#but it was framed and hung up which is super cool
Note
I wish you would write a fic where….
Sinclair bros. gang bang tbh
Alright Nonnie, here we are. I've been wanting to write something like this for a while but the maximum number of people I've ever had sex with at the same time is one (1) so it was kind of daunting to tackle three at once (heh). It got away from me a little bit on the buildup but I hope you like it! Happy to write more like this in the future so if you want me to give it another shot, lmk.
The Sundress
Poly!Sinclairs x Hinge!AFAB!Reader
Smut, group sex, oral, voyeurism, praise kink/dirty talk, no pronouns used but reader wears a sundress, gets called "doll" and "pretty"
This morning you decided to wear a very particular sundress.
You found it at a thrift store on a solo venture into town. It was cute, had a tiny floral print and ruffles on the straps. It wasn’t completely your style, but there was just something about it. It fit your frame perfectly and at the same time, it was both scandalously short and devastatingly low-cut. You wondered if it was too much as you gave the skirt a little twirl in the dressing room mirror. There was a time when you wouldn’t dare wear something like that out of the house for fear of the attention it would attract.
Now, however, the only attention that existed in Ambrose was much more than welcome.
You went ahead and bought it. The thought of each of your boys’ reactions made you giddy and a little smug. You hung it in your closet and waited for the right day to come along to bring it out: a day when you felt especially sexy and particularly devious. A day when things had finally calmed down after a long and busy week in which you all barely saw each other and most definitely had not spent any quality time together.
That morning, you took a few extra minutes getting ready. The stars had aligned for your little plan. Your hair was gorgeous. Your skin was glowing. You looked like a snack and felt like one too. You practically pranced down the stairs despite admonishing yourself to play it cool.
Bo and Vince were at the breakfast table, enjoying a leisurely morning after the hectic week. Bo had his nose deep in a Clive Barker novel, absently sipping his coffee. Vincent was chewing on toast and sketching.
“Good morning,” you say cheerfully, pulling open the fridge and leaning forward just a little to see if there was any orange juice left.
You hear Vincent stop chewing. Casting a glance over your shoulder, you watch him hit Bo in the arm, his eye glued to you.
“What the hell d’you – oh my.” Bo’s eyebrows shoot up and he immediately places his book facedown on the table. “Well good mornin’ to you, doll.”
You flash them a sugary smile as you pour yourself the dregs of the juice. Vinny’s eye is wide as a saucer. Bo is actually licking his lips. “Did you guys sleep well?”
“Sure did,” Bo says. “What d’you have planned for today? Anything…in particular?”
You perch on the edge of the table, skirt sliding up beneath your ass just a little bit. “It’s supposed to be real hot today, so I figured I’d go through and water all the flowers one more time.”
Vincent is scribbling absently back and forth over his half-finished sketch. “Good plan,” he signs. “Need any help?”
“Nah, I think I’ll be alright. I can manage a hose, you know.”
“Yeah I bet you can,” Bo murmurs.
You smile at him. “What do you have on the list today?”
Bo talks and Vinny signs at the same time.
“Nothin’ much – ”
“Basically nothing – ”
“ – just gonna clean up around the station a little – ”
“ – probably going to do some inventory of art supplies, super boring – ”
“ – definitely gonna be, y’know, a little bit lonely….”
“ – could use some company for sure….”
A giggle almost escapes your lips. “Well, maybe I’ll catch up with you later.” You hop off the table, adjust your skirt, flounce to the doorway and then turn around. All eyes flick back up to your face. “Hey, when does Lester get back?”
“Lester?” Bo says flatly.
“Late, I think, very late,” Vincent signs.
“Oh, okay. Good to know. Bye guys.” You give them a little wave.
The morning passes with a shocking number of chance encounters. Something is broken in almost every building you visit, and Bo simply must fix it today. Similarly, Vincent informs you he needs to do a spot check of wax figures to make sure they’re holding up alright, and wouldn’t you know it, there are flowerbeds nearby every single one.
Watering flowers is hard work, and you can’t possibly be blamed for the sheen of sweat that glistens on your face and arms, nor the number of times you are required to bend over a planter box, nor the fact that you filled the watering can too full and splashed a little water on your bodice and Bo missed his aim with a hammer and smashed his thumb.
When the heat of the day rolls around in the mid-afternoon, you decide to break for lunch and head back up to the house. The twins are nowhere to be found. You are halfway up Main Street when the rattle of a familiar truck engine reaches your ears.
You turn around and beam at Lester, who is quite literally hanging out the driver’s side window. “Hey stranger!”
“Hey yourself,” he says, parking the truck in the middle of the road. “You look – well, now – that is a mighty fine dress.” He blushes.
“Thank you!” You give him a twirl.
His mouth is actually hanging open. He quickly closes it and swallows hard. “Y’know, I would…I’d offer you a ride, but…how ‘bout I just walk you home instead?”
“I would love that.”
Lester climbs out of the truck and wipes his sweaty palms on his jeans. He is remarkably clean, nothing but a few bloodstains below his knees. He offers you his arm, which you gladly take.
“Don’t you need to move the truck out of the road?”
“Nah, it’ll be fine. Nobody comes here anyway. What have you been up to?”
“Oh, just watering flowers. It’s hot today.” You toss your head, fan yourself.
“You’re damn right. Been workin’ up a sweat, huh?”
“Absolutely.”
“Geez.” He cannot take his eyes off you. “Where’re Bo and Vincent?”
“I’m not sure. They’ve been hanging around all day, but I haven’t seen them for a minute.”
“Yeah I’ll bet they have. You’re prettier than a field o’ phlox, honey.”
You squeeze his arm. “Thank you, Les.”
He stops at the edge of the yard. “Hey listen. Lemme go change outta these clothes, then why don’t you and I sneak over to that lil meadow on the east side o’ town? Do a little catchin’ up.”
“That sounds lovely.” You start towards the house.
“Ah-ah, why don’t you wait here? I’ll just be a minute.”
You frown innocently. “But Lester, it’s hot.”
“Well I’ll grab you a drink and bring it back out with me. I jus’ don’t want you gettin’ sidetracked is all.”
“Okay I guess.” You shrug your bare shoulders.
“Be right back, sweet pea.” Lester kisses your cheek, immediately turns bright red, and practically leaps up the front steps and into the house.
Today has been quite the success so far, you think as you kick at the edge of the lawn with a sneakered foot. You’ve been in Ambrose and involved with the Sinclairs for a good while now; it’s nice to know you can still fluster them when you feel like it.
You wait around for a fair few minutes before the front door opens and Vincent steps out, beckons you. “Hey angel, why don’t you come inside? I’m almost done with lunch.”
“Aw Vinny, that’s so sweet of you. But I told Lester I’d wait for him to finish changing.”
“C’mon, you know he’ll be a while. He’s got no concept of time.”
“You’re right about that. I am pretty hungry.”
You climb the stairs, step inside. Vincent shuts the door. Your eyes fall on Lester, who hasn’t even changed yet, standing next to Bo, who has his arms crossed over his chest. Vincent comes up behind you, weaves his strong arms around your waist, holds you against him. You furrow your brow in mock bewilderment. “What’s going on, guys?”
“You’ve been a regular little cocktease all day, that’s what,” Bo says.
“Me?”
“Yeah you.”
“It ain’t fair,” Lester pipes up.
“Prancin’ around all day lookin’ like that.”
You can’t help but smirk and shrug. “Sorry.”
Vincent drops his hands to your hips, pulls you a little closer. You feel a half-established erection pressing against your ass.
“Well, lucky for you, we’ve all come together and decided on a solution,” Bo announces, moving leisurely toward you. “You wanna put on a show, darlin’? We’ll let you put on a show.”
A thrill shoots through you. “Well I suppose that’s only fair.”
“More’n fair, I think,” Bo says as he squares up in front of you.
The first press of Vinny’s lips to your neck sends chills down your back. Bo takes your chin in his hand and bends to capture your mouth. You feel Vincent suck at the thin skin behind your ear, relishing the salt of your sweat.
Already your brain begins to fray with the input of so many sensations at once. You put one hand over Vincent’s, grip Bo’s shirt in the other, and have almost forgotten there are three Sinclair brothers when you feel a gentle brush of fingers on your left thigh, then your right, and then Lester’s hands are beneath your skirt and sliding your panties down. You wonder where he can possibly fit in this arrangement for only a second before you feel his tongue on your sex.
A hopeless moan escapes your throat and Bo breaks your kiss. You open your eyes and note with satisfaction that his face is flushed beneath that smug expression.
“I sure do love seein’ you flustered, darlin’.”
“Right back atcha, sugar,” you say.
Oh, but he does love a spitfire. He seizes your lip with his teeth, running his thumb over your collarbones. Vincent slips the straps off your shoulders and continues his adoration of your skin. Lester, ever the dark horse, already has you unsteady on your feet with long, slow licks. You weave your fingers through his hair and arch your back as Vinny’s deft hands slip beneath the fabric of your dress to cup your breasts.
When you cannot possibly hold yourself up any longer thanks to Les’s ministrations, they disentangle themselves for a brief, heartbreaking moment so you can weave to the couch. You ease yourself back against Bo’s chest, let him hold your wrists in place around his neck, all but trembling with anticipation as Vincent positions himself at your entrance.
“Now darlin’,” Bo murmurs in your ear, “I don’t want poor Les feelin’ all left out here. So why don’t you keep your eyes on him while Vin makes you feel real good, alright?” You nod desperately, lock eyes with Lester, who winks at you. Bo cups your jaw, thumbs your lip. “An’ I’ll be right here, makin’ sure you know what a good job you’re doin’, what pretty sounds you’re makin’. Does that sound okay, doll?”
You open your mouth to respond and Vincent, ever the opportunist, picks that moment to ease himself into you, all the way, an inch at a time. The whine this elicits from you is positively wicked and you hear Bo chuckle against your temple.
“Goddamn, baby, you’re so much fun.”
As Vincent picks up the pace, hands running over your legs, you do your best to keep your gaze fixed on Lester, whose hungry expression leaves you feeling a whole new level of naked. All the while Bo pours a steady stream of praise and filthy commentary into your ear, rutting against your backside as his twin draws a series of sinful sounds from your lips.
Eventually Vincent trades Bo and Bo trades Lester, and you have the unique and genuine pleasure of experiencing the techniques of each one of them in quick succession. Somewhere along the way you are lost in oblivion, your body electric, lavished in kisses and caresses and admiration from all sides.
When at last you are spent and so are they, Bo brings you a glass of water, Lester plants a tender kiss on your brow, and Vincent carries you up to bed.
And that sundress sits in a heap on the floor, forgotten for now, until the next time you decide to capture your lovers’ attention.
#poly sinclairs#bo sinclair x reader#lester sinclair x reader#vincent sinclair x reader#house of wax fanfiction#bo sinclair fanfiction#vincent sinclair fanfiction#lester sinclair fanfiction#bo sinclair#vincent sinclair#lester sinclair#asks#anon asks
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The Color Pink (Part 12)
wow this has so many parts to it now
it's never gonna end
The Sleepover
As he waited for Hazel to show up, Theodore rushed to clean up around the house, especially the bedroom. He was in a panic. He cleaned up any clothes laying around. He hurried to change his sheets and blanket. He couldn't remember the last time he changed them... He was unsure what to do with the clean unfolded laundry. He didn't have time to fold it all and put it away, so he grabbed another hamper and shoved it all in. He darted his head around, looking for anything that might gross her out, but everything seemed fine. He texted her his address, and she texted back: I'm on my way!
He paced around as he waited for her. He was suddenly extremely nervous. What if she thinks I'm gross? What if she changes her mind about me? What if she thinks I'm too weird? What if... There was a knock on the door that interrupted his thoughts. He went over and opened the door. It was Hazel. She had a huge smile on her face. "Hi," she greeted.
"Hey," he replied, "come on in."
She walked in with her hands clasped together. Now that she was in his house, she was a bit timid. She had a small pink bag filled with clothes and small accessories. "I have to admit," she rubbed her arm, "now that I'm here, I am a bit nervous.
"Yeah, I get that. We can just take it easy."
"That'd be nice. I'm a little tired, honestly."
"We can go straight to bed if you want."
"You don't want to watch a movie or anything?"
"Oh, I have a TV in my room!"
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah! It has one of those built in CD players!"
"Oh, cool!" She reached into her bag. "Cause I brought a movie!" She pulled out a CD case. Princess Mononoke. "Have you ever heard of Studio Ghibli?"
"No, I haven't actually."
Hazel gasped. "What?! Their movies are so good! My Neighbor Totoro? Kiki's Delivery Service? Castle in the Sky?"
Theodore shrugged.
"Seriously?! Oh, my gosh, you'll love them!"
"Well, we can watch it out here or in the room."
"Mmmm... Let's go in the room! I've never had a TV in the bedroom! It sounds super comfy!"
"It is. I don't really watch it a lot. It's mostly for background noise while I sleep."
"Really?"
"Yeah. When I was a kid, my mom had a TV in her room. Whenever I had nightmares, I'd go into her room, and she'd put the TV on so I'd feel safe. It still helps me sleep sometimes."
"Aww! That's so cute!"
Theo shrugged and blushed. "Ehh, it's no big deal. Come on," he grabbed her hand, "my room is upstairs."
He held her hand as he led her upstairs, where there was a couple rooms and a bathroom. He took her into his room, it was nicely decorated to suit his personality. There were a few band posters, a few family portraits, some Polaroid pictures of him with some other people. There was also a broken skateboard hung up on the wall. The TV was on a wooden dresser which matched his bed frame. His bed was made nice and neatly. On it was one single plush animal. Hazel picked it up.
"What is this?" she asked.
"Oh, that's Mr. PuppyDog! He was my first Build-A-Bear."
"Aw! He's so cute! I have so many Build-A-Bears, I can't tell you all of their names."
"I have a few other plushes. They're in storage, somewhere. Probably still at my mom's house."
Hazel put the plush back down on the bed. "This whole room is filled with your personality."
Theo shrugged. "Whatever that means."
"It means that your room is a lot like what you're like."
"I'm still confused."
She waved her hand in dismissal. "Don't worry about it. It's not a bad thing." She handed him the CD. "Here."
"Oh, right."
He went over to the TV and started to fuss with it. As he put the CD in, she continued to examine his room. She went to sit down on the right side of the bed, but she noticed something on the nightstand.
"Um... Theo?"
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Is this your ashtray?"
Oh shit... He forgot to hide that. "Um... Yeah..."
"I didn't know you were a smoker."
"Sorry, I thought you knew. I thought everybody knew."
"No, I... I didn't."
"..." Theo didn't know what to say.
"I have to admit..." She looked at him. "I wasn't expecting that. I'm a little disappointed."
"I'm ashamed, honestly. It's not my proudest habit. I've tried to quit a few times, but it's rough."
"I've heard about that. My dad used to be a smoker. He quit, but it took a while. He got really bad withdrawals."
"Yeah, so did I when I tried to quit. I was really moody and got sick a few times..."
She shrugged. "Would you be willing to try quitting again?"
"I could try."
"Please? For me?" She made a cute face.
He chuckled and rubbed her on the head. "Sure. For you."
"Good."
"I'll get rid of this." He took the ashtray and moved it into the other room. He came back in and grabbed the remote from the dresser.
"Before we start the movie, we should get in our PJ's!"
"Oh, uh... I usually just sleep in a t-shirt and underwear, but I can put on some shorts or something."
"That's fine! I mean, you're already in a hoodie and sweatpants."
"Yeah, I don't know why you got dressed to come to a sleepover."
"Shush! Be nice to me!"
He laughed. "You want me to leave the room real quick, give you some privacy?"
"If you don't mind."
Noise stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Hazel changed from her day clothes to a pair of cute pajamas. They were pink satin cami top and shorts with black polka dots scattered around. The ends were covered with black lace. She opened the door and poked her head out.
"I'm all good, now," she said cheerfully.
Theodore opened the door and entered the room again. His eyes grew wide and he blushed.
"What?" She tilted her head in confusion.
"Sorry," he chuckled nervously. "You look really pretty."
She went over and held his face with her hands. His eyes grew even wider and his face was red. She giggled and rubbed her thumbs across his cheeks. She tilted her head and kissed him softly. "Relax. It's okay."
"Sorry, sorry. I'm still working on that."
"I know you are. Now, come on," she went back over to the right side of the bed and sat down. "Let's watch the movie! It's such a good one!"
He walked over and crawled onto the left side of the bed. He propped up some pillows to make it comfortable to lean back. He handed her the remote since she was the one who brought the movie.
"Oh, wait," Theo blurted.
"What is it?"
"Um... There's another thing that you might not be too happy with."
Hazel gave him a look.
"It's not like the smoking, but... Can you reach into the drawer on my nightstand?"
"Why?"
"I need to take my meds before I forget. I usually keep them in there."
"Oh! Yeah, sure!" She reached into the drawer and grabbed an orange pill bottle. She handed it to him.
"There should be another one in there."
She looked again and found another. She handed that one to him, too. "What are those?"
"They're my meds."
"Yeah, I know, but what are they?"
"Oh! Well, one of them is an antidepressant and the other is for my bipolar."
"Theo... You have depression?"
"... You don't?"
"No."
"Sorry, I usually just assume everybody does until they tell me else wise."
"And bipolar?"
"Well, I mean, yeah."
"I had no idea."
"Ask anybody who works for me, they'll tell you all about it." He laughed. "I have to grab some water from the kitchen. You wanna come with? We can grab some snacks or something for the movie."
"Yeah! I could use a water, too."
"Okay, come on!"
The two went downstairs and into the kitchen. Theo grabbed a couple of water bottles from the fridge while Hazel opened the pantry. "Holy shit," she exclaimed. In the pantry was candy and snacks galore. There was every kind of chips and candy imaginable. Hazel almost felt overwhelmed by the amount of selection.
"Theodore," she said, "do you even have real food?"
"Um... kind of? I eat out a lot."
"There's so much..."
"Yep! Pick whatever you want!"
"Oh, geez, I don't know."
Theodore already knew what he wanted. He grabbed a pack of gummy bears and a pack of classic Pocky.
"Oh, I love Pocky! Do you-"
"Yes, I have the strawberry flavor."
Hazel squealed as he handed her a box of strawberry Pocky. Strawberry anything was her favorite flavor. Theo gave her a water bottle and grabbed her hand as he led her back upstairs. They went back into the bedroom and got in their previous spots on the bed. Hazel sat up with her legs criss crossed, Theo sat against the headboard. Hazel picked up the remote. Theo grabbed one of the pill bottles and took the medicine.
"I'll take the other one later," he said. "It makes me really tired. I want to stay awake for the movie."
"You're going to love it!"
As the movie started, Hazel scooted over and rested her head on Theo's shoulder. Noise suddenly grew anxious. He put his hands together and twiddled his thumbs. He tried to focus on the film, but his heart was racing. Hazel leaned into him more and wrapped her arm around his waist and rubbed his chest with her free hand. "Relax," she spoke softly. "I'm not going to hurt you." She kissed his neck a couple times then his cheek. He still stared wide-eyed at the TV, hardly focusing on the movie. "Let me help you out," Hazel grabbed his arm and wrapped it around her. Theo took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing.
Halfway through the movie, Hazel felt Theo's head leaned onto hers. At first she thought it was cute. "Finally relaxed, huh," she teased, but he didn't respond. "Theo?" Then she realized he was asleep. A huge smile grew onto her face. She did her best not to giggle. She pat his chest, but he didn't respond, so she pat his face. "Theo."
"Hmm..."
"Theo!"
"Wha-?! Huh?"
"You fell asleep." She chuckled.
"Ah, shit, I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. You had a long day. Do you just want to go to bed?"
"I guess so." He yawned. "I'm definitely tired."
"Okay, let's go to bed, then." She took the remote and turned off the movie and the TV.
She got up and reached into her bag. She pulled out a toothbrush and tooth paste.
"If you want to use the bathroom first," Theo spoke, "I'll grab you some pillows and an extra blanket. I'm sort of... a blanket hog."
She giggled at him. "Okay."
Hazel went into the bathroom and began brushing her teeth. There were little paper cups stacked next to the faucet. She filled one up and used it to rinse out her mouth. She forgot to grab her mouthwash, so she went back into the room to get it from her bag. As she walked back in, she saw Theo putting some fresh pillows and a folded up blanket on the bed. There was also a fleece pink blanket balled up on his side of the bed.
"Oh, hey," he looked at her. "Done already?"
"Almost. I forgot to get my mouthwash. I have a little mini one!" She grabbed it out of her bag and headed back to the bathroom. She filled the cap and swished it around her mouth for a minute before spitting it out into the sink. She went back into the room again. "Okay, your turn!"
Noise let out a small laugh and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth as well. Hazel fluffed up the pillows and crawled onto the bed. She got under the blanket that was on the bed instead of the one he gave to her. She felt the pink blanket that was on his side. It was incredibly soft. Theodore rinsed his mouth with water then swished a cap full of mouthwash and spit it out. He came back into the room to see Hazel nice and comfortable.
"I appreciate you bringing me an extra blanket," she smiled at him, "but I want to share a blanket with you."
"I don't mind. I only gave you the extra just in case I hog the blanket in the middle of the night." He walked up to the bed and took off his hoodie. He was wearing a yellow NTV t-shirt underneath.
"Self advertising, huh," she chuckled.
"Not really. Whenever we release merch, they give me a sample of some sort. I have a million of NTV t-shirts and hoodies." He went over to the dresser and opened one of the drawers. "I do want to find some shorts, though."
"You um... You don't have to."
"Nah, I get really warm at night. I don't want to sleep in sweatpants."
"You can sleep in your underwear if you're comfortable with it."
"I'm pretty sure I have some gym shorts around he-"
"..."
"..." Theodore was blushing. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
"I'll be fine." She smiled. "We'll be under the blanket, anyways."
"I think I'd be more comfortable in some shorts."
"Whatever works for you."
He quickly slipped into some soft grey shorts as he still faced the dresser. He got into bed, but Hazel stopped him before he laid down.
"Don't forget to take your other pill!"
"Shit, right! Thanks for reminding me." He chuckled. "I totally would've forgot." He opened the other bottle and swallowed the pill with a mouthful of water.
"By the way, I wanted to ask you something."
"What's up?"
What's with the pink blanket? Was that one for me?"
"Oh, no that's um... That's... Well, that's my blankie. I, uh... I can't really sleep without it."
"Aww, Theo!"
"Shush!"
"No, no, it's cute!"
"Shuuush!" He pouted and blushed.
"Don't be embarrassed! It's fine! I'm not judging you."
"Alright, alright."
"One more question."
"Hm?"
"Can we cuddle? I wanna spoon." She smiled cutely.
Theo blushed even harder. "Um... Yeah. Yeah, sure."
"I call little spoon!" She plopped on to her right side and giggled.
(Tiniest suggestive warning. Nothing bad happens but there is a small mention.)
Theo nervously clicked the lamp off and snuggled up to her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned against her with his head on her neck. She put her arm on top of the one that wrapped around her and intertwined their fingers. Theo gulped and took a deep breath. Even though they were only cuddling, he found himself growing incredibly flustered... including down below. He moved his hips back and away from her. She noticed him move and picked her head up.
"Where ya goin'?"
"I, uh..." he spoke shakily.
"Get back here!" She threw her hips back at him, but jolted forward once she felt him. "Oh!"
"Sorry, I'm so sorry, I-"
She giggled. "Theo, relax. I take it as a compliment."
"Oh, my gosh, I just-"
"Theo! Calm down! Would it help if we switched and I was big spoon?"
"That... Yeah, that'd be nice."
"Come on," she flipped over and nudged him.
He rolled over, but he was still so embarrassed. He took a deep breath. Hazel snuggled up to him and played with his hair. He focused on his breathing as she gently scratched his scalp. With her other hand, she intertwined their fingers and held hands. Theodore felt his muscles relax. Before he knew it, he was zonked out. Hazel thought it was cute that he got so flustered. He was so cocky and brave when they first met, but now he was a nervous wreck. She knew it was going to take a while for him to settle, but in the meantime, she was going to help push him through it.
Eventually, Hazel had also fallen asleep and ended up rolling onto her back. She was sleeping soundly until she woke up freezing cold. Just as she was warned, The Noise was wrapped head to toe in the blanket. He was curled up in fetal position with the blanket over his ears. His pink "blankie" was even over his head. No wonder he gets so warm at night, she thought. She grabbed the extra blanket he had given her, unfolded it, and covered herself up. She let out a small groan as she snuggled up with the blanket.
Hazel woke up again around her usual time, around 5 in the morning. To her, that was "sleeping in". She looked over at Noise, who was still sleeping with his blankie over his head. She debated on waking him up, but she wasn't too keen on disturbing him. With the way the paparazzi treated him the day before, she thought he deserved to rest. She slowly crawled out of bed so she could brush her teeth, but she accidentally woke him up doing so. His eyes squinted as he moved the blanket off his head.
"Sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you up."
"Mmmph..." He groaned. "It's okay..." He tiredly slurred his words.
"I was going to let you sleep. You seemed like you needed it."
He sat up and took a deep breath. "Yeah... I'll be fine. I can always take a nap later." He yawned and stretched. He let out a small chuckled once he saw that she used the other blanket. "I warned you that I'm a blanket hog."
She giggled. "You should've seen yourself. You were wrapped up like a burrito."
"Yeah, I've always slept like that."
"That's probably why you get so hot at night."
"I can't sleep any other way."
She booped him on the nose. "You wanna go out and get some food or somethin'?"
"Yeah, sure," he yawned again. "I could eat. I'm gonna brush my teeth, though."
"I was gonna-"
"You can go first. I can lay down a few more minutes." He smiled as he slid back down.
She chuckled softly as she headed over to the bathroom with her toothbrush, toothpaste, and this time, she remembered her mouthwash.
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hey! i adoree your writing (i think i've read your jealous fic with harry and latina!reader like a 100 times lol) but i was wondering if you could do a super angsty harry x latina fic? maybe like where harry says smth dumb/mean about the reader behind the readers back and the readers sadd but happy endings ofc. also im venezuelan (from maracaibo!) and it would be so cool if the reader was too. have fun with it and dont be afraid to change anything!! idk i live for the angst! much love <3!
“You can’t be serious.”
“Do I look like I’m joking? Take your shit and go.”
“Lovie, don’t you think you’re being a little dr—”
“You wanna make it two nights?”
Harry sighed and hung his head, realizing that he needed to stop digging himself a deeper hole. Mumbling, he said, “No.”
“Then go on,” you said, handing him his pillow.
Taking it, he trudged away, his head still bowed as he walked downstairs to sleep on the couch.
“Serves you right for talking shit behind my back,” you muttered.
Turning back into the room you and Harry shared, you got ready for bed. As you finally settled in for the night, Harry’s absence was palpable. It wasn’t like when he was away on tour because he was physically here, just not in bed with you.
You’d overheard him talking on the phone with someone. You weren’t sure who, but he was complaining about how loud you were. How long you the two of you been dating, and he never once brought it up? Why did he feel the need to vent to a friend instead of just talking to you about it?
That was the thing that pissed you off more than anything. You’d been quiet all throughout dinner and as you were cleaning up the kitchen, and when Harry asked what was wrong you said mumbled something, but he couldn’t hear you, so you said, “Oh, sorry, can you not hear me? I thought this was how you preferred women to speak.”
So he might’ve been right about you being a little dramatic, especially when you banished him to the couch for the night. But it just struck a chord with you in a way he couldn’t possibly understand. Harry was the kindest, most respectful person you knew, but in that moment, you felt reduced to a stereotype.
You knew that wasn’t what he was doing, that he would never think that way, but he needed to know how hurt you were his stupid comment. So it was the couch for him, which was really punishment for you too because now you had to sleep alone.
It wasn’t cold outside, but you put on one of Harry’s sweatshirts anyway, wanting to be as wrapped up in the feel and smell of him as you possibly could.
And when sleep still didn’t come, you sighed deeply through your nose, getting out of bed to bring Harry back to bed. When you got downstairs, his eyes were closed, legs dangling over the edge of the couch uncomfortably.
You nudged his foot a little, smiling when he opened his eyes immediately. “Come back to bed, bubba.”
“Really?” You didn’t think he’d been sleeping for very long, but his voice was already low and scratchy.
Nodding, you helped him up. “Yeah, I missed you too much. No matter how much you incense me.”
“Incense?”
“Word of the day,” you shrugged. “But that’s beside the point. I was mad at you, but I can’t sleep without you, so...”
Harry grinned at the implication. Standing up immediately, he hoisted you into his arms and proceeded to carry you up the stairs.
“I’m sorry for saying all that. It wasn’t nice and you had every right to be angry with me,” he said, his words muffled as he spoke against your neck.
“Did you mean it?”
“Yes, but not in the way that you think,” Harry admitted. When he reached the top of the staircase, he leaned back just enough to look you in the eye. “Sometimes you yell on the phone, and sometimes it’s a little overwhelming when I’m wearing headphones.”
That was...pretty harmless, you decided. You could admit to being a little too excited while talking on the phone.
Still, “You could’ve just told me that.”
“I know. I’m sorry. Kiss?”
You leaned in, lightly gripping the curls that framed Harry’s face. His kiss was sweet, tender, full of love and apologies. It was the thing you needed to go to sleep. A proper good night kiss.
Harry carried you the rest of the way to bed, not giving you any sort of space after he set you down. His face was flush against the crook of your neck, his hands casually resting beneath your hoodie. You fell asleep like that, your hand scratching his scalp as Harry did his best to fuse himself to you.
#harry styles#harry styles x latina! reader#harry styles blurb#harry styles x reader#harry styles imagine#harry styles fanfic#harry styles oneshot#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles x you#harry styles fluff#harry styles writing
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Gleecap 4x16--Feud
This feud is bringing out the worst in Schue, but...understandable
How did the students find out about the kiss?
Also, I love that Blartina are the leaders of the New Directions and are conducting the intervention. Blamtina might be the Harry, Ron and Hermione of McKinley, but Blartina are the new captains.
Also I love that O Fortuna (usually reserved for Sue's tantrums) is used for the feud
More supportive Santana! Yay! After watching Mash-Off yesterday it is so refreshing to see her being a great friend.
Rachel's not pregnant--not that I was seriously expecting her to be, but I am the weirdo who loves a good baby storyline, so I'm the teensiest bit disappointed
I don't like Brody--or where this is going--but the dance sequence in How To Be A Heartbreaker is funnn
Okay, wow, Rachel went off on those vocals! Stunnnninggg
Sue and her contracts--this woman is hilarious
The pan to Tina--and apparently even Sue didn't notice her. This is hilarious
I feel like Ryder is about to have a dangers-of-the-internet storyline. However, I am glad he's seeking someone else, and not hung up on Marley
Unique is a star!! I love how she has Marley's back
Bad move, Ryder. Bad move.
I feel like Finn is asking to get his feelings hurt here. He's sensitive.
Will's harsh--but somewhat right. Also I don't think he's being entirely honest about why he put Finn in charge--I think it's because he believes in what Finn can be capable of, but he's angry, so I get it.
The triumphant return of Santana's psychic Mexican Third Eye! It's official, I love S4 Santana
Whyyy is Sue so evil? I feel like her more batty schemes only make sense when she's feuding with Will specifically, and she's not supposed to be trying to destroy non-Will-entities lives. Then, it is S4, and they're probably running out of Sue ideas
Once more, Sue has invented a new minority to be
Once more Jake, Marley and Ryder--Most Reasonable Glee People Ever
Ryder drums?!? (now, I fail to see him as Finn 2.0--they're different characters, but the drumming is a very Finn thing to do)
Unique and her tiaras are so sweet! Especially how excited everyone else is about them
I do think Ryder can be a jerk, but I also think that he's just..struggling to wrap his head around Unique's gender--especially since so many people keep using he/him for Unique. Ryder just needs to be less pigheaded about it, and be willing to learn.
Becky's Nicki outfit is so cuuuute
I love whenever glee does those locker shots. They're such a fun framing device
"Don't apply logic to Lopez" SANTANA ily
Damn, Santana killed Coldhearted.
I love the guys being 'neutral backup dancers'
"Cool. Can we begin please." Kitty, I hate you, but that was excellent delivery
Sam is dressing exactly like Mike Chang--the vest + fedora combo is iconic
Wise words from Sam
Santana channeling Sue with her 'my breasts ache with rage' line
Sue's Super Bass is---I have no words whatsoever for it. Either that or many words, none of which I can articulate
"maybe you should go back to not speaking so freely' I am loving this Finn--Marley conversation so far.
Yesss! Teacher!Finn.
Once more, this batch of New Directions are so good at dealing with their dramas in a reasonable way.
Okay, Kitty is coming through for once.
Yes Blaine and Sam plotting!!
Santana is a criminal mastermind
It is beautifully unnerving how Finn smiles when he's mad
Sam's awkward dancing, my beloved!
Also I love Marley's dress in the final song
#garnet's gleecaps#finn hudson#Rachel berry#Artie Abram#sam evans#will schuester#santana lopez#sue sylvester#marley rose#jake puckerman#ryder lynn#unique adams#glee
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If you’d be willing and it sparks joy: Buck apologizes to Eddie for the basketball incident, and doesn’t let Eddie get down on himself; Buck also tells Eddie it’s good to see him so happy lately
Of course! This was fun to explore. I hope you like it.
Buck doesn’t know if he should knock. He stood outside the door to Eddie’s house and weighed the pros and cons of each course of action. He was still buzzing, hopped up on a dopamine high courtesy of Tommy’s tender lips. At the time, when he left his loft, talking to Eddie face to face seemed like the easier idea. Now, he kind of wished he’d opted for the phone call instead.
As if on cue, Buck’s phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the screen. Eddie. He answered, voice hovering between bubbly and reserved.
“Hey, Eddie.”
“Are you going to come in?” Eddie sounded sleepy. It was probably the painkillers.
“I-uh-how?” Buck asked, confused.
“I saw your truck pull in. Resting my leg, remember?”
“Of course, right.” Buck hung up and pushed the door open. Christopher was currently in the living room, playing video games. Buck waved and ruffled his hair, setting his headphones askew.
“He’s back there,” Christopher said, annoyed that Buck had caused his character to take some damage.
“Thanks,” Buck said, trailing his fingers along the edge of the couch as he worked up the nerve to walk back. Tommy had said that Eddie felt bad about it. Tommy had said that they hadn’t meant to exclude him. And they hadn’t. Meant to, that is.
He rapped on the frame to Eddie’s bedroom door. Eddie locked his phone and set it on the side table and waved him in. Buck chose, instead, to lean against the door frame, his hands drawn together and dangling limply in front of him. Buck couldn’t help but notice how cozy Eddie looked, nothing but an undershirt and presumably sweatpants, his blankets and pillows gathered around him.
“I’m surprised you’re here,” Eddie quietly said.
“I-Uh.” Buck fidgeted with the back of his neck. “Tommy came by. Cleared the air.”
Eddie nodded. “He mentioned. He needed the address after all.”
“Right,” Buck whispered slowly. He hadn’t thought of that. “Listen man, I’m sorry for losing my cool on the court.” he scruffed his hair messily before gathering his hands in front of him again. “Tommy said you weren’t upset, but there was no excuse for my behavior.”
Eddie shrugged. “I mean, there was a little bit of an excuse for your behavior, but not enough for you to bodycheck me like that.”
Buck shook his head. “No, there really wasn’t. I just, I just got wrapped up in my own head. I just saw you so happy and carefree, which is great, by the way, and I got super jealous.”
Eddie looked confused, the space between his sleepy eyes crinkling with the dip of his brows. “If me being happy was so great, why were you jealous?”
Buck sighed. “It’s silly.”
“More than likely,” Eddie laughed groggily.
Buck toed his shoe nervously, not looking into the bedroom, but rather at the floor. “I just thought you were going to want to hang out with him all the time instead of me.
Eddie’s gaze was kind, a mixture of bemusement and feeling no pain from the meds. “Buck, did it ever occur to you that Tommy and I weren’t including you in those activities because I knew you didn’t enjoy them? Okay, yes, we got a little carried away, but I’ve already heard all of your stories, and we hadn’t found anything to invite you along to yet.”
“Really?” Buck’s voice was quiet.
“And I know I should have explained it better with the babysitting, but Christopher wanted to see his Buck instead of Marisol.
“Bet she loved that,” Buck muttered under his breath.
Eddie waved off the comment. “That’s not important. What is important is, I love… hanging out with you. I always will, I mean except for when you’re trying to cause me permanent damage.”
Eddie smiled, and Buck laughed at his feet before looking up. “So… we’re good?” Buck asked from the door.
Eddie nodded. “Of course we’re good. Tell you what, why don’t you come over on Saturday, we’ll get a movie, some pizza, just the boys, you, me, and Christopher?”
Buck hissed lightly, trepidation bubbling. That was a conversation that was going to need to happen. This was absolutely not the time to be having that conversation. “I made plans already.”
“Okay,” Eddie said warmly. “Sunday then.”
Buck nodded, bright grin beaming. “I can do Sunday. And please don't feel bad about enjoying things with Tommy. I'm sure there's things that he's into that I'll enjoy as well.” He was thankful for the dim lights hiding the flush creeping up his cheeks."
“Okay, I won't. Now get over here and give me a hug before you get out, unless you want to stay and keep Christopher company. I’m fading in and out at this point.”
Buck walked over and hugged the bedridden man. When he pulled away, Eddie held his arm’s fast.
“Next time you feel left out like that, would you tell me? Please?”
“I promise, Eddie. Rest well.”
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Stu Macher x Reader:When the Red Dahlias Bloom
T/W: cussing, mention of stalking
Chapter 1:Welcoming Woodsboro
Word Count: 3.2k
Song: You are my Destiny-Paul Anka 1958
For @jokenotfunny
August 1st, 1995
I set a beige box down. It was heavy, full of memories put into it. I thought maybe moving to a new town might be easy—well, easier. The last place my family had lived was a small quiet suburb just outside of Mississippi. I had a hard time standing out but also just as hard as fitting in. I had lived in Mississippi all my life but even now as I'm away from it I had no desire to go back to my old town and old ‘friends’.
My life in Mississippi was awful to say the least. No one liked me there and it was bliss that we had to move for my Mother‘s work. It took a day and a few hours to get to Woodsboro California but it was sure worth it. Every second. The minute I stepped foot out of the car and onto the grass of my new house I knew that this was the best decision ever. Now here I was—unboxing the last few boxes of furniture for my new room.
The house was spacious and very welcoming. A two story house excluding the attic outside of the main town. The exterior was a light off-white with a mid grey roof. Dark grey shutters had framed the windows and the door was a dark wooded auburn with a dark handle to the door. The last home owners had said the house was built in the seventies, yet it still had a modern look. Pillars lined outside of the house onto the porch where there was a wooden porch swing. a garden grew on the outside of the house creating a beautiful natural remedy to the house. Instead of fences outlining the backyard it was trees and forest, the place was… magical.
The interior was magical as well but nothing could compare to the outside. Stairs were what you saw as you went in but if you turned your head to either side there was a dining room to the left and living room to the right. Connecting both of the two was the kitchen and the door to the backyard. Paintings littered the wall of the first floor. Under the stair however was an empty bookcase connected to the stairs and a door to a tiny bathroom was placed conveniently in the middle of it all. The bathroom was small, and the tiles of the floor were cool, but the white paint of the room made it seem bigger than what it really was.
The second floor contained the bedrooms and two more bathrooms. As you went up the stairs you were met with a closet which hung coats and held old paintings and the such. A little table which held a vase of Red Dahlias and pictures of our family was right next to them. Right of the closet and table however was my parents room. My parents room was connected to their own bathroom. A queen sized bed was on the side of the room next to the window. The carpet upstairs was a soft dark grey and the bed matched the carpet perfectly. Drawers and a closet were near each other. Outside of their room and near the closet was a bathroom which I would now use most of the time. The bathroom had dark paint on the walls and a painting hung behind the toilet as a shower right next to it as well.
At the end of the hallway to the left was my own room. It had plenty of space. The walls were a light grey and a fan was on the ceiling which also held light. Turning the switch on the room was light and yellow. My desk which I had sat in a corner near my drawer. My window had white curtains. My bed is on the opposite side of my drawer and desk. Right next to my door however is my closet which had stairs to the attic inside of it.
Boxes had still riddled throughout the house however as we were not super human and could get unpacking done after a day of driving. I was let outside of the house however when I got most of my unpacking done. The remaining of my items were in a few boxes inside of my room waiting to be placed somewhere. Riding my bike into town as I didn’t have enough money to buy my own car and my parents didn’t trust me enough with their car all by myself I was stuck riding a bike to town from the middle of nowhere. It had also turned out that the neighbours were miles away from the house, the Becker family. I greeted them and told them I was their new neighbour. They seemed delighted to see a new face so I left the couple alone after saying goodbye.
As soon as I got into town I had listed every store I saw. K-mart, an ice cream parlour, a few shopping stores around the places… I’d say the town was pretty nice and had a lot of options. I had slid off my bike and saw a place I could chain my bike up. I ran up, chained it, and made note of where I had put it so I didn’t lose it. I had noticed a lot of people outside of their houses, mostly teenagers, but still, it was a friendly surprise.
I had been walking for a couple minutes before I had seen something that had caught my eye. At first I thought it was a few noisy teenagers but then I saw that it was a news crew. Cameras were set everywhere and the person who was the main focus was a woman in a green and spiky outfit. I quickly walked towards the crew and overheard them talking about a death which happened earlier in the year somewhere around town square. Maybe even further away. I heard the reporter's name. Her name was Gale Weathers and she had commented on how the person who was accounted as guilty was framed, and she had a book on him and such.
Then suddenly she turned to people in the crowd and asked them how they felt about living in a town with a murderer on the loose and such. Multiple types of responses had surfaced and suddenly I was pulled into the camera's view and asked a series of questions.
“What do you feel about Cotton Weary being falsely accused of murder?”Gale Weathers said in a monotone reporter-like voice.
“Uhhh—I don’t—I’m not—I’m new into town, I just moved here, I really don’t know who Cotton Weary is, Ma’am..,”I had stumbled out.
“Hmm, are you aware of the murder of Mrs.Prescott?”She had questioned
“No I’m not, sorry, I don’t think I’m exactly the type of person you’re looking for,” I chuckled out.
She puzzled to herself and pushed me away looking for once again, another person to interview on the accusations. I was alright with that happening however as I could hear about what had occurred and other things. After getting bored shortly after I walked around a fountain nearby I strolled along to a diner feeling quite famished after my adventures around town. Songs were being played in the 50-60s based diner. It smelt of savoury foods and meat. Food to make your mouth salivate. I went up to a stool near a cash register and turned to my wallet seeing how much money I had. I only had enough for a milkshake and maybe fries.
“Hey sweetheart, ready to order?” A soothing voice had rolled out in front of me, catching me off guard.
My mouth was a bit agape looking up to see a handsome man with mid-length dark brown hair and even darker brown eyes,”uh—uhm, I am actually. Can I get a vanilla milkshake?”Snapping out of my gaze.
“You’ve got it sweetie, but are you sure you don’t want the chocolate?”he grinned looking towards me
“Now looking at you more clearly, are you from around here? I haven’t seen you around school. Maybe it’s because it's summer, huh?” He snickered.
“You’ve got me,” you say, putting your hands up defenseless, “I just moved here from a town right outside of Mississippi. I’m Y/N,” you go out to shake his hand, his rough hand grips yours tightly.
“Also, vanilla is the cheapest option so no, I don’t think I’ll get the chocolate,” you grinned with a cheeky smile.
“Alright Y/N, coming right up. Names Billy,” he said as he let go of your hand.
You kicked your feet as you pulled a magazine out of your bag to read it as you waited for your milkshake. Skimming through the thin pages you read a mini comic put on the side of the magazine. I was far too invested in the comic. I hadn't even noticed my milkshake had arrived and the waiter, Billy, had been scrolling the page from upside down.
“You seriously like that thing? It’s so stupid,”he smirked out.
You jumped not expecting someone’s voice.
“..yeah, it’s a good comic. I love Garfield. I read it in almost every newspaper ever! It is so not stupid!”you spat out but as soon as you said it you realized how childish you had sounded and immediately looked back down to read more of the adventures the orange cat has yet to go on. You felt your cheeks burn up.
Grabbing your vanilla milkshake you drank it hurriedly. Famin immediately leaves your body as it fills your empty insides. The flavour of icecream and vanilla flooded your mouth. Although your body still has yet to get solid foods the milkshake you had gotten would’ve subsided the hunger pains you would’ve definitely gotten if you hadn’t gotten the milkshake.
“No need to be in a hurry,” Billy had said, making you look up towards his eyes.
“Oh you have no idea, I’ve been needing some nutrition in my body all day,” flailing your body dramatically.
You both laughed and chatted for up to an hour. Just as it hit 5:00pm you got your wallet out and had paid for your milkshake as well as tipped Bill Loomis Humorously. He had also gotten your new house number in return.
Strutting out of the small diner it had hit golden hour. The trees outside Gad golden flakes scattered around the leaves. The hot sun heated your face and you felt as like everything that has ever happened in your life lifted. You never sinned, you’ve never done any bad thing in your life. You strolled down the now quieter town and the fresh air filled your lungs. Life was peaceful. You went to get your keys from your bag for your bike but once you got to where you had chained your bike it was nowhere to be seen. Your heart started to race from its once calm and collected nature. You immediately went into the place near where you had chained your bike up.
Going up to the counter of the store you rang the bell numerous times.
“Hello-o-o?”you questioned loudly and frantically.
A boy with spiky dirty blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes hurriedly opened the door, almost falling in the process. I was almost too mesmerized by his dashing looks. I forgot about my missing bike. He was better looking than Bill, and his worried look made it even better.
“Yes? Yes? I was on break but I guess not anymore, what do you need?”he asked in a bit of a serious tone although it seemed like he could be more of a goofy laid back kind of guy.
Remembering how my bike got stolen or was mistaken or just missing I stammered the words out to the god like being in front of me,”I think my bike got stolen from outside this store, did you see who took it? Please say you have! Please!”I begged. I could almost see something in him turn but it was unreadable. He looked at me pitifully.
“No, sorry, I haven’t. I'm sure if you need a ride I could get you one depending on how close we are. What’s your address?”
“Oh thank you so much, I have no way of going home except from my bike. I’m so grateful for you, you have no idea. My address is 1810 Calistoga Road,” I say, almost rambling from the sheer amount of adrenaline still filled in my body. He put his hands on my shoulders and made me realize I was practically vibrating.
“Calm down now, huh? Don’t need you to go exploding in my car. My shift ends in a few hours. Hopefully you can withstand that,” he chuckled to himself, seemingly getting relaxed,”That house, doesn’t it belong to the Georges’? Are you their granddaughter or something?” He expressed also through his hands in a gleeful tone.
“Oh, no, my parents and I just moved in from Mississippi. The Georges’ moved out of town. I’m not sure where to but hopefully somewhere sunny like Cali,” you started to smile again. Going around the counter to sit in the back with him,”My names Y/N by the way, you saved my ass,”
“Well Y/N, my name is Stuart Macher, but you can call me Stu little lady. You really scared the hell out of me back there when you started screaming,”he laughed lowly as he leaned against the counter and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Yeah, sorry about that, I just got really freaked out by the whole ordeal. Hopefully you can forgive me for that—please don’t hold a grudge against me until I die a painful and sufferable death, please-e-e,” you prolonged with a goofiness in your voice, as well as putting your hands together in a pleading way.
“Don’t worry about it, I can live without a grudge knowing you die a painfully slow suffering death now that you’ve said it!” You both laugh, tears welled up in your eyes as he made a few more comments about the situation at hand.
At around 7:00pm he walked towards the door, turning the once opened sign to a closed sign and locking the door.
“So this whole job is just a summer job?”you ask.
“Yeah-h-h, my folks wanted me to be more responsible and turns out I’m not the only one with a summer job! My friend Billy got a job across town at a diner. So I’m not the only one who has to suffer this painful ass job thing,”he complains, making a few jokes here and there.
After locking up the back door he—we headed for the car. I had no idea which one was his so I just beelined straight behind him.
“Are you going to sit on my lap or something? Go on the other side!” He howled laughing at my antics. Heat rose to my face as I laughed alongside him at myself.
Going to the other side of the car I heard the click of the lock and opened up the door and plopped myself into the small vehicle. I bounced up and down on the couchy seat and grabbed the seat belt and buckled myself in.
“Let’s go, my trusty steed!”I yelled victoriously. The car roared in response and then we were off. The car zipped through town but instead of the route to my house we went to the diner.
“I forgot to mention but my friend Billy also gets a ride from me—so! He’ll just have to sit in the back,” He winked at me. He raised his hand up and ferociously slammed it onto the horn. A loud ‘BEEEEP’ could be heard all throughout town. The back door of the diner was immediately opened and banged against the wall of the diner. Stuart rolled down the window.
“Sorry baby, you have to sit in the back this time, we have company,” Stuart said before doing an erratic shaking of his hands.
“God damnit Stu,”Bill had said, annoyed but as he looked through the window and saw me I waved my hand at him.
“Oh, it’s just Y/N, never mind,”Bill said and rested his face and opened the car door.
“You know Billy?”
“Course I know him! I went to the diner earlier today to get a milkshake,”
“Oh-h-h, alright,” he said with a goofy grin.
The ride back home was loud and the boy bickered as if I wasn’t in the car. Although I joined in the arguments at times I could help but laugh at them. Bil was dropped off first. The car was comfortably silent until I said something which seemed to stiffen Stuart up.
“Thanks a lot Stuart, you doing this means a lot. Maybe we can hang out some time? I’ll leave my number with you if you want,”
“Really it’s no problem Y/N, you and your pretty face can ask for a car ride anytime, though I would take that ‘hang out’ thing anytime darlin’,” he snickered
I smiled at him and leaned back looking out the window and listening to the music currently playing on the radio. I hummed along with the song as trees passed and animals ran across the sides. This town was peaceful.. maybe I can actually have a good life here..?
As the car pulled up at the driveway I said thank you once again as I left, leaving my number with him. Running up to the auburn door I knocked three times very firmly. I looked down towards my watch and noticed that the time was already 9:17pm! I had missed dinner and practically every important meal today but I was too tired to care, hopefully my parents would feel the same. If they didn’t… I would just say I got a meal out in the town at the diner. No need to stress out about food. My parents took too long to open the door so I summed it up to them already being asleep and grabbed the spare key under the mat and unlocked the door. I didn’t realize Stuart was still here so I waved him off and said goodbye and goodnight once again this night.
Going in I took off my shoes near the door and placed them out of the way. Going to the kitchen I got some water, drinking cup after cup. I didn’t realize how thirsty I was until this moment but I just kept on drinking and refilling my cup. Finally once I was full and hydrated I hurriedly went up the stairs, did my nightly routine in the bathroom and smashed myself into my bed. I immediately passed out. I felt so.. happy. Today was a great beginning. I wouldn’t think that for much longer though. I could feel something or someone staring at me through the window as I fell asleep but I paid no mind as it could’ve easily just been a stray dog or raccoon.
Still, you couldn’t help but wonder… what if?
#stu macher x reader#stu macher#scream#scream 1996#ghostface#x reader#slow burn#y/n#yandere#yandere x reader#reader
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Someday... Chapter 5: Room of Memories
[Last Chapter] -- [Masterlist]-- [Next Chapter]
Happy belated birthday to Mitsuya!
Sorry for the radio silence! I feel like I've just been posting stories up and gtfo of Tumblr. I recently started a new job and spent this whole time onboarding. This was a job I'd been wanting for a very long time so I'm gonna be working hard at it!
I'll still be posting stories up here, don't you worry. After "Someday..." finishes (which will be next week), I'll figure out the frequency in putting up "Sonata." The first chapter's surprisingly gotten a lot of reads and likes.
🎵BGM: GLAY "Happiness" | Lyric Translations
Warnings: Light alcohol consumption.
She gently set her gear bag on the couch in her office and plopped down beside it with an exhausted, heavy sigh, waving the t-shirt she wore to cool down from being outside. Ever since Mitsuya’s debut, requests for her services have steadily increased. She’d been running on fumes and was a job away from fully burning out. Feeling her eyelids get heavy, she shut them for a brief moment of reprieve and heard her door swing open with the vibration of the glass on steel frame.
“No,” she moaned, not caring who it was who came in. “No more gigs. I’m taking a month off to become a shut-in.”
“I know. You’ve been booked up to your eyeballs,” Ryota’s voice soothed with care and moved her bag to the floor so he could sit next to her. “I brought healing items.”
Lazily opening one eye, she saw a paper delivery box decorated with Beard Papa’s logo sitting on the low table. (Y/N) flashed a tired, grateful smile at her assistant.
“Have I told you you complete me?”
Dragging herself to sit upright with maximum effort, she let out another sigh when her assistant handed her a cream puff. She sunk her teeth into the sweet treat like a kid enjoying it for the first time, getting powdered sugar on the corners of her mouth.
“Oh sweet life giver of joy, carbohydrates and complex sugars,” she mumbled with a full mouth of pastry. “I will never forsake you.”
“How was the last job?” he asked before biting into his puff.
“The usual,” she took another bite of the treat. “The models were super cool and nice, but the clothes weren’t that interesting. They’re just copycats of what Mitsuya did, with a Harajuku-ish flare.”
Ryota let out a wondering hum and let his gaze wander to the magical looking dress hanging at the far end of the room.
“What are you gonna do with it?” he gestured to the garment.
“Return it, I guess?” she shrugged and finished her cream puff. “But after what happened… I dunno anymore.” Wiping her hands and mouth clean of powdered sugar, she reached for her phone to check her schedule for tomorrow. Her breath immediately hitched in her throat as her eyes widened with nervousness.
“What’s wrong?” asked Ryota as he finished his treat.
She slumped back onto the couch with a thud and leaned on her left like some kind of mob boss. She’d been drowning with so much work lately, she didn’t realize those two things were coming up so soon. Slathering her hands on her face, she dragged her fingers down agonizingly slow with a guttural groan and tilted her head up to the ceiling of her office. Rolling her line of sight back down to the dress currently hanging at the far end of the room, she sighed heavily again.
“His birthday’s in two days…”
“Well, then. All the more reason for you to see him,” her assistant pointed out with a small smile and a worried look. “You can’t keep going like this. It’s not good for your mental health.”
Continuing to glare at the hung dress, (Y/N) finally stood from her seat with a slap of her palms on her thighs and made her way over to it; she decided she’s wallowed in her crapulence enough.
“Fuck it,” she muttered and clicked her tongue. Carefully placing it back into the garment bag, she folded it in half and stuffed it back into the box it came in along with the shoes. “Tell anyone looking for me I’ll be out. Call it a mental health day or something.”
“You got it.”
Carrying the black box with both hands, she opened the door to her office with the push of her back; Ryota called for her one last time.
“If you really still love Mitsuya-san, tell him directly,” he advised with kindness. “Don’t hold these unspoken words close to your chest anymore.”
Flashing him a small smile, she made her way out. After a 20 minute taxi ride, (Y/N) arrived at the front entrance of the studio. Taking a breath to steady her heart, she approached the narrow entrance and pressed the button on the intercom for his office while juggling the box with one arm. A loud buzz rung out at the door seconds later, allowing her entry. Looking around for an elevator, she suddenly remembered the building was a walk up.
“Right…”
She huffed and readjusted her hold on the box tightly before ascending five flights of stairs. How the hell did she used to do this so easily?! Heavily stomping the last few steps, she finally arrived at the door to his studio huffing and dripping with sweat. Using her right foot to knock by kicking it, she could hear Mitsuya’s soft footsteps approaching to open the door.
“De… Delivery…” she tiredly gasped out, feeling the lactic acid build in her biceps and quads from fatigue.
“(Y/N)?” he asked with a tone of confusion. After what happened at the party with Draken, he thought he’d never see or hear from her again.
“Can you please take this box?!” she said in one breath as her temper began to flare. “It’s stupidly heavy!”
Exclaiming with surprise, he relieved her of the package and set it to a spare table near the door. She let out a long sigh of relief and stretched out her arms from holding it in the same position for so long, hearing her shoulder joints pop and crack. Mitsuya came back not too long after and got a better look at her wearing a flowy wide neck white t-shirt with loose fitting ripped jeans and sneakers, a big contrast from what she wore during the office meeting.
“D-Do you wanna come in for a bit? It’s pretty hot out.”
He held the door open for her to enter, to which she hesitantly accepted; everything still looked close to the same. The walls were a faded off white, but it gave the workspace character. Busts lined up on one corner in the makeshift changing room with the soft sunlight filtering in from the wide windows, illuminating a nearly finished wedding gown dressed on one of the busts. Rolls of fabrics and other items filled the cubby shelves that lined along the walls; pieces from his debut line hung on hangers on the clothing rack they built together.
A laptop sat at his desk beside various fabric swatches, pencils and scattered sketchbooks; a sewing machine can be found mounted to the far left. Above the couch hung a framed promotional poster of his debut line with a group shot of the models she did. (Y/N) made herself comfortable on the worn out leather couch beside a smaller clothing rack, feeling the cool upholstery on her backside from the air conditioner.
“Here.” She looked up to see the lilac hair streaked man hand her a small plastic bottle of chilled green tea from the mini fridge. Quietly thanking him, she took it and took a big gulp from it after twisting the cap off.
“What’s in the box?” he asked.
“The dress from the other night…” she quietly responded and rolled her lips in. “Figured I should return it.”
“Oh…” he said with a slight tone of disappointment, making her arch up an eyebrow of confusion.
“You said it’s a prototype for your couture line, no?”
“I’m still drafting up concepts for it, but that dress…” His lavender gaze wandered back to her. “It’s one of a kind… made for you.”
She raised her eyebrows and fiddled with the bottle cap with an incredulous look.
“Well, now I feel like an idiot.”
“Sorry ‘bout that…” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “But I wasn't completely lying: I was testing out how the fabric would hold up. If I told them the truth, they’d never stop asking me questions.”
“Fair…” she agreed.
“If you don’t mind…” Mitsuya paused for a beat. “Can you put it on for me? I actually wanna make some adjustments.”
“Right now?”
“U-Unless you’re busy today,” he quickly responded, not wanting to be pushy considering what happened the last time they were alone.
“I’m supposed to be, but I made an executive decision to take the rest of the day off.” (Y/N) drew out a long breath. “I’ve been booked with non-stop fashion shoots thanks to you.”
“Business is good, I guess,” he let out an airy chuckle and watched his former lover drag herself off of the couch to grab the dress from the box. Walking to the far end of the studio, she pulled the curtain around for privacy to change. Hearing the shuffling of clothes from the other side, Mitsuya prepared the standing platform in the middle of his workspace and grabbed his tools. Draping the measuring tape around his neck, he refilled the pin cushion on his wrist with extra needles and heard the curtain pull back. His gaze widened with surprise, fully focused and drank in her glamour basking in the golden hour lighting of the sun.
He only managed to cast glances her way the night of the party and all he remembered was the dressed fit close to how he imagined it on her. The fabric color caught the light perfectly and the train he added to the dress ended up being a good choice on his end in order to make it a little flashy and flowy.
Her bare feet quietly pattered across the studio bashfully toward him, gathering the fabric to the sides of her hips so it wouldn’t drag on the floor sans heels. Carefully stepping up on the elevated platform, she let the dress hang loose in one swift motion. All he could do was dumbly stare in awe with his mouth ajar.
“Um, Mitsuya?” She waved her hand in front of his face. “Helllooo?”
He finally blinked a few times and cleared his throat, apologizing for dazing out. The lilac streak haired man ruffled his locks and looked away to gather his emotions.
“You just… You look very beautiful,” he shyly murmured to himself with a small blush and walked behind her to pin parts of loose fitting fabric around her hip area. “Arms up… Hm… got a little leaner here.”
“Been keeping up with the work out,” she beamed with pride.
“I should get back into it,” Mitsuya sighed lethargically, catching a glimpse at his now scrawny biceps with the light showing of stretch marks on his skin where his more defined muscles used to be from his youth. When they were still together, they did workout routines as a way to do more things with each other on their days off so they weren't slothing away into the grind of adulthood.
He continued to analyze the dress in silence, fully concentrating on the areas that need to be taken in. She noticed his physique was a lot thinner since she saw him last; the bones on his wrist and hands were protruding more.
Was he eating properly? Getting enough sleep? She didn’t like seeing this emaciated version of him.
“So…” she awkwardly drew out with her eyes darting around the office interior. “What are you doing for your birthday?”
“Hm?” He looked up with a blank look on his face and blinked a few times before it hit him. “Ah… It’s that time already?”
“You forgot your own birthday?” she asked in disbelief.
“You’ve done that too.”
“But that’s expected…”
He let out a quick snort before looking at his handiwork. “Okay…” he nodded. “I don’t need to take in much so it’ll be done quick.”
“How long did it take you to make this?”
“When did I go by your office to look over the proofs?”
“Like, close to three, four weeks ago?”
“’Bout that much time then.”
“… Weren’t you in the middle of setting up the show?” she asked with furrowed brows in astonishment. “And how do you even have my measurements?”
Mitsuya shot her a knowing look. “I’d like to think I know every part of you. Very well, might I add,” he boasted with a confident and mischievous glint in his light purple eyes.
Just as she opened her mouth to speak, she immediately snapped it back shut and rolled her lips in with a light dust of pink on her cheeks and huffed a breath through her nose with a small pout. All he could do was smirk and offered his hand for her to grab as she stepped down from the platform. She quietly thanked him before going back to change into her own clothes and reemerged moments later to hand him the dress, making sure none of the holding pins fell out.
“You never answered my question,” she said again with slight hesitation. “About your birthday.”
“How ‘bout dinner?” he suggested.
“Any place you wanna go?”
“Kinda want a home cooked meal. I've been too tired to do it myself lately.”
“Oh… Oh.” (Y/N) looked up at him with widened eyes before darting it back down to a random spot in the room, fidgeting with the tips of her fingers with unease and nibbled on the edge of her bottom lip. “Uh… I-I dunno ‘bout that…”
“We could do it at your place instead if it makes you more comforta—”
“Your place is fine,” she quickly cut in, suddenly regretting her words and mentally screamed at herself. She didn’t have much of a choice since she didn’t want him knowing where she lived. “Any requests?”
“Surprise me,” he said with a small smile gracing his lips.
So much for a last good-bye, she bitterly thought to herself.
Two days later, (Y/N) found herself standing in front of the apartment complex she once shared with Mitsuya with apprehension. The humidity and heat from the day clung onto her clammy skin. To prevent any possible paparazzi following or anyone recognizing her, she hid her face under a baseball cap and donned sunglasses.
Yes, they were former lovers, but they were also pseudo celebrities at the moment.
She had to be careful for both their sakes. Trolls on the internet were no joke and would doxx them the moment any sort of information carelessly slipped out. They were lucky to have friends they could trust to not do any of that stuff. Taking a breath to calm herself, she approached the entrance and pressed the button for his unit; the door let out the familiar beep she remembered.
“It’s just dinner. With your ex. Let’s just cook and go. It’ll be fine.”
Pushing the call button for the elevator, the twin doors slid open with an ear pleasing ding. Reaching the 8th floor, she made the turn to the left toward the apartment. And there she was, standing face to face with the entrance where she once called home.
Did it change much?
As these thoughts ran through her head, her hand unconsciously reached up and rang the doorbell. The clack of the door lock roused her back with a slight jump of her shoulders and she was met face to face with Mitsuya wearing an over sized black t-shirt and knee-length shorts. The two exchanged greetings and he let her in. Letting the cool air greet her at the foyer, she let out a content sigh as he took the bags of grocery from her hands. (Y/N) removed her sunglasses and hat, hanging the cap on the rack and put her shades on top of the hallway shelving unit.
“It’s so freaking hot out,” she groaned and took off her shoes before making her way into the bathroom to wash her hands and face.
“Forecast said it’s only gonna get worse later in the week,” he added and set the bags on the counter.
She huffed a breath of relief and walked into the kitchen. She looked around the apartment with a reminiscent gaze and immediately snapped out of it to unpack the ingredients.
“Luna and Mana said they might stop by later,” Mitsuya let her know. “Is that okay?”
“I should have enough here to make a portion for them.”
“What’s for dinner tonight any way?”
“Cold tanuki udon and croquettes,” she listed and got to washing a cucumber and some other vegetables. “I was gonna make nikujaga, but the meat didn’t look fresh.”
“That’s fine. Do you need any help?”
“Birthday boys only need to eat and drink today,” she spared him a glance. “Just sit there and look pretty.”
“A woman after my heart,” he carelessly let slip and grimaced by squeezing his eyes close and his lips pressed into a thin line at his poor choice of words. “S-Sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“Don’t think your girlfriend would appreciate you sayin’ stuff like that to your ex,” she cut in with an icy tone while dicing up the green cylindrical plant on the cutting board.
“I… don’t have a girlfriend,” he divulged, making her look up and stopped cutting for a beat.
“Oh.”
(Y/N) placed the diced cucumber into a bowl and put it into the fridge to chill before tending to the rest of the ingredients.
“What about you? Does your boyfriend know you’re—”
She snorted out loud as her response, followed with a dry laugh while grating the daikon for garnish. After finishing the prep work, she heated up a pan over the stove with water to make soft boiled eggs and took it back out fifteen minutes later. Unwrapping the premade croquette set, she heated up a frying pan to cook the breaded goods through. After another twenty minutes, dinner was served. Mitsuya grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge and popped the tabs before walking back to the small dining table.
He looked down at the simple plating of udon with a pair of halved cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber slices, two halves of a soft boiled egg, wakame and agedama with the grated daikon and scallion sitting on top of the chilled udon noodles with hints of broth underneath. (Y/N) then set down the plated croquettes in between the two.
“Everything looks great,” he complimented and handed her a beer.
“Happy birthday.”
They clinked the necks of their bottles together and sipped the fizzy beverage before sitting down to eat. Just as they grabbed their chopsticks, the artificial lights in the entire apartment went out and bathed in what’s left of the sunset outside, making them both look up with surprise.
“A blackout?” she blurted out.
“Think I have a flashlight somewhere.”
Mitsuya got up from his seat and rummaged in one of the lower cabinets in the kitchen. (Y/N) opened up a window and the patio door to let some air into the apartment. Luckily, they were up high enough for the breeze to feel moderately cool, despite the humidity. He emerged a short beat later with some portable lights in hand. Flipping the switch underneath, the item illuminated the growing dark space and placed two of them on the dining table.
“Looks like it’s hit half of the Tokyo metropolitan area,” she scanned her phone for news updates. “No news on when things’ll come back.”
Mitsuya’s phone screen lit up with an incoming call and picked up.
“Hey, you okay?” he asked with concern. “Ah, I see… No, no. It’s fine. Just be safe, okay? Text me when you get back.”
“Was that Luna-chan?”
“Yeah…” he looked at his screen and closed it. “She and Mana are stuck on a train and said they won’t be able to make it over tonight.”
“Are they okay?” she asked with concern.
“She said the train staff at the nearest station are organizing a way to help the passengers get off the safely from the tracks.”
“That’s a relief…”
Noticing how worried (Y/N) was about his sisters, he couldn’t help but feel grateful. She knew how much his siblings mean to him and the fact she reacted like this showed him she still cared.
She really did still love him.
The two sat back down and slowly dug into the food. Mitsuya’s lips graced a small elated smile while he chewed his food, looking fondly at his meal as if tasting for something.
“How is it?” she asked before taking a bite of croquette.
“Your cooking’s as I remember it,” he answered tenderly and licked his lips of any remaining sauce. “It’s warm and delicious.”
“But it’s a cold dish.”
“Still tastes warm to me,” he looked up with a small curve gracing his lips.
A light blush graced her cheeks as she took another bite, wishing for the sun to set faster so the darkness can hide her face. Finishing their meal, they leaned back on their chairs completely content.
“I can’t eat another bite…” Mitsuya huffed out and covered his mouth to hide his burp from the beer. “Thank you, (Y/N). This was a really good birthday dinner.”
“It’s the least I could do. You’re too skinny.” She took a swig of her beer before standing up to collect the dirty dishes. He immediately reached across and grabbed her wrist.
“Let me.”
“Didn’t I say you just need to sit there and look pretty, birthday boy?” she repeated herself. “Plus, you’ve been working your ass off. Take a break.”
“You first.”
“I’m taking all of next month off to relax,” she divulged and proceeded to stack the dishes after he let go of her arm.
“Are you allowed to do that?”
“Even if I can’t, I’m still gonna,” she said. “If anything, time away’s gonna make the demand for me skyrocket. People want things more when they’re rare.”
“What if they fire you?”
“Then I’ll start my own studio,” she briskly replied. “That’s always part of my plan. Networking’s gonna be a pain though…”
While she busied herself with putting the dishes into the sink, Mitsuya watched her back profile like it was back then. He knew he couldn’t beat around the bush any longer and they’ll have to talk once and for all; he just couldn’t get the timing down. While his mind was drowning in his worries, he was suddenly met with a small strawberry shortcake with a lit candle on top right in front of him along with a wrapped item.
“Surely, you didn’t think there was no cake and present,” she said softly with a faint smile on her lips.
He looked up at (Y/N) with a mix of surprise and gratefulness, not knowing how to react. Reaching for the present first, he tore through the paper to reveal a biographical book on Coco Chanel.
“You remembered.”
“She is your muse, after all…” She gestured to the candle. “Make a wish.”
Mitsuya blew it out, watching the stream of smoke swirl up in the dimly lit room. His heart pounded in his chest as he suddenly stood with a clatter and crashed his lips onto hers, his arms finding refuge around her waist. She tried pushing him off, only to feel him pull in further and pushed her onto the nearest wall. He finally released with a gasp of air from his lips, trapping her between his arms.
“I’m not letting you go,” he declared with a hushed voice between pants as his hands found their way up to cup her face. She could feel his hot breath fanning on her lips and skin. “Not again.”
“Mitsu—”
“It’s Takashi,” he corrected with a small, strangled whimper and rested his forehead on top of hers; his hands reached up and cupped the sides of her neck for her to face him. “Call me by my name. Like you used to.” His tone was laced with desperation and need. “Please… Don’t leave me again. I’ve been so empty without you.”
“You left me first,” she quivered out as a tear slipped down her cheek, feeling her resolve slowly crumble. Twist the knife. Push him away. Make it hurt, she thought to herself. “You’re the one who doesn’t love me any—”
“I never stopped loving you! Not for one second,” he cut in with a crack in his voice and roughly caressed her cheeks with his calloused thumb pads, wiping the droplet away. “You warned me about Eri-san and I ignored it! I brushed you aside when I promised I’d protect your happiness," he squeezed out between sniffles through gritted teeth and shaky breaths. "I took you for granted.”
(Y/N) inhaled quickly and shallowly, looking deeply into his lavender orbs, searching for a reason to reject him.
“I saw your exhibition… I wanted to respond to your feelings…” he added.
Her eyes widened and flashed back to his debut show. “The extra pieces…” she whispered out with a shaky voice.
“The ones we made together.”
“You didn’t forget me,” she finally grasped with more fat tears rolled down the curves of her face and hiccuped. Her quivering hands slowly found their way up and touched his face tenderly.
“How could I?!” Streams of tears freely fell down his cheeks as he gritted his teeth. “You’re the love of my life. No one could ever replace you!”
They looked at each other through blurry eyes, tightly embracing one another as their knees collapsed onto the floor, openly sobbing into each other. For the first time in three years, their hearts finally connected. How many times did (Y/N) dream of this moment, only to wake up alone in a cold, foreign room from her travels?
Even though she made such an effort to try moving forward and here she was, back in the arms of the person who caused it.
“Your heart endured so much…” Mitsuya wept and stroked the back of her head. “Because of me, you carried all that weight... All that loneliness.”
He released from his hug and carried her bridal style into the bedroom. Setting her down gently on the plush mattress, her hands drew his face to her and was reminded of the taste of his lips on hers. That enveloping warmth, the quiet and gentle love they had once upon a time.
There was so much they needed to mend and talk about. And now, they had nothing but time in the darkness.
Taglist: @mor-pheus @netzukochannn @moodyhuesworld2 @someone4414
#mitsuya x reader#mitsuya takashi#tokyo revengers#mitsuya x fem!reader#mitsuya x y/n#mitsuya x you#ryuguji ken#ken ryuguji#matsuno chifuyu#kazutora hanemiya#hanemiya kazutora#tokrev x reader#tokrev x you#tokrev x y/n#tokyo revengers x reader#tokyo revengers x you
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Last month, the exhibition Beautiful Fish in a Man-Made Pond was hung across the historic Wolhstetter house in L.A., the home originally designed for the arms strategist who inspired Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. The group show, presented by Amity, features artworks whose subjects beget other memories and associations, which the artists have tried to reimagine through a contemporary lens. This is the case for Cristine Brache and Łukasz Stokłosa, whose paintings focus in on the storied legacy of Playboy bunnies and the palatial estates of Europe’s former aristocrats, respectively. Their paintings are animated by the same morbid fascination with things that have an objective aesthetic value, but are haunted by sad and broken histories. “It feels beautiful, even if it is horrible too,” says Brache, who’s also publishing a book of poetry with Wonder Press this Summer. ” It’s important to remember that there are both sides in that image. It’s both bad and good, so it’s always your place to decide which side you are on,” echoes Stoklosa. After the group show opened, the two artists got on Zoom to talk about the how their works intersect, the disturbing legacy of Ludwig II of Bavaria, and the outbreak of demonic nun possessions in France that continues to fascinate Brache.
———
CRISTINE BRACHE: I was really happy to be introduced to your paintings. They’re very beautiful.
ŁUKASZ STOKŁOSA: I love your works, too.
BRACHE: The work is pretty haunted on both ends.
STOKŁOSA: Yes, and we often use similar sources. You also use vintage footage, right?
BRACHE: I generate my own. For some of these recent ones I used A.I. I was referencing the older film stills and then making them look how I wanted using the aesthetic of the still itself. But the work is very cinematic in terms of storytelling and frames, in order to really capture a feeling.
STOKŁOSA: Yeah. So, we have that in common.
BRACHE: Yours feel a bit noir.
STOKŁOSA: Yes. It starts from this dark movie feeling, this foggy, shadowy aesthetic. Usually I use a brighter background and then recreate it on canvas. Basically, combining some footage I found, and then recreating it in the aesthetic I want to achieve on canvas.
BRACHE: Do you have a solo show now in Dallas?
STOKŁOSA: Yes, I do.
Photo courtesy of Cristine Brache.
BRACHE: Congrats. For that show, does it all feel like one made-up movie in your head?
STOKŁOSA: The title of the exhibition was borrowed from the movie, Cries and Whispers, by [Ingmar] Bergman. The atmosphere of the exhibition was inspired by the movie, and I often work like that.
BRACHE: Do you like movies a lot?
STOKŁOSA: Yes. At this show in L.A. there’s going to be a painting from the TV show, Dynasty.
BRACHE: Oh, cool.
STOKŁOSA: It’s of the cake from the wedding. I watched it when I was a kid, so it kind of defined my aesthetic choices, this flamboyant, super wealthy interior and designs. Then I watched Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola, and it brings me this feeling that the spaces we visit, the palaces and museums, are not only these beautiful objects we look at, but have very dark stories behind them. But it starts from movies and pop culture.
Łukasz Stokłosa, Dynasty, 2024, oil on canvas, 40×30 cm.
BRACHE: Cool.
STOKŁOSA: I see that you have one of your works behind you. What’s the subject?
BRACHE: It’s continued from my series that I did at NADA in December, which was starting with Dorothy Stratten and the Playboy Bunnies. That one’s called Purple Bunnies. I used A.I. to change the image and colors. The symbol of a woman in a bunny suit is very particular. I love Dorothy Stratten, and her biography is so tragic. I was thinking about how people perform, and I use the word performance very loosely, but the performance of how we exist on a day-to-day basis, the different layers of strata that we have with our own privacy in our own personal lives, then what goes out to the exterior. Like, she was always smiling and super happy but then at home, it was a horror. That dynamic is something I’ve been thematically mining since I started making work. When I look at the image of a woman in a bunny suit, it’s obviously manufactured for straight men. It started this mass objectification of women in this specific way that didn’t really exist before Playboy. But it looks very beautiful, so it’s complicated. But those are encaustic works. I work with silk and ink, and then I embed the silk and encaustic, and then paint oil layers on top of that. So it’s a combination of different media. And encaustic makes silk turn transparent. So the ink then floats in this one-millimeter layer, and then on top of that is the glaze. It refracts the light in a vibrant way that looks different from regular oil paintings.
STOKŁOSA: When you were talking about these beautiful images of the bunny costume, it reminded me of working with gay pornography, because I also paint these paintings with boys. It’s very similar because we have those very sexy, beautiful situations, but you know what is behind them. But I usually always use vintage porn for my work. And the interesting thing is that, at one time, that was the only place where you could see men kissing on screen, and it was accessible. So it was a place of liberation. But on the other hand, you have this exploitation of people who were basically forced to do that because of a lack of money. It’s both a feeling that something is wrong, but also that it’s so interesting and beautiful.
BRACHE: Right. It’s such a compelling feeling, to position yourself between those two spaces. Being able to hold both things that are in direct opposition to my constitution is very complex. It feels beautiful, even if it is horrible too. But comfort in discomfort is very important. Otherwise the world becomes very boring, very fast. It also betrays humanity because we all have that range within us, in some capacity.
STOKŁOSA: Yes. It’s important to remember that there are both sides in that image. It’s both bad and good, so it’s always your place to decide which side you are on. Sometimes, it’s impossible.
Cristine Brache. Talent Showcase. 32.75 x 26.25 x 1 5/8”. Oil, ink, and encaustic on silk and wood.
BRACHE: Yeah. Sometimes it depends on my mood, too. It’s like, “Today I’m tired of feeling objectified, and I feel all of this is violence, and I don’t like it.” But then other times, it’s like, “Oh, please objectify me..”
STOKŁOSA: Yeah. I feel the same.
BRACHE: That’s normal. Nobody wants to be objectified all the time. I don’t enjoy that, but sometimes it feels nice to be an object of someone else’s affection.
STOKŁOSA: Again, it’s this public and private situation where sometimes you are forced to be in public, but you don’t want to be.
BRACHE: Yeah, you put on the mask and perform it.
STOKŁOSA: So again, we are back in Versailles. You have to be public as a queen, but you’re this ordinary person who has feelings too. It’s not only the beautiful gold front, it’s something behind those horrible stories.
BRACHE: It’s what it takes to make that industry of the castle operate, to make it function on that very high standard of living at that time in particular. Do you have a favorite queen or king that you’re most obsessed with?
STOKŁOSA: I was obsessed with Ludwig II. He ruled in Bavaria in the late 19th century and he was responsible for those fairytale castles in the Alps. One of the Disney castles was inspired by him. It was a very tragic story because he was insane and very shy and probably gay. He was building all those palaces only for himself, he avoided people altogether. Eventually, he was killed by his servants, they drowned him in the lake.
BRACHE: Oh, wow.
STOKŁOSA: I was obsessed with the castles. Some of them were built with very modern techniques but look medieval. One was a copy of Versailles because he was obsessed with Louis XIV. It was basically a monument for him.
Amity exhibition Beautiful Fish in a Man-Made Pond at the Wohlstetter house designed by Josef Van der Kar, photograph by Evan Walsh.
BRACHE: Have you been there?
STOKŁOSA: Yes, a couple years ago. It’s on an island. It’s an exact copy of Versailles.
BRACHE: That’s wild. Personally I’m obsessed with The Devils of Loudun from France in the 17th century. Ken Russell made a movie about them called The Devils, and there’s a Polish movie about the same nun called Matka Joanna. Her name was Joan. There was a case of possession in the convents and it was an epidemic, way before the Salem witch trials. But French possessions were way more sexual than the Puritanical ones of America. So this nun, Joan, supposedly signed a pact with the devil, Grandier, the mayor of the town. There was a sex pact, and then she started behaving like she was possessed. I mean, she was for sure possessed, but I don’t know by what.
STOKŁOSA: By herself maybe? I watched this Polish movie about her, it was based on the novel by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz [Mother Joan of the Angels].
BRACHE: Aldous Huxley wrote about it too. That’s the book that Ken Russell’s movie is based on. Ken Russell’s is the campy version, and then the Polish version is more elegant.
STOKŁOSA: Yes. It’s from the ‘50s or ‘60s, it’s black and white.
BRACHE: Yeah. I spent some time in Poland. My ex is Polish, so I was in Szczecin and Krakow. I never went to Warsaw.
STOKŁOSA: I’m from Krakow.
BRACHE: I liked it there.
STOKŁOSA: When was that?
BRACHE: 2011. A long time ago now, just after my graduation. What’s your favorite part of Poland?
STOKŁOSA: Krakow, of course. It has everything that I need. There is an airport, so I can go everywhere. The architecture is nice, and it’s varied in different parts of the city. I have my friends there, so it’s a good place to live. How long have you been in New York?
BRACHE: I’ve been here since COVID, really. I moved from Canada. I was in Canada for four years. Before that, I was in London. I did my master’s there, and before that, I lived in China for two-and-a-half years. Before that, I was traveling around Europe. I was squatting in London, and I was squatting in Greece, and I hitchhiked from Athens to the center of Turkey, and I lived in Turkey for two months. I basically left the US with two-grand and bought a one-way ticket.
STOKŁOSA: Whoa! That’s great.
BRACHE: Yeah. I wound up in China, and I was so broke when I got there. It was crazy, but it was a really great experience. That’s when I was in Poland as well. I spent a lot of time in East Germany and Berlin, all up and down Dresden and Leipzig. I drove through the Alps, and I went to Gruyere in Switzerland. That place also looked like Disney World. It was beautiful, the little villages. It looked fake to me, but it was real.
Cristine Brache, Almost Blue. 14 x 17.5 x 1 5/8”. Oil, ink and encaustic on cotton and wood, 2024.
STOKŁOSA: Sometimes all those castles and palaces look fake. You mentioned Dresden. For me it looks like a castle or palace from Beauty and the Beast.
BRACHE: It’s crazy. What are you showing in Los Angeles?
STOKŁOSA: There’s going to be one picture from Dynasty and the other is Armor from Vienna. It’s renaissance armor and it’s gold shiny objects. For me it’s about masculinity and oppression and the situation when you’re wearing this metal object and it’s defining your position and shape of your body. It’s very oppressive but on the other hand, it’s so beautiful and shiny and you are this prince on the horse.
BRACHE: That’s funny. I’m understanding Jed [Moch’s, the curator] thinking more with putting our paintings in the same room, because I am showing those bunny works. The bunny suit is definitely a kind of armor. They used to tie the corsets so tight. I mean, my work’s very feminine and yours is very masculine, but it’s masculine in a soft way. It’s like a non-toxic masculinity. People usually think of masculinity as toxic nowadays, but it’s very beautiful, too. When it’s not toxic.
STOKŁOSA: Yes. Both masculinity and femininity are defined by the same oppressive rules of society. We both are victims of that.
BRACHE: For sure. There’s definitely toxic femininity, too. There’s a yin and yang between our work.
Amity exhibition Beautiful Fish in a Man-Made Pond at the Wohlstetter house designed by Josef Van der Kar, photograph by Evan Walsh.
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Having better telescopes and keep on improving them will save mankind.... Also using radio telescopes like radar.. Because they should be listening but they should also be sending and bouncing off of objects... So radio telescopes send out and receive.So we have active radar out into the universe... So we send out and it bounces back and then we know where an object is. That's why when you get a dark spot where a dark spot shouldn't be then something's obstructing the light. So just like a black hole, a meteorite and asteroid and object.Moving through space will have absence of light where it is and the light will be around the horizon of the objects... So just as you find black holes is the same way.You find objects moving in space.You're looking for the dark spot and the light around the dark spot... And amateur telescope people they play a role as well.. And this is where their minions can report things that they notice.And now if you hook up a video system to the telescope you can record what you see visually and I don't understand why they're not now... And then you can play back whatever you spotted in space. And then we can have computer systems, analyze it and compare it to prior pictures.Comparison, in contrast and let the system compare the pictures.Looking for differences with inside the picture.. And yes they should be moving with super high speed video seventy trillion per second...
Now, the researchers have more than doubled it again, to a mind-boggling 156.3 trillion frames per second. The new camera system is called “swept-coded aperture real-time femtophotography” (SCARF), which can capture events that happen too fast for even the previous versions of the tech to see.Mar 26, 2024
https://newatlas.com › technology
World's fastest camera shoots at 156.3 trillion frames per second
But just think about understanding insects, but also recording all this and then looking back over it.And then having computers that can analyze it very quickly to give you the frames to look over... And this is why they need it with imaging systems like with X-ray when it does.It's flash if it can record as many frames as possible.Then you won't miss something... So this is very important for imaging.How many frames per second?It's recording of that particular area of the body... And then they can use further analysis with computers to assist to minimize the amount of frames that need to be looked at... So that means you can catch breast cancer and you can roll out the ones that are false positive....
Now, the researchers have more than doubled it again, to a mind-boggling 156.3 trillion frames per second. The new camera system is called “swept-coded aperture real-time femtophotography” (SCARF), which can capture events that happen too fast for even the previous versions of the tech to see.Mar 26, 2024
https://newatlas.com › technology
World's fastest camera shoots at 156.3 trillion frames per second
I'm looking for that girl.... That is my main focus.... I need that female in the flesh.... And the funny thing is this has been my focus since birth.They've been my number one priority.... I never told girls that I held them up.Yes since childhood I held girls up in a place of honor... Yes, even when they disappointed me so greatly. I still held them up on a pedestal. Meaning I held them in a place of honor and they still have a place of honor in my heart.... So I truly love my time with Joel and Pauline. It was.
Awesome To hang out with them and we played a lot of sports.... But we also just hung around... And it was cool, walking and talking with the 2 of them.It used to be the three of us the three musketeers... And they were highly competitive girls.... Yes they were very very competitive... So it made fun playing sports... And yes, we play games like kick the can and many others. And yes, to this day I wish I was in Pauline's basement when she did spin the bottle. I always regret.I would have had an opportunity to kiss her... Even to day I think back it sucked.I had the mistake opportunity... I didn't know if the bottle would point to me but the point is. I would at least been there for my opportunity.... That's why I said if I had to do everything over again and go through the misery I would. Why because it led back to Jen. So no I wouldn't have read done things prior too because all those things led to her... And I so valued that time together.... ..And yes, I would get p***** because people would interfere with my time with her... I think about all the time. We should have had together. Our relationship would have been unbelievably deeper. But everybody kept f****** with my relationship.I even told her the church has hundreds of people that can volunteer and they fucking keep on calling me... And I told her it's like they think.I have no wife on the weekend... I work on the weekend but in that free time I want to spend with you.... I was getting pissed of them calling me all the fucking time... Just like Deerfield it's fine.I ended up volunteering for youth ministry for a couple years.But what did time tell me all the kids of all these parents refuse to volunteer?What the fuck.. And then at covenant they kept on calling me calling me calling me for urban ministry... And then at covenant, they kept on calling me calling me calling me for urban ministries.And I told In the asian churches they just make it mandatory. And if you don't show up you're out of the church.... I was pissed constantly calling on me.... This is why god put down the threat... My life 🙃 Should be getting better every day not fucking years.... I already gave now.You're supposed to give to make my life better... But as God sees you're some selfish f****** pieces of no good f****** pieces of no good. F****** s*** There's no heaven for you.You're a fucking sarcastic as a motherfucker.... When you load something you want it to prosper.... But you don't want evil the prosper... So you punish evil and you reward goodness.... But society is so sick.It rewards evil and punishes goodness...
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What is hybristophilia: Why women are attracted to killers ...
Sep 7, 2021 — Psychologist Katherine Ramsland has written extensively about serial killers and attraction. In an article she previously wrote for Psychology
Why do you think eve was attracted to satan? God realized he had a serious fucking problem.... Just like Jen, dumping me and going with Tom.He's a piece of living fucking no good fucking piece of shit in comparison... So she leaves the goodness to go with in comparison the fucking evil..... So again, God watches. Women make these choices constantly choosing the scumbag... Then they wonder why all these women get slaughtered.... You're literally endorsing the people that kill you and by endorsing them they feel righteousness and justice in killing you.....
It's Like sarah I take her to the east coast to expand Her horizons i'm trying to get her to stop drinking and clean up her life... What does she choose the bad boy... He gives our drugs Mixer more of an alcoholic , so now she's doing drugs and alcohol... Here I'm trying to educate her.Expand her horizons mov her to a higher state in life and she chooses the scumbag... And then what does he do?He treats on his wife's.... He gets busted by the DEA For massive drug trafficking. 😳 So everybody empowered him to be a horrible person me I never did.... I kept on trying to get in to go in the right direction.... But he ignored me and went in the opposite directions and his life is a disaster... I saw her show up in Chicago instead of becoming more beautiful.She looked like death sarah... Same thing I saw with Brook.E she went with the drug addicts.And she looked like a heroin addict.She looked horrible me trying to get her to move in the right direction.Hurt choosing a loser and both of them from attractive girls who could've been extremely beautiful Extremely ugly females....
I watched the pictures with Tom of Jen instead of getting more beautiful.She got less beautiful. Even.
Even if she looked somewhat good now , she's nowhere near what she would have been.... So when you choose the loser you become the loser.....
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How to Choose the Best Frameless Glass Sliding Door for Your Home in Australia
A frameless glass sliding door is a kind of door that doesn't have a frame, which makes it look really trendy and modern. This door works by sliding smoothly on a track, making it easy to open and close. When you're thinking about ways to make your house or business look and work better, a sliding door is a perfect option. These designs not only have practical advantages, but they also make it easy to move between inside and outside areas.
One of the best benefits of installing frameless glass sliding doors in your house is that it helps save a lot of energy. These doors are made to keep your home warm or cool by stopping heat or cold air from getting in or out. One more advantage is the increased safety that these doors provide. So, in this post, we will talk about how to choose the best sliding door for your house.
How can I choose the perfect frameless glass sliding door?
Many homeowners mistakenly believe that the only choice they have is a regular glass sliding door. However, there are many different kinds for you to think about. Are you trying to make your home look better or make it easier to move between inside and outside? No matter what situation you're in, there are many different types of glass sliding doors that can meet your specific needs and preferences.
The frameless glass sliding door moves easily on a good track system to make it work well and move smoothly. This track makes it super easy for the door to slide open and close with hardly any effort. This gliding operation is really convenient and easy to use for everyone.
There are other choices that you can consider
There are other choices that are really popular right now, like sliding doors that hang from the top. These doors are different and stylish compared to regular door designs. These glass doors without frames bring a modern and fancy feel to any room. Top-hung sliding doors are made to hang from a track that is placed on the top of the door frame.
Sliding doors that are made up of panels
What makes this kind of door different is that it has many panels. This lets in a lot of light and gives you a big opening to see through. Not having a frame makes it feel even more open. It makes a smooth connection between the inside and outside spaces. This can be really helpful for people who like to have fun or just want doors to move easily.
Curved sliding glass doors
When it comes to picking the right entrance for unique spaces, one choice that's good is having curved sliding glass doors. These doors are different and cool compared to regular entrances. They make any place look fancy and classy. Curved sliding glass doors are super cool because they look sleek and modern. They're not just practical; they also make a really impressive centrepiece that catches your eye.
Frameless glass sliding door features to look for
There are many good reasons why we decide to install doors on our properties. Doors do a lot of important things, like making things more secure and private and keeping out stuff from outside. Furthermore, doors provide a feeling of comfort and peace. They make us feel secure and protected in our own areas.
When choosing the right frameless glass sliding door, it's important to think about and assess the many different needs that must be met. These requirements cover many different aspects. And each one is really important in making sure that the door you pick not only meets but goes above what you expect. When you're choosing a door, you have to look at how it looks, how well it works, and how long it will last. You have to check every part of the door to make sure it's just right for what you want.
The quality of the glass
First and most importantly, it's really important to notice how great the glass sliding doors are. These doors are not made of the regular glass that you usually see in your everyday life.
Make sure you choose to invest in sliding doors that have these strong glass panels made of toughened glass. By doing so, you are being proactive in protecting your property and the people you care about. This fantastic kind of glass is made to be super safe and secure, so it's perfect for sliding doors.
The frameless glass sliding door has the best insulation features possible
To make sure the sliding door keeps the heat in and the cold out, it's super important that it's built and designed to have a perfect seal that doesn't let any air escape.
Paying close attention to all the little details is super important to stop any draughts or heat from escaping. And this helps make the space use less energy. So make sure the sliding door is sealed perfectly. You can then be sure that the inside of your house will stay nice and cosy, no matter what the weather is like outside.
What's the cost of a frameless glass sliding door?
The price of sliding doors can change a lot depending on different things. Some things that matter are how big the doors are, the exact measurements needed, and how good the glass is in the doors. Some customers prefer to request a free quote from the supplier before making a purchase or committing to any services.
Wrapping up
When you're looking for the perfect frameless sliding glass door for your house, make sure to remember the things we just mentioned. There are a bunch of important things to think about, like tough glass, good insulation, and smooth operation. When it comes to the price of the door, you can get a free quote from most reputable suppliers.
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Now that the first season of Bleach TYBW is over, might as well type up my thoughts.
Overall, it was good. Like a solid 8/10, but I can't not get hung up on the things that keep it from being a 9/10 or a 10/10.
The first of which is the pacing.
We really blew through 62 chapters in just 13 episodes, and now we're already 1/3 of the way through the arc. Even if they slow down going forward, I honestly don't know how we're going to reach 52 episodes of this unless Kubo writes extra scenarios for, like, 10 whole episodes.
I get that they wanted to end the season on a dramatic spot, and the Zangetsu twist is the perfect place to do that, but I feel it compromised a bit in doing so.
Some stuff like the bankai thefts and character deaths just kinda came and went because they were speeding through things the way they were. The dramatic tension for a lot of moments just wasn't there because we were already on the next scene.
Not that I want the anime's pacing to be as awful as the Arrancar arc's, where they were fighting Nnoitra for what felt like 20 episodes straight, but this was leaning into Shaman King 2021 territory, which was a great example of what happens when you don't let scenes and character moments breathe. You never want your adaptation to be like Shaman King 2021.
I mean, the fight between Isshin and White was, what, four minutes long? Five?
I just hope they do slow down going forward. Let moments simmer and settle before moving into the next one.
My next small nitpick is the music.
Most of the tracks are just remixes of older songs, and while a few are cool, most of them either felt underwhelming or just weren't noticeable enough to leave an impression. Felt like elevator music part of the time.
Which sucks because Bleach is known for having banger music.
And if we're talking about moments not having the impact they should due to bad pacing, we need to address that moments can also not have the impact the should due to poor music selection as well. There were a few moments were there was a scene that was supposed to hold a lot of weight, but didn't because the music felt wrong for the scene.
Anyway, that's a minor complaint, but sound design is a real thing and shouldn't be overlooked.
And lastly, the art.
This isn't a complaint towards the anime itself, but the fans who've been saying that every episode has been "movie quality" since the start. Like, dudes...it has not. It's pretty, for sure, and has better effects and lighting than the original series, but c'mon. This is still Studio Pierrot, and there are a lot of scenes even in the first episode were characters look super off-model. And I'm not just talking about during quick between frames or when a character's far away, but even moments when a character is the main focus of the shot and the camera lingers on them.
Even the original series, especially towards the end of the Arrancar arc, where the characters tended to consistently look way closer to Kubo's style than what we were getting in parts of TYBW.
Now art =/= animation, and on the animation side of things, they were pretty fuckin good this season. There were a bunch of fantastic sequences, like the entirety of both Yhwach fights, but even then let's not delude ourselves into thinking they were giving us movie quality stuff start to finish. The Genryusai fight? Yeah, sure, THAT'S movie quality. But the stiff animations from Ebern and Quilge in episode 3? No way.
Again, this is mainly a bone I'm picking with fanboys and not the show itself, but I am hoping for future seasons to be more careful with characters staying on model. I never put that much faith in Pierrot, though, I understand they're not ufotable or Mappa lol.
So overall, I'm pleased with what we got, and I'm obviously just happy to have Bleach back in general after all these years, but I want the next batch of episodes to be even better because these are things I can't help but complain about in the back of my head while watching the episodes.
And for my last bit of complaining, let's talk about the dub.
They got a good 2/3rds of the original cast back, which is great, but man do the recast characters just not hit. Chad 3.0 is good -- I never liked Jamieson Price as Chad, and this new guy sounds closer to Marc Worden's [perfect] portrayal, so I'm good there -- but everyone else? Eh.
Shinji just doesn't sound right without Roger Craig Smith, and Ukitake not being Liam O'Brien is a crime.
I'm sure this is just because the show is non-union again, because for some reason they just don't care about Bleach, but a lot of these recasts seem to have been completely avoidable.
And outside of the recasts, we have the translators not knowing how to pronounce stuff, which annoys me personally and I know it's not surprising since they've ALWAYS mispronounced half the characters' names in the dub (Ulquiorra Cifer as "shiffer," Nnoitra Gilga as "noy-tora gill-guh," Sousuke Aizen as "sasuke," etc.). And yeah, most of the time it's just because Kubo hadn't released the proper spellings for a bunch of these characters names so they were [mostly] just going off the katakana directly, but man it hurts to hear Yhwach pronounced as "yuhabaha."
I'm already expecting half the rest of the Quincies' names to be said wrong, but I'll control my anger somehow.
Ignoring all that, it's great to hear JYB as Ichigo again, and I'm glad they picked up on the significance of Zangetsu and Yhwach sharing an actor and getting Richard Epcar back (who's absolutely killing it, btw). Whenever I hear a returning voice actor in an episode, I'm at peace and hit with nostalgia.
Anyway, done complaining.
New season good, but they need to work on the pacing, music, and art. And the dub needs to learn how to pay their actors and pronounce things better.
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Bridal Shower - 07•30•22
And then before we knew it, the bridal shower came and went! Set-up that morning went really well (almost). Kena brought me a bride to be sash, and tea sandwiches for our London themed food. Mom and I brought the macarons for the Paris themed food, and the tropical punch we'd made for the Bahamas themed food. Beach brought chips and salsa for the Mexico themed food. We put all the food signs and photos up on the risers, which made them so much more visible. We rearranged the favorite things with an extra suitcase, and stood the rest of our signs up on easels. We filled the back of Berk's roadster with luggage, hung the "Passport Photos" sign pointing to the photo area, and got the cups, plates, and straws set out.
The only travesty... Brayden and Chelle got the punch dispenser put into the fridge for the hour or so while we set-up. When I went out to the fridge later to add a couple more things, I found that the dispenser had been pushed up against the fridge wall accidentally, and all the punch had spilled out - all over the floor and fridge. SO bad. We'd been up into the night making it, and it was all gone. Plus, it was such a mess. Hahah we should have known something like that would happen. Brayden ran to the store to get some pre-made juice instead, and poor Chelle got to work cleaning the fridge out.
It all turned out well in the end though - no one would have known there were any issues. (;
For the first 10 minutes or so, we started to get worried that no one was going to show up. But to our relief, we ended up with a great turnout.
- McKenzie and Jodi Butler
- Lisa Chandler
- Lyndsey and Heidi Brophy
- April Hales
- Mikayla, Beach, and Kena
- Aubrey, Whitnie, and Allyssa
- Jodi Mitchell and her daughter Whitni
- Jess, Bev, and Jocelyne
- Arika and Sierra
- Ann Anderton and two of her daughters
- Jackie
So fun to see so many people I love!
We spent the first hour eating snacks and socializing, and then played some games. We did a Who Knows the Bride Best game, and I missed hearing everyone's answers because I was talking with Jodi. But Kena won! And of course, Beach argued about some of the things I put hahah. Then they did a He Said, She Said game, where they had to mark whether I was more of something or Brayden - like who is the better driver, who is more organized, etc. And Beach won that one so maybe that made up for it. (;
Then we played a "What's in Your Purse" game, where they get points depending on what things they regularly carry around. And Mikayla won!
The prizes were your choice of one of my favorite things. Kena took the Fiiz gift card, Beach took a travel themed notebook, and Mikayla picked ancient world map wall art. Then we had a box of advice cards that people wrote on cute vintage postcards, and I got to draw two out for the final prizes - Sierra picked the Sharpie marker set, and Jodi Mitchell ended up with the bag of movie theater popcorn.
Next came gifts, and I got so many nice things. A crockpot, an Instant Pot, a new dish set, pans, a spice rack, a cookbook, a picture frame, a printer, a wreath, cooling racks, donations to the puppy and furniture fund, a Lowe's gift card, a Barnes and Noble gift card, some cash, etc. People are the very best.
Then we all got to go out and take photos with Berk's roadster, including being able to get in it and blow the oogle horn hahah. So fun.
Our party favor "Baggage Claim" was a biscoff cookie (like an in-flight snack) in a little paper suitcase. Just darling.
Clean-up went super easy, and overall, it was a huge success. My mom is the very best, and I'm so grateful for all the time she put into this to make it perfect for me. She really thought of every detail, including the cutest invitations I've ever seen. It's a day I'll always remember. Being the bride is just so much fun.
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TLOVM Ep 9 Twitch Watch Party Summary
- Tried to make that guy with the Briarwoods look like Brian Foster
- Delilah wanted to save Sylas cause she didn't want to enter the dating pool again
- Arthur hand painted the skull book animation frame by frame!
- Long hair Sylas is SO hot, and she gives him a haircut every morning (cause vampire? I guess?)
- Joaquim Dos Santos did some work on TLOVM as a pat on the shoulder for Arthur and some other animators for working under him in Voltron
- Sam: "Hey it's my daughter!" at the sun tree dead Pike kid (omg...)
- Character design team made a ton of zombie designs so you're not looking at the same ones and there's some 3D ones in the back too
- Liam's line delivery is always SO good (at Vax's "Gross!")
- We went through many iterations of what Scanlan's bite looks like and it's very gross and it gets worse as it goes
- The growling giants are Liam!
- Sam immersed himself with an accent coach for 6 weeks for Scanlan's 'french' accent (he's joking)
- We had a scene cut for time constraints that was explaining why no one could leave Whitestone (because of the demon dogs)
- Arthur's wife screamed watching Archie die haha :(
- (Everyone lol'd at "yes yes she's the tits")
- You can really see the love from everybody in every frame, the whole crew really loves working on this
- Travis and Marisha: He said the thing! (about Percy's name)
- Taliesin crushed Percy's speech, he did it twice cause that's what you're supposed to do but he just did such a good job from the first time
- "Don't drop that shit on me now, I can't process this!" Marisha about Keyleth when Vax confesses to her
- (Everyone cheers when Pike comes down all glowy and shit)
- Ashley really wanted to say a very goofy "HULLO!" when Pike beamed down during the zombie fight but they went with something else (lol)
- The sound design is amazing!!
- (They're cute and just cheering throughout the zombie and giant fight anytime anything happens)
- Rory (The Hound) saying "ballbag" when Vedmire kicks it was so funny, Dominic (Monaghan) had said "dobber" which apparently is a very thick penis lol
- Vedmire's hung corpse really brings the room together
- "This is the dungeon, Keyleth" (they laughed about it but idk just wanted to mention it again cause it made me laugh)
- This is Percy level 2 or 3? Nope, it's critical mass Percy
Q&A
Q: Tell us about the art teams' blood, sweat and tears with the zombie apocalypse?
A: All the art teams did a really good job, everyone came together to make it look that good. There was a lot that went in there to make it feel organic and real, like staggered gait, and different looks and personalities.
*We watch the Pike's Return Animatic*
Q: How did the scene change than from the game?
A: We made it extra since it's animated, you know, she came out of the sky and gave everyone the equivalent of Holy Weapon
Q: Giant designs are great, let's talk about them.
A: Everything was really well done, and how they look refers to who they were before they died like: the muscle and sinew under the skin, different levels of decay, barrel as a pauldron, and the different clothes and beards
Q: Vax finally tells Keyleth how he feels, how was it distilling that moment for the animated series?
A: Super wise, but charisma is her dump stat. When it happened in the game Marisha asked Laura: "What?? How long has this been going on?" Laura: "For like fucking 40 episodes." Liam had been doing all these little things for ages like 'Vax sits next to Keyleth' and I was just like "Ok cool!" (Travis: On the show when this happened, we all escaped into our shirts like 'WHAT IS HAPPENING?') Liam trailblazed character romance in our games (Ashley: I didn't know you could do that!) It was important to not rush it here, because in the original game they had like 40 episodes of lead up and a lot of time for the romance to blossom realistically, but here there's less time so you have to be intentional about it. But I (Marisha) like how we subverted the romance trope with Keyleth, she wasn't like "OH my prince!" she's more like "Not now! this is NOT appropriate!" (lol cute)
Q: Speaking of romances: Pike and Scanlan, what the fuck?
A: Sam: I think we're destined to be together, Ashley: but it's gonna take Pike some time to make her way (all: makin' my way) they're long game so it takes a while. Sam: Scanlan has always thought he's a skilled romanticist but he actually cares about Pike but he doesn't know what to do about that, it's easy to hook up with someone but it's hard to get someone to care about you
Q: Arthur, any artists or references that influenced the show?
A: Oh crap, maybe 3 years ago. But I took the last show I worked on with me, including artists and background designers (from Voltron: Legendary Defender) and we had fun with it
Q: Favorite game to show moment so far?
Travis: Dark spirits coming after VM, desmond wasn't there but it was great to lock in on those character beats and different faces of their personalities - big action moment though? Pike's return
Marisha: The sun tree was like "What the fuck is Matt thinking? Holy shit" so was great to see that translated
Ashley: Pike's return and the sun tree moment, and just in general and seeing Gilmore for the first time - it was glorious
Sam: Seeing Scanlan up on the roof amidst rain and flame, it was improv'd on the spot and now it's something that fans can watch and enjoy on their screens - "You know I love you" moment, it's cool that it's different from the game, I always pushed to change moments just a little bit, cause we have the game and we can go watch it again, so it's fun to try new things out
Arthur: Gilmore's shop, getting to flesh that out was really fun, we really went nuts, we shouldn't have gone that detailed, it's crazy - but number 1 moment hasn't come out yet and you'll see it soon!!
(In honor of Arthur's nuptials, they bring out champagne! And they toast for them but also for all the designers and artists and animators and their amazing work. Very cute.)
#tlovm#tlovm watch party#cr spoilers#the legend of vox machina#critical role#vaxleth#pikelan#cr#glossopost#long post
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Happy Oct. 1 and the start of Halloween! Please enjoy this spooky inspired Nessian fic! :)
It had been an accident. A complete and absolute accident. Cassian had agreed to host a mini Halloween party at his loft apartment. They would order food in, play some drinking games, maybe binge some horror movies. It was going to be fun, and Cassian simply wanted his place to look the part. So he had bought those fake spiderwebs and hung them from the lamps and across the curtains. He bought some fake skulls and plastic pumpkins to set about the living room and kitchen.
And he simply thought it would be funny to draw a pentagram on the floor. It looked just like in those cheesy Halloween movies, and he knew Azriel would get a kick out of it. He even set some candles around it to really make it look the part, and he couldn't help but put on his best 'spooky' voice as he said some words he'd read in one of Rhys' musty books in his library, some language he'd never heard of but sounded cool. He didn't think anything of it.
And that's how Cassian ends up with a woman standing in the middle of his apartment.
Cassian has no idea who she is, but he can’t deny that she is breathtakingly gorgeous. Her golden brown hair is braided up into an intricate crown, a few wisps of hair falling against her temples and framing her face. It brings out the cut lines of her cheekbones. She’s wearing a form fitting dress, the black fabric hugging her curves and arms before it flows into a deep blue at her feet. But Cassian’s eyes get stuck on her eyes, as dark as night as they pierce into Cassian’s own.
"I am the Goddess of Death, Princess of Decay,” the woman says, her voice seeming to boom and echo in Cassian’s apartment. “Who are you who commands me?"
"How did you get in here?"
The question seems to give the woman pause, and she blinks at Cassian for a few seconds. Cassian watches as her head tilts slightly, her eyebrows pinching.
"Excuse me?" the woman asks.
"I mean my front door is locked so I'm just confused how you got in here."
"You summoned me."
"I summoned you…?"
Cassian takes in where the woman is standing, right in the middle of the pentagram, her too dark eyes, and the way power seems to radiate off her in a way that rumbles in his own bones. Finally, his brain catches on.
"You're a demon."
The woman crosses her arms, her weight settling on her left leg. She raises her eyebrows at Cassian, her face cold and unimpressed. It pretty clearly reads ‘no shit.’
“I summoned a demon?”
“Are you asking me?”
“I summoned a demon,” Cassian mutters, mostly to himself.
“What are you expecting? Congratulations?” the demon-woman quips. “Look, just tell me what you want.”
“About that…'' Cassian starts, clearing his throat awkwardly and rubbing his hand against the back of his neck. “I actually didn’t mean to summon you. It was an accident.”
“Is this a joke?”
“Unfortunately not. But I don’t need anything from you, so I guess you can just go back to wherever it is demons live.”
“That’s not how it works. I’m tied to you until you banish me.”
“And how do I do that?”
“You don’t know how to banish me?”
“I just told you I summoned you by accident. I’m not even sure how I did that.”
The demon-woman closes her eyes and lets out a long sigh through her nose like she’s trying to stay calm. Cassian can’t help but wonder what would happen if she doesn’t stay calm. Would she attack him like demons in movies? Are the representations of demons in movies accurate? Would it be rude to ask her? After a moment, the demon-woman takes a deep breath and smooths back her hair before settling her eyes back on Cassian.
“So, let me get this straight,” the demon-woman says. “You summoned me by accident, you don’t actually have any biddings for me to do, and you don’t know how to banish me.”
“Yes,” Cassian replies, chuckling sheepishly.
“Great,” the demon-woman mutters. “I was summoned by an idiot.”
“But I can Google it,” Cassian promises.
It turns out, Google isn’t that helpful when it comes to actual demons. Cassian tries various different searches, but all that he’s able to come up with is a bunch of television and movie references, a Buzzfeed article comparing different celebs to demons, and a weird article about making deals with the devil. Luckily, he is able to find a local witchy shop that’s only three blocks down from his apartment. Unfortunately, they’re closed and don’t open until the next morning, so he and demon-woman are stuck together for the time being.
He had moved to the sofa when he started his Google deep dive, and the demon-woman had stepped gracefully out of the pentagram to sit on the opposite end. She hasn’t said anything since their initial talk when she appeared, and Cassian can’t help but steal glances her way out of the corner of his eye. She looks like a queen the way she’s perched on the cream colored sofa cushion.
“So,” Cassian drawls into the silence. “Do demons eat? I can order pizza.”
The demon-woman turns to him, one eyebrow poised. The look sends a shiver down his spine. He's not entirely sure it's out of fear.
As it turns out, demons do in fact eat, as Cassian learns. He also learns that this particular demon prefers her pizza topped with veggies and that her name is Nesta.
“Have you always been a demon?” Cassian asks, taking a bite of his pizza slice.
“Seriously?”
“You’re the first demon I’ve ever met. You can’t blame me for being curious, sweetheart.”
Nesta’s eyes snap to his, a scowl pinched across her lips. The expression pulls a smile across Cassian’s own face, which only makes Nesta’s eyes narrow more. Cassian’s fingers itch to reach out and smooth the lines between her eyebrows. The desire is so sudden that Cassian busies himself with grabbing another slice of pizza out of the box to distract himself.
“First of all, don’t ever call me sweetheart again,” Nesta starts. “And to answer your question, no. I haven’t always been a demon.”
“Then how did you become a demon?”
“I made a deal.”
“Was it worth it?”
Something passes over Nesta’s face then, like ghostly fingers leaving a haunting trail against her skin. Her spine straightens like steel, and when her eyes meet Cassian’s again, there’s a guardedness to her expression that speaks volumes yet leaves Cassian with even more questions.
“Most days,” Nesta replies simply.
~ * * * ~
The witchy shop is decidedly less spooky than Cassian had envisioned, but perhaps that’s just his biases and what movies taught him coming into play. He expects cobwebs and weird animal parts in slimy jars, and maybe a black cat that screeches at him when he steps inside. Instead, there’s an aisle dedicated to herbs and another dedicated to crystals. He squints at the black scrawled writing of the placards declaring what each crystal is for. He supposes it would be a bit too easy if one just said ‘banishing demons.’
Nesta sighs loudly from over his shoulder when he picks up a candle to smell. When he glances her way, her arms are crossed and that scowl from before is back plastered across her face. Slowly, he turns back around and sets the candle back down on the shelf.
“Do you mind?” Nesta quips.
“Alright, alright,” Cassian acquiesces, keeping his voice down to avoid attention. Another thing he learnt last night was that only he could see and hear Nesta.
He heads for the counter of the shop where a young woman is arranging jewelry in the display case. As he approaches, the woman looks up and offers him a friendly smile. Cassian tries to offer one back, but he’s sure it must look more like a grimace. Once at the counter, Cassian clears his throat, shoving nervous fingers through his tangle of hair.
“Hello,” Cassian starts awkwardly. “This is probably a weird question, but you wouldn’t happen to know how to banish a demon, would you?”
“Do you have a demon problem?” the shop worker asks.
“Something like that.”
“Well, is the demon powerful?”
Cassian looks over his shoulder to Nesta, raising a questioning eyebrow at her. In response, she merely smiles. It’s all teeth and the exact opposite of innocent. It stirs something deep in his gut.
“Very,” Nesta bites out.
Cassian turns back to the shop worker. “Very.”
“Wait,” the shop worker replies. “The demon, is he here?”
“She,” Cassian corrects. “And yes.”
“But how did she get past my wards?”
Cassian’s gaze follows the shop worker’s own, to the silver trinkets that twist and clink together softly above the shop’s door. He can hear Nesta’s scoff at the suggestion, and he doesn’t need to be looking at her to know that she’s rolling her eyes.
“It would seem they don’t work,” Cassian offers sheepishly.
The shop worker gapes for just a moment before she turns on her heel, pushing past the beads hanging over the doorway to the backroom. When she returns, she has a box of crystals that she sets down on the counter, a bundle of herbs labeled ‘sage’ and a folded up piece of paper nestled on top.
“You’ll need to draw a circle and set these crystals around it,” the shop worker explains. “Make sure you charge the crystals under the full moon and don’t wait. Do it the next day. That’s when they’ll be the most powerful. Burn the sage to cleanse and say this incantation, and you should be free of your demon.”
“Great,” Cassian exclaims, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. “I’ll take it.”
After paying and gathering his items, they head out of the shop. Cassian feels lighter already. They have a plan. Plus, the fall weather today is gorgeous and that always helps to lift his spirits, the cool breeze and canopy of yellow and reds above their heads. It definitely helps that fall and Nesta look amazing together, the golden rays of the sun bouncing off her hair. Cassian can’t help but offer her an easy grin as they walk side by side.
“See? That was super easy. We’ll have you banished before you know it.”
“And when’s the next full moon?” Nesta asks dryly.
Cassian startles slightly at the question. He shifts the weight of the things he just bought to one arm and digs his phone out of his pocket with the other. A quick Google later, and Cassian takes in the date glaring back at him on the small screen with a frown. When he looks back up at Nesta, she’s staring back at him unimpressed, clearly already knowing the answer. With a roll of her eyes and what sounds to Cassian like a muttered ‘idiot,’ she takes off ahead him back toward his apartment.
It’s going to be a long two and half weeks.
--
And Cassian simps the whole time for those two and a half weeks. And there’s feelings. And Cassian makes a deal of his own to save Nesta’s soul. And they live happily ever after.
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Safe Haven: tfatws!Bucky Barnes x fem!reader
chapter three - Chapter Four: Madripoor - chapter five
Series Masterlist
Plot: Y/n, Sam and Bucky pay an eventful visit to Helmut Zemo in Berlin, heading to Madripoor soon after to get answers about the serum.
Word Count: 7.4k
Warnings: spoilers for episode.3, angst, violence, description of injuries, a few crumbs for the slow burn, breaking the law and looking good doing it
A/N: These chapters always end up being so long lol. I was going to include the nightclub scene but it would’ve made it too long so sorry, it’ll have to wait a few more days. Forgive my shitty Russian translations, I’m on Google Translate and that’s not saying a lot.
----
“Not that it makes a difference, but I still don’t like this.”
I’d voiced my displeasure about meeting with Zemo several times since we’d arrived in Germany. Even though we were already being led through the high security Berlin prison hallways, I still felt the urge to state my opinion.
The guard that was guiding us gestured towards a door, “He’s just through the corridor.”
“Give us a sec,” Bucky said, the three of us coming to a halt in the middle of the hall. “I’m gonna go in alone.”
“Why?” Sam asked.
“You’re an Avenger, you know how he feels about that,” Bucky looked to me, “You, I’m trying to keep as far away from him as possible.”
“It’s not like you two were known for frolickin’ in the sun together,” Sam remarked.
“I’m gonna say it again,” I took an assertive step forward, “I don’t like this.”
“He was obsessed with HYDRA,” Bucky pushed, “We have a history together. Trust me, I got it.”
Taking my cue from Sam, who didn’t fight him any more, I nervously watched Bucky stalk down the hallway to the corridor that led to our possible next step.
“Is he really okay?” I asked, watching Bucky’s figure until he disappeared, “I feel like we’re going a little too far with this.”
“He’s invested, which means he’s desperate,” Sam answered, leaning his back against the wall, “This is a little too much though.”
I copied his posture and we stood in silence, the occasional guard passing by. “What happened last night after I left the room? C’mon, you come out crying and you thought I was gonna let it go?”
“Bucky and I were just…” I sighed, remembering the change that had happened between our two conversations, “Learning to get along. I told him about Steve, that’s never fun to relive.”
“Ah,” Sam nodded, “Can I ask you something?”
“Hm?”
“You’re not mad at me that I gave up the shield, are you?”
My brows knitted together as I looked over at him, “Why would I be mad? Your decision wouldn’t have changed even if I was, would it?”
“No, it wouldn’t have. But you were close to Steve too, you care about his legacy,” he went on, “We’re all angry about Walker. I don’t care if Bucky’s upset at me, but I always care if you are.”
“Someone ever tell you you care too much sometimes?” I playfully nudged his sneaker with my own, “Of course I’m not mad, you know I support you no matter what. You made the right decision for you and you have nothing to apologize for. Bucky and even Steve don’t need to understand why you chose to give it up. Would it have been cool to say that my brother is Captain America?” I coaxed a laugh out of him, “Of course, but it doesn’t change how I see you. I’m just proud to say my brother is Sam Wilson.”
He poked me with his elbow and smiled, “Now I remember why I keep you around.”
“Y/n Y/l/n, Falcon’s Ego Booster.”
We were sharing a laugh when Bucky came back around the corner. “That was quick,” I observed. He’d been in there five minutes tops.
“We’ve got our next stop.”
————
“What are you talking about? You wanna break Zemo outta jail?” Sam questioned in the dark, “Where are we, Buck? Have you lost your mind?”
“We have no leads, no moves, nothing,” Bucky replied, shining his flashlight around to try and find the power switch. I couldn’t clearly make out where he had brought us to, he’d brought us through the back door of the building.
“So because we’ve hit one dead end, you want to spring one of the most dangerous men in the world out of prison?” I asked, shining my flashlight at Bucky causing him to throw a hand up to shield his eyes, “Bucky, I don’t-“
“Like this,” he finished, “I got that, but we’ve got eight Super Soldiers on the loose.”
“Zemo’s gonna miss with our minds, especially yours,” Sam interjected, “No offense.”
I made out Bucky’s silhouette reaching up a beam, a loud click of a switch and the lights began to turn on. “Offense,” he scowled.
With the lights on, we could finally see that we were in an auto shop. I was glad to be out of the prison but I wasn’t seeing the correlation between it and freeing Zemo.
“Super Soldiers go against everything he believes in,” Bucky continued, “He is crazy, but he still has a code.”
“I’ve been on the wrong side of that code and so have you,” Sam countered, I’d heard in detail about the havoc Zemo had caused and the ramifications of his actions had caused Sam and Steve to become fugitives. Never mind what he’d done to Bucky…”He blew up the UN, he killed King T’Chaka and framed you for it. Did you forget that? You think the Wakandans forgot about it? It’s a rhetorical question, they didn’t. I know why this matters to you, but it’s pushing you off the deep end.”
Bucky stood in front of us now, “We don’t know how they’re gettin’ the serum. We don’t even know how many of them there are,” Sam turned his back in frustration, “Look, let me just walk you two through a hypothetical. Can I walk you through a hypothetical?”
“What did you do?” Sam asked suspiciously, turning halfway to meet Bucky’s eyes.
“I didn’t…” Bucky’s looked away briefly, “Do anything.”
“Then by all means,” I leaned up against a beam and crossed my arms, not believing him at all, “Let’s ride the hypothetical train.”
Bucky frowned at my sarcasm before launching into it, “The weakest point in any system isn’t the software, the hardware, it’s the meatware. The human element. Now, in this lockup, it’s nine to one, prisoners to guards. And if two prisoners start fighting, then the protocol says four guards have to respond.”
“So why would two prisoners randomly start fighting at that moment?” Sam asked.
“Who knows? There could be many reasons…But the point is, these things escalate. Lockdown procedures would have to be initiated and with all those bodies flying around left and right, wouldn’t be hard to slip down a hallway or two. And if the fire alarm got tripped while the prisoners were being separated, someone could use the chaos to their advantage.”
“My gut is sounding off every alarm it has right now,” I commented from my place across from Bucky.
“Yeah, I don’t like how casual you’re bein’ about this, this is unnatural,” Sam replied finally, “Are you- and where are we, man?”
A nearby door closing caused us to turn our attention towards it, a silhouette appearing soon after through a curtain. The shadow became a man and walked through the cloth divider wearing the face I’d had etched in my brain since the day it hit the news.
“You son of a bitch,” I mumbled, creating a ball of energy quickly with my hands.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Sam’s voice rose, walking with me towards the man, “What are you doin’ here?”
Bucky was quick to throw himself in front of us, “No, listen. I didn’t want to tell you ‘cause I knew neither of you would let this happen.”
“What the hell did you do?” I exclaimed.
“We need him,” Bucky said.
Sam pointed to Zemo, “You’re going back to prison!”
“If I may,” the Sokovian man began, removing the hat of his stolen prison guard uniform.
“NO!” the three of us yelled at the same time.
He hung his head, “Apologies…”
Bucky turned back to Sam, “When Steve refused to sign the Sokovia Accords, you backed him. You broke the law, and you stuck your neck out for me,” when Sam averted his gaze, Bucky chased it, “I’m asking you to do it again.”
“And what about her?” Sam gestured to me and the ball of energy I still had formed in my palms, “What happens when she breaks the law?”
Bucky’s pleading eyes drifted to me, “He’s our only shot at getting any answers.”
My mind was wrestling with itself, his rightness was inevitably going to come at a cost we would all have to pay. On a technicality, yes, I could plead innocent to freeing Zemo. A coconspirator charge, I wouldn’t be so lucky with. But stopping the Flag Smashers meant saving lives and that wasn’t something I could walk away from.
I deformed the energy in my hands in cautious surrender, “I’m already breakin’ the law by going against the accords, I need to make it worth it at least.” Sam shot me an exasperated glance, but he didn’t fight me.
“I really think I’m invaluable…” Zemo began from his corner.
“Shut up…” Sam warned, effectively shutting him up.
Sam thought it all over for a second before pressing his flashlight to Bucky’s chest, “Okay. If we do this, you don’t make a move without our permission.”
Zemo shrugged, “Fair.”
The three of us shared an uneasy look, there was no going back now. “Okay, Zemo, where do we start?”
“Follow me,” he smiled, leading the way out of the auto shop and expecting us to follow. Sam went first, eager to keep his eye on Zemo at all times while Bucky and I brought up the rear.
“I didn’t want to have to go this route,” he said from beside me as if he owed me some explanation for his actions.
I sighed, trying to shut off the part of my brain that was screaming at me, “Just be right.”
We maneuvered through a few corridors until we hit a room filled with beautiful antique cars.
“So our first move is grand theft auto?” Sam asked.
“These are mine,” Zemo corrected, “Collected by family over the generations. I spent years hunting people HYDRA recruited to recreate the serum. Because once it’s out there, someone can create an army of people…like the Avengers,” he dug through one of the cars to pull out a bag and coat, “I ended the Winter Soldier program once before. I have no intention to leave my work unfinished.”
My eyes unavoidably flickered to Bucky, observing his reaction to hearing his old code name. He simply watched the man continue speaking. “To do this, we’ll have to scale a ladder of lowlifes.”
“Well, join the party. We’ve already started…” Sam commented.
“First stop is a woman named Selby,” Zemo stated as he headed for the exit, “Mid-level fence I still have a line on. From there, we climb.”
Sam, Bucky and I left a gaping distance between us and him, we were still highly suspicious and I had a feeling we would be until our temporary partnership came to an end.
————
Zemo had gotten word to somebody that we’d be meeting them at a private airport in Berlin and flying to someplace called Madripoor. Somehow we’d made the journey without being recognized, even those of us who were wanted across the globe.
“So all this time you’ve been rich?” Sam asked as we made our way towards the private plane.
“I’m a Baron, Sam,” Zemo answered, “My family was royalty until your friends destroyed my country.”
Zemo greeted the man standing outside the plane, who was dressed like a butler, in Sokovian. “Well,” I crossed my arms and watched one of the world’s most dangerous men exchange cheek kisses, “If we’re going to work with a criminal, at least we picked one that comes with transportation.”
“Please,” Zemo said, gesturing for us to follow him up the plane’s steps. Sam awkwardly bowed to the butler and headed up. Bucky extended a hand towards the jet for me to go ahead of him before following closely behind.
When we filed into the plane, Sam and Zemo were already seated. I moved to take the chair across from the baron, wanting to keep as close an eye on him as I could. Bucky’s flesh arm reached out quickly and grabbed my shoulder, I turned to question him and met his wary expression. “Sit with Sam,” he muttered quietly, our faces close enough that I could feel his breath as he’d spoken. It dawned on me that he wanted me to have the safer position. I answered with a nod, maneuvering around him to sit across from Sam. Even though his hand had left my arm, I could still feel its print through my jacket.
We had been flying for maybe twenty minutes when Zemo’s butler, Oeznik, came in carrying a glass of champagne for Zemo and offering to whip up some food. It astounded me how to the world, he was evil yet to his servants, he was a joy. “You don’t know what it’s like to be locked in a cell,” the baron said before looking over at my brother, “Oh, that’s right. You do.”
Sam bypassed the jab remarkably, “Why don’t you tell us about where we’re going?”
“I’m sorry, I was just fascinated by this,” Zemo held up a book, “I don’t know what to call it, but this part seems to be important. Who is Nakajima?”
Not two seconds after the name had left his lips, Bucky out of his seat with his metal hand wrapped around Zemo’s neck. My heart stopped as I watched him lean over the man threateningly. “If you touch that book again,” he growled, “I’ll kill you.”
This was a side of Bucky I had yet to see, the one that straddled the line between his dark past and his true self. As he sat back down, tucking the book in his pocket and refusing to meet my eyes, I could tell he wasn’t pleased with how he’d acted. I wasn’t in a place to criticize but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been slightly worried when his fingers hit Zemo’s skin.
“I’m sorry,” Zemo said, “I understand that list of names. People you’ve wronged as the Winter Soldier.”
“Don’t push it,” Bucky rasped, collecting himself after the scene.
“I’ve seen that book,” Sam spoke up, “It was Steve’s when he came out of the ice. I told him about Trouble Man, he wrote it in that book. Did you hear it? What’d you think?”
“I like ’40’s music,” Bucky shrugged and looked out the window, “So…”
“You didn’t like it?” Sam exclaimed.
“I liked it,” Bucky replied unconvincingly.
“It is a masterpiece, James,” Zemo chimed in, his hands forming a triangle, “Complete, comprehensive…It captures the African-American experience.”
While my brows raised at the European’s surprising education, Sam’s furrowed. “He’s out of line, but he’s right. It’s great, everybody loves Marvin Gaye.”
Bucky shook his head, “I like Marvin Gaye.”
“Steve adored Marvin Gaye.”
“He did,” I chuckled, reminiscing back to only last year, “Played him almost anytime I got in a car with him.”
“You must have really looked up to Steve,” Zemo said, “But I realized something when I met him. The danger with people like him, America’s Super Soldiers, is that we put them on pedestals.”
“Watch your step, Zemo…” Sam warned.
“They become symbols. Icons. And then we start to forget about their flaws. From there,” he shrugged, “Cities fly, innocent people die. Movements are formed, wars are fought,” Zemo turned his attention to Bucky, “You remember that, right?” As a young soldier sent to Germany to stop a mad icon. Do we want to live in a world full of people like the Red Skull? That is why we’re going to Madripoor.”
“What’s up with Madripoor?” Sam looked between the two men, “You guys talk about it like it’s Skull Island.”
“It’s an island nation in the Indonesian archipelago,” Bucky grumbled, “It was a pirate sanctuary back in the 1800s.”
“It’s kept its lawless ways, but we cannot exactly walk in as ourselves,” Zemo’s unsettling eyes moved back to Bucky, “James, you will have to become someone you claim is gone.”
With the way Bucky’s expression had changed in mere seconds from complacent to tortured, it didn’t take long to decode what Zemo was insinuating. “No,” I blurted out, “That’s not fair to ask of him.”
“I admire your devotion, Y/n,” Zemo complimented with his lips to his champagne flute, taking a quick sip, “But you know nothing of how Madripoor works. If you want to get to Selby, we must have protection. More than that, we must have leverage. James can provide us both by simply playing a part.”
“Devo-?” I shook my head, sidestepping Zemo’s comment, “That’s not playing a part, that’s like reliving every nightmare you’ve ever had. I-it’s like-“
“Y/n,” I turned to see Bucky’s chair rotated towards me, looking helpless and determined all at once, “We need in.”
“Yeah, but…” I started to protested before seeing his eyes, those ocean blue eyes I was growing to feel comforted by begging me to let the subject go. I clenched my own y/e/c ones shut in frustration, “Okay.”
“Now that that’s settled,” Zemo stood from his seat, “I will find us something to change into, we will need to blend in where we’re going.”
——
The silver dress Zemo had chosen for me was…it made me wonder just what kind of scene we were planning to enter. It was more revealing than anything I typically wore, but gorgeous nonetheless and fit perfectly.
As I was finishing my makeup in the bathroom of the plane, I had to take a second to steel myself for what was to come. This wasn’t just dallying with Super Soldiers any more, this was dancing with the criminal underworld. Zemo hadn’t told us yet the roles we were playing, only that we needed to stay in character at all cost. I had never felt more out of my depth, but had no choice but to rise to the occasion. Giving myself one last check in the mirror, I unlocked and exited the bathroom.
“Okay, I hope whoever I’m playing is bad with heels,” I held up the elaborate shoes Zemo had matched to my dress, “Because there’s no way I’m going to be graceful in these.”
Sam looked up from tying his dress shoes, dressed in a maroon suit patterned with yellow circles. His eyes scanned my outfit unapprovingly. “Uh uh,” he protested, going full protective big brother, “Nope. It shows too much.”
“It doesn’t matter what it shows,” I said, bending over to strap on the shoes, “It’s what I’ve got.”
“She’s right,” Zemo chimed in, putting his jacket on, “You two are supposed to be rich, glamorous travelers of the world. You need to look the part,” he nodded towards me, “You wear it well.”
I politely smiled at the baron and looked up to Bucky, perched in the far corner of the jet. His gaze was fixed on me, eyes quickly traveling down my body before quickly locking with mine. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, his plush lips parted ever so slightly. I found myself just as drawn into him as he seemed to be with me, for a few seconds it was just the two of us shutting our surroundings out. It was…something.
“You look nice,” Bucky finally said, his voice slightly strained.
My lips quirked upwards, “Thanks.”
“It is time for us to leave,” Zemo announced, bursting the bubble Bucky and I had built, “You’d better get used to those shoes quickly, we’ll be making most of the journey by foot.”
He hadn’t been lying. We departed the runway and walked our way towards the city. Madripoor looked beautiful on the outside, the high-rise buildings lit up in all different colors emitting a glow across the waters.
“We have to do something about this,” Sam finally exclaimed, holding the lapels of his patterned maroon suit, “I’m the only one who looks like a pimp.”
“If you’re a pimp, what does that make me?” I gestured to the amount of skin I had on display, “Suck it up, Wilson.”
“Only an American would assume a fashion-forward black man looks like a pimp,” Zemo added as we crossed the large bridge leading to the city, “You look exactly like the man you’re supposed to be playing. The sophisticated, charming African rake named Conrad Mack, aka the Smiling Tiger.”
Sam took Zemo’s phone from his outstretched hand, “He even has a bad nickname.”
I leaned over to look at the picture of Sam’s doppelgänger, “Hey, be nice. That’s your twin you’re talking about.”
“And you,” Zemo addressed me, “Conrad is known for entertaining beautiful women, one after the other,” he ignored the faces of disgust Sam and I made at the thought of acting as a couple, “You will be playing tonight’s date, no need to come up with a name or a story as his dates are typically just arm candy.”
“So I’m supposed to just sit and look pretty?” I side eyed Zemo in annoyance, “Great.”
“You smell this?” he asked the group.
“Yeah, what is that? Acid?” Sam asked.
“Madripoor,” Zemo answered, “No matter what happens, we have to stay in character. Our lives depend on it. There’s no margin for error. High Town’s that way,” Zemo pointed towards the part of the city I’d been admiring, “Not a bad place if you want to visit, but Low Town’s the other way.”
We approached a car waiting for us at the end of the bridge, ready to take us into the darkest part of the city. Bucky, who had remained silent since the plane, climbed into the backseat first while Zemo took the passenger’s side.
“Let me guess,” Sam remarked as we moved to get in the car, “We don’t have any friends in High Town.”
“I’m guessing not,” I muttered, ducking into the back seat and sliding till I was pressed against Bucky. He didn’t make a sound, he barely even registered my presence. I was about to ask him if he was alright when I realized what he was doing. We all had our roles to play and Bucky was doing just that.
Sam climbed in next to me and we took off, me sandwiched between the two men trying to convince myself that I could do this. I could pretend to be someone I wasn’t to get answers, but my nerves was convincing me I was going to mess it up for us. No margin for error, Zemo’s words bounced around in my brain. He’d said our lives depended on it. They depended on whether or not I could keep it together. Sam must have sensed my anxiety because I felt his palm slide against my clammy one and squeeze. I sent a shaky one back, taking what comfort I could that I didn’t have to do this alone.
We were escorted in by a motorcade till we got to the seedier part of the city, the bridge we parked under painted with graffiti. Sam helped me out of the car and Zemo took our group through the back way into the city. As we crossed the overhead bridge, looking down into the city, I began to feel like my life had suddenly become some fever dream. Even more so once we entered the city and I was surrounded by people from all walks of life. Smugglers were making deals, guards were stationed outside buildings with machine guns, forgers were trying to sell to people. It was like nothing I’d ever seen. Sam kept me on his arm the entire time, selling our characters while still retaining his protective nature.
We followed Zemo into a crowded bar, weaving our way through. “Here we are,” he announced quietly, our fellow patrons took notice as soon as they caught sight of Bucky, “Gotov podchinit'sya, zimniy soldat?” (Ready to comply, Winter Soldier?)
I tried my best to keep my face neutral, though an unwelcome chill went down my spine as Zemo began his act. It was wrong. It wasn’t fair to Bucky or his recovery to make him do this.
We approached the bar and the bartender came over immediately, “Hello, gentlemen. Ma’am. Wasn’t expecting you, Smiling Tiger.”
“His plans changed,” Zemo explained, “We have business to do with Selby.”
The bartender looked over suspiciously at Sam, “The usual?” Sam nodded casually in response and the man walked away to begin prepping the drink. What took us by surprise was when he reached for a jar containing a dead snake rather than the bottle of alcohol. He proceeded to lay the reptile on a cutting board and slice its stomach open, I looked up to Sam who was doing his best to keep his composure.
“Ah, Smiling Tiger,” Zemo jeered, “Your favorite.”
The bartender removed a piece of the snake’s guts and sunk it into a shot glass filled with vodka. I covered my mouth with my clutch to conceal my delight at the sight I was about to behold. Sam caught the action and addressed the bartender, “You know what? She’ll have one too.”
“Oh, no, I don’t think so,” I quickly protested, waving it off as if it were a shot of tequila and not an animal intestine.
“No, girl, I insist,” Sam grinned phonily at me.
“They actually upset my stomach,” I giggled, glancing to the bartender, “Can’t hold my liquor to save my life, I’ll be up all night sick if it touches my lips. But you enjoy, sweetheart.”
The bartender didn’t pay much attention to the exchange as he set the shot glass in front of Sam, who looked unconvincingly between the glass and Zemo. “I love these,” he stated, holding it up for us all to see.
“Cheers, Conrad,” Zemo clinked his glass against Sam’s.
Sam made several, hopefully convincing, noises of excitement about his drink. After giving it one last look, he shot it straight down, holding a thumbs up to the bartender afterwards.
“How badly are you trying not to throw up right now?” I whispered after the man had left.
“I can’t even hear you right now,” Sam replied in a strained voice, focusing on keeping the drink where it needed to be.
An intimidating bearded man made us all turn around, he looked to Zemo. “I got word from on high. You ain’t welcome here.”
Zemo, ever the cool and collected presence, turned to the man. “I have no business with the Power Broker. But if he insists, he can either come and talk to me…” Zemo gestured to Bucky, standing at his side.
“New haircut?” the man asked Bucky, who stayed silent.
“Or bring Selby for a chat,” Zemo finished.
The man left, leaving us with questions. “A power broker?” Bucky grumbled, “Really?”
“Every kingdom needs its king,” Zemo replied, “Let’s just pray we stay under his radar.”
“Do you know him?” Sam inconspicuously asked.
“Only be reputation the baron answered, “In Madripoor he is judge, jury, and executioner.”
I spotted another man approaching us, this one walking with a purpose. Zemo looked to Bucky, the show was about to start. “Zimniy Soldat,” Bucky nodded once, “Attask.” (Winter Soldier, attack.)
As soon as the stranger thumped Zemo’s shoulder, Bucky sprang to action, his metal hand grabbing and twisting the man’s arm. He pushed him to the center of the room where he proceeded to twist it further before dropping him to the ground. The groans coming from him were sickening as he lay helpless, clutching his most likely broken arm. As another patron came up to attack, Bucky moved fast to disarm him before power kicking him into a table several times. I clung to Sam’s arm even tighter as Zemo shoved someone forward for Bucky to punch, sending him sliding across the floor.
“Didn’t take much for him to fall back into form,” Zemo slyly observed, from my side. It took everything in me not to send him flying across the room right then. He was enjoying this.
When Bucky lifted a man by his throat and slammed him down on the bar was when guns all over the bar were cocked. Sam grabbed onto Bucky’s metal arm, ready to pull him back to us and to reality. “Stay in character,” Zemo whispered, dead serious, “Or the whole bar turns on us.”
Sam dropped his arm as Zemo leaned into Bucky, “Molodets, soldat.” (Well done, soldier.)
“Selby will see you now,” the bartender said, watching the scene in awe.
Bucky slowly let the man go, gasping and groaning for air once he was freed. Sam looked over warily, “You good?”
When Bucky faced us, his eyes met mine before they met Sam’s. I wished I could have concealed my reaction better for his sake, but the second he had attacked was the first time since we’d met that I’d been properly scared of him. It made the incident on the plane look like nothing. My mind knew he was just acting, pretending to be someone he once was for the sake of furthering our mission. But my blood ran just as cold with fear as it would have if the Winter Soldier was standing in front of me. Bucky’s eyes now were watery, filled with pain that he’d worked hard with his therapist to get through, now being brought back to life. Had the bar not been watching and had I not needed to stick with Sam, I’d have been at his side trying to make sure he was alright. Instead, I could only watch as he sniffled, nodded to Sam and followed Zemo to wherever we were going next.
We were escorted upstairs through a series of hallways with a heavily armed guard following us. A white haired woman sat in the middle of the room we were led to, tapping her fingers against the couch she lounged on. “You should know, Baron, people don’t just come into my bar and make demands.”
Zemo smiled, “Not a demand. An offer.”
Sam and I took our places standing next to Selby, Bucky stood watch across from us, back in his act.
“A lot has changed since you were here last,” Selby spared a look at Bucky, “By the way, I thought you were rotting away in a German prison. How did you escape?”
“People like us always find a way, don’t we?” Zemo shrugged, “I’m sure you’ve already figured out what I’m here for.”
Selby pointed a blind finger towards Sam, “You’re taller than I’d heard, Smiling Tiger,” she eyed Sam suggestively and gave him a purr before turning her attention to me, “And what a lovely little dish you’ve got with you.”
Internally I was struggling to stay calm and had never felt more exposed with the thin materiel of the dress over my body.
“What’s the offer?” Selby grinned at Zemo.
“Tell us what you know about the super-soldier serum,” Zemo replied, rising from his seat to circle Bucky, “And I give you him, along with the code words to control him, of course. He will do anything you want,” Zemo rubbed Bucky’s chin, playing with it to provoke him but knowing he could get away with it. I felt sick to my stomach.
“Now that’s the Zemo I remember,” Selby approved, “I’m glad I decided not to kill you immediately. Yeah, you were right to come to me. Arrogant, but right. The super-soldier serum is here in Madripoor. Dr. Wilfred Nagel is the man you wanna thank. Or condemn, depending on what side of this you’re on. The Power Broker had him working on the serum, but…things didn’t go as planned.”
I squeezed Sam’s arm, we were getting answers. The crazy, chaotic plan was actually working.
“Is Nagal still in Madripoor?” Zemo asked.
“Oh, the bread crumbs you can have for free,” Selby’s flirtatious demeanor shifted as she stood to business-like, “But the bakery is gonna cost you, Baron. And before you get all cute, don’t think you can find Nagel without me.”
A sudden vibration tickled my arm from Sam’s suit pocket, it was his cell phone. He pulled it out hesitantly and looked down at it, I glanced over to see that it was Sarah calling.
“Answer it,” Selby ordered, Bucky had moved behind her to give us protection if need be, “On speaker.”
The armed bodyguards moved in closer, it was clear we had no say in the matter. Sam unlocked his phone and pressed the speaker button, “Hello?”
“Hey, um, we need to talk about this situation,” Sarah’s voice filled the air, sending an all too brief wave of peace through me, “It’s been drivin’ me nuts.”
“What situation exactly are you talkin’ about?” Sam replied stiffly.
“Are you high? You know what situation, it’s the only situation me and you have.”
“What situation, Sarah?” Sam’s voice grew louder, “Say it.”
“The damn boat,” Sarah replied just as hard, “And watch your tone, okay? I let you slide at the bank.”
Sarah. The boat. Home. And here I was standing in a designer dress meeting with Indonesian crime bosses. Two unbelievable worlds were colliding on the call.
Sam scoffed and nervously chuckling, “Yeah, the bank. Laundered so much, yeah, they’ll come around.”
“If that was the case, then why’d they dog you out, Big Time?”
“Yeah, you damn right I’m Big Time. You’ll see,” Sam paused menacingly, “When I have that banker killed.”
We almost had Selby convinced as I watched her pace around the room, we were so close to-
“Cass! What’d I tell you about the Cheerios? I don’t have time for this!” Sarah yelled, “Sam, I’m sorry. Let me call you back, and make sure Y/n is with you too.”
“Sam? Y/n?” Selby echoed the names, “Who are you? Kill them!”
A second after she had given the order, a bullet shot through the nearby window and struck her chest fatally. The four of us sprung to action, Sam landing punches on the guard stationed behind us while I used my energy to pull the machine gun from his grasp. Across from us, Bucky took care of the other guard. I handed the weapon to Sam and we took our positions in the back of the room, ready to retaliate against the hidden assassin.
“They’re gonna pin this on us,” Sam panted, our backs against the wall.
“We have a real problem now,” Zemo said, unbelievably calm for someone in our situation, “So leave your weapons and follow my lead.”
Bucky ripped the lock on the back door and the four of us filed down the staircase quick as we could. It dropped us back off in the middle of the city, we hurriedly made our way down the street where all heads were turning to us. “This is not good,” Zemo hurried.
The words hung in the air for a grand total of five seconds before bullets started to rain down around us. Bucky, Sam and I tore down the street where in the chaos, Zemo took off in another direction.
“I can’t run in these heels!” Sam yelled over the gunfire.
“Oh, I don’t wanna hear it,” I exclaimed, struggling to keep up with them in my stilettos, “Screw it!”
I threw my hands out to my side and lifted off the ground, keeping low enough to dodge any shots but stay close to Sam and Bucky. Two motorcycles sped after us promising more bounty hunters, Zemo caught up with us and killed two lone gunmen hiding behind a dumpster. Two perfectly aimed bullets came out of nowhere and lodged themselves in the heads of the cyclists chasing us.
“You seem to have a guardian angel,” Zemo observed as the three of us looked around for our savior.
“Well, this is too perfect,” a woman’s voice said, she appeared seconds later drawing back her hood and pointing a gun toward us, “Drop it, Zemo.”
Bucky stepped forward disbelievingly, “Sharon?”
Sharon Carter. I recognized her only from the pictures I’d seen of her on the news when the shitstorm that branded her an enemy of the state went down. As she strode forward, ready to strike down the man responsible, I couldn’t say with certainty if she was an ally or not. “You cost me everything,” she seethed.
“Sharon, wait,” Sam, ever the steady presence, held a hand out and carefully came towards her, “Someone recreated the super-soldier serum and Zemo had a lead.”
“Well, that explains why you guys are here and Selby’s dead.”
“So what are you doing here?” Bucky asked.
“I stole Steve’s shield, remember?” she answered, her face contorting, “I also took the wings for your ass,” she aimed her gun at Sam, “So that you could save his ass,” then at Bucky, “From his ass,” the gun landed on me after Zemo, “Your ass is new.”
“I’ve had one hell of an initiation, trust me,” I replied, standing my ground between Bucky and Zemo.
Sharon turned back towards Sam, “Unlike you, I didn’t have the Avengers to back me up so I’m off the grid in Madripoor.”
“Don’t blow that smoke at me, I was on the run, too,” Sam recalled.
“Was. Is. Big difference. I don’t speak to my family anymore,” Sharon shook her head sadly, “I can’t. My own father doesn’t know where I am.”
“Listen, Sharon,” Bucky stepped forward, “We need your help. Please.”
Sharon mirthlessly chuckled to herself, sighing afterwards as she made her decision. “This isn’t over. I have a place in High Town, you should be safe there for a while.”
While Sam roughly shoved Zemo forward to keep him in his line of sight, Bucky pressed a gentle hand to the small of my back to act as a guide through the dark alleyways. “You okay?” he asked quietly, quickly looking over at me.
With everything he’d gone through in the last twenty minutes, the fight in the bar, the unshed tears in his eyes, Zemo talking about him like he was property to be traded, I couldn’t understand why he was asking if I was alright. He was what I was concerned with right now. “I will be once I get out of these shoes,” I joked, trying to get him to smile if at all possible. A corner of his lips turned upwards in a blink-and-you’d-miss-it flash, mine doing the same right after in some sort of relief.
Sharon led us to her car parked down a different alley, Sam shoved Zemo in the front seat while him, Bucky and I squeezed in the backseat once again. The difference between Low Town and High Town was visceral, Madripoor may have been dangerous no matter where you went but High Town provided a little more safety. When we arrived at Sharon’s house, greeted by two burly guards, the feeling of protection increased. The first room we entered was filled with artwork, statues and other priceless works that told us exactly what Sharon had done to afford her lifestyle in High Town.
“Looks like breaking all those laws is treating you well,” Sam commented as we walked through the room.
“Well, I thought if I had to hustle, might as well enjoy the life of a real hustler,” Sharon shrugged, far too goodheartedly for a true criminal, “You know how much I can get for a real Monet?”
Sam grinned at his friend, “Deactivate your hustle mood, you sell fake Monets.”
“No, she means real,” Zemo corrected, “This gallery is specialized in stolen artwork. Monet. Van Gogh. Classics.”
“I kinda thought that was implied,” I said, following Sharon and Zemo and beginning to relax in the shockingly calm environment, “No offense.”
Sharon scoffed, “None taken, a girl’s gotta do what she can to survive. By the way, who are you?”
“Y/n Y/l/n,” I answered, “Sam’s sister.”
“Hmm,” Sharon hummed, looking me over once before turning around to hurry Sam and Bucky along, “Come on, you guys need to change. I’m hosting clients in an hour. You,” she pointed to me, “Second door on your left, I’ll bring something up for you.”
At the promise of shedding the over exposing dress and blistering heels, I had never moved faster in my life.
————
I took the opportunity to catch my breath while I could, the night had been a little too exciting than any of us had wanted. Sitting on the edge of Sharon’s bed with my elbows balanced on my knees, I felt the adrenaline rush I’d been running on start to subside.
The door opened, bringing in Sharon and her garment of choice. “This looked like it would fit you,” she said, tossing me a black jumpsuit that looked ten times more comfortable than what I was in. She walked over to her wardrobe and pulled out an outfit for herself, “I gotta change too, back to back?”
“Works for me,” I replied, turning around and beginning to unzip the dress.
“So you said you’re Sam’s sister but your last name isn’t Wilson?” Sharon asked, I could hear the sound of her clothes hitting the floor.
“We grew up together,” I freed myself of the dress and kicked it to the corner of the room.
“That doesn’t explain why you’re here though,” she said, “This is probably the shittiest family road trip you could go on so clearly there’s a reason.”
I looked over to the wardrobe, a pair of black boots sitting on the floor next to it. I used my energy to levitate them and landed them at Sharon’s side. Her dry chuckle served as her reaction. “I kinda begged him to bring me,” I explained as I pulled the jumpsuit up my body, “He was going to send me back home before John Walker decided to not so subtly threaten me with the Sokovian Accords, figured I’d be safer here with them.”
“Safer?” Sharon scoffed, “Did he say this before or after you were being shot at by bounty hunters?”
“Well, between getting shipped off to jail and going undercover with a superhero and a Super Soldier as protection, I’ll take my chances here.”
I heard Sharon walk away, presumably finished dressing. I zipped up the suit and tightened the belt, turning around after to find her leaned up against her dresser with her hands in her pockets. “Look, I know we just met but let me do you a favor and shed some light on the subject of heroics. It’s all bullshit. The whole costume, nickname, swoop-in-and-save-the-day act is all hypocrisy. I get that you’re young, you’ve got,” she waved a hand at mine, “Whatever that is. Maybe you want to do some good, maybe you just want to feel like you’re a part of something. Maybe you didn’t think it through at all and just thought it would be cool to run with a superhero. But if you’re smart, you’ll get your ass on a plane to anywhere but here and stay clear of all this.”
There was so much going through my head that I wanted to throw back at her, proving her speech completely wrong. Then I remembered that this woman had sacrificed more than most had and the government had turned their backs on her. She’d stuck her neck out for Steve and Sam and had been punished for it. Plus, she was kind enough to give us refuge when she had every right now to. I wasn’t in a place to criticize her. If anything, she should have been a cautionary tale.
“I’ve had these powers all my life and have never known what to do with them,” I responded, “I want to help people and this is the best way for me to do that. As easy as it would be for some people to walk away, this is personal and I can’t leave now.”
Sharon stared back at me silently before pushing herself off the dresser and brushing past me. There were layers of her expression, if I could peel each one back I thought I might get to the sadness I suspected she felt regarding her current life status. She opened her wardrobe, pulled out a pair of combat boots and handed them to me. “Then take a step back and ask yourself how far you’re willing to go. And if the three of you live long enough to get there, is it going to be worth the hell that’ll come afterwards?”
She gave me a half smile before leaving the room, her heavy words hanging in the air. Steve had been my friend, Sam was my brother and Bucky was quickly climbing the ranks of people I cared about. I was going to see this through to the end with them, but what was the end? Was it retrieving the rest of the serum and stopping the Flag Smashers? Was it only two of us returning? One? None? Questions I didn’t have the answers to swirled in my mind as I stared at the door, wondering what awaited us for the rest of the night.
----
A/N: Next chapter is going to be...let’s just say there’s gonna be a lot of developments. A lot. Hope you guys are enjoying it, let me know what you thought or if you’d like to be tagged.
Safe Haven taglist: @tanyaherondale @wanniiieeee @asoftie4bucky @edencherries @i-reblog-fics-i-like @ttalisa @gcfty @withyoutilltheendofthismess @rinaispunk @weirdowithnobeardo @felicityofbakerstreet @godlypotterwhodiaries @eternalharry @voguesir @mizz-kraziii @okayline @smellmymisunderstoodfluff @wanderin-stories @nicklet94 @intricate-melody @aesthethickks @stumbleonmywords @simplybarnes @21bruhs @lostinwonderland314 @superbookishhufflepuff @kaelyn-lobrutto24 @zozebo @fandomxreaders @kittengirl998 @sarai-ibn-la-ahad
#bucky barnes x reader#bucky barnes x fem!reader#bucky barnes imagine#sam wilson x reader#sam wilson x platonic!reader#marvel imagine
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Les Amis (& co.) and the stuff they have on their walls
Enjolras: Pictures of his friends. I loved this idea so much I had to expand on it so it’s the shortest paragraph here but he’ll have his own post in a couple days I PROMISE
Combeferre: He has framed bugs!!! They are mostly moths but he also has some really rare expensive beetles that he’s gotten for Christmas. One winter break when he really had nothing going on he did a bunch of research on what all of the bugs were and has little hand-written pieces of paper taped to the wall underneath the bugs with all the info like a little MUSEUM OMG it’s literally the cutest thing. And if you’ve never been to his place before he makes you pick which one if your favorite.
Courfeyrac: Has a bunch of plants all over the walls. They’re so big that he has nails in the walls and any vining plants he’ll hang the vines on the walls so they look like they’re crawling up the walls. He also strategically places big plants like any trees he has or Monsteras in corners or next to dressers. He really doesn’t like putting too much stuff on his walls because he thinks it’s a lot of commitment. He doesn’t really have a lot of printed pictures of his friends and he doesn’t really have enough art to fill a wall space without making it look awkward.
Joly: Joly is one of those really really cool guys that glues and frames all of the puzzles he finishes. Every time he goes somewhere he’s never been before he’ll go into a little tourist shop and buy the biggest puzzle he can find (the more pieces the better). There’s a separate table in the living room that he sits at and works on his puzzle at while he watches Grey’s Anatomy. He’s always rearranging things because he likes everything to have a you know that feng shui so his walls have a bunch of nail holes in them. He’s also quickly running out of wall space because now his friends have started gifting him puzzles as well.
Jehan: Jehan LOVES to collect calendars! But not just like… monthly calendars. They have moon phase calendars, lunisolar calendars, a really really cool mayan calendar replica, a roman calendar, seasonal calendar for things like when to plant and harvest fruits and veggies!, a crystal calendar, a japanese calendar… They really like to look at how different things look from different perspectives. The months look different on a seasonal calendar than they do on a “standard” calendar. It reminds them that they have more control over their time than they think they do.
Bousset: Movie posters!!!! He has posters of all his favorite movies but he really is a sucker for the movie posters that are in a retro style. He tries to make sure to buy frames for all of the posters he has because he doesn’t want them to get ruined. He’s scared not only because he has bad luck but because all of his friends are slobs and if they come over you know someone is going to somehow get beer or lasagna on the wall and some of the posters were like limited edition and he CANNOT have them ruined. He also dusts them p regularly.
Feuilly: Feuilly collects but also makes a bunch of wood art that he is very proud of. Usually when he makes something he’ll keep the first draft of it since it isn’t polished enough for him to feel like he can try to sell it. It’s not very often he can find Purple Heart stuff but when he does he really struggles to say no if it’s out of his budget. Also he has a few pieces of moss art that he ADORES
Bahorel: Collects a bunch of small random things that he finds. Pretty much he thinks if he CAN hang it on a wall that he SHOULD hang it on a wall. There’s art pieces, cards he’s gotten from people, business cards that have a cute design on them, he has a shit ton of command strips that hang things like lanyards, his go-to jackets for easy access, his towel when he doesn’t feel like walking back to the bathroom to hang it up after he’s showered. He also has like 5 sets of mini battery powered string lights that he leaves on whenever he’s not sleeping (he spends a lot of money on batteries)
Grantaire: His walls kinda work as his sketchbook when he’s home. He’s found that sometimes working on a vertical surface instead of a horizontal surface helps get the gears turning in his head. It makes him a little frustrated sometimes because he’ll have a whole piece that’s done on one of his walls and then he basically has to repeat yet and put it back on paper but it doesn’t feel the same. Since his walls are pretty much a free-for-all, all of the amis have painted something on them at some point. He tries not to paint over those spots but sometimes he has to.
Marius: Marius has a bunch of shadow boxes of stuff. Most of them are antique items like he has a shadow box that has about 50 unused boxes of matches that are from all over the world, he has a shadow box of antique flies for fly fishing. He’s never fly fished before but seeing the colors on the flies makes him want to try it at least once. He makes most of them himself also! He has one that has a bunch of wine corks in it that he had been collecting for awhile. And he has one that has one item from each Ami that he asked them to contribute to. His favorite tho is the shadow box that is filled with metal caps from soda bottles. It was the first one he made and a lot of the caps he got one summer he spent with his dad when he was a kid trying to find the best brand of soda for each flavor.
Eponine: Eponine doesn’t have a lot of stuff on her walls, she never really has but ever since she got her apartment and moved out of her parents place she got a few art pieces. They aren’t framed or anything, she always thinks that if something happens and she has to move out of her place that big framed art pieces will just be one more thing she has to worry about. It never happens and she’s accumulated enough pieces that eventually she saves up some money and gets most of them framed.
Cosette: When she was a kid her dad bought her a really beautiful wall quilt that she never took off her wall even if she was cold. They’re pretty expensive and she’s managed to collect a few other larger quilts but she also has signed up for classes at a local quilt shop and has a couple small little baby quilts she’s done as practice that she hung up. They make her so proud and she’s loved looking at how her skills have improved since she started!
Musichetta: Musichetta doesn’t have too much stuff on her walls. She has a couple pieces that are really pretty that she has framed, but one of her walls she doesn’t ever hang stuff on because a couple years ago she bought some super cool bright wallpaper that has a bunch of citrus fruits on it. It really adds a bunch of color to her apartment and even in the winter helps makes the place feel warm and bright.
Gavroche: Gav has two of his walls covered in chalkboard paint! He does his homework on them sometimes but mostly he uses them to draw little doodles. One of the walls he hasn’t touched in months because Feuilly and Grantaire worked together on a super big mural for it that took them like 3 days. Gav won’t ever erase it but he has bumped into it enough times that it’s getting pretty smudged. Plus he figures if he erases it they can just do another one. But because he has chalkboard walls he doesn’t really have anything else on his walls. He maybe has one or two pictures on the last wall that isn’t being taken up by chalkboard or closet doors.
#this was so much fun to do#tag yourself#I'm p proud of Joly's tbh#He very much seems like a puzzle guy#les mis#enjolras#combeferre#courfeyrac#jehan#joly#bousset#bahorel#feuilly#grantaire#marius#eponine#musichetta#cosette#gavroche
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