#It's going to be a long journey in terms of designs...oh god what did I get myself into TT
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I finally watched the movie a few days ago and I loved it, it's very cuteee...somehow. I would like to stylized them and make content :b
#I would have loved it to have more songs but the following ones are still good#I should definitely make Bob and Linda content they are so cute!#I can't believe it took me two years to see the movie and like four or five to get back to the 'fandom'#I'm still not sure how to draw them#It's going to be a long journey in terms of designs...oh god what did I get myself into TT#my style#painting sketch#fanart#bobs burgers#the belchers
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Exploring the new Welcome Home Update
So here's my journey through the new update and the little details that it has, this will be a very long post and of course full of spoilers.
Look at the new design for the loading screen, so Christmas-y! I particularly love the antlers on Home's chimney.
Looking good Wally! And now we have new little doodles that seem to go with the holiday.
Ok so according to the admins no more bugs so wonder what will be different this time. Onto the news page then
Also I'm really digging the new background
Ok starting the FAQ now and some questions and answers are interesting. So they've been receiving more material covered in goop. They kinda adress in universe the move of the website, due to malicious material and in the code of the page.
And there is one new hidden message in the answers (I think) "The numbers are so hard to read. Sometimes I can't see them" So do we have to look for numbers now?
Took a detour through the stickers and they have new ones! There is Wally making a Home out of snow, sleeping Julie, I think Frank singing Carols to a butterfly, Poppy with a Jello thing, Eddie with a ton of presents to deliver, Howdy with some relatives, Sally as the star of a Christmas tree and Barnaby with a snowman.
Also with the "Welcome Home" banners two are a bit more desaturated now. And now that I think about it there are some stains in the main banner too
Neighborhood
Anyway unto the Neighborhood! Looks so cute although I'll be honest the clock tower is a bit weird and the trees feel a bit more intense at the edges or maybe that's just me
Eddie seems quite normal though now apparantly he has a mother, I'm confident that didn't use to be there. Is it weird that other than Wally hes the only one that didn't add anything new to his home for the season?
I think Howdy's description also changed a bit but nothing alarming. His store now seems to have signs welcoming his family for the holidays.
Checking Barnaby's description they seem to all have a bit more background info, since he apparently left his farm life to come to Home. Ok what does "Barnaby’s middle initial was often rotated in terms of what it stood for" mean???
Poppy is so cute! Is she holding cupcakes decorated like the characters or did she already do that? Ok but her new details feel very interesting: she claims to be able to fly but it's never shown and she never leaves her house to the point of being excluded from some events (like Wally's Homewarming party I guess)
Sallys is fine. She's besties with Poppy I guess and she can shine??? How do you make a puppet shine?? Were they roommates maybe?
Oh Julie got quite a backstory. Named siblings, she has paws and used to live in the forest on the outskirts of Home in a cave with her family. And she hibernates that's too cute!
Great my dear Frank still gets no background info (which is very interesting) but he goes get forced heteronormativity.
Ok and Wally is kinda similar, no background info just very dedicated to Home. And I''l see about coming back to the As above so below page since I can't seem to click it, might just be me. You can still see the goop at the doorstep though
Merchandise
Ok so first off the Merchandise page has a different background to the rest, some colorful static and took a bit to load.
oooh they even changed the layout for the phone since you could hear Wallys call, that's such a cool detail
Maybe I'll go back and see if Eddies or Sally's stories have been changed in the audio or transcipt but I'll stick to the new stuff for now. Now that i think about maybe Sally's doesn't have the bit where the transcript couldnt understand it.
Finally reached the wish book and I love it so much, this is so much work all around! My favorites are the Frank and Wally pillows, Eddie Dear Lil' Mailman's Kit, the Home Clock and specially the tree skirt! I now have to make those cute neighbors
Oh my god the record has the perfect Santa voice. And.. interesting that the ad cuts off when we get to Eddie. I'm not really surprised thought it would do something when it got to him or Frank, still suspicious.
Homewarming Story
The sound editing for all this new items is amazing!
I love the bit of the characters tripping up the narrators, this one just hasn't been able to get it right.
Hey is it me or in this one they've been a bit more insistent that Frank is a bit too literal but in a not so good way, not that much more intense but can't help but notice it. Seems a bit meaner
The return of Walliford!
Good to know Home uses he/him I guess
excuse me the fuck was that sound distortion???
and then it ends kinda abruptly, so that's that...
Where's my Eddie by the way, they didn't ask him and didn't find him while out on the town. I better hear him at some point or I will riot.
We have a code!
Ok so I was skimming the rest of the material before choosing what to listen to next and saw the cereal and craft at the back! So I guess now I have to find all the little drawings in the page and see when come from that
So I did listen to a few more songs, nice to see Eddie and Frank interacting as always, and noticed that in the transcript pages there are some entries for Mistery Audio, which are actually three of the previously hidden videos so that's interesting
Also not all the pages have four drawings some only one, so I've been trying to keep track which symbols i found where in case it matters. Still don't know what they're for just going around collecting them
Ok nvm I was doing things out of order and now that I got to media can see they are mentioned there
So after finally getting all the little things and going back to tumblr cause honestly I didnt really get what to do, I'm guessing it leads to a website, since one of the pages just has www as the code, so I'll try that I guess since I saw that there is a secret website somewhere. If it takes me too long I'll just look it up
Secret website
Nvm I'm too impatient at this point and I think i was missing a few letters so I just looked it up
Ok so that's interesting, so this person is kinda like the one behind the scenes talking to us along with whatever had infected the website before. They mention how the curator got sick (???) but is better now and that they'll try to update this website with the weird things they find
So the phone is one, like the weird glitched audio from Wally. This audio is interesting cause it plays out technically in real life but Wally speaks as if they are living out their lives...
And then moving on to the commercial they are speaking again of being compelled to know more, to see and wait. I'm sure some is curiosity but that can't be all
ohmygod this is more than 20 minutes long, the effort it must have taken Clown and team is monumental
that little animation is so cute!!!
fast forward many commercials and we have Eddie!!! And even a whole hand helping Poppy or something.
god the tobacco comercial of course they would have one
My poor Eddie boy is so anxious and depressed, why is no one talking to you bud? Like not getting him a present is a thing but not even Julie called him to play... and now is he's spiraling and even mad, that's unusual for sure. Also what's with the perspective of his videos, everything is a commercial or in the case of the secret videos it's interactions with other neighbors. This is more like the secret videos that we're seeing from someones POV, but not even that, we're observing him not looking through his eyes
Oh my poor Eddie is certainly going through it, who let them expose him to The Horrors? The horror aspect of this ARG sure has started to pick up speed, even I picked up some anxiety from that last segment
Also I did notice that Frank eventually dropped the Mr Dear for Eddie when he got more worried, almost like hes more worried than for an act that he has to put up huh?
So that was the newest Welcome home update. I can say it was everything I hoped for and more!!! The team behind it really gave it their all. From VAs for the audios to all the visual and graphic artists for the commercials its all so wonderful
#welcome home#welcome home arg#welcome home spoilers#welcome home eddie#welcome home frank#welcome home update#experiencing media#hey this is my stuff
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And with that, the final fable smp season comes to an end. Goodnight. /ref
So. The finale. The last ever stream. It's been a long journey, multiple years in the making, and I've finally seen it.
Cutting this bc it's unnecessarily long-
The ending in general:
Shit. I'm watching Raes POV first, at regular speed for once. I haven't even gotten through the Raecap without tearing up, thisll be fun-
Ohhhh the battle music! They're almost at the portal lol thisll be fun- okay you know I thought getting through the portal would be more difficult tbh lol
Athena no! No!!
Okay good...
Fable, sir, do you really think they'd give you their power after everything you've done?
Dude this cutscene is so cool! Also hey Violet, thanks for helping ^^
Guys I love these monologues so much they're so fun and great and I love them ^^ also the acting of everyone during them is so good-
Yooo icarus good job! Me me when they finally see reason bc of what Fable said about Violet-
Yippee, our brothers, they're better now!
Hmmmm I wonder where the powers possibly could've gone!
Guys they're all happy and safe! I'm so glad that this went well.
Dude I love Addie so much-
This whole thing was such a good mix of funny and tense-
Well now I'm sobbing again. This is the end... it's been such a long time coming and I still wasn't ready. But you know, it's fitting that the finale is the stream that makes me cry. Time to watch all the different endings and cry about those too-
Raes endidng:
Oh no, our brothers, they're broken again (but on good terms this time)
Wolfs ending:
Guys he gets to be a dad and he has his mom back, Veah is so cute, they're all so happy! I'm so happy to see him be happy and safe and surrounded by the ones he loves. Also, Rae being the Vessel of Wonders makes so much sense, it's such a fitting title. And all the art is stunning! That whole sequence was just chefs kiss.
Awww those talks between him and Ven and between him and Violet were so sweet! I love them so much-
Jamies/Bruins ending:
Him being the God of Rebirth also fits well. And I'm glad that they managed to figure out the portal situation! I'm glad that he gets to be with his loved ones and grow old with them. Also, Malitae in the overworld! Yippee! They must've been soo excited. Also, all the art is gorgeous ^^ Guys I love them so much.
Caspians ending:
Guys he's happy! They're all happy! And he got to propose and marry his boyfriends and rebuild the records, I love that for him!! Also, he got to see momboo again ^^ and he learned to make paper which is so cool ^^
Dude those creature designs??? They're awesome! I love them ^^
Also, I didn't actually expect Momboo to be back so that was a nice surprise ^^ and the bit of Easton acquiring more and more degrees will never stop being funny to me. Also, good for Arisanna and Momboo ^^ I'm glad that they're all happy.
Athenas ending:
Guys they actually got crowned, I cant, that's so cool! And there's so many new gods now ^^ me when she finally met their mom, can finally be happy with his new family and doesn't have to worry about things going wrong. Also, that coronation fit is so pretty! I love them so much-
Ocies ending:
I'm so glad that she got to reunite with dead partners. I'm also glad that she gets to live with her family and talk to Momboo and build and just do stuff she enjoys. Guys I love them all so much, Calypso is adorable and Oscar is too.
Ulysses ending:
Yeah that fits. Him ending up as a story teller and growing out with a giant family by his side is the best outcome he could've possibly gotten. I'm glad that he got to be happy and be around so many people that love him so much. I'm glad that he got to travel the world, find other telchins and that he got to reunite with his partner in the end.
Vens ending:
How did they get into the worldport? Sorry lol I don't have a lot of thoughts about this one, mainly just confusion.
Arisannas ending:
She gets to not worry about losing the allays, this is a win ^^ also me me when she's a teacher and the one working on the records and when her and momboo exist-
And finally... Icarus whole POV:
Fable going "were just gonna get their powers, nobody needs to die (:" will never not be funny to me bc nobody believes him. Also, you really think they'd forgive you after everything you've done Fable?
Sorry you said "the people are assaulting the portal" and still expect us to take you seriously? Fable please lol
Okay rewatching the monologues section in Purgatory just highlights the incredible acting from everyone again. Its so cool to see so much emotion portrayed through the medium of minecraft roleplay.
Hmmm watching that whole group hug thing from icarus POV is so interesting bc they clearly aren't doing well but everyone else is just glad that they did it and they're all safe-
Everyone else: happy, bantering, thinking about the future
Icarus: lights go brrr, in pain, realising that they're running out of time
Oh no, our brothers, they're broken-
Noooo not icarus actually jumping??? Great I'm crying again lol I didn't expect to do that anymore today bc I've cried about this so much already-
Guys I love Midas they were just trying to protect Icarus
I didn't expect that ending. I mean I knew that they'd become quixis bc spoilers but I didn't know nearly enough about the quixis lore to predict that. I didn't expect to see the other versions without the bleeding eye. I didn't expect every world to get changed/fixed. Guys I'm sobbing...
So that's it huh? That's the end of Fable smp. It's over, just like that... I'm gonna miss it. I'll miss Raes obsession with coffee, Icarus birds, Fenris businesses, the whack changing random things, Malitae being Malitae... just everyones shenanigans. I didn't expect to cry about this as much as I have... I think I've seen every ending now but I'm not sure. I spent most of today just watching all the endings in regular speed, I'm not okay lol, my thoughts definitely aren't cohesive rn. I'm glad they're all happy though! I'm just sobbing bc it's over and they're happy and I'm happy that they're happy but I'm also sad bc this is the end.
I'll make another post tomorrow once my thoughts are more coherent. For now, thank you for reading this unnecessarily long and rambly post. I hope you're all doing well after this and a good [timezone] for all of you!
#indigo rambles#guys im sobbing#its over and im not okay#how am i supposed to be normal after this???#fable smp#fable smp finale#fable smp rae#fable smp wolf#fable smp fenris#fable smp jamie#fable smp easton#fable smp momboo#fable smp athena#fable smp ocie#fable smp ulysses#fable smp ven#fable smp arisanna#fable smp icarus
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((Warning, long response incoming!! Sorry in advance!))
I totally agree with your vent post! While I really enjoy the fandom's diverse takes on Nari and Lamb's dynamic, motivations, and designs, I find that in AUs where they’re really horrible to each other romantically, they seem to lack any real chemistry. In these AUs, I often wonder what they could possibly even see in each other and wish they’d just move on, find someone else, or leave entirely. Oh well, at least I can enjoy the neat art styles. :/
I’ve also noticed that in AUs where Lamb abuses Nari, his agency is often completely stripped away, including the ability to care for himself, which feels annoyingly infantilizing. He also simply endures the abuse, like a battered spouse, with little to no pushback. It's frustrating, mainly because it feels like punishment for the sake of punishment, with no real motivations behind it. To me, these portrayals of Nari tend to exclude any grey area and lack nuance in terms of character development. They seem to focus on portraying Lamb as "good™" and Nari as "bad™," all while having the first abuse the second, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth, tbh.
((Btw, I feel that if someone tried to trap Nari again, whether through marriage or whatever else, he would try to leave as quickly as possible. He spent a millennium trapped; even if he could get the crown back, why would he risk staying, only to be trapped again?!))
Honestly, your work is one of my favorite depictions of Nari and Lamb because you give them both agency and clear motivations, while highlighting their strengths alongside their flaws. I particularly love how Nari's departure allows him to heal and find himself. You also take into account the complexity of not just their dynamic, but also their interactions with the Bishops and the rest of the flock. It feels like you genuinely care about how these characters will end up. The AUs you create are so fun, I’m always impressed with how developed your worlds and scenarios are. Ultimately, I find your fics really interesting to read. As someone who loves world-building and visual development, your work has inspired me in how to approach my own AU.
((I have a lot of feelings about this and could go on forever, but I won’t—otherwise, I’d have to include a tl;dr! XD))
But anyways, thanks for your time and have a good one!
(No worry I love long asks <3) Long answer so below the cut
You! You get it! Though I won't sit here and say I don't enjoy toxic fictional relationships, but it all depends on the framing for me. In a lot of cases it feels like shipping for the sake of shipping. I mean in Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, Unfulfilled, I definitely went with the toxic Lamb angle, and the more I think about that particular AU the less I want there to be any sort of positive feelings between the two. The more I think about that AU the less appeal romance has in it for me, and that's how I feel about a lot of AUs I see on here.
That being said, freak4freak power couple who are horrible people to everyone but each other is really fun lmao-
That's a big reason why I started God in a Godless Land in the first place if I'm honest. I wanted to explore a Narinder whose healing journey did not revolved around the Lamb or them being his caretaker, where when they meet again they're on as equal footing as a god and a semi-mortal can be. Spoiler alert, but Narinder and Lamb will have a conversation about this later.
And yeah I find it really boring when people throw nuance out the window. I don't like lumping all the blame on one character. I mean, Narinder was bad, yes, but at the end of the day the red crown was his and the Lamb did betray him, but most people shift it all onto Narinder. Also mostly unrelated but I think a lot of people forget/ignore that he did not want to be spared. He protests when the Lamb spares him and laughs when the Lamb kills him, so when I see an AU where they have him cowering in fear and begging for his life it's just like. I'm sorry what. That cat is not afraid to die. If anything he's probably afraid to live. (Side note, I also take issue with Unholy Alliance pushing almost all of the blame onto Shamura)
But yeah, in a lot of AUs I just. I want Narinder to either leave or find someone in the cult, at least, who will help him detangle his identity from the red crown and death itself. I would love to see more people exploring his healing arc separate from the Lamb. Obviously I tend to focus on his relationship with the Bishops, but it's also nice when people let him strike out on his own.
Narinder spent a thousand years trying to get out of chains, there's no doubt in my mind that he wouldn't let the Lamb even metaphorically chain him down. That's another thing about Godless Land that hasn't really been touched on yet; when Narinder chooses to settle down in Riverwood, it's his own choice. No one is making him stay and he's not subservient to anyone. There is no master, no one to be bowed down to and no one bowing, and he chooses to stay. When Wren confesses his feelings, Narinder can say no. There's no power or status difference between them in the godless lands. He can say no. He chooses Wren purely because he wants to; he isn't bound to obedience or subservience. It's his choice, and it is also so so easy to make these things his choice with the Lamb and cult as well, but all too often it's not. And, in that conversation between them I mentioned earlier, Narinder even acknowledges this; had he stayed in the cult and the Lamb shared with him their feelings, he probably would have accepted because that's how cults work. You don't reject the leader and you don't reject the god. He would have felt like he had no choice.
(Also this is just a personal me thing but I am very bored of the "Narinder tries to get the crown back" angle lmao I mean, go off y'all, write what y'all want and have fun with it. I'm more partial to "Narinder either chills out immediately because sunlight and berries and sleep for the first time in a milennia" or "Narinder goes into retirement mode and just shrugs his shoulders any time anything happens- your cult not mine")
hhhhh thank you so muchhh I really do love the stories/worlds I create. And I understand on some level CotL is like... a story about cults and killing and things are inherently unhealthy, all things considered, but I really really wanted to focus on the idea of Lamb (and the Bishops, once they've chilled the fuck out and basically became cleansed lol) wanting to change the world (even if they end up repeating patterns before figuring it out) and Narinder learning to live again without the weight of the life he once lived on his shoulders. But the shift for the gods from being worshiped deities who command and don't give their followers a second glance to worshiped deities who protect and love their followers...... they really do want to change things hhhgjg
I would have more to say myself but I have 5 minutes before class starts so imma leave the response here kjgfjk but thank you so much, I'm glad you're enjoying my stories!! I'm having a blast writing them so I'm happy to hear someone out there is enjoying them <3
#ask#/neg#<- tagging it this for the contents of some of what I'm talking about#I want to emphasize that people can write and draw whatever they want to#as long as YOU are having fun making the thing that is what matters#it's just something I won't interact with bc some of y'all's depictions of them make me genuinely sad for one or the other#in other news hi hello more people should indulge in shipping OCs with their favs#NariOC is fun and I won't take criticism <3#posts from school
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Chapter 1: Paper Pagoda
Narrated by William.
William: Almost there!
Susan: You can do it!
Narrator: Very carefully, I add some glue to the assembled tower, align the edges, and fix it onto the base plate.
Narrator: Then, using a length of nylon thread, I tie Susan’s origami crane to the protruding eave.
Narrator: Some of the cranes’ mouths are wonky, and some have flat bodies.
Susan: I used my magic on all of them!
Susan: Stick them on the tower and they’ll never fall down!
Narrator: So, Susan and I tie her magic cranes to the roof, finishing our “collaborative” paper craft of the Cloud Empire Tower.
Choose either “Paper craft?” or “You like doing paper crafts?”
If “paper,” ...
You: What’s paper craft?
Narrator: Paper craft is the art of making delicate 3D sculptures out of paper.
Narrator: You can take a simple piece of paper and turn it into works of art.
If “like,” ...
You: You like doing paper craft?
Narrator: Yeah! You can turn a simple piece of paper into works of art.
--
Narrator: You just need to cut, glue, and assemble it into complicated and wonderful shapes.
Narrator: It’s like alchemy, combining different elements and materials by arcane means to create new objects! It’s amazing!
Choose “Why Cloud Empire structures?”
You: Why make a traditional Cloud Empire building and not a castle or skyscraper?
Narrator: One time a teacher told me...
Teacher: The Cloud Empire is located to the east of Miraland.
Teacher: It has a long and prestigious history, like the Pigeon Kingdom to the south.
Teacher: The people of Cloud Empire are oriental in appearance.
Teacher: They wear elegant and loose-fitting garments, and their traditional buildings are oriental in design.
Teacher: Cloud Empire buildings are made primarily from wood, rather than concrete and steel.
Teacher: Cloud Empire architecture embodies the wisdom and experience of earlier generations.
Teacher: In terms of structural precision and classical exterior.
Teacher: Take for example, these eaves, known as “flying eaves” ...
Narrator: That’s what got me interested in Cloud Empire. I read a lot of books about it.
Narrator: Looking at the pictures in this travel guide, I’d LOVE to go to Cloud Empire and visit all their old buildings.
Susan: Will! Will! Are you reading those silly books again?!
William: Check out this Cloud Empire building! So beautiful.
Narrator: The tower in the picture has many levels, and the wood is carved with intricate and floral designs.
Susan: “Cloud. Empire. Traditional. Fresh. Pastries. Limited time only”?!
Narrator: Typical Susan, distracted by the food advertisement.
Susan: Oh my god! It looks so delicious! Award-winning pastries! And the packaging is printed with flowers!
Susan: That’s it! On our next vacation we’re going to Cloud Empire!
Narrator: Mom promised us, if we did well on our exams, she would take us on a vacation. But thinking about Susan’s assignments...
Susan: Don’t worry! It’s just an exam. Nothing a magician can’t handle! Leave it to me!
Narrator: To make sure we could go, every day after school I helped Susan with her homework.
Narrator: She studied very hard and got one of the top 10 highest scores in her class.
Narrator: According to her, it was the magic of the east that inspired her to break her personal best.
Narrator: So as it was, our family set out one sunny morning on our first journey to Cloud Empire.
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
#william#shining nikki#chapter 1#transcript#sr designer#cloud#cloud empire#paper pagoda#origami#arts and crafts#vacation#crane#tower#studying
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pasted from my notes app:
okay i am compiling all my thoughts in a note as i watch lmao
1. love the dog. he’s adorable
2. journey!!!! separate ways- what a good fuckin song
3. now eurythmics?! this movie has a killer soundtrack. i did a jazz routine to sweet dreams once upon a time. it was so fun lol
4. the weird white robot-y ladies are giving me hardcore like, austin powers vibes lmao
5. hahahaaaaa mr orange guy… i like his helmet
6. oooooh there’s multiple orange guys. they both have cool masks/helmets. something about being unable to see the face and yet totally understand the emotion fuuuuuucks me up
7. omg this is going to get long i’m so sorry i’m like a quarter through the movie 😅
8. very good fight scene choreo, that always makes or breaks a show for me. poor choreo is painful to watch, but this is good! i like
9. umm. I’m guessing dad is the bad guy. he’s kinda shady lmao (oooooooh it’s a dad clone. love clones. they always throw wrenches in plans)
10. lmaoooooo dad so disappointed sam only has a dog and no gf 😭
11. haha is that a daft punk cameo? not my cup of tea in terms of music but that’s pretty neat
12. OH MY GOD MICHAEL SHEEN I LOVE HIM. he plays the most insane characters- and also the sweetest (aziraphale in good omens 🥺)
13. okay ngl i keep hearing “rinzler” and thinking of the rizzler and i can’t stop laughing about it 😂
14. LMAO HE JUST BONKED THE DUDE. i love percussive maintenance, that’s how i fix my car
15. oooooh i love a good “i was a good guy before i was evil and i remember” moment. Good shit
that was really good! i honestly didn’t remember any of it from whenever i watched it but that was dope. i can definitely see how you’re so invested in the story! now i’m pumped for your fic whenever it comes out 😂🥰
Answering all of your notes.... under a readmore so this isn't too too long, haha
1). Yes!!! Marv is so cute!!
2). I love that song so much.
3). yes!! the sound track is really good, but you won't find those two songs on it haha.
4).I've never seen that movie, so I'll take your word for it, haha. They are really interesting and I am intrigued by them lore wise, sad we don't get more about them in the movie (idk if theres more in the tv show? I haven't watch it yet cause it got canceled and ended on a clif hanger, but I should).
5/6. yes!! orange guys!! I love all of their designs, except for Jarvis (Clu's assistant), I know they where going for like.... hes weird and kinda cringe, but they could have done his design way better.
7. No worries!!
8. yes! the fights are good, and I think even tho Sam is like, a newbie to it, it still feels realistic? like the guy base jumps, I feel like him knowing how to fight is reasonable.
9. yeah that whole scene is so?? trippy haha. (I now, of course, only watch Rinzler doing his thing in the background when I watch this scene haha)
10. YESSSS ugh, I feel like he's more so disapointed that Sam isn't giving him much to go off of?? to Sam this is still the guy that abanonded him, but to Kevin this is his kid that he hasn't seen in so freaking long (time works differently on the grid, not to get super into it, but one year our time is 50 years grid time. So Kevin has been on the Grid for over 1k years.)
11. DAFT PUNK DOES THE WHOLE SOUNDTRACK hahaha. Sorry, they are my og masked band and I still love them so much <3 (Legit I've only been listening to sleep token and daft punk for the majority this month). So all the music in the movie? was them, and that's why they where in it! really cool to me haha.
12.YES!!! he's such a good actor, shape shiftier I swear. His design is so cool, and I like Zeus as a villain. He's so interesting and I want to know morrrre. But we'll never get it oof.
13. LMAO
14.Yes, Kevin bonking that guy is so freaking funny. I feel bad for the program, but like. i love that scene. It's such a callback to the first movie, when Kevin was a cocky little shit, and I love it so much.
15. Tron in that scene breaks my heart.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!!! Like, I just.... legitimately can't express how excited I am that you liked it??
and yes... my fic..... I was working on it when I got your ask.... Rinzler and Sam are interacting... and I am... LIVING. HAHA. So little has happened it feels like, and yet... 18k... whooooo boy. I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being my longest fic ever oof.
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hey, sorry for bothering you but i'm seriously considering starting to draw digitally (i have never drawn before except for when i was a little kid). i love your art so i was thinking if you would maybe give me some tips? about anything, really. like if i should at first just purely focus on the basis and nothing else, graphic program recommendations (preferably free or cheap ones since i'm not 100% sure if i'll actually keep drawing long-term), etc.
just anything that you think would be useful for me.
thank you a lot in advance
OOOH BOY where to start (。・//ε//・。)
it partly depends on whether you already know how to draw a little. I'm not saying you have to be good at it, but if you've already put some work into your traditional skillz it's going to help. oh also, if you do have some tradart background and you switch to digital? be prepared because with your first few drawings it's either going to be the best you've ever drawn or it's gonna feel like you're picking up a pencil for the first time in your life all over again. both of these stages are temporary, and generally settle on an equal middle ground in a few days, at least until your hand's gotten used to the medium
my FIRST chance at digital art? drawing with my finger on my phone. it's far from ideal, as you can probably guess, but it got the job done while i played around with the things only digital art could do. the next step, still on mobile devices, was getting one of those pens for writing on your phone. no pressure sensitivity, accuracy was still shite, but it did allow me to draw in a way that was more similar to how i drew traditionally. try to check if your device has compatibility with digital pen accessories, you might get one that's a bit more sophisticated than literally just a tube with a flat nib that works through normal touchscreen. i bought the sketchbook app back when it was still property of Autodesk. I haven't updated it since, so i have no idea how the new company is handling it, but it was a pretty solid app when i used it
if you already want to go full drawing tablet then DO NOT, for the love of god, DO NOT buy a screen tablet. i promise, drawing on a screenless one is in no way harder or more unnatural, you hand-eye coordination adapts to it very quickly. they're super cheap compared to screen tablets, more portable and better suited for a beginner. my first serius tablet was a wacom intuos back in the time when wacom partnered with clip studio paint, which was a DEAL because now i have a lifetime access to it despite having bought the tablet years ago and the PRO version of the program costing like 50 fucking dollars. definitely keep your eyes peeled if they do anything like that again because it's very much worth it, but if they don't you can also choose a cheaper brand. fuck wacom, go small corp.
for pc/laptop art programs your best bet in the open source scene is 100% krita. it has a couple of unique settings that make it weird to draw on for people who are used to "standard" professional art programs (which is the reason I don't go back to it anymore), but if you have no experience with any other art program, then absolutely go check it out, it won't be an issue. it's got a thriving community that keeps updating and adding stuff, so they're not gonna drop you off out of nowhere. as for the drawing itself? once again that's gonna depend on where in your art journey you are. it's been wayy too long for me to remember good videos for absolute beginners, but if you've got some of the bases down then proko and sinix design are some of the best teachers i can recommend wholeheartedly. i do have a couple more people on YouTube in mind, but I haven't seen their work in a while, so i wouldn't wanna risk sending you in the wrong direction.
one final tip that's worked out very well for me. y'know what's one of the best things you can watch? drawfee. animator vs cartoonist. pros animating in gartic phone. not only because karina and julia are the funniest motherfuckers on earth, but because seeing people's drawing process in real time (coupled with the sense of companionship of watching a group of friends have fun for your entertainment) actually puts you in the mindset to draw yourself and lets you study their work in a way that simply viewing the finished product never could.
trace trace trace, trace references, trace photos, trace art you like (but don't post it) and do it smartly ie try to figure out WHAT you're tracing, the shapes you're actually putting on paper and how they interact with one another and their environment. take your time, experiment with different techniques, take a break when you need to, watch your neck and back posture, draw from your your shoulders, not your wrist, those 30s "do this and this and this to draw this thing" style tutorials that don't explain the thought process behind those passages are a scam so fuck em, make mistakes make SO MANY MISTAKES, then learn from them, grow from them and make some more.
oh, and have fun, of course.
welcome to art :D
#ain't rereading all that so if you see typos no you didn't ✌🏻😗#good luck and have fun!#answered asks
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Holy crap. Look at Kate Herron's shirt. When the Loki director pops up on Zoom, she's donning the most glorious image anyone will see since we laid eyes on Alligator Loki: A Teletubby wearing the Loki horns. Are the Teletubbies Loki variants? Sure, why not!
"I got it on Instagram," Herron says. "There's an amazing comic book artist and he designed it. He made it into a T-shirt for me because I saw it and was like, 'That's incredible. Can I get it for the press junket?'"
Herron, no big deal, just pulled off an MCU miracle. Entering a mammoth franchise with, notably, some of Sex Education's best episodes under her belt, the director deftly brought a plot involving multiverses and Richard E. Grant in a cape and superhero mumbo-jumbo to brilliant, beautiful life. Following Loki's tear-jerking, mind-bending finale, the series has been dubbed by critics and fan's alike as one of Marvel's best efforts—which is no small feat. Of course, we needed to ask Herron how she stuck the landing. Following the most epic finale you, me, or any Teletubby can remember, Herron talked to Esquire about the Miss Minutes jump scare, filming the finale's introduction of He Who Remains, and why she won't return for Season Two of Loki.
ESQ: How are you doing?
KH: I'm good. I think I feel very relieved that I don't have to sit on the secret of He Who Remains anymore, It was a very big secret to hold, but for an important reason, right? Because it's such a good character to be launching. So yeah, I feel good.
ESQ: Loking back at your old interviews, you have such a good poker face when you're avoiding spoilers, but you're also incredible at giving aggregator crumbs.
KH: I play a lot of board games, so you need to be quite good at strategy and poker faces so people can't always read your hand. So I think weirdly board games have prepared me more for working with Marvel than anything else.
ESQ: I have to start with the Miss Minutes jump scare. What went into the decision to make her a memeable, creepy apparition in that moment?
KH: I love horror, and my executive, Kevin Wright, knew that. Me and him were talking about Episode Six and I remember that he was like, "Oh, maybe you could do something creepy of Miss Minutes." And I immediately was like, "We have to do a jump scare!" Because I haven't got to do a good jump scare in anything yet and I really wanted to, because a lot of my friends are horror directors. I was like, "I can't let them down." So I was really excited to have a shot at doing a jump scare. And Miss Minutes, it was really fun testing it because we'd kind of bring different people into the edit, me and Emma McCleave, the editor, and we'd just play it for them, watch them, and check that they were jumping when we cut it.
ESQ: One thing that I think is getting missed in all the craziness is that we see a peak moment of the love story between Loki and Sylvie. Where does the finale leave the companionship that they found in each other?
KH: When I started the show, that was always in the DNA of it—that Loki was going to meet a version of himself and they were going to fall in love. And that's honestly what drew me into the story, because I directed Sex Education. I love stories about self-love and finding your identity and your people. Loki is such a broken character when we join him, and seeing him go on this amazing journey with all this growth and finding the good points of himself in seeing her—I think that was very beautiful. It's also paying respect to the fact that Sylvie's in a very different place to him. She hasn't had the Mobius therapy session. She even says, in Episode Five, "I don't know how to do this. I don't have friends." You really feel for her because she has been on the run and her whole life has been this mission.
It's almost funny because these characters are thousands of years old, but it's almost teenage the way they both talk about their feelings for each other. I think everyone can relate to that, right? In any new relationship, there's always that kind of awkwardness and like, "Oh God, am I too keen? The important thing was the hope—like when Sylvie and him kiss, I think it is genuine and it is coming from a place of these feelings they have for each other. Obviously she does push them through that door, but for me it was a goodbye and it was with heart. But it's kind of a goodbye in the sense of like, I care about you, but I'm going to do my mission because that's where I'm at.
ESQ: I would pay for you to direct the Sex Education episode where Otis falls through a portal into the multiverse, into the main MCU.
KH: He really looks like a Loki as well, which is so funny. I always thought that. I was like Asa does look like a Loki. It didn't come to pass or anything, but it would be interesting to do a Sex Ed-Marvel crossover. I wonder who all the different characters would be within the MCU, but it would be quite funny.
ESQ: You're right, he could pull off a teenage Loki.
KH: Yeah, like a teen or a very young ’20s, maybe. But it was just funny because I was like, "Oh yeah, he looks a bit like Tom." I wonder how they could do it. I'm sure they'll find a way to do a crossover anyway.
ESQ: Can you just take me back to filming with Jonathan Majors? And you capturing him in such a compelling, quirky, scary way—I'm sure your direction was such a big part of that.
KH: I was just so excited because Jonathan is an actor that everyone was so excited about. He's like a chameleon in everything he does and he's so talented. I just feel as a director so lucky to have worked on this because I feel like I've got to work with some of the best actors out there. And when you're with Jonathan, you know you're in the presence of just someone really magnificent. For me as a director, it's giving him the space to play and feel safe. Because we filmed it all in a week, but it was a lot to film in a week. So I think it was really about creating a space where he could have fun and find this character because he's going to be playing him for a long time.
ESQ: What went into the decision to introduce us to the good guy first?
KH: I remember in the script, he comes up the elevator and it was so casual. I was like, "Oh man, that's so fun." And then Jonathan, when he plays it, he's relaxed. And I the thing he used to talk about a lot was that this is a character who's been on his own for a long time. Because at the beginning, we introduced him in a space in the universe that feels like this very busy, loud place, but actually, when we see the Citadel, he's surrounded by the Timeline and he's very isolated. Even in his costume with [designer] Christine Wada, for the idea of his outfit, he's a character who's existed for multiple millennia. So it's like, OK, let's pull from lots of different places so you can't necessarily pin down which time or which place he might be from. Also the fact that his clothes look comfy. They were like pajamas because he's living at home. He loved the idea of the office [being] the only finished part of the citadel and that the rest of the citadel was like this Sunset Boulevard kind of dusty, dilapidated space. And just again showed that he probably just keeps himself to his office. All those elements definitely fed into Jonathan's performance in terms of balancing the extrovert, but also the introvert of someone that would be living by themselves and only talking to a cartoon clock.
ESQ: It really is incredible how you pull a nail-biting finale with this battle of wits and dialogue.
KH: It was really exciting because I feel like Episode Five was a lot of fun because we got to play into all the joy of the different versions of Loki, but also just the fact that it was our big usual Marvel third act, right? Like it was where our big spectacle was as they were fighting this big monster. But I love that our finale bookends, right? We began with a conversation and we ended with one.
ESQ: I also loved that there was no end-credits scene—I think it makes the ending that much more impactful. Was there ever an end credit scene on the table, or any kind of a stinger?
KH: I think no, because weirdly, we never went after the kind of mid-credit sequences. I think we always just were thinking just of the story and where we knew we wanted it to end. For example, Episode Four, originally Loki was deleted and then we went straight to him waking up. And it was only in the edit I was like, “I think it'd be really cool actually. We should move that scene to mid-credits because then we'll really feel like Loki has died." Because if I watched that moment and then it went to the credits, I'd be like, "What?!" And then when we were talking about the best way to talk about Season Two, we were like, "Okay, well, let's do that like a little mid-credits at the end because that is exciting to confirm it in that way." I'd say we found both of those in the edit just because we wanted to kind of do it right and have a fun nod to something that Marvel does so well.
ESQ: Is there anything you can tell about the future of the story you've told here—or even where you personally would like to go with the studio or otherwise going forward?
KH: Yeah, so I'm just on for Season One. So I'm so proud of the story we told. I mean, it was amazing getting to set up the TVA and take Loki on this whole new journey. And I mean, I think we've left so much groundwork for his character, and as people see in the comics, there's so much more to be delved into. And I just am excited honestly to just see where all the characters go. Like, who is B-15? What did she see in those memories and where did Ravonna go and where is Loki? I think for me, we've set up these questions and I look forward to seeing them being answered as a fan in the next season.
ESQ: Absolutely. Well, can we please work on the Asa Butterfield Loki?
KH: I will call him and I'll be like, "You want to do some crazy Marvel crossover?"
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‘Loki’ Star Richard E. Grant on Tom Hiddleston’s Crash Course and Being Denied a Muscle Suit
[This interview contains spoilers for Loki episode five.]
If you thought Richard E. Grant and Tom Hiddleston had a passing resemblance during Loki‘s fifth episode, “Journey Into Mystery,” then you weren’t alone. In fact, the two actors have talked about their shared “physiognomy” for years, so much so that a running joke was created about them playing father and son, someday. And then, at the beginning of 2020, the gag was up as Grant received the official offer to play Classic Loki on the Hiddleston-led Loki. Since Grant missed Hiddleston’s renowned “Loki lecture” prior to production, he received his own private crash course later on in production.
“[Tom Hiddleston] was very articulate and passionate about all of that, as he’s a walking Lokipedia,” Grant tells The Hollywood Reporter. “So that was very, very useful, but to be honest, I was so anxious and nervous about my first day of work that I probably only took in about 5 percent of what he was saying to me. But by the same token, I was entering his universe, and I was hoping that I wasn’t going to let him, or the fans of this character, down.”
When Grant was first offered the job, he immediately began to envision his Classic Loki costume since he assumed it would include a muscle suit a la Jack Kirby’s rendition of the character. But once he arrived to the Loki set in Atlanta, he discovered that his own physicality would be utilized instead, much to his chagrin.
“What I was so looking forward to with Loki was finally having a muscle suit, having been born without any,” Grant says with a laugh. “I thought, ‘Oh great! I’m going to look like the Jack Kirby drawings and costume design, which was so faithful to that.’ But when I got to Atlanta, they said, ‘No, you don’t have a muscle suit. You’re just as yourself, a stick insect.’ So I was very disappointed. I thought I was letting the character and the viewers down by not having muscles underneath it. I wish that I had gone into a year’s worth of training and weight-gain powder to look like that, but I don’t think I could’ve possibly achieved that. So I was hoping I’d have the rubberized version of it, but I was denied that pleasure.”
In a recent conversation with THR, Grant also discusses Classic Loki’s ultimate sacrifice and what the character was thinking as he laughed en route to his death.
You’ve said that you and Tom Hiddleston have wanted to work together for years. When did this desire first come about?
More than anything, it came about because we recognized that we have a similar physiognomy, and somebody joked to us, “You could play father and son!” So I suppose it has always been in the back of mind. And then I saw Tom at the Toronto [International] Film Festival a couple years ago, and he said, “We really have to do something together! Father and son — or something!” But I thought it was highly unlikely because his career had gone so far up into the stratosphere. And then, at the beginning of last year, I got an offer to play Classic/Old Loki, and I thought, “Oh right, this is what we talked about and now it’s come to pass.” So that’s how it happened.
And in terms of the script, what was your first impression of Classic Loki’s full-fledged arc?
The backstory — where he describes himself as the God of Outcasts rather than the God of Mischief — was very compelling. So you understand where and why he’s been out of the loop for so long. He was so desperate to have some kind of contact that he was willing to reveal himself to the TVA, and later, by offering himself up to Asgard and Alioth, he’s willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the possibility of somebody else finding love. Because the ending was so catastrophic and mayhem-filled, as he laughs in the face of his own immolation, I thought that was a great beginning, middle and end in just one episode. It’s as much as you could ever hope for from a guest role. So it was really exciting to do and very satisfying.
As he was laughing in the face of the beast, what was on his mind?
Even as you’re going down, you still have the power, grace and sheer chutzpah to go, “I will laugh in your face even though I know that you’re about to eat me alive.” That’s a great adage to life. (Laughs.) I love that.
Since Tom has played Loki for many years, he’s become the world’s foremost authority on the character, so much so that he delivers actual lectures on him.
He is! He’s Lokipedia.
Was there enough time for him to give you a crash course on the character?
He did one of those prior to the first episode; they’d already shot four episodes by the time I got there. So he came and saw me after I had just gotten my costume and makeup done. He said, “I’m going to give you a brief outline and some background information on what you’re dealing with.” So he was very articulate and passionate about all of that, as he’s a walking Lokipedia. So that was very, very useful, but to be honest, I was so anxious and nervous about my first day of work that I probably only took in about 5 percent of what he was saying to me. But by the same token, I was entering his universe, and I was hoping that I wasn’t going to let him, or the fans of this character, down.
Classic Loki was very frustrated by the fact that betrayal is synonymous with the Loki archetype. So he did something about it and sacrificed his life to help Loki and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino). While you touched on the ultimate sacrifice already, what did you make of his decision to go against type?
It was very smart of [Tom Kauffman], the writer, to have hit on that. I was the oldest person on the unit, as well as the oldest person on the crew and the cast. When you’re in the twilight zone as I am now at 64, there is a sense that you’re handing over the baton in the relay race of life. So it seemed like the most human, vulnerable and honorable thing to do, and I got that completely. It was fitting — even for an old Classic Loki. But unlike in my life, you can always come back in Loki-land. (Laughs.)
Between Allegiant General Pryde in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Classic Loki, were these two of your favorite costume fittings to date?
Yes, and it was pretty amazing to have that great, explosive ending to that Star Wars character. But what I was so looking forward to with Loki was finally having a muscle suit, having been born without any. (Laughs.) I thought, “Oh great! I’m going to look like the Jack Kirby drawings and costume design, which was so faithful to that.” But when I got to Atlanta, they said, “No, you don’t have a muscle suit. You’re just as yourself, a stick insect.” So I was very disappointed. I thought I was letting the character and the viewers down by not having muscles underneath it. I wish that I had gone into a year’s worth of training and weight-gain powder to look like that, but I don’t think I could’ve possibly achieved that. So I was hoping I’d have the rubberized version of it, but I was denied that pleasure. (Laughs.)
On big-budget projects in particular, actors don’t always get the chance to work opposite another actor/character in any given scene. So now that you can talk about The Rise of Skywalker, did you and Ian McDiarmid actually get to be in the same room during Pryde’s hologram scene with Emperor Palpatine?
No, I never met Ian on it at all.
Between Jack Hock (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and Withnail (Withnail and I), who would enjoy Loki’s company the most? Who’d make for a more ideal companion?
Wow. I think Jack Hock because he was so gregarious and wanted to be friends with everybody. Whereas Withnail was so staggeringly selfish that I think even he would have outdone Loki in the ego department.
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Waking Up
AO3 Link
Inspired by this post: Link
And my own post about this concept: Link
Content Warnings: Panic Attacks, Memory Loss
Words: 1817
Ranboo suddenly finds himself back in reality with his hands in the middle of braiding his own hair. Not the worst thing he’s woken up to after Enderwalking. He lets out a sigh as he continues braiding his hair, eyes drifting towards the ceiling as he reflects on what he can remember doing while Enderwalking.
Wuh oh.
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This is basically me sharing my theories about Enderwalking in fic format. That's kinda it. I took my theories, and wrote em as a fic.
I also posted this at 3am which is why it took me till 2pm to make a proper Tumblr post about it.
Ranboo suddenly finds himself back in reality with his hands in the middle of braiding his own hair. Not the worst thing he’s woken up to after Enderwalking. He lets out a sigh as he continues braiding his hair, eyes drifting towards the ceiling as he reflects on what he can remember doing while Enderwalking.
Wuh oh.
Quickly tying off the braid he grabs the memory book. Reading through page 13 again. “New table”? Axe feeling lighter? Eye inside a block? Eye that looks his? Now, Ranboo might not know a lot about his Enderman heritage, but he knows a portal when he's described one.
Lightly smacking his face, Ranboo tries to shift through the foggy memories he always has after Enderwalking. Memories where he feels like a passenger, not the one experiencing it. He… he was mining. Just chatting with those particles of his, when he came across an exposed stronghold. He went to investigate… finding the portal but not recognizing it in his Enderwalk state.
Ranboo starts to head downstairs as he digs through his memories more, he’d… he’d realized the portal would probably help with the experiments he did while Enderwalking but had left to build a lab another day.
… Has he already built the lab? Yes, he has. Replacing the stone walls with iron and setting up what he’d discovered as ‘the solution’ to Enderwalking. Without having to remember, Ranboo can already tell he hadn’t gone through with it while Enderwalking. Otherwise, he would have woken up in the lab. Or in his bed from respawning, after all, his Enderwalking self didn’t seem to realize some of the multiple flaws in his solution.
But Ranboo is too scared to correct his Enderwalking self. It’s already taken him ages to convince his Enderwalking self that he isn’t some evil dissociative state that committed war crimes he can’t remember. He doesn’t want to imagine how it’d go over trying to inform his Enderwalking state he has it backward.
Sliding down into his basement he quickly mines through the wall to get the experiment log he's written in Ender. Flipping all the way to the last page where he’s written the solution. He pulls out a pen from his pocket and holds it hesitantly over the page.
He knows how he is when Enderwalking. A paranoid anxious mess with less than half of his memory. If he sees this when Enderwalking, he’d freak out, he’d get suspicious, and then probably do it anyways.
Reluctantly, he hides the experiment log back away, sealing it back behind stone bricks. He has to tell someone he both trusts out of Enderwalk, and in Enderwalk.
Which is admittedly a short list of people. Phil would be good, but the old man would likely ask too many questions he doesn't know how to answer. Techno, while also a good option, is also currently hibernating. And would likely pass the message onto Phil.
Niki would be an option if the two crossed paths more often, and Tommy has so many issues of his own right now, he doesn't need Ranboo's. The particles, while well meaning, are honestly more of a nuisance who would likely just increase any suspicion.
Which only really leaves one other person, Tubbo. Who, while Ranboo loves his husband, still isn't the perfect option for this, is the best he honestly has.
Someone he trusts, who will listen, who will understand, and who'll actually be able to help. The only issue is Tubbo himself might want to experiment, Ranboo personally still is a little salty over the whole electric chair thing. But hopefully the moobloom-hybrid wilk put aside his scientific interests for the sake of Ranboo's wellbeing.
Not wanting to waste any more precious time he has before falling back into Enderwalk, Ranboo leaves his house as fast as he can after quickly snapping on his armor.
The journey to Snowchester is quick, one he likes to thinks he'd still know even if he had no memories. By the time the water tunnel has shot him back out, it feels like barely a minute has passed since he woke up.
Letting his enchanted armor drip off the water, Ranboo quickly starts towards the mansion where, if his memory serves him right, should be where Tubbo is currently.
"TUBBO!" He shouts as soon as he enters the mansion, yelling being the most efficient way to locate someone in the massive building. His long ears strain themselves to listen for a shout back.
"I'M IN THE UPSTAIRS GUEST ROOMS!" The ender-hybrid hears distantly, darting up the stairs as fast as he can. "THE ONES NEAR OUR ROOM!" Tubbo shouts once more, Ranboo quickly taking a left.
He almost bumps into Tubbo as the moobloom-hybird steps out into the hallway. Luckily scrambling to a stop just before bowling the smaller teen over. He rests a hand against the wall, somewhat hunching over as he tries to catch his breath.
"You good bossman? Something wrong?" Tubbo asks, taking a small step towards Ranboo. The taller huffs a few more breaths before holding his other hand up to tell Tubbo to wait a second.
"It's…" he starts, before taking a deep breath and straightening up, "It's… oh God, I was so focused on getting here quickly that um, didn't really think through how to explain this all…" his tail flicks restlessly behind him.
Tubbo hums to himself for a second, "This is a sit-down kind of thing, isn't it?" Ranboo gives a small nod, "Good thing I just set up yet another 'sitting area earlier today, come on," the brunette grabs Ranboo's hand and gently drags him further down the hallway before opening a door with dramatic flourish.
It's another room consisting of multiple sofas and chairs around a coffee table. The amount of rooms they have that look like this is honestly concerning, but at least Tubbo has enough eye for design that they all are clearly different. Much less confusing than the identical empty rooms Foolish left them with.
Ranboo all but collapses onto one of the couches, Tubbo taking a seat across from him. The brunette's mouth is twisting in worry, nose scrunching up as watches Ranboo through messy bangs.
"Okay," a sigh escapes the ender-hybrid, "I, I guess the best place to start would be… explaining my… condition?" He still isn't sure what the right term for Enderwalking is as there's next to no public documents on the topic. "So, you know how I have bad memory?"
A slight snort before a nod tell Ranboo to continue, "Well that's, that's just one symptom of my, condition. The Enderwalk. It's genetic, I'm pretty sure. There's uh, not much known about it," Ranboo starts messing with the furred tip of his tail, "But it's basically a, a state I go into? I guess? And it…" he trails off.
How does he explain to his best friend, his husband, that the 'him' he always interacts with isn't 100% 'him'. His mouth hangs open before snapping shut, shaking his head a little. Tubbo won't hate him for something out of his control, Tubbo is reasonable, he's smart, he's a good person.
Another glance at Tubbo shows that the moobloom-hybrid now has a serious look on his face, leaning forward, waiting for Ranboo to continue.
"It doesn't just affect my memory. It, it can affect my judgment, my reasoning. And it worsens with age," Ranboo focuses his gaze back down to his tail flicking in his own grasp, "and, don't get me wrong, I'm still me when Enderwalking I'm just…" he loses his words again. Letting a silence fall over the room.
"Okay," Ranboo looks up. Tubbo has a hand to his chin in thought. "okay, I get what you're saying. Plenty of species have illnesses like that," the ender-hybrid nods, "and I'm glad you told me but, why now?" A hint of light blue eyes peer through messy bangs, "did something happen?"
"More like… something's been happening but it's, it's close to becoming worse." He shifts on the couch, once again struggling to find the right words, "I'm Enderwalking all the time… I'd say that you uh, you probably see me Enderwalking more than you see me normally," he pauses to swallow. "When Enderwalking I, I dont realize I'm Enderwalking," a humorless laugh escapes him. "I don't even have half of my memories then. I managed to forget what Enderwalking even is! And somehow," his voice is starting to go static with anger, "I managed to come up with the name again, while Enderwalking, to explain my normal state!"
He hunches over, burying his head between his knees as he lets out static-filled laughs. His ears no longer hearing anything other than a growing buzz. Hands gripping and twisting his hair as his laughs start to devolve into something more like sobs.
A light weight settles over his shoulders and back, hands slowly unclenching his hair to drift down to wrap the blanket around himself. He feels a head rest itself on his shoulders, following the deep breaths he can feel carefully. His tail loosely wraps around a waist before small hooved finger tips start bruising through it.
"Sorry," he mutters. Tubbo hums, leaning his head more onto Ranboo's shoulder.
"Nothing to be sorry about, it sounds like… a lot," Tubbo says back, "You sure you want to talk about this now big man?"
The ender-hybrid nods, tilting his head to somewhat rest on top of Tubbo's, the smaller's dull horns pressing into his face. "I don't know when I'll start Enderwalking again, I have to tell you now before I forget again."
"As long as you're sure," Tubbo replies with a shrug, but Ranboo can still hear the concern under the layer of dismissiveness.
"When Enderwalking I've, starting to experiment on myself. It's progressively gotten more… intense, to put it simply. My Enderwalking self thinks he's found a solution, to stop from 'Enderwalking' but," Ranboo pulls back, doing his best to make direct eye contact with Tubbo, "the 'solution'? It's, I know what it's going to do! It will just make the Enderwalk worse. I'll probably be down to only a quarter of my memories! I might even, even lose a life."
Ranboo's eyes loss focus as his panic starts to build before he feels Tubbo's dull horns pressing into his chest and arms wrapping him in a loose hug.
"That's what you wanted to tell me, right?" Tubbo sighs, "you want me to make sure that you don't go through with it while Enderwalking?" Ranboo lets out what's supposed to be a hum that ends up sounding more like a buzz in response.
"Don't worry bossman, you can count on me," Tubbo tightens his hug and Ranboo can slowly feel the fog that comes with Enderwalking creep in.
"I know, I always know," he responds, before letting himself drift into the fog.
#idk how u post fics on tumblr#i hope i didi this right#dsmp#ranboo#tubbo#enderwalk#dsmp fanfic#spud's writing
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Positive
Blurb night:
1.4k words
(request: imagine you’re married to harry & you’re pregnant and you meet up with the boys and tell them and it’s just all happy and so cute🥺) + request: what about some morning cuddles? or how they communicate to everyone that they’re having a baby? sorry im soft today i need some good fluffs)
(Sorry if you didn’t want them combined they were similar so I thought it might be repetitive if I did them independently)
-----
Trying to conceive was always a nerve-wracking trial and error process for those participating in the journey, and Harry and Y/n are no exception to those bumps in the road to starting a family.
The couple had waited till their one-year wedding anniversary to start trying for a child, making sure the marriage was going smoothly and both of them were able to devote as much attention to the child if they were to successfully fall pregnant.
The pair decided to both get exams to make sure they were fertile and another to make sure Y/n was healthy enough to carry a pregnancy, both of their results came back perfect for the two of them so you can imagine the confusion and upset they experienced when months went by without a positive pregnancy test. Harry and Y/n have been doing a lot of condoling each other, cooking comfort foods for dinners and taking their vitamins religiously to give themselves some hope, carbs and cuddles to carry them through this journey of bringing a new person into the world.
You’d think trying was the most fun part of making a baby yet months of constant sex did a number on the two. They were losing their libido, tired and sometimes sore from the constant friction on their most sensitive areas but the duo refused to give up.
__
It was a typical Thursday morning, Harry sending off emails while cramming toast into his mouth and Y/n was brushing her teeth, feeling particularly out of it that day. She was tired and sluggish, a bit queasy and just off.
By now taking a pregnancy test was part of her morning routine. She even had a designated cup next to the toilet she used to collect her first morning wee in to dip the tests in, every morning she took one just to see. She was never very good at controlling her curiosity and when it comes to something this life changing, well she just can’t stop herself.
Y/n swears her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she saw the second line, bright and bold perfectly straight next to the control line. It took a few minutes for her brain to truly comprehend the evidence in front of her, there were two lines.
She was pregnant!
After the initial shock started to fade, excitement flooded through her. A shriek of her husbands name rolled through the house prompting him to jump to his feet and rush towards the noise.
“What?! Are you okay?! Are you hurt baby? What happen-“
“Harry I’m pregnant! Look ! it worked! We’re having a baby!” Y/n held the positive test in the hair, thrusting it towards his wide eyes seeing the man shift from panic to being elated.
“Oh my god! We’re having a baby! My dick works!” Harry wrapped his arms around his wife before hoisting her in the air, spinning the both of them around while they cheered and let out happy tears.
That night the pair celebrated with a nice dinner and excitedly calling y/n’s obgyn to set up her first prenatal visit. The pair decided they’d keep their secret till they were in the clear, the first couple weeks of pregnancy are the most high risk time for miscarriage so they didn’t want to get their hopes up and let everyone know till they were sure this baby was going to make it to term.
___
Y/n was 18 weeks along when the couple decided they were going to announce the news to their friends and family. Harry was giddy, obsessed with his wife’s tummy that was now starting to get a little curve to the lower part of it. He kept ultrasound pictures in his wallet and spend every evening reading baby books and making a list of names for their growing baby.
The first people they decided to tell was of course their mothers and siblings, it was a great experience lots of hugs, happy tears and celebration sweets. Everyone was over the moon, the couple had full hearts and tummy’s when they left Anne’s home. The couple had never felt happier in their lives.
Of course when it came to telling the news to the boys, Harry decided to whip out one of his dad jokes he’d already been hoarding in his mind. His jokes were always terrible, lets face it, but the boys loved to take the piss out of him and found his jokes entertaining now.
So, Harry invited the group over directing Louis to open the oven for him which inside was a bun- yes Y/n had to refrain from cringing at the horrible dad joke but she let him has his fun- and Louis reacted first with a confused glance to Harry. “Mate, ya’ not the best chef but I thought you’d know that cookin’ one thing at a time is a bit wasteful of the gas innit?” the man plucked the bread off the rack, handing it to Harry who was rolling his eyes since the other man didn’t seem to get the implications.
“Lou, what was in the oven?” he decided to throw him a line, the other guys just watching the interaction confused and waiting for Harry to reveal what the hell he was on about. “A roll Harold” Harry then huffed, “No! it’s a bun!”, Niall was now laughing finding the situation at hand seeing Harry getting mad over the guys not having a clue what he was trying to imply.
When the bickering filled the kitchen between the boys Y/n decided to step in- “Alright! Harry I told you the joke was rubbish, guys ‘bun in the oven’- the reference and horrible execution was a reference to me since I’m pregnant.” – only then did it click in all their heads, a chorus of ‘ohhhh’ and then excited congratulations followed. Louis of course took the chance to pick on Harry who gave him the finger before excepting the celebratory hugs and pats on the back, the boys giving Y/n a good cuddle too congratulating her on the pregnancy and telling her how excited they were to be uncles. A few making jokes to Harry about ‘getting it in’ and all that boyish banter.
The pair couldn’t be more thrilled at all the excitement that surrounded the arrival of their first born, Y/n was also happy she wouldn’t have to wear baggy clothes around them anymore either. Sweaters in august was a bit uncomfortable for a pregnant woman with hot flashes.
____
When the 20 week mark came, the couple decided to keep the gender a surprise till birth when offered the anatomy scan. They really didn’t have a preference as long as their bundle of joy was healthy, they were happy.
They had spent the last few weeks painting the nursery a pale yellow, making an accent wall with a neutral colored floral wallpaper, lots of vines and plants on it in a grey and white color theme. The room was fit for whatever gender their baby turned out to be, and it was now being filled with a crib Harry had put together- which he nearly had a breakdown over how many fucking screws and parts it had- and a nice changing table stocked with diapers, wipes and all the baby essentials.
The little ones closet was organized by size, all hung neatly on hangers and in organized bins as well. A nice rocking chair with a little nursing station was in one of the corners, stocked with burp cloths and a nursing pillow as well as a few jars of nipple balm since breastfeeding can caused chapped skin on the breasts. They had a little dish with pacifiers sitting on the small table next to the chair, picture books and a few nice soft blankets folded on the small shelf below the drawers.
Everything was slowly but surely coming together, and now they couldn’t wait to welcome their baby into the world.
(Tbh idk if I like this one, but I tried my best.)
#harry styles fluff#harry styles imagine#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles angst#harry styles blurb#harry styles writing#harry styles x reader#harry styles x yn#harry styles fiction#harry styles concept#harry styles drabble#harry styles smut#dad!harry
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Folklore [song series]
cardigan
Modern Day AU! Bucky Barnes x OC!Reader; Steve Rogers x OC!Reader
Plot: Inspired by Taylor Swift’s new album Folklore. The story follows the timeline of Bucky and Elizabeth’s life throughout the years.
Word Count: 11672
Warnings: swearing, sexual innuendos, underage drinking
[a/n: sorry it took me awhile to get this part out. But to make up for it this one is a long one! Sorry if it’s a little confusing, I know there’s a lot to it, so I hope it’s easy to follow. Also if you would like to be tagged, just let me know]
Previous Part
Series Masterlist
Age: 19 Year: 2013 Location(s): Stanford, CA & Brooklyn, NY Elizabeth was spending her Friday afternoon packing up the last bit of her things that would be shipped back to Brooklyn tomorrow. She planned it so that if they were shipped tomorrow, they would arrive back home two days after she got there. Enough time for her to unpack the stuff she was taking with her on her flight in a couple of days. Elizabeth had successfully completed her first year of college at the University of Stanford. It was the best year of her life. "Hey Liz!" Her roommate, Wanda greeted her. Last summer, Elizabeth received an email from the school telling her who her dorm mate would be, along with the girl's email address. Wanda Maximoff was originally from Sokovia, but she and her family moved to Boston when she was 8 years-old. Both girls instantly clicked. That summer they were constantly in communication with each other. They both went over their excitement and fears of moving across the country. Wanda, like Elizabeth, had never been away from her family for so long, especially her twin brother. They both eased each other's minds, knowing they weren't alone in this journey. Up until her senior year Elizabeth had every intention of not being alone going into college, but in the end that wasn't the case. Steve ended up going to Berkley, and Bucky ended up at NYU. When they finally both moved into their dorm, it was like they had been life long friends. Wanda was pre-med while Elizabeth was pre-law, so they both knew that one another would take priority in their education over partying. Didn't mean they didn't go out to the occasional party, they both just knew the sacrifices their families were making for them to be at an out of state university. "Hey Wand, what's up?" Elizabeth smiled, while continuing to pack. "Are you going to the party at Loki's house?" Loki Odinson was a junior. He was a legacy student, both his parents were Stanford University alumni. They had a house that was only 15 minutes away from campus, Loki and his friends lived there during the semester, before they all fled back to Los Angeles for the summer.
Even though he was rich beyond means, he wasn't a jerk. He was friendly to everyone around him. Everyone wanted to be his friend, and he wouldn't say no to that. When Elizabeth first met him she thought he was flirting with her, and she kind of welcomed the idea of dating someone like him. But she later found out that Loki wasn't into her, or any other females for that matter. He had a long term boyfriend who was going to USC, they took turns visiting each other every weekend. Normally the weekends Loki wasn't having a party were the ones his boyfriend was visiting. Loki was also a law student, so he helped Elizabeth whenever she needed it. He hosted a weekly meeting in the library for freshman students who were law students, it was a way to help them navigate their first year and the stressors that came with it. He was like their big brother. Elizabeth owes a lot to him this year, because she wasn't sure how she would've made it alive without him. "Yeah, I was planning on it," Elizabeth said taping up the final box for the night, "Last party of the school year. Did you want to go together?" "Yes, please," Wanda said, throwing herself onto her bed. Wanda's side of the room was semi-packed up. Her family was flying in the day Elizabeth was flying out. They were renting a RV and taking a road trip across country. Wanda leaned on her elbow facing Elizabeth, and looking around the room, "Wow, you're almost done packing!" "Yup," she said, getting off of the floor and pressing the palms of her hands to her back to let out the cracks from sitting on the floor for a long period of time, "Movers are picking up my things tomorrow to ship back home. The last things I need to pack our the rest of my clothes I have left, but those are all going in my suitcase to take on the flight with me." "Can't wait til the fall where we don't have to be stuck in these dorms," Wanda stretched out on her tiny bed. Wanda and Elizabeth were planning on getting an apartment next semester at one of the student housing apartment complexes next to the campus. As much as they enjoyed the dorms, having their own privacy would be so much better. Without the constant interruptions from other people on their floor, or from having to share a bathroom with the whole floor. It will be nice to have their own space. They both took on little jobs on campus during the school year, and had planned to also work the entire summer to save up some money. Their parents had agreed to help with the rent, as long as both Wanda and Elizabeth kept up a 3.7 GPA and had jobs to pay for the necessities they would be needing. It was a great deal that they couldn't pass on. "What are you going to wear tonight?" Elizabeth asked Wanda, as she stood in front of her small closet, which now was only half filled. "My lucky red dress," Wanda smiled, "Rumor has it Loki's older brother Thor will be there tonight." Thor was Loki's older brother. He was a senior at Berkley, which was only about an hour drive away. Thor was an Environmental studies major, who was also the captain of the Cal Bears Field Hockey team. He was the complete opposite of Loki when it came to their looks, and taste in genders. He was a bit taller than Loki, had a ton more muscles, long blonde hair, and the times Elizabeth and Wanda had seen him, he had a full grown beard. He looked very intimidating at first glance, but he was actually just a giant bear. Like Loki, he just wanted to be everyone's friend, and just wanted to make sure everyone around him was having a good time. They were clearly both raised by the same parents. Elizabeth laughed out loud, "Wanda, please tell me you're not planning on trying to hook up with him tonight." "Duh, hence my lucky red dress," Wanda got out of bed and grabbed the red dress hanging from her closet, "This dress is magic, okay. It hasn't failed me yet." Wanda's red dress became her "lucky red dress" after she aced her first exam, and hooked up with a cute sophomore she had been eyeing, all on the same day. Whenever she needed luck on her side, she wore the dress. During finals she wore it the entire week, washing it in between each day, they wouldn't be getting their results back for a few more days, but Wanda knew she had done well. Elizabeth didn't bother to try and belittle the lucky dress, because even she might have worn it a few times and had gotten good results. "Plus, seeing as Thor is graduating next week it might be the last time I see him, so go big or go home," Wanda smiled proudly.
_______________________
A few hours later Wanda and Elizabeth found themselves walking up to Loki's house. At night the house might've reminded those in passing of a fraternity house, but in the daylight it was completely not. The yard was always perfectly manicured. The exterior reminded Elizabeth of a house in the Hamptons, while the interior was something straight out of a interior design magazine. It was definitely not a house made for college aged boys.
Wanda was dressed in her lucky red dress, with a pair of black booties, and a leather jacket. Her hair was in loose curls falling down her back. She kept her makeup light, aside from the dark red lip she had on.
Elizabeth was a bit more casual with some ripped at the knee black jeans, a loose grey t-shirt, and a suede burgundy moto jacket. She had straightened her curls that night, but since the weather was getting warmer she put it up in a messy ponytail. Her makeup was a very bare minimum, just some mascara and a nudish pink lipstick that practically matched her lips. She didn't come tonight for a hookup, she just came to spend time with these new friends she made before she headed back home for the summer.
As soon as they walked into the crowded house, they immediately headed to the bar area to grab something to drink.
"Do you see Thor?" Wanda asked Elizabeth as they received their drinks from the bar tender, who Loki paid for the night a lot to overlook the underage drinking.
"No," Elizabeth said speaking a little louder because of the music, "If he were here, I'm sure we would spot him right away. Man is built like a god."
"Damn right he is," Wanda smirked taking a sip from her drink.
Elizabeth let out a laugh at her friend's comment, before going back to scanning the room.
"Let's go out back," she shouted, grabbing Wanda's hand.
They weaved through the loud crowded makeshift dance floor that was the living room.
Once outside they could hear the cheering sounds of a game of beer pong going on.
"Hey girls!" They turned their heads to find Loki walking up to them.
"Hey Loki, no Scott this weekend?" Elizabeth asked, noticing he was sans his boyfriend.
"No, he had to study for finals, he's coming up next week for Thor's graduation though," he says, hugging both girls.
"Speaking of which, where is that brother of your's?" Wanda tried to nonchalantly ask.
"I see you're wearing your lucky red dress," Loki remarks ignoring her question, he had a smirk on his face, knowing exactly what Wanda was up to.
"Oh, am I, I didn't even realize it," she played along, sending him a wink.
"He'll be he-" Loki was immediately cut off by a loud booming voice making it's way through the house and towards the back, "Mention and he shall appear."
The girls peered over their shoulder to see Thor walking in with a group of guys following him. Some of them Elizabeth recognized as his friends from Berkeley.
"Brother," Thor shouts, rushing his way towards Loki, throwing his arms around his younger brother in a bone crushing hug. You'd think they haven't seen each other in months, but they actually saw each other a couple a times a week for dinner.
Elizabeth found it cute the way they were really close. She never had any siblings, she always wanted some but her parents had only wanted one kid. She knew if she had a sibling she would want the same relationship Thor and Loki had.
"Ladies," Thor greets Wanda and Elizabeth, as he finally releases his brother.
"Hi," Elizabeth waved.
"Wanda, nice dress," Thor said throwing his arm over the small red head.
"Oh this old thing," she smiled, as he lead her towards the beer pong table.
"That damn dress," Loki laughed.
"It's lucky for a reason," Elizabeth laughed shaking her head.
"Elizabeth?" Elizabeth turned around thinking she heard her name called but she shrugged it off thinking it was just Wanda from up ahead.
"Elizabeth? Betty?" At the mention of her old nickname she froze, and instantly turned back around to come into eye contact with none other Steve Rogers.
"Steve!?" She exclaimed, completely taken back by seeing him here in the flesh.
He looked a bit different. He definitely had bulked up since the last time she saw him at their high school graduation.
"Oh my gosh, it is you," he shakes his head in disbelief before hugging her.
"Woah, you're huge," she remarked wrapping her hands around him.
"Berkley has a nice student gym," he remarks as they pull apart from each other, still taking each other in.
It felt like they were both looking at strangers. Yes, they still basically looked the same, but there was something different about both of them. Something more mature. Here are two young adults who had spent their childhood and teenage years together, looking at each other in complete amazement.
They hadn't spend much of senior year together. After giving Bucky his letter, Elizabeth had went over to Steve's to apologize in person. He welcomed her with open arms, but there was still something a bit off. What happened between their little group had changed them forever. Their friendship would never be the same again. And maybe that was for the better, Elizabeth had thought at the time.
Now as they stand in front of each other taking it all in, they hadn't realized how much they had missed each other. Missed home.
Loki clears his throat behind them, signaling he was still there.
"Oh, Loki," Elizabeth glanced behind, "this is Steve, we grew up together. Steve this is Loki."
"Hey," Steve reached his hand over for Loki to take, "Thor has told many stories about you."
"God, of course he has," Loki took his hand and rolled his eyes, "I'm sure they were all at my expense."
Elizabeth caught Loki subtly checking Steve out, causing a small blush to form on her cheeks. Guess she wasn't the only one taken by his new stature.
"They weren't all bad," Steve laughed.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll leave you two to catch up, I have a red dress to see in action," he says before walking away.
"Red dress?" Steve asked confused.
"It's nothing," she shook her head, realizing the amount of inside jokes she's made that no longer include him.
"So how have you been?" She asks him, as she leads him to a secluded part of the backyard where the music wasn't so loud.
"Good," he smiles one of his famous bright smiles, "Just been busy. You know freshman year not as easy as I had thought it would be."
"You're telling me," she laughs, "I'm glad I encountered Loki because he's been a massive help."
"Are you guys..." he starts to imply.
"Oh no," she quickly interrupts, "Let's just say Loki would be way more into you than me."
"Ah I get the picture," he lets out a loud laugh.
They didn't realize how much time had gone by, before Loki comes running up to them.
"IT WORKED!" He yelled, slightly slurring his words, "That damn red dress is fucking magic."
"Of course it is," Elizabeth smiled, watching Loki shake his head and make his way back to the party.
"What is this red dress?"
"My roommate Wanda, she has this red dress, and it's sorta became a lucky red dress throughout the year. It's magical," she says, but then something comes over herself, causing her to correct herself.
"It's nothing. It's just silliness. I'm sure it's not really magic," she shakes her head, and the idea of still believing in magic.
"Hey, don't do that," he places his hand softly on top of hers that was laid in between them on the bench they were sat at, "If you say it's magic, I believe it. There's nothing wrong with having a little magic in your life. Lord knows I believe, reason I won't use any other pencil when taking my final."
"Ahh Steve Rogers has a lucky pencil?" She playfully mocks.
"Steve Rogers has more than one lucky pencil," he laughs, "I have one for my written finals, and one I use for my drawings."
"Ah your drawings," she beamed, "They were always my favorite. I was so happy for you when I heard you decided to pursue something that allows you to still put your powers into use."
"My powers?" He asked, with a smile on his face.
"Yeah, your drawings were always so powerful," She beamed at him, "You knew how to bring whatever you were drawing to life. Your Brooklyn bridge drawing is still hands down one of my favorites."
"And between us," she lowers her voice, causing both of them to move their heads closer to each other, "It's my lucky totem."
"What? You still have it?" He quietly asked in disbelief.
The drawing was years old. He had drawn it one day during homeroom when they were 14, he didn't like how it came out but Elizabeth wouldn't let him toss it. She ended up taking it from him, to make sure he didn't throw it away. She had told him that one day he's going to want to look back on it and see how far he's come, even though she was positive he couldn't possibly get any better than he already was.
"I always keep it folded up in my pocket when I take a test," she confesses, "Have been since that day four years ago. It's my lucky drawing."
Steve stared at Elizabeth in awe. He didn't know what to say, he had just assumed she had lost it. But hearing that it was her lucky charm made his heartbeat quicken. For the first time in his life he wasn't seeing little innocent Betty, he was seeing Elizabeth. A beautiful, confident, mature young woman. She really blossomed here in college. He had never seen her so happy, so at peace. She was absolutely glowing.
He could feel his hands getting clammy, and his throat getting dry. He caught himself glance down at her lips and then back at her eyes. He tried to swallow the lump down his throat.
"Liz!" He heard someone yell in the background, causing both of them to snap out of their gaze.
They looked over to find Loki, once again. Slightly more drunk than last time.
"She's fucking my brother!" He exclaims in horror, "In my fucking room!"
Elizabeth laughs quietly and shakes her head.
"I better go make sure Loki doesn't drink himself from the horror of it all," she tells Steve, as they both get up.
"Wouldn't want that happening," he says, feeling his cheeks heat up.
"No, I'm going to need him next year," she smiles before walking away.
Elizabeth stopped and turned around, "Hey Steve, when are you flying back home?"
"Sunday morning at 8am, you?"
"Same. Where you flying from?"
"San Francisco International," he tells her.
"Well look at that, we're on the same flight home. Guess I'll see you Sunday morning," she smiled waving good bye.
"See you Sunday," he waved back, a big grin on his face.
After she was gone, Steve was left alone to his thoughts. His mind was racing with so many different thoughts. Was he really thinking about kissing Elizabeth? Bucky's Elizabeth. I mean she technically wasn't Bucky's Elizabeth anymore, but still as Bucky's best friend he shouldn't be having those thoughts of kissing his ex-girlfriend and first love. Hell Bucky was still in love with Elizabeth.
After Bucky had received that letter from Elizabeth, it kind of gave him hope for the future. He had told Steve that he wasn't going to give up on them getting back together. Steve was finding himself hoping that maybe Bucky had moved on from that idea. Maybe being at college has matured him the way it did for him and Elizabeth.
He glanced back at the house to catch Elizabeth pulling a shot away from a drunk Loki, as she tried to make sure he wouldn't cause any harm to himself.
Bucky was an idiot for screwing that up, he found himself thinking.
___________________
Elizabeth spent Saturday finishing up any last minute packing, before the movers arrived to pick up what was being shipped back. She also spent the afternoon hearing all about Wanda's wild night with Thor. Apparently Thor had such a great time he even invited her to his graduation, and she gladly accepted. Elizabeth smiled as her friend continued to talk about Thor, she noticed the way Wanda's eyes lit up. Her friend was falling in love and she didn't even notice.
She and Wanda had a final dinner that night. They had planned on meeting up later in the summer, to discuss apartment details, and see where each other grew up from.
Elizabeth was finding herself wishing for Sundays approach. Not because she was ready to go home, but she wanted to talk more with Steve. When Wanda asked what happened between them Saturday night, Elizabeth told her the truth. Nothing happened. It was simply just two old friends catching up. Wanda didn't believe her, but dropped the subject.
Steve really had grown up since last year. And not just his physical attributes. Elizabeth found herself loving hearing Steve talk all about what was going on with school. And especially when he talked about architecture. He even pointed out things that he would do to make Loki's house a lot nicer. She had never seen Steve so animated before. It really had her thinking if she even truly knew Steve.
They had spent most of their whole lives together, but when she thought back on it, it was never really just them two. It was always her, Bucky, and Steve. And when Bucky wasn't around it was in student council with other classmates around. She and Steve probably hadn't spent time together since they were children. Last night was the first time where they actually had a long conversation, with just them two. A real conversation about their dreams, and not the silly kind you have when you're seven, but the kind where you're actually making them come true.
It also had her thinking back to the moment when she revealed about keeping Steve's drawing of the Brooklyn bridge. It was such an intimate moment when she thinks back to it. While in the moment she was so drawn to him, like a magnet pulling them towards each other. Elizabeth would be lying if she said she didn't find Steve attractive, because anyone with eyes could see that. And she definitely would be lying if she said she hadn't wanted to kiss him.
Because Elizabeth Sanchez really wanted to kiss Steve Rogers last night.
What a mess that would've made. Kissing her ex-boyfriend's best friend. Her former best friend.
But then again, she and Bucky weren't together. They hadn't even talked since she left, and that conversation was a brief one. Bucky had stopped by to say bye and to let Elizabeth know he really appreciated the letter he sent her earlier in the year, and Elizabeth just explained she didn't want any negative feelings following her to college. She wished him well, and gave him a kiss on the cheek before she left.
Wanda walked into their room cutting Elizabeth's thoughts short.
"Ready?" Wanda asked, "Loki is waiting for us downstairs."
"Yup, let's go," Elizabeth said, she grabbed her carry on bag, one suitcase, while Wanda helped with the other one.
"Here we are," Loki says pulling in front of the drop off area at the airport.
"Thanks for the ride and everything this year," Elizabeth leaned over to give Loki a hug over the center console.
"Anytime kid, just make sure you come back to me," he winked, before getting out of the car to grab Elizabeth's bags from the trunk.
Elizabeth and Wanda hugged each other tightly once out of the car.
"It's not an official goodbye, we'll see each other sooner than we think," Elizabeth said into Wanda's hair.
"I know, I just got so used to having you around, what if I do something stupid?"
"I mean lets be real, you would do something stupid whether I'm there or not," she laughed.
"That's true," Wanda laughed along, pulling away from Elizabeth, "see you in a few weeks."
Elizabeth grabbed her things from Loki, and gave the group one final hug, "Love you guys," she said before walking away.
She turned around and gave them one final wave as they drove off.
Elizabeth checked in her bags and headed for her terminal.
Walking up to where her gate was she noticed a familiar blonde head waiting patiently.
"Hey stranger," she walked up to him.
"Hey," he smiled brightly, causing butterflies to flutter in Elizabeth's stomach.
She tried her hardest to ignore the feeling.
"I got you a coffee, it's still hot, I just got here not too long ago," Steve rambled, handing her a Starbucks cup.
"Ah you're a lifesaver, thank you," she smiled sitting down next to Steve, and taking a sip of her coffee.
Just how I like it, she thought.
"Ready to go back home?" He asked her.
"Yes, as much as I loved being here, I miss my bed," she laughed.
"Right," he agreed, "I can't wait to just crash for a few hours."
"I'm sure your mom is getting it all set up for you as we speak."
"Oh, yeah. She just texted me saying she's washing it as we speak," he laughed.
"How is your mom doing?"
"Good. She and dad actually just spent a month traveling around Europe," he tells her, "they finally had an 'empty nest' to do what they've always wanted to do."
"That sounds nice," Elizabeth smiles at the thought, "I hope to have that one day."
"Have you talked to Bucky lately?" Steve asked, taking not only Elizabeth by surprise but himself as well. He had no idea why he even asked that.
"Uh, no, not since I left last summer," she awkwardly said, scratching the back of her neck.
"Have you?" She asked.
Elizabeth didn't know why she asked Steve that question back. Part of her was curious, the other part was saving him from the embarrassment.
"Uh, yeah. Last night," he copied Elizabeth and rubbed the back of his head, "I was reminding him what time my plane landed. He's picking my up from the airport."
"He's been back home for a week now. Perks of going to school in New York."
"Yeah, I bet. No stress about if you're stuff will get lost on it's journey back," she joked, trying to break the awkward tension.
"So Thor told me he invited Wanda to his graduation," Steve changes the subject.
"Yeah! Her parents are flying in the next day, so she's probably going to go," she tell him, "How did you and Thor become friends?"
Elizabeth had been curious how that friendship started since Thor and Steve are not exactly on the same wavelength.
"Met him at the student gym," Steve laughs, "He saw me struggling and offered to help train me."
"As that's cute," she poked his bicep.
"Oh yeah, totally not embarrassing at all," he laughed along, "I was like a newborn deer learning how to walk."
"Well it paid off," she playfully nudged him, causing him to hide the blush forming on his cheeks.
Steve and Elizabeth continued to chat for the next hour, until it was time to board the plane. On the plane they wen their separate ways, they weren't so lucky to be seated close to one another.
Once they landed it was nearly five o'clock at night. They walked off the plane separately as well, once again like strangers.
Elizabeth would be lying if she said she wasn't rushing off in hopes of not running into Bucky. She knew she wouldn't be able to avoid him, she just dind't want to see him right here, right now.
She quickly made her way to baggage claim, where she was greeted by a familiar pair of eyes.
"Dad," she smiled throwing her arms around his neck.
"Elizabeth," he hugged his child tightly, "Welcome home sweetie,"
"Happy to be back," she smiled, pulling away. She caught his eye looking at something or someone behind her.
"Woah, is that Steve Rogers?" He asked.
She turned around to see Steve walking towards them, with is own carry on bags in hand.
"Steve," her father greeted him with his hand stood out.
"Mr. Sanchez, hi," Steve smiled shaking the older gentleman's hand.
"College treated you well," her father remarked.
"Dad," Elizabeth hissed, feeling her cheeks heat up at his comment.
"What? It's just an observation. I"m sure I'm not the only one who noticed," he gestured over to where two young girls are ogling Steve and giggling behind their hands.
"Thanks Mr. Sanchez," Steve blushed.
"Do you need a ride home?" Her dad offered.
"No, sir. Thank-you though," Steve politely declines, "Bucky is picking me up."
"Well don't be a stranger," her father waves goodbye as he heads to the conveyor belt to grab Elizabeth's bags.
"Bye," Elizabeth awkwardly waves.
"Wait," Steve stops her, "Maybe we can meet up some time this summer before we all head back to school."
"We as in you and me. Or as in you, me, and James?" She curiously asks.
"Of course, you, me and Bucky," he lies, "if that's alright with you. Not sure how things are still with you both."
"Things are you know, weird, but sure why not," she shrugged, "text me when and where."
They said their final goodbyes before parting ways.
Of course I meant with Bucky, right? He thought.
"Steven Grant Rogers?" He heard someone yell.
"Buck," he smiled, happy to see his best friend.
"Damn man, you got huge since I last saw you over the holidays," Bucky commented embracing Steve in a hug.
"It's not really much," he tried to brush it off.
"Dude you look like you ate the old you," he laughed.
"You just missed Liz," Steve said as he and Bucky walked to his car.
"Liz?" Bucky asked confused.
"Elizabeth. Sorry everyone calls her Liz at school," Steve says as he stops outside of Bucky's parked car.
"You guys hung out over there?" Bucky asks opening the trunk of his car.
"Just once," he says placing his suitcases in the trunk, "Remember that guy Thor I was telling you about?"
"Yeah, your personnel trainer," Bucky recalls walking over to the driver side, as Steve got in the passenger side.
Something in the passenger door pocket catches his eye.
"Well turns out Elizabeth is friends with his brother," Steve cautiously tells Bucky, "Ran into her at his party on Friday and we also were not he same flight back."
"Is she dating the guy?" Bucky begrudgingly asks, as he pulls away from he airport.
"Thor's brother? No," Steve says, unsure if he should even be telling Bucky about Elizabeth's new life, "I don't think she's dating anyone, she went to the party with her roommate."
"Cool," Bucky says pretending as if he isn't happy to hear that.
After a few moments of silence Steve decided to bring up what he saw, "So when did you start wearing red thongs?" He asked, gently pulling out the under by the tips of his fingers.
"Uh, you know college, all about experimenting," Bucky lied.
"Are you still planning on getting back with Elizabeth?" Steve ignored Bucky's answer.
"Steve, I don't need another lecture from you," Bucky rolled his eyes.
"I'm just asking, you're clearly not lonely."
"I'm single, so is Elizabeth," Bucky says, "If she were doing what I was it'd be perfectly fine."
"Buck, all I was doing was asking a question because if you are planning on getting back together with Elizabeth, you'll need to get rid of any incriminating evidence."
"Yes, okay. I plan on at least trying to see if Elizabeth would be willing to give it another try," he confesses.
"How is she?" Bucky asks.
"Happy," Steve answers truthfully, "I don't think I've ever seen her happier. College really did her well."
Bucky glanced over at Steve, noticing the way his best friend said the last part. He chose to ignore it.
The remainder of the car ride was spent on them catching up.
_____________________
Elizabeth spent the first couple of days unpacking her things and getting back into the rhythm of being home. She had to admit to herself that she truly did miss being home, her parents were even more thrilled. An empty home was not something they liked. They were even talking about getting a pet.
As she was putting away her freshly washed clothes, her phone vibrated. She had assumed it was Wanda freaking out over what to wear to Thor's graduation tomorrow night. She was surprised to see Steve's name across her screen.
It was a text:
Hey, if you're not busy tonight my parents are having a small BBQ. It's a last minute thing, so if you're free you're more than welcome to join. It starts at 6 :) She took a second to think it through. She knew if she went, there was no doubt that Bucky would be there. She had managed not to run into him so far, but she knew it wouldn't last forever. They did still live across the street from each other. So she texted back:
Hey Steve. I'm totally free. I'll be there :D
_____________________
Elizabeth took her time getting ready. As the time got closer, the more nervous she got.
Before she left she decided to call Wanda.
"I'm so nervous," she tells her friend.
"Take a shot," Wanda answered quickly.
"Dude, I"m home. My parents are definitely not going to let me 'take a shot'. Did you forget we are legally not supposed to," Elizabeth rolled her eyes looking around for her purse.
"Well are you wearing something hot, to show that idiot what he's missing."
"The last thing I want is to look 'hot'," Elizabeth stressed, "If anything I want to look as un hot as possible. I don't want him or anyone else here looking at me like that."
"Except for Steve," Wanda smirked over the phone.
"Yeah, except for Ste-" Elizabeth stopped, she was taken by surprise at what Wanda said and her own response, "No. Wait. What?"
"Oh come on Liz. I may have been slightly preoccupied by Thor that night, but Steve was definitely giving you the eyes," Wanda says, "And you were as well."
"The eyes?"
"Yeah, heart eyes," Wanda says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, "The same way I look at Thor. Or the way Scott and Loki look at each other."
"Wanda, Steve and I weren't looking at each other with heart eyes," Elizabeth denied, "He's one of my longest, closest friends. Plus he's practically Bucky's brother."
"So you thought about it?" Wanda teased.
"I called you to ease my nerves, not make them worse," Elizabeth groaned.
"Sorry," Wanda sincerely apologized, realizing she was being no help to her best friend, "Liz, everything is going to be fine tonight. If anything, all you need to do is be polite to James. Hell, you don't even need to talk to him.
"He's going to want to talk."
"Then keep it cordial, platonic," Wanda reassured her, "You don't have to tell him anything you don't want to. Your life is yours. Not his."
"In the words of Cristina Yang, 'You're the sun. Not him,'" Wanda said quoting one of their favorite shows.
"I'm the sun," Elizabeth repeated, feeling the weight slipping of her shoulders, "Thanks, Wan. I'll call you afterwards."
"Unless you and Steve are getting it on, then you can call me tomorrow."
"Bye," Elizabeth hung up the phone.
____________________
Elizabeth decided to walk the three blocks to the Rogers' household. It was a nice night, and she missed being able to walk everywhere. Something she definitely took for granted once she moved to the west coast.
When she got in front to the Rogers' house, she took one final inhale and exhale, gripping the platter of brownies her mom made as a gift. She the proceeded to walk to the side door, leading to the backyard where everyone was.
She didn't know why she was feeling so nervous. The Rogers weren't strangers. She practically grew up in this house. She knew not just Steve's parents, but his whole family, and they knew her. This would be just like visiting her own family, yet it wasn't. She didn't even really talk to Steve for almost a year.
As soon as she entered the backyard, she couldn't help but feel slightly out of place. She thought she could quickly turn back, no one had even noticed her arrival.
"Oh my gosh," she heard a woman's voice from across the yard, "Is that Elizabeth Sanchez?"
Elizabeth looked over to see Steve's mom, Sarah, rushing over with open arms. She was always so motherly. Elizabeth, welcomed her hug, hugging her back with one hand while the other one still clutched the container of brownies.
"Look at you," Sarah Rogers exclaimed, pulling away but keeping a grasp on Elizabeth's arms, taking her in, "College made such a fine young lady out of you."
Elizabeth couldn't help but to blush, she didn't think she looked that much different. If anything she had gained a few more pounds, and her hair was a bit of a mess, due to the New York humidity.
"Joseph, it's Elizabeth," she called out to her husband who was at the grill with one of Steve's uncles.
"My oh my, well isn't it little Elizabeth Sanchez, all grown up," he proudly smiled, hugging her.
Steve's parents were always so kind to her, like her parents they only had one child. She got the feeling that they saw her as another child, seeing as they were constantly feeding her throughout her youth.
"Your parents didn't come with you?" Joseph asked.
"No, they couldn't make it. They were driving up north to pick up my Grandma. But my mom did send these as an apology," Elizabeth held out the brownies.
"The famous Sanchez brownies," Sarah grabs the container, "Come on in sweetie, make yourself at home."
"Steve, Elizabeth is here," his mother calls into the yard.
Elizabeth looks in the direction his mother yelled into, and spotted Steve, who had a big smile on his face. He wasn't alone, he was with a few people they had went to high school with, and of course in the group was Bucky.
Elizabeth made her way to them all.
"You made it," Steve's smile got bigger, as he went to hug her.
"I told you I would," she said into his shoulder.
"Yeah, well," he pointedly said.
Steve didn't think Elizabeth would really come. He figured since she knew Bucky would be there, she would decide last minute to not go. He was very happy that she decided to not let that stop her. He couldn't help but watch her and she went around the group greeting the familiar faces. Then he felt someone staring at him, and turned to see Bucky watching him watch her.
Steve felt embarrassed when he caught the eyes of Bucky's looking right at him. He quickly played it off.
"Say hi," Steve mouthed to him.
Bucky hesitated for a second glancing back between Steve and Elizabeth. He felt sick. He's been waiting for this moment for awhile, and now all he wanted to do was to run away.
She looked different, the same but different. Steve was right, she seemed genuinely happy. College had brought this new aura to her, she was glowing. Bucky instantly felt guilty for all the pain he's caused her.
He felt a soft nudge to his right side, Steve pointed his head towards the girl that was standing in front of him.
"Uh hi," Bucky nervously said.
"Hi Bucky," she politely smiled.
She called him Bucky. She hadn't called him that since before senior year happened. Steve had mentioned that she had only called him James. He immediately relaxed.
"How have you been?" Elizabeth asked him.
"Good, I've been good," he stumbled over his words, "Yourself?"
"I've been really good," she smiled. This wasn't as bad as Elizabeth thought it's old be.
Before Bucky could respond, they heard a scream. They both turned to see an older Rebecca Barnes running towards them.
Rebecca was now 15 years-old. She came along way from being Bucky's little sister. Elizabeth had always seen Rebecca as the little sister she always wanted. When she and Bucky were dating she would often include Rebecca on their outings. She never wanted Rebecca to feel left out simply because she was the youngest.
After she and Bucky broke up, Elizabeth stopped seeing Rebecca as well. It was just too hard for her. Plus, it took her months to forgive Bucky.
"Rebecca," she laughed, as the young girl threw her arms around the older one.
"You look so good," Rebecca said, pulling away with a giant smile on her face. She no longer had braces, Elizabeth noted.
"Aw thanks, I see those braces finally came off."
"Yeah, just two weeks ago," she smiled even brighter.
Bucky couldn't help but watch the two girls catch up with smiles on their faces.
After they had broken up senior year Rebecca kept asking Bucky went to school in Brooklyn, Rebecca went to a science based school in Queens. She never heard the rumors, but Rebecca was smart and intuitive. When Natasha started coming around more, she put two and two together. She never told Bucky she knew the truth, she figured he was trying to protect her.
"How's California?" Rebecca asked, causing Bucky to tune back into their conversation.
"Amazing," Elizabeth smiled, "Stanford is everything I thought it would be and more. The people there are great as well."
"Any lucky person?"
Leave it to Rebecca to be nosey, Bucky thought.
"Nah," Elizabeth shook her head, "School has been my top priority. Being a pre-law major is a lot of work."
Elizabeth and Rebecca spent some time catching up before Rebecca left to go meet up with some friends in Queens.
"Do you want a drink?" Bucky asks her, holding up an unopened can of soda.
"Thank-you," she grabbed it. She took a look around to see that their group had left and were now mingling with other guests.
It was just her and Bucky in the corner of the yard.
"So," he said shifting on his feet.
"So," she opened the can of soda, causing a loud carbonation sound breaking the awkward silence.
"This is awkward," he nervously laughed.
"Just a little," she agreed.
"Listen-"
"It's all water under the bridge Bucky," Elizabeth interrupted him, "We aren't those people anymore. We're adults now. In college. I meant it when I wrote you that I wanted to move on from all of that. No hard feelings. Think we can do that without mentioning the past?"
"Yeah, I think we're could," he smiled.
"Good," she smiled back, and this time it wasn't a forced one.
"You really do look good," he complimented her, carefully watching her reaction.
"Thank-you," she blushed, looking down at her feet, "So do you. I see you've been following Steve's footsteps about going to the gym."
"Yeah," he blushed, scratching the back of his neck, "It's nothing compared to Steve's. The punk looks like he ate the old Steve. That Thor guy must be one hell of a trainer."
"Oh Thor, he's practically built like a God," Elizabeth giggles, "If you think Steve is big, Thor is a fucking planet."
Bucky laughed along with her.
"So how's school going?" Elizabeth asked him.
"Good actually," Bucky smiled, "I'm going to be taking some summer courses to get a jump start for next year."
"Perks of being so close to campus," she smiled, "Did you have good roommate?"
"Yeah, his name is Sam, he's also in the same Music Technology program as me," Bucky explained, "He's going to be visiting during summer, so hopefully you get a chance to meet him."
Everything was going smoothly throughout the night. Elizabeth found herself having a really great time. She even started to find herself missing Bucky while catching up with him.
She shook off the feeling. It had to be a natural way to feel, she and Bucky had known each other their whole lives, and this was their first time actually talking in over a year.
When the party was starting to dwindle down, Elizabeth felt it was the right time to go home.
"I'm going to get going," she said to Steve, going to hug him goodbye.
"Thanks for coming," he smiled into the hug, "Did you drive here?"
"No, I walked," she informs him, "One thing about the west coast, most things aren't in walking distance."
"Right, I suggested walking somewhere once to my roommate, and he looked at me like I was crazy," Steve laughed.
"Will you be alright walking on your own?" He asked.
"I've done it many times before," she said.
"Hey man, I'm gonna take off," Bucky walks over interrupting their conversation.
"Perfect, Liz was just leaving as well, maybe you can give her a ride," Steve suggested.
"Oh, I actually walked here," Bucky tells him.
"Even better, so did she," Steve smiled proudly.
"You okay with that?" Bucky turns to Elizabeth. He wanted to make sure he wasn't overstepping any invisible boundaries.
"Yeah, I mean we both are heading to practically the same location," she shrugs her shoulders.
Both of them finished saying their goodbyes and began their walk back home. This was the first time they've been alone in way over a year. No party or people to come join in on the conversations. Just Elizabeth and Bucky.
Elizabeth glanced up at the sky, as they walked. Brooklyn was abnormally quiet that night. I was so peaceful, she couldn't help but take it all in.
"I've missed Brooklyn," she says just above a whisper as to not disturb the peacefulness of the night.
"It's missed you," Bucky confesses looking right at her.
Elizabeth was taken back by his response, she glanced to her left to see Bucky staring right at her. She stopped walking. She couldn't pinpoint what she was feeling in that moment.
Bucky panicked, "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," he apologized.
Elizabeth remained quiet. Trying to process it all. Whatever move she mad will have some sort of lasting affect on both of them.
"If you want to walk ahead I understand," he says, "I'll wait here for five minutes before I begin walking again."
Elizabeth stared into those sad blue eyes. The eyes that always found their way back to her. Maybe this time everything would be different, she thought.
"Elizabeth," Bucky quietly calls, carefully placing his hand on her's. She snapped out of her thoughts, and instantly laced her fingers through his.
"It's all good," she smiled giving his hand a reassuring squeeze, "Let's continue walking."
Bucky couldn't fight the smile growing on his face, as they continued to walk hand in hand.
Once they had reached Elizabeth's house, they stopped outside of the the gated yard.
"So," Bucky said as they stood outside the gate, still holding hands.
"So," Elizabeth smiled, subtly biting her lower lip, "Do you want to come inside for a bit? My parents won't be back until tomorrow morning."
Elizabeth had no idea what came over her to invite Bucky inside. She knew it wasn't a harmless invitation. They both knew what would happen once that front door closed.
"God, I'm going to regret this later," Bucky mumbled, causing Elizabeth to be confused.
"As much as I would love to go inside," he carefully began, "and trust me Elizabeth, there's nothing I would love more. I just have to say no."
"Oh," she said feeling utterly rejected. She wasn't expecting that response.
"Please don't take it as a rejection," he quickly said, grabbing her other hand, "I really want to give us another try. And in order for that to work, I think it's best if we don't rush into it. Because we both know once that door closes, taking our time will go right out the window. And I don't want to screw this up, again.
"I love you, Elizabeth. I never stopped. So please, please know I want to prove to you how much I love you by taking our time. Getting to re-know these new versions of ourselves."
Elizabeth was shocked. Not in a bad way. Bucky has really grown up this past year. Everything he was saying made sense. Yet she still couldn't help but feel sort of disappointed.
"Okay," she smiled, "You're right let's take this slow. Start fresh."
"Thank-you for understanding," he smiled, proud of himself for having some willpower, "Can I take you out tomorrow night?"
"Yes, I would like that."
"Does seven work for you?"
"Seven is good," she nodded her head.
"Perfect, I'll see you at seven," he kissed her cheek before dropping her hands and walking across the street to his own house.
Elizabeth went inside and headed to her own bedroom. She flopped down onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She pulled out red phone and immediately called Wanda, placing the phone on speaker and putting it next to her head on her pillow.
"You're not getting laid," Wanda greeted.
"Hey, I tried," Wanda defended.
"Wait, really?" Wanda sounded surprised, "You tried having sex with Steve?"
"Not with Steve," she hesitated for a second.
"Please don't tell me," Wanda groaned already knowing who she was talking about.
Elizabeth remained silent.
"Did you try to have sex with James?" Wanda asked needing verbal confirmation.
"Yes," Elizabeth admitted, "Everything went great at Steve's. Bucky and I spent most the night catching up and just talking. It made me realize how much I missed him. Also wan't bad that he somehow got better in the last year. We then walked home together, and when we got to my house, I invited him inside."
"Look at you taking initiative!" Wanda cheered.
"Yeah, well I didn't have the lucky red dress to take it all the way."
"What happened?"
"He turned me down," Elizabeth confessed.
"What?" Wanda yelled, "He turned you down!"
"He actually had a good reasoning for turning me down."
"Which was?"
"He wants to take this slow," Elizabeth tells her, "He said he wants us to get reacquainted with each other. Get to know who we are now, as oppose to who we were. He doesn't want to ruin it."
"I mean it does make sense."
"He also might've said he still loves me," Elizabeth quietly said the last part.
"He still loves you?" Wanda gasped.
"Yeah."
"How do you feel about that?" Wanda curiously asks.
"Honestly," Elizabeth pauses, trying to get her thoughts under control, "It made me happy to hear."
"Do you still love him?"
"Yes?" Elizabeth said unsure, "Based on the way I felt tonight? Yes I still do."
"Based on before tonight?" Elizabeth questioned.
"I always kept Bucky in the farthest corner of my mind. You know," she says, "He had hurt me so bad that after I forgives him, I just kind of wanted to move on from it all.
"I didn't want to take that kind of energy with me to Stanford. But once I was back, here in Brooklyn, all these feelings kept creeping back. And I don't know if it's cause I'm back home, and it's this familiar type of love. Bucky was always my comfort. He played such a big part of my life. The good, and the bad. How does one forget all that?"
"Is it a bad thing to say that I knew he'd come back to me?" Elizabeth expresses.
There was a pause on the other side of the phone.
"No," Wanda finally spoke, "What you two had isn't something that can be easily erased. But..."
"But?"
"I know you've said you've forgive him for cheating on you," Wanda says, "and I do believe that you have. But do yo think you can actually put that behind you once everything starts back up again. Will you be able to look at him as your partner and not second guess whatever he tells you.
"And I don't meat to be harsh here, but I also think it's important to be realistic about it all. Because when summer ends you'll be back here, at Stanford. While Bucky stays there."
Elizabeth takes a moment to think through everything Wanda has said. She knows what she's saying isn't without reasons. Elizabeth had told Wanda everything that had happened, so of course she was only looking out for Elizabeth.
But the Bucky Elizabeth saw tonight was definitely not the Bucky she had left last fall. And it might be naive of her to think, but she knew him. She knew he wasn't a bad person. Even good people make mistakes. She knew she should have to do this for herself, no matter how many people thought it was a bad idea.
"I don't want him to haunt all of my 'what ifs'," she spoke, "This is something that I have to give another shot. Even after everything he's put me through, I do still love him Wanda. I can't just give up this chance at love."
"Like I said before, this is your life," Wanda says, "You gotta do what's best for you and only you know what that is. And you know I will always be here for you. You're stuck with me for life."
Elizabeth had never felt more relieved, she knew she didn't need Wanda's blessing, but to have it was nice.
___________________
Over the next month, Elizabeth and Bucky had been on many dates. This whole getting to know each other again was going really well. They had also both agreed not to be exclusive. It didn't make sense to rush into putting a label on it.
After the first two weeks they both started to get busy. Bucky was taking three fast track classes during the summer, so he was busty during the week, going from school then back home.
Elizabeth had gotten a summer job at a dental office. She was hired to help with scheduling appointments, and filing paperwork. The job paid more than any usual summer job an almost 19 year-old with hardly no experience could get. She had previously tutored for the doctor who owned it kids. So when she heard Elizabeth was looking for a job, she offered it to her on the spot.
She couldn't complain, yes some days were longer than others, but the money was good and she had the weekends off, which now were the only times she and Bucky were able to see each other.
It was another long day of work, and Elizabeth had spent the day dealing with unruly patients. All she wanted to do was take a bath, have pizza, and crash. But she then remembered she and Bucky had a date planned for that evening. She glanced at the clock on the wall. He would be here in an hour.
As much as she wanted to go out, she really didn't have the energy to. Plush, she didn't really want to see anyone.
She pressed the call icon next to Bucky's name on her phone.
"Hey Liz," he greeted. Bucky and everyone else back home had gotten into the habit of calling her by her new 'grown-up' nickname.
"Please don't be upset," she says.
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Is it alright if we reschedule tonight's date," she says, "I just got home from work and I had a long day of dealing with rude people."
"Yeah of course," he tells her, he could hear just how exhausted she was, "Do you want me to bring over some food? We could could always have a night in."
"Thanks Buck, but I really just want to be along for the night," she tells him as she made her way into her room, "Is that okay?"
"Of course," he assured her, "I completely understand. I think Steve has the night off anyways, so think I'll head to his place for the night. Do you want to grab some lunch tomorrow during your lunch break?"
"That sounds perfect," she smiled, "Thanks again Buck."
"No worries. Have a good night."
"You too, tell Steve I said hi," she hung up the phone.
As she went to go put her bag down on her desk, her phone began to ring.
"Hey Wanda," she tiredly greeted her friend.
"Hey, everything okay?" Wanda asked, immediately sensing Elizabeth's mood.
"Just a long day, what's up?" She yawned.
"Just calling to ask you something."
"What's that?"
"You can say no first of all," Wanda clarified, "So I just got off of the phone with Thor and i was telling him about how I will be visiting you next week or the 4th of July, and well he kind of asked if he can come to New York as well."
"Oh," Elizabeth said, not expecting to hear that, "Are you asking for my permission, if your boyfriend can come?"
"Not my boyfriend, yet" Wanda sighs, "But yes. I guess he was also talking to Steve about visiting. He won't need to stay at your place either."
"Wanda, you don't have to ask me," Elizabeth assures her, "If Thor wants to come visit, he's more than welcomed to. I don't mind at all. Plus it'll be nice to see him."
"Oh, thank god," Wanda sighed in relief, "I just didn't want you to think that I don't want to spend time with you, because I do. I just don't want to be one of those girls that sneakily brings her boyfriend on a girl's trip. But don't worry, Thor is going to be doing his own thing with Steve. I am all your's for the weekend.
"Wanda it's okay. I know you aren't one of those girls. If you do become one of them, I'll make sure to save you."
"You're the best Liz," Wanda smiled, "Wait don't you have a date with Bucky tonight?"
"Not anymore, I cancelled," she says, "Too tired, Just want food and sleep."
"Ahh well, I'll let you go, enjoy your food and sleep, and I'll see you next week."
Elizabeth hung up the phone and decided to take advantage of the quiet house and take a bath before her parents got home from work.
As she entered her room, wearing a robe and her hair up in a towel, her phone began to ring.
"So much for a quiet time," she sighed, picking up the phone.
"Hey Steve what's up?"
"Sorry to bother you, I know you've had along day at work, but Bucky just bailed on me, something to do with Rebecca," he tells her, "And I'm outside of his house with a large pizza, and I don't want it to go to waste."
The other line went dead, Steve looked down at his phone to see that Elizabeth had hung up the phone. He hesitated for a second, thinking he should've just went home. As he was about to start his car up again, he heard his name being called. He looked across the street to find Elizabeth standing in her front door, in nothing but a robe.
"It better be a pepperoni pizza," she called out.
He laughed, and got out of his car with the large pizza in hand, "Only the best kind."
She moved out of the way to let him into the house, and lead him into the living room.
"Okay I'm going to head upstairs and put some clothes on," she says, "Make yourself at home, you know where everything is at."
"Sorry again about the drop in," Steve apologized once Elizabeth came back down with a fresh pair of clothes and hair brushed through.
"No worries, sorry Bucky bailed," she said sitting down next to Steve on the couch, "But his loss, is my pizza gain."
They spent the next hour devouring the pizza and watching a movie.
"So I hear Thor is visiting next week," she says, as she places her empty plate inside the empty pizza box, before making herself comfortable on the couch.
"Yeah, actually I wanted to talk to you about that," Steve says adjusting himself to face Elizabeth to his right, "Thor's parents have a house in the Hampton's, and they said we could use it for the 4th of July weekend. Not sure if you and Wanda already had plans, but you guys are more than welcome to join us."
"That sounds like a lot of fun. I'm sure Wanda wouldn't mind either," she smiled, "Plus I have never been to the Hamptons."
"Then it's settled, weekend at the Hamptons," Steve smiled, "I believe Loki and Scott will be joining us as well. Bucky is also inviting his roommate Sam, and I was planning on inviting some of the kids we went to school with."
"Sounds like a party."
____________________
Elizabeth and Wanda drove up to East Hampton together. The boys drove up the night before to get everything set up.
"So how are things between you and Bucky?" Wanda asked lowering down the volume.
"Things have been okay," Elizabeth sighed, as she kept her eyes ahead as she drove.
"Just okay?" Wanda asked, "A month ago you couldn't stop talking about him. What changed?"
"We haven't had much time together the last week or so," Elizabeth says, "and he's been cancelling a lot on me this past week."
"Did you say he was taking summer courses?"
"Yeah," Elizabeth nodded.
"Then he's probably just busy," Wanda reassures her, "Now, look at it this way. You'll have four days to catch up. Plus, you'll have the lucky red dress."
"We're taking it slow, remember?"
"It's been a month and a half. Have you guys even kissed?" Wanda playfully joked.
"He wants to take it slow," Elizabeth quietly repeated.
"Wait!" Wanda yelled startling Elizabeth.
"Geez Wan, I'm driving!"
"You guys haven't even kissed yet!"
"He wants to take it slow!" Elizabeth yelled back.
"There's slow and then there's being a fucking nun. Is he a nun?"
"I don't know what you want me to say. It's not for lack of trying," Elizabeth stressed, "I've tried. Believe me, I've tried."
Wanda remained quiet, causing Elizabeth to get an unsettling feeling in her stomach.
"Why are you so quiet? You're never this quiet. Ever."
"I'm just thinking," Wanda says.
"Well please do share your thoughts."
"You guys haven't even kissed, does that not worry you?"
"Yes," Elizabeth confessed, "Of course it does."
"Do you think," Wanda pauses, "Now don't freak out when I ask this because we don't want to die, and we also don't know what's going on. But do you think he's seeing someone else?"
"I haven't even thought of that," Elizabeth says.
Wanda glances over and notices the far off look in Elizabeth's eyes.
"You know what, that wasn't a logical explanation," Wanda says trying to bring back her spiraling friend, "I'm sure Bucky is just busy."
"Yeah," Elizabeth agreed, but not really believing any of it.
____________________________
The girls arrived to the house an hour later, it was barely going to be noon. The rest of their car ride was no longer filled with talks of relationships, but just spent listening to music, and discussing plans for their new apartment. When they pulled up, they were in awe of the beautiful house. There was already two cars in the driveway, one belonging to Steve, and the other must've been Loki's rental. "How much money do those Odinsons have?" Wanda stated looking up at the house. The house was a white modern looking two-story farmhouse. The two car drive way, looked like a mini version of the house. It looked homey. "You're here!" They heard a booming voice yell, as they exited the car. They looked up to the front door to see Thor fast walking his way over to them. He quickly made his way to Wanda and took both girls by surprise by picking her up and kissing her. At least someone's getting kissed, Elizabeth thought smiling at how happy her best friend looked. "Hello to you too," Wanda smiled, once they pulled apart. "I've missed you," he grinned, placing her down gently, "Hi Elizabeth." "Hi Thor, nice to see you," she greeted him, as she opened the trunk of her car to get the bags out. "Here let me get those," he said, grabbing both suitcases from the trunk, "The boys are out back in the pool." Thor showed both girls to their room first before walking them out to the back to greet the rest of the boys. "Lizzy! Wanda!" Loki shouted, running over to both girls and throwing his arms around them both. "Finally some estrogen to balance out all of this testosterone," he whispered in their ears, causing both girls to giggle. Once they pulled apart they were greeted by Loki's boyfriend Scott Lang. "Hi Scott," both girls greeted, hugging him as well. Elizabeth looked past the patio area to the backyard, where the pool was placed in the middle of nothing but grass. A typical Hamptons backyard. She saw Steve, Bucky, and who she assumed to be Bucky's roommate Sam, emerging from the pool. "Hey, you guys made it," Steve smiled. "All in one piece." "Barely," Wanda whispered to Loki. "This is Wanda, my roommate from Stanford," she introduced, "Not sure if you met back then. Wanda this is Steve, and Bucky, and Sam, right?" "Correct," Sam answered extending his arm out to shake their hands, "Sam Wilson, the person who's had to put up with Bucky for almost a year." Elizabeth laughed, "So sorry you've had to deal with that." "Ha ha funny," Bucky rolled his eyes, shaking Wanda's hand. He looked over at Elizabeth about to go in for a hug, but stopping once he realized he was wet from the pool. He gave her a smile, and she returned it. "Oh, I forgot. Happy birthday Steve," Elizabeth announced, "I would hug you but your wet." "Thanks, Liz," he smiled. Elizabeth glanced over at Wanda who was raising her eyebrows teasingly. Elizabeth shook her head. "So what time is everyone arriving?" She asks. "We told everyone two," Loki said, "the catering staff should be hear soon. "Catering?" Wanda asked. "Our parents insisted, seeing as last time Thor tried to have a barbecue he almost burned down the house," Loki explains to them. "He's pretty and smart, he doesn't have to cook," Wanda defended him, "Also helps that he has a big di-" "Okay," Elizabeth clapped her hands interrupting Wanda from finishing that sentence, "We're going to go get ready." "We'll join you," Loki said, with Scott behind him following the girls upstairs to their shared room. "So that's Bucky?" Loki asked, throwing himself onto one of the beds while Scott closed the door behind them. "Yup." "He's hot," Scott stated. "Don't start fawning over him," Wanda raises her hand, "He hasn't even kissed her yet." "What?" Loki and Scott gasped. "Are you going to be telling everyone that?" Elizabeth asked, heading into the en-suite bathroom. "You brought the red dress right?" Scott asked Wanda, already knowing all about her lucky red dress. "Yes, nobody worry," Wanda says pulling out the red dress, "Our dear sweet Lizzy will be getting at least some action tonight. Even if it's the bare minimum."
__________________________
The party was going great, everyone had invited a mixture of friends. Some were from Elizabeth's high school, some of them had grown up with Thor and Loki. It was a good mix of people. And everyone was having a great time.
In the car ride Elizabeth had been nervous after her conversation with Wanda about Bucky, but all those worries went away once she had made her way back down after getting ready.
Bucky hadn't left her side, since then, and he was being more openly affectionate than before. There was still no kiss, but Elizabeth didn't have a doubt in her mind the night wouldn't be ending without one, maybe even a little more.
Thank you lucky red dress.
It was around eight pm when Thor suggested they start doing the fireworks, everyone in the neighborhood had started to as well. So everyone made their way into the front yard, some in chairs, some on the grass, and some just standing around.
Elizabeth was sitting on the lawn, looking up at the lit up sky. She looked to her right to see Steve admiring all the colors, she softly smiled at him and the way he looked so content and happy.
She looked to her left to find the spot Bucky was just at a minute ago empty. She took a quick look around and couldn't see him, she shrugged it off just assuming he was somewhere nearby or in the house. She knew he had difficulties with large crowds and sometimes he just needed to step away.
After twenty minutes, Bucky still wasn't back.
"Hey Steve, I'll be back, I'm going to go check on Bucky," she tells him before heading back into the house.
The house was quiet, since everyone was outside watching the fireworks. She checked the back and all of downstairs but couldn't find Bucky, even the catering crew were outside watching the fireworks.
Elizabeth headed upstairs, thinking Bucky probably went to find peace in his room. Bucky and Sam were sharing a room for the weekend, it was the first one to the right once you reached the top of the stairs.
As soon as Elizabeth reached the final step, the bedroom door opened up. She smiled thinking Bucky was going to walk out, but the smile dropped when she was greeted by not Bucky but Natasha Romanoff walking out.
Natasha hadn't noticed Elizabeth yet, she was smiling at the person walking out right behind her.
Bucky had a huge grin on his face, his hair was a mess and so was Natasha's. His smiled instantly dropped and his eyes widen once he noticed Elizabeth frozen at the top of the stairs.
So much for a lucky dress...
#folklore#folklore song series#taylor swift folklore#cardigan folklore#cardigan#taylor swift cardigan#bucky barnes fanfiction#bucky barnes angst#bucky barnes x original female character#bucky x original female character#original character series#bucky angst#bucky barnes#steve rogers fanfiction#sam wilson#wanda maximoff#thor odinson#thor#loki#scott lang#bucky barnes modern day au#Steve rogers modern day#mcu modern day#mcu modern au#bucky barnes fluff#modern day au#steve rogers modern au#bucky barnes modern au#angst#fluff
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Intervention
Good God help me I’m back on my Garmari again. AGAIN. Class salt, but not Alya, Alix is neutral (so minor Alix salt?). Chloé redemption, but it’s not mentioned. Also, members of the new team at the end are PV Félix and his Gucci Gang
~~~
Marinette never thought she’d thank Chloé Bourgeois, of all people, for her boyfriend.
Backtrack.
A year and a half ago, their end-of-year class trip was the best one they had had or ever would. Funding, from Chloé’s father, went to a weeklong trip to San Francisco. They toured Alcatraz, the different neighborhoods, the Ghirardelli factory, and walked the Golden Gate Bridge.
None of those events even came close to the Teen Titans’ tower in San Francisco Bay. They didn’t go inside, obviously, but almost every day, in their allotted free time, she found herself at a harborside café, sketching the tower and designs that came to her from it and its team.
It was those quiet times that, incidentally, got her into contact with the team shapeshifter, Beast Boy.
Marinette had been sitting on a dock for a change, doodling idly as her legs swung from a bench — she was still too short for her feet to touch the ground at fifteen. Tikki dozed in her purse, stuffed full of chocolate.
As the sun began to make its way toward the horizon, she got up and placed the sketchbook in her backpack. Then, like the sun, she began to head home.
That journey would quickly be delayed. A man, hood up and all in dark clothes, snatched her purse and took off like a shot.
Tikki!
The Parisian girl sprinted after him, shouting for help. If she had been transformed, perhaps she would have taken him down faster.
But perhaps it was for the better. A green blur shot out of an alley and knocked into the would-be thief with a forceful missile kick, quickly apprehending the man. Marinette skidded to a halt to avoid running him over, and was caught in a pair of dark brown eyes.
Oh, hello there.
He grinned toothily, and held up her clutch purse. “Does this happen to be yours?”
“Oui!” Marinette’s hands flew to her mouth, and she couldn’t help but flush in embarrassment. “Oh! I am sorry, yes, it is.” Despite years of learning English, she couldn’t help but stammer with her accent.
The green boy fished out a pair of cuffs and locked them around the thief’s wrists, and kept a hold on them with his left hand as he held out his right. “I’m Beast Boy. Nice to meet you, though it would’ve been better under different circumstances.”
She shook his hand, and couldn’t help a sheepish smile. “Well, um, if you would like to try again,” Marinette suggested, already flushing, “I will be close to Hyde Street Pier, on the waterfront, close to three o’clock tomorrow.”
His grin only widened. “Can’t wait!” Beast Boy hauled the man to his feet, and glanced back at her. “Oh, hey, by the way — what’s your name?”
“I’m Marinette!”
“See you tomorrow, Marinette!”
That fateful encounter sparked a close friendship, which blossomed into an even closer relationship.
Marinette was grateful that the stars had aligned that day. She wouldn’t be where she was in life without him, if she was being completely honest.
She and Gar were open about their identities to each other, and when he came over on his bimonthly visit via Zeta tubes, they spent their days inside cuddling, watching movies, and playing video games.
The only thing that irked both of them was the fact that their relationship was one-hundred-percent secret from the press, as neither wanted that publicity.
Ergo, they couldn’t be seen in public together.
Therefore, they couldn’t go on dates, no matter how much they wanted to.
At least they had reached a compromise. Until Hawkmoth was defeated, on her own terms, they couldn’t be seen together. Even if her own terms, which would take more time, involved no outside help.
When Lila Rossi entered Françoise Dupont for the first time, Marinette didn’t have to be Ladybug to see through her lies. She claimed extravagant tales of meeting American superheroes on her mother’s travels — of the Teen Titans in New York City, of the Batfamily in Gotham, and of some group she had completely made up — the Gems of Justice, of all names.
Yeah, no. She didn’t have to be a superheroine to spot the bullcrap a mile away.
She tried to keep the whole situation quiet, though, she really did. Marinette didn’t want to burden Gar with class drama. After all, she was well aware that they only had so much time together.
But just like how she had tried to keep being Ladybug from him, that plan fell through in a matter of hours.
He held her when she sniffled over Lila’s threat, and let her slump back into him as she described how her classmates (sans Alya, bless her heart) were riveted by this Italian liar nobody who somehow held their attention.
She held onto the hope that they would all see reason, sometime.
That hope shattered when Alya moved away. Her parents wanted out from the living nightmare of Akumatown, as all four of their daughters had been akumatized at least once apiece.
Marinette sobbed, for the first time alone in the city of love.
It was midnight when she called him on her first night without her bestie, bawling into the phone line.
It was twenty minutes past when he showed up on her balcony, and she almost tackled them both over the railing. She let her emotions pour out onto his shoulder and he held her tight; and when she ran out of tears to cry, he held her until she fell asleep in her bed.
In the morning, he let her sleep in a little bit, and made her pancakes (with green food coloring, of course, because how else would he?). She cried again upon seeing the food, but there were thankful tears mixed among the sad ones.
Marinette left her house with her head held high.
Without her rock Alya at her side, Lila’s digs and jibes became worse. She took the mental hits, took the comments. Snide words turned into sneering faces turned into trips in the hallways, turned into destroyed work.
She resigned from the class presidency, choking down tears.
How could she have let it get this bad?
She should have stood up to it, so it could have stopped before it all began!
Oh, Alya…
Trips in the hallways turned to shoving at the steps, turned into stolen things.
Garfield, in the Titan Tower, had had a slow week. He’d only gone to visit Marinette a few days ago, but when Raven flicked his shoulder and told him he was moping, he headed off to the tubes to pay his girlfriend a surprise visit.
He emerged in Paris and immediately morphed into a bird, flying high above the city. He didn’t want the attention that came with his ability, not today.
As her school wasn’t out yet, Gar soared around Paris, taking in the sights. No matter how many times he came to the city, the views still left him amazed.
And Marinette with him, when they could go to those places, would leave him breathless.
As the hour wound closer, he headed over to Collège François Dupont, and took a perch on one of the flagpoles, content to wait for the time being.
The bell rang to let the classes out, and he shifted on his seat, eager to catch a glimpse of his girlfriend.
There!
She was one of the first out, and he readied his wings to swoop down to her and sweep Marinette off her feet. He was almost in flight when he stopped dead, dread washing over him like a tidal wave.
A tall Asian boy with an undercut and bleached hair hurried after her, his sneakered feet hitting the cement with a self-righteous purpose.
And a pack was following him.
Her classmates — a pale girl with long black hair, a dark-skinned boy with close-cropped hair, a short blonde girl, a tall blonde boy, and more — were in close pursuit.
And behind them strode a brunette, her wedged heels clicking with her own purpose. Green eyes watched all as her lips curled into a deadly, sickly smirk.
All attention was on Marinette, who hurried to go home, shoulders hunched.
He had left her alone like this.
“Hey!” the Asian boy called, and a robot whizzed in front of his girlfriend, bringing her up short.
She froze, and slowly turned to face him. Marinette was dwarfed by his massive frame, and she was terrified of what might happen next.
His hands came to rest on his hips, and he cocked his head in a leer. “Don’t think you’ve gotten away with what you’ve done.”
“Huh?” Her tone was shrill, it was panicked. “Kim, I didn’t do anything!”
An ugly frown twisted his face. “Then maybe you’ll remember!”
Faster than she could react, his hand raised and descended.
But Garfield reacted faster.
In a blink, he took off like a shot and dove down at the Asian boy, then shifted back to human form midair to launch himself at the boy feet-first like a missile. His boots hit the boy in the back of the neck, and man, was he satisfied to see him fall.
“G- Beast Boy?!” Marinette’s panicked whisper told him she was only a hair away from a complete breakdown.
The classmates hurriedly backpedaled, clearing a ring for him in the crowd that was quickly forming.
Gar hauled the boy — Kim — up by his hoodie collar. Despite his scrawny figure, he was lean, and packed a punch.
“I don’t like bullies,” he hissed as his eyes narrowed to slits. Kim quaked in his grasp, catching a good look at his fangs. “And if I catch you even looking at her wrong, you’ll wish you had never met her.”
Someone in the crowd was foolish enough to step forward and speak up. It was the dark-skinned boy with glasses, and his robot had flown back to be at his side. “My calculations prove that there is a ninety-percent chance that Marinette is the one at fault.”
He felt his girlfriend shrink beside him. It was tempting to shift into a tiger and intimidate the lot of them.
But instead his lips twitched into a smile, instead he grinned. The hook in his mouth had never been so cold.
“Then I suggest you check your calculations, buddy boy.” The class flinched back from his tone alone — it flashed knives, razor-sharp and ready to cut.
“All of you better watch your backs, ‘cause I’ll be waiting for an opening.” His voice spilled from his throat in an angry growl. If he had been a tiger, his tail would have lashed.
“I’m giving you one warning. Scram.”
The class took off and scattered, one of them even darting into the street.
Gar didn’t spare them a second glance before turning back to Marinette and hugging her tight. “I’m so sorry,” he murmured, closing his eyes and inhaling the scent of her perfume. “I should be there for you, not an ocean away.”
Her arms snaked around his sides and clutched him tight. Her entire body was shaking like a leaf, so he gently rubbed her back.
“Hey, hey. Marinette, let’s get back to your room, okay?” Any trace of the snarl he had bared at her classmates was gone; his voice was gentle now, it was soothing.
She sniffled, and hiccuped once as she tried to get her breathing under control. “Okay.” Her voice was quiet, subdued. There was no trace of the sassy girl he had met who loved life fiercely with all her heart.
Anger built inside him but he dispelled it, thanking Raven for forcing him to learn meditation.
After he picked up her bag, Gar wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. “It’s not that far. You can make it.”
Another subdued “okay” was all the response he got.
He led her across the street, ignoring the looks passers-by threw him and even the phone cameras.
Once she was inside the bakery, a shocked gasp let him know Sabine Cheng had seen them. She rushed out from behind the counter to hug her daughter tight, then led the two of them to their living room upstairs.
After he had set down her bag and the three of them were seated on the couch, Sabine with her arm around Marinette and Garfield holding her hand, his girlfriend finally broke down, sobbing into her mother’s shoulder.
“Do you want me to make tea?” he offered, knowing Sabine didn’t want to leave her daughter’s side.
The older woman nodded. “Please. Peony.”
He gave Marinette’s hand a squeeze and got up, finding the kettle and mugs easily. While he waited for the water to heat up, he sat back down next to her.
Sabine looked to him, gray eyes piercing. “What happened, Garfield?”
He told her everything. How he had watched her come out of the school and saw Kim go straight for Marinette on an offense she hadn’t committed.
“It’s Lila,” his girlfriend muttered, her voice muffled by her mother’s shirt. “She’s influenced them all except Alix.”
That didn’t help matters.
“But Alix didn’t defend you,” Gar told her gently. “They all, one way or another, abandoned you.”
Marinette hiccuped, finally looking up at him. A bolt of pain shot through his heart at the face looking him in the eyes — red-rimmed eyes, tear-stained cheeks, and a running nose.
“They abandoned me,” she repeated, her voice hollow. “I have nobody.”
“You’ve got me,” Garfield reminded her, taking her hands and squeezing them tight. “You’ve got two parents who love you more than anything in the world. And, if I called them now, you have the Teen Titans. All of them would stand for you. Every last one of them.”
The kettle whistled, and he got up to steep the tea. He heard Sabine murmur to her daughter in Cantonese, things he didn’t understand but knew the intent. He returned to the couch with three mugs balanced carefully on a tray, and set it down on the table.
“Mrs. Cheng, I don’t know if you’ve considered it, but have you thought of moving schools?”
She nodded, and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I have. And I think that it would be best.”
Marinette didn’t even flinch, just numbly nodded. His heart broke to see her so lifeless, and he pulled her into a tight hug. He almost had to blink back tears of his own, and rested his chin on the top of her head.
“Let me help with this, Mrs. Cheng. Please.”
Sabine nodded. “I will. How long are you going to stay in Paris?”
“As long as I’m needed.”
And he did. He stayed.
Garfield was the one to march into Françoise Dupont to deliver the paperwork to Damocles, his chin up and shoulders back. Even if he was at average height — and shorter than a good half of the school — they cleared a path for him, the school yard silent enough to drop a pin.
He didn’t spare them a parting glance.
Gar was the one to walk her to her new school, where she was mobbed by Kagami, Luka, and Chloé. They thanked him, each thank-you heartfelt, and he grinned, knowing his girlfriend was in good hands.
He was there for her first week, and went back to the Tower knowing she had friends to support her there.
And when Hawkmoth was finally defeated months later, with a new team and a new Chat Noir, he pulled Marinette into a searing kiss as the rain began to wash Paris clean.
#garmari#garfield logan#marinette dupain-cheng#teen titans#dc comics#miraculous ladybug#pv#lila salt#class salt#kim salt#ml salt#ml x dc#maribat#lord help me im back on my bullshit#AGAIN
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The actor reflects on Classic Loki's big move, and shares his disappointment over not getting to act opposite scene partner Ian McDiarmid in 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.'
[This interview contains spoilers for Loki episode five.]
If you thought Richard E. Grant and Tom Hiddleston had a passing resemblance during Loki‘s fifth episode, “Journey Into Mystery,” then you weren’t alone. In fact, the two actors have talked about their shared “physiognomy” for years, so much so that a running joke was created about them playing father and son, someday. And then, at the beginning of 2020, the gag was up as Grant received the official offer to play Classic Loki on the Hiddleston-led Loki. Since Grant missed Hiddleston’s renowned “Loki lecture” prior to production, he received his own private crash course later on in production.
“[Tom Hiddleston] was very articulate and passionate about all of that, as he’s a walking Lokipedia,” Grant tells The Hollywood Reporter. “So that was very, very useful, but to be honest, I was so anxious and nervous about my first day of work that I probably only took in about 5 percent of what he was saying to me. But by the same token, I was entering his universe, and I was hoping that I wasn’t going to let him, or the fans of this character, down.”
When Grant was first offered the job, he immediately began to envision his Classic Loki costume since he assumed it would include a muscle suit a la Jack Kirby’s rendition of the character. But once he arrived to the Loki set in Atlanta, he discovered that his own physicality would be utilized instead, much to his chagrin.
“What I was so looking forward to with Loki was finally having a muscle suit, having been born without any,” Grant says with a laugh. “I thought, ‘Oh great! I’m going to look like the Jack Kirby drawings and costume design, which was so faithful to that.’ But when I got to Atlanta, they said, ‘No, you don’t have a muscle suit. You’re just as yourself, a stick insect.’ So I was very disappointed. I thought I was letting the character and viewers down by not having muscles underneath it. I wish that I had gone into a year’s worth of training and weight-gain powder to look like that, but I don’t think I could’ve possibly achieved that. So I was hoping I’d have the rubberized version of it, but I was denied that pleasure.”
In a recent conversation with THR, Grant also discusses Classic Loki’s ultimate sacrifice and what the character was thinking as he laughed en route to his death.
You’ve said that you and Tom Hiddleston have wanted to work together for years. When did this desire first come about?
More than anything, it came about because we recognized that we have a similar physiognomy, and somebody joked to us, “You could play father and son!” So I suppose it has always been in the back of mind. And then I saw Tom at the Toronto [International] Film Festival a couple years ago, and he said, “We really have to do something together! Father and son — or something!” But I thought it was highly unlikely because his career had gone so far up into the stratosphere. And then, at the beginning of last year, I got an offer to play Classic/Old Loki, and I thought, “Oh right, this is what we talked about and now it’s come to pass.” So that’s how it happened.
And in terms of the script, what was your first impression of Classic Loki’s full-fledged arc?
The backstory — where he describes himself as the God of Outcasts rather than the God of Mischief — was very compelling. So you understand where and why he’s been out of the loop for so long. He was so desperate to have some kind of contact that he was willing to reveal himself to the TVA, and later, by offering himself up to Asgard and Alioth, he’s willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the possibility of somebody else finding love. Because the ending was so catastrophic and mayhem-filled, as he laughs in the face of his own immolation, I thought that was a great beginning, middle and end in just one episode. It’s as much as you could ever hope for from a guest role. So it was really exciting to do and very satisfying.
As he was laughing in the face of the beast, what was on his mind?
Even as you’re going down, you still have the power, grace and sheer chutzpah to go, “I will laugh in your face even though I know that you’re about to eat me alive.” That’s a great adage to life. (Laughs.) I love that.
Since Tom has played Loki for many years, he’s become the world’s foremost authority on the character, so much so that he delivers actual lectures on him.
He is! He’s Lokipedia.
Was there enough time for him to give you a crash course on the character?
He did one of those prior to the first episode; they’d already shot four episodes by the time I got there. So he came and saw me after I had just gotten my costume and makeup done. He said, “I’m going to give you a brief outline and some background information on what you’re dealing with.” So he was very articulate and passionate about all of that, as he’s a walking Lokipedia. So that was very, very useful, but to be honest, I was so anxious and nervous about my first day of work that I probably only took in about 5 percent of what he was saying to me. But by the same token, I was entering his universe, and I was hoping that I wasn’t going to let him, or the fans of this character, down.
Classic Loki was very frustrated by the fact that betrayal is synonymous with the Loki archetype. So he did something about it and sacrificed his life to help Loki and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino). While you touched on the ultimate sacrifice already, what did you make of his decision to go against type?
It was very smart of [Tom Kauffman], the writer, to have hit on that. I was the oldest person on the unit, as well as the oldest person on the crew and the cast. When you’re in the twilight zone as I am now at 64, there is a sense that you’re handing over the baton in the relay race of life. So it seemed like the most human, vulnerable and honorable thing to do, and I got that completely. It was fitting — even for an old Classic Loki. But unlike in my life, you can always come back in Loki-land. (Laughs.)
Between Allegiant General Pryde in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Classic Loki, were these two of your favorite costume fittings to date?
Yes, and it was pretty amazing to have that great, explosive ending to that Star Wars character. But what I was so looking forward to with Loki was finally having a muscle suit, having been born without any. (Laughs.) I thought, “Oh great! I’m going to look like the Jack Kirby drawings and costume design, which was so faithful to that.” But when I got to Atlanta, they said, “No, you don’t have a muscle suit. You’re just as yourself, a stick insect.” So I was very disappointed. I thought I was letting the character and viewers down by not having muscles underneath it. I wish that I had gone into a year’s worth of training and weight-gain powder to look like that, but I don’t think I could’ve possibly achieved that. So I was hoping I’d have the rubberized version of it, but I was denied that pleasure. (Laughs.)
On big-budget projects in particular, actors don’t always get the chance to work opposite another actor/character in any given scene. So now that you can talk about The Rise of Skywalker, did you and Ian McDiarmid actually get to be in the same room during Pryde’s hologram scene with Emperor Palpatine?
No, I never met Ian on it at all.
Between Jack Hock (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and Withnail (Withnail and I), who would enjoy Loki’s company the most? Who’d make for a more ideal companion?
Wow. I think Jack Hock because he was so gregarious and wanted to be friends with everybody. Whereas Withnail was so staggeringly selfish that I think even he would have outdone Loki in the ego department.
*** Loki is now streaming every Wednesday on Disney+.
#Loki#Loki series#Tom Hiddleston#Lokipedia#Richard E. Grant#hollywoodreporter#interview#2021.07.13.#spoilers#episode 5 spoilers
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butterfly (nakamoto yuta)
Summary: when your secret tattoo is discovered and you're scolded during dance practice, the nice Japanese boy group trainee can't help but interfere.
Genre: fluff, hurt/comfort
Pairing: trainee!yuta x trainee!reader
Word count: 1.9k
Author’s note: trigger warning! unwanted touching? also, we all know that yuta respects women af so i thought this would just be something he’s probably done
“and uh 5, 6, 7, 8.”
“smoother movements, people.”
“y/n, you’re late on the third count.
“one more time from the top.”
“y/n, fix your left arm.”
“last time from the top.”
It was just another day in the practice room, preparing for your next dance evaluation, but today’s practice felt a little harder than usual. Maybe it was the fact that it was over ninety degrees outside (a typical summer day in Korea), or the fact that you were wearing a fairly thick T-shirt with long sweats that were made for chilly weather.
When you woke up from your nap two hours earlier, you had completely forgotten about the group dance practice scheduled in ten minutes, and grabbed whatever clothes you saw first in your closet before dashing to the practice room, where your trainee friends were already warming up with the teacher.
“Ok, 10-minute break. Get some water and come back ready to clean up your moves.” said the instructor, Mr. Kim.
The trainees scattered from the center of the room, with some girls leaving to stop by the water fountain, some guys grabbing a towel to wipe their sweat, and some just plopping down on the floor to catch their breath.
“It’s so hot, Jiwoo. I think I might faint from heat exhaustion,” you tell your friends. Like you, Jiwoo has been training under SM for the past two years. Though make and female trainees were often divided during the training process, today, all trainees, both male and female, were learning the same hip-hop routine for the monthly evaluation.
“It's not that hot though? Maybe it's because you're wearing fleece sweats. Y/n, you really are going to pass out if you keep wearing that. I have extra shorts that you can wear.” Jiwoo pulls out a pair of black athletic shorts from her duffel bag and hands them to you.
“Really? Oh my god, Jiwoo, I don't know what I would do without you.” You take them from her, standing up. “I'll be back, I'm going to go change.”
--
The shorts definitely helped with the heat, but Jiwoo’s size and proportions were a little off from yours. She was a little shorter than you, which made the shorts barely reach halfway to your knee, yet the shorts were a little loose around your thighs, allowing the fabric to fly up each time you squatted or jumped. Nevertheless, it was better to show some skin than pass out from heat exhaustion.
Still, you didn't want the male trainees to see anything that you didn't want them to. And in particular, you didn't want anyone to see the tattoo on your inner thigh.
Not only were tattoos considered ugly and immature, but they were also a nuisance to makeup artists and stylists. Just knowing that you had an inked design on your body would make you less eligible to debut.
So to prevent the shorts from rising up and revealing your tattoo, you put less energy into the jumps, but this compromised the appearance of the performance.
“Ok, everyone stop,” said Mr. Kim. “Y/n, why are you jumping like a half dead frog? At this part, everyone needs to jump up like a spring, a slinky! You're a rusty wire right now, fix it.”
“Sorry, Mr. Kim. I’ll do better.”
In the next rounds of dancing, you decided to put your all into it, fearing a scolding from the teacher. Hopefully, no one would pay attention to you enough to notice what was under your shorts.
“From the top to the second jump,” Mr. Kim ordered.
1-2-3-4, 5-6-7-jump. 1-2-3-4, 5-6-7-jump. You counted in your head, focusing on only the dance and your movements.
1-2-3-4, 5-6-7-jump. 1-2-3-4, 5-6-7-jump. In this moment, you only noticed yourself, your swaying motions, your posture, your expressions.
1-2-3-4, 5-6-7-jump. 1-2-
“STOP!” Mr. Kim roared.
Everyone's eyes widened, unsure if they were the ones going to be scolded. At this point, it had been a longer practice than usual, and as practice dragged on, Mr. Kim’s mood and tolerance dwindled exponentially.
“Y/n. Step up.”
Your heart suddenly began pounding a mile a minute. What did you do wrong? You could have sworn your movements were perfect. You stepped forward from the grid formation, to the front of the class with your back facing them. In the mirror, you saw your fearful face in front of all the other trainee’s wide eyes and pitiful stares.
“Y/n. What is this?” Mr. Kim pointed to your right inner thigh, right where the fabric of the shorts ended and revealed a black mark on your skin. “Lift up your shorts.”
With shaking fingers, you slightly pull up the edge of the shorts to reveal a small inked butterfly on your thigh, just a few inches wide. In your peripheral vision, you could see the other trainees, sending looks of surprise? shock? confusion? to each other.
“Y/n……” the edge of Mr. Kim’s lips slid upward, almost laughing in your face to mock you. “You've been messing up all day and now this. You really continue to surprise me.”
He pulled up the edge of the shorts once more to get a glimpse of your tattoo, his foreign touch on your thigh making you flinch.
“If you're going to be a rebellious bitch and get a tattoo, at least make it creative!” He laughed. “A butterfly?”
At this point, you looked down at your feet in the mirror’s reflection, too embarrassed to face how the other trainees were looking at you. You blinked quickly to prevent any tears from falling. Would you have to get the tattoo removed to keep training? Or worse, would you maybe even be kicked out? Having a tattoo was one thing, but you had been causing some trouble during today's practice with your mistakes.
Mr. Kim’s scolding continued in the back of your mind, but you tuned it out with the clouded thoughts of what might happen to you. You were brought back to the current situation when Mr. Kim’s hands pulled up your shorts again to see the tattoo, this time a little too high, revealing a sliver of your black underwear. You took a step back.
“Hey!” A new body appeared in your field of vision, pushing away Mr. Kim’s hand and stepping in between you and the teacher with his y'all figure.
“M-mr. Kim,” you started.
“Hah, look at this-this,” Mr. Kim didn't know where to start with cursing you. “Y/n, you're dismissed. Leave now. Yuta, get out of my way and go back to your position.”
It took a minute for you to process Mr. Kim’s words. Dismissed from practice? Dismissed from the monthly evaluation? Dismissed from the training you had put the past two years of your life into and given up academics and friends and good food for? With all these thoughts in your mind, you couldn't help but let some tears slide down your cheek as you left the room and went into the hallway. You couldn't even hear the roaring voice of another teenager behind you.
“You can't touch her like that! That's not-"
--
Sitting in an empty recording room, you couldn’t help but let the tears run down your face.
You had worked so hard for so long to get to where you were, and you might have just lost it all because of a stupid butterfly tattoo you thought would be cute a year ago. In your head, you could only hear the sound of your own crying and the troublesome thoughts plaguing your mind.
A boy sat next beside you. Looking at you through his straight blond bangs, he says, “Sorry about what happened to you back there. That wasn't cool at all.”
You try to even your breathing and control your tears for a moment to respond. “Thanks, but it wasn't your fault so you don't need to apologize. Why are you here? Aren't you going to get in trouble for leaving practice?”
“Well, I just didn't think it was fair for you to be treated like that back there,” the boy says, looking down at his feet. “I-I wanted to see if you were ok. Oh, and I'm Yuta by the way. Nakamoto Yuta. Nice to meet you.” He offers a hand to shake, and you grasp it weakly to give it a friendly shake.
“I'm y/n,” you say in an almost silent whisper. “You should go back. One dismissed trainee is enough.”
“No, I'll stay here until you stop crying,” Yuta declares firmly. “I-I just really think it was so unfair for you to go through that. It's so dumb, like honestly, it's just a tattoo! It's no different from… from me wearing this earring or choosing to have blond hair!” He says, readjusting the beanie around his bangs.
After a moment of silence and looking down at your shoes, your sweaty legs and tired ankles, Yuta gently breaks the silence.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
You hesitate for a moment, wondering if it will be burdensome to release your tensions and worries into this stranger you've just met today. However, his aura radiates a warm, welcoming feeling, like a close friend you've reunited with after a long time.
“I just… I just did so much to get here. I don’t think I can live with myself if this is what gets me kicked out.” Your mind reverts back to flashbacks of all the meals you skipped, tears you cried, hours you danced, and sleepless nights you had dedicated to your journey to debut. To throw that all to waste over sweating a little too hard and changing pants at dance practice -- it would be a burden you would not be able to live with.
Coming to terms with the tragic future you’ve set up for yourself, a tear slips from your eye down onto your shoes, not going unnoticed by Yuta.
“Hey, hey, y/n, look at me,” he says.
You look up to him from under your tear-stained eyelashes, meeting his honey-like gaze.
“You’re not going to get kicked out. It’s gonna be ok,” he says, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and squeezing it comfortingly before sharply retracting his arm.
“S-sorry, I… is it ok if I put my arm here?” He asks.
You nod, leaning into his touch and putting your head on his shoulder.
You sit together for a while like that, without exchanging any words. Though he doesn’t say anything besides softly rubbing circles into your shoulder, Yuta’s mere presence and the warmth radiating from his body brings you a sense of consolation.
“I think it’s cute,” Yuta says, after what feels like ten or fifteen minutes of silence.
“Hm?” you say.
“The butterfly,” he explains. “I think it’s cute. Don’t listen to what others say about it. I think it’s really cute.”
“Thanks. It’s supposed to represent, like, hope and endurance,” you say. “I got it a few months into training because it was a difficult time for me. So whenever I mess up, I just look at it and think about…. I guess, I remind myself to keep going.”
Yuta nods, processing the symbolism of it and how much it must’ve meant to you. “I’ll be your butterfly,” he chimes in quietly.
“Huh?”
“You’re going to keep training here with me. I’m not going to let you quit now.”
Though his words sound motivational, you wonder, what power does he have over this? Well, whatever happens, you’re glad you were able to make a new friend. Little do you know that Yuta’s father has some... connections with the company.
#yuta nakamoto#nakamoto yuta#yuta scenarios#yuta au#yuta x reader#nct x reader#nct fluff#nct hurt/comfort#nct 127 fluff#nct 127 hurt/comfort#nct 127 fic#nct 127 scenarios#nct 127 x reader
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Mina-san, bonne lecture~! (Tsuki recaps his feelings about Kamen Rider Saber, a personal essay.)
So, Saber... what a wild ride it's been, huh? Just a quick heads up, this is very long and rambling, and also contains spoilers for everything in Saber. It's fine if you don't wanna read all this, but I just wanted to get my thoughts out there.
TL:DR, Kamen Rider Saber's an undercooked hot mess I absolutely adore, warts and all.
Speaking as objectively as possible, it's a 6/10. Probably closer to a 5 than a 7... it's not great: All the different plot elements are cluttered and weirdly paced; character focus is disjointed and clearly biased toward certain characters, leaving great ones like Kento and Ogami, interesting ones like Kamijo and Hayato, and underdeveloped ones like Sophia and especially the Shindais in the dust; not to mention its balance of comedy and drama is off, and while both are very effective, there's a lot of mood whiplash that can take you out of the story. I also feel like a lot of the easily avoidable character conflict could've been easily resolved, even in universe, by simple conversations. Be careful Fukuda, I think Inoue might sue you if he finds out you've been biting his style and doing it worse.
Rider shows have a very frustrating tendency to drop cool form ideas and not do anything with them, and I don't think it's ever been more the case than with Saber. There's a similar argument to be made with the majority of Heisei Phase 2 after Gaim, but wow. The suits are expensive to make without just straight up recycling everything, I get that, but man, I really wanted to see more Wonder Rider forms. How come Touma got all the fun, eh? Of note are the Blades King of Arthur forms (which look amazing by the way), Espada's Jaaku Dragon forms (one of which I even drew last night), even the non-elemental random Wonder Ride Books all have awesome design elements that go tragically unused. Even if the other Swordsmen just kinda have the ones they do get to use slapped onto them, that's at least something. Touma also just straight up only uses Diago Speedy twice and never again. You have cool props guys, don't waste them like that!
Speaking of waste, Espada, goddamn. Since most of the Wonder Ride Books are Story Type and he needs one very specific Story Book to transform, he doesn't get much of... anything, really! No Wonder Rider forms like Blades, Lamp Do Cerberus being exclusive to Ganbarizing, only getting to use the Ride Gatriker like once, he even spends the second and third arcs as a completely different Rider, then once he comes back he doesn't get a King of Arthur-granted upgrade or even a Necrom Espada form. ...at least, not yet anyway. I'm holding out hope for Espada x Necrom and the eventual Saber V-Cinemas. Extra Rider stans, we will be well respected someday.
The Unreal Engine CGI used for fights in early Chapters was pretty good but wow it feels disconnected and they really drop it quick. I feel like if the animators had more freedom to use as many forms as they want, we'd have gotten a lot more mileage out of the books beyond... decoration basically. I actually really liked the CGI sequences, they felt creative and were fun to follow along with.
The soundtrack is pretty great on its own and conveys what it needs to, but they seriously overplay the orchestral themes. It honestly feels kind of... stock at times. I think my favorite parts of the score are when it winds down, since it feels a lot more natural and lets the cinematographers and actors speak for themselves.
As awesome as I think Falchion's design and the Mumeiken Kyomu are, The Phoenix Swordsman and the Book of Ruin comes up short as its own standalone thing. You'd think 30 or so minutes of non-stop action would be awesome, and it almost is? It's as good as a typical episode of the series with a higher action budget, but it kinda drags on a bit too long; and although I think Emotional Dragon looks cool, it feels a bit tacked on. Coming off of the incredible Zero-One REAL×TIME, it doesn't give you much room to breathe, which Rider films are typically great at handling. I also thought the resolution for the kid's subplot was kinda forced. He does an okay job at acting considering his age and doesn't overstay his welcome, but I really don't see how 20 minutes of violence and action is enough to convince him to be brave enough to go play with the other kids. 5/10, it's closer to a 4 than a 6 and I think that maybe Zero-One should've stood on its own if they really had to push back Kiramager Bee-Bop Dream because of the pandemic.
Alright, with all that said... As imperfect and undercooked Saber was, like Ghost I can consider it a personal favorite, 10/10. Call it a guilty pleasure if you want, but holy hell it's just the show I needed. Takuro Fukuda has a talent for creating fun, wonderful characters and utterly fascinating worldbuilding and concepts. It's a shame he doesn't utilize them fully, but hey!
The action and fight choreography are pretty top notch as usual. Lots of beautiful shot composition and set pieces, and plenty of great angles to help keep up with the extra busy action. I love watching the suit actors perform and they deserve all the respect in the world for their hard work in those hot, sweaty, and heavy costumes. Their visual design is also top notch, with lots of unique and fascinating forms and cool weapons I desperately want to play with despite being broke, all with spectacular finishers and hype jingles with the voice of Akio motherfucking Ohtsuka calling them out. A real feast for the eyes. Not a single bad suit among them, yeah I said it, fight me.
The crossover specials are soooo good too.
-I went over my feelings on the Zenkaiger crossover episodes in a separate post (good luck finding that btw), but to sum it up, they were great character moments for Zox and the Shindai siblings with lots of great screwball comedy and some good old fashioned meta humor.
-The Ghost crossovers are great little side stories all about how Daitenku Temple somehow had the Ghost Ijunroku Wonder Ride Book? I genuinely have no idea why it was there, or how Makoto had the Specter Gekikou Senki, and as far as I remember neither of their origins are explained. Did Luna or Tassel hand them off to them and told them to wait for a sword guy? And why do these generic French Revolution Gamma villains working for Danton get their asses handed to them so easily by Kanon, who literally just became a Rider? I thought that Makoto deciding to adopt all the Kanon clones into his family was both hilarious and adorable though; considering all the crap they went through, I think it was a good ending to this plot. Gimme Espada x Necrom already Toei/Bandai/Fukuda/whoever I need to yell at, give Kento things to do, I beg you.
-I haven't actually seen Super Hero Senki since it's not available for subbing yet, but apparently there's a Journey to the West plot starring the Taros and Ohma Zi-O and I want to see that so badly.
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra? Yoohei Kawakami? A match made in heaven, that's what they are. All of their themes are absolute bangers. All of them. Almighty, Kamen Rider Saber, Sparks, Taju Rokou, all excellent and empowering pieces. Rewrite the Story, Will Save Us, and The Story Never Ends are all amazing inserts done by the cast, and it makes me wish we had even more of them to help break up the monotony of the score.
The characters are what easily make this show such a great watch though. For the most part, they have great personalities and chemistry, consistently fun and interesting scenes, well acted and... sometimes well-written development, and deeply investing personal stakes.
Narrating it all is the delightfully eccentric Tassel/Viktor, portrayed by Romanesque Ishitobi "TOBI" of the Paris-based Les Romanesques. I was utterly confused by his presence at first, wondering why there needed to be a narrator when the story would've been perfectly fine without it. He even got a special spot in the opening despite having no stake in the plot despite seeming to live in Wonderworld, who the hell is this guy? But then I thought "OH MY GOD, HE'S THE MAIN VILLAIN USING TOUMA AS THE HERO IN HIS OWN TWISTED STORY, THE BASTARD". I thought it'd be some subversion of expectations, true form, "That Was His Mistake!" shit. Trust me, it made a lot more sense in my head. I'm very happy that they didn't do that, as I grew to love having male Yuuka Kazami as my narrator, and when he was shown to be actually important by being friends with Yuri my mind was blown. And doubly so when I realized just how deeply necessary to the plot he really is.
Rintaro/Blades is up there as one of my all time favorite secondary Riders, since his curiosity is always consistently funny and adorable, his forms are all gorgeous and impressively designed, his relationships with Mei and Touma are absolutely sweet and compelling to see unfold, and his arcs about becoming willing to call out those he views as family and coming to terms with his feelings of inadequacy and both moving past and using them to strengthen himself are always great lessons to pass on to kids. ...even if they took like 10 goddamn episodes to be conveyed in what could've been 5, but hey, Takaya Yamaguchi does a stand-up job all throughout. Rider veteran Eitoku's refined, almost logical movements with the Suiseiken Nagare absolutely beautiful to see in action, and his final form having the same white and blue color scheme as Zooous's base form is an amazing touch I don't see appreciated enough.
Mei Sudo's also absolutely wonderful, serving as the perfect emotional core of the story, responsible for most of the funniest lines, sweetest character moments, and some of the most deceptively compelling drama. Asuka Kawazu brings the perfect energy for such a dynamic and well rounded character, and absolutely nails her scenes of quiet turmoil. As much as I would've loved her to become a Rider, I don't think she really needed to. She's already done so much to help, and as cool as it would've been to see her pick up a sword and fight alongside them as Espada, Calibur, or Falchion she's already endeared herself to me as one of my favorite supporting characters in the whole franchise.
I can't get enough of my homeboy Kento Fukamiya/Espada. Like Rintaro and everyone else for that matter, he also suffers from Saber's pacing issues; and like his predecessor Valkyrie from Zero-One, he doesn't get a proper upgrade aside from his Wonder Combo, instead becoming an anti-villain using a completely different powerset and shifting the Raimeiken Ikazuchi out of focus for the Ankokuken Kurayami, and I feel there's a serious missed opportunity to see him use Jaaku Dragon with Alangina. However, Ryo Aoki's performance is probably among the most easily praiseworthy in the whole cast, managing to convey both Kento's kind and knightly stoicism as Espada and his emotionally unstable despair as Calibur perfectly, in conjunction with Yuji Nakata's experienced and expressive stuntwork.
Ren Akamichi/Kenzan's a dark horse favorite for sure. I remember back when Saber was first picking up, people hated this breezy mad lad for being such a simple character at first. Overly concerned with strength? Black and white world view? Annoyingly energetic? Agh, real-feeling character flaws, I hate them, get him away from me! But then y'all came crawling back. Eiji Togashi's apparently a bit of a rookie actor, and it really shows with some stilted delivery and the way he sometimes bobs his head when giving his lines, but man he improves dramatically as the series goes on. His inexperience ironically ends up really selling his character development, and his unexpectedly beautiful relationship with Desast is special evidence of that. The Fuusouken Hayate's three modes and Satoshi Fujita putting them to excellent use through his stellar acrobatic movements are also really cool.
Why did Luna have to be a child for so long? Does Wonderworld not age whoever inherits its power? Well since Luna randomly becomes an adult in Super Hero Senki and some of the final episodes, I guess so? Miku Okamoto does a fine job for a kid actor, but she's basically done all the heavy lifting for the whole series and doesn't give Mayuu Yokota enough time to get a feel for her character as an adult. How did she choose Touma to inherit the power anyway? Does she just subconsciously decide to trust him with it upon seeing how kind and passionate about storytelling he is? Well if that's the case, why didn't Kento get at least some of that power too? He's just as important to the merchan- I mean Luna-chan, isn't he? Why did Tassel pick her over someone who isn't a literal child who'd be understandably terrified about basically becoming an embodiment of storytelling?
Sophia also kinda suffers from the same problems. Rina Chinen's voice is very pleasant to listen to, but she doesn't really do much beyond serving as a source of exposition and support. I think her dynamic with Mei's adorable, and given her kindness I can certainly understand the respect Northern Base has for her, but she doesn't really contribute a whole lot. If she could use the Kurayami and become Calibur all this time, then why didn't she take it from Kento and Yuri and do so earlier when Kento decided to go back to being Espada? I know she's not much of a fighter and as the closet thing the Sword of Logos has to a leader after Isaac's death I'd understand not wanting to put her at risk, but considering Storious is destroying the world, and she's very evidently kicking a lot of ass in the first part of the final battle even in the basic Jaaku Dragon form, I think it would've helped a lot, just sayin'. Tassel at least has the excuse of being unable to interact with the real world, but Sophia obviously didn't just be put in charge of Northern Base just because she's a pawn in Isaac's plans right?
Ryou Ogami/Buster is also a victim of the disjointed character focus. I have no problem believing he's an excellent father and fighter thanks to Yuki Ikushima and Jiro Okamoto, respectively, but he feels a bit flat and simple in comparison. His rivalry with Desast is randomly dropped, his wife doesn't even show up until the final episodes, he's kinda sidelined in terms of action a whole lot. I imagine that must've sucked for the Rider Dads out there. He does get to star in his own manga, and that was pretty good, so I guess I can't be too mad.
Tetsuo Daishinji/Slash fares better though. Hiroaki Oka, being a Kamen Rider fanboy himself, manages to make him among the most relatable characters in the series. Not only are his hyperfixation on swordsmithing and anxiety played surprisingly believably, Hirotsugu Mori letting him cut loose is extremely cathartic and hilarious, and you really feel for him when the Onjuuken Suzune becomes the first victim of Calibur!Kento's sword sealing.
Yuri/Saikou's another dark horse favorite, for me at least. "Oh great, Avalon guy's got even more merchandise to sell, I wonder what his Sword of Light is- it's himself. Well... that's different." I admit, I didn't like him at first. He felt like he was there to fill out character dynamics in the absence of both Rintaro and Kento, I thought his gimmick was too silly even if his design and jingles were bangers, I didn't particularly care for his power set. But then XSwordman came around I totally got it. He's an endearing, hard-working man trying his best to catch up on all the cool shit he missed, unafraid of experimentation, ready to throw down at a moment's notice, serving as a wonderful bit of consistent support for our heroes, a truly knightly individual, an absolute Chad. and goddamn does he make me worry. Tomohiro Ichikawa, I salute you good sir.
Even if they fall short compared to the rest of the cast, the Shindai siblings are at least cool enough to not wanna write out entirely. They kinda devolve into comic relief after they become allies, something that villainous Riders from Chase onwards are very prone to doing, and it's especially awkward in their case because I think that they kinda get off scot-free for obeying the obviously sinister and crazy Isaac for so long, as well as driving a wedge between a lot of people and threatening children in Reika's case. I think their sibling dynamic is nice though, even if Fukuda recycled it from Makoto and Kanon and has some... questionable possessive undertones as a result. It's cool how they're basically foils to Touma and Rintaro though. The dispassionate and methodical Reika/Sabela is beautifully played by Angela Mei and her moments of emotional depth are fascinating to watch. Her Rider form is a thing of beauty, and its use of literal the Eneiken Noroshi's smokescreens and Yuki Miyazawa's precise and deadly stinging strikes are a joy to watch. And while Ken Shonozaki's not given the best direction as the undercooked plate of 7-Eleven fried fish that is Ryoga/Durendal, he manages to sell him as an experienced and hardened warrior with an awkward side that's especially evident in the Zenkaiger specials. His goddamn RWBY weapon that is the Jikokuken Kaiji is absolutely sick, I'm a sucker for transforming weapons and its combination of time and water powers is really cool, especially with Yasuhiko Amai's deliberate and forceful acting in the suit.
Daichi Kamijo/the Second Calibur, for as brief as his story was, was a pretty cool starter villain. Hiroyuki Hirayama brings this poor bastard to life in a genuinely touching way. I love how as Calibur he goes full force on his creative use of Wonder Ride Books for attacks, and his debut as Jaou Dragon got my blood pumping. His end is also deeply tragic, and I really felt for him when he realized just how badly he fucked up. Hayato Fukamiya also does wonders for the backstory, and while he also doesn't get much to work with, Mitsuru Karahashi makes his regrets and love for Kento feel genuine.
Legeiel and Zooous are both very intimidating and entertaining villains. On top of being just the right balance of goofy and threatening, Kairu Takano and Koji Saikawa's stage presences are both very strong, and their mixture of camaraderie and in-fighting is extremely believable. Zooous's rivalry with Rintaro feels incredible to see through to the end, and although Legeiel doesn't get quite the same treatment, Elemental Dragon had such a cool debut that it more than makes up for it. Their final fights are also absolute spectacles. I don't think their sympathetic angle works even close to as well as it does with MetsubouJinrai or even the Gamma, but I get it, power corrupts, and you probably feel a lot of sadness and regret for things you've done when you die unless you're a right bastard.
Isaac/Master Logos/Solomon is kinda generic. As wonderful as Keisuke Soma is, he doesn't get much dimension to work with. The result of that is while he nails being as smug and punchable as possible, he feels almost... comically generic. Genta Umemori from Shinkenger was full of personality! He was also basically some guy, but he was fun, he felt connected to the rest of the cast! Meanwhile the only real time we get to see Isaac's depth is when we see him crying over his failures. I almost appreciate him being unapologetically evil though, since I've seen way too many shows where redeemed villains get off scot free for way worse things, and some where they outright demand you to sympathize with them despite them doing nothing to warrant it.
Bahato/Falchion surprises me by not just being a movie villain whose actions affect the main plot, but also being a movie villain who actually gets to appear in series as a recurring threat! ...and it's not a particularly great showing on his part, sadly. Masashi Taniguchi does a wonderful job with what he's given, but his character feels like a retread of Eternal without any of what made Katsumi Daido a compelling and frightening villain. I'd like to believe Yuri when he says that he used to be a good person and a hero to the people, but I can only hear so many anime villain monologues about the pointlessness of life and the beauty of destruction before I can never take them seriously again. ...I think that's his biggest problem, actually. I thought he was an overall uninteresting and generic villain in the movie, and the cartoon nihilist he's shown to be in series is only a small step up. He still feels like filler. If only there were a far better written and much cooler villain who takes on the Mumeiken Kyomu after his de--
Desast is probably one of the finest anti-villains I've ever seen in recent years. On top of an absolutely badass character design and the excellent combination of Kazuya Okada/Danki Sakae's suit work and Koki Uchiyama's stellar voice acting, his story being so thoroughly intertwined with Ren's makes their shared journey and bromance a borderline Shakespearean tragedy. His struggle for identity despite Storious treating him as nothing more than a failed experiment and the Sword of Logos treating him as a mere monster really gripped me, and the way he uses what little time he has left to encourage Ren into blossoming on his own is absolutely beautiful. I think his enmity with Ogami is criminally underexplored in series, considering he killed several of the previous Riders and how Ogami's in desperate need of screentime.
Then there's our main villain, Kamen Rider Storious. Robin Furuya brings an incredible amount of charisma to this character, expertly portrayed as both a sinister, manipulative bastard , and as a lonely, tragic figure that arguably makes him feel even more villainous. Speaking as a struggling writer myself, it's easy to feel stuck in the idea of "fuck it, who cares, maybe everything is predestined", but I can't imagine what it's like to know that as the truth and carry it with you for all that time. All of your grand ideas have roots from your experiences, and you're not the only one who even could have those experiences. It's easy to just fall into despair and give up trying, but would that make you happy? Sure, Storious is sadistic, he may be fulfilling his goals, he may be ungodly powerful... but it's not enough for him, is it? All of his friends are gone, one of them even at his own hand, he probably doesn't have any idea what to do after he destroys all the world's stories, Touma even reached his full power before he did, and his downfall is so predictable that even a blind person could see it. He even seems to welcome it, what's up with that? But then I realized... OH MY GOD, HE'S THE MAIN VILLAIN USING TOUMA AS THE HERO IN HIS OWN TWISTED STORY, THE BASTARD. He's so far gone, he's so desperate to stick it to the Almighty Book, he's willing to twist the archetype of the Hero's Journey so hard, it snaps in two. What I think is interesting is that he's ironically trying to chase the trend of "edgy superhero story" that became super popular in the 21st century. The Boys, Brightburn, Kamen Rider Amazons, The Sentry, No More Heroes, Magical Girl Site, even mainstream comics from DC and Marvel... Surely Storious must've seen the cruelty and tragedy these stories are filled with, but he chooses to go through with trying to force the world into this direction anyway. Did they, along with seeing the ever-popular tragedies of legendary playwrights and bleak satire of the twentieth century fuel his despair?
And yet... there's one who stands in determination against his ideals.
Our hero, Touma Kamiyama, the titular Kamen Rider portrayed by Syuichiro Naito and Kousuke Asai, he speaks to me on a personal level. There're plenty of jokes to be made about his procrastination in early chapters, his godless fashion sense, and him doing the funny run up the slope, that's all fine and dandy, but I rarely feel so connected to a character the way I did Touma. The struggle to create, find companionship, live your life, reach out to others... these're things a lot of people struggle with, and of course you see them depicted a lot in media about creators, but Saber gets to the root of what the greatest thing about storytelling really is. Giving people hope, while using the pain of the past as fuel for the future. Sure, Storious may be right about how every story has been done as far back as human civilization gets, he may even be right about how any spin or creativity humanity has is outright predestined. It should be pointless to even try, right? That's where Touma Kamiyama disagrees. He didn't spend all that time fighting and creating just to give up at the idea of predestination. His novel writing-fueled creativity in his early training, his devotion to his friends that let him surpass Kamijo as Dragonic Knight, his compassion for the Primitive Dragon that let him combine their powers to destroy Legeiel as Elemental Dragon, his resolve that let Xross Saber dethrone Solomon, and his passion for the craft of storytelling that let our heroes channel their wishes into Wonder Almighty... all stemming from the belief imparted onto him by his predecessor that "Hope lies beyond your resolution." And that you decide how your story ends. He may not be the greatest Rider to some, he may be as lame as others think he is, he may not even be my favorite, but I have no issue calling Touma Kamiyama... Kamen Rider Saber, one of the all time greatest carriers of the Kamen Rider name.
The final chapter's definitely not as great as some other Rider finales, but goddamn. Primitive Dragon consciously choosing to save Touma is so sweet and such a great emotional payoff, I loved jamming out to the opening theme while our boys lay the smackdown on Storious. Wonder Almighty's a fitting final bit to close the main series out with, if not exactly a great one. I think the cover is great, and the book's body is a lovely shade of candy apple red, but I really don't like how its pages are just the covers of the other books copy-pasted onto onto the pages, that feels lazy. Maybe if it were a panorama of all the books' characters, I'd like it a lot more as a symbol of how unified the Swordsmen are, but eh, what can you do? On a related note, does this mean all the "last episode extra final forms" of the Reiwa Era are gonna be named after their series's opening? That's a neat idea.
I felt a lot of feelings seeing all those video messages of Rider fans all across Japan talking about their favorite stories, and how their passion and fond memories help reshape the world. Mei's monologue at the ceremony about is also really touching and- IS THAT A HUMAGEAR!? :O
Y-yeah dude, it is! Wow, where have you guys been for the past 48 episodes?! Are you guys doing okay? How come you're like... the only one here? Is the technology of Hiden Intelligence only really that prevalent in that very specific metropolitan part of Japan and they're just not coming around much over here? Is it like Dragon Ball where anthropomorphic animals are just vibin' with humans while the heroes are off kicking ass? Apparently he's played by Hasegawa Keiichi, who wrote this episode and had the award ceremony named after him. ...is Hasegawa Keiichi a HumaGear in this universe then? Did he set up this award ceremony in Touma's honor? If so, why is it named after him? Did reading one of Touma's books lead to his Singularity? I know this is just a cameo, but... god, I have so many questions that probably will never be satisfactorily answered.
Overall, if I had to compare Saber to anything, it'd probably be Sam Reimi's Spider-Man trilogy. It's awkward, stupid, overwrought, undercooked, illogically written, scattershot, cheesy as fuck, and has a tendency to squander its otherwise fine execution; but the sheer passion for storytelling, sense of spectacle, deeply fascinating characters, and belief in the ideals set forth by the cast, crew, and fans are absolutely admirable. Improvements would certainly make it an overall better experience, to be sure, but there's something deeply captivating about how wonky this series is. Seeing everybody get their happy ending after all they've been through felt extremely gratifying though, and I may have to wait another for the epilogue to and then wait for Revice, but... man. I'm hella proud of our awkwardly-emoting, fashion disaster novelist and all of his heavily flawed friends for carrying the Kamen Rider name on to the future. Here's hoping Revice will keep it going.
Alright, that's everything I wanted to talk about. Sorry this was so long and ramble-y, I had a lot to say. I'll probably be liveblogging Revice as episodes of that come out, so... look forward to that, I guess. See ya.
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