#but she raised me and kept me from being put into foster care :

[ladykailitha]

Well Met By Moonlight Part 11

Hello! More supernatural fun with our boys and I finally got to write that sexy blood drinking between Eddie and Steve that I had been wanting to write for the longest time, but all my vampire Eddie stories kept turning out angsty and there was no place for it.

Got you now!

Pt 1 Pt 2 Pt 3 Pt 4 Pt 5 Pt 6 Pt 7 Pt 8 Pt 9 Pt 10

@mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @emly03

****

Steve was enjoying his time with Josh. The younger boy was enthusiastic and friendly. He had even won over Tommy, which Steve had previously thought impossible.

He was going to be sad to lose him to Billy and get Chase in return.

He was also more careful about what he said around the young teen and Tommy now. As much as he enjoyed Josh’s company the thought that he might spill gossip on the pack to Billy when he is forced to finish the remainder of his service with the coven.

He was really on edge now that the full moon was coming, too. He could feel it under his skin. The way the moonlight’s strength was changing his body on the cellular level. His mannerisms and habits were becoming more and more wolf-like and less human.

He could feel the wolf’s strength in his arms and chest. Its cunning and instinct taking over his ability to rationalize.

When he shifted himself, he was able to keep himself. But the full moon was different. It stripped away every human thing about him. Maybe it was wrong for his foster parents to be afraid of him the rest of the time, but even he felt it was warranted the closer he got to the full moon.

“You can’t be serious about having him here,” Carol was hissing at him.

Steve’s lip curled as he bit back a growl. “I don’t know why it’s such a problem. Josh is going to be there.”

“Josh is a human that can be manipulated,” Carol insisted. “Eddie Munson is a made vampire with ties to the town’s oldest living supe. A close familial tie no less.”

The growl started in the back of Steve’s throat and ripped from his lips. “You are only a keeper, Carol, may I remind you?”

She put her hands on her hips, decidedly uncowed. “Yes and we used to be friends before you got a raging hard on for curly haired nerds.”

Steve huffed through his nose. “You mean the smartest girl in school, the latest in the longest line of hereditary keepers from the Buckleys, and the man who saved my life? Are those who we’re talking about Carol?”

She stared him down. “You are already facing problems with the older crowd, not being mated to your female alpha, do you really want to start your third year as alpha banishing half of your pack? Do you even realize how weak you already look to Billy? You’ve only managed to raise one of his eyebrows recently after the attack. Before that he thought the pack was too lame to even bother with.”

Steve could feel his hackles rise. His lips properly curled. “Yeah and you Billy’s bitch, too?”

Carol stepped back, stunned for the first time. “What do you mean, ‘too’?”

“Someone is going around behind my back and telling Billy pack business, Carol,” he snarled. “You one of them?”

She blinked up at him in shock. “Jesus fuck, Steve. I would never. Why would you even think that?” Tears came unbidden to her eyes. “I wouldn’t betray you like that. Fuck.”

“Well someone did,” Steve spat. “Billy knew about Josh’s news about the moon days before I had even gotten out of the mayor’s office, Carol. Which meant that it had to be someone in the pack. Who the hell am I supposed to trust if I can’t trust my own fucking pack!”

She took two steps forward and placed her hands on his shoulders. “I get it now. You want someone you can trust watching your back on Friday, but it can’t be Eddie. Trust me. I know you feel like you can’t, but you just said you have to trust someone, so trust me.”

Steve let out a low whine. He wanted to believe her. He wanted to so badly. She was right, they used to be friends. Good ones, too. “I don’t know if I can,” he whispered.

She nodded. “I get that. I can’t go back and change who I was in high school, but know that I’ve got your back. Okay?”

He swept her up in a hug and held on tight.

Behind them in the trees, a darkness seemed to taint the woods around it. A malevolent force that was all at once pleased and angry.

****

Steve was suddenly bombarded with members of the pack coming up to him about his desire to have Eddie participate in the full moon festivities. Most of them were negative.

“I don’t know how you heard about this,” Steve was saying for what felt like the billionth time. “But I don’t see why I can invite the man who saved my life to have my back during the full moon.”

“Because he’s a vampire, Steve!” Nancy hissed. “I have tolerated his presence in your life because until now it has not inferred with pack business, so as your alpha female, I’m putting my foot down. He steps even a toe over the pack boundary and I’ll be forced to challenge you myself.”

And that right there was his biggest reason why he wanted Robin to accept the bite to become a werewolf.

Steve thought about making her submit. He could have. But he wasn’t pack alpha just because he was the strongest male wolf in the pack. Oh no.

Steve lifted his chin and stared down at her, until she crossed her arms and looked away. He smirked.

Nancy rocked back on her heel and Steve knew he had won.

“All right,” he said with satisfaction. “He won’t toe the boundary.”

Her head snapped up in shock, her mouth open and eyes wide. “What?”

Steve pursed his lips and half shrugged. “You don’t want him on the ground, that’s fine.”

He turned his heel and walked away, leaving behind a stunned Nancy Wheeler.

“Steve!” she called. “Steve! What does that mean?”

****

Steve was curled up with Eddie on his bed in the trailer.

“Why are they so against it anyway?” Eddie murmured into Steve’s ear.

“Because they think that what happens during the full moon is sacred,” he huffed.

“I still don’t get it,” Eddie admitted.

“It’s this really stupid thing, ‘it’s not a secret it’s sacred.’” Steve rolled in Eddie’s arms so that they were face to face. “It’s just their way of not wanting to talk about it to ‘strangers’. Like Wayne hasn’t been to a few in his long life.”

Eddie scoffed. “It’s like they don’t realize that the world doesn’t revolve around them.”

“And it’s newer than they think, too,” Steve murmured. “According to Wayne it’s only been in the last decade or so.”

“So who arrived ten years ago?” Eddie asked, rubbing his nose along Steve’s pulse point.

Steve gasped. “That’s thing, I don’t know. I wasn’t a pack member at the time.”

That caused Eddie to sit up and look down at him. “What do you mean, sweetheart? I thought your dad was pack and your mom was bitten.”

Steve sat up, too and hugged his knees to his chest. “When I was seven or eight my parents were killed by hunters while they were abroad. It was really big news at the time. They were rich, well-liked, beautiful couple with a son at home.”

Eddie frowned. “I would have still been with my parents around that time. My mom would have been nearing the end of her cancer diagnosis, so I would have been focused on that instead of some news story.” He rubbed his chin. “So why were you removed from the pack?”

Steve buried his head into his knees. “No one has been able to tell me why I was fostered by a human couple and not a supernatural one. Only that it was right when Hop had gone off the deep after his daughter died.”

“So your parents are murdered by hunters, Hopper’s daughter dies, driving him into deep spiral, you get placed into the care of humans that are terrified of werewolves and abuse you...” he trailed off. “Honey, not to sound like a nutjob, but this is way too much of a coincidence to be natural.”

Steve nodded. “Someone didn’t want my dad vying for alpha, probably because he was too clever and too liberal minded.”

“And I don’t think they were expecting you to come back to the pack after you graduated,” Eddie concluded. “I think whoever killed your parents, orchestrated the attack on you.”

“Shit.”

Eddie was right and that really sent a chill down his spine. “I don’t trust anyone in my pack, Eds. Not a god damned one of them. I’m so frightened and I don’t know what to do.”

“So instead of having me there, have Wayne be there instead,” Eddie suggested.

Steve looked up. “What do you mean?”

“There is precedence for it,” he explained. “You said so yourself. Because god damn it, Steve, I’m terrified too.”

Steve nodded.

Eddie wrapped his arms around him and gently lowered them back on to the bed. He nuzzled Steve throat, breathing in the thrum of life right below his skin.

“Let me take care of you for awhile,” Eddie purred. He licked up the column of Steve’s neck causing him to moan obscenely.

“Yeah,” he panted. “Yeah, babe. Take care of me.”

Eddie’s fangs extended of their own accord. “Honey...I want to taste you. So, so much.”

Steve shivered. “Just not on my neck where they can see.”

Eddie moaned at how hard that made him. He would finally get to drink from his werewolf boyfriend and he knew exactly where he wanted to taste.

He slid down Steve body, the other boy bucking his hips at the agonizingly light touch of his hands.

Eddie licked down Steve’s cock, causing Steve to arch his back.

“Eds...” he whispered. His whole body was vibrating like a plucked guitar string.

Eddie nuzzled his balls and Steve panted heavily, his words lost to pleasure already. He brought up one of Steve’s legs to bending at the knee. He kissed down the thigh until his mouth was in the perfect spot. Right there on that magnificent thick muscle was a vein much like the on the neck or wrist.

Again he nuzzled Steve’s balls with his nose causing his boyfriend to gasp. He licked the spot he was going to partake from and god was the scent even more intoxicating then the throat. His saliva would numb the area so he wouldn’t hurt Steve.

“Baby...” Steve moaned, his body was beginning to quiver and shake.

Eddie’s teeth sank into the skin and Steve came immediately, his body practically levitating off the bed as his cum painted his stomach with ribbon after ribbon.

It took all of Eddie’s will to focus on feeding instead of coming himself. Steve’s stamina was legendary and for him to come that fast did things to Eddie. So hot.

“Fuck.”

Eddie could only agree. The blood was warm and golden. It tasted even better without the taint of fear and silver. He took only a few mouthfuls because he wasn’t sure he would be able to stop if he had gotten more than that.

Again he licked the area, this time it closed the wound. Eddie sat up and lined up his cock. He needed to come in Steve. He looked at him for permission and Steve nodded.

Eddie thrust into Steve’s ass and began to pound into those beautiful globes of flesh.

Soon Steve was coming again and Eddie followed soon after. Just seeing Steve come a second time was enough to finish him.

Eddie collapsed next to him on the bed.

“We are definitely doing that again,” Steve huffed, covering his eyes with his arm.

Eddie kissed his raised arm gently. “Yeah, sweetheart. I knew drinking made sex better, but holy shit that was a whole other level.”

Steve chuckled and curled around Eddie. “Agreed.”

****

Moon night approached and Steve was left without the protection of Eddie or Wayne. Despite Steve’s request for Wayne and bringing up precedence for him having done so in the past the pack was staunchly against it.

The moon came up and the pack changed. Their bodies rippled with heat and danger as humans gave way to their wolfish nature. Screams pierced the air. Screams that turned into howls.

The moon slid through the night sky and the pack surged forward as one.

The keepers watched on in silence.

Waiting.

Preparing.

Then the sun came up and in the middle of their compound was a puppy pile of naked bodies of all the werewolves, sleeping off the forced change of the full moon.

Suddenly Tommy came crashing in through the underbrush screaming and sobbing.

“Patrick McKinney was attacked last night!”

Steve leapt to his feet and Robin was at his side quicker than lightning. A slow dread filled his stomach as ice slid down his spine.

“Human or supe?” he snapped.

“Billy found him,” Tommy admitted, looking down at his feet. “He’s pretty sure it was supernatural, but the scent is too muddled, he can’t tell the kind.”

Steve looked around him and saw several of his pack with blood around their mouths and over their bodies.

“Steve!” Robin gasped as she took him in. “Look down!”

Steve immediately did as she asked. He too was covered in blood.

“What the hell happened last night?” he whispered.

****

Part 12 Part 13

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @goodolefashionedloverboi @bookbinderbitch @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @justforthedead89 @bookworm0690 @littlewildflowerkitten @vecnuthy @scheodingers-muppet @just-a-tiny-void @potato-of-the-lord @goosesister @tinyplanet95 @she-collects-smut @irregular-child @y4r3luv

#my writing #stranger things #steddie #ladykailtiha writes #werewolf steve harrington #vampire eddie munson

[mswyrr]

"ready or not" - grace/daniel ship meta

It's a delightful Horror/dark comedy film about how rich people suck. Scary but not too scary (I am a 'fraidy cat about Horror movies) and just a romp really. It's paced well and has a great Final Girl and I'd recommend it.

But now I want to talk about my ship lol

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

Hm, so, are they "in love" exactly? No. There's chemistry and ultimately they appreciate each other (as the only two people in that house "who [have] a soul" - Daniel is able to recognize and appreciate that Grace has one because he's still got one too, albeit tattered and buried deep). But the more important thing, for me, is the structural shift between the two brothers and how that strongly implies things would have turned out happier if Grace had fallen in love with Daniel.

Namely, Alex has a heel turn arc and Daniel has a face turn arc. And, the one who face turns acts on the promises the one who heel turns broke.

The film is a wedding night gone wrong, specifically a new spouse who proves untrue. Grace says her problem was "in-laws," but it's actually Alex breaking the vows he just made to her that comes closest to killing her. The in-laws themselves are not the most efficient threat ever. They're pretty bumbling. Alex keeps Grace in the dark and Alex turns on her, that is what brings her close to death. As well as a funny political satire, it's a satire of the tensions marriage brings into a family, over who your new spouse will be loyal to - you above all others, as they've promised, or the family that raised them, even if it's shitty.

Grace marries one man who promises to be good to her, care for and love and protect her. To be her family, when she is a foster kid who has no family. And then Alex proves false and the other brother, the "weak" one, poisons his family and puts himself between her and a bullet.

Daniel does what Alex promised to do.

Now, he largely thought he was doing this for Alex (not realizing Alex would have a heel turn), so it's not primarily about Grace - HOWEVER, Daniel independently recognizes and values Grace as a person as well as doing it for Alex. Loving his little brother and trying to protect him is how Daniel kept his soul; he's that kind of person at heart. And the structure lends itself to asking how well he and Grace would get along in other circumstances. If this is how he is when they barely know each other, what would he be like if he was the one who'd met and fallen in love with her? Or what if he survived?

The writing includes other elements that strength this as well: they both recognize each other. Early on, Daniel keeps saying "You don't belong in this family - I mean that as a compliment" and saying she "has a soul" so she'll never fit in. And Grace recognizes his soul too. She keeps reaching out to him and believed Daniel would help her before he knew it himself. ("I knew you'd help me." / "I didn't.")

A YouTube review was like talking about how Grace doesn't survive by her own wits because she trusts Alex and he turns on her, it's only "good luck" that saves her. That she has “plot armor.” And I was like wuuut lol Good luck is part of it, but not beyond belief - and Grace does keep herself alive with her grit and wits and then she reaches out to someone and that person poisons his family and takes a bullet for her.

Another point is that, despite it clearly not being a love match, Daniel warned his wife, Charity, about the family cult before their marriage and let her decide whether she wanted to take the risk. Alex hid the information from Grace because "If I told you, you would've left."

That's the key choice where Alex doesn't put Grace first. He puts what he wants (to keep her with him) first. And that foreshadows him putting what his family wants first. Subconsciously, Alex was always ready to betray Grace if she pulled the wrong card. He betrayed her by not warning her.

I think the final thing that makes it work for me is that Daniel and Alex were both children the last time someone pulled the Hide and Seek card. As much as the movie tries to make us not feel bad about the kids today, they're not to blame for the shitty way they've been raised, and Alex and Daniel weren’t to blame for what happened 30 years ago.They were kids.

It's *this* time that they're both adults and making decisions as full moral agents. It's this time that they both find out who they really are. And the decision Daniel makes is to put a stop to all the ritual murder bullshit.

It's also about the heroine's victory. What does Grace *want* from the very beginning of the story? A permanent family, people who will stick by her and love her.

In the canon movie ending, Grace survives, but she's still a foster kid with no family. Though she's legally filthy rich now, it's not the same. She doesn't actually get what she told us she wanted from the beginning of the movie. In fact, she loses the one person she was certain would be family to her, along with the hope her in-laws would be there for her. So there's that sadness to it, which makes the ship meaningful on her side. In this terrible circumstance, she found someone who has a good heart too and would prove true.

The story both provides us with a lack (Grace, the heroine, not getting her heart's desire) and someone who the story shows us could be that for her. Someone who has a soul, despite everything, and wants to do the right thing, to protect and love.

There's a reason why there's timeloop stories where Grace keeps playing the game until she can have a "complete victory" by saving Daniel and winning the family she wanted as well as getting away with her life and the money. The heroine's victory in the film itself is compromised.

The reason why there's a lovely bunch of gems of fanfic about Grace and Daniel on Ao3 is that the story itself provides that bitterness to the sweetness of Grace's survival, that she's still so alone, and a strong foundation for ways they could have been happier or worked out if they'd fallen in love instead of Grace and Alex or if Daniel had survived.

#ready or not #grace le domas #daniel le domas #grace x daniel #daniel x grace #movie meta #ship meta #long post #my meta

[thenerdnextdoorxo]

this one inspired me the most

can i ask you to write something where tony adopts a kid from foster care and the team is trying to get her to open up but she locks herself in her room because she's used to moving from home to home or being abused in the system so she's scared to do anything normal like interact and stuff like that. when they showed her room on the first day she was hesitant to go in bc she's used to poor treatment. Wanda and Nat are the first ones to notice her behavior and they point it out to the rest of the team. they come up with a plan to help her but it only pushes her further away from them bc she isn't used to that much attention. they decide that when she's ready she'll come to them so one game night she tip toes downstairs and peaks in the living room to see them having a good time. wanda or vision senses her energy and she tries to silently sneak back but they invite her in and she reluctantly joins them. she isn't too familiar with the games they're playing so they teach her then afterwards they watch a bunch of movies and they're glad they can give her the family she never had

Aww that's so cute

Ever since you were adopted by Tony, the avengers noticed how you were so withdrawn from them. They didn't think much of it though, you were in a new environment with new people so they never really assumed that you would warm up to them immediately. You on the other hand, were terrified. The adoption center that you were in was not good at all. The adoption center that you lived in for almost your whole life was treating children like trash and they were not providing enough supplies for children.

So when you moved in to the tower you didn't expect a good treatment. You always kept your guard up, talked in a formal way, always putting on your best behavior, but being tens all the time is not healthy. Wanda and Natasha pointed that out after they noticed how you were shaking a bit when they showed you around the tower and how your eyes were wide open.

They felt bad about you and they couldn't imagine what kind of shit you were living in and Tony was furious. How could they do this to kids? He promised himself that he would deal with them later, but now, you need him. The avengers sat down and decided to come up with a plan to get you to warm up to them more. The plan was since your birthday is near, Tony decided that he would throw one of his parties at the tower for your birthday and he wanted it to be memorable.

It was memorable indeed since you literally ran off the stage as soon as Tony introduced you to the guests, and when he ran up to you to apologize, you didn't stop to listen to him and hid inside your room for days. Some of them came to your room to try to get you out of it but it was easier said than done. You didn't move out of your room unless you wanted to use the bathroom. On one of these times that you needed to use the bathroom, you snuck out of your room and slowly walked to the bathroom, and when you were done and on your way back to your room, you heard the sound of people talking in the living room.

You were confused, it was really late at night, who is up at this hour? You slowly tip toed your way to the living room and you peeked through the slightly opened door to see that it was actually the avengers. Not only that it surprised you, but it also surprised you that they were playing monopoly. You heard of the game but you never actually played it nor know how to play it at all. Being telepathic, Wanda heard your thoughts and looked at the door trying to find where you were. "Hey Y/N, sorry, did we wake you up?" She asked and everyone looked at the direction she was looking at to see you.

"N-no, I was already awake," You replied, hesitant. "Hey kid, you wanna play?" Asked Tony, raising his hand to show you the fake monopoly money he was holding in his hand. "I never played monopoly before, I don't know how to play it," You said in a voice a little bit higher than a whisper. "It's alright kiddo, we can teach you, come on in," Steve said patting the seat beside him for you to sit in. You sat down and then they began to explain the rules for you and you understood them and wanted to play with them.

For that entire time you were having fun for the first time in years and you were so grateful for it. The avengers were relieved that you were finally opening up to them and getting closer to them. You even laughed at one of Tony's stupid jokes. Tony took that as a huge improvement and swore to himself that he will protect you and keep you safe and happy with him and the rest of the team no matter what.

They all made that swear secretly to themselves. They couldn't get you to be sad and hurt after all, can they?

================================================

I have been binge watching shows for the past three days and I feel like I don't belong to reality lmao

My requests are open

<3333

#avengers x reader #marvel imagine #platonic marvel #marvel x reader #wanda maximoff #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff x reader #natasha romanoff x reader #tony x reader #steve x reader #tony x daughter!reader

[disfordevineaux]

An amalgamation of random CS Character HCs that have been knocking around in my brain for a while, pt1:

- Sheena was released on bail by her family a few months after fall of VILE. They worked their rich people magic and finessed a sweet, sweet plea that one could only dream of. She now works at Sephora for some reason.

- Chief loves a good paid product placement. In fact 90% of ACMEs income comes from brand deals and sponsorships. All the elevators within ACME HQs across America are Pepsi Branded.

- Chase has 2 younger sisters that he is incredibly close (one still a minor) with. They are both extremely intelligent, strongly opinionated and driven women, exactly the way he raised them. Which people in his inner circle find ironic when considering previous behaviours displayed. He admits it's ironic, and admits openly that it plagues his soul frequently.

- Neal was eventually caught, multiple, multiple, multiple times but naturally escaped. And eventually was just never seen again. Probably performing stand up somewhere. As is probably for the best. It's theorised that he kept getting caught just to escape because he was bored. The cafeteria staff within the prison miss him.

- Cleo developed a skin care line right out of her prison cell. Somehow. It's really successful. It is actually one of ACMEs many sponsors now.

- Zack signed up for a local musical theatre group after being inspired by the show Glee. He subsequently quit when he found out that you actually have to dance and sing, to be apart of the group. And not just sit in the corner and wait for a Glee moment to happen so you can 'get the live Glee experience', as he puts it.

- 6 months into Shadowan's 'retirement' in Greece, he found himself horrifically bored, and began fishing. Turns out he is really good at it, a natural, and ended up being featured on TV for his innovation to fishing.

- Chase decided to grow an actual beard, nothing serious, to shake things up. Zack caught on to this change emerging and wanted to copy him and grow one too. He was excited to become 'The Beard Brothers'. Chase shaved it pretty much the next day.

- Zari plays professional indoor beach volley ball. And is really dam good at it.

- Player collects Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Not to play, but just to organise. He keeps all the holographic ones in their own portfolio. He claims his entire collection is totally worth like a couple thousand, at least.

- Julia likes the taste of coconut. Loves those little chocolates that are called Bountys. It's not her favourite flavour but she really appreciates anything with some dessicated coconut in it.

- Chase is lactose intolerant, but like many people in society suffering from that affliction he refuses to live his life by it. He will not be controlled by dairy. HE controls the dairy. But he does commit to skim or oat milk in his coffee, he's not crazy.

- Dash Haber and Trey Sterling are frienemies to lovers to strangers.

- Carmen and Ivy partake in many private rendezvous that are not at all as work related as they lead people to believe they are.

- Brunt's favourite show is Supernatural. She has a huge huge crush on Dean. It's concerning. But understandable. She kicked up a stink about missing the 'new seasons' (she's a few years behind) and gets to watch an epp a week, despite being in prison.

- Ivy becomes ACMEs resident mechanic and supes up any ACME car she can get her hands on. Don't expect to have any appliances in any office she has a workshop in as the best parts come from a toasted sandwich maker and kettle.

- Player grows from like 4"1 to 6ft within seconds of turning 18.

- Carmen begins working on starting a charity which aims at completely reforming the international foster care system, so she can marry it to her 'stealing for the right reasons' motif which she is currently working at making an actual legal enterprise of some sort.

- Gray claims that he's so far met 17 celebrities throughout his life. But when you ask for a list of who he has met he only ever names a few out of those 17, but ALWAYS tells the story of how he met Chad Michael Murry at a service station in Brisbane.

- As a teen, Bellum was once lost within an IKEA for a considerable amount of time. They consider it the best 5 hours of their life and nothing will ever top it.

#Honestly I could just keep going #cs 2019 #carmen sandiego netflix #carmen sandiego 2019 #disfordevineaux #chase devineaux #julia argent #cs ivy #cs zack #Dash Haber #Cs player #Crackle #Cs bellum #Carmen Sandiego

[wmarximoff]

sooo could you give us some dftr headcannons pls?? 👀

omfg i've been waiting so long for someone to ask me this leT'S FUCKING GOOOO

NSFW CONTENT BELOW: MINORS DNI.

R doesn't know how to ride a bike because none of her parents taught her how to (and she was always too proud to ask for help on this);

Wanda is actually a few months older than R;

Once R and Wanda went to watch YOU together, but it only took one episode for a awkward atmosphere to hover around the room. R turned off the television without a word and no one brought up the subject anymore;

Wanda knows what their children's blood type would be;

R suffers from severe sleeping issues and sometimes tends on study until she exhausts herself. Wanda is always making sure she doesn't overdo it;

R is an athletic person (she plays tennis), but she doesn't eat very healthy and has a tiny caffeine addiction. One thing Wanda also takes care of;

When Wanda falls asleep on the couch, R watches her for a few minutes before taking her to bed;

R constantly fantasizes about the idea of ​​Wanda's dead body, but she thinks it would be a waste to ruin something so beautiful;

R takes random pictures of Wanda during the day (you can find them here). At first it was a way to mock Wanda for stalking her and kind of reciprocate the feeling of being constantly watched, but after a while R just kept these photos to herself;

At first, Wanda considered kidnapping and keeping R in her basement. Ironic;

During those six months of stalking, one of Wanda's biggest hobbies was just scrolling through R's Instagram feed. She also ended up collecting a few things R left behind: a pen bitten at the tip, a ring she wears to this day (R already noticed but didn't say anything), a lollipop handle, and a small bloody rag from that time when R accidentally cut herself opening a soda can;

When R is not keeping a victim she goes to the basement with her souvenir box (driver's licenses from the girls she murdered) and watches them, reliving the moments;

R has a special place to bury her victims, and it's not random. She often takes Wanda there for picnics, which always ends with Wanda riding her;

Wanda listens to a lot of grunge, post-punk and nu metal – her favorite band is Deftones;

Wanda has a small oral fixation;

R consumes a lot (a lot) of gothic literature – Dracula, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Edgar Allan Poe as a whole, you name it. She started reading them in her pre-teens and it was always a literary genre that fostered her morbid interests;

Wanda likes to cook;

R was raised by nannies. There was a forest behind her childhood home and she used to go there to look for dead animals and cut them open to see the innards;

Wanda is very interested in pagan religions, and despite not being adept at any, she likes the symbols;

Wanda likes to watch R sleeping. R enjoys watching Wanda put on her makeup;

Wanda likes psychological horror movies as much as old sitcoms. She and R often watch movies about serial killers and R points out the mistakes every time just to annoy Wanda;

R has a favorite knife, but her favorite tool is the axe™;

Wanda started smoking cigarettes with R, who started smoking in boarding school;

Wanda often steals R's shirts;

Sometimes Wanda stays outside the stall just watching R take a shower. Something about her likes to watch R from afar as if it were a painting in a museum;

NSFW:

R likes Wanda to pretend to be a scared victim by begging her to stop during sex. Usually this involves knives and some cutting and a lot of degradation. On the most extreme days, R takes Wanda down to the basement and takes her on the mattress she used to keep her victims gagged on. These are Wanda's favorite days;

R likes the fact that Wanda wears a lot of skirts because it means that Wanda is always accessible to her advances;

R likes to write degradations on Wanda's body in blood, either her own or Wanda's;

Wanda has a tremendous daddy kink. As a psychology student she understands where this is coming from in her diagnosis, but she can't help but call R daddy when she's really aroused;

R uses Wanda's chains to tie her up. She'd even left Wanda chained to the bed for a whole day while she just touched herself while watching her;

Wanda likes the times when R chokes her until she almost faints – it makes her feel alive in the arms of the person she loves most in the world;

In some of Wanda's unhealthy jealousy episodes, she likes to interrupt R's process of torturing her victims in the basement just to fuck R in front of the gagged girls. Normally R gets irate when this happens and is especially rough with Wanda, but she likes the other girls to see her like that, to let them know their place and her own place too - only one of them can sit on R's lap, and that will always be Wanda. The fact that the gagged girls are just scared for their lives is just an insignificant detail;

Wanda has a breeding kink;

(my god, that's a lot)

#t asks #noonie <3 #wanda maximoff au #wanda fanfic #wanda maximoff x reader #(don't fear) the reaper!au #elizabeth olsen

[mayumiiyuu]

iv. normalcy.

the kaleidoscope project masterlist

July, 1979, Hawkins, Indiana

It had been month or so since I had been placed under foster care. Dr. Willows always kept her promise, visiting me around twice every week. I felt more comfortable with her now, slowly but surely trusting her. Still, I never told her much about myself, just aspects I thought would be relevant to her as an act of self preservation; just because I was starting to trust her didn't mean I had to let go of all my reservations. I was still most likely a wanted person. So I tried my best to blend in, keep my abilities to myself. I told not a soul, shut my eyes whenever I felt my emotions trigger some sort of reaction, stayed on the sidelines while the others played and made lively conversation; afraid that if I had made the wrong move, let myself go, that my emotions would take charge and my powers would spin out of control. 

I spent most of my days drawing, reading the books Dr. Willows would let me borrow from her.

"This one has to be my favorite," she places a thick book on the table, its cover as worn as the pages within, but the title remained in tact: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. "I used to stay up late at night reading it, I think you'll find the world here fascinating." 

I skim through the pages, my eyes widening slightly with just how many chapters there were. "This seems..long."

She throws her head back slightly, laughing. "Yes, it is, to top it off there are two more after that."

I looked at her incredulously, my eyebrows raised. "Two? Are they just as long?"

She nods her head. "About the same length, yes, but hey, it'll be sure to keep you busy. Maybe you can draw the characters, sketch out what you envision them to look like."

I did just that after finishing the book in a week, unable to put it down as I was immersed in stories of hobbits, elves, wizards, and magic; a realm like no other with its own unique kingdoms and lands with sprawling forests and other fantastical creatures. 

The next time we had met I had shown her drawings of Rivendell as I had imagined it, with its crashing waterfalls and flowing rivers, along with a sketch of what Galadriel looked like, the Lady of the Light in all her elegance and ethereal beauty.

"These are amazing, Scar," she beamed at me. "This is exactly what I imagined when I read the book!"

I felt my cheeks warm from her words, shifting awkwardly in my seat, not used to such praise outside of my abilities, never having been complimented for something that didn't serve purpose to others.

"By the way," she places the sketchbook down on the table between us. "Do you know when you'll be going to school?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "School?"

"I'm sure that you've been enrolled somewhere by now, haven't you?"

"Not that I know of.." I mumble, picking at my lower lip nervously. I hadn't even considered that, of course most of the children in the outside world went to school, my only education had been by our Teacher, provided to us by the lab. Would going to someplace as public as that even be safe? Did I even have any documents for me to be able to be enrolled in a school?

"I'm sure they'll handle it," she glances around, biting her lip as if in deep thought. "Scarlet, tell me: has anyone visited you apart from me? Met you, inquired about maybe fostering you?"

I shake my head. I had seen other people come in to meet the younger kids, always the younger ones. I noticed how the older kids looked on with jealousy, whispering amongst themselves, making bets on who'll get into a foster home first. There were a few who were my age that had left, some returned, and those who didn't were gossiped about.

"I heard Hannah was adopted by her foster family." One of the others had said during lunch, picking at his food as he spoke.

"Lucky." Came the reply of another who leaned their head on the table.

The best thing about being quiet and keeping to yourself meant that people hardly noticed you, it was as if I was under my own invisibility spell; unaware that despite how my eyes were glued to the book I read, I was still very much there, listening and observing.

Dr. Willows, or Irene, as she had asked me to call her at one point, sighed, smoothening out her dress.

"How—how would you feel if I told you I wanted to foster you?"

Her question takes me aback, my eyelids blinking rapidly, I tuck my hands under my thighs, briefly looking away from her as I felt the familiar tingle in my eyes. My heartbeat sped up, whether it was from nervousness or excitement, I didn't know.

"I.." I start, taking in a breath to still my pulsating heart before I turned to look at her, still on edge but calmer than before. "I don't know."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to spring onto you with a question like that, but I just thought, maybe I could give you more opportunities, a better life—not to say that living here is a bad thing! It's just, I'm not sure if it's the best environment for you to grow up in, constantly having to see people come and go from your life, switching from family to family, not really having a home, not yet at least. But that's what I want to give you—a, a home, someplace where you feel safe from the craziness of life." She chuckled as she saw my confused face, she had been talking as fast as a mile a minute.

"Sorry, sorry, I was rambling. Bad habit of mine, I guess," she inhales then exhales slowly, as if to relax her mind in order to find the right words. I smile, I know exactly what that was like. "I could foster you for a while, then it'll be up to you if you want to make that arrangement permanent, for me to uh, adopt you? Yes, that's usually how the process for these sort of things goes. I didn't want for you to randomly get a call from the administrator, take you by surprise, I wanted to tell you first, to make sure you were comfortable with that. Is..is that okay with you?"

I look to the floor, deep in thought. Irene had shown me the most genuine kindness I had ever experienced in my life, never expecting anything in return. She took her time to understand me, she was always gentle and patient with me the moment we first met. Her compassion was almost overwhelming, with how she constantly visited me, made sure I was doing alright, indulged in my interests and newfound hobbies, kept me in her thoughts throughout the day as she saved fun stories for her to tell me. Since that day I first showed her my drawing of Frankenstein, we had grown considerably close. Although I was still hesitant, still guarded, I had always thought about finally letting my guard down around her, not to be suspicious of any ulterior motives from her, because so far she gave me no reason to doubt her.

I hope she doesn't ever give me a reason to.

After a while of scanning my thoughts, I opened my mouth to speak.

"I think I'd like that."

Irene exhales, as if she had been holding her breath for my answer.

"Okay," she nods, smiling. 

....

I was surprised with how, in a span of barely a week, I had been placed under the care of Irene, despite having been told that it could take some time before I found a family to foster me. 

I heard my roommates whispering to themselves the night before I had left, thinking I was sleeping underneath the covers.

"Can't believe she's already got a foster family for her so soon." Came the grumbling tone of a girl.

"Heard that she's being fostered by that lady that always comes to visit her." Piped another.

"You think she might be a relative or something?"

As I peek from my blanket, I see the third girl shake her head, the same girl who had given me a snarky remark when I first came here.

"No, don't think so. Anyway, how long do you guys bet it'll take for her to get back here?"

"A week." Another girl snorts.

"I say three days." The snarky girl giggles, the other following along.

I toss over in my bed, turning around so my back faced them, burying my face in my pillow. The light from the bedside table flickered as I grit my teeth, sucking in a breath while I clenched my hands into fists. My eyes clamped shut as I willed myself to drift into dreamless sleep.

"Scarlet? Are you alright?" 

I tear my gaze from the window, blinking rapidly as I snapped myself out of my thoughts. 

"Sorry, I'm okay, thank you."

Irene smiles at me as she gently touches my shoulder. 

"It's okay if you feel nervous about this, it's normal, but I promise you that I'll make you as comfortable as I can—say the word and I'll be there, 'kay?" 

I nod my head, negative thoughts dissipating with her reassurance. Eventually, we pull up to a drive way, parking in front of a house that was painted a soft, mossy green. The lawn in front was dotted with flowers, the white porch was lined with bushes and an array of flowerbeds. It looked homely, hospitable and welcoming as it bathed in the afternoon sun.

Irene helped me gather my things, even when I told her didn't need her help with how light my bag was. As we walked closer I noticed that the front door was painted crimson red with a diamond shaped window on it. Memories of the lab replayed in my mind, causing me to flex my hand involuntarily.

As she opened the door to let me in, the inside seemed just as cozy as I had expected it to be, the smell of cedar hitting my nose as I walked into the small foyer.

I was given a small tour of the house, the living room was quaint, a brick fireplace sat on one side of the room, I noticed she didn't have a television, but guessed her main form of entertainment must be the immense collection of books that sat atop the large shelves that took up most of the wall space. Wherever there weren't any books there were trinkets and small potted plants. There was one short shelf pushed against the wall, containing various disks of vinyls, a record player painted green was placed atop it. Seems like someone had a favorite color.

Back in the hallway, she led me towards the kitchen that opened out into the humble dining room, a vase of flowers adorning the dark stained table. I especially liked the fridge she had, various pictures and postcards hung on its door with magnets that I assumed she had taken as souvenirs from her travels, observing that some of them had names of various places.

Finally, she led me to my room. Of all the other rooms in the house, this felt the coziest. The walls were painted a creamy white, the bed was pushed to one side of the room towards a window so I could peek out of it to see the sprawling garden at the back. A wooden chest sat at the foot of it, delicately carved with elegant patterns of vines and blooming flowers. A desk was placed on the left side of the room, underneath another window, already stacked with various notebooks, decorated with various cups and containers filled with colored pencils and paintbrushes, a small colorful box set in the middle of it. Right beside the desk stood a bookshelf, again, already lined with various books, decorated with ceramic figures of birds and fairytale creatures.

I gazed at the room with wonder, my mouth ajar. All the rooms I had ever had were always bare, meant to be a place for me to sleep and only that. But this room felt different somehow, it felt comfy and cozy, a stark contrast to the concrete walls and the utter bareness of my previous ones.

"You can decorate it however you want, we can paint it a different color too, if you'd like," Irene smiles as she leans on the doorway, before walking her way towards the shelf, gesturing to all the books within it as she spoke. "All these books are yours now, some of them were ones I've had since high school, so I hope you don't mind that they're a little worn."

She hands me one of the books, Little Women, bound in green leather, I let my thumbs trace over the gold lettering of the title, admiring the small illustration of four girls huddled together, walking side by side with their backs turned.

"My grandmother gave me this book, one of the oldest I've got, actually. Some of the margins have writings in them, annotations by her."

I cock my head to the side. "Annotations?"

"Think of it as adding your own thoughts to the story, what you observed and how you feel about the passage."

Nodding, my eyes trail over towards the various trinkets on the shelf, fixating on one made of porcelain, a delicate unicorn with its head gently tucked to its side, greeting a rabbit with its nose.

"I'll let you get settled," Irene says, shoving her hands in her cardigan's pockets. "Call me if you need anything, feel free to explore the house too, if you want."

She slipped out of the door, flashing me one more warm smile before shutting it gently.

Left alone to my own devices, I sat on the bed. My eyes widen with surprise at the softness of the mattress, running my hands along the crocheted blanket thrown over it. I bounced on the bed a bit, still sitting down, giggling as I did so. 

My eyes soon landed on the desk, curiosity taking over me as I remembered the colorful box that sat atop it.

Shuffling towards the desk, I lifted the lid off of the box, revealing a set of paints and what seemed to be crayons, one set that felt oily, the other one more dry and dusty.

I wasn't quite in the mood to draw or paint anything just yet, so I decided to read the book she had handed me for inspiration, but before I did so, I opened the window, a soft summer breeze flitting through the air. I propped a pillow up against the window as I plopped down onto the bed and began to read.

Before I knew it, dusk came rolling in, daylight fading away as the sky turned into various shades of orange and then a purplish blue. Just as I had gotten up to turn on the lamp at my bedside table, I heard a knock at my door.

"Yes?" I called out.

Irene opened the door, poking her head through the gap. "Dinner's ready!"

As we sat at the dinner table, despite having no clue on what the dish was, I couldn't help my mouth as it watered at the inviting smell of the food she had placed before me. I swallowed, eyeing Irene for a second so I could copy her mannerisms, how one was supposed to eat this food.

She notices my stare and chuckles. "Go on, dig in, it's spaghetti."

"Spaghetti." I repeated, watching how she twirled her fork so that the noodles wrapped around it, I quickly follow her lead. As soon as it enters my mouth, flavors I had never even thought were real exploded on my tongue. Savory, herby, slightly sour, I tried to make out each taste, eventually disregarding that as I began to eat voraciously.

"Do you like it?" She asks, wiping the sauce on her mouth with a napkin.

I nod my head frantically, chewing quickly and swallowing so I could compliment here. "It's really really good. I've..I've never had anything like this before."

"I'd be glad to introduce you to new foods then," she cocks an eyebrows at me. "Have you ever had a cheeseburger before?"

"No? What's that?"

Her eyes widen. "Okay, that's it, first thing tomorrow, as soon as I'm free, I'm taking you to town to my favorite diner. They've got all sorts of food, they even have cheeseburgers with bacon, and the best chocolate milkshake in Hawkins!"

I shut my eyes as I felt them sparkle with excitement, breathing out through my nose to pacify my sudden burst of emotion. Once I open them again, I grin at her. "I'd like that."

"Oh, and if you want I can teach you how to cook—you look like you're old enough to handle being in a kitchen, I think," she paused, furrowing her eyebrows. "How old are you again?"

Panicked, I tried to rack my brain for answers, an excuse, if I told her I didn't know that would have been strange, but I remember one of the social workers' discussions about me.

'I don't know, she looks around 10-12 years old.'

"I'm 11." I blurted out.

"Oh, do you know when your birthday is?"

"Um," I furrow my eyebrows, rubbing my forehead as I did so to feign a headache. "I don't know, no one ever told me, I've never celebrated it."

She leans forward, putting her fork down. "No one's ever celebrated your birthday with you? Not even when you were little?"

I shake my head. "I don't remember."

"Well," she starts, poking at her food. "How about we pretend it's your birthday tomorrow? We can do whatever you want, I can even give you little gift and a cake, we can blow out your candles and you can make a wish! Sound good?"

I smile, genuinely, wholly, and truly happy, I look down, making sure she didn't see the way my eyes flickered, placed my hands on my lap under the table as they twitched with energy.

"Yes, sounds good."

....

The next day, we rode into town, I couldn't count how many times I had to close my eyes and even my breathing to calm myself down. I practically plastered my head to the passenger door window as I observed the buildings downtown, the various shops that lined the streets and the people who went about their day.

Irene had to help me out of the seatbelt, both of us giggling at how I couldn't figure out how to unbuckle myself due to my excitement. As we strolled down the streets, I felt a sudden timidness take over me as we walked past people, instinctively taking hold of Irene's skirt while my eyes scanned over them curiously. Some of them gave me strange looks, while other smiles and waved.

She took me shopping for clothes first, letting me pick out whatever I wanted. Finding nothing but basic articles of clothing in one shop, she led me elsewhere.

"There's a shop I like to go to, my favorite one, best thing about them is all of their earnings go back to charity." She stated as she pushed the glass doors open. I looked at the shop with wonder, aisles of clothing hung on racks, sparking my curiosity at the different materials they were made from.

I blink my eyes rapidly, trying to keep them from twinkling red as I saw an article of clothing that caught my interest.

Following my gaze, Irene nudges me with a smile. "You like that? Go on, get it, show it to me." 

I run over to fetch it, admiring its bold red color. It was a leather jacket with silver embellishments, it's size most definitely didn't fit me as it was fairly large on my frame when I put it on, bashfully walking back to Irene.

But she doesn't poke fun at me, doesn't laugh and tell me to put it back. She just smiles. "If you like it we can get it."

"I like it, it looks.." I pause, struggling to find the right word.

"Cool." She finishes my sentence with a nod.

"Yeah, cool!" I exclaim, loving how the word sounded, how it rolled off my tongue.

After that, we passed by a couple of bookshops, picking up a few books that interested me. She led me towards a bakery where she let me pick my own cake, I tapped my finger on the glass at  a white frosted cake decorated with colorful sprinkles. Through it all, I felt completely at ease with her, knowing now that she never had any ulterior motives, all she wanted was to see me happy, to care for me. She didn't know about my powers, she took care of me because she wanted to, gave me gifts because she said I deserved it.

We enter a shop filled with a myriad of instruments, not because I knew how to play, I didn't know anything about music, having only ever listened to it recently as she played cassette tapes in the car, I admired the melody of her voice as she hummed along to the songs. I knew them and there I wanted to listen to more music now.

I stared around curiously, brushing my hands over the strings of an instrument with a long handle and a rounded end. I read the label, cocking my head at the name of it. "A banjo?" I whispered.

"No hate to you if you’re into that kind of music, but that one over there's sure to make better sound."

I spun around, only to be greeted by a boy around my age, with short, buzzed hair and a toothy grin.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He raises his hands in surrender. I can't help but furrow my brows at him, searching my thoughts, my memories as I had felt I had seen him before.

"I'm Eddie, by the way." He holds a hand out in front of me, a handshake.

"Hi." I mutter, shaking it cautiously.

"You have any music you like?"

I shake my head, to which he widens his eyes at.

"Really? Come on, everyone's got some sort of favorite song or something."

I stammer, trying to find the right words to say. "I've only gotten interested in music just recently, so.." I fidgeted with my fingers, averting my gaze shyly.

"I've got a few bands in mind if you wanna listen to 'em." He offers with a shrug.

"I, um, bands?" Out of the corner of my eye I see Irene approaching me.

"Hey, Scar," her gaze turns to Eddie. "Who's this? Your friend?"

I glance at him, unsure, but he only grins at me.

"Yeah, we can be friends if you want."

"Sure.." I trail off, shuffling my feet.

"Okay, well, I'm sorry to cut in but I'm feeling a bit hungry, how about you?" Irene turns to look at me, placing a hand at my back.

"Yes, I'm hungry too. Let's go." I grab her hand and rush out the door.

"Wait, I never got to know your—" the door shuts behind us, I glance back at him one more time, guilt we sighing on my stomach as I see his dejected face. I furrow my eyebrows as I closed my eyes, scolding myself in my head for how flustered I had reacted. 

Eventually, Irene and I were sat at a booth in the diner, looking over the menu. A waitress walks towards us, a notepad in hand as she reaches for the pen tucked upon her ear.

"Two cheeseburgers and two chocolate milkshakes please." Irene says before she looks at me.

"You're going to love the food here, I promise."

I grin at her. "Don't worry, I believe you."

She chuckles before she catches something from her peripheral vision, a woman had just walked in along with two boys, one looked to be younger than me while the other looked to be around my age.

"Joyce!" Irene exclaims as she stands to greet them, while I sit by and watch.

"Irene? Hey! Fancy seeing you here." The woman, Joyce, replies as they engulf each other in a hug.

"You remember Will and Jonathan, don't you?" She gestures towards the two boys who give Irene a shy wave.

"Of course I do! My goodness, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you." Irene chuckles. Joyce's eyes find mine, I responded by looking down, pretending to read the menu.

"And who's this lovely girl with you?" She smiles at me kindly.

Irene glances at me. "Oh, this is Scarlet, well, um, that's what we call her, it's a nickname really," she chuckles, and I do too, quietly as I heard her ramble. "I uh, just started fostering her recently."

"That great, 'Rene," Joyce lowers her voice, but I lean my head ever so slightly to listen. I'm an eavesdropper, sue me. "I know how long you've been wanting to adopt since.."

Irene shakes her head. "I know, but it's fine, baby steps, right? Besides, she's been with me less than a day, I don't wanna take it too fast. Gotta let her adjust," she looks back at me, her gaze softening. "But yeah, she's a great kid."

"I can tell." Joyce nods, squeezing Irene's hand comfortingly.

"Actually, we're celebrating her birthday today, she's never really uh, celebrated it, so I thought maybe you all would like to join?" Irene steps towards me, kneeling down to my level. "How about it, Scar? You wanna have guests to your birthday party? It's okay if you don't want to." She rubs my shoulder reassuringly as I look towards the family. If Irene trusted them, I figured I could too. I push away any doubts that swirled around my mind, any weariness and hesitations before I nodded, a smile on my face. 

"Sure."

Soon, we were all sat on the table, me and Will sat in the booth together while Joyce and Irene sat in front of us. Jonathan settled on a chair on the side, since the shopping bags from earlier took up most of the space on the booth.

While we waited for our food, Joyce had given Will a small box of crayons and a few scraps of paper from her bag. Noticing my gaze on him as he drew, Joyce spoke.

"You wanna color too, sweetheart? I'm sure Will wouldn't mind sharing."

I shake my head. "It's alright, I can watch."

Will nudges the box of crayons towards me, sliding a scrap of paper my way as well.

"It's okay," he insists. "I'll share, we can draw together."

I small smile creeps it's way on my face as I take a crayon. "Thank you."

Shortly after that, we were both conversing, Jonathan piping up now and again with his own comments as we both drew and compared our drawings. I pointed to his paper. 

"What's that?"

"It's a spaceship." He grins, holding it up to let me see it better. 

"A spaceship?"

"Yeah, it's for astronauts and stuff—and look! They're fighting aliens." 

I nod my head. "Why? What did the aliens do to them?"

He continued to explain his drawings to me, and soon I became entranced with the way his mind worked, how easily he could weave stories from his imagination. I admired his creativity. I used to think I could only draw inspiration from books, that those were the only stories worth telling, but as I listened to him, I discovered there was more to it than that, that I could create my own stories and characters.

The food had arrived, and Irene was right, not that I ever doubted her, I finished the burger in a matter of minutes, relishing in the juiciness of the meat and the taste of cheese. I sipped on my milkshake eagerly, the taste of it reminded me of the chocolate truffles I used to be given by Dr. Peters, but that memory seemed so far away now as I was surrounded by people who were kind to me, not a hint of malice behind their words.

For the first time in my life, I was having fun, carefree, serene fun, without a worry in the world. In that moment, none of my past memories came to haunt me, no thoughts of scientists and doctors jabbing needles into my skin flooded my mind. 

As I readied to blow out my candles, they all sang to me, clapping their hands along to the rhythm, no matter how out of tune they may have been, I laughed giddily as I closed my eyes to make a wish. As soon as the candles were blown out they cheered for me, giving me their best wishes. Irene reached her hand towards mine, I don't flinch or pull my hand away as she holds it, thumb gently stroking mine in affection as she whispered a small 'happy birthday' to me.

That night as we returned home, Irene tucked me in, and I slept the most peacefully I ever had, dreaming of happy things and fun filled adventures with my new friends; my real friends, not people who wanted to use me for their own selfish desires.

I was happy, and I never wanted to let that feeling go.

....

December, 1979, Hawkins, Indiana

Despite being of age to enter school, I had been assessed by social workers and they determined I needed to meet certain requirements in order to enroll, having never been in an educational institution in the past. Their solution was to provide me a tutor in order to complete the requirements. I picked up most of the subjects easily, apart from math and science. Although I had been educated by the Teacher provided for us by the lab, they had only taught us the basics, such as reading, writing, and simple math, only ever going in depth in foreign languages. 

Irene was with me every step of the way, comforting me and encouraging me whenever I flunked a test, praising me whenever I got a good grade, and helping me figure out my homework when I didn't understand it.

One night, we sat at the dinner table. It was my first time helping her out in the kitchen, she remained patient with me as she showed me how to carefully use a knife to cut vegetables, and eventually we had both made the most delicious soup I'd ever tasted.

"Scarlet, I was thinking," she started, swirling her spoon around in the bowl. "Would..would you like it if I adopted you?"

I almost choke on my soup in surprise as she said so, coughing furiously. Irene was quick to be at my side, patting my back gently while she filled my glass with water.

"Sorry, sorry, shouldn't have dropped it on you like that, should've eased in slowly, but I mean, if you don't want to I completely understand, which is why I wanted to ask you, but not like that, definitely not—"

"Irene," I said with a chuckle as I wiped water from my mouth. 

"Yes? Oh sorry, I was rambling again, wasn't I?" She laughs at herself, shaking her head as she hid her face in her hands.

"Yeah, you were," I laugh along with her before clearing my throat. "But, to answer your question..yes, yes, I'd love that. I'd really, really love that." 

Her eyes widen at my words as a grin spreads on her lips, I see her eyes grow glossy as they started to water.

"You mean it?" She says, lowering her voice. "You—you'd like for, for me to be your mom?" The volume of her voice trailed off until it was above a whisper.

I nod my head, closing my eyes as I felt my own eyes prick with tears, happy ones. Because finally, finally I could have a home, a permanent one, with someone who took care of me and was truly concerned with my well-being. 

"Yes." I reply with a small chuckle. 

She lets out a breath as she reaches in to hug me. In spite of having lived with her for so long, we had never been this close, most of our forms of affection had been small; holding her hand while we passed through crowded areas, leaning my head on her shoulder as I yawned when we would read together, her rubbing circles into my back to comfort me. It was strange, not in a bad way, the complete opposite, it was the most comforting feeling in the world to me, being wrapped securely in her arms in a loving embrace. 

I nuzzled my face into the crook of her neck. I felt safe with her, the house we lived in wasn't just a space to me anymore, a roof to have over my head to keep me from the elements. It was a home. Somewhere I could always return to for comfort, not someplace I was shackled to, forcibly trapped in. She let me make my choices, she guided me along the way, never explicitly telling me what to do or what to choose, she left that entirely up to me. I had never felt so free before.

Colors weren't meant to form any attachments. We were trained for war and dutifully stuck to our purpose that would be dictated to us by whoever would own us. We weren't meant to have a family or friends. We had been taught to keep our guards up and to keep our distance.

But as she held me in her arms, so lovingly and affectionately, I let what they had etched into my brain fade away, unscrambling the neurons in my brain to forget them, to throw them out the window and never let them come back.

Despite what I had been taught, I had become attached to the normalcy I had begun to be accustomed to, letting myself pretend that I was just like everyone around me, no powers, no dark past, not some runaway escapee.

I let myself be me as a I found myself, and Irene had continuously loved me through it all.

And that was all I ever needed.

....

"Scarlet!" Came Irene's distant voice.

"Coming!" I replied, swirling my paintbrush in water to clean it before I raced out of my door and entered the kitchen, where I found Irene hunched over a few documents concerning my adoption.

She smiles as she looked up at me, gesturing for me to take a seat, so I pulled out the chair beside her, plopping down.

"Yes?"

"I was thinking," she drums the pen in her hand against the table. "Since we'll be changing your last name to mine, what do you think about changing your first name? Should we leave it as Scarlet, or would you like to switch to something else?"

I propped my elbow on the table, resting my chin on my knuckle as my tongue slightly poked out of my mouth, deep in thought.

"I wanted your input, since you told me that Scarlet was only your nickname and all," she glanced at the papers before she looked at me. "Maybe you'd like a different name, to mark a new start in your life, or not, it's up to you, you can even pick your name if you want, but I've gotta say, I have a few ones in mind."

I chuckle, easing an eyebrow at her. "Can I maybe hear this list of names?"

"Okay well first of all I thought about Rose, since your nickname is Scarlet I thought it'd pay a nice homage, then I realized that was the name of that creepy lady who worked the cash register who kept accusing you of stealing," we both guffawed as we remembered that strange incident. "And then of course there's Arwen, because who wouldn't want to be her? And Galadriel, Amy, Elizabeth, and Lessa."

I giggled as she mentioned my favorite heroines and badass female characters from the books I read.

"But you know, it's always up to you." 

I fidget with my fingers as my hands fall to my lap, closing my eyes as I felt whispers and muffled voices, distant memories swirl around my mind.

"Please, give her back! No— (Y/N)!" A woman's voice screams.

"Sleep, little (Y/N), on the tree top, when the wind blows the cradle will rock." Came a soothing, gentle voice as it hummed a lullaby.

I opened my eyes, having made my decision.

"I want to be called (Y/N)."

....

taglist: @preciousbabypeter @justaproudlslytherpuff @iiheartbowie @beebeerockknot @nightless @lovelydivs @r-royce

#eddie munson x reader #stranger things x reader #stranger things #eddie munson stranger things #stranger things season 4 #eddie munson #stranger things fic #eddie munson smut #stranger things smut

[fostercare-expat]

Fun Observations from the Weekend:

Older Brother is a total handful. Backstory: For most of his placement 2 years ago he was with another foster mom, but he spent 10 days living with me while she was out of town. I also had the other kids at the same time then and I was overwhelmed. I felt I was often frustrated and short tempered with him. Sometimes I’d just make him sit on the couch and not speak or touch anything because otherwise I’d just want to scream as he bounces off the wall and talks all the time, oh and just makes random noise if he is talking. On top of the fact that he was removed from his mom’s house and placed into foster care for months back then. So he would be fairly justified if he remembered his time at my house as being negative. But no, the two older kids have lots of great memories of being at my place. He was asking if they could stay longer and he kept saying things like “Remember how we used to do Best and Worst at dinner, let’s do that again.” And he asked how my parents were doing and insisted on calling them. And he still remembers my door code password. He was asking how often the Twins come over. I told him they come every weekend and he sadly expressed that wasn’t fair. I reminded him they only come here because their family is having some problems and he also used to live here because Mom was having problems and said it’s better he live at home when Mom is doing well, and he happily agreed. But he’d definitely like to visit more often.

When we were at the park, there was a big kid playing. All the kids had taken off their flip flops, and the big boy put one of their pair on. My kids told him to take them off but he ignored so they let him be. Then later he did it again so I walked over to ask him to stop but realised he was likely autistic based on how he wasn’t engaging with my communication, and then he grabbed my arm and tugged and honestly he was strong, it was a little scary because he clearly hurt one of the little kids without meaning to. But all my kids sort of instinctually gave him some space and everyone played nicely. He eventually took off the flip flops. And one of the Cutie Siblings came over and quietly asked me if he had autism. I said, “yeah, I think so.” And they went back to playing. Was a plus point that the Cutie Siblings have been raised to be chill.

My oldest daughter wanted very little to do with the chaos of the kids, but she let the Older Sister sleep in her room. I let the 2 of them stay up later than the rest of us and the next day I heard Older Sister bragging to her brother that she stayed up for “girl talk” with Oldest Daughter. Very cute.

Younger Sister was talking with such good diction and poise. She seems advanced, which is surprising considering she’s the youngest of 4 and not getting much attention. Doesn’t hurt that she’s got gorgeous curly long hair and a perfect kid face. Adorbs.

Younger brother still takes everything very personal, guess it’s just his personality. Overreacts when a sibling accidentally hurts him. Happily tattletales on everyone. He got poop on my bed and lied about it when gentle confronted (but that’s to be expected of course). But get this kid in the pool and he was so happy to be finally learning how to swim. He made huge progress and he’s so proud. And of course in the perfect Spider-Man adoration phase, which I’m a total sucker for.

Took them all shopping and they went home with a new outfit and pack of underwear each.

Well, that’s it. Might not have enough energy to invite them back until another 12 months have gone by. I’m exhausted and I’ve got the Twins for the rest of the year, plus their little sister will join for 1 month of it. Need to save up energy!

[meirimerens]

so i finally watched the grace relocation quest (the one where she ends up living with peter) and its so silly. those two are crazy in their own way. peterstakh adopting grace vs burakhovsky adopting mishka and spichka. they are meeting for a parents club and argue about how to raise their kids correctly

the Peter Becomes Dad quest is so fucking funny to me. what do you MEAN you put the daughter of alcoholics who likely suffers from some kind of FASD from it and is likely predisposed to addiction with the town's notorious alcoholic!!!! but i do think her and peter make a betiful family... i've spoken about it on here already i think rubin Struggles with being a father figure because 1) orphan behavior 2) he spent the past few years of his life fighting for recognition in the eyes of someone he saw as a father [and who saw him as a foster son from P1 canon] so he's quite uncomfortable being Grace's Dad because he has no good association with fatherhood... so for now he is Grace's Dad's Boyfriend. and they all fuck with it 👍 they're comfortable with it

i know grace is SPOILED in the peterstakh e grace household. both peter and rubin come from Not Only Child households [peter. literally has his twin & rubin has artemy to fight against As The Other Son] so they spoil her. she's like their little princess. i think they both begin to spend a lot of time and energy caring for her bc it helps them keep their minds off The Darkness (and peter keep his hands off the booze). they all kinda. imprint on each other like baby birds.

it's a bit different in the burakhovsky e spichka e mishka household because even if the kids are as independent as Grace / Raised Themselves, they do really like their freedoms still... Murky is still spoiled & cared for more than Sticky because she's younger + needs more support while sticky does whatever the fuck he does but i think this family unit doesn't have the. Fusionality of whatever the fuck peter and grace have even if they love each other very very much... of course they do.

(still holding your leg so you don't try to escape)

peter's mom adores grace btw. everyone goes to her for a holiday & she has been sent a letter that one of her sons has a kid now and she's like. Oh My Fucking God. she fully expects like. a baby. an infant. like one of her sons had one like participated in the making of one. like how babies are made. so she kept some baby clothes for her son's child but instead she meets 15yo Grace. & since andrey would rather khs than have to care for a child that did not already raised themself + peter is like. not making any it's a bit complicated now with the. boyfriend. the baby clothes are useless...... so Grace adopts a bunny & the baby clothes go on it. you know what i mean?

dankovsky's mom adores her grandkids. she does. she always wanted grandkids & when her son came out as Not Doable Sorry she was like "but you can still adopt... right? 🥺 you'll adopt..." so when he comes home with his man and 2 kids gotten for free in the boyfriend package she is so happy. she adores murky because with her dark hair and thick brows she looks just like dankovsky and mom's like omg... it's like she's really your own 👀 and he has to be like YEAH BUT SHE'S NOT. I DIDN'T HAVE ANY HAND IN THE MAKING OF HER. etc... mama dankovskaya wants to take her granddaughter in her arms soooo much but murky doesn't like being touched by strangers too much so dankovsky has to like. brief his mom on how to interact with his autistic daughter. beautiful family.

that was long. sorry. many thoughts.

#werewolf_tearing_shirt_off.png FAMILIES!!!! #peterstakh lore #burakhovsky lore #grace lore #murky lore #sticky lore #hold on tagging her too #yeva nazarovna dankovskaya #<- dankovsky's mom #and fuck it #vasilisa stamatina #<- peter and andrey's mom; #i'm fucking SURE i had a tag for the peterstakh e grace family but i forgor. on well #loft family #<- IT'S THAT #ok <3 #ring ring (answers) #melwmiu

[necrophilemagpie]

why this whole thing has such a grip on the brain

is the oc insert because i am obsessed in putting the dragon in situations? perhaps, but frankly

it's mostly about putting the trio in situations because the canon doesnt quite have anyone who'd provide the exact flavor of sheer identity crisis

[whoops this thing is way too long]

someone that is revealed to, before all of this, to have for a very long time simply kept on living in the human world anyway despite their inhumanity is arguably a description that doesn't... add up cleanly ideologically with how Hellsing operates, does it?

Though, funnily enough, 'ordinary human' doesn't apply cleanly to even any of the actual literal human major characters of the story except for maybe the wild geese.

There is a reason Pip has to give the speech about grieving the burning city and Sir Penwood had to make his strategically important sacrifice. The Iscariots dont read like normal people enough for something like this. Integra may be a sort of messy symbol for humanity narratively but the way the actual story treats her?

She's as much an outsider to humanity as the monsters are.

Been that way since that fateful day since she was 12, depending on how you imagine she was raised, maybe has always been to a degree.

Highly doubt Integra had much of a taste of normal human society. She's clearly not even remotely friendly with the other knights. Sure, she found Penwood amusing but i highly doubt they were in any capacity close. It doesn't appear the woman even Really leaves the manor outside of her job. We see her in civilian attire Once for fucks sake and it felt very 'what are normal people clothes again' to me personally. Walter and the vampires are realistically the only real close relationships she really ever had.

Seras too, has lived through something incredibly traumatic as a child and has been given no community or support, seen as at most a nuisanse. We do not get any mention of an adoptive family or other previous life to come back too, and its a context where in real life omission alone would be very telling.

Through that she has arguably too been robbed of being 'allowed' to be truly human long before she became a vampire. She was around people, sure, public school, foster care, what have you, but I somehow doubt a girl with severe ptsd would be understood much considering the time Hellsing is set in. If you're unwell as a kid you quickly learn just how conditional the care of strangers can be. Even if on paper they're meant to take care of you. She's kept up a mask of humanity with varying success but likely had known very little warmth a human life supposedly entails.

Alucard is strongly implied to believe that his humanity was torn away from him. He openly mourns it, but feels like he's been all but thrown into the grave of undeath by being forced to protect himself, and he's since only dug it so, so much deeper that he can scarcely see the sun anymore.

The very idea of being anything besides monstrous is very ludicrous to him, and he's so very jealous, of anyone who seems to have had even the slightest bit of a choice.

He was impatient and annoyed with how long it took Seras to accept her new nature because to him. It confused him to no end why Integra would never just make it official and admit her humanity was too incomplete to keep.

monsters are one way, humans are the other.

Humans have friends and family. They have homes to come back to, take care of each other, like many other animals they play and express individuality. They love, and love in uncomplicated, unconditional ways.

Monsters are inevitably alone. There isnt really a place for them to belong, they're solitary and must learn to enjoy it. Violence is, if not enjoyable, grimly necessary to a monster. A monster's attachment to others is a laborious, painful thing.

There is a clear line. You can't be both, you can't be one but keep some traits of the other.

But that's just one way of thinking, is it?

The dragon certainly starts out fitting so very neatly into the monster box. Glassy eyes, little priorities, truly alien relationship to the self. Their illness makes them appear like something that Should be dead. The way they seem to rationalize their situation comes off arguably even less human than even Alucard does.

And that would make sense! They weren't human for hundreds upon hundreds of years, in fact they were never human at all. There are some universal human experiences like how most acessible in modernity human food tastes or childhood they are fundamentally external to.

But as time goes on, as they realize that for the first time in the last few years, they're fine to stop running on empty and rest? As they find it safe enough to speak earnestly? The line gets increasingly blurry.

They start to talk of first sensible subjects like music and prose and history, but increasingly you'd find they're not simply 'making polite civilized conversation,' no. They've known some of the histories they speak of first hand, were friends with some of the writers mentioned even. They're intimately familiar with Making music, what goes into a play, and know a surprising amount about notably dated by now music production hardware and software. There's silly stories they have on hand to share.

Community to the degree Integra likely hadn't really ever known.

They've accepted certain few as siblings, they even apparently know how to take care of a child. They are currently the primary caretaker of their mysterious """benefactor's""" child because 'the woman might've wanted the kid but doesn't much care for raising one.' They genuinely care for the kid, and not Just because its someone else hurt by the same person. They seem to have Opinions on what's good for a child that seem to come from experience. It's not their first time around.

The culture to whom the human that caused them to exist belonged to? They still identify with it. Kept track of the family even, for actual hundreds of years they've been the distant relative that visits sometimes.

They seem to earnestly love the people they speak of and miss those no longer alive or who've they been unable to reach for the past nine years, which is most of them.

Family in a way Seras struggles to even imagine having.

Their illness, though something specific to nonhumans, is suddenly rather easy to recontextualize as a collection of individual rather human symptoms. Integra even has similar complaints about her joints. Their sometimes stilted speech isn't hard to accept as a mixture of something like neurodivergence and having modern english be about 5th language they learned. Humans do plenty of these same things with gender and sexuality too, thats nothing too special.

Even their suffering under the control of the woman in red, if you pay closer attention... starts looking a good bit more like plain old domestic abuse.

Yet they're very obviously Not a human, they say as much too.

The way they grieve is from a different angle, from one colored by hundreds of years of losing people, unable to forget even one. The way they love is similar, encasing every moment in amber of their eerily clear memory. They know too much historical context for every aspect of society to take much seriously, looking right for the outsiders of it for something truly interesting.

For fuck's sake, it's barely even blood what courses through their veins, even their internal anatomy is a touch off.

Somehow though, they lack Alucard's characteristic violent self hatred about it. Even in their current situation, having the very 'justification' for their abuse be that they're not human, they are very firm in the fact that being a dragon IS a cornerstone of their identity, that its not something that can be removed or altered, they wouldn't particularly want to be a human, and they're not worse off for it, they just Are who they are.

At peace with their belonging outside of humanity. Something Alucard swore to never be as much as complacent with.

They dont come in trying to challenge anything particularly, they just happen to be the kind of person the trio's worldview hadn't truly been tested against.

If any luck, maybe it'd get them to give some much needed attention to their own traits that have never quite fit the ideology either.

You know.

The real reason Integra had long known she wants Hellsing to cease to exist, at least in the way it does now.

Besides, it's kind of pointless rummaging through the shadows searching for boogeymen when monstrous humans are just as real.

"the woman in red" as the dragon calls her, may just be one.

#integra hellsing #alucard hellsing #seras victoria #hellsing fanart #hellsing oc #necrowriting #dragonshapedpuzzlebox #doodle only semi related i just wanted to have Some visual on here because its such a long block of text #this is very long and rambly oops #if you're backreading through my blog for the actual story writing feel free to skip this one its way on the unedited side

[klonoadreams]

Why would N and Sawyer have been raised separately?

Also, say Sawyer had a similar experience of being exposed to only hurt pokemon, imagine—Sawyer only knows sad pokemon, or only knows angry ones, and this triggers some instinctive response that the dormant one doesn't fully understand

raised separately in this case in that N was never allowed to interact with any other humans (his interactions with them were limited, even given his foster sisters). Given how Sawyer was effectively getting red flags by just BEING in Team Plasma and subconsciously acting on it around her parents, to her absolute detriment (her saying she didn't like Ghetsis really put her through hell).

the SI OC finally emerging and the temporary amnesia (at this point, it's more trauma-based amnesia, especially when paired up with the severe venipede poisoning) was somewhat of a blessing in disguise, because HOLY SHIT.

hvjefjklfg

I can legitimately IMAGINE the reasoning behind that Pokemon interaction, and a lot of it coming from whichever Team Plasma members were caring for Sawyer, like...N gets brought back and he's kinda fucked up, making a LOT of Pokemon noises, sometimes even growling or whimpering (not me crying over the fact that he would've likely gotten punished for something that comes naturally to him, given his upbringing like WHAT THE FUCK).

And you got this BRILLIANT IDEA LIKE, "hey, lets give him a playmate. we have that bargaining chip, yeah???"

so trying to replicate a similar situation, while adding in a control factor of sorts while N is also...going through it (before they just decided to grab Anthea and Concordia).

It was more or less trying to get it in N's head that Pokemon and Humans should live apart, and whatever bullcrap he was getting fed to help further Ghetsis's agenda.

bUT LIKE THE SI OC IS STILL IN SAWYER, JUST DORMANT. it still gets so many red flags and anxiety, until it is effectively beaten into them to just act a certain way until they can get away.

The fact that Sawyer can still deal with her Sewaddle and other hostile Pokemon interacting with her FAR BETTER than those of Team Plasma putting her into fight or flight mode REALLY says a lot about her upbringing.

lmao can you just imagine her fucking melting into someone's embraces, like, "Huh?"

and just crying, because it's probably the first time she's ever been genuinely hugged????

despite the dissonance in her soul creating this negative feedback in most Pokemon while she adjusts to what is effectively her new life, it is not done purposely - like, even with how her Sewaddle is, later on, still being a hostile brat, she does NOT hate Sawyer. There just came a point where she couldn't figure out how to act on some of the latent feelings of affection that kept resurfacing more and more, as she worked her way through her eventual evolution into a Leavanny. But that doesn't stop her from being so damn protective of Sawyer.

You'd even get some of the Audino that hissed at her to like...want to apologize later on, with Sawyer receiving so many little trinkets and gifts through the Pokemon Center system, because the Audino were just so EMBARRASSED. even have that little birthday surprise that happened during Gen VI and VII, where you enter a Pokemon Center and get a nice happy birthday.

Sawyer is a very emotional person who deserves the world. She might get hurt a lot, and certainly, the treatment she gets from some Pokemon could be better, but at the end of the day, she isn't alone. And that's honestly good enough for her, the longer she realizes how much nicer it is to be with them instead of hobbling off on her own.

until then, poor Sawyer. She and N just handshaking over their terrible childhoods.

#ask #pokemon #pokemon black and white #n harmonia #sawyer (oc) #with friends like these (fanfic) #feel free to ask me about sawyer #or any of my pokemon ocs really lmao

[blankdblank]

The White Dove Pt 28 - Show and Tell

The White Dove Masterlist

Another chapter out a day early. Hope your corners of the world are doing well. More fun with a new face and some old ones who get some more face time with my tired little Pluto. :) As always if you’re up for it please do let me know what you think so far or what you think might be coming.

...

*.*.*

Cooper and Clint in distant watch of your rehearsal were some of the only lingering people around to see your lean closer to Gwen Stacy’s side as she held her fake rifle in both hands vertically like it was a wet fish she was ready to have leap up and slap her. “It’s not loaded.”

Forcing out a chuckle she replied, “My Dad’s a cop, made us keep a distance from his work firearm.”

Into the butt of the wooden riffle you bumped yours, “This one’s wood. No bullets, only splinters and smashed fingers, that is if you are fast enough to protect your face.”

Up at your face she replied in a breathy chuckle, “Right,” and turned to face you at your simple order to do so a couple feet apart to simply keep hold one handed of her rifle and catch yours when you tossed it to work her into a part in a routine that would require speedy swaps.

“Catch,” you said and she had to flinch her hand to catch the wooden gun she fidgeted her fingers around to have a better spot to hold on it. “Now toss me yours.”

“Ooh, sorry,” she blurted out at the near hurtle of the rifle harder than needed at your chest.

“Swap hands,” you said and she glanced down and hastily moved your riffle over to her left hand to catch hers with her right. “Now,”

“Catch,” she chuckled out and had a slightly better catch that time widening the proud grin across her face. Timed tosses to try mirrored swaps had a few near collisions before she took your pointers on proper holds for raised arm locks to pat the butt of the guns or sides to make a noise. Gradually a work into a dropped swing of the gun forward, to add to the holds came at the end of the spare time before she took a hurried step to join you in packing the guns up to head inside and change to head for the drink she promised to pay for.

“You, um, you’re really good at this. Take you long to learn it?” She asked walking up the slope of a hill to the door that led inside the school.

“Well I’ve handled riffles before. Family who housed me in Russia were doomsday preppers, and I was in a ballet youth program so dance comes easy. Main trouble for me was throwing tosses too high.”

“Oh,” she said pausing as you opened the door for the pair of you then stepped through first for your shorter self to follow behind her taller frame. “So you like guns then?”

“Not particularly though I’m not afraid of them. Perhaps your father helping you to learn to field strip a weapon could help you to desensitize to them.”

“He taught me, how to disarm people, go for the elbows.”

“Or the eyes, have you from behind always go for the foot first.”

“They can still shoot you,” she said haltingly in a look your way.

“Well it’s a joint move while dropping the magazine and forcing the slide to clear the chamber,” you said dropping her jaw, “Or just scream in their ear, most put their heads way too close to yours to keep your body centered in front of their hearts.”

“Wow, you, know a lot about this.”

“I’ve also been trained in several forms of hand to hand combat. Preppers, always prepared.” You said forcing out a grin continuing on to the locker room.

“So you’re, they took you in, after, your parents died?”

“Ya, eight years. Then here.”

“There, another family, here? Foster care, right, or adoption?”

“Just me, but my adopted brother lives behind me. We bonded and he looks after me around his schedule,”

“Journalist, right?”

“Yes.”

“He really friends with Misique?” she asked lowly when you reached the locker room door.

“Yes,” you said then felt a thunk of the door deadbolt being turned that had you release the handle to jump up and find the spare there the janitor usually kept for your few early returns from Columbia campus in case you beat them to the door. Once you unlocked the door you jumped to put it back and pulled the wooden barrier back to have her raised browed self looking you over. “I beat the janitor here some times before they can unlock it.”

“So, anyone can come in while we’re changing if they know about the key?”

“There’s three one sided locks inside and one deadbolt,” you said plainly and she stepped inside eyeing the door that proved that fact.

“Oh, should’ve known that.”

“They take privacy seriously here. Don’t have to be afraid.”

“I’m not, just,” she let out a breathy chuckle, “Guess my dad’s a bit of a prepper too.”

To your lockers you both walked to unlock them and get changed, the angle she had to add her shoes again freed a glimpse of a spider web of scabs nearly healed completely surrounded by olive green bruises that matched the faint green bruises on your shins and knees from that bus mishap you had against Black Bolt. And to her own upper arm she looked to stroke her fingers across the purple and blue bruise from the arm that had taken her and her brothers. Shaking her head she returned focus to finishing the tie on her shoes while you finished readying the awkwardly layered floral dress made of white and purple sheer floral material over your arms to pull on over your head.

Carefully it had to be pulled on or a section could get stuck and part of your body be exposed, full coverage was confirmed in a twist in front of the mirror on the pillar to your right. Over your hips with your hands wrinkles vanished to have the petal like layers to join for a solid layer to leave a bare strip of skin seen over your thigh high stockings you righted the wrinkles on the top to keep them in place. The full chest covering sleeveless dress was cinched with a braided bit or ribbon to fit your figure better to match the periwinkle stripes on the grey stockings. Once that was tied you sat to pull on your knee high wedge boots leaving just the almost blazer cut white sweater that sat open.

Lost to thoughts on the plan ahead for when Elliot would come over for another session on your ship the braided ponytail you had was undone to let your curls free. “My mom saw a jacket like that in Vogue,” snapped the focus on that to her while your fingers helped to disguise to move of the bees to settle as clips to hold your hair on the right side of your head back. “Think it was $295 she said?”

“Got it for $25, thought it might be a bit too 80’s, but it’s got some nice buttons on it and interior pockets. Second hand shops are wild on discounts.”

“Maybe we could go sometime,” she suggested and instantly seemed to regret it in the lack of change to your expression either in excitement or disdain for the idea of spending more time together.

“Sure,” you said collecting your things to stand and shoulder your bags mid close of the locker with a foot to flash her a quick grin. “Guy named Peter I ate lunch with, his aunt I’ve shared the place too. Shop keep is always glad for word of mouth.”

Mid step back she twisted to face the same way as you saying, “I have two brothers so we don’t get many window shopping days but it’s fun when we do, and dad has a few dinners a month she dresses up for.”

“Well, children are expensive,” you said making her glance your way then to the door she opened for you this time to let you through and watched your somehow easy jump to grab the key you locked up with and put back again to get ready to leave the school. “I tend to try not to shop too often, just keep to hair and nail appointments to keep up with styles for performances. And self care is rather important to maintaining self image when you have issues with that. Plus my therapist said schedules can help counter anxiety against the unknown.”

“Have they tried you on anything weird? Before I found out I had blood pocket in my head few years back I had a therapist put me on this one weird purple pill that had me talking to our toaster in the middle of the night few years back. Like it got bad, Dad came close to one of those movies to hold up the ER before they found the pocket and drained it, those meds were awful.”

“I don’t take medication. Had an issue with being drugged so we work with tricks to ground me and at the worst isolation cues. Besides I’ve studied medicines through history and it rarely is comforting the unknown chaos involved. I have in the hospital but I won’t at home aside from my allergy shots in case I have a reaction.”

“What do you do for fun?” she asked and you stole a glance at her as you passed out the side door of the school.

“Read, go to films on charity runs, usual, shows, films and I have hobbies I film for friends out of the country.”

“Film them?”

“I have a youtube account. I have a loom, embroider, sculpt. I really try to learn the crafts my ancestors used to survive and thrive. Various recipes I’ve been trying to adjust what I’m allergic to. Then there’s the ship I found which has been wild to actually locate and have it to touch and see every day.”

“That is like crazy,” she said making you look at her with a brow raised and she shook her head, “In the coolest way. You can make things, I burn French toast and tear fabric trying to put a button back on. It is wild, but I can work numbers like a wizard, tax season was always fun to help organize receipts.” She paused and said, “Must be a very great thing to have a way to hold onto your past that way.”

“Well I am the one to steer my bloodline now. My ancestors reach back to those who fought with Viking Queen Lagertha, a very proud line.”

Her eyes followed the shift of fingers to your locket which you explained at her asking that had her split off into a story of their last trip to visit her grandmother in Paris where she chose to retire. “I think we’re being followed,” she whispered to you in line at the café she had chosen you’d never been to for its modern take on décor.

“Ball caps and cargo jackets, jeans and boots?” You asked without looking back.

“You know them?”

“Hawkeye and an old teacher. Had a few death threats from companies who wanted to get at Misique for the whole Africa deal.” That had her mouth open and you said, “They’re just keeping an eye out for their own comfort, aside from the child snatching bit people mainly leave me alone.”

“Did you have a hard abduction? We got pulled out our window, Mom is still finding glass in the place to clean up.”

“My bruises?” you asked and she nodded, “Sort of got knocked into the side of a bus, back first into the window, came back home to find my fruit all over the place still I got at the market. Chaos follows me I am prone to being knocked about and coated in bruises.” You said making her chuckle and grin in the joint step forward for her to give her order while you heard Cooper’s subtle timed tap of his ring on the doorframe to let you know he and Clint were inside and joining the line.

Her dream fancy drink and your whipped cream free cider in open bowl like mugs with handles like weird ears that pinched your fingers were delivered to the tall table where you had taken a seat to continue chatting in wait. All for the pair of men who held a bare minimum of a conversation to keep on watch, a pat of her hand on yours mid laugh at something you said had Clint ask softly, “Is this supposed to be a date?”

To which Cooper replied, “If it is I don’t think Pluto knows that.” A phone text to check in with her parents who were still adjusting to the abduction day and she started the shift to head to your separate homes. Flinched waves were part of that along with a second glance back by Gwen only making the guys share a look before continuing on at a distance behind you. Still in their own conversation while you pulled a small notebook from your purse to look at that for the distance to your stoop.

Up you trotted and put everything down to wiggle out of your coat, dress and heels to pull on an already stained pair of jeans and t shirt. Boots were easy to hop into and after pocketing your phone out you went, locking up the place to hurry back down in time to see the guys who had lingered a bit to catch sight of you in the windows to ensure you were staying at home. Time for the repairs could only last a couple hours as you were asked to come in for a late shift at the book shop for another book release the next day. And for risk of lack of sleep you were pleased to have an excuse to not have to try to rest.

“Big news out here in Queens, Eldfalls here is actually a magical ship. I know,” you said to your bees who were recording your opening speech to this repair video, “Mad man, clap your hands if you believe in fairies and all that. But you see yesterday Deadpool, an old acquaintance from when I was littlee, he dropped by without me to give the ship a look hearing I’d found it and, well,” you let out a giggle as the clip would be layered to play over yours that a bee for you mentally shared how it would look in the final edit. “Eldfalls when he jumped inside onto the inner deck it blasted him out of the garage. Which, for how long it burned has left the garage intact. And sadly done nothing to the outer crust. So there is still ample to be chiseled off and we will be giving that another go for more progress and another friend of mine should be around shortly to help me out with that so for now just sit back and enjoy the fact you don’t have to hack barnacles off this beauty. Greedy little buggers trying to keep this precious metal to themselves.”

The footage would go viral of the masked assassin who held up a few signs to you saying he heard about the ship and that he thinks it could use a coat of paint to be funny before the big explosion of fire. And just like fate people following along would share their love for the fated name the ship had taken to with ample now loving it even more that it was a magical ship people in your homeland swore was ecstatic to be under the care of one who loved it and was showing it such care. Elliot smiling himself at the news helped to guide the vibrations and solution to where nearly a whole side was clear, though the break of the crust off the bitten section had a moment of reflection to share the painful lack of metal there. Gnawed and jagged the edges like at an impact of a cannonball met with the bite of something other worldly when atop a chair you stood to grip and wiggle out a giant tooth lodged there.

“What the hell is this?” you asked sitting down on the backrest of the lawn chair you stood upon for Elliot to come closer and inspect the cross tipped spiral with jagged points along the edges from broken base to the dulled tip. “Oh!” you said spreading your legs as an ooze came out of the tooth’s inner ridge between the four outer jutting shapes that on the towel you held it with burned a hole to do the same on the lawn chair.

“Saltwater!” Elliot said in English, rushing for the bucket left from draining the hull be brought over to have you dunk the tooth in it then bring it out again to see the rust colored tooth shift to an aged copper sort of green.

“Acid, in a tooth?”

“Are there more teeth?”

“Looks like it, two at least.”

He nodded and said, “Best we get those out now,” helping you to adjust the chair to tug those free and dunk them before they could release any more acid. “One of the beasts was claimed to spit acid fire. Logically it could have salivary glands in the teeth,” he said as you looked the first and largest of them over in every angle.

“Okay, well I have to get to work soon, but um,” and you looked to the bee recording you, “I’ll scan these and do some tests and mock ups of estimations of what this beastie could have looked like and let you guys know, hopefully by this weekend.”

Elliot helped you to lock up the things in the bee guarded metal locker along the wall and escorted you back to your place sharing the greater details of the beast and that the teeth are relatively harmless now they were diluted. He promised he would be back and that he would again contact the group who he had initially brought to discuss possibly transferring the teeth to the exhibit that with the three teeth could allow one to be tested as the others were displayed for curious scientists who hoped to learn just what sort of beast had taken the magical ship down. All in all, post shower and plop into bed you were pleased to wake up to an easier day mentally with a new mystery to uncover.

.

“Penis Parker,” you heard in the hall on the way to lunch and turned your head to see Peter who flashed you a quick grin.

“I, beat him on the pop quiz we had today.”

“Hmm,” you hummed and continued to your usual table he passed to go buy his lunch.

Ned at the table took notice as, Michelle Jones, the quiet girl at the table beside yours asked as she sat down with bagged lunch and book in hand, “You really found monster teeth in your ship?”

“Looks like, even drip acid saliva. Gonna contact the museum people to come add them to the exhibit.”

On the back of your bee as you had for your teachers the scans your bees had worked overnight to take including atomic and genetic makeup of the acid excretion and the teeth themselves off of legends you had a fairly good idea what creature it could have been. Awing the teens around you and later on when you were through with your homework in a new video you could post your hypothesis online as well that could only be picked up by media overseas to share what possible Titan like creature Vili had taken on to save our planet from destruction.

Titans at least for people in this new normal of monsters older than recorded word made this a bit more believable and all the more interesting as SHIELD again was called to a second flaming explosion from a group who wished to take a stab at stealing the ship and teeth for themselves. A security break that while you rode the train to Columbia was near to impossible not to giggle at this time the fatal plummet of bodies into the same spot Deadpool had limped from a group of kids had amusingly painted up with spray paint as the landing strip for magical boat thieves.

.

Benjamin Grimm sat at your side however for your last class of the day at Columbia that was moved to an auditorium to allow for a stage for the display he and two others, Richard Reed and Victor Von Doom were giving to the students here about their latest efforts in research. They made a point to share their intrigue in your ship and Ben took the most time to share his admiration of the Blackhowls you designed he was currently in training to learn to pilot one. Softly in their third disruption of their focus topic you whispered to Ben, “So how close would you say Von Doom is from buying a fortress in a cliff or in the mountains of his face in metal?”

That had the skilled pilot chuckle and rumble back with raised fingers just ever so close to touching, “Pretty close. Him and Reed were supposed to be roommates in college but Victor wanted to be alone so Reed got put with me. Ever since they’ve been at it.”

“I can tell, I’ve seen less tension between mating displays in rival baboons.” You replied making him chuckle again. In the next diversion of the topic you asked, “Are they seriously arguing the relativity between slate tiles and viscosity of slip and slides right now?”

“This one’s a bone of contention. Nearly got Reed kicked out of school.”

“Oh like that would have happened, he inherited billions, probably would have named the remodeled wing after him.”

Amusingly Ben looked with a smile your way, “You know, I told him the same thing back then. Worked in the firehouse to pay my way, whole family chipped in. Heard you’re in scholarship.”

“Ya, got a few but the largest for 10k required a New York school. Not that I could go far away till I get my High School degree anyways.”

“Senior?”

“Technically, no, they changed the credit requirement so now I have to take weekend courses and more next year to graduate.”

“That is seriously messed up. You know they did the same thing to me when I was in the service, right when jets started kicking up higher regulations, just barely managed to scrape by enough hours to piss off my CO and get my patch.”

That had you grin at the similar circumstances, “A spare year at Midtown wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. They’re part of the reason I got accepted here.”

“I am curious, are you aiming more for Engineering? Blackhowls, your ship, I know your parents worked with Genetics, or you could do both. Reed’s all over the place always out fetching a new subject to study.”

“I don’t know yet, if anything I might for Genetics continue my parents’ research on degenerative diseases while following Engineering as well. But I also do want to squeeze dance in there too, actually the ballet company I studied at hired me for a production this winter of Sleeping Beauty. Dance was really my one chance to feel free while I fostered in Russia for eight years.”

“My fiancé loves ballet, always has a dream every year to go and see them on Broadway and all that, always end up watching this recording of Swan Lake she has but the whole time all I can think of is when I got chased by these swans as a kid at the lake.” Making you giggle softly to his chuckle. “Sleeping Beauty any good? Might tell Reed to keep an eye out for tickets. The one with the three fairies, evil dragon lady and all that right?”

“Only one fairy and Maleficent is dressed as an old woman with monks as servants, it is beautiful though Tchaikovsky is always beautiful in his works.”

His smile split wider as you continued to look forward at the broiling argument, “Looks like my girl is getting her wish this year if I can swing the tickets.” A book was thrown on stage and he patted his hand on the armrest between you saying, “Excuse me, time to drag the baboons apart,” and went amusingly to break up the fight and then spend the rest of the time playing referee and mediator for the class.

.

“I don’t know how you can be so cold!” was shouted from one of the apartments housing some of your new neighbors on the lower floors while you dropped off your things to change and head back out to your ship.

“Don’t know how you could be so cold,” you sighed to yourself back on the street, “Isn’t that in a song?” Between bodies you wove adjusting the sleeve on your long sleeved shirt that hung low over your jean shorts that for passers by exposed your bruised legs. “Could have sworn that was a song…should be,” you said then began to hum a medley of possible tunes the words could be sung at to try and spark up a memory of what the song could be you were thinking of in your tired state.

“Hello, Pluto,” Rhodey said in wait outside the garage making a grin split across your face at his obvious wish to not be blasted magically to Brooklyn.

“Hello,” you giggled, “I take it this might be partially for Eldfalls’ latest thief?”

“Partially yes, mainly heard about those teeth, some magical monster really did take a chunk out of it.”

“Looks like it,” you said and he let out a whistle at the open bite on the side he walked to and inspected closer. “Haven’t found any teeth in the mast yet, but I haven’t exactly been looking too carefully. Might want to, Elliot said the group is working a plan to come fetch the teeth for display and study. Think I found the culprit though,” you said bringing out your phone after you set your tools down on one of the chairs for him to be awed at the flying whale like creature you showed him. “Legends say they can spit fire but the Gods drove them away from Midgard.”

“From the planet,” he clarified and nodded, “Good thing. It can do this to your ship no telling what else it could do.”

“Maybe when Thor returns you could ask him if he has seen a creature like it.”

“He did mention a Bilge-something. Didn’t say what it was though other than destructive.” Making you grin and watch his claim of one of the pairs of gloves you had to help you work now on the other side and rear of the ship to clear the crust there.

“Heard Rogers got your cash, by the way. Took you out to a diner right?” he asked a few minutes later as you worked a sizeable chunk off you dropped on the tarp used later to add to the bin for the discarded crust against the wall.

“Set me off right in the middle of a nineteen hour manic state is what he did.” You said accented by a breathy scoff.

“He what?” Rhodey asked lowering his chisel from the ship with clear concern in his voice.

“When I was six they took me and beat me then locked me in a sensory deprivation chamber,” you said instantly luring tears to his eyes as you kept your eyes fixed on the ship in front of you. “That’s how they try to make you stop trying to leave, but I didn’t break so I was the example. Thane, I woke up in the quiet and the dark, alone unable to move. But I knew I’d been through that before.”

“Misique found you,” he whispered and his eyes shifted to the subtle shift of your lower jaw forward and back with lips pursed as if fighting to not bite back what you wanted to say next.

“She knows what I went through, and when I was out she knew, when Thane and that bird alien thing started their talk that I never wanted to be back there. What happens to me when I feel that again.”

“Pluto, you can talk to me,” he said softly and you shook your head to the fall of two tears down your cheeks that were instantly followed by two more.

“It’s better to let her say she did it,” you were barely able to whisper aloud.

“Pluto if you killed Thane that is the least of my worries,” that had you flinch a glance his way as he patted a hand on his stained sweater coated chest. “I want to know what you felt when you got out.”

“I am never going to let my bloodline end with me. I wasn’t strong at six, so I left him in pieces and told that bird man a really cool one liner.” Subtly you managed a smirk and wiped your cheeks on your shoulders partly smudging them with the rust stains there. “She let me stay with the blimp. I needed to be alone, Eddie knew that or we’d have gone jogging together. All I have when I get like that is my schedule and Steve imagined that meal as some band-aid for his pride to imagine he saved a piece of Bucky by taking me to eat just because I was crying. Man’s ten years too late to save me from this. I’m not broken I’m like one of those Kintsugi where they use gold powder to mend the cracks. An ode to imperfection and the passing of time. I don’t need the coat of paint he thinks I do.”

After a moment glancing at his feet Rhodey asked playfully, “So I don’t get to hear the one liner?”

Making you smirk at him and answer, “I told him when Thanos comes he’ll find his son’s bones scattered in the wind.”

“Nice, really nice.”

“So don’t let the military go putting his corpse on display or anything and make me a liar.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said and asked, “You wouldn’t happen to know what happened to bird man, would you?”

“Stabbed him where his heart or spine should have been, he collapsed, then I went after Thane and turned back and he zapped off somewhere. Put out a sketch of him for Venom and their crew in case he pops up somewhere else. I’ll send you a copy.”

“Thank you.”

“How’s your girl?” you asked after his seventh obvious look at your legs.

“You know, she’s actually doing well. Big fan of Misique’s now, you want me to punch Rogers?”

“Not like it’d help any. Man clearly needs therapy least I admit I have ptsd and needed help with my trust issues. Man bats his eyes and assumes he’s brought on world peace.” Making Rhodey chortle.

“We have been trying to get him a hobby outside of boxing.”

“Just what he needs more blows to the head. Why would a boy call another boy penis?” You asked making him look at you wide eyed a moment, “From school, some freshman is calling a kid I eat with penis, other than his name starting with P and him having one I don’t get the correlation.”

“You know, I think that might just be one of those rude despicable teenager things people do without logic. I mean,” he said with a shake of his head, “I went around calling this guy Charlie in high school just because he looked like an old teacher whose name was Charlie.”

“What was his name?”

“Gunter, he was born in Philly and was glad for the nickname to be honest. Blonde hair and blue eyes he flinched to the back of the room any time WW2 came up. You could tell he got hit hard in middle school on that topic. Don’t get the penis though, what’s the name of the kid who gave it?”

“Flash, apparently, like Flash Gordon character.”

“Now Flash Gordon would be highly ashamed of that behavior.”

“Yes he would. You know we had talks at lunch today about reincarnation and we were wondering what Freddie Mercury would come back as if he would as an animal. I think he’d be a panda, people love pandas.” Making him chuckle.

“Sounds good, been rumors for ages he was a Siren actually, panda might be a nice break. How bout President Lincoln? I know Roosevelt would want to be something sturdy like an ox or a rhino.”

“Lincoln did love cats, Einstein too. You know Roosevelt mainly only helped to preserve the buffalo and the nature reserves and all that because he was such an avid hunter and wanted them to be around to hunt again later after the fur trade brutalized their species. There are pretty devastating tales shared by Native American tribes handed down on how their magnificent buffalo were brutalized and left to rot having been stripped in such a disrespectful way.”

“Have you read about that whaling right the tribes in Alaska have been fighting to keep? Use every piece of the animal, I don’t doubt the buffalo is very useful horn to tail.”

“They didn’t even eat the meat,” you said making him shake his head. “Like holding Tony Stark at gunpoint just to take his necktie when he’s probably got more in his pockets than half the Eastern Shore.”

“Well I bet if Misique had a time machine the fur trade would be high on her list, we’d have a great deal more buffalo.”

“I’d be more distracted by punching President Johnson in the face, you know we could have had a woman in space in the 50’s, and a whole team in the 60’s if they hadn’t scrapped their team? Each of them scored higher than men, especially on the part where they put them in the deprivation tanks, some of the men barely lasted ten minutes, one woman got more than half a day. Then the sexist racist prick went and shut it down and Russia sent the first woman in space. The communists who everyone wants to go and trash had the most forward gender rights in space related moment back in the space race,” you said making him chuckle. “Same people that had everyone over here ducking under desks due to Sputnik. Plus their snipers are unparalleled, if you look at some of their war records, closest we got was a woman awarded the Medal of Honor who they still want to strip that medal from for the second time based on her non-uniformed status.”

“Mom used to say cowards in power can be a terrifying thing,” making you look his way, “They’re always hungry for more.”

“Why were people so scared of me being right about the Blackhowls? Why are there Starks, Richards’, Von Dooms by the dozens, but I can only be compared to them?”

“Well for one they’re all rich, two the obvious,”

“Male,” you said and he cut you off.

“Tall,” making you giggle in his forced chuckle. “I had five CO’s who took it personally they had to train me. You can get older, I’m not gonna get less black, and as far as being female that just means none of those rich idiots can touch what you create. Men, back and forth for centuries, and you turned Aviation on its ear. They can compare you all they like because I can tell you one thing, every single one of them is getting asked what they can do next to show you up, and they can’t.”

“Well I’m sure this winter they’ll have plenty to discredit my intellect,” you said making is brow tick up, “Got a call to be Aurora in Sleeping Beauty with the Bolshoi Ballet they are putting on in New York this season. They had a really great response when I filled in for the Nutcracker a couple years back.”

“No one can ever touch ballet and say it isn’t anything but one of the hardest forms of dance out there, and anyone willing to insult someone for dancing just shows their own idiocy in belittling it.” He paused a moment and said, “That’s really incredible Pluto, I used to hear stories on my Mom dancing ballet her and her friends, part of the only black dance company in New York before her hips and back had to be spared for us kids, it one of the most rigorous jobs. Think you might chase dance professionally?”

“I don’t know, it was my freedom. Found a free class here that meets twice a month. And the dancers were proud to meet the real me, not Jyllania who I was forced to pretend to be.”

After a solemn stare laced shift of the vibration pads he asked, “Anything I can do to help when you have bad memories pop up?” That had you look up at him. “You look tired.”

“Haven’t slept much, but I’m good and tired today and found an audio tape that is intended to help with good thoughts and dreams, one of the dancers in my class swears by it. Keeps trying to give me crystals. Sounds like it’s fake but it had a picture of a koala sleeping on the cover so I’ll give it a shot.”

Widely he grinned at you and said, “Then why don’t I help you clean up and I’ll walk you back?”

“Sure, sort of frightened I’d be finding more teeth on this side or something as acid spit friendly, found them right where we chose to stop yesterday.”

“That is a terrifying thought. You are certainly braver than I am.” The propped up wings however had him ask n his glance at them against the wall, “Do you really think it’ll fly, or are the wings for, steering you think?”

“I think it flies. Haven’t scanned the engine yet, the cube casing only opens when I’m alone but I’ll probably scan that when I do the mast to see if I can figure out the mechanisms to recreate any parts it might need.”

“See, this is a 5 million piece puzzle where they’re all squares, double sided and blue. You fix this none of those guys can touch what you do.”

“I make this fly there will be more than just two people launched away from Eldfalls,” you said making him chuckle.

“What’s it mean, Eldfalls?”

“Firefalls, my Mom had a dingy named Eldfalls.” Kindly you patted the bare side of the ship. “Used to love tales of a secret falls by her hometown that at a special moment it ignites and you can pass though it to reach the lands now containing Svaðilfari the Stallion who fathered Sleipnir, Odin’s eight legged horse. He lights on fire and threatened to burn the world. She never could find the right one or time though.”

“Wish I had stories like that growing up, worst we had was a man who had an alligator tail down the block.”

“Maybe he did,” you said making him chuckle to himself as you giggled and locked your things up to head to your apartment.

“He very well could have. I’ll see if I can look him up when I get home, see if he’s still kicking to figure that out.”

“Avengers could use a Gator Man. Every good super powered team could use an animal morphing member.” He didn’t look forward to sharing what you had told him about your past but at least he felt confident sleep, no matter how successful the effort might be to get to sleep, would be had.

PTSD was nothing to shake a stick at but he was confident in knowing you had bi-monthly sessions with a therapist Fury had confirmed to be a trustworthy choice for over a year now by the improvements he had seen in your demeanor it was paying off. He knew from his own sessions that his own sessions did have him told as well schedules did help small bouts of anxiety or helplessness. He knew you would follow the tools given and find your way through this rough patch, and more importantly knew how to get in touch with him or others when help was required.

Adolescence was rough enough but even he knew first hand the reaction his baby girl had at being taken, so hacking the man behind it in pieces was nothing he could argue against and he didn’t even have to endure that beyond jarring way to wake up. A sentiment Fury would adamantly agree to keep that between them as Fury kept his copy of the picture to add to SHIELD’s records on the event to have a face to go with the missing body sourcing the blood stain.

Pt 29

@devilishminx328​. @theincaprincess​, @lilith15000​, @jesevans​, @jiminapickle​

#Escaped Child Assassin #Gwen Stacy #Elliot Randolph #Magic Ship #Acid Teeth and Space Whales #James Rhodes #Marvel #Ben Grimm

[valleyfthdolls]

TELL ME ABOUT IT P L E A SE I DONT KNOW WHAT TO ASK BUT I WANT 2 LOSYEN

TYSM I AM GONNA GO A LITTLE WILD THO-

I wanna talk about my favorite little men [proceeds to show you a woman]

This is my design for Vanny (“the vanilla rabbit”), Vanessa Alicia Brooks, AKA Ness. (Yes I caved and am using Brooks again. The one fic where I’m using the other last name is staying for consistency’s sake.)

Not to be confused with Vanessa Alcott, the head of security at Freddy’s, though they have the same first name and are both 23.

Ness is an introvert and spends a lot of time alone, but she’s very good with kids and loves watching over them, though she tends to care more about making others happy than what’s actually best for them. She comes off as an optimist when you see her around kids, but she’s actually not a very happy person. Not that you’d expect that from her feminine style, nonchalant attitude, love for childish stuff, and music taste of 65% Madonna. She’s actually pretty depressed and has very low self esteem.

Although she dropped out of high school, she works several jobs (one that has daily shifts, one more around her own schedule, and one where she’s only called in on certain occasions), and lives in a small house alone. It’s not a great life, but it’s stable enough to support her. She doesn’t really live a particularly interesting life, but she really wishes she was something more important and worth being than she is. This, along with her desire for connection with others, especially with a father figure thanks to her own absent father, is what Glitchtrap takes advantage of to manipulate her into doing its bidding. However, being extremely curious and insistent on getting to the bottom of any mystery, she also pulls herself really far in over her head.

Just like in canon, she adopts the Vanny persona with the name, stylized as V.A.N.N.Y but not standing for anything, being a contraction of Vanessa and bunny. The mask and costume serve a unique purpose, though. They serve as a barrier between Ness and her actions, a supposed sign that she is not herself, she is not the one committing these acts. It is a whole new persona that Ness uses to distance herself from her crimes so she doesn’t have to feel guilty about what she’s doing by Glitchtrap’s command.

But because she’s mostly known by her nickname Ness to others, this actually raises suspicion not toward the eccentric but kind Ness, but toward the high-strung and moody Vanessa Alcott. Vanessa is suspected to be behind the strange occurrences such as power outages, missing items, broken bots, and even presumed hacking of the animatronics when surreal snuff videos of children being violently attacked and dying begin appearing in their files causing them to act strange.

(The first one is actually a video of a teenage boy trying to put a little boy’s mangled head back together found in Glamrock Freddy’s computer, titled HAPPYBIRTHDAY.MP4. Weird, huh? Wonder what it means.)

Vanessa is actually suspected of child abduction or murder when it’s reported that a little boy disappeared from his foster home Halloween night, but there’s no evidence to prove it. She’s sent to a therapist at her workplace so the therapist can try to analyze her behavior, but that provides no leads on Vanessa’s guilt or the boy’s whereabouts. Actually, Vanessa doesn’t seem to know the boy at all. There aren’t really any records on him, but when his foster parents are questioned, this begins to crack open the case.

See, this little boy was put into a group foster home as a toddler when his single mother couldn’t take care of him, and then moved into individual foster homes when he was seven. But he didn’t not have a family- his mother had another child thirteen years prior, who she could provide good enough care for due to this older being old enough to not be reliant on her. But the older child- the older sister- kept in contact with the missing boy once she was able to, and though she was in no position to be his guardian, she was close with him before his disappearance.

This older sister became a suspect for the murder or abduction of her brother, but when confronted about it by the same workplace therapist working with Vanessa, seemed innocent. She seemed saddened by what had happened, and struggled to answer questions, sitting there the whole time with her pretty brown hair covering her face like she was trying to withdraw herself from the situation of her brother going missing.

Ultimately no suspects were arrested and there wasn’t enough evidence for any of the charges to stick, because the boy wasn’t actually dead, nor was he being held captive anywhere.

He had run away to keep himself safe due to V.A.N.N.Y attempting to kill him.

#bunnygirlblogging #love the url btw #christmas kids au #fnaf au #five nights at freddy's #onyx talks too much

[jewishvitya]

Real life things and TMI about mental health and my life in general. Mentions of CSA.

So I didn't really talk about this here but my kids are in foster care. I had them put there voluntarily, it was a decision with my social worker because I can't take care of them until I'm better.

I spoke with my social worker again a bit ago when she came over to check on me. She reminded me of a conversation we had the day my kids left for foster care. In that conversation, I told her about my own family history.

Lots of parents, when they find out their partner is sexually abusing their children, refuse to believe the abuse is happening and stay. My mom, though, found out my dad was abusive and left him the next day. She put my safety first and protected me, even if it meant breaking up the family and taking my sister and I away from a place and a person we loved. A child therapist summarized my state of mind at the time as "she loves her dad, but she's scared of him." That stayed true for me.

Before my mom passed away, she told me she's proud of who I am as a parent. She told me she feels like she really sees herself in the way I treat my kids and it makes her happy. She grew up in a very abusive home and worked very hard to be a good parent and break that cycle. She was seeing the results in how I raised my kids. And then she was gone.

Not long after she died, my bad health took away my ability to function and take care of my kids. The result was pretty awful neglect of their basic needs. And I know the trauma of neglect can be just as harmful as the trauma of abuse, so I looked for help. I asked my kids' kindergarten teacher to please contact the authorities for me, I need the support. It took years of slowly getting worse until I realized that support wasn't enough. When I lost the ability to prepare simple meals and make sure the kids are eating, I decided it's selfish to keep them here. My social workers brought up foster care and I agreed.

A few months ago I sent the kids away to their foster family. My social worker was there and she stayed with me for a while. I was crying and talking about all of this. I told her I felt like my mom would be proud of my decision to make sure the kids have their needs met, even if it means I can't keep them with me for now. My mom removed me from a home where I wasn't safe and rebuilt our little family without my father. I'm doing the same thing for my children, in a way. A few days ago, my social worker told me that in that conversation she expected me to say that I failed my mom. That she was so proud of my parenting and then I had to send my kids away. I told her no, my mom was able to go against the natural inclination to overlook the abuse. So many parents do that, so it can't be as easy as it sounds to break away. I'd be failing her if I kept the kids where they aren't safe. Even if it means I let someone else take care of them until I'm able to. It's not like I'm giving up on them. This is temporary.

It hurts, though. I miss having them here and being able to hug them whenever I want. Every week when I see them I make sure to pick them up at least once when I hug them. It's only been a couple of months but I feel so aware of how big they're getting and how I don't know when they'll be too big for me to pick up. Not because they're growing up that fast but because I'm missing out on so much and I know I'll miss out on more before this is over and I have them back.

#Riki babbles

[unwelcome-ozian]

I don't know if you'd be able to give any insight, but I was wondering if you could give some input on an event/thing that happens sometimes? (sorry if this is too long, and thank you so much for any answer you give).

It happens every few years, with the first time I distinctly remember it being when I was 6. It also happened when I was 9, 13, 16, and happened twice this year and a few times last year.

I enter a sort of mood/period where I feel really low and overwhelmed, this can last anywhere from a week to a few months, and it gets to a point where nothing feels real (it isn't dissociation though, I have that to various degrees regularly and can tell the difference) and after that there's a few days where I'm super out of it.

After that though the huge thing that's super overwhelming kinda fades? and then I hit a period where everything feels VERY new to me, as if I've never really seen the world before, and my attitude towards things shift and reactions, some personality traits, interests, etc change (but stay kinda similar, so it's not like ""I completely change personalities"" (putting that in quotation marks because the vibes of that saying is iffy) ).

The longer the time period between these events the worse my memory gets, so stuff that happened before doesn't feel like it applies to me? If I even remember it in the first place (I don't remember... a lot about my life.)

Would you have any idea what this is? Is it a sort of defense mechanism where my brain re-wires parts of itself when I hit something that's overwhelming? Is it part of the natural processing of traumatic events?

TW FOR BELOW

For additional context: my birth home (ages 0 to around 3 or 4) was super abusive. I was punished if I acted out of line, and out of line was practically just existing. I was beaten if I made noise, needed anything, or just because someone was having a bad day. They'd also beat me sometimes because they thought it was funny when I cried. I was kept in one room and wasn't given clothes or anything than the bare minimum they could get away with giving me, was only sometimes fed (if I was they would tie/strap me down to a chair and force feed me), and had many near-death events happen (strangulation, drowning, suffocating by smoke, etc). I also wasn't allowed to learn to speak, and the closest thing to a caring parent I had was a cat.

After nearly being killed and left to die (4 days until someone found me, I had nearly a full body cast after that) I was placed in a foster home with other people in the foster care (I was the youngest most of the time). Long story short 2 of my 6 siblings had raped me multiple times, 4 of the 6 had tried killing me multiple times, some of them had beat me (not so much the adults noticed), and whatnot.

After that phase I was adopted and turns out that my foster/adoptive mother struggled with mental health issues and ran a semi-organization that functions quite similarly to a cult. For some years I was raised so I could "take over the business" when I grew up, which included a lot of private lessons from her.

Eventually she figured out that what she was doing to "fix" me wasn't working so I turned into the inhuman creature posing as a human, and was raised with her bouncing between calling me "an alien creature who tried to escape by becoming a mimicry of a human (and wasn't doing a good job)," telling me that my choice to exist was wrong (and more along those lines), and that I was special from the rest of the humans because I had her who could teach me the "one true reality".

(there's a LOT of things that happened with my adoptive mother but that's the basics. fun fact! when I was adopted she changed my name to her name, and I wasn't allowed to learn my birth names. Also the amount of times she did hypnosis and other energy-work-healing-stuffs is crazy. All hail the Infinite Mind, may we all reprogram the inherent flaws of humanity to connected to it and become part of the Illumination /sarcasm)

(I managed to escape out of the household recently but I'm still stuck around people in the group and honestly living almost 3 years in nearly complete isolation with her (and the only other outside interaction was members of her group) was not good for me at ALL omg did you know it's not, apparently, special if someone has a back-and-forth conversation with you?? like what???)

Are you approximately 21 then? (25)

From what you’ve said it sounds like what occurs cycles.

It could be depression that builds, coincides with an event/date, or a belief system.

It's interesting that you mention the ‘Infinite Mind', there are some belief systems that identify this such as Christian Science, Leo Gura, Valarie Hunt, and the Psychic Mind to name a few.

Oz

#answers to questions #Infinite Mind

[booksbydlwhite]

#SampleSunday- The Pearl: "It's time to make a move for yourself."

Welcome back to Sample Sunday! I am sharing snips of THE PEARL, my upcoming Black Diamond romance. Pick up last week’s sample to meet our hero, Davis Scott. Today we meet our heroine, Kari Savoy.

Interested in my inspirations for this novel? Follow The Pearl’s Pinterest board.

As usual, I am tracking progress and revelations of writing this book on my author podcast The Bookcast. Catch up with Episode 77 to hear how the writing is going.

“What do you think the kids will say about you leaving Austin and moving to Black Diamond?”

“Well,” I mused, thoughtfully. “Since the kids are nineteen and twenty-one, I’m not sure they care. They’re probably happy to be rid of me.”

“Nonsense. Where would Reyna and Moses would be without you? Literally, where?”

I rolled my answer around my head before giving it air and sounds. It was time, but I knew leaving my siblings would be harder than I told myself it would be.

“They got to stay in the house they’ve always known,” I parsed out, thoughtfully. “They kept a semblance of normal life. They don’t see the sacrifice it took to make that happen. Moses gets some of it, but Reyna has blinders on. They don’t know what parts of my life I put on hold to make sure they stayed together, finished school, became productive members of society. They’re used to me being there, taking care of everything, being the adult. The authority figure. I’m afraid they’ll see me moving away as abandonment. And after losing their parents, I don’t want to make them feel that.”

“You’re not abandoning them, though. You’re four hours from Austin. Phones and Face time and planes exist. And they’re both away at school. They hardly come home, anyway. It’s time to make a move for yourself, Kari.”

“True.” I raised my head and shot a sad smile across the table. “I hope they see it as me making a move for myself, and not me running away from them the first chance I got. I know that’s going to be Rey’s reaction.”

Dionne huffed, peeling away a layer of the cinnamon roll we were supposed to be sharing, but I was full from the milkshake, and talking about the difficulties of raising my siblings always sapped my appetite. “Let’s not talk about how you could have run away from them when you had to choose between staying in Houston or moving back home so they wouldn’t be split up in foster care. As for Reyna, she’s a… what are they called? Millennial? That age group that people say are self absorbed and need to be winning all the time or the earth will tilt off its axis?”

I giggled. “No, Dionne, you and I are millennials. And thank you for that unflattering description of our generation, by the way. Rey and Mo don’t like to be put in socially constructed boxes.”

“Of course. They want to be individuals. Just like everyone else.”

Dionne smiled up at the waitress as she set our bill at the corner of the table. I snatched it up and dropped it into my lap.

“Other than school and grades and attitudes… how are they? Emotionally.” She asked, going back to the cinnamon roll.

“Well, Mo has always been better than Rey, but even he has rough times, especially around the anniversary of the accident. Some days it’s like it just happened. Some days they act like everyone should be over it, and want to know why people are concerned about their mental health.”

“Do you think they’re ready to be out there on their own?” Dionne questioned, concerned.

I let out a sigh, leaning back in my chair. “Honestly, I don’t think anyone is ever really ready. We just jump. I did my best to prepare them, so we’ll see.”

Dionne nodded, understanding the weight of my words. She reached over and placed her hand on top of mine, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I’m glad you’re moving here,” she said softly. “You need a fresh start and new opportunities. Speaking of…”

She rolled her eyes up so they met mine. I already knew what she was about to ask. “Noah is still in the past. Right?”

“Girl, yes. Noah has been history.” 

“Does he know you’re leaving Austin, though?”

“Not from me. We haven’t spoken in months.”

“Not at all? He just stopped calling one day and…” Dionne shrugged.

“And nothing. Five years of on, then off, then on again because he was bored and between girlfriends, then disappearing into thin air. Then I see him parading other woman around town, without even having the relationship ending conversation.” I twisted my lips into a surly frown. “I can take a hint.”

“I heard that,” Dionne said. “All the way to a beachside resort.” 

#sample sunday #the pearl #black diamond romance #Kari Savoy

[ursulasfishandships]

You Saw Beyond- Part Three

Here is part three! It's super short (sorry) but things are kicking into high gear. Also please let me know how you are feeling, I love reading your comments. If you haven't seen the Legally Blonde Musical, I highly recommend you watch it so so good. <3 (Happy Holidays to all who are celebrating btw!)

You were glowing as you and Edward walked on the Gotham Law campus. You had just helped an ex-foster kid with their legal issues and you were feeling on top of the world. He was so proud of you, watching you stand your ground. You were a force to be reckoned with. Edward was more excited to see your nasty side. The way you had stood your ground against those nasty defense attorneys. It was incredible. Sure, they had mocked you at first for your clothes and upkeep, and he saw it get to you. However, with a little nudge, you came back full force. Edward wished he could’ve taken a picture of their faces. It brought him so much joy to watch them get taken down from their pedestal. It made him all the happier that it was you doing it. You were Gotham’s finest, waiting to take the stage. 

“Hey!” Barbara shouted from the Law building’s door. “Falcone posted the internship!” 

You didn’t seem to care, shrugging it off. But Edward had already started walking towards the door. He looked back at you. 

“Come on!” He motioned. You rolled your eyes, as you always did, and followed him along. You reached the crowd of students around the bulletin board outside Falcone’s classroom. Edward didn’t know why he didn’t send it in an email, but Falcone didn’t seem like the most technologically savvy person. Maybe that was why he kept him around. 

“Yes!” Selina cheered as the crowd of disappointed students dissipated. She grabbed Bruce’s hand and kissed him on the cheek. “I told you we’d get in!” Bruce smiled back at her. 

Edward watched your face fall. It hurt his heart to watch you go from so excited and feeling like a real lawyer to being reminded that the reason you were here didn’t even matter. You pulled the sleeves of your jacket down, almost trying to hide. You deserved so much better than Bruce Wayne, but you couldn’t see that. 

“Nashton!” Falcone called out his name, pulling his eyes away from you. 

“Yes, sir?” He adjusted his glasses. 

“Get a suit, I’m making you co-counsel on the Isley case.” Falcone patted him on the back and handed him a file. Edward nodded, opening the folder. He scanned the names on the internship list. Wayne. Kyle. Gordon. Dent. Quinnzel. L/N. 

Wait. 

He closed his file and ran over to the bulletin board. He ran his finger down the list of names. Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Barbara Gordon, Harvey Dent, Harleen Quinnzel, Y/N L/N! 

“Hey, um, Y/N?” He called over to you, but you didn’t budge. “Y/N!” He called again, louder. Still no movement. Edward sighed. He marched over to you, grabbed your wrist, and pulled you to the board. 

“Ed, what the hell?” You asked angrily. 

“Look.” He pointed at your name on the paper. You stared at it. You blinked and blinked again. “Uh, Y/N?” He asked. You were in an expressionless trance. 

“Pinch me.” You muttered. 

“What?” 

“Pinch me, Christ, I must be dreaming!” Your eyes were still on the paper but your hand had a strong grip on his bicep. He reached over and pinch your hand, to which you squealed and pulled away. But you still had that smile on your face. “Oh Eddie, this is so exciting! You as the co-counselor and me as the intern. We are going to have so much fun!” You pulled him in for a tight hug. He shakily put his arms around you. 

“And you can be close to Bruce, too.” He was trying his hardest to be positive. You pulled away. 

“Oh, yeah.” You had an odd half-smile on your face. A lightbulb went off in your head. “Excuse me while I…” You moved towards Bruce and Selina. You had that air of confidence back in you. “Hey, guys!  You smiled, it was an evil grin. “I am sooooo excited to be working with you.” 

“What?” Bruce raised his eyebrows. Selina also looked taken aback. 

“On the internship, duh. I’m working on it. This case is gonna be so fun.” There you were again. All bite with no bark. 

“Oh…” He trailed off. 

“See you!” You waved, sauntering back over to Edward. 

“Monday, nine o’clock.” He told her. “Don’t be late.” 

“Are you kidding me, Eddie? I’ll be there at eight!” You squealed. “And, and,” You paced around, “I wear a black and white suit and look professional.” You fanned yourself frantically. Were you getting sick? 

“Are you okay?” Edward asked. You grabbed his shoulders harshly and stared into his green eyes. You could probably see his soul, his thoughts. 

“No, I am so much better! This is so much better than I could’ve imagined.” You shook him a bit, Edward’s glasses falling to the floor. You slowly bent down to the floor to pick them up. Unfortunately, his eyes trailed on your butt. 

No, no, no, no, no. 

He closed his eyes, focusing back in on his excitement for your sucess. He peaked open his eyes again, greeted with your mischievous grin. In another moment of realization, you tongue stuck of the corner of your mouth as you slid his glasses onto his face. 

“Uh, thanks.” He whispered. You gave him a closed mouth smile. 

“Of course,” You stared into his eyes. You two just stood their for a second, before something came to your mind. “Oh my God! I have to call my mom!” You hand clasped over your mouth. “I’ll see you later!” You cheered, leaning in and giving him a kiss on his cheek before running off. 

“Yeah… bye.” He murmured. His hand rose to his cheek where you had kissed. It was an odd form of affection that you had never shown him before. Not that he minded. No, he didn’t mind at all. He shouldn’t have been overthinking this but it was hard not to. You were, well, you. How could he not be obsessed with you? And he was going to see a lot more of you. Monday. Nine o’clock.

<?>

#edward nashton x you #bruce wayne #edward nashton #edward nashton x reader #legally blonde au #paul dano riddler #batman 2022 #batman imagine #paul dano #riddler x reader #selina kyle