#currently dismantling my kitchen on my own

[ceruleanmindpalace]

I actually found some art on my harddrive I have not posted, yet. Painted this gift work for @sparkypipart.

Watercolour and colour pencil, 2020

Do not post this on other sites/social media or use in any other way without my written permission.

[leqonsluv3r]

good girl

re4!leon kennedy x fem!reader

— a oneshot

warnings: MDNI, 18+, inappropriate use of handcuffs, unprotected sex, use of nicknames (babygirl, baby, etc), praise, porn with literally no plot, mentions of raccoon city & leon being a lil rookie, reader has hair that can be tugged on but no other physical appearance mentioned, use of female pronouns (she/her), established relationship.

“she smirks at the handcuffs, “never been arrested before…” she says with a small chuckle as she swings the handcuffs around her finger, looking up at him. “not those kinds of handcuffs, babygirl.” he says with a small grin, looking over her face as her smirk stalls a little bit. letting herself realize what he really meant, her mouth becoming dry. she was deep in it now.”

—or reader finds leon’s handcuffs and he shows her what he uses them for

when she met leon, it was hard for her to believe that he even looked her direction. not because she wasn’t his type, he loved any kind of woman, no matter how she looked.

she was just not use to someone who looked the way he did to talk to her, or even ask for her phone number. it was bizarre in her eyes, like hell had frozen over in the best way possible.

she knew he was different from other guys right from the get go, he opened the car door for her and payed for her meals. he held respect for her in the way that most men hadn’t.

and it made her like him much more then she anticipated.

they continued to go on dates, hang out at each others places and then eventually they had sex.

she had never had a guy…who felt and gave like leon did. he would gladly go down on her, no questions asked. he ate her out like she was a meal, making her back arch and her hands fist at his hair.

no man had ever made her feel like that before.

he shared everything with her, what he did before and why he was here in the city. he even shared some of his embarrassing stories from when he was a kid. they talked about everything.

and as time grew on and they became more serious, leon asked her if she wanted to move in together. get a place and be in one spot, which made her happy, but she had never lived with a man that wasn’t family before and it did make her a bit nervous at first.

leon reassured her that everything would be fine though, he knew how nervous she was. he could read her like a book after all the months they had been together.

and she said yes, which led to her packing all of her one bedroom apartment into boxes. stuffing clothes into garbage bags and dismantling furniture. she was stressed but it was definitely worth it at the end of the day.

this led her to now, currently moving all her boxes into their new place together. she was sweaty, exhausted and stressed but she had the biggest smile on her face and nothing could take that away.

she was finally in her own place with leon, nothing could be better.

“settling in? i just moved all my shit in two days ago, haven’t unpacked a single thing.” he says with a wipe of his forehead with his bicep as he walks into their practically empty kitchen.

she chuckled, “yeah, all my stuff is scattered around. i have to go pick up the furniture that i’m keeping tomorrow. didn’t have enough energy to get to it today.” she says as she sips on her plastic water bottle that she brought with her, moving some hair out of her eyes.

he smiles at her and comes over, wrapping his arms around her waist. “it’s all worth it though right?” she hears him mumble into her ear, pressing a small kiss on the shell of it. she bites her lip, trying to fight back a stupid lovesick grin, “yeah, definitely.” she says softly as she looks over her shoulder and up at him.

he was worth it, the stress of packing and unpacking was definitely worth it. being with him was worth it, all of it was. she wouldn’t trade it for anything, no matter how stressed and strung out she was right now. nothing could beat the look on her face.

leon could see that.

“do you wanna try unpacking the bedroom first? i already built the bed.” he says with a small smirk into her hair, holding onto her waist with hands that could easily crush her, but didn’t. she fights another grin, “mhm…” she hums.

they unpack the bedroom, what they can of it. she becomes exhausted after about 10 boxes. moving was clearly not her favorite task, that was apparent.

if anything she despised it, but she’d do anything for him. even if it meant packing her entire apartment into boxes just for him. she’d do just about anything for him. even this.

he sighs and looks at her, “you feeling okay?” he asks softly as he rubs his hand over her shoulder. she sighs and nods, rubbing at her eyes. “i’m just tired. today was a lot. i just…moving has never been fun.” she says with a weak smile as she looks up at him next to her.

he nods, chuckling, his hand still squeezing and rubbing at her shoulders. “but you like it right?” he asks with a teasing raise of his brow. she grins; lovesick just by his eyes on hers. “absolutely.” she responds without hesitation.

“good, thought i had something to worry about baby.” he says with a small laugh, moving to grab the last box of the bed. it was his, the messy scrawl of his handwriting on the side was barely legible. she laughs softly and sits on the side of the bed, watching him tear open the cardboard box with ease.

she looks at the decor of their room, the black iron headboard and large queen bed that had dark green sheets and a duvet to match, their photos and books, little knickknacks from life spread together throughout the room. she really was home with him.

it sunk into her exhausted bones that moment as she looks over at him, watching him unpack stuff from the box. “what’s in there?” she asks with a small looking from the box label to him.

he sighs and lifts out a picture frame, showing her a picture of him. he was definitely younger in the picture, maybe 21. he was in his police uniform, smiling widely at the camera. she smiles softly, “aww! look at you!” she says with a teasing smile as she moves over on the bed and towards the box.

she knew he was a cop at one point in his life. something unfortunate happened that made him disband from that and go to his current job. he never really spoke of it, saying that he couldn’t technically. she didn’t mind, she knew he was only following orders and doing what he needed to.

he rolls his eyes, “i wasn’t expecting that much of a reaction.” he says with a small blow of his lips. handing the framed picture towards her. she takes it and traces her fingers over the frame. “how could i not? you looked so cute in your little uniform!” she says with a small giggle as she showcases the photo in his direction again.

he rolls his eyes again, “shut up.” he chuckles lowly as he continues to pull stuff out of the box. loving his girlfriends teasing on the matter, he would agree that he was cute back in his day. back when he was a bright eyed cop, eager to protect and serve. but he had no idea what was in store from him that day in ‘98 when he went to raccoon city.

he pulls out his uniform, the spare one that they gave him to commemorate his service to the force when he first graduated the academy, holding it in his hands. a myriad of emotions crosses over his eyes and she doesn’t miss it.

“you miss it?” she says with a small curious expression over her face. her tone gentle as she analyzes the mixed look over his face. he sighs, “i only did it for one day, but i miss the idea of it.” he says as he glances over at her on the bed.

she nods in understanding, “i’m sorry, honey. i really am. i know what it’s like…in a sense to have something that you wanted ripped away from you.” she says softly as hers brows dip in sympathy. “i don’t know what happened,” she pauses and takes a small breath. “but whatever did happen that day. doesn’t mean that you aren’t still that person inside.” she whispers softly.

he smiles at her, so grateful that even if she doesn’t fully understand. she’s willing to try for him. he knows that, knows how caring, loving and understanding she is. she’s been that way since they started dating.

he dug into the box again, pulling out some handcuffs and holding them up. “i forgot all about these.” he says with a small smirk as he looks over at her. she tilts her head and her eyebrows furrow, “they’re just handcuffs…” she says with a small chuckle.

he shakes his head, “we got two pairs of them. i used one for my uniform and my other pair…these pair of handcuffs i used personally.” he says with a small smirk as he holds them up.

“personally?” she says in confusion, the dots weren’t connecting in her brain and she had no idea what he was even talking about. “i used them on the girls i dated before you.” he says as he holds up the handcuffs, twirling them around his finger with ease.

they were just a normal pair of handcuffs, normal metal ones that looked like anything a police officer would carry. that was until the dots connected and her eyes widened, realization dawning on her when she figured out what he truly meant by using the handcuffs.

her cheeks flushed red, her wide eyes blinking at him from where she sat on the bed. “really? i didn’t know you were into that.” she says and it’s not all shock, it’s curiosity and something else entirely.

he chuckles lowly, he sets the handcuffs on the bed. then moves the half empty moving box off the bed. “i am, i haven’t done it in a long time. haven’t been willing to find someone to try it again with.” he says with a small tilt of his head as he runs his fingers over the clasp of the handcuffs.

she doesn’t know what within her makes her open her mouth and say, “i’d try it with you.” she says softly as she looks at the large pads of his fingers running over the metal surface of them. as if he’s in contemplation, he looks up at her. “really? you’d be handcuffed, wouldn’t be able to touch me and i know how you like to touch me.” he says with a small quirk of his lips.

his eyes gleaming with something predatory and exciting, igniting her bones into flames. her core throbbing as she shifted on the bed under his gaze. she tucks some hair behind her ear. “yeah…” she breathes slowly, “i’d do it.”

he smirks and shakes his head, chuckling. “are you sure? you seriously wanna go down that road, baby?” he says with a grin, still holding the handcuffs in his hands. hands that could swallow her whole and easily break her in half, she feels her core throb again. that familiar feeling resurfaces in her underwear.

she nods slowly, licking her lips. she felt saliva leave her throat. she wasn’t sure, but she wanted to try it. wanted to give him what he wanted. he nods slowly and gestures to her clothes. “strip.” he says with a small demand, not even a question. something she can’t even argue against if she wanted to.

she slid off of the bed under his gaze, as she strips off her clothes one by one until she was completely bare. he feels himself get harder at everything that’s transpiring right in front of his eyes. her naked for him has never failed to make him hard, make him want to devour her whole and take her.

he goes over to the half unpacked box on the floor and gets the keys for the handcuffs, unlocking them and walking back to where she stood on the opposite side of the bed, waiting for him. he licks his lips, unlocking the handcuffs with a small clink.

she feels her arousal pooling between her legs at his gaze, blue deep pools of his irises that are almost dark with lust. he sweeps his eyes over her bare frame in front of him, “turn around, baby.” he says softly and lowly at the same time.

the gruff of his voice making her erupt in goosebumps as she turns around, putting her hands behind her back without him even having to ask. he chuckles lowly, “eager to be handcuffed, very naughty babygirl.” he hums lowly as he clamps the handcuffs around her wrists, locking them and making sure they fit comfortably around her wrists.

she feels his words wash over her, feeling the cold metal clink over her wrists behind her back, the cold feeling making a shiver crawl up her spine. he backs up, licking his lips from behind her, admiring her handcuffed and naked.

she can feel his eyes boring into the skin of her back, making her bite her lip. her core was throbbing for him, wanting him more then anything. the exciting prospect of what was to come seeped through her pussy.

he strips off his shirt and pants, tossing them to the floor by her clothes on the floor. she swallows as she hears each drop of his clothes to the floor behind her, her heartbeat accelerating in her bones as he drops his boxers.

he was just as bare as her now, he takes a couple steps closer and leans over her back, running his fingers over her stomach from behind. “all naked and dripping for me baby, i can practically smell it on you.” he says lowly as his hot breath drifts over her neck.

she swallows and her eyes flutter open and shut, “i’ll tell you what’s going to happen now, okay?” he says softly, his voice was so familiar yet raspy and full of desire for her. she nods slowly as he presses a kiss to her neck, making her bite her lip. if she bit it any harder blood would draw from the anticipation.

“your gonna get on the bed, bend over and i’m going to fuck you until your crying on my cock. sound good?” he says with a small raspy chuckle as she draws his fingers from her stomach up to her breast, lightly squeezing it. a small whine escapes from her lips as she nods. he presses another kiss to her neck, he motions for her to do what he says.

she manages to crawl onto the bed, it was more difficult without her hands. he grabs a pillow and puts it under her hips keeping her somewhat comfortable and propped up. her cheek pressed into the new sheets that covered their bed.

she feels the bed dip with his weight as he kneels behind her on the bed, running his large hand over the dip in her ass. his dick was standing at attention now, hard and leaking precum as he grabs it.

she wiggles her ass a little in his direction, “please leon, cmon.” she whines as she tries to get some kind of friction from the pillow underneath her hips. he chuckles lowly, running his hand slowly over his shaft, “patience babygirl.” he says with a small squeeze of her ass, she whimpers softly

he lets go of his cock and runs his fingers into her leaking core, putting two fingers inside of her to stretch her out. he always did this before, just to get her ready for him. no matter how many times they had sex, she still was never prepared for his size.

she moans softly into the duvet cover on their bed, trying to push back against the two fingers stretching her out. “please…” she whines as she tries to pull at the handcuffs, her pussy swallowing his fingers as he stretched her out.

“you’ll get it, like i said, patience baby. i don’t wanna hurt you.” he says in a low tone as he kneads her ass with his free hand. she whimpers and clenches around his fingers, her arousal sucking his fingers into her entrance. he continues to knead her ass and stretch her out, “sucking my fingers in princess, jesus.” he says in a small groan.

she whimpers at his words, trying to chase his fingers again but he pulls them out and she sighs at the loss. he chuckles at her small sigh, “i’m sure you’d rather cum on my cock, right?” he says with a small little smack to her ass cheek he was kneading.

she nods into the duvet her face is half buried in, her wrists aching a little from the handcuffs. he sighed softly, “don’t worry princess, i’ll give it to you. give you anything you want.” he says with a small smirk on his angelic features.

he grabs his cock and runs it through her soaked slit, whimpering trying to get friction against the head of his cock. the tip hitting her clit a couple times, making her bones ache and her core pulse.

“so wet and needy, just needed some dick.” he says in a mocking tone as he lets out a half groan, his hard erection covered in her release. she felt her pussy throb and her hole clench around nothing at his words, “well, here you go baby.” she heard him say before he shoved himself into her soaking entrance.

she moaned loudly, her body automatically reacting. she felt so full of him, her bones in her center accommodating him and his size. she felt her bones in her wrists ache as he kept one of his large hands steady on her ass, letting her get adjusted before he started moving.

“breathe, baby.” he says in a soft but low rasp of his voice from behind her. she nodded and did as she was told, breathing in and out slowly, trying to think about anything else other than the sheer size of how he stretched her out.

“good girl.” he praised when he saw her take some deep breaths. he saw her relax a little as her hips adjusted on the pillow that propped her up. he slowly flexed his hips back and pushed in a little, starting to slowly thrust.

she released small noises into the duvet on their bed, tugging at her wrists on the handcuffs. he eventually started to pick up his pace, a little faster as he grabbed onto her handcuffed wrists behind her back and tugged her up.

she gasped, him still fully sheathed inside of her. her back was now pressed to his chest, her knees shadowing his on the bed. he held one hand on her stomach and another on her breast, kneading slowly as he began thrusting deeper at this new angle.

she moaned loudly and canted her head back, tears welling in her eyes, “leon…” she moaned as she felt her hands form fists behind her back. his hands keeping her steady as he fucked into her from behind, his his snapping against her ass. “good girl…” he groans into her ear, “fuck…so fucking…god—tight…christ.” he manages to get out between moans and groans that escaped his lips.

his touch to her chest and his words, she felt that familiar feeling bubble in her lower belly. “harder…” she whined as she tried to move against her handcuffs on her wrists. he obliged, bending her back over the pillow and putting his hands on her hips, snapping into her with such force that their bed shook.

her eyes went crossed and she felt tears leak out of her eyes, almost drooling on the sheets as moans leaked from her mouth. chants of his name, curses and screams of pleasure. sex with him never disappointed, ever.

“gonna…cum…” she managed to get out in between the cries of pleasure and the sound of his hips against her ass. he just kept pounding into her, like a wild animal. she pulled at the handcuffs on her wrists again, clenching her fists as she felt herself becoming closer and closer to the end.

“cum for me, princess. scream my name.” he says lowly as he keeps snapping his hips, making curses fall from their mouths in a chant. he could feel himself getting closer, his hips starting to stutter but so determined to deliver what she needed.

she felt the blissful end, her eyes fluttering shut and then lined with tears. “leon!” she screamed as she came, releasing all over his cock as she melted into the mattress. the clenching of her around him, her walls sucking him in was enough for him to release a low groan, “princess…”

his end came too, shooting thick ropes of cum into her womb, painting her walls white with him. she could feel him filling her up, feeling so dazed and full. just so satisfied that her body and arms felt like jelly.

he breathed heavily as he reached away on the bed, grabbing the handcuff keys, unlocking the handcuffs and tossing them on the floor by their clothes. she felt her arms collapse down to the mattress.

he pulled out of her, their mixed fluids leaking out of her. he leaned down a ways on the bed and licked the dripping fluids from her entrance, causing her to shiver and her thighs to tremble a little from her intense orgasm.

“you did so good, so fucking good baby. c’mere.” he says softly as he leaned back and moved to the headboard. she weakly raised her body from the kneeling position on the bed, moving her shaking and sweaty body to lay beside him.

he wraps his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her sweaty hairline. his hands rubbing up and down her spine. “so proud of you.” he whispers into her hair. she smiles lazily as she looks up at him from her head on his shoulder.

she blushes from his praise, the tiredness from the day of moving and the sex sweeping over her. “sleep now, we’ll deal with all the other shit tomorrow.” he says calmly, running a hand through her hair and holding her naked body close to his.

and she did, her eyes fluttering shut. his heartbeat against her ear pulling her into sleep. their heartbeats in sync as they held each other, promising not to let go.

taglist: @heartsforvin

an: hope you guys enjoyed, please interact if u did :,) my asks and requests are open in my bio. my taglist and masterlist are linked at the beginning if u wanna interact. i love you all sm <33 kisses, xx

[decolonize-the-everything]

Okay, I'm also a little on the confused train. I vote third party and independent in my local elections when their policies (as they often are) are better than the local democrats. I vote for some local democrats when they, as in my community they happen to be, black activists who organized the entire of the blm movement in my city and then moved to campaigning for city council and stuff. I participate in mutual aid, I use my free time to bake bread for, and then deliver the bread and naltrexone to unhoused encampments. I advocate for every school in my area to teach actual native history. I distribute land back and esims for gaza pamphlets all over my city. I volunteer at soup kitchens a couple times a month, ect. I "donate" monthly "rent" to the tribes on whos land i live. I am currently at the least protest voting uncommitted in my states primary.

But like, I do bump up against... I don't want to vote for Biden. But if Trump wins, he's states he's going to put his everything into not only the genocide in Palestine, but hella racist internal policies beyond what we already have, stripping voting rights, stripping any existing social safety nets, removing anit hate crime protections, ect

So like. Yes. I am thinking about how indigenous communities would be impacted, at least in the short term. Among many others.

My final vote isn't decided yet

Do you really think it will prevent harm to vulnerable people to risk another trump term?

Not trying to be an asshole, asking you bc I respect you

*scare quotes are to imply that I think that language is shallow and not useful but I don't know what else to say

Please don't block me I'm being completely sincere about being deeply empathetic to your anger and share in it, but also confused and scared about the right course of action and the reasoning behind it

My opinions stem from my own organizing and activism.

I think it's going over a lot of heads that the same way we organize for landback or BLM and leave zines around to have progress in dismantling those, we ALSO need to be organizing behind 3rd party candidates to dismantle the 2 party system.

Like how helpful would it be to Any of those causes if someone said that instead of organizing for landback or donating or helping houseless people you should just vote for Biden?

That'd be ridiculous. Biden doesn't have any intention of significantly helping with any of those things and he's no substitute for the activism that's being done or still needed right?

So why are we as organizers accepting this logic when it comes to one of the most powerful positions in the world?

Why are we settling and saying he's the "realistic" choice and accepting it when we Know there are other options and avenues because we've Already worked in them?

I don't understand this and if You could shed some light I would in All Honesty appreciate it.

It's ACTUALLY confusing as hell to me that people I respect and work with and see as peers and comrades think that harm reduction is the best way to vote. It's confusing that instead of advocating for other avenues and educating people about other options or working for 3rd party campaigns or leaving educational zines around throughout election cycles and campaigns..... They say they're just gonna vote for Biden.

Yeah Trump sucks. I'd never deny that. I'd never deny he's dangerous. I just Also don't see how Blue Fascism is different from Red Fascism. It's all fascism and idk why we think Blue Fascism is an acceptable trade off when we literally Do Not have to keep making this trade.

The fact so many of us regularly feel like we don't have a choice is a testament to democracy already being dead, you know? Idk what we're saying 'yeah but the other fascists could be worse so let's just keep our heads down' as leftists.

I'm gonna be very real here, my concern is the future of humanity at this point. Point blank. White supremacy is an evil ideology that has harmed every person it touches while also making sure they help perpetuate it. In the last 5 years I've watched Nazis come back, several genocides, climate change and the death of winter, and police kill a man trying to protect a forest. Our president is more concerned with his campaign than the people he's killing or the families he's exploiting to do it.

Someone is going to have to risk something in order to stop a machine this big from killing all of us. The earth my child is going to inherit is going to be unrecognizable to me. She'll be lucky if she's never a climate refugee, just as it's Only luck that she's here in the first place after the USA tried to kill off the native Americans.

My concern is Everyone. And I know it seems backwards as hell to risk something so awful, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices to have something better.

I'd give anything to save my daughter from the future she's currently on track to inherit. And that doesn't mean that I don't love her. It's a testament to how much worse I genuinely believe things will get if we continue down this path accepting anything As Long As It's Not As Awful As It Could Be.

We would lie down and Vote to have robot dogs surveil our neighborhoods for immigrants and drag queens at this point "as long as it's not trump" and doesn't that terrify you more than he does?

It terrifies me.

There's no way that's harm reduction when we are NOT being harmed that way right now. That's Increasing the harm. A harm guarantee that you were tricked you into signing under threat of something worse.

[randomquadballpun]

DAY 9 (attempt no 3)

John did not have a shift scheduled this Wednesday so after dropping off Rosie at school he took a detour over to a local farmers market before lunch to collect some fresh groceries and enjoy the mild September weather.

When he returned to Baker Street with his haul of apples, potatoes, radishes and fennel, he found Sherlock sitting crosslegged on the living room carpet surrounded by a halo of little screws, wires and other electrical parts. If that was not worrying enough on its own, then there still was the object at the centre of Sherlocks current efforts.

"Wait, is that our water kettle?"

The sad electric kettle sat right in front of the detective on the floor and seemed to be partially dismantled at the moment, with Sherlock poking at different parts of it with a dubious expression and only reluctantly raising his gaze at Johns exclamation.

"Obviously!"

"Why?"

"Something keeps going wrong with Watsons and my experiment. I investigated a few possible causes and observed that the heating plate that I used for my waterbath showed quite significant fluctuations in temperature when tracked over time. So my current reasoning is, that we might have killed the bacteria by heating them too much and that's why the experiment failed so far."

John stared down at him slack-jawed. "All of this is still about the experiment that you are doing with Rosie?"

That earned him an indignant look. "Of course! I am not going to teach her that she should just give up as soon as science gets a little bit tough. Repeating and tweaking your experiments is a fundamental part of scientific discovery! We are going to get to the bottom of this."

"So what did our kettle do to deserve this faith?"

"I am trying to get it hooked up to my contact thermometer and then use it to maintain my 42°C waterbath instead. I found someone on ResearchGate.net who did something similar when their heating block failed."

There was no use arguing with Sherlock whenever he got into this kind of singleminded focus so John decided to let him be for now.

Instead, he took care of his groceries and began preparing a cuppa for himself. He would need some tea to deal with this nonsense. It took him almost a minute of standing in front of the spot on the counter that usually housed the water kettle to realise that there was something vital missing. He groaned.

"I am sure Mrs Hudson will let us borrow her kettle for now", Sherlock noted distractedly. "If you go down now, could you bring me a cup as well?"

John shook his head in disbelief but eventually and with much grumbling he got out a second cup and stomped back into the living room, narrowly swerving around a collection of tiny screws that were almost impossible to spot on the colourful carpet.

"You are lucky that you are cute."

That stopped Sherlock in his tracks and had him staring up at John with absolute disgruntlement.

"Baby animals are cute. Most dogs are cute regardless of their age. Rosie is the rare exception of a human being genuinely cute."

"Yes, and your point is?"

"I. Am. Not. Cute!"

"Oh yes, you are adorable." John dropped a fleeting kiss onto the other mans dishevelled curls before moving towards the stairs for some well-deserved tea and 10 minutes of relative sanity in the sanctuary of Mrs Hudsons kitchen.

--------------------

Troubleshooting, part 6/?

-> No Rosie this time round, but she will of course make an appearance again for the next parts. No water kettles were harmed in the writing of this chapter. I am fairly certain that what Sherlock is doing here is pretty impossible, but I am not going to let that stop me!

-> The next snippet will be uploaded Friday!

-> Start reading right at DAY 0 or read the previous part here.

[pencilofawesomeness]

My Friends Enjoy Reminding Me of My Many WIPs: The Tag Game

Another tag game lads~ @kiliinstinct and @thehylianidiot both tagged me, so here we go. I'm just going to do my uhh... current-current wips, which is to say, the ones I am actively looking at, more or less. Otherwise we will be here forever.

And before anybody wonders, yes, Runaways is on the table but I don't actually have any WIP of it to share because I took my break immediately after the last chapter so there's nothing to share atm

- rules: share the first line (or two or more!) of every current wip you have (that you feel comfortable sharing) and tag some writer friends! feel free to add the titles of your documents if you see fit

-

Whumptober 2023: Day 12 (Genshin Impact)

There was much work to be done.

Between dismantling the Akasha Terminal, uprooting the corrupt sages, and salvaging the organizational structure of all of Sumeru, there was not a moment to lose. There was also the added factor that the people needed to be assured during this tumultuous time. Unfortunately, Nahida was a practical stranger to them, and assurances from strangers never seemed to have the same effect. The fact that she was their archon only helped a little.

-

The light turned red, and I ran it (Jujutsu Kaisen)

He was Gojo Satoru. The strongest sorcerer, the only special-grade to call. He was the heir to the Gojo Clan. He was the pinnacle of everything jujutsu could hope to achieve.

He didn’t know how to make pancakes.

-

Memento Vivere: Chapter 2 (Fairy Tail FMA AU)

“I’m going to kill you!”

“Oh yeah? Then come over here and—ACK!”

Gray was not a child. He didn’t find senseless violence amusing. He did, however, laugh when Natsu fell on his ass on the ice-slicked hallway, because Gray was a bit petty. And Natsu deserved it.

-

Whumptober 2023: Day 19 (Genshin Impact)

It had been five days since Lisa had been abducted inside her own home. Four days since Albedo tugged Kaeya to the side and shared his hushed concerns about the scorched marks on Lisa’s kitchen tile being a result of Khaenri’ahn sorcery. Three days since, after determining that she could be anywhere in all of Teyvat, they sent word to the Milleleth first in hope for some confidential international support, and then to the Traveler, in hope for a miracle. Two days since Ningguang herself sent a falcon back, with word that they were aware of the mysterious scorched rune and that Captain Beidou was similarly missing. One day since Albedo received word from Forest Watcher Tighnari and they learned that General Mahamatra Cyno was missing as well. 

Kaeya was at a loss of what to do. It was a position he was seldom in and he hated it with every fiber of his being. 

-

Whumptober 2023: Day 12/26 (Jujutsu Kaisen)

“Oi! Sensei!”

Maki did not make it a habit of making a commotion to get Gojo-sensei’s attention, because he was a diva and he didn’t need his head to be even more inflated, but she had been waiting for that bastard to show up for days now, and she wasn’t going to let him poof away. Again. 

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Kintsugi: Chapter 5 (Fairy Tail)

Erza’s closet was huge.

Lucy’s jaw audibly clicked shut when she realized that she was gaping. It was larger than Lucy’s had been, back at home, and she had been nobility for crying out loud! And Erza was… Well. Lucy absolutely was not judging, but Erza and her brother kinda lived as hermits in the woods. How Erza managed to collect such an assortment was beyond her.

-

Current BTHB: Hives (Twisted Wonderland)

The worst part about taking showers was all of the stuff they entailed. At least in Pomefiore. It was way, way too much. 

Epel used to be able to take simple, hot relaxing showers, with a single shampoo that would clean his entire body. It was fine. But noooo, things were different in Pomefiore. There were only a gazillion products for a ton of different things. Epel could hardly keep it all straight. Sure, they made his skin smoother and his hair softer, and it wasn’t a terrible feeling, but it wasn’t worth it. He couldn’t skip any of it though, because Vil would notice, and the housewarden’s lectures were worse.

-

Within Infinity (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Ieri Shoko was informed that when she would be attending Tokyo Tech, or whatever it’s official or unofficial name was, she would have two classmates. The small class size was to be expected when sorcerers weren’t a plentiful group, but she was dreading it all the same. That few people in such a small proximity promised interaction, and sorcerers were infamously a weird bunch. Her dad had been proof of that, for certain, as much as she hadn’t minded when it came to him. 

The thought of being forced to get along with two random kids until they graduated or someone died was enough to make Shoko reconsider her dad’s wish for her to attend regular medical school. However, Shoko didn’t like her prospects among regular people either, so she figured she would stick it out with the weirdos. Besides, if her old man’s passing was anything to learn by, sorcerers needed doctors too. (And a few miracles, but Shoko didn’t have any delusions about that one.)

-

Unmade (Fairy Tail)

Natsu couldn’t remember how he got here.

That by itself wasn’t a big deal. Natsu was used to not having the best memory. He was also used to getting knocked out. It happened from time to time. Hell, half the time it was inflicted by Erza. But that was fine, because his friends would make sure he was okay.

Except this time, he woke up alone and chained to a low-hanging stone ceiling, so Natsu was beginning to feel nervous. Just a bit.

-

Okay I might accidentally re-tag somebody but let's seeeee (and no obligation to do this, of course), ummm @genavere @jinn-mori @breezy-cheezy and @phoenix-before-the-flame for the heck of it :3

(and as always if this looks fun and you want to do, pretend I tagged you and we roll with it)

[betpiner]

La choy chop suey

#La choy chop suey series#

#La choy chop suey tv#

Is La Choy soy sauce Chinese?įull of flavor and easy to use, soy sauce is a must-have condiment in virtually every kitchen. How long does sweet and sour sauce last once opened? The precise answer depends to a large extent on storage conditions – to maximize the shelf life of opened sweet and sour sauce, refrigerate and keep tightly covered at all times. SWEET & SOUR SAUCE, COMMERCIALLY BOTTLED – OPENED Do you have to refrigerate La Choy sweet and sour sauce? La Choy Sweet & Sour Duck Sauce 10 oz Glass Bottles – Pack of 1 –. It’s perfect for a variety of cooking methods, from marinades to classic Asian stir-fry. La Choy Teriyaki Marinade & Sauce provides a traditional Asian flavor staple that’s ideal for making quick, convenient meals. Having relocated from Detroit to Archbold, Ohio, and having addressed the problems surrounding the lack of imports from the Orient, La Choy Food Products began production at its new facility in August of 1942. Born in Pyongyang, the capital city of present-day North Korea, nine-year-old New crossed the Pacific Ocean to study in the United States. La Choy, the American Chinese food brand, has become a staple of many supermarket chains, but it is worth noting that La Choy’s cofounder, Ilhan New, was actually Korean. How do you make teriyaki sauce for your girlfriend?.What does Kikkoman Stir Fry Sauce taste like?.How do you make La Choy stir fry vegetables?.What are the ingredients in La Choy soy sauce?.What makes Chinese food swing American?.Do you have to refrigerate La Choy sweet and sour sauce?.Does La Choy still make teriyaki sauce?.brands is La Choy soy sauce (though the Japanese would disagree that this is soy sauce), owned by ConAgra Foods Inc. USA and San-J International, which has a plant in Richmond. This product is produced in the United States by companies such as Kikkoman, Yamasa Corp. Sprinkle La Choy Soy Sauce over rice, or add it to a simple stir fry for a quick, delicious meal. La Choy Soy Sauce is an essential, all-purpose sauce that adds a burst of authentic Asian flavor to a variety of dishes. We apologize this was a favorite of yours and is no longer available.” We discontinue products for a number of reasons, including how consumer preferences change over time. I emailed the company and this was their response: “We appreciate your interest in our LA CHOY Sweet and Sour Sauce. Is La Choy sweet and sour sauce discontinued? The brand was purchased in 1990 from Beatrice Foods by ConAgra Foods during the LBO firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts’ dismantling of the company and is still currently a property of ConAgra. Delbert was one of Oz's few full-bodied Muppet performances, since he didn't like performing in their costumes.La Choy (stylized La Choy 東) is a brand name of canned and prepackaged American Chinese food ingredients. ĭelbert was accompanied in later commercials by a timid character named Mert (performed by Jim Henson).

#La choy chop suey series#

Marketing and advertising Ī popular advertising jingle from the 1970s included the slogan "LaChoy makes Chinese food swing American." Muppets Įarly in his career, Jim Henson created a series of television commercials from 1965-1967 featuring a Full-Bodied Muppet character called Delbert the La Choy Dragon (performed by Frank Oz and voiced by Jim Henson) which used the catchphrase "quick cooked in dragon fire" to describe the product. As all three men had Irish surnames (Muldoon, McCarthy, and McDonough), they managed to stump the panel.

#La choy chop suey tv#

On June 23, 1957, three principals of the La Choy company, all from Archbold, appeared as contestants on the TV panel show What's My Line. Selling its Detroit plant to the federal government for the production of munitions, the proceeds from the sale enabled the company to start a new era in its history. To reduce overhead costs and maintain profitability during World War II, management decided to relocate the company from its facility in Detroit about 90 mi (140 km) to Archbold, Ohio in 1942. In 1937, the company built its first manufacturing facility in Detroit, featuring 60,000 square feet (5,600 m 2) of production space. The company capitalized on the growing fascination Americans had with East Asia, including an entirely different type of cuisine. By the late 1930s, management at the firm had developed a comprehensive line of food products, including bean sprouts, soy sauce, subgum, kumquats, water chestnuts, brown sauce, bamboo shoots, and chow mein noodles. New left the company for personal reasons in 1930, and Smith was killed by lightning in 1937. The first product, canned mung bean sprouts, was originally sold in Smith's Detroit, Michigan, grocery store. "Wally" Smith from the University of Michigan. Ilhan New, later founder of Yuhan Corporation in South Korea, and Wallace J.

[cactusspatz]

April recs

A bit late this month since I had to send my computer off for repairs (RIP my stickers, but at least it was mostly cosmetic damage), but I made it! I'm putting the 7 Star Wars fics of various pairings above the cut, and the 5 miscellaneous fandoms (Nirvana in Fire, Life 2005, Lord Peter, The Untamed, Our Flag Means Death) underneath.

STAR WARS

Cody/Obi-Wan

Worth a Thousand Words by @glimmerglanger

“You need to show him what you have to offer,” Fives said, which sounded shockingly like relevant advice. Cody blinked over at him.

“What?” he asked, because, honestly, he’d take any advice he could get, at this point. The war had been over for nearly six months, and he’d made no progress on his own.

Fives slammed back a shot of his own and then--kind of leered over. “You need to give him a look at the goods,” he said, and then, pointedly, dipped his gaze down.

OR, the one where Cody takes some very bad advice and has to deal with the consequences.

*wheezing with laughter* AKA the one where Cody sends a dick pic. Post-war, no Order 66, very funny and sweet. Also, it didn't really hit my embarrassment squick despite being tagged for that, because it's not mean-spirited about it, and has some good perspective about how there's a huge gap between the clones' life experience and their socialization for things outside of fighting a war.

Strong Bones by missmollyetc

We must all start as we mean to go on.

Triptych of stories about Obi-Wan and Cody set post-Order 66, with absolutely GORGEOUS prose. The first two will break your heart (especially #2, how DARE), but the last one will gently patch it.

Din/Luke

Blood Ties by scheidwrites

A few things are slightly different, which means everything is different. Boba and Fennec arrive just a bit later, Din takes his jetpack back up to the temple, and so he and the child are both taken prisoner by the Empire.

Fascinating AU and a lovely h/c series that deserves a lot more hits than it currently has.

Pragmatics by Derkish

Admittedly, this is not the first time Luke has wound up at someone else’s kitchen table in someone else’s clothes. But it’s not breakfast, Luke’s not an undergrad scarfing down bacon and eggs to cure the common hangover, and Din doesn’t strike him as the kind of guy he’d meet at a house party. The baby is definitely a first.

Luke is a grad student trying to finish his linguistics PhD after an unexpected leave of absence. His neighbor, Din, is a single dad and delivery guy at Pizza Parsec. (Actually, Pizza Parsec is just a front for the bounty hunters' guild. But Luke doesn't need to know that.)

Fantastic modernish AU that hit the sweet spot for me regarding Luke being a emotional mess with disaster family issues but ALSO a very smart and competent person in his field. I also really enjoyed how the Skywalker family drama was translated into this setting.

A Warrior Dance by twoseas

Luke reacts strangely to Din’s bared face and an overheard conversation leads the Mandalorian to believe the Jedi thinks he’s ugly. Things spiral out of control from there.

Featuring Mandalorian combat without armor, Han and Leia being a little into Din, and Luke being so much into Din he accidentally makes him think he’s unattractive.

This one has been widley recced already, but I finally read it and it's just as charming as promised without the secondhand-embarrassment I feared.

Obi-Wan/Anakin

if i only knew by wanderlove

Newly knighted Obi-Wan Kenobi and his padawan, Anakin Skywalker, have been sent to Ryloth on a simple diplomatic envoy. While there, an unsettling incident causes Obi-Wan to look at Anakin in a new light and re-evaluate...everything.

The Galaxy will never be the same.

aka: "come for the obikin, stay for the tzai and deep emotional discussions that dismantle every single misunderstanding in the prequels."

Very satisfying fix-it AU on many levels, with lots of time and detailed work on building their relationship in a healthier way.

More recs below!

(Nirvana in Fire, vid) ...One More Time by absternr

Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know?

I'm gleefully angry about how perversely perfect the lyrics are for this Jingyan vid, and at the vidder for making it work both on a straightforward editing level and a cheeky 'let me vid this serious historical drama to this iconic pop song' level. I love it <3

(Lord Peter) to translate a passion, to divide a sorrow by nnozomi

Harriet Vane bestows a murder on her college, to the benefit of all.

Lovely character study with Harriet brainstorming a story.

(Life) never thought about love when I thought about home by napricot

“I don’t do undercover,” said Dani. Not anymore, anyway.

“I’ve never really done undercover, or not anything longterm,” said Crews, frowning.

Tidwell leaned back in his chair, unmoved by their protests. “Yeah, gonna be honest, you two are not the preferred undercover picks. You are, however, the only two detectives available who could plausibly pass for a married couple in search of a precious baby to adopt.”

Classic execution of the undercover-married-in-suburbia trope, but perfectly written for these two characters and their whole thing. Post-canon, Charlie/Dani.

(The Untamed) good morning sunlight by @stratisphyre

Next time, Lan Qiren swore he would stay in bed with Xiao Jingfei. Wei Changze could be the one to take their wretched spawn to the market.

AKA Accidental Child Acquisition: The Fix-It Series. So delightful! Low-key Cangse Sanren/Lan Qiren/Wei Changze, which some of you might remember the author writing in a different AU from a prior rec set - that isn't the same continuity and isn't a prequisite though it does develop the triad more if you're curious. This one's all about the (literal) found family and making things happier!

(OFMD) and let your hair hang down by Ark

Stede exhales, warm breath stirring Ed's hair. "Again?"

"Stede," says Ed, "I'd sit on your cock all day for a chair and captain the ship like that if the option was available."

I haven't read a ton of OFMD fic (I think this is gonna be another Old Guard-like fandom for me where I loved the canon but my brain doesn't really want fic), but this one is a gorgeous piece of kinky smut with sharp characterization.

[bonny-kookoo]

Remedy | JJK x Reader | 💜☁️🔞🤖

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Android!AU, Android!Jungkook, AI!Jungkook

Warnings: mentions of war, PTSD, Panic attack, confused!Koo, soft reader, like my god I just wanna put her in my pocket and keep her safe, aka that’s what Koo wants to do, protective!Koo, praise kink, unprotected sex but izz fine Kookoo can’t knock her up anyways, soft sex, it’s very soft ngl, there’s a bird, some sad Koo, kook cries here and there, comfort and rehabilitation

Summary: JJK, Or J-Jungkook097 was a tactical fighter-type Android, used in modern war as a simple weapon and nothing more. Now retired after serious injuries, he has to adjust to modern life outside the war zone or he’ll get scrapped; and that’s where you come in, a rare human being ready to take on that challenge.

"Ah, what a waste, really." A worker says, looking the body of the Android over. "You sure you don't want him?" He asks, and the older worker shakes his head.

"I can't let him around my kids by himself, and I don't want him to snap around my wife either. He's not suited for my home and family." He says, looking the male robot over, before he pulls out his phone. "I think I know someone who just might take him." He says, hurriedly texting, before he gets a call back.

"Huh. Is he factory reset, or still running?" You ask, as Seokjin connects cords to the back of the android's neck.

"We tried to have him reset himself, but there's been problems." He explains. "He told us he did already, but that can't be true since he'd need a command to do it- his model isn't equipped with those AI options. Maybe his memory overloaded and deleted stuff as a survival protocol, we don't know. He's a military model, after all, they didn't let us see his original save data- they just downloaded it and went their way, leaving him for us to dismantle if he couldn't reset him properly for a new system." He says, as you type in some stuff, before viewing the screen you hold in your hand.

"So he's technically still running on his original warzone-system?" You ask Jin, and he nods, sighing. You furrow your brows, and the older male looks over at your tablet to see what you're looking at. "Are you sure? This is.. his AI settings are all set to.. look at this; companionable, friendly, all his settings are set to a companion-android, not a fighter type." You mumble, confused by this.

"Wait no no no that wasn't like that when I last looked at him." Jin says, taking the tablet from you as he types in some stuff. "Huh. This is weird." He says, showing you something. "Look at the protocol."

You do. "Huh." You say, looking at the last line of code.

Last change made by: JJK_OSADMIN

"He changed his own system." You say, and Jin is standing up now.

"I'm taking him with me, I can't let him-" He starts, but you do as well, placing your hands ontop of the Androids chest as if you're guarding him.

"NO! I already signed, I own him- Jin, I have to look into this- and he's set to friendly, he won't get hostile that easily." You try to reassure him, and he sighs after a while, taking his jacket from the chair close by.

"Keep me updated." He says, as he leaves you be.

The Android still sitting limply on your chair.

"Alright JJK. Time to wake up." You say, closing the small panel before you sit in front of him, waiting for his system to run the commands you had typed in before unplugging him. It takes a moment, but there's movement after that; his body slowly starting to sit properly, muscles moving into place, and system running it's diagnostics to detect any change in hard- or software made. It marks down his eyes, the small patches of skin re-made, and that his body-liquids had been replaced.

He feels good.

His eyes open slowly, iris moving and focusing in Various degrees before they meet your form. "Hello." He simply says. "Are you my new owner?" He asks, and you nod, expecting that question. He's not been factory reset, which means even though his memory was scattered, and his system had been changed, he was still aware of everything vital. He nods, before he looks around. "I'm now supposed to run on the companion protocol, correct?" He asks, and you shrug. He's confused, as you suddenly smile at him.

"I don't know." You tell him. "Companion, Individual- what would you like?" You ask, knowing it will bring his current system to it's limits. He's not made to make decisions like that, and you think it's quite endearing to see him suddenly think like that.

"I.. choose?" He mumbles, before he looks at you seriously. "I'd like to be given a small time frame to properly research before I come to a conclusion." He says, and your eyes widen.

You look at him, still friendly as ever. "So, you want to figure out what you want first?" You ask, and he nods, a bit hesitantly. "Okay. Just tell me when you've made up your mind then." You say, and he nods.

"What are my daily tasks?" He asks, and you shrug again. "This is frustrating." He says, and you laugh at that.

It's weird to hear it. But he notes it down as a positive response from you.

"Just don't burn the house down while trying to cook or something." You joke, and he seems to take it seriously.

"Why would I set your home aflame while attempting to cook? I'm not even capable of either task.." He says, and you get up, grinning.

"Don't worry so much. Just properly charge for now- we'll see what's gonna happen as it happens." You say.

He nods.

Jungkook knows that around 75% of fatal accidents occur in a mere household. He also knows, that a regular home is the safest place to live. Yet there he was, on the floor, holding his ears as an attempt to block out the sound of his nightmares. "Jungkook?" You ask, as you turn off the microwave. He's still shaking as you sit down in front of him, close- but not touching, unknowing if he would react to that negatively or not. "Can you hear me?" You ask, and he hesitantly retracts his hands from his ears, letting the sound in again. The beeping of the microwave is now gone, only the soft ticking of your clock on the wall and the buzzing of your fridge remain. "I'm sorry that scared you." You say, smiling apologetically as he shakes his head, face serious. His eyes move frantically as they glow an orange hue, showing his system status.

"No, I should apologize." He says. "I don't know why I displayed this reaction to a mere household object." He admits, and you open the microwave to take out your meal, before sitting down on the kitchen floor. "You shouldn't do that- the tiles are very cold-" He starts, but you wave him off.

"Its fine. Both." You say. "You're probably still confusing some sounds and things with your past use as a warzone model. So it's normal- your system has to adapt. You have to adapt." You say. "We all need some time to heal after what you've been through." You say.

He sits quietly after those words, watching you as he goes through his research on you. You're a very unusual individual, displaying a lot of behaviors he hasn't seen before. You take care of everything with a sense of care that makes him come to the conclusion that you're probably treating the machines and robots like living beings. Such as the oldschool robot-dog that he's seen under your living room table. It's currently charging, but he's seen you interact with it- genuinely displaying happiness and excitement at the very basic AI of the pet-robot that's missing a leg.

Its broken, just like him. But you're taking care of it, just like you take care of him.

You're very caring with him, too. He's seen you search for skin patches that match his color almost perfectly, even though they were more expensive than the usual models found in stores. You apologize for 'hurting' him, even though it's sometimes nescessary to repair him. You ask him about opinions, and let him roam around freely around the house.

You're a very friendly person.

And he, unknown to you, starts to create new files inside his system.

You're not there when he wakes up the next day.

He scans the house for any movement, but there is none that would lead him to the conclusion that you're there. There's no sign of you, and he becomes frantic, suddenly.

If his system would've worked properly like it should have, he would've remembered that you had told him yesterday that you would make a small trip to the local grocery store around the corner. But his system isn't working properly, already displaying several scenarios of you getting hurt, or vanishing, or leaving him alone.

He’d seen it before, so many times, hell; he’d been the reason of so many deaths in the first place and it never bothered him. So why was his internal system going absolute haywire at the mere idea of something happening to you? It was to be expected really- with how fragile you are, mentally and physically, it was bound to happen at some point. So why, if he knew it deep down already, did it make his pulse race and his skin feel weird?

You’d told him to stay home, but there was no way he’d be able to let you out of his sight. Because no, there were no emotions involved; they’d been restricted for him at the beginning after all, he was simply looking out for you. Probably a bug, maybe his system thought you were someone to be protected, a new mission to keep him occupied, that was probably it. It wasn’t because you had been so sweet with him, it wasn’t because of how gently you were in correcting him whenever he did something bad, it wasn’t because you were an absolute divine being in his eyes.

“Kook?” You said, an almost painful huff of breath escaping you when he crashed into you, holding you, his arms squeezing you a bit and his face burying itself into the crook of your neck, every sense drinking you in, saving the proof that you were okay, you were real, you were completely fine. “I-“ you started, and his eyes ripped open, suddenly realizing that he may be hurting you. As if burned he reacted, hands hovering over your shoulders as he looked you over.

“I apologize, I’m so sorry, does it hurt bad-“ he spoke hurriedly, eyes already glazing over with tears he didn’t even knew he could shed. Why did he suddenly feel so upset? His entire system was overloading, tears finally flowing and disrupting his sight so badly that he didn’t see your face anymore; sending him into panic even more. “I’m sorry- I’m-“ he pressed out, but there was nothing working anymore it seemed.

Only a few minutes later did he slowly come back to his senses, first thing he noticed being the way you held his body close, softly speaking to him while you were petting his head. It was such a weird sensation, yet it somehow soothed his mind back, as he realized that you were both on the ground. He was way too heavy, why were you doing that? But when he tried to get up, you held him tightly. “Take a Moment, Jungkook. You’re okay, I’m okay, just a breathe, yeah?” You said, and he nodded. “Let’s go back inside then yeah?” You softly said, and he nodded.

“But you need to buy groceries. We don’t have sufficient stock of-“ he started, but you giggled, the sound something he knew he liked. He didn’t quite know what to think of his newly found preferences for things, but he simply let it happen for now.

Because liking you could never be a mistake, he decided.

He calls out for you one day, his hands holding something you can't see yet. His eyes are wide open, his optics moving around frantically as he calls again. "Creator, please!" He calls, as you finally spot him, walking over as he looks at you with a worried expression. "Please- I don't know what to do. She flew against our window and probably has a concussion- you can help her, right?" He says, and you don't get curious as to why he immediately knows the birds gender and diagnosis; he can scan the tiny body, after all.

"Ah, come into the kitchen." You say, and he follows quickly, still delicately holding the tiny body in his palm, careful not to drop it. "Lets put her in a box and a nice quiet place, yeah? She'll recover on her own probably." You reassure him as he watches you place her in an old box without a lid. "Put her where you found her, okay? That way she'll know her way back easier." You tell him, and he nods, determined, as he walks back towards where he had found the bird.

Jungkook, in a way, was slowly changing nowadays.

He was a curious being, always eager to learn about the most mundane things. True to his purpose he picked up on things very easily; learning how to draw and paint very quickly. He had recently gotten interested in a video game you used to play before your work took over your time- and you loved seeing him have genuine fun with it.

He wasn't doing things anymore because they were asked of him. Or because they were an order.

He was developing hobbies, you'd noticed.

Of course you kept Jin updated about all of these things, and he had been happy to learn that his reboot was going well- joking around that he was glad he hadn't killed you in your sleep yet. And while, at first, you were quite wary of him walking around the apartment, nowadays, you couldn't imagine Jungkook even hurting a fly.

Just like with that tiny bird.

He was a gentle soul, simply a bit clumsy sometimes- apologizing over and over after breaking your alarm clock once, the alarm setting off another one of his 'episodes'- moments of flashbacks he got from his past purpose in war. You had reassured him and had let him watch as you fixed it again, praising him along when he gave you the right tools.

Praise. That was something he seeked as well.

And it wasn't just that he wanted aknowledgement of his own achievements. It was more your attention that he wanted. He wanted to be around you whenever possible, even sometimes dancing around the topic of maybe sharing a bed one day- but he had also been wary of hurting you in your sleep, by rolling over or something alike.

Always so thoughtful.

But he would be able to hold you that day; when you had complained about being tired, he had suggested a nap to you. Instantly taking on that chance, you laid down, rolling over as he was still on the couch with you, already having laid down prior. He was unsure at first where to put his hands, until he decided to just go for the common human way of affection; holding you close.

And he made a note inside his system, that he truly deeply enjoyed the feeling.

He finds you on the couch, crying, after an argument on the phone. That in itself isn't the issue he's having, however- it's the sudden wave of protectiveness rolling over him, drowning his senses as he walks over to you, his orange glowing eyes now scanning your form. "What did he do?" He asks, knowing that it was a former partner of yours, constantly calling you asking for money. It's a bad habit of yours that you can't seem to say no; and now that you did for once, he had bitten your ear off with bad remarks and names you'd rather not repeat. "I'll hurt him, just say the word. He needs to feel the same pain you do-" He's shaking a little, you can see it now; his hands unsure where to place themselves, his eyes watching over you, his breathing a little faster. He starts again, and you put a hand on his shoulder to stop his words.

“Jungkook no, he didn’t hurt me in like, a physical way.” You tried to explain, tears now forgotten as you try to calm the Android on your couch down- still absolutely terrified by your state. “I’m gonna be fine.” You say, but he doesn’t seem convinced. Or is it something else?

“But why am I hurting?” He asks suddenly, and your eyes widen. Well, why was he? Technically he was capable of understanding emotions, that wasn’t shocking. What was confusing to you however was just how he was able to share your pain. And it was obvious he did; the way his eyes glistened and his body shivered, overwhelmed by whatever was happening. “Why does it hurt to see you hurt?” He almost whispers, lost with the situation.

Jungkook was indeed a very weird android- you’ve noticed that long ago already. He was emotional, sometimes moody, and slowly began to develop an actual personality the more he was living with you.

Something his model shouldn’t be capable of.

And maybe that should scare you- maybe that should worry you, maybe you should call up support for answers, but you don’t. You do what’s best for yourself and what you think is best for him in that moment; you lean forward, and wrap your arms around him. And it doesn’t feel at all like an android you’re hugging in that moment, because an android wouldn’t cry with you. An android wouldn’t hold you like this, wouldn’t tremble in your hold like this. It makes it easy to forget that Jungkook isn’t human.

And that in itself is absolutely dangerous.

Somehow, his system had bypassed the blockade to his emotional capacities.

He had noticed it ever since you had been out to restock groceries by yourself, but he had been a little unsure back then. He now knows, for sure, that something had happened.

It was confusing, to say the least.

So many things were somehow suddenly starting to fall into place for him; his favoritism to being close to you, or his system failing whenever you weren't nearby. It also makes sense that he's standing right in front of your bedroom door that night, knocking as you open it. He feels a weird sense of protectiveness seeing you tired and vulnerable like that, and he sits down on the side of the bed where you join him. "Is everything okay?" You ask, and he shakes his head.

Nothing is okay, everything is confusing, and he's unsure what to quite think of all of this. "I feel.. confused. Scared. There's.. fear, in me, boiling up and interrupting my thoughts." He explains, and you nod.

"Feeling is scary, huh?" You ask, as he looks at you.

"How do you do it?" He asks, and you lean your head a bit to the side in question. "There's.. so much of it. How do you.. separate it, keep it in order? Its all over the place, and it's.. so distracting. Its so overwhelming- I can't seem to calm down." He mumbles, serious face turning frustrated as his fingers play with the fabric of his pants.

"We don't." You say. He looks at you for a moment, before you continue. "We just.. let it run through us, I guess. If you don't, it'll make you sick after a while. " You say, and he looks at you.

"But.." He starts. "I fear I might start to display reactions a male android model isn't supposed to openly display." He almost whispers.

"You don't have to openly do it." You reassure him, placing a hand on his shoulder, before moving a bit, body facing him as you open your arms. "It's just me; and I won't judge. You can be whoever you want with me, Jungkook." You say, and he lays down next to you in your arms, momentarily enjoying the quietness and closeness of the affectionate gesture.

"There are no bad feelings, Jungkook." You tell him, and he listens, as he lets them run through him, just like you told him. The sadness, the comfort of your body against his, the.. adoration he feels towards you. Everything, even though it hurts him, physically, something he only ever thought was a artistic way of describing emotions. "There are only wrong actions." You say. "If you feel the need to cry, cry. If you're angry, scream, shout, or find something to channel that into. But if you bottle it up-" You say, "they will lead to mistakes. They will bring pain, and they will bring remorse."

His voice is strained as he talks. "But how do I know when to act on them, and when not to?" He says, and you chuckle.

"You'll learn, Jungkook." You reassure him. "You'll learn."

And he nods against your shoulder, before you can feel him shake a little less, quiet sobs racking through his body until his exhausted body falls asleep to charge.

"Remarkable." Jin comments, as he watches the lines and lines of codes. "He has started to self-code his own system. He's quite literally learning." He says. "All by himself. This is amazing." He says, before he disconnects Jungkook.

"He's still a bit jumpy sometimes, and the microwave is still his worst enemy-" You say, as Jungkook reboots again, eyes slowly focusing as they start to glow again. "But he really is amazing." You say, and Jungkook beams at that, proudly smiling.

It's rare for an android to display such emotions, and he's still often very much void of any clear visual feedback in terms of facial expressions- but he's learning, and he's evolving, growing, in a way. Seokjin closes the panel on the back of Jungkooks neck, as the android stands up to walk closer to you. "Jungkook." Jin says, and the android turns towards the young man. "Do you look after her well?" He asks, and Jungkook nods. "Make sure she stays hydrated during the day, yeah? I highly doubt she's told you she struggles with that." He says, and you whine, as Jungkooks head whips around, eyes scanning your body as he furrows his brows.

"Creator, you need to drink at least 2.5 Liters of water per day. It's vital for your health, which is already very delicate." He says, and you glare at Jin for telling him anything about that.

"I'm fine- and also, please don't call me creator. I'm not anything like that." You say, picking up the walking puppy-robot as Jungkook nods.

"What should I call you then?" He asks, and Jin perks up.

"Call her baby!"

"Jin NO-!"

"No matter what she tells you-" Jin says, holding Jungkooks shoulders as he looks at him seriously. "She likes it." He says, and Jungkook, serious as ever, nods, noting it down, as you groan.

"I hate you both!" You say, and Jungkooks eyes widen.

"You.." He says, voice almost not heard over the laugh of Jin. "Hate me?" He asks, and you immediately regret your words. Jungkook still hasn't figured out sarcasm yet- the entire concept still a little too complicated for his system to grasp, so you walk closer to him, holding his cheeks in your hands.

"No no no, I don't, I could never-" You promise him, as he nods with already glossy eyes. "I just said it as a joke, okay?" You say, and he nods again, biting his lip a little before Jin clears his throat.

"I'll head off now." He says, already putting on his coat. "Thank you for letting me see him- it's really amazing to see him grow like that." He says, and you nod, giving him a short hug before he leaves.

And for some reason, Jungkook feels jealous, watching you so close to him.

Jungkook is in love with you.

He's come to that conclusion all by himself, and he's proud of it, but he's also very unsure about it. He has done a lot of research, scanned every source he could find and validate; and he has found a new interest in activities humans do in relationships to show their partner love and affection. He's not stupid, he knows what intimacy is, and is also aware that he's capable of doing these things with you; but he's also a little unsure, if you'd want that.

After all, there's nothing he could give you.

So one night, he stands in front of your door again, knocking, as you open it.

"Do you think.." He starts. "I'm capable of love?" He asks, and you look at him. "Because I think.. no, I am very sure I love you." He admits, and you get up, but there's no stopping him. "I don't know what it's like for you, but I have observed my newfound emotions, and there's a pattern I've detected; whenever I'm with you, around you, whenever you give me attention, or when you touch me, theres always the same emotions involved; there's this need to take care of you, to keep you safe, to be close." He rambles, and you listen to him as he talks, walking closer to you as his hands find your shoulders. "There's this.. urge, to partake in human intimacy with you. I want to.. show affection the common way, like kissing you, or holding you, things like that." Your cheeks grow a little red. "But I don't know if you are experiencing the same things. My research shows that.. that we could only do these things, if it's the same for you." He says, and then, almost as if hes whispering. "Is it?" He asks, and you struggle to answer. "Do you.. feel the same.?" He asks again, waiting for you to say anything at all.

You stay silent.

Its a sunday when a letter arrives at your home.

When you open it, there's several papers inside; Jungkooks personality tests, official papers that make it possible for him to leave on his own. When he reads them, he's serious, as he watches you smile at him.

"Jungkook, this is great, isn't it?" You say, trying hard to not let it show that you dread letting go of him. "You can finally get an apartment- maybe make something out of your talents, and earn a living. You're free to go now." You say, biting the inside of your cheek as he looks at you with wide eyes.

"But.." He starts, softly. "I'm yours." He states, and you shake your head, swallowing hard.

"Jungkook no.. you're you. No one owns you anymore." You say, and he suddenly shakes his head, throwing the papers in the kitchen sink as he walks towards you, his hands on your shoulders.

He looks at you, serious, as his optics focus on you. "You were the one who told me that every machine should be treated with respect." He states, as you look away from him, his hands shaking you a little as he tries to get your attention back on him. "You said even we androids have souls." He says.

"I did, but-" You start, but he cuts you off.

"And if we do, if we really do-" He speaks, his hands now holding your head, his face drenched in desperation. "Than it belongs to you." He states, and your eyes widen. "It's yours." He repeats. "If having it for myself means I have to leave you, I don't want it."

"I don't.. want to take advantage of you, Jungkook." You say. "You're.. everything is still new to you, I don't want you to regret this-" You start, and he leans down.

"I won't. I've run every possible scan I could, calculated every possible outcome, you know I can't lie to you. I could never regret this.." He says, as he leans down a little. "Can I..?" He asks, and you smile, jumping over your own shadow in a way, as you give him a nod. "I.. can you.. say it?" He asks. "Just once?"

You take his hands in yours, as you lean closer. "I love you, Jungkook." You say, and he gasps, his systems going absolute haywire in the best ways possible. He's again filled with emotions, but this time, they don't hurt; they make him feel light, as if he weighs nothing, they make him close his eyes because suddenly even the slightest light is too bright for his optics.

"Again." He asks, and you comply.

"I love you."

"Again."

"I love you."

He sighs, as his lips finally meet yours.

There's no magical fireworks or anything like that- but Jungkook decides that he doesn't need these things. The feeling itself, the emotions flooding his body are enough to outshine any beauty of reality itself. There's nothing he could ever compare to this, he decides.

He's unsure if Androids have instincts, but in that moment, for the first time, he doesn't care. This seems to be one of those situations to let his emotions run through him, lead him, show him what to do, he decides. His hands roam over your skin, ears catching every sound you make as he moves on autopilot it seems. He's letting go, he's finally doing something he really wants.

And it's all thanks to you- you've given him the chance to be himself.

You've given him the gift of feeling loved, as he finally comes as close to you as lovers ever could; entering you carefully, senses on high alert as he feels your walls around his length. He had been unsure of why pleasure seemed to be described as fun and intimate, but now he can relate to these claims fully. He's so full of love, so overwhelmed, that he simply rests his forehead on your naked shoulder, eyes closed as he simply lets himself feel. He doesn't care about his whines and groans, only focusing on you and your body, on the feedback every muscle sends to his systems, enjoying the way you make him feel.

Its truly magical, he notices.

He doesn't even notice his nor your orgasm at all, but it doesn't matter.

Because at the end of the night, he finally holds you close. Not like before, but this time, as lovers.

"I've given her exactly 0.26 milliliters of a 1 to 1 water and fruit sugar mixture every day at appropriate times." Jungkook seriously tells the vet, as he looks at the bird on the metal table.

"I see. Good job." He praises, before looking at you. "A warzone-type?" He asks, and you nod. "Barely noticable. I have one too, that's how I knew." He comments, before he turns to Jungkook again. "I'd say the bird simply likes your company, Jungkook. She just want's to stay with you That's why she comes back." He explains.

"Like me and Baby?" He asks, and you giggle at the nickname Jungkook keeps using.

"Yes, like you and her." Namjoon says, utterly entertained by you and Jungkook. "So I'd say let her be around. She's perfectly healthy, otherwise." He says, and Jungkook turns around, box in hand, as he smiles.

It's quiet that evening, sun slowly setting and drenching the walls of your shared apartment in a golden glow. Jungkook watches your sleeping form, leaned against him on the couch, as he simply remembers all of the things he's experienced because of you.

He truly is a machine capable of love.

Because you taught him how.

[high-functioning-lokipath]

SH - Sherlock x Depressed!Reader - With a Little Help from My Friends - Words: 2,793

IMPORTANT A/N - PLEASE READ: As stated in the title, this story contains discussions of depression. There is mention of suicidal thought and self-harm. I personally don't think it's too intense in it's descriptions HOWEVER!!! If this will trigger you, for your own health and safety please do not read. My messages are always open if you'd like to talk. I wrote this partially based on my own feelings so I can understand to at least a degree. You're amazing and I love you all. As far as this story goes, just remember: it has a happy, very fluffy ending but it doesn't start that way. I hope you enjoy it, feel free to leave a comment!

Brief Backstory: Reader is friends with John and Sherlock. She is a nurse who works with John. The three met shortly after Sherlock came back. Sherlock and Reader have crushes on each other but won't admit to it. I think the story explains everything else.

"Y/N, I'm going to be honest," John said, putting his hand on your shoulder comfortingly. "I may have PTSD but I cannot fully put myself in your shoes. My depression is different than yours." You had called your best friend, John Watson, in a mild panic. You had been feeling depressed for some time, as he knew, but that day had been especially bad. There was no particular reason but your depression had gotten so intense that you knew you needed help to get past this particular wave. John invited you over to 221B, assuring you that his flatmate would be out for the next couple of hours. "As a doctor, I am going to prescribe you some medication. Lowest dose possible and only because I want to help you get some immediate relief but I know you do not want them to become permanent. Let's work on finding another solution for you, ok?"

"I don't know, John," you replied. You'd asked John to be your Doctor since you didn't go to one regularly and he didn't mind your irregular checkups. "I've tried just about everything. The only outlet that seems to help is writing and even then," you trailed off, trying not to cry again. "This feeling just won't go away and I don't even know why it's there in the first place. I just want it to stop."

"I think you should talk to Sherlock."

"What?" You squeaked. "Why in the world would I talk to Sherlock?"

"I can't tell you why, Y/N. As both your Doctor and Sherlock's, I have to respect certain amounts of patient confidentiality. However, as your friend, I think you should talk to him."

"I don't know."

"Trust me," He replied. Smirking slightly, he added, "Doctor's orders."

"Ok, John," you chuckled. He smiled and hugged you. "Thanks."

"Now how about we go and fill this prescription and then maybe get some ice cream?"

"Well, honestly," you sighed. "The ice cream sounds great but I didn't sleep well last night. I was actually wondering if I could just take a nap here for a bit. I sleep better here sometimes." You blushed but John nodded understandingly.

"Of course," He replied. "I'll run down to the drugstore and fill this for you. Meanwhile you get some rest. I'll let Sherlock know you're here just in case he ends up getting back before I do. Will you be ok by yourself?"

"Yeah," You smiled. "This is a safe space for me. I'll go grab a blanket. Thanks again."

"Don't mention it. Just remember, talk to him."

"I'll try."

About 15 minutes later, Sherlock arrived back at the flat. He'd gotten John's texts.

John: If you get home in the next 45 minutes, be quiet. Y/N is over and she's taking a nap. I have to run out for something.

Sherlock: Is everything ok? - SH

John: She said she had a bad night.

Sherlock: She must have had a reason to come over in the first place though. - SH

John: She's going to need to tell you that herself. Don't ask. Do you understand me? Let her tell you. Be nice, ok?

Sherlock: When am I not nice to Y/N? - SH

John: Ok, that is true. You like her too much to be rude to her. If you could just hold back your deductions for one second I will say this: you two have more in common than you think.

He hurried home, not to wake you up of course, but because he wanted to see you. If there was something seriously wrong, he wanted to try and brace himself for it first. He couldn't help the smile playing at the corner of his lips when he thought of you. You two were good friends, that much was obvious to everyone. But Sherlock could see the potential for something more. He liked you a lot. You were just as smart, sassy, and sarcastic as he was. But you also could be extremely kind and caring to others and especially to him. He still didn't quite understand why you cared for him so but he was grateful. Before he could dwell on that too much longer, he arrived at 221B.

He quietly slipped inside and smiled at what he saw. You were curled up on the couch, sleeping like a baby. Apparently, though, you'd kicked off the blanket you had grabbed. Instead of picking up the blanket, he decided to take off his long coat and carefully lay that over you. You quickly cuddled into the warm fabric, unconsciously taking a deep breath, inhaling his unique signature left behind on the coat. Satisfied with what he'd done, he took off his suit jacket and went to the kitchen to prepare some tea for when you woke up. He knew you had a favorite tea and, unless John moved it or drank it all, there still would be some in the cupboard.

You woke to the smell of your favorite tea and a hushed exclamation from the kitchen. Opening your eyes slowly you saw Sherlock in at the counter trying to set up a tray with the teapot and cups. Recognizing your surroundings a bit more, you realized what was on top of you. Sherlock was just about to bring out the tray but you decided to pretend you were still asleep. The chances of fooling the Detective were low, but you wanted to try.

"There," He whispered to himself, setting the tray on the coffee table. You could hear him settling down on his chair, likely getting into his 'palace pose' as you called it. For a moment you were happy. You had actually gotten some quality sleep, you were currently cuddled up in Sherlock's famous coat and Sherlock had even made you tea. But that feeling quickly faded. Tears threatened to spill out of your still closed eyes as self-deprecating thoughts filled your mind.

'John probably told him to make me tea. He probably covered me with his coat so I wasn't as much of a distraction. He doesn't want me here. He never does. Why does he even tolerate my presence? He probably wishes we'd never met,' You thought. Your mind was going a million miles an hour and gaining. Without your notice, the tears began rolling down your cheeks and quiet sobs escaped your lips.

"Y/N?" Sherlock whispered. You're eyes shot open. You hadn't heard him get up. Now he was kneeling right next to you, one hand hovering over your arm. "Are you ok?"

"Oh, Sherlock!" You cried. "I-I wish I knew."

"C'mere," he said, motioning for you to sit up. Once you did so, he pulled you into a tight hug.

"What's this for?"

"You always give me and John a hug when you see us. You haven't done so for the past 5 days. I-" he paused briefly before lowering his voice and continuing. "I missed it."

"Oh." You weren't quite sure how to reply to that. You leaned into his embrace, letting yourself get lost in the moment.

"Y/N? Is there something I can do to help?"

"How much did John tell you?" You asked. You wouldn't have been mad exactly if John had told Sherlock to talk to you, but you wanted to think Sherlock was reaching out on his own.

"He told me you had a bad night."

"That's all?" You asked, surprised. You pulled away slightly and stared into his eyes. Sherlock nodded, frowning slightly as he tried to deduce you.

"Why are you afraid to talk to me?" You turned away, embarrassed and unsure what to say. "Be honest."

"I don't want you to make fun of me. I have-" You took a deep breath, steeling your nerves and preparing to just jump right in. "I have been extremely depressed lately and I didn't want to hear another speech about how all I need to do is exercise and eat right and stop thinking about sad things. Well you know what? I can't stop it! I can't help it if I feel like a useless pile of trash that should be thrown in the bin and burned." By the time you finished your little tirade, you'd gotten up and started pacing the floor. Then you turned and faced Sherlock. His expression was neutral but there was an obvious sadness in his eyes, one you didn't expect to see. It wasn't of pity. If you had seen that you also would have given up on the conversation. No, it was almost an understanding, an empathy. His eyes were actually glistening with tears.

"Have you ever felt like," he paused, voice unsteady. "Like giving up?" He whispered, unable to hold eye contact. You nodded silently. He got up slowly and walked towards you. At first, you thought he would hug you again but then he started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Uh, Sherlock?"

"Just wait a moment. I want to show you something." He carefully shrugged off the purple shirt that you, admittedly, loved so much and tossed it on the chair. "Only one person knows about this. You will be the second. You remember I told you about Moriarty's network?"

"Yes, the day we met. I asked you about your work, a simple question. And I got an answer that lasted 3 hours." Sherlock chuckled dryly.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"Oh, no. Please don't apologise. I-" You sighed, rubbing your forehead. "I tend to make jokes when I'm nervous."

"I know." He smiled at you with, yet again, a completely unreadable expression. "You remember though." You nodded, opting to stay silent as he explained. "Well, those 2 years dismantling his network weren't easy. Not physically and certainly not emotionally. As a result of the different missions, I received many wounds on my body in various locations. I was," He paused, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. "I was depressed, guilt-stricken and suicidal. I figured I had hurt my friends enough. If they thought I was dead maybe I should just go on with it."

"What changed your mind?"

"I didn't want to do it on a mission. I wanted to see home again one more time. So to temporarily relieve the pain I," He sighed. Well, I wouldn't let my wounds heal. I'd pick at them. Mycroft finally convinced me to come back officially because he needed my help. I never told him about this. I think he knows but we don't discuss it." He looked down, obviously embarrassed and feeling more emotionally naked than physically. "You can look," he said. It was as if he'd read your mind. You were trying to be respectful and not stare but you realized that's what he wanted to show you. You had, on occasion, seen him shirtless before but you had never realized how bad some of the scars were.

"Sherlock, I-I don't know what to say. I-" You were completely shocked. Not offended. But actually comforted that he understood you. "Thank you," You finally said.

"Actually I wanted to thank you. I didn't just show you this to prove that I understand your feelings." You looked at him confused. "The day we met. You were leaving work, correct?" You nodded.

"It had been my first day there. John had been happy with my work and requested that I stay assigned to his office permanently. John had already finished up and headed home but there was some paperwork I had to finish so I was leaving about an hour late. Come to think of it, John said he had plans with you that evening. Why were you there?"

"That's what I wanted to tell you. I met you less than a month after I came back. I had still been quite depressed so I was still picking at my injuries. That day had been a bad day for me. So I cancelled my plans with John and I decided to go back to where I started this whole mess and finish it."

"Wait, are you telling me that-"

"You saved my life." Sherlock took one of your hands in his own and held it tightly. "I had memorized the work schedules of most everyone there and knew how to slip in unnoticed."

"But you didn't factor in me."

"Correct. When I ran into you, quite literally in fact, as I was entering the building, I was surprised. Not just by your presence but by what I deduced about you. You intrigued me. I had to find out more about you so I invited you to have a cup of coffee with me."

"Which turned into dinner." Sherlock nodded. "And since you were so intrigued by me, you forgot all about that."

"In a manner of speaking. You weren't a cure-all, mind you. You helped, though, by giving me a new mystery to investigate: you. That night, when I got home, I told John everything. He helped me too and when I mentioned you he couldn't stop singing your praises. He is very proud of you and your work you know."

"Yeah, I guess so," You replied, a little embarrassed. "Thank you, Sherlock. I'm sorry that you went through all that, but, I'm glad I have someone who understands. And I'm glad you're here to help me."

"Me too, Y/N. Me too," He replied.

"Can I, um, can I have another hug?" You asked, blushing and smiling. Sherlock rolled his eyes.

"If you must," He sighed, holding his arms out. Any other day, you would have thought he genuinely didn't want personal contact. But today you realized he was simply teasing. You wrapped your arms around his waist and leaned your head on his chest. You felt him relax as he leaned forward a little to cocoon you in his arms. "I care about you, Y/N. I don't care about many people but you mean so much to me. I-" You looked up at him and pressed a finger to his lips to quiet him.

"You don't have to say it, Sherlock. I know." He smiled and looked somewhat relieved. You knew he wasn't good with feelings and that was fine with you. "I love you too."

"I wanted to be the first one to say that," He pouted. You chuckled softly and booped his nose.

"You already have." He smiled and kissed your forehead lightly.

"I know this won't fix everything right away. I know you'll still have bad days. But I wanted you to know you could come to me too."

"I know. Thank you again, Sherlock." At that moment, John walked in with a bag from the store.

"Oh, hello!" He chirped, happy to see you hadn't gotten into a yelling match. Then he noticed Sherlock's shirt, or rather, lack thereof. "So, uh," He stuttered, unsure of what to say. "What should I do with this?"

"First of all, thank you, John, for giving me the guts to talk to him about this. And second, I think I'll give it a try. You know, to try and prevent a really bad day when you guys aren't available or if talking still isn't enough. But for today I think I'll be alright," You said, turning to John with a smile.

"Well, I'm glad. So did you just talk about that or did he finally tell you that he's had the biggest schoolboy crush on you from the moment he met you?"

"John!" Sherlock yelled. You laughed loudly.

"Not in those words exactly, John," You replied. "Don't worry," You added, turning to Sherlock and ruffling his curls. "Your secret's safe with me."

"Good. Now if you don't mind, I need your input on this case."

"Me?" You asked, quite surprised.

"Yes," He said as if it was obvious. "You're a woman after all!"

"And that is important because?"

"The killer was a woman obviously but I can't understand why she would do it!" The two of you went off into your own little world, completely ignoring John as he cooked dinner.

John: Ok, mates, get your tuxs out. Won't be long now.

Greg: He finally proposed? 😀

John: Not yet, give it a week.

Mycroft: John, you forget I monitor his spending habits.

John: And?

Mycroft: He's had a ring purchased for some time now.

Greg: 3 days tops.💍

Mycroft: I would estimate about 3 days as well, Detective Inspector.

Greg: We're in a Group Text. Talking about our friend like a bunch of teenage girls at a slumber party. I think you can call me Greg.

Mycroft: If I must.

John: So, girls, will you help me make the plans?

Mycroft: Of course. He is blood after all.

Greg: Count me in! Wouldn't miss it! 🕵️👰

Sherlock BBC Taglist

@lucywrites02

@delightfulheartdream

@bartv21

@another-crazy-fangirl

@ladylulu143

@gaitwae

@for-hearthand-home

[aries-writingblog]

Home Again

Summary: “Home is not where you are born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease.” ~ Naguib Mahfouz

Word count: 1318

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: some angst, mentions of wounds

A/N: GIF is not my own, credit to original creator. The quote used in the summary is also credited to original owner

It had been a very long, very tiresome three weeks for one James Barnes. One of the longer missions he was sent on, three weeks in the middle of nowhere Russia with no unnecessary communication. He would consider contacting YN a top priority but no one else seemed to share the sentiment.

The mission started badly. They couldn’t land the jet, too much risk. So he, Sam and Steve all had to jump. The freezing wind and icy snow he landed in jolted his memory- tossing him carelessly into the Austrian Alps again. His mind tricking him into thinking it was 1945. He was thrown off his game the entire day. Being shot in the chest the same week would worsen his mood.

Three weeks with Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers could drive any man mad- no matter how fucked their brain already was. Add in no outside contact, no sleep and nightmares- the man was a wreck. To top it all off, they had lost the market arms dealer they were tracking. It took an extra four days to track him down again.

As soon as the jet touched down at the Tower, Bucky was on his bike. Doing ninety to nothing- desperate to get home. To her. He had nearly fallen off the bike at a red light, distracted and over- exhausted. But he made it.

Home. To Bucky it was a blend unlike any other. It was two story house on the outskirts of Brooklyn. Granted, the building was a fixer upper- the porch was old and splintered. He had plans to repair it but they kept getting pushed back. The inside was basically gutted, every room was bare. Save for the kitchen and bedroom they were certain to fix up first, before moving in.

Hints of YN filtered through- mixing with the old house. The way her hair brushed her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes as they stood together. Facing the newest challenge. Her smile, her laugh. Her. A cacophonous symphony of warmth and love unknown to him before.

Daylight was breaking, light reflecting off the windows. He practically melted from the motorcycle- shoving his backpack off his shoulders upon entering the door. The pack hit the ground with a dull thud.

His footsteps were louder than normal- it had been a grueling mission. Bucky was so close to home that he couldn’t hold himself together anymore. He allowed the heavy boots to make dull thuds across the wooden floors, too exhausted to tread lightly. His movements choppy.

He toed the boots off at the door- he knew better than to track mud through the house. Even if it was currently in a state of disarray. She would still have his ass later if he did. Passing through dark, empty rooms, Bucky couldn’t stop from scanning every corner as he continued his trek. Eyes methodically dismantling each room, searching for anything out of place. Any bad news he could find.

He only smoothed his movements as he neared the bedroom door. He made sure his steps were quieter, movements more fluid as he turned the handle.

And there she was.

YN. Home.

Bucky couldn’t stop the sigh pushing from his chest as he laid eyes on her. The thick comforter was pulled all the way up her chest, even with the ceiling fan turning leisurely above her. The morning sunlight was drifting through the blinds- a hazy halo of light arcing across the pillows. Landing over her glossy hair in strips of golden glory.

His eyelids drooped lower upon seeing the bed before him. Bucky made quick work of his jacket and pants, shedding his t shirt as he stumbled toward the comfort he had been craving.

As he lifted the sheets, YN rolled over, her eyes peeking open. A sleepy smile pressed at her lips as she held her hands out to him- making grabby motions. Bucky chuckled, fatigue dripping from the sound as he settled in beside her.

“Didn’t mean to wake you.” He apologized, feeling her warm body press to his. YN shook her head, arms wrapping around his middle.

He watched as her eyes scanned his body. The healing bullet wound on his chest, the cut across his eyebrow, the bruise on his temple. She was careful as she scooted over, pressing her head ever so lightly against his chest. Arms squeezing him tightly- trying to replace the feelings that followed him home.

“Missed you, Jamie.” She muttered, voice raspy and deep from her interrupted slumber. Bucky sighed, allowing his arms to rest against her waist, tugging her closer. He felt his muscles relax with her touch. Cells responding on a molecular level- writing the stress and damage he had endured away and replacing it with a loving embrace from the woman he loved.

“Missed you too, sweetheart.” He pressed a soft kiss to the crown of her head, inhaling her shampoo. A familiar scent. On It’s own accord, one hand crawled up her spine, fingers tangling through her hair. Holding her face to his chest. Clutching her to his body as though she would soon dissipate if he weren’t holding her together. “You have no idea, how much I’ve missed you.”

YN heard the crack in his words- the emotion lacing his tone. She also noticed the fatigue in his limbs, the weight upon his shoulders. Body collapsing in upon itself as he neared her.

“You want to talk about it?”

Bucky shivered, a cold chill burning his spine. His lips brushed her temple softly, building up his voice. A restrained burn in his chest. The rolling pit of his stomach.

“No… I… I just want to be home right now.” He clarified, his fingers landing on her pulse in her neck. The sedated beats under her skin grounding his wandering mind. The heat from her body, scent of the bedsheets, making him drowsy. “I just want to sleep.”

In her sleep hazed mind, YN could register the weight of his words. Bucky barely slept- almost never slept in their bed at that. The fear of being ambushed by the Soldier- his body hijacked while he slept… he vehemently opposed putting her in that position. Then he tossed and turned on the cushy mattress, annoyed at himself for having the potential to wake the sleeping beauty at his side. It was a rare occasion to find him stumbling through the dark, hands tugging the sheets and pulling her close.

He would never admit it but the nights he found comfort in her were the nights it was all too much. Too many voices, too many memories…too many regrets. By then he was exhausted beyond repair. Appearing to wear every one of his 107 years on his skin, on his face and expression. Most nights, he would busy himself around their home, doing quiet activities he had lying around. Painting the top portions of the walls she couldn’t reach, repairing plaster on the walls, staining the wood or things of the nature. He had even started on her soon- to- be gardening plots out back one night. It helped to have the projects- it gave him something to do with his hands. Gave his mind a reprieve.

YN had already ducked under his arm, curling around his body and pressing her face to his chest. Intent on providing for him in any way she knew how. Gentle, physical touch always made him calm, she had learned. She heard his breathing stutter and quicken. Felt his chest heave twice as he composed his emotions. Only revealing parts of himself through the receding darkness of their bedroom. Pressing a gentle kiss to his chest, she felt him squeeze her shoulder, giving quiet thanks for her actions.

“Then sleep, beautiful.” She whispered. Her angelic tone charmed his ears, only adding to the weight of his eyelids. “I’ll be here when you wake.”

[siremasterlawrence]

True Stories: Slave Darren

Loosely based on what I want to happen to current slave and boyfriend.

Part 1 - 3

Darren Fin Ian Wilson is now my official first Slave boi to serve me in a limited access to

me.

He is so fucking got a tall, white body and a well mind for me to manipulate in anyway I choose.

I welcome him into my brand new spanking condo to which he is so super excited to be with me.

The door slams behind him, truth be told I can’t disagree with it,

I check out the sights in front of him with this plump ass, and super toned body.

I instruct him to sit on my couch facing him intently I shove him back onto the couch.

I spread over his legs laying on to his lap he smiles brights, cupping my sides in his palm

My eyes connect with his forming one way trajectory where I lips meet half way.

We kiss instinctively our cocks perk up in a matter of instant gratification,

I think I love him at least on some level but he is so damn locked in to his own mind.

I dig my hands my under his shirt lifting it over his shoulders then about his head.

I throw it to the side following my shirt as

our skin touches he can feel the heat.

I slowly hump him pumping him out of on earthly control and he swoons.

His body making unheard of sounds his eyes roll back, and we kiss again.

I place my fest back on to the floor rising to my full height, and he stood over me.

Part 4 - 6

“Hey Darren babe” I turn to him.

“Yes sire, why did you move away from me?” He questions me.

“Order me some pizza” I order him.

“Yes Master four minutes” he replies to his call.

“Good boi” I state with love.

“Stay by the door my eyes are you only focus”

“Look into my eyes, not above them, not below them, but in the center”

“I love you Darren, you love me too.”

“I am your world, I am your life”

“I am your everything”

“Sit in this chair, close that mouth and listen “

“Yes Master, What is that matters most to you?”

“Own you for a life time, dismantle this closet case and make you worth it.”

“I want to create a man worth it to me.”

“I love you Master more then life itself”

Part 7 - 9

The pizza comes he enters the kitchen his ass is on full display for me.

I grab his ass tightly squeezing it then a swift pat, and I shove my back on him.

I dig my nose into his clothes inhaling every scent of him, and my nose is inflamed.

He opens the draw removing a knife then he cuts a piece for me.

He pulls a sliver out for me onto a plate for me and hands it to me.

“Take off your pants and stand there.” I command him.

“Stand this sexy blue underwear my favorite color.” I tell him.

“Yes Master, whatever you wish.” He complies to me.

“Do you love my body Master?” He ask me while checking me out.

“Oh it’s sight to behold. Perfection!” I yell.

“God! I love you Master”

“I love every scent you give “

“I love your body in every light “

“You are perfection to me”

“You are my life.”

The end

[patchies]

Shadows

Pairing: Dream x Reader x ???

Summary: An apocalyptic world where creatures of the night roam all around it. Searching for living beings to satisfy their hunger. Vicious creatures they are. It’s said that one person called upon their wrath in revenge. You awake in this place with another human being at your side. No memories whatsoever of the life you’ve had prior to coming here. In search of a way out, and your memories, you stumble upon multiple people with many personalities. Some can’t wait to meet you. If you take it the friendly or hostile way is up to you, but worry not... Nothing can hurt you. Or can it, now?

Warnings: none

Word Count: 2.1+k

Author’s Note: Basically, all this chapter contains is scavenging and conversations. I hope you’ll enjoy!

Wattpad link: here

story masterlist - main masterlist

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Chapter 2: Introduction

After you had deemed leaking your information safe, the both of you spoke most of the night away in whispers. With the exception when a rustle was heard from the outside, worried it's another creature ready to attack. That is until you deemed it important to catch wink of sleep.

You're the first to wake up to Nick loudly snoring. One glance at the window lets you know the sun is brightly shining. The rays softly hit your face and you watch as the small particles dance in the gleams of light. There are no curtains in this particular room, proving it to be quite early. Eight in the morning seems to be an adequate time to wake up by your guess.

You look over his resting body and whack Nick in the head, which prompts him to wake up with a jolt. Frantically looking around for the source of his pain until his eyes connect with yours with burning annoyance, “Are you insane?!”

His exclamation is loud. Very loudly in fact, and that prompts you to slap a hand against his mouth to quiet his yells, “Are you insane? We don't know if the creature is still out there or if there are more of them! Have you seen what it looks like and what it can do?”

The whisper is firm and harsh, sure of the fact he hasn't seen it. The image from the night before makes you shiver. It's sinking sharp teeth showing up, which makes you shake your head to get rid of the image. A dead Shadow is certainly not on your to-do list, but you have an inkling it'll eventually come to that if you like it or not. An inevitable decision will have to be made for your survival in this place.

He apologetically looks into my eyes and his puppy eyes cause my hand to lower… Not before delivering a sharp punch to his arm. Nick whines out and clutches his injured arm.

“I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking and to be truthful, you made me yell at you,” he shakes his head at me with a mocking smile. Your face showcases an unidentifiable emotion and that makes Nick nervous.

“I can make you yell more,” you start tauntingly, “after I serve you as a main meal to that Shadow.”

“Stop! Why would you make your friend a meal for the– “he thinks back to what you referred to it as,”– Shadow?”

“Yes, I think it suits the appearance of whatever it is,” you reply back with a slight laugh, “And to answer your question. I'm pretty sure your annoying ass would taste delicious for the creature.”

Your mood has started to increase little by little after having someone at your side who's fighting for the same as you. Hope was lit up in you at the thought of an ally after you had talked through the abyss yesterday. Engrossed in getting to know each other and making your goals clear before you get into any alliance with someone.

Nick just laughs along with you, slapping his knee as if you told a great joke. Yet you didn't. At least it doesn't look that way to you. Sure, you laughed, but it's not that funny, come on…

“So, you think my ass tastes delicious?” He suggestively wiggles his eyebrows.

“Oh,” you devilishly smirk at him, “I'm sure it does, but not to humans.”

• • •

After both of your morning routines that consist barely of any proper hygienic setting, you both deem it important to stretch and even decide to venture outside. You've both settled on finding a new base and spoke about it during the night. Possibly a sturdier and a stronger house that can be easily fortified. First, you'll have to find something like that and then go scavenging for some planks, nails, and food, though. That is if there aren't planks and nails in the newfound house already.

Later, you find yourself wandering around the neighbourhood. You haven't stumbled across any Shadows, yet, which you are extremely thankful for. It seems they just vanish during the day and reappear during the night. It's just a theory of yours, though. Nick was against the idea at first, but after being out for more than an hour, he begrudgingly agreed with you. Finding it useless to argue with you anymore on who's theory is the right one.

You wander around the neighbourhood while chatting about some stupid things.

“Do you think that house would be good?” You point towards a two-story house that looks to be enough for plenty of people. There's still a sign stating, ‘For Sale’.

“Abandoned and looking good?” He happily questions, “Hell yes, we're taking this!”

“Well– you technically cannot take a house just out of blue or at all,” you sigh.

“Shut up! Are you objecting? It's not like we know if there are any other people except for us. We could be stranded here alone,” he states sadly.

The sad look on his face only lasts a couple seconds before he breaks into a big grin and takes you by the hand. Tugging on your joined hands and almost sending you tumbling to the ground face first if it weren't for you catching your stability in time. You're seriously surprised by his strength when he's happy for something. You just shake your head at that and start to follow him willingly. Though, you're still on high alert for any possible dangers. Nick doesn't show any reluctance to going straight to the house, so at least one person must stay on guard.

As your feet carry you across the chalky pavement with ease you wonder what happened to this world. The buildings don't look to be in the best shape and the streets are presumably swarmed with Shadows at night. Some lampposts look to be broken and rusty, flowers envelop them in a conspicuous design and lie on the ground, while the rest don't even seem to be working anymore. At least not on this avenue. The grass and flowers overgrow the buildings and concrete. Nature visibly winning against human inventions.  Houses are sprayed with different slogans that you presume were left behind by people that are long deceased. The most appealing and provoking to you is, ‘Blood for the Blood God’ and ‘We have some unfinished business, green boy. I hope you're ready’.

Who left them here and what do they exactly mean? There are a few ideas of their meaning swarming your head, but you know better than anything to presume certain things. Some are better to not be answered at all either way. Are the people who made them still alive or long gone? Do they turn into Shadows? What are Shadows even made of and how can you kill them? Can you kill them?

I unfortunately can't answer you, Reader. You'll understand later. Or will you be left with no clue up until the end?

You're already through the doorway when your thoughts fade to dust. Nick has decided to wander off on his own and search the house for any possible materials or food and water, so you set to do the same. It honestly isn't as huge as you thought it would be. Nevertheless, there's still enough for the both of you.

You roam the lower floor while Nick makes sure to scavenge the upper. Therefore, you scout the living room first. There, you can see ruined wine cabinets, a completely scratched sofa, a dismantled bookshelf, shattered vases, broken chairs, and side tables. The mess is accompanied by pieces of glass and clay. You thank the stars for wearing shoes. Your feet would've been pierced by so many sharp shards if it weren't for them and you don't think you'd even have enough medical supplies to assist your wounds. Not like you'd voluntarily step on them, but having this cluster of broken glass right here can prove disadvantageous in the future.

The planks from the wine cabinets and bookshelf can be used for boarding up the windows. Thankfully, those look to be still intact. You can't use the sofa for sleeping, therefore the only usage is barricading the door. If you can even move it all the way to the front door. The chairs' legs can serve as temporary weapon parts along with the glass if you're successful in finding tape. If not, attaching some nails to them with a plank should suffice.

After you make sure you've searched everything, every nook and cranny of the living room, you walk to the kitchen to find a relatively clean place. From the looks of it, you're pretty sure the stove isn't working. The cabinets hanging off of the wall contain some stale chips and chocolate and that fact presses you to leave it as a last resort. You move onto the lower cabinets, only to come face to face with no food, but they hold some remains of tape and scissors. Nothing edible or drinkable. You then try turning the faucet on, but no water comes out. A disappointed sigh leaves you and you move onto checking the last place: the bathroom.

Upon closer inspection, you're able to deduce there's just bunch of pills way past the expiration date and you can't even tell what type of pills they are since the packaging and label is gone. The toilet and shower are meaningless. Well– not completely. You can still use the toilet to satisfy your needs. It doesn't sound appealing, but it'll have to do if anything.

“What have you found?”

That question causes you to slam your head against the cabinet under the sink you've been rummaging through and you have to take a second to recollect your thoughts and rub the pain away. You send Nick a glare, to which he just replies with a wink. Closing the doors, you stand up and adjust your clothes.

“I've found some planks, chair legs, nails, glass and clay. The sofa is unfortunately fruitless for sleeping, but we can still use it for barricading the front door. I can explain the usages of the former to you later,” you both exit the bathroom, but you continue with your dialogue, “I also spotted some pills, which are out of expiration, so I would be against swallowing any of them. They might not hurt you, but they might as well be like swallowing a pill with no effect. There's some chips and chocolate. Both stale, so our last resort. Water doesn't work either. What have you found up there?”

“I haven't found much,” he scratches his head, eyeing the brown satchel hanging at his side. You throw him a suspicious look about the accessory hanging at his hip, but don't mention it in hopes he'll enclose more information regarding it.

“I gave you a full report of what we have in inventory and you give me just one sentence that contains no information whatsoever?” you shake your head in disbelief, turning the corner and stopping in the middle of the kitchen.

“No! I was getting ready to tell you everything,” Nick argues with you, but you won't let him slip so easily. A teasing gleam shining in your eyes that he doesn't like in the slightest.

“Oh, yeah? I hear no words coming from your mouth, except for bullshit.”

“Let me speak, for fuck's sake,” he grumbles, which you just reply with a wave of your hand, “We have a pretty soft bed up there that has enough space for the both of us, but if you're not comfortable being in one bed I can always take the floor. Courtesy and all that crap, but I wouldn't be against sharing the bed with you. Anyways, there are plenty of planks from demolished furniture, small number of nails and a hammer. I also found some arrows, but there is no bow, so we can just use them for stabbing people's eyeballs.”

You hop up onto the kitchen island, kicking your feet in boredom. Quietly apologising when you kick his thigh by accident from the proximity, “And you told me you haven't found much… Anything else worth mentioning?”

“No. There isn't anything important on the second floor that I'm aware of. Save for the stuff I already told you about.”

“If I discover something valuable, I'll use those arrows to stab your eyeballs. Mark my words, mister.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” he salutes me, and you reach over to flick him in the forehead.

“So, can we agree on using this house as our safe place and base?”

“For sure,” he rolls his eyes at the seemingly stupid question. “Do we have any other choice?”

Though, what you aren't aware of, there's a hooded figure spying on your progress and conversation from across your building. A crossbow on their back, loaded with a poisoned arrow. They hold an uncertain smile, wonder and worry flashing through their eyes at the same time. Though, their expression turns stoic afterwards, quietly slipping further into the dark night.

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Forever

One Shot: How To Dismantle Bucky Barnes

Intro: Bucky is acting kinda stressed out. Both Sam and Katie thinks they know what the problem is. The only issue is, how to fix it? Easy when you’re a Stark with a very manipulative mind…

Warnings: Bad language. Smut! (NSFW) and no under 18s.

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x OFC Jen O’Donahue, Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Rogers (nee Stark)

Ok so this takes place in the SSB universe after the events of Endgame, later on in 2024. You don’t have to have read that series to understand or enjoy this but the characters will make more sense if you have.

This is based on @jtargaryen18​ ‘s master piece “How to Dismantle Steve Rogers” and I thank her WHOLEHEARTEDLY for letting me use her format and idea. And I’m not gonna lie, I had a lot of fun with this one!!

If you are currently reading Stark Spangled Banner as it is being reposted then this contains MAJOR SPOILERS and I recommend you wait until you’ve finished so you don’t spoil anything!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Stark Spangled Forever Masterlist // Main Masterlist

 September 2024

“You’re an idiot…” Sam’s voice carried up the hallway to the kitchen as they entered the Rogers household “A total, moronic idiot…” “Quit it Sam.” Bucky’s voice dripped with annoyance. Katie glanced at Steve who arched an eyebrow at his wife the pair of them wondering why they had given them an access key each…

“I didn’t think it was possible but you actually are as dumb as you look.” Sam snorted.

“One more word out of you and I’m gonna kick your stupid, seagull ass-”

“Err, we can hear you in here!” Steve called loudly, cutting his friend off “And there are young ears about.”

There was some muffled grumbling, followed by what sounded like someone being shoved into the wall before Bucky walked into the kitchen, face dark as thunder. Sam followed behind, grin spreading from cheek to cheek as he rubbed at his chest.

Bucky stopping to gently tickle Rori’s cheek where she sat in the high-chair, her legs flailing as she was still in the bouncer seat, not being big enough or old enough yet to sit up. She gave him a huge smile which melted his heart as he returned it.

“Hey Sweetie!” he grinned, and she waggled her legs and arms excitedly. After a few more soft words to his god-daughter he turned and ruffled Jamie’s hair as Sam offered the 4 year old a hi-five which he eagerly took.

“Damned Buck!” Katie looked at him from where she was plating up food. “You get a hair-cut?”

Bucky flushed slightly and ran his hands through his short crop “Yeah…”

“Looks good.” she smiled and he beamed at her.

“Fancied a change.” he shrugged.

“Hasn’t worked, you’re still a dumbass.” Sam said.

“What’s a dub-mass?” Jamie piped up from his seat at the table. Steve gave an exasperated groan.

“Nothing honey.” Katie said, dropping a plate of stir-fry in front of her son as Steve shot Sam a glare “Uncle Sam is just being silly, don’t worry about it.”

Jamie shrugged, placated by the food and began to tuck in. Katie dodged round Steve making her way to the stove, whilst her husband grabbed the pre-expressed bottle and unfastened their 4 month old daughter from her chair. She grabbed eagerly at his beard as he sat down at the table and began to feed her, smiling softly as she eagerly took the milk, her eyes focussing all the time on his.

“You guys want eats?” Katie asked, looking at the two men. “I made plenty.” It was a stupid question really, as both men nodded eagerly and dropped into the spare seats round the table. Once Steve had finished feeding Aurora and Jamie was cleaned up and in the lounge watching TV, Katie dished out the adults’ food before she handed them a plate each. She gave Rori her rabbit comforter toy to keep her occupied and they all began to tuck in.

No more was said about Bucky’s encounter with the hairstylist until much later, when Jamie was tucked up for the night and the 4 adults were on the veranda round the fire pit, Rori snoozing in her basket which was stood on the stand just inside the kitchen door where Katie and Steve could see her clearly.

“Where’s Emmy?” Sam asked and Katie snorted as Steve shifted slightly.

“She’s on a date.” he grumbled.

“With who?” Bucky asked.

“Parker.” “As in Peter Parker?” Bucky frowned “The Spider Kid?”

Steve nodded.

“Punk.” Bucky snorted.

“Aww he’s a good kid.” Katie said, “Leave him alone.”

“She’s too young.” Steve grumbled and Katie laughed.

“Baby, she’s sevenet this year.”

Steve shrugged. “I don’t care.”

Katie shook her head and watched as Sam and Bucky were bickering again.

“Ok, what is going on?” she frowned “Sam why you giving Buck such a hard time?” Sam grinned “Because he is an idiot. He went on another date with Jennifer last night, and then she asked him back to hers…and he literally burned the poor girl.”

Bucky growled at Sam “I swear to God…” “Burned?” Steve frowned.

“Yeah, get this…he’s walked her home and she asks him in, so he goes in, and then he does a bunk.”

Bucky glared at him “That’s not what happened…”

Katie frowned, she hadn’t spoken to Jennifer that day and was quite surprised, actually, that if something had gone wrong her friend hadn’t called.

“Buck!” Steve sighed, shaking his head. “You promised when you started dating you wouldn’t let this get awkward…”

“Oh Shut up Stevie.” Bucky snarled out his name “Just because you’re all loved up now, let’s not forget how hopeless you used to be around dames. Do you really want me tell the story about the Chorus Girl who tried for 3 months to get a bit of the old Star Spangled D and you were too fucking dumb to realise?”

Steve narrowed his eyes as Katie and Sam looked at each other with glee.

“No.” He glared at Bucky, at the same time his wife and friend nodded.

“Yes,”

“Absolutely.”

“Oh Captain Rogers, I think I have something in my eye!” Bucky said, his voice airy as he imitated a women, batting his eyelashes ridiculously “Oh Captain Rogers, can you zip my skirt up for me, its stuck and I’m scared I’ll rip the material…Oh Captain Rogers, I just got caught in that rain, I’m all wet and my top is sticking to me…” “Fuck off.” Steve said, as Sam and Katie both laughed. Bucky looked at Katie shaking his head. “And you tell me this Punk he made the first move on you?” he shook his head “You must have been really fucking obvious…” “Well, it took him long enough.” Katie grinned as she stood up, dropping her arms round Steve’s neck and pecking his cheek.

“What is this? Pick on Steve night?” Steve pouted as his wife headed over to the bar at the side of the veranda, pulling out 4 more beers.

“Just like every night.” Sam chuckled.  

She gave a beer to Sam and then Steve, both of who thanked her before she made her way over to Bucky was positively glowering. She handed him a beer and he looked up at her mumbling a thanks.

“Buck.” She consoled softly, whilst Steve and Sam were bickering well naturedly “They’re only teasing.”

He sighed “I know, I just…didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“And that’s not because you were with Jen, obviously.” She raised her eyebrows. “Dreams?”

He raised his eyebrows in a confirmative manner.

She sat down next to him. “That have any bearing on why you cut your hair?” He gave a small chuckle “I swear to God you can read minds.”

“No, just people.” She smiled

“I just, well I wanna feel more like me, you know?” he shrugged.

She smiled “Yeah, I get it. You know, if it makes you feel any better Steve had nightmares for years you know. About the War, crashing into the ice.”

He looked at her “Yeah?” “Yeah.” she nodded.

“How did he get them to stop?”

“Honestly?” she smiled “Sleeping with me. Said having me in the bed made him feel safe.” Bucky snorted “Yeah, not sure Steve would go for that somehow.” Katie smacked him gently round the back of the head and he laughed, before his face became serious again. “They’d stopped in Wakanda.” he signed, looking at the label on his bottle. “But since coming back…” “You think we didn’t have them post the Last Stand?” she looked at him. “Jesus Bucky, I kept re-living that moment I thought we were all dead for months and seeing Tony snap over and over again…” She trailed off, taking a deep breath “We’re human at the end of the day, it’s natural and you have horrors in your past that even the most sympathetic of people cannot begin to comprehend.”

He bit his lip and looked down at his lap.

“Look, if you ever wanna talk, about anything without these two being around…” she jerked her thumb at Steve and Sam “You know where I am.”

“Thanks.” he said, flashing her a smile. She patted his knee gently and then stood up, making her way over to where Steve was sat, dropping onto his knee lightly.

Draining his beer Bucky stood up “I’m gonna take off.”

Steve frowned “How come?”

“Tired.” he mumbled “Katie, thanks for dinner.”

“Any time.” she said, making to stand but he waved her away.

“I’ll see myself out.”

Grabbing his jacket he strode over the patio, up the steps and into the house.

There was a pause as the 3 of them watched him go.

“What’s up with him?” Steve asked.

Before Katie could reply, Sam chipped in.

“He’s backed up.”

“What?” Steve frowned.

“He needs to get laid.” Katie replied, shrugging.

Since everyone had returned, she had seen how Bucky was getting more and more uptight, especially around her and Steve. Whenever Steve had shown her a bit of affection she had noticed his friend would avert his eyes or make an excuse to leave the room. And she knew it wasn’t because he was uncomfortable around PDAs or anything like that. No, it was frustration. That his best friend was getting some and he wasn’t. 

Then, one evening last year she’d noticed a subtle change in his frosty, outward demeanour when Jen had come round for dinner.

And thus, Katie Rogers plan to dismantle Bucky Barnes had been born.

Step 1- The Right Bait

Setting it up had been easy.  Katie had instantly spotted the attraction between the pair. She’d seen the chatter at the dinner table, the way Jennifer had tucked her hair behind her ears when Bucky was talking to her, a Double Tuck nonetheless.  So, a few months into the new year, once things had settled down after Steve had taken his 15 year holiday back in the 50s through 70s, Katie had seized the opportunity to send Bucky to Jennifer’s coffee shop- Has-Bean. She knew Monday’s were delivery days for the woman, and 9 times out of 10 Steve went along to help her out with the heavy lifting because Steve Rogers was nothing if not a gentleman, and after seeing her struggle one Monday when they had called in for an early morning coffee, had taken it upon himself to help out. But not that Monday. Oh no, Katie had used her pregnancy to her advantage, claiming she wasn’t feeling too good and she’d been clingy, real clingy, giving Steve no alternative but to stay at home. But rather than leave Jenifer in the lurch, Katie had suggested to Steve that maybe Bucky could help.

So Steve had asked him to go along.

And he had.

And Bucky kept going each Monday from then on. Without fail.  

But there had been no date arranged. So Katie had stepped it up a little bit. On Steve’s birthday, the Rogers’ had hosted a gathering for their friends and family. Casual enough to be relaxed, but in the same breath everyone had used it as an excuse to don a nice outfit. They had stood in the garden watching the fireworks and Bucky had given Jenifer a hesitant kiss on the cheek. The red head had flushed and, emboldened by champagne, asked Bucky for a real kiss. And in the dark of the garden, away from prying eyes (or so he thought, as Katie had seen everything) he’d obliged. And a few days later they’d gone on their first date.

Problem solved, right?

Wrong.

Katie really tried not to be nosey, she really did. But she’d enrolled Brooke, Jen’s daughter and Emmy’s best friend into keeping her up to date on happenings, the teenager being over the moon her mom was finally dating again. But so far Brooke had brought her no news that Bucky had even entered their home, let alone that things were progressing slightly beyond the dating stage despite the fact they were now almost 3 months down the line. 

Katie knew that, despite what Steve had told her about Bucky before the war,  Bucky wasn’t in this for a quick hook-up. Yes he was still the cheeky James Barnes of old, but she knew from the times he had opened up to her that he wasn’t that person to chase a skirt for simple gratification anymore. Whilst under mind control with Hydra, to keep him satisfied they either brought him women or taken him to women. Willing paid women, yes,  but the memories of the quick fucks on dirty mattresses in cells and run down whore houses stuck with him and made him feel sick. Since then there had been one woman, in Bucharest, that he’d sort of had a thing with but that had been cut short when he’d found out she was married. He hadn’t needed that sort of trouble so he had ended it. 

So, with all that in mind, plus the fact Jennifer wasn’t the type for a casual hook up either, it wasn’t totally surprising that things were going slow, but 2 and a bit months of dating was just fucking ridiculous. Even her and Steve had ‘done stuff’ before that! And it wasn’t like the chemistry wasn’t there. Katie had watched the two of them when she saw them together. Bucky eyed Jennifer with a thirst Katie had seen a few times in Steve’s eyes when he was having filthy thoughts. A stare at her ass or tits here, the biting or licking of a lip there all confirmed to her the fact that the Winter Soldier was backed up.

Sam had called it.

And Jennifer wasn’t the problem. When Bucky wasn’t paying attention the red head looked at him like she wanted to climb him like a tree. 

So what exactly did she need to do here?

“You ok?” Steve asked, jerking her from her thoughts with a squeeze to her thigh.

“Yeah, sorry, was just thinking.” she smiled at him, thinking back to the first time her and Steve had made out after a baseball game and a few drinks in a bar…

And then she had a plan. A brilliant plan.

She knew just what to do…

Step 2.  Proper Motivation

Letting out a sigh Jen served the next customer, lost in her own little world. She’d been seeing Bucky now for a few months and was still trying to get her head around that. She was seeing Bucky Barnes. The Winter Soldier, Avenger. But she had quickly realised that behind the legend and the gruff exterior he was just, well, sweet.

She’d first met Bucky one evening at Katie’s house and had enjoyed his company, but it wasn’t until a month or so later when he had turned up at the coffee shop in Steve’s place that she’d really talked to him properly. 

“Well, well, well, you decided to pay me a visit!” Jennifer grinned.

“Yeah,  err…hi!” Bucky smiled at her “Steve mentioned he normally helps on a Monday and seeing as he’s not available I thought I’d offer, you know, with the delivery…”

She beamed “You are a life saver!”

He’d helped her move the boxes and unpack, sharing easy chat with her about her business, New York in general, his time in the 40s with Steve…and by the end of it her cheeks were aching from laughing in a way she hadn’t laughed in years.

“Anyway, I think that we’ve earned a break” she said after they’d finished an hour or so later.  “What can I get you?” she gestured to the menus written in chalk on the wall above the machines.

“What’s good?” he asked, frowning slightly.

“Everything, I make it.” she smirked and he gave a huff of a laugh “But it depends. You got a sweet tooth?”

“I’m not averse to the odd bit of sugar.” he grinned back, and she’d felt her cheeks flush at the fact he was flirting with her.

She let out a soft laugh, smiling. “In that case I recommend the caramel macchiato, and one of my mint choc brownies.” “You’re the expert.” he winked.

“Take a seat, I’ll bring it over.”

Bucky had continued to help out every Monday, without fail, but it wasn’t until New Year’s Eve that anything had happened. After they had shared a soft kiss, he’d asked her on a date, and she’d gleefully accepted. So they’d gone to restaurants, done the whole New York sightseeing thing (which was more for his benefit as it had all changed so much), been to the theatre, seen movies, had lunch…and it had all seemed to be going well. 

Jenifer hadn’t dated since the death of her husband some 15 years ago, so this was a huge step for her. But Bucky had made it easy. He was old fashioned, he liked to open doors for her, let her pick where they ate, pulled out her chair for her, all the things she had seen Steve do for Katie. He always walked her back to the apartment above the shop, but never pressed to come inside, seeming content to kiss her goodnight at the door. It was endearing how shy he seemed. But then, 2 nights ago something had changed.

And it had descended into a cluster fuck.

In the middle of the afternoon she had been forced to cancel their date for the afternoon as the member of staff who was due to cover was ill. But Bucky had surprised her and brought the date to her. Armed with some Thai food he’d shown up at closing time, cheeky smile on his face. He had helped her finish up, meaning she was done in record time and then they’d sat by the counter with their food, the conversation flowing as it always did…until he had stolen the last steamed dumpling.

“Hey, I was gonna eat that!” she pouted.

“Snooze you lose.” he quipped and she narrowed her eyes at him.

“That isn’t very chivalrous, Sergeant…”

His eyes had darkened as he’d bitten off half of the offending item before offering her the other half. She’d taken it, her eyes locking onto his, and then before she could even register what was happening Bucky was kissing the life out of her. His hands had gripped her hips, hers fisted in his hair which was loose, his stubble rubbing her face raw. It was delectable, exciting, and then as his hands had brushed the strip of skin that had been exposed just above her waistline she had shivered at the feel of his touch, one flesh, one metal, but both equally gentle…it was exciting, or so she had thought.

He’d pulled back suddenly. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Huh?” Jennifer’s head was a whirl of lust and she was struggling to understand what had just happened? Why did he just stop?

He ran a hand through his dark hair, cheeks flushing, his eyes were sad as he avoided her gaze.

“That was uncalled for,” he muttered. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” She asked again.

Bucky had simply taken a deep breath, pressed a kiss to her forehead before he stood up and headed towards the door. Was he embarrassed? No, she could see from the look on his face that wasn’t it.

“Buck?” She jumped up to follow him to the door. “It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong…”

He turned and smiled at her softly. God she loved that smile.

“I’ve got an early morning. We have a meeting with the DOD so I’d better go.”

With that he was gone.

Jennifer made all sorts of excuses for him in her head. Maybe he was tired. But the further into the night she got, the more she began to think she was fooling herself. She wasn’t in Bucky Barnes’ league. Maybe he just wasn’t interested.

Her gloom carried into the next day compounded by the fact he hadn’t called or messaged at all. She had contemplated calling Katie to see if she knew what was going on, but had decided to leave it a day or so to let Bucky get over whatever issue he had.  But after almost 36 hours there was no contact whatsoever and she was getting a little antsy. 

“Hey!”  a familiar voice called and she looked up, smiling, as Katie pushed the buggy containing her goddaughter over to the counter.

“Hi!” she beamed. “What brings you down here?”

“I came to ask a favour.” Katie smiled “Well, sorta. Long story short I need a night off. From being a mom…I was kinda hoping you’d be up for a few drinks.” “Tonight?” Jennifer asked 

“Yeah.” Katie nodded “I thought Brooke might like to stay at ours and they can annoy the shit out of Steve like normal.”

Jennifer ponded the invitation for a moment. It wasn’t like she had any other plans. And if she was honest, a good blow out and a chat might be just the thing.

“Alright.” she nodded “What time?”

“Why don’t you come to mine for 8ish and we’ll get Steve to drop us off?” Katie smiled. “Em and Brooke will be ok with Jamie for a little while, Rori can sleep in the car seat.”

Jennifer nodded,  “Sure…” and then her attention was taken by another customer.

“I’ll leave you to it.” Katie smiled, heading back out of the shop. As soon as she was gone she picked up the phone and called Sam.

“We’re on…” she said simply, before she smirked and headed towards her car.

****

Bucky walked besides Sam, hands shoved in his pockets, fists clenching slightly. He really didn’t want to be out tonight but Sam had insisted. Mind you, it had given him an excuse to avoid going to Steve’s to watch the game. He loved Steve like a brother, he really did, but recently the way the blonde punk fawned over his wife was starting to set his teeth on edge. His hands on her back or hips when he passed her, a soft lingering peck on the lips here and there, the way she sat on his lap and he ran his hand up her thigh…Living with them had been torture towards the end. He was grateful for them putting him up for how long they did, and he knew they hadn’t been doing it on purpose but his ears were sharp… and it seemed like the lucky son-of-a-bitch was getting some every goddamned night, and sometimes in the morning too.  

He was happy for the Punk, he really was but, simply put, he was jealous, even if he hated admitting it. Not because he wanted Katie per-se (although he wasn’t blind-Katie was an attractive woman) but because he craved some form of tender touch and he’d almost gotten some 2 nights ago.

Almost.

When he had first met Jennifer 7 months ago on Steve’s doorstep she’d instantly blown him away. She was stunning, long legs, curves, bright green eyes that sparkled with mischief and a smile that made the world stop.  And then he had gotten to know her during the time he spent helping out at the shop and realised that she was funny, clever, with an outgoing spirit that he loved. He’d wanted to ask her out on a date almost immediately but it wasn’t until July 4th at Steve’s birthday bash when she’d asked him for a proper kiss instead of a peck on the cheek when he had finally plucked up the courage to do so, no longer fearing the rejection.

And so he’d taken her out. Weekly in fact, every week since. And still helped at the coffee shop. Everything about the woman put him at ease. She helped him catch up on a lot of things she had missed, and when he stumbled on things he wasn’t familiar with or didn’t understand she didn’t instantly launch into an explanation unless he asked. For which he was grateful. It made him feel less inadequate that way.  

And she was tactile. And it was nice, Bucky hadn’t known anything but harsh physical contact for longer than he cared to remember. But Jennifer seemed to enjoy toughing him. She’d take his hand, lay her head on his shoulder as they walked, and then that time in the restaurant where she had brushed her ankle against his and then gently touched his knee as she stood up to go to the bathroom…well he wasn’t proud of it but he’d had a raging hard on for the rest of the date.

2 nights ago she’d cancelled on him, with a genuine excuse, so he’d taken the initiative and turned up at the shop with a takeout to help her close up. He’d stolen the last steamed dumpling, and then she’d teased him, calling him Sergeant which was enough to send a spike of desire right through his body and he’d acted before he’d thought about it, gripping her hips and pulling her to him, kissing her hard… and then he’d felt her tremble when his hands had brushed a strip of bare skin just about her jeans. He’d scared the shit out of her. So, he had made his excuses and bailed.

“Frosty?” Sam asked, and Bucky turned to look at him. He’d stopped outside a bar.

“Sorry, miles away.” Bucky shrugged, following him in. And no sooner had he done so he stopped dead.

“Hey, is that Katie and Jen?” Sam asked, and Bucky had to do a double-take honestly because at first, he didn’t recognize her. He had no issue with the way Jen normally dressed around him, figure hugging jeans, feminine tops or dresses and jackets that showed off her curves, and the way that fiery red hair normally fell around her face and shoulders…to him she was stunning as she was but there, right now?

Jesus fucking Christ. 

Her hair was twisted back in some form of bun, showing off her neck and shoulders which were bare thanks to the strapless, knee-length pale blue dress she was wearing, which had a slit up the right side through which he could see a perfect flash of alabaster thigh. Her lips were stained a bright red, like the women of his time, her legs bare, high heels on her feet. 

Next to her, Katie was sat wearing a floating gold dress, chatting to another one of the men, laughing as she turned to Jennifer and said something, causing her to laugh. Her face lit up with a smile as she replied and then turned to the man on her right who gently put his hand on the base of her back.

What. The. Fuck?

Bucky’s fists clenched as he watched Jennifer lean closer to say something to him, and the man nodded, laughing, before he waved to the bar tender, hand still on his girl. Before he could march over there and demand to know what was going on, Jennifer stood up and said something before she headed out to the bathroom. 

Before Bucky could stop himself, he marched after her.

**** Jen had started the night off feeling a little bit uncomfortable. She’d shown up to Katie’s dressed in a pair of tight, black cropped trousers and a white low cut vest top but there’d been an accident involving a glass of red wine when Katie had tripped on something and managed to throw it all down her. Her best friend had been so apologetic and mortified, but it wasn’t a complete disaster. Katie had a wardrobe that would make most celebrities jealous and in no time she had convinced Jen to try on the dress she was now wearing. It was a bit much for a Friday night out in Brooklyn bars but Katie was dressed up too so she supposed it was nice to make an effort every once in a while. Plus, she felt good in it. Which was nice considering how shit she’d felt the other day when Bucky had bailed on her.

A quick restyle of her hair to compliment the cut of her dress and they were on their way, Steve dropping them at their bar of choice and telling them to have a good time. They’d walked into the bar, ordered a bottle of wine and sat on the stools, where Jen had opened her heart and told Katie everything that had happened with Bucky. Katie had listened, sympathetically and then added her own pearls of wisdom suggesting that Bucky was a lot more shy than people expected. Their conversation had been cut short when two men had joined them, Katie jumping up to hug them both before introducing them to Jennifer as 2 of her old colleagues from SHIELD. The two men had been nice, included her in the conversation, and Jennifer had found herself actually enjoying their company. The dark haired one, a man called Ben,or Lawson as Katie called him, was interesting and had been entertaining her with a few tales of Katie at SHIELD, but then he’d started getting a bit touchy feely. And, despite the clear lack of communication from Bucky she still considered herself his. So she’d excused herself and gone to the bathroom. 

After re-doing her make-up, she was seriously considering heading back to the apartment and pulling on a pair of comfy pyjamas and settling with a nice bottle of rioja in front of the TV. Wondering if Katie would actually care, she snapped her purse shut, pulled open the door and did a double take as she found Bucky right outside it. He was leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest and she didn’t miss the way his gaze flew up and down her body as she stepped closer.  

“Buck, hi.” she greeted him “What are you doing here?”

“I was out for a drink with Sam, wasn’t expecting to see you. And from what I just saw at the bar I’d say it was clear you weren’t expecting me to either.” Oh shit. He was mad. 

Jen swallowed hard “That wasn’t…that wasn’t what it looked like.”

“No?”

“No.” she shook her head “I don’t even know that guy, he’s a friend of Katie’s from work, well her old work, SHIELD…” Bucky didn’t say anything, he merely held her gaze. She knew how it looked. Worse she was dressed as she was, making her feel a little bit uneasy as she never wore outfits like this normally. She glanced at Bucky, he was dressed in a simple black button down and black jeans, looking damned good, but his entire body language was off. The shy, gently Bucky Barnes she knew had been replaced by someone else. He was harsh, angry, even.

And then she felt herself getting mad.

This was the man that had darted out of her apartment the other night, and hadn’t even called her. And now he was here, getting all pissy because some guy had shown her a bit of attention?

Fuck that.

In that split moment Bucky saw her whole body language change, from one of a kid being caught with their hand in the cookie jar to a parent who was about to deliver a very stern telling off. And he wasn’t wrong.

“Actually, I don’t have to explain myself to you.” she folded her arms, mimicking his stance. “You ran out on me 2 nights ago. You haven’t called, anything…” Bucky swallowed, and momentarily he felt a little sideswiped, but he fast recovered his composure.

“So you just what? Go on a date with someone else?”

“This isn’t a date you dickhead!” she practically snarled “I’ve never me the guy before, but for the record, it’s kinda nice to be wanted you know what I mean? Now if you’ll excuse me…”

Wait? Is that what she thought? That he didn’t want her? Fuck, no, that wasn’t right.

He reached out and grabbed her arm gently to stop her leaving and she turned to face him. Once more his eyes skated up and down her body and before he could stop himself he had pulled her to him, so she was flush against his body.

“You’re supposed to be my girl.” he whispered, looking into her eyes.

“Am I?” she swallowed, her voice shy, meek almost. And fuck, that turned him on even more.

“Yeah…”

“Then I am, fucking hell Bucky…” she groaned, her lips meeting his in a fierce kiss. He backed her up against the wall, his thigh planted firmly between hers as much as it could thanks to the tight dress she was wearing, the kiss intensifying until the pair of them jumped apart as 2 other people came into the corridor to use the bathroom, smirking as they passed the couple.

Bucky looked at her, shaking his head “The other night…” he began “I know I scared you…” Jennifer frowned “No you didn’t.” 

“You were shaking.” Bucky said “There’s no need to pretend what…” “Bucky Barnes I’m a grown ass woman.” she said sternly “I think I know what I was feeling…”

His eyes widened, so if she hadn’t been shaking in fear…then…oh. 

Oh.

“And I know what I want…” she smirked, grabbing the shirt just underneath his collar and spinning them around. Backing up, she dragged him into the ladies and pushed him into a cubicle, locking it behind her. As soon as she turned to face him, Bucky had her pinned against the door, his hands skirting up her dress, gently teasing the outside of her thighs as she kissed him, hard, hands running through his hair.

“For the record…”she pulled back, tugging on the short locks a the top of his head “I’m liking this…”

A low growl rumbled in his throat as he pushed her skirt up over her hips, planting his thigh in between hers. She let out a moan as he pushed up into her spot, the harsh denim grinding on her spot. She was soaked already, and when his fingers hooked into the top of the very skimpy lacy underwear she was wearing, her clit throbbed from the slight pressure as he tore the garment easily in half, tossing it to the floor.

“Fuck…” Jennifer mumbled as his lips caught the pulse point on her neck, her head falling back against the cubicle door as his fingers slid into her folds, one circling her clit. 

“This what you want?” he asked, his breath was low.

“God, yes…” she muttered as his fingers picked up the pace. He inserted on inside, and her head fell onto his shoulder as he curled it forward against her spot. It was such a fucking turn on to see her trembling at his touch, trembling he now understood in a good way. With his other hand he pulled down the top of her dress, freeing her breasts and he gave a groan as he realised she wasn’t wearing a bra. He gently rolled one nipple in between his teeth, his other hand still fucking her gently and she let out a gasp.. 

“Bucky for God’s Sake just fuck me already…” 

He grinned at her, removing his hand.

“Yes Ma’am…” he said, as her hands flew to the buckle on his belt before opened his jeans, her fingers pushing them and his boxers down, allowing his cock to spring loose.

“You got any…” he began and she shook her head.

“No need, I got that covered…and I’m clean so as long as you are…” she looked at him and he nodded, as he gently hooked his hands under her knees and lifted her so her legs were round his waist. Once more he claimed her mouth with a heated kiss, swallowing the groan she gave as he pushed into her.  

Jesus…her heat almost paralysed him, but after a second or two to let them both adjust he began to move, slowly at first, gently finding a rhythm that suited them both.

“I’m going to make you feel so good, Sweetheart.” he said and she groaned again as he gently rutted up into her, his mouth finding her breasts again. The noises she was making were turning him on even more as he picked up his pace slightly, and the more he gave the more she wanted. 

Soon the bathroom was filled with the sinful sound of skin on skin, moans and groans, and the rattling of the cubicle door as Bucky fucked into her again and again. Her hands were in his hair, up his back, under his shirt, gently tracing the scars on his shoulder from behind but he didn’t give a fuck, in fact, in a twisted way he liked the feel of her soft touch over the raised skin. He continued to slam into her again and again, lips kissing down her jawline, neck, across her collar bone and down to her breasts again, and she gave a loud squeak. 

“God I wanted you so fucking much…”She gasped, bringing his head up to kiss hers again, her hands on his cheeks.

“Feeling’s mutual doll” he moaned into her mouth, the noise of the door behind them was rattling even louder. 

Jen felt her core tightened as a wave of pleasure swelled within her. Her shoes were somewhere on the floor as her heels dug into that ass she had admired for so long, nails scratching slightly at his skin as her hands slid under his skirt again. The door behind her continued to squeak, grind, and rattle.

“I’m…”

“You going to come for me?” Bucky asked as he kissed down her neck, biting at her collar bone. She nodded with a groan, and her head banged back against the door.

“Shit, Bucky…” and then she clamped around him hard as her release took her. Her entire body shook as the white hot tendrils coursed around her from head to toe, the entire world spinning. Bucky gave a strangled groan that bubbled from the depths of this chest, and he clutched her to him, tightly, hips stuttering as he shuddered with the utter intensity of it all.

A very loud groan and then a scream erupted from Jenifer as the door collapsed behind them, and sent the pair of them falling. In a flash Bucky wrapped himself around her, pivoting so that his back hit the floor first and Jenifer fell against his chest.

There was a moment’s pause before she began to laugh, and Bucky couldn’t help but chuckle as well as she looked at him and he helped her to her feet.

“Erm…so we broke the door.” She said between her laughter as she adjusted her dress, smoothing back her hair as Bucky did up his pants, tucking his shirt back in. 

He ran his hand over her hip, up to her neck and pulled her back in for a softer kiss and when he pulled away he was amazed at how relaxed and less tired and stressed he felt. 

Who’d have thought it? All he needed was a good fuck.

But now as he looked at the woman in front of him he realised fucking wasn’t enough. He wanted to take her home and lavish affection on every inch of her body.  

“Was that okay?” Jennifer asked, looking at him “I know it’s not exactly how a first time together should be but…” “Are you kidding?” Bucky chuckled, pulling her into his arms. “That was incredible but you’re right. I’d really like to take you home and do it properly, a little more caring maybe…as soon as I can.”

“My apartment’s free…” she whispered, as he kissed her again before he pulled back and grinned.

“What are we waiting for?” he asked, and with a last glance down at the broken door, she took his hand and led him back into the corridor. 

As they walked across the bar it didn’t escape Bucky’s notice that Sam was sat with the two men Jenifer had explained were friend’s of Katie’s, and that his best friend’s wife was nowhere to be seen.

And it all clicked into place. He realised he had been well and truly played. ‘Mrs Rogers, you cheeky little minx…’

3. Closing Analysis

“And he’s gone!” Sam smirked, watching Bucky stalk across the busy bar area after Jennifer “I gotta hand it to you…it would seem that Steve isn’t the only Rogers with a plan.”

“Yeah, I’m intrigued…” Evans said, draping a hand over her shoulder, “How did you know it would work?”

“Remember that time, years ago, when Steve and I had been on the baseball, and you commented on how Rumlow had been eye-fucking me all night?” she turned to her former sniper partner. He nodded “Well let’s just say it sparked something in Captain America that night.”

Evans and Lawson both chuckled. 

“And on that note…” Katie said, draining her glass as her phone flashed with a message from her husband “My ride home is here.”

“Seems Jen isn’t the only one with a super soldier waiting to ravish her…” Lawson quipped. 

Katie smirked “That and I have no intention of being here when they come out and realise we set the whole thing up.” “We?” Sam asked. “You were complicit…” she said, draining her glass. She turned to give Evans and Lawson a hug.

“Good to see you boys, stop by the house soon, come say hi.”

“Best get your chef on Nova.” Evans grinned, “You owe us.” “Oh admit it.” she smirked “You enjoyed the thrill of being on a Covert Op again.” “Think it’s Tin Man that’s gonna be enjoying that particular thrill…” Sam quipped, making her snort. 

“If they make it that far…” she smirked, pulling on her jacket. “Night boys.”

She made her way outside and over to the Audi, climbing into the passenger seat.

“Hey baby, you have a nice time?” Steve asked as she leaned over to give him a peck.

She grinned “Yeah, although not as nice as Bucky and Jen it would seem.” “What did you do?” he asked, looking at her suspiciously. 

“Nothing…just gave them a friendly shove…” she said, pausing as she felt her phone vibrate in her bag. It was a text. from Bucky 

“Expect a bill for a toilet cubicle door…”

She gave a loud laugh and showed it to Steve who groaned, shaking his head.

“Oh it’s not like we never fucked in a bathroom before.” she laughed, and he was about to reply when he stopped and grinned, nodding out of the windscreen. Katie followed his gaze as Jen and Bucky came out of the bar, hand in hand, and straight to a waiting cab. As Bucky opened the door to let Jenifer in he turned slowly to his right, locked eyes with Katie and raised his metal hand, leaving a single digit extended in her direction. The middle one to be exact before he grinned climbed into the car.

“You know, you don’t need to look so smug about it…” Steve said, a smile playing on his face as he eyed his wife who sat back in her seat. She gave him a shrug, smirking and he chuckled as he pulled the car away from the kerb. 

Ok, so she’d clearly underestimated the ex-assassin, maybe he had twigged it had been a set up. But that didn’t matter. Her plan had worked.

Katie Rogers had just successfully dismantled Bucky Barnes. 

[thirtysomethingloser92]

Chapter 1.

Summary: After being removed from his own time, Agent Daniel Sousa finds himself in 2020 lost, alone and vulnerable. You, an Avenger, find yourself face to face with Director Coulson and Agent May begging you to help another man out of time. This time however, instead of a super soldier, you meet an average man haunted by war and a time he once knew.   Pairings: Daniel Sousa x Reader.

You loved the mornings.

You truly did. You loved being awake before everyone else, the stillness of the cold air outside, a chance to reflect towards the day ahead. Almost every morning you could be found by the compound lake watching as the mist dusted itself off the top of the water with a hot cup of coffee in your hand and headphones in your ears. Once upon a time, you would be joined by the blonde super soldier you had helped adapt years earlier, a tight shirt covering his chest and a drink bottle in his hand. The mornings would be filled with laughter and joking as you both prepared for the day head. These days however, the years after the accords and the dismantling of the Avengers, you found yourself longing for those days with your friends in front of the television or training with the most deadliest assassins in the world.

You missed your friends.

"Good morning Audrey," You smiled at the young brunette woman who was currently leaning against her door frame flicking through her mail, "How are you today?"

The young girls brown eyes lit up as she gave you a wide smile. Audrey, last name unknown because she never told you or you never bothered to really ask, was your unusually quiet neighbor who occasionally made her presence known by knocking on your door and coming in for a cup of tea, usually talking about her recently deceased grandparents or her family.

"I'm great. Would be better if I stopped getting bills but hey, that's capitalism for you," She laughed as she placed the envelopes in her back pocket, "Oh! I almost forgot to mention, your uncle and his girlfriend are visiting. They asked me to let them in earlier and I've seen them come in and out of your apartment before so I hope you don't mind,"

Your mouth fell open slightly, "Erm sure, thanks Audrey. Next time could you call me though?"

The young woman nodded, "Absolutely, I'm so sorry,"

You nodded and turned to your door, "It's fine honestly. I trust him with my life. Just next time let me know there's people in my apartment," You grinned as you pushed the front door open, giving the young woman a small wave as you entered your apartment and closed the door.

Throwing your bag down on the ground you made your way through the hall and into the living room where you saw your long time friend and mentor Phil Coulson,  Agent Melinda May and a dark haired brown eyed man sitting next to them with his hand gripping the golden handle of a walking stick.

"A phone call wouldn't go amiss every now and again," You smiled as Phil stood up and embraced you in a hug. Phil Coulson was the man who vouched for you, who gave you a second chance when SHIELD deemed your powers too unstable. He was the man who stood by your decisions and guided you in a way that a father could. When you found yourself in the Treskellion all those years ago, so young and afraid, you remember his gentle words, the way he didn't treat you like an agent, but as a human. Not a freak like you had believed yourself to be. But as an average teenager.

"We've been out of range," Phil explained, he turned to Melinda, "You remember Agent May?" The Asian woman gave you a nod and a small smile, "And this is Daniel Sousa,"

Your eyes landed on the man who gave you a curt nod by decidedly stayed silent, "Sousa? I recognize that name. SSR later SHIELD. Died in 1955,"

Phil nodded, "That's right,"

"So uh, not to be rude. Why is he in my lounge room, in the year 2020?"

Phil offered you a seat and slid a manila file across the table to you. Flicking it open, you saw a photo of a younger version of the man out of time among numerous pages of his background.

"He had to die. Officially in 1955," Phil began, "But we couldn't let a good man die,"

"So you kidnapped him?"

A small smile crossed Daniel's face.

"I wouldn't say kidnap. We preserved a timeline," Phil clarified, "Look, I remember how well you got Steve Rogers to adapt to the 21st century. We were wondering if you could do the same for Agent Sousa. Get him up to date about what he missed. Help him get comfortable,"

You turned to look at Daniel who suddenly spoke up, "He's also in the room," You could see that he was trying to keep his face void of emotion, but his eyes showed that he was confused, somewhat scared of this new time. Of his future. "Is no one going to ask what I want?"

You nodded in agreement, "Okay then Agent Sousa. What would you like?"

"To go home. But since that's obviously off the table," He looked at Phil, then to Melinda, and finally to you, determination suddenly set in his eyes, "I'll stay. If I'm not intruding on you and your life,"

You shrugged, "I'm an Avenger, my life's always intruded on so it doesn't bother me," A small smile crossed your face, "This is going to be hard, but I've read about you. You're gonna be okay,"

<>

You made your way down the hallway and into the spare room with your arms filled with a large blanket and pillow, your new roommate limping behind you. After rejecting his help numerous time, he had finally become silent as the walls echoed around you. "I haven't really had a chance to clean this room up so you  might need to open a window or something tomorrow once it warms up a bit," You explained, turning on the large overhead light and throwing the blanket and pillow on the bed. You quickly moved around the room tidying it up and making the bed, "I wasn't really expecting a new roommate so soon after the last one moved out so I apologize if you find any woman's clothes under the bed or in the wardrobe. Just let me know and I'll give them to my friend when I see her next," Placing your hands on your hips, you gave Daniel a smile which quickly dropped once you saw the dejected look on his face.

"What do I do now?" He asked you, sitting ion the edge and looking down at the wooden floor, you watched as he swallowed deeply, "I've been to war, I came home and I've never felt as lost as I do now,".

You sat down next to him, being sure to keep your distance, "72 hours ago you were in 1955. You're 65 years in the future. It's a pretty hard pill to swallow. There's no manual on how to deal with that. When was the last time you slept? Maybe that's your first step,"

"Properly? 1955,"

You stood up and made your way to the door, "I have something that might help. A Stark concoction,"

"Howard?"

"Howard died in 1991. Tony's his son. Egotistic, but his hearts in a good place. I'll get Agent Coulson to bring over some files about what's happened to your colleagues between 1955 and now," You paused in the doorway, "You're not allergic to anything are you?"

"Not that I know of," He replied picking at the bed cover and glancing around the room.

You gave him another smile and motioned for him to wait a moment before making your way to  your kitchen and opening the medicine cabinet. A clear jar filled with 4 white pills sat in the center, the special concoction that Tony and Doctor Bruce Banner made for you many months earlier. You poured one carefully into your hand before replacing the lid and putting it back in the cupboard.

Gently, you could hear the slight tapping of Daniel's walking stick on the wooden floor as he moved around the room. You poured water into a cup and slowly made your way into the bedroom where you saw him watching the early morning sunrise. "At least that's one thing that will never change. A New York sunrise," He commented lowly.

You held out the pill in the palm of your hand and the water in the other, "The strongest sleeping pill we have. It'll knock you out for a few hours and when you wake up we can start dealing with all this,"

He turned to you and looked down at your hand before shaking his head, "No thank you. I-I'm not comfortable taking that. Thank you for the gesture,"

You gave him as reassuring smile, "It's fine. Ill leave it on the bedside table and if you think you might need it you can take it. Or not," You set the items down on the bedside table and watched as Daniel resumed his position on the edge of the bed.

"If you uh, if you don't mind I'd like to be alone now," He stated.

You nodded and pointed to the drawers, "I think there's a singlet and pajama pants in there from an ex boyfriend somewhere. Feel free to use those. I'm just going to do some housework so feel free to come grab me if you need anything,"

He gave a small nod and you gently closed the door behind you, making your way through the hall and into the living room, you turned on the television and began to clean the dishes on the lounge table.

A few hours later after the work was done, you slowly made your way down the hall and knocked gently on Daniel's door. Upon not hearing an answer you pushed it open and poked your head inside. Your heart broke at what you saw. Daniel was laying stomach down on top of the covers, his walking stick laying abandoned on the floor, dried tear trails down  his face, the white pill on the bedside was gone and the water half empty.

You gave a sad smile and realized that helping Daniel Sousa was going to be absolutely nothing like helping Steve Rogers.

tags:

iamwarrenspeace

  jcc04220

  pancakefancake

  buckywhitewolfbarnes

  jutima55

   thegirlwithoutaname87

 @cleocc

​  

nalabarnes1031

  ovemesomepietro

   joyfullyswimmingface

  astudyoftimeywimeystuff

   nikey-no-likey

  maraudersandco

[hattywatch]

K. Hayes - All My Own in a Big Red Bow 2

A/N: I miss hockey. Please enjoy a nice little break from the state of the world before we all go back to dismantling the establishment. :) Love y’all, especially Kevin Hayes. 

The frosting feels sticky against your fingers as you swipe it over a 20th cupcake with the butter knife in your hand. Only 40 more to go. 

When Kevin stomps his dopey, floppy self into the kitchen with his xbox headphones on, you quickly use your body to shield your work. 

"Hands OFF mister," you swat at him and he tips the mic up to mute himself. 

"I'm between games. Lemme just get one!" He succeeds in grabbing the butter knife, covered in chocolate frosting, and sliding it across his tongue. 

You wrinkle your nose in mock disgust, "You're gross, you know that? Totally nasty." He hangs his tongue out of his mouth and wiggles it obscenely. 

"Yeah. You didn't have a problem with that last night, though." Heat slips down your spine at the memory. 

"Okay… you're not wrong, you're just an asshole." You slide open the drawer at your hip and grab a clean knife to replace the one Kevin is still licking frosting off of. "Get out of the damned kitchen! I'm trying to make these so your family will love me. You're halting my progress. Go away." 

He pulls the mic down, "Do this one without me boys. I'll be back in a bit." 

He takes off the headphones entirely and leaves the kitchen to return them to the living room. When he comes back he looks at you seriously, as seriously as he can while still lapping up frosting residue. 

"You're aware of the fact that my family currently loves and has always loved you?" You shrug and change the knife again to switch over to the vanilla frosting. "You're already a part of my family," he continues sweetly, dropping the knife into the dishwasher now that he's done with it.

Sighing, you pause your icing for a moment, "It just…" you rest the knife gently against the frosting container and put the cupcake you're working on into the tupperware before looking up at Kevin. "This is the first family party since we're…" 

You pause. 

You don't want to say it. 

You and Kevin have been having fun lately. A lot of fun, as he alluded to only minutes ago. 

What you have yet to do was put a label on anything. This is the first family party since... we're together? This is the first family party since we've been fucking? This is the first family party where you invited me instead of my sister?

Nothing you're thinking feels quite right and you just let the sentence hang, heavy and dense in the air. 

Kevin's eyes are clear blue, shining bright against his tanned summer complexion, but you can't bring yourself to look at them, choosing instead to focus on the clock on the stove, which tells you that you have exactly two hours before you need to leave to get to this party. 

The cupcakes are still not frosted. 

They're going to hate you.

Finally, Kevin reaches out and touches your shoulder. "This is really important to you, huh? These stupid cupcakes?" 

You meet his gaze now, "They really, really are." You're almost embarrassed to say it, but it's the truth. 

"Okay, let's get to work then," he picks up the container of sprinkles and starts dusting them over the tops of the already frosted desserts.

"You're really the best," you nudge him with your hip as you resume your icing job. 

He smiles at you, dopey and lopsided, "If it's important to you then it's important to me." You're sure the look you give back to him is just as dopey. 

__________

You've been to your sister's house a thousand other times, but when Kevin pulls his truck up  outside of it this time you might as well be a stranger. 

"Why are you so nervous today? You know all of these people. What's up with you?" Kevin had graciously helped you finish the decorating and then watched you change your clothes four times before ultimately deciding on the first outfit anyway. He's a highly patient man, but you could tell he's confused at best and possibly worried about your psyche at worst. 

"Please don't make me explain? I promise I will, just not right now. Please?" He closes his eyes and lets out a breath, bolstering his patience once more. 

"Alright, but we gotta talk about it sometime, promise?" You nod and start getting out of the car before grabbing the present you have in the back for your brother-in-law, letting Kevin balance the trays and trays of cupcakes.

Holding the door open, you let Kevin in first so he can drop the tupperware on the counter. He shouts out for Jimmy, hugging his brother as he pulls him away from a conversation with their father. 

The brothers exchange a few "hey mans" and a hug before Kevin turns to you; he motions for you to come over to them. 

"I brought my girl, hope that's okay," he tells the room at large before wrapping his arm  around your waist. 

Your sister smiles from where she's feeding the baby on the couch, Kevin's dad rolls his eyes and his son's antics, and his mom smiles knowingly at you and Kevin. 

Jimmy laughs and rolls his eyes, "I've heard a lot about you," he reaches out and shakes your hand. 

You're not sure if you're highly uncomfortable or absolutely turned to loving mush at Kevin's declaration. 

Kevin's sister walks in through the front door with his niece, trailing a fistful of balloons, finally breaking the awkward grasp Jimmy has on your hand.

His niece shoves the balloon strings into Jimmy's hand and he picks her up for a hug before passing her to Kevin's outstretched arms. 

"Remember Y/n?" He turns around so he and his niece are facing you. You wave and she smiles and nods.

"She's aunt Kris' sister and mommy told me not to say she should be your new girlfriend 'accause that's rude." She punctuates her story with a nod, and Kevin kisses her head, hiding his smile in her pigtails.

Out of the corner of your eye you can see her mother facepalm, her father barely staunching a laugh.

Kevin continues, "It wasn't rude, baby. As a matter of fact, I thought it was a great idea so I wanted to thank you for finding her for me." She kisses his scruffy face and smiles wide, squirming until he puts her down on the floor where she can run over to her mom and be picked up again.

"See momma? Uncle Kevin said she's his girlfriend now, so I can say it!" 

You bury your face in Kevin's chest, embarrassed but radiating love from the center of your chest out to the tips of your toes. 

"I'm your girlfriend, Kevin? News to me," you mumble into his Patriots t-shirt as conversation gently resumes around you- his sister, brother-in-law, and niece cooing over the baby on the other side of the room, his parents doing their best to not look like they're eavesdropping. 

"Shut up, you know I'm all yours." He looks like he wants to kiss you, really send the point home, but the room is full and it's certainly the wrong venue, so he ends his admission with a kiss on your forehead. 

Jimmy walks over with the baby over his shoulder, doing his best to burp him. "I'd say welcome to the family, but you're nothing new," he elbows you playfully as he passes. 

Kevin sticks his hand into the back pocket of your jeans and wiggles his way into your heart a little deeper.

[starwarsnonsense]

Top 10 films of 2019

Here’s my very belated top 10 films of 2019! Note that this is a list of films that were released in the UK theatrically in 2019, meaning it includes certain releases that would be considered to belong to 2018 by others.

Honourable mentions: Joker, Hustlers, Booksmart, A Private War, Fighting With My Family

(And don’t worry - Little Women, 1917 and Uncut Gems are all already on my list for 2020.)

Look out for my most anticipated films of 2020 list, coming soon!

With that out of the way, here’s my list (in ascending order)! Do share your picks in the comments!

10. The Irishman (dir. Martin Scorsese)

This is clearly the work of a master filmmaker with much on his mind. In telling the story of Frank Sheeran, Scorsese is telling the story of a man who makes his trade in violence. Instead of elevating Frank as a hero or a figure of glamour, he’s consistently shown to be rather pathetic. He stumbles into the role of hitman for various factions of the criminal underworld, and sticks to it seemingly because it’s what comes most easily to him. The violence enacted by Sheeran is inane and routine, with no thought given to the personal cost until it is far too late. The final 15 minutes of this film show a life petering out with a whimper, laying bare the indignities of old age and the cold, empty horror of enduring it with no company besides your own regrets. The Irishman is a portrait of a life lived badly, and in the hands of anyone besides Scorsese it could have been dry and tedious. Instead, the filmmaking is incredibly assured and the editing is whip-sharp (in Thelma Schoonmaker we trust), making it a pleasure to watch even with the lengthy runtime. 

9. The Farewell (dir. Lulu Wang)

The Farewell is a personal story about a young Asian-American woman (Awkwafina) struggling to reconcile her heritage with her current situation and values - specifically, she is tested when her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer and the wider family make the decision to hide the truth from her. The Farewell does a fantastic job of generating empathy for all the different perspectives and positions in play, but it’s truly anchored by Awkwafina’s amazingly nuanced and tender performance - basically, anyone who’s ever loved a grandparent should leave this feeling incredibly moved and inspired. The themes of The Farewell are both specific to the Asian-American experience and general to anyone who has struggled with maintaining bonds over a vast distance, whether physical or cultural. Lulu Wang is an exciting new voice in cinema, and I will watch her career with great interest.           

8. Pain & Glory (dir. Pedro Almodóvar)

Almodóvar is one of my favourite filmmakers, and one of the reasons I love his work so much is its wild diversity. My favourite from him is The Skin I Live In, a film that could not be more different than Pain & Glory. This is a small, very personal film telling the story of a middle-aged director (Banderas, clearly playing a version of  Almodóvar himself) who’s struggling with his legacy as a filmmaker and the increasing privations attached to middle age. Suffering in the present, Salvador finds himself retreating into memories of his childhood - particularly of his mother (Penelope Cruz) and his first crush. The childhood sequences were where the film really sung for me, perfectly capturing the sun-dappled glow of reminiscences of childhood. And the ending, where  Almodóvar truly shows his hand, is delightfully mischievous and the perfect cap on this very personal picture.

7. Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood (dir. Quentin Tarantino)

This is a slice of life movie, but while that might call to mind ‘kitchen sink’ dramas, this is unabashedly a ‘slice of life’ movie about Hollywood and the mythology that has developed around it. It’s meandering and feels rather aimless for the bulk of its runtime, but that’s kind of the point. It’s exactly what the title promises in that it recaptures what life was like in a very specific time and in a very specific place - it’s an idealised, loving depiction of the Hollywood of the time, with the movie stars, flawed and fading as they are, cast as heroes menaced by the drugged-up hippies poised to dismantle the status quo. It ends in the fashion you’d expect from Tarantino, but here I found his revisionist approach to history remarkably poignant and effective. Film is a magic medium, with Hollywood serving as the ultimate dream factory - it feels completely right that Tarantino would attempt to use celluloid to right one of the great tragedies of Hollywood history.

6. One Cut of the Dead (dir. Shinichirou Ueda)

I went into this with no expectations whatsoever - and what a treat it was! One Cut of the Dead is easily one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in years, taking what initially seems like a trite concept (a crew is filming a zombie movie at a desolate location ... only to discover that the zombies are real!) and twisting it in a truly ingenious way. The comedy is very broad, but it is consistently delightful and always manages to avoid becoming crass - the movie even has some really sweet family dynamics at the centre of it, which gives it some real emotional heft. The success of this film is heavily reliant on a major twist that occurs part-way through, so the best advice I can give you is to stay as far away from spoilers for this one as possible - go in blind, and you will be amply rewarded for your faith.

5. Midsommar (dir. Ari Aster)

I went into this film with reservations, since I wasn’t a huge fan of Hereditary (by the same director), which I found to have extraordinary moments but iffy execution overall. This movie, however, wowed me. While marketed as a freaky/arty horror film, the director has described it as a fairy tale, which is the level on which is spoke to me. Midsommar follows Dani (an incredible Florence Pugh), a young woman who has suffered a terrible loss, as she travels with her boyfriend and his friends to a pagan festival in the Swedish countryside. Dani is painfully isolated, and her grief is hers to shoulder alone since her boyfriend is un-receptive and entirely unprepared to help her. Over the course of the film, destruction and creation are conflated in ways that are both beautiful and horrific - this film spoke to me on a profound level, and the way it ended gave me an incredible sense of catharsis. This won’t be for everyone, for I found it to be a deeply special film. Let’s all raise a toast to the imminent, and much welcome, reign of Florence Pugh.

4. Parasite (dir. Bong Joon-Ho)

Parasite is that rare film that more than lives up to the massive hype surrounding it (you don’t get more hyped than winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards!). It’s hard to write about this film without spoilers, since so much of the joy of Parasite lies in discovering what the hell is going on. This is an ‘upstairs downstairs’ movie for the 21st century, where the downstairs people have fierce designs on the lives and pleasures enjoyed by their social superiors. The rich people here are not vilified, though they are depicted as vapid and shallow, perpetually searching for new ways to fill their lives with meaning. Their struggling counterparts from the rough side of the city are struggling only to get by - their lives too hard to allow time for such indulgences. This is a film about the fantasy of social advancement, and the power that dreams have to hold us in thrall to hopeless ambitions. It’s masterfully directed, acted and designed, and it has been extremely gratifying to see it receive such widespread recognition.

3. Marriage Story (dir. Noah Baumbach)

I was always going to see this (hey Adam Driver!) but I was entirely unprepared for how great Marriage Story was. Easily Baumbach’s best film, Marriage Story is a masterclass in acting and character writing - it’s fiercely intelligent in how it constantly forces you to reassess what you’re seeing and where your sympathies lie. Does Charlie seem like an oblivious, navel-gazing asshole? Sure, but he’s also confused and vulnerable and thrown entirely off balance by his awakening consciousness of his wife’s dreams and ambitions. Nicole is self-effacing and self-denying, as so many women are, which makes her emerging confidence and newfound sense of direction incredibly satisfying to witness. In the second half of Marriage Story, Driver’s Charlie undoubtedly takes the spotlight - it’s clear to me that he becomes the focus largely because he continues to flounder as Nicole finds her footing. Baumbach, wisely I feel, is most interested in his characters when they’re lost, struggling to be better but barely understanding what that means. Even if you don’t sympathise with Charlie by the end of Marriage Story, I can promise you will come away with a thorough understanding of him thanks to Driver’s extraordinary performance. Superlative work, all round. (It’s also, just for the record, the only film of 2019 to make me cry.)

2. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (dir. Céline Sciamma)

This is the 2019 film I am most excited to see again (it’s coming out in a week in the UK - I’m so excited!). Sciamma’s film is an incredibly moving and deeply beautiful love story, depicting how a female artist in 18th century France falls in love with the woman she has been covertly employed to paint. Portrait is very much a film about the act of looking, and in many ways it’s the ultimate female gaze film - it’s all about women looking at women, as depicted by a female filmmaker. Gazes are political as much as they’re romantic - here, our two heroines drink each other, aware of exactly how dangerous and forbidden their mutual intoxication is. The woozy thrall of their relationship is exquisitely conveyed through the cinematography and direction, and the final shot - which I won’t spoil - is an all-timer that serves as an exquisite coda to the entire film. This is a truly superb film, and I’m still incensed that it received no substantial awards recognition. Let’s hope it goes down in film history as the masterpiece it is, yet another omission proving the limitations of the Oscars as a metric for great art.

1. The Favourite (dir.  Yorgos Lanthimos)

This completely wowed me, and against all the odds it stuck with me as the best film I saw in 2019 - it features a trio of magnificently compelling female characters (played by Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone) operating at the court of Queen Anne (Colman is Anne, Weisz and Stone are courtiers), and is laser-focused on the shifting sands of the power dynamics between them. The script is savage without sacrificing poignancy, witty without ceasing to be emotionally honest. And while I’ve seen some react to this film as a comedy (and it certainly has laughs, most of which are tightly packaged with shock), for me it was very clearly a drama about the inscrutable and complicated relationships that exist between women. Specifically, it is about how those relationships run the gamut from sincere affinity to ruthless manipulation. This is a spectacular movie, visually and thematically rich in every frame, and it also has the best use of an Elton John song in 2019 (sorry, Rocketman!).

Fly away, skyline pigeon fly, towards the things you’ve left so very, so very far, behind.