#Lotta Elephant

[muppet-facts]

Muppet Fact #1206

Lotta Elephant, a character from the Sesame Street comic strip, is very gullible and has a poor memory.

Source:

Roberts, Cliff. Sesame Street (comic strip). 1970-1975.

[microsuedemouse]

a) I’m like, In Awe of how round and perfect this turned out, compared to my last attempts at a flat circle

b) I’m legit super proud of how even my stitch tension is here, wowie wow

[sabrsiren]

Surah al-Baqarah, “Chapter of the Cow”

[foxgonyoom]

S4 spoilers (wow I'm making a lot of these posts but also S4 did kinda just release go figure)

Peng.

He's a bird.

He told Nezha to "reveal his true nature".

He's fighting against the authorities of heaven.

Is.

Is the bird man big on freedom?

Like.

Complete freedom?

Kinda like the Red Lotus from Legend of Korra? (I think that was what they were about it's been a while since I watched the show).

Like letting your true self run free without anything holding you back?

Literally just spitballing but man the bird guy be birdin.

Anyway elephant.

[doritofalls]

Idk if you already answered this, but what does the v3 cast do after the killing game in your au?

ooh it never came up!

i imagine most of them would try to just, recover and cope with normalcy and a weirdly parasocial microcelebrity status. they would remain relatively close for a time (with some exceptions) as friends, but by the time kiyo would be rooming with shuichi, it would be a very loose thing with specific people remaining closer to specific people and meeting up from time to time. kind of a post high school graduation classmates setup, except with less trauma. it is important to note however, that by the time kiyo is even released from care, a good chunk of time has passed and the cast have already grown apart as a group.

[jellojolteon]

So the saying says An elephant never forgets Standing in the concrete cave Swaying sad and insane

-Neko Case, "People Got a Lotta Nerve" Izuocha week 2024 bonus day: Battle Cry / Nerve

Hi yeah I am alive I just got back from vacation yesterday and I am full of a vague sense of fury artistic commentary but not art itself

[tj-crochets]

I didn't get many comments on which patterns I should put on this poll, so this is more or less at random!

[sleepisoverrated]

Hey here's some songs that I think match (, but keep in mind I was reading Angst fics when collecting the songs)

Jason- Mad Hatter Malanie Martinez, Control Halsey, I'm gonna show you crazy Bebe Rexha, Ain't No Rest For The Wicked Cage The Elephant, House Of Memories Panic!At the Disco, I'm Just Your Problem Adventure Time(Bruce), War and Apologize by grandson, Wonderland Caravan Palace and Boy in the Bubble Alec Benjamin

Dick- Sarcasm Get Scared, Favourite color is Blue Robert DeLong, SAD Young Rising Sons, Novocaine and Last of the Real ones by Fall out boy, Lonely Palaye Royale, Wolf in Sheeps Clothing Set it of(id crisis), Shit Bo Burnham(depressed),Burn the House Down AJR, Teeth 5 seconds of summer(SlaDick), Lotta True Crime Penelope Scott(rape, dark), Best Friends grandson, Wake me up and Hey Brother by Avicii, Medicine Artist vs Poet and Victorious Panic! At the Disco

Damian- Bones Imagine Dragons(Robin is magic), If I Killed someone for you Alec Benjamin, parents YUNGBLUD(his perspective/scared of saying he's gay), Love Like You and Here comes a thought Steven Universe,and Immortals Fall out boy(mini SuperBat)

Tim- I'll Sleep when I'm dead Set it off, Crazy=Genius Panic!At the Disco and Two Birds Regina Spektor

Bruce- Teenagers and Welcome to the Black parade by MCR and Wilson(Expensive mistakes) Fall out Boy

There are less songs for Tim and Bruce because I don't know their lore that well or don't listen to music that matches them.

[nyxnightshade7656]

Hooked

I'm not dead, I swear, things have been insane irl. Here's what I guess would be the first chapter of something that was NOT meant to be a multichapter thing. But, ya know. I have no self control and here we are.

She looked around the hallway to make sure she was alone and would have ample time to accomplish her goal. When she saw that the coast was clear, she made a mad dash for her target. She very carefully shut the door behind her before she spotted her target. Storm’s bed. With no fanfare, she placed a handmade, crocheted, stuffed kitten on Storm’s bed. The yarn it was made out of was soft and fluffy, as well as easily washable and durable. She had picked out colors to reflect Storm’s X-Man uniform but had given the stuffed kitten bright blue eyes to match Storm’s.

Once the precious cargo was delivered, she darted from the scene of the crime. She hid in the library for a while, before she made her way to the common area. As she crossed the threshold from the hallway into the room proper, she paused.

“It seems I have been graced by our reverse thief as well.” Storm’s voice was full of warmth and amusement. It made her heart flutter with joy and a smidge of pride.

“Oh? What did you get?” Instead of answering, Storm held up the little kitten that had been stealthily delivered.

“Someone is puttin’ an awful lotta effort into this, ain’t they? Jean gets a phoenix, Logan got a wolf, Cyclops got a labrador, Hank got an owl, Kurt got a racoon, I got a tiger, and the professor got an elephant. Why ain’t they tryin’ ta take credit for this?” Rogue’s voice sounded both appreciative and annoyed. Clearly, Rogue didn’t like not knowing who was sneaking the handmade gifts into their rooms.

She was just starting to think that she should make herself scarce; not trusting herself to not give away her little secret, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise, a startled squawk escaping her without her permission. She whirled around, only to be greeted by fuchsia and blue chest armor. She gulped and looked up, up, up to see the mirth-filled red-on-black-eyes of one “Gambit”, or Remy LeBeau.

“Whatchu up ta, Chere? Sneakin’ ‘round like ya t’ink y’a’int ‘sposed to be here.” His tone was teasing, but his question, she could tell by the emotions rolling off him, was very genuine. She flailed, hands flying as she tried to deny, without words, that she was sneaking around. In her enthusiastic pantomiming, that could best be described as ‘frantic, spastic vertical seizing’, she tripped over her own feet in a spectacular display of clumsiness. There was a cacophony of noise, she didn’t see what was happening since she had closed her eyes the instant she’d started to fall; and then suddenly she felt something warm wrap around her wrist. Then she was yanked into something hard and warm.

“Woah dere, Petit, wassamattah, ol’ Gambit scare ya? Didn’ mean to, ya know ol’ Gambit’s harmless.”

Harmless. Yeah, sure. Tell that to her rapidly beating heart and her near full-body blush that had to be redder than Jean’s hair. Just as she was about to try and charade her way out of an explanation, Storm came to her rescue, “Now, Gambit, stop teasing the poor child.” Gambit gently released her, but not before making sure her feet were solidly planted on the ground. As soon as she was released, she squeaked, and bolted. She could hear the others calling for her, but she just ran to her room.

She all but slammed into the door of her room, stumbling across the threshold, and kicked  the door shut in her haste to just disappear. She had the stupidest crush on the card-slinging mutant, and it seemed like everyone but Gambit himself knew it. Kurt was relentless in his teasing of her about it, even Rogue poked at her a bit. Logan had brought it to her attention, asking her ‘Of all the mutants here, the Cajun? Really? I guess it could be worse. You could have a crush on Scott.’ To which she had thrown about twenty stuffed animals at her father in retaliation. Logan had been nice enough not to use his claws on the fluffy projectiles, though he had grumbled at her about it.

She flopped onto her bed, which honestly was more of a nest of the softest blankets she could find, a mass of about ten pillows of varying sizes, and more stuffed animals than should be able to fit in one space. Most of which were hand made. She had a guilty little secret that only her adoptive father, Logan, knew. She loved to crochet. And she loved to give gifts to people she cared about. As evidenced by the mass of stuffies on her bed and flung around her room. She also had an entire wall in her room dedicated to bookshelves. But those shelves were not filled with books. Instead, they housed her yarn collection. Logan liked to joke, privately, that she had two hobbies. Crocheting, and collecting yarn.

Originally, she had been kept away from the life of the X-Men in an effort to try and keep her safe and unknown. But being kept away from the school did not mean she was not watched. Logan had learned she’d been attacked by both anti-mutant extremists and some not so nice mutants on more than one occasion and just about lost his mind. He had single-handedly packed up her entire life and moved her into the mansion. The X-Men, to their credit, hadn’t even batted an eye and had taken her in without a second thought. Kurt, Rogue, Jean and Scott were almost like siblings, and Storm was the mother that she never had. As such, she had set about learning what animals were their favorites, or if she couldn’t figure that out, she made something that she felt represented them. Like the wise owl for Hank whom she looked up to like an Uncle. But the one person that she was struggling the most with what to make, was Remy.

She groaned into her pillow. One of them anyway, and flopped over to stare at ceiling, “I am SUCH an idiot.” She mumbled, her voice hoarse from lack of use. Her room, when no one was there, was the only time she spoke, and even then that was rare for fear of someone walking by her door. The last thing she wanted to do was accidentally charm someone with her power. The fear was very real, and had an iron grip on her. That fear was what drove her to be silent. Not even Logan got to hear her voice. She shook her head and looked around her room, before she heaved a sigh.

Nothing was going to really help in here, she knew. Thankfully, she was mostly left to her own devices, not being an ‘official’ member of the X-Men, she didn’t have to participate in the Danger Room sessions, though she had snuck in to watch a couple with the Professor. It was easy to interact with Xavier, since he was a telepath, she didn’t have to speak, or resort to her phone’s text-to-speech app. But she tried to keep even that to a minimum since she didn’t want her other mutation to potentially affect anyone hanging around in her head. She struggled living there most days as it was, no need to torture others with it.

She grabbed her phone and earbuds, threw on some flipflops, and then, in an ill-advised move, she opened her window and vaulted over the sill and onto the ground about five feet below. She put her earbuds in, turned on her Spotify to a random saved playlist, and went walking, hands in her pocket. Being raised by Logan, she knew how to track. She was shit with directions, but she could navigate fairly well with landmarks or distinct features. She had been grumpy and annoyed with the lessons growing up, but now she was grateful for them. It helped her find places to hide away from the overly loud and overwhelming mansion.

Once she was far enough away from the mansion that she couldn’t feel the oppressive feelings of the other inhabitants pressing in on her, she let out a deep sigh of relief. She loved her dad, she did; and she knew that he meant well. But she had lived alone, or only with him, for a reason. Too many people were overwhelming for her. She had learned that she and Rogue were similar, in that neither of them could turn their power off like most mutants could.

The difference between them was that Rogue’s power centered around touch. Hers affected the mind. As an Empath, she could feel other people’s emotions as if they were her own; or push her emotions into someone else and make them feel what she wanted them to. The trade off to that was that too many emotions coming from too many people could overwhelm her. Or, the more concerning option, someone’s emotions could influence her into behaving completely differently than what she normally would, because she couldn’t always tell the difference between what she was actually feeling, and what someone else’s feelings were causing her to feel.

Combine her Empathy with her secondary mutation, the Siren’s Song, and she was a walking disaster waiting to happen. Her Empathy she had been born with, but the Siren’s Song she had developed when she hit puberty. Just like her Empathy, she was unable to turn it off; as long as she made sound that required her vocal chords, her Song was active. Like the Siren’s in Greek mythology, she could charm with her voice, be it just speaking or singing, anyone and anything with the ability to hear her, or with even base instincts, would fall under her thrall. She despised it.

She rubbed her throat in remembered pain as she finally came to a stop somewhere deep in the woods surrounding the mansion. She had found this place shortly after she had been moved into the mansion, desperate to get away from the swirling chaos of emotions. This also was one of the few places that she felt that she could let her voice free. It affected the animals around her, but animals she could make sure not to hurt. Humans were considerably harder since their minds and emotions were more like webs, instead of the simple little creaks and streams that belonged to creatures that operated more on instinct than ‘intelligent’ thought processes.

She spent hours out in the forest. So long, in fact, that the sun had set and her phone and ear buds had ended up dying. She began to make her way back to the mansion, hoping that the majority of the inhabitants were sleeping. She had learned that the emotions of people sleeping were far easier to deal with. When the building came into sight, she could instantly feel the emotions coming off of everyone inside. A few seemed to still be awake, if the intensity of the emotions were to be believed.

[dearsnow]

hi!! can i just request any two-bit fluff...like jus domestic warm fuzzy fluff ..maybe slight silliness...feel free to write whatever

AND YET

- you happen upon your very noisy “roommate” cooking away in the middle of the night (two-bit mathews x gn!reader, domestic fluff, lowkey so cute)

word count: 687

a/n - asther fulfilling a request??? within a reasonable time????? the world is turning upside down, y’all 🫡 i hope you enjoy 😭

“Keith, seriously?” Your voice is hoarse, a desperate whisper that borders on a shout. It is 2:42 AM, and your recently-moved-in, much-loved but forever annoying boyfriend is making a four course meal in your kitchen.

Surprisingly, this is the first time you have ever seen him cook more than microwaveable meals and the occasional pack of instant ramen. He looks up at you, clad in pajamas, fuzzy socks, and a shit-eating grin. “What, I was hungry!”

“You’re gonna be hungry when I kick you out.” You mutter. “Couldn’t you at least be quiet about it? I heard pots and pans and humming through our very thin bedroom walls.”

“You can’t kick me out, I’m too fun.” He smiles. He puts a lid on his pan of frying bacon and turns off the heat. “You love me. Admit it.”

You scoff, but when he takes your hands in his, your heart skips a beat.

“You looooooove meeeeee,” he sings, “c’mon, just say it.”

“I would love you so much more if you didn’t wake me up so early on a work day.” You say, trying desperately to hide the fact that the corners of your mouth are turning up. Like always, though, somehow he notices. It’s like every almost-smile from you is a win, one more thing to keep him going before he runs out of energy and crashes into bed, legs entwined with yours and mouth slightly open.

He spins you around, still humming a song you don’t think you’ve ever heard before. It wouldn’t surprise you if he had just made it up. “I love you, and you love me. That’s why you’re dancing instead of yelling.” You laugh. You’re supposed to be angry with him, but the tension between your eyebrows dissipates when you look at his smiling face. If Two-Bit had just one talent, it would be switching your mood to happy. No matter what, no matter how annoying he is sometimes, you’re happiest when you’re with him.

“Yeah, I love you,” you gasp as he dips you so close to the floor you can feel the cold tile sucking in your heat, “and I love that you can make me laugh,” he pulls you back up, “but really, what are you doing making all this food at such an ungodly hour?”

He wraps his arms around your waist, resting his head against your neck. He leads you in a few steps, his warmth smoothing the goosebumps on your arms. “I wanted to do something nice for once. You’re always making me breakfast, and you leave earlier than me, so I thought I’d make a bit of food that you can just heat up when ‘m dead asleep.”

“Really?” You move back to stare at him, eyes soft in the dim kitchen lighting. “That’s… that’s really sweet, Two. Thank you.” If you were being honest, you thought he barely noticed you taking care of him in that way. You figured that it’s just something that comes with dating someone who seems like they could burn water.

“Nah, it’s nothin’.” He turns his head, a blush creeping up his neck towards the apples of his cheeks. “I just want you to know I appreciate what you do. This whole ‘me movin’ in’ thing put a whole lotta stress on your shoulders, so some domestic effort from me couldn’t hurt. I’ll at least try be quieter next time, though.” He raises his eyebrows and presses a quick kiss to the back of your hand. You can feel your own cheeks heating up. “I don’t want you ruining the surprise again, hm?”

“Yeah, it sounded like an elephant was training to be a chef in here.” You tease. He laughs, the sound ringing in your ears like a sweet bell. It’s a sound you don’t think you could ever get tired of.

He slings an arm around your shoulder, pulling you close. He would drop anything to have you pressed against him at all hours of the day.

“And yet you still love me.”

You grin at him. “And yet, my love, I won’t ever stop.”

[mysteriousdragon2]

Howdy everyone, I think it’s time I talk about OVA Hol Horse with my very exhausted brain lmao.

But like…just look his face. He looks so comforting! I’d bet it’s so calming, that it’ll soothe anybody’s worries away. And in these trying times, he’d likely comfort the person that’s in need of it.

Gonna feature OVA Polnareff in this post too, because why not? Anyhow, man….just the transition of this scene…it was so, goofy yet menacing at the same time? It’s just like. Yes, you start with the whole “Oh what’s that? I can beat your bum? Oh, you’re into that stuff!” by OVA Polnareff, then OVA Hol laughs with him like silly adult men. Then the whole action of OVA Avdol risking and sacrificing himself to OVA Pol. And just…OVA Hol having such an ominous looking shot with the most hilarious laugh known to mankind lol. Like. And the OVA Pol shot…so many shadows, it’s just so impactful. Also look at OVA Pol’s face, he looks so upset I swear this man is so unbelievably expressive, it’s amazing.

OVA Hol has a golden Emperor, but I’ve already said that before. But I still believe it’s a neat little difference between that and what we see in the anime Part 3 for Hol. Plus…

…seeing Emperor being summoned the way it is, that’s so..wow. I mean, Part 3 Hol usually has Emperor either faintly spawn into his hand, or spin, which is cool, but OVA Hol Horse has it where it comes out of his hand like his flesh is getting ripped, or summons into his hand like wind. And this scene is interesting too because OVA Hol actually attempts to shoot DIO! It’s so cool…I love analyzing minor characters that aren’t often spoken about, and Hol Horse is special in my heart for that. OVA Hol even clenched his teeth so hard, that his cigarette broke off…it’s a small but neat detail.

Love this scene, I mean, he’s just laughing and then the transition goes to: “YOU! I’ll fuckin’ kill you!”, then spits his cigarette into the air as it rotates until he makes his shot at OVA Pol. His shots are so cool everytime OVA Hol is on screen…

Having a motorcycle instead of horses or elephants is also quite the change. Honestly, there’s many things the OVA changed and with Hol Horse, it’s been a lotta changes, but I am satisfied with them. From having a more southern accent, to making him more sassy and serious, and such more but my brain is so worn out right now LOL.

As OVA Hol Horse says: “The gun is mightier than the sword, my friend.”

Thank you for listening/reading.

[knightofleo]

Neko Case | People Got A Lotta Nerve So the saying says, "an elephant never forgets" Standing in a concrete cave, swaying sad and insane They walked over the ocean, in their dreams they dream awake Until the lights grew dim, until the cop cars came Everybody tells me, this is crazy, yes, I know it You know they call them killer whales But you seem surprised when it pinned you down To the bottom of the tank, where you can't turn around It took half your leg and both your lungs When I craved I ate hearts of sharks, I know you know it I'm a man-man-man, man-man-man-eater But still you're surprised-prised-prised when I eat ya It will end again in bullets fired

[fansids]

Alright, I gotta lotta thoughts on s4, but this is the main thing I'm not particularly happy with.

It's not very organized, I'm writing as I'm thinking so I apologize beforehand.

Spoilers obvi.

I really don't appreciate how Sun Wukong's character has been treated up until this point.

Look, I don't mind the "perfect, heroic mentor is actually not always so perfect and heroic and made mistakes that are still effecting the world now" like fine. Fine. But the way the show goes about it makes SWK look like a worse and worse person. It crosses the line of him making mistakes, to just being generally careless and not learning.

I mean: leaving Xiaotian in s2 and inadvertently neglecting him in the process, keeping the 4th ring a secret in s3 until it's too late, being the reason there was a fourth ring to begin with, the whole Macaque thing that the show seems to be leaning more towards SWK being in the wrong for, and his whole deal with his sworn brothers in s4.

It was already irritating in season 3, especially when he's shown to get yelled at by Xiaotian & Zhu Dachu then continues his usual way, often being unhelpful. I get that Xiaotian is the mc, but like c'mon. SWK is depowered, there are like a million ways to sideline him without doing that.

Season 4 is especially egregious as someone who's read jttw because the Lion, Elephant, and Peng are all terrible villains who spent a good amount of their time eating innocent people. I'm not sure why the show especially seems to be insistent on making the Azure Lion sympathetic and one that feels bad for trapping SWK...then again Macaque exists. You know what no, I don't see why they are insistent on doing that when Macaque exists. He may be one too many times, but once was enough.

Jttw aside, if in Azure Lion's point of view SWK willingly betrayed them and all the "good" they stood for, then trapped his other brothers for thousands of years, and before that was happy to join heaven's courts for like 20-30 years, then I don't know why he'd ever show that level of concern for him. If that happened to me, it would be monkey season, straight up.

(also the fact that he said he'd let SWK go when they completed what they wanted to, I call absolute bullshit. Even if he did feel bad, releasing SWK at any point in time would be a god awful idea)

From what s4 has shown, I think what the show writers wanted to do was build a parallel between Xiaotian and SWK, both having made mistakes that endangered the world and their loved ones as well as Xiaotian learning that his hero is just as human (for lack of a better term) as him. But the execution is lacking as a lot of Xiaotian's mistakes are not really his fault.

DBK taking his staff? It's not like he handed it to him.

Spider Queen using his hair? Is he supposed to stop shedding?

Red Son getting the skeleton key? Again, it's not as if he handed it to him. Also, wouldn't that make it the Bull family's fault, since they opened the coffin?

It wasn't him being careless it was him losing 2 fights and a bit of his hair. Whereas with SWK, it's implied these things happened because he didn't think about the consequences of his actions. They don't really seem comparable.

Also, if you've read jttw (and even if you haven't, but I think the context makes it worse), then lmk SWK is a very miserable character right off the bat. As we can see, he never became a Buddha, his friends are heavily implied to be dead, there are no monkey yaoguai on the mountain, or even a nation anymore, implying that his subjects left, died, or both, and in the midst of all of this he has no support system. Nor does he ever seem to obtain one in the show.

And I think some of these issues could be remedied if he was given the opportunity to tell his side of the story. Everything wrong he does is seen told through the perspective of another person. Not to say they shouldn't be upset, but the fact that SWK just absorbs whatever blame is put on him, never really giving any fair defense doesn't sit right with me. It wouldn't change any of the things he's done, but it would make him a lot more understandable as a character, instead of him consistently being some form of a fuck up.

[ilvansims3conversion]

4to3 Animal Topiaries & Starter Hedge (Base Game, Cats & Dogs, and Cottage Living) Conversion

I always loved the topiaries from sims 4, but sadly they haven't been converted to sims 3 yet. So this is my first batch of these topiaries conversion ;)

Full details (price, polycount, etc) on my modthesims page. Direct download links below:

Base Game

Lotta Llama: SFS | mediafire

Topiary Master’s Elephant:  SFS | mediafire

Starter Hedge:  SFS | mediafire

Cats & Dogs  (high poly warning)

Proud Poodle:  SFS | mediafire

Cat Lover’s:  SFS | mediafire

Cottage Living (high poly warning)

Bessie the Cow:  SFS | mediafire

An Ode to Chickens:  SFS | mediafire

Little Wabbit:  SFS | mediafire

@katsujiiccfinds @xto3conversionsfinds @matchsim @pis3update @acottonsock​

[palmettoshenanigans]

Listen I don't know if this makes any sense, but the Foxes (post canon freshman not included except for Robin) are a Semi-Healthy Mostly Functional Family with all the vibes and traits of a Dysfunctional Family without actually being dysfunctional.

I'm not saying they're perfectly healthy or completely functional, I'm saying they're too jerry-rigged functional to be considered dysfunctional. In much the same way that some people are raised well and naturally develop a Healthy Attachment Style while others purposefully cultivate an Earned Healthy Attachment Style later in life through hard work and healing.

The Fox Family will threaten and press buttons and maybe draw a weapon or two like a dysfunctional family, but they will apologize (in their own way, even if 'sorry' never passes anyone's lips) regardless of pride in a way that true dysfunctional families just won't do.

They won't sweep things under rugs or ignore elephants taking up valuable room space like a fully dysfunctional family, even if they might let some shit stew for a bit (or a lotta bit).

They might engage in spiteful tactics but they never take shit to the grave. They won't "go to bed angry" so to speak.

This is my least articulate AFTG opinion but I feel it in my bones. Canon AFTG was the story of them tackling their dysfunction tooth and bloody nail and becoming a family, so I don't think that label would apply post canon despite them not being "picture perfect and good for PR".

It's like,,,

*someone sees a scarred up Neil and a knife wielding Andrew*: Ah, an abusive relationship!

*someone sees the Foxes argue and maybe land a few punches*: Ah, a dysfunctional family!

They're the same picture your honor

[fanfic-scribbles]

WiP Wednesday - Dinner Date Ch 34

(Lotta writing rambling; skip to the ~ if you wanna get to the good bit but warning that something big happens in the next Dinner Date chapter and I included it because it's fun so consider this your spoiler warning if you don't wanna know anything.)

So I swear I have been working hard. I've just been working hard on TWO chapters that are both becoming much longer than I expected :') I have a chapter of "Digestifs" I'm trying to get done first, since it happens technically on the timeline before "Dinner Date" but...I'm having a hard time focusing. So I continue to work on whatever catches my attention each day and if DD finishes first then I'll just put a note on "Digestifs." It's gonna feel a little weird if you follow both but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyways. Here's a snippet of the next Dinner Date chapter that I debated posting because it gives away a major Thing that happens, but...I'm not making a story for the plot twists, and it's going to be obvious that this is the main subject of the chapter probably from the summary. If you don't wanna know anything until the chapter is up I totally get it, I hope you don't mind my long-winded whining on why Writing Is Hard (BOTH of these chapters doubled in size what is wrong with me istg), and I will see you hopefully soon with something. For anyone who does want proof that I am Doing Something and doesn't mind a bit of a hook, click behind the cut :)

~

As soon as the door shut and Maria and Phil were buckling up in front, I leaned over the seat. “Is Steve okay?”

“He’s going to be just fine,” Phil said and started the engine. “Buckle up.”

At least I had that, so I sat back and did as he said. “Why did Natasha call me instead of him? Is he hurt bad? Why did you come to pick me up? What is going on?”

“Most of it I think I’ll let Captain Rogers tell you,” Phil said, sounding almost business-like. He’d never talked to me like this before, so I paid attention. “But the facts are this: there was an altercation with a potential enemy agent known as the Winter Soldier. Captain Rogers engaged him while Agent Romanoff and Falcon attempted to retrieve important intel.” Phil looked in the rearview mirror at me. Maria was pretending not to exist, so I focused on him. “Steve is in the hospital, but he shouldn’t be there for too long. Overnight at most,” Phil said, a little gentler. “But he was still hurt in the scuffle.”

There was so much I wasn’t being told I felt like I was fucking choking on the elephant. “He’s been hurt and in the hospital before. Why did you guys come to pick me up?”

Phil looked back at the road, and didn’t glance at me anymore. “We have more information now, on the Winter Soldier,” he said, going matter-of-fact flat again. “His past, his…identity.”

There was silence. I tried to peer around the seat. Maria looked at him sharply, but I couldn’t see Phil’s reaction. Just hear him as he picked up like he’d never left off. “And some of his movements over the past couple of years. We have reason to believe he may know who you are. Specifically, who you are to Captain Rogers.”

Well. That was unsettling. I sat back in the seat. “Does it really matter that much?” I asked. “And what does ‘potential enemy’ mean? Who is this guy?”

“It’s complicated,” Phil said. “Captain Rogers will tell you more.”