Quick reminder for fanfic writers both on here and ESPECIALLY on AO3…
If your main character has a name and described appearance, DO NOT use the character x reader tag. Like…seriously.
That is an OC. Use the “x oc” or “x original character” tag. Stop using the “x reader” tag. It will not give you more reach because people looking through the “x reader” tag aren’t going to read it. Three guesses why.
You are also making the filtering system null and void, which is harmful ESPECIALLY for archival sites like ao3 where the tags and filtering system are specifically there to make things easier. It’s basic fandom etiquette guys. Common sense and consideration for others. It won’t kill you to tag things correctly.
Istg if I scroll through a tag and all I can find is smut, I think I might make a hole in my wall. YOU HORNY FUCKS, I WANT FUNNY FLUFF. BRING THAT SHIT BACK TO ME
CH. FOUR : RED RING [ wc. 3.3k ] a stranger leaves you with a clue
(I.) idk if dispatch is alive enough but here u go 💔
“Good morning. Do you know where you are?”
White walls, white desk, white chairs. White computer, white keyboard, white notebook. The plainness of Dr. Abbott’s—your doctor’s—office was unmistakable. No decorations were present. She vehemently despised any distractions, and that included color and any evidence of a personal touch. You were certain she’d get rid of the windows if she could.
“SDN’s med wing.” Your leg bounced, eyes darting to the door. “Your office.”
“Name and age?”
“Twenty-four,” you answered after providing her with your name.
Your heartbeat had migrated to your shoulder. Malevola had absorbed your injury, using her dark magic (or whatever the hell she uses—you’re still not entirely sure what she is) to heal you throughout the night. Tears of flesh persisted beyond her best efforts, but she was apologetic about the outcome. Very apologetic. On her knees apologetic. A steady pulse of blood rushed to knit the lingering cuts back together, and the dull throb remained a slight inconvenience.
“Perfect, honey,” Dr. Abbott beamed, shutting her notebook. She hadn’t written anything today. Your restless shuffling piqued her attention, and she leaned forward to observe you closely. “Are you alright? You must let me know if you’re too tired to take on the day.”
“Late night,” was your curt response.
Her face drooped. “I’m sorry to hear that. Waking up frequently must’ve been difficult, but do you think you got adequate sleep between changing your wraps every few hours?”
“Yeah. I only stayed up late because of dinner with a friend and…” You tilted your head, eyes meeting the ceiling in thought. “My roommates kept me up.”
Dr. Abbott’s lips twisted in disapproval. “Let me know if Malevola and Sonar aren’t upholding their end of the deal.”
“I promise they look out for me perfectly fine, but yesterday wasn’t a normal day for any of us. They just need to blow off some steam sometimes.” You smiled.
Dr. Abbott reclined in thought, dismissing the issue. “Well. You’ll keep me updated. I’ll let Blazer know you’re cleared for the—”
You leapt from your seat at the sound of her approval. “I will! Thanks so much, I’ll see you tomorrow!” You chirped, waving goodbye as you flew through the door.
Dr. Abbott blinked as you vanished from sight, the door of her office swinging aimlessly from your hurried departure. She opened her book and jotted something down; in the past year being your health provider, she had never seen you so eager to work.
/
Malevola was the first Z-teamer you ran into. Her grin was contagious. Like always, her arm moved to curl around your shoulders, but she stopped herself before she could drop her weight onto you.
“Oh, sorry, love,” She said sheepishly, dropping her hand to your waist instead. “That would’ve been painful.”
“Less painful than yesterday, thanks to you.” You rolled your bad shoulder without grimacing. Your full range of motion was restored with nothing but an uncomfortable pinch to remind you that you ever got shot. You were thankful it was manageable, but either way, no amount of pain would’ve deterred you from taking full advantage of your field clearance.
Lively conversation quickly turned into a chorus of your name when you entered the break room. Malevola drifted to the charging station to equip her comms while the rest poked and prodded at you. Flambae was the first to assess you, gesturing to your shoulder.
“What the fuck happened to your sling? Don’t you need that shit?” He asked.
You grinned, lifting your arm. “Nope! Pretty much good as new.”
“My handiwork,” Malevola crooned, a sly smile on her lips.
Prism gently punched your arm. When you didn’t react, she hummed in thought. “Guess it really could’ve been worse.”
“Mhm. You guys get injured out there, too, you’re all just dramatic.”
“That is something we can agree on,” Coupe pushed the door open, her wings folding behind her. Her elegance was entrancing; the way she commanded a room with a single step never failed to make you envious. Her calculated confidence was familiar.
Familiar.
You couldn’t help but be drawn to her, regardless of how little she wanted to do with you. Ironically, that only strengthened the fascination.
She didn’t acknowledge you as she pushed through the group to get her comms. Case in point.
“Getting fucked up in a fight isn’t the same as getting shot.” Invisigal rolled her eyes. She was always the first to jump onto a grudge, and this was no exception. “You let him off easy, angel. You fucking always do this shit. ”
Your brows set low. “Visi, I’m fine.”
She chuckled, and you allowed her to step into your space. She put her hands on her hip as she stopped right in front of you, unfazed by the annoyance written across your features.
“What?” You snapped.
“Ooh, feisty. Cute.” Visi smiled, her eyes brightening. “Is that any way to treat someone who’s looking out for you? You’re not doing any of us justice by letting shitty dispatchers walk all over you. They should learn the consequences, just like we have to, apparently.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Haven’t heard?” Visi leaned back. “One of us is getting cut today.”
/
Coupe, Sonar, Invisigal. Those three were at the bottom of the barrel, and Robert had to choose one to say goodbye to by the end of the day. He was unsure how many brownie points he’d score by breaking up the team so early on, but Blazer said she wanted to ‘shake things up.’ Orders were orders.
“Cut day, huh?” Chase pointed to a name. Prism. “She ain’t bad.” His finger traveled lower. “Those three ain’t shit.”
“Did you come over here to tell me that? ‘Cause,” the corners of Robert’s lips lifted, “that’s almost exactly what the leaderboard tells you.”
“Actually, smartass, I came to tell you that one of your team members is in need of assistance.”
“Dying?”
“No.”
Robert shrugged and returned his focus to the leaderboard to assess the rest of his team. His eyes lingered on your name.
“Middle of the pack…” Robert sipped on his coffee.
“Surprised?” Chase folded his hands behind his back.
“Very.”
“This ranking system depends on people getting shit done and despite her multitude of fuckups, she shows up when it really matters.” Chase shrugged beside him. “Can’t go wrong with that. In the right hands, though, which aren’t yours.”
Robert rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the reminder.”
“S’what I’m here for.”
Beeps came from his computer, drawing him back to his desk. He dropped into his seat and donned his headset, squinting at the roster. “Sonar? Are you alright? Why’re you sending a distress signal when you haven’t left the building?”
In the break room, Coop’s stoic facade fell away. She held back a chuckle while Sonar requested a locksmith.
“What happened?” Robert groaned.
“Coop seduced me.”
You and Malevola exchanged looks before your stare broke apart with equally exasperated sighs. You had always known Sonar was a greedy man if his obsession with crypto and fraud was any indication, but it was becoming increasingly clear his voracity extended into people, too. But if he wanted to chase boobs so bad, you supposed that was his perogative.
“I’ll go.” You offered.
“Suit yourself.” Robert muttered, writing off Sonar’s predicament as calls started to come in.
On your way down to the gym, you saw your team file out the building one by one. A pit of nerves ate away at your confidence despite Robert’s assurance—you won’t be sent out on any missions you can’t handle. Except you didn’t know what you couldn’t handle, and neither did he. The last thing you wanted was another mishap that landed you on a hospital bed, but no matter how cautious you were, you couldn’t tell what torment your mind would inflict upon you.
Sonar’s ears flattened upon seeing you enter the gym and he turned his head away shamefully.
“Dumbass.” You mumbled, inserting a key in the cuff’s hole and jostling it until they came undone.
“I gruaduated from Harvard.” He protested automatically. His number one defense to any sort of slight was to list his resume.
“Really? First time you’ve ever mentioned that.” You droned, pulling the cuffs off his wrist and tossing them aside. You readjusted your earpiece, ready to get your first assignment. Sonar’s hand found your arm before you could move too far, slowing you to a stop.
“Wait.”
You heard a flash of your name over the line. “Shut up, I think I’m getting a mission.”
“Wait,” Sonar stressed, squeezing your arm and drawing you closer to him. “Buddy up with me.”
“What? No.”
“Angel,” Robert called you again. “There’s a kid stuck in a tree who won’t come down. Get that for me, will you?”
“Sure,” you responded, then turned to Sonar. “You really wanna buddy up with me on that?”
He huffed and released you. “You know exactly what I’m getting at.”
You waved him off, leaving the gym and hustling upstairs. First Visi and now Sonar? It was a cruel twist of fate that the lucky one was prone to failure and any reminder of the fact was not helpful.
Sonar remained hot on your heels. “You’re upset.”
“Got your detective skills from Harvard, too?”
“Why are you so pissy today? Damn.” He laughed incredulously. “Just trying to look out for you. Or are you mad about the Coop thing?”
“Why would I be mad about that?” You snapped over your shoulder. “We’re open. If you wanna chase boobs, that’s your… You do you.”
“Not like he gets enough at home already.” Malevola sneered over the comms.
“You… you guys are on the public line, by the way.” Robert said slowly, confusion and mild disbelief in his tone.
“There’s nothing about these guys that we don’t know.” Prism giddily informed Robert. “Which reminds me, when do I get to get in on this, Mal?”
“What is happening?” Robert whispered.
“You just name a time, babe.” Malevola chimed in promptly.
“Oh, that’s how it works?” Invisigal scoffed. “So when I asked yesterday, the rules were different?”
“Actually, you didn’t ask. Also, the rules don’t include you,” As if he was waiting for Invisigal to get a word in, Sonar’s response was locked and loaded. He surged around your body and cut you off from your path.
“Look, I’m just saying to be careful.” He clarified softly. You held his gaze for a moment, conceding to his puppy eyes. You rubbed his arm and nodded.
“I will be.”
“Don’t be mad at me.”
“I’m not.”
/
Three hours into your shift and things were going smoothly. You noticed how your missions were always low-stakes (kids in trees, cats in trees, balls in trees), but in a way, you were glad you were starting at a smaller scale. It was like a warm up, one that would make the jump to the more serious objectives easier to handle. At least, you hoped so.
You weren’t spared from the sabotage bug circulating around the team. Rather than taking you out, though, your teammates were trying to bring you in to beef up their chances. Prism had hooked her arm through yours at one point and dragged you through the streets when she was dispatched on a mission outside of her skill range, making you stand near her location. Whether she could’ve done with or without your lucky charm was unknown, but she was not about to take the chance it would be the latter—not today, of all days. Not when she was sure the others were scheming in the same way. She was oblique when Robert asked her what she was up to, and quickly shooed you away when he pressed for answers.
“Angel, hang tight, I’ll get you something to do soon.”
“Okay,” you answered and muted yourself. Your eyes scanned your surroundings and spotted a cafe close by. The aromas trapped you before you explicitly made up your mind, drawing you into the quaint corner shop.
Someone beat you to the door. Your hand jerked back when their hand grabbed the door for you.
“Sorry, darling.” An older man frowned as he swung it open. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”
“No worries.” You thanked him as you passed through. The line wasn’t very long, thankfully—you didn’t want to spend much time here. Just grab a quick snack and be on your—
“Haven’t seen you around here.” The old man entered the line behind you. He looked frail, hunched over by the waist. His cap covered his face from view, but you caught a beard poking out. “First time in the neighborhood?”
You blinked, considering your options. Old people were nosy and chatty. A geriatric strolled into a cafe to reconnect with society—that seemed like a probable conclusion. So, you nodded and smiled politely.
“I’m just grabbing something during my break,” you explained vaguely. Can the guy in front of me be any slower…?
“Oh!” His shoulders raised, straightening his horrible posture as best he could to show his excitement. “Are you one of those heroes? The… oh, what do they call it. The network. The Super Network?”
You nodded awkwardly. “Something like that.”
“Well, thank you very much for your service.” He chuckled.
When the cashier called, Next! you breathed a sigh of relief. You blurted off your order, your card already hovering over the terminal to pay. When the time came, though, your wrist was pushed aside to make way for another card—one belonging to the pesky senior behind you. Annoyed, you let your eyes sweep around the cafe to remember where you were. More people had flooded inside to avoid the heat, the rush backing up the line until people were stuck waiting outside.
You forced your grimace into another placating smile. “You shouldn’t have.”
“Oh, no,” when his beard curled up, you assumed he was smiling. “It’s so nice to see one of the Red Ring getting cleaned off the streets. Horrible, horrible gang. You just keep going how you’re going, kid, and that’ll all be far behind you.”
Your mouth hung open, eyes flicking to the side. Wait. “Wait, how do you—?”
The old man stepped out of the line and let the rush crowd his spot. You were pushed back into the waiting area, peering over people’s heads to see if he took a seat somewhere.
He was gone.
When the questions sitting on your tongue died without closure, your chest felt constricted. A distant drum thudded at the base of your skull, and panic bubbled in your gut. No, no, no. You couldn’t forget this, not now. You could feel your thoughts blurring together.
“Pen,” you called to an employee behind the counter. “Sorry, could— could I borrow a sharpie?”
Thankfully, one was handed to you without much fuss. You retreated to the corner of the now-busy cafe, pulling up your clothes to the first available inch of skin and scribbling Red Ring on yourself. Hearing that said to you, specifically, triggered something. And you weren’t going to let that clue go to waste.
“Angel, I’ve got—” Robert buzzed over your comms, pausing when he saw the state you were in. He switched to your private channel and asked, “Why’re you in that corner? You okay?”
You scrambled to unmute yourself, dropping into the first available booth. His voice grounded you and you needed that desperately right now. “Mhm.”
Robert peered at your figure through the CCTV feed. Your head down, cradled by your hands, and the slow breaths you forced yourself to take... “You can tell me if you’re not feeling okay.”
“I know,” you said genuinely, the chatter of the cafe fading away. “Just— just give me a second, I’ll be ready to go. Promise.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “I trust you.”
That’s exactly what you wanted to hear. “Thank you.”
“Yeah.” He had much more to talk about—namely the weird dynamic the team had—but he saved that for a more unprofessional environment. Though he was quickly realizing that anything including his Z-team was an unprofessional environment. His mind blew through reasons he could get you alone again…
“Hey,” Robert spoke up again. “Uh, I’ve got your car out front.”
You sat up with a controlled exhale. “It worked fine for you?”
“The car doors didn’t stick at all,” Robert grinned, charm on his tone. “Weird. You sure that wasn’t a play to get me to chat you up?”
“Oh yeah, I needed to play the damsel in distress card twice,” You rolled your eyes in amusement. “I dunno, you weren’t begging for forgiveness hard enough the first time around.”
“I can always try again. Third time’s the charm.”
“Are you asking?”
“Do you want me to?”
You smiled sweetly, shaking your head fondly. “Give me the mission.”
“There you go,” Robert praised, his voice low and grainy against your ear, his smile evident in his words. “Malevola’s pursuing a burglar, wanted you on her side.”
“I’m on it,” You grabbed your drink from the counter and followed Robert’s directions to Mal’s location. Like in all things, you didn’t have to lift a finger when Mal was on the job and you didn’t expect this to be any different.
/
You found her waiting in an alleyway, peering around the corner. You came up behind her, sneaking a peek around her shoulders.
Her golden eyes snapped down to you. “Hey, angel,” she pulled back from her lookout spot. “Robert said the guy’s gonna come down this way.”
“Cool,” you sipped your drink and offered some to her. “Seems pretty cut and dry. What’d you need me for?”
She helped herself to your cup, no doubt in need of some refreshment. “If I get this, I’ll finally beat out Golem for the top spot on the Z-team. I don’t wanna take any chances.” Her lips curled in a smirk. “Fucking pile of rocks always got the heavy-hitters.”
Sirens broke the moment of peace. Mal shoved the drink into your chest and unsheathed her sword. You focused your energy on her to boost her chances, but even still, the criminal whizzed by and missed Mal’s blow by a hair.
“Fuck!” She cursed, breaking into a sprint after him. You hurriedly tossed your cup into the dumpster behind you and bolted after her. The criminal took a hard right into another alley, shoving boxes behind his path to trip you both up.
“Come on, baby, we’re gonna cut him off.” Mal projected a portal onto the wall, tossing you a look over her shoulder and leaped through. You followed, and—was that Mal on the ground?
Her hand curled around the base of her sword, but her retailiation was cut short when you tripped onto her back and crushed her back into the ground.
“Bet this brings back memories for you two,” Invisigal slouched against the wall at your side, smirking down at you. "I can see you being on top."
“What the fuck, Visi?” You snapped, crawling off Mal’s back and helping her to her feet.
“I’ve gotta climb the leaderboard somehow, hot stuff.” Visi took a long drag of her inhaler. “No hard feelings.”
“Bitch,” Malevola’s eye twitched. She drew her sword within a second, slashing at Invisigal’s head. Thankfully (or not, you hadn’t decided yet), she went invisible in time to avoid it, plastering against the opposite side of the alley.
As Malevola continued her assault on Visi, you shook your head. Robert sighed in your ear.
“Feel free to step in here, angel.”
“Me? It’s your team.”
He clicked his tongue. “Not so sure about that anymore.”
Visi scrambled up the fire escape and you sent out a jinx—the metal platform creaked to the side, sending Visi tumbling off it onto the ground. Mal dug her knee into her stomach to keep her from wriggling out of her hands a second time, grabbing her jacket to properly cuss her out.
“All Z-team back to base and in the conferesnce room in twenty minutes.” Robert demanded over the line and like clockwork, a cacophony of groans and complaints followed.
Mal let Visi go with a frustrated grunt, sheathing her sword and storming off. Visi pushed herself off the ground, avoiding your eyes. After one last look weighted by a sentiment you weren’t sure how to communicate, you turned your back to her and followed Mal through her gateway.
(II.) i know it's been a while! let me know if you want to be removed from the taglist
The "V was raised catholic" headcanon is legitimately hilarious. Because imagine little "orphan" baby V praying for the souls of his mama and papa in church, meanwhile, his dad is in Studio 54 hitting every dance move physically possible and air humping at anything vaguely female after doing seven lines of coke, and his mom is somewhere in the back alley strangling a man with his own bicycle chains.
Why the fuck is every single post underneath the Tony Stark x reader tag either dad's best friend who knew you since birth, fics that have nothing to do with him, or just joke posts. PLEASE. GIVE ME THE MAN AND A GOOD FIC.
“If my dates not fire resistant I’m dick resistant”
“I date men”
“This isn’t the wet I like to be Robert”
And I get that it’s supposed to be an info dump for the players so we get that bit of info about him but it really does just read as him desperately trying to hint to Robert that’s he’s gay and interested LMFAO
The issue I have with writers doing a "plus-size reader being insecure, so sex is the solution" trope is that it just sexualizes us. Insecurity can also stem from sexualization, just like it can from rejection. Plus-size people face objectification every day, and you're a part of it. It's also so unrealistic; if I'm feeling insecure about my body, the last thing I'd want is someone groping my naked body. Imagine if you were really thirsty and instead of someone giving water, they spit in your face and say, "Well, it's a liquid." That's what y'all are doing with those fic tropes. You're saying, "Oh, you have insecurities? Here's a fic about you getting your puss ate." Also, 99% of these authors who write plus-size characters like that are not plus-size themselves. So, instead of doing research or even talking to a bigger person, they write a crappy, half-assed fic that they think is so different. They praise themselves like they're fucking Liberace. I can give you a quick outline of these fics.
•reader tries on dress
•reader is insecure
•character comes in
•reader cries
•character and reader have sex.
You're like everyone else who treats us like we are not more than our bodies, you're just doing it in a performative way. You're not different, nothing you're doing is new, and if I'm being honest every insecurity->sex fic I've seen has been fucking trash.
