#life drawing bucharest

[http-shield]

daisies, i think- bucky barnes

~ bucky barnes x fem!reader ~tags/cw: angst, budding friendship and romance, set in CA:CW timeline where Bucky is in Romania trying to piece back together his life, mixed POV ~ wc: 1.2k ~ not proofread

premise: ex-avengers employee, you have moved to Europe in order to get away from all things Shield. It is in Romania that you bump into a familiar man, a face you have only seen in the secret files you managed to get a glance at. You befriend the ghost of a man, determined to help him undo all the bad the world has done to him.

"You like Jasmine, right?" Bucky asks from across the small coffee table. 

"Uh, yeah. How did you-?" You grin at him, eyes squinting in apprehension at the sudden declaration. 

"I can remember some things," he answers and returns to the bowl of steaming noodles. "Not everything, but some things." the clarification comes a moment later. 

It's been two months since you moved into the small apartment on the outskirts of Bucharest. Two months of living in close quarters with Bucky, two months of getting to know him on a level you never thought you would. Two months. 

You clear your throat and ask. "What kind do you like?"

"Daisies. I think." He doesn't look up from his bowl, but you can see a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. "I saw them a lot while…"

Still unsure of how to refer to the period when he wasn't himself. "They grow everywhere, so I can always find them, and they're nice to look at." 

The noodles sit abandoned in front of you now. Your attention has shifted wholly onto James, who continues to eat despite disclosing something that shattered your heart. He never stopped being that young boy who was lost, never stopped looking for life in the depths of hell, never stopped being Bucky. 

"You gonna write that in your book?" 

The question catches you off guard. 

"You have that little book you write in. I thought it was a diary but you only write in after I tell you something. Plus I saw my name a bunch’a times”

Your cheeks flush. 

"Is it bad stuff?" Bucky looks up now, blue eyes broken and defeated. 

"No! Nothing bad!" You rush to answer, scrambling for the book you tucked under the table and flip it open to your latest entry. "It's all good things, actually. Stuff that you like or remember or stories you tell me." 

Bucky's posture relaxes, shoulders sagging a little at the assurance you weren't keeping tabs on his slip-ups. 

You continue, opening to a page filled with drawings of stars and planets.  "This is when you told me that you went to the Stark expo before you shipped off and how you wished you could see space one day." you point to the stars that adorn the margin. "That's why there are little stars. I've been writing it all down so that if one day you need to remember something and we aren't together, I can give you the book, and you'll have all your memories." 

The heat in your cheeks deepens as you confess your reasoning behind the notetaking. 

"Steve, your umm…"

"I know Steve," Bucky confirms with a slight smile. 

"Steve has a book just like this with all the things he missed or wants to remember, so I copied him." it feels infantile using the word copied, but you can't think of anything better. "You can have it now if you want?'

"You leavin' me?" The sadness returns for a split second.

"No." your answer is firm. 

Light floods his blue eyes, shimmering like the sun on the ocean. "Then keep it. I'll take it when you finish it."

There's hope in his words. Determination that he will remember who he was and who he hopes to be. You find yourself smiling at that, admiring how much he is trying and how you can see yourself finishing this book and starting another.

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

"Do you think we should get some curtains?" your proposal has Bucky pausing in the kitchen, boiling water sloshing in the small pot he had just pulled from the stove.

He looks to the windows, plastered with newspapers to keep out prying eyes, and while he never thought about customising his apartment, your suggestion stirs something within him.

"If you want." the answer feels so domestic and ordinary that he forgets who and where he is. For a moment, he is no longer in a dingy apartment on the run and unstable in his own identity, but he is at home with you. He is in an apartment in Brooklyn, not far from where he grew up, in a small and cozy one-bedroom flat that he shares with you and your cat. You aren't the kind and strange girl who picked him up off the street like a stray, but you're so much more, someone he wishes he met in another life. He watches you frame the window with your fingers, face crinkled as you close one eye and determine the best shape and style of drapery for the space. His heart squeezes, a feeling wholly unfamiliar in his aching body.

"I can get some tomorrow after work?" another offer of complete and utter everyday ease. "Yellow? With daisies?"

Bucky grins at that.

"Or pink with jasmine?"

A small laugh escapes you, and you drop your hands. "One pink and one yellow?"

Bucky nods and returns to emptying that water from the pot, watching as the potatoes drop into the colander in the skin. He had offered to cook tonight, an easy recipe he had overheard while out today from two older ladies sitting in the square, their voices loud and bousitruous despite the sensitive nature of their conversation. The recipe was easy enough. Boil potatoes until soft, season them and cook them in the oven. Simple, easy. Perfect for his muddled mind to follow.

"Want help?" Your voice is closer, and Bucky jumps slightly. You reach out and grab his arm, hoping not to scare him further, but Bucky's heart starts in a race for an entirely different reason.

He gulps. "No need. thank you, ma'am." the words fall from his lips before his brain can form them.

"Ma'am?" you furrow your brows at him. "Where did that come from?"

Bucky turns to you, his face crinkled in confusion as he shakes his head. "I have no idea."

There is a beat of silence as you reach into your back pocket for the small book you had stuffed in there after your walk home. You open it to a blank page and date it to the top before writing your entry.

Calls people ma'am.

"Not people, women. " Bucky sighs as he reads over the edge of the paper. "Ladies, dames, girls."

"Dames?" laughter is building within you as he cites different words for women, most of which you hadn't heard outside of a movie from the forties.

You can't stop the laugh that spills from you, and soon, Bucky follows suit, enjoying how his stomach and shoulders feel as he laughs. It feels good, beyond good; its amazing, divine, marvelous, s'wonderful.

"You are a funny man, Bucky Barnes." You sigh as the laughter subsides, a hand sweeping over his shoulders. He notices how your fingers linger on the joint of his prosthetic arm, and for some reason, he doesn't feel as much guilt filling his stomach like lead. When they brush down his arms to entwine with his fingers, another sensation takes over his gut entirely. It's tingly and hot, twisting and sitting low in his body. He worries it's a bad feeling, familiar in a way that has his mind screaming, but there is no fear, no guilt, nothing but warmth like the sun on a winter's day, so he sits with it and lets you hold his hand until the timer on dinner dings.

a/n: apart of a bigger fic but this is sort of the first taste of it to see how I feel about writing/posting it.

[hobisfavoritespritecan]

All I Need

NIGEL BANYAI X READER ⚠️ Warnings: None ⚠️

You're wandering the streets of Bucharest at night when you come face-to-face with your "ex" husband, Nigel. There's a rekindling- even if only for a moment- where you realize he might be more intertwined in your life than you'd thought.

Disconcertment washes over your face like a flood when you see him walking forwards, in that haunting but familiar walk you'd grown used to. He was polished, as per usual, adorned with a dog printed button down and a cigarette lax between his teeth. The protruding fold of his shirt would be incomprehensible to passerby who didn't know of his hobbies, but to you, it was the imprint of a gun.

His eyes shifting up from the road he was walking down and meeting yours held you in a trance. There was something to be studied about the man's eyes; so full of agonizing self-inflicted sorrow that shone through the very core of his being and simmered into the rest of the world through his gaze. He was deeply saddened. But it was all under a mask of his he wore to wind through the mindless crowds so that there wasn't anything about his character to be discovered unless he'd wanted you to. His cheekbones shone under the streetlights with their summery glow making waves of blues and pinks and greens with the lights from overhead in the city. He was a Monet painting come to life, a landscape of colors washing away everyone else and drawing you inwards to where he stood, finally stopping amidst a puddle from rain fallen this morning. He was beautiful. But he was also dangerous.

You had finally stopped running from him long ago. That sadness he contained within himself had become ever so apparent throughout your relationship and spilled over into everything else. He tormented himself so deeply that it was only a matter of time before he tormented you.

Never with his touch, no. His touch had always been careful, predetermined. He would never have laid a hand on you that wasn't accepting or invited by the warmth in your features and your verbal acknowledgement. Even after long arguments where you'd fallen asleep on your side of the bed, turned away from him, he would caress you only with his mind.

Instead, his torment was his love. There was too much of it, too little of a mutual understanding of what was wrong and what was right. He had been too suffocating in his eternal vows to protect you and love you. And with this time period in your life- this new one you'd created for yourself- you couldn't suppress your desires of freedom. You'd allowed him to love you and whisk you away with his promises (which he'd kept, of course), but you'd never been able to experience the world, let alone the streets of Bucharest in the way you'd always wanted to- on your own.

But you had loved him. There was no denying that.

And despite all your efforts to push him away; to ask him to take his love and give it to someone more deserving, someone who'd understand his suffocating requests of social isolation and relationship devotion, he was always finding his way back to you. His heart seemed to have a mind of its own which never coincided with the work he performed or the crimes he'd commit.

And here you were, by the famous Hostel off the side streets of tourist-populated areas, staring at one another. Both of you with the impression that the other was a work of art, staring into one another's souls as if they had painted the landscapes themselves. You heard the faint chatter of those nearby; the drunks walking back home from a night out, stumbling over their feet and laughing with their partners holding them up. The children who'd been playing hopscotch despite their parent's wishes at this hour in the night. The sound of the rain from earlier dripping off the rooftops and onto the parked cars below. And through all the commotion, it was just Nigel and you.

He offered something to you that most people would never see in their lifetime from a man like him. A smile.

You sent one back through slightly teary eyes, hoping for a minute he would look into you the way you were looking into him and that he would understand your internal dismay. You'd never loved like you loved him. Ever. And that would be true for the rest of your life. Your relationship had been an amalgamation of every emotion and he brought out sides of you that you'd never prepared yourself to confront. It was beautiful. It was bittersweet. And it was over.

He knew. He knew you'd wanted nothing more than your freedom, which was the one thing he didn't know how to give you. Not even now. He knew it was at the expense of your own happiness, but he couldn't help himself to follow you around Bucharest even if you hadn't caught him in the act of doing so, such as tonight. He wanted to be in your life anyway you would let him and even though the former was preferred, he was okay with learning how to live on the outskirts of your heart while you lived on the very insides of his.

He'd follow you around Bucharest and he'd follow you around the world.

You shifted in your jacket, despite the summer air. Your eyes had gone from his to the subway opening a couple yards away, where you'd initially been heading. There was your apartment waiting for you, where you'd have your own melancholic isolation. It was a hop skip and a jump away from the man who'd been your husband for all the years prior.

An image came into your head just then. One of a faraway place, tucked into the crevices of your mind so far back you'd almost forgotten its existence entirely. A cool night in your city where he'd gone on a walk with you, wearing the same jacket you had on now. You had chopped your hair and dyed it bright orange following the news of your father's death. It was just a silly coping mechanism to you, but Nigel had smiled when he'd walked into your shared apartment and saw the brightly colored hair littering the floor tiles. He'd suggested a walk to get some fresh air, under the rainbow colored lights you'd grown so fond of.

That night, you were looking at the snowflakes falling from above, threatening them with your tongue to catch them in your mouth and have them melt against your lips. They refracted against the colors in the sky, a light magenta touching the clouds as far as the eyes could see. Shimmery eyeshadow caught in the corners of your eyes, making them appear to be even more wet and filled with sorrow than they were. Nigel was here for you though, admiring the way you turned around in the snow, over and over again as if you were the little dancing figurine hidden in a jewelry box.

He'd held you close to him as you cried the eyeshadow in streaks of black down your face, the orange seeming less bright and the snow feeling more cold. You hadn't felt the totality of his admiration for you until this night, where his hug wasn't more than just that. Before his presence became a prison. He smiled at you, one of those toothy grins only he was capable of managing.

And then, he let go. This was the only time he'd done so on his own accord, almost leaving you fighting to be back in his embrace. He turned to the subway, then to you and back to the subway before leaning in with a kiss,

"urmează-mă și te voi săruta."

And then he went racing off into the night towards the never stopping trains ahead. Smiling, you ran after him. Eyes still wet with the tears for your father and hair still orange from the impulsive chop. The wind whipped through it, leaving you with a coldness on the back of your neck you weren't used to. It felt freeing, though. Your first taste of freedom. Running after him, you saw the water from the other side of town, touching the sky and creating more of the pinky-blue color that Bucharest was full of. The snow crunched under your feet as you placed one in front of the other before the soles of your shoes hit the concrete steps leading underground. Nigel was only a few meters away, sliding down the poles in his dog button down he favorited.

And then suddenly you came to a halt as you crashed into him, stopping the chase almost as soon as you'd started it, in the middle of the busy underground station. You'd lost your balance ever so slightly but he held you upright, not letting you fall.

And suddenly your eyes were on his. There was such a beautiful agony within them. There was far more to this man than you'd ever know and his love would have no bounds. He was soft in the way he stared at you, mouth pressed into a smile as he really took you in with everything you were. Nothing was lost in translation as you looked at him, his soul instantly filling your own. Everything was slowing down but the two of you, seemingly lost in time to the rest of the world with the passing trains and people.

"I will never stop looking for you." He whispered softly. voice suddenly laced with concern.

You were confused, looking up at the man you'd known you'd be with for infinity. "I'm right here?" You questioned, wondering what the significance of his words could mean, if they were laced with an underlying hidden message as concealed as the man's identity himself.

He smiled once more. "I will never stop looking for your kind of love." He corrected himself and you felt your insides go fuzzy with a warm and loving feeling.

You smiled from across the street, towards the same junction you'd run down the first time he'd proposed a nighttime walk. This could get you into a lot of trouble, to hint at the idea of a potential rekindling with the man known to be a criminal. The man who'd offered you nothing but love, even if there was a side of toxicity it'd been served with.

It was at that moment that you deeply felt the confines of your freedom without him- and it felt suffocating.

You both locked eyes once again, and he had a look on his features as though he'd been reminiscing about the same memory. It was impossible for him to truly still want something with you after all this time, wouldn't it be? You had pushed him away countless times, over and over. Whenever you'd seen him in public since the official ending of everything, you'd never spared him more of a glance.

Fuck it.

"urmează-mă și te voi săruta." You whispered under your breath, figuring the future would be in whether or not he could read your lips, if he would have remembered that time from so long ago, if he still wanted to be with you. A tear fell from your eye and cascaded down your cheek almost as silently as you'd spoken his phrase, "Find me, and I will kiss you."

Not even a second later, you both sprinted towards the subway.

[juliaswickcrs]

oops another oc :: amara prince in "timeless" ( pre-cacw - tfatws )

Everything in time, fades. That much James Buchanan Barnes knew, even if the rest of his life was scattered to the winds while his past comes to him in unwanted flashbacks amongst the cobblestone streets of Bucharest, Romania. He earns what he can and keeps his head low to the ground, wishing never to be found. Until an antique shop filled with memorabilia from the war draws him out of his shell and into contact with a woman that triggers a memory long forgotten. Of nights in a German prison camp and an unfulfilled promise. But Amara Prince, despite bearing the same resemblance to the woman he once knew, has no memory of him or the war. Her artwork, however, reveals a different story entirely. He sees the exact camp he was imprisoned in, the exact men he served beside, he sees Steve and Peggy and the Commandos painted in red, white, and blue splattered across the canvas, and he knows--despite all impossibility--that Amara Prince is the woman he made a promise to all those years ago.

but before they can go home, the two must discover what makes Amara timeless.

BONUS

taglist: @bisexualterror @foxesandmagic @iron-parkr @camiemendess @a-song-of-quill-and-feather

@arrthurpendragon @starcrossedjedis @drbobbimorse @kingsmakers @noratilney

@stanshollaand @astarionbae @darth-caillic @mystic-scripture @aliverse

@misshiraethsworld @asirensrage @eddiemunscns @princessmadelines @impales

@waterloou @daughter-of-melpomene @eddysocs

MARVEL TAGLIST: @notxjustxstories @themaradwrites

[hail-americas-ass]

🔆JUNE FIC REC II

✒ a greek tragedy by ash 

(I can’t express enough how amazing this is) 4.6K Words

When Steve started drawing the comic, he drew himself before the serum and Bucky as he remembered him when they worked together to keep from ending up on the streets and dreamed of futures with floating cars. He drew them then and now, scenes against a New York he remembered and scenes against this future he didn’t quite fit in, one drawn soft and hazy, the other hard lines. When he drew them in the present, he never drew himself looking at Bucky; Bucky was always behind him, a shadow that followed as he tried to find a trace of the world they used to know in this one. He called them Orpheus and Eurydice.

🦾  Touch Me I’m Going to Scream by buffypeppers

(This is a classic in my opinion. It’s got recovering!Bucky and every trope you can imagine, so very fluffy) 107.5K Words

Only a few days have passed since the Winter Soldier put Sam into a hospital bed but Steve is ready to find HYDRA’s assassin and bring him to justice.

Things won't go according to plan once the Avengers find the infamous man.

🕵️‍♂️ End of all Days by Minka ( @minka-g​ on tumblr)

(I was motivated to reread this recently, it kept me on the edge of my seat the first time I read it and it had the same thrilling effect when I reread it too. There’s only one word to describe it: thrilling.) 

(Archeological Historian!Steve x Spy!Bucky) (Indiana Jones & Atomic Blonde AU)  116.7K Words

Captain Steve Rogers had thought his military days were behind him, left in the bloody nightmare that was Saigon. Retired and working as a History Professor, the last thing he expected was to get caught up in a cataclysmic Slavic prophesy foreshadowing the end of the known world.

With Cold War tensions running high, Steve finds himself in need of a guide and translator to get him behind the Iron Curtain and into the isolated snowdrifts of Siberia.

It’s deep in the heart of Bucharest’s resistance fighters that Steve finds the ideal candidate, but swaying the enigmatic ex-operative known as The Winter Soldier proves to be complicated. Trust is hard-won, especially in the world of espionage, and with a KGB death squad nipping at his heels, the Soldier has countless reasons to stay presumably dead.

As the lines between right, wrong and the supernatural begin to blur, Steve is forced to reconsider everything he’s ever believed, right from the sanctity of his own country to the very foundations of creation itself.

❤️‍🩹 Every Door Opens by Notoska ( @notoska on tumblr)

(This fic, the words and the way they were written, not only yanked my heart out of my chest, it also sunk deep in my bones where I was forced to carry it and think of it for days. Fantastic.) Recovery fic. 73.9K Words

Then Bucky licks his lips, tip of his tongue just grazing the sensitive skin of Steve’s ear and Steve moans. Nothing close to the surge of lust behind his ribs, but a tiny, breathy sound all the same. Bucky doesn’t react—he must not have heard. Though a minute later he curls his fingers and extends them again, moving just slow enough for it to be a caress.

Just tip your head into his touch. He’ll take the lead and trace the folds of your ear with his tongue until you can’t keep quiet any more. Then he’ll smother your desperate little noises with his mouth, fingers twisting in your hair. Kissing deeply, tongues reaching to declare your filthy intentions. Find his knee with your hand and slide wolfishly up his thigh until you reach the bulge behind his fly. Palm him through his trousers until he’s panting in your mouth, until he’s pressing his forehead to yours, hips bucking, and you can see his dark eyes, glinting in the screen’s flickering light, pleading—

Steve jolts back to the present. The credits are rolling and Bucky is reading them as well. The screen blacks and two fluorescent lights buzz to life. Bucky loosens his hand from Steve’s head, welcoming the world back in.

[thelarriefics]

MAGICAL REALISM FIC REC: Below you’ll find fics that have magical elements to them that blend fantasy with reality in their own ways. 

📖 Three Days in February by @mercurial-madhouse (187k)

How close is too close? Harry and Louis are about to find out after a drunken night leaves Louis cursed. With only a week before tour starts, the race is on to fix things before they lose Louis forever. Oh, and Harry has to keep his long-time crush on Louis a secret while the lad can literally hear his thoughts. Easy, right?

Featuring ridiculous amounts of banter and angst, a healthy dose of OT5 friendship, and one very magical weekend.

📖 hymn for the wretched & divine by @wlwmermald (126k)

Death loses a bet with a mischievous and lively mortal by the name of Louis Tomlinson, who loves his old cat too much, the price being he must unconditionally befriend Louis. Death ends up getting more than he bargained for.

📖 Si Pudiera Volar by by @softfonds (69k)

When Harry’s fiancé leaves him for his cousin, he looks the other way for the sake of his happiness. He’ll do anything to forget about him, including joining a monastery. It isn’t until his cousin’s former lover, a pirate, appears that he realizes everything is not as it appears, and an honest pirate might be the only person worthy of his heart.

Or, a fic loosely based on Corazón Salvaje.

📖 Take on Me by @haztobegood (60k)

Actor Harry Styles is preparing for his next leading role as Antonius the Gladiator with the help of Louis Tomlinson, Hollywood’s top stunt coordinator. When the demands of Harry’s career get in the way of their training, the pair head to a secluded cabin to complete their training. Then, Louis begins to share senses with Harry. What is causing this mysterious connection and can Louis and Harry figure out how to stop it before they leave the cabin?

📖 Driftwood by @justanothershadeofblue (51k)

Eroda was all Harry knew. He lived there all his life, but he always knew he was peculiar. He had dreams that go beyond this small, cold, and lonely island. He wanted to leave; he HAD to leave. But that meant leaving Louis...

Harry is a lonely and depressed popstar who sailed out of his hometown on Eroda years ago to chase his dreams. He comes back to the island only to find his shining childhood best friend Louis just as cold and dreary as the island they grew up on.

📖 Chasing, Searching, Dreaming by @parmahamlarrie (46k)

Everyone is chasing, searching, dreaming of their soulmate.

Harry has known who his soulmate is since he was twenty years old, and ever since, he has been waiting for Louis to be ready for him. The unexpected passing of Louis' mum, and the fact that now he is the guardian of his twin two-year-old little siblings, just means that Harry is going to have to wait a bit longer.

A soulmate AU full of cute kids, house building, therapy, and a lot of dreaming.

📖 Soul of the Sea by @vurdoc (32k)

Louis lives a nomadic lifestyle. Never settling down in one place for long, he finds himself caught in a storm, as he’s passing through a small Scottish seaside town.

Everywhere is full, except the old B&B perched up on an isolated hill near the coastline, where the recluse owner isn’t what he seems.

Then again, who really is?

A fic about belonging, supernatural beings, and finding your own home.

📖 Fate & Chance by @zanniscaramouche (31k)

Haunted by his own ghost, the Duke von Tomlin fears for his safety and sanity as the days tick down to his certain engagement with the Crown Prince of Vienna. Meanwhile the travelling magician Hassenheim takes residency in a well established theatre, drawing mass crowds with his awe-inspiring illusions. Is it fate or chance that entwines their paths?

📖 The Honeycomb Bed and Breakfast by @daggerandrose (8k)

“I’m sorry, but where did we land?” He asks one of the flight attendants when he reaches the door.

“We’re in Bucharest.”

It takes a minute for Harry to process the location. “Romania? I was supposed to go to Rome, not Romania! How does that happen?”

or the one where Harry's work trip to Italy makes a tiny detour to Bucharest, Romania and he has to find a place to stay.

📖 i was at an all night diner by @yoursongonmyheart (5k)

"I know. I was there. I saw the great void in your soul, and you saw mine."

//or, the one where none of the boys can sleep and they all meet at a diner where it's always 3 a.m.

📖 The kaleidoscope of your eyes by @greenblueish (4k)

They are greeted by a young, handsome man in his late twenties, dressed in wide black trousers and a purple silky dress shirt. Usually Louis is quick to judge such daring pieces of clothing, as this colour in particular can easily look like a cheap Halloween costume imitation of a computer game character, but at this sight, he can think of no criticism. Except that there’s no way in hell that this man has the medical knowledge to cure his neighbour’s tumour.

or, the one where Harry, disguised as an alternative practitioner, uses his magic to cure people's health issues and Louis doesn't believe in the faith healer until he meets him himself.

📖 'Cause I Just Wanna Feel Alive by @goldenkinglouis (3k)

“Oh, cheers, mate, but I don’t do dates.”

Harry’s brow furrowed. “Are you–” he waved vaguely.

Louis shook his head. “No, it’s just… been too long for me.”

“And how might I convince you otherwise?” Harry asked, his eyes glistening under the lights.

OR: Louis is a lost, lonely vampire. Harry is the witch who brings him home.

📖 Just a little taste by @lunarheslwt (3k)

Harry is a vampire that comes home one night, grappling with the darkness that comes with being one. Louis offers him unwavering love, acceptance and the one thing he needs but is reluctant to ask for; permission to bite for the sake of comfort and safety seeking.

📖 all was golden in the sky by @daydreaming-sunflower (1k)

The Sun and the Moon are in love.

[maple-the-awesome]

We'll Meet Again...I Know When || Chapter 11

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x GN Reader

Words: 3,672

Overview: Given your old-fashioned personality and obsession with all things 1940s to 1980s, it’s no wonder that most people refer to you as an ‘old soul’ who would’ve rather lived back then than in the modern era. Little do they know, you already did, but with your previous life as Hollie Stark cut short, you’ve been left with some…unfinished business, to say the least. Top of your list? Finally getting to marry your thought-to-be-lost fiancé.

Series Masterlist 🤎 Marvel Masterlist 🤎 Fandom Masterlist

CHAPTER ELEVEN: LIKE THE GOOD O' DAYS

Like an animal returning from hibernation, you've become considerably more energetic as the winter begins drawing to a close. The idea of warmer weather, even if just a small improvement from what you've been seeing, has made the idea of leaving the apartment far less bothersome, therefore much to Bucky's joy, you've finally agreed to visit Old Town with him.

Going to the historical neighborhood in Bucharest has been on your roommate's mind for a while now. He had first been informed of its existence while helping your elderly neighbor, Rosetta, bring groceries up to her apartment as he normally does every Monday. She made the designation sound so interesting and given Bucky's wonder, you happily agreed to go sometime.

Of course, that was a week or two before the first snowfall. Now, you love Bucky with all your heart- enough to remember him in a completely new life even - but enough to trek through mounds of freezing snow just to see some old buildings? If you wanted to look at something old and beautiful, you'd just stare at him all day; no risk of hyperthermia needed!

Honestly, you would've toughened up and gone for the hike if it made Bucky happy, but perhaps taking pity upon you, he decided to bless you with a compromise to wait for warmer weather. Seeing that the streets are no longer buried in slippery snow or splashy slush, it's a perfect time to make good on that deal.

Armed with an oversized coat, hat, scarf, and mittens, you're fully equipped for the chill which still holds a tight grasp over the air unfortunately. Even Bucky wears several layers of clothing topped with his own coat, although it isn't that much compared to what everyone else is wearing. Then again, the man's built like a brick wall; you doubt much wind gets passed those muscles.

"So, what's on the itinerary today, Barnes? I'm assuming you've got the whole day planned for us, right?" Despite your mouth being covered by your scarf, your breath is visible in the air for each spoken word and Jack Frost is already nipping at your nose.

While this trip had been his idea, Bucky didn't expect to be in charge of plans since you've normally got that part covered yourself, so hiding his panic, he suggests quickly," let's just walk around, 'look at some of the buildings and see if anything interests us along the way."

"Fine by me!" Fortunately for him, you hold no objections, continuing to cheerfully skip along his side.

Bucky tilts his head, holding a thought on the tip of his tongue for a moment before finally daring to speak it,"...can we also check out some of those souvenir shops Rosetta suggested?"

You mock a pout, embracing his arm in yours and giving it a playful tug," oh, I don't know. She said they have a lot of old stuff in there. I would hate for anyone to try stealing you away from me now."

He rolls his eyes," I'm sure you won't have to worry about that."

"Hopefully not or else there'll be a fight! But just to be sure~!"

Bucky stops when you suddenly jump in front of him, holding out your mittened hand high into the air near his face. All the while you wear an impish grin that peeks out from behind your scarf, one that promises only mischief yet that familiar glossy shine in your eyes promises something else entirely; something much softer and genuine.

"Hold my hand."

"Hold...your hand?" For a split second, he almost obeys without another thought. His right hand reaches out as if attached to a magnet being pulled towards yours, however it hesitates midair once he gains control of his senses again.

"Your hearing hasn't gone out yet, that's good," you smirk, blowing air from your nose," yes, I want you to hold my hand."

"Why?"

'Damn, why does he always have to make such simple things so difficult?'

"Because my hand is cold, I don't want you to get lost out here, and I just want to hold your hand. It's been a while anyways," far too long.

Bucky glances at your hand which makes a childish grabby motion, hopeful he'll take the bait for once, but instead, he walks right past you, his hands remaining stuffed inside his pockets as they have been since leaving the apartment.

Frowning, you let your hand fall back to your side in disappointment, yet you would've accepted this defeat without voiced complaint if not for Bucky's hand suddenly clenching yours before beginning to tug you along behind him.

It's a delicate grip, one you can't realistically call a grip at all given how easily you could just slip your hand away, although you know him well enough to understand what it means: the poor thing's afraid of somehow harming you.

Sneaking a curious glance at his face, you notice the hint of red brushing his cheeks which he fruitlessly attempts to hide by the shadow of his tilted hat...Cute.

Walking on your own, you nestle yourself against his arm while taking no shame in your shining smile nor his shy embarrassment as he does nothing to stop you...Adorable.

Old churches, modern museums, and a much needed café break; that's been your day so far. Oh, and the hand holding. That's been wonderful, too. Since the moment Bucky took your hand in his, he's been cursed to hold it for the remainder of the day which has kept both your hand and heart pleasantly warm throughout such an otherwise cold afternoon.

"This has been fun. Excellent choice for a Friday date, Barnes," you praise, taking another sip of your beloved drink. You've had him order the same, offended that he's never tried it before. Trusting you with his life, he complied, although he hasn't commended much on whether he actually enjoys it or not.

Bucky flinches while fidgeting with his own warm porcelain mug. Date...That simple four-lettered word sticks in his head more than he'd care to admit. He almost corrects you, but decides against it in favor of just busying himself by studying the passersby from the café window you both sit next to.

Unfortunately, Bucky isn't as smooth as he thinks and you definitely notice his discomfort. Guilt eats at you, begging you to apologize and insist this is just a friendly date, however feeling that the discussion would only confirm any awkwardness, you comment on something else instead.

"Getting worn out from all this socialization?"

"No-" Bucky presses his lips into a thin line before changing his answer,"...a bit. I just..."

"It's fine. We can finish up here and get back to the apartment," you lean back into your chair with crossed arms," you know, I'm proud of you. You've managed to let loose and be yourself within a public space. That's a big step in the right direction."

His lip twitches upwards at your compliment, although he's hesitant to actually accept it, soon lowering his head with a frown,"...this feels wrong."

You barely hear his whispered words and answer back just as quietly," what does?"

"Being out here with you, having a good time when I...I don't think I-"

"-James Buchanan Barnes," you're quick to lean forward, reaching towards him without actually touching. Instead, you keep your hand near his where it can at least gain his attention," you have every right to enjoy life. It's gonna feel weird and wrong at first, and it might for a while, but that's a part of the healing process, too. You just have to do your best to set aside those negative thoughts and trust in your own happiness.

"You've been having fun today, right? We went to the museum and looked at the art, we checked out the Stavropoleos Monastery which was cool, and you even got to buy stuff at your souvenir shops...What did you get anyways, you never showed me?"

"Nothin' special," Bucky states, tapping his metal finger against the mug with a 'clink'.

"Alright then, keep your secrets," you rest your chin on your hand with a wicked grin as you admire his handsome features. If only this was a romantic date, then you'd have every excuse to decorate his cheeks and lips with dozens of butterfly kisses.

"...What?"

"Nothing," you mumbled.

Something else you've noticed about this Bucky is his easily flustered nature which is very different from the Bucky you once knew. Back in those days, he took every compliment right to his head, adding it to his already steep ego and responding quickly with his silver tongue. It was nearly impossible for you to get the man to blush, but the same couldn't be said about him with you. He always had some flirty reply prepared, well aware of the effect his charm had over you and damn, did he use it to his advantage.

Now, Bucky behaves in a way Hollie never thought possible. While he does admittedly have his smooth moments, he's rather shy and reluctant. You now have no problem drawing that blush from him and can even make him completely tongue tied if you feel evil enough. You don't mind this change, actually. It's cute seeing him so flustered...Maybe that's why 1940s Bucky always teased you so much.

While you're lost in thought, present Bucky shifts in his seat, grabbing the small paper bag hung on its back before placing it on the table. This movement snaps you out of it, your eyes dropping to the object then rising to him in wordless question. He bashfully nods towards the bag which gives you the hint.

As he hides his worry behind the mug he brings to his lips, you peek inside the paper barrier, not seeing anything too well through the shadow, thus you opt for reaching inside. Snatching something, you pull it out carefully to examine it further.

In your hand rests a beautiful Romanian bead bracelet like the very ones you had been observing in a souvenir shop earlier during this trip. Some had plain colors while others had designs with many triangles, but your favorite contained flowers. In particular, you enjoyed the contrast of a white bracelet with red and blue flowers and green stems; the very bracelet you currently hold now.

"That was the one you liked, right?" Bucky's hopeful towards this question, his eyes watching your every movement intensely as you run your fingers over the tiny beads.

"Yeah...I really liked this one, but how did you-?" From what you remember, Bucky had been across the shop searching the book section. You hadn't even been looking at the bracelets long, only a minute or two before going to wait outside of him, so when did he...?

"-I noticed you at the bracelets and even the owner mentioned how much you seemed to like that one, so I figured I'd get it- you know, as a small 'thank you' gift for helping me out so much..." he smiles slightly, glancing at the bracelet in memory. He knows you don't usually focus on yourself much, instead keeping an eye out for him, thus he wanted to do something special to show you his utmost appreciation.

Raising his attention from the bracelet to your face, Bucky frowns immediately, shame and panic filling him at the sight of your tears," w-was I not right? I can get you a different one if you want or-or should I have-?"

"-No, no," you're quick to wipe your sleeve under your eyes, giving a sniff before smiling his way brightly," I love it! Thank you so much, Bucky. It's perfect."

He isn't too convinced, voicing as much," you're sure?"

"I'm sure. It's just..." biting your lip, you move the beads with your thumb in thought. The bracelet truly is beautiful, but it means so much more coming from him," no one's gotten me a gift like this in a while. I'm touched."

Bucky stares at you for a second before carefully asking,"...not even your fiancé?"

You flinch, but shake your head and clear away another tear," well, it's not really his fault. He's been...busy, you could say...but maybe I should tell him about this, huh? Let him know he's got competition and better shape up real soon before you steal me away from him, hmm?"

At this, Bucky rolls his eyes," no, don't tell him that. I don't wanna start a fight."

"Fine, for your sake, I won't say a word," you laugh heartily, pinning the bracelet around your wrist finally and holding it out to get a good look at it in the sun,"...thank you, Bucky. I'll treasure this forever."

He smiles, creating a mental photo of the way your eyes glimmer happily in this moment," you're welcome."

"So, how was it?"

"Today was nice. We went to Old Town for the afternoon and had a lot of fun. Bucky was able to let loose, I had him teach me some Romanian words I immediately forgot, and then we ordered take out for dinner," you list off the events of your day while raising your hand towards the ceiling and staring at your bracelet with a gleeful smile. By the way you've been coddling the jewelry, one might think Bucky had proposed to you again with it.

"And then~?"

"’Then’ what?"

"The sex! How was the sex? I need details."

You feel your face flare, sitting up quickly from the bed with a growl," Natasha, what the hell makes you think we had sex?!"

"Oh, I don't know…You're currently living with a hot guy who you used to be engaged to in your past life, you're so in love with him that you retrained all your memories from said past life just to remember him-"

"-We think that's the reason anyways-"

"-Aaaand you seemed really excited to call me tonight. With all things considered, you really can not blame me for thinking you just got laid!”

"Well, I didn't," you run a hand over your face with a shake of your head. Thank goodness Bucky went to pick up the take out. While you normally have your conversations with Natasha in private so that you can stress all your secret worries to her, apparently you also need to keep him from overhearing this topic, too.

"Really? What's his problem? I figured he'd literally jump at the chance after he found out you're his Hollie?"

"Probably because he still doesn't know that part yet."

"...Oh..." Natasha's silent for a moment," you mean you still haven't told him? (Y/n), how long do you plan to wait exactly? I mean, I understand why you didn't say anything out of the gates, but the two of you have been together for a while now. Don't you think it's about time he learned the truth?"

"It's just not that easy, Nat," you sigh. Deep down, you do feel wrong for not saying anything. It kills you everyday to not be able to have Bucky see you as Hollie. Your relationship - and undying love for him - would be so much easier to manage then, but there's too many ways a reveal could go south.

"Assuming that Bucky would even believe me is a stretch to begin with and even if he does, there’s several issues that could present themselves. For one, I’m only Hollie through memory. What if (Y/n) being Hollie creeps him out so much that he wants nothing to do with either of us - me - whatever?!”

“Or he could see past that little detail and love you for who you are on the inside.”

“Okay, sure, but what about his unresolved guilt towards Hollie? I mean, we’re not talking about him just mourning her death the way anyone else would. As far as he's concerned, he's the one who killed her. No matter what I try to say to convince him otherwise, he blames himself for it and it destroys him inside. What if that guilt remains and he ends up pushing me away with some fucked up reasoning that it’s to ‘protect me’?”

“By telling him you’re Hollie, you’d be telling him as her that you forgive him,” Natasha speaks slowly to not get tripped over all the pronouns,” maybe he’d be more willing to forgive himself then.”

"Yeah…but this is Bucky we're talking about. I don't think he'd move on that easily regardless of whether it's Hollie or (Y/n) telling him to. He’s got catholic-style guilt, Nat!”

“That serious, huh?”

“Yes!”

Now it's Natasha who sighs,"...listen, I understand why you’re scared. I know how scary it can be trusting people with your past especially when they’re someone whose judgment means so much to you, however I also know that the truth will come out eventually. The risk only grows the closer you are to someone and the more you try to keep things hidden. At one point or another, the truth might be exposed and the more you wait to do it yourself, the more you risk it being at a bad time in the worst way.

“Just look at how I found out. We were already on edge with everything that happened then you began acting weird…For a second there, I was worried you were either a double agent or plain insane. In the end, I believed you, but not everyone is going to be as understanding as your super cool best friend.”

You chuckle softly, practically able to see Natasha’s smirk, too.

“Now, I don’t know a single thing about Barnes other than those times he tried killing me, so I’m probably not the greatest judge of this, but based on everything Steve and you have said, it sounds like he really loves you - uh, Hollie that is. Think about how you felt finding out he was still alive? Don’t you think he’d be just as relieved to know his fiancée’s gotten a second chance at life, too?

“Even when talking about (Y/n), Bucky clearly trusts you. Take it from me, there’s no way an assassin would go on a date and hold hands with someone they don’t trust with their life; that’s worth something, isn’t it? He’d be more willing to listen to whatever you have to say, all you gotta do is think of something only Hollie and him would know - something he still remembers about her - and use it to convince him. You managed to convince me as a total stranger to Hollie, so I’d imagine it would be easier to accomplish with someone who truly knew her. He’d be able to confirm for a fact that you’re telling the truth since he knows it himself.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat things. Everything that you mentioned before can happen. He might be really creeped out. He might push you away to protect you. Truthful, you gotta admit, it’s a little-”

“-Weird knowing someone’s practically two different people at once?” You finish with a roll of your eyes," yeah, I've realized that…and I’ve long expected that part. My main concern is just not hurting Bucky. I want him to believe me and, even if he doesn’t want to be together in this life, I want him to move on from Hollie. I want him to know it’s okay to go be happy without either of us…Ultimately, I just want him to have closure…”

You take in a shakily breath, pulling at the bracelet around your wrist. It kills you inside to see Bucky’s guilt and not truly be able to stop it. When he first broke down that day, admitting he remembered Hollie and her death by his hands, you wanted nothing more than to jump at him and kiss away his tears, telling him over and over again how much Hollie loves him, how much you love him…but you couldn’t bring yourself to do that.

“I’m tied to Hollie. Through me, she can finally tell Bucky everything’s going to be okay - that she doesn’t blame him for what happened…Maybe it won’t help him, maybe it will, but at the end of the day, he’ll at least hear it and that’s the greatest push I can offer…He deserves it so, yes, I am going to tell him eventually. Now just isn’t the right time; not while he’s still trying to find his footing. I can’t be the reason his life gets more confusing and chaotic than it already is. I just…We need a little more time.”

Natasha must’ve realized it by now. Yeah, you’re concerned over Bucky’s feelings and you’ve listed every worry you have regarding them, however deep down, this isn’t only about him. You’re scared. Despite every night that you’ve told yourself you’d be okay with him leaving you- with him hating you-, deep down, you fear such an outcome. You don’t want to lose him. You don’t want to feel his hate…So you’re delaying the inevitable until you magically find the strength to face it.

“...Can you just make me a promise?”

“To tell him? Yeah, I-”

“-No, not just to tell Barnes. I want you to eventually tell Steve and Tony, too. I think it’s safe to say Barnes isn’t the only one needing closure over Hollie. Steve went into the ice then woke up decades later with no one and Tony was a child who tragedy lost his only aunt. Don’t you think they deserve answers just as much as Barnes?

“They might not accept it, but if they do, they’ll be able to know they still have a piece of her around…You know, I can’t do much regarding lover boy, but I can always vouch for you to Rogers and Stark; punch them over the heads if they give you too much trouble.”

You chuckle softly, giving her question some thought. Steve and you were close friends in the past and Tony was practically attached to your hip whenever around. Even in this lifetime, you’re close to both of them and you’ve observed their own remaining sorrow over Hollie. They both mourn her, Steve disappearing on his own during any anniversary related to her while Tony still keeps her last present to him on his desk, avoiding any mention of her otherwise. They deserve to know how close she’s truly been to them this whole time…

“I’ll tell them, too. I promise.”

NEXT CHAPTER ➡️

⬅️PREVIOUS CHAPTER

[wnterslder]

Don't chase the rabbit" (also happy belated birthday!)

HE'S SEEN THE MUSEUM — THE EXHIBITS, GRAND PAINTINGS OF THE HOWLING COMMANDOS AND HEROIC MISSION LED BY THIS CAPTAIN AMERICA. pages and pages are scribbled down about them in his notebooks. a mass and hastily written collection of notes, newspaper clippings, whispers and mumbles in a desperate attempt to gain a sense of being, now that he'd been cut loose from pierce.

james has been residing in bucharest, romania for some number of months now. not exactly comfortable living — windows are blocked out, contact with others has been minimal aside from the old woman that had blessed him with an ounce of kindness found first in a glass of water and a hot meal. she doesn't visit him as often as she used to at the beginning, far too busy with her fruit stand and helping those in need of an extra hand. entrusted to him is her spare apartment to which she did not exactly disclose the reason of its inoccupancy ( only hinted by some melancholic look, and a swipe of old books to under her arm before he had a chance to peek ). he is still thankful even now, and he stares quietly at the mugs they had used to share tea together, now drying over a patterened kitchen towel.

journal entries shift from collecting information ( of himself, supposed relationships, surroundings ) to experiences, discoveries, anything that comes to mind. busied hands find reason to rest for once — for the first time in weeks — pen resting in the gutter of the opened journal. a discovery, founded in some evening under the soft warmth of a desk lamp and muffled noise of city life. left hand draws to a closed position. memories come to him, but despite that, he seems less interested in obsessing over who he once was ——— instead, he wonders who he will be. can be, maybe.

“ don't chase the rabbit “

[argroupofedu5]

Pursuing MBBS in Romania: An Rising Goal for Aspiring Doctors

Seeking after a medical degree could be a dream for numerous trying specialists worldwide. With the expanding competitiveness and cost of medical education in conventional goals just like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, students are exploring alternative areas for quality instruction at an affordable cost. Romania has risen as a noticeable choice among these choices, advertising a strong medical education framework recognized universally. This article digs into the viewpoints of seeking after an MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) in Romania, highlighting its benefits, admission preparation, colleges, educational modules, and student life.

Why Choose Romania for MBBS?

Quality Education

Romania brags a few universities with a solid notoriety in restorative instruction. The restorative schools are licensed by recognized international bodies such as the World Wellbeing Organisation (WHO) and recorded within the World Directory of Medical Schools. Romanian universities offer a curriculum that adjusts with European Union standards, ensuring graduates are well-prepared for worldwide medical practice.

Reasonableness

One of the foremost noteworthy focal points of studying MBBS in Romania is the cost-effectiveness. Educational cost expenses in Romanian medical colleges are generally low compared to those in Western Europe and North America. Also, the fetch of living in Romania is humble, making it a fiscally reasonable alternative for many worldwide students.

Multicultural Environment

Romania is domestic to a different student populace, drawing in people from various nations, counting India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and the Middle East. This multicultural environment gives students with a wealthy social experience and the opportunity to build a worldwide organisation.

English-Taught Programs

Many Romanian universities offer MBBS programs in English, catering to international students who may not be proficient in Romanian. This expels a significant barrier to entry and ensures that students can focus on their studies without the added challenge of a language barrier.

Admission Process

Qualification Criteria

The essential qualification criteria for admission to MBBS programs in Romania for the most part include:

Completion of secondary education with a solid accentuation on science subjects, especially Science and Chemistry.

Capability in English, often illustrated through standardised tests such as IELTS or TOEFL.

A few universities may require entrance examinations or interviews.

Application Method

Inquire about and Select Universities: Imminent understudies ought to begin by inquiring about Romanian universities that offer MBBS programs in English. A few famous universities incorporate Carol Davila University of Medication and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca University of Medicine and Pharmacy, and Iuliu HaÈhatieganu University of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacy.

Prepare Documents: Required reports typically incorporate scholarly transcripts, proof of English proficiency, a substantial visa, a personal statement, and letters of recommendation.

Apply Online: Most universities accept online applications. Students must fill out the application form, upload the necessary documents, and pay any pertinent application expenses.

Entrance Exams/Interviews: If required, students will have to prepare for and attend any entrance exams or interviews.

Acknowledgment and Visa: Upon acceptance, understudies will get an offer letter. They must then apply for a student visa (long-stay visa for considers) at the Romanian embassy or consulate in their home country.

Top Medical Universities in Romania

Carol Davila University of Medication and Pharmacy

Founded in Bucharest, the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy is one of the oldest and most prestigious medical schools for MBBS in Romania. It offers a comprehensive MBBS program in English and is known for its rigorous academic guidelines and state-of-the-art research facilities.

Cluj-Napoca University of Medication and Drug store

This university, arranged within the dynamic city of Cluj-Napoca, offers energetic and inventive restorative educational programs. Its MBBS program in English pulls in a huge number of universal students each year. The college is renowned for its clinical training and investigation openings.

Iuliu HaÈieganu University of Medication and Pharmacy

Founded in Cluj-Napoca, this university is exceedingly regarded for its focus on clinical practice and investigation. The MBBS program in English is outlined to prepare students with the skills and knowledge necessary to exceed expectations within the medical field.

Grigore T. Popa University of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacy

Arranged in IaÈi, this college offers an English-taught MBBS program known for its solid accentuation on practical preparation and modern teaching methods. The university has broad partnerships with hospitals and research centres, giving students ample opportunities for hands-on encounters.

Curriculum and Training

Pre-Clinical and Clinical Phases

The MBBS program in Romania typically spans six years and is divided into two main stages: pre-clinical and clinical.

Pre-Clinical Stage (Years 1-3): This stage focuses on foundational medical sciences such as Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Pharmacology. Students gain a profound understanding of the human body's structure and capacities, malady mechanisms, and fundamental medical practices.

Clinical Stage (Years 4-6): The clinical stage includes hands-on preparing in clinics and clinics. Students turn through different medical specialties, including Inside Pharmaceutical, Surgery, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Psychiatry. This practical preparation is crucial for creating clinical skills and quiet management capabilities.

Teaching Methodology

Romanian medical universities utilise a blend of conventional addresses, intuitive workshops, laboratory work, and clinical rotations. The focus is on evidence-based learning, basic considering, and practical application of information. Cutting edge teaching helps, including simulation labs and digital assets, upgrade the learning experience.

Conclusion

Pursuing an MBBS in Romania offers various preferences, from quality education and reasonableness to a multicultural environment and broad clinical preparation. With its well-established medical schools, Romania gives a strong establishment for aspiring doctors to attain their career goals. The combination of academic greatness, down to earth experience, and a strong student environment makes Romania an attractive goal for medical considerations. For students looking for a comprehensive and cost-effective medical education, Romania stands out as a compelling choice.

[florasearlethirdyear]

RSA: LGBTQ+ Artists

Ashley Lukashevsky:

Ashley is a talented illustrator and visual artist with a compelling mission. They use their creative skills to contribute to and strengthen various social movements, including racial justice, immigrant justice, climate justice, mental health advocacy, and LGBTQIA+ liberation. Ashley's work serves as a powerful tool for raising awareness, promoting positive change, and challenging the oppressive systems and ideologies that persist in society.

Through their art, Ashley envisions and portrays an idealized world. This world is not only a source of inspiration and hope, but it also represents a powerful form of resistance. By creating and sharing these idealized depictions, Ashley aims to dismantle the harmful systems and ideologies that obscure the path to a more just and equitable society.

Ashley uses fluid forms, retro fonts and bold colours to visualise their idealized world. This is particularly inspirational as I am at a point where Im trying to combine illustrations and type.

Spll Girl:

Spll Girl is a non binary Canadian illustrator and artist. Spll Girl's art is a unique and powerful expression of their inner world, characterized by highly emotive characters and scenes that are brought to life with vibrant colors, bold lines, patterns, and movement. This use of movement is notable within their collaboration with Nike. Their art serves as a medium through which she navigates and communicates their experiences, emotions, and perspectives.

Alex Antonescu:

Alex is a illustrator based in Bucharest, Romania, who brings a unique and vibrant perspective to their work. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, they take pride in their queer identity, and this is beautifully reflected in their whimsical and colorful personality, which shines through in their illustrations.

What sets Alex apart is the versatile and inclusive nature of their art. One of their primary missions is to provide representation for every community and minority group with a strong sense of pride. Through their work, they create a visual celebration of diversity, ensuring that everyone's voice and identity can find a place in their illustrations. The hallmark of Alex's pieces is the explosion of color and the powerful presence they exude.

Ashton Attzzs:

Ashton Attzs, a painter and illustrator based in the UK, is marked by their distinctive style and a commitment to inclusivity. Ashton identifies as a queer and gender non-conforming artist whose work celebrates every character and ensures their visibility. Ashton's work is characterized by flat, bold, and vibrant colors.

Wednesday Holmes:

Wednesday is a multi-talented artist, designer, writer, and queer community organizer based in London. Their work is characterized by its commitment to promoting education, empathy, and kindness, with a focus on providing representation and support for the queer community. Wednesday's diverse portfolio covers a wide range of topics, including advocacy for transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals, mental health, recovery, and unity. They have collaborated with renowned brands and organizations such as Youth to the People, Lazy Oaf, Lucy and Yak, J.Crew, and many more.

I draw inspiration from Wednesday's commitment to providing representation, support, and positivity to the queer community. In my brand I aim to incorporate elements of inclusivity, joy, and empowerment.

Florence Given:

Florence Given is feminist queer illustrator and author based in the UK. Her books 'Women Don't Owe You Pretty' and 'Girl Crush' have reached worldwide fame. Florence Given's art and writings often focus on themes related to gender equality, self-acceptance, and empowerment. Her style isn't what I am aiming towards for the project but her utilization of these topics is important to observe. Her art features diverse and inclusive representations of women and gender identities. Florence Given's work typically includes bold and playful typography, striking imagery, and a strong sense of self-expression.

Rommy Torrico:

Rommy is a queer, trans, formerly undocumented chilean migrant artist. Torrico's art explores the intersectionality of various aspects of identity, including their experiences as an undocumented immigrant, a queer individual, and a nonbinary person. Their work delves into the complexities and challenges of navigating multiple marginalized identities.

Torrico is known for their portraiture, creating vivid and evocative representations of individuals within the LGBTQ+ and undocumented immigrant communities.

[sorrynoroomsavailable]

The fifth edition of Kyiv Biennial will be international and will take place in Kyiv, Ivano Frankivsk, Uzhhorod, Vienna, Warsaw and Berlin.

In view of the brutal Russian attack on Ukraine, a comprehensive biennial project in Kyiv long seemed deeply uncertain, if not impossible. But, with a cascade of openings – starting in Kyiv and Vienna in October 2023, finishing in Berlin in 2024 – the fifth Kyiv Biennial will take place. This Biennial edition is conceived as a European event, with dispersed exhibitions and public programs in a number of Ukrainian and EU cities, and realized in partnership with leading European institutions in the field of contemporary art.

Instead of abandoning the project and thus submitting to the logic of war that attacks everything civil, the 2023 Biennial draws upon its founding idea: that of being a multi-centric initiative in a European, interconnected and solidary form. Art institutions in Ukraine (in Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Uzhhorod) organize presentations and events in their endangered yet working infrastructures. Despite the late start of planning due to the war, museums and exhibition halls in Vienna (the main exhibition spot), Warsaw and Berlin, together with venues in other European cities, have freed up their spaces and platforms for exhibitions and events with Ukrainian and international artists as well as for discursive, performative and educational activities. Together, the institutions have formed a curato rial consortium to jointly create a conceptual framework within which they develop their respective Kyiv Biennial programs.

How can a country at war address political, social, cultural and societal issues? Today, the experience of artists and cultural workers in Ukraine is profoundly marked by war trauma, displacement, lack of access to basic resources and, in many cases, direct involve ment in armed resistance or the experience of life under military occupation. This poses existential challenges for the future of art and cultural production in Ukraine. The upcoming Biennial aims at reintegrating the Ukrainian artistic community, divided and scattered throughout Europe by the war, in order to empower its actors to work and reflect collectively and together with international colleagues on cultural, social and environmental challenges Ukraine is currently facing and to imagine scenarios for an emancipatory future within a global context.

The Kyiv Biennial strategy, developed in the course of its four previous editions, merges artistic production, critical knowledge and social engagement in the times of emergency, where curatorship goes far beyond its contemporary meaning of an artistic and organizational practice and becomes resignified with its original sense of restoration, rehabilitation and relief, thus suggesting not a biennial, but a perennial long-run international project, a “Kyiv Perennial.”

Kyiv Biennial 2023 is conceived and organized by the Visual Culture Research Center (Kyiv) together with tranzit.at (Vienna), tranzit.org (Bratislava, Budapest, Bucharest, Cluj, Iași, Prague and Vienna), Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Museum Crisis Center (Lviv), Other Edges, Dovzhenko Centre (Kyiv), Asortymentna Kimnata (Ivano-Frankivsk) and Sorry, No Rooms Available (Uzhhorod).

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2023.kyivbiennial.org

[moonwaxwingangel]

PTSD files #1

Who I am to write this column about mental health.....

Well my name is elena melanson, from Ottawa Canada or out side of Ottawa, I do have a Tibetan name dawalhamo Tenzin (ཟླ་བ་ལྷ་མོ བསྟན་འཛིན), I went to Norte dame catholic high school in Carleton place. I am an artist, musician and writer and photographer. I am mixed race- Eurasian to be exact. I don't really subscribe to organized religion but I have to I choose buddhism of the Tibetan variety. I like to read, write, and draw and watch tv. I am 90's to 2000's kid. I am 34 years old.....looking for friends, as you probably guess that I am a big reboot and sci-fi and Nickelodeon fan.   I was born in a warzone that is where most of my PTSD comes from and human rights violations.   I am also have Asperger's and ADHD.   I am interested in mountaineering on Everest for both mental health and abusive victims.   As I was was recently a abuse victim. Though I call my self an Amazon, and a warrior and survivor.  I like to colour and draw tattoo designs and help with the house for tattoo money as well as I clean twice a weak for my tattoo money and anger management.     I am ptsd and Eurasian.....most people like the think because of my odd mixture of DNA that I look more male then female, which wrong on their part.  

Some of my likes include:

Hobbies

Art, tattoo design, tattoos, piercing, writing, photography, music, making music, music production, astronomy, stargazing, ufos, novels, graphic novels, Netflix, Tubi, Pluto tv, video games, board games, Halloween , nano pets, haha I am a nerd

Music

Rob zombie, wu tang clan, backstreet boys, spice girls, aqua, five, sting, Marilyn Manson, typo negative, missy Elliot, insync, Eiffel 65, vegaboys, Jenifever.

Movies

Karate kid trilogy, saw, hostel, would you rather, space documentary, space jam, mountaineering movies, 0 dark 30, studio ghibili.

Television

Cobra Kai, reboot, mummies alive!, Pete and Pete, are you afraid of the dark, scream, resident evil, swat, Star Trek, dead like me, greys anatomy.

Books

Ali Hazelwood, Lisa Scottoline, Christine Loren, astronomy and stargazing books, the stand, warrior cats, seeker bears, it, the world most dangerous places, and more.

I was born on February 4 1989, in a city in the heart of the Amazonian heartland Bucharest Romania, I was tortured by the people who caused the war.   I was give up by my birth mom and the after two years of torture I was finally adopted.  

As I a baby I was a quiet child until I learned to walk, talk and read and write.  Since then I have had a voice.  My adoptive mother Debbie melanson (the late) was the only who encouraged me to find better outlets for my ptsd and other mental health issues.   I am not one to drink or do drugs or smoke.   I must says as a 34 year my only vice is reading and writing and coffee.     This is the introduction to my column.  More about my life and how I cope will follow.

Until the next column

Be happy

Elena Stargazer

[officeobject]

Just kidding, here is how my ACTUAL trial would go:

I would have my hair in the same way as now, and I would be dressed in an outfit that'd be in my style (think Maximus Bucharest), of course with a mandatory thing to carry, and a bag + phone + earbuds, and I would be high up, and look out a big window, at the beautiful multi-colored neon city I've always felt a need to go to ... there'd be a timer on my phone, but anyways, the room would be exactly as I want it, with every MLP toy I want, multiple of the same Pinkie Cooper dolls, plenty of office supply, an office in general, an outside area, framed drawings of my fursona - EVEN A FURSUIT I COULD CHANGE TO BEFORE THE CLOCK STARTS, OF MY FURSONA, plus whatever else, and just as I'm all happy and everything is perfect, as the place is beautiful, and I have everything I could ever want when it comes to objects ... the timer on my phone starts (not before my phone plays themed music I like, of course, in a playlist that is titled appropriately, with no ads, etc), and then soon after the confusion and the jokes about what obviously-mine trial could be about, there would be a teenager involved, somehow - like, not sure how a teenager is just gonna show up, or whatever, but yeah, teenager, and I guess the solution would be obviously, so thankfully, I WOULD be able to figure it out and solve it ... but I would have to GET ALONG with this teenager, and whatever other details there would be, to make this scary (maybe it's a teenage boy, maybe it's a GROUP of teenagers, maybe they'd have really fragile mental health so I'd be afraid to hurt them, maybe we have nothing in common on the surface, maybe I try to speed things up with this trial - which, of course I would do, but the teenager is distant, etc), and maybe, as a bonus, I can see fun, beauty, and 30 year olds, outside my big window - in their own balconies or skyscraper homes or out on the streets, etc, but I can't talk to them - like, I'm forced to be in this house and the balcony is even locked TOO - with this teenager ...

That being said, I'm now okay enough to make a joke: anyone wanna be the teenage boy trial to my paranoid over-emotional autistic self who is currently sobbing and wants immediate comfort but almost nothing works?

Oh and also, I do live with a teenage boy ghost, but not with any of the cool additions of the trial, but at least I can talk to 30 year olds and go outside, so yeah, life is weird ...

Y'all are wrong, Agatha All Along episode 5's trial, was actually MY trial, because that episode basically destroyed my mental health - like, it activated some emotion in me or something.

[atelier7culori]

Atelier de crochiuri

Exerseaza-ti linia ca pe vremea studentiei cu Atelier 7culori!

Desen corpul uman cu model viu – schite rapide.

Detalii si inscrieri pe curcubeu7@gmail.com/WhatsApp: 0733148567

[trenchcoatsandtimetravel]

Kitchen Table

The first kitchen table they owned was a rickety thing with a wonky leg that they pushed up against the wall with two mismatched chairs. It also served as their dining table, desk, and dressing table. Steve hated it. But he missed it when it was gone.

The apartment SHIELD gave Steve in New York when he came out of the ice had been decorated by someone with a sketchy idea of what forties furniture had looked like, and seemed to think that Steve would want to surround himself with an eerie menagerie of the past. The kitchen table had almost been the same as the one he and Bucky had shared, but the legs were steady and Steve hated it even more.

His apartment in DC had a kitchen 'island' that Steve didn't understand and kept bashing his hips on as he tried to move around the kitchen.

Bucky's apartment in Bucharest had a lonely unit with an embedded kitchen hob and a place setting for one. It had broken Steve's heart to see it, but not as much as it hurt to see Bucky's attempt to rebuild his life being destroyed by the agents that came for him.

In Wakanda, Bucky ate in the traditional style, sitting cross-legged on the floor. It took some getting used to, but Steve enjoyed brushing knees with Bucky and passing wooden bowls back and forth as they ate.

The house they bought together when they finally retired had a kitchen island too, but it also had space for a nice robust table in the adjoining dining room where Steve would sit and draw as he watched Bucky bake. Where they could eat breakfast bathed in sunlight streaming through the windows. Over the years it picked up scratches and scorch marks and errant blobs of paint, but it never wobbled, and Steve loved it more and more each day.

(More from the Stucky Domestic Headcanons Series)

[kjscottwrites]

Cavernous WIP Cast: Luka Costea

Luka Costea

He/Him // 39 // Pisces // Secondary Love Interest

Luka didn't always smoke this much.

Everything was different when he was younger - uninhibited, intrepid, desperately in love. Now, when he looks in the mirror he's faced with an unmoored, self-pitying middle aged man he no longer recognizes. Getting served unexpected divorce papers in the middle of the most professionally fruitful time of your life would do this to anyone. At least, that's what he tells himself.

As an anthropologist and writer born in Bucharest but raised all over Europe, Luka's most in his element out on the road, meeting new people and experiencing new places. He likes to think of his adaptable, affectionate, empathetic nature as a boon. Really though, when it matters most, it's an achilles heel.

"Neither was she prepared for the man who stepped out of the van behind her. This was Luka, Joanna deduced, Tatiana’s husband. He was more or less arm candy; blonde, trim, bespectacled, blue-eyed. His short hair fell in soft curls and he carried himself with the mildly self-effacing stride of a craft brew bro, or a catalog model, or maybe a responsible single dad who knew perfectly well how good he looked but didn't want to draw attention to it. The star of the show was the mustache. It was a perfectly full blonde musketeer mustache that, in tandem with a single little silver hoop earring in his left ear, screamed mopish sexual energy across the parking lot."

🍄 Character Tag: #LukaCostea 🍄 Meet the Rest of the Cast Here

taglist under the cut

Taglist: @ultimatecryptid @kainablue @asher-writes @saraheadriance @milesgraybooks @thelaughingstag @artbyeloquent @ellierenae @calicojackofficial @wildswrites @galaxy-writer @raisapathy @astridmayewrites @antique-symbolism-main @crazybunchwriting @writer-artemis @kittensartswriting @jacquesfindswritingandadvice @happyorogeny @simdoodleswrites @two-girls-who-read @magefaery @elijahrichardwrites​ @nervestatic​ @spiderfall @rainbowsnowflake

@wip-nook

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

INTERVIEW - Actor Toby Stephens, who plays Damian Cray on Alex Rider: "Fortunately, people need entertainment. I'm very lucky to be able to make a career out of it."

BUCHAREST, Written by News.ro

Actor Toby Stephens, who plays Damian Cray, a tech mogul, in the series "Alex Rider", talks in an exclusive interview with News.co.uk about "extremely interesting espionage, by nature secretive", how series writer Anthony Horowitz created a "more complicated and nuanced version of what it means to be a teenager" and what it was like to film.

Season two of the spy thriller "Alex Rider" airs every Monday night at 10pm on AXN.

The series follows the story of Alex Rider, a London teenager who has been unknowingly trained for the dangerous world of espionage since childhood. After the death of his uncle and the near-death mission to destroy the Point Blanc boarding school in the first season, Alex is eager to put the past behind him, resume his normal teenage life and heal his trauma by enlisting the help of a therapist.

His plans to put his life back together are turned upside down when a close friend is the target of a horrific attack. So Alex finds himself drawn back into the world of covert missions, where he must stop a sinister plan afoot that aims to destroy the US defense system.

"Alex Rider" is produced by Eleventh Hour Films and Sony Pictures Television. Otto Farrant ("The White Queen"), Brennock O'Conner ("Game of Thrones"), Vicky McClure ("Line of Duty"), Ronkẹ Adékọluẹjọ ("Doctor Who"), Marli Siu ("Dixi") and Stephen Dillane ("Game of Thrones") reprise their roles, while Toby Stephens ("Die Another Day"), Rakie Ayola ("Harry Potter and the Cursed Child") and Charithra Chandran ("Bridgerton") join the cast for season two.

Toby Stephens is Damian Cray, a tech business mogul and the main villain in the new adventure in the young spy's life. Damian has created hugely popular online games that have made him rich. With a strong motivation rooted in a trauma he experienced when he was the same age as Alex, Damian is, in fact, a lonely person who sets out on a desperate search for his own catharsis.

Why did you accept to be part of this project?

Toby Stephens: My son is a big fan of the books and I know Anthony quite well through Jill, his wife, who I've worked with several times. It was nice to do something that my son enjoys. I also played a level-headed, solid dad on Lost in Space for three seasons and found it fun to play a sociopath.

When is it not fun?

T.S: Well, yes! He's a misunderstood sociopath. It just seemed like a fun thing to do. And also, I had spent a lot of time working away from home and it was really nice to do something here.

Why do you think books are so popular too?

T.S: They're pure action. The plots are complex, but not over the top. They're very, very gripping. I would have loved it if I was a kid. I mean, I enjoyed reading them as an adult. I like that Anthony Horowitz ups the stakes and builds the villains quite truthfully. There are real stakes and people die. Alex Rider's uncle died and there are moral ambiguities and complexities there. I think a lot of books in the children's fiction area go in that direction. It's not a super clean, sterile, kid-friendly world. It's slightly edgy and paints a picture of a violent and morally complicated world, but without it being too adult. It's like a half-way nice house.

The fact that we see Alex doing therapy seems like a very modern way of looking at teenagers.

T.S: It's definitely contemporary. We live in a very complicated age for young people. It's great to show kids that this is okay, that it's part of life and that you can reach out and get help for things. If Alex Rider can do it, then anyone can. Anthony Horowitz has created an inspirational guy rather than a stoic man. He's a more complicated and nuanced version of what it means to be a teenager.

Tell me a bit more about the character you play in this show. Who is he?

T.S: Damian Cray is a tech mogul. He has created online games that are extremely popular and has made a huge amount of money from them. Hyper-intelligent and incredibly driven, obviously. He draws his strength from a tragedy that happened to him when he was 17, around the age of Alex Rider, and that shaped his world. He was a pretty lonely kid; his parents were pretty absent. This tragedy then leads him on a search for catharsis.

How does Alex get to meet Damian Cray?

T.S: Alex gets to know this journalist who is injured in Cornwall and realizes that he was writing an expose on Damian Cray. Alex tries to find out what Cray is doing and whether he was, in fact, responsible for the journalist's injury. Cray doesn't really know who this kid is and mistakenly thinks he's the world's best player, an anonymous player named K7.

How did you find working with Otto, Brenock and Marli?

T.S: I loved it. It made me feel very old though! I love working with young people, it keeps you in touch with things. Actually, they are much more mature than me, more "together". I love doing this job, period. It's so much fun. I feel very lucky at this point to be working in this climate. Fortunately, people need entertainment. I'm very fortunate to be able to make a career out of it at the best of times, but even more so at this time.

How do you prepare to play a billionaire, do you draw inspiration from real life?

T.S: I didn't want to build it based on anyone specific, but yes, the way he dresses, the way he is, there's a kind of - not arrogance, but the assumption that everyone works for you. It's about control. These people have massive control issues. Part of it is assuming that everyone is there for your benefit, to be used by you, and that everyone is a tool that you can use. There's a very specific mindset you have to have to be that successful, and when they lose control, it's huge for them. It's devastating. So I didn't want to mimic the physical aspects, but rather what drives them, what gives you solid ground to work on.

Have you played any video games to understand this world?

T.S: My son plays a lot and I like to observe him. It's incredible stuff. However, I don't think Cray spends that much time playing games. He designs them all, but they're there for a greater purpose. He wants The Feathered Serpent to be the best in the world, but I don't think he spends a lot of time playing it. Other people do that for him.

In terms of it being an action show, did you personally get involved in any of the scenes?

T.S: Cray is simply telling people what to do, being extremely bossy and obsessed with being in control! Towards the end of the show I have a big action scene, and I've done that in other productions, but my body is less forgiving than it used to be. It certainly pleased me that I didn't have too much action in this production!

Why do you think the spy genre productions still remain so popular?

T.S: It's interesting because all these professions like detective, spy, doctor, have a built-in drama. In real life, there's probably a lot of boredom, so obviously these are romanticized versions of what really happens. But espionage is extremely interesting, because of the secretive nature, because of these shadowy organizations, these powerful villains. All of that creates these very compelling worlds. It's fantasy, but it's also fun. Violence, suggested violence or danger is always great when you're sitting by a fireplace, reading a book. It's the same with crime novels, Agatha Christie or whatever. It's that slightly tame version of something that is, in fact, horrible. It's somehow safe in the pages of these books, so you can curl up and discover it. They're great stories, especially since they tend to be quite labyrinthine.

Would you make a good spy, Toby?

T.S: I'd be terrible. I just couldn't keep any secrets. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm on this secret mission!". I guess I could carry off the disguise part or pretend to be someone else. Otherwise, I'd be terrible.

Translated via DeepL Translator from News.ro