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homestuckreplay · 1 year ago

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Homestuck Is A Game, Who Is The Player?

Week 3 Retrospective

'Video games have long been associated with spectatorship as well as play, from their origins in quarter-fueled arcades, where high score displays implied the presence of admiring or competitive spectators, to their migration to home screens and consoles. Live streaming chat emulates these older models, but its interaction with economies of scale on streaming platforms brings a different kind of intimacy and intensity to the experience. Chat lets spectators feel like they are there with the streamer as well as a part of a crowd, even if they are alone in their room.' [Jeremy Antley - emphasis mine]

From Homestuck’s very first page, the comic has made something clear. We are not allowed to immerse ourselves in John Egbert’s world. There is a layer of separation between us, an interface mediating our access to his life and story, a voiceover narration from the person who’s really in control. Who is this person, and what form does their control over John take?

Homestuck is presented like a video game, yet unlike a video game, we don’t control the character’s movements with arrow keys or have the chance to type our own commands directly into the text box. Instead of being able to explore the game on our own terms, we are confined to a specific and predetermined route, even though others seem theoretically possible. Simply put, we are not the ones playing the game.

Essay continued under the cut - about 2.6k words

I think there are two really important questions to consider when analyzing the meta elements of Homestuck and treating it as a game. The first - what kind of game is it? The second - where exactly do we stand in relation to the player(s)?

The most obvious answer to question one is ‘Homestuck is a text based adventure game.’ This guide to text based adventures is a great overview, and we can map the example commands here onto commands we’ve seen in Homestuck. ‘Examine room’ (p.4) is a one-word action, ‘Captchalogue smoke pellets’ (p.9) is an action and direct object, and ‘Nail poster to wall’ (p.19) includes the indirect object. John hasn’t given any orders yet - he’s too nice a guy for that - but ‘Report progress to TG’ (p.39) is definitely communicating with another character. All of these, and most other command lines, feel like reasonable instructions that could be recognized by a game.

However, commands like ‘Fondly regard cremation’ (p.52) and ‘Play haunting piano refrain’ (p.77) honestly feel too characterful to be fully interpreted by a computer, and ‘Squawk like an imbecile and shit on your desk’ (p.16) is… well, I tried typing this into the command prompt for the classic text adventure Zork, and got the following response.

A text adventure is just not set up to interpret wacky, left field ideas, much less respond to them in an entertaining way. And we know there is a real person behind Homestuck doing exactly that.

If my party enters the wizard’s study in Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, and I tell the Dungeon Master that I squawk like an imbecile and sit on the wizard’s desk, that statement will be understood. Sure, the DM will probably call me an idiot and put a nasty spike trap on the desk, but what I said will become part of the story in the way that a nonsense command in a text based video game never can. It’s interesting to think of Homestuck as a tabletop roleplaying game, where the narrator is the Game Master, the command prompt is a player, and John is a player character (presumably TT, TG and GG are the rest of his party and they’re just really late to the session).

Homestuck isn’t just text based, though - it has a strong visual element, including interfaces and overlays where the player can click and drag items between John’s inventory and his environment, or around his space. This suggests it could also be a point and click adventure game, a genre that grew out of text based games as graphics improved, and is defined by a strong inventory management component (check), puzzle solving quests (check - we’ve recently solved our first quest of acquiring the Sburb Beta) and dialog trees (????). The sprite based, isometric art style is really good for getting an overview of the space and seeing possible interactable objects, and Homestuck does feature extended dialog sequences - we don’t know if there are other possible inputs from John, but it's interesting to think that there might be.

These three genres - text based adventures, point and click adventures, and tabletop roleplaying games - all developed throughout the 1970s and 80s. It’s reasonable that Andrew Hussie (born 1979) could have grown up with some of these games. But to answer the second question, ‘where do we stand in relation to the player’, we might need to look at media forms still in their infancy - let’s plays, livestreams, and actual play.

[Michael Sawyer, 2004]

In the past few years, ‘Let’s Play [Game]’ has become a relatively popular thread format on the Something Awful forums, as well as personal websites. This began with posters taking screenshots of their playthroughs of a game and adding commentary in the text. The medium has now advanced to video and is typically hosted on YouTube, with commentary overlaid. Either format gives a creator the space to play through as much of the game as they choose, and then edit exactly what content they want to show to the audience, providing commentary after the fact.

Homestuck, with its per-page illustrations, could be seen as a long thread of forum posts by the player, each including screenshots as they move through the game. The inclusion of short Flash animations shows the edge into video, and makes me wonder if we’ll see longer or more complex videos, perhaps with voiceover narration, as Homestuck expands its focus. The self-referential and aggressive yet helpful commentary in Homestuck is similar in tone to Sawyer's playthrough above, and could easily be the work of a player who knows where the story will go, at least in the short term, and is dropping hints to the audience while purposefully concealing some things.

Livestreaming video games is a similar concept to Let's Plays, but performed in real time. Often hosted on Justin.tv, an open video broadcast website that’s been gaining prominence in the past couple of years, a livestream is an improvised and unedited way to watch someone game. Any commentary from the creator happens without knowledge of how the playthrough will turn out. Homestuck, by Hussie’s own admission, is being written similarly in real life - they don’t know more than the broad strokes of how the story will go, and it’s possible that neither the author nor the narrator knows the long term implications of an action such as John stealing his dad’s PDA.

Livestreams open the possibility for viewers to influence game events, if the streamer listens to their audience. We know this is true in Homestuck - readers are able to submit commands, and some are chosen for the story. The real time nature of Homestuck, waiting each day for the new update, is equivalent to waiting for a streamer to come online and start playing again so we can find out where their game goes next. This is compounded by us having no access to Homestuck outside of the streamer - we cannot buy and play this game for ourselves, it’s still in some kind of early or limited access, and the streamer controls all our knowledge.

The livestream is definitely most similar to how Homestuck is made by its author, but it's hard to say whether its narrator is commentating in real time, or after the fact. I can't find any definite clues in our pages so far - I think the narrator wants to seem smart and superior, but I can't say whether they have the knowledge to back it up.

[img source]

Our final media format is known as Actual Play. Almost a year ago, the creators of Penny Arcade (along with Dungeons & Dragons game designer Chris Perkins) began releasing Acquisitions Incorporated, a short-run, officially licensed podcast where the group plays through a D&D adventure to demonstrate gameplay interspersed with jokes. This isn’t the first time a TTRPG publisher has recorded sessions to help people learn the game, but this idea seems to be crossing over into the entertainment genre - and webcomics are part of that movement.

In the first episode, the group have a brief aside. The DM says that ‘some players prefer to refer to their characters in the third person… others prefer to get into the first,’ and one player says they’ve observed the same thing in World of Warcraft. What’s not explicitly said is that the Game Master typically refers to the player characters in second person, describing what happens to ‘you’ and what ‘you’ see - much like streamers talking to their chat. The blocks of narrative text below pictures in Homestuck could easily be a Game Master balancing giving information to an unruly player, and providing entertainment for the audience. John’s lucky or unlucky moments with his sylladex could be the result of particularly good or bad dice rolls from his unseen player.

Actual play is a really great format for deep diving into a small cast of characters, and exploring their emotional state in ways that aren't intrinsic to a lot of video games. As we're already seeing the beginnings of John's emotional arc, we know this will be a focus, but we need two to four more characters with equally large roles in the story to really form a TTRPG party. Actual play also tends to include a lot of combat and its mechanics. We know Homestuck can handle crunchy mechanics due to the sylladex, but I'd expect to see the Strife concept become just as in depth and central to the story if Homestuck ends up fitting into this mold.

All three of these formats can have a mass audience, just like Homestuck does in reality - but Homestuck also feels like a very personal experience. Two people playing the same video game, even a highly linear game such as Portal or one that doesn’t involve much active interaction such as a visual novel, have slightly different gameplay based on the speed they move through the story and their missteps on the way to finding the solution to a puzzle.

Similarly, my experience of Homestuck is different from yours. I read the new update every day, while I know some people wait for a few days of updates to build up and then read a larger chunk. Maybe I clicked ‘Aggrieve’ and ‘Abjure’ three times each on p.90, alternating the options, while you clicked ‘Aggrieve’ five times in sequence and then ‘Abjure’ only twice. Maybe I didn’t realize p.110 had an interactive element at first, and skipped over it until somebody pointed it out to me (really telling on myself here). These elements of Homestuck that we have direct control over are currently only a small part of the story, but they do exist.

In this way, Homestuck feels a little bit like sitting in the living room as a kid watching your older brother play a game, begging him to let you take over for a minute, occasionally doing so until he gets frustrated with your inability to Strife and takes the controller back. The nostalgia of the simplistic graphics and the 70s and 80s games that are being evoked only adds to this cozy feeling. If Homestuck starts to add more interactive elements, such as branching paths, opportunities for us to take over the cursor, or a chance for us to use John’s sylladex ourselves and choose what he picks up, it might be worth thinking of Homestuck as different iterations of the same game, each of us watching our own, slightly different player, and even co-playing with them.

So, who IS this narrator? In my mind, I’m trying to draw a clear distinction between the author and the narrator. Hussie is the author in the real world, and the narrator, or player, or GM, exists within the work. Their role is best described on page 82:

‘The game presently eluding you is only the latest sleight of hand in the repertoire of an unseen riddler, one to engender a sense not of mirth, but of lack. His coarse schemes are those less of a prankster than a common pickpocket. His riddle is Absence itself.’

The narrator is this unseen riddler (or perhaps unseenRiddler?), providing a secondary layer of control over what happens and what we are able to see. They’re the person clicking and dragging objects around John’s room, and choosing what actions to take next. The narration is their perspective on the game - whether we see this as a GM describing a scene to their players, or a streamer reading aloud information that the game has given them and providing their own commentary.

So, we're watching the narrator play Homestuck, in whatever form it takes - but there's another layer to this. On page 22, an equivalence is made between the Sburb Beta, which John was supposed to receive on April 10 (and finally acquired on April 13 in-story, p.100), and the Homestuck Beta, which launched to us on April 10, but was quickly canceled and replaced with Homestuck proper on April 13. The Homestuck beta is linked within the comic, and might be canon within it - the narrator making an initial run at the game before restarting their save (perhaps on a different computer or console?) and trying again. Homestuck the game is currently about a kid who lives in the suburbs - and if the name and logo are anything to go by, Sburb could also be a suburbs-themed game. While we watch the riddler play Homestuck, the riddler will be watching John play the game Sburb. How deep does this go? Are there more layers inwards or outwards?

I’ve been puzzling this over for days, and I’m definitely left with more questions than I can answer. Here are the ones I'm focused on:

Is the unseen riddler playing the game as intended? Now that they’ve passed the tutorial, are they keeping the game on the rails and trying their best to follow a linear story, or are they pushing the boundaries, going for some kind of pacifist or resource-stripped run, trying to interfere with John’s intended story? Have they played the game before, and if so, how does this affect their gameplay?

If the unseen riddler is a character within the story, distinct from the external author, are we the true audience? Will there be an audience within the story, or perhaps other players? If so, how big will it be? What kind of reach does Homestuck the game have, and how many people are playing it or tuning in to watch?

How permeable are the boundaries? Is John simply pixels on a screen for the unseen riddler to play with, with no agency of his own outside of the riddler’s interpretation, like if we were playing The Sims? Or is it possible for the riddler to enter the game, or for John to leave it, and the two of them to communicate directly? Or a middle ground - something like ‘character bleed’ in TTRPGs, where a player embodies a character for so long that despite their not being real, they come to influence each other even outside of gameplay?

What the hell is the Midnight Crew? Is this a different game that exists separately to Homestuck? Will our riddler, or a different one, eventually play it? If we have three games - Homestuck, Midnight Crew, and Sburb - what exactly is the relationship between them, and how interrelated are they?

This is a lot of thoughts for what is, at time of writing, is 125 pages of comedy webcomic. But the story is just beginning, and we’ve been told it’s going to be a long day. Anything could be important, and with the frequent in-text nods to the meta elements - ‘examine third and fourth walls of room’ (p.61), ‘you decide it’s time for less meta, and more beta’ (p.113), the title appearing in the clouds on p.82 that John may or may not be able to see, the integration of the physical captchalogue card into the sylladex interface on p.98 - I don’t want to draw any firm boundaries, or make any assumptions about what is and what isn’t part of the story. Instead, I’ve cataloged the meta elements of Homestuck that might be worth paying attention to as we move through the comic, to develop a more concrete theory in time.

#running up against 'need to take classes in academic writing / get a professor to grade my homestuck papers'#also running up against the idea of 'can i cite things from later than 2009' it's helpful but does go against the spirit of the bit kinda #homestuck #analysis #im open to thoughts and feedback always #chrono

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greenplantlizard · 7 days ago

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wizard 36-43!!!

at last the plot is kicking in

i kinda wish this phantom straight up was a bird, for the sole reason that it'd be kinda funny

he is sleepy

nitou haunted by bird manga visions, summons pile of feathers

bird wars

greetings mr nemoto, your awful cgi bird delivery has arrived

and haruto and nitou didn't make the connection????

damn, this phantom who can turn into a mynah bird happens to be targeting an arson suspect who has an identical pet mynah bird? like,,,, at least an alarm bell or two should be raised

and then mr nemoto turned into a phantom forever i guess

today, wiseman and sora are meeting in the warehouse where the greeed got all of their colourful drapes

haruto has tragic football backstory now???? i guess?????????

i refuse to believe this twink has performed any sport he wasn't forced to but whatever

oh yo a monster that wizard doesn't just completely stomp lmao

hello hiding a guy's face into a slow zoom i know this directorial flourish, an important guy just appeared

this phantom out here thinking he's rook from kiva

this two parter is pretty sweet to be fair

nevermind wizard does in fact stomp this monster, he just wasn't using his final form before

slowly but surely, the plot is starting up...

i love how his driver says "now" instead of "please"

please may be the magic word but nothing will stop this man and his followers being rude

nitou got quips today

kid i think this lady may be too old for you

phantom's here to make the kid do sick flips

MAYU IS BAAAAAAACK

the real main character to me, i dont care

oh shit guess the kid has magic potential now

"please... now!"

me when i type "list of physicists" into my computer

yeah no white wizard is definitely evil

id had that feeling for a while, but now im sure...

is this it? have we truly arrived in plot now?

the riddlerrrrrr

sphinx has uh.... quite some house there...

hmmmmm sora out here doing his own thing too

i figured he was trying to subtly screw over wiseman though, not necessarily the white wizard

unless.............

oh shit koyomi is relevant again!!!

beast really can't catch a break these days huh

its been a while since the last cgi abomination

oh shit revealllls

#tokusatsu #kamen rider #kamen rider wizard #liz's thoughts

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raitrolling · 6 months ago

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📝 Glasya

Glasya sauntered out of their office, making their way over to their assistant's desk with a lazy yet amused smile on their face.

"Hey, Astera. Did you peep the latest FOI request?"

Astera looked up from her computer screen - then promptly sighed as their boss moved some files aside so they could sit on their desk, kicking their legs as they waved the printed copy of the aforementioned request.

"Glasya, can't you just bring your chair with you?" The greenblood stated with slight irritation.

"I'm the boss here, I do what I want," Glasya replied with a cheeky smile on their face, prompting another sigh from Astera.

"But, yes, I'm looking at it now. It's..." Astera peered in closer to her screen, squinting at the words in disbelief. "Oh, come on, really? This person wants proof for the Flat Alternia theory? What an idiot."

The indigoblood cracked up.

"Man, I know right? Would've dismissed it as a prank but nah, this dude's legit. Put a whole ten paragraphs about his research in the reasons why he needs this info, that's when you know you've got a real cooker," They say with a snort. "Anyway, so I've been looking up some memes we can send him-"

"Glasya, it's an official Freedom of Information request. We have to take it seriously," Astera cut them off before they could finish. They glanced back at the screen, and opened up the electronic database to begin a preliminary search.

"Booo, spoilsport," Glasya huffed, pulling a face of mock disappointment before resuming to their usual cheeky expression. "I'll send you 'em anyway, bet they'll crack a smile on your sour apple face."

Astera responded with nothing but an eyeroll.

The indigoblood snorted in amusement, as they did not expect anything different. Astera took everything seriously - too seriously, they felt, but they suppose they understood why. As the sole remaining survivor of the records manager's assistants, there was a heavy weight on her shoulders to perform at her absolute best and to pick up as much slack as possible. Especially when the manager of the department came across as someone who did not take anything seriously.

Glasya just wished she could feel like she could relax more. They weren't putting any pressure on her performance, that was purely her own doing. If anything, they'd rather she took more time off for herself and let them handle the entire records department.

They're the reason why there's been no new hires for assistant roles to replace the previous ones, after all. They still can't let go.

But, no time to bring down the mood again. They clear their throat, and pick a new joke to roll with.

"Hey, Astera, you think these conspiracy theory guys believe that we breathe in the atmosflat?"

Astera said nothing, but Glasya could see a hint of a smile on her face.

"What about the other planets? Do they think they're flat too or did we just luck out and end up on 2D world?"

That smile got a little more noticeable.

"And what about conscription? Imagine being one of those guys and leaving the planet for the first time. You think they're being like 'ah lads we got it wrong now, shit's a wholeass space basketball', or do they think that it's still flat and it's just always facing them every time they look out the window?"

Finally, Astera snorted.

"Glasya, oh my god."

"Damn, that last one was a real knee-slapper, huh?" They reply with a grin. "Didn't think it was that funny, but we take those."

"No, not your stupid comments - Look."

Astera pointed at her computer screen, prompting Glasya to hop off the desk and stand next to her for a better look.

On one of the monitors, a report from the archives titled 'Report #20033120: "Magically-Induced Mass Delusion Within Block 361 - Flat Alternia"' stared the two trolls right in their face.

Glasya's jaw dropped.

"My God, a wizard did it all along."

#asks #cloudbatcave #drabble #glasya elliss #astera ringoh

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titanicfreija · 1 year ago

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Something Else

Even before they got close, they could smell the death. The bodies strewn nearest the entrance clutched weapons and a few featured steaming green wounds. Not fresh but not old either.

"Our work?" asked Freija. "Looks like we've been here."

"I can't tell if it's us or Hive. It's really hard to tell," said Thomas. "It doesn't help that we take our enemies' weapons so often. There's definitely Hive magic here, but it could be relics or Thorn or Striga..." He shrugged.

"If it was the Hive, they'd still be here," Rex said.

"Then they've either gone or they've hidden their energy signatures," Sunny replied.

"Glimmer says the latter," Thomas agreed, checking his Perpetualis and adjusting his gloves.

Freija and Thomas ventured into the derelict Golden Age building, Ghosts over shoulders providing light. The lobby was empty except for puddles and dust and Eliksni corpses.

"I'm gonna guess you're more okay with genocide when it's Hive?" Thomas asked.

"In a cultural sense," Freija admitted. "Dunno about the species, but genocidal cultures get to die by the sword. Or gun. Whatever. It was your line, you know what I mean."

"It's another old one. Live by the sword, die by the sword," Thomas said. "I was being cynical at the time."

"I know. But Xivu is literally genocidal. There is no treaty to be had here. If-- when we get them down to the last thrall, it'll be trying to kill us just as hard as Xivu Arath herself, because all it wants is to kill. If this is where hunting to feed takes the Hive, they need a predator to keep them in check or they need to be wiped out."

"At least two entities in the universe believe that about us," Rex said snidely.

"I don't think they're wrong about us needing to kill, but we can kill each other just fine. If left to our own devices.... That's pretty much exactly what the Warlords did."

Rex didn't answer, but Thomas chuckled quietly. "He likes you."

"This looks a lot like hating you," Sunny said. "It means he'll actually hunt you down to be antagonistic."

"Oh. Then he's liked me for a while. Since the Imbaru Engine." Freija looked back at Thomas. "He all but stalked me any time I came back to the Tower, giving me shit about my names for the Hive symbols."

"Aww," teased Thomas.

"If the Hive have been in here, they decided it wasn't worth nesting in," Freija said. "Looks like Guardian work."

"Corpse count is high. We're normally pretty bad about disintegrating everything."

"I don't see dead --ohhh."

The facility opened into a huge room of desks with screens, littered with Hive and Eliksni corpses. Mostly acolytes and dregs, with a couple of knights and Captains. A single wizard lay amongst them.

"If anyone survived, they fled," Thomas said. "Not that I blame them."

Sunny and Rex scanned the ruined computers while Thomas and Freija searched the room. Just corpses. Couple of ether tanks.

"There's another server room down the hall," Rex said. He and Thomas strode ahead while Freija watched his back.

Freija shot by reflex, immediately regretting it when she finally saw the dreg, but they didn't fall. They ran back into cover, glowing shield from its servitor saving it from the Guardian.

"Hey-- velaask?" Freija called.

Thomas watched the crack in the wall where they vanished into.

"I hate to kill a last survivor. Always feels dirty," Freija complained. "Why the fuck do they keep trying to fight?"

"Wouldn't you?"

"I'm immortal, that's different."

"If it was Hive?"

Freija's mouth twisted. "I wanna say I would be smarter than that but I'd be lying," she admitted. "So good point. Either way." She directed her external comm into the ruined wall. "Look, guy, we're here for data retrieval and nothing else. Not fighting. Get out. Illa tokal aaska."

Thomas turned back to his task, trusting her to handle this. "Your enunciation has gotten a lot better. You getting practice?"

"A little."

She deliberately moved past the gap so the alien could see her do it, went to a t-junction of the corridor, and pretended to ignore them. She watched her radar as they snuck through the wall and up the hall, away from them and toward the exit. She stuck her head into the room to check for others, finding nothing threatening.

Thomas banged around in the closed room and Freija did her best to keep still as he swore at the terminal and a chair he kicked, and the soft crackle of electricity immediately followed by a hiss of pain.

Sunny ventured in and Rex hovered out, refusing to look at any of them. Freija could hear the low hum of electric device working for the first time in centuries.

After a few minutes of silence, she called in. "Anything?"

"My name," Thomas said. "And an employment history. Apparently I did tech work. My name was-- You're kidding."

"What?"

"Ambros Zaunbrecher."

"What, like ambrosia? Or amber?"

"It translates to immortal. Roughly. Zaunbrecher means 'fence-breaker'."

Freija didn't make a sound, to the extent that Thomas wondered if she muted or changed channels.

"When we figure out time travel, I'm going to ask my original parents why," he promised himself. "I was cursed from the first life," he added under his breath. "Let me find out my middle name was wizard or something.... No. Schreiber. I think that might be worse. Cursed, cursed, cursed. And I'm a second! There's no way the other guy with this name is still dead! Suddenly I understand your feelings, Freija, calling him my father felt weird."

"Right? Even after Crow pointed out that dead family is still family. Got anything else?"

"Not much. I was with a Braytech subsidiary, doing network maintenance, according to this. Nearly ten years. Clean disciplinary file except one time listed as "insubordination" with no details, that sounds fun. Termination date 30-6-2471. Less than a year after that write-up."

"Sounds like you found the good dirt," Freija chuckled.

"With the name, I can find lots of other things, but not here. I won't have data in the Tower like you did, but first name and last name is fantastic. Secondary education was Heinmann Polytech, they're gonna have more details. Can maybe look up some news stories if I can find a good catalogue...."

"I could make a hobby of this," sighed Sunny happily.

"Did we want to make sure the Hive are cleared out?" Freija asked.

"What happened to sparing the last survivor?" Thomas teased.

"Shut up, I know it's a double standard, but Eliksni run and Hive don't," she grumbled. "I'll be right back."

When Freija came back out, covered in ashes and carrying a lump of cloth, she found Thomas holding a glaive at the servitor's eye while it and the dreg dangled helplessly, tangled in green threads.

"I spared them for your sake," he told Freija. "But it shot first."

"I found why," Freija said, shifting the bundle. Thomas sucked a breath when he saw that the hatchling was dead.

The Eliksni struggled in its bonds with a harsh squawk and loud chittering. The servitor groaned as it tried to get an eye on them, fighting hard and losing.

"Tell me you didn't," he breathed. "And you brought it back up here?"

Freija shook her head solemnly and wrapped the bundle, securing the cloth. "I didn't. They wouldn't have gone if it was alive when we got here. They were guarding the body. They were trying to keep us away from it. Let them down." Thomas backed off and let the hold fall away. Instantly, the servitor shielded the Eliksni, which charged at Freija with two knives. She knocked one knife away and curled a shoulder as if protecting the hatchling. The Eliksni stopped short, stumbling back, second knife falling wayside.

Freija waited to make sure the attack stopped, and she held the bundle out. The Eliksni crept up cautiously and took it at the length of their reach. They brought the bundle to their chest, clutching it with their lower stumps and one upper arm. The other slowly moved across their torso to stop near the other shoulder, and they offered the subtlest of nods. Freija nodded in return and said, "Illa tokal aaska," again. "Sunny, can you give the servitor coordinates?"

"I... think so?"

"Can you send them to a waypoint and contact Three?"

Thomas almost cried out in surprise. "Three? You call up Three? Ever? Don't you guys hate each other?"

"Mutual distaste, but we agree on some stuff, including that the Eliksni need help, not war." Freija stepped away from the Eliksni, holding her hands clear of her weapons. Both Eliksni and servitor stepped backward, refusing to look away from the Guardians until they backed around the building's lobby door, out of sight.

Thomas watched Freija for several long moments, then sighed and shook his head. "I'll hear about this in the city later," he declared incredulously. "I'll go to the Eliksni quarter and I'm going to hear about this Guardian that found the sole survivor of a Hive attack and sent her a ride to the Tower with her dead hatchling for proper funeral rites. And you make this look easy, like it's easy to just peacemake, like she didn't try to kill both of us twice. You know fifteen words in their entire language and at least two of them are swears, and you--" he shook his head and turned away with a heavy breath. "You are something else."

"The Eliksni don't want to fight," Freija said with a shrug. "Most, anyway. Some of them are angry at us for stealing the Traveler, still, and some of them are angry because of what we've done to them and theirs, but fuckloads, even the raiders and warriors, would rather just fucking not. I can't do it in big groups or anything, laying down arms in front of an army is a great way to die, but one on one, one on a few, they know I'm the biggest threat in the area, and if I stop, they don't wanna start."

Thomas nodded slowly and fixed his Perpetualis under his arm. "Something else," he repeated.

~~~

Request

Communication

The Database

Something Else

Campfire Stories

Jealousy

Bickering

Revealed

#destiny 2 #d2 #ocs #writing #freija #thomas #prose #drama

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showfallmediacameracrew · 2 years ago

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[This post was made using Showfall Media Text-To-Speech. If you believe there's been an error and would like to end Showfall Media Text-To-Speech, please say 'End transcript'. ]

[Sound of careful footsteps and something soft brushing against the floor, something heavy scraping or pushed aside]

[Nonverbal input detected. Registered: cleared throat]

J: Hey.

S: Well hello there… are you lost? I'm sure I can take you back to your set.

J: Nah, I'm good. This shit might make you think otherwise, but I’m a DP, not an actor. Just taking a break from shooting, thought it’d be fun to see what broke.

S: Ah… I see. Well, here it is. Luckily, it's a lot of nothing. Though I think maybe I should talk to Hetch about how much they are underutilizing the space they have, seriously, use the whole mall if you're going to have a whole mall…

J: The person who did this definitely took advantage that no one was around. Wasn't even brave enough to try and kill anybody. It would have been much more impressive if someone had managed that.

[Nonverbal input detected. Registered: huff of breath and brief silence]

J: I’m Jasprix, who are you? You look like the type who wouldn't appreciate being called Purple Lady, or something less polite.

S: You can call me Squig, and did I hear you right? You know who did… all this?

J: You're named like the Mascot?

S: I am the one who plays Squiggles after all. Or well, most of the time.

J: Oh shit, that's cool. I thought it was just like a computer thing or AI or something.

[Nonverbal input detected. Registered as: short quick chuckle]

J: Anyways, yeah. I know the name of the guy who failed to do anything actually interesting or permanent. Guy decided minor inconvenience is his whole existence. I have no idea where he is though.

S: They never end up doing anything permanent, they always care too much about 'the people' to do anything too drastic. I've seen it plenty of times before. Anyways, a name would be helpful regardless of a lack of location.

J: It’s so funny too, so easy to anger while thinking he’s hot shit and accomplished nothing. His name is Marvin, I guess he escaped the little kiddy show he was put in.

S: Marvin… Marvin…

[Sound of a thick fabric tapping against a screen]

S: Ah, yes, there does seem to be a missing actor with the name Marvin, and he was missing even before the explosions. Which makes sense, hard to rig multiple explosives while acting in… "The Little Healer"... is Hetch trying to write kid shows again?

J: Considering I met the child playing the healer, and she tried to heal my fake wings, yeah. Hetch made a cool ass movie then decided to do a kids show spinoff for it. Marvin’s wizard costume looked stupid.

[Sound of rustling as something is lifted up from the floor, then dropped abruptly back]

J: There's a few kids shows going on here I think, I've seen kids around sometimes. I’m more involved in all the horror projects going on. Those ones actually needed the explosives he stole from wherever the hell he got them from.

S: Yeah I'm… I'm definitely talking to Hetch about tighter security around those kinds of things. They should not have gone missing without anyone noticing, much less been missing long enough to actually be rigged up and used.

[Nonverbal input detected. Registered as: quiet long sigh]

S: And I really wish Hetch would just leave the kids shows to other writers, they really need to stick to what they're best at…

J: Heh, they had a guy crushed by rocks in front of the healer girl for a scene of the movie. I don’t think they knew what rating they were going for, or forgot it was meant to be for kids. Or forgot what show they were writing for, if there's no other writers here besides them.

S: Of course they did. And admittedly I'm not sure if there's other writers at this facility, at the very least, none of them have been marked as missing according to my list.

J: Yeah, speaking of that, could I be given some sort of permission to be allowed to leave the mall and go places? Like I’ll come back obviously, because I have great fun doing all the stuff I do, but I’d like to be able to wander without the potential threat of security thinking I’m on the lam and gutting me. It’s not my idea of a fun time.

[Time between spoken input: 4 seconds]

J: It also takes so long to heal and regain limbs from near misses. And only so many times I can bite and drink the same people's blood before it gets old.

S: Hmm, well I can't promise anything, but I'll be sure to put in a good word. You certainly seem like the kind of person who wouldn't cause too many problems for Showfall if let out.

J: That’s all I can ask for honestly, if you can't authorize it yourself. It’s basically literally the place I was raised, it’s definitely my home. It’s given me a lot of cool things too, that I totally appreciate.

S: There's not a lot of people who'd say that kind of thing, so it's definitely another point in your favor! But yeah, not the kind of thing I can really authorize, I'm only really here to help repair and round up any missing employees.

J: Well, if I do get allowed to go out, I could help find people if you havent been able to by that point. My sense of smell is better then normal. Not sure by how much though, never really had the chance to test that.

S: We do need all the help we can get… Well I'll be sure to keep that in mind, but I'm afraid I can't stick around for much longer, much to be done around here, even if there were no organic victims.

J: Yeah, I won’t keep you. Nice to meet the person behind the mascot too, that’s really cool. Maybe I’ll see you later, but I’ll let you get back to your thing. Gotta get back to the recording station, good luck finding Marvin!

S: Thank you, ta-ta!

[ Sound of heavy footsteps retreating]

[ Sounds of brief pleased humming, then more things brushing along the ground as a more careful set of footsteps are heard, the heavier steps getting quieter the longer the shuffling and steps sound]

J: He’ll probably need the luck more, but fuck if it won't be more interesting then anything he tried to do.

J: She was cool, awesome to know that the little guy wasn’t just an AI. Probably good I didn’t try, or ask, to bite her either. Especially after getting some assurance she’d do me a solid and ask. Even if it doesn't come too much until later.

J: Yeah, I’m not going to do a fucking running commentary. End Transcript.

[Transcript has been ended. Thank you for using Showfall Media Text-To-Speech! Posting... ]

#showfall ask blog #showfall media ask blog #showfall camera operator #showfall media #generation loss #showfall jasprix #have fun marvin #encoreverse blog

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seeminglyseph · 1 year ago

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Sooooo I may have made a deal with Auntie Ethel, just to see what would happen… so far not a lot, but it looks cool.

So far my adventure in Wizard Hubris is going great. Got completely thrashed by some spiders and I might open the Necronimicon. Not sure yet. Did munch a slug exactly like Animorphs told me not to once the deal with Auntie Ethel fell through and I chatted with the Dream Warriors. Did make that guy hot though, even if I did not get a screen grab of him, so I guess it’s my own fault for falling for hot Dream Guys who show up and tell me the need me to eat slugs to save the world.

He is a hot Drow dude with like the chin strap marking and the burn scar across his face and the like long hair draping over one eye style while being the more muscular build with potentially Lolth Drow red eyes. I do not know who the fuck the Guardians are yet but I think I was playing on randomized and things started coming together well enough to build off of and I made Dream Warrior. Here to known as DW. Because when there’s trouble you call DW.

I do not know how old any of these jokes are from fandom since I’m avoiding being too spoiled because I wanna experience the game myself since it’s been so fun. But that does mean I’m not really participating in the fandom actively. And I don’t know the jokes people are already making.

But I also didn’t play the first 2 Baldur’s Gate games, but like. I’m not much of a Gamer period so I haven’t played most games and since most games are sequels, there has to be a point where you can just jump on. I appreciate that. But since like the only other major game series I’ve ever been seriously into has been Dragon Age, there are aspects of the series that feel like home, add on to it that DnD is what it is at this point and even not being familiar with the Forgotten Realms, I still have a Player’s Handbook, a Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monsters Manual. I’ve seen Critical Role. Honestly the fact that I haven’t bought a new video game since Dragon Age: Inquisition and basically held off on BG3 just long enough a) to afford a computer that could run it, like it was literally outside my control that I couldn’t play this game. And b) it’s kind of the driving motivation for me to upgrade my computer when I did? Like I would have dawdled a lot longer if I hadn’t been this impatient to play BG3. I just wanted to get to it.

I suppose there’s been talk about whether one or the other is better but personally I’m of the “holy shit two cakes” mentality. And I like seeing the influences and reminders in the other. I like elves and magic and fantasy. Why wouldn’t I want more of that to thrive and survive and do great things? I love BioWare for being those local heroes which biases me a little, but it just makes me wish they had more of a chance.

#seph plays bg3

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pesterloglog · 1 year ago

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Dave Strider, Rose Lalonde, Jade Harley

Act 4, page 1399-1403

TG: do you think like the pulitzer committee is secretly scouring the dregs of the gamefaq archives or something

TG: damn

TG: i cant read this shit im sorry

TT: Hold please.

TG: hold what

TG: i see you at your computer typing

TG: what are you doing

TG: dang

TG: hold on

TG: no seriously stop talking to me for a second it looks like jade is dropping the doomsday tube thingy in my room

TG: brb gotta make sure she doesnt break all my shit

TG: hey wait

GG: these darn birds are in the way!

GG: what are they doing in your apartment anyway!!!

GG: also they are adorable

TG: i always keep birds in here its sort of my thing

GG: ohhhhhhh

GG: kind of like all those silly naked puppets are your bros thing?

TG: no no thats irony this is like

TG: sincere honest to god psychosis

TG: im training to be a lame gothy supervillain

GG: also i think i cant put it down because of the wires on the floor.....

TG: ok

TG: well maybe you should take the opportunity to put it somewhere that isnt stone cold retarded

GG: i wish i played more games

GG: this is hard!!!!

TG: no its not

GG: :P

TT: Jade is connected with you?

TT: Where did she get the discs?

TG: i dont know how does she do any of the loopy batshit nonsense she does

TG: maybe she pulled them out of the volcano over there on bloodmonkey mountain

TT: Wait.

TT: So you mean to tell me she was able to connect with you in a timely fashion, without waiting until you were on the brink of annihilation?

TG: we went over this

TG: i was a little bogged down

TG: in the epic swaddle of legendary puppet taint

TT: I've done nothing but wait for boys to play this game with me all day.

TT: First John lollygagging with the client, and then you with the server, downright filibustering my existence with unending fraternal melee.

TT: And yet a girl, one who didn't even own the game, was able to connect with you minutes after you connected with me.

TG: whoa wait

TG: what the hell is she doing

TG: shes taking my bed what the hell

TT: And there she goes.

TT: She HAS the karma.

TG: so seriously what were you doing just now

TT: I was talking to someone.

TG: who

TT: You remember the trolls?

TG: yeah

TT: One of them messaged me, so I indulged him/her/it for a moment.

TG: oh i see you opted to chat up one of those dbags instead of talk to the guy who saved you from a swirling shitstorm of angry flaming wizards

TG: i was worried your priorities might have been out of whack but no i was dead wrong

TT: I also took a moment to check on John.

TG: how is he

TT: I can't see him anymore. Just his empty house.

TT: But I did talk to him briefly.

TG: i should probably text him soon

TG: see whats up

TG: because

TG: i love him

TT: I know.

TG: so this place youre at now

TG: its the same place hes at right

TT: It's hard to say for certain.

TT: But I think I like it here.

#homestuck #dave strider #rose lalonde #homestuck act 4 #page 1399 #page 1400 #page 1401 #page 1042 #page 1403

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sarahsmi13s · 2 years ago

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Lieutenant Rogers - pt 4

Earn It

pairings: romantic!neil ‘omaha’ vikander x rogers!reader, platonic!dagger squad x rogers!reader, plantonic!sam wilson x rogers!reader, platonic!bucky barnes x rogers!reader

characters: y/n rogers, neil vikander, the entire dagger squad (admirals and captain included), sam wilson, bucky barnes, john walker, lemar hoskins, misc. characters from both universes

series warnings: language, blood, fighting, sexual inuendoes, john walker, cannon dangers, cannon deaths, suggestive themes, the flag smashers, super soldiers, if i miss any please let me know

word count: ~4.1k

a/n: if you couldn’t already tell, i’m OBSESSED with crossovers. reader is the daughter of steve rogers, and has the super soldier serum as well

sources: Top Gun: Maverick (2022) , The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)

series summary: 13 pilots were called back to Top Gun in 2023. at the same time, Lieutenant Rogers learns that her father’s shield was passed down to John Walker.

chaper summary: sam and bucky finally meet john in person. so does star. neither interactions were in john’s favor.

pt 1 pt 2 pt 3 pt 5 pt 6

************

“We need to tell Y/N,” Bucky said as he walked alongside Sam. “Hell no,” Sam said immediately. “Why not? She needs to know!” “No, she does not. She is training, and this is not her problem.” “She’s a super soldier, just like them.” “Well, technically she’s a super pilot, not a soldier.” Bucky rolled his eyes.

“Sorry about Redwing,” Bucky said after a few minutes of silence. “No you’re not,” Sam said. He looked over at Bucky, “What’s going on in the big cyborg brain of yours?”

“It’s computing,” Buck replied flatly, making Sam chuckled. “You know what? I can actually see it. I can see the gears turning. Ope, they’re malfunctioning, shuttin’ down. Yep, they’re on fire.”

Bucky ignored his teasing, “We gotta figure out where the serum’s coming from.” “Yeah. And how in the hell after 80 years are there 8 super soldiers runnin’ loose?”

A truck pulled up beside them, honking.

“So that didn’t go as planned, huh?” John said from the back.

Sam and Bucky barely glanced as they kept walking.

“Okay. Let’s keep going.” The car rolled forward, staying in front of the two.

“Look, at least we know what we’re up against now, huh? And we’re pretty sure it’s one of the big three, so..” John continued. “Aliens, androids, or wizards?” “Pretty sure.”

Bucky shook his head and scoffed, “There’s no such thing as wizards.” John nodded, “Alright, then it’s aliens, or androids.” Sam finally turned his head, “Or super soldiers.”

“Shit, super soldiers. For real?” The other guy in the truck said. “Yeah.” “Wow. Alright. Then we work together.” “That’s not happening,” Bucky said bluntly.

John sighed, “I think we stand a much better chance if we all just-” Bucky cut him off, “Just 'cause you carry that shield, it doesn't mean you're Captain America.” He was fuming on the inside, but just mildly annoyed on the outside. “Look, I've done the work, okay?” John was becoming impatient. “You ever jump on top of a grenade?” Bucky challenged.

Walker didn’t miss the chance to brag, “Yeah. Actually, I have. Four times. It's a thing I do with my helmet. It's a reinforced helmet. It's a long story, but, any… Look, it's 20 miles to the airport. You guys need a ride. Guys. Gary, stop. Get in.”

Okay, you gotta give the man credit for trying to be friendly but he was doing it for the wrong reasons.

Bucky and Sam shared a look before begrudgingly climbing into the truck.

And the talking started immediately. “Okay, so we've got eight Super Soldiers on a bulk supply run. Why?” Sam sighed, knowing there was no way around trying to work with him, “They say their mission is to get things back to the way it was during The Blip. Maybe they're just trying to help.” “They had a funny way of showing it,” Bucky voiced.

“That serum doesn't exactly have a great track record. No offense.” John was already approaching their last nerve, that stepped right on it. But they continued to be cordial.

Well, Sam did, Bucky was just staring.

“We need to figure out where they're going. How'd you track 'em here? The Flag Smashers?” Sam asked, looking between the two. “Uh, no, we didn't track them, we tracked you, uh, through Redwing,” the guy next to John said, scratching his neck.

“You hacked my tech?”

John chuckled, seemingly amused by Sam’s frustration, “Sorry. It's not exactly hacking. It's government property. Kind of the government.” Bucky just stared at him, pondering how someone had that much audacity dare carry the shield.

“Does he always just stare like that?” Sam glanced at Bucky before looking back at Walker, “You get used to it.”

“Okay, look,” John cleared his throat, “you know, things have gotten kind of, uh…” “Chaotic.” “Yeah. The GRC, they're doing the best they can to get things up and running smoothly, post Blip.” “Reactivating citizenship, social security, healthcare. Basically just managing resources for the refugees who were displaced by the return.” Sam nodded, “The Global Repatriation Council does all that. I get that. So why exactly are you two here?”

The man next to John continued to explain, “Well, they provide the resources and we keep things stable.” John chimed in, “Yeah, violent revolutionaries aren't usually good for anyone's cause.” “Usually said by the people with the resources.” John nodded, “We got a lot of resources. If you guys, if you joined up with us, we could-”

“No,” Bucky bluntly cut Walker off, firm in his decision.

“I got mad respect for both of y'all. But you were getting your asses kicked till we showed up.” Bucky looked at him, “Who are you?” “Lemar Hoskins.” Sam scoffed, “Look, I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter in tactical gear, I need a lot more than Lemar Hoskins.” “I’m ‘Battlestar’. John’s partner.” Bucky really couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “‘Battlestar’?” Bucky nodded, turning to the front, “Stop the car!”

The driver, Gary, stopped at a rest point.

“Look, I-I get it, okay? I get the attitude, I do. You didn't think that the shield was gonna end up here. I get it, Bucky,” John called out, but Bucky ignored him. He sighed and turned to Sam, “And I'm-I'm not trying to be Steve. I'm not trying to replace Steve. I'm just trying to be the best Captain America I can be. That's it.”

He hoped to get Sam on board, “It'd be a whole lot easier if I had Cap's wingmen on my side.”

Scoffing, Sam moved to get out, “It’s always that last line.”

He shut the door, not thinking about the next words that came out of his mouth, “If you really want support, you need it from more than just Cap’s ‘wingmen’.” Sam shook his head and followed after Bucky.

*********

“Good morning. The uranium enrichment plant that is your target will be operational earlier than expected. Raw uranium will be delivered to the plant in ten days’ time. As a result, your mission has been moved up one week-” Everyone tensed in their seats. “-in order to avoid contaminating the target valley with radiation.”

“Sir,” Coyote spoke up from behind where you were seated beside Hangman. “No one here has successfully flown a low-level course.” You nodded a little as you moved your eyes from Coyote to Warlock. “Nevertheless, you have been ordered to move on. Captain.”

Maverick walked up, “We have one week left to focus on phase two. It’s the most difficult stage of the mission. It’s a pop-strike with a steep dive, requiring nothing less than two consecutive miracles.” You shifted in your seat and flexed your hand. “Two pairs of F-18’s will fly in a welded wing formation. Teamwork. Precise coordination of these aircrafts is essential to both the mission’s success and your survival.”

You glanced up at Hangman to find him clicking his pen as he listened.

“As you know, the plant rests between two mountains. On final approach, you’ll invert directly into a steep dive. This allows you to maintain the lowest possible altitude, and the only possible attack angle. Your target is an impact point less than 3 meters wide. The two seat aircraft will paint the target with a laser bull’s-eye. The first pair will breach the reactor by dropping a laser guided bomb on an exposed ventilation hatch. They will create an opening for the second pair. That’s miracle number one.”

You glanced over and shared a look with Bob, exhaling your nerves as you turned back to Mav. “The second team will deliver the kill shot and destroy the target. That’s miracle number two. If either team misses the target the mission is a failure.” You sucked in a breath as you popped your knuckles. “Egress is a steep high-G climb out to avoid hitting this mountain.”

Jake spoke up next to you, having seemingly done the math in his head, “A steep climb out at that speed, you’re pulling at least eight G’s.” You shook your head, sitting up, “You’re pulling nine, maybe even ten G’s.” Maverick nodded.

“The stress limit of the F-18’s airframes is 7.5.” Mav nodded again, looking at Rooster, “That’s the accepted limit. To survive this mission, you’ll pull beyond that, even if it means bending your airframe.”

He took a breath, turning back to the screen, “You’ll be pulling so hard, you’ll weigh close to 2,000 pounds, your skull crushing your spine, your lungs imploding like an elephant’s sitting on your chest, fighting with everything you can just to keep from blacking out. And this is where you’ll be the most vulnerable. This is Coffin Corner.”

Fanboy spoke up, “The only person that could maybe withstand that much force is Star.” Both you and Mav shook your heads. “It may not affect me as much as it would anyone else, but I’m not invincible. The serum boosts my metabolism, it doesn't create miracles.” Mav swallowed, nodding at you before continuing.

“Assuming you avoid crashing into this mountain, you’ll climb straight up into enemy radar while losing all of your airspeed. Within seconds you’ll be fired upon by enemy SAMs. You’ve all faced sustained G’s before, but this-this is gonna take you and your aircraft to your breaking point.”

Phoenix spoke up, shaking her head slightly, “Sir, is this even achievable?” “The answer to that question will come down to the pilot in the box.”

*******

You just exited the locker room, sore, showered, and ready for some drinks after a long day of failing.

“Lieutenant Rogers,” Admiral Simpson poked his head out of his office. “I need a word, please.” You turned immediately and walked in, “Sir, did I-” “This has nothing to do with the mission, Star,” Warlock assured you.

“I don’t know if you were aware but Captain Walker stopped by wanting to have a word with you,” Cyclone said, crossing his arms and he leaned against his desk. You shook your head, “No, sir, I was not aware the Captain would be stopping by.” Cyclone nodded, “Understood. I sent him away as soon as I could.”

His scoff resembled an unamused chuckle, “He tried to use the ‘I’m Captain America’ card. I had to remind him that this was in fact the Navy and that it didn’t work here.” “Also, we’re Admirals, we out rank him anyway.”

“We aren’t sure of how he found you. But we wanted you to be aware.” You nodded curtly, “Thank you, sirs. Am I dismissed?” They nodded and you went to the door.

“Star?” You turned, humming in acknowledgement. “We stand with you. We don’t appreciate how your wishes were disrespected, if there’s anything we can do. Let us know.” You smiled a little, nodding, “Thank you.”

Once you closed the door, you were fast walking out of the building going to your bike.

********

You laughed as you stood up straight, “Ha! Told you it’d go in!” “That’s what she said,” Fanboy mumbled behind his glass. You dropped your jaw, “Jar, Garcia, I heard that.” He groaned, “Damn your super hearing.” He placed a dollar in the jar.

As you leaned over to take your next shot, the bar became silent and the pilots around you stood stock still.

You glanced up to see the anger on their faces. “Okay? What made you guys so sour all of a sudden?”

“Y/N Rogers?”

You froze. You’d recognize that voice anywhere. “You gotta be shittin’ me,” you grumbled to yourself.

Hangman, Omaha, and Harvard looked at you, silently asking if they needed to handle this. You shook your head and stood.

Being extra cautious of how you gripped the pool cue, you turned to face John Walker.

“That would be me.” The blond had a proud smile on his face and looked at Lemar who was next to him, “Told you she’d be here.”

He cleared his throat and adjusted his suit. “John Walker. Captain America,” he stuck his hand out for you to shake.

The quiet scoffs from behind you went unnoticed by the man in blue. “I know who you are, John.” You jerked your head toward Lemar, “Who’s your friend?” “Lemar Hoskins, or ‘Battlestar’,” he said, nodding politely to you. “Nice to meet you, Lemar.”

John clears his throat, obviously not liking that you seemed to just overlook him. You look at him, giving him a once over, not missing the gun on his belt. “How can I help you boys?” You smirked a little at the way John’s jaw clenched.

“We’re trying to work with Sam and Bucky on a mission, they just don’t seem to respect or support us-“ “And you’re here to ask me to talk to them?” “Would you?”

A laugh escaped your lips before you could catch it.

Walker furrowed his brow, “What’s so funny?” You took a deep breath to calm yourself, “It’s just, you think that I have any influence over two grown men. Like what I say to them might make them want to work with you. John, you might want to rethink your methods.” “Look, Y/N, all I’m asking for is just a little respect and support. It’d mean a lot if I could get it from you.” You nodded, passing your cue to Hangman before stepping forward.

As you opened your mouth, he spoke, “I understand that this isn’t what you expected, or even wanted. But I’m trying to do the best I can, and having you by my side would really help. What do you say?”

He gave you a smile, one that he definitely thought could get him what he wanted.

“No,” you said, holding your head high, reveling in the way his smile dropped. “No?”

You crossed your arms, looking down at your boots before looking up at John. “Respect is not simply given, John. You have to earn it.” “I’m Captain America, everyone respects me.”

Rooster laughed from behind you, causing you to smirk when Walker nearly gave himself whiplash to look at him.

“Dude, if you didn’t notice, which I’m sure you did, nobody batted an eye when you walked in.”

Hangman looked around, “Yeah, and everyone is just kinda ignoring you. It’s a little embarrassing.” John's fingers twitched, but he made no move, knowing he was severely out matched and out numbered.

“Look, Walker, just because you carry that shield doesn’t mean you get respect from everyone at the drop of a hat. My father earned the respect he got. I’ll admit that you’ve done some good things, but that doesn’t make you a good person. It doesn’t mean you deserve the shield.” John nodded, “Oh, I see. I think I know what this is about.”

You opened your arms, inviting him to continue, “Please, do enlighten me.”

“You wanted the shield and you’re mad they didn’t choose you.” You scoffed, “Oh, really? That’s why I’m upset? Listen, if I wanted the shield, I would have it. This is all about your attitude, and the fact you think you’re above everyone. My dad never thought that way. He was a nobody that was given a chance. He had a heart of pure fucking gold that was too big for his own good. He stood up to bullies, that’s why he was Captain America. You were chosen because of your achievements, not your heart.”

John opened his mouth to say something, but you cut him off. “You want my respect, go out there and fucking earn it. You want Sam and Bucky’s respect, you earn it. Have the day you deserve, John.” The look in your eyes had Walker biting his tongue and walking out, Lemar looking at you.

You shifted your gaze to him, “I understand he’s your friend, but he needed to be taken down a peg or two. Take care, Lemar.” “You too, Lieutenant.” You gave him a small smile as he walked out, wondering if was only here because John was his friend.

Turning back to your fellow aviators, you exhaled, shaking your head.

“What a dick,” Halo piped up. You all chuckled, nodding in agreement. You held your hand out, Hangman placing the cue in your hand. “That was pretty badass, Star.”

“You’re lucky you had that handled, Penny was about to make him buy a round for the whole bar for that comment,” Phoenix informed you. “Yeah, her hands were itching to ring that bell,” Payback said, nodding towards the bar. “My hands were itching to knock his damn teeth in,” Coyote said, sipping his beer.

You smiled at the group, watching them move back to their previous activities. You were grateful to have them at your back just now.

Bob came up to you and rubbed your arm, Omaha coming up with him to place a hand on the small of your back. “Are you okay?” You nodded, “Yeah.”

Your hands gripped the cue a little tighter as you twisted your hands around it. “I think I just need a drink, you can take over for me,” you passed the cue to Bob. They nodded and watched you make your way to the bar, turning back around when you made it there safely.

You stood at the bar, rubbing your temples. Penny noticed your presence and made a note to go over to you when she finished cashing out this patron’s tab.

Glancing over, you made sure none of the squad was paying attention and snuck out the back.

Except someone saw you.

Maverick watched you push off the bar and make a bee-line to the beach. He watched Penny come back and notice that you had left. “Where’d she go?” Mav gestured to the door, “Outside. Put a drink for her on my tab, I’ll go talk to her.” Penny nodded and got the drink.

****

You sat in the sand, cross-legged and staring at the water. “I’m sorry, Dad…” You mumbled, moving your gaze to look at your hands, Steve’s dog tags tangled in your fingers.

Someone sat down beside you, not saying anything as they held out the bottle. “Thanks.” “No problem.” It was silent for a moment while you both took sips of your respective drinks.

“Hangman would have been a better fit,” you tried to make light of the situation and Mav chuckled. “Don’t let him hear you say that.” You huffed a laugh and took a gulp of your drink.

“You wanna talk about it?” Mav asked, not taking his eyes off the water. You chuckled dryly, “I think I voiced my opinion fairly well.” “Star…” You sighed, “I just- I want- I don’t know…”

You sniffled and rubbed your nose, “I wish I could let it go…” “But you can’t.” You shook your head, “No, I can’t.” “That’s okay. Some things you just can’t let go of,” Mav said, flexing his hand and moving his eyes away from the ocean. You knew he was referring to Goose and Rooster.

You brought your knees up, settling your bottle in the sand. “I feel like I let him down, you know,” you confessed, running your fingers over the raised metal of the tags. “That I should have fought Sam harder. Somehow proven to him that he was ready for it. That he was the Captain America this country needs, not the one it wants. Tell him that he had the ability to really make a difference.”

Mav hesitantly rubbed your back, “I’m sure Sam had his reasons.” You nodded, “He did. And I respected his decision, I’m in no place to tell him how he should feel or what he should do.”

It was silent for a moment and you didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

You gestured back to the Hard Deck, “I appreciate you checkin’ on me, Mav. But go enjoy the rest of your night. We got a long day tomorrow.” He nodded, “It’s not a problem. If you need anything, don’t hesitate.” You gave him a small smile and watched him retreat to the bar.

As you turned back to the water you sighed and ran a hand down your face, bringing the bottle to your lips to finish it.

As you sat there, your phone rang. “Sam, hey.” “Hey, are you busy?” You shook your head, standing up and dusting the sand off, “Not at the moment, no. Heard you got to meet Walker. Would’ve been nice to have a heads up though.” “Heads up?” “Yeah, he showed up at the Hard Deck. If I don’t see him for another 70 years it’ll be too soon.”

Sam covers his mouth on the other end, “Shit, he went to North Island?” “Actually he tried to talk to me at work. But the Admirals shooed him away. Then I gave him a piece of my mind about 20 minutes ago.” “I’m sorry, Y/N. I had no idea.” You sighed, “It’s fine. But I know you didn’t call about that, what’s going on?”

“Bucky got arrested.” “What?! Why?!” “He missed his court mandated therapy,” Sam explained. You pinched the bridge of your nose, “Why? He knows how important that is.” “He was with me in Germany. We were there on a lead. He wasn’t even supposed to be there.” You groaned and rubbed your face. “Is there anything I can do?” “No, I think his therapist is on her way.”

You nodded, hand on your hip now, “Okay. Look, our mission got moved up a week, so I’m gonna be training a lot. So just keep an eye on him.” “Of course. I’ll keep you updated.” “Thanks. And Sam?” He hummed. “Be safe. Watch your six.” “You got it. Give ‘em hell, Star.” You both hung up and you went back to the bar.

********

Sam and Bucky walked outside of the police station. “Well, I feel better.” “I feel awful.”

A siren whooping and lights flashing caught their attention. They looked over to see John and Lamar leaning on a squad car. “Gentlemen.”

They glanced at each other before walking over.

“Good to see you again,” John greeted. He was awfully chipper for someone you just got his ass chewed out by his predecessor's daughter.

Neither spoke and just looked at him. “Look, if we divide ourselves, we don’t stand a chance, you guys know that.” John tried to reason, and he honestly thought getting Bucky out of jail would at least garner a little respect.

Sam spoke, crossing his arms, “So, what you got?” “Well, the leader’s name is Karli Morgenthau. We’ve been targeting civilians who’ve been helping Karli move from place to place,” John started. “They geotagged a location, then scrambled the signal. But our satellites have found their symbol popping up in various displacement communities all across Central and Eastern Europe,” Lamar continued.

“Mhm. We think she’s taking the medicine she just stole to one of these camps.” “Well, there are hundreds of those all over the planet since The Blip. So I guess you’ll have to look real hard,” Bucky smarted off. “Good thing I have 20/20 vision, huh?”

Bucky wasn’t having it, “Where is she now, Walker? Do you know?” “No, we don’t know, Bucky,” John said, frustration making his volume rise. “But, it’s only a matter of time before we find out.” “Things are really intense for you, aren’t they, Walker? Doesn’t help that you didn’t get your special approval from Y/N,” Bucky continued to antagonize.

Sam decided to step in, “Take it easy. Look, Walker’s right. It is imperative that we find them and stop them.” John stood up straight, thinking he finally got them on his side. Sam turned to him, “But you guys have rules of engagement and all kind of authorizations you have to get. Us, we’re free agents. We’re more flexible. So it wouldn’t make sense for us to work with you.” Sam and Bucky walked away.

“A word of advice, then,” John said, fed up with it all. They both turned back to him expectantly. “Stay the hell out of my way.” It was John and Lamar’s turn to walk away.

Bucky and Sam walked down the alley, “You really had to rub that in didn’t you?” Bucky just shrugged, “Well, he wasn’t really following her advice anyway.”

****************

okay... okay i know what you guys were thinking- why not just punch the bastard?

to be honest, i want to i REALLY wanted to - but i think a blow to a man’s ego is much more lethal than getting punched

plus, we don’t need to get in trouble for fighting ‘captain america’ and lose our chance at flying this mission

but regardless i hope you enjoyed!

tags <3: @milesdickpic @luckyladycreator2 @hotch-meeeeeuppppp

comment if you would like to be tagged <3

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ecothroat · 3 years ago

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hey guys i caved and wrote a fic based off of @herbgerblin’s birdfeeder au (seen here and here) :0

<><><>

“I still think this is a dumb prank.”

“It’s not. And none of my pranks are dumb.”

“The pickle incident begs to differ.”

“That was iconic, Lup, not dumb. Don’t disrespect the pickles who lost their lives that day.”

Taako looks over his shoulder, seeing Lup seated at the kitchen table with papers and pens and laptop tabs open. She’s giving him a deadpan look at where he is, crouched at the window. He gives a look back, then turns back to watch the birdfeeder.

“He’s real, I saw him that one time,” Barry says from where he’s getting himself more coffee. “And I would never prank you Lup.”

“That part’s right at least. I wear the pranks in this relationship,” Lup says, earning a chuckle from Barry. She continues, “But I haven’t seen him, and I think I’d notice a man eating out of the bird feeder.”

“He doesn’t eat from it,” Taako says, maybe more insulted on this mystery man’s behalf than he needs to be. “He just hangs out with the birds.”

“Oh, I give my deepest apologies to the bird creep,” Lup says dryly.

“You better,” Barry jokes, “that’s Taako’s boyfriend you’re insulting.”

“What.” Taako whips his head around, fixing Barry and his dumb smile with a death glare. “Where did you get that idea?”

“I don’t try to stalk people unless I wanna date them,” Barry says, sitting next to Lup and joining her flood of work.

“Can confirm,” Lup says.

“Alright, well, I’m not a nerd. I’m just proving myself since my idiot sister thinks she can insult my honesty.”

“You stole Merle’s cousin’s shoes and blamed it on UNICEF.”

“Kids need shoes!”

<><><>

Kravitz lets his upset groan announce his presence as he enters the aviary’s office.

“You got caught again,” Sloane says, not looking up from her computer.

“I need to stop doing this,” Kravitz says, plopping into the desk across from her.

“You need to stop doing this,” Sloane agrees.

“But they like it when I join them! Regina missed me so much.”

“The main reason we release birds is because they don’t need our assistance in getting food or shelter.”

“And I don’t need nice clothes but I like wearing them.”

“Until Trevor shits on your suit jacket.”

“He has a vendetta against me and we both know it,” Kravitz says, elbow on his desk and finger pointed at Sloane. She doesn’t look away from her monitor. He continues, “But that’s not the point. What do I do? Approach this random stranger and say, ‘My bad, my birds just like your feeder. You seem to have really done your research and on behalf of the avian population, I really appreciate the effort’?”

“That seems a good start.”

“Sloane, I’m serious.”

She sighs, her typing pausing as she leans crossed arms on her desk and finally looks him in the face. “You could just never go back and hope he doesn’t see you at the supermarket or something.”

“That feels weird. I wanna apologize.”

“Apologize by not trespassing anymore. Who even is this guy if you’re so obsessed with him?”

“I dunno, it’s not like he has his name in the window or something.”

“What’s he look like?” Sloane asks. At Kravitz’s raised eyebrow, she says, “I know a lotta people. And I know everyone Hurley knows. Maybe we know ‘im.”

“Uhhh, blonde? Brown skin? Dresses nice, lotsa jewelry, and I think he has a twin? Either that or he switches his outfits really often.”

After he said “twin” Sloane had picked up her phone and started typing something. She says, more to herself than anything, “Of course it was him.”

“Who?”

“You ever see this guy in a wizard hat?”

“Yeah?”

“Yep, definitely Taako. I’m calling him now.”

“What?”

#i didn’t know if it was funnier to make this a ‘modern with magic’ au or a typical modern au so i left it vague. play in the space #txt #taz #taz balance #writing #i haven’t written in forever so thank you miss herbgerb for the inspiration <3

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beels-burger-babe · 4 years ago

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All is Fair in Dice and War

***Soooo, @bagelsinatoaster I love this request. However, you didn't specify which board game and as I am a huge nerd I decided to take some creative liberties and combine this with another idea I've been meaning to write which is: MC introducing the demon bros to Dungeons and Dragons. I certainly had fun with this and I hope you like it!*** Summary: Leviathan's world is flipped upside down when MC tells him there is a game that basically allows him to be the Lord of Shadows in real life!! He demands that his brothers join him as MC introduces them all to the chaotic shit show that is Dungeons & Dragons. For once, it was a peaceful day in the House of Lamentation. Lucifer was lounging in the living room with a cursed record playing softly in the background. For once, Satan had willingly joined him and was sitting by the fireplace, thumbing through a book on the human world. Belphie had been passed out on the couch when he arrived and was still laying there with an impressive puddle of drool collecting near his mouth. Even Asmodeus and Beel had joined in, with Asmodeus gently humming to himself as he painted his nails and Beelzebub happily munching on a snack as he enjoyed the sight of his family getting along. Yes. It was perfectly quiet and peaceful, and Lucifer didn't even have any traces of his regular migraine. But of course, nothing good lasts forever. Everyone jumped as the door slammed open and a wide-eyed Leviathan dragged you into the room. The two you very closely followed by Mammon loudly complaining. "Oi! You're gonna hurt them! Cut it out, Levi!" Lucifer sighed and closed his eyes, momentarily mourning the peace that he had just barely begun to enjoy, and closed his book. "Leviathan, let MC go. What are you freaking out about this time?" Lucifer regretted asking the moment the words left his mouth. Levi looked at it with the expression he only ever got when his limited edition Ruri-Chan merch arrived; his eyes were wide and glittering with excitement while his face bore a grin so large that Lucifer was surprised it didn't rip his skin. The third-born was practically vibrating as he let go of your wrist and pushed you forward. "Tell them! Tell them about the game!"

You laughed at Levi's excitement and casually rubbed your wrist. "I was just telling Leviathan about a game that we play in the human world called Dungeons and Dragons-" "You get to make a fantasy world that everyone plays in, and everyone makes characters. You can be a wizard and cast spells against a huge monster! Or a war hero fighter that has been betrayed by his brother! Or a noble knight who is looking for his lost kingdom! And the best part is that it's real!" Levi interrupted, nearly jumping in place as stars danced in his eyes. You put your hands out towards him to try and calm him a bit. "Well, not entirely real. It is played in person, but it's a role play tabletop game, meaning it mostly relies on the players' imagination. That is unless you have thousands of dollars to spend on 3D maps and figurines of your characters." Levi's eyes grew even wider, if possible, as he started shaking his hands up and down. "I CAN HAVE A FIGURINE OF A CHARACTER THAT I MADE?! GAAAAAAAAAHH!" A pillow flew across the room and hit Levi square in the face as a now awake Belphegor glared at him. "Will. You. Shut. Up?" the Avatar of Sloth hissed as a dark dangerous aura grew around him. Beel gently patted his twin's head in hopes of calming him. Leviathan pouted as he noticed no one else seemed to be getting excited about it. "C-Come on guys! This isn't even a video game! It's a thing that we can all do together and personalize it to be something that everyone will like. It'll be fun! Right MC?" You nodded as you gently tossed Belphie's pillow back over to him. "Yeah. I love D&D. I played it all the time in the human world. There's action, suspense, and even romance if you really wanted it," a couple of the brothers perked up at that. "I could put together a one-shot for you guys to try it out if you'd like? I'll help you make your characters, and we can all get together for an evening and play it sometime in a couple weeks." The room went quiet as everyone thought it over. Most of them had no interest in the game itself, but if it was organized by you... "I'm in," Beel decided with a nod. "I think it will be fun. All of us trying something new; it could be neat." Satan casually flipped a page in his book, "The creative aspect of it is definitely appealing. We'd be the masters of our own fate, and that most certainly piques my interest." Asmodeus smirked as he put the cap on his nail polish. "And you said it could be whatever we want? My, one might say that this game could help our wildest fantasies come true~" he made sure to wink at you as he giggled. Belphie, who had only just got back his pillow, scrunched up his face in disgust and launched it at Asmo. "Don't make this weird Asmo," he looked over at you and shrugged, "So long as you do all the work in putting together the character thing, sure. Why not?" Mammon looked over at you from the corner of his eye. "Ya mean to tell me, that you can make it so I'm some awesome, rich, and powerful prince?" Asmo scoffed as he pushed the pillow off his lap. "Please Mammon, even the world of make-believe has its limitations." Mammon blushed as he growled at his brother. You just chuckled and teasingly elbowed his side. "Don't listen to him, Mammon. There is a set amount of how much money you start out with depending on your class and background, but I'm sure we can find something that will make you happy." The second-born blushed even more as he grumbled quietly under his breath. Lucifer tilted his head in thought. "I suppose that if everyone else is playing, naturally I must as well," he stood and began to make his way to his office. "I look forward to seeing what you come up with MC." The next two weeks were spent planning and carefully figuring out the details of the one-shot and the characters that everyone was going to play. Levi was, of course, the first one who came to you to build his character. The two of you spent hours going through the Player's Handbook and sourcebooks to find the perfect build to recreate the Lord of Shadows. In the end, you put

together a human fighter that you gave a couple magic items to make Levi's vision really come to life. It seemed basic, but for the Lord of Shadows, it was perfect. The moment the two of you finished, Levi dove to his computer and ordered a custom-made mini that looked exactly like his character. Satan was genuinely interested in the game, especially after he learned about all the lore and rules behind the different classes and races. You had just been chilling in your room one day when the door burst open. Satan stood there with wide eyes holding a copy of Volo's Guide to Monsters. "MC, why didn't you tell me there are cat people?!" You chuckled, knowing exactly where this was going. "They're called tabaxi, but yeah, they're basically cat people. Would you like to play as one?" He scoffed and snapped the book shut. "Is that even a question? Of course, I'm playing as one." After some discussion and bouncing back and forth between classes a couple of times, Satan settled on a tabaxi druid; that way he not only looked like a cat, but he could speak to them as well. After a few days of you spending time with his brothers focusing on getting their characters ready, Mammon came to you wanting the coolest, most epic character ever. At first, it was clear that he wasn't fully invested in the process, but as he saw the customizable options and all the cool stuff that his character could have, you got his attention. You ended up designing a golden teifling rogue (you tried to tell Mammon that teifling usually wasn't yellow, but he gave you such a sad look that you couldn't say no) that was decked out with piercings and gems all over its horns and tail. He tried to act like he wasn't that excited about it, but one day during class you caught him doodling what looked like a stick figure version of the character on his sheet with a big smile on his face. Asmodeus came in shortly after Mammon finished,

insisting on having the most charming and beautiful character there was. You tapped your chin at the request. "I mean, stereotypically bards are extremely charming and...well seductive...almost too seductive. But that's only thei-" Asmo had hearts in his eyes before you could even finish. "That's what I want to be!" You sighed and made a mental note not to include any dragons in the session as you marked Asmo down to be an elven bard and helped him create his character sheet. You hadn't heard anything from Lucifer for nearly that entire first week, until one day as you were lounging in the living room, he walked in holding a stack of resource books. "Ah, MC. I've been looking for you. I wanted to inform you that I will be playing a half-elf multiclassing as a paladin and hex-blade warlock." You blinked at him as he put all the books down in front of you. "O-Oh. Would you like help putting together your character sheet?" He just grinned and began to make his way out of the room once more. "I've already done it. I must admit that this was quite a bit more interesting than I thought it would be," and with that he was gone, leaving you to try and figure out what had just happened. With only a few days left until the one-shot, you had to go find the twins and get them to make their characters. Beel apologized like crazy for you having to track him in down in order to get his character made. The poor guy was in the middle of peak Fangol season and had completely forgotten. Once the two of you sat down in the kitchen with an empty character sheet in one hand and snacks in the other, Beel gave you his full attention. He put a lot of thought in his character and wanted to make it really good since he appreciated that you were doing something that they could all do as a family. He bashfully decided to play a halfling. Not only did the little creatures share his love for food, but he thought it would be neat to try being small for once. His class was also a surprise. After carefully flipping through all of the class options, he had eventually settled on a cleric. "They're the healers, right? This way I can help the others if someone gets hurt." You gave him a huge hug then and there. Belphegore, on the other hand, was not so easy to work with. "Belphie, come on. Just flip through the book and choose something!" He groaned into his pillow and rolled onto his side to glare at you. "I told you I would play if you did all the work for me. Me flipping through a book is work. It's not happening." After an entire hour of trying to get him to cooperate, you gave up. In retaliation you made his character a goblin barbarian, just to drive in the fact of how much of a brat he was acting like.

Finally, the day came for you all to play the one-shot, and much like you expected, it was complete and utter chaos. You had tried to maintain some structure and keep everyone on track, but it was hopeless. Levi and Satan were taking the game seriously and, Diavolo bless them, were the only reason their party was making any progress. Mammon was trying to pick-pocket every non-player character that they met while Asmo distracted them by flirting. This worked great for them until Mammon got caught and would've died from the resulting injuries if it wasn't for Beel. Speaking of Beel, the poor fella was trying his best to do well in the game but kept getting confused by all the rules and different stats and modifiers. Belphegor spent most of his time, trying to explain it to his twin, but in the end, Beel accidentally ate his dice and Belphie passed out on his shoulder. And then there was Lucifer. He had been mostly quiet the entire game. Surprisingly, he let Levi and Satan take the charge in any investigations and puzzle-based interactions, but he did so with a smirk. You had a funny feeling in your stomach that he was up to something, and you were right. It was the final boss. Satan and Levi were on the edge of their seats, having worked so hard to get the party to this point. You smiled, knowing that one of the best parts of D&D was finally taking down the big bad. In this case, you had prepared a beholder for them to fight. It would be no easy task. The fight should have required them to work together in an epic battle of wits, magic and melee attacks. Only, when everyone rolled initiative, Lucifer went first. The eldest smiled as his eyes sparked menacingly. "For my bonus action, I'd like to use my hex blade's curse on it, which allows me to add my plus four proficiency bonus to all damage, and makes any rolls of nineteen or twenty critical hits. I will then use my long sword with divine smite at third level to attack him and attack him again using my extra attack," barely giving you time to process what he said, Lucifer rolled his dice twice. "And that would be a nineteen and a natural twenty, meaning they're both criticals due to the curse. That should hit, yes?" "Wha-" You could only watch as Lucifer, now with twice the amount of damage due to his critical rolls pulled out a disgusting number of dice and rolled them all. And of course, with his luck, they all rolled high. "So that's 90 points of damage plus the extra damage from the curse and the bonus from my duelist ability per attack, brings this 102 points," he smugly perched his chin on top of his hands as the table gaped at him. You gulped and looked down at the beholder's character sheet, "Y-You just took o-over half of his hit points in one round..." His grin widened at the information, "What, like it's hard?" You never got the chance to finish the game, as Satan burst into his demon form and pounced on Lucifer, the eldest laughing like a mad man, while Levi tore up his character sheet in a fit of jealous rage. Levi never asked to play with everyone again after that. ***This was just so self-indulgent and I just- I loved it. It combined two of my favourite things and I have never been happier. This was more crack than fluff, but either way, it was fun and I hope you nerds out there enjoyed it 🥰 Thanks again for the request @bagelsinatoaster!*** Taglist: @mimik248 @roseytoesy @ester-is-here

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absolutepokemontrash · 4 years ago

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The Brothers and Side Characters Play the Sims

I don’t know what possessed me to make this but WHATEVER. I’ve been playing the Sims since I was a wee little girl, and I’ve seen my fair share of weird Sims stuff that I feel would fit these bozos perfectly.

My Sims have a Functional Family Life Because I Don’t (Lucifer)

God dammit Levi’s obsessed with another game... ugh.

Spends 5 minutes in Create-a-Sim and hops into a starter home.

Lucifer’s the type to start with all the average stuff and then build their stuff up as his sim gets promotions.

It’s just... so peaceful...

...he’s adopting a dog.

Look at his new little virtual family... his sim-kids are self sufficient and getting A’s in school, his Sim spouse MC or Diavolo take your pick loves his Sim-self, his sim-dog-

WAIT NO- THE DOG’S AN ELDER?!

AAAAAAAAAAAAA-

...

He’s fine. It was just a virtual dog. *sniffle*

He’s now spending his free time drinking Demonus and playing the Sims.

What’s a mod? Levi why does your sim have gun?

Behold, My Gorgeous Home... It’s a Box (Mammon)

Mammon, like the rest of the HOL, is mooching off of Levi’s Origin account.

“AW SHIT! This house looks awesome! I’m gonna build it for Sim-me to live in!”

Mammon proceeds to build a box with rooms. Yay...

He just picks the funnest sounding job if he picks any job at all for his Sim. That’s how he ended up making 9 dollars an hour in the criminal career.

Didn’t stop Mammon from buying that solid gold bathroom set from Get Famous... a box with solid gold bathrooms.

His Sim is broke send help-

“Leviiiiiii my sim needs money... the people my sim kidnapped and is forcing to paint aren’t making enough money...” “Ugh... press control shift C and type ‘motherlode’.”

...Levi made a mistake.

“FUCK YEAH! MOTHERLODE!”

His sim’s life is so chaotic, he has a piranha pool that his sim has almost died in twice, the sim is carrying on several torrid love affairs, his sim got struck by lightning, his sim has nearly died in a grilled cheese making accident twice... in the same day.

At least once Sim-Mammon and Sim-MC get married things calm down a little.

Mammon finds out what custom content is and proceeds to download EVERYTHING HE CAN FIND.

And now he’s asking Levi why his computer is running so slow.

Expansion Pack King (Leviathan)

He got into it back when the Sims 2 was new, he’s a veteran fan.

“Bro remember when Agnes Crumplebottom would show up and whack the shit out of your sims if they were flirting?”

“Remember when that witch would show up randomly on the lot you were on if you had Makin’ Magic?”

“Remember when Bella Goth was abducted by aliens and we just... didn’t question it?”

He whines about the Sims4 and how crappy it is but still buys every expansion pack, game pack, and stuff pack.

This boy watches like 40 hours of built tutorials and ends up sobbing over his weird roofs.

“WHY DOESN’T IT LOOK AS NICE AS THE ONE I’M LOOKING AT?! THIS ISN’T FAIR!”

The mod folder is so full istg-

Levi gets custom content for the sole purpose of making his favourite fictional characters.

This is why Henry and the Lord of Shadows are married and Ruri-chan and Sim-Levi are roommates.

Oh my god they were roommates-

Levi also added his brothers to the world and uh... Sim-Mammon died in a tragic pool accident F.

Levi then proceeded to befriend the Grim Reaper.

He’s anxiously awaiting the release of Paralives.

Wait Gameplay? In This Build Simulator? (Satan)

Satan’s here to build and leave. Gameplay who?

Our favourite bundle of rage is a master architect and the amount of followers on the Gallery he has shows it.

He takes up those build shell challenges and always ends up making them look positively perfect.

Asmo’s always using his houses, and Satan often takes requests when he gets bored.

No Mammon, he reserves the right to refuse to build a golden castle for you- YOUR SIM HAS 40 SIMOLEONS-

No mods, no CC, he’s building with what EA gave him.

...and EA gave him debug objects, and he’s not going to explain how to get them.

The one time he did actually play with a family... it was one sim and seven cats.

He tries to play without cheats... and ends up getting frustrated and turns on cheats.

All hail the Pets Expansion Pack.

Custom Content Soap Opera (Asmodeus)

Asmo spends 5 hours in Create a Sim then just... clicks out of the game.

That’s how it goes most of the time, buuuuuut when he gets super invested in a family he’s made, boy howdy is he INVESTED.

Sim A is carrying on an affair with Sim C who’s in love with Sim B who’s married to Sim A but Sim D wants to kill Sim A and C even though they’re the illegitimate child of Sim C-

When Asmo realizes that in the Sims 4 he needs to manufacture all the drama himself and he can’t just sit back with a glass of wine and watch the fireworks, he switches to the Sims 2 and 3.

“...why is this old lady beating up my Sim..?”

He immediately recoils in horror upon seeing how ugly the Sims are pre Sims4.

HE NEEDS TO FIX THIS-

Ah, there we go, perfect. Custom Content to the rescue!

He ends up remaking the entire world just so he doesn’t have to look at weird looking Sims.

Asmo is the only one to have finished a proper Legacy Challenge, but it gets crazy chaotic after gen 3.

“My sim just got abducted by aliens and now he’s pregnant- WHAT?!”

He has about 40 saves and only two he actually plays.

Just a Big Ol’ Happy Family (Beelzebub)

Beel found the game, proceeded to make everyone in create-a-sim to the best of his abilities, and made everyone get along.

That’s why Sim-Lucifer and Sim-Belphie are on a swing set together, they’re friends :D

“Hey Luke do you think you can make this?” “I-is that a cake shaped like a hamburger?” “Yes. Please make.”

He took one look at the cooking options and decided to max out his Sim’s cooking skill to unlock all the options.

Beel proceeded to drool all over his keyboard. Gross...

Boy howdy did he have some crazy dinner suggestions!

Overall, very wholesome Sim-life, except for the time Sim-Levi died because the toilet caught fire, don’t worry, Sim-Beel knows how to make ambrosia.

All is good in the Sim save...

...until Sim-Beel ate pufferfish nigiri and fuckin died-

Wait Did I Not Pause- (Belphie)

Huh, this game looks fine... I’ll play for a little- *SNORE*

Belphie makes some sims, plops them into a starter home, plays for an hour, then falls asleep.

He wakes up five hours later to absolute carnage.

Three sims have died because someone decided to make Mac and Cheese and the oven caught fire, the kids were taken away by social services, and the dog ran away.

“...heheh, holy shit everyone look.”

He doesn’t play often, but when he does, death occurs. He has found out every death method for every game from Sims 2 to 4.

And that INCLUDES the Sims Medieval! You guys remember that game?

Sometimes it’s not intentional, but Belphie got bored with the totally normal life his sims were living and decided to spice it up.

“Why are the ghosts breaking my showers..?”

Help There’s a Bug- (Diavolo)

The Crown Prince started playing when he noticed Lucifer was playing it.

He was immediately obsessed.

Dia mostly plays the Sims Medieval because he likes the feeling of achievement after completing a quest!

“Barbatos... why isn’t my Sim completing their task? The icon won’t show up.” “My lord it appears the game is bugged.” “:(“

No one thought to tell Diavolo that EA doesn’t plan on offering bug support to a game made in like... 2009

This doesn’t matter! Look at how great his kingdom is doing- oh no his hero has the plague-

He plays through the Pirates and Nobles expansion and manages to get the peaceful ending, he’s so proud of himself.

“MC! Look! My Monarch’s sword is permanently on fire and I’m fighting an evil wizard!”

When he does play the other Sims games he’s pretty basic, though, he does a great job at furnishing!

Dia gets crazy sad when his Sims die... he turns off aging.

Builder no. 2 (Barbatos)

Barbie doesn’t have time for this... but when he does, he builds.

No create a sim.

No playing the game as intended.

Just builds.

It’s relaxing, okay? A nice little suburban house he’s never going to play in, maybe a treehouse, maybe a big Hollywood Mansion...

The only time he actually plays the game outside of build mode is when someone needs his help to fix something in-game.

He does download custom content build items if he feels bored by the current selection.

Oh Crap What Am I Doing?! (Simeon)

Help him. Please.

He’s so confused.

“Luke, why is my sim upset?” “He’s hungry, Simeon.” “Oh, how do I fix that?” “...Simeon-”

There’s a toilet in the middle of the living room.

The fridge is facing the wall.

There’s no bathtub or shower.

The house is on fire- there is no god- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

Okay, once he gets the hang of it he’s sitting pretty. His sims have good jobs, the kids are getting good grades, everything’s fine.

...

But Simeon won’t forget the nightmares.

What Even is This Save? (Solomon)

Solomon’s save is the definition of chaos.

One sim’s a vampire, the other is a spellcaster that really wants to fight the Callientes for some reason, there’s one normal sim that’s always sick for some reason,

It gets weird, confusing, and horrible.

Just how Solomon likes it.

His house makes no sense, like, what even is architecture?

Money cheats are needed because Solomon‘a goal of chaos and confusion is proving to be kind of expensive.

Square up Mortimer Goth, Solomon’s sims are here to steal your weird knight statue that’s worth a shit ton of simoleons for NO REASON.

He joined the scientist career for the sole purpose of getting to the alien planet and kidnapping adding an alien to the household via cheats.

The vampire ended up dying on their wedding day because Solomon forgot that he gave them the sun weakness.

Oh well, the ghost got added to the household! VAMPIRE GHOST!

The Child (Luke)

Before you say Luke’s too young to play the Sims, you should know that I was nine when I first started playing, and I turned out fiiiiiiiiiine.

He’s just happy to be playing.

Look, his sims are gardening :D

Look, two of them are getting married :D

Look, they had a baby :D

Look, his sims are building a rocket ship :D

Look, his sims’s rocket just crashed-

The concept of death hit the little angel right in the face that day.

“*sniffle*... my sims...”

Don’t worry, with tears in his eyes, Luke quit without saving and everything was fine!

Speaking of My Sims, Luke played MySims Sky Heroes and that was when Luke had his first bout of gamer rage.

MC came over to hang out with Solomon and Simeon, and in the distance they could just hear:

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY TIME WASN’T FAST ENOUGH TO CONTINUE THE STORY!? I’LL SHOW YOU FAST ENOUGH TIME!”

Okay, maybe Simeon should take the game away... just for a bit... he should take heed not to be bitten by the incredibly angry chihuahua.

Bonus:

MC: Why are our Sims married?

*Insert Boy Here*: Uh... that’s weird... I have no clue why they’re doing that...

#Obey me #obey me headcanons #Obey me!#obey me! shall we date?#obey me! headcanons #obey me shall we date #Obey me Lucifer #Obey me Mammon #obey me leviathan #Obey me Satan #Obey me Asmodeus #Obey me Beelzebub #Obey me Belphegor #Obey me Diavolo #Obey me MC #obey me barbatos #Obey me Simeon #Obey me Luke #Obey me Solomon

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i-like-eyes · 3 years ago

Note

are there certain kirby villains you enjoy more than others, whether it's their lore or design that piques your interest? excluding any of the antagonist -> dream friend characters! would love to hear your thoughts on a few.

Anon holy shit I love villains you have no idea what you enabled

Part of why I love this series so much is because of it's villains, I normally don't love super cutesy stuff and the biggest bad guys make sure that the series doesn't feel overwhelmingly sweet. I don't make as much content for bigger bads because they don't have as much to work with, but I don't think that makes them weak characters. Star Dream, Void, and Fecto Fucko aren't exactly bursting w/ personality, but that's the point. Star Dream is an AI that can't comprehend human emotions, Fuck Face My Beloved is a holier than thou angel that can't comprehend mere mortals, and Void is literally named Void. They are scary because they are unfeeling, they contrast the the love that the good guys spread.

Even with the previously villainous/maybe still villainous Dream Friends you know they are the lesser of the evils because they still got love in them. Taranza worked for Secc but it was because he loved his friend, he eventually recognized what was the right thing to do instead of trying to take over the planet. Taranza exists to make Sectonia scary, to show off just how far gone she is. He helps Kirby while she blasts people that interrupted her tea time. Sure Haltmann and Susie are incredibly selfish capitalists and colonizers that rip people of their humanity to increase profits but at least they aren't the evil computer the exists as a result of that desire that also rips people of their humanity! .....hm..... Well uh Haltmann wanted to save Susie.... but forgot..... and Susie didn't really care what happened to him in the end.... uh.... but she helped Kirby! Probably because her own safety was already at risk, like Taranza didn't need to fly back to stop Secc he could of just saved himself... uh... Listen Susie is cuter than Star Dream she gets a pass.

Naw jk jk, but the point is the Haltmanns have actual emotions and *could* be reasoned with, but with Star Dream the only solution is to kill it because it can not be reasoned with. A big running theme is that the big bads are unfeeling and heartless whereas Kirby is the embodiment of love, and in the end the harbinger of happiness saves the day. Nightmare just wants to fuck with people, Dark Matter exists to spread bad vibes, Drawcia I don't even know but damn if she isn't going to corrupt everything to fit her point of view. It helps that despite their limited screen time and little to no dialogue the villains have banger designs. You can take one look at them and know what their deal is. Nightmare has typical wizard get up with the star-y cape, with devil horns and sharp features to signify he's evil. Standing out are the shades that give the vibe he's cocky and cool, maybe a little silly. If you are the embodiment of nightmares than there is going to be some weird aspects. A mixture of the familiar with the weird, that makes a strong baddy. Zero is incredibly out of place with that one single realistic eye, but what's more Kirby than being a literal sphere. And Drawcia is just super appealing to look at with a neat Dark Matter Blade/Swordsman homage. DMB is probably one of my favorite designs in the series period, like yup that's an evil sword guy very cool. Just assume I love most of the villains designs. And their music. Villains are just cool.

While I think Kirby is better off with lighter stories than trying to push it's darker elements with each title, the weaker villains are the ones that don't make for a good threat. You can still have a simpler story with a silly guy that is a real danger, that's what Marx was, but Dark Crafter and Nebula are just jokes than feel the need to kin people cooler than them. Daroach and Claycia were supposed to be the guys that get your standards lowered for the real deal like with Taranza and Sectonia, but instead they end up looking more badass than the actual final bosses. Which works in their favor at least, Daroach is supposed to be the Cool Guy TM and Claycia has no personality she needs it, but it makes Crafter and Neb look even lamer when combined with their shitty boss fights.

My favorite villain that I like more than even some Dream Friend types would have to be Sectonia. I really love villains that are having as much fun as the good guys, the type that cackle in joy as they blow up a city. Sectonia is clearly loving her time stabbing a child, and she still fits that theme of the big bads being unfeeling with how cruel she is. When she chops off her own head to become a big ass flower sacrificing what little humanity she had left just so she can become more powerful, damn. Triple Deluxe is also the only game I think did the pause screen/external lore thing correctly. It makes sense that from Kirby and by extension the player's point of view he wouldn't have context for the spider's backstory, and the main story is still decent kid's stuff. Kirby has a reason to travel this new area, save King Dedede from Taranza, he is reminded of this every boss fight, and Sectonia is a clear threat to the entirety of Popstar that needs the help of everyone you've met so far working with Kirby to stop her. Nothing mindblowing, but like RtDL it's easy to follow and fun, which is the point of Kirby games.

The games after it, PR, KSA, KATFL, they have messy main stories that would leave you confused, feeling like you are missing something. The external lore exists to be a bandaid to fix the broken plot. Stuff like why the Mages are loyal to Hyness is left behind the scenes, and most of anything related to the Beast Pack is tied to gacha. In PR's case the pause screen stuff wasn't even enough it had Miiverse crap that makes the story more confusing. Here have a light novel that crams in an oc that exists purely to give exposition instead of expressing that with existing characters fuck you. In TDX the main game feels like a complete, albeit basic experience, with the extra lore not being a fix for the main story, but a fun little add on. Sectonia works in the main game as a typical fairy tale villain, she's the Evil Queen from Snow White obsessed with beauty. But the side stuff fleshes her out into a tragic figure put into a situation she couldn't control, and that doesn't change what happened in the main story and still fits the fairy tale themes. Sometimes shit goes wrong for no good reason and there is nothing you can do about it. Sometimes you have a a mean stepmom, and sometimes you have a mind controlling mirror. Sectonia with no context is still a fun villain, and with context she becomes a tragic figure. The series makes a clear distinction between the just a bit mean Dream Friends and the beyond saving planet eating villains, but Sectonia is a Dream Friend that became the villain against her will. She wasn't Taranza or the Mages working for someone else, Daroach or Claycia having a shitty Tuesday, she looked and acted that part of a friend but she was forced to become the villain by being mentally and physically warped into fitting that role. I still wish some of the more interesting plot points were in the main storyline, god did Taranza need more dialogue, but at least TDX understood it's own scope and themes better than the games after it.

TDLR people being mean is fun and I live for campy villains

#asks #kirby

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ldouble · 2 years ago

Text

I’d Rather Walk | Bucky Barnes x reader

summary: after an unsuccessful mission, you find yourself walking with Sam and Bucky. An interruption in disguise as a ride irks you the most. Only Bucky seems to notice.

Your feet hurt. You wouldn’t have noticed if your ego wasn’t so bruised. But a failed mission, really an ass whooping like that, left little to think about other than how much your feet hurt.

The road seemed endless but you pushed on. It helped that Bucky and Sam were a few paces behind. They couldn’t see you racking your brain for answers. If they knew how much this was getting to you they would think you cared. And while you did, they couldn’t know that. This was a one and done mission. A favor to Bucky.

“I’m sorry about redwing.”

You smiled at Bucky’s voice before quickly wiping it off your face. It had been quiet for what was surely miles. It was nice to hear someone talk. Remind you that you weren’t alone.

“No you’re not.”

“Yes, he is.” You said, not turning around.

There’s a pause from Sam and a light chuckle from the soldier behind you. It shocks you but you pretend it doesn’t. It had been a while since you heard that. You’re not sure if the chuckle is because the thought of you defending him was impossible or because Sam was right to believe the insincerity. Either way, it’s nice to hear his laugh.

“What’s going on in that big cyborg brain of yours?”

“It’s computing.”

It was your turn to scoff.

It didn’t stop as Sam continued to tease. Alluding to a malfunction got you to throw a look over your shoulder just in time to throw Bucky a smile as he was tormented.

“We gotta figure out where the serum’s coming from.” Bucky looked out onto the fields, his walk becoming more determined.

“Yeah and how in the hell after 80 years there are eight super soldiers just running loose.” You added with a faux raised hand.

Sam didn’t get a chance to add on to the “what to do” list as a car horn nearly interrupted you.

Instead, you heard an awful joke from an even more awful person.

“No shit.” You whispered to yourself. You didn’t have to look back to know your partners were still trudging forward. It was one thing to accept defeat and a whole other to accept a ride from some posers.

The squeak of the car caused your muscles to tense. “And we’re pretty sure it’s one of the big three.” John Walker continued.

“There’s no such thing as wizards.” You beat Bucky to the punch, shooting a glare at the truck. It was a few feet behind you, focusing on Sam and Bucky. Oh that was rich, having all the men lead the conversation. “All right then it’s aliens or androids.”

You rolled your eyes at Sam being questioned about super soldiers. The guy who was doubting freaking worked with one. Not a real one, but a fake at least. Besides, you and Bucky were there as living proof.

“That’s not happening.” You hoped your dismay over the offer for a ride was translated. If they thought super soldiers being the enemy was a shocker...well you didn’t wanna be covered by them at the next battle.

A proud smile found your lips when Bucky finally said what we were all thinking. He might have the shield but he’s not Captain America. He’s not Steve.

“The work?” You scoffed again, shaking your head. What could he do to prove his status that wasn’t - oh I don’t know, winning World War II, being stuck in ice for 70 years and creating the Avengers that would save Earth multiple times?

I had never met the guy - not officially - but Steve Rogers was the only Captain America.

“You ever jump on top of a grenade?”

Really? That’s all Bucky could think of to compare?

Walker didn’t help his case as he said it was for his helmet.

You couldn’t help the ache at his mention of how far the airport was. 20 miles. It really would be endless.

Still, you didn’t stop as you heard the truck come to a stop. The only falter in your step was due to the stopping on Bucky and Sam’s part. You willed yourself not to look back, instead focusing on how much your feet hurt.

“Is she serious?” You heard Walker mumble.

You turned around, ready to say you weren’t some she and that you had a name. A name he knew and could say.

Bucky reminded him of what you went by, whispering it across the road. The two of you had a silent conversation.

You really didn’t want to get a ride from them.

Neither did Bucky.

Really? From them?

It’s a free ride.

You know it’s more than that.

Just get in the truck, doll.

Your eyes shot to Sam who seemed to be on the exact same page. You were outnumbered 2 to 1. Rightfully so. This wasn’t what we would have of dinner. This was if our legs would give out on us.

You followed behind Sam into the trunk. A hand extended out to you - one clad in a blue glove. But the man within it was not someone you trusted.

Before you could make a snarky comment on how his hands hadn’t done a pinky’s worth of work as Steve did in his first day as Captain America, Bucky placed his hands on your hips and guided you up.

You didn’t have time to question the physical touch, sitting in a huff. Moments like this had happened ever since he showed up at your place a few days ago. Still, it couldn’t make up for lost time.

The door slammed shut and you thanked whatever universe there was that you looked in between the two strangers rather than make eye contact like Sam and Bucky had to. It would’ve been a longer 20 miles staring at John Walker than it would’ve been on foot.

His kindness was deceiving. It was an act. And you didn’t like acts. Not with your history.

The first few hundred feet were silent. It isn’t until John Walker decided to use the ride as a brainstorming session.

You listened intently as Sam suggests the best out of the team you just faced. Their “help” sure hurt like hell. But even you saw something in their eyes. And it wasn’t that of a killer.

“They got a funny way of showing it.” You glanced at Bucky, taking in his words. You’d both had gone soft - him taking the high road without a comment and you thinking the best of people who tried to hurt you. He clearly had spent too much time with this crowd and me....having spent not enough time.

Your head snapped back at Walker’s comment about the serum’s poor track record. You felt Bucky’s hand on your back. He’d gotten good at the comments. You hadn’t. Then again...no one knew you had gone through a similar life as Bucky.

You gave him a look, trying to convey the confusion on how he was taking all of this in stride.

“We didn’t track them we tracked you, uh, through red wing.”

You and Bucky both bit your respective lips. He detested the thing more than you did but the gadget being what caught us was pretty funny.

“You hacked my tech?” Sam questioned. His tone of anger transferred to you. Supposedly our “team members” were tracking us.

Your eyes bulged at the statement that red wing was government property. For one, it’s Sam’s. And two, it would’ve classified as Sam’s sidekick if the three of us didn’t get together. Even you found it disrespectful to call it property.

You tilt your head in curiosity, taking in the man before you. The supposedly new Captain America is hard to get a grasp on. He’s exuding confidence but lacks the support of it. Something is off.

“Does she always just stare like that?”

His question registered and so did Bucky and Sam turning to look at you.

“You get used to it.” You heard them say in unison.

Your focus didn’t shift as the two begin to talk about the GRC.

Your glare alters only to smile at your feet at Sam’s quick whip in regards to their privilege. The truck seems uneven with you three on one side and the two across. And not just because you outnumber them. Something tells you the “we’ve got this under control” act was a lesson in the Captain America: How To book.

Bucky beats you to declining their offer to team up.

“Who are you?”

It’s the first thing you've said since the car started moving. You liked to stay quiet but you weren’t gonna sit around and listen to them talk about getting your asses kicked. That was a realization you had to come to yourself. You sure as hell didn’t need anyone else reminding you.

You wait for an answer from whoever the guy is, your eyebrow raised expectantly.

“Lamar Hoskins.”

“I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter in tactical gear I need a lot more than Lamar Hoskins.” Sam voiced the obvious.

“I’m Battlestar.”

His name, if you can call it that, is barely repeated by Bucky before you yell for the car to be stopped.

You stand, make a 180 spin, set a foot on the bench you just sat on, and jump from the car.

Your name is called but you ignore it. It’s when footsteps follow yours that you acknowledge all that’s not being unsaid.

“Nicknames?” You stare at Bucky ion disbelief. “Look I can take a ride and I can toss some ideas back and forth but I don’t work with superheroes.”

“Hey-”

“And I know damn well you don’t either.”

You didn’t mean to push him but it happened involuntarily. The anger got the best of you and you shoved his chest as far as you could. He didn’t even falter, his strength more than yours - mentally and physically.

He’d had years to get into this. To understand all the hero work. You’d been pulled from your quiet life as a soldier without orders. For him to expect you to sit around and listen to this was ridiculous.

You took a deep breath, stalking off the road to gather your thoughts. So much had happened and you’d had no time to wrap your head around it.

“I don’t.” He explained. The sound of the car driving off interrupted him. “You left before I could tell them that.”

“I think you entertained them longer than necessary.” Your arms crossed defensively before you shook out your hands. You looked at him, searching for answers. For understanding. Years apart meant nothing in the last few days. His face was familiar but his actions unrecognizable.

“I’m gonna agree with her on this one.” Sam said from behind Bucky.

“Really?”

“Really.” You answered Bucky’s offended question.

He found your eyes and huffed.

“They don’t get it, what we’ve got. What we’re up against.”

“I-”

“We got a different dosage than Steve.” Your words cut him off. You’d met him a few times, unofficially, but it was the first time you mentioned the original Avenger aloud. “And we sure as hell got a whole other thing than whatever that moron got.” You pointed towards the disappeared truck as if that would make your point sound any better. It didn’t.

“We’re up against something serious. It’s not just you anymore. It’s not just me. And it’s not just what Steve was-”

“I know.” Bucky said curtly, staring at the ground.

You give him a second to take it all in, his realization a few beats behind from your outburst in the vehicle. To quote the audience watching you, the gears were turning in Bucky’s head. Sadly it had been too long of time apart to know what was going on up there. Cut from the same cloth, you once knew it all. But at this moment, really since you’d reunited with him a few days ago, you didn’t really know the guy in front of you.

Your relationship ebbed and flowed. There were no good ol’ days to go back to, not where you worked like this. You had been in a relationship not coworkers back then. Now...there was too much space.

So you decided to double it.

“We’re not all this nice, Sam.” You looked past Bucky, giving your best smile. “But if you’re as sore as I am and if those assholes are right, you know that already.”

Sam paused, waiting for a signal from Bucky that it was ok to laugh. A breath from the soldier seemed to be enough as Sam replied, “I hate to say it but they were right.”

“We got our asses handed to us.” Bucky finished, running his metal hand through his hair.

All these years and his nervous habit hadn’t changed.

Deep down, maybe he was still there.

Maybe what you two had was still there.

“Then we better know who we’re working with.” You declared, regaining your composure. You hadn’t lost it but you had gone off the trail...literally and figuratively. “That way to the airport?”

“Roughly ten miles to go.” Sam answered, already heading in that direction. You questioned why he didn’t wait up but a hand around your wrist made it clear.

“I wanted out.”

You looked up at your old partner, trying to understand what he was talking about. If it was this line of work you were ready to question him. He had the same chance as you to run and he didn’t. He stayed and he followed orders. Instead of following you.

“Of the car.” Blue eyes blinked at you as his grasp loosened. “You beat me to it.”

You gave him a small smile, wanting to get back to where they originally were when on the road. Friendly. If that could happen. At least nice enough to have these conversation with eye sight. Sam was a way’s away but you still felt embarrassed as you two stood and talked.

He seemed to be saying something then as his eyes grew soft. They darted all around your face as if he was thinking the same thing.

Let’s go back to the days that we only have to share a look.

A glance.

A wink.

A kiss.

You gulp, holding eye contact while totally seeing his eyes find your lips.

If he doesn’t let up soon, you’re going to fall right back to where you were. Which only left you alone.

At least now you had him. Not completely, but close enough.

And you couldn’t go back to the day where he wasn’t right next to you. You’d have that after this. Whatever this and they were.

“You got into this before me.” Your feet led you back a step, his hand fell to his side. “And I’m making a point to get out of it first.”

#Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky imagine #bucky x female reader #bucky x you #the winter soldier #sam wilson #the falcon and the winter soldier #x reader #avengers #marvel

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