#WHOOPS forgot to upload this one to tumblr

[genderqueerfuri]

🧡💜

[toa-archive]

Guess who got so busy that they forgot tumblr has a scheduler even if bluesky doesn't and didn't think to make the post at the same time. Whoops.

As you might have noticed from this mere fraction of artwork reposted here by Francisco Ruiz Velasco, his Linkedin uploads can be incredibly erratic. From franchise to subject you really have no idea what will appear next though this one in particular caught many by surprise.

ANYWAY WANNA SEE CONCEPT ART FOR DOUXIE'S KEYS

Source. Will require a Linkedin account.

Been a couple weeks now, still absolutely delighted by the things.

[malachiwardyt]

Howdy, podcast side of Tumblr.

I forgot to share this here, but on the 30th (yes, I cut the deadline that close) I uploaded an explanation of the Extinction from hit horror anthology podcast The Magnus Archives as part of my ongoing series analysing the Entities one at a time. For this, the penultimate episode, I wound up going way further into detail than I expected, resulting in the video analysing the least significant Entity being the longest in the series. Whoops.

As always, here's a breakdown of the art, for the curious. Although he isn't an avatar of the Extinction (in fact, he seems to be actively fighting against it in most of his appearances), it felt wrong not to do Adelard Dekker for this piece. I really wanted to play around with colour and contrast in this one, and I think it turned out pretty nice.

I dressed Dekker himself in a grey suit with silver accents, because I wanted him to feel very ordinary. Dekker is one of the most human characters in TMA, never seeming to fall to any Entity despite interacting with them very frequently. More than that, he's about as close as TMA gets to a true hero, being at least a comparatively strong force for good. Silver, then, I chose both because it compliments his suit very nicely and because it has mythological and traditional precedent, especially in European folklore, as a deterrent for evil or the supernatural. One of Dekker's most interesting traits is his persistent faith, which I knew I had to include somehow, so I gave him a silver necklace with a cross on the end. It's simple, but it works. The only pop of colour in his otherwise monochrome dress is the tie around his neck, which I've coloured green to show his connection to the Extinction. I know I needed at least a bit of colour, and a neon, toxic green is the colour I associate with the Extinction, so I used a darkened, desaturated form of it for his necktie. I always pictured Dekker as a slender, angular man, which I've conveyed in his face and body. I wanted to give him hair that stood up a lot into short points, and while I considered making them a bit rounder, in the end, the pointed tips just stuck. Finally, there's the glowing green in his eyes, which is, of course, another allusion to the Extinction. Not to imply that he's being guided or influenced by it, simply that he sees it. He was the first to catalogue it, and, admittedly, they do stand out quite nicely against the shadows over him.

In the background, I knew I wanted a skyline with a mushroom cloud behind it, but, as I was working, I decided to make the buildings different references to Extinction episodes. Before I get to that, though, I have to talk about the colour scheme, which is mostly pale green. This was both, again, because the Extinction's colour, in my mind, is green, and because it contrasted nicely against the reds and oranges of the blast. Starting at the leftmost building, it references MAG 144: Decrypted, with numbers running down the side and an antenna on top to send out its encoded message. The next one over is a reference to MAG 175: Epoch, being a massive, Empire State-esque building with abandoned boxes and detritus scattered on its landings, alongside a few more... "living" manifestations. There are only five statements which are the MOST likely Extinction appearances, so, for symmetry, I had to pick an extra statement to throw in. This wound up being MAG 65: Binary, since it's a fan favourite and plenty of people theorise that it actually was related to the Extinction. To get the idea across, I put a few distorted faces on large screens, though I do regret not lightening the entire building up a bit. Across the empty space, we find a reference to MAG 156: Reflection, designed to mimic a large carnival sign and featuring tall windows with thin creatures in them. The windows could have been a bit smaller, but I worried that they would seem too similar to the next building. Speak of which, that brings us to the MAG 134: Time of Revelation reference, being an apartment building in a French architectural style (I don't recall which one at the moment, but I know it was a specific one) filled with figures in the windows, some of whom are half melted into walls or floors. Finally, the last building is a reference to MAG 149: Concrete Jungle, with a rounded roof to mimic the circular shabonos of the Yanomami people and a large, concrete serpent for... obvious reasons.

I think that about covers it. If you've read this far, I hope you enjoyed, and get yourselves ready for the final episode of Entities Explained dropping later this month. With that, all I have left to say is good night, Tumblr people!

[fnrrfygmschnish]

After I got home this week, I scanned this one along with several other recent drawings... and then forgot to upload it, whoops.

Directly based on a picture Tumblr randomly recommended to me last week -- a group picture of the My Little Pony cast, with @i-am-a-fish's profile fish (...but with cartoon pony legs and a water cup marking) edited in... as soon as I noticed I was like "well, I've got to draw a Fish Horse now." 😅

I've never drawn a Fish Horse before, and rarely draw anything even horse-adjacent since I've always tended to struggle with the anatomy for horsey-things (and hooved mammals in general), but... I really like how this turned out!

[rhonuscorner]

I recently found your Tumblr and realized your username sounded awfully familiar. And I remembered that you are one of the authors writing WANTED HEARTS. That shit was a masterpiece, I still gush about to one of the only people ik on Tumblr. I just have to ask, maybe it's closure or whatever. 1. Why did you stop writing it, or at least stop posting it. 2. Could you just spoil the ending. Thanks!

Aaaaaaaahhh hello!! Thank you so much for this super nice message! I passed it along to my bestie co-writer Ricky and we've been squealing over this XD

To answer your questions. Why we stopped writing/posting chapters, it's mostly a mix of other stories taking up our time and inspiration - we have multiple Regan stories as well as stories set in other fandoms and we mostly write for ourselves. WH is the only one that we put online. We're both heavily into Fnaf right now so writing anything Regan isn't really a priority at this point in time. Second reason is that Ricky has been super busy with her studies. We haven't been able to really work on a story together in almost two years because her studies take up so much of her time and energy. She's almost done though and we really hope to pick up writing again in the not-so-distant future! We both really miss it.

Which leads to your next question... there's a chance we'll go back to writing WH again at some point too so right now we don't feel comfortable talking about the ending we've planned, just in case. We're definitely not ruling it out.

We've also written more than the 17 chapters that are currently online, I just never got around to actually editing it into proper chapters for the most part - I haven't had time or motivation to work on it. Chapter 18 is more or less ready to go up but I... kinda forgot to actually do so lol. Whoops!

So I'll be sure to upload that soon. :D

We hope that answers your questions and thank you again! ^_^ Your ask made my whole evening yesterday <3

[citrus-cactus]

Creative Goals/Camp Digimonth Goals & Progress (January 15)

We're halfway through @campdigimonth! And there was a goal I realized I forgot to declare. WHOOPS! Fixed now!

Goals are split between “things I will put on Tumblr when they’re done” (aka, fandom stuff), and “things I will be keeping to myself” (because they will eventually have my real name associated with them).

Fandom stuff:

Finish one (1) piece for Survive Week. Status: Done. Been working diligently away at it all week, and as of yesterday I can finally say I’m done. Yay!! I’ll be posting it at the end of the month.

Repopulate the Haru blog queue. Status: 60% complete. This is the goal I forgot about! The queue is dangerously low, oh noes! I have uh… 99 screenshots for Episode 51 to upload, tag, and start captioning before the end of this week! 0_o

Personal stuff:

Create one (1) Secret Personal Project (SPP) drawing per week. UM! Well. Between the Survive thing taking longer than I meant to and making progress on the Surprise Goal, I…. did not make time for SPP this week (orz). But I should be able to get four of them done by the end of the month, so it all averages out. Status: 1/4 complete

I was going to add a stretch goal of finishing a second Survive piece, but since I’m behind on SPP, I’ll hold off on committing to that until I get back on track.

[takato1993]

Whoops almost forgot after October I decided to post short movie review on here for each months movies I watch

Novembers list will be much shorter and much worse than Octobers i don't know if it is bad luck or it is just that i lost just wasn't feeling it most of November.

I will format it so that it is readable this time i promise. expect some small spoilers

Class of Nuke em High 3/10

I watched a couple of Troma movies and enjoyed them during October this is where that luck ended.

It had some fun 80s punk aesthetics and the monster design was not bad in the end

but I don't recommend this one

Book Of Monsters 6/10

Book of Monsters is about a girl whos mother was killed by monsters when she was younger and it turns out she was a monster hunter with a whole book about those monsters and their weaknesses

and then they never utilize this plot device to it's potential if they did some fairy tale like passages or rhymes out of the book describing the lore of each monster this movie it would have taken this movie to the next level.

the monster designs are hit and miss but mostly hits and good ones at that.

Jabberwocky 6/10

I went into this one pretty blind I must admit I was not expecting it to be an early Monty Python movie.

It is not as comical or well put together as Holy Grail but it is honestly a legitimately decent fantasy movie and it should be on more fantasy movie lists people are missing out on this one.

there is someone shitting or pissing in almost every scene.

Beyond Re-Animator 7/10

i finished the trilogy and I enjoyed it. once again this series provides very good practical effects

I won't spoil much but some rat dna gets into the mix with the formula to revive the dead and while no one physically turns into a big rat monster but I think it still adds a lot of fun to this movie

Herbert West gets a new sidekick that should know better than to work with this man.

apparently there are more movies in the series but eh...

SPOILERS- I watched the mid/after credits scene with the rat fighting the animated severed penis and it is less gross than you imagine and so fun it honestly makes the whole movie on it's own.

Digging Up The Marrow 6/10

a documentary style Horror movie where they interview a suspicious elderly man about an underground city of monsters he believes exists

this movie makes some fun stylistic choices and is surprisingly compelling.

Phantasm III and V 6/10

I watched more of the Phantasm series that was available at the time it seems Tubi has uploaded more since but I already watched it way out of order

anyway tho the budget gets lower and the acting worse this series still offers good practical effects and an intimidating villain

Possum 4/10

Chillerama N/A

I could not finish this one and I will not recommend this Horror/comedy compilation

It is designed to be edgy and offensive

on the plus side most of what i saw was well made and had good designs.

this is the movie with the sexy dancing statue of liberty theres a gif of it here on tumblr

has a literal sperm whale

Slumber 4/10

a movie about a doctor helping a family deal with a parasitic nightmare demon

tbh that description seems inaccurate and she seems like a bad doctor.

i could not finish this one and here is my warning on that

CONTAINS- a person sticking there hand in a blender ( no injury) and one brutal animal death scene all for shock value.

Wicked City 6/10

I went into this one expecting a bloody 80s horror anime with a bunch of nudity

but I think It is more like a heavily christian themed hentai but if Christianity was about psychic powers and creating peace through monster fucking

most of the sex scenes are meant to horrify not titillate and not because of the monster fucking that is unrelated.

contains a very annoying version of master Roshi from Dragonball

I know this all sounds bad and like i hate the movie but it does have very good art

The Bone Snatcher 5/10

Hawk The Slayer 5/10

this was a passable fantasy movie and it is likely the last major sword and sorcery movie from the 80s that i will see I might track a few more down but thats is mostly extra now.

the story, the acting, the costuming and the practical effects budget are all just for the most part not very good

This is a typical fantasy where warriors from the various fantasy races come together to defend against evil we have two humans, an elf, a dwarf, and a giant but the budget is low so they mostly just look like normal humans with normal height differences

But I do enjoy the witch character and this movie features one of my low key favorite actors Peter O'Farrel who other notable fantasy roles include one of the goblins in Legend and motherfucking ODO from the Darkest Knight

I recommend watching those movies if you haven't seen them and probably watching the Darkest Knight series which i have not done yet

Hellarious 7/10

I recommend seeing this horror comedy compilation instead of chillerama.

there are 7 stories they are all very simple and lower budget but I guarantee at least one of them will suit every horror taste

I like the first couple stories best anyway go in blind don't spoil this one.

Class of 1999 7/10

Return to Horror High 5/10

gonna be honest I couldn't follow the plot of this one.

Aenigma 4/10

it was bold of this movie to start with the protagonist being bullied by like 15 people at once until they accidentally put her in a coma and then expect us to not side with her supernatural revenge

tho here methods for taking that revenge were very strange.

I wish this movie was as cool as the post/cover makes it look

Phenomena 5/10

this one is about a girl with a psychic connection with insects which she uses to solve murders and intimidate her bullies which seem to include almost everyone.

the people in this movie act very strange I think it might be an issue with script translating the scipt.

the insect power does not play as big of a role as they should and are mostly about flies and maggots which I do understand since they are all real insects which was very ambitious and must have taken a lot of time and attempts just to get those insects to do what they wanted

this movie has a chimp that did bite the leading actress and that did not need to happen this movie did not need a chimp.

Zombie Strippers 5/10

this movie is exactly what you expect with the exception that it does include a hostile conservative takeover of the government

and the military is at fault for there being zombie strippers

if the comedy and horror elements of a movie about zombie strippers sounds like something you would like then watch it if it sounds like you would hate it then do not watch it, whatever your gut feeling for yourself on this one is you are correct

Robot Carnival 8/10

this was a beautiful anime movie compilation of stories all about robots it is pure art and at time pure nightmare

anyway going down the rabbit hole of artsy mostly forgotten old anime movies after this one.

2001 Maniacs 6/10

SPOILERS- a group of young tourists take a detour on their way to spring break and end up forced to except the hospitality of the very southern town they end up in after following this detour sign

anyway the towns people are all racist cannibals planning to kill the springbreakers

MATH + DEEP SPOILERS- the evil towsnfolks plan will take hundreds of years if no more than 6 people show up per year just saying

Evolution (2015) 4/10

watch 2001's American evolution movie instead of this they are unrelated but I am giving you my honest recommendation

Two Evil Eyes 6/10

not the best Edgar Allen Poe adaptation but it is a good one

Piranha Women 3/10

basically a low budget scifi channel movie, from the title you might expect a more traditional piranha fish people transformation and a lot of underwater scenes.....

but nope it is mostly on dry land and the women have piranha mouths on their breasts

Necromancer 3/10

imagine they took Hellraiser and took out all the beautiful practical effects away and decided it needed more uncomfortable late 70s style sex scenes like the one in Hellraiser we all forget about

but then also being almost SFW

ironically contains no real necromancy just a demon that can imitate people that make a deal with her but with nasty red hands

warning contains- 3 castrations and 1 rape scene

The Unnamable 5/10

The Neon dead 5/10

Mortal Engines 4/10

The Creeping Flesh 5/10

I remembered watching the second half of this movie and being very fascinated by it. but I fell asleep 3 times trying to watch it this time.

the Mutilator 5/10

a rare slasher where most of the victims and the slasher are nearly impossible to sympathize with

in true shooting fish in a barrel fashion the bad decisions of his victims lead to the slasher barely having to move until the last 20 minutes to kill most of the characters

[nooskadraws]

The youngest daughter, however, said, "Father, dear, he must be a good man to have helped you out of your trouble. If you promised him a bride for doing so, your word must be kept."

illustration for the fairy tale ‘bearskin’ 

[theultimateultimateweapon]

Whether you're looking for a powerful protector of ninjago or an intelligent nindroid, this charm is sure to show strength and is great for flash drives, backpacks, cases, keys, and more. Check out my Samurai X charm below!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/944569040/samurai-x-15-acrylic-charm

[zephyronthewind]

Challenge Mode . . . Accepted

[warninsigns]

Day 20 Inktober 2017, Harry as Wybie from Coraline

[all-or-nothing-baby]

I posted 7,571 times in 2021

477 posts created (6%)

7094 posts reblogged (94%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 14.9 posts.

I added 13,498 tags in 2021

#spn - 2585 posts

#other people's creations - 2233 posts

#queue queue ca choo - 1781 posts

#destiel - 1777 posts

#deancas - 1235 posts

#spn fanart - 1049 posts

#castiel - 891 posts

#art - 806 posts

#destiel art - 626 posts

#dean winchester - 515 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#shey honestly i've blacked out the finale and this this is the only time i will acknowledge it bc its so fucking heartbreakingly lovely t-t

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

"𝓗𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓸, 𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓷."

(soon as i saw this post i knew i had to)

765 notes • Posted 2021-05-15 02:52:47 GMT

#4

𝓓𝓮𝓼𝓲𝓮𝓵

| finally living in colour |

[pretty please click on image for much better resolution]

769 notes • Posted 2021-01-21 00:28:34 GMT

#3

𝕴𝖓 𝕳𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖒𝖆𝖓 𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖚𝖕 𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖊𝖞𝖊𝖘, 𝖇𝖊𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙... 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖓 𝖍𝖊 𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖉, 𝖈𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖉 𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖆 𝖑𝖔𝖚𝖉 𝖛𝖔𝖎𝖈𝖊, "𝕷𝖆𝖟𝖆𝖗𝖚𝖘, 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖍." / / Dean: Who are you? / / Castiel: I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition. / / "𝕳𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖎𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖒𝖆𝖓 𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖞 𝖒𝖎𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖚𝖑𝖔𝖚𝖘 𝖘𝖎𝖌𝖓𝖘!" / / Dean: Right. And why would an angel rescue me from Hell? / / Castiel: Because God commanded it. Because we have work for you.

selected verse from John:11, new testament, and supernatural script for s04e01, lazarus rising.

895 notes • Posted 2021-09-09 15:21:33 GMT

#2

a close-up from my last artwork of dean's pentagram eyes/neon freckles that i forgot to upload alongside the full piece, whoop whoop thanks adhd *wink-click-finger-guns*

FULL PIECE HERE

[click image for much better resolution]

1006 notes • Posted 2021-03-01 00:33:23 GMT

#1

𝔽𝕌ℂ𝕂𝕀ℕ' 𝕄𝔸ℝℝ𝕀𝔼𝔻 (affectionate)

dean's tatt is "cas" in enochian btw ♡

1234 notes • Posted 2021-02-23 21:49:41 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[rawbins-undertale-blog]

hello there!!

i got 2 questions, hope you don't mind!

1. do you have any xreader fic/author recomendations? i'd love to read whatever you reccomend. it could be either here on tumblr or ao3

2. is there an anon list? if not, could you perhaps make one? if the answer is yes, may i become 🌌 (galaxy) or 🪐 (planet) anon?

thank you, have a great day!!

2. Answering this first because it's way shorter: I actually have no clue what an anon list is, but ofc!! You can be galaxy anon if you want, I don't mind :-D (Please do explain what an anon list is to me though lol, because I'm 99% sure I'd be A-okay with doing that)

1. Oooh I have so many!!! List under the cut lol (and I definitely forgot a lot, too 😭)

Let's start off with my most recent, Special Toppings. It's a really funny one and I've read it like, 5 times now. Basically, Edge (undersell Papyrus) hires a stripper while drunk to come to his brother's bachelor party (who Red/underfell Sans is marrying is never stated btw) and it's great. I'd also recommend going through all other fics written by this author. :-) Read it here.

Then, we have Fairytale Complex which is ongoing right now! I'm a few chapters behind at the moment, but as far as I've read it's really good! Basic premise is that you're Frisk's parent, and you're dealing with the monsters and the fact that they hurt your kid. This one gets, like, 29889 bonus points for the reader insert being gender-neutral. Read it here.

This one isn't for everyone, but There's Still Magic is also pretty interesting to me! Major TW for abuse, manipulation and other things like that though, as it's a pretty big theme in the story. Basically, your friend Taylor has offered you to live with her in this big house with her reverse harem of skeleton boyfriends, but it's... not great there for you. Taylor's an ass to the skeletons in the house and they're kept firmly in her manipulative hold, minus Mutt (Rus). The characters are a bit OOC in my opinion, but it's a good fic so I still recommend it! Read it here.

Then, we have ANIME IS REAL! It's really fun and I like it. Basically, Sans shows up at your doorstep (and, mind you, we're in our universe, so up until this point, we've only thought of him as a fictional character) and whoops, now you're in a mansion with the classic gang of skeletons. Very enjoyable. Read it here.

Until That Day Comes is probably my favourite right now, though. It's still ongoing, and I'm really curious to see where it's all headed! Basically, the fic starts with you waking up after... something, and after being missing for a while, with a case of amnesia. As it turns out, you're married to Sans, but you don't remember that at all. While this is going on, you're closing yourself off from all these "strangers" that are trying to help you and searching for your "sister"... I wonder if the sister even exists. Regardless, the plot is immaculate and the drama is to die for. Also the author, Sneakyfox55, has great taste in music and is a real cool person, so I'm just saying it'd be funny if we all pranked them by being real mean and leaving nice comments 🤷 Read it here.

This one is really long - (The Last of the) Real Ones. I feel like telling you too much upfront would ruin the whole fic, so I'll just give you the slightest explanation that is so vague it won't help, but: AU characters are appearing, and you're sent on a mission to collect them. That's all I'm going to say, but if you're the type who likes the reverse harems, this is for you. I really like this one! The reader-insert really isn't my type of character (plus minus points for it being a female reader), but I'm willing to let it slide because the story is so damn good. Read it here.

Super interesting - A Splash of Purple. Basically, you're a witness to a murder and Swapfell Sans is a cop investigating. I can't say much more, but it's a fun read! Still ongoing. Read it here.

All That Jazz. You're a bartender at a bar Undertale Sans attends. I really like the reader-insert (minus the fact that you're decidedly female). Still ongoing. Read it here.

Then we have Blacked Out, which is about Fellswap Sans. You have a one-night stand with him but apparently, you're also soulmates according to him... Still ongoing and only 2 chapters long so far, but I like it already. Read it here.

This one is currently on hiatus - Daughter of Death. It's not my usual type of story, but I seriously like it a lot. I really can't describe it because I'm not sure how lol, but it's good. Read it here.

This one I also have a hard time explaining, especially since it's not finished (and it might be discontinued? It doesn't say it explicitly but it hasn't been updated in years, so...), but Dead Ringer. This one takes place in the usual Undertale Universe. Warning for themes of domestic abuse and transphobia among other things, but the author put up trigger warnings at the start of each chapter with these themes if I remember correctly and I think you can skip those scenes entirely (but don't quote me on that). Sans acts just a bit OOC but that's fine, it's still a good fic so I won't hold that against it or the author. Read it here.

Got Crabs? is another unfairly funny fic that I would definitely recommend. It's a soulmate AU with Red (Underfell Sans) x reader. Read it here.

Bittybones AU!! If You Give a Bittybones a Cookie is really fun. You move into a "haunted" house, but well, it's actually inhabited by bittybones! Read it here.

This one seems to have been discontinued, but My Neighbour Could Kill Me is a fun read! It's pretty short, but regardless, it's interesting. Just know that you're immortal, and the AU skeletons live by the same street as you. Warning for gore and (temporary) death. Read it here.

Of Spells and Illusions is pretty fun too! You're in college and so are the Undertale characters... It's a pretty slow burn, but just know that it's with the classic UT characters, no AU shenanigans here, and it's got a pretty unique premise as all monsters disguise themselves as human! Read it here.

Nostalgia works off the concept of you coming from the normal Undertale universe before suddenly waking up one day in the Underfell universe. Also you've developed magic. It's only 2 chapters long so far (and was last update last year) so it might be silently discontinued, but it's still good so I recommend it! Read it here.

If any of the links lead to the wrong place or don't work, please tell me! :-) Also, I'll probably upload more fic recs sooner or later because these are far from the only ones I love and I've definitely forgotten a lot of them. ^^ Feel free to drop your own recs in the notes <3

[giuliafc]

Betrayal Chapter 9: Who saves us now?

<< 1 -- 2 -- 3 -- 4 -- 5 -- 6 -- 7 -- 8 -- 9: Ao3 || FFN -- 10 >>

Written by: JuliaFC

Beta: Etoile-Lead-Sama and Myimaginationflows

Summary: Chat Noir to the rescue. Well, kinda. (997 words)

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Written for the "Snippet July" challenge of the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server @miraculousfanworks AND for LadyNoir July @ladynoirjuly Day 20 — Pride/save me. Let me know what you think!

PS: I forgot to upload this chapter on Tumblr on the 20th! Sorry about that...

oOoOoOoOoOo

It didn't take long before a soft thump echoed from the deck of the diner boat.

Good, Chat Noir is here, thought Marinette.

She looked at Tikki, who nodded and disappeared through the wall to go greet the cat superhero. But straight after that, Marinette could only watch in horror as Jacques, who had been just sitting on a chair next to her reading a book, smirked and dialled a number on his phone.

"Hello, sweetie. The cat is here. Yes. I'll do as planned." He stood up and walked out of the room.

Marinette looked with eyes full of worry at Chat Noir's head popping out from the boat's window. She didn't know what Lila's plan was, but it didn't sound good at all. And what was worse, she had no way to warn Chat Noir that something was wrong. She also knew that the boy always acted on impulse, and may not think twice before jumping in the room if he didn't see anyone there with her. He would fall straight into the trap!

She groaned as loud as she could in hopes of warning Chat Noir, but as she did that, a purple mass appeared in the centre of the room. Right in Chat Noir's full view, and a sentimonster who looked like a buffed up version of Jacques materialised in its place. Marinette and Chat exchanged looks and Chat Noir nodded, his head disappearing from the view. Marinette breathed a sigh of relief.

"Only the bee holder can immobilise a sentimonster," said Tikki.

"How are we going to contact Vesperia? She's only a temporary hero, isn't she? So she doesn't keep her Miraculous, we need to give it to her!"

Tikki looked at Chat Noir sheepishly. "Rena Rouge knows Vesperia's identity, and she knows how to get to the Miracle Box." She sighed at Chat Noir's unbelieving stare and at how his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Then, she continued, "I know it's hard on you, Chat Noir, but you can't save Marinette alone. You need help. If you cataclysm the sentimonster, it will go mad and we don't know what powers it holds, if any."

Chat Noir swallowed dryly. "It's okay. Marinette is more important than my pride." He sighed and dialled Rena's number on the communicator. There will be time for Marinette to fill him in with all the details she hadn't revealed to him up to now. At the moment, the most important thing was to save her.

However, after having spoken to Alya, explaining to her what they needed, and waiting for a long time that Alya or Vesperia arrived to help; Chat Noir lost his patience. He was nearly going to enter the room and fight the sentimonster himself when his eyes widened in horror: Lila had come back. But the most shocking thing was that it wasn't just Lila. It was Volpina.

Volpina approached Marinette and used her flute to create a cage around her. Then, she came through the cage and took off the tape from Marinette's face with a firm gesture. The girl coughed and spit out the cloth that was filling her mouth. Volpina freed Marinette from the knots and came out of the cage. Marinette took a little time to untie herself completely and get back to a sitting position, trying to gain back the feeling from her hands and legs.

"V-volpina? Wh-what…" was the first thing Marinette was able to say. Volpina sneered.

"It was so easy. I know you're listening, Chat Noir. You may as well want to hand yourself in at this stage. Your pathetic attempt to get the bee holder has failed miserably. The new Bee Miraculous holder was unavailable, so Rena Rouge—or should I say Alya Césaire—had to give the Miraculous to Chloé Bourgeois." Volpina cackled. "How stupid of her. She didn't know that Chloé had teamed up with me! So now…" She fondly grabbed the fox necklace on her neck. "...Now I've got the real one, and nobody will stop me!"

"What have you done to Alya?" screamed Marinette, her hands reaching for the bars of the cage and noticing with surprise that they were more solid than she thought and they didn't disappear when touched.

Volpina laughed. "Chloé used her power to paralyse her so I could get her Miraculous, and she's still unconscious."

"You evil witch!" Chat Noir shouted and jumped out of his hiding place.

Volpina blocked his baton using her flute, but didn't seem to be able to counteract his attacks very effectively. However, before he could knock her off, the sentimonster intervened. It became a fight between Chat Noir and the buffed sentimonster, a fight that Marinette watched with her heart drumming into her throat, jumping at every hit of Chat's baton.

The sentimonster defended himself with his bare hands to start with, then Volpina materialised a pole for him to use as a weapon. Things seemed to get worse for Chat Noir; the boy took many hits and eventually crashed on the ground.

"Chat Noir!" cried Marinette as Volpina used Mirage to create another cage around the black clad superhero.

"Damn witch, you won't trap me like this!" growled Chat Noir, and balled his right hand to a fist, roaring "CATACLYSM!"

His hand came in contact with the bars, and the cage crumbled and turned into ashes. But Volpina didn't even need to snap her fingers; almost immediately, the bars were up again, as solid as before. Chat Noir was left blinking in surprise as Papillon's mask appeared on Volpina's face.

"The plan was perfectly executed, Papillombre. Now we just need to wait." Chat Noir's eyes widened in horror as Volpina's face came closer to the bars of his cage. "Tik-tok, tik-tok, kitty-cat. It will be a pleasure seeing you detransforming and handing your Miraculous to Papillombre."

Marinette's heart sank as Chat Noir growled and shook the bars of the cage with his fists.

They were in DEEP trouble.

-------------------------------------

Author's Note

Whoops. I hope it's clear that Lila is using the Fox Miraculous and the conversation we didn't see before she arrived at the boat had Papillombre offering Volpina "the power to generate solid and unlimited illusions." This story is growing legs, I'm telling you. Why do all my stories end up growing legs?

I hope you liked it and will leave me a comment. You know that comments are my bread and butter!

Until tomorrow, bug out!

[vydante]

Restart | 12

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Avengers x Male! Reader (romantically: multiple)

A/N: Missed y'all. I don't think I'm officially off of my hiatus, but I somehow managed to pull a chapter out of my ass after months of radio silence. I really did back myself into a corner with the last chapter, but hey, this is my story and I get to pace it however I want.

Sorry if things are worded weirdly, I'm writing them but they're going through one ear and out the other when it comes to comprehending what I actually wrote. No one will remember what happened, but that's okay. God, I really need a beta-reader... Anyways. Love y'all. XOXO.

Also, sorry if any of the formattings seems off. HTML doesn't really translate well over certain sites. (Tumblr, Quotev, Wattpad, and AO3 are now my main places for posting my works. Anywhere else, that's not me nor was it permitted by me.)

If you want a recap: You're in the process of jumpstarting Project Renaissance after realizing that you've just been doing basically nothing ever since you woke up in your old body. You've also taken to making video logs to report down your progress, and in the last chapter (that was in the POV of multiple video logs), it ended on a cliffhanger with Barnes being discovered and moved to a safe house.

This chapter takes place roughly after the last one. 

If you're currently binge reading this story, this recap is only because last chapter was updated... Roughly more than 7 months before this chapter. So. Yeah. :D

Oh, and let's pretend that either A. Barnes doesn't have a tracking chip in his arm OR B. he did, but you got it out during the whole rescue-escapade. That's my bad, I straight up forgot about that possibility until I was like, close to 4000 words deep into this chapter. Now we're at roughly 8k+... Hehe. Whoops.

_______

You're not gonna call Barnes, Bucky.

There's a personal touch to the nickname that bothers you. How awful it sounds in your ears, to call the former husk of a man a name he no longer recognizes. There's history to that name, both on writing and in memory, though only in sparsity. Plus, it'll be difficult for you to associate Bucky to Barnes. A man with an identity to a man without.

So after the whole debacle of getting him out of the mini-Hulk playbox and into decent dry clothing, when he asks what his name is, you quietly debated to yourself what to tell him.

"... Your name is James Buchanan Barnes," you'd eventually reply.

He doesn't comment on the resignation in your tone, but you're confident that he certainly noticed it- surely, the ticks of being the Winter Soldier was still there, no matter how disoriented he must be. But whether courtesy was something that he hadn't forgotten whilst his brain was refried over and over like leftover KFC wings or he was simply too exhausted to ask, you didn't care.

Granted, for a man who should have a lot of questions on his mind, he's definitely proven himself to be a man of very few words.

An hour goes by, and in the midst of you trying your best to build a solid standing between the two of you, he's said so few words that you could probably count all of them on both of your hands.

If it weren't for the nods of affirmation, you'd think that his averted gaze from you would have meant that he wasn't paying attention at all, but honestly, you knew better than to judge him for that if he actually wasn't actually listening in the first place.

Hell, he could tear up the walls to the high heavens and you still wouldn't hold him against it, so you were just thankful that he was so docile, for someone who could snap your neck if he felt so inclined.

Though, as it turns out confusion and disorientation wasn't the actual reason why he was being so docile, you belatedly realize as you're stood in front of a blank-faced Barnes. You're in the middle of trying to give him a basic tour around the house when he quietly interrupted your monologuing.

"Mission parameters," you echoed his words, though mainly to yourself. He nods, and for once meets your eyes. There's neither confidence nor surrender in his eyes, and that makes your stomach churn. Chances are, he probably saw nothing wrong with asking such a thing.

"You want me to give you- mission parameters. Like- like your handlers would?" You laughed incredulously, but the humor was replaced with subdued hysterical horror.

You were aware of what they were. Aware of the types of hunts his Handlers- bastards- would sick him out on. Aware of what he did without a second thought. You saw those files, if only briefly. That was more than enough for you to see the type of expectations that came alongside "mission parameters".

He nods as if you were stating the obvious.

God.

You opened and closed your mouth, and for a split second, once you got past the horror of being asked to tell him what to do, a subtle realization crawled up your spine. In the midst of your impromptu introduction and briefing, you never really made a distinction as to what role you were supposed to play in all of this.

So it shouldn't be a surprise for Barnes to assume that you're his new- what? Handler? Caretaker? After all, as far as you can assume, that's probably all he knows; all he was conditioned to grow accustomed to, to expect his every move to be dictated by some outsider with no care to the wants or needs that Barnes has.

(Hell, if you were to make a reach right now, maybe Barnes thinks he doesn't have wants or needs. That he shouldn't.)

(In the background, a part of you simmer in silence.)

With your jaw clenched, you make an effort to make your voice as even as can be when you ask him, "You don't need mission parameters, Barnes. You're your own free man. You can- can make decisions on your own. You don't need me to tell you what you need to do."

Pray as you might, there's something about realizing that you said the wrong thing right after saying said words that make you wonder what you did to anger the higher powers that be to put yourself in the situation you're in right now.

Barnes doesn't say anything, but his eyes says it all. Confusion. Realization. Grief. Detachment. His metal hand clenches, and you're man enough to admit that it made your heart stutter in fear.

"I...", he mutters, "... don't understand."

You swallowed.

This...

This is gonna be tough.

_______

It's difficult to explain what self-autonomy and freedom meant to a man who is only capable of remembering being chained and held on a leash like a rabid dog.

Thankfully, it was your winter break, so you had a manageable excuse for being away from "home" for a few days, but you only had so long to try and establish to Barnes that you're not going to be able to be there with him as often as you are now (and even then, the time frame was too small to even make any sense of attachment).

You knew for sure you couldn't always be there for Barnes, so one thing was certain: he had to meet DAHLIA. And thankfully, since the whole safe house was yours, not even your father knew that DAHLIA, your own A.I., would be uploaded into the houses' built-in hardware.

(While the hardware was built with the intention of housing J.A.R.V.I.S. there as a standard, he ended up "moving out" the moment that the house became yours. Something about "not intruding on a teenager's privacy", but you're more than thankful for Tony's afterthought, even if you did end up taking slight advantage of his consideration.)

And surprisingly enough, Barnes wasn't really bothered by the concept of DAHLIA as much as you had initially expected. Of course, he didn't really talk to her, but it wasn't like he talked much in the first place.

(On a side note, it looks like DAHLIA seems to like the house, all things considered... So there's that.)

(The original DAHLIA was never installed here, instead she ended up "living" in a retirement house of sorts in a wooded area of New York. She never said anything about the house, so it's... Kind of endearing, to see that she actually might prefer this house instead. And mildly insulting, considering you personally decorated the other house.)

You ended up spending nearly the whole night trying to establish even the most basic of guidelines: use the bathroom whenever he needed to (you initially said phrased it as "wanted", but he promptly cut you off saying "The Asset does not have wants," which, rude, but also sad); whatever is in the kitchen is available for him to eat whenever, where ever; basic hygiene; and the most important one- if he had any questions, his first source would be you. And on the off-chance that you're not available, DAHLIA is always online and ready to help.

He gave a tentative nod, but you're somehow not confident that he might have interpreted it wrong. You're hoping he doesn't do anything to prove you right.

"Alright. So. Any questions?"

He stares at you for a beat too long before shaking his head.

He's still giving non-verbal answers for the most part, but it's better than nothing. You internally sighed and motioned him to follow you deeper into the safe house.

Considering that it was already pretty late by the time you managed to beat those guidelines into his head (maybe that should be worded better, but you never claimed to be a lyricist; it is what it is), he might be just as tired as you are from how long the day has been.

(Granted, this dude has been "asleep" for who knows how long, but it's the thought that counts.)

"You know where I'm taking you to?" you asked, not really expecting an answer from him.

"No," he responds from behind you. Color you surprised.

You turned into the hallway and stepped up to an unassuming door. You opened it to reveal an equally unassuming bedroom. Muted colors, modern design; it reeked Pepper's doing, knowing that Tony isn't as decoratively-inclined as she is.

Hah, bet she didn't expect that instead of housing you or your dad, it'll go to a super-solder that wasn't Steve instead.

(Not that Steve would ever have a reason to step foot in here, but in this line of work, you'd be stupid to be 100% sure about something.)

You motioned him to come into the room and tilted your head to the bed.

"This is your bedroom, pretty much where you'll be sleeping. There's a bathroom right over there," you motioned to the door adjacent to the entrance door, "and I'll be in the room right next to yours."

Barnes takes a second to process it all, and with a quick scan of the room with calculating eyes, he nods. You absentmindedly scratched the back of your neck.

"I mean, there's plenty of rooms here so if you don't like this one, just let me know and we'll probably move you to another room-" you rambled, secretly trying to get a move on so you'd finally get some shut-eye.

(What? You're not perfect, sleep is heavily slept on in this day and age. Hah.)

(God, you're definitely going to hell.)

"-and you know how to use a toilet, right?"

The raised eyebrow pointed at you definitely proves that that was a pretty stupid question, but hey, you can't take any chances. You shrugged, a tired smirk threatening to form on your lips.

"Well then. Can I leave it to you to settle down for the night, or...?" you left it open-ended.

He didn't say anything in response, only stared at the bed in front of him. There was a pregnant pause, but he nodded at you. There was a strange tilt to his eyes, but you didn't bother to think further into it as you were just thankful that you could finally rest.

"Well then, good night Barnes. I'll come by tomorrow morning and we'll continue to, er," you thought about it, "work, on your situation."

You made a swift exit out of his room and immediately into "your" room, which was literally right next to his. You immediately discarded your clothes and with a brisk shower and teeth brushing, you promptly dropped straight onto the bed with an audible grunt, wet hair soaking straight into the pillow.

Pulling the plush duvet to cover your body, you reached for your phone to check for any messages you might have gotten.

(3 from Tony; he asked where you were. You told him that you're staying at a safe house and that you needed a small break. It wasn't wrong, but definitely an omission of truth. A few days would be fine, right?)

(2 from Rhodey; it's a picture of a Goodwill's, and there's a silhouette in a nearby window of some guy. "This you?" he asks. "No ❤️," you sent back.)

(63 is from the group chat that the Avengers are in- ah, make that 64 and counting. It's just a bunch of nonsense from what you can gather, but you briefly scrolled through it anyways.)

Turning your phone off, you smushed your face into the pillow and sighed, a terrible knot forming at the pit of your stomach. With an open ear, you tried to hear any noise that could come from Barnes' room, but considering that the walls were reinforced and he was already quiet as it is, all you could hear was the AC running in the background.

"DAHLIA," you huffed, eyes drooping, "keep an eye on him, wake me up if anything happens."

"Got it," her voice echoes from the ceiling speakers.

You quietly tucked yourself in bed. As the exhaustion finally started settling in your body, the last thought that lingered in your head was "Man, I hope nothing bad happens tomorrow," before you drifted right off to dreamless slumber.

_______

The next day was, to say the least, a little disconcerting, but a bigger improvement to be sure.

Right after waking up, you begrudgingly put on some daytime appropriate clothes and stepped out into the hallway. You knocked on the door that was right next to yours, and gingerly opened it when you didn't hear much of a response.

"Good morning," you tentatively greeted. Barnes was sitting at the foot of the bed when you knocked on his door. He mumbled back a greeting and stands up to your eye level.

His clothes are still the same from last night, and judging by the clean state of his bed, he either woke up earlier than you expected or he was sat like that the whole night.

You're not too keen on finding out which was the case, but you had to.

"Sleep well?"

You stepped out of the doorway and motioned him to follow you. Briefly glancing down at your phone to see just a few messages waiting for you, you opted to ignore them for now.

"I slept."

He quietly stated from behind you. He avoided saying if he slept well or not, but at least the damn Terminator slept. You mentally deflated a little; the bar was set so low for him, you're not too sure who it's more insulting to- you or him.

(Of course, it's to him, that shouldn't be a question. Your feelings don't matter.)

"We're gonna have to wing this a little, but uh, here's the general gist of what's gonna happen."

Stepping into the kitchen, you're taken aback to last night as he tentatively stands across from you from the kitchen island. Really, you'd opt to go to the living room, but you both radiate too much nervous energy to really sit.

You opened the refrigerator and sighed when all that greeted you was water and non-perishables. Right. You just got here, it's not like there's gonna be freshly stocked food in here 24/7.

"DAHLIA, order some fresh food and get it delivered today. Charge it on my debit," you mumbled quietly.

DAHLIA doesn't say anything, but the refrigerator lights flicker a familiar green hue that keys you in that she heard you. You raised an impressed eyebrow; what an unnecessary feature for a refrigerator to have. You closed the door and turned around to face Barnes.

"I'm here to serve as, say, a guide for," you gestured to him, "your... rehabilitation, of sorts."

"For now, I can't really offer any... Professional help, on a technical level. I'm not- that's not my area of expertise. I'm an engineer at heart," actually, you really liked other things more than being an engineer, but your fate of becoming the CEO of SI was sealed the moment you decided to live with your dad, "so we're going to have to make a compromise on that."

You shook your head.

"If you were anyone else, I'd point you to a shrink," Barnes gives you a confused stare.

"Therapist," you clarified. He nods.

"But quite frankly," Zemo's face flashes in your memory, "I don't trust anyone to properly... Well, I don't trust anyone when it comes to the mental health of you, and the Avengers too, of course."

Pausing mid-rant, you raised an eyebrow at him.

"You... do know who the Avengers are, right?"

He nods and begins to rattle off a pre-scripted monologue. His eyes are blank as he started speaking.

"A group of top priority, compromised of highly skilled individuals, enhanced or otherwise specified. Threat priority ranges from 5 to 9. As of now, 6 active-duty members and 1 reserve member. The Asset is to not engage under any circumstance and reveal-"

"Alright alright, I get it- that's," you're a little offended that you're considered a "reserve member", but that's not technically wrong, "That's a lot to unpack there, but yeah. You- whew, you definitely know who the- we are."

(You've gotten into the habit of distancing yourself from the Avengers the moment that you had become CEO. You're still working on that, but the word "we" still feels wrong on your tongue.)

There's a little more life that came back to Barnes' eyes after you had snapped him out of it, and it's a bit surreal knowing that Barnes just kinda... runs on autopilot when prompted. The image of Barnes being strapped down in a chair and forced to learn and recite those kinds of things by heart is both horrifying and a little funny.

(Do you think they had a set curriculum he had to learn by?)

"So yeah. The Avengers gotta be careful when lookin' for shrinks, and so do you. There's just too many factors that go into gettin' a personal therapist. So for now," you shrugged, "you're stuck with me."

"What are they?"

"Hm?"

"The factors."

You shrugged.

"Well, for starters, you're- you were, HYDRA's prisoner," the muscle around his jaw visibly clenches when you mentioned HYDRA, but you powered through, "so they'll definitely be interested in getting their fight dog back. They're good at blending in and good at getting their musty little fingers into every nook and cranny. I wouldn't put it past them to have one of their agents go undercover as a therapist for hire. So that's one factor: trying to discern who is and isn't HYDRA."

You raised a finger.

"Then there's the fact that because you're such a... shall we say, top priority, er, asset," that word runs bitter on your tongue, "even if your shrink isn't HYDRA, they'll definitely be targeted by HYDRA if it ever came to light that they have a direct link to you. So there's reason number two: loose ends, and the risks that come with it."

You raised another finger. By now, Barnes has a hard but contemplative curl to his lips.

"And then not to mention how unique your case it. Barnes, you've been a POW for decades. Your brain- no offense buddy, but from what I can tell, it's been fried to hell and back. I don't even have to do any fancy brain scans to know. And that's not even including all the other stuff they probably did to you, only God knows."

You shook your head.

"There's too much at risk for you to get proper therapy right now. But. It's not impossible."

You think back to Shuri, and how she and the other Wakandan scientists were successful in both removing the trigger words and rehabilitating Barnes.

Well, you're not sure about the last part, since you never interacted with the Barnes of your time, but you'd assume that they did help with his subsequent mental health. You wouldn't really put it past them- T'Challa was a nice guy, from your limited interactions with him way into the future, and Shuri was buzzing with ideas and energy. If T'Challa's sympathy for Barnes wasn't enough, then Shuri's crave to help and experiment would supplement the balance plenty. Vice versa, too.

So yeah, future-Barnes' mental health was most likely addressed during his time in Wakanda. And it was almost guaranteed to have been a success.

So you're still gonna hold a torch for the possibility that Barnes' can come out of this as a relatively well-adjusted guy.

Not to mention B.A.R.F. As far as you know, the R&D team assigned to that was still progressing smoothly, but the only downside to that was that it wasn't going to be until a few more years before it's "perfected".

You were never really involved in any way with B.A.R.F. since you were both prepping for SI and finishing college. Your dad was definitely more involved in it than you were, but it's not like you could ask him to pull a few year's worths of experimentation and knowledge out of his ass and exponentially boost the rate of B.A.R.F.'s progress, so.

Helen Cho suddenly sprang to mind, but you quickly threw away that thought. Your- well, Barnes'- issue was neurological, Cho was all about cell regeneration and is a geneticist. So unless somehow the issue crosses over with Cho's line of work, she wasn't a possibility either. There was also Strange, but as far as you've heard the man was pretty... abrasive, even as a wizard. Hard to get a hold of, and very... Hard-headed.

Well, all of that was second hand since it came from Tony, but still. Maybe you could pull Tony in for some clout, but that'll just make him suspicious. God, maybe you shouldn't have kept the whole "I'm actually from the future" spiel a secret, otherwise you wouldn't have to be doing all this crap alone.

Oh well. In for a penny, out for a pound.

You sighed, already feeling the dull thump against your skull starting to form.

"So what now?" Barnes asks. He's less tentative than he was last night, but still soft-spoken when he talks.

"Well, you're stuck with me, bud. I'll do my best to get you prepped for the actual rehabilitation, but honestly, that might take a little longer than you'd expect. So, we'll just- well."

You eyed the outfit he was donning, which was literally your clothes- so it was a few sizes too small for him. He doesn't really seem bothered by it, and if it weren't for the fact that he's sort of proved himself to be neglectful of voicing his own preferences, you'd be a little more inclined to appreciate the view of one very, very beefy super-soldier.

But alas.

Life never really works in your favor, so.

"We'll need to get a few essential things out of the way. Food is already on its way, I assume you aren't allergic to anything?"

He pauses, and there goes that familiar glaze forming over his eyes. You sigh, knowing that he was probably searching through his mental "data-bases" for any allergies, but thankfully it's not long as he blinks back into attention.

"None."

"Yeah, I could'a figured, what with your super-soldier serum."

(You're pretty sure that also makes him immune to cancer, but maybe that's just you glorifying it.)

"So: the food situation is cleared. Now, we need to get you some new clothes because, uh, those don't look very comfortable."

"Comfort does not matter. I am adequately dressed."

You snorted. Maybe it's better that you don't tell Barnes that he's wearing a Sharknado tee and some sweats that have "Eat this!" printed on his behind.

(And maybe it's better that you didn't remember that yes, these are indeed still your clothes.)

"Comfort does matter, my guy. DAHLIA, take some quick measurements."

The kitchen light dims and brightens, shining lime green into the kitchen. It lingers and turns back into that white-blue that sometimes makes your eyes burn when you've been up for too late into the night.

"Seargent Barnes' measurements are now on file. You two want to see the available catalog?"

Right where the kitchen island was, a panel opens up to reveal a hologram of a bunch of articles of clothing, all of which has been adjusted to Barnes' size- or an approximate at least, since there's some that's labeled X or XL.

"Barnes? You got anything you want to do right now or...?"

You gestured to the hologram in front of you.

His face contorts a little, not too noticeable at a quick glance. He doesn't look uncomfortable per se, but judging by the downwards curl of his lips, he's definitely not excited to see the hologram.

You flicked your wrist and it disappeared just as quick as it appeared. Strangely enough, his expression doesn't loosen up as his eyes flicker upwards to yours.

"Hey, that's okay. If it's the hologram, that's no biggie, we'll just move over to the, uh, TV in the next room over. C'mon."

You jerked your head and motioned him to follow you. His face laxes and he walks behind you without a word.

_______

You two ended up getting a lot done all things considered.

Barnes seemed pretty bothered by how many clothing choices there are, but when you asked if he wanted you to just curate a list for him, he easily relented. He was hovering over you the whole time, but you weren't too bothered by it as you were too busy browsing for him.

You went from site to site searching for clothes that screamed "The Winter Soldier", but all that was coming up was clothes in fifty shades of black and with no pizzaz. You did pass by a few Avengers-related merch (especially yours), but he said nothing when you added two or three into your cart, so he probably doesn't care. You did show him a lot of clothes that you thought would fit him, and he nodded to pretty much all of them.

By the time you were done looking for clothes, the doorbell had rung.

("That was quick," you reminisced. DAHLIA was quick to respond.

"It came from a nearby Walmart."

"Huh.")

Barnes' head jerked as his eyes were trained on the entrance door. You patted his arm, and his eyes glance at you.

"Relax, it's just the food. DAHLIA ordered some groceries earlier."

You stood up to go answer the door, and Barnes followed suit. You raised an eyebrow at him, but he doesn't really seem like he's gonna back down anytime soon.

"You know... You can follow behind, but you're gonna have to be in the shadows or something 'cuz, you know... Just- if someone's still at the door, don't let them see you okay?"

He nods, almost mechanically so, and you turned around and walked to the entrance door.

Opening the door, you were greeted with a few big boxes. You raised an eyebrow and glanced out through the door; there are no cars nearby, and DAHLIA whispers in your ear that the clearing's safe- not a single life signature anywhere.

"Barnes, the coast's clear," you called out, already reaching down to grab one of the boxes. You grunt, adjusting your grip before you lifted and turned around.

Barnes, having already popped out of whatever dark corner he was in, is already a few feet behind you.

"Hey, you don't mind helping me bring in those boxes, will you?"

You were already walking past him, but you barely caught the briefest flash of furrowed eyebrows before you saw him walk over to the door. You mentally shrugged, but placed the box in the kitchen and went back over to the door to get the other one.

By the time you were done setting down the box, Barnes had already closed the door and was standing under the arch connecting the kitchen to the main hallway.

You motioned him over, and he complied.

"What is inside?"

You're almost proud that you didn't jump. He doesn't talk much, but when he does it always startles you.

"Groceries, but I don't know what specifically. DAHLIA chose all of it. And by the looks of it, she chose a lot. So. You're gonna help me unpack and we'll probably- well, I'll probably make some food. You can help if you want."

Your back was turned to him, and you started unloading the boxes and their contents. Barnes doesn't move for a hot moment, but he squats down next to you and starts unwrapping the smaller boxes that were inside it.

"You don't mind if I put on some music, right?"

You glanced at him.

"I... don't. Mind," he mumbles, tentatively glancing back at you. You gave him a brief thumbs up and turned your attention back to

"DAHLIA, play something chill. Low volume."

_______

Pretty much, the whole day consisted of unpacking all of the groceries that had been delivered. You ended up pausing, having gotten tired of being awake without food in your stomach, and made some food for the two of you.

You tried conversing with him, trying to get him to at least feel more comfortable, and it... kinda worked. There are a few touchy subjects that he doesn't really seem to like talking about (he doesn't really vocalize his discomfort, but his flinches, no matter how minute they were, spoke louder than words). HYDRA, obviously. Anything revolving the Avengers put him off as well, among other things.

Really, most of the eating consisted of small talk and eating noises, but at least some of the tension in his shoulders had lessened by the time that you two needed to get back to unpacking. Hell, by the time that was done, Barnes' clothes had arrived.

(Oh, the benefits of being insanely rich. Say it with me kids: Thank you, Tony!)

You're usually a little apprehensive about buying clothes online, but color you surprised when not only did all of them fit; Barnes didn't have a single problem with any of them.

"You like 'em?"

You whistled when Barnes came out of his bathroom, now back in your clothes that you had given him originally. He tried all of them on, and you ended up buying him so many clothes that a lot of time had passed by the time he was done. You just sat on his bed, slowly collecting all of the clothes and ripping off the tags, damned if he didn't like one of them; you'll just take it instead.

"They're adequate," he nodded. In his hand were the folded clothes (A camo tee and dark sweatpants), and he set them onto his bed with the other folded clothes.

"Did any of 'em uncomfortable? Too tight, any of the fabric feels wrong...?"

You left the question open-ended as you helped him dump it into a laundry bin. He doesn't respond right away as if he didn't hear you. His eyes flicker over to yours.

"... No. They- I..." the muscle under his eye spasms, "I liked them..."

You grinned, "Glad to hear that, guess we got lucky that none of these was a dud, huh?"

The ghost of a smile that was on his lips appeared briefly, but it was gone just as fast as it had appeared.

Really, that had basically been the peak of the day before things had started to mellow out a little bit. But that was okay, you took whatever it was that Barnes gave, and if it was just the smallest smile you've ever seen on a man, then so be it.

Afterward, the day somehow managed to blend together and pass along like an exhale. Not much happened, since you couldn't really- well, offer anything that could scientifically and medically help him. So you opted to just- try to get him up to date as much as possible.

Honestly, by the time that you had gotten through the first three decades (starting when he was born), it was already pretty late into the night.

(He had a lot of questions, and you really didn't blame him. Hell, most of the more personal information really came from DAHLIA, because as much as you sympathized with the man, you really didn't care to learn about his whole entire biography.

But, at least you answered most of the history related questions. If you had to go through a few history college classes back when you were in college, then you'll be damned if you didn't at least make an effort to learn and internalize them.)

Barnes didn't really show any signs of exhaustion if the casual leg bouncing wasn't enough, but you sure were pooped.

(What? Unlike your dad (and most of the Avengers) you actually had a normal internal clock. For the most part, anyway.)

"Well, as much as I liked talking about prehistoric times," you sounded sarcastic, but you actually did like it, "I gotta sleep, I don't run on super-soldier energy like you do bub."

You stood up, stretched, and saw that Barnes was now standing up as well.

"Should I...?"

Raising an eyebrow, you huffed in good nature, "Go to sleep? Yeah, probably. We're not done with the History101 crash course, and we'll probably be talking about other things tomorrow as well," especially about the fact that you're not gonna be at the safe house often soon, "so we both need the energy for that. So, go clean up and get some Z's, yeah?"

"Oh."

He looked a little lost but followed you back into your shared hallway. Stopping in your doorway, you turned your head to glance at Barnes.

"Good night, Barnes," you nodded, not waiting for a response as you headed into your room. It was quiet and almost inaudible, but you still heard it with your ears before you had closed the door shut.

"... Good night."

You stood in your room, a sudden wave of both exhaustion and dread flooding your body. You shook it off though; it was just the nervous jitters hitting you at an inopportune time.

But really, you trusted your guts almost as much as you trusted Tony.

So as you brushed your teeth and did your business in the bathroom, you tried to quell the anxiety that was building up in your chest.

"DAHLIA, keep an eye on him."

"Gotcha, doll."

You sighed, dropped onto your bed, and hoped that whatever it was that might happen, you'd be prepared for it.

_______

And lo and behold, it didn't even have to be the next morning before shit all hit the fan when DAHLIA wakes you up in the middle of the night (3 A.M., to be specific).

"-oll, wake up! Barnes is having a panic attack!"

It takes half a second to process the fear in DAHLIA's voice. It takes another to process her words.

Fuck.

Scrambling immediately out the bed, you thanked whatever higher being there is that you were sleeping with at least some sweatpants on as you booked it straight to your door and right through Barnes'.

(Maybe you should have joined the football team, because that would have been one wicked tackle. Ha, yeah right, you know nothing about football.)

The lights were on, most likely DAHLIA's doing, and his bedsheets were clearly mussed up. He's nowhere to be seen, so your eyes jump to the joined bathroom door, and lo and behold, there was light bleeding through the cracks.

You quickly approached the door and opened it, throwing away the worry that he might have been absolutely naked.

The good news was that he wasn't nude.

The bad news was that he was hunched over on the ground, right in front of the bathroom counter, and he's gripping his head so tightly you would have thought his skull would have caved in.

Terror shoots down your spine like a lightning bolt, and you immediately rushed to the curled over Barnes, adrenaline rushing through you as a million thoughts ran through your head.

"Barnes!"

He doesn't appear to hear you, groaning and panting as he further curled in on himself. His muscles spasm, hard, and you're at a loss at what to do. He's sickly pale, and the sheen on his skin makes you want to vomit. His panting is shallow, and if you weren't sure if the glint that shone in your eyes was the reflection off of the marble floors or a puddle of saliva coming from Barnes.

You're not sure if touching him right now is a good thing, but you'll be damned if he wasn't your responsibility now. You reach out to him, wrapping one arm around his hunched back and the other trying to pry at his wrists.

(Would you have touched him, if you didn't have the reassurance that DAHLIA has your back?)

(Shut up.)

Maybe you were tensing up for him to go all "Winter Soldier" mode on you, but he's the one that tenses, even more, when you touched him. Thankfully, he doesn't resist your pull as his arm is limp the moment you tried to pull it back, but it doesn't change the fact that he's shaking, badly, and your mind is frozen in limbo.

"DAHLIA, what-"

You're at a loss for words, but DAHLIA, sweet DAHLIA already knows what you were about to ask.

"Sergeant Barnes was displaying elevated levels of anxiety, however, it did not seem to warrant any mentions. I thought-"

She cuts herself off, almost as if she was worried that she had made a wrong call. You swallowed, knowing that despite being a baby A.I., she's never done wrong by you- both in the future and now.

"You thought what?"

You try to rub Barnes' back as if he was a dog that had needed soothing. He groans, but you're not sure if you should interpret that as a hurt groan or a relieved one. You paused and moved your hand away, hovering it just inches away from his back, and his breath hitches.

Your hand dropped onto his back once again, and you could feel the muscles on his muscles spasm a little; his whimpers aren't as loud and painful (though, they're still more than worrying).

So, on the very small bright side, back rubs don't seem to be hurting him either. It's a small win, but a win for sure.

"You- my visuals were clear in the conclusion that you saw it. His discomfort. Your body language and expression acknowledged it but you refrained from addressing it. I- acted under the assumption that it was all under control..."

Something in your mind pauses for a pregnant second before your eyes widened.

"What?"

DAHLIA doesn't even get the chance to reply as Barnes jerks his hands away from yours and pulls at his scalp again. You lurched forward.

"Hey! No!"

You bit back a growl as you grabbed his wrists once again. You yank them back down to his sides as his body jolts, a sob ripping through him. You placed a hand on his chest and tried to boost him back up so he'll have his back against the bathtub that's behind him.

He offers little to no resistance as his back makes contact with the bathtub, but he's slumped into himself. He pulls his knees forward and curls his head into them. For a super-soldier, it's almost cute how hard he's trying to take up as little space as possible if it weren't for the fact that your heart was absolutely breaking at the sight of him.

"Oh, Barnes..."

In shuddered breaths, he mumbles something incoherent.

"...-an't, I- I- I-.... -can't..."

He shakes his head, jolting as if someone had shocked him. You rubbed his arm, glancing down at what you can now confirm to be a puddle of saliva, and then over to the trash can right next to the toilet. You're not too sure if you should get it just in case he decides to vomit, but you're ready to lunge for it the moment Barnes shows any signs of gagging.

"DAHLIA," you spoke at a lower volume, "what- when was he, um, uncomfortable."

"Two nights ago, roughly 22:00, when you told Sargeant Barnes that he was his own free man. Yesterday morning, 08:00, when you asked if he wanted to do anything prior to browsing the available clothing catalog. Right after, he was also discomforted by the catalog, before you offered to buy clothes for him. At-"

"That's- that's enough," you breathlessly muttered. DAHLIA doesn't say anything else, but the air has suddenly become heavier than you remembered.

Your head was almost dizzy with not only how many instances Barnes had been anxious in such a short time, but also at how you remembered each and every instance with startling clarity.

Barnes was anxious at the idea of freedom, but you put it off and opted to just give him a nickel tour of the house.

Barnes was anxious when you asked if he wanted to do anything before looking at clothes, but looked too relieved when you brushed over it.

Barnes was anxious at the idea of shopping for fucking clothes but was okay after you took over for him.

The taste of stomach acid burned your tongue, as yesterday's dinner threaten to rise at the implication of all of this.

"DAHLIA," you mumbled, "the- the rest of those instances- do they..."

You trained your eyes on Barnes.

"Do they all- follow the same... The same- pattern?"

DAHLIA was always in tune with you, even after the time jump.

"... Yes," she lamented.

"God..."

Now, you're not sure who that trash can would be really for; you or Barnes.

"Barnes..."

You murmured quietly. He flinches, and his shaking hasn't gotten any better.

"What- what was it? Was it- was it all too much? God, I'm so sorry, it probably was, wasn't it? I should have- fuck, I should have taken it more slowly, I-"

Barnes shakes his head, stopping you in your rambling. You blinked rapidly.

"Then- was it..." you paused, "... Was it the choices?"

It's almost expected that he doesn't answer you straight away, but he nodded anyway.

"I... It was- it was too much- I couldn't- I don't know- I-"

His breath shuddered with each word as if it hurt him to just even speak right now. You shushed him, ignoring the intrusive thought that it was akin to shushing an animal.

"Hey, hey, it's- it's okay. You'll be okay."

It's not much, what you're saying to him, and it's no surprise that they didn't do much anyway.

Honestly, you didn't know what to say at this point. There didn't even seem to be any phrasing in the known English language that would be able to comfort a man with as much baggage on his shoulders as Barnes, and briefly, just briefly, you wished that you were literally anywhere in the world, but here.

You tried thinking about anything that came from your (albeit limited) interactions with him between the past days that would help ground him, before something jolts you from deep within.

("What are my mission parameters," Barnes asked from behind you.

You paused.

"Mission parameters?")

You didn't even realize that you had said that out loud, but Barnes had tensed up even more before you could even take it back. He held his breath, audibly swallowing.

("You don't need mission parameters, Barnes. You're your own free man. You can- can make decisions on your own. You don't need me to tell you what you need to do.")

("I... Don't understand...")

You spoke on impulse.

"You... You need them, don't you? Mission parameters."

Immediately, you regretted even speaking up just as those words left your mouth.

While every fiber in your being hoped that it wasn't true, there was a small inkling in your head that already knew the answer to your question. It was the only thing that was barely even logical enough to make sense.

His apprehension of making a choice.

How uncomfortable in his own skin he always appeared, despite it even being just a few days.

How relieved he always looks, when the choice was already made for him.

His body tenses underneath your hand, but it's the slight bob of his head that makes your stomach drop. You thought- what a fool you were- you thought he'd be okay without being ordered around, but that was nothing but wishful thinking.

(What was the saying? It's hard to teach an old dog a new trick, was it?)

(Yeah.)

Looking at how only a few days of what you had originally thought was Barnes' newfound freedom turned out to be much more of a nightmare for Barnes, it might just be better for the both of you to push aside your comfortability and start making an honest-to-God investment into Barnes' recovery, even if that means that you had to take a step backward.

A very, very risky step backward.

It was a shot in the dark, but it was the only thing that you could place your bets on for now.

You just hoped that your aim wouldn't fail you now.

"Okay, well... How about this, Barnes, here's your main- your main mission, okay? Become a free man. Hey, no, look at me," you swiveled his head so he could look at you. His eyes were panicked, crazed, and irredeemably sad, but you had to make sure nothing crossed through your face so he'd know that everything will be okay. Your grip on both sides of his face was firm as you pleaded with him.

"Your only 'mission' right now? Breathe," ironically, his breath hitched, "If not for your own sake, then for mine."

You swallowed, heart stuttering as you looked into his glassy eyes.

"Please," you let your desperate prayer lingered in the air.

Maybe it was being given a task to accomplish after days of trying to figure out what to do with his supposed new "freedom", or it was how non-labor intensive and just... simple, his new mission parameter was, but it was almost instantaneous how all of the tension in his body dissipated into thin air.

Witnessing the moment of mercy upon grief through Barnes, no matter how brief or temporary it may be, was almost cathartic.

Almost.

(Perhaps you shouldn't be looking for absolution vicariously. But you were never really a good person, were you?)

_______

A/N: I've read a lot of WinterIron fics. While I have read a lot of interpretations about how Barnes would have reacted when he was freshly freed from HYDRA, this is how I choose to interpret it- one that would best fit the story for now. Next chapter, since I couldn't fit it in this chapter, is a special, but it is very much important and related to the story, and Barnes as a character. If you're familiar with some WinterIron tropes, this won't be too foreign of an idea. Not too sure about other ships/ stories, but. Ah, I'm rambling. Anyways, see you next year lol.

_______

Masterlist 

_______

Tagged: @unsolvetheheckoutofit @tonystanktheirondad @ludwigvonbaethoven @rspctot7 (if you’re not @/ fabledxmystery, so sorry for the mistag! LMK if it’s not you) @tolkoskott @klanceiscannon14 @deos-life (grr it won’t let me tag you) @kp1183 (kperla1183) @xyuriko-akamine (akabaneyuriko) @kettnerjanea​ @soldier-42 @daybreakmistakes @spnfanboy777 @crash-zite @jm-cy

[gatorkid509]

( Completely forgot to upload this to Tumblr after I originally uploaded it to my DA, so whoops... Welp, now in it’s on here 2 months later.)

Yeah, I decided to try my hand at trying to recreate the Sky Demon Sorcerer Hsi Wu's human form, specifically making an older version of his human form, mainly because I think it kinda sucks we never saw a more adult version of Hsi Wu's human form since he is, in fact, an adult. And after seeing a few interpretations of an adult human form by other artists, I decided to try and make my own interpretation of a possible adult human form of Hsi Wu. Now, one thing I saw a lot of artists do for Hsi Wu's adult human form is just making him look like a buffed up version of his younger human form and even made it look close to Future Jade's age, more over close to the look of an average 20 year old. But since Hsi Wu is over 900 years old, I decided to make my version look more in his mid to late 30s or so, adding age lines, thickened up his neck, added an Adam's apple, sharpened his cheek bones and made his nose and ears bigger. I also made his eye iris' more smaller since the males in JCA have least anime looking eyes then the females. I also made the 3 tuffs of hair he has more messy and made the underpart of his hair look shaven to make it look like an undercut. And of course, I gave him a goatee. I used his brother Xiao Fung's human form as a reference for how Hsi Wu's age lines would go along with getting the idea to shrink his eye iris' since Xiao's human form is much older looking with the design. I actually used a screenshot from the episode " Tail of the Demon Tail" as a base snice I wasn't all that confident making the adult human form scratch, so that's why he looks really close to the show's style, I know it's lazy, but I did the same for Ice Crew and it's fine as long as I give credit.( I also used the image for all the colors too since I wanted to use his actual human forms coloring, along with the actual colors of the shading as well) I am pretty proud of how this turned out, especially the shading, I was actually debating whether or not to add the shading since I didn't add shading to the Ice Crew Redesigns, but I decided to add it anyways and I'm glad I made the right decision.

Here’s the screenshot I took from the episode so you get a side by side comparison of how different I made his aged up human form from his child human form: 

I actually want to try to make human forms to the rest of the Demon Sorcerers since it kinda sucks we only saw Xiao Fung and Hsi Wu's human form( Ironic that only the Air related demons have human forms) So maybe one day I'll draw the rest of the Demon Sorcerers in human form.( Maybe redraw Xiao’s human form since the hairstyle they gave his human form doesn’t really fit him in my opinion) So I think that's just about it, tell me what you think.