#I'm sorry for hijacking your post

[brwnskin-bunnyteeth]

ohmygod...and he chooses to take you during downtime at the gym when there are less people there. he's so encouraging and is so patient as he explains how each machine or object works.

"just one more set, you can do it, I promise" and he's right there to spot you and push you but not to the point that it'd be unhealthy. just wants you to experience a burn, wants you to have a good experience in the gym.

if you have knee issues or can't keep up with him, he'll slow down and sit you right next to him so you can follow his form ;)

thinking about going to the gym with yuuji.

he’s respectful and so freaking adorable with his tan skin glistening with sweat. he makes you feel comfortable and safe with his pleasant grins and careful touches, however he also makes you work up a sweat and tires you the fuck out — to the point that he has to swing by your place in the morning just so that he can help you get out of bed.

being the nice man that he is, he also brings you a quick breakfast from the bakery and rubs your legs and feet for you, really digging his fingers into all the aching spots while you sit on the couch together and watch one of those slightly weird movies that he swears up and down are supposed to be good.

…and maybe, just maybe, you make out a little bit during all of that as well. but only a little, otherwise things get out of hand very fast and he ends up stretching your legs in a different kind of way; not just to relieve the pain in those tense muscles of yours.

[ziyechs]

@cementcornfield i read your tags on this post and was like.............. wait i remember this. so i went on a 3h youtube deepdive and lo and behold:

final thing for you two guys and i appreciate your time. i think bengals fans want to know: should we feel confident that joe and ja’marr are going to be nfl teammates for a long, long time?

— “well, i definitely want them to be together and i think ja’marr does too, you know, because i was talking to him one time and i was telling him: ‘you know, this is the nfl and this is a business also. so, you know, you might have to go find another quarterback’. and he was like: ‘no, dad, i’m staying with joe. i’m not going nowhere else.’”

[haunting-hufflepuffs-basement]

You know what? You're right! Sorry, I'mma hijack your post. Have some headcanons for The Valkyries, my loves!

Marlene:

Suuuuper physical and athletic. Enjoys getting up close and personal. Obviously this means she's a quidditch beater, but she also learned about roller derby from Lily and Mary and became obsessed. Every summer she drags them to do roller derby at least once, and she's on a muggle team.

Marlene's default response to any negative emotion is FIGHT. You know how some people will cry when they're angry or tired or overwhelmed? Marlene starts swinging, both physically and verbally at the sign of any bad feeling: physical discomfort, sadness, just being really stressed---she's got a short temper.

Marlene is an extrovert. She requires interaction with other people to function. Isolating causes her to get too into her own head and wear herself out trying to keep up with her own thoughts (and also she gets bored easily). Being around others relaxes her. This is unfortunate, because she's not too fond of many other people.

Marlene is omnisexual with a heavy preference toward women. Her parents are homophobic. This does take a toll on her. She's in heavy denial for a lot of her school years, despite gravitating toward other queer people, and she stays closeted for even longer. When she did come out, it put a lot of strain in the relationship, but the war made it so that both sides did their best to look past it and not bring things up. They died defending each other.

She's demiromantic, but allosexual. She'll one-night stand her friends, but a healthy romantic relationship for her does mean sex first.

Her best subjects are transfiguration, herbology, and defense against the dark arts, but her favorite is actually muggle studies. She gets average to below average marks and dislikes all her other classes. She's also dyslexic.

She's VERY scottish, and has a super thick accent (thanks @oneluckygoose)

Marlene's got a baby brother that she dotes on and adores, but he's like 5 years younger than her and in a different house, so he doesn't interact with her school-friends much. They do go out of their way to send each other rude mail at breakfast and everybody else has learned to sit several seats away before either McKinnon opens a package.

She's punk as all get out. In dress, interests, attitude, whatever. She's a punk.

She's the best of the group at apparating. She took to it like a frog to water, and will pull a Fred and George and apparate really short distances just to show off.

Mary:

Is a user of weaponized kindness. Her motto is the one that goes "Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much." As someone who experiences untold bigotry as a black queer muggleborn woman from both the wizarding world and the muggle one, she's got the art of making YOU feel like the asshole perfected. When people say rude things to her, she usually smiles and responds by asking them how their day has been and why they're so angry right now. She'll listen genuinely and try to respond with kindness because it makes that person feel like the bigoted dick they are. The ruder they are to her, the calmer and more polite she gets.

But she's not a doormat. She's the kind of girl who could go into politics with how she's capable of proving you wrong and defusing a situation in one sentence. She won't let people take advantage of her or be needlessly mean, but she's not going to stoop to their level and be rude right back. She's also capable of really subtle insults that go straight over their heads

She's a lesbian trans girl! She's also fat and hot af.

She loves fashion, but not trends. She likes to look hot, and that frequently means DENYING trends. She loves thrifting and retouching and sewing shit herself. She also makes an effort to make sure her materials are ethically sourced. Her aesthetic is basically "regal elegant princess if she decided to wear casual wear that day." She's also really great at dressing other people and loves to do so. Give her a list of what you like and a solid week, and she'll have at least 5 good outfits put together.

She doesn't play quidditch because she's afraid of heights, but she does enjoy the strategy behind the game and is quite good at muggle soccer/football.

She's a pianist. She's been taking lessons since she was like 7.

She's VERY good at networking. Her genuine care and affection for the human population, her gentleness, and her sweet voice all make her very approachable. She's the one who first made friends with kids in other houses, and she did a lot for fusing the groups.

She's seen as one of the big teachers of muggle culture at school. People feel like they can go to her with their questions, and she does a lot to help close the gap between the two worlds with the students she's close to.

Despite both these things, she's introverted, and dislikes large crowds of people she doesn't know well.

Her best subjects are charms, astronomy, and history of magic (she doesn't let binns stop her. She learns everything from textbooks).

Lily

While Marlene is the most likely to start a fistfight, Lily is the most likely to start a verbal spar. She is VERY opinionated and unafraid to make those opinions known. If you say something she thinks is wrong, she'll call you out on it immediately. Which one of them is most likely to start a magic duel is a toss-up, depending on their moods that day.

Lily takes it upon herself to watch over and take care of other people. Lost first year? Congratulations, you're adopted now. She'll give you directions, draw you a map of the school, show you all the secret passages and periodically check up on you at meals. Desk-partner who's struggling in potions? You won't be struggling for long because you've just gained a personal tutor. Crying in the bathroom? She's comforting you, helping with your problem, inviting you to girls night, and getting ice cream with you every hogsmeade weekend.

While this is something she loves doing and is a natural inclination of hers, it also exhausts her and leaves her very little energy for people she DOESN'T like.

She relies very heavily on her first impressions and gut instincts. While they're usually right, she does have some difficulty reexamining when people have changed. On the other hand, it makes her great at split second decisions, especially in tense situations.

She's a champ at wizard's chess, to a degree that frightens people. She got her own set as a gift from Alice (who taught her how to play) in second year.

Her favorite flowers are petunias. Always have been and always will be. She always keeps a pot of them in her dorm and later her house, and sends her sister a pressed one for her birthday every year, even after Petunia stopped responding.

She's an academic over achiever who LOVES school. Like genuinely adores it. She likes being in school. She also attends muggle summer school, and has an impressive command of classical literature, math, and physics.

She's a sucker for animals, and loves being outdoors in general. She's the closest of the group to Hagrid, and helps him out with stuff like taking care of the owls in the winter.

She's demisexual and panromantic, and also absolutely oblivious to romance. She hates romance novels and romcoms, can't tell when her friends are crushing on each other unless they make it ridiculously obvious (James Potter levels obvious), and even then she thinks it's sarcasm a lot. This all makes her eventual feelingd for James even more annoying to her.

She excels at every subject except transfiguration, which she's average at (this annoys her to no end and she stubbornly studies the shit out of it). The only reason she's not getting 12 OWLs is because she sees no need for Muggle Studies and doesn't like Divination. She has a particular knack for Potions and Charms though, with a special focus on Potions. She just GETS the theory and is able to translate it on an instinctual level.

Lily makes a point of not swearing in front of teachers or younger students, but she swears pretty regularly when in a relaxed casual setting, and is even worse than Marlene when she's pissed (she gets really creative).

She wanted to go to university and become a professional potioneer. She never got the chance.

While I do think Alice is part of their friend group, I also think she's a year above them, so I don't include her in my "valkyries" stuff. I do think she was a really big mentor/big sister figure for all three valkyries as they got their feet under them, and found herself pleasantly shocked when they started mentoring HER in their own ways. I also think she and Frank are the token straights.

it hurt me deeply when i see the marauders get such deep and complex personalities while the girls simply get 'loves to play w { insert one of the marauders'} hair.

the girls of the marauders era deserve to have ten times as much headcanons as the boys do.

to all the devil's advocates out there that may misconstruct my words, i understand that the boys have way more canon info to go off of but if we are always trying to develop more headcanons/make up new headcanons for these characters why couldn't we do it for the girls as well!?

NOW pls do not take what i say next as a personal and direct attack because it simply is not! I love every single character and everyone's collective developments to expand on each. it is really amazing!

from what i seen, we mostly have developed new characters like barty and evan and whoever to have such deep personalities as well and i literally do not see the same for any of our lovely ladies. (i do enjoy all the new characters we have added to the era!)

so what i'm trying to say is can we show some love for our girlies in the marauders era!!?

i'm just yapping sozzzzz

[thatswhatsushesaid]

seeing some of the tag commentary on one of my posts atm and like. .../exhale, I acknowledge I could have been clearer re: jyl's presence at the nightless city massacre. no, she doesn't just run dramatically through armed conflict like she does in cql, u got me. mea culpa. however:

1) jyl was not the focus of that post--jgy was;

2) yes, I realize it wasn't supposed to be a battlefield (like most fields where battles take place). but it becomes one because wwx shows up and turns it into one;

3) after scattering wq's ashes, jgs makes it pretty clear that the rest of the wen remnants are going to be wiped out imminently--like, tomorrow, if we take him at his word. and when wwx hears jyl calling out for him after the fighting breaks out, even he's shocked that she's at the pledge conference. from ch 78 of the EXR translation:

Suddenly, amid the battle noises, Wei WuXian heard a faint voice.

The voice was shouting, “A-Xian!”

Like a bucket of ice-cold water, the voice doused the vile flames raging within his heart.

Jiang YanLi?

When did she come to the pledge conference?!

Wei WuXian was immediately half dead with fright. He couldn’t care about the fight with Lan WangJi any longer and put down Chenqing, “Shijie?!”

anyway /waves arms, I guess this is what I get for making one (1) tongue-in-cheek comment about jyl in a post that is otherwise not at all about jyl.

[just-my-onion]

That anon from yesterday acting like Jack never existed before he met Lili.

His on a network TV show, has a successful tiktok account and has his own brand deals. I think he could easily get a comped trip if he asked.

I know, it's a bit ridiculous!

I know i joke about the 'cabana boi' thing, and said yesterday that's it not an insult (to Lili), but i actually do find it so disrespectful. Jack's a pretty impressive person, not just Lili's +1.

Coletits love to say shit like "a TikTok star – what a downgrade!" But it's not that TikTok is all he has, more that he's so funny and popular on there that people think of it before the fact he had a lead role in a 3-season network show.

Personally i find it more impressive that he's managed to become huge on a platform that's actually almost a meritocracy, for something that takes serious skill and talent, than if he was super famous because he got lucky and a show he was in became crazy popular. (It's also a hell of a lot more impressive than Cole's shitty acting career and photography opportunities he only has because he was a child star 💅)

And while La Brea is not exactly critically acclaimed, it's just insane that he booked the first proper pilot he auditioned for. Apparently his acting isn't great in it, but he must have been exceptional (or exceptionally charismatic) in the audition.

On top of that, he's smart as hell. Like, we're talking about someone whose peers thought he should consider law school at an Ivy as a 'backup' option.

[thisapplepielife]

Written for @steddiemicrofic and @corrodedcoffinfest.

the hitchhiker

May Prompt: Delay & May Mayhem Bingo Prompt: Grand Theft Me | Word Count: 408 | Rating: M | Pairing: Steddie | CW: Incorporeal Eddie, Mild Sexual Content | POV: Steve | Tags: Post S4, Eddie Munson Died, But He's Still Hanging Around, Hitching Rides

"—and if you just tell her that," Steve says, but is unable to finish his thought as he doubles over. Feeling the red-hot warmth spreading through his whole body. It doesn't hurt. It's overwhelming, but feels good.

Burning red meeting cool blue.

Steve rights himself, the hitchhiker poking around in his brain as Steve thinks, welcome home.

"Ugh, Eddie, we were trying to have a conversation here. Steve was giving me advice," Robin complains. But she's used to it now, they both are. It was weird at first, but now it's old hat.

"Sorry, Buckley," Eddie says out of Steve's mouth. It's interesting, having Eddie popping into his body at the same time he's in there. It makes him feel like his body is filled to the brim, his soul tangling around Eddie's. Grasping at the familiar presence. Poking at him. Chasing him. 

Can souls roughhouse? That feels like what they're doing. Play fighting for control. 

Steve doesn't know what did it, the bat bites probably, but ever since Eddie died, Eddie's been barging in, hitching rides inside of Steve. Making Steve take him to Wayne. Gareth. Jeff and Goodie. 

Playing guitar through Steve's hands. Hijacking him into hosting D&D.

Other days, quiet days, Eddie pops in calm. Content to ride shotgun. A comforting warmth wrapped along every nerve in Steve's body.

"What bad advice is Harrington giving? I can do better," Eddie insists, and there's a delay, like a walkie talkie with its button pressed down, as Steve's brain flips between the two of them. 

Silently arguing with Eddie inside his head. It's what they do. Going back and forth. Bantering. Steve often lets Eddie win, Eddie scampering his way to the surface. 

"About Vickie," Robin says, because she knows if Steve knows something, then Eddie knows it, too. There's no secrets between them now.

Knowing someone inside and out, having them know you the same way, is indescribable. 

In bed at night, feeling like Eddie's sprawled on top of him, but from the inside. A comforting, all-encompassing weight. Eddie mentally teasing Steve's cock hard, then stroking him with Steve's own hand.

To know that kind of touch, to feel Eddie's horniness. His love. Inside Steve's own brain. 

His dick twitches at the thought.

"Steve. Robin wants advice. Not you getting your dick hard over me. We all know I'm irresistible," Eddie says, somehow tickling the center of Steve's chest, making Steve giggle, his soul giving chase.

And if you want to write your own, or see more entries for these event blogs, be sure to check out @corrodedcoffinfest and @steddiemicrofic and follow along with the fun!

[scam-alerts]

🔎Scam Exam(ination)🔍

Seen as: I accidentally reported your account Scam Type: Account hijacking/take over

Platform: Discord

Hello everyone!

Today's scam examination was requested by @2broschlininahotub who was kind enough to send me screenshots of such a scam via an ask. Thank you for contributing!

Today we're going to talk about the "I accidentally reported you on discord account for <reason>" scam that's actively going on that- if you fall for it, will result in your account being taken over by a scammer who will then use it to scam your friends and/or buy things like nitro and gift it to them and their scam buddies.

If you use discord and don't know about this scam, I highly suggest reading this post so you know what to look out for.

If you don't want to read this post, you can watch a video instead!:

Otherwise let's get started!

-----

How it starts:

This scam starts with one of your friends falling for this scams.

Sadly if they can't warn you they fell for it via another platform (facebook, twitter, bluesky, ect), you might think that what your 'friend' sends you is a legitimate call for concern. But, thankfully, it is not, no matter how convincing it may seem.

If you find yourself encountering this scam, please report your friends account for being hacked. Discord will usually lock the account and hopefully contact the original owner of the account to fix the issue.

Part 1 - First contact.

If you are messaged by someone and they try to get your attention, and then say something akin to:

"Idk how to say this because I accidentally reported your account instead of someone else."

or

"hey there, I encountered a situation on discord where someone with a very similar name to your profile attempted to deceive me. Instead of reporting the deceptive user, I mistakenly reported your account. I'm sorry, it was all an accident. I didn't mean it."

or

"I accidentally reported your discord account instead of someone else. I mean im the one who reported you accidentally I'm sorry I got panicked and I lost control, its not good cause it was quiet alarming cause I told some of my friends to report you that's why I reached out to you to see what the discord emailed me and I'm scared cause I don't want you to get ban bc of me, I just really need your help so I can fix it."

Sounds familiar?

If you're at least a little familiar with the infamous 'I reported your steam account on accident because I thought you were a scammer' scam.. This is the same thing.

If you choose to reply to their grab for attention, you will receive a message like the one above paired with an image or google doc of the 'email/form' that Discord (it is fake) supposedly sent them (the victim).

Here are screenshots provided to me by @2broschlininahotub:

Another version of this fake email looks like this taken from reddit:

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello, Thank you for reaching out to Discord Support.

Discord is focused on maintaining a safe and secure environment for our community. We've found the account that you have been reported and it irregulated our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines. We need you to contact [anotherhydra] to resolve this case.

On the other hand, we suggest you to reach out the reported user and have them contact to the same corporate team for proper identity matching. We have taken steps to do this action since they will not be notified about these claims due to the option selected for this report type..

• In any instances that you are not aware about this report activities, kindly reach out to our corporate security head by filing a friend request on Discord for investigation. Username: [petercho.support047]

• Failure to validate the legality of an account within a specific time frame (12 hrs) might lead to account suspension, limited or ban.

• Furthermore, we are working with some officials on this matter so that we can record all processes taken legally and are not violating "Title 18 of the U.S Code, Section 798 (Disclosure of Classified Information)" By that, we can also perform legal actions if said user is found guilty of chargers.

• By taking the measure of this process we can ensure that your Discord is not prone to fraudulent activities and personal information is not compromised since this could lead to any malicious activities.

Case: Attempting potentially fraudulent activity

Please get in touch with the person you unintentionally reported as soon as possible so they may file an appeal and save their account from being seriously compromised

Sincerely.

Discord Trust & Safety

----------

Part 2 - The scare tactics and red flags.

Going through the above transcript I'm going to highlight some very clear and obvious red flags that make this an obvious scam off the bat. Mind you this itself isn't the entire scam, only part of it.

In any instances that you are not aware about this report activities, kindly reach out to our corporate security head by filing a friend request on Discord for investigation. Username: [petercho.support047]

Discord will never, ever tell you to add a supposed 'corporate security head staff member' or another user as a friend to resolve any issue you may have had involving a scam.

Discord will only communicate with you through their website where you fill out a ticket, and via email with the account that is linked to your discord account.

Think about this: Why would 'Discord' tell the victim of a scam via email, to then contact the person they reported, to instruct them to then add a 'staff member' on Discord to resolve the issue?

Because Discord will not, nor ever would, do this. Ever.

Failure to validate the legality of an account within a specific time frame (12 hrs) might lead to account suspension, limited or ban.

This is a scare tactic. Paired with #1, 'add this staff member or your account will be terminated in 14 hours!' If you were reported by someone (for real) and you scammed someone (for real) you wouldn't be given a count down to talk to someone.

They'd look at the evidence, and you'd be banned. End of story.

Furthermore, we are working with some officials on this matter so that we can record all processes taken legally and are not violating "Title 18 of the U.S Code, Section 798 (Disclosure of Classified Information)" By that, we can also perform legal actions if said user is found guilty of chargers.

Again, this is a scare tactic that a lot of scammers use with their victims. "Follow these rules and do what I say or you will go behind the bars."

Please get in touch with the person you unintentionally reported as soon as possible so they may file an appeal and save their account from being seriously compromised

Discord would. never. do. this.

I say banging my fists on my desk.

If you report someone I'm also pretty sure it blocks that user for you and sends discord a report. Discord would never say 'hey you know that person you reported for <thing>? Yeah contact them and tell them to contact us. Okay? :) '

In a realistic world, this would never happen. But alas scammers will do everything to try and make money or steal from you.

Part 3: The actual scam

Upon reading this message and talking with the person who 'reported you,' they will tell you to add another user (as mentioned above) who is a member of Discord staff.

Remember:

This is not a real Discord staff member. This is also a scammer.

When you contact this 'staff member', they will use markdown tools to make their text look 'legit', and will talk you through a 'validation process' to validate you are who you are.

Here is an example of one of these fake discord staff members asking someone to send them money to complete this 'verification' process:

Keen in mind this 'staff member' may even be the same scammer who contacted you to begin with, or possibly even a friend or associate, or it may be someone different. Either way they're obviously working together.

These fake support scammers will have a profile on discord that claims they’re a discord support team member, and will usually have some sort of 'badge/image' of certification they show you right off the bat to try and prove that they are 'totally legit (no fake)' and in even ballsier cases, they will straight up steal the LinkedIn links, twitter urls, names, images, you name it, of actual Discord staff members.

An example of one of these fake images:

The scammer will ask for basic information like your age, date of birth, and other questions seemingly related to your account identity.

Then- the finale of the scam:

They will tell you that in order to secure your account, you will need to 'temporarily change' the email associated with your account to the email account they send you so that they can 'screen/verify' your account. You will even be asked to give them a verification code to complete the 'verification'.

WARNING: Changing your discord email that YOU registered with to any other email will link it to the scammers email and THEY will gain complete control over it.

The code sent to you is to verify that you want to change your email, and once you give it to them? It's game over and you've completely lost your account.

Now they have your account and will use it to scam your friends and those in your servers on top of using your credit card to buy nitro for them and/or their friends.

----------

But don't lose hope!

If this happens to you, and you get an email from discord saying that your appeal was denied, it's probably because they are now using AI/Bots, and your account wasn't reviewed by a person.

Here is what people suggest you say/do when you contact Discord Support (via their website) if you are tricked by this scam:

Fill out the form as:  Title: Got Scammed Description: Is there any way I could talk to a human? They didn't send anything for mine but the original guy got an automated response. It just turned into “awaiting response” then I sent: “My Discord account's email was changed. The login page says that my email does not exist. I cannot login.”

They also suggested:

You could try just directly saying “My Discord account's email was changed. The login page says that my email does not exist. I cannot login." as the description in your ticket it could prove the same results.

Also:

REMINDER:  Don't send multiple tickets.  Don't keep asking for updates unless it says “awaiting response”, this will push you to the back of the queue.  If its marked as "solved" try replying to reopen the request if not, create a new ticket. “However, if you received a reply that our team is unable to provide additional information or support for your account then we cannot assist further. To continue using Discord, you will need to create a new account.” One of the replies I got. Just create a new ticket.

-----

Final Thoughts:

If something seems fishy, trust your gut. Never click any links sent to you by strangers, even if it's with the promise of 'free nitro', free items in video games, free anything, really. If it's too good to be true, it's probably not real.

I hope this helps those who need it, and make sure that if you use discord to let others know about this scam too so they can avoid it. :)

Here's a post on some tips and tricks on spotting scam blogs.

Helpful guides on how to spot scams. (by @kyra45)

Current list of documented scammers: Part 3

[olderthannetfic]

Its become increasingly apparent in recent months that I'm not welcome in the spaces the fandom I'm in uses routinely.

I feel like I should give up on being sociable and friendly, because nobody seems to be okay with specifically me interacting with them in a way that is, as far as I can tell, explicitly friendly and sociable.

They're fine whenever any other person interacts with them the same way, but I get a lot of push back. Even for something as simple as "Yep, I agree with you on this, and here is why [insert personal reasoning here]." Seems to always manage to incur an incredibly hostile response, accusing me of correcting them or talking over them, or even just "being rude" and I wasn't aware in my nearly half a century of social interactions that agreeing with someone was somehow considered rude, and I don't really know how to feel about that.

Makes me want to go back to being a weird hermit who interacts with nobody at all and hides in my own secret private corner, where people only stumble upon me by accident.

It'd protect my feelings at least.

Sorry for bothering you on this. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

--

Honestly, this is one of those rare occasions where I actually do wonder if some BNF has started a whisper campaign against you or something.

Plenty of tone deaf people do post "agreeing" replies that sound condescending and like they're trying to hijack a post and make it all about them, but if you're 50 and not 25 and this response is a new problem, it's probably not your writing skills at fault.

[fungi-funguy]

If you want a genuine answer from an ex pro-lifer, I probably would have said they simply grow up to an age that can "appreciate the joys of heaven" or something.

For real, I get that this was a "gotcha" for that pro-lifer, but there will always be one with an answer to these questions. Be prepared for them to actually respond. A lot have thought of answers to these questions, because their entire belief system is based on the philosophy that they need to make everything have a simple answer.

pro lifer blocked me on twitter for asking this but if embryos have souls, and then they're aborted, exactly how sapient are they in the afterlife? Are they forever doomed to float around with no thoughts in their heads? Is it like just animal intelligence like a little happy goldfish? Do they still have an embryonic form? I've always seen an assumption that child souls are still in child form so I guess so. Do the other people in the afterlife keep abortions as little pets? Will they stay in a fishbowl or are they too stupid + intangible and float right out again?

[licncourt]

#if anything being silly IS being vulnerable for louis just in a different way #for someone like lestat being vulnerable is showing his hurt and his fears but for louis the misery is kind of a shield #louis' willingness to be joyful around lestat is such a big deal #because he's no longer protecting himself from more hurt by refusing to heal in the first place #letting joy in means that it could be taken away #but he's not scared of that anymore because the love and trust is there!!!

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Stab me in the throat why don’t you! Letting joy in means it could be taken away!!!!! Sorry your hashtags deserved to be their own post.

Omg I'm glad you think so, it was so important to me but I didn't want to totally hijack the post with my unsolicited thoughts.

I really do believe this though! Vulnerability is very personal, it doesn't look the same for everyone. Louis isn't someone who's experienced a lot of joy in his life, so the misery is familiar and safe for him. He's protected from additional disappointment and more acute pain by existing with his hurt 24/7 and becoming totally acclimated to it. If he just expects his love for Lestat cause him pain and acts accordingly, he doesn't have to feel let down when/if something bad happens again and he even says as much in RoA when Lestat officially invites him to the chateau. He’s not truly happy or truly vulnerable with Lestat though until he lets go of that and accepts that risk is a part of love.

In addition, I also think another reason Louis struggles with opening himself up to the potential for joy is that his misery is something that's so intrinsic to his entire mental framework. By accepting that he deserves and has a right to happiness, it implicitly affirms that he's okay with his wrongdoings. It means he's happy with his "sinful" relationship, happy with the choice he made to become a vampire and a killer, happy in spite of what happened to Claudia, happy without God as a part of his life. That challenges the very core of his identity, what could be more vulnerable?

[zenkor123]

WIP Wednesday

Katniss and Peeta free-form

After the SA delusion scene:

"I think you took my verbal abuse to heart, there was no way I could have seen you for "how you really are." And besides I didn't do anything of the kind."

Peeta thinks about what Gale told him and realizes that it will be one of the last opportunities he has to apologize to her, first he must convince Katniss he was wrong about her. Peeta is still not totally convinced of what Gale and Annie are telling him, not becuase he thinks their lying he wants to see it for himself or hear it from her. He does not think she will ever talk to him and he only wants her to talk to him if it is what she wants.

Katniss feels like he actually did, she is afraid Peeta Is going to find a new fact and go back to hating him. If not Peeta then his doctors will be sure to hate on her. This isn't Peeta, this is Coin's weapon. In any event he does not know facts from fiction Peeta is gone!

A lump forms in Katniss’s throat.

The odds have never been in our favor.

"Thanks" Katniss says coldly

"I remember all sorts of weird relationships in school, I've seen them here In 13 too"

Katniss is silent.

"Special Friendships with handholding and kissing, couples that look more like friends, partnerships that are also friendships, couples with a third wheeler, and contract marriages." Lists Peeta

"Whatever we had it must have been complex with the star crossed lovers and all. Your hardly a peice of work for it."

The door is still locked Katniss does not want to engage him.

"And How would I know who your real self is? I barely know anything about you, it's all been messed up, knowing if anything in my head is real or if it came out of my ass is impossible and I've been programmed to see the worst in you." Peeta tries to reason with Katniss.

"Yeah, you sure have" Katniss quips

"But I lied when I said you were ugly, you looked stunning, but that didnt matter since I just wanted to hurt you, Annie was hijacked and she didn't bully anyone, I really am just like my mother" Peeta says

"I'm sorry too" Katniss says in a dead tone that sounds annoyed almost sarcastic but is in fact sincere.

"For what? I roasted you like hot steaming pork. You did the best you could, it wasn't right requesting to speak to you when I wasn’t in my right mind" says Peeta

The door is still locked.

I'm worthless, worthless, just like when I failed to rescue him from the arena, if I hadn't been fixated on killing Snow, Coin could never have turned Peeta into a weapon to use on me. Now the last thing they can't taken from me, the last thing I have left is killing Snow. It would have been kinder for him to snap my neck. I wish he would just shut up!

Peeta sees Katniss trapped and sees the damage his words caused her. She's banging on the door!

"Leave me alone!" Katniss shouts "I accept your apology!" She continues.

"I hurt you and no apology can make up for it"

"Then why did you apologize" Katniss snaps

"Becuase I really regret hurting you, it's the right thing to do whether you accept it or not" Peeta answers.

"Glad you feel better" Snaps Katniss

Peeta won't have another opportunity to apologize she will have a whole lifetime to avoid him. He knows he did the right thing

Katniss keeps banging on the door.

Peeta turns his attention to his pad.

The door finally opens and Katniss bolts.

Peeta does not notice as he's too concentrated on his pad.

Tagging @mollywog @arthdoesart @tryingssss (what fics are you working on?) @ashyblondwaves @mega-aulover @burkygirl @atefingersdagger @atelierlili @loungemermaid @mage-chocolate (congrats on your first Archive of our Own posting!) @absnow (any new Absnow fics in the working?)

[bearerofgrail]

Hi! :3 I saw your post about today's (5) ep of tbhx and the mention of no X advertisement since it's 36 year into commission. Whats interesting, there actually are 2 visible X ads in this episode, though they're a bit hard to spot (It would be timestamps around 1:21 and 12:23). First is the yellow ad with "The strongest hero" written on the top, which also could be seen way more clearly in ep 4 during the fight between Lin Ling and Enlighter. It's super blurry though because it's when Yang Cheng is driving a bike, and it also looks like the person in it has different (not white) clothes but the eyeglasses are clearly still there and it's clearly the same type of ad. Theres also a simple black ad with X written on it on the later timestamp. The PV for next episode also has the soda can with X. I guess it's absolutely possible that the ads/soda are not exclusive only to the current X and were also around for the other ones before him or, I actually have no idea what it could mean but it's interesting. Sorry for butting into your asks box, just wanted to let you know >.<

hi anon! that's perfectly cool for you to go in my inbox :D

but honestly, if there are ads of him around this time (i'm trying to look for them anon don't worry) some theories of him that we know –X being a v-tuber or hijacking ads – could be put on like an additional fact for those theories. it is possible that X's rise is slower than we think it is since he is technically a freelancer with little info how he got into the top.

X either broke the system or at first it was a cult following and it rose higher than anticipated. it could be both. i mean, what do we know? his character is definitely an interesting one as it seems he wants to broke the system or tell the truth.

[penvisions]

wish i never met you {a garnish one shot}

Pairing: Chef! Joel Miller x Professor! Reader (formally known as Bartender! Reader)

Summary: Fear of rejection and messing up so beyond comprehension makes you regret crossing the professional line and getting to know Joel as you do now.

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: canon typical language, joel thinks he's the one in charge but we all know it's really reader, religious contemplation, mentions of past trauma, mentions of bad family dynamics, smoking, consumption of alcohol, menstruation, talk of menstruation, blood, cramps, muscle soreness, unorthodox pregnancy announcement, reader is a hot mess, allusions to adult content, allusions to smut, mentions of past p in v, might need to add more if i missed anything!

A/N: wrote this as part of a fun, silly fic title prompt game submission from a sweet anon. it totally inspired an angsty din piece at first that i have in my drafts but then these two slammed into my brain and hijacked the idea. i just love them, your honor. i have so much love for them. NOW I KNOW THIS SUBJECT MATTER ISN'T FOR EVERYONE, I REALLY DEBATED POSTING THIS OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS BC I KNOW IT'S NOT EVERYONE'S CUP OF TEA but i feel like this is a good trajectory for these two, truly. i'm so sorry if anyone disagrees with the direction i took this in and i hopei t doesn't take away from the original series for y'all

ao3 link || series masterlist || main masterlist || ko-fi

“No, fuck off.” Was the quick response to a wide palm caressing over your back. You were hunched over your crossed legs on the couch, aware of how bad the position was for your posture. But it was the only way to find any relief on your aching back. You had thought it was cramps at first, really, but then you realized all the symptoms of your monthly cycle fell in line with something else when the bleeding never started.

“Excuse me, darlin’? You sure you wanna use that language with me?” Joel’s deep voice was tinged with an edge, giving you the chance to retract your expletives. You were never so outright with your denial, never wanting to deny the man a few feet away. But the way in which you had expressed it to an obviously exhausted Joel was maybe too bold for the late hour. But you didn’t take it, instead repeating yourself.

“Kindly, fuck off. Don’t touch me.” You pulled away from him, hunching lower under his hand to break the contact.

“That’s not much better, ya know.” Joel’s hands shifted to his waist, a thick brow raised as he took in the sight of you nearly balled up, the faint light of the screen lighting up your face as you ignored him.

A harsh contraction of your muscles had you groaning out, “I wish I never met you.”

“C’mon now, you don’t mean that.” Joel huffed, trying to keep his calm, but you knew it was hard for him even if you really didn’t feel all that good. You never took your pain or frustration out on him like this, it was always soft murmurs of ‘hold me’ or ‘can I borrow your warmth’. Never the way you were reacting now.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into y-“ His mouth snapped shut, eyes focusing on the screen. On the words you had typed into the search engine. Normally he would tease you over the typos, your fingers not working as quick as you mind for all the grace and focus you normally had to expertly wield a sharp knife.

 Your heart thumped at the sudden silence. The fizzling tension that had filled the room.

“Don’t!” You gasped out, slamming the laptop closed and shielding the device with your body completely.

“Darlin’…” You swore you could hear the cogs turning in his head. Thinking back on the depraved as desperate way you had been seeking him out when he returned home from a late shift at the restaurant even despite the haze of sleep, in the mornings before you had to peel yourself away to go to campus, the photos you had brazenly sent him without warning that had him shielding or turning his phone over throughout the day. Thinking back on the way you had been inhaling food at any occasion, none of your normal contemplation or silence after what you considered a binge. Thinking back on the way you had begun to complain of your work clothing feeling wrong and too tight on your aching body as you dressed in the morning.

When he moved to sit on the other side of the couch, far too close for comfort, you shied away and pressed your back into the arm on your end.

“Not gonna touch ya, you have my word.” He raised his hands placatingly, his expression so soft that the tears burst from you without warning.

“You do-don’t wanna touch me. Not anymo-more.” Hiccups jolted your body, making the skin you were already uncomfortable in tingle. “I ruined ev-everything.”

He regarded you with a small frown, his plush lips pulled down as he clasped his hands together in his lap. Just as he opened his mouth to speak the words flew from you.

“I remember what you said, on the line.” You narrowed your eyes at him as they echoed in your head.

‘It had been a slow day, prep and cleaning taking over most of the evening shift. It had been back before you had taken on a role in the kitchen. Sneaking fries from the bowl of them on the expo line. They hadn’t been hot or even salted, but they were better than snacking on the fruity garnishes at the bar.

He had been passing the time with who you hadn’t known at the time was his brother, Tommy. Who had driven into the city to help take a look at the empty lot beside the restaurant, both of them contemplating the construction of a patio. But they had ended up in the kitchen, hunger too strong a call.

While Joel was on the line, Tommy was beside you, sneaking fries with a wink in your direction. But you ignored him, focused on looking through the catalogue of one of your vendors. Trying to make a seasonal menu. But your ears caught the harsh grunt of the man your eyes trailed over in the midst of busy nights.

“Wouldn’t do it, no.”

“C’mon, you seriously tellin’ me you wouldn’t baby sit for me if I were to gift you with a niece or nephew.”

“No, ‘m too old. Hire a babysitter.”

“You’re full of it ‘n you know it.”

“Brother, a baby is a lot of work. Now, your baby? Even more so.” Joel leveled his brother with a look that silenced any other argument on the matter.’

The moment he realized what you were talking about, his brows flew up into his hairline and he breathed out a hearty chuckle.

“Darlin’, I was just givin’ him a hard time. You gotta know that.”

“I didn’t know you.” You stood up from the couch, body protesting the movement. Cupping a hand over your mouth, you breathed harshly as you tried to tamp down a bout of nausea. “And now that I do, I’m gonna have to consider literally everything on my own and I’m gonna hate how much it hurts to not know you any longer. I wish I-“

“No,” He sighed, brow furrowing before he pinned you with a serious expression. “You do know me now and I wouldn’t turn my back on you, on this. I’m in it, pretty girl, no matter what you decide to do.”

When you whipped away from him, shuddering breaths wracking your sore body, the crack of your voice on a sob spurred him into motion. His arms came around you slowly, giving you the chance to retreat if it wasn’t something you wanted. But you let him, the feel of his chest warm and soothing on your aching back. The push of his soft stomach comforting. His chin hooked over a shoulder, and he spoke in such a somber tone.

“Darlin’, I always thought I was too old to do this again. But I haven’t crossed fifty quite yet and the thought of you carrying my child, of loving me and my child. God, I would give anything for it to be our future. To see you blossom into yourself more, to show our baby the same devotion you give to everything in your life, you deserve somewhere to put all your love.”

One of his hands moved over the one you had on your middle. Holding you so secure, holding you both so secure.

“Joel…it’s a lot. It’s….we’re not even-“ You turned in his arms, facing him. His beautiful, open expression so full of love and adoration, all of it for you. Your heart melted in your chest, dripping low to flutter in your stomach. You weren’t even overtly religious, left over from the trauma of your childhood. Of being forced to attend mass and important holidays alongside your grandparents. The denial of your father never urging you to seek out a higher power in replacement. But the thought of technically being single and going through something like this. It made you afraid.

“There’s a ring in my sock drawer. Got it the day of our first do over date. ‘s why I was so close to the campus. It’s yours. I’m yours. This could be yours. But only if you want it.” Joel’s forehead lightly thumped against yours as he pressed in close. His breath a warm wash over your face, smelling faintly of cigarette smoke.

Looking between each of his eyes, searching for any hint of hesitancy from him it was quiet. When you didn’t find any, you felt a smile pull at your lips as you nodded your head in affirmation. Wet laughter bubbling up as his lips pressed to yours, a smile of his own for you to feel on them.

“But I still expect you to propose, can’t skip any steps with me. I know you think you’re hot shit with being crowned the city’s most prolific chef of the year but I swear to-“

He cut you off with another kiss, his moustache ticking your upper lip as he nipped at your bottom one.

“I don’t wanna miss any steps with ya, darlin’. I’m here for ‘em all.”

It was hard to ignore the stirring of other feelings in your body, drowning out the aches and pains. But when realization hit you, you pulled back with wide eyes.

“We’re gonna have to stop drinking and smoking!”

“We?”

taglist: @tuquoquebrute @jessthebaker @littlemisspascal @76bookworm76 @hiddenbabynyc @clevergirl74 @anavatazes @samiamproductions @sarap-77 @honeyedmiller @undercoverpena

[translatemunson]

cat and mouse for a month or two or three • ttfd

chapter eight of the tortured firefighters department

previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter

cw: fem!reader, afab!reader, no descriptions of reader, brains is recovering, idiots in love, short chapter after a huge hiatus I'M SORRY OK , no proofreading otherwise i’d never post this (lmk if i missed something)

A new routine took place. You spend most days inside your apartment, classes online since they were checking all the buildings on that side of the campus, on medical leave from your job because, on top of the broken ribs, they wanted you to recover from the burnout you got yourself into. That also meant you were taking mandatory therapy sessions, and maybe after a month they could let you work again. It was like being grounded from what kept you fueled in your late twenties.

Their first mistake was giving you way too much free time while bored. You wrote pages upon pages of your thesis in your first week. The moment you hit send and sat to wait for your professor’s notes, you found out you couldn’t reorganize your home because it was considered too much effort for your broken ribs. Your kitchen became the latest victim.

But a real victim to all your boredom was one door down the hall, who probably regretted giving you a copy of his keys — to be used just in case of an emergency.

“What the hell are you doing, Brains?” It was the third time this week that Buck arrived at his home and found out you were there, just casually chilling,

“Reading!” You were upside down on his couch, a romance book in your hands.

“I don’t think this position is good for your ribs. Can you sit like a normal person?”

“No. It’s boring. Also, I’m gonna babysit Chris tomorrow, so I’m hijacking your Xbox.”

“Why aren’t you doing that at your place?” He pointed to your silly reading position.

“Because I needed to tell you about your video game. Are you hungry? There’s some lasagna in your fridge.”

“Did you make it?”

“Yeah. Now shut up, they’re finally confessing their feelings for each other.”

Buck turned the TV on just to get some noises into the silent apartment. You were too busy with your book, he was too afraid of doing something he would have regretted later. Somewhere between his first and second plate of lasagna, you put the book aside and started to pay attention to the news.

“Big rescue, hm?”

“I don’t know why they keep building towers with paper thin structures and too many glass windows with shitty fire alarms. What happened to the good ol’ bricks and stones?” He was eating at the table, probably destroying the food in record time.

“Excellent question. I’ll look it up and give you an answer tomorrow”

“You’re really bored, aren’t you?”

“Oh, what gave it away?”

“It’s definitely not the same book from yesterday, you cooked a lasagna as big as the ones Bobby feeds us, you’re gonna babysit Chris on Eddie’s day off.”

“He needs to run some errands, and Chris hasn’t been feeling good lately, probably just the flu. So I offered my services for the day. What’s wrong with that?” You stared at him. Was he cuter upside down than the other way around?

“Nothing, it’s just… are you ok?”

“Please, don’t pull a therapist on me, I already had my mandatory session today. I swear I’m ok, I’m just bored of doing nothing. No adrenaline, no deadlines.”

“You’re really addicted, hm?”

“What can I say, Buckley, I wasn’t made to stay still.” As soon as the local news was over and football started, you moved back to your book. Buck got up and went for some beers. “I’m just gonna finish this and I’ll see myself out.”

“I’m gonna charge you rent for my couch.” He sat on the floor, right next to your face. Third time in his living room was a charm, right?

“Wasn’t the lasagna enough?”

“I thought that was for my Xbox. Want one?”

“No, thanks.”

You opened your book again, but the sudden proximity with Buck was the only thing you could focus on. The five o’clock shadow, the red birthmark on the left side of his face, the brightest eyes you’ve ever seen… Staying alone with your thoughts for too long was making you think of things you once judged impossible.

It was a split second, but he caught you red handed, staring at him. You smiled and moved your eyes to the pages of your book, not sure where you left off.

One big hand snatched the object from you. You turned to your side to complain and retrieve it, giving Buck the perfect opportunity to bring your lips close and kiss you. It barely turned into a deep kiss before you took some space to process what was happening. Your action made Buck a little confused, blinking his eyes and nervously messing with his own hair.

Your ribcage started hurting, so you moved your body carefully until you were sitting on the floor, face to face with him. Giving him enough time to change his mind, to say he actually didn’t mean it. Because how could he kiss someone like you?

You thought you’d never see a glimpse of fear on the eyes of one of the most fearless men you knew. Buck was too stunned to say anything, his full, pink lips slightly open. Your hand found the curve of his neck, your cold skin over his boiling hot veins.

You leaned in for another one. He pulled you closer carefully. However, it was nearly impossible to avoid the messier, helpless kisses. Evan Buckley was finally taking over your mind, maybe even your whole body.

Both of you had to move back a little, taking quick breaths after such intense kisses. You rested your hands on his shoulders and smiled.

“Did it really take me getting trapped in a burning building for us to have the courage to do this?” You bit your lower lip, trying to avoid him noticing your blushed cheeks.

“I don’t know about you, but I wanted to do this for a long time,” he confessed.

And it caught you by surprise. So Maddie was really telling you the truth.

“Wait, how long?” He avoided eye contact and you laughed. “No, Buck, please. Tell me.”

“Do you remember that shift I got your number with Eddie? So,” he took a deep breath, “I was planning on asking you out that day, but I just… I chickened, ok?”

“And right after that you ate all my cupcakes when I was at Maddie’s. Off to the best start, Buckley.”

“Not my best move, ok?” He laughed. “How many months ago was it?”

“No clue, to be honest.” You pecked his lips again.

Buck’s arms held you close, not willing to let you go. His lips were just inches away.

“Should I remind you of my doctor’s orders?” you whispered.

“You’re never walking into danger on my watch again.” Buck finally let you go, but it was written in his face it wasn’t what he wanted. His touch lingered a little longer, a little too deep. And you were sure you were mirroring his actions.

“I know.” You got his video game console and your book. “See you tomorrow?”

“Sure thing, Brains.”

You leaned over, leaving a goodnight kiss and a promise to come back to whatever you just started.

+++

“Ok, do you want some snacks? I,” you checked your storage once again, noticing how you should’ve added “do groceries” to your list. “How are we feeling about popcorn?”

“I love popcorn!” Chris replied, his focus on the TV screen.

“Popcorn it is.” You turned the machine on and measured the serving. You heard knocks on your door. “Just a second!”

Maybe Eddie was back because Chris forgot something in the car? No, he had everything in his backpack. You opened the door, but your eyes stayed on the kid on your couch. “Really, Eddie, don’t worry. I can watch him for as long as you need and… Buck.”

“Hi.” Even if he looked like he just left the shower, his voice sounded like he ran a marathon and stopped at your door.

“Buck!” You both heard Chris from the couch. “Are you joining us?”

“Only if Brains let me.” He smiled, waiting for you to invite him in.

“How could I say ‘no’? Come in, we are playing video games and having popcorn.”

“You can play with me!”

“I’ll be there in a sec, Chris. I just need to talk to Brains first,” he pulled you aside and out of Chris’ view. Not like the kid is paying any attention to you, anyway. “Hey there.”

“Hi. Why do I have a feeling you’re here to babysit me?” You move to your kitchen, rushing to find the popcorn bucket in your cabinets.

“Can you blame me? You have two broken ribs, self diagnosed burnout syndrome,” you mumbled, “ok, your therapist said you have it, and you’re babysitting Chris on a day you’re supposed to wake up after 3.”

“It’s just for a few hours, and he’s not like Jee-Yun,” you pointed out the reality: Chris was just a little bit sick and Eddie didn’t want him to be alone. “So you’re here to see if I have plans for today.”

“Kinda.” He opened the top cabinet and gave you the bucket. “Do you?”

You elbowed him on the torso, playfully.

“Watch your step, I know his reputation.” You pointed to Chris over your shoulder. “But the answer to your question is no.”

Buck smiled, satisfied with himself. “Hey, Chris, orange or apple juice?”

“Apple, please! I’m crushing you!” The kid's voice indicated a promise to end Buck’s character.

“Ok, buddy, if you say so,” he turned to you and whispered, “so it’s a date?”

“Yes, Buckley. Now are you gonna help me with Chris or not?” You served two glasses of apple juice.

“Sure thing, but I might need to run some errands later because,” and he stopped himself. “You’ll see.”

a/n: hi is there anyone here still? i know guys, i was gone, no sign of life, but hey, i'm back (i hope so). IT FINALLY HAPPENED! i had to make this chapter shorter than usual because otherwise it would be too big. so that's it. see ya soon!

[1-800-sexy-mad]

It sounds like OP already knows about the treasure trove of information still at our fingertips but for anyone who's looking for places to talk about ANYTHING — chickens, bodybuilding, roleplaying, computers — here's a list of a bunch of forums that are still alive and well. I personally really like the world literature forum.

https://aftermath.site/best-active-forums-internet-today

Also I recommend installing ublock origin if you only have 5 seconds, and if you've got about an hour, try switching to Linux. Ubuntu is beginner friendly!

Finally, OP mentioned neocities and I recommend looking at people's "links" pages on their neocities because they can take you to some really interesting, "old web" kind of sites. To find people's neocities try something like search.marginalia.nu.

I don't know I'm not done talking about it. It's insane that I can't just uninstall Edge or Copilot. That websites require my phone number to sign up. That people share their contacts to find their friends on social media.

I wouldn't use an adblocker if ads were just banners on the side funding a website I enjoy using and want to support. Ads pop up invasively and fill my whole screen, I misclick and get warped away to another page just for trying to read an article or get a recipe.

Every app shouldn't be like every other app. Instagram didn't need reels and a shop. TikTok doesn't need a store. Instagram doesn't need to be connected to Facebook. I don't want my apps to do everything, I want a hub for a specific thing, and I'll go to that place accordingly.

I love discord, but so much information gets lost to it. I don't want to join to view things. I want to lurk on forums. I want to be a user who can log in and join a conversation by replying to a thread, even if that conversation was two days ago. I know discord has threads, it's not the same. I don't want to have to verify my account with a phone number. I understand safety and digital concerns, but I'm concerned about information like that with leaks everywhere, even with password managers.

I shouldn't have to pay subscriptions to use services and get locked out of old versions. My old disk copy of photoshop should work. I should want to upgrade eventually because I like photoshop and supporting the business. Adobe is a whole other can of worms here.

Streaming is so splintered across everything. Shows release so fast. Things don't get physical releases. I can't stream a movie I own digitally to friends because the share-screen blocks it, even though I own two digital copies, even though I own a physical copy.

I have an iPod, and I had to install a third party OS to easily put my music on it without having to tangle with iTunes. Spotify bricked hardware I purchased because they were unwillingly to upkeep it. They don't pay their artists. iTunes isn't even iTunes anymore and Apple struggles to upkeep it.

My TV shows me ads on the home screen. My dad lost access to eBook he purchased because they were digital and got revoked by the company distributing them. Hitman 1-3 only runs online most of the time. Flash died and is staying alive because people love it and made efforts to keep it up.

I have to click "not now" and can't click "no". I don't just get emails, they want to text me to purchase things online too. My windows start search bar searches online, not just my computer. Everything is blindly called an app now. Everything wants me to upload to the cloud. These are good tools! But why am I forced to use them! Why am I not allowed to own or control them?

No more!!!!! I love my iPod with so much storage and FLAC files. I love having all my fics on my harddrive. I love having USBs and backups. I love running scripts to gut suck stuff out of my Windows computer I don't want that spies on me. I love having forums. I love sending letters. I love neocities and webpages and webrings. I will not be scanning QR codes. Please hand me a physical menu. If I didn't need a smartphone for work I'd get a "dumb" phone so fast. I want things to have buttons. I want to use a mouse. I want replaceable batteries. I want the right to repair. I grew up online and I won't forget how it was!

[sortagaysortahigh]

Through Time 2014. | James 'Bucky' Barnes

Series Masterlist. This is part twosies

A/N: Okay yall, here's part two, I'm just getting ready to post these bakc to back based on whats been read thru and edited again </3 Big thank yous to @anxietyandtacos and @love-chx for sitting with me while i obsess over ts and reading/rereading my drafts <3 Follows canon events, but is not fully canon compliant. This would follow CA:TWS

Summary: After waking up from a seventy year long cryogenic freeze, life is anything but normal. Sure you still have Steve as a friend, but finding out what happened to Bucky was devastating.

Warnings: 2nd person POV, Use of Y/N (not often but IM SORRY OK), angsty, spelling and grammar errors, cursing, mentions of violence, Racial themes/Mentions of racism, hydra trauma for my shaylas </3, mentions of torture (cause hydra), getting shot at, straight up violence, breaking and entering, reader was also experimented on by hydra (mentioned not depicted), no happy ending yet lmfao im sorry

Word Count: 3.4k

Bucky Barnes x WOC!Reader (Reader has vague descriptions, but it is noted that she is a woman of color!!!! Which is an important plot point!)

I'm ngl yall, the things i have to say ab this man would set feminism back so lemme stfu.

2014 Washington D.C.

It didn’t help that when you’d woken up, your entire body was on fire and you were practically strapped to a hospital bed. Except the hospital was different, the smell was the same, but there was this beeping that wouldn’t stop, and as you looked around, the screens—or pictures? were strange.

Then you noticed the large thin screen mounted on the wall directly across from where you were laying. You assumed this had to be some kind of television based on the way it played what looked to be a film in color. You knew that technicolor was starting to become more prominent a few months ago, but this—this wasn’t technicolor.

As you tried to speak, your throat was too dry, and the searing pain was still evident through your body.

Then the door opened, and Steve walked in with a redheaded woman beside him. Their clothes were odd, It did look a hell of a lot more comfortable than what you had to wear every day, and she had on pants.

It didn’t take long for you to figure out that this definitely wasn’t 1945 anymore.

Maybe you should’ve been more shocked to see Steve alive, but with the knowledge of what went into the super soldier serum, it wasn’t that alarming to see him.

Steve rounded the bed, mumbling apologies while unstrapping you buckle by buckle. He then grabbed the water bottle beside the bed—which was in an ugly plastic square shape with the image of a tropical tree or fish on it. You watched as he poured it into a cup, getting closer to you, and helping you drink it.

“Sorry about the restraints Doc, when they woke me up, I kinda kicked a few asses then took off running. Precautions and all.” he spoke as you drank the water.

You slowly lifted your arms, wincing at the burning pain through them, jaw clenched as you took a deep breath, voice throaty while speaking “Steve—what year is it?”

His eyes widened as he nodded his head, then he looked at the redhead “See, I told you she was really smart—” when his eyes met yours, you were waiting for an answer, clearly irritated “Oh, well, it’s 2014. This is Natasha by the way.”

You awkwardly waved at Natasha, still trying to ignore the pain in your body. “Steve, why the hell is it 2014, not 1945, and why does it feel like I’m getting burned alive—also is polio still a thing?”

Steve laughed at your question “No, polio isn’t a thing now. They have a vaccine for it though. Not that you’ll need it. Uh see, the thing is—how do I put this. So I was hit by the tesseract—that artifact from Odin if you remember and was frozen for 70 years underwater. The base you worked out of was hijacked by and you were put through a trial of cryo-hibernation by hydra. However, their main base that they had you in was actually burned down in 1946.”

Your brows knit together while Steve rambled trying to fill you in, then you glanced over at Natasha, she easily got the message, clearing her throat.

“Basically, you were in a deep underground lab, but all entrances had been burned down and destroyed. It ran on optimized fuel and what we believe is solar power, hence you being frozen for so long. Shield found you a week ago, and you’ve basically been defrosting since.”

You slowly nodded your head. Admittedly, it wasn’t difficult information to process, if anything you were just dreading having to catch up on seventy years of history. Not to mention the technology advancements, the irritating beeping from whatever monitor around you was enough.

“What’s next, you tell me Bucky’s actually alive.”

The silence in the room was tense. You blinked several times, gaze moving from Steve to Natasha, over and over again. 

“No—Steve! Are you fucking kidding me?!” 

Steve gasped “Language! I forgot you curse like a sailor. It’s been so long—actually I think Bucks the one who told me you cursed like that, come to think of it. But well technically he is alive. But it’s actually great that you’re awake now because we could really use your brain.”

You scoffed, now sitting up fully, wincing at the shooting pain from your abdomen up your spine.

“What the hell do you mean technically?!” Then your hands were moving to your neck, eyes wide, searching for the locket. Steve dug in his pocket, handing it to you. 

“Is now a bad time to say that we’re here to break you out of this hospital?”

You were in a state of shock trying to understand what was going on. Being stuck in a cryo-freeze for seventy years made sense, not because you would ever willingly do something like that to yourself. But based on your research and findings from the end of the war, it was clear Hydra was moving in the direction of human preservation, cloning, and mind control. 

You just hadn’t realized their scientists had successfully figured it out.

Natasha was quick to remove your IVs and monitor lines before Steve scooped you up out of the bed. 

“What the fuck—” Steve was quick to shush you as he left the room, glancing around several times, avoiding any doctors, nurses, shield agents, or possible hydra agents. He knew his way around this hospital, ducking through different corners, rushing down empty stairwells until you were all in a parking garage.

You didn’t have any time to process anything new or different, not when Steve was buckling you into the backseat of a large black car, the leather seats uncomfortable against your bare thighs. It also dawned on you that you weren’t clothed, you had on a hospital gown and that was it. 

“Can I get some clothes? Maybe a run down on the past seventy years? Do I have any great nephews or nieces? Also can we talk about women wearing pants? And what the hell is that small device in your hand Steve? Jesus—wait, do people still go to church? I mean religions been around for centuries so probably. Wait—what the hell?”

You paused, glancing out of the car window, brows knit together at the sight of people all around the city. It was easily inferred that this was modern day Washington D.C., the several signs and small flags along lamp posts indicated that much. 

The most shocking part of it all though was the sight of racially and ethnically diverse people mixing and mingling with white people. There were no segregated signs or streets, hell you’d almost given yourself whiplash the second you noticed an actual interracial couple kissing on the sidewalk.

Everyone around paid them no mind.

“So is racism still a thing? I mean, in theory it would be but what’s the scale or I guess the scope?” 

Natasha looked at you with a confused expression, then she glanced at Steve who shrugged before replying “You’ve gotta remember, we’re from the 40s. That’s pre-civil rights.”

You gasped “Civil rights? Like there was a civil rights era? Jesus Christ, I think I might faint or something. Wait—if this is Washington D.C., who’s the president?” This was the definition of culture shock, how you were able to accept what was essentially time travel so easily but couldn’t comprehend civil rights was astonishing in and of itself.

It wasn’t long before Natasha handed you her phone, leaning over the center console, explaining it to you. She’d even managed to simplify an explanation of the internet, which led you down another wormhole of questions while you followed along with her.

The good thing about being an experienced scientist and holding a doctorate degree was that you were a fast learner. Meanwhile Steve kept driving, and eventually, you all stopped at a high secluded base of some sort. It looked to be an abandoned military unit, but upon further inspection, you knew there was much more than meets the eye.

Natasha gave you a bag of clothes, ushering Steve out of the truck “Sorry if they’re a little big or a little small, I didn’t really know what you were working with.” 

You smiled at her “It’s alright, I appreciate the gesture.” Then she opened the door and stepped out of the truck. It had taken you a few minutes to get dressed, fumbling with the cotton pants they gave you, and struggling to untie the hospital gown before huffing and ripping it in half—your own strength a bit surprising.

Once you had on the outfit, which consisted of a pair of black cotton pants, white socks, a white undershirt, and a large baggy sweatshirt you were set. Although it did take a few minutes to undo the braids in your hair—wincing at the pull of a few knots and tangles. The last thing you did was open the locket, smiling at the image of Sergeant Barnes before shutting it and clasping the necklace on.

At first, you were a bit wobbly on your feet, grasping onto the car door with wide eyes the moment your knees buckled. After a frustrated sigh, you were able to find your footing, body feeling almost numb, the aching burn still prominent.

Steve helped you walk inside, and eventually after a lot of struggling and complaints on your end, you all ended up in a very large base. It was older, the technology clearly from the 40s and from what you could tell, it was still fully operational with the right person.

“See, now this, this I understand.” You spoke as your fingers trailed along the dusty computers, then you were squatting down, pulling open a few hardware cases—eyes widening the moment you practically ripped off a sheet of metal from one of them. You blamed it on the machinery breaking over time.

Steve and Natasha watched you move from place to place, connecting different wires, flipping different switches, turning a series of knobs, a few lights flickering here and there. Then you were across the room, walking like a baby deer on shaky legs until you managed to find a large breaker box, pulling it open and scanning the several Russian words.

Once you flipped three different switches, the entire base lit up.

That led to several recordings of Armin Zola popping up on screen. Then you glanced around, overhead lights now shining brightly throughout the base. A series of motorized computers spinning rapidly.That’s when you spotted the main shattered monitor, a camera following your movements.

“Ah, good, you brought Doctor Y/l/n as I asked! It is wonderful to see you again, of course, you had so much wasted potential with the SSR. Have they told you about hydra’s relationship with shield? Did they let you know about the new world order?”

You rolled your eyes at his words.

“Okay Zola, we get it, shields compromised, let me guess, we’re about to be blown up. This isn’t my first rodeo. Now before the missile hits, what did you do to me—most importantly what the hell did you do to Bucky.”

Natasha watched, glancing from your figure to Steve who simply shrugged.

“Do you not feel it already? In your bones? The new strength? The new power? We fixed you—we had so much hope for you but you were lost, another tragic demise. You could’ve been with him—side by side working under Hydra.”

You reeled back, shaking your head. There was no way they’d made you into one of their experimental pawns. But it made so much sense. After Dr. Erskine was shot, you were the next best thing to recreating the serum, you’d made the best version of it, the most effective version of it.

They needed you. By any means necessary. Sure they’d gotten to Bucky first, but they wanted to use him as a pawn to get to you.

If they’d already experimented on Bucky before his rescue, then that would’ve meant that he survived the fall. They waited for him, they knew he would fall. They knew Bucky would’ve sacrificed himself to help Steve—to save Steve.

Your eyes widened, looking at the monitor. “Zola, who was the informant?” 

His laugh echoed throughout the room. “Your precious little friend of course. Not by choice, her circle was compromised, she said too much to the wrong people. That’s how we found out about your connections to Barnes.”

“But now, he is gone and the Winter Soldier has a mission to kill you.”

Then Natasha was grabbing you, dragging you with her and Steve as they dove into a large opening below a grate, the explosion sounding throughout the room made your eyes burn and ears ring.

You woke up with another jolt, part of you hoping that it would be 1946 again and everything was just a weird dream after being exposed to too much radiation when working with Howard Stark. Unfortunately for you, this was not a weird dream and you were currently on someone’s sofa, in a house you didn’t recognize while Steve and Natasha went back and forth, meanwhile another man was in the room.

“Good to see you’re awake doc, I’m Sam Wilson, I’ll be joining you all for this whole hydra takedown situation.” He extended a hand, you shook it with a shrug. “So, you’re the Doctor that made Steve—well huge? Heard you’ve got a hit out from Hydra.”

You nodded “yeah, guess so. So is now a bad time to start with my questions again?” 

Sam laughed, shaking his head with a wide smile. You then sat up and he sat beside you.

He answered most of your questions, it was actually nice getting full on genuine answers about the state of the world. He didn’t sugarcoat things—not that Steve had ever really gone out of his way to do so, but it was always apparent that he skirted around the edges when it came to issues that impacted people like you. It was like he wanted to paint things in a pretty picture all the time, and that optimism wasn’t always needed.

Sam told you the truth, he told you that yes the world was still screwed up, yes things like racism and poverty were still abundant, but things were better now and people had strived for better.

He then elbowed you “and uh—between me and you. If we can ever get your boyfriend to not be psychotically brainwashed, anyone can get married now.” 

You blushed at that, swatting at Sam’s arm slightly.

Sam excused himself, grabbing a set of files before presenting them to Steve. You did your best to listen, but you were so tired and sluggish. It was as if your head was pounding and you were slipping into a cloud of exhaustion.

It was like you were in and out of consciousness. 

When you woke up it was because a man was getting literally dragged out of the window of the car you were in. Someone punched a hole through the glass, and from there, his body was thrown across the highway.

“Are we fucking serious?! You guys couldn’t have left me at the house?! I survived World War II for this shit?!” You moved your hands rapidly as you spoke, now finally processing that you all were in the middle of a shoot out of some sort, one of Hydra’s soldiers on the top of the car, ripping the steering wheel from Sam’s hands, the car itself flailing as another hit it multiple times.

You couldn’t stop cursing as you slid out of the vehicle in Sam’s arms. 

“Who the hell is that?! You’re kidding me right?—That’s James?!” it was as if your commentary fell on deaf ears, meanwhile Steve was being blown off of the bridge, followed by Natasha jumping and shooting. Sam was somewhere in the back, and you were crouched behind one of the black Hydra trucks. 

You sighed, shaking your head as four men anchored themselves to the cars on the bridge, clearly about to jump off, or glide down with ropes. Then you pulled open the car door, spotting a rifle, shaking your head as you picked it up.

“Peggy Carter if you could see me now.” You whispered before standing up, Sam already taking down two of the men, then you were shooting at the others, moving to the edge of the bridge, looking down at the ground where three more stood, raising the rifle, and with a steady aim, you shot each one of them down. 

It felt instinctual—now that was new. Peggy and Colonel Phillips had shown you a thing or two, but nothing like this. 

“Damn little lady, I shouldn’t have underestimated you” Sam laughed as he spoke, nodding his head at you before motioning behind you where more Hydra agents emerged.

“This is the worst day of my life! And once again! I survived a world war!” You shouted as you shot at the men, aiming low, then high, several times. You knocked each and every one down with the help of Sam. Somehow Sam had wings—that you’d have to ask him about later—and then he was dropping you off next to Natasha and aiding Steve.

Your eyes were wide as you looked at Bucky—your Bucky. Steve called out to him, but he didn’t recognize Steve. Natasha tried to hold you back, but it was idiotic, you shoved her away, shaking your head, walking towards the fight, brows knit together as you looked ahead.

“Bucky?” his gaze snapped away from Steve to you.

This wasn’t Bucky, this was the Winter Soldier, but for a brief minute you watched him falter, stumbling slightly as his eyes fell on to you. 

You knew it was the grief. You’d spent a year grieving James Barnes, he was the love of your life in some odd way. You shook your head while staring at him, tears in your eyes stinging as you watched him with clouded vision.

Then he was raising his gun at you, but he was hesitating, his eyes moving rapidly between you and Steve. Then he was shooting, and Steve hadn’t gotten to you quick enough. Your body hit the ground as you screamed like a banshee.

The bullets stung as they hit you—except you weren’t shot. You remembered what it felt like to be shot. Your clothes were torn, but you didn’t have a singular injury. It was as if the bullets bounced off of your skin. It still hurt, but there was no damage.

“So much for seeing him on the other side.”

The only true pain you felt was heartache. Bucky was alive, but he wasn’t Bucky. This wasn’t the 40s anymore, and you weren’t fully human—not like before. Hydra had experimented on you as well, they’d done something to you, altered your biological chemistry, they’d treated you like nothing more than a rat.

-

Once again Steve Rogers had managed to take down Hydra. He’d been hospitalized for a week following the successful take down of Hydra’s weaponry.

Steve had also crash landed into the Potomac River and someone had fished him out. 

You knew that it was Bucky. There was a crack in his mind, a gap small enough to slither back into, something that would eventually break down the walls constructed from brain washing and mind control, not to mention full on torture. Hydra was known for torture, it’s what they did best.

It was clear that Steve had managed to break through, even if it was just barely. It was enough for Bucky to dive into the river to save him—to save his former best friend. 

You hadn’t said a single word to Steve about it, not because you didn’t want to. But because you didn’t need to, it was unspoken, the both of you had a very clear understanding of what had happened to Bucky. There was also a clear plan that you’d go after him.

Honestly, you don’t really have a purpose in life at this point. Not when you’d been frozen in time and woken up seventy years later with newfound abilities, a broken heart, and a seat at Captain America’s table. 

So you decided that sticking by Steve’s side was the best course of action.

-

Thanks for reading my lovers <333

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