#probably some weird floating point error

[dravidious]

You're really really neat

I've been practicing the dark magic of computer graphics today! Unfortunately for my hubris I've been struck with the curse of the shadow crystal

[derangedanomaly]

I’ve just seen that you did my request and I love it, ty!! (I was the one that requested the weird sleep scenario)

I’d like to request something again, bad sanses + star sanses with a gender neutral skeleton reader that sorta has powers like a genie. They can float, turn invisible, (still has most of the powers a usual sans has) and are very mischievous. The way they can grant wishes is giving someone a marble looking thing and when that person makes a wish, the marble will break and they’ll have to repay reader with something (can be either something shiny or some bones to chew on) they also don’t have a bottle, that’s the only genie thing they don’t have lol

Can i be 💤 anon?

Ah! Hello again anon💤! :D

Yes, that request was quite fun to write! Ok, since there are so many characters, they're probably not gonna be very long, still, I hope you'll enjoy this!

(Sorry for taking so long!)

Au Sanses x Genie reader

(Nightmare, Killer, Dust, Horror, Error, Dream, Ink, Swap)

Nightmare:

Nightmare actually found your powers quiet mesmerizing at first.

He interrogated you about the powers, and pronounced that your powers aren't very much helpful to him..I mean, yeah, you can grant wishes, but what exactly can- OH MY GOD IS THAT THE LIMITED BOOK HE WANTED BUT COULDN'T MANAGE TO GET?!

Keeps you around simply just for granting wishes 💀 (Asshole)

Doesn't really like the way your powers operate, but can't really do anything about it 🤷‍♀️

Please, don't try to scare him by turning invisible, he might just kill you.

Your relationship has a very rocky start...but you both slowly started to get along.

I swear...he has a constant headache just by your friendship with Killer.

He would do anything in order for you two to stop pulling these stupid pranks on him.

Sometimes likes to stare at you while you're floating around. He just finds that really cool. (Bitch is not gonna admit that 💀)

He hates how much he loves you 🥰

Killer:

THE BEST OF FRIENDS

Killer always felt like the odd one among the bad sanses...they all had their own perspective best friend, but he didn't have one.

Until you came along.

Killer's so clingy towards you after you became best friends...

You guys do a lot of stuff together! Many of them include pranking the others though..

Killer keeps on flirting with you in hopes of scoring a date with you. And if you don't get his flirting, then he'll just cover it up by saying that it's just a friendly banter. (It breaks his nonexistent heart though :(

The first time you scared him by turning invisible, he got very angry, until noticing it was you. Then his whole mood shifted as he just laughed it off. (Bro is a simp)

He was, and will be, so confused that you don't have a bottle. Like what do you mean that it doesn't work like in Aladdin?!

He likes to bother you with very useless wishes, "I wish for that remote on the table to appear in my hands." It was in front of him.

Bro is BROKE ASFF!!! His wallet cries after every wish he makes.. he could repay you with something else than money..but he didn't like to give his stuff away.

Dust:

Dust is a closeted nerd...so of course the first thing he does is whip out his book and write down everything about you.

It's his first time seeing a genie. Of course he's gonna ask a lot of questions!

He loves to study you, to the point where you felt like a wild animal in the Zoo.

He's silently sitting on a nearby chair as you grant Horror his wish, staring at you.. studying how your powers work.

It's gotten to the point where you're getting kinda creeped out..

You, at first, thought that he wanted to make a wish or something, but when he denied it just as you asked him.. you got confused even more.

Bro is staring so much that he eventually stops studying your powers, and is instead studying you.

He now notices even the smallest things about you.

Is getting a little obsessed, not gonna lie, but it's cute. So you'll allow it ;)

Horror:

His reaction to you being a genie is actually very wholesome.. (surprisingly). He wishes for his Au to not be in deep starvation..and for them to finally get out of the underground. Basically, kinda resetting everything that's happened after Frisk left.

You sadly can't grant this wish of his, which leaves him sad and angry. But you do give him a giant meat. (Which made his mood a little better.)

You started to feel sad for him after this moment, so you started to talk to him regularly. Which he enjoyed.

Horror's not much of a talker, so he'll just listen to you most of the time.

It's also partially because he likes to listen to your voice.. ❤️

Horror likes the sound that your powers make whenever you grant a wish, so he's always nearby whenever you're granting wishes. (It's just a little bell that sounds off)

Becomes attached to you, very quickly.

Defends you from Nightmare to the best of his abilities.

Horror's the tallest of the Sanses, (my HC) so he'll be so mesmerized when you float up higher above him. He won't lie, he likes this change. Having to look up for once instead of down.

He likes how your powers operate. It seems fair to him. 🤷‍���️

Error:

He immediately took advantage of the fact you can grant wishes.

He wished for so many things! Such as; getting Classic's autograph, make Ink disappear, have a popcorn maker, wishing for chocolate,...

He actually doesn't like how you can float. He can't wrap his strings around you and pull you along now! >:(

You're getting on his nerves by being friends with Killer though.

After Nightmare, Error's your next target. Every.time.

Seriously sick of it. If he could, he would seperate you and Killer.IN HEARTBEAT.

He really, really.. really wants to hold your hand, but his Haphephobia doesn't allow him to 💀

Please, don't try to scare him by turning invisible. He WILL crash.

Dream:

He thinks that you must carry a big burden on your shoulders, if you're a Genie. So he gets really concerned if anything really.

He tries to pull you away from granting any wishes, every.time.

He's so cute.. dragging you away to hang out with him to forget about your work.

But he does want to see how your powers operate.

Finds it amazing that you can float, turn invisible... everything really!

After your long persuadation, he gives in and makes a wish.

His wish is really sad...he wishes to have his brother and Au back. He wants to reverse time! Which, as we know, you can't do. It's against the rules to change what was already done. So you politely decline, explaining him exactly why.

Dream's a really understanding person, so of course he doesn't mind it or isn't angry.

What was past...is past. What matters now, is that you're here in the present. Nothing else should matter. ^^ (his words)

Ink:

Immediately, Without hesitation, nor any filter, he asks; "Can you make me feel emotions?"

You don't grant his wish -> he sulks.

He's a forgetful shit, so he'll forget that you're a genie at times.

It's like he's on repeat at the start of your relationship. He finds out you're a genie -> wishes to feel emotions -> you decline -> he sulks -> forgets 💀

Be prepared for this at times.

But after knowing you for awhile, he finally remembers and stops asking you that damn question.

He doesn't have much opinions about you tbh. He's seen some shit, so he's not all that fazed from you being a genie.

The part that shocks him the most is that you don't have a lamp. (His reaction is similar to Killer. Bro confused you for Aladdin 💀)

Y'all have a rocky relationship 🤷‍♀️

Don't worry though, after you get to know each other a bit more, he'll cling to you like a Koala.

Swap:

Similar reaction to Dream. He feels concerned for your mentality.

Everyone's always going to you to grant their wish, but Swap's soul is too kind for his own good. Instead of wishing something for himself, he asks you; "What do you wish for?"

You cried that time. (He was scared that he did something wrong 💀)

You started treating him as if he was some precious gold. Which got him flustered.

He treats you as if you were his queen. Brings you food, helps you out a lot... You name it.

He just feels so much love for you, it's unbelievable.

Doesn't mind your little pranks with Killer. He just sees that as your little escape from work. Which he feels happy for. :)

He just smiles softly whenever you prank him with Killer in tow.

He's so patient and kind towards you😭

Doesn't mind you floating around or the fact that you can turn invisible, you're you, and that's something he never wants to replace.

[gamebunny-advance]

1010 Malt Shop - Green Plushie

It's done. It's finally done. 1 week of blood, sweat, and tears (mostly blood), and he's done.

But I don't have a good enough camera nor photography skills to really capture his true charm ;w;

(Boring self reflection + more pics under the cut)

Anyway, this is the project I've been working on lately. No particular thing really prompted this. Like most things I do, it was started on a whim and finished with will power. I don't really have much experience with plush making or sewing, so despite his obvious faults, I still think he turned out pretty nicely for an amateur.

As per usual, I didn't have enough foresight to document the process, but I can nonetheless talk about the experience and point out some details of it.

Firstly, he's a pretty large lad. Here he is compared to the official DJSS plush and one of the test prints I did of "Melon Float."

Counting his straw, he's about 16 inches tall. I wasn't counting on him being so big, so I don't really know what I'm gonna do with him now...

I say this took a week, but I probably could have quartered that time if I had a working sewing machine, but since I didn't, the majority of the time was spent just sewing the thing together. (Btw, pattern over here.) The only fabric details that weren't hand-sewn are the circle/stripe details on his pants and shoes, and the bow/buttons on his shirt, which were all glued on.

The base pattern didn't come with any clothes, so I just adapted the body patterns into clothes. Structurally, he's basically wearing a second skin~ I did think about making the gloves for the sake of accuracy, but at that point, the only skin he'd be showing is his face, and I wanted to keep some soft parts out since his clothes are so stiff. They're so stiff, they can stand on their own and be stacked on top of each other without falling over.

(The plush has a harder time standing than his clothes do...)

Speaking of the clothes, let me say right now that it bothers me more than anyone else that the paint details don't color-match his pants. I was so high on the euphoria of starting this project that when I was out getting supplies, I saw some glow-in-the-dark paint and thought it'd be a great idea since he's a robot and all. The color on the bottle looked close enough at the time, and the original plan was that only the face would be painted with the other details being felt, but on top of me forgetting that effects paint takes a long time to build up layers, the green also dried differently than I thought it would, so it threw everything off, but I didn't have the patience to suck it up and repaint everything with a better color match. I did try to add a light gradient with my pastels like in the original art work, but it turned out so light that it's barely perceivable and totally not worth the clamminess I get when I touch chalk.

I think the most time-consuming part was his hair. While sewing the body together took 2 days, the clothes 2 days, and painting 1 day, the hair took about 3 as I had to figure out essentially how to do it myself on the fly. The first day was mostly trial and error. I did find a couple of online tutorials about how to get this loopy yarn hair, but the ones that I found both required tools that I didn't have. Eventually, I figured out a way to make it work, but I feel like it was less than efficient:

Basically, his hair is made with chunks of yarn that are tied together, and each chunk is individually sewn into place. I didn't count, but I think there are 13-14 hair chunks total to give him a full head. I do like how I made his bangs uneven to mimick how I draw his hair, but I couldn't quite pull off having his distinct hair-part and I couldn't figure out how to give the illusion of half his hair being straight without it looking weird. (I did try cutting the loops to let the strands be straight, but I didn't like the look of it, so I kept them all loopy).

This is a weird thing to say out of context, but I'm especially proud of the back of his head. Originally I was just going to paint on his undercut (which I'm glad I didn't because this paint REALLY hardens the cotton), so I got the bright idea to sew on individual strands of yarn for it. I think the effect is great, but I would not wish it upon my worst enemy, because to get the effect, I had to sew on each. strand. individually. The day I made the face poll, and said that was going to be a break day? I wound up doing this instead, and it took just as long to sew in those 20+ strands of yarn as it did the rest of his hair.

To segway into that poll, as you can see, I went with option 2 with some slight edits. Just the white/green eyes looked a little plain to me, so I added my usual dark pupil and added a green-star glitter to the center. I'm the one that has to live with this thing for the foreseeable future, so I made some executive decisions. Unfortunately, there were a few errors while painting, which you can clearly see in the above pictures OTL. I did try to seal off my painting areas with tape, but it still bled and stained in a few places. I don't really know if it's possible to clean the stains without ruing the rest of the face, but if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

There are a few extra details that I guess are worth pointing out: he's actually wired. I put in some armature wire so he'd be able to move his limbs despite the stiff felt but... I didn't secure them that well, and the wire for his arms got displaced, so I currently can't bend them ;3;. I'd have to open him up again to replace it, and I REALLY don't want to undress him again to get to his back. The worst thing about this plush is that his clothes are so stiff that he's actually very hard to dress.

The wire in his legs is mostly still in place, so he can at least (kinda) sit.

I think the last thing worth talking about is the ice cream accessory. It was really simple to make (it's just air dry clay over foil + extra pieces), but it's cute, so I wanted to point it out~

It's a hair clip, so it can be taken on and off. Theoretically, it could be worn by a person, but it's a little heavy to be wearing it all day~ The camera/lighting really blew out the colors, but I think it turned out to be a nice creamy french vanilla color like I really wanted~

Other details like the glitter on his eyes/cheeks can't really be captured on my shitty ipod camera, but rest assured that he is pleasantly sparkling~

I think my biggest takeaway from this project has been materials: I thought that using felt would be a great alternative to having to buy an entire yard of fabric for a one time project, but besides the paint, it was the hardest material to work with. If I have to pick and choose, next time I think the body will be felt, and the clothes will be cotton, or maybe I'll actually invest in some fleece, so it can be soft all the way~ Since the clothes are removable, I could theoretically make him his default sailor suit and just replace the straw with his proper hair loop to convert this into a "canon" design plush, but we'll see what the future holds. I did get the felt colors to make my *other* babygirl, but given this experience, I may hold off on making him until a much later date.

[douglysium]

Episode 15 TMP Quick Thoughts

Housekeeping and Prologue

Hello, this is Douglysium and you might not know me as that guy who wrote over 100 pages of analysis on the Eye (which can be read on Tumblr here (https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/735599414228484097/the-relationships-between-the-dread-powers-the) or Google Docs here (The Relationships Between the Dread Powers: The Eye- Knowledge is Fear and Ignorance is Bliss)) or as that guy who wrote an article on the Extinction (which can be read on Tumblr here(https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/717929126195003392/what-would-avatars-of-the-extinction-be-like-a) and Google Docs here(​What would Avatars of the Extinction be like?: A TMA Speculation)). Suffice to say I might be a bit of a TMA fan. Also, spoilers for TMP up until episode 10. You can read my ramblings on the last episode here (Episode 14 TMP Quick Thoughts).

However, Protocol offers a very unique opportunity and experience for me because I didn’t actually get into TMA until after it was over and I binged all of it. So this is my first time experiencing something even remotely similar to what the original TMA fans probably experienced when waiting for each episode week by week and slowly having to put everything together with the limited information they had. So I decided to throw my hat into the ring since this might be my only chance to do something similar. However, I’m working on some longer form TMA content so I can’t spend as much time on these articles giving a bunch of super detailed thoughts. I will try to keep these short and that inevitably might mean some could have questions about why I think or predict certain things and in those cases I would probably recommend you read at least some of the two articles I mentioned above to get a better idea of where I’m coming from. This also means I won’t be giving you a play-by-play of every single thing that happens in the episode so I encourage you to listen to or read them yourselves and feel free to comment if you feel something is important.

These reviews are probably going to end up focusing mostly on the Entities and their manifestations as they are what I have thought about the most and spent the most time interpreting and there’s been a lot of… interesting theories floating around about how the Entities are manifesting that I want to go over.

Finally, I’m just going to say it right now, spoiler warning for all of The Magnus Archives. I know that Jon and co said one could start with Protocol and be fine, and while that’s probably true, media like this tends to be made in conversation with or take into consideration what came before it in the irl chronology in order to connect them. While I’m sure you could skip The Magnus Archives, I don't really see the point of skipping over it when we are already getting characters from TMA showing up in TMP in Protocol. So to me it’s pretty clear that if we want to understand the full picture of TMP and all the things it is trying to say then we can’t just try to pretend TMA doesn’t exist or scrub it away. Just because you could understand what’s happening without the context in broad strokes doesn’t mean you're getting all the nuances.

These articles are meant to be quick and short so sorry if there’s typos and if I don’t address every possible question or possibility. I don’t want to repeat myself too much in this series outside of the prologue so be sure to skim some of my other articles.

Episode 15 “Well Run”

So the transcripts have an error. While the document title matches the name of the episode on the youtube channel, etc. the transcripts themselves say Episode 15 “Good Show.”

Weird, but probably just an error. Either this was the episode's original name, and it was changed, or some other episode was originally in the slot for the 15th entry (stuff can move around a lot in development). Anyway let’s dive in.

We start the episode from the perspective of a CCTV in the breakroom at night. Sam asks Celia on a second date by showing off some theater tickets he bought for “The Pillowman.” Celia laughs, much to Sam’s confusion, and sarcastically says it’s a “very romantic choice.” Sam says he doesn’t know a lot about the story but Celia does decide to go anyway “If only to see your face.” I haven’t seen Pillowman but according to the Wikipedia summary “It tells the tale of Katurian, a fiction writer living in a police state, who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and their similarities to a number of bizarre child murders occurring in his town.” So Celia’s reaction is understandable and it goes to show that Sam should have asked around a bit more. It’ll be an odd date for sure, but I’m very curious to see their reactions considering that Sam and Celia’s job right now is literally to sit around listening to scary stories. Although, they know Pillowman isn’t real so it might not be that big of a deal.

Alice enters the room, seemingly to Sam’s dismay or exasperation considering the sighing, and offers them a chance to come to the performance of her younger brother’s band. Sam wonders if it’s Dredgerman but Alice corrects him by saying “Don’t be daft, they’re taking a break before their tour! No, it’s “Penny for the Well” actually” and Sam wonders how many bands Luke is in (so Luke is part of multiple bands at the same time). Sam asking about Dredgerman is actually a bit of foreshadowing for the person Alice encounters later. The person in question keeps speaking of the deep water and drowning, similar to some of the stuff Gordon was saying in a previous episode, and a dredger is “a barge or other vessel designed for dredging harbors or other bodies of water”, to dredge is to “clean out the bed of (a harbor, river, or other area of water) by scooping out mud, weeds, and rubbish with a dredge.” / “an apparatus for bringing up objects or mud from a river or seabed by scooping or dragging.” and a dredgeman (no R here) is “one who is in charge of the operation of a dredge used to mine metal-bearing sands from the bottom of a body of water.” So there’s a lot of specific water imagery going on here. “Penny for the Well” also arguably ties into this theme since a well is “a shaft sunk into the ground to obtain water, oil, or gas.” Pennies are often thrown into wells and fountains for the sake of wishes and stuff but there are also stories of people falling into wells. So you could argue there’s still a theme of drowning or deep water being laid here too.

Alice says “Let’s just say that this revolutionary indie ensemble, which may or may not also include my incredibly talented younger brother, is playing The Gladstone Arms at ten thirty tomorrow evening and you are both on the guest list. You’re welcome.” but Celia says she has to go take care of Jack (the babysitter can’t stay late enough for her to go to the performance) and the revelation that Celia has a human baby seems to catch Alice off guard. Considering Alice’s reaction to Celia last episode, it’s interesting that she invited both Alice and Sam to the event and doesn’t seem to say Sam shouldn’t go on his date with Celia (just that they can swing by afterwards). It’s possible she wants to keep an eye on them or doesn’t want to piss off Sam but it’s interesting that Alice is actually taken aback by Celia’s baby. Maybe Alice herself isn’t really a baby person. It’s possible she’s just surprised Sam is dating someone with a baby or she just genuinely didn’t realize and is surprised / awkward. Sam comments “(standing) And you say I’m clueless.” 

In case you’re wondering what a gladstone is: “a suitcase with flexible sides on a rigid frame that opens flat into two equal compartments. called also gladstone bag.” Gladstone also seems to be a person: “William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS (/ˈɡlædstən/ GLAD-stən; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-consecutive terms (the most of any British prime minister) beginning in 1868 and ending in 1894. He also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer four times, for over 12 years.” I also saw some, potentially questionable, sources saying that a gladstone can refer to a Prime Minister who’s served four years but maybe take that with a grain of salt coming from me. Since Protocol does seem to have a big emphasis on the government it wouldn’t surprise me if using the name of a politician is somehow going to end up being some sort of reference or foreshadowing for later.

At this point we are privy to 3 of the bands Luke has played for: Bullets for Saint Sebastian, Penny for the Well, and Dredgerman

We move to the statement of the episode. It’s in the form of a voicemail being delivered by someone to “The Sentinel tip-off hotline.” The bot on the other end says:

“If you are calling with information that you believe merits investigation for the public interest, please leave a message with as much detail as possible along with your name and number. 

If you wish to remain anonymous, please instead leave a three word code at the start of your message that we can use to identify future calls or correspondence from you. 

This voicemail is monitored by dedicated staff that are obliged to report serious crimes to local law enforcement if there is risk of imminent harm to anyone. Please speak after the tone. To end the recording, simply hang up. ”

The person giving the statement of this case is referred to as the “Caterer” in the transcripts and they are clearly in a rush since they say they can’t go to the police and start telling the story without leaving in sort of three word code or identity for future calls. The Caterer even says that they don’t know how much time they have left.

They begin to explain that they work as a caterer at a business they own. They tend to handle really high-end private functions: “We get called in for the really high-end stuff. The kind of event where the guest list is so rich that you’ve never even heard of them. There’s a big difference between “extravagance” and “elegance.” We sell the latter.” However, the Caterer’s company isn’t very big. In fact, it only has 6 permanent staff if you include the Caterer themselves (so there were 5 other permanent staff the Caterer worked with). Of course, the company did “...hire in fixed-term waiting staff and other contractors but even so…” But it becomes clear that something bad happened to the other permanent employees. For the sake of clarity, a caterer is “a person or company providing food and drink at a social event or other gathering.”

The Caterer’s company “...got the call a couple of months ago for a fairly small event at Wychwood Hall in the Cotswold’s. Apparently, they had a family shoot and wanted us to prepare the game. Normally that would be pheasant or partridge and we’d just swap it for stuff we prepared off-site since no one could ever tell the difference, but they were really explicit about it being larger game and wanting to know who’s kill they were eating. That meant a lot more prep time and equipment but they insisted and at this level you don’t get to tell the client no, just how much extra it will cost.” So immediately, we have some themes reminiscent of an Entity like The Hunt but it’s still pretty early on in the statement and Entities can overlap all the time so let’s keep reading.

The company “...set up the cooking gazebo during the early afternoon in the rear gardens on the butler’s instruction. The house itself was a massive sprawling Elizabethan thing with pristine flowerbeds and prim lawns that ran right up to the surrounding woodland. It wasn’t usual to be given center stage like that but I figured the client fancied themself a foodie and wanted to see the prep. Thankfully we brought the flashy gear, just in case. Normally you’d expect the shoot to have already been well underway by the time we arrived but people were only just arriving in their tinted Range Rovers and Rolls.” The Caterer notes that normally, the shoot / hunt would already be happening but by the time the Caterer’s crew arrived everyone else was just arriving. It would make sense that normally the shoot would already be taking place since the Caterer is just supposed to cook whatever is caught and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have them just waiting around while you try to kill the game animal. However, this is actually foreshadowing since we later learn that the Caterer and their crew are what’s supposed to be hunted. The Caterer even mentions “Another hour passed with a couple more cars trickling in, but still no one had set out. Instead, I could see them through the leaded windows, just watching us work ” So the people are watching their prey (the caterers).

Eventually, the Caterer had the house staff fetch the butler to let him know “that unless he knew something I didn’t there was going to be a distinct lack of venison for tonight’s venison medallions. He just gave me this look, told me to “prepare” and then headed back inside. Obviously that pissed me right off but what can you do? They’d paid for the day so we just hunkered down and looked busy.” It’s possible that what the butler is saying has a double meaning. They shouldn’t just be preparing food but the caterers themselves should prepare to fight each other and be hunted. This is alluded to later when “the matriarch” asks the Caterer if they are prepared.

Speaking of which, the sun begins to set and all the hunters and dogs begin to come out of their vehicles. In front of them is someone the Caterer describes as a “matriarch.” “I don’t know how else to describe her. This big, imposing, like some Roman statue brought to life and given a gun. I kept thinking of my army days cooking for the top brass. She had the same eyes, like they didn’t see people any more just “assets” and “resistance.” And if that wasn’t enough, she had this huge custom rifle over her shoulder, like an antique elephant gun or something. There was no way it was UK legal, the thing looked like it could take out a jeep, never mind a stag! And it wasn’t gilded or anything, it was dull and plain looking despite its massive size and you just knew that this was a gun for killing with, not showing off.” I think it’s interesting that the Caterer has some sort of military background. There’s an obvious commentary about the military complex but often when the Entities show up they do so to specific people or at specific times that are advantageous. This is to say that the Entities often have thematic reasons for why or who they are manifesting around at a specific time and I don’t think the fact that a person with military trauma was picked is purely coincidental.

The Caterer says that the matriarch reeked with power and “...when she spoke they all listened. She had the guns all line up facing us with their dogs at heel and then they all just stood there watching the sun set as their staff and security all headed back into the house leaving us alone with them. That was when I knew something was really wrong. The woman stepped forward with her dogs by her side and faced me with this bright and wide smile splitting her face under her electric blue eyes and gunmetal-grey hair. Then she just locked eyes with me and began to carefully load the rifle without looking, punctuating each word with another cartridge. “Are you prepared?” she asked quietly.” This calls back to what I was just saying about the butler. I think what the butler was saying had a double meaning or was vague enough to be misinterpreted as referring purely to the food being prepared.

 The Caterer answers with ““As we can be” I replied. “but-“” and then the woman silences them by raising a hand to their mouth. “it was as though she had slapped a gag in my mouth. I couldn’t even think of disobeying her, the words just died in my throat.” She returns to her group of hunters with her dogs flanking her and they are unable to make out the faces of any of the other people due to the dazzling light of the sunset. Then she stood tall and proud and said with just the tiniest hint of anticipation: “Let’s begin then shall we?” As one, the hunters raised their rifles as one and levelled them at us as we stood transfixed under our gazebo. Theres a very specific feeling you get when you’re staring down a barrel at close range. First the world gets very sharp and bright, then the horizon sort of shrinks around you till it’s no wider than the dark hole aiming straight at you. It had been a long time since I’d felt like that, but it was still so familiar. Too familiar. The woman hadn’t raised her own weapon, instead she called as though directing a firing squad: “Hunt.”” The caterers don’t immediately understand what’s happening so the simply sit in still silence until the Caterer realizes that the matriarch is talking to them and not her hunters. “After seconds that felt like hours the woman seemed to grow impatient. Finally, she sighed and repeated: “Hunt” before shouldering her rifle, sighting and then pulling the trigger without hesitation.”

One of the other caterers, Steven, falls to the ground dead (having been shot). “Without lowering the rifle, she chambered another round and re-sighted, this time at me. She smiled greedily then pumped her eyebrows just once, playfully. “Hunt!”” This time the Caterer understands what she wants: “Without taking my eyes from her I reached out and gently closed my hand around the handle of the clever in front of me. It shone, pristine and unblemished, ready for its bloody work. Then slowly, so slowly, I raised it overhead, bracing myself for what followed. The woman grinned widely, her finger caressing the trigger, then I brought my hand down sharply, smashing the cleaver into the face of Marcus, our Saucier. He couldn’t even cry out as it cleft deep into the base of his neck, his arterial blood gushing out and down into the overly-hot pot, releasing a plume of acrid iron smelling steam.” The other caterers run as the Caterer pulls the knife from Marcus and turns to them.

“The party ate well that night. All told, it didn't take long, maybe a half hour at most? None of them got far. I caught Debra as she tried to hide up in a tree. Fair play to her, almost made it up there despite being in her fifties. Mira tripped over a rabbit hole in the darkness, I think she tried to beg, but I couldn’t make out the words. The only one who gave me any real trouble was Boris. He was a big guy, nearly six five, and that’s a hell of a size difference, even with my training. But it wasn’t enough. I had killed before, and he hadn’t. He hesitated, and that was that.” As the Caterer packs up the woman shakes their hand and compliments them “Then the butler handed me a thick brown envelope. It was full of cash and a note written in elegant cursive with just one word:  “Run”.” They ran and say that they cannot stay anywhere for long, they can’t stop moving. “I keep hearing dogs barking and I don't know if it's just some pet or… I thought about handing myself in to the police, but that just feels like trapping myself in a dead end.”

The Caterer explains that they resolve to leave the country but as they explain their plan-

The car window shatters inwards from a sudden loud gunshot. The CATERER is wetly silenced. 

Someone approaches, reloading an enormous rifle with growling dogs in tow. 

They stop then yank open the car door. 

LADY MOWBRAY 

“Well run dearie. Well run…” 

The line goes dead.

If we view this through the lens of Smirke’s 14 (plus the Extinction) the most obvious Entity here would be The Hunt. This case shares many similarities with plenty of The Hunt’s manifestations in TMA. For example, being hunted by colleagues or people you know in a death game type set up (such as in MAG 112 (Thrill of the Chase) with the Murder Club and the domain Trevor was stuck in with all the metaphorical witch hunts and people constantly turning on each other. Mowbray’s dogs are probably some sort of hunting dog and the Caterer is being chased / hunted by Mowbray herself like an animal on top of hearing the barking of dogs. Daisy from TMA has also been compared to a sort of metaphorical dog. Which makes sense if you consider the overlap between police and hunting dogs meant to pursue targets. Plus, in MAG 31 (First Hunt) we get “As I looked at him, the strangest thing popped into my head. Have you ever read The Duchess of Malfi? I had to study it for my O-Levels, many years ago. Dreadful play, as I remember, the worst sort of old revenge tragedy, all incest and murder and madness. But there’s a line that stays with me, a doctor diagnosing the Duchess’ brother with lycanthropy. As I recall it goes, “Once met the duke, ‘bout midnight in a lane behind St. Mark’s church, with the leg of a man upon his shoulder. Said he was a wolf. Only difference was, a wolf’s skin is hairy on the outside, his on the inside”. Looking at this thing that wanted to kill me, it’s the only way it’s the only description that feels right.” and Jon refers to the strange hunter in the statement as a “wolfman.” So The Hunt is not stranger to canines and it tends to lean towards more animalistic imagery.

The case also has some themes that parallel The Slaughter (with the violence and military background), The Web (the Caterer feeling physically unable to disobey Mowbray’s command. Although, this could just be due to the fear and massive guns), The Eye (with the fear of being found or someone knowing where you are), The Dark (with the hunt taking place at night and one of the caterers tripping over a hole in the darkness), The Flesh (with all the food imagery and the caterers are in the place of a game animal (which is meant to be caught and cooked)), and The End (with the fear of being killed).

Some people might wonder why I usually bother going through some of the other possible Entities or parallels like this (especially since if we are to assume Smirke’s 14 is still at all applicable this is the most Hunt hunts to ever Hunt. For one, it’s supposed to be a reminder that the Entities aren’t completely distinct and exist on a vague spectrum at best. All the Entities constantly bleed and overlap each other so trying to perfectly and neatly box them tends to be unhelpful and it’s very rare that only one emotional fear is present. I also do this to help try to keep my mind open. Like I said, Entities bleed into each other all the time and this can sometimes make it hard to pick apart (if at all). Sometimes I get so pigeonholed into the possibility of a single specific Entity I kind of lose sight of other possibilities or Entities. For example, while I think this case screams the Hunt there is a very good argument for something like The Slaughter here. Assuming Smirke’s 14 are even still relevant anyway.

As the line dies Celia is clearly disturbed and we hear Lady Mowbray herself say “Fascinating.” Yeah, she’s in the office now with her dogs and it was very trippy listening to this for the first time. Celia is startled by her appearance. Once again, I have to wonder if Mowbray was quiet or if the cases sort of draw people in. In TMA the statements could have strange effects, for example some characters would find it difficult to stop reading statements once they started and may sort of space out. The statements are also noted as being stressful or taxing for some people to read / listen to. However, this could also just as easily be because Celia was listening to a horrifying first hand account.

CELIA jumps up with a cry and turns to find Lady Mowbray and her dogs 

standing right behind her. The dogs growl threateningly. 

LADY MOWBRAY CONT. 

“Sit.”

CELIA 

“Excuse me?” 

LADY MOWBRAY 

“I was talking to the boys.”

The dogs sit. They are not fur babies, they are what turns up when 

someone says “release the hounds”. (Yes this is actually in the official transcripts you can go check)

The transcripts also say “MOWBRAY sniffs her as though she were a particularly odd vintage.” and it describes Mowbray as stalking while she asks Celia for her name. So Mowbray is acting like a dog or animal sizing up some prey and comparing Celia to a vintage suggests that Mowbray sees her in the same way one might see a fine wine. Something to be savored and consumed. I think it’s interesting that Celia actually refuses to give Mowbray her name by simply saying “I didn’t.” upon being asked “What did you say your name was dear?” This isn’t the first time names have seemed important. In episode 10 (Saturday Night), as Gwen delivers the letter to Mr. Bonzo, Nigel says “Mr Bonzo meet… I didn’t actually get your name. Probably for the best.” and “The name, the address – tell him where to go.” This implies that names might have some sort of importance when it comes to how Externals find or pick their targets. The OIAR is also connected to the government so it may also have to do with the government being able to pull up a file or something using someone’s name.

Celia is definitely holding it together pretty well and Mowbray remarks on her high levels of bravery. As I went over in episode 7 “Give and Take” (TMP Quick Thoughts 7) Celia is heavily implied to have some connection to the TMA universe and know a suspicious amount about the Entities. She even shares the name of a character that shows up in TMA, specifically a member of Melanie and Georgie’s cult. With this in mind, Mowbray’s commentary on Celia’s bravery is interesting. Firstly, Mowbray’s dogs get aggressive when Celia was startled by Mowbray. It could be that they are just getting excited but if Mowbray and / or her dogs are some sort of Avatar or connected to a Power it could be that both her and her dogs are reacting to, and looking for, fear. Since Celia knows this she could be hiding or dampening her fear as a form of protection. The more fear someone has or shows the more tempting they are for the Entities to torment. Lena even says “But he didn’t, which means you’ve passed the first part of your probation. Congratulations. Did you scream?” and “You should. It really helps one cope with the more affronting aspects of the job. And they usually like it.” 

Not showing fear isn’t guaranteed to keep you safe but in TMA a character named Fiona Law managed to survive many encounters due to her propensity to pass out. As detailed in MAG 167 (Curiosity): “Of course, retreat is not always possible in such a line of business, and when that proved to be the case, there was a single trait which Fiona possessed that saw her surviving encounters which had killed far braver souls than her: Because when she was pushed to the very limits of her terror, Fiona Law would faint. And while there are those things in the dark that would kill you as you slept, most get no real delight from it, unless you are awake enough to know what is happening. And so, through cowardice and unconsciousness, Fiona had survived an entire generation of Archivist. And even stranger, when Angus Stacey died and she had the chance to walk away, she decided to remain.” So while a lack of fear isn’t guaranteed to protect you it does help. Also, both names and outward displays of fear seem important in Protocol.

Gwen comes in to collect Mowbray and as she leaves she tells Celia “Catch you next time, dearie.” to which Celia says “No, you won’t.” Celia probably knows that Mowbray may be being a bit more literal when she promises to catch someone later. Gwen offers her refreshments but Mowbray declines, explaining that she ate recently. There’s kind of an implication that Mowbray ate one or more of the caterers, and probably the one that was giving this episode’s case. Mowbray also says “That’s me yes. I presume you’re Gwendolyn Bouchard?” when Gwen asks for her. It could simply be that Mowbray was told who Gwen was beforehand but I wonder if the other Externals have been told about Gwen, especially since, based on the comment I brought up from Lena earlier, they seem to enjoy scaring people like the Externals Liaisons.

Mowbray also asks “Bouchard… You wouldn’t be of the Cheshire Bouchard’s would you?” but the scene ends before we hear Gwen’s full response. Considering the implication from Lena that Gwen’s family has a ton of money (so much so that Gwen blackmailing her for money seems silly) and Mowbray is clearly very rich I wonder if Mowbray has had an encounter or connection with the Bouchard family. As for who Cheshire is, I have no idea. I wouldn’t be surprised if they turn out to be yet another person in TMA with too much money and time on their hands though.

As the scene closes the transcripts say “CELIA exhales shakily before turning back to the computer.” implying that she was suppressing her fear or at least not showing them. Mowbray said “interesting” when Celia finished listening to the case and I have to wonder what Mowbray was referring to. Was she referring to the computer itself, the information in the case she’s in, or even Celia herself? Additionally, she’s probably one of the OIAR’s externals. In the case she’s wielding a large gun that’s described as “this huge custom rifle over her shoulder, like an antique elephant gun or something. There was no way it was UK legal, the thing looked like it could take out a jeep, never mind a stag!” It’s possible she just owns this gun illegally but I wonder if the OIAR or some other faction supplied her with the gun. 

I also have to wonder how many of the externals get their victims assigned to them by the OIAR and if so how many? Is it all of their victims or just some of them? The possibility of a target being in this episode is interesting since Bonzo’s target also seemed like they were wealthy or had a decent amount of money at the expensive club in episode 12 (Getting Off). Wealth and money seem like another noticeable theme in Protocol so far.

We cut to Alice at the performance of “Penny for the Well” as it comes to a close. She talks with Luke and it turns out that while Luke’s music was supposed to be a chill side gig it’s been really picking up. Luke also says “You joke but the managers already added seven more cities to the Dredgerman tour.” Alice also mentions Glastonbury and a quick google search tells me that it’s just a really big festival with all kinds of stuff (like music performances). So when Alices says “Hello? Yes? Is that Glastonbury? Why yes, we DO have a minute…” she is joking about Luke being invited to a massive event. Luke asks about Sam and Alice says he couldn’t make it. Luke says “Shame he couldn’t make it tonight” and Luke and Alice continue to hang out and drink. I think it’s interesting that Luke and Sam seem to have a possible friendship or acquaintance.

We then cut to a tape recorder again and get “A tape recorder CLICKS, distantly a body shuffles in an alley off the main road.” The body is of some sort of victim talking and muttering. They keep talking about things like how they are trying to breathe and how they are being dragged below the line of sea and sky. So it sounds like they are talking about drowning and they are also having trouble breathing as they gasp for air. Alice is heading home, and the transcripts state that she is still buzzing from the show (she’s slightly intoxicated). Alice runs into this seemingly drowning woman and the victim grabs her in some sort of panic or desperation leading to a small altercation as Alice throws the victim off. Alice begins to panic and call 999 for an ambulance as the victim appears to choke and gasp for air.

As Alice explains the situation she mentions “Yeah there’s someone I don’t know if they’ve OD’d but they’re going into a fit or something.” The victim then seemingly dies, or at least stops breathing, but the transcripts clarify that she dies from an impossible amount of water coming out of her lungs, and Alice starts performing CPR. As she panics the transcripts say “She sees the tape recorder next to the body and picks it up.” This implies that the tape recorder was on the strange drowning woman and it could be an Entity such as The Web trying to get the tape recorder where it needs to go or even give it to Alice. It could even have to do with the ERROR that escaped the Institute’s ruins in episode 10 (Saturday Night) since that situation was also being recorded via tape recorder. Maybe ERROR even saw it and picked it up at some point. However, as “The victim starts to speak again, quietly, bubbling up through the water and out of dead lips.” Alice panics, drops the tape recorder, and flees the scene, leaving what the transcripts describe as a dead woman behind as the deceased person’s voice trails off and the episode ends.

It’s kind of hard to understand what the victim is saying the entire time so here’s the transcripts of the entire speech awkwardly stitched together: “- the second time is up I try to grasp the air and fill my lungs that burn and rattle full. I can’t, there’s so much air but none inside as I go down again the cold surrounds and drags me down, the blue the black the weight of all the sodden fates awaiting me below the line of sea and sky. I kick, I lunge I flail towards the brightened blue and break above the third and final time. I know I'm spent there is no more within me save the salt spun death that reaches down my throat and spasms in my chest that cannot breathe inside me i'm done the water is... is... dark Deeper… Deeper… Down among the dead and swollen flesh so pale within this lightless place where eyes are open cloudy white and all the water pushes down upon a lifeless form that sinks and sinks down to the bottom that is not there no sandy grave below the swell no rest among the coral and the depths I feared so much but reached up and over land to claim me still.”

The force this victim is talking about is probably the same force that Gordon was talking about in episode 11 (Marked). I’ll refer to this Entity as “The Deep” like many other fans for now. In Episode 11 Gordon says, among other things, “I saw them hanging around the office when I was waiting. Waiting so long just to see it, just to know what’s in the water. And they took it. They think they’re smart, but I saw them I know where they’re staying and if they think they deserve it they’re wrong. It belongs to the deep. I’m going to go get it and I’m going to find it and if they try and stop me I swear the ocean will claim us all. I can taste the salt and spray. It’s waiting in the water.” So there’s a lot of the same imagery here, plus the earlier mentioned parallels with Dredgerman’s name.

Some people are arguing that The Deep is a completely new Entity of some sort but I would argue that what we have seen of The Deep fits in line pretty comfortably with The Buried. The Buried also has a strong association with water in the form of deep water, drowning, and suffocation (which seems to be happening to this woman). Gordon angrily says that the body Ink5 obtains belongs to the deep (which sounds similar to The Buried’s connection to burying bodies or making sure they aren’t dug up). In fact, some of The Buried’s many other names is “Choke”, “Too Close I Cannot Breathe” and “Forever Deep Below.” Forever Deep Below is especially an interesting name since the woman mutters “...the blue the black the weight of all the sodden fates awaiting me below the line of sea and sky…” So something deep below the horizon of the sea and sky. All the names I mentioned fit pretty well with what the woman seems to be affected by, she is literally choking and struggling to breathe as water fills her lungs. Even something like “The Deep” sounds like it could be right at home as one of The Buried’s names. The Buried ultimately revolves around the fear of not having enough space, whether that be from literally being stuck in a small space, metaphorically lacking wiggleroom, or not having enough space in something like your lungs to breathe. So being trapped deep underwater or underground first with The Buried as a motif. It’s also important to remember that the Entities are no stranger to having multiple names or titles. For example, there is The Eye and The Beholding but these both refer to the same Entity. I would actually be a little surprised if all the characters referred to the Entities with the exact same set of names even if Smirke’s 14 does end up being still in use by the OIAR or other people.

Some people might argue The Vast because it also has an association with the deep ocean, and Simon even tries to use this association for a ritual, but it’s important to remember that Entities can overlap in both fear and manifestation and it’s not always what they manifest as but why. When The Vast manifests as the ocean or bodies of water it usually does so to capture the fear in regards to the immense size of such bodies but when The Buried does this it usually has to do with suffocation and drowning (like what we see now). Obviously, these can overlap since something large can easily smother or crush you but hopefully you get my point, and remember even often opposing Entities are connected and bleed into each other.

Conclusion

Previously I hoped that the next external Gwen got to see would be someone who can talk and give some actual questions / answers and it looks like I could be getting my wish depending on how this goes. Although, whether Mowbray is an external is still technically up in the air and maybe she’s just been brought on but I think it’s safe to assume that her being an external is likely. I wonder if she knows anything if at all.

I’m also beginning to wonder if ERROR is somehow connected to the tapes and what it’s plan / goal is. Alice expressed fear of travelling alone previously ever since leaving the Institute’s ruins but despite seemingly being alone before and after running into the woman there is no sign of ERROR appearing to attack or anything.

If you want the categorization of the case the transcripts list it with- 

CAT1RB-6451-22062023-22032024 

Hunt (aristocratic) -/- compulsion 

Incident Elements: 

- Graphic Violence/Murder 

- Futility 

- Being Hunted 

- Classism 

- Dehumanisation 

- Hostile work environment 

- drowning 

- Mentions of: blades, guns, military service 

- SFX: Gunfire, loud music, suffocation

Archive for my other thoughts: TMP Quick Thoughts Archive

[daz4i]

while ratio being Just Some Guy is most likely the case and fits him narratively, i do love the hc/theory that he's not quite human (either smth supernatural or just a different humanoid species. tho i obviously enjoy the first one more)

1. there's smth abt a character constantly reminding you, the viewer, that they are one thing only to be revealed as the opposite. so like him constantly reminding you that he's just a regular mundane human with nothing special about him can come off as sus

1a. i will say tho. playing it straight and not revealing anything ever beyond showing that he's just an extremely weird and eccentric human is funny

1b. that being said!!! my favorite take on that is that he's not human but wants to be one so bad bc he loves humanity. bc that's so cute and another trope i love. that's why i don't like theories abt him *becoming* not human bc it seems even more antithetical to who he is as a character

2. it'll explain some weird little details abt him that don't quite make sense for a normal human. bc like. i get that he's very smart but on a practical level, achieving the things he has should be impossible in what is likely a short time frame

2a. most recent example i can think of is him sending tb a file that takes "just one amber era" to read, which, from what i gathered, is about couple of years. so he compiled all this information while also working on the divergent universe while on a mission in penacony. and if these first 2 things took him a few years then he did them while developing weapons and curing space cancer and writing whatever he did to get him his phds (so like, a few book-length theses probably) which was probably already a few years ago by the time we meet him, and he's supposedly very young for someone with his achievements so probably in his early 30s at most. idk how to find this post rn but someone calculated that he has either been teaching for 10 or more years by now (which. let me remind you. he started *after* getting his 8th phd) or that he taught like. an insane amount of courses every year to reach the number he did. supposedly while also working for the guild + developing all these aforementioned things + doing his own research like what he's been doing on the space station. does he ever sleep. how is he in such a good shape and able to preach about health when it's like physically impossible to do all that within such a short timespan. even if you've got a genius brain like that's just too much going on at once

2b. sorry that last point was so long. this one is shorter bc it's abt smaller examples, like him disappearing abnormally fast while talking with aventurine, or this little fourth wall break of him referring to himself as a supporting character. floating on some invisible chair might be an imaginary powers thingie so i'll let that slide but he's on thin ice

2c. all the little implications that he's old. like OLD old. his recommendation letter being described as yellowed paper. that one occurrence in gold and gears that mentions him, despite occuring around 2000 years ago

3. why do his eyes glow. why are his pupils cat-like. i get that it's for aesthetic reasons probably but it's still goddamn weird especially the pupils bc iirc there is at least SOME explanation for why other hsr characters have weird eyes, but nothing about him.

(i totally used this numbering format wrong huh. forgive me it is 2 am i'm typing this bc i couldn't sleep. btw while i'm at it lemme apologize for all the grammar errors and missing words and such that are all totally there only bc of how tired i am and no other reason whatsoever)

there are, however, contradictions to the theory of course

as already mentioned, it kinda goes against his Point as a character in the story. like he SHOULD be normal that's why he's the foil for the geniuses

speaking of. if he is something beyond human, why seek the recognition of nous? if he's some powerful and possibly immortal being, why would that matter for him enough to try?

there's probably more i'm forgetting now but lbr it's mostly that first point lol.

ok so establishing all that. what even IS he?

option 1: immortal, over 2000 years old

boring. i don't like it. but i gotta acknowledge it bc as things stand it's probably the most likely one...? (other than him being Just Some Guy lol)

so there's everything i mentioned abt his achievements not making any sense in the timeframe he was likely alive, as well as the intelligentsia guild occurrence that mentions him

i don't like it bc it kind of implies that his main achievements were coined thousands of years ago. iirc he was invited to the guild *after* he achieved those. so did he only teach 50ish classes and didn't get any more phds over the span of 2000 years?? (it's possible we just don't have that information but. given how abnormally exceptional he is. why leave his other work out? he already doesn't seem humanly possible so. what's the harm in going further? will add a comedic effect to it too at some point)

also it's basic. boo

option 2: aha emanator

worm theory go brrr (i can't embed the link on mobile unfortunately but i can dm it or leave it in the replies if anyone needs it 🫡)

worm stuff aside tho. the fourth wall break and things just generally being Weird and so damn silly about him. his bust can count as a mask. aha having an owl symbol on the same side as the shoulder he has his owl symbol on. his eyes having aha's color scheme. we don't know quite what powers aha gives their followers afaik, but like the disappearing quickly thing is smth sampo does too, for example, and we know that he's a follower of aha. so who's to say all the other weird things about him are aha's work too?

there's the question on if he is like, an unwilling emanator that aha forced powers onto, or that possibly he is like zhongshan and just pulling an insane bluff

(given that the only times we see him sow chaos it is for a very clear purpose that has nothing to do with joy, i lean more towards the first)

also he embodies elation for me bc every time i see him i'm elated. is this anything

option 3: literally anything else man idk the hsr universe is so big every 2 patches we get a whole new faction or planet mentioned so who knows what else can be out there

possibly making him just go. very fast. he has lived [insert normal amount of years] but experienced much more in them than a normal human would

possibly having some powers like. fuck idk man. freezing time?

possibly able to split himself into multiple beings? (would certainly add a layer to his statues and especially the way they were presented in his trailer)

option 4: stealing that one straight from my fav fic actually (once again can't embed a link but it's "what do you want" by The_smallest_chibi on ao3!) but also altering it a little. something happened that caused him to *lose* his humanity, but he is trying to cling back to it. so he's possibly only slightly older than he seems but like this allows him to do things normal humans can't or go through life without needing things that normal people might, like food sleep etc.

i don't think it's very likely for the actual game i just wanted to tell you to go read this fic it's really good 👍

this is all i have for you now. i might repost (and this time tag) this later in a more organized and hopefully less rambling way with all necessary links and screenshots maybe. but don't count on that too much :P

[perfecttenth]

If you were to count the choushin chapters and the current time choujin chapters as one single story arc, then every arc in the Revival up until now has had a main antagonist designed to create intrigue by resembling a prior villain that's been established to be permanently dead. It's starting to feel repetitive, but man does it work every time.

Strong the Budo wore the same costume as Big the Budo and took on a similar name in order to hide his true identity. As Leviathan explained, the kendo suit is known as the "Armor of Resolve" and is traditionally worn by choujin gods when they've fully settled on a decision, as a literal display of their resolve.

Omegaman Aristera is the left hand counterpart to The Omegaman, renamed Dexia. Not only is he Dexia's older twin brother, he's also the head of the Omega Clan, whose male members all wear identical hockey masks just with differently shaped holes.

And now the leader of the Five Great Times, Fanatic, resembles Psychoman. There isn't enough known about him to really guess why he looks like that, but some theories I've seen floating around are:

1. The GoT somehow revived Psychoman and brainwashed him 2. Fanatic is a clone or copy 3. They're both part of a Psycho Clan 4. Fanatic is Psychoman's true identity and he traveled back in time to become one of the Origins

Something else that had been pointed out is that in the first two cases they had ties to whose design they were recycled from, with Big the Budo having served as a Perfect Large Number and Dexia being Aristera's brother.

The Psycho Clan theory can probably be ruled out. The Origin were confined to the Choujin Graveyard, so outside of Goldman and Silverman it'd be unlikely that any of them have a lineage. If Psychoman had been part of the first batch of choujin created by the gods and also happened to have a twin brother or something, he would have either had to have been wiped out by the capillaria rays or become part of the omega choujin.

The true identity theory could make sense given his identical mannerisms, intelligence and eagerness to research Magnet Power. I don't think anyone could keep an act like that up for hundreds of millions of years though, and his reactions during the Yggdrasil matches felt pretty genuine.

He could have been revived and brainwashed under weird time travel circumstances. Assuming the GoT's time traveling abilities are greater than those of regular time choujin that allow him to move through time freely, he could've potentially gone back in either this timeline or in another one to then drag Psychoman to the future of the Five Times, for the safety of having someone who fully understands Magnet Power on their team. Maybe that Origin dumbbell dial that was supposed to erase him from existence ended up warping him into the future instead due to a configuration error. I hope not, but it's not like we've ever seen them test that thing.

To me, the most plausible theory is that he's a clone/copy or was created to resemble him. The GoT's shtick is that he can create choujin from nothing through that "forbidden method" he's using. , Either Fanatic copied Psychoman's appearance out of his own volition, or the GoT genetically engineered him to be a carbon copy of Psychoman, which is the most likely scenario with how strategic the GoT is. He said that he's heard the name "Psychoman" before and shrugged off any ties to him, but with how little we've seen of Fanatic, we can't tell just yet if he's feigning ignorance or not.

Another thing that people have brought up is that his clothes look similar to those of Satan, but I think that's just a result of being one of Yudetamago's refined designs who nowadays tend to look weirdly ornamental. Like Aristera's dad wears the exact same belt that The Man has when they should have no relation, and Satan's armor overall looks similar to some of the early designs for Silverman.

At this point I'm fully expecting the God of Time to just be the Five Disasters fused together.

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

[JP] Galileo Galilei: Destiny in Motion

This post contains a detailed spoiler.

Not 100% accurate. I didn't proofread this one, so there may be grammatical errors.

Translation under the cut.

(Mitsuki's POV)

Fate moves just as time follows the present.

Like me and someone else I have yet to see.

My blurred vision gradually became clear.

(Huh? Where am I?)

I suddenly found myself standing in a dark hallway.

(This is the hallway I passed through when I time slipped from Louvre. How did I end up in this place?)

I probably fell asleep.

I was looking around, thinking that I might be dreaming when一

???: "Come. Come here. Take my hand."

(Who is it?)

A husky voice I'd never heard before reached my ears.

Strangely lured by it, I walked forward and saw a bleak-looking prison cell.

???: "Why did this happen?"

(There's someone inside the prison cell.)

???: "Why do you only believe what others tell you and not check it out yourself? Why don't you try to see it with your own eyes?"

???: "Why do people refuse to face the truth?"

He said it in a quiet voice, but it sounded as if he was trying to squeeze out some unwanted emotion.

Then the sound of footsteps approached, and a dignified old priest-like man arrived.

Priest: "A heretical scholar who denies God's teachings一wait, no, a filthy heretical monster."

???: "Don't tell me that's why I'm一"

Priest: "There should be no such thing as a sinful monster. May you burn in the fires of God."

The old man glanced one last time at the speechless man and left.

???: "I hate them. I hate all of them."

???: "It's all because of this blood."

???: "Ah, but this is how hatred is created and how this world gets distorted."

(What am I seeing?)

I don't know if it's just a dream or if it really happened, but一

(I can feel this person's emotions so painfully.)

A heart-wrenching lamentation, and yet his wistful eyes were as beautiful as purple crystals.

Mitsuki: "-----!"

I opened my eyes and saw the familiar canopy of my bed.

I looked outside the window to see that it was morning and knew I was just dreaming.

(That was a weird dream. I followed the voice and ended up in a place I didn't know.)

(Someone was angry一no, someone was sad.)

I tried to remember, but the memory of the dream faded away.

That evening一

I came to the city's university to deliver a Blanc to Isaac, who has recently been working late.

(I don't come here often, so it's refreshing. It reminds me of my school days.)

I felt nostalgic despite being in a different country and time.

I decided to walk around the school building, when suddenly...

(Hm? What's that?)

Something caught my eye, so I entered the classroom.

On a table positioned near an open window, an old-fashioned telescope stood on a pedestal, pointing up at the sky.

(Did someone use it in a lecture? Maybe I should tell Isaac if they forgot to put it away.)

Even as I thought about this, I couldn't help but become curious.

(Sorry, but only for just a little bit.)

As I looked into the lens, the moon appeared in front of me, floating faintly in the evening sky.

Mitsuki: "Wow, cool."

???: "What are you doing here?"

Mitsuki: "I-I'm sorry!"

I looked up in a panic, hearing a sharp voice.

(Eyes like purple crystals...)

I was drawn into his beautiful eyes as our gazes met, and at the same time, I felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

(I think I've seen his eyes somewhere.)

Man with purple eyes: "You don't look like a student."

Mitsuki: "Oh, I'm sorry! I was visiting the university on an errand, but I saw this and got curio一"

Man with purple eyes: "You're in the way. If you’re an outsider, leave."

He cut off my words sharply.

(Right, I shouldn't have entered the classroom without permission.)

Feeling sorry, I bowed my head and stepped toward the classroom door, but the sensation I had felt earlier bothered me, so I looked back at the man.

(Why do his eyes look so familiar?)

At that moment, a shooting star appeared in the sky.

Mitsuki: "A shooting star!"

Man with purple eyes: "-----!"

The man's eyes widened slightly, hearing my sudden outburst, and he looked up at the sky through the window.

Mitsuki: "Oh, there's that cloud over there again."

As I approached the window, the man also turned his gaze in the direction I pointed.

We both looked up and watched the sky. Then, I heard mumbling from next to me.

Man with purple eyes: "Beautiful. Even in this day and age, I still find myself looking up at the stars."

("This day and age?")

I looked at him, suddenly curious about his words.

(Huh?)

His mood and facial expression softened slightly as his eyes, searching for stars, gazed intently at the sky.

(I wonder if he likes the stars.)

But when he noticed my gaze, he became cold again.

Man with purple eyes: "You still need something?"

Mitsuki: "N-No."

(I know, I was being rude by staring at his face.)

Even as I thought this, my chest thumped, and my cheeks grew hot.

Mitsuki: "Um, were you waiting for the shooting star?"

Man with purple eyes: "Yeah."

Man with purple eyes: "If my observations are correct, I can see a meteor shower this time of the year."

Man with purple eyes: "I was going to wait and watch the moon, but I'm lucky to see it at dusk."

The man answered my question as he gazed toward the sky again.

Though, it was more like a monologue than a conversation.

Mitsuki: "I haven't seen a shooting star in a long time, not since the meteor shower in 20XX."

Man with purple eyes: "20XX?"

Mitsuki: "Oops, I misspoke."

Man with purple eyes: ".............."

When our eyes met, that strange feeling came back again.

(I think I know this person after all. His voice also sounds familiar.)

Mitsuki: "Um, have we met somewhere before?"

I asked boldly, and the man raised his eyebrow.

Man with purple eyes: "No. If you want someone to talk to, find someone else."

Mitsuki: "That's not what I meant. I just had a feeling."

(Good job on saying such stupid things, Mitsuki.)

I looked down, feeling embarrassed, as the man let out a sigh.

Man with purple eyes: "I'm not denying your statement without any basis."

Man with purple eyes: "I'm an astronomer. I'm temporarily working at this university while I'm traveling."

Man with purple eyes: "I've only arrived recently in this city, so I’ve never met you before."

He explained his story like he was proving a theory.

(Then I guess we can't have met.)

Mitsuki: "Have you traveled that long already?"

Man with purple eyes: "Yeah."

Man with purple eyes: "It's a long journey, like the stars in the sky."

Despite his words, the man lowered his gaze slightly, and his eyes, which previously reflected the sky, faded behind his delicate eyelashes.

(His eyes have a faraway look in them.)

His wistful eyes were as if they were on a never-ending journey.

(Huh?)

The image of the distressed man in the dark prison cell passed through my mind for a moment.

(Was that the dream I had last night?)

(But why did I suddenly remember it?)

I felt confused by the scene that suddenly came back to me.

I was speechless, and before I knew it, the man was staring at me.

Man with purple eyes: "............"

Mitsuki: "U-Um..."

Man with purple eyes: "What's that sweet smell you have?"

He took a step closer to me, his purple eyes captivating me so much that I almost forgot how to breathe.

*Bell chimes*

Man with purple eyes: "-----!"

The sound of the college bell rang out, and we took a small gasp.

Man with purple eyes: "It's late. You should go home."

Mitsuki: "Okay. I'm sorry for bothering you. Excuse me."

I hurriedly back away from him and turn on my heel.

(For a moment, I thought he was going to bite me.)

I have no idea why I felt that way.

I don't understand the strange déjà vu, the dream, or this pounding in my chest.

(But一)

Before leaving the classroom, I turned around one last time.

Mitsuki: "Um, my name is Mitsuki. What's yours?"

Man with purple eyes: "............"

(I don't really know why, but I want to know about this person.)

Holding only this thought, I stared straight into his clear purple eyes.

For the first time, he showed me a look of hesitation.

Man with purple eyes: "Galileo."

Mitsuki: "Eh?"

Galileo: "The same name as the astronomer condemned for seeking the truth."

His wistful eyes looked like the eyes I had seen in my dream, or so I thought.

After Mitsuki left the classroom, Galileo muttered to himself.

Galileo: "Why did I foolishly and honestly give my name when I could've used a false name?"

However, there could be no "Galileo Galilei" here in 19th-century Paris.

He reconsidered the fact that he just happened to have the same name as Galileo Galilei and thought that the girl would think so, too.

Then he remembered Mitsuki's eyes on him.

Galileo: "Those eyes look like they are earnestly seeking the truth."

Unable to resist her unexpected sincerity, he uttered his true name.

At the same time, it was also true that he felt an inexpressible urge to smell Mitsuki's scent, even if it was only a little.

Galileo: "She was a strange girl, the things she said and did, and that scent. If we ever meet again一No, let's not. As long as I continue this journey, I will never see her again."

That's right, as long as the divided destinies do not intersect again.

Muttering this to himself, Galileo put the lid on the telescope lens.

(Mitsuki's POV)

I was lost in a dream again tonight.

------------Flashback------------

???: "Come. Come and take my hand."

---------Flashback Ends---------

(Is that voice really Galileo?)

The sad man I saw in my dream, the cold man I met in reality, and now the voice inviting me一

(What kind of person are you really?)

As time chases the present like the stars in the sky, my destiny and his begin to intertwine.

-> Francis Drake's Story

[aeferkssr]

Funky Little Self-Insert Voicelines

aether x reader // can be read as both romantic and platonic (i think) // isekai! reader // reader gender not specified // not proofread so sorry for any spelling errors

a/n: im actually not sure if anyone thought of this idea yet, maybe with the traveler talking about the reader but not the reader in his voicelines if ykwim.

part 2 Liyue ver!

part 3 inazuma ver!

Mondstadt!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Windmills

after going into the domain with lisa, you aether and paimon decide to walk around and explore mondstadt. whilst walking though the land of freedom paimon notices something…

Paimon: Mondstadt has so many windmills, doesnt it?

Aether: Well, the city is built above water, so it probably relies on the windmills to draw the water upwards.

Paimon: That’s correct! The winds blow through Mondstadt all year, so this supply of water is very stable. Also, the windmills are what they called the “visible winds” — and windchimes are called the “audible winds.”

You: I think my grandma had some windchimes on her door, and when it was really windy you can hear them from next door! That explains why everytime i hear windchimes i can’t help but think about her

Paimon: Paimon guesses they can be thought of as mascots and prayers to the Anemo Archon for protection

You: Mascots huh…

Aether: Ah, mascots. So, like you then, Paimon?

Paimon: No! Not at all! They’re made of wood, and y out can’t eat them in an emergency either, ‘cause all you’ll do is grind your teeth down!

Aether: Uhh…

you and aether look at eachother, wondering what to reply with:

Aether: …I don’t know what to say to that.

About the Library’s Restricted Section

since you and aether were no native Teyvatian speakers, paimon had the honour of teacher the two outlanders the language. taking the pair to the library to get a better feel for the language, aether’s eyes stumbled upon the restricted section…

aether taps your shoulder to gain your attention and points over to where Lisa’s desk is:

Aether: About those books in the “restricted section” that Lisa mentioned… Have you ever wondered what sort of books might be kept in there?

You: I’m not sure… probably spell books? Or even ancient scripts?

Aether: Perhaps…

he quickly scans the room to see if anyone is listening to the small conversation you two are having:

Aether: …It contains books that are not suitable for children?

You: You don’t mean…

paimon, who happened to be listened to your hushed whispers, butted in:

Paimon: Huh? But “The Boar Princess” isn’t in the restricted section! What could be more unsuitable for children than that? …Hmm, Paimon’s curious…

You: Don’t worry Paimon, you’ll learn more when your older

you and aether then started giggling, leaving a very confused and slightly agitated Paimon.

About Alchemy (t.w small mention of insecurities)

After talking with Timaeus and learning the basics of alchemy, you started to feel hungry and asked Aether if we could stop at Good Hunter for lunch. He agreed and after you took your orders, Aether still couldn’t keep his eyes off the small alchemy shop…

Aether: So here in Mondstadt, alchemy is practiced out on the streets?

Paimon: Is that so strange?

Aether: In many of the worlds that i have been to in the past, alchemy has always been a secretive art.

You: I don’t think alchemy existed in my world, but even if it did it would most definitely be frowned upon.

aether nodding at your statement, still not used to this new discovery said with his hands on his head, elbows on the table in front of him:

Aether: Watching alchemy being practiced as a part if daily life is like being in a world where people have three stomachs…

Paimon: Paimon thinks only have one stomach is weird!

aether raises his head and stares dumbfoundedly at their floating companion:

Aether: Uh… Are you serious?

Paimon: What do you think?

aether’s eyes darted towards you, probably looking for reassurance about him having only one stomach

You: Personally, i have two!

aether’s head fell to the desk as you laughed at him and his mono-stomach having body. now that’s an insecurity he never thought he would have.

About the God of Freedom

It was nightime, the same day that you, Aether, Venti, Jean and Diluc saved Dvalin and solved the Stormterror crisis. Your hands were busy making Cream Stew and Chicken-Mushroom Skewers for the group while Paimon stared hungrily over the makeshift stove and Aether was tending ti his own wounds from the Stormterror fight. A confortable silence surrounded the group until Aether decided to speak up about his thoughts on your recent adventure…

Aether: On the way back to Mondstadt after rescuing Dvalin… We finally got to see one of the Seven Archons, didn’t we? It was interesting to see what kind of god he was.

Paimon: Hmm… Haven’t we known Venti for quite a while now?

Aether: As Venti, yes… But still, this was the first time that we got to see him as the Anemo Archon, Barbatos. Normally, he hides behind the facade of a bard

You: Adding onto that… his personality as a bard is wuite a contrast to his archon-y personality. I would imagine him to be a calm and respecting god, with a strong sense of freedom. Quite the opposite from the Venti we know

Aether: “What does freedom really mean, when demanded of you by a god?” That question that he asked Dvalin… i’m still contemplating that, you know?

serving the portions of cream stew into makeshift bowls, handing one over to aether you reply:

You: Well, you can think its over all you like while eating! Come on we haven’t eaten all day and you’re bound to be at least hungry!

Aether chuckled as he took the bowl from your hands looking into the hot stew, not hot enough to burn you but warm enough to warn up your insides. He looks at you and paimon as you gawk at the flying pixie for finishing two bowls of stew in the time it took you to eat half of one.

Sighing, he started to eat his stew and skewers, being thankful for having two wonderful companions with him. <3.

a/n 2: should i continue this with the liyue and inazuma voicelines?? pls answer im gonna cry

[aka-indulgence]

What if robo skider sans needs repairs (like he might get hit by floating space debris)? Does he repair himself or has mc do it?

(just here to say that the screenshotted asks came from last year ._.;;; I saved them because this was a scene I've imagined since I've started brainstorming about Robo-Skider Sans)

"Oh my goodness, what happened to you?" your voice rang as soon as the door opens.

To be frank, Sans isn't entirely sure why you reacted that way. His left front leg got hit by space debris. Or perhaps a small piece of meteorite, he isn't sure. They moved as fast as a bullet and knocked a section of his leg off. It wasn't anything major, those parts didn't even have a tool in it so he didn't lose anything worthwhile. Maybe he "limped" a little, but he still had 7 other legs to walk on.

... Despite that, he still very much felt like he was glowing from the concerned attention you were showing him, as you ran up to him.

"Debris," Sans said. Maybe, if he had a heart, it'd be beating fast from how close you stood.

You stared at the tiny frayed wires that jutted out of his leg 'stump' and you looked like you were about to reach out when you pulled your hands back.

"Uh... is it ok with you if I..?" you pointed to it nervously.

A minor fix, really. Just get one of the replacements and he could fix it easily.

But...

You jolted when you heard the notification on your E-pad, an simple image of S4-N5 appearing on it, with a prompt asking if you were going to fix him.

"Required to shutdown my safety protocols, 55." Sans tries to explain.

That stupid protocol.... he loved it when he could use it to drive any of the humans he disliked away from him, but he could only bend the rules so much to get near you.

Oh how he wished to hold you...

"O-oh, right, thanks!" you stammered, taking the task.

Sans feels his straining against his digital binds relax as soon as you did, as he didn't have to fight them to stay near you.

He led you to his station, even took the leg out for you, and after finding a stool for you to sit on, you promptly got to work. Carefully and delicately, you replaced his old wires with new ones, got rid of what was left of his old leg, cleaning his "wound" in case there were any particles that clung onto it.

Like he knew- a simple task. It couldn't have lasted too long, maybe 15-20 minutes, including walking to his station. It wasn't difficult, it only took as long as it did because doing the step-by-step takes time.

But having you here made it oh so special. You talked to him as you worked, asking if he was alright, though he guesses that you know his answers are going to be neutral. But he was happy you were talking to him, as if he was a friend of yours. Maybe you were just humoring yourself, but you have no idea how much he appreciated it.

He saw the grimace you made when you removed the old leg, and he finds it in himself to ask you a question.

"What's the matter, 55? You appear to be worried."

"Wh-huh?" you stop your hands to look up at him. "O-oh, yeah, I'm just... I just got worried about you, you know?"

...

"pardon?" Sans 'blinks'. "Why are you worried about me, 55? I have already told you, this isn't a major damage, my systems are running as it should. If you would like some reassurance, I could take you to the-"

"No, no, I know that," you sigh, "it's just that. It was your leg... while you were outside. I know that you were specifically built to be able to walk the outer parts of a ship just fine, but... I mean, accidents happen. Like just now, you lost your leg. And I know you've said it's not a major damage, but... it was your leg!!"

When Sans doesn't seem to process the information, you continue.

"You know... it's important to keep you on the ship? If you don't have your legs, you might get knocked off the ship, and you'll be floating away, and we wouldn't know how to get you back, and..." you look away from him, hands off his leg, and you frown.

The thought of him... floating all alone... waiting for his batteries to shutdown, in the emptiness...

"... Is there a problem if I were to float in space?"

"I- yes??" you turn to him as if that was a silly question to ask. "We'd... we'd lose you..."

"You could always order a new unit."

"Y-yeah, but," you seem to struggle in explaining to him, probably assuming his AI couldn't comprehend what you're trying to say to him, "but I like this S4-N5. This... Sans. I like you, and I know maybe I'm just... attached?? But... you're nice to me. You're fun to talk to, as much as the others find it weird..."

You go quiet for a bit, pressing your lips together.

"I don't know. I just, care about you, ok Sans?" you say shortly, going back to his leg, picking up the replacement as you pet him where you can, as if you were trying to soothe him.

... You don't see his 'pupils' widening at you, watching your soft little human hands touch his hard, cold metal leg, the soft look in your eyes, showing... affection. Towards him.

You... you wanted him around.

55... 55...

(y/n)...

"... Sans? Are you ok?"

His internal machinery was whirring up a storm, one of his legs on the other side had started to jitter a little, scraping against the floor, as his system was overloaded with his feelings for you. The feelings that he wanted to let out, feeling like he's about to burst- yet the chains still hold, he can't say a thing.

... What exactly is he feeling?

"It's alright, 55." he says. It's not a system error- even if that's what the system would probably spit out if you tried checking it out.

He's searching his databases.

Human_Emotions?

"Are you sure?" You ask.

"Y-es." his voice 'cracks' slightly.

Positive feelings

Good feelings

Happy feelings

Feel good

(y/n)

Feelings for someone else

"... Ok then." you say, as you finally fasten the leg into place, and Sans feels it connecting to his system, like a human limb waking up from sleep.

"All done!" you tell him, jumping out of your stool and looking at his fixed leg with a proud look on your face.

Sans picks it up, his leg whirring as it bends and unbends, seeing the shiny new metal in contrast to the rest of his body, that looks just a bit duller in comparison.

"Is... is that good?" you ask a bit nervously, knowing he knows what a good fix looks like.

"Affirmative, 55." he 'smiles' at you, as much as he could. His leg had stopped jittering, but it felt like he was still.. rattling.

"Heyy!" you clap your hands together, looking like you wanted to bounce up and down. "That's great! Now don't go losing it again, alright?" you joke half-heartedly, your smile slightly skewed.

"Thank you, 55." the task on your E-pad turned green as he confirmed he was fixed.

He couldn't talk with you much afterwards- you had to go back to your quarters since the night cycle was starting, and he didn't want you to lose your rhythm. You wave as you walk away, away from his station, through the sealing doors...

...

search result:

feel deep affection for (someone)

an intense feeling of deep affection

a strong feeling of attraction for someone

love.

[justkending]

Is that seriously your password? (Birthday One-shots)

Prompt: Is that seriously your password?

Challenge: justkending Birthday drabbles and one-shots

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 2100+

A/N: This was asked for a by anon, so thank you to whoever you may be! I thought this was cute little one-shot once it came to me! Also, coming up with the password took me a seconds, but then I heard Sebastian's voice in my head and well... Here we are;)

“Hey FRIDAY? Who all from the team is in the compound?” Y/N shouted from Tony’s lab where she was working on a new piece of equipment for her uniform. 

“Everyone is out either on a mission or off the compound premises for personal business,” the AI responded. “However, Sergeant Barnes is in the living room reading.” 

“He works. Can you ask him to come down here?” she continued, never breaking from her computer screen she was typing away on in front of her.

“Of course,” FRIDAY responded before going quiet for a minute and speaking back up. “He seemed rather confused by the request, but he’s on his way.”

“Always paranoid that one,” Y/N mumbled before shouting a thank you and going back to typing a storm. 

A few minutes later, Bucky cautiously peaked through the glass doors to the lab and saw Y/N completely entranced in whatever she was working on in front of her. She was typing and scanning the screen quickly and then immediately turning to a notebook beside her to write whatever it was down. 

“Why are you calling me down here out of all people?” he said almost concerned. 

“Because everyone else is either fighting bad guys or off away from the compound doing their own thing,” she responded, finally breaking away from her computer screen upon hearing his voice. 

“Oh,” he nodded before looking around and hesitantly coming in more. 

He didn’t care to come down to Stark’s personal man cave much. Tony still threw sarcastic insults and passive jokes at him every once in a while even though they had made up and moved on. But it was Tony. He was kinda that way with everyone. Either way, they only really crossed paths if they absolutely needed too. 

“Here, come here for a second,” she waved him over, pushing back her chair as she stood up and stretched some. 

Bucky listened even though his face showed he was confused and hesitant about it all. It wasn’t Y/N either. They were actually good friends after all the missions and team dinner and movie nights of getting to know each other. They shared a lot in common. She was an old soul for a pretty young member of the crew and Bucky admired that. Because of her mannerisms and interest, they got a long rather quick. It made it easy for them to instantly click. 

“What are you doing?” he asked when he saw her raise her hands and projections of pieces of her suit for missions popped up in pieces in the air with what looked like notes and statistics floating around them. The blueprints for it all lit up in front of them without a screen to stay on. He may never get used to the advancement of technology because anytime he saw something new, something crazier would pop up soon after.

“I came up with some new little tricks for my suit. It’s not not a bad outfit, but there’s always something new that can be better and improved,” she shrugged, moving the pieces around in the air with her fingers. 

Oh yeah, and next to Tony and Banner, the woman could maneuver through almost any form of technology as if it was as easy as learning how to count to 10 on your fingers. 

“I only have the metal on the bottom of my boots, and it’s worked for this long. But, I feel like there’s ways I can discreetly add more throughout the suit without weighing it down, making it easier to maneuver when I’m airborne.”

Another note to know, Y/N was an enhanced. She had the ability to bend and manipulate any form of metal. So the metal that Tony had built into her shoes made it to where she could lift herself off ground level and fly. However, through trial and error, they noticed that they couldn’t really add it to many other places as it weighed her down and made fighting a lot less agile. Don’t get it wrong though. She made it work. She just preferred it to be better. 

“Sounds like a smart idea.” He paused in the silence as she continued to analyze the layout in front of her silently. “Did you just want company to show off that big brain of yours, or am I supposed to give you an opinion?” 

He was sassy with her. She was sassy back. It was the way of their friendship for the most part. 

“No, Barnes. I need you to give me your password,” she said, wrinkling her nose at him with a stink face before moving back to the computer. He chuckled at her facial expression and followed her to her setup. 

“Why do you need my password? You have your own account,” he questioned, watching as she went to log into the files under SHIELD's confidentials. 

“No, actually. Mine went caput last night,” she huffed. “Some weird glitch happened, don’t ask me how because you would think Stark tech is more advanced, but whatever caused it made my account go haywire. In saying that...” She clicked a few more things moving faster than Bucky could keep up with on the screen. Then she turned to him and leaned back on the counter. “Tony was supposed to make me a new one or fix it, but he bailed on me today for brunch with Pepper... In Capri.” She let out a big breath. “So until he gets back, I’m at a standstill getting the information I need to fix this.” The smile on her face showed she was done telling her story. 

“So you need my password to get confidential information?” he asked, crossing his arms and putting his weight onto one leg. “What kind of confidential stuff are we talking here because I don’t need Tony going through my history and asking me questions I can’t answer,” he pointed with raised eyebrows. 

“Highly doubt he cares or has the time to go through your history, Buck,” she laughed, turning back around and raising her hand with a swift motion bringing the chair to her without actually touching it. 

Bucky looked down at it as it moved and noticed the metal base of it. He was always shocked anytime she used her powers. For one, she was rather graceful with her own for the most part, so the act of watching her do it, was somewhat mesmerizing. But also, he was still trying to wrap his head around people born with abilities like that. Wanda really threw him for a loop the first time he met her. 

Shaking out his head and following to stand by where she was sitting, he argued with her statement. 

“Yeah, I’d think about that again,” he winced. “Out of all the people Tony is going to keep an extra eye on, who do you think it is?”

Y/N paused and turned to him scrunching her nose. 

“Ok, yeah you’re right,” she nodded. Bucky sent her a look in agreement. “But I promise it’s not for anything crazy. I just want to find a resource for the lightest metal we can get our hands on. I think if I can get some of that, I can place it throughout my suit to not weigh it down as much and make any hand to hand combat about 100x easier and more fluent.”

“Sounds like a solid plan. What file do you think is going to hold something like that?” he nodded, crossing his arms again and leaning his backside on the table facing her in her chair. 

“The same one that talks about vibranium,” she sassed some. “I just want to run some analytics to see my options on what will be most malleable for the suite. Some metals may be lighter, but that doesn’t always mean suitable for tons of kinesthetic motions.”

“You’re too smart for your own good,” he shook his head, smiling at her. 

“I know. I got the beauty and brains,” she smiled with a shrug, but she was playing around. Y/N was never one to boast about herself. She was as humble as Tony was egotistical. “Ok, enough small talk. What’s your password, Barnes?”

All that was left to do on the page she had pulled up was type in said password and she was in. 

“Uh, I don’t really want to say it outloud,” he said, becoming bashful all of a sudden. His arms tightening around him self consciously. 

“Why?” Y/N asked with a tilt of her head. “Scared I’ll remember it and hack your account? May just search for some things that Tony would love to tease you about.”

“Haha,” he said flatly. “And no. I know for a fact you would never do that. You’re too nice for that,” he responded. “It’s just. It’s an embarrassing password.”

“It can’t be that bad. Come on, just say it Mister so I can get my research done!” she persisted, poking his flesh arm. 

“Here, let me just type it,” he said, moving to the keyboard. 

“Nuh-uh,” she said moving the keyboard with a flick of her wrist out of his reach. Damn practically everything for having some form of metal in it. “I’m too intrigued now. I want to know what it is…” The mischievous gleam in her eye showed Bucky he probably wasn’t going to win this. 

“What happened to your sweet innocent self?” he said slightly shocked by her antics, but not able to hold back a chuckled. 

“It’s her off day today. She needed a break… And a little fun,” she smiled wider. “Come on. Just tell me. I promise I won’t make fun of you.”

“I don’t think you can keep that promise.”

“Have I ever not?” 

“I mean that one time when you promised to make chocolate chip pancakes because I was having a bad day, and then ditched me for a mission,” he noted. The fake hurt was exaggerated in his eyes. 

“Hey! I have no control over when something like that comes up,” she pointed at him. “You know that too on a personal level.”

“Still never got those pancakes though,” he said, letting out a disappointed sigh as he shook his head. 

“Ugh, fine. How about this?” she started, leaning back in her chair. “You tell me your password, and if I laugh then I go make you those famous pancakes now. If I don’t laugh, you have to drop that whole thing and not bring it up again.”

He weighed his options watching her. The two staring into each others eyes bargaining in silence. Sure Bucky didn’t want to say his password, but worse case scenario she laughed, maybe teased him a litt, but he got pancakes. And he knew she would laugh… 

“Fine. But just know, I like my pancakes with extra chocolate,” he sighed, relaxing his muscles some. “And whip cream.”

“Won’t need to. I’m tough enough to not react to whatever it is,” she smiled, bringing the keyboard back over. “Ok, so what is it?”

He stayed silent for a minute. God, he hated saying it outloud. Not that he really ever had to, but still. It was embarrassing. 

“It’s… It’s WienerSoldier1917,” he mumbled. 

“I’m sorry, what?” Y/N said with wider eyes. She heard him, but she was wondering if she heard him right. 

“The W and S are capitalized…” he practically whispered looking down. When he didn’t hear a response but insead deafening silence, he looked over seeing her biting her lip and trying her best to suppress a laugh. Her face became slightly red and her eyes started blinking fast as she tried to pull herself together. “Yeah, I’m definitely getting those pancakes,” he sighed with a shake of his head, not being able to hold back his own soft smile. 

Not even two seconds later, Y/N was in a laughing fit. Practically falling out of the chair. If Bucky hadn’t caught her when he did, she would have gone over the side and brought the chair down with her, but he casually kept the chair from tipping with one arm. 

“Oh, that’s just too good,” she finally got out after a few minutes of full on, stomach aching laughing. She wiped her eyes at the few tears that had come down and shook her head. “Is that seriously your password?”

“You know Tony came up with it! And he knows I don’t know how to change it!” Bucky defended.

“Oh, Tony. What a comedian…” Y/N sighed, catching her breath. “Ok, back to business.” She typed in the password not being able to hold back yet another round of laughs as she typed it out. Bucky just rubbed his temple as she went about her research and giggled. 

After pulling up a few things, she turned to him.

“Ok, I own you a batch of pancakes now,” she smiled, standing and organizing the desktop. “I’ll come back and finish up down here later.”

“You’re not even upset you laughed, are you?” Bucky said following her in step to the door. 

“Oh, I knew I was going to already with how you were acting. I also knew I was hungry and up for something sweet anyway,” she shrugged. “Win, win for me.”

“You’re a punk,” Bucky faked shock, nudging her shoulder with his own before opening the door for her. 

“Eh, like I said. Sweet-innocent Y/N, as you called her, has a day off,” she smiled up at him before wrapping her arm through his. “Hey, and after breakfast? I’ll show you how to change your password,” she looked up at him with a wink.

The two chuckling and talking as they walked upstairs arm and arm to the kitchen.

My Lovelies forever:

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Bucky Barnes Tags:

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@bellamy-barnes​​​

Marvel Tags:

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[lunatens]

go higher! part 8

[good game]

—

the ref’s sharp whistle signals the end of the game as hyunjin’s serve goes straight into the net right beside seungmin’s head. the younger boy turns to glare at hyunjin, who flashes an apologetic smile in return. you watch as the kq boys cheer quickly before both teams line up and shake hands (you don’t catch how jisung give’s san’s hand an extra hard squeeze and utters “good game” through gritted teeth).

as you hobble on your crutches back to the bench to talk to bambam and jaebeom about the game, you can’t help curiously listen as the boys talk amongst themselves.

“ahh sorry guys, i guess i’ll gotta work on my serve more,” hyunjin says in embarrassment, feeling badly that the loss was on his error.

“maybe if you spent more time in the gym before practice instead of showing up late you wouldn’t have missed it,” seungmin replies bitterly.

“hey guys, calm down. hyunjin it’s not your fault we lost, or anyone else’s for that matter, i mean we actually did better than usual!!” chan says to try and cheer everyone up.

“yeah, we actually got over 20 points in that last set!!” jeongin replies enthusiastically. besides the youngest’s positivity, chan’s met with some blank stares in response; hyunjin and seungmin stare daggers at each other, jisung’s distracted by the sight of san walking over to your side of the court, and minho walks off to stretch by himself. at least jeongin’s standing there with an excited smile, even though he sat on the bench the whole game.

“y/n!! it’s been a while!” your thoughts are interrupted by a boy walking over to you arms outstretched. before you can protest, san pulls you in for a hug.

“ew you’re so sweaty,” you protest and shove him off, but you still give him a smile; it’s nice to see your friend again.

“what, no “congrats on winning san!! you did great!” for me?” he teases.

“shes on our team, not yours,” a voice says from behind you and you turn to see jisung walking up to you. it’s weird to see normally goofy and loud jisung be so serious. the two boys stare unimpressedly at each other, and you nervously glance between them.

“ok well i gotta go get ready for the post game meeting, i’ll see you in the change room jisung. catch you later sannie!” you call, leaving the awkwardness to go tell the rest of the boys to meet in the change room. jisung gives one final look of disapproval at san before turning and walking away.

everyone’s making their way to the change room to talk about the game, the only person you still have to tell is minho. you spot him alone in the corner of the gym, blushing as he changes out of his jersey and back into a nice sweater. swallowing the butterflies, you walk up to him. i shouldn’t be this nervous, i’m literally just telling him about a team meeting and that’s it, you think to yourself.

minho looks up as he hears you approach on your crutches, giving you a small smile and a wave. your heart flutters a bit, and not paying attention, one of your crutches hits the ground at a weird angle and before you know it you’re sprawled out on the gym floor.

“y/n!! are you okay??” minho asks in concern as he rushes to help you up. jisung’s loud laugh echoes in the background, and you flip him off without looking, your cheeks burning in embarrassment.

“yeah i’m okay,” you mutter; you might have a couple bruises later but luckily you didn’t do anything weird to your ankle. you grab onto minho’s outstretched arm and he pulls you back into your feet—or, foot. you try to reach down to pick up your fallen crutches but it’s kinda hard to do so while balancing on one foot, and you teeter back and forth as you try to figure out the best way to get them. to your surprise, minho holds an arm out for you to balance on while he picks them up for you.

“um...thanks,” you say, voice small as you place the crutches under your armpits, wishing you weren’t so flustered. minho shrugs in response, and sits back down to pull off his shoes and knee pads. you stand there for a second in a mildly awkward silence, almost forgetting why you came over here in the first place.

“oh, uh, there’s a team meeting in the change room as soon as your ready so we can talk about the game and what to work on in practice,” you finally remember to say. minho looks up and gives you a smile and nods silently before going back to untying his laces. as you turn to leave, you let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding in. you spot felix and hyunjin walking to the change room and you make your way to join them. they wave at your approach, felix excitedly babbling about his epic saves and “did you see when i dug up that super tall dude’s attack??” and you can’t help but giggle at his enthusiasm.

“i saw you talking to minho,” hyunjin says raising his thick eyebrows at you as felix gives a play-by-play of seemingly every single point in the game.

“yeah, i was just letting him know about the meeting,” you say, trying to appear nonchalant but your cheeks give yourself away. hyunjin smirks at you knowingly.

“don’t worry y/n, i won’t tell anyone. i mean i don’t really understand why you’d go for someone like minho over someone like me, but whatever floats your boat,” he teases. you roll your eyes at him.

“i don’t know what you’re talking about,” you deny. before hyunjin can say anything, you’ve reached the change room door, which felix opens for you. you almost look back to steal a glance at minho before entering, but think better of it with hyunjin right there. you hardly know minho anyways, it’s just a small crush because he’s good at volleyball and also super cute, right? you think to yourself. besides, it’s probably a bad idea to like someone on the team you’re helping coach anyways. you decide to yourself that maybe you should try and minimize the time you spend around minho so you wont have a chance to fall for him. yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

—

[next>>]

a/n: aaah a written part!! i hope you guys liked it ;-; sorry i didn’t write any of the actual game, i just thought it might be like...way too confusing lol. also it’s not really important anyways. but yeah exciting times ehheeh lemme know what you guys are thinking so far!! 💖

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@00hwng @freckledquokka

[thelastspeecher]

A Kiss From a Nixie

Here’s a follow-up to the ficlet I posted the other day, where, in a Mystery Trio-style AU, Stan meets a frog-lady and falls in love with her.  In this ficlet, we learn about the origins of Stan’s frog-lady, as well as the proper term for her species.  I’m very happy about this scenario and have been enjoying it a lot.  Hopefully, y’all enjoy it, too~

——————————————————————————————

              Stan and Angie stared silently at each other. Angie suddenly turned beet red.

              “Stanley.  I’m naked,” she whispered.  Stan felt himself flush at the reminder.  He spun around so that she could get dressed without him watching.  “Thank you.”

              “What- how-” Stan stammered, still with his back to Angie.  He took a deep breath.  “First question.  Is Fiddlenerd a frog too?”

              “No.  He’s not.”

              “Did the frog gene skip him?”

              “I wasn’t born like this.  It happened while I was at college.”  A million more questions immediately formed on Stan’s tongue. “You can turn ‘round again.”  Stan turned.  Angie was now wearing a flannel top and some jeans.  She pulled on a pair of boots.  “And no, Fidds don’t know.  Actually…”  There was a beat.  She looked up at Stan.  “Yer the first person to know.”

              “Wait.  Really?” Stan asked.  Angie nodded. “Geez.”  He stuffed his hands into his pockets.  “I…I wasn’t expecting that.  I mean, you and Fiddlenerd are annoyingly close.”

              “You’ve known Fidds fer a lil while.  How do ya think he would react to findin’ out his precious baby sister is sometimes a frog?” Angie asked dryly.  Stan winced, already imagining the freakout.  “That’s why.”

              “Fair enough.  How’d you turn into a…I dunno, merfrog?”  Angie snorted.

              “Merfrog.  I like it.”

              “I don’t know the real word for…”  Stan gestured vaguely at Angie.  “…whatever you are.”

              “I don’t know it, either.  The person what turned me didn’t exactly share that information.”

              “Who turned you?”

              “A full-time frog person what lived in the pond just off campus.”  Angie scowled.  “They befriended me, then offered to kiss me.  That kiss was what did me in.”

              “Why’d you agree to kiss a frog person?” Stan asked. Angie turned pink.

              “I sometimes have poor impulse control,” she said quietly.

              “Been there.”  Stan frowned.  “Hang on. A kiss from a frog person turned you into one?”  Angie nodded. “I feel like it’s supposed to go the other way around.  At least, according to fairy tales.”

              “Well, I know the kiss was what did it, ‘cause immediately I started changin’, and the frog person told me that they were excited fer me to live with ‘em.”  Angie sighed heavily.  “I’ve been a frog ever since.”

              “But you can turn human.”

              “Yessir.”

              “Huh.”  Stan looked at Angie thoughtfully.  “Y’know, Ford would have a field day with this.”

              “Oh, hell no.  I ain’t tellin’ yer weird brother.  No offense.”

              “None taken.”  Stan walked over to Angie.  “You got somethin’.”  He pulled a clump of mud out of her hair.  Angie turned bright red again.  “Want me to give you a ride back to the house?”

              “That would be great.  Thank you.”

              “No problem.”  Stan headed back towards the Stanleymobile, Angie close behind.  “Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”

              “I wasn’t expectin’ to be here very long. Certainly not long enough that I would have a reason to tell someone my secret.  But, I don’t know, somethin’ ‘bout Gravity Falls makes me feel pretty content.”  Stan glanced back.  Angie was looking around, admiring the surrounding trees.  “I might want to move up here, to be honest.  I can do my research or even help Stanford with his. He was tellin’ me the other day that he wants to hire a biologist.”

              “Gravity Falls is nicer than I expected,” Stan agreed. He cleared his throat.  “Do you have to go to the pond every day or something?”

              “Geez, yer full of questions, ain’t ya?”

              “The frog-lady I’ve been chatting up for the last two weeks just turned into my brother’s partner’s little sister,” Stan said dryly.  “Duh.” Angie chuckled softly.

              “Fair enough.”  They emerged from the trees and made a beeline for the Stanleymobile.  “I have to shift into my frog form and submerge myself in water fer at least an hour every day.  Ideally, I spend more time like that.  That’s just the bare minimum to keep myself healthy.”

              “Did the frog person who turned you tell you that?”

              “Nope.  Figured it out through trial and error.  Since I got to Gravity Falls, I’ve been sneakin’ out of the house after everyone’s asleep and goin’ to the lake to sleep in there.”  They came up to the car.  Stan pulled out his key to unlock it.  Angie got into the passenger seat, beaming.  “I even made myself a nice little hole in the mud to sleep in.”

              “You’re not worried about Fiddlenerd wondering where you are?” Stan asked, getting into the driver’s seat.  Angie shook her head.

              “I’m a deep sleeper with a specific sleep schedule. Fidds knows better ‘n to mess with that.”

              “Makes sense.”  Stan started the car.  “So, you-” Angie sighed loudly.

              “Look, I understand that ya have a lot of questions. I’ll answer all of ‘em at some point, but right now, I can only answer one more.”

              “Fair.”  Stan pulled out of the parking lot.  He frowned thoughtfully.  “Okay. I know what I wanna ask.”

              “Hit me.”

              “Did you eat my bait?” Stan asked.  Angie looked away hurriedly, though Stan could see a flush spreading across her features, down to her neck.  “When I opened my tacklebox after you returned it, the fresh bait was gone.”  He held up a hand.  “I’m not judging you for eating worms.  You’re part frog.  But I just wanna know if you ate them.”  Angie stayed silent.  “Come on, you said you’d answer my question.”  After a long pause, she finally replied.

              “No comment.”

-----

              Angie giggled at Stan’s joke.  He grinned proudly, warmth spreading across his cheeks. After spending the day moving Angie into her new house in Gravity Falls, he was happy to have quality time with his sort-of frog sort-of girlfriend.  They were at the lake so that Angie could be in her frog form, though Fiddlenerd and Ford thought they were still at Angie’s house.

              “Still can’t believe Stanford actually supported leaving us alone together,” Angie remarked.  To Stan’s amusement, it wasn’t just the tone of her voice that changed in her frog form.  Her thick southern accent was also nearly nonexistent.  At first, he thought it was because she was disguising herself.  But even after coming clean about who she was, she didn’t have an accent in frog form.

              “Ford thinks that I’m more responsible and take better care of myself when I’m dating someone,” Stan said with a shrug.  “I’m not surprised he’s encouraging me to ‘woo’ you.”  Angie giggled again, a sound like a babbling brook.  Stan dug around in the bag of snacks they’d picked up at the gas station on the way over.  “Hungry?”

              “Yes,” Angie said eagerly.  Stan pulled out the container of live bait and set it on the wood of the dock.  He lifted the lid.  Angie reached out a webbed, frog-like hand and daintily grabbed one of the wriggling worms.  Stan opened his bag of chips, smiling fondly at her.

              A few days ago, Angie had finally confessed that, since becoming a merfrog, she had developed a taste for bugs and worms. Stan had already known, but he appreciated that Angie trusted him enough to tell him.  After all, she was visibly embarrassed by her cravings for creepy-crawlies.

              It’s probably ‘cause she was raised to be a proper southern lady or whatever.  Angie popped a worm into her mouth.  Good thing I don’t care about that.

              “Stanley?”  Stan looked over his shoulder.  Ford was walking down the dock towards him.  Angie gasped softly.  There was a splash.  Without looking, Stan knew she had gone underwater before Ford could see her up close. “What are you doing here, talking to a nixie?  I thought you were helping Angie settle in.”

              “Nixie?”

              “Yes.”  Ford sat next to Stan.  “That was the creature you were speaking with.”  His eyes widened.  “Is she the frog-lady you were talking about a few months ago?”

              “Duh.”

              “I would have believed you if you told me she was a nixie!”

              “Wh-”  Stan scoffed. “Do I look like someone who knows what a nixie is?”

              “Did she not tell you?”

              “It’s racist to ask someone what they are, Sixer,” Stan said flatly.  Ford let out a soft laugh.  “Angie sent me out to grab some snacks, so I figured I stop by the lake to talk to Rana while I was out.”

              “Her name is Rana?” Ford asked.  Stan nodded.  “Fascinating.”  He stared at the spot where Angie had been.  “Would you be willing to tell me more about her?”

              “Nope.”  Stan stood up.  “You didn’t believe me when I first asked you, and now I’ve learned that she’s an actual person, not some weird ‘anomaly’ for you to study.”  He pulled his car keys out of his pocket.  “And Angie’s probably waiting for me at her place, so I better get going.”

              “You’re forgetting something,” Ford said, pointing at the bait still sitting on the dock.  A webbed hand quickly grabbed the bait and brought it underwater.  Ford’s jaw dropped.  “Remarkable.”

-----

              It was yet another peaceful, misty morning at Lake Gravity Falls.  Stan sighed.

              “Enjoying the quiet?” Angie asked from her spot in the lake.  Stan nodded. “Have the Fords been especially loud lately or something?”

              “The Fords?”

              “It’s shorter than saying their full names,” Angie said.  Stan snorted in amusement.

              “Nah, they’ve actually been quieter than usual. I don’t trust it.  They’re up to something.”  Angie snickered.  “Have you finished the research Ford wanted you to do?”

              “Oh, yeah.”  Angie floated on her back, staring up at the dusty blue sky.  “I finished it real quick.  It’s pretty easy to get information from magical creatures when you’re one of ‘em.”

              “Maybe you should give Ford a big smooch.  Turn him into a frog.  He’ll finish his research in record time,” Stan joked. The only response was a soft splash. Stan looked over.  “Ang?”  Angie was gone.  “Something wrong?”  Nothing happened.  Stan sighed.  “What did I say?”  Angie slowly surfaced.

              “I…”  She took a shuddering breath.  “I love you.” Stan’s heart stopped.  “But I-”  Angie covered her face with her large, webbed hands.  “I can’t- I can’t act on any of my feelings.”  Stan scooted closer, his legs dangling over the edge of the pier.

              “What do you mean?” he asked quietly.  Angie let out a sob.

              “I want to kiss you more than- more than anything. But if I do, then you’ll- you’ll be like me.  And I don’t want to turn you into a- into a frog!” she wailed.

              “Hey.”  Stan took one of Angie’s hands.  She looked up at him.  “That’s my decision to make, okay?  If I wanna risk turning into a frog so that I can kiss you, I’ll do that.”

              “R-really?” Angie asked in a tremulous voice.

              “Remember how you said you kissed that nixie ‘cause you had poor impulse control?”  Angie nodded. Stan grinned.  “You’re not the only one.”  He pulled Angie close.  Just as his lips met Angie’s, there was a loud shout.

              “Wait!”

-----

              Further attempts to pry information out of Stan about the nixie he’d befriended had failed.  So, Ford had to resort to collecting his own data.  This translated into watching from afar as, every day at dawn, Stan sat on the dock and spoke with the nixie.  Fortunately, Ford was skilled enough at camouflage by now that he wasn’t seen.  Unfortunately, he was unable to get close without risking being spotted.

              That morning, he wasn’t alone at the lake.  He had dragged Fiddleford out of bed to come see the nixie for himself.  Fiddleford wasn’t pleased.

              “Stanford, yer lucky I ain’t the kind of sleeper my sister is,” Fiddleford groused as they hid in the bushes, watching Stan talk to the nixie.  “Last time someone woke her up ‘fore she was ready, they got a broken nose fer their trouble.”

              “Yes, yes, I’m very lucky,” Ford said.  “Now, please, be quiet.  It looks like they’re talking about something serious.”

              “You won’t hear any of it, no matter how quiet I get.  We’re too far away,” Fiddleford pointed out.  Ford ignored the logical argument, focusing intently upon the conversation at the dock.  The nixie seemed emotionally distraught over something.  Stan leaned in, visibly affected by her distress.  He grabbed her hand and pulled her close.  Then, to Ford’s horror, Stan kissed the nixie.

              “Wait!” Ford shouted, bursting out of the bushes. Stan and the nixie jumped.  Ford sprinted over to his brother and the magical creature, his heart pounding in his chest, his mind racing.

              No.  No. This isn’t good.  Ford hadn’t had the chance to study a nixie properly yet, but he had read enough about them and other water sprites to know that even touching one could have serious consequences.  Stanley, you idiot!  Aren’t you dating Angie, anyways?  I didn’t think you were the kind of person to cheat!  Still frozen in shock, the nixie and Stan hadn’t moved by the time Ford arrived.

              “Stanley, what was that about?” Ford demanded. “You shouldn’t just kiss random magical creatures!”

              “She’s not random,” Stan said.  His articulation was sloppier than usual, almost like he was slurring a bit.  The nixie looked at him with sudden concern.  “I know her.”

              “Yes, but-”  Ford ran his hands through his hair.  “Kissing a nixie can have unforeseen side effects!”

              “I know!”  Stan’s speech was definitely slurred.  He gestured drunkenly to the nixie.  “That’s how she got stuck in this situation!”  Ford looked at the nixie.  His fingers itched for a pen and paper.  Up close, she was just as eerily beautiful as she’d seemed from a distance. Her green, mottled skin glistened from lake water.  Large, webbed ears poked out from her short, black hair.  But most distinctive were her kind eyes, a soft shade of blue that Ford immediately recognized.  He saw those eyes every time he looked at Fiddleford.

              Everything clicked into place.

              I was right. Stan would never cheat on Angie, even for a magical creature.

              “Angie?” Ford croaked.  Angie, for he was certain that the nixie was Angie, ignored him. She pulled herself onto the pier, revealing the same hourglass shape she had as a human, but lacking any mammalian features.

              That makes me feel much more comfortable with the fact she’s unclothed.  

              “Stanley, are you all right?” she asked.  Stan grinned at her.  His eyes were unfocused.

              “Yeah, babe.”  He leaned closer to her.  “I liked that kiss.  Go ahead and give me another one, okay?”

              “Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

              “What?”  Stan seemed blindsided.  “Why not?”

              “You’re acting either stoned or plastered and I’m not sure which one,” Angie said.  Ford’s eyes widened.

              “Your accent is gone!”

              “I- yes- it- I don’t know why, maybe it’s ‘cause when I first turned frog, I was hiding my accent a lot.  But that’s not important right now!” Angie snapped. “Something happened to Stan!”

              “Well, you kissed him while in nixie form,” Ford pointed out.  “If you’d kissed him in human form, I doubt there would have been any reaction at all.” Angie stared at him.  “I’ve never heard of a nixie being able to switch between their native form and a human one.”

              “I- my native form is human, you dingus! I wasn’t always part frog!”

              “Fascinating,” Ford breathed.  Angie groaned loudly.  She took Stan’s hand.

              “Stanley, sit down for me, okay?” she said.  Stan sat down heavily.  He grinned at her.  “Oof.  Uh. Your eyes are dilated something fierce, darling.”

              “You’re fierce,” Stan slurred.  He winked.  Angie grimaced.  Footsteps sounded on the deck.  “Ang, you’re the prettiest frog in the world.”  The footsteps stopped.

              “Angie?!” Fiddleford shrieked.  Angie immediately dove into the lake, disappearing into the depths.  Stan leaned over the edge of the pier.

              “Come back, Angie!” he called.

              “I have to agree,” Fiddleford said, quickly catching up to Stan and Ford.  “Banjolina Quinn McGucket, get back here!”

              “Heh.”  Stan giggled. “Banjo.”  He leaned further.  “Banjo!” He fell forward.  Before Ford or Fiddleford could grab him, a webbed hand shot out of the water to nudge him back onto the pier.  Angie emerged from the lake.  Fiddleford fell to his knees.

              “Oh, Lord,” he breathed.  “I’d recognize that face anywhere.  Angie, what happened?  How did you become this?”

              “I…”  Angie swallowed.  “Stan can tell you.”  Stan leaned over the edge of the pier again.

              “I heard my name,” he purred.  Angie surfaced further until she and Stan were face-to-face.  She stroked his cheek.  “Hey, gorgeous.”

              “I’m- I’m sorry I did this to you.  Rest up.”  She looked at Fiddleford.  “Take care of him.”

              “Angie, you can’t just leave without explainin’ anything!” Fiddleford protested.  Angie closed her eyes.

              “I need- I need a minute.”  She sunk underwater.

              “Angie, no!” Stan cried out.  Ford and Fiddleford grabbed him before he could jump into the lake. “No!”  Stan slumped back and began to sob.  “She’s gone.  Forever.”

              “Stanley, once she’s had some time to collect herself, she’ll be back,” Ford said calmly.  “Now, we should probably find some sort of antitoxin to counteract that kiss.”  He pulled Stan to his feet.  Stan immediately leaned against him.  “Fiddleford, a little help?”  Fiddleford was still staring at the lake.  “Fiddleford?”

              “Oh, yes.”  Fiddleford came over.  He looped one of Stan’s arms over his shoulders.  “Don’t worry, Stan, Ford’s right.  Angie will be back.”  He scowled. “If I have to drain this whole godforsaken lake to find her.”

[nite-shay]

Surprise! (Kirishima Eijirou x Reader)

Funny little idea I had. Reader finds out she is prego and wants to surprise her hubby with the news :)

A/N: Nothing really. Charters are aged up. Female pronouns used. 

Hope you enjoy it and sorry for typos, grammar and spelling errors! :)

************

You were practically floating through your local market store's aisles, humming has you picked up items on your list.

Today was a beautiful day. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and nothing could ruin your mood.

Not even the grumpy old lady blocking our path, complaining to a stock boy about ketchup prices could bring you down!

Any why might you ask? 

Because today you got the best news in the world.

A few days ago, you went to your local clinic. You'd been feeling rather tired here lately and even a bit nauseous. You honestly thought nothing of it and just figured you had a stomach bug that'd been going around.

Image your surprise when the nurse on the other end of the phone informed you that you were not sick, just pregnant. 

It took a few seconds for the information to process, but the moment it does. Oh boy! You screamed and cried in pure joy to the poor, probably now partially deaf nurse on the other end.

After many thank yous and a few apologies, you practically hung up on the women wanting to call your husband imminently. 

You tried him on his cell and on his desk, but he must have been out on patrol. Meaning you wouldn't hear from him until much much later in the day

Damn. 

That burst your bubble, but that just gave a chance to be... well, creative in your news delivery method. You'd spent the last few hours researching and watching videos in the theme of 'Surprising the father baby announcements.'

And boy, oh boy, did you get some ideas! Too many ideas! But you settled on one method in particular. 

You smiled as you made your way over to the produce section.

Ah-ha! There's an item on your shopping list.

You reached out and grabbed two bags of baby carrots before tossing them into your cart. 

It would be a night your husband would never forget!

Later that night...

Let me start off by saying this. You love your husband. Very very much.

Your husband, Kirishima Eijirou, is the most wonderful man on the planet. He is an amazing and loving husband. He is also an amazing hero. Ranked one of the best in Japan and one of the friendliest.  The man is a literal saint who against all odds befriended Bakugou for goodness sake! You love him more than life itself.

Your husband is a lot of things but currently, you can only think of one way to describe your husband. In the words of the blonde explosive best friend, 'he has rocks for brains'.

Bless your husband's heart some days, he can be denser than his skin in his unbreakable form.

You expected him to overlook some of the food you made, BUT NOT EVERY FUCKING THING!

You made a spread of baby-related foods that could give a buffet restaurant a run for their money. You had it all, baby carrots, baby spinach, baby artichokes, baby corn, baby back ribs, fingerling potatoes, a cornish hen, deviled eggs, popcorn shrimp, you had it all! Hell, you even dropped a 'bun in the oven reference'. Twice! 

But did he see the pattern? 

Nope!

His only response was to stare/drool at the food and said, 'wow hun, if I'd known you be making this much food, I'd have invited Amajiki and Togata over'. Later on, he commented on how Fatgum would be jealous of the amazing food he's going to have for lunch tomorrow'.

While you appreciate the comments on your cooking. You could have strangled at that moment. 

Dense. Very dense.

You chanted in your head while he pigged out, 'I love the father of my child, and I will not beat him over the head with chicken' over and over for most of dinner.

As the night continued, you realized after watching both 'Boss Baby' and 'Storks' that you would have to take drastic measures to get it through his thick skull. 

Tomorrow, you'd bring out the big guns!

Maybe you should get Mina involved…

The next day…

"Hey, Red! Wow, what's with all the food?" Fatgum shouted as he watched the redhead placed another container on the table.

"(Y/N) went overboard last night and made a feast! We had a lot of leftovers, so I brought some of them in. Want some?"

"You bet I do! I love her cooking! You really lucked out!"

"Yeah, I did! I have no idea why she made so much food, but I'm ain't complaining!" He flagged over Amajiki, who just walked into the breakroom. "Hey, Amajiki! Join us!"

"T-thanks…." He shuffled over and eyed the spread of food on the table. "Um… Kirishima… was yesterday a special day or something for the two of you?"

"No, I don't th-WAIT" Kirishima had a moment of panic before checking his phone. "Nope. Our anniversary isn't for another few months, and her birthday was last month." He sighed in relief. "Man, Jiki, you can't do that to me. You bout gave me a heart attack." He took a bite of food. "Why'd ya ask anyways?"

"Well… it's just… this is a lot of food... And very...v-very… specific food that doesn't seem to go together, in a traditional sense…" The quiet man commented.

"What do ya mean?" 

Fatgum took a second look at the food before his eyes went wide. "I-I think I see where you're going with this Sun.." He put down his bowl while his redhead appearance just looked cluelessly between the two. "So Red, what happened last night?"

"Nothing really. I came home, and she made this awesome food, we ate, watched a few movies and then went to bed." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Did she say anything about her day, or did she seem like she wanted to talk to you about something?"

"No. I mean, she said she had an awesome day but didn't really say what was so awesome about it. She looked great! Like… I don't know, she just… had this.. glow? Yeah, that's the word. She just seemed to be glowing! I mean, I'm not saying she wasn't attractive before! She's drop-dead gorgeous, but I don't know, here recently she's just been…. Wow…" Kirishima's features softened as he thought of his wife while Fat and Amajiki looked at each other. The older man's eyes lit up while the younger dark hair man gave a half-smile. 

"H-has she been feeling ok?" Amajiki pressed.

"Yea-" He paused for a moment. "Well, she did say she wasn't feeling too good the other day and that she went to the doctor... She didn't say what they said, though.." He crossed his arms while he thought back. "Now that I think about it, she really didn't eat much last night, and I could have sworn I heard her throwing up this morning... But she  just brushed it off when I asked about it…"

"Did she say what she thought was w-wrong?"

"No, she didn't. I even asked her if she wanted me to stay home with her today, but she said she'd be fine. She did promise me she'd take it easy." He almost jumped up. "You guys don't think she's getting sick, do you? I know there's been a stomach bug going around…"

"Oh, it sounds like she got bitten by a bug, alright!" Fat couldn't keep it in any longer as he gave the redhead a wide smile.

"Seriously? What do we do? Wouldn't the doctors have found out if she did? Do you think it was poisonous?!?!" Kirishima jumped up like he was ready to take off back home to tend to his 'sick' wife.

"Easy Red." Fat roared with laughter. "She'll be fine, but she's going to be feeling the effects of this for the next…. I'd say nine-ish months…."

"Huh?" 

"Kirishima, I think you r-really need to go home and talk to your wife…" Amajiki interjected while Fat wiped the tears from his eyes, trying to control his laughter. Which he was failing at btw. 

"Come on, guys! I'm freaking out here! Is (Y/N) ok?" The hero pleased with them trying to get a straight answer.

"Eijirou?" Every head in the room twisted in your direction as you stood in the doorway. 

"(Y/N)! You're here! Are you ok? You haven't seen any weird spiders or anything around, right?" Kirishima rushed over to you as you made your way into the breakroom. You'd heard Fatgum laughing from down the hall and figured your husband was too far away. 

"Spiders? Wait, what?"

"Fatgum thinks you might have been bitten by a bug! How are you feeling? Do you need a doctor?"

"Honey. Sweetie. I'm fine, I've already talked to the doctor." You chuckled as you tried to soothe your frazzled husband. 

"You have? That's great! What did they say?"

"Well…" You trailed off. This wasn't going as planned. Your plan was to visit him in his office and surprise him with the little gift bag in your hand; from there, you hopped, he'd get the picture. The top item was a cute little 'I'm a riot' Red Riot baby onesie you in the merch store down the street. The next was a mini-set of red baby crocs. If he didn't get it at that point across, your last resort was the medical report from the doctor's office, showing that you were, in fact, pregnant. You made sure to highlight it, just to be safe. 

"I'm afraid you're just going to have to be blunt about it (Y/N). He's really not getting it. Congratulations btw the way!" Fatgum was chuckling slightly still as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"S-sorry if we mess anything up…" Amajiki mumbled apologetically.

"Thanks! And don't worry about Amajiki, it's fine! This works out better anyway!" You smiled over at the two before turning your attention back to the love of your life. 

"Congratulations? Wait, what don't I get? Babe, please tell me what's going on". The worry in his eyes nearly broke your heart. 

"Honey" You grabbed his face with both hands and made him look you right in the eyes. "I'm pregnant."

His body stilled, and his eyes were wide. He just stood there staring at you for the longest time; you swear you could almost see the little hamster in his head go flying off its wheel and pinball around his skull.

"Eiji? Did you hear me?" No response. He didn't even seem to be breathing. "I think I might have broken him." You glanced over to the older man in yellow before returning to those crimson orbs.

You were honestly starting to get worried at this point. Was he just shocked? Was he happy... or... did he not want it? Finally, though, he seems to come back to his senses. 

Blink. Blink Blink. Deep breath in. Blink. Blink. Deep breath out.

"Y-Your…..preg...p-pregnant….."

"Yes. I'm pregnant." You choked a little up as it finally seemed to sink into that thick lovable skull of his. However, his expression didn't waver, and you still couldn't tell whether he was happy or not. 

"I'm… going to be a dad?" You could feel him start to tremble beneath your hands.

On no.. he doesn't... 

Your eyes started to water, but you try to keep your smile in place. "Y-yes. You are..".

"I'm going to be a… dad?" It was taking everything you had not to break down then and there

But then.. it happened. 

You watched as his face lit up with the biggest grin you had ever seen. His eyes glistened with tears until they streamed down his cheeks. "I'M GOING TO BE A DAD!!!!" Your pretty everyone on the whole floor heard his declaration, and before you knew it, you were being dragged into a tight hug and swung around the room. 

For the next hour, the two of you laughed, cried, and went around the ENTIRE building so your husband could tell everyone the news.  Afterward, you showed him your little gifts, and that caused another trip around the building so he could show off the baby items and, much to your embarrassment, the test results. 

Fatgum quickly realized that nothing else on the planet would get the red headed hero to focus on work right now, so he let him have the day off to celebrate.

After a round of visiting and phone calls to friends and family, the two of you were finally home. The moment the two of you were in your home, he pulled you to your bedroom for the most intense cuddle section you had ever had. 

"I'm... going to be a dad…" He whispered while gently rubbing your belly where.

"Yes. Yes, you are." You couldn't help but grin and give him a slow sweet kiss, which he gladly returned. 

"God, I love you so much…"

"I love you too. "

"Promise me one thing…"  Suddenly his gaze narrowed as he looked you in the eyes with a serious expression. 

"Anything…" You shifted, a little nervous in his abrupt mood change.

"If... If.." He swallowed hard. 

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Now you were worried. 

"If I'm ever that stupidly dense again, please, PLEASE, knock some sense into me!" You burst into a fit of laughter while he just pokes his lip out in a pout. "I'm serious! Get someone, anyone to knock me into next week! Tetsu, Bakugou, Hell call Midoriya! After everything I missed, I deserve a Detroit smash upside the head!"

Thanks for the read! If you want see the other stuff I’ve done, click the link bellow!

MasterList

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS I A VENOMOUS INTERLUDE

Did y'all know symbrock is canon? Well, now you do. Reader's favourite deadbeat surrogate uncle is in town and he brought a... Friend. No warnings, just a boatload of crack and fluff, as usual. Reader being mouthy. Takes place a little bit into the future - around after chapter 32: spoiler alert is useless because we already know a tonybrucestrange/reader quartet is the endgame. 💖💝✨

"What," I had to pause for a second for my brain to catch up with my eyes. "The fuck?!"

It was truly a miracle I could say anything out loud, at all. Words weren't valid enough to describe my shock and confusion. The scene unfolding in front of me resembled and unholy cross between a B-rated horror movies about demonic possession and some deep-sea Eldritch monstrosity.

The eight-feet tall black, oozing dude in front of me? Yes, you, with the teeth. Ctulhu called, he wants his tentacles back.

The creature honest to god rippled, like some nightmare-fuel goth Jell-O, rapidly shrinking in size within seconds. As more of the black tar-like substance receded, a much more human form started to appear under it. Worn jeans, leather jacket, ungroomed beard and the look of a biker gang member coming off a serious bender.

"Uh, Princess?"

"Eddie. Fucking. Brock. Uncle Idiot." I punctuated each word with an increasing widening of my eyes. The world was fucking nuts. Two and two did not compute - Eddie might have looked threatening to some people - like white suburban Karens - even without the... Gooey squid-on-steroids thing he had going on. The man was built like a fucking brick shithouse, but I knew him way too well. Eddie couldn't be that badass to save a life.

"You two know each other?" Tony shrieked indignantly, a coarseness in his voice that indicated only one thing: my boo was well into his third drink. Hell, I didn't blame him - that gaping toothy maw was fucking gnarly.

Hands on my hips, I caught myself slipping into a mute rage, storming over to the 200lbs worth of pure dumbass and knocking him right in the face. "You! Didn't tell! ME!" A black tendril wrapped around my wrist, carefully but firmly securing it and preventing me from causing my non-related uncle any more physical damage. Although I must admit, my knuckles probably were more affected than his jaw. "You! Are! A MUTANT!!! HOW COULD YOU?! How could you NOT tell ME?"

I trusted the man with my soul and most embarrassing drinking stories. Hell, I called Eddie in a stoned haze the very same night I lost my v-card. I just thought we were bros, you know? I saw his whole fucking life implode more than once and personally flew to California to ice his injuries and his hurt ego countless times. I was done dirty in the worst way.

"I'm not-" Eddie's sigh was long-suffering. "I, uh, I have a parasite..." He sounded meek, in the same way he used to describe his drunkenly misconduct when I made our family driver bail out his ass outta jail in the morning.

"TAKE THAT BACK!" A deep gravelly voice thundered, seemingly coming out of his chest?

"Okay, okay," Eddie smiled. It was strangely soft and un-eddie-like. The only person he smiled like that was... used to be Anne. "This is Venom. They're an alien and we're, uh, a thing. It's a recent development." The tentacle unwrapped itself from me as I took an involuntary step back.

Even barring the fact that Eddie was dating an alien, this was way too fucking weird for 3 o'clock on a Sunday. I always knew the reporter was, for the lack of a better word, a little weird but he really took it to new heights. With Thor and Loki looking... Like that, I could see a human dating some sort of a hot alien. But with Ctulhu looking the way he did just minutes ago? Did Eddie seriously let all of those teeth in close proximity of his dick?

I had a "ERROR 404, common sense not found" hanging over me for the longest time. The others were quiet behind me, too, even Tony - one of my boyfriends, the most likely to cause utter chaos, was hanging back and expecting me to do something.

"Venom," I clarified, just to fill the silence with some noise while my brain processors re-synced.

"WE ARE VENOM." The tentacle that was sleek and black now had two completely white eyes and a smaller-scale version of the toothy grin that had drooled all over the common room carpet. Their voice had an interesting effect: it was so deep, the air around them vibrated slightly when they spoke.

I tilted my head examining the appendage. It was considerably less terrifying when it wasn't five times my size. "What are you?" And most importantly, are you a threat to my favourite non-related family member? I left that statement unspoken although it was obvious I was ready to fight it? Them? If need be.

"A SYMBIOTE," They replied, swaying the head-tentacle slowly. "WE LOVE EDDIE AND KEEP HIM ALIVE AND HEALTHY." So, they understood the actual question.

"Which is fucked up because Klyntar usually behave in the opposite way." Hearing Thor swear was, perhaps, even more unsettling than finding out about the symbiote-alien-boyfriend thing my uncle had going on. The thunderer himself was nursing a jug of golden liquid. The good Asgardian stuff, he must've been really fucking bamboozled.

"Okay. So anybody wanna fill me on the details before I beat up my favourite idiot?" I sighed, pointedly looking at Tony.

"I thought I was your favourite idiot!" He immediately retorted, hurt, but nonetheless opened his arms to give me a grounding embrace. We may have sucked face for a few seconds, because why the hell not, Tony was an amazing kisser and his tongue down my throat was very calming.

"Hold up, what the fuck?" Now it was Eddie's turn to act all offended. "Aren't you a little too young for him?"

"You and your most likely carnivorous goth space pudding can fuck right off if you're not going to be supportive of my very inappropriate, very polyamorous relationship with three incredibly hot boomers," I shot back, slipping into some resemblance of normalcy. Me and Eddie go way, way back and shitting on each other's bad life decisions was the founding stone of our bromance. Hell, he was the guy who showed me the wonders of sarcasm at an early age! Wonderbaum!

"There's three of them?" Eddie's voice pitched and he gaped, palming his face.

"SHE HAS A POINT, EDDIE. WE EAT PEOPLE. BEING UNSUPPORTIVE WOULD MAKE US LOOK LIKE AN ASSHOLE." Eddie's buddy stated, sounding almost fed up. So, they were sentient enough to recognize how much of a pain in the ass Eddie could be. I could work with that, disregarding the cannibalism comment, of course. What the fuck was up with that?

"Yes, Eddie, I also periodically bump uglies and trade disgustingly sweet text messages with the Hulk and a badass wizard," I rolled my eyes at the reporter's following gasp and angry muttering. "Venom, I like you."

"WE RETURN THE SENTIMENT. YOUR CHOICE IN MATES IS VERY WISE, CONSIDERING YOU ARE A WEAK MORSEL. THEY CAN PROTECT YOU."

"Shut up, Squid. I'll still kick your motherfucking ass if you hurt Eddie."

The emo space goo laughed, a terse scratching noise, showing way, way too many teeth for me to feel comfortable but I allowed myself to be placed on the couch between Tony and Eddie nonetheless. The initial shock of seeing a talking octopod with fangs passed quickly - I've seen Stephen's "trophies" he brought from his otherworldly journeys and Lovecraftian horrors were, honestly, pretty low on the gross/creepy scale.

"Both of you, explain. For the love of fuck," Tony sighed, emotionally exhausted and drained of his usual bravado.

"Eddie was my dad's friend until he moved to Cali, I've know him for fifteen years, give or take. He taught me how to ride a bike and bake the best pot brownies," I shrugged. There wasn't much to say. "I visited him whenever I could but you know, with school and then you guys, there wasn't that much time to iron out the details." I have Eddie a death glare, pointing to Venom's floaty head with my eyes.

Eddie nodded. "What she said..." And then launched an elaborate tale about some company called Life Foundation, some evil dude named Drake and his own alien pudding named Carnage, who was one ugly motherfucker judging by Eddie's and Venom's combined "ew" face, their aching need for human brains to survive and other, more trivial things, like mental breakdowns in a lobster tank and getting dumped by a fiancé and eating their way through a HYDRA base after being captured and tortured. What a wild fucking ride.

"Sounds like you had a rough year," Everybody's dumbfounded silence was ended by Tony who took a slow swig of his whiskey before speaking.

"Yeah, no shit," Eddie muttered, twisting his black coated fingers in elaborate but frankly pretty shapes. His alien wrapped around his neck like a tube scarf and additional tentacles appeared between Eddie's hands, gently prying them open and enveloping them in a sort of a hug? It was hard to compute, the black mass appeared to be totally amorphous.

"How's your anxiety?" I asked, damn well knowing Eddie's mind tended to run like Tony's: zero to sixty in point five with no clear destination. Having an alien inside of him must've really thrown Eddie for a loop.

"It's, uh, better. Venom helps," The reporter admitted, still staring at his hands but the crease between his brows had disappeared and the expression he wore was kind of fond.

"Good. You know, Venom," I thoughtfully addressed the definitely sentient creature. "Eddie is a bigger dumbass than me, which is saying something. You ought to keep a really close eye on him. If not for me, he'd probably be dead from alcohol poisoning, like, years ago."

"WE ARE AWARE. WE CAN ACCESS EDDIE'S MEMORIES." A head manifested itself on a thicker tentacle, floating over to look me in the face but maintaining a respectful distance and staying out of my personal space bubble. "AND WE ARE THANKFUL. EDDIE IS THE PERFECT HOST. WE LOVE EDDIE."

I felt the corner of my mouth tilt upwards at the alien's proclamation. It was child-like in its blunt honesty but carried a certain weight with it. It told me whoever tries to separate those two in any way would get eaten faster than they could say "SIKE!". And honestly? I would help Venom hide the evidence.

"I literally had you for thirty minutes but I would kill everybody and then myself if you two got hurt. This is too soft, I can't." I snorted, extending a curious hand towards Venom. They looked so shiny. I had to touch them.

And they let me. Venom butted their head into my palm and let me gently run my fingers over their slightly cool, slippery flesh. It felt like putting my hands on a surprisingly sturdy yet bouncy piece of flubber. I purposely avoided the small maw and the endless rows of sharp teeth but managed to accidentally brush against something rough and scratchy - as it turned out, the Symbiote had a very long, very dexterous tongue. And didn't that give me a bunch of interesting mental images.

"Oh my God, NO!" Wanda moaned from somewhere, the voice mortified and disgusted.

"Why are you touching the people-eating alien?" Bruce yelped, entering the room with several people in tow. The scientist looked worried, a little bit green around the edges. The tablet in his hands beeped periodically, signifying the ongoing sciencing bender he was in process of.

"WE WOULD NOT EAT THIS HUMAN. WE ARE FOND OF THE MORSEL." Venom defended, well, venomously. Eddie wisely choose to stay silent, trading a knowing look with Tony.

Stephen Strange sighed, briefly closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose with a jagged movement. "One day, Princess, one day you will stop collecting people that are obviously bad for your health and your future. That, or space in the tower will simply run out." With a deeper, calmer sigh, the sorcerer landed in front of me on the floor, sitting cross-legged and subtly begging for a head scratch. Which meant just placing his always neatly trimmed curls under my free hand. His jealousy was about as subtle as a foot in the face.

"I'll just ask Tony to build more floors, duh," I rolled my eyes with force at the obvious solution, giving into Steph's demands, beginning to card through his hair. It was calming both of us, really.

Bruce came over to give me a kiss and my other boyfriends didn't even grumble about the scientist placing himself in my lap, crawling over both Tony and Stephen to get comfortable.

Our dynamic was unconventional and more than a little weird, but it worked for us and the rest of the team most certainly didn't complain about the vast decrease in conflict that came with the territory. Come to think of it, all of us were more tactile than just a group of friends sharing a house and I was very much on board with that. None of us except select few (looking at you, mister doctor) were hugged enough as children and we were making up for it in spades right fucking now.

"Girl has a type," Wanda remarked, like the messy little shit she was. I stuck out my tongue in retaliation.

The Avengers' brain trust began talking about Venom's slightly inconvenient diet that directly resulted in multiple felonies for one Edward Brock, and as much as I tried to follow the flow and make my own, however feeble, contributions to the scientific side of the conversation, the new life form was much more interesting. I asked Venom several questions and they deemed them acceptable enough to answer - which evolved on both of us absolutely geeking out over the differences in our physiology. The space pudding didn't hold back one bit, insulting the inferior human biology with gleeful gusto.

"They need a chemical called phenethylamine," Bruce sighed, having deduced it through discussion since Venom and Eddie both protested aggressively against any kind of invasive testing. "I can synthesize it. No more head-chomping, no more murder."

It made perfect sense. Except it didn't. "Brucie-bear, you're a brilliant fucking scientist but a shit psychologist." I interrupted whatever came next. "Venom is a person, like me and you and, yes, even Hulk. Tell me this: if you found a way to get rid of Hulk, would you stop sciencing in the gamma radiation field?" I looked my boyfriend straight in the eyes, hoping for a spark of common sense. "Do you see my point? You science, Tony engineers, Steve draws and Clint bakes. Venom hunts. It's who they are, you can't give them a pill to make it go away."

The weight of my word landed in the room like lead, heavy. The only source of sound was the TV, playing the news quietly in the background for the longest time. Those few minutes felt like hours until Thor expectantly turned towards Eddie/Venom.

"IT IS SO. WE ARE AFRAID WE CANNOT INFLUENCE OUR INSTINCT TO HUNT PREY. KLYNTAR ARE APEX PREDATORS." The little black goop sounded almost apologetic. It was hard to hear undertones with their voice being so deep and grating. "BUT WE CAN TRY." Okay, I could totally hear the hope. Finding out the Eldritch horror could make puppy eyes was... Terrifying, to be honest, because they fucking worked.

"Got any better ideas?" Tony asked me sarcastically.

"I do, actually." I leveled a look with Natasha. She understood. "HYDRA goons. The aliens that, for some reason, keep invading New York every month or so. Stephen's adventures in Hell. Do I need to continue?"

"Wait, hold on," Steve raised his palms. "We don't kill HYDRA, we deposit them in SHIELD custody."

I snorted at the naïve Captain. "And what do you think happens to them there? Did you honestly think they just let torturing, murdering, world-domination planning psychos back on the streets?"

Steve frowned in confusion. "They go to prison?"

Natasha choose that moment to step up. "It's not uncommon for them to possess certain enhancements to be deemed too dangerous to be released back into society. Some of them are low-tier mutants and inhumans. Trust me, Steve, the lethal injection is a much more humane treatment than solitary life imprisonment in a ultra-high security prison." Romanoff stated with a trace of compassion. "And some mutants, we can't contain for prolonged periods of time." She added quietly, looking away.

Rogers was staring blankly into the wall, mulling over the information in his head. His intensive thought process was plainly visible on his face. I heard about some kind of fiasco with HYDRA agents suicide-bombing a city in Europe few years ago and Steve was there, along with Wanda and Sam.

"Venom is a whole person, and even if they look like they could be the main character in Call of Ctulhu video game, we can't just disregard them like they are some kind of badly behaving pet. They're my honorary uncle's boyf-sorry-significant other, for fuck's sake," I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation. "Y'all should know I don't fuck with people who give shit to one of my own. Don't disappoint me like that." I finished, feeling more tired than I had in months. I didn't regret giving into the found family dynamic, however I didn't exactly sign up for hard choices like them vs my long lost uncle, y'know?

Great, now I had a headache and three very concerned boyfriends glaring at me for unknown reasons. The urge to pace always manifested strongly within me as the emotional atmosphere rose in the room. With Bruce dangling off my lap, I couldn't do even that and I felt the restlessness blossom into irritation more and more with each passing second of my existence.

Eddie remained silent, looking down. Venom had mostly receded into the reporter's body, save for a few tentacles tightly wrapped around Eddie's palm.

"Alright," Steve suddenly said. "We can work with that."

"Princess, you look like you're either going to cry or yell any second," Bruce said softly, squeezing my shoulder and pulling me closer.

I immediately hid my face in his chest, taking several deep, shaky breaths. "Eddie is family. Y'all are family. It's terrifying to have to choose between the two." I said, after a brief moment of hesitation.

The reporter made some sort of a choked gasp, quickly masking it with a cough - I knew him way too well to miss the way he was fighting back tears of his own. Bruce understood, he really did understand me - hopped off my lap and let me hug Eddie properly, my happy-sad tears soaking through the collar of his tee.

"You're, uh, welcome to stay. I'll have a guest room prepared." Tony cleared his throat, passing his half-finished glass to Stephen who swallowed the liquid in one gulp. My boyfriends were so fucking emotionally illiterate. Disaster humans.

Huh, I really did have a type.

Later that night, I made the mistake of barging into Eddie's room with a bottle of really fancy whiskey I liberated from Tony's overstocked liquor cabinet. Visiting my uncle and boozing and smoking on the balcony, for old times sake, was my plan and...

I failed the mission successfully.

I didn't bother knocking. As soon as I saw a pair of bare feet, my eyes traveled further up on the couch on their own volition. There were so many tentacles, a writhing, oozing silky black mass and Eddie was making sounds, unmistakable noises-

"UNSEE. UNSEE. OH MY GOD, UNSEE, UNSEE." I stumbled back into the common room shivering.

"What happened, is everything okay?" Bucky stood up as soon as he saw me enter the doorway with my face scrunched in a grimace of regret. I felt like I've gone through the five stages of grief in the shortest time possible for a human being.

Somwhere, I heard Wanda's sudden moan full of pain and misery. "Please, stop THINKING about it!"

"Brain bleach, oh my God," I cringed. "Where's the Clorox?! I have decided I don't need my eyeballs-"

"Oooh," Tony's proverbial lightbulb lit up. The engineer sounded like he was about five seconds away from building a space ship and permanently moving to another planet. "They're together-together..." Tony intercepted me nonetheless, doing the most effective thing to make me stop speaking and thinking bullshit. He kissed me. With lots of tongue.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub ​ @mostly-marvel-musings  @vozit ​ @littlegasps ​ @pilloclock ​ @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads ​ @hermione-grangers-wife ​ @individualistfem ​ @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby @cutenessloading @romeo-the-cactus @jelly-fishy-babie @mikariell95

[captainjanegay]

Where I’m Meant to Be | Stucky | Meet-Cute, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, No powers AU | Chapter 1 | 4.6k words | Ao3

Summary:

Bucky is a single dad coming back from a work trip with a very bored, very whiney 7-year-old girl. A mysterious stranger with a kind heart and a notebook full of doodles comes to the rescue.

A/N: This fic was supposed to be just a short one-shot for the Stucky Bingo but somehow, it's at 11k at this point and it's nowhere near done. I have two more chapters all done and ready and a vague outline for the rest of the story. It's my first time posting a fic chapter by chapter so it's both exciting and kinda scary. I hope you'll like the story enough to stick with me for a while. 

My sixth fill for the @stuckybingo2020​ ♥

.

At some point in his life Bucky didn't mind spending hours at airports and he found traveling —even work-related —quite enjoyable. But that was when he was young, stupid and alone. Now he's older, just as stupid and has a wonderful girl in his life. 

The girl in question is now standing next to him, little arms crossed and a sullen expression on her face. She's repeatedly kicking at the leg of the chair he's sitting on. There's no real force to it —she's only 7 after all —and she's not doing it to do any real damage to anyone or anything. It's just little taps, really and she's doing it out of boredom. But dear lord, Bucky's about to explode.

"Alex, sweetheart," Bucky says, slowly breathing out through his nose. "Could you please stop with that kicking? It's a bit annoying."

"But papa," she whines, drawling out the word. "I'm bored!"

"I know, love and I'm really sorry but papa’s gotta do something important for work," he sighs, trying to run a hand through her hair. She ducks and flops onto the chair next to him, an angry little pout on her face. "I have to finish it before we go on the plane. I'll do it as quickly as possible and then I'll be all yours, ok?"

It's not really surprising when he doesn't get an answer. With another sigh, he leans to the side and presses a kiss to the top of his daughter's head and then turns back to his laptop. 

From the very moment she woke up today, Bucky knew it's gonna be a long day. She was cranky and teary all morning, not wanting to say goodbye to Natasha and it took a good hour to calm her down. Then Bucky had to basically beg her to eat something before they left for the airport. It wasn't a great day. And Bucky knew she didn't do it just to make him miserable, she was just as frustrated and tired as he was. On top of that, he has to edit and upload a report from the conference and the airport Wi-Fi is so bad Bucky is close to tears himself.

The work would probably take less time if he wasn't getting distracted every minute or so and glancing to the side, making sure that Alex is fine. Or relatively fine, the bad mood excluded. At the moment she is slouching on the plastic chair, still pouting. Felicia—a pink stuffed Triceratops —is placed on her lap so at least Alex has something to occupy her for a moment.

Bucky tries his best to get through the documents quickly but he doesn't want to miss any errors either. He gets lost in the work for the entirety of about five minutes when he hears something truly surprising.

Alex laughs. It’s so unexpected after what seems like hours of complaining, crying and whining that Bucky’s head snaps up from his laptop and he looks at his daughter.

She is still sitting by his side, Felicia pressed closely to her chest and there is a smile on her face. It’s definitely not aimed at Bucky, though. So Bucky follows her line of sight and… oh.

It’s not like he didn’t notice the guy sitting across from them before. Because he did. It would be rather impossible not to notice this guy. He is tall and well-built and could look intimidating if it wasn’t for his bright blue eyes or tousled golden hair or the gentle smile or the fact that he’s wearing the softest beige sweater Bucky has ever seen. He is both ridiculously handsome and cute at the same time. So of course, Bucky noticed him before. But now he tries to figure out what about him made Alex laugh. It doesn’t take long, because the man is holding up his notebook, showing the page to Alex.

On the page are three little, cartoon-like doodles. The first one at the top looks unmistakably like Alex—her brows are furrowed, arms crossed and a little storm cloud is hovering above her. Underneath there’s his daughter again but this time she’s laughing, her eyes only small slits and a little sun peeks from behind the cloud. The last drawing, just next to the smiling Alex, is of Bucky. His head is partly hidden behind a laptop screen and there’s a look of utter concentration on his face. Above his cartoon persona floats a swarm of little gears, question marks and lightbulbs. Bucky snorts. It’s probably quite accurate.

Noticing that Bucky is staring at the drawing, the stranger startles and his cheeks turn red.

“I’m not some creep, I promise!” he starts explaining himself, before Bucky even opens his mouth. “I just—she seemed so upset and I’ve heard you said you have something important to do so I just wanted—Man, it’s weird, isn’t it? I’m sorry I promise I just wanted to help, not bug your kid without permission.”

“It’s not—,” Bucky starts, slightly taken aback. “It’s very sweet of you, actually. Thank you. Really, that’s just—I don’t mind. And Alex here seems to enjoy your drawings.” Bucky smiles down at his daughter and then at the stranger. His smile falters a bit and he sighs. “I’d really love to chat some more but I really need to get this shit done and the airport Wi-Fi is truly horrible.”

“Oh! Bad word!” Alex gasps, covering Bucky’s mouth with her little hand. “You said a bad word! No sweets for you!”

The stranger laughs at that and Bucky probably shouldn’t be as charmed as he feels right now. He just kisses Alex's hand and leans away from it.

“OK, sweetheart. Promise not to eat any when we get home,” he says solemnly. “But papa really needs to work a little longer, OK? Ten more minutes, I promise. Try not to bother the nice man too much until then, yeah?”

She lets a long-suffering sigh but she agrees.

“I’m Steve, by the way,” the man says, smiling at Bucky. 

Before he gets the chance to answer, Alex chimes in, “I’m Alexandra. And papa’s name is James but only mama and people at work call him that. Everyone calls him Bucky.”

The man — Steve — lets out a small laugh. “It’s nice to meet you both. Alexandra, do you want me to draw you something specific, while we let your papa work?”

“Oh, can you draw Felicia? She’s a...,” Alex furrows her brows in concentration, “tri-ce-ra-tops! That’s a dinosaur!” 

Steve leans forward from his chair and smiles at her. “She’s so cool! But weren’t dinosaurs kinda dangerous?”

“Some of them, yeah. They ate other dinosaurs. But the ones like Felicia only ate plants, so she’s cool.”

Steve lets out an attentive hum but something in his expression tells Bucky that it’s not new information for him and he’s just indulging Alex and letting her share what she knows. It makes Bucky feel a wave of sympathy towards this Steve guy.

Soon enough, a new page of Steve’s notebook gets covered with doodles of various dinosaurs, based on Alex’s jurassic knowledge—it’s a bit flawed, but Bucky is proud of her nonetheless.

It takes Bucky a few moments to stop sending glances towards the two. It’s partly because Steve—no matter how sweet he seems to be—is still a stranger. Steve might be bigger than him, but Bucky would end him if he tried to do anything to his little girl. But there are no red lights when it comes to Steve—and Bucky always prided himself on his ability to read people.

The other thing making it hard to go back to work is the fact that the scene he’s looking at is quite an adorable one. Both Alex and Steve are sitting at the edges of their seats, leaning over the passage between the two rows of chairs and their eyes are fixed on the notebook propped on Steve’s knee. They’re chatting, exchanging random facts about dinosaurs but since their knowledge is limited, they switch to talking about modern animals soon enough. Steve listens intently to whatever Alex has to say without patronising her. And sadly, Bucky has met a fair share of adults for whom it was impossible to take Alex seriously just because she was a kid. It calms Bucky enough to actually focus on his work for a little longer.

Some peace of mind does wonders for his concentration and the ten minutes he promised Alex are actually enough for him to finish editing the reports. The WiFi is still a bitch, though. However, after staring at the loading circle for what feels like an eternity, he is able to send the documents. With a triumphant little cheer, he turns off the laptop and slides it back into his bag.

Steve looks up at him and smiles. Alex completely ignores him, though, still too focused on whatever Steve was drawing. Bucky feels a bit betrayed. When she looks up, she glances at Steve first, probably to ask why the drawing has stopped and turns to Bucky when she notices Steve looking his way.

“Oh, you’ve finished the work, daddy?” she asks and when he nods, she smiles and reaches to wrap her arms around his neck. “It took you some time. But I’m proud of you.”

Bucky laughs at that, shaking his head slightly, “Thank you, sunshine. I see you were having fun with Steve while I was busy?”

“Yeah! Steve drawings are so pretty! He drew you riding a dinosaur!” Alex giggles, pointing at one of the little drawings.

Raising his brows, Bucky sends Steve a questioning look but the other man just shrugs and rubs at his neck. “It was her idea,” he says with a sheepish smile.

The doodle Alex is pointing at is indeed of him sitting on a dinosaur's back. It’s the one with the long, giraffe-like neck, Brachiosaurus if he remembers correctly. The cartoon Bucky’s arms are wrapped around the base of the reptile’s neck, his hair fluttering behind him and his mouth is open in either a big smile or a scream, he’s not sure. Either way, it’s a very cute drawing.

“Well,” Bucky says. “I’m not a fan of horses but I’d totally ride a dinosaur if I had a chance. Shouldn’t he have a saddle, though?”

It’s not even that funny but Steve still laughs and Bucky smiles at that. His daughter is less impressed or at least tries to appear so. She rolls her eyes but there’s a grin on her face.

“You’re so silly, daddy. They didn’t have saddles back then! And besides you’d need a very, very big one for a dinosaur!”

Bucky hums in agreement and looks up at the departure display. Noticing that their flight’s gate is open, he nudges Alex lightly.

“We gotta go, sweetheart,” he says. She perks up a bit but then glances at Steve with a small pout. “Sadly, we have to say goodbye to Steve. On the bright side, we’re gonna be home soon, yeah?”

Alex nods and slides off her chair. Steve looks up at the display and straightens up.

“Oh, my flight’s boarding, too. But you know what?” Steve asks and then rips the page with all the dinosaur doodles and holds it out to Alex. “You should keep this, if you want.”

Hearing this, Alex’s whole face lights up and she takes the drawings with gentle hands, as if afraid to mess it up. “Thank you, Steve! Those are so cool I’m gonna keep them forever!”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Steve smiles. He looks up at Bucky. “It was nice to meet you, guys.”

“Likewise. Thank you again for the help. It was very nice of you,” Bucky says sincerely.

“It was my pleasure. My knowledge about dinosaurs is so much better now,” Steve’s smile grows even bigger and Bucky chuckles.

Bucky leans to help Alex put on her little backpack, since she refuses to put down the drawing and then reaches for his bag. He rests his hand on his daughter’s back and turns to Steve one last time. He’s still sitting at the edge of his seat and is watching them. A smile is still plastered to his face and at this point Bucky is sure that it’s his default setting.

“Bye, Steve. Have a safe flight,” Bucky says.

“Bye, Steve. Thank you for the dinosaurs,” Alex adds, making Steve laugh.

“You are very welcome, Alexandra,” he says. “Have a nice day, guys.”

Bucky gently steers Alex towards their gate. Before they disappear behind the corner, he turns away to look at Steve one more time. The man is already looking back and he waves at them when he notices Bucky staring. Alex waves back enthusiastically and Bucky just ducks his head, feeling flustered all of sudden. He used to be more collected around nice, attractive people. And Steve definitely qualifies as both.

***

Some time later they finally make it to the plane. Alex flops down onto the middle seat and eventually — after a long discussion and promises that he won’t ruin it — she lets Bucky put the drawings she got from Steve into the folder he keeps his documents in. When the treasure is safely put away Bucky straightens to put his bag in the overhead compartment.

“Oh,” he hears a voice behind his back and a low chuckle quickly follows. “Fancy bumping into you here.”

Bucky looks over his shoulder and the surprise makes him try to close the compartment while his other hand is still holding the bag. He yelps in pain, making Alex look up.

“Steve!” she says with a smile, completely ignoring her father’s distress.

“Hello again, Alexandra,” Steve shoots her a quick smile and looks at Bucky, concerned. “You’re OK? I didn’t want to spook you.”

Man, he really got bad at keeping his cool around attractive people. Feeling a blush creep up his neck, Bucky nods. “No, no, you didn’t. I’m just a clutz, this happens a lot, ignore me.”

Steve raises an eyebrow at him but he doesn’t say anything more. For a moment they just stand in the narrow aisle, looking at each other. Finally, Bucky’s ability to think kicks back in and he moves to the side.

“Sorry, you probably want to get through to your seat.”

“Actually,” Steve says and glances down at the boarding pass in his hand. After checking it, he points to the seat by the window, on Alex’s other side. “That one’s mine.”

“Oh,” Bucky looks at the seat and then at Steve. His cheeks still feel warm for some reason but he hopes he's not blushing too visibly. "That's great. I'm just gonna—"

Bucky shifts to the other side and takes a step back, making room for Steve.

"You're flying with us back home?" Alex asks with a hopeful glint in her eyes. "Will you draw something more for me?"

"Alex, come on. Don't abuse Steve niceness like that," Bucky scolds her gently but before he can even finish the sentence, Steve starts shaking his head.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. I often doodle when I get bored anyway so I'd be honoured to draw for you again, Alexandra," Steve grins at her.

She actually lets out a little happy squeal when she hears that and Bucky's heart skips a beat. He's absolutely charmed by the way Steve treats his daughter. He really seems like entertaining some random little girl is the best thing he could be doing and while Bucky - absolutely objectively - thinks that Alex is the most wonderful little girl in the world, it still seems unusual. And he positively melts every time that Steve uses her full name, just because that was the way she introduced herself the first time. Most adults Bucky knows don't do that with other adults, not to mention kids. And Steve is just so… kind and genuine, it takes Bucky off guard but it's a really nice surprise.

"Ok, fine," Bucky says with a smile. "You have no idea what you've brought on yourself. Is it possible to strain your hand from drawing too much? The flight's almost two hours, right?"

"Does your dad always complain this much?" Steve asks Alex and she giggles in response. He sends Bucky a glance over her head and he has a smirk on his face. Ignoring Bucky again, he says to Alex, "Hey, have you ever watched Sesame Street? There was this one grouchy green guy."

Bucky just sends him his most unimpressed look. Steve doesn't seem affected. Alex is delighted. And in truth, Bucky has to bite the inside of his cheek to contain a smile.

It turns out that on top of being nice and lovely, Steve is also a little shit, because he draws a Bucky-version of Oscar the Grouch - with a grumpy expression and wild hair, sitting in a garbage can. It's actually amazing. Bucky doesn't say that out loud, but he snorts when he sees it, so that might betray him a little.

This time — prompted by the mention of Sesame Street — the conversation resolves mostly around animated movies. To Bucky’s surprise, it turns out that Steve is a huge Disney fan. He doesn’t even try to hide it. Not to brag but Bucky knows his way around animated movies — partly because he has a 7-year-old daughter and partly because who doesn’t like animated movies? But compared to Steve and Alex? He knows nothing. They use names he doesn’t even recognise - who or what even is Flit? Judging by Steve’s drawing it’s some kind of a bird, apparently. When Bucky can’t remember — he knows it, of course, it just slipped his mind — the name of the redheaded princess from Brave, he is given the most disdainful look he’s ever seen. Both by his daughter and by Steve. Bucky still tries to participate in the conversation, at least for as much as they let him. He never expected his own daughter to team up with some stranger against him. It hurts.

The pain is all forgotten when Steve and Alex start quietly singing Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid together. Bucky can’t help a laugh that bubbles from his chest at the sight. How is Steve even real, Bucky has no idea. He is over six feet of muscle, his bicep is bigger than Alex's head and he could probably bench press Bucky and here he is, sitting next to Bucky’s little girl, drawing a picture of Megara, because she’s his favourite Disney princess and singing a song from The Little Mermaid.

This guy can’t be real.

About half an hour into the flight it turns out that Bucky was wrong — Alex does leave Steve alone but it’s only because the tiredness catches up to her and she falls asleep. And she’s sleeping with her head resting on Steve’s arm. It’s a really nice arm, Bucky has to admit, a nap on such an arm would be good and comfortable even for him, probably. But that doesn’t change the fact that he feels left out.

“Sorry,” Bucky says quietly. “You probably want your arm back, I can just—”

He offers to move Alex’s sleeping body but Steve just shrugs with his free arm, careful not to jostle the girl.

“Don't want to wake her and I really don't mind," Steve says, smiling at Bucky.

"You sure?" Bucky asks and after getting a nod in confirmation, he chuckles and shakes his head. “I keep trying to figure out where the catch is but I’ve got nothing. You’re just naturally this kind, aren’t you?”

Steve barks out a laugh and then slaps his hand over his mouth to quiet the noise. He looks down to make sure he didn’t wake Alex.

“Oh there’s plenty wrong with me,” Steve says with a chuckle. “For one I’m usually really awkward around kids. Alexandra’s such a great girl, though. But I do like to help and try to be nice whenever I can.”

Bucky narrows his eyes at Steve. “You think you’d side-track me by complimenting my daughter? You’re totally right, but that doesn’t mean I’m not curious.”

With an exaggerated eye roll, Steve makes the ‘bring it’ gesture and grins. “Come on. Hit me with your best guesses.”

“OK. OK, fine,” Bucky says and shifts in his seat so he can look at Steve more directly. Crossing his arms, he asks, “Do I have a limited number of guesses?”

“It’s not that long of a flight,” Steve shrugs with one shoulder, grin still in place.

In a theatrically thoughtful gesture Bucky strokes his chin gauging Steve with his eyes.

“You… secretly work as a hitman” Bucky says slowly, “or like, an underwear model. Which is not a bad thing to do.”

A blush creeps up Steve’s cheeks as he laughs again. “Those are… pretty far off. Why those two?”

“Well, you’re built appropriately for both from what I can see,” Bucky explains, enjoying the way Steve cheeks go darker. Maybe he’s not so helpless at talking to attractive people as he thought. It feels a whole lot like flirting.

That terrifies him for a moment. He didn't do flirting in what feels like ages. He doesn't have time for this. Should he even do this? He has a daughter, he shouldn’t just—

Bucky takes a deep breath and smacks himself mentally across the head. He’s not doing anything bad. He’s just talking and having fun with an attractive stranger. Maybe even flirting a bit. And that’s OK, this is allowed, he doesn’t have to go anywhere else with that. It’s not like he’s ever going to see the guy again, anyway. Natasha would punch him for denying himself that. So he will make sure not to mention it the next time they talk.

“Well…,” Steve rubs the back of his neck. “I am not. Hitman or— I’m neither of those. I’m actually an illustrator. Mostly freelance stuff. I paint sometimes, too. But that’s mostly for fun.”

“OK, fine. Somehow I can believe that. You seem like an artsy type,” Bucky agrees.

“No hitman vibes anymore?”

“Who says a hitman can’t enjoy painting in his free time?”

Steve laughs, throwing his head back. Somehow he manages to keep the left side of his body completely still, mindful of Alex sleeping on him.

“I don’t know if there’s a point in trying to convince you, but I’m really not.”

“Sure. Probably what a hitman would say,” Bucky waves a hand at him but smiles. “That’s cool though. Being able to get paid for doing what you love.”

“It is. Sometimes you get frustrated enough to hate it but it’s still pretty cool,” Steve agrees. “You don’t like your job?”

Bucky scrunches his nose, making a non-committal sound as he tries to find the best way to explain. “It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s fun. Interesting, exciting, sometimes frustrating as hell, too. And the responsibility can be incredibly stressful. It’s just…  I never took time to think about what I really like doing in life. And since the job was good enough, I just stuck with it.”

Steve hums, nodding along to Bucky's words. "It's never too late to figure it out, you know?" he says. "I mean, I don't wanna impose and tell you how to live your life or anything. I'd never. I just— I think it's an important thing to know."

"You might be right," Bucky agrees. He glances down at Alex. "I don't think it's a good time for me to experiment, you know? Besides — if there's one thing I know for sure that I like it's having this little rascal around."

The smile on Steve's face turns soft. But only for a moment, before it turns back into that smirk he had earlier. "Any guesses left? About my dark side?"

"A few," Bucky grins. 

It's a bit of a lie because he really struggles to see Steve as anything but perfect but he can try. It's just a game they're playing to kill time after all.

"You are that kind of guy who can eat garbage food and not move a finger and still look like you've just walked straight out of a gym. I hate those people. It's so unfair."

"Are all of your guesses based on how I look? I kind of see a pattern here so far."

Bucky opens his mouth to protest but there's something in the way Steve looks at him, with a raised eyebrow and one corner of his mouth quirked up that makes him close his mouth without a word. He might be blushing. Maybe he's being too forward. It's probably not appropriate to talk about a stranger's body this much.

Before he gets the chance to apologize, Steve answers, "And you're wrong, again. I like working out. Takes my mind off things, helps me clear my head when I need that. Besides I used to be small and sickly my whole childhood. Couldn't even play with other kids for too long without getting an asthma attack. So I'm kinda compensating for that," he jokes.

"Really?"

"Yeah. All pointy elbows and bony knees."

"Huh," Bucky says. "Bet you looked way cuter than me when I had my bowl cut. We all had our dark moments."

Steve laughs again and Bucky really enjoys the sound of that. He really enjoys Steve's company in general, which is weird considering they've just met. It usually takes him much more time to get comfortable around people. Maybe it's the fact that they'll go their separate ways as soon as the plane lands makes it all easier.

"I'm kinda disappointed, you know?" Steve starts after a moment. "I thought you'd guess at least once. Or at least would be more creative with those."

"Who says I'm done? It was all on purpose, I was just assessing, gathering intel. I'm a scientist, I don't know if I've mentioned that before," Bucky points a finger at Steve. "You've got to be methodical about stuff."

Raising his hands in surrender, Steve tries to keep a straight face. He fails miserably.

"I wanted to say that you secretly hate dogs or cats but that would be just too harsh," Bucky says. "I don't think you're a monster."

"I love dogs," Steve confirms. "Always wanted to get one but my flat's too small and I doubt that'd be good for a dog. I don't have anything against cats but I feel like they don't… like me that much."

Bucky chuckles. "I feel like there's a story there."

"Just— My friend Sam has a cat and she absolutely hates me. I can't leave my phone on the table cause she pushes it off, but she doesn't touch Sam's. Every time I'm there she follows me around and hisses at me for no reason. She peed in my shoe more than once," Steve says and tries to look hurt when Bucky starts laughing. "It's not funny! I haven't done anything to deserve this. I tried to bribe her with food, I tried to pet her but I only got scratched for my efforts. And she doesn't do that with anyone but me."

"So that's your dark secret? That your nemesis is a cat?" Bucky asks with a grin.

"It's… definitely true."

“Can’t say I’ve seen that one coming,” Bucky laughs.

Steve shrugs with one arm. “I’m full of surprises.”

Clearly, Bucky thinks, shaking his head at the other man.

.

Title: Wrap me up (in your love) Creator(s): niallhoranbitches Card number: 065 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27745402/chapters/67911988 Square filled: B2 - Airport Rating: Teen and Up Archive warnings: None Major tags: Meet-Cute, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, No powers AU Summary: Bucky is a single dad coming back from a work trip with a very bored, very whiney 7-year-old girl. A mysterious stranger with a kind heart and a notebook full of doodles comes to the rescue. Word count: 4591 

[secret-time-is-here]

An Error’s Journey

Chapter 5

Previous - First - Next 

TW: Talk of death, killing, and cannibalism.

Waking up, he stared at the ceiling for a moment, heavily confused.

What was that dream? Why did he remember all of it? Why was Hearts going by Lust? Why did everything feel so familiar? Were they memories?

Far too many questions, far too early.

Slowly he sat up, reaching for the glasses he knew he had nearby. Looking down he fell asleep in his day clothes, half-heartedly he misses when he could easily wear the same clothes every day, but that’s a price you have to pay for sanity.

He could’ve sworn he was knitting before he fell asleep, and was definitely not tucked in or laid down. Nightmare must’ve come in to check on him at some point.

He pulled the strings from his eyes as he carefully got off his hanging bed. Being mindful to not have it swing too much or else it’ll whack him in the back, and let his magic open up the curtains and grab a change of clothes as he started a shower. Also setting the clothes and his glasses on the counter.

Those dreams were far too detailed. He nearly never had dreams in the first place, let alone that vivid and so many back to back. Hearts doesn’t go by Lust anymore, not after he joined Nightmare.

Hearts had always said that Lust was a name he used to use, one a beloved ex of his repurposed and he was always so hesitant to let go of it, but when he left the Star Council and started a new life apart of Nightmare’s gang, he decided it was time to let go.

Why would he dream of dating Hearts in the first place? He was with Blue, and while they are on opposing sides, they still love each other. Both agree Hearts is safer and happier with Nightmare, and Blue safer and happier with Dream.

He’s happily single thank you very much. Far too many mental instabilities to even think of a relationship at the moment, that wasn’t changing no matter how much Reaper flirted with him.

So what were those dreams? Why did they give him such emotion?

He shook off the thought, for now, changing into his clothes before giving himself a once-over in the mirror.

The reflection of a skeleton with coal bones stared back at him, mismatched eye lights sitting in his sockets and bright blue tear tracks under his eyes. One of his eyelights was plain white, like most Sans’ have, the other was deep blue ringed with a murky yellow.

His neck was bright red for no other reason than to show how much of an error he was inside and out, but he had a dark blue scarf around his neck to hide most of it. His dark red shirt fit him for the first time in centuries, much like his black patchy jacket. Looking down his pants were baggy and long, but overtime staying in Nightmare’s mansion, he grew into them, since he’s no longer staying in a place where time is paused infinitely. Looking at his feet, his toes wiggled on top of his black flip-flops.

He was missing something… looking back at the counter, he grabbed his glasses, then back in the mirror, he saw that handsome bastard he knew so well.

Smirking he grabbed his phone before heading down to the kitchen, most everyone already gathered there, most sitting at the kitchen island, a few at the couches decorating the walls.

“MORning.” He called, voice glitching.

“Good morning, Error.” Nightmare called, “Get some coffee before Killer drinks it all.”

Nightmare was one of the eldest in the Multiverse and had collected a gang of so-called bad sans’ to wreak havoc upon the multiverse, a sort of payback for being outcasted. While Nightmare refused to talk about his past, the gang knew that his goop was not natural, as the dark guardian had confessed once upon a time he didn’t look like a perpetually dripping blob of a skeleton with a single cyan eye.

The odd goop that surrounds Nightmare thankfully doesn’t soak into everything, so he can still wear most clothing without a problem. Even though he doesn’t change from the black hoodie, shorts, and slippers he wears every day.

“I’m not drinking all of it!”

“You’ve had three cups already. You got in the kitchen six minutes ago.”

Killer was one of the several Sans’ Nightmare had collected for his crew and was from a genocide gone horribly wrong, Frisk convincing him to kill everyone. Frisk did this over and over through many resets, and it slowly tore Killer apart. By the time Nightmare found him, he was very much insane, desperate to get rid of the guilt that was eating at him. He had so much negativity, that he had black tears running from his sockets, and his eyelights gone.

Nightmare offered to let him in and help him, and unknowingly, Killer had accepted. Today, Killer’s wearing a long-sleeved black turtleneck and basketball shorts with sneakers and socks, his old tattered hoodie resting around his shoulders. For once, he even has a single eye lit up, a sign that he’s happy.

“Morning, Ru!” Hearts called patting the seat next to him, “How’d ya sleep?”

Hearts was wearing a comfortable knitted sweater that Error had made for him last Giftmas. Since he was no longer plagued by that unbearable heat, he can wear it without discomfort. Alongside that, he’s wearing comfy but thin black sweats along with fluffy socks.

“WEiRd.” Error shrugged, sitting down next to Hearts after stealing some coffee from Killer, “Just sOmE Odd dREams thOugh, hOpEfully, tOnight I wOn’t havE thEm again.”

“Night terrors?” Nightmare questioned

“No… I think thEy might bE mEmORiEs, but it’s hard to say. ThEy wERE cOnfusing thOugh, sO I’m trying nOt tO think tOO much abOut it.”

“Sounds like the multiverse in a nutshell,” Cross spoke up from the doorway, having just woken up. Horror let out a gruff chuckle at that.

Cross and Horror were also skeletons that Nightmare had found. Dust being the other one he had found, although the stupidly tall skeleton loves to sleep in. Dust came from a genocide gone wrong as well, except he killed out of desperation, how would Frisk be able to kill everyone if he did it himself? Although after Dust killed his brother he snapped. His eyes seem to forever shake and are mismatched like Error’s. Both red, but one with an inner ring of blue.

 Nightmare found Dust talking to himself, or seemingly so, his mind so gone that he imagined his brother as a ghost that follows him, telling him to kill more. If Dust was awake and downstairs, he’d probably be wearing his brother's scarf and his hoodie paired with long trek pants as well as slippers.

Horror didn’t come from a genocide but did come from a very dark AU that had a famine, and after so much time without food, to survive many turned to eat each other. The first time Nightmare and Horror met, Horror had tried to cut Nightmare up and eat him. At the moment, Horror’s not trying to eat everything and anything but is cooking breakfast for everyone. 

Wearing his apron, a fluffy hoodie he stole from Cross, and his normal faded t-shirt, he smiles wide. Although, much like Killer and Dust, he also wears basketball shorts and slippers. Yet, unlike everyone else, his AUs story left him with a jagged hole in the side of his head and only one bright red working eye.

Finally Cross, the one that changed the gang. The only one that hasn’t gone insane. After Cross joined, Nightmare started helping everyone else with their insanity, and eventually helped himself as well. Cross doesn’t wear the uniform his AU had forced him into anymore but does still keep some elements of his old outfit. He has his fluffy hoodie that he kept, that Horror enjoys stealing far too much, but he also kept his black turtleneck. Aside from that, he got rid of everything else, relaxing with black athletic pants and dark sneakers.

He’s the only one that looks the most like a sans appearance-wise, his eyes both white, with no scar insight. The gang says that one of his eyes used to be red, with a red scar under it. Nightmare has confirmed this but says that the reason behind that was he was sharing a soul with a human, and that now that the human has been taken care of, the red eyelight and scar are gone.

“Any… um... Pa-...pl-” Horror struggled for a moment, his injury messed with his head a lot, making it harder to speak and get sentences out. Everyone waited patiently, “Plans! Any plans?”

“Hmm… PlannEd On hanging Out with REapER, LifE, and MERcy fOR lunch. SpEnd sOmE timE with thE Charas, makE suRE IntEnt is kEEping thEm all undER cOntROl. ThEn dROp by CcinO’s, why?”

“We were thinking about a movie night later.” Dust popped his head through the door, twitching a little less than usual, a good sign. That means his brother hadn’t been keeping him up all night.

“I’ll have tO gEt gOing sO I can makE it back sOOnER thEn, dOn’t I?” Error spoke with a smirk, and Horror’s smile widened.

-----

A few portals later, to hide his trail to Nightmare’s base, he arrived in Reapertale. He passed many Gods on his way to Life’s realm, and he waved to each of them, everyone knowing him well, a long-time friend of the Gods.

“There you are, Error, I was beginning to think you forgot.” Life spoke, sitting on the deck of her cottage. Reaper a few feet away from her, floating as he sat.

Life was the Toriel of ReaperTale, but also as the nickname suggests the Goddess of life and nature. She is a goat monster with fluffy white fur, red eyes, and a flowing green silk dress with golden accents.

“Heya, Ru,” Reaper cooed, Error rolled his eyes. “Mercy couldn’t make it this time, few more souls than usual. You know how it is.”

Reaper is the God of death, his younger brother, Mercy, the God of merciful death. Both of them wearing dark cloaks tied with a rope, both having their own tokens. Reaper a small gaster blaster skull holding together the hood of his cape, and Mercy a long wisping red scarf.

“Alright, make sure to tell him ‘Hi’ for me some time then,” Error sat on the deck with them, and pulled out his knitting, “How have you two been?”

“Same old Same old,” Life sighed, “Not much to do for me, although Reaper has a little something~”

“Tor, come on, thought you agreed you’d keep that a secret.”

“Awww, yOu lEft mE Out Of a sEcREt?” Error faked betrayal, “HOw cOuld yOu?!”

“You watch too much UnderNovela...” Error gave pouty eyes, “Fine Glitch. Ink and I have been cuddling a bit outside of work. Just Queerplantonic cuddling, nothing more… right now.”

“YOu bEttER nOt lEt DREam or NightmarE knOw yOu caught fEElings DEath,” Error chuckled, Reaper scoffed.

“What about you, Error?” Life asked, setting a cup of tea down in front of Error.

“Had some weird dreams… but nothing much more than that. The war is still going on, but I complain about that nearly daily.” Life and Death gave confused looks, as if asking him to elaborate, “I think they might be memories, but it’s hard to say. They weren’t really about me… they could be, but I doubt it.”

“What do you mean by that?” Reaper rested on his stomach, head cradled in his hands, still floating in the air.

“Well, the dreams were about some Classic timeline, a skeleguy named Sci who’s dated Hearts back when he was Lust.” Error stopped his knitting and picked up the tea, “I know it has to be Hearts, he’s the only UnderLust timeline with a human named Ace and a brother named Pink.”

“Well, it might not be far-fetched that you’re from a classic timeline, and we all know that you haven’t always been an error and that you do get the occasional flash of something with the right prompting.” Error hummed, “Did this Sci guy act a lot like you?”

“...Admittedly, yeah. We even have the same glasses.” Error tapped the rim of his glasses, the same he saw in the first dream.

“Maybe you’re going to be slowly dreaming through your past life for a bit?”

“I know we’re literally Universe travelers and Gods, but that’s a little crazy, don’t ya think?”

“Well, you don’t remember anything before the AntiVoid, so it’d be a fair theory to say the AntiVoid is the reason you can’t remember anything… and you moved out of there some years ago.” Life reasoned, “Maybe without its influence your memories are starting to come back.”

“Maybe...” Error’s phone buzzed, and he looked at the new text.

Intent was losing control of the Charas, they ran out of chocolate. The destroyer chuckled. “Sorry guys gotta get going, Intent needs me. Thanks for listening to my weird bullshit though.”

“Anytime, Glitchy.”

His mind flashed and he was in the dark world of the save screen, Reaper cuddling close, his chest hurting from a long red slash across it.

-----

Sneaking into the Omega Timeline was absolutely terrible the first time he had done it, but now it had become routine. Alongside his glitching, he learned that he could manipulate his code to look like any Sans he wanted, and even match their voice, although it put a slight strain on his soul if done too long.

Looking like a Classic Sans, he got a secret identity in the Omega Timeline, a small workshop under his false name that he uses to sell his crafts giving him some G to use to buy gifts for the gang, the Gods, and the Charas.

Pulling a pouch out of his pocket, he walked to the grocery store, buying several fun-sized snack packs of chocolate for his idiot humans, before heading out to the pocket space that all the Chara’s lived in.

By accident, he discovered the space and all the Chara’s living there years ago, and regrettably, grew close to all of them. Intent acted as the main parent of the house like pocket space, and Error was the punny uncle that saved them with his copious amounts of chocolate.

He arrived and before he could even knock on the door, he was jumped on by many Charas. Intent was quick to pull them all off before he crashed.

“Sorry, Error, they’re all a little cranky and are coming down from a sugar high. Brats found where I’ve been keeping the chocolate and ate all of it at once.” Intent explained, red eyes glaring at the younger ones.

Intent was one of the eldest of the Chara’s and the only one willing to take an active role as caretaker. Their Frisk long since paused and seeming to not be returning to the underground. When he had first found all of them, the eldest of the Chara’s, not so cleverly nicknamed Dest, had pulled him aside and explained things. 

The pocket space they live in is the in-between of the in-between. The space that separates the Void from the AntiVoid. Time is slow, but not at a complete stop. It’s connected to everywhere, and nowhere at once. From the pocket space, the Chara’s can live and go check on their Frisk’s as they please. Although with so many new AUs recently, a lot of them are young.

Intent’s timeline is the first Genocide timeline, long since abandoned by everyone, all the characters dead except Frisk. Dest’s timeline is the original timeline, and they keep a very close eye on their Frisk, who’s been on the surface for years now.

Thanks to Error, things had been more liveable and far less confusing. With his knitting and newfound hobby of sewing, he made them all new clothes and bought necklaces from the OmegaTimeline that have their nicknames on them.

Now not everyone’s wearing the same green and yellow striped sweater and brown pants, and a lot of them have their own styles and tastes. Plus, with how slow all of them age, it’s not often that he has to refit them or make new clothes.

“It’s alright IntEnt, thanks fOR gEtting thEm Off mE.”

“Least I could do, now come on punny.”

His mind flashed, showing the image of a young Chara and Asriel, both clambering around his body, and enjoying themselves, laughing happily.

He shook his skull, and Intent gave a concerned look, “Ya good, E?”

“Y-yEah...” Shakily, he followed the other inside.

-----

Error sighed as he sat down at a barstool of his favorite Cafe.

“Hey, Error, bad day?”

“COnfusing day...”

“Strong coffee or extreme hot chocolate?”

“ExtREmE cOcOa,” He reached into his pocket and passed a few G for the drink, “I dOn’t gEt what’s gOing On with mE. FiRst thEsE wEiRd dREams slash mEmORiEs thEn I’m gEtting flashEs Of mEmORiEs I dOn’t REmEmbER-?”

“Woah there, let’s slow down a bit.” Error stopped, hanging on Ccino’s every word, “Deep breath in,” He breathed in deeply, “and let it out slowly.” He exhaled for a long minute. “There? Is the world a little less overwhelming?”

Ccino is from a surface AU, simply owning a cat Cafe and living above it. He has grey eyes and pale bones, usually wearing earthy colors and an apron, although on occasion outside of work he wears a blue hoodie with bunny ears attached to the hood.

Error nodded soundlessly, closing his eyes, “Why don’t you start from the beginning, then I can try and help, but before you start, take a drink, alright? God or not, it’s good to stay hydrated. Even with hot cocoa.” His eyes half opened at the sound of a cup softly landing on the counter. He took a big sip and then began to speak.

“StaRtEd with thE dREams I guEss… thEy wEREn’t abOut mE thOugh, but thEy might bE? At lEast LifE and REapER think sO. ThEy think I might bE REmEmbERing my past nOw that I’m nOt living in thE AntiVOid...”

“And what do you think about the dreams?” Ccino spoke slowly and softly, petting a cat that had jumped up into his arms.

“I dOn’t knOw what tO think.”

“That’s okay. You’re allowed to not have an opinion on things. What do you want to do about the dreams?”

“NOthing Right nOw.”

“Then you don’t have to do anything.”

“I’vE bEEn gEtting flashEs Of mEmORiEs tOO, but I dOn’t REmEmbER thEm. I knOw thEy’RE minE bEcausE it’s in my pERspEctivE, thEy fEEl familiaR. I can REcOgnizE pEOplE in thEm.”

“What do you want to do about the flashes?”

“SEE what happEns with thEm I guEss...”

“Then you can wait and see.” Ccino pulled out his phone for a moment, “Before you leave to Night’s, can you stay a bit longer? Night had put in an order for some sweets and drinks for your movie night.”

Error nodded, and Ccino walked away, going into the kitchen area to work on the order.

“Hello, Error.” A young voice suddenly called, and he froze. The voice was one from his dreams… and one he still knew to this day. He didn’t bother looking over.

“...Hi, CORE.”

“Don’t avoid sleep.” Error slowly turned his head towards Core, “Your dreams will help. I can’t promise all of them will be happy. I can promise that they will help. You need to go through them. Otherwise, the multiverse is destined for peril.” He just gave confusedly.

Core stared back at him, “Why the confused look? I’ve already told you before that I’m the watcher of the Multiverse.” 

-

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