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the-s1lly-corner · 11 months ago

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CREEPYPASTA CHARACTERS CELEBRATING VALENTINE'S DAY

"but admin, its early January!" yeah well if christmas stuff can start coming the second fall starts then i can celebrate valentines early/j also i saw valentines stuff already being set up at the store and its gotten me in the mood writing this at 2:30 am while playing a roblox tycoon, im fighting demons rn... so tonights writing may be a little.... off... as per usual, jeff toby and ben are written as platonic (and honestly, i think platonic friendships are just as deserving of being celebrated too!) typos and blugh-y-ness aside, i hope you all enjoy!

SLENDERMAN:

i think he might be a little behind on the tradition... so you might have to fill him in...! i think once he gets an understanding of the holiday he tries to do something for you! i think he would pick flowers from around the forest for you ! so be prepared for that! but if you have an allergy or arent really a flower person, then i think he might find you a collection of cool rocks... maybe he even carves something from wood for you! dont forget picnics, too! i think he would take this as a moment to remind you how much he loves you... its not often that he verbalizes how much he values you.... well verbalize in terms of speaking in your head... but...! 8/10 hes my wife your honor!

SPLENDORMAN:

unlike his brother he DOES know what the holiday is and just know hes going to get this huge picnic set up for you! he cant exactly go out and buy you anything (actually... most of these characters cant....) so i think he might make you something! a handmade gift! isnt that nice! might give you a flower crown as well... i think he would try his hand at making the food for the picnic, i think unlike slender he can handle digesting human food... okayish... be it because he built a tolerance or because hes built different... shrugs... gives you a bouquet of sun flowers and makes the day about YOU... he would appreciate a gift, but hes not going to give you flack for not getting him anything 8/10 i love him too i wish i wrote for him more

EYELESS JACK:

honestly given that he lives in a cabin in the woods with like. zero ties to the outside world, he kind of loses his sense of time... kind of just relies off of the weather changing through the year to gauge what month it is... and even then that can only be so accurate... no youre probably going to have to remind him or drop some hints... kind of panics at first... i think he would offer to do some services for you (not like that) such as doing some work around your place, or cooking for you... but that doesnt mean much when he already kind of does that... hmmm.... offers to take you out to watch the stars, you guys end up exchanging stories... maybe if you ask nicely, he might come out with you to the streets and stroll around with you after everyone else has gone to bed... i dont think he really does... big gestures... 7/10 i still love him too and tbh my ass wouldnt mind not getting a huge gesture or gift

LAUGHING JACK:

i think he would go all out when he sees the valentines day commercials airing on the tv. i can see him making an arts and crafts thing for you but i can also see him just outright going to a store and stealing something. what are they going to do? arrest a 7 foot clown that can disappear into a puff of smoke? yeah right... whaaaaat? no of course he didnt steal this really expensive piece of jewelry! i think he would expect something in return though so you better have gotten him something! i think he would be satisfied with some candy, and perhaps some extra affection? please? generally easy to please during this holiday since hes just happy to have you around and to himself 9/10 i love him your honor hes my other wife

MASKY/TIM:

masky does know about the holiday, for the most part, usually from media and commercials, though... im still a little eh on how i write masky and hoodie in general but shhhh. i dont think he would see it as much of a big deal, though... but he can kind of see it being a big deal to you, if it is of course. i think he would just bluntly try to ask you what you want. no beating around the bush with this one... doesnt expect anything in return nor does he want anything... but i dont think he would deny you if you wanted to spoil him... 6/10 i love me a straight forward king

as for tim i think he might try to put some more romance into his attempt and try to surprise you... might cook you dinner and decorate the place to look fancy, since i dont think he would like going out to some fancy restaurant... gives you flowers, too... doesnt ask for anything in return either but his eyes do light up a little when you get him something, bonus if its not your typical valentines gift and its something thats more relevant and practical in the long run 6.5/10

HOODIE/BRIAN:

i think i can see hoodie being a little more playful in this scenario, but not by much... hes not at emotionally distant as masky is, but hes still not easy to read. i think he would make you something... maybe its because i see brian being into art and its bleeding into how i interpret hoodie, but i think he would paint you something... or maybe he tries to set up a little movie date for you two! makes a pillow fort to surprise you, too.. very nice, very calm night.. you guys stay up all night together. he refuses to fall asleep before you... 7/10

between the two if im going to go with the artist hc brian is the better artist and is generally more confident in his ability to make something that looks pleasing to the sight orbs. be it a portrait or something based around one of your interests, hes going to be working for weeks in advance trying to perfect it... i think he might also try to take you out for dinner, too. i can see brian being a bit of a romantic sap, probably plays your guys's songs while you're driving around town together 9/10 i would actually cry personally

TICCI TOBY:

between being on the run for krilling his dad and for burning his neighborhood down + working for slenderman toby isnt around often... but he does try to still make time for you, especially when theres holidays going on! hell, he still tries to come over when its saint pattys day. he doesnt care if he doesnt have green, hes still going to go check in on you. so hands down hes going to be there for you... though i dont think he would be able to offer you anything... so you two hanging out will have to suffice. while its not traditional to give your friends anything for valentines (which i think is bs, i like giving my friends candy and homemade goods) he might... just try to go shoplift some chocolate... please talk him out of it... 6/10 its a cool hang out, you guys probably watch movies and catch up!

JEFF THE KILLER:

"ew feelings and caring about others" kind of sums up jeffs views on valentines, and as immature as it sounds, its his true thoughts. so dont expect anything from him, i mean if you ask to hang out he might swing by your place. and by swing by i mean hes going to pick the lock to your window and let himself in through your bathroom... which scares the hell out of you considering youve given him a key to your house... similar to toby the day is spent like any other, which is fine.. not terrible, honestly. you guys probably just fuck around and do what you guys normally do, 6/10

BEN DROWNED:

"ew feelings and caring about others" for ben as well but thats because hes literally a ghost kid so it makes sense for him to have that mindset, so dont expect him to mention the day to you. i think if anything he might send you a png of those dumb valentines cards or memes but stress that hes only doing it because he thinks it might make you happy... which is sweet and sad because how often does ben get to interact and befriend people? communicate with them? otherwise you guys just do your own thing, 5/10

PUPPETEER:

oh hes going to be dramatic about it. you better get him something, reader! unlike laughing jack hes not easy to please! you better not pick him up some basic card from the store, you better make it unique to him! he doesnt eat so you dont need to burn a hole in your wallet to get him some expensive chocolates or plushies.. but what does he do for you? i think he would... do something similar in return, actually. maybe its the puppet theming but i can see him putting on a little show for you, or maybe even hand making you your own toy/plushie, totally catered to you and your interests! just know hes going to want your undivided attention for the entire day, and in return youre going to have his attention as well 7.5/10

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feelbetterlove-books · 3 months ago

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Hello I'm just dropping in to try and help spread some good vibes in the Bucktommy fandom, inspired by @thatmexisaurusrex so here are five headcanons:

Tommy got really into The Great Pottery Throw Down during the early days of quarantine, and he figured he could always use a new hobby, so there's a small kiln and a wheel set up in his garage. The wheel has been neglected a while, since Tommy found that he likes hand building much better, but when Buck finds out about it he goes down a rabbit hole learning about ceramics and he ends up being amazing at throwing, finds it very relaxing. There's already a bunch of Tommy's sculptural work decorating the house, but by the time Buck moves in there's also a lovely set of matching plates and bowls in the kitchen with a monogram of their initials stamped on them. A vase that's filled with fresh flowers every week. Their mugs came from Tommy's experimental efforts, all mismatched and they choose a different one to use every day based on their moods. Eventually, they work together to make a bird bath for the yard, which leads me to:

When Tommy's helicopter goes down, he's injured badly enough that a hospital bed gets set up in the living room and he barely leaves it for several weeks. During that time, Carla is hired to help take care of him and though Buck is there to keep him company as much as possible, he knows how boring a stretch of time off recovering can be. So, to help keep Tommy busy, he sets up a series of bird feeders outside their bay window where Tommy can look out with a pair of binoculars and identify and document all their visitors with a field guide and sketch book. He becomes Obsessed with this, names many of the frequent flyers, continues on to spend an extravagant amount of money on bulk bird seed every year, and makes sure the hummingbirds always have plenty of sugar water. Once he's healed, he and Buck, who is equally invested, plan hikes and trips around bird watching. They don't have any indoor pets but they love all their feathered friends.

Tommy was born a few days after Halloween and it has been his favorite holiday since he was a kid. He gleefully goes all out celebrating it and as a gift to himself, adds more decorations to his collection every year, some of which stay up inside permanently. He's this close to buying the 12 foot skeleton and Buck is not talking him out of it. They are beloved by trick-or-treaters for the display and the fact that they hand out full size candy bars. They prove they are very capable of executing a killer couples costume and scaring the socks off the 118 with some creepy antics at the party they host annually, but nobody can complain because it doubles as Tommy's birthday party.

The next time Buck hears about submissions being open for the firefighter calendar, he absolutely insists Tommy send in his photo. When he becomes Mr. June, (Buck's birth month, happy birthday to HIM) and is photographed for it stepping off his helicopter, stubble accentuating his cleft, flight suit only half on, tits out, sleeves tied around his waist, removing a pair of aviators, Buck loses his mind and buys so many copies of the calendar. The whole 118 and Harbor crew gets one on him. He has one in his locker displaying Tommy year round and one at home to actually use. He even mails a copy to his parents in PA and generally tells anyone who will listen about his hot firefighter pilot model boyfriend without a care for the teasing and groans he gets back, that's his man!!

I've seen a good amount of appreciation for Tommy and Buck's scars and tattoos and wrinkles, but off the top of my head I think Tommy's moles and freckles have been a bit overlooked. If we got to see more of his skin, you can tell he has a lot of them, on his stomach, arms, back, and chest, and Buck LOVES them. He can't really say why he finds them so attractive, but trust that he is kissing and tracing them every chance he gets, connecting the dots of his favorite constellation, and it makes Tommy feel so wanted. Maybe Tommy has some faint stretch marks around his pecs and shoulders too, from when he got really beefy and those little details that most people don't see but he knows well enough to draw on a map are Buck's favorite.

#Bucktommy #Tommy Kinard #Evan Buckley #Tommy Kinard they could never make me hate you #911 abc #911 show #ough I hope these are nice writing is hard how do people make posts every day and always have so many great ideas?? could not be me #Bucktommy fandom I 💙 you sorry I don't contribute much but these lads bring so much joy!!#and I hope the nasty creep(s) who have been forcing their way into our spaces lately knock it off and don't ruin it for you all

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vviolets444rroses · 2 years ago

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dating ethan landry pt3

my HEADCANONS <3 :

SFW only :)

part 1 | part 2

👻; he hates hard liquor. so you’ll just be sitting with him drinking something tropical. i feel like he secretly likes pink whitney, though.

👻; he loves raves💯 he always goes shirtless too. he used to be so self conscious about it, but now he’s chillin.

👻; he likes gorillaz, tyler the creator, deftones, pierce the viel, roar… (what do you think he’d listen to?)

👻; never broken the law once in his life. once when he was little, he accidentally took a push pop and cried when he realized he had it. (guys we’re ignoring the fact that he’s GF 😋)

👻; obsessed with action, sci-fi, and thriller movies. he makes you watch them, even if you’re afraid. you don’t mind because you have him to hold you.

👻; you guys slowly started developing each other’s mannerisms and habits. i.e., you laugh like him and he makes the same weird gestures that you do.

👻; he is always updating a playlist he made for you. he notices that you fall asleep to it when he’s doing homework late at night.

👻; he likes to rub your back while you sleep.

👻; he’s the type to make you soup when you’re sick.

👻; you’re always reminding him where he last had something. he forgets so easily.

👻; you don’t have room on your bed anymore because he buys you so many stuffed animals. you guys named them all.

👻; ^^ he won a lot of them at the fair. he will not stop playing until he wins.

👻; he loves mario kart and literally any fighting game. you can never win against him.

👻; dude… he has to be good at dance central and/or dance dance revolution.

👻; his bed smells like you. he even bought a bottle of your perfume so it never goes away.

👻; whenever you lose something, he buys another one for you. except he doesn’t even tell you. he lets you believe it just showed up.

👻; his favorite holidays include halloween and thanksgiving. one, you can’t fight him on saying halloween isn’t a holiday. two, he just likes to eat at thanksgiving.

👻; ^^ makes you wear a couple costume with him. it’s always something you don’t entirely understand. all these old timey shows that you slept through whenever ethan put it on.

👻; i bet he’s really clumsy. always getting hurt.

👻; he can’t tie a tie for the LIFE of him. he bought the clip ons, so he wouldn’t have to keep bothering you to help him.

👻; he probably slaps your ass after a few reps when you guys work out together. (is this sfw? idk i had to say it though😭)

👻; he def used to wear axe body spray☠️ you made him change it.

👻; now i think he would smell like something woodsy or like the ocean…

👻; when you fall asleep during a movie, he really wants to wake up up, but he doesn’t. he just ignores the fact that you’re asleep and talks quietly to himself as if you’re awake and listening to him😊

👻; he reminds me of these songs…

die for you (remix)

love you more than me

one more love song

i’m running out of ideas so send requests :) all of these are my opinion and just that. so please be nice! like and reblog if you enjoyed 🫶🏼

#ethan landry imagine #ethan landry #ethan landry headcanons #ethan landry x reader #ethan landry fluff #scream 6 #scream #scream movie #ghostface #boyfriend headcanons #vviolets444rroses

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champagneher · 2 years ago

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— MIDNIGHT KISS | MIN YOONGI

BASED ON | them spending their New Year's Eve on a party with their friends and sharing their New Year's kiss in front of everyone. GENRE | f!reader x idol!yoongi, established relationship, drabble, hidden relationship. WARNINGS | none.

The relationship between ____ and Yoongi to their friends could be described as full of flirting on both sides, with lots of teasing and hidden feelings. Both were always commenting on each other, either in a joking manner or looking to touch a nerve with the other. Pissing Yoongi off was no easy task, and ____ enjoyed finding something new to tease him with from time to time. Yoongi on the other, hand enjoyed seeing the frustration on her face when he looked completely unaffected with what she spent so much time preparing and swearing would make him lose his mind.

With Yoongi working on finishing his album and you with the holidays being when you were busiest with your work as a photographer, your friends hadn't heard from you for a while. Well, you had talked through the group chat you all had, agreeing to spend New Year's Eve together to welcome the new year in a special way. Other than that, no comments with any tease or jokes had been thrown by either you or Yoongi, which made them think that you had finally confessed your feelings for each other, or one had annoyed the other so much that you hated each other. There was no middle ground.

Chae: so we all gonna go to Soyeon's before 9pm, okay?

Soyeon: Yes! Don't be late so we can have dinner and tHEN alcohol, so we can remember at least something the next day :)

Jake: tell that to ____, she's gone after two bottles

Yoongi: Should I bring four or five bottles of champagne?

Jihyo: I think with four we're gonna do good

Jake: o.O

Chae: what now Jake

Jake: Sooo nobody saw that?

Joon: Stop being annoying

Jake: I just said how ____ is weak with alcohol and Yoongs didn't back me up :O

"Aah Jake is annoying when he wants to be," Yoongi complained, putting down his phone and leaving it on the small circular table in the living room. He stretched out his limbs as best he could on the couch, holding your legs that were in his lap.

After a short silence, you nodded your head, realizing the reason for his comment. You locked your phone and looked at him.

"Well, he has a point." You shrugged.

"What do you mean?" his full attention was now on you.

"Oh please, Yoongi."

"What?" he asked, even more confused.

"You never passed up an opportunity to tease me about my drinking skill."

"Skill? What skill? You're gone in thirty minutes-"

"See?!" You laugh, trying to feign seriousness, but you always find it difficult with Yoongi's obvious face. His brow furrowed, his eyes looked even smaller than they were, and his pink lips slightly parted in disbelief.

"Aaah," he grumbled. "I don't tease you all the time..."

"Obviously, now you have the wonderful opportunity to say it to my face," you teased him with a grin as he blinked rapidly, suddenly feeling shy at your suggestive tone of voice. "You're lucky."

"Me lucky?"

"Yes. Lucky you."

"Lucky I might be if you'd let me kiss you in front of our friends."

You let out a sigh and slumped back on the couch, things weren't as simple as they seemed.

The relationship between you and Yoongi itself was very new. Both of you having known each other for quite some time, but always under the light of friends annoying each other. Nothing more than that. But everything changed when the pandemic hit, and suddenly you found yourself talking to Yoongi every day, all the time. Both of you looking each other for the support you needed during those difficult times. Remembering the moments you both shared, laughing when a joke between the two of you came up again, or when you simply talked about music and your days of doing absolutely nothing. Yoongi showed you a side of him that you had never seen before and that you were grateful to be able to appreciate now. You let down your walls with him, you felt understood and appreciated when even your family couldn't show you the support you always longed for. Yoongi became your family in an instant. When you were finally able to leave your homes, the first thing he did was come to see you at your flat, where you spent hours talking about everything and nothing at the same time. The days went on and on, and before you knew it, the two of you were sharing days and nights together.

You could never tell your friends, and you never understood why. There were always pros and cons that they both went over in their heads, difficult not being able to say them out loud because of fear, but they both knew they were there.

Yoongi felt braver lately. And that was the effect you had on him. He felt that he could do anything, face anything and no matter what the outcome, he would be fine. He supposed that was falling slowly for someone, but, on Christmas Eve night, he realized that he was already in love with you. Spending Christmas with his family, all he wanted was to come to you and share gifts and a nice meal together.

Your insecurities always hit you. You mean, among your group of friends, you always talked about everything without any restraint. Remembering how your male friends, including Yoongi, talked and bragged with the models they had been with, people of high status, women who were practically princesses, of course hit your insecurity nerve. They would always make friendly bets on which idol Yoongi would end up with, and you were no idol. You weren't even close. So, what your friends might say or think about your relationship was seriously scary for you.

You could never tell Yoongi, but you knew he was suspicious of your thoughts, because - you mean - he's Yoongi. He might be quiet and all you want, but he was a very good observer, and he had certainly noticed how the joking tone you were making with who he would end up marrying had turned sour.

Hell, he couldn't help but stare at you at all times while saying that he might end up married to someone different from who they thought, but that he wanted more than anything by their side. Couldn't you see it? He wanted nothing more than to be by your side always. He was sickeningly in love with you, and you still had doubts that he would go with someone with a job like him, when that was the last thing he wanted.

The conversation after that moment was left in the thin air, concentrating on making dinner and then Yoongi making love to you in his room.

On the one hand, you knew that Yoongi didn't want to keep pretending to be just your friend among his group, since that meant listening to your girlfriends trying to get you to go on blind dates with one of their friends. Hell, if Yoongi didn't gnash his teeth every time he heard Jake or Chae telling you about the qualities of some guy they know with whom -according to them- you'd be the perfect match. Yoongi would be your perfect match, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from telling them that all they were saying was bullshit.

You didn't need someone to buy you all the most expensive gifts, you needed someone to listen to you. You didn't want a doctor or a lawyer, you just needed someone to love you and be your best friend at the same time. And he didn't want to brag, but he knew he had more money than any of those characters who wanted to steal you from his arms, and as you told him, he was your best friend, so.

The day passed quietly, on the morning of the last day of the year you decided to go back to your flat to get ready for the night. Obviously, Yoongi was against that idea, saying that the two of you should spend the whole day together, because he knew that at night he would have to pretend again not to be crazy about you and just call you "a friend".

That feeling of wanting to shout to everyone that you were his partner was never a part of Yoongi, he always loved his privacy, he still does. But, his possessiveness over you sometimes got the better of him. Obviously, he didn't expect to announce it to the whole world, he just wanted his friends to know about the two of you. Nothing more. The rest would remain the same, the outings, the drinks, the banter. But like you being an official couple. He was getting tired of having to leave the comfort of your bed in the morning and then pretending to arrive at lunchtime with your friends to chat about their weeks. Or making fun of you - in a friendly way - with your friends when all he wanted to do was put his hand on your leg and then tell them it wasn't true and get teased for being so gentle and soft with you.

Even though Yoongi accepted that you still had your doubts about telling everyone about you, the desire to be able to kiss you tonight at the stroke of midnight was permeating his chest.

You arrived a little early at Soyeon's house to help her with the final preparations for the New Year's dinner. You were barefoot and in your silver dress that you knew Yoongi would love, since he happened to see it a fortnight ago in a shop on his nightly runs with you, and commented on the pretty shade that would contrast with your eyes. Not to mention that it matched you perfectly, and let the imagination do the rest.

"The others should be here any minute, I think we've got everything ready."

"Yep," you agreed with your friend, arranging the cutlery on the table.

After a brief silence, Soyeon just watched you with a grimace that said she was ready to confront you. "So…"

"So…" you smiled at her, encouraging her to continue.

"You and grandpa."

You looked at her confused, what was she talking about? "Me and my grandfather?"

"No!" she laughed. "You and Yoongi."

"What?" You looked at her puzzled, turning your whole body to face her. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, ____. I've known you since we were 10. I think I can tell when you're in love with someone. And I can also tell when someone, especially if that someone has the emotional range of an asparagus, is in love with my friend. Which is kind of obvious." She shrugged her shoulders, satisfied with your surprised face. She had figured it all out. "You know, at first I thought you'd tell me after a couple of weeks, then I thought, oh, maybe in a month? But it's almost 3 months now, and I'm assuming it's even longer with you guys?"

"I- Soyeon…"

"I don't want to rush you into anything nor do I want to force you to tell anyone or am I going to tell anyone. I just want to tell you that I love to see you happy and loved like he loves you. You deserve it, and I'm so, but so proud for you."

"Loved?"

"____, you can tell a mile away that tangerine man loves you." She laughed, making you do too and lower your gaze to the floor. Everything he was saying was giving you a lot to think about. "We went through a lot when we were young," this time he moved closer to you to place his hands on your arms in a comforting way. "And when you are happy, I want everyone to see how beautiful my friend is when she's enjoying her hard work and all the good things she deserves. If you are happy, show it and don't hide it behind that hateful expression every time someone jokes about how good Yoongs would look with someone else when he only has eyes for you."

11:50 struck the night, only 10 minutes left for a new year to begin. Talking to Soyeon - or rather her being the noisy friend that she is - about your relationship with Yoongi, really gave you the last thing - that you didn't know you needed - to digest and accept that you really, at last, were living the life you'd always wanted, and Yoongi played a key part in that equation.

They were all together on the balcony of the flat that provided a beautiful view of the city of Seoul. Each with a glass in hand, ready to welcome the new year. They were talking to each other while Jake set up the audio system where they would listen to the countdown.

"Come on, Jake, didn't you study for this? It's the only thing I asked you to do!" Soyeon got angry, approaching the boy who was still moving some wires looking for the best way to listen to the channel.

"Calm down, woman. I already did. I'm just looking to make it louder."

You laughed, walking past him to where a certain someone was leaning on the balcony railing with her eyes lost in the city.

"They're something else, aren't they?" You commented as you casually joined his side.

Yoongi looked at you for a few seconds and then looked back to the front. He just nodded.

You let out a sigh, feeling the courage you had gathered over the past few hours slip through your fingers. Holding on to the last of what you had left, you snuggled closer to him and laid your head gently on his shoulder. You could feel his body quickly tense and then release the air that had built up in his lungs and relax into your touch.

"What are you doing?" he murmured, almost inaudibly. He cleared his throat and shifted his weight on his feet. "The others are going to say something."

"The night is beautiful," you bit your lip. "Soyeon is our friend, and she really helped me today."

"What are you talking about?"

"I want to start this year being really happy, Yoongi." You broke away to stare into his eyes. His eyes reflected confusion but excitement at the same time. You knew he was building an illusion in his chest, and you didn't want to destroy it now or ever.

"Okay, one minute left! I'm going to faint!" Chae shouted, running from the dining room with a bottle of champagne in his right hand and his glass in his left.

"Finally!" Jake smiled victoriously as the channel host could be heard announcing the seconds remaining.

Yoongi looked at them not even for a second and then looked at you expectantly. All of your friends were now closer to you, though everyone was in their own world.

"I always thought I would be the most open in showing affection," you grimaced, ready to tease him. "But who knew my boyfriend would be the real softie."

Yoongi rolled his eyes, but couldn't stop a small smile from forming on his lips.

"Let's start this year in the best way."

"I'd love that," he smiled and stood right in front of you, gently cupping your waist.

"Happy New Year Yoongs," you smiled softly at him, you really started the new year with a strong love in your chest, and you couldn't be happier about it.

"Happy New Year, kid." His soft smile turning into a full one of his, showing his teeth and making his eyes narrow, almost hiding the shine in them.

Feeling the euphoria running through your veins, you approached him as slowly as you could -which was almost impossible- and you joined your lips with his, looking for that first kiss of the year with him that you always wanted to have. Yoongi didn't stay behind and joined his body with yours, turning the kiss deeper.

The noise and celebration of others remaining in the background for you, while you immersed yourself in your world. If you had paid even a little attention, you could have heard the gasps of your friends when they saw that the two of you were making out - almost disgustingly, some would say - starting the new year together.

"Well, I didn't see that coming." Jake commented to then receive a soft smack from Soyeon who was looking at her friend happily.

"Oh, fireworks! We should dance After like!" Chae screamed.

thank you so much for reading! let me know what you think.

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watchmegetobsessed · 2 years ago

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❄️HOT AND COLD❄️

A/N: week 2 of fanficmas yeah!! this was the first fic i wrote, some good ol' college!harry to get you all cozy hehe

WORD COUNT: 2.1k

SUMMARY: You decided to spend two more days at the dorm before heading home to have some peace and work on your assignments. However you didn't expect them to turn the heating off once everyone left. No worries, the hot guy living next door is ready to keep you warm.

MASTERLIST | SUPPORT ME!

This fic is part of ❄️ FANFICmas 2022 ❄️ Read more about fanficmas here!

You thought staying two extra days in the dorm before going home for the holidays would be a great idea. Have some quiet and peace for yourself, finish some assignments so you don’t stress about them during Christmas. Theoretically, it was a fantastic idea.

In reality? The worst one you’ve ever had.

You didn’t think they would turn down the heating the moment the dorm empties out. Well, it’s a logical thing to do, but it never occurred to you and you only realized it when the temperature started dropping significantly after the last wave of students left in the morning. You went out to run errands and you could feel the change when you arrived back. The hallways were chillier and your room started to feel like a cave. At first you just sucked it up, put on a hoodie, wrapped yourself in a blanket and got down to business. Your uncle always said you can decide whether you’re cold or not, so you kept thinking about hot things to keep your mind off of how freezing it was starting to get.

Hot tea.

Hot chocolate.

A tub of hot water.

Freshly baked, hot cookies.

The hot guy next door.

Wait, what? How did you end up thinking about Harry?

As you sit on your bed with your textbooks surrounding you, an all too familiar voice makes your ears perk up. You’d recognize it anywhere and it never fails to make your heart pitter-patter, but now you’re surprised to hear it since you thought you were the last one left in the building.

Well, you were wrong.

You hear Harry Styles striding down the hallway, singing Jingle Bells without a care. You get out of bed before you could think and throw your door open, catching him by surprise judging from the little jump he does as he turns around.

“Y/N? You’re still here?”

“I was just about to ask the same question from you,” you chuckle, stepping out into the hallway, but your smile soon turns into shock when you see him sporting shorts and just a shirt. “How have you not turned into ice wearing that?”

Chuckling he looks down at himself.

“I have a heater of my own. I could turn my room into a sauna,” he jokes and you can’t help a stupid laugh that slips out of your mouth.

You always lose your cool around him, he’s been your ultimate college crush since you moved in at the beginning of the semester and you usually end up making a fool of yourself in front of him. Whether it’s talking gibberish or dripping eggs when he walks into the kitchen, he has seen you at your worst in these two months you’ve been living next to each other.

“You’re not going home for winter break?” he asks, striking up a conversation and you pray you don’t embarrass yourself this time.

“Oh, I am, but only late tomorrow. Wanted some alone time before going home to the family, study and stuff, you know…”

“Clever,” he nods with a smile.

“What about you?”

“I’m leaving tomorrow too, I was supposed to go home today, but my flight got cancelled.”

“That sucks, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he shrugs. “You’re sitting in your cold room all by yourself?”

“Well, not everyone has their own fireplace,” you snort out a laugh, but it sounded funnier in your head for sure.

“Come over to mine,” he offers and you have to fight yourself not to let your mouth hang open.

You’ve hung out before, ran into each other at parties and while your crush is deeply rooted at this point, you two aren’t exactly the closest friends, you haven’t been in his room before, haven’t even hugged him so entering into his private space is the most intimate you’d ever get with him.

“Um, I don’t want to bother—“

“Y/N, you’re not bothering, I’m just playing video games.”

“B-But still…”

“You’d rather freeze to death in your room than to be around me? I have to say I’m a little hurt.” With a hand over his heart he gives you a disappointed look, though you can tell he’s just teasing you.

“You really don’t mind?”

“I wouldn’t have invited you over if I did. Come on, bring all your stuff.”

And so you end up moving over to Harry’s room that feels like paradise. The temperature is perfect, you can get rid of your hoodie as you settle on top of his bed while he sits by his desk with his PC, some kind of action game paused on the screen.

His room is oddly tidy for a college boy. The bed was made even before you appeared, there are no dirty clothes on the floor, only in the hamper in the corner, his bookshelf is crowded, but it seems to have a system in it that probably only he knows.

“Is it warm enough?” he asks, settling at his computer.

“Yeah, thanks,” you nod, feeling a bit out of place, but the warmth feels nice.

“Cool,” he nods before turning back to his game and unpausing it.

For the first hour you just coexist in peace. It takes you some time to focus on studying with Harry being so close and also being in Harry’s room, but the feeling wears down and you can finally work efficiently while he keeps himself busy with his game. But then he stops playing and becomes more interested in whatever you are doing.

“You haven’t finished this sheet yet?” he asks, holding up the statistics task sheet you’ve been putting off for over a month now.

“No,” you sigh in defeat. “I’m not really good at statistics.”

“Want me to help? I’m in Dr. Thomson’s Thursday class, but we went over the same thing too.”

“It’s my homework, I don’t want to bore you with it.”

“It’s fine, I actually liked these tasks.”

So then the evening turns into tutoring, Harry sits on the bed beside you, explaining you how to solve the tasks and even shows a better method you understand way more than what you were taught. After that, he just sticks to studying with you, though it slowly turns into anything and everything but studying. He clearly loses interest in helping you, but he doesn’t seem to want to leave you alone and your focus breaks too. Of course you’d rather hang out with Harry than write a paper on Switzerland’s economy!

You’re having a blast. Both of you. It’s the first time hanging out one-on-one, but it’s going better than you imagined. You haven’t made a fool out of yourself, even cracked some jokes that made him laugh, though he is surely the funnier one. He is telling you all kinds of crazy stories from before college and also asks you about your high school years.

“Mm, this was great, though I did not get as much done as I planned to,” you chuckle, taking a look at your stack of textbooks.

“But we had a good time and that’s all that matters,” he grins at you, hugging his pillow.

“Alright. I’ll get out of your hair,” you move to pack your things and return to your room, but then he speaks up.

“What are you doing?”

“Going back to my room.”

“You didn’t think I would let you sleep in the cold, did you?”

“What, you want me to sleep here?” you raise your eyebrows at him.

“Sure. There’s plenty of space for us. You’re sleeping here tonight,” he simply states.

About twenty minutes later, you’re sitting on the edge of his bed in your pajamas, waiting for him to return from his shower.

You’re really about to sleep in the same bed as Harry Styles. Hopefully you won’t kick him in the groin or say something stupid in your dreams or drool on him or—“

“You look worried,” he comments as he walks in, dropping his used clothes into his hamper. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, everything is fine. Totally awesome and perfect!”

God, you are so awkward!

“Okay,” he smiles to himself. “Take whatever side you want. It’s not a king sized bed, but it’s fine for two people for one night.”

You gulp at the thought of Harry spending the night here with another girl, jealousy bubbles in your chest.

“At least Niall and I survived the time he got locked out of his room,” he adds with a chuckle and you exhale in relief.

You end up taking the inner side of the bed and you lie on your side as he makes himself comfortable on the outer side. It’s really not too spacious, but at least it’s warm and smells like Harry.

“Thanks for… letting me crash here,” you whisper into the silence. Harry turns to you with a tiny, but charming smile.

“I’m glad it’s you I have to share my warmth with,” he cheekily says and heat rushes into your cheeks right away. “Good night, Y/N.”

“Good night, Harry.”

You knew you’d end up tangled together. It was inevitable in such a small space. But still, your heart starts racing when you wake up and find yourself cuddling Harry, who has his arms around you as well. He’s warm and soft, definitely meant to be cuddled in your humble opinion.

He stirs in his sleep and your heart jumps when his eyes flutter open. He doesn’t move away, in fact, he pulls you closer as he exhales lazily.

“Good morning,” he mumbles groggily.

“Mornin’,” you breathe out, feeling like a giddy little girl.

“I hope you weren’t cold,” he chuckles softly and you feel his chest vibrating underneath your cheek.

“No. I felt nice and warm.”

“Alright,” he smiles. “When is your flight?”

“Five thirty. What about yours?”

“Six. Want to share an Uber to the airport?”

“Sure,” you nod.

You spend most of your time left together. You grab a late breakfast, then hang out in his room and not just because his room is the only place in the building that hasn’t turned into a freezer. It feels natural to be around each other.

Then you share a ride to the airport, grab coffee and then wait together until it’s time for you to go to your gate.

“Well, have a great time at home,” he smiles at you.

“You too. Thanks for… everything,” you chuckle softly. “I’ll see you after the break and...”

Don’t forget about me, you want to say, but you bite it back.

There’s something hanging between the two of you, something unsaid and you fear you’ll have to leave without changing that.

“Okay, I’ll… go,” you mumble, grabbing your suitcase, but before you could walk away, Harry pulls you back.

“When we come back, do you want to… Do you want to go out? With me?”

You can’t stop your mouth from hanging open this time, his question came as a total shock.

“Honestly, I’ve been crushing on you for a while, but every time we spoke you seemed so frightened and ran away, so I took it as a sign,” he admits with a nervous chuckle. “But I think last night was nice, I liked hanging out with you and there’s a chance you feel the same way, so I thought I would… shoot my shot.”

You open your mouth, but then close it as his words sink in. He thought you didn’t like him. Because you ran away from him. But that was because you were into him. What a mess.

“Yes,” is all that comes out of your mouth at last.

“Yes as in…?”

“Yes, I want to go out with you,” you elaborate chuckling. “And I only ran away because I really liked you and I was too nervous.”

You watch his face light up before he nods.

“Great! I mean, not that you were too nervous,” he grins. “So then… Date. When we come back.”

“Yeah,” you nod, mirroring his widening smile. “I have to… I have to go now.”

“Alright. See you… next year then,” he chuckles and leaning closer he kisses the corner of your mouth before you part ways.

After that, you’re basically glued to your phone, nonstop talking to Harry throughout winter break and you’ve never wanted to return to school so badly before. You text, call and send pictures to each other continuously and you can’t even remember the times when it wasn’t like this.

When you return to campus in January, your excitement is kicking high, though on the day of your arrival, Harry’s responses come way less often than they used to, but you’re not trying to see too much into it.

As you’re unpacking your suitcase there’s a knock on your door and when you open it, your heart skips not just one, but probably several beats when you see him standing in the hallway with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

“Don’t you feel cold in here? I think you should come over to my room.”

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed and buy me a coffee if you want to support me!

#fanficmas #fanficmas 2022 #fanficmas2022 #watchmegetobsessed fanficmas #watchmegetobsessed fanficmas 2022 #harry #styles #harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles oneshot #harry styles one shot #harry styles fluff #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x reader #harry styles blurb

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villainessprefect · 2 years ago

Text

~Tell It to My Heart~

title: Commencement

Prompt #1: Being too afraid to confess during the school year, so you wait until graduation.

Idia x gn!reader

Read on AO3

"You're going to do it, right, Idia?" Ortho asks as he hovers beside his brother.

"Do what?" He asks. For once his focus isn't on playing a game, but rather coding one. With that, he doesn't notice the smile in his brother's voice nor the mischievous glint that sparks in his eyes.

"Confess to the Prefect!"

Idia is glad that he hadn't gone for his energy drink because it would have spilled everywhere. The sudden declaration makes his hair flare for a second and tests the code when it's not done. It ends up in a loop, crashing. Ortho had done more damage than a final boss doing his signature move could ever hope to do.

"Wh-Why would I do that? It's so cringe and n-normie! Besides, the Prefect has other options...they'd never pick me."

"I know they would," Ortho reassures. Idia lets out a sigh and he can't tell if it's his brother's endless optimism or the fact that he can't recall when he last saved his work. "I've analyzed their reactions and heart rate whenever you're together. The chances of you two becoming more involved are 90%! Please, I know if you just ask then you two can be happy."

"Not happening."

He picks up from where he left off with his code as if he were never interrupted. But his focus doesn't last long, not when his mind lingers on Ortho's bluntness about his feelings. Pah! As if he would ever admit those aloud. Not in a million years. No matter how much Ortho pestered him, he wouldn't- couldn't do it.

No matter how many times he's dreamt of the scenario or even dared to practice in front of his PC. The amount of times he's tried to mimic those dating sims and tried to sound as cool as a love interest is truly embarrassing. The memories make him cringe.

He's a weirdo, he knows this. You know this. The whole damn school knows this. He's a shut-in who barely has any friends let alone a love interest. It's a miracle that he even has you.

Those stupid feelings for you should have disappeared a long time ago. They blossomed before he could even realize it. You just had to waltz into this world and steal his heart- just like a true MC! But what was he to you in your life? An NPC you were fond of? A passing friend who would be forgotten soon? He doesn't dare to think of himself as anything more to you.

You should have gone home. At least, a part of him hopes you would have by now. That way he could bury those feelings in his heart and get over this lovestruck phase. He could find comfort in an anime character who was just like you and be fine with that. But you've pretty much settled on staying in this world. And that's a scary thought.

You were going to remain in the same world as him.

And his feelings for you would never disappear.

"Ortho?"

Idia doesn't want to confess and lose...whatever it is you have. Friendship, he guesses? It's...nice. To have someone that he can spend time with. Someone who isn't his brother and can get along with him too! It's something he didn't think he was capable of having.

Yet, he fears losing you to someone else. Anyone could snatch you up. Even the weakest soul that walked the school grounds was stronger than him. At least they had the courage to be out there while he found safety in his room. It's pathetic, he knows...

"Yes?"

But it can't be like this forever, can it? He can't keep cowering away despite how easy it may be. Fighting against fate is pointless, he can't win.

But he can try. All he needs to do is take the first step.

"M-Maybe I will...b-but under one condition!"

Graduation.

That is when he would confess. Idia finds the timing to be good considering he missed the other holiday events. Plus he has time to prepare (and test his theory if you're really staying in this world or not). And if everything goes to hell, well, he won't be here to deal with it! He could flub his confession and go home and never have to deal with that or you, again! Even if he loses, he wins.

If only graduation hadn't come sooner than he thought. It's only thanks to Ortho's enthusiasm does he remember that 'promise' he made to him. His face instantly pales at the reminder and how he's been neglecting to prepare for the upcoming day. Grinding in his games was always a priority but they've been put even higher when learning he has to appear in person to get his diploma before leaving this place for good. Ugh. Seriously? Couldn't they just send it to him digitally? No? Figures.

The day of graduation feels quite surreal. For the most part, he's blanked out. Unimportant NPCs were called one by one for their flimsy piece of paper and a handshake from Crowley. It was a painstakingly, extensive ceremony. He never liked his surname thanks to the curse it brought, but now he disliked it even more due to the fact how low it was on the list. His curse loved screwing him over in more ways than one, it seems.

It's not surprising that Idia disappears the moment the diploma is in his hands and he's free from Crowley's hand. He played his part and now he has no reason to remain there. Even if teachers barked at him to stay, did it matter? He was a student here no longer.

Idia finds solace in the courtyard. It's empty and devoid of life. Everyone is crowded at the ceremony, waiting for the final names to be called. The cheers of celebration for this event is heard even from here. Good for them.

"Idia?"

"Eek!" The blue-haired boy squeaks at the call of his name. He jumps and practically squeezes that flimsy piece of paper in his hands like a lifeline. When he sees that it's you, he lets out a breath. Just for a moment, he is calm. Then he realizes, it's you.

"P-Prefect? What are you doing here?! You're not...watching the rest of the ceremony?"

"I came to look for you," you answer with a soft smile. So warm and comforting. It's hard to believe you don't have magic when you make him feel at ease with just a smile. "I figured you would leave and asked Ortho to tell me where you went. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Ah, Ortho..." He shouldn't be surprised. "I, uh, I'm okay. Better now that I'm away from...there."

"The ceremony is nice and all, but...there really are a lot of people. I'm just glad no one ruined it," you laugh.

"Planning to ruin another ceremony?" He scoffs, a playful grin itching on his face. "You could have showed up on stage with Grim."

"Maybe for my graduation, I'll do something like that. You can be there to see it too."

"Y-Yeah...I will." He agrees before properly processing his answer. Of course, he would go to see you graduate. It would be under the guise of doing it for Ortho, but for you two...he thinks he could brave the crowd. Well, he'd be all the way in the back near the closest exit and be watching you both up close with a drone while he's avoiding the crowd, but he'd be there.

Silence falls between you. It's not unwelcome, but Idia has the looming sensation of dread hanging over him. He made a promise to Ortho and he wants to keep it. Even if it makes him feel like he's going to pass out. If he's going to be a good older brother, he has to do this. For him and Ortho.

"I'm going to miss you."

"Eh?"

You're the one to break the silence first. Your gaze lifts towards the sky, eyes on who knows what. Idia catches a glimpse of how your smile has fallen from your lips.

"I kinda dreaded graduation. It means losing out on my older friends, sort of. I know no one is leaving for good, but you're going to be busy with your family business, right? I don't know if you'll have time for me, but...I'd still like to keep in touch with you."

His face burns upon hearing your words. It feels like you're the one making a move on him! You totally are, right? Right?! Wait, was Ortho seriously right this whole time? No, no. It's too early to tell.

"Y-Yes!" He squeaks out, again. He's happy to have given a verbal response and see your face light up.

Idia opens his mouth to continue speaking but finds his voice lost. A hand reaches out to pull out his tablet hidden in his robes. It's kept in his hands with a firm grasp as he thinks how easy it would be to convey his feelings through it. But that's so lame. Who confesses via tablet when you're literally right in front of each other?

"You okay?" You ask.

Idia gives a quick nod. His gaze is focused on the tablet, looking at the reflection of himself through it. His flames capture his attention and he can see the tints of pink giving his feelings away. He doesn't like how he looks. Pathetic. Weak. Cowardly. It's times like this when he would just run and lose everything. Things would be so much easier if life were a game.

He forces his head up and takes in the surroundings. The courtyard is still empty aside from you two. There's a slight breeze that causes your hair to sway in the wind. The setting sun is casting an orange glow upon the world and on you, caressing your face with a gentle glow. If only there were cherry blossoms, this would be a peak anime scene. The normal tree behind him has to do the stand-in job for it. Video games may show the ideal, but this...isn't such a bad cutscene.

"I...have something I want to say to you," Idia gulps. All he has to do is be the MC he was meant to be! Er- love interest! If he can do this in a game, he can do this IRL. Easy peasy.

You don't rush him. You're patient. Always being kind and letting him take his time to formulate his words. To be considerate, makes his heart warm, especially with the way you're looking at him.

"I just have to pick the right dialogue options," he mutters to himself. He takes in a breath and hides his tablet. "I've been wanting to tell you how I feel...a-about you. That I really like you as a person. You're not like the rest of the normies, you're actually pr-pretty cool. And I wouldn't mind you being in my life longer than them." His voice cracks and he lets out a whine. He wishes for these robes to have hoods so he could hide. "I-Is that good enough? I think I messed this up...just KO me already, please."

Now the silence feels like it's chipping away at his HP. The lack of response is more threatening than anything before. He doesn't even have the courage to look at you. Not until he feels warmth against his cold hand. It's yours atop his.

"It's good enough. I just have one thing to say." You wait for your eyes to meet. Those golden eyes full of fear hide their true beauty. "Will you wait for me?"

"Wait...?"

"Wait for me until I graduate. So I can be with you."

"O-Of course! Wait...Wait- You want to be with me?!"

"I do. You're one of the most important people here to me. I want to stay with you, Idia."

A pathetic noise escapes him. Even he's surprised by the sound he makes. It's not a cheer or a yes, but something akin to a joyful cheap. This was definitely not the outcome he was expecting, but it was the best one he could have had.

"Just promise to come to visit every now and then, okay? If not, I'll get Ortho to drag you here," you chuckle. "Even if you're busy, make time for us."

"I will!"

"Thank you." You squeeze his hand. "We should probably celebrate your graduation- and us."

#twisted wonderland #idia shroud #twisted wonderland x reader #idia shroud x reader #gn reader #twst x reader #twst #idia shroud x you #ignihyde #request #tell it to my heart event

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batsplat · 11 days ago

Note

Hi bat!!! I was the motogp beginner anon from a while back... About a month later and working my way thru old races from 2000 I have accidentally developed a deep and profound fondness of Sete Gibernau... is it fair to say he is THE prototype for everything Vale did to his later rivals? Your posts on him and their relationship are everything to me - they have given me much to think about, and also facilitated the brain rot! Any thoughts on their 'reunion & make-up' from 2014 onwards?

hi!! I really hope the race recs tag was useful lol, despite my obvious failure to actually finish answering that ask. and omg a sete convert!! it really is going to be half a dozen people soon, exciting times. I'm going to put a pin in the 'reconciliation' half of the ask because the other half was already long enough... and I decided to focus here on valentino's actual tactics rather than his emotions. I still think the sete rivalry did lay the emotional groundwork for subsequent rivalries - but I don't currently have all that many more thoughts from what I said here, here, here, here, here, here, and here (lol)

so yeah, I think the sete rivalry functions as a mix of a prototype and a warning - and it's the first bit I'll be talking about in this post. valentino does have a few rivals pre-sete who he has at least a little bit of tension with - biaggi most infamously, but also jorge martinez and harada in his 125cc/250cc days. and while all these rivalries are formative in their own right, they also come with a certain... spontaneity. valentino makes a flippant comment about biaggi to some reporters, a feud is born as a result. it's kind of the training wheels feud - valentino's just saying shit really, he's provoking biaggi sometimes deliberately and sometimes less so, it's all very earnest and youthful and unrestrained. while he's already a natural communicator, he's a lot less skilful in actually using the media to his own ends, to pursue an agenda or press home an advantage. he's just reacting to every situation as it occurs, leaving us with a feud that consists of mostly isolated flashpoints. that isn't to say there wasn't a sense of escalation - catalunya 2001 and its fistfight beckons - but it's missing a narrative arc... and the reason for that is that valentino is not quite yet exerting his authorial hand on events. obviously valentino is not, in fact, a god and isn't exerting perfect control how each rivalry unfolds - but it is noticeable how many of them end up having such a scripted feel to them. sometimes, this stage-managing didn't work out for him and he came out second best when the dust had settled - but more often than not, he played it to perfection. hence the nine titles

and it's that narrative autonomy that really becomes a feature of valentino's game during the sete rivalry. at first, this magic touch isn't really maliciously wielded against sete... they're not enemies, they're still going on holidays together, valentino is just using sete as a sounding board to work through some things. the stakes in 2003 aren't as much directly competitive as they are psychological - despite 'only' having a 29 point advantage 9/16 rounds into the season, valentino was probably always going to be fine on that front. he's not worried about losing the title... but he is feeling unhappy at honda, he is frustrated with how much he's being criticised, he hates to lose to sete. and so, he uses the humiliation of his sachsenring loss that immediately preceded the summer break, twisting it so that it becomes an inflection point of that season (and also that rivalry). he does all the mind games hair dyeing and decides to sign for yamaha and all of it, and then he bounces back to claim the victory at brno by .042s. where he does his extremely on the nose prisoner's celebration to perfectly define what that season was all about - he's breaking free and taking control of his own story. zero subtlety whatsoever. and that's the climax of the season... like, he's crowned champion in sepang (where he crucially brings back the prisoner celebration but indicates with the novelty lock that he is now free), and his defining victory that year is probably at phillip island... but essentially, his arc that year is resolved at brno. after that, he's reaping the rewards

this is still valentino playing it on easy mode relatively speaking but it's kinda freak behaviour to just decide he 'won't be taking any more prisoners', as he puts it in his autobiography, and then basically stops losing. uses his fury to drop fifteen seconds on the field in australia. remember this is the first time he wins valencia too, because he needs to say goodbye to his bike the correct way or whatever. okay

sete is a little bit incidental to the narrative that year - they're mostly just setting the stage for what's to come. we do get little hints... suspicions on valentino's part (whether founded or not) that sete was taking this competition business rather seriously after all. valentino's remarkably out of character face of thunder after losing at the sachsenring. how they're both playing off this rivalry as so so different to the valentino/biaggi fiasco... they're different, you see, they're friends! you can be rivals and respect each other. it's all fine. sete mainly functions as a plot device to put pressure on valentino - a new consistent rival emerging, one who wasn't supposed to be the challenger, a little older and smarter and without much of a track record of success. not the guy who should be challenging valentino. valentino is generally very pro the concept of rivals, even when he's obviously attempting to destroy them. he's aware that they're part of the show, that you need a great rival for a great fight, that beating the very best is what it's all about. also, obviously, it's an important way of motivating himself. valentino is made better for that sachsenring defeat, for having to sit with his mistake at the very last corner, for knowing he should have won that race and had allowed it to slip through his fingers. for that first half of 2003, he's all over the place, error prone, emotionally a bit of a mess - he's been winning so much, it really isn't hitting the same way anymore. he hasn't been winning the right way. sete reminds him of just how much valentino hates to lose. and valentino learns the lesson gladly

now, 2004 doesn't have quite so neat a turning point, and instead features multiple moments where valentino acts to take control of the season. the drama starts early, at welkom, featuring a bit of a biaggi cameo appearance at a time where biaggi was no longer valentino's major rival (though he does still feature in that year's title fight). as valentino describes in his autobiography, he knows demanding victory of himself and his team wasn't a realistic expectation for that race - but sometimes, you just have to tell yourself a story, engage in a little self-delusion... and, hey, maybe you can turn that delusion into reality. after that, it looks for a little while like that success might have been illusory, like valentino might be on the back foot on his weaker bike after all, with sete's back-to-back victories at jerez and le mans. and then you get another inflection point - the trio of races, mugello, catalunya and assen, where valentino takes control of the season after duelling with sete for the victory back-to-back-to-back. each race comes with its own special significance, from sete's rain dance comment at mugello and alleged yellow flag infringement, to his defeat on home turf at catalunya, to his inability to successfully play the gracious loser at assen. the cracks are appearing in the friendship, yes, but valentino is also wrenching back momentum to his side in rather a dramatic fashion. from then on, it looks like he might be able to see out the season in a straightforward manner

except, of course, he can't. because then you get qatar. I do increasingly feel like I have a fairly good grasp of what Really happened, but that's for another time... the key point is that it's a humiliating experience for valentino, both the penalty itself and then the crash, and it's one where he completely loses his head in a fairly uncharacteristic manner. plus, he hurt his pinkie finger. valentino could have emerged from that weekend cowed and chastened, having to backpedal on some of the... more creative remarks he'd made about sete. clearly, sete was expecting that valentino would do so - or at the very least not continue to escalate the hostilities. and it is during that sepang 2004 weekend that valentino's stage managerial skills are truly allowed to shine. the high drama of the presser, valentino's refusal to concede any ground to sete as sete had to realise in real time he'd wandered into the wrong genre and his previous close friendship with valentino counted for nothing. valentino's subsequent domination of the weekend, the imperious form as sete buckled when the title was in sight. the cruelty of valentino's celebrations, making sure to properly twist in the knife while he had the chance. title fight back on track

after that, of course, comes the process by which valentino unravels sete entirely. he presses home the advantage at phillip island, taking quite a few risks to snatch the win from sete on the very last lap - he did not have to win the race to win the title, but he did so anyway because he needed to beat sete. call it an investment for the future. the opening round of the following season brings with it the rivalry's single most dramatic moment that... well, it doesn't quite end the rivalry, as discussed in this post sete does still have plenty of chances to win in 2005 - but essentially valentino ensures at jerez that he will have an enduring psychological advantage. a victory that really should never have been dramatic! valentino learned his lesson from the sachsenring, he wasn't trying any dramatic last lap overtakes. he overtook sete with three laps to go at jerez, which should really have been that. as detailed in this post, it's his last lap mistake that even necessitates that dramatic final corner overtake. now, as it happens, everything works out perfectly for valentino. losing a home race like that on the final corner is absolutely brutal, valentino's deftly played post-race theatre and the perception that sete didn't stand up to him only makes things worse. valentino was always going to win the 2005 season, but he ensured in the very first race that there would not even be a title fight. but again! crucially! valentino was not planning this! the last lap of the race was very much not what he was intending to happen - it was an error on his part that could have easily cost him the win in rather painful a fashion that started all of this. valentino is ready to risk a crash when he shoves it up the inside of sete... his desperation is key, but so is his lack of planning

so that's where we're at with the sete rivalry... high drama, all these turning points and on-track and off-track theatre that coalesced into a narrative - of which valentino was the master. it feels different from the biaggi rivalry... this isn't just two guys that hate each other, it's a story. and when you frame it in those terms, when you speak to how it feels like valentino is flexing his authorial hand in helping these events unfold... well, then you do start seeing the blueprint for subsequent rivalries. the 2008 and 2009 seasons have a key similarity: a single race that completely changed the momentum of the season, remembered in part for a single highly memorable overtake that valentino inflicted on his title rivals. so if you take that trio of races - jerez 2005, laguna 2008 and catalunya 2009 - you're in a situation where valentino's three most famous overtakes weren't just fun or memorable in their own right, but fundamentally changed the dynamic of their respective rivalries. which... I mean, that feels unlikely, right? sometimes, dramatic races just happen - there's no guarantee they're going to completely transform the rivalry as well as the season. once can happen to anyone, twice is pretty striking, but three times? bit odd innit

I've already talked about this a bit here:

and I've just posted about this in considerable more depth in the context of the 2008 season, which we'll circle back to later. it's one of the most interesting seasons in terms of how the momentum shifts happen over the course of the year, which is why I've detailed the build-up to laguna in considerable detail on this blog. see posts on mugello, catalunya, donington, assen, sachsenring, and laguna itself. here's a basic overview of how the 2008 season unfolds:

the key turning points are valentino getting to grips with the bridgestones, the post-race catalunya test where ducati finally gets their shit together, and then the race at laguna. I don't think you quite get the sense of how dramatic a turning point laguna was if you just look at the results - it's important to emphasise that despite still being behind in the points, casey was the title favourite headed into that race. the idea was that once casey and ducati got going, we could easily be in for a repeat of 2007. just total domination. casey wins those three pre-laguna races very comfortably, having basically led every single practise session throughout those weekends. by the time you get to laguna, it's his fifth straight pole position. even if valentino comes in second to casey every single time for the rest of this season, the points gap is at this stage still way too small for that to work out for him. if you told someone before the race at laguna that casey would win every remaining race that season - sure, it wouldn't have been likely, but it definitely would've been seen as plausible. quite frankly it would've been seen as plausible even right after the race at laguna itself, as is reflected in the discourse in the immediate aftermath of the race

in 2009, the title fight is looking extremely open headed into catalunya. valentino is actually third in the standings before that race, behind casey and jorge - though of course nobody knew at the time that casey would not be in title contention for much longer. there is again this slight sense of valentino having his back against the wall... horrendous race at le mans, then brings it home to third in a similarly messy race at mugello because he knows he can't afford to be throwing away any more points. which... losing at mugello? the race he'd won seven times in a row? the one race in a season where you could reliably pencil in valentino's name as the winner, even if he often achieved his victories in rather chaotic a manner? the italian press was not happy with him, and even less so when jorge beats him to pole at catalunya. there are several references in the race commentary to the italian press writing valentino off, calling him washed (to paraphrase), which is objectively a teensy bit of an overreaction but. y'know. getting consistently beaten by your younger teammate is just not a good look. valentino needed that win at catalunya, both him and jorge desperately wanted to beat each other in a direct duel - and all in front of jorge's own home crowd

which, again. it all just feels scripted, doesn't it. that's what we're coming back to here - this feeling that from the sete rivalry onwards, valentino somehow manages to control the narrative to such an extent that things just keep perfectly working out for him. he wins both laguna and catalunya, everyone remembers those as two of his greatest victories - not just because he needed the win but because of how he executed them. the corkscrew, catalunya's final corner... these defining images that have outlasted the context of the seasons in which they happened. and crucially - crucially! they actually do manage to completely change the profile of their respective seasons. 2009 is a bit messier, though broadly speaking valentino is in control of that year's title fight post-catalunya. let's bring back 2008's results:

that laguna to motegi run? absolute sicko behaviour. casey is the faster rider at the very least in laguna, brno and misano. motegi is valentino's title-sealing race. valentino isn't really the title favourite anymore headed into laguna, and he literally does not lose another race until he wins the title. competing against prime casey. how does that happen, right

so that's the case for sete being the prototype: it's the authorial intent that's striking in these subsequent title-winning seasons, something that originated with sete. you just have these races where it's like valentino draws a little red circle around the date on the calendar and goes, 'okay, this is my momentum switch race'. like sepang 2004, his back is against the wall and he manages to change the complexion of the title fight in a single weekend. like phillip island 2004, he won't be denied his fairy tale victory. like jerez 2005, a single dramatic overtake permanently changes the rivalry. which is all well and good, but there's an obvious follow-up question. how is valentino doing this? why do his rivals not simply say no to being woven up in his dramatic narratives? why is he being allowed to pick and choose his momentum switch races? how does he keep getting away with this...

and it is at this juncture that I will present my five-step plan to playing god in local motorcycling competition, a foolproof (mostly) way of ensuring that the fates intervene on your side. here goes:

choosing the occasion

going in with a plan

playing the 'joker'

milking the moment

bite harder when the opponent is already bleeding

there you go. that's the lessons he learned from fighting sete that later allowed him to script his rivalries. I've cracked the code

let's go through them one by one. the thing is, valentino really did pick his momentum switch races in both laguna 2008 and catalunya 2009. obviously, he couldn't have predicted things would've worked out quite so perfectly for him, but he wasn't just playing it like any other weekend. and both times, he made a great call. at laguna, it's notable that he tells his confidantes he does not intend to let casey win the eve of the race - aka after qualifying has already taken place. laguna might be a track casey was incredible at the previous year and valentino had a rather mediocre record at, but at least valentino knew he'd be lining up right alongside casey. he still needed to get a decent start, a metric in which casey is exponentially more accomplished than valentino, but at least it was theoretically possible for valentino to be in casey's vicinity (unlike at the sachsenring). the track layout of laguna also lends itself to the kind of race valentino was intending to execute in a way that, for instance, the next race at brno just wouldn't be as suited for. laguna is narrow, fast, scary - not a great track for overtaking. which makes defending against a substantially faster rider a way more feasible proposition than it would be on the considerably wider brno track. laguna was also just before the summer holidays, which is kind of a great time to inflict a humiliating defeat on your opponent - you're making them sit with the defeat for a few weeks, rather than letting them wipe the slate clean a few days later. (some might say it's preferable to immediately have more races so you can strike while the other party is still vulnerable but, well, that kind of summer break gap is fantastic for lasting psychological damage.) plus, the mismatch between casey's and valentino's laguna record was such - the momentum casey had built up was so considerable - that absolutely nobody was expecting valentino to challenge for the victory. more detail on the pre-race chat here

biblical levels of over

so yeah. this is obviously easier said than done, but there's really no better race to win when the pre-race rhetoric reads like that. catalunya 2009 has a similar combination of circumstances that make it the ideal momentum switch race... like laguna, it's when valentino really really needed a win. unlike laguna, it's a circuit where valentino has an excellent record at - and has been known to win quite a few duels in his time (as well as lose a rather memorable one to casey two years ago). it's also a circuit where jorge is strong, and unlike with laguna it's no real surprise that the two of them will be fighting for victory. a good circuit for racing and crucially also one that is good for valentino's racing - obviously, it's the last corner overtake that lives on in everyone's minds, but valentino has made much use in his time of his ability to brake particularly deep into the infamous turn one. and of course, it is jorge's home circuit. after beating valentino at his home track at the last race, there is nothing jorge would have liked more than to win in front of his own fans. he's even got a special livery... his celebrations if he'd won that race would have been something to behold. no better time to beat him... even better that there was a moment when jorge will have thought he already had the race won... like casey, element of surprise - just at a different point of the weekend

so, onto the next step. going in with a plan. again, obviously valentino could not have foreseen either of his infamous overtakes unfolding exactly as they did - but it is a case where you can trace back the overtake itself to his intentions going into the race. it's not just a complete coincidence he happened to pull off these specific overtakes in the most dramatic manner possible in what happened to be very important races... in both cases, the overtakes were a logical consequence of valentino's pre-race planning. at laguna, valentino knew that he could not allow casey to get away in front. the entire race was built around the single principle that he had to discard his preferred approach of shadowing his opponents, and instead had to go all in on disrupting casey from the front. by the time the corkscrew overtake happens, lap four, it's also pretty clear where each rider is strong and where they are weak. for all the fighting between the pair of them, casey doesn't actually cross the line of any single lap in first position. that's because valentino knows that casey cannot be allowed to do so - with the ducati horsepower and casey's own skill, casey is inevitably stronger out of the final bend and into the first corner. if casey is allowed to lead there, it's basically game over. all the overtakes in that race between the pair of them happen in the bits of the track that are at or before the corkscrew - and the corkscrew is the last bit of the track where valentino has an actual edge over casey. so, if you've committed yourself to beating casey whatever happens, if you know that you cannot allow him to lead out of the final bend and you're basically on your last chance to prevent it, if you've committed yourself completely to that strategy... well, you're going to stick it on the inside of your opponent, come what may. obviously it still takes a lot of skill and luck for valentino to survive that off-track excursion, but it is essentially a more dramatic repeat of the overtake he executed on lap one. it's a consequence of actual strategy, not just spur of the moment genius

with catalunya, if anything it's even more straightforward than that - valentino tells reporters afterwards that he'd been visualising that final corner overtake in the week leading up to that race. obviously, he would have preferred not to be behind jorge at this point of the race but... well, he knew he had an ace up his sleeve, if he could just pull it off. and he knew he could pull it off, because he'd executed that exact move on casey two years before - as casey jokes about in the presser - just not on the final lap. obviously this is also a case of dramatic irony very much haunting jorge - who, for reasons that remain mysterious to me, went around the week before that race telling reporters that whoever was leading into that part of the track would have the race won. jorge's mental rigidity and his refusal to defend the line properly headed into a corner he assumed valentino would have no hope of overtaking him in is what cost him that race victory. so again, like with laguna, obviously this could very easily have not come off for valentino, obviously it could've gone pretty disastrously wrong. but also... well, valentino had thought about the possibility of needing that move before the race, he was mentally prepared, he'd already tried it out a couple of years earlier - it didn't just come completely out of nowhere

the next step is pretty simple. 'joker' refers to this clip of valentino talking about having bonuses... these moments each season where you can risk a lot and go beyond your limit. don't try your luck too often, but you've got to have a few times where you go that extra step. this obviously doesn't really make sense in terms of like,, tempting fate, that's not how probability work - but it is useful in terms of the underlying psychology. this way of allowing valentino to let go of any inhibitions, to ignore any considerations for his own safety, and instead make a deal with fate... these are the races where he will do whatever it takes to win and he trusts that fate will have his back. and yeah, various races that have been mentioned in this post must surely fall in this category. phillip island 2004, where he makes daring last lap overtakes in the penultimate round of the championship - if he crashes, he's going to have to try and wrap up the title at his bogey track. catalunya 2009 - that last corner overtake could easily, easily, easily have gone wrong, and left valentino in the extremely awkward position of having taking out both himself and his teammate to leave their chief rival with a cushier championship lead. both valentino and especially jorge have alluded to the risk of that move... yes, it's not discussed in quite the same terms as jerez 2005 or laguna 2008 - there was nothing wrong with the move, no contact, it was completely clean. but but that didn't make it any less risky

and the most obvious example is, of course, laguna 2008. valentino has straight-up admitted he was willing to do whatever it takes to stop casey from winning that race, which could easily have involved taking out both of them at a downright terrifying track. it's part of the reason why casey took so poorly to valentino's conduct - less than the actual moves, it is the mindset behind them that was so objectionable to casey. valentino made a bargain with the universe that he would ride without any fear or caution on a track that generally tended to make him quite nervous (didn't even think the corkscrew was suitable to walk down, mind you) - and it's that bargain that allowed him to throw the bike down a terrifying blind corner into the direct path of his title rival. which is all well and good, but. uh. casey didn't get to sign up for this

then you've got milking the moment, which is such a key element of immortalising these races. at sepang 2004, valentino has his nasty pre-planned sweeping celebrations to make fun of sete. at jerez 2005, it's all spontaneous - he's reacting to the animosity of the crowd and hamming it up with absolutely zero restraint. pumping his fist, waving at the crowd, jabbing his finger around... the drama of parc fermé, the fourth wall break to take the piss out of sete's injury en route to the podium, the performative celebrations to really stick it to the spaniards on the podium. the way valentino makes use of his celebrations as another weapon in the psychological warfare arsenal is discussed a bit in this post, including with a pretty lengthy section on the laguna 2008 celebrations. the key bit is that he already knew the lap four corkscrew overtake would be everyone's defining memory of the race - so that was the thing he immediately paid tribute to

the post also discusses how he behaves around casey in the immediate aftermath - how he just will not leave the poor bloke alone... it's something valentino doesn't really do with rivals who have just lost a race, he's not that type of confrontational character. which partly reflects the specific shape of his relationship with casey, but most importantly comes from an awareness that casey is not doing himself any favours with any of his post-race reactions. like, yes, valentino is clearly having fun teasing casey - but he also knows that casey is going to get shit for this behaviour, and the more of that is caught on camera the better. valentino even gets such a lovely rise out of casey when he interrupts casey's tv interview - giving us casey refusing valentino's handshake with cameras and microphones conveniently at hand - that he deploys the exact same tactic with jorge at catalunya 2009. to jorge's credit, for all that he clearly was very pissed off with valentino's celebrations, he manages to play it cool in front of the cameras and puts in one of his better performances as the gracious loser. which (beyond reflecting how valentino feels towards jorge vs casey) probably also helps to explain why valentino wasn't bothering him for the rest of the podium ceremony - it is jorge who pulls valentino off the podium to give him a proper hug, not vice versa

still, catalunya 2009 is in the same camp - because jorge and his team were pretty vocal in the 2010 title-winning documentary how irritating they found the triumphalism of the celebrations valentino and his team put on. again, it's valentino going full ham - yes, valentino likes his celebrations, but he does generally like to play it a bit more cool and jokey and above it all... not shaking his fist about so ferociously you worry he'll throw himself off the bike. there's also of course the lovely little touch of valentino securing his 99th win at catalunya 2009, a sign that the fates may actually for real be on his side -

- which, like with the corkscrew at laguna, is of course something valentino had the presence of mind to pay attention to. more discussion of this too in the 2008-10 jorge/valentino rivalry post

so yeah, milking the moment. making sure everyone remembers the race - and everyone remembers the best bit of that race. making sure it hurts as much as possible for the opponent, whether that takes the form of consistently hounding them or just being incredibly triumphalist in front of their home crowd. if possible, have a stab at letting them stitch themselves up as publicly as possible

might not be a lesson valentino learnt directly from how sete's reaction at jerez 2005 in parc fermé was seen as inadequate - but it's the kind of thing that does make you understand the importance of The Moment. these immediate reactions matter... valentino could play the gracious winner easily enough, but his rivals might well have been doomed whatever they did. sometimes it's about ensuring your opponents only have bad options, right?

and lastly. all of this would have been completely pointless, just an utter waste of time, if valentino had then gone off to crash in the next three races. this feels like one that's flirting with stating the obvious - yeah, no shit, it's better for you to keep up momentum after your big momentum switch race than to lose it again. but it is key! if you're making such a big fuss about your big dramatic win, then you've got to lock in and actually make them suffer... hurt the opponent when they're already bleeding etc etc. again, the 2004 playbook is instructive here - valentino promises sete won't win another race, and then he locks in to win the next three himself. one pretty comfortably after tormenting sete all weekend, one after a dramatic last lap battle, and the last at his bogey track (the final time he won there in his career). in 2009, this isn't all that spectacular - valentino wins the next race reasonably comfortably, but also... y'know, it's assen, he's good at assen, jorge has a more complicated record there. does allow him to secure his 100th win at the first time of asking. the other key moments that season is pulling off the sachsenring win by 0.099s (a margin he didn't commemorate but I'm sure he noticed), the misano win after the indy flopfest where he did the donkey ears celebrations, and doing such a good job phillip island pre-race that he managed to spook jorge into a first lap error. catalunya is the clear turning point that season, but valentino is also helped out by how casey becomes increasingly competitively irrelevant after that point. who knows how that season would have gone if casey, who obviously had not been psychologically affected by catalunya, had still been healthy. 2008 is more clear cut in that regard... I've just put out a post that discusses in plenty of detail how the immediate post-laguna stretch goes horrendously wrong for casey, but of course it is pretty notable that casey has his first ducati race crash at laguna and then immediately follows it up with another two out of the lead at brno and misano. it is also a span of races that is EXTREMELY relevant to the thesis of this post, since the writing around those races repeatedly pays direct tribute to the idea of valentino the storyteller:

or valentino the witch, whichever you'd prefer

as I repeatedly stressed in that post, there are absolutely other reasons why casey just happened to have that particular string of poor results - ones that have nothing to do with valentino's ability to exert pressure or cook up nasty spells. obviously, a big caveat in this entire discussion is that however you slice or dice it, the way all of this unfolded for valentino still involves a heavy helping of good fortune. but, well, you make your own luck!! valentino built a reputation for breaking his opponents off the back of putting a curse on sete - which means that by the time you get to casey, you've got people speculating about whether valentino is using black magic on the guy. it's a reputation valentino built on merit, but it's still one that acquired a kind of mythical status... and valentino was able to use that in its own right. those infamous skills of putting pressure on his opponents - ones that for a while there had extremely noticeably (and worryingly) not been working on casey. pick your fighter, a voice in your ear whispering to you mid-race or an invisible hand prompting you to make errors

and that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you write your own sports narratives. make your rivals despair in five quick and easy steps

IN CONCLUSION. obviously there's also other ways in which sete served as the prototype for later valentino rivalries - again, plenty of this blog has been dedicated to detailing the emotional repercussions of that feud and how it may have affected valentino's approach going forwards. but!! I wanted to take a different approach in this post and really just focus in on the actual sporting implications... how interesting and intricate momentum is in terms of its sports psychology, how adept valentino is at deliberately picking and choosing his moments to rewrite the narratives of a given season + rivalry. momentum is one of the most important psychological aspects of competition and obviously valentino is hardly the first athlete to be particularly skilled at twisting it to his advantage, but you have to give him credit for doing so in such a dramatic and also fun manner. not everyone can use curses to ruin their rivals

and yes, of course valentino did get lucky for some of these races to go so perfectly for him - you cannot plan the corkscrew overtake or that final corner catalunya drama, and both of them are so risky he would rather have avoided him. but on the other hand, yes, I still think there's enough evidence here to suggest he also made his own luck. very accomplished in using the psychology of competition to his advantage! and a lot of it did start with sete - the first rival against whom valentino wasn't just reacting. what valentino did to sete was more than that... it was about taking control of the narrative. a lot of what valentino did to his subsequent rivals, especially in the context of winning the 2008 and 2009 title fights, can be traced back to tools and tricks he first started wielding against sete. sete was the emotionally fraught trial run - what valentino did in 2008-09 was the actions of a man who had already mastered his craft

#i actually have a hot take about the current season related to this but i cut it out since it's only borderline relevant #incredible that the first paragraph was a belated response to the other ask and now this post is also in itself a belated response #my inbox.... help.... she's very sick.....#ik this blog has wandered off in a pretty casey-centric direction recently but trust i am always thinking about sete...#just more in dm's than on this actual blog. but like. feel free to come chat about him!! seriously!!#//#brr brr #curse tag #heretic tag #wall tag #batsplat responds #aloexy #i come from THE momentum sport - like maybe other sports think this but they're all wrong. it's definitely mine #so obviously i have spent much time thinking about momentum... on a way more micro level than here #and there are people who think momentum isn't real. but the thing is <3 they're wrong <3 #valentino really is for the sports psychology nerds. he's for the girlies who picked up their copies of 'winning ugly' age twelve #to pick an example completely at random. of course

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nondidd · 11 months ago

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2023 Art Summary 🥳

January remains my most emotional piece. I was processing grief during the one year anniversary of losing a close family member. And it’s apparently the only painting I did this year LOL

After that is where I went back to studying fairytale art. February being a NieR recreation of Arthur Rackham’s The Romance Of King Arthur artwork

Then as for march, that’s where I started to study Henry Clarke and essentially lost my mind for the rest of the year with linework ✌️😩

I had two favs from October so they both go in 🫶

And as for November and December I’ve hit my burnout + busy with health and holidays LOL. Not forcing an illustration just to have one so there’s all my silly little doodles ✌️

Honorable mention is the savanaclaw set I did this year! Wasn’t something I planned on but I had fun making it and it think it’s my most popular set this year. I was surprised so many people liked it 😆

The next photo is a comparison of how I drew FG Ruggie last year compared to this year. I wanted to show the comparison to explain my shift in focus in my illustrations. After studying Clarke’s work I realized I was having fun creating again. Not to say I’m not satisfied with how the older Ruggie piece came out but I found myself often frustrated with it trying to make sure everything was “drawn right” for lack of a better explanation. It was a chore. I’ve come to find I enjoy making illustrations now with the mindset of “how do I want to convey this” rather than “how accurate can I make these details”. Drawing the newer Ruggie was enjoyable the entire time. My focus wasn’t accurate details or semi realistic but rather what emotion could I convey with just these lines and limited color. And that’s how I’ve been moving forward with my art as of late. It’s been fun again

Because of my newfound confidence and enjoyment of creating again I’ve gone back to traditional sketching too. It used to feel so constricted for me but now with loose lines and a loose mindset I’ve been scribbling all over notebooks again 😆

All this ramble to say I’m satisfied with what I’ve done this year. My health needs to start taking priority come 2024 but I hope to still create and share in the new year ✌️ If you took the time to read all this, thank you 🙏

#art summary #art summary 2023

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loisfreakinglane · 4 months ago

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@queenofattolia OOOOH MY FAVORITE THROUPLES!!!!!!!!! SMASH THAT READ MORE BUTTON

ben/maddie/ryn ~ siren (never forgive never forget that breakup, they were PERFECT. that show ended with season 2 and i will NEVER EVER EVER forgive season 3's crimes)

kala/rajan/wolfgang ~ sense8 (we were denied a full series arc of them getting together, but frankly i didn't feel it was rushed in the finale. it still felt organic TO ME, largely bc the chemistry between rajan and wolfgang was impeccable immediately)

eliot/hardison/parker ~ leverage (can you believe there's people who watch leverage that don't ship this?!!?!?! there are human beings out there who ship eliot/parker with zero hardison involvement. BAFFLED, FRIENDS)

angel/buffy/cordy ~ btvs/ats (i'm sorry this is based on my own brain falling into the depths of madness when s6/s3 were airing and i was banned from watching buffy so i was reading the transcripts on buffyworld and left to stew over how much i wanted buffy and dawn and tara to flee to la and never look back, while also falling in love with cangel and thinking about how much those three would fit perfectly together, buffy and cordy as two sides of the same coin, just always out of step with the others parallel heroic journey, how much bangel would work so much more for me when it's damaged adults coming together and also raising their impossible blue eyed kids together also connors never kidnapped also also faith moves into the hyperion too and gunn and fred never break up the end okay i'll stop now)

the princess, the prince, and the mermaid ~ the little mermaid (i was infected by the novel mermaid: a twist on the classic tail (heh) in my youth- christopher, lenia, and margrethe had a fascinating relationship i fell in love with. and now!!!!!!!! watching older adaptations of tlm, seeing the interactions between the three of them always intrigue me so hard. pre-disney the princess is allowed to be sweet and kind to the mermaid, if somewhat patronizing to the mute young girl. and when the mermaid fades away, her body in foam and her soul off to heaven, she lays a kiss on the grieving princess's head AND I DIE)

elizabeth/neal/peter ~ white collar (IT WAS SUCH A FUN TRIO I STAND BY THIS CHOICE! also at the time it was extraordinarily refreshing of fandom to not immediately despise and vilify the woman standing between their slash ship. and i adored the canon and the fanon so tbh! this will always stick out as a classique ot3 to me!)

irma/marion/miranda ~ picnic at hanging rock (why aren't we frolicking in oz, wearing white gowns and eating picnic treats RIGHT NOW? anyway they're in love, they're so in love they fell into an alternate dimension)

ann/ben/leslie ~ parks and recreation (am I the only person who was tearing my hair out during ann's search for a sperm donor bc why did leslie never offer up ben's specimen!?!?! she is OBSESSED with ann and way too invasive and beyond controlling and I think way too much about that episode where ben and ann are fighting over the wafflemaker for one of leslie's insane random holidays, then end it off by coming together to make leslie STOP with the incessant celebrations and presents? anyway they should have all wound up together. and not just bc chris was terrible)

huoxin/jing/xiaowei ~ painted skin the resurrection (the lady demon, the princess, and the bodyguard. this trio was EVERYTHING. the demon fixated on the princess and her heart, the princess desperately in love with her bodyguard turned general but clinging to shame over her facial scars, the general who runs from his failure to protect her. ADD IN BODYSWAP SHENANIGANS AND I LOSE MY MIND EVERY TIME.)

ezra/jules/richie ~ imposters (possibly partially queerplatonic bc i'm not exactly sure where jules lies on ye olde kinsey scale, but even if it's platonic on her part i'm incredibly in love with this trio and i SO see it as a working throuple LEAVE ME ALONE)

elizabeth/olive/william ~ professor marston and the wonder women (whether you believe the historical accuracy of this movie or not, this throuple is fucking awesome and i adooooooore them)

gwen/mj/peter ~ marvel comics (i'm so sick of thinking about spider-man rn bc *waves hand at mcu* HOWEVER it would feel disingenous to leave this off my list. i love these three, i love them together so much.)

alex/hal/tom ~ being human uk (the way these characters brought new life to this era of bhuk. these three are in LOVE)

chel/miguel/tulio ~ the road to el dorado (baby's first ot3)

kirk/spock/uhura ~ star trek (THE KELVIN TIMELINE!!!!!!!!!!! THEY'RE SO MUCH. still mourning a fic that was deleted off ao3....... sad bean bear city)

art/patrick/tashi ~ challengers (THEEEEEEEEEEEE PINNACLE! there are ppl who cast tashi as the villain of the story and think art and patrick will flee her when the credits roll, and i am so glad i am not surrounded by those types. this is a love story where every person is desperately needed to complete the triad. they just don't work without all 3 of them)

clark/lana/lex ~ smallville (LOOK LOOK LOOK. SHUT UP. anyway i rewatched this show with my father at the height of the pandemic and lana/lex hit hard in a way it never had before, so now i'm p equally obsessed with every side of this triangle and now i want to smash them all together so bad. THIS IS HOW TO FIX EVERYTHING.)

gaby/ilya/napoleon ~ the man from uncle (ready made ot3, i can't be mad)

mylene/shaolin/zeke ~ the get down (did mylene and shaolin hate each other? uhhhhhhh yep. HOWEVER. THAT ALLOWED FOR SOME FUCKING GREAT TENSION. and they were both equally in love with zeke so like............ i wanted it so bad

i'm SURE i'm missing very important ones, but these are my broad strokes 💗💗💗

ALSO LOOK AT THEM!!!!!!!!! TELL ME YOU DON'T SHIP THEM IMMEDIATELY

#queenofattolia #personal #so close to adding arthur/guinevere/lancelot but i still haven't read that modern au book series caro recced #TO BE DETERMINED

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abubblingcandle · 1 year ago

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Personal Beliefs and Headcanons about Jamie Tartt's upbringing

This is a continuation of a discussion with @fanficfanattic that was kinda derailing talk about Phil Dunster's approach to Jamie Tartt's accent but is something that I am super passionate about so did want to put somewhere and foster discussion with other people about it.

Disclaimer - Again I am not someone who grew up in this exact situation that we see Jamie in but it permeates through my life and my family. I can only talk about things like this from personal experience and how much I relate to Jamie being from a working class Northern family and currently being in my mid 20s with parents who were in poverty and one who lived in council housing. Those of you who have read my fanfics know that I put a lot of my specific experiences into talks about Jamie's backstory (I have literally today been writing more of a chapter where Jamie talks about cheap ways that his mum tried to keep him out of trouble during the summer holidays lol) and so I am always happy to talk about hyperspecific headcanons or my experiences if anyone wants to

So yeah, the discussion was about Jamie being a battler partially because of where he was raised not just because of his father

Jamie as a battler is something that is so so important to me. He even says it in S1 “do you think I could have got from a council estate in North Manchester to the Premier League just by doing what everyone else did” and it gets sort of brushed off as a teachable moment with Keeley saying people are just trying to help him and he needs to let them. It doesn’t get talked about much more than as a part of his smugness and selfishness in S1 but it is more than likely that given Jamie’s history there would have been so few if any people in his past that did just want to help him for the sake of helping him. It also ties into his obsession with Ted’s actions being mind games. Because having people genuinely wanting him to succeed just because he’s Jamie ... foreign idea.

I can just see Baby Jamie at a criminally underfunded primary school in North Manchester telling everyone that he was going to be a premier league footballer and getting fond laughs and being told that maybe if he worked hard he might be able to get into a good trade, like an electrician. (For me I wanted to be an journalist and was told that maybe a simple good paying job like an air hostess or a hairdresser would be a much better target, not like that’s stayed with me or anything).

Even if you take James Tartt Sr out of the picture, Jamie would have had to fight for everything and stand up for himself to achieve his goals. It is likely as a young single mum that Georgie would have been out a lot working leaving Jamie to look after himself from a young age and do things like making sure he got to football training (showing that drive and that fact he mentioned, he had to be different to other people to succeed) and little things like making sure he looked after his kit himself so it was ready and lasted as long as possible.

The second part to this is the fact that mindset is so so so hard to lose. My mum worked her arse off and got herself out of that cycle of extreme poverty through smarts and luck and even though we now have enough to live on, there are little things about being raised in an environment where you were an afterthought and didn’t have enough that don’t leave you - either through over compensating the other way (when you have money spending it frivolously because suddenly buying that nice thing you want wouldn't mean that you don't eat) or refusing to spend money on something because you don't need to and it's a waste to spend it (even if the amount of money doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things anymore). I see Jamie mostly in the first category (the designer clothes, fancy cars, sculptures in his house, willing to buy everyone PS5s to get them to like him without batting an eye at the cost) but likely with little money saving things that he just can't shake.

#ted lasso #jamie tartt #character analysis #tw poverty #personal experiences projected onto fictional characters #headcanons #candle writes

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hiccanna-tidbits · 1 year ago

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@jackunzel-time

Jackunzel Month Week 1 - The Artist and the Muse

***

You hide your eyes behind the shades Your stroke can make the climate change Your art should see the light of day (you and me a masterpiece)

You never let your colors show Lose your face when we get close I’ve seen you paint, nobody knows (you and me a masterpiece)

You’ve got an artist inside you Come drown in my navy blue Tonight let the artist inside me be you

Baby paint me like a canvas – don’t mind You’re dripping colors on the mattress tonight Dip your brush into the pallet, all mine Make the shades of you and me a masterpiece

Put your body where my heart is My love I’m the muse and you’re the artist Don’t stop Gotta finish what you started Oh, god Make the shades of you and me a masterpiece

You make me Scream in Starry Nights The golden kiss, mysterious smile You never let the paint run dry (you and me a masterpiece)

I’m standing pose for your design Your fingertips, they reach for mine Let’s make a mess and cross the line (you and me a masterpiece)

You've got an artist inside you Come drown in my navy blue Tonight let the artist inside me be you

Baby paint me like a canvas – don’t mind You’re dripping colors on the mattress tonight Dip your brush into the pallet, all mine Make the shades of you and me a masterpiece

Put your body where my heart is My love I’m the muse and you’re the artist Don’t stop Gotta finish what you started Oh, god Make the shades of you and me a masterpiece

Make the shades of you and me a masterpiece

Baby paint me like a canvas You’re dripping colors on the mattress Drip your brush into the pallet And make the shades of you and me a masterpiece

Baby, paint me like a canvas – don’t mind You’re dripping colors on the mattress tonight Dip your brush into the palette, all mine Make the shades of you and me a masterpiece

Put your body where my heart is My love I’m the muse and you’re the artist Don’t stop Gotta finish what you started Oh, god Make the shades of you and me a masterpiece

***

People always ask her at art shows where she gets her inspiration. Come spring, the assortment of pieces she's pumped out during the darker months never fails to amaze.

Streetlights shining through blizzard flurries. Ice on early April buds. Peach, rose, and lavender sunsets through snow-filled clouds. White-topped pine forests so mesmerizing that you can practically feel the stillness and silence of the winter.

Every time, Rapunzel smiles mysteriously and cites another artist.

"He's...underappreciated. His work hasn't ever had its day in the sun. But I've seen the best of it."

She always straightens proudly at the last part. And her customers can't help but be jealous that she gets to see this mysterious obscure talent apparently hidden from the rest of the world.

It has to be hidden, or else Rapunzel's work wouldn't be so uniquely spectacular. More people would paint even the coldest and bleakest of winter nights--even with no holiday lights to shine through the darkness.

"What's their name?" people always ask, hoping to investigate the esoteric artist themselves.

"Jack Frost."

And they laugh, because they think she's just being poetic. Taking inspiration from the fabled creator of ice patterns on morning windows and vast, quiet snowscapes.

If only they could see the white-haired boy just above them, perched on a nearby lamppost and chuckling to himself. Invisible to all the world except the artists who see beauty in his work.

***

HIHI I'M SO SORRY I'M LATE

Heh, you didn't really think I'd forgotten Jackunzel month, did you??? Had a lot on my plate these last couple months but by GOD am I gonna pull through for my children!!! I've been making them November content for 3 years straight and I ain't about to stop now!!!

Anyways this song popped up on my spotify and I was like oh huh. Yeah that's a Jackunzel song all right. And then this happened!

I feel like it could be from both of their POVs, btw! Like Rapunzel is the one we think of as the artist, but Jack kinda is, too--just look what he can do with snow and frost! Art that never sees the light of day indeed ;_____; And "your stroke can make the climate change" like??? Literally Jack??? Also love the idea of him doing little frost designs on her skin and clothes ;_____; Just little reminders of her mans she can carry around for a while before they melt! Especially in the summertime, when she could really use it!!!

But "come drown in my navy blue" is very Jack @ Rapunzel, too. And Punz definitely has a golden kiss and mysterious smile akdjsuilkh

Depending on how you interpret these two and their relationship, you can pretend some of the, er...spicier implications of this song are a metaphor for like. Deep conversations and enthusiastic cuddling if you like XD

Can you imagine Rapunzel actually painting in her bed and getting acrylic all over her blankets and insisting it gives them character??? Shit would be hilarious. Jack would also thoroughly approve of the chaotic and general unhinged nature of it all ajshdksgd

I missed them!!! God, it's been too long!!!

As always, moodboard pic credits available upon request :3

#jackunzel #jackunzelmonth #jackunzelmonth23 #aesthetic #moodboard #jack x rapunzel #rapunzel x jack #jack frost #rapunzel #jackxrapunzel #rapunzelxjack #rotbtd #rise of the brave tangled dragons #the big four #tangled #rotg #rise of the guardians #crossover

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greentrickster · 11 months ago

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So something good that started in my life last December was that I stumbled into a bit of luck and now have a deal with a nearby geek culture shop to sell plush mages I make. This was extremely fortuitous, because I created the design and concept back in 2017, had made about ten before forcing myself to stop, and, other than gifting one to a friend, still had them all, and was planning to find a holiday donation bin for a charity that accepted handmade stuff, because I was tired of them taking up space in my room. Like literally the only reason I still had them was because life was hectic and I kept forgetting to go check for where any local donation bins were.

This is very exciting, the owner's super nice and helped me set some stuff up so I'm selling on consignment, which means I only get paid when someone actually buys one, but I get a bigger cut of the money when they do.

My dudes, I have an income again.

It's teeny-weeny and irregular, but I have one, and, almost more importantly, a bunch of them sold during and right after the holiday rush, so I get to make more, and it's giving me something to actually do besides working on my mental issues and trying to fill my time while I gain the mental health and stability to get, you know. An actual job. I'm currently making a few more to put in the store, then I'm going to focus on making extra stock to have available for when the local anime convention (and it's stale, stale vendor's hall) arrives this spring.

Not only that, it means that I can make as many of these things as I want for now! And while it takes about a day to make one mage, I'm flexing hard on my status as a professional ADHD haver by having three or four on the go at once, but in different stages of completion. So if I feel like sewing I can one on this one, but if I want to do some pinning I can work on that one, and the third one's ready to finish stuffing and assembling whenever I feel like it, now I want to take a break to watch anime, oooo~ sewing mood again-!

Like, this is in no way I can turn this into an actual career, just because, like I said, it takes about a day to make one from scratch, going at a pace that's both productive and physically healthy for me and also, given that they're about twenty inches tall, made of primarily minky fabric, and being done by hand, that means that I am selling them for nowhere near what they're worth, because people wouldn't be willing to pay that much. Like, the minimum wage where I currently live is (a ridiculous) $7.50 an hour. If I made one of these guys in six hours, that would mean they'd need to cost $45 just to cover my time, never mind materials and the fact that this is skilled labour, and that is not the price on the tag, let alone my cut. They look deceptively simple for all the tricks and techniques that go into one (never mind the fact that minky is expensive fabric, the craft safety eyes I use are special-ordered and very good quality, and, oh yes, these little fellows are machine washable). I literally cannot make a livelihood doing this.

But, like I also said, it's giving me something creative to do that isn't just more reading, writing, and gaming. I love doing all those things, but this is a kind of physical activity that I've needed in my life, and making something physical is so different than writing, with the wonderful bonus that minky fabric is one of my favorite textures! As long as I'm strategic about my acquisition of materials, I'm not going to be losing money on this, and while it's something I think is going to end up paying dividends more in my mental health than in my wallet, I will be earning money for this. I'm getting paid to make plushies to my heart's content (or until I run out of materials for the moment) while watching anime/youtube and working on my mental health, and, for now, that's not only enough, it feels really good!

#my life #would have told you all sooner but was busy with holidays. catching plague. and going through an entire character arc in a couple weeks #my mages

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atlantablack · 1 month ago

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Okay, I've had this wild ass Stranger Things/Marvel crossover in my brain for ages (early 2023) & I'm never going to actually like write it write it but let me try to make it somewhat comprehensible so someone other than me can hopefully lose their minds over it

so, basically, season 4 stranger things canon compliant - Eddie "dies" - season 5 they somehow defeat Vecna blah blah you know there's some added trauma everything is wrapped up in a neat bow life moves on all of that (and no one else dies cause fuck you)

So - Nancy goes off to Emerson & Robin goes to Berkley (or wherever you want her to go) and Jonathan goes to community college & keeps focusing on his photography & Steve waits until the kids graduate high school and then just goes and roadtrips his way through America his parents never cut him off despite their disappointment and so he decides he's going to make use of it until they do (spoiler: they never do)

For the last two years of Uni Nancy falls out of touch with everyone else and by that I mean she stops picking up her phone, stops coming back to Hawkins for the holidays, doesn't come back during the summer, and the only reason they know she's okay is because Ms. Wheeler swears she's still in contact with Nancy. Steve fully expects her to completely disappear after she graduates but she randomly shows back up in Hawkins after she graduates and reconnects with everyone.

I know technically Robin would be a year behind Nancy but I think due to upside down bullshit they end up starting college at the same time, so they graduate at the same time as well.

Robin, Steve, and Nancy move to New York City and share an apartment because rent expensive. Jonathan and Argyle move to San Francisco together. The kids are scattered for college and Erica is probably still finishing up high school. (pairings and romance are irrelevant in this universe)

Robin gets a job at a museum doing something linguistic related (idk what kind of jobs there are okay just roll with it), Nancy is desperately trying to break into journalism but she is the way she is and never wants to write what they want her to write so she's struggling there, and Steve breaks up one too many fights outside of various gay bars because he's never met a fight he'll fucking back down from and ends up getting hired on as a bouncer at some bar in Brooklyn (because I think I'm funny).

Nancy is her general self and at some point over the course of the 90's, she keeps sticking her nose in places she really shouldn't be sticking her nose, because she literally cannot leave well enough alone and we already know she has a grudge the size of Texas against the government and she, because out of all of them of course it's her, catches the eye of SHIELD.

so Nancy Wheeler gets hired on at Shield as an operative and unfortunately (for SHIELD) when Fury looks at her goes "this is classified sign these NDA's" what Nancy hears is "this is classified from everyone except for Robin and Steve and jonathan and joyce and mike and el and etc" because that group has never heard of a secret big enough to keep from each other, not after everything they went through

it takes Fury two years to realize that "oh yeah, this is my roommate Robin Buckley and her best friend, my ex, our other roommate, Steve Harrington" because he "ran into them" on the street (aka he had a weird feeling about the latest recruit and was sussing them out) actually just know classified shield secrets and he's so mad it took him that long to realize it and long story short they also get recruited because "recruitment is the nice option here, Agent Wheeler"

Fury still doesn't honestly realize how many people in their extended family/friend group know about the most random shit and god fucking bless the day he realizes El exists

Now Nancy and Steve are both field agents. Nancy does a lot of investigative and research stuff. Robin probably doesn't do field work because well you know but I'm sure there's something linguistic you could do in SHIELD for spy stuff. Idk. This kind of stuff is exactly why i'm not actually writing this fic.

Robin and Steve mostly keep to themselves but Nancy does branch out some, more in the name of having connections than because she cares about making friends, but still. Steve and Robin are still only 50% sure if Nancy is like really invested in her job or like lowkey trying to figure out if there's anything to expose, either way they know Nancy doesn't actually trust shield

In 2001 Natasha joins SHIELD. Which of course means that presumably Clint and Coulson were already there. I do not know when Clint joined SHIELD and I refuse to put in the effort to figure it out good god.

Nancy, Robin, and Steve do not, for the most part, interact with Nat, Clint, or Coulson. They obviously know of each other but contact is limited. Also something something about Steve and Robin being exceptionally wary of Natasha and going out of their way to conspicuously avoid her because Robin speaks Russian -> Natasha speaks Russian -> season 3 trauma -> reformed red room Russian assassin

Nancy, meanwhile, has absolutely without a doubt been trying to figure out if SHIELD had at any point had a hand in the whole upside down mess and if we really think about it doesn't that just sound like something Hydra would have been involved in. I mean. Come on.

Anyway, in May of 2004 Nancy Wheeler goes out on a seemingly normal field mission and never comes back. She's reported missing in action, presumed dead. The rest of her team also goes missing with the exception of one body that's found.

Now, let's go back a ways and consider Eddie. Consider Hydra. Consider all of our lovely Eddie survived theories. Consider the winter soldier and cryofreeze and how Hydra has never passed up an opportunity to create/gain a new weapon. Consider how I'm sure an undead creature of whatever kind likely goes on ice pretty damn easy.

Back to Nancy Wheeler who is a little too good at investigating, because in a fight of stubbornness she is absolutely going to be the winner, and there are a lot of secrets hiding at SHIELD. And she's managed to get a handful of secrets under her belt and is getting close enough to some others that Hydra decides preventative measures are needed before she has a chance to get closer.

Nancy's mission handler is the one who is found dead after the mission where she goes missing. Gunshot clean through the throat and Nancy is presumed dead because they also find a good amount of her blood smeared around. SHIELD thinks she's dead but Hydra knows that she got away. So Nancy Wheeler is officially on the run.

Nancy's got just enough secrets to fuck Hydra's plans up if Shield proper finds out about them, even if she's not 100% aware of the full scope of it and so she gets away and they send the winter soldier after her. But Nancy ran straight to El's and El took her to Kali (because we're bringing her back goddammit).

coincidentally, in June of 2004, Jane Hopper drops off of the map without a word to anyone and the rest of the party ends up congregated in the basement of the bar Steve used to work for. Two Party Members Missing, one of which is presumed dead by all official authorities, and Steve and Robin know just enough about what Nancy was looking into that they're not super confident that whoever won't be after them next.

by the time 2008 rolls around and Tony becomes iron man all the party can say for sure is that Nancy and El are alive and together.

Steve and Robin still work at Shield but they got louder after Nancy left, they made sure their names were really well known by everyone and that making them disappear quietly wasn't really an option

tony becomes iron man, which really impact very little about this other than Steve and Robin have this moment of "huh.....flying robot suits, neat, Dustin's gonna love that"

Dustin is in fact elated about this

blah blah life continues on, the party is trying but for the life of them none of them really know what exactly was the last straw that had someone, presumably in shield, try to have nancy taken out and Nancy and El still haven't resurfaced so presumably that person is still after them

So, what was the final straw? Why did Hydra decide she had to go? Well. She finds the name Eddie Munson in a report full of redacted paragraphs and that name wouldn't ring a bell with 99% of shield but Nancy immediately narrows in on it because why the fuck does any report in shield have any business having eddie's name in it and this is where she made a mistake because Nancy doesn't keep secrets from the party but she also had been living with Steve and Robin for a decade+ and she'd watched Steve go a little too quiet every time Dustin brought Eddie up for years and she knows Robin can't keep a secret from steve to save her life and she felt that it was cruel to get their hopes up based on nothing but a blacked out piece of paper and no other clues

so she never says anything, just keeps digging and its not necessarily that she understands the information she has or has any idea of the big picture, i think she just has a fistful of clues that she doesn't realize connect, or she can't tell how they connect but all it would take is one or two more pieces and she'd have enough of a picture for it to be a Major Problem and hydra decides to nip it in the bud early instead of waiting for her to put the picture together

now from 2003-2012 while the party are desperately trying to figure stuff out without setting off alarm bells and getting themselves murdered by the government Nancy goes to El because she knows El can protect herself the best if anyone manages to follow her and then she goes to Kali because that's where El sends her - El goes with her because it's easiest for her to find Kali and she isn't sure Nancy will manage on her own but she never intends to stay - unfortunately, before El can leave them, The Winter Soldier shows up

Fortunately for the girls: he's alone because Hydra has too much faith in their soldier and underestimate the fuck out of Nancy Wheeler

Unfortunately for Hydra: It's pretty hard for the Winter Soldier to fight when he can only see what Kali is allowing him to see

Anyway, the winter soldier is subdued with minimal injuries all around but ofc when he doesn't report back the rest of the Hydra team come looking for him and El ends up being seen so she's also on the run now. But the girls take Bucky with him and somehow they end up breaking through to him. No, I don't know how. Just go with it. We have two super-powered girls and Nancy Wheeler. I'm sure they managed it. I'm sure there's a lot of fighting and yelling and screaming and backsliding but the important thing is they do get through to him. Enough that he's now on the run with them willingly.

so then it's the four of them on the run trying to figure out how to bring Hydra down and not doing a super hot job of it because hydra won't get off their tails long enough for them to properly plan. the only reason they manage to get a note to any of the party at all is because Bucky manages to slip inside the hospital Erica works at and slip a note in her desk. the hospital is big enough to provide a cover for who they were trying to contact and hydra assumes they were going after medical supplies. which they were but that was a secondary mission.

And then it's 2012 and the battle of new york commences in grand fashion. Steve and Robin are on the ground in New York City when the wormhole opens in the sky because it was supposed to be their day off and so they're not ya know part of the avengers but well they're certainly not civilians and to their great disgust they end up fighting aliens too

also side note: backtracking to when Loki originally shows up in the avengers movie, Fury happens to overhear Robin and Steve offhandedly talking about loki and theorizing over how far his powers extend (they spend too much time around the kids) and he does that dramatic thing he does where he steps out of the shadows and goes "That is an alien calling himself a God. Neither of you seem surprised by either of these facts." and Robin and Steve just kind of look at each other and shrug

Steve: I'm more surprised by how well he matched the dress code for that event than the fact that he thinks he's a god

Robin: they always think they're a god don't they?

Fury:

Steve brightly: At least he looks human! It would suck if he looked like a walking muscle suit or something equally gross!

Robin: Yeah! No tentacles! Human shaped! Normal looking skin! At least it's easy to tell where to shoot!

Fury has had a weird feeling about these two since the day he's met them and the weird feeling just keeps getting weirder but fuck if he knows why and he doesn't really have time at the moment to worry about it.

so the battle is happening and steve and robin are on the ground fighting and out of the corner of his eye at one point Steve sees a flash of dark hair coming towards him and turns around so fast he slips on alien blood and eats shit, now, inconveniently for Hydra, they were planning on taking advantage of the general chaos to conveniently dispose of their other two problems (steve and robin) and well they're down one soldier but eddie's never given them any problems before, they point at where to kill and he goes, they're pretty sure he's just a mindless creature honestly

the point though is that Steve sees Eddie and Eddie sees Steve and then vanishes, goes completely rogue. Because see the thing is, Eddie only goes where he's pointed when taken out of cryo because he's too hungry to think. But, the problem with being feral and not quite human is that animals you know think in terms of packs and family and Eddie's brain stubbornly managed to carry that over when he got turned. So, in his brain the party is just "pack, family, safe". But he's also been in out of cryo for like 26 years or so and so it's not like he's doing well. And seeing Steve basically just sends him on the fucking fritz.

One day far far far into the future Bucky and Eddie will get a fucking hoot out of teasing the two Steve's about how similar they are. And also I just think the cinematic parallels are funny.

And yeah. I didn't have a lot of ideas of where the fuck to go over that because I kind of destroyed the MCU framework. CAtWS is kind of fucked because like one of the main characters of the central plot is no longer present. Is project insight still happening? idk. how is it fixed if it is? Idk.

One thing to note that I think is fun, is just take a moment to let it sink in that Nancy "cuts the barrel off of a rifle" Wheeler is on the run with the winter soldier. and their other two companions are both super-powered girls with questionable morals. I'm pretty sure El's main moral is "don't hurt my friends". and well look at that, a large portion of the government is trying to kill at minimum one of them. Also, the the El & Kali & Bucky being kept in a government facility against their will and experimented on trauma bonding.

I do imagine a lot of this would come to a a head in 2014 when the CAtWS movie would be taking place. It seems like the point it would all come to a head timeline wise. Because somehow I just know Steve Rogers is going to get wind of Bucky being alive. And where Bucky is Steve follows, which means Nat and Sam get pulled in I'm sure. And it probably all just spirals from there.

Other funny side thoughts I had about this:

Please imagine Mike Wheeler interacting with Tony Stark. It is the funniest possible thought to me. Tony would absolutely push his buttons and even if Mike does think he's kind of cool he's gonna double down on pretending otherwise out of pure principle.

Steve Harrington meets Steve Rogers and it turns out there is something worse than One Stubborn Righteous Little Shit and it's two of them who have teamed up

Nancy and Natasha hit it off really well eventually and yes, it's terrifying

Surprisingly Tony and Robin hit it off, because Robin likes to theorize impossible ideas for fun but Tony Stark has never heard of an impossible idea in his life and so it just ends in chaos

Dustin ends up working at Stark industries. This is only tangentially related to the rest of this. He ends up getting a job there after Uni and I'm sure it ends up playing a part in the plot later on down the line but at the time it's just Dustin being super smart.

And that's all I got for now folks.

#atlanta rambles #atlanta's writing #stranger things #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #nancy wheeler #steve harrington #robin buckley #please come ask me questions about this #i might have answers

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