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bistevethor · 3 years ago

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Steve Rogers Fanfiction Recommendations

Happy birthday, Steve!

I know that there are some (a lot?) of steve fans who sometimes struggle to find fics focused on him, so I am here now putting a list of Steve fics. I was going to fics that I haven't seen recommended a lot and most of the ones on this post have less than 200 kudos only, but I end up putting everything (it's probably easier to put my bookmarks as public but well...). It's a massive list (over 100 fics?), so it's will be separated into several posts/reblogs.

Not all of them are from Steve's POV or even have him as the main 'main' character, but rest assured he played an important role and is featured heavily. Lots of these are friendship-focused but I categorized them. The shippy ones are mostly samsteve, thundershield, and some rare pairings because I don't venture to other ships a lot and when I did it's to the rare ones instead lol. Hopefully, any of you can find some gems from this list and these are as enjoyable or as good as I remembered. I'll continue to update it, hopefully, every time I find new ones.

Fics are under read more.

General

The Rocket's Red Glare

Steve was born on the Fourth of July (no joke), so a party is in order! Unfortunately, PTSD decides to rear its ugly head. Fortunately, Steve's got an entire team at his back to help him through it. And screaming goats.

an entry in the scrapbook of absurdity

In which Steve turns into a baby and bites people.

Baby Steve Adventures

Captain America gets hit by a spell during a battle. The rest of the Avengers look after him.

Do You Remember Being Happy? ('Cause I Sure Don't)

"Dragr," Thor called them. "Demons" Clint had said. "Thieves" is what Steve labels them as. AKA, the one where Steve is captured by creatures that feed off of happy memories, and the team is left to pick up the pieces. Post-Avengers.

In Search of (Bucky, Family, Home)

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov & Sam Wilson

A week following the events of CATWS, Steve recruits Natasha and Sam to help find Bucky.

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Do we need to recap again? You were shot three times, beaten near to death by an enhanced super soldier with a metal arm and then almost drowned. Yeah, your ass is going to need a few more days of healing time.”

The Truth When Captains Meet

Steve Rogers wakes up on an alien’s space ship being carried bridal style by Carol Danvers. As far as first meetings go, it’s memorable.

Irish Coffee

Pairings: Jessica Jones & Steve Rogers

Jessica runs into an incognito Cap at a cafe. They form an unlikely friendship of sorts.

The Lifetimes of Steve Rogers (Series)

What happens when Steve Rogers steps onto the quantum platform to return the Stones? Where does he go? What challenges does he find? Who does he meet? How many lifetimes can one man have?

Fifty-Two Pickup

Less than a week after the fall of the Triskelion, Steve Rogers is released from the hospital. Although his physical wounds are almost fully healed, other injuries need a bit more time, and some help from friends.

little kids get big so fast

Steve ends up having to take care of the deaged Defenders.

Grampa Steve's Bedtime Stories

If Mommy was away for work, then Morgan’s Grampa Steve came over to stay with her. He’d tuck her in, let her give Mommy a kiss on video chat, then hand her the picture of Daddy for his kiss. Once Daddy’s picture was back on the bookshelf, Grampa Steve would turn off the bedside lamp so that Miss Friday could cover the ceiling with stars, and ask Morgan what story she wanted to hear.

“Captain Steve, Grampa! Tell me Captain Steve!”

Grampa Steve sometimes read to her from books and other times watched a movie with her, but her favorite by far was when he told her Captain Steve’s Adventures Through the Multiverse.

On Camping Trips

Sam is more Hermione than Natasha is, and Steve doesn't want to be Harry.

Powerful

Steve loses the advantages of the super-soldier serum. This is not a tragedy.

His Dream

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson

As if on cue, Steve cut him off with a loud sneeze.

"Yeah. Like that." Sam nodded. "And please sneeze into your elbow next time, dude. You could've just started an epidemic."

"Sorry. Allergies." Steve excused, and Sam raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know it's allergies?" Sam asked, and Steve sighed, putting the ingredients together and solving the mystery of what the gas had actually done.

The answer wasn't ideal. "It feels like the seasonal allergies I had before. Before the serum- and I haven't had them since the serum."

Realization clicked in Sam's head.

"The gas de-serumed you."

Steve swallowed and nodded reluctantly.

OR: Steve gets temporarily de-serumed, with his height and stature staying the same but his immune system being as bad as it was before, and has to stay in the hospital to prevent a severe allergic reaction or illness. Sam stays with him the whole time, making sure he's not alone.

A Strange Encounter

Things have gone awry and Strange is injured. With no other options, he's called for assistance from Captain America and his team.

even if we're apart, i'll always be with you

Steve finds a dirty toy bear at an abandoned gas station, on the way back from a school trip. He brings him home.

As Long as You’re Not Tired Yet of Talking

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov

When Steve Rogers tells her, “Don’t be a stranger,” as they’re all going their own ways after New York, it makes her want to laugh.

Draw/Breath

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov

Natasha like knowing what makes people tick. She likes knowing things, about her teammates and her coworkers and herself. Oddly enough, sometimes other people like knowing her too.

AKA: Natasha wants to know why Steve isn’t drawing anymore, and takes the long way round to get her answer. Because why not.

With Magic We Do Fly

Pairings: Wanda Maximoff & Steve Rogers

In Civil War we see Wanda fling Steve into the air with her magic. They must have practiced that, right?

Que Wanda throwing Steve against a wall. Many times.

Just Like We Practiced

Pairings: Wanda Maximoff & Steve Rogers

Steve had said, in the movie when he asked Wanda to lift him into the building, "Just like we practiced." But just how did they come up with the idea of her lifting people with her powers, and putting them up somewhere like an escalator? Perhaps it was because Wanda accidentally sent a certain tall, blond Avenger face-first into the floor once and he decided he would help her learn to utilize this as a confidence building exercise. Natasha keeps an eye, Thor and Sam help build the training grounds, and Wanda has found her new home. Takes place between AGE OF ULTRON and CIVIL WAR.

Black and White but Red and Blue

They're watching black and white film reels, but Steve sees them in colour.

"My shield may be black and white but it was red and blue. Just like the blue sky under which red blood was spilled. Like Bucky's blue eyes and Peggy's red lips..."

The Road Warriors

Characters: Sam Wilson (Marvel), Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Wanda Maximoff

It wasn't pretty, but somehow the four of them managed to make it through two years on the run.

We'll Fix It

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov

Steve has a hard time after his battle with The Winter Soldier and isn't sure what to do with himself. After not seeing him for a week, Natasha finally shows up to his apartment unannounced to figure out how they can get back to work. There is some crying involved.

From Here On Out

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov

The Accords, the search for Bucky, the fight at the airport ... In a world where nothing will ever be the same, sometimes the road to rebuilding trust and friendship is a little rockier than it should be.

AKA, the story of Steve & Natasha and how they got to where they are.

Set post-Civil War but pre-Infinity War.

I have this breath and I hold it tight

Parings: Wanda Maximoff & Steve Rogers, Clint Barton & Wanda Maximoff, Wanda Maximoff & Vision

Steve finally goes to Wanda’s tiny room and taps on the doorframe, although it’s hardly necessary, with the slightly warped floorboards creaking under his feet. “Hey,” he says. “Got a minute?”

Wanda's been a little withdrawn since Steve broke everyone out of the Raft. She's had a lot to think about.

to you.

Pairings: Pietro Maximoff & Wanda Maximoff, Clint Barton & Wanda Maximoff, Wanda Maximoff & Natasha Romanov, Wanda Maximoff & Steve Rogers, Wanda Maximoff & Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff & Tony Stark

It's Wanda's birthday today. She's not sure how to feel.

New Love

Pairings: Diana (Wonder Woman) & Steve Rogers

Near the end of World War II, Diana Prince finds herself attempting to reconnect to her long-gone, beloved Steve Trevor. However, she comes across Steve Rogers instead.

Sharing Life (And Canned Green Beans)

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov

It’s Thanksgiving, and Steve is hiding in the second living room on the 8th floor of the penthouse apartments with a can of green beans.

I'm Fine

Steve slowly began to realize that the problem with being a national icon, a hero, and a role model, is that somehow, he became more than human. He become a symbol, not a person. So when he becomes increasingly unhappy, deeply depressed, and utterly adrift in a world where he doesn't belong, the loneliness and isolation are unbearable. How could anyone believe that an iconic hero like himself was really just an ordinary kid from Brooklyn, dying inside because everything he'd gained still wasn't enough to replace everything he'd lost? How could he possibly bring himself to bleed on the ones he loves? So he tells himself the same lie over and over, hoping one day, he'll believe it.

dogpile

"My dog ate my mission report" An injured Steve remembers something he has to do. Unabashed Steve and dogs fluff. "Didn't peg you for a pet guy." "Allergies."

Alone In This World (Together)

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov & Sam Wilson

“We’re fugitives,” Steve said finally. “It might never get better.”

“The world’s always going to need saving," Sam replied. "We’re still Avengers. No one can take that away from us.” Then, like they hadn't been having an entire conversation before, “So when do we leave?”

“Once night falls.”

Do we have any idea where she is?”

“No.” Steve took a sip of his coffee. “But I know where she’ll be.”

it gets the worst at night

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov

Here's how it goes: Natasha sometimes shares a bed with Steve. It's not what it sounds like.

(In which there are Colombian drug lords, awkward boners, cuddly super-soldiers and the Avengers are all giant dorks.)

Shelter

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson

Sam and Steve, right after the fall of SHIELD.

Princely Bickering

Pairings: Jane Foster/Thor, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers & Jane Foster, Steve Rogers & Thor

Steve allows Sam to lean up and inspect his head for bruises and blood. He then checks out Steve’s eyes. ‘Do you know where you are?’ Steve rolls his eyes. ‘Don’t be an ass, Cap, apparently you can break.’ ‘London, England, chasing apparently useless Hydra intel despite having about five hundred international arrest warrants out for us because we’re just that stupid,’ says Steve. Sam pats him - gently - on the shoulder. Life on the run isn't easy, especially not after an injury. Fortunately Steve still has a few allies left.

And The Seconds Tick Down

AU of Civil War. How the world ended in twenty steps when Steve died.

"Grant" and "Francis" Go Shopping

Pairings: Clint Barton & Steve Rogers

Steve and Clint both have holiday shopping to do for their family of choice, so they make a day trip to an outlet mall, have a few heart to hearts, use some coupons, buy a bunch of presents, and eventually get through their shopping lists.

A Tune Without Words

Pairings: Jane Foster/Thor, Steve Rogers & Thor, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson

As he and Sam prepare to begin searching for Bucky, Steve gets various offers of help—some more unexpected than others.

Purpose

Tony Stark wins the fight in Siberia completely by accident.

Steve Rogers does not resist his arrest as he is taken to the Raft.

Sam Wilson, T'Challa, and Pepper Potts pick up the pieces.

Full of Wounds and Still Standing on my Feet

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Wanda Maximoff

The five times Steve looked out for Wanda, and one time Wanda decided someone needed to look out for Steve.

Three Awakenings

The first three times that Steve Rogers woke up during his first twenty-four hours in the twenty-first century.

Making Your Own Future

Characters: Steve Rogers, Diana Prince, Steve Trevor Five times -- plus one -- that Diana Prince and Steve Rogers encountered one another.

Better Living Through Pizza

Pairings: Clint Barton & Steve Rogers

Steve takes some time off from soldiering and Avengering to get his head on straight, and Clint is assigned to keep an eye on him, because apparently SHIELD believes in the blind leading the blind. Steve really needs a hobby, since modern television shows baffle him, but Clint keeps bringing him DVDs and pizza.

Five Times Clint Barton Spoke with Steve Rogers about Growing Old and the One Time He Didn't.

Pairings: Clint Barton & Steve Rogers

When Steve Rogers reappeared from the past as an old man, there was a lot of catching up to do. Clint Barton made sure nobody got left behind.

Hammer's Totally Heavy-Handed and Incompetent Revenge

"So, at the end of IM2, Justin Hammer swears revenge on Pepper. He waits until Tony and Rhodey are halfway across the world to launch his attack.

Unfortunately for him, thanks to SHIELD, Iron Man and War Machine aren't the only superheroes in Pepper's rolladex. Steve thinks Pepper's just swell and doesn't take too kindly to somebody trying to hurt her."

Cue badass!Steve and competent!Pepper

Fan Mail

Steve starts getting his fan mail and receives an invitation to the prom. Written for a prompt at the Avengers kink meme. It was a great prompt, and so much fun to write and get feedback for!

Prom. Steve 'Grandpa Iceberg' Rogers at a 21st-century high school prom. "This isn't happening. This whole conversation is just an elaborate practical joke. Bruce really just has orders for widgets or something."

Bruce waved the printouts at him. "Fraid not. I don't really do practical jokes. Messing with other people's moods just seems. I don't know. Karmically unwise."

Mascot

Steve runs. People see Steve run. Steve gets adopted by the neighbourhood he runs through every week day morning. He finds this confusing. Tony finds it amusing.

Locks Not Replaced

Tony angsts back at Avengers' HQ, Ross is a bully and Steve makes sure he doesn't get away with it. In other words, there is much regret, a bit on the philosophy of locks, adventure and far too many Robin Hood metaphors.

woof

For a prompt on the avengers kinkmeme: "...something different happens when Steve gets Dr Erskine's serum plus the Vita ray treatment... Steve does get taller and stronger, but when the first full moon hits, he turns into a big friendly looking dog. Yes, he's a weredog, not a werewolf."

Mission: Baby

Pairings: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers

The Asset finds himself in charge of the care of a small baby, but somehow he knows—he has to protect the baby from all harm, whatever the cost.

14 Tracks

Pairings: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Avengers Team 14 tracks from Steve's iPod and how they got on there.

Life Will Rattle Your Bones

Pairings: Erik Lehnsherr & Steve Rogers

Captain America and the Howling Commandos find Schmidt sooner than they thought... wait, what do you mean this is a *different* Schmidt?

In war-torn Germany, the paths of Steve Rogers and Erik Lehnsherr cross, part, and cross again.

come build me up

Pairings: Sharon Carter & Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers

“Do you ever feel like -- like you joined up because you wanted to do good. You wanted to do the right thing but somewhere along the way, you just lost the whole fucking plot.”

“All of the time.”

Or: the one where Captain America and Agent 13 give long distance friendship a whirl.

Down in the Worn Out Place Again

Pairings: Wanda Maximoff & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Wanda Maximoff

“You don't look a day over 85, Captain,” Wanda says.

Natasha smiles, just barely, and nudges Steve with her elbow. “She makes jokes now.”

(Post AoU, stories about friendship.)

Satellites

Characters: Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Nick Fury Pairings: Natasha Romanov & Steve Rogers, Minor Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson, Minor Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov

In the immediate aftermath of SHIELD's collapse and Steve's plunge into the Potomac, Natasha considers her place in the world. Also the fact that Steve is depressing.

Timeless Classics

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Avengers Team Five An undetermined number of times (six, apparently) Steve unexpectedly got the reference (sort of), and one time everyone discovered something new together.

you just wait and see

Pairings: Rocket Raccoon & Steve Rogers

“Thor said you’re the captain.” Rogers says, his voice distant, sad smile growing into a sadder grin. “Tough job.”

The Small Hours

Pairings: Steve Rogers & T'Challa, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers

"I'm not getting him back, am I." The words were flatly delivered – not a question so much as fatigued resignation. "We will do everything we can to help him," T'Challa quietly replied, but he wouldn't lie, not about this. Not to a fellow warrior he respected on and off the field of battle. "The possibility does exist, however, that the triggers are permanent."

The Man We All Remember From the Newsreels

Still getting used to the twenty-first century, Steve comforts himself with memories of long-gone friends. But Howard Stark, the man Steve remembers, is nothing like the man he sees in the newsreels.

we're all choir boys at best

Characters: Steve Rogers, Johnny Storm

You are totally getting laid tonight. "Please stop talking." You hijacked my brain first, this is totally not my fault.

Epistaxis

Steve doesn't worry the first time he gets a bloody nose that won't quit. But when it happens a second, third, fourth... He, and his teammates, start to get concerned.

You Close Your Eyes and the Glory Fades

His body isn’t his own, he knows that, knew before the procedure that everything would change. That was the easiest thing to wrap his head around, actually, the physical changes. He’s used to his body betraying him, so this is just another thing to learn his way around. But the colors of everything, even the sliver of blue sky he could see, craning his head at the tiny window, look different.

Looking For Answers (From The Great Beyond)

After the Battle of New York is over, and Loki and the tesseract are returned to Asgard, Steve takes a road trip across the country, and tries to figure out what he wants to do next.

Mourning the Future

Steve's ties to the past and the future are pretty tenuous, and the serum ensures he lives in an eternal present state of ever-youthful vigour. When an old war buddy gets handed his last marching orders, Steve has to wonder if everyone will eventually leave.

Riviera Life

Sam and Steve have been traversing Europe looking for Bucky. Not everyone is convinced it isn’t an open invitation road trip.

Voluntary Bros.

Characters: Steve Rogers, Johnny Storm

"Dude, you could be twins, they tested you before they defrosted you to see if you were a clone or something, or if he was a clone," Clint said.

"I want to talk to him, I think. I mean, a girl threw her latte at me last week for not calling her back and this dude felt me up at an art gallery yesterday," Steve said.

Two Brooklynites and One Big Apple

Pairings: Miles Morales & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers

“You did good out there today,” Captain America said, brushing a layer of detritus from his unfathomably broad shoulder. “I’ll see you around.”

“Not if I see you first,” replied Miles, fingergunning with one hand as he sent a web rope fwipping off into the distance with the other, catapulting himself away at tremendous speed.

... in which two superheroes battle with bad guys, embark on community art lessons, and a friendship forms along the way.

Battle Fatigue

Steve thought he was doing okay. Things weren't going great, but they were fine, manageable even, and then suddenly they weren't.

We Become New Yorkers (or: Five Times Steve Rogers Looked For Home, and One Time Home Found Him)

New York is a million cities at the same time. This is how Steve found his.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

In which Steve and Peter learn that the best way to get through a bad situation is together. And to avoid collapsing buildings. And that concussions are terrible, terrible things.

Leviticus 25

"You want to save Bucky Barnes? You are going to have to put your own house in order first because he is going to need a rock to cling to. You are not ready to be that rock for him. You owe it to him -- and more importantly, you owe it to yourself -- to figure things out, figure out how you can be happy in this time and place, whether or not Barnes is with you."

Strike

Sometimes the road to recovery involves bowling. Conveniently, so does the one to the Grand Canyon.

Conversation in Wakanda

“I have been told that you had the privilege to share a training session with some of our Dora Milaje,” T’Challa says. “May I ask how it went?”

“Well,” the Captain huffs. “There’s no polite way to say it: I had my ass handed to me. Repeatedly.”

He sounds and looks utterly delighted.

Contact Light

Everyone thought computers would be the thing that really blew Steve's mind about the 21st century. They were wrong. When he finds out that he missed the moon landing, it's the start of an ongoing obsession with space that maybe involves Neil deGrasse Tyson, Twitter, and Star Trek marathons.

Twenty-Two

“This is Lucky,” Clint said when a dog got between him and Natasha. Lucky’s vest was bright, like desert mornings and night explosions.

“Does he help?” Natasha asked.

Clint pressed his hands flat on the counter behind him. “He saved my life.”

Natasha looked at Steve, her expression fierce. Steve resisted the urge to yank down his sleeves. Instead, he dug his nails into the puckered skin on his forearms.

AKA An AU in which Steve is a veteran just trying to survive (or not).

Gray

Peter doesn't expect Steve to show up at his house one night when he gets home from school. He also doesn't expect to have a long conversation with him, and choose to be on his side instead.

We're Happy, Free, Confused, and Lonely at the Same Time.

"Tony isn't sure, but he *thinks* Steve Rogers is going to try and argue with him about not being a kid, while wrapped up in a fluffy blanket and plaid pyjama pants watching a Disney movie. Tony really hopes that is the case. The Captain America voice looses all affect when wrapped up in that blanket and Tony can't wait to inform him as such." - The one where Tony realises that Captain America and Steve Rogers are not the same person, and Steve is so much younger then he thought.

This Isn't A Love Song, This Isn't A Fable

Steve's not OK with people's perception of Captain America, no matter what he says or how much he pretends otherwise. It's like no one in this time period realizes that there's more to him than a spangly outfit. And yes, he's including the Avengers in that. ... or, the one where everything's all right, until it's not.

it's safe here in our new world

Post TWS. In which Natasha and Steve go shopping, have Thursday night movie nights, and learn that Natasha loves to platonically kiss Steve. Which is good, because Steve loves being platonically kissed by Natasha.

Shadowboxing

Pairings: Matt Murdock & Steve Rogers

It doesn’t matter how many times you fall – what matters most is how many times you get back up. Steve Rogers knew this lesson far too well and it was one Matt Murdock had endured all his life. With both men at their lowest, could a chance friendship bring each of them to their feet again?

Everybody Eats When They Come to My House

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers

“You’ll ruin your dinner,” Sam says, gesturing with Steve with his spatula.

i fear for the calendar; its days are numbered

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson

Before she goes off the grid, Natasha gives Steve her phone number. He’s honored that he’s the only one to be trusted with it, but quickly learns that she spends most of her free time texting him Dad jokes.

Status Quo Ante

Pairings: James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers

A tale in which Sam suspects he should be used to this by now, for values of 'this' that involve certain folks he hangs out with and situations he finds himself in, Team Cap becomes Team Ex-Cap becomes TBD, and nobody but Clint really wants to know what happened to Scott Lang's GI Joes. (Sam Wilson from the final scene to the mid-credits scene.)

The Glass Parade

Pairings: Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov

Steve thinks that he’s seen Natasha be at least three different people in the short time he’s known her, and he isn’t sure which one is real.

In which the most confusing part of the future is how much Steve has in common with Natasha, and the fact that she seems dead-set on being his friend.

Still Life

Steve Rogers and a very modern form of art therapy. (The one where Steve draws himself out of despair and into some notoriety when his cartoons hit the internet, but he's still not allowed to look at Tumblr without an okay from Pepper.)

Selective Service

The serum's given Steve a lot, but it hasn't taken anything away from him. Not even the things he never wanted in the first place.

I'm a Hustler, Baby

Steve Rogers has a talent for pool--and for making others believe he's terrible at it.

The Healing Properties of Felt-Tip Pens

Rapid healing has worked wonders on Steve Rogers' body, but occasionally it really screws with his head. In the aftermath of torture, Bruce Banner helps Steve to reconcile mind and body.

If I Die Before I Wake

It's his job, as their leader, to endure the sadistic focus of their captor, and that is the one thought that carries Steve through.

Even Gods Do

Captain America doesn't have a good relationship with sleep anymore. Also, he's not a toy.

Under My Skin

Written for a prompt on avengerkink: I want to see something where, for whatever reason, Steve's accelerated healing turns out to be a bad thing. Something where the faster healing is making things worse. I would prefer something other than the standard, super-healing allows for more torture without death. “He's lucky – to have the serum, to have you all.” Tony wasn't sure about that first part. When one faced death and destruction every day on the job, there were many advantages to having a healing factor...and a great many disadvantages as well.

A Glossary of the 21st Century

Pairings: pre-Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov

Steve's sick of not understanding what's going on, and the team are not all that helpful, so he starts keeping an illustrated notebook for further research. With the help of wiki, google and Logan he starts to settle in and find his place in the twenty-first century.

Blanket Gift Policy

“You didn’t,” Bucky said, with no real hope of being contradicted. Clint shrugged helplessly and passed him the large, soft bundle wrapped in shiny purple foil.

“Sorry.” Tony covered his eyes with one hand.

“I’m getting a migraine.”

“So,” Bruce said wearily, “counting Clint, me, Bucky, Tony, and Sam, that brings it up to five.”

“Excuse you, mine’s not a blanket,” Sam said. “Mine’s a slanket. Big difference.”

Bucky resisted the urge to throw the whole heap of parcels at Sam’s head. “Because it has sleeves? It’s still a blanket, Wilson. They’re all blankets. Even Thor’s direct-from-Asgard raven gift delivery was a cloak, which just means it’s a blanket with a strap. We all got Steve a goddamn blanket.”

One Tin Soldier

Written for a prompt at avengerkink: Because really, under any other circumstances, why would they follow him when he's some guy who's younger than the rest of them (time as a Capsicle aside), who goes around wearing that spangly outfit, who's not even used to the modern world? Why Steve Rogers, rather than a Norse god or the CEO of Stark Industries or anyone else?

“Love is for children,” she'd said, but respect knew no such bounds. The five times the Avengers accepted Steve as their leader, and the one time they followed without question.

and if there's life we'll see it

Steve is instantly taken with this idea of having the picture of the person calling you flash on your screen when they ring your cell.

Secure Your Own Oxygen Mask (Before Assisting Others)

Steve keeps going, because they need him. Being Captain America - having the serum - is a responsibility and a privilege he takes seriously, and he won't waste it by sitting around resting in the middle of a crisis. But then the work is over, and the original victims of the crisis aren't the only ones needing looking after.

Way of the Eagle

Clint introduces Steve to kung-fu movies. Things escalate quickly.

Walking Wounded

In the aftermath of the battle against the Chitauri, Steve's doing just fine. Until he's not. Fortunately, Thor is a perfect mother-hen, Tony makes decent back-up, JARVIS is a genius, and Soap Operas are life-changing. (Or, Post-Shawarma Feels.)

#steve rogers #fic rec #pro steve rogers #i guess i'll tag the ships #samsteve #thundershield

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acidblackpirate · 5 years ago

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3rd Advent Before Christmas

Check out Part 1 and Part 2. Have a nice Sunday!

~ About 10 years earlier ~

“One week until Christmas and I still don’t have any presents for my parents when I visit them over New Year”, yasu groaned and swung his hand holding onto the shopping bag.

It was an expensive looking shopping bag. All in black with silver print on it. You only got those kinds of shopping bags at really exclusive shops.

“I know, family is always the worst”, Hyde agreed.

He wore a black winter coat buttoned up to right beneath his chin. On his head, he wore the most ridiculous cap yasu had ever seen. It had a reindeer on it. Blond strands of hair were sticking out at the side, framing Hyde’s face. His cheeks were red from the cold.

They were standing in front of a front store window for a while already, drawing conclusions of their hunt so far.

“I mean, you don’t see them that often anymore, so you have no idea what they would like and still it has to express your love somehow.”

Frustrated Hyde shook his head and yasu nudged him in the side with his elbow.

He still couldn’t believe he was allowed to do that.

“You found something already at least. I will end up just bringing my new album and a bottle of sake.”

“It’s nice to give them something self-made. I’m sure they are proud of you and your music”, Hyde said with a smile.

Yasu sighed.

“Yes, but it always has this air about it like – I brought you this, because I got it for free.”

Hyde laughed.

His teeth were as even as his face. Yasu still couldn’t believe that someone could have such well-proportioned features. For a long time, he had believed it was due to camera angles and editing. But even up close, Hyde was still incredibly beautiful. The only lines on his face were the ones around his eyes. They weren’t caused by age, but by laughter. They didn’t make him look less attractive, only kinder.

“I’m sure that is not true”, he protested. “And at least we found something for the rest of the family. Even for your nephew.”

Yasu snorted.

“Yes, thank you”, he said. “I wouldn’t know what to get such a young child. I really needed advice with that one.”

Fumbling with the strand of the shopping bag, yasu felt his fingers growing numb. He was wearing gloves, but the kind that only covered the knuckles, not the entire fingers. He liked to be able to move his hands freely. Now, the cold was creeping up from his fingertips, though.

“I’m sorry for dragging you along, though”, yasu added. “I should have come up with something nicer for a date.”

“No, it’s fine”, Hyde said and smiled. “I’m also glad I didn’t have to go looking for gifts alone.”

His eyes were on the display behind the shop window. He had a calm way of looking at things, not curious, but not bored either. He looked at things with a mild interest, like he didn’t care much for them, but was willing to provide them with a fair chance to prove him wrong. He looked as if he gave the world an opportunity to be marvelled at, if only it tried hard enough. Sometimes, yasu expected streetlamps to dance and trees to start singing, just to prove worthy of Hyde’s attention. When Hyde looked at him, yasu felt like dancing and singing, too.

“You still want to go to another store?”, yasu asked.

“I’ve got everything already. But it’s a little cold, isn’t it? Maybe we could find a place to sit and have a coffee or something”, Hyde suggested.

“Yes, absolutely”, yasu agreed, slightly embarrassed by how eager he sounded.

He was glad Hyde didn’t want to part ways with him yet. Shopping together had been fun so far. Yasu had asked him out. Formally. He had made sure there was no misunderstanding about what this was. Hyde hadn’t minded. And he seemed to enjoy their date as well.

“That way?”, yasu asked and nodded into the direction that less people were heading into. The term ›less‹ was only relative, though. One week before Christmas and everywhere people were trying to get their hands on the last missing presents, find a partner for the special date night of the year, or just take a good look at all the sparkling lights and glittery store displays before they were gone again in January.

Hyde followed as yasu made his way through the crowd. It was easy to lose sight of each other like that. Yasu thought it would be easier if they just held hands. But then that seemed too bold, still. Him, holding hands with Hyde. Almost absurd.

Just to get away from the crowded main street, yasu stepped out into the next sideroad. It was narrow, but still enough people with shopping bags were strolling around. It was possible to talk again, too, without causing a riot immediately. If you blocked people’s way on the main street for too long, the impatient shoppers would surely kill you; smashing in your head with their newly bought Christmas presents.

“It’s hell out there”, yasu detested.

“Yes”, Hyde agreed and inhaled deeply. “Crowds give me anxiety. Unless they are shouting my name.”

Yasu snorted.

“If someone recognized you, they probably would. But not in the good way.”

Hyde smirked, but nodded.

“I think we should stay away from the busy streets. Let’s try here.”

He nodded down the alley they had just entered.

This time, they were walking slower. Also, they were walking side by side.

Yasu looked down onto his boots. He couldn’t help smiling.

They reached another intersection. The road was so narrow, there wasn’t even a crossing here. You just had to look out for the cars.

Hyde bent forward, looking down the streets to their right and left. Yasu thought it looked funny how far he was bending over. He was making a show out of watching, but didn’t even seem to notice. He obviously wasn’t paying attention if yasu or anyone else was even looking at him. His act seemed to exist solemnly for the street itself. His whole body-language was telling the buildings on each side: “Caution! I’m watching you, better try hard.”

“Can you read what’s written on that sign there?”, Hyde asked and pointed to their left.

Yasu squinted his eyes.

The letters on the sign were hand-written and not easy to decipher from a distance.

“I think it states that every cup of mulled wine comes with free cookies”, he said pretty dumb-founded.

“Free cookies?”, Hyde repeated. “I thought that’s what I read, but it sounded too good to be true.”

Yasu laughed. He wasn’t such a fan of cookies, but then again – how much could you really dislike cookies? And Hyde’s excitement took the decision away from him. Because Hyde was smiling widely now, and when Hyde smiled like that, there wasn’t anything that yasu wouldn’t do for him.

“Alright, let’s check if they are open”, he suggested.

Hyde was already walking. He had now put his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Other than yasu, he wasn’t wearing gloves at all. It was surprising he had kept them out in the open for so long, in spite of the cold. Maybe, he had thought of holding yasu’s hand, too.

The shop was open.

Hyde pushed open the door and a bell rung out.

The place was tiny and very warm. After entering from outside, it felt like being smothered by a hot pillow. It smelled very sweet, of sugar and cinnamon and spices. Of course, it smelled like that. It was a bakery.

Behind glass different sorts of cakes, cookies and sweet bread were displayed. The counter already filled half of the room.

On the only windowsill a few pillows were laid out, but two young women were already sitting there. Each of them was holding a mug and they were chatting quietly.

There were no other seats around, just one bar table with a single tealight on top of it.

Yasu wondered if the women were going to leave soon.

Hyde already walked towards the counter. A middle-aged man in an apron was standing behind it. His cheeks were slightly red. It was very warm inside after all.

“Is the offer for the mulled wine and the cookies still up?”, Hyde asked.

“Sure”, the man nodded. “Two mugs?”

Hyde threw a questioning look at yasu, who nodded in agreement. He had never tried mulled wine before.

“I’ll bring it over”, the man said and yasu walked over to the bar table, putting his shopping bags on the floor.

He took off his gloves first. Then he unzipped the jacket. It was actually too hot to keep it on at all, but there was no place to put it, either.

Hyde followed him and took off his reindeer cap. When it came off, it left his hair tousled. It looked charming somehow.

“So hot inside”, yasu said.

Hyde nodded and looked around.

“There is a coat hanger right next to the door”, he stated and took off his jacket.

Surprised, yasu blinked at the space that Hyde had indicated. Indeed, there it was. A coat hanger. He hadn’t noticed it before, although he had looked for it. For a moment, he wondered if Hyde’s gaze alone had brought it into being.

“Right”, he said and took off his jacket as well.

Hyde extended his hand and yasu handed it over. He watched Hyde turn around and put up their jackets. He was smiling again. Watching Hyde, he couldn’t help smiling all the time.

He had fantasized about this for a long time – ever since the first after show party at which someone had casually mentioned that Hyde, the beautiful vocalist of his beloved band L’arc-en-ciel, liked men as much as yasu did. Even after getting to know him in person, it had taken yasu a long time to gather his courage, though. Sometimes it had been yasu dating other people, sometimes it had been Hyde. As if a curse was keeping them apart, they had never been free to go out at the same time, and so they had been friends long before anything else even became an option. Yasu was glad for their friendship, however. He felt comfortable around Hyde by now. But dating him still felt surreal, like something that his fifteen-year-old self would have daydreamt about rather than something that would happen in real life.

“Here you go.”

The shop owner had left his place behind the counter and now placed two mugs on the table. They were white and looked like they hadn’t been chosen for aesthetic reasons, but only in terms of how practical they were. Steam was rising from the reddish liquid inside. The smell of spices in the air grew even stronger.

“Thank you”, yasu mumbled and the man placed a plate on the table, too, before he left again.

On the plate there were star-shaped cookies. Not a lot of cookies, though. Only a handful, really. But then again, yasu thought, they were for free.

Hyde returned to the table, eyeing the cookies with almost scientific interest. For a moment, yasu had to imagine him with a magnifier glass.

“I never drank mulled wine before”, yasu observed and took hold of the mug.

It was hot against his hand. His fingers were still slightly numb from the cold outside and now they started to tingle, slowly warming up again.

“I hope you like it then”, Hyde said. “Actually, I’m not used to drink alcohol that early at the day.”

“I’m not used to drinking much at all”, yasu confessed.

It was true. In spite of his life as a rock musician, he had never gotten quite used to alcohol. After one glass, he usually felt so sleepy, he just wanted to go home.

“I’ll take care of you”, Hyde promised and smiled.

His smile made yasu feel warm inside. Suddenly, he became very aware of the fact that they were – indeed and for real – on a date. Shopping for presents, he hadn’t felt it so strongly. It was something that was just nicer to do in company and that they could have done as friends, too. But standing here together over a drink, a single candle flickering between them, the romantic aspect of their meeting became apparent.

A little nervously yasu raised his mug and looked at Hyde.

“To Christmas?”, he suggested.

“To our date”, Hyde corrected and knocked his mug softly against yasu’s.

He was holding his gaze while he did.

Yasu hoped that he didn’t blush, but he wasn’t sure. Looking at Hyde directly still made him feel giddy and somewhat helpless. He was too beautiful, his features too even. He belonged on posters and CD covers – not on a date with yasu. To him, Hyde didn’t feel quite human. He belonged into a category with spirits and gods; otherworldly somehow and clearly out of his reach. Just thinking of him in a way that was too humane seemed blasphemous, kissing him a sacrilege.

Thankful to be able to hide his face behind the mug, yasu took a careful sip.

The mulled wine wasn’t as hot as he had feared, just nicely warm, heating up his insides. The flavour was richer and fruitier than he had expected, too.

“It tastes really good!”, he exclaimed surprised and took another, bigger gulp.

His throat especially was feeling nicely warm now.

Hyde chuckled very softly. He seemed amused not by what yasu had said, but rather touched by his sudden excitement.

Yasu put the mug back onto the table, keeping his hand wrapped around it for the warmth.

Hyde picked up one of the cookies, lifting it closer to his face. His expression was curious.

“I don’t think they’re poisoned”, yasu joked. “But I could do a food tasting first, if you want to.”

“I think I’ll take the risk”, Hyde said.

He had a calm way of speaking, that always sounded slightly amused, but not like he was outright joking. For yasu, it was sometimes hard to tell how serious he was about his own words.

He put the cookie into his mouth as a whole. It was a pretty small cookie. Yasu could not help staring at his lips as he did. He kept watching as Hyde chewed very slowly. The movement brought out his jawline. His lips looked kissable.

Yasu lowered his gaze onto his own hands and therefore ended up staring at the mug. He took another gulp.

“Don’t drink too fast”, Hyde reminded him. “It might not taste so strong, but it hits you anyway, because of the warmth.”

“Mmh.” Yasu hummed in agreement. Then he took up a cookie himself. The upper side was decorated with sugar-coat. It looked as if the star was sparkling.

He put it into his mouth. It tasted sugary and a little dry. He preferred the drink. To moisturize his mouth again, he took another sip. It definitely tasted better.

“Do you have all your presents completed now?”, yasu asked.

He didn’t want to talk about work or music or their careers with Hyde at the moment. Christmas seemed to have woven a cocoon around them, that felt like he already had holidays, although the new album wasn’t anywhere near finished yet. Inside this cocoon, there were only Christmas lights allowed and sparkling stars with the taste of sugar and Hyde’s smile. It was a safe, cosy place.

“I’m still missing a Christmas present for you”, Hyde said.

Again, his voice was so calm that yasu wasn’t sure if he was serious or just teasing him.

“Don’t be stupid”, yasu mumbled. “You don’t have to get me anything.”

He suddenly felt embarrassed, because so far, he hadn’t even considered getting something for Hyde.

“So, you don’t want to spend Christmas with me?”, Hyde asked. “It’s only a week away.”

“Ehm.” Yasu licked his lips and stared into his mug. He wondered when the liquid had retreated that far towards the bottom of it.

Christmas meant date night for lovers. And technically, Hyde and him were … dating now? The assumption they would go out on Christmas, too, made sense. But yasu had honestly not thought that far yet. All of his thoughts had focused on getting a date with Hyde so far – and today they had circled around surviving this date without a heart-attack. And whenever his thoughts became very, very brave (or shameless, rather) he thought of how kissable Hyde’s lips looked. But he hadn’t dared to imagine a future for them yet. Not even a future that only lay one week ahead.

“I guess”, he stuttered. “Christmas, you and me. Sure.”

Hyde laughed quietly. He took a few large gulps from his mug as well.

The way he swallowed suddenly seemed very funny to yasu. He couldn’t explain why it was funny exactly. It was, just because he felt so warm and happy right now. Especially warm – mostly on the inside.

He threw a suspicious glance at his own mug.

“You are so red in the face”, Hyde observed and giggled a little.

The giggle made yasu even more suspicious.

“Are you feeling hot?”, Hyde asked and without warning reached out across the table, putting his fingers gently against yasu’s cheek.

His fingers felt surprisingly cool, which made yasu realize that indeed his own face felt burning hot. He wished Hyde’s hand would stay on his cheek forever.

Hyde pulled back his hand and leaned in. He had his lower arms on the table plate and put his weight on them in a way that the table was clearly not designed for. Somehow, that also seemed funny to yasu.

“I think”, Hyde whispered in a conspiratorial tone of voice. “I didn’t follow my own advice very well. I definitely drank too fast.”

Yasu picked up his mug and emptied it as well.

“It’s okay”, he said. “I also didn’t follow your advice.”

It made Hyde laugh and the sound of his laughter made yasu giggle in return.

“Want to leave?”, Hyde asked.

“Yeah”, yasu confirmed.

He didn’t care where they would go after this. He just knew that suddenly, the bakery felt too small and it was too hot inside and there clearly wasn’t enough oxygen for that many people here.

“I’m going to pay”, Hyde announced and walked over to the counter.

“I can pay”, yasu protested.

Hyde turned around, grinning at him widely. His face lit up, whenever he smiled like that.

“Next time”, he said.

Yasu couldn’t help smiling in return. Next time. He liked the sound of that. There would be a next time. Another date with Hyde. On Christmas. And many other days, hopefully.

He put his gloves back on and collected their shopping bags from the floor. Hyde’s reindeer cap was still lying on the table surface. Yasu took it, too, and went over to the coat hanger to get his jacket. Hyde joined him there. He struggled with his zipper. Yasu considered offering his help, but after a short consultation with his brain, his legs, and both of his hands, he didn’t feel qualified to offer his help any more. Hyde finally managed on his own.

They stepped outside and the bell overhead rang out again.

The cold air bit into yasu’s face almost painfully. He was glad to inhale fresh air again, though. When he breathed out, large white clouds formed in front of him.

“Fuck, it’s so cold”, Hyde swore next to him.

Yasu turned his head. It was unusual for Hyde to swear in a normal conversation. It wasn’t like he always used proper language, but he seldom used swear-words just to swear.

“I forgot how cold it is”, Hyde added with a sigh.

Yasu looked down on himself and realized he was still holding on to Hyde’s cap. Of course, he was cold without it.

“Here”, he said and took a step towards Hyde.

The thought of just handing the cap over to Hyde hadn’t occurred to him at all in that moment. Later yasu wondered about that. It would have been the natural thing to do with anyone else. But with Hyde it wasn’t. With Hyde it had felt natural to reach out and pull the cap down over his ears.

The shopping bag dangling from yasu’s wrist was bouncing against Hyde’s shoulder. And actually, it wasn’t easy to put a cap on someone else when you felt slightly tipsy.

But still, it felt natural and it felt right. The reindeer with the red nose was smiling at yasu.

He kept his hands up, still cupping Hyde’s face gently, although the cap was already back in place.

They were looking at each other.

Hyde’s lips were slightly parted and tiny white breath clouds were drifting from them. He seemed to be breathing very flatly.

So far, yasu had acted out of instinct. He hadn’t used the cap as an excuse to get closer to Hyde, although he now realized it would have been the perfect excuse. He hadn’t thought about his movements at all.

But suddenly, they were standing so close and Hyde’s eyes were so dark and his lips no longer the lips of a god, but the lips of a human – a human that could laugh and smile and kiss with them.

Yasu leaned in a tiny bit. His heart was beating fast. His palms felt sweaty beneath the gloves.

He could do it. It would be so easy right now.

The cold started to creep back into his fingers, but his chest still felt very warm. He didn’t know if it was due to the jacket or due to the mulled wine or due to the way Hyde’s eyes rested on him.

Today had been so fun. They both wanted it. If he kissed him now, it would be sealed. It wouldn’t be the meeting of two friends anymore. It would be a real date. The kind of real date, that got followed up by other real dates and where they fell in love head over heels and where they moved in together eventually, and where they grew old together and where yasu would sing and dance with the gods whenever Hyde smiled at him for the rest of his life.

He pulled back, letting go of Hyde’s face.

He had held on to him for too long already without moving. His thoughts had kept chasing each other and suddenly, the pressure had been overwhelming. The future had been all around him and it had closed in on yasu until he wasn’t able to move any longer.

If he wanted those things, really wanted all of them, he wasn’t allowed to butcher it. He shouldn’t rush things, because Hyde was beautiful and yasu just crazy about him ever since he had seen him in a video for the first time.

How would he even be sure if that was what Hyde wanted? It had been an assumption, nothing more. Of course, yasu was sure that he wanted to kiss Hyde, because for years – even before meeting him in person – he had thought about it. But it wasn’t like that the other way around. If yasu really wanted to dance with the gods, he had to prove his own worth first. Otherwise, Hyde would be taken aback and he would lose their future before it had even begun. It was better to take it slow.

“Ehm.” Yasu cleared his throat.

He wasn’t sure if Hyde had noticed that yasu had been about to kiss him at all. His eyes were still following him, but they had gone back to their normal gaze of mild curiosity. Nothing on his face betrayed if he was disappointed or relieved or confused or if he felt anything in particular at all.

If he had wanted to, he could have leaned in as well. He could have kissed yasu, too, but he hadn’t.

“Should I walk you back to your place or something?”, yasu suggested.

“Alright, thank you”, Hyde said quietly.

He gave yasu a small smile. Yasu felt relieved. Hyde was still smiling. He had done nothing wrong. Their date was still going well and after this date, there would be other dates to come. Many more dates on which he could kiss Hyde, and on which the timing would be better. When they felt surer about what this between them really was, and when they weren’t tipsy, and when the atmosphere was a little more romantic maybe, and when no one would be able to see them on the street.

In the end, it was right they hadn’t kissed each other, yasu decided. The time hadn’t been right. There would be other opportunities. Better opportunities.

“So, Christmas”, he said, as they picked up walking. “I’m a little busy this week with the album. But on Christmas, we’ll meet for sure. I’ll give you a call.”

Christmas would be a perfect opportunity, for example. The perfect, romantic date. Just the two of them. And on Christmas, yasu would surely not be scared again.

A small part of him wished he had kissed Hyde anyway. That he would know how his lips tasted now, or know that he would be allowed to kiss him again.

“Christmas”, Hyde confirmed. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Yasu felt hopeful enough.

There was nothing to regret. There would be Christmas. There would be a lot more dates to come. They still had all the time in the world to get it right.

#acid black cherry #yasu #Hyde #L'Arc~en~Ciel #Vamps #fanfiction #fanfic

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lethe-distillery-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Tall, Dark, and Fictional

I stepped through the door and took a long deep breath, appreciating the smell of old paper, glue, a miasma hanging thick in the air. The second hand bookstore on the corner of Fifth and Main didn't have a proper name so far as anyone I knew was aware but if you mentioned either 'The Book Store' or the owner Bartholomew, everyone who did any sort of reading in the surrounding area knew exactly who or where you were talking about. It wasn't a big shop, though that was difficult to discern, six hundred square feet or so I think though the floor to ceiling bookshelves or random stacks of books at the end like hastily thrown together end caps created a winding labyrinth that shrunk the already small space into something that felt almost like a giant hug from old friends.

I smiled as much as I could at Bartholomew, he refused to answer to Bart, who sat behind the counter; he wasn't an old man, despite his name, in fact he didn't look much over thirty with eyes that were a deep royal shade of blue and auburn hair and a comfortable personality. I saw where he had his own book neatly set on top of a tiny table that served as a checkout, though it too was piled with books. He waved me over. "I have something for you." Being a regular had special perks with Bartholomew, he tended to follow what you bought and then be helpful and warn you if you accidentally bought a second copy, or if he got something in that he thought you might like. Where he stored all of that information, I had no idea. Especially since that was all on top of his store and the knowledge he needed for that as well as any personal life he may have. My mood must have shown as I walked over because I saw the slightest frown on his features. It wasn't that his lips had turned down but there were a couple faint wrinkles between the eyebrows from them drawing together ever so subtly. In all the years I had known him, I hadn’t known him to express emotion much, my guess was that he was slightly autistic. "That asshole bugging you again?"

I flinched reflexively as memories came floating back. "Yeah." It came out weaker than I wanted, I hated that I let people affect me so much. It wasn't like I wasn't used to bullies, in fact, I had been teased all the way throughout middle and high school, thank God I had finally grown into my buck teeth and they weren't quite so pronounced anymore and though I could do with putting on some weight I wasn't nearly so lanky, and I wore contacts now instead of glasses. Yeah. I was still haunted by the demons of my past, and it seemed, the present too. I had no idea how people could be so willingly cruel. A warmth covered my hand breaking through the memories and dark thoughts and I looked up to see Bartholomew's hand covering mine. Even through his white reading gloves I could feel his body heat. It was nice, the moment of contact, a reminder that I wasn't alone. He pulled back and I smiled my appreciation and he nodded. "So what did you have for me?" I asked, forcing a subject change off of me, he took the hint. I glanced over the assortment and took in some details as I looked over the scattered assortment of mysteries, romances, even a couple World War II biographies lay strewn about.

Going to a nearby pile Bartholomew brought over three books. One was the next in the series I was reading, I had purchased the previous two last week and I was already done them, they were incredibly addictive. One was a book I had asked him to reserve for me, The Historian by Elizabeth Kristova, a remarkable Dracula rewrite that I had read quite a few years ago and had wanted a copy, and the last was a book I hadn't seen before. Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. I flipped it over to read the blurb. It sounded interesting enough. "Thank you Bartholomew, I'll take all three when I'm done looking around." I smiled again, feeling in a much better mood and he nodded and set them aside for later. Aside from Bartholomew, I was the only one in the store, not really surprising given that it was Friday at two in the afternoon, though I knew it picked up later when everyone was done work. I had actually left college early to make sure I was alone. I hadn't intended to spend anything today but I had just wanted to the warm comfort that books provided to me, and here it was especially prevalent.

I wandered the narrow allies slowly, taking my time in the claustrophobic spaces finding new friends stacked amongst the old and even a few that I might have to take home with me at some later date. The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black was one such book, it looked to be a fascinating study of cryptids though the anatomical drawings in the back of the book were what really piqued my curiosity. Still, I set it back regretfully. I had no money to spare until the end of the month, rent was due and I didn't have nearly as much to start pulling things off the shelves because I knew once I started I wouldn't stop. Didn’t know how I was going to afford the three at the counter either but I would try.

I frowned to myself, stopping suddenly and squinting. Yes, that was in fact a book tucked up on top of the others. It was small, tiny really. Nothing much more than what people used for a pocket day timer. It was wrapped in what felt like leather, old, worn, but well cared for obviously. It was unadorned, not even a title or author, just a canvas of leather. It felt old, the pages looked thicker than average, vellum maybe? Whatever it was, it looked old. Though it seemed odd that it was packed here, tucked in amongst the paperbacks in young adult mystery. I flipped through the book, the words seemed blurry almost, indistinct, had the book been damaged? I couldn’t tell for sure, it looked, fuzzy almost, yet the rest of the world around it looked clear and crisp, thanks to my contacts, or else I would have thought I had forgotten to put them in. Something that happened so frequently it could almost be called habit at this point. Confused a bit I stopped flipping through and turned to the front page by some strange compulsion.

There was writing there, a crisp written script that was both beautiful and masculine, it looked, messy wasn’t the right word but it was the only one coming to mind. As if the writer were using a fountain pen, that slight smudging of the letters as the ink spread and dried. Still though, whomever wrote it had a beautiful hand, it was an elegant cursive that spoke, through with nothing more than swirls on a page, of power, elegance, and refinement. I started reading.

“It’s been a long time.” I could practically here his words, rich and cultured and a deep cadence that made me think of my favorite treat, chocolate covered caramel, why did I think it was a him? Still, I couldn’t stop myself. “I suppose that introductions are in order.” I could swear I heard him sigh with resignation. “My name, if you want to call it that, is Nefelibata Lacuna, though I won’t be offended if you cannot pronounce a mouthful like that.”

Stopping, I tried, just the faintest of whispers. “Nefel la bata, La coo na.” I felt silly, but Bartholomew was the only one in the store and I was far enough away that I doubted he heard me, or even if he did, I doubted he would care.

“Close,” I read on, frowning, “Closer than most in fact, glad you are smart as well as beautiful. Good. Neh fell lee bah ta. You pronounced the other correct.” The voice was patient, smooth as it spoke but I frowned, stopping my reading. This, was a bit too creepy, a bit too, close for comfort. Flipping through the book again it still seemed blurry. Indistinct, blurry, letters jumbled together, but the moment I focused, everything became clear. “I think I concerned you.” The voice inside my head seemed to be thoughtful, a bit concerned even as I kept reading. “Was it too much? I thought that an introduction would be the best course of action after all.” My curiosity kept me reading, a morbid curiosity that wanted to know where this was going. “What is your name my lady?” I looked at the next line and it was blank. In fact. The whole page was blank now. I flipped through the book. The entire thing was blank, plain white pages, even the front page. I went back to my spot, but I couldn’t find it. Everything was a plain, off-white sheet, without page numbers even. I frowned in confusion.

The front door bell tinkled and I slammed the book shut, breathing hard. I was, nervous. Of what? All I had been doing was reading a book. A strange one granted, but still. It was just a book. I glanced down at the leather bound tome, my hand was shaking, I reached out and set it back on the Hardy Boys, went to Bartholomew, quickly bought the three others and left so I could catch the bus back home.

Nefelibata Lacuna.

I shook my head trying to focus, I had The Historian out, soaking in a bath after a long day at work. I knew the story, not perfectly, but I knew the jist. I just couldn’t focus. I had a specific voice that hadn’t left me alone for three days, a memory that haunted through my thoughts at the most inopportune times. The rich, caramel chocolaty smoothness of his voice made all others sound pathetic by comparison. And, as pathetic as it sounded, being called beautiful, even by nothing more than words on a page and my idealistic imaginings of a man inside my head did things to me. I wanted to be beautiful. Thank god the braces were off. I wanted to be normal, not the tall, gawky, nerdy girl that was good at numbers and had no ass and nearly nothing for breasts.

I sighed, trying to focus on my book. I was set for relaxing. Candles flickered around my small bathroom basking everything, and me, in a warm golden glow. The scent of lavender filled my head, the bubbles a soft blanket while the water provided the warmth. I had a glass of Apothic Crush red wine, and a small plate of cheese and chocolates. I was set. And yet, despite everything, despite my every possible comfort tended to. I had yet to read more than the first paragraph. Just a quote, not even the book yet.

“How these papers have been placed in sequence will be made manifest in the reading of them. All needless matters have been eliminated, so that a history almost at variance with the possibilities of later-day belief may stand as simple fact. There is no statement of past things wherein memory may err, for all the records chosen are exactly contemporary, given from the stand-points and within the range of knowledge of those who made them.

-Bram Stoker, Dracula, 1897.”

I finally set the book aside, finally giving up after the fourth attempt of reading and retaining the words in order to flip the page and start where everything started. I leaned back, closing my eyes and focusing on the warmth and comfort that the bath provided. Rick the Dick had been a nightmare today, constantly belittling me and almost made me cry, again.His cruelty had no bounds and it was getting to the point I was tempted on looking for another job, even though I loved working in the bank, and the other ladies were fantastic, it was getting difficult to convince myself to keep going back and dealing with Rick every day. I sighed and forced myself to relax. Long, slow breaths, just like yoga had taught me. Meditation. I had thought of it as a bunch of mumbo jumbo, but it really had helped, a lot. There was only one issue the last few days. “You are smart as well as beautiful.” The voice soothed through my senses, overwhelming me so much I could never stop it. It rushed through me with a giddy exhilaration and a warmth that spread from my chest all the way to my toes.

“Who are you?” I couldn’t stop the plaintive whimper, not even knowing I had spoken aloud.

“Nefelibata Lacuna.”

I sighed. I knew his name, still didn’t know why I thought it was a him, but any time I set my imagination to say the words with a feminine voice it came up blank. Nothing. I had no voice for a feminine version. So here I was, stuck with a voice in my head that sounded like sin and satisfaction. The very essence of masculine pleasure. I couldn’t take much more of this. I was going crazy.

I was going crazy. Here I stood. In the bookstore, on the corner of Fifth and Main, with a proprietor by the name of Bartholomew. And here, in the comfortable confines of his establishment I found a corner, it was the only real place there was enough room, I sat and in my hands I held a small book. It was about the size of a time keeper with old leather casing that was worn in places but well cared for and faded nearly to black. My hands were shaking as I lifted the cover, and read. “It’s been a long time.” I kept going forwards, my breathing coming out in harsh pants. “Did I frighten you?” It, he, remembered me. My breathing hitched. “I’m sorry I cannot be more personal.” I took a long shaky breath, feeling all sorts of on edge, nervous, and perhaps a little crazy, I spoke.

“My name, is Monica.” I swallowed, feeling all kinds the fool. “Monica Brewman.”

“Monica.” One word. One simple word as though he were sampling my name on his tongue like fine wine. One word, rolled about and I felt everything in me melt, all the tension, unease, all the stress of another long day at work, the bath last night hadn’t really helped much at all. One word, and I didn’t feel alone anymore. “Take me home Monica.”

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smhtaehyung · 6 years ago

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when all daisies disappear🌼 || chapter 4

• masterlist

• Pairing: taehyung x OC (mental hospital au)

• Genre: angst, fluff, eventual smut, romance

• Word count: 4.6k

• Warning: swearing, will contain themes such as suicidal thoughts, depression and physical violence. Some of the backstory for Taehyung’s character is taken from the BTS concepts during the hyyh era. if you feel uncomfortable with the topic of mental illness, I advise you not to read further.

•••

chapter 4 ➸ 478 🌼

As seconds, minutes and a full hour passed by, I found myself getting gradually worried. Living in this hospital, I've seen many mental breakdowns. But something about this particular one, with Taehyung, made my anxiety fly through the roof. I’ve never met a person with Haphephobia, let alone shared a room. This being Taehyung’s phobia, confused me because I couldn’t decide whether I should be harsh on him or not. Is it worth it?

Two hours ago they took Taehyung away to the to the emergency office calm him down. I sat in the interaction room, his fake letter still in my pocket. Jiyu walked past and I rushingly sent a worried stare her way. She waited for me to ask a question, looking at me as she asked patients how they were feeling. She did it on purpose, wanting to hear my rushed, desperate question. She walked past me, but I stopped her, jumping over the couch as I landed on my legs "Is he okay?" I whispered

"Why are you asking?" She asked in a curious tone. "I don't know. Probably because if he's feeling bad enough, they'll switch him to another ward, meaning I'm going to have a room all by myself." I lied in a exciting tone to which Jiyu just shook her head in huge dissappointment. I raised my voice saying that, so other people would hear me. But as soon as Jiyu walked away I quickly walked towards her and stopped her. "Ji, I told you many times to not be like that-" She started speaking but I cut her off, explaining. "I actually want to know. I'm worried." I said as we walked to her medical reception. "What? What game are you playing this time?" She asked, taking some medication out of the boxes and reshuffling them. She stopped all her movements for a second. "Really?" She asked. "Yeah, why? I'm not that mean." I spoke, trying to make my words sound casual. She hesitated with confusion of my words, until she sighed and finally told me.

"Due to his condition-" She started speaking, trying to avoid actually naming his diagnose. "I know he's a haphephobe and a germaphobe, but did his panic attack have to do something with his PTSD?" I whispered as Jiyu opened her mouth in shock. "How do you know-?" She asked in a overreacting confused tone. "I always know everything." I said but quickly spoke again. "But not now, Jiyu. Please tell me what happened." I said, resting my hands on the pult. She sighed again and continued, whispering. “He’s better now. He went through his episode and got scared. He remember what he had did, so it triggered his mind and led him to the feeling of paranoia. Us being there, trying to comfort him was an even worse fear for him. It’s hard to comfort someone with just your words.” She softly spoke, feeling sensible about his story. “What did he do?” I asked in confusion. She just immediately shook her head and looked down. “Tell me, Jiyu. Pease.” I said but she widened her eyes to something she saw behind me. I turned around and saw Taehyung. He was walking from the hallway towards the interaction room.

I remember thinking in that moment: Where are his white clothes? At that moment Taehyung wasn’t wearing his usual clothes and he wasn’t his usual self. His eyes were red and slightly swollen from crying. He wore a red cap that tried to cover his bloodshot eyes. He had on the t shirt he wore to breakfast, but it was almost covered by his all black tracksuit with little details. His look was numb, his lips didn’t move as if they were sculpted out of stone. His perky ears were peeking on the sides of the cap that in this awful moment, gave him the only charm he would get recognised by.

I moved a little to the side when I saw him approach the pult. Jiyu was inside, looking concerned. Taehyung ignored me completely, proving his point that I’m not always the main motive of the painting. Even as he coldly walked, the breeze tried to avoid him, so it hit me when he walked by. Not looking at me had me frustrated and overthinking every move I made. I looked up and down, each second different. Taehyung stood in front of the glass, looking at Jiyu, who was sitting down. “Came for meds?” Jiyu softly asked, speaking a bit louder so Taehyung could hear her through the sound slits. He nodded and slid a piece of paper that had his medication listed by his therapist, through the hole at the bottom of the glass. His fingers softy brushed the pult as he slid the paper in, looking down. He didn’t acknowledge my existence at all. As if I wasn’t there. Jiyu looked for the little plastic bottles. She put her gloves on and put a few pills of different bottles in a small paper cup. The way he ignored me made me so puzzled I didn’t know what to say or how to react. So, not knowing how to comfort people, I spoke the first thing that came to mind. Just so I don’t drive myself insane. "You look like shit." I whispered, trying to break off the silence. Jiyu’s eyes immediately found me, freezing in place after I spoke. But in a split of a second she continued and uncomfortably stared at Taehyung. Taehyung ignored, looking down to the hole. Jiyu slid him the paper cup with medication and a plastic cup of water. “I know.” Taehyung said, not looking at me. He downed the pills and drank the water in a matter of seconds. I observed his adam’s apple twitch as he gulped. He put the both cups down and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Thanks Jiyu.” He said in a cold tone as she nodded. Taehyung only sent a numb glance my way and walked past me, incredibly far from me.

Was he always walking this far away from me, or am I just noticing it now?

I followed his movements with my as as he walked to our room. He took a napkin from his pocket and opened the door knob, entering inside. I quickly tried to follow him, but Jiyu stopped me. “Why would you say that?!” She raised her voice in sudden ridiculousness she expressed with her facial features. “I don’t know what to say to people when they’re feeling like that! This was the softest approach i came up with!” I yelled in a whisper, being angry at myself too. I tried to continue walking but she stopped e with her voice again. “Ji, your meds too.” She said already filling the cup.. Being in a hurry, and not wanting to argue, I quickly walked to the pult and as the pills entered my mouth I positioned them under my tongue. I put both cups down. “Open.” She said and leaned over to observe my mouth. In complete calmness I opened my mouth and she observed for a few seconds. “Can I leave now?” I rolled my eyes. She nodded with a sigh and I quickly walked down the hallway to our room.

When I got in front of the door completely stopped. The shiny doorknob left by Taehyung made my mind wander to many places again. He really didn’t leave any mark behind him. Only occasional daisy that would fall fro his pocket. But not today. Is the letter I carry inside my pocket the only thing that keeps and carries his touch?

I sighed and opened the door. Taehyung was sitting on his bed and this time, observing me. I quickly walked to my bedside and lifted up the heavy mattress. I pulled out the wooden box I made and unlocked it with the key I carried around my neck. There was at least a hundred pills inside, all of them being there when I didn’t need them. I spat out the pills I had inside my mouth in my hand and I put in in the box. I locked the box back and noticed Taehyung still staring at me. I lifted the heavy mattress and put the box back under it. “You should drink your meds.” He softly spoke. “They don’t help.” I said as I adjusted the mattress back onto it’s place, but I couldn’t get it positioned completely back in, some edges lifting up from the others. I tried to force it back to its place but that didn’t work too. “Not like that.” He said and voluntarily got up to help me. He kneeled down next to me, still keeping his distance. My hands instantly flinched as I got a closer view of his hands. He softly pushed the mattress further from himself and lightly pressed it down as the mattress softly slipped in back to its place. “Not everything is dealt with force.” He said and quickly got up to wipe his hands onto his antibacterial wipes he always carried inside his pockets.

“Thanks, rat.“ I said in an unusual endearing way that made the whole sentence seem completely ironic. A giggle escaped his lips that didn’t match his cried out eyes. He walked to the window as I subtly observed him the entire time, waiting fro him to notice that his “letter” is missing. But he didn’t look to his drawer at all. He was watering his daisies and re positioning them to fit the places his troubled OCD mind pictured. I sat in silence, pretending to draw. We did our own thing, separated. I missed his dumb questions and things he wanted to get my attention with.

We both slightly flinched when each of our concentration was broken by a knock on the door. It was one of the nurses, gently opening the door and peeking their head in. “Hey guys, some of us are about to take a walk around the garden to watch the sunset, want to join us?” I looked at Taehyung, waiting for his response. He nodded in affirmation and got up. I looked at him and got up too. “You’re going too?” He asked. “Yeah, why? I want some fresh air, what’s the deal?” I asked, in a slightly panicked tone that desperately tried to stay stone cold. “Nothing, I’m glad you’re coming.” He said in a calm tone. He seemed quite distant, meaning the his pills started working. I sighed and followed him and the nurse to the hallway. We went down the hallway where Jiyu was, standing with a few of the patients on this ward. She was surprised to see me come to. ”I thought you hated walking in the garden, observing the sunset.” Jiyu spoke. “I do hate sunsets.” I lied, in a completely numb tone. Taehyung observed me with a stare I couldn’t really describe or know. Numb yet soulful, or perhaps casual but with a hint of a endearing emotion.

Everyone stared at me. “C’mon losers let’s go.” I nervously said, playing it casual in my head. Jiyu and her friend nurse let a breath out with a hint of a disappointed chuckle. Jiyu walked by me after she made sure Taehyung was okay. I walked with confidence. I pulled my cardigan sleeves down so I wouldn’t get cold when I get outside. And to hide a situation that took place last week that is yet for Taehyung to discover.

Jiyu unlocked the door where the staircase was and we slowly made our way down that same staircase. I glanced up where the way for the roof was and slightly smiling, in hopes no one noticed. But the one person I hoped the most wouldn’t notice my smile, actually did. Taehyung of course, who was still observing me like I was some painting or that garden I stared through the window almost every day when I didn’t want to go out to walk with these people. Then I moved my look away for him, explaining to myself that it’s only pills that are making him this way. I remembered how powerless he looked today, all weak and hurt. That Taehyung wasn’t looking at me right now. What was looking at me right now was a slightly drugged up version of Taehyung that didn’t know for many problems. That forgot how it feels good to ignore me and not give me attention I get frustrated over. This was a version of him, not his usual self. Kind of like I am. I am a hundred of versions of myself that come through every day. I am an emotion. A ton of emotion that got all mixed up. And after it got mixed up it got diagnosed, and labeled and people didn’t try to understand how I felt. They only tried to understand the definition of bipolar. Nothing more.

Then they only looked down on me upon hearing about my kleptomania, hiding even their useless things away from me. All I'm known for as a person is a thief and a unstable person. It amuses me how people these days find definitions and labeles for everything. They judged my past, present and basic emotion I showed and forced a label down my mouth. All these labels: BPD (Bordeline Personality Disorder), Kleptomaniac, Bipolar, Anxious and manicly depressed adolescent was the only thing they wrote on their papers and sent me off to someone knew, who knew even lesser of who I truly was.

The cold breeze hit my face as we walked outside. I observed the pink sky that was mixed with the previous blue colour of the sky. I walked on the stone path, following Jiyu. I observed in complete silence and let myself enjoy the silence. After a few minutes, Jiyu and a few patients sat on the bench, and the other nurse took a few flower lovers, like Taehyung, to observe many plants and flowers. But Taehyung didn’t come with her. In stead, he sat on the green swing that was under the cherry blossom tree that had plastered the entire ground around him with its petals. It was one of the most beautiful sights to see. I don’t think anyone knew I loved vividly visual sights like that, or knew that I was human. All my drawings represented vivid beauty but people seem to think I do not feel what I draw, which is quite an absurd thing to think about. Is Taehyung really the only one who realises that I’m hiding behind a tough character to not get hurt?

I took a sigh and crunched his empty letter I gently held with my hands inside my pockets. I walked over to him and sat in silence, kind of disappointed he was drugged because of his medication. He observed me so carefully, his distant eyes staring at me but not entering my soul and piercing through it. The sound of birds filled in the silence before I figured a sentence out and finally spoke. “Rat?” I softly asked fro his attention, in an endearing way, leaving the question hanging in the air. ”Yes?” He whispered, his sculpted lips finally moving, breaking off the figurative stones that blocked his tongue from creating a word. “If you weren’t high on your meds right now, would you ignore me like you did before you took them?“ I asked in a slightly timid tone. His eyes fluttered in a slight panic before he looked away from me, looking straight forward. “It’s not all about you, again.” He said, switching to a more direct tone, still looking numb. “Not what I wanted to hear.” I rolled my eyes and got up but immediately heard his reaction. “No, please stop, don’t go.” He said and motioned his hands up towards me, keeping a far distance away from me. “I barely noticed you, today. I was afraid.” He said and looked down. I sat back on the swing next to him. “What were you afraid of?” I asked. “I don’t wanna tell you, or speak about it. We only know each other for a few days.” He said but I tried to prove his point wrong. “Well yeah, but when you look at someone the entire day and live with them, you get the sense you knew them for years.” I explained, looking up the sky.

“You look at me the entire day?” He said in a flirtatious tone and I panicked and brushed it off quickly, and aggressively. “I talked about you, rat.” I scoffed and looked down. “I don’t know, you’re a very interesting person.” He randomly spoke. “So you just admitted you stare at me, a lot.” I commented. He nodded and accepted my words. “Dude, that’s weird.” I said with a disgusted expression on my face, praying to heavens I don’t blush. “I know.” He said and looked down. After many moments of silence I broke off the silence again. “Why are you like this?” I asked him. “What do you mean?” He asked in a confused tone that didn’t match his expressionless face. “Seeing you today, being that fucked up, why did you pick an act so bright and childish to usually go by? Why did you pick a character at all, if it doesn’t match who you are on the inside?“ I asked and immediately heard a response. “Why did you?” He asked, making me puzzled. “Why did I what?” I asked for explanation. “Why did you pick a character too?“ He asked, this time staring into my eyes with some emotion. “I didn’t- You do realise that I am mean and fucked up on the inside so when I act out it’s all part of me.” I said in a casual tone. In a sudden change of emotion I spoke again, trying to stop showing sides of me that were used to hidden. “I don’t even know why I’m talking to you right now, about this.” I scoffed, shaking my head. He adjusted his hair under the cap, his ears perking up slightly after I finished my sentence. “Maybe because I’m the only one you can open up to.” He calmly spoke, coming across as timid as his gaze piercing through me. A sudden panic washed over me. In one moment I was ready to tell I boy I knew for 3 days everything that was on my mind, but the other part of me was beating me to a pulp inside of my head, repeating over and over how it is a bad idea. How it’s a bad idea to open up, let alone open up to such a fool that wouldn’t understand my thoughts. “No you’re not.” I immediately spat out, sounding even more panicked. My chest started hurt as the two sides started to argue with each other inside my head. My breathing sped up and I couldn’t sit still. “That’s not a bad thing-” He tried to speak but I immediately cut him off. “Stop.” I raised my voice and got up, leaving the swing. “Hey, Jia. Stop, please.” He pleaded, realising he might have said something wrong.

That was one of the worst things here. If you managed to find a friend, saying things that would potentially trigger them was always a risk. Because how can you know their entire past without asking too much and making them feel even worse? So as soon as I realised a person, this time Taehyung, hurt me in a way, my only reaction would be self defence. I carried such a heavy shield around me and lashed it out onto people even if they tried to touch it. Even them looking at my strongly built shield over the years, made the provocations stir up in fear they would get close to it and tried to break it. Because to them, that shield might seem as a shield with the strongest metal or material in the world, but that shield is just made out of fragile glass, that could cut into me. It’s only painted on to seem strong and to mask the fragileness it carries around.

“Don’t go.“ He got up as we both realised we got unwanted attention from the others. “Stop me.“ I coldly said, frustration built in my eyes. “What?“ He asked in a confused manner. “C’mon, stop me.“ I said and slowly started to walk backwards. “Words can’t stop people, Taehyung.“ I provoked his fear of touch, moving away. “A touch can-” I continued speaking but got cut off. “Jia, that’s enough.” Jiyu warned me, trying to make me stop provoking him. “People grabbing people, or pulling them back stops them.” I said and continued. “If you stop me,you know, physically, I’ll stop. Because why would I listen to a rat?” I continued speaking the same way. Taehyung looked down and didn’t even move. After a few seconds, I spoke again. “That’s what I thought so. Don’t talk to me, rat.“ I said and walked past Jiyu, back to the staircase inside. She followed me back inside, trying to catch up to me when I was walking up the stairs. I rushed through the hallway and she stopped me by holding me by my shoulders, where she always holds me to calm me down. The only thing to calm me down.

“You didn’t take your meds, did you?” She asked in a worried tone. “I did.” I said in a hurtful tone. “Then why are you-don’t feel afraid, Ji.” She said and continued as I tried to brush it off and deny it. “Why are you so hard on him? Especially after what he went through, today?” She asked, stroking my shoulders. “He’s being hard on me ever since he came here. All his little analysing and trying to understand shit, IT’S NOT HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE.” I raised my voice and she tried to shush me, and calm down my upsetting body. “I’m the one who does that! He should be scared of me and not try to get under my skin!” I continued speaking and felt my eyes water. I quickly wiped a tear away and whispered. “How can you all love him so much? How can he manage to get you all to adore hi by just his words? That’s ridiculous!” I said in a absurd tone. “He learned how to do that. That was the only coping mechanism. Ji, that boy went through a lot. He’s a very strong soul-” She spoke but I tried to deny it. “We all went through a lot!” I spoke and she nodded, trying to explain something else, but I was quicker. “I don’t want to fall for his pathetic fake charms like you all did.” I said and moved away from her grip. “That would be even a worse mess than it already is.” I said and walked away. She tried to stop me, but I quickly spoke. “I’m sorry Jiyu. I’d love to be alone right now.” I spoke and she nodded, leaving me be, something I greatly appreciated.

But when I entered my room to leave myself be, unfortunately it didn’t last for very long. I walked around in faster pace, trying to collect myself by facing away from those stupid daises that seemed to stare at me the same way Taehyung stared at me. A lot of thoughts went through my head as both sides still argued. I sat down on the cold floor and covered my ears and tried to shut my eyes in hopes of protecting my mind from myself. What helped to slightly block the noises was the door that clicked open. I quickly removed my hands from my ears and tried to wipe away my wet cheeks, putting back the shield onto its well known place. I heard Taehyung’s steps as I blankly stared at hard and grey polished floor. Taehyung sat on his bed as the mattress left a few squeaking noises. He looked down at me and I just glanced at him and hid my head between my knees. “I can’t stop you. And I’m sorry for that.” He spoke and I tried to provoke but he was quicker to forestall what I was about to say. “You don’t want my apologies, I know. But I’m sorry if I tried to get too close to you. Mentally.” He said and I immediately responded. “Okay. I know. Whatever, it’s not bothering me.” I desperately tried to brush it off, refusing to apologise to him like he did to me. I noticed my response was bothering him, but this day being too awful for the both of us, we decided to just end that topic at that note, before we lost the remains of our less troubled selves.

As the sky got darker, the pink colour almost disappearing, I fiddled with some of my stuff out of pure boredom. I noticed Taehyung’s quick steps behind me, finally realising he’s looking for his letter. “Jia?” He asked in a soft voice. “What do you need?” I asked in a quite direct tone. “Did you see my letter?” He asked and my face froze upon hearing his question. I got back to my provoking ways to tease for a bit and answered his question with another question. “You mean the one from your girlfriend?” I questioned, laughing on the inside. A small smile escaped onto my lips but I quickly held myself contained. “Uh-y-yes.” He nervously spoke, panic plastered onto his face. “Did you perhaps take it?” He asked in a more directed tone before I provoked. “Oh please, why would I need an empty letter?” I said whilst focusing on what I was doing. I glanced at Taehyung who swallowed a hard lump in his throat. “Relax, you look like you’re going to pass out.” I joked, trying my hardest to not bomb him with the questions. “Uh-about that...” He tried to speak but I couldn’t keep my questions away. “My question is, why did you do that?” I asked, completely staring into his eyes. Taehyung somehow immediately switched from his panicked self to a more bright and lovable version we all knew and found endearing.

“It’s kind of a funny one. Very random actually” He said and stroked the back of his neck. “Oh really?” I spoke, feeling my usual persona.He walked to some of his daises he kept in vases and rearranged them again. “I don’t have a girlfriend.” He spoke. “No shit.” I giggled. ”I did it to test you." He smiled, sitting down, counting some of the daises as I looked at him from across my bed. "To test me. Why?" I confusedly asked. "To see your reaction. And to see if you're interested in me.” He casually said, licking his lips as he lost his track of counting. A bad multitasker. “You looked so disappointed and pissed when you stared at me “reading” it.” He giggled and air-quoted. “I did not.” I immediately scoffed, shaking my head in disappointment."You're insane, why did you do that? Jiyu handed it to you." I asked in a confused tone. “Yeah, Jiyu helped me.” He nodded and continued smiling. I repeated his words out loud. “To see if you’re interested in me? Pfft- never in a million years, rat.” I answered, hoping I wouldn’t blush, once again. “Sometimes I like it when you call me rat. When it’s less aggressive.” He commented out loud. “Aggressive or not, rats are always disgusting.” I teased and got up, walking to my closet to pretend to look for something else.

“Touché.” He said as he pointed with one of his daisies towards me.

part 5

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justanotherbuckydevotee · 7 years ago

Text

Only You To Trust (AU) - part 1

Word Count: 1,185 words Summary: All the glitz and glam that LA was known for only served to hide the painful truth about people. Based on the song ‘The Hills’ by The Weeknd. Warning(s): Angst. Infidelity. Suggestive themes. A/N: (My heart is fckng pounding rn bc im nervous for this submission). Written for @caplansteverogers ‘s song challenge. Thank you for letting me join and congratulations on your followers!

Please note that English is not my main language. Happy reading and I hope you enjoy!

masterlist

part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4

** Gif is not mine. I found it on Google. I take no credit**

Los Angeles.

Where people sell their souls for the mass appeal. It’s all a big hoax, a continuous play masked behind lavish lifestyle, haute couture, and exclusive parties that only the elite are allowed in. People only see the staging of these puppets, invisible strings tied around by agencies and contracts. The world only sees the glamor of red carpet events, gawking at what she’s wearing, gazing at his stunning looks, comparing one to the other and fighting over who’s best, falling for the smokescreen.

Clint scoffs, dragging his cigarette to his lips as he inhales the toxic thing, spreading cancer in his lungs. Looking down at the screen of his phone he sees you wrapped tightly in someone else’s arms. Does he know where you go when he’s not around? he thought bitterly before locking his phone only to be shoved into the pocket of his jeans.

He knows he shouldn’t be angry because that photo has to be a set-up, to rouse a reaction from groupies and fanatics, to make sales. But he can’t seem to control the envy bubbling in his chest at seeing a man’s arm around your body, touching what was secretly his.

He puffs out a long exhale, watching smoke cloud his vision. He hates that you only want him in the dead of night, where there was no prying paparazzi and curios stalkers to interrupt. He hates himself for wanting this .... arrangement, when he’s got someone by his side too. But Natasha’s half a world away, doing her job as an actress and role model for millions of youth. He’s proud of what she’s achieving, gaining international recognition for her works and campaigns calling for women to defend themselves. He’s happy, he should be happy, but there’s a frown marring his face.

He knows he shouldn’t have caved into his desires, but Nat’s been gone for months now, the house they share feeling emptier the longer he stays. So when he’s had enough of the voices in his head, he takes out his bike and goes to a party somewhere down in Central, weaving through the road until he reaches a familiar building.

He sees a few people littering the surrounding area, cameras and phones at the ready. These people aren’t even trying to be subtle anymore, wanting to witness and be the first to know what was going on in the private lives of their icons.

He walks quickly to the entrance, ducking his head over a cap to avoid being photographed. But it’s impossible not to have your name being literally screamed to your face when you’re associated with Steve Rogers. Model, actor, guitarist and part-time architect, his name is renowned in the entertainment industry. Clint can’t really blame Steve for it –he’s got a natural talent and kept drawing people into him.

All too soon he’s being blinded by bright lights. Thankfully it only lasts a few moments because he’s being dragged into the building by security. Riding the elevator, it takes him mere seconds until he’s securely inside Steve’s luxurious apartment where he’s greeted by loud music.

“Well, look who it is!” he sees Steve walking towards him, bringing Clint deeper into his home, introducing him to his other friends.

“This is James” Steve introduces Clint to a man in a leather jacket, brown hair framing his face.

“Call me Bucky” the man says, outstretching his hand to give Clint a firm handshake. He moves a little to the side, revealing a stunning girl in a shimmering black dress that fit her so perfectly he’s rendered speechless. His heart does a somersault in his chest when you flash him a bright smile.

“This is (y/n)” Bucky speaks, nodding his head to you before wrapping an arm around your waist.

He knows he’s in trouble the moment his hand touched yours, the electrifying sensation dancing in his palm still vivid long after you’ve pulled away.

“ Bucky and (y/n) at LAX together “

“ Bidding a temporary good-bye: our favorite couple share an intimate moment “

“ The next Brangelina? “

Those were some of the titles that adorn newspapers and magazines as they gush at pictures of you in Bucky’s arm, the internet practically exploding with more images and candid photographs of you and him together.

If only they knew you thought to yourself, seeing yourself in the article in your hands, casual jeans and shirt adorning your body as you burrow your face closer to Bucky’s chest.

You can still feel him holding you flush against his warm body as journalists and fans alike swarmed the place, invading your space and privacy. You vaguely remember him whispering something to your ear, his hot breath fanning against your neck as his lips brush your exposed skin. The relationship you have with him is as real as Hollywood gets; you genuinely do have feelings for him but when his agency pitches the idea that you both be photographed being intimate once in a while, it makes you feel hollow inside, makes you wonder if Bucky likes you for who you are or if he’s just like the others in this industry.

“You okay?” came the gentle voice of your stylist, Wanda, as she looks at your tensed state. Sitting in front of the dressing table you avoid her gaze from the mirror as she curls your hair. You can see her concern when she pauses from what she’s doing, settling the curling wand over the table before dragging a chair to sit next to you.

You’re trying not to let your thoughts show, but Wanda can practically read minds. Her features soften, understanding now what’s been bothering you. Slowly her hand moves forward you, hooking a finger underneath your chin gently. You can’t escape from her anymore, those sympathetic green eyes boring down on you as her lips give a tight smile.

Neither one of you spoke, a wordless exchange that only the both of you could understand. You’re grateful for her existence, her support since the first day you started. She’s one of the very few people in your life who’s lucky enough to witness your growth, both in personality and career-wise, but she’s also tragically seen you be manipulated by so many in this notorious industry.

And she notices that recognizable heartache burning from inside you in this moment.

“rămâi puternic” she whispers and you simply nod. *

A few knocks on your dressing room door made you both pull away, Wanda resuming her duty while you tell the person behind your door to come in.

“We’re ready for you, Ms. (y/l/n)” an intern announces. “And I was told to give you these” he said, handing Wanda a boxed-bouquet of flowers and a crisp white shopping bag before he exits curtly.

“I wonder who gave you these”

Instead of a name to indicate who gave you these gifts, the small card inside the bag only offers two words: your admirer. Wanda is left to wonder the identity but you know exactly who they’re from, the delicate purple hues a discrete trait of his.

(* Translation: Stay strong. Idk if it’s even right bc ... well... google translate)

tagging: my angst queens @hellomissmabel @alphaabucky @captnbarnesrogers @minervaem @barnes-heaven @heartmade-writingbucky @rotisserierogers @buckyywiththegoodhair @buchananbarnestrash || @lovely-geek @iamwarrenspeace

send an ask if you want to be tagged. Thanks for reading!

#caplansongficchallenge #marvel AU #marvel fanfiction #marvel imagine #clint barton #clint barton angst #clint barton imagine #clint barton fanfiction #clint barton x reader #clint barton x reader angst #angst #angst royalty network #jabd writes

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tokupedia · 7 years ago

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Obscure Tokusatsu costume ideas for Halloween 2017: Ladies Night edition

Coeus Cerberus aka Hyper Force Black

One of the newest additions to the Power Rangers Franchise, Vesper is now the official first female Black Ranger in Power Rangers history. A closer examination of her costume reveals that, fittingly as a Ranger commissioned for the upcoming 25th anniversary of PR, elements of her suit harken back to past seasons.

The helmet itself is classic Mighty Morphin/Wild Force in look with a cerberus motif, she has a half and half asymmetrical grey/black design on her torso which is a callback to SPD, Operation Overdrive protective shoulder padding and a silver diamond on both of the boots.

Finally, the rest of the suit is a connection to its status as a successor to Time Force by having the Time Force bodysuit be the central core of the costume. Wrist cuffs, belt with the Time force buckle and the tight form fitting single piece suit.

2000 NTT Gatchaman Jun the Swan

While I could do the live action toku version from the 2013 movie, I need to do something obscure and this is one costume Jun wore that happens to be a personal favorite of mine due to its modern aesthetics while staying true to its roots. Instead of cutesy “girly” pink mixed with white, the colors are changed to a reddish pink with black and white. The skirt of the old suit, whose only purpose was for lonely perverts to pause for a glimpse of panty shots, has been ditched in favor of a protective body suit with black pants and pink armored boots. Because when you are realistically dealing with terrorists, flashing them while they are shooting at you with high caliber guns will only get you killed.

One thing I mentioned about Gatchaman was that Tatsuo Yoshida was inspired by US superheroes in comics, and this suit definitely invokes 90s Cassie Cain Batgirl. Case in point, a modern utility belt with pouches so she can store her many various explosives or her yo-yo weapon. A neat detail is that the hand part of the glove that deploys her yo-yo weapon is black in color and has her G-Brace on it (guessing it was so the animators could know where it went when drawing her). Jun also becomes a blonde in hero form, mostly to hide her secret identity as she has natural brown hair or black hair in her recent iterations.

Toei Spider-Girl/Woman

Now I know this isn’t a real thing, but its a given that there would be one if Supaidaman was brought into the modern-era. So I thought I’d pitch the idea. Just take design elements of any female web-head and mix them with elements of the toku version of Spider-Man in creative ways!

Ninja Cap-Tan

From Akibaranger, this fictional series is in reality an anime magical girl parody of the live action toku show Ninja Captor, which was erroneously once considered an entry in the Super Sentai series (long story, but involved a screw up by a magazine). It was also an excuse to get the wonderful Mitsuko Horie to sing for us on the show, doing a parody of Ninja Captor’s opening theme.

Unlike what it is parodying, the girls of the series are themed on sweets rather than the elements of nature (in hindsight this could be seen as prophetic given the existence of Kirakira PreCure a la Mode). If you really want something from Super Sentai that nobody has done as a costume and is really really obscure and KAWAII, I recommend this.

Watch Akibaranger Season Tsuu episode 4 to get good shots of the characters at the end to analyze the costumes and also use Ninja Captor as a reference if you need to since they are almost the same thing in design.

Female ‘66 Ultraman (Matt Frank design)

Credit to the great comic artist Matt Frank for this one! Matt envisioned what would have happened if Ultraman fused with Fuji instead of Hayata. Female curves aside, the biggest change is the head, which is a nice mix of classic Ultraman, Nexus and Ace.

Yaiba

In the main Garo series, one of the biggest letdowns is there are no female Makai Knights. However, in the expanded universe, there is at least one.....sort of. It involves a bizarre thing about having a female-like form, but is in reality worn by a man who can shift his gender at will and is a villain, like Berg Katze did in the old Gatchaman show. Yaiba is known as the The Scorching Heat Knight and wields a scythe! You can turn this villain armor into a force for good!

In addition, since Final Fantasy XIV and Monster Hunter XX introduced the armors as possible equip gear for both genders, any Makai Knight can be genderbent now!

Fire-3

The only female of the Rescue Fire Team, Ritsuka is a no-nonsense, take charge kinda gal who loves animals and acts cool. You could either make her civilian work uniform or make her hero outfit. Or if you really want to be creative, you could make a Fire-3 X form by using Fire-1 X as a reference and mix the two or do your own take to create a power up version of Fire-3!

Camearra (Purified)

A female Ultra who served as an antagonist in the Ultraman Tiga Summer Movie. She was evil, but what if Tiga could have got through to her and saved her? This presents an interesting costume idea of a Dark Ultra becoming purified and becoming heroic.

First thing, her body suit would be a traditional silver instead of dark grey, yellow eyes instead of the evil orange, maybe some blue or red to accent the gold and less demonic looking features on the head. Maybe some angel wings on the crest of the head or just a different shape would do the trick!

Queen Hawk (Battle Hawk)

This is an old Showa era costume, but it can be improved upon. You can rework it to be more like the manga version as a single body suit or make it more armor like. You can also make the cape another color like a more classic red or white and red. Whatever you decide, you will become a fearsome, monster slaying female warrior who has two axes tethered by a chain as a weapon!

#tokusatsu #halloween #costume ideas #costumes for women #super sentai #power rangers #ultraman #matt frank #battle hawk #gatchaman #jun the swan #garo #ultraman tiga #akibaranger

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artbysarah98 · 5 years ago

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Part 2 What the f*ck is going on?

When we're young...series

Masterlist

Part 1 An unexpected turn

A/N - I've never been on an airplane before and also have no idea how a flying works or an airport. So not everything may be accurate.

Ella

"Dear passengers, this is your captain speaking. We're a half-hour away from our destination Seoul, Korea. We are starting our descend to Incheon International Airport soon. So we would like you to fasten your seatbelts, please. We hope you enjoyed your flight with Korean Air, and we wish you a pleasant stay. Upon exiting the aircraft, please take all your belongings with you," announced the pilot over the intercom first in Korean. He repeated himself in English for international passengers like Ella. This alerted Ella to sit up straight in her seat and fasten her seatbelt.

She looked around her. As far as she could see, the other passengers were of Korean nationality or at least an Asian one. A few other people stood out because they looked closer to her citizenship. She felt a little bit out of place, being one of the only passengers with a different nationality. The man on her left was one of these passengers. A middle-aged baldheaded man, around 45 years old, yet a prominent black mustache. On top of his head were a pair of glasses.

'Those must be for reading. He hasn't worn them at all during the flight. I would have put them in my carry-on baggage to not lose them, but then again, I lose almost everything with how clumsy I am,' she thought while her eyes glided down to his expensive-looking suit, 'He looks like a businessman on his way to make a new deal. I wonder where he's going.'

The man looked very tired as if he hadn't slept in days. He looked like he could fall asleep any second. He nodded his head as he started to doze off. However, a sudden gust of air caused some turbulence shaking the plane. This caused the man to straighten up, looking around for what was happening. Ella saw his eyes also falling on her. They held each other's gaze for a few seconds before she decided that this interaction became too awkward.

Ella looked over to her right shoulder. On a row behind her sat a young girl with long blond hair braided into one thick braid. The end of this braid rested on her left shoulder. Ella's eyes fell on the hair tie that held it in place. The color of it was red and had a red heart charm with a silly face on it. A smile crept on Ella's face, 'That looks cute. I wonder where she got it. Maybe I should ask her? No, that would be awkward.'

The girl looked around her age, maybe a little longer 16 or 17 perhaps. Ella saw the girl happily swaying her head along to the music she was listening to on her earbuds. She was also singing along to the music, but Ella couldn't understand what the lyrics were aside from some English words that clearly had something to do with the main title. Ella had a feeling that the chorus was playing again as the words 'Fake Love' started falling from the girl's lips once more.

The girl was wearing a shirt of some group Asain looking men called BTS, as that was the name plastered onto it in huge letters together with a logo that looked like doors being pushed open, and a pair of bleached shorts. Ella had no idea who or what BTS was, but she wanted to find out. Maybe that had to do with the strict rules the Young Boarding School had on the use of mobiles and the internet. Those rules always caused her to missed new things becoming popular. That included celebrities like this BTS probably was, or else, their faces wouldn't be on a shirt. Her curiosity being ignited caused her to grab her phone, a Samsung Galaxy S7, maybe not the latest edition, but sufficed its primary job.

'I lived under a rock,' thought Ella as the hits with articles related to this BTS group started showing up, 'These guys have millions of fans, apparently called ARMY, won multiple awards. They performed during the AMAs in 2017, making history for other K-Pop idols and K-pop music industry and yet I still managed to miss all of this somehow. Mom, Dad, why are your rules so strict?'

Now updated on who they are in general after reading some articles, she still didn't who was which member. Although she managed to learn the names, Ella still had to combine them with the right face. On top of that, she still had to discover what they sound like. Ella decided to look up their performance from the AMAs. The song was titled DNA. She plugged in her headphones and pressed play what she heard in the next 4 and a half minutes blew her away.

Their introduction was done by the Chainsmokers, and even they acknowledged the fact that called them international superstars was an understatement. The fans were chanting the name and screaming during the entire song. From the first note, until the very last, the boys did not lose her attention once. That meant a lot as Ella did not get into a different music taste smoothly, especially one she couldn't understand the language off. There was just something magical about the performance. The one with the silver-brownish hair gained her attention the most. Something kept telling her to keep looking at him.

'How have I never seen or heard anything about BTS before?' Ella thought in amazement, 'Let's save it in my favorite songs for now, and then I can look up more songs later.'

Ella put her earbuds away as she decided to look up some more about BTS. She ended up on the website from BigHit Entertainment, the agency BTS was signed under and clicked on the menu. This showed not only BTS but two other acts licensed under BigHit, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, and LEE HYUN. She was tempted to click on TOMORROW X TOGETHER, but clicked on BTS and then profile since that is what she originally came for. Ella quickly learned that BTS consists out of 7 men; Jin, Jimin, Suga, j-hope, Jung Kook, V, and RM, RM being the leader of the band. She managed to combine V to the man with the silver-brownish hair from the performance video that attracted her to him but wasn't any closer to learning which faces belonged to which of the remaining members. Despite that, she learned more about BTS. Ella noticed that she was being drawn in by the beauty of all the members and shook her head.

'Okay, this is enough BTS for now, and this is not beneficial for my phone's percentage,' thought Ella, 'I guess this is how it starts. You look up one thing about them and want to know more and more as if you're pulled in by a magnet.' She put her phone back in her pocket.

For the remaining time of the landing, Ella decided to take in some more of the passengers. Her awareness settled quickly on a Korean looking man to her right on the other side of the aisle. The man was wearing a black hoodie, dressed warmly for the time of year as Ella looked down at the green spaghetti top before looking back, and a black mouth mask covering almost his entire face except for his eyes and a few blonde locks peeking out underneath his hoodie. Ella couldn't quite see what his eye color was, but something about him attracted her to keep looking. The man looked a little older than her, maybe 25 or 26 years old. He was in a lively conversation with a man just a captivating a he was. His talking partner wore a plain black shirt, a white Nike cap, and a red mouth mask covering his entire face, just like the man with the black hoodie. A little of his blonde-brownish hair could be seen from underneath his cap.

Suddenly the man with the black hoodie turned his head looking around for a bit before he looked straight at her. Their eyes locked for a few seconds. Ella's face flushed crimson and quickly turned her head away. 'Om my god, this is so embarrassing. He caught me observing him,' Ella thought, 'At least I finally know what his eye color is.' Those eyes are probably one of the darkest she has ever seen. They are such dark shade of grey that they almost look black. Ella looked outside of the airplane window or at least tried to and noticed that they started their descend.

Baron

Baron and his bandmates from VAV are on their way back to Korea. They had just wrapped up a music video in the Phillippines. Their new music video 'Give Me More' is going to be released on July 23. This is the first time they made a music video featuring a different artist since their debut.

For this collaboration, they attracted the attention of a Latin American artist. For 'Give Me More' the band worked together with De La Ghetto and Play-N-Skillz. He hopes that their fanbase VAMPZ is going to be as enthusiastic as he is about their new song. He loved the more exotic vibe that was going on in the music video. Baron and his bandmate ACE are in an animated conversation talking about their new mv and what the reactions of the VAMPZ are going to be.

ACE said with a twinkle in his eyes, "I can't wait until we can tell the VAMPZ about our new mv. I'm so excited that I want the release date to be sooner."

"Me too," Baron responded with a smile gracing his hidden lips, "I think this mv will be received very well by VAMPZ, but we can't say anything about the mv yet. A Team will not be happy if you spill something, ACE."

"I know, Baron, but I still can't wait," ACE said, suddenly he noticed the girl on the other side of the aisle looking at them or specifically at Baron, "Uhh, Baron, I think someone is staring at you," nudging his head to someone on Baron's left side.

Baron turned his head in the direction that ACE pointed out. He searched for the person ACE was talking about. His eyes landed on a girl directly on the other side of the aisle. He looked straight in her eyes. The eyes he met were big bright blue-greyish, and for about 15 seconds, they looked at each other. The girl then turned crimson and quickly turned her head away. Now Baron couldn't look away from her. Her beauty, drawing him in, wavy shoulder-length brown hair with blonde outgrowth, a little bit of lipgloss on her lips, her different nationality, and of course, the bright blue-greyish eyes that he couldn't get off his mind. The way that they held a sadness despite looking very lively intrigued him. He was glad he was wearing a mouth mask, or else the girl and ACE probably would have seen him turn crimson too. ACE tapped on his shoulder made Baron cut off his stare.

"You're doing the same thing as that she did. I can see she is beautiful too, but you probably won't see her again after the flight, and on top of that, you haven't even spoken one word to her yet. Not during the entire flight or just now when you crossed eyes. I would relax now if I were you. We're going to reach the terminal soon," said ACE. Baron looked one more time at the girl and did just that knowing what ACE was probably correct.

Ella

Ella nervously peeked to her right and left out a relieved sigh, 'He isn't looking at me anymore.'

She decided to put her thoughts somewhere else when she felt a strong urge pull on her. It was her bloodthirst, one of the downsides to being a vampire, or partly vampire, in the way she saw it. No matter how much she drank, she was never truly satiated. Ella let out a frustrated grunt placing her hands on her stomach, 'I fed before the flight. This flight is taking too long. Why do I have to be on this plane for 10 entire hours?! Guess I have to find a new person to feed form when I have found a place to stay for the night.'

Bloodthirst feels the same way as hunger feels to a human. It's an urge to get something in there and gets more demanding the longer you wait. It slowly eats you up on the inside until you give in to it. Sometimes this can result in brutal massacres caused by one vampire. Ella tried to calm herself and ignore her hunger. The fact that she was on a plane with over 100 blood pumping hearts wasn't making that any less hard. She was glad that the aircraft was lining up at the terminal entrance and that the doors were going to open soon.

After what seemed like an eternity, Ella was finally of the plane. She was now on her way to the exit of the terminal. Her desire teased her the entire time that Ella stood in the row to exit the plane. Even now, the sound of thumping hearts that seemed to increase by thousandfold as she got closer to the terminal exit. Ella saw her blue suitcase labeled with her name in red letters passing by on the baggage claim and took it off.

Packed with all her belongings, she made her way to the terminal exit. The moment the doors of the terminal opened, Ella was met with a sea of people. Paparazzi with their camera's at the ready and very excited looking girls. Most of them were wearing mouth masks, and many girls were holding signs with Korean phrases, Ella couldn't understand, and weird names.

'This explains why the sound of heartbeats increased so much. It doesn't explain, however, what is going on here. What do those signs say?' thought Ella as she felt confused, but panicked at the same time. Her PTSD started kicking in by the screaming and amount of people. Ella tried to calm herself down as she looked at the signs, 'Those names are so weird. Are that Korean names or stages names like the members of BTS also have? Can you even call those words names? I don't know. Whatever the signs say to me, it looks like a children's drawing with all those strange symbols.'

Ella had never seen anything like this before. Experiencing this unknown feeling increased her bloodthirst and sped up her breathing. For a second, her eyes flashed golden as she felt trapped. She knew people often had family waiting for them at the terminal, but this was insane. Her hunger for blood almost took the better of her at that moment, but she managed to hold back. Seeing that the crowd wasn't going to part any time soon, she let out a sigh as she needed to get away from that place. So in complete conflict with what her therapists always told her, Ella ignored her PTSD. Otherwise, she would really attack somebody out of hunger combined with panic and a flinch of frustration. No other option left Ella started pushing her way through, but that wasn't easy seeing that they weren't, exactly, cooperative in letting her through. She took a moment to catch her breath, something she rarely needed to do as a hybrid and looked around, seeing that she was not the only one having trouble with this. Ella sighed and continued her way through the sea of people.

As Ella struggled to get through the sea of people, the crowd suddenly got even more lively. Cameras were flashing, and girls started screaming.

"Ayno." "Ziu." "Please marry me, ACE!" "Baron-Oppa, please notice me!" "VAV!" Though looking men in black suits started separating the sea of people so that the group of men called VAV could pass. This resulted in her being pushed out of the way roughly by one of the men in black. Ella was getting kinda pissed. Her pupils dilated, and veins started to show underneath her eyes. Realizing that her face was showed its true colors, Ella tried calming herself down. Her expression morphed back to her normal one. She waited for the so-called VAV to pass. One by one, seven men with bodyguards passed by, but she recognized one of them. It was the man who sat on to her right on the other side of the aisle. By the shocking impression on his face, it looked like he recognized her too. He almost stopped in his tracks, but a bodyguard ushered him to keep walking. He passed her but looked back at her one more time before leaving her eyesight. The crowd of people started to drip away following VAV giving Ella a chance to breathe and calm down.

'What the f*ck just happened? Who is that man who sat on the other side of the aisle?' thought Ella, 'Well, it doesn't matter for now. I need to find a place to feed before I attack somebody at the airport.'

Part 3 A encounter that she didn't see coming

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mikeysnipes · 7 years ago

Conversation

I Am Alive 🖊 (Bendy x reader)

Chapter 1 - "Go away!"

Published (1730 Words)

Publish Changes Cancel

▶

Chapter 1 - "Go away!"

Your POV:

"Mm?" I opened my eyes, looking around at where I was. I found myself sitting by a desk with a drawing of a cute creature, smiling back up at me. To the left of the desk there was a cardboard cutout of a full-body character, with a smiling face and a bow tie to top off his friendly look. I snorted and stood up, searching for anything hinting as to where I was. Eventually I found a note, crinkled and ink fading. I curiously picked it up and read it.

Dear Henry,

It seems like a lifetime since we worked on cartoons together. Thirty years really slips away, doesn't it?

If you're back in town, come visit the old workshop. There's something I need to show you.

Your best pal,

Joey Drew.

I furrowed my brow and pocketed the note. Apparently I wasn't the only one here, or maybe I was? It doesn't matter, all that does is the fact that I don't know this Henry person whatsoever. More importantly, I don't know who this Joey Drew is either. Could they be good? Bad? I don't know.

I looked around the area, determining within the first five seconds that this place was too creepy for my liking. Very little light came into this supposed workshop, and ink stains were everywhere. Not only that, but the color scheme wasn't very enticing. The only colors were brown and black, and a little bit of white every now and then. There were more cardboard cutouts of the creature I had seen before, which didn't help give me a reassuring feeling.

Nope, that's it. I have to leave, and I have to leave now. This is no time for games. I started to wander the building, hoping to find some sort of exit by the walls. Eventually I found a room with a wolf-looking creature, chest cut open and ribs exposed. It had no organs or a heart, which I found to be surprising. However, I still cringed when I saw the body of whatever this was meant to be.

I looked closely and saw that this wolf was tied to an operation table, hinting that some sort of experiment was in progress. I looked to the right and saw a quote, scrawled with something black. Ink, I assumed. My hand immediately flew to my heart when I saw what phrase was listed.

"Who's laughing now?"

I backed up and ran out of there as fast as I could. At this rate, I didn't care where I ended up, as long as I got away from that creepy quote. I eventually bumped into one of those cardboard creatures, creating a red bruise on my cheek. I stared at the creature in front of me, wondering why the cardboard didn't fall like anything else would. My fears started to rise even more, and I glanced up.

I saw multiple posters, ads of certain shows. The first that caught my eye was a printed body with a tutu, with the advertisement where the head should be. It read "Bendy in The Dancing Demon", giving me the assumption that the creature in front of me was called Bendy. I could tell because this body sported gloves and a bow tie, which nothing else I had seen had.

The second poster I saw said "Bendy in Sheep Songs, with Boris the wolf!" From here I could guess that the half-dissected wolf was called Boris. Boris the wolf held a clarinet, so I also predicted that he could play an instrument.

The third poster featured Alice Angel, a smiling girl with both devil horns and a halo. Beside it, there was one last poster, showing Bendy's gloved hand. Each poster had their own show title.

I gaped for a moment, before continuing on my way. At least I had a general idea of who the characters were, but then what was Boris's supposed body doing here? Cartoons aren't alive, they're drawn and put together in a quick-paced movie. It doesn't make sense.

I walked into another room and saw some sort of machine, with a note on the top. I snatched it and saw that this was titled the Ink Machine, along with instructions on how to turn it on. First I had to go to the Power Room and turn on the machine. I followed what the note told me and eventually found the Power Room, with six pedestals and a sign that said 'Low Pressure'. There was a caution sign above a switch, and a big ink stain on the ground.

Wondering what to do now, I consulted the instructions. I was told to find six items. I shrugged, then looked at the items I needed to gather.

I needed to find a cogwheel, a Bendy doll, 'The Illusion of Living' book, an ink bottle, a record, and a wrench. After this, I had to put the items on the pedestals, then go to the Projector Room to restore the ink flow. After I was done doing that, I had to return to the Power Room and flip the switch.

I rolled my eyes. My work was sure cut out for me. Oh well, better get started.

-o-+-o-

After I found all the items, I set them on the pedestals, wiping my hands on my jeans. The ink flecks stained my clothing rather than my hands and I let out a puff of air. I then regarded the note once more and head to the Projector Room. The projector was on, and displayed on the wall was a continuously crouching Bendy character. I smiled and rolled my eyes, then felt around the walls for a lever of any sort. Instead I found a button, which had one bold word shown.

Flow, in all caps.

I pressed the button and heard a whirring sound, shuddering at the new noise. I then walked back to the Power Room, walking up to the lever. I took a deep breath before flipping the switch, resulting in all the items on the pedestals conveniently disappearing.

Eyes wide, I thought about what to do next, and eventually decided on going back to check on Boris. I passed the ink machine and heard water-like sounds, but ignored it. I just assumed the Ink Machine was working again, nothing to be worried about.

I reached Boris's room and saw a sight that made me start freaking out again. Ink was squirting from where Boris's heart should be, and splattering on the floor. It never seemed to stop. I stared for a moment, then shook my head and walked out. I continued to wander the workshop, forgetting the main task at hand.

Well, until I saw the solution.

The exit door was down a long hallway, as if it were taunting me. My jaw dropped and I started bolting towards it at full speed, focusing only on my way out of this creepy place. It was a mistake to eliminate any other features of the area around me, for I fell down a trapdoor and scraped my legs.

"Ow!" I hissed, rubbing my knees. I looked up and saw an axe hanging from hooks on the wall. I stood up and ignored the stinging pain in my knees, then snatched the weapon from its holder. I weighted it in my hands and focused on some wooden boards in front of me. They were blocking another exit, which could or could not be beneficial.

I decided the axe would be useful and started to chop through the area, finding planks after planks. I continued at my work, clearing a path, until I came to a strange room. It had a pentagram on the ground, with small candles surrounding it. The lights were dim, and there were three coffins around the area. There were a few chairs, as if this would be a place to rest.

I tried approaching the satanic drawing, but when I did, the ground started to shake. When a piece of wood fell from the ceiling, I backed up, staring at the floor with eyes wide. When I was at a safe distance from the devil's circle the building stopped shaking, and I released a breath I never even knew I was holding.

Suddenly, I heard the sounds of soft, distant chuckles. I tried turning around, but something stopped me from moving.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A voice asked, from the darkness. I turned my head so that I was looking over my right shoulder, face contorted with fear. I looked down and saw something black and sticky at my feet, looking fairly similar to...

Ink?

I started to struggle, hopelessly thinking that I might be able to get out of these restraints. The snickers just got louder as a figure emerged from the darkness.

"Go away!" I snapped, launching my axe into the gloom. Laughs followed the clumsy aim, and I guessed that I missed. No surprise either, as I didn't have a good structure to throw and I couldn't see the target in front of me. Either way, it was a feeble attempt.

The creature appeared from the darkness again, advancing on me faster than before.

I saw horns, a tail, and a pointed smile.

When the person lifted his head I knew exactly who it was.

Bendy, the cartoon devil.

---

Hey guys, thanks for reading the first chapter of this book! The whole story is being edited on my Wattpad account, where my username is LovesitGirl. However, if you want to see more here, then I'll post sneak peeks and chapters as they come out!

Thank you all!

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phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess · 8 years ago

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so i was having a conversation with someone who is leeching off my netflix using my netflix to watch Luke Cage right now... and it was about how they whitewashed Iron Fist (and also Dr Strange)

But they said, “You can’t have it both ways though? You can’t get upset if they make a character white, when they’re always making a random character black or something when in the books they were white.”

And... you get a flashback to everytime you’ve ever had to have the exact same ‘diversity and representation are important’ conversation, and you realise you’ve played this game with them before... and clearly it hasn’t changed their mind. But you’re gonna say it anyway...

“Because white people are in everything, but like, specific white people... and a lot of times when they switch out a character for a white person, it’s wiping out a very specific story. Like in Iron Fist... he was meant to be asian, the people around him too... the whole comic series is pretty well-foundered in that. Dr Strange isn’t bendybonk cucumberpatch, nor was the ancient monk dude he needed to speak to... Tilda Swinton (you know, the freaky praying mantis bitch from Narnia, the White Queen?) in a bald cap???”

And then it goes around again, “Yeah but what about the reverse?”

“Because everyone in fucking stories are white and straight and ridiculously pretty... or tortured about how they’re white and ugly and tortured, or white and not straight but pretty and tortured... and it’s boring, mate...”

And clearly the point didn’t land... but it’s like, why is that the first thing people go to when they discover a character is whitewashed?

“Yeah but other characters, who were white, were randomly made not” [Or some just flat out say a race, or a sexuality, or a gender orientation, etc.]

And it’s like... we can’t keep seeing the same 12 white actors in everything... pretending to have backstories thy clearly aren’t connected to bc it should have gone to a different actor...

Katniss Everdeen. Ghost in the Shell. Dr Strange. Luke Cage. fucking ALOHA. dozens of others, let’s be real... and most of these they discouraged people of the actual ethnicities involved to apply...

But remember how pissed people were when Percy Jackson came out and Grover (a satyr, dude who was half goat and a badass) ended up black? and fans were losing it online? Remember when they went back over the shitty mortal instrument books and changed just about everything so the characters were dynamic, some poc, some not-straight, etc. so they were more fun?

Like, where was the outcry when they did freaking “La La Land”, a story that literally took an entire narrative about the birth of jazz, from African-Americans, and handed it to a white dude who couldn’t sing. And his female white co-star who also couldn’t sing. Like... isn’t that embarrassing? A red flag? When the two leads can’t sing or dance well enough that they have to have someone ELSE sing for them? Why didn’t they just get the people who sang for them? Like, HAIRSPRAY had a narrative that focused on a fat white chick, sure, but there was a lot of screen time and accreditation given to the poc characters, and she never claimed to have made their dances up, and was always clear who let her use them... that was actually a pretty good musical/movie.

And Stonewall? You still can’t get over that. The activisim was led by trans WOC, and they removed them, and made some skinny white dude the main? They marketed this revolutionary movement as “A young man’s coming-of-age story”... and it was like, the skinny white dude pretending to be gay on camera? Wow. Buddy, let me tell you how easy it is to find a gay to cast... *thumps the wall and gays rain from the ceiling* my dude, take your pick...

Mostly, it adds to the story when not everyone is a cookie cutter, but you always have to hear someone bitch about it, because it causes them distress not to see themselves on the screen. As if someone being a different race, religion, sexuality, gender, socioeconomic class, political stance (okay you know what, I will never sympathise with a republican or the aussie equivalent), etc. is just impossible to empathise with...

Like... how do any of you read books, if that’s the case? Is there an underground society that can only stand to read and re-read the boring-ass Nicholas Sparks novels over and over, praising each cookie-cutter plot and character endlessly? Did I not get the e-vite?

[Not to mention movies like SPLIT, and the one about a transwoman where they cast a cisman, what was that called? - which are inaccurate representations of mental health and gender orientation designed to feed stereotypes]

And also, the entire HP fandom losing their minds at the concept harry potter or hermione granger were not white? Not going to lie, I imagined Hermione like me, a little girl with white skin and big, bushy, fuck-my-life-why-are-you-like-this easily-knottable hair... but other little girls were reading and imagining her just like them, with their features and hairtypes. And that’s totally okay. The varied fanart of poc and white versions of Harry & Hermione are all amazing, and it’s not hurting anyone... but people are still avidly searching the series for proof Harry and Hermione are white, that’s it. Just look at the backlash for the Cursed Child, when they ‘DARED’ to cast Noma Dumezweni as Hermione. The HP fandom loved to talk about how inclusive they were... riiiiight up until someone challenged that slf-perception by changing things canonically, and the fandom flipped a table.

Listen... the kids, especially Emma Watson, did an amazing job. They all went on to do amazing things and it’s okay to have them in mind when you read the books, because that’s who a lot of people imagine, now. The hazards of making a book series into a movie series, really, a fixed ideal for the characters. But the thing is, the movie interpretation does not negate whoever else you had in mind for the main characters. Harry and Hermione are ambiguous, feature-wise, save that Harry has his mother’s eyes, and Hermione has bushy/thick/fuck-my-life-the-knots-are-winning hair.

They could be anything, between those narrow parameters. Harry could have been neon pink the whole book and JK would only reveal that afterwards, when the neon-pink aliens come to visit. The only one with specific features was Ron (and also Draco) in which they described the entire family features...

Not to mention, no one loses their shit when people draw Neville pudgy or blonde (like he was in the books)? Where is your ‘must be authentic’ god now...

“What is this PC/SJW cuck bullshit?” is still the funniest thing you can ever hear, though, when a movie or show or book ends up with a straight white character (or straight white cismale character) being switched out for something different. Even if it’s an invisible different, people get so up in arms. Thumping bibles and screaming about authenticity... dude, there’s a thousand grimdark muscly overhetero dudes out there in film, you will survive this. Stay strong.

This has been a random post, feel free to add in.

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mebell01 · 8 years ago

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Sanna Annukka

Growing up, British printmaker and textile designer Sanna Annukka would spend summers in Finland with her grandmother. While there she spent plenty of time outdoors. Sanna points back to these experiences as the main inspiration for her work. She is particularly drawn to culture and art of the indigenous Sami people of Lapland, an area encompassing the far north areas of Scandinavia. The patterns and mythology of other cultures around the world also make it into her designs (“About Sanna”).

Inn 1983, Sanna was born in Brighton, England. She studied illustration at the University of Brighton. The band Keane discovered her prints in a London shop and contacted her to do their album artwork. After this success, she joined the Marimekko team of designers where her work is sold as various housewares and prints. Along with Marimekko she takes on other clients and also has her own online store (“Sanna Annukka”). Despite the subject matter being nature, Sunna’s designs are generally geometric and pattern-heavy. In describing her own work, she says “My style is all about pattern. Simple, bold and folkloric” (Annukka).

“Sunset” is a screenprint. It features a thin rectangle with triangles and angular shapes that follow the edge of the rectangle, all leading up to the top of the print that has a white circle, indicating a sun. Although the patterns are geometric, there are curvilinear shapes as as well, representing hills, waves or another kind of landscape. At the bottom of the print are small triangle and circles, adding texture and detail. The colors are maroon, orange and a gold. White breaks up these colors and leads the eye back up to the sun. Overall, it is a successful, interesting design. The viewer immediately looks at the white circle at the top, then the two white curvilinear shapes directly below start the journey down to the bottom. It was a wise choice to leave the maroon area behind the sun a flat color rather than add more pattern, as it adds drama and a place to rest. My critique of this design is that the viewer isn’t sure what the area below the sun is. While I appreciate the abstraction, Sanna’s other work is a little more clear. The colors are also subdued. I think the gold could be a brighter, warmer yellow. Although the piece is entitled “Sunset,” it feels very cold. Arguably, she could be depicting the cold Arctic landscape she often does in her work, but the color choices are still dull.

“The Fir Tree” is a fairy tale written in 1845 by Danish author/poet Hans Christian Anderson. The story tells about a fir tree unable to appreciate living in the moment and always wishing for bigger and better things until it is too late (“The Fir Tree”). Sanna illustrated this entire book but unfortunately I could only find the cover artwork. The hardcover book is a solid bright green. A large and small tree stand side by side, each made out of a dark green triangle pattern. Gold foil triangles are mixed into the pattern as well, along with negative space shaped like birds’ heads. To the top right of the two trees is a gold foil sun, made out of triangles arranged around the center of the circle. The smaller tree has tiny dots making stripes horizontally along its length. The design as a whole has a limited color palette. The lighter, bright green and the dark green emphasize the story being about a fir tree, even before you read the story. The gold adds a grand, festive feel which is appropriate for a very old fairy tale. The use of any more color or anything other than green would be ineffective. Considering the brightness of the green, other colors would vibrate and clash. The gold is striking, even in its limited use as a third accent color. The sun does not have anything to do with the story but it adds another compositional element and the cover would be empty without it. The font choice for the title has interesting thick and thins that serve as a nice base to the tree illustrations, negating the need for tree trunks or a horizon line. The thin, small caps text of the author and illustrator’s name’s does not take away from the rest of the illustration or the title and was an appropriate choice. Overall, the design of the book cover is successful, with appropriate color and composition choices considering the subject matter of the story.

The album art for the British band’s “Under the Iron Sea” album kickstarted Sanna’s career. Years ago when I saw this album artwork and knew nothing about the band I was drawn to it because of the swirling, organic shapes of the sea monsters/horses and their bodies playing off the shapes of the waves. The cool ocean colors work well. The very dark blue, almost a black, represent an angry and stormy sea effectively. The smallest sea monster with its teals and greens give the entire design depth, as the larger the monsters get the darker the colors and the darker monsters are in the back. This particular creature is also closest to the front and breaks up the large, overbearing shapes of the rest of the creatures, preventing them from becoming one large blob. Three of the dark monsters have red eyes, which are distracting and my least favorite part of the design. The red, although very small parts, is still too much. It would be interesting to see the eyes be the teal or green of the smallest sea monster, which would draw the eye around the design more. The white dots for the other monsters’ eyes are repeated in the bubbles and foam of the waves. There needs to be another cluster of these dots in the bottom middle or bottom right to break up the waves a bit more. The patterning on the monsters helps make up for this. The inside sleeve of the album has an interesting pattern with the turtle/fish creatures and the missile shapes. The pattern is disconnected from the subject matter of the album cover at first glance. However, the design in the center of the record works well and connects these two elements. The viewer can imagine the fish/missiles coming from the sky and disrupting the more uniform wave pattern on the front cover and turning it into the chaos on the record itself.

“Kultakero” is a textile design created by Sanna Annukka for the Marimekko site. It features rolling magenta and red hills with the silhouettes of fir trees against a deep plum background. A gold, orange and plum stripe pattern that reflect the shape of the hills break up the dark colors. A horizontal uneven stripe pattern also breaks up the space and adds texture and interest. The horizontal stripes add contrast to the triangle-shaped fir trees. Although there is a lot of pattern and detail going on in the piece, the dark plum adds a sense of calm. As seen in her other work, Sanna doesn’t let the use of pattern make her designs cold and stiff. The imperfections in the lines and shapes give it life and add to its handmade quality, even though it is a mass-produced fabric in this case. Looking closely, each cluster of horizontal stripes is different from one another. However, the small dot pattern, gold stripes and the trees are exactly the same throughout the design. This piece would be more successful if all the elements were slightly different, like the horizontal stripe motif, and had variations instead of being exact copies.

“Nomadimaa” or “Nomad Land” is a two-color print that utilizes negative space as well as detailed patterning dark, solid shapes. The sun in the top left corner and a few hatched stripes below it is the only orange (and color besides black for that matter) in the entire design. Any other use of color, even the orange, would make break the solid composition of the piece and add confusion. While the compact design is a lot to take in at first, the more time you spend looking the more you will see the patterns and the negative space surrounding make up animals such as the horses and birds. The small trees in the top right make a horizon line with the activities of the wildlife taking place below. The small, thin hatching adds a great deal of texture, but the solid black shapes keep it from taking over. Sanna is a master of utilizing great deals of detail and texture without hindering legibility of the scene, and it is prevalent in this piece. The shapes and patterns have a combination of sharp and curved edges. The curved lines such as the horses’ necks repeat the shape of the sun throughout. This piece is successful because again, Sanna uses pattern but adds imperfections to keep it looking handmade and human. What could be a chaotic and confusing piece is expertly organized into a successful composition because of Sanna’s placement of pattern and shape.

Sanna Annukka’s illustrations are works of art on their own but also work well when applied to textiles and housewares. In each design, Sanna brings the landscape and culture of Finland and combines it with carefully-considered detail and patterning as well as interesting color palette to add life and uniqueness to any application.

Works Cited

"About Sanna." Sanna Annukka. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2017. < https://www.sanna-annukka.com/pages/about-us>

"Sanna Annukka." Finnish Design. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2017. <http://finnishdesign.com/sanna-annukka/>

Annukka, Sanna. Interview with Catherine Lazure-Guinard. Nordic Design. Nordic Design, 2011. Web. 9 Apr. 2017. <http://nordicdesign.ca/profile-sanna-annukka/>.

"The Fir Tree." Hans Christian Andersen: The Fir Tree. Zvi Har'El, 13 Dec. 2007. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <http://hca.gilead.org.il/fir_tree.html>.

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scriptmedic · 8 years ago

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How To Write More Memorable Doctors (Even If They Never Speak)

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(Image (c) Jeff Eaton. Commercial use approved.)

Let’s face it: doctors are almost never at the heart of storytelling. For the vast majority of stories, if a doctor or nurse is getting mentioned, they’re patching up a main character, or delivering a piece of bad news. They’re bit parts. They’re plot devices, not characters.

And all too often, that means that they become bland, or a stereotype. They get ignored. They get forgotten.

But what if they didn’t have to be? What if I told you that even the most background doctor, nurse or medic could be made to stick in the audience’s mind?

Let’s consider an example.

The doctor smiled. “Hi. I’m Doctor Roberts. Your son was in an accident, but he’s okay, we’re just finishing up the stitches now.”

As prose goes, this is simple, quick and to the point. The focus is allowed to remain on the event: accident, stitches, almost done.

But the doctor in this example is a non-entity. What’s their voice like? How old are they? Are they sympathetic? Apathetic?

Now, going into too much detail for a drive-by character like Dr. Roberts here would obviously be too much. But there are still ways to make her memorable. (You didn’t even know she was a female, did you?)

Formula: Understand the Assumption, Turn It On Its Head

Really, this is the foundational idea of all of these techniques. Background characters are going to come with a load of assumptions, most of which you, as the writer, do not control. When I say the word “doctor” to you, you have an image that comes to mind. It’s probably very, very different from mine.

But there are certain commonalities. Many people assume that the word “doctor” means someone who is:

Young

White

Male

Attractive

For an example, this is what Google Images pulls up when you search for a “doctor”:

Medicine, and medical personnel, are anything but. We come from all walks of life, all ethnic backgrounds, all identities and orientations. We are proud of our diversity. So any time you can subvert this harmful stereotype, especially in a noticeable way, you can take what might have been a wooden cut-out of a character and make them at least mildly memorable.

Here are some techniques that implement this strategy beautifully…

Technique: The Red Stethoscope

This is a tried-and-true technique to add just a hint of human-ness to otherwise wooden background characters.

The doctor smiled. “Hi, I’m Doctor Roberts.” She adjusted her bright red stethoscope. “Your son was in an accident, but he’s okay, we’re just finishing up the stitches now.”

This is a subtle change, but your readers will notice it. They’ll notice it because it stands out. The stethoscope itself is furniture, sure, but it’s unusual furniture. Typically, stethoscopes are black or navy blue, or a handful of muted colors. A red stethoscope, then, is out of the ordinary.

It implies that the person wearing it is also unusual. It begs a question, even subconsciously: what kind of a doctor would wear a red stethoscope?

Typical “red stethoscope” items could include:

A “Hello My Name Is” sticker on her namebadge. (This is an Actual Medical Thing, with real history, if you’re curious.)

A fountain pen, or a jelly pen with a pom-pom on the end

An ugly troll doll pinned to her scrubs

A flower made out of medication bottle caps on her ID card

Librarian / bedazzled glasses

Bright orange running shoes, or excessively pink scrubs

Scrubs, gowns, or even skin that’s splattered with blood.

Technique: The Big Birthmark

Admit it: our popular media has trained us into thinking of what a doctor looks like. Typically they’re movie-star pretty and only barely pushing 30, or else they’re grizzled and have that rough-hunky quality (House).

So that’s our assumption. How can we turn it on its head? Nontraditional beauty comes in lots of forms:

A big, splotchy birthmark right on the cheek that draws your eye no matter what you do

Smeared or mussed makeup

Looking just like that one movie star

A shock of hair that’s gone gray prematurely

An ER doctor who appears to be in his 70s

A big ol’ scar, anything from a nasty jagged cut to fishhook marks

A lopsided smile or droopy eyelid

A limp

A strange or humorous name, like Dr. Wigglesworth or Nurse Hammer.

Technique: The Surgeon With A Lisp

Turning physical attributes on their head are one challenge, but another is to make a character memorable by how they speak. A couple examples could be:

A lisp (lithp?)

A st-st-stutter on certain words

An accent that isn’t common to the area in which your character works (a Minnesota accent in a story set in N’Orleans), from the other side of the world (an Irish accent in Japan), or that might not match assumptions made about someone’s appearance (such as a man with an Indian name and dark skin speaking with a Scottish accent)

Someone with definitive speech patterns, such as never using contractions (“I do not think that he is in much pain”) or swearing (“Fuck, I just sutured that!”)

Muttering things under their breath as though they’re distracted.

Putting It All Together

So if we snag one item from each column—which is overkill, by the way, you may only need one feature on the list—now we get something like…

The doctor smiled, and adjusted her bright red stethoscope. “Hi, I’m Doctor Roberts.” She brushed back a shock of very prematurely gray hair. She had East Asian features, but her accent was pure Texas drawl. “Your son was in an accident, but he’s okay, we’re just finishing up the stitches now.”

See what we’ve done? Nothing has functionally changed. But now Dr. Roberts has personality. She has a story all her own, even if we never learn it. She’s still the same plot vehicle as before, but now there’s something to remember about her.

But what if they never say a word?

Well, consider the following examples…

Dr. Saunders rushed by, her curly hair a tangled, wet mess, presumably headed for the punch clock.

A nurse passed through the hallway, her Hello Kitty stethoscope belying the serious look in her eye.

The nurse was back, the one who changed my meds. I couldn’t remember her name, but her birthmark drew my eye in such a way as to make me slightly embarrassed for staring.

The medic doing CPR had bright green hair and an undercut. It bounced into her eyes as she pushed on my father’s chest.

Functionally, all of these characters are still just background pieces, but now they stick out, at least a little bit. Your character will remember that event differently because of those details.

What are YOUR best tricks for making unique background characters?

Drop them in the comments or in a reblog/share!

xoxo, Aunt Scripty

disclaimer

We’ve been helping people write better medical characters and events for over 1,000 posts now. Have you considered supporting us on Patreon?

#write better doctors #doctors #paramedics #nurses #write better nurses #write better medics #background characters #masterposts

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arcaneresourcerer · 5 years ago

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Vocabulary

Additive Color- the mixing of two colored light sources

Analogous Color- three colors next to each other on the color wheel

CMYK Color- a subtractive color model used in printing

Color Depth- the number of bits used to indicate the color of a pixel

Color Wheel- a diagram that organizes and shows the relationships between colors

Complimentary Colors- colors opposite of each other on the color wheel

1-Dimensional- only one dimension, length

2-Dimensional- composition with only length and width

3-Dimensional- has length, width, and depth

4-Dimensional- artwork that uses reality as part of its composition

Asymmetry- if split down the middle both sides are not the same

Balance- all the elements of art coming together in a piece

Chiaroscuro- light and shadow that have a heavy contrast

DPI- dots per inch, measurement for printing

Image Resolution- the number of pixels in an image

Cool Colors- blue, green, and purple

Grayscale- only white, black, and gray values

Hue- color

Monochromatic- variations of one color

RGB Color- additive color model, primary is red, green, and blue

Saturation- intensity of color(s)

Contrast- opposite elements being put together

Focal Point- where your eye is naturally drawn to in a piece

Juxtaposition- comparison of two elements next to each other

Leading Lines- what leads the eye to the focal point

Modernism- art movement that broke classical form

Motif- a distinct feature or pattern

Negative Space- empty space in a composition

Pixel- the small illuminated spaces that make up a screen to display images

PPI- pixels per inch, image measurement

Shade- add shadow

Subtractive Color- begin as white and form black when all primary colors are mixed together, absorb light to reflect different colors, primary is cyan, yellow, and magenta

Tint- adding a specific color to shift the tone/underlying color

Tone- light and dark values

Triadic- color scheme using colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel

Warm Colors- red, orange, and yellow

Opacity- level of transparency

Postmodernism- art after the modernism era that questioned the values of modernism and authority and focused on innovation

Unity- a harmonious composition where everything comes together in a way thats balanced and cohesive

Rhythm / Pattern- visual repetition

Rule of Thirds- a grid dividing an image into thirds thats used to create compositions that are not centered but retain balance

Transparency- the ability to see through some layer of the composition- the way a piece is arranged

Value- using the lightness and darkness of colors to create an illusion of depth

Raster Images- representation of the grid of pixels that make up an image

Vector Images- image format using a math based composition that can be resized without losing quality

Style Guide- documentation that lays out the design assets for a project

Trapped White Space- white space surrounded by elements of the design

White Space- purposely empty space in a piece that balances out the composition

Above the Fold- the upper section of a newspaper, magazine, or website that’s reserved for the most important information

Branding / Brand Identity- recognizable design elements that establish a business

Gutter- inside margin of a book close to where it will be bind

Logo- icon that represents a brand

Lorem ipsum- placeholder text when the original text is not available

Manicule- pointing symbol used to draw attention

Logotypes (give examples if you can): a graphic that represents a company name such as the NASA logo

Abstract Mark—- an abstract shape that represents a brand

Lettermark- type based logo usually based off of an abbreviation

Emblem- a font inside a symbol or icon used as a badge or seal

Pictorial Mark or Symbol- icon designs that require no explanation, ex: Apples logo which just an apple

Mascot Wordmark- logos that include a character that represents the brand

Soft Proof- step in the printing process that checks for double accuracy

Substrate Trim- manufacturing trimming process

Web Press- a press that continuously prints a roll of paper

Points- mark positions of a space

Serif / Sans Serif- type with or without extending features

Slab Serif- type with thick block letters

Small Caps- uppercase type that is smaller than the beginning height of the first type letter

Tracking- letter spacing

Widows- a very short line usually consisting of just one word

Serif- type is extending parts of the design

Spine- the main curved stroke of an S

Stem- main vertical stroke in a letter type

Terminal- spurs, ears, and swatches in type

x-height- height of a letter

4-Color Printing- printing that uses 4 different layers of ink

Bleed- extra margin area that takes in account where a print. will be trimmed

Direct to Digital Printing- printing process where the image goes directly from a printer and onto a film

Hard Proof- printed prototype produced with a less expensive printing process

Inkjet printing- type formed by jets of ink

Letterpress- oldest form of printing using a surface with raised letters

Offset Printing- printing process where the ink goes from a plate to a rubber blanket to the printing surface

Pantone Colors- color codes for specific shades

Recto / Verso- front and back or right and left sides of a paper

Screen Printing- printing process where the ink is forced through a screen

Display Font- type that is used for large headings, sometimes with a more eccentric design

Drop Cap- Large capital letter used as a design element

Em Dash- long dash

En Dash- short dash

Font family vs. Typeface- typeface is a specific font while a font family is a group of similar fonts

Glyph- symbol used as a readable character

Hierarchy- font size used to establish importance

Parts of Type:

Apex- point at the top of a character

Arm- horizontal or upward sloping stroke that doesnt connect to a stroke or stem on both ends

Ascender- part of a letter that extends above the mean line for a font

Baseline- line where the letters sit

Bowl- closed rounded part of a letter

Cap height- height of a capital above the baseline

Justified Text- adjusted text that aligned equally between margins

Kerning- space between characters

Leading- distance between lines of text

Legibility- readability and the ability to distinguish type

Monospace- type where each letter occupies the same amount of horizontal space- the amount of space type occupies horizontally

Orphans- lines at the beginning and end of a paragraph that are separated from the rest of the text block

Picas- typographic measuring unit

Counter- I closed space in a letter

Crossbar- connecting stroke between two strokes

Descender- part of a letter that extends below the baseline

Ear- upper right design flourish on a letter, typically on a g

Finial- tapered curve at the end of a letter

Ligature- when multiple letters are joined in a single type

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wikitopx · 5 years ago

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A well-rounded city growing out of the stark North Texas prairie, Dallas has a jumble of ultramodern skyscrapers, the largest arts district in the United States, museums of the highest quality and pulsating nightlife.

Whole swathes of the city have been reinvented in recent times, like the Design District breathing new life into an austere neighborhood of warehouses, or Klyde Warren Park, on the former route of a freeway. But if you’re hunting for old-time Texas trademarks like big steaks, BBQ and honkytonks among the upscale restaurants and high-culture, you’ll find them with little trouble. Dallas will also forever be tied to the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, and at Dealey Plaza, you’ll discover how the city has come to terms with this tragedy. Let’s explore the best things to do in Dallas.

[toc]

1. John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Building was opened in June 1970, next to the red sandstone towers of the Dallas County Courthouse. The monument at its core was designed by architect Philip Johnson, a friend of the Kennedy family, and was personally approved by Jacqueline Kennedy.

Formed to represent the freedom of John F. Kennedy, the memorial consists of a square room without a roof, with concrete walls of 15 x 15 meters long and 9 meters high. These walls are composed of 72 concrete columns, supported by two legs at each corner and so appearing to hover over the ground when illuminated at night.

Inside the room is a square of granite carved with the name JFK, painted in gold to catch light from the walls.

2. Meadows Museum

The oil baron Algur Meadows (1899–1978) made repeated trips to Madrid in the 1950s, and in that time he fell in love with Spanish art at the Museo del Prado, determined to create his own Prado on his prairie in Dallas.

This became the Meadows Museum at the Southern Methodist University campus, home to one of the largest assemblages of Spanish art outside of Spain.

The art here dates from the 900s to the present, comprising Renaissance altarpieces, massive Baroque canvases, liturgical polychrome images, graphic art, Impressionist landscapes, abstract painting, sketches, and sculpture.

Among the many great artists featured are Velázquez, El Greco, Murillo, Ribera, Zurbarán, Goya (six works), Sorolla, Rodin, Picasso, Dalí, Miró, Henry Moore and Giacometti. In 2019-20 there were great short-term exhibitions for Sorolla and the great Spanish Renaissance sculptor Alonso Berruguete.

3. Deep Ellum

If you’re out for live music, great food, awesome bars or one-off shops then Deep Ellum is the place to go, just on the other side of the I-345 from Downtown Dallas. This has been an entertainment district since the 1880s, and blues legends like Leadbelly, Bessie Smith and Blind Lemon Jefferson all entertained the crowds in the 1910s and 1920s.

The name comes from the neighborhood’s main artery, Elm Street and crops up in the old blues song Take a Whiff on Me, and the song “Deep Elm Blues”, made famous by the Grateful Dead. The lineup of clubs and live venues is too long to list here but features Trees Dallas, played by Radiohead, Nirvana, Arcade Fire, and Pearl Jam.

For concept bars, you’ve got a slew of craft breweries/distilleries, and the trailer park themed Double Wide. By day you can check out the street art and pick from ramen (Oni), tacos (Tiki Loco), sushi (Nori) or southern comfort food (Brick & Bones, Get Fried) for lunch.

4. Dallas Zoo

Across the Trinity River from Downtown Dallas, the Dallas Zoo will be a valuable family outing even without its greatest appeal. But the Giants of the Savanna habitat is not something you’ll come across very often.

This $32.5-million habitat, unveiled in 2011 has reticulated giraffes, zebras, impala, ostriches and guinea fowl sharing the same large space. In the same zone is the zoo’s herd of African elephants, as well as African lions, South African cheetahs, warthogs, and African wild dogs.

The Gorilla Research Center, opened in 1990, is another feather in the Dallas Zoo’s cap, a lush recreation of the Congo Rainforest, with enough space for two troops of gorillas, each separated by a wall.

The Wilds of Africa Adventure Safari takes you on a 20-minute, mile-long narrated monorail ride past hippos, okapis, Grévy’s zebra, Thomson’s gazelle’s and some giant birds, from great white pelicans to Goliath herons.

5. Dallas World Aquarium

In the West End Historical Area, this aquarium in a warehouse remake from 1924 is not just fish. Mundo Maya keeps ocelots, American flamingos and a variety of colorful passerine birds and owls to go with its vibrant angelfish and axolotls.

The upper floor is taken over by a reproduction of the Orinoco Rainforest, inhabited by sloths, giant river otters and primates like pygmy marmosets and red howler monkeys, as well as dwarf caimans, poison dart frogs, toucans, matamata turtles, and electric eels.

The ten main tanks are on the lower level, where you’ll come within inches of aquatic life from all over the world from giant Japanese spider crabs to brilliant Percula clownfish, tangs, angelfish, butterflyfish and moon jellyfish.

Outside the South African exhibition holds a flock of mischievous black-footed penguins, only 50,000 in the wild.

6. Pioneer Plaza

The city’s rugged early days are remembered at this park laid out in 1994 in front of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, just south of downtown.

Rendered in bronze by artist Robert Summers is a marvelous sculpted ensemble – the largest bronze monument in the world – depicting an everyday scene on the old Shawnee Trail.

Crossing the plaza are 49 longhorn steers and three trail riders on horseback, all in an environment of ridges and cliffs, planted with trees and plants native to North Texas, a flowing stream and waterfall. Each steering wheel is slightly larger than life, just under two meters tall.

7. Fair Park

This 277-acre outdoor complex located on the right shoulder of Downtown Dallas has a history like a fairground dating back to 1886. Space was transformed to lift the spirits during the Great Depression when Dallas hosted Trade.

Fair of Texas in 1936. Architects George Dahl and Paul Cret turned Fair Park into a wonderful exhibition of Art Deco design. Plenty of the attractions on this list can be found right here, and the park holds more than 1,200 events a year, from concerts to sporting events.

For 24 days from the last Friday of September, this is the venue for the Texas State Fair, attended by over two million people each year and presided over by iconic Big Tex. One of the main events is the annual college football game between Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns, at the 92,100-capacity Cotton Bowl.

A centerpiece during the fair is the Texas Star, a Ferris wheel 65.8 meters tall, with 44 gondolas.

8. Hall of State

Fair Park's headquarters, the State Hall of the Arts, is a formidable venue, even when the exterior is showing its age. There are few better examples of Art Deco architecture in Texas, and it’s bewildering to think that this regal edifice got built in the depths of the Great Depression.

What draws your eye outside is the semicircular recess at the entrance, with limestone pillars rising 23 meters dividing bands of blue tiles evoking the state flower, the bluebonnet. On the frieze are the names of 60 historical figures with an important role in Texas history.

The monument has belonged to the Dallas Historical Society since 1938 and its radiant interior holds the Hero Hall, with six bronze statues symbolizing Stephen F. Austin, Thomas Jefferson Rusk, Mirabeau B. Lamar, Sam Houston, James Fannin, and William B Travis. At the Texas State Fair 2019, there was a great exhibition of the state's history in cinema.

9. Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park

This compact yet never-popular aquarium opened with the hundredth Texas Exhibition in 1936 but got a modern makeover in 2009.

There are six main exhibits at the Children’s Aquarium: Freshwater Zone, with red-bellied piranhas and Australian rainbows; Intertidal Zone, for sea stars and sea urchins; Shore Zone, inhabited by seahorses, batfish and home to a Caribbean reef; Near Shore Zone, which has Moray eels, clownfish and porcupinefish, and the Offshore Zone, where you’ll see the ominous-looking Queensland groupers and zebra sharks.

Lastly, the outdoor Stingray Bay is everyone's favorite part, where you can touch and show rays and watch black reef sharks in a large outdoor tank.

10. Frontiers of Flight Museum

Head to Dallas Love Field Airport to be awed by this Smithsonian Affiliate museum in the airport’s south-east corner. The Frontiers of Flight Museum has more than 30 aircraft and space vehicles on show, a portion of which were built in the North Texas area.

There are also 13 galleries and exhibits to ponder, including artifacts from the Hindenburg, lots of detail about aviators like Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart, and a full-size model of the Wright Brothers’ 1903 Wright Flyer.

As for preserved aircraft, make sure to see Apollo VII, used for the first manned flight of the Apollo Space Program in 1968.

Also indispensable is the last surviving Texas-Temple Sportsman monoplane (1928), a de Havilland Tiger Moth (1940), a Bell 47 (of M*A*S*H fame) and jet fighters and bombers including an F-16b (1977), and LTV A-7 Corsair II (1967), a Republic F-105D (1958) and a Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star (1950).

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