#this game is living rent free in my tiny little brain

[cammie-yammie]

The princess, princ...pringles, princessa, the print, princcess...thee woman,..., pretty pringles, springless, chapter princess, funny woman, cute...squishy, lovely, pretty, .,,, pri, ess, princess, Princess Princess, the cabin woman, silly princess woman very pretty

I love this game so much...

[clarionglass]

I need you to know that your Game Changer and Doctor Who crossover lives in my brain rent free and I have reread it at least half a dozen times over the past few days. It’s so personalized. You created a Doctor Who scheme complete with twists and technobabble, and had that plot center around the cast and concept of Game Changer in a way that couldn’t be transferred to any other media. I lost my mind at several points while I was reading because the twists were just so clever. It is so clear that you put a crazy amount of time into making the story good, and you succeeded, because it is absolutely outstanding.

aaaaaa thank you so so much!!! this is such a delightful compliment, and i'm really glad you're enjoying it <333

honestly i have the most fun when i take something very very silly and treat it seriously :D i have the sort of brain that likes to put all the little pieces together and throw in lots of tiny details, and it's a joy to do that with a truly wild concept :D

[creativitysparks4everxoxo]

It's been a minute since I made one of these long boi posts, so here goes:

Things I want to see in the next Steven Caple Jr/Knightverse Transformers G.I. Joe crossover movie:

Decepticons!!! Oh how I've missed them! I want to see some new badass Decepticons make an appearance and be scary af and cause drama for the Autobots, and what I assume will be their new allies, the Joes.

GENTLE TOUCHES BETWEEN NOAH AND MIRAGE! I don't give a FUCK if they're both dudes or whatever! GIVE US SOME GENTLE TOUCHES, GODDAMMIT! Remember the cute little finger grasping thing that Charlie did after she calmed Bee down when he went into his kill mode? Give us something like that where Noah wraps his tiny fingers around Mirage's HUGE digits.

Give us some hugs! I want to see Noah and Mirage hug affectionately, not minding the size difference at all. Either a full body hug or a face hug works, or both. Both is good.

Can we please have Noah boop Mirage's nose as a joke or for funsies? 🥺 I would love to see how Mirage would react to that touch.

Noah placing his tiny hand on Mirage's faceplate! Gahh! If Charlie can do it, so can Noah! 😤 Could happen in a reassuring/comforting scene.

Hand holding or grabbing. Like Noah grab's one of Mirage's digits with his tiny hand or Mirage holds Noah's tiny hand in his massive servo. Just hand touching in general please! 🥺

More teasing and flirting from Mirage. Since the PCS basically hinted that Miroah is a done deal, I would like to see how Mirage would up his game. Like what if he increased his teasing and flirting with Noah and says something even more outrageous than, "You've been inside me!"? What if him and Noah are having a casual convo (ideally in front of a small audience, like other Autobots for dramatic effect and added wow factor) and in response Mirage says something like, "That's not what you said last night, babe. 😉" Imagine Noah's reaction and the audience's reaction. 🤣🤣 Though, considering how hard the studio had to fight to keep the inside me joke in, that particular line may be "too spicy" for Hasbro. But something more mild or along those lines would be greatly appreciated.

MIRAGE'S KILL MODE!!!! I WANT TO SEE MIRAGE GO INTO BERSERKER MODE because someone had the audacity to harm or attempt to harm Noah!!!! Battle mask on and weapon charged! I want to see him absolutely enraged and start shooting up the place. But in a controlled rage like Bee had where he aimed at vehicles instead of people. Maybe Mirage could aim at Decepticons or some other enemy. Point is, I want to see Mirage use his battle mask and go to town blasting! And then I want to see Noah gently calm him down and give him a gentle touch or say something soothing to help calm him down.

Give us this Mirage right here! Battle mask on, weapon charged and ready to fight everybody!

Or instead it could be Mirage just naturally protecting Noah from an enemy that triggers his kill mode. But this could be Noah's first time seeing Mirage like that, so we could still get that delicate, gentle moment between those 2 once Mirage calms down.

CHARLIE AND BUMBLEBEE REUNION!!!! I had a dream recently about Charlie playing a sort of game of tag that was an extension of the ending scene in Bumblebee, when Bee scans his new alt mode and Charlie is amazed by it and then Bee drives off. In my dream Charlie is running in front of Bee laughing while he drives very slowly behind her to chase her. I have no idea where that dream came from since Miroah has been living rent free in my brain for months, but it makes me want a Charlie/Bee reunion extra bad now!

More Mirage and Arcee sibling energy! I think we were absolutely ROBBED of Mirage and Arcee moments in ROTB, so I want more in the next movie! Big sister Arcee scolding or teasing Middle child Mirage about something. It would be glorious! 🤩

Mirage introducing Noah to new Autobots and being all proud like. Like, "Yup! That's my human! He's mine." or whatever the robot equivalent would be. I don't know why, but every time I read a Miroah fic that has Mirage refer to Noah as his human, my heart swells a little. It's just so cute. It's giving cat owner energy for some reason. 🤣

A Mirage and Noah mission scene where they're officially partners. All the jokes, all the teasing, all the flirting, just all the general Miroah shenanigans. But now they are officially on an Autobot/G.I. Joe mission together.

I want Breanna Diaz to meet Mirage! I need to know if she will pull out a chancleta and try to strike Mirage with it. 🤣 'Cause you know the Diaz family loves to resort to violence whenever they first see Mirage. Noah with the metal pipe and Kris with the baseball bat. I need to know what Breanna's weapon of choice is. 🤣 But also, I want to see her warm up to Mirage and him being all charming and kind towards her.

I would love to see some Mirage and Bee shenanigans. The 2 Autobots with human companions need a scene together! Maybe even give us some Mirage and Bee sibling energy. And maybe even a double team up with Mirage and Noah as partners and Bee and Charlie as partners.

A Mirage pamper scene or flashback or mention of how Noah pampered him up real good to make him look all shiny and brand new. A perfect chance to slip in some flirting from Mirage praising Noah for a job well done. 😏

MORE ARCEE SCREENTIME!!!! GODDAMMIT!!! WE WERE SO FUCKING ROBBED! ARCEE IS A QUEEN AND DESERVES MORE SCREENTIME!!!!

MORE ELENA!!!! Elena is also a queen and I want her in the next movie coming in with that artifacts knowledge and general warm-hearted and caring Elena energy that we all know and love! 🥺

This might be a stretch, but what about Arcee becoming fond of a human and she ends up getting her own human companion? It could be Elena or another female character. That would be so cool!

The main reason why I made this post is because A LOT of the stuff I wanted to see in Transformers EarthSpark S1C actually happened (I still need to make a post about that) and it makes me feel like if I keep making these long boi posts, I can continue to manifest my own desires and head canons. *cue maniacal laughter* No, but for real, can we please get a Noah/Mirage centric animated series?? It would be wonderful! 🙏🏾

Okay, that's all for now. If I can think of anything else, I will definitely edit this post. Thanks for reading! ~

[purple-scrunchie]

Heathers Headcanons that live Rent-Free in my Head (Pt. 2)

Veronica:

Her birthday is October 29th (Winona Ryder's)

Ambidextrous

Has always been a huge nerd

Before Duke got her into classics, she liked sci-fi stuff like Ender's Game and Dune

Made Duke watch Spaceballs with her at some point (Their friendship has so much untaped potential-)

puts the milk before her cereal (This has made Chandler and Duke cry before)

Has a very noisy brain that refuses to shut up (iykyk), she turns to journaling to organize her thoughts and make sense of things

Often gets lost in her thoughts and forgets to pay attention to her surroundings

Has been known to pace around scribbling furiously in her journal for hours on end

Loves to pick up random things on the ground and keep them (She and Mac exchange shiny things, it's their friendship langauge)

Decent driver, if a little inattentive

Chandler:

Birthday is June 19 (Kim walker's)

Always wanted an older brother (someone who she could look up to & would protect her)

Cheats so hard at boardgames and card games

But never at croquet

So. Many. Freckles. Hides them with an inordinate amount of concealer (ik almost the entire fandom hcs this but I had to hop on the bandwagon too)

Refuses to go anywhere without a clear expectation of the situation

Or her planner and 12 color-coded pens

One time Heather and Heather threw her a surprise party for her birthday and she started sobbing because she thought it was an ambush

World's shittiest sense of smell (that's why she drank the drain cleaner, also she applies absurd amounts of perfume to compensate)

This also kinda affects her sense of taste. That's why she only likes BQ corn nuts, they have a flavor to her

Really likes flowers. She can't smell them well, but she thinks they're gorgeous. All her favorite perfumes are flower scents.

The one she uses most is lavender

Best driver of all the Heathers, which is saying something. This girl is a menace to the road. She goes like 90 in a 50mph zone and loves to run stopsigns/red lights

But she doesn't have road rage, it's honestly a little scary

Duke:

Birthday is April 12 (Shannon Doherty's)

Her favorite book is Catcher in the Rye (and Moby Dick ofc)

Veronica got her into scifi movies

Starwars and Spaceballs are now her guilty pleasure

She was named after some dead great-grandma she never met

her parents named her siblings Hunter and Hannah because they thought "ohho funny matching name children"

Only chews mint gum

doesn't go through as much as Mac, but will put like 2-3 pieces in her mouth at a time

Hums under her breath whenever she does little tasks like washing the dishes/doing her homework

When Gatsby hisses at her, she will hiss right back

Is much smilier around her cat than people

Worse driver than Chandler. Instead of running stop signs/red lights at 80MPH and nearly running people over, Duke swerves like crazy and flips people off through the window (To her the highway is a jigsaw puzzle)

Has somehow never gotten in an accident

She has horrendous road rage

McNamara:

Her birthday is December 3rd (Lisanne Falk's)

LOVE LOVE LOVES Madonna, her favorite song is "like a prayer"

Animal lover and devout vegetarian

also puts the milk before the cereal (this upsets Duke and Chandler less since they're so used to it)

way more observant than people give her credit for

Tries so hard, but just can't keep secrets

Hates lying. One of the only things she gets really mad about is when people lie to her

Has a million jingly key chains

Duke calls her "Macpie" because she loves to collect shiny things

Bonus points if it's shiny AND makes a noise (yes she is obsesed with those tiny jinglebells)

Loves to carry her friends with her cheerleader arms

Can jump freaky high

Coffee quite literally puts this girl to sleep

The worst driver of all the Heathers. She likes to think of road laws as 'guidelines'

JD:

Birthday is October 13th (Firday the 13th in his birth year)

Secretly a Canadian (French-Canadian specifically)

Speaks a little bit of French

He and Chandler argue in French all the time. It's how he brushes up on his conversational skills

Is even more of a cheater than Chandler

Favorite book is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

His favorite Heather is Duke. He likes to talk books with her and respects her sharp sense of humor.

Plays the saxophone (this is technically canon but specifically alto sax in my head), his favorite genres are jazz and blues

We all know he'd listen to modern day emo music without an ounce of shame

And call the stoner kids posers

Compulsively sharpens the few pencils he doesn't lose. Like he writes two or three sentences and then makes it POINTY again

Can't choose between cherry slushies and coke slushies, so he mixes both and goes Cherry Coke

In my AUs where he dies, JD's grave is right next to his mom's

One of the safest drivers you'll ever meet, but likes to go fast on his motorcycle. He thinks he's such a bad boy for going 5 over the speed limit lol

[lordgrimwing]

Fics Living Rent-free in my Mind Game

I was tagged by @runawaymun to talk about the stories/AUs I have loafing around inside my brain but haven't actually written any stories for yet (whether of not said stories made it to the light of day for others to see). You might notice a pattern with the kinds of things I think about but never write 😳. Also most of them are co-parented with Nightie.

Anyone can send me an ask about anything on this list and I will be happy to talk at great length about the insanity of what's in my head.

The Breeding AU - look, Elrond is a blurbo and the only way I got through my theriogenology class was by inflicting what I studied on blurbos... and sometimes I need an au where the elves are desperately trying to rebuild their population at the end of the 1st age.

Tiny Erestor AU - an au of the rarely talked about Tiny Elrond au (which I've written several stories for but haven't got around to posting yet), in which both Elrond and Erestor are two inches tall. Everyone else is normal sized.

Balrog Porno AU - Glorfindel, Turgon, and Ecthelion get hired to act in a high budget porn movie with balrogs. Ecthelion's the only professional actor of the three.

Gil-galad's stressed about being the king. what it says on the tin plus Elrond distracting him with being sexy and then they work together to create a government that doesn't needs a king so Gil can retire.

Art Therapy in Mandos, Feanor-style - Feanor, a box of crayons, a meditative coloring book, and nothing but time.

Stealthros AU - The Feanorians are dragons, the silmarils are eggs, and Elrond just hissed and bit Gil-galad's hand.

[edit, how did I forget!] Marsupial elves AU - everything's the same except the elves are marsupial and they all have pouches for their cute little kids to hang out in, oh and Celebrian, Elrond, and Gil-galad are together. Being part human and maia, Elrond doesn't have a pouch, a fact his children greatly resent.

Ask away!

here's some low pressure tags, and if you don't have fic ideas, how about just aus or art ideas? Tagging @nighttimepatrons, @curufiin, @aroace-moron

[euclyta]

Well since you asked (and I've kinda been wondering about it) — what's chocobo's mystery dungeon like, especially compared to the pmd series?

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

im putting this under a readmore because i (redacted)

so i gotta give a bit of context first: there is an entire spin-off series of final fantasy games all protagonized by a tiny little chocobo. i bring this up first because there were two dungeon crawlers on the playstation- these set up the regular returning elements of the chocobo series (namely some main characters), and it even runs with the trend of having cid in every ff game!

the specific one i love is Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, it was on the wii and its a very basic dungeon crawling, PMD-esque game, with a hunger meter, monster houses, etc. i think the thing that sets it apart from other dungeon crawlers gameplay-wise is that it has a job or class system much like mainline final fantasy games do, in which you unlock access to eight different jobs that completely change up the playstyle AND the difficulty of the game due to their own niches (my favorite job for example, white mage, is very high difficulty until endgame)

for me the main reason why i want more people to know about it and try to give it a chance even if its just via an emulator is the story. i might be biased here but i first played this game when i was 9 years old and it still lives rent free in my brain to this day (im 21 now for context)

to not give any spoilers, the main premise is that chocobo and cid are treasure hunters looking for a gemstone; upon finding it, they're suddenly transported to a town in seemingly a completely different world where the citizens constantly lose all their memories everytime the belltower rings

the very first night they spend in this world, a meteor crashes in from the sky, turning out to be an egg from which a baby is born. this baby then proceeds to somehow start bringing people's memories back by allowing chocobo to enter their minds

this is also why i think its such a cool concept, because it uses memories and people's minds as the main set up for dungeon crawling, even representing memories as scattered puzzle pieces. and everytime you are inside someone's memories, you can hear snippets of their thoughts as you go along, ending in the full memory being fully restored when you exit

there are a ton of memory dungeons, one for almost every npc in town, and they introduce a thing called "special rule" dungeons for non-story ones where you have to play with certain gimmicks the whole way through (1 hp, perma blindness, enemy gauntlet, stuff like that). and every single one has those snippets of lore and foreshadowing you gotta piece together, little by little, to understand the truth behind the town

for the characters, the cast is very colorful and i think everybody genuinely feels very human. granted the voice acting isnt the best but it adds so much to the charm of it. plus the designs and all the official artwork there is is just breathtaking (ive only now been noticing there are a few elements in my own art that are subconsciously inspired from this game's artstyle)

i HAVE to mention raffaello here because now that i have a bigger understanding of how tropes and storytelling work, i can say for sure that he is just so, SO crazily well written; its not all in the text, but all the worldbuilding comes together eventually and that's when it really hits

and of course i gotta bring up the soundtrack- its almost entirely comprised of arrangements of older final fantasy songs and each and everyone of them is MAGICAL. its remained as one of my favorite soundtracks for years, so much that i realized that the official disc release was incomplete and went out and put together all 42 songs in the highest quality i could to make sure it doesnt become lost (this is a very reocurring theme with this game in particular)

i want people to play it and i want to talk about it. partially its because this is my favorite game. but also because its been THIS close to being a major case of lost media. there are SO many things that have been lost to time because they were japan only or they were overwritten on the internet (including the entire japanese chocobo series website portal, thats like three different unique websites with tons of never saved artwork they nuked). so much of it i still remember but i have zero way to access it anymore and it eats me from the inside out.

its a common theme of things being lost to time with this game but its also incredibly sad and funny because the entire theme of the game is things being lost to time. ouroboros. time is a flat circle.

and... here is where i come in talking about the remake- chocobo's mystery dungeon everybuddy and why i heavily recommend the original over it

so... the original wii game had a japan only ds port with some new elements and stuff. but the main thing with it is that they changed a LOT of the story; same plot, different execution, to fit in with a ds format. the problem with this is that the remake was based off of this version and not the original one, which leads to a LOT of serious and emotional moments being gutted and sped through.

the gameplay itself is fine, they actually made it even more pmd-like by adding a companion system, and they upped the difficulty a lot if you dont know what youre doing. but the story changes genuinely kill it for me if im being honest. they retconned what made me sad about the ending at the cost of everything else (and even then im angry because that took away from the intensely emotional ending that still had me crying like a baby LAST WEEK)

in general though. i just think this game is so beautifully crafted. this game originally came out in 2007 and it still holds up SO well. the graphics are very cute and stylized, but everything is so detailed that every single part of the world feels lived in. the town is very small but i think its why it always feels like coming home. huge recommend and i refuse to die until ive convinced at least one person to play it through to the end (its been 12 years and im still trying)

[othernaut]

I like tiny apartments. I like being all squared away in my little box. It excites the part of my brain that likes Swiss army knives and Barbie camper vans and Transformers. I want to be able to light my entire home with a star projector. I want everything to be foldable and multipurpose, secret and obscure and accessible only to learned people, trusted people. I want a bathroom that is just one entire waterfall shower. I want my decision to turn a wall into bookshelves to be a choice with sacrifice and consequence. I want to tug on an overhead strap and have my entire wardrobe accordion out of my ceiling. I want every single inch to be full of art and color, dark and rich and painted and embroidered, jewel tones and eye-searing neon, glitter and glow in the dark.

I want to emerge from my gremlin coffin through an insane set of graffiti-covered concrete stairs and grapevines into a city that screams and sings every second of every day. I want to entertain visitors on an overlooked apartment rooftop scattered with folding tables and kitchen herbs, ideally accessible via pitted-but-solid fire escape and having to climb over at least one wall. I want a bodega ten steps away with overfed cats in which 50% of the available snacks are available only there and in the owner's home country. I want to sit under the grapevines and write, sourcing character descriptions from the endless stream of vibrant humanity passing by only steps away.

I want a solid door, decent soundproofing, and tiny slit windows above my shower and school-desk-sized kitchen counter. I want just enough spiders to know my home is healthy and just enough floor space to roll out a yoga mat. I want the books I sell to the used bookstore to smell like green onions and volumizing shampoo and deep love. I want the discovery of a Tupperware that fits right in that spot by the door to be more transcendental than the Tupperware company ever intended. I want to live inside my own grave, gorgeous and small and complete, a diorama of myself. An ingot of me, so that all you need to do when I die is weld the door shut and affix a plaque.

This is weirdo shit. I am weird for wanting this, and I accept it. There are other people who want this, all weirdos, and I'm happy when we find our places. My issue with the tiny apartments available are twofold: First being that, in my mind, this shit should cost like $600 in rent and it is baffling that it doesn't, and the second being that this isn't the type of tiny apartment being offered. The ones on the market are not meant to be a complete little home, they're not even temporary spaces, they're carved out of larger buildings as an afterthought once the holding company that owns it realizes they can charge for two $1,400 bachelors rather than a single $2,100 one-bedroom. There's free wifi but no private kitchen. You can't paint the walls. They're 1950's-era dream homes decimated into a fistful of 2020's stress nightmares.

I don't know what point I was trying to make, apart from dreamily romanticizing my hypercolor shoeboxes. Maybe it's something like there being no space for even modest dreams, minuscule dreams, because capital has long since stopped caring what it's selling so long as people are paying. Maybe it's something like how home can be anywhere, so long as it's your home, and how few of us can even hope to experience that nowadays. Maybe it's more nebulous than that, longing and nostalgic for when I had the temerity to believe that the future was an accessible thing, that I could choose what I had instead of being satisfied with what I got.

I'd like to invite you all over. I'd set out a coffee can on the roof for cigarette butts, cart up a board game and play Youtube synthwave radio out of my phone. I'd shout down a three-step series of instructions when you go down to get another bottle of wine out of the tucked-away fridge. I'd explain the frayed, half-mythologized origin of whatever bizarro tchotchke you found dangling from my ceiling. We'd roll out a rug in the summer, lay back and enjoy the fireworks and stadium lights. You can take home some oregano, the fucker's taking over the planter this year. It'd all be just my size.

I don’t think humans should be living in studio apartments or little one bedroom apartments you can barely turn around in. It’s like how the minimum tank size requirement for a betta fish is technically 2.5 gallons but you’re a monster if you put them in anything less than 5 gallons. I think people deserve at least one extra room in their house.

[medlilove-fandom-brainrot]

The Coffee Shop of my AU dreams:

This post will be long. There’s nothing me or you can do about it. It is it’s own sentient being.

So, I had an idea for a Coffee Shop Steve x Tattooist Eddie Modern AU. Oh its all sugary sweet. Mostly.

The general bullet points are:

Steve and Robin work in a small cafe run in the same way they worked at Scoops. Just kinda left to it.

Eddie takes over the tiny Tattoo shop across the street after Wayne decides he’s tired of it and wants to retire. So Eddie moves from working for someone else in the city back to Hawkin’s and into their lives. 

Steve and Robin are childhood friends who stayed in contact but really reconnected when he transferred to her highschool to play Basketball. He fit in effortlessly with her, and her friends Nancy and Jonathan. Argyle moved to town the year they graduated. Billy he knows through Max who he knows through the kids who he knows through Nancy, Jonathan and Hopper etc idk.

Oh yeah! This is a Deaf!Steve Fic because it was rotting my brain out. But this time no injuries, just been pretty deaf since birth. His parents suck but have money, and send him off to a private school for the deaf with hearing aids. With Robin’s gift for language they are pretty good signers. I think I’m going to make Hop good at singing too, because his adopted daughter El, well for one reason or another she’s not much of a talker.

Eddie often spots Steve smoking out the back door by the bins on his break. When it’s dead quiet he and Robin both sit out there, Robin doesn’t smoke but usually has a can of something  fizzy and full of sugar instead. 

The Young Ones all are Season One little. They go there after school to wait for working parents and older siblings, play board games, annoy Steve and Robin and hang out.

The Coffee Shop also stays open late and works as a sort of bar/art/music space for locals. Regularly renting the space out on the cheap for local community art shows, music, workshop etc. Argyle usually organizes these events, with Jonathan's help.

Corroded Coffin occasionally plays in the bar down the street, can occasionally be found practicing in the cafes open space at night, only if Steve or Robin are staying late.

Robin lives above the shop or she’s staying at her parents. Steve lives in a tiny studio around the corner and does NOT talk to his family. Eddie lives above his shop across the street and has a great relationship with Wayne.

So here’s the THING. I actually created and fully renderd the shop for free over on Homestyler, because that is just how my brain works...

Please do click below for ALOT more images and information.

And if the ‘KEEP READING’ thing doesn’t format correctly I do appologise for how long this may become.

Hope you can read my handwriting......

Homestyler can be a bit fiddly, and VERY contemporary. It also has somewhat limted design options, so you might have to use your imagination a little bit on that DnD table:

I may have edited the wall art in this room a bit heheh:

Don’t underestimate the value of a good washroom!

I don’t have The Sims, so this free shit is what I do for fun.

I know it’s a tiny space, but I love small! Small but has something for everyone. I get that this was a very personal project that not many other people will be interested in, but I had so much fun! Highly recommend trying out Homestyler.

[thesolferino]

True Calling

⤷ dream x f!reader.

⤷ word count: 3.9k

⤷ requested: yes, by this lovely anon!

— summary: dream meets his favorite singer on an among us livestream.

“Dude, what could go wrong? Just do it.”

“What could go wrong?! Literally so many things, you ass.” 

Dream heard Sapnap sigh through the mic right into his headphones, the dim grey of his Discord background doing barely anything to illuminate his features as he stared at his open messages blankly.

“First of all, don’t.. speak to me like that, I am doing you a favour by sitting here and listening to you panic about stupid shit. Second of all, nothing big could go wrong. What, you’re a little awkward in the beginning, maybe, and that’s it.” Dream adjusted his headphones a little bit, Sapnap’s rant flowing into his ears but dissipating somewhere halfway to his brain, because, yes, things could go wrong and he can’t be proven otherwise.

“Did you forget that I’m a public figure? And that my fans are insane? I say one wrong thing and it’ll be memed and haunt me in my dreams. Did you forget that SHE’s a public figure? And that this is live? God…” he retorts back, listening to Sapnap helplessly sigh once again in response. He anxiously switches from his Discord to Twitter, then to YouTube, to Twitch and then back to Discord, frantically clicking around. In reality, he knows Sapnap is right, and it’s anxiety whispering into his ear that he’s gonna somehow fuck up, but maybe it’s simply easier to stay and argue with him into the night instead of actually responding to that message.

The stream is still going. Quackity’s voice speaks over Sapnap’s quiet breathing. “Damn, he’s still not responding. Um, let me try Tubbo, maybe?” 

Before he knows it, the opportunity to join the stream is slipping out of his fingers, and Dream isn’t sure if he’s happy about that or not. On one hand, he gets to meet one of his favorite artists whose album he’s played way too many times to count, and on the other, the chances of him embarrassing himself in front of that same artist and a hundred thousand other people are extremely high, and he’s not sure if he likes the odds of that.

“Man, I don’t know. You won’t listen to me, anyway. Don’t join if you don’t want to.” Dream hears the annoyed tinge in Sapnap’s voice, and that’s what pours the last bit of courage into his veins because the best way to do anything in life is to follow Sapnap’s advice after you’ve already irritated him to the point of defeat, and he murmurs a quick “bye” and hangs up before the other can even respond, typing a rapid “Sure, send me the VC link” back to Quackity. 

He hears a delighted exhale coming from his Twitch tab just as Quackity forwards him the link. “Okay, nevermind, we’ve got Dream! He’ll join in a second.” 

With that, he swiftly closes the Twitch tab and with an encouraging sip of water, he finally joins the Discord voice chat with the rest of the players. Your Discord image sticks out like a sore thumb to him despite being a super basic, Googleable picture of you that he’s probably seen a million times by now, and upon seeing it, reality slaps him right over the face and he realises that, oh shit, he actually joined.

“Hey everyone.” Dream speaks into the mic and a mix of excited voices greets him at the same time as he loads up the game. Your icon is missing the green halo. He stares at it, as if you’ll magically speak up if he stares long and hard enough. That, apparently, works.

Pokimane’s “Dream, hi!” seems to set something off in your brain, and you speak again.

“Oh, Dream?” the green halo appears, and Dream resists the urge to say something stupid or bite his hand or anything of the sort when you say his name. “Aren’t you the guy who listens to my music all the time?” you giggle.

Quackity laughs loudly in his usual fashion, and Dream feels his hands go cold as the Among Us loading page pops up. “Wh-huh?” 

“Yeah, you-you listen to my music a lot! Your fans always tag me under that… ‘Dream’s Spotify’ Twitter account, I remember you.” Dream swears his heart is about to jump out of his chest and start bouncing around on the floor because his ribs are way too restrictive for that type of movement, but he tries his best to play it cool and laughs lightheartedly.

“I do! I’m, like, your biggest fan.” he grins, as if you can see him, and you laugh in return.

“Yeah, man, you pay my rent. Thanks.” you say and a couple of people laugh while Dream inputs the code and his character finally pops up, immediately running around like the rest of the group. He runs around your purple character and hears you chuckle as you run around him too, but not for long, because the game starts and everyone mutes themselves. He audibly sighs, because he can afford to, considering he’s not streaming and nobody can hear the amount of courage this whole thing is taking him. 

A notification pops up on his screen - the Dream Team group chat seems to be talking. Must’ve already found some way to make fun of me, he thinks to himself as he huffs out a large breath and runs through cafeteria and weapons to do his tasks in navigation. Corpse is hot on his tail the whole time, and not to say he’s an untrustworthy guy, but Dream isn’t really looking forward to getting killed before even speaking to you properly, so he runs around, trying to find somebody to stick with so Corpse doesn’t shove a knife in his back while he’s doing a task. 

Thankfully, Karl emerges somewhere from the direction of storage right into communications where Dream was going, too. Just as Dream starts finishing download and Corpse and Karl line up behind him, his screen flashes bright red and white and the bold letters “Dead body reported” pop up. Everyone unmutes themselves and his eyes bore into your character, immediately.

“Alright, the body was in top left of the… uh, upper engine. I need everyone’s positions.” Rae immediately spoke.

“I was in electrical, I-I went through cafeteria to the upper engine with Poki, there was nobody there, we did our tasks, went down to lower engine, then Poki left with Toast, and I went to electrical and the body was reported.” Sykkuno said, and Pokimane confirmed with a hum of agreement.

“Dream?” Rae asked, and he spoke up.

“I never even went that way, I went through weapons to nav, and then to communications, and then the body was found. Corpse can vouch for me because he was following me the entire time and I kinda thought he was gonna kill me. And Karl saw me in communications, us three were all together when you… reported the body.” He rambled, trying to defend himself.

“Yeah, it’s true, he was with me the whole time.” Corpse supported.

“Karl, which way did you get to communications?” Toast asked.

“Uh, through storage.” Karl replied quickly.

“That’s funny, ‘cause I was in security, and I could swear I saw you walk past.” Toast said, and a couple of “ooh”s echo through the call.

“That makes no sense because even if I did go that way, I wouldn’t have time to get to communications and start doing my task with Dream and Corpse if I killed Ethan! And Rae, you-you saw me do my task in storage!” Karl loudly defended himself.

“...that… that’s true, yeah.” she said.

“If you ask me, Toast, you’re being real sus for lying about that.” Karl threw it back at Toast, who protested.

“Listen, I didn’t say you killed anybody, I just said I saw someone run past!” he claimed.

“Bretman and Y/N are being real quiet, though.” Corpse points out, and the green halo around your icon lights up once again.

“Oh shit, I didn’t realise I was muted. Sorry, guys.” you laughed. “Um, I was with… Quackity, in… what’s that shit on the right called?”

“O2.” Quackity quickly jumped in.

“Right, O2. I went to… top left, first, and I did my tasks there, and then to weapons and then to O2, and then the body was reported.”

“You were in top left?” Rae repeated.

“Yeah.”

“And was there anyone with you?”

“Um… no? I was alone, and then I saw Quackity in top right, and then we went to, uh, O2 together.” you said and Corpse sighed loudly.

“That means she could’ve had the time to kill Ethan and run.” Toast points out.

“Hey! I didn’t kill anyone! I don’t even know how this game works…” you whined into the mic and Quackity laughed.

“Yeah, I dunno Y/N, you were dancing real suspiciously around me…” he said, causing you to defend yourself louder.

“Why would I kill anyone?! I don’t even know how to do that, I’m a nice person!”

“I don’t think she did it, guys.” Dream pipes up, tugging at the wire of his headphones absentmindedly.

“Shut up, you simp.” Quackity fires back instantly, making everyone in the call laugh, including Dream.

“Damn right, I’m a Y/N simp. She can do no wrong. I mean, look at that innocent face! She did nothing, I’m-I’m sure.” He argued, making you cover your mouth and giggle.

“Their face is literally the same as everyone’s! We’re all astronauts!” Rae protested, but Dream kept shaking his head.

“No, hers is more innocent.” he said. “Toast, why are you so set on accusing everyone, anyway?”

“Oh, you’re so not attacking Toast right now-”

“Guys, I think we should skip.” Sykkuno pipes up to calm the conversation, and everyone agrees, even though most of them mumble “sus” under their breath as soon as they mute their mics.

Dream’s tiny green astronaut stomps his way over to the left side immediately, changing paths this time and making his way into the Upper Engine, trying to finish his tasks in time and possibly find someone to accompany him so he at least doesn’t have to argue over his alibi. He had four tasks left, two of them in Upper Engine, so after that he was free to roam around wherever his heart desired. Just as he started doing one of them, he watched your purple character step in and run circles around him, earning you a quiet laugh that he didn’t know he uttered until he heard himself do it and silently scolded himself for getting that flustered at something so simple.

The two of you did your tasks together before going down to reactor. Just as Dream started doing one of his tasks, a dead body was reported again and he unmuted himself as Toast immediately started borderline yelling into his headphones. 

“Bretman just killed Sykkuno RIGHT in front of me. I literally watched him do it. He killed Sykkuno in COLD BLOOD.” he confidently claimed and Dream, quite uninterested, grabbed his bottle of water and lightly sipped on it, wiping beads of sweat resting right above his eyebrows with his forearm, blindly looking around the darkness, trying to get his eyes to adjust looking away from the computer screen. His eyes searched for the window - it was open, just enough to let a fresh breeze inside, but it never seemed to do that, letting humid air in with open arms like a welcome guest. Florida is fucking hell, he thinks, gulping down some more water.

“No, I didn’t! I seriously did not, he’s the one who killed him and is trying to frame me now. I swear to God, Toast…” Bretman shouted into his worn mic, trying to argue back. 

“Yeah, to be honest, Bretman, you were silent the whole time when Ethan died.” Rae reasoned, earning quite a lot of “ooh”s and causing little “voted” signs to appear next to Poki, Toast and Karl’s names as Bretman tried his best to fight back.

“I didn’t know I was muted the whole time! You know I’m bad at this! Why would I... you know what, nevermind! Vote me! Vote me! You’ll see when Toast kills you all, I don’t care anymore. I literally saw-”

Dream slumps further into his chair, sure that the foam would have a dent of his body shape imprinted even when he’s long gone from it, and unlocks his phone with a quiet sigh. He opens Discord, and wishes he hadn’t, because Sapnap and George are always on the front lines and ready to make fun of him at any chance possible. He types back a stupid joke, calling them losers, but before he can press send, a Twitter notification pops up on his phone that almost makes his painfully sweaty hands lose grip of the phone. 

“this is so boring” your message reads, from your official Twitter account. Dream blinks a few times, and looks up from his phone to observe his murky, empty room, eyes flashing from the window to the ripped chocolate bar wrapper that somehow made its way onto the floor to a cup of coffee from this afternoon. Did the humid air finally get to him? Hallucinations?

He clicks on the notification - it proves to not be a product of his imagination, after all. Three dots dance around on his screen cheerfully, but they suddenly stop. His ears tune in. Bretman is still defending his honor. Something else must’ve interrupted you. His shaky hands barely hit the right letters.

He takes a handful of screenshots amidst his euphoria, and forwards them to the group chat with no caption besides an emoji sticking its tongue out - he wants to tell them to suck his dick, or something along those lines, but your message remains a priority as he rushes back to the Twitter app to reply.

“Right” he manages to write without a typo. “They’re annoying”

Three dots immediately return to his screen like a happy memory, and he almost can’t believe you’re texting back so fast. George would probably humble him by saying it’s because you have nothing better to do, but what George doesn’t know can’t hurt him, Dream supposes, and clicks on your profile instinctively as he adjusts his headphones on one ear. By the time you finish typing your message, the group decided to vote out Bretman, who ended up not being an imposter.

The three dots disappear as quick as they came, and so does the anticipation that bubbled up in Dream’s throat as he sourly leaves to finish the rest of his tasks. The rest of the game stays as boring as it started, save for the giggles and hushed laughter that came from you at every few jokes he made - of which he made quite a lot, in a desperate attempt to make you laugh, at least a little bit. Of course, Quackity was there every step of the way to accidentally mention how Dream sounded a lot more hype and alive during this game than he does ever, but you win some, you lose some, eh?

In the next game you actually decided to set up proximity chat, so of course Dream followed you around everywhere, hot on your tail at all times - what else is he supposed to do, when the chance presented itself, really?

“Are you imposter?” His character obnoxiously ran circles around you as you did your wires task slowly and unsurely since this stream was your first time playing.

“No, but I wouldn’t tell you even if I was, dummy.” You replied, running around his own character briefly before running up to do the rest of your tasks, watching the green astronaut follow you close behind. 

“Why not?” Dream questioned, eyes following all your movements since he didn’t have anything better to do considering he finished all his tasks. 

“Do you not know how this game works?”

“Yeah, but you’d tell me, right? I wouldn’t… rat you out.” He heard a sigh coming through his headphones in response, and his grin widened just a little, watching your character walk away from him.

“I know you wouldn’t.” you replied. “I’ll tell you if I’m imposter, I guess.”

“You wouldn’t kill me, would you?” Dream spoke into his mic, reaching to fix it and realising the way his hand trembled a little, fully aware he was walking the line between flirty and obnoxious more than usual. He lowered his gaze just to see his keyboard reflect the light of the computer back to him - the sweat from his palms seemed to seep onto the keyboard. He refused to think about the mocking things his best friends would say if they found out how nervous he was just to talk to you. 

“No, of course not! I wouldn’t be able to kill you.” You chirped just as a dead body was discovered and the two of you were torn from the conversation. 

In the next one, his screen flashed an ominous black and red with the word “Impostor” and your purple character stood proudly next to his green one, and he snickered to himself, adjusting his headphones one more time (the more he did it, the more he was convinced it was one of those anxious habits of his).

Shifting in his chair, he started moving and couldn’t believe his eyes when he realised the two of you managed to lock yourselves in a room with Corpse and Sykkuno, accomplishing a double kill in barely the first two minutes of the game. The two of you vented while Dream muttered curses under his breath, breaking out in a sweat wondering if you’re going to get caught or not as you casually hummed to a random tune while faking tasks, hitting the notes in such an effortless way that it made Dream relax and get even more nervous at the same time. It didn’t take too long before the body was found, and you seemed to adapt to the game very quickly, as Dream just sat back most of the time and watched you stretch out a whole essay on why you and Dream could NOT have been imposters. 

“Why would they stick together the whole time? Couldn’t they get at least someone else to vouch for them?” Toast complained. 

“Girl, Dream wants some… alone time with Y/N, obviously.” Bretman said, despite being the one most sus of you in the first place, forcing laughter out of the whole lobby, Dream’s sticking out the most as his mood constantly swayed from finding the whole thing funny to being worried sick if you actually find him weird.

“Exactly! And we’re gonna have our alone time if we want to, thank you very much.” 

Well, Dream thinks, taking a stressed gulp of water from his bottle, at least we cleared that one up.

“I don’t think that sounded the way you wanted it to, Y/N.” Karl pipes up, making Quackity burst into another fit of loud laughter, and you immediately protested.

“It sounded exactly the way I wanted it to! Now, vote Rae or else.” 

When the meeting was over, he ran after you through cafeteria, grin splitting out on his face before he even spoke.

“You’re pretty…” his silence extended as he watched your character stare at his. “...pretty smart.”

You snorted. “Right. You’re pretty…” you extended your silence in return, mocking him. “...too.”

His heart jumps. “You forgot a word there.” he says as you stomp out to storage.

“I said what I said, Dreamy.” 

He swears this can’t be healthy for his blood pressure. In the corner of his eye, Discord notifications pop up like crazy. The boys must be watching your stream. His heart swells with both pride and dread, knowing he’s about to be called something along the lines of pretty Dreamy for the next two months.

“How do you know I’m pretty? You’ve never even seen my face.” Dream replies as heat creeps up like a spirit rising from soil, from the back of his neck, seeping into his ears and cheeks somewhat equally. His eyes dart to the window again. Of course it’s the stupid Florida weather that has him burning up, flustered. Maybe he should open another window.

“Is this an invitation to see it?” you say, a teasing tone clinging off your voice and he can practically hear you smiling. 

“No, I’m just saying! If you want to see it, though, that… that can be arranged.” he bites his lip as a physical attempt of holding back the smile that breaks out as he waits for your response, chest puffing in both nervousness and odd confidence.

“Can it? I mean, I don’t need to see it, I just know already, you have those… pretty boy vibes. But I wouldn’t…” you chuckle. “...be opposed to seeing it, for sure. Don’t count on me not to leak the pictures, though. I want the clout.”

“What do you MEAN you want the clout, you’re Y/N! You don’t need clout from a Minecraft YouTuber!” He argues back, a small wheeze escaping him mid sentence as you giggle and run around, with him following your every move.

“You keep my fucking lights on, man! Whenever your Spotify Twitter account thingy tweets that you’re listening to my stuff, the streams go up! I need your clout.” you say as you run into admin and snap Toast’s neck and run back out casually, as if nothing happened. 

“Yeah, that’s how me listening to your songs on repeat works.” he says and you let out some sort of irritated groan.

“Shut up, smartass.” Just as you say that, somebody seems to find the body and you’re pulled into a meeting, where Rae susses both of you immediately.

“No, because both of you are always together! And someone always spots you walking by the place where the bodies are found! At some point that can’t be a coincidence, right?” she accuses, practically yelling into the mic.

“Of course they’re always together, check- check fuckin’ Twitter! They’re trending on like three different spots already!” Quackity jumps in, loud as always, and the lobby gives off mixed reactions.

“What? We are?” Dream asks, and Quackity confirms with a “yeah, man! Check!” and so he complies, quickly pulling out his phone to check the trending tabs. Sure enough, among the politics and sports, “DREAM Y/N”, “PRETTY BOY” and “DREAM FACE” are crammed, sat at 7th, 14th and 18th place, respectfully. A satisfied grin breaks out on his face. At least they see it, too.

“This has to be the first time Dream has trended for something heterosexual.” Karl points out, earning loud laughter from Quackity and Bretman, less loud on your part.

“Exactly! We’re a power couple! Stay mad!” You shouted, with Dream supporting you in the background, although still shyly adjusting his headphones every few seconds, unable to comprehend that oh, this is actually happening.

Both of you get voted out during the next few minutes, but that really means nothing to Dream - they actually do him quite a favor, because the two of you get to excuse yourselves and he sees those three familiar dots dance on his screen again as he leans back into his chair with a dopey grin, playing with the strings of his sweatpants, waiting for your next and next and next message. 

He opens Discord on his computer to type one last message into the groupchat before turning it off for the night:

Dream (03:14): maybe Minecraft wasn’t my calling after all

Dream (03:14): can’t believe I just met my soulmate on Among Us

[early2000smovieimagines]

Meeting and Dating Bo Sinclair

(Not my gif)(Requested by anonymous)

(Sorry for the meeting story cliffhanger but I didn’t want to make this entire thing ridiculously long and I think the concept can warrant a post of its own. Feel free to request it if you’d like to see that!)

- You’d spent all year saving up sick days for this: for one nice long vacation when the weather was just right and the countryside was at its prettiest. And oh how pretty it was; it was the perfect backdrop for your broken down car.

- To say you were frustrated was an understatement. You’d paid extra at the mechanic to make sure that your car was running perfectly and yet, here you were: stalling in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, a long highway and no houses in sight with cell reception that belonged in an Amish town.

- You’d spent the past five minutes trying to wrack your brain for the different things you’d heard about fixing cars when, thankfully, the roar of an oncoming engine interrupted your thoughts.

“Well, well, well, long time no see.”

- Yesterday night, after a long day of driving, you’d decided to stop at the nearest town, rent a room and grab a few drinks to try and unwind. That was how you wound up in a tiny country bar, nursing a glass of your preferred liver killer while listening to the soothing sounds of an old mans pool game and the ancient jukebox in the corner.

- That was how you met the handsome gentleman who was currently sat smiling down at you from the drivers seat of an old beaten up truck. He’d walked through the doors of the place, meeting your gaze for a fleeting moment as he made his way to the back of the room, a charming smile tugging at his lips as the two of you locked eyes.

- It wasn’t long before he’d joined you at the bar, standing by your seated side while he ordered himself a drink. He’d greeted you then, glancing down at you while he drummed his fingers against the wood beneath his hands.

“You new in town? I’d remember a face like yours if I’d seen it before.” He questions, a flirtatious tilt to his voice. The bartender hands him a bottle and he takes it in his hand, leaning his back against the bar while he gives you his full attention.

- The two of you get to talking and you find yourself really liking him. The only problem is that you know it would never work out, you live states away from him and you’re not about to try long distance with your ancient computer and a shitty flip phone. So when it’s time to retire for the night, you tell him that it was nice meeting him and say goodbye.

- The way he acts is reminiscent of someone saying “no harm no foul” but you’re oblivious to the fact that it’s because he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve….

- For now, all you know is that he’s offering to tow your car to his mechanic shop in the next town over, a little town called Ambrose.

- Once you get there, you sit and watch him check over your car, biting your lip nervously as he inspects whats under your hood and tsks.

- When he finally looks back over at you, he gives you a sympathetic smile and explains everything that’s wrong with your vehicle; albeit somewhat pointlessly since you barely understand half of what he’s saying. You ask if he can fix it and he replies that “well of course he can” but that it’ll take a while, rattling off a list of obstacles the two of you will be facing.

- The sigh and groan that you let out as you bury your face in your hands is like music to his ears. It’s the sound of resignation and just like he thought you would, you compose yourself and ask when he can start.

- Perhaps it’s the fact that you’re stranded in a small town or maybe it’s the fact that you’d already liked the man before he turned into your knight in shining armor, but you find yourself spending a lot of time with him. Some days it’s checking on your vehicle; leading to you sitting and talking with him for an hour, other days it’s him taking you places because they’re “something you need to see before you leave Louisiana”.

- Regardless, you’re really starting to grow fond of him …but, as much as you’re enjoying the mans company, you’re also beginning to grow wary.

- At first, you’d convinced yourself that you were being paranoid and that it was just the fact that you were in a completely unfamiliar place that had you feeling strange. But soon enough, more and more red flags began to pop up, ones you can’t continue to ignore.

- Bo would always distract and keep you away from certain places, or from looking too closely at some of the other shops/houses in town. It was subtle enough at first but after a while, it’s hard not to notice and grow suspicious. Then there were the strange noises he’d always blame on his dog; or something of the sort, and the overall lack of noise in the town.

- You understood that it was a small town and that there probably weren’t many people living there but it was as if the entire place was deserted. It was eerily quiet and you were starting to grow uncomfortable. Which is why you’d decided that it was probably best to just trust your gut and leave.

- It took you a while to decide what you wanted to do, thinking about how sweet Bo had been to you and how you were gonna feel so stupid once he called you to say that your car was fixed only a little while after you arrived back home; forcing you to make the trip all the way back for no reason.

- Maybe that was why you told him your plans of leaving before actually calling someone to come pick you up: you wanted to convince yourself that you were being stupid by his rational and normal reaction. Except, that’s not what you got.

- You were having dinner with him, a dinner you found yourself struggling to eat both because of the pit in your stomach and his change in demeanor. Something about the night felt different, he felt different. And that was probably part of the reason why you’d decided to mention it then: to try and ease the tension and get him out of his seemingly distracted state of mind.

- When you’d nervously brought up your plan, his eyes had shifted towards you and a strange expression had taken over his face. It sent shivers down your spine for a reason you couldn’t quite place. It was as though he knew your thoughts; knew that you were worried and that this moment would come, but was trying to feign surprise.

“Now why would you wanna go and do a thing like that for? It’d be a waste. Your cars almost done.” The small smile that graced his lips didn’t reach his eyes.

“I know and you’ve been so gracious but I don’t wanna be a burden and I’m sure my boss will kill me if I don’t get back soon.” You spoke, rehearsing the excuses you’d planned. His reaction was the opposite of what you’d hoped for and you were beginning to feel as though your “paranoia” was there for good reason.

- And yet, you were still trying to convince yourself that you were being silly. You kept up the conversation, listing off reason after reason, excuse after excuse, hoping that one of his responses would ease your nerves. But his; valid, rebuttals and his insistence that you should stay only made you more nervous. His charming and calm façade was beginning to wane and something darker was coming through.

- At this point, you’d made your way into his living room and were inching closer to the door with him not far behind. You felt panicked, like a cornered animal being stalked by its prey. You’d run out of excuses, run out of arguments, and for a reason you can’t quite explain, the only thing you could think to say was a question that had been eating you alive.

“Bo …why is the town so quiet?” Immediately, his face darkened.

- It had seemed like he was on to you before but that was nothing compared to this. A surge of fear ran through you and you immediately made a move for the door, one he quickly intercepted, catching you by the waist as you clawed at his arms and tried to get free.

- After a moment of struggling, he managed to throw you over his shoulder and began to make his way upstairs. The only thing you were sure of was the fact that you weren’t going to leave any time soon….

- Taking into account the fact that there’s a very small chance that you aren’t living in Ambrose with him, it’s safe to say that Pda isn’t a big factor in your relationship. Besides his brothers and the occasional doomed tourist, you’re almost always completely alone so there’s little opportunity for it; regardless of whether or not you’d want it.

- That being said, whenever there are signs of life in your ghost town, Pda really just depends on who your guests are. Most of the time he’ll probably want to avoid it; in case he can use the two of you “not being together” to his advantage, but if he thinks it’ll help you lure people into a false sense of security, he’ll be eager to play the sweet southern couple with you.

- In general, Bo isn’t a lovey dovey sort of guy. He’s more of a rough hands and dirty grin kind of man so don’t expect him to act all soft and romantic with you even when he is being affectionate.

- Hug him from behind you coward. It’s one of the few things he doesn’t complain about and just allows himself to enjoy. He also returns the favor on occasion, pulling you back into him by your hips and pressing kisses to your neck and shoulders.

- His hand in your back pocket or just blatantly resting on your ass. He’ll also just spank you at random so try and be prepared for that.

- Kisses pressed anywhere he can reach. Forehead, cheeks, nose, neck; you name it and his lips have been there.

- How he kisses you really just depends on his mood. Sometimes he’ll be sweet on you, taking his time and being gentle. Other times he’ll be harsh, pulling you in roughly and pressing his lips to yours in a searing hot kiss.

- Hot and heavy makeouts.

- Unfortunately for you, Bo really isn’t too big on cuddling. He’s used to sleeping on his own and doesn’t like the feeling of being held down by someone pressed up against him all night so the two of you mainly just stick to sharing a bed and knowing that the others right there next to you.

- He won’t outwardly admit it but he really enjoys waking up next to you and having you waiting for him when he gets home; he especially loves waking up to you trying to fit your nice ass into some jeans.

- He’s pretty fond of using pet names: calling you things like darlin’, honey, and sweetheart. He’d also secretly enjoy it if you used them on him; although he’ll definitely tease you for doing so.

- Flirtation, flattery, and dirty comments being whispered in your ear. He likes making you flustered and he’ll do everything in his power to achieve that result.

- Back massages.

- Constantly being thrown over his shoulder.

- Regardless of how you want to picture your relationship starting, one thing that will never change is the fact that you’ll need his permission to leave the town. You’ll only be allowed to come and go as you please after you’ve proven that you aren’t going to try and leave him: like if there’s a chance for you to escape and you actively choose to stay.

- Once he finally trusts you, he’ll start to take you out on actual dates; though they’ll never be a regular thing for the two of you. He prefers to keep you in Ambrose and find something that you can do together there, but he’ll at least not actively refuse to let you leave any more.

- Most of the time, these dates are just going out to a nearby bar and grill or a diner. Although, to be fair, that’s usually all there really is around where you live; the countryside does tend to be a little lackluster when it comes to new and exciting date ideas.

- Going out for drives. He’s always got one hand on the steering wheel and the other on your thigh, and if you try to move it, he will get genuinely offended.

- Going bowling. You’ve got an alley right there in Ambrose so it’s become sort of routine for the two of you to go; and it’s definitely amusing to watch him try to do trick shots and turn to you with that charming grin while he laughingly asks if you “saw that shit”.

- Sharing a couple beers on your porch/couch in the evenings. It’s his favorite way to unwind after a long day.

- Playing pool together.

- Going fishing and/or hunting with him. I mean, he practically hunts humans for sport, I don’t think it’s too odd to assume that he goes after deer too.

- Suntanning with him. There isn’t a ton of shade in Ambrose so let’s hope that you don’t burn up too easily, and that you don’t annoy easily because if you ask Bo to get you a drink, he will absolutely press the cold bottle against your bare back and grin like an ass while you shriek, jump and glare.

- He’s a little shit so don’t be surprised if he acts like a pest and playfully tries to annoy you. Whenever he does, he usually follows it up by acting all sweet/seductive, loving the way you give into him so easily.

- Eating your meals together and occasionally having family dinners with his brothers; or bringing Vincent down a plate so that you know he’s actually eating.

- Taking walks around the town.

- Sitting with him while he works and letting him explain what he’s doing to you. He likes seeing the adorable confusion on your face and being able to look like this knowledgeable expert whenever he uses all of his car lingo.

- He’s definitely bought you certain clothes purely because he likes the way your boobs/butt look in them and thinks you should wear them more. He’ll also expect a little fashion show if he’s getting you something so go ahead and give him a twirl, babygirl.

- Him taking Polaroids of you. He likes to take them at random, catching you by surprise as you’re handing him something or asking why he has the device in his hands/if it works.

- I’m sorry but you can rip this idea from my cold, dead hands: Bo genuinely enjoys dancing with you; like that swaying sort of bride and groom dance that couples do on their wedding. He’ll usually only do it when you’re alone and you’ll probably have to convince him a little bit; and put up with him fondly rolling his eyes, but he does like doing it.

- Sorry but you’re a homemaker now, sweetheart. Your man brings home the bacon and murders people, and you look the other way by distracting yourself with doing the dishes.

- But don’t be discouraged, you actually live a rather relaxing life. Sure, you have a few chores, but you also don’t have to worry about anything else besides them. You take a few hours to clean and cook and then you get to laze around and do your hobbies as much as you’d like.

- Bo is a MAN. He’s out here building, fixing, and finding shit. If you want something, just ask; he’ll get it for you one way or another.

- His scars are the one thing that he’s really insecure about so don’t be surprised if he does everything he can to hide them from you. He’ll especially try to keep them from view whenever he’s feeling vulnerable.

- Having run ins with victims: either just seeing them in the town and pitying them or having him hurriedly shout at you to do something while he busies himself with catching another person/retrieving something he needs.

- If he trusts you enough, he might just show you how to shoot one of his guns; especially if the town is getting more traction and he’s worried that someone might try to hurt you.

- Patching him up; if he’ll let you. He tends to lash out when he’s in pain or upset so he probably won’t allow you to at first. Its only when his rational; or irrational, mind clicks on and he worries that you’ll start to pull away from him if he’s too mean to you that he’ll start to feel guilty and will softly ask his “darlin’” for help, giving his own version of an apology.

- Putting up with his mood swings.

- Him occasionally trying to comfort you if he feels like you need it. Fucked up shit happens in Ambrose and he doesn’t need all the work he’s put into getting you to be with him thrown away because something scared you. He’s more of a “shhh, now there’s no need for that” sort of guy rather than a whispering sweet nothings type of person but it works all the same.

- Dealing with your own jealousy because this jackass feels the need to eyefuck and flirt with female victims. Let’s just say you’ve given him the silent treatment more than a few times after seeing the way he acts with them.

- For someone who has no problem flirting with all the girls who come through, he sure can’t stand seeing you with other men. There’s genuinely been times where he’s asked you to lure in some pure smuck and then gotten mad because you “didn’t have to be all over him like that”.

- Bo has literally murdered people for no reason at all, you think he wouldn’t kill somebody for bothering or trying to get between the two of you? Believe me, anyone who even looks at you funny is showing up in the wax museum in a few days time.

- Your boyfriend is an …intense person. He’s got a hot temper and you don’t have an extremely conventional relationship so fights are pretty common between the two of you. They can range from bickering to screaming matches and guessing which one it’ll be is like playing Russian roulette.

- You can’t exactly leave, he’d hardly let you even if you wanted to, and if he did, you wouldn’t get very far before he came to his senses and went after you, so you’re sort of forced to confront each other at some point after you finish fighting. You can give him the silent treatment all you want but soon enough, you’ll have to talk to him, and he’ll make sure that you do one way or another.

- Bo does or can, in theory, say that he loves you, but he rarely does so at a time where you want to hear it. Like sure, hearing him say it is always nice, but you’d rather it not be after you’ve gotten upset with him for fawning over some girl he’s tying up.

- I don’t know why but I feel like Bo would want a family really badly. Maybe it’s the fact that his was sort of shitty or just the fact that if you have a baby with him, you’re more likely to stay, but I genuinely think that he’d want to have a couple kids with you.

[magicalgirlagency]

That's much better.

Now, I didn't had the chance to play many Nintendo games back in the days because its consoles and games are so expensive here on Brazil (and had to stick with emulation), but I'll select some of my favorite games by the vibes and aesthetics that appeal to me!

Kirby's Adventure: Its retro aesthetic never gets old. And I strongly prefer this one over Kirby's Dream Land, because I am much more familiar with the Copy Ability mechanic;

Kirby Super Star: I love how this game feels like watching a cartoon series because of the many scenarios it has. Not to mention how influent some its gameplay mechanics and tropes are;

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards: I already know that Kirby was already dark and intense before this game, but this one appeals to me the most for some reason... maybe it's because of the Power Combo system, or because it's the game where King DeDeDe was voiced by Masahiro Sakurai himself (and would later voice him in every Super Smash Bros. game since Brawl);

Kirby's Epic Yarn: Its yarn-y aesthetics are not only adorable, but also quite refreshing! No wonder why Good-Feel would later return for Yoshi's Woolly World and Crafted World! And "This grass feels funny. It feels like... pants." lives in my brain rent-free;

Kirby Mass Attack: The gameplay mechanic of tiny little Kirbies following where your stylus is pointing at reminds me of a entertaining a housecat with a laser pointer;

Kirby: Triple Deluxe: I sincerely wish the keychains were made into real Kirby merch... oh, and King DeDeDe gets his time in the spotlight in the bonus games, which it's really cool;

Kirby: Planet Robobot: I adore Kirby's mecha. What's the use of piloting robots if they don't look cute and charming? Also: Eat The Rich™️;

Kirby Star Allies: The closest thing of a Magical Girl-inspired Kirby game that we've gotten*, and one of the many inspirations for this blog;

Kirby and the Forgotten Land: This game not only just tickles my wanderlust, but it also has an alien language that I want to study, King DeDeDe returning to his old Kirby 64 looks, and Elfilin looks like Flat (MyMelody's little mouse friend);

Kirby's Dream Buffet: I absoultely adore how expressive Kirby is in this game, and I don't know if it's just me, but the food in there looks so real I could touch it...!

*Did you know that Ohmoto Makiko, Kirby's seiyuu, has voiced Kasuga Yui of Corrector Yui, a Magical Girl series where the MC has multiple forms to fight against evil? Other performances include Cutey Honey F, Sailor Moon, PuniPuni Poemy, PowerPuff Girls Z and Purikura Daisakusen.

Since you’re a Kirby fan, i’d like to ask: Which one’s your favourite?

Favourite WHAT, anon? Game? Character? Copy Ability? Please, be more specific.

[stylistiquements]

Day 9 : Scronch'love.

𐐪𐑂 Pairing : Sapnap x fem!reader {Playlist}

𐐪𐑂 Summary : a lovely afternoon and an ancestral question; when are you going to join the dream smp?

𐐪𐑂 Word count : 1.5k

𐐪𐑂 Warning : swearing

Masterlist | Previous | Next

.・゜゜・　　・゜゜・　　 .・゜゜・　　・゜゜・

“Have you been here for a long time?”

“Have you been here for a long time?”

“Have you been here for a long time?”

Time bends and twists into unknowns shapes when well spent. So, you’re so not sure. Long enough for your fairy garden to start looking like at least a proper garden, long enough for your feet to start fidgeting, brushing against the soft fabric of the blanket ever so slightly and softly.

“Can you share your screen?”

“I’m just picking flowers, there’s nothing much to see,” you warn but it never does the proper job.

“That’s fine, I like watching you play.”

“Oh, do you now?”

“Yeah. You’ve been playing for years and you’re still dog water. It's almost soothing,” you hear him grin through the silkiness of his voice.

You smile evasively, palm gripping the mouse and executing on memory. Soon, Sapnap’s satisfied noises hovers and everything is just how it’s supposed to be. You spend a while humming the music of days and nights of the game while building your project. Sap helps from time to time, giving advice when his attention is there and leaving trails of compliments on his way. You don’t think the garden is necessarily that good, you don’t mind either.

“Do you think the tree should go on the left or the right of the pond?” You ask, fingers drumming back and forth between the two options. Right he says. "What about the roses, do I plant some or not?"

“It’s just a detail, don’t hurt your brain too much on that,” he says in a light tone, but you disagree.

“Details are what make things important. Like when you remember I prefer warm pillows so you give me yours, it’s just a detail but it makes me happy.”

“Of course I do; you’re a baby,” he murmurs teasingly.

With an arched eyebrow, you retort, “says you,” and silence follows for a second as you plant the tree on the right of the pond.

“Yeah, Dream already made sure I was aware of that.”

“Not sure why the piss baby thinks he’s qualified to have this conversation, buddy,” you note and Sap chuckles are as vivid as contagious. “Why would he call you a baby anyway? What have you done?”

“I-I’m not telling you.” As soon as the mumbles fades, your phone sends loud vibrations on your desk. You abandon your character to the night and the wildness, picking the phone as you murmur a low oh, okay. Whether it’s to your phone or Sapnap, that, isn’t really clear. Still, Sapnap’s words sound more distant, more of what wonders are made of. On the screen, a twitter notification of a certain Karl Jacobs.

“You’re not even listening to me anymore,” Sapnap whines.

“I don’t listen to whiny babies, sorry.”

“We’re on the verge of divorce, yn and it’s your fault.”

A scoff skitters out through teasing lips, “But you still talk about me all the time, don’t you?” Your voice drags through different lands, unknown and musky.

“So what?” He splutters all awkward like it’s some kind of confidence that shouldn’t have left his thoughts and, somehow, you’re surprised the almighty confidence has left the game. “Who said that?”

“Doesn’t matter. You’re obsessed with me, admit it,” you demand and though you don’t notice it, too tangled with the moment, the atmosphere is tinted with a different nuance like it’s suddenly dawn at the end of a summer party.

“So are you.”

Now, your heart drums a strange yet familiar rhythm. Something made of secrets and uncertainty, something you decided to leave unnamed a long time ago. Sapnap, you reason, can’t be lied to. He knows better than words half meant, half made up and it’s annoying, really, but he just does somehow. If you dare to lie, he would know and then it would be even more annoying.

“Yeah, you’re living in my head rent free but at least I’m not trying to hide it.” No answer. You peek at the game, you’ve been slain by a spider. “Karl said that,” you resign yourself. “He said he was about to join the vc by the way.”

Before the conversation can carry on, the sound of Karl joining the call resonates. Being in this Discord server is like living in a house with 10 siblings, that’s what you understand from the way Sap exhales heavily.

“Oh, I am interrupting something?” Karl says, struck by a peculiar energy.

“Besties time Karl, besties time,” Sapnap mumbles beneath his breath and it chimes a little like disappointment.

“Well, too bad I guess,” Karl exclaims. “It's about time I meet miss Bunnyshow.”

Karl is like that gif of a cat sitting in a tiny box with the caption “if it fits, I sit”.

“Does that mean our passive aggressive subweet arc is over?” You ask, faking the dejection when your smile grows wide.

“Oh god, I hope not. That’s my favorite part of the day.”

"It means a lot to me. Especially coming from my comfort streamer Karl Jacobs," you confess.

Satisfied, your attention gets back on the game; flowers rooting gracefully into the dirt and hives ready to host the beloved honey bugs as Karl and Sap catch up on time being apart. Everything is quiet and peaceful like the end of an afternoon well spent.

“I like your garden,” Karl points out and you hum a thank you beneath your breath.

“So you can take Karl’s compliments but not mine.”

“We’re besties you’re honor. Sapnap you can leave now, thank you,” Karl giggles and you follow along.

“Sorry Karl, there’s only room for one man in my heart and that has to be Sapnap.”

He fakes a cry to keep the theatrics before adding without transitions, “You know if you asked Dream he’d probably let you on the SMP.”

“No thanks,” you grin.

“Sapnap, your girl doesn’t want to play with us.”

“She’s already been whitelisted for months now,” Sapnap informs but fails to comment on the first part of the complaint.

He’s not lying, but you feel like it says more about Dream’s stubbornness than it says about you. As for your best friend, he understands better than anyone that wish for privacy and it’s something made of respect like yours for his career. You’d rather see him shaped by all the light than being touched by a glimpse of it. He does, after all, deserves it all. So, that’s the contract you made with yourself because it made sense; being a supportive shadow. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that you’ve never considered streaming before. It’s that it’s his world more than yours.

Karl, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to think the same way, “This is unacceptable, I gotta send a few texts.”

“Lost cause, dude, lost cause,” you grin but stubbornness seems to be a pre required trait for those mcyts.

Before you have time to find a suitable comment about the newborn group chat, a new person joins the call and Sapnap's annoyance is even more palpable, "No fucking way dude. We can't even have a second of peace on this server."

"Why would you be in a discord call if you want peace. You're just dumb," Quackity retorts with an energy he and he only can ever own.

Then George joins and Dream follows on his heels and soon your ears are filled with conversations that are as loud as scattered. Your shoulders sink in the back of your chair as soft fingers try to brush the upcoming migraine away. This is why you can't join the SMP; -not really but still- too much energy that has to be processed at all time. And you should know better, being friend with a very chaotic boy for the last 15 years, but you're not somehow.

"No, fuck that," Sapnap mutters. "I'm out."

"You can't leave now we have things to discuss," George exclaims. "Bunny, explain to me how Sapnap's proposition is more appealing than mine."

"Because I know her more than you do," he defends, and he's right. Money isn't of you interest. Love, on the other hand...

"Because she's like scronch'love," Karl giggles mindlessly.

"The fuck does scronch'love mean?" You ask, amused.

"It's very simple," Quackity intervenes. "If I offered you the same thing, would you even consider it?"

"Of course I would. What kind of question is that?"

"Fine. So, if Sapnap keeps his offer, here is mine; you become the president of Las Nevadas in addition to what he said."

"What?" Sapnap takes offense.

The call brims with an agitated confusion as you smile deviously, heels rooted into the floor to make your chair spin lightly and your fingers drum on your desk.

"I don't think you wanna do that," George corrects.

"Yeah, you absolutely don't," you confirm.

"Fine," he retorts. "So Sapnap's offer plus a Las Nevadas citizenship. How does that sound?"

"Like an offer I'll confider," you sigh. "So who's scronch'love now?"

"Still you," Dream answers. "Except you're also a big dummy."

.・゜゜・　　・゜゜・　　 .・゜゜・　　・゜゜・

A/N : helloooo,, how are you??? this part very self indulgent and I think this fic will be in general but I hope you liked it anyway. I love the idea of c!quackity always being too much and always having something to add to be even more over the top. I'm having more trouble than I thought about Bunny's and Sap's friendship because I want them to have a very special friendship but I hope it appears as such. idk. lmk what you think and thank you for reading it it makes me very happy <3 Until next time (ɔˆ ³(ˆ⌣ˆc)

Taglist : @open-minded-chip-101 ; @itsoakaa ; @gaysludge ; @tinyegg ; @qnfdnf​ ; @paintingpetalsforyou ; @notjennaleigh ; @victoria-a567 ; @washy-washy ; @moneybagmarvel ;

[sparxymcflymovedblog]

Guess whooooo.

We got a neat little mini page! There's a couple of these in the book, where Doc explains time travel stuff to the masses with little bits of commentary from tiny Marty. I think it's precious. I also think Bill Nye style Doc explanations should happen More.

I SWEAR I ALREADY COMMENTATED ON THIS AND TUMBLR ATE IT ALL but here we go again in 1955! Marty's polite little wave Ends me every time. You're screaming. My little man is lost and confused and freshly traumatized and you are screaming at him.

Will I ever shut up about the framing? The angles? How cute Marty is? No, no I will not. I mean, look at him. Have you seen him? Now you have.

Ah, the return of Dearly Detested [Small This Time] and a babier George. Biff's pompadour absolutely destroys me every time I look at it. I would love to cut it off :) And Marty continues to make such incredible faces.

<:] yeah. Yeah. Young Lorraine is really cute too though, the art style is so good.

THIS IS DRAWN IN SUCH AN INTENSE, INTIMIDATING WAY. AND FOR WHAT. Doc dragged what was, to him, a random teenager in off the streets to be part of his experiment, yes, but like. Help.

THERE IS THE DOC WE ALL KNOW AND LOVE... deranged but in the way a cartoon character might be. And in the same breath, a contender for one of the cutest Martys in the book. Overall, a winner of a page. The repeated use of the save the clock tower flyer in the background catches my eye Every time but it really adds sm.

There is No fancy commentary here except for how obsessed I am every time with the pointed removal of Mickey Mouse from Dave's shirt. Have you all played the Telltale game yet. Does JPPinney live in your brains rent free as it does in mine.

THERE'S ONLY ONE PERSON ON THIS WHOLE PAGE WHO IS HAVING A GOOD TIME AND IT'S LITTLE MISS LORRAINE. Lorraine's buddy in the background, giving George a Look. George, who is Dying. Marty trying so desperately to play it cool. Doc. Doc. Doc.

Doc. His face. Help me.

[wistfulrat]

a 4-part rec list of my fave drarry fics - the thrillers, dramas, soft bois, and wankbanks getting me through 2020′s shitstorm

[the soft boi list is here and truly i’m not surprised this rec is going to be the longest bc if there’s one thing a bitch is going to do, it’s yearn.

as always! if you love a fic, follow the authors, leave kudos & comments, send them nice msgs bc free art is still labor xoxo]

part 3: soft bois

mood: for when I need respite, a balm to the all-consuming shittiness of life

includes: fluff, comfort, low-stakes, slow-burn fics. a wistful look, a rainy morning, an unexpected grace, a stupidly disarming joke. i could live inside these fics. the smallness of human lives removed from the site of that which hurts & irreparably changes. the story-equivalent of a deep breath after a long day. pregnant silences & pensive mundanity & shy smiles. banter with bite but without the cruelty. the color lavender. weirdly whimsical. soft fics are not necessarily conflict-averse (no drarry fic rly can be, considering the context) but, they offer the reader a generous distance from the initial harm. they’re the quiet cleaning up after a storm. sometimes healing is an exacting surgical knife and other times it’s a slow scabbing. you read these fics to be reassured that the way forward is not always ruthless. and honestly?? they deserve a semblance of peace godDAMmit.

The Way Down by @letteredlettered - 65k - T “and I thought that if someone talked to you as though you were a human being you might—maybe you could act like one” --the way i think about this line daily. the characterization of draco in this fic is one my favorites bc he’s earnest and neurotic and tired of harry’s shit. which is to say, he cares so so much. and harry doesn’t know what to do with that bc he’s got a monster in his chest and lives as a recluse. but they both humanize each other in ways no one else can. “you’re just a person” has to be some kind of drarry ethics of belonging and it makes me CRY. -

Little Deaths and How to Avoid Them by @greaseonmymouth and dustmouth - 96k - T “Maybe it’s not about deserving it? Maybe you just get to have it anyway. . .I’m allowing myself to want something and to let myself have it and to fight for it.” --harry runs a daycare and also works at a library. draco spends a lot of time in said library. they bond over sci-fi books and therapy anecdotes and quiet philosophical conversations held over cafeteria soup. and harry’s struggling to understand his asexuality. draco’s learning how to live with anxiety and depression. they both want to be deserving of love. incredible fic with beautiful art by dustmouth. - 

Open for Repairs by @drarrytrash - 35k - T “A few leaves rustle in the gutter and the muggle world pays no mind to them, to two lost boys holding on for dear life.” --all of their fics feel exactly like this. like you’ve been allowed to look at something private, tender, unexpected. draco, known abba fan, is a repairman in the muggle world & harry can’t stop breaking thrifted things in order to see him? say less, i'm thERE. also “I think I have a crush on you” goddddd  - other faves by them: Counting Down By Ten - 2k - T: draco’s stepped outside of the party for a smoke. harry follows him bc of course he does. i could read this 100 times and not get tired of it. - Clouds That Veil the Midnight Moon - 36k - E: FUCKING HILARIOUS I CACKLED THROUGH THE WHOLE THING. draco’s wolfy problem and harry helping him and harry being flustered by how much he likes draco and draco’s hot heroic moment. shutup it’s perfect. “He almost asks if Draco ever gets tired of being a miserable complaining shit all the time, but he knows that he, personally, never ever gets tired of being a miserable complaining shit.” and “It’s the traumas,” Harry says gravely” --lines that live rent free in my head -

Harry Potter and the Future He Doesn't Really Want, Thanks by seefin - 70k - E “That was the only logical thing to do here, wasn’t it? It was the next step, it was the end of hurting each other and the beginning of the exact opposite.” --harry lives with luna and neville and also he dreams about the future sometimes? and he keeps running into draco. draco thinks this is sus as hell, until he doesn’t. feat. taxi rides, museums, cinemas, rooftop conversations beneath a lunar eclipse, mid-sex innocuous banter, draco and harry discussing nicki minaj. this fic charmed my ass off. seefin writes the most effortlessly hilarious dialogues. i smiled at my phone like an idiot at least 7 times. -  other faves by them: Wild - 93k - E: “he liked feeling needed, for the things that he was needed for back at the house in Ireland. For cooking and gardening and driving. Easy things.” --this shit makes me cry it’s so good. harry lives in Ireland with these three brilliant, hilarious, wandless witches and draco’s a potions student who's come to study under one of the housemates and the boys have so much shit to work through but their love becomes so tender and honest. draco yells at harry a lot and harry lets him and they both keep each other grounded in something real and fuCK.  - Divination for Dickheads - 7k - G: “I’m terrible at having crushes. I’ve never played anything cool a day in my life.” -- oh harry, we knOW. a bus ride, a fortune teller, an aquarium birthday party. god i love this fic. -

Modern Love by @tackytigerfic​ - 61k - E “But we’ve worked so hard at this, haven’t we? Yeah, I know it’s a horror to have to talk about it, but fuck it. We’re friends now, but it took so long to get here. Have you ever had to work so hard at something before?" --the steady blossoming of their friendship in this fic is so goddamn beautiful i want to yell. it’s draco and harry learning to trust each other and the whole thing unfolds so slowly, in this whimsical mix of london streets, wizarding politics, church halls feat. a Hot vicar, and a magical antique shop owner who’s married to literal poseidon?? goD the environment of this fic. immaculate. [also there’s a tender shower scene that makes me cry every single fucking time so if you read this fic pls dm me so we can be embarrassing about it together tbh] -

Nice Things by aideomai - 22k - M “He kept waiting for the weird shock of touch to not knock him clean out of his head, leave him quiet and warm and happy.” --8th year. harry forms an unlikely friendship with draco that begins with smoking weed on a windowsill. harry is touch-starved and draco touches him like he touches all his close friends - like it’s easy. the quiet affection in this fic, the way harry burrows himself into touch bc he’s been without it for his entire life. reading this is like being held. -

Running On Air by @tinyhistory​ - 74k - T “do you remember when we were eleven?” --alexa play coldplay’s the scientist it’s sad girl hours and we’re about to fucking yearn. you’ve seen this fic rec on every drarry list under the sun and i'm here to be redundant. the hype is so goddamn real. this story is a lyrical masterpiece held together by lines that act as refrains that will rattle around your brain until you die, probably. draco’s been missing for 3yrs. harry goes to find him. it’s their odyssey of homecoming. -

Title of Their Sex Tape by @cibeewastaken - 12k - T “But Draco, Draco was everything but boring. Draco made sitting in the rain watching an empty house fun.” --auror partners pining and draco being eccentric and harry being very earnestly gay about draco’s eccentricities!! god this fic is so genuinely fun skskd feat. undercover missions, murderous faeries, a book heist, a stunning navy dress, harry’s eyelashes. -

How We Throw Our Shadows Down by @thistle-verse - 14k - T “Draco is about to say something else— to thank Potter for what he’d done, however poorly— but Harry is smiling at him again, and it’s so soft and perfect that Draco holds in any inadequate words, lest he spoil it.” --draco collects tea cozies and of course harry has the one he wants. the sad and tender gays are at it again feat. conversations in the rain at a train station, melancholy Blaise, muggle photos, wizarding e-bay, the Dursleys.  -

Helix by Saras_Girl - 92k - E “Draco sighs in his sleep and Harry clings on to consciousness, needing to hold on, to give this tiny, insignificant moment the attention it deserves” --I think maybe you can describe every soft Saras_Girl story as giving tiny, insignificant moments the attention they deserve. like, this is an 8th year fic about snails and it’s full of whimsy, grief, compassion, and easy humor. an absolute must-read author in this genre if you want languorous, episodic fics full of distinct OCs and affectionate creatures. - other faves by them: Light up the Night Sky - 98k - M “Draco, sometimes you make my head feel like soup” --the one where harry is a fireworks artist and has a pet chameleon named ken. draco is on the wizarding arts council. they both pine like hell. - Headlights in the Snow - 71k - M “they stare at each other in silence, Harry’s heart beating so loud in his chest that he thinks the biddies must be able to hear it over the sound of their card game.” --the one where draco drives the knight bus and carts around the biddy club, a group of rambunctious old ladies who knit and drink tea and gossip. harry can’t help but fall in love with the everything about this. -

Follow the Water by @xanthippe74 - 38k - T “Harry’s heavy thoughts lift at the sight, like dark clouds blown away from the sun by the wind. The tent doesn’t feel so cramped and stifling now. It feels cozy. And safe. It’s the same feeling that Harry gets when he’s at the Burrow for Sunday roasts, when a group of people who care for each other deeply are crammed into too-small a space.” --harry wanders to the lovegood house on a sunday afternoon. he’s baffled to see that luna’s taken pansy, greg, and draco under her wing. what follows is a summer of forest walks, scavenger hunts, gardening, water fights, odd cakes, faerie rings, and picnics. so many picnics. i love the pace of this fic, the innocent return to childhood things, the way luna brings out the best in all her friends. reluctantly soft slytherins are just *chefs kiss*!! -

Going Postal (A 125pg comic) by dustmouth - T what. a. beautiful. ass. comic. the wizarding fashion, the textures, the character design!! harry travels a lot for his job as a resourcer. draco works in the regulations dept. they pine like a bunch of lovesick idiots via field report notes. god i love dustmouth’s art. -

All the Earnest Young Men by @tepre​ - 29k - E “Draco is twenty-seven layers of personality wrapped up in drama and humour, and a wit so sharp it still stings when he doesn’t see it coming. But there is something below that, too. Something that makes Harry ache just looking at him.” --the way i would lay down my little life for tepre’s characterization of draco, whom invented the word earnest. he’s a magical art theory expert and portraits are disappearing all over London and harry’s the auror assigned to this case. and well. they’re both so very avoidant about how gay they are for each other and it’s like!! shutup and kiss!! which they do in fact, shutup and kiss.  -

Trenches by sara_holmes - 3k - M “Somewhere in the distant part of his mind that hasn't frozen solid, he thinks that maybe he and Draco are about to become more than auror partners, smoking buddies, wine-mates and co-inhabitants of a snow filled trench somewhere in western Scotland.” --the plot line here is literally “it’s cold and i need a fucking cigarette” but let me tell you how I never tire of the shared loaded-silences of two emotionally repressed gays. -

The Years Before Love by lomonaaeren - 13k - M “That’s one of the meanings of peace, he thinks, as Hermione hugs him...That he can do things slowly, softly, without worrying that they won’t be there tomorrow.” --andromeda taking harry under her wing and harry finding solace in teddy. narcissa and draco showing up and the tentative relationships that slowly develop in the quiet calm of andromeda’s house. found families and kisses in the snow and special xmas gifts ugh what’s not to love -

The Moon Looks Lovely Tonight by Omi_Ohmy - 35k - M “I want this to be a house where people are welcome, where they don’t have to be any one way or another” --in which harry collects lost things--owls, best friends, inept bakers, potions experimenters--and turns the mausoleum that is grimmauld place into a home. feat. your fave drarry tropes like shared-beds and reluctant waltzing partners. -

[part 1: thrillers | part 2: dramas | part 3: soft bois | part 4: wankbanks]

[catatonicallyeuphonic]

This is a plot that lives rent free in my head.

Rebecca misses a period (or two), starts experiencing hot flashes, and is nauseated on-and-off. Her first thought is that this is menopause and she’s completely missed her opportunity to be a mother. She’s devastated.

While all she wants to do is down an entire bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and wallow in self-pity, she’s really trying to manage her emotions in a healthier manner. Rebecca invites Ted over for dinner; takeout from their favorite Italian restaurant. She is courteous enough to let him shrug off his coat before she absolutely loses it. Her emotions have been all over the place these days. Just the sight of him is enough to make her (feel comfortable enough to) fall apart.

Oh, by the way, they have been dating (on the down low) for the past few months.

Anyways, Ted tells her that there’s more than one way to be a mother. If motherhood is what she wants, then she should pursue it. She has his full support; he’ll be there for her, whatever she needs.

Rebecca is able to schedule a last minute appointment with her gynecologist. She is tired of being tired (and hot, and nauseous, and emotional) and will throw money at whatever will remedy her malaise. Her doctor isn’t convinced it’s menopause.

Turns out it’s not menopause. She’s pregnant. Her brain might actually be short-circuiting.

Rebecca texts Keeley, asks her to come to her flat ASAP. Of course, Keeley asks if this is a wine or liquor kind of emergency; it’s neither, but urgent nonetheless.

Aside from Beard, Keeley is the only other person who knows that Rebecca and Ted are an item.

Rebecca thinks Keeley’s face might be stuck in an permanent expression of shock, but then she throws herself at Rebecca, arms wrapped around her neck whispering, “I’m so happy for you”. They spend the next hour discussing when (how and what) Rebecca should tell Ted.

There’s absolutely no way she’ll be able to look him in the eye at the club without blurting it out, so she invites him over for dinner; this time she orders takeout from the nearest chippy.

She has no idea how to tell him, so she just does. He’s stunned, as she imagined, but she doesn’t miss the tears (and the hope) in his eyes when he asks, “we’re havin’ a baby?”

Bonus(es):

Rebecca asks Ted if he’d like to accompany her for the first ultrasound. They both cry at the sound of the baby’s heartbeat, obviously.

Rebecca is hesitant to tell anyone until she’s at least four months along. She (and Ted) breathes a sigh of relief when she makes it to sixteen weeks.

Ted tells Henry that he’s going to be a big brother. He can’t wait to meet his little sister.

Keeley creates the most perfect Instagram reveal, announcing the newest member of the Richmond team with a teeny tiny kit, boots, and football, as well as a chalkboard with the expected date. It’s posted when Rebecca can no longer hide the fact that she’s pregnant.

The team throws them a baby shower, complete with ridiculous games.

If anyone wants to do anything with this, be my guest. Please do something with this. I’ll take anything.

[mrslilyrogers]

Betrayal Part 7

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Summary: (AU) Set in New York. You and Bucky have been married for 5 years. He’s the love of your life and you are his. At least, you thought you were until he started slipping away from you, coming home late and smelling of another woman’s perfume? You are in denial. Are you just losing your mind or are you really losing him?

Author’s notes: I’m so so sorry this took so long! I redid the whole thing. We’re going to back up a bit in this chapter and visit the past. Please check the warnings before reading. Also, my requests are open. Send ideas if you’re feeling particularly angsty! Or even fluff, I’d like to try my hand at it. As always, let me know what you think of this chapter! For tags, please send in ask! 

Warnings: Cheating, Angst, Abuse, Swearing

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4  Part 5 Part 6

2 years ago.

Bucky tapped his fingers on the table as he checked his watch again. 8:15. Forty-five minutes late. Again. He let out a huge sigh, barely able to hold himself from scratching his eyes out. The curly-haired waitress went back to him with an apologetic look on her face, “I’m sorry, sir. My manager told me I really need to take your order now. There’s already a line waiting outside…” she let her sentence trail sheepishly. Bucky tried to ignore the heat creeping up his cheeks and gave her an unconvincing smile instead, reciting his order. When she left with visible relief on her face, he picked up his phone and called his wife again. He had tried to call and text her earlier but she hadn’t picked up.

“Hello?” Y/N answered, sounding frazzled and irritated as she cleaned up after her rude customer. He just had the audacity to leave a mess after complaining and whining about the wifi three times. She could barely keep her eyes from rolling. 

“Hey, babe. Where are you? I’ve been waiting for you at the restaurant,” Bucky’s defeated voice on the other line replied. 

“Oh shit!” She shrieked, attracting the heads of the other customers as she glanced at the clock on the wall. She had lost track of time. Bucky had been waiting for her for almost an hour. On their anniversary. Oh crap, crap, crap. 

“Oh my god, baby. I’m so sorry! I’m understaffed and I lost track of time! Could you please wait for me? I’m so sorry!” She quickly took off her apron and changed into the dress she had brought with her that morning for their date. Bucky had been planning this. He arranged for Lizzie’s babysitter and everything, practically bouncing off with excitement for this night. He wanted to try out this new restaurant and between raising Lizzie and making sure Winter Bakery was still making a profit, they haven’t seen much of each other lately. She just couldn’t find the time whereas Bucky’s stable position in Shield gave him more authority to delegate. And he literally had been trained for this for years. All those late-nighters at the university and all the grunt work he and Steve went through have finally paid up. They were at the top of their game, one of the youngest to acquire their positions. They were heroes in the investment banking world. Life was easy for him now, cherry on top of the cake. He only wished Y/N could be there with him. But she was still on shaky ground with her business and he fully understood that. 

“Of course! I already picked our appetizers though. They were trying their best to kick me out gently if I didn’t order anything,” 

“Oh, my poor Bucky. You should’ve flashed them your smile, charmed your way. They would’ve made you stay,” she replied, fixing her ponytail, not having the time to retouch her makeup anymore. This’ll just have to do. 

“Really, now. It was a waitress, you know.” He teased back. 

A beat before Y/N replied in mock seriousness. “In that case, don’t you dare. I’ll be there in 15!” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it. See you, babe. I love you--,” 

But before he could even finish his sentence, the line had dropped on the other end.  

_______________________________________________________________________

1 year ago.

“Daddy, look, apples!” Lizzie pointed from her seat in the grocery cart. Her legs swinging as she giggled at the heap of apples on their side. “Yeah, baby, you’re right.” Bucky replied absentmindedly, not even bothering to look as he stared confusedly at the bunch of green vegetables in front of him. The list Y/N gave him said scallions, but how the hell was he supposed to know which was which? Scallions, spring onions, green onions, they were all the same right? He suddenly regretted volunteering to do their grocery shopping alone, having no clue what half of the list Y/N prepared even meant. It was the weekend, they were all supposed to go together and then have a quick visit to the toy store after, for one more of Lizzie’s birthday gifts. She had just turned 3 a week ago and he couldn’t help but promise to let her pick out another doll. When Y/N had given him a pointed look while Lizzie clung on and gushed to him, he couldn’t help but to just give her a tiny shrug. He grew up with nothing, he was gonna give his little girl everything. But that morning when he thought the three of them finally had time to spend together, Y/N couldn’t make it again. She was having problems with her manager and had to go into work unexpectedly. Now, she wasn’t even answering his calls when he had to ask her about the most complicated grocery list he’s ever seen in his whole life. 

“Daddy, when are we getting my doll?” Lizzie asked again, looking up at him as she clutched her favorite white wolf stuffed toy. 

“After this, sweetheart.” He answered, preoccupied and calling Y/N again. This time when she didn’t answer, he gave up, grabbed the one nearest to him and hoped for the best. 

When he’s gotten halfway through the list and let Lizzie point at the snacks she wanted for school, he let his mind wander, when the hell had they become like this? He barely saw his wife anymore. Her problems with her bakery cafe, always dragging her away from them. He wished she could find competent people who would stay but if it weren’t her manager, it was her baker and so on. And if she was finally free, he’d be the one who was busy. It was hard and annoying but coupled that with taking care of an over-enthusiastic three-year-old, it was also exhausting.

He missed Y/N and he wished he could spend time with her. He completely understood that she was always needed at work. He had been through that in their early 20s, but they didn’t have a kid then to compete for their time and understanding it was different from actually living it. Their marriage had become stagnant. The banality of their everyday life, a stark contrast to how they used to be when they were just a couple of kids off college who rented a too-small apartment with his little sister, Becca. Time has flown and he’s finally achieved the life he’s always wanted; a big duplex apartment, a steady high-income job and a family he had always yearned for but never really knew he needed. All of the things he promised himself when he was younger and had nothing, he had now and more, yet there was still something missing. He missed the thrill of his life, chasing his dreams had always kept him motivated, distracted. Now that he had it all, he was at his wits’ end. Maybe it was because they were also growing apart, he could feel it. Y/N had always been able to make him happy and whole; he had always been able to rely on her emotionally. She was the better part of him and now that she was becoming distant, he hung onto her like a lifeline but his insistence on going on vacations as a family wherever his wife and daughter wanted went unheard, all his attempts at romancing cancelled. 

Even as he lined up now for the cashier, he whipped out his phone to text her. His hands had been busy typing when a brooding, dark-haired man stood behind him dressed in all black. His arms were muscled despite his age and the sagging skin on his right arm holding a tattoo of an odd skull with tentacles extending out of it was barely covered by his shirtsleeve. 

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t little Bucky,” a familiar husky voice mocked from behind him. 

Bucky immediately felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, the voice sending a deep chill down his spine, making him go rigid as he slowly turned around, the blood draining from him when he went face to face with the man who had made his life a living hell, the man who not only broken him physically but in spirit as well. Repeatedly. 

“You some errand boy now? I didn’t raise you to be like that, you know,” He continued to mock, tipping his chin to the cart with Lizzie still on it. 

“Do you know him, daddy?” She asked, holding her little wolf tighter as she watched the stranger warily. 

“Hey there, sweetie. Your daddy didn’t tell you about me? That’s weird. I raised him and your aunt Rebecca a long time ago. My name is Rumlow,” he flashed her a chilling smile, stepping closer to offer his hand. That’s when the fog in Bucky’s brain cleared. He moved with a lightning fast reflex, stepping in between them as he got in Rumlow’s face, fisting his collar harshly in one hand, 

“Don’t you dare go near her,” his dark and low voice had threatened, dripping venom. His eyes had dilated, almost turning black as he shoved him hard. Rumlow’s grating laugh echoed around them, bringing back all those awful memories he had buried deep inside his head. 

“I’ve taught you well, boy. Can’t say I’m not proud,” He clapped and actually smiled at him smugly. At this point, Lizzie had started crying making Bucky even more furious. 

“I don’t ever want to see your face again. And if you go near my daughter again, I’ll make you fucking regret it. Do you understand?” His threats went on deaf ears as Rumlow broke out into a full-fledged grin. 

“I’d love to see you try, James. You’ve grown soft,” He accused, eyeing Lizzie and the grocery he had still lined up, several heads already looking at them. 

“Lucky for you. I have a new son here,” He continued, tilting his head to the boy standing by his mostly empty cart-- save for the beer and the liquor. Bucky flicked his attention to the boy and he felt his world spin as he saw himself in him with his eyes haunted, wary and afraid. He couldn’t have been older than eight. Rumlow smirked at the look on Bucky’s face, already detecting the turmoil brewing inside him. He had succeeded. He always knew Bucky was weak, his emotions his downfall. The fear and guilt clearly written in Bucky’s eyes made Rumlow gloat as he talked to the boy, 

“What did I say, Bert, huh? You’ll only have food if you go get it yourself. Why are you still standing there?” 

The boy looked around the big grocery store, mentally taking note of the stalls and where they were currently at, memorizing it in case he got lost but still, he didn’t move. Bucky looked at Rumlow and he saw the same look he’d always had directed at him before, his taunting eyes daring the boy to go or face the consequences. 

“But I’m scared,” the boy replied, his voice small and frightened. Rumlow moved to him, bending his knees to get to his eye level. “Well then, you just won’t have to eat,” he told him in a hushed voice, pouting and mocking. 

Bucky didn’t have to hear it to know the exact words, buried memories rushing back to the surface. He heard it countless times directed at him. The boy ran to the nearest stall, his heart pounding and hoping Rumlow would still be at that same spot when he came running back. Bucky knew the feeling, it was like he was living it all over again. As much as he wanted to help, he was rooted to the spot, even Lizzie’s crying couldn’t move him. Rumlow stood back up and faced him. “You were always my favorite,” he told him proudly as he pushed his own cart away from them, no doubt to give Bert an even harder chance of finding him. 

Just before he got too far, he swiftly turned around, feigning innocence as he said, “Oh and by the way, say hi to Rebecca for me,”  His lips twisted up into a sneering smirk as he left, whistling without a care in the world. And just like that Bucky was moving, grabbing Lizzie and getting out of that store as fast as he could, hoping Rumlow would stay out of his life forever. 

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

“I’m never letting you do the groceries again!” Y/N screeched, a horrified look on her face as she stared at their fridge. After the incident with Rumlow, Bucky had brought Lizzie to the toy store, allowing her to buy all the stuffed toys and dolls she wanted instead of just the previously promised one doll. They had gone to lunch after, he kept Lizzie distracted as much as possible to forget the man she had just met. When she brought him up again, he told her it was just a friend he didn’t like very much and that she shouldn’t bring it up to her mom because it was nothing, he promised he never had to see that man again. Lizzie seemed satisfied with his answer and went back to her usual chirpy self. On their way home, they passed by another grocery store. He had mindlessly strolled the aisles and grabbed whatever he thought they needed, his head at a different place, much as it still is now.

“Bucky, we don’t need four cartons of milk, why would you even get this?” Y/N asked incredulously, shaking her head as she chuckled. 

Bucky had been staring off into space, not hearing what his wife had been saying. “Uhm, hello Bucky, you still with me?” she teased, waving a hand in front of his face. 

“Oh sorry, what was that?” He asked, glancing up at her from his perch by the kitchen counter. The coffee he had brewed, now cold in his hands. 

“Hey, you okay?” she asked, looking at him with concern in her eyes. 

“Yeah, just didn’t sleep well,” he waved dismissively. Y/N felt a pang of guilt. He’d been bugging her to spend more time together, planning outings and dates that she never seemed to find time for. 

“Well, I finally have the day free. Why don’t we go out, watch a movie or have a picnic? It’ll be fun,” she suggested, draping a hand over his shoulder while her chin rested on the other, her elbow propped up on the countertop to keep an eye level with him. 

“I can’t, I’m sorry, babe. I promised to meet up with Thor,” he moved away from her touch, standing up. Y/N looked at him confusedly, “Okay, how about after?”

“Gotta go over some accounts with Sam, sorry love. I’ll be back before dinner,” He gave her a quick kiss to the cheek before heading out. Y/N stared after him, brows knitted, before shrugging. She’ll just get her errands around the house done then. 

After pounding the punching bag in Thor’s gym incessantly, Bucky found himself aimlessly walking around the streets, he just needed to clear his head. The little boy’s face was still etched in his mind as he opened the door to a bar. A little too early, he knew but he couldn’t shake off the nagging thought plaguing his mind. 

How could he have let that monster roam free while he had lived his life without even a glance back? 

_______________________________________________________________________

Years ago.

Bucky held Becca’s hand as they ascended the rickety steps of their new home. They had just lost their parents and were now moving into an unfamiliar house. The case worker had told them they were lucky not to be separated and that they shouldn’t worry; they were getting a good foster father who would take care of them from now on. 

“I had interviewed him myself, you see,” She told the children, beaming with pride. 

“I couldn’t have found a better one for you guys, why, this area is still very close to where you grew up in. You could still visit your old haunts,” She ruffled Becca’s hair, trying to lighten the mood while the little girl just moved farther away, hiding behind her big brother. The worn-out door which at once might have been painted pristine white but now had chippings hanging off of it suddenly opened with a creak, a man with a charming and easy nature stepped out with a warm smile on his face that didn’t quite reach his eyes. 

“You guys are here! Welcome, welcome, please come in!” He gestured humbly to his house. Becca squeezed Bucky’s hand tighter which he squeezed back in return, reassuring her. There was something about this man that wasn’t quite right. He seemed relaxed and easy-going, a smile continuously plastered on his face but there was a lethality to him that the children couldn’t seem to shake off, almost as if it was buried deep inside waiting to be unleashed. The case worker hung on his every word, giggling as they talked. She slapped his arm with the horrible looking tattoo that gave Becca a fright. The children barely moved from the sofa they were seated at after the introductions. 

“It’s usually like this. Don’t worry. They start to open up after a while,” the case worker sympathized with Brock, the man who introduced himself as their new foster father; he would treat them as his own, he had promised. 

“It’s alright. I understand. After my wife, I’ve been all alone and this, this is a blessing to me,” He told her as he turned to the children. Her hand strayed to his arm again and lingered there. 

“Oh, Brock, you are a good man. They’re great children, they won’t give you trouble.” She replied, patting his arm for reassurance. It didn’t miss Bucky how she hung off his every word. 

“But I should get going, I will check up on you in a week. Children, be good. You have my number if you need anything,” She stood up, smoothing the wrinkles on her blazer.

“Wait, you’re leaving us already?” Bucky couldn’t help the whine that escaped his voice. He didn’t miss the darkness that spilled over Brock’s face for a split second before he carefully put his smile back on again. 

“I’ll be back in a week, Bucky. Don’t you worry,” the case worker smiled before she walked out the door leaving him and Becca to a stranger. 

When she was out of sight, Brock had suddenly changed his demeanor. The smile on his face had turned into a scowl when he faced them. “Alright, listen up both of you,”  he boomed, his voice cruel. “Grab your things and get on to your rooms. I don’t want to hear any noise. No running around, and if I see you making a mess. You bet your little asses, you’ll pay for it,” He stood up and left them to their bags. 

“But Mr. Brock, I’m thirsty,” Becca piped up, looking up at him timidly. The man’s grating laugh rumbled as he threw his head back, shaking it.  

“That’s Rumlow to both of you, you hear me?  Don’t make that mistake again. Now, come here,” He said, beckoning both the children to come over. Once they reached the kitchen, he pointed to the high cupboard. “You see that?” He asked Becca, dropping low to get to her eye level. When she just nodded her head, he continued, “That’s where the glasses and the plates are. If you want something in this house, you go get it yourself. I’m not your nanny,” He held Becca’s face in his hand roughly. His fingers wrapped around her cheeks tight as he held her by the chin. Bucky felt his fists clench at his sides, pushing Rumlow as far as he could with his eleven year old might.  

“Stop that!” He screamed. Their parents never hurt them. How dare this man think he could do this to his little sister? 

“Oh you wanna be the man of the house?” Rumlow jeered, shoving Bucky back making him fall to the floor. Becca’s sniffles grew louder as she tried to stop her crying, her shoulders shaking from her effort. As Bucky lay sprawled, Rumlow scooted down menacingly to him, 

“You dare push me when you were just whining like a little bitch a while ago, you wanna man up? Alright, I’ll allow it,” he taunted, pondering it for a moment before his sinister smile came back on. “Let’s see how long you’ll last protecting your little sister.” He gripped his face by the chin, fingers squeezing exceedingly tight on his cheeks before he pushed him off and he hit the floor. 

“I won’t be some parent to you that you could twist around your little fingers, no. I’ll make you into the best man you could be. I will teach you about order. And order only comes through pain,” He drilled into him like a soldier as he stretched his legs back up, his measured steps going to the fridge to fish out a beer. He took a long gulp before he continued, 

“And the sooner you learned that, the better,” 

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

Bucky sat alone at one of the benches by the field at his school, choosing solitude over the roar of the cafeteria after a particularly bad morning at home. Their foster father had woken up drunk and had haphazardly thrown things at them when Bucky accidentally burnt the eggs he had been cooking for his and Becca’s packed lunch for school. He picked on the peanut butter sandwich he prepared, not having the appetite to eat when he heard jeering voices from a group of boys and sounds of flesh being hit again and again with accompanying grunts of pain. He felt his feet move on instinct when he found them by the bleachers, a scrawny boy at the center of a group huddling over him, they were laughing as he tried to fight them off, not once being able to land a punch. The blood pumped in Bucky’s veins, a constant beating in his ears, as he grabbed the biggest of the bullies by the collar and harshly yanked him off the tiny, blonde boy now sprawled on the floor with his skinny arms covering his face. When one of the other kids tried to punch him, he deftly moved out of the way and delivered a swift blow to his stomach, making sure to spare his face so as not to get in trouble. That was how Rumlow did it, might as well use the same trick right? 

“What? Who wants to go next?” He threatened, loving the adrenaline coursing through his veins, the power he had with defending someone so helpless. The lanky blonde boy stood up beside him, blood dripping from his mouth as he held both his fists up, “I can do this all day,” he said, catching his breath but his stance clearly indicated he could barely stand up straight. Bucky just looked at him weirdly, not knowing whether to find him stupid or brave. The bullies stood against them, unsure. Bucky was the same age as them, only slightly bigger. Him and the blonde boy were still clearly outnumbered but Bucky’s eyes held a lethal strength in them, his body coiled with unleashed brutality, ready to fight. The bullies scrambled out of there as fast as they could, their feet tripping over them. 

“Yeah next time, pick on someone your own size!” he hollered before looking back at the blonde boy who looked younger than them but held himself with such maturity that it didn’t seem possible. He decided right then and there he was going to make him his new friend. Rumlow had always taught him about his belief of the natural order of the world, that strength and might always won the day and that order could only be achieved through pain. If you could inflict it on others, you were stronger, better. Weaker men were useless, had to be beaten up and put in their place. “That’s just the way of the world,” he had said. But Bucky was old and smart enough to see right through his facade. He was a bully, feeding off of people who couldn’t fight back. Bucky was going to be different, he wouldn’t bow down to his will. He just needed to protect his sister, spare her from the taint of Rumlow’s anger and prove that he wouldn't become the man Rumlow has been conditioning him to be. 

“You alright?” Bucky asked the boy standing beside him who was touching the bruise forming on his forehead.

“Yeah, thanks for helping me,” he replied sheepishly, ashamed he couldn’t fight for himself.

“Next time, just don’t provoke them, they aren’t worth it.” 

“But they were wrong. Bullies, I’d always stand up to them,” the blonde brushed his hair back from his forehead, determination steeling his voice. Bucky smiled, maybe he could learn a thing or two from this boy too. 

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Steve, what’s yours?”

“Bucky. Steve, you’re a little punk. You know that?” he said teasingly, laughing. 

Steve grinned back, “Jerk,” 

_______________________________________________________________________

Present

The light filtered into the room as the curtains were drawn back harshly causing Bucky to groan on his bed, flitting a pillow to cover his eyes. 

“Buck, come on. Get up,” Steve’s firm voice spoke through the fog in his mind. 

“Get out, Steve, I’m sleeping.” he replied, turning his back to the hand shaking his shoulder.

“How long are you going to do this? It’s been two weeks. Have you even talked to your family yet?” Steve’s judgmental voice rang out, hard and unforgiving. 

“She doesn’t even wanna see me,” he huffed, anger at himself boiling in his veins. He hasn’t seen his daughter in two weeks. Y/N’s short, cold replies to his messages were just updates on how Lizzie was doing, anything regarding Y/N, he had no idea about. He didn’t even know what sort of excuses she made up for Lizzie, how his “work trip” kept getting extended. When the hell could they keep that charade up? He was lucky enough she was letting him talk to his daughter on the phone for a few minutes every once in a while. He sat up on the bed, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he reached for the bottle of whiskey at the bedside table. These days he could only fall asleep when he’s had one too many to drink and even then, he’d still wake up with a headache that could only be dulled by alcohol. He barely even made it to work everyday. Sam had been good enough to cover for him, staying on neutral ground with everything that’s happening to his marriage although his eyes said otherwise, disappointment etched in them. All the while Steve had ignored him the entire time since the hospital. No amount of apologies moved him from his stance except today, when he suddenly barged into the hotel room Bucky has been renting like he owned the place. 

“Jesus, Bucky, stop that!” He swiped the bottle Bucky held between his lips, splashing amber liquid on his shirt and bed. 

“Damn it, Steve! Look what you did!  Give that back,” Bucky held his arm out, his reflexes slow as he tried to grab it from his friend. 

“Jesus Christ. You smell terrible. How much have you had to drink last night?” Steve fanned the air around him trying to rid the stench of alcohol and sweat.

“How the hell did you even get in here?” Bucky’s pissed off voice grumbled but one look at Steve’s intense stare with his brows furrowed and his jaw clenched, standing straight as a drill sergeant, arms crossed at his chest with his muscles bulging out of his fitted gray Under Armour shirt; he knew. The punk had intimidated his way in. No doubt leaving a poor breathless, flustered receptionist in his wake. 

“You could get that receptionist fired, you know?” He tried appealing to his best friend’s better nature.

“You wouldn’t tell. Plus, it isn’t as if she didn’t get a hefty tip. Go take a shower, Buck, you stink.” Steve didn’t budge, staring him down with a disgusted look on his face. Bucky just scoffed, 

“And then what? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Y/N kicked me out, man. Just go home, you’re wasting your time.” 

Steve’s hardened face softened as he looked at his friend. His eyes were puffy, his skin pale as he scratched his wildly unkempt beard, his greasy hair sticking out on one side. What the hell had happened to Bucky? How had it gone so bad for his friend in a matter of days? He suddenly moved out of instinct, collecting clothes strewn everywhere and packed them into the suitcase at the corner of the room. 

“Steve, what the hell are you doing?” Bucky exhaled loudly. It was too early for this. Where the hell was his drink? 

“Get your ass moving, Bucky. You’re staying at my place,”