#reminds me a bit of phil dunphy in that way :)

[10yearsofdnp]

April 28, 2015: Hmmm, I smell a TATINOF segment cooking! 🪄😱

[steviebunny]

Sand-Man

Bucky x reader

Gender-neutral? (Use of the nickname doll towards the reader but not necessarily in a feminine way.)

Warnings: nothing much but a touch of insomnia, but all in all it's mostly fluff, I personally think this can be seen either platonically or romantically, it's up to the reader to decide. Use of the pet name doll.

Inspired a bit by agentofbarnes on Tumblr they also have an empath reader style fic with a bucky ship. This is in no way connected to their stories but I figured as a fan of their writing I should be honest with the fact I was inspired by their writing.

Please don't steal my work, I don't give permission for this or any of my work to be translated or reposted on any other social media platform.

He sat on the communal kitchen floor knees pulled up to his chest, the cabinet knobs digging into his spine,

It's dark practically the middle of the night, he sits still. A cup of cold coffee on one side and a book on the other, he's been there staring at the same page for over an hour now.

You stumbled out of the elevator rubbing at your own eyes, shocked to see him still up and sitting on the floor, especially with all the lavish seating Tony so generously buys for the team.

Approaching silently as not to bother him you crouch down next to him finally noticing his eyes were closed. He'd fallen asleep like that.

You gently push his shoulder and his head snaps up, metal hand engaging in a tight grip around your wrist. "Doll!" What are you doin' ere so late." His voice is low and grave, the exhaustion evident on his own face, "I could ask you the same thing."

"Bad night."

You nod acceptingly, Bucky's been surprisingly open since finding his new therapist, unlike the old one she prioritizes him getting help rather than making him change for the comfort of others, he's gotten a lot more accepting of others’ help since starting a new. There wasn't an avenger in the Tower who wasn't aware of how Steve and Bucky would share a bed on 'bad nights'

Of course, you all had them they were just different for each, Nat preferred to be alone, Clint would go home to his farm, Tony would find comfort in his lab, Bucky and Steve would share a bed.

"Steve's out in Taiwan. Something shield-related. I can't sleep."

"Do you want to sleep?"

"No."

"Okay then, you're comin' with me."

He doesn't even attempt to hide his confused expression "Doll, what're-" you pull on his hand guiding him to the couches "Leave the coffee c'mon. We're watching trashy tv. You can still sit on the floor if you want."

You guide bucky to the floor again. Sitting behind him on the loveseat, taking advantage of Tony's Hulu account, you click a few times to 'Modern Family' "Lay back Buck- and revel in the easy yet hectic lives of the Pritchett and the Dunphy's."

"Wait, wait, so why does he always make fun of Gloria."

"Because he's American even if he does love her he's old, ignorant, and rude. He thinks it's funny because he's never experienced that. But he's learning... He gets slightly better over the seasons."

Bucky took easily to the likes of Claire and Mitch but could appreciate the eccentrics of characters like Phil and Luke, reminding him of his childhood before the war. Rumbling about with Steve down Brooklyn streets.

He's drawn out of the show by the feeling of your hand on his head, he tenses for a moment but it doesn't take long for him to relax as you run your fingers through the brown tresses. Simply combing through and sometimes making little braids, he can feel his head bobble as he tries to keep his attention on the screen, but soon gives up feeling your fingers rubbing the tension out of his temples.

His head grounds itself on your knee and before he knew it he let himself finally succumb to sleep.

It's hours later when he wakes and you're nowhere to be found, it's day time and a small plush pillow had replaced your own leg, the rest should be awake by now, he went down, changed, and took a morning run with Sam. By the time he returned you still hadn't shown yourself.

Were you ashamed, did you regret spending the night with him?

He kept looking for you in communal areas, your usual spots, doing paperwork or reading in the library, in the biodome's garden, or watching Tony and Bruce go about their experiments in the lab, it took him a bit to work up the courage but he made it in and out without Tony prodding him for more information. Friday located you in your own room,

Having walked to your door Bucky hesitates his hand hanging in the air. What if you don't want him there... He shakes those thoughts away as best he can knocking ready to see you open your door to him.

He can't help the disappointment that creeps up his spine when he doesn't see your face, instead, he hears a small and weak come in stemming from under the door's frame.

He slowly cracked the door open, looking around the room, a cluttered mess but still organized. Very you. His eyes scan around the space finding you curled up in a small ball on the couch one of those squishy things- the stuffed animals, whatever they are, half clutched to your chest, half like a pillow.

"Doll.. are you- okay?"

"Mhm... Jus- tired."

"Did you sleep at all last night?" He asked tentatively sitting by your feet allowing you to lay your outstretched legs over his lap.

"You slept."

"I did."

"I helped."

"You-" Oh shit. It finally hit bucky. Your skills, the entire reason you were brought into the Avengers, you're an empath, a healer. On big missions you help the team with big wounds, saving their lives regularly if the med crew wasn't available in time. Every time you healed a wound on one of them you'd feel it yourself.

It took all of them far too long to figure it out but you showed nothing but sympathy, being happy to help regardless of your own pain.

Your assistance on missions was limited after that.

"You can't do that, doll. Just cuz’ I couldn't sleep doesn't mean you can sacrifice your own for mine."

"I wouldn't have slept anyway, it was no trouble."

Bucky doesn't respond he hesitates a bit before laying down next to you, wrapping his metal hand over your hip.

"Maybe... From now on when Stevie's not here, we can help each other. No magic from now on, just you and me?" He whispers it out as best he can, hoping to still be understood.

A long pause goes by and he begins to think you've fallen asleep again yet not until you whisper back.

"I'd love that Buck." And your hand covers his own, the both of you falling to an easy pattern together from now on.

Masterlist

[multimetaverse]

HSMTMTS 1x02 Review

The Read-Through was a great ep that surpassed the already high bar set by the premiere. Let’s dig in!

I had read about it in reviews but wow that Ashlyn and Nini duet was amazing. Julia Lester has a very powerful voice. It really was a wise decision for to show to film the kids singing live as much as possible

‘Wondering’ the song really highlights that although the show knows how to poke fun at itself and the movies, it is a deeply earnest show. It’s hilarious that Miss Jenn decides that the drama teacher of all characters needs a power ballad and of course Ms. Darbus herself was never a very important character in the movies but rather than play the whole situation for laughs they actually deliver a really moving song that gives a lot of depth to the role of Ms. Darbus in the musical and ties in beautifully with Nini’s conflicting feelings regarding Ricky

I’m pleasantly surprised at how they’re already giving Ashlyn some depth. I wasn’t sure if I’d like her that much based off of the little we knew of her before the show premiered but she really brings a lot to the table. I’m very glad they’re not going the cliche route of EJ is embarrassed to be seen publicly with his weird cousin. I like the little touches we get with her like her wearing her grandma’s glasses and her over exuberance at the read through. I’m curious to learn more about her and EJ’s families because although they’re cousins they are very different people

A really strong ep for Ricky and one that sure’s to please Nicky shippers. Dousing himself in cologne because he thinks the ‘pheromones’ in it will please Nini was such a teen boy thing to do (and loved the brand name throb). It’s good that Nini called him out for not taking the musical very seriously, for having auditioned just so he could be close to her, and for not being able to commit to things. He really needed that wake up call and it led to some good character growth when he buckles down and learns the choreography which was a funny scene and it reminded me of Phil Dunphy doing the same thing on Modern Family

Strong work by both Joshua Bassett and the writers with the glimpses we get of Ricky’s home life. It was a sad but realistic detail when Ricky didn’t want Big Red over because of how tense things have been at home. And I liked that Mr. Bowen sat down and watched Ricky practice rather than just going back to bed or berating him. I’m sure Ricky’s mom isn’t trying to hurt Ricky by staying in Chicago but just ghosting her family like this is only delaying the inevitable conversation she’’s going to need to have with her husband and Ricky

So far the show is doing a good job of balancing angst and drama and romantic moments for Nicky. Nini was clearly impressed by seeing Ricky performing the choreography in the library and she then avoided EJ on her way out. She definitely had a bit of a moment when she made eye contact with Ricky during Wondering and again she avoided telling EJ what was up. Kourtney bluntly asked her if she really wanted to be with EJ and Nini’s answer didn’t sound all that convincing. I don’t blame her for being torn, she and Ricky had gone out for a while and it was only a little more than 6 weeks ago in universe that she told Ricky she loved him

The show took a big step towards making Nini’s choice easier by somewhat villainizing EJ. I’m glad that Ashlyn correctly called him out for being scary and for pointing out that he doesn’t own Nini. Him saying that he wanted to stay with Nini because she made him a better person right after asking Ashlyn to steal her phone so he could read her messages sure was something

It’s true that as Ashlyn said EJ is being paranoid but as the old saying goes, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that they’re not out to get you. Ricky really is trying to win Nini back and breakup her and EJ and Nini really does still have some level of feelings for Ricky. That of course doesn’t justify his bad actions but the motivation for his jealousy and insecurity are there. And we also get an important line from Ashlyn about how EJ could stand to not always get what he wants. He clearly expected to win the lead and be with Nini for a long time only to have Ricky waltz in at the last moment and pull out the rug from under him

 In a way I’m glad that they’re starting to unravel NJ now because that will ultimately make things less messy when the show starts guiding Nicky back together. As I’ve said before, love triangles usually devolve into someone cheating on their significant other in some fashion and the less emotional cheating we get on this show the better imo

Miss Jenn continues to be a G rated April Rhodes and I’m here for it. It’s wildly inappropriate for her to basically nudge Nini and Ricky back together because it will help the show and she believes in their chemistry but it’s exactly the kind of stuff she needs to be doing in her role as an agent of chaos. Her going hard with the solo during the read through and making such a big deal out of Gabriella’s 2006 phone was too funny. We got another phone call with her mom about money problems, we’ll see what comes of it.

Gina made a big splash this ep. I liked that her plot involved convincing Ricky to stay as an indirect way to get Nini out of the way, that was clever of her. We get a little glimpse of how being a transfer student and her desire to make a place for herself colours her actions and we get to see how observant she is. She went full on villain at the end though when she took Nini’s phone and put it in EJ’s bag. Gina has no way of knowing if there actually is anything on Nini’s phone regarding her and Ricky but she’s clearly picked up on the spark that’s still there between them. EJ would be a fool to work with her because they are not in fact after the same thing; EJ wants to be the Troy to Nini’s Gabriella but Gina wants to be Gabriella in place of Nini and I doubt she cares who plays Troy. Those are mutually exclusive goals right there

Good ep for Big Red as well, his cult line was funny and his awful readings of the stage directions was hilarious. He continues to be a steadfast friend for Ricky, they’ve got a good bromance going on

A pretty funny ep all around, lots of great lines. I think my favourite is the exchange between Miss Jenn and EJ where she said he was lurking and he says he was going for loitering

Not quite sure what to make of Carlos thinking that Ricky was going to assault him in the library. I did like the start of a possible friendship we see between him and Ricky. Seb gets some lines and we learn he’s a piano playing farm boy with milking glasses and he’s a sophomore like Carlos. It will be interesting to see when they start something with Seblos and how far that relationship will go this season. Seb is in all 10 eps this season if Joe Serafini’s imdb is accurate which puts him above all the other guest stars

It wasn’t romantic of course but just seeing a bunch of guys holding hands with guys and girls holding hands with girls really shows how much further HSMTMTS will be able to go than Andi Mack was. There’s just no way a mass hand holding scene like this would ever have been allowed to happen on Andi Mack. And the casual way Nini referred to one of her moms sending her fortune cookie sayings in a regular ep instead of one of the two or three designated textual gay eps per season that Andi Mack was allowed was refreshing 

I really liked the skate park and shooting at an actual high school continues to pay off for the show

Looking Ahead:

It’s looks like most of the clips we’ve seen on various trailers came from the first two eps so we’re in largely uncharted waters going forward. Hopefully someone uploads the next ep promo

We know EJ has an apology song coming up so he likely gets caught sooner rather than later and I wonder if Gina gets exposed with him or if her breakdown scene we saw in the promo relates to something else

Until next week wildcats

[nellie-elizabeth]

Modern Family: The Last Christmas (11x09)

Yeah, this was a pretty decent installment, even if one or two things still had me rolling my eyes.

Cons:

Manny is so annoying. I actually liked the idea of Luke having genuine feelings for Sherry, and how that might affect the whole family. There was this idea of Manny's parents and Luke's parents defending their sons, and Luke developing emotionally, and Manny having to learn to be more mature as well, and get over his heartbreak in an adult way... but no. We get some setup and promise in that direction, and then it all blows up immediately. I'm just so exhausted by Manny as a character.

I like it when Modern Family does big ensemble stories like this, because it means even if every plot thread doesn't it the mark, there's enough going on that it doesn't matter. That said, I didn't care about Jay trying to get Claire to work with him in his dog bed company. It was just entirely shrug-worthy for me.

Pros:

Haley was actually my favorite part of this episode, even though she didn't really have a story-line of her own. Essentially, she is done breastfeeding and so she's drinking wine and meddling in other people's drama. She had the two best jokes. One, when she compared Joe to a "sad ham" and then apologized because she's drunk and upset. Her line delivery really cracked me up. The second is when she talks to Mitchell about Cam's family being poor because they "eat plants and animals they find in their backyard." Ha!

Cam is really determined to make this Christmas a great one, but everyone else's drama seems to be getting in the way. It turns out, he's so determined for a good holiday because he might be getting a job that would move him, Mitchell and Lily away, meaning this would be their last Christmas all together in the same place. This is a great setup for ensemble shenanigans, and it leads to a great moment as everyone around the dinner table starts talking about potential plans to leave - Alex might have a job opportunity in New York, Haley might have one in Paris... maybe Jay and Gloria will move to Palm Springs, Manny might go to school in London. It's a nice moment where the family realizes that this phase of their life might be over, and they settle in for a happy holiday together to cherish what time they have left.

Sitcoms need a status quo changer at the end, and the idea of the family moving on to new phases of their lives works really well. I think we all saw it coming that Cam and Mitchell might move away, but it works even better if most of the characters are moving on to new things, especially the Dunphy kids, who have been stagnated for so long.

Gloria and Phil fight about their future together in business, which I thought was great. Gloria has been interviewing elsewhere, because she worries about putting a strain on their family relationship if they work together as well. Phil admits that he can be sensitive to Gloria's critiques, but also that he needs someone to help him stay relevant. I like the idea of them working together. It gives Gloria some much-needed narrative momentum.

I love Lily, agent of chaos. I know some people think this kid is an annoying actress, but she cracks me up. I don't have a lot more to say about that, I just love how happy she is to see so much chaos around her!

And I think that's all I've got for now. I enjoyed the sentimental tone of this episode quite a bit - it reminded me that there's still a beating heart to this show, underneath all of the treading water.

8.5/10

[subtleabrasion-blog]

Class dismissed

I argue that the working class in television has changed over the years and over our change of working class in society. Though sometimes I think that it is not always entirely accurate.

In the video they talk about how single mothers are in poverty level jobs most time and yet we see shows on TV like The Parkers, as the video said, or Gilmore Girls who are single moms in awesome houses and a job that doesn’t really seem to match that.

Then we have Roseanne which is actually one of my personal favorite shows. It shows a more realistic idea of what a working class family in middle America is really like. She would get a lot of shit for trying to make the show more realistic, and keeping feminism within her show. But this is why I love the show.

I like shows like Modern Family because they have some components that remind me of my life. Phil Dunphy reminds me of my husband, Mitch and Cam remind me of the gay couple at work because they argue almost exactly the same. and I love Jay, mainly because I’ve been a fan since Al Bundy - another realistic example of real lower middle class.

But they live in fantastic houses out in California. Claire work at a damn closet company and makes bank? It’s closets, I didn’t even realize a closet company could be a thing.

Roseanne reminds me of my family growing up, only the mother is sober. The mother and father are struggling to make ends meet (much like my husband and myself) and they work shitty jobs to put food on the table. They are sarcastic with their kids but always try to do the best they can for them.

This is a bit over dramatic, but this is also something my husband and I do. We sit and have a good 10-20 minutes each night where we talk about our day, and since at the moment we both work in restaurants it is almost always complaining and trying to get our frustrations out.

But aside from the over the top stories, this is what working class is to me. A family where one or both parents works and comes home after a rough day only to want to let it out to the family. I know these stories because I live these stories. Not exactly the same way, but I work in a mall like Al. I see crazy shit around the mall like he does, and I have to deal with insane people who want a well done steak that’s not dry, a rare tuna steak that’s not cool in the center, a crab based soup with a shellfish allergy.

I think that as we grew as a culture, the modern sitcom went from even slightly realistic to more idealistic. We went from Al bundy to Adam Braverman - a guy who owns a record producing company that makes no money yet they have all this money to have his wife run for mayor, start a charter school, ect.

Working class is still shown, but the vision has most definitely been skewed.

[nellie-elizabeth]

Modern Family: Frank's Wedding (8x19)

A fairly successful episode, although it felt a little rushed in parts, and a bit too on the nose in others. Let's take a look.

Cons:

I must start by saying that I hated the episode tag on this one. Usually a lackluster tag wouldn't be something to comment on, but... come on. Joe has to say "Great, now I have a swamp monster," and the kid's line delivery is cringe-worthy. Not his fault, obviously. And it's one of those silly things where Jay ends up with a tarp covering him, and green paint, and leaves sticking to it, just so Joe can come in and think he's a monster. Way more slap-stick and contrived than I can take.

As I said in the first sentence, there was a bit of a pacing issue. All three stories are about family and making sacrifices for loved ones. In each, there's a moment where a character has to realize his or her mistake and come forward to support their loved ones. Since we're cramming three of these revelations into approximately twenty-three minutes of television, it's a bit rushed. This is especially true in the Dunphy plot, where Phil decides to be "normal" and his family realizes they've made a mistake all in the span of about thirty seconds. A better episode would have put the Dunphy plot thread in the center and had the other characters fall to the background. That way, we'd have more time to focus on what is in fact a perfectly decent plot thread.

Pros:

So, Jay is learning that one of the perks of being old is that he gets to say no to things. This backfires when he sees Joe, Gloria, and Manny painting Joe's room together (monster-repelling paint, of course) and he's not invited to join in on the fun. This was a simplistic little story that I quite enjoyed. I could have done without Jay running around trying to clean out the garage through trickery, but even that became part of the fabric of the episode. Jay is so focused on being grumpy about Joe's old crib being in his way that he forgets to spend time with his family. Also, even though I hated Joe's line at the end about the swamp monster, I actually chuckled when he says "oh no, I do not need a ghost," in this put-upon tone of voice, like he's just got too much else on his plate.

Meanwhile, Cam's sister Pam is in town. For years, Cam has been using Mitchell as a buffer by blaming all of his own negative feelings about his sister on Mitchell. Mitchell staunchly refuses to say a single bad word about Pam, forcing Cam to reveal how he really feels. All of this negativity is put aside when Pam reveals that she's nine months pregnant. She gives birth on Cam and Mitchell's living room floor, and Mitchell suggests that she and the baby could stay in the apartment upstairs for a while. Cam takes credit for the idea.

This plot thread had a lot of jokes that I loved. Pam isn't exactly a favorite character of mine, but there was a lot of great physical comedy and some great quips, like when we learn that the father of Pam's baby, Bo, is in prison for punching a police horse in the face. When Pam goes into labor, she says she can't make it to the hospital, and says "Call 811!" Cam, in a tone of pure panic, turns and says "No, Mitchell! That's for livestock! Call 911!" as if seriously worried that Mitchell would call the wrong number. That just cracked me up.

Finally, we've got Frank's wedding. Phil and his family show up dressed in 1920's gangster garb, only to learn that costumes were optional. Phil knew this, and the family is all embarrassed and angry with him. Phil puts a stop to his dad's plan to have a surprise paintball confrontation at the alter, and he backs down from all his crazy antics. Claire and the kids realize they've made a mistake, and they work with a bride to pull off a surprise paintball climax to the wedding after all. Phil and Frank are both delighted.

As I mentioned, the pacing was a little rushed. But this was still a surprisingly sweet little plot arc. I loved the costumes, and I loved the moment when Claire pulled out the paintball gun. You just knew stuff was about to go down. Claire is often a bit embarrassed and put off by Phil's shenanigans, so it was nice to have an episode like this that reminded her how wonderful her husband is. The fact that he's goofy and high-spirited is a really good thing, at the end of the day. Who wants to be married to somebody who's super serious all the time?

That's where I'll stop. I enjoyed this episode. I didn't love it or anything, but it made me smile and it was pretty touching at moments.

8/10