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#color machine broke try again later
emkini · 2 years
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Started reading a horse girl au fic that gave Thirteen an adopted mustang which is objectively the best take I’ve ever encountered 
(there's a heart on my sleeve (you'll take it when you leave) by sapphicsgalaxy)
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blue-jisungs · 1 month
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PLAYLIST
author's note. sorry for the slight delay!!! i hopeu all enjoy it tho<3 thank u so sooo mcuh @slytherinshua for the banner (again)<3333333333
summary. jihoon is curious about you, especially your music taste and this... somehow leads to your first kiss with him
word count. 1233
genre. music major!jihoon (and also undercover artist, woozi) x psychology major!yn
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jihoon felt like a fool.
a complete, love struck fool.
he didn’t know what you did to him but – how did wonwoo phrase it? he was down bad for you – he was whipped.
ever since bumping into you in the library, which was quite embarrassing by the way, he just couldn’t get his mind off you. luckily for him, he gained some courage to talk to you and exchange socials.
you were in a talking stage, getting to know each other. like, for example your name, sign, major – so on, so forth. he was completely smitten to find out that you’re a psychology student but then again, you seemed amazed when he told you he’s majoring in music.
despite all this knowledge he still yearned to know more. your music taste, favorite drink, the name of your first hamster that you had in childhood– despite how creepy it sounded, it was the effect you had on him.
naturally, you wanted to know more about him too.
hence you’re here now, in his studio.
“do you want something to drink? vodka? tequilla? i mean, other drinks are okay too. ice with water?” jihoon asked, opening his mini fridge and trying to ignore the feeling of blood rushing to his ears. he’s such an idiot. ice with water? really, jihoon?
“water is fine” you grinned, looking around the room.
you were curious about the studio, it’s where the magic happens after all. apparently he didn’t let people in… except his friends. even with them he made some exceptions – like soonyoung, who once snuck in while he was drunk and made a song about a tiger…? you remember this story, he told you it on one of your first meetings (dates?).
“it all looks so expensive” you sighed, scared to even touch anything. jihoon must have noticed it because he broke a smile.
“well… music equipment usually is quite pricey. but feel free to try something, i’ll guide you. guitar, keyboard, saxophone… even the mixing board” he hummed and handed you the glass of water.
“oh really? i always wanted to try the silly machine” you pointed at the sound mixer, recalling a video you saw on tiktok how the grey keys lit up upon touching.
“here you go, then” jihoon grinned and pulled your chair closer to it, causing you to giggle. then, he pulled another chair for him and sat down.
he turned it on and put you glass away, ebony irises looking at you with excitement.
“so do i just…?” you asked and shyly tapped one of the tiles, it making a sound and lighting up with a pink light.
jihoon watched you good around with it, creating a silly melody and being rather amused by the colors than the music itself. his heart was thumping against his chest, weirdly liking it. he was anxious that he’d feel somehow stressed and somehow angry upon seeing you touch his instruments. he always did when someone came over. but with you… why was he so carefree?
“i have no idea how you do it, that just sounded like cocomelon intro” a laugh escaped your lips and jihoon joined you. oh, he loved the sound of your laughter.
“let me play some music, wait” jihoon stood up and grabbed his phone from the pocket of his sweats.
you admired him, observing his silhouette. he really fitted perfectly into this space, you could see he’s feeling himself because he’s surrounded by things he loves.
and he let you in that safe space of his.
this caused your heart to skip, trying to convince yourself it’s nothing. that he takes every girl here sooner or later, lets her play his instruments–
“everytime you look at me like that i wonder if you’re having flashbacks of your psychology textbooks, you know? and then you’re like… ‘ah yeah, he fits that description perfectly’” he giggled and you scoffed, shaking your head.
“you know, sometimes i can’t help but consider all the… small signs… but i don’t diagnose you!” you joked but saw his eyes widen. oh.
“small signs?” he asked, a bit of panic in his voice. great, now you freaked him out.
“like… you’re a workaholic but that’s no surprise, right?” you tried to ease the situation and it seemed that it worked.
“yeah, yeah” he nodded, a small smile blooming on his lips.
once again you looked around the room, eyes taking in every detail.
“wait, actually… do you want to play some music? i’m curious what you listen to” he asked and handed you the aux with a boyish smile.
“don’t judge me though… i’m already feeling kinda stupid” you laughed and scrolled through your playlist, jihoon looking over your arm.
you decided to play one of your cozy mixes on shuffle and turned around to peek at him.
“you… um, you know woozi?” jihoon asked, a tiny of nervousness in his voice.
“oh, yeah! jun recommend him to me! he’s so good, honestly. i kinda wish he had more music because i feel like i know every song by heart right now” you giggled and saw his eyes widen “what? you don’t like him?”
“wha… i… actually…” jihoon stuttered, mind racing like a wild horse galloping through the fields. why did jun tell you? no… he knew the answer to that – jun knew jihoon has a crush on you. what an asshole.
but… what to do now? how didn’t you figure out that woozi is him? should he confess? or should he thank you? or… maybe he should deny that he doesn’t know him.
“you kinda sound like him now that i think about it” you hummed, scanning his face.
“are you playing some psychological games with me right now?” jihoon asked, cracking a smile and finally sitting down next to you.
“no, why would i?” a frown appeared on your features. jihoon took it as a sign that you’re really clueless. taking a deep sigh, he pointed at one of the diplomas (or what you thought they were).
“i’m… woozi”
your mouth fell agape as you scanned the paper on the wall, secured safely in a ruby frame.
“and i’ll admit, you have a nice taste in music” he added, observing you. why was he kind of… excited by your reaction? the fact that you liked his music was another thing, making his heart go crazy.
“are you serious?” you asked in disbelief and your eyes shifted to meet his ebony ones.
“i’m in your playlist. come at me, gir” jihoon laughed and opened his arms in a cocky manner.
“so… woah. that’s crazy. i have a question though” you grinned, cocking an eyebrow at him. woozi’s mischievous spark in the eye told you to be straightforward “about who is ‘ruby’ about?”
no words were exchanged but the look he gave you was like an electric spark between you two. maybe hence the next thing he did, powered by an impulse, was standing up.
“can i kiss you?” he asked and you nodded vigorously, shame flying out of the window.
if it wasn’t said, the kiss definitely translated it into words: ‘ruby’ was about you. everything was about you, including his feelings.
his plush lips felt heavenly against yours, soft music playing in the background as his warm hands cupped your cheeks.
who knew that revealing your playlist to him would lead to your first kiss.
main masterlist | event masterlist
taglist. @mirxzii ,, @primoppang ,, @l3visbby ,, @nicholasluvbot ,, @planetkiimchi ,, @weird-bookworm ,, @slytherinshua ,, @kazmura ,, @laylasbunbunny ,, @dazzlingligth ,, @eternalgyuuu ,, @rubywonu ,, @haecien ,, @mine-gyu
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alleiwentcrazy · 1 year
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Now with a part two!
There’s a guy that comes to the cafe Eddie’s working at. Every other day, he comes to the counter, smiles at Eddie and gives him a post-it with “hi, an americano with two sugars please :)” written on it. He has a different color of post-it assigned for every day. Eddie smiles back and makes the americano, trying to keep his heart from jumping out of his chest. 
Needless to say, the guy is insanely cute. He has swoopy chestnut hair, droopy, almost puppy-like eyes, and two moles on his neck that make him look like he’s been bitten by a vampire. Eddie’s not sure if he finds it more adorable or sexy; either way, he’s definitely developed a crush. And now, after months of trying to gather up his courage to say hi, after months of pining and staring from afar... He’s still nowhere near ready to talk to him. And Chrissy’s not letting him live it down. 
“You’re insufferable,” she whispers to him frantically when the guy comes through the door on the first Monday of December. “Do something more than smile dumbly or I’ll fire you.”
“You can’t fire me,” Eddie hisses back as he tries to dust pastry crumbs off of his shirt. 
“I’m the manager. I can do whatever I want,” she chirps back and goes on to cleaning the machines that don’t need to be cleaned, because Eddie did that twenty minutes ago. 
The guy comes to the counter. There are snowflakes in his hair, big and soft. Eddie thinks that they compliment his eyes—then he realizes that it’s a weird thing to notice about a stranger. 
The stranger smiles. Eddie smiles back. Today’s post-it is light purple.
Eddie makes the americano. It’s muscle memory at this point, he’s not even thinking about what he’s doing until he has to force a lid onto the cup and serve it to his customer. Hell, whatever. He grabs a sharpie and bends down to drabble something on the cup, trying not to spill the coffee. He manages to draw an ugly looking snake that was supposed to be a dragon, cringes, writes “Have a nice day!” underneath it and prays that it isn’t too weird.
Of course it is. But, miraculously, the guy looks at it, huffs a tiny laugh and smiles right at Eddie and – yeah, whatever, curse him – the whole room lights up. Yes, it’s sappy. Sue him. He could be sappy for this guy—if the guy wanted it.
He takes his coffee and leaves, but before he crosses the threshold, he turns back and waves at Eddie, using only three fingers. It’s a small wave, but a wave nonetheless, so Eddie sends him his best grin and waves back.
When he’s finally out, Eddie bends over the counter and groans. Chrissy pats him between the shoulderblades, mocking sympathy. “You’re on probation,” she whispers. Eddie groans once again. This is hell.
***
He has to call in sick on Wednesday. Now that he’s thinking about it, he kind of knew that the mayo smelled funny and it wasn’t good anymore. But he’s a broke college student and he had a choice: stale bread with mayo and a slice of tomato, or just stale bread with a slice of tomato. These weren’t even real choices. It was suffering or suffering.
Apparently, he’d chosen double suffering, and he had a whole night of hurling to prove it. Good thing he doesn’t have to send Chrissy any photos of what he had to deal with – when he calls, she cuts him off with “Just take my afternoon shift tomorrow and we’re even. You’ll miss out on your cutie, it’s a punishment in and of itself,” and goes on with her day.
Eddie’s so grateful for Chrissy. He wouldn’t get anywhere without her. 
***
Eddie doesn’t expect his guy to come on Thursday, it isn’t his regular schedule, so he’s in for a surprise when his morning shift ends and turns into Chrissy’s afternoon shift, and then, some time later, his guy comes in—and he’s not alone.
He’s with a girl. With a pretty, pretty girl, who has beautifully curly brown hair, inquisitive eyes and kind but determined expression on her face. There’s something quite unique about her; Eddie thinks, briefly, that she looks like she’s from another era. Like if they were living in the 80s, she would have a perm, wear bold lipstick and have a whole wall of degrees and certificates in her office. She seems to be destined for great things. She’s a badass.
Eddie’s nothing like her. He tries to swallow down the jealousy as they near the counter. His – his? – guy looks surprised, but smiles either way, his eyes lighting up in a matter of seconds.
“Hi,” the girl says. Her own smile is so nice and warm Eddie can’t stay mopey for too long. “I’ll have a latte with two shots of espresso, and…”
She turns to the guy beside her, but Eddie doesn’t have to know the answer. “An americano with two sugars. On it.”
Their eyes lock for a second. The guy seems a bit shy, but he’s still smiling. Eddie counts that as a win. But he’s still quick with their coffees. He can sense the staring contest they’re having even while he has his back turned to them. He kinda wants them gone, but they didn’t ask for to go, so he just tries to stay calm. Focused. Sharp.
Fortunately, he doesn’t spill anything. They get their order and sit in a corner. It doesn’t look like a date, they pull out books and notes, scribble and sign from time to time. The girl clearly knows more than just the basics of ASL, unlike Eddie. Since the guy started showing up, he’s been trying to learn more about it, but now he makes a mental note to enroll on a course. It’s time to commit – to what, exactly, he’s not sure. But he’s gonna make it happen.
Hours pass, but they stay in the same position. Eddie steals a glance every now and then, trying not to let his jealousy get to the surface again, but it’s hard. The guy is cute, the girl is smart and beautiful. He decides to call Chrissy on his way home – if he has to pine, she’ll suffer with him.
The end of his shift is nearing when he hears a giggle from the godforsaken corner. He looks up from the cups he’s been rearranging and sees that it’s his guy’s girl who’s laughing. She’s laughing at yet another girl, who’s standing outside and drawing hearts on the dirty window. She has a goofy grin on her face, one that makes her eyes and her prominent cheekbones pop even more, and it’s the same grin that the girl inside is wearing at the moment.
Now, Eddie doesn’t know a lot about love, but he definitely recognizes heart eyes when he sees them. He smiles to himself – don’t judge a book by its cover, huh?
His guy looks exasperated about being completely ignored, so he taps the glass a few times. The girl outside looks at him, shocked, like she’s only just seen him now, sticks out her tongue at him, and goes back to blowing kisses at her girlfriend. The guy looks truly wounded. Eddie snorts; the dynamic here is immaculate.
In the meantime, the not-his-guy's girl has gathered her things and prepared to leave. She kisses his cheek on her way out, but the guy stays put, bending over his papers again. Eddie thinks it’s quite interesting. Then, he makes a plan.
When he’s done with work, his guy is still there. Which is perfect. Eddie fixes his hair one last time, trying to gauge whether his outfit is metal enough (it is) for the occasion, and grabs the americano with two sugars he’s made.
It’s alright. Everything’s alright.
His wildly beating heart isn’t so sure about that.
When he gets to his guy’s table, he sets the piece of paper on it first. “Looks like you’re swamped – it’s on the house,” it says. The guy looks up, surprised, his mouth opened in a tiny oh. His eyes go wide for a moment and then he smiles. Something warm settles inside Eddie’s chest.
The guy picks up a pen and writes “Thank you!!!” on Eddie’s piece of paper, but before giving it back, he changes his mind. “I’m Steve,” he scribbles, and then gives it back with a flash of smile.
He smiles a lot. It’s an amazing sight.
“Hello, Steve. I’m Eddie. Nice to meet you,” Eddie replies. “What are you working on?” he adds after a second, because he’s feeling bold and he really doesn’t want to go yet.
The guy – Steve – sighs. He makes some room on the loveseat he’s occupying and pushes his books to the middle. Eddie takes it as a cue to sit down. Their knees bump, Eddie gets goosebumps, but he doesn’t move away. Neither does Steve.
“I’ve got an assignment on modern fantasy and its mythological origins, but I’m not as nerdy as my friends so I’m struggling a bit. Nance helped, but she’s not an expert either and my other nerdy friends went for a trip. Maybe you have any experience?”
Eddie’s eyes open wide and he bounces with excitement, nodding his head along the way. “YES,” he writes, all caps, and Steve huffs another laugh. They look at each other then, Eddie all hyped and ready, Steve—soft? There’s no other way to describe it. His gaze is gentle, almost caring. Eddie can feel his cheeks warm up.
His phone buzzes aggressively in his pocket. He checks it – it’s Chrissy. She’s got her period and she’s out of tampons.
“Shit,” he mumbles. Steve bumps their shoulders.
“What’s up?” he asks.
Eddie picks up the pen. “Tiny emergency, I’m sorry. Tomorrow?”
He knows that his hopeful stare must seem desperate, but Steve reads his reply, looks up and smiles, nodding. Eddie wants to scream victory, but he only nods back and gets up instead. When he’s about to turn and leave, he feels fingers wrap around his hand, delicate but firm. Slowly, Steve opens up his hand and writes something on it.
It’s a phone number. “In case you get sick again :)”
Eddie can’t hold back his dopey smile any longer. When he looks at Steve, the corners of his lips quirk up too. He’s lovely.
Eddie can’t wait for tomorrow.
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mallowmelt-down · 9 months
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I just went to see the Barbie movie for the second time and I’ve been wondering how the KOTLC gang would react to it so here’s my thoughts.
Keefe: He ordered an ‘I am Kenough’ sweatshirt before the credits even finished. He definitely says that Ken is literally him. He memorized Ken’s entire song and of course he used his mimicking skills to do it in Ryan Gosling’s voice. Secretly, it was hard for him as an Empath to watch the movie, especially with Sophie and her strong emotions sitting next to him.
Sophie: She thinks it’s an absolute masterpiece and 100% cried during the Billie Eilish song “What Was I Made For” given her own past with the Black Swan. Since none of her friends truly understands what it means to be human, she called Amy that night and they chatted about it for hours. She would definitely sneak out to the Forbidden Cities to see it again with Amy.
Fitz: He has had some experience with Barbie during his trips as a kid trying to find Sophie so he vaguely understands the importance of the movie. He respects it even though he didn’t relate to it. He pretends he understands the confusing human jokes despite the fact he doesn’t get it at all.
Biana: She totally fell in love with all the different fashions and tried to recreate some of the outfits afterwards. She found the human interpretation of mermaids hilarious when she saw mermaid Barbie. She was shocked by the treatment of women in the real world and had to ask her mom about it later.
Dex: He was forced to take the triplets with him so he spent most of the movie trying to get the three of them to stay in their seats. His favorite character was Allan and he broke into an ATM machine later so he could go buy an Allan doll. He noticed Sophie was sad after the movie so he dyed Iggy the Barbie pink color the next day to cheer her up.
Tam: He insists that he hated it and the pink gave him a headache but truthfully enjoyed the musical numbers and secretly added all the songs to his playlist. He will also put the songs on blast whenever he visits his parents to piss them off. Linh forced him to buy her a Barbie right after the movie.
Linh: She liked it and was very amused by the fake waves on the beach. She was disappointed to hear that the pooping dog Barbie toy was discontinued since she desperately wanted to buy it. She found some Barbie inspired pet outfits to force poor Princess Purrfins into later, with Tam’s reluctant help.
Marella: She loved all of it, especially the cute Kens. Dex helped her hack into the human Internet afterwards so she could read about all the drama behind the scenes. She spends an entire ability lesson with Fintan talking about it, much to Fintan’s disdain.
Wylie: He thought it was very thought provoking and Maruca teases him when he tries to analyze the deep symbolism of the movie with her. He decides to take an intensive human studies class after watching it and sees that there may be more to humans than he thought. Like many others, he cried over the idea of his mom being just a girl at some point in her life.
Maruca: She added a pink streak to her hair for a week afterwards. She really liked the Barbies’ blunt honesty during the Nobel Prize scenes. She later tried to make a smaller version of the pink Barbieland heart border with her Psionipath ability for fun.
Stina: She’ll tell Sophie it was a dumb human movie but genuinely enjoyed the human world scenes the most. She really related to Sasha the most.
Elwin: As the only adult who attended, he got the tickets for everyone, held seats, and made sure everyone had popcorn. His favorite character was weird Barbie and wants to start remodeling his house like hers. He joins Dex and buys as many Barbies as he can hold to take back to the Lost Cities. It was hard for him to watch as a doctor when Ruth said “Humans only have one end.”
Comment your own headcannons, I would love to see them!
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alexthesillybilly · 4 months
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What if springtrap x reader but I write it from springtraps POV idk I wanna study him this is rlly similar to another thing I wrote btw if it feels familiar :P idk why but I love writing this exact scene lmao
God, how long has it been? Months? Years? Decades? How was I supposed to know? I haven't spoken to anyone since I was left in here, and I probably never will again. I'm still trying to figure out what to do to pass the time. At first my methods were a little more about escaping, but clawing at the walls and slamming my self against the door was both very painful, and was also not doing anything for me, so I stopped doing those pretty quickly. Then I remembered there were arcade machines in this room! But then I remembered that this is the parts and service room and they were out of order. And very unplayable. But that didn't stop me, I ended up disassembling and putting them back together a few times.
That got boring, too.
Now I'm not really sure what to do. I spend a lot of my time either fidgeting with loose wires or pacing around like some kind of scared animal. After I stopped having the indescribable dread of realizing I was trapped here, it changed to craving something. Anything, really. Whether it was hearing music from outside, seeing a color other than pitch black, feeling anything other than the freezing cold tile floor and my own pain.
I think I mostly craved company, though.
I was never into psychology, but speaking from experience, I'm pretty sure that completely depriving a human of any communication or entertainment for years (decades??) will fuck someone up.
There's some sort of noise around the door. It's happened a few times, usually someone who broke in trying to get into the room before discovering it's boarded up. I don't know who boarded up this room, but I'd like to have a talk with them. Only a little murder included. So I don't get my hopes up too much. They're not going to get in.
So maybe I get a little excited when for the first time, I actually DO hear the door crack open and light pour in.
Holy shit, it's happening.
I can finally get out of here.
I felt nearly manic at the sight. So imagine my thoughts when someone walked in.
I freeze. What do I do?
There is so much I want to say.
Can I even talk?
I don't know anymore.
Who is this?
I try to look at them without moving. Nobody I recognize. That's probably a good thing.
If I move, I might scare them.
On one hand, then I'd be able to leave.
But on the other hand, I need to talk to someone, ANYONE, so bad that I can't let then leave already.
So I stay still while they approach.
They must not be deterred by the sight of me, surprisingly, because they crouch down beside me like I'm not... like this.
"What the hell are you?" They laugh under their breath. Wow, okay. First words spoken to me in this long. I deserve that, though.
I need to talk so bad but how am I supposed to talk to anyone now? I don't even remember how it works, let alone if I physically could. I pray they'll ask a yes-or-no question soon.
They stand back up.
No. No, no, no, not already. They can't leave. I have to risk it.
I try my best to tell them not to go. It comes out as more of a noise you'd make on your deathbed, but it's enough to get them to stop in their tracks.
"No. Nope, I am NOT being your horror movie protagonist who dies first, nope. Not today." They turn to run out the door. This time I'm prepared. Kind of.
"No-" I manage to choke out before realizing how much it hurts to speak, and very pathetically falling against the wall in pain. I have to get the message through, though. "Don't go."
"Hooly shit." The person stares at me in horror. "I have so many questions."
Talking hurts so bad, but nothing hurts worse than my indescribable loneliness, so I'll just have to deal with that later. I have to say something.
"Me too."
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fluffyselfships · 6 months
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hey guys! i know yall have been waiting for this for a few days and im proud to say that i finally have the whole timeline/backstory for bunny and i's adventure time ship lore sorted out!!!
so im proud to present our lore in extreme detail, its kinda rambly and very long!!
for yalls sake, im putting it under a read more 💀
kitty note: a lot of at’s canon events still happen, most of canon resides in the past, betty never comes back, so golb is never summoned. islands happens but no humans come back to ooo in fear of vampires, which are still an issue since marceline isnt alive either (referring back to the fact wk has ice marcy, implying something bad happened to her). some other canon events happen later on, so the timeline compared to ats is all over the place lol 😭 this has nothing in common with the f&c canon outside of the bare bones
for colored quotes, pink are for kitty, bold purple is for bonbon, blue for the wk and red for bunny :)
ik/wk gets ahold of the crown & puts it on in front of betty
betty doesnt get summoned to the present, she moves on after leaving simon
ik/wk meets marcy & has her for a couple of years before passing away (either due to the radiation from the gmw or due to the oozers that came from the radiation)
the original ice kingdom builds up around 500 years after gmw
kitty becomes princess of the stuffie kingdom about 700 years post-mushroom war
they meet princess bubblegum during a princess day celebration
this one is hosted in the breakfast kingdom
they get along famously during this princess day meeting & become fast friends
kitty meets ik/wk due to his princess kidnapping tendencies
kitty, once settled into his ice cell, informs him that theyre a lesbian
ik apologizes & they end up talking about girls until they get rescued
kitty & ik’s relationship mirrors marcy and simons post i remember you
BIG father/daughter type bond
after 150 years of friendship, kitty & pb persue a romantic relationship
their relationship is pretty healthy to begin with while both of their kingdoms are in infancy (725 years post gmw)
after ~200 years, theres a communication breakdown between the two of them, leading to their breakup
it takes a good amount of time before the two of them get back together- koo’s election still happens & she loses the ck for a while, which allows for their reunion to happen
bella noche gets summoned & ice king becomes simon again
this is the first time kitty gets a glimpse of who ik truly is
this, obviously, is an eye opener for them & they want to help ik gain his lucidity once more
kitty takes betty’s place in punching bella noche
marcy, as stated before, has passed & hambo is long gone, which prevents simon from creating the portal to apologize to betty
after bella noche’s defeat and kitty’s discovery, they ask bonnie for help in their quest to fix/cure the ik
bonnie agrees & offers to do some preliminary research on ik’s crown while kitty is away on royal business
bonnie uses the machine from “broke his crown”
ice king comes along with gunter
while ik and bonnie are using the machine & preoccupied, gunter is bored & starts pressing any and every button on the machine
this causes the machine to overload and explode
this accident transfers the curse of the crown from ik to bonnie via electric shock (from the explosion)/magic (the explosion malfunctions ik’s crown & the curse is transferred)
bonnie has amnesia from the crown curse
kitty returns from royal business and cant find ik anywhere and finds bonnie’s lab destroyed
kitty comes across bonnie, now bonbon, first
“…trying out a new look bonbon?”
“who’s bonbon? who are you? how did you get in here?”
bonbon is kind of aggressive, her mental state is adjusting to the curse
kitty, freaked out, goes in search of the ik, who is now the winter king
they finally come across wk while searching deep in the newly-forming winter kingdom
they ask him what happened & he genuinely has no idea what happened exactly, but offers to use his newfound conscious thought to help figure things out
kitty thanks him & they return back to their own kingdom
over the course of the next six months, kitty tries to adjust to bonbon’s changes & tries to help her remember
bonbon shows no interest in kitty, as the curse’s infatuation sets her sights on wk
kitty tries (and fails!) to ignore this & they try to help bonbon regain her memories
“i just got you back and ive lost you again” energy
kitty approaches wk & tells him that theyre going to be leaving to find a cure for bonbon’s madness & they werent sure when they would return
kitty’s sibling becomes the main one in charge in their absence & it stays this way
they lose touch with the wk after some time, leading him to believe they might be injured or worse- dead
kitty spends ~7.5 decades looking for a magic cure where both wk can continue to be wk and bonbon can turn back to normal to no avail
kitty meets magic man outside of the wastelands of ooo, where he promises to help in exchange for a favor
he’s still trying to steal glob/gob/grob/grod’s residual powers
the process malfunctions due to an interruption & magic mans powers transfers to kitty, making them magic woman
for the remaining 25 years before they return, they do intensive and obsessive magic studies in order to find a cure
they also occasionally watch bonbon from afar, watching the candy kingdom be rebuilt & just seeing how she’s doing
it is very painful for them but they miss her so much that they cant help themselves sometimes
bunny, age 24 by the time the 100 years have passed, meets winter king while assisting the ice scouts with another one of cq’s kidnappings
bunny is related to finn since josuha treated being an adventurer like a family business, so the tradition carries
impressed by their skill, wk appoints bunny to be his personal body guard due to their skill with a sword
since theyre always together, wk and bunny get to know each other rather quickly & become fast friends, bonding over magic and science
after some time, wk finds himself falling for bunny and he is not shy about those feelings in the slightest
he constantly flirts with them & makes it known that he likes them
bunny is oblivious + has had a crush on wk by this point anyway
wk takes bunny to some royal business & they get stressed out by all the people there/feeling like they dont belong due to the fancy event
wk takes bunny aside and gives them a pep-talk, a sweet one at that
“i wouldnt have invited you if i didnt think you wouldnt belong”
his hand is gently sliding towards theirs, interconnecting their fingers
“i brought you as my date for a reason..”
bunny.exe has stopped working
they confess their feelings to each other & they spend the rest of the event away from everyone, talking the night away.
wk and bunny enter a romantic relationship
two years pass & wk needs to go to wizard city, bunny accompanies him
the two run into kitty, causing a whole mess of emotions to run through wk- not good ones
kitty starts coming around more & becomes friends with bunny
kitty’s sudden reappearance is stirring up a lot of bad memories, thoughts & feelings with wk. despite this, the two are slowly rekindling a friendship
due to the bad feelings, wk is pulling away from bunny & is drowning himself in his work, this is a slow process, it takes a few weeks before bunny says anything
the stress of emotions is reaching to the point where he’s starting to see so much of betty in bunny & its scaring him
not to mention he’s feeling guilty about something…👀
during wk’s slow pull-back, bunny and kitty are venting to each other about their respective issues
my sona reveals that bonbon wasnt always the way she was & tells the story from their own perspective
bunny, having no idea this ever happened, decides to confront wk about his distance & why he never told them that he knew what was wrong with bonbon
during this confrontation, wk finally breaks down and reveals to bunny everything about what has happened & his thoughts
“you remind me so much of her..”
he also reveals the fact that there is a cure for bonbon’s madness that he discovered during kitty’s absence, but the caveat is that he would become the ik again. theres no way to be fully rid of the curse.
“are you ever going to tell kitty?”
“no. ive worked so hard for what ive had & i dont want to lose it.”
“but you really should, its unfair to them to hold onto hope that isnt th-“
“im not telling them!” he snaps at them
after he snaps at bunny, they decide that they need to think about things for a while & they spend the next few months in the magic man house with kitty
at some point during this period, kitty decides to go on a date with bonbon, mirroring bespoken for
rather than getting angry and frustrated like betty, they get progressively more upset and sad
during their breakdown, they reveal to bonbon that they used to date
bonbon later thinks about this & it begins the crowns obsession/infatuation slow shift from wk to kitty
this date doesn’t go well & kitty ends it early
bunny’s sona is the one to give the tiny manticore speech
“maybe you're going after someone who doesn't exist anymore. why not take her as she is? after all, you’ve been through a lot of changes yourself”
kitty takes bunny’s speech to heart & they think it over, but not immediately
on wk’s side of things, he is miserable and alone & wants nothing more than to apologize to bunny
he seeks out kitty, who takes him to the magic man house
he apologizes profusely
“i never meant to push you away.. ive just spent so long trying to avoid these feelings that i ended up exploding. i’m horrible at dealing with negative emotions, but i want to work on it for you. i am so sorry, bunny”
bunny, after hearing his apology, forgives him & they return back to the winter kingdom with wk
bunny & the winter king, once reunited, try and figure out a way to tell kitty that there is a cure to bonbon’s madness in a way that they wont freak out/blow up/snap
during this time, kitty comes back bonbon to give their date another shot, apologizing for how abruptly it ended last time
they end up having a simple spaghetti dinner & kitty realizes they have more in common now then they did 100 years ago
this date goes well & they continue to go on dates, falling in love with each other all over again
bunny and wk finally find a way to tell kitty that there is a cure but it would reverse everything in wk
my sona, interrupts them before they can say more than “we found a cure-“ and tells the two that they dont want to fix bonbon anymore & that things finally feel the way they should now, ending my sona’s arc
the four of them can finally relax & enjoy life once more & they all become close friends once more :3
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itspkuwu · 3 months
Text
EEnE headcanons
Double D is only nice to Kevin sometimes because he doesn’t want him to beat up Eddy. Besides for that one time when Double D thought Eddy deserved it for making him think he had an illness. And because he knows that even Double D can get aggravated with Eddy, Kevin tries to encourage him to pick on the con man with friendly interacts. So it’s kinda sorta like gaslighting. But Double D still doesn’t trust him because he knows this. He cares about Eddy too much. Not to mention that pretty much everyone in the cul de sac is nice to Double D because Double D is nice to them. What goes around comes around. Sarah is a huge example of this, she literally has a crush on him.
Plus Double D did somewhat feel bad for Eddy getting a beating afterwards.
Stuffed Pig’s Head is only a meal Rolf’s people eats when a swine has been put down from old age. They say the inner strength and soul of the dead pig will give those who consume it power to continue on. So it’s considered a tribute to the cycle of life. (And it would explain why Rolf hasn’t eaten Wilfred lol)
Marie does May’s nails.
There’s a big red and purple scar under Double D’s hat. When he was extremely little, probably just a few weeks before reaching 2, his curiosity found him in the middle of a dodgeball game with much older kids who teased him for being bad at the game. Later on, Double D built a machine that would launch dodgeballs like rapid fire. He met those same kids and again and used his invention in the next game. Something went wrong, and he, along with the other kids there were sent to the hospital, leaving him with the scar. His parents were utterly ashamed of his actions. The young genius they were raising had turned out to be a monster. Thus, they thought it was better to move to Peach Creek to try and leave this tragic event in their lives behind. Poor Double D is constantly reminded of the guilt whenever his hat is removed. And his parents, now distant and somewhat afraid of their son, community with him through sticky notes.
And yes, his mother stopped rubbing his feet with oil after the incident.
Ed is neurodivergent autistic.
So is Jonny
Rolf’s mother use to comfort him a lot when he was little, hence why he tends to shout “MAMA!” whenever he’s afraid or in pain.
Jimmy is a demi boy
Lee can retract her third eye to hide her demons powers from others. But in that sunflower field was the one time she didn’t think fast enough.
Her father Butch had some kind of demon genetic trait that if he were to repopulate, that DNA would be passed on to the child. Like… all of it… and no, he couldn��t use those demonic powers himself, that’s another side effect of the trait. And that’s also why he left, not because he didn’t wanna be a parent, it’s because he was terrified of what he had brought into the world. (And for good reason) (Also yes demonic traits and powers do exist in this universe, along with holy ones. For example: Jimmy and Sarah with Cupid powers)
Kevin and Nazz were a thing, but broke up cause it just wasn’t working out. Later, Nazz realized she was more in to girls and Kevin thought he’d just be better off single. Plus he was in love with his bike anyway
Blue is a natural hair color
Kevin was Rolf’s first friend he made in the cul-de-sac and was the one who taught The Son of a Shepard (TM) how to play sports.
Nazz is a hippie
Sarah was taught to hate Ed by their parents
Wilfred is Rolf’s emotional support animal for his ptsd towards the wolf incident he experienced as a kid.
In the actual incident, the “wolf man” tore the baby sheep’s head off with his teeth. Leaving poor Rolf traumatized.
And that’s also why Rolf keeps all the sheep in the basement, he wants to protect them.
There’s a program in Peach Creek where the elementary schoolers are allowed to visit the jr high, hence why Jimmy and Sarah are there sometimes despite their young ages.
Speaking of ages
Ed, Edd, n Eddy: 12-13 
Sarah: 7-8 
Jimmy: 6-7 
Jonny 2x4: 11-12 
Nazz: 13-14
Kevin: 13-14 
Rolf: 14-15
May: 11-12
Marie: 12-13
Lee: 13-14
Eddy’s Brother: 23
Plank: Immortal God
Yes, Plank alive. Again, more demonic powers.
If Edt3 is to be canon, which to me it absolutely is, then I wouldn’t have their relationship with each other be any other way, besides for maybe a little less violence. That’s why I like the ship, nothing needs to change to see the goodness and love they show towards each other. It already feels canon.
Eddy and Double D are bi while Ed is full on gay.
that’s all I have for now. Thanks for reading :)
go hug a chicken
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onginlove · 11 months
Text
Captured 2
—————————-
BUCKY X FEM!READER
Part 1
Summary: After Y/N being left alone with the old man and soldiers, she finally gets saved.
Ratings: PG 13?
Warning: slight fluff, cursing, slight angst, mentions of death
a/n: decided to change my format color hehe
masterlist
————————-
“It’s been 11 minutes. Gave him an extra one.” The middle-aged man said. “Well, it’s time for the fun to begin.” He said, smirking.
Next thing I knew, I was dumped with water. Not sure how that’s punishing though. I was planning on going to the pool later on so I guess this is a free dip?
“I just want you to remember, pain makes you stronger.” Sure, idiot. I thought.
~~~~~
Bucky pov
“Have you found it yet, Tony?” I asked, pacing back and forth, worried about Y/N. “Almost. It’s like the location they’re at doesn’t exist.”
I started to worry even more. Sure, I was quite an ass to Y/N, but she was with HYDRA. She could possibly die because of me.
“Found a location. Well, it’s a possible location.” I quickly ran up to Tony’s computer to see where she was. “I know that place.” I then walked to get my weapons and headed to the door, only to be stopped by Steve.
“Wait, don’t you want us to come too?” He asked. “If I do then I will put you all in jeopardy. I can’t do that. They only want me.” “At least let me come as backup.” “No Steve.”
I ran out the door. I needed to hurry and reach her.
As I ran, I whispered a “Please be ok.”
~~~~~~~~
Y/N pov
I grunted as they put another slice in my thigh. They ripped the tape off my mouth. “Feel any pain yet?” He asked from afar. “Not even close.” I said pausing in between each word.
“Bring her to the machine.” I heard him order them. They unlocked my hands and feet and walked me to the machine. I tried throw a punch but I was too weak from all the cutting into my skin. Now, I have a lot of lines on my arms and legs.
They placed me down in the machine and turned it on. The machine started wiring and moving. Then, I felt a shock. No, not a shock, the power of 100 lighting bolts. I guessed it was an electrical chair but it would’ve killed you.
After about 5 minutes of screaming, crying, and begging for it to stop, the machine stopped. I was trying to catch my breath. Next thing I knew, I passed out. Again.
I woke up in the hand and leg chains like before, giving up the 0.01 percent of hope I had for Bucky coming. I was so weak and could barely move. I think this is the end.
I heard some grunts and screams from outside in the hall. Some soldiers went to go see what it was and I saw one flying across the hall.
He came! Oh no. He came. I see the middle-aged man go into the corner. Guessing they were trying to ‘surprise attack’ him.
I saw him walk in front of the door and saw me. As he was walking towards me, I screamed “Bucky no! Get out of here!” About 15 soldiers ambushed him but he seemed to make it out. He quickly ran to me and broke off the chains.
He was looking all over my body, seeing what they did to me. “Oh lord..” I heard him say. He picked me up and ran, trying to get to safety.
————
He set me down on Bruce’s table for him to examine me. “The only thing she needs is time for her body to heal. She’ll be fine.” Then, Bruce walked out the room.
“God this is all my fault.” Bucky said, putting his hands on his face. “You got hurt because of me. You could’ve died because of me!” “Bucky, none of this is your fault.” I say, trying to speak.
“No, Y/N. I left HYDRA and you had to pay the price.” He backed himself in a wall and slid down it, covering his head in his hands.
I walked up to him with all my strength and sat down next to him, with a grunt as I fell down. My body still needed time to heal but it was more important being with Bucky.
I went and hugged him. He looked up at me and I saw tears. I quickly wiped them. “It’s not your fault.” I said once again. “I’m so sorry Y/N. You deserve bet-“ He was cut off by me cupping his face and kissing him.
I parted our lips, wiping off more of his tears. “I’ll be ok.” I rested my head on his shoulder while he hugged my side.
I love you.
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zaptap · 2 months
Text
cleared 15 more floors of side order last night and left the last 5 for tonight (i remembered that i beat octo expansion like a day or 2 before the first splatfest after it--the orange juice one--so i decided i should try to be done in time for this one too)
and i beat it! (some spoilers ahead)
first 2 phases of the final boss weren't so bad, but in the third i died once (from the stingray... i remembered stingers are the number one thing i die from in salmon run so after that whenever i heard it i just RAN. reefsliders also broke my armor once so i learned to be careful of those too)
and since i only have 2 lives i had to play it super safe the rest of the fight. after dying, it literally took me almost 20 minutes for just that one phase (i recorded my playthrough so i know exactly how long it took).
i'd swapped my special for killer wail at a vending machine early on (using dualies btw) so my strategy was just to continue swimming + inking around the perimeter of the stage and then point the wail at it and go back to running. i also had a swim speed up chip and that certainly helped. slowly i wore each of the targets down bit by bit until they were gone (and sometimes ofc if i felt safe enough i'd hurl a splat bomb--i also got those--or go in and shoot at it)
wave 4 was super fun but i let all that power (and the music) go to my head and almost got killed by stingray again (if i didn't have armor i wouldve been dead)
was a little surprised that you only have to clear 30 floors (i guess 40 including the tutorial) considering how quick a lot of them go, i guess the expectation is you'll lose at least one run? (and i guess i did come close to doing that)
it's gonna get harder from here though probably. generally i chose based on which color chips seemed best, so i ended up doing a lot of easier floors (and i quickly learned my dislike of splat zones extends to this version of them too, i barely made it through a couple of normal/hard ones and decided to avoid them for the rest of the run) (tbh they're still better than defending an orb. at least you don't die if they take the zone)
....but i expect i'll probably want to clear all of the floors at least once in the end, just like how i've cleared every octo expansion/rotm stage with every weapon even though that isn't really necessary. so im going to have to go through splat zone hell later. maybe that'll make me better at splat zones though (also i guess the hacks should make that significantly easier. all i had was one extra life and slight damage reduction)
i did do one rigorous floor, acrobatic_triangular.floor, and it was fine. as with a lot of things in this game the trick was to just keep moving
and now that i've finally unlocked inkopolis square i can work on clothing store badges again (having unlocked the gold one in splatsville recently). i added up the amount needed to get everything i didn't have from 1 star to 2 stars and it was well over a million (this was before fresh season added more, too) so i didn't have to worry about potentially not being able to put money towards the jelfonzo badges. but at least now i'll get them sooner
i do still need gold hat/shoe badges from splatsville (i have all the inkopolis plaza ones) so i guess i'll be running back and forth until i have all of those and can focus my purchases entirely on inkopolis square shops
anyway splatfest for the next couple days so i guess i won't be doing anything in side order until at least after that. i do have several days off in a row though. also i gotta do my taxes. also i gotta get up for work in like 3 hours goodnight
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cybertronian-cupid · 2 years
Note
Can I get a hc of a flirty reader and black arachnia from tfa? Reader is a humanoid alien that’s super similar to humans in stature and size but has more catlike traits like fangs and unnaturally colored eyes like gold or smth, maybe even feline ears and a much longer lifespan so they’ve known arachnia for a looong time. They started out as awkward bumping into each other every now and then but they might have gotten a bit more attracted to each other (reader especially makes it clear they’re into the hot spider lady) and they just,, keep showing up places to flirt with her? Kinda like “hmu whenever you feel lonely, huh?” Teasing type. Could be nsfw if you can! I’m feeling gay in this Chili’s tonight. Thanks for writing you guys ❤️
This is our first alien reader and anon, they were a treat to write!💥 There are a few suggestive hcs, but nothing outright specific. Thanks for being patient!~Gregoria🏩
............................. ....................... ............................
Blackarachnia first stumbled over the reader when she was trying to find a way off of an abandoned planet where her “borrowed” ship broke down.
Yes, she actually stumbled over them. They managed to creep up close enough without her noticing, and she nearly squished them when she turned around and took a step.
"You know, I don't usually make others fall for me before a few dates."
Despite the annoyances and the alien’s insistent flirty comments - that she initially mistook as jokes at her expense - she agreed to take up their offer of company, since they mentioned they'd be getting "beamed" soon.
They parted ways at the docking area of the closest space station, with them handing her a small piece of paper with scribbles on it.
Their ear flicked when they tapped their temple twice, in the universal "Call me", and she couldn't tell what those two slow blinks were for.
She decided to not dwell on it, and crumpled the paper as soon as she was out of sight.
She met them again a few months after, on a nearby asteroid. She was working as a bouncer for some small cheap organics bar, and they came stumbling through the door, seemingly looking for someone. When they noticed her, a tipsy grin spread over their face and they offered to pay for her drink. Her shift was over anway, so she took them up on it.
The drinks were decent, and after the tipsy feline understood that the spider lady isn’t in the mood to be called cutesy nicknames, the night turned out to be pleasant. Especially with the bill she racked up.
The run-ins of the like seemed to become a staple over the decades; Black Arachnia would eventually find her way to a different planet, take up a shady job or steal enough money to lay low for a while, and the alien would somehow cross her path again. They’d drink, chat, flirt and eventually she started to consider the offers for a good time.
Granted, the amount of patience this pussy cat had was admirable, and the guts it took to figure out how to pleasure a hissing half-spider half-machine even more so once she said yes.
It was a night to remember, and Black Arachnia frequently rewatched those recordings. More than once she caught herself tracing the areas where the shallow scratches once were, and wondered how it would feel to have their fangs pierce the softer pieces of her protoform.
It was much much later that their paths crossed again, and it would be a lie if BA didn’t acknowledge the relief of seeing they were still alive. Some drinks, some teasings and, well... She made sure to leave her number for them to find in the morning.
Once she joined the Decepticons they lost contact - mostly due to her reluctance to put them in harm's way. They were the closest she considered a friend since the incident, and her conflicting feelings in regards to that and the intimacy wasn’t exactly helping.
Even so, she kept a close look on her comms, waiting for a cheeky message and itching for coordinates of any nearby planet the Decepticon ship passed.
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Chapter 16: EpilogueBy GleefulPoppet
Prom Day Saturday, May 15th, 2038 (25 Years Later)
“Oh, babe, those were the days, were they not?” Blaine brushed his fingertips over the Prom photo from almost exactly 25 years ago. “Look how little we were.”
“We were so little. Can you believe how delusional all that was with Sebastian bursting into the Prom and thinking he could somehow reconcile with you? I haven’t thought about it for a long time.” Kurt laughed and kissed the top of Blaine’s head where he was snuggled between Kurt’s legs with his back to Kurt’s chest, holding up the scrapbook he had made so many years ago. 
“Delusional is the word! Sometimes, I wonder what his life turned out to be like.”
“I hope he got his act together. He was such a pompous ass,” Kurt said.
“He really was. It’s nice to think about Landon and Dave, though. We received that announcement in the mail a few weeks ago about the two foster kids they adopted; it was adorable. Who would have thought it? They ran off and got married before we did! And Dave’s the football coach for a community college in…”
“Nebraska. They’ve won a couple of state championships, and Landon is a teacher there. Astonishing when you think about it, how what happened to me with Dave drove me to Dalton, where I met you and Alex. Then, I returned to McKinley, and you transferred. Then Dave came back. Alex came to visit and told us about Landon, and then he fell in love with Dave and helped him find his potential. And Dave helped him in return. And somewhere in there, you and I finally said, ‘I love you,’ in the more-than-friends way.” Kurt chuckled. 
“We sure did. Best day of my life,” Blaine hummed as he turned to another random page. They were having fun looking at the book out of order. “Oh, my heavens! My 18th birthday!” He started laughing and shaking his head. “We were still in the thick of our fake-dating ruse.” 
“I was pining for you so hard I think I had drool stains on my shirt. Look at you, so hot in that gray-and-white-striped shirt, bow tie with yellow polka dots, and your mustard yellow pants.” This time, Kurt touches the photograph. “And I just wanted to turn off that damn karaoke machine and give you the world’s most passionate kiss.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, why didn’t you?”
“Because that was impossible. You’d already given me what I thought was the world’s most passionate kiss at Rachel’s party.”
“Little did we know…” 
“How amazing kissing can be? And how sex gets better the older you are?”
“Exactly. I think it’s hysterical we thought our sex life would be over after our 20s.” 
Kurt whispers in Blaine’s ear, “Mmm... It’s not, is it? How many times did I have you begging for more last night? How many times did I swallow your screams in my mouth to help keep you quiet? And we just turned 43 this year, so really, I think we should plan on enjoying ourselves into our 90s, don’t you?” Kurt said as he nipped behind his husband’s ear, causing him to shiver. 
“At least.” Blaine pushed back into Kurt; he could feel him getting interested. They went in waves, like this week, where they had the hottest sex ever for hours on end or even multiple times a day, which sometimes turned into maybe once a week and everywhere in between. “Don’t start, love. Please? Later. We’re going to get in trouble again.”
Kurt buried his head in Blaine’s shoulder to stifle his laughter. “We so would. I’ll be good. Next random page.” 
Blaine quickly closed the book and unfurled it again. “Our college acceptance letters! Remember? My parents came over, we had Carole’s three-layer chocolate cake, and we opened all our letters together.” 
“Yes! We nearly broke our parents’ eardrums when we got accepted to NYADA! We could have damaged our voices! After that, I don’t think we even cared about the other letters.” 
“I loved going to college with you and living in that tiny little apartment with avocado-colored appliances and that sunshine yellow tile, constantly trying to make ends meet. You worked at the diner all those years, and I taught piano lessons, doing all we could to make our dreams come true one day at a time. And now look at us. We did okay, didn’t we?”
“We did. Living in a brownstone and working on Broadway or off-Broadway productions for the last 20 years in one capacity or another. You, my exceptional husband, have two Tony awards, a slew of other awards, and a new show opening soon with your original music. It’s been extraordinary.”
“And how many do you have, Kurt?”
“Stop. I want to gush about you, not me.” 
“You have three, Kurt Hummel. Three Tony awards and you deserve every one of them. Not to mention, you were the first of the New Directions to get one.” 
Kurt chuckled. “Rachel has never forgiven me, not really. Hers wasn’t far behind, though.”
“Another page?” Blaine asked.
“Yeah. I think we have time for one more before we have to get ready.” Kurt glanced over at the clock. 
He flipped the pages again. “Oh, graduation day! That was marvelous.” 
“Yes, it was, Mr. Valedictorian! We thought that day would never come, and then it came and went in seconds, and now we’ve been together longer than we were alive in these pictures.”
“Wow. There’s some perspective for you.” 
“Do you remember what happened on graduation night? On our way to the final party at Rachel’s, you were so desperate for it, telling me all the fantasies you’d had, that we pulled over in a darkened parking lot and climbed into the back seat, and you—”
Blaine cut Kurt’s story off with his lips, tilting his head to get a more suitable angle with the way they were sitting, and opened his mouth to deepen it. He wanted to get lost in his husband’s arms for just a minute. It still made Blaine’s stomach flutter when he was fully present in the moment and felt so much gratitude that they’d made it this far, still so in love. 
They heard a loud thump upstairs and then a chorus of girls laughing. “Dads! We’re coming down. You’d better not be making out again!” A teen voice carried down the stairs.
“How do they know? How do they always know?” Blaine groaned as he reluctantly pulled away from Kurt’s decadent mouth. 
Kurt tipped his head back and laughed. “Would you like some more perspective? Our daughter is as old as we are in these photos, and we’ll be adding her Prom and graduation pictures to her scrapbook this month.”
“It’s gone so fast.”
When the four girls arrived at the bottom of the stairs, Blaine and Kurt gasped and jumped up from the couch. “You all look so beautiful!” they said in unison. 
“You did a spectacular job with hair and makeup on each other,” Kurt said, reaching out and twirling his daughter, Audrey, to inspect her. “So perfect. All of you,” he said as he looked over their hair.
“Thank you, Dad,” they chimed. Of course, only two of them were his. All their children’s friends called them ”Dad,” and they had an incredible relationship with them. Their home was a haven for all the kids. When things in the outside world were scary and school was hard, everyone knew they were welcome at the Hummel-Anderson’s for hugs, fun, advice when asked for, singing, a quiet zone study room, food from a kitchen that was never closed, and somewhere that was always safe. 
At that moment, the front door flew open. “I’m home!” Spencer yelled.
One of the girls, Sophia, squealed, “Hide me! He can’t see me yet!” 
“Spencer, don’t come in here unless you want the wrath of your girlfriend. Take your tux upstairs. I’ll call you when it’s safe,” Blaine half-shouted as he headed towards the foyer to greet him. 
“Thanks, Dad. That would’ve been scary.”
“I agree,” he said as he patted him on the shoulder and then headed back to Kurt. 
“Hi, Papa! You going to help me?” he shouted as he bounded up the stairs two at a time. 
“Yup! Tell me when you’re ready,” Kurt called back. 
Sophia said, “Oh, thank heavens. You’re going to do his hair?” which made their other friend, Lana, laugh because Spencer was notorious for laying down the hair gel despite everyone’s grumbling. 
“I am indeed,” Kurt replied and then chuckled. “Whatever you threatened him with convinced him.”
She nodded. “Thank you!” 
“Anything for you girls. Now, do you have everything you need? Your gowns are still intact? Shoes are still in pairs? Nothing is slipping off and needs altering?”
“Yes. Thank you, Papa. You’ve checked a dozen times. We just have to put our dresses on when it gets closer. We thought we’d help with the food for Greer’s party tonight since she helped us get ready for Prom.” She poked her little sister, a freshman in high school. 
“Well, that is sweet of you ladies,” Blaine said. “Papa and I already finished it all, though, so why don’t you go relax before the chaos starts and you have to get dressed in an hour?”
“You’re sure?” Audrey and Greer asked simultaneously. 
Kurt smiled, a warmth spreading through his chest. It had been such a privilege to see these kids get older and how they lived—each in their own way—what he and Blaine had tried to teach them. Their family motto, which hung in several places in their home, was C.O.U.R.A.G.E. (Communication, Open-minded, Understanding, Respectful, Adventurous, Grateful, Educated). His kids were always willing to help, so he didn’t mind the insanity that was about to start. 
“We’re sure. Audrey, yours and Lana’s dates and their parents and Sophia’s parents should all be here in 90 minutes. We’ll do pictures and send you off to Senior Prom. Well, Junior Prom for Spencer and Sophia. In two hours, all of Greer’s friends should arrive, and once we make sure they are all here safely for their outdoor movie night—complete with a popcorn and candy bar, a cooler full of sodas, and six extra-large pizzas being delivered, including a gluten-free and vegan option—then we’ll head out with all the Prom date parents for dinner.”
“Oh, is that all?” Audrey teased. 
“Well, Dad and I can still add volunteering as chaperones at your Prom!” 
“Oh, Dads! No! We talked about this. You would sing every other song or dance in a dark corner. Ewww. Public displays of affection. I love you, Papa, but no. Thank you.”
All the girls laughed and dashed upstairs. 
Kurt pulled Blaine into his arms and kissed him playfully, parting with a mwwwah. 
“You ready to get all dressed up for our hot date?” Blaine asked.
“I am indeed! Shall we?” Kurt offered his elbow as they headed toward their room. 
Blaine beamed as he glanced at his husband. “What a wonderful, wonderful life.”
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ekholocationn · 1 year
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ALRIGHT!!!! TIME FOR A FINAL DARK REVIVAL RAMBLE
long post & spoiler warning below the cut
HOOOH THAT WAS ALL SO COOL,,,,, i REALLY enjoyed the game but i do have my fair share of qualms. gonna start off with the positive stuff tho
overall, the voice acting, animation, and music/sound design were SO good!! not to mention the character models, i think i already brought this up but they were so freaking expressive and i was living for that
ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT SCENE WITH ALLISON AND ALICE??? very reminiscent to what happened in ink machine BUT they got the closure they needed,,,,,, that scene made me cry man heart been broke so many times
and then to immediately follow it up with this note from allison was like salt in the wound
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honestly that scene was probably my favorite part of the chapter, if not the entire game tbh??? had to rewind and watch it again..... the fact that allison never harbored any resentment at all toward alice and even viewed her as a SISTER. just. agh. she only wished the best for her </3
i also really liked betty's character, she was sweet >w< and getting to see sammy briefly was nice
the ending was pretty good too, i had a feeling that it would end with audrey resetting everything and doing it over with the reel
however, i feel like there were still a lot of things left unanswered?? and i noticed a pattern of like.... mechanics and characters being introduced briefly and then moments later we move on from them. like, what's with carley? to put it in the words of a friend of mine, why does she feel like just a cheap jumpscare? you introduce this new character but never really expand upon her.
same with porter, heidi, and betty. i would have loved to know more about them!!!! sure porter shows up in the finale, but like, we don't see him for three chapters before then.
i also would have loved to see MORE of alice!! like, how did she break out of her cell? why pick AUDREY of all people to kidnap?
also, holy shit they did my boy sammy SO dirty and im a little mad tbh. like, you tease him with this note:
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and it gets the player ready to see him out of his cell...... but he's only there for a brief moment on a catwalk before allison just??? shoots him down??? it feels like you took this unsettling lunatic character and just. turned him into a joke. a cheap 'LOL you remember this guy? yeah he's dead now'
wilson's final boss fight was cool but it felt. incredibly rushed in my opinion. and how did he have access to color in the first place? why on EARTH did audrey agree to fuse with the ink demon if he's been something she was trying to avoid for the ENTIRE game??? maybe the ink demon formed some sort of connection to her as little toon bendy, but.... i don't know. i have my qualms about the ink demon in dark revival but that's a ramble for another time
i can't really comment much on gameplay mechanics since i watched a playthrough and didn't play it myself haha
anyways this post is getting long as hell so im gonna cap it now before i ramble too much XD overall i love the game for what it is, and i'm definitely gonna be making some fanart when i have time. it was a lovely sequel to ink machine, and expanded on the world a lot... it just felt rushed at times i think, like they were trying to squeeze too much into too little
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whobobreviewsstuff · 1 year
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Review: Breaking Bad Season 2 Episode 6 - Peekaboo (SPOILERS)
S2E6: Peekaboo
Written by J. Roberts & Vince Gilligan
Directed by Peter Medak
Here we are at one of the most famous early Breaking Bad episodes ever. Lots of "skank" shouting is all here people. So let's get started.
From the opening, it's clear as day this is gonna be a Jesse centric episode. Not that Walt doesn't have a plot in it. He does. But the real star of this episode is Jesse. We see him finally confronting the addict couple that stole Jesse's drug and money from Skinny Pete. How does he do it? It's a good question. He really had it under control until we see that he has a soft spot for kids and because of the couple's kid distracting him unintentionally, the addict woman got the best of him. I really like seeing Jesse caring about the kid and hating the fact that his parents ended up being really shitty parents. Throughout this show, Jesse is a person who wants what's best for kids he comes across. We see that with his younger brother and we see it here too. It really makes him a character to root for despite his goal was to take back the money and the drug. His plot provides some nice crude and dark humor with the couple always arguing with each other, us seeing how they actually stole the ATM machine, the man in the relationship called Scooge trying to make Jesse feel bad for Jesse hitting him with his gun and of course, the famous "skank" talk. All of which builds up to a really funny and brutal conclusion with ATM machine ending up in Scooge's head. I love that before Jesse escapes, he calls 911 and takes the kid outside, so he can get proper help and get a decent life. I loved the last thing he said was to live a good life. Jesse is a bad person deep down but he is good with kids and what he does here puts him leagues away from what Walt will do later on in the series.
As for Walt's plot, we see Walt once again teaching with Carmen telling him she'll always have his back on this matter. Of course school day doesn't end up well for him as he gets his missing poster with bunch of punks writing really bad things about him and what I love about afterwards this is that Walt and Flynn gets to share one nice moment on how to pull a prank on those punks. It's a really nice moment to see Walt does still have his humanity intact with trying to bond with his son. And of course shit goes down when Gretchen decides to visit Skyler. It's really depressing to see Gretchen witnessing that Skyler still believes they are paying Walt's medical treatment. Later on we see Walt and Gretchen in a dinner with Walt apologizing to Gretchen for lying to his family but Gretchen wants the truth on why he lies to them and we see Walt's true colors. We get some information on the day Walt left his own company and how Walt tries to blame it on Gretchen and Elliot for making money off his equations but really Gretchen tells Walt that he is just prideful person, so we do get a little hint on why Walt left the company and it sounds nothing but pettiness and egotistical. Small moments like that show us Walt perhaps has always been an asshole but he still had morality on what's right and what's wrong until we see how the show starts. When Walt goes back to the house, he gaslights Skyler into thinking Elliot and Gretchen went broke and despite all the lies Skyler picks up on Walt, she still wants to believe in every word he says and it's a really sad moment to bear. Walt comfort her on the idea they did pay most of the medical treatment but we all know it's all Walt's dirty money. What's gonna happen to Skyler after she finds out Walt has been bullshitting is gonna be sad to witness.
This episode was really amazing on good character study for Jesse and Walt and really humorous dark humor along with it.
Grade: 10/10
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tuiccim · 3 years
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Dimensional Pain
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Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader
Word Count: 3363
Warnings: Angst, minor violence, fluff, implied smut.
Squares filled: Heartbreak for @star-spangled-bingo. 
A/N: This is for the HBC’s @the-ss-horniest-book-club Drunk Drabbles / Divider by @firefly-graphics
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Earth-616
“Everything ready for the test?” Bruce asks as he comes into the lab. 
“Looks like it.” You say. 
“Everything is ready. I’ve figured this thing out down to the molecular level.” Tony grins. 
You roll your eyes at his overconfidence. The machine was an unknown entity that you thought may be an interstellar communication device but, truthfully, no one knew what it really did. You, Bruce, and Tony had studied each part of it in the lab and, now that you had gleaned all the information you could, the only option left was to run a test. 
“Alright, let’s do this.” You say. 
“The honor is all yours.” Tony grins. 
You switch on the machine with 10% power and look at the readouts, “This is strange.”
“Let’s turn the power up.” Tony says as he turns the dial. “This is fascinating. I’m going to full power.”
Tony cuts the power, “Are you okay?”
“What the hell were you thinking? Have you lost your mind? We don’t know what this is!” You yell before turning to him. Your brow furrows as you take him in. Something was different but you shake it away. 
“These readings are insane!” Tony exclaims. “Bruce, do you see this?”
“Look at these spikes.” Bruce’s face is alight as he goes over readings. 
“Am I still alive? Hello?” You shout. 
“Oh, yeah, yeah. Are you okay?” Tony asks already turning back to the computer
“Fine.” You grouse. “I’m done for the day.”
“But look at this!” Bruce looks at you but his smile fades when you look at him with a murderous gaze. “Yeah, you should, uh, take a break.” He stammers as you walk out. 
Things feel strange as you wander through the hallways but still you can’t put your finger on it. You are steps from your bedroom when Bucky comes out of it and nearly collides with you. 
“Hey Doll.” Bucky grins as he wraps his arms around you and pulls you to him for a kiss. 
You push away from him shocked. “What are you doing? Why were you in my room?” You ask, wide-eyed.
“What are you talking about, Doll? I was just heading to find you for lunch.” Bucky says.
“Why?” You look at him surprised.
“So we could eat together.” Bucky says, “Are you okay, Doll?”
“Wh-, I, you… Why were you in my room, Bucky?”
“What’s wrong, Doll? What did I do wrong? As far as I knew, it was still our room.”
“Our room? What the hell are you talking about?” You burst through the door and look around the room. Everything is different. There is a king bed instead of your queen and all the furniture has been moved. The colors are different. You walk back out again to make sure you are in the right room and walk back in again. “What the fuck?”
“Doll?”
“Is this a prank?” You are beginning to panic. “Bucky! Is this a prank? It isn’t funny!”
“Doll, you’re starting to scare me.”
“This isn’t funny Bucky! Stop it!” You yell. 
“Hey!” Tony enters the room with Bruce at his heels, “We have a few theories on what we think happened. Uh…” Tony’s eyes bounce between you and Bucky. 
“Okay?” You prompt.
“We don’t think you belong here.” Bruce says. 
“What does that mean?” You furrow your brows.
“We think the machine has something to do with space-time continuum.” Tony says. 
“Tony, Wha… Did I go forward in time?” You look at him incredulously. 
“More like sideways.” Bruce says. 
“Sideways? Dimensionally?!?” You exclaim. 
“Yes.” Tony looks at you with a smirk and you can see his scientific mind turning it’s wheels. 
“This is a different dimension?” You ask. 
“Well, let’s compare some notes and see.” Bruce says. 
“Are you and Natasha together?” You look at him. 
“Uh, we broke up, kinda.” Bruce says. 
“Are you and Pepper married?” You turn to Tony.
“Engaged.” Tony says. 
Looking at Bucky your heart hurts, “And we’re together?”
“We’re not together in your dimension?” Bucky asks. 
“No. We’re just friends.”
“We’re going to have to get into that later.” Tony says and then calls for an emergency meeting of the Avengers. You move to the conference room and watch as each of your team members filter in. They were your team and they weren’t. It was utterly confusing as you watch Natasha, then Steve, Sam, Wanda, and Vision walk in.
Once everyone settles in Tony explains the situation you currently find yourself in. You spend a couple of hours going back and forth with the team about the historical and scientific differences of each of your dimensions. 
“Can we reverse this?” Steve asks. 
“I don’t know but Bruce and I will work on it.” Tony answers truthfully. 
“This is twisted.” Natasha says. 
“Yeah.” You scoff. 
Bucky’s eyes zero in on your hand. The ring he had placed on your finger only a few weeks ago was gone. Seeing it missing tore at his heart. “We have to fix this.” Bucky says emphatically to Tony and Bruce. 
“We know.” Tony says.
“We’re going to fix this.” Bruce says kindly. 
“You damn well better,” Bucky growls.
“We’ll get her back.” Tony says. 
“Preferably before the wedding.” Natasha quips.
“Wedding?” You look at Natasha for understanding. 
“You and Bucky got engaged a few weeks ago.” Natasha says softly.
“We… we did?” You look at Bucky. 
“Yea. I’m engaged to the other you.” Bucky turns back to Tony, “And I want my fiancee back!”
“We’ll get her back, Bucky! Until then, you’ll be confined to the building.” Tony says turning his attention to you. 
“Are you serious?” You ask.
“It’s for the best.” Steve says reassuringly. 
“Yeah, so is this.” You turn and punch Tony as hard as you can. Tony doubles over as Steve grabs your arms. 
“HEY!” Steve yells.
“No, no, I deserved that.” Tony waves him off as he holds his face. 
You pull your arms from Steve’s grip and stare down Tony and Bruce, “Let’s get to work. Now.”
--
Three days later, Bucky finds you in the rooftop garden. He watches you for a moment full of longing to hold you in his arms. He found this situation torturous. He was looking at you, at the face of the woman he loves and he can’t touch you. His heart twists as he watches you knowing that it was just as hard, no, harder on you. To have everything be familiar but none of it is yours. You turn to him when you hear his approach. 
“You always come up here when you need to think.” He says.
“Yeah.” You smile sadly. “Will…”
“What?” Bucky asks.
“Will you tell me about us? How did we get together?” You ask.
“Are you sure you want to know, Doll?” Bucky looks at you questioningly. 
“Yeah. In my world, you’re my friend but you… I… we’ve never made that leap.”
“It was the same here.” Bucky says. “We were great friends, worked together, hung out together, everything. Then after one of Tony’s parties we were all hanging out and you tripped over your heels and landed in my lap. You were laughing at yourself and then we just looked at each other. I had been in love with you as long as I had known you and that was our moment. I kissed you and you kissed me back and the team cheered like they’d been waiting for us to finally realize we were meant to be together.” Bucky smiles with tears in his eyes as he looks at you. 
“I took them off.” You whisper. “I took off my heels.”
“What?” Bucky asks. 
“The party. I took off my heels before I got up because they were hurting my feet. I told you good night and patted your shoulder as I walked past. I missed it. I missed our moment.” Tears cloud your eyes as you realize. 
“Do you love me? Him. Your Bucky?”
You nod. “Almost since I met him.”
“What’s stopping you?” Bucky asks. 
“I didn’t realize he feels that way for me.”
“Almost since he first met you. If he’s as smart as I am.” Bucky smiles at you sweetly. 
“Thank you, Bucky.” You smile and reach out to hug him. 
“No!”
You jump back, wide-eyed and gape at him, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry I didn’t mean-”
“It’s not you, doll. It’s me. I can’t- I can’t touch you.” Bucky says. 
You nod and hug yourself, “I understand. Sorry.” Moving away quickly, you look back at him only when you reach the door. Giving him a quick smile, you go through. 
--
Two more weeks and Bucky is nearly a mad man. Tony and Bruce avoid him like a plague and you know him seeing you is killing him. Everytime he sees you his face lights up for half a second before it falls with realization that you aren’t his. You had worked with Tony and Bruce on a solution, run scenarios, and had even recklessly tried some runs. Today, however, you rush through the compound looking for Tony and Bruce and pause as you nearly run past Bucky.
“Come with me.” You shout and run for the lab. “I have an idea!”
“Doll?” Bucky follows you. 
Tony and Bruce are in the lab and stare, eyes bouncing from you to Bucky. 
“We haven’t been able to recreate the experiment because we don’t know when the other me will be trying. I have an idea. Bucky, is my grandmother here named Brigid?”
“Um, yeah.” Bucky says. 
“Tomorrow is St. Brigid’s Day.”
“Okay. We still need a time.” Bruce says carefully. 
“She’ll try on the angelus. We’ll have three chances.” You explain. 
“The angelus?” Tony raises an eyebrow. 
“6, 12, and 6. The time of prayers.” You explain. “Look, it’s worth a shot, right?”
“I’ve had worse ideas.” Tony smirks. 
“Many.” You grouse, narrowing your eyes at him.
“We’ll get this done.” Bruce says turning back to his computer. 
 “I’m going home tomorrow.” You look at Bucky, “And she’s coming home.”
---
Meanwhile on Earth-678…
“These readings are insane!” Tony exclaims. “Bruce, do you see this?”
“Look at these spikes.” Bruce’s face is alight as he goes over readings. 
“Am I still alive? Hello?” You shout. 
“Oh, yeah, yeah. Are you okay?” Tony asks already turning back to the computer
“Fine.” You grouse. “I’m done for the day.”
“But look at this!” Bruce looks at you but his smile fades when you look at him with a murderous gaze. “Yeah, you should, uh, take a break.” He stammers as you walk out. 
Things feel strange as you wander through the hallways but still you can’t put your finger on it. You are steps from your bedroom when Bucky comes out of his old room and nearly collides with you. 
“Oh, thank God.” You say as you wrap your arms around his torso and hug him to you. “Tony tried to kill me with that flipping device.”
“Uh, hey, doll.” Bucky says wrapping his arms around you awkwardly. 
“Baby? What’s the matter?” You look at him concerned.
“Baby?” Bucky looks at you like you’ve lost your mind. 
You let go of him and back away with your stomach in knots, “What’s the matter with you?”
“Why are you calling me baby?”
“That’s what I always call you.”
“Hey!” Tony jogs towards you with Bruce at his heels, “We have a few theories on what we think happened. Uh…” Tony’s eyes bounce between you and Bucky. 
“Okay?” You prompt.
“We don’t think you belong here.” Bruce says. 
“What does that mean?” You furrow your brows.
“We think the machine has something to do with space-time continuum.” Tony says. 
“Tony, wha… Did I go back in time?” You look at him incredulously. 
“More like sideways.” Bruce says. 
“Sideways? Dimensionally?!?” You exclaim. 
“Yes.” Tony looks at you with a smirk and you can see his scientific mind turning it’s wheels. 
“This is a different dimension?” You ask. 
“Well, let’s compare some notes and see.” Bruce says. 
“Are you and Natasha broken up?” You look at him. 
“No, we’re still together.” Bruce says. 
“Are you and Pepper engaged?” You turn to Tony.
“Married.” Tony says. 
Looking at Bucky your heart hurts, “And we’re not together?”
“We’re together in your dimension?” Bucky asks. 
“Uh, yeah.” You hold up your left hand showing your engagement ring. 
“We’re engaged?” Bucky’s eyes grow wide. 
“Yeah.” You say softly. 
“But you... I… how?.” Bucky says. 
“We’re going to have to get into that later.” Tony says and then calls for an emergency meeting of the Avengers. You moved to the conference room and watched as each of your teammates filters in. They were your team and they weren’t. It is utterly confusing as you watch Natasha, Steve, Sam, Wanda, and Vision walk in.
Once everyone settles in Tony explains the situation you currently find yourself in. You spend a couple of hours going back and forth with the team about the historical and scientific differences of each of your dimensions. 
“Can we reverse this?” Steve asks. 
“I don’t know but Bruce and I will work on it.” Tony answers truthfully. 
“You keep twisting your engagement ring.” Natasha says. 
“Uh, yeah. Nervous habit.” You say. 
Bucky’s eyes zero in on the ring on your finger remembering your earlier conversation before his eyes find yours. 
“Who are you engaged to?” Natasha asks. 
“Uh… who am I with in this dimension?” You look at Natasha. 
“You’re single here. So…?” Natasha raises an eyebrow. 
“Um, I’m engaged to Bucky.” You look at him as you say it. 
“I knew it.” Natasha smirks. 
“What?” Bucky looks at Natasha.
“Oh, come on, you’ve been pining for her forever.” Natasha giggles.
“Nat!” Bucky exclaims. 
“We did pine for a while.” You smirk and then your face falls realizing even more now that, as familiar as your surroundings are, this isn’t home. This isn’t your Bucky and this isn’t your family. 
“We’re going to fix this.” Bruce says kindly. 
“Until then, you’ll be confined to the building.” Tony says. 
“Are you serious?” You ask.
“It’s for the best.” Steve says reassuringly. 
“Yeah, so is this.” You turn and punch Tony as hard as you can. Tony doubles over as Steve grabs your arms. 
“HEY!” Steve yells.
“No, no, I deserved that.” Tony waves him off as he holds his face. 
You pull your arms from Steve’s grip, “I’ll be in my room. Or what I assume is my room.”
You stand in the middle of the room that is this dimension’s yours. It’s the same as it was before you and Bucky moved in together. Your heart ached. You needed comfort desperately but the person who comforted you the most was a dimension away and this Bucky was still just your friend. You stare around the room and wrap your arms around yourself. Your mind raced and you decided to throw yourself into the only other thing that could possibly help at this point. 
“FRIDAY, tell Tony and Bruce to get back to the lab. Now.”
---
Three days later. This was torture Bucky thought to himself as he made his way to your room. He had finally decided to tell you how he felt and now this. He wanted to be with you so badly, but you aren't his. Or you are his but not in this dimension. So, does that mean you feel the same way about him? How different are the dimensions?
He knocks softly on your door and stands frozen for a minute when you open it. Longing is thick between you. 
“Hey.” You break the silence. 
“Hey, Doll. I mean… is it okay for me to call you doll?”
“Yeah. It’s what you’ve always called me. It’s... comforting. I’m sorry. This is insane. I’m going to lose my mind. I need you but I can’t have you because you aren’t mine. I… I…” You bury your head in your hands. 
“Come sit down, Doll.” Bucky guides you to the couch. 
“I’m sorry.” 
“It’s okay. You’re okay. This is all very strange for you.”
“Yeah.” You nod.
“Will you tell me? Tell me about your world.”
“How about I tell you about what you really want to know?”
“What’s that?” Bucky smiles.
“Us.” 
---
2 weeks later
Bucky watches you from across the dinner table. You were drawn and had lost weight. The failed experiments had depressed you and Bucky ached for you. He wanted to hold you, to comfort you, but he couldn’t. You weren’t his to touch. Any justifications he could come up with were empty. He finds you in your room afterwards.
“Hey Doll. You okay?” Bucky asks.
You close your eyes. The pain at looking at him and being unable to touch him at this point is unbearable. It was as if there was a magnet pulling the two of you together and the only thing keeping you apart was the understanding that you weren’t you. Not the right you. 
Two weeks of this and your brain still hurt.  Everything was familiar and foreign. Bucky was the best and worst part of it. At least you had part of him but at the same time it was torture not to have all of him. 
“B-Bucky. Will you hold me? Please? Just hold me. Nothing else. Please.”  
“Is that a good idea, doll?”
“No but I need it.”
Bucky settles onto your couch and you sit in his lap, wrapping your arms around him and sobbing. After a while, you pull a little away. “Thank you. I miss my Bucky. I want to go home.”
“I know, doll. I know. Go to bed. Things will look better tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow. February 1. February 1st! Saint Brigid’s Day! I have to find Tony. FRIDAY! Tell Tony and Bruce to meet me in the lab. Now!”
“Doll, what are you talking about?” Bucky runs after you. 
“I have the answer. I’m going home!” You shout.  
--
The next day you stood ready at 5:59 am for the first try. Tony had complained about the early hour until you silenced him with a look and fisted hand. Bucky and Bruce stood across the room watching the computer with the rest of the team. 
“If this works, thank you all. It’s been interesting knowing you.” You smile at them. “And, Bucky, she loves you. Don’t waste anymore time.”
Bucky grins at you and nods. The clock changes to 6 and you and Tony begin. Everything repeats the same as last time until the flash of light engulfs you again. Once it dissipates, you look around hopefully. 
“Doll?” Bucky asks. 
You stare at him for a moment before turning to Tony, “Married or engaged?”
“Married.” Tony says carefully. 
You burst into tears and grin, “It worked! It worked!”
“Doll!” You are picked up off of your feet and wrap your arms around his neck. 
When he sets you down, you look up at him, “Did we miss our moment?”
“No, Doll, no. This is our moment.” Bucky says before kissing you for the first time. 
---
Earth-616
“If this works, thank you all. It’s been interesting knowing you.” You smile at them.
“Find your moment, doll.” Bucky grins at you and you nod at him smiling. The clock changes to 6 and you and Tony begin. Everything repeats the same as last time until the flash of light engulfs you again. Once it dissipates, you look around hopefully. 
“Doll?” Bucky asks. 
You stare at him for a moment before turning to Tony, “Married or engaged?”
“Engaged.” Tony says carefully. 
You burst into tears and run to Bucky’s arms. He picks you up and walks out of the lab with you. Passion and desperation overtake you both and you don’t even make it to the bed. You end up making love on the floor of your room. Kisses, thrusts, and moans as you finally make it home, your real home. 
Masterlist
Permanent: @badassbaker @thefridgeismybestie @strangersstranger @cherthegoddess @sherlocksmanwatson @cap-n-stuff @finleyjayne @caplanreads @connie326 @daydreamerinadazedworld @bugsbucky @chrisevanscardigan @harrysthiccthighss @palaiasaurus64​ @rebekahdawkins @tllynn15​ @learisa​ @jelly-fishy-babie​ @fistmebuckyskywalker​ @nerdy-bookworm-1998​ @liebs82​ @stuckyslutt​ @a-really-bi-girl​ @saiyanprincessswanie​ @baddie-barnes​ @aikeia​ @paleo-runaway​ @marvelgirl7​ @starlightcrystalline​ @xxloki81xx​ @kcd15​ @slytherinambitious​ @sallycanwait68​ @slytherdorxmd​ @fangirlforever2412​ @rainbowkisses31​ @whisperlullaby​ @thejemersoninferno​ @thehumanistsdiary​ @supraveng​ @dispatchvampire​ @juenenfeu​ @sxbby-barnes​ @allonszassbutt​ @y-napotat​ @is-it-madness​ @harold231​ @buckysbaby32​ @purselover2​ @ene-rene​ @chrisevansbaby​ @mrsbarnes-rogers​ @sarahp879​ @rosesanchez12298806​ @xxpapasfritasxx​ @whiskeytangofoxtrot555​ @softie-socks​ @bestofbucky​ @bella-bear03​ @randomfandompenguin​ @jjsoccer11​ @hiddles-rose​ @courtneychicken​ @prbykt​ @awaywithtime​ @automatic-tragedy​ @ximebebx​ @magnoliamermaid​ @milkymil-k​ @get-me-some-chai-bitch​ @freckleblaze​ @ofatabuna @angrythingstarlight​ @unknownmystery22​ @buckysnumberonegirl​ @buckyfan12​
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A Deafened Bard (Stephen Strange x Female!Reader)
I can explain. 
Please don't come at me for starting a new project before finishing Cult Girl Doctorate. I hit a wall and needed to take a break. I am trying not to let this one take up too much time.
Y/n is a sorceress-in-training who’s known for being hard to teach. Sensing her potential, Doctor Strange takes her on as an apprentice. 
You firmly believed that shattering the urn of Fei-Amie was the best thing that ever happened to you. 
It happened a year ago, but it still replayed in your head over and over again. You made a conscious effort to remember it vividly. 
Sure, it was terrifying, Stephen Strange's initial look of anger when he heard the ceramic shatter. It softened when he saw that the culprit was just a clumsy sorceress-in-training who looked on the verge of tears with remorse. Still, it was a face you never wanted to see again: his teeth bared, his already sharp features accentuated under the constraints of anger. 
It diluted into silent, simmering frustration that revealed itself to you in short sarcastic jabs and body language. 
"Just, stop." He cut you off after a string of profuse sorries. With no disarming smile in sight, you could tell he was tense. "Artifacts get broken all the time. Don't cry. It was an accident." 
His tone indicated that he was trying to convince himself more than he was you. You were a closed-off person and could hardly stand the idea that anyone out there didn't like you. The idea of the Sorcerer Supreme being mad at you, personally, made you briefly consider ritual suicide. You lowered your head. "Yes, Master Strange."
"Hey, butterfingers." He called out after you as you tried to make a painless exit. You looked back at him and he gestured to the pile of broken ceramic pieces. "You gonna fix what you broke?"
It hadn't dawned on you that an ancient relic could be fixed. Especially one that once contained the ashes of the ancient necromancer Fei-Amie. You were embarrassed to say that your knowledge of manipulating time was surface-level at best, and couldn't think of any other solution. 
You wordlessly gathered the pieces up in your skirt and carried them off, striking out any plans to go into town that evening. Instead, you poured through book after book for any instruction whatsoever on repairing broken artifacts. You ran out of desk space, so books were just floating in the air, suspended on pages that briefly mentioned relic breakage. 
You started to believe you were given an impossible task. Or perhaps all the resources you needed, he was withholding. Even so, you didn't want to go back to him empty-handed. You changed into your street clothes and opened a portal to the local craft store.
You returned with two types of extra-strong superglue and got to work. First, you made all the pieces come together and had them hover over the desk. Unconsciously, you began to sing as you pieced the urn back together. 
Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
"Haven't heard that song in years." 
You dropped the tube of glue and the few remaining pieces fell back to the desk. "Master Strange!" 
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He said, though his apology was undercut by his smug tone. "Carry on." 
You picked up a piece and began to line the edges with glue. 
"Aren't you going to finish the song?" 
You looked up to see that he hadn't been just passing by. He was leaning against the threshold, watching you. 
"I don't usually sing for an audience." You laughed, uncomfortably. "Just me." 
"A man and his sentient cape should not count as an audience," he scoffed. "But, if you insist, I guess I'll have to just listen to Julie Andrews instead." 
"What's wrong with her?" You raised your eyebrows in surprise. 
"Oh, nothing. She's a treasure." He put his hands up. "But everyone gets to hear her sing. And I take it that only a very select few get to hear your rendition of my favorite things. I just have to be one of them." 
You blushed, suddenly forgetting all the words to my favorite things. 
"Girls in white dresses..." he offered, an impatient edge to it.
You swallowed. "Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes. Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes-"
"Hey, butterfingers." He interrupted again. Before you could object, he pointed to the way that the pieces floated gracefully overhead at the sound of your voice. 
"I'd like to see Julie Andrews do that." He said with a wink.
"Looks alright," Master Strange said, running his finger along the tight seams that showed where cracks once were. 
"Will it still work?" You asked. That was really all you were worried about. 
"Beats the hell out of me." He shrugged. "I didn't know how to use it to begin with." 
"What?!" You spat back. "Are you kidding?" 
"I'm afraid not." He said, taking the urn and placing it back on its pedestal. "Don't worry, you did a good job. I'm not mad at you anymore." 
That was really all you needed to hear. "Thank you, sir." 
"You're an apprentice, right?" He asked. 
"I'm..." Your voice trailed off in embarrassment. "Between masters right now."
He raised an eyebrow. "If I were to ask around, would I receive glowing reviews from your last masters?" 
You admitted it point-blank. "No." 
"Let me guess," he folded his arms. "Something didn't make sense to you and instead of giving you the space to question it, they insisted you follow blindly." 
You wanted to throw your head back and shout in relief; finally, someone understood! 
"Bingo, bullseye." You put your hands up in surrender after being read so easily. "Right on the money."
"I see." He said, tucking that thought away for later. "Could I trouble you for one more odd job before you go?" 
"That depends." You folded your arms. "What is it?" 
He looked over his shoulder at his cape. "How are you with sewing?"
‘Sewing' was not the verb you would use to describe repairing the tears in the Cloak of Levitation. It was taller and stronger than you and it did not want to be repaired. It was closer to performing surgery on a fully grown mountain lion that could rip your head off at any minute. 
"Like putting eyeshadow on a cat," Master Strange said. It flicked its edge contemptuously, while still clinging to his shoulders for dear life. "I'm a licensed surgeon and it won't let me within 20 feet of it with a needle." 
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." You said, thoroughly discouraged. All he'd given you to work with was a spool of thread and a pack of needles. 
He tried with sincere force to remove the cloak, but it wouldn't budge. "Of course, now it knows you're coming at it with the sewing kit and it won't leave my shoulders." 
"Maybe I can work with that?" You shrugged. You threaded the needle and hid it in your hand. 
You approached the cloak, only for it to shove Master Strange in your way like a human shield. 
"Listen, you naughty little blanket." He scolded, turning around to face it as if it were a puppy that had just wrecked the living room. "If you don't let her fix you, you're going in the washing machine. Extra spin." 
It shuddered, and, for a moment, you thought it was going to comply. You slowly took a step forward, only for it to dart as soon as your foot hit the ground. It made its escape with a large crash through the heavy wooden doors of the library. 
"Hey!" You shouted, chasing after it. "Get back here!" 
You caught a glimpse of it headed towards the relic room, so, without thinking, you opened a portal to make it there first. You reached it only seconds before the cloak breached the threshold, with only enough time to grab it by the edge. 
"Come here!" You exclaimed, giving it a full force tug. It tugged back, overpowering you to the tenth degree. It dragged you across the room and into the foyer. You yanked on it, only for it to escape from your grip and send you flying back into the wall. You wondered for a second how such a sturdy piece of fabric could possibly be in need of maintenance. 
"Bastard." You mumbled, rubbing the spot where your head collided with the wall. The pain didn't stop you, though. You were on your feet within seconds, pursuing the naughty blanket all over again. 
You heard the words of one of your many, many masters ringing in your ears; "never outrun what you can outsmart". Or maybe that was from a Garfield comic. Either way, whether or not you could outsmart the cloak was still unknown, but you had to at least try. 
You took a second to catch your breath and tried to remember where you saw it heading next. Downstairs, you thought. To the laundry room. The one place you would never look. 
You slowly but deliberately descended the stairs to the basement where the laundry was. You turned the light on and saw overturned baskets of towels, clothes, and sheets everywhere. And then a washing machine door slammed shut. You turned your head and saw a twinge of dark red hiding in the washing machine. 
You removed your shoes and socks to minimize noise, then picked up a fitted sheet that had been thrown on the ground. You mounted the washing machine and affixed the sheet to the front. The cloak would have to come shooting out the door, and you would ambush it. 
You forced the door open with your heel, holding the sheet like a giant net. As predicted, the cloak shot out like a bullet from a gun, getting caught in the sheet. It thrashed around aimlessly, trying to escape, but you had a tight grip and it wasn't going anywhere. 
"It's curtains for you!" You said, then laughed at your own joke. "Stop struggling!" 
It flailed and fought, but eventually ran out of energy and sunk to the ground. Not trusting it quite yet, you pinned it down with your whole body weight before releasing it from the sheet. As expected, it tried to fly away, but couldn't get anywhere.
"The less you fight, the faster this will go." You said, examining the fabric for any visible tears. The rip presented itself right away. About as long as your hand, right in the center. 
"What did Strange do to you?" You asked, pulling the threaded needle from your pocket. "Hold still, I'm going to fix it." 
Once the needle hit fabric, the cloak stopped trying to fly away and instead writhed about on the floor like it was about to die. You fixed the tear with as many stitches as you could make, then pulled it shut. Once you knew the thread was secure, you rolled off the cloak and let it fly free. 
It shot up, but froze, noticing something was different. It swished itself around, unaccustomed to the feeling of air not blowing right through its center. 
"You're welcome." You said with a shrug. "It's not like I had to chase you all around the sanctum to make it happen." 
Without any warning, the cloak scooped you up and squeezed you. Your initial reaction was that this was its revenge and you were taking your final breaths, but you could tell it was gratitude by the way it gently set you down on the ground. 
"Happy to help." You gasped for air. "Just remember this feeling if I ever have to do this again." 
"Not bad, butterfingers." Master Strange told you, though the tone of his voice conveyed he was impressed beyond a simple 'not bad'. 
"Not bad?" You protested. "I absolutely crushed it." 
He ran his finger down the uneven but sturdy stitching. When his face met yours again, he was smiling with genuine enthusiasm that managed to eek through his dry, sarcastic exterior. It came out as an admittedly very handsome sideways smirk as his eyes scanned you up and down. 
“If you don’t need anything else, I’ll get out of your hair now.” You said, heading towards the open doors. 
“Wait.” The doors slammed shut before you could reach them. You turned around to see Master Strange still examining the stitching. "You wouldn't leave without tea, would you?"
A pot of chai tea sat between you, filling the air with an aroma of spicy vanilla. You held the teacup in both hands, determined to never give him a reason to reinforce the "butterfingers" nickname he'd become so fond of. 
"Chai is my favorite." You said, letting the scent waft into your nose. "Yerba mate used to be my favorite, but if I drink more than two pots of it I get sick." 
"Yeah, definitely don't do that." He chuckled, bobbing his teabag up and down in the cup. "Out of curiosity, are you wondering at all why I invited you to tea?" 
"Oh, definitely." You nodded. "I was just wondering about that." 
"Would you believe it's just because I find you interesting?" He raised an eyebrow. "Good company, perhaps?" 
"Interesting? Absolutely." You agreed. "Good company is debatable." 
"I can't believe I never thought to trap the cloak in the washing machine." He rested his chin in his hand. "It seems so obvious now." 
"If it makes you feel any better," you shrugged. "It was mostly dumb luck and reckless disregard for my own life, considering it almost threw me off the balcony.” 
He glared at the cloak. “What did I tell you about trying to kill our guests?” 
It lowered its collar shamefully in his direction. 
“Don’t apologize to me!” He scolded. “Apologize to her.” 
It turned to face you and repeated the somber motion. 
“It’s okay.” You shrugged. “My family adopted a retired army German Shepherd growing up. I’m used to high-strung creatures that could end my life at any second.” 
“Well, rest assured, butterfingers,” He said, leaning back in his chair. “This will never happen again.”
“I, uh-” You opened your mouth before you could even really pick up on the implication he was putting down. “Wasn’t aware that there would be a chance for it to happen again?” 
“I suppose we should get down to brass tax, then.” He folded his hands in his lap. “How would you like to stay here?”
“Well-” You said, not wanting to come off as too enthusiastic, which you certainly were. “Not if it’s going to kill me-”
“If I could promise you that your life won’t be in constant danger, I would.” He cut you off. “But if you wanted safety, you wouldn’t have started studying the Mystic Arts.”
“Got me there.” You conceded, your made-up objection withering away. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch.” He shook his head. “I’ll help you train and in return, you help me preserve the integrity of the sanctum.” 
“So an apprenticeship?” Your eyes widened. "Are you saying you want to take me on as an apprentice?" 
“I know you’ve got bad associations with that title, but yes.” He answered. “If it brings back memories of your previous masters treating you like garbage, we can call it a ‘partnership’, if you’d like.” 
Partners with the Sorcerer Supreme? You thought, butterflies materializing in your stomach. 
"That sounds great, but-" You broke eye contact and fidgeted with your fingers. "I feel like I should disclose that it wasn't really all that one-sided. I am… notoriously hard to teach."
"And who told you that?" He tilted his head. "The ones who refused to teach you?" 
You hadn't thought about it that way. "I guess."
"The way I see it, you've repaid your debt and are free to leave," he began. "But seeing how dutifully you reassembled that urn, wrangled my favorite piece of defiant outerwear, and how desperately this place is in need of some life, it might be a good idea to keep you around." 
You put your hand over your chest to still your heart. "It would be an honor." 
"Excellent." He nodded. "That saves me the trouble of having to convince you."
He brought you to a small but comfortable room with a bed and connected bathroom. 
"There's plenty of closet space for all your clothes." He said, gesturing to an antique looking bureau set. 
You dumped your duffel bag out on the bed, revealing the extent of your possessions. "Thanks, but this is all I've got." 
"Travel light, huh?" He asked.
"Yeah, I moved around a lot growing up." You admitted. "Got no real roots and all that jazz." 
"That changes now." He told you. "This is your home now so I want it to feel like it. Make the space your own."
“I don’t know how I can thank you for this.” You lowered your head, still feeling undeserving. 
“Don’t thank me yet, butterfingers.” He chuckled. “I’ve been told I tend to be a little on the egotistical side. That I don’t work well with others.”
"It's actually [F/N], if you were curious." You said, sitting on the bed and folding your hands in your lap. 
"Okay, [F/N]." he smiled. "You've been in and out of enough apprenticeships to know the drill. Early mornings, late nights. And I've got a laundry list of odd jobs for you that I'm too important to do." 
"Naturally." You nodded. His dry self-awareness inspired a little confidence that he wouldn't be a complete tyrant. 
"You did a good job today." He said, bluntly. "Thank you for your help. Keep it up and you'll make an invaluable addition to the sanctum."
You smiled downwards. "Thank you." 
"Do you often sing when you're trying to focus?" He posited. "Just, as an aside." 
You could tell the gears in his neurosurgeon's head were turning, undoubtedly trying to pin some kind of diagnosis on you as doctors were known to do. 
“I guess it’s just a force of habit.” You admitted. “I used to play piano, so when I’m working with my hands, it just kind of happens. My last master was not happy about that.” 
"Oh, screw him." He waved his hand dismissively. "He pissed away an opportunity to nurture a sorceress with a special gift for the sake of tradition. That's a mistake I won't make."
Special gift? You thought. Nobody who practiced the Mystic Arts had ever referred to anything you'd ever done as a 'gift'. Annoyance? sure. A symptom of ADHD? All the time. But 'gift'? That made it sound useful.
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whimsicallyreading · 3 years
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“I just realized I’m desperately in love with you-“
Prompt Day One for Rowaelin Month
~
"Rowan, take a picture of that one. It's so cute." Aelin fawns quietly.
Rowan gives a long-suffering sigh. "There are a thousand of them here. Do you have to pester me into taking a picture of every seal pup we come across?"
"Her name is Fleetfoot, and yes. Isn't that the whole reason we are here?" Aelin looks at him equally annoyed, a strand of gold spun hair freeing itself from beneath her parka.
"I'm here to study the behavioral patterns of tiger seals and orcas in a rapidly shifting environment. You are here to keep our equipment functioning. If you keep talking, neither of us will finish our jobs and escape from this wasteland." Rowan switches the lens of his camera to focus on two male seals who were squaring up with each other in the distance.
Rowan nearly threw his camera over the boat and jumped off into the coastal waters of Argentina when he realized who had been assigned to assist him on this expedition.
He'd insisted that only he and one other make the trek across the Antarctic. Insisting a large group could impede the quality of his research. When they agreed, Rowan thought they would send him with Lorcan or Brullo. Both were accomplished survivalists and scholars—valuable additions to any team.
Instead, it was Aelin Ashryvver who waited for him at the dock. The most annoying newbie on his floor. Dorian insisted that her knowledge of mechanical engineering would make her invaluable.
So far, she was just a verifiable pain in his ass.
She sat around bored as Rowan spent the day writing notes and snapping photos. Occasionally she helped him set up microphones. On one instance, she fixed their ATV. It was the first and only time he'd found her truly useful.
Rowan couldn't wait to go home.
"Alright, we have the cameras positioned. We should head back to the base. The temps are dropping. We need to warm up and eat."
Aelin nods quietly, she would never admit it, but the severe temperatures are taking a toll on her. It was amazing how important something like fat is in a frigid environment. Rowan is naturally covered in layers of dense muscle. While Aelin is fit herself, she's still small and the first to feel the effects of persistent cold.
Watching the seals, she occasionally found herself jealous of their thick layers of blubber that kept them comfortable. She should have carb-loaded before they set sail.
They hop on the snow ski and traverse quickly over the powderlike substance.
~~~
When they reach the Terresen South Pole station and ditch their coats, they fall to the floor in a cascade of flurries. Rowan's spine straightens for the first time that day. Their coats were dense. With the additional weight of all of the equipment he carried, there was a perpetual bend in his spine.
It was a huge relief to be inside a climate-controlled building—light layers, freedom movement, and feeling in all of his extremities. Tossing that coat off was the pinnacle of his daily routine on this mission.
That is until he realized it was freezing.
Walking over to a light switch with urgency, he flicks it a few times. Nothing happens. Anxiety wells in his gut, and he hits the wall a couple of times before flipping the switch again.
"Shit," Rowan hisses.
"The power is out," Aelin's eyes widen with the realization. "That's not good."
"I thought I was the scientist, but look at you stating the obvious," Rowan growls as he shrugs his jacket back on. It wasn't nearly as frigid inside the insulated building as it was outside, but it was still bitterly cold. Keeping warm would be their first step in survival. Without heat, shit could hit the fan for them very quickly. Thankfully their satellite phones should still be functioning; he'd charged the battery the day before. There should be enough juice in the phones to send out a mayday call even without power.
Aelin doesn't put on her jacket. Instead, she heads in the direction of the lockers with a look of determination plastered on her face. It was a look he'd slowly begun to grow familiar with, mainly when Rowan was holding a ration packet she wanted. It made him uneasy.
"Where are you going?" Rowan calls after her, picking up her jacket. He wouldn't be held responsible for his younger, female partner freezing to death. HR at the University would have his head on a stick if she died on his watch.
He follows Aelin to her locker, where she's already sliding a grey jumpsuit over her clothes.
"I can fix the engines," Aelin pulls her zipper up. The jumpsuit covered head-to-toe, but they weren't nearly as warm as their snow gear. He could already see a slight blue-ish tint to her lips. "They probably just stalled. All I need to do is go down, diagnose the problem, and fix it. Easy as pie."
Ignoring the massive oversimplification of their situation, knowing it was a lost cause, he focuses on the immediate problem. "You need to keep your jacket on," Rowan thrusts the article of clothing at her. Her color was concerning him, and the longer she went without the thermal garment, the higher his stress became.
Aelin gives him a long-suffering look, all too similar to the one he gives her. "And get my hood or a sleeve caught in one of those beasts? Those machines are massive. Getting snagged could rip my arm off or kill me. It's like you don't even have a master's in engineering and a spotless safety record," she smiles at Rowan's scowling face. "Oh wait, that's me. Let me do my job, Dr. Whitethorn."
Before Rowan could argue, Aelin was gone down the stairwell towards the engines.
Dragging a frustrated hand through his hair, he tosses her jacket on the floor. His time is probably better spent getting through to their mission handlers on the satellite phones anyway.
~~~
Two hours later, Rowan has long finished his call with Dorian.
Their expedition leader had asked if they wanted a recovery team sent out to them, but Rowan hesitated. He was on the mission of a lifetime. He'd spent years waiting for approval to research at the southernmost tip of the world. It would be a devastating blow to his career and his pride for it to be cut short. The selfish part of him wanted to stay. The rationale, reasonable part of him was aching to stay the full duration of the expedition.
"You know, Dr. Whitethorn," Dorian spoke carefully. "There is a reason we chose Aelin to accompany you. She may be green and lacking a doctorate, but she's a miracle worker at what she does."
"Are you asking me to put my life in the newbie's hands?" Rowan asked without his standard vitriol. The situation and the cold had left him with no energy to be spiteful. He'd heard talk of her capabilities amongst the guys, and he'd seen a fraction of it when their snowmobile broke down. Rowan thinks back to the look on her face when she'd gone down the stairs. The steely determination of a warrior marching off to do battle.
Dorian laughs as if there was something funny about two of his most stubborn colleagues getting stranded in the south pole by themselves. "I'm not asking you to do anything. It's your call."
Rowan closes his eyes and contemplates their options. His head told him they should call the extraction team before they were nothing but frozen corpses. Yet, his heart didn't want to leave so soon. There was still so much work left to do.
Could he rely on Aelin?
"We will stay for now. Expect a call in twenty-four hours with a progress update." Rowan disconnected the transmission without any of the standard formalities.
After the fruitless call, he checks their food supply. Rowan scans the shelves, comfortable they wouldn't go hungry any time soon. Their only concern would be keeping all their shit from freezing, including their water. Rowan triple checks that everything is insulated, sealed, and stored away before moving on to other essentials, like batteries.
Another hour passes as he takes inventory, and Rowan is starting to feel the cold more than before. His nailbeds slowly shift from blue to white beneath his thick gloves, and he can't control the slight quaking spreading up his limbs.
When Rowan hears the doorway to the stairwell creak, he goes to check in with Aelin on her progress.
What he finds when he opens the locker room door sends his heart to his throat.
Aelin's hands loosely grip the zipper of her jumpsuit as she weakly attempts to free herself. Her face is a ghostly white, and her movements sluggish.
If she weren't moving, he'd have thought she was already frozen.
"Aelin, are you good? Talk to me." Rowan rushes to her and helps Aelin step out from the jumpsuit.
"I fixed the engine," Aelin coughs into the crook of her arm, her voice scratchy from the cool air. "It will be a couple of hours before they can catch up and heat the building."
Rowan rips off a glove and holds a bare hand to her cheek. Aelin's skin is freezing to the touch, even to his own icy hands. He notes that she isn't trembling the same way he is. It's not a good sign, the biologist in him notes. He knows it's her body growing too weak to keep itself warm.
"Sit down. You're freezing," Rowan helps her slide to the floor and looks at the discarded jacket that's still lying there. It won't warm her quick enough.
"Rowan?" Aelin speaks from her slightly slumped position.
Rowan is pacing, trying to think. They don't have a means of warming water for a bath. Laying next to the generators is too risky.
"Rowan," Aelin murmurs, her eyes drooping. "I can't feel my feet."
Rowan looks at her, and for a moment, she looks like an ice princess. Her blond hair is slipping from its braid and coiling across her colorless face. The cerulean blue of her eyes was the brightest color he now saw regularly beside the southern lights. They stood out even more starkly now.
It was all wrong.
"It's going to be alright, Aelin. You said the power is back on?" Rowan lifts her into his arms, her freezing nose burrowing into the crook of his neck.
"Yeah," she rasps against his shoulder. "But it will take a while for the building to heat."
"We don't need the whole building to heat. Do you trust me?" Rowan trots down the hall, careful not to bump her against the narrow doorframes.
She mumbles something incoherent into his shirt. "I trust you."
Rowan is thankful that the cold keeps the flush from his face. He reaches the desired room and fiddles with the control panel on the wall. A wave of relief hits him as the room behind the heavy door audibly hums to life.
"Okay, here we go." He says more to himself than Aelin. Rowan ditches the jacket and pulls his long-sleeved tee over his head. The buttons of his pants are next, leaving him in only his boxers.
Turning around, Aelin looks weary but not surprised. "Nice abs."
"Thanks," He says and kneels next to her, eyes searching her face for permission.
Aelin dips her head, "I'm not shy, Whitethorn. Don't fret."
Rowan helps Aelin maneuver her stiff limbs out of her garments until she is left in nothing but her bra and panties. Her face is pained as even more of her is exposed to the cold.
"Hurts," Aelin grits through her teeth, and Rowan gathers her up again. The icy room is like barbs against his exposed skin, but he's not in a position to complain.
The minute he carries her into the balmy air of the sauna, Aelin flinches. "Oh, that smarts."
"I know. It's going to suck for a bit while your blood recirculates." Rowan consoles softly, knowing he would also feel the cramping as they got their blood moving.
Drastic temperatures changes weren't the ideal way to warm up, but they'd spent far too long in the cold. He needed to get Aelin shivering again. It was the body's natural defense against the cold, and when a person could no longer shiver, it meant they were dipping into the realm of hypothermia.
The sauna was an added addition for the comfort of the researchers who visited the Southern base. It was a great tool to warm people after spending hours in the harsh climate. He'd heard tales of it from colleagues who'd visited the base before but hadn't yet saught to use it himself. Rowan was too focused on the mission. It hadn't carried any appeal for him until this moment, and now he was beyond grateful for its existence.
Rowan sits on the floor instead of the bench so that Aelin can curl up comfortably in his lap. Skin-to-skin contact was one of the best ways to help a person regulate their body temperature. He soothes a calloused hand over the length of her arm, trying to spread what remained of his warmth to her skin.
Aelin's cheek rests against his chest, and Rowan uses one hand to free her hair from its braid. The curtain of gold fans across her back, and he has to resist the urge to run his fingers through its waves.
He'd noticed how beautiful she was the day they first met at the university. Out of respect, he'd immediately repressed those thoughts. They were professionals, and Rowan wasn't about to ruin his reputation fawning over the new, young blonde on their floor.
But with her laying half-naked in his lap, it was hard to disregard how pretty she was. It wasn't even just her appearance. The girl was magnetic in every way. People paid attention when she walked in, and she claimed the lion's share of air in the room.
Fenrys and Conall flirted with her remorselessly. It secretly irked him. Rowan had long since memorized the way she laughed and how she'd smile as she shoed them away. It was all good-natured fun for them, but it always made Rowan irrationally angry. The time she'd showed up at the annual Christmas party in a green velvet dress with an open back nearly left his brain on the floor. His eyes had raked the smooth plains of skin, only turning away when she'd tried to catch his eye.
If he'd been paying attention, he would have seen her look of disappointment.
Rowan had written it off as an infatuation—a natural response to seeing an attractive woman. The scientist in him wanted to boil it down to chemistry and hormones. Cold facts that could diagnose the way he felt every time he laid eyes on her. Yet, as Rowan laid there with a hurting Aelin in his arms, he began to wonder if there was something more.
Her pain was making his chest physically ache.
A pair of arms snaked around his waist, and his body jerked. Aelin looks up at him sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm just really comfortable."
Rowan relaxes, "It's fine."
The steam in the room is slowly building. Rowan can feel the cramping beginning in his legs. Aelin's weight on his thighs was not helping the slightest, but there was no way in hell he'd move her.  
"My body is aching," Aelin says lightly, but he can hear the strain in her voice and feel a slight tremble running through her.
"That's good. Can you feel your feet?" Rowan can no longer resist, and her hair parts between his fingers like strands of gold silk.
Aelin tightens her arms around him, "Yeah. A bit. I didn't realize how numb they got until I took off my boots."
There's a slight tickle at his back, Aelin's finger tracing a pattern against his skin. A flush of warmth rushes through him, not from the sauna.
He's in unending deep shit.
"Aelin," his voice wavers uncharacteristically. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
The fingers on his back continue making their delicate patterns. "No."
"Aelin?" He asks again, but she cuts him off with a groan.
"Stop asking me questions and just kiss me," Aelin grips the back of his head and pulls his lips down to her's.
An inferno blooms inside his soul.
Aelin could never be a winter queen. She was the raging embodiment of summer. A burning ember he'd carried from the north into this land of ice. As his lips move against hers, he swears his body is lit ablaze, and when Rowan opens his eyes, he's delighted at the flush he finds unfurling across her cheeks.
"It's suddenly a lot warmer." Aelin laughs, looking more lively even as her body starts to quake from the warmth finally reaching her.
He kisses her cheek and tilts her ear towards his lips, "Aelin?"
"Another question?" Aelin's smile curls into something feline. "Is this that scientific curiosity the university is always going on about?"
"I just realized I'm desperately in love with you,"
Rowan lets the truth fall from his lips. It was just the two of them. They were the only human souls in this far corner of the earth. There was no one to stop him as he finally lets the emotions he'd been repressing until the moment Aelin was in danger wash over him.
"That's not a question," Aelin responds after a moment, her tone light and jovial.
Rowan smiles. "It's not."
Aelin curls back up against Rowan, enjoying the feel of his skin against hers. An embarrassing sound of contentment escapes her, which worsens her blush.
Not forgetting their original purpose in the sauna, Rowan grips her hands and massages them between his. "You have no response?"
"Not one that HR is going to like." Aelin winces as her hand spasms, and Rowan methodically works to ease the ache.
"Say it anyway," Rowan implores. Screw the university. He was tired of living for his work alone. Nothing outshined this moment, holding this woman in his arms. He could find a new job, but if Aelin reciprocated his feelings, he couldn't find another one of her.
"Well, I thought it was pretty obvious when I wore that dress to the Christmas party and then found a reason to walk past your office every day." Aelin huffs and looks up at him, "Don't tell me you didn't know?"
Rowan was speechless.
Aelin's eyes twinkle with amusement. "Rowan, Dorian, and I are friends. Did you know that?"
"What?" Rowan blinks confusedly. That was common knowledge, but he didn't understand why she was bringing that up now.
"Dorian and I go way back. He knew I had a thing for you, and I told him sending me on this trip was unethical when I'm such a new hire-" Aelin trails off, waiting for him to grasp her point.
"Wait," Rowan looks down at her, bemused. "Dorian was trying to set us up?"
"Human recourses won't like that very much either," Aelin grins. "But Dorian would keep our secret. He owes me a lot of favors."
The sauna's temperature had slowly been rising, and Rowan could see that his skin was returning to its usual color. Aelin still looked a bit pale, but it was probably residuals from being so close to freezing.
She'd risked herself to save the expedition and successfully fixed the engines. Rowan didn't believe for one second that Dorian only sent her in an elaborate attempt to set her up. She was bright and cunning. He was lucky to have her along with him.
"You got here on your merit," Rowan presses a soft peck to her lips as he soothes her unvoiced concern. He refused to let her doubt her level of skill. "But if the feelings are mutual, I would love to take you on a date when we get back home?"
"I would love that," Aelin crawls off his lap and holds a hand out. "Come on, now. We need to eat and sleep. We have seals to observe."
Rowan accepted her hand. Forget the seals. He would have a difficult time keeping his attention on them. His eyes were glued to her bare legs as they moved and the way her hair swung free of its constraints.
She smirked over his shoulder. Aelin knew precisely what she was doing to him.
Rowan had traversed to the end of the world to understand the natural universe a little better. While he hadn't unlocked any great mysteries, he couldn't help but think what he did find was better.
202 notes · View notes