Mum I love you but its past 10 and I really need to sleep. I’ll talk to you soon, ok? Bye.” Y/N said, hanging up the phone and leaning back against the pillows. Y/N noticed that the shower had stopped, and soon enough Brian was emerging from the bathroom in nothing but his boxers.

“Who was that on the phone?” Brian said, pulling the covers back and getting into bed next to Y/N, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Y/N snuggled into Brian, feeling calmer now that he was in bed with her.

“Just mum. She wants to know if you’re coming home with me for Christmas. I said you might, but you’ve got such a busy schedule and my home is on the other side of the bloody world.” Y/N rambled, waving her hands about as she spoke, and Brian gave her a smile before kissing her cheek.

“Tell your mum I’m coming home for Christmas.” Brian said, and Y/N stopped, her eyes widening in confusion.

“I mean that’s great Bri, but what about recording and press releases and all that music industry stuff?” She said, and Brian chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.

“I’ll find a way to get out of it. It’s Christmas after all, and I would want nothing more than to spend it with you and your family half way across the world.” Brian said, and Y/N felt herself smile, leaning up and gently kissing his lips.

“I love you so much, Brian May. You mean the world to me.” Y/N said genuinely, looking up at Brian with love in her eyes. He smiled back at her, pulling her against him so her head was resting on his chest.

“The same goes for you, love. I think the Earth would stop spinning if you weren’t in my life, Y/N Y/L/N.” Brian said and even though his words were sweet and sentimental Y/N let out a laugh.

“Bri, that’s not possible. You’ve practically got a PhD in astrophysics, surely you know what makes the Earth turn and it isn’t me.” Y/N said, poking his chest lightly and Brian groaned, rolling his eyes.

“God I was trying to be romantic and you went and fact-checked me. Seriously, woman.” Brian said, running a hand through his curly hair. Y/N just laughed, reaching over to switch off the lamp on their bedside table.

“I love you Brian.” Y/N said, pecking his cheek as they slowly drifted off to sleep, tangled together under the covers.

December 22nd 1978

“Jesus Christ!” Brian exclaimed, wiping the sweat from his forehead as they stepped out of Brisbane International Airport, towing their luggage as they walked.

“Told you it was hot.” Y/N said smugly, adjusting her top as they waited for her sister to arrive with the car. Brian was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt that had become stained with sweat and long black pants. Paired with his thick dark hair, he was a hot mess in the December sun.

“Yeah but I though you meant England hot, not this hellfire.” Brian said, and Y/N laughed, rolling her eyes.

“It’s only 35 degrees, Brian. I’ve had to deal with summers where it gets to over 40 degrees.” Y/N said, and Brian groaned in disgust at the thought of weather that hot.

Suddenly they heard someone blaring their car horn loudly and Y/N looked up to see her sister Lucy sitting in the driver’s seat with a wicked smile on her face. Y/N grabbed Brian’s hand and dragged him up to the car, telling him to open to boot and put their luggage in.

“Luce! How are you baby sister?” Y/N said, once Brian had sat down next to her in the back seats of the car and Lucy had started driving.

“I’m good. I finished my nursing degree last year and I got a job at the Mater private hospital in town earlier in the year. How about you? Would you care to introduce me to the handsome man you’re sitting next to?” Lucy said, and Y/N scowled, sticking her tongue out at her sister.

“Oi, I’ve been back in the country for ten minutes and you’re already trying to nick my boyfriend. Lucy, this is Brian. Brian, Lucy.” Y/N said, and Brian gave Y/N’s sister a wave from the back seat.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Lucy. Y/N talks about you a lot.” Brian said, and Lucy chuckled, nodding with a smile on her face.

“All good things, I assume, Brian.” Lucy said cheekily, and Brian laughed, taking Y/N’s hand in his as he nodded.

“Good. It’s nice to meet you, Brian. All Y/N ever talks about when we’re on the phone is Brian this and Brian that. So, tell me, what do you do for a living?” Lucy asked, and Brian smiled, shooting Y/N an amused look before answering.

“I do work in astrophysics, mainly. A bit dull but I love it.” Brian said, and Lucy nodded, turning off the highway onto one of the smaller streets.

“Y/N has always had a thing for smart men. Particularly ones with glasses, but I see you’ve broken that streak.” Lucy commented, and Y/N scoffed, leaning forward to smack her sister on the arm.

“Piss off, Luce. Can you just turn on the radio because I am quickly becoming reminded of why I left this place.” Y/N said causing her sister to roll her eyes before turning on the radio.

The song playing was incredibly familiar, and Brian straightened up as soon as he heard it. “Oh this is a good song.” Lucy said, turning up the volume on the radio, Bohemian Rhapsody playing louder through the car.

“Luce, do you know who sings this song?” Y/N asked cautiously, and Lucy shot her a look as they pulled up into the street Y/N grew up on.

“Of course. I’d be a total dumbass if I didn’t recognise a Queen song when I heard it.” Lucy said, stopping the car after parking in their parents’ driveway. Y/N and Brian laughed with each other as they took out their bags and pushed them up to the front porch.

“Guess who I’ve got with me!” Lucy announced as she swung the door open, causing her parents and other relatives to rush into the hallway.

“Y/N! You made it!” Jo shouted, pulling her daughter into a tight hug. Y/N chuckled and hugged her mum back fiercely, glad to see her again given that it had been a year since her last visit. They walked into the dining room

“Oh it’s good to see you mum, however I have someone I’d like to introduce you to. Mum, dad, this is Brian.” Y/N said, stepping aside as Brian gave a small wave to her parents.

“We’re so glad you could join us. I know you’re always busy, so it means a lot.” Jo said, and Brian smiled as she hugged him tightly.

“Busy with what? Monitoring planets and doing boring sums?” Lucy said, cutting up a mango in the kitchen. Y/N’s parents looked at each other strangely as Brian let out a chuckle.

“Lucy, sweetie, Brian is in a band.” Jo said, and Lucy pulled a face, popping a piece of mango into her mouth.

“What do you mean? He told me he was an astrophysicist.” Lucy said, sitting on the kitchen counter.

“I am, yes, but my main job is playing guitar in a band.” Brian said, and Lucy’s eyes widened as Y/N fought back a laugh.

“What band then, space man?” Lucy said, and Y/N frowned, walking over to the kitchen and stealing part of her sister’s mango.

“Only I get to call him space man, Luce.” Y/N muttered, and Brian laughed at their dynamic.

“I’m Queen’s guitarist, actually.” Brian said, and Lucy’s jaw dropped, her eyes the size of saucers.

“What? No fucking way!” Lucy said, causing her parents to let out a noise of protest at her swearing.

Brian and Y/N laughed, nodding in confirmation of Brian’s statement. “Yeah, I took a break from working on our new album to visit you guys for Christmas.” Brian said, slinging an arm around Y/N’s shoulders as they sat down at the dinner table.

“Y/N you are a terrible sister. I can’t believe you let me listen to a Queen song not knowing that the bloody guitarist was in the car with me. Tiffany is not going to believe me, I have to call her. Be right back.”

December 23rd 1978

“So how do you guys celebrate Christmas in Australia?” Brian asked over breakfast, a glass of orange juice clutched in his hands.

“Usually it’s loud and chaotic. People are swimming and there’s always water on the deck somehow. There’s a lot of fruit and seafood and champagne is drunk by all.” Jo said, and Brian chuckled, interested to see how this very different Christmas would go down.

“We do have some similar traditions, though. If you want, tonight we could go and check out some Christmas lights. Mum and dad used to put them up competitively when we were kids, but they’ve stopped which is disappointing.” Y/N said, sipping from the mug of hot tea she had.

“That sounds like fun, actually. I do love Christmas lights.” Brian said, and Y/N smiled, pecking her boyfriend’s cheek before stealing the bacon from his plate.

“Y/N!” Jo scolded, and Y/N gave her mum a kind smile, eating a piece of bacon before speaking.

“Mum, Brian is a vegetarian who is too polite to tell you that he doesn’t want bacon. Luckily, his girlfriend adores the stuff.” Y/N said, winking at Brian who had a dumb smile on his face.

“Ok, now that that’s all sorted out you two can go off and have fun somewhere. Your father and I can clean up.” Jo said, kissing Y/N’s cheek as she began cleaning up the table.

“You heard mum. Let’s have some fun.”

“Brian Harold May, don’t you dare!” Y/N screamed as Brian picked her up, holding her in his arms. They were by the Y/L/N family pool and Brian was holding Y/N over the water.

“I thought you said you loved swimming.” Brian said nonchalantly, a smirk on his face as he rocked on his heels, causing Y/N to let out a shout.

“Not when my dickhead boyfriend is threatening to throw me in the pool.” Y/N said, and Brian sighed, pausing for a moment before dropping Y/N into the water, laughing at her face as she fell.

Brian was in tears laughing once Y/N had resurfaced, her hair plastered to her face. She could tell that Brian was distracted so she leaned up, grabbing Brian by the ankles and dragging him into the pool.

Brian was gasping for air and Y/N was laughing hard, treading water next to her boyfriend. “What goes around comes around, May.” Y/N said, splashing Brian in the face.

“You are awful, you know that?” He said, splashing her back. Luckily Y/N avoided most of the water, but her eyes widened once she saw Brian’s hair.

“Oh my god Bri, your hair! You look like a wet dog!” Y/N said, cackling at her boyfriend’s now flat hair. He frowned, playing with his hair slightly.

“So what if I do? Is that a bad thing?” Brian said, swimming closer to Y/N. Y/N rolled her eyes, noticing that Brian was standing up while she still had to tread water.

“Just think you look funny. Not bad, but funny.” She said, wrapping her legs around Brian’s waist. His hands instinctively went to her hips, holding her up even under the water.

“I’ll take that.” Brian said, pressing his lips to Y/N’s. There was a hint of chlorine in the kiss, but it didn’t bother then as Y/N ran her fingers through Brian’s wet hair.

“I love you, poodle boy.” Y/N said, smiling brightly at Brian once the kiss was over.

“And I love you, you weird Australian.”

“It’s Christmas light time!” Y/N announced loudly, squeezing Brian’s hand as they left the house.

“It certainly is.” Brian said, smiling at the excitement his girlfriend had for Christmas lights.

“Sorry if I’m a lot, it’s just that I’ve always loved Christmas and whenever I see the lights they make me happy. Plus they remind me of my childhood which is a nice bonus.” Y/N said, and Brian nodded, kissing her forehead as they began walking along the streets.

“It’s all good, Y/N. I think you look adorable when you’re excited. I mean you look adorable all the time but still.” Brian said, adjusting his shorts with his free hand.

The couple walked along the streets for an hour or two, checking out varying displays while Brian complained about the mosquitoes. “God they’re awful! How do you deal with them?” Brian asked once the sun had fully set and Y/N chuckled, shrugging her shoulders.

“Cover yourself in insect repellent. That’s my only advice.” Y/N replied, linking her arm with Brian’s as they entered another street. By 9 they returned home and decided to call it a night.

“Thanks for today. It’s been wonderful.” Brian said, playing with Y/N’s hair as they laid in bed together, the soft glow of Christmas lights from outside casting a red and green shadow on their faces.

“There’s no one else I’d rather spend Christmas with, Bri.” Y/N said, unknowingly echoing Brian’s words from the night he agreed to come home with her for Christmas.

December 24th 1978

“Ok we’re off to church, we’ll see you two later tonight.” Jo said, kissing Y/N’s cheeks before leaving the house with her husband and youngest daughter.

Once the door was closed and the house all but empty, Y/N smiled at Brian. “I’ll put the kettle on and make us some tea. You get comfy on the couch, mister.” Y/N said, resting a hand on Brian’s chest before kissing him softly.

“Yes ma’am.” Brian muttered, watching as Y/N sauntered into the kitchen, popping the kettle on the stove and leaning against the kitchen counter while she waited for it to boil.

Brian decided to ignore Y/N’s instructions and crept over to the record player in the living room, finding a copy of the Jackson 5’s Christmas album and placing it on the player. As soon as the music started Y/N smiled, recognising it instantly.

“I thought I told you to get comfy on the couch, May.” Y/N called from the kitchen, making tea for her and Brian. A smile settled on Brian’s face as he entered the kitchen, wrapping his arms around Y/N’s waist.

“I was in the mood for some music. Besides, you look so beautiful tonight.” Brian said, pressing a kiss to Y/N’s shoulder. Y/N felt herself blush, picking up a mug and turning around so she could hand it to Brian.

“And you look very handsome. Maybe it’s the sunburn but you’re just glowing, love.” Y/N said, and Brian pulled a face, taking a sip from his mug.

“Don’t bully me. I’m English, we never see the Sun at home.” Brian replied, and Y/N shook her head, setting down her tea and grabbing Brian’s wrist, leading him into the living room with her.

“Dance with me?” Y/N suggested, wrapping her arms around Brian’s neck as he nodded, his hands sitting on Y/N’s waist. The two swayed in time with the music and Y/N hummed along to the Jackson 5’s rendition of ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’.

Suddenly an image of the small velvet box in the drawer beside their bed came into Brian’s head, and he took in a shaky breath at the thought of it. He had been wanting to ask Y/N to marry him for a while, but earlier in the day he asked Y/N’s dad for permission and he granted Brian with it in spades.

“Stay right there. I’ll be back in a sec, I promise.” Brian said, pecking Y/N’s lips before rushing to their shared room. He quickly found the box and slipped it in his pocket, adjusting it so it wasn’t too obvious before returning to the living room.

“Took you long enough.” Y/N said, and Brian huffed, rolling his eyes before taking in a deep breath.

“Y/N, spending the last three years of my life with you have been a dream come true. You are a strong, beautiful, caring woman who takes shit from nobody, including me.” Brian said, chuckling as Y/N nodded at his statement.

“I love you so much and I don’t know where I’d be without you.” Brian said, dropping onto one knee. Y/N gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in shock as she looked at Brian.

“You’re the love of my life, even if you decide to make fun of me sometimes. Which is why I decided now would be the perfect time to ask you, Y/N Y/M/N Y/L/N, if you’ll marry me.” Brian said, opening the box and revealing a beautiful diamond ring that was small enough to sit comfortably on Y/N’s hand, but big enough to get people to ask about it.

“Yes, you stupid man, of course I’ll marry you.” Y/N said, crouching down and holding Brian’s face in her hands, pressing a passionate kiss to his lips. Unfortunately, Brian lost his balance slightly under Y/N’s body and slipped slightly, toppling backwards with Y/N on top of him.

They burst out laughing, unable to believe that this beautifully romantic moment had been ruined by Brian’s awful balance. “Where’s my ring, May?” Y/N asked once the laughter had subsided, and Brian smiled at her, taking the ring and sliding it onto her ring finger.

“Y/N May. That has a lovely ring to it.” Brian mused, and Y/N chuckled, pecking both his cheeks.

“I’ve got a nice ring to me as well.” Y/N said, waggling her left hand in front of Brian’s face, showing off her new engagement ring. Brian let out a loud laugh, pressing kisses all over her face.

“I love you so very much, Y/N. You’re the best Christmas present I could ever ask for.”

#queen #bohemian rhapsody #bohemian rhapsody x reader #bohemian rhapsody imagine #brian may #brian may x reader #brian may imagine #gwilym lee

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istheresomebodywhocanimagine · 5 years

Text

Pavlov’s Dog

anonymous said: I see you are a fellow Brian girl hehehehehehe. I would like to request a Brian x psychologist!reader who just fucks around with her “magical psychology Jedi mind tricks” (but in actuality this is absolutely not a skill or a thing real psych peeps have!). Kinda based the question on the fic you did with the weird reader. Loved it btw!

“But it smells so good,” Roger complained, staring longingly back at the food cart that was standing on the corner of the sidewalk near the library. “Besides, I haven’t got to study. I’ll pass.”

You raised an eyebrow, clinging your books to your chest with one arm while dragging Roger along with the other. “You promised we’d meet one of your friends for a little study triple date, and you just ate with me not even two hours ago, you lard.”

“Lard! That’s rich of you, Y/N - you’re the one who had two plates!” Roger protested, stumbling after you and begrudgingly walking up the stairs to the door. With one sad glance back at the food he was missing out on, he started to walk in slowly while you held the door open for him. As he passed you, he gave you a dirty look and sniffled, clearly upset that he wasn’t getting his way for once. You’d learned to ignore his little moods, however, and you had no problem ushering him inside while blocking out his muttered protests.

You found a quiet corner with the least people in it, but still in view of the door, and sat down so you were facing away from the door. You didn’t need any more distractions than Roger already was, and he was proving difficult enough as he sat as far away from you at the 4 person table as possible. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” you sneered, spreading your books out and pulling out a small tin of mints, tossing him one. “Suck on that.”

“I’m so upset that ‘suck on that’ wasn’t even funny to me.” Roger pouted as he slumped down in the chair, still opting to suck on the mint instead of starving to death. He only got a moment to feel sorry for himself, though, because a tall, gangly looking man approached the table, catching Roger’s attention.

“You alright, Rog?” the man asked. You assumed this was his friend, so you watched the two and waited to be introduced to the man behind the curly mass of hair. Roger looked up at him, crossing his arms, then looked back at you.

“I’m being held against my will, in fact,” Roger lamented, scooting in his chair so his friend could shuffle behind him and sit in the chair across from you. As the stranger sat, he held out his hand to you.

“Brian May,” he offered, shaking your hand when you reciprocated the action.

You smiled affably and shook his hand in return. “Y/N. Sorry Roger doesn’t have manners today, I seem to have hit a nerve.”

“Oh, that’s far too easy to do. Roger’s a bundle of nerves waiting to be struck,” Brian joked, letting go of your hand and starting to get out his things. Roger made a noise of protest, but quieted when someone on the other side of a stack of books shushed him. He made a face instead and flicked you off before begrudgingly opening his textbook.

You all began to study after a bit of small talk, but you found yourself bored with your work after a couple hours, so you sat back for a mental break, looking around idly and playing with your hair. Roger was already asleep in his book, long past bored, and Brian was beginning to slow down on his incessant writing and diagramming. You looked over at his books, noticing all kinds of mumbo jumbo about the cosmos. It was too confusing for you, which made your face go slightly screwy as you pursed your lips and tried to make sense of whatever he was doing.

“What major are you?” Brian asked suddenly, aware that you were staring at his book. You jumped a bit, which made him laugh, but he just repeated the question after a few seconds of you looking at him like a deer in the headlights.

Shaking your head, you ran a hand back through your hair and took a deep breath, then sat forward a bit. “I’m a psychology major. Hoping to go into I/O psych, just want to keep my options open right now.”

Brian made a noise of appreciation at this, setting his pencil down and resting his head on one arm that was currently propped up on the table. “Psychology, cool stuff. So you’re telling me you can do fancy mind tricks and the likes?”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes, but you smiled nonetheless. “You know, psychology doesn’t always mean that I’m able to manipulate your mind. I just study it. Not everything’s a mind game, silly.”

“The key words there are ‘doesn’t always’.” You had to admit, he made a fair point. And he knew it too, which gave him a smug little grin that did nothing but poke and prod at the slight annoyance he’d already instilled in you. “Don’t be shy, show me a mind trick or two,” he added, egging you on.

You mulled over the ludicrous idea of it all, but you did remember a few little tricks that your primary school teacher had shown you years ago. After a few more seconds, you sighed melodramatically and scooted forward in your chair a bit, nodding. “I guess I can let you in on a few secrets. After all, you’re….. what major are you again?”

He chuckled, sitting up and holding up one of his books. “Astrophysics. I’m getting my PhD.”

You raised an eyebrow. “You’re studying the great unknown of space… and you want me to show you a dumb mind trick?”

He shrugged in response, scooting forward in his chair a bit. You almost rolled your eyes again, sitting back in your chair and pushing your hair behind your ears. Reaching into your coat pocket, you pulled out the tin of mints and offered him one, which he accepted.

“So how did you meet Roger?” you asked, letting him go off on a small tangent about how they met through Smile earlier that year. A few times throughout the story, you’d sit back and push your hair behind your ears again, then offer him a mint soon after. He always accepted, and when he finished up talking about some new songs they’d been working on, he asked you how you met Roger.

“Oh, I met him through a friend of mine who went on and off with him. We don’t really speak to her anymore, but I thought he was funny and a good time so I ended up spending more time with him than she did. I suppose that’s probably what ticked her off so much she cut off the friendship.” You thought about it for a second, then pushed your hair behind your ears again as you sat back. “Want another mint?” you asked, noticing he almost held out his hand before you said it, which was what you’d been going for this whole time. Next time, you’d hold back. You gave him the mint this time, though, then questioned him about Smile some more.

About 5 minutes later, you sat back and pushed your hair behind your ears again, but you didn’t offer a mint. However, his hand went out as he continued speaking, and it took about 10 seconds of you staring at his hand with a blank expression before he realized what happened. A slow grin crept up on his face as his sentence faltered. “You sly dog,” he murmured after a moment, retreating his hand back to his side of the table. “And you said you don’t have any mind tricks.”

You giggled softly, tossing him the last of your mints and putting the tin in the front of your bag. “That isn’t a mind trick, it’s classical conditioning. Elementary psychology, Pavlov’s dog.”

“Sneaky girl,” he restated, shaking his head and sitting back. “I want to see another trick.”

You decided you’d just try and trigger his defense mechanism next, so you held out both of your hands for a match of rock paper scissors. “Best 2 out of 3?”

Brian’s eyebrow’s furrowed. “What does the winner get?”

You knew you’d most likely be the winner, so you decided to throw out something tempting. “A free meal from the loser. And I make a mean… okay, I’ll just take you somewhere you like, I really can’t cook much besides pasta.” Less tempting than you’d planned, but he’d already made up his mind, taking the challenge.

“Alright, it’s 1, 2, 3, shoot, and you go on shoot, okay? I’ll let you count, so you have the advantage.” He agreed to your terms, and you both got ready. As he began counting, you spoke, “Roger said you were vegetarian?” On shoot, he threw down a scissors, as you expected. At the same time, you threw down rock. Unaware of the defense mechanism you’d just triggered, he cursed quietly under his breath and looked at you.

“Yes, I’m vegetarian. I also don’t smoke, unlike Roger here.” He shook his head, mumbling, “2 out of 3. You got this next one, Bri.”

You held back a grin, and got ready again. As he began counting again, you interrupted again, this time closer to three. “What restaurant are you taking me to?” you asked cheekily, getting a frustrated groan from Brian as he realized he’d used scissors again, and once again lost to your rock.

“Does that even count as psychology?” he whined, pouting a bit as he sat back in his chair, defeated.

“Not really, or at least not advanced, anyways,” you replied, shrugging and grinning a bit. “Just something my teacher showed me. People always use scissors when their defense mechanism is triggered, even by small questions. But you never answered my last one?”

Brian couldn’t help but smile a bit as he picked up on the subtle flirting, and despite his sorrow over losing a bet, he sighed and sat forward again. “I suppose we’ll just have to see what you’re in the mood for?” You pursed your lips, thinking, but you were interrupted by a loud snore from Roger, who was almost falling out of his chair at this point. The sight made you giggle and shake your head.

“You want one last trick? I’m assuming we’re not going to get any more studying done, not with our vocalist over here.” Brian chuckled at that one, then nodded and shut his books.

“Blow me away.” You stacked your books to the side, then turned to face him again.

“How old are you, Brian?” you asked, wildly off topic, which threw him off a bit.

“Well,” he said, crossing his arms and smiling slightly. “Is this part of the trick. I’m 21, thank you for asking. Is it appropriate for me to ask how old you are?”

You laughed, shaking your head. “Besides the point. Anyways, I bet you a pint that I can make you say your age, 21.”

“Easy money, I just have to avoid saying it, right?”

“Yes, that’s it.” You cleared your throat, then said, “What’s 2 + 2?”

Brian made a face, then said four.

“Alright, add 1.” He said five. “Now multiply that by 2.” Of course, he says ten. “And add 3 to that.” Thirteen. “Add 5.” Eighteen. “Subtract 2.” Sixteen. “Add 6.”

“Twenty-two. What are we getting at here?”

“What are you talking about? Add 4.”

“Twenty-six. Seriously, what are you trying to do?”

“Subtract 6. I don’t know what you’re talking about, Brian.”

He was getting mildly frustrated. Good. “Twenty! I don’t understand this game. You’ve gone loopy, psychology major.”

“Add 3,” you said, looking at him pointedly.

“Twenty-fucking-three! Are you mad? Are we just going round in circles here!”

“Ha!” You pointed at him, grinning widely. “I got you to say it. You weren’t supposed to say 23!”

“That’s rubbish and you know it!” he said defiantly, leaning over the table. “I wasn’t supposed to say 21, not 23.” As soon as he said it, his face dropped. You started laughing as he groaned and sank back in his chair, covering his face.

“Are we going for a bite and a pint tonight, or do you want to take a rain check on that?” you teased, standing up and pulling your bag over your shoulder, gathering up your books. You walked around the table as Brian wallowed in embarrassment, stopping to give Roger a gentle shake.

“What?” Roger groaned as he slowly woke from his slumber, unable to raise his head off the book. “Five more minutes, please.”

“Brian and I are going to go out for a bite, we’ll meet you at the pub later.” Roger waved his hand lazily in acknowledgement, and Brian stared dumbfoundedly for a moment before gathering his things and following you out onto the sidewalk. You stopped at the bottom of the steps and turned to face him. He had an amused look on his face, and he turned to face you as well, speaking first.

“So, Mind Commandant, where to now?”

hi it’s me

happy holidays i didnt get brian may for christmas but it was OKAY i guess

okay now that this is finished taco bell or kfc :| im hongry

-w

#brian may imagine #queen imagine #im such a brian girl but also roger is so amusing im conflicted #sigh

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anotherhumanmess · 5 years

Text

Why Tony Stark is a Ravenclaw

There are still people out there, who think, that Tony Stark is a Slytherin, and I’m gonna change their mind.

I’m starting to explain, why he perfectly fits the definition of a Ravenclaw. After that I’m gonna explain, why I don’t think, that Slytherin is the right house for him. Please, don’t be offended by any of that, I adore every single house, I just think, that Tony’s not a Slytherin. If that’s still your opinion after all, that’s absolutely fine.

Okay, what is the first thing you get in mind, when you think about Tony Stark? I think it’s very clear, it’s his mind. He is a genius, we’re all aware about it, right? Okay, two of the biggest qualities of a Ravenclaw is their intelligence and their wit. I think, I don’t need to explain, why that fits.

So, next there’s the wisdom. Well, to be honest, I think Tony’s smart as hell, but he’s not wise. He does a lot of stupid and irrational things, and if you’re going to ask him for an advice, he would probably give you a stupid one.

Next one are creativity, originality and individuality. Okay, let’s have a look at Iron Man 1. You’ve been captured in a cave with nothing more than a box of scraps. You are forced to build a missile and you are connected to a car battery. Of course you are searching for a way to get out, but what are you gonna do? Try to escape through a tunnel? Try to knock out the guards? Build a weapon or a gun, to shoot your way out?

Not if you’re Tony Stark. He built an armour, the first of its kind. Because he always has his own ways to do things. Always had. That’s why Stark Industries always been so successful, why it was always on the top. Because Tony’s always the first one doing things, he invented so many things, because of his creativity. He built the Iron Man suit all on his own. There’s no one like him and there’s nothing like his mind. Because he is original and individual and I can’t imagine someone, who didn’t see that.

I don’t know if that’s an official Ravenclaw characteristic, but Pottermore and other websites talking about learning, so let’s check that. This is a fast one, because Tony is always learning new stuff. Remember this scene? From Avengers (2012)?

Yes, he became an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics over night. Because he learned about it. Just as he learned about the arc-reactor and new elements in Iron Man 2, and a lots of other stuff. Not mentioning how much he learned to get his PhDs.

I know, the Harry Potter Wiki says there is another quality - acceptance. But I’m not quit sure, what that’s about, I’m not a native english speaker, so if some of you could explain this to me, that would be great. But I think, everyone understands why I think, that Tony fits very good in Ravenclaw.

Let’s get to the Slytherin part.

I totally understand, why people get Tony sorted into Slytherin. He has resourcefulness, absolutely. I don’t think anyone can doubt that. And he is clever, no doubt here.

I would give him the cunning one, although he got tricked by Maya Hansen in Iron Man 3. So I wouldn’t say that’s one of the characteristics of Tony, but I can see, why people are going for it, so that’s okay.

Ambition and determination are the next ones, and to be honest? I don’t fully agree to that. I mean, he can be ambitious and he can be determined, but I think for that, he gives up to easy sometimes. In Iron Man 2 he would’ve died, if Fury, Phil and Nat didn’t tell him to get up and do something. There are also a view hints in endgame, but I won’t talk about that, because I don’t want to spoil anything. So, I wouldn’t say, ambition and determination are basic qualities of Tony.

Fraternity is problematic. I won’t say, Tony is a team player. I mean, yeah, he works with the avengers, but it took a while, to get him there. He was always more like a lone wolf, the only exception might be Rhodey. I wouldn't say he is very fraternal.

Traditionalism is absolutely none of Tony’s traits, and I don’t think, I have to explain that. He invented a lot of new things, he changed the course of his whole industrie and he didn’t care about traditions at all. Like christmas for example. I mean, did you saw a christmasy Tony in Iron Man 3? Like, the whole movie sets around christmas and I always forget this, because there are no signs. Tony is a very modern person, I’m sure about that.

Leadership quality. Well, no. I mean, he is good at co-leading, I have to give him that, at least with the avengers. But Tony himself said, that Steve is the boss and it was always Steve who lead the avengers. Because Tonys decisions are too irrational to actually lead things. He cares too little about important stuff, I mean, he was not a great CEO for Stark Industries, that’s why he made Pepper CEO. And because she deserved it ofc. He is not good at diplomacy and moreover, I doubt he wanted to lead anything. I think he doesn’t care for something like that, which brings me to my next point.

Pursuit of power. I know, that’s not an official one, but it was available on Pottermore and they’re websites, that have that on their lists. So, just wanted to say that power’s nothing, that Tony ever wanted. He was one of the most powerful men on earth, still is, but he gave up on his CEO position. He never became Iron Man because he wanted power, he became Iron Man, because he wanted to do something right.

And last but not least - self preservation. Well, nope, nope, nope.

Remember the missile from Avengers (2012)?

Remember him giving up his life in Iron Man 2?

Remember this avengers poster?

Tony always had a self-sacrificing side, he would always lay down on the wire and let the other guys crawl over him. Always. So I don’t give him that.

So, what does that say?

Tony totally has a few Slytherin traits, but mostly, he has almost every Ravenclaw trait. And I think, the characteristic that pops up in your head, if you’re thinking about Tony is his mind, his intelligence and his individuality. There will never be a second Iron Man. There will never be a second Tony Stark.

That’s why Tony Stark is a Ravenclaw.

#tony stark #avengers #iron man #harry potter #hogwarts #slytherin #ravenclaw

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