#they had a pre launch party and everything ... eh...

[miyku]

[guiltysecretpasttime]

Grey Eyes

This is in response to a prompt I received:

camryn-bria I have a Linzin headcanon that there is a secret (airbending) child.  Could you write a one-shot of Tenzin finding out Lin is pregnant after breaking up with her.

I’ll probably put in a better summary, tags or notes later on. But hope you enjoy this 😊 

(So I had too much fun (maybe) with this and it ended up being a two-parter rather than a one-shot, hope this is okay)

Lin/Tenzin pre-canon fanfic | 1 of 2

 Legend of Korra

---

Despite what the public thought, Chief Toph Beifong was not a heartless person.

While truly a strong woman, it did not mean she did not have emotions. Family and friends played a huge role in occupying a space in her heart.

Family.

It was precisely because of family why she was pacing in front of the doctor’s examination room.

Toph closed her eyes in worry.

Of her two daughters, Lin was the one most like her.

Her youngest daughter, Suyin, at her current state, probably was who her own mother wanted her to be.

Initially scoffed at and at the brink of being of being disrespected, Toph Beifong later on was reputed to be one of the toughest police chiefs that the region has even had.

She had welcomed her daughter during her second year as a police chief of Republic City. The father, unfortunately, passed.

Lin’s father was Toph’s fellow detective. Toph had just given birth to her and was out of the force when Kanto responded to a call. He was hit and he died.

Since then, Toph promised herself that it would simply not do to miss time at work.

The first few months of raising Lin were particularly difficult. She had then elected to live near her married friends, Aang and Katara.

Toph took it hard – spent time away from Lin for the next months and sent her to Air Temple Island. She eventually got back to her senses, realizing her daughter needed her and had reached back to take care of Lin.

Lin always wanted to be like her mother and the father she barely met. Suyin, on the other hand, well, that was another story.

“Mom.”

Toph’s reverie was interrupted by the soft voice of her eldest child.

“Oh, Lin.”

In Lin’s hand was an ultrasound photo of a child, Lin took her mother’s hand and read out to her the notes on the photo.

Indeed, Lin was the child most like her mother.

 ---

What was he doing here? He has some nerve.

“Aunt Toph?

She tried to ignore the tall bald man in her office.

“Aunt Toph?”

Persistent little bugger, eh?

“That’s Chief Beifong to you.” She felt him squirm and fidget. “The citizens desk is on the other floor. Or have you gotten lost?”

“I, uh, no. I actually wanted to see Lin.”

“Captain Beifong, you mean.”

She felt him flinch. Good.

“I -.”

“Don’t you worry your bald head about it, Master Tenzin.” Aspersion dripping with every word. “Captain Beifong is away on suspension. She won’t be bothering you any time soon.”

“But – no! I didn’t come here to complain or file charges.” Toph could here the shock at Tenzin’s voice. “You didn’t have to – she didn’t need to be suspended!”

Chief Beifong ignored him. “Captain Beifong caused destruction to property – Air Temple Island’s reconstruction will be done soonest – and basically threatened you, a government official. She would have received worse.”

“But -.”

“Is there anything else, Councilman?”

“Uhm, no. I’ll just drop by Lin’s.”

“She not there,” Toph felt the airbender pause at her door. “She’s suspended until further notice; and she been sent away from Republic City.”

 ---

At least that was what the press was informed, to explain away the disappearance of a prominent person

But internally, with the higher ups in the Republic City Police Department, they knew differently. They were told that she was out undercover and they better not try to make contact – or there will be consequences.

Toph was proud of her daughter’s strategy. She had been an absentee mother in the past years. She wanted to make up for it by supporting Lin’s decisions.

Even if it meant no contact with her in the next months.

 ---

Lin found herself in a remote Earth Kingdom town which used to be a Fire Nation colony. She had come to this place years ago in a recon mission and had known that there were a good mix of nations, making it easy to blend in.

Her current mission was not anything dangerous – just another reconnaissance mission to look into whether there was some truth to the formation of a new organization similar to the New Ozai Society, who would seek to undermine the United Republic.

As someone fresh out of her 20s, Lin thought she was (or she should be) fit enough for the job at the local bar. Thankfully, she was able to convince the barkeep to hire her even after telling him of her predicament (she wondered if maybe the man really just needed help so badly). She also figured it was a good place to get in with the locals and, well, the local gossip.

Lin opted to keep her first name (common as it was anyway), rented a small apartment unit walking distance from the city center, and now, had landed a job  (that hopefully placed her in a good spot to fulfill her mission) which paid adequate wages.

She felt she was prepared to start anew – a new job, a new mission, and a baby on the way.

 ---

Tenzin huffed as he consulted his map.

He had gone to Gaoling, to the Beifong ancestral home (that was were Suyin was sent there before anyway. But Lin wasn’t there.

He even went out of his way and chanced a visit to Zaofu.

Su was surprised to see him and, no, she has not seen or talked to her sister in years.

Instead, the airbender got a slap for his efforts (“You idiot! You broke my sister’s heart!” “You weren’t even talking to her! You don’t know what’s with her.” “I knew enough to know that she loves you!”).

He tossed the map aside. He was stumped; he didn’t know where else to look for Lin.

He did not even notice his mother, watching from the doorway of his study, looking at him with concern.

 ---

“Hey, get away from him!”

“Eh! And what’re you gunn’ do ‘bout that lady?”

“I’ll show you!”

“What the -!”

“Scram!”

“Alright, we’re going – we’re going!”

The earthbender turned to the young man on the ground (maybe late teens or early twenties in age, she guessed) who was of Water Tribe ethnicity. “Hey kid, are you okay?”

“I’m fine – didn’t need your help.” The man grumbled, standing up and dusting himself.

“Right.” The woman stated, obviously not believing it as she had just walked across the scene of several benders pulling up by his collar, whether they were mugging him or not, she did not wait to find out before launching some rocks from the road at the thieves. “Of course, you didn’t need help. You had it all in control, didn’t you?” She deadpanned.

The man rolled his eyes. “A truth seer, aren’t you?”

She crossed her arms. “Maybe.”

“No – I don’t think so.” The water tribe man shook his head. “Thanks though.”

The earthbender extended to shake his hand.

“Lin.”

He clasped it with his own.

“Noatak.”

 ----

Months passed and Tenzin had not lost hope in finding Lin, but he had to admit that the hope was fast dwindling.

Twice Chief Beifong had said that Captain Beifong’s whereabouts were none of his business and that she will put his sorry ass in jail if he pried once more.

Neither Chief Beifong or anyone from his family shared any input to the media as to his relationship status. The disappearance of Lin Beifong and the sudden reconstruction of some of the pavilions at Air Temple Island made up much of the chatter and gossip though.

His cheerless disposition just about confirmed everything anyway.

 ---

Meanwhile, in the Earth Kingdom, Lin finally gathered enough courage to send out a letter to Tenzin. She had used a post office’s box from two towns away to ensure that he would not be led directly to her should he decide to respond.

After contemplating on the matter for the past months, and after finally admitting to herself, she decided to give Tenzin the option to be a father to their child.

It was the least she could do. She did not want her (their) child to grow up without a father if he was willing to be there. She knew, she grew up with, the alternative to that.

We may no longer be together, but it does not change the fact that this child is yours as well. I’m giving you this chance – to either declare this child as your own or to simply ignore and disregard this. I am fully capable of raising this child as my own so I am open to giving you an out.

Well then, so the proverbial ball was in the airbender’s court.

Gently, placing a hand on her now visible pregnant belly, Lin knew the waiting game has started.

 ---

In an ill-conceived attempt to raise his spirits, the Air Acolytes of Air Temple Island saw it fit to host a birthday celebration for him. His mother had given it a go signal as she was also at her wits’ end to help bolster his mood. Even the passing of her husband (his father) did not seem to have dragged him down this way.

What Katara did not know, however, was that the press had somewhat managed to get in with the festivities as well.

The papers for the next few days ran a feature on the last airbender’s birthday celebration. They also printed a picture of him with just about any single female he talked to during the party.

This was followed by a steady stream of letters and messages poured into Air Temple Island as well as into Tenzin’s office at city hall.

The first few letters, Tenzin had deigned to read.

But after the seventeenth letter, the airbender, with a furious blush on his skin, went to the kitchen where his mother was calmly instructing an acolyte for tonight’s dinner.

“Mother!”

Katara dismissed the acolyte before turning to her son. “What is it?” She held out her hand to take one of the letters that Tenzin was waving at her.

The waterbender briefly went through the letter. It appeared that –

“They have been sending me propositions!” Tenzin exasperatedly explained, showing the envelopes with addresses coming from different parts of the world. “Ever since the broadsheets and tabloids have been putting in these features about me being single.” He continued to pace in the kitchen while Katara went through the other letters. The content was fairly similar – a Fire Nation noble offering his daughter in marriage, an Air Acoylte from the Eastern Temple sharing her daughter’s knowledge of all things Air Nomad culture, an Earth Kingdom merchant living in the upper ring boasting of his niece… “I’m not interested in any of these, Mother. I just – I just -.” He took a deep breath. “I need to find Lin. It’s only been Lin.”

Katara could believe that.

“I know – Mother, if letters come to the island for me, please send it to my office. I’ll have my secretary handle them.”

And with that, Tenzin swept away, leaving Katara to only wonder and hope that whatever he thought of would truly help him out.

 ---

I see.

So he has made his choice.

Lin gripped tightly the letter she received in response to the one she had sent.

She tried but there was nothing she owed him now.

The earthbender then tossed the letter into her drawer, to be hidden from prying eyes, to try and forget its existence.

 Thank you for your interest but I already have a life partner.

I would like to request for your respect in this avenue and refrain from sending any more letters in this similar vein.

Respectfully yours,

Tenzin

 ---

Noatak knocked on the door one more time.

Lin was nearing her due date and the barkeep had place a notice for a reliever, a substitute while Lin was out.

The Water Tribe man took the opportunity – he had been juggling different jobs in town anyway so what’s one more?

Lin had been showing the ropes to him the past few days and was always ever so prompt so that they have enough time before opening.

This was why he stood at her front door now. The earthbender failed to show up at their regular time and so he worried.

“Lin? Are you there?”

There was no answer.

Something felt very wrong.

He looked to the left and looked to the right. No one was around and so putting his entire weight on it, he hit his shoulder against the door several times until it gave way.

“LIN!”

To his shock and horror, the pregnant lady slumped unconscious at her living room, blood surrounding her at the floor.

Noatak hurried to her, feeling her pulse and closing his eyes.

He had been hiding a secret for so long, no one knew in this new life he had been living. As far as they knew, he was a non-bender – no one had paused to ask, except this woman who had asked him and had graciously not pried further when he said he did not want to talk about his past. He knew she was trying to start a new life, but he wasn’t sure why. She respected him enough as well to leave him to his privacy.

That day when the muggers had almost done him in, he thought that would have been the end of it, revenge be damned. To his surprise, someone did intervene for him.

Enough reminiscing for now though, because now, this woman needed him.

Taking a deep breath, Noatak reached forward his arms, allowing him to feel the push and pull from the two lives in front of him, not in the way his father wanted him to but to save these lives.

 ---

Tenzin was absentmindedly tapping his pen on today’s agenda in the council meeting.

The monotony of his responsibilities to the city barely weighed on him now.

It was the same old routine at the council.

His interest was peaked when the doors opened and a man, who he recognized as Chief Beifong’s trusted secretary, hurried over to the Chief of Police’s side, whispering quickly.

Toph Beifong suddenly stood up, muttering her excuses to the rest of the attendees of the council meeting and left (something about an urgent matter regarding one of her subordinates’ mission?).

 ---

“Chief, it would appear that the Captain has now given birth to a daughter.”

“What! I need to get to her.”

“Unfortunately, protocols still state that no contact be made -.”

“But I’m her mother.”

“Please, Chief Beifong, Captain Beifong explicitly indicated that in her report as well. Everything is okay and not to let you go to her as it would impact her cover.”

Nonetheless, this did not stop Toph Beifong from instructing her secretary to send off a large box of baby things to a remote town in the Earth Kingdom.

 ---

The last airbender quickly made his way out of the restaurant where that farce of a stilted family dinner (that his mother insisted on) was still on-going.

It had been uncomfortable enough when Chief Beifong arrived, nary a word towards him but quite civil with his mother and their visitors. At some point during the meal, the Fire Lord started to pass around photographs of his teenaged grandson and even Chief Beifong was obliged to share photos of her own grandchildren.

Tenzin tried to ignore the longing gaze his mother had on the photographs.

He met the eyes of his brother, who coincidentally was stationed this week near Republic City, who in turn shrugged back at him.

Yeah, that’s not happening. Unless someone comes forward to speak up about the fruits of Bumi having sown his wild oats, their mother would need to wait a little longer to have her own grandchild.

“And who might this be?” His mother brought up a photo of a baby.

“Did Su have another child?” Fire Lord Zuko peered at the small plastic booklet that Toph had fished from her uniform’s pocket.

“Eh?” Toph reached out to get it back, fingers running through the little indentions at the edge, helping her identify the labels on the photos.

Tenzin did not miss the quick panic that showed on the metalbender’s face before it was back to her inscrutable expression.

“It’s an old photo of one of her boys.” She promptly placed the booklet of photos back into her pocket. “I must have taken it by accident.”

As the rest went about their meal, Tenzin could not help but revert to the photograph of the baby. The baby appeared to be a couple of months old and…there was something that was niggling the back of his head about the child.

Conversation went to work, the new policies in the United Forces, the statue of Fire Lord Zuko in Republic City… They were all pleasantries that Tenzin did not want to talk about.

As soon as it was acceptable, he had excused himself from dinner, citing an urgent deliverable from city hall. No one tried to stop him and everyone took it at face value. He had, after all, buried himself into work in the past months in between trying to look for Lin. The airbender simply did not believe anymore that she was merely suspended from the Force after being absent for more than a year now.

Tenzin thought that Suyin Beifong, by now, would have an idea as to her sister’s whereabouts. Recalling their last interaction, however, he rubbed his cheek gingerly in recollection, he felt he needed to soften her up first.

Coming from that awkward dinner conversation, he had an idea.

Her children!

 And that was how the airbender found himself at the nearest open store that catered to mothers that carried items (food, clothes, furniture, you name it) for their children.

Tenzin had a vague recollection on how old Su’s children were. He was unsure, though, as to what do kids at those age need or want. He figured that the store’s clerk would know and headed to the store’s counter, waiting until the clerk finished assisting two ladies in selecting the best bassinet that the store offers.

The airbender leaned on the glass counter, tapping absentmindedly as he was wont to do when waiting --- when he saw a brown box just behind the counter hidden from view of the common customer (it just so happened he was tall and nosy enough to see it). There was a small sticky note that caught his attention:

Monthly order of Chief Beifong.

Why on earth would Aunt Toph have a monthly order at this place when her own children have long since grown up?

Tenzin twisted his neck to peer at the label of the box, to check the address, thinking that maybe it was headed to Zaofu for Suyin and her kids.

To his confusion, it was to a place within the Earth Kingdom.

Tenzin froze.

What if…it was to another daughter and grandchild?

The photograph!

He now realized what bothered him – the baby in the photo was relatively fair-skinned and he was sure both of Su and Baatar’s children were tanned. Su was also not pregnant back when he last saw her so it could not have been a new Zaofu Beifong baby.

Toph Beifong would be hard-pressed to care about children or babies unless they were related to her.

This left Tenzin with only one plausible explanation.

 The airbender then left the store, hurriedly making plans to get to the Earth Kingdom by the next day.

 ----

And there she was – as radiant as the last time he saw her (never mind that it was in the middle of the unleashing of her powerful fury upon his childhood home).

With a pang, Tenzin saw Lin Beifong carrying a baby, accompanied by a tall (and very young, Tenzin thought unpleasantly) man who appeared to be of Water Tribe descent. The two were engrossed in conversation that they missed the airbender who had been staring after them.

Tenzin had arrived at the town square and was about to head to the address he had committed to memory when he saw Lin. He was about to approach her when the Water Tribe man intercepted her. The airbender noted the familiarity with which the two interacted (it felt like the air was being squeezed out of his lungs). The man offered to take what Tenzin assumed to be a baby bag and Lin had easily acquiesced.

He surreptitiously followed Lin, unsure where they were going but not wanting to take the risk of losing sight of the earthbender he had been searching for quite some time now.

As he watched every exchange of the two, Tenzin could not help but feel at a loss. He had tried to think of every possible scenario, of what he would say, what he would do once he found Lin.

But none of the scenarios he imagined prepared him for the reality.

He never did imagine finding Lin as a mother.

He never did imagine finding Lin with a partner.

And she looked – content.

Tenzin felt a pit form at the bottom of his stomach. Could he – should he – possibly ruin this with his appearance?

Call him selfish but…he’ll try just one last time. If there was an inkling, of the slightest chance of a future with Lin --- he’ll gamble it.

For himself. For Lin.

 ---

“Jinora, sweetheart, be a good girl for Noatak first, please? Mama needs to work for a bit.”

The eight-month-old child burrowed herself further into her mother’s arms but nodded nonetheless. “Good girl.” Lin gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead as the younger man hoisted the child, anchoring her to his hip.

Lin had gone back to work on a part-time basis, but more on the management side of the bar (accounting, menu planning, etc) rather than being actually behind the counter, serving the customers like before. The barkeep was pleased with Noatak’s performance during Lin’s maternity leave that he had decided to hire him full-time.

They would usually come to the bar before opening hours, Lin to check on the previous night’s accounting and Noatak with preparing with the rest of the crew.

Lin was scheduled to start with the local bookstore soon on her off-days from the bar.

Today, it was accounting morning at the bar. She would usually be able to have an hour or two of continuous work while the crew would take turns looking after her daughter if she were awake. If not, Jinora would be placed on her sling and Lin could still comfortably work.

Getting out several folders and her writing implements, Lin pulled out a chair near the window, preferring the natural light while working.

She managed to work for around ten minutes when a shadow fell on her work; before she could even raise her head to address who or what was blocking her light, she turned her head to the inner part of the bar as she heard her name being called.

“Liiiin!”

 ---

When he saw the Water Tribe man leave Lin with the child, Tenzin saw his chance.

He took some time to deliberate though; he observed her quietly, soaking in his view of the woman he had let go (and would be claiming back, if she would have him).

He took a bracing breath and entered the bar.

“Lin!”

Lin would look up at him. “Tenzin! What are you doing here?”

He would kneel – “I’m so sorry Lin, I know you have a child, I’ll love her like she were my own – I promise to treat you better than Mr Water Tribe there. Please Lin Beifong please – I regret letting you go, if you’ll have me, I’ll want to spend the rest of my life proving my devotion to you. Please- Lin please.”

Then Lin would get up, maybe give him a slap harder than what Su gave him then give him a hug before making him work for it.

Before he could even say a single word to put his imagined scenario into action, another voice (that he was starting to dislike) rang out.

“Liiiin!”

“Yes, Noatak?” Lin stood up quickly to address the young man, who was carrying a giggling baby at arm’s length. “What is it? How is Jinora?”

Tenzin felt his heart skip a beat, that Lin named her daughter one of the names he wanted for their daughter… well, he was not sure how he felt about it. Maybe he will explore it a little bit more when he was alone but for now…

“I know I helped bring her into this world –,”

Tenzin blinked at the sudden hurt he felt at his chest at this.

“But please, Lin – take your evil spawn away from me.” Noatak thrusted the still giggling child dramatically back at her mother, half kidding and half exasperated. “You know how much time it takes me each more to fix my hair. Then this little girl here,” He tickles her side and Jinora squeals with laughter. “Decides to blow a gust of air to my face – imagine that!”

The airbender heard this and froze.

“I know you said this brat (“My daughter isn’t a brat!”) is part-Water Tribe,” He gestured to his now unkempt hair. “But I don’t think this is a sign of respecting her culture?”

“My daughter is acting fine.”  Jinora kicked her chubby legs as though to prove a point, disturbing the dust on the floor. “And we did discuss this – no training until she’s older. I want her to have a normal childhood.”

“Ok then,” Noatak waved his hand and nodded, obviously agreeing. “Anyway, I’m in charge of family meal today so I better start prepping.” With one last tickle at the baby’s side, he left and headed to the kitchen.

Lin shook her head and called after him “I’ll pack up and get back to the books later!” It would seem her daughter was in a mood today.

Speaking of meals…

Jinora had been tugging at her chest. “Feeding time is it?”

 Tenzin watched Lin smile softly at the baby, a smile he saw rarely, a smile that he only saw between the dark of the night and daybreak, in between sleep and wakefulness as they laid in bed together.

He cleared his throat to remove a lump that was forming, a signal of impending tears.

Lin had forgotten about the newcomer as she angled the baby go position her for feeding when she heard someone clear their throat.

“I’m sorry, how can I help –,” Her eyes met familiar grey ones. “You.”

 ---

There was a lot to take in.

The Earth Kingdom.

Lin.

The Water Tribe man (Noatak, he spat.)

Lin.

The baby.

The airbending baby.

Jinora.

There was no doubt on whose child Lin was carrying.

Tenzin pushed forward at the surprised earthbender to take them (her and their daughter!) into his arms.

----

Note: This is part one of two --- ooor we could end it there? 🤷🏼‍♀️ Let me know!

(how do you tag people anyway?? @camryn-bria

---

2 of 2 here.

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Tel Aviv 2019: Straight outta United Kingdom to Eurovision with a blatantly non-blatant Melodifestivalen reject

Yes, obviously, Eurovision: You Decide might as well be the safest NF to ever exist. We get that you don’t want to even try, the UK, but can you please act like you’re not in Big 5 for a year and ATTEMPT to try your hardest with the song??? I doubt that, despite SuRie’s bubbliness, “Storm” would’ve pulled numbers if it were in semi, unless the anti-neo-Nazi stage invader were to butt-in there and people would then send sympathy televotes the Brits’ way or something. Unsatisfying. (The man, that is.)

And so we have gotten another safe as ever British entry this year, performed by an excited personality that got a side-dish song and now is tasked to sell the side-dish as greatly as he’s possibly able to - the first season of All Together Now winner, Michael Rice! The dish is “Bigger than Us” and I’m neither glad nor sad the song has not enough factor to eat up Michael as a whole if it’s that much BIGGER. Not even the fact that it’s a Melodifestivalen reject (yes, the title IS correct, one of the song’s co-writers, whom I’ll name later, has possibly said it at some point, and he couldn’t keep it to himself anymore so he sent it over to another country!) could help this poor number out.

If you strip the singer off, you just get a stereotypical Eurovision-y ballad you overhear when scavenging through foreign NF catalogues, wondering which kind of rent-a-songwriter-program person contributed to it. Well John Lundvik (yes THAT one) doesn’t sound like THAT kind of name you’d hear when you think of songwriters of such shtick but Laurell Barker is, so there you go. These are just the two masterminds behind this one, as there are more but icr their names and honestly idc to.

And there’s nothing wrong about these typical ESC NF shlocks. Only when you’re young and dumb enough to enjoy these kind of songs, but I had to unfortunately grow up and see just how “useful” they are... n’t. I mean, it’s great for the artists whose big dream is to taste Eurovision and NOT as a backing singer, but most of the time the singers that get these songs can’t even slightly relate to what they sing, and thus we get people like Bishara entering Melodifestivalen and Isaiah entering Eurovision.

Maybe Michael did get to experience the kind of love that’s BIGGER than him and his partner, idk. I certainly don't want to bother asking him. And frankly, it's only me overthinking this issue, because ain't nobody in the world really got time for that, definitely. Well, at least the relationship’s going on nice! (except for when Mike sings “‘cause I can heare the universe when I’m feeling you breathe”... spooky. o.I)

Anyway, time to get to talk more about the song. It's actually not THAT bad, just a little too typical and unextraordinary, where in the current times the Eurovision has to not be predictable in sound and to excite the viewer with... well, anything that can excite anyone. Be it the visuals OR the song. OR both. What's so special about "Bigger than Us" that can keep the viewer on toes? Probably just that keychange. I wish there were more things about it but not every commentator out there would have enough time to let them people know Michael works in a waffle shop, let alone the time that "HE WON A TALENT SHOW'S FIRST SEASON BUT THE SHOW ISN'T THE X FACTOR OR THE VOICE ZOMFG!!". Let alone people even listen to any Eurovision commenting these days, lol. It might be a charming little piece for some people though, but I don't see them voting for people selling their songs vocally much more than songs that draw in viewers with different ways. It's just a standart talent show winner song for a standart talent show winner that sounds like it's slightly too stuck in the mid-to-late-00s-early-10s rather than the 90s, which is warm and cool and all, but it's likely gonna not do the cool lad Michael the justice he'd need, just like SuRie's song for SuRie. Mayhaps a top 20-ish, or, in Lucie's case, even a top 15, is possible (although it's mostly thanks to the juries - they're the only ones eating up big voice ballads. And anything Maltese. And anything Australian. And anything Swedish... that only represents Sweden. Sorry Lukas Meijer), but when the British optimism levels are set in a deep deep ditch by default every year when the BBC comes with their platter of choices for EYD, what else could be there to raise them up after even Lucie hasn't done that amazing enough for everyone to believe that the UK are capable more than just always finishing last with 0 every year? Of course, a better than average song, but does BBC care about even pulling one out of a songwriting camp? These kind of songs are too shite for their taste, apparently, so with songs they send like these, it's probably yet another meander-er.

Which is a shame, because once again, it's not bad. It's just too plain Jane for Eurovision anymore. It's like everyone dressed up gorgeously for Miss Universe's National Costume event and you went with a cheap-ish designer dress that is decorated by small details that are notoriously known as the country's symbols just to count as something "national". It's like everyone brough their best baked (and dare I say extreme) dish to a dish competition and you only brought in a nice looking baked cod and circled the fries around it. It's like a prom night where everyone dresses casually and you come up all in a dull olive colored jacket and jeans with torn out knees. There might be something hidden in its niceness that can conquer (nice piano, nice chords, nice vocals, nice chorus, nice song formula, nice choir, nice keychange, nice message)... but with everything too nice, it just feels like that the UK are not feeling like getting a 'nice' result. Unless there's something that can make Michael do a 'male Lucie' and launch it around the 14th-19th place at best, but...

And here's the section where I repeat myself some more of what I think of the song as a whole and chances as a whole:

Approval factor: Eh I'll probably have to approve this but only reluctantly somewhat, maybe because I felt positive on the first listen unlike these people who wanted UK to dare to do something else than safe... yeah lol

Follow-up factor: It’s rather marginably favourable song than SuRie’s and only because I like it despite its ‘blandness’. “Storm” is just a song that I don’t really care about. Provided Michael gives all out personality-wise though and the revamp’s not gonna suck balls (if there’s one), this is a decent step in a decent direction for the UK... hope Michael’s not getting stage-invaded by anti-Israel people!

Big 5 factor: Thanks to all this pre-partying kicking in heavily as I put out these reviews (and actually having finished), it turns out that Michael is one of those people that clearly works his hardest to sell this typical British averageness (like he sells his waffles), with his live being so decent enough he was thought of to be a perfect EYD winner this year, so, if he keeps building up his vocal strenghts and rehearses a lot (and stays well and such), he’s actually likely to at least achieve something above bottom 7! Yes, yes, John Lundvik is still the master that will beat his pupil in the end, but that wouldn’t seem that excruciating for the UK anymore if they happen to have a place that’s not bottom 3 or anything. Just for the Michael to do his utmost best out there, and if he does, the UK won’t be in an extremely bad position this year - just not a very high reacher, because at the end of the day there are more nations that run straight with their A-game and therefore continue leaving the common-appealers in the dust. Only Sweden (and Australia until 2018 or so) usually excels at their safeness. The others must outstand to survive. And to wrap things up on this factor section, imo the UK just meanders in the safeness for another year - but at least the good enough safeness that might even be able to qualify if it were sent by a semifinalist country! (apart Sweden ffs, of course Mr. Lundvik would qualify with this one if he kept it to himself, jeez)

NATIONAL FINAL BONUS

Thankfully EYD didn’t really stink this year, because of certain key factors:

• There’s always this one or two act(s) that acts like a saviour each year. Bianca and Dulcima (or Darline idk) from 2016, Holly and Salena from 2017, Asanda (and maybe Jaz? or even Raya??) from 2018 and... ponder no more, Kerrie-Anne’s got you covered in that spot! Her version of the two one’s of “Sweet Lies” was arguably the greatest possible choice for the NF (or, in this case, the “very least bad”, and eventhough it’s incredibly reminiscent of Sigala’s “Sweet Lovin’” (vocals provided by Bryn Christopher, who - controversial opinion - is probably my fave male singer of all time), which makes it “dated” (to a 2012-2014 pop radio degree, yes), it still was a bop that I’d want to dance to in rollerskates (if I had any!!) and spray the colourful smoke things that... well idk what it is but the said video of “Sweet Lovin’” demonstrates the action. Get back to me to let me know what’s that, anyone reading this. K-A lowkey underperformed though (just like Asanda from last year) but the bop remained AND she was rightfully included in the British televote’s superfinal trio! ^^

• The hosts were, yet again, the ever-so-loveable comedienne of Lithuanian roots, Mel Giedroyc, and the witty-ass Eurovision 2015 winner Måns Zelmerlöw. The duo is charming as usual and delightful to see on the Beebs when there’s the Eurovision case. If I didn’t know him better I’d even say Måns is a native English speaker. When there’s at least the drought of the ever-so-good entries in an EYD, we can look back at the hosts provided us some entertainment we’ve probably been missing while trying to find some on those competing entries. My favourite moment throughout that evening was the “next up is” jokes, all randomly stringed together, all in one row - all of those “next ups” were so hilariously random (until one hit the point - I think it was something about adverts or another performance being next up).

• The postcards were lovely too. With the format of EYD upgraded to make it as a three-song duel between two different versions of each one and the juries deciding on the best one for each (one vote per version), we got to see some nice friendships over there (I mean, a postcard for two people who did duel over whose version is the best - they had to listen and compliment each others’ versions) and some nice things the artists said themselves on separate postcards. Like the time when the only band of the competition of the year’s, MAID, named Buranovskiye Babushki as one of their girlband idols (a ‘so random yet glorious‘ answer) and the victorious Michael confessing that he’s “never been to Tel(iv) Aviv”... that’s true Michael, I believe ya. You’ve so never been there that ou struggle to even say it right! Not to mention that the postcard setups were cozy, too.

• Can we all just kind of agree that at least the jury for EYD made THE BEST CHOICES POSSIBLE??? I mean, yeah, it’s a biT cruel they’re the ones to choose the superfinalists without the audience’s interference, but they still made the best choices possible, at least imo. Anisa’s “Sweet Lies” was a godawfully dreary sex slow-jam (no really, I can’t not imagine a scenario where you can’t use it anywhere other than a sex scene in a movie, or a steamy hot shower scene. Call me crazy-minded but it’s true), MAID’s “Freaks” was godawfully too creepy, strange and unbearable, and Holly Tandy’s “Bigger than Us”... well... while much more chill and way less overbearing (also with not enough “BIGGER” memes potential), it would have probably not stood out all that much - just written off as a Kygo remix rented for a cheap price of half a pound (but still co-written by John Lundvik though!!). So thanks to Rylan and the other two for picking the superfinalists reasonably, unlike A Dal jurors this year. It still wrenches my gut whenever I think about it, ugh.

• What even would be an appearance of Måns if he didn't try to remind y'all of his enthusiasm for Eurovision. No one really cares he won Eurovision 4 years ago, if anything, I dread that he's only being remembered as the "male singer guy of Love Love Peace Peace song" by the newer fans. At least Pepperidge Farm I remember how Måns really wanted to get to Eurovision (even if he didn't participate in that many Melodifestivalen editions). So in this year's EYD he went all out to be a part of the Eurovision best (British?) songs medley (and we got Katrina and the Waves later in the show, performing the nation's last winning hit, 22 years later... and that wasn't even a fully British-branded win, if yanno what I mean!), and it's all courtesy of the Melodifestivalen's best known scriptwriter and an occasional Eurovision commentator (and Melodifestivalen's narrator too), Edward af Sillén. Or at least I remember it being written that he has written some stuff for Måns to do in EYD, IDK. Eitherway, it was kind of a fun thing, the interlude. Just remembering all the nice Eurovision entries out there, even including Gina G (whose ESC entry was also sung by another person in another NF whose review will be up next I suppose!).

• Heyyyyy, wasn’t it all kinds of nice to see SuRie doing an interval act and a reprise of her own run-of-the-mill entry “Storm”? I applaud her of doing a tremendous piano rendition of it, with even singing some notes a little higher than in the actual song. Maybe THAT version could have done so much better in Lisbon - showing off SuRie’s vocal decency, intimacy and... idk about the intruder part, hopefully he’d have had no way to wrestle the mic out of SuRie’s hands that time. At least SuRie had just enough support from Eurofans to be wanted to represent the UK one more year in a row, with a special EYD designed for her, where the songs could be mostly composed by her and not by the useless songwriting camp. While it’s a nice idea for some British and non-British people to get to know each other on these camps, the end results barely end up satisfying because the artists barely get involved in the songs they’re singing - not even a song line, not even a hum of contribution! Why can’t you at least take examples from German songwriting camps... (except for the time “Sister” was invented, that one could have been a perfect contribution for an EYD (not necessarily in this year’s format but still)

All in all, this may seem like an improvement of things, but I still am really hoping that BBC will give into a decent internal selection... afterall there are good names that are down to do Eurovision and didn’t even say it will harm their ‘reputation’ (*cough* Paloma Faith *cough* Hurts), and yet BBC refuses them somehow, not thinking that Eurovision is more than just a SONG contest (while ironically not even having their songs sounding THAT ‘great’, oops)? Or at least reformat EYD big time and make it exciting a la Australia Decides is (you know you suck when even your colony does better NFs than you). For now, I’ll just grit my teeth and nicely wish Michael Rice all the best in Tel(iv) Aviv. You’ll need it, chap! And in secret I hope that you’ll get it xx

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Hi there! I has a prompt! Steve has told the Avengers at various points what a ladies man Bucky was back in the day and at some point suggested that he could give Tony a run for his money in the saucy flirt department. Tony doesn't believe it and challenges Bucky to lay it on him. Maybe even in front of the team? Idk, I just picture a tongue tied Tony and oodles of tension.

A/N: Hi! I tweaked the prompt a little but I really like how it turned out and I hope you do too!

---

Back in the Day (Before the Potted Plants)

“Bucky can do it.”

The entire team groaned.  ‘Bucky can do it’ was pretty much Steve’s solution for anything at that point.  As if through sheer force of stubbornness, Steve could convince the other Avengers to give Bucky a mission.  But that wasn’t how things worked with the Avengers. Not anymore.  And Bucky wasn’t ready.  Everyone but Steve could see it.

“I can do it,” Clint said.

The ‘it’ in question really shouldn’t be that hard.  Tony was going to a fancy party later that evening, and he needed a reason to slip off to a very specific guest bedroom so he could track down some long-forgotten HYDRA microfilm that Maria Hill thought was hidden there.  It’d be suspicious if Tony walked upstairs alone.  No one was going to give him a second glance if he was kissing a stranger on the way up.

So that was the problem and Clint was a workable solution.  He was relatively unknown.  If he wasn’t carrying a bow on his back, no one ever recognized him as an Avenger.

“Hawkeye it is,” Tony said.

“Shouldn’t you practice?” Steve asked.  From the smirk on his face, he was clearly ribbing them.

“Think I can kiss Stark fine tonight on the first try,” Clint said smartly.

“I dunno,” Natasha said, her smile full of mischief.  “You’re going to need to make it convincing, and you are straighter than your arrows.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, look--”  Clint stood, marched over to Tony and paused.

Tony didn’t like to be touched.  He appreciated that Clint waited.  And rather than nod, Tony just leaned up to close the short distance between them and opened his mouth into a kiss.  It was brief, but apparently believable, since when he pulled back, they were met with applause.

“Believable enough for you?” Tony asked Steve.

Steve shrugged.  “Bucky’d do it better.”

“The Bucky who’s barely said one word to any of us but you in a month?” Tony asked.  “And lurks behind the potted plants?  That Bucky’s going to come to this party, charm me enough that it’ll convince the assholes who’ve known me since I was a teenager, and then kiss me up the stairs?”

There was no missing Tony’s doubt.  His voice was thick with it.

“I’m just sayin’, back in the day, no one was a better flirt,” Steve insisted. “He’d have charmed your pants off in under a minute.”

“The other day I asked Barnes what kind of pizza he wanted and he said “round” and walked away,” Tony sighed.  “I’m not seeing the charm.”

Steve started cackling.  Cackling so hard he nearly fell off his chair, and Tony looked at Clint for help, because now that he’d repeated the conversation out loud, it did feel a little like maybe Barnes was trolling him.  And trolling wasn’t a far jump to normal-enough-to-join-the-team.  At least this team.

“Maybe Bucky can help next time?” Bruce suggested.  “Flirting with Tony comes up at least once every couple of months.”

“Everyone gets a try,” Clint said cheerfully.  “Who would have ever thought your reputation for bagging strangers would come in so handy?”

“I was playing the long game,” Tony laughed.  “I’m that damn smart.”

“Sure you are, champ,” Steve smirked.  

There was a flicker of movement out in the hall.  Probably Bucky skulking again.  How Steve thought that was mission-ready behavior, Tony couldn’t guess.

Later that night, he wouldn’t have to.

(Watch out for the break!)

*

The mission went tits up all of ten seconds in.

“Shit, shitshitshit,” Clint swore into the comms.  “Julia Clearwater’s here.  I gotta go before she sees me.”

“What?” Tony whispered into his comm.

“She knows who I am.  She knows what I do.  And she is not a friendly.  If she spots me talking to you, it’s game over.”

“Nat, can you cover?” Steve asked into the comm.

“Negative.  Julia knows me too.  She’s ex-SHIELD.  Bruce?”

“Right,” Bruce replied.  “Just take a few seconds to teach me how to blend into a fancy party like that and also how not to make a face when Tony’s tongue is in my mouth and--”

“Cap, you’re up,” Tony mumbled as he took a drink of his champagne.

“That’s not happening,” Natasha said.  “Steve’s way too recognizable.”

“Bucky can do it,” Steve interrupted.  “He’s shadowing tonight, so he’s already around.”

“And you were going to tell us he was shadowing when?” Tony asked.

“When anything went wrong and we needed a sniper,” Steve sighed.  “Our sniper was going to be occupied by your tongue.  Natasha knew.”

“And I agreed it was a good idea,” Natasha added.

“We’re gonna talk about this later,” Tony whispered.

“We’re out of options,” Steve said.  “So we call the mission or you give Bucky a chance.”

“What about his arm?” Bruce asked.  “That’s a pretty notable feature.  An ex-SHIELD operative might recognize it from the ghost stories.”

“He’s got it covered.  Literally,” Steve explained.  “Nat gave him a photostatic bracelet.  His hand will look human.”

“And what about a tux?” Tony asked.

“M’on it,” Bucky’s voice came in quietly through the comm.

There was a telling thud.  Tony hoped whoever’s tux Bucky was “borrowing” was asshole enough to deserve the rough treatment.

“Recognized a HYDRA operative about my size,” Bucky said with his ever-spooky calm.  “Two birds, one stone.”

“Then come on in,” Tony said.  “The sooner the better, before I change my mind.  Oh look-- it’s Hammer-- perfect-- exactly what I need.”

The last few words were spoken more to himself, though Tony knew the entire team would cringe on his behalf.  Ever since Justin Hammer weaseled his way out of prison, the man had made it his mission to interject himself into Tony’s life whenever possible.  Often in downright creepy ways. Like flirting at a party like this and possibly ruining everything.

If Bucky came in and wasn’t convincing, Hammer would be the very first to point it out.

“Don’t want to talk to you,” Tony said plainly as Justin greeted him.  “I don’t like you.  We aren’t friends.  Go away.”

“If you’d let me explain,” Justin pleaded overly loud.  To anyone nearby this was a scene waiting to happen.  Fuck.

“Not interested,” Tony insisted.  “I would rather--”

“Dr. Stark?” a pleasant voice asked, cutting Tony off before he could launch into a Green Eggs and Ham’s worth of reasons why Hammer’s false apologies were going to go unheard forever.

Tony and Justin both turned at the same time, and it was a good thing Justin’s attention was fully on the interruption because Tony’s face muscles definitely twitched and his mouth dropped open at least half an inch.

Bucky Barnes stood in front of them, looking every bit the 28 years old he’d been pre-war and smoking hot.  His suit fit him like Tom Ford had hand-stitched it with love, and the way he looked at Tony-- like a mix of hero worship and fuck-me-eyes-- was so incredibly spot on, Tony’s brain did a triple take.  From the way Justin was eye-molesting Bucky, the get-up was believable as hell.

“Dunno if you remember me,” Bucky continued easily.  “We met at Darla Bishop’s party,”  he added, the words almost electric with pleasant (fake) memories.  “Thought I’d let you get me that drink you owe me.”

Bucky looked at Tony with hungry eyes.  Like after a cocktail, getting laid was an absolute surety.

“You’d be hard to forget,” Tony said softly.

It was soft because his brain forgot how words worked there for a second, but the effect was just right.  Justin would certainly walk away with the impression that this wasn’t the first time these two had met up for a tumble.

“I missed Darla’s party,” Justin piped in.  “And Tony here should probably avoid drinking too many.  He’s got a reputation for trouble after a few, if you know what I mean.”

Justin leaned toward Bucky and tugged roughly at the front of Bucky’s suit.  

To Bucky’s credit (and a little to Tony’s disappointment) he let Justin live.

“I don’t know, actually,” Bucky said, taking a step closer to Tony and using his elbow to brush away Justin’s hand in the process.  He only had eyes for Tony as he smiled at him and added, “Tony’s never struck me as anything less than a gentleman.”

Bucky’s smile was easy and his eyes were full of mischief.  Like that was an inside joke between them. Like there were a hundred other inside jokes between them waiting to be known.

“Gentleman might be a stretch,” Tony said with a small smile of his own.  “But flattery will get you everywhere.”

“It ain’t flattery if it’s true,” Bucky said.

God his voice.  There was a hint of a Brooklyn drawl, wrapped in heat and warmth and promise.  It was like the Winter Soldier had never existed. All Tony (or anyone watching) was picking up from this encounter was Do Me vibes by the boatload.

“Tony?  A gentleman?” Justin scoffed.  “Pull my other leg while you’re at it.”

“I thought you were looking to be friends with me, Hammer,” Tony reminded Justin.

“Eh, wasn’t going to work out.  But this--” he said, pointing between himself and Bucky.  “This is much more appealing.  I can feel the heat. How much for the night?  Two? Three hundred dollars?”

Oh god. Hammer really was looking to get himself punched, and if it would not have blown the mission Tony would have been first in line.  Honestly, how important could that microfilm be, anyway?

Thankfully, Bucky had it handled.

“Buddy,” Bucky drawled, the very picture of unimpressed.  “I wouldn’t look at you twice if it won me a million dollars both times.”

“But you’ll look at this guy?” Justin asked, annoyed.  “They called him the Merchant of Death!  Do you know that or are you too young to remember?”

“I know,” Bucky said plainly.  “And I also know he’s got four more doctorates than you, a much better sense of humor, a real nice ass and he’s doin’ his part to make the world a better place every chance he gets. Comparatively, you’re a goblin.  Go away.”

Tony stood in stunned silence.  That might have been the nicest defense of himself he’d ever heard and it was made a hundred times better by the way it shut Justin right the fuck down.

“Your loss,” Justin sneered, before he stormed away.

“Marry me,” Tony insisted, as he turned to Bucky.  “We’ll go to Vegas right now.  Just say the word.”

It was all part of the act, obviously, but Tony still enjoyed the way it caught Bucky by surprise and caused him to smile.  A real, genuine smile.  The few nosy people within hearing distance smiled, too.

“What would you do if I said yes?” Bucky asked.

“Call the airport.  Have them fuel up my jet.”

“You’re somethin’ else, Tony Stark,” Bucky said, before biting at his bottom lip appealingly.  Like he was playfully considering the offer.  “M’not one of those guys who buys somethin’ before he tries it out and we didn’t have enough time to get acquainted last time we met.  Think we should fix that before you propose.”

“There are rooms upstairs,” Tony suggested, dragging his brain back to the mission at hand since Bucky seemed to be doing fine keeping his eyes on the prize.  “If you wanted to catch up somewhere a little more intimate.”

“Intimate is good,” Bucky agreed.

He closed the space between them, took the champagne flute out of Tony’s hand and finished what was left, letting his tongue flick over the rim to catch the last drop of alcohol.  Tony’s brain flooded him with unhelpful imagery about all the things that tongue could do.

Not helpful.  

They needed to be seen together a little longer.  Not everyone who would notice Tony missing had caught sight of him yet in the first place.  But they would.  Bucky was definitely a head-turner.

“How about one more drink first?” Tony asked.  “Then we head up?”

“I’m all yours,” Bucky agreed.  “Lead the way.”

Tony put a hand on the small of Bucky’s back to guide him, and forced himself to ignore the growing warmth in his chest when he did.  It was probably just the alcohol.  He didn’t drink much anymore.  Easy explanation.

“It was Nolan, right?” Tony asked conversationally, after he’d ordered them each a champagne.  “Like the famous pitcher?”

That was Clint’s cover story and since Clint was on the invite list, it made sense to assume Bucky had the same plan.  

“Nolan, yeah.  My dad was a big fan of baseball,” Bucky confirmed.  “I got a brother named Ryan and everything.”

Tony smiled.  “You ever play?”

“In High School.  Probably coulda played for a small college but all I ever wanted to do was go to NYU and then be a sports writer.  No other dream would do.”

After the bartender handed over their drinks, Bucky angled in toward Tony, leaning against the counter to effectively cut them off from interruption.  It was incredible to watch him work.  There was just something about the way Bucky carried himself.  Something about the light in his eyes. Cap was not wrong.  Bucky Barnes was criminally good at flirting.

The only problem (and it wasn’t much of a problem) was that they’d drawn enough attention that people were hovering closer.  Any talk at all would have to be in character.  Easy enough, really, or it would have been if Bucky’s presence wasn’t so damn distracting.  Tony’s thoughts all seemed to lag a second or two behind the rest of him.  

“How’s that working out for you?” Tony asked.  “That dream?”

“M’here, ain’t I?” Bucky asked.  “Still looking for my big break, though.  In New York, it’s all about who you know.”

“You know me.”

Bucky turned a little more and leaned in fully against Tony.  He looked down at him with an expression of open invitation.  “Not really.  But I’d like to.”  

“I can finish this fast,” Tony said, draining the last of the champagne.

“Already done with mine,” Bucky said more quietly.  He tipped his head forward slightly as Tony sat his glass on the counter.

It took absolutely no thinking for Tony to lean in and kiss him.  

That kiss with Clint earlier?  That had been a mission kiss: convincing without a stir of feeling.  This kiss?  It was a kiss worthy of romantic acts of stupidity.  It was a kiss that would have launched a thousand ships. Tony would have bought ESPN the very next morning and given it to Fake!Nolan for keepsies if that kiss had been real.

“Upstairs,” Tony growled.

By then, no one was going to doubt they were walking up to one of the bedrooms to fuck.  If nothing else, Tony’s erection broadcast that for anyone who was looking closely enough to see. (Next time Barnes flirted on a mission, Tony was going to ditch the tight pants.)

They found the bedroom they needed, and it was incredibly surreal to walk in behind Bucky, close the door, then turn around to come face to face with the Winter Soldier.  Surreal enough that Tony took a quick step backwards.

Barnes was still gorgeous.  That hadn’t changed.  But his expression was somewhere between resting murder face and mission report and all the warmth was gone.

“Hey there, Killer,” Tony greeted.  “Fancy meeting you here.”

If there was disappointment in his voice, it wasn’t intentional.  It just was.  And if Tony thought he saw a flicker of hurt pass through Bucky’s eyes, that was likely all in his imagination.

“Where’s the microfilm?” Bucky asked.

“Hill said it’s hidden in a false panel in the desk,” Natasha chimed in through the comm.

For the second time in two minutes, Tony jumped.  He had completely forgotten the team could hear everything through their communicators.  

Bucky moved to the desk and opened the top drawer while Tony sat down on the bed and watched him work. It took Bucky less than a minute to locate the secret latch and remove the microfilm.

“What now?” Bucky asked.

“We’ve got to stay in here for a while,” Tony said.  “Long enough that it’s believable we were up here enjoying ourselves.”

“So that should take what, exactly?” Clint asked through the comms.  His grin was audible.  “Thirty?  Forty seconds?”

The oomph he made a second later was incredibly satisfying.

“Who’s in there defending my honor?” Tony asked.

“My elbow slipped,” Bruce insisted.  “Not much room to work in this van.”

“That was totally on purpose,” Clint whined.

“Would I do that?” Bruce asked.

“Muting the comms so Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum here aren’t a distraction,” Natasha chimed in.  “We’ll only unmute if we have something relevant to say.  You do the same.”  

“Good work, you two,” Steve added.  “Get out safe.”

“Copy,” Bucky said.

The line went silent.  As silent as the room.

“You can sit on the bed,” Tony said, to fill the quiet.  “I don’t bite.  Not unless you ask me nicely.”

“No one can see us,” Bucky said simply.  “You don’t have to keep up the act.”

“What act?” Tony asked.  He really was coming up blank.  He’d been himself all evening.  It was Bucky who had been winning the Oscar down there.

“Actin’ like you don’t mind me bein’ here,” Bucky said.  And well, the good news was that Bucky wasn’t in automaton mode any longer.  The bad news was his voice was laced with buried hurt.  Where in the hell did that come from?

“I don’t mind you being here,” Tony said quickly.  He paused.  Considered.  Spoke gently.  “And-- just for the record-- I don’t mind that you took over for Clint.  I’m grateful.  We’ve got the microfilm, the mission went off without a hitch, and Hammer saw me walk upstairs with the best-looking guy at the party.  This is a win/win/win.”

“You told the team I lurk behind potted plants.”

“Because you do lurk behind potted plants,” Tony pointed out carefully.

“I linger; I don’t lurk. I know the difference.”

“Ummm… apparently I don’t?” Tony asked.  “Feel free to explain.  Believe it or not, I wasn’t trying to be a dick about the… not lurking.  It hadn’t occurred to me there were subtleties involved.”

God, though. Whether Tony’d meant it or not, replaying that team conversation in his head was painful.  He’d talked about Bucky like he was a thing… not a person.  And if Bucky’d heard, well, that sucked.  It got worse as Bucky continued.

“I don’t like people lookin’ at me,” he said softly. “S’never worked out well.  Not in the war and definitely not with HYDRA.  Always meant I was in some kind of trouble.  Pain was comin’ my way.  Or something’ worse than pain.”

“That wasn’t--” Tony tried to explain.  

“You act like it makes me broken,” Bucky cut him off.  “That there’s somethin’ wrong with me cause I’m not ready to be out in the open and there’s not.  M’not broken.  I’m workin’ through a lot.”

Bucky shut his mouth and looked away.  Tony had never been so relieved to be off comms.  If he fucked up this conversation royally, he didn’t need the whole team listening to him crash and burn.

He watched Bucky for a few seconds.  Did some mental recalibration.  Channeled Rhodey circa 1987. (Tony’s college peers had not been kind.) (Except for Rhodey, who’d taught him what friendship could mean.) (And Tony could pay that forward.  He could.)

“Will you look at me?” Tony asked gently.  “Please?”

Bucky turned his head grudgingly.

“I’m sorry,” Tony said simply and sincerely.  “That was beyond shitty of me.  I don’t think you’re broken.  I think you’re amazing.”

“Bullshit,” Bucky grumbled.  

“Geezus, what you did down there?” Tony continued.  “That was incredible.  What you do every day to move forward and get on in the world... that’s incredible, too.  I should have tried harder to make you feel comfortable in the tower, and from now on I will-- if you’ll let me.  We can be friends.  I dunno.  Hang out, or something.  I’ve seen you eyeing Dum-E and U.  I’ll introduce you, if you want.  They’re pretty cool.  Way cooler than Steve.”

Bucky considered Tony’s words.  “I’d like that.”

Tony nods.  “I’d like that, too.”

*

Turned out, Bucky was awesome company.  Sure, he faded into the shadows a lot and occasionally he stared at Tony with his Resting Murder Face and that was a little unnerving, and every once in a while JARVIS would report that Bucky had done something paranoid like check all the light fixtures in the tower for HYDRA listening devices.  All in all, that was small potatoes compared to the fun they had together otherwise.

They shared a love for science and technology, greasy pizza and yelling at the television during bad sci-fi movies.  Most nights when Tony and Bruce were in the lab, Bucky’d join them and sit quietly off to the side, taking apart a toaster or reading up on motorcycle repair.

It was a comfortable friendship, and one Tony valued a lot.  Which was why, when his thoughts turned a little more toward the romantic side of friendship, he tried to squelch them immediately.  Bucky had never given any indication he was interested and Tony didn’t want to push.  But he never could quite shake the memory of that kiss, and the dwelling on it always left him wanting more.  Sure there was a lot he could lose, but oh the things he could gain.

The very best things.

Yeah.  

Cold showers were Tony’s new best friend.

*

It was a month or two later when a new easy-peasy mission came in that would involve Tony and a date.  No one batted an eyelash when Bucky volunteered.  He could even keep his previous Nolan identity since many of the people from the party before would be attending the new mission party as well.

Tony RSVP’d with Nolan as his date.

They’d just snuck off down a side corridor to get to the room they needed for their mission (under the guise of wandering off to find a less public place to grope each other) when they heard footsteps coming up behind them.  Heavy footsteps.  The sort you’d expect from goons with guns.

“Shit,” Tony swore.

“Security cameras show you’ve got incoming,” Steve said over the comm.

“No facial recognition available,” Natasha added.  “May just be hired help.”

“Only confront if necessary,” Steve reminded them.

“That’d be your cue to start sucking face, guys,” Clint chimed in.

Bucky didn’t need to be told twice.  

“You good?” he asked Tony.

“So good,” Tony said honestly.

Bucky had Tony shoved against a wall with their mouths together before another second passed.

Tony’s brain went blank.  Bucky was flush against him, warm and protective. The kiss was everything Tony had imagined over and over and over in the weak moments when he’d let himself dwell on their previous kiss.

Bucky’s hand wandered up Tony’s side and grasped at his suit jacket and Tony heard himself make a plaintive, needy noise he was totally going to deny later.  There was just something about the way Bucky kissed him. Something that was familiar and head spinning and perfect.

Tony wasn’t content to stay passive, and he let his hands wander over Bucky’s back and then down his biceps and there was the metal arm, and yup-- that did all kinds of things to short circuit Tony’s thoughts and what even was that kink called?  Because he had it.  He so had it.

Time stood still.  Everything but Bucky faded into the background.  

“Uh, team?” Steve asked.  “The coast is clear.  Has been for like five minutes.”

Tony dragged himself out of the kiss and leaned his head back against the wall.  “Shit.  Right.  Mission.”  He tried to word-make again with the addition of some verbs.  “Heading that way now.”

Bucky pulled back and away, but not before placing one last kiss to Tony’s forehead.

“To be continued back at the tower?” Bucky asked, a hint of hope in his voice.

“To be continued,” Tony agreed breathlessly.  “Yes.  Absolutely.  You are really good at that.”

“Can’t wait to take my time with you,” Bucky said. “Been wanting to try that again since the first night.”

“God, me too,” Tony said enthusiastically.  “I just didn’t want to--”

“Keep it off the comms,” Steve groaned.  “I’m gonna need brain bleach as it is.”

“Yes, sir, Captain, sir,” Bucky quipped.  “But I make no promises once we’re back at the tower.  Probably oughtta bunk with Nat for the night if you don’t want to hear us across the hall.”

Tony laughed.  They all knew just how much soundproofing had gone into the tower bedrooms, which made it all the more funny.

“I hate you both,” Steve said.

“Not as much as you’ll hate us after tonight,” Tony taunted.  And then because he could he leaned in for one more kiss.

“We heard that,” Clint complained, then oomphed.  There was a clatter, like people all moving around in the van at once.  Then laughter.  “Ouch-- hey!  No pinching!  No fair!”

“Accident,” Natasha said.  “Muting comms.  You boys behave.  Hail us if you need us.”

“Copy,” Bucky said.

The line went silent.

“You really want to pick back up once we’re home?” Tony asked.

He thought he knew the answer but he still needed to have Bucky confirm. Needed to know it wasn’t all some big misunderstanding that was going to end in heartache.

“Haven’t thought of much else for a long time now,” Bucky admitted.  “What I said to Hammer that first night-- that wasn’t Nolan talkin’, that was me.  Even back when I was hidin’ in the plants, I wanted to know you.  Wanted some of your spark for myself. Never met anyone who gives off so much light,”

Tony looked at Bucky in wonder.  It didn’t feel true but Tony knew with confidence Bucky wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t.  He didn’t do things he didn’t want anymore.

“I don’t know what to say that to that,” Tony replied quietly.

“You don’t have to say a thing,” Bucky assured him.  “We’ve got all the time in the world to figure it out.  For now let’s finish this mission so we can get back to the tower and find somethin’ better to do with our time. I’m tired of waitin’. Ready to get started.”

“Then I’m all yours,” Tony agreed with a small, pleased smile.  “Lead the way.”

[thegamecollection]

BRINGING WAR TO THE TABLE...

Last night unveiled at length what we can look to expect when Marvel’s Avengers arrives on our consoles on 4th September. Dubbed the ultimate source for all things Avengers, if you missed it last night then this is where you need to be. Grab a coffee and sit comfortably.

Kicking it all off is a new story trailer taking place after A-Day, and during the aftermath of the devastation that the Avengers had brought on the city. Of course the heroes we know and love would not do this. This was a setup and it’s not just us that knows it. Kamala Khan - a young fan girl with a few powers of her own has proof that A.I.M. - the company headed up by Dr. George Tarleton who’s claiming to attempt to repair the damage caused, is actually behind all this. While we’re talking about it, we now have the face of our villain too... Mr Tarleton’s rather angry alter ego - M.O.D.O.K. As a victim of A-Day himself, his deranged obsession drives him to become a Mental Organism Designed Only For Killing’. We may have our hands full.

A nice start eh? Up next is actual gameplay footage of our God of Thunder, Thor, and his glorious ability to rain down hell with a hammer. Captured directly from a pre-release game build and in a mission called Once An Avenger, we weren’t ready for the barrage of attacks we’ll be getting to nail alongside Hulk with his trademark SMASH. This looks incredible. The party has well and truly started and it’s great to see the gang back together. It seems they’ve got everything down to the witty remarks in place for us fans to swoon over. That final scene falling through the sky and towards the city below... WOAH. We are now believers. There’s so much in here that will speak to hardcore fans. The breakdown of the combat system with a nod to manual targeting from the comic books for example. The attention to detail is something to behold.

These guys and girls are not one-trick-ponies either. It’s shown that as you gain experience, you’ll unlock new attacks tailored to your play style so you can destroy all in your path, YOUR way. Customise your character with modifications to look good as you fight good. Each hero also has 3 types of heroic moves:

Assault - Have your fun.

Ultimate - Charge up to rain down.

Support - Teamwork makes the dream work.

Co-Op & Warzones

Everyone loves a campaign but sometimes an alternative is a fresh way of play. We’re in luck as this will also include multiplayer for up to 4 gamers or solo play with AI companions. We’re shown that A.I.M. has bedded itself across the globe in many differing locations, all in the name of “research”. The mission, To Tame A Titan is where that teamwork really does make the dream work. Ever wondered what it was like to team up with Hulk as he pounds his authority on a bad guy? Us too. Looks like we’ll be getting our chance with the example of the Team Finisher technique.

As we progress through the game we’ll see the rebuild of our Chimera Helicarrier take shape. Our base in the sky is getting a much needed reboot and running alongside this brand new and original Avengers story, is something special for us fans to see take shape.

That brings to an end the coverage but we implore you to watch the full stream above. We really feel that this will be a massive success at launch and are already looking forward to the next War Table event where we’ll see more on a new hero, obtain info on the beta (we’re dying to play) and of course, the launch itself.

You can pre-order with us right now on PS4 & Xbox One here at The Game Collection!

We believe in Marvel’s Avengers.

-Jack

[robertkstone]

2018 Kia Stinger GT Long-Term Update 4: Crashing for Science

This might surprise one or two of you: I’m not perfect. Which is why on a clear, sunny Saturday afternoon, I backed “my” long-term Kia Stinger GT into the neighbor’s Kia. Most accidents happen within 2 miles of home. In my case, 200 feet. Accidents happen, cars can be repaired, insurance exists for a reason, etc. More important to you, dear reader, is that the “incident” afforded me the chance to get into a different (though still red) Kia Stinger GT for a few weeks to compare and contrast it to our 20,000-plus-mile warhorse. Turned out, the crash was a good thing. No, really!

The single worst thing about our long-termer is the transmission lever. The car pops itself into neutral constantly. Pull the handle back toward drive too aggressively, and bam, you’re in neutral, not drive. Mind you, this is the optional, fancy shift-by-wire shifter. It drives me crazy in terms of annoyance, plus it’s dangerous. Imagine expecting the car to go and instead it just rolls forward slowly. Terrible at an intersection. It’s so bad that I called Kia. I was assured the bum shifter is because our car is an early build Stinger. To Kia’s point, the Stinger still has a decal from the launch of the car. This red GT is definitely one of the first cars to come off the line (“pre-pro” as such machines are called in the biz).

Now, if the transmission lever were a model-wide defect, then the short-term replacement car would suffer from the same ill, right? Wrong. The short-term Stinger GT had no such troubles. Moreover, I spent a bunch of time trying to reproduce the flaw (violently putting the car in gear, whacking it forward with the palm of my hand) from the other car, and I couldn’t.

In the third update, back when this Kia “belonged” to Alex Nishimoto, he complained of a rattle in the driver-side window. He took it in for service, and the tech “lubricated” the window seals. True story. Well, the problem still persists. I can report, however, that the replacement Stinger GT made no such noise. The nice PR person at Kia assured me that the rattle was due to our car being a pre-pro, and I am—sigh—once again choosing to believe the party line. And yes, I’m getting soft.

One more difference between the two cars: The crash victim is a RWD Stinger GT. The replacement car turned out to be AWD. This allows me to make a key observation after driving two vehicles essentially back to back for the same duty cycle: Unless you absolutely need all-wheel drive, buy the rear-driver. The biggest difference is that the steering feel is worlds better. But everything about the Stinger—its sportiness, the joy of just driving around—is better. More so than you might think.

Good thing I crashed her, eh?

Read more about our long-term 2018 Kia Stinger GT:

Arrival

Update 1: Testing the GT Part of the Name

Update 2: Getting to Know the Active Safety Features

Update 3: About That Badge

[krystisyaandwine]

The Fire Queen is coming out one month from tomorrow! So I’m thrilled to have author Emily R. King here on the blog today to celebrate and chat about this breathtaking new book in her The Hundredth Queen series.

About the Book

Title: The Fire Queen

Author: Emily R. King

Pub. Date: September 26, 2017

Publisher: Skyscape

Pages: 286

In the second book in The Hundredth Queen Series, Emily R. King once again follows a young warrior queen’s rise to meet her destiny in a richly imagined world of sorcery and forbidden powers.

Though the tyrant rajah she was forced to marry is dead, Kalinda’s troubles are far from over. A warlord has invaded the imperial city, and now she’s in exile. But she isn’t alone. Kalinda has the allegiance of Captain Deven Naik, her guard and beloved, imprisoned for treason and stripped of command. With the empire at war, their best hope is to find Prince Ashwin, the rajah’s son, who has promised Deven’s freedom on one condition: that Kalinda will fight and defeat three formidable opponents.

But as Kalinda’s tournament strengths are once again challenged, so too is her relationship with Deven. While Deven fears her powers, Ashwin reveres them—as well as the courageous woman who wields them. Kalinda comes to regard Ashwin as the only man who can repair a warring world and finds herself torn between her allegiance to Deven and a newly found respect for the young prince.

With both the responsibility to protect her people and the fate of those she loves weighing heavily upon her, Kalinda is forced again to compete. She must test the limits of her fire powers and her hard-won wisdom. But will that be enough to unite the empire without sacrificing all she holds dear?

Interview with Emily R. King

Can you describe The Fire Queen for us in five emojis?

Hahaha. That was fun

A lot of authors talk about how difficult it is to write a second book. Your publishing experience was a bit different than most author’s in that you were able to completely finish writing book two before book one was even out. Do you feel like that made writing The Fire Queen any easier or more difficult for you?

I think writing my book two right away made the process easier. Often the issue authors run into while writing their first book after they debut is the pressure of living up to readers’ expectations. They are never completely alone with their work again. Depending on the writer’s editor or agent, they may go through several rounds of revisions on a synopsis before even drafting. Everyone responds to criticism differently, but it can be especially difficult to navigate a critique when an idea is still at the concept stage. Writers tend to become enamored with bright, shiny new ideas, so to have someone criticize their brilliant idea and accept that critique takes practice. I never had this issue with my book two, as you said, because I wrote it so quickly. I did, however, go through these growing pains with my book three.

Having all three books in a series out in less than a year seems like it must be pretty intense! Can you tell us what your writing process is like and how you’re able to write so quickly?

Writing is like anything else. If it’s important to you, you’ll make time for it. It was important to my publisher to release the books close together. Readers are tired of waiting years between books. We’ve seen less and less trilogies bought by publishers lately. Duologies are more common now because it’s so hard to bring readers back for a third book three years or more after the first one released. I love that readers will have three of my books so close together, but it is hard on writers. I spent a lot of time at my keyboard this past year. But as I said, it was important to get it done, and with my family and friends pitching in, I did.

There are some amazing new characters in The Fire Queen. Can you give us a little teaser about your favorite new character and what readers might expect to see from them in this novel?

Oh, I’m so glad you like them! Hmm…I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I’d have to say one of my favorite new characters is Indah from the Southern Isles. Indah is inquisitive and frank, but also clever and sympathetic. She is one of my favorite women from the whole series, probably because I know so many women like her who get things done but aren’t bitches about it. Pardon my language, but often successful women are called that, even though they aren’t any tougher than their male counterparts. Indah is definitely not a B-word. She is driven, determined, and respectful, but she doesn’t take crap from anyone. She’s one well-rounded lady.

If you could possess one of the bhuta powers, which one would you choose and why?

I think I’d be a Galer, bhutas who can control the skies. That way if I wanted to stay home and read all day, I could summon storm clouds and listen to the rain on the roof. I’d be totally selfish about the weather.

My Review

There were so many things about The Hundredth Queen that I absolutely loved, but above anything else, I was so enamored with the incredible women depicted in that story. They were such tremendous examples of strength, femininity, and sisterhood. I am so thrilled to say that there are even more incredible female characters in The Fire Queen, and I am absolutely inspired by each of them in different ways.

One of the things I most enjoyed about this book was getting to see more of the bhuta powers on display. At the heart of this series is a fascinating, elemental-based magic system, and there are some really fantastic scenes in this book where that magic comes into play to create some truly stunning imagery.

It was very apparent that Emily was really enjoying herself while writing this, because despite the dire situations the characters find themselves in, there’s this undercurrent of fun that runs throughout and makes the story an absolute delight to read.

The plot in this book is fast-paced and high-stakes. It perfectly transitions the story from book one into the epic finale I imagine is coming in book three. If you enjoyed the tournament elements of The Hundredth Queen, then you certainly won’t be disappointed with The Fire Queen.

The romantic tension between Kalinda and Captain Deven Naik continues to simmer throughout this story. We even get to read through Deven’s perspective through some of this novel, which not only sheds more light on the circumstances Kali and Deven find themselves in but also shows us more of Deven’s character and motivations.

Another element of the story that I found highly entertaining was that we get to see more of the empire in this book, as well as individuals from many of its different regions. The setting was beautiful and exuded magic. It also added some really interesting conflicts for the characters to overcome.

So often in second books, we see main characters who become plagued by self doubt when things go awry. And while there are so many different elements in this story that make Kali question her purpose and her goals, she steadfastly believes in her own strength, and I think that was the thing that I loved above all else in this story.

I am so in awe the way that Emily writes female characters. Reading these novels truly is like a lesson in sisterhood, and I cannot wait to read the next book in this beautiful series.

Pre-Order Your Signed Copy!

The launch party will be at my favorite local indie bookshop The King’s English Bookshop on September 26th at 7:00 PM! Which means, you can pre-order your signed copy by clicking on the book cover below! Be sure to mention in the comments that you would like your copy signed during the event!

The Fire Queen

About Emily R. King

From Emily’s Website

Emily R. King is a reader of everything and a writer of fantasy. Born in Canada and raised in the USA, she has perfected the use of “eh” and “y’all” and uses both interchangeably. Shark advocate, consumer of gummy bears, and islander at heart, Emily’s greatest interests are her four children. She’s a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and an active participant in her local writers’ community. She lives in Northern Utah with her family and their cantankerous cat.

Have you read The Hundredth Queen yet? Are you excited to get your hands on a copy of The Fire Queen? If you could have one elemental power, which one would you chose?

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Interview with THE FIRE QUEEN Author @Emily_R_King and Review! The Fire Queen is coming out one month from tomorrow! So I'm thrilled to have author Emily R.