#defrost 2018

[petrodragonicapocalypse]

hozier today!!!!!!!!!

[ricciardo133]

Miami 2023

maxiel, Max in a bikini, light frotting

-

Max walks from the hotel hallway into the dark suite. He flips on the lights to see an inexplicable hot tub. There, just a few yards from the California king in the upscale room, is a marble jacuzzi.

It seems elegant but out of place, plopped in the otherwise normal room like someone was drunkenly designing in The Sims. The entire hotel is quite elegant, but Max wasn't expecting his solo suite to be this fancy.

He looks over his key card's paper pouch while dislodging his phone from his jean pockets. After confirming with his team that, no it was not a mistake and yes this was the only room the hotel had left, he hangs up and stares at the jacuzzi like he would a strange wild animal. He then calls Daniel.

"Mate, do you have a hot tub in your room?"

"What? Like the bathtub with jets?" Daniel asks back, his mirthful tone intrigued.

"No, like a fucking pool hot tub by the bed."

"Holy shit. You got a honeymoon suite? Complete with rose petals and champagne?"

"Sadly just coffee packets and little soaps." Daniel laughs that charming honk that always makes Max smile reflexively.

"I'm sure they can bring some in for ya. Aw, you're a lucky man, Verstappen. Sounds divine. Far cry from our little shared teammate suites back in the day, right?"

Max's smile falls. He bites his lip, thinking of the gentle touches, the hushed friction from back then. Furtive handjobs in darkened rooms, twisted sheets and nervous assurances it was only out of convenience. Daniel's lips around Max's length, then switching spots and swearing that whatever happened in that pocket of time didn't mean anything after. Always 'just for now' and nothing more. Just for now, never, despite Max's silent yearning, bleeding out from the hotel rooms' private universes to something more.

"Hotels are more boring without a roommate," Max says. They haven't done it in so long, but now that Daniel's back with the team? Max snuffs the thought. "Well, it's weird but fine. We won't be at the hotel much anyway."

"Hey, well, enjoy it while you can. A little pre-race soak sounds hella choice."

"I don't have a bathing suit."

"Max, it's in your room. You can use it naked."

Max flushes. "I guess."

"I can bring you a suit, if you reallly want? I'm actually out on the town right now."

"Uh, sure. And one for you. You can use it, too."

"I always pack one, Maxy. Don't have to get ready if you stay ready. What kind you want? Trunks? Speedo?"

Max laughs. "Surprise me," he says. He glances at the tub, picturing Daniel's lean frame in there with him, legs brushing like ice baths back then or past soft contact in hotel showers, knees on wet tub floors. He shivers. "Whatever you want. You know...just for now," he adds, as if the underlining, wordless current of want would somehow be beamed telepathically from iPhone to iPhone.

Daniel doesn't say anything for a moment. "Max, I..." He takes a sharp breath. "Do you remember Spa 2018? When that chick threw a bra on the fan stage?"

Max smiles but then freezes when he remembers getting back to their shared suite that night. That Daniel kept it, cheeks as red as the laced bralette as he handed it to Max to try on, both of them still slick with sweat after qualifying, thighs slipping against one another, Danie's damp hands on Max's cupped breasts.

"Yes, I remember."

"Just for now, right?" Daniel asks, in that soft tone he hardly uses with anyone else.

"Just for now."

"Okay, I'll bring two options."

He hangs up. Max stares at the cold marble and feels heat well in his belly. He lets a nervy breath go and unpacks just to do something to get his mind off the defrosting longing.

He still feels lost in snippets of horny memories as someone raps a little staccato melody on the door. Max darts over, opens it, and resists unspooling immediately.

"Damn," Daniel says as he eyes the hot tub. Max watches his friend stroll into the suite as he looks over the room. He's still in the team kit from some media event he must have been at downtown. Max feels undone seeing him in that shade of blue again. "A nice touch. Floridian elegance," Daniel says.

"I should start the water."

"I'll do it. Here," Daniel says, tossing a bunched up shopping bag into Max's arms. "Whichever you want, okay?"

Max looks into Daniel's big brown eyes and nods. His mind is a cat pawing Daniel's words like a ball of yarn as he slips into the bathroom to change.

The first thing he pulls out is a classic pair of swim trunks covered in little palm trees. He sets them aside, opens the bag further, and peers down at the other two red items at the bottom. He swallows. That throbbing, electric current ups in kilowatts in his heart, thinking that Daniel missed it, too. He wants it again, too. It's a simple mantra he repeats mentally on loop as he shuffles off his jeans and shirt. He puts on the bikini and assesses his reflection.

He wishes he had shaved. He looks from the smattering of facial hair around his full lips and soft cheeks down to his tense, strong neck and further down past his collarbones to his two pecs. His hand-full breasts are held in place by the scarlet triangles of silky fabric, edged with a slight lace design. He adjusts the thin bikini straps over his shoulders, feeling flustered at how defined and full his tits look. They lightly bounce as he lets the straps go, soft flesh jiggling and making his head spin. His hands slip down along his waist, pulling the bikini bottom out and then letting it similarly snap back into his plush love handles that slightly swell over the fabric.

Fuck, he thinks. He wraps himself in a hotel towel. His body is torn between being wildly self-conscious and uncontrollably horny. The latter wins out. Daniel picked this for him. He wants to see Max in this. Max feels whirled again in old, familiar, hot need. He leaves the bathroom.

Daniel has also changed into his own swim trunks, his torso bare as Max takes in the sight of old tattoos he hasn't seen in years. Daniel, thankfully, also seems a bit wound up. He looks up, one hand under the running water and the other clenched around the marble lip of the tub.

"Max," he says.

"Daniel."

"Whatever you want, y'know."

"And for you, too, of course."

"I want this." Daniel stands up, turning off the water. The room is suddenly thrown into a wild silence. "For now."

"For now," Max nods and lets the towel drop off his body.

The hotel air is cold but soon Daniel's warm hands are on him, tracing gentle lines up his arms.

"Holy shit," he breathes. He leans in. Max's hands mirror his lines, running up Daniel's arms, palms resting on ink. "Max, God. You look so good."

"Daniel."

Daniel squeezes Max's shoulders, fingers skating in to dip under the straps of the bikini like Max did just moments ago. "Tell me if it's too much."

"It's not enough."

"Jesus Christ, Max," Daniel says, hands moving back to press down into Max's shoulder blades. He swears and lets his hips roll forward. Max feels relieved at the press of Daniel's already hard cock against his.

"You missed this, too?" Max asks.

"Of course."

"I bet it was just as good, with the others?"

Daniel steps back, shaking his head. "There was only ever you." He looks down at Max. The room is so soundless, he can hear the soft rustle of skin on fabric as Daniel's fingers gently wrap around his tits. He squeezes, tenderly at first until Max's small whines make Daniel's grip harder. Daniel's hands press faster, squeezing Max's tits together as Max reflexively searches for friction, his hips bucking into Daniel's.

"I only ever wanted this with you," Daniel says in a small whisper. "God, I haven't...it's been so long."

"We used to do something like this," Max says. He holds Daniel's bare biceps, spins him gently, and pushes him onto the bed. Daniel's wide eyes meet Max's gaze as the younger man straddles his hips. "But usually we were not wearing anything."

Daniel smirks. "Yeah, not usually clothed for long." He pulls Max down gently by the straps of the bikini, his fingertips dancing along the lace and then under the fabric to squeeze Max's hardening nipples. Max groans. His eyes water as Daniel twists gently. He wants. He needs. He feels his thighs clench around Daniel's hips, his cock pressing against the bikini's bottom and wetting the fabric with a leak of precome.

He lets Daniel maneuver him, moving one of Max's thighs between his legs. Max rolls his hips down, his dick rubbing against Daniel's tattooed thigh. He groans. For a moment, there is a heated rhythm of Max bucking into Daniel's leg and Daniel's hands working into Max's breasts, a dizzying tempo. Max's head swims in the careening pace.

"Daniel," he whines as he pinches harder and twists until Max feels ready to burst. "Daniel."

The other man pauses, watching as Max struggles to keep composure. He sighs.

"I fucking missed this," he breathes.

"You can come by whenever now," Max says before he can think. He stops short of saying more, of saying it can be anywhere, anytime. That it can be more than just for now if Daniel wants that. "Even if there is not a hot tub in the next hotel."

"Oh, yeah, the hot tub," Daniel says. He looks over at the still, clear water. They hadn't even turned on the jets. "Probs too cold by now, you reckon?"

Max nods, his tone matching Daniel's mock sobriety. "Oh, definitely. Shame. We can just...stay here in bed instead?"

"Sounds good to me, Maxy," Daniel says. He gives Max's breasts a final squeeze before his fingers lace into Max's hair and pull him down into a heated, urgent kiss. Max melts in fully, losing all sense of space and time. Like years ago, it was just them. Just for now, that's all that matters.

[bedlamsbard]

I rotate my hyperfixations like seasons and it's Steve Time so is there a thing in home that you expected more ppl to notice and have been waiting to talk about?

Nobody in the SSR believes Steve.

It's not that most people still believe he's lying to them, either maliciously or because he was brainwashed, but the frozen in ice/time travel story is so wild that no one can actually get their heads around it. Even Howard doesn't believe him subconsciously, back in his lizard hindbrain and his gut, as much as he believes him otherwise.

Everyone knows that something really awful happened to Steve, but the thing is -- it's the worst war in human history, all of the Howling Commandos were POWs in a Hydra slave labor camp, there are atrocities being committed on a daily basis, the SSR and the 107th have been on the front lines of the Western Front of the European theatre for years now and the Howlies often operated behind enemy lines. "Something really awful" is not exactly exceptional in any way, and from their perspective Steve was only missing for a month. He's different from how he was the last time they saw him, but not in any way that can only be explained away by "he was frozen in ice for sixty-seen years and then got slapped back in time by an alien." Subconsciously it's very explicable with "his best friend died in front of him, less than a week later he deliberately crashed a plane laden with bombs while thinking he was going to die, and then he made his way back to Allied territory through occupied Europe. met a girl along the way and married her on pretty short notice."

And the thing is...that happened all the time in WWII. Literally all the time! All parts of it! There's nothing weird about it; everyone in the SSR probably knows a couple of people who experienced most or all of that, if not experienced parts of it themselves, and consciously or subconsciously making that assumption about Captain America is extremely believable and even relatable. There's a reason it's the cover story for Steve's return.

The problem is, of course, that that's not what actually happened to Steve.

Back up in the twenty-first century, no one who's actually met Steve thinks he's lying about what happened to him (though it's a feature in various conspiracy theories), but that's because by 2012 everyone had had sixty-seven years to get used to the idea of Tragically Lost Captain America. Especially back in 2012, you met Steve and you knew that something was just ever so slightly off about him, because he just didn't have the body language or other cues that someone born in 1984 rather than 1918 would have. (In MCU canon Steve and Natasha are the same age with a five month difference once you subtract the icebox years, if you go with a 2012 defrosting date.) In 1945 he has 2018 body language, mostly, but otherwise he hasn't visibly changed. He doesn't look six years older and the body language and other cues can be explained away with "his best friend died, he crash-landed an airplane, and he had to make his way back through occupied territory." Because, again, this happened all the time.

It's a point of extreme stress for Steve that no one in the SSR -- including Peggy, the Howlies, Howard, and Phillips -- believes him. Steve is not the kind of person people often disbelieve, and he's really not used to being disbelieved by these specific people. Going into the ice and waking up sixty-seven years later is the single defining experience of Steve's life, and having most of the people he loves more than anything else in the world not believe him is absolutely awful for him. It's almost worse that they're not doubting him openly anymore, but he can tell that they don't really believe him. As he tells Natasha in Chapter 7, "You can know something and not believe it." The people in the SSR who are in on the secret might know it -- but not one of them really, down in their guts, believes it.

(Peggy actually does think he's lying, but she can't figure out about what or if it's malicious or brainwashing. That's also extremely stressful for Steve, because it's Peggy. And the thing is -- he is lying! There are actually a host of things he's either lying about or concealing and two of them are very, very personal both to him and to the SSR. So that doesn't help either.)

[sir-adamus]

there's like a handful of people who have suddenly started acting real shitty about bumble/by whilst claiming freezer/burn is a superior ship (and whining about the divorce joke which is actual years old at this point so were you twits just cryogenically frozen before volume 8 and only just defrosted or what?) and it is transparently obvious that these are all people hiding on secondary accounts, probably lying about who they are and definitely lying about why they don't like the bees (i saw one of them unironically call someone a wasp like it's still 2018, this is hysterical) by hiding behind a ship that had zero chance of ever being canon and that's one hundred percent why they picked it

i know we're nearing 6 months of hiatus and starting shitty discourse for no reason has been what almost everyone has been doing since about a week into the hiatus because y'all get bored annoyingly easily and are frankly frustrating to deal with but the shit they're attempting to start today (it's been a tragically pathetic attempt and you can tell it's only about three or four people at most who aren't even able to ragebait correctly) isn't even beating a dead horse

it's exhuming the corpse of a half decade dead horse and parading it around like it's weekend at bernies

and then beating it

[pifindsfood]

Lemon Poppy Seed Blueberry Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

http://www.bsweetdessertboutique.com/blog/2018/4/4/lemon-poppyseed-blueberry-sweet-rolls

Ingredients

Lemon Blueberry Filling

1/4 cup granulated sugar (50g or less)

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

the zest of one meyer lemon

1 cup fresh blueberries or frozen berries defrosted (250g)

Cinnamon and cardamom to taste

Yeast Dough

1 1/4 cup whole milk or buttermilk; divided (300g)

3 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast (7g)

2 tablespoons granulated sugar; divided (21g)

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (375g)

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon poppyseeds

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided (24g into dough)

Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons butter, softened

the juice of one lemon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup confectioners sugar (60g)

pinch of salt

*More lemon zest for topping

Instructions

Filling:

Combine 50 g sugar, and salt in bowl. Stir in 2 Tbsp melted butter, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Then, mix in all blueberries. Set aside while you prepare the dough. 

Dough:

Butter a 9-inch round cake pan or oval cast iron baker. 

In a small heat proof bowl heat the milk in the microwave until 110 degrees (about 15 to 20 seconds). Then, stir in yeast and sugar and let sit until bubbly.

Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, poppy seeds together in large bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons butter, yeast mixture, and remaining 1 cup of milk until dough forms. Then, transfer dough to a floured counter and knead until smooth ball forms, about 4 minutes.

Roll dough into a 12 by 9 inch rectangle, with long side parallel to counter edge. Brush dough all over with 2 tablespoons melted butter, leaving ½-inch border on far edge. Sprinkle dough evenly with filling, then press filling firmly into dough. Loosen dough from counter and roll away from you into a tight log and pinch seam to seal.

Roll log seam side down and cut into 9 equal pieces using a knife or unflavored floss. Stand buns on end and gently re-form ends that were pinched during cutting. Place 1 bun in center of prepared pan and others around perimeter of pan, seam sides facing in. Brush tops of buns with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Cover buns loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour or overnight. Preheat the oven to 350F.

After rising, bake buns until edges are well browned, 23 to 25 minutes. Loosen buns from sides of pan with knife and let cool for 10 minutes. 

Glaze:

After the rolls cool for 5 minutes, mix together softened cream cheese and butter until smooth. Then, add lemon juice, confectioners sugar, vanilla, and salt and mix until combine. Pour glaze evenly over tops of buns, spreading with spatula to cover. 

[queenofcarrotflowers-s]

9 people you want to know better tag!

I was tagged by @snowpetrichor (tysm for the tag!!)

and I'm tagging:

@theroseunblown @charmandabear @fireheartedpup

@suitetarts @remornia @recents @stars-in-stones

@seldarinestrumpet @avemakuta– if you would like to do it! feel free to ignore if not.

Three ships I enjoy: Solavellan, Astarion x Dark Urge, Marcille x Falin are my current ship obsessions/interests (@whispering-depths is my fandom blog where I post about these)

First ship: probably Luna Lovegood x Neville Longbottom tbh lol. and then Edward x Bella from Twilight. HP and Twilight were my first real forays into fandom culture (but fuck JK Rowling we don't fuck with her anymore)

Last song: Cinderella by Remi Wolf – I'm going to see her live next month and I'm so fuckin excited for the show!

Last movie: I slept over a friend's house last night and we watched A Simple Favor (2018) starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively and. wow that movie was insane and I have no idea what happened. had a good time tho

Currently reading: Dragon Age: The World of Thedas: Volume 2 because I just can't get enough of Dragon Age lore rn.

Currently watching: honestly I've been watching a lot of DropoutTV recently (Game Changer, Make Some Noise, etc.) and most recently finished watching Dungeon Meshi. I'm thinking of rewatching BEASTARS soon because it's been too long.

Currently eating: I just had the most delicious sausage egg and cheese handpie for breakfast!

Currently craving: cheesecake, tbh. and thankfully I have one defrosting in the fridge rn because the best thing about being an adult is getting to buy the frozen Trader Joe's cheesecake and having no one to tell me not to :')

[okamirayne]

Hiiii, so I'm hijacking that super Btb ask from December 2018 about were the others supportive/accepting of ShikaNeji, given their rocky past together? (Like, Kiba, for instance)... Could you maybe, possibly expand a bit on your answer there that his reaction holds big one-shot potential? :D I would love to hear some details and any tidbits you'd be willing to share regarding this! I just love being immersed in your Naruto-verse, as it basically my headcanon now. Wishing you peace and rest! <3

Hey there, @inarvm! 🩷

Hope my response finds you well, luv. Cheers for dropping in on yours truly with this ASK ^_^

Ah yes, the potential reactions from the rest of the shinobi crew to the ShikaNeji ship they didn't even know was sailing.

Could you maybe, possibly expand a bit on your answer there that his [Kiba] reaction holds big one-shot potential? I would love to hear some details and any tidbits you'd be willing to share regarding this!

I can most certainly try...

Well, given Kiba and Neji's whole 'will-they-won't-they' throw-down (and not in the let me love you kinda way) the ShikaNeji reveal makes for an interesting wtf-revelation for our dog-nin. Though it's less of a shock than a dawning realisation for Kiba. He clocks on, shall we say.

He considers Shikamaru his friend, his buddy, his childhood compadre, whereas Neji is mostly relegated to the comrades-I'd-like-to-KO-but-can’t category. I mean sure, Neji gained some serious clout with Kiba for saving Shikamaru's bacon, and the ongoing game of 'defrosting Mr Cold Shoulder' sometimes amuses Kiba, but he usually always clashes with Neji — and that isn't something that really changes, even in the lead up to the Hyuuga's death.

All that considered, you can imagine Kiba’s confusion over Shikamaru choosing to hang his heart on a Hyuuga that isn't Hinata lol. There's also the Temari equation which hasn't been solved for the dog-nin.

So you've got a few things going on here:

Protectiveness towards Shikamaru

Wariness of Neji

Confusion over Temari

His one-sided enemy o' mine drama

...Possibly other crap that hasn't yet been disclosed to me and may come out whilst writing Kiba.

I hope that gives a little bit of insight into Kiba's potential response — always hard to fully say for certain until I'm writing the scene, but these are the strong impressions that come up, given how he feels or thinks about Neji.

I just love being immersed in your Naruto-verse, as it basically my headcanon now. Wishing you peace and rest! <3

That's so kind and supportive of you to say — and it's hugely appreciated. 💜 Thank you, sweetheart 💜

[greensparty]

This Month in History - December

There are quite a few landmark anniversaries I'm celebrating this month:

Dec. 2, 1988: The Naked Gun opens

In Dec. 1988, the first of Zucker-Abraham-Zucker's cop spoof was released. Here is my piece I got in 2018. Happy 35 NG!

Dec. 5, 1973: Band on the Run released

In Dec. 1973, Paul McCartney and Wings best album (possibly the best Non-Beatle album he did) was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 50th BOTR!

Dec. 6, 1968: Beggars Banquet released

In Dec. 1968, the 9th U.S. album from The Rolling Stones. Earlier this year I got to review the Record Store Day reissue of the album. I'd definitely put this up there with Let It Bleed and Exile on Main Street in the pantheon of Classic Stones albums. Happy 55th BB!

Dec. 6, 2013: Inside Llewyn Davis opens

In Dec. 2013, the Coen Brothers' criminally underrated folk musician epic was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 10 ILD!

Dec. 10, 1993: Wayne's World 2 opens

In Dec. 1993, the sequel to Wayne's World was released! It might not be as loved as the original, but it is better than people think. I wrote about this in 2018 and director Stephen Surjik wrote me back with some thoughts. In 2022, I saw it on the big screen at Nice, a Fest. Happy 30th WW2!

Dec. 10, 2003: Big Fish opens

In Dec. 2003, one of Tim Burton's most underrated movies was released. Taking Burton's visual style and combining it with a family drama with fantasy elements was a gamble that paid off. It's something that feels new each time I've seen it since. Happy 20th Big Fish!

Dec. 11, 1998: Rushmore and A Simple Plan both open

In Dec. 1998, two of my favorite movies from that year opened on the same day. Here is my piece I wrote about Wes Anderson's film and Sam Raimi's film. Happy 25th Rushmore an ASP!

Dec. 12, 1973: The Last Detail opens

In Dec. 1973, Hal Ashby (who was on a roll at the time) had one of his best released. It was one of the great movies of the 70s. It was also one of my Top 5 Boston Movies of All Time! Jack Nicholson was in rare form as he and Otis Young played Navy men transporting younger sailor Randy Quaid to the NH Navy prison and showing him a good time along the way. Happy 50th TLD!

Dec. 14, 1988: I'm Gonna Git You Sucka opens

In Dec. 1988, Keenan Ivory Wayans' 70s LOL comedy opened. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 35th IGGYS!

Dec. 14, 2018: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse opens

In Dec. 2018 one of the best Spider-Man movies was released. I actually named it my #7 Movie of 2018! By diving into the Miles Morales storyline, they took the Spider-Man story we all know so well and made it seem new again. Just last Summer they released the awesome sequel: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was released. Happy 5 S-M:ITS-V!

Dec. 15, 1978: Superman opens

Speaking of super hero movies: In Dec. 1978 one of my favorite big screen Superman movies was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 45th Superman!

Dec. 15, 1993: Schindler's List opens

In Dec. 1993, one of Steven Spielberg's finest works was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 30th SL!

Dec. 16, 1988: Rain Man opens

In Dec. 1988, the Oscar-winning Best Picture and biggest grossing film of 1988 was released. With the exception of parodies (i.e. The Hangover's Vegas gambling scene), nobody talks about this as much. The road movie of long lost brothers one autistic (Dustin Hoffman) and the other selfish used-car guy (Tom Cruise) was actually quite touching. Sure it was the 80s feel-good movie era and whatnot, but the performances were among both actors' best. Happy 35 RM!

Dec. 17, 1973: Sleeper opens

In Dec. 1973, one of the funniest movies ever made about the future was released. Woody Allen was in his prime when he played a man who is cryogenically frozen in 1973 and is defrosted 200 years later. This is definitely one of his funniest ones. Happy 50th Sleeper!

Dec. 17, 1993: The State premieres

In Dec. 1993, the now-legendary sketch comedy series of NYC comedy group The State premiered on MTV. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Earlier this Fall, I actually got to see The State reunion tour when it was in Boston. Happy 30th TS!

Dec. 17, 2008: The Wrestler opens

In Dec. 2008 Darren Aaronofsky's greatest movie was released. Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 15 TW!

Dec. 18, 2013: Her opens

In Dec. 2013, Spike Jonze greatest movie was released! Here is my piece I wrote in 2018. Happy 10 Her!

[themculibrary]

Fics Written In 2018 Masterlist

A Marriage of Inconvenience (ao3) - WhinyWingedWinchester loki/tony, natasha/thor, odin/frigga M, 80k

Summary: Forced into an arranged marriage with Prince Loki of Aysgarth, Tony knows that he is not the ideal husband to the son of a king, but he still hopes that he might find true love with his husband like the stories he loves to read of adventures and happily-ever-afters.

Prince Loki, however, does not wish to be married, and he makes this clear to Tony even after their vows have been said before the priest. Life is no better for Tony in Castle Aysgarth than it was back in Iron Reach - he is as unwanted by Loki as he was by his father.

But slowly, things change. There is a steadily growing affection between them, something that might, perhaps, grow into more and Tony can only hope his love for Loki might one day be returned.

But then an assassin strikes unexpectedly, pirates attack, and Tony very well might be living an adventure from one of his books, but it looks like happily-ever-after might be too much to hope for.

At Face Value (ao3) - lambchop33 steve/bucky E, 64k

Summary: Steve Rogers is leading what he thinks is a pretty normal life in Sanctuary, a bustling city with a large population. And a big wall around it. He has a good job and good friends. Totally and completely normal--except for the face he sees in his dreams. Every night. The face of a stranger. One he's hopelessly attracted to. When that stranger unexpectedly drops into his life in the form of Bucky Barnes, Steve's got to figure out what it all means, and how to handle it when his totally normal life suddenly is anything but that.

Can We Bring Yesterday Back Around? (ao3) - glitterfics clint/steve E, 39k

Summary: When he got back from New Mexico, Clint was given the incredibly boring task of watching the newly defrosted Captain America adjust to modern life. He didn't expect it to lead to a misunderstanding, an impromptu make-out session and a blown mission. But that's alright because he was unlikely to run into Steve Rogers again. Right?

Fate Will Play Us Out (ao3) - steveandbucky steve/bucky M, 30k

Summary: Bucky has landed himself a job with Stark Industries. He doesn't know yet that the job is actually being the PR manager for the Avengers.

Bucky has also started dating Steve Rogers. He also doesn't know yet that Steve is Captain America.

Bucky's life is about to get a whole lot more exciting.

Finding Home (ao3) - ruffaled rhodey/sam T, 5k

Summary: The world is ending. Again. And after being on the run for three years, as an internationally wanted fugitive, Sam Wilson finally gets to go home.

Forms of Love (ao3) - bear_bell bucky/tony E, 33k

Summary: Months after the Avengers' dispute in Germany, the team returns to the US and moves back into the tower. As always, everyone pretends that nothing happened. Tony is just fine with this. He's used to pretending, and he'll be damned if he lets any of them see him flinch.

Tony's the bad guy, after all. He's used to it. He's fine with it. He's good at it.

Only now, there's something far worse loitering around the tower - The Winter Soldier. No one notices the guy at first, but when they do, Tony figures that he should have the soldier's back.

Birds of a feather should flock together, and the bad guys should start a book club.

Let it Be (ao3) - lucifersfavoritechild tony/stephen T, 15k

Summary: While dealing with his son's car accident and a rapidly-dissolving marriage, Tony is drawn to Peter's surgeon, Dr. Stephen Strange.

no one id rather be stuck with (ao3) - angelheartbeat bruce/thor G, 4k

Summary: Whilst on a diplomatic meeting with government officials, Thor and Bruce get stuck in the building elevator.

One Hell of a Show (ao3) - MillyVeil pepper/tony E, 44k

Summary: Tony gets kidnapped for ransom and Clint gets nabbed with him. It’s rough for them both.

Raise Your Glass (ao3) - minkeys steve/bucky E, 10k

Summary: Bucky knows Steve in ways that his 21st century friends could never even begin to imagine. Or at least, they couldn't until tonight. It's about time somebody corrected all those historians that painted Steve as a straight-laced, God-fearing soldier, and what better way to do it than over a harmless game of "Never Have I Ever." What's the worst that could be said?

Rise Up (ao3) - Wix stephen/tony N/R, 52k

Summary: Tony leaves the Avengers in the wake of Ultron when he refuses to standby and approve of their choices. Fate's quick to step in though and show that where one door closes, another one just might open.

Showdown (ao3) - shatteredhourglass bucky/clint, steve/tony T, 13k

Summary: Bucky was happy for Steve, he was. But did he and Tony have to be so disgustingly romantic all the time? // In which Bucky is tired of Steve and Tony's antics and Clint suggests revenge, which turns out with an additional bonus.

Some Great Reward (ao3) - Kiyaar steve/tony E, 5k

Summary: After the events of Captain America: Civil War, Tony and Steve come to an agreement. It doesn't involve affection.

Tribute Given, Treasure Gained (ao3) - sphagnum steve/tony E, 12k

Summary: “Steve,” the Captain said, hand over his chest.

Tony licked his lips. Was he supposed to give his name, or remain silent until he was asked a direct question? The Captain--Steve, apparently--already knew his name, he had to, it had been included on the settlement he and Stane had signed. Was this a test? Time was passing and Steve was still waiting with his hand on his chest but Tony had to figure out the right answer fast or when Steve moved he might--

“Tony,” he blurted.

“Tony,” Steve repeated. He hadn’t come any closer. He said something short that might have been pleased to meet you or you look good on your knees. Tony had no way of knowing and he wasn’t going to risk echoing it. He kept quiet. See, Howard? I do know how to shut up when my life depends on it.

what if there is no tomorrow? (ao3) - iron_spider pepper/tony

Summary: "Tony, talk to me. What's going on with you? You're freaking us out."

Tony keeps making his snow angel. He moves his arms and legs back and forth and stares up at the bright blue sky until Peter moves a little closer, eclipsing the sun. He narrows his eyes and stares down at him like he's insane.

Because he is insane.

"Peter," Tony says, beginning the conversation he's had so many times before. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course," Peter says.

"We're in a time loop. I'm Bill Murray. I remember everything, you guys don't, we're...we are trapped. We're trapped, buddy. I've done this over and over. And over. And over and over and over. I don't know how to fix it. So I'm...giving up. I make snow angels now. And that's it."

Who Saves The Hero (ao3) - CamelotQueen T, 15k

Summary: May brings home her new boyfriend. Something about him makes Peter feel nervous, but he makes May happy. And if May's happy, then Peter is happy.

Then it escalates.

worth fighting for (ao3) - icoulddothisallday, TetrodotoxinB clint/natasha E, 13k

Summary: Clint and Nat decide to take their relationship to the next level. It doesn't go like either of them had hoped.

Wrapped Up In Clover (ao3) - FestiveFerret steve/tony, clint/phil T, 54k

Summary: It's been seven years since Steve and Tony split up, and Steve's sure he'll never see Tony again. He's finally managed to put their failed relationship behind him and move on, focusing on his friends and building his business. But then his best friends, Bucky and Clint, decide to get married, and their wedding week at a cabin resort in Vermont turns into a minefield of heartbreak for Steve.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

#20yrsago NYT reviews Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/09/books/does-that-mean-we-can-defrost-walt.html

#20yrsago Notes from “Doing Good Online” https://web.archive.org/web/20030604125836/http://cheesedip.com/?p=archives/week_2003_03_02.phtml

#15yrsago Society of Automotive Engineers kills DRM on its journal following MIT boycott https://web.archive.org/web/20080308131031/http://news-libraries.mit.edu/blog/following-removal/1024/

#15yrsago Flowchart: How D&D is a gateway drug to every flavor of nerdiness https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/opinion/09rogers.html

#10yrsago Welcome to your Awesome Robot: instructional comic turns kids & cardboard boxes into AWESOME ROBOTS! https://memex.craphound.com/2013/03/09/welcome-to-your-awesome-robot-instructional-comic-turns-kids-cardboard-boxes-into-awesome-robots/

#10yrsago US Ninth Circuit says forensic laptop searches at the border without suspicion are unconstitional https://www.techdirt.com/2013/03/08/9th-circuit-appeals-court-4th-amendment-applies-border-also-password-protected-files-shouldnt-arouse-suspicion/

#10yrsago Austin Chronicle on Aaron Swartz and the future of computers https://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2013-03-08/invaluable-information/

#5yrsago How denialists weaponize media literacy and what to do about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I7FVyQCjNg

#5yrsago Machine learning models keep getting spoofed by adversarial attacks and it’s not clear if this can ever be fixed https://www.wired.com/story/ai-has-a-hallucination-problem-thats-proving-tough-to-fix/

#5yrsago RIP John Sulston, open science hero and father of the Human Genome Project https://phys.org/news/2018-03-john-sulston-decoded-human-genome.html

#1yrago The cruelty isn’t the point: The point is power https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/09/turkeys-voting-for-christmas/#culture-wars

[oureneasdeoliveiraworld]

Geladeira Esmaltec 245L Cycle Defrost Inverter Roc31 Pro - Branco - 110 Volts (Entregue por Gazin) - Black Friday 2018

[n-i-j-o-m-u]

10 Years Ago: Phantom

Is that font… Papyrus? I started my comics short story “Phantom” in late October of 2013 and finished it in August of 2014. While I did a few edits before I collected the story in This Wasn’t the Plan (2018), the bulk of the piece was completed ten years ago this month. All the stories in This Wasn’t the Plan are the most literally autobiographical of my fictional works, especially “Defrost”…

[mariacallous]

My not-so-healthy Jewish food resolution for 2020 sounds simple: Eat more blintzes. But, as with the best blintzes, it’s a little more complex than this simple statement. 

My grandmother, Mama Pearl, was 99 when she passed away last February. She was my baking buddy and Crisco guru. She taught me to make apple pie when I still had to stand on a stool to reach the counter, and I’m now the keeper of her index box full of sweet recipes for everything from Passover apple fritters to pecan chocolate pie. 

One thing I never learned to make, though: her blueberry blintzes. 

No restaurant, diner, Jewish food emporium, or synagogue has ever served me a blintz that looked like Mama Pearl’s. The dough was so thin it was nearly transparent, and the whole blueberries in the filling — never jam — pushed up almost to the point of breaking through. Forget any tightly folded blankets of barely filled dough, these looked more like children’s sharp elbows poking up under the sheets.

How do I remember what they look like so clearly? I’ve got the last one in my freezer. She made it as part of a batch in the summer of 2018, and I held on to it thinking I’d wait until she made more. Now I’m too emotionally attached to either eat it or throw it away. The only thing I can think to do is to master her recipe and create more to keep the “one” company, so I don’t have to continuously check to make sure no one has eaten it or defrosted my freezer in the night.

But how to go about making a blintz that’s mostly a memory?

To the recipe box I go. Only, there’s no recipe here, and I’m not really surprised. A blintz is the kind of instinctual comfort food women of her generation made simply by the memories in their hands.

So, to the internet I head, but as with my restaurant quest, I can only find “fresh blueberries” that have been cooked down into jam. 

Then my mom saves the day with a recipe she wrote down by watching over my grandmother’s shoulder, and it’s exactly how I remember it.

I head back to my own kitchen and pull out my frozen keepsake, which I’ve been too emotional to do before now. The blueberries have shriveled from being in the deep freeze for two years, and there’s a layer of frost on one side that nearly brings me to tears. 

In fact, everything about my New Year’s blintz project makes me verklempt. I don’t want to be the only holder of the last blintz, what I truly desire is impossible: for my grandmother to make me a cup of coffee from her 50-year-old percolator and ask me to take out the garden furniture while she fries up her sweet summer specialty.

But a funny thing happens as I pour and swirl the batter in the frying pan: My own hand memories start to kick in. I can picture mama in the kitchen, and I know I’m going too slowly. The only way to get a thin, lacy blini is to make the pan hotter, pull it away from the heat quicker, and swirl it more deftly, like she did. 

In the end, my pancakes are a bit thick, but my blueberries are lemony and delicious, bursting with flavor and still whole.

The first batch was good, but there’s room for improvement. And that, I think, is the best part of having a New Year’s resolution to eat more blintzes: I still have the whole year to get it right. 

Note: You can freeze these blintzes once they’ve been prepared (see Step 7). When you’re ready to eat them, defrost, then fry them on all sides in butter in a nonstick pan until golden.

[scifi-and-realism]

Cracking Open a Cold One With The Boys

Cryostasis, when you freeze people, yet they live.

Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are two individuals that have been cryogenically frozen. They both have the Super Soldier Serum, a substance that radically alters the individual down to their cells and DNA to work at superhuman levels of efficiency and endurance. One of the effects the serum has is they are able to survive temperatures that would kill a normal person. The image on the right depicts the Bucky in his cryogenic chamber that Hydra had him in off and on for 70 years. Steve’s ice trip to the future was brought on by Steve crashing Red Skull’s ship, the Valkyrie, into the Arctic ice as it was filled with bombs to be dropped on major US cities. Whether their frozen nap was interrupted or not, they both were defrosted and returned to a normal human core temperature with no decline in their functionality.

This story is not unheard of though, well the human aspect is, but not the rest of it. There was a study published in July of last year, stating that they discovered frozen samples of a new species of nematode, a roundworm specifically (shown below) back in 2018. Getting back to the lab they intended to study it, and they discovered it was still alive, despite being frozen. They did multiple tests and though radiocarbon dating they surmised that the roundworms were in the Siberian wilderness around 46,000 years ago and when the weather dropped below their tolerable level they essentially pressed pause on their metabolisms waiting for the weather to warm and the thing about Siberian permafrost is that it’s permanently frosty so the worms never experienced a temperature that would allow them to resume normal function until they were found by the scientists. They are able to produce a special specific sugar called trehalose. Without they would have just died. While we do not produce trehalose, the chief scientist says that it’s not unheard of to be able to apply the worms cryobiosis ability to humans somewhere in the distant future.

Speaking of humans, as far as we are able to preserve ourselves is only with small tissues or populations of cells, such as sperm or eggs, but they have to be carefully monitored to be far below -112 degrees Fahrenheit. Scaling up on what you freeze creates much difficulty as there is more that can change due to size and other factors. As much as we can do is very carefully freeze organs for 4-12 hours for transplantation before the organ is unusable. In the case of an entire body it is difficult to determine if one can resuscitate a one after it has been cooled 32 degrees for any period of time.

[disorganizedkitten]

The Marinette Lucky Charm

Miraculous Ladybug | 2018 | 1,467 | Ao3

Trapped by an Akuma before she can transform, Marinette leads a team to victory, without her magic. Inspired by Chapter 22 of Miraculous flaming trash heap, by Jackal-In-A-Box.

“Alya! Get back here!” Marinette hissed, watching from behind an ice statue as her best friend inched painfully closer to where Chat Noir and the Akuma of the hour were trading blows.

Normally, Marinette would have said ‘'this is enough cover, Transform me!’ and rushed out to help. Today though, Mylene, Alix, Rose, and Juleka were all right behind her. There was no way they'd miss her transforming now.

“I don't think she'll listen. These will be pretty cool shots though.”

“This is Alya, she's as in love with the Ladyblog as she is with Nino.”

“Oh that's so romantic! Wait, shouldn't she be more in love with Nino?”

“How is she not scared? She's running towards danger!”

Another blast of wayward ice hit the statue they were behind, shattering it. The girls scattered, and Marinette took the chance to hide away.

“Tikki-”

“Marinette wait!” the Kwami flew up to eye level, shaking her head. There was an ice shard sticking out of her left paw.

Marinette cupped her hands and pulled her out of the air. “Tikki are you okay?!”

Tikki frowned at her paw, and the shard fell through it. “I should be. But I'll only have enough power for you to transform and call on a Lucky Charm. Then you need to detransform so I can recharge.”

“But, don't I have to be Ladybug to actually use it?”

“No. Only to purify the Butterfly. Chat can contain it once you break the object. You are the mastermind behind the Lucky Charms working out. Just use it!” Tikki flew up and bopped Marinette's nose.

Marinette wasn't convinced, but another statue shattering nearby told her she needed to at least try.

“Tikki, Spots on!

“Lucky Charm!” Something dropped into Ladybug’s hand, but she didn't stop to look before releasing Tikki. “Spots off.”

Marinette, still super apprehensive about doing this without her suit, looked down. “A scrunchie. A scrunchie! Tikki what the heck am I supposed to do with a scrunchie? I mean, it'll be great for tying up my hair if I lose my ribbons, but what? Maybe if I had superstrength I could shoot it at the Akuma as a distraction, but I don't and-”

“Sorry Marinette, I don't choose the charms, I just make them. You have to figure out how to use them.”

“ We. Are. Going. To. Die! Hawkmoth is going to win and we are all going to die because I got a charm I can't use and I can't figure it out without magic and-”

“Stop panicking Marinette! You have always figured out your charms, even the weirder ones. I make the suit and the object, but it's you who figures out how to use them. I'm going to put aside that part of that might have been a jab at my abilities, because I stand by you!

“In spirit. I have to recharge so we can capture the Akuma.”

“But Tikki!”

“You were Chosen Marinette! I believe in you! You're my bug! Good luck!” and with that, Tikki ducked into the purse and latched it with a snap.

“But- and- what about- How am I supposed to do this?!” another handful of ice shards splayed past her, leading her eyes to where the girls’ backpacks had ended up.

“Actually, you may have been right Tikki. I think I got it!”

Marinette slid the scrunchie onto her wrist, then proceeded to duck over to the pile of bags, grab a plank of wood and ice skates from Alix’s, a wheel from Alya’s, and her backup purse chain, then start zigzagging towards the Akuma herself.

“Marinette what are you doing?!” Alix yanked her arm, pulling her to where the other four girls were.

“Something stupid and dangerous. I might need this nail too. What is this guy destroying anyway?” She kicked up the half-defrosted building material and caught it. “Oh Alya, you're here. Good. Mind helping me with a tricky plan?”

Five pairs of eyes stared at Marinette as though she'd gone crazy. This was the first time they'd actually seen Marinette in action during an Akuma attack, and the suspiciously red and black scrunchie on her wrist, plus the four -five now- oddities in her hands painted a rather revealing picture.

Alya was the first to reply, putting aside the mess of spots and strings in her head. “Always Girl. What're we doing?”

“Hey, I'm in too if I'm needed,” Alix nudged both girls encouragingly.

“Me too!”

“I'll help.”

“I can try?”

Marinette smiled. “Well first, I need to get close enough to get Chat Noir’s Baton and tail. Then, if we distract the Akuma and use those-” the girls listened raptly, and then Alya, Marinette, and Alix started to execute the plan.

“Hey freezer face! Why don't you stop picking on the cat and try to catch someone at your own skill level?”

“Oh and that would be you? Please. ”

“Try me!”

“I'll be back for you, Alley cat.” The Akuma froze Chat to the ground by his tail, and took off after Alix.

“Hey Chat Noir! I need your Baton! And tail!”

Chat turned, expecting to see a very-late-to-the-party Ladybug. Instead he got Marinette, heading his way like she lived on ice.

“Why?”

“I have an idea!” Marinette slipped to a stop beside him, misjudging her weight and slipping into a somersault. Chat was not reassured by the sight.

“I'm going to trust you here, because I've worked with you before and you're actually pretty good. But don't get used to playing superhero without a Miraculous. It's not safe!” Chat Noir detached his tail, and turned to yank it out of the ice bank.

Marinette scoffed as she grabbed the tail, twisting it out in one fluid motion. “Trust me, I won't. Where's the Baton?”

As an answer, Alya gave a yell of “Heads up!” as it rolled across the ice and tapped Marinette's knee.

“Perfect.” Marinette grabbed Chat’s forearm and pulled herself up, only letting go once she had a sustainable balance level. She twisted her foot, somehow staying on her feet, and started towards where Alya was positioning their setup.

Marinette fumbled her stop again, tripping over the wood plank and catching Alya’s wrist with the belt-tail. Chat Noir grabbed the middle of it, stopping them both from hitting the floor.

“Thanks Chat.” Marinette untangled Alya, and started looping the the belt around the wheel and Baton.

“Incoming!” Alix’s cry was the only warning they got before the pink and green blur skated past them, the Akuma a little ways behind.

“I gotta say girls, I'm… less impressed than I thought. How is this supposed to help?” Marinette shot him a look, then pulled both Chat and Alya out of the way of an ice shot that the Akuma fired. “A little more impressed, but still unarmed for when she loses interest in Alix.”

“Please, you can fight without your Baton. Not that you'll need to. Alix! Phase three!”

“Girl, please don't let her actually hit me.” Alya pulled herself onto the plank, holding the wheel for balance. She was purposefully ignoring the memories of how often Marinette’s plans backfired, instead hoping the magical items included in this one would balance that out.

“I won't.” Marinette promised, moving away with the baton in hand. Chat Noir looked between the girls, ultimately deciding to follow Marinette. That way he was closer to his weapon when this fell apart.

“Marinette what are you-”

“Duck!” Marinette toppled Chat, and swung the Baton like a baseball bat, spinning thrice as she did so. Chat watched quietly from the ground while the girls moved forward with their plan. Alya shrieked something about not dying when the contraption started moving, Alix made a scarily sharp turn and started back towards them, and Marinette kicked herself into another spin. The Baton spun with her, and since it was attached to the wheel via his tail, the momentum pulled the wheel into a much wider arc, and the plank that was attached to the wheel (when and how had they done that?) did the same.

Alix skated straight into the blur of brown that was the spinning contraption, somehow sliding under it and continuing across the ice to where Rose caught her and helped her out of sight. The Akuma wasn't as prepared.

“What in the-”

The plank caught her, and when it stopped spinning, a wobbly Alya ripped her necklace off and stumbled back to where Marinette and Chat Noir were.

“Holy crap,” Chat breathed.

“I live,” Alya replied shakily. “Here's the object. I hope.”

“Nailed it!” Marinette jumped happily, missed her landing, and crashed down on top of a half-up Chat and Alya.

“What in the plagues was that Mari?”

“Marinette you could've died!”

“That was awesome.”

“Since when are you that strong?”

[wmhartnett]

A Reddit comment on the alleged need for premeditatedly humorous responses to electric vehicle skepticism from old farts but which, in this author's experience in the real world since 2015, is not actually a thing

Who are these malicious petrochemical fetishists lying in wait to accost unsuspecting Reddit-posting EV-appreciators? Are they really so numerous that we must arm ourselves with insouciant retorts? Across nine years that have included the ownership of four BEVs and a PHEV, I have had precisely two interactions prompted by the particulars of my vehicle’s drivetrain.

In June 2018 at a RaceTrac gas station in Cherokee County, Georgia (2020 US presidential election result: Trump 68.8%, Biden 29.5%), a generously bearded, white-haired man with what one might broadly characterize as a tradesperson-ly bearing asked me how much I had paid for the 2013 Ford C-Max Energi PHEV into which I was, at that very moment, literally and furiously pumping fuel for the price of $2.889 per gallon. “The reason I ask,“ he added, conspiratorially, “is that I’d love to stick it to those Arabs.” ($14,245 is how much I paid for the 2013 Ford C-Max Energi. It sucked.)

In November 2022, early one freezing morning in the parking lot of the Econo Lodge Pigeon Forge Riverside in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, I came upon a generously bearded, white-haired man with what one might broadly characterize as a tradesperson-ly bearing, dressed in a late-90s era Rusty Wallace Miller Lite No. 2 jacket, peering into the front passenger-side window of my 2022 Tesla Model Y Performance, attracted by the conspicuously unfamiliar sounds of its defrosting processes. He wanted to talk about the 0-60 times and quarter-mile trap speeds of the seemingly many Ford Mustangs in his life and if it was true that, as he had heard, my appliance-white compact crossover loaded with everything a family of four requires for a pre-Thanksgiving visit to Dollywood would, for real and in actual fact, embarrass them all on a drag strip. “Yes,” I insouciantly retorted. He said that was cool as hell, but that he had an unspecified amount of gasoline and (liquified?) Ford Mustangs in his veins, and as a result simply could never see himself buying an EV.

I recommended that he call his primary care physician and demand a referral to a hematologist, reassured him that Ford Mustangs would always be cool as hell, and resumed my previous task of freezing my balls off in the Econo Lodge parking lot.