#shout out to someone in the visual arts building

[crabsdaily]

just found my new favourite bathroom graffiti

[hyphaegirl]

some thoughts on Julian's route:

• i've been following the fandom on ao3 for years, but the coins and keys system annoyed my teen ass so much that I couldn't bring myself to actually play the game

• so I went into this with pretty high expectations because ohohoh The Arcana fandom on ao3 makes me think pieces of Eden still exist, scattered in today's world

• starting with the good

• Julian's character is really well written: relatable and loveable, yet dramatic and animated enough to hold your attention

• his romantic scenes actually made me squeal and giggle and fall to my knees. The art is amazing and I could stare at his beautiful face forever

• the other characters don't get such generous treatment, but I can understand the lack of them being as fleshed-out. It is a visual novel and it's Julian's route after all

• now don't get me started on the setting and Vesuvia

• Vesuvia is my true homeland and I would defend it until my last breath

• the scenery, the culture... it's not this entire new concept, but again, it's a visual novel and world-building is not its main goal. But for what it is, it's very well done

• now, the story.

• ahhhh the story:(

• this is where i slowly descend from praise to critique

• everything up until the point where Julian finds out about the truth of Lucio's death was top-notch

• you got to participate in this high-stakes, mysterious, sexy story; helping this dashing stranger (but why does he seem so familiar) discover the secrets of the past and pretty much turning your back to the command of your country's ruler in the process

• shout out to the background music too. i will never forget you, moody flute tune

• so. tell me how the hell someone manages to screw all that up

• when Julian and the apprentice start travelling through realms, the whole story basically falls apart

• Lucio is back and people at the palace are freaking out.

• every time that fact pops up, it feels like you (as a person playing the game) should get the sense that this horrid situation is developing

• yet you.... don't?

• your body has been stolen ffs!!!!! you may never go back to the physical world

• so why are we, in this urgent, code red situation, hopping around on floating jellyfish, petting baby seals and being eepy?

• okay, I know time did not pass for that last one

• if you remove those couple of times Asra appears to tell you how urgent the situation is, you'd think Julian and the apprentice went on a nice vacation

• But it's supposed to be about Julian's character growth!!

• look, we've all dealt with low self-esteem, and it's unfortunately just not possible to have it magically fixed by a star-cat telling you to consider being confident in your abilities

• i'm not a fan of this trope. You, unfortunately, can't loose your insecurities just by a major event happening

• and believe me, I really wish you could.

• imo Julian undergoes character assassination after that chapter

• I want our boy to be happy guys, I really do. But all his humor and charisma disappear with the self doubt

• I guess that's the price you have to pay for overcoming past trauma - you stop being funny and interesting as a person.

• aside from that, all of the romantic scenes just.... disappear.

• instead, the paid options are these random background stories that are neither relevant, nor funny

• i apologize in advance to Julian's passed lazy dog, but come on

• if you already have to pay for it, can't you at least get something good like "Ohh I got this memory back about how we met/what your role in the plague was/what our relationship was like, Apprentice"

• no. we get a story about a dog that's not even among the living now (I'm sorry Brundle, you did nothing to deserve this)

• and let me just add that romantic scenes are forgone just like that and we never get them back

• there was a whole pirate ship. there were the hot springs. like, why?

• we can get steamy pat downs in the middle of the street, and not this????

• also i'm mad about the fact that we don't get any background on Julian and Portia when they were little, or about the shipwreck

• it's just mentioned like, oh that happened, with no further discussion

• at least we know Julian was afraid of the tooth-fairy

• the climax made me actually wonder if I was hallucinating the ending od mlp: friendship is magic, but with The Arcana characters

• I wish the Apprentice could've learned more about themselves and actually become powerful like that, of course with Julian's help

• there really are ways to make that happen and still keep the romance in the game

• also, in the epilogue, Asra's parents are mentioned like 848585959 times, when they had only been mentioned once before. And as far as I remember, that was just one sentence like: "Asra's parents are missing and it has something to do with Lucio."

• that inconsistency bothered me

• conclusion: now I know why there is no fanfiction set after the bathtub scene, at least in the time frame where the game is taking place

• my general opinion of this is still nowhere near bad, i just think the later chapters could use some reconsidering on what they really want to focus on

• if someone read this blurt i'm writing right before I fall asleep, thank you for keeping interest!!!!

• feel free to add you opinion, whether you think I'm right or not. Also obligatory - English is not my first language - just in case some wording choices make no sense

• none of this is that serious btw, it's just me casually talking about a game I like from my pov:3

[littlemissgeek8]

Reflection Ruesday

So there's two versions of this post game going around today, and while I did get tagged by @thedissonantverses for the one version, I figured I might as well be an overachiever and do BOTH! I will warn in advance that only one of these examples is Bioware related because I really didn't do much in the way of fanworks for Bioware games until like, last year? But hopefully someone out there appreciates it anyway! And thank you to @becausedragonage for creating this fun little idea!

Also preemptively tagging some folks b/c the bit under the cut might not be everyone's cup of tea: @hyperions-light @biowaredisasterbisexual @mageofquandrix @sandcastlekings @seaglassmelody and anyone else who has anything they want to share!

First, @woundedsoul12 wanted people to share a published work that they personally liked that they felt didn't get much love. So, I'm gonna bring around a sketch I did back in November of Darvia and Varric getting a little quiet moment during the mission to Halamshiral. I hadn't really poked my head into the fandom much at that point, so it got a bit lost in the shuffle.

And secondly, we have the usual version:

What to do: Go through your writing, art, gifs, etc. that you started but never finished and find something you love. Brush it up a bit if you want and share it. Tag me and use the tag Reflection Ruesday (it'll grow on you, I promise) and I'll comment and reblog. Then tag some other folks you think might enjoy it.

As previously stated I don't have any Bioware-related works to dredge up, but I got hit by an old special interest this week and realized I still really love the snippets from a magical-boy-inspired Ghostbusters AU from like, 2013. So, uh, if anyone feels like reading some 11-year-old writing from me, here's a little taste. Who knows, maybe I'll actually finish it someday!

Excerpt 1: Ray

The floor under my feet lurches. I look around nervously to see my friends responding the same way. Egon shoves his glasses back up his nose with a slightly unsteady finger. "It would appear that the defeat of the node guardian is having an unexpected seismic effect on this structure," he says matter-of-factly. "In English, Egon?" Peter asks. "This whole building's coming down!" I say, hoping my voice doesn't sound as nervous as I feel. The ground is growing more unsteady by the minute. "By my estimation we have less than five minutes to get out," Egon says. Winston swears. "We're on the top floor! We'll never make it down in time." "Unless..." All three sets of eyes shift to me. My hands go all clammy, and it feels like my heart's going to beat right through my chest. "Me?" I ask, my voice squeaking through my tight throat. "It's the only chance we have, Ray!" Egon's voice is urgent. "But--" I swallow and try to talk again. "I've-- I've never transported anyone but myself! And the battle took so much of my strength... I don't even know if it will work! Or even if I can get us outside of the building!" By now, the floor is buckling so much it feels like the deck of a ship during a storm. Debris from the ceiling is raining down around us. "Ray, for heaven's sake, JUST DO IT!" Peter shouts, nearly falling over. Winston grabs him and hauls him upright. I tighten my grip on the staff. It just has to work! "Hold on tight!" I yell. When I can feel three hands holding onto my coat, I raise the staff and visualize our intended destination. "Mass Shadow Transport!" The dark purple shadows swarm up around us and for a moment the bottom falls out of the world and the dark building fades into spinning purple nothingness. Then, I can hear wind. Birds. We made it outside. Winston and Peter stagger back, Peter collapsing onto the grass with a thud. Egon doesn't seem to have been bothered by the disorienting transportation, though it's always hard to tell with him. I turn to face the dark structure that we left. With a massive groan, it collapses in on itself in a shower of obsidian black rubble. My stomach lurches as I realize we would have been trapped if I'd waited any longer. With the adrenaline gone from my muscles, it's all I can do not to collapse on the grass in a quivering lump. "Admirable job," Egon says from behind me. "Yeah, thanks Ray." Winston's voice is shaky, but relieved. "Does anyone else's mouth taste like socks?" Peter asks dryly. I know he's trying to diffuse the tension, but it's not helping. I can still hear the structure collapse in my head. Peter must have noticed, since all of a sudden he's poking his head around my shoulder. "Are you all right, Ray?" Winston asks. "He looks kinda green," Peter says. "Not pretty. Your hair's the wrong color for it." "Ray?" Egon says. Just as I open my mouth to speak, my stomach heaves. I only just make it to some nearby bushes before my lunch comes up.

Excerpt 2: Peter

Dana is at her locker with her back turned. I take a deep breath and wander over, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. She looks up as I lean on the locker next to her. "Yes?" she asks. "Can I help you?" Sometime between kindergarten and now her voice has gotten deep. I'm not complaining or anything; it's kinda sexy. "Dana Barrett, right?" I ask. Not that I needed confirmation or anything, but it's a great conversation starter. "Yes." Whoops. I guess Ray was right; she almost immediately gets defensive on me. Not what I was planning on, but she hasn't shut me out completely. I decide to play my trump card now and hope that does it. "Pete Venkman. I just moved back into the area. We were in the same kindergarten class, remember?" She softens just a bit, and actually smiles. "Of course I remember you." Score! "You were the one that got sent down to the principal's office for eating glue on the second day of school." Crap! I mentally slap myself in the face. I was hoping she'd forgotten that. "They called you 'Peter the paste-eater' for about four months, right?" Mayday! This is not going well. I need something for damage control, and I need it fast. Otherwise, I'm going to end up as "Peter the paste-eater" for the rest of my LIFE! I slide in and decide to throw on the charm. "Yeah, well we all do dumb things as kids. It's a miracle we even live to see Middle School, much less High School." She chuckles. "Some more than others." Ouch. "So, you have first lunch period or second?" I ask, trying to change the subject without sounding desperate. "Second, and I need to get to class," "But the Minute Music hasn't started yet--" Right on cue, the music comes on. You know, I get that all the teachers in this school are nostalgic for the sixties, but this is the third straight day that we've had nothing but Beatles hits. You'd think they'd shake things up once in a while. Dana grabs her books and straightens up. For a moment, I catch her eyes, and I can just feel a connection-- "PETER!" --and the connection shatters like a shot-put through the neighbor's good china as Ray nearly bowls me over in his enthusiasm. "C'mon Peter! We need to get to the cafeteria so we can claim our table! Egon's got some great ideas he wants to discuss." Dana smiles. "Goodbye, Peter." She closes her locker and melts into the crowd. I'm so frustrated, it's all I can do not to throw my ridiculously heavy history textbook at that stupid speaker in the hallway that won't shut up about how it wants to "hold my haaaannd." Instead, I just push my way through the crowd and down the hall to the cafeteria, Ray right behind me and still talking. Like the overachiever he is, Egon's already gotten a table. Thanks so much for ruining my moment for nothing, Ray. I dump my books on the table and line up for food. With tray in hand, I return to my seat, sandwiched in between Winston and Ray. "How'd your meeting with Dana go?" Winston asks almost immediately. I shoot Ray a glare, then turn back to Winston. "Well, she didn't slam the locker door in my face." "She's probably saving it for the second date." Egon doesn't even look up from his notebook, and his expression never changes. Until that stone-faced mask cracks a bit with a tiny smile. As nice as it is that Spengs is showing a bit of humanity, I wish it wasn't at my expense.

[aspiringtrashpanda]

✨Fic Rec✨ - Divergent Fist 🍙💍

Buckle up, Inuokko enjoyers! It's time to check out Divergent Fist! If this story doesn't already have you in a chokehold, constantly on the edge of your seat, then it's time to dedicate a whole afternoon getting caught up. Make a tea, grab your weighted blanket, and read the 12 current chapters of this incredible doujinshi.

RATED M. Content Warnings - Canon-typical violence and gore, post-Shibuya incident, sexual content, lots of angst, trauma and related physical and emotional reactions (AKA Toge has no food left in his stomach).

Divergent Fist follows the stories of Toge Inumaki and Yuuta Okkotsu, navigating the world of jujutsu sorcerers, trauma and healing, and budding romance in the aftermath of the Shibuya incident. Expertly balancing the soft moments with the devastating, ArtMop (she/her) is in the midst of crafting a doujin that is sure to stand the test of time and become a classic for any fans of BL in the Jujutsu Kaisen fandom.

To start off, I'd like to be transparent that yes, I do edit ArtMop's chapters and help with the general planning of the series. I have a clear bias. That being said, I genuinely believe that this doujin is not getting the attention it deserves, and I just want to shout my love for it from the top of a mountain. Let me give a hardworking creator some love, okay?

First off, let's talk about the #1 selling point of DF - it is an illustrated fanfic that updates regularly and is accessible entirely for free. What more could you possibly ask for? You wanted more Toge content? More Yuuta content? Well, here you go!

It is worth noting that the art itself, despite being above average to begin with, improves drastically throughout the story. The anatomy, expressions, and details in the last few chapters are breathtaking. With each installment in the DF series, ArtMop improves and improves and improves. I, personally, wait with bated breath for the drop of the next color cover, the next insert art. There doesn't seem to be a ceiling in sight when it comes to ArtMop's swiftly growing skill, and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for her. If she applies a fraction of the same dedication to honing her craft to anything else in her life, she may become the next president... or something far cooler.

Stunning visuals aside, the story itself is magnificent. It integrates canon world building, mixed with original cursed techiques and characters, so seamlessly that it feels as though this is an actual spin-off of Jujutsu Kaisen. Perhaps an alternate universe where underutilized characters are given a bit more depth (shots fired 👈😎👈)?

The character arcs have been set in motion! We have Toge refusing to acknowledge his trauma. We have Yuuta's sexual awakening. We have a deeper look into Maki's friendship with Toge, and a delightful duo of new first years. And best of all? We have a villain with an interesting motive. It's clear that ArtMop has so much planned, more than we can possibly imagine! We are already starting to see how relationships are developing, how each character manages the aftermath of certain choices differently, and the story is only going to build from here.

Chapter 12 has just been posted on Tapas and Tumblr, and if you're craving even more Divergent Fist content, there are even a couple behind the scenes moments found on Archive of Our Own. Listen, as someone who knows the trajectory of the story, please check out this amazing series. You may be chewing your nails (like Toge) waiting for the next chapter, but I promise you that being along for the ride is part of the journey, and it will all be worth it in the end.

Okay, ramble over! Thank you for listening! Here, have a cute trio pic from the cover of Chapter 8:

Huge thank you to @artmopworks for this incredible work, and for letting me scream about her doujin. 💕

[thecoolerliauditore]

hello this is liauditore welcome to my

TOP 10 WORST SCOTT SMAHOR SKINS

rated with no bias whatsoever I am objective all the time. SUPER serious take this 100% seriously I am sooo serious

10. Tiger Scott (Fantasy SMP)

this is not scott. 👎

9. Shirtless Scott (ESMP 2)

He does not deserve to have pixel nipples. Also this came right after limlife ended so what? Were you too self conscious to go swimming with the other boys? Get a grip.

Positive points to this for not giving him abs though I don't think I could take another one.

8. Secret Life Yellow Skin (Secret Life SMP)

Honestly a toss-up between this and the red skin but I think this is the worse offender. This poor beautiful green skin tainted by the world's ugliest shade of clashing yellow. Someone pissed in his hair. Someone pissed on his shoes.

7. Pirate Scott (Pirates SMP)

Shout out to Scott for seeing the perfect role for himself to play in this world (nepo baby in a setting, pirates, built around themes of classism) and not thinking about the implications of that whatsoever. God this shit was so ass.

Anyway this thing is barely Scott. It doesn't offend me as much as whatever they mutated Martyn into for the sake of this instagram filter esque Aesthetique they were going for but they plucked out his eyelashes and I don't like thinking about that. He looks so angry now and I would be too.

6. Chromia Scott (ESMP2)

I like how Scott's ESMP1 character was like eight pages of fantasy tropes, prince of a kingdom, evil brother, champion of a deity, tragic destiny and forbidden love or whatever and Scott's ESMP2 character was "he likes colours and he likes to play with llamas"

5. Witchcraft Backstory Scott (Witchcraft SMP)

I don't think this guy actually exists I think he's a lie WC Scott tells himself at night oh back when I was young and innocent and blah blah blah

This thing is soulless I think he kills small animals to feel something

Also this is in no ways meant as a serious art critique or anything critique list but I must mention for this skin specifically the shading on his hair and skin does not match the simple (and rlly beautiful imo) texturing on his clothes which ends up making it look like he has some sort of skin disease.

4. Sailor Jupiter Scott (MCC)

Magically becomes a three pixel wide arm instead of a four pixel wide. No one in the world cares except me but it bothers me. He starved himself for this cosplay and I don't agree with encouraging that behaviour.

Anyway Neptune is right there why the fuck are you Jupiter. Even Mercury I could understand or Uranus. Why the fuck are you Jupiter.

3. This New Life Skin that never showed up in his videos (New Life SMP)

Oh New Life what a sad sad end to an SMP. Your run was like the SMP equivalent of the life of one of those abused hamsters. Even sadder was Scott's last three or four episodes where he desperately clung onto the series like trying to put the hamster on life support only for the hospital to say "that's a fucking hamster we're not doing that"

The last few episodes of Scott's NLSMP episodes were just "wow! I am [insert origin here] now!" and he makes a decent looking build that never shows up on camera again themed to whatever he is and then assassin sausage shows up and goes "it's sausaging time" and sausages all over the place and repeat. I really wonder who he commissioned for these skins because it seemed like he got them made on pretty short notice -- and some of these skins are bangers too (cursed doll scott ily)

and then there's whatever the fuck this one is. Girl you look like a genshin impact. I included a back view of this one because genuinely what the fuck is he. What the fuck am I looking at. When he showed up in Owen's videos with this skin he was inchling sized too so it was even harder to tell if what you were looking at was Scott Smajor or a visual glitch.

The elements of this skin are well made, the colours work well and it's consistently textured there's just too much going on it hurts me. Do you really need a boob and a belly window. Do your fucking. Ankles need cutouts. Why are you pink.

2. Tea Party Scott (ESMP2)

I have nothing to say he's just really ugly.

Scott

I hate this thing so much. Look at his cute little cartoony stylized shading. His blue jeans. You look like an early 2000s disney channel reject. You look like the gay rival in a 2010s childrens anime made to sell toys. You look like you're cosplaying as your own 'sona. You look like you use buzzwords like lolita fashion and _____ kei with no knowledge of what those words actually mean. You look like a self insert OC. You look like you have blue hair and pronouns.

This skin actually represents so much of him so well. He's so put together, his outfit is harmonious, he obviously thought about how to style himself. Everything is purposeful, even the shoes. He has a coherent colour palette. This is someone who dresses to communicate a message about himself. Look at me aren't I so cute and approachable and handsome and unintimidating and a little quirky. Look at me I'm so fun and I know what I'm doing. teehee. tiktok,.

0. Liauditore Scott

worst animal on earth.

[angrybatart]

Re: Your open request for art subjects.

I have a few, so I'll just drop them into one ask instead of spamming your inbox (like I normally do lol). Please let me know you got this ask so I know Tumblr didn't eat it.

Mari Lwyd outside a house, standing in the snow (Maybe featuring a quarantine sign lol).

Security camera POV of alternates/anomalies in a residential or business building (like from the games Alternate Watch or Caught on Camera). (Wonky or disproportionate anatomy is sort of the point). (I would request any thing else in my "Anomaly Detected" tag, but you said you don't want to draw real people so I'll check my ego for now lmao.)

A very smug Morshu stood behind a table of wildly overpriced items, while Link (whatever iteration you please) looks at the items and prices with an expression of serious deliberation.

RE4 merchant but he is selling genders and/or pronouns (however you want to visually represent a concept like that lol). An LGBT+ pin can be seen fastened to his shirt.

A cover of any/all of these hypothetical magazines.

A picture of Sayori from DDLC smiling cheerily and wearing a black shirt that says BEST GIRL! in cutesy pink letters over a picture of a bookie with a bite taken out of it.

The "Drifter" from the song Hell's Comin' With Me by Poor Man's Poison, at the exact moment he declares himself to be the righteous hand of God. (It's a good song).

L4D1 Tank infected shouting victoriously in front of a scoreboard that reads as follows:

A contented-looking Polish cat sitting at a dining table, behind a plate of pierogi and a shot glass and bottle of Polish vodka.

A badass cowboy shooting (preferably with some manner of lever-action rifle) at some massive, protoplasmic, star-spawned horror that is attacking him. (I can provide mood music for this if you want).

Reynauld from Darkest Dungeon 1 fighting another Reynauld who has been husk-ified by the Colour of Madness crystals, with cyan ooze and crystals leaking through his armor and with floaty breaks in his limbs and stuff. You know what I mean.

Someone falling in the snow chasing after the Sprigatito that stole their kielbasa. (This one also has a couple of songs that would fit it).

A sponge crab but it's the size of a semi and instead of a sponge, is carrying a piece of terrestrial land on its back, complete with stump and maybe a broken-down old car.

A gangster-style portrait of some chickens dripped out in expensive sneakers and gold chains.

Some manner of Trollge (some of those videos are genuinely disturbing).

JSHAHDJDHAHGDJ

That is A LOT. Lol Thank you, though! I'll try to do some of these!

[rallyrambling]

cool places in FE6 i'd like to visit

so, recently i heard someone talking about how they disliked the art direction of FE6. they criticized it for being "ugly", "too colorful", etc.

of course, everyone's entitled to their own opinion...but man, for me personally, FE6 has some awesome pixel/sprite art! I know a lot of people prefer the more muted color palette of FE8, but FE6 made a lot of bold aesthetic choices that just rock man. the FE dev team really hit it out of the park considering this was the first entry on GBA.

the locations of this game have always fascinated me. I literally pull up pictures of the maps in this game on the FE Wiki just to gawk at them. in comparison, while FE7 and FE8 have some cool places, they just don't compare to FE6 in my book. today, I just thought i'd talk about some cool places in this game that I think look neat and that i'd like to visit if they were real (y'know, assuming all the hostile enemy soldiers weren't there by the time of my visit...)

up first, we've got this gem of a map from chapter nine. the western isles' aesthetic of bright yellow always make the maps of this section of the game stick out in the best way possible. they could've easily made this green grass or a muted brown, but i'm so glad they went this route instead! i always imagine the crunchier tiles to be autumnal leaves. I know it's probably supposed to be yellowish rocks or whatever, but for some reason, these maps just scream fall to me. the fog on chapter nine in particular adds to that ambiance. I also love the archipelago, connected by bridges. such an interesting and dynamic landscape--they didn't have to go this hard on a fog of war map, considering you wouldn't even be able to see most of the map normally! 10/10. peak. no notes.

while we're discussing the western isles, I've also gotta shout out the village from chapter 11A. all the village maps in every FE game are just a blast to explore imo. they feel like a fun homage to the towns you'd visit in old school RPGs like final fantasy or dragon quest, only instead of towns being safe havens from enemy encounters, they act as the battlefields. I particularly love the detail of the mountains and the caves in the east. looks like a great place to take a walk!

now, pretty much all the gaiden maps are absolute bangers in terms of aesthetics, but i gotta shout of 8x in particular. the castle-meets-volcano vibe they were going for really works! you get the sense this is a super important and meaningful place to the people of Elibe, considering they went out of their way to build these walls, pillars, etc. in a dang volcano. also, this place just gives me big bowser's castle vibes so it's automatically great.

but the true champ in terms of aesthetically-pleasing gaiden maps is 14x. I love the blue tiled flooring, the artificial waterfalls, the pillars jutting out of the pools of water. again, you really get the sense that this is a sacred space--like you're fighting on holy ground. the juxtaposition between the previous map being a barren desert to this place literally overflowing with water is also so neat and again adds to this place's importance. maybe this is weird, but I always imagine pilgrims arriving in this place and bathing in the water.

next up, chapter 13. what can I say, i'm a sucker for maps with bridges. idk why, just something about these big human-made roads across these natural, jagged shores. and the adorable lil isle that exists in between the lower of the two bridges ahhhhhhhh! idk why but ahhh i love it, I love it so much!

chapter 14. not much to say other than dang the oasis in the top right corner looks so vibrant and fun and interesting. I especially love how the seize point isn't just a generic castle, but a pyramid! again, there's so many cool visual details on these maps that I feel like people overlook. also, the dragon bones are an amazing touch, especially considering you're fighting manakets and wyverns on this map.

chapter 18a. god the extent to which i'd love to frolic about in this forest is unreasonable. bonus points for the Saint Basil's Cathedral-style castle as the seize point.

chapter 19b. the meandering river encircling the vast plain outside Bulgar, then the tightly-packed houses within the walls...idk it just looks so rad. like, this feels like a lived-in place with its own culture and vibe compared to other village/city maps. just beautiful.

chapter 21. the scope of this map feels so grand in terms of scope, which is fitting considering you're approaching Zephiel. something about the big temple in the bottom right corner has always stuck out to me. I love the big altar-looking thingy with a sword inscribed into it. and the mountains are a nice touch too! lends the whole place an air of mystique and danger.

last but certainly not least, chapter 23. what can I even say? the huge lake with the island in the middle. the temple walls built into the side of the mountain, looking almost as if the stone of the cliffs was carved into the shape of pillars. and the village too is such a cool and unique addition; it adds a real human element to this otherwise very mystical and seemingly remote place. I can definitely see why Karel settled down here.

__

well, that's pretty much all I had to say. thank you for letting me gush about this game that I love so much.

so um yeah...bye.

[priestpenis]

Going to vague post about something like the cunty little thing I am. It has to do with fandom bs so I'm gonna be putting it under a read more for anyone who couldn't be bothered with it/wants to detox from fandom

Recently a known artist in the fandom made a list/community post (idk what the fuck you call them) on blue sky and called it a startepack of artists (and included themselves as well lmao) and it's literally the most known artists in the fandom circle . And man , the lack of self awareness. This is exactly what I mean the fandom has a problem with parasocial/hierarchial obsession. It's all those little acts that slowly but steadily sour everyone's fandom experience.

By making a group dedicated to yourself and very popular artists you are pretty much:

1.Creating a mental separation between certain creators and everyone else. Certain people as seen as the ones responsible for providing a fandom experience (and because the average person who is into fandom only watches cartoons and thus lacks any critical thinking skills , the moment someone else shares work that has similar themes to something a popular creator has posted about , they risk being accused of copying ) . Fandom turns from world building workshop among fans of the same IP . to hierarchy that supports parasocial adoration among a certain group of people.

2. You consequently objectify yourself and others creators work and commodify their work . Popular creators are dehumanized and their art (both visual and writting) becomes a commodity for the consumption of people's hyperfixiations . It makes it much harder for them to organically connect in fandom and for their work to be appreciated in a humanized way (not to mention the unesescary pressure of having to produce art consistently and of certain quality. Popular artists are robbed of the liberation that comes with amateur creation for the sake of creation)

It's transparently obvious this is a status thing . It would have obviously been way different if you made public library of liked/favourite cotl pieces from many different creators. It would have been an , honest gesture of love for transformative work.

I want to end this rant/critique by acknowledging that this one action from the poster I'm vaguing about isn't responsible for all those issues . It's just one part of a general pattern about fandom pathology and I used it as an opportunity to spill my guts.

Social media has changed the way we interact in fandom for the worse and seeing people losing that whimsy they had when they first started sharing their creations is so sad and infuriating. Shout-out to all the people that feel this way I'm kissing you all on the lips . Fandom might be frustrating but keep posting out of stubbornness. You will find your fellow freaks that will connect with . And don't forget to leave comments on less popular works as well as treat popular artists equally and with mutual respect

[bigbooksbygeorge]

The Ultimate Guide to Teaching Your Kids to Read in Spanish

Do you remember the first time you read a book and felt like you were transported into a whole new world? Well, guess what? It's time to buckle up because you're about to give your kids the ticket to that magical journey. But this time it's en español.

Whether you're a native Spanish speaker or just someone who appreciates the beauty and culture that comes with the language, teaching your little one to read in Spanish can be a rewarding experience for both of you.

So, let's get to it, shall we? Today, we're going to delve into the fun, fabulous world of letters, syllables, and big books in Spanish. Yes, you heard it right. Big books in Spanish that your child will fall in love with, and that will make the learning process a piece of cake Or should I say, un pedazo de pastel?

Start with the Basics: The Spanish Alphabet

Let's go back to the good ol' ABCs, shall we? But wait, in Spanish, we have a couple of special guests like "ñ" and "ll." Learning the alphabet is like learning the building blocks of a castle, and who doesn't want to build a castle?

To make it super engaging, let's turn this into a hands-on project. Get some poster board and markers, and create a colorful alphabet chart with your kiddo. Hang it up in a special place, maybe even their room, so they can proudly see their work every day.

And hey, remember that songs are your best friend. Sing the Spanish alphabet tune when you're driving to school or while doing chores. Before you know it, you’ll have a tiny artist singing the Spanish ABCs while coloring. Now that's what I call killing two birds with one stone: or should I say, matar dos pájaros de un tiro!

Syllable Shenanigans: Breaking Down Words

Alright, you've mastered the letters, so what's next on this fun-filled journey? Syllables. Think of syllables as the glue that holds our beautiful Spanish words together. And the exciting part? Spanish is so neat and tidy; the words often break down into syllables in a very straightforward way with children’s books.

Start with some arts and crafts time. Cut out syllables from magazines or newspapers and make a syllable scrapbook. Let your child glue down syllables next to pictures that represent them. For instance, next to a picture of a dog, they could glue the syllables “pe” and “rro” to form "perro."

And don't underestimate the power of movement. Get your little one to jump or hop from one syllable to the next written on the floor. Imagine how fun it will be for them to hop from "pa" to "pa" and shout "papá". It's exercise and education rolled into one. Now, how cool is that?

Visual Aids: Pictures and Word Associations

Who can resist the charm of vivid, colorful pictures? Visual aids can be a game-changer when it comes to learning. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in our case, we'll start with just one or two in Spanish.

Let's take your child's favorite storybook and give it a Spanish twist. Use sticky notes to label the pictures with their Spanish names. So, every time you get to the page with a 'house,' you'll also see "casa" right next to it.

You could even make it into a weekend activity by going on a "photo walk." Take pictures of random things around the neighborhood, like a tree, car, or cat. Then, go home and make a cute little album, writing down the Spanish word next to each photo. As a bonus, this can be a treasured keepsake of your child's learning journey.

Ah, and what about your own home? Turn it into a mini-Spanish haven. Place labels on household items like "mesa" for table, "silla" for chair, and "puerta" for door. It becomes a 24/7 learning playground, plus your child will feel super proud as they go around the house reading these words.

The Power of Repetition: Story Time

Ah, the allure of storytelling. Imagine cuddling up with your little one and exploring magical worlds: all in Spanish. When we dive into stories, we don’t just read words; we live adventures. And guess what? The more often we relive these adventures, the more familiar they become.

Begin with a bedtime ritual. Choose a captivating children’s tale in Spanish and read it every night for a week. You'll notice something wonderful: after a few days, your little listener will start finishing sentences and predicting what comes next.

And what about some drama? Turn these story sessions into mini-plays. Assign characters to each other and act out the parts. Fancy yourself the Big Bad Wolf or the brave Little Red Riding Hood? Your living room will soon be the stage for epic tales from Spanish folklore.

Also, keep an eye out for those big books in Spanish with vibrant illustrations. The combination of pictures and repetitive phrases can create a mesmerizing effect. Your child won’t just be learning; they’ll be enthralled.

Be Interactive: Use Everyday Moments

Life is a classroom, especially for a curious child. The beauty of learning Spanish is that you can infuse it into the tiniest moments. Think of it as seasoning everyday life with a pinch of Spanish.

During breakfast, chat about what’s on the menu in Spanish. Pancakes? That's "panqueques". Milk? That's "leche". It won't be long before your child excitedly asks for "jugo de naranja" in the morning.

Stuck in traffic or waiting in line? Turn it into a spontaneous Spanish quiz! Ask your child to spot things outside and name them in Spanish. A tree is an "árbol", and a car is a "coche". Bonus points if they can use it in a sentence.

And how about a dance party? Yup, you heard that right. Put on some catchy Spanish songs and dance away. Not only will this help with vocabulary, but you'll also have some unforgettable fun-filled moments together.

Have Fun: Games and Activities

If there's a surefire way to make learning unforgettable, it's by wrapping it up in layers of fun. Spanish isn't just a language; it's a ticket to a universe of games and activities that your child will adore.

Ever heard of "Lotería"? It's the Mexican version of Bingo, and it's brimming with delightful imagery and Spanish words. Give it a try on a family game night. You’ll be yelling "Lotería" in no time.

For the tech-savvy kids, the digital realm offers a plethora of Spanish learning apps and games. Picture this: animated characters, vibrant landscapes, and challenging quests: all reading in Spanish.

And finally, how about a Spanish fiesta? Host a themed party with Spanish music, food, and games. Your child can invite their friends, and together they can have a blast while learning. Imagine them doing the conga line while chanting Spanish numbers. Uno, dos, tres, ¡fiesta!

To wrap it up, the journey of teaching Spanish can be as colorful, lively, and dynamic as the language itself. Remember, every game played, every story read, and every song sung brings your child a step closer to being a confident Spanish reader. Dive in, enjoy the ride, and let the fiesta of learning begin.

Conclusion

Remember, teaching your child to read in Spanish is not just about the words and letters. It’s about spending quality time together and embarking on a fun-filled journey into a new world. So dig out those big books in Spanish, put on your imaginative hats, and watch your child transform into a little lector (reader) who not only enjoys stories but also gains a valuable skill that will benefit them for life.

Read More:

Childrens Big Books

[theempresstrash]

Welcome! :3

If you are here right now more than likely you are a Twitter crypto artist denizen who has heard me, @maxcapacity and probably many other shouting about Tumblr on Twitter. Why Tumblr? It is part nostalgia, part necromancy, part homage to the the Web3 greats who spent years here (some are still here), part rebellion, and part reminding artists to come together to help each other.

Twitter heavily favors text base tweets - it's just a fact. Here is not the case. Many of us are also maybe a little jaded on what is happening overall and feel ignored as artists. Discord is full of scams, twitter group chats are cliquey, but here we are free to roam, explore each others works, and create a visual digital identity we want to present.

Come play with us and remember why we are all here! For the art, to make friends, express ourselves, have a good time and build a better future for artists. Yes we all want to sell work too ofc - we have physical bodies to take care of and bills to pay - but what if we share with each other our wins and how we got them, and our failures and what we learned from them as artists so when we go back to the rest of the internet hellscape we can find more success? At the very least, make some friends here or rekindle connects that may have been lost to not feel so alone. For some of you this is a trip down memory lane, for others you have never been here before. Old or new a like I encourage you to check out who I am following to get started finding each other.

This isn't rocket science - if you can understand blockchain web3 stuff, I have faith you can understand this old beast of a social network. Love you all ~~~ <3

P.S. I'm writing this for specific purposes of a pinned post. It feels so good to be able to write more than 150 characters. Also here are multi gifs side by side -- for the culture.

EDIT: Because I can edit and also adding this - for the culture 🫡🚫

~We are here to focus on the art and building up artists and to build an open, non hierarchal structure to provide mutual support for each other while showcasing the hard work and dope art crypto artists do to try to shape the landscape of web3 to be more artist friendly for ALL artists from diverse backgrounds. ~ Here are some guidelines to foster a healthy community growth:

~ NO SHILL POST/ART SHARE POSTS - why? we want the focus to go back on the artist and deep thoughts, not engagement farming. Shilling/art share is a viable way on twitter to get your art out there because of how the social media is structured. Here - content is the focus. You can discover new artists a multitude of ways including searching hashtags, looking through your fav artists feed of who they are sharing or following, and generally just wandering around.

~ INDEPENDENT ARTIST FOCUS - 10k pfp projects are a part of the nft ecosystem, and thrive on twitter, but here we want to again have the focus stay on independent artists. A basic issue with these projects is to access a lot of their communities they are token gated, and a lot of artists just can't afford them. Also many feel we are drowning in the noise of a lot of the politics and drama that goes on between projects, and need a place again to share ourselves with each other for feedback, support and overall good times.

~ REPORT AND BLOCK THE HATERS / KILL WITH KIDNESS- anywhere on the internet hate is prevalent for lots of different reasons related to our content and not. Bullies are cowards, and to bully someone for a technology they use is boring. Tumblr also does not tolerate hate and harassment in any form. Maybe someone is having a bad day and if able extend kindness. For extreme comments, report them. For continual harassers, block them. This is your space to curate how you wish. We deserve to be here as artists as anyone else, and hope to on top of supporting each other showcase our dope af work we are doing within the crypto art ecosystems to show we aren't all scammers, just artists trying to build a better future.

[tiefling-queer]

ooh, controversial horror movie opinion for spooky season!

jump scares aren’t inherently bad.

in horror (as with all art), it’s really important to consider your medium, its purpose, and its strengths/weaknesses. film allows for great immersion, but with that immersion comes the balancing act of controlling your audience’s tension.

there are many tools for controlling tension - lighting, music, sound design, staging and shot composition - another incredibly helpful tool for controlling tension in a horror movie is a jump scare.

let’s set the scene. it’s the start of a movie. the characters are only just getting introduced. you know this is a scary movie, so you’re tense, on the ready to be scared. the main character gets distracted by something creepy. the shot composition is a little uncanny. the music and sound cues tell you something scary is going to happen - and then, bam! something jumps out! the frighten has been done!

it’s just one of the other characters, playing a prank. the main character gets mad at them. the music picks back up to a brighter tone. and, most importantly, the audience relaxes a little. it’s the beginning of the movie - trying to maintain and build on the tension that’s already elevated all throughout the first act could undermine the setup, or be nearly impossible with the rest of the movie’s pacing, so getting that first scare out of the way eases everyone into the movie, resets the tension and allows it to build back up again at the director’s intended pace.

alternatively, a jump scare can be employed in opposition to audience tension in order to maximize a scare. for example: the insidious jump scare

this is the jump scare that made me love jump scares. let’s set the scene: there’s some spooky shit happening, the psychic is doing a drawing, we’re expecting the demon to show up at any moment, the music’s going wild, the shots are jerky and the lighting’s all over the place - everything, everything about the scene builds tension higher and higher and-

and then everything is normal. it’s all calm. the tension drops suddenly as all the visual and sound cues tell us that the characters (and we, by extension) are safe.

and then, boom! shot changes and the demon is right fucking behind the dude and oh my god did that get audiences. the shrieks! the shouts! the weird strangled noise that i make instead of a normal fear noise!

i don’t think i’d remember that scene, or that movie at all, really, if it had just given us the monster when the tension was already high. but that jump scare scene stood out to me.

now, any tool if used poorly can lessen the quality of a work. bad lighting and shot composition can ruin a scene. music and sound design can drastically affect the way a scene feels. jump scares used too often, or in poorly placed scenes, can completely screw up where the audience’s tension is at and leave them either too tense or nowhere near tense enough for the following sequences. but strategically used jump scares can help keep audience tensions on track with the pacing of the movie and its scares.

i think a lot of people who think ‘jump scare’ think maze game, or the car on the hill video, or a screamer, and i don’t think it’s fair to compare scares put in a horror movie, which people are watching specifically to be frightened by, to a lame prank video meant to startle someone who has no idea what’s coming.

but, like, i’ve also seen people say that using music and sound to set a scene in a horror movie is ‘cheating’ and ‘lazy’, and all i can really say to that is that maybe you don’t like movies? or maybe you don’t understand that film works differently from literature, and that the tools employed by both to create atmosphere are completely different? who knows.

[vkelleyart]

Thoughts on fandom: inclusion and engagement.

(Art credit to the kindhearted @penpanoply​!)

There’s been some stuff floating around on Tumblr about strife in the CO/WS fandom, and though I haven’t been explicitly named-dropped on anything public, my DMs have been... active. lol Rather than rehash what’s been said already, I just want to impart a little wisdom and perspective in the hopes it may soothe frayed feelings and offer a way ahead for cultivating a respectful community. As someone who has been an active participant in online fandoms since the mid-’90s, which was the advent of online fandom content creation (shout out to my fellow X-Philes!), and who has also spent a chunk of her professional life managing social media for the federal government and for activist groups, I can promise you it’s all gonna be okay.

Here’s some context for why strife happens and what we can do to create a more inclusive and communicative fandom environment. 

1) It sounds cliché, but fandoms go through growing pains. 

In the case of the Simon Snow fandom, what was once a small and cozy space untouched by cataclysmic events (such as the release of *gasp* a sequel) has grown exponentially in a relatively short amount of time following the release of Wayward Son. Newcomers are eager to find a home in this space at the same time as folks who’ve been here a while may be consciously or unconsciously wary about widening their circle, and It’s important to remember that this is not necessarily an expression of bad behavior on either side but just human psychology doing its thing. 

The byproduct, however, is that tension and stress builds over time from the lack of meaningful communication across the divide, which subsequently fuels misunderstandings. Ironically, the interfaces we use to communicate don’t help with this because any existing communication about the tension happens in tiny vacuums until a trigger goes off and bad feelings go public. 

Way Ahead: These moments of destabilization are opportunities to see where we can be more self aware about how we engage with fandom and the kind of community we want to be. Can you promote, support, or befriend someone trying to gain a foothold? If yes, please do! Each person must reach their own decision about what they can do within the confines of their available energy, health, and time, but a little self awareness goes a long way as long as you’re honest with yourself and others if applicable about what you can contribute. Anyone who judges you for it isn’t worth the strife.

2) In a fandom comprised of vulnerable/marginalized people, it’s more accurate to say that cliques are “bubbles of trust.”

This one's important. Just by nature of the source material, the CO/WS fandom includes fans with a wide array of backgrounds and experiences, especially when it comes to those who identify with the characters’ queerness, mental illness, and/or trauma. I really believe––based on individual conversations/group chats––that the difficult lived experiences that so many of our fandom peers have endured has produced one of the most open, aware, and accepting fandoms I’ve had the pleasure of participating in. Our vulnerability is, in a real way, our strength.

That said, a community of survivors also has the side effect of cultivating small circles of engagement that I call “bubbles of trust.” When you’re a survivor of abuse, marginalization, mental illness, fill-in-the-blank, it’s often quite hard to risk casting a wide net and expanding your circle to include new faces––which can subsequently be internalized by equally sensitive and vulnerable newcomers as rejection, judgement, or inadequacy.

Way Ahead: First of all, there may indeed be gatekeeping and exclusion going on. But before internalizing someone’s cagey behavior as gatekeeping or purposely exclusionary, ask yourself if you have all the information. Many people are private (I include myself in this assessment) because life has regrettably taught them to be this way, and so they may insulate themselves to a small group of people who have earned their trust. Some people might also triggered by certain content (case in point: smut triggers my anxiety) so they don’t engage with it. Others might have something in their pasts that define how they handle certain subjects (for example, a person of color should not be tone policed for getting angry when confronted with a racialized microagression, however accidental it was). You just don’t know what you don’t know. 

The solution here is to regularly check your privilege and ask questions in a private space if you sense you’re being treated unfairly by someone. If you go public with your grievances in hopes of mobilizing the mob, you may accidentally find yourself stepping into the role of the aggressor instead of the victim.

3) Social Media is not built to help you get engagement. It’s built to help itself make money off of you.

Repeat after me: Hits/likes are not a measurable indicator of talent or worth. There are ridiculously talented folks on Tumblr and elsewhere who, for whatever reason, haven’t had their viral moment, and it’s not their fault. Loads of factors come into play where things like likes, reblogs, and comments are concerned, among them being posting frequency, subject matter, the time of day, the day of the week, the week of the month, the month of the year, the current administration, the stock exchange, the concentration of middle class users, who just won the Superbowl, a madman trying to steal an election and undermine the democratic process, a PANDEMIC, do you get where I’m going with this?? lol

At the end of the day, my humble successes have been helped along by good luck, good timing, high profile signal boosters, and an absurd amount of work. (This is why I try to signal boost new work whenever I get a chance over at @vkelleyshares.) 

So while you cannot control Tumblr’s interface, trends at large, or your fellow users, here’s what you can do to ensure you give your work the best possible chance of exposure.

Have an image ready to go with your post. Tumblr is a visual platform (no matter what it says about being good for text). Not good with images? Set up a Canva.com account and get access to free graphic software with a gazillion templates to create whatever attractive image you want to attach to your post.

Keep the outward facing text brief and easy on the eyes. Too long and eyes will glaze over. Put excess text behind a “read more.”

You may think you’re being cute when you do this, but don’t put yourself down in your posts. (Don’t put yourself down in general, of course.) Doing so acts as engagement repellant. If you don’t believe in your work, no one else will.

Related: Be your best cheerleader. Confidence is a magnet, and if you don’t have it, go ahead and fake it until you start to convince yourself you are worth the buzz. So promote yourself! You have gifts that only you can impart. Use that knowledge to fuel everything you do from your art/fiction writing to your outreach with other content creators, and by golly, if someone’s done it already, acknowledge that contribution and then tell the world that this is YOUR unique take on it.

Treat your fellow fandom creators as human beings, not art/fiction/content boosting machines. I cannot count how many times I’ve had folks slide into my DMs with offers of friendship only to disappear once they realize I’m not available to draw a picture for their fic. It hurts because it’s manipulative and it makes me want to hole up and not signal boost anyone. Creators who truly support each other will not give off a transactional vibe. I want to help you reach more people, but not if that’s all I’m good for in your eyes. 

The long and short of it: Lead with compassion, do your best with the opportunities at  your disposal, and remember that fandom belongs to everyone in it. ❤️

What saves a fandom made of sensitive and vulnerable souls from imploding when it goes through growing pains is radical compassion from those who can offer it. Begin with the assumption that your fellow fandomers are not trying to harm you, and wade into the water knowing that your insight into the lives of your peers is limited by default and you may need to temper your words or actions accordingly. If you’re a content creator, save compassion for yourself as well, as there are indeed challenges to gaining an audience, and lack of engagement does not mean you lack talent or skill. Be your best advocate, and if you have the bandwidth to lift up a fellow creator and make a new friend, please, go ahead do it! 

And finally, fandom belongs to everyone, and no one has a monopoly on characters, tropes, or themes. Create and consume what you love (with respect for your more vulnerable peers), and bask in the variety, my friends!

That’s all I’ve got in my head at the moment, although I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting. Thanks so much to @penpanoply for letting me use her art for this and to everyone else, hang in there and try not to judge each other too harshly. These are unprecedented times, and most of us are doing our best in circumstances that are pushing us to our limits. 

As always, if you have questions or want to sound off on anything, shoot me a message or an ask, or ping me on Discord. It might take me a second to respond (thanks, Covid) but I’ll get to it! Love, love, and more love to all.

[whatgaviiformes]

Interview with Fic Writer Meme

Thanks for the tag, @burningcowboyhoagietaco! Splitting off just because the post was getting a bit long. 

1. Your favorite fic that you’ve written (or the one you want to give a shout out to)

Favorite is difficult because it’s like choosing children. I have ones that hold a special place, and other I love for completely different reasons, so for a fic I want to give a shout out to? Let’s do Oak & Ivory today - Privateers AU with some FishTank, Scott playing the cello, and John cooking. Also it’s Virgil’s birthday and he doesn’t remember

Oak and Ivory  FF | Ao3 Summary: [Completed]  It’s a Thursday in the summer of 1776, and the USS Thunderbird is docked in port in New England. For Virgil, it brings him the gift of inspiration, starting with a rare morning off and a warbler…

2. Your favorite fic title that you’ve come up with I’m quite fond of  Firefly’s Glow (FF | Ao3) as far as titles go. It started with a scene of Scott and Gordon catching fireflies in chapter 1, and as I wrote it I started to weave in the major theme that I am continuing to explore in the story (or at least trying)  - basically the same thing said two ways 1) there’s a value to all life no matter how small and 2) even the small can shine bright.  Gordon may be pocket!sized in the fic, but he is still has the same brightness about him. 

3. How do you get inspiration to write?

 I don’t. I can’t force it, and writing needs to be an outlet of creative expression for me or I will burn out. I am pulled in many different directions at the moment, and so writing is actually a struggle. I am still doing my best because then if I feel if I am not posting, I’ll become irrelevant. It’s a constant struggle and I know that latter part is me making it up in my head. At the end of the day, it needs to be fun and not a job. Perfectionist Gavii is still trying to learn this. 

When I do have inspiration, music helps me to build the tone and craft the visuals. The words start to come easier with the right background sounds. Lack of distraction helps, and that is also currently hard to come by in my world. 

4. Your favorite genre/subgenre of fic to write

Angst. Make ‘em cry.

5. Do you have other hobbies? Crochet, Gaming. D&D. 

6. A fun fact about you that a lot of people may not know I don’t eat any seafood because I don’t like the texture or taste. I’ve tried different things a few times as an adult to see if my tastes have changed, but nah. FIsh are friends not food :)

7. Pick one character to self project onto Hmm. It’s probably Virgil if I had to really thing about it, but there are aspects of the Tracys in general that I tend to gravitate towards. Scott, I can identify with his dedication to work and family, his being spread to thin between his many hats, and juggling IR, family, and TI. Anything space-related makes me happy, so John’s solitary joy speaks to me. I am an introvert so I find it incredibly romantic to think of him reading and studying among the stars, and he’s probably the brother that I am most like in my natural state. Alone does not mean lonely. And in comparison, Gordon is everything I think I need in a friend - someone who lives life to its absolute fullest, sees a light in everything, always there for a smile. And it’s why I love to write (and read) when Gordon is thrown at John for all the chaos and underlying support love there is there. Alan is a bit more difficult for me since he is the youngest and I’m definitely past  where I would self-project on to him - but I can identify with his desire to be his own man amidst his brothers’ successes. And that age is hard. I feel for the kid. 

So then Virgil - I can’t paint, I can’t really play music, but I gravitate towards the arts - always have in my studies.  What I love about writing Virgil is that he helps me look at the world differently and makes me challenge my own perceptions. I intentionally take a moment to focus on what I hear and see when I write him, and it creates a different type of imagery that I think has become Virgil’s voice in my head. He feels, and I can sense his emotions the most organically when I write. He’s loyal, steadfast, and comforting. He’s my art heart, and often when I am writing it’s Virgil’s “support” that I can kind of feel helping me out. If that makes sense? So there’s my explanation for why I can’t choose. I pull from different brothers when I need to. This is absolutely the cheesiest, but they are like family to me and I’ll pull from who I need to based on how I am feeling. 

FishTank still makes the world go round though. Those two. *heart eyes*

8. Favorite genre of music

I am going to steal this almost quote from @katblu42 who I will also tag, because it’s really the only answer: the genres I like are my favorite. 

I listen to a lot of music. like A LOT. If going through likes, you’ll jump from Sinatra to Metallica to Beethoven’s 7th to swing to Linkin Park, and back. Musical whiplash aside, I have a lot of playlists for different things and would love to incorporate one day somehow for fic writing. 

9. Your favorite singer/band

Band: I am really into Walk the Moon, fun fact - the first time I heard Shut Up and Dance was live before it was released

Singer: I like my crooners. 

10. How have your experience in fandom been? This time? Amazing, I feel so lucky to be so supported in life and in creativity. 

Tagging Kat, @godsliltippy,  @womble1, and whoever may be interested :)

[themurphyzone]

PatB: Snowball Ep Talk

You know, I really do love the episode Snowball (my personal favorite AKOM episode) but I don’t think I’ve ever talked about it here much, and if I did it’s probably really only because of the flashback sequence. 

Okay so all looks good so far. Chain letter scheme and superstition, a standard introduction to Brain’s latest plot of world domination. All looks good. Plus I just like this shot of Pinky. Don’t mind me, just starting off light here with a smushed Pinky. 

I just like Pinky’s pose here. He’s so cute. 

You will bow before Troz.

“I met a Snowball today! Right here in the lab!” -Pinky

You know, I just find the implications of this line hysterical. This means that Snowball was in the lab that day, waiting for the moment to strike, and he definitely pushed his stolen chain letter through the mail slot. 

And then he lets Pinky see him, and no it’s not just a passing glance either cause Pinky specifically describes a tattoo with an A and a circle and points to his leg. Which means Snowball deliberately lifted the fur on his leg and showed his tattoo to Pinky. 

Like, wow. 

“It means, Pinky, that evil lurks among us. By the name of Snowball! SNOWBALLLLLLLL!” -Brain 

Talk about a bad breakup. *Alexa play Bad Blood*

Personally I think one of the interesting visual cues is that Snowball purposely plants himself into the mice’s space. There’s a lot of that in this episode. He knows how to rile up Brain and hit him where it hurts, namely through Pinky. 

Brain values his personal space, and he values a sense of control. When Snowball invades that space, Brain loses control, and his anger can lead him to make some very ill-informed decisions. Which is exactly what Snowball aims for. 

“You think Pinky is an asset?” 

“Anything I can take from you is an asset.”

Ah yes, Snowball’s mission statement. Crush everything Brain has into dust. 

The flashback sequence. Dear God this flashback sequence. They were both so cute! 

You know, it’s really sad that a younger Brain acted more like Pinky. Making silly faces and trying to get someone to laugh are such Pinky things to do. I know canon is loose but if you consider this flashback taking place shortly after Brain was captured from the wild, then young Brain didn’t gain a grasp on what happened to him until after the gene splicer.  

Ok but Brain was literally right there when the gene splicer exploded. Imagine having your cranium size dramatically increase, you’re injured, you’ve suddenly gained sentience, and as if all that wasn’t enough, you see the gene splicer explode with your only friend inside. 

Oh, and said friend’s mind was probably damaged in the explosion and now he hates your guts. And though you’re angry with him for his betrayal, some part of you will never stop caring about him. 

Once again, Snowball needs to learn to keep his hands to himself. 

This conversation here establishes Snowball as the perfect third character. He appears only in a handful of eps, but he’s fun to watch and love to hate. Snowball challenges the mice’s relationship. Snowball sees the weak points; the insults, the reliance on each other, and twists them to his advantage. And Pinky even admits he’s hurt by Brain’s insults occasionally, though he still loves being around him. 

“Pinky, the Brain doesn’t care about you. He’s just using you.” 

“No, he’s not.”

It’s really interesting to me how Pinky denies Snowball’s statement, yet his ears go down to show that he’s affected by the idea of being used. Pinky and the Brain may be night and day, but one thing they do have in common is their tendency to deny certain things. Brain with emotions and affection and Pinky with concepts he’d rather not admit the possibility of. 

Coming back to this later. 

Non plot related but Brain is teeny tiny and I love how he just trusts Pinky to catch him

Side note: I apologize if any of these screenshots look weird. It’s an AKOM ep. 

WHY ARE YOU TWO SO BAD AT SNEAKING AROUND. 

I just find it hilarious how they clearly run around where Snowball can see and hear them. Like they just shout Snowball’s name in the middle of the room. You’re terrible at being sneaky little mice. Please. 

Those dang boomers and their old timey 90s computers. Technology is ruining boomers. Can’t even hold a conversation anymore cause they keep looking at their screens. 

No touchy! 

Well, it’s awful nice of Snowball to engage in nepotism and offer Brain a position in his administration...and then tempt Pinky with an amusement park when he refuses. 

You really gotta appreciate the complexity of Snowball’s plans. Stealing the chain letter fails->plant seeds of doubt in Pinky’s mind, even if this doesn’t work right off the bat, the idea will still be there-> take over a corporation->impersonate Bill Gates->When the mice show up, offer to co-rule the world on expectations that Brain will refuse->make co-ruler offer to Pinky->wait for Brain to open his big mouth and drive Pinky away. 

All to take everything Brain has. His dignity, Pinky, his meager resources. Like holy Snowball, Batman.  

And then Snowball reveals the amusement park he had specifically built for Pinky. 

And here we have the most heartbreaking line of the ep. If I had the ability video edit I would’ve put the entire line on audio because Brain’s tone is very important here. It’s about 12:38 to 12:57 in the ep if you want to see for yourself. 

“Oh, go ahead, Pinky. I don’t need you. What did you think, I just have you around so I can steal your brilliant ideas and claim them as my own? That I’m just using you, Pinky? Oh yes, I’m using you for your brilliance!” 

First of all, very poor word choice, especially to someone who has trouble understanding sarcasm. I just want to dissect this statement here. 

The Literal Meaning: You’re an idiot to think you were ever more than an assistant. 

This is what Pinky hears. 

But if you listen to Brain’s tone rather than just reading the line, he sounds genuinely hurt that Pinky would ever be tempted by something as frivolous as an amusement park. It’s Pinky, so he just sees ‘ooh fun rides, cotton candy, and carnival games’! 

But Brain is perfectly aware that this is Snowball’s well-crafted method of taking away the only thing he truly has, and he knows it’s working. And he’s hurt. 

The Actual Meaning: Snowball’s trying to separate us and you’re falling for it, Pinky. You may be an idiot, but many of my plans never would’ve come to fruition without you. You’re much more than an assistant. You’re my friend and my world.  

Unfortunately, all Pinky hears is that Brain was only using him. That Brain values him for manual labor and an extra hand only, rather than a treasured companion. The fact that Brain often falls short of making Pinky feel appreciated just adds to this. 

And now that he no longer has Pinky, Brain’s spirit is crushed. Brain is persistent, but without Pinky, he has no reason to be. 

As far as he knows, his only two friends have turned their backs on him and couldn’t care less if he has nowhere else to go. 

Poor thing. He needs hugs. 

“I didn’t think it was possible. Humanity has actually gotten dumber.” -Brain

OK I think this one shot establishes what the world would be like under Snowball. His name is everywhere, and he tells the population to do stupid things just to bask in his own superiority. 

However, I can’t see Brain putting his name on every building so frivolously like this if he ruled the world. Sure, he’d name a bunch of things after himself and Pinky, but it would be more meaningful to them. 

Brain wants humanity to advance, not regress. 

Poor Pinky. Despite all this new extravagance and luxury, he’s also lonely. The room and bed are large, but it lacks personality. He’s sleeping with an ACME Labs snow globe, and other than a reference to Citizen Kane, it also shows that he’s not happy with this. 

The worst thing in the world for these mice is separation from each other. 

Suicide by cat. 

Poor little guy can’t make it on his own. Luckily, he snaps out of it. 

“My world. I must save MY world!” 

Said while looking at a picture of Pinky. Real subtle there Brain. 

“Look, you fool. You have no brilliant ideas. I’m only using you to get at him! So just stay quiet!” -Snowball

“You’re...using me?” -Pinky

He was just a bargaining chip. Never a friend. 

“What do you want?” 

“My friend. And MY world!”

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

He makes martial arts noises like a dork. I love him. 

I love how their characters are reflected in the mecha designs (also I had no idea Snowball was Iron Man!) 

Snowball’s is overall the more efficient design. It’s also much more combat ready and violent. In comparison, Brain’s suit is simply operated with a bunch of levers. It’s alright for peaceful situations like getting around faster or simply blending with a human population, but in a straight up fight the levers take too much time to operate. 

Snowball is more efficient than Brain, and while he’s got the ego, he lacks the insecurities that hold Brain back. His confidence makes him such an effective foe. And more importantly, Snowball doesn’t value Pinky’s companionship. He’s a tool and nothing more. Compare that to Brain. While Brain struggles at showing it, he ultimately wants Pinky’s input and values his jumbo-sized heart. 

Somewhat off topic, but I feel like the reboot missed this aspect of Brain and made him too overly edgy and violent (reboot!Brain would probably prefer Snowball’s mecha design over his counterpart’s). The only time Brain should become violent, if not for comedy, is when he’s protecting Pinky. His plans should have a level of restraint to them, and Pinky is the moral compass.  

I just like this shit-eating grin right here (I mean, he did eat shit in Welcome to the Jungle so...lol)

This is such an insanely clever move for Pinky. I feel like Brain would be like ‘oh my god Pinky!’ and then ‘wow, that’s actually brilliant what the heck is this tingling feeling’. 

ACME LABS IS IN NEW YORK CITY??????

I know this is a case of Where the Hell is Springfield but gdi aren’t they supposed to be in southern California. 

Ok fine I realize the ending to this ep is a reference to North by Northwest cause they somehow got to Mt. Rushmore but still 

Weird tangent but North by Northwest’s ending bothers me (not gonna fault this ep as it’s just a parody)? I’m sorry the girl is barely hanging onto Mt. Rushmore, the dude pulls her up, and then they have sex in a car. The sudden transition always seemed weird to me. 

I am ending this analysis post with a weird shot of Snowball cause i can and it’s his episode. 

[wolfstar-in-color]

July Creator Spotlight: Desicosplay

Hello, lovely people, and welcome to our second creator spotlight!

Each month, we will highlight a different creator in our lovely fandom who features diverse characterizations of Sirius and/or Remus. We will invite you to get to know them better through questions and answers, Fandom Discourse(tm), and a featured prompt created by our guest.

For our second spotlight, we are absolutely honoured to having the presence of @desicosplay, an incredible cosplayer and writer that if you don’t follow, you should do right away. They’ve gifted us with many, many amazing gifsets, a lot of them about Sirius. Below you’ll see a little snippet of the interview and Mastani’s prompt. Under the cut you’ll be able to read the full interview. Don’t forget to share and interact with this post, and if you have anyone you’d like to recommend for a spotlight, shoot us an ask!

“Diversity means celebration. So in fan spaces, that means actively seeking out creators that you might otherwise miss. It means trying out new perspectives, or listening to new perspectives on your favorite characters. It means standing with your peers, being loud in your love and support of them. I’m not saying you have to reblog or comment on everything. Diversity is not just visual, it’s also mental. Diversity needs to be intentional and active, even if that takes place just in your head.”

Mastani’s prompt: Muggle AU! Sirius and Remus at Harry’s sporting event!

Hi! I’m Mastani, she/they/he pronouns, I’m a 1.5/2nd Generation Indian-American, and I cosplay and write fanfiction!

Q: How did you start creating in the fandom? What did you wish to bring into the fandom?

A: Almost five years ago, Laina @ohtheclevernessofme1972 convinced me to join the HPRP community. She and everyone else were so supportive of my desire to bring my culture and background to the Harry Potter characters. Eventually, I also started writing fanfiction again!

Q: What things about s/r as characters or in their relationship inspire you to create around them?

A: I think that they are very complex characters that really demonstrate how external factors affect your life, whether you like it or not. Their relationship, whether platonic, romantic, or anything in-between or outside, is also so fascinating in its potential to evolve. Wolfstar is constantly changing, and all its interpretations are totally feasible to imagine.

Q: What things would you like to highlight about the Wolfstar fandom and your experience in it?

A: My main dips into the fandom are when I cosplay Sirius, and every time, I feel so much love. The fandom is so open to any interpretations of Sirius, and it does wonders to make someone feel accepted.

Q: What type of content do you wish you saw more in the fandom?

A: This is entirely self-indulgent, but Godfather/Uncle!Sirius just make me feel so warm inside. There’s a love inside Sirius that only gets touched upon inside the books. AUs where he gets to interact with Harry as a child or teen outside the pressure of a war are just so calming and warming.

Q: What is your favourite wolfstar fancontent (fic/fanart/gifset/etc) and how does it inspire you?

A: Y’all, I have so many Wolfstar fics saved that are just stunning and several that are comfort fics. I think the biggest takeaway from all of them is the comfort the boys find in each other. All of them are AUs, and I’m inspired to depict my Wolfstar as something kind, gentle, and communicative.

Q: Which of your own identities inform your creative processes? How has that process been for you?

A: All of them! But more specifically, my racial background informs most of my process. My process is… Sporadic, to say the least. However, when I do get struck with an idea, I have to create it almost instantly. One example, Wolfstar-related, is that my Sirius cosplay has long hair, half-up in a bun. I feel like desi!Sirius would celebrate his heritage by growing his hair long, which also is a nice, “screw you,” to societal and familial constraints.

Q: What advice do you have for other content creators with diverse backgrounds in the fandom? What would you say to people that might feel they don’t have the “right” history/experience/characteristics to participate in the creation of content related to Wolfstar?

A: think the best advice for participation I have comes from the iconic Jay @siriussly-serious, Rest in Power. “Go. Get in. Dive in. Fucking head first. Fuck that, cannonball your butt right in there and make a damn splash…” There is no, “right,” history/experience/background. These characters are fictional, but they can reflect our world. Our world is not homogenous. So why should fictional worlds and characters be that way? These stories are ours, and we shape them to be whatever we want them to be. If you want to create, that’s all the prerequisite you need.

Q: How could we build a more diverse fandom?

A: This blog is a great example of how to build a diverse fandom. Celebrating creators with diverse backgrounds and being loudly supportive of them makes us want to stay. Finding communities that celebrate, not just accept, can make a world of difference. So, raise your voice and love on your favorite creators.

Q: What’s your favourite thing to modify in Sirius’s or Remus’s characterizations to bring new perspectives to them?

A: I’m a huge communicator, so improving character communication is something I love to do. I like to create fluff, and this change lets me focus on the gentler parts of Sirius and Remus, or the parts that need some love, e.g. mental health. It also lets me flesh out their senses of humor more, like their dislike of cats (in my headcanons).

Q: What does diversity mean to you? What does that encompass in fanish spaces?

A: Diversity means celebration. So in fan spaces, that means actively seeking out creators that you might otherwise miss. It means trying out new perspectives, or listening to new perspectives on your favorite characters. It means standing with your peers, being loud in your love and support of them. I’m not saying you have to reblog or comment on everything. Diversity is not just visual, it’s also mental. Diversity needs to be intentional and active, even if that takes place just in your head.

Q: What are your ideas about the notions of culture and ethnicity? How do you relate to those notions?

A: I find culture and ethnicity to overlap in many ways, as they both pertain to group characteristics. I’m not an anthropologist, so I don’t know the detailed differences between the two. However, in my quick searches, it feels, to me, that culture is a bit broader and ethnicity is more geographic. So, I’m culturally Indian-American and ethnically Gujarati Indian (Gujarat is the state in India). I find these notions to be helpful when defining and describing my experiences. For example, among desis (and other brown folks), saying I’m generation 1.5/2 tells them that I straddle American/Western and Indian culture. If I tell another Indian that I’m Gujarati, they instantly know the kind of foods I grew up with and the language my parents speak. It’s a streamlined way of explaining my experiences, and as a science brained person, it makes life easier for me.

Q: Is there a page/organization/institution you would recommend for fans to search/read when it comes to learning about diversity?

A: With the tool that is social media, there are so many activists and creators that are willing and able to teach about diversity. On my page, I keep a page titled, “Resources for Justice.” This page has a wide variety of social justice resources on it. Google is great, but you also want to cross-check your sources. However, I feel like the best way to learn is to ask questions. Do so respectfully and ensure the person you’re asking has the energy/time/compensation to answer. Especially if you’ve done some research ahead of time, I find that many folks are willing to have a discussion - but again, check with the person first. Trust is paramount in these conversations.

Q: Is there a project/organization that you want to hype?

A: Oh, I could name so many. However, the ones I want to shout out here are Chrysalis - Gender Identity Matters and Raze Collective. As many of you know, Jay @siriussly-serious passed away recently, and in his name, we’re promoting/donating to these charities. Chrysalis - GIM offers online and in-person mental health support for trans and nonbinary people in his area and Raze Collective supports LGBTQIA+ performers. Ami @ami-acts and a few others (I apologize for not remembering exactly who - I’ll message the mods if I remember/please add on if you know) organized this. Links are below.

Donate to Chrysalis - GIM here.

Donate to Raze Collective here.

Q: Leave us with a quote or work of art that always inspires you

A: Is it too cheesy to say all of our fandom? To be totally honest, that’s who/what inspires me most of all. It’s a work of art, all the people in it make our fandom a work of art!

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch 28- Crossbones

Summary: The Avengers uncover the identity of the mysterious Crossbones and mount a mission to apprehend him in Lagos.

Warnings: Bad language, Smut! (NSFW, Under 18s) Bad Language words.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: NEW BANNER ALERT @angrybirdcr​ has made a DOOZY for the Civil War part of the Story.

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

Chapter 27

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

January 2016

“Are you sure this isn’t a team call?” Katie asked Steve, watching as he picked up his shield.

“No.” He shook his head firmly as they walked down the corridor.  “We don’t even know if he will be there.”

“But…”

“Katie, stop!” Steve chuckled, pushing the door open to enter the hangar. “We’ll be fine. This is intelligence gathering, I’ve no intention of heading straight off after this guy, not until we find out what his play is.”

“His play is arms trading.” Nat interjected dryly as she appeared at the side of the jet.

“Which we are going to gather intelligence on.” Steve looked at her sternly “Nothing more.”

Katie bit her lip, she wasn’t convinced.

“We’ll be fine.” Steve continued, putting both his hands on her shoulders before he deftly changed the subject. “Don’t you have an interview to be getting ready for?”

He watched as the gentle smile spread across her face, a surge of pride flooding his system. She’d recently found out that the author of one of the books SIP had published last year had worked their way onto the Pulitzer Nominee list for fiction. The book itself held a plot centred around a War Veteran and the letters he wrote to his girl back home, and she’d roped Steve into helping the author keep it as factually correct as possible, something he had found strangely nostalgic yet enjoyable. Upon publishing it had flown off the shelves, the original five hundred copies went within three hours causing a mad scramble for a second run and downloads had been off the scale. Other than the Thrombey book they had published, it was their biggest seller to date, shifting almost half a million copies in a month, and with a foreword from Steve Rogers, critics had raved about how poignant it was.

Whilst it hadn’t won the prize, simply being a nominee was an honour in itself according to Katie. The Publicists at SIP had arranged for the author to be interviewed in a few newspapers and magazines along with one of them also requesting Katie, to discuss the launch of her new charity The March Foundation, which would sit alongside Tony and Pepper’s latest initiative- The September Foundation, but instead of focusing on inventors and science, it would instead be centred around authors and the arts.

The name was a play on words, not only being another month to compliment Tony’s, but also to honour both the War Based fiction that had inspired it and the man who had saved her life as March was the month of Bucky’s birth. A decision that had really touched Steve.

She took a deep breath and sighed, as she eyed Natasha heading up the ramp into the jet.

“Just be careful…”

“I’m always careful.” Steve kissed her gently.

“Liar.” She mumbled against his lips. He grinned and pulled back, pecking her mouth once more before he started up the ramp. He paused at the top and turned to face her. “We’ll be back late tonight. Don’t wait up.”

“I won’t!” she teased.

He flashed her another smile and then he hit the button and the ramp started to close. A loud siren told Katie that the hangar door was opening and that was her cue to leave. She headed back over to the steps at the side, leading up to the mezzanine, and as she watched through the window she saw the jet fly out of the side and over the frosty compound grounds. It up through the clouds and gone from sight before she had reached the double doors at the top.

The base was a hive of activity already, despite it being little after seven am. Katie was heading for an hour or so in the gym before her day began properly. She stuck her Bluetooth headphones in, selected the usual work out play-list and began to run on the treadmill, slowly at first to ease herself in- she was a little bit stiff and sore from her sparring session with Natasha yesterday. Nat had really upped the ante on Katie over the last month or so, which was good as Katie was now pretty much on a par with her when it came hand to hand, something Steve had been completely astonished to see after walking in on the two women just as his wife floored Natasha with a well-placed leg swipe the red head didn’t see coming. 

Forty minutes later, Katie swapped to the rower to finish off, and was approximately half way through the three-kilometre distance when her music cut off and the screen to the right of the machine switched over from the play-list to a visual of Rhodey.

“Hey Kiddo,” He smiled as she stopped rowing to look at him. “Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve had a sensor trip on the outer perimeter of the facility.”

“You send someone out there?” She frowned, catching her breath as she picked up the bottle of water that was to her right.

“Yeah, Sam is currently out there looking for it, just thought, well seeing as Cap and Nat are out, you’re technically the one in charge so…”  

She let out a snort as she swallowed a mouth full of her drink.  Being third in command was something she didn’t really care for, knowing full well it was Steve’s way giving her some kind of authority over simply being the Captain’s Wife, but she’d accepted the gesture simply because he’d been so excited when he had asked her she couldn’t refuse.

“Okay, I’ll go and check it out. “

Standing up she left the gym and moved quickly to the armoury, grabbing a gun, a coms piece and a fleece jacket before quickly making her way outside.

“What’s going on up there, Sam?” Rhodey spoke in her ear as she walked into the cold air, spotting Sam circling above.

“I’m at the location of the sensor trip, but I’m not seeing anything.” He said. “Oh, hang on…”

“What is it?” Katie asked, watching him as he circled above her.

“Roof top…”

“Gimme a lift?” 

Sam swooped down from the clear, winter sky and she grabbed his arm as he effortlessly pulled her up, dropping them both onto the flat roof of one of the buildings.

“I can see you.” Sam called out loudly as they landed.

Katie frowned, as she didn’t know what Sam was talking about until out of nowhere a man in a red and silver suit, with an insect like helmet suddenly appeared. Katie cocked her gun and aimed it at him.

“Who the hell are you?” she questioned. As they watched the man started to awkwardly introduce himself to Sam, his mask lifted to reveal a shaky smile as he waved.

“Hi, I’m Scott. I know who you are, obviously, you’re Katie Stark, I mean Rogers…” Scott started trying to hold back his enthusiasm and motioning towards Sam and Katie with a chuckle. "I’m a big fan.”

"Appreciate it. But like the lady asked, who the hell are you?” Sam echoed Katie’s earlier sentiments.

“I’m Ant-Man.” Scott or Ant-Man answered confidently. Sam and Katie shared an incredulous look and Katie mouthed the name back to him and he shrugged. Katie lowered her gun slightly.

“Wanna tell me what you want?” She questioned Ant-Man as the man tried to explain why the two Avengers hadn’t heard of him.

Scott pointed towards a building to their left, maintaining eye contact with Katie as he spoke “I was hoping I could grab a piece of technology. Just for a few days, then I’d return it. I need it to, uh, save the world- you know how that is.”

“Yeah, we know exactly how that is,” Sam said to Scott and Katie felt her mouth twitching into a grin.

“What piece of technology, and what do you mean saving the world?” she asked.

“I’d love to tell you but Hank Pym said never to trust a Stark.” The man called Scott, or Ant-Man was almost apologetic. “Even though you’re technically a Rogers now.”

Katie frowned, she’d never heard of a Hank Pym before, but that was irrelevant now. Sam gave a sigh besides her and stepped forwards.

“We’ve located the breach.” he spoke “Bringing him in…”

“I’m really sorry about this.” Scott rushed out and as Sam reached out to him he vanished.

“What the…” Katie spun round and felt something hit her, hard in the back. She fell forward onto the gravelled surface of the roof before rolling onto her back, gun raised again just in time to see Sam flying backwards off the edge, tumbling through the air and grappling with something whilst flying over the lawns of the facility.

Katie could do nothing but stand and watch from her vantage point as Sam continued to wrestle with, then shoot at the man who could shrink and grow seemingly at will. And if she was completely honest, it was kind of entertaining to watch.

“This guy would actually be pretty useful.” Katie mused into the coms, trying but failing to hide the amusement in her voice “Are you recording this? For future, recruitment purposes obviously.”

“All over it.” Rhodey responded, a slight chuckle punctuating his confirmation.

It was when the two men crashed into the storage unit that Ant-Man had wanted to break into in the first place that she started to get concerned.

“Err do we have cameras in there?” she questioned Rhodey.

“Uh… negative.” Rhodey answered after a short pause.

“Shit.” Running to the side of the roof she scaled down the metal ladder at the side, dropping the last eight feet or so, landing gently before she ran towards the storage building. At that point Sam came crashing backwards through the metal door and Katie flung her arms up to shield her face from the debris before glancing up. Sam’s flight pattern was jerky and off and he was gripping at his pack on his back.

“He’s in my pack!” Sam shouted before he landed hard in the dirt and with a groan, pulled himself into a standing position, yanking off his goggles.

“You okay?” Katie asked as she ran over to him.

“Yeah, fine…” He sighed before he looked at her. “You know, it’s really important to me that Cap never finds out about this.”

Katie grinned and the pair of them scouted around but to no avail, there was no sign of Ant-Man, or Scott anywhere. Katie instructed Rhodey to get the door fixed and lock it down again and said she would speak to Tony to find out what was in there. Sam was luckily not hurt, just a slight bruising to his pride so Katie left him at the lab with Lawson to look at making the repairs to his pack before she headed off to get changed.

*****

Steve and Natasha landed in Sadove, Crimea and were instantly greeted by the man who was leading the investigation into the raid on the local police station. The last three out of six hits the guy had made had been on small, local outfits with less resistance than the other places he had hit but that was hardly surprising. The former SHIELD base he had hit in Mexico had been heavily guarded, which made Steve think that he had perhaps suffered losses to his team which was making him rethink his strategy. As Natasha chatted to the man in his local language, Steve hung back before the man nodded to Natasha and strode towards him.

“Captain Rogers.” he said, English thick with accent “Inspector Chernov.”

Steve shook the man’s hand “Pleasure to meet you in person Inspector.”

“So you are interested in the man who raided our local station?” “He’s been on our radar for a while.” Steve said, choosing his words carefully “But we don’t have much to go on.” “Well, I’m not sure we can help but I can take you down there and you can see for yourself.” Steve nodded. “That would be great, thanks.”

It wasn’t a long drive, and once they arrived Steve and Natasha were allowed to wander round the scene undisturbed, providing they didn’t interfere with the police and teams already swamping the area. Their search showed them nothing new and they moved to watching the CCTV which the Authorities had refused to send them. They could have hacked into it, but Steve was keen to keep the tentatively growing communication lines with Crimea and Russia as amicable as possible, especially in the light of Sokovia. The Avengers were not a political party, so by remaining respectful of their requests to meet only in person he hoped it went someway to proving they were here to help and had no ulterior motives.

As such they sat in the mobile control centre, scanning the CCTV. Steve watched the footage and sighed.

“This isn’t HYDRA.” Nat concluded and Steve agreed.

“I know, it’s not their MO. This guy is too haphazard.” Steve pondered. “Just wondering why, considering how well organised he is, he is leaving so much devastation behind.”

“Minimum effort leaving maximum casualties.” Natasha said, watching the footage “He simply doesn’t care who he takes out.” “Well he’s hardly gonna care about that if he’s dealing black market arms.” Steve sighed.

They watched the footage some more and Steve held his hand up to Natasha to play it at normal speed when they reached the bit where the key perps were on screen.

“What’s he doing?” He frowned, looking at Crossbones. The man was stood in the middle of the room, looking around.

“He’s scanning for Cameras.” Nat answered as they both watched. 

There was something familiar about the way the man walked and held himself, but Steve couldn’t quite place it. As they continued the footage, Crossbones located the camera they were watching through and looked directly up at it, pulling his mask up a little to reveal his mouth, clearly saying something.

“Can you enhance that?” Steve asked. Natasha tapped at it.

It zoomed in on the man and Natasha spoke “looks like something about it being personal…”

She held her phone up to the footage and then pressed something, and the phone spoke to her in a robotic voice.

“Big Guy…I just want you to know, this aint personal.” Steve’s gut clenched. The last time he had heard those words were in an elevator in the Triskelion.

“Rogers?” Natasha looked at him, noticing the nerve which was twitching in his jaw “What is it? Does that mean something to you?”

“In a fashion.” He turned to face her. “It’s Rumlow.”

****** The interviews went well and once the photos etc were done Katie and Tony retreated to the living area of the Tower for a well-earned drink as they put the final touches of their tour together. They were to start visiting various Universities across the US to roll out their foundation grants. To ease them both in gently, the first University they were going to was Columbia, so not far from home. Tony and Pepper would be presenting and discussing to students within the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Katie in the School of the Arts for Students on the Writing Programme.

Their chatter moved from work to Tony asking how the Compound was going, and Katie remembered the events of that morning.

“You ever heard of a bloke called Hank Pym?” she asked suddenly.

Tony paused for a moment, frowning at her sudden change of subject, but something stirred in his mind. “The name rings a bell, hang on…FRIDAY, search all files reference Hank Pym.” He instructed, tapping at something on his tablet.

After a few seconds something flashed up in the corner of the screen.

“Yeah, here you go.” He pressed another button causing the image to reflect in front of them as a hologram. “He worked with Dad and SHIELD on a programme called Project GOLIATH.”

“What the hell was that?” Katie asked, taking a pull from her bottle.

“A research programme into some kind of Nano particle.” Tony said as the pair of them simultaneously ran through the information on the screen.

“Ahhhh.” Katie nodded, “makes sense…” “What does?”

Katie explained about the encounter with Scott and Tony gave a hum of agreement. 

“That could actually be kinda useful.��

“I know.” she agreed “But he vanished after he got whatever he wanted. Any thoughts on what it could be?”

“That facility holds a load of crap that was Dad’s” Tony said simply “Could be anything.”

“Well, nothing we could see was missing, but it might be worth you taking a look.” she suggested.

He shrugged “I can do, but there was nothing remotely dangerous in there. Was just a load of old signal jammers and code breakers we don’t really need anymore.”

“Well, I did try and ask what him what it was he wanted, you know, on account of him saying he was saving the world, maybe we could have helped with that, being the Avengers and all, but he simply turned round and said ‘Hank Pym told me never to trust a Stark’.”

She drained her bottle of beer as Tony did the same and he stood up, taking the empties to retrieve 2 more from the fridge.

“Clearly one of many in the long line of people dad pissed off.” Tony rolled his eyes as he popped the lids, before he sighed “I’m actually surprised no one tried to kill him before, you know, he rammed their car into a tree.”

Katie looked at her brother and swallowed. Tony had no idea how close to the truth he was.

“Sorry.” he slid the beer across the bar, mistaking her guilty silence for one of upset “That was out of order.”

“For all his faults I don’t think Dad was a bad man.” Katie spoke quietly “And he did love us.”

“I know.” Tony nodded, squeezing her hand.

She stayed for another drink and then headed home. She had checked in with Sam before heading back to their apartment and she was settled on the couch with a glass of wine when Steve called.

“Hey Soldier.” she said, smiling at the screen as she flicked the phone to project the image in front of her, muting the TV.

“Hey Darlin’.” He smiled back

“So, how was it?” she asked

“Well we got the intel.” 

“Solid?”

“Pretty solid yeah.” Natasha spoke, appearing by his side. “We think we know who he is anyway.” “Who?”

Steve sighed. “It’s Rumlow.” “What?” Katie spluttered into her wine glass. “Are you sure?”

“Oh pretty sure.” Steve nodded. “He left me a clear message.”

“Steve recognised him on the Video so I ran a crosscheck.” Nat picked up. “Turns out he was listed as severely injured and was taken to the hospital. After that, our trail runs cold.” 

“Until now.” Katie sighed.

“We’ve also got a list of his associates, some known faces he’s been seen with.” Steve shrugged “So we’re putting out an alert.”

“Doesn’t give us much to go on though.” Katie rubbed at her temples.

“When have we ever had much to go on?” Natasha asked and Katie shrugged

“Fair point.” she conceded as Natasha moved off out of sight.

“So how has your day been?” Katie looked back at Steve as he spoke.

“Not bad actually.” she said, “Interviews went well, oh, and we had a bit of an incident at base before.” “Incident?” he frowned, “What kind of incident?”

“Attempted break in, nothing major.”

“Everyone ok?”

“Yeah, honestly it was no big deal, I’ll fill you in on when you get home. For the rest of the day once the interviews were done Tony and I drank beer.”

“Sounds pretty productive.” Steve raised an eyebrow, smile playing on his lips.

“Beer is always productive.” Katie informed him and he chuckled.

“We’ll be airborne in thirty minutes and then we should be home in about four hours.” He said, as Katie looked at her watch. It was almost 8:30 pm. 

“Alright, I’ll see you soon.”

“Love you.”

“And you.” She blew him a kiss and cut the call with a yawn. She was tired. Really tired, so she headed off for a bath. After soaking and listening to music for forty minutes she dried off and shoved on one of Steve’s T-shirts before climbing into bed and laying there for a moment, flicking through the TV channels. She settled on an episode of Family Guy and snuggled down into the large bed, wrapping herself in the soft covers. It always felt odd sleeping without Steve being there. Sometimes she quite enjoyed being able to starfish in the middle of the Emperor sized bed but tonight she wasn’t enjoying being alone.

****

Steve was whacked when they arrived home. Bidding good night to Natasha, instead of changing in the armoury he headed straight back and let himself into their quarters. Crossing the hallway he made his way into the bedroom he paused, a gentle smile spreading on his face. Illuminated in the light from the hallway he could see Katie was curled up in the middle of the bed, using his pillow as a hugging buddy. He quietly crossed the room and perched on the bed, stripping off his boots and uniform top. He paused slightly as Katie stirred and he turned to look at her, gently brushing her hair of her face. He glanced down at the freckles he knew by memory, long thick lashes, soft pink lips, that familiar Stark nose…she looked so peaceful asleep.

She stirred again, and that nose he adored wrinkled in the way it did when she was waking up and she cracked an eye open before her face split into a smile at the sight of her husband.

“Hey.”

“Hey, baby girl.” He smiled, his hand cupping her cheek. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you”

“It’s Okay.” She yawned, leaning into his touch.

“Did I tell you how beautiful you are?” He asked, and through the tiny sliver of light coming from the hallway Katie could see his eyes were full of their usual warmth.

“I don’t think you did today, no.”

“Well in that case, you’re beautiful” He smiled and she chuckled slightly as he dropped a soft kiss on her head. “I’m gonna take a shower and then I’ll be right with you.”

She watched him appreciatively as he stood up and pulled his compression-shirt over his head, leaving him bare form the waist up as he headed into the en-suite. For a moment she was tempted to join him, but then decided against it, laying back onto her side, dozing.

It wasn’t long before the bed dipped and she felt him slide under the covers next to her. She turned over to snuggle up into the crook of his shoulder, her head laying on his chest.

“So, you wanna tell what the incident was today?” he asked, his right hand reaching up to play with the strands of her hair that fell over her shoulder.

“Oh yeah.” she grinned before she launched into an explanation about Scott-slash-Ant Man. He fell silent for a moment but in the end came to the same conclusion as Tony had, there was nothing in there that was dangerous so they just needed to remain vigilant.

“Yeah, well Sam seemed to be taking vigilant to the extreme as he’s already been on the phone to numerous contracts, trying to track him down.” she said “I think he’s a bit annoyed the guy basically kicked his ass. Rhodey caught it all on video but Sam told me never to tell you about it. He’s taken it quite personally.” “I’m not surprised, he had his ass kicked.” Steve sniggered. “Where do I get a copy of the CCTV?”

Katie grinned, “I have it on my phone, Rhodey sent it to me.”

“Play it.” he instructed.

“What now?” “Yes, right now.” he nodded, moving so he was sat up, jolting her off his chest.

“No Sam will kill me!” she laughed, propping herself up on her elbow

“Screw Sam!” he snorted “He plays those damned Phys Ed videos every chance he gets.”

“That’s true.” Katie pondered “Ok, hang on…”

She turned, reaching over for the phone and the TV remote. Blinking at the sudden light, once her eyes were accustomed to the change she pressed a few buttons on her phone and beamed the footage to the TV on the wall. She had to admit, it looked even funnier from the video play back than it had when she had been there.

Steve let out a huge, genuine laugh, his head thrown back, banging against the headboard, arm clutched across his chest as he laughed, and laughed.

“I’m so showing that at our next briefing.” he said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.

“You can’t…” “Oh, I can!”

****

The next morning the pair of them made their way to the briefing room both munching on a piece of toast and each carrying a mug of coffee. It was early, before 8, but Steve wanted the team to be prepared. Everyone filed into the room along with some good humoured grumbling about the time before they dropped into their preferred seats and looked to the front of the room.

“I know it’s early and I’m sorry…” Steve held his hands up, looking round at the team assembled in front of him “But this is important.”

“More important than sleep?” Sam yawned.

Steve ignored him. “Alright, here’s what we already know.”  Steve began to explain how they believed Rumlow to be Crossbones, the masked man who had been causing a whole lot of chaos in the wake of what happened at the Triskelion. Katie knew he was annoyed at himself for not realising he had survived sooner, but even if they had, they’d so much going on, not to mention Ultron had been a much bigger threat in the immediate future

"He’s been targeting former SHIELD labs and police stations all over the country and selling products on the black market.” Natasha spoke.

“Police stations?” Katie asked.

“We think he suffered heavy losses at the raid prior to the last three, so he’s going for easier targets whilst he regroups.” Natasha answered.

“Still no intel on who his buyers are?” Wanda asked.

“No.” Steve shook his head, “He seems to have become an independent terrorist, and doesn’t appear to be working for anyone”

“Our recon yesterday told us that Rumlow seems to be operating with this guy.” Natasha explained as the photos flashed up “He’s known as the Black Mamba…” “Black Mamba?” Wanda deadpanned. “Cross Bones and Black Mamba?”

“NATO has every available pair of eyes out looking for them.”  Steve ignored Wanda and looked at Rhodey.

“Soon as they break cover, we’ll know.” Rhodey nodded

“So then what?” Sam frowned

“More recon?” Katie asked

Steve looked at his wife and nodded. “Possibly, but for now we need to let intelligence do their job. But be prepared, when we get a lead I want to be ready to go.”

There were mumbles around the room and Steve let the team lead the discussion. Sam commented on the crap code names again, causing Wanda to laugh. Katie suggested they should compile a detailed profile on Rumlow, see if they could find a pattern to his behaviour, nodding to Vision. the AI had a knack for it as did Katie, so Steve and Natasha nodded, both agreeing it was a good idea.

“We need to be vigilant.” Steve instructed. “Keep our eyes open for anything that’s out of the ordinary.” He caught Katie’s eye, a wicked smirk crossed his face and she shook her head smiling as he continued “Speaking of which…FRIDAY, play the video”

“Certainly Captain Rogers.” The pictures of Rumlow and Black Mamba disappeared from the screen and suddenly the footage of Sam spiralling through the air started to play. The room started to snigger as Sam looked at Katie who held her hands up in an “it wasn’t me!” gesture.

“Oh come on Man!” He groaned as the room gleefully watched the film, laughter ringing round the room.

******

The next four months ticked by with no further information on Rumlow. They pulled together a potted history which tracked the hospital he had been in, when he had escaped (the local authorities had been searching for him for ages since he threatened his nurse upon waking before violently breaking out) his movements since (ones they knew about and some they hadn’t) but it didn’t give them anything new.

Katie and Tony were buried deeply in their Foundation work, which was taking up a lot of Katie’s time so she wasn’t as close to the investigations as she could have been. Steve was fine with that though, the further away she was from Rumlow frankly the better, but he still made sure she was involved with what they had found and she attended the briefings as best she could when she wasn’t travelling the country. Steve’s chest burst with pride every time he saw his girl on the news, in papers, as the press seemed to be lavishing praise upon the siblings for what they were doing. 

Then, one day in the middle of May, they struck gold when one of the Facial Recognition Alerts they had set up pinged to Black Mamba being spotted in a Lagos, Nigeria. As a result Steve had scrambled them all to attention as soon as he could, which was four am. But there were no complaints about the time, not when they knew this could be their chance to bring him in. They all pitched round the screen as Steve and Natasha identified the local police station that they suspected of him hitting, given where the FR had pinged several times.

“We think they are scoping this area.” Nat said, drawing a red circle round a part of the town.

Katie moved the screen with her fingers, enlarging the aerial shots as she looked at them, her analytical brain going ten to the dozen.

“Layout looks pretty standard.” she said, scanning the map, frowning slightly. Something was nagging at her. And as she looked, she realised what it was.

“What is it?” Steve asked, recognising the tone of her voice and frown on her face.

“The Science Institute.” She nodded towards the screen. “Big white building at the end of the road.”

“Biological weapons are big on the black market.” Sam cottoned on, nodding slightly.

“Yeah but his recent previous hits and our pattern analysis don’t give us any reason to believe that’s what he’s going to be aiming for.” Nat suggested

“You said yourself that you suspected he was going for easier targets whilst he regrouped.” Katie bit her lip. “What if he has?”

“We have to assume Rumlow will go for the police station, it’s the best intel we have.” Steve looked at her and he noticed the expression on Katie’s face as she crossed her arms and opened her mouth to argue. “But we should be vigilant, keep alert.”

She exchanged a glance with Sam, who simply shrugged

“We do this with stealth.” Steve continued, “I want us on the ground and out of sight, we need to catch him with as little fuss or danger to civilians as possible”

"Yeah, and with that in mind Viz you may need to sit this one out.” Nat tossed out and Vision nodded deprecatingly

“We’re still working on him blending in.” Wanda added.

“Same for you too Rhodey.” Steve looked at him “We need someone back here, we could be gone a few days.”

Rhodey nodded. “No problem Cap.” “Get what you need. Wheels up in twenty.” Steve dismissed everyone who immediately went their separate ways to prepare for the upcoming mission leaving Katie, Natasha and Steve alone

“You think she’s ready?” Natasha looked at Steve, nodding to Wanda. He took a deep breath, staring at the door through which she had just left with Vision.

“You say she’s been training hard.” He spoke after a moments pause, looking at Nat.

“Yeah, she has but her powers are still largely impacted by her emotions.”

“Aren’t everyone’s?” Katie asked. “I mean I’m angry or upset I fight harder, as you know.” “Yeah but,” Nat sighed “It isn’t the same, she can do a lot of damage.”

“We have the bare bones of a team as it is.” Steve shook his head and Katie looked down, feeling slightly guilty. She had discussed this with Steve, she wasn’t going. The Stark Foundation Tour had another few visits to Universities this week. Steve spotted the look on her face and he gently nudged her arm “That’s not a criticism honey…” “I know…” she bit her lip. Maybe she should postpone…

“Throw in the fact that this is the first full team mission we’ve had since Ultron and I don’t see any choice but to take Wanda” Steve shrugged, ending the conversation.

Nat took a deep breath and nodded “You’re right. And maybe being in an actual mission environment might help her gain some control, I mean practice makes perfect.”

“You trying to convince me or yourself?” he asked, eyeing her

“Both.” she drawled, heading out of the door.

Katie took a deep breath as Steve turned to her. “You best go.” she smiled softly. Steve bit his lip before he pulled her into an embrace, kissing her softly.

“I’ll call as soon as I can.” He promised, pressing his forehead to hers.

“Stay safe, please.” She whispered as he kissed the tip of her nose and hurried out of the door.

Once he was gone, Katie sank onto a chair, her head in her hands. She was torn, really torn. For the last year or so, post Ultron, they’d had a pretty quiet time of it, mopping up any stray Hydra operatives that strolled into their patch. But this, this was big. Was the Foundation really more important than putting a halt to whatever shitty plan Rumlow was trying to pull off? She was still an Avenger after all, she’d never quit that, and would never quit that.

She’d always be Supernova, whether she wanted to be or not.

“I’m gonna regret this.” She groaned to herself as she jumped up, and headed after the rest of the team.

*****

Steve, at first, had tried to argue against her coming but when Natasha had pointed out they could do with the support he had relented and the team had been bolstered by Supernova’s return to active duty.

Their support staff had done a great job on such a short time, and rented the group a four bedroomed apartment overlooking the street the Police Station was on. It wasn’t fancy, but it was the last place anyone would think would house Avengers. They spent their first day setting up a command centre, with coms links back to base and the next morning they began their recon.

The first two days were completely uneventful. No sign of Rumlow or any of his associates. Nat was the expert at covert ops and so she took the lead, directing them to all the right places coaching Wanda along the way and Steve was pleasantly surprised to see how well the younger girl took to the task, blending in with the locals. Katie took to observing from up high with Sam, her attention on the Biological Institute, unable to shake the nagging feeling she had about the place. She hadn’t mentioned it since their brief a few days ago, but Steve knew when she had an idea in her head she wouldn’t rest so he left her to it. Between them they had the area covered, which was good enough.

On the evening of the fourth day Wanda, Sam and Natasha headed out for a little undercover work in the bars at night, “So you guys can have a little undercover activity of your own” Sam teasingly stated, patting Steve on the back as he left, drawing an exasperated sigh from the Soldier. Nevertheless, the door had hardly clicked shut before Steve had his wife pinned up against a wall, hands wandering all over her body, lips and teeth clashing, her hand fisting in the slightly longer strands of hair at the top of his head as they’d furiously taken advantage of their first time alone in days.

The next morning Katie woke at about five-forty-five am and rolled over only to find the bed empty besides her. Steve could never rest when they were in the middle of a case like this. The clothes they had shed and left scattered all over the floor the night before were now folded and placed on top of the dresser, and she had to smile. Even now he was a total neat freak. Knowing full well where he would be she climbed out of the bed, pulled on Steve’s T-shirt and a pair of shorts before making her way into the dark corridor. She stopped in the doorway of the small dining room which was functioning as a makeshift office and sure enough, there he was, the lamp softly illuminated his handsome face as he flicked through a file, crease evident between his brows.

“Soldier, you’re up so early.” She said gently. Steve had heard her coming of course. Smiling softly, as he was always pleased to see her, he turned to face her as she crossed the room.

“Yeah, sorry, I woke about half an hour ago and couldn’t get back to sleep.”

“You know, I get that you’re fed up of just waiting but sitting here re-reading all this isn’t going to help you know.” Katie sighed, taking the file off him and dropping it onto the wooden table, before she perched on the edge.

“I know, it’s just so goddamned frustrating.” Steve ran his hand over his face. After pondering for a moment Katie stood up and walked behind the chair and placed her hands on his shoulders. He let out a groan of satisfaction and leaned back in his seat as she kneaded the muscles with her hands. She found a particularly bad spot just under his shoulder blade and began to push harder with her thumb. Steve, unable to decide if it was pleasurable or painful, made a little noise which was half way between the two.

“God your shoulders are so knotty.” Katie mused and he left out a breath through his nose moving his head to the side.

“Yeah well, I did a lot of exercise last night.” He quipped back as her hands continued to work at his shoulders.

“I’ll say.” She grinned. “You know that thing you did with your mouth is actually illegal in several countries.” “Good job we live in the land of the free.” His voice was low as he fully relaxed under her touch.  Katie carried on working at his muscles in silence for a moment, happy to let him bliss out. 

“So… answer me a question?” She spoke after a short while, rousing him a little, and he hummed, unable to bring himself to be bothered to talk.

“If you couldn’t sleep why didn’t you wake me to help you?” Her voice was loaded as she leaned forward to wind her arms around his neck, running her hands up and down his chest from behind. Steve loved it when she touched him like that which was why he pouted slightly when she pulled away, but the pout didn’t last long and a smirk crossed his face as Katie walked round to the front of his chair

“And how, exactly, would you have done that?” His hands moved to rest on her hips as she lowered herself so that she was straddling him. She slid one of her hands around the back of his head to tangle in his hair the other settling on his chest.

“Reckon I can think of a few ways.”  She smirked slyly before using her hand in his hair to pull him forward and connect their lips. Steve kissed her back immediately as one hand crept up the back of her top, the other on the side of her thigh, sliding up her shorts.

“Sleepy yet?” She murmured.

“Not exactly the word I would use.” Steve raised an eyebrow.

She grinned and then began to rock her hips on top of him grinding down on his growing hardness and he sighed slightly, kissing her harder as she pushed down again. With an automatic reaction he raised his hips, rocking up to meet her and this time she groaned as she could feel the friction of their clothes grinding against her clit. His hands were now firmly holding her hips underneath her, no, his top, and he sat forward so his mouth could cover the spot under her ear that drove her wild. With a soft sigh she titled her head to the side as he trailed kisses across her jaw until his mouth met her lips again. His hands reached down to grasp the hem of her top and he had just begun to slide it upwards when they were interrupted by a raspy voice.

“I thought all the making out fully clothed supposedly stopped when you reached the age of seventeen.” Natasha scoffed from the doorway. Katie looked up over Steve’s shoulder as he sighed, dropping his head onto her chest, letting out a groan of frustration.

“Don’t you know how to knock?” Katie sighed.

“Don’t you know how to lock a door?” She retorted, dryly.

“I take it this isn’t a social call?” Steve’s voice was muffled as he spoke into his wife’s chest, not bothering to move his head. Katie chuckled a little, her hand running through his hair.

“Half and half.” Natasha arched an eyebrow, “Unsociable hour it maybe but Wanda’s already up and wants breakfast, she was going to head out to the local bakery but I thought it might be an idea to start the re-con early.”

Steve’s head looked up to Katie’s as she shifted off his lap and straightened out her clothing and hair. Steve glanced down at his crotch and Katie raised an eyebrow slightly as he stood up and adjusted his sweats in an attempt to hide his slowly ebbing arousal before he turned to face the red head.

“Well, you’re the expert in this covert stuff.” He raised his brow. “What have you got in mind?”

*****

“All right, what do you see?” Steve was coaxing Wanda, as ever, to observe her surroundings, see and hear everything, on the job training he supposed you could call it.

Meanwhile, Katie glanced down from the rooftop on which Sam and her were currently stood, her scanners doing their usual work. No weapons spotted yet.

“Standard beat cops. Small station. Quiet street. It’s a good target” Wanda’s voice came through the ear piece Steve was wearing.

“There’s an ATM in the South Corner.” he replied “which means….”

“Cameras” Wanda said instantly.

“Both cross streets are one way.” He carried on

“So, compromised escape routes.”

“Means our guy doesn’t care about being seen, he isn’t afraid to make a mess on the way out.” Steve concluded. “You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?”

“Yeah, the red one? It’s cute”

“It’s also bulletproof,” Katie cut in as FRIDAY completed a scan on the vehicle “Which means private security…”

“Which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us” Nat finished

“You guys know I can move things with my mind, right? “ Wanda replied

“Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature.” Natasha continued

“Anybody ever tell you you’re a little paranoid?” Sam asked and Katie turned to look at him, retracting her face plate to give him a grin.

“Not to my face. Why? Did you hear something?” the exchange continued.

“Eyes on target, folks” Steve spoke firmly with an air of authority, bringing them back to the job in hand. “This is the best lead we’ve had on Rumlow in six months. I don’t want to lose him.”

“If he sees us coming that won’t be a problem. He kind of hates us.” Sam replied

As Steve watched he noticed that a garbage truck was slowly pushing its way through traffic, with no regard to pedestrians or other vehicles. He frowned and kept his eyes on it as it continued to gather momentum as it went.  

“Sam, Katie…see that garbage truck? Tag it.”

Sam’s small drone launched, swooping down to scan the vehicle as Katie instructed FRIDAY to do the same.

“Give me X-ray.” Sam spoke. There was a pause before he gave a little moan. “That truck’s loaded for max weight.”

“And the driver’s armed.” Katie concluded.

And in that second it dawned on Steve that his wife had been right all along. The Institute was the target after all.

“It’s a battering ram.” Katie’s voice mumbled on the coms, clearly having realised the same thing he had, and with that Steve turned from the window, running for the door.

“Go, now!” He yelled into his coms as he sprinted down the stairs. “There not hitting the station…” “The institute…” Sam spoke as Steve burst onto the street looking up in time to see Falcon and Supernova spiralling into the air.

And once more the fight was on.

**** Chapter 29 Part 1

**Original Posting**