#1) i still need to replay Daybreak 1 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

de-facto-slut · 4 years ago

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Release Me Into Orbit

(Dark!Bucky x Black!Female Reader)

Summary: Bucky and the Reader are trying to heal from the trauma of their pasts.

A/N: Here we dive into the past. The true beginning to our characters stories. This story takes place both in the past and the present so get ready for that. I do plan on releasing the next Chapter of Invisible Chain soon! Stay tuned.

Warnings: Non-Con, Dub-Con, Violence, major character death, Manipulation, emotional abuse, physical abuse, eventual Kidnapping, Breeding Kink, and angst etc later in the story.

Honestly More tags will be added.

Ch 2: 2014

Longing.

It was hard for Bucky to see anything through the small opening in his cell door. He had lost count of how many years he had been locked up a long time ago. There were no windows that allowed him to even guess when it was night and when it was day. Inside his cage they made sure he had no human interaction; they left Bucky completely alone. As the years passed the only thing keeping him company was his own thoughts. Bucky would try his hardest to focus on his fragmented memories before the war. Those memories contained the few good things he could remember about being human. His first kiss behind Sal’s Diner. The smell of his mother’s home-made cherry pie. The scary thing was he couldn’t even remember his mother’s face, just the smell of her fragrant pie. To be honest he couldn’t remember any faces. They were all just blurs. When it came to his captors all he knew is that they had the same routine in place for him every day. They would feed him his one meal, then they would return to remove him from the cell. The strong ones would drag him through a maze of corridors until he reached a room filled with bright fluorescent lights. The lights illuminated the dreaded device they used for their experiments.

Rusted.

The experiments were the only time he interacted with anyone outside of his cell. Bucky could never see them properly as they always hid behind the bright lights. All he ever got to see were their shadows as they moved about speaking their foreign tongue. Nobody ever spoke to him unless they were reciting the very words that caused him great mental distress. Those words were a curse that was cast on him a long time ago after the war. One that followed him, captor to captor. They would often drug him, just enough so he’d be a little disorientated, but they made sure he’d still be able to feel and hear everything. Once drugged, that’s when they would begin torturing him. The only thing they would change in his routine is the method in which they tortured him. Each time they would try a new method to test the limits of his body and the limits of his mind. Unfortunately for Bucky, the day didn’t end until he physically and mentally could not take anymore. Eventually, they didn’t even need to use pain or the dreaded spell to get him to comply.

Seventeen.

It was a strange sensation to not be in control of one’s own body. It was a sensation that Bucky should have grown used to, but he never could. It was as if his own consciousness was taking a back seat while someone else controlled him over and over, each driver just as brutal as the next. He was always vaguely aware of what atrocities they made him commit in the name of science, and that in itself was torture to live with. When they would return him to his cell, he could barely get a wink of sleep as the images would replay over and over in his mind. Their screams ringing in his ears. This was what they had reduced him to, he was just a tool to them. Eventually, he had to do everything in his power to keep himself from going completely mad and that just meant numbing himself to it all. The bright-eyed man from Brooklyn that was just trying to save the world was gone years ago. In his place was a murderer. A weapon. A monster. And that’s all he’d ever be.

Daybreak.

It was a day like any other, except it was storming outside. Bucky could tell by the sounds of the fierce winds howling against the facility that and he had finally been moved to a cell with a small window. Bucky had learned that he had been with these particular captors for several years. Honestly, everyone that ever ‘owned’ him was the same in his eyes, so it didn’t matter how long he was kept. Eventually, he’d just be handed off or kidnapped again by someone else that wanted him. Luckily for him, years of compliance and loyalty earned him an upgraded cell and some limited freedoms. Along with some of the smaller changes he was finally able to speak their tongue, just another language to add to his impressive portfolio. There weren't a lot of things Bucky could do to entertain himself. If he wasn’t on an active mission, he was pretty much tied to his room unless they allowed him a break from his cell. In his free time, all Bucky could do is entertain himself by working out. And that’s all he ever did.

Furnace.

He was face down as his palms supported his weight in a push-up position.

“Two hundred and Forty-Nine.”

“Two Hundred and Fif-”

Nine.

He suddenly paused looking towards the door of his cell. He could have sworn he had heard a voice. Bucky waited patiently, but there was only silence in return. Perhaps he had imagined it, or maybe he was truly going mad. He returned his gaze to the floor before he heard it again. It was a voice, it was faint, but it was definitely a voice.

Benign.

“Hello?” it called out softly as if in a whisper.

Homecoming.

The voice was suddenly followed by the sound of the metal slot on the door sliding to reveal two eyes peering at him. Bucky was unsure of how to respond, mainly because he was unsure what was going on. The men who came to retrieve him from his cell never spoke to him, and this person was clearly speaking English. English felt foreign to him now, he hadn’t heard it in so long. Bucky suddenly sat up watching the eyes on the other side of the door. Again, there was a moment of silence before they spoke again.

One.

“Can you understand me?”

It was a woman.

Freight car.

---

“Mom! Hurry, I’m going to miss my flight!”

You rushed down the stairs with your bags in your hands. Your shoes caught on the last step almost causing you to trip. A quiet curse left your lips as you attempted to stabilize yourself. Your father watched as he tried not to laugh at your misfortune. Carefully, you handed him your bags and he tossed them into the trunk of his truck.

“Fragile!” you shouted at him.

You crawled into the back of the car as you patiently waited for your parents to join you. Eventually, after what seemed like another 30 minutes gone by, they entered the car. “Do you have everything?” your father asked one last time.

“Yes, now let’s get going!”

It felt like freshman year of college all over again. Instead, you were a graduating senior and you had just accepted an opportunity of a lifetime. A few months ago, your professor, Mr. Brigmova, had presented your class with an opportunity. The top five students in the program would be able to join him in a work-study program. You were still unsure how you beat out several other students, but you did. You felt extremely lucky to be able to partake in such a program. To be among the top 5 students in your area of study was everything you could have hoped for. It showed your parents that it wasn’t a waste of time or money to send you out of state for school.

Ever since middle school, you had always wanted to study genetics and biology. When you reached high school, you learned about Bioinformatics and molecular genetics and you made up your mind on what you wanted to do. When you told your parents, they began immediately running numbers in their heads. Feeling guilty about your career choice and the school you chose to attend; you worked your ass off to get and keep a 4.0 GPA. In turn that promptly led you to the 3rd spot among the top 5 students. And not to toot your own horn, you were the only double major among them. Double the hard work, so deep down you felt as if you were #1 anyway.

As a result of all your hard work, you were flying across the world for the first time. You’ve never been so nervous before your professor had revealed the location, you had never heard of Sokovia. You wouldn’t have been able to locate it on a map either, it was such a small country. This was also the first time you had to travel without your parents, and you’d be away for them for five months. You would have no safety net out there. Before you knew it, you had arrived at the airport and you could feel the butterflies settling at the bottom of your stomach like a heavy rock. You felt like you had to use the bathroom, but you knew better than that. Your parents helped you remove your bags from the car as the other cars honked impatiently. You flipped the respective vehicle off before embracing your parents one last time. You exchanged your goodbyes before you disappeared behind the airport doors.

It was the longest flight you had ever been on. After getting off the plane, you were tempted to kiss the frozen ground, but you had seen enough cartoons to know what would happen. In Sokovia, the winters were harsh around this time, and thanks to your research beforehand you were prepared. Or at least you thought you were. You exited the airport to be greeted by the harsh Sokovian winter.

The bitter cold of Sokovia nipped at your bare cheeks and the tip of your nose. Slowly it seeped into the pockets where you kept your gloved hands numbing your fingers slowly. The cold was nothing like you were used to back in the south. Immediately, regret settled right beside the nervousness as you realized you wished you had stayed behind the airport doors just a moment longer as you waited for your ride.

The streets were not as busy as google images made it seem. It was probably due to the fact that it was unbearably cold, and it was late. You desperately wanted to return to the warmth of indoors, but you feared missing your shuttle. You moved about in hopes that it would warm you up while you waited for the shuttle as you watched it grow dark. Not wanting to expose your hands to the cold you peeked at your pocket for the time before you left you made sure to adjust it for the time difference. The shuttle was running late and that worried you, you knew nothing of the language to get help if you ended up stranded.

Eventually, you took a seat on your suitcase, holding onto it tightly. The last thing you would want is to be robbed in a completely different country. You waited for what seemed like almost an hour in the cold before you saw the shuttle pull up in front of you. Slowly you stood on your two feet stretching as you watched the shuttle door slide open, only to reveal your professor. Mr. Brigmova was a tall man with an average build in his early forties. He had dirty blonde hair and striking gray eyes. If not for the slight wrinkles near his eyes, he could have easily been mistaken for his early thirties. He motioned you inside as he jumped out to grab your bags for you. You did as you were told climbing into the vehicle as the warmth inside embraced you. You watched as Mr. Brigmova carefully placed your bags in the back seat of the shuttle. He flashed you a smile as he slid into the seat next to you. “It is good to see you, Y/N.” He greeted you. “It’s nice to see you too, Mr. Brigmova,” you replied.

“Please, call me Peter. We’re colleagues now.” He responded. You noted it was just you, Your professor, and the Driver. Out of everyone you were the last from the program to make it in. Your professor turned towards the driver tapping the back of his seat, “My gotovy k rabote.” He mentioned in his native tongue. You weren’t completely sure what he had told the driver but the fact that the shuttle started moving probably was related. Peter turned to you noting how tense you were placing a hand on your knee and squeezing it lightly. His action surprised you, but he only flashed you a smile in return,

“Relax you’re in Sokovia now.”

#bucky x you #bucky x reader #dark!bucky barnes #bucky fanfic #dark!fanfiction #Dark Fic #dark!marvel #dark!bucky x reader #dark!bucky x black!reader #dark!bucky x you #dark!bucky x y/n #dark!mcu #black reader #bucky × black reader #sam wilson

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diamond-song42 · 4 years ago

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Card Shark 120: The Cutie Map

How do you do, fellow CCG players? Hope you’re ready for an Ultra Rare Holiday Dumpster Fire Card-a-Thon Card Shark! This was, frankly, a difficult choice to make because I think so many Equestrian Odysseys Ultra Rares could be useful... but I settled on this one because I have a physical copy of one of these and it just looks so cool. Let’s take a look at “The Cutie Map!”

It is new and I like it as well. This 7 power beast costs 3 AT and 4 Blue req to play... a bit of a hefty cost for a Blue Resource. Like with many Blue cards, this one allows you to move characters at a speedy rate. When a Problem enters play, any Problem (I believe that also includes Dilemmas), you can exhaust and retire the Map (the first part of which I feel is slightly unnecessary as retiring negates the need to exhaust and opposing strategies that exhaust Resources are rare and kinda dumb when you can just dismiss or banish them). If you do, you can move some characters situated at your home to that Problem. Not one character. Not two characters. You can move up to SIX. It obviously goes with the whole “Mane 6 heading out to solve a friendship problem” theme, and dang! That can not only move enough characters to a Problem to prepare a confrontation, but it can easily solve and/or delay any home limit issues you might face. And it says “characters”, so you can use it on your Mane, too! It’s even better when you move characters to a Problem at the end of an opponent’s turn, so you can instantly set up to confront that Problem and not use any AT to move and prepare things in the first place. Not to mention how you can more or less freely choose the Problem - I used to play a deck that ran one copy of this and I would usually wait until a Problem showed up that I felt confident confronting with however many characters I had in play. If you can’t quite reach the Blue req, that’s fine too - this card is also a pretty decent flip, intentional or not. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, it’s SUPER shiny! I love super shiny cards. No wonder this thing is Unique (though I frankly can’t think of any scenario where you’d want to move twelve or more characters at home at one time).

If Trixie can displace the Map that easily, there must be something wrong with it. Let’s address the elephant in the room right away: this ain’t cheap. Blue Resources are known to typically cost 1-2 AT and 1-3 Blue req, and the only other Blue Resource I could find exactly matching the Map’s cost was Rage Face (which is... kinda trashy, let’s be real). There are plenty of cheaper moving options, though you might not be able to move up to six characters with them. A mono-color deck might easily be able to pay for this, but therein lies the next issue: there are so many Blue moving options now that one of these used once might not be necessary. Just to name a few examples: ScootaMane can move two of your characters at the end of all your turns if you exhaust the moved characters. Swinging Wonders is Hasty, can move up to two characters, and provides extra power itself. In the non-Blue realm, Friends like Delivery Mare, Wrong Address and Joe, Sticky Glaze aren’t sent home by Problem replacements, and are either sent to other Problems or remain where the replaced Problem once was. If you think your opponent will do a lot of moving, there’s even a new Event called Faster Flier that has you move one of your characters whenever your opponent moves one of their characters. And there are Blue Problems such as To Griffonstone!, Guilty Until Proven Innocent, and Tarnished Reputation that allow you to move certain characters free of charge! So... yeah. This thing promises a massive payout, but can only pull off that payout once. It’s easier to obtain similar outcomes with cheaper cards.

Here’s a few more cards that have observed that the Map is new and they like it:

*Flash Magnus, Pillar of Bravery. First we have a Friend that can activate an additional effect when he is moved. Swift and Agile are pretty cool, yes, but we’re here for that ability to pay 1 AT to frighten a Friend whenever he is moved. He doesn’t even need to be exhausted! When you activate the Map, he can zip right up to a Problem and you can spook an opposing Friend. He is more expensive than the Map - 4 AT and 4 Blue req over 3 AT and 4 Blue req - but I can safely say I’ve seen this guy get more use than the Map.

*Night Glider, Ambitious Aerobat. Now for a Friend that benefits more when you have a plethora of Friends. This Night Glider not only has Swift, but she gains Competitive 1 for each of your other characters in her area (this can be at home or at a Problem). If she’s among the six characters you move to a Problem with the Map, that’s an extra Competitive 5 right there! Sure, it’s no Daybreaker, but I still think this card has some validity to it.

*Hoity Toity, Discerning Eye. Then there’s the Friend that allows you to play Friends and Resources from your discard pile as if they were in your hand! There’s no Blue/Orange/White tricorn yet, but if you used the Map once and it is sitting in your discard pile, you can replay it as long as Hoity Toity is involved in the fray. You would have to banish the Map the second time you use it, but I believe that’s a fair price to pay for two cards with such standing power.

*Crown of Grover. I couldn’t leave this Shark without touching on at least one New Dawn card! This is one of my favorite Resources in the new set. I suggest this one here for the first ability: when you move one of your characters (which, hypothetically, could be done with the Map), you can pay 1 AT less for the next Friend you play that turn, to a minimum of 1 AT. Even if there aren’t many Friends that cost 5 or more AT that are frequently seen competitively, that’s still a pretty discount (which you could even lower more with other Blue cards). I believe this could ideally be paired with the playing of a Dilemma - there aren’t a lot of Hasty Friends that cost more than 3 AT that are really good in competitive play, no matter what format. The other effect on the Crown gives one of your characters Swift whenever you play a Friend until the end of the turn, but since you’ll already be moving boatloads with the Map I think you’re safe not worrying about that until the Map is out of play.

Thanks for reading this Ultra Rare Holiday Dumpster Fire Card-a-Thon Card Shark! I’m moving into High Magic next with a Friend that has hilariously come in handy for me on one or two occasions... though my inclusion of it in the Holiday Dumpster Fire Card-a-Thon might land me on some hitlists (if I wasn’t on those hitlists before). Make sure you tune back in to see what it is! Diamond out!

#my little pony #mlp:fim #my little pony friendship is magic #mlp #ccg #mlpccg #mlp:ccg #the cutie map #resource #equestrian odysseys #ultra rare #card shark #holiday dumpster fire card a thon

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dreamca7cher · 5 years ago

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Dystopia: The Tree of Language Album Review

As an InSomnia I’ve learned to expect the unexpected with Dreamcatcher - yes they have an established sound, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the contents of each album and this is no exception! I’m glad they've moved back to a harder hitting, darker sound when compared to the Raid of Dream album as a whole. DC continues their exploration into other genres while still retaining that sound that they’re known for now.

1. Intro: This intro is very cinematic, if that makes sense? Like it makes me feel like I’m watching a movie with the images that come to mind while listening. LEEZ & Ollounder continue to experiment heavily with their intros. It’s much more akin to Déjà vu than I was expecting, and yet again it leaves me wishing it were a full song (7/10)

2. Scream: the biggest departure from their sound in a title, it nonetheless is another banger. And I have been awaiting the return of RAP GOD GAHYEON!! Seriously tho, the darker sounds are present again, instead of the previous song which I would describe as ethereal. Still not sure how I feel about the chorus, it’s weaker compared to their previous title tracks, but maybe I shouldn’t be comparing. (8.5/10)

3. Tension: I can see how this is kind of a sister song to Good Night, it’s just pure simple rock and I love it. The prechorus sounds like it’s juust about to go “oh baby run run run” at the beginning of the chorus lol. I’ll definitely be replaying this one endlessly (9/10)

4. Red Sun: ooh now this sounds very gothic/medieval, very cool how they made this sound. THAT DAMI RAP! My forte is rock, but the slow funkiness also gives a slightly creepy feeling which I am loving. (8/10)

5. Black or White: this is some groovy bass! The contrast behind the rap and the vocals in the latter half of the song are so ambitious. Can’t say I love the repetitive “black or white” but then again that’s the only part in English so it’s notable. Not my style, but I can dig it (7/10)

6. Jazz Bar: going with some more hella descriptive track titles I see lol, wow does this mid album track totally bring the dark rock atmosphere to a screeching halt (but not in a bad way). Feels like a nice breath of fresh air, or maybe a Dark Souls save point is more accurate hah. As they said, this song would fit in the background of a coffee shop (8/10)

7. Sahara: and we’re back to rock, again super fitting title I feel like I’m in a desert with that opener. The slow “Sa-ha-ra, ra, ra, ra” part is so great, and the hard drumbeats and guitar make it that much better. I don’t think Dami needed to be autotuned, but it’s a cool effect, and I don’t mind it. And I love that she joins in the chorus too! I had a feeling this one would be the other standout, and I’m pleased to see that I was correct (9/10)

8. In The Frozen: I was anticipating more electronica somewhere on this album, so glad to see it mixed with a few more styles here. Even slower than ever, but it’s still lit (8/10)

9. Daybreak: heavily R&B style and slow, so not really my thing. I think this is probably the weakest song on the album (6/10)

10. Full Moon: we all know it, we all love it, something about our 1st fan song finally making it on a full album just makes me smile :) this song has really grown on me throughout the years to be my #2, I think it’s pretty much perfect. Perfect amount of guitar, drums, piano, rap, it’s just a fantastic song even without considering all of its fandom significance (10/10)

11. Over the Sky: it’s been said a million times, but yes this sounds like an anime song, more so than their others. Peppier than most DC songs, it’s still a great very fast rock piece that holds special significance as our 2nd anniversary fan song even if it’s not in my top 10 favorites (8/10)

12. Outro: very subdued and brings to mind water imagery. A fitting end to an album that (except for Jazz Bar) was dark as ever, if not even more so. As far as an independent piece, I think it could have been more interesting (6.5/10)

13. Scream Instrumental: I actually really appreciate the title track instrumentals for DC. You can always find something new that you might not have noticed in the song because of the lyrics taking most of your attention. I definitely did not notice how barebones this song is aside from the beats until the chorus in the regular song. And the anticipation of that scream is haunting (7/10)

14. Paradise: DCC was spot on, this song is a perfect bridge between the Raid of Dream album, and the themes of this one. And of course, no one could deny Siyeon’s wonderful voice. I was hoping it would be more on display in some of the other songs, but I digress. It deserves a high score for the awoo’s alone (9/10)

I’ll admit, usually I’m a bit worried when it comes to full-length albums because it’s just tough to fit that many high quality songs onto one album. This is LEEZ & Ollounder we’re talking about tho; there’s no one else I would trust to produce an amazing album. While I can’t say for sure yet if any of these songs will make it into my top Dreamcatcher favorites list, this group’s versatility is as impressive as ever. If there’s one thing it was missing, it’s Handong’s calm voice that’s perfect for prechoruses or bridges. I actually didn’t expect there to be this much of a difference, but for someone that listens to A LOT of Dreamcatcher, it is very noticeable. Hopefully this will be the only album without her! Overall album score: 8.5/10

#dreamcatcher #dystopia: the tree of language #album review #my thoughts #comeback #text

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kitsoa · 6 years ago

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Can you expand on the KHUX/Wreck-it-Ralph/5th realm of thought line of analysis? I'm sure your head is spinning too because this is veering into seriously supernatural territory but I'm struggling to wrap my head around it o.o

Hiya! I’ll see what I can manage. I assume you are referring to my post about the WiR/”Metacatastrophe” jazz I posted right when that stuff was going down. I’ll say for the record that we haven’t gotten much corroboration on this fact since this was revealed, but I still think this realm of speculation holds up. Of course it runs on this underlying plot twist that the KH world exists as a video game and is become keen to that fact, be it through the characters or the audience. But honestly, this doesn’t even have to be the big endgame twist for this to work (though it is evidence to support the twist).

I’m gonna walk through the post in a little more detail.

So essentially, the question posed is Why is Daybreak Town glitching?

The recent updates just before the Game Central Station reveal started with visual glitches, bug-block heartless, and shoddy quality replays of certain events in DT history. Elements that made certain to the entire cast that they were in digital territory. So the first assumption that comes up is-- hey, are we in digital-DT? Because assuming that they somehow, without knowledge jumped to the data-version of Daybreak is probably the most possible and logical answer. It is worth mentioning that this is actually a common theory about the Daybreak Town KHUX situation in general. As the glitching evidence came into light, it was interpreted that this was going to get confirmed, until Brain started contradicting us. In a way, we are finally addressing a common misconception/theory that everything in KHUX is happening in a simulation (as opposed to only a fraction of the events).

But Brain does not accept that easy conclusion. He insists that just because things are digital, does not mean that they are in data-DT. And we viewers have to stay keen to the fact that this was brought up at all. Because this stipulation from a writing perspective is only useful to either 1.) characterize Brain in some form for ill or good or 2.) state a truth under the guise of a theory (or 3. both).It is safe to say that Brain has a level of honesty and curiosity in terms of the scientific efforts. It comes from a genuine place no matter his intention, and if Brain is to be trusted on matters of scientific befuddlement then we can trust his refusal of the easy ‘They are in Data-Daybreak Town’ assumption. He’s not just stirring the pot.

As a writer, we do not shoot down the easiest assumption just to complicate things. We do it to change the question.

So let’s believe Brain’s theory. The Daybreak Town they are in is real. And it is glitching.

New question: Why is Real Daybreak Town Glitching?

Well that comes down to some deduction and analyzing Brain’s theory-- which is more likely completely right than anything.

Brain blames the connection to the new world.

He proceeds to explain how the Disney Worlds are connected to Daybreak Town in the first place. A factoid that could have been clarified much earlier without this context, but came about naturally in the conversation. Both from the organic conversation and narrative standpoint, It’s important to know how the worlds connect to Daybreak Town in order to understand that the connect being formed here is deviating from that process. We as the audience need to accept that this world is foreign.

Usually, the Disney Worlds are connected in their past incarnations to Daybreak Town in a manner that appears to be almost physically. Traversal between worlds is possible but practically unattainable. After the war, the connection was completely shattered and they are definitively unreachable and isolated. Point being established: Game Central Station is not a world typically connected to the Real Daybreak Town. It does not exist in this ancient sphere and nor is it in the Book of Prophecies which depicts the futures of worlds connected to DT.

So then we ask: And what about Game Central Station would make it digitize and glitch out an entire world?

And the answer is kind of obvious. Game Central Station is a digital world. It, like Space Paranoids, or Data-Twilight Town, is explicitly a data fabrication. So how could a Data World interact with a Real World? Within Kingdom Hearts universe logic... it can’t interact. Things can traverse between the two but, the world completely assimilating another is unheard of. Data Worlds have servers and terminals that are subservient to the real world (because they exist in the real world as a portal). The connection form is one that is not... passively produced. So we stop running on KH universe logic and go on Wreck-it-Ralph universe logic.

And that logic is pretty simple too. Video Games... hook up to an outlet. Cross-over happens. They talk, and interact. That’s how WiR works. So from... Ralph’s perspective... Ephemera and the gang are just a bunch of JRPG video game protagonists who got connected to the GCS. And... we just have to accept the fact that somehow... Ralph is right.

And that’s a little more than wild. Because he is right. They are.

How did a Data World connect to a Real World? -- it connected on their end?

Why is Daybreak Town glitching? --because it’s being interpreted as a data world via a data world. It’s either being digitized or it was in the most macro sense... (and meta sense) never real in the first place.

It could explain why important scenes are being flickered on the screen. They are actual cutscenes being layered onto the world. The heartless spawns are data versions because the universe is having a literal existential crisis.

---

If we want to have some real fun, we have to... get into the WiR side of thing. Where KHUX exists as a game in their world. And that it somehow connects plug-in, internet, you name it to a subworld-- that is not alternate to prime KH reality but in fact synonymous. That would bring about this extra... dimension of thought, where KHUX is shared by a mutual universe in it’s form, and there’s interchange of understanding... and dude it gets wild.

The most tame interpretation has to do with the metaphysics of a digital reality simply forcibly interacting a real reality by nature of it’s laws. But that doesn’t really explain the catalyst for the connection. They didn’t just bump into each other and figure out which crossover rules to obey... at least we can’t assume that happened yet.

As you can see, that does go down a rabbit hole. But man am I adamant. This is probably the biggest break in my (and many other’s) meta-catastrophe theory to date and we have to wonder if it’s gonna get a tame, but vague explanation to save the reveal for a mainline game or if it’s gonna boldly make it the worst kept secret.

#kingdom hearts #dude thank you for the question #this is still the wildest thing #khux theory #khux spoilers #Game Central Station #kh theory #kh meta #annis-k

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svtegg · 6 years ago

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daybreak (SVT apocalypse!au)

♡ wordcount: 2,3k ♡ chapter 6/? (ch.1, ch.2, ch.3, ch.4, ch.5, ch.6)

♡ rating: PG-13? hints to death/violence, language

♡ pairing: svt x reader

♡ after bolting upright in my bed from a violent nightmare that reminded me way too much of the horrors i had experienced before meeting the group, i make my way out to be with whoever was doing night watch to watch the sun rise in the company of another person. i never would have known just how beautiful it would be seeing the golden morning light reach its beams out over the hills and onto the huge plains of overgrown grass, dirt roads and the almond skin of my companion.

I sat upright in my bed, hair clung to my forehead as I took deep breaths, flashes of the nightmare I just had playing in the front of my head like a slideshow of horror. The smell of the room took over my senses as I tried to focus on something else than the dream I had just had, the scenes replaying again and again in my head almost like a movie as I focused my vision on the crack in the newspapers on the window, a small stripe of light shining into the room and hitting the wall parallel to the window.

As my breaths eased, I got up, tugging the still slightly damp clothes onto my uneasy body and slowly making my way to the door. As I silently made my way down the stairs, I caught a glimpse of the watch tower, a soft yellow glow coming from the tiny room at the top. I made a quick walk over, trudging through the tall grass wet with dew, it must be early morning. The smell of wilderness floated softly through the crisp air, a small gust of cold wind blowing past me as I reached the foot of the tower like structure. “Hey!” I whisper yelled, trying not to scare whoever was up there, and if I could remember correctly it would be Mingyu. And as if on command Mingyu’s head popped out of one of the windows, his long back hair flopping wildly around his face. “Oh!” He gasped and made quick work of opening the latch in the floor as I started the climb up to the platform. The cold metal of the ladder almost burning my warm palms as I reached the top. “Hi.” Mingyu softly smiled, his voice raspy with exhaustion. I smiled back at the boy, as he lowered the latch back down and put down the fluffy blanket over the metal flooring of the tower compartment. “Why are you awake so early? It must be about 4 right now.” He stated as he looked over towards the horizon where the sun would rise in a couple of hours. He was wearing a washed out bottle green sweater, and the same jeans he had been wearing the earlier days. He looked back at me with an amused smile, his eyes seemingly swollen, probably from being awake for so long. “Couldn’t sleep.” I replied and wrapped my hands around myself as another gust of cold morning air blew past us. Mingyu nodded a knoing smile and sat down silently, patting the spot beside himself to signal you that it was okay to sit down. So I did. And the minutes seemed to tick by like seconds as the sky gradually faded and went from a dark night blue dotted in small stars and constellations to a more vibrant ocean blue as the rays of the rising sun stretched across the horizon.

The lighthearted conversation between Mingyu and I died down as the bright summer sun peaked over the mountains in east. The sound of the grass rustling in the wind and the first birds chirping danced through the crisp morning air, and Mingyu’s soft voice broke through the peaceful morning symphony. “Why where you alone?” He asked. I turned my gaze from the fields of overgrown grass and trees that twinkled with the morning dew towards the boy beside me and observed the tall male. His skin a beautiful golden almond tone seemed even more beautiful in the bright morning sun. He had his head tilted back against the makeshift half wall of the tower, his hair disheveled and tousled from running his hand through it a few times too many. His nose sloped almost impeccably perfect out from his face and his lips rested in a pout that had it not been for the circumstances, I probably would have wanted to kiss. His eyes looked to be resting on the landscape in front of us. Black irises following the dirt road as far as the eye could see. “Things happened. People turned.” I breathed out as I too turned my gaze to the grassy fields in front of us, letting the conversation die quickly. I didn’t want to open up about my past, afraid the group might see me as weak, untrustworthy or a burden. It was too much. In the distance a buck peeked its head up from the tall grass to look around, the horns standing proudly over the animal’s head. The quiet air seemed to warm up as the sun rose, and soon Chan’s voice could be heard breaking the silence of the morning hours.

“Hyung!” He hollered, and Mingyu jumped up, and before Chan had time to question why I was also up there with the older male, Mingyu and I headed to our respective rooms.

As the door softly clicked shut behind me, I sighed. The smell of cardboard and cheap wood hit my nose as I sat down on the edge of the bed. Only seconds later, did it knock two times on my door. My eyes fixed on the door, and after I had let a couple of seconds pass, it knocked two more times. After waiting long enough to make the person waiting outside think I had been asleep I opened the door. Joshua.

His round eyes crinkled into a warm smile as we met eyes. “Good morning,” He said, his voice impossibly soft and careful, still laced with sleep. “Before we go grab breakfast, I wanted to take you to the utility room to see if you can pick out some new clothes for yourself!” He continued, his tone still so incredibly kind that it could melt anything within earshot. “Sure.” I answered, my tone not anywhere near as kind and cheerful as Joshua’s. He gestured for me to walk down the stairs first as we began our short trek to the utility room which I had no idea where was. “How’s your shoulder feeling?” He asked, real concern audible in his voice as we took the first couple of steps towards the stairs. “Better. I think it’s settling a little.” I quietly replied, turning my face sideways to look back at the older boy, his eyes trained on the steps ahead of him. “That’s good!” He smiled and lifted his eyes up to meet mine. He was wearing a red t-shirt, which looked to be about two sizes too big, his slender shoulders almost being swallowed by the fabric. His legs, in similar fashion, where clad in dark wash jeans with rips and tears all over them and seemed to be one or two sizes too big. His feet in grey converse that seemed to be old, but fairly clean. The attire was very different from what you had seen him in the first time I had seen him. Admittedly I had only laid eyes on him for a few seconds, but I could clearly remember the black fitted t-shirt the man had been wearing, with a leather shoulder gun strap adorning his torso, grey fitted cargo pants and a green cap to shield his eyes from the blaring summer sun. He almost looked like a little boy now compared to that day in the office building.

“This is us.” He softly stated as he stopped outside the room with the number 2 on it. He opened the door and as we both shuffled inside, the smell of old clothes and fabric hit me like a slap in the face. “Damn… We really should air out this room more often.” He chuckled, the curse almost seeming like a pet name with the way his soft voice curled around the vowels. I laughed meekly in response. “We don’t usually scavenge for clothes so we don’t have a lot, but we do have some clothes that are a bit smaller in size, they might fit you.” He said as he pulled out one of the drawers completely and placed on the wooden table that was pushed up against one of the walls. As I gazed around the room I noticed the layout was exactly the same as my room, but there was no bed. Only dressers with piles of folded clothes on and a similar night stand to the one placed in my room. Then there was a table and a small couch pushed against opposite ends of the room. “Here are the female items we have so far.” He mumbled as he looked though the other drawers. I looked over at the pile Joshua had placed on the table, some tank tops caught my eye at first. I picked out two that seemed to be my size.

As I dug though the pile, I picked out some more items, and as I dug through to the bottom, I found some panties. Still with the tags on. I looked up at Joshua, luckily, he was still rummaging through one of the drawers. I could feel my face contorting a little. Why would a group of seven men have womens underwear stocked up? I furrowed my brows as I placed the undergarments on top of the shirts I picked out. “Joshua?” I tried, looking back at the pile. He hummed in response. “Why do you guy have female underwear?” The boy halted his search for a second, but quickly composed himself. He pulled out another drawer and turned to place it on the table next to the drawer that was already placed there. He looked up at you, his face blank but still a slight twinge of dusty pink decorated his cheeks. “Most of the stuff was here when we got here, most of the people who lived here left all their stuff in a hurry so there was an assortment of random stuff left.” He explained, a playful smile dancing on the upward turned corners of his mouth. “By the way, there are some shoes thrown in the bathtub, you can check it out if you want. I’ll be in the dining hall if you need me!” Joshua continues, his cheeks turning a little pinker as he runs one of his hands through his hair. I mumble a thanks as he makes his way out of the room. “Just put the stuff you don’t want back into the dressers.” He reminds as he disappears out the door.

I end up with two tank tops, one with in a ugly atomic green color with lace coverup at the top, the other a plain white one. I find some light brown cargo pants that seem to be a little too big, but I still grab them, a black t-shirt with a Nissan car printed on it and a thin fitted grey sweater. And the underwear of course. As I place the drawers back into their places, I spot something out of the corner of my eye. In a pile of random shit, I spot my old, tattered backpack. I pick it up and look inside. Empty. It smells like dirt and must, but its mine none the less. As I feel around the pockets, I feel something hard in one of the hidden pockets on the side. The metal of the small object almost twinkles in the light as I hold it in my hand. The pocket knife from the office. I slip the knife into my back pocket quickly as I throw the backpack back now onto the pile of what looked like small suitcases, backpacks and a different array of bags.

I make a quick detour to the bathroom and snatch the first pair of shoes that have the right number scribbled on the bottom, and speed walk back to my room. I change some of the clothes I’m wearin in a hurry and make my way down to the dining hall. There Wonwoo, Soonyoung, Seungcheol and Joshua are talking lowly amongst themselves. Dino is probably still on watch duty and Mingyu is hopefully asleep. I slowly walk up to the men, letting them hear my presence. “Where’s Minghao?” I ask lightly, looking around the table at the boys in front of me. They’re all on different colored tshirts, and even though Joshua seems to be wearing a shirt two sizes too big, Seungcheol seems to be wearing one two sizes small. The black fabric stretched almost to the point of tearing across his chest, his arms bulging out through the short sleeves.

“He’s fixing the radio.” Soonyoung replies with a cheery smile his eyes immediately turning into crescents as his cheek’s lifts, and before I can continue asking questions he continues. “Do you want some food? There’s some bread and fruit in the kitchen.” He informs while simultaneously getting up from the table. I nod and start heading towards the kitchen. I pick out a slice of bread and an apple from the plates on the counter. The bread is still slightly warm from just being baked and as I make my way around the many counters and tabled and through the door into the dining area, Joshua and Seungcheol are the only two still sitting around the table. They’re not talking as I sit down, and I can feel the suspense in the air as I eye Seungcheol. Our eyes meet and I take a bite out of the apple, the taste exploding into my mouth. Joshua is focused on the empty glass he’s currently slowly spinning against the top of the table. Seungcheol clears his throat, making my eyes snap from the side of Joshua’s face to the older boys’ eyes. I raise my brows at him, signaling him to talk if he wanted to. The air is trembling slightly in the seconds it takes before Seungcheol’s voice breaks the silence.

a/n: omg the synopsis is so bad for this, i suck at writing them njdsenjdejd but yeah!!! heres part 7 omg this is becoming so long lmao im surprised anyone is actually reading it!!! ill post some more a little later so keep your eyes peeled! love u mwah kithes

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nikanndros · 7 years ago

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The Post-Canon Time Travel AU

[Prologue] [Act I: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5] [Act II: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5] [Act III: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3]

Act III, Part 4.

The thought of being away from Damen, when he is so close, is unbearable, so Laurent continues to sneak into his rooms at night despite the lack of courting. Usually, Laurent can leave quietly before daybreak and be back in his own rooms before anyone can notice he left. One morning, this plan is foiled by a late night visitor.

Laurent is sleeping against Damen’s chest when they hear the light knock on the door. It opens slowly, and Damen sits up.

It’s Nikandros, lit by the moon coming in through the windows, and against his chest he holds a whimpering Ione. Nikandros glances fleetingly at Laurent before he focuses entirely upon Damen.

“What’s wrong?” Damen says, his hair a mess of curls.

Nik opens his mouth to explain, but the infant cuts in. “Baba,” she says, tearfully. Then, at the sight of Laurent, “...Mama?”

Laurent picks his head up, and she recoils in shock. “Baba! That’s not mama!”

“This is Laurent,” Damen says. “You met him earlier.”

“Briefly,” Nikandros replies, in defense of the infant clutching itself to his chest. “She had a bad dream and has been crying for you and Jokaste.”

Nikandros then drops Ione into Damen’s lap, and then while Damen is distracted, he finally looks at Laurent properly. Laurent can’t quite read his expression, but he certainly isn’t pleased. “I’m going back to bed,” he says after a long moment. “I’ll take her back before your first meeting.” And then he leaves.

Laurent looks at Damen, who is now cradling his daughter. Ione is gently babbling to him about how scary Vere is and that she wants to go home.

“We’ll go home soon, little one,” Damen says, patting her hair.

She has his curls, and his dimples set into her chubby cheeks. Laurent smiles softly. They make a pretty picture together: someone as indomitable as Damen genty holding an infant in his arms.

She huffs out a breath and looks at Laurent suspiciously.

“Hello,” Laurent says.

“Say hello to Laurent,” Damen prompts.

Ione does an admirable job of trying to pronounce his name.

“When I was your age,” Laurent says, “my family used to call me Lolo. You may too if you’d like.”

Ione smiles. “I like your hair,” she says. “It’s yellow.”

“Thank you,” Laurent replies. “I like your hair too.”

“Cassi has yellow hair,” Ione tells him.

Laurent glances at Damen.

“Cassiope,” he explains. “My other daughter.”

Laurent hasn’t gotten round to asking Damen about it yet, but he has noticed him using plurals when referring to his children. “Do you have any other siblings?” Laurent asks.

Ione looks confused.

“Tell Laurent about your brother and sister,” Damen says.

“Cassi is my sister,” she says. “She’s littler than me. And Leo is a baby. He’s not fun yet, but mama says he will be one day.”

“How lovely,” Laurent replies, and then to Damen: “Three kids?”

“Yes,” Damen replies. “Maybe more in Vask, but that was true of our last life as well.”

By the time Ione falls asleep against Damen’s chest, it’s not long before sunrise.

“I should go,” Laurent says, kissing Damen chastely. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Try to get some more sleep,” Damen replies.

“Fatherhood suits you,” Laurent says, before he leaves. It’s true. He won’t pretend he hasn’t before thought about Damen with children - children that inherit his goodnature and sweetness. But that hadn’t been a viable possibility for heirs when they were both kings together. Laurent is glad that, out of everything, Damen has at least been given this one gift in their new lives.

Damen and Auguste actually manage to get along quite well in the following days. They are both naturally charismatic and loving men and so it doesn’t surprise Laurent that the forced proximity in meetings causes them to bond a little.

Damen ducks into Laurent’s rooms after they break for lunch one day. “I think the situation is improving,” Damen tells him, ever the optimist. “He’s still insistent that I cannot court you, but he also admitted that I’m not as barbaric as he originally thought.”

“Only you can take distrustful Veretians and turn them into friends,” Laurent replies.

“Friends?” Damen says, smiling. “Is that what we are?”

Laurent has to pull Damen towards him at that, and kiss him soundly on the mouth.

“Prince Laurent!” Damen says, in a scandalised tone. “In broad daylight!”

Laurent laughs; they are in his sitting room and his newly appointed guard Lazar is off admiring the foreigner’s chitons, so there is no danger of them being caught here. “I can stop if you want me to.”

Damen kisses him again. “No,” he says. “You’ve seduced me.”

He unlaces Laurent’s jacket, with an expert’s proficiency and tugs it off his shoulders.

“Do we have time?” Laurent asks.

“I’m willing to skip lunch,” Damen says. “You are a much more satisfying meal.”

Laurent unpins Damen’s chiton at the top, so that it falls to his waist and reveals his bare, muscular chest. “At least you are in no risk of wasting away from one skipped meal.”

Damen fists a hand in Laurent’s hair - he hasn’t said as much yet, but Laurent knows he likes it long, likes to grip it - and lays down a series of long, heated kisses down Laurent’s neck. Laurent lets his head fall back. The collar of his gauzy white undershirt has been unlaced enough to fall down his shoulders and reveal more skin for Damen to lay claim to.

Laurent makes a small noise of pleasure. They had been voracious lovers before coming to this world, but something about the time spent apart and the uncertainty in their current relationship has lended them to a new level of insatiable desire. Every opportunity they get to kiss and touch and make love behind closed doors they take. Laurent has no complaints about that.

They must look unspeakably erotic like this: Damen, with his bared muscles, taking a flushed and partly unclothed lover into his muscular arms. He softly puts his hands on Damen’s waist. Sometimes Laurent is taken by the urge to clutch Damen tightly to him and drag his nails down his skin in pleasure. He controls the urge, especially now that Damen’s back is a blank canvas again - he will not contribute to marring it again.

Then is the sound of the door opening and Laurent remembers too late that his brother never knocks.

“Auguste,” Laurent says, pushing Damen away.

Lazar is standing in the doorway next to Auguste, looking sheepish. He must have told Auguste about Damen and Laurent fucking. Auguste is silent for long enough for Laurent to realise that this is not the first time in this world that Auguste has walked in on his younger brother in a sexual situation.

Auguste, face filled with a kind off all-consuming rage that Laurent has never seen before, pulls the sword from Lazar’s belt and comes forward at Damen.

Lazar moves to stop Auguste, and gets the solid impact of an elbow to the nose for his efforts.

“Arm yourself, Damianos,” Auguste demands.

“Auguste, stop,” Laurent says, horrified.

“Turn around, Laurent,” Auguste replies. “I won’t make you watch this.”

“I’m not going to fight you,” Damen says. “Calm down.”

“Calm down?!” Auguste repeats, because no one in existence has ever gotten calmer at those words. “You come into my country and defile my brother against my wishes, and you expect me to calm down! Get your sword now or I will fight you unarmed.”

Laurent hates the way Auguste uses the word defile: as if he is something to be tainted or made dirty. It took him years to stop feeling that way about himself, and to hear his own brother say it is deeply upsetting.

“I won’t fight you,” Damen repeats.

“Fine,” Auguste says, and he draws back his sword and lunges forward.

Damen jumps back and Laurent is unwilling to watch a replay of Marlas. He steps in front of Damen, and the strength that Auguste has to put into stopping his blade mid-swing is reminiscent of Laurent getting between Damianos and Makedon all those years ago. It seems his life is just a replay of awful moments.

“Step out of the way, Laurent,” Auguste orders.

“No,” Laurent replies. “Damen go into the bedroom, now. I need to talk to my brother.”

Damen, who has probably never retreated from a fight before in his life, does as Laurent says, ducking into the bedroom and closing the door. He’s probably going to listen at the door. Laurent rounds on his brother, furious.

“I am an adult,” Laurent hisses. “You have no right to tell me who I can and can’t bed.”

“I am your King. I have every right.”

The implication of ownership makes Laurent’s blood boil. He does not enjoy feeling helpless, or without the power to make his own decisions.

“Fine,” Laurent says, and he gets right up in Auguste’s space and his mind is filled with the angry buzzing that lets him know he’s about to say things he will regret. Usually Damen stops him when he gets to this point, but Damen is in the next room. “I am your subject, then. My body is yours to decide what I do with. I’ll let men fuck me only when you say I can, and you can be just like uncle.”

Auguste slaps him across his face and Laurent’s head snaps sideways with the force. “How dare you--” Auguste shouts.

“Fuck you!” Laurent cuts over him. He’s so angry he can’t think. “You were meant to be there for me! We sat in your tent at Marlas and you promised me you’d come back, you promised you’d always protect me. And then you left me with him! And I kept telling myself that you’d help me, that you’d love me no matter what, that you’d forgive me -- Perhaps I am the one who has to forgive you.”

Auguste is breathing heavily, and he faces Laurent with barely concealed anger. “Do what you want, Laurent,” Auguste says. “Fuck who you want. But if you want me to trust you - you will not spread your legs for our enemy. You can decide what you want more - my trust, or to fuck some barbarian you’ve barely met.”

Auguste turns and storms out, sword clattering to the ground. Lazar, nose red with blood, follows him.

Laurent stands alone in the room for a very long moment, before Damen comes out of the bedchambers again.

“Laurent,” Damen says, sounding mournful. “I don’t want to come between you and your brother.”

Laurent clenches his jaw. “Fuck you too, Damianos,” he says, in the iciest voice he can manage. The ice is cracking. “I will not choose between you. Neither of you will make me.”

#captive prince #the time travel au #sorry!!!#writing

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ayyyez · 7 years ago

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Alright here it is, the first chapter of my new Mystic Messenger Fic titled ‘Predestined Stars’, will also be posting it on ao3!

Fandom: Mystic Messenger Work Title: Predestined Stars Chapter: 1 (An Insomniac’s Dream) Word Count: 2462 Relationships: 707/Luciel/Saeyoung Choi x MC / minor Jumin Han x MC Summary: Revolving around the idea of Reset Theory: MC has chosen Jumin, it's day 10 of the route and Saeyoung begins to have flashbacks to his route and his life with MC. Saeyoung discovers more each day only to realise the same thing might be happening to her. What does this mean for them?

It’s in the early hours of the morning, the point where night and dawn are blurred into a paradox of not quite late but not entirely early when Saeyoung stirs from his dream. The glow from his monitor, left open, reads 3:02am when he jumps awake, sending his ergonomically shaped computer chair backwards with a harsh squeak. His wheels lock once he grabs hold of the desk in front him, fingers digging into the smooth wood. Sweat drips down his temples, hair sticking to his forehead as he clutches his chest to feel his rapidly beating heart, each thump against his ribcage sending him back into the depths of the dream.

The dream hadn’t seemed long but it was enough to shake him to the core. Saeyoung dreamt of her at the cabin, the one in the woods no one but he and Vanderwood knew of, waking up next to him in bed. He carefully recalls the moments of the dream most clear. The bedroom had been small and clean, aside from the stray teacup on the side table on her side of the bed and odd garments tossed across the floor. It didn’t throw the room off balance but it was a small indication, like a crease in the table cloth, that it was lived in. The room was barely furnished, packing only the essentials and saturated in white cloth that glowed in the morning sunlight. MC had moaned softly and squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again; she had rolled herself over to face him, giving a warm smile. They had both been naked, each littered in marks from the evening before; an intimate evening he knew but could not recall. Saeyoung swallows realising his throat is dry.

She looked childlike in the morning sunlight, innocently entangled in the white sheet as she shuffled her body closer to his. He had felt the warmth of her body as clear as day, touch as real as the hand against his chest now. Saeyoung had ghosted his fingers over her profile like it was second nature: over her forehead, down the cheek, over slightly parted lips, the dip of her chin, the side of her throat and down between her breasts to rest against her sternum. MC instinctively stirred, pushing into his touch with a sleepy sigh. Saeyoung smiled, his back settled against the headboard. He remembers wanting to stay there forever but reality had sat in the back of his mind like a reminder that finally pulled him to consciousness like a cruel punishment.

It was a curious dream, vivid, like recalling a recent memory but the contents too transcendent to earn the title of reality.

Saeyoung can’t deny the the intense feelings the dream brought on. He still feels the warm touch of her skin, soft against his hand, burning beneath his fingertips. He closes his eyes and clasps his left hand over the right, savouring the touch, drinking in the memory and burning it into the forefront of his mind.

‘God, is this what it is like to have a crush?’ Saeyoung asks himself, a comforting habit. ‘Why did my fantasy feel so real?’ He sits back craning his neck from side to side to relieve the tension built up from his unsavoury sleeping position.

Saeyoung sighs, using his feet to drag him closer to the desk then adjusts his glasses. Squinting from the intensity of the screen lighting, his eyes follow the last lines of code to pinpoint where he is up to in the hacking job.

‘Okay, let’s do this,’ he says to himself, cracking his knuckles dramatically. ‘707 ready for action.’ The last part was half hearted but it’s necessary to get through the morning.

It’s isn’t long before the room fills with speedy typing, each tap of the keys drowns out the thoughts spinning through his mind. It’s hopeless though, he can’t stop thinking about the dream; the image of MC so in love with him and their naked limbs tangled together. The idea no longer seems a miracle, visually evident through the harboured desires of his subconscious pushing into his dreams.

‘It was only a dream right?’ He asks himself, considering the possibilities. ‘Yes, of course it was.’ Saeyoung shakes his head and brings his hands to hover over the keyboard, pushing himself to keep working but they don’t cooperate, fingers refusing to type.

There’s only her on his mind. Not codes or binary or the job he is supposed to crack by daybreak. He is staring into her wide and expressive eyes while they lie in that bed. All he thinks of his MC. Her, in the morning saturated in sunlight and hair disheveled across the white pillow, tips tickling his arm. Her, pressing a kiss to his nose, forehead, each cheek then with a giggle, their intended destination: his lips. Saeyoung can feel them now, brushing against his. There’s a sharp intake of breath and he presses his palm against his mouth, eyes widening at the images still clear.

Having vivid dreams was nothing new but once he woke the painstaking details normally faded and he was left alone with a hollow reality. But these memories did not fade; they remained clear, replaying in his mind like memories on a loop.

He can taste her on his lips; It’s a relatively sweet taste, green tea with traces of jasmine, something he brewed for her often, mixed with the undeniable taste of her. But how did he know that? Saeyoung hasn’t even met MC yet, only seen her through monitors and screens.

‘Argh,’ Saeyoung groans pressing his face into his palms. ‘What is wrong with me?’

It’s suddenly so much more difficult to breathe.

When MC first stumbled upon the chatroom, they were still so unaccustomed to each other and above everything so ingrained to be distrustful of the other’s words and movements. That was only over a week ago and now he is remembering moments that haven’t even happened.

Saeyoung attempts to pick apart the situation with logic circumventing the most obvious answer that remains at the forefront on his mind. His throat itches from within, something festering there like a darkness threatening to reach the surface. Emotions long buried beneath his sternum have finally found an exit, an opportunity to unleash.

Before he knows what he is doing, his phone is in his hand with RFA app open, chat room entered, eyes scanning for the name that is stuck on his mind.

‘I wonder what you are up too at this time of night.’

The image of her entangled with Jumin forces it’s way into his mind, an involuntary reflex, his imagination haunting him. He visibly shudders at the the thought, remembering that MC had chosen Jumin not him. Of course she did, Jumin changed for her and she understood him. Fate had decided and there is nothing Saeyoung can do about it.

He is suddenly at ease when he realises that she returned to Rika’s apartment earlier in the evening. They weren’t together, at least until the party.

‘I really need to sleep in a bed, I’m too delusional.’ He can hear Vanderwood’s reply, You really need to finish this job and you’ve always been delusional.

Saeyoung chuckles, pushing himself up out of his chair to walk over to the small fridge at the end of his desk. A bright light shines as he opens the door, eyes searching for a can of PHD Pepper, his right hand searching above blindly for a packet of honey buddha chips. When both hands find what they seek he stands up and kicks the fridge door closed returning to the comfort of his computer chair.

The can opens with a hiss and Saeyoung downs a few decent gulps before he has time to dispute the action of the bubbling drink burning down his throat. He swallows it with a pronounced ‘ahhh’ and wipes his mouth against the back of his jacket sleeve.

Saeyoung had resigned himself to the fact that the fantasies were a one time thing only, even if he couldn’t quite convince himself that he would stop if MC enticed him into an intimate situation in real life. His cheeks burn when his mind wanders to countless scenarios and possibilities, all entailing farfetched ways to simply be with her. The urge to recoil is there, almost tangible in how he tenses up at the questionable thoughts. Saeyoung takes another sip and mutters to himself softly. ‘I need to get back to work.’

It’s when he places the can down with a thud that he makes the promise to stop getting distracted about trivial things. He works for the agency and can’t get caught up in caring about others. And besides, MC chose Jumin and they were in love. The situation was already sorted and all he had to do was play along.

It’s been over a week now and they’ve fallen into a routine that would be selfish to unbalance. He missed his chance. The only thing left for him to do was his duties. Resigning himself to the fact that his imagination was nothing more than a distraction, his fingers began hammering against the keys of his keyboard continuing with the job.

The minutes rolled by like hours, Saeyoung’s upper lip flinching each time his concentration dared to break. Anyone looking at him may not notice his distraction, his fingers still taping away but he knew it was at least half the speed he’s capable of on a bad day. The internal struggle within him burns for release—for satisfaction.

With a groan he reaches for his drink, downing the last drops of PHD Pepper. He considers taking a walk, to go outside and look up at the night sky. The stars would be visible by now and the forecast predicted a clear night.

‘I just want to give them all to you, Seven.’ An echo in his mind.

The can crushes in his hand.

‘What was that?’ He asks, more the room than himself. He forces his eyes shut and releases the crushed can, hearing the aluminium bounce onto the floor.

Did he just experience another…fantasy? It seemed too real, the voice too tangible to be a fabrication of his subconscious. An image flashed to the forefront of his mind of a phone call long forgotten, him analysing an email and her entertaining his fancies.

‘All of the…stars?’

Saeyoung shook his head furiously, dispelling all theories and circumvented his mind to a logical outcome. It was simply impossible, something that had indeed happened but that he perhaps had forgotten in his sleep deprived state. It’d been a long week.

Two violent buzzes vibrate through the desk causing him to jump. He blinks a few times before his eyes lock onto the culprit, realising he received a message; a message from MC. He observes the notification and wonders what would come out of explaining to MC what was going on with him. Saeyoung is afraid that by even giving an inkling of his thoughts, his inner most desires, she would somehow lose some of her brightness, wilting like a sunflower deprived of sun. He has already taken so much from her and Jumin so everything he has to give would never amount to the unattainable enough compared to what they offered each other. So he reluctantly replies, with his usual 707 composure, a facade he will maintain for her.

‘Maybe you’re just tired, you should rest from time to time.’ Her voice penetrating his mind again.

Saeyoung buries his face in his hands and groans. ‘I’m starting to lose it.’ The emotions are taking over now, refusing to stay buried. ‘I’ve already lost it’

His brows furrow together, an involuntary reflex with the overwhelming nature of everything he is feeling. He’s left breathless, winded but all he can do is laugh; At the ridiculousness of the situation, his dwindling sanity and his hopeless control over emotions.

Saeyoung’s laughing only grows when he feels his phone buzzing in his hand, MC’s icon flashing in front of his eyes. He stops for a hairsplitting second, concentrating on his thumb running across the smooth screen of his phone, dangerously close to the answer button. The laughing intensifies as he brushes over it, bringing the phone to his ear, tears already welling in his eyes.

‘Are you okay?’ Comes her voice on the other end. It’s exactly as he recalled from his dreams—the memories of a forgotten life.

‘No, I’m not…’ there’s more laughing from him, ‘but you don’t care about me.’ He hesitates, the urge to retreat palpable but with his emotions reeling there’s nothing to stop him. ‘You only care about Jumin.’ He says matter-of-factly. ‘I’m nothing. My heart’s crumbled into breadcrumbs. So sad, my poor breadcrumbs, I’ll eat you up…Meet your friends inside my stomach.’ There’s nothing to hold back his laughing now, he’s crossed the invisible line he set himself earlier in a matter of seconds.

There’s only breathing from her end, he can practically feel her concern, hear the light beginning to waiver because of him. No, he won’t let that happen.

‘I heard eating sweets helps when you feel like this.’ He’s trying to maintain the 707 persona but with more laughter comes even more pain. ‘No…’ he whispers. ‘Ugh a tear just feel from my eyes.’ He reaches out to touch the tear, sweeping it with his finger and pulling it down to observe. His brow creases, his lip trembles and his resolve shatters.

‘What’s wrong with me? Am I bipolar or something?’ An involuntary thought pops into his head, memories of his brother and mother and the constant arguments.

‘Seven…’ Her voice is soft and wavering. ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’

He knows he needs to stop now.

‘I think my breadcrumb friends have something to say. I’m gonna go talk with my breadcrumbs for a bit.’ The hand holding his phone is trembling. ‘Bye.’

He drops his phone against the desk after hitting the end call button. The tears are streaming down his face, cheeks flushed and lips trembling. In one swift motion he pulls his glasses off and drops his head into his arm, burying it there against the desk.

Saeyoung’s whole body is shaking now, the tears hot and wet in his eyes falling harder than ever. His mind whispers, Don’t do it. Don’t do this…it doesn’t matter, it’s not real. But it is futile. ‘I don’t understand!’ he screams against his jacket sleeve, letting his emotions get the best of him. ‘If this is all real then why didn’t she choose me?’

It’s a question he asked himself even before the dream.

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badavengers · 8 years ago

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Wake Up 3 [Bucky Barnes]

Summary - Nearly a year after Bucky decided to return to cryogenic sleep, Steve continues to look for a cure. One day, Sam informs him that he’s found a person who can help.

Side note - I’ve been gone for too long! really sorry, i’ve just been uber busy. i’m not giving up on this little series! also, Bucky still has his metal arm, okay? NOT EDITED AS WELL! apologies in advance. Part 1 here! Part 2 here!

Warnings - death & a tiny bit of winter soldier violence

“Break him.”

With dull eyes and no remorse, the programmed girl seeped into the head of the poor, french man.

She robbed him of all his memories, only leaving one that haunted him at night when he slept alone in his cold bed back in the outskirts of Alsace. Y/N felt his pain; his suffering.

“ma fille,” his voice was soft as well as familiar.

A tear ran down his cheek then another. Y/N clenched her balled fists, her nails digging into the skin of her palms. She was crying as well.

“s'il te plaît, arrête! Je t'en supplie,” he wailed.

“Stop playing with him.” Ordered a rough voice. But she didn’t listen. She continued to replay the agonizing memory of the man giving away his daughter to be experimented on.

She saw herself in the man’s head. Her eyes no longer recognizing who he was. They held so much coldness to them.

“I said break him!” Zola screamed at her.

The french man fell to his knees, a strained shriek of pain leaving his pale lips as his body contorted with pain. His eyes met hers and for a moment, she swore he smiled at her.

“Mon cher ange,” then he collapsed onto the concrete floor, blood pouring out of his mouth.

She couldn’t take her eyes off of his corpse and more tears flooded down her face. But she didn’t know why?

“Well done,” Zola clapped her on the shoulder. A sudden burst of anger surged through her.

“Who was he?” She gritted her teeth. “Does it matter?” He smirked. Y/N glared at Zola, seeping into his head, “Answer my question, Arnim Zola, answer it!” She took a dangerous step towards him and the Hydra agents around them quickly jumped into action.

“I think you might want to sit down when I tell you.” He grinned sinfully.

“Tell me.” She sneered. “His name was Absolon Y/L/N,” he explained. “He was a scientist that gave away his only daughter to Hydra for the good of the world.” More tears poured out of the eyes of the confused and frustrated Y/N.

“W-what?” She stammered.

“Absolon Y/L/N was your father, my dear. And unfortunately for you, you killed the only person on this planet who cared for you.” It was like someone flipped a switch in her because she suddenly felt emotion - like pain, sadness. She lunged at the doctor, but was pulled back by Hydra agents.

“Stop your crying,” he growled, “we do not produce weak soldiers.” But she couldn’t stop. “Wipe her clean and start again.” He ordered.

“No!” She pleaded as she thrashed and screamed for them to let her go.

“He’s not doing well.” It’s been nearly a few hours since they took Bucky out of cyro and he hasn’t been responding at all to any of the doctors, Sam and even Steve.

Tony refused to let Y/N see Bucky yet for he feared that Bucky might do something unpredictable and threaten her safety so he kept her company in the little lounge room just a few rooms away from where Bucky was staying.

“Why? Whats wrong?” A concerned Y/N inquired T’Challa.

“He’s just in some sort of trance? He’s not speaking to any of us, not even Captain Rogers.” He explained with a deep frown.

Y/N turned to Tony with a look on her face. He immediately turned her down with furrowed eyebrows and a shake of his head, “No.” Y/N huffed at him.

“Tony, what the hell am I supposed to do around here? I can’t just sit down and do nothing.” She snapped. “You have no control whatsoever over this man. What makes you think he won’t kill you when he finds out who you are?”

“Tony -,” But T’challa interjected, “What do you mean by when he finds out who you are?” Damn it Tony, Y/N cursed in her head.

Tony parted his lips and let out a stressed out sigh, “It doesn’t matter.” He muttered. But T’challa took a step forward and shook his head, “Yet it matters to me, Mr. Stark and I’m sure it matters to Captain Rogers and the rest of the people in this facility.”

Y/N fought her urge to get inside of T’challa’s head.

The room was silent and filled with unbearable tension. “Your highness, -” Tony started, but was cut off, “I’d like to here it from Doctor Y/N herself.“

She really did try to reject her need to get inside the Wakandan king’;s head, but the weight on her chest became intolerable so she gave in.

“He said it doesn’t matter, your highness.” Her voice turned cold and eerie as well as her eyes; they swirled with grey and hints of gold.

T’Challa sucked in a breath and stepped back, “Alright, I shall not question you any further. My apologies for prodding.”

Tony whipped his head to the direction of Y/N and gaped at her, “Y/N,” he frowned, but she ignored him instead she kept her eyes trained of T’Challa, “Your highness, please accompany me to Mr. Barnes’ room.”

Before she could even step foot out of the room, Tony yanked her arm back and shook his head, “He isn’t stable yet, Y/N. You don’t know him like I do.”

Y/N pulled back her arm and furrowed her eyebrows, “Tony, you don’t even know him at all.” With that, she left the room with her heart pounding hard against her chest because she just had a feeling that maybe Tony was right.

T’Challa guided her down the hallway then ushered her into the room. There she saw Steve with a glum look on his face then she saw the man she had anticipated meeting; James.

He sat on the edge of the bed. His long, dark hair fell on his face, shielding his eyes. She wondered what color they were - were they a shade of brown? or maybe jade?

“Doctor,” Sam greeted with a creased forehead. Everyone’s attention fell on her except for Bucky’s, he was still glaring at the blank wall in front of him.

“Tony told me that he didn’t want you here.” Y/N bit her lip and nodded, “Yes, but I just wanted to see if he was fine for myself.” She shrugged.

Steve sighed, “It’s like he’s brain dead.”

Y/N took a few steps towards the silent Bucky until she stood right in front of him. Steve and the others quickly tried to stop her, but she insisted, “It’s fine.”

She bent down to meet his eyes, her hands resting softly on his knees. His eyes were the prettiest blue eyes she’s ever seen.

Then she got into his head and she saw what he saw, she felt what he felt and she felt like she was drowning in hot magma.

His nightmares were her nightmares.

She relived his memory of falling from the freight train, Steve’s face being the last familiar face he’d see in a long time. Then she felt this burning sensation in her arm that just kept burning.

And next she saw his demons, felt his torture for the past 75 years and counting.

“I can feel you in my head.” Bucky muttered, glassy eyes peering into glassier ones.

This was Y/N’s cue to stop, but she didn’t and that got her in trouble.

Longing, rusted, 17, daybreak, furnace, nine, benign, homecoming, one, freight car.

Bucky’s eyes turned dark, his metal arm flexed and he had a sudden urge to choke Y/N to death. But before he could get his hands on her, Y/N had backed away in fright.

Steve held Bucky back, but Bucky was too strong and furious. He threw Steve across the room like a rag doll and charged for Y/N.

Y/N raised her arms in attempt to shield herself from him, “Stop!” She shrieked and Bucky halted. He felt frozen. “Get her out of here!” Y/N didn’t notice Tony running into the room, screaming at everyone. He quickly yanked her up to her feet and rushed her out the room. “I knew it! Didn’t I tell you that man is not stable!” He spat. Y/N still had tears running down her chin and horror in her eyes. She clung onto Tony and sobbed into his shoulder, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get into his head!” She cried. Tony instantly felt remorseful for yelling at her and embraced her tightly, “Its okay, we’ll leave.” But Y/N shook her head and sobbed a few times before saying, “No! I h-have to help him.” Tony parted his lips to speak, but Steve along with Sam marched into the room with a grim, furious look on their faces. “Who the hell are you?”

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the-gateway-girl · 6 years ago

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Game Spotlight: One Night Ultimate Werewolf (2014)

Designer: Ted Alspach & Akihisa Okui Publisher: Bezier Games Player Count: 3-10 players Game Length: ~10 minutes Mechanisms: Party Game, Bluffing, Deduction, Hidden Traitor, Role Playing, Variable Player Powers, Voting

One Night Ultimate Werewolf is a revamp of the classic game Werewolf, where players were Villagers who had to search out and expose the hidden Werewolf. This game is the exact same except for a few key things -- no moderator, no player elimination, no downtime. One Night. Ultimate Werewolf.

Players will take on the roles of Villagers (AKA good guys on the Village team), Werewolves (AKA bad guys on the Werewolf team), or a special character whose allegiances can be to either team depending on the character in question. The goal of the Villager team is to find and kill at least one Werewolf. If they do so, they win. The goal of the Werewolf team is to not have any Werewolves die. If they manage this, they win instead.

The trick (and the most fun part) is that many of the roles have powers that activate during a night phase in which most of the players will have their eyes closed. The players with these special roles will be able to switch cards, create chaos, and otherwise mess with the game so that no one is able to have perfect information!

How to Play: You will include or exclude certain roles in your game depending upon the number of players (see the manual for this), plus three more cards than the number of players. The role cards will be shuffled, and everyone will take one, secretly view it, and keep it facedown in front of them. There will be three cards in the middle of the table as well.

Make sure to download the free app for the game, as the app completely moderates the game’s night phase as well as provides its own timer. It also accounts for any wonky things that may get confusing with including various roles together in a game.

In the night phase, everyone will close their eyes. The app will instruct any Werewolves to open their eyes and look for other Werewolves -- the Werewolves know who the other Werewolves are. They will close their eyes, and the app will instruct any various special roles to open their eyes one at a time and perform any and all actions allotted to them. Villagers keep their eyes closed the entire time, as they have no night abilities. At the end of this, everyone will “wake up” for the day phase.

At the end of the night phase, a day phase with a timed discussion will begin (usually 3 minutes, but you can be your own judge of this depending upon how big your group is or how much time you feel you need to discuss so that everyone can be heard). Players are allowed to discuss what they think happened, volunteering as much or as little information as they please. They are allowed to bluff and lie, and you especially need to do this if you know you are a Werewolf! Role tokens are also available to use that players can place on each other’s cards to try to keep track of which role they believe everyone to be. Players will try to ferret out the truth, lie to cover their tracks, or spread confusion at all turns. At the end of the discussion, everyone must vote for who to kill by pointing at someone else. The person with the most votes dies and everyone’s character card is then revealed. If a Werewolf was killed, the Village team wins no matter who else may also have died. The Village team also wins if no one is a Werewolf (if all the Werewolves were the cards in the center) and no one dies (i.e. everyone chose to vote in a circle so that everyone received one vote). If no Werewolves were killed, the Werewolf team wins in most cases. There are a few special cases with certain roles where other special characters can win if they fulfill their victory conditions too.

The Character Roles include.......

The Villagers (3): Villagers have no special abilities and they do not wake up at night. Players may often claim to be a Villager. Villagers are on the Village team.

The Werewolves (2): Werewolves open their eyes at night and see all other Werewolves. This way, they always know who is on their team. If only one Werewolf opens their eyes (i.e. one person is a lone Werewolf without teammates), that person is allowed to view one card from the center so that he or she has some information to help them during the discussion (or a role to pretend to be!). Werewolves are on the Werewolf team.

The Seer (1): During the night phase, the Seer is allowed to either: look at the card of one player, OR view two of the center cards. The Seer is on the Village team.

The Minion (1): The Minion wakes up at night and sees who the Werewolves are, but the Werewolves do not know who he is (the Werewolves will keep their eyes closed but stick up their thumbs so the Minion may know them). The Minion’s job is to protect the Werewolves by seeming suspicious so that he might be killed rather than the true Werewolves. The Minion is on the Werewolf team.

The Robber (1): At night, the Robber may choose to “rob” a card from another player, i.e. switch his character card with theirs. He then views his new role and closes his eyes again. The Robber is on the Village team, however once he switches cards he is then on the team of whichever card he takes.

The Troublemaker (1): The Troublemaker wakes up at night and switches two players’ role cards, but does not look at them at all, either before or after switching. The Troublemaker can also choose to switch their own card with the card of another player (still not looking at their new card). The Troublemaker’s sole purpose is to create chaos. The Troublemaker is on the Village team.

The Masons (2): The Masons wake up at night and see each other. This allows them to know the information that they are both on the GOOD team (unless, of course, something gets switched afterwards!). The Masons are on the Village team, and if a Mason is included in your game, they must BOTH be included.

The Drunk (1): The Drunk is so drunk that he doesn’t remember what role he is. During the night, he switches his card for one of the center cards, but does not view his new role. The Drunk is now the new role he took and is on that team (even though he doesn’t know what it is!).

The Hunter (1): The Hunter does not wake up at night. He has no special night abilities, although when it is time for the voting phase, if he dies -- i.e. if a majority of fingers are pointed at him to be killed -- he “shoots his gun” and kills whoever he is pointing at as well. The Hunter is on the Village team.

The Insomniac (1): The Insomniac is the last of the roles to wake up at night, and her power is being able to view her card (to see if it has been switched or not) before going back to sleep. Because of this, the Insomniac is the only player who will know exactly who they are and what team they are now on in the day phase. The Insomniac is on the Village team.

The Tanner (1): The Tanner does not wake up at night. He hates his job and his life, and his only goal is to die. The Tanner only wins if he dies. For this reason, the Tanner might often be seen pretending to be an incompetent Werewolf. If the Tanner dies and no Werewolves die, the Werewolves do NOT win -- the Tanner does. If the Tanner dies and a Werewolf also dies, the Village team wins along with the Tanner. If the Tanner dies when all Werewolves are in the center, the Village team loses -- this is because the Tanner is technically a member of the village, although he is not on their team. The Tanner is on his own team.

The Doppelganger (1): The Doppelganger is the most complicated role and should be introduced only with people who have a firm grasp of the game and the other roles. The Doppelganger wakes up at night and takes on the role and team of whichever card she views and does that action immediately. She also wakes up before the other roles, so that most likely another person will wake up later in the night to perform that same action. If a player receives the Doppelganger card during the night, she is the role the Doppelganger originally viewed.

Play Variants / Expansions: The variants in this game come from including and excluding various roles, so games will all be unique and different. Gameplay will also change depending upon the people you play with each time! There are many other versions of the One Night games if you like this one -- One Night Ultimate Alien, One Night Ultimate Vampire, One Night Ultimate Werewolf Daybreak, etc. -- their gameplay is similar but with different roles.

Who Will Like It? : One Night Ultimate Werewolf is an amazing social deduction and bluffing game. I have seen it work with so many different play groups. Each game can also be affected depending on how players behaved in previous games! Like most bluffing games, it works best with more outgoing groups and with people who aren’t uncomfortable with lying or fibbing to other players. It is also a learning curve game -- you will get better at understanding the various roles and deducing who everyone is (if you are on the side of good) or covering your tracks with a good story (if you are a Werewolf) the more times you play. The good thing about this game as compared to the original Werewolf is that it only lasts “one night”, or the basic equivalent of 10 minutes -- quick and fast to replay many times, and no sitting out and watching because of getting eliminated!

Where to Buy: If you are interested in getting a copy of One Night Ultimate Werewolf for yourself, you can get it from Amazon (they are out of stock at this exact moment on 4/1/19, but they WILL get more, trust me. This game is wayyy too popular not to restock). Also try searching your local game store or other online retailers (Cardhaus, Noble Knight Games, CoolStuffInc and Ebay are good sources for discount games). It usually retails for around $15-20.

Links and Resources: If you want to see more or would like other opinions, Tom Vasel of The Dice Tower has a review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQcG1mOa5fY . Board Game Geek’s “Game Night!” web series has a playthrough here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOKrHxURskw. Here is another liveplay of a sample game that also attempts to explain some of the strategies behind what the players are claiming and why they are doing so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4uDuH4xXLg

Tips and Strategies:

You definitely want to GET THE APP! It saves the trouble of having to have a moderator who has to then remember all the roles in the game and who wakes up before who. Plus, it is narrated by Eric Summerer of The Dice Tower, AKA the man with the golden voice.

Be sure to make some noise by either tapping the table or drumming your fingers on the table during the night phase. This muffles noise that can be made when players are switching cards, so that it’s harder to tell who’s doing what and prevents metagaming. If you get the fabulous app, it can provide music or background noise for this purpose too.

Make sure everyone has a good handle on the roles and what they do before you start your game, or else be prepared to have a few dud rounds for learning purposes before things start getting good. It can be intimidating for first-time players who are Werewolves to have to come up with a convincing lie on the fly, especially if they do not understand the other roles’ powers and cannot come up with a possible role to claim or examples of what they did or didn’t do during the night.

If people aren’t sure what to say to get things started, try offering up what role you were and what you did, or saying something leading like “I was the Seer, but I’ll tell you whose card I viewed once I hear from some other people.” Eventually people will start talking!

If you are a Werewolf, saying you are a Villager can be a good lie if you can’t come up with anything else. It does tend to telegraph to more experienced players that you might be a Werewolf, however (the sucky end of this is when you really ARE a Villager, and everyone goes “Suuuuure you are...”!). It is often more effective as a Werewolf to claim to be another role before the real person with that role starts talking. If you are a Werewolf but you say you were the Robber, then when the real Robber says “Hey! He’s lying!”, this can cause people to doubt that person for not speaking first. Along with that, if you choose to wait as the Werewolf until more information is revealed about who may be what role, you can claim a role that hasn’t been heard from (which means it may be in the center), or you can also try to do the opposite from the first example and claim a role after someone else has already claimed it, trying to make them look like a liar! You don’t want to wait too long either, or people may get suspicious of you. Every game is different and every group of people is different, so experiment and have fun! I have won games as almost every Village team role as well as multiple times as a lone Werewolf and a Werewolf team. Anything is possible if you think quickly and have a convincing story!

If you are a Werewolf with a teammate, try your best to provide evidence to whatever story they are coming up with, or come up with a story yourself that gives your partner a cover too (especially if they are in danger of being outed). My favorite cover story from my games: I was a Werewolf and my Werewolf partner was outed as a Werewolf at the start of the game by a Seer who happened to look at his card. The Troublemaker then said he switched our cards (making my partner and myself still both Werewolves, but as the Troublemaker doesn’t view the cards they switch, he was unaware of that). I told everybody I had been the Drunk and switched my card for a center card. This caused them to believe that I had switched my Werewolf card with a new center card which they didn’t think was a Werewolf, and that my partner was now the Drunk). We won that game.

My favorite pro tip for Werewolves: It’s easy to claim to be the Drunk, as in my anecdote above (assuming the Drunk is in your game), as this explains why you don’t have a good story for what role you actually are. People also don’t tend to dispute the Drunk much as there isn’t really a logical way to uncover what actually happened during their night turn. Try it!

Happy playing!!

#onenightultimatewerewolf #tabletop #boardgames #the-gateway-girl #games #cardgames #gateway #gatewaygames

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thewinterphantom · 8 years ago

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Waking Up: Chapter 4

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

What actually happened on the mission? Was it really Bucky's fault? How does this end? You're about to find out.

At last, the end. Flashbacks and thoughts in italics.

This chapter has minor mentions of violence in a flashback. Nothing graphic.

Read HERE on Ao3! (under winterphantom)

“Stay close,” Bucky tells you as you round a corner.

Before you can respond, you see HYDRA soldiers all around you.

Bucky curses under his breath. They knew we were coming, you think. You meet Bucky’s eyes for a split second, filled with terror. Then you are alone, and you are surrounded.

You don’t even have time to think before they are all over you. Shots are fired, arms and legs flying everywhere. You can’t call for backup, or even wonder if the rest of the team are ok.

However, you and Bucky are both good fighters. You manage to hold your own. You can’t see Bucky, but by the number of agents being flung around the room, it seems he’s doing alright too. For a minute, you actually think that you’ll both make it out of this.

Then you hear it. “желание.” Longing.

Time seems to slow down. You have no idea where the voice is coming from, but you certainly recognize the word.

Bucky.

At this moment, nothing else matters. You need to get to him. You need to help him.

“ржaвый.” Rusted.

You don’t know how they knew the words. You all thought that you’d eradicated any trace of them, and anyone who knew about them for that matter.

More bodies fly past you. Bucky must have realized what was happening. He was going through these soldiers at an incredible pace.

“Семнадцать.” Seventeen.

The only thing you can think of is getting to him. You try fight your way through the remaining soldiers.

“Рассвет.” Daybreak

You catch a glimpse of him, encircled by a thinning mob. You can’t even follow his movements, taking them down with tremendous speed. You can hear his metal arm whirring. The soldiers don’t even notice you.

“Печь.” Furnace.

Bucky’s eyes look distant. He’s not even looking at them, yet somehow still overpowers them with ease. He must be searching for the source of the voice. You call to him, but if he hears you, he doesn’t acknowledge it.

“Девять.” Nine.

You’re so close. You call to him again, pushing through the bodies still separating you two. You reach out. Your fingers graze him… and…

“добросердечный.” Benign.

…Black.

You replay the memory in your mind. Bucky is still staring at the ground.

“Buck, I…” you start, and Bucky finally brings his eyes back to your face. He looks like a puppy waiting to be scolded, wide-eyed and skittish. You clear your throat and speak again.

“Why do you keep apologizing? I can’t understand… how was any of this your fault?” you ask, genuinely confused.

He stares at you for a moment, surprised at your words. Then his expression darkens again, and he clenches his metal fist. His eyes follow its movements.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asks quietly.

When you tell him, Bucky inhales deeply and rakes a hand through his disheveled hair. He raises his metal arm slightly, and his gaze with it. His eyes bore into yours.

“It was me… this.” He flexes and clenches the hand again. He inhales again before speaking, not averting his eyes.

“I hit you—no, threw you into the wall. Knocked you out. I… I thought I killed you.” His voice breaks at the last part.

“Bucky…” You reach for him, but he pulls away. He shakes his head and continues, that same guilty look spreading over his features.

“I was trying to get back to you, but… When I heard those words, I couldn’t think straight. I just needed to make them stop… when you touched me, I didn’t even think. And when I saw you… I was so angry, at myself, at everyone… I got them all. Every one of them, shut up the one saying the words real quick… I needed to get back to you, carried you all the way back, didn’t know if you would ever wake up…” He’s speaking quickly, not forming coherent sentences, eyes darting around the room. He looks desperate and lost, like he wants to beg for your forgiveness but knows he shouldn’t.

“It’s not your faul—” you try to say, but Bucky cuts you off.

“My fault?” He fixes his gaze on you, appalled. “It was my hand. We fought off all those soldiers, we were going to be okay, and then I’m the one who hurt you. It should’ve never happened in the first place. I should’ve been more prepared, should’ve never let us get separated…” He stares at his metal arm again.

Before he can continue rambling, you interject.

“I love you too.”

Well, that shut him up.

He gawks at you with a stunned expression on his face. Again, you can feel him searching your eyes. You reach out, and he lets you take his hand this time.

“How?” he whispers, barely audible. You run your thumb over the back of his hand.

“You’re amazing, Bucky. No matter what you say, it wasn’t your fault. You saved me.” You smile at him, but you can see he’s hesitant to return it.

“I promised to keep you safe, but I failed you, I hurt you…” he trails off.

“What, do you think I would’ve been safer if you hadn’t taken out those soldiers, if you let them say all of those words? Turned back into the Winter Soldier? Bucky, I can handle an injury. Being trapped with the world’s deadliest assassin and a bunch of enemy agents? Not so much.”

He considers this for a moment, but his guilt and disbelief are evident on his face.

“If you were with anyone else, we wouldn’t have had to worry about that… those damn words—”

“If I was with anyone else,” you interrupt, “I wouldn’t have had a chance of making it out of there. Did you see how many of them you took out? No one else could do that, Buck. That was you. You’re the reason I’m still alive. Stop trying to argue with me, you know you’ll lose.” You grin at him.

The corner of his mouth quirks up.

“Stubborn as ever,” he quips a little uncertainly. However, he can’t stop a small smirk from appearing on his face.

You beam at him.

“Come over here.” You shift over as much as you can and pat the space next to you on the hospital bed. He hesitates momentarily, but complies.

You look up at him, sitting next to you, and he still seems a bit unsure of himself.

“I meant it, Bucky,” you insist quietly, eyes locked with his shining blue ones. To prove your point, you purposefully take his metal hand in yours, gently pull him down towards you, and softly press your lips to his.

Pulling back slightly, you see he’s finally broken into a real smile for the first time since you woke up, his eyes crinkling around the edges.

“I know, doll. So did I.” He kisses the top of your head.

Bucky lays back on the bed and you place your head on his chest, pulling his arm around you. He whispers again that he loves you, and sighs contentedly.

“How long has it been since you’ve actually slept?” You peer up at him and notice that his eyes are closed.

“Since the mission…” he mumbles sleepily as he pulls you closer to him.

“How long ago was that?” you ask, still not sure exactly how long you were out for.

“Mmm… couple days…”

You scoff at him softly, but decide that that question can wait. Within a few moments, he’s asleep. Soon after, you too fall asleep to the melodic sound of his even breathing.

“I guess we can add ‘world’s best wingman’ to my long list of accomplishments,” Tony says, peering in at the two entangled, sleeping bodies through the doorway.

Steve chuckles. “Sure, Stark. Should we wake them and tell them we’re back?”

“Nah, I don’t really want to deal with a half-asleep abominable snowman,” Tony retorts.

“They probably need both could use the rest,” Steve agrees. “I’ll leave a note.”

“Looks like Sleeping Beauty finally found her Prince Charming.”

#waking up #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes #the winter soldier #tony stark #iron man #steve rogers #captain america #the avengers #reader insert #marvel #fic #fanfic #fluff #angst #fluff and angst #winterphantom #thewinterphantom

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