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jobean12-blog · 4 years ago

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Top Shelf: Chapter 12-Bookaholics

Pairing: Bucky x reader (Bookshop/Bartender AU)

Word Count: 1,515

Summary: You and Bucky try to get the ball rolling and explain your idea to Sam and Nat all while having a little fun :)

Author’s Note: Hey everyone! Happy Monday! Thank you for all your continued amazingness! Love you all! If anyone hasn’t been to the High Line you can check out the website here It’s one of my favorite places in the city and really is that beautiful! I like taking you on a little tour of NYC through this story, it helps with how badly I miss my city (we are doing well though so one thing at a time right!) All the pictures I use in my moodboards are real photos of these places. Here is the link for attaboy again in case you want to see that too. Thank you all for reading! Much love to you always ❤❤❤

Warnings: Fluff, some super light smut (mostly implied), flirting, romantic fluff :)

Previous Chapters

Chapter 1: Enchantment

Chapter 2: Cookie Crumble

Chapter 3: Sweet Anticipation

Chapter 4: Read Between the Limes

Chapter 5: Secrets on the Shelf

Chapter 6: Love Between the Covers *

Chapter 7: Love Lines & Soul Finds

Chapter 8: Drunk in Love *

Chapter 9: Pour it onto the Page

Chapter 10: Recipe for Love *

Chapter 11: The Pages in Between

When you awake the next morning it’s to the sound of more rain hitting the sky light, Bucky’s even breathing warm against your neck. You slowly shift and stretch to grab your phone. Seeing that it’s not even 6am you unlock the device and lazily search through your Pinterest, saving recipes that look worth trying.

“Looking up some new stuff to bake, sweetheart?” His voice is low and raspy from sleep and you love the sound, turning and smiling as he rubs his eyes. “I hope I didn’t wake you?” He curls his arms around your middle and pulls you against his chest, “nope.” You rest your head under his chin, closing your eyes and listening to the rain.

“How about we just stay up here forever. Forget work, read books, eat pizza…” You continue, your breath hitching as Bucky’s hand creeps under your shirt. “Listen to the rain…Bucky.” He rolls on top of you, gently pulling your shirt above your head. “What else?” he asks between kisses. “This. Lots and lots of this,” you whisper, shimming out of your shorts.

“How long do we have before you have to leave for work?” His fingers inch below the waistband of your underwear, easily slipping inside you. “Enough time,” is the last thing you say before his lips capture yours, swallowing your moans.

You find if hard to concentrate at work, every free minute your mind wanders to thoughts of the bookshop and your idea and to Bucky. It’s hard to shake the feeling of wanting to dive in headfirst and just do it, go all in. But you know you can’t. You must do this right. You shoot Bucky a quick text, ‘hey babe, want to talk to Sam this weekend? Maybe we can hang at the bar after closing and go over our idea?❤❤’

His reply seems enthusiastic and you smile. ‘Definitely!❤ I can’t stop thinking about it, especially being in the bookshop now. I keep imagining where we could put things and how to move things around and all that.😁😍’ Letting out a breath you let him know you’re excited and try to get back to work. The rest of the day is boring, and the work week drags, however, your nights with Bucky are anything but.

Saturday night rolls around and you and Nat stroll into the bar late. You wade through the crowd of already drunk people, searching for Bucky behind the bar. You spot him leaning against the back counter, his button down open at the front and his sleeves rolled up, the buttons looking like they may pop off any moment. His jeans do little to hide his thick thighs and perfect ass. Sam slides up next to him and you follow their line of sight over the bar to find two girls giggling at something they said.

“Hey Nat, I think our boys caught some attention,” you snicker, pointing their way. Nat raises her brow, whispering in your ear before heading to the other end of the bar. She makes her way to the bar, getting the attention of Peter. “Hey Pete, could you get y/n and I some shots please,” she asks, batting her eyelashes.

He nearly falls over, grinning wide at you both before looking nervously over at Bucky and Sam. “Uh, yea, sure of course ladies. What’ll it be?” You pretend to think it over for a second, “you know what, why don’t you pick for us? Whatever you think we’ll like. And make one for yourself so you can join us!” He simply nods, rushing off to make your shots. “Could he be any more adorable,” Nat whispers, giggling. “No. But could he be any more afraid of the boys?”

You both let out a laugh, having way too much fun and looking over at them. They’re staring, Sam with his arms crossed over his chest and Bucky with his hand on his hip, all four eyebrows raised in your direction. You smirk at Bucky just as Peter appears with the shots. “Thanks Pete, can’t wait to try these.” He lifts his shot up, clinking the small glasses with yours and Nat’s. You keep your eyes on Bucky while you down the cold liquid, slamming the glass down on the bar and licking your lips. “That was great, good choice, thanks.” Nat heartily agrees, sliding the glasses back and smiling at Sam.

“You’re welcome, can I get you anything else?” A large hand lands on Peter’s shoulder, Sam’s deep voice answering his question. “No, thanks Pete, we’ll take care of the girls from here on out.” You watch him visibly stiffen, shaking his head vigorously before practically running off in the other direction.

“No need to scare the pants off the kid, baby,” Nat coos, her smirk reappearing. “And it looks like you were handling those girls on the other side of the bar just fine from here.” Bucky and Sam look at each other and scoff before they start laughing. “So, that’s what this is about!? They’re Steve’s cousins that are visiting from out of town,” Sam says, eyeing Bucky before laughing again. “You were jealous!” Bucky adds, his eyes bright. “I love it.”

His smile is so wide you want to punch him and for a moment you and Nat are silent. “Well, how were we supposed to know! And we were only having a bit of fun! AND might I add, I was not jealous!” Nat chimes in, “but clearly you two were! Coming over here and scaring Peter half to death!” They start laughing again and Bucky leans over the bar to whisper in your ear, “I love you.” Sam throws Nat a wink and waves over the two girls who quickly head toward you. After introductions are made and everyone laughs over your misunderstanding you spend the rest of the night enjoying your new friends and having some drinks.

By the time 2am arrives and the bar closes you’re all tired but still willing to talk things over. Sam cleans off a back table and grabs some waters. “Ok. Let’s hear this plan of yours,” he says, smiling brightly despite the time and fact that he’s been at work for almost 12 hours. Your heart swells. You love them all so much.

Before you start you reach into your bag, pulling out a small Tupperware. “Ok, but first, some cookies!” Sam whoops along with Bucky, two large hands grabbing for the container. Bucky looks to you, his mouth full of cookie, “go for it baby.” You hold his hand the whole time, laying out what you’ve come up with so far.

Nat’s smile never falters, and Sam’s excitement is clear as they listen to all you have to say. When you’re finally done, they naturally have questions which you and Bucky do your best to answer. “Listen, I think it could really work if you do it right. People love books. They love food. They love coffee. You just need to bring it all together,” Sam says, suggesting you set up a meeting with his friend Tony who owns several businesses and has a really good head for this stuff.

“He sounds like he could be a huge help,” you say excitedly. Sam nods, chewing his last cookie. “Oh definitely. He’s brilliant and honest and if anyone can help you navigate through this it’s him. And of course, us!” he adds, putting his arm around Nat. “Of course, guys! Did you tell Steve yet?” she asks. Bucky shakes his head no. “He and Peggy couldn’t make it tonight so they are going to stop by tomorrow, actually later today, so we can fill them in.”

When you finally leave the bar, it looks as if the sun is about to come up. “Summer is really here! I love how early the sun comes up these days. And how long it stays out,” you say, leaning into Bucky. He has his arm around your waist as the two of you walk slowly down the quiet street. Suddenly, he stops. “Hey, I have an idea. You wanna go on a little adventure before we head home?”

With a little squeeze to his middle you happily exclaim, “yes,” not needing to ask any questions as you follow him into the subway. About twenty minutes later you emerge back to the surface and see you’re at the High Line. “Oh, Bucky! I love it here!” He smiles down at you, walking up the steps. “I hope we can see what I want to see,” he whispers, holding your hand as you head down the path.

You reach a spot where you have a clear view of the water and Bucky sits on a bench, pulling you into his lap. It’s close to 6am and the sun is starting to peek over the horizon, the bright orange and pink hues dancing across the calm water. “Good morning,” he says against your ear, his eyes fixed on you instead of the rising sun. Turning your head, you kiss him softly. “It’s the most perfect morning.”

@aesthetical-bucky @auro-ora @azurika-writes @book-dragon-13 @buckys-broody-muffin @bucky-on-my-mind @bugsbucky @eurynome827 @hiddles-rose @hailmary-yramliah @hawksmagnolia @ikaris-whore @imgaril-lindru @itsunclebucky @jhangelface0523 @jewels2876 @loricameback @littledarlinhavefaithinme @littleredstarfish @mushyjellybeans @marvelandotherfandomimagines @marvelgirl7 @nano--raptor @randomfandompenguin @sallycanwait68 @scarletsoldierrr @softpeachbarnes @the-wayward-robot @throwmyheartawayagain @flyawaybay @amandatar-06 @nd1998sc @yansi1923 @captainchrisstan @vherriepie @godofplumsandthunder @when-the-hell-is-bucky @fire-flv @jamesbarnesappreciationclub @irishflutiegirl @rinthehufflepuff @moonybarnes @nordlysinthewoods @inflxmes @lauratang @my-favorite-fics-and-imagines @buchanansebba @emilylyoness @curlyred2020 @kaosera @breezy1415 @metal-armed-cuddly-dork @devynsdiary

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that-little-zebunny · 4 years ago

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Mistwer Bwarnes

This is for @the-ss-horniest-book-club ‘s 24 Hour Surprise Drabble Challenge: Sweet Treats. I choose Sharing a milkshake coz why not? Sharing is caring uwu

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader

Warning: None just a dose of sweet tooth aching fluff

WC: 1,458

Summary: You boyfriend is back from his work and end up joining you babysitting a little fan of his.

Sebastian is home! After months of being away on a shoot. That’s why when he suddenly showed up on your front door you couldn't stop yourself from screaming so loud and throwing yourself on his arm making him chuckle as he hugs you tight kissing the top of your head.

“I missed you too Sweetheart.” he said as he put you down and held your face to kiss you on the lips making you moan and cling on him more.

You’re so happy he’s here that you forgot you got a little daredevil in your living room until you heard something crashed. Seb let go of your lips looking at you frowning.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I forgot about him.” you laughed awkwardly and stealing a quick kiss on his lips you pulled him inside your home. “I’m currently babysitting for my sister.” you said as you and bucky stare at a little four year old kid hanging upside down your sofa.

You saw your rose cabbage that is supposedly on your coffee table on your floor. Luckily the plant was not damaged much but the soil is everywhere.

“Lucas, what did you do to Auntie’s plant?” You said tiredly. You love this kid but he’s just super energized 24/7.

"It jumped, Auntie. Sowwie" The kid said fixing himself on the sofa looking at you with his ever so effective puppy eyes. Sighing you went to him to squish his chubby cheeks and kissed his forehead.

"Well it's fine. The plant is alright but next time don't climb tables Hun it's not safe." You told him seriously. "You understand that?? We don't want you to have boo boo right?" And the kid nodded and hugged you tight. You heard Seb chuckling at you being defeated by a kid when he can't win arguments with you. You heard Lucas' little gasp as he saw Sebastian. You know how much of a Bucky fan your nephew is.

"It's you!!!" Lucas said or more likely shouted as he pointed at Sebastian.

"Me?" Your boyfriend asked, confused.

"You're James Buchownun Bwarnes!!!!" He clapped his hands.

"Am I?" Seb smirked as he looked at the kid with warm eyes.

"I know you! You fight bad guys!" He happily explained as he ran to his backpack recovering his little Bucky action figures for sure. He loves showing them off to people.

Seb looked at you, wide grin on his face seeing how excited your nephew is. You just shrugged your shoulders, smiling too as you cleaned up the mess made by the fallen plant the magically jumped. You chuckle.

"Wow. I didn't know your nephew liked Bucky." He said as he helped you out.

"Well, no one can escape the charm Bucky Barnes has specially being played by a wonderful actor." You teased him making his cheeks turn a shade of red.

"You're too good for my ego. I love you sweetheart." He said winking at you.

"I love you too and I have so many things I wanna do with you right now. Sadly I have a promise I need to fulfill to a certain kid." You said as you got up. Seb groaned painfully looking at you with intense eyes. You sent him a flying kiss.

The Mess on the floor is all cleaned up. You set you poor rose cabbage somewhere dry so you can tend to it later without it dying on you.

A little later you heard little footsteps coming towards you. Lucas comes to view with his three toys. A Endgame Bucky toy, 40s Bucky and a Captain America toy, those are his all time favorites.

"Mistwer Bucky!!! Look! I have smol you." He said as he shows Seb a toothy grin.

"Wow, that looks exactly just like me." He said as he kneel down to be on Lucas' level.

You let the two play for a bit as you finish up cleaning and walk to them after more or less thirty minutes.

“Okay boys, time to go.” You said. It’s time to go out and fulfill your promise to Lucas.

The kid excitedly went to get his shoes while Sebastian stood up to hug you from behind.

“What’s up? Where are we going?” He asked as he rained kisses on your nape.

“Stop that, there’s a kid here.” You chuckle. He did what you said but without kissing your cheek before he let go of you.

“So?” He asked as the two of you waited for Lucas.

“Well. I promised him a milkshake this morning. There’s a shop that we love to go to and we are going there now.” you happily told him.

“Sounds fun.” Seb said as he picked up his hat and sunglasses.

“Milkshakeeee!” Lucas said as he walked near the door which made you and Sebastian laugh.

All of you are very excited but not until you reach the store. The hot weather must have attracted lots of customers because its jam packed. You worriedly peaked at Seb and you saw him lover his baseball cap a bit and looking down to hide his face better. You smiled worriedly at him but he only winked at you and circled his left arm on your waist.

“We’ll order and then leave as soon as we are done.” you said to him looking down at Lucas who is excitedly waiting beside you. The line is a bit long but they are moving nicely.

It took you a good twenty minutes until it was your turn and the nice owner Mr. Lopez smiled nicely at your group. You’ve been on his shop for so long that he became your friend.

“Hello there, my favorite customer.: He said as he looks down at Lucas who is looking up at him with sparkly eyes.

“Hello Mistwer Lowpez.” Your nephew greeted waving his hands.

“Hey, looks like a good day for you today.” You said to the sweet old man.

“It is. It must have been very hot out. This is the most customer I have had in my twenty years of business.” He chuckled. “Will you be getting you usual?” He asked and you nodded then looked at Sebastian at your side.

“What will you get sweetheart?” you asked.

“I think I’ll have the same as you guys.” HE said, he still has his head lowered.

“Is he okay?” Mr. Lopez asked.

“Yes, he’s just a little shy.” you teased him which earned you a light pinch on your side making you jump up from the shock and the tickling sensation. “Seb!” you said giggling.

“Bad girl.” he whispered near your ears making you shiver.

Paying Mr. Lopez after he got your orders the three of you moved out of the way so that the next customer can order and you’ll just wait for your drinks to be prepared.

A moment later the three of you were on your way home. Lucas is already drinking his and humming happily as he does not until he tripped on his own feet luckily Seb was quick enough to catch him.

“You okay bud?” he asks as he helps the kid stand up. Lucas was just looking at him in awe.

“You really are a superhero!” he said jumping up to cling on Sebastian’s neck. It makes you laugh and warms your heart at the same time.

“I think I am now…” Seb said as he stood up with your nephew in his arms.

“My milkshake jumped too auntie.” Lucas said pointing at the spilled drink on the floor.

“Oh no…” you said. You can see that Lucas’ eyes are starting to water now. The waterworks are about to come.

“Hey buddy, look you can have mine.” Seb said and you took his drink from the handler you have in your hand and gave it to Lucas who happily accepted it.

“Lucas what do you say?” you asked.

“Thank you Mistwer Bwarnes.” he said grinning widely before he slurped in his drink.

You took yours too and sipped a little before offering some to Seb. He looked at you confused and you moved the straw near his lips and he slowly closed his lips on them and sipped a lot making him cringe when he felt a sting in his head. You and Lucas laughed at him.

“Ugh...brain freeze ow.” he said and the two of you continued walking with you making sure Seb got to drink the milkshake you are now sharing together because he gave his to you nephew who is still in Sebastian’s arms drinking what supposed to be your boyfriend’s drink.

This is not what you planned with Seb’s return but this is soooo much better. You are enjoying your favorite drink with your two favorite guys.

Sebastian Stan and characters: @nano--raptor @marvelgirl7 @godofplumsandthunder @jobean12-blog @hawksmagnolia @jewels2876 @bugsbucky @tyranneosaurus @hailmary-yramliah

The Whole Gang: @Acornish717

Join my taglist <3

#hbc 24 hour surprise drabble challenge #hbc summer loving challenge #hbc drabbles #sebastian stan fanfiction #sebastian stan fan fiction #sebastian stan imagine #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan x you #fan fiction #actor RPF

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undertheinfluencerd · 3 years ago

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https://ift.tt/eA8V8J #

One of the best things about The Big Bang Theory is that no matter how much the main characters transform and grow over the years, they’re still incredibly similar to the people whom viewers’ first met in season 1. Characters like Amy and Bernadette have shifted a bit personality-wise since their first episode, but they’re consistent more than not.

RELATED: One Quote From Each Character Of TBBT That Perfectly Sums Up Their Personality

However, there are rare moments where the main characters said things that weren’t aligned with their personalities. Everyone from Howard to Penny had moments that seemed unusual for their typical behavior.

7 Penny: “In Fact Recently, I’ve Been Thinking That Given The Parameters Of Your Experiment, The Transport Of Electrons Through The Aperture Of The Nano-Fabricated Metal Rings Is Qualitatively No Different Than The Experiment Already Conducted In The Netherlands.”

When Penny and Leonard began dating, Penny wanted to understand what Leonard did for work. With physics outside the realm of Penny’s understanding, Sheldon promised to teach her a thing or two. Penny didn’t care what opinions others had of her dating Leonard, but she wanted to at least understand what he was working on.

After a long and tiring lesson from Sheldon, Penny learned two long-winded sentences that she recited in front of the group. What she said was true and completely out of character, which is why the group had their tongues hanging out of their mouths as she spoke.

6 Leonard: “Right. Just Kissing. It Wasn’t Even Very Good. She Was A Smoker. I’d Just Been Seasick…”

It was a smart career decision for Leonard to go away at sea to work with Professor Stephen Hawking’s scientific group as he would be a part of history if their experiment went well. But the trip seemed to be more play than work for Leonard.

RELATED: Leonard’s 5 Best (& 5 Worst) Career Decisions On The Big Bang Theory

When Leonard came back from sea and was about to walk down the aisle with Penny, he admitted that he had cheated on her while he was on the ship. Everything he was saying was completely out of character because he had fought to be with Penny for years. Why would he throw it away for a kiss at sea? Penny (and fans) were disappointed at Leonard for how he treated her.

5 Sheldon: “We Lock That Door, Lower Our Underpants A Little, And Make A Baby.”

It took Sheldon years to be comfortable enough with Amy to call her his girlfriend. It took him even longer to ask him to marry her. But somewhere in between the rollercoaster of their relationship, Sheldon and Amy did an experiment on the combination of their genes. Seeing how brilliant the results were, Amy couldn’t wait to replicate the results. Sheldon, on the other hand, had another idea: he wanted to make a baby.

The realization that they could produce a genius made Sheldon excited. But hearing him say, “We lock that door, lower our underpants a little, and make a baby” was one of the best, albeit, shocking quotes Sheldon has ever said. Sheldon is not fond of personal intimacy, so for him to want to procreate was uncharacteristic for him.

4 Howard: “She Wants A Commitment And I’m Not Sure She’s My Type.”

When Howard and Bernadette first started dating, Howard slowly stopped answering her calls. The ups and downs of their relationship were relatable for viewers, but fans couldn’t help but wonder if Howard realized how good he had it with Bernadette.

RELATED: 10 Ways Howard & Bernadette Are The Most Relatable Couple From The Big Bang Theory

Howard was always trying to land himself a girlfriend, and now that he had one that was as beautiful and smart as Bernadette, it was odd that he was suddenly not fond of “commitment.” Out of all the men, Howard was the most desperate for affection.

3 Raj: “Koothrappali Out. God Bless That Boy, I Don’t Know What I’d Do Without Him.”

If there’s one thing that fans would change about Raj’s storyline in TBBT, it would be that he got the happy ending he desperately wanted since season 1. He wanted a wife and kids more than his friends — he even shot his shot with Penny.

In an episode where Raj won an award from People magazine, his personality began to shift. He suddenly thought he was better than his friends and could get any woman he wanted. In one scene, he was on the phone talking to his assistant and sounded cocky and better than everyone else. It’s rare that viewers heard Raj say “Koothrappali out” on the phone, or even rely so heavily on an assistant he had for one day.

2 Amy: “Now, Before This Goes Any Further, You Should Know That All Forms Of Physical Contact Up To And Including Coitus Are Off The Table.”

Amy is one character who changed the most throughout the series. She transformed from a robotic and shy woman to someone who was outwardly sexual and spoke her mind.

At the start, Amy told Sheldon that “all forms of physical contact” were off the table. This is incredibly out of character for the Amy fans know in season 12 because Amy practically begs Sheldon for hugs and forms of intimacy. It’s hard to picture her not wanting to sleep with Sheldon when she asked him to get physical with her for years.

1 Bernadette: “Does She Pick Your Clothes For You In The Morning Like You’re Nine Years Old?”

When Bernadette and Howard go on their first date, the only thing the two have in common is their overbearing mothers. The two shared stories of how domineering their mothers were, with Bernadette claiming her mom still picked out her clothes. This was incredibly strange because as fans get to know Bernadette, they see how independent she is. Her mother is rarely in her life and she judges Howard for how close he is with his mother. The inconsistent quote from Bernadette was out of character for her because it didn’t match her reality.

NEXT: 10 Hidden Details About Bernadette Everyone Missed In The Big Bang Theory

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#entertainment, screenrant #tumblr #aesthetic #like #love #tumblrgirl #follow #instagram #photography #instagood #likeforlikes #s #likes #art #cute #o #girl #followforfollowback #a #tumblrboy #grunge #fashion #photooftheday #tiktok #l #photo #sad #k #frases #f #bhfyp

#Undertheinfluencerd

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3hobbitsinatrenchcoat · 4 years ago

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Real Love Myself Hours are at 5AM Apparently

I got tagged by @halogalopaghost and @endae so I guess it’s real love myself hours. (5am is a good time for that, right?)

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 8 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome work!

I’m gonna get really sappy right here in the first half... I was in a huge rut before June this year. Yeah, I made a Whole Entire Hobbit costume... but it’s still lacking a jacket so I’m not gonna count that as finished yet. BUT... in June I watched Gravity Falls and fell into the fandom so hard I think my head is still spinning. To date I have written 22 works on AO3 (to the tune of over 79k words), plus my 50k+ unfinished NaNo project, and drawn more in the past two months than I have in the past two years.

And it’s all thanks to Gravity Falls and the wonderful people I have met through this fandom. ANYWAY *cracks knuckles* here’s my 8 top hits of 2020 (and boy was it hard to pick.

1. Age is Just a Number and Gender an Illusion This one takes the first spot because it’s the first fic that I wrote in the Gravity Falls Universe. I was just looking for fics where the main characters were enby and there weren’t a lot of Stan. So I made one of my own. There are a lot of inconsistencies with this fic because I was still getting a feel for the universe, but I still love it a lot.

2. A Small and Trusting Thing I wrote most of this in a insomniac fever dream on my phone at like... 3am. And then the image of Mabel floating in front of the open black maw of the portal wouldn’t leave me alone so I drew it. This takes such a high ranking because... it’s the first legitimate art that I made in well over 3 years. I hadn’t regularly drawn anything since I kinda... dropped out of The Hobbit Fandom, so this was a huge accomplishment for me.

3. Soosly 2020 Entries Ok, so this is kind of a cheat but I honestly couldn’t pick just one. Soon after I rejoined tumblr (after being functionally gone since 2016), I discovered Soosly and... well... I had to celebrate my favorite lad. Of these four works... “There’s Wisdom in the Delicate Art of Punching” and “A Real Family Man” are my two favorites. I feel like I really got the tone of Stan and Soos’s son-ployee relationship down in those two pieces and I... I’m just so soft for them, yall.

4.The Invitation Another thing I did as soon as I returned to Tumblr was create an AU because that’s what all the cool kids seemed to be doing. XD So I came up with my Professor Stan AU... and promptly wrote nearly 10k of utter chaos. I love my little robot dino mayhem disaster with all my heart.

5. Packing Heat This is still one of the silliest, plotless little bits of domestic mystery trio nonsense I have ever written. It requires minor knowledge of gender affirming devices but like... what’s funnier than yeeting your gross homemade ding dong at someone who is vexing you? Nothing. That’s what.

6. how do I feel by the end of the day I said I was gonna do it and by golly I did it... to the tune of 14k words. So far this is my longest FINISHED fanfic of all time and I couldn’t be prouder of it. It was a wonderful chance to examine all of Stan’s years on the road and write about his family caring for him.

7. Imposter Bill Cipher We’re getting into the art now and there’s... not much yet, I hope next year there will be more. But this dumb Among Us Bill Cipher is kinda... I love him. He’s shaped like a potato. A murderous potato with homicide on the brain.

8. No thoughts, head empty. Just a girl and her pig. I drew this as a reaction to being told my art was getting better. And. Yeah. With this drawing I started to see it. I love Waddles’ lil cheek squish, I drew my favorite Mabel sweater, I drew a hand I didn’t immediately hate. I... somehow got 400+ notes which hasn’t happened on anything original of mine since I made that stupid Forcibly Escorted meme format post about the One Ring. XD I hope to improve more this coming year... but for now this simple art of a girl and her pig serves to remind me that I CAN do it. And that means a lot to me.

Honorary mentions: This Hand and What it is Attached To I refuse to link the actual image because tumblr nerfed it the first time, but it’s the best Stan I have ever drawn. In a similar vein... all the smut that I have written this year also goes in honorary mention. I like all of it too much to pick a favorite.

Thank you so much for tagging me in this, it was a wonderful walk down memory lane. I’m always weird about tagging people in stuff like this but... @avi17 and @singing-sorrowless, you were the two people that immediately came to mind. You don’t have to do it, but I wanted to tag you just in case you wanted to. ^^

#tag chain thingy #love yourself hours #2020 wrap up #my writing #my art #This has been a LOT of gravity falls this year.#hopefully next year I'll have more costuming thrown back into the mix

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you-are-my-neverland · 4 years ago

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so. it’s finally time to talk about [my] nano.

i’ve kept my nano project pretty under wraps so far, mostly because it’s been out of my hands. i wasn’t actually planning on doing a for real for real nano; instead, i thought i would dedicate some time to my fanfic (spoiler alert, but i haven’t yet) or work on finishing up revising fairbone (spoiler alert: i did revise one chapter, but i still have like half of it left to go and a nov 30 deadline...rip). if that didn’t work, i thought i would pick a wip i started over the summer or one i had half developed (let’s just say the ideas note i have really boomed over the summer and like...yeah). in conclusion, there were many wips ready for me to work on them, including ash heart, which i really want to write but haven’t figured out how to.

instead i started a new wip.

well, it’s not necessarily new, persay. it’s an idea i’ve had stewing since like late september/early october and planned out a good portion of. however, deciding to start it was a last minute decision - and by last decision, i mean that on october 31st i finished developing the barebones of character development and basic plot lol and then gave it a go. it’s honestly been going crazy well. as of today (november 9th), i just hit 21.2k words. i’m hopeful about this year, while also not wanting to jinx stuff, but like...wow. but writing is has made me realize that, wow, this book is going to be crazy long probably...like i’m 21k words in and we’re still like in the exposition idk what’s going on. but hey, i finished planning out the rest of the basic plot for it today!!!

right. onto the wip details.

honestly, the only reason i haven’t introduced this wip is because a) i want actual stuff done on it and like a proven commitment, because i feel like too often i introduce wips i don’t actually go anywhere with and i hate it, b) i don’t have a set title and c) i actually have no idea how to summarize this.

the novel i’m working on right now is the first of a projected trilogy. i say projected because i have a vague idea that it belongs to a trilogy, but like not a lot of plot except some vaguely connected ideas that should happen in the future. in it, i used a lot of characters from these violent ends, which i tried to write for camp april 2020, but like just their basic barebones; i changed a lot to fit the story, of course.

not to sound nerdy, but it is like....harry potter inspired, but ONLY in the magical boarding school sense. of course, right now all i have is magical boarding school shenanigans, which i don’t really like because i feel like it unfairly sets the book up as like fun magical stuff when it’s really about murder & politics & student activism (+ a lot of other things ending in -ism). the whole activism part came from watching the trial of the chicago 7 and i was like, bingo, this is what this story needs.

kay but ANYWAYS. onto the story. like i said, i can’t really summarize it, but there are lots of themes of classism, feminism, the affect on youth and youth’s effect, manipulative adults, revolution, terrorism, sibling dynamics and found family vibes, like all that stuff...packaged into a magical boarding school off the coast of maine setting...recipe for disaster!

mainly i’ve been writing in ophelia’s pov, because she’s my main girl and she’s problematic, but also she’s trying her best and just having a little difficulty fitting in. some other main characters are her twin brother, sebastian, and two other boys, asriel and vincent, who have an initially animistic relationship with ophelia (& kind of each other?) but it’s like enemies to friends (to lovers?).

anyways. here are some carefully curated excerpts below the cut:

i. vincent and asriel meet on a train (ch. 1)

The boy pursed his lips together. “It’s unusual,” he said, finally. “That’s all.” But he was looking at Vincent as if he was noticing him, which meant he was lying, or at least withholding the truth about something. He added, “You’re not from around here, are you?”

“Do you mean geographically?” Vincent replied, raising an eyebrow. “Because I’m from New York.”

A small glimmer of a smile appeared on the boy’s lips, though it vanished as quickly as it had come. “From the Magical World,” he clarified.

“What gives it away?” Vincent asked sarcastically, waving a hand across his body. “My impeccable taste?”

“Among other things,” the boy said.

ii. sebastian and ophelia discuss grief on a ferry (ch.2 )

“You and mom talked?” Ophelia asked, surprised. She hadn’t exactly been keeping track of them, but she was sure she and Sebastian had spent much of the day together, as they were wont to do.

Sebastian looked at the floor. “Yeah,” he answered, hoarsely. “At least she wants to talk about Des. Dad doesn’t, and neither do you.”

Ophelia sighed, wondering why, today of all days, her sister was haunting them. Maybe it was because there should have been three people heading to Rijevduct, instead of two. Maybe Mother Magic was reminded of the loss of one of her own.

“I’ve let her go,” she said. “You should too. We have too much of our lives ahead of us to mourn Desdemona forever.”

“I don’t mourn,” Sebastian said, words uncharacteristically sharp. “But I do grieve.”

“Isn’t that basically the same thing,” Ophelia mumbled, closing her eyes and feeling the press of a headache behind them.

“Sorrow,” Sebastian said, the word a soft shudder. “And sad endings.”

“What?”

“That’s what makes a good tragedy,” Sebastian answered. “I read it in a book.”

iii. headmistress alexeyev gives a speech (ch. 2)

“Eight years ago, seventy two students were slaughtered here. Some died on the very spot where you now stand today.” Ophelia glanced down at the floor, seeing the motion repeated instinctively around her as well. She looked over at Sebastian, who had closed his eyes instead, a pale flush meeting the faint color in his cheeks. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, tennis shoes scraping against stone as he toed them against the floor, as if he was shaking something only visible to him off.

“It was a tragedy,” Headmistress Alexeyev continued. “I say this because it is the truth. It was a tragedy, and not one that should never have happened.” She inhaled; Ophelia saw her chest rise, shoulders with it, in a sharp motion before she exhaled, body rearranging itself into poise once more. “I speak of this to tell you to assure you that Rijevduct is safe. I know there have been continuous doubts over the security of this school since that day eight years ago. I cannot, of course, guarantee that you will not come to any harm here. I cannot tell you that Rijevduct is the safe haven you were taught it was growing up; events have already proved that it is, in fact, not as impenetrable as one might think.”

Ophelia frowned, confused as to the line of reasoning. She had thought the whole point of the year of transition was to make sure that Rijevduct was infinitely more safer than it had been—and they had all been under the assumption that Rijevduct was virtually impenetrable until the massacre, which had led to the heightened security measures they saw today.

“I can, however, promise you that I, and everyone here today, will do anything in their power to keep you safe,” the Headmistress said. Next to Ophelia, Briar bowed her head, lowering her eyes and swallowing, the action almost a convulsion of her throat and mouth. Ophelia brushed her hand, lightly, in question, and the other girl just shook her head, looking away purposefully, so that Ophelia lost sight of her face and her sad eyes.

“These next three years will be far from easy. Gone are the sheltered lives where your parents could kiss your injuries goodbye, or sing you to sleep at night. Rijevduct is far from the cold, real world, but it is close enough when it comes to not asking you what you want first. This is an adjustment period. This is learning how to survive—and I will tell you this; surviving means many different things to many different people. You will have to decide on your own what this will mean for you, and how you will apply what you are taught here to your futures. Be wise. Be proud. Be humble. Cry. Laugh. Live. As your Headmistress, I, along with your professors, will be here throughout your time.” She raised her glass, “To the worthy,” and then drank, turning and walking back to her seat, which she lowered herself into gracefully.

iv. sebastian pov! (ch. 3)

There was a dead girl in Sebastian’s first period Magical Theory class. She was sitting diagonal from him, on the Glass side of the classroom, in an empty chair, staring straight ahead at the chalkboard. Sebastian tried not to look at her too obviously, his eyes straying from the open book in front of him to her cautiously, beneath the sleeve of his sweater.

She was sitting blankly in the chair, scraping her shoes against the ground, though they could not leave any scuff marks. Though she was the same faded shades most girls were, Sebastian could make out her pleated pale blue plaid skirt, which brushed around her knees, and the stained white blouse that might have once been spotless, but had been marred forever by the circumstances surrounding her death—objectively, that was to say, with blood. Her dark brown hair fell into loose curls around her shoulders, little silver studs glinting dimly, unable to catch the light. Her knee high socks now pooled around her calves and ankles, revealing a rotting bandaid on one of her knees. One of her tennis shoes was peeling at the toes, looking as if it had been ripped apart.

Her fingernails had all been pulled off. Sebastian was good at analyzing ghosts by this point; he recognized the bloody flesh and bone of the nail bed. There was also blood matted across her head, trickling down her temple, with bruises covering her body; they peeked out from beneath the collar of her shirt, blackened across her cheekbones with a sunken quality in particular to one of her cheeks, as if the bone had begun to cave.

Subjectively, she was far from one of the worst that Sebastian had seen.

#writers on tumblr #writing #creative writing #nano 2020 #nanowrimo 2020 #nano update #11.9.2020 #enjoy these excerpts they are not so trash after all #this is all so messy #but i didn't want to ss because it will look ugly #this should be called i explain my nano2020 w/o explaining anything #i want to make a point with this but also]#magical boarding school shenanigans TT #like it's bothering me how it has like a different start than its end but maybe that will be good in the end?#who knows who knows #anyways if i tried to actually explain my wip we would be here all night

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disneydreamlights · 4 years ago

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Across the Stars: Epilogue

AO3 | FFN

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Summary: Tensions between the Separatists and the Republic are climbing as the Senate debates whether there is need for an army. Anakin Skywalker, Senator of Tatooine, has recently returned to Coruscant to speak against its formation, resulting in an assassination attempt that forces him to reunite with long time friends Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and the newly knighted Padme Naberrie for his own protection. [Anidala]

A/N: Thank you to everybody who read this thus far. As I’ve mentioned on AO3 and ffn I do have plans to continue the roleswap into TCW, ROTS, and some of the stuff prior to AOTC at a future date. (Which has probably been clear by my NaNo given it’s ROTS roleswap.) If you have any requests for TCW arcs to touch on just let me know!

"Padmé, a word, please?" Padmé looked up, still fairly exhausted from the past few days, but slightly more functional than she had been as the pain from the attachment of her new arm was starting to ease, and so she had been weaned off of the painkillers and was finally working in more of a capacity than 'drug induced haze'. She wasn't surprised to see Obi-Wan in the medical rooms, he and Anakin had by far been her most frequent visitors on the rare times she was actually awake.

"Obi-Wan." Padmé pushed herself up off the bed, definitely trying to at least seem more alert than she actually was. "Am I in trouble?"

Obi-Wan chuckled. "Nothing of the sort, my dear Padawan." He sat down on the foot of her bed, but Padmé frowned. If she wasn't in trouble. "I wanted to talk to you about your mission to Tatooine."

"With Senator Skywalker?" She slurred, looking at him in confusion. "What about it?"

Obi-Wan hesitated, as though unsure whether he should bring it up at all. "Did something happen during it? Involving you and a certain young Senator?"

Padmé blinked, her brain still under the effects of the painkillers unsure of what she was hearing, or perhaps it was just her hoping that Obi-Wan hadn't picked up on what had transpired between her and Anakin. "What?"

"Padmé, we all know that Anakin has feelings for you." The honesty behind Obi-Wan's answer, caught her off guard. He wanted to know about her possible not even defined yet relationship with Anakin? "He has never made it much of a secret. Normally I'd presume the feelings are one sided, but I know you and him have always been...close. And the way he's acted during his visits, and even on Geonosis, aren't of a platonic nature." Padmé racked her brain, trying to remember through the drug addled haze of the past few days.

She knew Anakin had tinkered with her arm some, making it more responsive, but that couldn't have been what was cluing in Obi-Wan. They hadn't been significantly more physically affectionate than Padmé had been with any others who had visited. He'd grabbed her hand a few times, but there wasn't anything overly…

Right, he'd outright kissed her forehead, she'd nearly forgotten about that visit. Yeah, she wasn't going to be able to just lie her way out of this one, was she? "...they're not." She finally acknowledged. "Anakin is in love with me, and somewhere along the way I fell for him too."

Obi-Wan fell silent, his hand resting on his chin. "I see. I had a feeling something like this was coming. And I'm assuming he knows?"

She nodded. "On Geonosis...before we were going into the arena."

Obi-Wan sighed, and she prepared herself for the incoming lecture on attachments she knew was coming. "This can't go any further than it already has."

"I know."

Obi-Wan frowned, looking at the obviously guilty Padmé. "When you're fully recovered, you'll need to tell Anakin that the two of you cannot be together." For a moment, Obi-Wan gained a wistful look on his face, perhaps thinking back to another time. "You do not have to deny your feelings for him, my Padawan, but allowing them to continue to develop unchecked is against the code."

In that moment, she felt like a wayward apprentice rather than a freshly knighted Jedi, being scolded for breaking the rules she already knew. "We'll be too busy to try anything anyways right now." She responded after a moment. "We're going to have to become leaders in the war, and Anakin…" He was a senator. His goal was going to be stopping the war as quickly as he could. "I know he won't be free either. A relationship between the two of us would be destined for failure. I'll...I'll talk to Anakin about it when I'm finished recovering."

Obi-Wan smiled at her answer, and Padmé felt her stomach churn with the guilt that she had to lie. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, Padmé."

"I know." And she did. Obi-Wan was her mentor, her best friend. He'd chosen her over Anakin, ignoring Qui-Gon's final wish ten years ago, and even now he cared for her happiness so much. He was telling her exactly what she knew all along, that eventually, she would have to make a choice.

Except a small, selfish voice in her head whispered that she didn't.

-x-

A little over a week later, Padmé was released from the Halls of Healing with an all clear on her ability to use her new arm in and out of combat and the rest of her wounds having been fully healed. It was weird, having a metal prosthetic now. It functioned like a real arm, touched like a real arm, and yet…

Before she could continue contemplating it, Anakin put his hand on her new one, startling her and pulling her attention away. "So, you're finally all better, General Naberrie."

"Please don't call me that." It was bad enough that once she was shipped out she'd have to hear the clones call her it near constantly. Hearing it from her friend (boyfriend? Lover? What were they?) just made her feel worse. A reminder of the war she'd had a hand in starting, that they were all trapped in now.

A mischievous twinkle appeared in his eyes, and he smiled. "In that case, maybe I could suggest a new name to go with the title." She tilted her head, waiting for a response that he was only too happy to oblige. "General Skywalker."

"Are you hoping to get in on the war effort too, Ani?" She treated her question like it was a joke, but that didn't stop her heart from pounding as she realized exactly what he was implying, what he'd asked her with that statement.

"Me? No, my job is in the Senate, but my wife's job will be leading Clone Troopers in the Grand Army of the Republic." His confident smile became more nervous, as he looked up at Padmé with pleading eyes, betraying everything he wanted, everything he hoped for. "That is, if she'll have me."

"Anakin…" He waited for a moment, forever patient and understanding and willing to follow her lead for whatever they wanted. "You don't think it's too soon?"

Anakin simply smiled. "In the ten years since we've met, there's been nobody I've met who could even compare to you. If I could do it all over again, I would propose to you sooner."

Padmé closed her eyes, trying to remember Obi-Wan's warning. She'd lied to him about telling Anakin to break off what they had, but she'd figured she'd have had more time before having to make her decision fully between the Jedi Order and Anakin. "What about the war? I have to help lead Republic forces, I'm needed on the front lines, just like you're needed here. I can't leave the Jedi."

"So don't." It was as though Anakin had given the traitorous thoughts in her head a voice to finally speak with. "Stay with the Jedi until the war is over, and I'll be the husband waiting for you to come home, and doing what I can to make that war end faster." His eyes met hers, and she felt the same intense connection between them as she'd felt when they'd first reunited. Had that really only been a few weeks ago? "Please."

She kissed him as an answer they both knew to be yes.

-x-

The wedding itself had been beautiful, and the night afterwards held promises for both the week she would still be in Tatooine, and for the rest of her life so long as she remained with Anakin. Those thoughts were for later, however, as right now she was simply content to enjoy the feeling of her husband's arms around her, and the comfort he brought.

Husband. It still hadn't really sunken in yet that she and Anakin were now married to each other. That he would forever be hers and she would forever be his. And yet despite having only acknowledged their feelings for each other a few days ago, everything around her screamed that this was right. That it was where she was supposed to be, content, happy, and warm right in his arms. As she began to fall asleep, she heard Anakin speak. "I want you to take Artoo."

"Hmm?" She opened her eyes, and found herself looking right into Anakin's.

"I want you to take Artoo," he repeated. "He knows all of my tricks, and while I can't always be there to help you, he can. He's also an Astromech, and you'll have a lot more need for one in battles than I will."

Padmé nodded, surprised at the offer, but appreciative nonetheless. "Thank you, Ani." If he was giving her a droid as a wedding gift, surely she had something she could…

She wiggled out of his arms, Anakin giving her a look of confusion as she went over to her robes. "What are you looking for?"

She reached out into her pocket and pulled out the Kyber Crystal. There were already plans for her to go to Ilum to get a new crystal. The Jedi had all assumed with her lightsaber gone, the crystal too had been destroyed. "If you're giving me Artoo, I want you to have this."

"The crystal you grabbed on Geonosis?"

"It's a Kyber Crystal...the one that powered my old lightsaber." She smiled, and placed the small blue crystal in his hand. "Obi-Wan and I are going to get a new one before I go out into the field, so I figured if I'm not using my old one…"

"It's perfect." He smiled. "That way, I'll always have a piece of you with me." And she knew right away that Anakin meant it. That he would treasure the small crystal forever, just as she did the tiny piece of carved wood a little slave boy had given her all those years ago. He put the small crystal on the nightstand by the bed, and it wasn't long before they had returned to their prior position in each other's arms.

The world outside would be ready for battle, a battle in a week they would be rejoining as Senator and Jedi, but for now the outside world didn't matter. It was just the two of them.

"I love you, Ani."

"I love you too."

-x-

In the bowels of the Senate building, deep underneath Coruscant, Count Dooku arrived in his ship, undetected by the remainder of the Coruscant. He had a mission, and it would be unwise to let his master down. "The Force is with us, Master Sidious."

The hooded figure smiled, Sidious, smiled. "Welcome home, Darth Tyrannus. You have done well."

"I have good news for you, my lord. The war has begun." Everything had gone exactly as Sidious had predicted. Dooku handed him the file he had collected from the Geonosians, and Sidious uploaded them into the system.

Sidious smiled as he looked at the plans within the database. "Excellent. Everything is going as planned."

In the Jedi Council chamber deep within the temple, Yoda, Mace Windu, and the newly elected Obi-Wan Kenobi stood together, troubled as Obi-Wan finished giving his report to the other two council members. "Do you really believe what Dooku said, about Sidious controlling the senate?" It was hard for Obi-Wan to wrap his head around, at least. "It doesn't feel right."

Yoda frowned. "Joined the dark side Dooku has. Lies, deceit...creating mistrust are his ways now." Obi-Wan could only imagine what the Grandmaster of the council was going through, right now. Yoda was Dooku's master, after all, and if Padmé fell to the dark side, he wasn't sure he would be able to face it either.

"Nevertheless, I feel we should keep a closer eye on the Senate," Mace said. He was right. If Dooku was lying, no harm was done. If he wasn't, then keeping one eye on the Senate might be the only thing that could stop them from meeting an early end.

"I agree." Yoda nodded, and the matter was settled. If Padmé hadn't yet broken Anakin's heart, perhaps the Senator would be willing to help them in this matter, but that was a matter for another day, another time, when she wasn't escorting Anakin back to his home.

"I must admit, without the clones, it would not have been an easy victory." Obi-Wan looked to his fellow masters to thank them for the help they provided, but before he could say more, Yoda spoke.

"Victory? Victory, you say? Master Obi-Wan, not victory. The shroud of the dark side has fallen."

"Begun the Clone War has."

#Star Wars #Anakin Skywalker #Anakin #Padme Amidala #Padme #Obi Wan Kenobi #Obi Wan #Anidala #Heather Writes

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junipersgarden · 5 years ago

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metanoia 3. | Waves

PAIRING: Peter Parker x Superhero!Reader

SUMMARY: Touching down in Venice, Y/N is trying to figure out a plan to get rid of Brad Davis politely and Peter is trying to commence his plan; Venice should be calm and peaceful... right?

WORD COUNT: 5556 words

WARNINGS: N/A

a/n: i am on such a huge writer’s block and i am extremely bloated from all this Christmas food but who’s still gonna eat? duh me. anyways, hope you enjoy and ohmygod action scenes are hard to right... :)

[NOT MY GIF]

...

At Venice Marco Polo Airport...

...

The dreadful 9 hour flight was finally over; no more being cramped next to Brad Davis, at last free to roam the city of Venice.

Mr. Harrington had packed everyone off to the side into a small group, keeping everyone close together and secluded while everyone gathered their passports in a hurry to get outside and see Italy and what it holds. Eventually with passports out, Mr. Harrington and Mr. Dell merge all the kids to join the line to exit the airport.

Brad Davis. He was still by your side but all you wanted to do was hang out with Peter and Ned, even Betty and MJ as well. A summer vacation with your friends is a dream come true, but Brad Davis wasn't making it easy for you to even talk to Peter or anyone else.

It's not like Brad Davis is insufferable or anything... you just, would rather he stayed a distant away from you than constantly being by your side 24/7 for 2 days. You really just wanted to spend this time with someone else.

Among the commotion and sea of people in the airport, you search aimlessly for any sign of anyone to catch up to after you got past the line to wait on the other side for everyone else. The line was full of people standing close together, bouncing impatiently with suitcase and luggage balanced with the rest of their belongings.

From afar, your eyes catch the blur of a familiar blue flannel speed walking down the hustle of people, also looking for something or someone.

Peter.

A sly smile grew on your face as you watched Peter from the distance walk up to Ned, Peter heaving out a breath as he obviously started to rant. You couldn't make out exactly what he was saying but whatever it was about, it had him real worked up and concerned.

This is my chance!

Turning on your foot to budge through, a hand grips on your arm and stops you.

You pivot around and find Brad gawking at you with a funny expression; he clearly wants to know why you're leaving the queue, Brad's eyebrows are raised and he chuckles slightly.

"Sorry, just go without me. I forgot to ask Mr. Harrington something." You straight up lie.

"Oh cool! I'll see you soon!" Brad gently lets go of your arm and you hurriedly rush to Peter and Ned.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Hey man, did you see Brad and Y/N/N on the flight? They were watching movies and laughing the entire time..." Peter exasperatedly huffs out to Ned.

For the whole time Peter was sat behind Brad and Y/N, he was forced to endure the torment of Brad leaning closer to Y/N, countless times of them 'accidentally' knocking both headphones into one another, hearing Y/N laugh... it was a nightmare.

Peter wished so badly that it was him sitting next to Y/N on the plane and not Brad Davis.

"Dude, don't worry okay? I'm sure it's nothing." Ned answered in a strange tone.

"Hey babe? Can you hold this for me please?" Betty suddenly strolled up next to Ned with heart eyes.

Peter was taken back by what Betty referred Ned as: babe?

Betty then pecked Ned's cheek which caused Peter to stagger faintly back and furrow his eyebrows in disbelief and puzzlement. Ned then proceeded to boop her nose before leaving.

Peter's eyes linger on Betty as she walks away, still dazed and confused and still lots of questions remained.

"When was that?" Peter blurts out quickly.

"Ah well, we actually got to talking on the plane and turns out, we've actually got a lot in common... so now we're boyfriend and girlfriend!" Ned grinned brightly.

"Who's boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Y/N.

To Peter's side, Y/N slid next to him and gave him a soft nudge.

"N-Ned and Betty." Peter peered at Y/N, still shocked himself.

"You and Betty?!" Y/N jerked to look at Ned. Ned grinned even more and nodded his head furiously. "I'll admit, it's new and like a surprise but congratulations?"

"But what happened about being an American bachelor in Europe?" Peter questioned.

"Peter, those were the words of a boy. That boy, met a woman, a very strong and powerful woman and now, that boy is a man."

"Well, that's new... but we're happy for you Ned." Y/N beamed.

"Babe?" Betty feebly called.

"Coming babe! I'll see you guys later!" Ned whispered the last part before making his way to Betty.

With Ned going to Betty, it left Peter and Y/N standing there, the both swinging around on the spot. The both stayed silent for a couple of seconds until the realization of why they were there hit them so the both without telling one another, starting catching up with the rest of the class in the line and were fortunate it was shorter than before.

"H-how was your flight?" Peter croaked out with a cough, embarrassed by his voice.

"Not as bad as I thought it'd be for 9 hours! What about you? You were next to Harrington and lemme guess: he rambled about his wife?"

"He said her name in his sleep!" Peter quietly yelled.

Y/N placed a hand to the chest, leaning back and letting out a giggle. I love that...

Flinging the hand back down, it mistakenly stroked Peter's, a blush arose on his cheeks. Y/N clenched their fist and averted to the ground.

Come on Peter. Peter encouraged himself, Ask to hang out!

"Hey Y/N/N?"

"Mhmmm?" Y/N glanced up at Peter. Don't chicken out, what's the worst that's gonna happen?! Come on Peter!

"Well, I-I was wondering if you wanted to-" Peter abruptly stiffened. Peter had felt something soft on his leg.

Y/N leant to the side, staring in Peter's eyes, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

A security dog was brushing against his leg and suitcase and then jumped up on Y/N, a yelp escaping as the German Shepherd started burying it's nose into her bracelet, growling and barking.

The security guard lead the dog down to sit and guided her hand to grab Peter's suitcase but as she edged closer, a robotic beeping erupted from her metal detector and was triggered by Y/N's bracelet.

The guard grasped Peter's suitcase and walked up to the examination desk, signalling Peter to follow, his breath hitched to the back of his throat nervously. Another guard swooped to Y/N's side and immediately clutches the bracelet.

The lady who took Peter's stuff returned without the dog and politely asked him to come with her to the desk.

Peter hesitated at first because 1. Y/N was getting inspected and seemed uncomfortable and 2. Y/N would be left behind.

She continued to insist but Peter kept focusing on Y/N but Y/N nodded, letting him know it'll be okay.

Oh this is great...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Crap! Crap! Crap!

Peter was no longer with you and now you were stuck with this buffoon wrangling and fiddling your very expensive and dangerous invention that held your even more valuable suit. It didn't help either that the metal detector's high pitched alarm was blaring into your ears.

The guard was repeatedly twisting and turning your arm, looking from alternate sides and angles at the piece of jewelry, trying ever so hardly to identify it.

What the detector had picked up was possibly the aluminum in the bracelet alongside the various nano particles, frequencies and energy levels vibrating off it. The complete situation wasn't the one thing you were worrying about; you just hoped and prayed that he didn't noticed the black cross binding the sides was floating or that ARIS didn't sense your state of panic and activate anything.

"Would you mind explaining to me what exactly this bracelet is Miss?" The security guard questioned, his thick eyebrows raised, eyes observing for any sign of hesitation or lie.

Think of an excuse. Think of literally anything Y/N.

"It ease my wrists. You see, I have a condition with my hands that causes them to flame up and the bracelet cools it down." You speedily let out.

Let me go....

"I see... but why is it made of aluminum though?"

Damn it!

"It uhhh... regulates and releases the flow of coolness when my hands flame up and it also measures my blood pressure... since my blood pressure is high... I really need this bracelet to like, get by." You emphasizes the last part.

"So like some case of arthritis?" The security guard loosens his hold, staring deeply at you.

"Yeah, something like that."

The security guard took one last final at your bracelet and you.

Please buy it, please buy it-

"I'm letting you go but next time when you're travelling internationally, bring a medical certificate kid."

You nod your head vigorously just wanting to get out of there and back to Peter, you slowly step back and begin speed walking to Peter.

The woman from before was standing behind the counter and holding a banana with an an extremely unamused frown.

"No- no banana got it..." You hear Peter meekly murmur as he zipped up his suitcase.

A banana? What a dork...

"A banana? Really?" Stepping up next to him, you crack a smirk by his reason he was called up.

"M-May packed it for me and I didn't know-" Peter flusteredly stuttered.

"Relax, I'm stirring you up." You can't help but giggle at his stance. "But we should be off Peter, everyone's waiting."

"Oh, uh yeah... lemme just-"

"Let's go Pete!" You urged in a jokingly but serious way; if Mr. Harrington counted you up and realized people were missing, how he would freak out.

"O-okay, oh-" Peter audibly gasped quietly; you had intertwined both of your hands together.

Peter felt his face burning but thankfully you were too busy maneuvering between the bundles of people. You led the both of you through the frantic airport, relying on the signs to guide you.

"T-there!" Peter pointed out; the group was all huddled next to the information booth and Mr. Harrington was counting the students.

"We're here! We're here!" You urgently shout of your and Peter's presence.

Mr. Harrington as well as everyone else turns around to face you and Peter, his face falls with relief and you slow your pace.

"Oh thank goodness..." Mr. Harrington sighs.

Peter and your face are both puffed from running half way across the airport and as you go to wipe your forehead, you feel something lift up with your arm; you were still holding Peter's hand.

At once you drop Peter's hand from yours and avoid him, coughing awkwardly and side stepping away to get out of the uncomfortable position, subconsciously rubbing your arm.

All of that was way too close Y/N.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

After the airport fiasco, all of you clambered into a canal to do some brief sight-seeing as you all were going to your hotel.

Everyone, (mostly Flash), was hiding behind their screens; taking photos rather than enjoying the views in front of them, you had scored a seat at the tip of the boat with the summer breeze.

The architecture of Venice was so much more traditional and classical; embalming the Renaissance era through its buildings and its textures; to you the history behind it was fascinating.

You'll admit, you maybe did sneak in a few distant stares at Peter but he wasn't going to notice or anything.

As a hotel with workers and renovation equipment was in sight, the canal boat began to slow and made an eventual stop. Surely we're not-

"Looks like we're here! They're... doing some renovations in place, getting some upgrades!" Mr. Harrington quirks up optimistically, answering with your unwanted answer.

Looks of disgust and amazement were shared around with everyone as they picked up their luggage to enter the runned down place.

One by one, everyone single filed out of the canal, cradling their precious belongings in hand and went with Mr. Harrington and Mr. Dell inside.

Examining the hotel from the small and cramped entrance, you could make out random objects scattered all around, it was weird and unusual... but it was alright.

"Okay everyone, we're here-"

"Woah..." Mr. Dell tried to warn as Mr. Harrington stepped directly into a massive puddle.

"This place is sinking." Flash bluntly called out.

"I think you mean charming." Harrington corrected him.

Passing Mr. Harrington and his wet shoes, Mr. Dell started telling everyone of the plan of the day: drop bags and sort out roommates and explore Venice before meeting up at the Da Vinci Museum at 3.

"Vamonos!" That's Spanish sir.

"It's andiamo." You jabbed at Harrington as you walked past.

MJ hearing you pick up on his error, peaked over her shoulder to give you a sly smirk.

You return a smile to her before quickly mouthing "roommates?" to her from below the stairs (since you knew Betty was bunking with Yasmin) and MJ replies with an approval nod.

Following MJ and everyone else to the rooms, you see MJ enter Room 11 and dump her bags on her claimed bed and put yours on the remaining bed.

Tidying yourself in the mirror, you take off your coat and neaten your hair before heading down to explore the streets of Venice.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The Main Square, the very heart of Venice was full of eager tourists like yourself; with people splitting into groups to try and cover as much ground as possible, you decided to take your time and go to anything that caught your eye.

"Yo Y/N!"

A flock of pigeons ascended into the air, startling you a tiny bit, you find the source of the person: none other than your best friend Brad Davis, with a camera in his hand trotting to you.

"Hey Brad." You greet him with a plastered fake smile on your face.

"Where did go you? You just like vanished and I-"

"I had to do something. Important."

"Oh. Anyways, I wanted to-" Before Brad could ask you whatever he wanted to, two pigeons landed on your arms.

Brad's mouthed gaped open in shock as he chuckled at your appearance; you really wanted to wave the birds off but to make matters worse, two more pigeons landed on you.

You nervously laugh because you had no idea how to get the birds off or why they landed on you and then Brad supposedly laughed with you.

"I-I gotta take a photo of this!"

"Oh you really don't have too..." You try to steer him away from the idea.

"No this is great! It's a perfect shot of you; the sun's hitting you just right, come on Y/N/N!"

"Umm I don't- GAH!" A pigeon lands on your head as you were speaking.

Brad doesn't get the memo and scrambles for his camera and points it to your face.

"Are you a camera Y/N?"

"Not that I'm aware of why?"

"Because each time I look at you, I smile."

Wait wha-

"Show me that gorgeous smile!" Brad encourages you to smile for the photo.

Giving in to his shenanigan, you spread your lips for that 'gorgeous smile' of yours as Brad snaps away; Brad keeps complimenting you, causing you to feel all queasy because it isn't right coming from him necessarily and you can't get out because of the pigeons on you.

Peter on the other hand, could only see Brad Davis taking numerous photos of you on his camera, the sun perfectly shinning on you, your smile competing with it.

Peter couldn't help but feel a slight tinge of jealously; Brad and you were hanging out with each other every second and how he wished it was him instead; Brad didn't even know half of the things he knew!

Leaning on a pillar, Peter then knew now was the third stage of his 6 step plan with the first 2 steps being unsuccessfully; pushing from the pillar, Peter was determined to find a shop that could made his white gardenia necklace for you, Peter typed in his phone for locations of stores and journeyed forward.

The sensation and sound if your phone going off managed to shoo away the pigeons, you hooked your phone into your hands and recognized the caller.

"Sorry Brad, I gotta take this." Excusing yourself, you swipe the accept button and jog off to the side with your phone next your ear, far from Brad's hearing range.

"Hello? Yes I know, I know. I never thought Venice would be this pretty... and yes the water looks perfect. Alright, talk to you later."

I need space... You conclude and establish that taking a brisk stroll by yourself will fix you.

Sheltering yourself from the beating sun and protecting yourself from Brad's sniper like vision, you take cover in a small alleyway and sigh exclusively.

Roaming the alleyway, an old antique shop at the end captures your attention; paintings and furniture pieces with plants planted on top of them decorate the front, you sneak quietly into the shop with the owner not comprehending since it appeared he was busy making some sort of glass item.

Admiring the bits and bobs, a figure wearing blue walks past the aisle your in and into the next aisle. Curious, you pursue to uncover what or who the figure is; scanning through the cracks of the shelves, you tell by the brown curls and blue flannel collar who it exactly is: none other than Peter Parker.

Intense his eyes are, Peter was too busy and focused in his mini world to gaze at your E/C eyes were admiring him; Peter had a silver bracelet in his hands, studying its complexions and smoothing its chain.

"Ragazzo!" The shop owner yells specifically at Peter. Peter excitedly ran straight for the counter with a goofy smile on his face.

"Fiore bianco." The shop keeper said as he dangled a necklace in the air; to you, the necklace wasn't beautiful but was ethereal; the way the stained white glass of the flower's form glistens truly was extraordinary.

"It's perfect..." An awe struck Peter Parker breathed out; in Peter's eyes, the necklace was everything and more than he thought it would be and imagined you wearing it and he swore he felt his heart skip a beat.

Tenderly giving the necklace back for it to be wrapped, you took a couple of steps forward to announce yourself.

"Buongiorno!"

Confused by his hello, Peter shifted to his stare and was met with you.

"Y-Y/N!" Peter's high pitched voice broke out.

"Is that for Aunt May? I-it's magnificent." You ponder and move closer to him.

"Oh the n-necklace? Um it's for-"

"Una ragazza!" The shop attendant perks up.

"For a girl you say?" Folding your arms, you bump into Peter's side.

"Y-yeah it's for a girl..." Peter defeatedly professes.

"Well, tell me about her." Peter has a crush? When? And who?

"S-she's uhh... she's really pretty. And smart; she's always there and makes me the happiest person I can be just by smiling... she means the world to me. D-do you reckon she'll like the necklace?" Peter with puppy dog eyes inquires.

"Yeah... whoever the lucky girl is, she'll love it Pete."

"Grazie" Handing a little golden bag to Peter, the owner thanks him of his purchase and grins to you and Peter, waving a sweet goodbye as Peter and you exit the shop.

"Since when do you know so much Italian? It's impressive." Peter breaks the silence.

"I might of studied a tiny bit before the trip so I can get around with the locals. Just tiny stuff though, nothing impressive. What about you though? I heard you talking to the guy."

"Aunt May; she taught me a couple of things. She's Italian so... guess it's a family thing?"

"That's cool and impressive Pete."

Peter rubbed the back of his neck from your compliment and you could feel your cheeks going pink.

"Hey look!" By the water's edge, heaps of crabs were crawling out of the water, Peter and you edged closer to get a better look.

"What's up losers- oh woah cool." MJ interrupts her welcoming to the both of you, distracted by the crabs.

Reaching for her phone, MJ records the crustaceans and quickly looks back to beam at Peter and yourself.

"MJ get back-" As you harshly warn, Peter feels the hairs and goosebumps on his ends stick up; his Spidey Sense knew something was up. MJ ignored your request as a sickly feeling buried deep inside your stomach.

Tilting his head to the side, Peter notices the water on top of the drain sink back down; something isn't right.

"MJ please-" Is all you get out before an explosion erupts from the water.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The water shoots off into different directions; flooding the streets and gushing violently from the motion, creating massive waves which boats are caught onto.

MJ slips from the water and can't seem to stand so you snatch her up from her satchel strap and pull her toward you and Peter, Peter steadily and firmly balances you into place, sticking you close to his side.

The screams and shouts of Venetian's and traveler's fill the tormented air with the stomps of their feet. A creaky, rocking sound from the water gains your interest; Ned and Betty.

The love bird's canal boat was coming in fast and about to crash next to you guys and rammed into the wall.

Peter, MJ and you dash to get Ned and Betty out, you and MJ managed to grab Betty while Peter grabs Ned.

"Guys, guys, GO!" Betty shrieks but no one moves even an inch; the water had started to spiral toward the sky, its form changing and growing into something humanoid.

"W-what is that?!"

"I-I dunno!"

"What are you gonna do?!"

"I left my suit at the hotel room!"

"WHY?!"

"Because I'm on vacation Ned! Everyone's gonna see my face, just get everyone out of here!" Peter spat out and pushed Ned to everyone else. Betty laced her fingers around Ned's as MJ trailed but you on the other hand, you couldn't leave Peter; not up with this thing. So you rounded around a corner of a wall and kept a close eye on him.

"ARIS?" You call into your bracelet. The black crucifix lifted from the bracelet and spun itself around twice and a blue light shone from the sides, indicating ARIS was awake.

"Ms. L/N, how may I assist you this afternoon?"

"Suit up."

"I'm afraid I cannot."

"WHAT?! W-why?!"

"It seems from the Venice Marco Polo Airport, the security guard accidentally combobulated some circuits from the detector as it disturbed certain amendments with your suit and commands."

"DAMN IT! Can you at least scan the threat?" You aim your arm to the water monster.

"Result found: a sailor named Morris Bench was exposed to an experimental underwater generator and obtained hydro abilities, Bench's alias is known by the public as Hydro-Man. Weaknesses are unknown as of the moment."

"They got that information up fast. Now, rest up because I'm gonna need my suit."

"Commencing Power Nap Protocol."

Now what to do? Wait- where's Peter?!

Panic arose in you as people blocked your sight and Peter was no where to be seen; this single second of idiocy could kill him... I promised I wasn't going to leave...

"Please.." You whisper for the universe to show mercy, just this once.

At your wish, it was granted at once as you spotted Peter leaping from beam to beam at a haste speed.

Thank you.

Reacting instantly, you pick up a quick pace and bee line to Peter; Peter lunges off the final beam and grabs a hold of an oar and bounds off it, landing with perfect form onto the bridge. You follow on suit; repeating his actions precisely.

Hydro-Man however, has other plans and slams a punch on the bridge, a tidal wave rocks the waters and knocks your oar's stability, the pole slides and then you feel a cold sweep of water crush your body, waves tossing you like a grain of sand in the ocean, so violently and so destructively, your body hits boats and debris of the bridge, marking cuts and scratches on your skin.

Through the clarity of the water, you rotate the crucifix and desperately plead for that blue light to shine. The black crucifix rises from your bracelet once more and twists twice in two circles and delicately lands back.

"Commencing Fish Out of Water Protocol."

Nano particles latched onto your skin tightly and rapidly, working on your helmet first to lock out the water and allow you to breathe, it fully regenerated and you gasped for a huge breath.

From your helmet, the nano tech molded itself onto your chest, to your arms and lastly to your legs.

The boosters on your feet whirred and transformed to function in the water.

"Y/N, I can only fly you out; my power is still weak. Once you are out, the armour will fully disappear; are you sure you can land safely?"

"You know I will. Just get me out of here."

"Good luck Y/N." ARIS's voice malfunctions as your suit takes off.

The water was murky from the debris and destruction; there was no knowing where you were or where you would land.

Gradually, the flight power increased more and more by the second and then, you were free; but you were also feet above the ground and plummeting to your evident fate.

ARIS's promise was fulfilled as your black and suit faded from your body.

Free falling in the air, all you could see was chaos and demolition and most importantly, there wasn't anywhere you could land.

Breathe Y/N. Breathe. Focus and look, it's okay.

On the surrounding buildings, you survey the webbings and an idea pops in your head; I could stick to it.

This is crazy, but the best and only option I have to live.

Angling your body to the webs, you stretch out further to even at least grab any loose threads.

Brace yourself-

Your fingers touch the webs and you throw your body onto it and close your eyes, bracing for the worst.

But nothing happens. You open your eyes and see your body has fully stuck to the webs; Spider-Man (Peter Parker) saved your life. You glare up at the sky and dryly laugh; "Not today."

Sliding down from the webs, you touch down and plant one foot in front of the other, racing to find Peter but as you turn a corn, something suddenly hard collides into you and knocks you off your feet. Hitting your head on the concrete, you groan in pain and feel a shift of heaviness leave your chest.

"Hey are you okay? I'm so sorry I-"

"B-Brad?" You look up and see Brad hovering over you.

"Y/N! Thank god you're okay! Come on, we gotta go-" Brad wraps an arm around yours and forcefully stands you up.

You look up and see Peter swinging from building to building, you go to see where exactly he is going to and then you see it; a bell tower split from the bottom was toppling

"Brad stop-"

Brad ignored your requests completely and attempted to hold your hand but you leave it out of his hand's way and sprint to the others.

"Stay low kids, we'll be safe here!" Dell assures and crams everyone under a supported building.

Hydro-Man and a mystery green hero were fighting directly in front of you but you were worried about Peter; he couldn't hold that bell tower tower forever...

"He's kicking that water's ass!" Brad exclaims joyfully.

"He looks like a Doctor Strange rip off." You mutter as you turn to go after Peter.

Brad sensing you were about to run off, he sternly yanks you closer to him, a stone cold facial appearance portrayed on his face and now there was no chance of you sneaking off to help Peter or use your powers.

God damn it Davis!

An eruption of water sprays across from two sides and uproars, shaking the terrain and releasing its final cry, Hydro-Man was defeated.

How in the hell did he-

The ring of a bell made you snap your neck; the bell tower fallen and you couldn't see Peter.

No, no, no-

With a fleeting look at the bell tower, from it's corner you squint and find Peter's flannel sticking out like as he were standing. Peter's okay... it's okay...

Cheers and cries of rejoice for the mysterious hero blow up from the citizens, praising of their work, the hero salutes the people and then, flies off into the sky on their gust of green smoke with the one question on everyone's minds.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Who is that guy?" Betty asks about the elephant in the room (or more the elephant on the TV screen).

"He's like Iron Man and Thor rolled into one." Brad inaccurately compares.

He wishes-

"But he's no Spider-Man."

"What is it with you and Spider-Man?" MJ finally mentions Flash's obsession over the superhero; everyone knew of Flash's undying love for Spider-Man and how his Instagram account is literally spideyno1fan but no one actually knew why he adored the vigilante.

"What? He's just awesome okay? And he protects the neighbourhood and you know, he's inspiring; he inspires me to be a better man- sup dickward, thought you drowned." Flash sends a wink at Peter.

If only you knew...

"Sounds like his name's Mysterio." Brad states from the obvious news headline.

"No. It's Italian for 'mystery'; it isn't his actual name." You correct Brad from the staircase but he can't tell from your tone that you meant it to be rude; you were still incredibly pissed at Brad and what he did and you'd loss all respect and tolerance for him.

"Mysterio..." Ned starts as he nods to himself.

"Cool name." Ned and Betty finish each other sentences and freak out. What a power couple...

"So," Peter began and swayed his body and tip toed near you, "How much of that did you actually see?"

Not much because I was drowning in the surprisingly polluted canal. "Not much. You know when you're running for your life, you don't really look back."

"Right me too; I was also running away." Peter stammered. He can't lie for anything.

"So Paris tomorrow... go to the Eiffel Tower, should be great."

"Did you know people originally didn't like the tower? Excused it of being something useless and a monstrosity to France but then over time, turned into the heart of France?"

"Oh. I didn't know that." Peter shyly mumbled.

"That's why it's my favourite destination on the whole trip." You can't help but smile.

Peter chuckles softly and smiles at you and you do as well, the both stare at each other for what seems 'too long', Peter and you look away from each other and awkwardly laugh.

"Well, I'm probably am going to call it early tonight. It's been a long day..." You yawn and stand up from the stair and stretch.

"I'll walk you!" Peter uttered suddenly.

"Walk me up to my room? O-okay." You blush at his response.

Treading up the stairs, Peter and you arrive shortly at Room 11; your and MJ's shared room for the night.

"I-I hope you're okay from today Y/N/N," Peter sincerely conveys his concern, "and I if you need someone to talk to, I-I'm here because I know with everything, it's hard and I'm your friend and care a lot about you and just want you to be happy and stuff with Tony I know it's-"

"Thank you Peter." You softly let out, a shy smile plays on your face. "And same goes Peter... I care a lot about you too..."

The pair of you stand for what seems like a life time until the stampede of footsteps snaps the both of you out of your trance.

"G-Goodnight Y/N." Peter whispers with a giddy grin.

Too cute...

"Goodnight Peter." You playfully drag; you don't realise the effect it has on Peter though but to Peter, it was sweet like honey and he loved it.

Closing the door quietly, you slump down, with pink cheeks you lean on the door and exhale out heavily; what a day...

Brad was extra, extra today, Ned and Betty are dating, there was a monster on the first day and craziest of all, Peter has a crush?!

Feeling a vibration from your back pocket, you fish out your phone and turn it on to see a wonderfully timed message.

from: F/N ✌️

are you okay?! wth is happening rn?!

Wouldn't you and I both like to know...

☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆

TAG LIST !! < 3

@eridanuswave @likeinfootloosethemovie @ivebeenthinkingboutu @watson-emma @herondalism @sweetdee198 @holyhumorliteraturelight @ferxaniti @averyfosterthoughts @cosmicmndes

☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆

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sevdrag · 4 years ago

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dreamwidth update: isolation

(content warnings: i just talk about the shit that's going on rn cause i gotta, but if any of it is triggering for you, be careful or scroll past)

so, as it turns out - as anyone could have predicted - i'm behind AF on nano.

look, a lot of it is that the first week of november got tied up in the hellhole that was america's election. fuck. i had done a lot of research and i knew what to expect and i STILL DIDNT KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT. that entire week was draining as fuck and even the relief of them finally calling it for biden was destructive and devastating in its own way. (i cried. i dont ever cry. i fucking bawled.)

and some of it is another lesson in preparation. i have a great outline for this novel! i know all the plot beats for all three plotlines! but i didn't practice getting into either character's voice, so while im still writing, it's very third-person-onmicient type, very distant, rather than the third-person-intimate that im going for.

and ive become STUPIDLY hung up on that! LIKE, ITS STOPPING ME FROM WRITING. i realize i just need to forge ahead and i'll find their voices eventually, but like, brain matter no go. head empty no thots.

SURPRISINGLY, though, if i count all words i've written (including nano, patreon, work words, fanfic, etc) i am on pace to hit the 50K. guess what I might be doing, rather than focusing entirely on the nano words. fml. etc.

my two oldest nieces are coming this weekend for their birthday celebration. when they were young i decided that instead of birthday gifts, what each girl got was a weekend alone, just with me, where we would do super fun things and they get to have all of the focused attention from their aunt and uncle. it's worked great, but this year, because of the rona, their schedules are all fucked up (you would not BELIEVE what my bro and SIL have had to work out to manage both of their jobs with 3 children under the age of 7 at home; it's crazy), and we wanted to limit the travel as well. so both girls are coming together to stay with me, to celebrate together. i'm very excited, but wow, that's also been a whirlwind.

i had to clean the entire house. the thing is, when you've been in house since march, and you're already disabled, and you're depressed, and you're tired, and you have 5 cats, the house can quickly get to a pint where you really give no more fucks about it. hugely. bigly. i had to summon my mum, Crown, and murder husband to help me out with it, but now the house is gorgeously clean and i am happy. doing all the work at once was kind of a sledgehammer to the face tho, RIP me, but i did it.

fought with Crown over a bunch of stuff too. it's resolved and we are in a better place after having it out, but that also hit me like a fucking pickup truck, thanks.

also didnt help nano.

isolation is weird. i dont mind being alone - i love being stuck in my house alone, that's like, my dream world - but i feel like i've hunkered down here in other ways as well. friends i used to talk to daily, i check in like once a week. a BIG part of that is, well, having nothing to really say. my new contract remains in covid limbo, my other work continues, and my desire to write a novel to sell is just aksjdlkasdjggs, so like, ??? why bother to talk, there's no news here, etc.

im also just not very good at staying in touch because of (reasons) and the situation is compounding that and really doubling down on it. how can i reach out to people when im spending most of my mental energy not going completely batshit??? "hey demons. it's me. your boy."

i mean i also feel like other friends are pulling back as well, probably because none of us really have anything new to say. it's just an interesting side effect of isolation, i guess?

plus it's the jazz hands depressssiioooonnnnn ~! for all of us!

i really just exist on discord these days. honestly.

ANYWAY.

i haven't yet given up on the novel, nor have i given up on trying to grow my kofi and patreon to help me out in these terrible times. (crankyoldman, thanks so much for the Kofi! that covers this month's entire Chewy order! <3 <3 aaaaaaa ILU and i miss you guys!!) it's just such a bizarre fucking time to be a conscious thinking creature and that's weird, i guess.

went to target and bought a bunch of men's shirts for the winter. sorry but for what i want men's clothes are vastly superior. you can't get a women's t-shirt that's long enough to go over hips or really be tucked in unless you find a "tunic length" and they're like $25. i got 3 mens tees for $18. i also now have a giant hoodie with thumbholes. bless.

plus big ass sports bras. i just want my tits to be comfortable. dont always bra them, but like when im cleaning they gotta be held. gently. softly cupped in place so that they don't get tossed around too much. i dont know where im going with this.

i just want to be comfortable here in my private cave.

the stasis of isolation. such an odd year it's been this last month.

Ko-fi for the cats || Patreon for CYOA and the novel || Sev's Pub, my creative works discord || carrd for the rest

comments Comment? https://ift.tt/3ngoxji

#crossposted #dreamwidth

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fand0mfancies · 4 years ago

Text

Came across this on Tumblr a few days ago, it amused me for a couple of hours or more, filling it in, while watching QI.

Fandom Questions

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

Star Trek: Voyager, I suppose at least for reading. Started writing with Stargate SG-1.

2. What is your latest fandom?

I dip in and out of lots of fandoms on and off, the most recent ‘pick up’ is Ballam from Eastenders, I don’t watch soaps, but Robron and Ballam both appear a good bit on my tumblr, so I eventually gave in to checking them out via fic and youtube – thank god for youtube, lol! I still don’t watch soaps, but I watch those storylines!

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

Gosh, that’s... actually no that’s really easy. Primeval. For anyone not familiar, it’s a ‘silly little dinosaur show’ produced in the UK. It had 4 short seasons, with a somewhat revolving main cast – although they managed to keep 3 of them through all 4 seasons – but the fandom was/is amazing. I made life long friends through the fandom and even though I don’t write much any more I still read some and still talk with those people.

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

I would say no. I can’t say every fandom has always been amazing – ship wars anyone! – but mostly fandom has been a very positive experience in my life.

5. Which fandoms have your written fanfiction for?

How long have you got... in genuinely no particular order (basically as they came to me) Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Star Trek (TNG, DS9, Voy, Ent & Reboot Movies), Marvel, Kingsman, Person of Interest, Due South, Quantum Leap, Firefly, Buffy/Angel verse, Harry Potter, The Sentinel, Torchwood(/Doctor Who), Hawaii Five-0, Shadowhunters, Sherlock, Primeval, Emmerdale (Robron), NCIS, CSI (Vegas, NY & Miami), White Collar, Empire Records, Bull, Diagnosis Murder, MacGyver (the original), 1-800-Missing, CHAOS, Without a Trace, M*A*S*H, Charmed, Queer as Folk (US), Will & Grace, Bring it On, Nash Bridges, Magnificent 7 (TV series), House, Babylon 5 – I think I got them all... a few of those were one time only deals, but a lot of them have more (anywhere from 2-52 (or more still!) ranging from 100 word drabbles, to thousands of words – hey I’ve been writing fic for 21 years... you tend to amass a lot of fandoms...

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Oh geez, here we go, lol! Okay...

Stargate SG-1: Jack O’Neill/Daniel Jackson

Stargate Atlantis: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard

Star Trek: Elim Garak/Julian Bashir, Chakotay/Tom Paris, Jonathan Archer/Malcolm Reed, James Kirk/Spock – I don’t particularly have an ‘otp’ in TNG, the couple I’ve written were Picard/Data, I’ve also dabbled reading Data/Gordi)

Marvel: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Kingsman: Harry Hart/Eggsy Unwin

Person of Interest: Harold Finch/John Reese

Due South: Benton Fraser/Ray K

Quantum Leap: Sam/Al

Firefly: Malcolm Reynolds/Simon Tam

Buffy/Angel Verse: Buffy/Giles, Angel/Spike, Xander/Spike, Willow/Tara

Harry Potter: Harry/Draco, Harry/Hermione, Harry/Hermione/Draco

The Sentinel: Jim/Blair

Torchwood: Jack/Ianto

Hawaii Five-O: Steve/Danno

Shadowhunters: Magnus/Alec

Sherlock: Sherlock/John, Mycroft/Lestrade

Primeval: Nick Cutter/Stephen Hart, James Lester/Hilary Becker Emmerdale: Robert Sugden/Aaron Dingle

NCIS: Gibbs/DiNozzo CSI: Nick Stokes/David Hodges, Mac/Danny, Horatio/Speed White Collar: Neal/Peter/Elizabeth

Empire Records: Joe/Lucas

Bull: Benny/Jason

Diagnosis Murder: Steve/Jesse

I’ve left a few out where I don’t have particular OTPs

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

Here we go again... lol!

Stargate SG-1: Jack/Sam, I just... no. I’ve read a few where it’s a background or secondary pairing, but it always makes me wince a bit. I’ve read a few with Sam/Daniel as a secondary pairing that didn’t make me react that way and I’ve read Sam with other characters, but Jack/Sam just is a nope for me.

Stargate Atlantis: McKay/Keller – no, just no. that was horrible. She treated him like... awfully, trying to change him to suit her, just... no.

Marvel: Contentious, but Tony/Pepper, also Peter Parker/Tony Stark. Maybe because I saw the movies before I ever looked at the comics, but meh.

Due South: Benton Fraser/Ray V – again, contentious, but honestly I think Ray V was kind of a shit friend to Fraser.

Firefly: Anything with Jayne. No really, I just can not stand the character. I spent most of the series wanting to punch him in the face and sometimes you get characters you love to hate, but I just hated him.

Buffy/Angel Verse: Buffy/Spike, Willow/Kennedy

Harry Potter: Ron/Hermione, Ron/Harry, Harry/Ginny... basically, Ron and Ginny should just be loveless hermits who live by themselves. Ok, no, that isn’t fair... but as much as Ron was Harry’s first friend, he was selfish and bitter and Ginny/Harry just... never sat right with me. Ron literally says she spent ‘all summer talking about’ Harry, when she’d met him for all of three seconds. She didn’t know him. It always felt like she fell more in love with the *idea* of Harry Potter, than Harry Potter himself.

Sherlock: Sherlock/Molly, he’d eat her for breakfast. Serious, she’d never survive him.

Primeval: Oliver Leek and anyway. Arg. Creepy little dude is creepy and evil.

NCIS: Ziva/DiNozzo – ugh, just no.

Again, I’ve left out ones where I don’t have particular NoTPs

8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom?

Tumblr, god damned bitches posting gifs of pretty boys falling in love, roped me in!

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

I dabble in several fandoms at once... but if we go by ‘most recently picked up’ as ‘current’ we’re talking Ballum, which hey, it’s always fun to have an actual canon pairing be my OTP, that’s rare for me, lol.

10. Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Well (so far) I haven’t written any Ballum. (I say so far, because I’m a realist, lol). I rarely read in fandoms and not end up writing in them at some point. Although I have probably dabbled in a few I’ve not written for, but if I read it with any sort of consistency, I mostly end up writing it. I am weak!

Ship Questions for your Current Fandom

11. Who is your current OTP?

Okay, so that list above, just basically go with that. While I do drop in and hour of fandoms and some I certainly read in more than others, I do tend to go back to fandoms... If we were talking about what I’m mostly focused on writing atm... Steve/Tony, Mycroft/Lestrade, Harry/Draco and Robron are ones I’m currently working on most.

12. Who is your current OT3?

I’m not currently writing anything that’s OT3 with any real focus. I have a couple of Neal/Peter/Elizabeth WiPs that I will at some point finish, but they aren’t a big focus just now. I did recently read a fabulous Neal/Peter/Elizabeth fic that’s been on my tbr list for ages.

13. Any NoTPs?

Just... see above, lol!

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

Harry Hart/Merlin, those two are Bro’s until the end and I will fight you on this. Also, Eggsy/Roxy! OMG they are such a BroTP! And Tony/Pepper/Rhodey – I may no like Tony/Pepper as a pairing, but I love them as best friends and of course, our Rhodes, because again, I will fight you on this, they are awesome and Tony needs his best friends!

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

I’m not sure there is. I suppose I’ve read a few fics for some random pairings over the years, but nothing that’s made me really ship-ship them. I like Clint Barton/Bucky Barnes, after seeing it as a secondary pairing in a Steve/Tony fic, but I’ve seen that pop up a few times since, so maybe it won’t stay obscure for long!

16. Are their any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

Jack/Sam, Tony/Pepper, Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Buffy/Spike – they all seem to be het pairings, oops. But I am mostly a slash fic reader/writer, so I suppose that’s not too surprising.

17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite?

Jack/Daniel from Stargate SG-1. I still love them. I still read them, although it has been a while since I’ve written them on their own (I have got some SG-1/SGA x-overs where they feature)

18. What ship have you written the most about?

I’m genuinely not sure... without going and counting (and I’m not going any counting!) I’d guess Jack/Daniel, McKay/Sheppard, Jack/Ianto and Steve/Danno.

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

No, not that I can think off. I either like it or not. I do occasionally feel bad for not reading a fic if it’s an author I really like, but I don’t read that fandom or pairing, but nothing specific.

20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?

Robron and Ballum, lol. I do not do soaps!

��Author Questions

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

Stargate SG-1, Jack/Daniel, a story called The Dare, The Disaster, The Almost Happy Ending, And The Very Happy Ending – it was awful. Don’t go looking, lol!

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

Don’t we all? No, I wouldn’t specifically say so. There are certainly fics, especially older ones, I wish I could have written better, but nothing I’d go, ugh I should never have done that.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

Uh... honestly that’s really hard. I... um... yeah, I don’t know, really. I wrote a nice little flower one in POI that I felt worked rather beautifully. The Language of Flowers. An I wrote an SGA fic for NaNo a few years ago, called A Different Life, but it’s not online, because I didn’t finish it yet and I knew I wasn’t going to finish it any time soon, so I didn’t feel it was fair to leave it up unfinished (there is a reason I don’t read WiP fics and I don’t post them either, because I know how much I hate unfinished WiPs) Edit: After writing this I reminded myself of a POI fic I wrote called Hours of Separation – It’s a Harold/John break up story that I always intended to write a sequel too where I ‘fixed’ them, but I just couldn’t do it. I broke them a little too well. But I really love it actually.

24. What fic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit?

The afore mentioned A Different Life needs to be edited and finished, lol! Also a Primeval fic with the working title Crypt Keeper (don’t ask) that I worked myself into a bit of a corner on and I figure out how to fix it, but I haven’t done it yet, so it’s still needs fixing and finishing, lol!

25. What’s your most popular fanfic?

I haven’t the foggiest.

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

Sometimes, really easily, a quote, a line from the fic, a song title... other times it’s like pulling teeth, hence working titles on things like ‘crypt keeper’ which is a reference to one scene near the very start and has no actual hint of the plot, lol!

27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

Oh the titles. Summaries you can just copy a few lines from the fic if you are desperate, if you had to post ‘untitled mcshep fic #67’ people would get cranky, lol, hell I’d get cranky!

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

Oh... I... huh. I mean who wouldn’t love fanart for their stories? Any of them honestly! But if I had to choose just one... I guess something in my Animal Instinct verse, which is Primeval (although I always intended to write other fandoms in the verse) where some people transform into animals, based on their ‘spirit animal’ and some art of the characters with their spirit animal form would be awesome.

29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not?

Sometimes, look if you’ve read this far, you know I write in a lot of fandoms, lol. In some fandoms it’s easier than others to find beta readers. Also, sometimes if it’s just something short, I won’t bother. But I do try for my longer fics.

30. What inspires you to write?

That old adage, if you want to read it, sometimes you just have to write it? Spite? Boredom? Honestly sometimes I just have ideas I have to get out of my brain and it’s write or go mad(der)

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

That it inspired them to write something.

32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

Sometimes, sometimes I find it distracting when writing because I end up singing along and forgetting what I’m writing, lol! I do sometimes get inspiration from songs, I guess mostly from the lyrics, but no particular band or genre – although I listen to a lot of country music!

33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?

Little from column a, little from column b... littler still from column c...

34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?

Around 60k, I think.

35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about?

I have. Primeval had/has a week drabble challenge, mostly when I’ve written drabbles it’s been for a challenge, with a specific prompt.

36. What’s your favourite genre to write?

Uh... I mean, my fandoms really span the genres, but I guess sci-fi or crime are probably my favourites.

37. First person or third person - what do you write in and why?

Third mostly, I have occasionally written in first person, if it felt like the fic needed it.

38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs?

Little from column a, little from column b... it depends on the fandom and the story. Sometimes you just need more characters, mostly they are minor roles, I don’t tend to write much established character/oc fic

39. What is your greatest strength as a writer?

Ability to convince myself people will want to read it, lol! No actually to be honest, I love to know people read and like my stuff, but I gave up a long time ago on trying to ‘please’ people with what I write. I write what I want to read.

40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

Focus. The problem with 21 years of fandom history, is well... 21 years of fandom history. A lot of fandoms, a lot of pairings and as I say, I never really ‘leave’ a fandom, I just drop in and out and sometimes that means I’ll write on something consistently for weeks or months and then end up getting distracted by another fandom again and not touch it for weeks or months again. Hence, I don’t post WiP fics, because I know I’m easily distracted and don’t want anyone to suffer my lack of focus but me.

Fanfiction Questions

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

I don’t read WiP fics, so yeah... but 5 I’ve recently read in different fandoms that I’ve really enjoyed

Turns Out, I Have a Rose Garden by betheflame (Steve Rogers/Tony Stark)

Lucky by china_shop (Neal Caffery/Peter Burke/Elizabeth Burke)

Colors by Quesarasara (Sherlock/John)

Betrayal by Blackghost7 (Gibbs/DiNozzo)

Matchmaker (Part 1 of the Marmalade Series) by HastaLux, Mottlemoth (Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade)

42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

See now this is hard, because... ahh so many...

FredBassett – Primeval author, her Stephen/Ryan series is epic and brilliant and endless

https://archiveofourown.org/users/fredbassett/pseuds/fredbassett

Keira Marcos – I know other people will have said her, I don’t care. I love all her stuff, across all the fandoms she writes in

http://keiramarcos.com/

theapplepielifestyle – her Steve/Tony is amazing. Hands down some of the best I’ve ever read. I will fight you on this.

https://archiveofourown.org/users/theappleppielifestyle/pseuds/theappleppielifestyle

JillyJames – her Tony DiNozzo is a real life grown up... exactly as he should be considered given he’s a goddamn federal agent!

https://jillyjames.com/

missbecky – I’ve read pretty much all her Steve/Tony and Harry/Eggsy and it’s awesome.

https://archiveofourown.org/users/missbecky

Honestly, I could have listed so many more, but, I’m being good!

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

Everyone. The thing is, fandom at it’s best is like crack, the more you get, the more you want. The writing, the gifs, the art... it feeds you and makes you want to make more of it, because more of it needs to exist and if that means you need to do it yourself, so be it!

44. What ship do you feel needs more attention?

ALL OF THEM!

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

Oh hell no, not even, I can not. It took me an hour to narrow down 5 authors, I can not narrow down one fanfic!

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

I mean, it depends on what they like... probably the Hour of Separation I mentioned above, if they like the fandom/pairing, or my Animal Instinct stuff.

47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why?

Archive of our Own. I haven’t touched ff.net in *years* since they started getting super restrictive about what you could post. I do occasionally post stuff to tumblr, but mostly I now post to AO3. I did have my own site and I’ve yet to upload a lot of stuff to AO3 – one of these... months... that will be a project – but it’s amazing. Seriously, having been in fandom 20+ years, going from having to search all over a million different places and now it’s all in one place, where we’re honestly, spoiled and protected. The kids now have no idea how crazy impossible that once seemed.

48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not?

Yes, but not as often as I should. I love AO3s kudos button, so I can sort of say ‘hey I enjoyed this’ without having to comment, because I sort of hate leaving comments just going ‘hey I enjoyed this’ because I always feel like I should say more, like, oh I enjoyed this specific thing, which yes is an unnecessary hang-up, but there ya go.

49. Do you care if people comment/reblog your writing? Why/why not?

Of course it’s nice to get comments, kudos, reblogs etc. I’m not as attached to them now as I was when I was younger, because I learned along the way that it was more important that I like what I’m writing than that other people do, but it’s still nice to know that something I’ve created is enjoyed.

50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

I went looking for Star Trek Voyager stuff online, pics etc, waaaaaaay back when! And I came across fanfiction entirely by accident... and I read some – het stuff mostly, then I started watching Stargate SG-1, went looking for fanfiction for that, but was not on board with Jack/Sam, found Jack/Daniel went ‘huh really? That’s weird’ read it... and yeah... 21 years later... lol!

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

Ship Wars. No seriously, just don’t. Like, who the actual fuck cares. I like my ship, you like your ship. I don’t care if it’s canon or not. I don’t care if it’s popular or not. I don’t read my NoTPs, but I’d never dream of telling someone else not too. Yes I think they are terrible, bad, no good pairings, but that’s *my* opinion. Don’t try to change my mind and I won’t try to change yours. I avoid them like the actual plague. If someone starts that shit around me, I will shut it right down. You are a dick. Go to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect £200.

#fandom life #fandom

10 notes · View notes

javistg · 5 years ago

Text

Snapshot 8

Canon compliant, GBT snippets of every day life.

Everlark. The first summer after the war.

Camp Nano has officially begun!

I’m supposed to be writing new chapters for my WIPs, --and I am-- but I couldn’t resist the temptation to sneak one of these little pieces into the mix.

As some of you know, these snapshots are supposed to be 1,000 words or less, but this little story has been sitting in my drafts folder for years, so I guess you can understand why I was incapable of keeping it short.

Alright, enough introduction! Hope you enjoy.

Looking for the rest of the collection?

Snapshot 1, Snapshot 2, Snapshot 3, Snapshot 4, Snapshot 5, Snapshot 6, Snapshot 7.

The Hunting Partner

The sun was high up in the sky when Katniss pushed her front door open. It was a lovely day with clear blue skies and not a cloud in sight. A gentle breeze came down from the mountains keeping the sticky summer heat at bay.

Filling her lungs with the sweet smell of the gardenias she had planted along the veranda, Katniss smiled. It was a little late to go hunting, but the world outside seemed so inviting that she still wanted to go out for a walk.

She was halfway down the street that crossed the Victors’ Village when she saw Peeta. He was sitting on a bench with his legs stretched out in front of him. A contented smile played on his lips as he slowly flipped the pages of the book he held in his hands.

Katniss stopped in front of him, bouncing a little in place to release some of her new found energy. “Hi!”

Peeta looked up. As soon as he saw her, his eyes lit up. “Hey! Going hunting?”

Katniss shook her head. “It’s too late. I’m just going out for a walk.” Tilting her head towards the woods, she asked, “Wanna come?”

Peeta closed the book with a loud snap and stood up. “Sure! Do I need to bring anything?”

“Nope.” Katniss patted the hunting bag she carried over her shoulder. “I’ve got plenty of goodies right here. We can share.”

“OK.” Waving the book in his hand, he said, “I’ll just drop this off on my porch, and we’ll go.”

A moment later, they were on their way.

An easy silence fell over the pair as they crossed the gates leading out of Victors’ Village and turned onto the unpaved road that took them to the edge of the woods. It was a path they often followed --one they took every Sunday after having brunch with Haymitch and Thom and a few of their other neighbors—and the familiarity and peacefulness of their surroundings comforted them like a soothing balm.

When they reached a fork on the road, Katniss stopped. Pointing to the trail leading to the right, she asked, “Do you mind if we go this way?”

Peeta followed the direction of her finger. They usually kept to the pathway on the left, the one that circled the outline of the woods, but he knew Katniss went deeper when she was on her own, and he trusted her to know the way back. “No. Lead the way.”

Almost as soon as they began walking, the vegetation became thicker. Tall, majestic trees grew closer together, bringing shade and a welcome relief from the warm sun above.

Katniss quickened her pace. Peeta easily followed.

After a few twists and turns, he noticed a change in incline. Looking up ahead, he saw that the narrow path turned upwards leading up a hill.

After climbing for a few minutes, the pair reached a rock ledge overlooking a valley. The smooth, flat boulder was surrounded by a thicket of berry bushes which kept it hidden from prying eyes.

Katniss stopped and, for the first time since they’d started walking, Peeta noticed her shallow, rapid breaths.

Worried, he placed a soft hand on her shoulder. “You OK?”

Katniss nodded. She lifted her hunting bag from her shoulder and dropped it on the ground, right beneath the rock. “Want to sit down?”

“Yeah.” Peeta walked around the rock formation and waited for Katniss to sit before joining her.

As her breathing slowed down, Katniss folded her legs, pressing them to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. She dropped her chin on her knees and stared at the valley down below.

It’d been a long time since she’d been there. Now that Gale was gone, it didn’t make much sense to go to their meeting spot anymore. She didn’t understand the impulse which had driven her out there that morning, --she certainly hadn’t been planning on taking that route when she’d first set out-- but something had snapped inside of her on that fork on the road; an inexplicable need to reconnect with this place and share it with Peeta.

It was a bit odd, being there with him, --his solid, sturdy presence, the sound of his breathing, his enticing scent were so unlike Gale’s-- but he didn’t feel like an intruder. Ever since they’d started going on their Sunday walks, the woods had become an extension of the life they shared together. One more routine they had created; one more hurdle they overcame as a team.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that he was looking away from her. A small smile turned his lips as he took in the beauty of the valley below with its meandering river and lush clusters of bushes, wildflowers, and trees.

Hunting was something she did alone, but she liked sharing the beauty of the natural world with him. She loved seeing it through his eyes. The way he captured the essence of the places they visited in his paintings boggled her, and she couldn’t wait for the day when she felt strong enough to take him to her father’s lake.

Her mind flew back to the little cement building by the water’s edge, and the last time she’d been there. Unbidden, a dark cloud wrapped around her heart.

Her life had been so disjointed then. The world had been at war, Peeta had been a prisoner of his ghosts, and Gale…

Gale had been angry —angry and hurt.

She remembered trying to appease him by kissing him during their visit to her home but, as usual, it hadn’t been enough. Once again, she had failed, and that gaping wound that existed between them --that chasm that had made it impossible for her arguments to reach him in District 2, and in Bette’s lab-- had only grown.

They had been friends, the best of friends, the kind of friends who shared everything they had but, somewhere down the corridors of District 13, she had taken a wrong turn, and she had lost him.

The boy who had once shared this very spot with her had finally found the appreciation and approval he sought in Coin’s command room. It was really no wonder he had given free rein to his darkest instincts. Blinded by his anger, Gale had simply searched for what he thought was the light.

Overcome by sadness, Katniss tightened her hold on her legs and let out a shaky sigh. It seemed impossible that this bright, beautiful day could turn gloomy at the drop of a hat.

Peeta’s soft voice broke through her fog. “You miss him.”

Katniss closed her eyes, cradling Peeta’s words against her chest. They weren’t a question or an accusation, just a statement of fact and, as such, she acknowledged them.

Pressing her cheek to her knees, she turned to face him. “How can you tell?”

Peeta shrugged. “It’s written all over you.”

Katniss looked away, feeling small and weak. Peeta was right. As much as she hated some of the things Gale had done, she still missed him. She missed his laughter and his warmth. She missed the simplicity of the lives they’d once shared.

Next to her, she felt Peeta shift. Suddenly afraid that he was going to leave, she turned towards him. “I’m sorry,” she apologized in a panicked whisper.

Peeta leaned closer to her –a sure sign that he wasn’t going anywhere. His bright blue eyes found hers, and she held on to his gaze. There was no animosity there, no recrimination, just acceptance.

“Don’t be sorry,” Peeta said. “Gale is this huge part of you, Katniss. I’m actually surprised that…” Cutting his words short, Peeta pressed his lips together and shook his head. With a soft huff, he turned away from her.

Katniss let go of her legs and turned to face Peeta. They’d had all sorts of conversations over the past few months but, for some reason, they’d hardly even mentioned Gale.

It wasn’t surprising, not really, her hunting partner had always been a thorny subject between them. She hadn’t been strong enough talk about Gale’s actions during the war with anyone but Dr. Aurelius but, sitting there, –on that ancient ledge where she’d spent so many happy hours-- she couldn’t escape the notion that, maybe, that was why she’d brought Peeta on this walk.

Reaching out to touch his shoulder, Katniss pressed, “You’re surprised that what?”

Peeta let out a long breath. His head dropped, and his shoulders slumped forward following the motion. His face was like a clean slate, devoid of any discernible emotion when he looked back up at her. “I’m surprised he isn’t here.”

“He has that big job in Two,” she reminded him.

Peeta chuckled at her weak excuse, “Yeah, I know, but… He hasn’t even visited.”

Katniss shrugged. “He’s busy.”

“Busy?” Peeta shook his head, unconvinced. “No, Katniss, that’s not it. You’re here. He’s not. Something must have happened between you two, I just don’t know what.”

And there it was, the moment when she’d finally have to come clean --when she’d have to fill him in in all the sordid little details of the horrible avalanche she hadn’t been able to stop.

Bracing herself for what was to come, Katniss filled her lungs with the familiar scent of green moss and damp earth which surrounded her and gathered her courage.

“You’re right.” She nodded, slowly acknowledging Peeta’s words. “I do miss him. I miss my hunting partner, my friend. I miss the boy who would sit with me on this rock to share a joke and a laugh. I miss divvying up our haul at the end of a long day. I miss knowing our families would be waiting for us on the other side of the fence.”

Straightening her back, she found Peeta’s eyes –they were still and steady as he hung to her words. “But I don’t miss all of him. I don’t miss his possessiveness and jealousy, or the way he made assumptions when I came back from my first Game. And I definitely don’t miss the angry Capitol hater who only dealt in absolutes and didn’t care for other points of view.

“Sometimes, when I’m having a bad day, I miss the brave fighter who raided the Capitol with us, our brother in arms,” she admitted, her voice hardening under the weight of her disappointment, “but I don’t miss the Mockingjay’s fan; or the overeager soldier who followed Coin’s instructions blindly.” Overwhelmed by the anger boiling within her, Katniss looked away.

Peeta, who had been momentarily shocked into silence by sadness and confusion, found his voice. “What instructions, Katniss? What did he do?”

Katniss sighed, the words were there, but she wasn’t ready to say them, not yet. So, she leaned back, lying flat over the cold, smooth rock. A canopy of bright green leaves hung from the branches up above, shielding her face from the glare of the midday sun and creating a kind of cocoon where she felt safe from harm.

In a soft, wistful whisper, she began. “Have I ever told you how Gale and I met?”

Curious, Peeta laid down next to her, propping himself up on his arm to look at her. “How did you two meet?”

“It was out here in the woods. I was still twelve, and --the first time we spoke-- he threatened me.”

“What?” Peeta blurted out, “You were a teeny little thing! Why would he do that?”

Katniss’s eyes twinkled in amusement at the shock on his face. “He didn’t mean anything by it, he just thought I was about to steal his rabbits, and he wanted to scare me straight.”

Softly, as if trying to keep her memories just between them, Katniss told Peeta about the tenuous alliance she had first established with Gale. She talked about their first trades, explained how they had eventually learned to trust each other.

A lonely tear ran down her cheek when she spoke about the first time Gale and Prim had met. Her heart clenched as she remembered Prim being a bit weary of the older boy who looked so much like a grown man. “But he was so nice to her, Peeta. She was like another sister to him.” Her voice broke at this, the memory too painful in light of what had happened later.

Peeta reached out to wrap his hand around her arm. “Katniss, you don’t have to--,”

“Yes, I do,” she sniffed, wiping the tears from her face and resting her hands like a protective shield over her chest.

“I don’t really know much of what happened when I arrived in District 13. I spent the first few days unconscious and, even when I was awake, I was completely disoriented. But I know that, soon after being rescued, Gale was…” Katniss stopped, searching her mind for the right word to explain what had happened. None seemed right. “I don’t know, I guess he was recruitedby Coin.”

Peeta creased his forehead. “Recruited? Wasn’t everyone recruited into Thirteen’s army as soon as they arrived?”

“They were, but this was different. The refugees, they all… They all said Gale had been the one to lead them out into to the woods. They said he kept them safe. I guess Coin was impressed by that, so she took an interest in him. She must have also found out we were friends at some point –maybe she even thought we were related, I don’t know, but I think that might have spiked her interest even more.

“By the time I started moving around, he was already entrenched in their little group, tightly wrapped around Coin’s little finger. They included him in tons of tactical meetings and assigned him to work in the weapons development lab next to Beetee. From then on, all his energy went into defeating the Capitol and winning the war.”

Peeta tilted his head, uncertain. “I seem to recall him hanging around you a lot.”

“He did. He was usually busy, but he made time so that we could have most of our meals together. He also came with me whenever I left the district, and we even went out hunting in Thirteen a few times.” The ghost of a shy smile turned her lips at the handful of pleasant memories she had from those unfamiliar woods. “He was supportive, patient even, and I was grateful. I thought we had gone back to just being friends.”

Katniss closed her eyes, losing herself for a moment on the comfort of the world around her; the delicate murmur of leaves rustling in the wind; the warm caress of the sun on her cheeks; the steady rhythm of Peeta’s breathing as he lied next to her.

The soothing pattern Peeta’s thumb had been tracing over and over on her arm brought her back. “I was so lonely, Peeta. I was just glad to have someone who knew me by my side.”

“I know,” Peeta whispered. After everything they’d shared in the past few months, she believed him.

“You know?” she said, looking at him once more, “When he volunteered to get you out of the Capitol, I thought he was doing it for me --because I was so broken-- and I was so grateful, but I was also worried. I remember sitting by Finnick’s side, my head going round and round in circles, thinking I was going to lose both of you that day.”

Her chest tightened as she thought about those long dark hours she’d spent tying knots next to Finnick as they waited –and waited-- for the worst to happen.

Needing to ground herself in the moment, Katniss covered Peeta’s hand with one of hers. He immediately squeezed her arm in response. It was the gentlest of touches, but it was all the encouragement she needed to go on.

“But now, after everything that’s happened… I think that maybe Gale just did it because he felt guilty —because he felt like he owed you for standing up to Thread.

“I wouldn’t mind that,” she mussed, “I understand the need to repay a debt --and that was something big, what you did for him-- but I can’t escape the feeling that he was also doing it for his precious Mockingjay. Bringing back what I wanted just so that I could put on the uniform and start rallying the troops again.”

Peeta shook his head. “No. I mean, you’re probably right about him wanting to repay a debt —I’ve always assumed that was why he rescued me— but I’m not so sure about the rest. There’s no doubt Gale was devoted to the cause, —even I could see that— but I can’t believe the revolution mattered more to him than you did.”

Tears filled her eyes. That’s because you don’t know the whole story yet, she thought.

Tightening her grip on his hand to keep him close, she said, “The thing is… I don’t care anymore. I don’t care about his reasons or his motivations. All that matters to me is that he brought you back. You were confused and broken, and you hated me, but you were safe —safer, at least— and away from Snow. That’s all that matters.”

Letting go of her arm, Peeta turned his palm up and pressed it into hers, lacing their fingers together he brought both hands to rest on his chest, right above his heart. “Why are you so angry at him?”

Katniss’s eyes darkened, the storm within her aching to be set free. “Because he stopped listening, and he used what Snow did to you as an excuse to become ruthless. Because he reached a point where he only followed the path Coin set for him.

“When the rebels needed to bring down the military compound in Two. He was their man. He conveniently forgot his father’s death and turned the mountain into a mine that caved in on itself.

“When Coin asked for strategies to capture and kill the enemy, he developed them. He used his instincts as a hunter to trap the innocent, substituting his snares with locked gates and his arrows and nets for bombs.

“He didn’t care anymore, about who got trampled or hurt. As long as the rebels moved forward, he didn’t mind. And when we left for the Capitol, he left it all behind; the plans, the schematics, the details. A catalog of horrors just waiting to be used.”

Peeta’s pulse quickened beneath her palm, and Katniss went still, worried for a second that she might not have chosen the best place to share this information with him. They had dealt with his episodes before, but never when they were this deep into the forest.

Sensing her fear, Peeta gave her a small smile. “I’m OK,” he assured her, “I just…” He closed his eyes and dipped his chin, blocking the world outside to unravel the meaning of Katniss’s words.

A low hum like that of a wounded animal, heavy with pain and despair, rumbled deep within his chest as he slowly opened his eyes. His voice was tight with sorrow. “Coin used them, didn’t she?”

Katniss nodded. Her trembling lips pushed the words out. “In the City Circle.”

Peeta’s eyes clouded over with tears. He knew. He understood. There were no more words to be said.

In one swift motion, he let go of Katniss’s hand, wrapped his arm around her small frame, and pulled her to him.

Hungry for comfort, Katniss melted into his embrace, draping her arm over his waist and pressing her cheek to his chest to keep him close.

The echo of birds’ wings, fluttering high above, kept them company as they trembled and cried, tightly clinging to each other.

“I’m so sorry,” Peeta whispered into her hair, the words broken in his ragged voice.

Katniss pulled back with tear-streaked cheeks and wild hair. Now that her secret was exposed, and her tears had run out, she was exhausted —empty— but, for the first time in months, she wasn’t hollow.

It was as if, by setting her words free, she had allowed an empowering sense of calm to root deep within her, protecting her from the void Gale’s absence had left in her soul and filling her with a faint glimmer of hope.

“Thank you,” she said, reaching up to wipe the tears from Peeta’s face. “I don’t think I could do any of this without you.”

Peeta shook his head. “You’ve done plenty on your own, Katniss. You don’t really need me that much.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “But I do! I always have, Peeta.” Letting her hand travel up his behind neck, she reached the back of his head and buried her fingers in his hair. It was shorter than she liked, he always kept it that way in summertime, but she could still feel its silky softness as she massaged his scalp.

“When I’m with you, I always find the right path,” she whispered. “And I know that, if you had been there with me —back in Thirteen— none of this would have happened, because you would have found the words. You would have found a way to make him see what I couldn’t.”

Peeta dipped his head forward, granting her better access to play with his hair. A sad, disbelieving chuckle escaped his lips. “I don’t know what gave you that idea —what makes you think he would have listened to me— but I’m sure you’re wrong. It wouldn’t have made a difference.”

Katniss nodded. It wasn’t fair to put something like that on Peeta’s shoulders. “Maybe you’re right, you probably wouldn’t have been able to stop Gale, —he was too far gone— but I know you would have been able to change a few things, to make them better.” Tugging on his hair, she made him look up. Staring straight into his eyes, she said, “You don’t know the effect you can have, Peeta Mellark. When youtalk, the world stops to listen.”

A deep blush crept up Peeta’s cheeks at her words. His eyes twinkled. “I never wanted to talk to the world, Katniss. I just wanted to talk to you.”

She smiled, basking in the warmth of his words. “Well, I’m listening.”

In a slow, careful motion, Peeta’s hand traveled up Katniss’s back until it reached her braid. Tender fingers wrapped around the silky rope and slid down to the end where he gave it a playful tug. “So… Got anything good in that bag of yours?”

With a light, musical laugh, Katniss disentangled herself from him. “I do, actually.” Leaning forward, she grabbed her hunting bag by the strap and hoisted it onto the ledge.

They spent the next hour sitting there, talking about their plans for the following days as they sipped cold mint tea from Katniss’s thermos and shared the food she had brought.

He heart was so relieved after sharing her burden that she even let him have one of the cheese buns she had greedily kept to herself the previous night.

As they made their way back to the Village, their fingers laced together, their stomachs full, Katniss couldn’t help but think that maybe —just maybe— she had finally found a way to step away from the heartbreak she felt whenever Gale slipped into her mind.

That insistent little voice that talked to her whenever Peeta was around told her she was ready to move past the anger, and focus on the light.

XXXXX

Have a post mockingjay snippet idea? Let me know, I might turn it into a snapshot.

#things I write #camp nano july 2019 #growing back together snapshots #snapshot 8 #post mockingjay

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