#and that's cause i've been busy... with this!

[cherrygirlfriend]

─── AEROPHOBIA ✈︎

✈︎ pairing: ceo!rafe x housewife!reader

✈︎ summary: rafe has an idea for how he can distract you from your fear of flying.

✈︎ warnings / tags: fluff, smut, pet names, fingering, oral (fem. receiving), orgasm denial, unprotected piv, breeding kink, praise, rafe being a wife guy but also dumb <3, prescribed medication, MDNI! WC: 3K

✈︎ author's note: this is the longest smut i've written,, NEE-NAW NEE-NAW WARNING! freakrina is defrosting for hot girl summer. hide your mans, hide your minge and hide your gals. don’t say i didn’t warn ya!! for the person who wanted airplane sex with rafe <3

HOUSEWIFE MASTERLIST ♥︎ RAFE MASTERLIST

you'd never been good when it came to flying; every time you knew you'd be faced with the displeasure of having to step on a plane, you popped a xanax you'd been prescribed with an hour before you'd fly, the pill being the only thing that had a somewhat calming effect on you. you really didn't know what caused the terrible pit in your stomach whenever you felt the plane start to ascend, lasting all throughout the flight and even a few hours after it had landed.

but rafe knew you weren't used to flying, knew it stressed you out so much you couldn't sleep for the night before you were supposed to get on a plane. your sweet, utterly clueless husband had thought he was doing you a favor by surprising you with a nice getaway. with a ten-hour flight.

but the moment your driver had pulled up to the airstrip where rafe's company's private jet stood, you burst into laughter. he had to be joking? turns out that he wasn't. and after thirty minutes of you arguing about how much you didn't want to do it, and your husband arguing that you'll be fine, that he'd be right there with you, you reluctantly agreed.

"this freaks me the hell out." you whispered sharply, buckling your seatbelt and gripping onto it, already feeling your stomach starting to churn. one would think that flying private would actually make an aerophobe feel more relieved, but it had the opposite effect. private jets are 30x more likely to crash than commercial plane. you'd looked it up when rafe had mentioned going away for a business trip on the jet you were currently on board of.

besides, if you were to crash in the wilderness, regular airplanes would have multiple people on board. strength in numbers. however, this jet had five people in it, including you and rafe.

it would drive anyone insane to have to spend an extended amount of time with five people, but to have to do that after having to endure something as traumatic as a plane crash, and if there was no food except whatever food the plane has on board, everyone would slowly start to starve to death. and with the statistics on how many men leave their wives when they discover they have a terminal illness, how far-fetched is it to say that if it comes to a man's survival over his own wife's- no.

you took in a deep breath. you felt rafe gently peel your hand away from the seatbelt that had started digging into the skin of your palm. you looked at him with doe-eyes, your husband looking back at you with a kind smile as he uncurled your fist, bringing your hand to his lips, pressing a kiss there and intertwining your fingers together.

"i didn't even get to take anything..." you mumbled quietly, your lips turned down in a frown. your husband let out a breathy chuckle, making your pout even more pronounced in confusion. he pressed his thumb onto button on the side, and soon, a woman's voice sounded out in the speakers above you, making your eyes widen slightly, "yes, mr. cameron?" "could we get a glass of the macallan, 25, as well as a glass of château d’yquem?" "right away, mr. cameron." rafe let go of the button, turning back to face your confused gaze.

soon, a flight attendant brought over a tray of drinks. "here you go, mr. and mrs. cameron." she said with a kind smile, handing rafe a glass of whiskey and handing you a glass of wine, and you thanked her sheepishly, the woman going leaving you two alone again. you looked at the golden-yellow liquid with suspicion, "this is one of those fancy wines again, isn't it?" you narrowed your eyes at him, "i've told you i don't like it when you spend money on something as frivolous as wine for me-" "just try it."

you stuck your tongue out at rafe playfully for a moment before taking a tentative sip of the drink, your eyes widening in surprise at the taste, your husband taking a sip of his own whiskey with a slight grin, "don't get cocky." you nudged him softly.

"stop stroking my ego so much." rafe brought his hand to your jaw, and you automatically followed his touch as he brought your face closer to his, your lips connecting, the sweetness of your wine mingling with the smokiness of his whiskey as rafe's tongue pushed into your mouth. the pit in your stomach feeling lighter and warmer, the entire world muting around you, the only thing you could hear being your own heartbeat and the sounds of your lips joining.

rafe's hand tangled into your hair, and you let out a muffled moan into your husband's mouth, your hand going to rest on his cheek, feeling the warmth in your stomach starting to slowly turn into a flame as he kissed you like he was starving and you were the most delicious thing he'd ever tasted, only for your husband to pull away from the kiss, leaving you breathless with your pupils blown wide and lips swollen, some of the lipstick having gotten onto his lips, "why'd-" "i knew i could find a way to distract you." rafe smiled softly, making you furrow your brows.

and only then did you notice that the engine was humming, and that you were actually in the air. "did you just... oh, you play dirty." you shake your head, feigning offense. your husband simply grins, before pulling something out of his pocket. rafe takes hold of your hand, placing a small tin box onto the palm of your hand, "what's this?" "you think i don't know my own wife?"

you opened the lid of the small tin box, seeing two xanax bars inside, and you turn to look at him with an appreciative smile. "you remembered." "yeah, i remembered. i also remember the time you forgot to take one and had a panic attack in mid air." rafe tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear. you rolled your eyes at him affectionately, popping the pill into your mouth and washing it down with the wine rafe had gotten you earlier.

"the thing is, though..." you purse your lips, "it takes around an hour to take effect..." you brought your manicured finger to the base of his jaw, glancing down at rafe's lips, hearing the slow intake of breath as you slowly trailed you finger down his jaw, looking back up at his eyes, "we should come up with something to distract me." you stuck out your bottom lip in a sultry pout, leaning into him as your finger arrived at his chin, your thumb taking hold of it, "i mean, what if i get anxious?"

rafe didn't need to be told twice.

your husband's head was between your legs, your shirt long gone, your nipples straining against the white lace of your bra, your skirt bunched up over your hips, matching lacy panties in the back pocket of rafe's back pocket. one of rafe's muscular arms was wrapped around your thigh as they rested on his shoulders, his button-up shirt unbuttoned, the sleeves pulled up to his elbows in a way that showed of the slightly bulging veins, "oh, fuck!" you moan, your hand tugging on his hair, bringing his face closer and closer to your bare sex.

he'd been on his knees in front of you for what felt like forever, and every time you'd felt like you'd been close, rafe would pull his fingers out of you and pull his face away from between your legs and look up at you, his lips coated in your arousal as he grinned up at you, enjoying the desperate whines you were letting out, "thought you wanted to be distracted, sweetheart."

but now you felt his middle finger and ring finger curling inside of you, the coldness of his wedding ring inside your tight, warm walls a contrast that caused shivers to run up your spine, his tongue switching between teasing your clit by rolling the throbbing bud in his mouth and sucking it in a way that made you gasp each time,

"please don't stop..." you pleaded, your eyes squeezed close, rafe letting out a hum of a laughter against your clit that made you shiver. you felt his fingers starting to scissor inside of you, stretching you out in a way his cock always did, your manicured nails tugging on his hair harder.

rafe's lips attached them onto your clit now, making you arch into his mouth, his mouth responding to your hard tugs by sucking on the poor bud harder, his long digits curling inside of you, hitting that sweet, spongy spot inside of you each time, unashamed moans leaving your lips.

"please, don't stop, please..." you begged, "please, 'm so close..." you cried out, practically grinding your pussy against his face, your walls slowly starting to clench around his fingers, your husband only picking up his pace, heavy breaths and moans escaped you as you were starting to feel it, the heat in your abdomen threatening to break the dam building inside of you, and the flick of rafe's tongue against your clit was the breaking point.

you cried out your husband's name as you started clenching more rapidly around his fingers, rafe's affections slowing down as he helped you get down from your orgasm, the high slowly turning into relaxation, rafe pulling his fingers out of you with a squelch, his head becoming back into visibility as he pulled back and grinned at you, both fingers and mouth covered in your slick, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

"baby..." rafe chuckled, pulling his fingers apart yet they still were connected by your arousal. "you're like a fucking faucet. i think we're really gonna have to get these seats reupholstered." you felt your face grow hot at his words, only for your husband to bring his fingers to your mouth, "clean these up for me, won't you?"

you obeyed, pulling your lips apart, rafe slowly pushing his fingers into your mouth, and you automatically sucked on them, tasting yourself on his fingers. "that's a good little wife..." he cooed, slowly pulling his fingers out of your mouth.

rafe rose to his feet, and you watched with hunger as he grinned down at you, casually shrugging his shirt off and showing off his muscular chest, your bottom lip catching between your teeth. you watched as his ringed hands started working on his belt buckle, a visible bulge in the front of his pants, until they were in his ankles, the bulge even now more visible through his black calvin kleins.

you squealed when rafe picked you up by your thighs, your arms automatically locking around his neck. he then sat down on the seat you'd just thoroughly soaked, making you straddle him, "i think it's fair that you do all the job. since i spent, what," rafe's eyes flicked to the watch on his wrist, making him let out a grumbled chuckle, "forty minutes between your pretty little legs."

"i think that's only fair." you said, grinding down your soaked pussy against the bulge in his boxers, making rafe throw his head back slightly. "and i also think," he brought his hand to your pebbled nipple, pinching them through the flimsy lace of your bra, "this should come off."

with one hand, rafe unclasped your bra, and you let it slide off onto the ground, rafe letting out a groan, his hips bucking up into you, the friction of his hard-on against your pussy making you shiver, "you see how hard you get me?" he mumbled, his hands attaching onto your breasts, kneading the soft flesh while his thumbs pressed against your nipples, worshipping your tits as if this was his first time seeing them.

after a moment, he let go of your tits, moving them to your back as he pulled your body to him, twirling his tongue around your nipple before sucking it into his mouth, the sharp nip he gave to the gorgeous thing causing you to let out an equally sharp gasp as you threw your head back, rafe relieving the slight sting with his tongue.

"please, rafe..." you whined, your hands in the back of his head, "don't... don't tease me... i need you..." at your words, rafe let go of your nipple with a pop! the man shuffling slightly underneath you as he took his cock out of his boxers, holding onto the shaft with a grin on his lips, precum leaking from the pink head of his cock.

"yeah?" he chuckled breathily, "you need me?" rafe slowly rubbed the head of his cock against your obscenely wet slit, making you whine with desperation, "how much, gorgeous?"

"so much..." you mumbled out a gasp when you felt rafe slot the tip of his cock against your painfully needy clit, circling it slightly, "please, rafe." you tugged the back of his hair. he let out a chuckle, guiding his cock over your slit again until it got to your entrance, your walls clenching around nothing, "damn, so that's how much you want it, huh? well, i guess i gotta give my good little wife what she deserves..."

rafe's hands went to your hips, guiding you down so the head of his cock slid into your warm pussy, a gasp of relief leaving your lips at the contact. he let out a grunt as he felt you sinking down some of his length slowly, your walls accommodating yet squeezing him in a way that made him certain you and your pretty pussy were made for just for him.

you couldn't help it, you finally let yourself sink down on him fully, a mix of a gasp and a moan leaving your lips while a grunt left rafe's. "fuck, sweetie..." he groaned, "you feel so fucking good..." he began to move you up and down on his cock, every inch of him stretching you out as he thrust his hips into you, hitting that sweet, spongy spot inside of you. but his pace was too slow.

you took control, starting to move yourself at a quicker pace. "harder..." you whimpered, rafe's lips on your neck as he started meeting your movement with his own thrusts into you, "you want harder, hm? i'll give you harder." he sucked on your neck slightly, biting down on the soft skin as he thrust into you in harder, faster strokes.

one of rafe's hands trailed down to your pussy, the pad of his thumb finding your clit, making you gasp as he started drawing delicious circles over it. "rafe..." you moaned, tugging on his hair while your other hand dug into the flesh on his shoulder. "fuck!" he hissed out out, his hips thrusting into you even harder.

it was like he knew everything your body needed, everything it craved, everything you wanted, the passenger area of the jet filled with the slap of your skin against his along with the heavy breaths, grunts, and moans that left your lips. "rafe, i'm..." you whimpered, "i'm so close..."

"yeah, you close?" rafe started drawing quicker circles on your clit, "me too, sweets... fuck, you're so tight..." your husband groans, "you gonna make me cum in you, huh?" he grabbed your chin with his thumb and forefinger, tilting your head so you were looking down at him, "gonna make me put a baby in you?"

"yeah..." you mumbled, picking up your pace, once again starting to feel the fire inside of you starting to spread, "you want me to make you a mom so badly, dontcha?" you could simply nod your head intently as you felt the dam inside of you starting to break once again. "gonna fill you with my babies..."

you threw your head back when you finally felt yourself let go, when you felt every part of your body be filled with the bliss that had been trapped in your abdomen, a moan of your husband's name leaving your lips as he continued to thrust up into you even though your walls were gripping onto him tightly, clenching around him.

"gonna..." grunt, "get..." grunt, "you..." grunt, "pregnant..."

with one final thrust, you felt rafe's cock twitch inside of you and spill his warm load inside of you, painting your walls white as he stilled inside of you, the two of you slowly starting to get down from your climaxes, heavy breaths filling the jet, until they finally slowed down.

rafe was still inside of you, looking up at you, and even though he was starting to soften, he didn't want to pull out of you. he wanted to feel connected to you. your husband tucked a stray hair behind your ear, a small grin on his lips.

"what are you grinning at?" you ask, lifting your brows in amusement.

"just about the fact that i have a whole week with no work that i can spend to get you pregnant." rafe brought his hand to your stomach, making you giggle, "over and over again."

"can't wait."

TAGLIST: @raahosh @purpleplumpudding @rafesheaven @esotericcangel @mattyskies @nemesyaaa @dollyfiles @bakugouswaif @littlelamy @izumis-salty-penis @nonietosay @my-name-is-baby @cameronsbabydoll @tinythebunni @inbred-eater

[sirfrogsworth]

Clinging to sanity

Summary of this post...

My brain is broken. My A/C is broken. My phone is broken. My computer is broken. My support system is broken. My financial stability is broken. My family is broken.

And the big finale...

Please give Froggie a Yelp review to repair his relationship with his estranged uncles.

Seriously, I need a whole bunch of you to say nice things about me in a convoluted plan to get back the money my brother stole from my dying father.

If you don't feel like reading all of my broken stuff and just want to read about giving me a good review as a person, you can skip to the bullet point list at the end.

Alright, here we go...

I sometimes get in these states where I feel like my sanity is compromised. My mental defenses are minimal and I lose the filter on my brain that tells me "this is a good idea" or "this is a bad idea."

This causes me to say embarrassing things. I overshare with strangers. I keep myself from falling asleep because I have some amazing idea. But when I wake up in the morning I can't believe I lost all of that sleep for such a ridiculous idea. I write weird posts that no one likes. Or I post about controversial subjects like A.I. and trans people and RFK Jr. that I *know* will result in contentious feedback.

And my insane brain says, "You can handle it! Besides, you are so factually correct about this, no one will dare question your meticulous research. IT'S ALL GOOD! SEND IT, YOLO!"

I have a rule. If I am not emotionally or mentally prepared to defend my point of view on a controversial subject, I should wait until I am ready to publish.

Insane Froggie Brain ignores this rule.

After I "send it" and the negative feedback starts to flow in (even though I was assured by my brain it wouldn't), I become afraid to look at messages and replies and reblogs. And a lot of times I need that sense of community. I need to talk to my cool little community so I don't feel lonely. But Insane Froggie Brain cuts me off from that. I give myself all of this anxiety that could have been avoided by just posting another time.

And because I have no emotional defenses, that anxiety is amplified. Mean comments hurt much more. I obsess over them and my OCD causes thought feedback loops where I cannot get something out of my brain. I once couldn't sleep for a weekend because someone said I was wrong about how light reflects off the moon. They were right and I was also right but they said I was "misleading." And that just lived in my brain for days. I kept trying to think of new ways to better explain my point of view. I used up energy I didn't really have to take pictures of a baseball in a dark closet.

It was silly. It didn't matter. It was just a small disagreement. But OCD doesn't do small. OCD makes everything BIG.

What I'm trying to say is...

People need their emotional defenses.

People need their filters.

It's weird because I still have full access to my logical brain. So sane thoughts get all mixed in with the less sane ones. Sometimes I am self aware and can shut down the less sane ideas. Other times I am oblivious. And I *hate* losing control of my brain in any way. It's one of the reasons I've never touched alcohol. Which is why I get very disturbed when this happens.

I remember one time I was positive I was going to move to Florida and start a pet photography business. I had an entire business plan worked out where I trained people how to take the photos so the business could run itself if I got sick. I made an entire PowerPoint presentation to show Katrina so she would be my business partner. I was looking up rent prices for office space. I was making equipment lists for camera gear. She was going on a trip so she told me I could talk to her about it when she returned. And I am so lucky she wasn't available at the time.

Maybe if I had a normal person's energy, I could make something like that work. But once I returned to sanity, I realized it was orders of magnitude more complicated than anything I was actually capable of doing. I am still planning to do pet photography, but I have to come up with a more reasonable plan that does not involve Insane Froggie Brain.

I think it is just my ambitious mind trying to escape. Chronic illness is often heartbreaking because you have to temper all of your ambitions. And it is especially devastating when you are a very ambitious person, as I am.

I want to have all of these big ideas. But I have to filter them through reality. And when that filter is broken, I just unleash big ideas on all my friends. I once even held an official video chat meeting and we took notes and made plans. And I feel so guilty I wasted 4 people's time like that. None of those ideas happened. They had no chance of happening with my energy levels. But my friends and collaborators still did the meeting and nodded along like everything was fine. I appreciate them humoring me.

I also overshare. I overshare normally, but when I get like this I OVER SHARE. You are probably going to witness it in this very post. But I tell everyone everything about what is going on. I tell strangers. I tell a dog walking by.

"Hey doggie, my testosterone is returning and I'm struggling with having a libido again. I know most people would not complain, but it is very disruptive to my day! I have other things I want to do!"

Right now I am just not confident in anything I think or do. I wrote a post about social constructs yesterday. That literally took me all day to write. I was endlessly tweaking it and I thought it was going to be viral and helpful and win the trans debate for everyone.

It currently has 49 notes.

I'm afraid I did not fix trans rights.

Sorry about that.

And my rant about Christopher Nolan using IMAX is doing pretty well. I nerded out about film grain for like 2 paragraphs and it is getting way more notes than a philosophical perspective on constructs.

I just have no idea what people are going to like and I used to be pretty good at judging that. It's like I'm throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks but instead of a wall I'm throwing it into the void. The spaghetti just disappears into infinite darkness.

I'm clearly still recovering from the big house clean with Katrina. And I am more tired than normal. But I am also very stressed about losing the house. I'm trying to figure it out, but I may only have until the end of June before I have to make some scary decisions.

And also, my air conditioner is not working. It has a leaky evaporator. Last year, I had it recharged and that lasted the entire summer. If the leak is leaking at the same rate, I could just do that again. It would be expensive, but replacing the evaporator is so costly, I'd be better off getting a heat pump installed. I'm a good candidate, it could save me money in the long run, but I am nowhere near in a position to make that happen.

Also, my phone is falling apart.

Literally. The only thing keeping it together is the phone case.

And this laptop, which I love, was not meant to be my main computer. I bought it when my dad was sick and I needed something upstairs to manage his prescriptions and bills and appointments. It wasn't meant to be an image editing machine. And, to their credit, Apple has made a crazy powerful little computer. I admit it, I love an Apple product. It can handle way more than expected. But my photo restorations can sometimes end up with 5 gigabyte files. I can't even save them as PSDs. I have to use this weird "PSB" format. It stands for "Photoshop Big." When I fill up the RAM, my computer uses the main SSD. And when I fill that up, I think I can hear the laptop crying and saying, "I wasn't meant for this! Please use fewer layers!"

But I need to finish restoring these photos because I have delayed their completion by about 5 months (got sick before I could finish). And also because I need to pay for the A/C recharge.

You might be thinking, "Didn't you fundraise to get the big fancy powerful computer of your dreams a few years ago? Why don't you use that?"

My big fancy computer has been broken almost since I got it.

It was right before my mom got really sick and there is a major hardware problem. I worked with tech support for over a month and we could not figure out what the issue was. The computer is mostly unusable. Like, "can't even web browse" unusable.

It honestly has caused me so much depression. Like deep, deep, crying-myself-to-sleep-for-weeks depression. I still cry about it. I know it is just a thing, but I am genuinely heartbroken about it.

Why haven't I fixed it? I'm a good computer fixer, right?

Once I had to take care of my parents, I just did not have any extra energy to deal with it. After a month of back-and-forth emails from the manufacturer, I finally told them, "I'm sorry, my parents are sick. I will email you when I have the energy to revisit this."

If you know my story and how I took care of my parents all alone because I have a neglectful brother, then you can probably guess that energy never came.

I am good at tech support. I have been an expert in computers since I was a teenager. I have taken apart and built computers more times than I can count. I have never had a problem this frustrating before. It works fine for a few hours, and then it just progressively slows down to being unusable. I narrowed the issue to either the SSD, the CPU, or the motherboard. All things that are not easy to replace. (The SSD is behind the damn GPU.)

In the 30s, the Royal Air Force used to have issues with their planes that baffled them. This is where the term "gremlin" came from. No matter what they did, no matter how many parts they replaced, they could not get the "gremlin" out of the plane. These were professional mechanics who just could not fix something and it drove them nuts.

I have a computer gremlin. I've never experienced anything like it in all of my years of fixing computers. I was working with professional tech support people. I was on reddit forums. And the only thing left to do was start swapping out parts. I'd work on it maybe an hour each day with whatever energy I had and it eventually was too much. I just could not deal with it. They told me to send it back, but I could not take care of my parents without any access to a computer. So I just rebooted it every time I used it.

At that point, my parents were requiring 24/7 care and I was so overwhelmed that I said, "fuck it" and ordered this laptop. I figured I'd fix the computer when I had time or energy. But that time and energy never came. And I certainly didn't have the energy to haul a 60 pound computer upstairs, box it up, and then take it to UPS. So I just kept putting it off and putting it off.

And I let the warranty expire.

When I realized I did that, I cried myself to sleep for another few weeks. This material object has caused me legitimate emotional trauma.

Any part replacements are now on me. And there isn't really any way of knowing which part is faulty. I figured I'd buy a cheap SSD and start there.

I feel so fucking guilty because people donated money for me to have that machine. I feel like I let them all down by not getting it fixed. When I finish my recovery, I'm hoping I can sort it out. But that could be many months from now.

Recovery has been such a dark, lonely place. Trying to restore my health a millimeter at a time is a grueling marathon of misery. I have been struggling to keep Insane Froggie Brain at bay this entire time.

I felt like I was stuck in a hole.

And like a superhero with the power of friendship and puns, Katrina pulled me out of the giant hole I was in. My house turned into a biohazard. She flew from Florida to essentially clean and organize everything. How do you even begin to thank someone for that?

But also, she shouldn't have had to do that. I have a perfectly functional brother. But he hasn't spoken to me for nearly a year now.

I have other family in town. But I missed so many family gatherings over the years, they don't really know me. None of them have called. I'd have to rebuild those relationships if I want them to be a part of my life again.

And I haven't talked about this yet because it has been too painful.

But... my support system fell apart.

My aunt had to move away to take care of her father-in-law. A year before my mom passed she took care of my grandma as her end-of-life caregiver. And people should only have to do that once. But she has to do it again, and unfortunately, we haven't been able to speak much.

We were very good at keeping in touch in real life. But she is of an older generation and has trouble maintaining relationships on a smartphone. I mean, I get it. Some people are just better at meatspace than cyberspace. That was actually one of the things I liked about our bond. Almost all of my friendships are online. Having someone who liked to visit me and talk to me in person was special.

But, for the time being, I lost that. And it feels a bit like temporarily losing another parent.

I am struggling to even start writing the words for this next part.

I had two best friends. Katrina and I are great. Our friendship is probably better than it has ever been.

But my other best friend of nearly 15 years ghosted me without explanation.

I haven't talked about it because it has been too hard. Any time I try to think about it I get upset. My eyes are filling up with tears as I type this.

I have been pretending like it isn't happening.

Which is not working great.

I've been trying to hire a therapist.

They all have months-long waiting lists.

My friend just stopped talking to me and I don't know why.

They went from driving across the country and holding my hand at my dad's funeral to just not being a part of my life.

I'm so scared I said something terrible or did something terrible. I keep going through all of my memories trying to figure out what I could have done. But we had the kind of friendship where we'd talk about that stuff. If I screw up, they would tell me. We'd work it out.

This person who was in my life nearly every week for over a decade is just not there anymore. I keep losing people and I can't make it stop. And I am really worried that I am leaning on Katrina too much. She went from being part of a multifaceted support system to my entire support system. That isn't fair to her.

She has been very understanding. And she knows I am going to rebuild a support system as soon as I am able. But I don't want to overwhelm her and lose her too.

Weaning off this medication and living with no testosterone has been so miserable and she has been the only one helping me through it.

I'm doing so well with my recovery. I think I can be off the meds in 3 months and hopefully my testosterone will be fully back in range. I'm already more productive than I have been in nearly 8 months.

But I have 1 month of financial runway left and I am not going to get well enough before then.

Everything happens all at once. Every single time. And usually terrible things happen in my life at the same time terrible things happen in Katrina's life. She had terrible mold that destroyed her health for months. Thankfully it did not turn her transphobic, but it sure fucked her health for a while. She made all of this progress getting fit and healthy and BAM, the universe says, "You are doing too well, you need a challenge!"

So, what is my plan?

I am a problem solver and I have some doozies to solve.

Right now I am going to appeal to the family patriarchs on my dad's side. On his literal deathbed, my dad asked his brothers to "take care of me" and I am going to attempt to call in that favor.

I am going to ask them to talk to my brother and hopefully mediate a solution regarding the stolen inheritance. I want them to convince my brother to do the right thing and return the money he took from my dad.

Sorry, the money he "legally inherited" due to his wife "reinterpreting my dad's wishes" in the will.

Before you ask, I have no options to fight this in court. A verbal promise is not enough to overturn a written will. And the cost of fighting would be more than the inheritance. Please don't suggest any legal advice. I've talked to good lawyers. And unless I want to sue for emotional distress, there aren't any legal options available.

The best option is to appeal to my brother personally and ask him to keep his promise to my dad.

The only reason I am in this mess is because my brother repeatedly promised to give me the money. He said he didn't want it on multiple occasions. So all of my plans involved the expectation of this money. I was going to fix up the basement apartment and seek a roommate.

But it took over a year to just get it out of probate. A year I could have used to come up with other solutions. But he waited until the last minute and made his lawyer tell me he was screwing me.

I'm sure my brother will argue my dad knew what he was signing. But I know that is impossible. Before my dad passed, we were in the hospital and I saw the will for the first time. I asked him if it reflected his wishes. And I asked him if he meant to include my brother's wife in the will.

His response was, "Are you fucking kidding me???"

Readers, does that sound like a man that knew what was in his will?

Dad was so upset that he was about to have them cut off his leg just so he could live a few more weeks and fix the will.

You have to give my dad credit, he goes pretty hardcore when it comes to protecting his family.

I couldn't let him go through an amputation to protect me from my brother's shenanigans.

But I am pretty screwed now.

That said, my uncles are pretty hardcore too. One is *very* intimidating. So I feel like my uncles talking to my brother might carry some weight.

But I have one problem...

I mean, aside from the myriad problems already described.

How about... I have one additional problem...

My uncles don't like me very much.

They think I am a basement-dwelling loser who is faking his illness and was taking advantage of his parents for two decades.

One uncle even accused me of stealing from my dad.

They are protective of their brother. They loved my dad. Which is a good thing! As long as I can convince them that their assumptions about me are invalid, I think their love for my dad will compel them to help me.

They just don't have the context. They don't know me. They live in far-off lands. And due to some unfortunate timing, one uncle saw me at one of the lowest points of my life. This was maybe 8 years ago? He didn't realize I was thrown into the deep end and very recently took on the role as full-time caregiver for two very sick people.

My awful strategy at the time was "if I don't take care of myself, I'll have more energy to take care of my parents." If you are a caregiver, this is a bad strategy. It seems obvious you have to do some self care to give care to others, but when you are just starting out, that seems impossible.

My uncle showed up unannounced and I wasn't showered, I hadn't brushed my teeth in a week, and my room had a fun layer of trash on the floor. The trash can was overflowing and I literally did not have the spare energy to change the bag.

To make matters worse, my mom's medications and constant pain had broken the filter in her brain that prevents her from saying mean things. She was on this crazy chemo-like infusion that was basically using poison to fight her psoriatic arthritis. Her aggressive, blunt remarks were not her fault. That wasn't who she was. But she could not stop herself from saying hurtful things.

The kindest woman alive was suddenly Don Rickles without the "just kidding" subtext. And my uncle didn't know this and I got into an argument with my mom.

I probably looked like a pampered brat loser who just lies in bed and plays video games all day while arguing with his saint of a mother.

I don't blame him. Without context, that's exactly what it looked like.

So I am writing my uncles a letter.

It is essentially a memoir of the caregiving I gave to my parents. I hope to publish it publicly at some point, but right now it is just a letter to them. If it were a typical hardcover book, it would be about 70 pages long.

I am telling them everything.

If nothing else, I just need them to know my dad's story. I need them to know he was well taken care of. That I did everything humanly possible to make his last year as comfortable as I could. I need them to know he was *never* alone.

Sadly, because they probably think I am an unreliable narrator, I am my own worst witness. So I am asking 3 people in my current support system to write testimony to verify everything in my memoir is accurate. I even have a doctor's note!

It is probably insane to put this much effort into convincing my uncles to like me. But I'm pretty sure Sane Froggie Brain is behind the wheel of this endeavor. Sometimes the craziest, most desperate idea is the only option left.

Basically I am using my writing skills to try and save my Froggie butt.

I don't mean to be braggadocious, but people perusing my prose persistently pontificate that I am proficient at penning pleasing passages.

People say I write good sometimes.

And I think this memoir letter thingie is the best thing I've ever written. So I am hopeful I will deflate these dubious assumptions and tug on my uncles' heartstrings.

But there is something you all can do to help me.

A friend on tumblr is helping me edit this memoir monstrosity. And she gave me her testimonial to add to my 3 witnesses.

"I have been following The Frogman for well over a decade on his website. It was years before I learned his name was Benjamin! We all just call him Froggy. He was (and still is) one of the funniest internet guys out there. He is incredibly skilled at putting together humorous GIFs and photo sets, and his comedic writing is second to none. He regularly goes viral. Along with that, he was open and vulnerable about the toll CFS takes on him. I can attest to many folks over the years telling him that he has helped them as they dealt with their own health issues. He is so knowledgeable about so much--his posts are famous for being long, detailed, and wildly informative. And most of all, entertaining. They are a joy to read. We also followed along on his heartbreaking journey with his parents. He shared so much of them with us over the years that they felt like people we knew. It was so clear, from his long absences, how much he was doing for them. Our hearts broke when he told us his parents were no longer with us. Froggy has fans, and so did his parents. Otis, too. We love and support him and will always wish him the best."

It made me cry.

But it also felt like getting a Yelp review on... my entire deal.

And it gave me an idea.

What if I had a bunch of these as optional testimony for my uncles?

I'm not going to force them to read what a bunch of internet strangers have to say. But it could be a compelling way to prove my website antics were a serious attempt to build a livelihood for myself. My uncles were successful businessmen and respect a strong work ethic and trying to make your own way.

I was too early for monetization options like Patreon, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch, but I ran a very successful comedy blog. If I had my 2013 success in the 2020s, I probably would've been able to retire and live off that for the rest of my life. I have several original GIFs that were downloaded tens of millions of times. Google said one of them was searched for over 100,000,000 times.

My blog was silly, but I took it seriously and I had sponsors and merch and an Otis plush.

They think what I did was like when you are at the family Christmas gathering and you ask your weird cousin what he's been up to and he says, "I run a blog about corgis from my parents' basement."

How do I relate the impact I had? They don't know what "Know Your Meme" is. They don't know what being on the front page of Reddit means. They don't know the amazing community I built. They don't know that I created one of the largest and most generous online support systems one could possibly have. I'm still alive and trying to make a life for myself because all of you continue to love and support me.

I was successful and I worked hard despite my disability.

I just had bad timing with the financial aspect of that success.

So, if you want to leave a Yelp review of The Frogman for my uncles, I'd appreciate it.

I came up with a list of things I need to prove to them. I'm just going to copy/paste the entire thing here. I'll strikethrough the ones you all probably can't speak to.

I am not a basement dwelling loser.

My website was more than a silly hobby.

I did not mooch off my parents for 20+ years.

I did not steal from my parents.

I am not the crazed, awkward mess [my uncle] witnessed.

I am disabled.

I cannot get a job.

I am a good person.

I am a likable person.

I was a good son.

I took good care of my parents.

My parents would not have been better off in a nursing home.

My parents would not have been better off moving closer to my brother.

My brother and his wife neglected and emotionally abused Mom & Dad.

My brother and his wife changed the will to benefit them against my mom & dad’s wishes.

My brother promised repeatedly the will was a mistake and I would receive the full amount.

I did not take care of my parents to “retain the house” or get money.

So, if you want to attempt to convince two elderly conservative Catholic men that my cat memes were lit, I would appreciate the help.

If you’ve been part of this community, and you’ve ever felt like I made you laugh, cry, or feel understood, a short 'review' of me as a person could mean the world.

Just remember your audience is...

Uncle #1: A stoic, but brilliant 80 year old who writes text messages like they are business emails. Complete with "Dear Ben" and "Regards, Your Uncle". He is still very sharp-minded and lucid. He thinks success is a high paying job, a house, and a family (my brother). He does not like weakness and consistently thought I should "be an adult and get a job." He is very loyal and respected my dad very much.

Uncle #2: A 60-something retired grandpa who thinks his constant dad jokes are genuinely funny. He is empathetic, but secretly judgmental. He will act like your best friend even if he doesn't care for you. He is an amazing grandpa. Very involved with his kids and their kids. He keeps every video of them getting a goal in sportsball on his phone. He will help you if you think you deserve to be helped. He is very close with Uncle #1.

So... kinda running the gamut there.

You can reblog this post or leave a reply or send a private message or email me at frogman54@gmail.com

I will be anonymizing your names for obvious reasons.

I fear my uncles might not understand why Tumblr user "PokemonAssBlaster69" is saying nice things about me.

Explaining "The Frogman" is hard enough.

Anyway, thank you in advance.

[dark-lord-of-awesomeness]

Infects you with brain worms. Infects you with brain worms. Cmon. Cmon you know you want to write Vampire Bat Stan being afraid of heights and climbing his brother. Cmon you know you want to write Ford using a toothbrush to do the brushie brushie on a sleepy Bat Stan. Bat is only one letter away from cat cMON YOU KNIW YOU COULD. INFECTS YOU WITH BRAIN WORMS INFECTS YOU WITH BRAIN WORMS

I'll do it, but only because i really want to and I heard its your birthday. And I was half tempted anyway.

Someday my tags will get by unseen. Someday.

"So how's this supposed to work," Stan asked, standing in Fords vampire death lab, "Because if it involves yelling anything, I'm out."

"As far as I can tell there's no incantation," Ford said, "All the vampire's I've seen transform just do it."

"Maybe think bat thoughts!" Fiddleford yelled, still on the other side of the lab and in his 'safety bubble' which he'd set up shortly after Stan had been dragged into this whole mess. Since it was only a matter of time before the hunger became too much and Stan lost it, they'd put up several safety precautions so that Fiddleford hopefully wouldn't be his first target. Ford was determined to 'contain' him when that time came, but Stan had exchanged enough glances with Emma-May and Fiddleford to know that they wouldn't hesitate to put him in his permanint grave.

But for now, there was a ring of garlic around Fiddleford, as well as a several silver chains cross-crossed around him. It made Stan hurt just by looking at it, so he tried not to. Stan and Ford were on the other side, in the little area near the door Ford had set up so that Stan had somewhere to hang out down here that didn't make his skin want to crawl off, and kept him out of sight if any townsfolk happened to sneak down here for whatever reason.

Since Stan had dedicated himself to their cause and promised to help either clear out the other vampires surrounding the place or find a way to help the townsfolk outlast them, he'd been working on his 'vampire powers' that Ford said he should have but no one had bothered to tell him about.

Too busy being 'mysterious' and 'edgy' probably.

"What does that mean? Bat thoughts." Stan muttered, "I'm not flapping my hands, if that's what your saying."

"You shouldn't have to," Ford said. His brother was standing a few feet away, somewhat less garlicy than usual and silver lined coat hanging on a nearby chair so he wouldn't burn Stan while he was down here. Stan thought it was stupid, but Ford was dead set on it after they'd brushed arms once and Stan's arm had been seared.

"Like I said," Ford continued, "all the vampires have gone from one form to the other without doing any kind of verbal incantation or movement. Some have done it from standing, others running, jumping, and in one particular case, cartwheel."

Stan groaned, then rubbed his face. That was less than helpful. All of those vampires were probably dead and the secret of tranformation gone with them. And it wasn't like Stan could stick his head out and yell out to the crowd.

"Alright," he shook out his hands, then narrowed his eyes, "Bat thoughts. Just gotta think like a bat... what do bats think about?"

"Blood sucking, i reckon." Fiddleford called out, and Stan shot him a glare. The man ignored him, tinkering away at whatever vampire killing machine he was working on now.

"Maybe think about the act of changing form," Ford said, drawing his attention, "the freedom of movement a smaller form provides, or escape."

"Escape, huh?" Stan could get behind that. Escaping was practically his... blood and blood? Neck and blood? There wasn't a good vampire play on bread on butter, only having one food source.

Whatever.

Stan tried to focus on being smaller, less noticeable, just a small, regular guy. Nothing to see here, just your run of the mill, more natural blood sucker.

Ford let out a gasp, and Stan yelled as the ground disappeared from under him. Quickly opening his eyes, he saw the cold hard floor fast approaching, and tried to bring his arms up to catch himself. Instead two giant black sails jerked down, and he was catapulted back up. All the noise in the room seemed twice as loud, and disorienting him and making it even harder to focus on what he was doing.

"You did it Stanley!" Ford cheered. Stan would have loved to join him, if he wasn't waving his arms around and screaming. Despite now looking like a bat, he didn't fell any kind of natural instinctive way to flap his wings to actually fly like one, and seeing the ground so far below him wasn't helping.

Before he managed to slam himself into a wall or the floor, he was grabbed out the air by a pair of disgusting smelling hands. His entire body fit into the palm of one of them, but his giant wings spilled over the sides. He pulled them in, struggling to figure out how to move everything, then hooked his thumbs around the nearest fingers.

"Hmm. Ford said, suddenly much larger and louder than before, "I didn't realize flying wouldn't come naturally. Something to practice."

"Practice-smactice!" Stan hissed, thankfully still able to talk, "This sucks! In a non-vampire, terrible way! I'm tiny! Why would I ever want to do this?"

"To escape notice, or flee," Ford said, holding his hands up and way to far off the ground, "Now off you go."

Ford jerked his hands up and let go, but Stan wasn't having it. Turning into a bat seemed cool in theory, but actually doing it not so much. The ground seemed twice as terrifying at this size, and his arms were already tired from his mad flapping earlier. Stan clamped his thumbs around Ford's sleeve, then kicked his legs until he found a finger and held on tight.

This felt much more natural than flapping his arms around. He tightened his grip when Ford grunted and started waving his arm, but even as a bat Stan was much stronger than him now, he wasn't coming off unless he wanted to.

"Come now Stanley," Ford said, bringing in his other hand to try and pry him off, "You won't get any better if you don't try."

"Too bad," Stan hissed, holding tighter, "Its not happening. Lets just move onto less horrible, more useful vampire powers."

Ford sighed, but he did stop prying at Stan and instead just held his arm out, "Very well. Change back and we'll move on. You might be able to turn into mist, and there's a few others that might be worth trying."

Stan nodded, then tried to think of... not human, vampire thoughts? His thoughts hadn't really changed much the last year, just got more annoyed by how much unlife was one downside after another, and trying to ignore the gaping pit in his stomach and how dry his throat was all the time.

Regardless, he thought his thoughts, trying to will himself back.

"Stanley," Ford said, giving him an unimpressed look as he continued to hang off his arm, "We can't move on until your back to your original form."

"I know!" Stan replied, using his thumbs to crawl higher up Fords arm so his feet weren't holding Ford's fingers and were instead clutching his sleeve, "I'm trying! Its just that I'm-" Stan smirked, "-winging it here."

Bingo. Fords face twitched as he snorted, then he coughed into his other hand when Fiddleford sighed.

"But seriously," Stan said, squinting at the ground that was still way too far away, "I'm not sure what kind of thoughts scream 'turn back into a vampire'."

"Blood sucking!" Fiddleford yelled, and Stan leaned over so he could glare at him again.

"Not helping!" he called out, then yelled when Ford moved his arms. The one he wasn't holding went up to rub at Ford's chin, while the one Stan was clutching to for dear life crosed under it, squishing him into Fords chest.

From here, he could really hear Fords steady heart beat, strong and powerful, full of delicious untouched blood. He could also smell all the garlic, making him gag and burning his nose as he struggled to free himself from Fords arms.

"Hmm," Ford said, oblivious to Stan's struggles, "Well if escape turns you into a bat, then maybe attack? Try thinking aggressive thoughts."

"Believe me," Stan wheezed, garlic making him dizzy, "I'm thinkin' all kinds of painful thoughts."

Ford finally seemed to realize that maybe holding him so close to his garlic aura was doing more harm than good, and he muttered an apology as he stuck his arm back out. Stan took a few deep breaths, trying to clear his head. The garlic smell didn't go away, but it wasn't as bad as before.

"Ugh," Stan coughed, then climbed further up Fords arm so he wouldn't get squished at any unexpected arm movements, "Why'd I want to do this again? You look awful from this angle."

"I believe you said something about wanting to" Stan yelped as Fords arms came up to make quotation marks, making him loose his balance and slide so he was hanging upside down, "'one up those stuck up assholes' by using your shared power set against them. I'm not sure why we started with turning into a bat. It just seemed the right course of action."

"Well," Stan muttered, using his wing thumbs to hook onto Fords shoulder and swing up, "next time I suggest something that involves my feet leaving the ground, remind me of this."

The garlic smell got worse the closer he was to Fords neck, but he'd take it over being swung around like a handbag while Ford talked. He eyed his brothers chest, then wiggled so he could climb down and hang down by his stomach.

"What are you doing," Ford asked, holding a hand out behind him. Hopefully to catch him if he fell, and not to squish him.

"Trying not to get flung off," Stan said, hooking a thumb into the shirt and grabbing it with his weird little legs, "Your whole face makes me want to pass out, so i'm gonna-" another smirk, "-hang out down here."

Stan was bounced slightly by the force of Ford's chuckle. The smell wasn't as bad down here, and the sounds of Fords stomach gurgling and his lungs working helped drown out his heart beat. He jumped when something touched his back, then bent his head backwards to see Fords hand, supporting his weight.

"I see," Stan grunted as Ford started moving, making the shirt and therefore Stan swing slightly, "I'll try to review my notes and accounts of some previous encounters, see if I can find a common trait for you to focus on."

"Sure, sure. Whatever," Stan said, pressing his head into the fabric of Fords shirt, focusing on the sounds of his brother's living body. It was different, being so close, louder.

Warmer.

Stan hadn't felt warm in ages. The closest he'd gotten was not-cold or burning. The heat of the sun was agony, the press of other vampires nothing but more cold corpses. Not even staying down south helped, the air cooling with the setting sun before Stan could enjoy it.

The last time he'd been warm had been the last time he'd lost it, ripping into Rico's men and stealing the warmth from their rapidly cooling bodies.

This wasn't anything like then. It was steady, constant. Not stolen, just the heat of his brother, soaking into him. The pangs of his hunger didn't go away, but it felt soothed, and the dryness of his throat wasn't nearly as demanding.

Stan shoved his face into Fords stomach, pressed his ear as close to his skin as he could, and listened to every beat, every whoosh, ever creak and groan. All the evidence of life he'd forgotten.

All the things he missed. All the proof that being a vampire really was its own form of hell.

"Stanley?" Ford asked, an hour or so later. There wasn't much detail on the hows and whys of vampiric abilities, but he'd gone through what he could fine, along with his own written accounts of the various vampires he'd taken care of since starting down this dark and- well it was lonely at first, but it was hard to claim the title with Fiddleford tinkering several feet away and Emma-May upstairs patrolling, along with all the townsfolk taking shelter in his house.

And the vampire, who was all but snuggling into Ford's stomach. He'd fallen silent some time ago after Ford had grabbed his books and sat down at his hastily cleared desk. He'd thought Stan was focusing on turning back into his original form, but a quick glance showed the half lidded eyes and Stan's wings slumped against him.

His brother made a high-pitched chittering sound, then nuzzled his squished bat face further into Fords shirt. The thumbs clutching the fabric pulled, then slowly eased.

"Stanley," Ford said again, smiling softly. Stan chittered again, sounding annoyed, then kicked his legs until he could grab on a little higher and push his face further into Fords shirt. Ford chuckled, then frowned.

Stan looked innocent and harmless now, but he'd seen blood crazed vampires before, and he knew it was only a matter of time before Stan lost whatever control he had. He'd been making preparations to try and contain and neutralize Stan when that happened, but the thought of what could happen if it didn't work- If Ford was forced to put down his own brother-

It sickened him. Stan shouldn't have to suffer something so terrible.

His thoughts were interrupted by another chitter, and a small eye squinted up at him. Ford chuckled again, then looked around his desk. It was risky putting his hands so close to Stan's head when he was half asleep like this, and the last thing he needed was to be turned by his own sluggish brother. He rummaged around some nearby drawers, then pulled a toothbrush out with a small 'aha'.

He'd stuck a pack down here when people had complained about his smell in the bathroom upstairs, and had resigned himself to doing his morning preparations down here. He made sure to grab a clean one, then looked back down at Stan's squinty, fuzzy head.

He really did look like a bat, down to his squished nose, large ears, and sharp teeth. The only hint that he was more than he appeared was how the fur around his neck was thicker, slightly curled, and gave the impression of a bat with a mullet.

That, and the stillness of his chest, the strength in his tiny digits, the paleness of his wings, and how cold he was. Like a corpse.

Ford brought the bristles of the tooth brush to the bat-mullet, gently brushing it down. Stan's eye narrowed, then closed, and he let out another chitter before settling down. Ford was tempted to pet him, but there was no telling how tempted Stan would be, so the toothbrush would have to do.

"If you get bit," Fiddleford called out, after a few minutes, "I'm not gonna stop Emma-May from staking you."

"I'll be fine," Ford reassured him, "I'm wearing another layer underneath my shirt, his teeth wouldn't be able to pierce it at his normal size."

Fiddleford humphed, and Ford shook his head, going back to brushing Stan's head. He'd have to make the bars of the containment unit smaller, now that Stan knew how to do this. Maybe a silver mesh, so that Stan couldn't slip through the larger bars.

Then... well, Ford was a scientist first, hunter second. If anyone could figure out how to cure a vampire, it was him.

[mvst4far]

AJ x pregnant!f!reader

SUMMARY: Being pregnant didn't mean you couldn't feel horny ever again. In particular, this week, your hormones sparked more than they ever had.

WARNINGS: slight sexting, brief mention of masturbation, oral (reader receiving), piv, pregnancy!kink??, unprotected sex, slight teasing?, gentle praises, sweet dirty talk and aftercare 'cause we all know AJ really is a sweetheart underneath ☹️

a/n , this isn't proofread so ignore the mistakes if there is any 💔

For the entire week, you had been attempting to get AJ's attention in every way possible. This stupid blond was so dumb, he thought you were just really cuddly and trying to hold onto him─not fuck him raw.

With you being pregnant, AJ had been denying his own hormones. He didn't want to accidentally hurt you, so he never voiced it. Instead, he would blow off that steam by fisting himself when he was showering and you were busy taking a nap. While he had his hand wrapped around himself, all he could think about was your mouth replacing it.

And during AJ's work hours, planning heists with his crew, you couldn't resist the urge but to send him a few cheeky photos and hope he would get the hint. The pictures were very subtle, but exposed enough. Again, AJ was basically the stereotypical blond of being dumb, he was oblivious to the fact your aching pussy was pulsing his name.

Instead of thinking you were horny, he genuinely thought those photos were for updating your stomach growth. The fact you sent him a photo of you laid on the bed, your round stomach and cleavage exposed, he responded with a lousy, "You look cute".

He was actually so stupid it made your blood boil.

How could someone so smart be so dumb at the same time? You knew he was clever, due to sometimes seeing the planning of some heists he had planned with his crew. But, when it came to hormones, he seemed like the most blindest person on earth.

And that wasn't the end of it.

Even when the two of you were showering together, you'd give him subtle hints by pressing kisses to the muscles on his back, his inked biceps and even brushing your lower back against the tip of his cock.

But when that didn't work, you felt the need to come clean and be brutally honest about how he was making you feel.

You were currently sat at the kitchen island, watching as AJ prepared two dinner plates for the two of you. His gray sweatpants hung incredibly low on his waist─exposing his v-line as he remained shirtless. His muscles were casually flexed, making your mouth water at the sight of his inked skin.

With a heavy sigh, you finally spoke your mind and what's been bothering you for the past week. "You've been ignoring me," You mumble, leaving no room for sugar coating.

AJ's eyebrow began to raise at your blunt statement, turning around to face you. "I don't think I have..." His voice laced with confusion, crossing his arms and leaning back against the counter.

This whole week he had been showering you with kisses, cuddles and whispering sweet nothings into your ear. How could he possibly have been ignoring you?

"Well, you have," You scoff, copying his action by crossing your arms and leaning back into the chair.

A sigh fell from his lips, clearly not recalling any moment of the week he had neglected you, but he didn't want to start argument. So, he let you have it.

"Fine." He gives in, pushing away from the counter and walking around it to approach you. "I'm sorry for making you feel like I was ignoring you." He murmurs, spinning your chair around so you could face him.

You didn't say anything for a moment, just letting your eyes bore into his after hearing his half-assed apology.

He clicks his tongue against his teeth at your lack of response, sighing once more. "I just don't know how I've been ignoring you." He shrugs.

There it was. The truth.

AJ was beyond terrified at this point. How you sat there silently, staring up at him with an almost glare that pointed out his stupidity.

"In a different way, you've been ignoring me." You spoke, dragging your words out slowly to see if he would understand.

But all he did was stare down at you with some confused puppy look. He was so lost, it almost made him frustrated.

With no response for about fifteen seconds, you roll your eyes and groan at his lack of intelligence. "Oh my God," You whisper to yourself, looking up into his icy blues.

You blink rapidly, occasionally flickering your gaze down to his crotch covered by his gray sweatpants. Surely that was enough for him to catch on, right?

AJ's brow furrows, his face soon dropping in realization. "Oh... oh!" He awkwardly scratches the back of his neck, clearing his throat.

"I─I... didn't know. Sorry," He mumbles sheepishly, once again clearing his throat for like the tenth time.

You didn't say anything after that─just rolling your eyes and sliding off the chair. You harshly grab at his hand, dragging him down the hallway to your shared bedroom. Having dinner was far from making a comeback─since all you could focus on was fucking your husband stupid.

AJ stumbles behind you like a lost puppy, letting you have your way without complaining. "I don't wanna hurt you," He whispers, shutting the bedroom door behind him as you stepped towards the bed.

"You won't." You reply firmly, crawling onto the plush mattress.

AJ watches as you carefully lay onto your back, adjusting your body in a comfortable position. After hearing your reassurance, he wasted no time but crawling on top of you and hovering over you.

His inked abdomen brushes against your stomach, having his hands on either side of your head to keep himself upright. He dips his head down to your neck, pressing light, feathery kisses along your collarbone and occasionally nipping at your skin.

"You're teasing," You mumble softly, a faint smile tugging at the corner of your lips.

AJ lets a small breathless laugh escape against your skin, nodding his head. "Yeah, I am." He smirks, "You don't like that, do you?"

Most of the time, you'd sit back and enjoy his teases to rile you up before ravishing you. But after being neglected for the whole week, all you wanted was to be filled up.

"No, not really." You answer truthfully, shaking your head.

He nods, fingers curling underneath the waistband of your pajama shorts. "Yeah, yeah, I'm gettin' to it." He sighs dramatically, sliding the fabric down your legs along with your panties.

Once your legs were spread for him, and the clothing was discarded to the floor, he took a moment to admire your pink, puffy pussy aching and begging to be touched. He definitely felt guilty for being so oblivious to your sexual tendencies, which was why he was going to make it all up now.

Diving straight in, AJ's mouth latches onto your bundle of nerves. He was sloppily kissing and sucking it all over, in goal of making you feel good. And by the moans and whimpers you were making, he could feel a proud smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Just like that... h-huuh," Your back arches, eyes squeezing shut as he continues to full on ravish you whole.

"C'mon, baby," He grunts, "Cum on my tongue for me, yeah?"

You nod, unable to fully get any coherent words out.

It didn't take long until you were leaking your juices into his mouth, letting him swallow it whole while his tongue teased your nub.

He brought the back of his hand to his mouth, sitting back up on his knees as he wipes his mouth clean.

"You doin' okay?" He laughs at your brows furrowed, chest heaving with clear lack of oxygen.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." You grumble, eyes opening to meet his. "Just fuck me already."

AJ was already sliding down his sweatpants at your words, his large, veiny cock springing out. "Whatever you say," He shrugs, aligning himself with you.

He first began to slowly slide himself into you, letting you get used to his long length after a while. But as he started to pick up the pace, he would whisper sweet nothings into your ear. Occasionally asking if it was too much, or if you needed a break. He couldn't help it. He just didn't want to hurt you.

After cumming all over AJ's slick cock, he helped you ride out your orgasm as he did the same. Leaving the two of you heavily breathing, sweat beads sticking to your forehead, and limbs aching. It had been a while, after all.

The both of you were now cuddled up on the bed, your back against his hard chest. He helped you get cleaned up, took a warm shower with you, and kissed you all over. After being the dirtiest manwhore in bed, he was genuinely a sap.

"I love you so much, you know that?" AJ presses a kiss to your pulse point, long fingers splayed over your stomach.

You smile. "I love you too."

taglist: @alealuvshayden @anakinstwinklebunny @divineani @estranged-girl @fredswrite

[scariusaquarius]

rehab. 39.

Avenger! Bucky Barnes x Winter Soldier! Fem! Reader

Summary: While on a mission to find any more possible super soldiers that were a part of the Winter Soldier program, Steve and Bucky make a discovery in an abandoned HYDRA base that was cleared out a few years prior to their mission. They discover the Reader, a long-forgotten soldier that was still asleep within a functioning cryostasis pod; still awaiting orders. While Bucky isn't happy about it, he is put up to the challenge of helping to rehabilitate the soldier in Wakanda where she may be able to become a person again.

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A/n: I'm sorry that chapters are taking a while to come out. Life has been very busy, but I'm getting a new car!! and I'm so excited!! Also, I started to workout every single day, and I've gone down two pant-sizes since I started!! Also, if you enjoy my work, please consider buying me a coffee! If you would prefer to read Rehab on Archive, you may do so right HERE!

This is an au where Bucky joined the avengers but still rehabilitated in Wakanda (sometime before Infinity War [canon divergent cause NOPE]). I am NOT fluent in Russian, so I did use google translate cause I couldn't find a good translator that I trusted. If anything is wrong, PLEASE let me know!! Also, I tried to list as many warnings as possible so you know what the story will contain as chapters are posted. Stay safe!

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Genre: Slowburn, Enemies to Lovers/Friends to Lovers, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Humor, Drama, Dark Content Rated: Explicit Warning: Angst, Dark Content: Graphic Depictions of Sexual Assault, Blood and Gore, Mentions of Manipulation, Kidnapping, Canon-Typical Violence, Body Horror, Nonconsensual Body Modification/Scarring, Emotional and Physical Abuse, Mentions of Murder, Mentions of Suicidal Thoughts/Ideation, Graphic Depictions of Human Remains, Mentions of Sexual Coercion/Manipulation, Death, Misuse of Drugs/Forced Drugging, Self-Harm (Graphic Depictions and Mentions), Nightmares

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Author: ScariusAquarius

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rehab masterlist. / rehab masterlist 2. chapter 38

In another part of the kingdom, all of the Avengers were sitting at a table with Shuri and T'Challa. All eyes were on Shuri save for Peter, who was fiddling with his Spiderman mask with a slight frown. Around Shuri were holograms that were showcasing high-profile individuals and locations. There was a grave expression on Shuri's face despite the determination that festered within her eyes, and she sighed slightly.

"As I stated before: In order to begin eradicating the rest of HYDRA, we are going to enlist the help of Nicholas Fury. He is currently on his way here to help us begin strategizing, but I must stress that this is going to be a very difficult and long mission. These people are...powerful people, and if we are not careful, it can have extremely dire consequences."

Natasha hummed, reclining in her seat as she murmured.

"A little espionage never hurts."

Clint snorted slightly, and Shuri sighed slightly. Steve stated firmly, crossing his arms as he looked at the different holograms that were floating around.

"This is going to be extremely difficult. The whole world knows our faces and who we are. How can we hope to hide within HYDRA when we are recognizable?"

Tony then pointed to Natasha, stating.

"Well, Miss Spider's Sunny Patch over here was able to fool Alexander Pierce with some sort of mask, so what if we just used that?"

Natasha shook her head, pointing at Tony.

"That's because the man was arrogant and let his guard down. These are going to be people with extremely difficult security measures. We're going to have to move in at the right moment, but let others do the work."

Peter frowned before asking, tilting his head slightly.

"Okay, sound logic, but how exactly are we going to do that?"

Bruce then shrugged, offering with a hesitant look on his face.

"What if we called Doctor Strange for help? Realistically, with what he can do, we might be able to pull this off."

Thor then perked up, squinting at Bruce.

"Bring in the magician?"

Bruce gave Thor a look, and Thor just stared at him. Tony then shook his head, raising his brow.

"Did I miss something?"

Bruce shook his head when Thor opened his mouth to speak, an embarrassed look on his face as he refuted.

"No, nothing at all. Can we move on? Doctor Strange?"

Shuri pursed her lips, crossing her arms as she began to think out loud.

"While Doctor Strange's abilities would come as a great help, I do not know if he would assist in something such as this. His sole purpose is to defend the Earth from inter-dimensional threats. I do not think HYDRA counts."

Bucky, who had been quiet the entire time, simply frowned. He wasn't exactly sure who the Avengers and Shuri were talking about, but from the sounds of it, he seemed to be a pretty big deal. Glancing at Steve, he was annoyed when he realized Steve wasn't looking at him to give him clarification, but Bucky didn't want to interrupt and ask.

Instead, his mind kept wandering back to his therapy session with Raynor, the annoyance making the plates in his metal arm whir and shift.

"Why do you insist on this? Things are fine."

Raynor just shook her head and sighed, stating with a firm look though her voice was calm and even.

"We haven't had a session in a while, and it seems that you've been busy. I noticed how you were reacting during the session with (Y/n). Why are you so protective over her?"

He wasn't expecting such a question, and if Bucky was honest, he wasn't even sure. There was a sensation of a need to protect; to shield (Y/n) that had his hackles rising every now and then. Bucky's eyes had looked everywhere but Raynor while he was in thought, and Raynor was gracious enough to stay quiet to allow him to try to figure it out for himself.

But he wasn't sure how to name the feeling that kept itching at his chest every now and then.

"I don't know. Maybe it's because I know how difficult it is to remember...how terrifying it is to relive the memories. I lucked out by having Steve, but (Y/n) doesn't have anyone."

Raynor was blunt as she replied, shaking her head as she crossed her arms.

"I think that's bullshit."

Bucky whipped his gaze to her, an offended look on his face as he regarded the woman with pursed lips.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's exactly as it sounds: it's bullshit. Just because you share that trauma doesn't mean you would be hovering like a goddamn guard dog."

Raynor uncrossed her arms and sat up a bit straighter, stating with a frown.

"James, at the first sign of distress, you were ready to end the session, and unfortunately, distress is a big deal when it comes to therapy. It allows me to understand where the wounds are, and it allows (Y/n) to know as well. I can't do that if you keep trying to shield her from her own therapy."

Bucky opened his mouth to reject her claims, but Raynor held a hand up to silently tell him to stay quiet.

"James, this is how healing works. You have to hurt before you can get better, and with (Y/n)'s specific case, it could be groundbreaking. I understand that you're her friend, but I think there's more to it than that."

Bucky frowned, his body tensing as Raynor looked at him with such an intense gaze that the man was starting to become uncomfortable.

"What are you talking about?"

"James...do you like this woman?"

Did he like (Y/n)? How absurd of a question was that? Bucky sighed slightly as he thought about Raynor's words. How did he answer something like that? Firstly, he didn't really know the woman. Sure, he was learning things bit by bit by helping (Y/n) to remember who she was and to learn who she currently is, but that was it.

Right?

He was just protective of her because Bucky knew how important and fragile this whole situation was. One wrong move could send (Y/n) down a spiral that he wasn't sure she would be able to come back from. She'd already made so much progress, and even Bucky knew that the smallest thing had a chance to set her off.

He was just trying to keep her sane.

So then why did his fists clench when the slightest bit of uncomfortableness came over her? Why did he feel the need to stand in between her and anything that was threatening her progress-including herself? Why did his chest tighten with every cry, every lost look, every flinch?

Bucky was just a man that cared about her. That was it. It was his duty and obligation to help her; an effort to make amends for what he did to her in the past. Not only that, but Bucky didn't want her to come undone.

That was all.

Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Bucky crossed his arms and sat back, his foot tapping quietly against the floor as he looked back at Shuri. Shuri was looking annoyed as Thor grilled her a little, and Bucky began to look around at everyone else in the room. On his right, Peter was watching with a wince as Shuri and Thor argued a little, but at the feeling of Bucky watching him, Peter looked at him.

"What is it?"

Bucky shook his head a little, murmuring.

"My money's on Shuri."

Peter chuckled slightly, rubbing the back of his neck as he agreed.

"Yeah, I think so too."

Peter then became quiet, pursing his lips as he wondered if he should ask, and he took a leap, asking Bucky quietly.

"I'm sorry if I'm prying, but...you look a bit stressed out. Is everything okay?"

Bucky internally cursed, not realizing that he was making himself obvious, and he straightened up a bit, replying as he watched Steve glance at him through his peripheral vision.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just a bit stressed out about (Y/n) is all."

Peter perked up, asking as he leaned closer so he could talk quieter, concern lacing his features.

"Is she doing okay?"

Bucky nodded, glancing back at Peter.

"Yeah, she's doing okay. She's remembering a lot more, and now that she's got her old journals and some pictures of her life, I think she's going to make more progress."

Peter smiled brightly, a happy expression coming across his face.

"Really? That's...that's awesome! How'd you get your hands on her old journals and pictures?"

Bucky hummed, a strange sense of pride settling over him as his chest puffed a bit.

"I found out she had an aunt through Sam. So, I made a trip, and luckily, her aunt was still alive. She knows all about Project Achilles, and gave me some journals and pictures to help (Y/n) remember."

Peter was in awe, shaking his head with disbelief.

"Wow, that's really cool. Seriously."

Bucky smiled slightly, and he finally noticed Steve looking at him. Giving Steve a frown, he asked.

"What?"

Steve smirked and shook his head, looking away.

"Nothing, just eavesdropping."

"You? Eavesdropping?"

Steve rolled his eyes, and Bucky snorted before Tony rubbed his temples and groaned.

"Alright, Lightning McQueen, can it for a second, will you? I can hardly think when my IQ keeps dropping every time you talk. Princess, what are our options here? Obviously, we can't do anything until Fury is here, but what's the strategy here?"

Shuri walked to a console, her fingers flying over the keys as she worked, and a holographic map of the world came up. Dots lit up in various locations and continents as Shuri spoke.

"Waiting is not a strategy. With HYDRA's remaining operatives being people in high positions-CEO's, Senators, Military Advisors, etc-we cannot wait in the off-chance that the rest of HYDRA comes together and they fortify."

Sam's eyes narrowed as he gazed at Shuri, shaking his head slightly as some of the Avengers nodded in agreement.

"These aren't just regular places. These are warzones in disguise."

Shuri nodded, tapping her fingers against the console slightly as she explained.

"Exactly my point. This is why we must slip in, and the best way to slip in would be with one person. A controlled infiltration with someone that could slip in reasonably."

Clint hummed, tapping his chin slightly as he gazed up at the holographic globe.

"This is a pretty high-stakes mission. If this person slips up even once, HYDRA won't just kill them off. HYDRA will go through whatever safehouses, whatever agencies, possibly even the Avengers Initiative, to send their message."

Shuri nodded, her eyes firm as she flicked up an image of (Y/n) mid-mission as a Winter Soldier. Her eyes looked dead within the image, a rifle raised and eyebrows furrowed. Her mask was tightly placed upon her face, and even within the image, Bucky could see the spots of blood decorating her face.

"That's why we send in someone that looks like one of their own."

The room immediately became tense, and Bucky exclaimed, jumping out of his seat.

"You can't be serious!"

Steve nodded, asking.

"(Y/n)? Are you sure that this is a good idea?"

Bucky looked betrayed, shooting his gaze to Steve with a look of awe and offense as Steve seemed to seriously consider the idea. Shuri stated gently.

"They made her. If she shows up, they would have reason to believe that we weren't able to break her programming. She's one of their most efficient weapons...would they really turn down an opportunity like this?"

Bucky hissed, T'Challa looking at the man with warning as he spoke.

"You're out of your fucking mind. Absolutely not!"

Before anybody could respond, the doors hissed open, all eyes on the doors.

"She's right."

Nick Fury walked in, Maria at his side loyally, as he walked in. The air of the room immediately grew tenser, and as his black trench coat waved like a shadow behind him, Nicky greeted everyone with a nod of his head.

"Every attempt to infiltrate HYDRA has been met with precognitive measures. They can see us coming before we can see them, and that's been our Achilles. We need someone to go in that they would welcome with open arms, and unfortunately, Barnes, that isn't you."

Bucky stepped forward, hissing and baring his teeth.

"She isn't ready for something like this. (Y/n) is barely holding it together as is!"

Nick gave Bucky a steely gaze, not backing down as he looked at the man with a frown.

"And yet, she's stabilizing and rebuilding. That's more than what most people can say that have gone through their system."

Bucky became offended, and Bruce finally spoke up despite the reluctance in his voice.

"Are you sure that you want to do that? What if she doesn't come back?"

"Then we burn HYDRA with her."

The room became heavy with silence. Bucky was seething, breathing heavily and his metal arm whirring loudly, and Steve murmured.

"You said it yourself-this is war. However, this needs to be done with her choice. We have to let (Y/n) make this decision. It isn't our place to make that decision for her."

Nicky shrugged and stated.

"Fair enough, but you need to remember that HYDRA created her since the beginning. She's their greatest asset, and they would be stupid to let her go again."

Peter then raised his hand sheepishly, all eyes on him as he asked.

"Okay, so...I know that this seems like the best course of action, but I do have to agree with Bucky. (Y/n)'s been through a lot...a lot...already, and I don't think it would be fair to make her do this. Are you sure we can't ask Doctor Strange for help?"

Thor finally spoke up, nodding his head.

"I agree with the spider. Perhaps, it would be smart to enlist the magician for help."

Wanda and Vision shared a look together, and Vision asked with an inquisitive look on his face.

"In what way would the Doctor's abilities be able to help where Miss Maximoff's wouldn't?"

Wanda spoke up, giving Vision a gentle look as she placed her hand against his.

"I can't shield her from her own mind. I can emotionally manipulate or influence memory and perception. HYDRA has broken and rebuilt her mind so many times that if I tried, I could cause more harm than good."

Vision took her words into careful consideration, humming.

"Yes, your powers are mainly empathetic, but the Doctor's are structural and anchored more in control and stability. Doctor Strange might be our best bet to ensure that (Y/n) is not lost to HYDRA again."

Bucky looked exasperated, stating.

"You guys are seriously considering this?"

Bucky shook his head, becoming increasingly upset, and T'Challa finally stated.

"We do not take this plan lightly, Barnes. We understand the risks that come with this, which is why we are exploring every other possible option and every possible failsafe for such a decision."

Bucky shook his head, running a hand through his hair.

"This is ridiculous. What if she freezes or breaks down? What if they're able to break her again? All of this rehabilitation...it would have been for nothing! I can't believe you'd suggest something like this, Princess."

Shuri looked genuinely apologetic, but Bucky was angry enough to not notice. Steve stood and stated gently.

"Buck, I know that this is incredibly dangerous, but that's why I'm trying to give (Y/n) the choice. We don't have to use her for this mission, but she's the best option that we have."

Bucky shook his head, unwilling to listen, and the man wordlessly walked out of the room, giving Fury a pissed-off look as he left. The room became increasingly quiet, and Peter quietly spoke up.

"I'm sorry, but I have to agree with Bucky. This seems...counter-productive."

Wanda was gentle as she replied to Peter.

"Sometimes, the most dangerous choices are the best ones that can offer us control. If we can enlist the Doctor's help, then (Y/n) has a much better chance...and could come out much stronger."

Peter looked uncomfortable, and Tony shook his head.

"Listen, as much as I hate the idea of putting a ticking HYDRA bomb into the den, if there's a way to buffer this out, then I want to hear it. Do we know where Doctor Strange is located?"

Nick Fury nodded, and he stated.

"New York City. I've already sent the address to everyone. I suggest we round up a team to go knock on their door."

Natasha then raised her brow.

"Shouldn't we talk to (Y/n) first?"

Shuri cut in, shrugging.

"Perhaps we should have Doctor Strange talk to her. If she can see proof that she will be fine, then she might agree."

Peter then spoke up, looking sheepish despite his tone being firm.

"Princess Shuri, I really think that we should have a backup plan just in case. The idea is solid, don't get me wrong, but I...I don't know if this is really smart. I'm sorry."

Nick sighed and replied, clasping his hands behind his back.

"I do have a backup plan, but it's going to be even more difficult for this agent to establish trust with HYDRA since they are a new face for the organization."

The room became quiet, and Steve said.

"Whatever we choose, I do think Bucky should be present. Bucky is the only one that (Y/n) trusts besides Shuri and Natasha, and I think he should be allowed to be present no matter how strongly he feels about this. If anybody can convince Bucky, it would be Strange...but I do need to voice that I don't agree with this. Just like Peter said: it's counter-productive and extremely high-risk."

Shuri sighed, her shoulders falling as she replied quietly.

"I understand how dangerous this is. I don't want to put Isithunzi through this anymore than you do, but what option do we have? Fury's backup...they would be watched too closely."

Peter became slightly stressed, insisting.

"Can we just...maybe talk to Strange before we make anything final?"

Tony agreed, his tone firm but his voice quiet.

"I agree with Underoos. I hate this plan, but if there's any chance that Strange can make this as foolproof as possible, I want to know and see it for myself."

Fury nodded, and Steve stood up with a look of apprehension on his face.

"Then I'll go get Bucky."

Natasha stood, making Steve glance at her with a thankful expression as she spoke, a slight smirk on her face.

"I'll come with you. He listens to me...sometimes."

Shuri then reassured everyone in the room, Thor giving her a deep frown as she spoke.

"If Doctor Strange agrees to help, and (Y/n) agrees, then I will begin to make preparations to ensure that she can make it through this."

Fury announced then, stating.

"Then it's final. Bucky, Tony, Princess Shuri, and I will visit Strange. Everyone else, standby for further instructions."

Thor muttered, shaking his head as Bruce ran a hand down his face.

"This is lunacy...I'm almost certain Loki is here, playing tricks again."

"Give it a rest, Thor, please."

Bruce begged, and Thor huffed. Vision then stated, regarding everyone with a light expression upon his face.

"I suggest we compile psychological profiles, pattern analyses, and infiltration schematics in the meantime. If this is going to work, we’ll need more than just magic."

Peter nodded before he offered quietly.

"I'll make contingency plans...just in case everything goes to hell, or something like that."

Tony didn't even bother to correct Peter before the Avengers began to make their moves.

-STEVE-

As Steve and Natasha walked the corridors to find Bucky, Steve was eerily quiet. Natasha didn't say anything at first before she offered her two-cents.

"Are we really sure that this is a good idea, Steve?"

"No, it's not."

His voice was almost aggressive, a deep frown on his face, and Natasha noticed how tired the man looked. His lips were pursed, shoulders tensed, and the gait in his step was almost urgent. While Natasha had seen Steve like this a handful of times, this time it felt different.

"Bucky had a point. (Y/n) isn't ready for something like this, and even with all of the failsafes in the world, we can't ensure that she's going to come out of this...if at all."

Natasha hummed in agreement, her own lips pursing as she replied.

"Even so, if something goes wrong, I'm sure that Strange can pull her out of there. We all hate this idea, Steve, even Shuri."

Steve paused, turning towards Natasha with an urgent look on his face.

"Then why are we doing this? Why are we going to put someone that was horrifically abused and tortured right back to where she was before? She's told Bucky and I that she doesn't want to go back there ever again...and us doing this is going to feel like the biggest betrayal. We're going to ruin her."

Natasha looked uncomfortable for a moment before she murmured.

"I get that, Steve, I do. I'm not saying that you're wrong. Everyone is wrong...but you and I both know that if she doesn't agree, then that will be the end of it. It'll be increasingly difficult without her, but since when has anything for the Avengers been easy?"

Steve considered her words carefully, shaking his head as he looked down at the ground. After a moment, he murmured with a saddened expression.

"I can't hurt her like this, Natasha. We're asking too much of her."

"Then let her make that choice. (Y/n) knows what she can handle and what she can't. She's not a blank slate...she's a human and she has feelings, and she can reason within reason."

Steve finally relented, nodding once, and the two began to trek towards Bucky. When they finally found him, Bucky was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a faraway look in his eyes. His metal arm was whirring, the plates shifting every now and then, and Steve began to feel guilty.

"Buck."

Bucky didn't look at Steve as the man addressed him. He couldn't, the anger boiling beneath his veins too much for him. Bucky's voice was steely as he spoke, glaring a hole into the wall.

"I can't believe you're seriously considering this, Steve."

Steve shook his head, explaining as he spoke.

"We haven't made a decision with anything yet. That's why we're going to talk to Strange first before we even talk to (Y/n). We're not going to force her to do what she doesn't want to."

Bucky finally looked at Steve, his brows furrowed and his blue eyes darkened to a stormy cobalt. His pupils were constricted, revealing the deep-seated anger within him as Bucky snapped.

"Yeah, well it sure as hell sounds like you've all already decided to have her do this mission and send her right back to hell. Again."

Steve sighed heavily, and he murmured.

"I get it, Bucky, I do. We all agree with you, but we're running out of time and we don't have the best resources to do this. If there's a chance that Strange could protect her during this...keep her stable, then it might be the best option."

Bucky raised his arms in exasperation before letting them fall to his sides, exclaiming.

"You seriously think Gandalf and his magic tricks are going to fix her from what HYDRA did and keep her stable? She can't even look at a picture of her own father without breaking down."

Natasha finally spoke up, Bucky narrowing his eyes at her as she spoke.

"No, but it can give her a fighting chance if she agrees."

Bucky was quiet, his frame squared and dangerously still. After a moment of Bucky and Natasha staring each other down, Bucky finally shook his head and snapped.

"She deserves better than this. We can't ask her to do this."

Natasha replied, her eyes softening just the slightest as Bucky glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"She does, which is why we're bringing you in on this. She trusts you the most, and if anybody can get through to her and keep her safe, it's you. We're not going to Strange without you."

Bucky's jaw clenched, and Steve added gently.

"If she says no, then that's it. No pestering, no convincing. If she says yes, then she's going to need you."

Bucky stayed quiet before his shoulders fell and he let out a heavy sigh.

"Alright, fine, but I'm telling you, this is the stupidest idea to date."

Steve couldn't help but to quietly agree.

-NEW YORK-

New York City had become an uncomfortable place for Bucky to be. It was nothing like it used to be back in the 30's and 40's; neon lights and fluorescent signs hurting his eyes. Don't get him started on the sound and the smell. Despite most of his enhancements due to the serum being physical, the one enhancement that he never really talked about was his sense of smell.

It wasn't exactly superhuman, at least in his terms, but it was definitely stronger than most. The stench of vomit, random odors, exhausts, and the like were horrendous.

Granted, it wasn't as bad as being in a barrack full of unwashed men, but it still bothered Bucky to the point of annoying him. Though, Bucky had been royally pissed and annoyed the whole entire trip to New York.

He still couldn't get Shuri's words out of his mind. To Bucky, it really did seem like a betrayal. How could she had suggested something like that while knowing just how badly (Y/n) was treated by HYDRA? Hell, (Y/n)'s whole life was a fabrication of HYDRA, and (Y/n) didn't even know that. What if she found out during the mission if she chose to agree? What then?

As the group stood on the steps of the Sanctum Sanctorum, Fury raised his hand to knock the door. However, before his knuckles could make contact with the door, Wong opened the door with a frown.

"Let me guess, you need Strange. Bad guys, impossible odds, and something that smells vaguely like multiverse doom?"

Tony sighed and replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Close. Just brainwashing, a high-stakes espionage, PTSD, and did I mention a suicide mission? I think I did. Right?"

Fury rolled his eyes, and Wong just sighed and opened the door for the group wordlessly. As Bucky walked into the Sanctum, he was awestruck by the place. It was definitely bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside, and he was distracted by a man coming down the steps with a frown.

"Do I even want to know why you're here?"

Nick nodded, leaning his head back slightly as he looked back with a stern look.

"I think you'll be interested to hear this, Doctor Strange."

Doctor Strange was unamused, raising his brow as he muttered and shook his head.

"Somehow, I find that hard to believe. What do you want?"

As Fury began to launch himself into an explanation of the situation at hand, Bucky could tell that Strange was becoming increasingly annoyed, and Bucky began to feel hopeful. Perhaps, if the man disagreed, then the Avengers would have no choice but to go with Fury's backup plan. Pursing his lips, Bucky began to secretly pray.

When Fury was done with his explanation, Strange was eerily quiet. He was staring at Fury with his brows furrowed and shaking his head slightly as he asked.

"So, let me get this straight. You want me to patch the mind of a barely-functioning recovered weaponized soldier that you are planning to send into a den of psychotic wolves?"

Bucky grit his teeth slightly as he corrected, Doctor Strange immediately glancing at the man with narrowed eyes.

"Not patch, just protect it. She's more than just a weapon, and she's starting to learn that."

Doctor Strange just frowned.

"Sounds like she's not the only one."

Bucky was taken back by his sincerity, but before he could reply, Strange asked.

"So, you want me to play mystic babysitter? Is that right?"

Shuri replied, shaking her head as she stepped forward, and the Doctor regarded her with a firm look that Shuri returned.

"Not a babysitter, but as a buffer. (Y/n)'s trauma is encoded into her neurological and magical footprint, if you will. If HYDRA attempts to reactivate her-intentionally or not-you could neutralize the trigger where my failsafes would fail. You would be able to keep her stable and focused."

Doctor Strange was quiet for a moment, looking down and bringing a hand to his chin as he began to murmur quietly to himself, and Bucky began to feel less hopeful that he would disagree.

"Hm, a warding spell laced through her subconscious could work...add mental reinforcements during psychic stress and a silent signal in case of override...and it might be successful."

Doctor Strange then turned to Bucky, asking him with a serious expression.

"And she trusts you the most?"

Bucky nodded, becoming irritated again.

"Mostly me, yes."

"Then I'll need you there with me. Not just to emotionally stabilize, but to act as an anchor. If she trusts you the most, then she can have someone to come back to if something goes wrong."

Bucky huffed and then Doctor Strange looked at Fury with a raised brow.

"But let me ask you this: why should I help you? If you have a backup, why not use them? What you are doing is immoral, you do understand that, right? Kind of a dick move, if you ask me."

Fury didn't flinch at the tone of Strange's voice-his irritation becoming evident from the questionable morality of the situation-and Fury replied.

"We're out of options. It's not about right or wrong anymore, but about the best course of action that we can take."

Strange rolled his eyes and began to pace slightly, stating.

"There's always a choice. You just don't like the ones that you have."

Tony raised his eyebrow, but didn't interrupt nor disagreed. Bucky, however, stepped forward. His voice cracked slightly from his boiling rage, and he accused.

"You think we like this plan? You think I want her to go through this again? If there was another way, we would take it, and I really wish we would."

He glared at Fury then, but Fury didn't bother to grace Bucky by returning the glare. Strange, however, became defensive.

"Then why the hell are you begging on my doorstep to send her back to hell?"

Shuri then stepped forward, glaring at Strange as she stood tall.

"Because she deserves the choice. She deserves the freedom to choose this or not, and it will be on her terms. Not yours, not ours. (Y/n)'s terms."

Doctor Strange finally paused, and he placed his hands on his hips before he stated firmly.

"I want to meet and speak her."

Bucky's hope that Strange would disagree to help was starting to diminish at an alarming rate, and he began to feel helpless. Fury replied, nodding his head slightly.

"That was already the plan. She's in Wakanda at this moment, but we can fly her out right this second."

Doctor Strange shook his head, giving Fury an annoyed look.

"Don't waste my time. We will go right now, but I need you to understand that if she says no, then I walk. I suggest that you all do the same."

Doctor Strange began to move his hands in a circular motion, and orange sparks erupted in front of him. A portal opened, opening into Shuri's lab, and the group immediately walked through.

"Wong, take care of the Sanctum."

Wong nodded, and Doctor Strange walked through the portal. The portal closed, and Doctor Strange looked around.

"Nice lab you have."

Shuri smirked, a haughty expression coming across her face, and Doctor Strange glanced at Fury.

"Where is she?"

"Hell if I know. Barnes, you know where she would be?"

Bucky nodded, and he muttered.

"Yeah. I'll be right back."

Bucky walked out of the room, and Doctor Strange turned to regard the group with a firm expression.

"Considering how close Barnes is to (Y/n), it wasn't smart to say this in front of him: there is a very real chance that this won't work."

Shuri frowned and nodded, replying with an equally firm expression.

"We know the risks that we are taking with this."

Strange shot back, glaring at Shuri.

"Do you? I don't think you understand the true fragility of the mind, especially one that has been completely rewired over and over. On top of the exponential amount of trauma (Y/n)'s mind has gone through, including the stress of remembering and trying to figure out what is real and what isn't, magically tampering with her mind could completely render her braindead if this isn't done with the utmost care."

Doctor Strange then sighed, adding quietly.

"I'm not trying to sabotage this, but you all are entirely too invested in this. It seems as though you haven't even considered the possibility of her refusal, let alone if she can handle the repercussions of the experience."

Tony frowned, asking as he crossed his arms and leaned against a table.

"Isn't that why you're here? To make sure she comes out of this alright?"

"No, it's not. I'm here to try. It's not the same thing."

The room became quiet, and Strange rubbed his temples before huffing.

"If I'm going to speak to her, then I need to be alone. None of you can be in the room, is that understood? No interruptions. This is to be her choice alone."

Shuri immediately nodded before Fury could retort.

"That's entirely fair. We will stay on the other side of the glass."

Strange nodded, and the lab doors hissed open. Bucky entered first, his eyes still dark and body tense with annoyance, and behind him walked in (Y/n). Strange was slightly taken back by her appearance. While Strange wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting, he wasn't expecting to see a woman that looked broken, confused, afraid, and so horrifically scarred.

His apprehension immediately grew at the way (Y/n) seemed to shield herself behind Bucky as she met Strange's gaze, and Bucky comforted her quietly.

"It's alright. He's a friend."

Strange resisted the urge to roll his eyes as (Y/n) looked at Bucky for confirmation, and Bucky nodded slightly before he introduced.

"(Y/n), this is Doctor Strange. Doctor Strange, this is (Y/n)."

Strange regarded (Y/n) with a nod, and (Y/n) murmured softly.

"You don't look like a doctor."

"I'm not that kind of doctor anymore."

His voice was clipped, but (Y/n) didn't seem to be affected by his tone of voice. Instead, she seemed to relax slightly, and she asked quietly.

"W...what kind of doctor are you?"

Doctor Strange gave the girl a slight smile, his lips twitching up as he replied.

"One that mends things that don't bleed."

(Y/n) looked confused, tilting her head slightly before her eyes widened with understand as Strange elaborated.

"I deal with dimensions, time, minds...things that people shouldn't tamper with, but here we are."

(Y/n) then frowned and began to fidget with her fingers, wringing her hands with anxiety as she looked away from him; her body beginning to tremble slightly as Bucky became protective.

"You're...you're here to mess with my mind then?"

Strange immediately shook his head.

"Not in the way that you think. I'm here to keep it in-tact for this mission. You've got a hell of a journey ahead of you."

(Y/n) immediately became confused, perking up as she frowned.

"M-Mission? What mission?"

Strange blinked slightly, becoming quiet before he asked.

"You do know what you're being sent to do, correct?"

(Y/n) quietly shook her head, and Strange's jaw clenched as he became angry. Rage bubbled behind his eyes, and he spun around to glare at Fury.

"You brought me halfway across the world, expecting me to keep her safe in a mine field, and you didn't even tell her what was going on?"

Before Fury could retort, (Y/n)'s voice cracked as she froze and her eyes widened with fear.

"What's happening? What are you talking about?"

Fury then stated, crossing his arms.

"We were going to tell her."

Strange snapped, giving the man a sneer.

"When? After they lit her up like a goddamn Christmas tree?"

Shuri's voice was gentle, noticing how alarmed (Y/n) was starting to become.

"She just became stabilized. We didn't want to overload her with this."

Strange hissed out, pointing at Shuri.

"She deserves to know and choose what she walks into. Did you seriously expect me to do this when (Y/n) wasn't even told about this mission? You want to send in some duct-taped weapon back into the field, and you didn't even tell her. Let alone told me that she didn't even know."

(Y/n)'s eyes watered, and she backed away, becoming panicked as she asked.

"What...what are you saying? What's going on? What is he talking about?"

Bucky turned to (Y/n), saying gently.

"We found the rest of HYDRA, and Shuri thought the best course of action was to infiltrate them. However, we can't do that unless we have someone who has already been on the inside...someone that they trust."

(Y/n) immediately understood what Bucky was saying, but the understand was misplaced. She whispered in shock, tears falling down her cheeks as her voice cracked and her nostrils flared; a sob threatening to break out.

"You...you want to send me back? But...what...what about Raynor and....and my mission to...to make things right?"

Tony frowned, finally speaking up and making (Y/n) shoot her gaze to him.

"We wouldn't think of it if we didn't think it was safe. That's why Strange is here. He can keep you safe during this, but listen to me: you don't have to say yes. It's a last-ditch effort because Fury is an idiot."

(Y/n) began to hyperventilate as she started to cry, and Strange immediately glared at Fury. Fury looked upset, but said nothing as he watched (Y/n) begin to breakdown.

"I...I thought I was...was making progress and doing good. I...I don't want to go back! I don't want to go!"

Before Bucky could comfort her, (Y/n) immediately ran out of the room, and Bucky glared at Shuri and snapped.

"This is all you, I hope you know that."

Bucky immediately ran after her, and Shuri called brokenly.

"Isithunzi, wait!"

However, her plea fell on deaf ears. The lab immediately became quiet, and she murmured sadly.

"I thought...perhaps if we told her and waited, she would be better prepared to make a decision."

Strange rolled his eyes and remarked, gesturing with his hand.

"What, did you seriously think that she would smile and volunteer for this? She didn't even know."

Fury sighed and replied finally, turning to Strange who gave the man a sneer.

"We didn't want to overload her."

Tony huffed and quipped to himself.

"Yeah, and look how not overloaded she is. Great move, Fury."

Strange hissed, taking a step forward as he pointed at Fury.

"You wanted to make her a pawn in a fight that could break her all over again and you didn't even warn her. You put that decision in my hands without even telling me that she wasn't aware of what the hell you dipshits were pulling."

"We didn't know how to break it to her."

Strange threw his hands up into the air.

"You don't break something like this. You have to be upfront and allow her to make the decision beforehand. No wonder she freaked the hell out. You basically just told her 'hey, we're sending you straight back to the people that cut you up like thanksgiving dinner'."

Tony finally sighed and crossed his arms, giving an annoyed look to everyone in the room.

"Gandalf's got a point-"

"-Don't call me that, Jackass-"

"-and we really fucked up on this one. Alright? Even I could see that this was going to fail. But of course, don't listen to the genius."

Fury gave Tony a look, raising his brow.

"As far as I remember, you didn't say anything about it."

Tony shot back immediately, giving Fury a challenging look.

"Would you have listened if I had? You kind of have a habit of being an annoying ex-girlfriend who won't take the hint."

Before Fury could retort back, Strange stated firmly.

"If you two are quite finished, we have something more pressing, like a recovered HYDRA weapon unraveling."

Shuri then quietly pleaded, clasping her hands together.

"Then please help her. Please tell her that we didn't mean to hurt her...we were just worried."

Strange made a face at Shuri, asking.

"Why is that my job? This is your fuck-up, not mine."

Shuri replied.

"We know that, but you're someone who doesn't have a hidden agenda. She would trust you and listen to you. Please, we didn't mean her any harm."

Strange quipped, shaking his head.

"You have a funny way of showing that. I suggest getting evaluated for that."

Fury became upset, asking.

"What do you want us to do?"

"Tell her the goddamn truth."

Fury gestured with his hand erratically, Strange narrowing his eyes slightly.

"We're telling her the truth. Now."

Strange rolled his eyes and stated.

"Truth delayed is trust destroyed."

Tony huffed and crossed his arms.

"Cool, so we all agree that we are all assholes. Can we please just try to figure out how the hell to make this right?"

Shuri was quiet for a moment before she pointed out with a guilty look on her face.

"We keep talking around her and not to her...and it's unfair. We...we should attempt to talk to her and tell her the complete truth."

Strange huffed and rolled his eyes as the tension in the room became too much for him to stomach.

"I'll talk to her. Alright? However, if she refuses to do this mission, then that's it. You back the hell off, and you don't push. You don't push, you don't manipulate, you don't do anything. She's not a pawn, and she's not a bombshell to use against HYDRA."

Everyone in the room nodded, and Strange turned on his heel. However, the man paused, throwing over his shoulder.

"For the record, she's a lot stronger than you give her credit for. Don't ever make the mistake of underestimating someone that has crawled out of hell once and lived to tell."

-

STORY NOTES: this is 7.1k pls dont make me summarize SDKJF;ASLDKFJ

TRANSLATIONS:

Isithunzi - Xhosa for Shadow/Shade

TAGGING: @mggslefttit @softpia @thebl00dwyrm @buckvoidsyy @chonkybonky @seemsxsketchy @tilldeathripsusapart @vicmc624 @mgchaser @aash3 @samfunko @seventeen-x @valckenaux @babybeeelle @sc4rrc @cjand10 @bane-y-zane @notsostrangerthing @thenameswinter99 @bumblebeebutter @torntaltos @highhopes1008

[leothil]

i spoke to my buddy in the industry whom works for a rival network because i had questions about the Buddie press tour and to sum it all up the way he told be from a business standpoint these were the things he gave me.

The Buddie press tour was not queerbaiting, it was the show telegraphing you what it would be about going forward after the major changes that happened cause of the main character dying. If they did not want Buddie being talked about, it would never even reach the lips of any reporters at the event. It would be blacklisted, and very simple really. "You don't go off script especially on the Mouses carpet."

It was promotion for S9 and a way to showcase what the show would be about going forward in retrospect to the cast members that attended. He even suggest Angela is likely taking a much less dominant role on the show but he also knew she was at Cannes so it's likely that she will get her chunk of screentime cause she is the star of the show.

Every big show needs a romance to root for, putting Oliver and Ryan and putting Buddie in a romantic light at Upfronts and in the press is the show telegraphing they and their romance will be a big portion of the show.

Everything was planned for months, Upfronts is something the networks starts prepping for very early and it's much easier to get all this promo out of the way all at once while the cast is at NYC then having to pay them for another press tour post finale when everything can be done at Upfronts.

They do agree that the scheduling and releasing of all articles should have been waited for post finale but it doesn't take away with the Buddie theme that was surrounding Upfronts for a reason.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I've been assuming. Angela, I think, would get out of doing the Upfronts anyway if she wanted, because of who she is, and historically she hasn't done that much promo for the show (though that might be due to Fox not doing much promo for it at all during the years I've been watching). The fact that they've started asking her about the show on her press tours for other projects is a pretty big deal for us, actually!

It also makes sense to me that the PR department didn't necessarily take the fandom into consideration when scheduling other interviews close to the Upfronts, since that event is for the business and likely was their main focus for a long time because of its importance. Annoying and sad for us, but business will always come first. Thanks for sharing this!

[vasito-de-leche]

;R1999 Vertin's Wheel, Unilogs, Fate and Summoning Analysis

Analysis and theories regarding the suitcase's wheel, unilogs, fate and the process of summoning characters as of the 2.8 patch.

It's been a while since I've written an analysis in this blog, but yesterday I had a sudden realization and after discussing it with the R99 RP server, I decided to properly expand on these ideas in case someone else is interested or can offer more insight!

Just as a heads up, this post will tackle big spoilers from the upcoming CN 2.8 patch!

As usual, the majority transcripts were taken from the R99 Transcript Neocities and the transcript project!

First of all, we must discuss Vertin's suitcase.

By now, everyone probably knows about the way Bluepoch integrates in-game mechanics, items and such as diegetic aspects of the world building--the most known example being Picrasma Candy, an item used by players to recover energy and keep playing, but also a real medicine within the universe of Reverse: 1999 created by Medicine Pocket to enhance an arcanist's own arcanum for a while.

Vertin's suitcase and everything related to it is no different; in the prologue, we see Vertin save Regulus from the "Storm" by taking her into the suitcase, which acts as some sort of pocket dimension with a living space for her team; the Wilderness is also confirmed to be a real space that people can explore, as we see many times throughout the main story and anecdotes; Ms. NewBabel's critter business within the suitcase is also real, being mentioned on advertisements in one of 2.5 Showdown in Chinatown's trails.

In Stage 6 "The Living Past" of the game's prologue, we get introduced to the suitcase proper. This is the only instance we have of Vertin using an incantation to lead Regulus inside the living quarters and Wilderness proper.

Vertin: … Relax, Regulus. I will tell you, but not here. Say this with me … Neirü milde en tiün bonan nokton. Take my hand. Let me take you into the suitcase.

We also get some descriptions of what's inside these living quarters--the majority are various things that Vertin has rescued from previous eras, the most important being the photos and documents about the people she's met across time. She confirms that her suitcase and anything she puts inside can brave the "Storm," and avoid being reversed--we now know that arcanists of all sorts can also do this, a loading screen from the game added during 1.5 "Revival! The Uluru Games" clarifies by stating that humans can enter, but they need to find a "Storm" immune place outside to avoid being reversed. The suitcase is also affected to a degree by external forces--if one were to shake it, the people inside might feel an earthquake. But this also happens on reverse--the seeds Druvis III plants drops inside grow outside of the suitcase and take over the St. Pavlov Foundation's courtyard.

Then we have the spinning wheel and the lake. These two things are introduced immediately after the prologue, in the chapter "In Our Time," Stage 1 "Wretched Brats." We know that Vertin has never been to this part of the Wilderness that holds the lake and the spinning wheel.

The outside scenery keeps changing and changing … What has remained unchanged for ages is the lake and an old spinning wheel. Regulus: *sobs* ... The records ... Don’t nick my records ... Vertin: ...! Her voice doesn’t sound right. I should go and take a look. This is where Vertin has never been.

The lake is said to be surrounded by a mist that causes everyone except Vertin to slowly fall unconscious, and the water of the lake is explicitly rainwater from the "Storm." The spinning wheel has "strange threads" that Vertin describes as two-dimensional and by following this thread, she summons Sonetto into the suitcase.

The line in her hand, technically the line-like thing in her hand which cannot be felt in any way, has gradually formed a path in her sight. And someone is going to be invited over. Spin it as you've done so many times. It's someone familiar. Sonetto: The lake is overflowing. It's cold, just like a flowing line … Wait, where am I?

During the early months of the game, a lot of us assumed that this scene was simply a way to introduce the gacha mechanic in a diegetic way, without truly having an actual impact on the story. And there is also the issue of explaining how could Vertin acquire members from eras outside of the 20th century, such as Charlie, The Fool, Dikke and Nick Bottom, when the main story never take us to their respective eras.

I want to argue that the former statement is not true; the summoning aspect is real within the universe, and that it explains the latter statement, giving a reason for these people to exist within the suitcase. There is already so much that explains game mechanic as diegetic, in-universe aspects that exist, so I don't see why this would be any different!

In 2.8 "Paradise Regained," we get a lot of information that ties in a lot of loose ends and plots set up by previous chapters; this is the patch that confirms Urd is indeed Vertin's mother.

The scene where they find each other is meant to point out the similarities between the two--the cave Urd is in, where the Manus ritual is taking place, also has the same exact mist as both Vertin's suitcase and Apeiron's cave, and it urges Vertin to remember her childhood in SPDM, namely moments in which she interacted with Urd or somehow remembered her but was never able to recognize her as her own mother. A glowing, golden thread, identical to the one that was used to summon Sonetto in the suitcase, leads Vertin to Urd, who has her very own spinning wheel.

The reveal here and all the references in Urd's own character point to the fact that she is, to some extent, fate itself or a weaver of fate. Her namesake comes from Norse Mythology, referencing one of the Norns, one of the three deities that weave the thread of fate and dictate the lives of mortals--Urðr.

Urd explains that, just like Vertin, only she seems to be able to see and sense these golden threads. And she also explains her purpose and calling. Here is my transcript of the spoken dialogue they have, and you can see it here in Merui's stream.

Urd: I will go with you, but not just yet. There is something I must finish, these threads I'm spinning. Vertin: Threads? Urd: Yes. Others don't seem to see them, but I do. It's strange, I don't know what they are but I know how to spin them. Does that sound ridiculous to you? Vertin: Not at all. In fact, I can see them too. But perhaps we should do it together, later when the danger has subsided. Urd: There may not be a later. I must finish this now. Vertin: Why? Is this worth more than your life? Urd: I believe it is. These threads must be spun so the all ruling law may be woven in. That is my purpose, my calling. That is why I was led here. That's why you're here too, is it not? To answer your calling?

Urd's role as the weaver of fate or existence as fate itself was foreshadowed by 6 at the end of Vereinsamt as well, when he talks to one of her many iterations, Ms. Marta.

Marta: I find myself uncertain of which way to go. Would you kindly give me some guidance? 6: The guidance I can offer you is limited, Ms. Marta. I think fate knows its own fate better than anyone.

Urd is aware of her purpose and calling to uphold the concept of fate itself, even if she may not understand it fully. And thus, we can understand that the golden threads being woven in her spinning wheel are the threads of fate--they led Vertin here, after all.

This patch also confirms that Urd was the reason Manus Vindictae's plans failed back in 1999, during the first "Storm," and how they're now using her as a catalyst to fulfill their plan by sabotaging her process of weaving--her spinning wheel above can be seen tainted with the characteristic Manus Vindictae black goo, and they force it to spin, taking the threads of fate into the well where Arcana's heart rests. Compare it to Vertin's own wheel in the suitcase.

This leads us to the following point: Urd guides upholds order through these golden threads, which represent people's fates and lives. Vertin, as her daughter, has a similar ability in relation to the summoning mechanic in-game, which explains why the banners are presented as the spinning of their threads. For example, the Golden Thread banners.

To follow this, I want to point out the other items involved in summoning! For example, the Unilog rabbits--they can come in Decalogs, which is a set of 10 Unilogs, and they can have different variations for the other unique types of banners (Boon of the Water, Promise of the Water, every Limited character banner, etc). But if you pay close attention, you may see that these rabbits contain a golden thread inside.

[UNILOG] The golden rabbit is a well known myth. It spies on people, steals their time, and sometimes even changes their fates. Though it's old, decrepit, and stale, it is unique and indispensable. [DECALOG] The storyteller never thought that golden rabbits could travel in packs. Nobody knows what this might entails, but no one chooses one single rabbit over more of it. [DECATONE] Now you see them, many, many rabbits. They change their appearance, whispering secrets. And you―you know what to do now, don't you?

The fact that they're seemingly made from the same thread of fate discussed before, along with these descriptions talking about stealing time, changing fates and the implication that the one using them--Vertin--knows what to do now, works to explain the gacha aspect as a diegetic feature.

Then, you have drops as a different type of currency--there are two types, Clear and Crystal. These items are explained as the "Storm" raindrops that didn't fully make it upwards before the "Storm" ended, Clear being the raindrops closer to the ground and Crystal being the ones closest to the clouds, hence why the latter are more valuable.

You may turn Crystal drops into Clear drops, and Clear drops into Unilogs, which draws a parallel between the threads of fate and "Storm" rainwater, leading to my next point: If these threads represent an organized and linear fate, "Storm" rainwater is chaotic fate in disarray.

Throughout the game, there is a lot of emphasis on the importance of water. It holds memories and information, the entirety of people's lives and entire eras, both metaphorically and literally. In 2.5, the one thing that remains of Pei City from 1.6 "Notes on Shuori" is one of Yenisei's vials from the river, which is highly coveted by Laplace to study and understand what could've transpired there. Yenisei's own arcanum revolves around the idea that water holds information, and can serve to return home. As mentioned previously, the mist in the Wilderness lake, Aperion's cave and the heart of Antarctica is special--we've seen it urge Vertin to remember, and in 1.4 "Prisoner of the Cave" that very same mist contains the same elements that are immune to the "Storm," Asymmetrical Nuclide R. And, above all, we know that the "Storm" itself takes entire eras away from the linear path of time.

In 2.8, Ulrich concludes that the "Storm" has always meant to be a flood--in 1999, Urd stopped this ritual somehow, and ever since then, every "Storm" has been a failed attempt at flooding the world through this water that will reverse everything to the past.

During Arcana's revival, she summons this very same flood across the entire globe, raising the water level of the entire planet. And the water has the same or even worse effects to the rainwater from the "Storm," as it causes those who touch it to disappear.

Thus, we understand that water is an important aspect of the story, and that this special water from the "Storm"/Flood holds the totality of history and chaos, being related to concepts such as time and space due to the way the "Storm" functions--it absorbs eras and people into it, taking them out of the linear thread of fate.

Hence why a second important aspect of the summoning batters is water. The First Drop of Rain, Abundance of the Water, Invitation from the Water, etc etc. These pictures were taken from the GL Fandom Wiki!

The way Vertin summons people is by weaving the golden thread and throwing Unilogs into the water, as explained by the in-game mail reminding players to use their Decatones before they expire.

All shall return to the waters, to tranquility. Before leaving, don't forget those special little rabbits of yours. Although they may not be able to embark on the next stage of your journey with you, they're more than prepared to jump into the lake.

So you could equate this to Vertin throwing a literal lifeline info the lake of the Wilderness to save and take people from the chaos of history, stealing their time and altering their fate--and because it's "Storm"/Flood water, it's possible to bypass linear timelines, thus reaching characters from beyond the 20th century like Dikke, Nick Bottom, Charlie and The Fool.

There are other details to support this entire theory that I had no idea where to fit in, so they're going here as an extra round!

The Crystal Drops, canonically a much more valuable currency than Crystal Drops, are the currency used to buy different garments--some of these garments are diegetic, meaning that they do exist within the canon of the world (think of Sonetto's free garments that show up throughout the main story, Regulus pilot garment which makes a cameo in 37's anecdote) but some of them are not (6's detective garment from 2.0, we know he doesn't ever leave the island, Voyager's 1.9 garment, or any of the garments from 1.6 as it's physically impossible for any character from Vertin's team to have visited Pei City)

If we remember that drops are "Storm" rainwater and that Crystal drops were closest to the cloud, therefore stronger in their effect, we could explain these non-diegetic garments as Vertin acquiring a glimpse into different or alternate timelines in which these situations are possible. Which would also explain Diggers as a whole, since he's portrayed as his 1.1 "Theft of the Rimet Cup" self as a playable character while his 1.4 garment is actually the canonical fate he suffers in the main story, having joined Manus Vindictae. The only caveat to this is the Grandfather Clock Paradox explained by X and Regulus, which states that it's impossible for two versions of one person to exist at the same time.

Moving on. Unilogs are represented by rabbits, and I'm pretty sure there is no myth regarding golden rabbits that steal time--but Vertin as a character has been officially related to rabbits, like the latest offline masquerade event, or her themes as the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, solidifying her role as the Timekeeper but also someone who also guides others and alters their fate.

Also, Urd, Vertin and Arcana seem to also represent the three Norns of Norse Mythology--as usual, I only had a very surface research reading Wikipedia articles, so if you have more insight on this feel free to correct me. As far as I know, the Norns are tied to three springs or wells scattered in different places, which coincidentally match the three locations in Reverse 1999 that carry the same mist--Vertin's suitcase, Apeiron's cave and the heart of Antarctica, furthering the parallels between these three characters and the concept of fate.

I think that's pretty much everything I wanted to talk about! Thanks to the R99 RP server for hearing me out and fueling my deranged ideas!

[team-free-avengers]

A New Team 3

Summary: No one was expecting to be stuck with Valentina as their boss but they wanted to be a team and she somehow weaseled her way into doing the unthinkable to market us as the new avengers even though Sam is already forming that team and you guys already have a name. On top of it all the stress has put a strain on your relationship with Bucky since he thinks you might be a little too focused on rebuilding your relationship with Yelena but there’s more to it than that.

Pairings: Bucky x Reader, Yelena x Reader (Platonic)

Warnings:

Word Count:1654

“For the last time whoever keeps leaving food on their plates scrape it off before you put it in the sink we’re not animals around here!” you hear  Ave scream from the kitchen as soon as you step off the elevator onto the main floor where everyone technically lives. 

It is definitely nothing like it used to be when it was Tony’s and all the avengers lived together here but it's nice to be a part of something again. It would be even better if it wasn’t causing a strain on other relationships. Considering we all want Valentina in jail but she’s somehow roped you all into this scheme of being the new avengers everyone has been a little on edge. 

You make your way towards Bucky who is sitting on the edge of the couch running his hands through his hair clearly stressed, “Hey, is everything okay? Did you talk to Sam or something?” you ask, putting your hand on his shoulder.

“No, not recently. Since he threatened the lawsuit over the name Valentina forced upon us he hasn’t been responding to any way i’ve attempted to reach out. You would probably know that if you and your bestie weren’t too busy running around the city without a care in the world. Some of us have had serious shit going on,” Bucky grumbles, shaking your hand off his shoulder, he stands to walk out the room but you step in front of him.

“What has gotten into you? We aren’t just running around getting our nails done, it is actually serious shit that Yelena is helping me with when we go out. Yelena asked me not to talk about it until it is completely figured out,” you try to explain but Bucky is unwilling to listen. 

Without even a second glance in your direction he moves you out of the way and walks towards the elevator. You are unsure where he’s going but you know it might just be better to let him have his space.

‘Maybe I should have told him the truth. How Yelena hid some records before she destroyed everything else but we needed to find where she hid them and how one of them was my time at that place. It was the best progress they made with their experiments so of course they weren’t going to destroy the files on it. Maybe Bucky would have understood then?’ you wonder to yourself letting your brain take you away in a sea of what ifs and possibilities. 

‘What if this was it? Out of all the terrible things I've done, is this the one to make him leave?’ you question yourself as the tears overtake you before you could control them.

Just as your knees buckle beneath you you hear footsteps coming towards the living area, “oh honey what is the matter? Why are you crying?” you hear Alexi ask from behind you before his bellowing voice carries through the whole floor, “Yelena! Your little friend is sad!”

“No I’m not!” you hear Bob yell from the other room.

“Not you, the girl!” Alexi calls back casually.

Before anyone else can say anything, Yelena comes rushing into the room confused and alarmed,”What is with all the yelling?” she asks before noticing you on the floor a crying mess, “Y/N? What is wrong?”

The sobs are taking over so you can barely form a proper sentence but you try to tell her anyway, “Bucky…got, upset…with..me, b-because…I cou-couldn’t,” 

“Stop. Just breathe it’s going to be okay. I'm here to help you, but you have to calm down so I can understand you. Now we’re going to breathe together,” Yelena says softly guiding your hand to her chest, “First in,” she says instructing you to take a deep breathe in, “Then out,” she says after holding the breath for a minute before repeating this a few more times helping you successfully calm down.

“Now what was that about? What’s going on?” she asks after the town of you have sat there in silence for a few minutes. 

“Bucky left upset with me because he thinks I haven’t been around much lately and since i'm following your wishes I can’t tell him what we’ve been truly doing so it looks like I’m neglecting my relationship with him to help build our friendship,” you explain self reflecting as you do.

“Have you been neglecting your relationship with him?” Yelena questions but you know she already knows the answer she just wants you to speak it aloud. 

“When I stop and think about it, yes, even though we see eachother we don't actually get to spend any time together lately. It’s just hard being around him and not being able to tell him everything. He’s going to ask about my day and I'm going to have to come up with a lie, and I’ve sworn from the start to never lie to him so why would I start now? It’s just easier to avoid him all together.” you explain releasing an exasperated sigh when its all done. 

“Do you think telling him what we’ve been up to would help fix things?” she questions seriously. 

“With a few other things as well on my part, yes I do think it would help things a bit.” you respond optimistically, selfishly hoping that she will let you tell him. 

The two of you sit there in silence for a few minutes before Yelena finally speaks up, “Then tell him, just make sure nobody else finds out.”

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes Y/N, I trust you and I know you trust him so therefore I guess I can too,” Yelena says with a shrug before standing to leave, “But if he makes you cry again we will have bigger issues.”

With everything in mind you stand up and head towards the elevator ready to leave the building and find the love of your life so you can fix things. You don't pull your phone out and attempt to call Bucky until you’re completely out of the building knowing the signal inside was terrible without Tony’s technology. Once you do you attempt to call Bucky five times and each time it goes straight to voicemail.

‘I knew it, I waited too long to call him and now he’s even more pissed,’ you think to yourself, shoving your phone back into your pocket and beginning the trek two where you knew Bucky most likely would be. 

There is this old bar back in his old neighborhood that hasn’t changed since the forties apart for the typical renovations and such. It’s the closest thing Bucky has to Steve and that time in his life so when he goes there he likes to shut his phone off and pretend like he’s been transported back. When you arrive you find him tucked in a corner at the bar huddled over his drink, it doesn’t actually do much for him but it’s the thought of it, the old habit. 

“Hey, can we talk?” you ask quietly as you walk up beside him, he knew you were there before you even saw him so there was no point in pleasantries. 

“Unless you plan on telling me the truth about these supposed meaningful trips then not really I’m good,” he says matter of factly.

“That is what I wanted to talk to you about actually, I also wanted to apologize for not being as present as I should be in our relationship,” you say laying your hand on his shoulder, “I would prefer if we could do it somewhere a little more private though.”

Bucky doesn’t say a word he just leads you to the farthest booth from the only other person in the place, the bartender, and takes a seat ushering for you to do the same. He doesn’t say anything, he simply sits there watching you, waiting for you to tell him the thing you’ve been hiding this whole time. And you do, you tell him everything from Yelena saving and hiding your file to the two of you hunting it so you can know what they did to you as a child. You even told him how you promised her it would be kept a secret incase Valentina did have the tower apartments bugged. He was annoyed you didn’t come to him with this secret sooner but realised you were just following Yelena’s wishes which is understandable because he too doesn’t trust nor like Valentia.

“If she finds out and gets that file she will not only have leverage on me when will have their research from my experiments. We saw what she did to Bob, we don’t need her to try something else,” you explain in a hushed tone to stress the importance of the matter to your boyfriend as the two of you walk back to the apartment hand in hand.  

 “I get that, just tell me sooner next time. Matter of fact when you find out next time tell me instantly then I’ll be able to help sooner,” Bucky says with a slight chuckle giving your hand a squeeze, “I love you darling, I don’t want to lose you and you had me stressed about that lately.”

“I love you so much Bucky. You never have to worry about losing me because married or not you’re stuck with me for the rest of your life,” you reply, stopping the walk completely to lean in for a kiss. 

Pulling away the two of you begin to walk again, your pace slow and carefree as the tower appears in front of you. Right outside you see Ave with at least three shopping bags, all filled with paper plates causing a chuckle to slip out as you shake your head.

“What?” Bucky questions confused what he’s missed but you just shake your head and lead him inside to your dysfunctional new family.

[pomniegranate]

She followed mouse-like, almost as if a ghost haunting just out of the peripheral - always just out of sight but there, looming under the flames of the guided light in her grasp. But for some reason, she had left the lantern abandoned on a table before their descent. It was unlike Pomni to go on without the security of some source of warmth through this perilous prison; it's why the dawn of day shimmering its rays through the windows was the sign of freedom from her reality - a reminder that she's lasted another day in Hell.

But the lines began to blur; was this really Hell or had it become a home away from home? What home did she have that wasn't this place now? Her home burned to ash and dust years ago with all the memories she once held with it. Along with her regrets in the form of her parents. Did she even have parents? Their faces had been charred and scratched from existence ages along with floorboards and stained glass.

It was weird. As they transversed together down the staircase, an area Pomni had never been once before, her heart began to race and an odd fulfillment of... giddiness fueled into her veins. It scared her; nothing about being engulfed in darkness was comforting. But those of the night thrive in the shadows.

Her eyes had suddenly trained themselves to the back of Kinger's neck then suddenly, an unexplainable urge coursed as her hands rose on their own and slowly made their way to the back of his nape. A failed endeavor from the divine inside her as her master's sudden voice and words of affirmation caused hands to flee before getting spotted.

But... she doesn't know why her hands had done that in the first place? Maybe she .. was tired. Yeah, that had to have been it, there was no other explanation for why her body would act on its own. Nor why it reached for such a vulnerable spot. A nervous smile encroached before he turned, his form illuminating the walls that surrounded them.

Even though she should have a million questions on what's happening right now even being a possibility of occurring, the fear and the light kept the forefront of her mind busy with her lucidity.

⸺ ❝ I'm ... kind of scared, if I'm being honest. I've never been past that door before .. in my long stay here in the mansion, ❞ the maid hadn't expected much of a response given the circumstances so her words came off more rhetorical than anything else, but she continued to follow regardless - deeper into the shallows of an unknowing chasm.

He  had  a  sense  that  he  was  losing  her  or  perhaps  he  needed  to  reaffirm  that  this  was  her  decision  ,  knowing  the  risk  ,  he  had  to  be  certain  he  had  not  condemned  another  soul  .  For  his  own  peace  of  mind  .  Perhaps  it  was  selfish  .  ―  it  ...  WAS  selfish  .  Pomni  was  an  adult  ,  she  could  make  executive  decisions  on  her  own  .  &&  he  𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐄𝐃  it  to  be  her  decision  .  Uninfluenced  by  himself  in  any  way  . 

Her  presence  was  more  weighted  ,  suffocating  almost  ,  he  couldn't  tell  whether  it  was  having  another  to  carry  through  the  ominous  Purlie  beyond  these  doors  ,  towards  the  basement  .  He  spares  a  single  nod  .

♔.* ― ❝   This  isn't  about  pleasing  me  .  𝐁𝐔𝐓   if  you  𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓.  I  won't  stop  you  .  ❞   Retrieving  his  shotgun  from  its  mantel  ,  he  holds  it  close  ,  for  the  moment  he  avoids  eyes  contact  ,  focused  forward  ,  focused  on  their  surroundings  as  he  led  the  poor  woman  through  the  layers  of  the  manor  as  though  Dante's  had  described  his  inferno  in  its  likeness  .  the  levels  of  his  home  .  ―  Or  what  it  has  become  .  He  keeps  his  pace  steady  ,  fully  prepared  to  encounter  one  of  the  divine  .  He  begins  to  descend  down  the  stair  well  .  The  darkness  engulfing  them  as  there  was  no  lanterns  to  light  there  way  .  Kinger  merely  hops  on  his  stump  from  platform  to  platform  .

❝    Stay  close  to  me  .  ❞    He  begins  to  hold  his  breath  ,  his  whole  being  starting  to  illuminate  the  more  secretive  part  of  the  manor  as  the  two  descended  . 

[akolnoix]

Chain of Pronouns

A Partial Re-Translation Patch for Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA)

Kingdom Hearts is a tricky series, where the details really matter. As such, it’s a shame that some interesting elements of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories did not make it into the official English release (and, from what I know, none of the other language versions). So here we are!

So What’s Changed?

The most important changes in this patch are, as you might’ve guessed from the title, pronoun related.

There is a section of the game, from the beginning of Twilight Town to a certain point in Destiny Islands, where Sora (and the NPCs in Destiny Islands) inexplicably change what pronouns are used to refer to Naminé. The official English release does not convey this element at all despite how much emphasis the game puts on this aspect, and thus loses any potentially significant implications of it.

As there’s no perfect English equivalent for あいつ aitsu, (a very informal/rough pronoun that is technically gender-neutral but leans toward masculine connotations, and is a strange way for Sora to refer to Naminé or Kairi), there are two versions of the patch.

“they” version. This is the one I recommend , as I believe it best conveys the intended experience; where there is a noticeably strange shift in language, but in such as way as to be fairly easy to write off as unimportant to the casual player.

“he” version. This one tosses all subtlety and ambiguity out the window and feels less natural, but conveys the masculine possibilities of the original that the other version can’t. Pick it if you’re feeling very daring.

Then, in the final stretch of the game, jp Naminé uses gender neutral terms in a way that seems potentially relevant, due to the pronouns situation stated in the previous section, and she is talking about two distinct people in her final conversation w/Sora, not just one. Both elements were lost in the official release.

Other Changes

Tweaked some word choice/phrasing for dialogue to more clearly convey repeated motifs (if you’re familiar with the jp terms used, 大切な / に taisetsuna/ni is generally denoted with “precious,” and 大切な人 taisetsuna hito with “dear”) as well as references to other parts of the game (primarily between Hollow Bastion and the floor 6+7 interludes)

They don’t call Sora the Keyblade master anymore, as this was sort of an impossible to predict localization misstep with the original release. (How were they supposed to know that jp script would start using the English phrase "Keyblade Master" as a distinct concept like 10 years later?) I did this just for fun.

This project was primarily built upon the contents of the essay “‘That Person’ How a Pronoun Revealed the Heart of a Story”, and would not exist without it. Read it after you finish the game (or before, if you want), it’s fantastic work.

Special thanks to this gba khcom quote generator and this transcript (both of which saved me SO much time and effort) as well as all my friends, whose excitement and input were invaluable.

Don’t want to actually play the game? You can watch one of the cutscene compilations on youtube! [he version] [they version]

[chalkrub]

pwyw thingy from previous opening 🌸

[azurityarts]

Giving some of my PMD OCs a redesign or some touch-ups

[kiranrabari]

"I just wanted to make sure I was looking my best for my visitor." He states with a grin, running his fingers through a few wet strands of hair to push them out of his eyes. The grin remains afixed to his face as Jo's gaze trails down to the towel at his hips, and the silence strings out between them. He may squirm slightly, wringing his hands together behind his back, but he at least manages to keep it from his face for the most part. "It does, actually. But, you're only human, detective, can't blame you for that." He keeps eye contact for a moment, a raised brow, before allowing a hearty chuckle.

"I've never cared about popularity." The words are honest. He'd always been the nerdy kid at school, out on the sidelines. And, even if he did grow his own charm into adulthood - his main concern had always been his learning, his work. Everything else was secondary. He does, however, pale subtly at her comment, though he tilts his head to try and hide it. For all his jokes and lightheartedness outwardly, it would be a lie to say that wasn't something he had at times worried about. "Perhaps. It's a good job I'm tricky to tie down, I suppose." The answer is purposefully noncommital, trying to appear nonchalant as he busies himself with hunting down some mugs from his cupboards.

Reaching up to a high shelf to grab the crockery, Kiran answers her next question over his shoulder. "My system? Yes, of course I can show you. Some of it, at least. I have to have at least some secrets." He's quickly distracted by the sudden seriousness in her tone, and he's soon to spin on his heel to see exactly what has caused such a reaction. His gaze quickly travels from the police file and then up to Joanna - eyes wide, sheepish. "I... I can explain."

He's about to make some joke, some cheesy comment as a way to downplay everything. But, the smile soon drops - and with it, the mask he wore most days. The fatigue was visible, a distinct slump in his shoulders that was usually strictly hidden. "I'm just... tired, Jo." The admission feels like treason, almost, giving into defeat. "I can't help but feel guilt. About the blackout, Artemis. It's the one thing I should have been able to stop - or, at least, should have been able to detect. Give people a warning." He looks to her earnestly. "People have been injured, buildings wrecked, businesses destroyed. I see the way others look at me at work - like... like a failure." He swallows, shaking his head. "So, I've been working more than I should. Trying to get on top of everything. Find some leads. I brought some files home, thinking I'd maybe found a connection, wanting to just figure it out - but it was just a dead end, anyway. It's always a dead end. I find dead ends instead of sleeping."

The words had come out quickly, a sudden outburst - and he lets out a ragged breath once he's done. Kiran watches her for a moment, defeat in his eyes. "Report me if you need to. Do what you must, I won't blame you. But, can we at least just have this coffee first?" A sad smile forms. "I wasn't lying when I said it was good."

"In your defense?" Jo raises an incredulous brow at him, though the amusement lingers. "I told you I'd come join you literally ten minutes ago. You're the one who decided there was enough time to hop into the shower." It's evident that for all the time Rabari has been with the P.D., he’s spent most of it behind a screen instead of in the field. If she knew how to avoid getting saddled with the task, she'd recommend every tech specialist be forced to shadow someone on a real case at least once. "Does it?" Her brows remain raised as her expression becomes unreadable—neither denying nor confirming. She lets the silence stretch a little longer than necessary, eyes flicking down toward his towel again, then back up. The point isn't to give him an answer. The point is to watch him squirm.

"If popularity was a concern, you should've found a different job." She has no words of comfort to offer, but that's hardly news. Jo isn't known for her excellent bedside manner, but for getting things done. Still she listens to Rabari's reasoning. "Or it is you they're after." Her delivery is casual. Deceivingly so. She watches him carefully, tracking even the smallest shift in his composure. Anything that might tell her something he won’t.

His initial reaction catalogued, she ventures further into the open space of the apartment, steps unhurried, hands loose at her sides. She takes her time with the room, letting her eyes skim across furniture, walls, the small details of how he lives. Building a picture out of a hundred little pieces. "Can you show me? Your security system?"

But even as she speaks, something on the coffee table catches her eye—a file, half-buried beneath a few crumpled receipts and a glossy takeout menu. The kind that doesn't leave the station unless someone pulls serious strings. —Or breaks a rule. Two long strides carry her across the small space and in one smooth motion, Jo scoops the folder off the table, already clocking the red CLASSIFIED stamp across the front. She doesn’t need to flip it open to know what she’s holding. Instead she turns, brandishing it like a badge—or a loaded weapon. "You have thirty seconds."

[coern-art-very-cool-and-nice]

aquaphobic hydrokinetic

[datattertots]

Idk if anyone else have done it but here's my take at least-

Introducing... G̶̪͊l̶̡͛i̴̮̋t̶̘̂ć̴̨h̸̼͐!̵̼̂SMG4! AU

And now a small fun cutscene for this au-

SMG3 slams SMG4 door open, barging into his room. "FOUR WHAT THE HELL?!?!! YOU'VE BEEN STAYING IN YOUR ROOM ALL DAY!! I SWEAR IF YOU'RE DOING THIS AGAIN ON PURPOSE I'LL-!!!"

SMG4 turns around with a sharp gasp.

"What the...? Four? What's going on here...?"

Sooo basically after IGBP, SMG4 slowly started to develop this glitch effect, at first he could hide it, but as time goes on it got worse... Especially after they moved to the new castle-

It started off small, a quick flash, a small glitch that could easily be mistaken for a trick of the light, a blink and you'll miss it moment.

Which is why for a while no one noticed, not even SMG4... But when he did start seeing it, he wasn't sure if it was real or just a hallucination...

So it took a while for him to realize and accept something is actually wrong, until he accidentally glitched while holding an object and breaking it when he got startled.

It would start getting worse, but he figured out that staying calm helps reduce and control it almost, while strong emotions often bring it out, so after that he was mostly able to keep it under wraps.

He didn't want to lie to his friends... But he couldn't help it, he didn't know how to explain why he even started glitching in the first place (well... maybe he has a hunch on why but he didn't want to admit it to himself-). Or why he didn't bother to try telling them until now...

It's not like it bothers him particularly (except maybe on a bad day, which usually he stays in for those days, excusing himself by saying he felt sick.), he felt fine! ...Aside from maybe some weird lingering tingle or static like feeling, but that's all!

So he kept quiet and maybe sometimes, his friends would start noticing something was off, but they could never quite put a finger on it, as SMG4 would reassure them that he was fine and/or tell them they were just seeing things.

Obviously they noticed his weird behaviour and started getting suspicious of him anyway, Especially SMG3, so he can only convince them so much before they all inevitably find out one way or another...

Extra notes:

Is this a form of corruption? Kinda? But no, not really, it's more like a wild uncontrollable power he acquired since it can definitely be used to his advantage or do something destructive if left unchecked (more in a future post maybe)

What prompted me to create this Au? Well it started when I thought about other ways SMG4 might get affected after IGBP and then i started thinking about vanellope from wreck it Ralph and immediately my mind was like... GLITCH POWERS!!! :D (It just make sense, after all that's his original name- oh yeah it's all comig together, putting the glitch back in supermarioglitchy4 baby!!!)

What does his glitch power entails?

Well here's a few abilities i have listed for now! (Note; they might be subject to change in the future)

-Teleportation (can glitch through things)

-Painful regeneration in exchange for invincibility (aka he's immortal! But recovering from a critical or fatal injury is still very painful)

-Partial shifting by touch (related to his teleportation but also glitchy nature which he can change, move or remove something by touching something while glitching)

Extra ability

-Enhance speed and strength in a short burst

-Ability to change and modify his voice

Emotions effect

Happy/excited: speed increase and more control/higher accuracy

Sad: lag/slowness and higher regeneration

Angry: power intensity increased but pain doubles and regenerate slower

Scared/shock/nervous: decrease control and accuracy making him glitch a lot more

Will there be more added to the story?

Yes! Still developing it since it's mostly just a concept still so, many things might change along the way.

I've had this idea for a long while now, but never really got to make more of it until now! I hope you enjoy it! :)

[lytkinlicker]

IM SO HYPED FOR THIS

PERPETRATOR POOL PARTY ᰍ°.

Nikita wouldn't want to take his shirt off, but by the end of the night, Artyom would've made him.

Alyssa would have a gir swimsuit and play marco polo with samantha and colt

nikita and adam would body check in the corner of the pool LMAO

THEY WOULD PLAY CHICKEN. Artyom would be on nikita's shoulders and they'd go against anyone who'd waste their time on them

Elliot would be checking himself out the whole time, taking selfies and scouting out which girls to harass

samantha would have to be pulled off of solomon by salvador AND colt because she tried to drown him after he made a sad attempt to flirt with her (eventually they just throw him over the backyard gate and tell him to get lost.)

andrew would feel pretty dysphoric, so jodi would make sure to try and distract her with water guns and splashing

dylan and eric would hang out with artyom and nikita (they're probably the ones playing chicken and roughhousing)

they'd definitely fight over who gets control of the music, they'd end up talking turns. (they all groan when nikita plays purgen)

jodi wouldn't want to get in the pool and mess up her hair so they'd all beg her to get in, until eventually salvador picks her up and walks in the pool with her over his shoulder (he's literally the only man she'd ever allow to do this because he's like her son)

nikita and artyom would sneak off to "smoke" (everyone knows what they're gonna go do but they're convinced that they're amazing liars)

andre, cal, eric, alex (YES IDC IF THEY'RE FICTIONAL) artyom, nikita, dylan and eric would all cause so much trouble that the cops would probably get called and they'd be like "oh god not this house again.."

some justin berry ones,, just to make myself happy 💔

he wouldn't want to take his shirt off :(

he would fake a smile and watch all the others play and have fun while he feels so out of place and overthink that they secretly hate him (my poor boy 💔)

to make up for not swimming or interacting much, he'd grab all the drinks for the others and get anything they need

sorry there isn't a lot! I've kinda got writers block and I've been busy with newfound friends :3