#and bring up a giant sketch of literally just her eye

[potted-cilantro]

Feel like shit just want her back <- talking about xir drive that got corrupted last year

I lost like 4 years of art on that man. Vivi's original ref is on there.

Maybe some day I can get her back, but gods.

[sophsicle]

Part II

(Part I I will be honest, they're not exactly parts, but they're close enough, like they're mostly just sketches of ideas for something so the continuity is real sus, but there is some connection, also I barely edited this so sooorrrrrrryy I just had an idea so I did a little tappity tap tap)

Regulus is alone. Which is a new and not entirely unwelcome experience.

Usually there are servants, courtiers, advisors.

Regulus is very often lonely. But he is seldom alone. And yet...here he is.

He stands in his brother's bedchamber, the bed still unmade, empty bottles of wine on the tables, piles of books on the floor. Clothes everywhere - over the chairs, balled up in the corners. Some are his brother's, some are, quite clearly, not. Mostly what Regulus sees is the small piece of parchment placed so delicately on Sirius's pillow. There's not much on it. Just five words. I asked you to come

It's hard to swallow. Regulus isn't sure what it is he feels exactly. Anger, grief, betrayal. Betrayal more than the rest of it. Their father has barely been dead three days.

"You haven't sent out a search party."

He grimaces, wiping his face clean before he turns around to face his mother. She's dressed in an ornate black gown, covered in jewels and lace, the most extravagant widow in the whole kingdom.

"No," Regulus says finally. "No, I don't see much point. We have no idea where he's gone."

His mother's dark eyes narrow. "Don't you." It is only many years of training - of beatings - that keeps Regulus's eyes from rolling. "I told you, he didn't tell me anything."

Lets steal a ship. What?

Come on Reg, you and me. Lets steal a ship. Lets go discover something. I don't want to die an old man in my bed.

You'd rather die a young man on a ship?

I'd rather live.

Regulus turns away from his mother, walking towards the window. You can see almost the whole grounds from here. The intricate gardens, the orchard to the west, the forest just on the edge of the property. The best view in the palace.

Makes sense, Sirius is the king after all. Has been. For a whole three days.

"You have a plan then? For finding him? Because the second the families find out he's gone for good this time-"

"I know."

"- they'll come for our throats. And I mean that quite literally."

"I know."

The families are the three other noble lines with a claim to the throne. The Blacks have been in power barely thirty years and their hold on the kingdom has always been shaky. Sirius leaving could ruin them. Will ruin them. Which Regulus thinks, is probably part of the reason his brother did it.

"We haven't got the army or the funds to fight a civil war, let alone win one," she's crept up on him, standing too close, a shiver running down his spine. "So I hope you have a plan to bring him back." Down below a man walks into view. He has long shaggy brown curls, barely contained by a leather strap. He's playing with one of Sirius's dogs - a giant black hound - throwing sticks. Not exactly courtly behaviour.

"I think I know someone who might have some information."

"Well then give him to Greyback so we can get it already."

Regulus feels himself go very still. Fenrir Greyback was one of their father's most trusted advisors, and oldest friends. He's also a torturer. No one uses that word, of course. No one says it out loud. But that is what he does.

"I don't think that will be necessary," the man below him bends down, scratching the dogs head so thoroughly that the ridiculous creature quickly plops down and shows him his belly. Even from this distance, Regulus can make out James Potter's laugh.

"Regulus, you can't be soft about this."

That's her favourite word for him.

His brother is reckless.

But Regulus is soft.

He takes one final look at the pirate below him before turning away. "I'll get the information mother. Don't you worry."

[broke-art]

Macaque x Neglected reader

"Stop!" You pleaded as the group of girls you thought had been your friends laughed. They tossed your sketchbook betwixt each other. Keeping your prized possession just a breath from your fingertips. The leader, your adoptive older sister finally caught the book and you grabbed her arm. "Why are you doing this?! I just wanted to be friends!"

Her amusement quickly turned to anger.

"You?! You're nothing but an attention seeking-" She advanced on you. Each step accompanied another insult. "Ugly, useless, piece of garbage they never even wanted! You will never be our friend!" She shoved you back hard sending you into a canal.

You gasped as you fell back. The icy water slammed into your back and shocked your body. You struggled to swim against the hard current. You tumbled under the water attempting to get your bearings as your lungs burned from want of air.

Finally, your head broke above the water's surface and screams touched your ears. Though you hardly listened to them as panic raked up your veins. You couldn't swim well and the current was pushing you somewhere unknown.

You gazed around in a panic trying to find something, anything to grab onto. Just then something curled around your waist and tugged you out of the cold depths.

"Look at what we have here." A black monkey smirked up at you. His tail was curled around your waist holding you above the waters but not moving you to safety. He held up your sketchbook with two fingers. "This yours?"

Slowly, you gave a nod.

He opened the book flicking through the pages. "Impressive."

You squirmed a bit.

"Not to sound ungrateful, but could you put me on solid ground?" You asked hopefully.

His purple eyes flicked up to meet yours.

"Well now that depends." He grinned at you. "I need a favor. If you'll help me, I'll put you on the shore. Refuse and I'll drop you."

You flinched at the threat.

"And what if I just swim?" You asked forcing a brave facade.

The monkey burst into laughter.

"I watched you, kid. You can't swim to save your life. Quite literally."

You huffed.

"What's the favor?"

"I need you to sketch an emblem for me."

You rose your eyebrows.

"Oh. That shouldn't be too hard."

The monkey rose an eyebrow at you.

"Have we got a deal then?"

You nodded.

"Sure."

The monkey placed you on the ground and flicked his tail to remove the excess moisture. And offered you the book.

You took your sketchbook and placed it in your backpack. Which you had thankfully taken off before being thrown into the canal.

"Where'd my sister go?" You asked glancing around.

"Ohoho your sister?" The monkey asked with a bitter chuckle.

"Well I'm adopted." You pointed out. "Her parents chose me fairly recently. She isn't too keen about the whole thing."

The monkey scoffed.

"Right. Come on. I'll walk you home."

"Oh thank you." You accepted the help and walked home with the odd monkey.

The next day you awoke to a knock on your window.

You sat up and glanced at the window. The black monkey gave a small wave as you pressed the window open.

"Oh hi...Mr...?"

The black monkey smiled.

"Aheh name's Macaque."

"Hi Macaque. Did you bring the emblem?" You asked curiously collecting your sketchbook.

He chuckled.

"You're gonna need something a bit bigger, kid." He offered you a rolled up poster board.

You accepted it with a lost look.

Macaque offered his hand.

"Now c'mere. We've got work to do."

You hesitated a moment, but took his hand. Immediately, shadows swarmed you and tensed squeezing your eyes shut.

"Heh. You can open your eyes." Macaque urged.

You blinked your eyes open and your jaw fell. An ancient temple that had partially crumbled surrounded you and a giant emblem was etched into the stone work, taking up the entire wall. The work was astoundingly intricate and detailed.

"You want me to sketch that?!" You gasped staring at him with wide eyes. "That could take forever."

Macaque walked over to a corner of the room.

"Oh and did I mention it has to be exact?" He questioned with a smirk.

"No!"

He shrugged.

"Pft. You can do it. Just take your time."

"Taking my time could take me even longer." You pointed out with a frown.

"Then you'd best get started." He mused over his shoulder.

You huffed annoyedly but set out the poster and started to work. The hours passed away quickly while you worked. The more complex designs you practiced in your sketchbook over and over before doing them on the poster.

Bit by bit the emblem on your poster began to look nearly identical. Then you felt a tap on your shoulder.

Glancing up, you watched Macaque off your a box of food.

"Where'd you get that?" You asked accepting it from him.

"I told you I was going to get you something to eat 20 minutes ago." Macaque informed you simply.

"You did?" You glanced at the clock on your phone. It was already 2 p.m. "Wow I had no idea."

"I noticed." Macaque sat next to you and opened a box of his own beginning to eat.

You watched him and began to wonder how difficult it would be to sketch him. He had piercing eyes, sharp fangs,-

"Stop staring at me and eat your food." Macaque chided.

"Oh right!" You started eating but still stole glances here and there. Moments passed filled with silence.

"Hey Macaque?"

"Hm?"

"Why'd you save me?"

Macaque's face turned to shock. His eyes flicked to a bright purple for only a moment and he shook his head.

"Needed an artist, don't read too much into it."

You blinked at his odd behavior then pulled your sketchbook over. You flicked through the pages mindlessly until he spoke.

"Why'd she try to kill you?"

You tensed and your head shot up.

"Kill me? No, no she was just frustrated."

Macaque quirked an eyebrow at you.

"I watched her glance at the river before she advanced on you. That wasn't just a bout of anger, that shove was premeditated."

Shock and terror coursed through you at the revelation. Your adoptive sister and you had been close before you were adopted. Best friends actually. She knew very well that you couldn't swim. That it could have killed you.

"No, she was just..." Words failed you as you tried to think. "She is just not used to us being sisters yet." You forced yourself to smile at Macaque.

He studied you.

"Kay." He agreed simply. "Maybe have her prove that sometime."

You two finished your lunch break in silence and you went back to work.

Perhaps Macaque had gotten bored or simply curious. But eventually he leaned over you as you worked.

Something about his proximity made your heart go wild in your chest.

Macaque's sharp eyes flicked over your art with scrutiny. You waited a couple moments trying not to concentrate on how close he was to you. Soon his lips curled up into a grin.

"Looks perfect kiddo. But you're out of time for today."

"Huh?"

Macaque gestured to the space outside the temple revealing that the sun was slowly falling below the horizon.

"No, I'm close." You huffed.

Macaque chuckled.

"Don't worry, kid. We can come back tomorrow. Besides if you don't sleep, your work gets sloppy. Can't have that."

You pouted knowing he was right but collected your things. When you were ready you allowed Macaque to pull you against his chest and summon his shadows.

When you opened your eyes, you were back in your room, and alone.

This routine went on for weeks. Each drawing session you and Macaque would talk more. Soon you two grew comfortable with each other's company. And you even began to notice that head seemed to be almost flirting.

Then your sister began to notice your absences.

"Where are you going everyday?" She demanded leaning against your doorway as you organized your art supplies.

"No where you'd care to hear about." You dismissed.

"Tch. You got that right. What's this?!" She demanded while snatching your poster.

"No! Give that back!" You gasped reaching after it. Immediately, you regretted the decision as your sister grew an evil smirk.

"Oh nooo. Is this one of your dumb drawings? When will you grow up? No one even likes your stupid art."

You held back a growl and reached out your hand palm up.

"Give it. Now."

"Hmmm how about-"

The door behind your sister slammed shut and locked in that instant. A black shadow over took the room blocking out all but your lightbulb. Which flicked to an eery purple.

"You heard her," Macaque's voice drifted from everywhere at once amusedly. "Give it to her. Now."

Your sister shoved the poster at you immediately. Her fright nearly made you laugh but you weren't given the chance.

You were gently pulled into the shadows the moment the poster was secure in your arms.

"Time to go, Bright eyes." Macaque muttered in your ear.

Butterflies exploded in your stomach and you struggled to think of a response but only one word escaped your lips.

"Ok."

Macaque's arm wound around your upper back pulling you against his chest. He snapped and the shadows shot towards you two obediently.

You two were teleported to the old temple and you somewhat distractedly got to work.

You hadn't been working long before Macaque leaned over you. The previous interaction flickered to life in your memory coloring your cheeks a deep crimson.

"Did she hurt you?"

"What?"

Macaque sat next to you.

"Did what she say hurt you?"

You stared at him a moment before slowly shaking your head.

"I've heard it all before."

Macaque sighed.

"Well, for what it's worth...I like your art."

Your eyes widened a bit.

"And I like you." Suddenly you realized your mistake and felt your face explode in crimson.

Macaque's stared at you before bursting into laughter.

"You like me huh?"

"Not like- you-ugh!" You groaned burying your face in your hands.

"Ya know, kid-" Macaque's voice sounded much closer now. You dropped your hands only to see him a breath away. "I think the feeling's mutual." He curled a finger under your chin, tilting your head up. And leaned close.

But he paused just before he kissed you. As if waiting for your permission. You instantly closed the distance. And at that moment, you two shared your first kiss.

[mildy-vibing]

So I spent some time cooking this up, and because the wonderful @owlygem 's Celestial Somebody comics had been living in my brain rent free.

I present a fan take on the Red Supergiant, Betelgeuse. If it's already been made and/or canon, then deepest apologies. This is a bit of a longer post going through my design choices and sketches that I've made when she was still in the "how do I draw this" phase

Design

Betelgeuse is one of the brightest stars in our night sky and one of the largest stars we have documented. However, she is one of the youngest stars (only a couple million years old). She is also one of the stars due to supernova soon (estimated within the next 100,000 years). So, I did the following.

- Designed her to look more 'tough', bulkier, wilder, spiked belts and cuffs.

- Deep dark red and orange color scheme for the red super giant (making a cohesive color pallete was unnecessarily difficult for me for some reason)

- Striped suit is just a reference to the movie Beetlejuice, literally nothing more. The suit is also kind of a skirt(?). Fighting between coat tails and a skirt so I chose the ruffled look it has now.

- Couldn't decide between a mowhawk or a long, unruly mess. The unruly mess won, and I regretted it immediately when I had to digitalize it with nothing more than my fingers as a stylus and IbisPaintX threatening to crash. Worth it.

- Crammed as many stars as I can in here. From the studs on the belt to the patches in the jeans.

- The first draft was originally more monstrous, yet it lacked much of a direction, so I scrapped it in favor of a more humanoid look.

Personality

Betelgeuse craves attention and company. She wants to be surrounded by others, yet being a wandering star doesn't help this. One of her primary friends is the Hubble Telescope. She follows it around and protects it from harm. She isn't sure where it came from, but she enjoys its company and beeping.

Betelgeuse is also hyper aware of her impending supernova event, oftentimes resulting in panic attacks or periods of dimming. She is terrified of that event and lives day by day. This also leads to her doing some rather risky stunts as she falls into the "you only live once" mentality. (challenging a black hole to a fist fight wasn't the brightest of ideas; she survived this incident with a couple marks).

Below are some more sketches of the goober when I was still figuring her out

[Left to right, up and down)

- Fuck you mean I got 100,000 years left? (*on the verge of punching someone*) (**crying too, I guess**)

- Live fast, die young!

- *A whole ass black hole*

- Finally! A worthy opponent, our battle will be legendary!

- BRING IT ON!

-Without suit on, nothing but an unstable ball of fire (*got suit stained*)

- Sunglasses on a star?

- *Lost the black hole fight* NGL, I don't feel too good.

- *Eye tongue*

- *Under the gloves*

- (1995) *Confusion* *Hubble Telescope*

- Look, Hubble! Perfect for photos!

- Hubble *simplified*

- Sorry Hubble! Asteroids have NO respect!

- The more I think of it, the more I see that we aren't that different.

- Two lonely cosmic wanderers destined to eventually break down.

- Eventually.

If you read this far, hope you like it :]

[rjmhereunderprotest]

I Survived the "Voltron: Legendary Defender" Fandom Ship Wars

I've seen my fair share of fandoms, and the subsequent warring that can go on within them. Shipping tends to be the primary focus of a lot of it, and that was no more true than "Voltron: Legendary Defender" and I'm reliving my experience with it because shut up.

I literally was only in this whole thing because, as the Megas XLR theme song states, "I dig Giant Robots", which is true of pretty much everyone. I wanted a fun space opera quest with giant friggin robots that was done better than the anime from the 80s. The prospect of former members of the crew of Avatar: The Last Airbender being on the project sweetened the deal. And for a time it was good... and then it all imploded because idiots had to ruin it.

This was honestly the dumbest dip in fandom engagement I've ever seen and it was all over shipping and seriously stupid fucking people. A series if idiotic actions that led to compromises at the creative level that severely undercut the end product. Everything that transpired in the run up to the series finale, from the 7th Season onward, perhaps even before that, you can trace to one thing... the Shipping War between which dude Keith, the Red Paladin, should fuck. His older mentor Shiro, who turned out to already be in a same-sex relationship, or Blue Paladin Lance... the literal Lancer of their five man band.

Oh it got ugly fast, Shiro was too old for Keith, they were reading too much into rivalry of Lance and Keith, accusations of pedophilia, nasty screaming about whether they'd LET these characters be gay, I watched it all and rolled my eyes thinking "Who gives a flying fuck?" Let's not even get into how the fandom treated the potential female rivals for Lance and Keith's affections. Allura and Lance shippers were a lesser front in the war of words. The main screaming matches were between the slash ships, but there was always a little ire reserved for anything hetero. I remember how desperate they all were to find a way out. To prove that Space Azula, Acxa, was not into Keith, maybe even his sister.

For a while it stayed like this, angry fans on reddits and twitters and tumblrs and forums of all sorts. Then the shippers did the big No-NO, what EVERY fan sooner or later seems to forget. You bring this drama to the attention of the creators... and you involve them in it. Suddenly it's no longer about preferences, it's about fans making demands of the creative team. "Make us Canon or die!" And it probably wouldn't have been so bad if the Voltron Team wasn't so active on social media, but they were! Poor sweet summer children, were they ever.

Any tacit support for one side over the other was seen as damning condemnation. How DARE the creatives speak about their own preferences? Or ideas? Or lend credence to that side over the others! Maybe they're pedos too if they seem to want Keith and Shiro to be together. How dare they dismiss all this evidence of Klance and ruin their whole super important character development that is clearly integral to the story about the intergalactic war against an even empire utilizing a giant robot.

I just did not care for ANY of this. I was paying attention to Pidge exclusively at this point as her story was far more engaging and or interest than over some stupid romance most people had made up in their head. And I felt that getting on the asses of the creators to bend to one side of the other was becoming more and more fucking disrespectful. Let them tell their story, ya jerks, stop trying to force them to tell what you want. Just write fanfics if you're that desperate.

Then... someone did something VERY stupid. Well, two someones actually. During a tour of Dreamworks Animation, someone thought it would be quite "corking" if they allowed their fellow "high school chums" a look at some classified storyboards and sketches. A few neat little spoilers online that they snuck out of the tour on a hidden camera. Clever little scamp, posted it online... and instantly drew the ire of Dreamwork's legal department. Net wide, Dreamworks demanded the removal of the spoilers. But one moron thought it would be a brilliant fucking idea to keep them up... unless demands were met.

"Make Klance Canon and I'll take the spoilers down!"

The idiot's understanding was, since other sites had the pictures, that they couldn't be liable for stealing anything. They didn't take the pictures, they just had them. So really, if the other sites were going to be pressured into removing the material, they could keep it up and use it as a form of protest. To make their stupid ship real.

Other people told them, that's fucking blackmail, that's illegal. And eventually that thought stuck.

Yeah ya did, Sunshine. People thought these two fans were one in the same, but from every indication it seems like it really was two people with the "blackmailer" likely being a really stupid kid who took advantage of a situation without realizing that their plan was gonna potentially land them in a ton of legal trouble. But the damage was done at this point. Because once fans start threatening to ruin ALL of your creative plans, that's when the higher ups get involved. That's when shit has to change and drastically.

To summarize what happened, from what most people have gathered, a lot of story points, ideas, plots, etc. got up ended by all of this. They had to alter their original ideas because the fans had fucked it up by going overboard. Now, whatever plans they had for the series were basically thrown out the window in favor of a new direction that NO ONE LIKED!

Allura and Lance get rushed into a relationship, Shiro's husband dies and he finds a new one some rando background dude. Any potential Keith romance is just thrown out because both sides are already losing, might as well not anger them more, oh and then lets kill off Allura next just as quickly as we finalized this relationship. EVERYBODY LOSES and it's all because a bunch of shippers could not fucking chill!

And I just laughed, I just had so much fun watching the rest of this trainwreck slide into the on fire tire fire on the garbage scowl before sinking into the sea and hitting an unexploded atomic warhead from a sunken sub! They all went ballistic, every single fan just fucking went off at once in a screaming angry tirade of abject total failure. But I was mostly cool, because Pidge got a great ending and I didn't care about anything else at that point. So out of ALL the fans of Voltron, I won. I won along with every Pidge fan and I was more than happy to watch the rest burn. And fuck'em anyway, they did this to themselves. Let them all shriek and screech and run around mad at the creators. They made themselves so fucking toxic, so goddamn impossible to deal with that I'd have probably done it sooner were I in charge and probably worse.

I'd have had Auxia kiss Keith full on the lips while she lifts one of his legs to lightly straddle her while both Shiro and Lance look on giving thumbs up and hugging close their own significant others. Shiro's would've been a dude at least because I'm not so cruel as to throw away LGBT representation. But still, totally would've done that shit in like season 5. Trust me, I would've drunk the angry screeching of everyone because they all deserved it at that point. ALL OF THEM. I have no sympathy.

Voltron: Legendary Defender is a lesson for fans the world over. Shipping is all fun and games when you keep it that way. Write fanfics, share your headcanon, create all the racey sexually explicit dude on dude, girl on girl, human on tentacle monster, etc. art you can paint or sketch to your heart's desire... but leave the creative team out of it. It's ultimately their story, not yours. And believe me, most of you here and Tumblr played RIGHT into all that shit because I know at least a few of you fucking did this.

As for me, to prove I'm not completely above it all, I'll pony up. I had one Voltron Ship, one I actually liked, supported and was totally cool with knowing it was never gonna happen. And it's not any of the ones you think... I wanted Lance to get with one specific person. Well, not person, fish-person.

Plaxum! That's right! I wanted Lance to end up with the Mermaid Revolutionary voiced by Mae Whitman! Because fuck it, Mermaids are fucking awesome and you can try however you fucking want to ruin the fantasy of mermaid love under the sea with your fish biology lessons, I know for a fact you're all wrong because if anything, mythical mermaids are more akin to sharks than regular fish and SHARKS actually DO have sex. The males have TWO big fat ones down under in fact, so what does that say about mermaids?

So in conclusion this has been a very long winded way of me justifying my mermaid fantasy and possibly grossing a lot of you out. I have no regrets and if any remaining Voltron Fans want to take issue with it, tough. The show's over I can make up whatever I want. Namely that Lance eventually returned to Mermaid world and had a hundred or so babies with Plaxum, because I live in fanfic land and you can't drag me out of it if you tried!

I have now thoroughly wasted ALL of your time. Good day!

[black-coffee-and-sugar]

Listen, I actually couldn't finish this episode. Like I lost brain cells, got ingestion and finally KO-ed because I could NOT grasp the plot. Not even seeing Lena again made this enjoyable for me. But here's what I got:

- I wonder how many takes Thomas took to say Nxyly's full name without biting his tongue off

- also I am so sorry Thomas that they had you sing. And yet somehow that wasn't the most cringe thing to happen in this episode

- Nia and Kara desperately assigning blame to themselves instead of just, idk, working together to fix the problem. Who cares who's fault it is??

- Alex jumping in front of kara when mxy brandishes the PZ projector is the only thing I liked

- Kelly's absence felt so odd after 2 back to back episodes of her front and centre

- Nia thinking that Kara would drag her for making a mistake makes me wonder if these characters even know each other

- kara: "I should've told you guys about Nxyly". Yes you idiot you absolutely should have! Like I get that they don't wanna bring it up but like how is ignoring what happened to her any better? Do they not do any Intel sharing?

- the fucking zookeeper is still here?!?!?

- look I wasn't expecting Lena to be talking to kara on the phone, I know better than that, but I had hoped it would at least be Nia considering that Lena and her have been bonding over their moms and it just makes sense??

- andrea's titty window sans kara or Lena to see it. What was it all for?

- I understand Lena using Andrea's resources to help her out and shit and I'm actually surprised the writer's remembered she doesn't have access to the LuthorCorp jet anymore. I honestly wouldn't have batted an eye if she did tho.

- the way we haven't had ANY scenes of dialogue between kara and lena aside from 6x01 and only ONE line from kara to Lena since then. Like are they actually going to brush everything under the goddamn rug? We heard from Alex that they've forgiven each other and it seems that way too but we haven't actually had the chance to judge that as an audience and it's (checks notes) 11 episodes already???

-Kara is back and yet Lena doesn't seem full. Kara is back and yet she hasn't been vulnerable with lena or with anyone really. Or was that all a lie?

- Nxyly is actually kinda hot in this episode. Interesting development there

- the team actually fighting a giant pussy cat and more brain cells have died. If they were hoping it would be amusing like the Legends fighting a giant Beebo, spoiler alert - it was not

- mxy and Nxyly and even the king has some keysmash names but one imp is actually named Jared? Just fucking Jared. Christ

- Lena being bullied by a bunch of Canadians is hilarious and I say this as a Canadian. Like Lena has stood her ground against Lex, Lillian, SG, an interrogation room filled with judgemental pricks, fucking Reign and yet, she looked two seconds from crying when denied her hotel room by some fucking Newfies. Get the fuck outa here.

- not a single Tim Hortons run in this entire episode. Are we sure she even went to Canada???

- at one point, I was rooting for Nxyly to win.

- so not only did they bring back that god awful wig that they actually had the audacity to make footage with it? That thing needs to be snatched and thrown into the sun like the trash monster.

- Katie looked so done in this episode and I don't even blame her. I suffered second hand embarrassment on her behalf. Those lines, her behaviour. It's like what the fuck happened to the Lena from the past 4 seasons?

- the mean bartender says "I've seen you on the news running arm in arm with a bulletproof alien" and the places my mind went is probably why I didn't pay any attention to the rest of the episode.

- so lemme see if I have this right. Lena's mom visits the cave lady in her dreams but never once thought to visit her traumatized little daughter?

- am I supposed to be upset that they killed an abuser? Because I'm not

- so much porn shots of the town car driving up and down some sketch and lonely road

- did Google maps really lead Lena to some random cave?? Bruh

- Lena's scenes felt so disconnected for a minute I thought I was watching a completely different show.

- aluminum foil on the props lord did they just say fuck it and made a Dollarama run for the cheapest 200ft roll they could buy?

- Kara being a mentor to Nia for the first time since that Nia centric episode last season. God I hate it here.

- they do remember J'onn is a shape shifter right? Why do we need an image inducer? I get the little Lena is still with the team crumb but it's stupid.

- still no word on M'gann huh

- yo since the Luthors are technically perceived on Earth-Prime as "good", what trail of bodies is this bar lady talking about? This isn't public knowledge and Lena's mom only killed 1 dude who frankly deserved it.

- sigh. We're really doing this witch Lena thing then.

- kara stop trying to reach the good in people! Just stop. When has this bullshit EVER WORKED? Some people are just too far gone. Accept it.

- stronger together has truly lost meaning on this show

- Alex and Kara being so willing to hold much less use the PZ projector is utter bullshit. Also they just have that thing lying around for any grabby hands to take?

- what the actual fuck is Kara's arc this season? Or Alex? Or poor J'onn. The man has been seriously neglected.

- kara is supposed to be the most powerful being on the planet and yet this show continues to nerf her abilities. God I missed the days of S1 when Kara looked like she could fuck shit up.

- also when is kara going to be the focus of her own show again? Are we ever going to properly address Kara's issues? We got two episodes of James processing his trauma and only 5 mins of flashbacks in 6x08 for Kara and a few fleeting moments sprinkled across the last 5 seasons. Ridiculous. Like it won't diminish her as a character to seek professional help, it won't make her any less of a hero. Think of how impactful that would be and the message that could send about the importance of mental health.

- glad to see a promo for this important episode next week (I honestly can't wait - Kelly in a head wrap is so personal to me y'all) but please I'm begging you, do not make the issue of race come at the expense of kara's intelligence and awareness. She's a journalist, she's seen xenophobia and written about it, she's been friends with James for years. Kara knows about racism. Please show that.

Needless to say I did not enjoy this episode at all. I was happy to see Lena again but all her scenes were just hard to watch. I feel like so much of their very limited time is being wasted and there's still so many things they haven't touched upon yet. When exactly are we gonna get to it? Better question, will we ever get to it? Probably not.

Like I wanted to see the super friends communicating, leaning on each other, character growth, being truly stronger together but no. They're giving us literally anything but that and it's frustrating.

[undine-taz]

5 times Diavolo failed to be a sugar daddy and one time he succeeded

I'm just imagining poor Diavolo trying SO HARD to spoil an MC who is just. Not greedy in the slightest and loves weird little shinies while being totally indifferent to the super crazy expensive gifts he usually gives to people he's trying to woo. Just in case, this is the PUREST OF FLUFF and completely sfw. I can’t even think of any tw to tag??? Let me know if you notice something. Oh, and MC is imagined to be gender neutral. There’s a mention of perfume, but not in the feminine sense- that’s just the proper word for a certain level of scent concentration.

1. Expensive Perfume

Diavolo's first attempt is the most expensive perfume/cologne money can buy

He's not quite sure what MC's favorite scent is, so he buys a wide variety

All the bottles are sleek and minimalistic and the scents inside are VERY obviously expensive, the kind of thing Mammon would probably lose his mind over

MC's reaction is perfectly grateful, they say sincerely how much they appreciate him thinking of them. He doesn't feel a single lie off of them and he walks away mostly satisfied thinking maybe they’re just the type to not show a ton of excitement over gifts

That is, until he's walking down the hallways in RAD and happens to overhear a conversation between Asmo and MC

Asmo's talking about how he's been going through perfume at a record pace lately, and he feel so bad about wasting these beautiful bottles... would MC like them? He has one shaped like a rose, one like a star, one modeled after the cosmos... 

Asmo doesn't even get to finish because MC is already flapping their hands in joy (I'm autistic and MC is going to happy stim if it kills me) and wiggling and practically jumping into Asmo's arms in excitement

Asmo's laughing and promising to save all of his prettiest empty perfume bottles for MC from now on and MC is practically wiggling in joy and nuzzling their face into Asmo's chest in happiness

They’re talking about spending the night in Asmo’s room trying to make perfume blends for each other to fill up the bottles and tossing scent ideas back and forth

And Diavolo is sitting there feeling a bit like he's been bonked over the head. Those happy stims are ADORABLE and he wants to be the one who causes them. He's not sure why his perfume failed and Asmo's literal empty bottles worked but he's DETERMINED to try again

2. Fancy gemstones

Diavolo's next attempt is fancy gemstones. He finds large, beautifully cut and processed gemstones, the type that are so perfectly processed they look almost identical except for color

Again, when he gives MC his gifts he can tell that they're sincerely grateful! They tell him they love that he was thinking of them, they worry that he spent too much money on them ( they try to refuse at first because it's too much, but Diavolo breezes past their protests with a smile and an iron will) and Diavolo doesn't sense even the tiniest hint of untruth from their professions of gratitude

But.... there are no happy wiggles, no stunned gasps, no joyously flapping hands, no nothing. Just calm gratitude.

Diavolo goes back to the drawing board, and he's just going to visit the HOL library for inspiration in a rare book (and as an excuse to see MC) when he hears Satan and MC laughing together in the library.

When he walks in, he sees Satan and MC crouched together with some strange tools in their hands, gently chipping away at a large rock. There's a tiny pile of uncut, unprocessed gemstones at MC's elbow.

As soon as MC sees him, he's aflood in a wash of excited chatter as MC tells him about the gemstone mining kit Satan bought after reading a book on gemstones. In fact Diavolo can see the book open at Satan's elbow along with a notebook where the two have been identifying every gemstone they dig up.

Before he knows it, MC seizes his hand and he's drawn into the game, watching their eyes shine and seeing them bounce in their seat with excitement every time they uncover a new gemstone.

Dammit. Another failure. But, Diavolo finds as he watches MC's obvious joy, he can't be too frustrated when they're this happy. 

3. Shopping spree at Majolish

Diavolo is undeterred! He takes a day to bring them to Majolish, having them try on outfit after outfit. Sure, they're not picking out very many things, but he loves spending time with them and they say they're enjoying themself.

After several hours, Barbatos gently reminds him that he has a meeting soon and that MC seems absolutely exhausted.

Diavolo pouts, especially when he sees that MC hasn't picked out very many things, but he sighs and concedes.

When he drops them off at the HOL, MC gives him a hug and thanks him for helping them pick out some more formal outfits for any upcoming RAD events. Diavolo accepts the hug gladly, but there's no squeaking or jumping and DEFINITELY no flapping. MC seems rather exhausted, and Belphegor has appeared from nowhere and draped himself over MC and is mumbling about needing a nap buddy and MC isn't even trying to argue 

The next day, Barbatos shows him Levi's post on Devilgram. It's a video, of Levi giving MC a plain, unassuming box.

When MC opens the box, their mouth drops open, their eyes go wide, and they fling themselves at Levi, happily nuzzling into his chest and mumbling incoherent thanks while Levi turns bright red and starts stuttering and clearly tries not to combust

The video cuts out for a second and then starts again with MC wearing a simple shirt embroidered with a strange logo, which Levi explains from behind the camera is inspired by MC's favorite series and was handmade by Levi for practice. Levi was apparently asked to design formalwear inspired by anime, and he chose MC's favorite to practice a design. According to the caption, the two spent an entire day together watching the series and sketching ideas!

MC is beaming and happy stimming while Diavolo thumps his head into his desk dramatically and Barbatos elegantly stifles a chuckle behind him. 

4. Bouquets of flowers

Well now Diavolo is determined. HE WILL MAKE MC HAPPY STIM IF IT KILLS HIM

HE HAS HIS PRIDE AS THE FUTURE DEMON KING DAMMIT

He begins watching the corniest of romcoms for ideas.

Midway into one of them, he sees the character buy their love interest bouquets upon bouquets of roses

BRILLIANT! He's up and placing orders immediately. Barbatos stays behind for a few minutes to actually watch how this particular ploy works out on screen, before laughing and going to watch the chaos

As dedicated as he is to the young lord, watching Diavolo scramble around trying to impress his first puppy love only to fail because the target of his affections is simply too humble.... well, it's honestly adorable. He'll step in if it goes on for too long, but for now it might actually be good for the young master to experience something he can't have by throwing money or influence at it.

Diavolo has some of the Devildom's finest florists on the horn and he's sending a veritable flood of their finest cut flowers... AND he's sending them from an anonymous source, just like in the movie! The woman in the movie only sent over THREE bouquets to the object of her love, so Diavolo sends 300. Only the best for his MC :)

He's waiting impatiently for the results of his little scheme when he gets an apologetic text from Lucifer saying that he'll be late to the meeting and MC won't be coming at all. Some anonymous admirer sent MC an excessive amount of flowers and the sheer amount of pollen triggered allergies in ALL of the demon bros and MC.

Lucifer needed time to clear out the house and distribute allergy meds to everyone and buy out the nearest store on tissue paper

Barbatos is no longer even bothering to stifle his chuckles while Diavolo buries his face in his arms to hide his shame

To rub salt in the wound, Lucifer tells him a few days later that he set up a miniature greenhouse for MC to grow humanworld herbs in and they've barely left it in the last two days

Lucifer’s been spending most of his free time in the greenhouse with them, helping them tinker with humidity spells and listening to their excited monologues on human gardening techniques

Lucifer is definitely smirking as he tells Diavolo this and Diavolo doesn't bother to ask how Lucifer knew what was going on, because his old friend knows him too well and Diavolo realizes he's not exactly subtle.

What he doesn't realize is that Barbatos is also a dirty dirty snitch and he and Lucifer have been watching over his attempts with a mix of hilarity and pity

5. Desserts

Some might give up, but not Diavolo! His newest ideas is fancy desserts. He was told by a sweet old succubus that the best way to his lover's heart was through the stomach (actually she initially had some far raunchier suggestions that had made Diavolo blush and had given him some ideas for far, FAR in his future relationship with MC, but that's neither here nor there) and so here Diavolo is, placing a giant order at Madame Scream's to be delivered to the HOL.

This time he has learned from his mistakes and he signs it as being from him and addresses it to "MC and the residents of HOL" because even he recognizes there are far too many sweets for a human to eat before they go bad

Barbatos by this point is starting to feel pity and is almost tempted to suggest he wait until it's not Beel's day for Fangol practice to send a giant array of tempting sweets.

Almost. If it weren't for the maid cafe fiasco of last week Barbatos probably would have, but that lace had chafed in areas that should never be chafed.

Diavolo sent his gift only to receive a poorly drawn thank-you card drawn by Beel and signed by everyone at the HOL, including MC, even though "I didn't even get a chance to eat any, BEEL"

This poor man feels his soul leave his body, especially when he returns home from RAD to find Barbatos and MC baking together and singing along to Disney songs (well, MC was singing, Barbatos was simply watching them with a smile and occasionally twisting them into a simple dance to make them laugh and squiggle with joy)

Et tu, Barbatos?

After yesterday's glitter incident, Barbatos has no shame and simply smirks back. He'll help the young lord when he can shower without finding glitter in every crevice.

+1: Tea together

Diavolo is planning his next gift when he gets a message from MC, of all people

His heart flutters, he has butterflies in his stomach, and he hasn't even read it yet!

It's a simple text- "What are you up to?" 

Obviously Diavolo can't admit he's shirking paperwork to try and figure out a gift that would make them happy! So he improvises and claims he's working. He gets back a sad face emoji and a simple "Miss you! I feel like we haven't hung out in forever, but I know how busy you are. Good luck, I'm rooting for you!"

SHOT THROUGH THE HEART AND MC IS TO BLAME

This man is dramatically draped over his desk wailing about how cute MC is.

Luckily for him Barbatos has forgiven him for both the maid cafe incident and the glitter incident and Diavolo has been too distracted trying to plan gifts to cause any new chaos

Barbatos hands him a lovely picnic basket, complete with tea and fancy sandwiches, and tells him to go see MC and take a break since he's clearly not getting any work done as is.

Cue guilty glance to the overwhelming stack of paperwork that's been building up. He swears he's never seen Barbatos place more and yet they keep growing, are they breeding somehow...? Did Lucifer curse him after the taffy incident?

Either way, Diavolo takes the basket and heads off to HOL.

He's either very lucky or (more likely) Barbatos bribed Lucifer into helping him out, as MC is the one to answer the door.

They look kind of down until they see him and he explains he's there to spend time with them, and then they absolutely LIGHT UP.

Before he knows it, they've thrown himself into his arms and they're bouncing in excitement and snuggling him and happy flapping and boyo is confused but OVER THE MOON.

He finally did it!?!?! What was it!?!?! The picnic basket? Do they have a thing for picnics baskets!?!?! 

And then he actually tunes in a d listens to their flood of chatter and how happy they are to see him and how much they've missed him and how excited and grateful they are they he took time out of his busy schedule to spend time with him and out in the thought to prepare a way for them to spend time in each other's company...

O H

He is M E L T I N G

He can't believe it was this easy.... no need for fancy gifts or anything like that, just... paying attention to their likes and spending time with them???? 

Holy shit he is gonna protect this human's smile witH HIS LIFE 

And now that he understands them better he can buy EXPENSIVE SHIT THEY'LL ACTUALLY LIKE AND HE'LL GET ALL THE HAPPY SNUGGLES AND JOYOUS STIMMING IN THE WORLD!!!! 

Yes, he decides, wrapping his arms around them while trying to keep the basket level

Now that he's gotten a taste of their sincere joy, he's hooked and he's going to make them as excited and happy as this as often as he possibly can. 

[sylvie-writes]

A Father’s Love

pairing: steve rogers x reader ft. sarah rogers

requests:Hey, can I ask for a Steve Sarah fic where baby Sarah is injured or unwell and Steve is more distressed than the reader and cries holding Sarah and she assures him that she is fine and brave girl -anon  2. hi i love your writing!! i have a request for a headcanon or oneshot: i watched ww84 (which was not that good of a movie oof) but there was a romantic fireworks scene and it made me think of celebrating 4th of july with steve rogers on his birthday and just like, cuddling up next to him on a picnic blanket while watching him watch the fireworks and oh it just makes me so SOFT- anon

word count: 1,750

author’s note: pardon any mistakes! sorry for combining the requests, hope y'all still like it!

gif below was found on google

Never before in your life had you ever experienced such fear. Although the warm sun streamed down in rays, creating a happy scene, you were somewhere else. A place where nothing else mattered except for your daughter. Nerves, anticipation, and dread flooded your veins. Any parent would feel this way, especially under these circumstances. A majority of the time, you wouldn’t consider yourself a “helicopter parent,” even though Bucky and Sam would say otherwise. Now, was an exception because your four year old daughter was learning to roller skate in the cul-de-sac where her grandparents currently reside. Her little hand was interlaced with her father’s and the 6’2 man crouched down to be a bit shorter. He was anything but an expert in this field and that made you even more nervous as he’d occasionally slip. Before you could say anything to him, he’d just put a hand out, signaling that everything was okay, and you’d be left to bite down on your lip, silently channeling your fear. 

From the looks of it, one would think you weren’t trusting of your husband and while that wasn’t the whole truth, you just knew he wasn’t the most...graceful and elegant human on planet earth. Rather he was the type of guy to fall and literally laugh it off. That was fine for him, but if your daughter fell on this rocky pavement, well, you’d both have another coming. Or at least that’s what you had assumed. 

Sarah’s giggles echoed and you could hear your parents’ shouts of encouragement from the house. You were standing on the end of the driveway, eyes glued to the giant man and the tiny girl, happily skating around. After a few minutes, Sarah finally found her footing, so to say, and was actually skating without Steve’s support.

Finally, you dropped your shoulders and let out a sigh of relief at the two enjoying themselves. It was all going fine until Sarah was turning, like she had done so many times before, but this time happened to catch a rock under a wheel on her right skate.

 In your mind, it all happened in slow motion, making your feet stay grounded, yet your conscience was “running” to her. Steve’s face looked absolutely mortified and he dropped to his knees, ignoring the pain from the harsh contact, he immediately scooped up the girl. 

For a moment, her lip quivered and Steve continued to soothingly stroke her hair, gazing into her watering eyes. Just when you thought the dam would break, Sarah swallowed her sobs, shook it all off, and stood from her father’s lap. She even held out a hand to help him up and he looked very shocked. Even more shocked than when you told him you were going into labor, which was quite the experience, one you preferred to not re-live. 

Eventually, you joined the two and up close you could see that Steve had a single tear running down his face. You knew his worst fear was failing his daughter, he had told you so many years ago. Sarah noticed Steve’s sorrow and she got down once more to sit back on her heels. With gentle movement, Sarah wrapped her arms around the man’s broad shoulders and pulled him into the most lovable hug you’ve seen in ages. 

“It’s okay, Daddy. Please don’t cry! See I’m just as brave as you!” 

Your daughter then laid her head on his shoulder, the two of them in their own little world as usual. You hated to break them up, but they were currently sitting in the middle of the road and you’d rather not get hit by a car. Softly, you tapped Steve’s shoulder and he slowly rose up, Sarah in his arms and tired from the scare as well. The three of you made your way back up the driveway and into the house where your mother met you with the same nervous look you had once wore. Once a nurse, always a nurse, for she had a first aid kit in hand. You quickly reassured her and followed Steve back to your rooms. 

Summer in New York City wasn’t that much enjoyable, so ever since Sarah had been born, you and Steve come in July to stay at your parents house. Today was Fourth of July and you helped your parents with their annual barbeque. That went well and then the whole roller skating incident happened and now here you were. It was 3 in the afternoon and since it was Steve’s birthday, you had some surprise plans for him later. He was unaware and had assumed you had forgotten his birthday, which you had not. 

An hour later, you found Sarah in the pool with your parents while Steve sat on one of the lounge chairs, only khaki swim trunks on. You could tell he’d been out of the pool for a while as his hair was starting to look a bit fluffy. Steve’s eyebrows were furrowed in concentration and in his lap you could see a sketch that he was tediously working on. Your daughter was too busy playing pool volleyball with her grandparents, that the three were yet to notice your presence. Deciding to take matters into your own hands, you strutted over to Steve and sat on the edge of his seat where you gently tapped his leg to gain his attention. 

“Whatcha working on, Grant?”

Steve peered up at you, his smile possibly even brighter than the sun that reflected on you both. He silently passed off the sketchbook to you. The sketch depicted the scene happening before your eyes, your parents bonding with Sarah, all of them wearing large grins and laughter. It was the kind of picture that could lift someone's mood in an instant, all because Steve was the best at portraying emotions in his artwork. 

“So, birthday boy, I have some plans for you… that is if you are still up to it.” You motioned to his current laid back state and Steve looked down at himself to see what you meant. He was curious as to what you had planned, having told you not to plan anything for his birthday. 

“Oh honey, I told you not to do anything.” Steve looked at you disapprovingly, his sunglasses now pulled down so you could feel the full effect of his “glaring.” 

“It’s not everyday that a wife gets to celebrate her husband’s...” Pausing, you did some quick mental math (that may have not been accurate) and came to an answer, “102nd birthday!” 

At that, Steve lurched forward and pulled you onto his lap, placing a kiss on your temple as his arms tightly wrapped around your waist. 

“You spoil me too much, doll.” A simple hum was your only reply and you leaned back into his embrace. 

----

About an hour later, both you and Steve got quick showers and tidied up a bit. The only thing Steve had heard about where you were taking him, was that it wasn’t too fancy as you told him to dress casual. As Steve got ready, you asked Sarah if she wanted to come along, but instead she decided to stay back and make some cookies with your mom. 

The two of you then met at the front door where you kissed Sarah goodbye and headed off to the car. Just as Steve was about to get in the driver’s seat, you stole the keys from his grasp and gave him a small “tsk tsk” causing the man to laugh. Earlier, while Steve had gotten dressed, you had been able to sneak out and put a prepared picnic basket in the trunk of the car along with a large blanket. For Steve’s birthday, you were taking him to see fireworks at a nearby park. You knew how much of a sucker he was for fireworks and a good, old fashioned, park picnic. 

As you pulled into the entrance of the park and globs of people sat out on the field, Steve’s eyes started to sparkle with excitement and you couldn't help but grin at him. 

“Babe, is this what I think it is?”

You put the car in park and turned in your seat to fully face Steve, “If you’re thinking fireworks and a picnic, then you’re right. I’m sorry it’s not a lot, but I know how much you-” 

Before you could finish your unnecessary apology, Steve sweetly grabbed your face and pulled you in for an enchanting kiss. 

“It’s perfect, (y/n).” 

Steve’s face softened into a loving look and his azure eyes looked the slightest bit shiny in the moonlight. 

You parted away from the man and exited the car, heading to the trunk where Steve met you. He helped carry the picnic basket despite your pleas for him to not do so. 

The park wasn't too crowded, but there were just enough people for you and Steve to have to search around for a good ten minutes. Eventually you spotted this place under a tree that wasn’t too surrounded and had a perfect view of where the fireworks would be. 

Swiftly, you laid out the plaid picnic blanket and Steve then set down the picnic basket that was filled with the components of your dinner. You began to set out the prepared food, even bringing out a candle, albeit fake, that provided some romantic and not overwhelming lighting.

Since you both had arrived twenty minutes before the show started, it allowed for you and Steve to enjoy the dinner peacefully. You had even packed some desserts but those would be for during the show as a little something to snack on.

Just as the show started, you had finished packing away the last of the Tupperware containers and now settled in between Steve's legs, his chest providing use as a pillow. The man delicately rested his chin on your shoulder and in return, you lovingly rubbed his forearms that laid in your lap.

“Thank you for the best birthday, my love. You’ve given me so much over these past few years and I swear I don’t know what I’d be without you.” 

It was a whisper in your ear, but you still heard it over the loud crackling of the fireworks. 

With a warm smile and quiet giggle, you brought his hand to your lips and placed a kiss on the back of his hand.

“Only you could pull off such a cheesy line, Rogers.” 

[isolaradiale]

The small 'ahem' and the dimming lights brought the attention of the closing party back on the podium. On it was Janus, looking a great deal better than he was a few minutes ago (when he was practicing his closing speech on a statue when he thought nobody was looking.) On the stage, he took a deep breath and brightened as everyone turned in their formal evening attire.

"Thank you all for coming to the Closing Party. It's been a pretty busy week, and all of you have made such beautiful and wonderous pieces of art. I'm overjoyed that they're on display tonight, and I thought there wasn't any way to view all of them in the span of a couple hours. So this last night of the museum will be going on until the sun rises again. You don't have to stay the entire time, but--"

"Well, sure they do!"

The interjection startled the AI at the podium, and he jumped a few feet from his spot. The chipper voice started again as one of the other statues on the stage moved, revealing the form of a marble-sculpted woman covered in holographic stickers.

"After all, each and every one of you put in so much effort into bringing your imaginations and inspirations to life, haven't you? So we thought we might return the favor, that's all. And you're all invited!"

Punctuating her statement was the sound of the large wooden doors, now slamming shut inward with a reverberating BOOM that bounced off all the halls of the lobby, even from the auditorium.

"I hope you all put everything into your masterpieces! Because your masterpieces will put everything into annihilating all of you~"

With another delighted laugh, the lights in the auditorium shut off, leaving everyone with only the light of their phones and watches. And as the murmurs began and hands reached for other hands in the dark, there was another THUNK near the wall as a framed portrait fell off its anchor. From its canvas, it began to look at the crowd, eyes now glowing in the light of everyone's flashlights. One hand crawled out of the frame, then another. Nails sank into the floor with terrifying ease as the subject of the portrait pulled themselves from its frame, marble cracking at its fingertips.

The next sound was a scream, and the sound of a woman falling onto the floor as the portrait pulled at her ankles. And then another. And another still as the frames began to move off the walls en masse, attacking anyone unlucky enough to be in their sights. There was a panic in the auditorium as people tried to flee and fight, falling over each other to escape the room

But it seemed that no matter where anyone chose to run to, or where they thought to hide, there was always something in the shadows.

Waiting.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Welcome to Part Two of the event!

As stated, the artwork in the Tempus Museum has come to life--literally, in this case. You've been challenged to survive until the next sunrise. To do so, you must evade, capture or destroy the horrific objects that have come to life.

Most of the artwork in the museum is hostile, and will attempt to un-alive your characters as best they can.

These generic museum monsters can be found everywhere wandering around, but are more common in areas they originated from:

Subjects and people in paintings will crawl out of their canvases to chase and eliminate anything they see moving. Their sharp nails can pierce through marble, so flesh and bone is probably nothing to them. Humanoids are not exclusive to this class of monster--painted animals, creatures and other things will also hop out of paintings to come after your muse. You can capture a painting monster by smacking it with a canvas, or destroy it with paint thinner (or water, if it's a watercolor)

Framed sketches will behave similarly to the painting monsters, and will leave lots of thin scratches as opposed to big ones. Capture them with paper, or destroy them by rubbing them with an eraser.

Statues of any material will chase your characters and attempt to injure them with their fists (or if they were holding a weapon, they'll use that weapon). Catch them by making them run back to their plaques, stands and pedestals, or destroy using a hammer and chisel.

The Parlor Dolls have now, unfortunately, all grown sharp teeth. They've all taken on ghastly appearances, and if they swarm around you, it might as well be the end of you. You can capture a doll by chasing it back into a display case, or destroy it by carefully ripping their seams.

Dancing Dresses in the painted ballroom will beckon people to dance with them, and will attempt to catch people in the folds of their fabric to immobilize them. They're not lethal on their own, but they'll hold your muse in place for something more dangerous to come along. Capture them by hitting them with a dress form, or destroy them by ripping their seams OR cutting them with scissors. - NOTE: Characters who bowed and danced with any of the ghostly gowns at the Gala XY will not harm the people who danced with them, and will instead, keep dancing.

Decorated Weapons made in the forge will take a life of their own and will seemingly float around, looking for battle. Sometimes they'll team up with Statues, making them especially deadly companions. Capture them by hitting them with a weapon rack, or destroy them with a hammer or any significant heat source.

Baked Goods and Pastries made in the culinary courtyard will not get up on their own, but a good many of them have become poisoned. The severity and potency of the poisons varies, with side effects ranging from an upset stomach to a sudden case of death. They don't move, so you don't have to capture them, but... maybe don't eat them, no matter how good they may smell and look.

Paintings on the street have come to life, making hazards of their own outside of the museum. Street-painted landscapes have become very tangibly real, as well as anything sprayed on the walls. If there was ever a time to regret the giant mural you painted on the side of a building as it crawls from its spot to squash you like a bug, now's the time. You can destroy these with water.

Landscapes will attempt to draw your muse into their world, sealing them in their frames. Your muse will be helpless to do much other than look through the painting like a window. The only means of escape is to have someone else drag you out of the landscape!

In addition to these generic museum hazards, there are a few specific hazards depending on how your muse behaved in Part 1 of the event:

If your muse created something with love, adoration, feelings of happiness, or any other intensely positive emotions, it may help them instead of hinder them. This can be anything from alerting them of danger to protecting them.

Your muse's own creations may attack them, too, aside from the generic monsters in the museum.

If your muse stole any artwork from the museum, it will hunt them down with special vitriol and hostility, and will stop at nothing to destroy your muse.

Similarly, if your muse attempted to destroy any of the artwork in the museum, it's going to target them specifically and attempt to return the favor.

Any art your muse made as a gift to others will either hurt OR help them, depending on individual mun preference.

Have fun! :)

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Frequently Asked Questions

"How long will Part 2 of the event last?"

The event will run until 00:00, June 18th

"Are the optimized tools still here?"

Shockingly, yes! And so are the regular tools, too. How you use them to survive is up to you, but building a door might be the fastest way. However, be warned that drawing a door on a wall has just as big of a chance of sending your muse to a different random room than it does outside the museum.

"Can we still do Part 1 threads?"

Yes! If you would like to keep your Canvas experience monster-free, you can continue making Part 1 starters until the end of the event.

"What about the art my muse took home?"

It has also come to life! So while the museum is certainly dangerous, there are random statues, paintings, dolls and other monsters roaming around OUTSIDE the museum, too.

"Can we destroy the paintings NOW?"

Unfortunately, they're just as invulnerable as they were before. Bummer, huh? Unless they're hit with their specific weakness, the monsters are invulnerable to attacks that damage them. (However, they can still be hindered by traps, and while strong attacks won't destroy them, they'll knock them out of the way!)

"Can we interact with Capella or Janus?"

Poor Janus is trying to put all the artwork back where it belongs by capturing them. He's in no danger for this, as the art in the museum will not attack their curator. Interacting with Capella the Statue might bring the wrath of her giant cat out to you, so. You've been warned!

"What if my muse saw something from their own world in a painting or a statue?"

That's incredibly unfortunate--those might be hostile too, and are subject to the rules that follow the other genuine painting monsters (meaning that the portrait of that character will not have any of their original powers or abilities.)

Whether the subject of the art your muse is familiar with will help or hinder them is up to mun discretion.

"Can't we just bust down the museum and escape?"

And destroy the biggest piece of art in the area?! (No, they won't budge. You'll have to draw your way out if you want to escape, either through a door or some kind of tunnel or something.)

"When will the sun rise?"

Not for 24 hours in-character (though the event will last until Jun 11th). Extended night time, woo!

"What happens if our muses get got by the museum?"

Muses that were defeated and failed to survive the challenge will have their portrait put up on the Wall of Shame, reflecting how they lost the challenge. They won't respawn until the sun rises, either!

"What if I have a question that's not listed here?"

Feel free to direct any questions you may have to the Masterlist!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"I thought you said everything would be fine!" Came the panicked footsteps of Janus, running to grab the frame the portrait monster crawled out of, picking it up with surprising ease.

"In my defense, I assumed everything would be." The statue of Caelum replied, furrowing his eyebrows and scrolling through a wall of code. Other statues of a Goddess-like Pleiades and an Antiquated Attired Alathfar, joining as guests, seemed to realize the issue before their older companion did.

"...Yes, nothing in here changed. But I don't see anything about..."

From the other side of the stage, Capella's statue pranced forth, stickers still glittering in the dark, somehow.

"That's just the first page." "The first page?" Caelum and Janus echoed back in confusion. "First page!~"

The grin still stayed on her cheeks from sticker to sticker, while Janus' increasingly scrunched in accusation.

"...I'll be damned. There were two pages after all." "DAD!" "I didn't see it, honest!" "I can't BELIEVE you!" "Now now, it was an honest mistake, really--!"

And as the old man's statue got quite the scolding from his son, Pleides and Alathfar stepped aside, meeting with Capella.

"Was there really a page two?" Pleiades asked, adjusting her comically large, rounded glasses. To that, Capella merely rocked on her heels, smile never fading.

"It's entirely possible Caelum got so wrapped up in helping Janus plan the museum that he overlooked it. Which is endearing, in a way. But..."

As Alathfar trailed off, the three of them looked back at the other statue trying to placate his agitated son, and grimaced in unison (except for Capella, who still seemed to be beaming with delight.)

None of them seemed keen on getting in the middle of the quarrel, and were only relieved when Janus stormed off with his empty frame.

[emu-lumberjack]

A Quick Meeting Pt. 1

Damian is in Paris as an exchange student when an Akuma strikes he runs in to help as a civilian. that is until something catches his eye.

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

ok here's my literal first time writing a oneshot or any sort of fic so I did my best, the grammar probably isn’t great but I think its pretty good. Anyway this idea just came to me so enjoy! Also thanks @ozmav for the inspiration from you Maribat au!

Read part 2 here

Part 3 here

Part 4 here

Edit: Read both parts on Ao3,

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but I actually miss Drake.” Damian Wayne's tired voice moaned in the phone, “it’s so boring here, no one to bicker with and no crime to fight.” The youngest Wayne had been in Paris for two days for his exchange program, Bruce thought it was a good idea for the boy to actually go and experience a normal teenage life.

There was a loud snicker on the other end of the line, “Oh I’m sure it couldn’t be that bad Damian, I mean they have some of the best pastries ever.” Damian could practically hear the boys stomach growl, “speaking of which while you’re there you have to check out the Dupain-Cheng bakery, it’s not the biggest one in town but dad brought back some of their macaroons one time and they were the best I’d ever had.”

“I’ll take the suggestion Jon, might as well do something while I’m here.” Damian was just about to make another quip about how it was too sunny when panicked screams filled the air, “I’ve gotta go talk later.” He hung up the phone to the protests of Jon and started running towards the center of chaos.

He got to the Eiffel Tower cursing Bruce for not letting him bring the robin suit, nevertheless he started helping people get out of the way. Something this big could not be good for civilians. As he was helping one young woman up he noticed a girl in red and black spandex running on the rooftops coming his way. He was taken aback. Paris doesn’t have heroes he thought with a start. She mesmerized him, with her flips and twirls is she a Grayson? Now that was a terrifying thought. He was so captivated by her he didn’t even notice the huge chunk of concrete that was flying his way until it was falling right above him, he braced for impact until someone tackled him out of the way. The roll on the ground made small rips in his clothing but overall he wasn’t harmed, they came to a stop with Damian laying below someone with his hands pinned above his head. He looked up to see the girl in red. Her bluebell eyes were shining from behind the mask she wore, her blue-black hair was in pigtails with ribbon coming from them, Damian blushed.

“I was handling it, I didn’t need your help.” He said cooly, he may not have been in costume but he didn’t need her help.

“Yeah because a giant concrete slab almost crushing you is, how did you put it, having things under control.” Her voice was laced with sarcasm, it was enough to make Damian laugh.

“Ok, ok you’ve got me there, but I can handle myself. There are other civilians who need your help more than I do.” He looked back at her and holy shit she’s beautiful. He had noticed her beauty before but on a second pass he saw how her eyes were dancing with amusement while still holding concern over his well being.

“Civilians? Interesting choice of words.”

Damian cursed himself, civilians was a vigilante word, not one most normal people would’ve used in this situation.

The girl was about to ask him another question when the round thing at her waist gave off a ring. The male voice came through saying “Ladybug where are you, this isn’t really the purrfect time to ditch me.” Both she and Damian let out a sigh at the bad pun, she grabbed the device and said “I’m on my way Chat, got sidetracked by a civilian in danger, but apparently he can handle himself.” Her partner might not have picked up on the mockery but Damian did. Normally he’d be offended but something about her made him know she meant it all in jest.

“Ok I’ve gotta get going and so should you. There’s an akuma shelter two blocks that way,” she pointed “I’d suggest getting there as fast as you can. Bugout!” With that she was gone, and Damian was looking at empty space with  starstruck eyes.

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

  Marinette sat at the back of the room pointedly ignoring the crowd below. Lila was telling some tale or another about how she “knew the Waynes personally after all she gets invited to the gala every year.” Alya the ever faithful servant looked up at Marinette and said “see how good Lila is! She even gets invited to the Wayne gala, why do you insist on bullying her.” Marinette just ignored her continuing to sketch in her book. Well sketch and think.

The boy with dark hair was still on her mind, and Marinette was really wishing she had gotten his name. Not that Marinette Dupain-Cheng could just start talking to him out of the blue, that’d give away her identity as Ladybug. Maybe though Marinette could’ve just bumped into him “accidently” of course. She really hoped he had found that akuma shelter even though he said he could handle himself, the fact he had been standing there still as a statue as a cement slab came flying towards him wasn’t really a vote of confidence. She kept seeing his piercing green eyes when they looked into hers, first with shock then with something else. She blushed a little bit at that particular thought.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts she didn’t notice her former friend was next to her until she put her hand down on the sketchbook, right above the silhouette Marinette had been drawing of the black haired boy.   “Have you even been listening to a word I’ve said Marinette? Seriously how could you be so rude?” Alya said sharply.

       “In fact Alya I was not, if it was important you should know to tap me while I’m sketching otherwise I won't hear you, since I get so into it.” Marinette responded calmly, turning to look at her former friend.

         “Well if that’s the case then your sketchbook is just gonna have to go until you  learn some manners Meanette.” Alya grabbed her note book and started moving back towards Lila.

“Hey give it back.” Marinette said, leaping up from her seat. She was a pacifist but drew the line at having her stuff stolen. She went down to where Alya was to try and get back her sketchbook when Alya just held it higher. Marinette jumped to try and get it and Alya just moved her hand, eventually throwing it to Kim, then Rose, until the entire class was in on the giant game of keep away. Each student would tear a page a little bit every time they got the book until the pages were barely even stuck to the binding anymore. Marinette bounced between them trying to grab her book back but each student kept it clearly out of her reach, Chloe and Adrien were both out sick so there was no one else to help Marinette get her book back. The game ended when Lila threw the book at the door. Hard. so when it made contact with the opening door. All the pages flew out and scattered around the door frame.

Marinette was holding back tears as she went near the door to start gathering up the papers mentally planning to call her mom in order to go home early. She reached out blindly to pages closer to a door when a calloused hand met her own.

“Here. Let me help.” He said, his voice kind and warm.

“Thank…. Thank you.” she sniffled out, the tears were becoming harder and harder to hide.

Soon they had picked up all the papers, the class long forgotten. Marinette and the boy stood up, she was about to thank him again when familiar green eyes looked into hers and all the words she was about to say got stuck in her throat. She tried stuttering out a few sentences, her face turning red. Thankfully he looked as stunned as she was. Does he know I’m her? Marinette thought.

“I’m Damian.” He finally said although his voice was a little less confident than it was a few minutes ago.

“Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” She responded.

[thefriendliestpunk]

Nugs in Skyhold

Dragon Age Inquisition Characters React

A traveling merchant brings a bunch of nug litters into Skyhold and lets them run around in pens in the courtyard. It doesn’t take long before a crowd of people gather round to play with them.

Cassandra: rolls her eyes at all the hubbub at first, but it doesn’t take much coaxing to get her to join in the fun. She ends up bonding with a baby nug that won’t leave her alone. Blackwall: amused by the whole thing. He pets the nugs for a few minutes before suggesting (half-joking) that they set up nug racing around the courtyard. He immediately regrets it when all the Chargers jump on the idea. The Iron Bull: laughs for a solid five minutes about their tiny, tiny hands. He takes the nug racing idea way too seriously and actually goes through with it if the advisors can’t veto him in time. Varric: quickly builds a following as he spins a tale about how much the nugs remind him of the giant rats in Kirkwall. ‘So vicious one would make Meredith herself shudder,’ he says. He calls Cullen over for confirmation, who just sighs tiredly. Cole: it takes all of two seconds for him to be surrounded by baby nugs. It takes the others a while to find him under the kittenish mound of nugs piled on him. Once they manage to pull him out, he starts making flower crowns for the nugs. He convinces Leliana to join in eventually. Sera: laughs along with Bull until her stomach hurts, but it’s nervous laughter. She really hates their tiny, tiny hands. Solas: nugs didn’t exist in during the ancient elven empire. He finds them very strange. He stays out of the way but does an idle sketch/painting of Cole and a bunch of nugs with flower crowns. Dorian: he is terrified of them. He literally shudders when he sees their creepy little hands. He and Sera share a moment of comradery in their revulsion while the Iron Bull chases them both around with a nug in his arms. Dorian will deny any rumors about him shrieking like a banshee while being chased around the courtyard. Vivienne: thinks they are disgusting and warns the others not to bring any near her. Sera leaves a bunch of little nug surprises somewhere unpleasant for her to find. Cullen: he is a little annoyed that all the troops were distracted from morning drills, but he secretly thinks the nugs are cute. He lets the recruits linger by the pens longer than anyone expected. Leliana: squeals in delight the moment she sees them, startling everyone in the vicinity. She spends the longest by the pens and teaches Cole how to make the flower crowns. She makes Josephine take a short break to join in. Josephine: spends most of the time fretting over the logistics: how to feed them all, how to discreetly dispose of...excrement...how to stop people from sneaking off with one of the blasted things in their pockets, until Leliana drags her over and makes her hold one she named Snuggles. She sends that one off to be adopted by her sister.

[lazaefair]

Has anyone done the Disney Princess AU yet

Part 1 - written by me, @poemsingreenink, and @iwritesometimes

poemsingreenink: Like, if anyone has big, soft innocent eyes it's Marwan who I swear to god looks near happy tears in most intense scenes. I at one point during Aladdin in theaters thought "You know Jafar's maybe just not had a great life. He's really having a day here." BECAUSE OF HIS BIG SOFT EYES.

lazaefair: LUCA MARINELLI HIMSELF SAID IT

sarah: HOWWWWW DID HE EVEN GET CAST AS JAFAR LIKE THOSE ARE DISNEY PRINCESS EYES

lazaefair: I...I need somone to draw Joe in a Disney Princess dress

sarah: but WHICH PRINCESS i feel like belle's off the shoulder gold ballgown has promise

lazaefair: Ariel’s pink gown would really drive the point home, though Although you’re right, Belle is a literate, dreamy brunette who loves poetry, so she’s closer as an archetype

sarah: i'll be honest: i was mostly thinking of getting his shoulders nude

lazaefair: Nicky is Ariel. Big blue eyes, otherworldly, utterly uncivilized.

sarah: YES

So imagine: Prince Yusuf, who had a giant statue of himself gifted to him on his birthday, and who hates it because his best friend (and immortal general of the army) Andromache is NEVER GOING TO LET HIM LIVE IT DOWN.

Also imagine: feral merman siren Nicolò who bites off fishheads and communicates through weird clicking noises, when he’s not singing men to their deaths. He’s not one of those useless pretty koi mermaids, no. He’s a motherfucking creature of the deep. Lamp eyes that are used to distract fish prey. Claws and pale fins and an intense stare and fangs.

Now imagine: Prince Yusuf going overboard in the storm that hits his royal yacht. Struggling, swept away, half-drowned and losing hope fast when an unearthly song fills the air, low and sweet and compelling. He’s swimming towards the singing before he realizes it, delirious, until something closes around his ankle and drags him under. The thing under the water kills him quickly.

And then kills him again, when it doesn’t take. After the third killing, Nicolò’s on his way to being well and truly mystified (“Okay, don't panic. They all die eventually, maybe...maybe I’ll just need to do it again?”) and gives up after the fourth and fifth killing. He drags his (attempted) prey to a little sheltered island he knows about, kills it one last time just to make sure, and then watches, resigned, as the flesh heals up and the lungs push water out until it’s coughing its way back to undeniable life.

“You rescued me,” is the first thing Yusuf says to him. “Your song – it is the song of my heart. My soul.”

Nicolò...has no idea what to do with this, coughs awkwardly in reply, and leaves before he can think too hard about the warmth in his chest answering to the warmth in the human’s expressive, grateful eyes.

(He doesn’t tell Yusuf the truth about their bloody first meeting until years later. It’s too goddamn embarrassing, to be perfectly honest.)

Of course he comes back within a day, almost shamefully quickly. Unable to help being fascinated by this gorgeous, well-spoken, kind and generous human who cannot die. He starts bringing things to Yusuf: at first just fish, then interesting-shaped fragments of rock and coral, and then bits of treasure he’s collected over the years, just to hear what new poetic turn of phrase Yusuf will spout on the spot when he’s given something.

“...this is my family crest on this treasure chest, Nicolò. How strange.”

“It is the chest you said your great-great-grandfather lost,” Nicolò says, the words coming out dry and halting from long years of disuse. Watching Yusuf’s hands as he traces the elaborate lines engraved on the lid, now blurred with rust and coral. 

“That’s amazing. Truly. I am at a loss for words,” Yusuf says, smiling.

“No, you aren’t,” Nicolò says, and keeps watching so he can see the moment when the smile turns into a laugh.

Another day, he brings to Yusuf what Booker had told him was called a ‘dinglehopper’ and was what humans used to keep their hair in order, as they did not have the ocean to spread it out like beautiful seaweed in the waves. Yusuf takes it, mouth twitching in a way that makes Nicolò doubt the accuracy of Booker’s explanation. Yet Yusuf does not correct him, but in fact solemnly thanks him before offering the dinglehopper back and asking him to help untangle his riot of curls.

And so it goes. Days pass. Fascination becomes infatuation, turns to desire and then into love, until neither can imagine living without the other, and yet—

Eventually, Nicolò has to give Yusuf up. The prince is too noble and good to just abandon his people indefinitely. And because Nicolò loves him, he goes out and once more lures a ship in with his song, but not to dash it to pieces on jagged rocks this time. He leads them to the island. Watches from a distance as the astonished shouting begins, then back-pounding hugs and joyous celebration as Yusuf boards the ship and sails away. Watches Yusuf turn back more than once to scan the beach, clearly looking for Nicolò, but Nicolò does not follow. Instead, he watches until the ship is lost to his sight and he cannot feel the ship’s current or smell, and then he dives deep and goes to visit Merrick.

Meanwhile, Yusuf arrives back at the capital, where his other best friend, Quỳnh (immortal admiral of the navy) feels terribly guilty about the prince going overboard on his birthday. Which is why she uncharacteristically doesn’t give him shit when he comes back babbling nonsense about mermaids. Or when he spends the next few weeks moping around, writing mermaid poetry and drawing mermaid pictures.

To be fair to him, the particular mermaid he sketches over and over does look pretty striking. Otherworldly and all that. Good cheekbones. Nice pearly scales. “Fucking...giant anglerfish eyes,” Quỳnh mutters while she and Andy look over the latest pile of sketches Yusuf’s left abandoned on a library table. “Our prince has been fucking bewitched by a fucking fish.”

“Mm,” Andy agrees. 

So when Nicolò arrives at the palace one fine summer’s day – naked, his fangs smoothed away to look perfectly human, a giant emerald in one hand and a silver fork in the other – and walking, on legs, it causes a bit of an uproar.

“You still smell like the sea,” Yusuf says hoarsely into Nicolò’s neck, the two of them wrapped around each other as closely as two bodies can be.

“Oh, fuck,” Andy says, lowering her axe. Quỳnh looks more closely at the dirty naked wild man their prince is embracing as if his life depends on it. Angular face. Skin encrusted with salt. Absolutely enormous piercing blue eyes. Naked, did we mention naked.

“Oh, fuck,” Quỳnh says.

“You get them separated,” Andy says. “I’ll go...get them a bath.”

The price Nicolò paid for his new human shape:

His siren song.

His immortality.

What he gets in return:

Yusuf teaching him what a dinglehopper is actually called, and what humans actually use it for.

Yusuf teaching him how to read and write his native tongue, and a few other tongues besides.

Yusuf reading poetry to him or sketching next to him on long lazy afternoons in the gardens.

The immense pleasure of intimidating the fuck out of any remaining would-be suitors for Yusuf’s hand in marriage who are still hanging around the palace for some reason.

“I am Nicolò di Genova,” Nicolò replies to the marquis’s indignant demands – predator’s smile still frightening even without endless rows of needle-sharp teeth. “You have seven days to leave this place forever. Get your affairs in order.”

Friendship with Andy and Quỳnh.

“Holy shit. Did he just—”

“—stab the marquis with a fork, at dinner, in front of the entire court? Yep.”

“...”

“...”

“New best friend.”

“Obviously.”

Yusuf writing poetry about him and to him. Nicolò likes them all. He wouldn't know a good human poem from a bad human poem, but nothing Yusuf touches could be bad, so ergo it's good.

Sightseeing throughout the kingdom with Yusuf’s strong, gentle fingers twined around his.

Yusuf breathing blissful curses into Nicolò’s ear, exactly like he used to do on their island, as they move together on his enormous bed.

Yusuf. Yusuf. Yusuf.

(Booker is also there. He insisted on being turned human, too, and coming along to make sure Nicolò doesn’t totally fuck this up, but he’s really mainly there for the entertainment. And the booze. Andy asks him at one point about losing his immortality. He shrugs. “Look, if we die, we die,” he says, then offers Andy another pour of fine French brandy. The two of them get along famously.)

It’s all going great until one night on the beach, while they’re walking along hand-in-hand under the stars and idly discussing human and merfolk constellations. Someone approaches them, dressed splendidly and moving with arrogant grace. He is also angular, also fair-haired, also possessed of unsettling eyes. And he has Nicolò’s siren song, gently humming from the shell that adorns his neck.

“Merrick,” Nicolò hisses as Yusuf’s eyes grow glazed and blank, and he tightens his hand on Yusuf’s, afraid for the first time. “Our deal—”

“He can’t bear the idea of living forever without you, can he? And so he hasn’t proposed,” Merrick says, smiling cruelly. “You’ve missed your chance. He’s mine.” And he extends his hand out to Yusuf—

Who stirs, suddenly, and turns to Nicolò. “Limpid, or shimmering?” 

“What?”

“Shimmering,” Yusuf decides, peering into Nicolò’s eyes. “Yes. Limpid would be too pretentious, I think.”

And that’s pretty much that – we don’t actually get the plot with Merrick the Sea Witch because Yusuf only has eyes for one weird-looking white guy. Also, his one artistic failing is that he's tone deaf.

They do eventually kill Merrick because true love wins out and we are all about those happy endings, Grimm’s can suck it, etcetera, so Nicolò gets his immortality and his siren song back. He’s also back to being a merman, but Yusuf does not care. “I could paint your beautiful tail for the rest of my life, my love, and still fail to capture the luminous iridescence of you,” he murmurs, stroking said tail with tender fingers. The last person to touch Nicolò’s tail got his hand bitten off. Here and now, Nicolò runs his claws through Yusuf’s hair, clicking deep and happy in his throat.

(“This is weird, right?” Quỳnh asks from where she and Andy are busy scraping evil kraken guts off their armor, a prudent distance down the beach from the lovers. “I’m not the only one who thinks it’s weird?”

Andy says nothing, just offers Quỳnh the rest of her bottle of vodka. This is why Quỳnh loves her so.)

(The wedding is a nightmare, at least according to the palace chef charged with cooking the wedding feast. “What is this, this, abomination? What in heaven’s name have you brought into my kitchen!”

“Tubeworm,” Booker says. “Considered a fine delicacy among our people. Don’t worry about it.”)

[elizabethemerald]

Water Heals; Chap 4

AO3

Today was another of Katara’s visits. Azula felt like she was getting better at telling the days apart, and keeping track of the weeks as they passed. Katara had said that she would bring a guest this week. It would be the first time she had seen someone other than Katara, her brother, or the staff since she was admitted to the hospital. Azula had promised to be on her very best behaviour. 

She smiled her own private smile when the door to her room opened to show Katara, though she kept her face otherwise schooled. As a princess of the Fire Nation she wouldn’t let herself show all of her real emotions to outsiders like Katara’s guest. 

Behind Katara entered her brother, Sokka. Katara has talked quite a lot about her brother and what he had gotten up to recently. It would be interesting to meet him face to face, and for once, not on the other side of a conflict. 

It certainly seemed like peace was suiting him well. Sokka still had the build of a swordsman, though now he was really hitting his growth spurt, he was going to be tall, possibly even taller than Zuko. He had a slightly nervous air about him, though he was masking it well. He smiled a wide, easy smile upon seeing Azula. Her spine stiffened for a moment, fearing he was smiling because of her bonds. Before she could snap at his insolence he clapped Katara on the shoulder and took a seat. Perhaps he was just in a jovial mood?

Katara took the seat next to her brother, returning his smile. Azula felt a hint of color rise in her cheeks. Katara’s smile never failed to bring some warmth to her face, and set Salmonflies fluttering in her stomach. For some reason Sokka’s smile widened, his earlier nervousness dissipating. 

“So Azula!” He said. Azula was suspicious of his friendliness, but she supposed Katara had brought him along first for a reason. “Katara’s told me a lot about her visits with you. How have you been liking them?”

Katara had side eyed him at this question, but Azula felt their mutual companion was a safe enough conversation topic. 

“Her visits continue to be the highlight of my time here. Even at my most dower Katara’s smile brightens my day.” Azula said stiffly, as if she were giving a report to the war council. Her eyes flicked to Katara, and she couldn't help but notice a faint blush dusting Katara’s cheeks, her eyes down cast as she fiddled with her hair. She decided to quickly change the subject, not trusting Sokka not to stray too near sensitive topics. “And how about yourself? Katara has kept me informed on some of the inventions you have made.”

“Oh she has!” Sokka immediately pulled a sketch book out of his satchel. Azula leaned forward as close as she could to look at his drawings. Some of the sketches seemed almost infantile in quality, but as she was able to parse the information she could see he was trying to figure out a way to trap a fire bender’s lightning, so it could be used to power other inventions. “You see, if I can make this work we can create other things that could wildly improve life for the people of the world. I’m just trying to find some way to replicate the lake of Chi a fire bender uses to control and redirect lightning. Though its really hard to get a hold of some lightning to test my theories.”

“It should not be that hard to get.” Azula said with a smirk. “Would you like a free sample?”

Before he could respond Azula took a deep breath, pulling on her own lake of Chi and spat out a flash of lightning. Sokka jumped back with a yelp as the lightning flashed wildly around the room. Without the use of her hands to control and direct the lightning, she didn’t have any where near the control she usually did. She released the rest of her breath as a short pant of blue flame. Lightning bending was far harder than fire bending without hands. 

Katara jumped up, water flying to her hand from the pitcher in the room. Azula couldn’t help her flinch, still battling the fear that Katara was going to turn against her one day and try to kill her. Instead of forming a whip the water around her hands glowed with a strange light. Azula watched, her eyes wide in awe, as Katara used the water to heal any slight mark Sokka may have received. 

“That was rude Azula!” Katara said. Azula couldn’t help but feel a rush of guilt. She had promised Katara she would be on her best behaviour. She couldn’t stand the idea that Katara would take this as a sign to stop visiting her. 

“I’m sorry Katara.” Azula said, her eyes down cast. 

Katara was about to reply in her usual huff, but Sokka, now settled from his surprise, spoke. 

“You know Azula, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you apologize to literally anyone. I didn’t think you knew how to.” HIs words, heavy with sarcasm were at least a game Azula knew how to play. 

“I prefer to reserve my apologies for those who mean the most to me. Not water tribe peasants like yourself.” Azula said, putting her nose up in mock disdain, though she met Katara’s gaze, attempting a small joke based on their first conversation. Katara’s smile showed that the joke had landed, and again there was a dusting of a blush across her cheeks. “Though I guess since the war’s over, I should make right with those I can. Is there anything I should apologize to you for?”

“Suki.” 

With that single name, Azula felt her hard won control slipping. The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. She had taken great pleasure in ensuring she was imprisoned and in making sure her incarceration was as unpleasant as possible. 

“Do you know what happened to her?” Azula asked, her voice sounding lifeless and mechanical even in her own ears. All she could remember was defeating Suki and shipping her off. 

“Yeah, me and Zuko broke her out of the Boiling Rock.” Sokka said. His voice sounded like it was coming from a cave. 

The Boiling Rock. The start of her fall. She had tried to kill her brother again there. Mai and Ty Lee had turned against her there. Not only had they shown their true colors but she had shown hers as well, first by trying to kill them, then by having them arrested. From there she had known that there was no one she could trust. Eventually everyone would betray her. And she deserved it. She was a monster after all. 

Azula was fading fast, her grasp on the moment slipping as her mind spiraled into the memories of her many failures. She was only distantly aware of a rapid yet hushed conversation between Sokka and Katara. They were probably discussing how to punish her for imprisoning Suki. 

“Did Katara ever tell you about the time I drank cactus juice?” Sokka said. The surprise of the strange sentence shook Azula from her dark spiral. 

“Isn’t cactus juice…” She was trying to focus her brain on the bizarre statement. 

“Hallucinogenic?” Sokka laughed. His laugh was loud. Different than Katara’s soft laugh. “Oh yeah it is. I spent a few hours absolutely out of my mind. I remember seeing a giant mushroom that I was sure was going to be my friend.”

Azula felt a crooked, broken smile creep up her face at the idea. 

“Or there was the time Toph trapped me in a hole in the ground. It felt like I was stuck there for hours. I promised to give up sarcasm and eating meat if I was able to get out. That didn’t last very long.” He said sarcastically. 

Her broken smile crept higher on her face, feeling less broken and more natural. 

“How about the story when me and Katara got sick, I spent the entire time thinking I was an earthbender! Then guess what the cure was?” He didn’t wait for Azula to guess instead continuing on excitedly. “Sucking on frozen frogs! Aang had to go fetch them while we were resting in our sleeping bags!”

Azula could see Katara’s own smile creeping higher on her face as her brother brought back some pleasant memories from their time traveling the world during the war. Azula could feel her own smile grow, a soft huff coming from her nose at the thought of Katara with a frozen frog on her face. 

“Oh or the time we tried to convince those guards that I was an earthbender!” Katara said. 

“That was a good one! Especially because that one guard thought that Momo was the earthbender! Not the brightest guard.”

“Can’t forget the whole adventure in the secret tunnel! I thought you would have a handprint on your forehead from facepalming for a week!”

Azula let out a short bark of a laugh. She felt more herself, like her mind was back in her body where it belonged and less like she was going to start sobbing. 

“It seems traveling with the Avatar wasn’t all hard work and battles.” Azula said. Her voice still sounded a little flat, but it was coming back to her regular tone. 

“It was a lot of work. And there were some things that are going to be in my nightmares for years.” Sokka said, his tone more serious than it had been since he arrived. “But that doesn’t mean it was all bad. Aang’s a fun loving guy. He wouldn’t let us stay to serious for to long.”

“When we first met him, he immediately wanted to go penguin sledding!” Katara said, her smile now her usual full faced and spirit-blessed smile. 

The conversation continued, Sokka carrying most of it, for the next hour or so. By the end Azula was exhausted from the social interaction, but she was happy. Sokka had caused her first genuine laugh in what felt like months, though she couldn’t tell exactly how long it had been. Katara had also seemed to enjoy having her brother there. She fell into good hearted bickering so easily with him, her smile brightening up the entire room, causing even more Salmonflies to buzz wildly in her stomach and a warm feeling to fill her chest. 

When it was finally time for Sokka and Katara to leave for the day, Azula stopped him. He stood at the door, Katara behind him in the hall looking over his shoulder. It took Azula a few moments to gather her words and force them out. 

“Sokka… I’m sorry.” The words felt painful as she pushed them out past the lump in her throat. She wanted to apologize for everything. For the harm she had caused during the war, for the harm her people had caused, even for throwing lightning at him just today, but she couldn’t get all those words. He seemed to understand the enormity of what she apologizing for and gave her a solemn nod. “Please tell Suki...I’m…”

“I will.” He nodded again, that same seriousness from earlier in his voice. 

With that the two Water Tribe siblings left. Azula was exhausted. Her body drained like she had fought for the entire afternoon. However her mind felt like it was fully active. They had given her much to think about. 

She had been inclined to dismiss Sokka, as a non bender, and as an oaf, he was never the same threat that Katara was. However he had clearly earned his place among the Avatar’s closest. He was cleverer than she had ever given him credit for, and he had the ability, almost uncannily, to switch between lighthearted and serious at a moment’s notice. She would have to think more about him. About his ease in forgiving her. About his inventions and ideas. 

Thinking of Sokka was significantly harder considering something else occupied her mind. Katara’s smile. Katara had seen her slipping, had noticed her reaction to the mention of Suki and the Boiling Rock. She had encouraged her brother to joke to offset the tension and help ground her back in her body. Katara had seen her, and seen through her, and some how still visited again and again, and still smiled and laughed with her, not at her, but with her. It was a lot to think about all at once. 

[steppedoffaflight]

Summer’s a Knife - Epilogue

Catch up on Chapter 16 here

But everything feels different. Falling in love has changed everything. It sounds ridiculous, even to you, because in reality you and Van have only been together just shy of three months. But something about returning to the city where you first met him in that crowded bar has your heart feeling raw. This past year has been the craziest- but no doubt best- one of your life. Tomorrow it’ll be one full year since you swallowed your inhibitions down, letting Van lead you back to his hotel room. When you recall it you can still feel the adrenaline rush that had poured through you at his proposition, your pounding heart echoing the memory. 

Word count: ~3.5k

Epilogue

January 2020

“Are you ready?” You yell up the staircase, before sighing to yourself in exasperation, turning to your own things. Your luggage is opened up all over the floor by the front door, and you’re meticulously double-checking that you’ve got everything packed.

You’re scouring over one of your bags when you hear Van’s heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. He’s got a duffle bag slung over one shoulder, his MacBook open and glowing in one of his hands. It wobbles with each step down, and you practically feel nauseous from Van’s carelessness. 

“How can you hold that in one hand?” You ask, shaking your head. “What if you tripped?”

Van rolls his eyes playfully, but doesn’t bother with a response. He lets his duffle come to rest by the base of the stairs, proceeding towards the sectional so that he can flop down with his computer.

“I literally just bought a new mascara,” You complain. No matter how many times you’ve searched your things, it hasn’t magically appeared. “Have you seen it?”

Van is engrossed in his screen, not hearing a word you said. 

“Babe?” You ask a bit louder, snapping him to attention.

“What?”

“Have you seen my mascara? I just bought it yesterday and I thought I left the bag on the coffee table.”

“Oh, yeah,” Van gestures absently toward the hall. “I put it in the bathroom.”

“The one down here?” You ask incredulously, rising from where you’re kneeling on the floor. Sure as shit, your brand new tube of mascara is still in its cardboard packaging on the sink in the bathroom down the hall.

“I don’t know why you’d put it in there,” You scold him, annoyed. “You know I don’t keep anything down here!”

Van sighs. “I obviously didn’t know that,” He replies, terse. “I thought I was putting it away. You know I’m still trying to figure everything out.”

You let out your own tense exhale, but drop the argument. Learning to live together these past two months hasn’t exactly been a dream, but Van was right. He was trying. You were both trying. Trying to learn each other’s daily routines, trying to divide household duties equally, trying to work with each other’s quirks. Still, you wouldn’t trade getting to wake up next to Van every morning for anything. 

And by every morning, that meant every morning. Because the band’s touring schedule is no joke, and once you and Van were established you realized that the trajectory of your career was going to have to make some adjustments. That’s how a few discussions with Denise lead to you finally being promoted, and to a position that allowed you to work from home well over a majority of the time. Any obligations you needed to be in the office for were going to be planned in advance, so by the summer you’d be done being mentored and you’d be free to travel with Van. 

“Wanna see the mockups?” Van interrupts your thoughts.

“You got the mockups?” You ask excitedly, tossing the mascara into your suitcase before heading for the couch. “Yes I wanna see!”

You plop down next to him, snuggling into his side. He’s looking at a file Capitol has just sent him with full mockups of a few different options for the CD sleeves.

THE SUMMER, the spines of the CD sleeves read in each of the files. It looks so official, seeing the album title next to the Capitol Records logo. It feels like only yesterday when Van tried to be nonchalant when he mentioned to you that he’d been pitching that as the album name to the boys. It had completely stunned you then, and it still feels surreal now.

Because the album’s about you, you’ve learned. Almost all of the eleven tracks are dedicated to Van telling the story of your relationship, from that magical night in San Diego, to him drinking away the pain of missing you on the night of his birthday. There’s a song about the steamy encounter you two had in the car during your road trip to Phoenix, and the last track on the album details that night things almost ended, but instead became the best thing that’s ever happened to you.

“Gone is still the best,” You tell him, spotting where they’d decided to put it on the tracklist. It’s two up from the bottom, which feels appropriate. It was a ballad, Van wailing soulfully about the guilt that hangs over him from leaving his parents high and dry in order to make his music career work. His parents haven’t heard it yet, but you were in tears when Van played it for you. It’s just his voice and the piano, and you’re sure the fans will love it like you do. He’s nestled it between two upbeat tracks, always careful to keep things on a positive note. 

Van snorts, no doubt remembering your messy tears while you sat next to him on the piano bench in the studio that one afternoon. “Which cover do you like best?” He asks, flashing you the different options.

The cover for this album was a lobster, symbolic of the lobster dinner Van got the night he took you to dinner. Tim had done one illustration that looked more like the alligator from The Ride, and one that was more of an outline like The Balance, and a few variations of each. You chew the inside of your cheek as you examine them carefully.

“That one,” You say quickly when Van scrolls past the sleeve with the Ride-esque realistic sketch. “If the lobster was doing something, like how the toucan’s sipping that drink, I’d say that. But I like this one.”

Van takes in your opinion, nodding very seriously. “I’ll have to ask the lads, we can all take a vote.”

There’s a moment of quiet contemplation as Van looks over the tracklist for what was probably the millionth time. 

You’re still taking in the details of the cover, trying to wrap your mind around the fact that Van has immortalized so many details of your life in an actual, physical thing that people would soon be hearing, when your phone vibrates loudly against the mantle. You leap up, knowing it’s Mary before you even see the screen.

“Are you ready?” Mary asks on speakerphone, her voice bringing Van’s focus back to the task at hand.

“I’m ready,” You tell her, relieved to be free of any blame. “Are you ready, Van?”

“I only need a second!” He shouts loud enough so that Mary can hear him. “Lemme send this email!”

“Hurry up!” Her voice cuts through the living room. “You and Theo are the worst!”

“Oi!” Van shouts in indignation, but then there’s the beep of Mary disconnecting, clearly not entertaining any of Van’s excuses.

“I’ll take my stuff to the car,” You say as Van taps away at his keyboard. “Where’s the keys?”

“Kitchen,” Van murmurs, distracted, and you head around the corner to grab them from the kitchen island. 

You zip your bags closed and sling your purse over your shoulder, hauling them out of the front door and onto the driveway. There are some birds chirping in the privacy bamboo, and a few scatter from their hiding spots as they’re startled by you opening up the back hatch of the Range Rover.

The sun is beaming down from it’s glowing spot in the bright blue morning sky, a stark contrast to the climate you’ve spent your January birthday in when you lived in your hometown. You’re used to giant snowdrifts, freezing temperatures, a snow day off of school if you were lucky. You should be used to this by now; balmy birthday weekends that commence with packing up for the traditional San Diego trip.

But everything feels different. Falling in love has changed everything. It sounds ridiculous, even to you, because in reality you and Van have only been together just shy of three months. But something about returning to the city where you first met him in that crowded bar has your heart feeling raw. This past year has been the craziest- but no doubt best- one of your life. Tomorrow it’ll be one full year since you swallowed your inhibitions down, letting Van lead you back to his hotel room. When you recall it you can still feel the adrenaline rush that had poured through you at his proposition, your pounding heart echoing the memory. 

“I’m ready, I’m ready!” The screen door clatters behind Van, snapping you away from memory lane. He sets his duffel bag down by your feet before heading back to the front door. He reaches under the welcome mat for the spare key before locking the door securely and tucking it back. 

“Put it in the rock!” You call, slamming the trunk shut after you’ve loaded Van’s bag in with yours. But Van is already sliding into the driver’s seat, so that means you have to stomp up to the welcome mat, taking the key and reaching into the mulch by the front door for the hide-a-key rock you’d purchased for this purpose. 

Van is probably rolling his eyes at you, but you can’t see through his sunglasses as you hop into the passenger seat. The car is sweltering, and Van immediately gets the air conditioning going while you get settled for the long ride ahead of you.

Leaving now, you shoot a text to Mary.

Theodore is literally showering, Mary responds with three eye-rolling emojis. But we’ll be out of here soon.

You send a laughing emoji in response as you two pull out of the gate. 

Van makes a pit stop at a nearby gas station right before you two hit the highway so he can fill the gas tank while you go inside to collect the largest bottle of water they sell, two packs of cigarettes, a soft drink, and various snacks to hold you two over.

Traffic is light when you two finally get going, Van easily zooming towards San Diego as the early-afternoon sun blazes down on the cement, guiding your way. 

“It’s gonna be so weird to be back,” You grin, Van turning the radio down so he can hear what you’re saying. 

“Christ, I know,” Van’s beaming too, his hand straying from the steering wheel to intertwine his fingers with yours. You give them an excited squeeze.

“What were you doing alone at that bar, anyway?” You decide to ask while you’re lost in nostalgia.

“I wasn’t alone!” Van chuckles. “I was having drinks with Bond, but he decided to call it a night and I wanted to finish my drink.”

“Wait, you were with Bondy?” You grin, shifting in your seat to give him your full attention, eager for more details. “Was Bondy with you when we sat down?”

“We came in after you,” Van tells you. “We weren’t getting anything to eat so they seated us straight at the bar.”

“And then he left?”

“Yeah. We had a couple’a drinks and then he left, and I was finishing my beer.”

It’s so strange to think of the way every single person around you is running on their own timeline. Every single person at that bar had their own reasons for going, their own company (or lack thereof). It’s strange that so many people can coincidentally gather in the same place, whether it’s for a burger after a long drive or a beer after putting on a show at the House of Blues. 

“But when Mary said you were looking at… us, she said you were alone,” You point out, hesitating over the word us. You really had no idea if it was you that Van had been staring at. Secretly you had a suspicion sometimes that he was actually staring at Mary. 

“Well, yeah. Bond was gone, I was sort of just looking around.”

“But we stayed for, like, two hours after our food was gone. So you finished one beer for two hours?”

At this Van snorts. “No, I wasn’t drinking one beer for two fucking hours.”

“Gimme these,” You murmur, leaning forward to steal his sunglasses off of his face, annoyed that he was able to hide his expression behind them. You use them to push the hair out of your face.

“What’d you do that for?” He pouts, gesturing to the road. “It’s so fucking bright out!”

“The sun’s not even in your face!” You argue. “And anyway, what were you doing if you weren’t finishing one beer for two hours?”

Van sighs in exasperation. “Well, I was finishing my beer, and we caught each other’s eye, didn’t we? So I couldn’t exactly leave, could I?”

“When did we catch each other’s eye?” You cry incredulously. “Mary said you were staring at me!” 

“I thought you had looked over at me! I kept seeing you grab drinks at the bar and I felt like we were noticing each other, I dunno. And then I saw you whispering with Mary, and she was staring at me dead-on, so I knew you were talking about me. So at that point I thought eh, I’ll stick around for a sec.”

You chew the inside of your cheek, trying to hide your pleased smile. “And then what?”

“You walked to the bathroom.” Van’s voice has an edge of hesitation in it, like he’s reluctant to reveal his side of the events. “And got about three inches away from me, and we made eye contact again, so, I dunno. I thought we were on the same page.”

“And then you stalked me back to the hotel?” You ask, your eyes widening. Your theory had been right all along!

“No!” Van cries, looking over at you with his brows furrowed. “No, I didn’t stalk you! What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You stayed until the bar closed! And then we walked back to the same hotel!”

“When you sat down again you walked the most roundabout way around me! So I accepted we weren’t on the same wavelength, and ordered my last drink and then I was ready to call it a night. But then it was last call.” He glares at you from the driver’s seat. “Everyone had to leave. It had nothing to do with you!”

“Yeah, okay,” You groan in surrender, your stalking theory finally laid to rest.

“And that’s it.” Van shrugs one shoulder. “I saw you guys head inside the hotel, I went around to have a smoke before I headed up to bed. Then Theo suddenly comes around, and the rest is history, I guess.”

You think over his version of events, still worrying the inside of your cheek. “Huh,” You say finally. “I sort of thought you were staring at Mary and just settled for me.”

“What?” Van shakes his head. “First of all, it’s very clear wherever they go that Mary and Theo are with each other. Second of all, I thought you were proper fit from the get-go.”

“Proper fit,” You mock him, reaching down by your feet for your pack of cigarettes. “As if. I’m ugly,” You say as you crack your window and light a cigarette. 

Van rolls his eyes. “So fit I couldn’t even keep it in my pants.”

“You really couldn’t,” You agree. Knowing Van’s sexual history now, a spur-of-the-moment one night stand had actually been very out of character for him. “But I guess I decided to be some sort of impulsive, sexually empowered alter ego that night, so who am I to talk.”

Van tips his head back briefly to let out a loud laugh. “I really can’t believe you’d never had a one night stand. I would’ve never guessed.”

“My first and only,” You say in exaggerated sweetness, reaching over with the hand not holding your cigarette to pinch him lightly where his dimple is poking through on his cheek. 

Van shrugs your arm away with a laugh, switching lanes to rush past someone who was actually going to speed limit. 

You’re still gazing at his face, your whole body warm with love. “I love you,” You tell him. Just because you can. Just because it’s not a secret anymore.

“I love you,” Van responds instinctually, like it’s the easiest thing in the world for him to put into words. His words still send the butterflies in your stomach into a tiff. You don’t know if you’ll ever get used to hearing them.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Van breaks your dreamy trance, peeking over at you quickly. “In the email they said they wanted to push Arizona as the first single.”

“No way,” You grin, trying to imagine how the song might fit with the current music Van’s alternative radio stations are always spinning. You still avoid listening to them, much more inclined to switch on the Taylor Swift album you keep stashed in the CD player when you drive. But then again, Catfish has never bothered with radio trends, so you suppose it didn’t matter. 

“What do you think?” You press when he doesn’t respond.

Van shrugs. “I think it’s a great single. Me and Benj really rooted for it. Just wondering how you feel about it.”

There’s an edge of unease in his voice, and you suspect it’s because of all of the personal details in the song. While Van clearly didn’t mind airing out his every thought and emotion to the public, he’s known you long enough now to know that’s not the case for you.

You stay quiet, mentally running through the song in your mind. You peer out the window, watching the highway rush past in a blur, remembering that ride to Phoenix. Van had encapsulated it in stunning detail, from the conversation where you two exposed your deepest regrets to the strange sight of rain in the desert, the chill in the air from the pounding rain and the way you two had intimately warmed up. 

“I think it sums up the album perfectly,” You tell him finally, giving him a bright smile. Van’s raw, blistering storytelling mixed with the upbeat, summery melody seemed like the perfect synopsis of what listeners should expect of The Summer. 

And if a few details about your deepest secrets and sex life were broadcast around the world? Well, you suppose you’ll have to get used to it, because if this thing with Van plays out the way you’re hoping then he’ll be writing about you for a long, long time. 

“I think so too,” Van nods, the tension dropping out of his shoulders. He turns the radio back up, settling back into his seat to focus on driving again.

You go back to looking out of the window, watching the buildings bordering the highway melt into each other, the other cars on the road radiating heatwaves. You’re still stuck on memories of the Phoenix trip, remembering that moment of realization that you were in love with Van. With the conversation you two had had on the way, and seeing Van be so sweet to Charlie, in hindsight you realize you never stood a chance. 

Are you happy? You distinctly remember Van asking, and how you’d scrambled for an answer, realizing too late that you weren’t sure. 

But now there was no question. Only the steady, content happiness that felt like it was always glowing around you. Of course shit in your life still went wrong, but now at the end of the day you got to cry about a work blunder in the arms of the person you loved the most. You’d be working remotely soon, free to visit your family whenever your heart desired, and you’d also be getting to travel. Not to mention the pay raise, and the fact you could devote a lot more of your income to your savings and paying off your student loans now that you lived with Van. Even your friend circle had expanded; you were closer than ever with the girls at work, and along with Van your circle had expanded to include the rest of the boys. The band also had a Newcastle tour date scheduled in the summer, and Bondy hasn’t been able to stop talking about the night out you were all going to have with Sam and his band. 

“I love you,” You blurt out again, fluttery with that feeling that everything in your life was going oh so right.

“Christ, I love you too,” Van snorts, poking your thigh playfully.

“How fast are you going?” You ask as you realize he’s passing every car around you two at lightning speed.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m trying to get to the hotel before everyone else so I can get some time alone with you,” He grins, stealing his sunglasses out of your hair so he can pull them over his eyes again. 

You accept his excuse. “Okay, well in that case I’m gonna take a nap.” You finish up your cigarette, rolling your window up before you reach for Van’s sweatshirt that he’d tossed in the back seat, pulling it on before you slump down in your seat, trying to get comfortable. “Don’t crash,” You warn him, closing your eyes. The sun coming through the car windows makes the inside of your eyelids a bright orange. 

“I’ll try not to.”

\\

A/N: I am so incredibly grateful for these last 17 weeks on tumblr sharing this story with you all. My biggest hope is that this was able to bring a little bit of positivity or happiness to you in any way possible. I have endless gratitude for fenderswift, my absolute best friend in the world, for all of her support through this entire process. This fic would not be here out on the internet without her convincing, and being able to share this story with you all has been one of the best things to happen to me this year so I can’t say THANK YOU enough. THANK YOU to everyone who has read, to everyone who has sent me an ask, who has joined me and fenderswift in our love for this universe. The kind words you’ve sent me stick with me, and I’m so excited to keep living in this universe. This is definitely not the end for these two. There is much more to come!

[ongaku-ato-kakikomi]

Tiptoeing In Death (2)

This is a series. Please check the Masterlist to read the chapters in order.

Masterlist.

You stop in the middle of your bedroom’s entrance when you see one of the stupid jock ghost looking around your room, though you rapidly shake your head and continue your way in like you haven’t seen him. Luckily for you, he seemed to have been too engulfed into looking at some of your sketches on the walls to notice anything, the boy almost like he’s admiring them. 

He jumps up when you open your closet’s door, seeing his head turning towards you from the corner of your eyes. He doesn’t seem to do much more than what he was doing before you came in, but you tense up when you hear a chuckle as soon as you pick out some pajamas. 

“I’m getting a show already? Niiice...”

Feeling more than disgusted, you decide to not do the initial plan of changing in here and instead walk out of the room, clutching the fabric of your pajamas in your right hand while you get towards the bathroom.

“Hey, wait! Where you’re going?” You obviously don’t answer, simply grinding your teeth as you continue your way. “Ooooh, I get it. A shower, huh? Even better!”

‘For fuck sake, how did Veronica managed to get two of these idiots attached to her?’

Sadly, this isn’t the first time one pervy ghost tried to take a peek at your naked body… and so after a lot of research in weird books you’ve found in old libraries and a few tests with the help of Andrew, you found a symbol that can block the passage to a room from a ghost. So… now… there’s a giant symbol drawn onto the bathroom door along with one on the bathroom blinds, which means that you can do your hygienic stuff in peace.

You can’t quite stop the proud smirk gracing your lips when you lock the door behind you, your grin stretching out as soon as you hear the loud complaints from the ghost boy getting muffled by the door.

“What the- Why can’t I get through!? Kurt, I can’t get through!”

“I already told you, Ram. You can’t just try to walk through the door, you have to concentrate-”

“I fucking know that, but it’s not working!”

“Will you two just shut the fuck up!?”

“Mind your own business, Heather!”

Good. Now you know all their names: JD, Kurt, Ram, and Heather. No last names yet, but then again, you almost never learn those. If you wanna know more about why these ghosts are following Veronica around, you must wait for her to share her story with you…

… if she ever wants to share her story with you.

You quickly change in your pajamas while they’re fighting right outside the door, taking the opportunity soon after to brush your teeth in front of the sink. Once you’re finally done, silent enraptured the atmosphere all around, your head slowly turning towards the door.

They’re all gone now… right?

You give out a yawn just as you open the door, having to suppress a scream when you notice JD standing right on the side. He stares at you with it blank white eye, the blood splatter on his head looking worse than before. You blink rapidly and rub your eyes while you pass by him, acting as if you just had a brain freeze because of how tired you are. You don’t even give him a side look; that guy seems to be the smartest of them, you can’t risk giving him any hints that you can see him.

You feel a chill run down your spine when you hear him follow you, feeling his glare piercing through your back as if he wants you to die right there. From what you can tell, JD is a ghost with a lot of suppressed anger in him, using that anger to push anyone who might get close to Veronica away. At least, he’s angry enough to want you to disappear, even though you literally just met her today.

You scream when the phone suddenly starts ringing, putting a hand on your rapidly beating heart to try and calm it once you realize that there’s no danger. You walk towards the phone with JD close to your trails, almost trembling as you pick it up.

“Hello?”

“Honey, hi! How did it go? Has Veronica moved in?” 

You give out a fond smile at the sound of your mother’s voice. “Hi, mom. Yeah, she moved in today. She seems nice.”

“Oh, I’m glad! I was afraid we might have picked someone dangerous to live with you-”

“Well, anyone can be dangerous.” You take a few strands of hair out of your face, watching JD’s reflection in the window in front of you. “Isn’t that what you taught me?

“Yes, yes, you’re right… but she had quite the traumatic history, so I just wondered…”

“Mom, what happened to her is none of my business. You’re not supposed to tell me anything, remember?” 

“Yeah, she’ll tell you if she wants to, I know.” 

You tense up when he approaches his face to yours, probably trying to hear your mother’s voice better. “Mom, it’s late. I’m gonna head to bed. Kiss dad goodnight for me?”

“Of course, sweetheart. Have nice dreams.”

 “You too, mom.” 

She hangs up before you, your hand gently putting the handle back to its place before you walk back towards where your room is. Lucky for you, JD doesn’t follow you in and simply watches you from afar with a deathly glare, the boy still looking towards your form even after you close the door behind you.

Tonight might be a long night.

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

The next day, you open your eyes to see none other than Andrew’s face right in front of you, the little drowned kid having watched you sleep with wide-opened eyes all night.

“... Hi.”

He blinks a few times, a grin forming onto his lips. “Hi.”

“You know that watching me sleep is extremely creepy, right?”

His grin stretches out. “Huh-huh.”

“I mean, you might be my best friend… but I would like you to not do that in the future.”

He rolls his eyes at you just as you sit up, stretching your arms up in the air while yawning. “Sure… but only once those ghosts will be completely gone. Someone needs to protect you while you’re unconscious.”

You quirk an eyebrow at him after you stand up. “Well, how nice of you.” 

“Complain all you want, but you know I’m right.” He turns around when you walk towards your closet, waiting for you to change. “If those guys know that you can see them, you know you’ll be in danger.”

“I know.” 

“I mean, you remember what happened last time, huh? You almost died-”

“I know.”

“And then we had to seek that old woman to know about a ritual-”

“Andrew… I know.” You send his back of his head a look just as you finish changing, brushing your hair with your hands to try and tie it to a ponytail. “I learned my lesson, we’re not gonna repeat that story again.”

“Of course you won’t, I won’t let you.” He turns around after you finish putting your hair in a ponytail, a frown settled on his face. “Which is why I will stay with you today.”

You stay silent for a while, then give out a sigh. “You know that’s just gonna make them suspicious of me, right?”

“I don’t care.”

“They’re gonna see a drowned ten-year-old boy follow me around all day, they’re gonna wonder if I didn’t kill you or something.”

“Well, they’re gonna see me at some point anyway, I’m linked to you!”

“And they’re linked to her.” He follows you towards your door, giving him one last look before you open. “Okay, look… you can follow me, but no talking to me whatsoever, alright?”

He gives a groan. “... fine.”

A smile soon graces your lips. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

He rolls his eyes just as you open the door, both of you stepping out.

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

“You should take your own apartment.”

Veronica ignores JD’s voice in her ear, concentrating on eating her cereal like any normal person would do. She can also hear Heather, Kurt, and Ram fighting a few meters away, the subject not being important enough for her to actually listen. Though it does sound better than hearing her crazy ex-boyfriend’s voice all the time.

“Take. Another. Apartment.”

“I can’t….!” She whispers those words, hoping that it’ll be enough to quiet him. “This is the only place that would take me, okay? So shut it. Don’t make me remind you that this is your fault.”

He quiets down immediately, flashes of his last moments coming back into her head. She shakes them off and takes another scoop of her cereal into her mouth. She doesn’t know you, but you seem nice and, judging by how you’ve been acting, you don’t know anything about her past. Which is a miracle... considering that her town’s deaths have been on the news for months. 

But if it means she can be normal to one person for just a little time, she'll take it.

"Enjoying my cereal?"

She almost chokes on her food at the sound of your voice, redness creeping into her cheeks when you laugh. She turns shy eyes towards your form just as you prepare your own breakfast: a simple red apple.

"I'm sorry… was I not supposed to?"

"Of course you can eat. What's mine is yours." You take a bite out of your Apple, sensing her a cheeky smile that brings a genuine onto her lips. "What are you gonna do today?"

"Oh, well…" She looks down at her bowl for a moment before she gives out a smile. "I was thinking of going on campus. Seeing where my classes are before they start next week."

Your eyes widen with excitement. "That's a great idea! Oh, and if you want, I can be your guide."

"But I don't wanna bother-"

"Hey, I have nothing to do today, it'll be my pleasure." You take another bite of your Apple, raising a finger as you give her a serious look. "One condition though."

She feels her stomach turn in worry. Maybe you know who she is… are you gonna ask her to not let people know you live together? She wouldn't blame you if you did.

"Um… what is it?"

Your lips stretch out into a large grin. "No cars. We walk there."

She can't help but let out a laugh, her shoulders relaxing from relief. "Well, I don't mind!"

"Good." You send her a wink before disappearing into the hallway. "It's a date. Be ready in an hour."

She feels her cheeks heat up at the mention of the word 'date', even though she knows that you didn't mean it that way-

"Stop it." 

She tightens her grip on her spoon when she hears his voice. "... Stop what?"

"Being nice to her. I don't like it."

"Well, watch me, then." She stands up and walks towards the sink, putting her empty bowl in it. "Because I like it. And you have nothing to say in the matter-"

"A drowned kid is linked to her, Ronnie." Her heart drops into her stomach just as her eyes widen, shocked as to what he just said. “You know what that means, right?”

She doesn’t want to think about it. She doesn’t wanna think you could have killed someone so young, not when you’re this sweet and generous towards her. You have to be a normal and kind girl, not a psychopath. She can’t deal with psychopaths anymore-

“I’m just trying to protect you, Ronnie.”

She breathes in loudly before she lets it out, her hands tightening onto the counter. Can he shut up for just… one second?

“You need to leave this place, Ronnie.”

“Four of you are linked to me, JD.” She grinds her teeth, imagining his face in her head. “I think out of the two, she’s the one who should run away.”

“Those idiots deserved what we did to them-”

“Hey, who you’re calling an idiot?”

“Yeah, who you’re calling?”

“You three! I’m calling you three idiots!”

“Don’t you dare put me in the same basket as those two morons! I’ll have you know that I’m a goddess!”

“Yeah, a super annoying goddess!”

“And we’re not morons! I don’t even know what that means!”

Veronica just gives out a loud groan of annoyance as their voice continues fighting right behind her, internally hoping for the next hour to go quickly.

Spending time with you sounds so good right now.

[xo-stardust720]

Swiping Right (Into Love)  - ch 2

Special thanks to @natrogersfics​ and @chalantness​ for editing this chapter!

Dedicated to @aquajules​ because I promised her a new birthday fic (which I started...) but then ended up working on this update and finishing it instead... and then this update ended up being late anyway... What can I say? I'm a human disaster. Happy belated birthday Emilee!

Steve has never been one to really go with the flow.

That isn’t to say that he’s super uptight about everything in general, but when his roommate/best friend comes home with some  exciting news, the tone of Bucky’s voice is enough to cause Steve some anxiety and to be immediately on his guard. There’s a certain amount of glee and exhilaration in the way his friend burst through their front door… and this is Steve’s warning sign that he’s about to be dragged into some sort of mishap that most likely won’t end well for him. It’s not that he doesn’t trust his oldest friend in the world -- there’s no one that he  trusts more than Bucky -- it’s just that, most of the time, trusting Bucky is what gets him into awkward situations in the first place.

(Awkward  was putting it mildly. It was usually a disaster.)

It’s been this way since they were kids. Where Bucky leads, he’s usually along for the ride. On the occasions that his mouth goes running off and gets him into trouble, good-ole Bucky is the one there to bail him out. Literally. He actually ended up in jail once, a fact that his best friend still delightedly brings up as a conversation topic to this day.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for his best friend, he’s pretty sure his life would be quiet. And boring.

It would probably be  really boring.

So when Bucky comes home and throws himself onto the couch next to him announcing, “guess what our plans are for the weekend?” -- his first instincts are to say no.

He goes with his gut.

“No,” he says, not even bothering to look up from the sketch in front of him.

“You don’t even know what we’re going to do yet,” Bucky immediately protests.

“Doesn't matter.”

“Steve, c’mon! At least wait until I tell you what happened to me today before you decide you’re not going. And by the way, you can’t say no. You are an essential component to this plan, and I won’t let you ruin it for me, you punk.”

"Jerk," he automatically replies, but then he's letting out a sigh as he turns to face his friend. "What happened?"

“So I met these two ladies at the bookstore today…”

He groans, already knowing where this conversation is heading. “Buck, tell me you didn’t set up  another  double date.”

His best friend smirks. “You know that I did. Why do you even bother asking?”

“Because sometimes I still have hope that you’ll realize the women you try to set me up with tend to end up disappointed, and that you won’t do it anymore," he says, rolling his eyes.

“Hey, without me, you’d never go anywhere,” Bucky points out. “And I’ll admit, our dates could’ve been better vetted in the past. Sorry about that. They don’t know what they’re missing out on.”

“Did you at least tell her about me? So that I won’t be a shock to the system when she actually sees me for the first time?”

“I said all good things, I swear!”

“Bucky,” he sighs.

“No, seriously. You didn’t see these women, Steve. They were bombshells. We hit the jackpot!”  

Steve lets out another sigh. Bucky is always coming in all enthusiastic about whatever their next adventure is - this is how it's always been. Whatever Bucky's up to, he makes sure that he's never too far behind. Steve and Bucky 'til the end of the line, always, is what his best friend likes to repeat. And he believes him. Even if he never has anything else, he'll always have Bucky in his corner.

He turns back to his sketch, picking up the pencil that he’d abandoned and as he gets back to work, it prompts Bucky to begin telling the story of how his trip to the bookstore had ended up with a plan for the two of them to go on a double date with some strangers. In truth, it didn’t surprise Steve in the least that his friend somehow managed to infiltrate his way into a conversation after admitting to eavesdropping on everything they were saying. Bucky just had that kind of charm. “So, let me get this straight,” he says once his friend is done telling him what’d happened. “You’re setting me up with the girl that literally rejected  you  on Tinder. She actually swiped  left  on  you  -- which by the way, already sounds like a load of bullshit because  no one  ever swipes left on you. And after you showed her my picture, she agreed to be  my date  while her friend goes out with you.” He eyes his best friend doubtfully. “There are giant holes in this story, Buck.”

“But that’s what happened!” Bucky insists. “I had Natasha’s profile up on my Tinder and I’d swiped right and everything. We didn’t match. She really did say no to me!”

It's not as if Steve thinks his best friend is lying to him, per se. But the story sounds almost too good to be true. For most of their lives, Bucky has had very few problems when it comes to attracting members of the opposite sex. Hell, the same could be said for Bucky attracting members of their gender. People look twice whenever he walks past, and once Bucky had joined Tinder? Well, it's become even easier for him to fill a calendar with people to see and get to know.

But the same could not be said for him.

The day he joined Tinder, he did so with all the reluctance in the world and mostly at Bucky’s urging. His friend was having all the success (unsurprising) and wanted him to partake; which he mostly did so that Bucky would leave him alone and give him some peace. Even before he downloaded the app, he knew he wouldn’t have much luck on it, but as Bucky put it, “you never know, right? Some people actually find their future spouses there!”

Well, Steve did know. And as it turned out, he was right.

It started off well-enough at first. There were a few matches and, for a little while, Steve thought he was actually doing okay. Little by little, his hopes were raised and he thought  hey, maybe this new way of dating isn’t so bad. After all, no one wanted to be alone forever, right? It would be nice to have  some kind of companionship and to find the right partner. His profile was getting a few likes and the conversations were comfortable enough that he even went on a few first dates.

But after a couple of weeks, things started coming to a standstill.

The most annoying thing about Tinder though, was the ghosting - when the matches disappeared without any explanation. It's not something that Steve had purposely learned, but he didn't have to be a genius to figure out what was happening. The likes to his profile started dropping off, the conversations became the generic ‘How are you?  I’m fine and how are you doing? I’m good’ before stagnating. If he suggested they go get coffee, they'd stop replying. It was starting to become a pattern that he spotted immediately after the first couple of weeks. Having three separate first dates with three different women, he had a feeling that each woman was only in it for the free meal because they always suggested nice restaurants, but after the dates were over, there was never any follow up for a second date. As a gentleman, he believed that buying a girl dinner first before any romance started was the right thing to do. But realistically, it was starting to put a giant dent in his bank account, and if he started buying every woman dinner on the first date, he’d probably have no savings left.

This, on the other hand, did not seem to be a problem for Bucky, and Steve had resigned himself to accepting that sometimes other people just had all the luck. And looks. Bucky could get away with just about anything when he flashes his smile that seems to melt even butter. Steve lost track of how many coffee dates Bucky has had in the last couple months and it would seem he never had to worry about his bank account balances.

If Tinder has taught Steve anything, it is that most of the people who signed up for it really relied heavily on physical attributes. If you were attractive, you’d have a much better chance of getting a second and third date. And since everyone knows that Tinder is a hookup app, Steve knows he doesn't stand much of a chance there, either. He isn't the exception to the rule and he knows it. He will be forever known as Skinny Steve, the option no one wanted… not when there are other guys around that are taller, better looking, and more muscular. Women always seem to fixate on those particular characteristics and it isn’t like Steve could climb into a chamber and magically come out big and strong. He has what he has, and for the most part, he is alright with it. It doesn’t stop him from wishing from time to time that things could be different and that the world isn’t as shallow and vapid as the app makes it out to be, but alas, he tries not to dwell on it too much.

Bucky has even tried to help him out. He was the camera man behind all of his profile pictures and even helped edit his biography when he felt that what he had written down didn’t have enough “spice” to grab a woman’s attention. Quite frankly, it was exhausting trying to come up with some interesting facts about himself on the off chance that someone  might look past his pictures long enough to read. And even after all the effort Bucky put into changing his profile around, in the end he had decided to change his bio to simply say, “Hi, I’m Steve.” The people he matches with would either want to get to know him, or they’ll move on… it’s out of his hands.

He doesn’t even go on the app much anymore. Why bother when he knows people aren’t really going to swipe right on him? He was rejected enough on a regular basis.

Feeling Bucky’s expectant gaze, Steve tries his best to ignore it and to continue working away at his sketch. His best friend, never one to be ignored though, just pokes him in the shoulder. He was going to be annoying about this, he just knew it. Brushing back a stray hair that fell into his face, he faces his friend and gives him a small smile. “When is this aforementioned date?”

His best friend grins triumphantly. “After you’re done work on Friday, of course.”

“And where are we going?”

“Leave it all to me,” Bucky pats him on the back, gripping his shoulder with support in the way he always does. “I’ll tell the girls to meet us at your shop and we’ll go from there.”

Steve loves Bucky, he does, but Bucky has zero perspective about these things. Steve doesn’t see how this time would be different from any other time but he tries not to let the apprehension show on his face. He makes one last ditch effort to get out of going. “I don’t know, Buck. Look, maybe you should just tell ‘em I got sick or that something came up. Take Sam with you, I’m sure this girl would probably be happier to see Sam in my place.”

“She saw your picture and she said  yes to you! She’s amazing, Steve. Red hair. Green eyes. Literally looks like she could be a model. She might actually be one for all I know… I didn’t really get a chance to find out what she does for a living.”

“Well, at least she’s seen a picture of what I look like and knows what she’s in for. I was getting tired of people looking at me like you sold them some gold and what they actually got was bronze,” Steve sighs as the last of his resistance fades away and resigns himself to going along with Bucky’s plan. “Alright, I’ll go, but only because she was nice enough to say yes and it would be rude if I don’t show up.”

“It’s gonna be a great night, Steve! You’ll see!”

----

Over the next few days, Steve watches as Bucky becomes increasingly more excited about their “hang out” as it was described. Usually his friend would be the picture perfect of calm when it came to first dates, casually shrugging it off as if it was no big deal. The fact that Bucky was flitting around and trying to find the perfect activity for them to do, told Steve that perhaps,  this date  was different. At least, it seems to be different for Bucky.

Friday night, at 5:50pm on the dot, Steve waits with Bucky outside of his shop for the two girls that would be their dates for the evening. “Hey, there they are. The brunette is Wanda and the redhead is Natasha.”

Steve’s gaze immediately lands on the redhead as the two women walk towards them and he feels his heart lurch. This woman is  gorgeous. Her red hair falls in long smooth waves past her shoulders, she wears only a little makeup--dark mascara and a little pink on the lips--but she doesn't need more. Natasha is slightly shorter than her friend, and she’s all curves--Steve apologizes internally for even lingering on that but he wants to draw her because she has the proportions of a work of art. She looks like a movie star, or a model that Bucky had previously claimed she might be.

It makes Steve want to disappear. Perhaps it’s the cowardly way out, but he almost doesn’t want to meet Natasha because he wants to remember her in the moment before they meet, before the dismay sets in and she looks for an excuse to leave once she sets eyes on him. The girls are getting closer and then it’s too late, they’re there in front him and he can’t run away now. He takes a deep breath and steels himself for the disappointed expression girls always seem to have when they see him for the first time.

That expression never comes. Instead, Steve looks up into a friendly smile as the redhead extends her hand out to him. “Hi, I’m Natasha.” There’s no trace of the apprehension or disillusionment that usually accompanies the blind dates that Bucky sets him on. Natasha looks at him with attentiveness, like she’s already found him interesting and couldn’t wait to find out more.  

“Steve Rogers. It’s nice to meet you.” He can’t believe his voice works and that he remembers to take her hand. Her grip is strong and firm as she shakes his hand. Her skin feels soft and her nails are painted a bold shade of emerald green, he notices. She’s so well put together that it seems effortless, like she just woke up that morning and threw on the first thing she found in her closet without even looking. “Thanks for coming.”

“Well, I couldn’t pass up a chance to meet a guy that’s worth more than ten times other men I’ll meet collectively or so Bucky says,” Natasha winks at him. Her tone is flirtatious and he doesn’t know how to react. This is brand new territory for Steve Rogers.

“He said that about me?” Steve asks. He glances over at Bucky only to see that he’s completely wrapped up in Wanda, and he realizes that he’s still holding onto Natasha’s hand and he lets go, hoping that he doesn't come off too gawky and blundering.

Natasha grins as she lets her hand slip from his, and there’s something about her, the sparkle in her eyes and the colour in her cheeks, that has captured his attention so completely.  “He said a lot of nice things,” she reassures him. “Quite a friend you’ve got there, Steve.”

Before Steve could respond, Bucky approaches them. His arm is already around Wanda’s shoulders, looking as comfortable as can be and Steve wishes he could be the kind of guy that could pull off a move like that without looking horribly awkward. Natasha isn’t that much shorter than him and it probably could work if Steve tried, but he doubts it would be as smooth. He takes a moment to study Wanda, and he understands exactly why his best friend is so besotted by her already. Wanda is all smiles, and bubbly, as she extends her own hand to greet him and he finds that he’s immediately charmed by her.

“So, where are we going?” Wanda asks.

“Coney Island,” Bucky replies. “Games, awesome rides, great food - what more could you want on a first date?”

“Oooh! That sounds fun!” Wanda grins.

Steve groans internally and probably didn’t hide his expression well enough because Natasha catches it. “Not a fan of amusement parks?” she asks, looking curious.

“It’s not that,” he replies. “Just remembering what happened the last time I rode the Cyclone.”

“He threw up,” Bucky adds, smiling with glee.

They made small talk as they rode the train to their destination. People look at Steve differently, he notices right away. It’s not just that he’s with someone like Natasha, it’s that she actually seems like she wants to be there, conversing with him in a way that shows a lot of interest and energy and she’s paying no attention to anyone around them. It’s already one of the strangest dates he’s ever been on -- strange in a  good  way -- though what makes it weirder is the way people look at him when they see the company he keeps. It’s no surprise that Natasha turns heads everywhere she goes, she’s so stunning that Steve expects it. What  is  a surprise is that when the men look at her and then look at him, their expressions change -- and Steve can tell they’re wondering how he scored with someone so beautiful. Women tilt their heads, looking him over speculatively in a way that says  what does she see in him  -- and he does his best not to display any discomfort when he notices them staring.

Natasha carries most of the conversation between them and for that Steve is grateful. He’s in uncharted territory here, unable to completely process what is happening as the evening progresses. He has no idea what to say and figures it’s better to keep quiet, rather than risk saying something completely stupid.  He learns that she works in public relations, on special retainer to Tony Stark, New York’s very own famous billionaire and self-proclaimed genius, playboy, and philanthropist. She does a lot of damage control whenever Tony gets caught by the paparazzi doing something inappropriate for one thing or another. It keeps life interesting, she describes, you never know what he’s going to do next and the amount of money she makes is more than enough to compensate for the headaches he causes on a regular basis.

They talk about a variety of topics as they move through the amusement park. For a Friday night, Coney Island wasn’t too terribly busy, but it was crowded enough that they lost Bucky and Wanda part way through the first hour. Steve’s pretty sure that their friends disappeared on purpose and his suspicions were confirmed by Natasha when she shows him the message on her phone.

Wanda:  Let’s meet up later for dessert! That pastry shop in Bensonhurst around 10pm?  

“I’m 99% sure that we aren’t going to see them for the rest of the night, honestly,” Natasha rolls her eyes as she reads over Wanda’s text. She quickly types out  let’s meet up tomorrow instead xx, before putting her phone back into her purse. “So, I’m feeling a little hungry. Want to get some hot dogs?”

Steve blinks. “You mean, you still want to hang out?”

Natasha gives him an odd look before one of understanding crosses her features. There’s a small smile on her face as she nods. “Well yeah… I mean, we’re already here and I was promised a fun night. Did you want to leave?”

“No!” Steve bursts out. “I don’t- I just-- ” He feels his face begins to heat up as he awkwardly tries to figure out how to explain that this whole evening is an anomaly for him. It isn’t the first time Bucky’s “ditched” him on a double date in the hopes that the date would lead to something more. He’s done it once before and it was such a disaster that Bucky swore he wouldn’t do it again unless he was 100% sure Steve’s date wasn’t going to ditch him as well. The fact that Bucky’s essentially left him with a stranger now spoke volumes. And once again, Steve is struck by the realization that Natasha actually wants to spend time with him. He takes a deep breath. “You said you were hungry?”

The only place to get hot dogs, in Steve’s opinion, is at Nathan’s. Anywhere else and it’s just blasphemy. He pays for their food and drinks, despite Natasha’s protests that she could pay for herself (another first for him, he notices), and he lays out his coat on the sand for them to sit on when they decide to eat near the beach. Natasha sits close enough to him that he can feel her body heat radiating off her. She’s practically pressed up against him.  “So, you’re a tattoo artist,” she says, as she takes a bite of her hot dog. “Forgive me for saying so Steve, but you definitely don’t look like a person that would be tattooing people for a living. How did you get into that as a career?”

He laughs because it’s true, he’s not your typical tattoo artist. People often walk into his shop and do a double-take when they see him sitting behind the counter. He’s not big and burly like some tattoo artists, nor does he look intimidating either. “I kind of accidentally fell into it actually,” he shrugs. “I worked at a coffee shop throughout high school, and was always drawing something during my breaks for my portfolio… the plan was to try and save up money for art school. There was this guy, Drax, he was a regular at the coffee shop and he saw one of my drawings one day and offered me money for the design.”

“What was the original career plan?”

“There wasn’t one really…” he finishes up his hot dog and takes a sip of his lemonade. “Art was the one thing I was good at so the plan was to try and make a go of a career, wherever that took me. I’ve done some illustrations for children’s books and some graphic novels. In my spare time, I draw up some art based on popular tv characters or from movies and then make prints of the art to sell at comic cons. It does pretty well whenever I go to an event. Most of my income comes from tattooing though. It’s a pretty steady gig and it pays the bills.”

“Wow,” Natasha grins. “So how did you go from drawing art, to tattooing people’s skin?”

“Well, after Drax bought my first drawing, he came back two days later and asked to see more drawings and bought them all. He paid me enough money to cover my first year of college! Over time people were requesting more of my drawings to be tattooed and so he brought me on to do commission work. People would email me ideas of what they wanted for their tattoos and once they were satisfied, Drax would come in and tattoo them. He offered me an apprenticeship halfway through my college degree and I thought, why not? I’m still drawing and doing what I love, and I get to meet some interesting people too. And it turns out I have a pretty steady hand when it comes to tattooing people. The rest is kind of history.”

“That’s quite a story, Steve,” Natasha looks thoughtful as she smiles at him. “Can’t say I’ve ever met anyone quite like you.”

Heat rushes to his cheeks and he runs a hand through his hair. “Uh…I-” he stammers. “Me either. About you, I mean.”

She tilts her head slightly as she looks at him through her eyelashes. “I like it. You are a surprising person, Steve Rogers.”

Steve has no idea how to read the signals that she’s giving off. She’s looking at him expectantly, like she’s waiting for him to do something and it’s all he can do to try and keep up. She has a wonderfully expressive face, sharp lines and hollow cheeks but plump lips and beautiful green eyes framed by dark lashes -- and long red hair that looks so impossibly soft that it makes him want to run his hands through it.

  Does she want me to kiss her?  

The thought enters his mind as Natasha lifts her chin a fraction of an inch and she shifts even closer. His heart is pounding so loudly in his chest that he’s sure she could hear it from where she is sitting. She has his complete attention now, and he’s unable to look anywhere else but her lips. He thinks she wants him to kiss her but he doesn’t want to presume. Everything about this night is already so unprecedented and he doesn’t want to fuck it up in any way.

“Well, well,” a voice cuts in. “Doesn’t this look all cozy?”

Steve’s pulled out from the spell he’s under and he looks up to see a man and a woman he doesn’t recognize standing a few feet away from where they're sitting. He feels Natasha sit up straighter and she pulls away slightly as she turns to face them. Within seconds, the Natasha he had been interacting with disappears and a new version of her appears. She eyes the people in front of them warily, a polite but distant smile emerges. “Elektra,” she acknowledges, her voice even and void of emotion. Her eyes flit over to the man next to Elektra and if possible, Steve thought her voice became even colder. “Matt.”

“Hi Natasha,” Matt’s voice is low, his body language indicating exactly how awkward he is feeling. “I thought I heard your voice. It’s… uh… nice to see you.” Matt smiles wryly, as he fidgets with his cane and Steve suddenly realizes that the man is  blind. It certainly explains why he was wearing sunglasses at night. “Pun intended, of course.”

Natasha hums, but doesn’t say anything more. Instead, she stares up at them and even though she’s sitting, somehow the redhead is more intimidating in her stance than the two people standing. Steve has no idea what’s going on, but it definitely feels as if he’s accidentally stumbled into some kind of awkward situation that he has no privy too. Elektra is watching them with so much interest that it makes him feel more than slightly uncomfortable. “You look  so  happy, Natasha darling,” she coos, though it’s clear that the tone of her voice is more haughty than it is sincere. “How  wonderful.”

He has no idea what makes him do it, but he listens to his gut instinct and shifts so he slides in closer. He wraps an arm around Natasha’s shoulders and smirks, staring right at Elektra and silently challenging her to contradict him. “Thanks,” he says, confidently. His tone implies more than words ever could. “Her happiness is my top priority. If anyone can see it, it means I’m doing my job right.”

Elektra’s eyes narrow but she doesn’t say anything more. Instead, she wraps herself around Matt’s arm, clinging to him as if she has something to prove. Natasha turns, paying them no mind, and gives Steve a warm smile. It’s a smile that tells him she’s grateful, that she’s glad he’s there. “Enjoy your evening,” Natasha dismisses them and leaves them no choice but to shuffle awkwardly away. She lets out a sigh of relief once the couple is out of earshot and slumps into him. “Thanks for doing that. You didn’t have to help me save face in front of them, but you did and I really appreciate that.”

He really wants to know what that was all about but felt it was too rude to ask. It isn’t really his business anyway. He gives himself a few seconds to enjoy the way her body is nestled against his before pulling away. It isn’t gentlemanly, he reminds himself. It’s better to let her cuddle up when she truly wants to and not when it was a ruse to fool other people into thinking they were a couple when they actually weren’t.  “Don’t mention it,” he smiles at her as he stands up, holding his hand out to her. “Want to go for a walk? Or we can go play some games, we still have some credits to use up.”

“Sure, let’s go play whack-a-mole.” She peers at him, tilting her head as if she’s trying to figure him out. After a moment, she grasps his hand and pulls herself up, dusting off the sand that’s caught on to the hem of her jeans. She grabs his jacket and then slips her arm through his as they begin to walk away from the beach. “I have the urge to hit something.”

True to her word, they found themselves at the brightly coloured tent minutes later and Steve’s watching as Natasha eagerly uses the toy mallet to hit the plastic moles that appear at random before disappearing back into their holes. Natasha’s efficient as she hammers away, and Steve’s coming to find that when she puts her mind to something, she succeeds. The alarm above the score panel flashes red, indicating that she’s the winner. She turns to him in triumph, a wide grin on her face and the sparkle back in her eyes. “Pick your prize.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t it be me that wins you something?”

“Don’t play into gender roles, Steve,” Natasha rolls her eyes. “Pick something!”

He lets out a laugh as he looks up at the brightly coloured stuffed animals hanging from the tent and one immediately catches his eye. “The giraffe, please.”

“Interesting choice,” she looks at him curiously as the attendant hands him his new stuffed toy and they begin to wander off. “Why choose the giraffe and not the lion, or the penguin?”

“Giraffes are my spirit animal.”

“I… had no idea what I was expecting you to say, but that was not it,” she laughs. “Are you serious?”

“Well yeah,” he shrugs. “I mean, who doesn’t love giraffes? They’re one of the world's most majestic creatures. Most people automatically choose animals like lions, or tigers for their power.  Or they go for the cute and cuddly animals, like bunnies and pot-bellied pigs. But giraffes? People tend to miss out when it comes to giraffes.”

“But not you, huh?”

Why in the world is he talking about giraffes? Steve has no idea how their conversation has come to this but here he is, telling her his love for giraffes. All he can do is roll with it.

Perhaps it was the dim lighting from the street lamps all over the park, but Steve thinks that Natasha is looking at him differently from the way all women usually look at him. She looks at him like she finds him cute, like she enjoys their conversation and wants to keep it going. “Well, giraffes tend to stick their necks out and stand tall when they’re trying to reach for leaves, and have the ability to look down from above -- and I think that’s a beautiful personification for life. Like, don’t just be one with the crowd, fight for what you believe in and always try to see the bigger picture.”

He feels her gaze, and knows that she’s listening to his every word. “Something tells me that you fight for what you believe in, don’t you?”

“I mean… yeah? I try? If I see a situation point south, I can’t ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could.”

“Do you ever run away?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “You start running, they’ll never let you stop. I grew up smaller than those around me and never really fit in anywhere either. My small size made me an easy target but I always try to give as good as I get. That’s one of the reasons why I like giraffes so much… they’re such gentle creatures but they don’t confuse size with strength. Size doesn’t always guarantee might or ability. Plus, they’re loyal to those who have earned it and they’re weird looking -- like me. So, that’s why I consider them my spirit animal.”

"I don't think you're weird looking," Natasha smiles. “I think I’m going to start seeing giraffes in a whole new light now.”

He has no idea how to react to the words she'd just said, so he keeps quiet, all the while feeling his cheeks burn red hot. They fall into comfortable silence as they walk along the path leading out of the amusement park, away from the crowds and into a quieter street. It’s getting late and the evening is almost over, he realizes regretfully. He doesn’t want it to end. It’s the best first date he’s ever been on and he’d definitely like to see her again if she allows it.

He tries his best to gather the words in his mouth. “So…” he trails off as he slips his hands into his pockets, the giraffe tucked tight underneath his arm. He has no idea how to do this. Usually his dates would make excuses to leave as soon as possible, and the ones that did stay always indicated that they would get in touch but never did.

Natasha waits as he pauses and heaves a sigh. He runs a hand through his hair in obvious anxiety, eyes unable to meet her gaze. He mumbles something beneath his breath, and Natasha blinks, “I’m sorry?” She asks, wanting for him to repeat the words he’d just said.

This time, Steve looks directly into her eyes, and when the words leave his mouth, Natasha’s reaction was not one he was entirely expecting.

“ -- do you want to go out again?” was what Steve said, the second time louder and with much more clarity than before. He gnaws on his lower lip, preparing for some kind of rejection as Natasha’s eyes widen slightly, clearly a little surprised. The next few words stumble out of Steve’s mouth hurriedly before he could even stop himself. “I mean, I completely understand if you don’t want to--”

“Steve,” Natasha interrupts him gently. She smiles softly. “Are you sure that  you  want to go out again?”

When she utters those words, his jaw drops and he just stops and stares at her with aghast, as though what she had just asked was unthinkable. He’s definitely confused now and he shakes his head in disbelief. “What? ”

“All night long, I’ve been trying to figure you out, Steve.” The redhead in front of him shrugs. “You know, when Bucky first suggested this double date I was really hesitant. But your friend said some wonderful things about you and I thought, ‘what the hell, why not... got nothing to lose’ and I found myself feeling kind of excited for the date all week.” She tilts her head slightly, meeting his gaze head on. “I even found your profile on Tinder and swiped right, hoping that we could maybe chat a little bit before the date but we never matched.”

Steve is flummoxed and somewhat speechless as he listens to Natasha speak, baffled at her words. It takes a few seconds for her words to truly sink in and his eyes widen in pure bewilderment. Somehow he finds his voice. “Really? You swiped  right  on my profile?”

“I did,” she nods. “And then tonight… I mean, I asked a lot of questions and you answered them, but you never really asked any questions of your own to get to know me… and you didn’t even question it when Matt and Elektra interrupted us! So I started to think maybe you weren’t really interested in me, that maybe I was wasting your time.”

That sentence is the  last  thing Steve would have ever expected to hear from someone like Natasha. She thought that he  wasn’t  interested in  her? It takes a longer time for the entire exchange to sink in, but when it does, Steve is annoyed with himself. His mind is running through the entire evening that they’d just spent together and he comes to find that she’s right. All of the things he’s learned about her in the last few hours were all things that she volunteered herself. He hadn’t asked her anything to show that he was interested. It’s no wonder she’s questioning his interest in her. He’s flustered as he quickly shakes his head, “Natasha, I’m sorry --”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Natasha waves her hands in the air, cutting off Steve’s attempt to explain himself. “I think I kind of had some stupid expectations of Tinder… I mean, expecting us to match was probably a little presumptuous and that’s on me.”

“I am interested,” he blurts out, holding her gaze. “I’m sorry that I gave you the impression that I wasn’t because it couldn’t be further from the truth. And as for Tinder… well, I don’t really go on the app or have my notifications on anymore.”

She blinks. “You don’t?”

So far his experience of the app has been shit. The only reason he downloaded it was because Bucky had made a comment on his nonexistent love life and  fuck, he let that get to him. But here was this beautiful woman standing in front of him and telling him that she had swiped right for him.  For him. And evidently, had been disappointed to find that they hadn’t matched.

“Well, I never seem to get any matches, so I kinda just stopped trying. I probably should've deleted my profile altogether, but I kinda forgot about it after awhile.” There's a masochistic part of Steve that speaks up. “Do I disappoint you?” He wonders if he does. He wonders if he did before he asked. He’s disappointed plenty before without meaning to.

There’s a bit of a cheeky twist to Natasha’s smile as she laughs slightly and shakes her head. “Well, not so far.” She takes a step closer and he feels his heart rate pick up. In the dim lighting, her eyes look impossibly large as she stares at him. He feels the warmth radiating from her as she leans up and presses a kiss to his cheek. She pulls back, smiling softly now as she takes in his expression. “I had a lot of fun today, Steve. And I’d like to go on a real date if you’re up for it.”

“But?” he prompts, realizing that she still had a few things to say.

“Despite what a lot of guys assume, I’m not an easy piece of ass,” Natasha shrugs, waving off his attempts to protest against what she was saying. She looks at him with a wistful expression. “I like it when people put in a little effort… and maybe my way of thinking is a little ridiculous, but  I know  I’m worth the effort.”

Steve is still gaping at her as she turns and hails a cab, leaving him there on the sidewalk. Just before the cab pulls away though, Natasha rolls down the window and gives him a mischievous grin. “Why don’t you think about it, Steve? Look for me on Tinder. Find my profile and swipe right, and then maybe I’ll give you my number.” Her playful grin turns into a soft and hopeful smile. “I’ll take a chance if you will.”

Steve watches the cab drive away, still unable to believe what had just happened. Natasha actually seemed sincere. It felt like she actually wanted him to find her and even though it’s a foreign concept to him right now, he feels  encouraged. It's been years since he’s gotten butterflies and yet that is the only way he can describe how he feels in this very moment.

He thinks about Natasha’s words a lot as he heads home, going over every little detail of the evening in his mind. She wanted him to find her, wanted him to work for it…  I know I’m worth it, she’d said. Though Steve has no doubts that the redhead is worth it, there’s a part of him that can’t help the trepidation he feels anyway. Natasha is amazing and beautiful, and completely out of his league and he knows it. It was infinitely easier when he’d thought this date would be a one and done kind of deal.

And yet. And  yet.

She wants to go out again, he reminds himself. On a real  date. Just the two of them.  Alone.

He pulls his phone towards him and unlocks it, scrolling until his eyes land on the tiny pink icon and taps on it. Dozens of profiles immediately load onto the screen, one after another, and he starts swiping left, looking for one profile in particular. When he downloaded the app in the first place, he hadn’t expected to get very far. Everyone knows that Tinder isn’t the safest way to find love, and Steve is aware of it to and wasn't too hopeful about it -- he just never expected something like this situation to happen.

Forty-five minutes pass and he’s still swiping left, when suddenly he freezes. His thumb, that had been ready to swipe left, halts its motion, and he stares at the photo that’s on his phone. At those eyes that look familiar, green and wide-eyed. At the tilt of her mouth, that Steve is coming to recognize as the start of a warm grin. Even in her pictures, Natasha is dazzling and he can understand why she assumed people would swipe right on her profile. She probably has her pick of men. He can’t imagine anyone swiping left on her.

His heart pounding, his thumb presses to the screen and he swipes right. There’s a moment of panic, the urge to drop his phone… to hide it. He can pretend this never happened and his life could go back to normal. He breathes out shakily, breathes in a bit more evenly. Why is he so nervous? She had said to find her, hadn’t she? It’s fine. Everything’s fine.

And then his screen lights up.