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swiftgronmasterpost · 4 years

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Spring/Summer/Fall 2013 - The End(?)

Click here for an appropriately sad Swiftgron breakup playlist.

I don’t know if it’s important or not but Dianna wishes several friends a late happy birthday on twitter, apologizing for missing the actual day through this spring and summer. It seems like maybe she’s going through something (like a bad break up?) because it’s not like her to miss friends’ birthdays.

March 26, 2013 - Maybe a relevant tweet?

April 7, 2013 - Dianna tweets a photo of James Dean in a day dream like setting:

April 16, 2013 - The article that outed them:

Someone made a fake article that said Swiftgron was dating:

Dianna tweets seven times that day which is a bit much for her.

The hashtag here stands out to me:

The fake article goes viral and all week people are tweeting about the possibility that Dianna and Taylor are dating.

April 23, 2012

It seems to culminate on this day. Many people are buzzing about Swiftgron and this actress tweets:

That’s right at midnight.

About 12 hours later Dianna deletes her public Tumblr:

On that same day Dianna reblogs several things on her private Tumblr. These two stand out to me:

She reblogged both of these posts and the only hashtag they had in common was “#lost love” - she was searching that hashtag.

I think it’s very clear that today is the day Swiftgron 2.0 broke up. I believe they were forced to by their management teams due to being outed.

April 24, 2013 - Taylor seems regretful/stressed out she screenshots her text to Austin and posts:

I think Dianna’s obviously upset about this and as an act of defiance she tweets at Taylor a few days later (Taylor does not respond.)

April 29, 2013

Instead Taylor posts on Dianna’s Birthday (April 30) a silly google search (very DIanna in nature tbh) with a play on the lyrics from 22:

Taylor had the week of Dianna’s 27th birthday off of the Red tour (it was scheduled like that) but as far as we know they did not hang out.

May 4, 2013 - Ours

At her first show since their supposed break-up, Taylor performs Ours as a surprise song. She introduces it by saying: “This is a song about how, when you fall in love everybody starts to give you their opinion. I imagine it could be really hard to make a relationship last, I wouldn’t know. But, given that everyone is giving you their own opinion about it, I think that the only opinion you should really listen to is yours and if you love that person, that should be all that matters.”

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Dianna dyes her hair brown and goes to Morocco a week later with Ashley (”You searched the world for something else, To make you feel like what we had”) from about May 11 - May 14 or 15. While there she attends the A Small World relaunch. ASW could be viewed as a bit “sketchy” if you will. I think this is where she befriends Olivia Wilde.

This is Dianna’s first (known) trip to Morocco (Derek Blasberg is there too) but she seems to be drawn there over and over again after this, even marrying Winston Marshall there (and possibly meeting another boyfriend, Gus Wenner there.)

May 19, 2013 - Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas

Taylor wins 8 awards and says this during her acceptance speech:

This and the performance of Ours makes me think Taylor is bitter about a break up right now, even though publicly she broke up with Harry back in January.

This is also the event where Taylor is famously grossed out by Justin and Selena’s hetero nonsense and does this:

It seems like as always, Taylor has a lot going on right now...some kind of drama with Justin is boiling but it’s possible she’s also referencing her breakup with Dianna in her acceptance speech.

Dianna pops back up in NYC.

May 20, 2013 - WLW icon Kristen Stewart apparently spends the night at Taylors?

May 28, 2013 - Taylor plays Haunted on the Red Tour and gives a speech:

"This is a song that I haven't played on this tour so far. It came up when one of my friends tweeted the lyrics to it today and it reminded me that I haven't played this song in about two years. It has to do with the fact that, you know people talk about ghosts all the time. You just kind of imagine it being this supernatural thing, but there's another kind of ghost and it's just a person who is out there walking in the world or just doesn't love you anymore and that's a whole different kind of being haunted." Seems like she’s really going through it.

July 2, 2013 - Anniversary of Hyannis Port trip and interesting private Tumblr post from Dianna:

Bad things happen this summer. Cory Monteith passes away and Taylor is assaulted at a meet and greet by a DJ.

July 2013 - Dianna buys a house in LA (I Wish You Would)

August 2013 - Dianna’s whosirmesir moniker gets outed and she stops blogging under that tumblr account.

August 14, 2013 - Taylor is in a weird place according to the Lover diaries:

1. she seems to have basically written The Lakes here

2. she’s really harping on themes she ends up addressing in I Know Places, Out of the Woods, and Wonderland

August 29, 2013 - Dianna steps out with restaurateur Nick Mathers.

Not sure what to make of this one. Dianna seems to date two types of men: 1. teeny bopper actors for bearding and pr purposes (it generally seems) and 2. rich businessmen. Nick is type 2, but their relationship is reported on as if it’s PR. “Sources” call up gossip sites to fill them in on the relationship and both their projects get plugged along with announcements on them as a couple:

I don’t know if they were more or less legit but she goes out with Taylor five days later...

September 4, 2013 - The Fun! Concert:

Swiftgron’s last pre-Kaylor public sighting - they go to a Fun! concert in LA

It’s just a split instant of video footage but Sarah Hyland uploads this to Vine and it does not look like Dianna is enjoying herself:

Note: It kind of looks like DIanna has her arm around Taylor’s waist and also the person to the right of Taylor is Selby Drummond who is still friends with DIanna as of writing of this masterpost (December 2020) and who still appears to be a fan of Taylor’s.

Dianna does look miserable but I do think it’s interesting they seem to be making an effort to hang out on the two year anniversary of their public (perhaps private as well) first meeting.

Dianna tweets about the concert the next day:

September 6, 2013 - Taylor plays Speak Now as the surprise song on the Red tour. Interesting given the timing of Dianna and her new boyfriend being public just one week before this.

September 8, 2013 - Taylor plays Sad, Beautiful Tragic for the first time ever live and gives this speech:

"I kind of feel like playing a song I've never ever played live before. This is um a song that I wrote about how you know just because something's over doesn't mean it wasn't incredibly beautiful. Cause another lesson I've learned is not all stories have a happy ending and you have to learn how to deal with that. So this is a song about a story that didn't end so happily but was still supposed to happen. This is called Sad, Beautiful, Tragic."

I don’t think this song was originally written about Dianna but I do think at this time while they stumble through the last phase of their relationship Taylor was inspired to sing it.

October 2013 - Taylor writes I Wish You Would, a song inspired by an ex who had recently bought a house near her driving past her house. It’s thought to be about Harry but Harry didn’t buy a house in LA until March 2014. But of course we know Dianna did buy a house near Taylor’s in LA earlier this fall.

November 11, 2013 - The music video for “She’s Just Another Girl” premiers starring Dianna looking stunning in high fashion drag, dressed up as the lead singer, and lip syncing the words to the song:

Some lyrics to the song include:

All of my friends say I should move on She's just another girl, don't let her stick it to your heart so hard And all of my friends say it wasn't meant to be And it's a great big world, she's just another girl

I could be reeling them in left and right Something's got a hold on me, tonight Well maybe all of my friends should confront The fact that I don't want another girl

I think it’s at least possible that Dianna was drawn to this project because the lyrics resonated to her given what she was going through with Taylor at the time.

November 12, 2013 - Day of Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show rehearsals and Dianna posts this (now deleted) picture:

November 13, 2013 - Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show where Taylor performs and Karlie Kloss walks the runway.

Dianna posts this picture (now deleted) of her at Emma Stone’s birthday party from 11 months previous:

It’s likely she’s looking at Taylor in this photo who was seated across from her.

It’s a very random picture to post. It wasn’t titled as a throwback and it wasn’t an exact year after the picture was taken (prompting some kind of happy birthday shout out to Emma Stone or anything) - just a random picture of Dianna smiling, likely at Taylor.

November 17, 2013 - Dianna posts a (now deleted) photo about missing someone:

November 21, 2013 - Taylor posts lyrics from a hopeful love song about a troubled relationship:

Lyrics:

December 9, 2013 - Dianna listens to Pale Blue Eyes

Lyrics are about being emo over a lost love with Blue Eyes:

Sometimes I feel so happy Sometimes I feel so sad Sometimes I feel so happy But mostly you just make me mad Baby, you just make me madLinger on your pale blue eyes Linger on your pale blue eyes

Thought of you as my mountaintop Thought of you as my peak Thought of you as everything I've had, but couldn't keep I've had, but couldn't keep

Linger on your pale blue eyes Linger on your pale blue eyes

If I could make the world as pure And strange as what I see I'd put you in the mirror I put in front of me I put in front of meLinger on your pale blue eyes Linger on your pale blue eyes

Skip a life completely Stuff it in a cup She said, "Money is like us in time It lies, but can't stand up" Down for you is upLinger on your pale blue eyes Linger on your pale blue eyesIt was good what we did yesterday And I'd do it once again The fact that you are married Only proves you're my best friend But it's truly, truly a sinLinger on your pale blue eyes Linger on your pale blue eyes

December 11, 2013 - You know the drill...Dianna posts a now deleted photo to Instagram:

December 13, 2013 - Dianna posts an attention grabbing photo on Taylor’s Birthday

Conclusions - Swiftgron very clearly goes through a rough breakup due to being outed.

Then they attempt some sort of reconciliation - even hanging out (date night?) on the second anniversary of their Fairfax Flea Market meetcute, but it goes wrong.

Taylor is on tour for much of this time and Dianna is posting angst ridden and peculiar Instagram posts exactly at the time Taylor meets Karlie.

Click here to keep reading!

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writing-with-rain · 5 years

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Under My Wing

Taken from a prompt off of @writing-prompt-s

——————————-

There were many villains that roamed the underground, and it wasn’t uncommon for a new one to pop up, stay a year – maybe even two – and then vanish the moment they got too cocky. No one could be all too sure if the ones doing the vanishing were the heroes or the villains when it came to these rookies, but the civilians didn’t seem to care which one it was. If anyone was being honest, the civilians were more concerned with those pros of the underground, who ran the slums of the city and kept the heroes on their toes for years as nothing more than a game.

One of the most notorious was Wildcat. A villain who had shown up seemingly overnight with a handful of goons and deadly pets, they had taken over the entire Northern Slums, killing their hero in the process. From the get-go, all anyone knew is that she wouldn’t be leaving so soon. And they were right. She had ruled with an iron grip, focusing much of her power on controlling her turf and keeping her eyesore of a hero, Nexus, out of her hair. Thankfully, she never seemed keen on expanding her domain, insisting instead to terrorize the people she already held control over.

But Wildcat would always have one flaw, the same one that had gotten her into the life of crime and the same one cats stood immortalized for: curiosity. So, she actually began paying attention to her nemesis when his little Shrike stopped accompanying him.

Wildcat was ruthless and had played with his little sidekick time and time again, amused by her actions – but despite the villain’s signature cruelty, she had given an order that they could do as they wished to Nexus, but Shrike was to remain alive (not unharmed, she wasn’t going soft, she just liked her new toy).

Wildcat went back through all the footage she could scrounge up, looking for debilitating fights with the little Shrike, but none had been reported on. She looked at news clips and articles, all beginning to comment on the missing sidekick, but with no answers. She went after other heroes personally for her answers, only to be met with the same confusion. So finally, she sat back, took a look at her data and decided that 7 months was far too long for a sidekick to be missing when Nexus insisted she would be returning to the life soon enough.

She was good at reading people. She always had been. And something about Nexus set off a bad feeling in her, and it amped up to the feeling of a bomb when he talked about his little bird.

Surprisingly, finding her was easy enough, because Shrike lived in Wildcats turf apparently. She had pulled enough strings and promised protection to a few sleazy gangs and small-town businesses and gotten her answer. For the last 7 months, Nexus had been patrolling Eve St. earlier than normal, only to appear on the rest of his route 3 or more hours later, coming out at Halo St.

Knowing that if something would get done right, she’d have to do it herself, she donned civilian clothing and made her way to Eve St., ready to track down the narcissistic hero. Low and behold, when he made it onto Eve St, he made a sharp turn most would miss in the dark of the night, but not her.

After 15 minutes and a moment later of thinking she had lost Nexus, she found him, crawling up the side of a decaying building – which sat along Halo street on its north side. She waited in the night, hidden by the building as a young girl opened the window for him. And though she held herself with weariness and a timid look upon the arrival of Nexus, that twist of the mouth, the hair, and the voice (that was much too fake as she greeted him), were unmistakable. Wildcat had found Shrike, and now she turned back and headed to her base of operations, coming up with an idea.

Since Nexus still seemed to care for the little bird, maybe Wildcat would have some fun with knowing her identity. So, she called her best forward and gave them explicit instructions. No harm was to come to Shrike at all, not even a scratch. She wanted her in perfect condition to taunt Nexus and to test her goons’ skills.

And sure enough, two days later, she had the little bird awake and rather ruffled in one of the spare rooms. Though she had been tranquilized and taken in the night, she had awoken faster than anticipated and in a flurry of fists. But despite the broken nose one of her men had received, they hadn’t laid a hand against her aside from restraining her. And today was the day Wildcat would go and speak with her – maybe she would even get an answer on the sidekick’s new hobby of hiding.

Despite the girl that the villain had seen in the window only a few days ago, Shrike showed no fear. Rather, she spat insults at the villain, but there was no fire behind them. They were for show, and her eyes gave that away the second Wildcat saw her.

Once Shrike was done, Wildcat cooked an eyebrow and looked at the young girl, “are you done?”

There was silence hanging in the air before Shrike collapsed against the bed and turned her body from Wildcat. “Yeah, that’s it.”

“So, are you willing to answer my questions now?” Wildcat’s inquiry entered the air and she could see the sidekick’s body tense.

“No,” was hissed out, so low the older woman almost didn’t pick it up. Almost.

“Well I’m going to ask them anyway, so you may as well.” Only silence tried to answer Wildcat’s statement. But despite this, she continued on: “Let’s start with your name?”

Nothing but a scoff from the girl hidden among the green covers.

“Alright, I’ll answer. Your first name is Wisteria. Your friends call you Dare and online you go by Osiyira.” As she spoke, Wildcat could see the twitch of Shrike’s body as she moved her head a bit to turn an ear to her captor. “Is it surprising? I know a lot about your life. Your parent’s names, your address, your school, your job, etc.”

“All shallow information,” came a short reply.

“Excuse me?” Wildcat was slightly amazed. No wonder this girl was her favorite of the heroes.

“Anyone with a laptop and a hint on who I am could probably find that out.”

“And yet, I’m the only one who has. Your mentor knows though, I assume. He was at your apartment,” and once more it was the silence that gave companionship to her statement. Wildcat found herself raising her brow once more, growing frustrated at the lack of attention from her hostage (shouldn’t it have been the other way around). So now she had a new plan. “Why was Nexus at your apartment? A secret affair, perhaps? You look too young for him, but with a mask, it does get hard to tell.”

And there it was again, the stiffened body. But the little sidekick did not remain still; in fact, Shrike was shaking. And all too fast she stood before Wildcat, face twisted in rage, eyes blazing and a snarl on her lips. “Nexus may have been my mentor once upon a time, but I would never go so low as to sleep with a monster.” And instead of cowering away from what she had let slip, Shrike stood tall and pulled up her shirt, revealing fresh and old bruises alike littering her sides and stomach. “And these didn’t come from sparring, they didn’t come from enemies on the other side of the line. They came from a monster in my own ranks!”

There was no soft-spoken girl anymore, no quick quips, not determination. There was a sea of rage in her eyes and shot through and led every twitch of her body- from the balls of her fists to the creases near her eyes and the bared teeth. “I haven’t come back to the front lines yet because I haven’t submitted to him! Because he knows I’d drag him into the light if I could without it hurting those around me,” and now her voice had dropped, almost silent, but the fire hadn’t faltered.

Wildcat was at a loss for words, looking at the exposed skin covered in black and blue fingerprints and rope burn. A gash had healed right above her hip, stitch marks thrown around it with abandon and the villain realized that had been the last mark she had left on the sidekick before she went missing. It had never even gotten proper treatment and was twisted in a gnarled look – chances are it had gotten infected all those months ago.

The two locked eyes, Shrike beginning to falter as she stepped back, tears fought off at the edges of her eyes. But a new fire was brimming in Wildcat. If there was one thing that the pro hated it was people being treated this way by those they trusted. She may have been dangerous and chaotic to her enemies, but her own men were well fed and looked after. They put their lives on the line for her because she took care of them in return. And now, before her, stood a girl who had been fighting in silence against a monster that every citizen adored.

“I’m giving you a way out then. We’ll get your family under our watch, you’ll be moved to one of the better rooms closest to my own. I think a new outfit is in order for you as well. And we’ll clean out your apartment. And if we’re starting from scratch you’ll probably need a new persona to fight with. So, what’ll it be?” Wildcat hadn’t taken a breath yet or looked to Shrike as her mind ran a mile a minute. “Oh, and I was going to send out a message to Nexus that I have you, but now I think we should send one out that we know what he’s done and you’re no longer under his control. How does th-“

“Wait! What are you going on about,” Shrike finally interjected. Wide-eyed as she looked at the deadly woman before her who now seemed so lost in her own plans.

Wildcat blinked once. Twice. And a third time before stating what seemed so painfully obvious to her: “I’m taking you under my wing, little bird. You’re my sidekick now if you’d like to be. And I get this whole moral thing, so we’ll make a deal.”

When there was no reply, she continued. “I will train you, after we treat your wounds, get you a new outfit and name. And then I’ll send you out among my district to serve vigilante justice against any abusers in the North Slums. Or anyone you think needs to be tossed to the nearest police station- so long as they aren’t my goons following my own orders. You’ll have a place to stay and eat, and you’ll have the freedom to leave when you need. Do you think that sounds like a deal?”

A wary look crossed Shrike’s face before she spoke. “And what do you get out of it?”

“Well, for starters, pissing off Nexus and a peace of mind that you and anyone you help don’t feel wrath they don’t deserve,” Wildcat stated, so confidently that Shrike felt she must have missed some major plot point in this woman’s life in the last 7 minutes. But Wildcat gave her no time to dwell on it before her hand was extended to Shrike.

And she took it, in a heartbeat and with that same determination in her eyes that Wildcat was used to. “Harpy. It’s Harpy now.”

#Prompt #Writing-Prompt-s #Heroes #Shrike #Wildcat #Nexus #Harpy #villain #Tbh #Had to do this #I have Harpy now so I thought damn let's do this

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gwennhadu-bug · 5 years

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Bon Route (part...3ish?)

@alyanette-april 4: Travel

Remember that Alyanette college road trip AU I have in the freezer? I pulled out a chunk of it again! This doesn’t directly follow the first posted installment, but it makes for good, long, dialogue and plotless reading on its own. And honestly, you can start to see why I keep this in the freezer, but how could I not post it for the theme of “travel”...??

“Road trip!” Marinette chirped , following Alya’s rough tug out to their waiting van.

The T&S Boulangerie van was an old white Renault van with their logo emblazoned on the side. Tom had splurged for an automatic van, deciding that it would be less likely to jostle any catered goods on the inside. Alya and Marinette had filled the back with the materials for Rome, of course, as well as their own suitcases. The front seats were ready for a long trip with a blanket and pillow for the passenger, bin of snacks, and plenty of music. Alya had done her research and was as ready for this as she figured she could be.

Marinette’s parents had flown out the night before and it wasn’t hard for their daughter to sneak home, explain the secret plan to their cover shift manager, get the van, and drive it to Alya and Marinette’s apartment early that morning. They still had a few fresh croissants aromatizing the van when the two girls left Adrien and Nino’s place. Marinette jumped into the driver’s seat and Alya buckled in next to her. “Alright, Mari. Recapping our plan… Day one, we’re driving to Chloe’s in Geneva. It’s about a 6 hour drive, but since we need to stop every 2 hours for safety, we’re stopping in...Auxerre, and Saint-Albain. So accounting for the time it takes to stop, we’ll probably be there around...15 or 16 o’clock. An entire evening with Chloé, like you wanted.” She rolled her eyes and added, “For some reason.”

Marinette started the van and didn’t immediately reply. She drove down the street, rolling over the old stone roads and into the busy traffic. With expert confidence, Marinette weaved in and out of the slow or stopped cars, through the old, small side streets. “We owe it to her. She moved away two years ago, Geneva’s only 3 hours by train, and no one but Adrien has visited her once!”

“Because we’re broke university students and she’s a salope,” Alya responded. “This is your right turn.” Marinette turned on to Boulevard Saint-Germain with a pleased sigh. This was a main road, not a side-street, and the van wasn’t as terrifyingly large here. “Take Pont de Sully, then we’re taking a sharp right to Quai Henri IV.”

“She’s not a salope. She’s gotten so much better. She got so much better through all of lycée, you know that!”

“She just learned how to use underhanded compliments instead of outright insults. And don’t you remember all that shit she pulled in lycée? Especially when you first got together with Adrien? No, she was still a salope then.” The car loudly rolled over Pont de Sully and Alya took the opportunity to look out at the Seine. Early morning light reflected over the river, lighting up their city that she wouldn’t see for almost two weeks. Marinette took her sharp right onto the next street. “Okay, we just follow this road until the A4 ramp towards Orly Airport and merge onto Périphérique.”

“Got it,” Marinette answered. Their road took them parallel along the Seine and with early morning Paris traffic, they had plenty of time to admire the city and chew on breakfast. Cars impatiently honked, like they always did on this road, so Marinette dutifully ignored her fellow Parisians’ complaints. “She wasn’t ever nice, I’ll agree. But Alya, you saw her at her worst; before you moved in, she was a pretty sweet girl in Primary school. She just got worse as we got older and closer to college. Maybe that’s why I actually believe she’s improved...I know what she used to be.”

“You sound like Adrien,” Alya complained.

“Is that a bad thing?”

Maybe not to Marinette it wasn’t. Maybe not to the girl who still loved him madly and deeply despite her claims otherwise. Alya sighed, not wanting to answer that. But their conversation didn’t feel finished. “When it comes to Chloé, I think it’s bad. He coddles her too much.”

“Adrien has never once coddled Chloé! He is always trying to make her a better person.”

“Marinette, Chloé has spent the majority of every year since I’ve met her trying to make my very best friend, which is YOU, by the way, miserable. I won’t apologize for not trusting her.” She turned away from Marinette, looking out her own window at the city instead. Eventually, she spoke up again. “Here’s your exit. Okay, follow this for 2 kilometers, then take the A6B exit.”

Marinette seemed a little visibly stressed at this point. She had told Alya many times as they prepared that she had never driven outside of Paris...beyond quick catering errands for her parents within tight, slow-speed city driving, Marinette didn’t drive much at all. But neither of them wanted Alya as the first driver at 7 am in an unfamiliar vehicle. Picking up on that, Alya kept quiet except for instructions. “Keep going here….yes, just keep on A6B. 8 kilometers here.”

“Eight kilometers?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a while…” Marinette agreed, her voice cautious. She seemed distracted by all the graffitti to the point that Marinette chirped in surprise when the van zoomed into a tunnel. But soon enough they were back in a small, one-lane road, speeding through the suburbs of Paris. Buildings were suddenly newer, smaller, and farther apart. Trees began to appear. “Okay, I think I’ve got this,” she finally said, a little more confident.

“Good, because our next exit is coming up in about a kilometer. Just stay to the left- follow the signs towards Lyon.”

Marinette leaned forward to read their approaching exit sign more clearly. “A6?”

“That’s it!” Alya looked back at Marinette and smiled, seeing her friend with a proud smile on her face.

“This is officially the farthest I’ve ever driven,” Marinette announced.

“Then I need to document this,” Alya said. She opened up her camera and panned the outside ‘scenery’ of graffitied highway walls and scrubby brushes. “We have just left Paris and are about to get onto highway A6. Marinette just announced...mind saying it again, Mari?”

“This is officially the farthest from Paris that I’ve ever driven!” Marinette turned to Alya and grinned, then dramatically flipped her blinker to the left and veered towards their exit.

“That’s amazing! But it was only thirty minutes!”

Marinette laughed. “I didn’t say the longest. I said the farthest.”

Alya grinned at Marinette’s wide smile. “Well, buckle up sugar, because our next turn isn’t for another 158 kilometers. Road trip!”

“Road trip!” Marinette screamed out. She laughed in delight. Next to her, Alya closed the recorder app. She could get more footage later on. “What about you, Alya? What’s the farthest you’ve ever driven?”

“Rouen. Two hours away, just past Giverny, with Alix. But I’ve gone on a lot of road trips with my family before I was 18. My longest was...When I was Ella and Etta’s age, my family took us from Rennes to Provence. God, they were both babies at the time. Do not drive twelve hours with toddlers, Marinette.” Alya’s eyes were wide and she shook her head. “I don’t remember much about that trip, but I remember that. Nora and I were basically babysitting the whole drive. Well, she was. I probably just complained about it.”

“So the real lesson is don’t take toddlers and you on a twelve hour road trip,”

“Excuse me,” Alya laughed, “I was ten! Give me a break, young lady!”

“Are you sure you won’t be complaining the entire time on our road trip?” Marinette teased, raising an eyebrow.

Alya couldn’t hold back her smile. “I’m sure,” she answered. “You are much better company than twin toddlers, Mari,” Alya added, reaching out to rub Marinette’s forearm.

Marinette’s smile in reply was wide and comfortable. “That’s not a very high bar, but I’ll take the compliment anyway. We don’t go on vacation very often. Maman and Papa hate leaving the boulangerie...I can only imagine how much Mami had to fight them to leave for this week,” Marinette said with a heavy shake of her head. “When we would go places, it was by train or plane. To visit family, usually...Flew to China, took a train to Central-Pays...I’ve been to Italy once before; it’s a lot faster by train. But this way we have all our stuff.” She turned to look at Alya for a moment. “And I have you!” Marinette added in a squeaky voice of delight before looking back at the road.

“You could go on a train with me too, Marinette,” Alya laughed.

“Sure, but this is much more cinematic. We get to look at all the scenery!” The two of them were still on the edges of the Paris Metropolitan area, passing signs for communes like Evry. “Like Disneyland!” Marinette explained, waving her hand at the brightly colored exit signs that they promptly drove right past. “Have you been to Disneyland?!”

“Of course I have; I’m not an animal,” Alya scoffed. “It’s been a second, though.”

“We should go together some time!”

Alya smiled, looking out at the Disneyland signs. She could imagine Marinette skipping and singing along to the music in Disneyland, wearing mouse ears, holding her hand, watching fireworks with Alya…”We should,” Alya agreed, feeling like she was digging her own grave with every romantic fantasy.

“But that one we’ll take the train for. After all, we’re not animals,” Marinette laughed.

“This isn’t exactly scenery, by the way,” Alya told Marinette with a giggle. “It’s ugly stores and graffitti and crummy houses.”

“It’s different than Paris,” Marinette defended. “Look! There’s...nature and stuff out that window!”

“Nature and stuff?” Alya repeated with a laugh. “Oh, my god, Girl. You know we’re going to be driving to the literal Alps today, right?”

“Exactly!” Marinette replied, hopping up and down in her chair. “Nature and stuff!”

“We’re not at at the alps yet. We’re just getting into the rural part.” Alya looked over at Marinette with a gentle, loving smile. “This part is going to be boring.”

“Please, Alya. It won’t be boring. You’re in the car.”

Alya felt her throat tighten and Marinette looked straight ahead. “I should record more for montage-ing.” She pulled out her phone, recording the fields and farms that they now drove through in silence. “Let’s, uh...put on some music,” Alya decided. She had made a playlist for their road trip, but suddenly got a wicked idea. “I know exactly what to listen to until we get to Auxerre.” She opened up her music app, flipping past the dozens of playlists Nino had made for her or sent her, finally deciding to use the search function again. “Weeee are going to listen to Clara Nightingale’s Miraculous album.”

“Yes!” Marinette gasped in amazement. “Oh, god, I don’t think I’ve listened to that since college!”

“Marinette, I live with you. That is a bald-faced lie. You mean no one else has listened to that since college.”

“It’s not like I know the words anymore, though. It’s such a- YES!!!!”

Alya laughed in delight. The moment the first note of the first song trilled out in peppy, poppy major key, Marinette was singing along to the instrumentals and drumming on the steering wheel. And that adorable liar knew every word.

The two girls sang along to the pop anthems of their teenage years, crooning our to one another dramatically, drumming the dashboard and steering wheel, even rolling the windows down to sing at passing cars. At least until they passed pastures of cows: the windows rolled up real fast right then.

When the titular song, “Miraculous”, played, Alya screamed in delight. “Marinette! It’s your song!”

“Oh, god,” Marinette laughed. “That was an insane day. I’m glad it just ended up being Everyone's song.”

“Don’t lie, Mari. You would have loved to have a song with Adrien back then. The Ladybug to his Chat Noir,” Alya fluttered her eyelashes, adding, “they did get together, after all. For a little bit.”

Marinette squinted as she drove forward. “Was that ever really official though? I mean, you never reported on it.”

Right, because Ladybug and Chat Noir had both specifically asked Alya not to. “Do you mean the relationship or the breakup? Because they were caught kissing like, a lot.”

“People kiss!” Marinette sputtered.

“I don’t know many people who kiss their friends like that,” Alya laughed. If she kissed her friends like that, Marinette would absolutely know. “And That DID end up on the Ladyblog. I know because you nearly had a conniption.”

“I just want to make sure you’re reporting factual, hard-hitting news! Not… gossip!”

“Yeah, I know, we had this exact argument two and a half years ago,” Alya laughed. “There’s nothing there for me to report on anymore. Hardly anyone sees the Miraculous heroes out together.”

Marinette was quiet for a moment, letting Clara Nightingale sing her sad song and fill the car with music. Then she said, “would you report on it? If some of them got together? Romantically?”

“I’d secure an exclusive interview and do it that way.” For some reason, Alya’s answer amused Marinette. “That’s what I always try and do,” she continued. “The Ladyblog functions the way it does because the Heroes trust me, so I need to keep that trust. It’s more important to maintain a trusting, professional relationship than to run a gossip piece.”

“That’s very mature of you, Alya.”

“It’s cause I’m a fuckin adult now,” she said, putting her feet up on the dashboard and grinning wildly at Marinette. “Adults are mature and shit.”

“You’re usually more of the ‘and shit’,” Marinette giggled.

“Hey! Pétasse!” Alya yelled, throwing a crumpled croissant napkin at her best friend.

Marinette squealed in giggles. The song continued in the background and Marinette exclaimed, “This is your part!”

On cue, Alya performed the tiny segment of the dance where she had been filmed...at least the part that involved her arms. “It was pretty cool. But I still think you would have been amazing as Ladybug.”

Marinette blinked in surprise. “Really? You weren’t just saying that?”

“No, girl. You totally have the Ladybug spirit and look down.”

“That’s high praise, coming from you...wasn’t she your celebrity crush?”

“Putain, she still is!” Alya laughed easily. She wasn’t dumb; she knew she was just as likely to land someone like Ladybug as she was to land a straight girl like Marinette. Even if Ladybug saw her as Rena fairly often...that was too big of a fish to try and catch for real. Ladybug wasn’t exactly the warm and cozy, ‘talk about our feelings’ type and still demanded no one tell each other their identities. It was largely why she didn’t let her feelings for Ladybug deepen. But that didn’t mean her attraction hadn’t. “Have you seen her new outfit? And the way she’s grown into it?” Alya whistled low.

She looked over at Marinette and saw her friend’s face was quickly turning scarlet...probably embarrassed by Alya’s gay talk. So she upped the ante, staring right at Marinette. “I mean, damn. She looks mature now, not an innocent little girl. Someone who can consent and downright control. Those little black spanx she got now? Over that ass?” Marinette turned even redder. Alya grinned. “And her fucking legs. Ladybug is strong as hell, but her legs...she redefines thick. She could crush a watermelon between those thighs. And let me tell you, I would love to be that watermelon crushed betwee-”

“Look, our exit sign!” Marinette squeaked, her voice several octaves higher than it normally was.

Alya grinned, pleased that she won their unofficial game of chicken. “Coq a l’ane,” she muttered at the abrupt subject change, smiling as she noticed the sign for Auxerre. She turned her recording back on and pointed it out the window. “Take a look at that! We’re only 5 kilometers from the exit to Auxerre! It’s 9:30 am, and we are making great time. What do you have to say, Marinette?”

Marinette grinned at the camera, her face slowly returning to its normal coloration. “I am ready to get up and stretch; that’s what I have to say!”

“And see the town?”

“Yes, and see the town. It’s supposed to be very pretty, right?”

“Sure is!” She could have kept filming Marinette- god knows she was prettier than the scrubby brush and trees around them. But she turned the camera frontwards anyway, hoping to catch more of the signs as they went. The music played on in the background, Alya and Marinette singing along again as Marinette took the exits into town.

Past a round-a-bout, trees hung over the street (Marinette squealed in delight) and the scenery quickly changed to include more buildings of varying ages. Alya recorded the sights of the town as they drove through, as well as a few shots of her very excited friend. She took a third exit at a roundabout, following the road until they drove next to the Yonne river. Marinette looked from the river to the other side and gasped. “Marinette, the car! You took your foot off the gas. There are people behind us...the car!”

“Oh...oh, shit. Right!” She gassed the car again and quickly found a parking place, then bounded out of her seat before Alya could even narrate what was going on. Marinette bounced up and down.

“She is so cute,” Alya laughed. She got out of her own seat and took a nice, slow pan of where they were. On one side of the girls, the beautiful, narrow Yonne river glittered with boats moored along the edges. Across the river were charming white houses with red-brick roofs and trees, trees, and trees as the horizon line. Blue skies and puffy clouds soared overhead, not tall buildings or intimidating history. On the other side though, it was a sight to behold. The buildings stood side-by-side, only visibly unique from one another by their white stone French coin corners. They were all topped in gorgeous tudor woods of bright colors- reds, yellows, and browns. A cathedral towered just above that view. Gothic, like the cathedral the girls grew up with, but so unfamiliar and so unique and so, so much larger and more impressive in this relatively small town. “And this is Auxerre! What a pretty medieval town!” Alya narrated.

Just on time, Marinette came bounding back into the camera’s view. “Auxerre!” she cheered. “Look at the cathedral! And the river! And the tiny, tiny buildings! Let’s explore, Alya! How do we park?”

“Marinette, we already parked.”

“No, I mean...where do we register to park here?”

Alya giggled. “Mari, we don’t. It’s free. We just leave the car and walk.”

“Oh. That seems...wrong.”

“Welcome to literally anywhere but Paris!”

“Okay, then. Let’s go!” Marinette rushed forward and grabbed Alya’s hand, pulling her towards the bridge over the Yonne river. She was giggling the entire time as if this poor girl hadn’t gotten out of the city for years.

Once Marinette pulled Alya to the center of the bridge, they both turned to face the city and gasped. Alya put up her phone, recording the view. Just across the river and reflected into it stood a wall of two-story medieval buildings. Stone, tudor, and charming. The cathedral and nearby clocktower stood above them, providing a beautiful postcard view...and one that could fit on said postcard. Yes, the city sprawled to the sides, but not in any overwhelming fashion. It was all Right There.

Alya dictated to her camera a little bit of information about Auxerre, then turned to film Marinette. But her friend was sitting cross-legged on the bridge, sketchbook in hand and tongue partially out of her mouth as she sketched the skyline. She smiled softly and turned off the video. It might be awhile.

Alya sat herself down next to Marinette and looked over at the city across the Yonne. It wasn’t a small city by any means; one of the largest in the area. But compared to their home, it was a hamlet. And Marinette was truly inspired. Alya loved to watch Marinette work. Their work ethic had always been one of their earliest connections; few other girls in college would spend hours working on their professional dreams. And as they got older, Marinette was the good influence Alya needed and vice-versa. Even now on vacation, Marinette couldn’t stop her mind from creating and taking inspiration.

They sat together as dozens of people crossed the bridge around them for almost twenty minutes; Marinette drawing under the morning sun, Alya watching the city, the water, and reviewing her videos so far. Finally, Marinette sighed in satisfaction and shut her sketchbook. “Let’s keep exploring.”

“Excellent. And we’re not leaving here without buying a good Burgundy wine!” Alya stood up and offered a hand to help up her friend.

“Fine with me, Alya!” Marinette cheered. “To the clocktower?”

“Absolutely. It’s calling to you, isn’t it?”

Marinette turned to Alya and smiled the way she did when she was in love with an idea. “I’ve not seen anything like it before. I can’t wait to meet it!” She squeezed Alya’s hand and turned to the city, tugging her friend along.

They wove in between people, down alleys, past old shutters and painted doors, around cafes, and up to the clocktower. Alya filmed the entire time, recording all the details of their exploration and the girls’ comments on the old town. She filmed the clock tower, then eventually their visit to the cathedral, Marinette’s scathing commentary on the outside of one of the local boulangeries (as well as her apology after seeing the interior and buying a baguette), their experience buying some fresh, local Morbier cheese and sliced meat, and finally handed the camera over to Marinette so Alya could pick out the Burgundy wine.

Exploring Auxerre, Alya felt like she and Marinette were free for the first time in a long time. They had no home to take care of, no careful relationships to dance around, no schoolwork to feel guilty over. And everything was new. Every building they saw, it was the first time for both girls, and every shared experience was taken while hand-in-hand. It ended up being nearly two hours later before the girls finally realized they ought to eat their lunch and get back on the road. Still, they meandered their way back to the van, pointing out tiny details in the city and the old stones beneath them.

Having parked near a patch of grass, they did not have to go far to eat their picnic lunch. Marinette carried the fresh purchases over to the grassy knoll while Alya rummaged in the back for their cooler.

Trixx poked her head out, taking a look at their new city while finally away from Marinette. “Wow, pretty place! Did you like it here, Alya?”

“You know, I did. Marinette got a real kick out of how trusting all the citizens are. She fits right in with that part...And the streets are really fun to explore.”

“Didja get me ice cream?”

“No, not this time,” Alya laughed. She bent over and picked up their cooler and shut the van back doors. Turning back around, she could see Marinette fussing with their fresh food and talking to herself. “Let me get you some cream before we go over, though.” She kept her eyes on Marinette as Aya bent into the cooler, pulled out a small pop-top jug of cream fraiche, and handed it to her hungry kwami. Trixx took it in both hands, knocking the drink back as she floated in the air as guzzled. Soon enough, she handed the remaining half back to Alya with only a semi-satisfied pout.

“It’s not ice cream.”

“I told you it wasn’t! Just...trick yourself.”

“I can’t trick myself, Rena. It doesn’t work like that. Pah. You’ll just have to make it up to me with some really great ice cream in your next stop.”

“Hey! You don’t even get ice cream every day in Paris. Don’t get greedy, ya little punk!” She took a single finger and pushed Trixx back into her shirt, making Trixx giggle in fake protest. Then, Alya looked back up at Marinette. She had finished laying out their fresh food, only waiting on the fruit, butter, cutlery, cookies, and drinks in Alya’s cooler. Marinette’s back was turned to Alya, the sun directly overhead, as she looked at the shimmering river.

Alya carried over the cooler quietly, not wanting to disturb Marinette. But still, when she was closer, Marinette looked over her shoulder, readjusting her cascading raven hair, and smiled softly at Alya. “This was a great place to stop,” Marinette cooed. She patted the grass next to her.

And Alya absolutely did not want to continue her vlog. She wanted a moment alone with Marinette, to enjoy their picnic, their quiet moment away from the town and all the Auxerre people who had been so kind. But regardless, she pulled out her camera, recording with great animation all the fresh Burgundy region delicacies they bought for their sandwiches. At Marinette’s absolute insistence, the wine remained corked, since they planned to drive.

Lunch consumed half their baguette, most of their Morbier, all of their meat, and only about fifteen minutes of their time. And then they packed all their leftovers into the cooler and headed back to the van.

“I’ll take the next leg,” Alya promised. She filmed their approach to the van but nearly dropped the camera when Marinette tossed her the keys. “Auxerre to….Saint Albain, two hours away. It’s 12:30 now, so if all goes well, we should pull in about 2:30.”

“Wait, we need gas,” Marinette corrected, “so don’t pull onto the highway just yet.”

Alya handed her the camera. “We’re supposed to film the road trip side to this all, so make sure you get as many hilarious shots of me as possible.” And so, the start of the second leg began with Alya lurching forward in the van and pulling through a local gas station.

Marinette dutifully recorded the monotony of Alya putting the nozzle of gas in the van, also catching her amused smile when she saw the camera turned on her. “You’re recording this, Mari?”

“It’s a crucial part of the road trip experience! It isn’t all Clara Nightingale sing alongs and climbing clocktowers,” Marinette explained.

Alya smiled and leaned against the car. “I guess you’re right. I’m not sure if I should be proud you’ve learned to be so thorough in recording from me, or a little embarrassed.”

“You should be proud! I couldn’t have a better teacher,” Marinette gushed. Alya looked down, hoping to hide her blush. Enough Buzzfeed watchers were already shipping Alya and Marinette and she didn’t want to give them any more ammo.

That was a lie. Alya was captain of that fan club and absolutely hoped this trip included as many moments between them as possible. But still. It carried a little weight of embarrassment back at the office.

“So you learn to record everything in your life from me and I learn to be a little more coordinated in my outfits from you. That seems symbiotic,” Alya decided aloud.

“And you’re lucky you have me, Alya. You do well dressing for yourself sometimes, but the level of sophistication…?”

“Is this a crack at my flannel plaid?” Alya asked, putting a saucy hand on her hip.

Marinette laughed. “It absolutely is! You look like a Canadian lumberjack!”

Alya shook her head. “You will pry my flannel out of my cold dead hands. It’s my mating display for fellow gays!”

“Oh, please. You don’t need to dress a certain way to attract girls,” Marinette disagreed.

The gas clanked with completion. Scoffing at Marinette, Alya unplugged the nozzle and hung it back up. “Like you know squat about that. I’m actually queer and need all the help I can get.”

“I just think you can get a girlfriend in any outfit, Alya,” Marinette explained, fussing with Alya’s collar with one hand, holding the camera loosely with the other. She returned to behind the camera, leaving her best friend breathless. Marinette returned to the passenger seat, camera still in hand, giving Alya just enough time to compose herself and return to the driver’s seat.

They pulled away from the gas pump and to the pay station, Alya rolling down her window as the young man gave them their price. He leaned a little farther out, looking at their van. As Alya fiddled around for the card with Mami Dupain’s stipend on it, he said, “So, you ladies are from Paris? Where are you two taking this big van?”

“Rome,” Alya replied, handing the attendant their credit card.

“Rome! Ahh, what do they say there? Belladonna. You’ll fit right in, my belladonna.” He ram the card and winked at Alya. She forced a smile and heard Marinette giggling behind her.

As she accepted the card back, she said, “Yes, I hear the eligible crowd is much more on our level there in Rome than you find in gas stations.”

“Uh...well, bonne route,” the attendant said, clearly a little shaken at Alya’s clap back.

Marinette was giggling even harder. But still, both girls chorused ‘thank you’ and the van eased back onto the main road, headed for the highway. “That poor boy did not know what he was doing when he hit on you. La pauvre! But he totally proved my point, before you killer him,” Marinette laughed, “you’re hot stuff! You can get it!”

“And that’s why I need the plaid!” Alya fired back. “I don’t want dudes like that to hit on me. I want girls to hit on me! I can get guys all I want. But a gay shirt says ‘you’re barking up the wrong tree’ and I like that.”

“Then why not something else, like...like an American undercut?”

Alya looked over at Marinette questioningly, then back to the road. They were approaching a roundabout with their exit towards the autoroute clearly marked, fields visible after their exit. “You think I could pull that off?”

“Well, I would never tell you to cut your hair, Alya. You have the most beautiful hair of anyone I know. Color, texture, softness...don’t cut it,” Marinette gushed. “But you could make any hair style look amazing.” Out of the corner of her eye, Alya could see Marinette panning the camera to show off her hair. “Now flip it, like a shampoo commercial.”

“Girl, you don’t need to ask twice.” Alya tossed her hair; the bounce was restricted by her headrest, but it made Marinette giggle, and that was more important than any video clip.

“What about me? Do you think I could pull off an undercut?”

Alya imagined it in her mind's eye. And as Marinette appeared before her with short hair, pushed to one side with that gorgeous fringe, the other side shaved, looking every centimeter as someone who wasn’t straight and every centimeter hot as hell, her throat tightened and legs squeezed together. Alya cleared her throat as casually as possible. “Yes. Yes, you could absolutely pull it off. You should. You should get one.”

“A few kids in my major have fun haircuts like that. I’ve had this length for years...maybe I should do something dramatic.”

“Yes. It will be amazing. Yes, girl, do it.”

Marinette sounded newly confident and she replied happily, “maybe I will!”

“Just be prepared to have to crawl through suitors because damn, you will look hot.”

“That’s the idea of a haircut, right? Attracting people?”

Alya laughed thickly. “Babe, you have never had a problem being attractive. You are the prettiest girl I know.”

“You’re my best friend. Unfair and biased.”

“Nuh-uh, girl. Gay’s honor; I’m saying that as someone very sexually attracted to the female gender. You are attractive as hell.”

Marinette flushed pink and Alya wished she wasn’t in the driver’s seat. She loved to watch how her face changed with a pleasant blush. “Well, Thanks, Alya.” She fiddled with the camera and Alya knew she’d have to edit that part out. The car was silent for a moment, neither girl exactly knowing how to follow that kind of remark. Usually when Alya said something like that, there was more than fields and empty sky around them. Here, all they had was the toll booth.

They pulled into the toll booth kiosk and Alya grabbed their ticket, ready to be punched when they got off the highway eventually. Taking the opportunity, Alya changed the subject. “Alright, back on the road for another two hours!” Alya cheered.

Marinette looked up from the map and shut the app. “Yep, and we just stay on A6 until we get to Saint Albain. No exits, even. Just….lots and lots of fields.”

“Aw, not all fields. There are some forests.” Alya grinned impishly.

Marinette didn’t reply, but shut off the camera and pulled out her sketchbook. She flipped a few pages and said conversationally, “I liked Auxerre. That was a cute little city.”

“Yeah, it was,” Alya agreed. “It reminded me of the small towns around Rennes.”

Marinette gasped lightly in recognition. “Oh, I bet it did. They’re both very medieval. The tudor, the small streets…” she flipped past her Auxerre drawings and to a new page. “I think I could live in a city that size.”

“Yeah? Wow, I can’t imagine you anywhere but Paris,” Alya admitted, eyes forward.

“I usually can’t either. Paris is my home. It’s my inspiration, it’s who I am, and it’s what I do. But sometimes those rent prices...you know? I wonder how much more comfortable it would be to live in a smaller town where you get to know more of it. Mainly with less tourists.”

“I thought you loved tourists! You’re like the only Parisian I know who doesn’t get mad at them!”

Marinette shrugged. “Everyone in Paris, almost everyone, is there because they love it. We have that in common, so...I can excuse some bad manners. I mean, most of those manners are just people not understanding our culture. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like having more people who know what they’re doing. But they still deserve to experience the city I love!”

Alya sighed. Was it even possible for Marinette to be so loving? So kind? To absolutely everyone?? “Damn. You are something else, girl. You are incredible. If you do leave Paris for a place like Auxerre, the entire city’s level of kindness is going to sink like a rock. Murder will sky rocket! People will fight in the street for no reason! Ladybug and crew will have to work overtime and the Fashion Headquarters of the world will move from Paris to whatever buttfuck city you’re in.”

Marinette giggled, hiding briefly behind her sketchbook. She opened a blank page and started sketching. “I don’t know if I’d ever really move, though. Especially since it really is Fashion Headquarters and no matter what you say, that isn’t changing. But traveling more like this would be nice. Would you ever move?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. My career isn’t tied to Paris or any city; it’s actually best if I get a wide variety of experiences for my writing. I’ve lived in Paris way longer than any other city, so it’s weird to imagine leaving. And I don’t think I could leave you. Or our other friends.” It was really just Marinette. No part of Alya could imagine living without Marinette. She didn’t even want to return to a world without her as a roommate...she wanted to spend the rest of her life bumping sleepy elbows as they brushed teeth, taking turns doing dishes and making dinner, and cuddling much too close on the couch for movie nights.

Fuck, she probably should move out of Paris one day.

“Where would you move?”

“New York City would be fun! Or Los Angeles!” Alya answered automatically. They had played this game before. But life as university students gave the girls different perspectives than they had in lycée and collège. “But definitely a bigger city if I can afford it. Although I can see the appeal of a smaller town, depending on who is with me.”

“Who is with you?”

“You know, if I get in a serious relationship.”

“What do you mean ‘if’? Gas station man and I both just proved you are totally going to find love.” Marinette leaned into Alya’s space, grinning as she crooned in a low, sexy voice, “Belladonna, Belladooooonnaaaaa,” And it was absolutely unfair that her breath on Alya’s cheek and that low voice could make Alya squirm and make her foot push down just a little bit more on the accelerator, but what part of life was ever fair?

“Weirdo,” Alya said, trying to laugh it off as she put her entire hand on Marinette’s face and pushed her away. Her favorite tinkling giggle replied. “I’m just saying, you’re my most stable, longest relationship and that isn’t exactly what I meant.”

“At least you have dated. You were with Victoria for awhile...seven months, wasn’t it?”

Ahh, yes. Victoria. The third Marinette clone in the two years since they started university. Her second longest relationship after Nino, and also one of the most hollow. “I’m not marrying Victoria,” Alya sassed back.

“Oh, that’s not what I meant. I just meant that you’ve actually had real, important relationships. I’ve dated Adrien and...oh yeah, that’s it. One lycée romance and nothing after that. Just some first and second dates.”

Nine first dates, to be exact, and five second dates. And if she was pressed, the stubborn part of Alya’s brain could probably recall every single one of those boys’ names. “Marinette, if there is one thing on Earth that I know, it’s that you’re going to be just fine in the romance department.”

“Alya, that’s so sweet, but you don’t really know that…”

Alya turned towards Marinette and looked at her seriously, just over the top of her glasses. “But I do know that, Mari. You are incredible, amazing, and absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. You make the world a better place and you make every person you know a better person. Any b-boy,” Alya cleared her throat twice, determined to cough out all the emotion that was trying to betray her. “Any boy would be lucky to have you as a girlfriend.”

Alya was very glad that she could keep her eye on the road and avoid the intense look Marinette was giving her now. “Thank you, Alya,” she said softly. “You’re the best hypewoman a girl could have.”

Gripping the steering wheel a little too tight, Alya replied, “Yep, that’s me. The best damn hypewoman around. I’m printing business cards and everything.”

“I’ll design them for you!” Marinette offered, turning the page in her sketchbook and making the broad strokes Alya recognized as the start of a new design. “Alya Cesaire...Hypewoman. What other titles do you want? Journalist, obviously. Hmm...Ladyblog Editor in Chief… best friend in the world...wearer of amazing hair...Actually, we’ll run out of room on the card if I list all of your great qualities. That’s what the resume is for, right? We’ll just focus on the hypewoman part.”

“I expect 5,000 of these printed and embossed for all my future employers.”

“What, you don’t plan on a life-long career at Buzzfeed France?” Marinette asked, mirth in her voice. “But I was so looking forward to your article on ‘Which Character from Asterix am I Most Likely To Meet In A Shady Bar’!”

“You’re a shady bitch, Marinette. You know that?”

“I thought I was incredible and amazing! Alya, where is your consistency?”

“You’re all three things!” Alya laughed.

The girls continued to talk about cities, moving, and life and slowly, the conversation grew sillier and sillier. Topics flew by almost as fast as the fields and forests.

They had a long drive ahead of them and many, many more conversations to have.

#alyanette april #alyanette #fanfiction

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artemisegeria · 5 years

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Endgame Predictions/Wishlist Round-Up (Spoilers)

I made a number of posts discussing what I thought might happen, what I wanted to happen, and what I didn’t want to happen. Here’s how all my speculation and hoping stacked up against the real movie. Massive spoilers below the cut.

In summary, I was really wrong about a lot of stuff. The whole movie was very different from what I expected.

Predictions

Speculative Timeline (as of April 2, 2019)

- We open on the remaining Avengers either in Wakanda or already back at the compound. It is only days or weeks after the Snap. They are struggling to pick up the pieces. They track the missing population and try to figure out what happened to all their allies that we didn’t see at the end of Infinity War. Eh, not really. It was kind of like that, but they didn’t really focus on it.

- They find Nick’s pager and begin messing around with it to continue sending the signal. Captain Marvel arrives. Straight up was not in the movie.

- They cut to some of the other people who will play a role. Probably Tony. Maybe the dusted people. Or Scott Lang in the Quantum Realm. Eh, kind of. They did cut to Tony early on.

- We return to the Avengers. They decide to go fight Thanos. A while ago, I saw a synopsis from footage that was shown to some Disney investors. It said that the Avengers track the energy signature of the space stone, so maybe Captain Marvel’s arrival helps with that, since that is the stone her powers come from. This is still very soon after the Snap as shown by Nat’s hair in the new special look footage. This was a trick again. I think this happened after the time jump.

- They get soundly defeated. But they either manage to escape or Thanos shows “mercy” and decides to send them back to Earth or something. Wrong. They actually defeat him, which I liked. It really made me wonder what would happen next.

- Maybe some time passes of them still struggling to get through the wreckage of their world. Some other remaining allies, like Pepper, coalesce around them. Kind of. There was the scene with the hologram chat.

- Tony arrives with Nebula. Reunions and tough conversations. This pretty much happened, but it was more shouting than an actual conversation.

- Big time jump (like 3-5 years). I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but for some reason, the more I re-watch the trailers, the more I think that sometime during this period, if it really falls out this way, they will be able to restore Vision. First part was right. Sadly, very wrong about the second part.

- We open on Nat in Japan. She talks to Clint and tries to get him to come back to New York with her. He refuses; he says he’s not done avenging his family. Wrong about the second part and it happens early in the movie.

- Cut to Tony, Steve, et al. working together on new weapons, getting SHIELD back together, trying to make the best of the situation. So wrong.

- Scott Lang arrives from a Time Vortex in the Quantum Realm. He finds the Avengers. He has new information that unlocks a solution that they haven’t tried yet. Everyone starts to work on that. Kind of, but happened much earlier than I expected.

- Clint comes back, hence Nat’s smile in the new footage.

- Maybe they cut again to the dusted people working on their own solution. And/or Thanos.

- We see the Avengers working more/testing whatever time travel/quantum technology they’re developing. There are some emotional beats between different characters. They didn’t really pause long enough to have emotional beats in my opinion.

- They’re finally ready to use it. I still don’t have a clear idea on what could happen during this part of the plot. But they use their new allies and new technology to get what ever they need to face Thanos again. Yes, the infinity stones, but I didn’t really predict anything specific here.

- The final showdown. Everyone fights together, last chance, throw every power at the wall and see what sticks. They’re on the brink of defeat. Thanos is still too powerful. When things look very bleak for our heroes, all the dusted people come back. They rally and defeat Thanos. The rest of universe’s population that was dusted comes back. Mostly this is what happened, definitely the best part of the movie.

- Celebration, mourning, weddings, funerals, a taste of what the characters will be doing going forward. Kind of yes, kind of no.

- End Credits Scene(s)

- Cue black screen with white text, saying something to the effect of: The Avengers have done their jobs. Or the new Avengers will return.

General Predictions (as of March 25, 2019)

1. There is no time travel, aside from maybe whatever Scott does to get out of the quantum realm. The early leaked set photos that looked like they were from the Battle of New York were all BARF technology, dream sequences, illusions, alternate universes, etc.

2. They do explore multiple realities/universes.

3. The dusted people are not in the Soul Stone. I think I got this one right. I’m still a little unclear on what happened.

4. Tony survives and gets to marry Pepper and have a kid and a farm.

5. Steve survives, too. With everyone debating whether Steve or Tony or both will die, I think they might go for a surprise and kill off neither of them, making the death(s) someone(s) more unexpected. I guess he’s technically still alive at the end, but close to dying of natural causes.

6. I think at least one major or semi-major character will die and stay dead. At this point, I have no idea who. Yes, so far.

7. The MCU going forward is in a totally new universe/continuity. The more I think about the possibility of the multiverse, the more I think they might pull a Star Trek (2009) and have the fix involve creating a new timeline, therefore making permanent changes and definitively forging a fresh trail.

8. I hate to say it, but I think we will get some variation of White Vision. Prove me wrong, Marvel. I do not want to be right about this, but I just have a feeling. This would not be the absolute worst outcome because it could still be fixed, but I really, really hope I am wrong. I’m not sure, but I think I might have preferred White Vision to the complete nothing that we got.

9. They will fight Thanos more than once. Yes.

10. Shuri is fine. The picture of her on the missing people board in the first trailer was either a misleading shot or at that point in the movie, the Avengers genuinely thought she was dusted. She will help them defeat Thanos.

11. There will be a time jump. Despite the admission that misleading footage was used in the trailers, I think certain appearance changes in the characters point in only one direction. Individual shots may be misleading, but I think the general sense that a lot of time passes at one point will remain.

12. The Snap will still be reversed, but the fix will not involve undoing it entirely. Instead, people will be brought back to after the time jump has occurred. I just cannot fathom Marvel not bringing back half the universe’s population. But if the time jump remains intact, that will provide some permanent changes and losses.

Wishlist Items (as of December 11, 2018)

1. Vision comes back with his emotions/memories fully or mostly intact

2. Wanda et al. come back

3. Everybody lives

4. Alternatively, if anyone dies, have it be very important to the final victory and a grand send-off

5. Have all the Avengers be integral to winning, not simply rely on the awesome powers of a few of them

6. If time travel is involved, still have everyone remember the events of Infinity War

7. Emotional reunion between Vision and Wanda

8. Have Tony and Steve reconcile I don’t know, kind of, but not really.

9. Emotional reunions for everyone Most people got them.

10. A Pepper/Tony wedding at the end/show everyone celebrating

11. Showing the aftermath of IW for the general population Kind of, the bare minimum of showing that.

12. Full-on Return of the King style ending with 10 scenes showing little vignettes between various characters where everyone is happy or on their way to being happy Also kind of, a little bit

13. Happy or reflective post-credit scenes (no indication of a new threat on the horizon; let there be a moment of peace) No post credits scene?

14. At least 20 minutes-half an hour of wrap-up/celebration and/or mourning/preparation for moving forward after the final battle. Hell, I’d probably even take an hour. They have 10 years of movies to wrap up. I think it was more like 5 or 10 minutes.

15. Thanos gets the justice that is coming to him

16. Have Nebula kill Thanos (if that’s the resolution, which makes the most sense to me), and not Tony or Carol or someone else

17. Have Thanos be the main villain (I keep hearing rumors that this is not the case, but I think that it would be a bad idea)

18. A final battle scene that Sebastian Stan (I think) mentioned filming with every Marvel character making a grand last stand Almost everyone, except Vision. I’m still mad about that.

19. A (final?) pre-battle pep talk from Steve

20. Everyone meeting Carol kind of, also bare minimum

21. “Avengers, assemble!”

22. Ideally, I’d like Vision to come back as early in the movie as possible, but the more I think about it, the more that seems kind of unlikely. But if it doesn’t happen until the end, I’d love Tony to have a line something like, “I need to have all my sons at my wedding.”

23. Shuri and Peter Parker to interact

24. Thor (and Loki?) and Doctor Strange to meet again and have a callback to Ragnarok

25. Wanda and Doctor Strange to interact Not really, I think they were sort of next to each other at one point.

26. Wanda and Carol to interact same as above

27. Vision and Groot to interact

28. An explanation of Doctor Strange’s plan didn’t really get one

29. People interacting in the Soul World

Things I Didn’t Want to See (as of March 14, 2019)

1. White Vision

2. Wanda to somehow be pregnant/have the twins by the end of the movie. It seems probable that some variation of that is the eventual plan, which is fine, but I’d prefer them to wait a while to implement that. Let Wanda be happy and let her and Vision just be a happy/recovering couple for a while, let them more fully explore themselves and their powers first.

3. Redemption for Thanos. I know there is some precedent for him working with the Avengers in the comics, but it would make me angry if they just worked together in the face of a bigger threat despite everything that happened.

4. Captain Marvel or anyone else to save the day (almost) single-handedly. Most of the talk from the filmmakers and the marketing indicates that they are focusing on everyone being a team and working together, but I would be tremendously disappointed if that turns out not to be the case. It’s only proper that, as the apparent swan song for many of the original six, that much of the focus should be on them and the whole ensemble of all the Marvel heroes. I want everyone to be integral to the victory.

5. Lack of closure in general. I don’t want Thanos or any of the Infinity Stones hanging around. I guess the Infinity Stones are still around.

6. No Vision

7. No happy reunion for Wanda and Vision. There are definitely ways they could both come back, but still not get a happy reunion, which is why this is a separate item.

8. Anyone dying. Probably the most unrealistic, but I will hold on to hope until proven wrong.

9. More trauma for Wanda and Vision. What with the show still apparently happening, I have fewer and fewer doubts about the fact that both Wanda and Vision will come back (pretty much at 100% certainty for Wanda and maybe like 70-80% for Vision), but I am far less certain about what the movies/show will do to them once they come back.

10. Vision to be wiped out from ever having existed. I don’t think this one is too likely, but I do see some room for it to happen.

Things I Liked That I Didn’t Expect or Ask For

- America’s ass

- Wanda’s badass one-on-one confrontation against Thanos

- All the MCU women teaming up

Things I Didn’t Like That I Didn’t Expect or Ask For

- Virtually zero mention of Vision. Not even saying his name once. Honestly, the writers always seemed to like him. Did they suddenly get mind controlled by a Vision or Scarlet Vision anti?

- Fat jokes about Thor

- A cameo by one of the Russos (I always get them mixed up)—it was very stupid and self-indulgent, considering what they left out

#avengers: endgame #spoilers #endgame spoilers

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essiefreds · 6 years

Photo

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22

Word Count: 2687

Tagged: @hotemotionalmess, @hufflepeople, @justtolkienabout, @uservalkyrie, @writing-for-a-chance

Within the next week, you and Tony Stark had worked together, along with lawyers from both Stark Industries and SHIELD, to craft a contract about the use of the Iron Man suit for the Avengers Initiative. You’d done everything you could to suit the needs of both Stark and SHIELD, although in the end, the contract did lean more in favor of Tony. The bare bones were that the suit would only be involved in any necessary work if Tony was also involved. In return, Tony would fund the Initiative, if it ever got off the ground, which he seemed to doubt.

Of course, you didn’t really care what Stark thought, because you’d actually succeeded in completing your task. It was a major feat, considering that you’d managed to create a mutually beneficial bond between Stark Industries and SHIELD. SHIELD itself would not have its official name listed on any documents, since it was a shadow organization. Stark Industries would, most likely, take the credit if anything were to ever come out of the Avengers Initiative.

It seemed like a win-win. SHIELD remained underground, and S.I. was yet again climbing the ladder to world domination, although it would not be able to reach the top without SHIELD’s say-so.

Needless to say, you thought you’d well earned the bonus that was attached to your paycheck the following week, as well as the small celebration that was held in your office. There was champagne and cake involved. You couldn’t remember most of it.

With Stark behind you, your plate was completely empty, just waiting for another mission.

Oddly enough, when you walked into your office the Monday after the final version of the contract had been emailed both to Stark and Director Fury, the only thing that sat on your desk that hadn’t been there two nights before was an Edible Arrangement.

You blinked at the assortment of fresh fruit, some of which was coated in chocolate. It was all organized to look like a beautiful exotic flower.

Confused, and rightly so, you poked your head out of the office, and called to the first person you saw, “Did you see this get delivered?”

“Oh, yeah,” the intern replied. “The delivery guy asked if it was okay to leave it for you, because he had another one to get done within the hour. I said it was fine, because you were getting here soon.”

“Huh,” you said, and you turned around to face the fruit again. Slowly, you approached it, not completely past the idea that maybe there was a bomb hidden inside of the arrangement.

There was no bomb, but there was a card, nestled between a chocolate covered strawberry and a piece of kiwi. Carefully, so that you didn’t touch any of the fruit, you pulled the card free, and opened it.

The message on the inside was simple: I didn’t know what your favorite flower was. Congratulations on the contract with Stark.

You folded the small piece of letterstock back over, and tapped it against your desk, eyeing the fruit. After a moment of consideration, you picked up a piece of pineapple, and bit into it. Why pass up free, fresh fruit, especially when it looked so delicious?

Whistling caught your attention, and you turned your head as Phil Coulson passed by your office. His whistling stopped when he glanced sideways into it, and then he stopped as well, opening the door a bit wider.

“Whoo,” he said, entering the office and picking out a piece of fruit for himself. “Where’d this come from?”

“No idea,” you replied, handing him the card. He read through it, expression thoughtful, and then he shrugged, passing it back over.

“Guess you got something to do today,” he said. He snagged a chocolate covered strawberry and another piece of kiwi, and left.

“Guess I do,” you murmured in agreement, finishing your piece of pineapple, and choosing a strawberry of your own.

You first went down to IT, so that you could do a background search on any orders that might have been placed from SHIELD’s database to Edible Arrangements. There was one, back from the day after you’d finished finalizing the contract, when it had been made official that you’d managed to snag a deal with Stark Industries. No one, aside from a few choice agents, knew about that deal, which narrowed down who could have possibly been the one to send the arrangement.

So, because you did not know any better way to do it, you went and paid all those agents a visit, to ask them about it. Unfortunately, either one of them was a really good liar, or they were all telling the truth, because none of them seemed to have any idea where the arrangement had come from.

That narrowed it down further. Aside from those agents, there was Deputy Director Hill, and Director Fury. Hill had already established her congratulations by providing the cake at the party, and you did not think Director Fury would have sent you fruit.

Besides that, he knew what your favorite flower was. When your father had died, you’d received an arrangement of daisies from him.

In conclusion, you had no idea who the benefactor of your fruit was. And that annoyed you immensely, no matter how delicious it tasted.

With the help of everyone on the same floor as you, the majority of the arrangement was gone by the end of the day. Only a few straggling pieces of fruit remained, and none of them had chocolate coating.

You poked at what was left, finding that you were pretty tired of fruit. After not learning who had ordered it, and after eating it all day, you had little desire to finish the last couple pieces. Still, you did not want to just throw it away; it was fresh fruit.

So, instead, you finagled Coulson out of one of the many tupperwares he kept in his desk, and returned to your office to pack away the rest of the fruit, so that you could eat it as the week progressed. As you pulled the sticks the fruit were stuck on out of the styrofoam on the bottom of the arrangement, you noticed that there was something hidden behind them, as though it had been left there to be found once the entire arrangement was gone.

As though whoever had ordered it had known you wouldn’t throw it away with pieces of fruit still remaining.

Quickly, you finished pulling the rest of the fruit off of the arrangement to reveal whatever it was that they were hiding. You saw what it was before you’d gotten all of the pieces off, and you sighed to yourself. How did I not realize it before?

Hidden behind all of the fruit was a single sprig of lavender, stuck upright from the Styrofoam. It was wilted, a bit, from having sat behind fruit for hours, but the purple of the blossoms was still vibrant. When you pulled it out, and held it to your nose, the scent of the lavender filled your senses, even without you having to inhale.

“Steve Rogers,” you said under your breath, and then you chuckled to yourself, eyeing the lavender. He was… something.

You placed the tupperware of fruit into the small fridge in the break room on your floor, and then you hesitated, glancing between the elevators and your office. You did not think it was a good idea, to go up and see him, but he’d sent you an Edible Arrangement. Those things were fucking expensive, and you honestly had no idea where he’d gotten the money for it.

You had no idea how he knew about the deal with Stark, either, although you had some guesses.

“Just go see him.”

You glanced in the direction of the voice, and found Coulson leaning against a nearby wall, an open file folder in his hands.

“You knew?” you demanded of him, and he lifted his shoulders.

“He came down and asked if I knew what your favorite flower was. Apparently, Fury wouldn’t tell him,” he explained. “I told him, “I don’t have any idea, Cap, but you know what everybody likes? Chocolate covered fruit.” I guess he took it to heart.”

“And you didn’t tell me it was him because…?”

“Because he asked me not to, said you’d figure it out eventually.” He gestured to the sprig of lavender, which you still had in your hand. “Looks like he left you a clue.”

You exhaled a slow breath. “Coulson, I’m trying to distance myself from him,” you said. “I did a terrible job of helping him figure out the 21st century, and I don’t want to… be involved in his life, anymore.” You waved the sprig of lavender through the air. “This is the complete opposite of not being involved. He’s spending money he probably doesn’t have on thirty five dollar fruit arrangements!”

“Let him,” Coulson said, glancing down at his folder again. “It was really good.”

You decided that Coulson had no idea of the gravity of the situation, and that it was time to stop talking to him. “I’m walking away, now,” you said, and turned to do so.

“He just wants to speak to you, Y/LN,” Coulson said from behind you as you headed in the direction of your office. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

He’ll tell me that he’s not in love with me, you thought.

You did not offer a response out loud.

You knew you could not allow the topic of the Edible Arrangement to sit forever. He must have known that you’d found the lavender behind all the fruit, and he must have known that from it, you’d realized it was him, which meant he also knew that you had not immediately sought him out.

You did not know what you would say to him. Thanks for the Edible Arrangement. Sorry I walked out of your life because I was worried I was ruining you. I’m also sorry that I’ve been watching the surveillance footage of your apartment to make sure that you’re doing okay, because for some reason I can’t let you go.

No. That wouldn’t go down well, not for you or for him.

So, you did not think about it for as long as possible, which was about a day. The leftover fruit had disappeared from the break room fridge, which was a relief, because at least someone was going to eat it. You tried to ignore the lavender sprig, which you’d stuck inside a vase on the corner of your desk. You hadn’t wanted to throw it away, because you thought that would be a little too heartless, but you hadn’t known what else to do with it. Apparently, you were going to watch it shrivel up and die.

Unfortunately, you still did not have any new work to bury yourself in. You wondered if that was the direct cause of Fury trying to force you to take Rogers back. If so, it was stupid and childish, and if you’d been a little more willing to stand up to him, you would march up to his office, and tell him off. However, you were a frightened five-year-old at heart, and you remained in your office instead, silently glaring at an uncomposed email screen to his email address.

You almost broke and went up to Steve’s apartment around midday, strictly because of how bored out of your mind you were. If nothing else, he would at least be a form of entertainment; the two of you had had some meaningful conversations during the months you’d worked with him. If there was anything about that task that you missed, it was those conversations.

You also missed how he approached every new topic that you brought up concerning the 21st century with curiosity. He was genuinely interested in knowing about the new world that he was in, and you appreciated his willingness to work with you. All you’d wanted was to help him learn, and he’d always been ready to be taught.

And, okay, maybe you just missed Steve. He’d grown to be a close friend, someone you’d talked to about things you wouldn’t have normally brought into conversation during work hours. He’d never once refused to laugh at a joke that you made, even when you knew that it was really bad, because he seemed to think they were all hilarious. He’d always held open doors for you, even when you’d gotten to them first; he would pick up his pace just so that he could open the door. That had to be one of the most endearing things about him.

That, and his genuinity. And his sense of purpose. And how he’d cook for you. And how he’d sit through a movie for you, even when it was obvious that he wasn’t enjoying it. And how he’d been certain to ask what your favorites were, when it came to the topics of music, and literature, things that he wanted to make sure he learned about so that you’d have things to discuss.

So, yeah. You almost broke. You almost went up to his apartment.

But you didn’t. Because that would just… make everything so much harder.

The day ended. You returned home. As usual, you ate dinner, fed the cat his dinner, remarked on how the cat had never gotten to meet Steve, tried to pay attention to a TV show and failed miserably, took a shower, and climbed into bed.

For once, you did not toss-and-turn. Apparently, a long day of pining for unfrozen super soldiers could be exhausting, because you were out almost as soon as your head hit the pillow.

Still, that did not stop you from waking up the moment your phone rang from its spot on the bedside table. Fumbling for it, you knocked your water off the table and spilt it across the floor. You ignored the spill in favor of answering the phone.

“Hello?”

Silence. You were wary, at first, and then realization sank in.

“Captain Rogers?”

A small chuckle made it way from SHIELD’s headquarters to your small bedroom via telephone lines. “I asked you to call me Steve.”

Exhaling, you sat up straighter in bed, pushing your hair into a less disheveled state. “Why are you calling?” you queried, doing your best to sound professional. His tone had not given you cause to panic, but that didn’t mean you weren’t concerned. There was obviously something going on, if he’d decided to call you after all this time.

He did not respond at first. Part of you wanted to hang up the phone, and get back to sleep, but that really wasn’t part of who you were as a person. Instead, you sat, patient as possible, waiting for him to say something.

“I just - I can’t... I want - I need…”

You listened to these false starts to a sentence that he was clearly having difficulty crafting, and then you said, “Do you need someone to come to you?”

He was silent again, although not for as long. “I need you to come to me.”

“Captain -”

“Steve,” he insisted.

“- I don’t think me coming to see you is a good idea,” you finished.

“Please, Y/N.” His voice had lowered, and there was a hint of desperation to it, now. Desperate was not a word that you would have ever stuck to Steve Rogers’s disposition. “I haven’t been able to sleep. I don’t - nothing works. I need…” He trailed off, and you waited. “I need you,” he finished. Your heart jumped up into your throat and lodged itself there. “Will you come? Please?”

You swallowed, forcing your heart back down into your chest. It was racing. For a moment, you wondered if you were at risk for cardiac arrest. You stared blankly into the darkness, listening to the two parts of yourself battle.

Eventually, however, one side won out, the side that you’d always sort of known would eventually be victorious.

“All right,” you said into your phone. “I’ll be there soon.”

#drabble #steve rogers drabble #marvel drabble #step by step #writing #steve rogers #phil coulson #marvel #steve rogers x reader #reader x steve rogers #history has its eyes on queue

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chronically-illustrated · 6 years

Text

Ego Activity Timeline

(July 10, 2016 - May 15, 2018)

EDITED: May 15, 2018

Since I’ve only been here a short time, I’ve had to do a lot of research to get up to speed on previous ego appearances and Antipocalypse hints. So, I thought I would put together a timeline to help out other people in the community who are in the same situation, especially since a lot of you have finals going on and you don’t have time to go digging through all of this stuff. It may also help jog theorists’ memories with things that could be linked to the current Seánanigans. I’ve spent a lot of time gathering all this, but it’s not comprehensive, so please feel free to add on!

July 10, 2016

Welcome to the Game #2

- Jackieboy Man's origin

August 11, 2016

Jacksepticeye Power Hour #1

- Marvin's origin, though he is not yet an official ego at this time

September 15, 2016

Jacksepticeye Power Hour #2

- Dr. Schneeplestein's origin

[Hints leading to first Antipocalypse – I wasn't here for this, so I don't know all the places to look, but I think the ones in Sister Location are particularly significant]

October 31, 2016

Say Goodbye

- Antisepticeye's first official appearance

December 24, 2016

Amateur Surgeon Christmas Edition

- Dr. Schneeplestein’s second appearance

March 10, 2017

Antisepticeye takeover at PAX East

April 11, 2017

Bro Average

- Chase Brody's origin

June 18, 2017

Bio Inc. Redemption #2

- Jack kills Chase Brody

- References Dr. Schneeplestein at 16:45

- In-game Chase Brody dies June 18, 2018

- Jack acts as if Chase is not an established character, but a random name he came up with

June 24, 2017

Bio Inc. Redemption #4

- Dr. Schneeplestein's third appearance

August 3, 2017

Kill Jacksepticeye

- Jack feels nauseous, leaves the room, and Dr. Schneeplestein comes in

- Antisepticeye takes over Dr. Schneeplestein while the doctor tries to save in-game Jack

- In-game Jack dies on March 5, 2018

October 23, 2017

South Park: The Fractured But Whole Part 2

- Jackieboy Man’s second appearance

October 31, 2017

Jacksepticeye The Silent Movie

- Jameson Jackson's origin, though he is not yet an official ego at this time

- Anti attempts to take over when Jameson cuts his hand

- “Still here,” “Puppets,” “Run,” and “Still watching” flash onscreen

- Jameson appears to regain control of his body and finishes the video, doing Jack's usual outro

December 5, 2017

Doki Doki Literature Club Part 5

- “imtalkingtoyou” and “irememberwhathapened” are in the tags in zalgo text; these tags are later removed

December 15, 2017

Overnight Watch

[I don't know much about Overnight Watch, but I’ve been told it involved showing previously-used footage of Anti during the night of the holiday stream]

March 14, 2018

Giant Smelly Feet

- Usual intro is missing

- At the end of the video, instead of the usual outro, the camera moves into the bathroom where Jack sits hunched with his feet in the tub, muttering in a Gollum-like voice. When he realizes he's being watched, he slowly turns his head, then lunges toward the camera screaming, “Get out!” The video cuts to black and there is no outro.

April 6, 2018

During his PAX East panel, Jack says he wants to do a story involving all the egos later this year, and confirms Jameson Jackson as an official ego

April 11, 2018

Jack posts a picture on Instagram for Chase's birthday

April 18, 2018

Postcard Incident on Tumblr

- Jack posts what appears to be a postcard that says “Wish You Were Here.” Community members determine the background picture is from a beach in Germany. As the hours pass, the picture changes several times, getting more blood-spattered and glitched with each update. The image is then deleted from Jack's blog less than 12 hours after it was posted.

[I believe it's around this time that Jack answers a question about which egos are canon during a stream and makes it clear that the six official egos are Anti, Jackieboy Man, Dr. Schneeplestein, Marvin, Chase Brody, and Jameson Jackson]

May 1, 2018

Bendy and the Ink Machine Chapter 4

- “I’m hearing something. Maybe it was the sound of my own brain eating itself alive inside my head.” (5:28)

May 2, 2018

Monster Prom

- “I thought white noise was taking over my brain and I was about to die.” (4:12)

- “There was that sound again. I thought I was going deaf.” (6:09)

- “Sorry, my brain switched off there for a second.” (7:28)

(credit to @videogames-and-stardust for writing this info down)

May 3, 2018

Jack posts a picture of Dr. Schneeplestein on Instagram with the caption, “Vacation's over!”

Jack renames Bro Average and The Silent Movie as Power Hour videos with the egos' names

May 4, 2018

100% REAL DOCTOR l Gastric Bypass, Liposuction Surgery

- “Dr. Jacksepticeye” parodies Dr. Schneeplestein's intro from Power Hour #2

- Dr. Schneeplestein returns, but his “good friend” Jack doesn't seem to recognize him and asks, “Who are you?” Instead of greeting Jack like a friend who's been gone for a while, Schneep responds, “I am the good doctor, and that is my chair!” It has been noted that his expression shows both anger and fear, and that Jack's face displays not confusion, but a startled look as if he's been caught doing something he shouldn't by someone he didn't expect to see.

May 5, 2018

Welcome to the Game 2

- Jack asks, “Where is Jackieboy Man when you need him?”

Stories Untold Chapter 1

- The usual intro is missing. While doing the outro, “Jack” stops and says, “What was that? Did you hear that? It sounded like somebody…” He tenses up as we hear the sound of the door handle turning, and looks over his shoulder as the door creaks open behind him. After a flash of lighting and crack of thunder, we see the desk from the game, and a staticky black-and-white image of Jack appears on the computer screen.

May 6, 2018

Barry Has a Secret

- Jack gets through part of his intro, then goes into a super creepy voice and Anti-like grin.

- At the end of the video, Jack is talking about having nothing to hide, then the video starts to fade to black as he shouts, “Hey, where are you going?” This is followed by a found-footage-style skit similar to that at the end of Giant Smelly Feet. The person holding the camera goes into the bathroom; the video glitches, speeds up and rewinds intermittently as the person reaches out to open a cupboard and finds a small plastic hand inside. Off-camera, we hear Jack's voice say, “Hey, what are you doing?” The camera turns and he is standing very close by, grinning and saying, “Hey. You weren't supposed to find that.” There are more glitches during this part as well. Just like in Giant Smelly Feet, there is no outro after Jack reaches for the camera and the video cuts to black.

Stories Untold Chapter 2

- The usual intro is missing, replaced by the SU-specific intro

- Jack's outro is interrupted as the screen starts to flash white and the facecam video appears to speed up, showing him going limp just before the screen goes white and then cuts to the image of the floating, glowing machines from the game

May 7, 2018

Stories Untold Chapter 3

- The usual intro and outro are missing

- At the end of the video, the screen goes dark and we hear, “Jack. Jack! This is Chase. You need to wake up.” We then get Morse code saying, “Where am I?”

Jack posts a picture on Instagram of him wearing Chase's shirt with Marvin's mask partially visible in the background. The photo is deleted less than 24 hours later.

May 8, 2018

Check Please

- Jack says the word “magic” several times and pretends to do a magic trick with the candle

- Jack talks a lot about his dad leaving the family and being a dad with kids

Stories Untold Chapter 4

- At the end of the video, Jack tosses and turns in bed, and we hear whispers saying, “Close the door.” Jake wakes up, looks directly into the camera, and says, “I remember what he did to me.”

Fortnite Stream

- Marvin's mask is hanging on the whiteboard in the background; Jack takes a “pee break” and removes it after viewers post about it in the chat

May 9, 2018

Try to Fall Asleep

- In the static after “Flee,” we see Marvin several times, Jameson once, and the words “You need to” appear above “Flee”

- More references to magic tricks

Colourblind Test

- Marvin's mask is hanging on the whiteboard in the background

May 10, 2018

Thanos Infinity Gauntlet Mode | Fortnite Battle Royale

- Marvin's mask is hanging on the whiteboard in the background

- Footage from before the stream on the 8th

Jack is out of town this day filming something he can't talk about but is excited to show us

May 11, 2018

Community members notice an emoji in a social media post. Jack usually uses :D, :P, etc., so it was strange to see him use an actual emoji. @viostormcaller was able to predict Chase's appearance on this day from this clue.

Tie – A Game About Depression

- This is Chase playing. We get absolutely indisputable confirmation at the end that we’re seeing Chase. He talks about one of his best friends being in a coma, which is most like Jack, hence hearing him say, “Jack. Jack! This is Chase. You need to wake up.” There is a distinct transition at 11:03 where the shirt he’s wearing changes - it goes from a black shirt to Chase’s shirt. Even before this, he’s talking about being a single dad with two kids and struggling with depression. At the end of the video, we see Chase drinking while looking at a photo of the family he’s lost. He sets his hat down next to the bottle of alcohol at the very end.

- Here is a transcript from @21antisepticeye of all the ego-related statements made in this video.

May 14, 2018

Dark Silence

- The light in the recording room flickers and Jack looks up, saying, “Oh, god” as it appears to shatter and the lighting turns red.

- Toward the end of the video, the in-game character is wandering a hospital with a flashlight when the overhead lights in the hallway start turning off one by one, the darkness coming closer and closer. Jack says, “I know where this is going” just before the last light goes out; we hear the character scream as the screen goes dark, including the facecam.

- We cut to Jack (possibly Chase) flicking on a lighter. He wanders a dark hallway, and we hear children’s cries and whispers similar to those in Stories Untold Chapter 4. A red glow washes over him, and we see Antisepticeye, silhouetted by red light in a doorway. Jack/Chase asks, “Who’s there?” and Anti turns his head, grinning, and a bright green light ignites in his right eye (left to the viewer). Jack/Chase asks, “Where are they? What do you want from me?” Anti stalks toward the camera, glitching, and the video cuts to black.

May 15, 2018

Baldi’s Basics

- The video appears normal except for the skit at the end, in which Jack has changed into Chase’s shirt. He scribbles on a piece of paper and pleads with the teacher, hunching up in fear before the cut to the Sam animation. After the animation, he sits up and smiles, which is very reminiscent of the ending scene from Bro Average/The Jacksepticeye Power Hour - Chase Brody.

Here is a recap from @lum1natrix detailing the events of May 2018 up to May 11.

Here is a playlist of all the videos with ego appearances up to Dark Silence.

To be continued!

#jacksepticeye #mayhem2k18 #egopocalypse

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thinkyoureholy · 6 years

Text

Your Name Remains The Same [9]

Pairing : Park Chanyeol / [Fem] Reader

Genre: Angst, smallest bit of fluff, future smut…maybe, Mafia! AU

Words: 2k

Pt 1. Pt 2. Pt 3. Pt 4. Pt 5. Pt 6. Pt 7. Pt 8. Pt 9. Pt 10. Pt 11. Pt 12. Pt 13. Pt 14. Pt 15.

-Y/N’s P.O.V-

I squeezed my eyes shut, taking in deep breaths, trying to compose myself. After a few minutes I finally calmed down enough to rise to my feet. With another deep breath in I walked to my door and walked out into the hallway. I avoided going into Chanyeol’s office, having heard things being thrown around and yelling a little more than an hour ago. I walked straight passed his office, making my way downstairs.

As soon as I entered the living room I could feel the tension in the air, it was so thick I could easily cut through it with a knife. Everyone immediately looked over in my direction, but my eyes only focused on one of them, Minseok. Minseok was holding a bag of ice against his eye while a bloody tissue was stuffed up his nose. He had several smaller cuts around his face and a huge gash in his bottom lip that still seemed to be bleeding a bit. When he met my gaze all he could do was scoff, wincing immediately afterwards as his free hand came up to hold his side gently.

“You here to beat the shit out of me too?” He asked.

I shook my head, frowning as I took in his wounds. The only one that could’ve done this to him was Chanyeol and with the noise I heard earlier I can only assume my guess was correct.

“Good...cause I don’t think I can take another beating, might as well just kill me instead.” Minseok said, mumbling that last part.

“What do you want, Y/N?” Junmyeon asked, shifting my attention to him.

“I want to take a look at the footage from the security cameras…”

“I’d love to show them to you sweetheart, but it’s still a little bit difficult for me to stand at the moment” Minseok spoke up again, motioning to Sehun, “Show her what she wants.”

Sehun simply nodded, walking off into the direction of what I assumed to be Minseok’s room. Since Minseok was the only techie one in the group all the monitors were set up in his room. He had mentioned something about it being more convenient for him that way when I first came to the house. I had never really seen any of the equipment in his room before, not really having much of a reason to go inside.

“The footage from inside the room is on this screen and the footage from the street is on this one.” Sehun said.

I didn’t pay attention to any of the footage from inside the room, my focus solely on the screen that showed footage from outside. A car had pulled up outside the house, the men not even trying to hide their faces as they sauntered over to the building. I tore my eyes off of their faces, focusing on the car and pausing the tape as I noticed the license plate was visible but a bit blurry due to the camera being far away.

“Can you blow up and enhance this image? More specifically the license plate?”

Sehun had already done as I asked before I even finished talking. I looked around the room, searching for a pen and a piece of paper. Once I found what I was looking for I wrote down the plate number, taking notice of the make and model of the car as well.

“What’s the point of doing that? We already know who they are.”

“Yes but do you know where they are? Judging by the car it’s the newest model and with the newest model there’s a computer built into it. So what do all drivers use to help them get places?”

Sehun thought about it for awhile before it clicked, “GPS.”

“Bingo.” I said with a smile, “All I need to do is run this plate number.”

I whipped out my phone, dialing the number of the man I had been assigned to be partners with when I first started working as a police officer. I only had to wait for the phone to ring twice before he picked up, confused for that matter.

“Y/N?”

“Hyuk I need your help.”

“Is everything alright?” He asked, immediately concerned.

“I’ll explain everything later but can you run a license plate number for me? It’s urgent.”

“Yeah...yeah just uh, give me a second here.” He said, the sound of him typing the only thing I heard for a few seconds before speaking, “Alright give me the number.”

“It’s BCF 1076. The make and model is a 2018 e-class Mercedes Benz.”

“Give me a few minutes and I’ll call you right back.” Was all he said before hanging up.

I sighed heavily, combing my fingers through my hair, trying to hide the trembling of my hands as I suddenly felt a wave of emotions hit me. If this led to a dead end I don’t even know where else to start looking. Without a word I got up and headed towards the kitchen, pouring myself a glass of water and taking a sip.

“It looks like you found a lead?” Jongdae said, making me jump at the sudden sound of his voice.

I turned around to face him, placing the cup on the counter, “My old partner is running the plate number of the car that belonged to the men. I should have their location within a few minutes.”

“At least you’re doing something useful while Chanyeol thinks he’ll get anything done by beating the hell out of one of us.” Jongdae said, sounding very annoyed by Chanyeol’s choice of action.

“How is he?” I asked, referring to Minseok

“You saw him yourself, Y/N. It’ll take a few months for his ribs to heal.”

I opened my mouth to say something else but was cut off as my phone rang. Immediately forgetting about the conversation I was have with Jongdae I picked up the phone.

“I got a location for you but it’s a bit of an odd place for a car to go to repeatedly and stay for hours on end.” Hyuk said before continuing, “It’s an old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city, it’s set for demolition in a few weeks. I already sent the address to your phone.”

“Thanks Hyuk, really I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

“Y/N….what’s going on? This warehouse is in a sketchy neighborhood and I’m questioning why you even needed me to track that car down.”

“I’ll--I’ll answer all your questions later, Hyuk. Just...trust me on this one okay?”

“Last time you said that you almost got yourself killed.” Hyuk pointed out, the worry evident in his voice.

“Look I’ll be fine. I promise I’ll tell you everything once this nightmare comes to an end.” I said and hung up, not giving him a chance to argue further.

“Where do you keep your weapons?”

“You sure you want to go in there all by yourself? Jiho must have his men on watch 24/7, it won’t be easy.” Jongdae said, trying to get me to rethink everything.

“I’m not going by myself.”

“What? You think I’m gonna let you assholes sit back while I do everything?” I questioned as I noticed the look on his face.

“Tell everyone else to arm themselves, I’m going to go get Chanyeol. We leave in twenty minutes.” I said, shoving a bulletproof vest into his hands and making my way up to Chanyeol’s office.

I didn’t bother knocking, letting myself in. I stopped short as I took in the state the room was in. Everything in the room was destroyed; his desk flipped over along with his chair, his books were scattered all around the room, and the glass coffee table was now in pieces on the floor. I frowned as I took everything in, noticing Chanyeol sitting against the wall by the window, a far away look in his face. He looked so...empty, so broken.

“Chan?”

I took tentative steps towards him, his eyes moved to look at me but they were so void of any and all emotion it was hard to keep his gaze. I kneeled down in front of him, placing my hands on his knees.

“I managed to get a location-”

“What?” He asked, hope shining in his eyes.

“I had a friend of mine track their location. The guys are getting ready to head out.”

He stood up quickly, almost knocking me over in the process. I watched as he walked out of the room quickly, a sigh leaving my lips.

“Yeah, no I’m fine, really….just dandy.” I grumbled to myself before getting up and following him downstairs.

As soon as I reached the living room the tension I had felt a while ago had returned tenfold. They all looked completely done and still very much angry with Chanyeol, a few of them even refused to look at him.

“What are you all waiting for? Let’s go.”

No one moved or even acknowledged that Chanyeol spoke, angering him. I could tell Chanyeol was on the verge of yelling so I nudged him out of the way.

“Guys...please...you can all settle this after we get Jihyun back.”

All of their faces softened at my words, Junmyeon giving them all a nod before they sprung into action. I saw Minseok trying to stand, probably wanting to help out as well but I placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You’re no use to us in the condition your in, besides we need you to be our eyes. How long would it take for you to get setup here?”

“Hand me that remote.” Was all he said, pointing to a remote on the coffee table.

I handed it to him, watching as he pressed a button on the remote. With just the press of a button the big screen tv on the wall flipped over, four smaller screen tvs taking its place. The floor under the coffee table opened up, the coffee table being replaced by a different table with all sorts of gadgets and button covering it.

“Sehun go get the gray suitcase under my desk.” Minseok said, already typing things out with the built in laptop on the table, “I need the location.”

It didn’t take Minseok much time to set up, giving each of us an earpiece so we can communicate amongst ourselves and have him talk us through the layout of the warehouse from here. I was strapping on a bulletproof vest, the last one they had actually, when Chanyeol decided to grab my hand and lead me to the kitchen.

“Y/N...I want you to stay here.”

“What?” I questioned incredulously, finding it absurd that he’d have the nerve to say that to me, “You’re out of your mind if you think I’m just gonna sit back and wait here.”

“Y/N, I can’t risk you being in danger too. It’s bad enough Jihyun is in the middle of all of this but if-” He paused as he grabbed my hand, “If I somehow lose you...I-I don’t know what I’d do.”

I sighed heavily, squeezing his hands tightly before speaking, “I’ll be fine, or have you forgotten that I went into dangerous situations everyday because of my job. I can handle myself, Chan...and--and if something were to happen to me-”

“Y/N…”

“Just hear me out okay? If something were to happen to me I want you to promise me that you’ll get Jihyun out of there and you get yourself out of this life.” I paused, suddenly overcome with emotion, “I want you to promise me that you’ll leave all of this behind and make up for the years Jihyun had to live without you by raising him into a man we can both be proud of.”

Chanyeol shook his head, his eyes leaving mine as soon as they began to water. I held onto his hands tighter, forcing him to look at me.

“Promise me.”

After a long pause Chanyeol finally nodding, sniffling a bit. I smiled softly before planting a small kiss on his cheek.

“Now let’s go get our son back.”

Tags: @sweet-honeywood @yoopiye @yeollieollie @iconicchankai

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thoughtsofdarc · 6 years

Text

My Latest Mission... Part 16.

Reader (Y/N), Steve. Warnings: Language. Being a Hydra asset. Anger. Angst. Words: 2602

A/N: Okay, i’ll just stop guessing how many chapters theres left... Clearly i can’t seem to keep it short. So... yeah... fuck it!

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12 - Part 13 - Part 14 - Part 15 -

"Y/n! Are you in here?" Steve barge in to the gym, visibly concerned about something. His brows are knitted together and a frown is upon his lips. He looks mad, sad, scared and concerned at the same time. "I'm over here!" I call out from the corner of the room. I'm sitting on the mat, stretching after a good workout. When the guys left for the conference room I started to get bored and needed something to do, so the gym it was.

"Y/n, I've been looking for you everywhere!" Steve walks towards me. He is tense, I can see that from afar. Something is wrong "Have you been in here the whole time?"

"Yeah! I got bored when you left, so I went down here to get in some cardio. The final tests are coming up and I want to be on top" I smile at him, but when he doesn't return it, my smile turns to a frown.

"Steve, what's wrong?"

He looks at me, his handsome face is painted with troublesome thoughts and he quietly shakes his head from side to side

"It's Rumlow... He's escaped, someone has helped him get out. The building got hacked, security cameras got looped and F.R.I.D.A.Y was silenced... " I feel the hair in my neck stand up, a chill runs down my spine and I look at Steve with widened eyes "And you think it was me?!" He only looks at me and doesn't say anything, but his eyes are sad. "What the hell, Steve! You can't be serious! I've done nothing but to help you all and to try my damn hardest to prove myself ever since I got here! And now you think I'm the bad guy again!?" "Y/n... No! I don't think that..." he takes a step towards me and tries to pull me in to his arms but I shrug him off. "Then what? What do you think, Steve? You come down here to ask me where I've been and you look at me like that..." my hand points to his concerned face before I continue "...do you honestly think I would let that freaking monster out of here alive? After all the things he's done to me? Do you?" I scream the last words at him and I'm so angry that I can't control my tears, they just run freely down my cheeks and I suddenly understand what Bucky means when he says that we'll never truly be free from HYDRA. "Y/n... I don't believe you let him out. I trust you, I really do... But the guys on top, they are questioning everything, and you were here all alone with no security footage to prove it... I'm so sorry" I just stare at him, I can't believe what he is telling me right now. The leaders, the big bosses, they actually believe that I would do this, stab my friends in the back, after all this time? "They need you for questioning" Steve adds "I'm sorry..." I can see that he truly is sorry, but I can't find the energy to care right now. All of a sudden I'm tired, so tired and so fucking done with everything. A guard enters the gym and stops nearby as if he is waiting for orders from the Captain, but they never come. Steve looks at him and says "I'll walk her to interrogation myself" his voice leaves no room for discussion and the guard nods and walk away again. I watch them like they were a movie playing on a screen, nothing seems real right now, their movements are strange and their voices are distorted. This must be what giving up feels like. I just want to lie down, curl up and let my mind drift away forever. Fucking Rumlow, ruining my life even when he's not even here. I get up, look at Steve and nod my head to show him that we can go. Let's get this hell over with. He can see my inner tumult, and I can see he wish he could make it all go away, but none of us has that power right now. He tries to reassure me by telling me that everything will be alright... Let's see about that...

The night air is chill, the stars shine bright above my head. Below the lights makes the city look alive, even now in the middle of the night. I've retreated to the roof, since sleep wouldn't do me the honor of visiting me tonight and I got sick of twisting and turning in bed. But even the roof, where I usually find some kind of peace, soothes my flying thoughts today. The interrogation went well, if you can call it that. Several hours of questions from different people and me retelling them the same answers again and again. I even got the honor of meeting Fury himself, though I wish it had been under other circumstances. I kept telling them that I didn't know anything, that I had been in the gym from approximately half an hour after the guys left and until Steve found me there. I kept repeating what I had done in the gym, in what order and for how long. They kept asking me questions and I kept answering them and it only stopped when Tony barged in to the room with footage of me actually being in the gym. Somehow he could restore the files from the gym, our living quarters and the kitchen, but the files from every other floor and the facilities underground where Rumlow had been held, was gone for good. I got released and was told that I could go back to normal, as if nothing had happened. That includes finishing my training to be an agent and go on missions. But they didn't tell me they were sorry for their mistake and they didn't act like they were... On the contrary. I still feel like they see me as the enemy. But Steve is happy again that I'm proven innocent. So are Bucky, Clint and Tony and I guess I should be too...? But I'm not... I have this feeling inside of me, that something is not right, and I can't shake it! I take a big swig of the beer and deep sigh leaves me, as I look over the city below. It wouldn't take someone very long to disappear down there... A second where nobody is looking and you could be gone for good. I hold up the USB and let it roll between my fingers absent-minded, as I think about what would have become of my life, if I had just run off into hiding the day I had jumped from the helicopter. I wouldn't have reunited with Steve, I wouldn't have found out that Bucky was still alive. I wouldn't have been in the tower when Rumlow and his men attacked it, but then again would they even have been there if I wasn't? The thoughts keep coming and I can't seem to control them. I'm tired but I can't find any rest. I feel so alone though I'm surrounded by people. I sigh again and put the USB into my pocket, empty the beer and get up from where I'm sitting. Maybe a few hours in the gym can help me calm down enough to sleep...

Today is the first time that Jones, Aiden and I are going to be in the same room together again. There has been some time where none of us has been present during training, due to the inquisitions after the episode during the test we had with Nat and later after what happen with Rumlow escaping and all. But today is the day and I'm currently walking towards the training facilities, to start the final days of work before the last big test is coming up. There are not many people in the long hallway and my steps echoes when my boots hit the floor. A few younger trainees are scattered along the way, and their gazes and whispering does not go unnoticed by me. I'm not one to back down and I give them an angry scowl when I pass them, letting them know that they can fuck off. I've been in a real bad mood ever since Rumlow escaped, not only because I got accused of it, but because I know shit is going to happen when he's free. And people whispering about me don't help my mood at all. I open the door to the large gym and take a deep breath... Now it's time to chill out Y/n... Chill! I step in and look around. I see Aiden and a girl from the team on treadmills in the other side of the room, warming up. Sergeant Bishop is talking to Jones with his hand on his shoulder, whispering words I can't hear. Bishop looks stern, like he is giving orders to a soldier and Jones as looking him straight in the eye, but with respect towards the older man as he nods shortly, telling Bishop that he understands. When the Sergeant sees me he straightens up, pats Jones one time and drops his hand from his shoulder. His face shows no warmth for me what so ever, and when Jones follows the Sergeants gaze, then neither does his. Bishop says something to him again, points to the weights and Jones starts to walk towards them. I'm on the bench by the wall silently wrapping my hands, readying myself for a warm up by the punch bags. Aiden sees me when he steps off the treadmill and gives me a large smile and raises his hand to hello before he starts walking over to me. He stops though, when he sees Sergeant Bishop marching over to me with a scowl on his face. "Y/n, I see you are back" he says loudly when he's almost in front of me with a look on his face I can't quite place. I stand up to meet him at eye level. He gives me a dirty look from top to toe, before he steps in closer and talks with a low voice "It's not my choice that you are still here... I don't like you! You don't belong here with S.H.I.E.L.D, you know it, I know it and I'd bring you back there myself if I didn't have a job here I couldn't afford to lose" There's something in his words, I don't know how to take it and I can't place the meaning behind them for sure. But I don't give him the satisfaction of answering, I just look him straight in the eyes. A smirk is playing on my lips, like I just heard something funny and I know its provocation but I just don't give a fuck anymore. I don't like him, he doesn't like me and that's just how it is. I keep his gaze, not looking away. It's clear that this is some kind of show of power and neither of us is willing to back down. The door opens and several of the other trainees enter the room, which forces Bishop to look away. I guess this round goes to me... He walks away and Aiden slowly approaches me as he follows the Sergeant with his eyes. "What the hell was that about?" he asks when he stands beside me. "Nothing... "I finish wrapping my hands and nod to the punch bags and ask "... Steady me?" Aiden narrows his eyes at me and doesn't move from the spot "Y/n... What's going on?" The look I give him can best be described as dead... No emotions what so ever. "Haven't you heard Aiden? I'm the bad guy..." I walk over to the area with the bags hanging from the ceiling and start to hit one of them with a deadly force. Thank God that Tony has put up bags with extra reinforcement, otherwise there would surely have been sand all over the place right now. When we are all warmed up Bishop calls us to the mat to begin the day. But it doesn't start as I imagined it would as he starts to talk. "Welcome back everyone its good to see you all. Kingsley, it's nice to see you back on your feet, that was quite a scare you gave us all..." He looks at Aiden who in return dip his head slightly for the acknowledgement "... The last time we were all here, some things happened that shouldn't have happened when you are all on one team. And that's what you are, a team! If anyone of you does not feel like part of this team, there's the door..." He looks at me while he says it, pauses dramatically and points to the gym doors in the other side of the room. When no one moves he continues "... That's what I thought. Like I said, a team! On a team there's no room for grudges or hard feelings, so therefore, Jones is there anything you would like to say?" I'm trying not to snort in fake amusement by his words. They sound so hollow after what he just said to me only half an hour ago. But before I can react Jones is standing in front of Aiden and me. "Yeah... Kingsley man, I'm sorry... I got carried away in the fight. I didn't mean to hit you like that, and I'm sorry that you actually ended up with your life in danger. You are my teammate, and I hope you can forgive me?..." Aiden is tense as he hears Jones apologizing, I can feel the anger and discomfort radiating from him and I don't blame him. The apology sounds empty and it's certainly not wholehearted, but everybody in the room is watching them, and Aiden nods as he holds out his hand. "Yeah, whatever man... I got a week off to relax, it's cool" A few chuckles are heard from the others as Jones and Aiden grabs each other's forearms and pats each other on the back. Jones turns to me and it's so obvious how much he struggles with saying the words out loud. "Y/n, I'm sorry to you too. I've been a Jerk and I went over the line several times. I can't take back what I've said and done, but I can say I'm sorry and do better in the future... So, what do you say?" He gives me a little smile and hold out his hand like Aiden did before, but his eyes shows nothing but condescension. I stare him in the eyes just as I did earlier with Bishop, but this time all eyes are on me so I have to react. I hold out my hand, still with a frosty look on my face as I say "Sure.... A team, right?" Jones grab my arm and adds "Yes, team!" as he pulls me on for the pat on the back, but he holds me for just a second longer than he did with Aiden as he adds with a whisper "I'm taking you down! When you least expect it, you are going down, Bitch!" When he releases me, he smiles like nothing has happened and the rest of the group clap their hands at their three teammates that, to the public eye, finally have made peace. Aiden however, heard what Jones said and looks at me with wide eyes. I look at him and shake my head in a silent command... "Don’t!"

Part 17...

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go-redgirl · 4 years

Text

Peaceful Floyd Protesters Form Human Barricade to Protect White House Police

As protesters across the United States express their anger over the death of George Floyd, in many cases devolving into rioting and looting, one group of protesters in Washington DC locked hands and stood before White House police forming a human barricade to protect the officers.

In video footage from protests in Washington DC, protesters locked hands and formed a human barricade before White House police officers, protecting them from angry protesters who in turn criticized them for standing with the police.

Two women can be seen in the video, one wearing a red t-shirt that states “Make Racism Wrong Again,” the other woman’s shirt reads “BLACK – WHITE – HUMAN,” appearing to promote a message of unity. As the women, along with other protestors, lock hands and stand with their backs to the police, other protesters angered by their actions begin to question their motivation.

“This is good,” says one woman referring to the protests, “but y’all got other ways to do it too, y’all can write to Congress…” another woman cuts her off shouting “it don’t work, we all did that, it don’t work, I signed people up for that, it don’t work.”

In the video, one man shouts at the woman in the red t-shirt “we here to make a point to show that this shit is not ok!” The woman replies “it’s not going to bring George Floyd back,” before later adding “this is not the answer,” referring to the violent protests.