#doc basically said she has good and bad news lol

[bridgeportbritt]

Willington Palace Gardens | Sage, SimDonia

Diana sighs contently

Diana to herself: I hope you love this place as much as I do little one. There's no better place to be alone with your thoughts.... hopefully you'll get more use out of it than I do lately.

Footsteps approaching and voices outside

Gaurd: Your Majesty, a Dr. Fitzgerald is requesting an urgent meeting with you.

Diana: Really? Please send her in.

Dr. Fitz: Your Majesty, I do apologize for the intrustion. I asked a member of your staff where to find you and they directed me here.

Diana: Doctor, is everything alright? It's unusually chilly out today. I'm sorry you had to venture out to find me.

Dr. Fitz: Not a problem at all, ma'am. I have some great news that I couldn't wait for our next appointment to share with you.

Diana: Really? Did you- Did you find a cure?

Dr. Fitz: Sort of. I think we're very close to finding a noninvasive treatment plan that will block all the symptons related to this defect. It's a short term fix, but the longer cure is still on our rader. But, I thought this is something you'd want us to explore, as well.

Diana: Absolutely! That's amazing! What do you need from me?

Dr. Fitz: Well, we still need to do some testing to see if the treatments are successful. It will need to be on each member of the family we found with the defect. Seeing the responses from this will help not only create a plan to block the symptoms, but hopefully fully cure them, as well.

Diana: This is music to my ears. When can we start?

Dr. Fitz: We can start right away if you like. Our team is about ready.

Diana: Fantastic. I say, we go ahead, then. Great work, Doctor.

Dr. Fitz: Of course, ma'am. I will, of course, need your go ahead on informing the patients of the ongoing treatment.

Diana: What do you mean?

Dr. Fitz: Legally, ma'am, our team cannot administer treatment without consent from the patient.

Diana: I see.

Dr. Fitz: I'm sorry, ma'am. I know discretion about this matter has been of the upmost importance to you.

Diana sighs: No, don't be sorry. I imagine it's time I come clean about this. I was just... hoping I had more time.

Dr. Fitz: I understand. Should we postpone the treatment?

Diana: Yes, I need to inform everyone myself. Then, we will move forward.

Dr. Fitz: Understood, ma'am.

[michygranger23]

HI HELLO THERE!! I'm thinking I do this post first about getting to know the different Spider-people that I introduced in my last post before we continue with the discduo center story one, so in that way I can give myself and my readers context about their stories and abilities!! Anyways ONTO THE RAMBLE!!

(Part 1/2)

Spider-Man Tubbo "Web Boom" (Earth 2312003)

Tubbo is a 19 year old boy that lives in New York with his aunt Puffy (his parents died on a fire accident, so Puffy took care of him when he was very little). He also has an uncle who he usually visits, his uncle has an alcoholic problem, and he's not exactly a good guy, but Tubbo knows deep down he has a good heart, he just doesn't show it (but he doesn't know that his uncle is actually an enemy of his)

Tubbo was bitten by a radioactive spider when he infiltrated Alchemax's building to get to see up close some scientific projects that he couldn't get to see properly when he went on a tour for school (he's a tech genius, so he really wanted to see the projects, and it was easy to hack into the system). Puffy knew about his secret about a week when Spider-Man appeared, she knows him very well and when he asked him about it (about 2 months later, to give him time), Tubbo couldn't lie to her because: 1.- He doesn't know how to lie and 2.- He didn't want to keep secrets from her.

His special power is that he's able to manifest two big stings on his wrists (kinda like Miguel, but imagine them coming out like how Wolverine does, but only has one instead of three, and it comes out of the wrist instead of the knuckles). He's able to inject a venom that paralyzes them completely, kinda like if they were frozened and can't move a muscle, this venom has an effect of 1 hour, but he's working on making it take more time to dissapear. He also created some mini bombs that contain lots of webs in them to capture easily enemies (hence why the name "Boom")

This hasn't happened yet, but he will lose Jschlatt when he discovers that his nephew is Spider-Man and Techno kills him (Jschlatt is The Prowler here) (yes I'm incorporating your idea @veyette because I really loved it a lot!!/pos)

Other villains he has: Techno as Kingpin, Dream as The Green Goblin, Niki as Doc Oc, Ranboo as the Lizard, BBH as Carnage.

As you can see, almost every villain he has are the same Spider-People that ended up in his universe (yes I made that half intentional because as I said, I make this up as I write it in the moment lol)

Spider-Man BadBoyHalo "Demon Spider" (Earth 020495)

Bad is a 28 year old man that lives in New York with his partner Skeppy (they're in a queer platonic relationship). They both work at a bakery that they opened themselves, it's a small shop, but they get enough money to live comfortably.

Bad was bitten by a radioactive spider when he visited Alchemax's building because Sapnap, a good friend of his he has known for years and basically considers like a son, invited him for a science exposition that another friend of them was part of, George (they meet after a bit of knowing Sapnap). He told Skeppy he was Spider-Man after a month of patrol.

His special power is that he's able to have 2 pairs of extra arms with claws, have another pair of eyes, and have chelicerae (basically like that one episode of Ultimate Spider-Man where he got poisoned and turned into a savage Man-Spider lol), because of this, he has the title of "demon" (it also contributes this because of the black and red clothing he uses-not Miles suit btw haha-). He only uses this power in extreme cases of emergency, since in this state he can get really agressive and almost losing his sanity and humanity.

He lost Skeppy during a fight with Doc Oc (in this universe George is Doc Oc. Just like in the second movie of Tobey Maguire, in another experiment George did, he lost control of the tenticles and his mind became clouded and corrupted -but not to the point of insanity like Green Goblin is-he killed Skeppy when he collapsed a building)

Other villains he has: Jack Manifold as Electro, Quackity as Kingpin, Slimecicle as Venom, Fundy as Kraven the Hunter, etc.

Spider-Man Ranboo "Arachnid Shadow" (Earth 0211003)

I'm gonna use they/them for Ranboo just to clarify/lh

Ranboo is 19 years old and lives in New York with their friends Tommy and Tubbo (they've known each other since kinder-garden and have a great friendship together)

Ranboo was bitten by a radioactive spider when they visited an old warehouse where they would film some scenes for a project for school they were doing (this would be Generation Loss, but more of a format of a movie than a live-stream). They were visiting the building with other best friends like Aimsey, Freddie and Billzo, since they wanted to tag along. The warehouse was located near an Alchemax building. They only told Tubbo about their secret since Tubbo helped them cure some nasty injuries when he found them in an alleway bleeding without their mask.

Their special power is that their able to manipulate the darkness and shadows. This means that their able to create darkness when they need it, form shadow people for a short period of time, and in extreme cases, teleport through the shadows (they still don't know how to handle well this power, and when they teleport, it makes them faint and bleed from their nose for a bit, so they don't teleport unless is an emergency). Imagine like Whisp from "Monster-High 13 wishes", to give somewhat of an idea haha.

He lost Tubbo while fighting Venom (in their universe, Exdee is Venom). Coming from a meteorite that fell on Earth, he escaped from there and while Ranboo was patrolling, he attached himself to them. Ranboo spend almost a month with the symbiote, he started acting agressive, rude, and even started to sleepwalk when he went to sleep (this would be the enderwalk). When they finally realized what was happening to them, they asked help from Tubbo to get rid of the parasite. While doing this, the symbiote got angry at Ranboo and attached himself to Tubbo, causing the two of them to fight. In a fire that was produced by the chaos of the fight, some fireworks from a near store got activated and went straight to Tubbo. The symbiote got too weak and escaped while he still could, leaving without healing Tubbo, who got too injured by the explosions that he sadly passed away.

Other villains he has: Wilbur as the Green Goblin, AntFrost as Kraven The Hunter, Purpled as Mister Negative, etc.

AND THAT'S IT FOR THIS PART!! I'm really having a lot of fun cming up with the backstories and the lore of this AU hehe, it's also difficult thinking who fits best as villains for different universes haha. Anyways hopefully tomorrow I finish introducing the rest of the Spider-people so I can continue with the discduo main one. Let me know your thoughts, opinions and ideas of this :D!!

[sirnavergi]

Hello, I'm slowly getting more and more into your story because it's just so good (especially the designs LIKE HOLY SHIT they are SO GOOD)

Would you mind elaborating a bit about your recent post about your oc that got split in two and ended up as a mockery of everything she used to stand up for?

Especially what that last part means. It's very intriguing and seems like such a cool concept I just couldn't not ask

What were her beliefs before the split? Why was she so persistent in trying to get her pieces back together (you said it took her lifetimes if I remember correctly)? And what does "a mockery" really mean in this context?

I'm just trying to get more info about the story, cuz like I said, I'm getting invested. Especially after seeing your Toyhouse with all those lore important things. Your world seems to be so big and I want to understand it! :DD

Hi! FIRSTLY THANK YOU SO MUCH ! I’m going to attempt to explain this briefly as the actual story is pretty long!

Her name is Devora Elowen! She starts out as a normal quantum physicist lady that lives in a struggling earth, which has mostly exhausted its resources. She gets recruited into a small research group (4 people including her lol) they embark on an exhibition to the arctic, and all conduct separate research within the confines of a facility in the heart of the snow I guess.

Devora herself is the most driven out of all of the group to figure out a way to help the earth, truly and simply because of the love she has for everyone and everything on earth (and the earth itself too!). She starts out as a person who’s full of compassion and ambition for her cause!

This part is a lil wacky, but after a while she starts attempting to create a sort of “wormhole” to drag energy into her planet from elsewhere. The contraption she builds actually works a bit TOO well to the point it’s not really like? a portal? but more like. a giant laser that goes through the layers of the universe?!? lmao. (So it’s not like, it’s a door that u enter from point A that takes u to point B, it’s more like a tunnel!)

Anyways. There’s a finite amount of energy given to each universe. Theres a limit, while the total energy of a system fluctuates here n now, they’re small fluctuations that get neutralized eventually. (I have a doc on how these work in more detail If you’re interested in reading it!) Devora’s weird machine contraption on the other hand, is a HUGE shift in the total energy of their universe. Which kinda fucks up the balance of everything BAD.

There’s this guy, named PRISM. They’re basically a god of sorts. Devora’s little attempt to play god and try to bend the rules kinda. upsets them. A bunch of stuff happens, but all 4 of the scientists r punished for this eventually, and prism ends their universe, a new one is created and they’re all made into deity-like concepts (which are called observers). to a point? At that point, Devora’s consciousness is LITERALLY torn apart into 2 pieces and placed in 2 different observers.

The different halves of her go through different identities, sometimes aware of who they used to be, sometimes completely detached from it, but looking for each other nonetheless. She also grows to resent her older colleagues and the idea of them as time goes by, because inherently shes getting punished and being held to the same regard as a group of people who did absolutely NOTHING to help anybody. Nor are they doing anything now! She was DOING SOMETHING. She was trying to help her home and thats like??? Wrong????? What??????

A huge chunk of her halves slowly losing themselves is also the belief that the only thing they’re missing is the other half. The belief that once they are back together everything will be okay again. Everything will go back to normal. Only if she can just be herself again. She can finish what she started! And eventually, the halves do find each other, but things don’t magically mend. Things don’t immediately go back to how they used to be. She’s spent so many lifetimes, she’s obviously changed. And whatever she’s changed into isn’t somebody she recognizes anymore. She loses most of her compassion and eventually ends up becoming what ends the universe (again) (but this time willingly).

I hope this?!. Makes sense mostly! Like i said i did skip over a buncha parts but this should explain the gist of it :) Thank you so much for the question!

[toehwa6]

What’s up pookie got more bitchin to do

Dawg everyone around me is fuckin insane

Little cousin is a trash goblin who is the blind kind of ambition that can be good or bad

Instead of being a hater I was like ima support this dumbass, make some music, let him push it and build out catalogs

But I’m tellin this kid how I believe in him but his are priorities are fucked point him in the right direction blah blah blah

And he goes

Yeah cuz I know I got the talent, I just gotta blah blah blah

So fucking stupid. I’m just gonna watch him do his thing cause honestly it makes some somewhat good quality from using presets and his music is fr absurd/entertaining

Also, he says the N word, which when I called him out for it, he replied

Naw they say it around here it’s all good

So yeah, kinda hope that doesn’t bite me in the ass for workin with this bozo

Dawg lemme tell you somethin funny

So he’s beefin with his friend and diss each other and make diss songs all that bullshit

So my cousin goes, let me know what you think about this diss

The title is “FUCK (Cousins name)”

So I’m like okay his friend wrote this about him

Turns out it’s all shit. But in the beginning there’s this line

“Yo auntie don’t want to see another family member dead”

And I for one, have a dead lil brother, two, a sad mom lol

So I was like damn this a crazy bar

So I asked cousin about it and he’s like oh no I wrote that

Soooo I’m like wtf dawg shit

And he goes

Naw so his mom died and his auntie raisin him that’s why

Like bro Jesus Christ what’s wrong with this fuckin people

Dawg my lil homie finally got a bitch and she’s cool I met her yesterday

But bro she literally has like aspie meltdowns in public when shit gets mildly difficult

Like she was tryna make a complicated dispensary order, at a new dispensary, for multiple people, with no money

And bro she just lost it and like broke down

Bro she looked fuckin SCARED all day I felt so bad fr like bro you are scared rn

Idk she was also super pissy too, like when her phone was about to die when making that order

It’s just a m, WELL WTF ARE WE GOING TO DO??

And then you could see she got super upset and I was like bitch, chill

I ended up talking to her about mental health at the end and it was wacky

I just asked her how she was doing and shit

Turns out she wants to learn about basic finances and budgeting

She’s going to be more honest with her docs about now takin her meds right

And then I straight up told her to stop being a pussy

I was like bro, you gon be scared forever. And shit only gets harder fr. Push through it’s worth it

She fr took it super well. She had that attitude where she’s super fucked up and doesn’t have anyone real to talk to, so she was like oh fuck this my time

It was cool. It was so joyful seeing this happy young couple together. They remind me of me and my gf. More friends than partners. I like that.

But you could see her tryin to make moves on him, and he was just super oblivious, as you are at that age lol

But I also noticed him struggle to handle those freak out moments. He handled it well but you could see he ain’t dealt with this before.

They’re both cool tho. I set them up with some good actual resources. I was teachin homie about finances, like emergency funds, the 50% rule for bills, and then I said

Just because you got the money for somethin, doesn’t mean you can afford it.

Then I said

Think about that huh? And I tapped my head lol

But naw fr, he’s super cool about it.

He’s said some really nice things to me lately.

I randomly helped him through basically a business break up.

And he was freakin out and I took a chance and was hard on him instead of suckin his dick

He was like my life is over bro and I’m like

Quit being a pussy bro, that’s life. It ain’t always gon be good shit. This is part of the process

I was like, you were in a toxic situation, you learned a lot, and you made some money, now you’re out but you learned those skills

He really turned around and looked different about it

But then he thanked me for bein a good friend to him. That made me feel good

I’ve known him since he was like 16 and he’s 22 now I think

Super cool

I think this shit crashing so ima cut this and start another one

[thespianinthebackcorner]

Collab Fics: Highlights from the Notes, Part 1

so if you're new around here me and my nontumblr friend Zhelday make collaboration fics between our fandoms. One's up on Ao3 already (The Alliance of Misfits, Genshin/Star Wars Bad Batch). But we've got more. And we talk to each other a lot in the notes for each one as we figure stuff out. So, I decided to grab some quotes from those notes and post them out of context. Part one? A fic still in the works, Splatoon x Red Dwarf. Yeah. Yeah I know it sounds weird. But here we go! Zhel types in blue, I type in purple. We are extremely normal.

TARTAR WTF ARE YOU DOING HERE

Oh no no noooooohahahahaha Cal's gonna have a fun time with him. Get sniped. Actually before he even tried he's gonna be getting a Dynamo to the back of the kneecaps

the less said about those fish the better. OH SHIT

Salad cream?

Can I do an Only One Bed with Lister and Rimmer? Please?? HAHAA

Fuck I need a good insult gimme a minute.

She has information from the SAUCE

Milord these are teenagers

Rimmer's probably gonna shit himself

spaltoon

They talk the same way except Kryten is British

CONSULT THE HOLLY WATCH

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 no.

Where The Hell Is This Apartment Building

Gsbaerporgbfaebksfnsrgejwrbsdgmkl;mfae

Also my mouse isn't working so bear with me

Ok turns out only one of my usb drives is using which means i either use my USB with the draft on it or use my mouse. Not good ew fine. Im so bad at using a computer im actually not sure where the reboot button on this one is help. I dont have a menu in the bottom right corner. Im not using a school laptop the windows 11 layout is different i figure I'm just struggling

ONE TWO SEVEN 3 DOWN TO ROCKEFELLER STREET hell yea its workin again.

Okay that was a throwback but I'm getting you now.

Fax machine lmaooooo

Although I guess Cat isn't really an advantage.

Literal forehead smack

Kryten's the soccer mom.

No wonder Jaymoji carried.

AAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA YOUVE GIVEN ME THE BEST OPPORTUNITY EVER. ITS SPECIAL TIME BITCHHH

if youre wondering if i am cheating i am not the test is done

Like excuse me that's gay as hell

Can the reason just be "because i dont like you"

YoU bRoKe tThE NoTeS DoC!

we basically made a TARDIS.

So we made a busted TARDIS without a soul. Wonderful.

Surely rimmer's not scared of a fish.

the Gang is abusing using Cal's scope from his weapon to spy on them.

Both groups take at least ten minutes to quit making out

HOW DARE YOU. >:(

Anemone's not there lol lmaoo Shit

Also Europe is just gone.

[1-deadgirlwalking-1]

4/7/2024

okay okay today is a good day. very good day. for the last two days i’ve been sleeping until 2-3pm and then staying bed all day, but today my dad woke me up at like 9:30am and by 10am i was actually up. we went to home depot and got screws for this car part my dad is fixing and wood for a ramp to connect the chicken run and the coop. i went with him to see if they had the foam i need for my project (fursuit partial :D) and they did but in the wrong thickness, i need half inch and maybe 1 inch for the details if it’s not too expensive. but they only had like. 5 inch or something. it was really thick and also dirty cause people kept putting their foot on it and pressing down to see how dense it was, LOL.

after that i got some chocolate pretzels and an energy drink. “chocolate pretzels” looks like it’s spelt SO wrong but it’s not… anyway then we went home and i went inside, i started watching rise and then when i got to insane in the mama train i was texting my friend and started unprompted infodumping to them about my rise of the tmnt AU. lol. i sent like 5 paragraphs that all almost hit the text limit. and then they said i was out infodumping donnie and called me autistic. (not a malicious or “haha ur weird” way, it’s cause i’m actually autistic and acting autisticly.)

i decided after i finished typing up my last giant paragraph i would copy and paste all of that into a doc and organize it so i can show my uncle, after we finish the show of course. basically like an outline with all of the events and plot of my AU. i was working on that when my mom came into the kitchen with some scraps and asked me to take it to the chickens, then do the dishes when i got back. which she’s been asking me to do for 2 days now and which i just finished doing 2 seconds before writing this paragraph. i’m very sorry mama, i kept genuinely forgetting and i feel bad.

after i gave papa the scraps i was checking out the coop, yesterday he installed a super fancy door on the chicken coop that opens and closes automatically at a set time, it even opens back up if it senses a chicken under it so they can’t get hurt. we tested it out with some sticks. anyway earlier he finished the ramp that goes up to it and started adding chicken wire windows so there’s more fresh air coming into the coop. he also added a piece of wood that will act as a curtain so like when it’s nice and daytime you can prop the wood up and the windows are open, then when it’s cold or night time you can put the wood down and it hangs in front of the windows, keeping all the cold air and predators out.

i took the puppy for a walk because neither of us liked having her just tied up to the bench outside the greenhouse/coop on a short leash. papa said he’d like to make a little wire run for her between the trees, while she’s still a baby and can’t run off on her own. once she’s older she won’t need to be leashed up but as a baby she keeps chasing the chicks and her and my sister’s dogs haven’t warmed up to each other i think so they might have issues if they try to take them out. idk. she just can’t go off on her own as a baby. but it’s sad to have her on a lil leash. also while i was walking her i had shorts on which is a horrible mistake to make when walking the dog because she kept jumping on me and trying to bite my legs off. it doesn’t hurt so bad when there’s fabric between teeth and my skin but when there isn’t it is very painful.

also apparently papa’s bee are swarming which means they’re just up and leaving. he said he had split them earlier, (when you simulate a swarm, and make them think they already did it, so they don’t fly off into some random place and make a new hive.) and he thought he did it right but they’re swarming anyway. he’s set up new hives but they seem to not like them i guess, and he also has a few traps in the trees and hopefully the bees will swarm into those so that he can just move them back to where the regular hives are and they’ll think nothing of it.

also my mom wants to know whether or not when we got on our trip later this year if i wanna go to the zoo with my sister and nephew or a bus tour with my other sister and mother, and i’m not sure yet. i’m still deciding.

i’ve totally been slacking on my kana which make’s me think i’m going to be horrible at keeping up with Anki, (doing the moeway 30 day method) i’m probably gonna have to adjust this method for myself a bit because it requires actual discipline / commitment, like missing a single day sets back your progress a ton and makes it significantly more difficult to get back on track, and i don’t have that at the moment. i’ve also got most of my schoolwork caught up but haven’t studied at all. i only have one computer science lesson left to do. i totally bombed my computer science test and got 56% on it, which set my grade back from about a 91% to a 79%. a single test should not affect my grade that heavily, like seriously wtf. how did i got from an A to a C over ONE assignment.

anyway… that’s my day so far. will update if anything else happens

nothing else happened that’s my day. goodbye!

[bvccy]

Can you write something with Mafia!Bucky or Avenger!Bucky where his enemies hurt the reader and Bucky's hell bent on revenge ? P.s love your blog <3

Nonny, you sent this prompt months ago (in July, I think), and I just now got to it. I almost didn't write it, actually, because it isn't something from my prompt list and I'm not sure I want to just take open prompts like this 😂 But I like protective!Bucky, so I wrote you a thing 💜

It turned out pretty long. Be aware it has some explicitly violent bits, and also some pining/angst. I wrote Avenger!Bucky, because mafia AUs seem OOC for him, but anyway I hope you like it!

By the way, what happens to the reader in this story might seem unlikely, but I did some research before I started writing and was basically inspired by this story (the link is spoilery, so I suggest you open it only after reading the fic lol).

Thank you for the prompt, and for your kind words! 🌺🌺🌺

— PAIRING: Avenger!Bucky x F!Reader — SYNOPSIS: Bucky falls in love with a girl working for Tony in Avengers Tower. He's trying to fit back in to society, fit in with the other Avengers, and maybe even get the courage to ask her out… But he almost loses her right before he has the chance to do it, and once Bucky makes sure she's safe, he goes to get revenge. — CONTENTS: Angst, hints of male masturbation, some explicit violence against bad guys, and a happy ending. — WORDCOUNT: 7.1k

It took a long time, but with the team's help Bucky managed to ease back into society, and into a form of service that suited him. Something he could do to reach a sort of peace with himself, to come back to the society he'd left for so long and no longer even recognised… And, more privately, to have something to do to keep his mind occupied. The therapy wasn't helping much, not that he could admit to that in so many words.

"It's going to take time," said Steve with brotherly sympathy. His hand rested heavily on Bucky's shoulder as they huddled around a table at the diner near Avengers tower, but his friend found it hard to look up at him.

"Yeah, I know."

"The doc knows what she's doing."

"Sure."

"Just trust the process. Trust yourself."

"Thanks a lot, Stevie."

He didn't like being blue like that. Caught between wanting to accept Steve's help and wanting to be honest, there wasn't much left for Bucky to say. He didn't believe a word his friend told him, didn't think Steve had any idea what it was like, but he had to trust him. There was no open avenue other than going rogue — and that wasn't a viable option.

"Sometimes, I think…" he started, and stopped, and laughed a bit sombrely, "I think the missions help a whole lot more than the shrink."

"Well, that's good," grinned Steve. "New assignment's coming up."

They raided an old base up in the Alps, a WWII relic that was too far up for the authorities to reach and make into a museum, and, thinking themselves forgotten by the world, some paramilitary bent on settling old scores had taken over. They had their scientists working on explosives, which made it easy to blow the whole thing up in one night. It was almost like old times.

"You got all of them?" asked Tony through their earpiece.

"Looks like it," sighed Steve, squinting at the ruin burning bright.

"Alright then, come back home. Unless you wanna do some sightseeing first."

"Nope. Seen enough the first time 'round."

Bucky stood by his side, gripping the rifle slung around his shoulder, unmoving against the chilling winds and the inferno in front of him. Something bothered him about that mission, it bothered him all the way back home, at the tower, at his mandated therapist, and into his lonely home.

Sleeping on the cold hard floor made it easier somehow, but it didn't help to remember why he was brought so low in the first place. Why he couldn't be like normal people anymore. Why he felt like a mangy dog every time he laid down, tired and restless, and curled up beneath threadbare sheets.

Wrapping up after the mission proved more challenging than actually doing it. He and Steve were stuck writing up reports about it for days afterwards, going through the files they salvaged, the recordings they recovered, keeping an account of all men killed… His mind wasn't up for it, and Bucky ended up taking walks around the tower every now and then, thinking and not thinking, letting his mind rest. The city pulsed around him, busier and noisier and uglier than he remembered, gripped by some sports event that week and filled with drunken youngsters with silly hats and long balloons, bonking each other in the head as they walked past. Against the shapeless sounds, Bucky let himself become lost as he walked circles around the building while the autumn sunset grew chiller all around him.

When he finally decided to head back up, it must have been around 8 in the evening. Even the receptionist at Stark Tower had gone home, but there were a few people outside, smoking, and there was light in the lobby. He stepped through, head down and hands in his pockets as he usually did, wary of being spotted, as if instinctively ashamed. An odd scent of rubber and alcohol hit him almost as soon as he went through the revolving doors. Looking up, Bucky saw one of the workers waiting by the elevator, and next to her one of those kids with a huge rubber hat in some team colours, balloon in one hand and red cup in the other — 'kid' he thought; the guy must've been in his 30s. He was trying to talk to her, but the office girl was focused on the metal doors in front.

She was dressed in the same sort of uniform all of Stark's people wore, muted colours and straight lines crinkled as the hours passed, with an access badge around her neck, clinging to a paper bag that must've held a croissant or cold pastry from the shop nearby that had just closed. Her feet, trapped in delicate shoes that were made for carpets more than streets, tapped on the ground as in her head she counted the floors until the elevator came back down and rescued her.

The boy swung back and forth as he faced the side of her and, with some difficulty, slurred:

"You haf a greight face…"

Bucky smirked as he saw her jaw tighten, but now that he was paying attention, he couldn't disagree. She had a perfect proportion of soft and sharp, a sweet set of features even while marred by tiredness and fright, thoughtful eyes coloured all the more cutely by her frown, and a mouth made for kisses. Hearing him as he got closer, the girl turned her head and breathed a sigh. He gave her a quick smile as he went around and gripped the drunkard.

"Alright, kiddo, off you go."

"Buh —"

"This isn't the place for you. Go find your friends."

Step by stumbling step, Bucky walked him to the exit and nearly shoved him out, but as soon as he found himself outside the kid saw something else of interest and lurched away by himself. When he went back in, Bucky saw the office girl was holding the elevator doors for him, a timid, grateful smile lighting up her face.

"Thanks," she muttered.

"Don't mention it."

They spent the ride up trying not to look at one another, spending the ride up in silence. Bucky took his hands out of his pockets and made an effort to stand up straight while the girl clung to the railing — not afraid of him, was she? Surely he'd been pretty publicly exonerated; and he'd just helped her…

But as he filled up the next few days by working late into the night with Steve, he kept seeing her around — sometimes earlier, sometimes later, but she tended to go out for fresh air too, or a modest bite to eat, and she was always friendly. So maybe it was something else…

"Maybe she's just shy."

"Who?"

"Don't think I haven't seen you, Buck."

He turned to meet the stupid grinning face of his blond friend.

"I can talk to Stark's employees if I want to."

"I hope so!"

"Since when do you play matchmaker?" asked Bucky, suddenly feeling flustered — more at being caught than anything else. Although, what was he caught with?

He hadn't exchanged more than a few words with her, caught her name, remembered her floor, noticed the things she liked to eat and how she liked her coffee, and offered to trade complaints about their work if she was willing.

"It's just nice," shrugged Steve with an innocence he didn't merit, "seeing you more like your old self."

"Uh-huh."

She knew who he was, he'd figured that out quickly enough, and her calmness soothed Bucky more than he expected. She didn't ask questions he didn't want to answer, although he could see behind her eyes a sometimes burning curiosity. Perhaps she could read him too, because as soon as he started fidgeting, looking down at his shoes like a boy chastised, she offered up some awkward little detail from her life, or gossip about her colleagues, complaining about her boss, or talking about what she'd done over the weekend.

"We had a 'teambuilding' thing on Saturday."

"Oh yeah, what's what?"

"It's when the boss has some extra funding for social activities and makes us go places to waste our free time."

"Sounds fun," he grinned, knowing it would make her roll her eyes. "Where did you go?"

"Cinema. There was this movie about superheroes and clowns and there were some explosions."

"Was it horrible?"

"Yes, very. Could you hold my coffee, please?" she asked as she took out her wallet to pay the cashier.

"You shouldn't work such long hours, you know," he smiled down at her.

"It's only for this month," she shrugged. "Big project, boss needs us all here…"

It knocked the cheer right out of him to know he might not see her around so often after that. What if there was another mission? What if there was nothing? What excuse could he come up with to keep coming by?

Would she even miss their talks? Did she even care? Did she chat with him out of pity or a misplaced sense of charity? The girl spoke pretty calmly about those coming weeks of quiet work, as if these late-night talks didn't make any difference… Perhaps they didn't.

Perhaps they shouldn't.

Back in his apartment, cold and quiet like a burrow, Bucky was confronted once again by what he was. A sad and lonely man, an awkward cripple with a toy arm, too scared of his own dreams to sleep without the television on, too weak to even sleep on a bed. Between the mismatched dishes put together from a charity shop and the cracked mirror in the bathroom, he couldn't find a single thing that he could offer her, that would make him worthy of her, that would make him a man.

In his thoughts as he settled down to sleep, struggling with his animalistic body, he allowed himself to think of her in the hope that it would make him dream of sweeter things — though it never did. And all his touches were in vain, the light caresses up his thigh with those strange unfeeling metal fingers, like somebody else's hand, and the grips tempered by self-restraint that teased him to the point of madness, fingers threaded through his hair from the other side, all so that he could pretend it's her — all of it was much more than he should have done, yet every night was not enough.

The month passed, and then he only saw her sparingly, catching her as she left and he arrived for some late briefing, saying polite hello's in passing as if he wasn't already in love. His therapist noticed, pestering him about how he felt about women, what he thought about dating, if anyone had caught his eyes.

"It's none of your business, doc."

"You can't go through life all alone, James."

"Why not? I have, so far."

"Yeah, and how's that been working out for you?"

"Just fine," he smiled with deliberate malice.

"Still have trouble sleeping?"

"No," he lied.

"Having someone there could help you."

"That's great to know."

"Alright. I can see you're not in the mood for it today. How about you —"

She didn't finish saying it before he was out of his seat. Bucky didn't want her knowing that he thought the same, or that he'd started to ease into sleeping in a bed again all on his own.

Face first, fully awake, using it as a lewd prop as he imagined a certain girl beneath him, with sheets for a body and the pillow for a face. He held himself suspended just above as he eased his naked body forward, his back chilling in the dark room as sweat pooled, and with slow, nearly mechanical moves, Bucky thrust into the body he pretended was there. But no voice cried out, there was no one to speak to or call his name, there were no other sighs but his.

Another mission was announced, and he was jumping at the chance to go. The killing didn't feel good, but the hard jitters of the flight, the cold nights on stakeout, the distraction of the click of metal weapons in his own metallic hand all served as an escape, before he had to go back home to the cage that waited there. His apartment had never seemed so lifeless without another soul to share it, but whenever he thought to step on his pride and admit to his doctor she was right and just start "dating" someone, anyone, a frowning face looked up at him from within his memory, and lightened up when their eyes met, and her tired mouth pulled up in a smile and it was all for him and he knew he wouldn't have anyone else.

Like a present, he saw her again around Christmas. Tony threw a company party, and all the staff had to come. It was embarrassingly lavish, loud, and a little lurid, but Bucky didn't mind. Steve was enjoying himself, Clint was causing trouble, and Tony had arranged some fun little gadgets to keep people entertained. Everyone enjoyed the food, and the music with some carols, and the alcohol (more for the flavour), but try as he might he couldn't help but search — all night — and find — at long last — at a further table with the ordinary staff, his new friend among the masses. If his buddies noticed him pining, they said nothing.

Bucky watched her getting up to make for the table with the drinks, sauntering in a red dress with black lace trimming, poured on her like drying blood, hair clasped back and showing off her neck. He knew he spent too much time sucking in the sight of her before he came up with some excuse and got up too.

It was a strange mix for him to feel shy and hungry all at once. Approaching like a predator, he captured the far corner of the table, pretending to look for something else, and then slowly by degrees he noticed her — and saw her notice him as well, though she was worse at hiding it. A quick breath filled her chest, her shoulders squared, fingers lingering on the edge of crystal cups as she became aware of being seen.

"Hi," he dared say, looking up. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too," she smiled, suddenly relaxed. "How've you been?"

A thing about her made him burn — maybe it was her dress, the music, the low coloured lights shining off her hair, or his own shame as he suddenly remembered all the positions he'd placed her in, in his bed, in his head, all those ways she'd made him melt before and drip like lazy milk. As he stopped right by her side, Bucky felt his whole posture coming down, poise broken by her presence into something less than a weary old weapon, but more than a mere animal.

"Been doing alright," he nodded, fingers fiddling around his glass as he slowly got a little closer. "And you?"

She shrugged a bit wearily. "Things are fine… Work's more quiet. I've missed our talks, though," she grinned, but briefly, seeming to regret that little confession as soon as she said it, but she didn't catch his eyes light up.

"Oh yeah?" Bucky husked. "I've missed them too, you know." Missed you, he thought, as a nervous rumbling started building up at the back of his head. The girl look up as if she heard his thoughts, and maybe even shared them, and as he held her hopeful gaze in his he started saying: "Maybe we can —" but didn't finish, because that rumbling got closer, and it wasn't in his head.

They both looked up to see a strange shape hovering — a little drone with a branch of mistletoe hanging from it — and when Bucky turned to the tables, he could see Tony with a stupid little remote.

"You know the rules," he called out, cheered on by Nat and Pepper, with Steve trying to look disapprovingly but failing, a smirk betraying him. "Kiss! Kiss!"

Bucky sighed and threw them a scathing look, tearing his eyes away only to look down to the girl frozen in front, who seemed as angry as he was — at their moment being interrupted, at being made a spectacle of, at being so embarrassed — but she knew she couldn't show it. Her nails dug into the glass, clinging to the one solid thing she could as heavy breaths moved her chest, but she kept her focus somewhere lower than his face, and wouldn't look up anymore.

For a moment he hoped that she'd go through with it, but he knew better… This wasn't her way, it was too soon, too public, and though she'd just told him that she missed him maybe that didn't mean anything more. He barely opened his mouth to apologise for Tony, when she gathered enough courage to move and walked right past him.

"Damn it, Stark!" growled Bucky as he threw a death glare, then went out after her.

The girl half-jogged toward the elevators and he rushed after, mumbling apologies as he caught up. The doors opened right away and she stepped in, and Bucky reached it just in time to join her.

"Hey, I'm sorry about that, I didn't… Stark's an idiot. Please don't…" he breathed as he watched her hug herself. "Please don't be upset."

"Sorry for making a fuss," she muttered as she pressed for the ground floor. "I just don't… like this sort of stuff. I hate these parties."

"I know." Did he? He could guess, from the little he'd gotten to know her.

"They're just so… My boss made me come to this thing," she sighed, finally looking up at him and frowning, but smiling somewhat apologetically. "He says I need to be in more 'team-building activities'. But I hate it, there's nothing about Christmas at this party. It's so fake."

"I know," he nodded, suddenly truly understanding. He didn't talk about it much, but he could compare it to the Christmas parties from his day. Even in the middle of the war, with all the rations and the ruins, it still seemed like… more. "The soul's all gone out of it."

"Yes… I guess everyone feels the same, I'm just not good at putting up with it."

"You can relax now though, I won't… I'm not…" like them.

The girl looked down at her hands clutching the rails, and her tense face relaxed into something a bit more embarrassed. Her fingers were still holding tightly to the metal bar, nails digging into her flesh as if she could weld herself to it.

"It's not that. I've just always been nervous in elevators…"

"Really? Why?"

"I got stuck in one when I was little," the girl shrugged. "I was stuck right between the floors and the lights went off. And I was afraid that if I screamed or banged on the doors, the cables would snap and it would fall, I had no idea how these things worked," she laughed. "Had to wait a few hours for someone to find me."

"Poor kid," laughed Bucky, looking fondly at her now that she'd relaxed a bit, and opened up, and seemed to be forgetting all about the party.

She had gone down to escape and take a walk, so he joined her. That winter was dry and snowless, but even so it was quite cold at night. He wrapped his jacket around her shoulders as they paced a wide circle round the building, chatting just like before. The night breeze, or maybe the excitement, or the warmth of him surrounding her made the girl's face heat up and her shy smile didn't escape his notice. He didn't dare ask for more from her after what just happened, but they arranged to start meeting each other again — Bucky with the excuse that he needed to get away from Steve more often, and she that she had no one to have lunch with that she liked. It was good enough for him, and maybe next time he would ask…

He went home with her perfume still clinging to the collar.

They kept their promise to each other after the New Year, and met for lunch in the first week. He didn't ask for more then either, even though he spent the whole half hour that they had together thinking all the ways to say it, looking for a chance or a break in conversation.

Back at home he cursed himself, and tried to ask it in the mirror.

Everything out of his mouth sounded pathetic to his ears and he was even more cowardly the second time, though she seemed lovelier than ever.

"Same time next week?" he asked as they got up together.

"I can't Wednesday, long meeting in the afternoon. How's Thursday?"

"I, ah, have some training to do with Steve." He hadn't told her yet that they were planning another mission.

"Oh, alright then. Friday?"

"Sure thing, doll." It was a good day to finally ask her out: right before the weekend, less work to do, she'd be in a good mood… She might even say 'yes'.

Friday came around, a little cold and cloudy but with a milky sort of diffuse light that seemed to spread across the city. Bucky even made the effort to dress slightly better, hoping that she wouldn't notice — or would. Surely it wouldn't surprise her too much if he asked to spend time together… in the evening. To go out together, somewhere else, maybe even go dancing.

Standing ready on the 45th floor, he sent her a quick text. "Ready when you are."

"On my way <3" she texted back.

Bucky smiled fondly at her message as he sat down in a chair by the elevators.

But he didn't get to wait for more than a few minutes when an alarm suddenly went off. Fire drill? They had those sometimes in the office buildings… Then, a shattering sound rumbled through the walls as the tower shook with an explosion.

People's screams could be heard from all directions, frightened and confused. Looking outside, he could already see smoke covering the skyline. Before him, the elevator shafts screeched and groaned as metal scratched against metal, and more explosions came up from below.

He already had his hand on the phone to call her when Steve called him instead.

"Explosions, 85th floor," his friend said with a pant as he ran up the stairs. "Looks like a ten-man team, they're still here. We need you right now, Buck."

"On it," he said as he started running as well, trying not to think about what had happened to the girl.

Every nerve in his body told him to look for her, but until the villains were dealt with she would be in danger. He tried calling her anyway as he ran up two steps at a time — no answer. Maybe she was busy getting out with everybody else… Bucky put his phone away to take out a gun instead.

A grenade rushed by down the staircase shaft as he kept running, the boom echoing all the way back up to him in a shower of screams from other people at the bottom.

Tony got in touch as well, he was in the suit. Natasha had already caught up with Steve, and he reached them just in time to deflect a bullet aimed for her head with his metal arm.

"Thanks," she gasped. "There's four of them holed up in the corner office."

"Do we know who's behind this?" growled Bucky.

Steve threw a guilty look back, sitting crouched beneath his shield. "Seems we missed a spot back in Italy."

That mission in the Alps, the WWII bunker… So this was payback.

It took them two hours to clear all of them out from all the offices and hidden places, but a few managed to get away. Steve and Tony captured a few alive and planned to interrogate them, while Bucky wasn't feeling all that generous.

"I didn't kill anyone," he shrugged the metal shoulder while Natasha tried to apply pressure to the other one, bleeding from a gunshot.

"You shoved two guys off the 70th story, Buck," frowned Steve.

"I kicked them. Not my fault they couldn't survive the fall."

"And that guy with his gut full of lead?" smirked Natasha as she finished wrapping him up.

"My trigger finger slipped."

"Right."

"Metal hand, gets slippery with blood…"

"We could've gotten some intel from them," she sighed.

"Don't act all high and mighty, Nat," he frowned at her. She'd killed a couple too, and had to look down guiltily. Then, with a change of voice, he started asking: "Wh-where's… Er, do you know wh—… I, ah, was supposed to meet someone for lunch."

"We haven't checked for survivors yet," she said.

Bucky got to his feet and pulled his shirt back on as he started jogging toward the hallway.

"The lifts are down, take the stairs," the woman called back after him.

He paused, and a thought chilled him to the bone. Bucky reached the nearest elevator and tried calling it. Sure enough, it was out of order. With some difficulty, he pulled the doors open and peered through, but the whole shaft looked empty: the wires had snapped.

Too shocked to even curse, he just pulled his phone from the back pocket — crushed, it must've gotten broken in the fight. Bucky ran to the nearest office and tried to call her from there, but the call wouldn't go through. He called Tony instead and learned they were still rounding up the people outside.

"We've had a few deaths," the man sombrely said as police sirens blared in the background. "Security guards, and the people working near the explosion sites."

"What about elevator accidents?"

"We haven't checked for that ye—"

Bucky hanged up and started running. All the lifts seemed stuck somewhere between floors, except for the one that had snapped — the one closest to the blasts. It was also the one closest to her office, the one she usually took when she came to him… A bloodcurdling fear taking over his whole being, he made for the basement before he could think another thought.

There were still people inside that had hidden away in offices or supply closets and were just now running away while a bomb squad was going up, with some firemen trailing behind and a SWAT team trying to secure the area. His shoulder wound was closing up, not that bumping into all those people helped — it kept opening back up and he trailed blood behind, but in the mess of broken glass and bullet casings, it all got lost.

The bottom of the building was a mess. Another two bombs have gone off there, probably at the same time as above, and the dust had barely had time to settle. A few of the pillars seemed to be barely holding on, but the building was too secure to be brought down that easily. Huffing through the black smoke, the smell of burnt wires and heated concrete, still dripping a bit of blood and filthy with it on his face and hands, Bucky stepped through the debris until he found the collapsed elevator. The doors were bent outward from the impact, and he hoped with everything he had that this… hadn't been her fate; that she was outside and safe, being counted among the survivors, or hidden away somewhere like a frightened mouse.

He called her name, but heard nothing. He wasn't sure if he should be glad or even more worried, and with a trembling voice, he called again. Nothing…

And then, a hollow knock resounded.

"Doll? Are you in there?!"

"B-Bucky?" her frightened voice called out, scratchy with pain and a wet sounding cough he didn't like.

"Hold on!"

It was more difficult to pull the doors off, twisted as the metal was, and once he did that he was met by a mess of wires coiled at the bottom. It was then that he realised what saved her: the blast had caused the wires to snap and they coiled at the bottom, softening the fall. Bucky ended up having to go one floor higher and reach her from above, but he reached her eventually.

The poor thing was terrified, but could still smile when she finally saw him. She'd fallen nearly 50 floors, her face was cut and bruised, she had three broken ribs and probably a broken arm as well, and though tears had painted paths through the dust on her cheeks she wasn't crying anymore. Happy and alive, she struggled to get up the little bit she could, yearning for him as much as he did for her.

"I've got you," Bucky whispered as he gingerly got in beside her, trying not to let the shaking in his voice come through. "You're alright, we'll get you out of here…"

"What happened?" she asked in a small voice.

"A… certain group attacked the building. We took care of them, don't you worry."

"They're all dead now?"

He didn't want to say it, but couldn't lie when he looked up and caught her eyes as he kneeled beside her. "Not all. Not yet."

Bucky didn't know how he was going to get to those in Tony's custody — well, the police's custody now — but as soon as he saw her safe and tended to in the hospital, he called Steve and arranged for a flight back to that bunker.

"They won't be there again, Buck, they know we're onto them."

"So find out where they are," he growled. "I told you we should've done a sweep of the place before we blew it up, Steve."

"Don't start with that again," he sighed, sounding contrite and angry but underneath it somewhat afraid of his friend right now. "We messed up, I messed up… We'll fix it."

"You're damn right. Find them and have the jet ready in 20 minutes."

It felt a little like back in the day when Steve did something thoughtless and Bucky had to bring him back in line. It felt serious then too, a scrape in a back alley could be life-and-death, but it was never as serious as this. She's safe though, he thought to himself, she's alive. But then, another voice answered in his head, That's not good enough.

He flew with Steve, Nat, and Clint in tow, but could only think of that frightened little girl stuck in a death trap, crashing 50 stories down, living her greatest fear and nearly dying if not for a slip of luck, waiting hours in the dark until somebody found her, breathing in with broken ribs, unable to get up or cry for help — and even if she did, nobody could hear her.

And still, she found the strength to smile, if only for his sake. She looked at him from that hospital bed like he'd hung the moon, and Bucky told himself it was just because he was the first to find her.

Tony tracked the group in a little island off the northern Russian coast called Severny: a sparsely populated place that still held some military bases, a weather station, and what was left of a few villages after the Soviets tested atom bombs there.

What they were looking for was another disused bunker on the western side. They landed undetected, then marched across the snow and ice until they reached the place. Looking like something between a fort and a rough-hewn piece of mountain set adrift, it seemed lifeless from outside, but they knew better.

"There's a vent shaft on the south side," said Natasha as she scanned the area with binoculars.

She barely finished saying it before Bucky went ahead.

"Wait a sec," whispered Steve, "we've gotta —"

"Oh, you suddenly have a plan now?" he threw back over his shoulder. "We'll split up."

Clint chuckled as he readied his bow, and even Nat had to hold back a smirk.

"Barnes has a point," she smiled. "They won't be ready for us, not so soon after their hit."

From the vents, he'd landed in a supply room where five of them were gathering materials to fix their plane. He killed one by landing on his neck, shot another three inside, and shot the last one in the back just as he was out the door. The lightbulb creaked as it swung overhead, painting half of his stern face yellow, the other half darkened with drying blood.

He walked calmly down their halls, one rifle at the ready, another slung across his back, stepping lightly as he listened for any nearby sound. The walls were thick concrete that muffled noises well, and the doors were metal slabs spread few and far between.

With the tip of his weapon, Bucky inched open the first door he found parted, but saw no one inside. He barely stepped through as he tried to look around, when he heard the echo of far off shouts and gunshots: the rest of the team had made it in. From the room next to his, two soldiers came out to investigate. As they whispered to each other and readied their guns, he exited the room and stood behind them, steading his rifle as he aimed right for one's head. The bastard barely hit the ground before his pal knew what had happened, and as he turned he caught Bucky's second bullet right in the face.

Stepping over their convulsing corpses, he went toward the racket Clint and Nat were making, then turned around the corner and waited for the reinforcements to come through. In a spray of bullets, he littered the floor with a first batch before the ones behind them caught up and doubled back around the corner. Bucky dropped the bulkier rifle for a pair of handguns and walked toward them, and the first one to look around the corner got shot through the eye. By the time the second one tried to point a rifle at him, Bucky was there to yank it from his hands and pull him close enough to shoot him through the mouth as he tried to call for backup.

"East wing's clear," came Clint's voice through his earpiece.

"I'm holed up somewhere west," said Steve as bullets bounced off of his shield. "Buck, what's your status?"

"South's clear. On my way to you."

He arrived at a larger room filled with old jeeps and a few rocket launchers following the sound of Steve's shield bouncing off the walls and knocking into people. Splatters of blood trailed down to the floor where a few corpses fell, and in the middle, Steve was trying to fight one black-clad bear of a man while dodging two more shooters from above. One of them spotted Bucky as soon as he was in the room, and almost grazed him but the shot hit the wall instead. Gritting his teeth, Bucky stepped back behind the door as he tried to take aim upwards, but the other man ran away.

It was easy for Steve to do away with the other guy and neutralise the shooter that was left. As his shield returned to him, he stood up to greet his friend.

"Nat took the north wing."

"We better go join her, then," said Bucky, reloading his gun as he turned right back around.

"Hey," Steve muttered as he jogged up to him. "Are you ok?"

"I'm not angry with you, Stevie," he sighed. "If that's what you were worried about."

"It's not…"

"There's a first."

"Alright, maybe I was a little —"

He didn't have time to finish before Clint called in to say they needed backup.

The final assault was against an annexe where all the remaining troops retreated, sealed off with a mess of metal and debris while they tried to break through to the outside. Clint's explosive arrows did away with some of it, but then as the dust cleared they started shooting back. Steve was just in time to shield them off while Nat and Bucky returned fire.

As soon as there was a brief pause while they reloaded, Bucky got out from behind the shield and kept shooting at the opening until he got close enough to launch a small grenade through it. The blast sounded through the walls together with a patter of cries and curses. More dust fell around their ears as, up in front and just out of the line of fire, Bucky punched with his left fist at the metal weakened by the blast, then leaned back and hit it once again, growling with a growing mix of pain and anger. He braced his right hand up against it, then hit the barrier again, denting it more and more each time, enough to loosen one metal sheet and pull it out.

"They've got their commander with them," said Clint as he took aim. "They'll do anything to get him out."

"So will we," frowned Steve, and for once Natasha doubted he meant to merely arrest someone.

She took position on one side, ready to shoot whoever showed up, and Clint stood opposite, while Steve deflected the stray shots that made it through until he could reach Bucky and begin to help. Between the two supersoldiers, it didn't take long to tear it down.

Bucky made it through first and had his hand on the knife strapped around his thigh just in time to jam it through the ear of the nearest guard, grabbing him by the head with his other hand to make sure the knife struck deep. He watched as life left the man's eyes before pulling it out and throwing it at another one who was trying to shoot Steve. From behind, one of Clint's shots took down another before he could throw a grenade, leaving it to explode right underneath him and take out two more of his buddies.

Heaving with an exhaustion that burnt, animated with a pain still hidden underneath a veil of anger, Bucky took the rifle from around his back and started shooting at the last contingent. Steve's shield got stuck in the wheels of the machine they were trying to use to cut through the rock, and Nat took out its operators.

By now, Bucky only hoped Steve wouldn't let his honour get in the way this time, so before his friend got a chance to change his mind, he took them out in a spray of bullets: shooting at the ones hiding in a car, firing until the bulletproof windows were shattered, and he heard them scream in pain. Another time, he might have seen the benefit of taking a few of them in, squeezing them for info. But as he killed them one by one, all he could think about was his wounded girl back home — how scared she was when he first found her, like a bird fallen from high with a broken little wing, how weak her cries had sounded, and hopeless, and because of these sick bastards, she had almost died in the way she feared the most

Guiltily, he couldn't hold back the self-pitying thought of how close he'd been to telling her how he really felt, how close he'd been to losing her.

Without any hurry, Bucky reached the last car they had hidden in and opened the door with a kick. A clutter of corpses fell through, fallen all over each other, dripping one thick cord of blood down to the floor like a noose set upside down. His hand tightened around the rifle, ready to shoot at them one last time for good measure, but then his thoughts turned to his girl and he knew she'd disapprove… With a weary sigh, he turned around and left them. He just wanted to go back home.

Bucky was beside her when she woke up the next day. He'd taken the time to wash himself a bit, scrub the blood off and get a change of clothes, and was just about to fall asleep himself when she opened her eyes. Breathlessly he leaned down to hold her hand, smiling back at her incredulous but happy face.

"Hey there," he whispered. "How do you feel?"

"Fine… Better now."

He smirked and tilted his head in disbelief. Every breath caused a little wince to twitch on her tired face.

"Oh don't look at me, I bet my face is all swollen…"

"You've got some scratches and bruises, nothing to worry about. Doctors say the ribs are the worst thing. You'll have to take it easy for the next few months…"

The girl gave an indistinct grumble, shifting gingerly on the bed as the sleep left her and she became more aware of the pain.

"I'll get you some water, then I'll call the nurse."

He stayed with her while she had her breakfast, tasting it a bit at her insistence so that they could suffer together. He got up to leave before they came around to clean her up a bit.

"I'll come back later, doll."

"You don't have to…"

Bucky regarded her with his hands shoved in his pockets, knuckles still a little scraped, the metal hand just slightly dented from where it had punched through a wall — this wouldn't be the time to tell her, so he plainly shrugged.

"I want to."

"You probably have better things to do," she smiled guiltily.

He could wait until she got a little better…

"But I don't," he shook his head, trying not to smile too brightly at the thoughts that came unbidden: them, together, going out at night and holding hands only a few months from now. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

The girl look up at him with a fresh colour in her cheeks, as if she understood.

"At least get some rest first," she slowly grinned. "You look the way I feel."

"Cracking jokes," Bucky huffed, pretending to be offended. "You'll be back up in no time."

With one last squeeze of her hand, he turned around to leave, his head bowed and grounded as his heart fluttered in his chest. Then, at the scratchy little sound of her voice, he turned back to hear her say:

"There's nowhere else I'd rather you be, either…"

The way her smile lit up her eyes filled the room brighter than the sunrise could, and he knew then he'd never leave her side again if he could help it.

[jq37]

The Case File – Mice and Murder Ep 2

The Case of the Dismal Dinner

Summary

Welcome back to our flashback/Tisch fight already in progress where we learn what Daisy and Sly’s shared look was about while Rekha and Grant go for the proverbial jugular emotionally. It’s 12 years ago and Sylvester is tracking down a stolen diadem, the very same diadem that he sees Daisy swipe off the thief who has it (a jackal named Roscoe McCoy in case that matters). Sly swipes it back from her and, when she notices, she sniffs it down to his train car where he is sitting in the dark, waiting for her. He doesn’t turn the lights on, opting instead to dramatically strike a match to light his pipe, illuminating himself sitting in a big chair, holding the stolen item.

Daisy tries to bluff like she’s Virginia Chase, the owner of the diadem, but Sly knows that’s not true because he was hired by the real Virginia to track it down. Daisy is usually a better liar than this but she is insta-smitten by this figurative and literal fox and it’s throwing her off her game. But before they can continue their little tete-a-tete, they hear a gunshot ring out from Daisy’s room and know Roscoe and his guys are coming after her. Sly stuffs Daisy in a trunk before the boys show up and they actually seem a little impressed to meet him, him being a famous detective and all, but a Nat 1 deception means they hear Daisy being huffy in the chest and a fight/escape scene that Brennan takes over narration for ensues. 

After that, Sly and Daisy become close really quickly and partners in both senses of the word. Daisy tells him she’s an American PI and they work together on cases, travel the world, and become engaged within the year. But, the day before the wedding, when Sly is alone, he discovers all the documentation proving that Daisy lied about who she is, is actually a criminal, and has been using their partnership to sell information to other criminals.

She shows up and tries to pretend like she’s being set up but he replies, “You being duped is the only lie you’ve told I can’t believe.” He says that being with her changed him. He didn’t think he had it in him to actually love another person. He forgives her. He still wants to get married. Daisy is thrown by this reaction. She tells him she’s not gonna change for him and he might as well leave her. She’s being all unapologetic femme fatale about it but he gets the sense that under her bravado she’s low key pleading with him to give up on her. He doesn’t want to. He can’t. He still shows up the next day in his wedding tux. Daisy is nowhere to be seen. When he goes home, there’s a deerstalker cap on his porch and a note that just reads “-D”.

And we snap back to the present where Daisy is trying to figure out if she can take advantage of Lucretia’s fascination with the occult and all the rich vulnerable people present to make some money. Meanwhile, Sly has been totally rocked by seeing Daisy and is drowning his sorrows at the bar with Ollie, the otter bartender. Squire Badger (which is what I’ll be calling William) shows up and, in not so many words, threatens Sly for having not solved the case and making a fool of him. He says, “You’re not gonna rub my nose in this.” Move your nose then bitch, says Sly on a dirty 20 intimidation check. He’s sad about girl problems, not you! Squire Badger is scared off, but he looks like he knows something that Sly doesn’t. That someone is coming for him. 

Buckster (and Ian too btw) clocked the above conversation and sidles up to Sly at the bar. See, not only does Buckster know about Sly and Daisy’s history, he knew it was happening *while* it was happening. Sly used up all his cool swagger on the Squire so by the time Buckster shows up he’s a whole mess over Daisy. Buckster starts implying that maybe they can help each other out since they both dislike the Squire and with Sly’s Nat 20 Insight, they can totally clock each other’s double meanings perfectly. It’s a very cool game thing where Sly and Buckster are having an innocuous conversation about the weather or whatever but Grant and Sam are just saying what they mean. It’s like they’re having a telepathic conversation. Sly agrees that the enemy of his enemy is his friend and he’ll go along with Buck’s plans as long as he can keep his hands clean, even if he doesn’t really care for Buck himself. 

At the same time Gangie is in the kitchens getting fed (see the notes for a full list of kitchen staffers and other NPCs) and after the staff leaves, Gangie is told by Ambrose Harding (the Squire’s turtle valet) that there’s is business for him to attend to after dinner. 

Buckster talks to Lawrence Longfoot--the rabbit photographer from last ep who we learn runs a trash newspaper. He and Buck bond over being trash and he gets a pic of Sly and Buck together. 

Vicar Ian goes to talk to the Squire and basically tries to (openly) suss out whether the money was a bribe or a setup or what? Like, people are fully there (including the Lady Fawnbrook and her gossipy cat wife Tabitha). They snipe at each other a bit and then the Squire reveals that he’s talked him up to the Cardinal and the Cardinal agreed that he’s such a good vicar, he should be moved to Siberia. The decision has already been made and Ian doesn’t have the pull in the church to do anything about it. Yikes. 

Before dinner, the rat butler catches Buck and asks if he has time to talk to Squire Badger. Buck agrees to go with him and he’s taken to the billiards room where the Squire is along with Harding and James Hawkins, Squire’s Hawk war buddy (a literal war hawk). Buck immediately puts his foot in his mouth by messing up the Squire’s title with his American ignorance of British peerage rules which annoys him, the elitism of it all. The Squire’s friends leave and then Buck starts talking about PR and how this whole situation has been bad PR for the Squire and it would be a shame if his PR got even worse. The suggestion of blackmail sends the Squire into a full honey badger don’t care style rage and he knocks TF out of Buck, flips the pool table, and then catches himself and scurries off. Daisy, Sly, and Gangie all hear this conversation from their positions in the house via the pipes running through the manor. Buck picks himself up and, on a 25, realizes that two of the mouse maids were hiding behind a curtain, hearing the whole thing (specifically, Edwina Thimble and Carolyn Dickory--oh like hickory dickory doc, BRENNAN) . They were playing hooky so he flips them a coin each and they all agree that no one saw or heard anything. “Two blind mice, see how they run,” he quips as they leave (sidenote, what a morbid nursery rhyme to exist in that world--to be fair, it’s pretty morbid as is).

Lucretia decides to turn the séance into a post dinner séance but still brings Daisy and Lars to see her occult room which is full of crap from, as Rekha said, “1800s Party City”. Lucretia does a hilariously vague read on Daisy and says that there’s something happening with her involving a man she knew or maybe still knows but she’s in her feelings about Sly so it kinda shakes her up. She tries to get Lucretia to charge for her “””incredible gift””” (so she can skim off the top of course) but Lucretia thinks it would be a misuse of her ~talents~. She does give Daisy an incredibly broad as to be useless even if magic exists blessing before she leaves. 

Once she does, Daisy scopes out the room (which she realizes must have been retrofitted for Lucretia and wasn’t previously a séance room) and sees that the one thing in the room that doesn’t really match the aesthetic is a giant portrait of one of the previous squire badgers. On a 24 she notices two things: (1) the painting has recently been restored with new paint and (2) the frame is bolted to the wall. She wants to check it out but Lars is right there so she makes a note to check it out later and leaves. 

Lars, being a very ride or die friend for Sly, bounds after her and basically calls her trash and tries to tempt her with garbage so she’ll lose composure and start chowing down. She drools at the sight but keeps it together and leaves. Lars runs off to tell Sly that they were a good good dog and gives him a full play by play. 

Gangie meanwhile is watching a small argument between the butler and Harding in the servant’s quarters hallway and he realizes that he’s being talked about in veiled language. The butler is questioning Gangie’s employment and Harding says that, as servants, they shouldn’t question their master and that Gangie is employed for reasons that Squire Badger is aware of and reasons he is not. Hmm. Gangie realizes that Harding knows about his past which is weird because Gangie’s criminal record doesn’t follow him. There’s no internet. So what reason would this guy have to know about him?

Gangie doesn’t like this and decides to dip and steal some silverware on the way out. Mrs. Molesley (who I’ll be calling Mrs. M from now on) helps him (lol I’m not entirely sure if she didn’t know what he was doing or if she’s just down with stealing) and says that she’s been working there since Squire Badger was in diapers (she was his nanny) and if anyone bullies Gangie, she’ll take care of them. She also offers to make him a sweater so he doesn’t get cold and she’s just so nice that Gangie has to say yes. He looks to make sure no one is around and gives her a dandelion he picked. Cute!!!

And now it’s time for dinner and our very first box of doom roll for the most terrifying encounter of all: how close you have to sit next to your bitter ex! This is of course for Sly and Daisy with higher than a 15 meaning they don’t have to sit next to each other and anything lower meaning they have to sit pretty close. It is the first BOD roll I’ve ever wanted them to fail (mmm, except maybe Adaine’s werewolf roll but that’s a different conversation). 

It’s in the 6-10 bracket which means they’re sitting across from each other (below that would have been them next to each other). Everyone is seated based on how on Squire Badger’s shitlist they are. So you have Ian at the absolute back. Sly to his right and Daisy on his left. The Buckster and Lars to the right and left after that. Then Armond (armadillo lawyer guy) and a snail guy because Brennan is a madman who cannot be stopped. Constance (Squire’s daughter) makes a toast to her dad wishing him well even though they haven’t always seen eye to eye (hmmm).

Buckster fills in Daisy on his confrontation with the Squire quietly enough that no one else hears. Daisy then turns to Sly and says she hopes they can be civil. Sly is like, “Sure Ms. DUMPSTER.” They’re the kind of exes who know exactly how to hurt each other but are also super open to being hurt. Emotional glass cannons is how Brennan describes it. 

Buckster is given a note by Harding from Squire Badger and, once dinner is over, he takes Daisy off to the side to read it. Gangie follows, unseen. Ian, who recently prayed to God and got not super clear results goes to talk to Luecretia to see if maybe ghosts can help him instead. She is, as usual, not super helpful but does rush out to get her very necessary ritual dagger and declares to everyone that if anyone sees a ghost they have to tell her. As she says this, there is a flash of lightning and, through the window, Sylvester sees just for a moment the form of his nemesis, Fletcher Cottonbotton (who is by the docks).

Anyway, Buckster reads the note. It’s a document from the Squire selling his interest in BB Industries (Buck’s oil company) to Hazel Hogswallop who is another small shareholder in BB Industries. But, in doing so, it names Josiah Jackrabbit (one of his competitors) her proxy which means he’ll be able to vote on things (and with a lot of power with all that stock).  The contract was written in fresh ink which means (1) it was probably written after their fight and (2) hasn’t been mailed yet (I smell a heist attempt). Buck rolls insight on the writing (mastermind rogue ability) and with a 27 senses that the Squire has gone off his rocker. This isn’t going to make him any money. Josiah doesn’t have enough liquid cash to pay him what this is worth. And the thing with Hazel would have taken time to set up. This has been in the works for a while and he’s been sitting on it until the time was right. And he senses, like Sly and Gangie did earlier, that someone besides the Squire is pulling the strings. 

Then Gangie suddenly hears Constance’s distressed voice through the pipes from upstairs: “Father you’re possessed! You’re a mad man! This will never work. Speak of this to me never again.” And she slams the door (Buck, Daisy, and Gangie all hear). Constance comes downstairs and Squire Badger follows, looking upset. Mrs. M checks in on him too see if he’s eaten and he kind of gruffly has her follow him (along with Mr. Harding) into the drawing room.

There is a scream. Something drops. Silence. Footsteps. A door opens. Then a voice, “My God!”

Everyone rolls initiative. Ian moves first and, upon hearing all the commotion, gathers everyone together to go towards the sound (interesting choice but sure). Daisy recognizes that the scream heard was Mrs. M but barely knows who she is. She goes towards the commotion anyway. Gangie also goes towards the scream. Buckster grabs his gun (well he says “weapon”, but it’s gotta be a gun, right?) and makes like he’s following her but actually hides. Lars and Sylvester go towards the scream. 

With everyone gathered, Ambrose opens the door. Inside they see Mrs. M, her hands covered in blood (my guess? From trying to stop the bleeding), kneeling on the ground over the dead body of the Squire. The room is a mess and stuff is scattered everywhere. There is a bloody knife in the Squire’s hand and a stab wound over his heart. Ms. M, who is distressed as hell, says there was something wrong with him. There was a flash, and she looked down and he was stabbing himself. Everyone thinks this is suspicious as hell. She was the only one in the room. Everyone looks to Sly, the famous detective who is not in the presence of a murder case in progress. What does Sly say? “Lady Lucretia. I’ve seen a ghost.”

Case Notes

I have to acknowledge how ON FIRE Grant was this episode. Like everyone was. Buck was great with the Squire. Daisy and Lars sniping at each other was fun. But man Grant had so many good lines. The “move your nose”. The heartbreak with Daisy (ugh, so sad!) And that blackout line!!! I am biased towards foxes as you can see from my avatar so I am very here for this great fox rep.

Based on the way their staredown went last ep I kinda thought Daisy was the wronged party but ugh. Slyyyyyyy. He forgave herrrrrrr. And he still went to the alter. Daisy how you could youuuuuuu?

Also, sigh, Fox and the Hound. I keep getting hit with these after the fact. 

I loved Rekha’s “Of the Chase Sapphire’s?” improv.

That racoon/mink line was so sleazy. Weird compliment but Brennan is good at being animal-racist. Sidenote, Daisy makes a comment about being careful being a fox in England which I presume is a ref to fox hunting and like the implication of that are como se dice troubling. 

Here are all the new NPCs for this ep and here’s a full NPC guide that also includes the list of names Gangie gave Buck which Buck shares with Daisy this ep.

And on that topic I can’t get over the concept of a married couple named Millie Molton and Mollie Milton. Like, did they get married solely for the bit???

The best Ian-ism of the ep was him talking about getting rejected from Siberia. Poor guy.

Fave OOC moment was everyone at the table getting aggressively patriotic in response to the Squire being dismissive to Buck. There is nothing funnier than someone singing a purposefully overwrought version of I’m Proud to Be An American. 

“It’s 2020 for us bitch!”

The moment Mrs. M said she was gonna make Gangie a sweater I was scared for her. Sweaters take a long time to get made. I was like oh no. The plot is gonna stop you from making that sweater isn’t it. I’m willing to be proven wrong (Brennan loves his maids with secrets, see: Cathilda) but she seems super sweet and if anything happens to her I’m going to be upset. 

What’s behind the painting Brennan. I know there’s a door. I know this house is full of secret tunnels and revolving bookshelves and all that. Let me see it!

One great little moment was when there was a flash of lightning and the minis for Sly and Lars like stop motion moved to look at it. Just great attention to detail. The work that gets put into this show is incredible.

Edit: A note I forgot to mention. There’s gotta be a secret door in the room where it happened, right? Like, creep in, flash of light to mess up her vision, do some shenanigans, peace out.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 276: Our Turn to Save You

Previously on BnHA: In a refreshing change of pace from the usual “the adults refuse to tell the kids anything” shtick, Deku and Kacchan flew around trying to get Tomura’s attention while refusing to explain jack shit to Endeavor! Deku eventually thought to ask Kacchan why he was getting in on this, and Kacchan launched into a two-page Denial Speech which seemed expressly designed to prime him for losing his quirk any fucking second now! Tomura then showed up and the two of them were all “KJSDLFK” but thankfully Gran dove in to rescue them from dying INSTANTANEOUS HORRIBLE DEATHS, and reminded them that there are practically SIX WHOLE GROWN-UPS left who can definitely still fight Tomura and won’t die at all!! And one of those grown-ups is Aizawa! Who’s getting ready to fight Tomura now! Listen Horikoshi you fucker, when I asked for more Aizawa angst and badassery this ISN’T WHAT I –

Today on BnHA: Tomura is all “THIS QUIRK WON’T STOP ME BECAUSE I CAN’T READ” and sort of shrugs it off and continues to kick ass even though his Decay and AFO powers aren’t working. The pros all try to stop him with Endeavor taking the lead, and because THEY ALL SUCK, APPARENTLY, nothing they do is effective in any way whatsoever! Meanwhile Gran dumps Deku and Kacchan off and is all “YOU’LL BE FINE HERE” which is the most ridiculous thing anyone in this manga has ever said, and then pretty much as soon as he says it at least nine more High Ends (excuse me, NEARLY High Ends) just POP UP OUT OF NOWHERE and are all “RARR” and the heroes are all “oh shit” and Tomura is all “lol yeah I actually had more High Ends this whole time” and Ujiko is all “it’s true!” and, fuck. The chapter ends with Tomura charging in to kill Aizawa only to be intercepted by MY TWO PRECIOUS BABIES, MY DARLING LITTLE HERO HATCHLINGS, and...!! I blame Gran for this.

gotta say, my sense of time is distorted enough as it is these days without chapter leaks coming out A WHOLE ENTIRE DAY EARLY out of nowhere. not that I’m complaining, because I want to see Aizawa kick some ass & immediately lose his fucking quirk as much as anyone, but it is disorienting

anyway time to dive into this chapter which I predict will be titled “everything instantly goes horribly wrong.” I’ve had a lot of time these past two weeks to think about what is going to happen next, and I’m pretty sure I nailed it you guys

so we’re opening with a familiar sight

I like that Horikoshi thinks that helicopters go “chop chop.” well, close enough

anyway, so yet again we have a scene in BnHA of a town in the process of being destroyed by villains while a helicopter whirs (WHIRS, Horikoshi) and chuffs (SOMETIMES THEY CHUFF TOO) anxiously nearby. I wonder if this helicopter is going to fucking disintegrate. that’d be something new

ARE YOU GOING TO DIE, MISTER LIVE REPORTER SIR. OH MAN. OH GOD I’M ANXIOUS

dozens, you guys! there are dozens of them left! not to worry then. the good guys definitely still got this

oh hey it’s that news anchor with the cutely fucked-up backstory of chopping off his own horn so as to more handsomely report the news

oh god don’t tell me this whole thing is going to be broadcast live. that’s all we fucking need right now. I wonder what’s going to throw society into chaos more, the reveal of just how powerful Tomura is now, or the exposure of what the government-mandated child soldiers get to do during their super-educational practical on-the-job training! no coffee-fetching for these kiddos! we’ve got ‘em rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands good and dirty!

oh hey and it looks like this means that All Might will get to watch protege #2 lose his quirk live on TV -- HEY WHAT ARE YOU SERIOUS

BAD BABYSITTER!! MY GOD MAN, I KNOW YOU’RE THE INDULGENT GRANDFATHER TYPE, BUT MAYBE CONSIDER CHANGING THE CHANNEL TO DOC MCSTUFFINS FOR THE TIME BEING??!

also I know this is just a perspective thing probably but lmao his hand on her shoulder is fucking huge. All Might you been working out again

but seriously this is not good for either of them to witness. they don’t need more trauma in their lives! All Might doesn’t need yet another thing to blame himself over! and he has conflicted feelings about Tomura still on top of that which I’m sure isn’t going to make this any easier. ANGST ALL AROUND. EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK, EVERYWHERE YOU GOOOO

MOTHERFUCKER I --

is Mitsuki looking at fucking baby pictures of Kacchan. reliving the memories of the good old days, thinking about how far her baby boy has come and how proud she is. that’s just great you guys. that’s just fucking great. these aren’t even red flags at this point these are red fucking tapestries

(ETA: and this basically goes without saying, but I’m sure the fact that not one but THREE Todorokis are represented in this little montage means that Endeavor and Shouto are also going to be just fine.)

:)

HE’S SO HAPPY just fucking try and tell me he doesn’t have a mental fucking link to Tomura and Deku you guys. this bitch knows exactly what is going down right now and he is LIVING FOR IT. that does it. someone please save my spot in the chapter for me I am going to go take a quick walk to calm down

and of COURSE that’s a fucking lie though, god -- [frantically clicks to next page]

LOL HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS

FUCKING MANUAL IS HERE TO SAVE THE DAY LMAO. YOU CAN ALL FUCKING RELAX NOW. and fuck me, I’m so fucking happy RockLockRock is still alive as well but WHY ARE YOU STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO AIZAWA IN WHAT I LIKE TO CALL THE “CAUTION: YOU WILL GET SHOT” ZONE. swear to god Horikoshi THAT MAN HAS A FAMILY don’t you even think about -- !!

sigh, anyway so then the rest of the page is panels of Gran & The Boys, Endeavor, and Tomura, along with the text “WHICH SIDE IS THE VICTOR”, which is not helping matters any! also the title of the chapter is “Cheating” which I assume is a reference to both the erasure of Tomura’s quirk, and the soon-to-happen permanent removal of Aizawa’s. I’m just an optimist like that

oh hey and Tomura’s sending out some quick orders to his squad as well

and to think this homicidal maniac is in my top ten favorite characters. sob. I do love you kiddo so please don’t take it personally that I have to unequivocally root against you here. maybe if you listened to me once in a while and would even just consider my radical alternate plan of not killing anyone in sight

anyway lol but here everyone including myself thought he was going straight for the bullets and instead he was pulling out his phone. shows what we know. [braces myself for the follow-up panel of him putting the phone away again and THEN reaching for the bullets!!]

meanwhile we’re being introduced to some new sidekick of Endeavor’s who’s probably going to set the record for shortest time in between being introduced and dying horribly. sorry Kido. I’m just jaded

don’t mind me I’m just putting up emotional walls in between myself and any new lovable characters as a means of self-preservation. mmhmm. he can manipulate the trajectory of things. that’s nice. he seems nice. wouldn’t that be a nice quirk for Tomura to steal and then trajector a bullet straight towards Aizawa ffffff

(ETA: watch this space, everyone. Endeavor’s Sidekick Kido. gonna fuck everything up for everyone, mark my words.)

so I can’t help but notice that now that Tomura can’t use his quirk anymore and is helpless, they have all decided to just sit around doing nothing again?

like. far be it from me to openly wonder why they are not immediately knocking him out or setting him on fire again or whatnot. I am just a lowly civilian. it’s not my job to question these things

(ETA: I must learn to be patient.)

also lmao at Manual saying Aizawa’s ankle is “twisted”, similar to how Deku is constantly “twisting” all of his arms and legs all the time. or did he mean “twisted” in the sense that his leg was pretty much literally wrung out like a fucking towel

anyway so Manual is waterbending liquid into Aizawa’s eyes like that’s supposed to help him NOT close them

has Horikoshi ever had water splashed into his fucking eyes. he and I have had very different experiences as to the effects of this apparently

there we go!!

at least someone out here is fucking trying. for a second there I was honestly worried we were going to see a repeat of “oh well he seems dead enough, let’s just leave, see you at the victory party this weekend, X-Less”

LMAO WHAT KIND OF NONSENSE

[GRABS THESE PANELS AND WAVES THEM IN FRONT OF THE UNCONSCIOUS HAWKS] DID YOU HEAR THAT. DO YOU SEE THAT, BOYO. FACTS. BEING WEAK TO FIRE IS, IN FACT, 100 PERCENT A CHOICE. IF YOU HAD JUST DONE MORE PUSH-UPS AND TRAINED HARDER YOU WOULDN’T BE IN THIS SITUATION RIGHT NOW. SMDH. YOU FUCKING WIMP. YOU RECREANT. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED

hooooh man. hokay. whew. has anyone seen my suspension of disbelief. I’m so used to having it on me at all times when I read this manga that I must have let my guard down and now it seems I’ve spaced it out. well we’ll just keep a lookout for it

so now we’re cutting to Ujiko who is gleefully bragging that Tomura’s strength is on par with All Might Prime’s, which is just great. and now he’s also starting this sentence and then just... not... finishing it

that’s fine. you just trail off, then. hang those implications. whatever dude

meanwhile RLR and Manny are helping Aizawa limp away while he awkwardly has to twist his neck around to be able to still keep Tomura in his line of sight. I feel like there was probably a better way for them to do this but whatever

anyway thanks for confirming that Ujiko did make Tomura into a Noumu in addition to giving him AFO, though, Horikoshi! that’s very nice of you to unsink one of my theories like that. appreciate it

and hold up, so it occurs to me that “Being Fireproof” could still be a quirk, but just a mutant-type quirk rather than an activation type, meaning that Erasure would have no effect on it! aha! oh, there’s my suspension of disbelief lol it was in my pocket the whole time!!

anyway so Endeavor and Tomura are tussling but I really wish they’d be more careful because if Tomura is still capable of super strength and super speed then he could propel himself out of Aizawa’s line of sight really easily and I feel like this isn’t really helping

is it just me or do they look like they’re TRYING to jump in between Aizawa and Tomura, like?!?! GUYS

LMAO now Gran is just

SHUP. toss. dusts off hands. well that takes care of that

and apparently he’s under the genuine impression that a mere “now stay put you dumdums” is going to have any effect on these two whatsoever. lol okay. we’ll see

anyways YESSSSS, KACCHAN MEET GRAN, GRAN, KACCHAN

meanwhile Kacchan falls silent as he mentally tries to work out who tf “Toshinori” is lmao. I’M SO CHUFFED ABOUT THIS. YES THAT’S ANOTHER USE OF THE WORD “CHUFFED.” VERY VERSATILE AND REMINISCENT OF HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRLING

and now here’s a convenient map showing how far away Deku and Kacchan are from safety!

thanks for that. that’s so reassuring to have this nifty little visual

OH MY GOD GRAN

DO YOU WANT TO FUCKING DIE?? DOES EVERYONE IN THIS FUCKING ARC HAVE A DEATH WISH. MY GOD

“BUT FAR BE IT FROM ME TO LEAVE WITHOUT ANY OMINOUS FORESHADOWING!!” NO INDEED WE CAN’T HAVE THAT!!!

rather than focus anymore on how goddamn foreboding that is, I would instead like to take this moment to call attention to the fact that Gran apparently knows Bakugou’s name but not Present Mic’s. that’s amazing

sob

what good indeed. imagine if they couldn’t even do that. I imagine that would have some far-reaching consequences which might even be interesting to explore as part of a story

:O

I made the same face as them just now fyi

fucking Schrodinger’s High Ends. they only exist when the plot says it’s convenient for them to exist. maybe they’re like fairies and if you say you don’t believe in them they drop dead. where the fuck did these things actually come from?!

WAY TO DROP THE BOYS OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF NOUMU FUCKING CENTRAL MY GOOD MAN. MAYBE WE SHOULD SCROLL BACK UP AND UPDATE THAT MAP. GOOD JOB LMAO

WHAT THE FUCK

welp. they deleted Tomura’s quirk and then sent the strongest guy they had after him, annnnnnnd he went and beat him anyway in like two fucking seconds. so that’s. ... wowee. ...so do we have a plan b, or...

like, holy shit though?? and can you imagine the kind of psychological impact this is having on everyone watching this live on TV right now?? this is literally the anti-Kamino. holy fucking shit. also did Tomura lose an arm or am I just not understanding this image right?? NOT THAT IT SEEMS TO BE BOTHERING HIM IN THE SLIGHTEST??

(ETA: somehow I missed the fact that he is even calling attention to it lol. “I’ll raise [the other hand] when it’s back.” fucking look at Mr. Transcendent here who’s so powerful that when you tear his arms off all it does is make him more sassy. is he secretly related to Mirko.)

idk guys I really think my original chapter title was better

at least Endeavor isn’t fucking dead just yet. four more pages and you might actually make it out of this chapter alive my good man

blah blah blah flashback to Ujiko explaining that the Noumu could be activated by an electric current flowing through them, and that they’re programmed to move only on Tomura’s orders. you know. just more good news

oh hey but at least these ones are mindless so I guess it’s okay for the kids to kick their asses without feeling too conflicted. it’s just too bad “their strength is higher quality than the others” but you win some, you lose some

OH GOOD, THEY’RE GOING STRAIGHT FOR AIZAWA

I’M SURE THAT MIDORIYA “MY BODY MOVED BEFORE I COULD THINK” IZUKU AND BAKUGOU “I’M THE ONE WHO’LL GET PAYBACK FOR THAT DAY” KATSUKI WILL TAKE THEIR GRANDPA’S SAGE ADVICE AND GO AND HIDE WHILE THEIR TEACHER IS IN DANGER. IT’S NOT LIKE THEY’VE LITERALLY GONE TO SCHOOL FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR EXPLICITLY MAJORING IN NOT DOING THAT. YES THIS IS FINE THIS IS FUCKING FINE AND GREAT

NOW WHAT’S HAPPENING THERE’S LOTS OF RUBBLE FALLING AROUND AND STUFF MOVING AND SOMEONE IS TALKING

OH IT’S HIM

excuse me. EXCUSE ME. no, you are NOT. going to fucking die, Aizawa Shouta. HORIKOSHI KOUHEI!!! YOU’RE UNDER ARREST FOR THE CRIME OF DRAWING THIS FUCKING PANEL. THIS ONE, RIGHT HERE. YOU KNEW WHAT YOU WERE DOING. HOW DARE YOU. how FUCKING dare you sir

and if anything happens to RLR I SWEAR TO GOD!! you know what?! you know what?!?

STOP IT

[sitting curled up into a little ball with my knees drawn up to my chest, drawing little finger circles on the floor] I see. so he’s not even concerned about himself at all. it’s his two tiny little hero eggs, his problem children, and the fact that if he dies here there won’t be anything preventing Tomura from finding and killing them. ahh. okay. it’s okay. that’s fine

and goddammit what is he pulling out from his belt. everyone is on the same page here, right? Aizawa’s Not Allowed To Die. that was the deal. WHAT HAS THIS ALL BEEN FOR OTHERWISE

(ETA: yeah but he seriously did just pull a knife out of fucking nowhere though like the kid in that fucking vine lmao. APPARENTLY HE’S HAD IT THIS ENTIRE TIME?? “what if I just stabbed him” lulz. based on the way things were trending, I’m willing to bet it would have literally bounced off of Tomura’s chest at this point, but I’ll give him credit for making the effort.)

NOPE NOPE NOPE NO

(ETA: Shinsou being in the bottom corner... ;_; )

is anyone listening to me!??! I’m over here screaming myself fucking hoarse??! AIZAWA ISN’T FUCKING ALLOWED TO DIE??!! HELLO!?!?!

lol well at least RLR didn’t get steamrolled over

well everyone. we’ve reached page 18. one more to go. what are the odds we end with the boys arriving in the ta-da nick of time to defend their teacher. just who is watching over whom

THERE IT IS!!!

OH NO OH GOD AM I CRYING??! YOU HAD TO GO AND PUT THOSE FLASHBACK PANELS IN?? HIM SAVING DEKU AND CO. AT USJ, PLUS THAT ONE TIME HE DEFENDED BAKUGOU DURING HIS MOST VULNERABLE MOMENT IN FRONT OF A NATIONAL AUDIENCE??? “IT’S OUR TURN TO SAVE YOU”???

and they look so determined and desperate?? and the “Aizawa-sensei!” echoing in both their minds?? and meanwhile Aizawa looks fucking horrified though, because of all the... [gestures] you know? the Terrible Danger?? sob??

anyway. I really let this manga do this to me every damn week. let it just have its fucking way with me. at least Horikoshi didn’t end up breaking the law after all. I don’t know if I could continue to support a mangaka who is willing to commit an actual war crime. no touching Aizawa. OKAY?? OKAY

[nanamicide]

this is under a read more to not clog y'all's dashboards but it ain't anything bad dw

i've been overthinking this since monday and i've talked about it around me irl but i think it's not helping bc it makes me feel like no one is really considering my feelings/pov on the issue (everyone has the same opinion on what i should do lol tho for different reasons) so i'm turning to you guys even if none of you really know me that well - you don't have to respond but if you end up reading this any input would be appreciated

basically, anyone here who's had more than 2 convos with me knows i wanna do a phd once i finish my masters. to do a phd you need to have (a) a thesis supervisor (b) funding. where im from there are several days to get funding. most of them can be pretty tough to go through but they say that if you're good at what you do it's not really that hard. however, there is a shortcut to this - finding a supervisor who already has funding for a given project.

i'm currently doing my master's thesis under a supervisor who's lovely. i get along with her really well, she's really helpful, is always very supportive, etc. i'm also really fond of the project we're working on this year and i was hoping to take it further by basing my phd thesis on it. she agreed, said we'd start looking for funding next year. all was well and good until then.

on monday we had class with a new doc - he got a position at my university in november. brilliant guy, specializes in psycho-oncology, has done plenty of interesting research, etc. but the vibes are like, off. as a professional, i'm sure he's amazing. as a person, though, idk. now i know, don't judge someone you've only seen in class for 3 hours and blah blah but i'm a great believer in first impressions for whatever reason. anyway, at the end of class he asks if anyone would be interesting doing a phd after graduating. i raise my hand (and i'm the only one who does so so all the attention is on me lol). he then tells me that it's really cool because he'll have funding for a phd student right after i graduate. y'all already guessed it - it's an amazing project, something i would be super happy working on. it would make my life easier because i wouldn't have to look for funding. the money would already be there. i'd have nothing to worry about for the next 4 years except getting the work done and publishing. pretty cool, right? i'd be stupid to pass on such an opportunity. that's what everyone irl told me. and honestly, part of me agrees. i know this is good. i mean, my mom even went on to say it was a sign that he'd receive funding for a field i'm interested in with such great timing. maybe she's right, idk.

so yeah, my issue is that i don't really wanna work with him because i already have my dream supervisor. except dream supervisor, as amazing as she is, doesn't have funding. so idk what to do. i have a few months to think it through but i can't seem to not think about it already. it kept me up last night and i think i'm at my limit overthinking it, tbh.

anyway, sorry for rambling like this. i don't make this type of posts very often because i like to keep the personal info i share online to a minimum but i really have no clue what i should do. thank you for reading my word vomit if you got this far!!

[siempre-pedro]

Put Your Head On My Shoulder

Pedro Pascal x Reader 

Summary: Everything is blissful when Pedro asks you to be his dance partner for a dance lesson he has to take for a new role, until you catch a contagious illness and have to cancel. Pedro finds a way to still dance with you and confess his feelings. 

Word Count: 2.2k

A/N: I’m obsessed with those songs but in another room videos/audio! I wrote this inspired by Paul Anka’s song...but in another room. I recommend listening to it while you read. 

Requests are OPEN

A gentle knock of your apartment door interrupted your glamorous dinner one Monday night. You folded the corner of your magazine and took one final bite of your Lucky Charms before getting up to answer it “Coming,” you shout, your mouth sill full of cereal.

Once you open the door, you swallow your food as fast as you can, not wanting to embarrass yourself in front of your hot neighbor. You’d known Pedro for years, he had moved in next to you and sent over a plate of baked goods and a note apologizing in advance for any noise. Both of you were smitten since that day. “Did I interrupt you again?” Pedro asks, grimacing at his awful timing.

“Nah I only got to the who wore it best section this time,” you chuckle, leaning on the cold door frame and tugging your knit sweater up on your shoulder. Pedro ran his fingers through his messy brown hair and then cooly put it in his front pocket “What do you need?”

“A favor,” he responds simply, “when was the last time you danced?” You squint your Y/E/C colored eyes and your lips pucker in thought.

“Senior prom. Why?”

“I signed on to do a project, and I have to learn how to waltz,” he explains, a pink tint rising to his tanned skin. You smile softly and cross your arms over your chest, motioning him to continue. “I found a class on Friday in Midtown, will you please be my partner?”

“Why me?” you ask, trying to hide a giddy smile that was threatening to make an appearance. The man of your dreams was inviting you out and all you do was stand there and look like an idiot! He looked so nervous and precious, standing there fidgeting on his spot.

“You know I have two left feet, I trust you not to laugh at me too much,” he laughs. That was fair, he did, hen he invited you to a friends wedding you got to experience that first hand. “Please, Y/N. I need you,” he begs looks at you with pleading eyes.

“Fine, fine, fine,” you agree “Friday.”

He sighs in relief and pulls his hands from his pockets “You are my savior, Y/N. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’ll see pick you up at 5 and we’ll take the Subway, yeah?” He plans excitedly, almost bouncing. You bit back a girly laugh and did your best to keep your calm composure.

“I’ll see you then.”

Except you wouldn’t. Tuesday and come and gone and when Wednesday came you woke up with the worst headache of your life. Your neck was so stiff it felt like you were tied to a board, and after some back and forth with yourself, you made an appointment and thankfully, they were able to see you right away. Pedro was texting you nonstop for updates and made silly jokes to calm you. Some made you giggle and others made you groan from second-hand embarrassment.

Those jokes didn’t help when your doctor stood in front of you, his clipboard under his arm, and his eyes looking stern down at you. The older looking man takes a deep breath before giving you the diagnosis “Its meningitis,” he tells you bluntly.

You blink a couple of times, cocking your head as far as it could go without it hurting…which wasn’t that far at all “Meningitis?” you repeat confused, you’d never heard of that before.

The doctor leans against the old counter and uses his free hand to press against the back of his neck “You have an infection that’s causing swelling of the membrane covering your brain and spinal cord, ” he begins to explain, and this is where your daydreams came to a rough stop “It’s highly contagious and often deadly, seizures, brain damage, hearing loss.”

Your eyes widened at the amount of emphasis he used in ‘highly’ “Oh,” was all you could say. Fuck now you were afraid you were going to die! You couldn’t tell Pedro you liked him if you were dead. “H-how bad is my case?” you ask meekly, your eyebrows turning upwards in worry.

“Thankfully we caught it early and the infection is only bacterial, I’ll be giving you the best antibiotics I can and you should come out of this with no side effects,” he tells you, taking his clipboard from his arm to start writing down a prescription. Here comes another kicker “You need to be quarantined for at least a week, no face to face interaction with other people.”

“I have a date Friday,” you say without thinking about what you just blurted out. The doctor looks up from his clipboard and gave you a look that said ‘are you serious?’

“Do you want them to get infected?”

“No.”

He laughs “Then stay home and rest. I’ll supply you with a few masks to get home, then no going out. You go to the pharmacy and go home. Got it?”

You smile at him “I do. Thank you, Doc.”

Telling Pedro you couldn’t go dancing with him may have been the hardest thing you’d ever have to do. You imagined it was going to crush him as bad as it did you. You lean back in your seat on the train, passengers saw your blue medical mask and creating a bubble around you, at least you were alone-ish. Sliding your phone out of your pocket you begin to text him ‘I’m on my way back.’

He replies almost instantly ‘How’d it go? Are you ok?’

‘I have meningitis. A brain infection basically.’

‘Jesus Christ. Are you going to live???’

‘lol yeah. I have to be quarantined for at least a week. I’m HIGHLY contagious. I can’t go with you Friday, I’m so sorry Pedro.’

Pedro’s quick responses ceased. You were constantly checking your phone every few seconds to see if he texted back. You watched your screen intensely, no pop-up messages were appearing, and when it did it was just an Instagram notification that gave you false hope. It took the actor 7 minutes to finally respond.

‘Fuck. Please don’t worry Y/N, I just really want you to get better! I’ll go to that bodega down the street and get you a few things so you don’t starve and stuff.’

Fuck this guy for taking care of you, fuck him for being sweet and nice and everything you wanted him to be. Too bad you were breaking both your hearts, you think. No Pedro was fine you assumed, just helping out a friend.

When you got back to your apartment you found two grey plastic grocery bags filled with Gatorade, semi-healthy snacks, and Tylenol you assumed. On the bag was a neon yellow sticky note ‘I hope I got you everything you needed. I’ll see you in a few days : ) – Pedro’ it read. You smiled softly to yourself and picked up the bags, ready for the lonely week ahead.

Thursday you were in the worst pain of your life, it was like that scene if Ferris Beuller’s Day Off when Cameron was in bed telling Ferris that he was dying, unable to move. That was you, 80s music and all as you laid hopelessly in your bed, surrounded by clear bottles of Gatorade and snacks that Pedro provided. Pedro himself was only adding to your pain, his constant texts asking how you were and trying to make you feel somewhat better was backfiring, you still felt terrible about the dance class. In the evening Pedro would knock on your door, leaving your mail in front of the doorstep.  Too bad you couldn’t move to get it.

Friday you were able to accomplish getting out of bed and slowly moving around your apartment. You were leaning on your kitchen counter, chicken noodle soup near boil in a silver pot in front of you. You checked the clock on your microwave ‘4:58’ it read in glowing blue letters, Pedro would be leaving at any moment. That is if he was really going of course.

He was, the door to his apartment closed loudly and a light giggle rang through the walls. You stood stiff, that was a female voice. You rushed to grab a medical mask in the living room, tugging on your gray oversized sweater and a good excuse in your mind.

Your door opened in a rush and you stood in the hallway, the speed of everything got Pedro and the woman’s attention. God she was beautiful, tall and bronzed with silky long black hair, if they needed a new Miss Universe it would’ve been her. She was your foil, you were there in sweatpants and your hair greasy hair pulled up into a high bun, a blue medical mask covering your frown but they couldn’t conceal your dark bags. “Y/n,” Pedro speaks cautiously like a man in a relationship getting caught with another woman. The tall skyscraper of a woman scans you up and down disapprovingly and you didn’t miss her taking a step back when you coughed. “This is Katerina. Kat this is Y/n.”

“Hi,” she sighs, and you simply wave at her before crossing your arms over your chest defensively. Katerina, you hated the way he said her name with that accent of his. Your heart was shattered, would rather dance with her. Your mind quickly flashed to him leaning in to kiss her while they danced, their bodies pressed together.

“What are you doing outside?” he asks you with concern.

You bit your quivering lower lip and replied in a faltering tone “I just came to get my mail.”

Pedro’s dark brown eyes look at you sympathetically “Do you need it right now?”

The tears started to form in your eyes, she probably thought you were ridden with disease “N-no.”

“Please go rest, I promise to bring it to you tonight,” he pleads.

“Pedro we need to go, the Uber’s out front,” Katerina interjects.

You didn’t say anything as he offers a guilty smile before walking off with her. Once their figures disappear down the hall you take in a sharp breath, tears falling down your cheeks. Why did you have to get sick? Why did it have to be contagious? Why did he choose her? You were so angry and jealous and it going to the window in your bedroom to watch him help her into the Uber fueled the angry green fire in your soul.

Later that night you sat on your couch brooding, that night’s rerun of Entertainment Tonight providing background noise as you angrily flipped through Vogue. Pedro would be back any moment, and you were just waiting to hear Katerina’s obnoxious giggles. Soon enough Pedro’s front door opened and shut, no exchanges of words or laughter could be heard. Maybe he did come home alone and you were worrying for nothing.

Music started to play from the apartment next to you, the 50s song you recognized from your father's collection and that one all the kids were into these days. Why was he playing it this loud? You could hear Paul Anka’s voice over Kevin Frasiers on the tv, the bass gently thumping the wall behind you.

Your phone started to ring, Pedro’s name and goofy face popped up “Pedro you’re going to have to pay another fine if you keep it this loud,” you say playfully as you answer it.

“How are you feeling?” He asks lowly.

“Better.”

“Good, stand up,” he instructs.

“W-why?”

“Do his for me Y/N, please,” he sighs.

You shrug and oblige, putting your magazine to the side and standing up in the middle of your apartment “Now what?” you inquire.

“Can you hear the music?”

“How can I not… I’m sorry, yes, yes I can,” you laugh.

“Good, now close your eyes and imagine I’m with you…we’re dancing,” he tells you and you do what he says. You smile and start slowly swaying to the song “I really wish you were with me tonight.”

“You didn’t like what’s her name as a partner?”

Pedro chuckles and closes his eyes “No she was fine. I just wish it was you… my first choice.”

“First choice?” you question.

“You’re always my first choice, Y/N.”

‘put your head on my shoulder’ you cock your head to the side and imagine your putting your head in the crook of his neck, the smell of his cologne bringing a sense of comfort. “I didn’t mean to get sick,” you confess.

“I know, I know… I’m not upset at you or anything. I just had bigger plans for this evening,” he admits, a pink tint rising to his cheeks.

“Which are?” you hum.

“I wanted to tell you that I liked you. More than a friend.” Your eyes open and you snap out of the fantasy, your heart ready to burst from your chest.

“Pedro,” you breathed, wishing he could see the blissful smile. “I’ve liked you since you moved in.”

There’s a silence on both ends, the romantic song filling the void but soon he speaks “Once your better you’ll dance with me?” he wonders.

“I promise,” you say, and the fatigue sets in, “I-I’m getting tired, I did too much today”

Pedro hums in contentment “Go to sleep, I’ll bring your mail and slide it under the door. Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Goodnight Pedro,” you whisper. As you hang up the song ends, your eyes look at the wall that divided your apartments and smiled all the way to your bed.

[wild-aloof-rebel]

this is my ten thousandth post on this blog, so in honor of that, i’m doing a fic self rec list. here are the things i’ve posted to ao3 and a little bit about each of them...

it’s not ibiza (but it’s not too bad) my first fic in this fandom, this one’s def a canon-divergent au now, but it was written pre-mtp as a take on david meeting patrick’s parents for the first time. my grasp on the characters was prob a bit looser then than it is now, but i wrote one of my favorite songs of all time into this one and still love that bit a lot.

what right’s supposed to feel like a little reflection of how patrick feels on the morning after the night at stevie’s. just soft, happy vibes.

all the things you are to me the pet name fic. the research for this one was tons of fun. and i clearly reference these names throughout most of the rest of my fics so this is, like, Essential Reading, lol.

a solid five minutes another pre-mtp take on david meeting patrick’s parents. the brewers are very cute in this one tbh.

(not) an emergency david tells patrick about what alexis got up to while he’s at the tax seminar. this one still makes me laugh.

camera shy they tell the story of how they met and fell in love. figuring out the questions they would ask about their history and what their answers would be and how they would react to each other’s answers was a lot of fun.

the thin line between love and hate (is a rented suit) alexis finds out about david’s engagement and cute sibling shenanigans ensue. (hilariously, one of the things she jokes about for the wedding turns out to be true in canon.) i don’t actually write alexis very often, but i really enjoyed getting to write the back and forth between them here.

within reach tender, loving, post-engagement sex. because why not? if you’re looking for a very soft pwp, here you go.

loud and often (the way i do) my take on how patrick found out about the times david has previously said i love you. just a soft, sleepy, intimate moment between them.

ready or not a series of moments david has with his family and patrick before the wedding. i wrote this specifically to write the bit that’s in the last five paragraphs because i couldn’t get the idea out of my head.

now i found you (don’t know what to do) the couchsurfing au, which my best friend pitched to me as “they’re roommates but on a deadline,” and then i just couldn’t not write it. patrick is so delightfully bantery in this one, which was such a good time to write.

come rain or come shine the one where rain ruins their wedding plans, which i wrote in july, lolol. the way they do ultimately get married makes for such a lovely image.

turn down the lights, turn down the bed something you may not know about me because this is such a generally happy pairing to write for, is that i love angst. and so this is basically as close to true angst as i can get to writing for david and patrick--just very intense mutual pining and the pain of getting a taste of what you want and thinking you’ll never get to actually have it. i live for that kind of thing.

waited so long to say this to you a 5+1 that takes them through wedding planning and the first part of the wedding day. finding new ways for them to use the phrase “i do” that fit into the scenes i wanted to write was a challenge, but i love how this whole series turned out. it’s playful and sweet and sad and funny and joyous and poignant all in turn.

happy endings are new beginnings just some thoughts about moving house and saying goodbye. def not canon compliant at this point, but i think the sentiment of it is still very on point.

bloom the first fic in my newest series about the first three monthly anniversary gifts patrick gives david. it was nice to open some old google docs and find that there were things there i still liked and to now share them with all of you.

[britishchick09]

sherlock s2 ep 1 livewatch

welcome to a new (cumber)batch of eps! i’m excited to see all the iconic moments in this one :D

i haven’t even played the dvd yet and it’s glorious :’)

ooh it starts with a ‘previously’!!!

JIM MOIARTY HIIII!!!! :D

moiarty is amazing (and this recap is so dramatic!)

OMG SHERLOCK NECK FRECKLE! :o

also seeing the old channel 8 logo in the corner is so cool! :D

HOLD UP why is bee gees playing

IS MOIARTY A BEE GEES FAN???

‘staying alive’ lol funny since he’s about to get shot :D

moiarty: “SAY THAT AGAIN!!!!!” say that again QUIETER MOIARTY GEEZ

and he just walks away!!!

shoe sherlock cool

sherlock 2 NOW

oh no it’s irene alder...

masterpiece INTRO YAAAASSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

me watching sherlock be like:

the masterpiece trust is just rich people cool

omg the viking river cruises spon is the same as today! :D

woah they’re playing a movie trailer! :o

it’s a british movie obviously and i’ve never heard of it OBVIOUSLY

the scottish host guy is talking and i love it :D

host: “his mind has more apps than an iphone” lol

“a series of his three most famous cases begins! are you ready?” HECK YEAH LET’S GOOOO!!!!!!

YAS the blog scene!

sherlock: “what are you typing?” john: “a blog... about us”

lady: “i think my husband is having an affair.” sherlock: “yes”

sherlock thinks cases are boring except

sherlock ‘cases don’t need titles’ holmes

WOAH SHERLOCK JUST TOLD A LITTLE GIRL THAT DEAD PEOPLE BURN :o

lestrade: “any ideas?” john: “eight so far” wowza :o

sherlock ‘don’t mention the unsolved cases’ holmes

glasseslock!!!!! :D

eyyyyyyyy ;D

people want pics of sherlock and john do johnlockers exist in this universe? :o

lol :D

irene is seductively putting her hand on lockie’s newspaper pic ewww :(

mrs. hudson hates the fridge

THUMBS IN THE FRIDGE FRIDGE THUMBS

mrs. hudson: “BOYS YOU’VE GOT ANOTHER ONE!!!’ *insert meme here*

ooh it spins into a flashback!

OMG JOHNLOCK VID CHAT!!!!

sherlock’s in the sheet! :o

*phone rings* sherlock: SHUT. UP!!!!” lol :D

john’s holding his laptop around lol :D

john: ‘there’s a mute button and i will use it” aka the 2020 president debates

woah some random guys are in lockie’s house and john needs a helicopter what’s up with that????

BUCKINGHAM PALACE YAAAASSS!!!!!!!

john looks under...

giggly!!!!!

♥

mycroft is the queen now

BOI LOCKIE’S LIKE ‘what for?’ TO PUT PANTS ON OMMGGGGGGG

john smol be like :o

guy: “mr holmes the younger”

LOCK BUTT LOCK BUTT NOOOOOOO

john be like o///o ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 

o lockie’s’s in clothes again :/

mycroft doesn’t trust the secret service welcome to america

:(

i don’t like irene not because there’s apparently a thing between her and sherlock but because she’s a bit creepy!

THERE LIKE THAT!

sherlock: “photographs of whom?” ooh how fancy

sherlock: “laters!!” lol! :D

irene’s friend is named kate like channel 8 being called ‘kaet’! :D

fashionista! :o

yes this is ‘the right armor’ lockie

john: “you didn’t even change your clothes!” lol :D

sherlock: “go on punch me in the face” lol :D

watson: “i always hear ‘punch me in the face’ when you’re speaking in subtext” ...wut o_O

WORST BATTLE DRESS EVER NNNOPE IMMA HEAD OUT

are sherlock and irene being shipped because they were naked in the same up

irene: “i could cut myself slapping your face” louise belcher wants your number

bi john when he sees irene: o///o “...i’ve missed something haven’t i?”

sherlock isn’t affected by naked irene thus i headcanon him as aro/ace (or even demi/ace in john’s case like my own holmes character) thank you and good night

irene just sits her bare butt on the chair why

JOHN SISTER NANI???? :o

also this font is so basic WHY LOCKIE

irene: “somebody loves you” *glances at john* ok i like her a tad she gets it ;)

john: “put something on, please. like.. a napkin?” lol :D

irene’s like ‘why’ JUS LIKE SHERLOCK BUT I SHALL NOT SHIP THIS SHIP THE SHOW IS TRYING TO SHIP

also john giggles at naked sherlock and is like ‘plz no’ with naked irene (although i would be too that lady is OUT THERE)

ooh antiques roadshow! :D

also she’s dressed like lockie NO

irene: “brainy is the new sexy” plz no :(

she took her clothes off ‘to make an impression’ yep

WAIT  they were just outside now they’re back in wut???

irene was born in the 80s cool :D

WOAH why are there more guy with guns?

and *le gasp* AN AMERICAN????

DON’T SHOOT JOHN AMERICAN!!!

ooh what was the code? :o

EPIC SLOW MO FIGHT YOOOOOO

DANNNNG IRENE JUS GUN SMACKED A GUY

sherlock just flipped a phone LIKE A FLIP PHONE OHHHH

irene is number 1 sherlock fan besides john confirmed

at first i thought it was a fandom phrase but it’s not! :o

WHY DID IRENE JUST PUNCH SHERLOCK

SHE’S WHIPPING HIM????

this reminds me of a certain sw ship... :(

yeah i don’t ship them AT ALLLLLL NOW

the key code is irene’s measurements DOES SHE MEAN...

the camera’s spinning FLASHBACK???

woah are they in the case?? this could be sherlock’s mind palace!

irene: “you got that just from one look? definitely the new sexy” NONONONONOO

outside bed

awww sweet bby ;)

did john tuck him in?

CRAP it was ireneeeeee >:(

the way she says ‘hush now it’s ok...’ is like count olaf in the hostile hospital when he drugs violet :o

LOCKIE’S FIRST WORDS WHEN WAKING UP WHERE JOHN awwww :D

OMG DID JOHN REALLY TUCK HIM IN awwww!!!!!!! ♥

lestrade filmed loopy sherlock lol :D

john: “ahhh back to bed!” awww :)

sherlock: “iiii’m fine i’m absolutely fine!!!’ drugged sherlock is a treasure ♥

sherlock: ”why would i need you?” john: “no reason at all” :)

ew was that an irene phone moan gross

DID SHERLOCK CHANGE HIS TEXT NOTIF TO THAT???

mrs. hudson: “family is all we have in the end, mycroft holmes!” mycroft: “oh shut up, mrs. hudson!” john: “my-“ sherlock: “MYCROFT!!!!” lol :D

mrs. hudson: “it’s a bit rude that noise isn’t it?” indeed!!

sherlock: “you can follow her on twitter” TWITTER IN THE HOLMESVERSE????

sherlock: “there’s more! much more” but wait... THERE’S MORE!

LOCKIE VIOLIN!!!!! :D

THE CHRISTMAS THING WASN’T A FAN MANIP HOLY YAS!!!!!!!! :D

cool sweater john!!! :D

:D

molly: ‘having christmas drinkies then?” wallace wants walkies thank you very much

john: “she’s off the booze!” sherlock: “nnnope” john: “shut up sherlock” lol

john to sherlock: ‘take a day off” lockie doesn’t know the concept mr doc

DID SHERLOCK NAME MOLLY CRY???? :o

HE KISSED HER????

sherlock still has the irene moan after all this time WHY

finding irene on christmas coolio :D

molly: “how did sherlock recognize her by... without her face?” ;)

sherlock smoking bad >:(

WOAH IS IRENE DEAD?????

VIOLIN YAS!!!! :D

smiley smiley :)

awww sherlock plucked a bit :)

OH CRAP IRENE’S BACC

john: “you flirted with sherlock holmes? “someone jellyyyy ;)

OOHH THIS IS THE IRENE JOHNLOCK SCEEENE!!!!!!! :D

irene: “you jealous?” john: “we’re not a couple!” irene: “yes you are.” ;)

john: “i’m not actually gay” irene: “well i am” IRENE LESBIAN GOOD!!!!

irene: “look at us both” (or perhaps bi like john could be...?)

biiiiiig door creak

UGH american... >:(

someone comfort mrs. hudson!! :(

sherlock: “take away your boys. it makes up for too much stupid in the room” he’s surrounded by idiots...

OMG SHERLOCK PEPPER SPRAYYY

awww he’s comforting mrs. hudson :)

john comfort! ♥

the guy’s tied up like the foody moody in bob’s burgers cool :D

awww mrs. hudson’s in shock :(

sherlock: “mrs. hudson leaving baker street? england would fall!” awww! :D

john says ‘alive’ like an irish guy :D

OMG IT’S NEW YEAR!!!!

happy violin new year! :D

sherlock’s xraying a phone lol

john said ‘in your bedroom’ BUT IT’S HIS AND SHERLOCK’S

and irene’s! :o

sherlock: “who wants to kill you?” irene: “killers” lol :D

sherlock said ‘the strand’!!!! :D

irene looks better without lipstick :)

the code is ‘i am SHERlocked’ HOW DO THEY NOT KNOW???

random john middle name reveal lol :D

FOR BABY NAMES NOOOO

john’s is hamish and eugene’s (from tangled) is hoarace... it’s the weird h middle name club! :D

sesame street time :D

...what in the world did sherlock just spout

john said ‘flight double o 7′ JAMES BOND REFERENCE????

MYCROFT IS SAYING ‘BOND ERE IS GO’ yep that’s bond!!!

sherlock didn’t notice john was gone for 2 hours lol :D

ooh sherlock says ‘second world war’ instead of ‘world war two’ :o

NONONONONNONONONONNOOOOOOOOO

sherlock: “that’s not the end of the world, that’s mrs. hudson” lol :D

mycroft: “that’s the deceased, always late” hey yeah :o

WOAH HE JUST CALLED SHERLOCK NAIVE AND IRENE A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS :o

oh hey irene

irene: “jim moiarty sends his love” ha ha funny love :D

WAIT MOIARTY CALLS SHERLOCK A VIRGIN??? :o

THEY’RE HOLDING HANDS NOOOOO

bada bing BADA BOOM!!!!!!!!!

wowza it’s been 6 months since they met???

sherlock: “sorry about dinner” *leaves* yesss :)

i’m glad they didn’t kiss and just held hands that was nice to make johnlock dreams fly :)

OMG IRENE LEGIT DIED THIS TIME BY BEHEADING!!!!! :o

john told sherlock she was in amurica good :)

lockie wants her camera phone aww :(

way better than any hand holding irene and sherlock did! ♥

awww irene texted sherlock goodbye :(

ew the irene moan one last time...

sherlock laughed and called her ‘a woman... the woman’ awww :)

that was a bittersweet ending! :)

aaaand it’s over!

next time... ;)

that was a great season premiere!!! irene was kind of cool (i like how she and sherlock were just friends) and the mystery was engaging as always. and of course... it was nice finally hearing lockie’s violin!! here’s to next time! :D

[hoe-imaginess]

replies!

tried to put older ones at the top. 

ALSO: I got a lot of requests in the last few weeks and just wanted to post a general reply in reminder that my ASK BOX IS CLOSED! Not accepting any requests right now, sorry! I delete any that come in

i BEEN A YEEHAW BINCH SINCE DAY ONE GORLLL. we stan 4am whataburger in this house 

I do!! I used to have gold but it got kinda expensive in comparison to what I was charging for ko-fi’s. If you don’t have that extra $6 a month it’s not worth it boo ):

Ahhh congrats! Sorry I’m so late!! I think it’s always worth it to stick with the original blog since you’ve accumulated followers there, and you never know if they’re going to miss out on the transition to your new one. It takes some time to restructure a blog but it’s definitely worth it to keep the original

the amount of HIM’s in One Piece is unbelievable I whore for everyone

I’m doing ok!!!! I go a little crazy indoors but I’m keeping myself busy <3 my immune system is shit so I’m on utter lock down, but better safe than sorry

@thychi​ 

I keep up sporadically with the manga!! I stopped watching it when I caught up a few months ago, think I ended on Whole Cake? I know what’s happening currently but I haven’t read too into depth in the Wano arc. I usually just... pop into the spoilers tags... to see Law... bc I love him... 

@ithecrystaldragonheart​

Mito and Hashi are a powerful duo. Mito has a lot of brains cells she has to share with Hashi but that’s ok!!!! I do think Tobirama and Mito would get along too!

Basically tbh he sees one thing out of place and he must destroy

i’D HEARD IT WAS A REALLY BAD CHAPTER. this is a late response but MANGA READERS THAT ONE WEEK... we were all a mess (and no I haven’t watched but I’ve been recommended to do so quite a lot so I’ll hop on it soon!) 

Hmm!!!! I actually find a *shorter* first chapter is a good way to hook the reader without making them claw through too much writing to get a sense of what’s going on. Like, if I see a first chapter is reallllly long I sometimes have to do it to em, and scroll a bit to the middle to see what’s going on, and to double check that it’s a fic I want to take the time to read

1300 words isn’t too much though!!! Omg I’ve written much longer first chapters lmao. If you feel weird about it you can maybe find a good place to split that 1300 into two chapters?? But definitely make sure it’s split in a good place. It’s always good to leave the reader wanting more. If you can end on a short cliff hanger or a tense moment, that’s 10/10

That being said it would probably be wise to make the rest of the chapters of a similair average length. I’ve read fics that have shorter or longer chapters and it’s not bad (unless I’m grieving because it’s too short AND I REQUIRE MOREEE) but it might help you with actually planning your plot

I DON’T!!! But I want his ninja dick so bad. Maybe i’ll whip something up for him soon. For the culture 

When you sent this a while ago it actually inspired me to pick it up again!! I’m fixing it so it comes up with more accurate (?) results since I think the first one was so messed up. Everyone kept getting Madara sksksks. It’s still in the works but I wanna post it again! They’re super fun to make

AHHHH THANKSSSSS!!!

It’s so hard trying to keep a character that you love IC because... i want him to not be as much of an asshole as he is in canon... so unfortunately I gotta let him be an asshole sometimes. On the other hand, fortunately he’s such a minor guy I get some room to explore w him and I really hope it pays off, so thank you!!!

Girl, eye—someties

did Itachi Uchiha send me this

(i love u too)

RIGHT!!! i would have never guessed. Like, if Kishi could see us... he’d be fucking floored....

Queen!!! I do!!! I don’t have much up rn but I got 234232 Word docs with WIP fics that I hope to post at some point, ty ilysm 

https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoSkelly

@any59​ ty ty!

Ahhhh!!! thank you!!! It was my biggest project to date <3 

(HxH spoilers below vvvvv)

I don’t really think Feitan is... so far removed from his emotions (Like Meruem) that he would really need to change that drastically for someone if he really liked them—that being said, he’s not going to change, either. If by change we mean he’s suddenly as enamored and endearing with them as Meruem is with Komugi... then I don’t think that’s going to happen regardless. We kinda see Feitan being a good and decently considerate comrade to the Troupe, so that would obviously extend to this girl/boy, maybe with a sliver of extra fondness if we’re talking romantically. But otherwise, Feitan seems like a “you get what you get” type of guy, that would inherently be *tender* with someone he liked, but not so tender that he’d have to have a whole philosophical/personality change

Ok now I’m confusing myself aksjdhfkjs. Basically:

Meruem had to like, undergo some existential shit to get where he was Komugi. I think Feitan already has the capacity to care for someone, even if his way of caring isn’t exactly rainbows and butterflies. So it’s not like he has to change. He just has to find the right person that doesn’t 1) get on his nerves and 2) get on his nerves enough that he’s gonna kill them

Feitan is a simple man. You piss him off. You die. You don’t? Ok. He’ll be nice

I did!!!

Thank you for accepting me I’m glad to be here

akjdhfakjshfsj i know this was a serious comment but when i first read it I wanted to laugh asdhfkasjhf the “ap lit” inclusion sent me. What was so horrible about ap lit that this girl thought she was dying? Ap lit will really get you

(But I know!! I’d forgotten I’d taken it that morning! I have one of those cute pill organizers and I thought I’d taken it out but did not...)

Forgive me!!! I felt dumba fterwards hence why I deleted the post. Do not worry! This is the dose I was prescribed. I figured I would get some really manic reactions when trying a new dosage so now I know that’s not gonna work lol 

ajkshdfkjshfjksa izuna wants tobirama’s death to be as quick and natural as possible

thank  you!!!! I didn’t think you guys would like them so much <3

@blackstrawberrynightmare​

It’s been so long since I watched Psycho Pass or even looked into anything about it so pls take my thoughts with a grain of salt but:

I’m gonna say probably not? He’s one of those typical antags that have such strong ideals that... I don’t think even if the corrupt system was taken down he’d be entirely absolved of his ideals, or at the least, of the journey he’s taken in pursuit of those ideals. I don’t think a guy like him could ultimately settle down once the dust clears, and especially not with a lover or a family or anything like that. If he did want to lead a normal life it would probably be in seclusion

Thank you!!!!!!

skjhasjkdfhajkhsd they would never. Only room for one tongue on that body and they’ll fight for their tongue rights

Ahhh yeah my master post is so bad I swear I’m gonna fix it one day—I don’t think I have one of Madara!

I do not ):

@cacauatecacauate​ thanks for the kind words!! I’m not accepting requests right now though! I am planning on posting more to that story though, just not right now!

(I think this was in response to when I missed your ko-fi about the bakers) thank you! and thanks for supporting!

[trashbinbackyard]

pre and general with gilly and lori + love with docs + domestic with ace n radu

yeeyee

PRE-RELATIONSHIP

How did they first meet?

Gilly was an investigator intern that followed her mentor around, and Lori was probably a relatively new recruit for the hunters, just say hi on the passing and introduce themselves and then get back to what they were working on

What was their first impression of each other?

Gilly without speaking to Mallory first though she was quite intimidating, being that hench and in a combat uniform. After talking she realized she’s actually pretty sweet and fun. Mallory probably thought the same sweet and fun after talking

Did any of their friends or family want them to get together?

I think the whole office knew it was coming sooner or later. Their families probably had limited knowledge of whats happening and find out after they’ve begun dating

Who felt romantic feelings first?

Hard to tell, they’re both soft gals. Just to break the pattern of my character getting the crush first I’m gonna say Mallory lmao

Did either of them try to resist their feelings?

Not really, just shy about them

If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?

They wouldn’t believe in soulmates but hey, neat

GENERAL

Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?

Mallory when she asked Gilly on a date-date after many trips to coffee

Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?

A botanical garden would fit them perfectly, both love outdoors and wildlife. Pretty shy but still having a constant conversation and maybe sneak a lil hand hold in there too

What was their first kiss like?

After a couple of dates when they’re parting to get to their homes, a quick kiss goodbye, Gilly has butterflies all the way home

Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?

I doubt, they’ve both had previous relationships

What’s their height difference? Age difference?

Gilly is a head shorter, age difference is a max 2 years, they’re both pretty young

What’s their relationship with each other’s families?

Mallory gets instantly accepted into the clan and is gifted a super sunlotion to protect her pale Irish ass from the Nigerian sun. Lori’s fam also accepts Gilly pretty fast, she’s also very enchanted by the farm

Who takes the lead in social situations?

They both can but when they’re together Mallory’s often the one talking

Who gets jealous easier?

Gilly, she gets self-conscious about her body from time to time and sometimes doesn’t feel worthy

LOVE for the horny docs

Who said “I love you” first?

Juno, in a casual way during an office party of something, or maybe it wasn’t as casual *eyes emoji*

What are their primary love languages?

Touch and words, those two can’t keep their hands to themselves

How often do they cuddle/engage in PDA?

Cuddling a lot when off hours, PDA in a tasteful manner, cheek kisses when at work and passing each other, when out on dinner then hand holding and kisses, nothing too raunchy where they can be seen

What are their favorite things to do together?

Read, have dinner, watch tv, go on jogs

Who’s better at comforting the other?

Juno probably, though Enrique aint that bad himself

Who’s more protective?

Enrique, however, without tiptoeing into the career criminal ways he had, when out with Juno. Juno herself gets pretty protective too when Enrique’s illness starts acting up

Do they prefer verbal or physical affection?

They like both, although they lean more towards that physical affection

What are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise?

You’ve pointed out Besame Mucho, I... have nothing

What kind of nicknames do they call each other?

The basic pet names, babe, cara

DOMESTIC LIFE for boyes

If they get married, who proposes?

Radu had to for his nerves’ sake. Aaron was two days away from proposing himself

What’s the wedding like? Who attends?

It’s chill, still fancier than Cameron’s and Jules’ lol. Theri entire friend group is there as well as their families

How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like?

They have one boy, Isaac. He’s a good and mellow boy, perfect for not riling up Radu’s stress and very curious of music for Aaron’s joy

Do they have any pets?

Nah

Who’s the stricter parent?

Radu, just because he’s more protective and just wants to make sure his baby wont get hurt or into trouble

Who kills the bugs in the house?

Either

How do they celebrate holidays?

Aaron brings lavish American holidays with him so it might get more extra than their friend circle’s

Who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?

Radu, though Aaron’s got pretty flexible hours but he will make them coffee and then get back to bed for few minutes

Who’s the better cook?

Radu, get that boxed mac and cheese shit out of the way of some peak slavic culinary

[the-cookie-of-doom]

Hi! Can I be nosey? I saw your post on outlining Liar, Liar, Foxfire, could you explain your process a little more? Especially the EVEN DUMBER VERSION? Please and thank you and love your blog! Especially the little snippets of what you're working on!

Dear nonny you can always be nosy, I love it <3 

I usually put the Title: DUMBEST VERSION at the top of my docs to remind myself that it’s the first draft and it doesn’t have to be perfect. It started out as a joke with Estranged back in the end of 2018 I think, when I started the fic. Then it kind of became a thing between myself and my then beta (she thought it was cute lol) I don’t really use it for its intended purpose, since I heavily edit as I write. You’re not technically supposed to do that, but I can’t write any other way if my work is unsatisfactory; it seriously kills my motivation when I know I can do better. 

Which is where the EVEN DUMBER VERSION comes in! I’ve never used that one  before this, I was just frustrated because I couldn’t get my plot to work in a way that I liked lol, so I decided to go through and outline literally every scene in season 3b. (Essentially: 3b for Dummies.) 

In the case of this fic, I didn’t actually use an outlining method, really, and I usually don’t. I’m notoriously bad at outlines, and any time I’ve had to do them for school, I would write the project first, then write the outline based on that. The few times I do use an outline, I typically end up veering very far off track. 

So what I initially ended up doing here was sitting down with a notebook and rewatching 3b, writing down the general ideas of each scene. Mostly I intended to use it just to jog my memory while I wrote the fic. It... did not work out that way. 

After struggling for a few days, I decided to type everything up into a document, splitting each section by episode. I didn’t have every scene detailed, since it wasn’t an outline for the show itself, just for the main context I needed for my fic.

 Then I used the blue text for the changes I intended to make/scenes I wanted to add. That way I had a visual representation of what was my original work, and what was the canon framework, which is what I was struggling with the most. It’s difficult for me to work within the constraints of canon like that, which I why I don’t write “missing scene” fics. (RIP) 

At that point, it was a matter of adding in the scenes I knew I wanted, and then fleshing out some more where I felt like I needed more original content to balance out the canon. My goal is to have only as much canon context as necessary, because I didn’t want to write out episodes we’ve all already scene. 

... And that still didn’t really help. I mean it was super useful in giving me somewhere to start but it wasn’t quite what I needed yet. So I started searching around for the scripts. (Fun fact: i used to be a film major, and I still have a thing for collecting scripts). I found the scripts only up to the end of 3a so that was a bust T_T But then I found the Teenwolfwiki which has scene-by-scene synopsis and it’s amazing. Way more effective than my outline in terms of laying everything out clearly for me. 

So now I’ve got my outline as a sort of guide for where my missing scenes fit in, but then I’m going through the wiki to work my way through each episode, and decide which scenes I do/don’t want to keep. Since the fic is about Mitch and Stiles, I’m focusing on scenes with a heavy focus on Stiles and Mitch (who’s Allison’s cousin here, and thus follows the Argent’s storyline). I was also unsure how mush of Malia’s storyline to include, since the person who commissioned the fic didn’t want her in, but also there was some important context she gives to the plot... but then I realized I could just... not write her scenes. That leaves it up to the reader whether that part of canon still happened or not xD (For the record, I like to think it did, but her arc ends after they get her back to her dad, He never sends her to Eichen and that’s the end of her involvement.) 

Like I said, I don’t outline very often, if at all, and I tend to get off track when I do (LLF has already changed drastically from the original ideas and outline, and a lot of scenes have been cut), the way I prefer to do it is to write essentially a very long summary. I like to jokingly call them “not-fics” because they can easily end up several thousand words long. It lays out the fic in a shorter retelling, but it’s less structured and leaves me more room for deviation. I usually don’t end up with an actual bullet-pointed outline until I’m pretty far into the fic and need to organize the remaining scenes. Estranged didn’t get an outline until I was...40k into it, maybe? It was a long time. 

But if you want an ACTUAL outline method, one I’ve found and liked is the 3 ACT, 9 BLOCK, 27 CHAPTER Method, which somewhat follows the Hero’s Journey, but more in depth:: 

Act 1

Block 1: Introductions/Inciting Incident/Immediate Fallout (Exposition) 

Block 2: Reaction/Action/Consequences

Block 3: Plot Twist/Break into Second Act 

Act 2

Block 4: New World/Fun & Games/Old World Juxtaposition (Time for worldbuilding, everything is still fun; Harry Potter comes to Hogwarts)

Block 5: Build Up/Midpoint/Reversal (Growing paints. The character is changing for the better, lots of character development, etc. Pivotal moment)

Block 6: Reaction/Trials/Dedication (Character has potential, but still has work to do. Yennefer during the lightning in a bottle scene.) 

Act 3

Block 7: Calm Before the Storm/Plot Twist/Darkest Moment (The whump chapter; Character reaches their breaking point.) 

Block 8: Power Within/Action/Converge (Stiles in Ch. 16, to plug my own fic xD) 

Block 9: Final Battle/Climax/Resolution 

This is a super condensed version, but if you look it up, you’ll be able to see the full explanation on byomentor.com. I found it through Kate Cavanaugh on YouTube in one of her outlining methods videos. 

I’m thinking of using this outlining method for this year’s NaNo when I finally, finally write Neverland, but we’ll see. It’s pretty flexible since you don’t have to exactly follow all 27 chapters; you can follow the general vibe and idea of each blog and still have a really sound story, which I like. 

Another method I used forever ago for my fic Tree of Life (and I can’t remember the name of the method, but it’s pretty basic) was to have 5 points per chapter: 

Inciting Incident

Progressive Complication 

Crisis

Climax

Resolution 

Now it didn’t work exactly that way because ToL is a pretty drawn out fic, even despite the action, but it’s a good thing to consider. If you have an action heavy or fast-paced chapter (or if a chapter feels slow to you but you don’t know why), it’s a good thing to keep in mind to help speed things up. 

But yeah, despite my research in many different outline methods, my favorite is still to write my not-fics and then outline later, if I do at all xD 

I hope this was informative! Please feel free to come back if you have any thoughts or questions : 3