#social distancing video calling coworkers to friends to lovers

[eggluverz]

hello!! would like to request a modern au with blade, where he’s a idol and due to him being busy with work, he didn’t have the time to visit/spend time with the reader (can be gn! or fem!). hence, he took it upon himself to surprise his s/o

bonus points if they are in a secret relationship and let’s say the reader works as a barista, so imagine the chaos the cafe will be if they see idol! blade having a lover SHSHDHDH

take ur time to write it hehe :3

— EVERYTHING I NEED

In which you’re feeling down about not seeing your boyfriend in a few months and Blade takes time out of his busy tour schedule to surprise you.

PAIRING. idol!blade x barista!reader

WORD COUNT. 1780

GENRE. modern au, idol au, fluff

NOTE. thank u for the request !! <3 i chose gn reader btw :) this was soooo much fun to write ٩( ᐛ )و i enjoyed this sm but warning it’s so very cheesy heh if u don’t like fluffy romcom cringe look away :3 hope y’all like it xx sof

It wasn’t always easy having a long distance boyfriends of sorts. A busy long-distance boyfriend who you sometimes didn’t see in person for months on end. 

You knew he was busy, but you also knew he dedicated most of his free time talking to you. The relationship was important to the both of you— There was no doubt in your mind about that. Still, there were times the sadness and loneliness crept in. 

Today was one of those days. 

It wasn’t a “special” day as one would say. It wasn’t your birthday. It wasn’t Blade’s birthday. And it wasn’t even an anniversary. But still, you missed him so much. 

You had gone months without seeing him. Your only solace was knowing Blade has gone just as long without seeing you and missed you just as much. He has been in and out of the recording studio whenever he had time in between performances, which limited your ability to call or even text each other even more. 

You were aware the life of an idol could get hectic at times, you knew that well before the two of you started dating. But at times, it took more of a toll on you than you would expect. 

“What’s gotten you so down in the dumps?” The voice took you out of your negative thoughts.

You turned to look at your close friend and coworker, Serval. You sighed, thankful afternoon rush hour had just died down so only few customers were at the coffee shop. “Nothing, really. Just missing Blade.”

She patted your back sympathetically. “I can only imagine. It’s hard enough barely seeing my brother because of military service.”

“How is Gepard, by the way? I haven’t seen him in ages!” 

“He’s coming back for a bit next month! We’re having a little party if you want to come,” said Serval excitedly. “But back to you and Blade. When is the last time you saw him?” 

“Over two months,” you said with a pout. You knew some people in long distance relationships would view that as nothing— Some would even be grateful that a month of not seeing their partner was a long time. But that wasn’t you and you felt yourself growing more dejected each day. “We haven’t even video chatted or called for longer than ten minutes in the last few weeks.” You tried to look on the bright side. “But at least I know he’s doing what he loves. I just hope management isn’t pushing him too hard.” 

“That’s a big ask for money-hungry corporations,” Serval said dryly. “Poor boy is definitely overworked. Have you seen their back to back show dates? It’s all over social media. I’m sure he’s using any possible moment he can to spend time with you without being too obvious and letting the press know about your relationship.” 

You nodded, trying to cheer yourself up the moment you saw a group of customers walk in. It was the end of work hours for most office workers around here so you mentally prepared yourself to give your best customer service smile. “I know he is doing his best. I just get sad about it sometimes, but I know it’s all worth it.”

“There you go.” She smiled. “And you’ll see him in no time, I’m positive. But for now, get ready for the evening rush!”

“One step ahead of you,” you sang, already at the cash register prepared to take the orders. 

As you greeted the hoard of customers and helped your coworkers make drinks if they needed extra hands, you realized the rush lasted longer than normal. 

“Is today international coffee day or something?” you asked as you passed by Serval. “It’s crazy busy right now.”

She shrugged, placing two drinks down at the ready table. “Not that I’m aware of. But this has been more than a rush hour. The sun isn’t even out anymore.”

“And people are coming in without buying anything or sitting down?” 

As you wondered what was going on, you heard a loud, high-pitched scream coming from outside. The sound was followed by more and more squeals of excitement. 

You and Serval looked at each other. 

“Speak of the devil,” she said, shaking her head with a grin. “What a grand entrance.”

All reason left your mind as you were filled with hope and joy. You looked back at Serval, asking for permission to leave the cash register. 

“Go,” Serval laughed. “I’ll cover the rest of your shift.” 

“Thank you! I love you!”

With a big smile on your face, you rushed out of the coffee shop and pushed through the crowd outside. Standing tall above the group of fans, Blade stood there with black sunglasses and a face mask— A poor disguise that did little to nothing to protect his identity. 

You lifted your hand up and waved from the back of the crowd, unsure if he would even be able to spot you amidst all the people. You wondered, even, if you should acknowledge him like this in public. You knew the press was crazy and the fans could be even crazier. Blade’s manager thought it was for the best he keep your relationship away from public eye. 

But he was right here. And you didn’t want to wait another second before running up to him and giving him the biggest hug. Still, you refrained. 

You did not want to jeopardize his image, no matter how much you wanted to give him a kiss right now.

Blade looked around the crowd before his gaze landed in your general direction. He lifted his shades to expose his captivatingly red eyes. When he saw you, he gave you a crooked smile. 

“There you are,” he called, his deep voice rumbling over the muffled chatter of his fans. “It’s been too long.”

He maneuvered through the crowd, ignoring all the photos his fans were taking of him. The only thing Blade was paying attention to was you. Not caring you were in front of a large crowd, Blade immediately takes you into his arms. Time stops as you feel yourself melt into his embrace. The scent of his expensive cologne filled your senses, your face warm as it laid flushed against his chest. 

“I missed you,” he murmured into your hair. 

“I missed you, too,” you said. “But when did you get here? I thought you were in another continent? And are we allowed to be like this in public?” 

As happy as you were to be with him, you didn’t want to get him in any sort of trouble with his management company. 

“I got here just a few hours ago.” Blade rubbed slow circles on your back, not releasing you from his embrace. “I have a show in two days but I needed to see you. And, yeah, I might get in trouble by management but who cares?” 

You pulled back urgently, looking up at him in concern. “You should care! I don’t want you to put your career in danger.” 

Blade frowned and closed to distance between the two of you once more. “Management has worked me to the bone for years, if they want me to keep working for them, then they’ll have to put up with this being public. I’m tired of hiding you.” 

Your arms wrapped around him, a small giggle escaping your lips at how ridiculous this must have looked to the public. You didn’t like being in a secret relationship either. You knew it was for his work, but when you happened to watch his interviews and had to hear him lie and say he was single, it hurt your heart, just a little. 

“Besides, at this point in my career, I’m sure they need me more than I need them,” he said with a cocky look on his face. Even with his mouth and nose covered by the mask, you could see it in the crinkle of his eyes. 

“That’s my Bladie,” you teased, running your fingers through his tangled hair. “Mr. Popular and you know it.” 

“And I also know I want to be alone with you right now,” Blade said with a smirk. “Is your shift almost over? Let’s go back home once it ends.” 

“Serval said she’ll cover the rest of my shift for me. We can go home now.” 

“Thank you, Serval,” he said happily. Blade held your hand as he lead you to his car. “I might have to drive a little fast to lose the fans that’ll inevitably try to follow us. Is that okay?”

You noted his mischievous smile and laughed. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the thought of escaping them excites you.” 

“I’m a simple man.” He opened the passenger door for you and gave you a small slap on the ass as you crawled in. “Buckle up, baby.”

“I can’t believe you did that with everyone watching!” you cried as he gently shut the door. You shook your head even though you knew he couldn’t see it. “It’s a good thing I love you.” 

˖⁺‧₊˚❀˚₊‧⁺˖

When you woke up the next morning, your phone was filled with texts from your friends. You opened Serval’s first. 

Serval: LOL guess who’s famous now

Serval: #CoffeeShopASScape #BladieOnTheLoose ... all the trending hashtags are about you and Blade

Serval: I wish you luck LMAO

You stifled a laugh, only mildly concerned about what people had to say. As you shuffled around on the bed, Blade stirred awake. He inched closer to you and lazily draped his arm around your waist. 

“G’morning,” he mumbled. 

“Good morning,” you greeted, kissing his forehead. “Blade… Have you checked your phone yet?” 

“Yeah, when I woke up an hour ago. My manager let me know just how much chaos I caused over voicemail. Then I decided to go back to sleep with you and deal with it later,” he said simply. 

“Blade!” 

He noticed the furrowed crinkle between your brows and he rubbed it away with his thumb. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll get it all sorted out eventually. All that matters is I’m here with you right now.” 

“You’re right. Let’s enjoy this before you have to go back on tour,” you said, placing your phone on your nightstand and ignoring the notifications lighting up your phone. “And if damage control is too hard to deal with, know that I’m always here for you. I’ll answer your call even if it’s in the middle of the night here.” 

Blade cupped your face and softly kissed your lips. “What did I do to deserve you?” 

“I ask myself the same thing,” you said with a smile. “Now, wanna get some coffee?”

[abovethesmokestacks]

Distant Connection 1/7

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Word count: 830

Rating: General audiences

Warnings: none

| Distant Connection Masterlist |

I’m not gonna lie, I am both excited and nervous as heck about this series, but I really hope you guys will take to this story. As stated on the masterlist, this fic will have no tag list. It will update Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 pm EEST. So enjoy chapter one and see you guys Thursday!

Chapter 1: This Is Fine

To: SHIELD Inc (all)

From: Nick Fury

Re: Company quarantine

As most of you have probably seen and heard from the news, we too are facing the threat of  covid-19. As such, management has made the decision to enact social distancing protocols. This means our offices will lock down, and all staff that can work from home will do so. Our IT dept will help anyone who needs assistance in setting up their laptop so they can work from home. If anyone needs to come by the offices to pick up equipment, documents or the like, please contact your supervisor to agree on a time. Attached you will find the complete guidelines for how we will work during this emergency. We don’t know for how long this will last, but we will strive towards going about business as usual, with extra team meetings set up, these will be input in your calendars. Questions can be directed towards me, Maria Hill from HR or your supervisors. Be safe, people. Let’s get through this.

Regards,

Nick Fury

CEO SHIELD Inc

So. This is fine. The world is just a raging dumpster fire, but this is fine. You have a major project you are about to start working on with someone from one of SHIELD’s other offices, and now you need to do that over, what, fucking Zoom? Skype? A fucking endless email chain? You skim through the guidelines and you can’t help the slightly hysterical laugh that escapes you, because. What. The. Fuck. Is this happening, really?

You happen to be in the office when the email is sent out, you get Trip from IT to help you set up the VPN you need to be able to access company systems from home, you rifle through all of your folders and then just dump all of them in a box. It’s a surreal feeling because you are essentially cleaning out your office. As if you’re losing your job. This will be fine. You send an email to your project collaborator, someone named Barnes, suggesting a first video conference call on Monday before you log off.

This is fine.

You drink a lot of wine over the weekend, check the systems, sleep in, put out work appropriate clothes on Sunday evening. It’s still a work day. You’re a civilized human being. This will be fine.

Barnes’ voice crackles through seconds before your screen flickers and his… chest comes into view.

“Think you need to adjust your camera, bud,” you tell him, then panicking and checking your own camera to make sure you’re not giving him a weird boob shot.

“Shit, sorry, I’m- -damn thing.” More flickering and finally, his face comes into view. 

Well. Yikes. A handsome face looks back at you, hair neatly swept back, eyes blue enough that even a shitty laptop webcam makes their colour come through perfectly. 

“Hi, James. I suppose we’ve sort of dealt with the introductions, huh?”

“Yeah, I… I guess so. Or, well… If we’re gonna be working on this for the foreseeable future, you can maybe call me Bucky?”

Bucky. Okay. That’s… Nickname basis from day one. That’s okay. It’s fine. Stay professional. This is important. You shuffle around a few papers, share a document and off you go. Work like any other day. Your slacks chafe against your waist, your chair sucks. You sign off after two hours, stand up, stretch, pop the button on your slack, panic again when you’re gripped by the fear that you didn’t turn off your camera. It’s off. Okay. This is fine. You can work with Barnes. This is fine. You’re gonna need to figure something out about the chair. And the slacks.

Tuesday.

“Ugh, sorry, can we- Keep talking, okay, I need to stretch, my back is killing me.”

Wednesday.

“Oh, Jesus!

“What? What happened?”

“Goddamn car backfired down the street.”

“Oh. That- Coulda been worse, right?”

Thursday.

“Hi, Ba-”

There’s a cat butt on your screen. A great, big furry cat butt.

“Alpine! Off the desk, now! Off! Jesus Christ, I can’t take you anywhere! I’m so sorry, I was getting a coffee and had the call window up, he must’ve snuck in and gotten to the button to open the call. He is apparently ready to take over the world, opposable thumbs be damned.”

You can’t help but smile, wide and earnest, for the first time all week. 

“You have a cat?”

“I have a monster, but sure. Had ‘im for about… two years now? No manners. Do you have any pets? Or… kids?”

“No on both accounts. Just me kicking around in this shoebox.”

“Okay. I’m sharing a place with a coupla roommates, but we're all working from home now, and we're all in our rooms, so pretty much in a shoebox here, too.”

The connection flakes a little, freezing the image on him on a small smile. Yeah, okay, he’s cute. But this is work. Get a grip, damn it.

This is fine.

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

Hi I was wondering if you know of any klaine/cc fics where they are stuck in quarantine together <3

Cornelia Street by BlurglesmurfKlaine 

Three years ago, Kurt and Blaine went on a disaster of a date and never quite got off on the right foot. Now, just before they graduate from NYADA, there’s a national outbreak and they’re both self-quarantined in a mutual friend’s apartment.

~~~~~

Six Feet Apart by @kuhlaine

Having to shelter in place in New York is already difficult enough, but when Kurt Hummel’s roommate decides to head back to Ohio to ride out the pandemic with her family, things become infinitely more complicated. At the very least his new quarantine roommate, Blaine, isn’t too bad on the eyes.

Note: Also check out Alone Together by the same author.

~~~~~

Respect and Obey by @teddyshoney

Blaine has always had a little trouble with his anxiety, and the pandemic is causing an attack. His Dom tries to help, but sometimes it's hard to shut off the voices in your head.

~~~~~

OMG They Were Zoommates by @hazelandglasz

Inspired by this post https://ao3commentoftheday.tumblr.com/post/613720513585496064/how-dare-you-hide-this-in-the-tags:

Of course I love ‘and they were quarantined’ but take a moment and consider 'and they were videoconferencing.’

Two people who meet for the first time while social distancing. They work in different departments or in different cities. At first they’re dressed business casual and keeping things professional. Then one day a pet appears and conversation gets casual.

They start sharing tips for how to exercise in a tiny apartment. They commiserate over the lack of favourite foods or activities. It turns out they were both going to go to an event that is now canceled.

Eventually, they’re both in their pajamas. Work day is done, but their call has now moved to the evening. They cook the same meal, stream a movie together. When will this lockdown end?

So much potential for pining. So many longing looks. Social distancing video calling coworkers to friends to lovers.

~~~~~

If the World Was Ending by crissgrons

The trials and tribulations of a quarantined Kurt and Blaine.

~~~~~

Private Time by @flowerfan2

One thing about being in quarantine with your grad school roommates... you hardly get any private time...

~~~~~

Self Isolation by KatyWrites

March 22nd 2020

A short snapshot of life in 2020

~~~~~

Zoom Mates by @gleefuldarrencrissfan (WIP)

Kurt Hummel is a once-respected illustrator that’s being punished for one misfortunate mistake by being assigned to novice writers that either lack motivation or inspiration until his boss introduces him to a talented up and coming author and former teacher, Blaine Anderson. The catch. It’s March 2020, and they are quarantined and they have to conduct their meetings over Zoom.

Happy reading! - HKVoyage

[ao3feed-goodomens]

OMG, they were Zoomates!

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2SsKS07

by Kore88

A video-conferencing, lockdown AU.

Social distancing video calling coworkers to friends to lovers

Words: 3718, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens), Gabriel (Good Omens), Beelzebub (Good Omens), Hastur (Good Omens), Ligur (Good Omens), Michael (Good Omens)

Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)

Additional Tags: and they were zoomates, Lockdown Fic, Quarantine, Mutual Pining, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), AU, Good Omens AU, It's a Good Omens Lockdown AU, Slow Burn, Eventual Romance

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2SsKS07

[namea]

Goth Rainbowcy Challenge!

I’m sorry guys, I couldn’t resist. So this is my Goth Rainbowcy challenge. I came up with it for shits and giggles but I think it’ll be fun! It’s a 7 gen challenge that plays with different game features and goth subcultures at the same time. You don’t have to be goth to do it (I’m not) and you can play with vanilla, berry, or any sims in between. Hit the read-more to see it! Tag “GothRainbowcy” with your pictures. I’d love to see them!! <333 

Goth Rainbowcy rules:

No money cheats

No trait, skill, or gameplay cheats

Occasional motives cheating allowed

Appearance cheats free game

Choose the heir however you want.

Aging should be on.

 You can play this berry, banilla, or however you want!! I have a mix in my game so who knows where mine will go! While matching hair/eyes/clothes are encouraged like in most rainbowcy challenges they aren’t mandatory at all!

Gen 1 – Fledgling Goth

If no one wants to try and understand you, you’ll strike out on your own! Build a life for yourself and start a successful dark legacy of awesomeness.

 Start as a monochrome black white and grey themed goth teen. Choose any aspiration or traits and any style of gothiness that you want. Start on an empty lot. Choose any 3 of the following items to place on the lot:

Tent

3 small planters

Cheapest BBQ grill

Potty Bush

Easel

Ice chest

woodworking table

Instrument

Cheapest sink

camera

Achieve:

Don’t purchase anything else until you’ve made 500 simoleons. 

Have 1 pet. Have the following on the lot:

Cat: Cheapest litter box, Cheapest bowl

Dog: Cheapest bowl, One cheap toy

Don’t get another pet when this one dies

Get a job you slacker! Any job will do. When you’ve made 500 simoleons (in any way) go ahead and choose one extra item from the list to give yourself as a reward. Make sure you have at least 100 simoleons left!

Maintain a B or higher grade in school. 

Have at least 1 best friend who isn’t goth.

Have at least 1 other friend who is goth.

Have at least 1 enemy

Have at least 1 friend who is a senior citizen

Attempt (but fail) to get to know Death until you’re a senior yourself, then become friends with Death.

Upon aging into adult get a job in any industry you like and advance to the furthest level.

Upon aging into adult complete your aspiration.

Upon aging into an adult marry and have at least one child with another goth.

Build a house on your lot bit by bit for you and your family to live in. It can be themed gothy or not, up to you. 

Gen 2: Red – Gothabilly

Your parents taught you a love of goth culture and fashion…but they never expected that you’d hear the swinging sounds of the 50’s in your heart. It’s time to make your way into the world and show it what you can do!

This sim should have the Serial Romantic aspiration and the following traits: Music Lover, Self Assured, and ONE other trait of your choosing. Upon reaching adulthood they should enter the entertainer career and eventually choose the musician branch.

This generation starts when your sim is a teen. This sim should have a red and black aesthetic with a 50’s twist similar to rockabilly but more goth. Red hair and eyes recommended. To finish out this generation you should do as much of the following as possible before the next generation starts:

Own at least 2 guitars and one microphone.

Have checkered floors in your kitchen.

Win a Karaoke contest at least twice

Have 3 non-goth best friends who introduce them to music as a kid or teen.

Have 1 goth best friend

Win a dance off against someone.

Reach level 10 of the guitar skill and singing skill.

 Reach the highest level of the musician career.

Marry a non Gothabilly goth.

Have one child with them.

Eventually break up and marry a non goth.

Have one child with them

Break up and marry another goth. If you don’t have a boy and a girl yet have kids with them until you have at least one boy and one girl. Stay with them or break up as you want.

Have a dog and a cat.

Max relationship with your children and pets. Be friends again with both exes before death.

Finish the aspiration.

 Gen 3: Orange – Steampunk

Music never interested you the way it did your parents. You weren’t social or loud, you didn’t care much for the 50’s aesthetic…in fact you worried you weren’t even…goth…until you saw a steam engine in a movie. You were enamored quickly and suddenly it made sense, the cogs and steam of the world. Brass goggles, corsets, clockwork and elegance. This is your scene. Your parents may not understand but they love you anyway.

This generation starts when your founder has died. The sim should have an orange, brown, black, and brass aesthetic or however you wanna do steampunk. Orange hair and eyes recommended. Skin too if ya wanna berrify it.

This sim should have the Nerd Brain aspiration and the following traits: Genius, Loner, and one other trait of your choosing. Upon reaching adulthood you should join the Scientist career.

To finish out this generation you should do as much of the following as possible before the next generation starts:

Reach the top level of the scientist career

Have 2 cats

Reach level 10 of the handiness skill

Reach level 10 of the fishing skill

Own a woodworking table and create at least one of every option.

Catch at least 12 different kinds of fish

Have only one child with a one night stand

Never marry, you’re too busy!

Have a strained relationship with your child

Max relationship with your cats

Have only 1 best friend who is goth but be on good terms with as many of your coworkers as possible.

Earn the marketable trait

Own at least 4 high tier electronics

Fully upgrade at least 5 things in the family home.

Complete the aspiration

Retire after reaching the highest scientist level and concentrate on inventing at home.

Finally fall in love as a senior but don’t marry before death.

Generation 4 – Yellow: Pastel Goth

You never got along with your parent and felt cheated by not having a two parent home. Their aesthetic wasn’t as dark as your grandparents but you still try to distance yourself from it as much as possible. The cute but creepy aesthetic of pastel goth appeals to you in a lot of ways and that’s where you’re going with your life.

This generation starts when the sim is a teen. This sim should have the Super Parent aspiration and the following traits: Childish, Family oriented, And one other trait of your choice! This sim should join the social media career as a trend setter.

To finish out this generation you should do as much of the following as possible before the next gen starts:

Completely re-decorate the family home (except your parent’s room) replacing all black with white and the colours to pastels with some black accents.

Reach the top level of the trend setter career.

Own at least 2 rats in your lifetime.

Max the Parenting, gardening, and floral arranging skills.

Grow a cowplant

Earn a money tree.

Earn the green thumb trait.

Leave the house at night as little as possible.

Have 2 goth best friends

Have 1 pastel goth friend

Have at least 1 non goth friend

Marry your goth high school sweetheart

Have at least 2 kids

Finally get a friendly relationship with your parent after your first child is born.

Max your relationship with your kids but not your spouse.

Make at least 5000 simoleons with things you grow.

Generation 5 – Green: Cybergoth

You were always close with your parents but man that pastel aesthetic bothered you. Looking into old family albums you found pictures of your great grandparents and started learning about the darker sides of goth. Nothing could keep up with the electronic beats in your ears until you found cybergoth. With shiny blacks and neon colours you were home. Gas masks and hoses forever! Just don’t trip over them.

 Generation 2 should be dead before this generation starts. This generation starts when your sim reaches teenhood. This sim should have the Computer whiz aspiration and the following traits: Hot headed, Dance Machine, One other trait of your choice. Green hair and eyes are recommended.

 To finish out this generation you should do as much of the following as possible before the next generation starts:

 Join the programmer career but quit when you get to the career split and join the secret agent career in the oracle branch.

Max the DJ skill

Max the Dancing skill

Get rid of the pastel in at least half of the house

Reach at least level 5 in the programming and Video game skills

Win at least 3 dance offs

Have 1 goth best friend

Meet at least 2 aliens and become friends

Max your relationship with your spouse and kids

Have no pets

Earn the Mentor trait

Die before reaching senior age

Generation 6 – Blue: Victorian Goth

The death of your parent struck you hard…but not just with sadness. You discovered a beauty in the calm darkness of the graveyard. Poetry and art call to you and invite you to feel and experience that sadness until it leaves you feeling refreshed.

Generation 3 and 4 should be dead before this generation starts along with the parent from gen 5. This generation starts as soon as gen 5 parent dies. This sim should have the Renaissance Sim aspiration and the following traits: Gloomy, Art Lover, and one trait of your choice. Blue hair and eyes recommended.

To finish out this generation you should do as much of the following as possible before the next generation starts:

Finish redecorating the house back to its dark roots with a classical flair

Join the artist career and advance to the highest level in the branch of your choice.

Max the art skill

Max the violin skill

Max the logic skill

Max the gardening skill

Grow Roses, Dahlias, Orchids, and wolfsbane..

Graft to create a deathflower, then plant it and grow them.

Grow Roses, Dahlias, Orchids, and wolfsbane as well.

Paint at least 2 masterpieces in every art category.

Don’t go out during the day if possible.

Work from home as much as possible.

Have no close friends

Have a black cat. Keep owning one cat at a time of their family line.

Meet a marry a vampire.

Have one child with them.

Allow them to turn you the day before you become a senior.

Grow a plasma fruit tree

Max your relationship with your child but not your spouse.

Your spouse dies of “mysterious circumstances”.

Final generation – Purple: Modern Vamp Goth 

People talk about your family a lot. They’ve always been dark, your parents never came out in the day, and one parent disappeared under mysterious circumstances. They whisper that your other parent did it but you don’t care. You know it’s not true. You love the darkness but you’re a cheerful soul at heart. You grew up knowing something was different about your parents but it’s not until you reach teendom that you learn about your vampiric heritage and what that means. It’s time to embrace eternity.

This is the final gen! Thanks for playing!! This sim should have any of the vampire aspirations and the following traits: Cheerful Good/Evil (your choice) and one other trait of your choice. They should join the writer career and max out the author branch writing the story of their family. Purple hair and eyes recommended. Try to do the following:

Write at least 1 book of each genre

Finish all of the vampire lore books and max the vampire lore skill

Become a master vampire

Turn at least 3 sims and move them in with you

Own a coffin

Have 1 non goth best friend, turn them as well.

Max at least 7 skills

Earn at least 500,000 simoleons

Max the pipe organ skill

Destroy and rebuild the house completely or move to another world.

Thanks for playing!!

[aion-rsa]

Malcolm & Marie and the Rise of Quarantine Filmmaking in COVID

https://ift.tt/3p29Il0

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when accomplishing even the simplest tasks had taken on the burden of the impossible, Netflix’s “secret pandemic movie,” Malcolm & Marie, became a way to process a year of stalled projects and compromised creative control. A Deadline feature retraced how Zendaya, one half of the two-hander’s cast, reached out to Euphoria creator Sam Levinson with the plea for a self-contained project when COVID delayed the HBO drama’s new season.

As Levinson rushed to write a script based loosely on his own experiences of failing to thank his wife at a movie premiere, he and Zendaya brought on Tenet star John David Washington for a movie at the complete opposite end of the spectrum from Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster; the Euphoria crew, in a COVID bubble in California, were able to keep working for a few weeks in June 2020 when so many others were laid off. What they created was a passionate, claustrophobic black-and-white relationship drama that has the rare distinction of being created during a pandemic while its story still reflects life before the virus.

On its own, Malcolm & Marie falls somewhat short of Oscar bait expectations. However, the film takes on greater nuance when considered in the context of the growing subgenre of post-lockdown movies. While this may ultimately prove to be a short-lived category of filmmaking, it already includes four incredibly varied films. Even if they all started with the same universal constraints—COVID tests and social distancing, small casts instead of big—they make for radically different statements about human connection (either during the pandemic or not), futility, about purpose.

In fact, you can plot these four movies over the axes of ignoring COVID versus acknowledging COVID in their actual plots, and closeness versus distance in the execution of said stories.

Malcolm & Marie

Ignoring the Virus and Embracing the Closeness of Quarantine

What’s immediately ironic about Malcolm & Marie is that its setting is anathema to our current situation: The eponymous couple come home from a movie premiere (remember those?), where he (Washington) is being celebrated as a rising Hollywood talent, and she (Zendaya)—an amateur actress, a recovering drug addict, definitely not a model—has been reduced merely to his loyal girlfriend. Their feature film-length fight might take place within the bounds of their spacious rented house, but every source of conflict and sticking point exists out in a non-pandemic world.

At the same time, the viewer is tangentially aware of the real-world limitations in filming this movie, i.e. the need to stay in one setting with only two players. The inability to leave that house–except for Marie’s desperate little steps of leaning out the window to smoke or of that ambiguous ending–is authentic to anyone who has been stuck in a relationship-defining fight: There are no shortcuts, no escapes; the only option is to see it through to the ugly end, only to watch the toxic cycle start all over again.

The actors’ close attention and shaping of their roles lends Malcolm and Marie’s relationship real intimacy, but it also contributes to the sheer exhaustion of watching these young lovers metaphorically eat their own tails without getting anywhere. Despite Malcolm’s appalling outbursts and Marie’s stunning monologues, nothing really changes; even his quiet “I’m sorry” at the end is a puny concession after all that emotional effort.

In fact, this ouroboros feels most like a reflection of the endlessly unfruitful fights that many a couple has experienced since lockdown began.

Locked Down

Acknowledging the Virus and Embracing the Closeness of Quarantine

By contrast, Mr. & Mrs. Smith director Doug Liman’s Locked Down casts its marquee stars (Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor) as ordinary people in the extraordinary circumstances of early 2020, when a pandemic that people still didn’t fully understand reshaped their home into a workspace, and work into a prison rather than an outlet. Steven Knight’s script—written in July 2020, on a dare—carries so many authentic field notes that it’s almost difficult to watch. You feel it from Zoom fatigue, with wine o’clock creeping up into the AM, to people talking over one another on video calls where they’re ostensibly checking in on each other. 

Liman also employed the same amusing device used by the Parks and Recreation COVID special, in which real-life couples had to explain why their characters happened to be inhabiting the same physical space during this era of highly negotiating personal contact. In Locked Down, it’s Psych star Dulé Hill and his costar (and real-life wife) Jazmyn Simon as the sympathetic American counterparts to Linda (Hathaway) and Paxton (Ejiofor), an American and a Brit who are not holding up well enough in quarantine. (A bevy of cameos, including Mark Gatiss, Mindy Kaling, Ben Kingsley, and more also scratches that itch of wondering what celebrities’ homes might look like.)

Paxton and Linda’s marriage seems to have ended around Christmas 2019, but being stuck in their flat just as the pandemic hit—he’s a driver unable to work while she’s a CEO who has the excruciating duty of firing her “family” of coworkers over Zoom—has beaten their senses of purpose to a pulp. Paxton attempts to make up for that by making the masked grocery runs and trying to connect with his neighbors through shouted evening poetry, but he’s suffering the all-too-familiar depression of the furloughed. Linda isn’t far behind when she finally confronts the soullessness of her corporate job.

When fate delivers the incredible coincidence of Linda overseeing the load-out of a priceless diamond from Harrods—with Paxton assigned to transport the goods—the estranged couple decide to embark on a heist, because truly what else are you going to do during a pandemic? Ultimately, Locked Down does a better job with the romantic dramedy aspect than the heist, yet its use of the iconic London department store is as ambitious as Ocean’s 8 with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Though there are more twists to the movie’s character studies than the logistics of nicking the diamond, the scenes in which Linda and Paxton stroll through the deserted Harrods food court—which arguably carries just as many culinary treasures—provide that same breathless sense of getting away with something.

Both films were made with unprecedented levels of safety and sacrifice, which regardless of the final products’ quality will always set them apart from pre-COVID entertainment as successes in filmmaking. But then there are the COVID films that have embraced social distancing, building it into a plot point or stylistic device rather than employing movie magic to obscure it.

Host

Acknowledging the Virus and Embracing Social Distancing

Interestingly, one of Levinson’s early pitches to Zendaya was a horror film, although of course they eventually pivoted to relationship drama. Fortunately, another enterprising group of creatives went the horror route, and they managed to fold in a poignant tale of female friendship over digital distances in 2020’s Host.

A British found footage successor to Paranormal Activity told entirely over Zoom, this indie tale has a shockingly reasonable premise: Five girlfriends, bored to tears during lockdown, decide to conduct a séance. (Again, what else are you going to do?) But when sarcastic Jemma (Jemma Moore) fakes a backstory about a suicidal friend and their medium Seylan (Seylan Baxter) mysteriously drops the call, the girls are on their own as a demonic force crosses over into the physical plane… and into each of their flats.

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In the past year, we’ve all learned that Zoom calls can be awkward, boring, and occasionally revelatory—but this is the first time they’re truly scary. Host utilizes the familiar horror tropes of darkened rooms and whispered panting at the slightest of suspicious noises, but it takes on an utterly disturbing dimension when it’s five young women, in the prime of their lives, are all trapped at home apart from one another—not even that far, as Jemma and séance enthusiast Haley (Haley Bishop) live within walking distance of each other.

In found footage fashion, there are plenty of Paranormal Activity-esque moments of people getting dragged or lifted by otherworldly forces. Kudos to director and co-writer Rob Savage for remotely directing his actors, who had to learn how to do the aforementioned practical effects inside their own homes. But where Host is scariest is when it leans into Zoom technology, from a chilling use of silly facial filters to a sequence that will make you reconsider ever making a custom video background for your future Zooms.

As the demon begins picking them off at random, with the others watching in helpless horror, Jemma’s shift from apathetic nonbeliever to selflessly trying to save Haley is incredibly moving. There’s so much history to this fractured friendship that you’ll be rooting for them to reconcile, even as you realize Host’s final trick: It’s only as long as an unpaid Zoom session.

How It Ends

Ignoring the Virus But Still Embracing Social Distancing

You could make the argument that Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones’ pre-apocalyptic comedy could be interpreted as taking place during COVID, what with its many comedy stars all acting a conspicuous six or more feet from one another. It’s just that even if that were true, it wouldn’t matter, because there are bigger fish to fry. Specifically, an asteroid en route for Earth, conveniently set to make impact at the end of Liza’s (Lister-Jones) and everyone else’s last day in sunny Los Angeles.

Trying to make it to an end-of-the-world party in LA without her car, which has been stolen, Liza and her younger self (Devs’ Cailee Spaney) wander through the aggressively bright county, populated with other people doing their best to cope. Unlike the other films on this list, How It Ends makes no effort to hide that it was shot with stringent COVID protocols enforcing social distancing: Cameos from the likes of Fred Armisen and Lamorne Morris are shot on different floors of houses while Bradley Whitford is so far removed in his scene that it’s impossible to get him and Lister-Jones in the same shot.

How It Ends is more a series of loosely-connected sketches than a super cohesive narrative, but that’s how the film manages to bring in so many talented stars as kooky strangers whom the two Lizas encounter, from Nick Kroll as the shadiest of drug dealers to Olivia Wilde as Liza’s estranged psychic friend (a scene-stealer) ,to Ayo Edibiri (another absolute delight) as a teacher who decided, hey, why not try her hand at stand-up comedy while she still can? Even with this layer of grim humor, get ready for this movie to spark unexpected pathos in these Decameron-esque encounters between strangers. By leaning into the physical distance between these characters, How It Ends shows how even when faced with the literal apocalypse, humans will still hold themselves apart from one another. While Liza makes peace with a number of key figures from her life, by the time the asteroid is creeping its way to the horizon, she is faced with her most challenging, but also most freeing, task: To accept that it’s okay to just be alone with yourself during a world-changing catastrophe.

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The post Malcolm & Marie and the Rise of Quarantine Filmmaking in COVID appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3rMMkKf

[ao3feed-ineffablehusbandz]

OMG, they were Zoomates!

by Kore88

A video-conferencing, lockdown AU.

Social distancing video calling coworkers to friends to lovers

Words: 3718, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens), Gabriel (Good Omens), Beelzebub (Good Omens), Hastur (Good Omens), Ligur (Good Omens), Michael (Good Omens)

Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)

Additional Tags: and they were zoomates, Lockdown Fic, Quarantine, Mutual Pining, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), AU, Good Omens AU, It's a Good Omens Lockdown AU, Slow Burn, Eventual Romance

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/23949733

[abovethesmokestacks]

Distant Connection (7/7)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Word count: 1100

Rating: All audiences

Warnings: None. Or... a little awkwardness?

| Distant Connection masterlist |

We’re finally here, chapter seven. I’ve loved posting this series and seeing how you guys have taken to it. If this has at all in any way made days of self-quarantining and shelter in place a little easier, than it’s been my honour posting this and I hope you will enjoy the last chapter. I think someone asked at some point if we’d get something from Bucky’s POV, and well... who am I to deny you? Please stay safe, my darlings.

Chapter 7: Social Dumbassing

“I feel bad for making you watch all this sappy crap. Why don’t you pick a movie tonight?”

Bucky wants to say he doesn’t mind sappy. That he spends most movies sneaking glances at the way your face lights up, and sometimes he couldn’t tell you what the movie had been about altogether. That he enjoys sappy movies because, well, you enjoy them.

“Wow, it’s been… almost four months.”

He has learned to live with a lot of things. Like the fact that it’s okay to wake up and have to check his phone to be sure of the date and weekday. How much he really enjoys curries even though his own attempt at making one ended in disaster and how it’s a safer bet to order it from the nice Indian restaurant a couple of blocks away. But four months. Absurd. Time is weird, and he is not sure if time has moved slow or fast, but it has moved, swirled around and tossed him into a vortex with you at the center.

“It’s weird, right? 

Nod.

“I’m not sure I’m entirely ready to let go of this, but I mean… We’ve done our part? Do you wanna do the honors of sending it over to May?”

What he wants to do is accidentally delete the entire project. Start over. Have life be Casual Quarted Thursdays and Netflix and kind for just a while longer. 

“Bucky?”

Right. Project. Finished.

“Um, yeah. Sure. I can… I can send it. I’ll send it. To May.”

It’s stupid. This is not optimal. But you smile and he smiles and he melts and why is the world the way it is? Then again, this was coming. Sooner or later the two of you would finish this. It’s fine. Bucky sends off the project, takes his lunch break alone, really alone, and feels like a dumbass.

>>I swear I’m not hoarding, but they were on sale.

image_036.jpg

>>Normally I go for Vermont’s finest, but damn, Bluebell knows what’s up

>>Hope you’re doing okay over there

“Yeah,” he wants to say, “Dandy. Missing the hell out of you even though we haven’t met in person, but oh yeah, dandy.”

>>I’m good. Junior’s back, so quiet nights are over. Think we’ll actually be out of this in a month like they’re saying?

It’s a little more than that. As soon as it’s confirmed, Bucky dives into the spin cycle that is supposedly normal life and tries to make it work. HR contacts him about reinitiating his transfer. He hunts for apartments, video chats with eleven dubious landlords and/or roommates before he accepts a room in a shared apartment in Brooklyn Heights. Steve seems like a good guy, reasonable on the rent and can take him in stat. Well. Two weeks.

“Hi, sorry I haven’t, y’know, it’s just- things are crazy. Again. But different. God, okay. Just… wanted to say hi, hope you’re okay. Maybe we could watch a movie this weekend?”

“Hi, it’s okay, things are weird here, too. Uh… I don’t think I can do a movie this weekend, kinda… have a big thing happening. I’ll be mostly offline, but I’ll text you Sunday?”

“Oh? Big thing? That sounds… big. Sorry. I promised you to lay off the innuendos. But this was accidental. Have fun. Or be safe. Whatever you’re doing. Be fun, have safe?”

Bucky packs himself up, takes Friday off and spends his last official day working for the Indianapolis-office in his bare room with his laptop on the little side table they usually keep by the door, and a rickety chair. The drive is murder and parking in NYC is a nightmare, but he’s in and mostly unpacked by Sunday.

>>Welp, going back to the office tomorrow. Is this what work appropriate looks like? I need to look presentable for society

image_139.jpg

>>Aw, shucks, and here I thought this was what passed as work appropriate

 Image_493.jpg

>>I’ll pay you money for you to film your reaction going into the office tomorrow in the llama pajama

On the one hand… tempting.

On the other hand… He does not want to get on HR’s shit list his first day in the new office.

>>Goodnight

He hovers. Wants to type sweetheart. Writes it out, deletes it.

>>Goodnight. Have a good day at the office.

It is a good day. Hill from HR meets him in the lobby, shows him his office, takes him around. Does he look for you? Maybe. But Hill doesn’t need to know that. Fury dips into his office after lunch, giving him the finger wiggle that says “walk and talk”. He can’t be in trouble already, right?

“May sent me feedback on your project, it was good work, Barnes, both of you. She did however have a few concerns that she wanted to discuss...”

Bucky hears concerns and the rest is drowned out as he mentally goes over every point in the project and where things could have fucked up. Fury’s still talking. Shit.

“... so I thought the two of you could meet with May and look over it together.”

“What?

“Bucky?”

“What?”

It’s a good day. Fury looks between you, then backs away like he can’t nope out fast enough. You’re- It’s-

“Hi.”

He can’t stop looking, can’t make himself talk. There’s the smile and the voice and the outfit and he’s not in the llama pajama. His fingers twitch.

“Bucky?” you ask, tilting your head.

“Sorry, I’m- Hi. I... really wanna touch you, is that- Shit. Not like that. Shake hands, I mean. Like civilized people. Is that a thing we do again?”

Hold out your hand, Barnes. Don’t be a dumbass.

“You’re in New York?” comes the question, you’re still rooted to your spot.

“It was… my big thing this weekend? I wanted to tell you, but… busy.”

One step closer, a nod. “Moving does that.” 

He knows that tone so well by now. Knows it, basks in it, because yes, you’re here, but all of the other stuff is also here. Bucky looks down, tries to find a way to say it that doesn’t make him sound like a schmuck and he swears he can feel his brain shut down.

“Can I..?”

You’re standing there, reaching for him, and he falls into your embrace and it’s right and good and the world shifting on its axis and hot sauce and ice cream. Maybe talking can happen later. There’s a meeting. May. She’s-

“I’m really glad I have you, Bucky,” you whisper against his neck.

And God. It’s good. It’s perfect.

“Yeah. Me, too.”

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

Have you got any other recommendations for office romance or, failing that just where they are co workers? Thanks!

I suggest you browse our coworkers!Klaine tag. Here are a few to get you started. - HKVoyage

The Hating Game by @coffeeorderwrites

Blaine can count on one hand the amount of people he has hated in his life. But Kurt Hummel is definitely The Worst.

Or: That co-workers AU where they hate each other (until they don't)

~~~~~

OMG They Were Zoommates by @hazelandglasz

Inspired by this post https://ao3commentoftheday.tumblr.com/post/613720513585496064/how-dare-you-hide-this-in-the-tags:

Of course I love ‘and they were quarantined’ but take a moment and consider 'and they were videoconferencing.’

Two people who meet for the first time while social distancing. They work in different departments or in different cities. At first they’re dressed business casual and keeping things professional. Then one day a pet appears and conversation gets casual.

They start sharing tips for how to exercise in a tiny apartment. They commiserate over the lack of favourite foods or activities. It turns out they were both going to go to an event that is now canceled.

Eventually, they’re both in their pajamas. Work day is done, but their call has now moved to the evening. They cook the same meal, stream a movie together. When will this lockdown end?

So much potential for pining. So many longing looks. Social distancing video calling coworkers to friends to lovers.

~~~~~

Hey Mister DJ, Put a Record On by @honeysucklepink

It's Valentine's Day, and single coworkers Kurt and Blaine are stuck at the campus radio station playing sappy love songs and dedications. All the cheese is giving them indigestion, but who knows? Maybe by the end of their shift, they'll be humming a different tune...

~~~~~

In A Car With A Beautiful Boy by @little-escapist

Blaine is always willing to help out someone in need. When Kurt Hummel, a person he's never met before, asks for a carpooling arrangement in the company intra from his neighborhood, Blaine agrees instantly.

If he only knew how one innocent helpful act is going to change his life.

Sequel: He Loves You 

~~~~~

All I Do Is Dream Of You (Vogue Verse) by @notthetoothfairy

Kurt’s interview at Vogue.com lands him an internship in fashion design, an opportunity to change his career path and, most importantly, a maybe-not-so-hopeless crush on his co-worker Blaine. Vogue!AU with intern!Klaine. Written for Klaine Advent 2016. Changing POVs (Kurt odd and Blaine even chapter numbers).

[ao3feed-crowley]

OMG, they were Zoomates!

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2SsKS07

by Kore88

A video-conferencing, lockdown AU.

Social distancing video calling coworkers to friends to lovers

Words: 3718, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens), Gabriel (Good Omens), Beelzebub (Good Omens), Hastur (Good Omens), Ligur (Good Omens), Michael (Good Omens)

Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)

Additional Tags: and they were zoomates, Lockdown Fic, Quarantine, Mutual Pining, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), AU, Good Omens AU, It's a Good Omens Lockdown AU, Slow Burn, Eventual Romance

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2SsKS07

[ao3feed-kurthummel]

OMG They Were Zoommates

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/39NeGKU

by hazelandglasz

Inspired by this post https://ift.tt/34fcn20 Of course I love ‘and they were quarantined’ but take a moment and consider 'and they were videoconferencing.’ Two people who meet for the first time while social distancing. They work in different departments or in different cities. At first they’re dressed business casual and keeping things professional. Then one day a pet appears and conversation gets casual. They start sharing tips for how to exercise in a tiny apartment. They commiserate over the lack of favourite foods or activities. It turns out they were both going to go to an event that is now canceled. Eventually, they’re both in their pajamas. Work day is done, but their call has now moved to the evening. They cook the same meal, stream a movie together. When will this lockdown end? So much potential for pining. So many longing looks. Social distancing video calling coworkers to friends to lovers.

Words: 2967, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Glee

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen, M/M

Characters: Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson, Tina Cohen-Chang, Artie Abrams, Wes (Glee), David the Warbler (Glee), Trent (Glee), pets - Character

Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel, Tina Cohen-Chang & Kurt Hummel, Artie Abrams & Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson & Wes, Blaine Anderson & David

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, COVID-19, Zoom Meetings, Long-Distance Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Humor

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/39NeGKU This is an automatic feed of all new stories posted to the Kurt Hummel tag on AO3. Because of that, it is not guaranteed that Kurt is the main character in the story. There is also no judgment made as to ships, length, or warnings. Please verify content upon clicking through to AO3.

[ao3feed-buckybarnes]

Distant Connection

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2yqjEjG

by abovethesmokestacks

You happen to be in the office when the email is sent out, you get Trip from IT to help you set up the VPN you need to be able to access company systems from home, you rifle through all of your folders and then just dump all of them in a box. It’s a surreal feeling because you are essentially cleaning out your office. As if you’re losing your job. This will be fine. You send an email to your project collaborator, someone named Barnes, suggesting a first video conference call on Monday before you log off.

Words: 830, Chapters: 1/7, Language: English

Fandoms: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Reader

Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, no powers, social distancing, quarantine fic, Based on a Tumblr Post, from ao3commentoftheday, social distancing video calling coworkers to friends to lovers, Drabble Series

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2yqjEjG

[abovethesmokestacks]

Distant Connection (6/7)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Word count: 998

Rating: All audiences

Warnings: nothing, or maybe my endless love for The Good Place?

| Distant Connection Masterlist |

I just... I can’t thank you guys enough for the love and support. It feels so weird that there’s only one chapter left, and I’m gonna sit down this weekend and write it, and I don’t know, possibly cry over it? I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope you are all safe.

Chapter 6: Netflix And I Have No Chill

It becomes a thing after that. Weirdly enough, the work part of your days gets more efficient. The two of you work diligently, a quick chat in the morning before you get started, working down the list of things you have to get done during the day, you stay on for lunch, comparing dishes and listening to Alpine insisting loudly that part of Bucky's dinner absolutely belongs to him. Break yoga, coffee runs, and one instance of getting to say hi to Bucky's roommates when they come to check on him during a break, plus one instance of a department zoom meeting when you know that the both of you are absolutely wearing pajamas under the blazers you both hastily put on. Still. It's professional.

After work…

You have a whatsapp chat. A video line on Marco Polo. Inside jokes and goodnights that have your fingers trembling a little every night because they feel like more for you. Even so, you swallow down the little flicker of hope in your chest. You work together, same project. Of course you talk to each other, you have to. These are not normal circumstances. It’s… It’s the times. Infatuation in the time of corona. It wouldn’t happen if things were, well, normal.

And that little flicker that refuses to be tamped down whispers: Exactly.

“Hey, so, I started watching that series,” Bucky says one afternoon, five minutes left before the work day is over. “The Jeremy Bearimy-one. The Good Place.”

You can feel your eyebrows raise. The Jeremy Bearimy-discussion was… wait, how many days ago? Weeks? It’s been a while, at least.

“Yeah? Did you like it?”

“I mean… There were shrimp? It’s like a toddler was allowed to put together an episode. Flying shrimp and Ariana Grande? Is that the whole show?”

“I promise it’s not. It’s whacky sometimes but it’s really good. If you can look past the shrimp, I swear, it’ll blow your mind. I was actually doing a rewatch before all of this happened,” you tell him with a wry smile.

“Really? ‘S gotta be good if you’re rewatching.”

And there’s the little smile he does, the one that you have realized seems to have a direct line to your brain, and more importantly, to the master switch of your brain because this comes out of your mouth:

“It is. Maybe we could watch an episode together?”

Fuck.

Fuckshitdamnandhell.

Fuck the virus, you are ready to fling yourself out the window and run away and never look-

“Sure. Lemme fix dinner after this and we can watch an episode.”

Oh.

So that’s. Okay.

You watch three episodes of The Good Place, Bucky vows to start using all the redacted swears instead of actual swears while you try to figure out what the hell your heart and mind are trying to do and almost failing at eating risotto. There are times when you’ll look at the little window with his screen and find he’s looking at you and you drop a forkful of rice on your shirt and cuss under your breath. It’s fine. It’s these times. It’s a one off.

“Wanna watch a movie tonight?”

Two weeks later, and you try not to look actively surprised.

“Your choice, since you’ve indulged me in The Good Place for so many episodes.”

“Um. Sure. That… that sounds great.”

“I’ll have the place to myself so I can even make use of the tv.”

“I thought you guys had pretty strict shelter in place-orders, too? Are Junior and Gabe about to pull a heist?”

That makes the smile vanish from his face. “No, they… Gabe went home to his family after we got the shelter in place-orders. His folks are older, figured they’d need help. And Junior’s… One of his grandparents passed, so he’ll be home for at least a week, maybe more.”

It’s more reality than you’ve been faced with since this all started. The death tolls and the harsh reality of it has seemed so far away even though you’re right in the middle of a hot zone. 

“Shit, I- I’m so sorry.”

“It sucks. This whole thing sucks,” Bucky says, and then the screen wobbles when he lifts the laptop and walks out of his room. “I wanna be angry, but I don’t know if I have anything to be angry about. Cancelled plans and working from the comfort of my home, it’s… How can I be angry when I’m doing okay?”

The screen stills, you’ve landed in the kitchen.

“It’s… a lot,” you offer, taking your own laptop. “You notice things. How quiet it is. How you… work in new situations. But… I think it’s okay to grieve. To feel sorry for lost things and cancelled plans.”

Bucky stops rifling through a cabinet, shoulders slumping, his voice a little thicker when he speaks again. Another side of him that you already cherish. The two of you talk and reminisce through dinner making, where you argue over the best way to make nachos. Worrying about his parents, you talking about a colleague in one of the European offices that got sick early on and how panicked you felt. Cancelled plans where you find out you had both considered going to the same festival. Picking a movie, curling down under covers and feeling like something, someone is missing. More talking, still under the blankets, until well past midnight when you agree to turn in. Bucky, hesitating before he sighs, looks right at you and says:

“I’m really glad I have you, y’know.”

And there are so many words right on the tip of your tongue, words that have burrowed themselves into your heart and tonight you wish more than ever that you could make them come out, but-

It’s the times. It’s distance and the severity suddenly coming too close and there’s the project and maybe he doesn’t mean it like that. You want to say so much, but what comes out is this:

“Yeah. Me, too, Buck.”

[abovethesmokestacks]

Distant Connection 2/7

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Word count: 985

Rating: General audiences

Warnings: none

| Distant Connection Masterlist |

Thank you so, so much for the support and reblogs and comments on the first chapter! It’s making me maybe a teensy bit less nervous about this whole endeavour, and also excited to post again. Stay safe, and I hope you enjoy chapter 2.

Chapter 2: Introvert Olympics

“...so, I guess that’s something we need to take into account when we get to present budget issues.”

It’s day ten, new week, same face that looks from you to something on his screen or scribbles in a notebook. It’s… surprisingly easy. Even better because you haven’t been greeted by a furry butt since Alpine decided to make an appearance. James- Bucky, he said to call him Bucky and even though you haven’t it still applies - is a good collaborator. If that’s because you’re both stuck at home and trying to do the best out of a crappy situation and thus maybe having a little more patience with each other, is hard to say. But he’s knowledgeable, has a few years of project work under his belt and is happy to both take and give advice. 

It could be worse.

A ding sounds through the connection, J- Bucky picking up his phone and rolling his neck.

“Alright, time for a break. I can call you back in fifteen minutes.”

“Oh.” Why does that all of a sudden sting a little? Like he can’t wait to get rid of you. Maybe you’ve misjudged just how well the two of you mesh. “Okay. Sure.”

“Unless… you want to… stick around and have coffee together? Or tea? Coffee? I don’t know, do you drink either?” Bucky flounders, and how is it possible for him to sound so unsure all of a sudden?

“Both, actually, but I might actually go for tea. Caffeine makes me, you know, energized, and I can’t exactly run a marathon in here to get rid of the energy so I can sleep at night.”

Bucky snorts and nods, “I hear ya. So, um, gimme five minutes to get myself coffee? And maybe feed the monster?”

It’s kind of nice. Apart from the fact that the only tea you have home is the one you bought by mistake that tastes of grass, and you can tell Bucky tries not to laugh as you keep grimacing at your mug. It’s easy. There’s not really much talking, not between you at least. One of Bucky’s room mates ducks in and asks something off-screen, you think you hear Alpine meowing when Bucky goes to put away his mug. It’s a good little pocket of calm before you’re back in work mode.

The next day, he doesn’t ask. Just keeps the feed going. Coffee, terrible tea, minding each other’s business. Alpine makes an appearance on Wednesday, apparently patting at Bucky’s leg for attention and he lifts the cat onto his lap.

“He looks used to that.”

“Oh, he is spoiled, absolutely. He claimed this chair when I brought it home over the weekend before we started, and looked so betrayed on Monday morning when I wouldn’t let him nap in it,” he laughs, scratching under Alpine’s chin and the cat stretches his head up until he almost loses balance. “He’s good though. Keeps me sane. And drives me insane. But mostly the first one.”

You take a sip, grimace. Fuck, this is becoming unbearable, you need actual tea and not this… torture. “I wonder how everyone else is coping. God, I would pay to be a fly on the wall of the guy who had the office next to mine. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was scaling the walls on day two.”

“Yeah, one of the guys I live with is struggling a bit. He’s not good with working alone. I mean, he can do stuff on his own, he doesn’t need someone to hold his hand, but he’s struggling outside of the whole work environment with other people around?”

“I mean, I miss everyone, too. Kinda. I mean, they’re fun to work with. But I gotta say, this isn’t horrible? Like, having to work from home, obviously. The reason behind it is though.”

There’s a sage nod from the other end of the screen, Bucky taking a sip from his mug, and ugh, maybe you should give in and just have coffee. “I know. I was a little nervous about how I’d cope, but it’s been fine. Being a little introverted helps. Like, finally something I’m good at, just sitting at home, working quietly, not talking to anyone for a majority of the day. Well, anyone but you.”

His eyes bulge the second the words leave his mouth and he almost knocks over his mug. It’s almos a little cute. “Shit. That sounded wrong. It’s- I’m- This is good. I mean, working with you and talking with you and seeing you. Shit. What I’m saying is-” His mouth is left agape as he struggles to work his way out of the hole he’s digging himself into, while Alpine paws at him and looks highly annoed, and you laugh again, loud and pealing, and Bucky mock-glares at you.

“I’m gonna shut up now.”

“Please, don’t. This is the most fun I’ve had all week,” you say between fits of laughter. “And if it’s any consolation, I’m the same. I don’t mind this. Although between the two of us, I’m clearly a little more hardcore because I live alone.”

“What, we’re doing introvert Olympics now?”

“I might be. I think you’d be disqualified because first off you have room mates, and second, you also have a cat.”

Bucky’s face scrunches up in a smile, “Okay, fair. But I still spend a majority of my time alone, and the monster is not nearly as helpful as you’d think.”

“We’ll be fine when this ends.” You’re not sure where that comes from, but it seems the right thing to say. You have no idea for how long this lockdown will go on. Social distancing until further notice, Fury’s weekly update had read on Monday.

Maybe it is introvert Olympics after all. You look around your apartment, and for the first time, its size and its silence feels just a little unnerving.

[abovethesmokestacks]

Distant Connection 3/7

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Rating: All audiences

Word count: 815

Warning: None

| Distant Connection Masterlist |

Aaaah!!! Thank you so, so, so much for all of the support, guys! I’m blown away by how you’ve taken to this story, and it’s my pleasure to provide a small escape from reality. Bucky’s very pleased with himself. So is Alpine, for that matter. Reminder that this series does not have a tag list and is updated on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and please, stay safe.

Chapter 3: Business As Casual

You don't mean for it to happen. Every goddamn site that even pretends to fall under news reporting is touting out the same tips for how to crack social distancing. Maintain structure. Keep your routines. Set your alarm the same time you would normally. Have breakfast. Dress for work. 

And let it be clear.

You did.

For a while.

But the damn slacks chafed against your waist and the jeans were so warm and slinking into a pencil skirt would just bring on double chafing. There was only so much you could take. This was a new, weird situation to be in, surely there was wiggle room on some things?

So, you compromised.

Still business above the waist because there are the video conferences with Bucky. Nice cardigans and button-ups and blazers and shirts. All classy and work appropriate. But instead of suffering through pants that chafed and fit too snug for a whole day of sitting down, you now feel infinitely more comfortable in sweats or yoga pants. You draw the line at pajama pants. You’re a civilized human being working for one of the biggest companies in New York City, pajama pants were not work appropriate, not even in this situation. Retain a sense of normalcy. 

For now. 

Bucky…

Well.

It takes a while for you to notice. First of all, it’s not like you’re checking him out every time he pops up on your screen (but by now you would know those blue eyes anywhere), but second of all, it happens so slowly. It’s crisp button-downs that become less crisp button-downs that become button-downs of unknown crispness under dress sweaters, then straight up sweaters and one sunny afternoon a truly glorious maroon t-shirt that makes it very hard to tear your eyes from the screen. It’s all fine, you’re doing this new version of business casual, it’s okay, but then-

“Bucky, are you wearing pajamas?”

Poor guy looks like a deer caught in headlights, looking down at the t-shirt he’s wearing with a very faded print of Mickey Mouse. “I… might be?” There’s a sigh and his face scrunches up before he hides it in his hands. “I hate all of my work clothes and this was so comfy. I’m sorry. It’s unprofessional, I’ll change into something else.”

Shit. You didn’t mean to make him feel bad, and god, the more you look at him, the more he looks like he just rolled out of bed. The hair that had been coiffed and neat just two weeks ago is now a messy tangle that curls gently at the ends, falling against his forehead, and when he drags his hands away from his face you notice the shadow of a stubble, and… it’s not really that bad. You’ve let up on your clothes. You get it. Slacks and jeans are the devil, and Bucky is pretty much the only one you have regular face to face contact with, so maybe…

“Hang on.”

You turn off your camera, rifling for your pajama, a cosy number with a fluffy sleep shirt and a soft pair of flannel pants. You eye the door to your closet, slightly ajar. What the hell. On with the ridiculous fluffy socks your friends gave you for your birthday last year. 

Bucky’s eyes bulge a little when you turn the camera back on, decked out in your own pajama, before he breaks into a smile, “Wow.  That looks comfortable. Hell, it looks more comfortable than my own. What’s on the shirt- Is that an owl?”

“Hey, hey! Focus, Barnes!” you chide him jokingly, adjusting the angle of your laptop to pan the camera up to where you’re visible from the shoulders up. “Just because we’re business casual extraordinaire does not mean we get to slack off. Did you get the numbers you requested last week yet?”

And so the day goes on. A few breaks when you both need to handle incoming issues that require temporarily signing off to make calls to co-workers, but otherwise amicably working as if you weren’t sitting at home in your respective pajamas. It’s… nice. Relaxed, like you’ve both put down your guard.

“Hey,” Bucky says just as you’re about to call it a day. “Listen, I really didn’t mean to make… you know, this,” he gestures at his pajama shirt, “a whole thing. I was out of good shirts and I kinda overslept. Which is ridiculous because my bed is literally three feet to my left.”

“It’s okay. Was kinda nice, you know. Like Casual Friday. Only Thursday. And casual casual casual casual,” you shoot back with a smile, your heart doing a little somersault of a beat when he grins back.

“So maybe we can make that a thing? Like a weekly thing? Casual Casual Casual Casual Thursday?”

It’s ridiculous. You’re professionals. You purse your lips around a laugh.

“Sure, Buck. That sounds nice.”

[abovethesmokestacks]

Distant Connection 4/7

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Word count: 940

Rating: General audiences

Warnings: none

| Distant Connection Masterlist |

YA’LL??? Guys, you have no idea how much it warms my heart to see your feedback on this fic. It means so much, and I look through all the tags and the comments and the replies and I just... Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you. Hope this will hold you over during Easter. Be safe, okay?

Chapter 4: Jeremy Bearimy

“Why are you wearing pajamas, Buck?

It’s a spectacular thing, you can’t deny that; you can clearly see the head of a cartoon llama with its eyes closed emblazoned on the teal shirt. It’s almost ridiculous enough that you’d consider getting it for yourself if given the choice.

Bucky furrows his brow, looking down at the shirt, “I think the better question is why aren’t you wearing pajamas?”

“Because it’s Tuesday?” you reply, cocking your head. “We said Casual Quarted Thursday… right?”

“What? Whaddaya mean it’s only Tuesday?” Bucky frantically rifles around his desk, finally finding his phone and groaning loudly at the screen, shuffling in his chair. “It’s Tuesday? What the f- how did this happen? How is it Tuesday?”

“It generally happens when Monday ends.” You roll your shoulders, grimacing at the obvious tension and reach for your bottle of water. Grocery shopping, you remind yourself. Supporting local businesses and not just postmating every damn meal.

“Funny,” comes the answer and he pulls a face that scrunches up his nose in a way that’s… ugh, “but I’m more pondering how the hell, pardon my French, it’s only Tuesday. I swear to god, this week already feels eighteen days long. Are we sure we switched months by the way? Because I feel like March went on forever, dumping complete bullshit on us, and now it’s hiding behind a corner and is getting ready to jump out and tell me it’s still fucking March.” 

You get out of your chair, stretching your hands above your head and standing up on your tippy toes, “Sounds like someone has a lot of feelings about March.” 

Your joints pop, and it takes all you have not to sigh from the satisfaction. On the screen, Bucky sighs and hangs his head.

“Sorry, I’m ranting. March was supposed to be good, y’know. I was supposed to transfer to the New York office from where I am in Indiana, had a place lined up, had plans to go on a trip later this year as a belated birthday celebration with my family. Then March happened. Landlord I was dealing with pulled back the offer when more and more confirmed cases popped up, the transfer was put on hold and my birthday was me ordering takeout and making a very shitty box cake. Everything is upside down, and now I have apparently lost all track of time.”

“It’s Jeremy Bearimy,” you blurt out, bending down to touch your fingertips to your toes, your voice straining a little.

“It’s what now?”

You hold up a finger, tear out a paper and hastily scratch down Jeremy Bearimy in messy cursive and hold it up to the screen, grinning from ear to ear.

“Okay, there’s this show called The Good Place, and it’s about people in the afterlife. At one point, a… person tries to explain time to them and he says time in the afterlife is not linear, it moves the way Jeremy Bearimy looks written in cursive. Stuff happens before stuff happens before. And the dot in Bearimy is Tuesdays. And July. Also apparently never.”

“I’m trying to understand and I absolutely don’t. Are we in the afterlife?” 

You pull down the paper to find Bucky squinting at you, brows drawn together and a line forming between them.

“No. But time moves weird right now. We’re home, we work, but we’re still at home, we exercise, but we’re still at home, we watch movies but we’re still at home. It’s Jeremy Bearimy. We just happen to be in the dot now. Apparently. I think. Just watch the show.”

“I… think I really have to now,” Bucky says, still looking confused.

“Come on, Barnes. Up and off your chair. Stretch and do a coupla jumping jacks, get some blood flowing to that noggin’a yours.”

It’s not technically a break. You do discuss business while you loosen up. It’s not a perfect system, Bucky has to ask you to repeat something three times while you’re stretching out your back doing downward dog off screen, and you break down into fits of giggles when he’s trying to explain a potential client approach through thirty jumping jacks. There’s also Alpine, again, who apparently decides that if Bucky’s not giving back the chair, then Bucky will have to do because you’re both doing your thing during a five minute honest to god break when Bucky shrieks and there’s the distant sound of an indignant hiss and the unmistakable sound of a hasty cat retreat.

“He came in, jumped onto my back and started kneading me! While I was planking!”

“To be fair, you were planking, and that requires some form of punishment. No one planks just because it’s fun,” you tell him with a laugh.

Bucky’s head pops up on screen, looking mock-put out and in the lower end of the screen you can see his hand where he’s clutching at his chest, “Attacked, on all sides! Don’t look at me like that!”

“Like what?”

“No! Sorry, it’s Alpine. No, you’re not getting treats!”

The one sided argument goes on for two more minutes before there’s an indignant meow and Bucky disappears out of view before returning, hair rumpled and a smile on his face. It’s hard not to smile at him, at the way his nose scrunches up before smoothing out and he falls back into business-mode, taking you with him. It makes a strange feeling simmer inside of you, your smile tremulous when you wave goodbye at the end of the day. Is it weird to be excited for tomorrow just because he’ll be on the other end of the screen?