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afaimsarrowverse · 1 year

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The Top 25 Things the Arrowverse gave us:

25. Elseworlds

This Crossover-Event will always remain extra special, because it saw Oliver and Barry swap identities, an evil would-be Superman, the introducting of both Gotham City and Kate Kane to the Arrowverse and Kara finding sisterhood with another version of her sister Alex by just knowing her. Oh and Gary was there too, totally random in the Elseworld Version of Earth-1 but still totally Gary, while Cisco was kind of evil and Oliver’s enemies were all cops.

24. Crisis on Infinite Earths

„Crisis of Infinite Earths“ was the biggest Crossover-Event of Television, because not only did it crossover all Arrowverse-Shows including the not-yet-green-lit „Superman & Lois“ and the first footage from „Stargirl“, it did crossover all of DC Television and Film. We had „Lucifer“, „Smallville“, „Birds of Prey“, „Titans“, „Doom Partol“, the 60s Batman-Show, the 90s Flash-Show„Superman Returns“, the Burton-Verse and Ezra Miller in there, as well as Kevin Conroy and a lot of previously unfilmed Comic Stories on the top of that.

23. The Annual Crossover Events

Starting with the launch of „The Flash“ the Arrowverse started doing crossover episodes and most of them did occure just before the Mid-Season Break and featured episodes in more than one of the shows. Soon more and more shows got invovled in these crossovers, and they got bigger. The Annual „Autumn“ Crossover Event was something to look forward too as long as it existed.

22. The Olivarry Friendship

When it got announced that Stephen Amell would return to „The Flash“ for its final season the Internet almost broke. This shows how much the friendship between Oliver and Barry did impact the viewers and how special it was for everyone, who got to watch it grow and change over all these years. And why we will never forget it.

21. Ray Palmer

Brandon Routh may have played Superman, but the superhero who really had an impact on the cultural landscape was his Arrowverse Role, Ray Palmer aka the Atom. Introduced in „Arrow“, becoming a main character in „Legends of Tomorrow“, Ray showed up in almost every Arrowverse-Show, and the likeable nerd was very much missed when he was written out of the Arrowverse. Since then he has returned, but sadly the end of Arrowverse does also mean that we won’t ever see him again.

20. Steelatom

The Arrowverse presented us many forms of male friendships, but out of all of them the friendship between Ray Palmer and Nate Heywood undoubtable was one of the most special ones. Two soft male nerds becoming BFFs and in many ways much more each others significant other than their respective better halfs is still not something we are used to see.

19. Black Lightning (The Show)

Yes, „Luke Cage“ came first, but without „Black Lightning“ the MCU Show would have been the first and only not-animated Superhero Show with a black lead involving the Black Community. „Black Lightning“ did for DC what „Luke Cage“ did for Marvel, and it even got to go out own its own terms. So „Black Lightning“ will always be that Black Superhero Show with a Lebsian Female Lead, that came, did what it set out to do, and finished the narrative despite everything.

18. The Power of Goodness

Certain so called fans tend to see DC as this dark and broody and egdy Anti-Marvel Brand. The Arrowverse however did very much not fall in this trap. Yes, early episodes of „Arrow“ might have fooled you into thinking they were going there, but as soon as Barry Allen speed into the show, the Arrowverse showed us that, no, no matter how dark life becomes these shows and that whole franchise actually is a story about how in the end there is more good than evil out there, and how goodness can inspire other people into becoming good themselves. In all the shows our heroes did inspire others to do better to become more and to never give up. Instead of an edgy story about gloom and doom the Arrowverse was a story about how one’s inate goodness can overcome anything and can inspire everyone around to listen to the goodness inside themselves.

17. Soft Males

Sure, we got Alpha Males like Oliver Queen or Mick Rory, but the Arrowverse also held a significant number of Soft Males, that were even more fun and frankly more inspirering to watch. In the end people like Barry Allen, Ray Palmer, Winn Schott, Cisco Ramon, Nate Heywood, Behrad Tarazi, Querl Dox or Luke Fox do appeal to people much more than the typicial male macho, we get to see everywhere else. And when people like John Constantine, Oliver Queen or Mick Rory find it in them to also step out of their own shadow and discover their softer side, it is even more beautifiul.

16. Female Friendships

Many ensemble shows treat us with outstanding male friendships but not all of these shows are „Friends“. Most shows have to fight for their female characters to have a relationship with each other. So it is an accomplishment to actually see a postive female relationship outside of familial bonds and sexual interest flourish. Most of the Arrowverse managed to produced more than a couple of strong female friendships over their run. Bookclub matters, and so does the fact that, no Kara does not want to pounce her female friends, that Ryan is not ready to give up on Mary, this shows us that women actually care about each other. Something that especially male writers often forget about.

15. An Ace Superhero

The biggest moment of seventh season of „Legends of Tomorrow“ was the moment in „The Fixed Point“, when Spooner came out to Zari as asexual. After admitting that she did not think about anyone „that way“, Zari explained to her that she is probabyl ace and that there is nothing wrong with that, and that there are many people like her and many of them still have happy relationships. This moment is even bigger because it was a latinx woman coming out, and it did give us the first asexual superhero on screen ever and one of very view openly ace main characters on a Television Show.

14. A Trans Superhero

Season 4 of „Supergirl“ did introduce Nia Nal, who would go on to become the superhero Dreamer, the ancestor of Nura Nal from the Legion of Superheroes. Played be Nicole Maines Nia Nal is the first transgender superhero on our screens, serving us an inspiration for many by coming out about her true self in the show and fighting hate and even her own family for who she really is.

13. Sara Lance

In the beginning there was Sara Lance. Long before characters like Nia Nal or Spooner Cruz or even Alex Danvers or David Singh would grace the Arrowverse Laurel Lance‘s little sister kissed boys and girls on screen, fought and overcame trauma, and never gave up on finding herself. Sara Lance proofed to us that you can come back from everything and that strong bi-sexual females can be lead characters on action shows.

12. Avalance

Because of the rotating cast „Legends of Tomorrow“ did not really have a central romance for its long run. Changing up characters and romances, there was however one that stuck with us and the Arrowverse for most of its run, and that is the relationship between Sara Lance and Ava Sharpe, which did include getting married and having a baby. Even more important while same-sex-relationships were only secondary ships on „Supergirl“ and „Black Lightning“ Avalance, since it involved the lead character of the show, was the central ship of the show.

11. Westallen

People tend to overlook that taking after the New 52 Idea of making the Wests Black during casting was a gamble for „The Flash“. But it also was one that payed of. The only Arrowverse Show that actually had their central couple for all of its run, took an iconic couple from the comics and made it real and did stick to it. Westallen is also a mixed race couple in Prime Time Television and sadly that is still not something viewed as normal today.

10. Diversity

The CW did make „Dare to Defy“ their motto, but in the end they did give in, gave up their identity even before they were sold, because no one would buy them, if they would actually live up to their motto. Which is why half of the Arrowverse Shows was cancelled when they were. However while it was alive and prospering the Arrowverde did dare to defy. The Arrowverse had women, POCs, LGBTQ+ Persons, Non-Americans, Aliens and Non-Confermists as their protagonists and antagonists from the get-go. So of course I could not stay around.

9. Same Sex Weddings

Having celebrated their first Same Sex Wedding Of Screen during Season 1 of „The Flash“, the Arrowverse did feature no less than 3 [!] Same-Sex Weddings between Females in the year 2021, with Anissa and Grace getting married on „Black Lightning“, Sara and Ava finally tying the knot at the end of Season 6 on „Legends of Tomorrow“, and Alex marrying her girlfriend Kelly Olsen in the Finale of „Supergirl“.

8. Strong Female Characters

Yes, it all started with a man, but even the late great Anne Rice noted that she was intrigued that Oliver was surronded by women rather than men after the Pilot. Since then „Arrow“ always tried to aim for a strong female presence as well as female characters in general. The same is true for the other Arrowverse Shows, most notably of course for „Supergirl“ and „Batwoman“, but with Season 2 „Legends of Tomorrow“ switched Rip Hunter with Sara Lance as their main protagonist and Captain, and more than one critic has noted that „Black Lightning“ actually is much more about Jefferson’s daughters Anissa and Jennifer than about Black Lightning himself. And „The Flash“ tried really hard to keep both Candice Patton and Danielle Panabaker around until the very end, adding more female characters to their main cast over the years. And let’s not forget that the never picked up Backdoor-Pilot „Green Arrow and the Canaries“ would have centered around the daughter of Green Arrow and no less than two Black Canaries.

7. Season 8 of „Arrow“

Sometimes fans get something back. The short final season of „Arrow“ was very much a season tailored for the fans, a homage to the show’s history, that also aimed straight at the future of both the show and the franchise. Not as strong as Season 2 and not as shocking as Season 5, Season 8 of „Arrow“ still was something very special, which only the Arrowverse at that point of its existence would ever give to the viewers.

6. Season 1 of „The Flash“

While everyone might have their own personal favorite Arrowverse Season, Season 1 of „The Flash“ ist arguable the best out of all of them, most people would agree. The first real Superhero Show since „Heroes“, „The Flash“ paved the way for the rest of the more comicbooky Arrowverse, DC- and MCU-Shows, and probably even stuff like „The Umbrella Academy“. The show made people, who are not really interested in superheroes, interested in watching the show by putting the characters and their feelings and relationship first, but backing it up with an engaging story that relies on superpowers and time travel to work.

5. Legends of Tomorrow

The Arrowverse had a whole bunch of very different shows appealing to different audiences, but the one ouf of all of them that stood out was „Legends of Tomorrow“. After a luck-warm first season the writers threw out everything that didn’t work and went full in, embracing the fact that this was supposed to be a time travel show with superheroes and villains about a bunch of screw ups. They did not shy awawy from the crazy any longer but ran towards it instead. They made an outsider show for outsiders, that was beautiful and unique und very much not your average television show.

4. Coming back from Trauma

„Arrow“ very much had the message that in the end, no matter what happened to you, you can not only learn to live with it, you can come back from it. Oliver Queen’s whole journey is about becoming a new person, that is not ruled by his past anymore. And he isn’t the only one. When „The Flash“ started we learn about the murder of Barry’s mother and how he was able to come back from that, and how he had to learn to stop looking back and start looking forward. Supergirl’s whole planet was destroyed, almost everyone she ever knew died. And still she managed to go on after that und flourish. In some shape and form most Arrowverse Characters are shaped by trauma – and their shows tell us that this does not have to rule them.

3. The One where they are stuck on TV

The best Arrowverse Episode out of all of them probably was „The One Where We‘re trapped on TV“ from „Legends of Tomorrow“s fifth season. Not only that, it was also the best Television Episode of the year 2020. Honoring TV that came before as well as the main character of the show, the episode also did include a valuable lesson. In the end that little TV Episode did more than most shows are capeable doing in years.

2. A Voice

If we are talking about the question what the Arrowverse gave us, we should not forget to menton the most important thing it gave us: A Voice. Yes, the producers listened to the fans, but that’s not what I mean. The Arrowverse gave us a voice – the not privileged not white not straight not cis-males who were not brought up by a loving parental figure - it gave a voice to everyone else, to the damaged, the overlooked, the ridicouled, the bullied, the loners, the persons on the fringes. It gave a voice to those, who think no one ever listens to them, by having the heroes listen. For those magicial years of television all of us were heard. By going for Green Arrow, the Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman, Black Lighning and John Constantine the stories told by something with the DC Lable on it were finally about us.

1. Hope for a better Tomorrow

When Oliver Queen came back to Starling City, he was a broken man, but when „Arrow“ ended he had been healed, something he never would have thought possible. Kara Danvers might have lost her planet, but she found a new home on earth, a new family and her calling. Barry Allen might have lost his mother and his father, but he found a future, where he has a new family, that flourishes and grows. Gotham may be a crap hole, but the Batwomen stepped in, when no one else did and made it a better place. While the Pierce Familiy fought to do the same for Freeland. Everyone who ever stepped foot on the Waverider came out stronger and more whole when they left the ship again, even those who did not leave alive, ironicially enough. In the end the most important thing the Arrowverse gave to us, is hope – hope that this will also pass, hope for a better tomorrow. Hope for a tomorrow, periode.

The franchise saved lives – with every show, ever episode at a time, probabaly many more lives than most people realize. And then it all came crashing down after a decade, when it became clear it had all been a lie.

So maybe they shouldn’t have bothered to give us ten years of lies in the first place. Or anyhting else on this list for that matter, because giving someone something only to take it away again without warning or reason is cruel, but giving someone hope and then taking that away, well that is just criminal. So in the end the Arrowverse was just that: A Crime against Humanity, because they told us life could be a certain way, only to end with the clear notion, that it actually in reality can’t.

#Arrowverse #Arrow #The Flash #Supergirl #legends of tomorrow #Batwoman #Black Lightning #Constantine

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mister-e-filman · 1 year

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DC Earth-32505

Issue #5: Trainment

Over the next few weeks, Penny trained under her boyfriend while also having to go to high school where she signed herself up for fencing and Phys Ed. And in those weeks she grew stronger and faster, being able to get straight A's in both of her classes, which made her boyfriend and mother proud. Incredibly, she was now able to outrun her own dog, and even be able to lift a literal ton.

One day, after many many hours of training, Penny returned back to her lab only to find not just her boyfriend there but also someone else, someone whom she had never seen or heard of before. "Your girlfriend's here, Bailey," the stranger told Bailey without looking up from whatever he was working on. "I figured that, Peter," Bailey responded with a smirk. He turned to face her and said, "Well hello my dear! So nice of you to join us. Oh right, Penny this here is Peter Parker from Earth-199999 and-" "Wait, the multiverse is real?" Penny interrupted all the while staring in awe at Peter.

"Anyway, it turns out that the multiverse is SO much more complicated than originally believed because Peter here is from a part of the multiverse where things from here are so extremely stretched that um, well let's put it like this; say a man from this part of the verse is a woman in his part of the verse, and speaking of which, some things could still be somewhat the same like what you see before you, is a heroic version of the infamous Black Spider, whose real name is Eric Needham just to let you, Peter know.

So what did you say your superhero alias is again?" Bailey said. "I'm Spider-Man," Peter proudly declared. "We were able to compile a list of each other's verse's people and find their counterparts, some having MULTIPLE like Superman. We decided to title each universe, Peter here insisted that his be called Marvel, so I decided to call ours DC, after my Aunt Jinni's own initials. You can read the list if you want, but in the meantime Penny, it's now time to fly!" Bailey told Penny whose eyes widened in delight. She was finally going to ride her father's gift! Thanks to multiple weeks of learning balance, defending, etc., Penny was finally able to get the hang of riding the Sky-Stick. After carefully landing it in its place, she went to her room, now glad that she she was finally able to follow in her father's footsteps. She couldn't wait for tomorrow!

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steves-on-a-plane · 3 years

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Trending Cap

Words: 843 Pairing: Sam Wilson X Reader Also Staring: Bucky Barnes Summary: When Reader finds out Sam, as the new Captain America, isn't planning on doing anything special to celebrate 4th of July she suggests he recreates a viral TikTok trend. With the help of Reader and Bucky, Sam adds his own twist to the trend to great success.

“So, what are you doing for the fourth, Sam Eagle?” You asked the newly minted Captain America. You tossed yourself onto his couch and made yourself comfortable in his Washington, DC apartment.

“Who the hell is Sam Eagle?” Sam laughed.

“He’s a Muppet.” Bucky supplied as he walked into the kitchen carrying a six pack of beers. “He’s an eagle Muppet who’s whole personality is freedom and loving America. You have wings and you’re Captain America now. Also, your name is Sam. It’s a very funny joke.” He assured.

“Now you expect me to believe you know who the Muppets are?” Sam shook his head as Bucky began packing his beers into the fridge.

“I have a television in my apartment.” Bucky reminded him.

“To answer your question, [Y/N], this is what I’m doing. Sarah’s taking the boys off on a long weekend trip so I invited my two friends over and I’m going to cook some food, we’re going to hang out.” Sam shrugged. “What more could I want?”

“Ok, but I meant more like what are you doing as Captain America?” You clarified. “Like I know Steve used to go way over the top because it was his birthday and all, but are you not even going to post like a Cap meme or TikTok dance or anything?”

“A TikTok dance?” Sam chuckled.

“Why not?” You shrugged. “Maybe not a dance, but there’s this audio that’s been getting pretty popular.”

You reached for your phone which was dangling precariously off the edge of Sam’s coffee table. You opened the TikTok app and searched for the audio you wanted. Once you found it you played it for Bucky and Sam. The Audio started with the Star-Spangled Singer’s singing the verse of The Star Spangled Man with a Plan, the song from Steve’s old USO shows. Once the audio reached the line “We can’t ignore there’s a front and a war we must win” the background music changed to a more modern beat mixed with Sam’s very recent speech “I know there are millions of people who are going to hate me for it. Even now, here, I feel it. The stares, the judgement, and there’s nothing I can do to change it. And I’m still here. No super serum. No. Blonde hair or blue eyes. The only power I have is that I believe we can do better.”

“The trend is sort of a way to celebrate you as the new Cap.” You explained. “What most people do is they’ll do something like wear 1940’s fashion until the part where the music changes and then they switch to modern clothes. There are also some pretty impressive cosplays on here with homemade suits. For those typically its someone who starts out in a replica Steve suit and ends in a replica of yours. Usually they’ll act all hokey and exaggerated during the first bit and switch to a very serious lip-sync when it gets to the Captain Sam part.”

“[Y/N]’s right.” Bucky commented as he scrolled through TikTok on his own phone. “Walker might not be the only one you have to fight for the shield. These are some pretty impressive…what did you call them?”

“Cosplayers.” You supplied.

“Dress up people.” Bucky nodded.

“Alright, you’ve convinced me.” Sam nodded. “But the two or you have to help me.”

“Perfect! I’ve always wanted to raid your closet!” C’mon Buck, you can be my onset 1940s fashion consultant.” You dragged him towards Sam’s bedroom.

“[Y/N]! Don’t even think about taking one of my flannel shirts!” Sam called after you.

“Two shirts it is then!” You shouted back.

With Bucky’s help you were able to piece together a presentable 1940s stye outfit from Sam’s closet. The outfit consisted of Khaki slacks, a brown belt, brown leather shoes and a brown and beige stripped shirt. The collar wasn’t exactly wide enough for the time, Bucky wanted to point out, but it would do in a pinch. Luckily the wallpaper in the living room of Sam’s apartment looked ancient. It probable hadn’t been updated since the 1920’s let alone the 40s.

So, you positioned Sam in a corner of the room where most of his modern amenities were out of sight and filmed him dancing and mouthed along to the Star Spangled Man song. When the music stopped you stopped filming. Sam changed most of the way into his cap suit. He gave you the signal and you began filming. Sam added on pieces to his outfit, like his wings, and his goggles while repeating his speech. When he reached his final line “I believe we can do better.” He looked directly into the camera. You held his gaze for a second before cutting off the recording.

“People are going to love it, Sam.” You told him confidently.

“We’ll see I guess.” He took his phone from you and added his own caption to the video. “Wanted to get in on the trend. Have a safe and happy 4th of July.” He added in a few hashtags before posting the video.

“Now will the two of you let me enjoy the rest of my day in peace?” Sam asked setting his phone down.

“I don’t know, I kind of want to see you make a Sam Eagle TikTok now that [Y/N] has put that idea in my head.” Bucky announced.

“This is my place.” Sam reminded you both. “I can kick you out any time.”

“I was promised cold beer and free food. I’m not leaving until I get both.” Bucky insisted. “And don’t bother asking if I’d throw hands with Captain America because we both know you wouldn’t be the first or even the second to find out that answer is yes.” Bucky sat down on the couch you’d once occupied. Sam had a witty retort prepped and ready to fire, but his phone began to buzz in his hand.

“Our TikTok’s got a like.” He shared proudly. His phone buzzed again. “Oh another one!”

“There’s a few comments too.” Bucky said. “’Welcome to the App Cap’ and ‘It’s the 40’s fit for me.’ [Y/N], what does fit mean?”

Within minutes Sam’s phone was booming with notifications. They were happening so frequently he had to set the sound to completely silent just so he could hear himself think. There were a few negative comments. Someone had dredged out the classic “Not My Cap” hashtag, but overall the response was positive. After twenty-four hours the video had over 500 thousand likes and ten thousand comments.

“[Y/N], you want a job as my social media/PR?” Sam jokingly texted you the next morning. “But seriously, it was a good idea. Thanks for the assist.”

“Anything for you, Cap.” You replied back. “You can pay me back with dinner next Saturday night. I’m still dreaming of last night’s dinner. Oh also, I stole a flannel from your closet.” You added a winking emoji before sending Sam a photo of you wearing his flannel shirt.

“It’s yours.” He replied. “That shirt’s never looked so good.”

“I can think of one place it might look better. You’re floor.” You sent, trying to sound flirty.

“That’s probably where you found it in the first place.” He messaged back with a series of laugh emojis. “You can return it if you want.”

“You’re so oblivious!” You told him with an eyeroll emoji. “The shirt is mine, and…” But before you could send another reply a new message from Sam came through.

“I’m just joking. Are you free tomorrow for dinner?” He wanted to know.

“We just had dinner together yesterday.” You reminded him.

“Now who’s oblivious? You have to eat every day don’t you? And Bucky wont be at this dinner.” He texted back all in one message.

“Ohhhhhh.” You typed several extra ‘H’s to emphasize your realization. “I’ll see you at 6, your place.”

#Sam Wilson #Sam Wilson Captain America #Sam Wilson x Reader #Sam Wilson Reader Insert #Sam Wilson Fan Fiction #Sam Wilson Fan Fic #Sam Wilson FF #4th of July #TikTok

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shitpostingfromthebarricade · 4 years

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1.3.2 Double Quatuor

For @brickrenouveautions (which officially ends tomorrow!!)

Of the New Yorkers, one was from Los Angeles, another from Chicago, the third from San Francisco, and the fourth from Washington DC; but they were students, and to live in New York City is to be of New York City.

These young men were unremarkable. Everyone knows the type, and these four serve as fine examples: neither good nor bad, neither learned nor ignorant, neither talented nor stupid; handsome in that charming April of life we call twenty. They were four Chads; for at this time, Brads did not yet exist. “Everybody make some noise!” exclaim the underclassmen. “My boy Chad! Chad’s coming at you hot!” DJ Khaled was everywhere; elegance was champagne and fancy cars; the business-casual type was not prevalent till later, and the first of the Brads — Elon Musk — had only just launched SpaceX.

The first of these Chads was called Félix Tholomyès, of LA; the second, Listolier, from San Fran; the third, Fameuil, from Chicago; and the last, Blacheville, from DC. Of course, each had his lady: Blacheville loved Favourite, with the u because she had been to England once; Listolier adored Dahlia, who had chosen to assume the name of a flower when she arrived at university; Fameuil idolized Zéphine, a nickname for Josephine; and Tholomyès had Fantine, called ‘the blonde’ because of her beautiful hair, which shone like the newly-released iPhone 6 plus in gold.

Favourite, Dahlia, Zéphine, and Fantine were four sorority girls, perfumed and made up, still somewhat students since they hadn’t finished all of their classes, plagued by relationship drama yet maintaining that youthful livelihood of carefree undergraduates and the resilient hopefulness that enables women to survive that first fall. One was called ‘the baby’ because she was the youngest, and another was called ‘Grandma’ — Grandma was twenty-three. To put it plainly, the first three were well-versed in the ways of the world, and Fantine the Blonde was still rather innocent.

Dahlia, Zéphine, and particularly Favourite were not. Fantine had already had far more than the average amount of drama in her relationship — ‘the drama’ named ‘Adam’ the first time, ‘Alex’ the second, and ‘Augustus’ the third. Debt and vanity are awful consciences: one says you shouldn’t, the other says you should, and beautiful women always seem to have both. When they inevitably make a misstep, society punishes them for it. All the world, just barely out of reach! Did Watson ever long for more?

Favourite, having been to England that one time, was Zéphine and Dahlia’s idol. She’d had her own place off-campus even as a freshman. Her dad was a proud, self-important math professor who never got married; when he was younger, his secretary bent over to pick up some papers he’d knocked to the floor, and without meaning to, he’d fallen in love. Favourite was the result. She still saw her dad on campus sometimes, and when she did he’d give a distracted nod as he hurried off to wherever he was going.

One morning, an old woman let herself into Favourite’s apartment. “Do you know who I am?”

“No.”

“I’m your mother.” Immediately she’d helped herself to the contents of Favourite’s fridge and made herself at home in the guest bedroom. Favourite’s mom was a mean old hag: she never talked to her daughter and would sit around for hours without saying anything; she ate enough for four; and when she did leave it was to go to the building’s lobby to gossip and complain about Favourite.

Listolier had a nail fetish, and Dahlia had beautiful nails which she was careful to maintain with regular manicures and a healthy regiment of promiscuity. All Zéphine had to do was say “Yes Sir” in a particular tone to have Fameuil wrapped around her little finger.

The lads were all friends, as were the girls, so it was convenient.

There’s a difference between being wise and being philosophical: Favourite, Zéphine, and Dahlia were philosophical where Fantine was wise. But how can Fantine be wise and then date Tholomyès? Well, Solomon would argue that to know love is a prerequisite for being wise. This was Fantine’s first relationship: the others may not have been strangers to hook-ups, but for Fantine, sex had meaning.

Fantine, rather than being born, seemed summoned out of nowhere: she had no mother or father, and her birth records must have disappeared with them, so for a long time she had no name either. They had taken to calling her ‘Fantine’ at the agency over the time in which she’d had no papers, and it stuck. She got her first job when she was ten and moved out on her own into the city when she was fifteen, getting into a local university upon graduating with the help of her meager savings and several sizable financial aid packages. Her only wealth was her beauty, gold and pearls in her hair and teeth. Having no other savings, she worked and studied to survive; in order to live, she also loved.

She loved Tholomyès.

To him, it was a fling; to Fantine, it was everything. Frat row knew their courtship well; they would meet at parties, air thick with booze and smoke and sex; Fantine would always leave before things became too heated, but she’d never stay away so long as to discourage him. It was a game of sorts, and Fantine lost.

Blacheville, Listolier, and Fameuil made up their own group of which Tholomyès was the leader. He was the brains of the operation.

Tholomyès’s family was well off and gave him a very comfortable allowance. For thirty years old, he was in terrible shape: his face was wrinkled, his teeth were falling out, and he was already balding. He liked to joke, “Hair at thirty, knees at forty!” His body didn’t agree with most foods (not that he let this discourage him), and he had a weepy eye to boot; he made up for all of this with his personality. He replaced his teeth with jests, his hair with joy, his health with irony, and his weeping eye was always cheerful. He was not unlike a decorated corpse. He wrote a play once that would never be published but that he loved to brag about, told people how he enjoyed dabbling in poetry from time to time, and moreover, doubted everything everyone said with a certain air of authority and superiority that no person with self-awareness enough to understand how little they know would ever dare.

Naturally, this all made him the perfect leader for their band.

One day, Tholomyès took the boys aside and said, “The girls have been wanting a surprise for almost a year now, and we promised we’d do something special. They’re always bringing it up, too; they sound like my dad’s third wife: ‘No es chiste! Que a mí no me importa Jacob no ayuda: si tú no me ayudas, te me vas de la casa, que aquí no estoy de criada.’”

“What does that mean?” asked Fameuil.

“That she was about to turn off my 360. But yeah, the girls are always like, ‘Tholomyès, you promised!’ Meanwhile, our parents have been complaining that they don’t see enough of us. I think the answer here’s pretty obvious.”

Tholomyès lowered his voice to relay his scheme, an idea so unheard of that it left all of them cackling, with Blacheville exclaiming, “You’re brilliant!”

They came across a bar soon after and went their separate ways. The next time they saw the girls, the boys invited them out.

#so I'm actually working on the entire book of In the Year 1817 #but the first chapter is taking a really long time to work through #and at this rate even though I'm nearly finished with ch 2-9 ch 1 won't be finished in time to present for another several days #so here's a preview of what I've finished so far #shitposting sometimes writes #but yeah I've been wanting to upload as I go #but of course the VERY FIRST CHAPTER has to be the one that takes an eternity #and I refuse to publish a placeholder #les mis #guys and grisettes #brick renouveautions #brick renouveautions 2020 #thicc bricc #also it is v important to me that you know that Watson is referring to the IBM supercomputer and not Sherlock

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brooklynislandgirl · 1 year

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15. Do you have any piercings?

A Will and A Way || -

For a moment she thinks she has to have misheard Cisco. Not because what he said came across as though he'd been gargling mouth-wash with his lips pressed together while he was underwater. No, rather than the Charlie Brown Teacher sound effects, every word is clear and sharp and absolutely his voice in her ears though he's a respectable distance ~the other side of the table~ from her. Such an unexpected question and heard in a way she's unused to manages to scrunch her face in confusion. First, Cisco is never really comfortable talking about things like that. Idle discourse while they're working ranges the gamut of favourite video games, worst comic adaptations on streaming services, the nature of scientific advancement and the ethics they are bound in. Whenever she teases him about anything personal or untoward he tends to deflect with shyness and humour and in a lot of ways it feels like she's torturing him for no real reason. Second, she can't begin to understand why exactly he was asking. Was he considering getting his own piercings? Is he seeing someone and he needs to get some advice about how to work his way around them? Which brings up a more important question which is why he hadn't mentioned he'd met someone? Since when had she been out of the loop and how had she missed something so huge? "Uh." Ah yes, the eloquence of her intellect. Any day now, they're going to come along and confiscate her S*T *A*R Lab ID card and send her packing. Exactly what the Admiral would expect and would use at his pleasure to flay her alive. She keys in one more sequence before she slides out of her chair and comes around to Cisco's side of the table. This is a show-and-tell matter. She turns her head to the left so he can see her ear plain as day, and the four total she has there. "Lobe, and upper lobe," she says, pointing to the two lowest and most natural looking ones. Today, there's a crescent moon with a jewelled star in the lobe, an actual diamond solitaire in the upper. "Tragus" This is the opal stud in the bit of the ear attached to her upper cheek. Then she touches the silver ring and ball on the upper outer rim of her ear. "Helix." Then she shifts and offers him her right profile and the three there. The bar is the first one she points out. "Industrial." A matching solitaire diamond in the upper lobe, then a sort of tribal faux ruby in the lobe. "Bu wait, dere's more," she winks. She never takes her eyes off his face as she reaches down and unbuttons her jeans from first to last, and shimmies the denim down low enough that he gets a decent view of black lace against her skin. Three little aquamarine studs draw the eye to her narrow hip bone. "Sub-dermal implant. Dis one I got talked into when I was small kine tipsy." John had told her it was for protection. He'd held her head and whispered into her ear until the very last thing she was thinking about was someone cutting into her flesh and implanting metal into her body. If she was honest with herself, she's pretty sure John could have talked her into anything that night, and all the ones that came after before he disappeared from her life. But Cisco doesn't need to know that. To cover the sudden change in her expression, she turns around, back to him, and raises her shirt up a little. "An' I always keep small kine of home with me wherevah I go. Dis is symbolic of my aumakua, my islands, an' dere beauty." She doesn't mention or show him the other tattoos. They haven't gotten quite that close. "Now I'ma beatcha t' da punch an' say… no I don' got nipple piercings or ones…ah… down dere. I don' see da appeal, an' hand f' God, as a medical doctor, havin' dem can actually cause you to eventually lose sensitivity in dose places. So if ya considerin' piecings on ya… bits… my advice is…yeah, naw, brah."

#Mahalo!Tagg <333 #tbd|Cisco Ramon #tbd|Cisco and Beth #S*T*A*RLight|Arrowverse Au #All Our Tomorrows|DC verse #Lost in Translation || N F S W #piercings tw #tattoos tw

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twistedtummies2 · 3 years

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Gotham’s 31 Most Wanted - Number 22

Welcome back to Gotham’s 31 Most Wanted! Each day of January, I’m counting down my Top 31 Favorite Batman Villains of all time! This sinister secret society makes the Illuminati look like wimps. Number 22 is…The Court of Owls.

This evil organization is the single most recent addition to Batman’s Rogues Gallery to appear on the list (it’s almost exactly a decade old now, even with that said), and of all the “new additions” that have appeared within the past two decades or so, I’d say they’re the best. The Court of Owls is not one specific villain, but rather a whole GROUP of villains: a secret society, not unlike the urban legend of the Illuminati, that is made up of some of the oldest families of Gotham. The Court is interesting to me because they almost act as a counterpoint to Batman in a very particular way: Batman prides himself on knowing every inch of Gotham, and tries to be well-versed in its history and folklore. He combats the evil in Gotham City every day, using his technology and his detective skills to keep an eye on as much crime as he possibly can. The Court of Owls is a group so secretive and so mysterious, they are able to totally evade even his eye for a long time, and he is so puny and insignificant in THEIR eyes, they don’t even think much of him until he does something that gets him on their radar at last, so to speak. It’s interesting to see Batman – the man who supposedly knows everything – discovering a mystery so deep and so dark, even he is baffled by it. The Court is a symbol of order; the owl is the natural enemy of the bat, and it, like the bat, is a creature of darkness. Like the bat, it can symbolize death and menace, but it also symbolizes wisdom: the Court seems to use this motif and BOTH its meanings very deliberately, as they believe themselves to be the shepherds of the City, who know what is best to keep things running even remotely smoothly…and they will stop at nothing to keep their grasp on things. To this end, not only will the Court occasionally kidnap rivals and force them to suffer the tortures of a hidden labyrinth beneath Gotham, but they also have an army of trained, immortal assassins, known as “The Talons of the Owls” (or just Talons, for short), which actually employ many of the same tactics as Batman has. However, while Batman fights crime brutally but not lethally, the Talons will kill and even torture without remorse or pause. Whatever the Court demands of them, they will do. It’s implied that the Court has ties to Batman’s origins: Bruce once believed the mythical Court had organized the death of his parents at the hands of Joe Chill, but was never able to find any evidence of this, naturally. To this date, it still hasn’t been confirmed, nor has it been denied. The Court and their Talons have been steadily making their way into other media in recent years. The animated film “Batman vs. Robin” is loosely based on their first comic book storyline; in “Gotham,” the Court is revealed to be a faction of Ra’s Al Ghul’s League of Assassins; perhaps most pertinent to our current times, the Court is set to be the main antagonists of the game “Gotham Knights,” and in another game, “LEGO DC Supervillains,” the Talon is an unlockable playable character. The countdown continues tomorrow with my 21st Favorite Batman Villain! HINT: This Villain Knows How to Leave a Mark.

#gotham's 31 most wanted #january advent calendar #new year's countdown #batman villains #dc #batman #villains #comics #supervillains #favorites #best #court of owls #talon

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dailyaudiobible · 3 years

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03/03/2021 DAB Transcript

Leviticus 27:14- Numbers 1:54, Mark 11:1-26, Psalms 46:1-11, Proverbs 10:23

Today is the 3rd day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we continue the journey that we began what feels like a long time ago but was…wasn't although we are a couple of months into the journey. So, we are indeed well on our way. So, let's dive in today's reading today. And today is a bit of a special day. We are going to conclude the book of Leviticus and move forward into the next book, which was…which is called numbers and we will talk about that when we get there. But first, the last words of Leviticus, which is chapter 27 verse 14 through verse 34.

Introduction to the book of Numbers:

Okay. So, that concludes the book of Leviticus which brings us to be shiny brand-new first page and first chapter of a brand-new book called Numbers. And as we get into numbers it's going to sound like similar territory, maybe even territory that we've already covered, like this is redundant in some ways, but it's important to understand what’s happened because we’re turning the page here. We just finished Leviticus but we’re zooming forward in time a bit. And now we are at a time when the first generation is passing to the second generation of people who have left Egypt. So, this happened under Moses leadership. They've…they’ve seen God show up and miraculously provide for them, they’ve seen His mighty power and they’ve…they’ve received the law, but now that they've received it they have to actually live it, because God is giving the order to move out. It’s actually time. The time has come. They’ve been around Mount Sinai. They have the law and now it's time for them to go into the Promised Land. And we’ll see that spies get sent into the land to scope it out and we’ll see what their report is and it's an unfortunate situation because it disqualifies an entire generation and keeps them in the desert when it was time. Like we are literally opening the book of Numbers and it's time to go into the promised land. We’re just not gonna make it there. Not yet. So, the first nine chapters of numbers are going to provide review and structure because God is…is preparing the people to move out and move into the promised land and then we’ll see censuses being taken, additional laws being given, review of all the laws, we’ll see things like purification's and celebrations and then we’ll move into the story of the spies going across the Jordan into the promised land to spy it out. And we’ll take it from there until the end, as the first generation of slaves out of Egypt that were being formed in the deserts die off. And, so, let’s begin, numbers chapter 1.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we have transitioned into the book of Numbers and we’re just getting going there and we kind of flew over that to understand some context, just some of the lay of the land that’s out in front of us and what we’ll be covering. And, so, we did. We counted…we counted all of the people today, all of the people, all of the men prepared for battle that could go to war. It’s over 600,000 of them. This is all in preparation to move out and toward the promised land. Like that's the plan. We need to remember that. That's the plan. What’s supposed to happen now that they have received the law is that they're supposed to get information and march into the promised land and establish this culture while learning to live into the law. There are some unfortunate turns of events that prevent that happening straightaway. And as we watch what happens here, we need to be looking at our own lives as well because everybody has the wilderness, everybody has the wilderness in their lives. But maybe we spend a lot more time in the wilderness then we ever needed too.

And then in the gospel of Mark we are entering Jerusalem again. And, so, we’re very near to experiencing Jesus arrest and His Last Supper and His trial and execution again. And we are in a season now where we really are focusing on this, this season of Lent and we talked about that a couple of weeks ago when Lent began. And…and actually it's a month from today that Lent ends because a month from tomorrow will be Easter Sunday. So, we’re in the thick of it and this is that season when we really, really try to take to heart what’s going on in the Scriptures. It…it can't just be that Sunday school story, the Jesus died on the cross and then He rose then practically the next day. Like we need to embrace the story, the larger story, that separation between man and God is being eliminated, that restoration is becoming possible, that the final sacrifice is being given once and for all according to the Scriptures. We also need to deeply lament and contemplate that sin leads to destruction. And all we need to do is look at our lives, like a look at the story that our lives have been telling and we can see those times where we’ve gone off the rails and it has led to very destructive things and it always will. We sit with that. We open our hands and hearts and invite God to move things around, move things out, take people out move things in, bring in people, and rearrange the furniture. Whatever it needs, whatever our lives need, however they need to be rearranged so that as we approach Easter Sunday we really approach it with fantastic rejoicing that all things have been made new, that we didn’t just kind of move through it really quick and dress up pretty on Sunday and just hunt for Easter eggs and then move through, that we actually took the time in the season before Easter to lament and hold in our hands and hearts the weight and cost of sin, so that when we…when we celebrate the resurrection we celebrate it with this brand-new awareness that we are free from the curse of sin and death unless we willingly participate.

Prayer:

Jesus as we move into this territory in the gospel of Mark and as we continue to move through this season where we’re really contemplating this, come Holy Spirit, come Holy Spirit and show us the areas that still need work, things that need to be rearranged, things that need to be let go of. We can't do this without You. We can do this with You, and You are not withholding Yourself. We are just not paying attention but we’re paying attention now. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, home of the Global Campfire, it’s where the Global Campfire burns here in the virtual world that we find ourselves in. So, be familiar and check out. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can access these things as well.

So, check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources there that have been crafted for the journey that we are on. So, check out the Daily Audio Bible Wind Farm coffee. That’s…that’s something that pairs so well with the Daily Audio Bible that…I mean it’s just so good to have a cup of coffee and listen to the Scriptures or a cup of hot tea, listen to the Scriptures, move into the day or wind down from the day. And, so, we roast our own coffee and send it to you fresh, import tea and bring it to you fresh. So, check that out as well as all the other resources that are available in the Shop. If you like it well enough, we can send it to you every month. There's a coffee and tea club at Daily Audio Bible and we roast it fresh and send it out at the end of every month so that it arrives at the beginning of every month fresh and ready to go and we can send as many bags as you want, as many as you drink. So, check that out in the Daily Audio Bible shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, of course, we’re a community that loves pray for each other and we love each other well through prayer so if you’re carrying things that you really…you really shouldn't be carrying alone well then you can reach out, hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey Daily Audio Bible family this is Stephanie in Bangalore and I am calling partly because Daniel Johnson Junior you nailed some of exactly how I'm feeling about asking for help. And it's not anything that I can ask for help…physical help with, but family I do need your prayers. Those who have been listening since last year may remember that my husband and I are both a little older and we did…we were pregnant at this point last year and we last the baby on March 9th. We’re actually going to have a little prayer memorial service with our families that day this year Lord willing, but the grief is still there, and I know many of you understand that grief. And the grief that God has not yet chosen to give us a child…another child is there as well. So, please just pray for us as we, you know, seek to do a God wants us to do and also walk through this time of grief and uncertainty and…and everything. It also would be really great if I could go see my family this year. I haven't seen them in over a year and I’m very close with them. And yeah. Anyway, thanks for being there. Hopefully I'll call back soon with some encouragement for others. Bye.

Good afternoon Daily Audio Bible family this is Adrian from Washington DC. Today is February 27th and I have been meaning to call in for a while, but I've been putting it off. You know, I…I just wanted to openly the thank God for what happened last year, not necessarily the pandemic. But the shortened version was in July of last year I got sick and I wasn't feeling well and the last thing I remember was climbing into my sister’s bed and turning on the air conditioner because I was hot. And the next thing I know when I wake up and I'm in a hospital and I have been in a hospital from July 19th until…well the 23rd, that's when I woke up. And even after all that I still had a lot…a long way to go. I was transferred to multiple hospitals and dealing with multiple issues but I finally came home September 1st and March 1st will be six months since I've been home and I've made amazing progress to…progress because of a lot of amazing people and I thank them for that but I really just need to thank God because He had His hand on me the entire time, He had His hand on my family the entire time until I came home and I could not have possibly have made it without Him. So, I, like I said, I'm finally…I'm saying it out loud, saying it to my other family , thank You Lord for everything that You have done for me, everything that You have done to get me to this point where I can now walk a mile and I’m back…I've been…I've been back at work since last September, but I'm doing some of the things that I did before I got sick. Thank you, family. I love you.

Good morning my name is Vicki from Southern Oregon. And, you know, I think I came up with the name too, it's Soul Shine, not because it does but because that is what I'm hoping God is doing for me. I called in a few months ago and I'm calling for a praise report. I want to thank you, everybody that prayed for me and my son. My son has been taken to the state hospital. He’s severely mentally ill, schizophrenic and also has an addiction problem. And, you know, there's a window of opportunity for him to get help which is, you know, I know it's funny to call it a praise report when your son is in the state mental hospital but help…help is hard to find and hard fought. So, thank you for everyone that prayed for him and I pray that God will continue to work in his life and give him the freedom from his addiction and from his mental illness and that he will understand that the medications are helping him not harming him. Again, I thank everybody that prayed. Thank you, Brian for be here…being here.

Hello DAB family this is Rob still Worship Dude in Nashville. It's been a while since I've called in. I don't really have anything dramatic that I'm asking for. I just wanted to touch base. I've been listening to…for this…for gosh over 10 years. And I just want to say thank God, thank you for the DAB. Thank you for the community, thank you for the people who call in to pray, for those who engage with the prayers, for those who intercede for the prayer requests that have come in. We thank you Lord that you are omniscient, you are omnipotent, you are an omnipresent God, you are all knowing, you are all powerful, you are everywhere God. There is nothing that is too hard for you. And Lord as this great cacophony of prayers of intercession Lord arises around the world Lord, I thank you for this tool, this resource of the DAB Lord to just join the body of Christ together Lord. Would you release…would you release the spirit of unity amongst us as we bear one another's burdens Lord. We just recognize that you are doing a new thing. You are always doing a new thing Lord and Lord we stand together, and we ask that your Kingdom would come, your will would be done, that you would fill the earth with the glory of your presence. Father I thank you so much for the DAB, for Brian Hardin, for the amazing insightful and inspiring commentaries that you continue to share with us through him. Bless his team, bless all who support the DAB. Father I thank you that you are working on our behalf. We trust you. We love you and we bless you in Jesus’ name. God bless you guys.

Hello from beautiful Cincinnati OH this is Daniel Johnson Junior. One second while I throw another log on the Global Campfire here. So, it is the evening of February 28th 2021…2021. It's really been amazing because I've been journaling since the end of April, you know, journaling consistently and I was thinking back to like…like I like…for the shortest month of the entire year, February seems like it’s the longest. And I think that it's probably because we're far enough removed from the holiday season and the beginning of the year but not yet, you know, ready for the next season change that we really look forward to. And it just has been kind of wearisome, you know, to be present in this…in this month and kind of also just wondering if I had actually gotten anything done. Well, because of my journaling and I…one of my process that I have set up here is a monthly review. And, so, I went back and I looked through and I was just thinking, I just…you know what, I didn't get some of the goals that I wanted to, like, you know, getting a job. I'm still unemployed. So, I didn't get a job but I was looking at all the other stuff that I did, all of the habits that I’ve been tracking and all of the progress that I had made and it was also actually very inspiring. So, I just wanted to encourage you guys, you know, as you've been thinking about journaling, to do that journaling because you're going to be able to see how much different you are many months down the road, many weeks down the road. And that's all that I have for you right now. God bless you all from beautiful Cincinnati OH Daniel Johnson Junior saying make it a great day.

[singing starts] you do not lie you do not fail what is hard for you to do it doesn't exist. It can never ever never exist. My Jesus you do not lie you do not fail what is hard for you to do doesn't exist. It can never ever exist though. I call into your knowledge and your will from me what you say you will do. I just need to align with because you are not a man that changes his mind. Those that know you will trust in you not in horses and chariot body and soul flesh no man can prevail no man no man no man. My confidence is you what is hard, what is hard for you it can never exist [singing stops]. My name is Helen I'm calling from Nigeria. I just want to use this song to encourage somebody out there that what God cannot do does not exist. It can never exist. So, whatever you're passing through today just have it in mind that you have a God that can do the impossible, that can do everything and what He cannot do it does not exist. I want to thank everyone here. I know I just joined the…the Daily Audio not quite long, recently. I've been listening to everyone. I want to say God bless you all. God bless you. Bless you all.

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kuriquinn · 4 years

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Kriss Does Evil Author Day 2020

[Posting this now instead of tomorrow because I’ve got stuff to do tomorrow and won’t have time.]

As I hinted before, I’ve decided to participate in Evil Author Day this year. The basic premise is that I share with you some of the WIPs I’ve got languishing on my computer, waiting for me to have the right inspiration/drive to finish them. Hopefully reading them

a) Is a nice treat for you guys and you enjoy some new content

b) weeding through my work trying to find what to share with you, maybe I’ll even get around to finishing some of these *she hopes*

Anyhow, the following works are a variety of different ‘verses and involve different characters. It’s not all SasuSaku, but all the characters are fan favorites so there is something for everything.

And in the end, I’ve included links to what I’ve been writing in DC/Batman fandom for the JayTim (because they’re my babies and I love them and their vibe is so similar to the one I write with Itachi/Shisui that it’s easy to transition between the two :D :D :D).

Anyhow, without further ado, enjoy this year’s WIP offerings:

Naruto Fic WIPs and Excerpts

1. Inquiring Minds Want to Know [WIP] [Canon Couples, Mature Themes, Sex Humor]

2. Underneath the Underneath [Excerpt] [ManaKashi, Rating: T, morning after]

3. Penthesilea Companion Piece [Excerpt] [NaruHina, Rating T, drama, introspection]

4. Sasuke/Sakura Untitled Fic [WIP] [SasuSaku, Rating: T, drama, hurt comfort]

5. Uchiwa Ootsutsuki Fic [Sequel to Samsara, sort of] [WIP, OCs, Uchiwa/Original Character, friends, family, drama, etc.]

***

Batman/DC WIPs

These have actually been updated recently if you’re looking for anything to read, and they’re all on Archive of Our Own, so I’ve provided links to that instead of creating a whole new tumblr page.

1. Philtatos [WIP - JayTim, Action-Adventure, Mythological Themes, Reincarnation, Casefic]

2. Tabula Rasa [WIP - JayTim, Soulmate AU, Amnesia]

3. Appetence [WIP - JayTim, Supernatural AU, Casefic]

4. Pieces of April [WIP - JayTim, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Slow Burn Relationship]

#evil author day #kuriquinn #works in progress #naruto #batman #fanfiction #kriss writes

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authoressskr · 5 years

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Write Into My Arms [3]

Characters: f!Reader, James “Bucky” Barnes, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Peter Parker, Hope Van Dyne, Natasha Romanoff, Scott Lang, Wanda Maximoff, Vision, Okoye, T’Challa, Shuri, Clint Barton, Happy Hogan, Dr. Strange, Wong, Bruce Banner, Thor, Amelina Rodrigez (OFC), Carol Danvers, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Peter Quill, Gamora, Nebula, Mantis and Drax.

Warnings: Language, Angst (mostly in last two chapters), Action (in last chapter) and no Beta (just me and Grammerly up in here)

Word Count: 11,278 :: Pairing: Bucky x f!Reader

This was written for @jewelofwinter’s Writing Challenge!! I also incorporated a prompt for @jaamesbbarnes + @sgtjbuccky’s D&S’ Milestone Celebration!!

Prompt: “Tin Man lost Y/N.” (@jewelofwinter’s prompt) + “Publicly, I agree. Personally, I think it’s chickenshit.” (D&S’ prompt) Bolded in text below. Prompt #1 will appear in the third part while Prompt #2 appears in the second part. The next parts will be posted by the end of this week. All will be linked.

Summary: You’re a small time blog writer who is invited to interview the Avengers. ALL the Avengers.

*Note: Endgame happened - kind of. Steve didn’t go back to the 40s. Tony didn’t die. Natasha got brought back with the Bruce Snap. Bruce is not the Hulk mashup they had going on. Everything else happened. This takes place 3 years after defeating Thanos.*

[PART 2]

Please do NOT repost, copy & paste, post or share my works on any other platform without my EXPRESS PERMISSION.

-+- REBLOGGING is fine and very appreciated! -+-

Waking up later that afternoon to Bucky gently shaking your shoulder is...nice.

You open your mouth to apologize for your breakdown earlier but he just gives you a soft shake of his head, sporting a shy smile before yawning.

“Lunchtime,” He rumbles out and it’s a whole lot sexier than it should be. “But eat some of the fruit first and take a couple of aspirin.” His second yawn makes you yawn, but you manage to nod, slipping from under the covers and stretching a little before seeing the banana on the side table. You manage a few small bites before reaching greedily for one of the bottles of water, downing a third of the bottle before reaching for the aspirin. You shake out two pills and toss them back before offering the other water to Bucky who is slipping off the bed to get his boots. He shakes his head ‘no’ before pulling on his right boot. You set it back and finish your water, surprised at the ease of this whole thing between you two now and at Bucky appearing before you, taking the banana from your hand and polishing it off before flashing you a round-cheeked smile.

“Let’s go, chipmunk,” You mutter with a smile before slipping into a pair of flats and heading through the door, the handsome sergeant following behind you with his own smile flirting on his lips, this whole thing making the tired wheels in your mind spin.

Bucky couldn’t like you like you, could he?

::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx::

Lunch is served later than usual and you thank Tony quietly when you enter for it. He just gives you a genuine smile before reaching out to squeeze your wrist affectionately.

Your seat is in between Natasha and Hope for this meal, a beautiful salad set before you before it’s swiftly pulled away by Bucky, leaning over the giant ass table. He pushes his plate in front of you while you watch quizzically. He looks at the salad with a tiny hint of disdain before handing it to Steve and heading back to the buffet table.

Looking down at the plate, it’s loaded with food. Fried potatoes, antipasto salad, some cottage cheese, three slices of ham, and a little white frosted cupcake.

“Need something solid,” He remarks as he sits down with his new plate. You nearly start crying again - there is no reason for all of them to be so nice to you. Especially Bucky. “Eat,” Bucky orders around a mouthful of chicken, Sam shaking his head - at what exactly, you aren’t sure.

But they must all be in on it since most of the Avengers are giving you smiles like they know something you don’t but right now, you are simply too tired to care.

“Our space division will be here tomorrow, probably just before dinner,” Tony states loudly, disturbing the soft conversation you were having with Hope about adding the ability to “talk” to ants to her Wasp suit or if she could dare to control wasps since it’s her moniker. You meet his eyes and nod your understanding. “We’ll let you rest up the day after they arrive - they can show you around the ship and take pictures, but I want you to rest as much as possible.”

“I’m not doing anything difficult,” You reason, setting your fork down with a frown.

“But you’re still pushing yourself a little too hard, kid.” Unable to argue, you just tuck a piece of hair behind your ear and pick up your fork to continue eating. “I don’t want you run ragged, okay? Just rest up tomorrow and take it easy the day after and then you can go right back at it.”

“Fine. But I’m only agreeing to this because I don’t think I can win an argument right now.”

“Good.”

“And I’m still going to interview Happy after lunch.”

“Fine,” Is uttered through clenched teeth with a forced smile as Pepper reached over to pat his hand, while Peter grins from beside Pepper.

“It sounds like you’ve been adopted or are close!”

“Adopted?”

“Yeah! Mr. Stark shows his affection in not the usual way. He’s kind of compliments you, then tells you what you can do better. Then he starts to orders you to rest and to stay safe and will keep tabs to make sure you do.” He shoves a whole slice of ham in his mouth while Scott and Wanda both give little shakes of their heads.

“Um, thank you?” You look at Tony who just looks away before shoving some antipasto in his mouth.

“Maybe we just let her and Bucky nap some more?” Shuri sing-songs oh so innocently from the other end of the table by Clint and Vision.

When you look across at Bucky, his cheeks that cute pink you remember for your interview. You feel the heat creep up your neck at this as well, all though your eyes shift from Bucky back to Shuri.

“Well, not everyone can have my good taste. Thank you for lunch, Tony. Pepper. And thank you for the care, Sergeant.” And it takes all the confidence you can muster, but you slide from your seat with grace, taking your cupcake with you, and walk from the room with your head held as high as you could manage while nerves ate at your insides.

I just let that damn teenager rile me up...

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Tracking down Happy is a little more difficult, but by now you aren’t ashamed to ask FRIDAY to help locate people. It’s a big compound.

Happy’s in the garage after an errand run to Avengers Tower and he’s more than a little shocked that he’s included - which in turn makes you a little sad since he’s been with Tony longer than Pepper has.

He tells you of his life before Tony, after Tony, his boxing background and helping Peter navigate superhero duties now that he’s not just the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

“Kid thought AC/DC was Led Zeppelin…” He shakes his head with obvious fondness. “Tony bought him all of AC/DC’s stuff and told him he was gonna quiz him after that.”

“It’s a terribly dad thing to do.”

“After Tony assigned me to look after him, the kid called constantly. ‘A lady bought me a churro.’ ‘When do I get to help Iron Man again?’ But I know Tony picked him for a reason. Tony second-guesses nearly everything he does, but not that kid. Under-roos was a good choice.”

“Un-un-under-roos?” You cackle happily, bending over a little as you laugh and nearly jostling the recorder off your knee as you do so.

“The kid seems to like you.”

“To be fair, Peter seems to like everyone. He’s a very sweet young man.”

“They all do, honey. You’ve brought a lot of normalcy to them in a very short period of time. They won’t say it, but they get attached quicker than they like to admit. And they all like you.”

“There are a lot more interesti-”

“Not to them. They like the normal. They like the wit. They like your enthusiasm...that you can connect with all of them. They’ve been to space. Time traveled. Met a talking raccoon and tree. Trust me, they got interesting.”

“Are you implying I’m not interesting?” Happy looks flustered for a moment, backtracking like his life depends on it while you can’t hold your serious face anymore and burst out laughing. “I’m just screwing with you. I know what you meant, Happy.”

Happy is lightheartedly funny, teasing you more after that, and you make the notation that he’s obviously a very good influence on Tony and Peter. He also tells you he helped Rhodey change the signs from Stark Industries to Stank Industries, which still makes him smile every time he drives into the compound.

You take a break after that, twenty interviews in five days a lot to go over - and in your case, go over and over and then once more, just in case.

Spending the rest of the afternoon and early evening shut in your room as you type and listen, type and go over your notes, type and re-type. This has to be perfect. If you never write another story again, this has to be perfect.

For them. For all they’ve done.

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If she’s not interviewing, she’s writing.

And if she’s not writing, she’s taking photographs - the grounds, the woods, them.

When she’s not interviewing or taking photographs, she’s singing.

It’s soft, always under her breath when around them, like after lunch today when she came to grab some lemonade from the fridge. Sam told him it was an 80s song called ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’. He mentally added that to the list he’d already compiled in the last five days from listening to her.

It’s a little spaced out, with whole verses skipped when she’s seated on one of the patios, furiously typing and rereading - typing and rereading.

It’s in her normal speaking volume when it’s early morning and she’s seated in front of the windows in her room, scribbling in her notebook or listening to her boss complain on speakerphone about deadlines, hiring decisions, or suggestions on things he knows already that she’s going to ignore.

He hears her softly singing as he heads towards the living room, silence breaking it up every so often, so he knows she’s typing. Part of him wants to go in and talk to her, but he knows he shouldn’t. She’s working and he needs to let her do that. It doesn’t stop the need burning in his chest but he just shoves it down as much as he can, knowing that he’ll see her later.

“You know, that means she likes you too Tin-Man.” Tony’s smirked-riddled words from lunch keep tumbling around in his head. Over and over and over again.

He grabs an empty bowl and some Lucky Charms from the cabinet, filling the bowl to the brim before pouring the milk and settling in at the bar top to eat his cereal. Peter is a few stools down, shoving a brownie into his mouth as Tony and Sam come in, Tony calling out a gruff “Hello freeloaders” to T’Challa, Shuri, Steve, Vision, Wanda, and Natasha who are all seated in the living room, watching Animal Planet. Shuri, Wanda, and Natasha all give him smirks while T’Challa grabs hold of Shuri’s hands, keeping them firmly on her lap while chuckling.

“Whatcha doin’, kid?” Tony asks Peter, stealing a brownie from the giant serving platter in front of the teenager as Peter looks at his phone with a smile.

“Sending some memes to Y/N. To cheer her up.” Bucky nearly drops his spoon into the cereal in disbelief.

“How’d you get her number?” Tony asks, his gaze sliding from Peter to Bucky, a big smile stretching his lips. Asshole.

“I asked,” Peter answers like it’s the most obvious thing in the history of things.

“Well, I’ll be damned. First DUM-E and now the spiderling…” Sam’s voice filled with the joy this revelation begins as Bucky’s voice overlaps his with an edge of shock.

“We can just ask?” Peter looks at Bucky like he’s confused for a second before his phone dings, Shuri appearing and looking over Peter’s shoulder at his phone.

“That’s a good one,” Peter tells her over his shoulder as Shuri laughs.

“That is a good one!”

“Y/N has a wonderful sense of humor,” Vision agrees from across the room, Wanda nodding in agreement.

“She has retained all of her phrases I’ve taught her so far. And sometimes rearranged them to make them humorous. You should just ask her out already, Bucky.” He feels the heat creep up his neck. He saves himself from answering Wanda by shoving a big spoonful of cereal in his mouth but glares at Sam and Tony who are still staring at him with big smiles. Dicks.

“She seems to like you too, Mr. Bucky.” Peter pipes up helpfully.

“Yes, you two looked very cute earlier,” Shuri adds with a wink.

“And the Guardians are supposed to be here tomorrow night, so you need to get in as much flirting time as possible, Mr. Bucky. Thor is coming. And he’s handsome.” When Bucky just stares, Peter clears his throat. “Everyone says so.”

“Everyone,” Natasha agrees as she gets up to refill her coffee cup.

“If Thor doesn’t try to steal her attention then Peter Quill will,” Tony adds loudly, his back to everyone while digging through the junk food cupboard.

“Star-Lord?” Stephen snorts from his spot on the loveseat in the corner. “I hope she’s a lot smarter than that.”

“Nebula said he wore Gamora down…” Tony argues, eyebrows raised as he shoves an oreo in his mouth.

“Well, we aren’t in space and he is in no way the pick of the litter here on Earth. Regardless of what he thinks.” Stephen comes over to steal a cookie from Tony.

Y/N comes down the hall with Wong, talking animatedly, making Bucky throw his spoon at Tony, who drops his oreo.

“What the fuck, Tin-Man?” Tony hisses as he looks forlornly at his oreo before bending to pick it up.

“Hi everyone! Wong told me we’ll be having dinner in the mess hall tonight. Does that mean the Guardians will be here sooner than planned?”

“No, still due tomorrow, but Nebula said it might be around lunchtime when they arrive. Tony, Pepper, and Natasha just want to work out schematics,” Steve pipes up from the couch, shooting you a bright Captain America smile.

“I was thinking,” You begin nervously. “I’m sort of glad Tony is forcing me to take a break. It gives me time to finish up my notes on you all but also gives them some time to recharge and ask you guys about me.”

“I’m glad you’re gonna rest some, imposed or not. Plan sounds perfect to me,” Pepper answers with a bright smile, taking the oreo package from Tony and closing it as he frowns slightly at his cookie loss. Then Bucky sees Peter slip him a brownie. Tony shoots you a wink as he accepts it.

“Good!” You perk up at the acceptance before you and Wong continue to what Bucky assumes is the library.

Scott and Hope walk in with Okoye and Clint, Scott looking excited.

“Thor’s gonna be here soon!” He rubs his hands together as Peter, Shuri and Sam laugh.

“What did I say?” Scott wonders aloud, looking at Natasha as she pats his shoulder once as she returns to her seat on the couch.

“They’re obviously trying to get the White Wolf to make a move before Thor comes. He may have gained some weight, but he’s still very handsome. Funny. Powerful. Pleasing to the eye and ear.” Okoye comments as Scott and Peter nod along eagerly.

Bucky drops his empty bowl into the sink and sulks off to his room.

Would you really like Thor better?

Of course, you would. Thor wasn’t a former brainwashed assassin who still have difficulties remembering his past as a normal person should. He probably doesn’t sit up nights after rough missions and hate that he can still feel the person he used to be. He can offer you charm and laughter and he was fucking royalty. Space royalty!

Bucky was a man out of time with more blood on his hands than any man should, he was a man who couldn’t offer you a lot...all he had to give was his damaged self.

He was just a semi-stable soldier who liked watching your beautiful eyes light up as you get excited about the smallest things and who liked to follow you around to hear you sing - how could he compete when he was possibly up against an actual god?

::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx::

It’s after midnight, so it’s mostly cleared out, with the few who are still awake settled on the patio with a few bottles scattered across the glass tabletop, soft words and the soft clink of glass on glass is all you hear from the partially opened patio door as you slip into the kitchen.

You open the junk food cabinet to find the tin of cookies Bucky had gifted you with two days ago is still there (how you don’t know, but you’re thankful) and still half-full of the little sugar cookies identical to the ones you had the other afternoon. He’s so thoughtful, you muse.

You’re almost back to your room with your tin of goodies when it happens.

A loud boom echoes far too close for comfort, making you jump while you clutch the tin to your chest, fighting back a scream. Then you hear the sound of gunshots, your heart rate already rising.

There is nowhere safer to be. There is nowhere safer to be. There is nowhere safer to be! You repeat the mantra in your head as you automatically head towards Bucky’s room at a run.

He’s not here. Panic blooms in your chest as you throw open his bedroom door and find it barren. No. No. No! He’d gone to his room when you had after dinner...where could he be?! You close his door and rush back down the hall towards the kitchen. Kitchens have knives, you reason to yourself. Killers don’t look that often in kitchens, right? Velociraptors, yes. Bad guys, hopefully not so much.

The lights go out as red alarm lights begin flashing overhead, spurring your feet to move faster.

That’s when suddenly you crash into a hard body.

You’re praying it’s Bucky or Steve.

It isn’t.

The man in black tactical gear grabs your arm, forcing you to face the wall before shoving you into it harsh enough to make the precious cookie tin slip from your grasp. You gasp loudly at the pain shooting through your cheek he’d smashed into the wall and at the angle he’s still got your arm in. Your back is to his chest, so you do as Gracie Lou Freebush taught you and SING!

You bring most of your weight onto your right heel, shoving in at the tip of his boot before snapping your head back hard against his face. He yelps out a few expletives while you thank whoever that this dude was just a little taller than you and not Steve or Bucky’s size. You spin around now that you’re free of his grasp and bring your knee up as quick and hard as you can into his groin, hoping that the tactical gear isn’t that thick there, before flattening your palm like Natasha showed you and thrusting it up and into his nose. You fist that same hand and jab at the uncovered skin you can see by his Adam's apple. He doubles over and while you know it’s stupid and cliche, you grab your cookie tin and continue past the gasping man faster towards the kitchen.

When you run into a second body, you decide you’ll try out the whole tossing your foe over your shoulder thing, but then you feel the cool metal against your wrist before Bucky pulls you against his chest roughly. He releases your wrist, metal hand cupping the back of your head and pulling you tighter against his chest.

“Scared the shit out of me, doll.” He breathes against your hair as you cling to him. Safe. He pulls back to look at you and he frowns, eyes running frantically all over you. “Are you hurt?”

“Not really.”

“Where’d this blood come from?”

“I think I broke a guys nose,” Your voice is unsure but Bucky looks proud.

“Good. Good, babydoll. Okay, we gotta get you to the safe room now.” You nod shakily as you pull away, your hand slipping into his easily before your eyes widen. Bucky drops your hand and pushes you behind him, looking at the six men now standing in the hallway, blocking your way to the kitchen and wherever the fuck the safe room is. Bucky looks around before tapping the comm in his ear. “Hall blocked. I’ve got Y/N. Sending her outside to safety.”

Sending you OUTSIDE to safety?! What sense does that make, Bucky!?

“Run for where you saw the 3 bucks,” Bucky orders sternly before grabbing you, throwing open a little hatch in the wall and tossing you through the tight metal shaft.

You scream most of the way down until you land on mostly soft things. You shove your hand down to steady yourself on the - fuck, he threw you down the garbage shute! Climbing through the giant dumpster trough is a feat in itself, only to reach the sides and find them sticky with residue that nearly makes you faceplant back into the dumpster. You manage to wrangle yourself out and shimmy down the side, with only minor scrapes and cuts your sides and hands, trying not to gag at the scent that now clings to you. At least you’re safe...Well, safer. You still need to get to the clearing.

You aren’t sure how many are outside, so you press yourself against the dumpster as close as you can and ease your way around it until you can almost see the corner that will lead you to the patio and the edge of the woods.

But that’s when a man holding what looks like an electrified baton, steps out of the shadows just feet in front of you, teeth gleaming menacingly in the moonlight.

“Well, fuck,” you huff out angrily before searching the ground around you for a weapon.

::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx::

“Where’s Y/N? Anyone have eyes on Y/N?” Steve yells through the comms before soft grunts echo through.

“Tin-Man lost Y/N.” Tony’s voice comes in before there is a crackle of lightning right beside Bucky as he exits the house in a mad dash for the clearing.

“Fuck you, Stark. I didn’t lose her, I simply misplaced her. House is clear. Eyes? Anyone?!” He’s sure he’s panting because his chest is so tight with worry. Fuck, he did lose her. There is no answer, which means no one has seen her. Sweet Jesus, please don’t let anything have happened to her...

“All clear on the east side,” Clint’s voice confirms, not easing the worry bubbling inside Bucky.

“All clear on the north side,” Natasha huffs out. Shit. Shit. SHIT!

The clearing is empty, no sounds coming from the forest. NO! Bucky spins on his heel and heads back for the compound.

“The west side is clear,” T’Challa’s voice comes over. “No sign of Y/N, Bucky.”

“Southside is clear. Except for the debris and unconscious dudes,” Scott affirms before adding softly. “No Y/N here either.”

“Alright - everyone spread out and find her. Queens and Bruce can stay out here while Thor, Strange, Wong and Vision all start to round up these morons. Buck, where do we start?”

“I tossed her out the chute by the kitchen and I just checked the clearing and she’s not here.”

“I’m sorry, you what?” Wanda asks, disbelief clear even through the comms.

“He tossed the girl he’s been mooning over for a week down the damn kitchen garbage chute!” Sam chortles while Bucky fights the need to punch something. Anything. Preferably Sam.

Okoye, Shuri, and Natasha all are headed towards where she was last seen when Okoye stops.

“Do you hear that?” The others stop, straining their ears. They hear a few soft grunts followed by a soft “Help” so breathy if they hadn’t stopped they might not have heard it.

Hope and Steve are coming from the opposite direction, all of them looking around before the shouts grow louder.

“Help! Please!” A pause. A cough. “HELP!” Bucky comes huffing up behind Steve, searching you out.

“Doll?!”

Hope is the one who peers down into the open incinerator hole, “Got her!” she yells before Steve jumps down to help you out.

When Hope and Okoye pull you up, you’re beyond relieved but you only manage to get one semi-clear breath in before hands are cupping your face, making you look into relief-filled storm blue eyes.

“Are you alright? Is anything broken? Are you hurt? Doll, answer me.”

“I don’t think anything’s broken,” You answer before feeling the rage you’d felt earlier returning. “You threw me down the garbage chute.”

Bucky tenses at your angry tone. “It was the safest option at the time, sweetheart.” Tony and the rest of the Avengers and Thor come around the corner about this time, your eyes never leaving Bucky’s as you get angrier and angrier.

“You. Threw. Me. Down. The. Garbage. Chute.” You shove his hands from your face. “And safe?!” You wave the baton you’d taken from black tactical uniformed asshole #8. “That asshole,” pointing the baton down towards the hole you’d both tumbled down, with you luckily landing on him to break your fall. “Was waiting out here ready to electrocute my ass into either compliance or peeing on myself, but yeah, I’m sure sticking with a fucking former sniper and super soldier was a bad plan.” Bucky is grinning with relief, he can practically feel it coursing through his veins like a drug. Now, his mind supplies with glee. And Bucky heeds the call, reclaiming the little space you’d put between the two of you, his hands cupping your face before his lips gently meet yours. He can hear you inhale sharply, moving his lips gently against yours.

And for a few moments, you surrender. It just feels so nice. You don’t want it to stop. But the anger reminds you that you could have died from the fall while your brain reminds you that you didn’t. And his lips feel so damn good.

You pull away, taking a deep breath as Bucky looks at you with hope dancing in those blue eyes.

“I need a shower,” You snap, withdrawing further from Bucky and marching back towards the compound’s closest patio. They can all hear you talking to yourself as you leave. “Maybe update beyond a plain chain-link fence? Who the fuck attacks the fucking Avengers compound, huh? Maybe put a stupid cover over the giant ash and fire pit in the ground! Stupid asshole, he’s lucky he broke my fall. What is in my hair?! Can’t believe he kissed me...fucking cookies...”

Pepper and Wanda follow after her while Natasha shakes her head at Bucky.

“A garbage chute, Barnes? And then she fell into the incinerator pit?”

“I didn’t plan it that way! I figured she’d get to the clearing and be safe!” Bucky defends, throwing his hands in the air.

“I thought you were smooth with women back in the day?” Rhodey asks, gesturing from Bucky to where you’d gone.

“You must go and make this right. But you might want to wait a bit since she still had a very firm hold on that stick.” Thor offers with a cheery smile. “I like her already!” Cookies. The thought of her holding that tin so tightly to her chest spurs Bucky to begin searching the ground before heading over to the garbage bin.

“Whatcha doin’, Tin-Man?” Tony asks, hovering to watch him.

“She had her cookie tin when I found her,” He grunts out, shoving the garbage out of the way to see the bottom of the metal bin.

“It’s not in there, Sergeant Barnes.” Vision confirms, making Bucky jump out with a huff.

“You can make her some more as an apology, Buck.” Steve huffs out as he dusts off the ash from the pit.

“Yeah…”

“You’re going to need a lot more than cookies,” Wanda’s voice is a whisper through the comms.

“Why?” Bruce asks, looking at Wong who shrugs.

“Whatever was in the dumpster, it mixed with the ashes and residue in the incinerator and it’s clumping in her hair. Pepper has her in the bathtub, trying to work it out as you would gum, but it’s not all coming out. We’ve got some of it...Maybe Shuri or Bruce can help? Otherwise, Pepper is going to call her hairdresser…”

“Oh shit. Yeah, you’re gonna need a whole lot more than cookies if you’ve fucked up her hair. I know that from experience,” Sam affirms before giving a shiver and heads back to where they tossed all the intruders.

“Best way is to admit you were and are a dumbass, then give her a few of her favorite things...oh, and she liked those chocolate chip pancakes you made - make those!” Bucky groans, looking from Clint - his suggestion is the best, after all - to Steve who is ready to begin doling out orders for cleanup.

“I’m just gonna give her some time. I’ll apologize in the morning. With pancakes and cookies.”

::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx::

After Pepper and Wanda try to work the solidified goo from your hair for almost two hours, you give up and just ask Pepper to call her hairdresser.

You didn’t know she’d come right away.

You barely step out of the shower when Wanda knocks to let you know she’s there.

It takes her about twenty-five minutes to cut all the wads from the ends of your hair, the highest luckily only coming a couple of inches up. You had wanted to cut your hair anyways you suppose…

She evens it out beautifully before smothering your hair in a mask as a knock on your door, draws all of your attention to the door. Part of you wants it to be Bucky. Needs it to be Bucky... The other part is hesitant - mostly because now you’ve had time to calm down and think about everything - you had said some harsh things. You had basically rejected him. And it hurt that you did that to Bucky.

The person at the door isn’t Bucky, it’s a nurse to check you over. You have a few scrapes on your hands from the metal edges of the trash bin and a few cuts on your arms and neck from wrestling with your assailant. You have a nasty bruise on the back of your left thigh from landing on it but right now it’s just a dull ache. She adds split lip and an electric-based burn on your forearm to the papers.

“Nothing major, thankfully!” She’s far too chipper for you right now so you just give a little sigh and nod.

After everyone leaves - having to placate Wanda and Pepper several times over that you are alright - you stand there in the middle of the room, bewildered. What do you do now? Is this how they all feel after battles?

You wander over to the desk, looking over the interviews you were working on before the attack, but you can’t seem to settle.

Just like before.

A shiver runs down your spine at the thought.

::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx::

Bucky is lying in bed, rubbing both hands roughly over his face while his mind goes over the last couple hours like fucking torturous instant replay.

A groan bubbles up in his throat as he stares at the ceiling.

He knows he’s made things bad but he hadn’t wanted you to see him like that.

Because he had felt more unhinged than he had in a long time...he didn’t know where you were and then someone had hurt you. The rage he had barely contained was let loose the moment he had turned around from shoving you down the chute. The six men were lucky. The man who had limped from the hallway after he finished with the six idiots, was not.

He’s so lost in his thoughts, in his selfishness - he barely registers the knock at his door. Huffing out a breath, he tosses his sheet over to cover his nudity...Steve didn’t seem to care but Sam threw a hissy fit every time he barged into his room and found him naked.

“Yeah,” Bucky calls out gruffly, tossing his flesh arm over his eyes, trying to prepare himself for whatever lecture he was about to receive.

“I don’t want to sleep alone.” He pops up at the sound of your voice, drinking the sight of you in like a thirsty man who had just crossed the desert. “I’m scared.”

His heart breaks. You should feel safe here. That’s all they had to do was protect you and he failed. Miserably. You look so small against the dark wood door, the oversized shirt from before is gone - a dark blue tank top in its place - but those tiny little shorts still there. Those would have been considered underwear back in his day.

You move forward slowly, coming to a stop at the empty side of his bed.

“I’m...um…”

“Naked?”

“Yeah.” She turns her back and sits on the edge of the bed with a soft sigh, perhaps relief? “Okay,” Bucky is standing by the bed in his black boxers, searching your face for what he’d seen earlier, but all he sees is tiredness and tears sitting ready to spill. “Come on.” He eases back into bed, watching as you mimic him.

Bucky can hear you swallow once you’re settled, staring up at the ceiling as he had done earlier. The both of you lie on your backs with a small space between the two of you, the soft breathing the only thing to break the silence.

“I’m sorry for how I acted. You saved my life. I should have been more grateful.”

“I shouldn’t have tossed you down that chute like that. I didn’t - I couldn’t - let you see me do what I did. You’d have been safer if I would have kept you with me.” You don’t reply - not verbally, at least. Your hand finds his under the sheet, gripping it tightly before linking your fingers through his. “I’m sorry about your hair,” Bucky whispers in the dark room, half-afraid to look at you.

“It’s just hair. It will grow back. Maybe I’ll cut it shorter once I get used to this length. I cried a little when Pepper was working on getting it out...seeing chunk and chunk of that stuff on one of those plush white towels...I honestly think it was the whole ordeal that made me cry. The hair was just the kicker.”

Bucky doesn’t know what to say, just squeezes your hand before he feels your gaze on him. Like a siren call he can’t ignore, his eyes meet yours.

“Stop blaming yourself Bucky. You thought you were keeping me from seeing you beat the ever-living fuck from those guys and keeping me safe by getting me out and away from where they all were.” He can hear your voice break as you fight back tears. “Please don’t take that burden. I’m fine. I’m safe.”

“With me,” Bucky breathes out, releasing your hand for the second time that night, turning on his side before drawing you closer, as close as possible. “You’re safe, babydoll. Okay? I’m a dumbass. I should have done what made sense and keep you close.”

He can feel you chuckle against his chest, inhaling the sweet scent of your shampoo as he idly rubs his cheek against the top of your head.

“You are a dumbass, Barnes.” He sucks in a breath, a tightness already forming in his chest. “But you are an achingly good person, so I’m going to forgive this incident. Next time, I’m not gonna be so lenient.” It’s all mumbled against his chest, your fingers digging slightly into his back as you cling to him like he is doing to you.

“I’ll make you chocolate chip pancakes and cookies ‘til you pop.”

“Mmmhmm,” You hum against his chest, giving a little wiggle before taking a few deep breaths. “Goodnight Bucky, you handsome dumbass.”

“Goodnight, doll,” Bucky waits until he hears your breathing even out before he adds. “Your dumbass, sweetheart.”

::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx::

Everyone wakes up to find Steve panicking that Y/N isn’t in her room.

“She’s gone!”

“Calm down, Steve.” Natasha orders, handing Clint his third cup of coffee.

“I checked the surveillance cameras, she didn’t leave the compound,” He rambles. “And I’ve checked the grounds, she isn’t anywhere to be found.”

“Did you ask everyone? Maybe she’s talking to Wong or Bruce or Okoye. Get ahold of yourself, Rogers. A man your age doesn’t need the added stress.” Steve shoots her a glare that clearing has some language undertones.

“Morning,” Tony says brightly, tossing the morning newspapers onto the kitchen bar top and taking a seat.

“Tony, Y/N is missing.”

“Ah. Is she now? FRIDAY?”

“Yes, Boss?”

“Is our little writer still on the premises?”

“Yes, Boss.”

“See? No need to worry, Steve. A man your age could have a heart attack.”

“Oh hardy-fucking-har har,” Steve spits out while Tony grins, just before they all hear a loud gasp.

“Captain!” Shuri has her hand over her heart dramatically. “Language!” Steve throws up a hand.

“One more language or old man joke and someone - or multiple someones - are getting some shield. Understand?” They all fucking snap to attention and salute, T’Challa walking in with a sigh.

“Please say this is for him and not for me.”

“No, it’s for the Captain,” Peter clarifies with a bright grin before schooling his face back to serious.

“Alright then.” Steve nearly snaps when T’Challa joins in, trying to hide a smile as he stands at attention.

“Fine! I’m going to keep looking for Y/N!” And stomps from the room.

“You guys really should have shouted ‘America’s Ass!’ when you snapped to attention,” Scott muses as he heads towards the coffee pot.

“Damnit! Why didn’t I think of that?!” Tony groans out before Natasha slides him a glass of orange juice and smiles over the rim of her glass.

“There’s always later, Tony.”

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“Bucky! Have you seen - AHH!” Bucky shoots up, making sure to angle himself to cover you as he held a gun pointed at the intruder.

“Jesus, pal. Maybe knock next time?” Bucky grumbles out, replacing the gun next to his lamp on his bedside table as he feels your fingers on his bicep. You sleepily peeking around him to look at Steve with murder clearly written on your face is the epitome of too cute.

“I didn’t - I’m sorry - I-I was just looking for -”

“What time is it Steve?” You yawn out, interrupting him.

“It’s, um, 8:30.”

“AM?!”

“Yes.”

“What the actual fuck? I didn’t get to sleep until after 3. Not cool, Rogers.” And you toss yourself back down before reaching up to pull at Bucky’s arm with a little whine at the back of your throat.

“Oh, yeah. I’ll, um, I’ll just go then. See you when you get up.” Even Steve doesn’t understand what you mumbled out, his brow furrowed as he pulls the door closed quietly behind him as Bucky waves him off. Bucky wiggles downward, changing their positions from last night - his face pressed against your collarbone as he feels your fingers slip into his hair, winding his arms around your middle with a sigh of contentment.

You both drift off wrapped up safely in each other again.

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“You find her?”

“Yep.” Steve walks briskly into the kitchen, reaching for his coffee cup.

“Well, don’t leave us hanging in suspense!” Hope chides as Steve adds some brown sugar to his coffee before moving around Sam towards the liquor counter. All eyebrows raise as he pours a healthy amount into his coffee cup.

“She was with Bucky.”

“What?!”

“After what happened last night?!”

“Did the old man finally get laid?” They’re all talking over one another or talking to each other about this development.

“I don’t think she’s gonna have sex with him after that. Maybe she just went in to talk and they fell asleep together. I don’t know. I didn’t get to ask too many questions. She’s not a morning person and running on less than five hours of sleep doesn’t make her any more of a morning person.”

“Well, where are they?”

“She pulled him back down and they went back to sleep.”

“That’s adorable!” Wanda gives a little squeal of delight before adding a dollop of whipping cream to Steve’s cup of Irish coffee.

“It seems the endeavor to bring them together has worked,” Vision expressed, nodding at everyone like they had done a good job.

“He has to ask her out. That’s the goal.” Wong utters as he waits for the tea kettle to warm up.

“Wong’s right. He’s gotta ask her out.”

“Who has to ask whom out?” Thor asks as he struts into the kitchen. “I am glad I came ahead. I got to have some fun before the interrogation.”

“Interview,” Okoye corrects with pursed lips.

“Ah yes, interview. But who is asking who out?”

“Bucky needs to ask Y/N out,” Pepper clarifies, hugging Thor before taking the barstool next to Tony.

“She seemed upset with him earlier this morning.”

“He threw her out the trash chute,” Shuri reiterates.

“Better than a high window. Or into the vacuum of space.” Natasha shoots Clint a look at Thor’s words, which just makes him chuckle loudly before gesturing at the Irish whiskey Steve left on the counter. She rolls her eyes and hands it to him.

“Yes. Very right, Pikachu. But what else can we do? We’ve pushed them together at mealtimes, they’ve napped together - now they’d slept together,” Thor opens his mouth but Bruce just shakes his head and Thor closes his mouth. “Sleep, not sex, Thor. He’s been smiling more, following her around when she isn’t interviewing...maybe we should send them to town for supplies make up an activity to do and then we all bail?”

“What scares me is you are a certified genius…” Shuri utters with a hearty sigh. “This isn’t a Lifetime movie, people.”

“It wouldn’t be a Lifetime movie anyway!” Scott argues, drumming his fingers on the countertop. “We need, like, a ‘You’ve Got Mail’ scenario.”

“That’s not gonna work! They’ve met. They aren’t competitors,” Clint argues back, shaking his head vehemently.

“Okay, everyone gives ONE idea!” Stephen pipes up as he leans against the coffee bar.

“We should go over tropes!” Peter jumps in with the first offer.

“Finally! A good idea!” Shuri agrees with a broad smile.

“Alright, let’s make a list,” Pepper pulls out her phone. “Trope one?”

“Bedsharing. Check.”

“Could we do a sick/injured one?” Natasha asks, looking from Shuri to Peter.

Peter nods seriously. “I’ll allow it.”

“Sending them on a blind date?” Hope offers, smearing butter on her toast as Scott hands her a jar of peach preserves.

“Oh, yes. That could work. Add that please, Pepper.”

“Why are we listening to children?” Stephen looks around the group, hands wide with a universal ‘what’ gesture.

“Cause we are very intelligent. And you aren’t throwing out any good ideas, Strange.” Peter snorts at Shuri’s comment.

“Mutual pining for sure,” Sam adds, cracking open an energy drink.

“Poorly timed confession? When he kissed her?” Okoye slips into the last barstool, Shuri grinning from ear to ear at her addition.

“You know so much, Okoye.”

“It is my job, Princess.”

“Anger born of worry, definitely a possibility for Y/N…” Tony mutters more to himself than anyone else, as he scrolls through his phone, looking at the list of tropes he found.

“Innocent physical contact?” Steve peers over Tony’s shoulder. “Hand holding when they napped.”

“Sleep intimacy.”

“Well, that didn’t seem to help. We just made a list of things they’ve done,” Thor looks at Sam’s can before rooting around in the fridge for a similar one.

“Exactly, Mr. Thor. We need a starting point. They both seem to be sort of dancing around each other, so we have to also go with what they’re comfortable with.”

“Excellent, Spider-Parker. Continue.”

“Just go old school. Send her flowers in his name. She thanks him, he plays along, if he’s smart he asks her out - Done.” Bruce vocalizes, Hope offering him a slice of toast.

“Or…,” T’Challa begins, “We could take them to Vegas, get them drunk and get them married. I have now solved all the future problems they’ll encounter as well. You are welcome.”

“Why not just get them drunk here and since I’m ordained, and you’re a King, we could just marry them?”

“Is this really what we’re going with?” Skepticism is rampant in Pepper’s voice as she sets her phone down, eyebrow raised at Rhodey - who has been remarkably silent in the corner, a guardian of the newly brewed pot of coffee.

“Listen, if he’s not smart enough to see he needs to snap her up, I can’t help the man.”

“I just think he needs a little push,” Wanda expresses as she picks at her fingernail absentmindedly.

“Or we just watch and hope he pulls his head out of his ass,” Stephen mutters, pouring more hot water into his cup with a grimace.

“God, it’ll be another 70 years,” Steve groans, polishing off his Irish coffee.

“We’re talking about Bucky, Steve - not you,” Natasha reasons, patting his forearm and flashing a cocky grin.

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Tony staring down at the marble countertop with his hands on either side of his head with Pepper sitting beside him at the kitchen bar top reading something on her tablet. Bucky is making breakfast - well, more like brunch and a brunch overload at that - pancakes, coffee, bacon, sausage, ham, waffles, and he’s working on eggs when everyone drags themselves back into the kitchen.

“Where’s Y/N?” Shuri asks as she pours herself some juice.

“In the garden,” Bucky answered distractedly before taking a long drink from his black insulated tumbler.

“How is she?”

“She’s been on the phone since she came out of Mr. Bucky’s room,” Peter pipes up happily before walking by Tony and squeezes his shoulder. “Did you guys see she posted the first interview?”

“Who did she post first? Was it me?”

“No, uh, sorry, Sam. She posted Mrs. Pepper’s first.”

“How many times have you read that Tony?” Steve asks, taking his own long drink from his coffee cup as his blonde hair sticks up everywhere.

“Four. He didn’t even tell me until the third time,” Pepper answers for him.

“Five now,” Tony corrects, leaning back in the barstool. “It’s everything I could have wanted.” Natasha takes the tablet from in front of Tony, bracing her elbows on the counter before scrolling to the top and settling in to read. Pepper hands her tablet to Steve as Thor climbs into the seat besides Tony, taking a few waffles from the pile and dousing them with far too much syrup.

“Kid, tell her breakfast is ready,” Bucky orders softly, Peter already out of his seat and out the wood covered patio door before Bucky gets to the word ‘ready’. Repairs to the windows and door the intruders broke will be fixed later today, Pepper confirmed earlier since Tony was distracted, for now, they’re just boarded up.When Peter returns with her, there is just the sounds of Bucky finishing up and soft shuffles as people shift where they’re sitting or standing. Almost everyone is looking down at their devices or eating, which makes you more nervous, he can tell.

Bucky had woken up to an empty bed and his giant tumbler filled with hot coffee sitting on his bedside table, the sweet smell and pale color tipping him off immediately to what his doll has been up to. He didn’t know exactly what she’d put in it, it was different from the other times, not as chocolatey but sweet enough to appease his sweet tooth.

He watches you from the corner of his eye as he carefully plates the two biggest, warmest pancakes onto a plate for you, balancing two pieces of bacon and a couple of pieces of sausage at the top of the plate while you slip into the barstool on the other side of Okoye who had claimed the seat by Pepper.

Bucky carefully slides the plate before you, a silent offering of apology. Even if you’ve said multiple times he doesn’t need to apologize...he knows he has to. You deserve every apology he can muster.

“Morning,” He rushes to say it and it comes out rougher than he planned nearly wincing at his overeagerness.

“Good morning,” You reply softly, “Thank you for breakfast.”

“Of course, doll.” Everyone is trying not to look at the two of you and you both appreciate that.

Tony points to the tablet in Natasha’s hand.

“We need to talk about this later, kid. Wonderful stuff.”

“Really?” She’s beaming, the nerves she had suddenly gone - like a weight lifted from her shoulders. Tony nods as he takes a big bite of sausage.

“Yeah, kid. I love it. I really do.”

“When we get done eating, can Thor join me in the garden please?” Bucky fights the need to tense up at your words, putting a few pancakes on his own plate before adding a heap of eggs, smothering his pancakes in buttery syrup as if every action will somehow prolong the inevitable. But you slept in his bed last night. Woke up wrapped around him. The thoughts don’t stop the jealousy already clawing at his belly.

Thor just looks at you with happiness painted on his features, extending a hand behind Pepper to shake yours.

“I did not think last night was a good time to introduce myself. Thor, Son of Odin and Frigga.”

“Y/N, Daughter of Lily Lee. Pleased to meet you.”

“You as well. I like your hair cut. I know what it is like to have no decision in removing your hair and I am sorry. But it will grow back.” He adds cheerfully, spearing a forkful of eggs. “This is only 8 years worth since that madman on Sakaar shorn me like a sheep!”

“Asgardians hair must grow fast.” Thor bobs his blonde head. “Where is Sakaar?”

“It is a place I would never take a lovely woman such as yourself. It is a prize fighting planet filled with thieves, vagrants, and mercenaries which is ruled by a sexually-deviant man called the Grand Master.” He shoves half a waffle in his mouth, cheeks round as he smiles and points his fork at Bruce. “You remember Sakaar, don’t you, Bruce? Hulk was top fighter there!”

Bucky watches your eyes widen as your gaze falls on Bruce.

“You didn’t mention Sakaar, Dr. Banner.”

“Why-why would I? It’s a terrible planet, like-like Thor said. Plus, I-I was Hulk and don’t remember everything about that time.” Thor and Bruce nod along together, Bucky nearly rolls his eyes at the two. Their sublty and Shuri’s absolutely needed some work.

“Of course. I’m sorry to prod, Bruce.”

“No problem. No problem at all.” Tony is looking at Bruce, confusion written all over his face, who shrugs as soon as you look away.

“Well, I’m going to get my things, Thor. I’ll see you in the garden.” She rises from the seat and puts her dirty plate in the sink, Bruce stuttering out he’ll wash it before her hand falls on Bucky’s wrist. “Thank you again for breakfast, Bucky.”

Now it’s his turn to stutter. “O-of course, doll.”

As you disappear down the hallway, Bucky meets Thor’s gaze, the god smiling knowingly at him.

Asshat.

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Thor starts your interview with a hug, complimenting you on the stories that Nebula shared with him from the many electronic mails that Tony had sent.

“I’m glad you liked them.”

“Oh yes. I think even my brother would have had to admit they were well written.”

“How is your brother?”

“I have seen him but twice on my travels with the Guardians. But he seems well. He is not the brother I lost to Thanos, not as mature, he is more Trickster...but he seems to avoid getting himself into too much hot water.” He sighs, absentmindedly stroking his beard. “I suppose I am just happy he is alive and well. I dare not ask for more.” You pat his knee as you nod.

“We can’t change our family. But the family you found is always here and welcoming.”

“Of course. I am very grateful for such a family.”

“May we begin?”

“Yes. Let us begin.”

“What was it like growing up on Asgard?”

“Beautiful. Peaceful. Even when we were being trained to be warriors, there was still joy in me. I was always happy to protect Asgard.”

“It’s been mentioned to me by others that you are actually not the King of Asgard as many news agencies constantly report.”

“No,” He gives a little chuckle as he looks over the roses. “No, I am not King of Asgard. I never wanted to be. Loki should have been King, he was more for politics and intrigue and silver-tongued words. I am a warrior. It is that simple.”

“Is it?” Those electric blue eyes bore into you, brows furrowed slightly. “‘Cause you let your home planet be destroyed to protect your people. You ferried quite a few Asgardians who were flung across the cosmos back here to live with their own people. I’d say that’s more than just a simple warrior.”

“You flatter me, my lady.” You laugh at his words.

“I’m not terribly into flattery, so you won’t be getting any more of that from me.”

“Noted,” He remarks, his serious face being held for only a few seconds before it breaks into a wide smile that reminds you of the sun. Did his mother ever look at him as a baby and think ‘this is Thor - my little god of sunshine’? You’d bet a fair amount of money she did.

“Things on Asgard were medieval-ish in terms of the way you spoke, the way you dressed...yet you were far more advanced than even we are now. Probably more than we will be in a hundred years. Why visit us so long ago, when we were far less advanced than now?”

“You were a simpler people. Not stupid, but not quite ready to dream of going out into the stars. All of the cultures we visited were so different...good medical knowledge, fairly good at outlining the stars, planets, and constellations, all very clean and focused on the betterment of their people. And then I believe it was the Dark Ages and you lot seemed to take a few dozen steps backward. Like you had all, as one, forgotten the hard-earned knowledge of your forebearers. We did not come back for a great many years after that. But you have relearned most of what was lost. Wakanda seems to be the best because of it, seeming to have lost the least amount of knowledge over the centuries.”

“Have you read any of the Viking mythology?”

“Tony has made a few mentions of it during our time together, but I did not understand all of his references.”

“Viking mythology is quite different from Asgardian fact. You are the oldest legitimate son of Odin, so you would still be King. Loki is still a Frost Giant raised as an Asgardian. But Hela is not your sister, Hela is Loki’s daughter - well in some versions. He - um - in a certain story,” You wiggle a little on the bench under his intense, but friendly gaze. “Turned into a mare and let himself be impregnated by an Asgardian stallion. He then gives birth to a nine-legged horse that Odin uses named Sleipnir.”

Thor bursts out laughing, deep, rich and from his belly as he slaps his hand on his knee a few times before taking a deep breath and wiping away a few tears.

“Oh! You MUST send me more of these stories! They are wildly inaccurate and very, very amusing!”

“What’s your favorite thing about Earth?”

“Besides these stories I have just learned of? I enjoy the clothes but dislike the lack of armor. I like coffee! I add a little bit of Asgardian mead to mine to make it more enjoyable. I enjoy the fact that you are all so resilient. Most of you so willing to do what’s right, you just act upon that need - it is quite endearing. Selfies! I have become quite good at taking selfies with people! You all also opened your planet to me and my people when we were in need. I also enjoy those Oreo cookie things that Quill packs onboard that I steal and share with Rocket and Groot.”

Another snack thief… You make a note under Thor’s name, before adding Oreos just under it.

“You left New Asgard to go travel with the Guardians. Is Quill still the leader?”

“Yes. Of course.” You giggle at his face.

“Your mouth says yes, but your eyes don’t seem to agree!”

“You have a lovely laugh. And I suppose I am used to being the leader or, at least an equal to the leader, and 3500 years of that is a hard thing to break. I will call it a toss-up on most days.”

“Thank you for that compliment, Thor. Are you a morning or a night person?”

“I like all times of the day, but I do enjoy sleeping in when I can.”

“What would happen if you summoned lightning and I was holding onto Stormbreaker at the time?”

“You would not be able to wield such a weapon, little one. But you have nothing to fear, I would not let any harm come to you - lightning or attempting to wield Stormbreaker. The lightning would simply go where I wanted it to and I would be wielding the ax, so no harm would come from you hanging onto it.”

“How do you deal with all the loss you’ve had in the last fifteen years?” Thor gives you a sad smile.

“One day at a time, as do we all. I have very much to be thankful for, so I think of that often when I feel weighed down.”

“Do you take fruit from Tony’s farm when you go into space? Have you tried giving them space fruit?”

“Yes, Tony has had some. As well as Rhodey. I am not sure the others have tried any. I should bring a few big crates for them to try next time we come to visit!”

“Would you like to tell me more about your family and growing up?”

“What else would you like to know, little rose?” You cover up the shock at the nickname with a bright smile, nodding eagerly before flipping to another page of questions you have for him.

::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx:::xxxxxxxxxx::

You’re all about to sit down when FRIDAY announces that the Guardians are about to land on the east side of the compound. You snatch up your camera, which had eerily reappeared in your room this morning, from the kitchen counter and run outside to snap a few pictures of the landing.

Meeting “The Space Division”, as Tony lovingly refers to them, is amazing!

Carol is funny, sarcastic and a bit dry, she immediately reminded you of a lot less weighed down version of Tony. Maybe a mix of Tony, Wanda, and Clint. That thought gives you a little concern.

Nebula glares as you extend your hand before giving a little huff and shaking it roughly. You don’t mind, Tony and Thor have warned you she was rough around the edges. You give her your warmest smile and allow her her space afterward.

Gamora gives you a firm handshake, sizing you up before offering a tight smile. “Don’t mind the idiots too much, I’ll help keep them in line for the questioning.” She says softly before dropping your hand and stepping aside.

Thor wraps his arms around you in another hug, tighter than the last, before pulling back to introduce you to Groot and Rocket. You manage a thank you as he releases you, seeing Bucky come into your line of sight behind Thor, you smile again - this one just for him since he looks a little glum.

“These are my very good friends, little rose. Tree and Rabbit,” His voice is filled with pride and glee, so you try to school your face when he calls Rocket a rabbit.

Groot shakes your hand and smiles wide, “I am Groot,” falling easily from his mouth as he beams down at you.

Rocket perches up by Groot’s elbow to shake your hand afterward, “I’ll be translating for him during your interrogation thing.” You thank him profusely as Thor gives a little frown beside you.

“Interview, friend.”

“Right. Right.” Rocket agrees with a little shrug before a giant wall of muscle stands before you - shirtless.

“I am Drax the Destroyer.”

“Y/N Y/L/N,” You pause. “The writer.” He nods as if the title is exactly what he needed to hear before yanking your hand away from your side and giving it a few firm shakes before dropping it and moving to the left.

“This is Mantis. She knows she is hideously ugly, so there is no need to bring it up again.” Your brows furrow at Drax’s summation as you look at the woman before you. She isn’t ugly. At least not here on Earth.

“Hello, Mantis, nice to meet you.” She keeps her hands clasped together lightly before her, giving a nod at you instead

“Don’t mind Drax. His vision of beauty is horribly skewed,” A male voice says from behind Drax, pushing him out of the way to reveal a nice looking man in red leather who has plastered on his most charming, boyish smile as he extends his hand. “I’m Peter Quill, you may know me as Star-Lord.”

“Of course,” You answer brightly as his other hand comes up to clasp tightly around the hand he still has a hold of, stepping a little closer as he does so.

“You have beautiful eyes,” He begins before Steve clears his throat loudly to your right.

“Lunch?” He reminds in a tone that leaves no room for argument. Bucky appears at your side like magic, offering his arm as he stares ahead. You gently slip yours through it, setting your other hand on his forearm. Thor is holding the door open and smiles brightly at you, blue eyes nearly electric with the light shining in them. Bucky gruffly thanks him before escorting you to your seat, which is opposite the Guardians. Bucky makes sure you’re settled before he takes his seat beside you, with T’Challa on your other side.

Lunch passes much like the first dinner you had with the Avengers, with you recording and feeling a bit like an interloper, but at the same time more comfortable in the group. The Avengers really help you not feel like the odd man out, and it does seem to ease something in Carol and Nebula as they interact with you. Quill and Thor keep smiling overly friendly at you, Bucky’s arm landing on the back of your chair about halfway through dinner. T’Challa says something to him in isiXhosa that nearly has Bucky sputtering into his wine, making you pat his back roughly before rubbing a few circles as you make sure he’s okay.

“Fine, doll. Just fine. Sometimes T’Challa’s humor throws me off.”

Dessert is individual layered desserts with cookies on the side and you nearly squeal when you see the homemade sugar cookies on your plate with the colored sugar on top. You bite into one eagerly, making a little noise at the sound, a chuckle sounding to your right as Bucky watches your happy little wiggle.

One of the things you learn quickly is that Nebula doesn’t talk much, and when she does, it’s blunt. Quill, on the other hand, talks a lot. Especially about himself. Which you don’t mind - just look at your chosen profession - but it’s cocky and you aren’t one for this ego-boosting performance. Especially overly dramatic, long-winded ones... Rocket is rolling his eyes at the story Quill is telling, his hand miming talking while he mouths ‘Blah, Blah, Blah’. Then Quill throws one of his cookies as Rocket, who ducks and it hits Groot - and while you’re sure he’s physically fine, the look in his eyes is one of betrayal and you pick up your unused soup spoon and throw it at Quill. He looks more startled than anything at the turn of events, rubbing his chest where your spoon hit.

“Don’t worry,” Drax shouts as he shovels in the last of his dessert. “He does not have sensitive nipples!” You try desperately to smother your laughter with your hand but fail for the most part.

“Good to know,” Clint replies for you further down the table as Bucky leans over to whisper in your ear.

“No one needed to know that, doll. And that was a hell of a shot with the spoon.” You turn to face him, foreheads almost touching.

“Did you doubt my spoon throwing skills, sir?”

“Haven’t come across a spoon thrower…” He rumbles out, smiling so wide his eyes are wrinkling on the sides again.

“So that makes me all the more impressive. I mean, you are over a hundred years old…” He leans back a little, hand over his heart.

“Ow. Bringing my age into it, doll? Rough.”

“Don’t be such a baby. Sam brings up your age constantly.”

“Does he? I ignore him most of the time…”

“No you don’t, you old fogey!” Sam hollers from a few seats down, making you laugh again. Tony leads all of you into the lounge, complete with a fully stocked bar. Bucky brings you a dirty Shirley Temple before sitting beside you with a big glass full of whiskey, Thor making himself comfortable on your other side.

He regales you with stories from his journeys throughout the nine realms, about his brother and his friends the Warriors Three. You listen to a particularly suspenseful one, Steve smiling as he leans against the bar edge a few feet away, your hand shooting out to grab onto Bucky. You miss the shocked expression when you grab his knee, squeezing it before you sputter out an embarrassed apology.

“I was - I’m sorry - I just - I was so caught up in the story…”

“It’s fine, doll. Startled me was all since I was talking to Stevie is all.” He pats the hand that was just squeezing his leg, his small smile comforting. Thor coaxes your attention back to him, finishing the story with gusto.

About two hours later you’re excusing yourself off to bed, saying you’d like to get better pictures of the outside and inside of the ship before you start the interviews. Quill eagerly agrees, offering to give you a tour until Rocket makes what you assume is a crude comment under his breath since Quill tries to kick him before flashing a bright, flirty smile at you.

You don’t see Bucky glaring menacingly at him, standing at his full height just to your left as you say your goodnights. When you turn to wish Bucky sweet dreams, his face is normal - his eyes even softer than usual as he wished you sweet dreams in return.

You don’t hear the sound of a whip Sam makes but you hear a few soft grunts just before the door clicks closed behind you.

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[PART 4]

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Tagging: @jewelofwinter @sgtjbuccky @jaamesbbarnes @thewhiterabbit42 @nobodys-baby-now @unleashthemidnight @stay-frosty-royal-unicorn @chelsea072498 @clockworkmorningglory @sakurablossom4 @marichromatic @blondecoffeecake @ourloveisforthelovely @whinywingedwinchester @feelmyroarrrr @rowdyhooliganism @everythingisoverrated @iloveyouthreethousand-o6 @puddinsqueen @emotionallysalty @maraudingmarauder @you-bleed-just-toknowyouarealive @strangersstranger @thefridgeismybestie @transcendent-heroes @jotink78

A/N: Found the pic online and edited it, props to Google and all rights/privileges/ownership goes to who took the photo and to Marvel who made up all these characters.

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